Survival Of The Fittest

"Well, yeah, no shit."

Jerry said it matter-of-factly and continued chowing down, though there was an undeniably present carpet of disappointment lying beneath the statement. An orgy anywhere in Kingman? An orgy that actually had girls at it? Ain't ever gonna happen. Jerry briefly considered what he would actually do at an orgy were one to spontaneously occur, playing the scenario in his head. Probably involved a lot of standing around naked and trying to find somebody to bang. Would there be a lot of those? Kind of like your standard high school dance, except everybody has their pants off and nobody trusts the punch bowl.

Well, it's less trustworthy than usual.

"But when you send out invitations for the inevitable gang bang," Jerry said after swallowing, "send me one. I'm in that like Flynn. Wait. In like... Flynn... doesn't really work if you put another word in there." Jeremy was boring. Barry hadn't said a fucking thing. BB was insane but that still qualified her as the most entertaining person, so.

"You're still with that band, right?" Jerry asked. "Got any openings? Actually don't bother, I can't play, but I wanna come listen to you guys." He continued to dominate the discussion by talking about whatever came to mind, hoping to get BB to open up. She was interesting... fun, even, but he got this vague impression that she was just as likely to kiss somebody as she was to suspend their car underneath a bridge.

((Sorry for taking so long to post.  I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have.))

Barry just sat and watched the conversation continue to unfold, unsure of what exactly he was bearing witness to.  Every time the speaker changed, things just seemed to get weirder and weirder.  Jeremy started talking about orgies too, then a third guy, Jerry, came in and said that Jeremy was actually a virgin.  In a way, it was almost like watching a soap opera.  Heck, even the delivery of some of their statements was pretty theatrical.  Barry was almost expecting a crowd to gasp at every new detail.

It turned out they were all joking, though.  Well, at least BB and Jeremy were.  He still wasn't 100% sure about Jerry.  Still, Barry breathed an internal sigh of relief.  He thought that there was something crazy going on right under his nose.  He didn't really have any interest in joining in, but finding out about something like that sure would have been quite a shock.

Barry chuckled in response to the joke.  "You guys really had me going there.  Now I'm kinda embarrassed."  He brought his fork down to scoop up some more potatoes, only to hear it hit the tray with a clinking sound.  He looked down to see that somehow, he had cleared his entire plate of potatoes during their conversation.  He knew that he was a fast eater, but it still surprised him.  He nonchalantly put his fork down and picked up his pizza.

"But really, do you have any plans?"  Barry said before biting into his pizza.  "And I'll know if you're joking this time.  Probably."

((hopefully i'm not breaking any rules by doing this))

((Matthew Moradi continued from Imparare))

Matt hated it whenever he forgot to bring a lunch. The food at Cochise was - all offense intended to anyone who had worked there, past and present - shit, in his opinion. Maybe it was just an off day when he had to suffer through the food here? Either way, he had started making sure he brought his own - extra sure. He made it a day in advance - make Monday's lunch on Sunday. Tuesday's on Monday. And so on, and so on. Maybe he was going a little too far - all he knew is that he really, really didn't want to eat any cafeteria food.

Seeing that the place was starting to get a little crowded when he entered the scene, Matt looked around for somewhere to sit. Noticing someone he knew - Barba Gunnerson, pretty okay person, kinda weird - Matt hurried over and sat down at the table they were occupying, carefully putting his backpack down on the floor beside him. "Heeey, BB. What's happening? I mean, other than lunch. That's happening."

Noticing the three other people present at the table that he didn't know, Matt decided to take the initiative and introduce himself. He was feeling fairly sociable today, for some reason. He figured he was just in a good mood - he had just beaten NG+ on Dark Souls 2, after all. "Matt Moradi, generally cool guy. Hi."

He scratched his beard and reached into his backpack, pulling out a brown paper bag. "Alright, let's see.." He began pulling out his lunch -  sandwich, turkey on rye with mayonnaise and lettuce, wrapped in tinfoil. Bottled water. Chocolate bar. Matt began carefully unwrapping the sandwich, waiting for some sort of response. He figured that this'd be a decent way to spend his lunch period, at the very least.

"Yeah," BB said to Jerry. "I'm still with the band. We've always got something going on. I'll try to let you know when our next gig is."

