"I'm not sure if I'll be back anytime soon. I don't really feel comfortable here anyway.... Bad memories. Vibes! I mean bad vibes. I mean.... well, not bad vibes from everyone. Just certain people..... Person.... Nevermind....."

Calley distinctly did not look at Iris while she spoke. Not straight on, anyway. Out of the corners of his eyes... in sneaked glances... but not straight on. He realized he’d stopped decorating his Styrofoam cup sometime while she’d been talking, and he quickly restarted, attacking the white surface with his stir stick. That awkward stumbling hesitation in her voice didn’t sound familiar to him at all. Nope.

“I know what you mean,” he said lightly. “Some people are kind of... something, aren’t he?” ‘Memories’ implied she was speaking of someone from before the Resistance started gathering, and Calley knew who would top his list of ‘bad vibe inspiring people’. But really, she could be talking about anyone. It wasn’t his place to prod her for information. Umm, except for the fact that was his job. But... but yeah. He had his reasons for not casually tossing out certain topics over breakfast, and she probably did, too. “So, yeah. What is that law rescinding mission all about? Err, I mean, what are you going to actually be doing? The meeting was really sketchy about that.” He paused. “Actually, it was really sketchy about this whole,” he waved his hands, searching for the right word, “operation.”

“I know what you mean. Some people are kind of... something, aren’t he?”

<"Aren't 'he'??"> Iris gave Calley a look halfway between confusion and suspicion. If that was a slip of the tongue, it was a rather odd slip. And if it wasn't, the Labs were huge, and full of 'he's'. There was no reason, really, that she could think of that Calley was referring to the same 'he' she was.

So why did she get the feeling he was? The furtive, 'I'm-not-looking-at-you' looks Calley was sending in her direction didn't help to disuade her feeling, either.

Voltaire chimined in right then with his explanation, distracting her from Calley's odd question.

"Hapkido is a martial arts that teaches you the harmony between body and soul. It's a more open minded version of karate or taekwondo. It focuses more on free movement and manipulating the battle to you advantage than the fighting techniques itself."

<"That sounded interesting. I wonder if Crystal knows anything about it?"> she wondered silently.

"You sure show allot of interrest into martial arts for a person that doesn't sound to keen about fighting."

Okay, so the topic switch had been a bit obvious....

"Well, I'm not. Keen on the fighting I mean. But we were talking about hobbies, and I guess some martial arts are kind of like gymnastics. Sort of, right? So I was just curious." She shrugged and smiled, and tried to ignore the warmth she felt in her face, hoping it wasn't as obvious as it felt.

“So, yeah,"

<"Thank you Calley, for the subject change!">

"What is that law rescinding mission all about?"

<".... .... Except for the change to that subject....">

"Err, I mean, what are you going to actually be doing? The meeting was really sketchy about that. Actually, it was really sketchy about this whole, operation.”

The bottom line? Hunter wanted to go on an assassin mission for a church board. How do you explain that will delicacy? And what was she going to be doing?

An acting job deserving of the academy awards.... Hunter hoped....

A bland expression replaced the embarrassment. "The law has too much vocal support. In order to get it overturned, there needs to be more support from the opposing side." Technically that was true.

She blinked, and turned back to Calley. "Meeting? What meeting?" She glanced at Voltaire to see if he knew what the boy was talking about.

OOC: hope you guys don't mind having one such 'scary violent type' come join you?

IC:
Shogun, wearing his plain kimono and sandals, had made a mental list of everyone in the canteen as he neared it. He planned on talking to one of the workers in the canteen so that they could arrange to have food taken to Shogun in his house. He preferred to eat food that he had cooked himself, rather than relying on someone else. But instead of just the usual collection of guards, he noted that there were a few people collected on a table at the other end of the room. He was able to pick up a sizeable chunk of their conversation as he entered the canteen, and he couldn't help noticing that shadow of gloom that they were fighting off.

He also couldn't help noticing that one of them was Calley, who annoyingly had the clutter in charge, and the sensible side was hiding in a hard to reach corner of his mind. Great. But duel personalities were too tempting to avoid not talking to, so he took his bowl of rice and various other japanese ingredients (OOC: I know nothing about japanese food, so I'm avoiding going into detail here) and went over to their table. It helped that every other table was full of guards, so he had a decent excuse for being there. "Do you mind if I sit here? There don't seem to be any other seats that aren't occupied by Antonescu's men."

