Vinstance was moved to the waiting area, waving to Phandrin with a grin and shaking off the hands of the doctors. Phandrin waved back happily, spotting the bandages that covered the beetles back. He was happy with their interaction, Vinstance seeming to warm up to him quickly.
He checked his phone, no new messages, pocketing it again as he came to the next door. He was nervous again, but he felt better after meeting the first person. He sighed, opening the door and shutting it behind him carefully.
He glanced at the name, recognizing it from Vinstances rambling.
"Ciperon? Hii, I'm Phandrin? You're friend Vinstance mentioned you," Phandrin hummed, spotting the person sitting face down at the table. The room had the same layout as the first.
He read through the paper again, Ciperon, an angler fish, male, and stayed in the facility for 4 years. Phandrin sat down, setting the clipboard down as they remained unmoving.
"Are you alright?" Phandrin asked, leaning down on the table, mirroring the persons actions, his nails hitting the tail suddenly as they sat up suddenly. Phandrins eyes widened slightly as he shielded his vision, a blue light pulsing in his vision as it dimmed out after a moment.
He moved his hands, gawking slightly at his appearance. His eyes and freckles glowed blue, a blue orb antennae appearing from the center of the boys head. His hair seemed to float, gills and fins coming from his neck and arms. He couldn't tell where Ciperon was looking because of the bright blue coming from his eyes.
The person seemed to stare at Phandrin, Phandrin shifting slightly under their gaze, waving his hand slightly.
"Im color blind, sorry-," They said suddenly, Phandrin reeled back slightly. "I can only see movement in shadows, and I'm majority deaf," They finished, Phandrin exhaling slightly. he watched them clip something in their ear, the light coming from their antennae adjusting slightly.
"You're the g-goat," Their eyes squinted slightly before smiling small. "I have a speech impediment as well I'm sorry," They finished as Phandrin shook his head with a smile. He noted the slight slur in his voice, making it sound as if he was drunk.
"No worries, I don't mind at all, it doesn't change anything. Your appearance just startled me, its so cool," Phandrin rambled, waving his hands a bit as to give the boy a visual representation.
"Thankyou, I'm sorry if I shocked yo-you with the light," Ciperon adjusted it again, tilting his head to the side. Phandrin paid no mind to the stutter. In the file, it said his vocal chords were shaved down from the testing around his gills, affecting his speech.
"I'm Ciperon, quadrant 4, and yes, Vinstance is my soulmate," He said, nodding slightly. Phandrins eyes widened a bit, not having noticed the feathers on wither of their backs. He recalled the bandages on Vinstances back again, and Ciperon sat facing away.
"Thats great! I'm sorry you had to meet in the facility. He said you told him a lot about the outside?" Phandrin hummed, Ciperon nodding. "I went out a lot before I was taken to the facility, so he would sneak to my cell with me during my hour of free time, and he would just let me talk about the outside," Ciperon nodded before glancing down.
"I can't really see it anymore... so I told him he could explain it to me now that we are out, just like I explained. he could live out seeing everything for me," Ciperon finished, smiling up at Phandrin. He could see the dark outline of Phandrins horns, noting that Phandrin was facing him. Phandrins chest tightened slightly.
"Your vision-?" Phandrin paused as Ciperon nodded. "The chemicals ruined it, they did a lot of testing. I can change the colors of my eyes, freckles, and light, but not as freely as before. They ruined my hearing too," Ciperon waved his hands, Phandrins eyes widening as the Ombre slowly faded to a light orange.
"I remember what color is like, and I'm very happy now that I got to see what colors our wings were before they ruined my eyes. The doctors said there was a chance they could repair it too," Ciperon said with a nod as Phandrin smiled. "That's good, Vinstance spoke very fondly of you too, he seems to care a lot," Phandrin nodded. "He talked about wanting to go hiking, stuff like that," He finished as Ciperons smile grew.
"Yeah, we wanna go hiking as soon as we are allowed out. We wanted to learn to fly too, and re-meet some of the other escaped quadrants again. Some we only ever saw behind bars, some we never saw at all," Ciperon hummed, thinking for a moment.
"Posein, she was nice, we spoke a few time. She's a leapord," Ciperon nodded. Phandrin thought for a moment, recognising the name.
"I met her yeah, she learned to fly when I did actually, she is nice, just quiet," Phandrin nodded, Ciperon sitting up straighter upon hearing this.
"What about Quartz? Sillis? They're okay too? And Kwared? I heard about him-" Ciperon said, his voice cutting out a bit at the mention of Kwared. "I'm not fond of him," Ciperons voice got a bit dark.
"Yes, they're all alright... Why don't you like Kwared?" Phandrin paused, furrowing his eyebrows slightly as he closed his wings against his back. He wanted to hear this.
"He killed our friend Swerve, he was a jellyfish,"
