Oblivion: "I really have to have a word with you after this, Magnus." He spoke clearly and firmly. Something didn't seem to sit right with Oblivion. What did he hear from Terry?
Most of the group reacted lightly, turning their heads faintly, still putting their attention at the front of them, with Magnus, whose face twitched a little bit, before returning to a neutral state of a calm, closed-mouth state, with Tobias looking directly at Oblivion.
Magnus: "Of course." He said calmly.
He turned to Tobias and spoke, trying to wrap up the short conversation.
"Well, It's best we be on our way. We won't get out anything staying here and talking. Have a good one, Mr Leeash." He spoke to him like he was a casual friend, with Tobias walking up to Magnus, reaching out for a hand before grabbing it tightly, bringing it to his other hand, enclosing Magnus's gratefully.
Tobias: "Please find her. My composure I have right now was only developed from the previous disappointment of the other two. Don't fail. There's a lot on the line here, if you know what I mean, Mr Turner." He provided a thoughtful grin, tilting his head to the right, squinting and looking as composed as he could for someone who looked sleep-deprived in casual clothes.
{Ok, really suspicious or what, "Don't fail?" "There's a lot on the line?" Like, what? I am absolutely wrong for thinking about that for a supposedly grieving man, WHERE THE FUCK IS THE GRIEVING? WHERE'S THE TELLTALE SIGNS? Actually, he should be good at hiding it… what am I saying? He just looks oddly weird. Different from how normal people act. Like a man who thinks of himself as superior to others, and is talking to them like he's down to earth and is around their level…}
Magnus: "Head back." He said.
Sheng-Ri, who was sitting down, rocketed upwards casually and tipped a bit forwards before regaining her balance while trying to look like she kept nonchalance with it.
The people in the back- Oswald, Sheng-Ri, Tallurre, Daryl and Aurora turned around fast; Stanley started walking before everyone else, and Aurora caught up to him.
{Ok, she's trying to keep up with my pace. I got the composure somewhere to not react like I'm flustered, because I'm not. I'm just a guy who's walking in flat, plain grass to a shuttle. I won't go out of my way to talk. That's just it. How it should be.}
If Stanley did end up looking back, he would see Tobias sitting down on the grass like before on the mat, except where he had just been standing, sitting with one leg bent and one lying flat on the hill curving downwards at an acute angle.
One look to his left, and the rest were all somewhere behind him, except for Jordan, walking with a stride in his step while texting with both hands and looking down, analysing every message and text from top to bottom. Stomping on the soft grass.
His right was Aurora, the semi-translucent girl. Her outfit of the black uniform matches her and censors her opacity to the point it won't ever be detected from her clothes. Her long gloves, socks and boots seem oddly dense. Her pearl-pink hair blew awkwardly in the wind, which caused her to try to fix it lazily. What a unique situation.
Not much talking was happening. No need to. The members knew that; they all matured in their own way to realise silence is a gift at times and can be comforting. Also awkward, depending on whose perspective it may be.
Aurora: "Stanley?" She started up a conversation with the man who looked as if he was in another galaxy.
Stanley: "Mm-yeah?" He replied blankly, trying to not provide too much emotion or noise to a situation he deemed "good quality minimal noise."
"So when did you actually, like, get here? Did you get scouted out?" She asked quietly, noticing the look on his face, which kept looking straight ahead, nowhere near her pearly pink eyes.
Stanley looked at her for a brief second, turning his head slowly back, trying not to be awkward.
"It literally was yesterday. That's…" he stopped talking.
"All," he finished his sentence with a dramatic pause.
Aurora looked ahead at the vehicle like Stanley. She could tell Stanley wasn't exactly the easiest to be nice to, even for someone who looks sweet as spring flowers. Did her appearance bother Stanley? Some inner mindset about girls? Aurora had questions, but as a girl in her mind, she wanted Stanley to answer some of them voluntarily.
Aurora: "Yeah." She said blankly.
{I… Do I want to talk… to her? Yeah, I think she's beautiful, but I've learned that beauty is different from personality. From a blank glance, I hope she's genuine. Most girls are. I want to follow the stereotype that all girls that look overly beautiful are bitches. It's… what all of them back there told me: that hoes will be hoes. The fun-looking ones can be toxic; Aurora feels actually calming and fun. Sheng-Ri is unique. She doesn't fit the female standards that most will like to follow. Whether she likes it or not. I kind of like it; she seems too relaxed. Unruffled. I don't even think of her as a female. More as herself. Aurora sadly isn't there yet. Chidieberre looks so normal without makeup. She could look so much more vibrant. Needs a hairstyle change from that goth bob cut of hers.}
The walk back was relatively quiet; not much was going to happen in that conversation. Stanley was monologuing to himself, and wondering if Aurora wanted to push through his social defences. Aurora was not going to overthink it, and just let Stanley be.
