Uskir left his house well fed and clothed thanks to his gentle grandma, who was still yelling from the door as he walked away, telling him to make sure he stopped by for that unusual cousin of his. Uskir knew what she meant, even though the years had passed Jay was pretty much still Jay. He'd definitely adopted more of the city life than Uskir ever had, and precisely because of that Uskir worried about his cousin. At least we're in the same group, he told himself, letting his negative mind think about Jay's possible downfall, one that would have nothing to do with the clear and present danger the forced awakening of powers presented.
"Morning Jay," he said as he flopped onto the bed, full body landing on the sleeping younger cousin.
In the time away, he had forgotten what the beds at home were like. By the time Jay had fallen asleep, he had been exhausted from tossing and turning and slept like the dead. With a lurch, Jay was bounced off his mattress and sent spilling, tangled in sheets as Uskir landed, though. A half-asleep caterwaul escapes his lips, unsure what was going on but entirely convinced it was some sort of natural disaster and he was going to die once again. The village had become his death sentence. It was an elaborate ruse to dispose of him by those who had stayed behind, he was entirely sure of it now. How else could he have been swept up in massacres, earthquakes and patrol duty.
It was slow-going before he realized he was not actually deceased. Largely, because he was thoroughly against opening his eyes. Vision returned, though, he looks up from his cock-eyed position half-on the floor to his cousin. "Morning? No one wakes up in the morning. That's the realm of stiffs and johns. You'll have to drag in my corpse, cuz, I'm not going. I'm not wearing that." His hand disgustedly points at the abominable uniform of the patrol.
Uskir sat up as Jay babbled his distaste, "You can, uh… fold the sleeves or something? C'mon, I'll give you a piggyback ride like when we were little. That'll be an unforgettable entrance!" Uskir mocked. He stood up, the full length of his body looking down at Jay, and walked around with a smile as the unchanged room reminded him of fond memories. "I'll give you 10 minutes before I drag you out," he chuckled.
Jay narrows his eyes defiantly, adjusting his boxer-briefs and murmurs low, "You wouldn't dare, lit'l Us-Us."
"You owe me, of course I dare. Hurry up or we're going to be late… or we'll be on time with you in all your naked glory," Uskir picked up a framed drawing of the two as kids, Jay sporting a big smile while a small Uskir was sporting an ugly crying face.
There was a loud sigh before Jay thumped the rest of his body none too gracefully to the ground in order to get free. "God, but no one looks good in that thing…" He reaches up, swatting at the outfit until the hanger knocked loose and it flopped down to join him. He tugs the pants loose and proceeds to climb into them, legs flailing before stopping in the air. "Who the fuck did these belong to? Was it that one fat kid? How am I supposed to keep these on?! It's a circus tent! A gawdy, bland, circus tent!"
Uskir laughed, but not too much considering his own uniform was too short on the sleeves and pant legs, "I thought Maria looked pretty good in it actually, and of course probably Vi- vying for everyone's attention. Anyway," he said hurriedly "Since when do you care about impressing the village?" Uskir knew the best way to veer Jay's attention was through his vanity.
He offers a crooked smiling after cinching the belt, pulling on his white tee and tying the jacket off at his waist. "Whatever. I can only imagine how awful Saskia looks in it. Makes it a little more bearable." He frowns, looking at the boots… before slipping on his Taylors. "Do I at least get something to eat? I like the prospect of having something to hurl later."
"Grandma packed your lunch and breakfast, sometimes I think she favors you more than her own grandson," Uskir handed him the extra shoulder bag. "You have something for Saskia? Or is she in our group? I didn't really see the list, since I found out about the draft from grandma," he said as he walked to the exit.
He snorts, shouldering the bag, "Like hell I do-- and I really don't know, but she's just always around. Remember how she was always being paired up with me in school to keep me out of trouble?" He shakes his head, following after Uskir, fishing for whatever grandma had made for breakfast to eat along the way. He got the feeling Uskir wanted a reprieve from his mouth-running.
Jay didn't finish his breakfast until they both reached the edge of the forest, "I'm not liking this meeting spot, why set it up in some private spot? I heard the neighbor's kid was going to the Patrol station near the Doppler bridge," Uskir commented as they continued on through the trees.
He frowns, "Because they're embarrassed of us?" he freezes in his tracks, "God dammit, I told you. There she is! You know, maybe I wouldn't be such a fuck-up if they let me do my own thing, but noooo I'm always being babysat." He snorts, crossing his arms, thoroughly disgruntled. "What is with this group, even? God, I bet that weird tree-creep is here, too. What was his name…" He drums his fingers on his forearm, "Linus! Linus, I bet he's just lurking around. God, who was even in charge of putting this group together."
Uskir was quiet, his demeanor suddenly changed. He grabbed onto the leather necklace he was wearing, a gift from his city girlfriend whose reply letter he was still waiting for. "I'm pretty sure that's not his name," Uskir replied uncomfortably. He cleared his throat and said, "Good morning" to the group in general, stealing a quick glance at Vikentije before turning to Saskia, "I should've checked the list, I wouldn't have been too nervous about the Patrol meeting had I known you'd be in it Saskia."
"Morning Usi." Saskia handed Uskir the peach she had picked for him. "From the tree that I planted way back when. Told you it'd work. How's your head?" she said, watching Uskir rub his head and smile in reply. Saskia smirked when she saw Jay, "Not gonna piss your pants today? I can't believe you actually wore the uniform. Weren't you the one who was always talking about being stylish?"
Jay grumbles low, "Oh, yeah, so much coming from the butch hag."
Saskia raised an eyebrow, "Butch hag? Really? For someone who's what, 25 years old? Your comebacks are worse than a junior high school girls."
"Guys," Amitola took a step towards Saskia and Jay, "I know you two have never gotten along the best, but we're a team now and this is our first day. We shouldn't be fighting."
Aurelio gave them a friendly smile, but whether it was his experience or charisma or whatever betrayed his clearly professional attitude. Uskir didn't recognize him, he thought him just another one of the group, but could clearly see the guy was a Patrol original, not some lazy hair dyed complainer who'd prove himself useless later on.
Vikentije only glared at the new arrivals, no discomfort or awkwardness in his face. Unlike Uskir, he'd paid no mind to the childhood rumors. Considering the way he was glaring though, Uskir thought he remembered clearly. In truth, Vikentije was getting pissed off by the bloody height.
Jay looks between the duo before chirping in, "Hey, Viki. Guess you didn't die. Good deal. Might I say, womanhood has made you all the more lovely. It suits you." He gives Vikentije a wink and a thumbs up.
Aurelio instinctively stepped in, saying only one worried word "Vikentije." In the split second Aurelio had reacted, Vikentije had also leaned away from the tree and closed the distance. "Don-" Aurelio began, but Vikentije had side-stepped him and was now standing in front of Jay.
"Say that again you mongrel. I dare you," Vikentije's anger usually was suppressed by his pride, loss of control being too unbecoming, but the rage seemed to crawl on his skin. He'd been on edge since the assembly, pissed off at his own inability to help more people at the time. The powerlessness of just watching the power burn out of a person… as he challenged Jay, he almost wished the guy would take up the challenge. His spine itched with the want to grab that stupid face and squeeze.
Aurelio sighed, shaking his head. Less than an hour and his team was already trying to kill each other.
Peyton pauses at the edge of the group, her hands on her camera nervously, "Uhm… Is this where I'm supposed to be?"