OOC: For everyone's notice (and I'll be editting this into his profile in just a second), Shogun will always wear his armour when fighting/training/sparring/when appropriate, and his kimono whenever doing anything else. for more details, go see my profile about five minutes after I've posted this lol

Maybe it was boredom or maybe she wanted to just see who was in this maze of a facility, but Syn wandered into the canteen. Her eyes were met with several figures but only one truly stood out. "Iris."

"Do you mind if I sit here? There don't seem to be any other seats that aren't occupied by Antonescu's men."

Iris turned toward the new voice, and nearly did a double-take. The person attached to it seemed to come straight out of feudal Japan. With the exception of the blindfold, that is.

"Um, sure...." She motioned to the empty seats, then paused mid-gesture. Was he blind? There was no point in making hand motions if he couldn't see them. But not doing so seemed.... impolite.... She glanced at Calley and Voltaire, her confusion obvious.

About that point she realized, passively, that she was the only female at the table. Where were the rest of the women? It was just a passive curiosity, nothing more.

"Iris."

Just after she'd gone Haywire at the Mansion, when she still thought Hunter was a teacher, Iris had expressed a rather vindictive interest in meeting up with her kidnappers, Syn and Kaz. At the time, she'd been quite ready to show them just how much she enjoyed their hospitality.

Now that she had the chance, her reaction was a tad less.... graceful.... than planned.

Her body reacted much faster than her mind did, within seconds, in fact. By the time her mind caught up, she was up out of her chair, around the table, and standing behind Calley. She didn't expect the boy to be any kind protection perse, but Iris just wanted as many people between her and Syn as possible. Unfortunately, her choice of flight plan put Syn between her and the door.....

"What are you doing here??"

Iris didn't realize that her eyes had suddenly turned ice blue, and her skin was frosting over slightly.

The delightful response as Iris shot out of her chair and hid behind a boy made Syn smile broadly. She really had left an impression on the girl named Iris. The supposed daughter of Hunter.

"I'm here because Hunter has invited myself and several members of my group here." She hoped the thought of there being more than just Syn at the labs would further increase the tension Iris was obviously showing.

"I'm glad you remember me. It's been awhile since I last saw you." Syn looked Iris over. The girl seemed to be in good shape. Syn loved the feeling she got when others showed fear.

As Shogun approached them, Calley stared at the man with the frank curiosity of someone who’s never been properly introduced. This wasn’t hard to fake, since he’d never seen the Japanese man without his shiny armor. Without it, he was... disappointingly less shiny.

As Syn approached them, Calley experienced flashbacks to a boot hitting his little monkey head, and suddenly found Iris behind him. He thought for a split second. Then he stood from his seat non-aggressively, keeping himself firmly placed between Iris and Syn.

“Now I don’t know what’s going on here, or what’s between you two,” well, no more than the average teenager who had personally seen the video recordings of the Haywire experiments, costarring Iris and Syn, would know, “but maybe you should sit somewhere else, ma’am. Or,” he glanced back at Iris, “maybe you would like for me to give you a tour of the Labs? I’ve been here a little longer than you, it sounds like. I know where some things are. And,” he tiled his head the slightest bit towards Syn, “where some things aren’t.”

He wasn’t being brave or gallant: he was in a room full of muscle-bound employees of Hunter, some of them mutants, all of them ready to break up anything that started, and he wanted to get in Iris’ good graces. She’d done a pretty ill-advised move by choosing him as her protector, but he was more than happy to play up to it.

The boy that Iris was hiding behind spoke up. His statements seemed to reveal that he was unaware of the relations between Iris and Syn. Possibly it was a good thing that he didn't. However, Syn didn't move from her spot in front of the doorway. "We're just having a nice little chat. I haven't seen dear Iris in some time."

Syn tilted her head a bit to get a better view of Iris as she directed her words to the girl. "Where have you been hiding my dear?" Syn then decided to test Iris to see how she would react. "How was your visit at the mansion? Did you see your old friends again? Did you see my sister there as well?"

Voltaire was just sitting there, minding his own business when suddenly a man in a kimono asks if he can sit down at the same table. He found it odd that a person would come to the canteen dressed in something like that. "Isn't he worried it gets dirty or something" He thought. He nodded to the man and said:"Go ahead."

