"Bwa?" came the familiar response as Cloe made her offer. "A-are you sure? It's a lot of dust, ya know? I mean, I know I said it was cheaper, but--" she did realize that he wasn't just picking up his own dust right? This was supposed to be a restock for the entire team! And it was supposed to last them for quite a while (it won't, obviously, because Juno--and, yeah, probably Lucas, too--will go through it like an addict on a snow day).

His mind distracted by Cloe's apparent boundless ability to short circuit Lucas's thoughts, his hand pushed the door open, causing the bell to ring and shaking Lucas from trying to talk Cloe down from spending all of her money. Inside, as expected, is a dust shop. But rather than glass display cases and dispensary tubes, there are crates of crystals and barrels of powder, with sacks and scoops tacked to the side for easy packaging. At the back of the store, there was a door with a sign that said "Employees Only", but the windows revealed a warehouse full of even more crates and barrels. Perhaps dust shop was a bit too generous; this place looks more like the retail side of a distribution center.

Off to the side, there was a raised wooden counter and behind it was a man sitting on a stool, black hair covering every inch of his face except his big red nose and his bald white head. Turning towards the sound of the bell, the shop keeper let's out a grunt of acknowledgement, though his eyebrows were so thick it was hard to tell if he was looking at the pair of students or just the door in general. Taking one last look at Cloe, Lucas stepped inside, announcing, "Excuse me, I had an order under 'Meridiem'?"

The question earned another grunt from the shop keeper, who then hopped off his stool to waddle to edge of the counter and retrieve a large sack filled to the brim with dust products (all of it safely packaged, which he confirmed by hand by retrieving each item from the sack and displaying for both Lucas and Cloe to see). The purchase was clearly not just for Lucas, who turned to Cloe as the man rang up the total price. "You sure you still want to pay for all this?"

Lucas was more or less absent-mindedly wandering the halls, his eyes on the open book in his hands but not reading the words. He didn't need to, he'd already read them. Really, this was just an excuse to not sit in front of his screen, and his legs would likely take him to a nearby vending machine. If he wants to get this assignment done tonight, he's almost certainly going to need the caffeine. He did have change on him, right?

No sooner had he thought that when he felt a bump against his chest. Instinctively, he looked up from his book, and was a little bit confused to find nobody there. He was starting to think he reallly did need to go to sleep, but then he heard a voice coming from beneath his book.

Lifting it awkwardly above his head, he looked down to find Prism looking almost as delirious as he felt. "Oh, that's where you were," he said matter-of-factly. "What are you doing up--you know what? Nevermind, forget I said anything," he continued, realizing how hypocritical it would be to ask why she's up so late mid-sentence. Instead, Lucas pivots subjects, saying, ""I wouldn't recommend heading back to the dorm right now. Cloe and Juno are asleep, but probably just barely. Pretty sure if you go back now, you'll get a pillow to the face--or worse."

Lucas stepped up to the nearby vending machine and deposited his change, which just so happened to be the right amount for a soda. "I'm heading into one of the study rooms for a bit. You can join me if you want. It's probably better than wandering the halls and bumping into even more random strangers."

Lucas sighed as Cloe used literally every name for dust but its proper one, but made no further effort to correct her. Instead, he started leaving the landing deck, with a quiet "this way" to his teammate to indicate she should follow him.

"It isn't far," he continued, turning down an alley instead of heading down the main road, "Most people wouldn't know about it unless they did some digging first, though. It's a real hole-in-the-wall. The sign on the door's practically scratched out, but I promise he's got the best deals."

"See, most of the more popular stores cater to a wider audience," Lucas continued explaining, noticeably without prompting, "which is why you can get pre-made dust ammo in most places. Their 'premium' items are just expensive toys for 'trophy hunters' with too much money. Trust me, anyone tries to sell you on their 'highest quality dust', it's because they think you're a mark."

Lucas turns down another corner, either unaware or unconcerned with how grimy his path is becoming, and continues talking, whether Cloe is listening or not. "Not to mention, most places don't offer custom jobs for storage, and if they do, they want to keep it in-house. Normally, the service is pretty good, so it's not really a rip-off, but if you go through a lot of dust like I do, it's better to find a guy that lets you do it yourself. Cheaper in the long run.

Suddenly, Lucas stops, seemingly staring at a wall. Upon closer inspection, however, he's staring at a red door that practically blends in with the brick surrounding it. A faded placard reads "Particular Particulates: For the Discerning Connoisseur".

"This is the place," Lucas says, turning to Cloe, "It'll only take about five minutes to wrap everything up, if you want to wait outside." Not that he expected Cloe to take the offer, of course.

"Yay," Cloe cheered at his response. Lucas may not have been her first, second or third choice for a person to hang out with, but at the end of the day, his company would be better than none. This outing also happened to be a great opportunity to get to know him better. As of right now, she hardly knew a single detail about Lucas' life outside of Beacon. He seemed like an okay guy at least, but maybe there was an interesting and cool side to him that she simply hadn't seen yet. Maybe.

Despite not knowing which direction she was actually supposed to be going, Cloe started to move forwards, already bored of standing still. As she began to walk, she casually dismissed his advice with a quick wave of her cybernetic hand. "Yeah, yeah. Gems, minerals, whatevuh. I'll try not to call him a nerd while I'm at it. Where is this guy, anyway?"

Cloe, Prism, and Juno; Cloe, Prism, and Juno; Cloe, Prism, and Juno. Lucas repeated their names like a mantra in his head, making sure to memorize them as best he can. If he forgot them, he'd have to go with the nicknames he came up for them, which were "Blondie", "Birdie", and "Bozo", respectively. Something told him those names would not be appreciated.

Nevertheless, the team has officially made their introductions, and, not wanting to spend any longer in a Grimm-infested forest than he had to, Lucas piped back up. "'Cakewalk' or not, we still gotta move our legs," he started, trying to put a little bit of tension back into the situation. "If it's all the same to you guys, we should probably get on the road. I don't hear any Grimm right now, but we did cause a pretty big commotion. It's probably a matter of 'when', not 'if', something else comes by, and I want to be a long ways away when it does."

He took a look around, regaining his bearings, before turning back to the group. "Anyone get a look at these 'ruins' on the way down? I saw a couple of clearings, but nothing that really stood out," he said. He wasn't particularly hopeful, but one of their group had literal wings, and they had four sets of eyes to work with now. Maybe between the lot of them, they could pick a proper direction to go.