Well, often what was going on was just practice or composition work, which probably wasn't interesting to anyone outside the band itself (or maybe future music geeks if they ever hit the big time enough to churn out one of those massive demos and rarities box sets everyone recording in the 90s had), but nobody needed to know that. She could shoot Jerry the details of whatever event they next managed to get involved with when that time came, if he even was still interested, or she could just burn him a CDR or something. That might be the best choice—the odds were decent enough he was only expressing interest out of politeness anyways and that would spare him having to actually listen to Peyote Coyote's output and would also spare her the irritation of dealing with any excuses he came up with for no-showing.

"And nothing much else," she added to Barry and Jeremy. "I wouldn't call it a 'sarcasm fight,' though. That would imply you had a chance."

She put on her sweetest smile for Jeremy, just to keep him guessing.

Then Matt made his way over, and that kept the smile on her face. Matt was, well, exactly what he introduced himself as. BB gave him a nod and a wiggle of her her fingers in acknowledgement as he sat down. She polished off the last of her lunch as he spoke.

"Not too much going on," she said, right after swallowing the last of the peaches. She sometimes drank the syrup from the cups, but not when anybody outside the band might see her do it. "Just talking about cocks and stuff. Pretty boring, really."

And Jerry completely ignored him, turning his complete attention to BB and her hypothetical orgy (taking another look at it, wow Jerry was really interested in that orgy, wasn't he). He then asked about her band. Oh right, she was in a band with some other people from school, wasn't she? He'd never heard any of their stuff, but they probably weren't bad at all. He figured that he'd ask her if they had any mp3s of their stuff on Facebook is she was on that tonight; and hey, best case scenario it'd turn into snarkfight v2 in which he would certainly win.

Another person decided to join the table. Matt Moradi. Jeremy didn't know much about him, despite both of them being gamers. Apparently from his introduction, he was a pretty cool guy, which Jeremy decided to believe. "Hey."

Speaking of snarkfighting earlier, BB then decided to taunt him, saying that he had no chance of winning it

Oh, it was on.

He leaned a bit closer, tried to make his natural tallness come out a little bit, tried to make his eyes meet her smiling face. "Oh, so that's how you think it is? I'll have you know that this is just the least I can do. If you want, I can show you what I'm really made of."

But wait, he couldn't. He kinda had run out of material. He probably ran out of material a long time ago considering Jerry's complete nonreaction to him. He sucked at playing introductions, he always needed someone to speak first so that he could play off of them. It was his one flaw as a comedian, in his mind.

But he needed a way out of here, before he made a fool of himself. He reached back, to get some food; there wasn't anything there.

Showtime.

"But alas, I have ran out of food, and I said earlier that I'd leave when I finished eating or something like that." He stood up. "We continue this battle later, tonight, maybe." He started putting his lunchbox back into his bag. "But in all seriousness I gotta go now. Sorry for making the conversation about cocks, Barry, Jerry."

As he walked away, he waved to the four people at the table. "See ya."

He hoped that he was able to put on a show.

((Jeremy Frasier, continued in For the people all said "Sit down, sit down you're rockin' the boat."))

"I'unno. I like chickens," Jerry said offhandedly, not offering so much as a following glance when Jeremy left the table. "So, like, pretty fuckin' sure he ran out of material and bitched out until he can think of something better." It was just an assumption, but Jerry was feeling pretty confident that he was correct. He usually was.

He glanced at the clock. His lunch period had only started a few minutes ago but in the grand scheme of things they didn't have a whole world of time, especially not for him. He needed to go all the way down, practically to the library, to get something from his locker and then aaaaaaaaaall the way to the east wing to catch his next class. Seriously, who designed this school? Would it kill them to keep the lockers kinda central and not place them on each end of east bum-fuck so people wouldn't have to, y'know, plan ahead? Nobody had time for that kind of thing.

"I need to eat more." Jerry continued to stuff his face. If he kept at the pace he was going, he wouldn't be able to finish before the bell rang, knowing his luck.

(Frederick Brea: Pregame START)

Rick found himself entering the cafeteria close to the end of the period with a heavy heart and an empty stomach. The teacher had made him stay behind after class to give him a lecture about his last math test. It was a conversation that he found himself becoming adept at. He nodded in understanding during the right parts, made promises to meet with his tutor, looked frighten with the threat of being cut from the basketball team if he did not improve. It was getting easier.

