She had time for one last, conspiratorial whisper before the Jayde boys were upon them. "Nene, Ti, ready to play?" They nodded discreetly, and with a wink at Pallas, Rox turned around on the bench and leaned gracefully against the table, Swede and Mik lounging languidly beside her. With appraisal shining in her chocolate eyes, she looked them all up and down, biting her lip playfully as she raised an eyebrow and purred. Adam and Erik from Mik's quad were watching her and the girls with wide eyes, and Rox smiled to herself as she raised her eyes to meet the tall African-American boy's gaze.

Rox and her girls were about to do what they did best. Play time...

"Well well well, look what we've got here, girls... what are five handsome men like you doin' all alone? And ooh, Mik, it's your two new roomies... heya darlin's, remember us?" Mik smirked and nodded, running her eyes over Erik as she tilted her head and nudged Swede. "I toldya I got a pair of hotties, Nene... they didn't give you any playthings in Griffin, did they?"

Swede sighed dramatically. "No, eetz juzt me, Roxee, and Pallaz all aloon in dere, no cuteez like deze vunz..." She smiled coyly up at Liex and Mika, brushing the long blonde-red spikes from her eyes as she shifted to face Pallas. "How aboot eet, Pallaz, too bad vee deedn't geet anee greenz, I eem jealooz..."

"Now Nene, I'm sure there's plenty of 'em to go around..." Rox pushed herself standing and sauntered around, eyeing the five Jaydes with an approving smirk on her lips. "I was right about this one," she flicked Adam lightly on the ear, "but the rest of 'em are mighty fine too... damn, why couldn't I ever go to this Jayde Center? We've been missin' out all these years, girls..."

"Well, I must say, we've got plenty of time to catch up, Roxy." Mik had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing out loud; the expressions on the green's faces was too funny for words. Swede's shoulders were shaking a little as she shook her head, and she had to kick the girl under the table to warn her. Wouldn't be much fun any more if they caught onto their ploy. Damn, what some boys will fall for... They hadn't had any new toys for awhile; Nicolai had taken Rox's flirtatious attitude too seriously, pursuing her until she'd had to punch him to keep him away. And Swede just never liked anyone... she toyed with whoever dared to advance on her, but they quickly learned not to bother. These boyos... oooh, these ones would be fun. They hadn't learned any better yet.

The charm in Bryo's smile broadened in pleasure at the welcome these girls were giving him and his brothers. That little asian lady was foyne... loud, flirtatious, an ass that could fit right into the palms of his hands... just his type. They were all quite pretty... The blonde one with the funny voice was going to have to meet Tony- the brotha had a sort of horny fetish for weird accents.

"Ladies," Bryo stepped out in front of the four others boys, "My name is Bryo Jayde. And these good-looking young men standing behind me are my brothers Liex-" the huge boy smiled slightly, his blue eyes twinkling as they gazed at Pallas, "Mika-" Mika started, tearing his eyes from Mik's hips long enough to grin like a child with his hand caught in a cookie jar, "Adam-" the boy nodded distractedly, his attentions being occupied by Roxy's sexy glances, "-and Erik." Erik scratched his head nervously and stood up taller, pulling his lips into what he called his ladies-man-smile. Something that looked like a dog's face when its leg is thumping from a petting. Bryo shook his head in silent, hilaried pity. These brothas were in fatal need for lessons in lady-mackin'. They probably couldn't even tell that these older, very attractive women were trying to mess with their green little heads. Well. Bryo might be called green, but his ass was black, and no sista ever succeeded in playin this playa for a fool. Yet right now there was no harm... so he would play along and share the fun that these girls would have with him. He'd let them play with his brothers a little... pain and humiliation are some of the best teachers after all, neh?

Biting her lip and rolling her eyes in appreciation, Roxy tapped her fingers idly against Bryo's chest as she glanced toward her girls, a playful smile across her face, but a gleaming twinkle in her eyes that they knew all too well. Roxy had found herself a new toy.

She knew very well he was playing with her too, but anything was better than trying to engage his other brothers in a little fun; all they could manage to do was stare like a throng of escaped inmates from the Institute. Not since Nico had Roxy been so well matched in her game. Swede and Mik leaned back against the table as they kept their own eyes running over Bryo's companions, but their identical smirks said it all.

