finchwoodacademy | THE LITTLE BAD

THE LITTLE BAD

Irene knows that many of the students are itching to take down The Big Bad, but, really kids? You're not strong enough for that just yet. Still, it's the giving time of year, so instead she organizes for an adventure a little more on their level... The Little Bad. While obviously not as scary as her precious pet, this Shadow is nothing to sneeze at.

This voluntary session takes place in The Velvet Room, and is being held in the maze that students may recall from when they first met The Big Bad, though this time it's just a simple spiral inwards. Regular squads will go in first (if all of their members are participating and want to run the course), but afterwards Irene will let student-organized squads try their luck. They'll make their way in, fight a few smaller warm up, Shadows, and then they'll face off with The Little Bad in the center.

HOW THIS WORKS:

This is voluntary training, so Irene isn't going to try to bully anyone into it. Your characters either need to want to be here, or have some friends/squadmates who have heckled them into it.
It's assumed that each character went with their regular squad if they're all present, and you can have each of your characters roll with a student-built squad once. If you don't have enough numbers for a full squad, it's easy enough to pad with NPCs, so don't worry about that ♥
Please only post an attempt with your character-made squad; we're not rolling for normal squads
Student-made squads are five fighters and one Support (an actual Support character). They also require that one character be named as the leader (though they don't normally need to be a leader).
Based on how a squad rolls as a whole, characters will receive small XP bonus on top of their monthly rolls
Please respond by Tuesday, November 27th 10PM CST to be included in your team's roll

» DURING TRAINING: Post in attempts with your character-made squads, or spectate! Everyone is asked to behave when it's not their turn, or Irene'll be really annoyed and maybe throw you out.

» AFTER TRAINING: How did that go? Hopefully you're not dreaming of having a different squad now...

» OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's dorky. So much so that she rolls her eyes, pointedly, and amused. Her hand stretches out and mimes dunking him back under the water, though she doesn't actually make contact with his mass of wet hair. "I'm not much of an Ophelia. Seems messy."

It's a little bit of a mess on the pool deck now, and she re-adjusts, pretending her yoga pants aren't getting wet. It's fine. She crinkles her nose at his assessment, but her hand doesn't go back up, and the dunk is spared for now. "And as your leader. I wondered.Did something go wrong?"

It's blunt, but he left quickly. And it's Liam. She doesn't have to cut corners, here.

For a few seconds, Liam's smile eases into something wide, delighted with Kyra's dismissive response to his silliness. He bobs up and down in the water, expression gradually settling as he considers her question. There's a million possible responses to it, as far as his brain's concerned. A whole swarm of his own failures, like a storm cloud made of angry graphite scribbles. And each thought is stuck like a barb, one that loses its meaning when he starts to tease it out.

"Um, everyone actually did do very well. No complaints for a first run. We all communicated well. Fought well. Richie's got a frog that rides on a giant metal crab. I just..." He knocks his head to the side, working his jaw. No point in keeping anything from her. "Am allergic to leadership, I think. Freaks me out. I needed to put some distance in there."

Kyra waits patiently for an answer, curling her legs up under her, one at a time. She isn't sure if she's handling this as a tactical conversation or a friendly one. She'd like to have him and everyone else think the latter, even when it clearly isn't. Her fond pulse of a smile at the mere mention of Richie's crabsona reveals that much.

"We should've bullied Selby just a little harder." She laments, but nods, slowly, parsing out all this new information. Her fingers graze the water, testing the warmth, and then flicking it at Liam's face, remaining expressionless and therefore innocent."But it's understandable. Leading's...intimidating. For me. All the time."

This is probably too monotone to be very comforting, but it's honest.

His eyes squint shut and he snickers as the water hits his face. "Bullied Selby harder, huh?" Liam asks, a slow contemplative bend to his words before he dips his head below the surface of the water.

It's a quick plunge, and when he comes back up, he's not so careful about flinging his hair back out of his face, scattering drops of water in Kyra's direction with a soft laugh. To play it off, he continues the thought, "Yeah, that's sound advice." Then Liam returns his elbows to the edge of the deck. "I'm not just blowing smoke, here - you're good at it. Do you, um, enjoy it?"

There's a small eep noise, but she doesn't give him the satisfaction of retreating further. Just sighs, put upon and affectionate at this, one of her favorite brats. She doesn't have to think long about this question. "I do." She answers, with all the confidence that she tries to project on a normal day. "But it isn't easy. I...definitely couldn't do it without you. I'd say something wrong. There'd be a mutiny."

She looks to him a little hopeless, because what she's trying to say is that she needs his help and he's a great leader too, but those words seem impossible.

Liam lets himself sink, hiding his nose behind his wrists. The ambient sounds of an empty space are all that pass between them for a few moments as he looks up at her, thinking. About today's practice. About their last exploration run. About, mainly, how Kyra's words immediately call up the conversation he'd had with Kodi on Friday - whether he belonged and whether it was right to isolate himself. His stomach twists up over it, guilty. He tries not to let it show in his face.

"Mmmmm, debatable," he concludes playfully, one eye squinting shut and his voice muffled behind his hands. "But, we...you and I really do make a great team. It's- I'd much rather fight off any potential mutinies with you than have to manage one on my own."

THE LITTLE BAD

Melodramatic Pool Boy and a Stalker

Melodramatic Pool Boy and a Stalker

Melodramatic Pool Boy and a Stalker

Melodramatic Pool Boy and a Stalker

Melodramatic Pool Boy and a Stalker

Melodramatic Pool Boy and a Stalker