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chemicalmagecraft · 5 years

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The Gamer Hero, Deku Chapter 11

A/N: College stinks. This is a bit of a shorter chapter because of that and the fact that I don't want to start an entire arc mid-chapter. Don't worry though, next chapter's probably going to be a doozy to make up for it.

And in this chapter we see some more of that offscreen character development Bakugou had.

xoxoxo

I gulped. There was a huge mob of reporters standing in front of the gates, worse than any swarm of skeletons my Illusion Barrier could spawn. Their large, beady, camera-like eyes turned to focus on me, and they lurched over to me in a single horde like ravenous, information-hungry zombies. "Young man, have you been in a class with All Might yet?" the leader of the pack asked me.

"Eep," I said. "W-well..." I was cut off from an oppressive feeling coming from my left. I turned to see Kacchan glaring at the press gang.

"We're going to class," Kacchan said coldly. "Would you kindly fuck the hell off?"

"Hey, weren't you that one boy from the sludge mon-" Kacchan glared harder.

"Actually, we were both involved in the sludge monster incident..." I corrected.

"Wasn't the other kid Quirkless?"

"My Quirk is really weird, okay? I only really learned how to use it after that..."

Kacchan angrily cleared his throat. "Now could we please get to our class!?" he demanded.

"But-"

"Pretty fuckin' sure what you're doing is illegal," Kacchan said.

"And it's our job as heroes in training to report crimes in process, right?" I contributed.

"Right, so how 'bout you guys disperse before we go get one of our pro hero teachers, who I'm willing to bet won't like how you won't let us through."

"I really don't," Aizawa-sensei said from behind me. "Now please let my students go to their class unless you have a genuine, valid reason to keep them from their education aside from 'I want to know how All Might teaches.'"

"If it's any consolation, he's nice and gave us some pointers on our Quirks," I said.

"You got your statement, now let us through," Aizawa-sensei said. The crowd let us pass, though the lead reporter lady tried to chase us and was blocked by the security barrier.

"What the hell is with that? I could have died!" The reporter yelled.

"That thing's meant to catch villains who try to enter!" Kacchan yelled. "If it comes down, that means you're trying to trespass!"

Aizawa-sensei sighed. "I'll deal with this. You to get to the classroom."

xoxoxo

Kacchan and I summoned our elementals, causing some oohs and aahs from our classmates. "So these are our elementals," I said. They waved for the class, showing off a small application of their powers as well. "They're sorta like spirits made from a certain element of magic. I don't know if we create them or summon them from nature with the elemental ritual and they don't seem to have any answers. My theory is that they do exist in nature, but without a summoner they're too... primordial, if that makes sense, to do anything. It's only by forming a contract with a summoner that they can take humanoid forms. Any questions?"

"They're so cute!" Mina said.

Pyra smiled. "That wasn't a question, but thank you," she said.

"For whatever reason, they look like kids," Kacchan said. "Apparently how powerful they are is dependent on skill level or something. Our elementals are actually at the second stage or whatever. They looked even younger a couple months ago."

Tokoyami walked up to me and bowed on one knee. "Honored keeper of ancient knowledge, wouldst thou teach me thy power?" he said in a dramatic voice.

"What the fuck did I just listen to?" Kacchan asked to nobody in particular.

"Child of shadow," I said, playing along with him.

"Jesus fucking Christ Deku what the actual fuck," Kacchan groaned.

"Thou art but a fledgling in the ancient art of magyck, yet thy drive to learn is great."

"How the actual fuck did you manage to audibly pronounce 'magic' like that?"

I continued despite Kacchan's interruptions and the popup for Magycked Words. "For thy great ambition, I bequeath upon thee this." I raised my hands into the air, using Inventory to make a scroll slowly materialize from thin air, glowing with magical light. The scroll dropped into my hands and I held it out to him.

"Okay, so would anyone else like to fucking point out that Deku literally fucking had that ready in advance?" Kacchan asked.

"I thank thee for the arcane knowledge thou hast granted upon me," Tokoyami said as he gingerly accepted the scroll from me.

"Hey fun fact apparently words like thee and thou are actually informal, which makes this shitshow a lot more stupid," Kacchan said dourly.

"My only request for thee is to share this arcanum among any of our peers who should ask for it," I told him.

He bowed his head. "I solemnly swear it." He got up, gave me a small smile, and said, "And thank you for playing along..."

"Right, that's it. I'm fucking done. Taking a nap 'til Aizawa-sensei comes back," Kacchan said, then sat down at his desk. "Thanks for not yelling at me, Iida," he muttered before putting his head down.

"I've decided to not be too annoyed about that so long as you don't curse too much when class is actually in session," Iida explained. "Speaking of which, I believe we should take our seats soon. Aizawa shouldn't be too much longer."

"I've actually been here for all of Midoriya's speech, I just wanted to watch," Aizawa-sensei said from behind his desk, causing me to jump. "Now where should you guys be right now?" We all quietly took our seats. "Good. Now, first I'd like apologize if anyone was inconvenienced by the reporters outside. We're taking care of it. Next, I'd like to say that I saw the recordings from yesterday's Hero Basic class and I have some notes. Off the top of my head, Todoroki, you should try to be a little more efficient. Maybe try freezing the room instead of the whole building next time. Mineta, actually try. If anyone wants notes in more detail, talk to me. Now, what we're doing today is going to decide your future." Everyone tensed up.

