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(Kat)
Kat sat for a moment, not sure she heard what she heard. She understood what Chord and them were trying to do. The big picture as Mia had said but in her mind he took it a little to far. There were better ways to get the point across than the way Chord had tried. Still to just give up was not something she had thought he would have done.
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So, when Chord and Harrison walked out, Kat honestly couldn't believe it. She looked to Brandon, who just stood up and left. This made her even more confused. Not sure what to do she looked to the others. "I'm heading up to my room. I'm going to collect my stuff and head back to my old place. There is room if you all want to crash for a while."?
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Kat stood and headed for the door. As she did she stopped and turned around. "I don't want to leave. This is the first time in my life that I have been around someone like me. I don't want to lose my friends."?
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(Gen)
Gen nodded to what Kites said, happy to hear that the winged youth's sentiments mirrored his own. He wanted to give Kites a supportive kiss or hug when he sat back down, but contented himself with a smile and a playful shoulder nudge, not wanting to risk even more disapproval from Chord or anyone else.
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He then listened to Mia say her piece, then glowered at the water controller as she sat down.? "I said I was sorry," he muttered, digging back into his food and stuffing his face angrily. "We can't _all_ be perfect."
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The androgyne wasn't prepared though for what came next, nearly choking on his food when Chord announced that he was disbanding the project and that they were on their own as of this morning. Then Ireland seeming to echo him in blaming everyone but Mia for this.? And then Harrison handing an envelope to Mia as she and Chord left the room.
Gen felt sorry for Brandon as the man gave Ireland an injured look and a quiet "thank you" and then headed for the doors.? "It wasn't your fault!" he called out as the dejected man left the room, adding "Not all of it anyway" quietly to himself.
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"Me too," Gen said when Kat announced her intentions. Impulsively, the androgyne got up and went to the cat girl and hugged her tightly.? "I don't want to lose you either," he said holding her close, his voice choking a bit with emotion.? "Not any of you," he went on, glancing back at Kites with longing. His expression glowered a bit when he added "Not even you two" looking at Mia and Ireland.
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"The same goes for me too," he said finally, reluctantly releasing Kat and stepping back.? "I'm going back to my old place, and if anyone needs a place to stay, it's got plenty of room." He chewed his lip a bit, looking a little embarrassed.? "It doesn't have electricity or running water.? And you have to fly or swim or have a boat to get there. But it does have a great view of the harbor and the city skyline," he added, grinning weakly.? "Anyway, you're all welcome."
The androgyne hesitated, then walked up to Kites and hugged him impulsively.? "Come with me," he said softly, looking up into the taller youth's eyes.? "I'll take care of you. It won't be as fancy or comfortable as this place, but at least we won't have to worry about pleasing anyone else."
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(Kites)
I hope that you won't give up on us either...? These words echoed in Kites' mind far after Chord voiced his desire to disband the program, thanking them all of their honest thoughts.? He was completely stunned at what just transpired and in utter disbelief that this was it.? That they have failed to such a high degree that the company decided all these fledglings were not worth their time.? Sitting at the table without a single twitch or move, his eyes unfocused and stared into the distance, letting everything fade into the background as his ears closed off to the outside, everyone sounding as if they were in slow motion and had cotton stuffed into their mouths.? Heart and mind warred within his body, emotions arguing with logic, trying to process everything from start to finish, to make sense of all this chaos.
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A part of him had agreed with what Mia said, hating that he was admitting this to himself.? She had cut through the bullshit like she was parting water, precisely pointing out where and how everyone failed, making sure to single Gen out as a major pain point.? It made him feel angry, not just because he felt protective over the beautiful androgyne.? The way Mia spoke just felt so cold and unfeeling, very matter-of-fact that they all failed because of their inadequacies and she was the only one who was prim and proper.? Sure, she was the most mature out of all of them but all it did was make her seem uppity.? Add to their already hurting egos, Ireland also made her disdain clearly known as she spoke about her disappointment with them.? She who couldn't handle her own feathers being ruffled, expecting a total stranger to have known her weakness and walk on eggshells around it, well, this just further solidified his dislike of her and her presence.? It made his skin crawl, but it wasn't till Kat said something, turning to leave, and Gen's soft voice bringing him back from the edge, that he suddenly came to and broke out of the stupor in which he was in.
