[Erikk Dust]

if i'm a danger to myself Just think what I could do to you Words: 365/365

First night in the big city, Erikk had a few days to prepare for his big debut into the senior academy of Haven. But for this first night? Was for a night on the town. Establish himself in the world, a big drink with a stomach of iron and gut of steel. There was no drink that could bring him to the brink, and he was ready to test this city's capacity for drunken daredevils. So it was no surprise that after his sixth bar in his pub crawl, he had a train of interested persons who were also drunk and off their minds. Erikk had a past with alcohol and substances, and whilst not all great, he had a body of a tank for such items. It was like this man was immune to all mannerisms of poison it seemed.

At least, that's what he claimed to her amassed party. Into their seventh bar, he would buy the group a round and began ordering, before mixing up one hell of a dirty drink for himself. He had mother's money and intended to use it all before Haven started. This drink contained multiple spirits in the form of rum, vodka, whiskey, tequila and gin. He added some cola to the concoction as well as a thick daught ale. He called to the group and raised his glass, the others following suit. "To a beautiful city, and it's beautiful inhabitants!" He cheered before raising the glass to his lips and began drinking. Erikk had disclosed the information to the bar of what was in this drink, so eyes were on him as he chugged this awful potion of drunkardness in three seconds flat.

He set the glass down and let rip a huge belch as cheers erupted from the bar. It was just pure bliss to have this. Haven was going to be a blast! As he went back to order another drink, one more normal and not as deadly as the dirty pint, he spotted a faunus girl, lizard by the looks sitting by the bar. He would saddle up next to her and smile. "Huh! What's a girl like you drinking on her own?"

OWL

[Bianca Sabbato]

Some people say drinking alone was a sad enterprise. But those people knew shit, you were never alone if you had people around you. Clubs and bars were places to socialize, in theory. So I wasn’t shy about going around and making small talk with people all around me.

Berwyn wasn’t in the mood and Chloro was busy with some engineering stuff. Kishka... I didn’t think she needed this right now. And Rose also had her own things to do now. So I was on my own for now. Which was fine, sometimes I liked going clubbing alone. Not a lot of places let me get in without company, but the few that did were decent at least.

It didn’t matter anyway. For once. I was in a great mood. After months of fierce fighting, I had finally managed an accomplishment so tremendous, so titanic and monumental that the heavens themselves shook in awe and emotion.

I drank. For I had finally accomplished a feat that had eluded me for almost a full year, something that I had invested infinite hours on in the vain hope to one day master to at least an acceptable point.

And today it was that day. The report from my teacher served as proof of that. This was the first time I had felt so hyped up for a test result since entering Haven. I have to admit without an inch of shame that I teared up at the moment. But it was just so nice to have your efforts acknowledged and rewarded for once!

So I downed a shot of tequila the bartender had gifted me after I pestered him with my story for the fourth time. “So I would shut the fuck up”, he said. But I was sure I was simply growing on him. After a while, I was about to hit the dance floor once again, when a male voice from my side caught my attention.

The beautiful city my ass... This was a cesspool if I saw one, but whatever. I would let the kid have his fun for now... At least, until he got closer and started making some conversation. I turned around to see what the fuzz was all about.

The guy seemed to have quite a following already. Which made sense, he looked young, was pretty handsome, and had a fun and easygoing aura all around him. I arched an eyebrow, entertained with his hijinks.

-Like me? Whaddaya mean like me? Mysterious? Beautiful?- I chuckled lightly at my own compliment. Downing half a pint of beer in one go -Smort, apparently?- I called out loudly, retrieving my scroll from one of my pockets and skimming through the gallery to show him a picture I had taken recently.

-Look at that? Ain’t that awesome? My first one!- I said, showing him the aforementioned photo. After a couple seconds, I could see clear confusion in the boy’s eyes. Along with embarrassed whispers from the girls around him. Cooking my head, I went to look at the picture myself.