Only, it was not really that easy when he felt his stomach gurgle, needing to be fed. He would have to eat fast. This was kind of like the "being late to school with toast in your mouth scenario" he had seen done in many anime before. Only it was lunch. And he did not have toast.

Okay, everything was completely different, but the allusion made Rick feel much happier about the situation than thinking about what had occurred mere moments before in class.

He did a quick scan of the lunchroom, not finding any of the usual people he sat with, before locking on a semi-empty lunch table. It was his only chance!

Rick nearly jogged over to the table, not really registering the faces of his potential cafeteria mates. "Hey, can I sit here?"

"A band?"  Barry said between mouthfuls of pizza.  "That's cool.  I never was much good at music myself.  I could play the heck out of a triangle in first grade, though."  He chuckled at his own joke before taking a bite out of the crust.

Things really settled down after everyone stopped joking.  The air seemed to get more chill, and they all just seemed to be appreciating the moment.  Or maybe Barry was just doing that, and he liked to imagine that the others were as well.  Either way, it was relaxing.  A pretty nice moment, all things considered.

... A nice moment that faded away all too soon, and the last piece of pizza crust disappeared into his mouth and began its long journey through his digestive system.  Faced with a clean tray, he now ha a decision to make.  Stick around and chat, or walk out and get ready for his next class.  He checked the clock.  He still had enough time to get everything in order with a few minutes to spare.  Yeah, that seemed like a good plan.

"All right, I think that's it for me."  He said to the group, getting out of his seat.  "Thanks for the chat.  It was pretty fun."  He brought his tray to the return area and walked out of the cafeteria, off to prepare for the latter half of the school day.

((Barry Banks continued elsewhere...))

"Hey, man." he replied to Jeremy, more focused on the sandwich he was eating than him. Turkey on rye - one of the biggest mistakes he'd made all year. Mentally, he began flagellating himself for not putting any mayonnaise on it - what the hell is wrong with me, he thought, taking another bite. Apparently the current topic of discussion was cocks. What kind of cocks, he didn't know. He took another bite. This was the first thing he noticed as soon as he sat down.. this sandwich was dry as shit.

He listened as Jerry started talking about continuing the battle later on, then something about cocks. Matt watched as he walked away. There goes Jerry, someone he doesn't know. "Yeah, uh, see ya later."

Opening his mouth to say something about chickens - cocks, chickens, get it? - he closed and looked at Jerry, who just said something about chickens. Son of a bitch, he thought. This kid's got all the right moves. He liked him already.

"Yeah, dunno who that was. Guess he got blown the fuck out." He looked over to Rick as soon as he popped the question - yep, don't know this guy. But hey, why not? "Yeah, sure. Some guy just left."

And then someone else got up and left. This was the second thing he noticed - people started leaving almost as soon as he sat down. Someone else he didn't know got up, said his goodbyes and left. "Yeah, bye." As soon as he was out of earshot, he grinned and asked, "Man, everyone's leaving. Do I smell like shit, or something?" He didn't smell like shit. At least, he didn't think he smelled like shit.

"Nah. I mean, I'unno, you might!" Jerry nursed what little remained of his apple. It wasn't much, but goddamn, he was gonna make that apple last the rest of the lunch period if he had to. "I think it's more... mpnh... ah..." He swallowed bits of delicious, delicious apple. "... it's kinda nearin' the end of lunch so people are getting up to get a headstart."

He knew that he really should be heading the way of the traveling student as well. The main reason for sitting down in this particular spot was due to how interesting the conversation was and, to be honest, when you enter a conversation at THAT point, the only place for it to go was down. Down, or straight to hell. Sadly, Jerry hadn't the two coins to pay to Sharon... Karen? K-on? Fuck, it was one of those. All he could remember was it wasn't pronounced like it was spelled. Bullshit Greek.

"The fuck was his name?" Jerry thought aloud. His brain did that sometimes, translating thoughts that should've just stayed inside the head... and bringing them out. It happened, and it was just a fact of life. He wouldn't shut up his brain for the world, though he was sure many others in the same position would have been screaming at theirs to.

What fuckin' moron tells their own brain to shut up, anyway? Jerry dreamed, lost in thought  as he accidentally bit a little too hard on his apple core, getting a seed jammed up between two teeth. Yeeeeeowch.

