Somehow, Oren got stuck in the train car that already housed Rhett, the burr always latched onto him, Waverly, and her equally disturbing defender. Though that situation quickly resolved itself, as even though Waverly had been trying to sleep in an effort to stave off her motion sickness, it caught up to her all the same, and Kain carried her off to find treatment. Varya probably had something on hand, or perhaps Sera; Oren didn't put much thought into it, too grateful to be rid of half the nuisance that he easily dismissed the matter.

There was still the problem of Rhett and Keir, though, and they were not so easily brushed aside.

"Rhetty! Open up!"

"Ah, Keir, I don't--"

"You love chocolate, Rhetty, don't you?"

"It's not that I don't like it, it's--"

"Then it's fine! C'mon, open up! Here comes the train!"

Oren groaned into his shoulder. This had been going on for hours. He wasn't surprised, only irritated, but seeing as that was his near-constant state of being, no one attempted to ease his suffering. He didn't mind Rhett, really; the man was always polite to him, and friendly enough when they somehow found themselves in conversations. But Keir... Kami, Oren couldn't stand him.

(Admittedly, it might have had something to do with the fact that Keir could so openly express himself without regret - but it's not as though Oren would ever admit to such a thing, so perhaps it's better left unsaid)

When he finally mustered the courage (and patience) to look up, Kier was grinning like the madman he was, head resting against Rhett's shoulder, legs kicking in the air as freely as a child would do. Rhett, unbothered by his clingy companion, had a book propped open in his lap; he passed his fingers over the raised letters with surprising speed, mouthing along with whatever he was reading. Oren thought it was an unconscious act, and didn't comment on it.

He managed to content himself by staring out the window at the passing scenery - a blur of greens and browns and blues, interspersed with the more violent colors of towns and people and civilization in general. He missed Wisteria, he missed Starry Rose, and not for the first time he wondered why he was even coming along to the Games. He wasn't participating, and he'd hardly be the first choice if they needed a backup. Really, he could have remained behind with the other disinterested members and watched for news of how his guild did when compared to former powerhouses like Fairy Tail, and whatever the hell Polar Fox was.

Sia'd told him about how strange Cross had seemed about the mysterious guild, though he'd bluntly asked her why she cared to explain the situation to him when he could and would do nothing about it; she'd sighed, shook her head, and simply walked away after that.

But there was no use dwelling on that, or his unhappiness at being shepherded along for the ride to Crocus. He had more important matters to attend to, anyway - like how he was going to survive another four hours trapped in a confined space with Yandere A and the far-too complacent object of his obsession.

"Rhetty, read to me!"

Oren watched as Rhett's violet eyes flicked to Keir, as if he could see the puppyish, pleading expression the green-haired mage wore and wasn't very impressed by it. Unlike Oren, though, Rhett smiled, nudging Keir's knee with his own. His careful, nimble fingers worked their way back to the beginning of his novel. With another fond look at Keir, he began reading aloud, quiet enough that he wasn't a nuisance to Oren, which actually bothered the black-haired boy to an extent. Sometimes Rhett was too considerate for his own good.

"The old house hadn't changed since the last time he'd visited, however many years ago that was..."

He decided to tune it out. Rhett's voice was actually quite soothing, and hearing him read was more than just a little enjoyable; that was the problem, though, as Oren wasn't interested in falling asleep before they reached Fiore's capital. He had a feeling he'd have a repeat of his last job with Cross, and that could not happen again, under any circumstances. His face flamed just thinking about it, the anger rising rapidly to the surface, pulsing just beneath his skin. The nerve of that guy...

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who you asked), all possibility of sleep dissipated the moment the sliding door of the car was thrown open, and in crashed a familiar blue-haired girl, whose smile radiated with energy and enthusiasm, the likes of which could rival caffeine for how jittery they instantly made Oren; he practically shrunk back into his seat, as if he could somehow merge with the soft vinyl and hide from Nova.

Today was not his lucky day.

Oren couldn't even remember the last time he'd had what one could possibly call a lucky day.

Regardless, this really wasn't one of them.

"Ori! Found ya!"

"Who are you again?"

Nova's grin only widened as she bounced inside the car, either forgetting to close the door behind her or simply not caring enough to do so. She plopped herself onto the empty seat beside Oren, rubbing shoulders and entirely too close for comfort. She was like that with everyone, and the guild had it figured that she'd never properly learned the concept of personal space.