I had to laugh like a hyena once I saw what I had actually shown him. I had meant to select the photo of the B+ I had gotten in my math test in Haven (After almost a year, I had finally gotten one!) The seal of the institution being proudly displayed alongside my name on the report card.

Instead, I had shown half of the club a pic of myself, posing seductively in my underwear, smiling wickedly and winking at the camera.

Uh... I was supposed to send that to Berwyn when in the middle of her own classes, just to be a pest. But it seemed like I had forgotten somewhere down the line of the excitement of finally getting a good grade in what was probably the area I had more problems with.

-Oops. That was not for your eyes to see... Well, maybe for the ladies... But not for you, no offense, you are yucky-

I told the guy with a friendly wink or the closest approximation a drunk Bianca could produce. -This the one- And with that. I finally showed him the right pic for a second before stashing the scroll back in my pocket.

Some girls were laughing at my display, while the boys hollered and whistled like dogs. Some more clapped excitedly in their stupor, although they would have probably clapped at a dog eating his own shit. Nevertheless, I laughed along.

-So just fooling around and having a nice time. What about you? I heard you say something about the city, you new here? On vacations or something?-

---

776 / 776 Words

[Erikk Dust]

if i'm a danger to myself Just think what I could do to you Words: 392/757

As he pitched his question to the girl, she seemed to reciprocate which was always good to see. Friends came aplenty for Erikk and hopefully she could add this to the list. Mysterious, beautiful and "smort" seemed to work well for words to describe the faunus. He gave a large smile and cheered lightly as he raised his drink. "That's more like it!" Then the girl brought out something for him to see, her "first one" apparently so when he leaned in, he was relatively shocked to see such content being carelessly shown to him. He rested his hand on his chin in thought and gave a few nods before leaning back and smiling. "I must say, very impressive. For your first one too!"

So when she realised her mistake anad laughed, he laughed along with her. So underwear pictures wasn't her first move apparently, and it was soon made apparently that she is not into guys, which was far. Her statement of him being "yucky" was fair, so he maintained aa deadpan expression before laughing loudly and patting the girls shoulder. "Ha! That's fair I'll give you that one!" Once the girl brought up the actual picture she wanted to show, he gave a thumbs up and a geniune reaction compared to those around him. "Hell that's impressive, I don't think I could manage that one either!"

He kept at his drink and would order another when the girl asked about his reasons to be here, which once his drink arrived he would turn on his stool and watch the rest of the patrons in the club. "Nah I'm here to join Haven! Figured I'd give myself a week to get used to the city before sorting the rest of my papers with the academy. I've come down from Argus ya see." He would point at himself with a smirk. "Looking to become the toughest bastard out of em all."

"Erikk is the name, Erikk Dust. What's yours?" He gave his introduction in full, as he normally would, taking a large drain from his glass again and setting it down. This girl seemed to be the most interesting so far and even though he would have next to no luck getting a one night stand with her, the company was already better than the most that came along with him tonight.

OWL

[Bianca Sabbato]

-Eyyyyyy... Nice-

I responded, holding one hand in the air for him to high-five me after hearing him compliment my grade. I had been fishing for that, so I was glad he had caught onto that.

Flashing him a smile, I ordered something lighter for the moment. I was already pretty drunk, so no need to see if I could nuke my liver in a single sitting.

He also acknowledged his own yuckiness without further complaint. Despite looking like a playboy, it seemed like he had enough of a head over his shoulders to realize I was not interested in him. But that also had a deeper, darker implication I needed to be wary of... He was competition.

I could already see he was gathering a fair degree of attention. Especially of the female subcategory. He was big, boisterous, and certainly a noticeable presence in the room. But that was fair, after all, it’s hard to meet new people of they can’t even notice you.

Some people were clearly interested in him in a romantic way, but others seemed to only be having fun though. So I gave a quick look at the ones less invested in his presence, to see if there was someone who picked my interest.

A meek redhead who had been eyeing me with curiosity for a while caught my attention. I turned my gaze in her direction, giving her a brief smile and a wink that caused her to blush and avert her eyes for the moment... Cute.