As he sat down a woman with green eyes and black hair with red highlights came to the table. She seemed to know who Iris was, and visa versa. She looked delighted to see Iris. Iris on the other hand jumped up and stood behind Calley as if he was a human shield of some sort. It happened so fast that he got starled by it and released a small shock around his right shoulder at the process. The mood tensed up allot with just that moment and so did he. He watched closely being prepared to jump up and do something about this situation if it goes out of hand. The red haired woman seemed to be very confident as she tried to tie a conversation with Iris, who looked like she didn't want to be around her at all.

He looked closely to Iris and noticed a small change in her but, he couldn't find out what it was. He placed his hand on the table and said:"What is going on here?"

"I'm here because Hunter has invited myself and several members of my group here."

"Really. Great...." The only other ones she knew of were Abyss and Kaz, neither of which she was keen to meet up with again. Iris gulped and took another, backwards half-step away.

"I'm glad you remember me. It's been awhile since I last saw you."

"Not long enough." Despite her heart pounding, that came out rather bitterly. She completed the step back, finally noticing the tiny cloud of fog as she spoke.

"What is going on here?"

“Now I don’t know what’s going on here, or what’s between you two, but maybe you should sit somewhere else, ma’am. Or, maybe you would like for me to give you a tour of the Labs? I’ve been here a little longer than you, it sounds like. I know where some things are. And, where some things aren’t.”

"Tour, yeah. Sounds great." In actuality, she hadn't heard what either Calley or Voltaire had said. She was trying to rationalize with herself.

<"Calm down, Iris, she's just messing with your mind. You don't even know what her mutation is. She could just be a telepa--... Okay, telepath's not good. Maybe she's just a pyro. You can handle a pyro."> Her fist closed around the blue jewel in her hand. The gem had activated on its own, and was increasing her fear; time to switch out. Keeping her eyes in Syn's direction, without making eye contact, Iris deactivated the Ice crystal, turning her eyes back to grey.

Syn spoke up again, addressing the others."We're just having a nice little chat. I haven't seen dear Iris in some time." Then she turned back to her. "Where have you been hiding my dear? How was your visit at the mansion? Did you see your old friends again? Did you see my sister there as well?"

<"Well, you are going to be acting for a while. No time like the present to start practicing.">

She took a deep breath, and schooled a frown onto her face. "I haven't been hiding. And my visit to the Mansion is none of your business. Star is in the camps." She answered the questions in a clipped tone that she hoped covered over her pounding heart.

The attemps Iris made to hide her fear wasn't good enough. Syn had mastered the the ability to spot signs of fear and hesitation. She prided herself on being able to cause emotional changes in people. The best part was that she wasn't even using her power. This was all sparking from Syn's mind games back in KP.

Hearing that Iris didn't want to talk about her hopefully horrific return to the mansion and noting that Deathstar was trapped in the camp made Syn laugh with joy. "That's the best news I've heard yet. I'm sure your friends were happy to see you again. Hopefully they didn't have much trouble welcoming you in." Syn flashed a smile to Iris.

The girl had somehow become Syn's favorite person. Quite possibly it was because of her reactions to Syn. Yes, that was the answer right there.

"Tour, yeah. Sounds great." It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Miss Iris here wasn’t exactly listening to anything except her tormenter in red-and-black color scheme. There was a very short list of people who rubbed Calley’s fur so far the wrong way that it caused little static sparks. In order of appearance: Hunter, Syn, and Kaz. Well would you look at that! Syn was on there. Well, then. Calley ran his idea past the clutter. They returned We’re in Mondragon Labs, Shogun is right there, Voltaire seems to be on our side, Iris’ powers are awesome when she’s not all kicked-puppy-like, There’s a ton-ass of Hunter’s men around, She threw a boot at our head, and I really do not like her. Though she is attractive in the manner of a particularly poisonous spider.

So ignoring that last one completely, Calley decided there wasn’t anything wrong with throwing a few sparks and hoping to see the witch burn. Especially seeing as Iris wasn’t doing so hot with her attempts at growing a backbone. See, the trick wasn’t actually to grow one: it was just to not think too hard about your complete lack of one.

