(KASM)

Deo pinched the Kasm uniform and pulled it away from his skin, his face twisting in discomfort. The bottom layer, black leggings and a long-sleeved turtle neck shirt, felt far too tight and suffocating. Especially the collar. Even after sticking a few fingers into the collar and tugging he still felt like he was choking. And the stiff, boxy, purple tunic was a bit hard to move in... And then there was the mask. Deo picked up the mask. It was pure black, lighter than it looked, with two curved slits for eyes. He was told he had to wear it at all times outside.

Kest knocked on the screen partition that divided her -their- room in half. “You dressed yet?”

Deo hurriedly hooked the mask on his belt and turned to the screen, opening the room back up. As she did so she said, “you can train with the younger kids today, just to learn the basics. And if you get too tired just take a rest, you’ve just finished recovering so don’t push yourself.” Kest finished her speech about the same time that she finished pushing the screen against the wall. Then she turned to look at him and, just like every other time she cast her intense gaze on him, he flinched.

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But she smiled and the darkness in her eyes disappeared. She grabbed his hands, her fingers not shaking for once when he held them steady and said, “let’s go.”

When they got to the door to the outside, Kest stopped and unhooked her mask from her belt, putting it on. Taking a deep breath, Deo followed suit.

The mask cut off his peripheral vision entirely and, together with the tight clothes, made him feel quite claustrophobic. As he struggled to breathe calmly through rising panic, he felt Kest touch his hair, trying to smooth it down. “It’s so wild, it won’t lay flat.” He couldn’t see her face but he could still hear the pout in her voice, “oh well. We’ll figure it out some other time.”

Kest grabbed his hand once more and opened the door.