"You need to pick a class representative."

And with that, the mood immediately lightened. Just about everyone raised their hands and asked to be class representative. It made sense; while being the class representative is normally a responsibility that people don't want, in the hero course it's a really good idea because hero agencies tend to notice people who take responsibilities like that.

"Everyone!" Iida shouted over the din. "We need to work this over in an orderly fashion! Perhaps we should put this to vote!"

"Don't we barely know each other?" Asui asked. "And won't everyone vote for themselves?"

"All the better!" Iida stated. "Anyone who has already managed to gain the trust of enough people to get the most votes would most likely be the best candidate for class representative."

After all of the votes were counted, the rankings were put on the board. "How did I get four votes!?" I asked. I really had no idea how that happened. I mean, I voted for Iida.

"Right, Midoriya's the representative and Iida and Yaoyorozu can figure out who's deputy between them," Aizawa-sensei said. After me, Iida and Yaoyorozu were tied for second place with two votes each.

xoxoxo

"I love the food here," Uraraka said as she ate some rice. She, Iida, Kacchan, and I were eating lunch together.

"You're literally eating only rice," Kacchan said.

"Well some of us are on a budget, Kacchan!" Uraraka said.

Kacchan twitched. "Don't fucking call me Kacchan. And can you seriously not afford anything other than rice?"

Uraraka blushed. "My parents don't really have too much money... It's already expensive enough for me to be here..."

Kacchan sighed and got up. "You're really gonna make me buy you something aren't you?"

She flailed her arms in front of her. "N-no! You don't have to do that for me!"

"You need to eat actual fucking food, idiot!"

"I don't want you to have to spend that much money just for me!"

"Too bad, my mom's a model! Just about everything on the menu's fucking chump change to me!"

Uraraka stopped her protesting and gasped. "Your mom's Bakugou Mitsuki! How did I miss that? You guys are almost identical!"

"Fuck if I know."

Uraraka pressed her fingers together and blushed a little. "Y'know, I'd kinda like to know how she looks that young. She's almost forty and she's still pret-"

"Aaaaand I'm gonna stop you right there before you start talking about how hot my mom you just said looks like me is. It's weird enough when strangers do it." He sped off. "I hope you like curry!"

"To answer your question, though," I said after Kacchan left, "it's because her Quirk, Glycerin, makes her sweat moisturizer." I grinned a bit. "It's actually a little interesting. While only the sweat from Kacchan's hands explodes, the sweat all over his body is altered, which is apparently a leftover of his mom's Quirk. Theoretically, Kacchan will age about as well as his mom does thanks to that."

"I didn't know Emitter Quirks could be passed on like that," Iida said. "I thought it was only Mutation Quirks that did that."

"No, Emitter Quirks can do that too, though it's normally a lot more subtle. Even though it's not my Quirk, I'm actually heat-resistant and have slightly more fire affinity because of my dad's Fire Breath, and my mother and I have more water affinity and can cry a lot thanks to her mother's Quirk, Ocular Gushers, which let her shoot water from her tear ducts like some sort of reverse heat vision. I haven't figured out how to do it at will, though now that I think about it I should probably be able to do it with magic." I felt my cheeks heat up at the looks they were giving me and chuckled a bit. "I... like talking about Quirks..."

Uraraka smiled. "I think it's pretty cool! Plus, Yuuei is definitely the kind of school to do that!"

"Thanks," I said. "Though how exactly do you know about Auntie Mitsuki? No offense, but you don't exactly strike me as the type to really follow the fashion world..."

Uraraka blushed. "W-well sometimes I just read the articles!"

For some reason, Raine randomly started cheering loudly. I jumped and Blaise reassured me that she hadn't stabbed anyone or anything before I had to look for her. "Are you okay, Midoriya?" Iida asked.

"O-oh, I'm fine," I smiled. "Raine just started randomly cheering for some reason, so I had to make sure she didn't stab anything. She's really enthusiastic about stabbing things..."

"That's a little disconcerting," Uraraka said.

"She also started gushing about you after seeing you for some reason..."

Uraraka stopped eating her rice and cleared her throat. "Okay, so I'm a little uncomfortable now. Iiiiis there by any chance a way to detect elementals?"

I shrugged. "I only know one detection spell, and it'd only work on tertiary elementals. Oh, by the way, while we're on the subject of tertiary elements, I have reason to believe gravity is one, so you might want to check that."

"Okay, I'll put that on my magic to-do list, right below 'Detect Elemental,'" she said, then began fiddling with her chopsticks. "Hey, let's talk about something that doesn't involve an invisible stabhappy spirit who likes to talk about me? Hey, Deku you're class rep now! Let's talk about how you got two other votes!"

"What do you mean, 'two other votes?'" Iida asked.

"Well Deku obviously voted for himself, and I voted for him too, so who were the other two?"

"Actually I voted for Iida," I butted in, "and if I had to guess, one of the votes for me was Tokoyami because I gave him that scroll."