As Syn flashed her smile to Iris, Calley rolled his eyes. “Okay. You’re from the Sanctuary Gangstas, or whatever you call yourselves. You’re badass. We get it. Now were you actually hungry, or did you just come to the Canteen because you’d rather poke needles at the people who are doing something to help around here than actually do something useful yourself? Last I heard, some of your teammates were rotting in the camps, too. Like Isabel.” It was amazing how easy it was to sound impassioned about a subject. Calley was amused. Slate was academically entertained.

“And another thing. I’ve been dating Isabel for how long, and we’ve met how many times? Seriously, the least you could do is show a little spark of recognition. I understand I’m a lowly below-notice vermin-of-the-Earth Mansion resident, but you’d think that would actually make you remember me more. What with me dating one of your team members. One of your rotting in the camps team members. Now either go do something to get her out, or go find a bagel to shove in that mouth of yours.”

I am an indignant Mansion resident defending my fellow! And I'm a concerned boyfriend! Booya!

...You are something. That is for certain.

as the conversation between Iris and the other woman continued, Voltaire was getting more and more frustrated. His opinion on Iris was that she is a nice person and seemingly the other woman wasn't a very nice person to her. As he looked at the woman he felt strange. She was a attractive woman but in a "evil" way. It made him more stressed out and he had to focus harder to keep his powers under control. He was tensed about this entire scenario seeing as Iris looked ready to attack at any time. He now noticed her eyes had changed. "So that was it" he thought.

As Syn flashed her smile to Iris, Calley rolled his eyes. “Okay. You’re from the Sanctuary Gangstas, or whatever you call yourselves. You’re badass. We get it. Now were you actually hungry, or did you just come to the Canteen because you’d rather poke needles at the people who are doing something to help around here than actually do something useful yourself? Last I heard, some of your teammates were rotting in the camps, too. Like Isabel.” It was amazing how easy it was to sound impassioned about a subject. Calley was amused. Slate was academically entertained.

"Sanctuary" He thought. " What is that supposed to mean?" He became more and more confused as the conversation progressed. He had no clue what happened between everybody here, and he sure didn't know anything about the "Sanctuary". He became more and more stressed about not knowing anything about it and seeing a nice girl like Iris being bullied around like that. It reminded him off his schoolyears, seeing as he was bullied there too. The more stressed he became the lesser control he had over his power. The quickly stood up and said : "Somebody is going to explain to me what the hell is going on before i blow a fuse." When he stood up small shocks appeared around his hands and he had a tensed face.

"That's the best news I've heard yet. I'm sure your friends were happy to see you again. Hopefully they didn't have much trouble welcoming you in."

With her fear now lowered to extreme nervousness, that statement produced a scowl on Iris's face. "I'm still alive, aren't I?" she snipped back cryptically. She glanced idly at the samurai, wondering what he was making of this conversation.

Calley's outburst was rather interesting, and made Iris a bit more wary of him. For one thing, she didn't know what the Sanctuary was. She never had been able to figure out where she and the others were held. Whether it was the Sanctuary or someplace else, it seemed Syn had connections there, which automatically shot it to the top of Iris's 'Places Never to Visit' list.

Also he'd been dating one of Syn's teammates. Iris resisted the urge to shuffle a bit further from Calley too. Hopefully, the kid simply had bad taste.... Either way, it reminded Iris that she knew nothing about him really, and thus couldn't trust him.

"Now either go do something to get her out, or go find a bagel to shove in that mouth of yours.”

Okay, so may he wasn't so bad after all.....

"Somebody is going to explain to me what the hell is going on before i blow a fuse." Iris noticeably flinched when Voltaire stood, and his power went off involuntarily.

"No, don't blow a fuse." She inhaled, trying to pick her words carefully. "It's no big deal Volt. Syn and have a little bit of history, is all. And it's going to stay that way. History." To emphasize her words, she moved resolutely back around the table and towards the door. "I'll talk to you all later."

She attempted to hide her shaking behind clenched fists, and continued to not look Syn in the eyes. At the same time she tried not rush out, but to move deliberately. It was a risk, but calculated. Whatever Syn was capable of, Iris's powers were out of commission for three and half minutes, and counting. She couldn't take any kind of attack, but she also could be forced into attacking someone else, either. If she could get by the red-and-black haired woman without issue, that would be the end of it.

She hoped.....