Vai groaned as her senses eased back under her control, her head throbbing slightly. The soft, satin-like blanket draped over her body slipped into her lap as she sat up and held her head in her hands. "Vai! You're finally up!" Nora shouted from the area next to their beds, presumably the small kitchen. "Mhmm," Vai mumbled, massaging her temples gently as the plain ebony walls of the duplex started to lose their fuzziness while her vision cleared.
"Hey, don't you have that presentation thingy today? You kinda flopped down and conked out last night after talking to Krahn and I for a little bit and I was kinda worried," Nora went on, seemingly oblivious to Vai's response. "Hm?" Vai hummed, her half-lidded eyes drowsily flicking to Nora dancing around the kitchen to make breakfast.
Typically, there is a community breakfast for all of the adolescent octoling students, but the group of four choose not to attend since it isn't required and Nora's cooking is much more impressive than the bland uniform breakfast the low ranked octotroopers serve weekly.
Vai's thoughts collected little by little, until her awareness of her impending doom hit her like a tsunami on an unsuspecting Japanese beach. "No no no no no.. I'm going to fail! I can't afford to fail! If I'm late, me of all octolings show up late, I'm absolutely done for!" Vai sputtered, her voice trembling as panic began to set in to her head.
She felt her world start to distort almost immediately as the pieces fell into place and her thoughts swirled into an incoherent jumble. "Vai? Vai! Oh goodness-" Nora stammered, dropping her cooking utensils and leaving the burner on, rushing over to Vai with incredible speed powered only by her adulation for her friend.
Nora loosely wrapped her arms around Vai, clinging on to her trembling form in an attempt to expel the other girl's anxieties. Nora hushed her quietly, murmuring small affirmations into Vai's ears as she desperately attempted to regain control of herself once more.
Two more pairs of footsteps were heard as Vai calmed down a little more, Nora still comforting her until she was completely convinced that Vai was okay.
"Vai! Are you alright?" Krahn exclaimed, worry evident in his rushed tone. "I-I'm alright, just a little frazzled, haha," Vai answered nervously, smiling crookedly at Krahn. "Well, what's it all about?" Krahn queried, squatting next to Nora and greeting her with a smile and a nod while Nora was on her knees and stroking Vai's tentacurls.
"Ah, she has this project presentation thing today and she overslept a little bit," Nora explained carefully, snatching a glance at the octoling below her who was slowly calming down and regaining control over herself.
"Nora," a fourth voice, much deeper than the others, inserted itself into the conversation, luring everyone's gazes towards it. "Mano! Didn't see you there, buddy!" Nora said nervously, shaking her head in an attempt to forget that she flinched so aggressively. There was a heartbeat of awkward silence where Mano's deep crimson gaze pierced Nora's soft violet one. He was casually leaning against a pillar that was part of the wall that separated the living room and the kitchen.
"Your burner," he said plainly, his eyes drifting to the stove. His shoulder was pressed up on the wall and his left knee stuck out, his arms crossed lazily over his stomach. "Oh! Damn it," she mumbled, scooting backward slightly and allowing Vai's head to gently slip from her fingers. Krahn took Nora's place and held Vai's head in his lap.
Nora quickly tended to her now burnt eggs. Mano smirked slightly at her feeble attempt to restore the edibility of the now charred breakfast. Krahn got up from where he sat to assist Nora in cleaning up the mess and help with making breakfast again, despite his preposterous cooking ability. Regardless, he enjoyed helping Nora with anything he could.
Vai sat up now, her breathing deep and calm compared to her heavy labored breathing from only a few minutes prior. Mano slowly heaved himself away from the column supporting his form and made his way toward Vai with an enticingly slow pace. Mano was an incredibly handsome octoling; his jawline was sharp, his eyes were sleek and a luxurious deep shade of red, his slightly tan skin tone was flawless and mesmerizing to any octoling's eyes to graze it. He disliked the unusually revealing armor that all the younger and lower to mid ranked octolings must wear. He preferred "real" armor, or as he quotes it, "actual protection".
