[color=cdc6bb][center][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/b3RmLjcyLmNkYzZiYi5ZWEowYVhOMGFXTWdjSFZ5YzNWcGRITSwuMA,,/honeyhaze.regular.webp[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/phZ2who.png[/img] ┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ [img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/b3RmLjM2Ljk0Q0IyRi5aR1ZzLjA,/honeyhaze.regular.webp[/img] [img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/b3RmLjM2LmIxNjA1ZS5KZywsLjA,/bhalleux-demo.regular.webp[/img] [img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/b3RmLjM2LkQxOUM5Qi5iSFZqYVdFLjA/honeyhaze.regular.webp[/img] [sub][@BrutalBx] & [@Aewin][/sub] [color=ba5e5f]𝐓𝐖:[/color] 𝐀𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛[/center] This whole year has been a whirlwind. Twelve months prior, Delmond was just your average kid, ready to graduate high school, go to a Division One school and play college ball in the hopes of going pro and buying a house for his Momma. Fast forward and he was now a superhero in training, with powers that he didn’t want, in a place he didn’t fully understand. He had been cursed by the legacy of a father and grandfather that he never knew. A father and grandfather that when last he saw them tried to sacrifice him to Guede for Youth eternal. That would likely make the next reunion just a tad awkward. After the initial emergence of what everyone but Del himself liked to call his gift, the young man began working with Blackwell Innovation. They wanted to give him the tools that he could use to control his power, to stop him from ending up like his father, Baron Samedi. Delmond really didn’t want to do it. He really didn’t want to fall into this life but he was dealt a dead man’s hand and like the saying says, you just gotta deal with the hand you’re dealt. Fate wasn’t anything that Del really believed in despite his connection to the supernatural. At Blackwell, the young boy from the Big Easy spent much of his time with Dorian Blackwell. He was a lead medical researcher there, a colleague of Mama Batiste who worked as one of his nurses and he was also a Gifted with the ability of intuitive aptitude. Dorian had the power to know exactly what was going on inside of a body and how to fix it. He learned at a frenetic pace and it was he who helped Delmond uncover the secrets and intricacies of his newfound status. Dorian was like a big brother to Del and he was sad when his apprenticeship with Blackwell was done. It came to a point where Dor and Mama Batiste decided it best that Delmond go to school and be with others who could help him in different ways than they could. So that’s where he found himself now, a week into a new school year, surrounded by people who could probably cause mass destruction with a sneeze: A year really can make a difference. Delmond stood in the quad, scouring the area for any familiar face. He had met a few people in his first round of classes but he hadn’t really connected with anyone yet. With his bag over his shoulder, he surveyed the surrounding space and his chocolate eyes were drawn to a painting by the art club set up. He took a few steps forward to take a deeper look. It was ethereal, with pastel colours and muted tones. A street illuminated by fairy light. It reminded him of the French Quarter, it reminded him of home. [color=#D19C9B]“The pastels… it’s like a kaleidoscope of colours.”[/color] Soft, confused muttering could be heard from beside Del. There would be brief moments of pause before it would pick up again, as though the person was discussing with someone. [color=#D19C9B]“Hazy… Almost feels like everything is underwater...”[/color] Beside Delmond stood a girl much shorter than him, eyes glued to the same piece of art as him. Her expression twisted into that of wonder and curiosity before her eyes began to explore the other pieces on display, muttering comments barely perceptible from under her breath. [color=#D19C9B]“What a glimmery shade of blue… fascinating… Oil? Maybe…”[/color] It was only when her attention was drawn to a piece further away that her sense of awareness kicked back in. Realising she had been speaking under her breath, that expression changed from wonder to horror. [color=#D19C9B]“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”[/color] Luciana apologised for the third time in less than an hour that day. First had been to Noah after spamming her phone with increasingly panicked texts and calls, then to the lively blonde by the music club stall and now to the student she had inadvertently disturbed with uncalled for commentary. [color=94CB2F]“Oh no need to apologise”[/color] Del took a step back, not wanting to encroach on his newfound compatriots personal space. [color=94CB2F]“I ain’t no artist so I don’t really know what I’m looking at if I’m honest”[/color] He turned to look at the newcomer and was taken aback a little. Considering the museum curator's content she had just been whispering to herself, Delmond expected some stuffy teacher. Instead he was greeted by a beautiful visage that rivalled the very paintings they were looking at. She had platinum blonde hair, big blue eyes and painted lips that stopped traffic. Yep, he wasn’t expecting that. [color=94CB2F]“I mean I can’t even draw a stickman”[/color] Del still kept a little of his Nawlin’s drawl despite spending much of his youth in Washington. [color=94CB2F]“But this reminds me of home, you know?”[/color] Lucia regarded the art again, taking in the streets with the soft lights. The streets looked wet, softly reflecting the pastels of the lights illuminating the streets. She wished she could touch the canvas, feel the texture beneath her fingertips, but that wasn’t polite. Instead, she tried to examine the buildings on the street carefully, trying to guess the inspiration behind the art, but the gent’s accent gave her a clearer clue than the art to its inspiration. [color=#D19C9B]“Oh, are you from New Orleans?”[/color] She asked, curiously. [color=#D19C9B]“I’ve never been outside New York, no, Crystal Peak, I don’t remember the last time I went to the big Apple, so I don’t think it counts.”