themisarcher-blog

[themisarcher-blog]

convictedfeathers;:

Trying to clear your head while the city was a literal ghost town proved to be an endeavor. Simon could have chosen to take refuge in Rosa’s home, but he questioned if he even deserved to go back, or if his presence would just make things worse. His own actions haunted him more than any specter from the past. 

While hopping from shelter to shelter over the last few days he was kept awake thinking over his relationship with Rosa Cervantes. Rosa was unquestionably special to him, no matter what any mock scenario implied. Although their teasing was relentless and their personalities would clash at times, the intimate moments they shared and their undying support for one another was a positive force in Simon’s life. Thanks to her he was able to keep his sanity intact while in the city. Yet after confronting his own weakness, Simon sincerely began to question if he was a worthy partner for her. If his problems truly caused harm and burden to others, it would be in their best interested if he disappeared. However, he knew that line of thinking only frustrated those he cared about. 

Perhaps… he thought to himself. I should turn my thinking around.

After days of searching for answers, he decided to finally seek out Rosa.

The house was in disarray, as he expected. The dried blood stains and torn furniture made Simon’s mind race with thoughts of concern for Rosa and Hugh. He began investigating all the rooms in search of clues until he stumbled upon them in his sword collection him. A sigh of relief escaped him. The two looked wracked with exhaustion, but at least they were safe.

“At least they were useful for something…” Simon couldn’t force out a laugh. “Are you okay? Nothing broken or missing? How’s O’Connor?”

@themisarcher​ -> @landsharkbite​

In all honesty, it felt like it had been far too many sleepless moments with those horrific nightmares lurking, potentially able to jump out and make one’s time even more of a hell than it usually was in this city any moment they wanted to: there was no refuge, even at home. Yet Hugh felt that the terrors of home were a lesser evil compared to a whole mix of other nightmares, so he’d stayed inside.

Besides that: seeing only two had exhausted and terrified him enough that he didn’t wish to risk seeing even more. If...if just at home, he had seen family and friends abandoning him and tossing to the side, he didn’t want to think of what lay out there. As it was, those two had taken everything out of himself and Rosa: for once, as much as he knew he and Blackquill butted heads, the archer found himself desperately hoping for the other to come back safe, considering he’d been outside for goodness knew how long.

Nobody should have to face such nightmares as these. Hugh wouldn’t even wish it on Professor Means, that was how much it had rattled him: and so, he now slept. However, with his nerves being strung high-wire, expecting monsters to come back at any time: it was an uneasy sleep, easily broken - his eyes snapped open, blearily, at feeling contact.

Oh...it wasn’t another monster.

Only Rosa, and Blackquill was back safe.

He spoke, tone clearly shaken from everything, to answer Blackquill’s own question, there.

“....Me? What...what about you?”

He was too tired, even, to be sarcastic to Blackquill, for once in his usually snarky archer-life. These were indeed serious times.

@landsharkbite​ > @convictedfeathers​

[themisarcher-blog]

landsharkbite;:

It certainly wouldn’t help. Rosa wasn’t good at this, god she wasn’t good at this but she’d do her best. It was all she could do even if it wasn’t much. Something told her that if she’d gotten an eyeful of that amorphous and horrid mass on the other side of the door the way Hugh had, it’d be even harder.

Channeling every bit of willpower she had left into blocking out the sound of that repeated collision, Rosa quietly and calmly sat next to Hugh and pulled him into her embrace. Her one hand gently (if awkwardly) patted his back and she rested her chin atop his head. Deep breaths.

“You’re gonna be just fine. I’m right here. I won’t let them do anything to you.” Rosa knew it all had to be some elaborate fabrication, far from the first of its kind in this city, but she wouldn’t say it– they’d been real enough to Hugh. Her too, to be truthful. She had a phantom of her own tailing her after all, so she had an intimate understanding of his terror.

Speaking of which, Hugh might not have noticed a momentary stop of Rosa’s heart with the state he was in… but it was like the man could read her thoughts. Odin had abruptly shown himself in the corner of the room opposite them, sitting like he’d been settled there listening the entire time. Given that he’d taken to popping up all over the house without much precedent or preamble she wasn’t about to question how he’d gotten past a locked door, but still. The banging and crashing outside faded, but now they’d traded one monster for another. Rosa’s grip on Hugh tightened.

“… you’re going to be just fine.”

