Adjustments.

The dining hall reminds most people of a massive diner. It has a homey feel to it in color scheme, with muted browns and rusty accents. A salad bar acts as a sort of center piece, while actual serving lines span 2 of the 4 walls. Each booth seats anywhere from 4-6 people, with the corner booths seating up to 8. Meals are excellently prepared and usually feature fairly expensive foods.

There were whispers abound in the dining hall. Alexander herded Robin through the room to a corner booth where two other Zodiacs were currently seated, chatting happily over their meals. As they approached, the two looked up; one with curiosity sparkling in his eyes and the other with sympathy. Alex frowned. Damen was notably absent - a dick move as far as he was concerned. Devon would have been pissed to see his friend shunning a new kid like that. Sooner or later he would have to get over it.

"You must be the new Aries. Poor kid. Heard you had a rough orientation session?" The girl who spoke had obscenely long mint green hair and was wearing what appeared to be a very expensive Victorian-inspired dress.
"Aw man, mine was nowhere near as fun as yours. Heard you melted three floors. Boys in R&D must've practically shit themselves." This time it was a scrawny looking kid with too many colorful clothes and piercings who spoke.
"Lay off, Mack. He's not going to be your latest headline." Alex shot the boy a warning glare before turning to Robin. "Listen, looks like dinner is some sort of steak-related thing. It's free, so is the salad bar. Get yourself something to eat if you want, and I'll brief these idiots-" (he said this loudly enough for Mack to stick his tongue out) "-on what not to do to a new kid."

Robin glanced at Alex. Well, this was his situation now, he supposed, might as well at least make an effort not to seem like a douche.

"I guess they were pretty busy losing their shit because apparently this guy was the first one to try to catch me...." Robin said, jerking a thumb at Alex. "I mean i guess that makes sense because I was on fire I think, it was sort of... hazy and.... never-mind." Mission failed, mission failed so badly, robin you moron. he yelled at himself internally.

Robin cleared his throat. "Anyway....hi, I'm Robin." He said, sounding a bit put out. ".....I'm uh....gonna go get some steak stuff." He walked off, slowly turning a shade of red best reserved for beets. He had never been good at first impressions, but that one had to be a new standard for bad. They probably thought he was an idiot. Oh well, at least things smelled good.

As he reached the counter to his left and picked up a plate, he collided with a mousy looking boy about a year younger than him.

"Ah, shit, sorry." Robin said apologetically.

"Nah that's o-" The kid froze and turned paper white. "Nah man, my fault." He said, and jogged away at what could be charitably called a slow sprint.

Robin blinked. Oh right, he had just burned the shit out of a place....again. He had almost forgotten. He felt a wave of anxiety and nausea threatening to overtake him, which he vanquished with the power of blind irritation. As a result, when he reached the food counter he looked severely irritated.

"Gemma, he's not your newest mannequin. Mack, he's not your latest headline. At least pretend that people aren't expendable here."
"You know it's not a good idea to get attached, Alexander." Gemma scolded, returning to her food with a brisk shake of her shoulders. "Remember Devon?"
"Bring his name up in that context ever again, and I will eat you." Alexander narrowed his eyes. Gemma ignored him.
"Hey, take it easy. Gemma, everyone remembers Devon." Mack said softly. "And we should strive to make sure this kid doesn't suffer the same fate. Pisces is in lockdown, so that's not a threat anymore."
"For once I agree with Rainbow over there."

Alex sighed, sliding into the booth across from them. This was going to be a long half a year. It was summer currently - their year would be ending in December. It seemed ages away right now. The memory of his friend burned hot in his mind, but that wasn't what troubled him. He was worried for this new kid. This was the first time he'd seen a Zodiac go, but he knew there were others before. People rarely lived past 30 around here. The oldest at the moment was Gemini. A resident now, he guessed.

"And if either of you see Score, tell him he's an asshole."
"Will do." Mack said enthusiastically around a mouthful of potatoes.

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A boy who looked like he was about ten years older than he really was stood at the end of the serving line, watching Robin with a sort of cold detachment. His was leaning against the wall, his arms folded appropriately to match his blank expression. In every way, shape, and form, he looked personally offended by Robin's presence.

