#dearestagony

"Oh yeah it's a challenge. No one has managed to beat me at Mario Kart and I'm not about to go down without a fight", he grinned, nudging her gently as he sat by her side, a quick kiss given to her cheek before he settled into his space, his face growing serious as he started up the race that would determine who was to was the dishes that night.

"And there we go", she smiled brightly as she placed the finishing details on the cupcakes they'd been making for one of the playdates that Tommy went to. Their friendship was still somewhat in the beginning stages, with Ella having met Annaleigh through her connection with Saeyoung, but she'd found the woman's strength rather fascinating and, that had somewhat driven her to want to get to know her better too. Outside of what happened with the R.F.A, Ella wasn't usually that great at making her own connections. So much of her life revolved around her music or her brother, and she was fine with that. "How does that look? Oh, and sorry about him", she motioned towards the couch where Ethan had fallen asleep earlier, "He came to help, but I think the last set of tests really tired him out"

Hands in pockets, he watches the conversation for a moment before deciding to make himself known. “Your ability to communicate with the avian kind is admirable. Being able to understand other creatures is an ability that is often overlooked despite being one that helps in many situations, being in tune with the environment gives a certain advantage during Shinobi duties.” Of course, Shino can’t start a conversation the way everyone else does it.

...Perhaps Atem going to the afterlife, was harder on him than he thought it'd be, even after years had passed.

Well, of all the people to run into, this had to be pretty far down the list. Not that he really minded - the girl was fun to have around, but now he couldn't just walk by and ignore her either. Running into someone at a hospital came with certain social expectations - well when they didn't work there like he did, of course. "Jillian!", he greeted her with a warm smile, his voice low enough not to disturb the others in the waiting room, but loud enough to easily be heard, a skill picked up over the years, "It's a surprise to see you here...is everything alright? Oh, not that you need to tell me anything, of course", he smiled, "I'm a paediatrician at this fine establishment. Was just about to go take a break actually...would you like a coffee? I can drop it off on the way back".

Looking around, it was difficult to believe that anything he could find on this world could be beneficial to his research. He glanced once more over the information to have been sent to his phone, wondering if perhaps he had been scammed - though the information broker he was using was someone that he had used several times before now. Sighing, he glanced back at the old looking home before him. The pellets he'd taken to hide his Foxian features should last a few hours yet - and hopefully that was all he needed to get what he wanted. A creature with two hearts... Knocking on the door, he allowed his features to relax into something less intimidating - already missing the comforting swish of his tail that usually came when stalking down his prey.

"...so what happened to your master anyway?". The silence had been stretching on for a little too long now - that and he knew that she didn't really wish him any harm, even with the strange behaviours she'd been displaying lately. Garth picked a little more at the food he'd been given, placing the plate to one side once he was sure that at least half was finished. He didn't usually eat all too much in the first place - and Prudence gave him larger meals than he received back home half the time too, "...I've only heard a few stories about him...I suppose I never really knew how to bring it up before now".

But there was still so much he had to learn about Prudence - that much was becoming painfully obvious.