[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 1313 TAG: @dan NOTES: Tomato with Cheese? Or Cheese with Tomato? Too hard! HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS It was a very busy day in one of Carmim's favorite parts of Mistral. It was a little bistro her Uncle Fadaka enjoyed taking her to when she was at his place, Jack Dawson Sr.'s Love Street Diner. Conveniently located at the corner of Love and 5th. She smiled to herself. She sure was getting better at all this highfalutin' city folk talk. A city girl she was not, and neither was she even a Mistral native- however, the shop wasn't either. While it may have been an old establishment in Mistral's Wind District, it was actually owned by a family from Vale, who'd immigrated to Mistral years ago. And it was about as quaint and charming as a little Valean soup and sandwich shop could be. It reminded her of home, in an odd way, considering her own village had never had anything like it. Everyone back home had farms, or traded with farmers, and made their own food. The closest they'd had to a restaurant was her grandmother's house, where she and her sister baked fresh bread every day for the village. But this place was nice too. And it was owned by a friend of her uncle's, so she popped in pretty regularly on the weekends for brunch. She stepped inside, and the place was absolutely packed. She smiled up at the owner, the titular Jack "Pops" Dawson Sr. Somewhere around here, his son was busy waiting tables, or working in the kitchen. He was a nice guy, though a bit quiet. Hopefully she'd see him. "Good morning, my friend!" The towering faunus looked around for a moment, before glancing down, and giving her a warm smile in return. "Why good mornin' to you too, Miss Clover! How's the Academy been treatin' ya, little lady?" She waved off his question with a hand, and a smile. "Oh, you know. T'e usual- going to classes, making new friends, and stopping train robberies." She beamed up at him with pride at the last bit, as his eyes and grin widened. "That was you, then? Well I'll be damned. Nice work, kid, really. You know, my boy's about to enroll at Haven, maybe you could teach'im a thing or two, eh?" He laughed a big, hearty, laugh, slapping his knee and everything. She liked his laugh- it was boisterous and beefy, but just a little crunchy, and very much resembled the crows and ravens his feathers brought to her mind. His laughing subsided, and he smiled down to the little redhead as he grabbed a menu. "Not a whole lot of seats to choose from, but I do have a small corner booth, if that's fine with you. I think you know the one. And if'n you don't, it's the one sittin' empty- shouldn't be too hard to find in all these people. Junior'll be right with you, hon." She smiled her gratitude at him, as she headed for her seat, hearing the bell ding as a customer came in out of the morning rain, followed promptly by Pops's big voice greeting him with a cheery, "Welcome, welcome! Hope you don't mind waiting a bit for me to find you a table- we're a bit full-up today, my apologies." She took her own seat, placing her djembe by the window, as she opened the menu. Hmm, what to order, what to order... It was always a tough decision. They had a wide variety of soups and sandwiches. Did she want broccoli and cheese with little tomato and cucumber sandwiches? Or was she in the mood for the heavier tomato soup with grilled cheese and onions? Oof. Never an easy choice. The younger Dawson came by, the black feathers along his arms bristling with anticipation as he approached. Poor boy always looked so nervous. And Pops said he was going to Haven soon? Wow. Well, hopefully he wouldn't have too rough of a time getting started. Her mind went to Aegle, who, despite everything, seemed to be having some struggles keeping up, as she'd confided in Carmim at lunch the other day. Hopefully she was doing alright. And hopefully Junior would be too... She had faith in both of them. "Hello, my friend! Staying busy today, huh?" She grinned, gesturing around the crowded bistro with her eyes. The boy shifted uncomfortably and nodded, almost absentmindedly. "Uh.. Yeah. Sure am, I s'pose. What'll it be, uh. Carmen?" She sighed just under her breath. He never could get her name right... Not that she minded too terribly, but really, it wasn't a hard name to get down. Hmmm... She thought for a moment, before finally deciding on her meal. Or at least, before deciding to delay the inevitable ordering of her meal. But what would she get as an appetizer? Decisions, decisions... She sat there for a good minute, just contemplating the menu. Jack shuffled his feet some more, eventually looking helplessly at her. "Maybe a drink to start you off...?" Hmm. Not a bad idea... But what to drink!? This was impossible. No mortal could handle this many decisions! "I will um... I will take t'e uh... Water. With lemons, please!" Yes! One down, two to go... He jotted her beverage down on his little pad, nodding. "Anything else?" As soon as he spoke the words, they both knew they had done fucked up. Damn. He was just so polite, and such a good waiter... She had no choice but to nod in the affirmative. This was not going well at all. She scratched at her head, drumming idly on the table with her other hand. Hmmm... Finally, the answer clicked in her mind, and she blurted it out immediately. "Ooh!! Um, stuffed hot peppers please! Filled wit' rice, and cheese, and diced tomatoes! Oh, and a basket of bread, wit' plenty of butter! Oh, oh, and also um... Mozzarella sticks! T'ank you so much, I am so sorry for making you wait so long!" Fortunately, the boy was none too upset with her- if anything, he seemed relieved that she had made up her mind, so he could return to the kitchen with her order. As he walked away, his father lumbered over to the booth, a concerned expression on his face. "Miss Clover, I sure hate to trouble you while you're eatin', but it seems you've got the last table in the restaurant, and this young man here, by the door, he looks so skinny I'm sure he can't wait much longer for a table to clear out. Would you mind if I seated him here with you, seeing's you're sittin' all by your lonesome? Little comp'ny never did no one no harm." Curiously, she glanced past the large crow faunus, to see a boy standing by the door, in a Haven Academy uniform. He looked awfully familiar, though she couldn't place his name. Maybe he was new? Well, newer than she was, anyways. She smiled up at the man. "Sure t'ing, I do not mind at all! I love meeting new people." Jack Sr. flashed her a big grin, and a grateful pat on the back, as he turned to send the boy over. She offered him a small wave and a warm smile as he headed her way to sit down. "Hello, my friend! My name is Carmim- you are a student at Haven as well, I see. It is so very nice to meet you!" She gestured to the seat across from her at the booth, and handed him her menu to peruse. It wasn't as if she needed it anyways- she always ended up debating between the same two orders anyhow. This was exciting, though- to think, a new friend just tossed right in front of her, so easy! She wondered what sort of person he was as he sat down. More importantly, she wondered how his decision-making skills were... She needed someone to kick her in the right direction...

LAIKA OF GS!

[Alexandros Skouriá]

Another morning run spoiled by the rain. Typical.

Alexandros powered through the city streets, slinking and weaving his way past pedestrian traffic on strides as long as his legs would offer. The city was always busy this time of day, and the weeping overcast skies were never really bad enough to bring the Wind District’s eternal rush to a standstill. Where others made their way slowly with umbrellas and heavy overcoats, Alex did not care; as far as he was concerned, the morning's exercise would either continue in the downpour or be set aside to see how the rest of the day would play out, and the latter would be far more of a relaxing idea than the former. The Love Street Diner wasn't all that far from where his running route had thus far taken him, and a big hearty bowl of soup was never a bad idea! Onward he pressed, now moving rather deliberately through specific streets, alleyways, and shopping arcades to reach his destination. Coming to the doorway, he straightened himself up and made an effort to brush away any water droplets still gathered atop his shoulders.

