<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Elliot's eyes widened as he was caught off guard by the response. <br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">"Thanks"</span> <br/><br/>That was it. No teasing. No pain.<br/><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">Elliot released a breath he didn't know he was holding. He had said it so plainly and so distantly but he'd made the effort to whisper it. Did he not want anyone to hear him?  "Thanks" wasn't a dark secret. If he wanted to act aloof, his voice would've easily conveyed that if he had just said it out loud. That and there was something there, something else in how he'd said it. Elliot couldn't figure out what it was but he was convinced he'd heard it.</div><br/><span style="font-style: italic">You're over-analyzing</span> he thought to himself. Still, he couldn't shake that strange feeling. He was so deep in thought he hadn't managed to respond:<br/><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">"Oh um-..." He opened his mouth to say something but the boy had already turned and walked away. Elliot blushed hard and glanced on either side of him to see if anyone had noticed. To his dismay he was met with the gaze of a snake boy who had been watching. Elliot quickly focused his eyes back down before shuffling awkwardly in his seat. Curiosity forced him to gaze up to at least see where the boy had gone. He finally caught sight of him speaking to a very small but brightly attired girl who.... didn't quite seem like she was in the right place. Elliot hadn't really been around these other creatures before, but he knew what humans looked like. What they smelled like.</div><br/>Taste-....<br/><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">He realized he was staring and quickly dropped his gaze again. His sudden head movement caused the hidden necklace to move over his skin. The sudden feeling almost made Elliot jump before he had remembered what it was. He gently gripped his shirt at the chest wear the pendant hung. He placed his other hand on the handle of his leather suitcase, it's firm surface sat tensely on the floor next to his left foot. The tiniest bump made the case clatter noisily against the floor. <span style="font-style: italic">This is all I have of home now.</span> he thought. He knew even if he were to come back to the city after school was over, his father wouldn't be there. The first time in his life that he had ever received a hug, any affection at all was a final goodbye. The man who's life he had ruined still managed to care....</div><br/><div style="background-color:#000010; border:1px solid black; margin:10px 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px;">"<span style="font-weight: bold">Ey! Come here boy!</span>" his father had boomed "<span style="font-weight: bold">I already saw you come in here!</span>" his voice was capable of shaking a room even when he was at his calmest. Elliot walked to the door stiffly, and looked at his father as blankly as he could manage, but his big pathetic eyes betrayed even the slightest bit of emotion. <br/><br/>"Yes sir?" <br/><br/>"<span style="font-weight: bold">Get in here! I won't say it again. </span>"  Elliot quickly shuffled into the room and gave a pained expression. His father placed his beer on the ground and stood up to look at the boy. He scrutinized him carefully as if he were an interrogator; slowly walking in a circle around him with his usual deep set frown and intense stare. He turned away to grab his beer "<span style="font-weight: bold">Your eyes are showing more than they should,</span>"  his father took a sip of his beer but did not turn back around to look at the boy <br/>"Fix them," Elliot didn't make a sound but he turned quickly to look into the mirror on the wall next to the door. Where his eyes should have been, two hollow holes were present. His true eyes were showing <br/><br/>"<span style="font-weight: bold">Fix them, Boy. Normal people don't have red eyes,</span>". Elliot knew his father didn't care that his eyes were showing, but he knew that he was hiding something else and that he had messed up the disguise. Elliot defeatedly corrected his eye color and revealed the bruises. <br/>"<span style="font-weight: bold">That's what I thought</span>" he said harshly before turning around and smacking the boy on the back of his head. "<span style="font-weight: bold">How old are you, Boy?</span>"<br/><br/>"Nine" Elliot responded meekly, his eyes downcast.<br/><br/>"<span style="font-weight: bold">That's right</span> his father yelled back "<span style="font-weight: bold">No reason you should be letting those kids beat you up,</span>"  he shouted before tossing his bottle against the wall in frustration. Elliot winced as the glass shattered but he didn't dare move. <br/><br/>"<span style="font-weight: bold">You're stronger than them, you're faster than them, you're stupid, but you're smarter than them at least,</span>" he grabbed a shirt from off the floor and slipped it on "<span style="font-weight: bold">They not better than you in any way so stop feeling sorry for them.... stop feeling sorry for yourself, stop feeling sorry for the whole world,</span>" he headed for the door, never looking at Elliot"<span style="font-weight: bold">Clean this mess up</span>"</div><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">He was snapped out of his train of thought as the people around him began to move about. He waited a while for the way to clear before he stood up and followed. He moved carefully to avoid being too close to anyone for too long. He slipped out of the subway just in time to catch the small girl he had spotted earlier being led by a large pale man. He had a sneaking suspicion why. He edged in to the auditorium with the last few students and quickly took a seat next to another kid who had managed to get a whole row to himself. Elliot wanted to introduce himself but he was a bit afraid of the boy's response and, besides that, one of the professors had begun speaking.</div><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">"Students, I welcome you to our Academy. We expect great things from you all, and will be there to help you all reach your full potential. Please find the Cyclops' dorm room list in the next room, and head to your designated dorms. Classes start at 8:30 tomorrow morning. Until then, you should get acquainted with your dorm-mates."</span><br/><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">The next few minutes didn't register in Elliot's mind as the orientation had ended rather quickly and the students had begun moving about speaking with friends or awkwardly trying to make some in the case of the first years. Elliot couldn't bring himself to speak to anyone so he simply stood up and went to find his room assignment. He patiently waited for the crowd to thin before searching for his name on the list.</div><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Samantha Oculara and Kosuke Atari</span> <br/><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">Elliot had no idea who'd he'd be looking for or what to expect. He was on edge and his head was starting to hurt. He was gripping his suitcase extremely hard. He held his other hand close to his chest before he walked down to the dormitories. What he found was very unexpected. Lit screens everywhere! There were so many and they were so large and clear! He was the last into the room but he came just in time to catch a bit of conversation between a few of the students.</div><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">"Uhh... would it be legal to play on human servers?"<br/><br/>"Nope, I checked the school rulebook. we can beat the shit out of the normies as long as they think our gamer tags are just us trying to look awesome and don't take us seriously if we mention anything supernatural at school!"</span><br/><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">Elliot didn't know why but something about how she spoke made him chuckle. He regretted making the girlish noise as soon as he did it. He covered his mouth and hoped it was quiet enough for no one to catch. He hurried off to find his room and he placed his suitcase down as quietly as he could manage. He quickly opened the case and slipped his journal and a pencil out of it before promptly shutting it and peeking curiously into the living room once more. He'd seen video games in an arcade before but never had he seen stations for them, and he never had the money for either. The boy who had spoken to him on the train was here, those eyes were hard to forget. Elliot felt a little more daring and gave the boy a half smile before slowly going to sit. He didn't want to take a seat from anyone so he took a seat on the floor next to the right arm of a large sofa positioned next to a single arm chair. The sofa was positioned to face the screens while the arm chair was turned to face an identical chair on the opposite side. He was content to watch for the time being since he wasn't quite sure how to play anything. Even though he was simply sitting and watching, Elliot had relaxed considerably since he had arrived; something about the people here, there was something familiar about them.</div></span>