I was just about to go talk with her when Erikk said something that caught me off guard.

-Huuuuhhh? You crazy? Why do you wanna go to Heaven in the first place? And you say you are planning to become the strongest there is... That’s weird, why do you want that?-

I asked aloud, a clear expression of confusion covering my face.

Apparently, this guy wanted to be a huntsman. That explained his singular personality at least. I waited for his response, before answering myself with an asseveration that was a clear sign that I didn’t know how to read a room while drunk.

-I mean... You will probably die young. You know this, right?-

I asked in the most unperturbed, innocent voice ever. Like a coworker asking her partner if he forgot the papers for that day's reunion.

I didn’t notice how the conversation had decreased somehow after I said that. I was too busy enjoying my dreams and sharing looks with little miss red to notice.

Turning towards Erikk once again, I continued, my interest suddenly picked.

-So, do you have like... A dark and mysterious past? Any unresolved trauma or obsession that drives you to pursue power? Maybe you are some kind of madman? We had a couple of those already... You can tell me though! I promise I won't tell, it’s just to add it to my bingo chart-

I mean... That was a blatant lie. Not the bingo chart, that was something I was considering, to mix things up, you know? No. I meant not telling other people if he revealed something dangerous.

But then again, I was fucking smashed, so there was a good chance I forgot everything he told me the next morning.

-Maybe you are the last of your warrior lineage? Or can transform into a monstrous form that slowly erodes your sanity? There’s also the chance you are dubiously redeemed war criminal or pursuing the true meaning of strength. Does any of this ring a bell? If so, I would heavily recommend you to reconsider or something...-

Like, we didn’t need more psychos and sketchy people. I honestly would be happy if the whole quota was filled with me... And Rose. She was... Fine? I believed...

And also Fable. Who I also didn’t know very well where to categorize... Damn. All the Haven craziness was kinda becoming the new norm to me, scary.

Then again. I may be wrong and he may be just... Dunno, dumb? I honestly don’t see the appeal of becoming a huntsman. Especially this day and age. Sure, doing good things felt good for a while. But it was always ephemeral at best... But I guess that’s better than nothing as well.

-I mean, you could simply be a guy down on his luck attending Haven out of sheer necessity. Or a genuinely good guy willing to throw away his life to make a difference... But those always sounded sketchy to me. Since pretty much everyone you ask this will tell you that-

Maybe that was me being overly paranoid? Who knows, probably. But After... Holly. And Raul. And who knows how many other students I didn’t know off. I wasn’t inclined to believing someone was a good person only because they attended a huntsman school.

After all, they could be just like me. Merely very good at hiding shit from people. And that was kinda worrying in and out of itself.

But not everything was doom and gloom though! When the night is at its darkest hour, it only means the sun is about to rise from beyond the horizon.

This was dubiously true in astronomy just as it was in everyday life. And the best and more rewarding part of the Haven experience was something I could never stress enough... Our pride and joy, the thing that made getting up from bed every day worth it...

-On the bright side...The food is excellent... I cannot complain about that. I just wish they had taco Tuesdays more often- Nothing is perfect, after all.

With that out of the way. I waited for his response as I downed my drink. Some people were now listening intently, likely curious as well for the guy's response.

Either that or for figuring out what the fuck was my deal... Heh. Amateurs, if I didn't figure that out in 19 years, they wouldn't manage it on one evening.

My legs were feeling a little cramped from being sat down for so long. I itched to go to the dance floor and make a fool of myself already! But first. I realized I hadn’t quite finished introducing myself to Erikk yet.

-The name’s Bianca. By the way. Been attending Haven for almost a year now, I think. Nice to meet ya, pal!-

I called out as if the previous topic had never existed. Energetically patting his back with a toothy smile on my face.

---

1075 / 1851 Words.

[Jay]

XP Distribution:

Bianca Sabbato: 18 XP
126 + 18 = 144 XP Total


Erikk Dust: 7 XP
101 + 7 = 108 XP Total