The banging and slamming - every bang sent another wave of terrified shakes down Hugh’s very soul and being, he couldn’t ignore it. Just like he knew for a fact: no matter how much ‘progress’ he made in the city, he could never fully escape the pain and hurt he’d gone through because of his birth parents. It was like a scar that would always burn, never fade - nothing was going to make it instantly ‘better’ or heal over time. Much like a scar, he would carry it for all his life.

Yet the real Rosa being there meant a great deal to him despite that fact. Yes, it was true humans may well laugh and mock him for latching on over time as he had to a presence not even human. However, she’d been more of a support - always willing to listen and be there, even if her way of wording things wasn’t as eloquent at times - than they had.

He still shook and sobbed, but latched onto the hug on registering it: but he noticed something odd. Being as close to Rosa as he was with the hug, he noted her heart falter. Had the horrifying Frankenstein monster broken in through the door? No, it made a low noise, as if terrified itself, and the slamming faded, as if the monster had ran as fast as possible. As minutes passed, his mind grew coherent enough to question a frightening thought: what...what would scare such a monster as that?

Hugh almost didn’t want to know, but the monster - though fake - being partially Rosa, and Rosa herself seemingly taking a rare falter, which he’d NEVER seen her do ever - it made him shake more than the abomination had. He spoke, voice wavery and uncertain, but still spoke nonetheless.

“....T-this nightmare’s affecting both of us, isn’t it? I...I...I’m not going to run away. Yo-you’re here for me, so....I’ll be here too.”

He was so terrified, still, he couldn’t even get the words out without stammering, and he knew it was poorly worded. He was just as bad at this as Rosa was, honestly. Yet even if this new potential threat, which he couldn’t see thanks to the hug - gave him the chance to flee, his truthful tone made it evident he would not.

...Even if his ‘friends’ or ‘family’ disowned him, he would forever lie his loyalty to them and support them, ‘zero’ or not.

A perfect Zero.

[themisarcher-blog]

landsharkbite;:

Fortunately a Rosa that was very real had noticed what was amiss, and she wasn’t about to let anyone or anything have that chance.

Before the spectre haunting Hugh could do him lasting harm, a dangerously heavy hardback volume of The Major Law Lexicon came flying at high speed from across the room and it hit them square in the face. The fake stumbled back and fell with a pained outcry and for good reason– a subtle but noticeable crack on impact indicated a broken nose as a result. Good. That was the least they deserved, and although the situation was dire that act in itself had been a little cathartic.

“Hey! You can’t just sit there, kiddo, let’s go!”

The real Rosa locked Hugh’s upper arm in an iron grip and pulled him back up on his feet and out of the room. It set off countless red flags, the way he’d so clearly resigned himself to his fate just then– what in the world had that copy of hers said to him? Now wasn’t the time to ask, though, not when something could be on their tail. Rosa knew herself well enough to assume a double worth its salt would fight tooth and nail to follow through when they’d been antagonized.

Or would it hide from sight again to bide its time like her father was doing? Either way they were being toyed with, and that meant they didn’t have the luxury of guessing.

Electing to ignore the growing presence of black splatters of tar on the floor that pointed violently at dear old dad, Rosa firmly dragged Hugh into the room where Simon’s expansive and well kept collection of blades was displayed on walls and shelves alike (two of which she knew for a fact weren’t there yesterday) and locked the door behind them afterward. Only then did she let herself breathe.

“Okay… alright, we oughta be okay in here. For a bit. You have any idea what’s actually happening or are we both lost?”

Hugh remained unmoving, eyes dull and resigned: not an ounce of fight left in him - but a sudden momentum across the room slammed Rosa right in the face with a sickening thud and crack - a voice called to him. The same voice he’d just heard dismiss and abandon him: if this was some kind of sick joke, it wasn’t all that funny. Especially not when the Rosa in front of him who’d just been hit began to twist and change.

If another Rosa’s voice hadn’t been enough of a confusion to his distraught mind, this sent him shaking - the other Rosa now screeched, twisting it’s form to match an unholy, throbbing mix of Rosa and both his parents, nothing but utter hatred and loathing in it’s eyes as it’s flesh constantly writhed and throbbed, it hissing the constant wish and mixture of voices that “I wish you had never even been born, die, die, die” over and over again that was so loud nobody could possibly have ignored it: as Rosa locked his arm into that grip and dragged him out of the room, Hugh was clearly shaking.

