GasMaskie
"Wait and Hope"
It plays in your head like a song on repeat.
Shallow breaths part your lips as a harsh, blaring sound echoes in the air around you. The sharp sensation of pain prickles your body as you struggle to keep your eyes open. What you can see through the small slit afforded by your half-closed eyelids is a smooth white surface that are dyed in a red light in time with that awful noise. As your will fails and your eyes close, you realize that you can feel air rushing past you. You're moving. Yet, your body isn't moving - a soft warmth previously unknown to you smothers your frame as you muster up the strength to gaze upwards.
"Just hang on, alright? I'll get you out of here soon..."
It's a strange, unfamiliar voice that addresses you at that moment. The sound of metal scraping against metal forces you to wince, but you feel something. A reassuring touch - a pat on the head. For what seems like the first time in your life, you feel something nice that spreads through your chest. You can't recall a single thing - but you're absolutely certain that what you're feeling now is relief. Ah, that's right, you start to recall that voice once more as you start to stir.
And just like that, the dream ends and that vision fades into a sepia oblivion. You stir softly but refuse to open your eyes. Right now, your body is lying on something soft - further movement confirms that you're lying down in some sort of reclined chair. Your ears pick up on something muffled - engines perhaps? As you remain in your lucid state of half-sleep, you struggle to recall your current situation. You remember parting ways with someone and killing time by eating at some fast food joint - the meal was undeniably terrible (for you and your body). After forcing that down with copious amounts of fountain drinks, you ended up waiting for what seemed like a dull eternity in perhaps the longest line you've ever seen. And even after all that, the line just led to a checkpoint where some uniformed woman checked people for identification and handed them some high-tech gizmo that looked like a pane of glass. Wait, there was something noteworthy about the others who were subject to the same boredom of endless waiting as you were. Oh yeah, they were all wearing the same thing - dark blue blazers and scarlet ties. Slacks if they were guys and skirts if they were girls, obviously. You vaguely remember how they looked like tools.
Then the amusement stops when you recall that you were dressed the same way. You pat down your pocket and feel something rectangular hiding in there. Right, there's that high-tech gizmo - you're too tired to recall just what they were and their function. Then the line split into two different ones after that point - you can remember your confusion as they sorted you into the line with significantly less people. And though they were all in the same clothing as you were, something rubbed you the wrong way about these guys. Like, they were the kind of people you didn't want to run into in a back alley. Your instincts told you to run but you swallowed that trepidation and took your rightful(?) spot in line. The one or two gazes you felt on you made you feel as if you shrank down to the size of an insect. Maybe they were sizing you up? That sounds about right.
After that uncomfortable period of time, the luggage you've been dragging around was taken by a burly guy with big round ears on the top of his head and you were led down a wide passage and into the belly of the beast. Having all but shut off your mind at this point, you groggily picked a seat and random and crashed on it. Getting up early to pack and commute was one thing, waiting in three or four different lines was another. Sleep came quick and the chatter from the stewardess transformed into background noise. That's right. You were taking a flight - and you're a new, first-year student. This was just the start of a new life! Whatever happened next would be decide the rest of your life! This was your future! This was your desti-
Your eyes snap open when you feel a warm breath tickle your nose. There, right in your face, is another face. They've got pale skin that looks like they've never been kissed by the sun's UV rays and sharp features. Black hair frames their face and their eyes are closed shut. Another breath rolls across your nose as you realize how close you are. Aaaaaaand, you freak right out. Your body jolts up as your back slams against the cabin window. Your mouth opens and you let out a scream.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Wha- Aaaaaaaaaah?!"
The two of you make your surprise known in the loudest way possible as his body also backs right up against his seat's arm rest. As you clutch your chest, two tufts on the person's head seem to pop up. Two distinctly large ears stab the air as they take a deep breath and quickly remove something shiny from their pocket. Your immediate response is to bring both hands up because holy shit are they going to shank you? Thankfully, no. The shine came from light reflecting of the lenses of their glasses. As they slip the vision-correcting accessory on, you take a moment to re-examine their person. Upon further inspection, it's a guy. He's fairly lean, though he's certainly taller than you now that you think about it. His eyes open slightly and you can make out two silver orbs gazing right at you.
"O-Oh, my humblest apologies. I didn't know somebody else was sitting here - erm, my bad eyesight means that I've got to rely on my Semblance to get around. I mean, I saw a faint glimmer of light, but I thought it was someone's pet. N-Not that I'm saying that you're lower than someone's house pet or something!" The young man's voice is soft and the tension slowly disappears as he trips over himself trying to apologize to you. And, you see head or two popping down - looks like that outburst didn't go unnoticed. The tone he uses with you almost seems too practiced and polite - but you're also certain that he's completely sincere about this. He's got a small smile plastered on his bespectacled face. You can briefly recall mannerisms like that being fairly common in that one place you visited that one summer.
Oh man, interaction. This is some pretty high level stuff, isn't it? Like, you didn't expect to have to talk to another living being as soon as you woke up. You wonder briefly if you look presentable. Though, you're pretty sure you've got a serious case of bedhead after that little nap time. Damn, how come his hair's all nice and tidy? He was sleeping too wasn't he? Maybe he uses some of those fancy imported haircare products or something. Wait, what's that? Right, you've gotta say something to him because right now you're just staring blankly right back at him.
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