Without a thought, Alex ran his left hand through his hair in a fluid, sweeping pass to dry himself off some, and after just the slightest application of hot air from his Semblance one may very well have never noticed that he was out in such inclement weather. Well, not his hair, at least. Mistral was a great city, filled with a great number of things, but the coming-and-going of showers up high between the mountain peaks was certainly not one of them. It was the stark sunsets, and the history, and the lush greenery surrounding the capital which so firmly planted his home in his mind as a wondrous place, not this damn rain. But it didn’t matter. Not really, in the end; after all, it had given him an excuse to take a break and find something to eat. There was no use trying to train without a bit of fuel in the tank, and Alexandros knew all too well the exhaustion of a hungry, aching body.

Not wanting to spend any more time out in the cold and wet, Alexandros let himself into the establishment and scanned out across the room. It was only a small place, but one that had always been pretty popular amongst locals and travellers alike. He'd been here a handful of times over the years but certainly wasn't a regular customer. Alarmingly, it was filled to bursting that day, every table and chair appearing to be occupied from the doorway where he stood with a mix of confusion and amusement. Great for business though it may be, it wouldn’t do him any good. With another quick look, Alex shook his head and readied himself to depart. Turning away to make his exit, a great big voice boomed out from across the other side of the room and approached him with haste. From the tone and energy, it was clear who was gliding across the eatery to meet him, and so Alexandros halted his retreat back out into the gloom.

"Welcome, welcome! Hope you don't mind waiting a bit for me to find you a table- we're a bit full-up today, my apologies." It was none other than Jack Dawson Sr. himself, the absolute tower of a man who had operated the Love Street Diner for as long as the now-student had been coming here. He was a charming and spirited man with the sort of energetic personality one would expect to match his immense stature.
"Hello, sir," was all the boy could offer as he turned his gaze upwards to meet eyes with the crow that blissfully loomed over him. "Busy morning?"
"Oh, business is booming! Everybody's stoppin' by today! You just sit tight, 'nd I'll be back in a moment to help y'out with a table, alright?" Jack Sr. assured him, clasping both hands firmly on the youth's shoulders in that way which -- somehow, beyond logical reason -- gave the words even more sincerity and weight.

Alex nodded at the proposition, and then the owner was off to scout for a gap in which to seat a customer. With nothing better to do, he slipped his Scroll out from a pocket and idly prodded away at it for a minute or two. Then, just as quickly as the man had hurried off, 'Pops' was back with a slightly more crooked smile than before. "Well, kid, I couldn't find a table for ya," he started, "but there's a spare seat with you name on it if you'd come this way! Another o' the students from up th' school, too!"
"Oh, I don't want to interrupt somebody el-"
"Naw, nonsense! Right this way!"

"Really, I can come back later, I don't mind!" He sputtered, though the plea fell on deaf ears; the giant corvid faunus was effortlessly ushering and directing the boy between tables and their occupants with a totally unexpected level of grace -- had he done this sort of thing before? From the door, Alexandros had been hurried along, straight to the booth in the corner of the small restaurant and to the young lady already seated there. The boy considered speaking up again but promptly decided against it, as by the time the desire truly burned inside his brain it was too late; Jack Sr. held out an open hand to the empty seat with a smile, and the girl did much the same. Defeated, Alexandros gave a quick glance to the both of them and smiled back.
"Thank you," he said to his new dining partner, brushing himself off. "I don’t mean to be a nuisance."
"Hello, my friend! My name is Carmim- you are a student at Haven as well, I see. It is so very nice to meet you!" The redhead was bubbly and to-the-point. It was a welcome change of pace when compared to some of the other standoffish students enrolled at the academy for their first-year classes, and one that the almost delicate little brawler was glad to finally see with his own eyes. That name, though, was familiar to him somehow...

In a single gentle motion, Alexandros plucked the menu from the girl's hands and spun it around to properly face him, before taking his place on the other side of the table. "Pleasure to meet you, Carmim," he said, "I'm Alexandros." Not the greatest of introductions, and certainly not the ideal circumstances for one. Meeting at a restaurant was one thing, but shoved into a chair at a table already seated with a customer was something else. The strangeness of it all bounced around his mind somewhat, but that feeling of already knowing her name bounced stronger. Suddenly, and explosively -- as all good thoughts tended to do -- it came to him. "Carmim, from the train?"

--

WC 1155/1155

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 820 TAG: Alexandros Skouriá NOTES: OH GOD RESTAURANTS ARE HARD HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS The little redhead shook her head with a dismissive hand wave and a smile as the boy attempted to apologize for imposing on her. "No worries, friend. Pops came by and asked if I would mind letting you sit wit' me, and I told him yes, so you are definitely not a nuisance." She sounded so matter of fact as she explained that, like it was the most obvious, simplest thing in the world. And she really meant it too- It wasn't a problem at all for her to share her seat with him. Truth of the matter was, she just liked people. And it only made things better that he was a fellow Haven student. She smiled as he introduced himself. Alexandros, huh? It was a unique name, but she could hardly say anything- her own name was fairly exotic here in Mistral. Hell, it was pretty unusual even in Vacuo's big city. Or so she'd been told- she had never actually been there, at least not to her knowledge. From the way he spoke, though, she figured he must be a Mistral native. Which would make sense- the vast majority of people she had met here so far were, after all, considering she was in Mistral. She had been about to say something else, when he got this look on his face of sudden epiphany. Carmim, from the train? Oh boy. Her face flushed a little red, and she scratched the back of her neck, a sheepish grin on her face. It was so weird being recognized- ever since the tapes were made public of the Argus Limited mission, she'd had people coming up to her with questions, and even some asking for an autograph. It was strange. Maybe some students would have liked the fifteen minutes of fame, but it was all too much for her. Not to mention that some of the people were just plain nasty- a few had tried to badmouth her friend Afro, talking about his scales and stuff, which was just mean. And lots cracked jokes about poor Nik. Yeah, he did some really dumb stuff, but he was a person, not a joke! Curse her notably small stature and beacon-like hair. There wasn't much to do but wait out the excitement- she was just too recognizable. She wondered how Ruqa was doing, though... At least she was small- Ruqa was as tall as she was short, and having four arms definitely made for a lot of visibility. She blinked. Oof. Right, she was talking to her new friend, not worrying about all the attention the Argus Limited trainees were getting. "Uhh, yeah, haha... T'at was me." Before she could struggle to come up with something else to say about it, the gangly teenage faunus shuffled back over, with her water and the first of several large appetizers. Just bread and butter, but it was a huge basket. Fortunately, she now had someone to share it with. Her indecision had come in handy, for once. "Here you are, Carbon. " She sighed again. One day... "Have you made up your mind yet for your entree?" Ahh, shit. Her indecision that had come in handy was gone, and replaced by regular unhelpful indecision. What was worse, was now she had gone and stuffed her mouth with a big bite of buttery, delicious, bread, and was reaching for her second roll as she turned, wide-eyed to the waiter, who, despite his awkward demeanor, seemed quite used to this routine. Why, it was like she did the same thing, every time she came in. He shook his head, drawing his pen from his notepad, with a glance to the boy across the table from Carmim. "Hello sir. Um, could I start you off with something to drink?" She watched the exchange with a bit of relief. Yes. Narrowly escaped having to order just yet. Now if she could only decide... Cheesy broccoli with crisp tomato sandwiches... Or tomato soup with grilled cheese? A truly impossible task. Insurmountable, by even the most powerful of Huntsmen. And she definitely wasn't one of those yet! The bruises from her last sparring session with Aegle proved that, quite nicely. What she was, however, was ravenously hungry, as she dug into the second hunk of warm, chewy, bread. "Mmm... Bread. So, Alexandros, how long have you been at Haven Academy? I don't t'ink I have seen you around much." Maybe he was new? She wasn't especially not-new herself. She'd only been at Haven for a few weeks before the train mission, so it was highly likely that she just hadn't met him yet because she hadn't been there very long. Or he could be one of the newer transfers. That would also make sense. She was curious, though- what sort of a trainee was he?