"AMONG OTHER THINGS, DEKU!" I heard Kacchan's voice from somewhere in the cafeteria.

Dune giggled. "Context." I rolled my eyes.

"I suppose I should add that I voted for you, not myself," Iida added. "And thank you for putting as much faith in me as I put in you. I appreciate it."

"Yeah, thanks to the both of you, too," I grinned. "Both of you voted for me, even though I don't think I really deserve it..."

"Dude, you literally discovered magic," Uraraka said bluntly.

"I did it accidentally, and we only found out thanks to Kacchan..."

"You managed to discover magic without even meaning to!" Uraraka shouted. I noticed that she'd put her chopsticks down and they had a glowing pink aura around them. She grinned and put her hand on her rice bowl. "Speaking of which," she said, then her rice bowl started glowing pink too. "Iida, pick up my rice bowl."

Iida tried to pick up the rice, but gave up after struggling a bit. "Did you amplify the gravity on your rice?" he asked.

I picked up her chopsticks, which felt like they were made of lead, and used Fuckery Detection on it. "I think she did. This is pretty cool, Uraraka!" Some alarms blared, causing me to drop the really heavy chopsticks. "Warning. Level three security breach," a voice said from the same speakers that the alarms were coming from. "What's that mean?" I asked.

"This is the first time I've actually heard this alarm and I'm a third year!" a student near us shouted over the racket. "It means there's an intruder!" Everyone started panicking and stampeded to the exit, and I was swept away from my friends in the tide of students despite my high STR stat.

"G-guys!" I tried to shout over the noise. "Someone could get seriously hurt if we keep doing this!" I tried some more, but I just couldn't get anyone to listen to me... Eventually, though, I saw Iida spinning through the air like he was trying to use his Quirk in zero gravity. Before I could do anything, he hit the wall over the emergency exit sign.

"EVERYONE! CALM DOWN!" he shouted, causing the mob to stop. "It's just the media! They managed to make it past the front gate somehow!" He pointed toward some windows. "Take a look! There's nothing to worry about!"

"Oh hey, the spinny guy's right!" One of the students said.

"And the police are coming!"

"Now that we've calmed down, I suggest we form an orderly line. All of that pushing and shoving could've seriously hurt someone!" Everyone followed Iida's orders and calmly evacuated. Except, of course, for Kacchan, who decided to bring Uraraka her curry.

xoxoxo

"We've still got to pick the other class officers," I told the class. "But first, I'd like to step down as class representative. I'm honored, but I don't feel like I'm up to the task. I couldn't help at all when the code three happened, and my deputy managed to calm everyone down and get a handle on the situation. I'm nominating Iida as class representative and Yaoyorozu as his replacement as deputy."

"I can get behind that," Kirishima said. "Iida really handled that situation! Let's hear it for Emergency Exit!"

"Thank you, Midoriya!" Iida said with a bow. "I will not let you down!"

xoxoxo

A/N: So I don't know when Raine turned into Froakie Toga, but she totes did and it's funny.

And speaking of Uraraka, I was going to have gravity magic not have any sort of glow at all, but then I heard that we could be independent together. Also I had a question that I put on my tumblr but nobody actually answered because I only have like twenty followers, so I'mma put it here too. Do you guys think Uraraka would play Pokémon Sun or Moon? This is most assuredly just for curiosity and will not at all have any bearing on anything in this fanfic. No reason at all for asking aside from curiosity. None whatsoever.

EDIT: So it seems that I have made an error in the syntax of my question, which I take full blame for. When I wrote "Do you guys think Uraraka would play Pokémon Sun or Moon?" some people misinterpreted it to be "Do you guys think Uraraka would play Pokémon Sun or Moon?" with an inclusive "or," or asking if you guys thought Uraraka would be willing to play one of those games. At least, that is what I assume happened with the two reviews I got which attempted to answer the question, which I would like to note that I am still grateful for even if they didn't actually answer the question I wanted answered. However, I meant "Do you guys think Uraraka would play Pokémon Sun or Moon?" with an exclusive "or." In other words, in the hypothetical scenario that some omnipotent being were to for whatever reason grant Uraraka a choice between being able to play the game titled Pokémon Sun or the game titled Pokémon Moon despite her economic status, which would be her first choice? Science may be so amazing, but isn't grammar infuriating?

xoxoxo

And guess what! I thought of an omake!

Screenshots

"Midoriya, are you taking notes?" Cementoss asked me. "You aren't touching your notebook."

I jumped a bit. I wasn't really paying too much attention to his lecture because I already knew what he was talking about. "O-oh, I actually found out a way to automatically record lectures word-for-word with my Quirk, so I'm kind of testing that out..."

"Ah, how creative," he complimented me. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you doing?"

"So I've known for a while that my Quirk lets me do things like see subtitles like I'm in a video game, but recently I found out that if I clench my buttcheeks and bite my tongue just right, my Quirk takes a screenshot of my vision that I can view later, HUD and all."

"So what you're saying is that you're taking a screenshot every time my 'text' changes?"

"Yes."

"How many screenshots have you made?"