Outright sobbing, as matter of fact - not even Rosa probably had seen him this upset, but with the...thing that could only be called a true nightmare dragging itself on twisted legs and hissing after them? Nobody could blame even the archer’s mask for faltering here. Rosa was right to assume the...thing would chase after them, as it was approaching as fast as it’s twisted mixture of legs could do.

When they were in the locked room, the creature hissed, and slammed against the door, making it shudder against it’s hinges and creak. Hugh, meanwhile, was trying to curl himself up in a ball, the true Rosa’s words lost on him - there was nothing but outright fear and tears in his eyes.

“T-they’re coming for me, like they always did...they’re going to punish me! I’ve been good, I’ve been good...why won’t you acknowledge me? Why...why do you both hate me so much?”

....The fear was clearly because of his parents, and unless Hugh was soothed, he wasn’t going to be able to respond coherently at all. It might be hard, with that monstrosity slamming constantly against the door.

A perfect Zero.

[themisarcher-blog]

saviourofnibel;:

As he speaks, Ori begins to slowly raise their chin and their expression softens back to its natural form - neutral yet innocently curious. They knew of certain ‘faults’ beings could have, but they never knew of ways to correcting them using things like … glasses.

They blink, suddenly catching onto the specific wording. Though it was in another language, Ori could see the pun … plain in sight. “See?” they repeat after him, raising their hands to their mouth as they begin to giggle.

Despite his slight worry, Hugh’s glad that his explanation made enough sense for the creature to understand, then - but he sighs at the joke. Really? Really. That was Robin Newman levels of bad joke there: being a more serious person, he just feels the urge to sigh aloud, which he does.

“Right...anyway, you can tell why I want to be careful with my glasses in that case, right? I only have two pairs - the one I’m wearing, and the one spare, and sadly they ain’t cheap to buy.”

[themisarcher-blog]

A perfect Zero.

Hugh was sitting in Rosa’s house, quietly studying as was the normal - but shrieks of utter despair and pain outside made him almost drop the book. He’d heard folk outside scream before: but not like this before. Never like this. It was as if the very souls of people were crying out in distraught pain. He had nothing but bad vibes from it, but he couldn’t ignore it.

Yet before he got to the door, it opened, two people he thought he would never see again stepping through. Hugh’s face lit up in a mixture of shock and surpise: also glee. He knew those two faces, better than anyone! It was...his two closest friends! Juniper Woods and Robin Newman! Though he never wished for them to have to go through the scientist’s torture, to see them again was like a dream come true. He’d been so worried about them all this time!

However, as he approached Robin to try and give her a hug, a disgusted look was evident on her face. No happiness, no cheer. Just pure loathing and hatred. “Ugh, who said you had to right to approach me? You abandoned us, Hugh. Abandoned us for what? A disgusting monster that your twisted mind sees as a parental figure? Then again, I’m not surprised. Only a monster would love a useless nothing like yourself. Me and Junie only came here to tell you one thing now we’re here: you abandoned us, so we never want to see you again, you worthless nothing.”

Wait, what? What? Hugh staggered as Robin shoved him back. This had to be some joke, right? If it was, it wasn’t very funny. He looked to Juniper, kind, sweet Juniper. Surely she’d scold Robin, exclaim that this was all nothing but a bad dream - but no. She looked hateful, disgusted, as much as Robin herself did.

“I...I thought you’d changed, Hugh. You’re still the lying, conniving little snake you were back in the trial, twisting words for your own benefit and hiding behind that stupid mask of yours. You haven’t changed, Hugh. I wish...I wish we had never met you at all. Don’t bother ever trying to contact us again.”

The hurt and anger on Junie’s face hurt more than any of her words could - she then opening the door and slamming it as she left, before Hugh could respond beyond that hurt look on his face. It was then Hugh heard the voices of his actual parents.

‘See? Even your so-called friends see you for what you are. A little mouse, scrambling towards nothing and trying to make itself appear big - but nothing more than vermin. You’re nothing without us, you’ll always be nothing.’

‘You don’t even have anyone in this city you can truly call a real friend, can you? Pathetic.’

No, no...this was all wrong. He heard his parents enough in his nightmares, he didn’t want to hear it now. Running - he almost barrled into Rosa...but....she looked disgusted, too. To see her face so loathing of him hurt more than anything his parents could ever say or do to him.