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"What?? Wait, Kat, no...please stay," Kites pleaded, suddenly jumping up from his seat as the chair fell to the floor with a loud bang.? He reached out for her hand but suddenly hesitated, stepping back.? He stood in the middle of the room, his hands balling up into fists.? Just as there was a side of him that agreed with the fiery redhead, there was another part that was decidedly unaccepting of this conclusion and the more he thought about it, the more he became incensed.? No...no...no, he was not leaving.? _They_ were not leaving.? Not Kat, not Gen, not him.? Chord.? He needed to talk to Chord, but not now and certainly not in the enraged state of mind that he was in.? Not if he wanted to deal with this calmly and logically.? He needed to get away, he thought, just as the androgyne approached him and enveloped him in a hug.
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"No," he sharply said, looking directly at Gen and at the same time through him, as if he was still lost in his own thoughts again.? When he realized how angrily he addressed his lover, he softened a bit.? "No, I...I need...I need time to think.? Sorry."? He returned the shorter boy's hug, but it was stiff, awkward and cold, especially with Mia and Ireland watching.? As much as he wanted to admit that he didn¡¯t give a flying fuck about them, he didn¡¯t want their fraternizing to be yet another point of contention.? Gripping Gen by both shoulders, he somewhat roughly?pushed him away and turned to head out towards the elevators.? It wasn't till later that he realized his fingers were digging into the palms of his hands, producing red, angry welts in his skin.? Whatever, it didn't matter anyway.? His feet took him past the training room, past the elevators, past whatever else this place held behind each wall, till he stood in front of the glass doors that led out into the city.? Hesitating for just a second, he decided to step out and as he did, he was hit with the hustle and bustle of the busy metropolis, myriads of sights and sound that assaulted all his senses.? Without a further ado, he disappeared into a nearby alley and took to the skies, wings beating harshly to lift him higher and higher, not stopping till he had cleared all of the towering skyscrapers.
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As he soared on the rising hot pockets of air, he closed his eyes, spreading his arms wide as he let the air envelop him in its warm embrace, closing his eyes.? Here, there were no expectations, no sense of failure or disappointment.? No, here was just the sky, the wind that gently ruffled his feathers, and the serenity that he so sorely lacked these days.? Some time had passed before he floated down, alighting with the roof of Chord's company building and found a bench upon which he sat, letting his wings droop as he pensively watched the city skyline. ?Going over his own actions, he suddenly realized how hurt Gen looked when he pushed him away that he felt like an idiot, bringing his hands up to his face and then screamed in frustration. ?He continued sitting there for a while, head supported in his hands, elbows on knees as he tried to calm himself down.
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(Mia)
Mia felt the sudden shift in the room from those around her after she spoke.??They would never accept her fully as one of theirs since she didn¡¯t have a flirty affair going on with anyone.??She did find Ireland attractive and even tried flirty with her on the roof a couple nights earlier, but the woman didn¡¯t seem receptive.
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Then Mr. Chord said something about disbanding the project all together.??She knew they had failed, but really that badly.??She overheard Gen¡¯s comment about being perfect, ¡°I am far from perfect.¡±??She said in response as Ms. Harrison and Mr. Chord left the room and she was handed an envelope.??She got up from the table and went to a window away from everyone else and opened the envelope.??Simply said, ¡°Meet me on the roof, please.??Ms. H¡±??Mia wondered what she had done to impress the woman who only a few days ago had more or less told her she could leave.
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She turned to the group as she folded the note and slipped it into her pocket, ¡°Well, it seems that you all clearly don¡¯t like me for whatever reason.??So, I am just going to say my goodbyes, thank you, and good luck.¡±??With that she left the conference room and headed for the elevator.??She just didn¡¯t understand why she never fit in anywhere and she was tired of trying when others wouldn¡¯t take the time to get to know her.
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(Ireland)
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Ireland wasn¡¯t at all surprised what happened next.?
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Brandon and his punk ass only made things worse. Even in this moment he has a chance to be a leader and he blew it. Running away for invoking all the sympathy he needed and making things worse...setting the rest of the off.
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Now Kat was crying, Gen was getting catty with his comments and Kites was pushing the rest of them away.