I checked the new "Gallery" tab. "Fourty."

"I think it might just be easier to write my words down..."

#The Gamer Hero Deku #Gamer Hero Deku #GHD CH11 #fanfiction #bnha fanfiction #bnha

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wingedfabray · 5 years

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pride burns quick

Tagging: @hautekurture & Quinn Fabray Where: Undique Stadium When: Tuesday, 2019 What: In which Kurt and Quinn finally “practice,” and Quinn doesn’t drive all the way from Lake George for it. Warnings: Death mention

Kurt had returned from Ohio and thought the change of scenery would make him feel at ease. It didn't. It felt like there was something caught in his windpipe. Something trapped. Maybe the apocalyptic talk Dani randomly texted at him was sinking in. Great she got me paranoid too. Kurt thought. He was annoyed at feeling antsy over nothing. So he decided to message Quinn. Why? Misery loves company. Did you hear that the world is going to end.

Quinn thrived on keeping her life carefully constructed and controlled. Or she had, prior to enrolling at NYADA and immediately throwing all of her planning out the window to help her body-swapped peers. There was something about the campaign trail, and quiet nights huddled with her sister that reminded her just how much she'd changed. It was with almost a sense of relief that she opened up a message from Kurt Hummel of all people. Finally, something to shake up the monotony. Shame it had to be Kurt. I've heard rumor. Is there a reason you're texting me about it?

Kurt smirked and rolled his eyes. Of course Quinn Fabray wouldn't care about world ending rumors. He walked through his dorm and looked out of the window. The campus was empty. Pretty now it was May but empty. You don't seem to mind the rumors then. Apparently it has to do with Marley. Aren't you particularly close or. I don't know. Care? Apocalypse is nigh.

Quinn sat back against her chair, pulling her phone away from the pile of books on the table in front of her. Of course she cared. Kurt had a way of taking her words and either taking them completely wrong, or needling down to the absolute truth of them, the truth even Quinn herself hadn't acknowledged yet. It was unnerving. A door to another world opened up in my family room, took all of my family heirlooms, followed by Blaine. I'd hardly call an apocalypse a shock at this point. More like the inevitability we've all been barreling towards for years. She paused over the thought, glancing at the once-full curio shelves around her. As for Marley, we're more acquaintances. Not close enough for her to talk to me about anything as important as the end of the world. Again, Kurt, why are you texting me about this? What do want, an answer? I don't have one.

Kurt wryly texted back, This end of the world thing is a shitshow. Are you saying you're aware of an imminent crisis, one you've had a past trauma about, and yet you're what? In Belgium somewhere with your family and ignoring it? I don't need an answer. Just asking for you to match your actions with your beliefs. You probably haven't prepared.

Quinn huffed, tossing her phone back on top of the books. It was all history, stories that made patterns. It was everything she could find on portals, on different planes of existence and theories about worlds on top of worlds. She picked her phone back up, I'm trying to help figure out what, and why. I'm helping my sister campaign for stronger research, so that we can start understanding what it is we're preparing for and how best to do that, rather than just throwing ourselves blindly at defense, while doing what research I can. What would you have me do, Kurt? These texts can't be totally random, what is your brilliant suggestion?

Kurt squinted at the words on his phone hoping it would make sense. Nope. None. That's such a milquetoast answer, Quinn. Is this what voting for your family means? Incremental mediocrity? Why the hush hush. I expected bold leadership to face the very confirmed end of the world. What can I say. Maybe I'm worried my social partner person is going to be the death of me.

Quinn wondered if it was bait. If he just liked throwing words out there just to watch her leap to contradict them. On the contrary, while everyone else seems to be scrambling to build up a defense against something we don't even understand yet, it could actually be seen as bold to step back and look for answers. I believe working to understand what we're defending against is just as important as anything anyone else is doing. Of course, she leapt every time. She pulled in a breath, releasing it slowly before sending another text, Socius Pactum. I'm not going to get you killed. Did you just need reassurance? Is that why you've texted me, you're scared?

Kurt tsked under his teeth. Quinn has been away for too long from the scene. And how's that been. When was the door thing. Oh right. A year and so ago. Did you find the answers you were looking for. Or even the direction to look. This makes me think you're just a bad researcher now. You have all the money and power in the world, don't you? This is all you have? That's it? Oh honey, I don't think I have to spell it out for you. I'm not scared about you dying. It won't happen because I'm me. But in case. I'll say the man above said it was your time to go. I'm not scared about death. I don't want to leave the people I care about in the lackadaisical hands of the others I don't have any faith in. Do you think you can protect Blaine? You haven't reassured me you can help anyone. But yourself and your image. When was the last time you were in field missions, Quinn? When did you actually go fight for someone you cared about, or did you wait and research and blah blah. Again. How is that working out for you.