LAIKA OF GS!

[Alexandros Skouriá]

Two things stood out to him right from the very beginning of the forthcoming conversation: the nonchalance with which she had accepted his intrusion upon the table, and the immediate, involuntary reaction to his question. The latter of the two made it so very clear that further discussion of the subject -- at least in any direct capacity -- was well and truly off-limits. Gossiping about in the (rather literal) face of embarrassment was not something Alexandros cared to waste time with, and that spirit-shattering red welling in her cheeks was all he needed to not press any further. Well, not without something else to talk about first.

"Uhh, yeah, haha... T'at was me." Carmim had barely managed to stammer out, further words clearly eluding her.
"I see. Well," he began, and earnestly intended to end thereafter, "you all did a good job under the pressure. I'm sure the academy was pleased."

It was true, too. For much of the general public, the opinion was that a select few standouts stole the show while others brought them all down. From the outside, that was all anybody could see, after all, but there was far more to the story that only those on the train could ever attest to -- not that they'd want to, as Carmim was clearly demonstrating before the boy. Still, in spite of how it had played out, it was impressive. The year had barely started, and already a great number of trainees were out on real missions, fighting off real Grimm. Alex was so very far away from being in the same position as her; with no formal training like many of the others in his class, and certainly no exposure to monsters, he was as green and ignorant to the life of a Huntsman as they come. Sure, his academics and theory work were proving themselves convincing, but it was always going to be second to legitimate experience.

An awkward air was moments away from settling over the two of them, when the younger faunus came upon the booth with a basket of warm bread and butter. "Here you are, Carbon. Have you made up your mind yet for your entree?" he squeaked out, unimpressed, receiving only a sigh from Carmim. His question, though, elicited a much funnier reaction. The little redhead had shoved a chunk of bread into her mouth with reckless abandon, and could only sit there transfixed in the wake of such a massive, and supremely simple, question. It was clear to Alexandros that the scene was one that had likely played out many times in the past, and would surely play out all the same in the future; the thought of it made him bow his head, thumb and index finger flanking the bridge of his nose, and laugh softly.

"Hello sir," the faunus spoke again. "Um, could I start you off with something to drink?"
"Just a glass of ice water," Alex said. "Thank you."

As quickly as he had appeared, their waiter was gone once more. The poor kid was probably running around the whole place on his own, waiting each and every table there. Alex followed with his eyes as the faunus disappeared into the crowded depths of the establishment, turning back to see a wave of joy and relief wash over his dining partner. Carmim dove for another piece of bread and started to speak. "So, Alexandros, how long have you been at Haven Academy?" she asked. "I don't t'ink I have seen you around much."

Oh boy. This one could take a while.

"Officially I've been in the school's system since the start," Alexandros said, tenting his fingers just above the table, "but my application was only formally accepted a few weeks ago. I never went to any of the other combat academies or had a character recommendation on behalf of anybody with authority, so I had to go through an initial vetting process to even get a foot in the door. The higher-ups and administrative people at Haven must have thought it was a joke, or something, because they had me do a second and third series of physical assessments and skill demonstrations to figure out -- and finalize, I guess -- what my Semblance and designated weaponry were. So, yeah... only started attending classes a little while ago."

Adjusting himself in his seat, Alex lightly drummed away at the table for a moment and shook his head. "Doesn't really matter, though," he said, "since I'm here now. How about you? Any issues in enrolling?"

--

WC 760/1915

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 1127 TAG: Alexandros Skouriá NOTES: OH BOI, THAT WAS A CLOSE ONE THIS TIME HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Bread really was one of the tastiest foods. Well, after her two favorites, of course. It was, at its very best, soft, with a chewy outer crust, delightfully warm and receptive to the savory butter spread across it, and baked into it. It was something that drew her back here, time and time again- all the bread, from the dinner rolls, to the loaves made for sandwiches, was baked in-house, fresh, every day. In a lot of ways, the humble Love Street Diner was very similar to her grandmother's house back home. A place where delicious food brought people together- even complete and total strangers. She munched energetically on her second roll as Alexandros began to explain how he came to be at Haven. She nodded thoughtfully. "Ahh, okay. So you were here t'e whole time, just not officially in classes yet. Well, I am glad to hear t'at you got t'at taken care of in t'e end!" She smiled up at him, as she reached for yet another roll, gesturing for him to partake of the bread basket, if he so desired. She had been lucky, frankly- her Uncle Fadaka had a friend in the Academy's admissions board, though she could never remember his name. It felt weird having strings pulled to get in the door like that- unlike her family back in Vacuo, her dad's brother was a decently well-to-do architect in Mistral, who had a lot of friends that owed him a lot of favors. Very different from his brother's humble workshop and music store. His house was different too- she was a bit relieved to have moved into the dorms at Haven, honestly, because everything her uncle owned was just too... big. She was small enough without his monstrous king sized guest bed. Even the rooms at haven were a bit too big for her liking, compared to her home back in her village. Her two youngest brothers, of course, were probably grateful for the change, having inherited their father's height. His next question was suitably on-topic to her mental monologue. She swallowed her bite of bread and nodded again, before taking a sip of her water so she could answer. "Mm, not especially. I was never a student at any combat school eit'er, but I grew up in Vacuo, in a small village, so my Uncle Jabari taught me some survival skills, and when I discovered my Semblance, he helped me learn how to use it. He was a great Huntsman." Her smile turned just a shade of sad and she stared into her water for a second or two, before continuing, her previous pep restored as if nothing had happened. As she spoke once more, though, she noticed Alexandros's fingers tapping on the table, and smiled as she began to lightly tap her own in counter-rhythms to his. Drummers gotta do what drummers gotta do. "I moved to Mistral to live wit' my dad's brot'er, my Uncle Fadaka, a year or so ago, and he was t'e one who got me in t'e doors at Haven. I did have to go t'rough some of t'e assessments you did, but not as many, from t'e sounds of it." She frankly wasn't sure how she passed. Sure, her semblance was exceptionally powerful, and she was skilled at using it, and she was decently strong, with sturdy resolve, and the endurance of a distance runner, but she couldn't fight very well, and she wasn't exactly the most tough trainee at the Academy. She figured maybe a lot of it was her resolve to become a Huntress- in times like these, after the Fall and everything, they seemed desperate enough to take guts and a fiery will over things like combat skill and experience with fighting. At any rate, she was learning all those as she went anyways, so it all worked out in the end. The awkward waiter made his third appearance as she finished speaking, setting down a large basket of mozzarella sticks and marinara sauce, before topping off her water with a pitcher, and placing her companion's in front of him on the table, before withdrawing his notepad once more. Thankfully, he simply glanced in the redhead's direction, seemingly pleading with his eyes, before turning away, looking at Alexandros. "Are you ready to order, sir?" As he ordered, Carmim took the time to take in the boy's appearance. He had shaggy dark hair, hanging down about an inch or two from his shoulders, and shimmering eyes, lost somewhere between a rich caramel brown, and bright, shiny, gold. In the right light, she imagined they would be exceptionally brilliant. And while she couldn't tell by how much, as he was sitting down, she did notice that he was relatively short, for a guy- though, still nearly half a head on her. But that spoke as much to her height as to his. He was kinda cute. Not the Adonis-like beauty of Colton Deraine, or the quirky charm of her roommate, Aegle, but y'know. Cute. Granted, she (not inaccurately) seemed to find most people she met to be attractive, she mused as she savored the cheesy perfection of a mozzarella stick, crispy and coated in tomato-y goodness. Maybe she could just order an extra two baskets of these as her entree... She looked him over quietly as he finished ordering, turning her gaze to Jack Junior, as the bird faunus turned to look at her. He sighed. "I'll uh. Give you another minute, Carbink. Her smile turned to a brief, comedic, scowl as he turned to walk back to the kitchen. Seriously. It was an easy name to remember, she thought... It returned, though, just as quickly, as she turned back to her dining partner. "So, you mentioned your semblance and weapon? What are t'ey, if you don't mind me asking?" A simple question, delivered with a plain and curious tone. She was always interested in seeing what her classmates could do- her semblance was a bit of a one-trick pony, and while she was proud of it, it wasn't nearly as versatile as some of the others she'd seen. Not to mention literally everyone had a cooler weapon than her- Storyteller didn't count, it was a drum, not a weapon, even if it was her officially registered weapon at Haven. She gazed lovingly at her instrument, sitting in the seat beside her on the booth, as she thought of it, before returning her gaze to Alexandros. Even if he didn't answer, it wasn't like she wouldn't find out pretty quickly anyhow- Haven was a pretty small school, and they were bound to have a class together eventually, she figured. Only a matter of time, then.