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Gaw...Ireland tried really hard not to roll her eyes at the level of melodrama that was playing out before her. These people had known each for all of what...36 whole hours and they were acting like the had been friends since birth and Chord and Harry had just cruelly ripped them apart and sent then out to the wolves...not just told them to go home.
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Surely they knew It was possible for life any friendship and budding relationships for them to continue to exist beyond any ideas that MC3 had plan for them.?They must all be really young...and virgins...otherwise she had no understanding why they would all act this...this...dramatic. Because this was just too much for her.?
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She kept her face and body language unreadable as the scene unfolded before her. She was even good and didn¡¯t laugh in Gen¡¯s face when he looked at she and Mia in disgust...and spat out his words towards them.?
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Out of all of them, he was the one who was hard to take... she was so wrong about him. The other day, when he helped her out with that jerk, He seemed so cool and sweet and nice....Even Frankie like him And Frankie never liked anyone.?She wanted to get to know him more...
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But now...after hooking up with that Kites guy...he wasnt the same guy. He was now catty, disrespectful and rude...he had turned into a mean girl...just like Kites. And Ireland didn¡¯t do mean girls.?
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When Mia said what she said and walk out. Ireland felt bad for her. Mia had just openly expressed just how much they made her feel left out. She?wondered if any of them would care.?
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They had their cliques and dicks...and Mia wasnt apart of that before...that was obvious yesterday and now since she had proven herself as free independent thinker...it was probably even more so for this group now.
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¡°Thanks Gen. The way you just spat those words out, the look of disgust in your eyes as you looked at me and Mia while you said, made it oh so believable.¡± She said standing up.?
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Ireland moved to the door, ?¡°The other day when I meet you...When you helped me with that jerk. I thought you were so cool. Right now...in this moment...not so much.¡±
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¡°It was nice to meet you Kat. Since you and Brandon are now a thing, I¡¯ll probably see you again. Hey Mia, wait up.¡± She said leaving the room. She caught with Mia at the elevator.
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¡°Hey...you okay?¡± Ireland asked
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(Brandon)
He would pack after he got his answer.? He could only assume that Mia was their choice in co-leader along with Ireland which was fine he realize Mia had the right idea.? He just didn't think it was right or fair to over tax them on the first day.? But deep down it made sense...if they were in a situation...the villains weren't going to pull their punches cause they didn't know what to do cause they weren't prepared so what did he expect?? Seeing Ireland look at him as she did, didn't help his case either.? Seems he was disappointing all the way around.? He was good by himself he had only to defend himself but in a group he seemed to result to his base level and that was just as insecure and inept as he accepted that he was when his older brother used to pick on him.
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He went to Chord and wanted to talk to him.? He was surely willing to plead his case for the others not him.? He actually had not stepped up the way he should, but the others didn't have the opportunity and deserved a chance to be better.? If anything they would excel under Harrison and Chord's training far better than he had obviously.? So if anything he would at least give them a chance to be a better team...together.? It was the best he could do.? He would at least have his team? ?As that was truly far more important than anyone person anyway.
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Brandon walked into the office.
¡°Mr. Chord¡.you are scraping the project cause your son didn¡¯t live up to your expectations.? He disappointed and failed you once again?? I get that I played that wrong¡I should have been more commanding, more analytical and less emotional.? I know the villains won¡¯t give us that chance to make a mistake.? But I am asking you¡to give them a chance even if you drop me from the team.? Give them the chance to be better.? I am not even pissed at Ireland being the team lead.? She deserves it.? I don¡¯t measure up I get it.? But they deserve a chance to prove they can be better than their showing yesterday!? You and Harrison can train them better than me!? They can be the team you all can be proud of.? I guarantee it.? If you don¡¯t take them then they will more than likely kill someone or kill each other trying to do it on their own anyway.? They will find a way to perfect the experiment with GEN and make them¡fully activated and controlled.¡±? Brandon looked at the man.
¡°Please Dad¡just give them one more chance?!?¡±? He stood there a boldly as he could it didn¡¯t have to do with him he didn¡¯t care what happened to him this time.? Hell he had caused enough problems of his own, now it was more about making sure those that were here had a better chance that what his emotional stance had given them.? He couldn¡¯t protect them all he could only save them and the best way he could do that was getting out of the way.
Tag: Brandon, Kat, Gen, Kites, Mia, Ireland, Chord and Harrison
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