@Crimmy

Little Retard Lightbringer Boy-- Armory Room

"...'Technically'?"

I should have expected some sort of catch. It's quite pessimistic of me to phrase it this way, I'm well aware of that, but the great tragedy of dealing with life as a Hunter is that there is always some form of catch. Even if it's a petty, trifling little thing that doesn't matter in the end, it's still going to be there. Some unexpected wrinkle in the cloth or wrench in the gears, that I would never be able to seem to learn would be coming.

Honestly, I'm really thankful for the fact that they aren't always important catches. Too many of those and I might just start to gel my hair into spikes and talk about destroying illusions all day.

As if that could happen.

"What's 'technically' supposed to mean, exactly?" I queried, "I can understand it if we were talking about swords or something more specified, but doesn't 'polearm' cast a wide enough net as a term for something to just be one or not be one?"

We could argue the semantics of it all day, but in the end it had to be an either-or kind of thing, one or the other. I couldn't imagine much of an in-between, outside of maybe the realm of... I don't know, a very long-handled hammer? That, maybe, but I doubted it was that.

A Bec de Corbin and a Lucerne were basically the same thing, after all. She'd not hesitate to call it such.

@HereComesTheSnow

Galla Mindaro

"An I-Beam could be classified as a mace as well."

Construction materials were not inherently weaponry. Her use of one followed the techniques laid out in a polearm training guide that her big sister had purchased, and without any official term for what an I-Beam was, she supposed it fell under the umbrella provided by the word 'polearm'.

@HereComesTheSnow

Galla Mindaro

The eldest of the Schwarz siblings was clearly surprised by the piece of equipment she had been making use of as a weapon. Galla knew that most humans were incapable of mustering the strength necessary to carry a piece of construction material with the ease necessary for it to be utilised as a weapon. It wasn't something that really mattered to her. Yet it was obviously information that was unexpected for Luke Schwarz.

She pulled out her sister's notebook, jotting down a clinical, mechanical observation without turning her gaze away.

"Does it count as a polearm for you?"

Her voice was as empty of emotion as always. She didn't care for the question nor its answer.

Ferris rolled his eyes at Charon. Food, in his opinion, was ment to be savored, not devoured like a wild animal. But he didn't say anything.

He was too busy savoring his food.

Instead he raised his metal hand, clutching a fork, and made shooing gesture with it.

It occurred only later to him after Charon that he could have probably offered some help. He had yet to tell them, but he was no slouch as an engineer. He kept meaning to bring it up, but he always forgot. Oh well. There will be a another chance later.

He just shrugged in response to Andromeda's look

His mood, however, soured when Ando brought up family day again. He swallowed and took another bite, chewing slowly to delay having to answer.

"Does it count" He said finally, chewing on each word as thoroughly as his food. "As a plan, if its is an obvious surprise?" He spat the last word out with surprising venom. It wasn't Andromeda's fault. Family was a touchy subject around Ferris.

Suddenly he sighed, and relaxed. He set down the mangled fork that he had been clutching too hard in a metal fist. He looked at his plate, still mostly full, but he was no longer hungry. Without a another word, he picked up his plate and left.

@SuperCustodiam@Caasicam

@Crimmy

Luke Schwarz

"I... guh..."

I worked my jaw for a moment, fumbling through my brain for something that would qualify as a satisfactory response.

"I mean, that's definitely worthy of a 'technically' if it does, I'll say that much."

A miserable failure. Unfortunately, it seemed me and my luck with little sisters didn't quite care for such petty things as a lack of blood relation when it came to this sort of stuff. I honestly had nothing for it, and could only find myself thankful for the fact that Galla Mindaro was not nearly as uncompromisingly acrid in her tongue as her elder sister. If she were, I doubt I'd come out unscathed.

Even if it was because she would expect something of more substance as a response than such careful hedging.

And to speak of sisters and careful hedging, I must have really underestimated just how slippery Tanner could be when he wanted. If it were me, I'd have already been hunted down and presented before the person calling for me in a neat knot by now...

"In any case," I continued on, pushing aside the thoughts of abuse, "Whether it does or it doesn't, an I-Beam actually would manage to invalidate any comparisons of technique between it and the thing I'm working on, so that question's kind of moot now."

I paused, fishing through the last bin for the necessary parts to complete my replication of the Drillfist's motorized bits, before an idle thought slipped out of my mouth on it's own without any real warning.

"How in the hell do you wield one of those, anyway?"

@HereComesTheSnow

Galla Mindaro

"With strength."