LAIKA OF GS!

[Alexandros Skouriá]

Alexandros accepted Carmim's offering of bread as she started to explain her own circumstances. They were unusual to the boy, though probably not all that strange in the grander scheme of things. It was a funny thing, really; despite living in the city of Mistral all his life, Alexandros was not a terribly worldly or cultured individual, and his understanding of what constituted something normal was defined in small and very personal terms. He found it interesting that people from all over the world would choose his city of all places to come and live their lives, and even more interesting again that some of them would be fellow trainees at the school. By the same token it made him wonder, just how many of them in his class had really chosen this place with any sort of priority? Carmim, quite clearly and openly, had said that it was her uncle's position as a member of staff which assisted in her finding a place at Haven, and now that the thought -- a thought he should really have had before -- was on his mind, he wondered more still about everyone else. He could have sat there, happily thinking it over, but he was in good company now; it was neither the time nor place for such a silly distraction. "It's quite fortunate that you knew somebody at the academy already," he said between mouthfuls of bread. "I'm sure that sort of luck doesn't come often."

Jack Jr. appeared once more from out the rush of the Love Street Diner, bringing with him a large bowl of mozzarella sticks and water for the two of them. Frankly it was remarkable that their little booth was getting any service at all considering how many other patrons were seated in the establishment, but it was not a bad thing that they were. It was impressive; when he had first arrived, Alex was all but ready to turn and leave due to a lack of space, but Pops had found a spot to squeeze him in. The boy was glad of it, now, too. Carmim was lively and lovely -- this much he was certain of after only a few minutes -- and good company for the rainy morning. If everybody at Haven could've been as charming as her, then the next three years would fly by, Alex decided. Jack Jr., having set down the entrée and supplied them both with water, prepped a notepad for their orders and waited. At first he had glanced over at the little redhead, but she and the faunus both knew that now was not the time.
"Are you ready to order, sir?" he asked.
"Yes," Alexandros began, ceasing his drumming and sitting straight and attentive, "thank you. One serve of pumpkin soup with an extra swirl of cream, and a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, please."
"Okay, n-no problem... I'll, uh, give you another minute, Carbink."

Once more the young crow had vanished, leaving just the two of them again until whatever sudden return he would make. The natural break in their conversation had given the girl time to think, and she capitalized on it by asking to know about his Semblance and weapon. It was a strange thing to try and think about, for Alexandros himself was still largely unsure of the nature of his abilities. The circumstances of their awakening -- in a moment of clarity amongst sadness, in the forest -- had made him initially think it was some sort of defensive mechanism for his body, but training and meditation had made it clear that this was not the case. Others could conjure and control all manner of things with great skill, yet all the fighter seemed to be able to do was build up sweltering force around his hands and feet. Still, she had asked, and so he would do his best to answer.

"My Semblance," Alex started after a quick sip of near-freezing water, "is unrefined. It lets me directly convert the Aura surrounding parts of my body into heat, and I can control its temperature by using up more or less energy; I only found out that I could even do it a few years ago. Somebody insisted that I give it a name, so I decided on 'Bloomery', like a forge." With a smile on his face, Alexandros lifted his right hand and held it out above the table. Slowly, a fire-like glow welled around his arm, and with it came forth a gentle and soothing heat. He made sure to keep it low and stable, and with a theatrical pass over his glass of newly-served water made the ice floating at the top begin to melt, using a briefly higher pulse of Aura as fuel. Then, satisfied, the glow subsided, and the warm air dissipated out into the restaurant. "Something like that," he said with a chuckle.
"As for the weapon... well, I'm officially registered as using an old handgun, but I mostly just use my fists." Carmim hadn't asked for anything more than that really, but the boy felt some sort of need to explain himself to her; after all, it had become common knowledge that the weapon of a Huntsman or Huntress was meant to, in some way, show to the world a part of their soul. The public's image was great heroes with arcanely intricate swords and spears, not cheap antiquities which barely kept together. "My father fought in the war as a soldier in Mistral's army. It was one of his trophies that he left to me, for when I was old enough. Never really thought I'd use it, but, here I am."

Alexandros grew quiet for a moment, then shook his head. Turning his attention to the large drum sitting by the window, he spoke again. "That's what you use," he asked, "right?"