"Well, Bryo sweetheart, we were just sittin' here all alone 'til you brought your handsome crew along. How about it, girls? Should we take our new boys around? Wouldn't hurt so show a little... hospitality, don't you think?" Her voice played smoothly as she smiled up at Bryo, gently sauntering away from his hold on her waist with a look in her eyes that told him she really hadn't minded his touch at all. Mik slid from the seat, Swede following as the blonde sidled her way beside Erik and let her chest brush his arm momentarily.

Mik crooked a finger toward Mika and Adam, grinning as she motioned for Pallas to join them. "C'mon Pallas, let's give these cuties a tour, neh? Who wants to lead the way?

Glancing back with a smirk, Swede ran her eyes over Liex and before meeting Roxy's dancing gaze. "How aboot yoo take uz aroond, eh, Roxee? Zeemz yoo... know yoor vay aroond diz plaze..." She almost exploded with laughter at the innuendo, winking knowingly at Bryo before joining Mik and Pallas.

Pallas sighed and smirked, but didn't add anything to to the conversation as she joined the rest of the girls. She enjoyed watching her friends having fun, and though it wasn't really her style of fun, this promised to be too entertaining to miss.

She was only really paying attention with half a mind today, though, and part of this spectacular performance was going to be lost. She was still running endorphins from the sim battle. Swede was an effective match for her, most of the time, and an excellent fighting partner, but Kevo was a pilot after her own heart, quick, deft and merciless, with an affection for traps.

This was going to interfere with her studies...and the way Swede kept looking at her with amusement it was probably going to make her Cell life a little more difficult as well. Perhaps this afternoon had just been a fluke. Maybe he wasn't really as frighteningly logical or intelligent as he seemed.

Looking around the commons, Sue shifted her duffle as she took in the place. Definitely not battleschool. She'd gotten used to being one of the older people around, now she was the a green... one of the youngest. It was something that she'd have to get used to. She looked around, not surprised at the fact that she didn't recognize anyone around her.

She'd thought that her leave on Earth would be good, but being back in space had felt even better. Back on Earth, she found out that her father had remarried... but that didn't anger her as much as the fact that the girl he had married was only years older than her and was doing it for the money, the fame, the political influence that it gained her. She'd bearly uttered a word to her father the entire time that she'd been home. Made the excuse that he had work to do and she didn't want to take up his time. And then there was the fact that he decided to move so that <i>she</i> could be closer to her family. He'd sold the house where her mother had raised her before she got cancer... he'd sold it without a second thought... and moved to Florida.

Just to get out of the house away from that lady, she'd spent hours walking along the beach... for the first time seeing what kyle had told her about and she realized why it was such a special memory for him.

Kyle... she wondered where he was... She haden't even been able to find out if he'd been graduated with her. She hadn't known really anyone that had been graduated with her. She knew she couldn't count on Drea showing up, they'd iced him after a big fight with some griffins. Said that he was too much of a threat to the rest of the students with his unstable behavior... unstable... he was just mad... she'd been the whole reason the animosity started between griffin and eagle in the first place, she'd tried to take the blame off of drea, but it didn't work... she shook her head, she wasn't going to dwell on the past.

Stepping into the large room and pausing to the right of a pillar Kyle surveyed his new surroundings. Sun bleached hair and a dark tan had returned to his skin as evidnce of his leave. He had left his heaven to return to this hell. He quietly dropped his bag and leaned against the pillar with his hands in his pockets. His face was solemn and emotionless. He was back in space. After returning home for the first time in three years he wanted to be here less than ever before. He had gotten longer leave than most from what he heard. When he returned he told his parents that he wasn't going back. After numerous visits from the fleet they decided to give up on him. Kyle was happy, but his dad was not. He saw a look in his dad's eyes he had never seen before. It was a look of disappointment. So now he was back and it wasn't even battle school. There was someone there that wasn't here. Someone that befriended him early and always made him laugh and feel at home around her. Even after he had returned home and decided never to come back he missed her. Sue. But how could Sue not be here? She was one of the best soldiers in Eagle, much less of the girls. He shot a few quick almost hopeful glances around to find nothing but unfamiliar faces and quickly returned to his own solitude. He knew he was doing nothing more than feeling sorry for himself and it would get him nowhere, but it was all he could do.

Sue turned suddenly, a couple strands of grown out bangs falling into her eyes, and saw him. "Kyle? I heard someone calling my name.. but i didn't think in a million years that I'd see you." She looked him up and down, he looked pretty much the same as when she'd seen him last, only much darker. She, herself, had gotten a fairly good tan over her leave, but he was definitely darker than she had been. But then again, he was always tan, even after months in battle school he still had a tan, it was a bit lighter than when he first arrived, but it was still dark.