“They’re right, Hugh. So is Simon. I don’t know what I ever saw in you - all you do is sit in this house and do nothing. Thinking only of self-presevation...you have no kindness at all. The world would be better off without you. I wish....you had never even been born. Now, stand still, you worthless vermin. The world’s better off without you, can’t you see? So I’ll grant them that mercy.”

Rosa stepped close, claws pressing close to his neck - Hugh fell to his knees. He couldn’t sob, so upsetting and harsh were the words - nor did he try to fight against Rosa’s claws. She...she was right. All of the words were right.

He really was nothing. Nothing but a perfect zero, why had he ever hoped any different? What right did a perfect zero as himself even have to argue against it, or fight?

He’d be...better off, just accepting it. Accepting death. He had nothing else to live for, now, anyway...with those he loved and cared for all tossing him to the side just as his parents had done. 

If nothing was done...Hugh O’Conner would simply sit and let ‘Rosa’ strike him down. 

Because that was the only end a ‘perfect zero’ deserved.

[themisarcher-blog]

pk-lovely;:

     “Hmm?” Eyes peeked over a particularly long slab their owner lugged about. They peered towards Hugh with confusion. Did he hear that right? Were those… kind words? Honestly Lucas was left speechless, he found himself unable to do anything but stand there, eyes wide. Even if he had the wit to reply he was not given the luxury to do so as Hugh continued on. Finally, the boy’s expression softened into a gentle smile as he put the slab aside. It probably took a lot for the man to make that comment. It was rather… touching!

     With hands on his hips the blond looks at all the rubble they had successfully ‘cleared.’ Brows furrowed, dissatisfaction creeping upon him. He had witnessed his father use many tools to clear the land back on the farm.If only we had a pickaxe, he pondered. Or a way to just… move it all away. Yet for now they were powerless to do much other than make the walkways just a little bit more safe. It was not pretty, but hey, it will just have to do.

    There is a bout of silence from Lucas as he observed the other, analyzing almost. This man was a perfect stranger who was doing his part to help out. There was no selfish reason he could think of for his acts… The kid could feel his overly empathetic heart try to piece all he knew thus far about Hugh. Funny, kind though a bit brash. Just another person here among all this… Remembering others from all over, even places and universes he did not understand, were equally trapped here sent him on a spiral. He tried to not think about it too hard…

     “…Why haven’t they done anything about this yet…?” His gaze was fixated to the rubble, then to Hugh in hopes that he at least understood this all. “If they brought us here, took my powers… can’t they just...fix this?”

Huh, seemed like the kid had been a little shell-shocked by his commentary before? Well, it wasn’t any skin off Hugh’s nose if such words came as a shock - the fact was, it made it less likely that his secret kind nature would be found out, if him actually being nice came as such a sudden awakening, so Hugh himself certainly wasn’t complaining. Instead, he focused on the task at hand - only the last large bits to move now, thank goodness. 

He wished they could do something a little more constructive rather than just moving them away and piling them on top of each-other, but he didn’t have any tools on him, and he doubted the kid did either. This would have to do for now, and he hoped those stupid scientists stopped sitting around and watching long enough to actually do something about the state of the city eventually?

Knowing how much joy they seemed to garner out of inconvenience and suffering, he doubted they’d hurry about that. Speaking of the scientists, actually - Hugh paused as he wiped away some sweat from his brow on moving the last bit of rubble away at the kid’s question. Huh. That sure was an innocent question. To answer it bluntly and realistically, or give the kid false hope? Both options sucked, and Hugh visibly hesitated a moment as he searched for the right words.

In the end, though...he had promised Junie and Robin he wouldn’t lie for the sake of ‘protecting’ others. Even if the truth hurt...a lie hurt even more. So as painful as it was, he was going to be honest here.

“Kid....I’m sorry to say it, but...this is all an experiment to them: nothing more. They care only about pushing us to our limits, finding ways to make us suffer for the sake of ‘new data’ - why would they care when everything being a mess is a ‘challenge’ to their ‘subjects’? They’ll fix it, if only because they want their ‘experiment module’ to remain stable. Not for any of us, though.” 

A blunt statement, but sadly...the truth.