--

WC 980/2895

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 1020 TAG: Alexandros Skouriá NOTES: SHE FINALLY ORDERS! HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS She smiled as he remarked on the good fortune she had in coming to the Academy on her uncle's recommendations, but she couldn't help but disagree, though she wouldn't say so- it wasn't like he could know the circumstances of her living with her uncle to begin with, after all. Were it up to her, she would be home in Vacuo, helping her father with his shop, building drums and making music for her village. It was a family tradition, after all- the name of her semblance was chosen for good reason, bequeathed to her by her other uncle, back home. Crimson Griot- the crimson was obvious. She was red, in every way. It was a color that suited her especially well, and between her hair, eyes, and aura, it was hard not to see that. Griot, though. It was a title. Her father's specifically. And his father before him. And her grandpa's mother. Back generations. In her tiny village, there was one person who was regarded as a sort of historian for the rest of the village. The Griot- a keeper of music, a keeper of stories. When the bandits had attacked, and she was sent to Mistral with her two youngest brothers, the tradition, over a hundred years in practice, may well have died. Her dad still upheld his duties, teaching the village's children their myths and legends, tales of renown, even modern stories, like her Uncle Jabari's legacy. But she wasn't there, and couldn't take on that role. She grew up with the songs and stories of her home, but she had much to learn. It saddened her a little, knowing that she couldn't go home for quite some time. Not until she was a Huntress. Not until she was strong enough to protect them. She looked up from the half-eaten cheese stick in her hand. Lost in thought again. She smiled back up at Alex, a bit more brightly, hoping he hadn't noticed the silence. The waiter came by again, and her companion ordered, right before she asked him about himself. He had her attention now, as he began to explain how his abilities worked. Man. It was just like with Eva! Everyone had such a cool semblance, and all she could do was shoot little blasts of air. Well, maybe "little" was an understatement, Her claim to fame lately was knocking the roof off of a train car. Granted, she couldn't take full credit for that, but nobody aside from her was aware of that fact- to everyone else, the tapes showed her blasting a hole in the roof, not the bombs being placed right above her target. That annoyed her a little- she hadn't earned the praise for that. It felt empty, and she had been working nonstop on training her semblance since then, striving for harder, better, hits. She watched, her face doing nothing to hide her obvious awe at his neat little trick with the ice cube. "So cool!! Ahh! I bet you neve' get cold during t'e winter, huh?" She grinned, still mesmerized by his glowing hand. That was her favorite part of being at Haven- everyone was so cool. His weapon was also cool to hear about. She nodded as he mentioned the gun and using his fists. So he was like Aegle, then? Kinda? Well, Aegle with a gun, that is. But when he continued, mentioning the history of the gun, that brought a smile to her face. A weapon worth carrying, it sounded like. Something to be proud of. She started to chime in about her own weapon, but he asked her before she got the chance. The little redhead tossed a fond look to her drum. Storyteller was clearly old, battered, worn. But a careful eye would notice the little patches in the drum head, the newer ropes securing the original ones. It was a tool carried by many, over many years. And maintained by many- she gave it a loving pat, like clapping an old friend on the shoulder. "T'at is correct, my friend! T'is handsome fellow here is Storyteller. It has been an heirloom in my family for a few generations, t'ough I t'ink I am t'e first to use it as a weapon. Which is my semblance- Crimson Griot." She demonstrated (carefully) by giving the drum a very light rap with the backs of her knuckles, causing the drapes by the drum to blow straight upwards as if a large draft had blown through the closed windows. Suddenly, the young faunus made his next appearance, shuffling up, just as awkward as before. "Stuffed hot peppers. Have you figured out what you want yet, Cremlin? Her annoyance at his butchery of her name was clear on her face, even though the winged boy didn't react to it, instead simply setting a large basket of rice-and-cheese stuffed peppers before the pair. At this rate, there would hardly be room for the main course... Fortunately, the bread was nearly gone, so he consolidated the last few rolls into the mozzarella sticks, before collecting the bread basket. Well now she was stuck. Here Alexandros was, having ordered his food already, and this was the last appetizer, so she could only stall for so much longer. Debating between stuffing more cheese sticks into her mouth, and answering the question, she eventually decided on the latter, though not without considerable audible dillying and dallying. Tomato with cheese? Or Cheese with tomato!? It was impossible. No mortal could make a satisfying conclusion. She sighed. There was only one correct answer. "I will take t'e-" "Number 5 and a number 8?" She sighed, absolutely defeated. If he had known what she was going to order this entire time, why hadn't he spoken up sooner? She plaintively nodded, accepting her fate. At least the food would be delicious, she reassured herself, as she shoveled more crispy mozzarella sticks into her mouth, chasing them with a hearty splash of cool, refreshing, water. "It is so hard to order when everyt'ing is so good..."

LAIKA OF GS!

[Alexandros Skouriá]

"So cool!! Ahh! I bet you neve' get cold during t'e winter, huh?" she said with glee.

With a quiet giggle and a nod, Alex agreed with her assessment that he'd stay warm in the colder months. It was a peculiar thing, really, that his Semblance had given him such a bizarre but welcome side-effect. Bloomery as it appeared on the surface was a combat-centric gift, yet it was these smaller facets which gave it any degree of utility or breadth of applicability. Controllable and constant heat could do many things, and as his body adapted to its existence it grew resilient, seemingly tolerant, treated and tempered like adeptly forged steel. Though he was not truly immune to his own Semblance, the gradual reduction of seating heat to a non-issue was oddly pleasing. If nothing else, it meant that Alexandros exuded more and more control over the technique as time went on.

He found himself getting wrapped up in reflection on his own state of being, and awkwardly snapped back to attention as Carmim spoke freely of the drum she had brought with her to the Love Street Diner.

Storyteller, she called it, was definitely a beast of a thing. It was a massive drum for a tiny girl, but after hearing of her exploits on the train it was abundantly clear that it was a weapon as strong as any other at Haven. Skill and understanding and potential were the hallmarks of a Huntsman or Huntress, and Carmim certainly wasn't lacking in any of these three things. Skill was obvious, he thought; to recognize her name straight away as he did said more than enough, as her tremendous abilities really had made her one of the standout stars of the Argus Limited mission. Understanding was perhaps the hardest to discern of the traits, and was instead perhaps examined better in terms of mastery -- Carmim fully understood all there was to know about using a drum in combat, and the ways in which it would compliment the rather unique Semblance she possessed. It was the polar opposite to his own abilities, Alexandros mused with a faint self-deprecating smirk, which were cobbled together from a vast number of puddles instead of an ocean of knowledge. Lastly there was potential, which presented itself by way of the absolute absurdity of the trainee sitting across from the boy. A typical weapon -- not unlike his own revolver -- could only be used in a certain select-few ways before its usefulness would run dry; many would cover these weaknesses with complexity or multiple functions and forms, where others opted to call upon their Aura and manifest wondrous personal skills. In Alexandros' mind, the girl would not suffer from these setbacks. To do battle with percussion presented an element of utterly unknowable surprise, which when coupled with the Semblance she demonstrated before his very eyes suggested room to grow her fighting skill in an effectively unlimited capacity.

There would be no shortage of heroes at Haven.

"It's a very noble thing, to use something with such history or importance to you," Alex said as Carmim spoke of Storyteller with an obvious sense of pride. "That's why I use Thrash. Can't let the old man's service be forgotten, you know? And it'll make victories all the sweeter, too."
With nothing more to say, Junior made another expertly-timed appearance at the booth, bringing with him the soup Alexandros had ordered and a palpable expectation -- or hope, at least -- that the girl would finally decide on what to order. It really was quite impressive how quickly the Love Street Diner was operating under the pressure of a full house, and the service would certainly stick with the boy for quite some time. I'll have to come here again, he decided.

