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Nobody had corrected him. Arel had, in fact, affirmed it. Further field trips were...optional? Volunteering for more work, more walking, more visits to islands filled with madness-inducing fog where Halloweeners were either destroyed or...turned into weapons, somehow. Mandy had told him. One of the hooded figures from the lighthouse had said it. And from what they had seen at the abandoned laboratory...

But could he really stand aside while his friends and fellow students were sent to their deaths, or worse? Choose to do nothing, even knowing the cost?

Hell yes he could.

This was not, however, about them. Well, not directly about them.

Even on that last Field Trip, they had been afforded a sort of safety. Numbers. Where there were other students, there was always someone else to take what could have been a fatal blow, to discover the room is not as harmless as advertised, to help him, push him, carry him.

But against a long, scattered family line of decidedly dead sloth demons? Fulfilling his father's machinations? And if his own machinations went awry, his...career, alright, yes, career as an inventor? He was alone.

If he couldn't survive Field Trips, with the meager (but currently essential) cushioning the student body afforded, he wouldn't survive the rest.

But there was so much walking.

He cleared his throat. He could put off making the decision a little while longer. "...Thank you," he said, standing and backing away from the filled forms, bleak stares, and signed names. "I'll err, take advantage of the interim."

Barth pocketed his form, and made his slow way towards the office door.

Tsetsiliya's lips pressed together in a firm line, eyes averted to the waiver in her hands as Arel spoke. Well what he said was probably true, whether or not anyone in the room wanted to admit it - and by the looks of things, quite a few people had something to say about this. There was no way she could avoid going on these trips entirely, especially if she wanted to get stronger.

She wanted to become a proper demoness, and if these field trips were the avenue to that, well then .. Her hand scribbled her name quickly, so as to do it before her mind caught up.



Setting the pen down shakily, she passed it forward with the rest. Now that they were given permission to go, she dipped her head and nudged between passing students on her way out the door. The ghoul hoped that that signature won't be something she came to regret.

OH JACK NO! Was this seriously what Arel was saying it was? They were actually asking for their signatures and permission to go on those Jack forsaken field trips? The she-wolf stared, or rather scowled down at the sheet of paper, tail flicking against her leg. Not even the comfort of her best friends arm around her shoulders was going to chase away the feelings she had right now. Mostly angst and utter disbelief that they were just now being given such forms. At least...she couldn't remember ever having gotten one before. Which was curious. Why now?

Probably because they've realized how stupid and hellish they are? Or the last field trip had opened some eyes? There was no telling. And judging from the other reactions, she was not alone in her feelings of receiving this waiver form.

Thankfully, Ren's voice drew her attention momentarily away before she ended up balling the sheet of paper up. Her fingers tapped against the sheet as her violet gaze glanced towards Jove. "Run while you can, pup. They actually want us to sign a sheet that gives our consent to go on those Jackdamned trips of hell." LW offered the pup a small smile that lacked any real warmth. She was still unsettled by this. Her hand squeezed Ren's before he got up to slip out of the office without making a decision yet. The she-wolf remained though, staring at the sheet in front of her. It still nagged at her as to why they all of a sudden wanted them to sign these now?

After way too much time (only several minutes really) of staring and debating, the she-wolf stood slowly. She glanced around at the others, before quietly walking out of the office. The consent form still on the desk she'd been sitting at, with small neat writing along the signature line reading 'Little-Wolfe'. Hopefully she hadn't made the wrong decision, though she wasn't sure there was a right one in this instance. With their luck, they'd end up on another field trip with or without having signed the consent form.

Riley.

Her eyes flickered away from Arel before he could look up at her, but she focused them right back on the secretary.

"Riley?"

Her expression puckered slightly, trying not to feel guilty about ignoring the voices, both inside and out of her mind, that were vying for her attention. She was waiting, but Arel wasn't looking up at her, and she realized too late that she was waiting in vain.

There were nothing left to do but what she'd planned on doing before she had even walked in the door. She took a spare sheet of blank paper from Arel's desk - maybe now he would look up at her, with the brazen act - and took the pen, returning to her seat.

Which was Calder.

She sat down, nodding quickly to both Shehk and Jericho. She would have said something to them both, but it was clear she was more distracted than she had ever been in her entire life. For someone whose brain can handle multiple complex equations simulateously, this was a feat.

She sat, and wrote a letter to the headmistress.

Riley didn't look up from her letter, nor did she ignore her best friend. She just continued writing as her even tone answered.

Yes?

She wasn't hiding her letter, if only because it was formal, and held nothing out of the ordinary. As she flourished her signature at the bottom, she picked it up to re-read it to herself for consistency.



Nodding in approval, she folded the letter twice, addressed it, and dropped it off right in the middle of Arel's paperwork load. She didn't expect him to look up - or care - this time around. She did, however, expect the letter to be delivered.

Eventually.

She turned, finally prepared to give Jericho her attention, and patted his cheek softly. Her expression lifted in lieu of a smile, but the smile did not reach her eyes.

Never better. I'm heading back to my dorm now. You should too.

She turned slightly, sent Malodore a gentle nudge of affection, and then turned to leave.

Junko had missed the office meeting. She'd been so wrapped up in doing last minute final touches on Shehk's commissions that she'd completely blanked on the entire thing. But you don't understand, she'd been in the zone, man! She was in her natural element sewing away without a care in the world. Sayuri and Kuro had been quite distracting, having missed their mommy so much they were elated to be out of the closet and free to prance and roam and try to get their mommy to play with them. But she wouldn't. She didn't even notice them. She had finished enough things for Shehk to wear about, but she had more she wanted to make. So. Much. More. And nothing was going to stop her from doing that! Not even monetary limits! She'd..she'd figure out something! She was reserving the silks Lizzy and Riley had given her, as well as the silks that she had found mysteriously left in front of her dorm when she returned, for herself. Call it selfish but she wanted to save those for her own creations for her to wear. Didn't Junko earn the right to be selfish every now and then?

It wasn't until Yaya had visited her to catch up and inquire about her vacation that Junko had remembered..she'd missed the entire meeting. Well, crap. At least the marid had been nice enough to fill her in on everything she'd missed and even given her copies of the proper form she needed to fill out. A field trip. A field trip they needed to sign a waiver on.

This wasn't a good sign.

Junko wasn't sure if she wanted to go. Should she go? Perhaps. She needed the experience. She needed to get stronger. And apparently she needed to prove she could take care of herself, that she didn't need everyone to treat her like she was made of glass. She..she wasn't made of glass. She was strong. She could do it. Seiji only spurred her on, the two had argued for hours about the field trip. She didn't want to go, but she did at the same time. He definitely didn't want her to go at all. But she had to. He didn't trust the trip, and as much as he claimed it to not be true Junko felt he...didn't trust in her. It made the hesitation to not go completely dissipate; Junko was determined to go on the Jackdamned field trip now even after they had come to an impasse.

She was still a little angry when she signed the waiver much later than everyone else, mostly because she was thinking about the way she had had to basically fight for permission to go on this trip. She was sixteen years old! She could make her own damn decisions! She didn't need anyone's permission...

Junko

She just hoped she wouldn't come to regret this. She left after that, not wanting to linger in the office if she could help it. There. She did it. She signed the waiver.