"Ori, ya gotta teach me some magic. I know you always say that your Copy is totally different from my Transformation magic, but they're basically the same thing - don't deny it, Ori! - and I really need to learn some new tricks for the Games, 'cause even if don't get to participate there's gonna be lots and lots of cool and strong mages there and I wanna impress 'em!"

Without pausing for breath, she suddenly swiveled in her seat, twisting round to wave (spastically) at Rhett and Keir, neither of whom had originally looked up from Rhett's book. Now they both smiled at Nova, so used to her antics that they could carry on as if nothing had changed.

"Hey, Rhett, Keir! Saw Waverly and Kain while I was roaming the halls, she didn't look too good, probably the motion sickness and all that. Master's taking good care of her, though, so don't you worry!"

Oren's brow drew together in a sharp V as he tried - unsuccessfully - to piece together exactly what Nova was talking about. He got something about Waverly, and the Master, and eventually he decided Varya had indeed given something to the Dragon Slayer to ease her upset stomach. In the back of his mind, he'd honestly given the credit to Sera, because he'd had it in his head that Varya was just absent-minded enough to have forgotten her usual assortment of herbs. Then again, he had seen Lock toting around several clay pots filled to the brim with soil, so perhaps she'd thought ahead so she could produce fresh herbs for anyone who needed them.

That, or Lock thought of it himself (and that really seemed the more likely option).

"Anyway, Ori!"

And her attention was back to him. Lovely.

"Please? Pleeeaaaase teach me some magic stuff? I'll run errands for you when we get back, or do some chores, or hell, I'll give ya a kiss or something--"

He drew the line there, and Oren physically held up his hand to stop Nova from going any further with that particular thought. Scowling, he scooted to the very edge of his seat, until he pressed flush against the window.

"I. Don't. Want. Anything," he said through clenched teeth, careful to emphasize the final word. He didn't want Rhett or Keir getting any ideas about his morals, or something equally as ludicrous.

"So you'll do it for free? I knew ya were a good guy, Ori, ya just don't--"

"I'm not helping you."

"Aw, why? I'm--"

"Annoying, that's what. Stop asking me for this. I'm never going to say yes."

Nova screwed her face up in thought, lips pursed and forehead drawn with wrinkles. She wasn't often struck speechless, and not for very long, whatever the case, but from time to time she became thoughtful, so much so that she consciously flipped the switch that connected to her brain-to-mouth filter. She never stopped moving, even while silent; her foot tapped rhythmically against the floor, her fingers bounced on her knee. He thought even her eyes were moving, darting around the small car, flitting rapidly over the expansive window and the paisley-toned walls and the car's occupants. She may have lingered a second too long on Rhett because Keir slipped an arm around the man's waist, tugging him closer, with nothing but an inquisitive look from Rhett as a response.

Then again, looking at Rhett at all could warrant that reaction, so Oren dropped it.

"Well, alrighty then, if that's how ya feel, Ori. But I'm not giving up! You're gonna teach me one of these days, 'cause ya like me, Ori, even if ya won't admit it."

Nova nodded decisively, as if the matter were solved, and moved to stand from her seat. Oren certainly wasn't going to stop her. But she paused a moment as a large, furry blur suddenly rocketed past their car, followed shortly by Ilias, frantic and disheveled in his haste.

"Minny! Come back! I didn't- I didn't mean to summon you! Sorry, sorry, sorry!"

Oren didn't so much as bat an eye as he heard a number of shrill screams echoing down from the adjoining hallway. A starry-furred bear running rampant through a train car would generally elicit such a response. Nova, Oren, Rhett and Keir had seen it too many times before, though; Minny (Ursa Minor, to be precise) was an excitable Spirit who relished every chance they got to visit the human world; how Ilias "accidentally" summoned them, though, was something of a mystery, one that Oren didn't care enough to solve.

Just another day with the members of Starry Rose...

________________________________________________________________________________________

"Wow... Crocus is beautiful..."

Oren glanced sideways at Sia, who he'd met up with the moment they'd left the train. She was one of the few people he could tolerate for extended periods of time, so naturally he gravitated towards her in this situation. She was competing, though, so he couldn't rely on having her around once the Games started up.

"Beautiful?" Looks pretentious to me."

