Snippet #2053306

Pandora

Pandora didn't sit at the round table. It was rare for her to even be around the group, much less sit at the table with them. Instead, she stood in a nearby doorway, half-hidden in the shadows. Most of the time, she usually didn't show herself when a group meeting was called. She'd always be lurking somewhere close so that she'd hear what was going on, but more often than not she wouldn't make it known that she was there.

However, despite being half-hidden, she decided that she'd try joining in today. Why? While she was anti-social by nature, even she knew that prolonged periods of being alone could be harmful to her mental health. She had to be strong for everyone, after all.

Pandora listened carefully as Oliver started the meeting.

“Because we need to have these things on a regular basis so we all don’t go fucking insane and blow our brains out. I mean sometimes I lose sight of some of you for days and I have no idea where you go, but then I start to lose count, and it’s really not great because anything can happy and none of us would know. You could be lying in a puddle of your own…Uh. Right.”

Pandora knew all too well that one of those people was her. After all, it was very likely that she was one of the most hard-to-find people of the group. However, she found the thought of anything happening to her quite ridiculous. If anything, she knew how to handle herself. She didn't work out every day for nothing.

Oliver stopped, looking around the room. When his eyes met hers, she stared resolutely back, knowing that she would look angry. She always looked angry; her red eyes gave that impression every time. Then, after a few moments, he began again.

“So from now on, we’ll have these meetings on a nightly basis. We’ll gather here before going to bed. Understood? Great. We’ll use these meetings to discuss any issues anyone has or clear up an argument or just, I dunno, talk or whatever. So I have an idea,”

Fair enough. Maybe we can get Drew to stop cooking completely. Pandora thought to herself.

“of what we can do tonight, but don’t get used to me coming up with everything all the time. I suppose we use tonight to do that thing people used to do around campfires and junk. You know. Telling crappy ghost stories.”

Wait, what? For a moment, she was confused. Shouldn't the leader use the first one to ask about any issues? Looks like it'll be Drew's cooking for a bit longer.... She thought rather resignedly. She sighed. She didn't really see the point in telling ghost stories.

Pandora watched as Ri threw his toy in the air and then failed to catch it in his excitement. At least someone was excited about it.

“Okay! Who wants to start telling stories first!?”

Pandora was surprised to find that Ri didn't want to tell the first one. She knew he liked that sort of thing. Oddly, she found herself wanting to tell one, just a little bit. But, what would she say? She didn't know any good stories, and the ones she did know all had gore and just weren't really appropriate. A little bit disappointed, she shifted uncomfortably.