[themisarcher-blog]

gamma-ursae-maj0ris;:

“Overpriced…? Blessing arrows is easy, though. If I had access to my demonic allies, I could summon one of them and they could bless any number of arrows.” A huff.

“Although, as I cannot currently do that, I can see the frustration in acquiring such weaponry.” It was doubtful that these guys knew how to bless things.

“I fail to see what advice I offered. I was only stating simple facts.” Aaaand back to failing at being human, it seems.

“Even if it’s a simple thing in your world, obviously it ain’t much of a simple one here - they practically ask for an arm and a leg in savings to buy even one! I’m standing here, trying to live my simple student life, already have to pay up my quiver to book fees, but nooooo, they gotta stick their taxes even further up my -”

He shook his head crossly, cutting himself off with a clearly irritated grumble. Probably for the best to not start cursing at it, Rosa’d probably not like him picking up on some of her more choice language. He tried to be polite, he really DID, but it was sure hard when the scientists tested him like that.

What next, honestly? How else would they make his life a misery? In all honesty, part of him didn’t want to know, but knew eventually they’d make him find out, given their track record.

“Anyway, you get the point. I’d better not hold ya back from whatever you were doing too long - but I dunno. That all sounded like advice to me that a concerned person would give - in my opinion, I reckon you’re already doing a good job of learning stuff from humans.”

That truth said, Hugh packed up his bow, and went to go retrieve his arrows stuck in the target, and take his leave.

“See ya around.”

[themisarcher-blog]

((Hugh’s fears are those he cares for abandoning him and seeing him as ‘useless’ - so, anyone who’s willing to help defend him from fake images of his dearest friends outright pulling weapons on him and trying to actually get RID of him bc of ‘how sick they are of him’ will be appreciated and he’ll probably try to help your muse in return? just toss a like if you’re interested in such thread plannings, but capping at 3 likes bc. Hugh is actually trying to get over his faults so I don’t think the fears would be as powerful as they would have been if he was new to hive??))

[themisarcher-blog]

saviourofnibel;:

Ori blinked and flattened their ears, blinking quickly as Hugh’s voice became … urgent, almost? They had only lifted the glasses from the bridge of his nose, but their hands quickly stilled once more as they stared at him.

Only one spare pair? They ducked their head between their shoulders in shame, letting go of the frames before pulling their hands close to their chest. Though Ori understood very little about how these glasses worked, they understood that Hugh wouldn’t be happy if they potentially broke. Perhaps, they thought, it was one of the few things he had from home.

“Unui …” the Guardian Spirit whispers their apology to him, ears still flattened. They wanted to know more, but they thought relations mattered more than curiosity.

Hugh gave a sigh of relief at the creature lowered it’s hands again: but it seemed somewhat sad, judging by how it’s ears lowered down as well. Jeez, he didn’t know what to do there: on one hand, he didn’t want his glasses being broken. On the other, he kind of felt a little bad about how apologetic the creature seemed. Ugh, since when did he become such a softie? Then again, his usual gruff and stoic mask tried to hide that kind side all the time.

“Hey, don’t get bummed out about it too much. You didn’t know: but not all humans have as good senses as creatures like you. Some humans...have faults in their senses. Some can’t hear as well, or speak - I’m one of those humans who can’t see really good. So I need the glasses to help correct my bad vision, see?”

Maybe explaining it gently would help cheer the creature back up.

[themisarcher-blog]

gamma-ursae-maj0ris;:

“Very sound logic, Hugh. And it is doubtful that you will be attacked– by my knowledge. Most demons from my home plane would never bother with a human like you, and from what I have seen, the pattern holds mostly true in other universes.”

A pause.

“…Not all of them, though. And you humans are wildly unpredictable, in my opinion. I would say keep practicing, as the majority of humans will be shocked by an arrow being shot at them and the vast majority of demons cannot take any blessed arrow to the face.”

“Well, at least someone agrees with it: majority of humans here in Hive tend to prefer guns from what I’ve seen, or their ‘powers’ once they get them back, but everyone’s different or whatever ‘encouraging’ stuff you wanna go with there. At very least, it’s reassuring to know most wouldn’t bother to go for someone boringly average as me in the first place, hah!”

The irony of being glad to not be a ‘perfect’ person for one in his life wasn’t lost on him. He would have laughed at it, if he wasn’t focused on the current conversation. Still, though - the fact that alone wouldn’t be enough to save him all the time was a truth that he’d already known - but the other confirming it only made it more valid.

