#atangledfate

"I'm terribly sorry if this is causing any inconvenience for you ma'am, though we have a strict policy about weapon restrictions. While here we do our best to cater to our guest's needs so they have a wonderful vacation experience we also pride ourselves catering to their safety as well. So, I humbly request you check in all weapons." It wasn't often Flute dealt with a guest that had such issues with their polices, though it does happen.

Charmette's happy hums from her wings were...slightly off now without one of them. The once sweet hummingbird like sound now sounded more like the dull hum of electronics. It was quiet and not nearly as calming as it once had been. Her body still bore the marks of Metal Velocity's claws, six cuts on each of her arms and four on her legs...all stitched up now and healing well. They didn't seem to be causing her much pain right now but...then again that could also be attributed to the toughness of the little bee.

Still she hugged the lemur tightly, pressing her nose into the taller female's fur. "Yeah I saw it Mama. Sorry for the fright, I wasn't expecting Eggma'am to have a second Metal on standby..."

She squeaked in alarm when Cyan landed on her head, that couldn't be comfortable for the Wisp since the bee was wearing a set of headphones now. It was a way to tame her hair and...well the headset was also a test for later. But she'd worry about that later.

"I'm just thankful you had the foresight to grab some friends before going off on a solo mission." Espia huffed at her daughter, the bee wasn't THAT much younger than her...but sometimes Charmette still acted like a child. Still...she'd been growing up a lot faster lately. The chameleon made her way over to the lemur and bee and pulled them both into a gentle hug of her own. "Gave everyone quite the scare...so SOMEONE is grounded for a good long while."

"I KNOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW...." Charmette groaned, she was confined to the city and her lab for now...but that was fine. She had her project to work on anyway. "I think I have a permanent vendetta against all Metal Series now..."

Tangle couldn't help blush at suddenly being pulled into a kiss by Whisper, not that she minded in the slightest. "I tried to come up with something creative, though I didn't want to go over board as I know you aren't the biggest fan of it." The lemur was willing to keep things simple for the wolf, even if she wanted to go all out and go for a big surprise with her gift.

"Hm... you do not seem to be from Earth either. Is that correct?"

It was a little less direct than 'what are you,' at least.

Was it coping? Maybe. Not that she'd ever admit it. Not to Noelle, not to Kris, not even to herself.

Before Kris, the nights used to stretch forever—cold, quiet, and mean in a way that had nothing to do with the weather. She used to talk to the ceiling sometimes, just to hear a voice. Just to pretend someone might answer. Of course, no one ever did. That kind of silence carves out a place in you, a hollow that never quite fills, no matter how loud you laugh or how hard you bite.

But lately... things were different. Kris was—well, Kris. Weird, sure, but steady. They didn't treat her like a monster. Didn't flinch, didn't mock. Those late nights sneaking snacks or just hanging out in graveyards talking about nothing? They made the emptiness less sharp. Like maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t completely alone anymore.

Still, she had a reputation to keep up. Tough, careless, snarky. Which apparently meant today's distraction was making poor Noelle squirm in place. Classic.

"Yeah, sure, Noe." Susie snorted, wiping a nonexistent tear from the corner of her eye like the joke had really hit her hard. "So tragic, right? Somebody call the drama club."

The smirk lingered for half a second before faltering.

Because Noelle was looking at her.

Really looking.

And all the sharp-edged humor she'd built up like armor just... slipped. Her stomach twisted, her throat felt too tight, and her cheeks were suddenly warm in a way she couldn't fight off.

"So... uh..."

Why was this so hard?

"...See any good movies?"

It was stupid. She hated small talk. But in the silence that followed, Susie realized something awful.

Kalak watched as Whisper pulled out a notepad, though made sure to look confused. The wolf then leans down to read it. "Oh, it's for equal rights for wolves in Flora. See, in Flora wolve culture is only based of physical strength and/or magical power so if don't have one of those, well, life can be rough. That's why I'm trying to get enough signatures to hopefully get Lady Tala to talk to me. Figured getting some signatures from wolves from other wolfs would help."

"Pizza's here." Kris casually re-enters, stack of cardboard boxes in tow. In typical Kris fashion, they learned nothing, this was bought with Toriels credit card. She'll probably not notice for a while, at least until she checks her account, which shouldn't be any time soon.

"I got a supreme, plain cheese, pepperoni, pepperoni-sausage-onion, who wanted the veggie-?"

"Oh! That was me!" She's quickly rushing over from the small group gathered in front of the television to help Kris with the food, it wasn't like her to be in social gatherings like this....after everything that happened she's understandably nervous but the atmosphere is so fun.

"You got back just in time. We're trying to figure out what to watch." In typical fashion, Aliza didn't have much of a preference or a backbone to speak up on one if she did....just as long as they didn't watch anything too gorey nessecarily. She turned back to the group in question, "I'll go get some drinks uh- who has the remote...?"

Does it really matter? She has a feeling the debate of what they watch first will probably go on for a bit, given the company they have.