After a brief exchange, the crow was off again, and Carmim slightly slumped in her seat with an annoyed look of defeat. "It is so hard to order when everyt'ing is so good..." she mused aloud, prompting a nodding of the head from Alexandros.
"You really do mean 'everything', huh?" he joked, setting the spoon next to his giant bowl of pumpkin soup and waiting for the Dawson boy to return yet again with her order. It was thanks to her generosity that Alex was out of the rain -- he wasn't going to spoil it by being ungrateful and starting his own meal before hers had even arrived.

--

WC 743/3638

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 615 TAG: @danthemantheonewhocanhedrivesavanhehasapanifhecan'tdoitnoonecan NOTES: tfw a whole ass eight posts before food is served TOTAL WORDS: 4895 HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS The little redhead beamed brightly as he spoke so kindly of her weapon, and nodded enthusiastically as he related her Storyteller to his Thrash- an exceptionally cool name for a revolver, she had to note. "Exactly! It makes me so happy to hear someone t'ink t'e same way about it. It's like we're carrying little pieces of the past wit' us, like memories from long ago." She gave her drum another firm, fond, pat. The two truly were inseparable- an odd pair, surely, but a partnership that had begun long, long ago, with her very first drum, which continued on with her current one. Storyteller was like her rock, standing strong when everything around her felt so shaky and wrong. Certainly, that was how she felt about her recent mission... It had been a success, aside from Nik's injuries, but she still didn't feel very successful. Maybe she was just cheapening her own little victory, in her own mind. That was probably all it was. She downed a few of the stuffed peppers, noting that Alexandros was decidedly not as quick at eating his appetizers as she was. Which was fine, of course- not everyone had a stomach like hers, after all! While many would risk filling up on snacks before the main course, she had a stupidly high metabolism, and tore through food like it was nobody's business. She cracked a grin between bites at his little joke about her eating habits. "Yup! My mot'er always told me t'at t'e more you eat, t'e taller and stronger you grow! Aaaand... I just really like food." Unfortunately, despite what her mom had told her so often as a little girl, her diet had sadly not led to even one extra inch of height... Eh, he was probably just waiting for her food to come out first, she noted as he contemplated his delicious-smelling soup. What a gentleman! Fortunately, he wasn't going to be waiting long- already, Junior was on his way back over with both of Carmim's entrees and a pitcher of water to top off their drinks. With a wordless smile, and an aversion to eye contact, he managed not to butcher Carmim's name again, by merit of not actually speaking as he served her and left again. It may have seemed like especially fast service, but the truth was that Carmim was about as predictable as the seasons- all three appetizers had been started on as soon as she arrived, and her entrees were added to the queue as soon as the first bread basket was finished. It wasn't like her order ever differed, and if it did, the place was so busy it was pretty likely someone else would have had what she was having. Which, incidentally, smelled incredible. Cheesy broccoli soup, in a bowl atop a plate of crisp little tomato sandwiches, and a rich, creamy, tomato soup, paired with smoky, savory, grilled cheese sandwiches. A meal to die for. Immediately, she dunked a sandwich into a soup, not entirely paying attention to which one, and took a bite bite, savoring the flavors with an incredibly pleased facial expression. Perfect food from the perfect diner. Staring out the window into the lazy morning rain, she had to appreciate the scenery that went with her meal. Making a new friend in a cozy bistro, looking out into a misty drizzle. "Mmm, t'is is so good... How's your soup?" She smiled across the table at her new friend. Maybe it was just happenstance that he had gotten shoved into a table with her, but she was glad they'd gotten the chance to properly meet, outside of classes and everything. It was nice.

LAIKA OF GS!

[Alexandros Skouriá]

Quite the array of foods, entrées and main orders alike, had now appeared on the small corner booth's table in the Love Street Diner. Almost every space available for the young Dawson boy to use had been filled up, whether by baskets or plates or tall glasses -- it was certainly impressive. There was still an absolute mountain of warm bread, stuffed peppers, mozzarella sticks, and now several distinct bowls of soup and accompanying sandwiches. It was downright absurd, really; there would be no way such a tiny little thing could possibly mean to have all of it, Alexandros thought, but the image of it in his mind's eye brought further -- and very, very faint -- laughter. Guess it's not all that surprising, though, he then mused, need to keep energy levels up somehow.

Ah, but none of that was important; it was time to eat. Carmim's final component to the extravagant order arrived and sat with all the rest on the overflowing table, and Junior vanished for what would be, at least temporarily, the last time.

Alexandros plucked the spoon from back off the table, and scooped away a fraction of the piping-hot pumpkin soup. It was rich in flavour, almost silky-smooth in its consistency, and every part of it nothing short of wonderful. He gave a glance out the window the two were seated at, out to the bleak grey skies and still-present sheets of rain descending from on high, and simply relaxed. His morning run likely would have concluded by now, and he would be indoors, anyway, at the academy, but there really was no denying how much bliss the boy was finding in being inside the charming little bistro with a well-made meal. He directed his attention back to Carmim, narrowing his gaze somewhat as the redhead dipped and dunked one of several sandwiches into one of several bowls. To a certain extent he found it bizarre -- another look at all the other different foods accentuated this -- but the boy simply did not have the brainpower to question it. Still, she had ordered this much, and the young Clover had already been ravenously scoffing down bits and pieces throughout their chit-chat, so with as much energy as he had used to mark the whole thing as strange in his mind, it nigh-immediately settled back down to being somehow normal and unworthy of note.

Carmim clearly loved soup. And sandwiches. And bread, and... well, lots of things it seemed.
He could respect that.

"How's your soup?" she asked across the untamed wild the two silently agreed to call 'brunch' with a warm smile, turning back from her own brief look to the outside world.
"Nice," he rather plainly said back. "It's nice. I take it that yours is pretty good too, right?"

Alex cleared his throat, took a swig of ice-water, then scratched at the underside of his chin with his left hand while his right readied up another spoonful of pumpkin soup. "So, uh, any particular reason why you wanted to pursue an education with the academy? Not that -- you know, that's not to say that, well -- I don't mean to pry, but it's quite the commitment to try and make with your life. I'm only here by coincidence more than anything, myself; I'm just sort of wondering what brings people to make the decision. If you don't mind my asking, that is."

Eloquent, he groaned on the inside.