Quinn's hands clenched around her phone. The wall of text seemed to slam into her chest, burrowing beneath her rib cage and pulsating, barbed and immoveable. Quinn had long come to the conclusion that money couldn't fix this. That didn't mean she was throwing away her family's considerable influence and fortune. You're always so good at throwing out your assumptions as fact. You'll make a fool of yourself some day, and I can't wait to watch. She thought of angels, and worlds stitching together, of statues with chains wrapped around them, Enochian script at their feet that was leading her swiftly towards answers. I've come a lot farther than you think. The fact that you haven't received an update personally speaks only towards my lack of confidence in you. The rest, she mustered what humility she could, I have admittedly fallen short on Field Missions. This says I'm busy, not that I've decided my family and friends' safety is any less important to me. What do want, Kurt? For me to prove I'm not going to sit back and let others die? That I know how to cast a spell? I won't, and I can.

Kurt had put his phone away confident he had shut Quinn Fabray up. He was channel surfing for the sake of keeping himself entertained when his phone started lighting up. At first Kurt assumed it was Blaine discovering another puppy and sending him multiple photos. When he checked, it wasn't several blurry movies of Blaine saying who's a good boy. It was Quinn. Kurt tensed his jaw at her comments. He had so much to say. However he didn't. You can?

Quinn watched the phone just long enough to know a return text wasn't imminent, before setting it carefully back on the table. She rubbed at her temples in the following silence, until the quiet buzz had her jaw clenched and shoulders tense once more. I can. Maybe it's time we actually trained, as a Socius Pactum. As soon as the text read 'Delivered,' Quinn wanted to take it back. Too late, she buried her nose in a book, and hoped Kurt chose to ignore her, just this once.

Kurt raised a brow. She actually challenged him first to a fight. Hmph. Socius Pactum my Calvin Klein-wearing ass. Show up at Undique tonight then, at 6. I'm only going to hang around for 5 minutes so don't think about being late. Kurt knew he was giving Quinn a big chance here, an opportunity for her to shut it down and not even show. It would be a good revenge, Kurt wouldn't be against the pettiness of this idea. The time came, and so did Kurt, dressed in a simply elegant track pant and color blocked short sleeve hoodie.

Quinn read the text, glanced at the clock, and proceeded to contemplate not showing up at all. It was too late to arrange a portal, despite her family's influence, and the drive would be four hours. And, well, a drive. In a car, on roads that twisted and turned. Her stomach flipped, but she called their personal driver regardless. By the time she stepped out of the car at the student union, she was shaky and half-considering texting Dave Karofsky about nausea potions. Percy offered a polite "have a nice evening, Miss Fabray" as she rushed away, and she barely had time to throw on a plain brown t-shirt and sweats before she found herself in Undique. Thank God the nausea had settled before she had to force herself to push her way inside. This was decidedly not how she thought her day was going to go. "Kurt, hello."

Kurt crossed his arms and mowed down Quinn's look with a cocky glance. "Is this what's in bloodline fashion nowadays? Brown and sweats. No wonder Berry asked for advice." Kurt quipped instead of saying hello and pointed to the door with his thumb. "We have thirty minutes. I didn't book long. I don't expect to sweat this one." Kurt walked inside without checking if Quinn was following. I know she is. He pulled out his capped sai which was less deadly than his steel-tipped ones and did some spinning tricks to loosen up his wrist muscles. "If you want to prepare do it now," he said on stage and getting into an offensive position.

Quinn shook the comment off with a glare. She anticipated getting dusty, her eyes tracing the line of the sai. They seemed to move effortlessly; it was obvious he was familiar. He'd said he wasn't worried about him dying, and she believed it. But then, she could also recall the way fire danced around her, how sometimes it would shift gold. It could be just as effortless. She set her book bag at the edge of the stadium, taking a moment to flip through her grimoire before settling into easy stretches. It only took a moment until she found herself standing across from Kurt, hands flexing at her side. "I'm ready when you are, Hummel."

Kurt studied Quinn's movements. This is a rare moment after all. Naturally Queen Quinn would look awkward here. She was digging through her book and Kurt wondered if that was her nerves manifesting to the surface. Smug thoughts were in his head and that was why Kurt flipped his fingers at Quinn to come at him first. "Bit-I mean, witches first." Kurt grinned.

Quinn clenches her teeth, skipping over Kurt's taunt before finally settling herself with a breath. She'd been working with her magic on deeper levels for months, this was just an opportunity to put it all together. Her Enochian was starting to sound smoother, no longer stumbling over otherworldly consonants, Angels above, I ask thee for protection. Her magic circle spun at her feet, and golden embers flickered and danced around her.

Quinn: 1d7 = (5) = 5

Kurt: 1d8+2 = (6)+2 = 8

Kurt cocked his head at the weird chanting Quinn was speaking. So that's the angel talk. Kurt thought. He saw fire envelope around Quinn like a shield. Not on my watch. Without saying a word, Kurt dashed toward Quinn. Leaping into the air, he came crashing down with his sai pointed downward to pierce the shield. He got a bit through when he felt the impact sink and he jumped back to see what would happen next. "Nice light show, Quinn."

Quinn: 1d7 = (1) = 1

Quinn had seen Kurt fight, but had never been on the receiving end of it. He was quick, there and gone. For a moment all she could see was a blade, and the flames that licked at it before it could strike her. She held her stance despite the onslaught, not even waiting for Kurt to finish his sentence before pushing her hands forward, Now forward. It should've been good, maybe she should've asked instead of commanding. Either way, the flames that should've blasted across the floor in front of her flickered in a chaotic mess instead. Her stomach dropped, and her hands clenched into fists, the flames flashing bright and entirely ineffectual.

