Handprints

Chapter 8: Ice Breakers

Dee was led down one of the tunnels on the main floor, following after Sparks and Ziba like a lost little kid following their parents.

They decided to ignore the way that stung and pulled at memories that Dee had to force themself to push back down before they started crying or something equally embarrassing.

Ziba and Sparks stopped in front of a closed wooden door that looked like it had seen better days a few years ago.

"This is where newbies stay" Sparks explained, though Sparks did seem to have softened from how pissed off Sparks had been earlier.

"You won't be trapped down here though, it's mostly just so that the newbies can all have a space together" Ziba added before Dee could start panicking about that very possibility.

Dee swallowed, staring at the door like it would bite them if they turned away from it for even a second.

"We'll be close by if you need help, just ask for us" Sparks reassured them, putting a hand on their arm.

With that, Ziba pushed open the door and led the way into the room on the other side.

The room in question was both exactly what Dee was expecting and completely different. Dee had been expecting the rough rock walls and bunk beds, but they hadn't been expecting the sheer amount of people in the room. There had to be at least two dozen people ranging in age from barely in their teens and adults that seemed at least a decade older then Dee.

Every head turned to them as they stepped in, though that might have been because of Sparks rather unsubtle entrance.

"What up!" Sparks called as Sparks ducked through the door and clapped Sparks's hands on Dee's shoulders "This here is my good friend Dee," Sparks introduced Dee to the others as they ambled over to check out who the new newbie was "and I expect y'all to treat them well aight?" Dee didn't have to look at Sparks to know there was a playful smirk across Sparks's face.

One kid who looked to be about the same age as Dee laughed and came to the front of the crowd, clearly sizing Dee up as they spoke to Sparks "you know we're always nice to the newbies."

Sparks laughed once more, patted Dee's shoulder and then turned to leave. Ziba paused just long enough to give Dee a reassuring smile before following after Sparks and leaving Dee alone with this crowd of strangers and their unsettling leader.

The first person to greet Dee was a girl about Dee's age with dark hair buzzed close to her scalp. She seemed eager to be Dee's friend and could talk more than enough to fill the silence Dee's uncertainty provided. After all, they never had to even consider a situation even close to their current position.

Mudiwa wasted no time before plunging into an explanation of the people that Dee would be sharing the quarters with.

The two that stuck out the most to Dee were Chad and Yana.

Chad was tall and well built guy about the same age as Dee.

Yana, on the other hand, was short and looked to be maybe a little younger than Dee themself.

"What about you?" Dee was caught off guard by the question, not sure what Mudiwa was asking about.

"W-huh?" Dee managed to stumble out something approaching a question of clarification.

Mudiwa gave a small laugh "what about you, what's your story?"

Dee hesitated, not sure how much they should tell this person they barely knew. Despite their hesitation, Dee found themself telling Mudiwa a brief, if vague, explanation of how they had followed Ziba and Sparks down the tunnel after seeing them sneaking around.

Mudiwa seemed to attach herself to Dee, quickly becoming friends of some sort, though Dee was never quite sure how to act around the excitable girl. At least Dee didn't have to worry about having a partner during lessons though.

The others weren't exactly warm to Dee. At best they seemed wary of the newcomer, Yana didn't exactly seem to help things either.

She always seemed suspicious of Dee, nothing too bad, just a cold push here and there to keep Dee on the outside of the main group. Kept them at arms length from the others. Dee didn't feel too much of a need to challenge that.