Mano took a seat next to Vai on the twin sized mattress as she pulled the white satin blanket over her shoulders shyly. "Everything alright now?" Mano murmured, tilting his head towards Vai's ear. The rapid closing of space between the two octolings made Vai blush a shade of deep lavender, her piercing yellow eyes drifting away from Mano's general direction.
"Yes," she mumbled, biting her lip slightly at the feeling of his warm aura against her skin. "Alright," he replied softly, his gaze burning into the side of Vai's head. Vai gulped, hoping he would move away or get up and help Krahn with the cooking before he burned the duplex down.
"Vai," Mano began, still staring at her. She didn't respond. She was still a little nervous and intimidated by Mano's presence alone. This was normal, as Mano was certainly scary due to the frightening reputation his raw power gave to him.
He sighed quietly and paused for a moment then lifted his hand to Vai's chin and gripped it gently with his index finger and his thumb. He ushered her to make eye contact with him, his gaze assertive and serious like usual. Vai finally gave in and stared him right back in the eyes, snapping her head around almost with defiance.
"If anyone in particular is responsible for your worries, come and inform me of this immediately, alright?" Mano ordered unblinkingly. His gaze was intense and focused, which made Vai a little more nervous. "Y-yes," Vai whispered, a slight frown visible on her face. Mano let go of her chin and outwardly sighed through his nose, still maintaining eye contact with the other octoling.
He got up, turned away, and now refused to look back at Vai as she glared at the back of his head. "We gonna go get breakfast from the cafe or nah? I mean, there's no reviving those eggs, Nora," Krahn said pointedly, his cyan eyes trailing to the charred lumps of what was their morning nourishment. Nora sighed, disappointment present in her tone. "Well, I dunno. Vai doesn't seem to want to leave her little headspace," Nora said, presumably annoyed.
Vai stared downward, avoiding Nora's vision. She sighed, her gaze softening slightly while she observed Vai's still shaky state. "I can just make some more, I guess," Nora mumbled, tying her tentalocks into her usual small ponytail on the back of her head.
"Hey, guys?" Vai called quietly from the living room. "Yo, what's up?" Krahn answered, abandoning the eggs he was preparing. As anticipated, he added too much seasoning. He claimed to enjoy the extra flavor, but it's a little hard to believe when his facial features twist into one of distaste every time he samples his own cooking. "I really need to get to my assembly, despite being late. I might as well at least attend," Vai explained quickly, retrieving her lab equipment that was on the floor and hidden under folds in the bed sheets.
"Aren't you supposed to leave that at the lab? At the workshop, we leave all of our gear there," Krahn asked, eyeing her coat, face mask, and rectangle glasses clenched tightly in her palms. "Yeah, I just forgot," Vai chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. "Shit- Krahn?" "Huh?" "Have you seen my, uh, watch?" Vai asked awkwardly, her voice becoming more uptight as she finished her sentence. "Oh, uh, dunno. Might've rolled under the bed or something," he suggested, not really seeming to care a whole lot.
"Wait, watch? Vai, you know we don't have 'time' around here. Nora was nagging me about it yesterday, when I said it was late, but it's always dark really, so who knows, right? Even if we can't see the sun, we still have 'time', right? It just.. Doesn't follow the sun," Krahn rambled, getting lost in his own train of thought. "Right.." Vai mumbled distractedly, sitting on her feet and bending down to scan under her bed for her "watch".
"Yeah, it isn't necessarily a watch, more like a teleportation device or whatever," Vai grumbled, sarcasm edging her tone. "A what now? Dear Lord Vai, I knew you were smart, but woah," Krahn said, absolutely baffled but impressed. "Uh huh, yeah. Kinda need to find that," she replied, the sarcasm much more present in her icy tone than before.
"Right," Krahn replied, his gaze drifting away from the other octoling, and onto a small desk with a lamp petitely sitting atop it. A small wristband with an awkward square in the center of it sat in the middle of the gray desk. "Yo, Vai, is that it?" Krahn asked, pointing behind him in the direction of the accessory with his thumb. "Hm?" Vai sat up, dust particles clinging to her clothing. "Oh, thank you so much!" Vai exclaimed, her eyes pinned to it as she bolted toward it. She snatched it and put it around her wrist, her yellow eyes shining.