Kurt: 1d8+2 = (7)+2 = 9

Kurt saw the flames coming at him and he could laugh about it. He swung his arm to send away the fire and went for another attack. He got to her side and slashed, trying to break through the fire. He was successful and felt his sai cut through this time.

Quinn felt the shield sputter out before she felt the bite of the sai. The sad attempt at a spell sizzled and left the ground at her feet scorched. Her mouth dropped open in a gasp, and she stumbled back a step at the hit, her feet skidding against the stage. It hurt, almost more than the tight coil of shame that bunched in her stomach. She felt the capped blade drag against her as she stepped away from it swiftly, gasping out her shield spell as she put some distance between them. A few steps back, and surrounded by dancing flames again, she readjusted her stance, meeting Kurt's eyes with a determined glare.

Quinn: 1d7 = (7) = 7

Kurt: 1d8+3 include familiar level 1. = (8)+3 = 11

Kurt saw the shield was up again. Such tactics were made to draw things out, however it didn't mean Kurt didn't have a way around it. He had fought against shields before. The new shield looked stronger, however. Alright, come out. Kurt told his familiar and the white stag appeared from thin air. "Are you doing research now?" Kurt asked to goad Quinn on. He looked at the stag and they both rammed into the shield to push Quinn back.

Quinn: 1d7 = (2) = 2

Quinn faltered at the hit this time, feeling herself forcibly pushed back, even as her hands came up instinctively to block herself from the two bodies charging her. The flicker of flames around her sputtered and hissed, more smoke than light. Frustration mixed with the shame; she couldn't quite quell the way her breath huffed out with effort, or the knowledge that shield was her best and it crumpled like a match under water. She was outmatched, and outperformed. But it was Kurt, she'd always felt sh had more to prove to Kurt than any of her other peers, logically or not. "God..." a curse died on her tongue, and she pushed forward against Kurt, wrapping her hands around the wrist of the hand holding the sia. Please, I pray, alight right here. The resulting spell was weak, at best. A flicker around Kurt's wrist.

Kurt: 1d8+2 = (3)+2 = 5

Kurt knew it was over when she was having trouble holding onto a shield. He shook the fire off his wrist, and wound up his sai and threw it right at the center of the shield. It was where the fire smoked out the strongest. The weak spot. Kurt stepped away and gave a roll of his eyes to his familiar to go. Hart said nothing and trotted away. Kurt wanted to do the same. The thrill of winning was gone essentially when he knew how one-sided this fight was. She was no battler. She hadn't even a strategy Kurt could try to out maneuver. In the end, what's the point. This isn't a rivalry. This is bullying. "Are you going to put up another shield?" Kurt asked casually. "I'm bored of fighting." He decided to give Quinn a chance to save face and leave without injuring more of her pride. She could say he was the one who called it quits.

Quinn felt the shield waver, just before Kurt's sai pummeled straight through it. The capped blade hit just beneath her rib cage, and she felt the air leave her in a rush. Her knees hit the ground, one hand instinctively moving to catch herself before she slumped forward. In front of Kurt. Her vision swam and she prayed it was because she was dazed and not because she was crying. She wasn't. Thank God. A muscle jumped in her jaw, and she spent a moment just trying to put herself back together, glancing up just long enough to watch Kurt retreat, his stag trotting away. Maybe she wasn't crying, but she could feel it. The way it was difficult to swallow, how her eyes burned and she didn't quite trust herself to say something, anything. Her hands shook; she thought she was getting over that. "I concede." She finally managed, quietly. Barely there, even while he was walking away, and the out was right there in front of her. "That was...I concede."

Kurt sighed when he checked to see Quinn was immobile from her spot on the floor. He heard her reply and knew how hard it must be to say it. He walked to his bag and pulled out one of his wet wipes. He didn't carry handkerchiefs like Blaine did however who also carried handkerchiefs like Blaine did. He strode back and handed it to her, also offering a hand to get up. "Come on. You shouldn't be on the ground too long, people will think I'm bullying you as the new Supreme."

Quinn accepts the wet wipe, and with a bit more trepidation, the hand up. "If that's a pop culture reference, I don't know it." She says into the silence that follows, working the wipe between her fingers if only to have something to do with her hands. Her brow furrows, and it takes much more than she'd like to admit to put herself together enough to actually talk to Kurt. To not drown in the fact that she challenged him, drove down from Lake George, and failed so spectacularly he literally looked no different than when they started. "Apparently, I won't be playing the offensive role in this...partnership. Evodest has never been my strength, it's...healing, occasionally shields. I'll...work on it. And perhaps we should talk, actually talk, about how we'd work together." The world was ending, they might actually have to.