--

WC

578/4216

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 522 TAG: @u NOTES: haha look a distraction! TOTAL WORDS: 5417 HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS It brought a smile to her face, knowing that Alex's soup was to his liking. Not that she had a particular personal investment in the quality of his soup, or anything- she just liked knowing that it was good, because good soup made people happy, and she was content with the knowledge that he seemed fairly happy. That, and the fact that all that silly talk about her latest mission had faded from the forefront of their discussion. She nodded cheerfully. "Yup! T'ese are both delicious, which is why it is always such a hard t'ing for me, figuring out which one to eat." Truly, a conundrum with no obvious solutions in sight. And then, she almost choked on her tomato soup, so caught off guard by his next question. Fortunately, however, in a moment of intense personal growth and rare acquisition of vital skills in composure and- Nah, let's be real here. Carmim is an open book, she had a snowball's chance in hell at hiding her surprise at his question, which no doubt spurred on the boy's next words. And really, it shouldn't have come as a big shock or surprise, it was a fairly innocent and standard question between huntsman trainees getting to know one another. Should have been expected, even. And yet, it still caught her off-guard, especially having believed she was in the clear as far as hard questions went. Granted, it wasn't weighing on her as heavily as the questions about the train, (which themselves admittedly weren't too bad, just a bit uncomfortable) but she still preferred not to think about things like leaving home too much. It made her sad. Fortunately, stalling for time was easy enough with her comically abundant brunch. She managed to wolf down the entire grilled cheese sandwich and half of her broccoli and cheese soup before she figured it would rude to continue saying nothing, so she cleared her throat, and tried her best to explain. "Mm, sorry, t'is uh, food, is just so good! I guess t'e reason I'm here is because I want to be like my uncle." It was true enough, and hopefully he wouldn't go asking any wacky follow-up questions. It was definitely not a lie, either- Carmim was an abysmally bad liar, even sliding around the truth gave her a weird feeling. She just wasn't exactly explaining the whole story, because that involved having to leave her family behind, and her uncle's death. Not exactly the cheeriest table conversation. Sometimes it was easy enough to talk about, but at the moment, talking about it still hurt her more than she could admit. The reason she was at Haven, though, was to make sure what happened to her uncle never had to happen again... After a hasty sip of her water, she quickly turned the question back to Alexandros, with a bright smile. "So what about you? Why did you decide to become a Huntsman?" Aha! The old switcheroo, a classic maneuver. Carmim was proud of herself. Quite the table-turner, if she did say so herself. And she did!

LAIKA OF GS!

[Alexandros Skouriá]

A prolonged uncomfortable moment, made all the longer by obvious stalling on his companion's behalf.

Carmim had given an answer to his question, though it was keenly imprecise and vague in its nature. There was no use trying to fault her for it, Alex rather reasonably decided, for not everyone was as open or forthright about the past -- and the decisions which were so often made from it -- as he had become in recent years. An aspiration to be more like somebody she clearly admired was certainly noble enough, and, truthfully, not terribly different from his own reasoning and circumstances. As quickly as she had responded, though, the girl returned the question right back at him.

"More than anything, I just want to help people," Alexandros responded rather plainly, aware of how grandiose and open-ended 'helping people' was. He had done plenty of thinking over the last three years, with much of it revolving around the question thrown back at him by Carmim. In a way, it was obvious that those who were capable should do their part, and the boy had deemed himself capable... but in the end, why? Why did he really settle for something so dangerous? With a quick sip of water to collect his thoughts, Alex spoke further: "I know that it sounds kind of -- I don't know -- silly, or childish, but... that's really all it is. Like I said, it's more just a coincidence than it was some sort of burning desire or life-long dream, or anything like that; luck had it that I could use Aura, and that I had a Semblance-thing, so the choice may as well have been made for me. Somebody has to do it, right?"

There was more to it, of course.

"When I was fourteen, my father- he, well- he," the boy began to stammer out, breaking his gaze away from the little redhead to try and make sense of the words coming out, "you know... Grimm. He was away on a job, and he didn't come home, and I think that was what made me realize that I couldn't just sit back and be some helpless bystander in the grand scheme of things; I want to make it so that sort of thing doesn't have to happen to anybody else, because no one deserves to lose family like that."
An uncomfortable topic, to be sure, but one that the Skouriá boy could not deny played a critical role in his decision to pursue an education at Haven. It wasn't like it was some sort of dark and terrible secret, either; trying to dance around the topic was dishonest, for it was the singular catalyst which sent Alex down the path of a huntsman. Everybody had their reasons for pursuing this kind of place in life, and his just so happened to stem from a time of great sadness. Carmim had asked, and he had simply answered truthfully -- no harm in that. Still, it was evident how much the fact of the matter pained Alexandros, and it was further evident still just how uncertain all of it made him.

"Sorry," he then abruptly added after a moment, through a quiet and uneasy laugh "that's a little bit heavy for so early in the morning, huh? It's just hard for me to talk about one thing without talking about the other, though, that's all. Besides, we're about to be going to school together anyway, so you probably would have heard it all and found out at some point -- I'd rather you hear it from me than through somebody else."

--

WC 605/4821

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 639 TAG: @soupfriend NOTES: 1 down, 1 to go! TOTAL WORDS: 6059 HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Carmim nodded with a smile as she continued devouring her soup-soaked sandwiches. Helping people was a noble goal. In her mind, maybe the only goal of a Huntsman- otherwise, what was the point in it all? However, it seemed as though that answer hadn't impressed when he'd used it in the past, for whatever reason, as Alexandros was hasty to rationalized and explain his reasoning. She just shook her head with a smile. "No, no, no! T'at does not sound silly or childish to me at all. In fact, I feel t'e same way." She thought of continuing, but it seemed as though Alex had more to say, so she let him finish speaking, listening carefully as he began to tell his father's story. She knew where it was going to go from the way he trailed off, stuttering, at the very start. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, really. Maybe even a little predictable, or at least it was for the Vacuo native. Still, that didn't make it hurt any less. She nodded along a little more solemnly as he spoke, and she suddenly felt bad for giving such a short, nondescript account of her own reasoning. If he was opening up to her this much, she had no reason not to be forthright with it. Her uncle hadn't died to be forgotten, after all- she made a note to tell him her story as soon as his was done. "Right..." She nodded again, agreeing thoughtfully with his words. He was entirely right. Nobody deserved to lose family like that. Nobody. He laughed, a little nervously, and apologized for bringing up something as hard to talk about as that, but she just looked at him with a sad smile. "I understand. My uncle, he... I t'ink he was probably a lot like your fat'er. He um... Our village was raided by bandits, and t'en t'e Grimm... He was always trying to protect everyone. He saved me." She paused for a while, realizing that she had slowly lowered her gaze from Alex to her reflection in her soup bowl. It was hard talking about it. She'd been fifteen, but it felt like so long ago. At the same time, it could have been yesterday. She missed him. With a bit more resolve, and an attempt at a smile, she brought her face back up, and spoke a little more energetically, trying to bring the conversation back around to a more positive light, after sharing a moment of commiseration. After all, like Alex said, it was too early to talk about so many heavy topics. "And t'at is why I want to be a Huntress. So I can do what he did, and help people. I don't know t'at I can ever be as strong or brave as him, but I t'ink I can try and get as close as I can. I am a little excited, actually, ever since I got to Haven- we're going to be able to do so much!" And in her case, she had done something already- she still didn't think she had contributed nearly as much to the success of their mission, though. She wasn't as strong or as good as the news was making her out to be, unfortunately... Not that she felt like she needed to be, yet- she was still just a student, and not even a top of the class student like Colton or Ruqa. Nobody was expecting her to blow up any more train roofs, any time soon. Surely they all knew that was a fluke. Right...? She took another bite of her sandwich, and finished up her broccoli-and-cheese. Mmmm. Creamy, rich, and cheesy. Quality soup. "I wish t'e cafeteria food tasted like t'is. It would be so good! Every day!"

