Tumblr Academy reimagined

((That's cool, 'night.))
I sighed. "I just can't remember a word," I admitted, somewhat sheepishly. I rubbed the back of my neck, wondering why I felt so nervous admitting that. It's not like I had made a mistake or was going to be scolded for forgetting a word, so why did admitting that make me feel like I was embarrassing myself?

((It's chill. Goodnight!))

Alistair: I gently set the book down and walked over to her. "You are not a monster, Olivia," I slowly took her hands into mine. "If anyone is the monster here, it's me. I don't have a heart."
Kira: I drove quickly, speeding down the streets, slowing down when we got to town so I was around the speed limit.
Aiden: I smiled, my insides twisting. Gosh dang it, he was super cute when he was being sheepish! How do I cope with this? From what I was getting, he was from some Renaissance time-period world. I mean, history was super gay, but what if he was super religious which was a real possibility! I quickly pushed it to the back of my mind. "I'm sure it will come to you eventually. I'm going to go find my own room now. You get a good sleep, okay?"

"Yeah, you too," I managed, smiling before entering my room and closing the door, barely managing not to seem like I was in a hurry or desperate to get away from him. Immediately I resisted the urge to scream with frustration. What was wrong with me? I knew I had felt this way before dying, too, but I couldn't figure it out. The word finally came back to my mind. "Gun!" I shouted, running my hands through my hair. "How did I forget the word gun?"

Aiden: I was walking away when I heard him shout the word "gun." I chuckled a bit to myself. He was super cute, it made my head spin and my thoughts go blank, rendering me incapable of speaking. I sighed and opened a door, thankful to find an empty bedroom. I flick on the light and looked around it, closing the door behind me. I got settled into the bed and closed my eyes, exhausted.

I groaned and faceplanted into the soft mattress, tugging my leather arm protector off of my wrist, glancing at the bite marks that scarred my wrist with distaste before looking away and setting the leather on the nightstand. I was aware none of my weapons were with me, filing that in my head for later. I'd have to ask if the others had taken them at some point. After I turned the lights all off I laid down on the bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. I wasn't sure how long I stayed like that, but it felt like a while. Eventually I sighed and got up, giving up on sleep. I couldn't bring myself to close my eyes anyway. Maybe someone would still be up, like Alistair. If not I could always retrace my steps before back to the library and read some of the books there in an attempt to understand Kira's world better. So I headed back to the library.

My heart was thudding. It was thinking too fast and too much more me to sleep. It happened a lot to my dad too, so it kinda sucked for my mom. I couldn't fall asleep, no matter how much I tried. I looked at my bracelet that contained all the vibranium nanobots. Shuri had probably already built three upgrades in the two days that I've been gone.

I quietly walked into the library, looking for anyone else that could be awake. Alistair sat at the table, digging through some books in the light of the table lamp. At first I was excited, I could talk to Alistair, but then I immediately realized I shouldn't interrupt him since he looked focused. I prepared to silently sneak away so as not to disturb him.

Alistair: I felt the disturbance in the air and looked up. "Ah, Nic. Hello. Shouldn't you be sleeping, not that that's any of my business."

I vowed to get back to practicing moving silently. If I had been spotted in a dark room by a focused person, that wasn't a good sign for my stealth skills. "I couldn't sleep. Not after everything," I replied, plopping down in a chair next to him. I went to prop my head on my left hand but immediately realized I hadn't put the brace back on, which left the scars exposed. I awkwardly put my arm down, covering it with the other one.

((Yeah, I think I'm gonna hit the hay as well. Night, bro!))

I watched his demeanour a bit. "Ah, I understand. I can't sleep either. I'm here to either jam my head full of so much information, I have no choice but to sleep, or just ease my mind into it and possibly fall asleep at this table. It's bad for me, but I'll take it however I can get it." I looked back down at my book, trying to remember what I just read.

I hesitated a moment as he turned back to his book before deciding I should interrupt him again. "Sorry, do you mind if I ask you something?" I asked quietly, nervous again. I didn't even know how to phrase the question in my head, let alone without it sounding weird and making enough sense to get an answer. I couldn't just ask 'what's wrong with me?' and expect him to understand what I was talking about. Plus it felt like trying to explain my feelings would just sound odd to him.

((Alistair is now the Dad Friend.))

"Of course!" I closed my book and pushed it to the side before looking at him. "Tell me what's on your mind, is something bothering you?"

((I mean, they are kinda like brothers, right?))
I sighed. "Part of the problem is I'm not sure what's bothering me or how to describe it," I murmured, running my right hand through my hair. "It's like ever since..." I paused, thinking back. "Ever since Aiden joined our group I've been really out of it. It's like I can't focus anymore or do things without feeling anxious anymore, and I don't know what's wrong with me."

((Yeah!))

"Oh? Well, I was kinda anticipating this. You might have a crush on him, have you considered that?" I wasn't sure what his reaction would be, but hopefully he wouldn't overreact and wake everyone up.

"Wait... But... Huh?" I gaped uncertainly as my mind raced. I'd never had feelings for anyone before so I couldn't be sure of what he was saying. Besides, guys don't fall for guys, right?

I looked down at him. "Nic, uh, do they have homosexual relationships where your from? I mean, it's okay to like someone of the same sex, that's perfectly normal because they are just feelings."

I couldn't even respond as I sat blinking in shock, which I was sure would be enough to answer his question. I slowly put my head down on the table as my mind raced. This information changed everything. But if it was okay to like the same gender, why had I never seen or heard anything about that in my own world? What was different in my home that these relationships weren't known about?

I gently rubbed his back. "It's okay," I muttered. "I imagine this is quite a shock." I looked around, trying to think of what to say, but how do you help someone who didn't even know he was in the closet because he didn't even know there was a closet? Oh, if only Alice and Robin were here, they might have been able to help.

"I.." I took a deep breath. "Thank you," I said earnestly, getting to my feet slowly so I could head back to my room and think in private.

"You're welcome!" I called after him. I sighed and looked down at my book. Hopefully he wouldn't lash out at anyone from this new news.

I hurried back to my room silently, burying my face in my pillow as soon as I got there, my mind still racing. What was I supposed to do now, knowing that this new information applied to me. What would people at home say about it? More important than that, what did I want now?

I finally felt actually tired and walked to my room. I was going to fall asleep and who knew what the new day would bring.

Liv: I had managed to fall asleep in one of the extra rooms and for a little while I didn’t have any nightmares, but of course they came back and for some reason seemed worse here. So I quietly walked around, sort of looking for Alistair, but mostly trying to calm down. It was weird though because when I tried to hide in the shadows like I always did with my Hades personality it didn’t work. I still felt powerful here, but none of my abilities seemed to be working...
   
Artemis: I relaxed a bit when she slowed down to a reasonable speed.

((Here, you two should have Kira and Artemis finish their supply run before we do at kind of timeskip))

((Yeah, it might be interesting if Liv ran into Dean, I’m not sure who writes him typically, but yeah...))