Kurt gave Quinn a deadpan stare. "Why am I bothering to do these references." He let Quinn work out whatever she needed to work out in her head and went around picking up the sai he threw. He twirled it around his hand and put it away. "It doesn't have to be evo... evodust? That's not the problem. The problem is I don't think you had something bigger to fight for than proving me wrong." Kurt said harshly at first. Then he softened at something she said, though he would never explain what it was to her. "Are you saying you're actually open to receiving advice from me? You know who I am, right." Kurt said and added on, "...Well you know I can't heal others for any worth of my Prada boots." He tossed his sai into his bag without fail. "Maybe we can talk about it over message? I would never be caught dead with you in that outfit. Actually first of all you are getting a new sparring outfit."

Quinn bit down on her tongue, killing the 'I really wouldn't be caught dead with you period' before it could escape. The fact was he was right. She'd driven down because she felt called out, angry, and decidedly useless holed up in Lake George with her books and her family. Not that she'd honestly admit more than she already had to Kurt. She looked at him for a moment, still perfectly put together, but offering more to her than he ever had before. It was an almost-kindness she wasn't sure what to do with. "I'm saying we should discuss it. Over text, obviously." She straightened her shirt, rumpled as it was. "I'll find myself a new outfit, thank you very much."

Kurt laughed at her remark. She sounded petty and like Kurt himself. He let her have the pithiness of his silence and agreed loudly, "Oh God no, over text. I wouldn't want people to know I was hanging out with a nerd reading books." The ample sarcasm was the icing on this cake. Kurt knew he literally slept with a nerd so if Quinn had any clue as to what went on at NYADA currently she would get it. "Augh, you are not. We aren't coordinating another battle where I'm battling with a frumpy paper bag blouse. We will choose an accent color and build around it. Our patron saint would be oh so offended if we didn't." He put on a fake affected tone.

Quinn lifted an eyebrow, "Right, we certainly wouldn't want that." She thought of Blaine, then of Kurt, then promptly shoved those thoughts in the deepest recesses of her mind, along with many other things she couldn't quite rationalize. She blew out a sigh, picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, eager to be finished with the whole ordeal. But...Blaine saw something in him, and he wasn't being the absolute worst, considering she'd just literally fallen to her knees in front of him. "Send me ideas, then, if this offends you so much. I'll...practice, and try to spend a little less time with my nose in a book. Fair?"

Kurt shrugged and gathered his things. Quinn was Blaine's friend. That much was true. She wasn't Kurt's though, so he had no reason to let her off easy. However, I'm tired. "Can't you brainstorm any? You read those books to fill your head, don't you? There only three good options for both of us to wear." Kurt figured he could throw her a bone. This time. "Research saves lives when people know about it so keep me in the loop." He said, ready to part ways. Today had been quite the day and Kurt wanted to watch some Queer Eye and imagine Antoni Porowski being his secret admirer. However as he was about to leave, he remembered he /had to/ know. "So did you take a portal?"

Quinn absorbed the question, immediately pivoting and making her way across the stadium floor towards the exit. "Have a good day, Kurt." She threw over her shoulder through clenched teeth. "I'll try to keep you in the loop." The doors slammed shut definitively behind her.

#paras #p: pride burns quick #cw death mention #hautekurture

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kingofthenorth49 · 3 years

Text

New Year, Old Me

The smell of breakfast cooking is filling the house, my dogs is at my feet chewing on his indestructible dollar store ball as happy as a clam (ed note. – how do we know clams are actually happy?) and 2021 has begun with sunshine streaming in every window filling the day with the promise of a bright and prosperous future. Even Gloria is in the kitchen singing to the music playing on the radio.

Then there’s the 30 centimeters of snow forecast for tomorrow. Fack.

I love my Christmas vacations. We took a cruise for Christmas two years ago, I’ll never do that again. Not just the competition with 1300 little off spring for wifi when we were trying to sell a house Christmas eve, there’s just something about doing a whole lot of nothing for 10 days that really appeals to the inner child in me.

I’ve played countless hours of Minecraft. I’ve watched hours of videos. I’ve read, I’ve cooked. We’ve talked about whatr’s next, what’s been, and who. We’ve played with the dog, a lot.

The only thing missing was the kids. I miss them dear

Christmas was awesome for it just being the three of us. We did that on purpose.

2020 was a challenging year in many respects. We lost Ozzy in June, that was a major life event for us both that neither of us saw coming. Then there’s the plandemic, yes, tin foil hat in fully bloom, the politicians of the world are wrecking society over a bad flu. Even politicians in the 1918 pandemic weren’t as incompetent. As someone who has managed risk my entire career I can unequivocally say they fucked this up, likely on purpose. I say on purpose because there’s no way the stupid could be this collective. The costs to society based on the actions of our elected officials over the past year have damaged mankind (not peoplekind moron) and will have lingering effects for decades.

I just can’t grasp the level of incompetence I’ve witnessed in our governments, but I’m not surprised.

2020 professionally was one of my best years ever, mind you I worked a lot, but I’ve never been afraid of that. From mid-March until July I worked every single day from Moncton, dealing with bad decisions made by governments every single day trying to keep the country going. Imagine dealing with hundreds of governments, none who talk to each other and correlate activities. It’s an epic shitshow every day, but it’s honest work.

I’ve met some amazing new friends this year, and we’ve developed some new relationships. I’ve watched some of my team members grow exponentially, as well as watched some of my peers hit their stride. It’s awesome to see people at their best, and knowing you had a hand in helping them get to that place. That’s what I live for now.