“Yeah, lemme just go into the average weapon store and ask for an overpowered holy arrow and see how that goes, heh. ...Once the shopkeeps trust me enough to sell that stuff to me, it’d be a good option.”

That small attempt of lame humor aside, he nodded and took the advice with a serious nod.

“Thanks for the advice though.”

[themisarcher-blog]

gamma-ursae-maj0ris;:

“You’re an alright human, Hugh O’Connor. I might find myself fond of you, in time.” With a firm grasp, the handshake is returned. Their hand might feel like a corpse’s, though, with how cold it is.

“It is interesting that a human from someone of your apparent time is learning the bow. That form of combat lost popularity once guns became wide-spread.” A pause. “Before coming here neither mattered all that much, but I do think that it would be easier to recover from an arrow than a bullet.”

Of course you go to that. Well, it is what you know….

“You’d be one of the rare people to outright admit that in public, actually. Ain’t that funny.” As in, it’s something that doesn’t surprise Hugh too much with how fastidious he was with making himself such an unapproachable and sassy person, but in a way, it somewhat amuses him that of all people to say it aloud and in Hive’s public: it’s someone who initially got into a challenge because of him being a sassy so-and-so and the other being confident themselves. Who knew.

This place sure still held surprises sometimes, honestly. The other’s hand is cold, but Hugh still manages to give a firm, meaningful handshake despite it. Heck, he’s shaken hands with people with even stranger ‘hands’ before, this doesn’t bother him that much in context.

“Yeah, true, guns are a lot more dangerous - they’re not as good for long-range stuff though, and they’re noisy. If I’m going to risk my neck and defend myself - if the unlikely possibility happens where someone bothers to attack me just for being a boring, normal, human, I’d prefer to take out any potential threat quietly and at a safe distance: without being spotted.”

Very valid points! 

[themisarcher-blog]

saviourofnibel;:

As he addressed the glasses, Ori pulled their hand away - though they didn’t put it away, instead letting it hover in the air as they stared at him with wide eyes. He needed them to see? They furrowed one brow thoughtfully, the feeler above it lowering while the other stayed high in the air, and they looked back over to the lenses, trying to see through them without putting the glasses on. 

They were confused - from where they were on his shoulder, pressing their head against his in an attempt to look through, things looked … not so good. Outlook bad. Not the best-

Squinting, Ori stood up on his shoulder and balanced themselves with their tail, reaching out to carefully pull the glasses off and put them on instead.

Phew, looks like he cleared up the matter of the glasses just in time: the creature halted it’s hand from touching them, so Hugh assumed it had been an adequate enough explanation of things. The creature did try to look through them from it’s spot on his shoulder, but that was more agreeable than actually trying to grab them.

They were one of only two pairs he had left, after all (as the third spare he had were shattered by monsters on Halloween) - so he would prefer if this pair was left alone and not potentially broken? However, it was evident that ‘assuming’ was dangerous even outside of the courtroom, sadly - he hadn’t been expecting the creature to try and pull the glasses off him from his shoulder.

“Hey, no no no! Your eyesight is fine, you probably don’t need glasses - to you, if you looked through them, the images of what’s around you would just be blurry. Please don’t take them, I only have one spare pair other than these...”

 He lifted the arm the creature wasn’t on the shoulder of to hold his glasses just in case though.

[themisarcher-blog]

hyper-light;:

                                           ﹁

   from: UNKNOWN

   to: BLUE ARCHER

﹂

[TEXT]: oh i gotcha. sorry for assuming. [TEXT]: are there any theories that it’s NOT science? eg if they’re actually taking power from some sort of god? [TEXT]: or maybe even harnessing something from a god by way of a similar “experiment”? [TEXT]: ah [TEXT]: right, that’s what i’m thinking, too. it’s happened before in my old world, with power-drunk scientists, [TEXT]: except the scientists there weren’t immune to their own foolish intervention with the divine. [TEXT]: so i guess from your world, it’s not all that common that humans could have powers on this scale?

// It wasn’t the most subtle question, but the Drifter felt that the time for being subtle was over. There was a strong chance the scientists could read whoever’s texts they liked. Anyway, they doubted this “Blue Archer” would change their responses if they figured out that they were nonhuman.

