Chapter Text
Sasha yawns as she steps out of her temporary room. It's almost midday, which is late for her to wake up, but given they were kept up in the interrogation rooms until almost morning, she’s still tired. She stops outside of the doors to Hamid and Grizzop’s rooms respectively, both seem to still be asleep.
She turns back to walk down the hall to her room, since she doesn’t really want to try and find the breakfast room on her own. She almost runs into a tall armor wearing figure, taking up as much hallway as possible and scowling. It might be the Mars guard who she tried to stab yesterday, but it's hard to tell.
“Um,” Sasha says. “Alright, there.”
The guy says nothing, just crosses his arms and glares steadily.
“I’m just going-” She gestures towards her room, then makes to move around him, trying to put some space between them. He takes a step back and continues to stay in her path. “’m not bein’ any trouble, I just-”
He reaches out for her and she swiftly tries to plant a dagger into his hand, but he manages to dodge. She retreats, her back slamming into the wall behind her.
“Leave me alone!” She says loudly. A door to the side opens and a bedraggled Hamid comes out. It’s a testament to how fast he’s moving that he hasn’t even prestidigitated yet.
The halfling stops in front of them and puts his hands on his hips, glaring up at the guard whose easily three times his size. “She said leave her alone. We have permission from the Meritocrats AND the university to be here, so leave her be!”
He uses a voice that tells you he came from power and money, and when did his skin start to glint like that?
The Mars guy looks from Hamid, to Sasha, and back, but eventually he retreats and heads off to the stairs.
Sasha takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.
“I’m starving, we should get breakfast,” Hamid says faux cheerfully. “Why don’t you go get Grizzop and I’ll get dressed.”
Sasha just nods and knocks on Zop’s door. It's not lost on her that Hamid is making sure she’ll be in sight of someone trustworthy, and she’s grateful for it.
They get some breakfast and chat a bit. Grizzop tells a really funny story about trying to catch a cat for an old lady in Amsterdam, and she laughs so hard one of the bandages on her back slips. She excuses herself to the restroom to fix it before she can bleed through her shirt. While she’s washing her hands, a small group of Mars paladins come in, four of them. Sasha shifts nervously and keeps her eyes down as she dries her hands, but they block the door as she tries to leave.
“Scuse me,” she mumbles, trying to get by again.
“You’re an undead abomination,” one of them says back. Sasha blinks because that is… Quite the response.
“Um, okay,” she says, trying to slip through to the door, but they’re not having it.
“Its disgusting that the Meritocrats would protect you from Mars’s will. The undead are unnatural and should be laid to rest,” another one pipes up. A third one starts moving towards Sasha, and she backs up, her daggers springing into her hands.
“Oo, make it look like it attacked you first! Then we can say its self defense!” the first girl says.
The door bangs open, revealing Grizzop standing there, bow cocked and ready to go. “Sasha is not an IT, and you will do no such thing!”
Sasha uses the distraction to slip by the pack of girls and out the door.
“Thanks Zop,” she mumbles, and he just nods, not taking his eyes off the paladins.
“You all should be ashamed of yourself,” he says with a scowl, then lets the door swing back shut. “Lady above, they are worse than even the Aphrodite lot.”
“Why were you waiting outside the lady’s room?” Sasha asks, unable to control her curiosity.
“Oh, I came to check on you! Seemed like you had been gone awhile, and Wilde is waiting with Hamid to help us plan our next step. C’mon, let’s go!”
Sasha isn’t sure whether she’s supposed to be offended that Grizzop didn’t think she could take care of herself, or happy that her friends wanted her to be okay. She decides to think about it later, and follows the archer back to the breakfast room.
Three days later, they return from Newton’s study and find themselves scrambling for a way to get to Cairo. Wilde has found them in the same breakfast room (apparently during the same breakfast as when they left, which is… confusing), and they’ve discussed steps they could take.
The room has emptied out considerably, and Sasha steps away to get some more juice, leaving Hamid and Grizzop in a surprisingly passionate discussion about automobile vs. carriage travel.
She’s just finished filling her cup when she feels a presence approaching. Looking up, she finds all three of the guards from the other day (yesterday? Time travel is confusing. Hopefully she’ll never have to deal with it again).
The one who interrogated her hangs back just a bit, but the other two come to loom over her.
“So, does Mars say you have to be tall to be a paladin or somethin?” Sasha asks before she can stop herself, and then immediately regrets it.
“We should have executed you when we had the chance,” says the lady who Grizzop worked into hysterics the other day. Sasha gently sets down her juice cup, wanting both of her hands free just in case. The guard takes a step even closer and-
“What’s going on over here?” Wilde calls, speed walking over to the group.
“Nothing, just making conversation,” Hamid’s guard says.
“I’m sure,” Wilde says sarcastically. This is the most serious Sasha thinks she’s ever seen him. “Well, if you’ll excuse us, we need to get going, we have important Meritocratic business to take care of.”
Hamid’s guard rolls his eyes, but he gestures for the others to step back so Sasha can pass, which she does hurriedly, keeping all three in her eyesight.
“Are you alright?” Wilde murmurs once they’re a few steps away. Sasha looks up at him, surprised to find utter sincerity on his face. She just gives a nod back, not sure how to put into words that no, she’s really not alright, she keeps getting hurt and losing people and she’s scared.
As they come up to the other party members, who were apparently both watching this unfold, Wilde’s normal countenance returns. “They're trying so hard to be intimidating, but have to say, their execution could use some work.”
“Oscar!” Hamid says chidingly. “That is in incredibly poor taste!”
“Not good for much, is he?” Zop says angrily, but they both stop as Sasha starts to laugh.
“Wish they would just let me zom-be,” she grins, making the others groan.
“Sasha, be serious, this is a very
grave
matter,” Wilde responds, and even Grizzop can't help but chuckle.
"Let's be dead serious and get back to work," she quips. "Or, wait, un-dead serious?"
“That one was terrible,” Wilde says with a smile.
“It was, but you’re right, let’s get going,” Hamid says.
“Yeah, let’s go!” Grizzop says before taking off running.
With that they all head(stone) off to Einstein’s office.