Kal sighed, noticing the change in her demeanor again. Why does she act so nice, then drop it? He shrugs. "Thanks. We can start now." He winces, doubling over. "Pfffft, just kidding. I was kidding. That was a prank." He collects himself, taking a deep breath, and then starts again. "Alright. Im ready. For real this time." He glances over at Zanna, wanting a reaction, any kind of reaction besides the cold and heartless stoned face.
Zanna just gave him a look that the slightest bit of concern laced in it, though it was mostly slight annoyance. She let out a little sigh once he was done with his "prank" and then slowly began moving towards their wing. Even though part of her mind was telling her not to care, she couldn't help but care about Kal in this moment. He was injured and no matter how annoying he was, is, no one deserved an asshole in their moment of weakness.
Kal huffed. continuing down the hall with uneven steps. He watches as their wing grows closer and closer, and faintly remembers when Zanna was so enthusiastically describing how she had made her leg. He looks at her, studying her face. Why is she so different all the sudden? He sighs again, keeping his eyes focused on his steps once again. It's probably my fault. Hell, she thought she could get used to me, and then I did something stupid. Way to go, Kalen. He starts to rely less on Zanna, leaning off of her as he makes his way to his dorm. "I can make it the rest of the way. Thanks though."
"Nope," Zanna pulled him closer when he made that comment. How did she fail to notice him pulling away ever so slightly? She kept her emotions off of her face as she slowed down ever so slightly before looking over at Kal, "If you do you're going to hurt yourself further. So you're stuck with me for now."
Kal blushes a bit at the movement, hating himself for that. He mocks a disgruntled sigh and continues leaning on Zanna. "Well, shit. I was really hoping to escape." He smiles weakly. I cannot, for the love of everything good and holy, read this chick. He takes smaller steps, feeling it easier to do so, as they make their way toward his dorm. I just need a blunt. Just a little closer ma'am…
Zanna lead them all the way up to his door where she finally released Kal from her hold. She stepped back slightly from Kal and let her hands fall by her wayside, "Well, now you can. I free you from your captivity." She made a little face as she decided if she should say anything more and then decided against it turning around and heading to her dorm, "Farewell, see you tomorrow, probably."
Kal stumbled, leaning on the door frame.
He smiles, waiting for something else, then drops it once it never comes. He waves slightly. “Th-thanks. Bye, Zanna.” He sighs, entering his room and closing the door behind him, collapsing on the bed. He digs around in his bag, pulling out one of the lustrous blunts and lights it, sighing. Lustrous was absolutely perfect. It stopped pain, numbed emotions, was completely lacking in smell and drew almost no attention in bag checks. He lays back on the bed as he hits it, closing his eyes, laughing at memories of a hopping Zanna.
Zanna walked into her room and once the door closed let out a long sigh. She sat down her bed and began looking at her prosthetic arm and leg curling the fingers rolling her foot just reminding herself that while she may have lost the real things, she still had them. Sure phantom pains were a bitch sometimes, but otherwise she could deal with it. Seeing Kal injured brought out a side that she thought she had suppressed a long time ago, she couldn't be feeling that way, not if she wanted to be the little protege everyene expected her to be.
About an hour later, the cadets were called to lunch/mandatory meeting in hall 7Z. Kal, disgruntled, pocketed the rest of the lustrous and haphazardly started down the hallway. Being hurt like that brought back things he thought he'd left behind. And Zanna's mixed reactions toward him only made it worse. He coughs, shooting pain through his leg, forcing him to pause for a moment. Geez, you used to be so good at this. He sighs, trying his best to completely ignore the pain.
Zanna popped out of her room moments later adjust in time to see Kal pause in the hallway. She quickly caught up to him and didn't exactly impose herself onto him, but instead lightly coughed to tell him she was there. She didn't want to risk him getting injured further, especially if they were going to be paired up. She had figured that much out in the last hour stewing in her room. The pairs formed early that day were probably semi-permanent arrangements for the time being given that not only were they paired together then, but they also had living quarters next to each other. She finally decided to verbally offer him help, "Do you want some help getting to the hall?"