Reading over the text’s swift response, it seemed the unknown texter was getting pretty direct now: not that Hugh blamed them. The Hive’s scientists weren't one to divulge details: so the city’s inhabitants usually had to rely on each-other and what they knew for fact from their time there for information. It had been that way since Hugh first came here: he honestly doubted it would ever change.

Anyways. Best to focus on replying, not his thoughts.

To: Unknown

From: Blue Archer

Nah, you don’t gotta apologize. Easy mistake to make an’ all that. Also, there’s TONS of theories around: those indeed are ones I’ve heard floating about too, and to be honest? I wouldn’t be surprised if that is how all this was possible for them at this point. With the things they throw on this city, as well as the types of beings they trap here...it’s not something you’d just ’obtain’ easily, in my opinion.

That being said, it was clear the point Hugh had made before was one the stranger could agree with as well.

Kinda wish that was the case here, but if they DID get punished for it, I bet you any money they’d be bitter about it and take it out on all of us trapped here, which’d suck more. That being said, no. ‘Powers’ like that...would be something written in some fantasy book or a real creepy sci-fi, not reality.

He had no objections to answering blunt questions honestly.

//.immortality_rate

[themisarcher-blog]

gamma-ursae-maj0ris;:

“I thank you for your warning, random archer in the park. I’ll make sure to do my observing from afar, then.” 

Taking your time to figure out what you want to do, huh…? They… should be able to do that. “It is… slightly reassuring to know that most of the time, you humans also appear to have no idea what you are doing.”

A smile rests on their face. “I don’t think I’ve ever introduced myself. Phecda, or Gamma Ursae Majoris, or Phaidros. As you know I am not human, the name used does not matter.”

A hand is held out for the human. “…Are handshakes still a gesture that humans use?”

When the faraway stranger from another world thanks him by calling him ‘random archer in the park’, Hugh can’t help but find a bemused smile flickering faintly to his face a moment: well, it’s not the worst nickname he’s been given in his mess of a life, so he’ll take it. His expression soon changed back to his more serious one, as smiles never lingered long on Hugh’s face, but it was a lot more tolerable a nickname than ‘Golden Boy’ was.

At least this nickname wasn’t a constant reminder of his weakness. He reminded himself of weakness enough without a nickname’s help, thanks. Serious face back on, aside, he nodded. “Heck, look at me. I probably seem a confident person, but I don’t know what the heck I’m doing half the time either. That’s life, though, isn’t it? Learning how to respond to it’s twists and turns and overcome any obstacles on the way...at least that’s what I think, I mean, other humans and beings think differently.” A shrug, there.

Still, that was a very poignant statement, for Hugh of all people. Though admittedly it was hampered by the fact he admitted he didn’t know what he was doing half the time too! Oops.

“Those are some pretty long titles, but I’ll remember ‘Phaidros’ easily, I promise. As for me, I’m Hugh O’Conner. ...Lawyer in-training who likes to practice archery in his spare time. Also, pretty sure people still do handshakes, yeah.”

He held out his hand to take the offered one, and shook it firmly.

[themisarcher-blog]

ninthextrication;:

“Oh, uh… well, if you can find a recording, then sure. If it’s as interesting as you say, I’m sure it’d be worth a watch.” Perhaps a court case truly could be an edge of your seat affair… who knew? It wasn’t impossible, but he was just going by his word right now.

More interesting than that though was watching the other get so excited- a law nerd, most certainly. Perhaps not his slice of pie, but different strokes for different folks- and it wasn’t a bad thing to be interested in, not at all. Just unusual in Junpei’s opinion.

“A-Ah, uh, yeah.” ‘Law enforcement’ sounded far too nice a description for his line of work, but he wasn’t going to insist otherwise. Not now, definitely. “Yeah, um, god to meet you too.”

“Alright. If I can do that, I’ll let you know. You can look forward to that.” Probably not a good idea to do it in public where everyone could see: he was already antsy enough about people calling him out on Steel Samurai, he didn’t need people making fun of his interest in law too while they were at it. He’d been in Themis long enough to know that sometimes if you showed liking a thing enough, people would put it down all too gleefully to make you feel rotten.

That was the price he paid for keeping up a mask all the time, he supposed. Sighing, his good mood faded away, and he tried to recompose himself. “Likewise...ah, right, I don’t think I actually introduced myself properly? Other than gettin’ enthusiastic over the stuff I watch, I mean. So I guess It’s only polite to do that or whatever? Hugh O’Conner’s the name. Who do I have the pleasure of talkin’ to? Don’t usually get along with people in this city that easily, so I guess I wanna know: if you wanna keep your name secret, that’s up to you, though.”