No one was speaking. Stanley thought, though, it wasn't awkward at all. Rather peaceful.
In time, they reached the shuttle. It was still stationary, waiting for everyone to get aboard.
Magnus: "Now, once we get inside, let's sit and talk for just a bit. We'll make it short and easy. Great? Great." He was the first person to get on the stairs of the shuttle and was going up when he turned around casually and blurted that quick reminder before going up. Mind you, everyone else was still on the ground.
"Yep."
"Mm-hmm."
"Yeah.."
"…"
"Ppf."
One by one, each member walked inside. One tapped the top of the shuttle entrance; Jordan. Another tapped lightly on a window, which was Tono. Others were fixing their hair in the reflections of light on the floor, which was Daryl, and Oblivion was busy scratching the back of his left horn and the same area of his hair.
One by one again, people again came back into the above mediocre-looking first-class shuttle. Stanley was third in line, due to pushing in and trying to head back to the seat that "Ren Walker" apparently sat in all the time.
Daryl swung in first to his seat, as he was ahead of him. Stanley then sat back down in his usual seat and waited for the people to go past, as he was somewhat close to the front.
Tono, Oblivion, Sheng-Ri, Aurora, Chidieberre, Oswald, Johnny, Lori, Magnus, Tallurre and Jordan, still texting. In that order.
Unlike most people, their walking traits were a bit noticeable. Stanley walks with his hands in his pockets, swinging his shoulders around. Daryl walks with a stride and a sense of over-exaggeration; Sheng-Ri either puts her hands together, cracking her fingers and bending them, or shoves her skinny arms down her pockets. Oblivion walks with urban normalcy, like a normal person, sadly. Jordan walks like he would be going in a rush to do something exciting or violent. Old-school walking, like how Gangsters would move. The differences are somewhat noticeable to most.
Magnus, who was just standing proudly in the middle section, was waiting for everyone to sit down, which was relatively fast.
"Now, now, Oblivion, anything you want to mention before I start going on and on about our schedule?" He prioritised Oblivion's comment, looking at him and making sure it got recognised even if it interrupted him earlier.
Magnus: "Uh…" A second after his comment, his face changed. A new reaction. It contorted in an instant into one of thought and confusion.
Oblivion: "What did you ask it this time…" He said in a low tone.
Daryl: "Mate! Could've waited, you know… not while you were speaking."
Tallurre: "Hmm."
Sheng-Ri: "I guess, Mag."
Tono: "Oh?"
Aurora: "I-is this normal?" She said quietly, while peeking her head over at Jordan's, who was multitasking.
In quick bursts, a few comments directed at Magnus were spoken out loud and proudly. Mainly from the officials of Broken Halo.
Magnus: "…" he opened his mouth, supposedly going to say something, but it never came.
Silence. For at least a minute, Magnus, with faint discussion happening while he gathered his thoughts.
"Okay. so…"
"The Guiding Whisper strikes again!" He said with a smile, different from the way he was speaking.
"For those who don't know, it's my own grafted anomaly inside of my body. It's like "Riddle Google." For a horrid description, but anyways, not the point." He said, fast-paced.
"Tobias got a lot of shit on his mind… And we were going to be led to a different place if we stuck with whatever it was we were planning on visiting."
{Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. Hell of a turning point. I just don't see him as an anomaly graft. He doesn't look too evil. Or a criminal. W-was I right about Tobias? There's no way in hell I could be that smart. We need to go back and talk to him this instant.}
Magnus whipped and dragged out a cellular device, not a phone, and started typing and scrolling on it using both hands. Like a really amateur version of how Jordan was doing it earlier.
A few seconds later, after he paused on a detail on his phone…
Magnus: "Yep. farking ell. Change of plans. We will be heading to Fierfam-D. Now, we were originally going to be heading to the solar system next to this one to spread out and find details, but according to Oblivion…" He pointed minimally at him with an annoyed face. Magnus's beard sticking out.
Oblivion: "Oh." He seemed to get clarity just then, without showing it too much.
"Most of the shit that has evidence worth handing up to Mr Leeash is actually still on Fierfam. Tsk."