Kal spun around, expecting to be yelled at, then sighed once he realized it was Zanna. “Ah, so you want an excuse to hold me again?” He smirks, leaning on the wall. “That whole hour without me must have been so hard.” He trips, then catches himself, laughing. “God, this artificial gravity is wild…”
(Just to lyk, I’ll be super inactive for about two weeks! I’m so sorry!)
(It's fine!)
"I would hardly call helping you to the meeting hall holding you," Zanna rolled her eyes having moved slightly to catch him when he tripped. She half crossed her arms in order to make the movement less awkward and obvious to anyone else, "Anyway, do you want the help or not?"
Kal laughs, still on a bit of a high. “Whatever you call it, Zanna.” He looks down at his leg, then at Zanna’s awkward stance, and shrugs. “Ill be fine. Unless you’re really really intent on helping me, then I’ll gladly accept it.” He flips his long wavy hair out of his eyes as he flashes another smirk, starting again down the hall.
"Well, I'm intent on it," Zanna ignored his smirk and went to wrap her arm around him. She didn't care about his thoughts on the situation, she just wanted to make sure her future chances of success wasn't hampered by an injured partner.
Kal grins, genuinely, as he accepts the help. He winced a bit again at the feeling of her skin on his deep and worn wounds, but otherwise leans into her. “So, Zanna, tell me about yourself. Where you from? What do you do exactly? Why…” he gestures to her hair. “Purple?”
Zanna let out a long sigh as she began to carefully move forward towards the meeting room. She rolled her eyes at his questions, "You know where I'm from. We're from the same area, and as for your other questions, I don't need to tell you anything about me."
Kal sighs, rolling his eyes. “Fine, then. Be all mysterious.” He trudges on to the room, the bands on their arms signaling for the door to open. A small group of cadets mills about the room, making small talk as the commanders prepare for some kind of presentation. “Gross. Reminds me of history class.” Kal huffs, looking around for a seat.
Zanna glaned around the room seeing the other candidates and immediately deciding she was not going to get dragged into a conversation if she could help it. She already had to deal with one idiot, she didn't need any more. She huffed a little laugh at his comparison and began looking for a seat to drop Kal in, "Kinda does. See any open seats?"
Kal gestures to a table which was somewhat deserted. A few of the cadets slouched on the chairs surrounding it. “If you don’t kind a few more lowlifes, we could go here.” He smirks, pulling away from Zanna and bowing to a seat. “M’lady”
Zanna scoffed at his last statement and began moving him towards the seat. She made sure he was in the chair before she let him go and sat next to him, "I don't mind the 'low-lifes,' despite you thinking the contrary."
Kal smirked at her chivalry, giving a slight shrug before crossing his legs. “My apologies. I thought you were above all of us delinquents.” He tossed his hair out of his eyes as one of the commanders walked to the center of the room. “Good evening cadets.” He started, waiting for a response. No one said anything. He cleared his throat as he shuffled some papers, looking over them
Zanna chose to ignore both Kal and the commander. She rolled her eyes as she leaned into her seat. Hopefully, this would be short so she could get back to her room or maybe figure out where the workstations were so she could work on her inventions.
The commander awkwardly shifted, bringing up a hologram in the center of the room. "We have reports of a sooner attack than expected. The enemy is rapidly approaching, and we are far from being advanced enough to take them." He sighed, wiping his bald head with a handkerchief. "And as you are the offworlders closest in proximity to the planet, you may be one of our last defenses. As of now, we need weapons designed. We need weapons tested. And we need it now."
Kal sat up, his chance finally coming. He could actually be someone. Maybe not have to worry about the rest of his life either. He laughed, turning to Zanna. "I guess that means you'll me making stuff now, huh?"
Zanna listened to the commander carefully and her mind immediately began to get to work. Which one of her prototypes was closest to finished. Which one would be the most effective. Which one would be the most useful for the different members of the army. It was Kal's laugh that broke her from thought and she let out a little hum as his words caught up to her, "I guess I will. You better keep up because I'd much rather be testing them myself."