A shrug, there.

A nostalgic tune (Closed-  Junpei)

[themisarcher-blog]

saviourofnibel;:

As Hugh allowed himself a small smile, Ori’s eyes widened and they couldn’t help but lean forward just a tiny bit, a smile of their own spreading across their muzzle. It was the first time they’d seen him do that - and with how different it was to his natural expression, it made them happy to see him happy, too. They unintentionally glowed brighter, their tail curling.

They readied themselves in the case that they might fall over when Hugh began tugging on the arrow - and the Guardian Spirit began to chime in with little squeaks of encouragement with each tug, following up at last with a giggle of triumph and a clap as the arrow was freed.

As he spoke Ori placed both hands on his shoulder, leaning forward again as if to closer inspect the tip of the arrow that was hidden to them. They tilted their head, looking over to Hugh’s face. They nodded - more so to themselves. They understood emotional value in things from home. Especially since they all ended up in an unfamiliar place …

Now that they were up close to Hugh, their thoughts suddenly went astray. The glasses …

A murmur escaped their throat and they carefully reached for one of the hinges closest to them, poking at it and his ear and trying to see if they were connected. Seemed- they actually weren’t!

Huh - he wasn’t certain, since he only got the briefest of glimpses due to focusing mostly on retrieving the arrow in front of him, but...had the little creature been smiling at seeing him smile? That puzzled Hugh a lot, to be honest: normally others thought he was mocking them or poking fun at their own misfortunes when he smiled, due to the sarcastic behavior he usually put forth. So he wasn’t all that used to someone thinking otherwise.

Then again, he hadn’t been sassy around the creature, so they had no reason to be suspicious of that faint smile. At very least, Hugh felt less like the kindness would be ‘taken advantage of’ in blackmail-related things here: this creature, while he could understand it fine if he paid attention to it’s movements, couldn’t go exactly ‘blabbing’ to everyone of him actually being nicer than he let on.

That suited Hugh fine. He’d prefer it to be kept secret. That aside, the arrow was retrieved, and the applause made Hugh feel achieved - seemed like the little creature understood his wish to not get rid of these wooden weaponry too. Though he hadn’t been expecting for his ear and the hinges of his glasses to be poked at.

“Hey, hey - I need my glasses to see. I’m not as sharp-eyed as you...they’re an object I wear so I can see better.”

Hopefully, once he explained, the little creature would leave his glasses be!

[themisarcher-blog]

gamma-ursae-maj0ris;:

“No, there is no one. Well, arguably Alcor, but I… don’t really care… for him.” A half-lie. Words do not care, but they kinda do. 

A sigh, and a pause. “…And although that is true, I lack what you humans would define as ‘free will’. I have never had the ability to choose before. I do not know what to do with it. Nor would I know how to define loneliness.”

With a gesture, their cards return to a hand. “For now, I… guess I’ll continue on the last set of commands I had. ‘Observe humanity in a certain area.’ After all, it’s all I really know how to do. Well, besides fighting.”

It certainly sounded like back ‘home’ (wherever that was for the other) was not thick with potential friends or at least those the other was willing to talk to: nodding slowly in understanding of that. Yeah, he could understand that. Other than Junie and Robin, he hadn’t gone out of his way that much to ‘befriend’ those of Themis, but he had his reasons. Then again: the other could be hiding how much they cared, like he himself did: it wasn’t his place to go prying into it though.

After all, he’d probably deny caring as much as he actually did too. That aside, the other at least saw the point he was trying to make, but one thing apparently got in the way: a lack of free will. Now that they had the opportunity to choose, and experience human things like ‘lonliness’...they didn’t know what to do with it, which made sense.

“A lot of people don’t know what to do with choices half the time, so that’s pretty darn relatable...but you don’t have to rush that. Just take the time you need to understand it as best as possible: you can make a choice when you want to. Prior thought is often really helpful at times, so...” 

The other could make of that what they wanted to, though.

It seemed like the other had an idea of what to do despite what had been mentioned, which was good. “Good luck with that, honestly. Some humans get a bit snippy about eyes being on them though, just a warning, so you might wanna be careful.”