"So uh, what's its name?" Krahn asked casually, attempting to hide his nagging curiosity and amazement at even the mere concept of something as technologically advanced as a teleportation device. "ARRP 279-P," Vai answered, her small smile a very rare sight due to a mask usually covering the bottom half of her face.
Her other friends had no idea why she preferred to wear a mask over her mouth, since she had such a nice face overall too.
"Wow, nerdy," Krahn scoffed sarcastically, crossing his arms and smirking. "Mhm, of course. I'm the lab nerd, so why wouldn't it be nerdy, right?" Vai grinned, playfulness edging her gaze as she eyed Krahn. "Haha, duh," Krahn replied, grinning even bigger than Vai. "Eggs are done!" Nora yelled obnoxiously, making both Krahn and Vai flinch. "Oh, sorry. Too loud?" Nora asked sheepishly, setting down two plates on the homemade bar area that was made out of the opening in the wall to connect the kitchen and living room.
"We were having a very important nerd exchange Nora, and we don't appreciate your noise level," Krahn said playfully, his cyan eyes twinkling with mischief. "Oops, my bad, your highness," Nora responded, winking at him. Krahn chuckled lightly, standing over his plate as his gaze trailed over his breakfast hungrily.
Vai came up next to him, picking up her awkward looking fork. They were homemade as well, since the four of them didn't feel like going all the way over to the cafe every morning to grab cutlery and leave. Nora just happened to dabble in metalwork too, which was pretty helpful for them. Vai gently held the dainty fork and delicately penetrated her scrambled eggs with its warped tines. She ate her breakfast quietly, while a snort was heard from her right and she glanced over at Krahn, tearing up his eggs and eating them with his fingers wrapped around them like a rabid octoball would ravage its daily dinner.
"For the love of fuck Krahn, how many times have I told you to use a damn fork!?" Nora asked, clearly irritated with Krahn's eating habits. "They're weird!" Krahn whined, his mouth still full. "Never mind! Whatever, but you're cleaning up your mess!" Nora commanded, her gaze stern like it usually is when Krahn refuses to eat the food she makes with the utensils she crafts herself, which not many other octolings can do.
Krahn grinned like a victorious toddler does when their mother lets them get a gumball from the quarter machine, albeit after begging for a while. Nora huffed and cleaned up her and Mano's plates.
"You're bof alreafy done?" Krahn asked, speaking with his mouth full only to annoy Nora. "Mhm, while you two were chatting it up, Mano and I ate our breakfast quietly and minded our own business," Nora retorted sharply, being sassy on purpose since she was still quite annoyed with Krahn for his nerve. "Yeah okay, whatever," Krahn replied, still finishing his eggs.
Vai was already done, but observing Nora and Krahn's exchange was rather amusing since they're very clearly smitten with each other.
"Done!" Krahn shouted obnoxiously, snatching his plate off the surface of the bar area by the kitchen and setting it in the singular cubicle of a sink.
"Lovely," Nora grumbled, glaring at Krahn playfully as he skipped past her and took a seat on her bed. "Hey! Get off my bed!" Nora ordered, pointing at him and quickly approaching him. "Make me!" he threatened, stretching himself out on her sheets and flashing her a rather provocative look. It wasn't serious, of course, or at least not that serious.
"Bet," Nora whispered, her gaze penetrating his. "Shit," Krahn whispered, all of the color draining from his face. Nora leapt at him with incredible speed, her lean muscle to blame for how unusually aerodynamic she was. She flew at Krahn and bowled him over, tussling with him on the bed until they nearly rolled off.
"Morons," Mano mumbled, standing next to Vai as he stared with her at the wrestling octolings. "Goofballs," Vai joked, smiling at them and putting on her lab equipment. "You still want to attend the assembly?" Mano asked, averting his crimson gaze to Vai's amused yellow one. "Mhm," Vai murmured, still observing the pair of tussling Octarians before them.
"I can take you and we can walk there, if you'd like, Vai," Mano offered, finally making eye contact with Vai once more. "Sure," Vai answered, smiling slightly now from under her mask, and she followed Mano out the front door.