[/color] [color=94CB2F]“Good ear”[/color] Del was impressed, then again, it wasn’t a giant leap considering his accent was fairly thick. [color=94CB2F]“I was born there. Got displaced after Katrina. Grew up in Washington. And I realise I basically just gave you my life in four corners in three seconds”[/color] The large boy let out a low laugh. [color=94CB2F]“I’m sorry I was raised by my momma better than that. My name’s Delmond, most call me Del”[/color] He looked the girl up and down again, noticing the gloves on her hands. In this weather and in this place, that could only mean one thing. Bad hoodoo. Though Del did not get bad vibes from the girl herself; quite the opposite. [color=94CB2F]“And pray tell, what do they call you?”[/color] Luciana found herself laughing as well, feeling a lot more relaxed with Del than she had been with the blonde girl selling East of Eden merch. At least Lucia felt like it was a two-way conversation with Del, [i]and[/i] there was no selling involved. [color=#D19C9B]“I should have introduced myself sooner- I’m Luciana, but I go by Lucia, it’s a pleasure to meet you Del.”[/color] Her fingers twitched slightly when she realised he noticed the glove, resisting the urge to pull her white shirt over her hands even more. Was it really so weird, in a school full of people with crazy abilities? Likely not, but it was weird to [i]her[/i]. Before she knew it, her gloves were beginning to get clammy. She needed a distraction, fast, before she messed up her first good conversation outside the mandatory stuff in classes. [color=#D19C9B]“Are you a freshman too?”[/color] Yeah, that’ll work. [color=94CB2F]“Technically no”[/color] Del scratched the back of his buzzed head with a smile. [color=94CB2F]“I’m a Sophomore but I only transferred in this week so I may as well be a freshman”[/color] He rested his hand on the wrap of his headphones which hung around his neck. It was nice having a normal conversation for a change. The entire week had been powers this, powers that, oh my dude you can raise a skeleton? Awesome, send it into the girls' showers. Unfortunately Delmond had already met some of the schools reprehensibles and he needed to make it a severe point bit to drift that way. That’s what this entire experience was shaking up to be, Del adrift in a sea after a crash landing. He jus tended a volleyball. [color=94CB2F]“You a bit of an artist then, Lucia?”[/color] He gestured to the works before them. [color=#D19C9B]“I’d like to think so. It was a hobby more than anything. Helps me think about anything other than my troubles.”[/color] Painting had become a form of escapism for Lucia, her father never able to refuse her requests growing up. Perhaps it was due to guilt, perhaps he was just being a good father indulging his daughter’s developing artistic interests, but Lucia never commented on it either way. [color=#D19C9B]“I think my art is very much like this one—”[/color] She redirected their attention back to the pastel art, [color=#D19C9B]“All about recreating the places I see in TV and movies on my canvas. It’s…fun, nice to beginners too, if you’re keen.”[/color] Well shit. Could Del really see himself sitting down with brush and easel and painting happy little clouds and trees? The boy did fuck with Bob Ross, that shit was so relaxing before bed. [color=94CB2F]”I would have to have a teacher with the patience of a saint”[/color] It realistically could be something worth looking into. Since the manifestation of Delmond’s gift, he had struggled to quiet a voice in his head, a strong voice that demanded knowledge, knowledge that Del did not want. Maybe painting could be something that could mud that compulsion. [color=94CB2F]”But I think I’d be up for giving it a try”[/color] Del agreeing to join gave Lucia the confidence to reach into her breast pocket to pick up her custom pen, signing her full name under the club’s sign up sheet. There were a few names above hers as well, none that she recognised, but nonetheless the art club was definitely a popular stop for students. Then, delicately picking up the sheet with just two fingers- a habit she had picked up over time- she passed it to Del, offering her pen as well. [color=#D19C9B]“It… would be nice to see a familiar face amongst these names.”[/color] Lucia added. [color=94CB2F]”Much obliged”[/color] Taking the pen from Lucia with a bright charming smile, Del placed the sign up sheet back down onto the table and with his left hand signed his signature underneath hers. He stood back up to his full towering height and offered the pen back to the blonde. [color=94CB2F]”I guess we’ll be seeing a bit more of each other Miss Lucia, I’m looking forward to it”[/color] [color=#D19C9B]“Likewise, Del. Maybe even tonight?”[/color] Wait, that could be taken weirdly. Rewind. [color=#D19C9B]“I mean, at the party! The one all over the Gram.”[/color] Lucia resisted a sigh of relief at fixing her momentary blunder. With a smile across his lips, Delmond looked at Lucia with soft eyes. [color=94CB2F]”Oh yeah, I forgot all about that. Well I guess if you’re going, then I’ve got more of a reason to go”[/color] Going to a college party at super school would definitely be a far cry from the sort of celebrations that Del was used to. Back in the day, he would often have to run away from parties due to the police breaking them up and this wasn’t due to the noise. It was most always because his gang was selling drugs there. It wasn’t something that Delmond was proud of but at the time, he had to pay the bills, that’s just the way it was. [color=94CB2F]”It’ll be fun”[/color] Not trusting herself to speak, Lucia nodded with an embarrassed smile. God, he was smoother than butter. For the first time in her life, she was glad she was already flushed from the heat stifling her from her layers of clothes, it explained the sudden redness in her face well enough. [color=#D19C9B]“I think so too, Del.”[/color] To avoid embarrassing herself further, she checked her phone for any texts from Noah. Zilch. Giving him another, this time softer smile, she excused herself with a final: [color=#D19C9B]“I need to find my sister, I’ll see you tonight!”[/color] before disappearing back into the crowds that enveloped the Quad in search for Noah.[/color]