Stuck in a half-jog as Mode tugged her quickly through the corridors, Kat frowned to herself at his little reassurance of control, keeping her off-balance like this. Finally he slowed, came to a stop as they reached the Commons, and Kat gripped his fingers tighter in hers as she turned, keeping her back against his, as if they were surrounded. She still hadn't adjusted to the vast amount of soldiers occupying the station, still wasn't used to the wide open space and all the activity, and feeling him securely behind her lessened her anxiety.

"Do you?" he asked a little coldly, but sighed and moved out into the Commons. He hadn't seen Jor or Dante, but there was a group of the people she'd eaten dinner with last night. He recognized Pallas, his old toon leader, and then spotted Swede as well.

He ignored them as he walked past with Kat in tow. The other girls appeared to be accompanying a group of boys. Despite their obvious fluster and interest in the girls, there was something similar about them that confused him a little until he saw the little Jayde insignia on each of their uniforms. They were in different Quads, of course, but they all had that insignia, and all seemed to be at the same level of wariness, despite their distraction.

He'd heard about the Jaydes. A couple of the Institute inmates had been thrown out of the Jayde Academy. From what he heard they were all about solidarity to their own unit, and mostly stayed separate from everyone else, even the other IF soldiers.

His curiousity satisfied, he began to move on, before he realized that Kat was looking too. She wasn't studying them curiously as he had been. She looked like she was looking for someone specific.

There were five of them, all with the familiar Jayde patches on their uniforms.

Kat didn't bother examining the girls they were with beyond her normal cursory observation, and focused her attention instead on the boys. She recognized them all; Bryo, Mika, Adam, Erik, and Liex... all her launchmates for such a brief time. But however short her acquaintance with them personally was, she'd never forgotten their first fight. Erik slamming Jax against the wall, Adam hitting him across the back of the head with his gun stock, and herself, hissing at Ryan to call his lackeys off her boy. All too familiar indeed.

Five of them, but no sign of Ryan.

He studied her face and then glanced back to the Jaydes. One of these was the one who'd done this to her. A little concern worked its way into his cold eyes. He trusted Kat to be able to take care of herself, to some extent. He expected her to use enough discretion in choosing her targets that she wouldn't get too badly damaged.

Her military strategy class had been canceled. Now with nothing to do, unwilling to return to the barracks, Dante strolled quietly through the commons, making her way to her favorite little nook beneath the outcropping of trees. Seating herself on the bench there, half-hidden from view, she watched the passing soldiers with solemn glacier eyes.

Donovan grinned back at his brother.

"You can go back to our cell and throw the greens out. We're going to have company." He met his brother's closed fist with his own and then walked out into the Commons proper.

Dante was seated on a bench, watching the passing traffic. Her dark red hair was darker still when damp, and he watched those slender fingers run through them with fascination before that silver gaze came to rest on him in slight surprise as he sat down next to her, a small smile on his lips, his eyes intent on hers.

Unable to hide the slight surprise in her eyes as some stranger slid into the seat beside her, more surprised still when she realized he knew her name, Dante felt her icy shield rising. It was one of the boys she'd seen staring at her in the observatory... and from the slight smile on his lips, the way he was gazing at her so intensely now, she knew her solitude would not return soon.

His smile grew a tiny bit wider. The chill in her tone didn't deter him. She'd spoken; that was all that mattered.

Her ice began to melt slowly as he spoke; not from softness or interest, but from the flame of anger that lit inside. Alone, as if he ever had to live with truly being alone. It didn't matter what he knew, didn't matter what little bits of information he'd somehow managed to find about her. Unwelcome thoughts of Nathan sprung to mind, cooling her enough that she was able to tilt her head and face this boy who dared to say she didn't want to be by herself.

Of course she didn't. She'd have preferred to be alone with Angel.

Don was a little taken aback despite himself. This girl still had a commanding air hidden below her chill surface, and it affected him a little, his face growing more serious as his eyes held hers. What could have made her into this? he wondered silently, marvelling at the hailstorm of anger he saw swirling in her eyes.