"Maybe. But it looks nice, all the decorations up for the Games."

She had a point there, he supposed. All manner of festive decor had been thrown up for the occasion, with balloons and garland strung above and between shopfronts and homes alike. It was colorful, downright vibrant - and it honestly hurt his eyes.

He and Sia followed the rest of the present guild members to their hotel. Pleasant conversation filtered through their ranks, though Oren paid more attention to Gideon, who was chatting with Hawthorne and Sage, unsurprisingly.

"There aren't very many rules to the Games, as far as I've gathered from the rulebook Sera had."

"Really? I would have thought they'd be a little more... uptight about things? I mean, given all the high-profile guilds who enter this thing every year..."

"I know. I was surprised myself. But the basic rules are that guild masters can't participate, and neither can anyone who doesn't possess a guild mark."

"The second part... isn't that obvious?"

"I would have thought so, but apparently they thought it prudent to include. Also, the games themselves won't be announced until the night before the competition."

"Ooh, that's mysterious!" Sage chimed in, spinning on her heel so that she could face the boys while they walked. "I wonder what that's about... Maybe they wanna keep everyone on their toes?"

"Likely it's to keep people from cheating. You can't prepare much in advance with only a few hours warning, realistically speaking," Gideon mused.

Oren frowned, mulling that over. They wouldn't know about the games until the night beforehand? While he agreed with Gideon that it was probably a decent deterrent for cheaters, it still seemed unfair. Though he supposed his guild wasn't known for getting antsy before the big moment; rather, most of them jumped headfirst into danger without any prompting whatsoever. This actually seemed right up their alley. Or, well, Sky's, at least. Lock would be able to adapt to whatever challenge he was meant to join in on, and Rhett was nearly as flexible if he found the confidence. Sia... she was a bit more worrying, as was Hawthorne. Both of them were skilled fighters, but that didn't necessarily translate well into other aspects of competition, and if something unexpected was thrown at them, some strange game they hadn't considered before...

Kami. He really was spending too much time with Ilias. What did he even care?

"Excited, Oren?" Sia asked, half-smiling as she looked up at him.

He raised a brow, as if to ask what about his current demeanor screamed excitement. But he bit his tongue. He knew Sia well enough to recognize the hint of nervousness in her even voice.

"Very," he replied dryly, taking a moment to stretch out his arms above his head, stifling a yawn.

He wasn't sure what he was going to be doing for the duration of the Games, if he had to sit in the stands with the other non-participating members of Starry Rose, or if he was free to do as he wished; either way, he just hoped he could rest for a while. His sleeping pattern was erratic at the best of times, but the past few days had been particularly gruelling for him. He blamed that entirely on Cross, who had seemed just as off in some inexplicable way. Having something weird going on the guild always threw Oren off balance, and this time was no exception.

"Well, the first game is tomorrow," Sia went on, ignoring the sarcastic edge to his voice. "I wonder what it'll be..."

"Something stupid, probably."

"Probably," Sia agreed with a small smile curving her lips.

"...You'll do fine, whatever it is," he added, flicking her another glance. "You're strong."

"Thanks, Oren."

"Don't mention it."

He might have tossed in another encouraging word or two (he was feeling sentimental, sue him), but Cross chose that moment to appear from thin air, causing Oren's eyes to widen and his muscles to tense visibly. The blond grinned, taking note of the reaction, but simply wrapped his hand around Sia's wrist, tugging her towards a side street. Oren merely raised a brow.

"Don't mind me, Ori," Cross called back, earning himself a heavy scowl in return, as he waved a genial hand. "I'll just be borrowing your girlfriend for a bit! Won't even know she's gone, promise!"

"We're not..." Sia began, only to roll her eyes and cut the sentence short. Arguing with Cross was about as fruitful as his attempts to get Sky out on a date with him. Instead, she caught Oren's eye and shrugged; she'd go with him, because she was Sia and Sia generally did things like this. Oren sometimes questioned her sanity, as she almost never tried to go against something a fellow guild member wanted to do.

"Whatever, have fun, don't die, I guess."

Cross said something else regarding Oren's relationship with Sia, but by then Oren had walked away, hurrying his pace to catch up to Gideon's group. He was trying not to let himself get too riled up before the Games ever began, but honestly, he didn't have much hope.

Cross was Cross, even this far away from the Wisteria.