Rick bit his lip to stop from laughing at Matt's shit comment. "Yeah, man. Could be scarin' everyone off. That would mean since I got there I'd like the smell of shit. Pretty gross, thinking about that kind of thing at the lunch table."

Wait. Oh, shit. That could be taken the wrong way, because Matt was... Persian? Yeah, a Middle Eastern place or something. Did what he just say could be racist? Fuck, maybe. "But, uh, you don't smell, like shit, I mean. I'm just the weirdo who showed up late to lunch. One time of the day where you don't want to be late."

Not his smoothest save ever, but hopefully the short outburst Jerry had took some attention away from him. He moved his attention to the paper bag  he that held in a choke hold grip to keep from spilling over. When he opened it there was a turkey and mustard sandwich on whole wheat, a bag of sun chips, and a plum waiting for him. He had eaten the granola bar and fruit cup earlier during a break between classes, but that was, three hours ago. An... eternity or something to his stomach.

Taking the plastic wrap off his sandwich, he took his first few bites. A simple sandwich, but it would fill him up all the same.

((iirc weasel can't SOTF at the moment so i'm gonna skip over them.))

Matt lifted his arm slightly and sniffed once or twice, wondering if it was true that you cant smell your own body odor. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that you can't and slowly put his arm back down. He sighed, going back to finishing the world's worst sandwich. The sandwich was a mistake. A big one. It was a lot like Mass Effect 3's ending, in that way. "Y"know," he said, inbetween bites, "I"m kinda dumb. Like, I get nearly straight As and shit. Not bragging or anything but I seriously forgot to put mayo on this sandwich." Finishing, he pulled out his water and took a swig. "Driest sandwich ever made, I fucking swear."

Raising an eyebrow at Jerry - who seemed to be desperately trying to remember someone-s name - Matt asked, "Uhh.. whose name, dude?" Matt grinned slightly, not entirely sure if Jerry was the smartest person at the table. This only made him wonder if he knew BB. Some of her friends, in Matt's opinion, weren't exactly Cochise's best and brightest.

Matt chuckled at what Rick had said, not really thinking too much about it. Looking over to Rick, sort of sizing him up, Matt shrugged and said, "Hmm.. yeah, you totally look like a dude who loves the smell of shit. I'm Matt, by the way."

"Uh," Jerry started, smiling even if he felt a little bit indignant at the question, "if I knew that dude, I wouldn't be asking. Duh?"

Still, he was getting the distinct impression that trying to remember the ferryman dude's name was going to be bothering him for the rest of the day. Dude appeared in Hercules, didn't he? And there was some connection between him and a moon that he read about once, though he couldn't quite remember which one, either. If he could, maybe this mystery would've been solved a little quicker.

"Well it's been fun kiddos," Jerry said in his best attempt to sound like a parent. It came across as a weird mix between a cartoon villain and a game show host. Close enough. "Buuuuuut I'll be skipping out a little early." The bell was liable to ring any minute, and Jerry wanted to beat the rush out so he could make it to his locker before class. With any luck his homework would be waiting somewhere, half-crumpled in a folder. Or maybe he just didn't do it. Details, who needed 'em?

"Adios!"

((Jerry Fury, continued somewhere down the road. Follow the trail of dust and burnt rubber))

"Yeah, I should be going too."

BB had finished her lunch and then sat quietly watching the others, mostly just following the conversation and judging everyone else at the table a bit—not in a mean way or anything, more sort of a pitying one—and wondering whether it was worth heading anywhere else. And then, before she knew it, enough of the period was over that it really wasn't but it was also close enough to the start of class that it wouldn't be so bad to get there early.

So she hopped onto the bandwagon and followed after Jerry, heading into the halls of Cochise. She gave a little wave at the others as she left.

"See you around."

((BB Gunnerson continued in Smoke On Her Face))

Looks like Matt had not taken the possible insult personally, which filled Rick with relief. "I'm Rick. Seen you around a lot, but guess we've never talked before. Probably part of the reason is because you get those straight As."

He looked around the table to find that everyone else had gone. Huh, he really had gotten out of class late. He continued to dig more into his sandwich, trying to eat before the bell rang and swallowed again before looking over at Matt. "Hey, man. If you gotta go, go ahead. Probably not much fun eating that dry sandwich."