Day 2: (Ab)normal days

"Don't worry about him! Judas is Judas and Jason is Jason! Even if he did bother me, which he didn't, that doesn't change anything about you or what I think about you!"

She tried to smile reassuringly.

"One sec." Aris said, grabbing a cup to pour coffee in. She took the cup with her, not wanting to put anything in it, and started to move back. "Yeah, I'm goin."

Claire suddenly seemed to get nervous as she was in the same room as everyone. "C-coming!" she yelled, then trailed after Jason into the kitchen. She was too busy trying to ignore everyone that she didn't notice Jordan.

"S-so, what're you taking... I may just have an apple or something." She was clearly still not used to being around the others.

With Aris by her side, Ruby returned to the dining hall, milk in tow. She sat down next to Dakota, although she noted that Dark's usual spot was empty. Her stomach rumbled to remind her that it hadn't had food in nearly 12 hours and she wasted no time pouring her milk into her cereal and chowing down. It was a little sweeter than she would've cared for but it was food nonetheless.

He smiled a bit more and nodded. "Okay. Okay, wow, that's one of the nicest responses I've gotten, t-thanks."

He looked over at the kitchen and noticed Martin's impressive balancing act. "Is that the kind of stuff you learn when you're high up in the Boy Scouts? Extreme balancing?" He sounded legitimately curious.

Jason started to look for something, like muffins. "Oh... I want some muffins, but it looks like someone took most of them." he said, noticing only a few muffins around. He shrugged, getting a small plate. "Eh, I'll just have the rest of these and then some milk with me."

He started to look in the refrigerator, getting himself a glass half full with milk. He calmly waited for Claire to finish her own selection.

Rachel sunk in her chair at Dakota's words. "N-now you're just spewing nonsense. Zombies don't exist, come on! That'd be stupid."

She was incredibly on edge, despite that assertion.

Martin successfully made it to Lisa and Jason without spilling the breakfast everywhere.

"Right it's muffins and orange juice for now," he said, organizing the selection. Jason's comment sounded like something Judas would say, making Martin hesitate in greeting him. "If you, uh, want some orange juice I can grab another glass. I've got a...breakfast balancing badge after all."

Caleb absorbed the potpourri of conversations around him. He listened to bits and pieces of each one carefully, then produced a notepad and pen from his coat pockets. Not wasting any time, he began to scribble rapidly on the pieces of paper, his mind working faster than his hand could follow.

"Thanks Martin!" Lisa smiled as she took a muffin and peeled off the wrapper.

"Ah, Jason can have my glass if he wants! I'm not that thirsty right now."

Dark shared Miranda's enthusiasm for the interesting room. He looked over at the cabinets with the tea sets. He was excited by the selection and the fancy cups and pots themselves.

"Onzori!" he said to Miranda.

"Whavv fif I fear 'bout zombifff?" Ruby called across the table, mouth full of cereal.

He smiled at the both of them "I'm fine, no worries. But thank you both."

He looked at Lisa specifically. "The second you start that muffin you're gonna get all thirsty, don't lie."

Jordan watched as Claire walked by, slightly embarrassed to find herself talking to to air. She shook it off and took a seat next to Ruby and Dakota's general direction.
"Hey," She said quietly, taking a sip of coffee, "Oh, hey, it's better than I expected."

"....zombies?"

Jaden accepted the water. Opening the bottle and taking a sip, he felt much better. "Thanks, man. Y'know, for a 12 year old in a superhero costume, you're all right."

"Speaking of, though... If you're called Cobalt, what's your actual name?"

She laughed.

"How could a muffin make me thirsty? It's just a muffin!" She took a big bite, spilling crumbs onto her lap.

"Cruf," she mumbled at the mess, only getting her lap even dirtier.

"I come in here and first thing I hear is something I shoot in video games." Aris said, flopping into the first empty chair.

"Yeah, I am!" She replied, walking over to the sets and taking one to the main table. "Go see if there's any tea in the cabinets. Maybe they have pomegranate!"

"Yeah, there's zombies," Dakota began, "There's like these mushrooms that make ants into zombies. I saw 'em on tv" She put her hands up, as if imitating a zombie or an enthusiastic scary storyteller.

"Hope you didn't have the salad last night," She concluded, "Might've been some mushrooms."

She hovered slightly closer to Jordan and Ruby.

Jason laughed a bit. "Because like, you'll need something to wash it down! You know!"

He watched as she split crumbs on her lap. "Want me to go get a napkin or something?" He offered.

Claire ended up choosing an apple, as well as a small bottle of water from the refrigerator. "I should be alright with only this. I prefer not to eat so much anyway." She gestured back towards the Dining Room.

"Alright, back into the jungle," she muttered, then opened the door and stepped inside.

"Thank you!"

When Jaden asked about his name he got very quiet before responding.

"What do you mean? I am Cobalt!"

He placed his hands on his hips and stood tall.

"That is the purpose of the costume- to become Cobalt! And so long as I have it on, that is who I am! Which means this is who I must be, as well." He got a tad quieter on the last sentence.

She veered away slightly from Dakota, a bit terrified and a bit unsettled. "Ant zombies? That's just silly! Are they little undead ants or big undead ant people monsters? It doesn't make any sense!...ha."

She looked over to Jordan for some extra support.

Aris huffed, taking a bite of her sandwitch. "Yeah, but we ain't bugs. All you'd probably ever get is a yeast infection." She laughed to herself.

"Why end at zombies then? Is she gonna tell us aliens exist?"

"Oh," Martin said, "Good!" He straightened himself up, digging into a muffin before quickly realizing he'd probably still be hungry afterwards.

"I might make another trip anyway," He added, "If muffins do make you thirsty"

He couldn't help but overhear the topic of zombies being discusses, "Idiot, there aren't any zombies." Martin interjected, suddenly energetic, "It'd be all over the news." He lowered his voice and added, "This should be all over the news..."