Living back home has been a major challenge for me, not some much for Gloria. We came back for her, she wanted to be home and now she is. Life is good here, don’t get me wrong, but I hate living in the fishbowl. People talk too much and invest themselves in others’ business way too often, it’s that part of living here I don’t like. Everywhere else we’ve lived no one cared what kind of car you drove or where you went on vacation, but down east it’s blood sport. The difference for me this time round is I just don’t care what they think or say, their opinion means nothing. Unless I’m paying you for advice, I’ll give it the due consideration it deserves. The day I learned that was likely the day my life changed for the better, and I remember it well.

I’m starting to enjoy living home again, but not for the reasons you’d think.

I’m enjoying the familiarity of people again, the people who interact with us at our favorite restaurants, stopping and chatting with people at Superstore, knowing what is really going on in our community. Those are the kind of things you miss living the lifestyle we did for 20 years bouncing all over the globe. We missed that connection with community.

We are enjoying making our current house our home and putting our touches on it. It’s been a labor of love because as my realtor Cathy said the day we were doing the home inspection and I had a parade of contractors lined up on the street, there’s no way I’ll ever get my money back out of this place. Nope, I won’t. But I’m ok with that. I grew up watching this house and wanting it, now that I own it it’s fun to bring it back to it’s original beauty and improving it’s functionality. Plus we have awesome neighbors and everyone looks out for one another.

I like my job. I like my boss. I still enjoy what I do, and that’s a positive. I’ve been very fortunate to have worked with amazing people throughout my career, but over the last year dealing with a pandemic, 18,000 employees across dozens of companies and multiple jurisdictions who move the goal posts daily, I’m very thankful for the team I work with are all A players. We accomplished more this year than I would have ever thought possible given the circumstances.

Then there’s politics. Relax, you knew it was coming, I’ve not ranted very often about anything that doesn’t at least brush up against politics.

2020 was a political shitshow of epic proportions. In Canada we have a buffoon as Prime Minister who is selling out this country to communist China. He’s not even hiding it anymore. The WE scandal should have affronted every single Canadian and we should have marched on Ottawa to demand his resignation and incarceration.

But we didn’t. So we get what we deserve.

In the USA Trump lost a crooked election, and no, you cannot convince me otherwise. It was a surgical strike in key swing states carried out with militaristic effort. I watched hearings in Wisconsin, Illinois and Georgia. There was enough fraud to cost Trump the election. But am I upset? Yes, a bit. Will I get over it? Of course. The democratic party has no morals, the ends justify the means and they had no qualms about using deception and fraud to elect a senile career politician who has accomplished nothing in a 47 year career on capitol hill, one who is racist (not an opinion, there’s his words in video and print) and can’t remember what state he is in most of the time.

And they elected him with more votes than Obama? Seriously?

The entire election reeks. Thousands of consecutive ballots, all votes for Joe, with no down ticket selections. Consecutive. Let me say it again for the kids in the back. Thousands of consecutive ballots for Joe with no down ticketing. (Down ticketing is voting for a set of party candidates, so President, Judges, etc on the ballot). Can you even begin to grasp the statistical probability of that? Let’s just say the odds of having that many consecutive ballots all for just Joe are astronomical, kind of like getting hit by lightening in your basement on your birthday while having a heart attack during a solar eclipse.

Even that’s more statistically likely.

But at the end of the day, if congress accepts the electors then Biden will be my president. I’m not that stupid or arrogant to say otherwise, although I know in my heart of hearts he stole it. But that’s irrelevant, and he has to look at himself in the mirror every morning just like I do.

What I have learned in the past year is local politics are more important than national politics, and we need to move towards more local control of our resources versus Provincial or Federal control. I’m excited for our new town council and have great hope they will energize this town, as we are poised on the precipice of opportunity. People are relocating here from all over, buying homes sight unseen. Why? Because its small and safe. That’s my theory anyway. With the gig economy, many workers can work from anywhere (I did it for years) and why live in a congested city with all the issues and expense that come with it when you can live like a king in small town Nova Scotia. For the first time in my life people WANT to move here, not away. That’s a huge opportunity that we need to build on.

Anyway, I guess I’m trying to say that while 2020 had it’s challenges, for us there is a lining in the cloud that we shouldn’t overlook. We ended the year on a high note with the perfect New Years eve for the three of us, a few drinks, a cigar by the fire, and McDonalds. Yep, 2020 didn’t deserve anything more than a McChicken and fires.

So those are my final thoughts for 2020, the year has now passed and 2021 has arrived, full of promise, hope, and excitement. What you will make of 2021 lies within you, and you alone. You can choose to climb a mountain or read a book, but all I ask of you is you help us maintain the ability to have the freedom to choose. That is my only fear going into the new year is that we are allowing our freedoms to be taken away at an alarming pace, with no sign of resistance. That’s not a good thing. Once your freedoms are gone, you won’t easily get them back.

Happy New Year folks, its going to be amazing. Either that or the murder hornets show up and then it’s over.

Jim Out.

#itsover

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