LAIKA OF GS!

[Alexandros Skouriá]

It was a most upsetting fact, really, that the Creatures of Grimm had been acting with such perfect and cruel impunity throughout all known history; there was simply no stopping the embodiment of darkness and hate, for any which would fall in battle were promptly replaced, and those that didn't were often doing little more than mindless slaughter enacted upon the defenceless. Ruthless efficiency and an unmatched killer instinct had melded together in the worst possible way for mankind, who were forced to fight back against an evil which far outclassed them in every conceivable way. Grimm were strong, and swift, and just intelligent to make use of those traits -- so he had been told, anyway; Alexandros had, thankfully, never seen one of the creatures with his own two eyes, and instead knew all he did by word of mouth or from his studies. Conceptually, the monsters were a self-fulfilling cycle of destruction and of chaos, drawn to the negativity and despair they naturally created through their presence. The monsters were many things to just as many people, but there was no denying the artistry behind the terror.

Dangerous. Devious. Despicable, most accurately of all; Remnant had a villain it needed to be rid of, and nowhere near enough power or time to make it happen.

Thus, it was further upsetting to the young Skouriá to know so well that he was not alone in life. Thousands upon thousands had been killed by Grimm before his father, and thousands upon thousands would certainly be killed in the future. While it was the goal of a huntsmen or huntress to slay the foul things, it was an avoidable truth that polite society -- even the frontier villages -- never stood a chance against the all the wrath and wickedness the creatures of Grimm held. In a perverse and twisted sort of way it was almost comforting to know that others had been through the same hell, but the notion of bonding over utter heartbreak made the boy nothing short of furious with himself.
Carmim knew much of this brand of grief, it seemed, for she had lost an uncle some time ago before coming to Mistral from Vacuo. Alex had little to say. Actually, that wasn't true at all: there was plenty of things to be said on the subject, and many of them were things the boy could foresee himself learning of in the not-so-distant future, but none of them were things he particularly wanted to say. The moment was already dour and dark enough, and encouragement further down that conversational path was something that neither of the two students would need. So, with little to say, Alex said nothing, and simply gave the young Clover which said more than words ever could. It shouldn't be like this, he thought for a moment, taking a bite of his toasted sandwich and a few quick spoonful of pumpkin soup not long after.

"I suppose that's all we can do," Alexandros agreed, taking another bite of his sandwich and mulling over his words as he chewed, "try our best, make something of our lives, and help people. That's why the huntsmen and huntresses exist, after all; in a perfect world that sort of profession wouldn't be needed, but... well, the world isn't perfect, is it? It's because of all that imperfect stuff that the world needs heroes, and leaders, and anybody who can offer it anything for the sake of making life better. I think that as long as we are able to hold onto that ideal, we're going to have a chance to do something -- really do something -- and play our part."
Another bite, then a quick glance out the window, then back again to Carmim.
"Might as well pretend to be useful, you know? I'm not clever enough to do much more than this, but one day I'd like to think it'll be worth it."

As if to punctuate and give finality to the topic, Alexandros shoved a few heavy heapings of soup to his mouth in a way that would prevent him from speaking any further, chasing it down with another swig of water.
"I wish t'e cafeteria food tasted like t'is. It would be so good! Every day!"
"Yeah! That'd be great. I think I might just have to come back here one of these days and see what else is on the menu; it all looks pretty nice."

--

WC 745/5564

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 807 TAG: @danthemanwiththevan NOTES: f i n a l l y TOTAL WORDS: 6866 HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Well, it seemed that Alexandros was as ready as she was to talk about something a little less dour. Though, as she finished speaking, it was a little while before he broke the silence- understandable. Nobody really liked talking about pain and suffering, even when they were relating their own to that of someone else, commiserating in misery. Pleasant brunch conversation. He took a bite of his food, and she swept up the last morsels of her sandwich, before searching in vain for another bite of delicious food- seems she'd successfully inhaled all of hers. Just as well- she didn't really have anywhere else to put another bite of food. Then Alex spoke again, replying to her last remarks about heroism. She smiled as he took another bite of his sandwich. "Yeah." A simple, single-word agreement, because what could she say to that, that needed saying? She grinned as he continued, though she wasn't sure if "pretending to be useful" was meant as a joke or not. Regardless, she agreed with that sentiment too- maybe she wasn't strong enough to do much, but she could do what she could do, yeah? And maybe that was enough, for now. She sipped at her water, before turning the conversation over to the school's dining hall. Mystery meat and strange gluey slop. It felt nice eating real food for once, and she was glad Alexandros felt the same- if he had argued in favor of the cafeteria, she'd have had to slap the devil out of him, and she was definitely not trying to do that. He has such a cute face! Would be a shame to ruin that because in a hypothetical fictional universe, he actually though Haven's lunch room food was good. Sure, it had its uses... Maybe as ballast. She could see using the sausages as bullets, maybe. But she was pretty sure somewhere in the Vytal Treaty, that was prohibited as a war crime. "Oh, everyt'ing here is amazing! It's why I always have such a hard time deciding what it is I want... Hm? Oh, look, t'e rain's letting up." She peered out of the window, into the city streets below. Huh. Had they been in the diner that long already? She looked down at her empty plate, and it seemed like Alex was getting pretty close to finishing off his meal too. Pretty soon, she figured Junior would be- "E-everything was good, I hope? Um... I-i'll take these and uh, here's your bill. Separate checks?" The avian waiter came by again, still averting eye contact as best as he could, while he swept up Carmim's numerous empty dishes, leaving behind two slips of paper. Hmm... How much wa- Her eyes widened and she let her head droop to rest on the table. Oof. She was going to have to find a real job soon, she couldn't keep getting by on her savings, with her appetite... Was it really that much, though!? Hopefully Alex's check was less terrifying. She managed to pull herself together, and counted out the appropriate (if, hefty) amount of cash. Which, fortunately, she had almost exactly enough for. She was left with 46 cents in her wallet, which was now thin and sad. Yeah... Work would be really good about now. She glanced across the table to her newest friend, and even managed a smile, in spite of her dwindling financial situation. "Mmm, t'at was a tasty meal. T'anks for eating wit' me, even if I suppose you didn't have a whole lot of choice. I t'ink I'm about ready to head out, t'ough- are you headed back to t'e Academy? We could walk toget'er if you want!" She beamed at him as she slowly, half-lethargically, struggled to pull herself out of the comfy booth, and onto the floor, making sure to grab her djembe from the window seat, taking a good, long, stretch. It had been a pretty nice morning so far. She left the money on the table with a wave and a wink to both Dawsons. The elder shot her a huge grin and a wink in return, while the son gave an awkward nod and a small smile before returning to his duties. Whether Alex decided to accompany her back to the school or not, she'd wait for him to finish up and stand before heading for the front door, stretching out again as the sun, finally having peeked from behind the clouds, washed down on her from above. It had been a pretty fun morning so far, honestly. She turned to her dining companion, noting now that they were both standing that he wasn't too much taller than her- at least, nowhere near as tall as Nik or Argent. Neat. "T'is was fun! We should eat here toget'er again some time."

LAIKA OF GS!