As robin began to turn away from the buffet, loaded steak sandwich in hand, he felt an odd prickling feeling across his neck. He glanced over to see someone who looked even more out of sorts than him. That was rare. Years of inner-city instinct told him not to go near that sort of expression with a ten foot pole. He began walking back to the table with his friend, and new acquaintances. for the first time, he took in the full picture of how they looked together and his expression, while not exactly a smile, loosened a bit. Maybe he really wasn't the strange one here. After all, one of his dining companions was a few hundred years out of current style, one was aggressively colorful, and the last one, well, he turned into a giant fucking lion.

Robin slid his plate in front of his chair, and sat down, giving the people around him a quick once over to make sure that they weren't also subtly telling him to fuck off. Seeing that they were not, he took a bite of his sandwich. It was goddamned delicious. This situation was starting to seem ever so slightly less horrible.

The three Zodiacs seemed to soften collectively as Robin returned to the table. The boy who had been watching him made a quiet noise of disgust and shoved his way through the door and out of the hall. As he exited, two men in black suits entered. The humans in the room stiffened and shifted nervously. The energy in the room changed very quickly to one of unease.

"So, I think it's only fair I give you a heads up..." Alexander began, glancing at the suits. "They might want to put you through a quick...evaluation."
"Oh you make it sound terrifying, Lee."
"Don't call me that." He muttered under his breath.
"It's just a smiley lady who asks you if you're upset." Mack rolled his eyes. "The only thing 'scary' about it is the suits. And her couch. It is a hideous green color. They won't even come over until you finish your sandwich. My advice? Get dessert, too. Make 'em wait. They can't do shit about it."
Gemma gave a little laugh of approval. Alexander just sighed.
"It's just good to be aware that all they care about is that you won't melt anyone on purpose."

The face that Robin made at the word "Evaluation" changed to a look of general disgust as he realized that he was going into the secret establishment version of a psyche eval.

"Christ they do that shit here too?" Robin grumbled indistinctly. "Anyway I cant really be that afraid of the suits after I saw how fast they ran when you started pulling that dragon breath....or would it be lion breath bullshit."

After that he lapsed into an uncomfortable silence for a minute. "Have there been epople who like, would want to purposely melt people? I mean....not that i have an exactly shining record, intentions be damned but..." He clenched his fists under the table. It was not the time for this shit. "Eh, whatever" he said, forcing a smile "shouldn't take too long regardless. Might go get dessert after all."

At the question, everyone fell silent. Nobody dared mention the cause of the last Aries' death. The silence was broken by Mack saying "10/10, would recommend the apple turnovers." and pointing his fork enthusiastically towards the dessert bar.

Alexander couldn't help but worry about the change in Robin's demeanor. He exchanged a look with Gemma that suggested she was worried, too. They didn't worry about Robin flying off the handle, rather, they worried about the suits thinking he might. Containment procedures for Fire signs was...messy. It had been the death of at least three Aries before him, and it would likely not be the last.

But that was for another time. For now, the suits continued to hover by the door, looking mildly annoyed (as Mack had predicted) at Robin's decision to get dessert. For now, a boy stood in the hallway, white-knuckled and contemplating whether or not it was worth starting a lockdown. For now, the Zodiacs were whole.

Robin ate his turnover with exaggerated enjoyment. He did so very, very slowly, occasionally calling over to the guards to ask if they wanted some. when his turnover was finally gone he sighed.

"They're probably going to mace me or something on the way wherever we are going... I have no regrets."

He stood up, brushed crust crumbles off his pants, and walked over to the guards. "really guys, that dessert, ace as hell." he said with a grin. The guards looked even less amused than usual.

Your dorm room is absolutely fucking superb. Your room has a wondrously plush carpet that is dark red in color, with curtains to match that block the sunlight rather effectively. They seem to have provided you with a large and glowy computer, black and red in color scheme, with two monitors and a stack of speakers. Unlike your dormmate's room, yours has a mini fridge and a microwave next to the dresser. They apparently anticipate your weekends to be very...stay at home.

Features:
• Kitchen - Full
• 2 Bathroom
• 2 Bedroom
• Lounge Area
• TV
• Internet (Wi-Fi)
• Central Air
• Dorm Phone

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