[hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/zngMbhb.png[/img]     [img]https://i.imgur.com/qlZlDys.png[/img] [/center]
[right]Interactions: Paloma [@Atrophy] & Destiny [@Evil Ghost Note]
[code]Thursday November 24th, The Hollow Tap[/code][/right][hr]
Vin folded their arms, staring down Paloma the moment she started going on a weird Freya defence rant, shifting round to stop her from playing hide and seek behind them. [i]Allegadely? Brutal response?[/i] It hadn’t been as brutal as Vin would’ve liked it to be. If they had their way, her shop would be burnt down and her legs broken. Then she came out with some absolutely ridiculous made up version of what happened at the shop. People trying to shoot Freya Collins? Oh right, yeah, because she was hurt by anyone but her own clumsiness. 

[color=51684c]”Listen here, I ain’t gettin’ my shit from online. She ain’t the one that-”[/color]

Before Vin could really get started on their rant, Paloma had already moved on to her cookies and accoutrements- whatever the fuck those were. Vin just threw one hand up in annoyance and let her talk. On and on with some terrible idea about impressing a rich bitch Vin would rather just go up and punch themselves at this point. 

Their expression got more annoyed the more she talked, playing perfectly into whatever Paloma was going for when it came to scaring the children into labour. They all let out little gasps of shock at their glare and the horrific thought of no dessert until they’d eaten all their peas. 

[color=51684c]”Ain’t nobody gonna buy that whole impressing her shit-”[/color]

[color=springgreen]“Vin! Tell them about the super secret special prize!”[/color]

[color=51684c]”Huhh?”[/color] Vin once again barely got a word in edgewise. Paloma was like a bullet train with no stops, anything in the way getting completely barreled over. They folded their arms, narrowed glare given in return to Paloma’s stupidly large eyes blinking like there was a fly stuck in them.

Unluckily for Paloma, Vin had never learned morse code, and had no idea what she was trying to do. But luckily for her, they were learning that it was sometimes easier to go along with what she said rather than fight against it and deal with her being more annoying. 

They took a deep breath, pushing down the irritation that always flared when dealing with someone like this. They’d been given too many lectures about how they had to be more patient with people outside of the tiny circle they tolerated. It wasn’t that they particularly cared, but they didn’t want Marco being sent over to stop them from going off on Paloma. Because that would just lead to even more headaches. 

[color=51684c]”It’s not very secret if- Y’know what, fine… Help the annoyin’ lady with her cookies, and you’ll get an extra helpin’ of dinner [i]and[/i] somethin’ else from me which [i]super secret[/i]. Even better than punchin’ lessons.”[/color] They reached out for their little punching protege, ruffling his hair before nudging him towards the nearest table to join the cookie decoration sweatshop. It was enough to snap him out of the rapture of Good Influence, and they were all round more enthusiastic now. After all, another portion was a lot for kids who went hungry often. 

And it gave Vin a moment to turn to Paloma. [color=51684c]”You’re fuckin’ welcome, now you ain’t gotta do any work. But I ain’t supportin’ showin’ ‘em to that rich bitch. Y’know, it wasn’t a shootin’. It was one of those [i]things[/i].”[/color] 

Before Vin could get any further, a light shudder went through them. A trained danger sense, followed by a quiet but calm hi from a child. As Vin’s gaze turned to Destiny, darkness flooded across their eyes until they were pitch black. Paloma would recognise it from before Vin fought the Doppelganger, and Destiny would feel the lightest scratch against her sensitive emotional field. 

Paloma and the Apparition with her lit up in Vin’s vision, as did a few other people across the room. But not the child in front of them. 

She wasn’t an Apparition. It was enough for Vin to relax from their immediate fight response, hands curling to hide the claws pulling back into their fingers. An… Adept, then? There was a strangeness about her that told someone with honed senses like theirs that she wasn’t just normal. There was a certain look beyond it that Vin recognised too. Someone who’d dealt with shit beyond her years… Violence, maybe. Plenty of kids in the Southside were like that. Vin had been. This one was a little odder than most, though. 

[color=51684c]”I’m assumin’ you mean you wanna learn how to fight, not decorate turkey cookies?”[/color] Vin asked, lips pulling back into a wry grin. Their canines were extra sharp, like a predators, slowly shifting back to normal. Their eyes were back to normal now, but they watched Destiny like they were sizing her up. Trying to get a sense of how dangerous she was, and where her magic lay. Obviously, they couldn’t sniff that out. Green seemed unlikely, though… But that didn’t particularly matter. They could teach anyone with a bit of magic how to fight well enough to survive with enough time.

[color=51684c]”Sure. I ain’t stingy ‘bout helpin’ people out ‘round here… Other southsiders that is. Since I’m teachin’ her anyway,”[/color] they jerked their head towards Paloma. [color=51684c]“Another ain’t so bad. Save me from all the annoyin’ chattin’. What’s your name, kid?”[/color] 

They turned their grin- more vicious than it was joyful- towards Paloma. [color=51684c]“You don’t mind if those lessons ain’t private, d’ya? Assumin’ you really wanna learn… I ain’t gonna force you to punch the rich prick for me or anythin'. But knowin’ how to punch shit’s real useful for [i]situations[/i] like the other day.”[/color] 

Not that they particularly cared if Paloma could defend herself or not. Her Apparition probably did a good enough job there. It would just be [i]enteraining[/i] watching her try to do any kinda fighting.