On a rainy day, no one knows your sorrows. (OPEN)

"That sounds better than me. I just beat up about 50 guards, and then busted up a console until the door opened. Of course this was at the Asylum, and not a prison." Roark chuckled out. He had noticed Aleta's attempt to shield him from the rain. He took the umbrella from her and held it instead, just to make it easier on her. "Don't trip over yourself there." He said with a smirk.

"Uh..."

Vincen't may have taken a moment to catch that, but... That was something that seemed better obfuscated than simply stated outright... When one thought 'asylum', they thought one of two things, and... It was more often one than the other. while it could mean he'd beat up the guards at a sanctuary or safe-haven (Which... Actually STILL didn't make him look very good), the first thought was that he'd just admitted to breaking out of a mental care institution... Which would make sense. Life tended to require a bit of guile even if you didn't outright lie, and someone with basic logic would... Typically think maybe telling these things may be counterproductive to... Well, freedom in general.

Vincent decided that this guy was either crazy or extremely naive... Though, he supposed that would make sense with the lab-rat scenario, but... He'd said Asylum, right? That immediately brought the image of Arkham up in his mind - One of the most notorious instances of an institution for the criminally insane... It was home to numerous individuals who, through inborn powers or technology of some sort, had proven themselves incapable of existing in the free world... This guy didn't seem CRIMINALLY insane, which was always a bonus, but there was always the ability tor him to simply be extremely morally-ambiguous or simply not understanding basic acceptable practices... Which would even potentially be an issue with the currently-accepted lab rat scenario...

"You know," Vincent stated, his grin belying his true feelings on the matter, "Boasting is unbecoming."

Aleta looked up at Atlas then to Vincent quietly she felt a little unnerved now, feeling a bit of tension after Vincent's comment. She nervously fidgeted in place "U-Umm.. even so, I don't think that getting upset about it will help, Vincent. Maybe, he HAD to get out of there because of something bad going down?" she said with a small nervous smile. She really didn't like confrontations like this. It made her scared that there could be a fight to break out that she may have to break up. Aleta looked into Vincent's eye innocently. "Can we talk about it in the dry and warm pizza restaurant?" she asked, grabbing the end of her coat, twisting it around nervously.

Roark's day had gone from good to bad in an instant. But Aleta was right: he had to get out of there. He was tired of being a lab experiment. He didn't want to live the life of a madman. He wanted to be more; to be extraordinary. The rest of the walk he walked in silence. No one understood that the "Asylum" was a name created to throw people off from knowing that it was a factory made to create the type of villains you read about in the comics. He was depressed that no one would ever believe his story. It took everything in him to not rip his shirt off and lash out at Vincent, revealing his scar and experiment number. For now, he kept his calm and walked in silence.

The tension was nearly palpable at this point, and Vincent was... Actually one-hundred percent sure that he had absolutely no clue what had caused it... All he'd done was teased about Roark's lack of modesty, and suddenly everyone seemed to turn rather austere on him out of nowhere... He didn't THINK what he'd said was out of line, and he'd thought that the mood was light enough to allow for a bit of teasing, up until now... Maybe he'd overestimated the situation...?

Sure, Vincent had his creeping doubts about Roark, but that was... A healthy thing. It would be naive to trust everyone in the world unconditionally just because they say they're trustworthy... In fact, it seemed like you should be willing to trust someone who tells you they're trustworthy even less... After all, why should they feel such a strong need to convince you they're on your side?

"Um... I... Never said I was upset... Although now I'm... Not really feeling quite so comfortable anymore. I'll, uh... See ya later. Gonna have to duck out on that pizza idea."

Aleta frowned feeling herself well up a bit. "I-I'm sorry Vincent.. I didn't mean to make you feel like you needed to leave.. please don't go?" she whimpered trying not to cry. She felt like she hurt Vincent's feelings. She wanted to go after him but wasn't sure. "Please?" she asked again, swallowing the knot in her throat looking up at him with sadness.

Roark felt uneasy before he spoke up. He wanted to leave, but he didn't want to upset Aleta. Especially after all she had done for him. As for Vincent, Roark wished he would have picked his words better. Boast? He wasn't proud about what he did. In fact, he hated himself for hurting so many people while escaping. Roark finall managed to choke out a few words.

"Please stay. I'm just... not proud of who am I or what I've done..."

Vincent really wasn't sure he was comfortable with staying anymore. the way Roark'd put it, it really did seem like he was vaunting himself with the comment about how many guards he'd taken down, especially due to the fact that it was in response to Vincent speaking on his own shortcomings with his last mission. If he was meaning to be snarky than he would have done it outright, but he usually saved his sarcasm for when he was already friends with someone, or when he didn't really care if someone disliked him... Though that MAY, in retrospect, be why Blitzkrieg seemed to dead-set on killing Aegis: Because Vincent was kind of a jerk to his opponents in combat!

"Eh," he finally opened his mouth to speak, but no actual words came for a few moments, "You sure you guys want me around? Doesn't seem like I'm exactly the most popular person in the group right now, if you catch my drift."

That was... A bit of an understatement, in his own opinion. He really wouldn't have been offended if they wanted him to leave, just confused... And he was already confused anyway, so... It seemed like a lateral step to him. He didn't really know these two anyway, having just met not even an hour ago, and he wasn't a terribly popular person to start with, so he could hardly take offense every time someone didn't love him.

"Yes, I want you to stay Vincent. I like your company, okay? It wouldn't be right if we just booted you out just because you aren't the most social." she replied, her eyebrows still furrowing with worry. She walked over to Vincent then grabbed his hand tightly, pulling him back over to where Atlas was. She looked to Atlas then grabbed his hand as well now in the middle. She puffed her chest up "I'm gonna have-tah hold your hands the whole way now so that you don't wander off now." she tried to keep a serious face but knew her outfit wouldn't help. She sighed then continued "And I don't care if you're the most popular. I like you both the way you are so far. So don't ruin it for me, okay?" she smiled brightly as a tear escaped she rubbed her eye "I just met you guys but you've already got me around your fingers." she said playfully.

Roark sighed. He knew Aleta wasn't going to let up, so he tried to change his mood. Happy thoughts flooded their way into his mind in an attempt to cheer him up. A small smile played out on his face. He was in a slightly better mood. Besides, pizza was sounding pretty good right about now... whatever it was. All he ever had to eat was usually crackers and water. He'd be fine never seeing that meal ever again. He smirked.

"If words are all it takes to get you around someone's finger, that's kinda sad." He chuckled out.

Vincent could only roll his eyes as he was dragged along. He wasn't really sure it was such a hot idea to keep going with them anymore, if only just to keep things from getting awkward, but he was hardly rude enough to just yank his hand free and leave so... Away with them he went! He personally couldn't see what this girl saw in him after just a little small talk... He hadn't even really told much about himself! He hadn't even explained his ability to generate umbrellas from seemingly nowhere!

"The man's got a point," Vincent responded to Roark's remark, "For all you know, I could be some mustache-twirling villain, ready to steal you off to my evil lair and perform all sorts of abominable tests on you."

Of course he WASN'T a bad guy and would, in fact, probably to attempt to protect anyone he didn't think had a fair fighting chance, but she didn't know that! Heck, for all she knew, Vincent was a HIVE member or something... You could never be too careful these days, especially since all of the reliable heroes had disappeared...