The corners of her lips twitched slightly in a painful smirk. The smile wasn't for him; her gaze unfocused for a moment as she stared away, seeing but not really noticing the crowds around them. It was a smile for herself. He wanted to learn. Then go fall in love, she wanted to scream at him. Go fall in love and have your heart broken when he tries to kill you... go spend two years mourning and living with guilty nightmares. Then you will learn.

Her subzero smile prepared him somewhat for her cold remark. Donovan and his brother had learned a lot from the time of their arrival. They had learned that the creche method of "courting" was not appreciated until a solid association had been established, and even then, kissing in public wasn't condoned. He and Dom were fast learners. It took them only days to back off and watch the people around them before they were much better prepared for many things.

This girl, however, was not one of those things. It was time for a strategic retreat. It was his brother's turn anyway. He could gracefully accept defeat for this round.

Dom had been watching their interaction with quiet amusement, until his brother suddenly stood and returned to give him the oddest look he'd ever seen. Obviously, things hadn't gone well.

"Rough ground, that. Worth it though." His eyes now reflected Dom's with shared interest of the same intensity. Rejection didn't bother him. Affection for their targets never really entered into his equation. They were rarely interesting, beyond their physical aspect. Dante was different, but she wasn't Creche, and she wasn't Dom. It was all a dance. Her current disdain was only a different set of steps.

Those eyes, though.

"More looking? Not until I've had my chance..." he trailed off, a tiny smile on his face as he met his brother's gaze. "Wish me luck."

Despite her best efforts to remain withdrawn, Dante was beginning to get irritated.

Not another one... What was this? One tries, fails, and they switch places to try again? The thought was absurd, but she couldn't shake the feeling that this was some sort of game. Some game where she was the unwilling participant. Very well. They could try to play. That didn't mean she had to play along.

Turning to stare coldly at this new intruder, she watched his face carefully as he lounged beside her, eyes closed as his chest rose slowly with each breath. As light as Angel had been, this man was the opposite; black hair to Nathan's white-blonde, tan skin to Nathan's fair. Such differences. Not that she cared.

Rough ground indeed. Don hadn't been joking one whit about that.

"Go away." Dom opened his eyes then to look at her. She was facing away from him, and he traced her delicate profile with his gaze, wondering what could put such glacier coldness into her tone... that fluid voice, liquid hint of a French accent. Such coldness... and her arctic shield surrounding her as he sat nearby made him fight to repress a shiver. He too had been right in his assessment last night. Quicksilver and ice.

Dante's irritation quickly turned to angry disbelief when he refused to leave her alone, then flamed brighter when he had the nerve to touch her. She was so surprised that for a moment, shocked lethargy kept her from knocking his hand away from her face. But by the time coherency and movement returned, he was already lounging again, eyes closed against the quicksilver fire burning in her own gaze.

He wanted to be blunt. She could manage that.

At least she was speaking to him. It was an improvement... a small improvement, but a gain nonetheless. Perhaps Don had just taken the wrong approach.

Not bothering to open his eyes, he could sense her settle in beside him, her own body relaxing and resting against the seat. Another victory. She wasn't acting like she was about to fight and flee anymore. Still, it was a little unexpected when she continued to speak to him. "Why are you here?"

It took all her strength to claw the surprise back down behind her reserved shield. Dante had a striking sense of deja vu when she answered with virtually the same words she'd given his brother, the same icy tone she'd managed before. "You don't even know me."

She was prepared to hear the same reply she'd received before, about how he wanted to learn more about her. Ridiculous, this was so fucking ridiculous and pointless that she almost stood to rant at him, to rage about his ignorance. But she still felt shock when he opened his eyes to meet hers, and spoke quietly, simply, with a look on his face she didn't quite understand.

"I know I don't. That's why I like you. Because I'd like to know." Her own eyes muted to a muddled quicksilver violet before freezing once again. He didn't want to know her. No one wanted to... no one should know her, know what she'd been through. The stupidity of this exchange struck her then, and pushing herself from the seat, she gave him one last glacier stare.

He waited until the sounds of her angry footsteps faded before opening his eyes and motioning lazily for Don to join him. His brother strode over from where he had been waiting beside the pillar, and seating himself where Dante had sat, proceeded to smile knowingly at Dom.

"And classes to attend," Don added with a bored yawn. Classes held even less interest for him this morning than they usually did. He was *interested* in the red curls he could still see bouncing angrily before she rounded the corner. Every lock had a key. They just had to find it.

"Yes," he answered absentmindedly, still watching Dante stalk away. "It does. We go?"

Enjoy!