HereComesTheSnow

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

stay strong smither

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Crimmy

Luke Schwarz, Monday, Early O'Clock

"Mm." I responded charismatically. "I should check it out."

It seemed that I had allowed that energy I sensed to peter off by changing the subject, as unfortunate as that was. Glancing up from my food, I found Gratia's onyx eyes boring into my skull with their usual quiet intensity.

Not that her gaze was "usual" by any normal sense of the word, but you know what I mean. Just the sort of look she always affixed you that just had a vibe of "get to the point and get the point done", or somesuch along those lines. She wasn't much for suffering through pointless chatter and roundabout idiocy, despite my best efforts at "exposure therapy".

Read: Chattering pointlessly and being a roundabout idiot.

"Going off of both a little mental review and what my gut tells me, the problem's range." I elaborated. Hopefully this would appease her a little.

I can't believe I felt I had to appease someone I decided to approach for help, but here I was making the judgement call anyway.

"It's already enough of a liability to need to get into fistfighting distance, even before you take into account that I'm a smaller guy with a shorter reach than most. Combat being a game of inches and all makes that all the worse, I would wager."

Having always been a short young man, I wasn't particularly insecure or miffed about the fact that even the girl I was talking to stood taller than I, but facts were facts. I'm no good in a fight if I can't ply my trade from further out than a couple of feet and something's stopping me from getting that close.

"After all, I'm not nearly as quick or as skilled as my sister. I move practically in slow motion compared to that girl. In-and-out movement comes to her about as naturally as you eating candy or me struggling in Language."

The drillfists really should have gone to her. They probably would have had I not decided to selfishly rekindle my desire to Hunt at almost the literal last second.

I hope she isn't too mad about it.

"So what I need is something that could make up the difference, and potentially hit harder than just the strength of my own punches. I'm currently my own limiting factor."

I didn't entirely lack pop, but a hard target might need something more.

Hrm.

Something that could smash or punch straight through...

---

@Suku

May the Schwarzes be with you!

"Sounds like a plan, then! Let's get a move on, gang!"

"Remember, we're 14."

"I'm 15. What's that got to do with anything?"

"Just important information to keep in mind, don't worry about it, sis!"

So she didn't. If there were a better example of the maxim of "be water", then you would be hard-pressed to find it.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Crimmy

Luke Schwarz, Monday, Early O'Clock

"I have a feeling I will soon, yeah. Plus..."

Plus, there was the fact that for whatever reason, I felt like the ones I had now weren't working. Not out of any lack of viability on their part, they're in stunningly immaculate condition for hand-me-downs...

No, the problem here was with me. Despite them being very suited to my skills, something was missing. Something didn't feel right.

I frowned as I picked at the fluffy yellow masses of eggs on my plate.

"Hm."

If it were all about "feeling right", honestly? I wasn't the best candidate for them. If these gauntlets went to somebody who they would truly fit like a glove, it would be the girl who no doubt matched out mother in skill at her age.

Yeah...

If the limiting factor was how hard you could punch, wouldn't it make sense to hand them off to a harder puncher?

Did April even have a weapon right now? If she was getting by on only her fists and such, while i didn't doubt her abilities, it seemed kind of backwards...

Besides.

This isn't Signal. It's Beacon. We were going up against deadlier Grimm with way more frequency than they were. Maybe these could carry April through her whole career, which wouldn't even surprise me, but as for me...

Well, even if I have a safety net thanks to my semblance, if my instincts told me that these weren't what I needed for the job, I had better listen to them.

Force projection was what I needed. Something that would allow me to exceed my own limitations of reach and power, to keep me and by extension everyone else safer.

Fistfighting distance wasn't good enough for somebody as slow as me against monsters.

"I think it's also got something to do with my approach in general."

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Cynical, not depressed.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

That's what the contest is for.

I still don't have all the specifics hashed out.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@HereComesTheSnow

Gratia Mindaro - Beacon Cafeteria (Monday, Early Morning ~6-7am)

"If they want to, I will definitely accompany them."

There was an undercurrent of another emotion, slight and almost unnoticeable, in her cold, impassioned tone. The stoic Mistralese girl's expression remained unchanged, and her declaration seemed little different to her standard icy fare, but the more perceptive would notice that certain 'more' to her voice. In fact, her boreal demeanour even felt a little brighter, her haughty sense of pride bubbling somewhat to the surface.

She bit into the banana, chewing away at its flesh and swallowing. Each and every one of her actions were committed with the same efficient, cool motions, but there was the tiniest of extra vigour in the way she engaged her breakfast. Family Day, it seemed, was something that she was willing to engage in at more than merely a surface level.

"And what of yours?" Gratia asked after a few seconds, her banana complete and peel placed down onto her nearly-empty plate.

@Crimmy

Luke Schwarz, Monday, Early O'Clock

...

Hold on.

Was I still half-dreaming?

I blinked a few times, even stopping to rub an eye with the bone of my wrist, but my vision was the same. No murkier or sharper. This was definitely reality that I had all the way immersed myself in, and no amount of self-delusion would take me out of that.

But that wasn't right.

That couldn't be right.

There wasn't any combat listed on the itinerary, but I could have sworn I was hearing a certain energy in Gratia Mindaro's voice. Just as a hint, but when you smell the same steak for years, if the chef switches from Thyme to Rosemary, you'll pick up on it.

Salty, meaty crunchiness coated my tongue as I mulled it over. Thankfully, my body has a decent bearing on what it needs and recognized how hungry I'd let myself get by making all that food.

By all means, I was slightly flabbergasted. I'd respected a reasonable chance of a response in the affirmative, but not the barest hint of an actual change in demeanor. This was... this was a historic moment.

So historic that I had nearly forgotten her question. Hints of dere under a mile of kuu aren't a reason to be an idiot, man!

"Ah, erm... Not really. As far as I can tell, anyway. The only one that might interest them is the wrestling tournament, but I think they sent me something about a report on weapons last night..."

Oh, hey. Call back.

"And to speak of weapons; would you mind if I picked your brain on that some time?"

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

dude so fucked up lmao is only good if you actually use it to inform your present character traits

if it's just there and bad to be there and bad it's just like "yeah whatever"

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

go ahead

underestimate her bratwrangling skills

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

boi we faculty now

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Aura is basically turning in your natty card anyway