HereComesTheSnow

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Silvan Haven@Crimmy@Write@Plank Sinatra

Hold on a second, it's not like that's why I became a Hunter, you know!

"If I was just doing it for the money, I wouldn't have gotten this far in the first place." I countered, meeting her eyes sidelong. "I mean, I may not be good for much, but if nothing else I wouldn't have been able to gut it out through the training when I could just get a job and start building a resume, like any other guy."

That was conjecture, of course, but greed has never been a primary motivator for me. I'm no plutocrat like Bianca by any means, but between Mom and Dad's respective lines of work, our family was well within the confines of the status of "doing just fine, thanks". I am not a particularly greedy man, even if I'm frugal with my spending.

That's more just me having common sense, anyway. Even an idiot knows something as simple as waiting for sales and buying things in bulk, and I was no exception.

It was not monetary greed that drove me beyond my limits.

It was a fire that burned much deeper and hotter than that. Something that came from the very core of who I was all the way from boyhood 'till now. The kind of motivation that will make a guy do something he absolutely hates with nothing more than a grunt and a passing, displeased thought.

One that kept me going every day. One that gave my legs the will to tread water, even when I was out of my depth.

"Are you saying that's why you're here, though?" I asked, my voice carefully neutral. Be all of that as it may, that was just my personal state. If money was a good enough motivator for Gratia Mindaro, then all power to Gratia Mindaro to keep doing what Gratia Mindaro did.

"Or is it something else, too?"

It wasn't like I had a chance in hell of stopping her, anyway.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Silvan Haven@Crimmy@Write@Plank Sinatra

She had a fair point, there. Oftentimes when one didn't hide away their more off-color interests, they were seen as weird and subsequently cast aside by society at large. However, if one had some measure of success to bolster their reputation, would that counteract the odd things they partake in for their own personal entertainment?

Maybe. I guess there's a degree of truth in the common line of thought being that those who succeed must be doing something right. If that were the case, the argument of them using such weird things as Chinese Cartoons for escapism from their comparatively terrible lives loses a lot of traction. If someone with wealth, fame, looks, and/or power enjoyed them, maybe it was more than something that just panders to society's weirdos.

Maybe the works they enjoyed had some merit to them as well. Sure, they were weird, but they were more an eccentricity and spot of uniqueness in taste than anything weird and bad, right?

To reiterate, I was trying to look at this from the view of an outsider to the culture surrounding it. As for myself, an admitted enthousiast?

"I'd probably need to get really rich, then..." came my wry, wan conclusion.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

i need to watch school rumble

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Silvan Haven@Crimmy@Write@Plank Sinatra

Isn't everything shitty with you?

I was trying to be nice here and play along, and this was how I was rewarded? Second and third thoughts about this whole exchange came fast. I mean, couldn't she have eased off a little?

"No, more like I wouldn't expect to hear Cruel Angel's Thesis in this setting, at all. So I figured there was a higher probability of me mishearing than a bunch of weebs revealing their power levels on a high-class cruise ship." I explained, biting back my complaints on the verbal abuse. I suppose breaking out of that portion of her personality was still yet a pipe dream.

Nonetheless, I was determined to one day. I'm the type of stubborn idiot that gets fired up when something tries to beat me down.

If you can imagine, I'm sure you understand how many times I came home a bloody mess from training.

I listened a little longer to the notes drifting through the air.

"But maybe I should have went with it in the first place..."

Denying it was getting very hard, now that I was back to paying attention.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Silvan Haven@Crimmy@Write@Plank Sinatra

...

"Tired?"

I'll be the first to admit it, I can be very slow on the uptake at times, and this wasn't an exception. Granted, there was the argument to be made for the abruptness and something-kinda-resembling-vagueness of her question, but...

If I was to make that argument, my window for it had already ceased just a moment later, as I noticed the nigh imperceptible flick upwards of her eyes. It seemed that despite the direction our conversation had just been going about it, I was going to have to engage in this song and dance with Gratia after all.

"Oh, I get it. I was just a little surprised for a moment. The song they're playing down there now sounded like one I know, but I'm probably wrong anyways."

...Then again, Eva always had been a bit more favorably received by the mainstream...

A few movie stars were pretty big fans of it, if I recalled correctly, but that could then again just be chalked up to them having off-the-wall interests in general.

Who knew?

Certainly not me.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

With this dark background it's hard to get a proper color for Luke so I just gotta bold that shit

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

costume stories

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Silvan Haven@Crimmy@Write@Plank Sinatra

...

I must have been hearing things.

I was hearing things, right?! There was no way that was a jazz rendition of Creul Angel's Thesis floating faintly from the deck up to this balcony! That couldn't be right! If Gratia wanted a reaction out of my ahoge, this surprise certainly had to be a candidate to start one, right?

Well, maybe. I was keeping myself decidedly neutral, thanks to the very real chance that I was indeed just hearing things, and not hearing a cleverly disguised reference to Eva from the jazz players on a luxury liner.

I mean, come on, people hide power levels for a reason, don't they? I've been pretty brazen in the past, but these people are playing for the upper-crust here.

There was no way. Just keep your AT Field up, Schwarz. It's nothing, you idiot.

Yeah, just hearing things.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

mirin

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

this boy has problems with the elements, truly