Mikhail then moved on to Lily, and at that point, decided to make his evaluations concise and to the point.
"You're taciturn and grumpy.
And then to Valeria.
"You're outspoken and hot-headed."
And then to Myles.
"You're the stoic type."
And then to Lirim.
"You're the charismatic cool dude of the group."
And then, Mikhail got to his four younger buddies.
"Romeo, you're a wordy bastard, but a very kind one. Benvolio, you suck at showing others how you feel. Mercutio… You're a pretty stand-offish kind of guy. And Tybalt… You're a very helpful dude like Amir, only way less annoying."
Everyone digested the opinions he had pretty quickly, and to his surprise, everyone seemed to agree with them. Even Lily, which was a big surprise considering Mikhail had essentially just called her a bitch.
It seemed she was self-aware enough to realize just how cold she could come off to the people around her. Whether or not she was trying to be less of a bitch remained to be seen, though.
"Right then, I think we've got the ice breakers out of the way. Anything you're able to share with us, Mikhail?" Amir asked yet again. "Like, your past, maybe? It must be interesting!"
Mikhail tore into the last bit of his steak, chewing thoroughly before deciding to share his past. He would, of course, omit his origin from another world though. It would only end in ridicule or questions he couldn't really answer, after all.
"The land I lived in was different from this one. Vastly different. I do not know where it is specifically, I only know it was not the Shagar Jungle."
Everyone began listening closely as the upbeat music in the background swelled.
"I was born in a peaceful place, filled with an uncountable number of people… There were buildings that rose high into the sky, higher than the house Maya lives in. I spent my life peacefully, no intense training, no worries…"
"I had many friends, and had a childhood sweetheart that I eventually eloped with in my late adolescence… Yet, everything was taken away from me in a fierce… How do I explain this in Manakel…"
"An extremely destructive series of large scale battles. I watched everything get reduced to rubble… I could only sit on the sidelines as everyone I ever loved died. I was too weak, too insignificant to do anything about it."
Mikhail's voice grew more solemn throughout his recounting of the past. It was difficult digging into these fresh wounds, but he felt obligated to tell them since, deep down, he had already begun seeing them as friends.
And now, the atmosphere, previously jovial and excited, seemingly crashed into an abyss of pity and sadness. Losing even one loved one was insanely difficult to deal with, but losing all of them?
They couldn't even imagine how that felt…
Lily's previously nuetral and uninterested expression became writhe with fury as she thought about it.
Azalea knit her eyebrows.
Lirim looked at him with severe pity.
Amir could only look at him slack jawed, shocked by the sad tale.
Valeria and Myles stoically teared up, their faces calm, but their eyes betraying that façade.
And the four teenagers couldn't help but look lost. They knew Mikhail had undoubtedly gone through some tough shit, but this was a bit much, no?
Mikhail himself, meanwhile, hadn't expected such reactions. He had thought they would wave off his festering feelings of selfpity, saying how they've dealt with worse throughout their lives.
Yet, Myles' shaky voice gently reached his ears.
"I'm sorry to hear of your incomparable loss, Mikhail. Please, share with us the fond memories you've had in better detail. Perhaps by honoring your loved ones for a time, you might feel better."
Mikhail took a deep breath.
"That's… Not a bad idea."
He sorted his thoughts for a moment, and began sharing some of his fond memories.
"Many of my friends were from my childhood. We grew up together like brothers and sisters. We would walk around our… Our tribe, together."
"We used to play pranks on each other and everyone in our tribe. We ate together, laughed together, cried together, played together…"
"Life was unfathomably colorful back then. And we grew up, chasing our own seemingly lofty ambitions, whether it be women, status, or other things, like creating entertainment in my case…"
As he recounted an abridged version of his time with his friends, he began to feel the festering feelings of sadness fade. Most of his memories were happy ones, and recounting the details lifted his spirits back to their typical neutral state.
He happily recalled how his family had supported him, even when times had begun to get tough. When signs of sickness reared their ugly heads and foreshadowed their impending doom.
He happily recalled how his relationship with Ruby had started and developed over time.
And immediately, Amir understood why Mikhail had been smitten by Chief Cazadora. After hearing her description, there was no doubt in Amir's mind. This Ruby woman had looked very similar to the chief.
Or, rather, Cazadora looked like Ruby?
Regardless, things made sense to the pristinely clean guy.
Azalea silently grabbed his hand, being as gentle as she could manage to be.
It was heartwarming that she cared so much, and the others gathered around him into a large group hug, even the usually icy Lily. All of their actions were extremely heartwarming.
Yet, he felt extremely awkward. It felt too foreign of an experience, because it had been an extremely long time since he had been comforted like this. The group hug eventually became uncomfortably long as a result.
"Okay guys, thanks, really. Please get off me now… I'm in pain."
They all seemed reluctant, but gave in to his request. Save for Azalea, who kept holding his hand with a pensive expression.
"I'm… I'm alright, really."
Azalea nodded, taking the hint and retracting her hand from his.
Mikhail was about to leave and end things on a bit of a sour note, but Tybalt suddenly spoke up and ended things on a weird note instead.
"Mikhail, Spencer wants to call in that favor he mentioned to you tomorrow."