Most humans lacked the necessary musclepower to carry around construction materials so easily.

Geni paused to considered Beryl's offer. Coffee wasn't exactly he beverage of choice but that was hardly an excuse not to go. And with the prospect of once again widening out his circle of friends (or in this case creating the said circle) refusing would be a detriment to himself and plain rude. So how could Geni refuse such an offer. He had two weeks worth of association to catch up on!

The faunus wagged a playful at finger Beryl. "I think I have a little more room in the ol' gut for some coffee and association." he jibbed.

Geni zipped up his luggage and stuffed the pack underneath his bed. He would come for it later. As he worked Gratia's parents seemed to have caught on to the subject of the conversation. And much to what he assumed was Gratia's dismay, was set on meeting said group of friend's. Geni smiled. Not in loving memory, but to keep himself for scowling. She was blessed to have loving and caring parents like she did. Others weren't so lucky.

Geni snapped out of his stupor once he realized Gratia's father had spoke to him. While he had been paying little attention, Geni still made a response, pointing two finger guns his way and fake firing them. "Yeah, you've convinced me. Where are we going?"

@Crimmy

"With strength."

I repeated it numbly back to her.

Of course, 'with strength'... And yet as someone who at least had a novice's understanding of strength training, as well as the implicitly superhumanizing nature of aura, I was still floored by the flat simplicity of that answer. What color was the sky? Blue. What did birds do? Sing. How do you even wield an I-Beam?

With strength.

"Just strength, huh?" I fought to keep myself at more of a musing than muttering tone as I very carefully slipped a small gear onto an even smaller axle. "No real rhyme or reason to it, just whack the thing hard until whatever's in front of you is flat enough?"

And this was all pointedly ignoring the fact that I was pretty sure that I myself, who had the aforementioned experience with strength training and aura at my disposal, was wholly incapable of lifting one of those, much less making a usable bludgeon out of it.

What in the heck was the Mindaro family?

@Crimmy@Ayazi@LokiLeo789@Write@Plank Sinatra



A small sound of joy escaped Beryl's mouth at that, something halfway between a squeal and a giggle and before anyone could say anything else she grabbed Geni by one of his finger guns and dashed out the door with him. An excited "This way!" floating through the air behind her like a trail of raindrops that sparkled in the light of the sun.

Yaaay, new friend. I wonder if he already knows anybody else here. Waaaaiiit. Am I his first friend here?! Gasp. Does he need help with anything? I could show him around. I finally figured out where the pool is. Does he like swimming? Ohhhhhh, I want to show him to Bianca.

With a wide grin that echoed the one on her adopted daughter's face Lasai said a quick good goodbye to the Mindaro family and dashed off before Beryl left her too far behind.

Vega Venetia - Team VGNB - Dorm

That was quick as Beryl left. Vega immediately bowed towards the Mindaro's "It was a honor to finally meet you two." Then after that, yelling out "Wait up" towards the direction Beryl sprinted out, Vega sprinted to catch up to Beryl.

What's she up to?

What's her face doing?

Jericho had been to a couple Day of the Dead ceremonies in Vacuo with his father, although any Vacuan heritage of his was purely maternal; it was an exercise on Troy Piper's part to teach his devilish twins every aspect of their culture, not merely those they would have reinforced by the education system in Atlas. They seemed intriguing enough - Jer had been to one not long after his own hellish graduation - but Bianca Nuit's face was way too close to resembling one of those featureless ivory death masks right now for comfort.

She looks like she just swallowed the wrong poison.

...

Wait...

Youuuu fell victim to one of the classic blunders, JEEEEEEEEEEER! Never go in against a yandere when death is on the line~~~~!

Although, either of them keeling over dead at this point would be a mercy to him...

"Look, Bianca, I don't know what you're trying to prove here, or who you're trying to impress, but you look psychotic. The cruise shouldn't have been that hectic that it makes you disassociate from reality. If you're trying to make me not hate you and the day you were born, it's a Sisyphean task, but the only way you're gonna do it is just to cut the crap and be--"

He broke off.

Saying this was practically a death sentence in its own right, but without any of the quick release a fast-acting poison would be. This would be gangrene - which, actually, was a close enough color to pinot noir purple.

"--be...yourself."

He finished the sentence in the same embittered, disdainful way an old woods witch might perform a blood curse.

By the pricking of my thumbs, Bianca Nuit's so goddamn dumb.

He took a long, calming sip of coffee before he decided to humor her. Maybe the best way to get her to stop being weird was to just try and pretend she wasn't an abhorrent, affluenza-afflicted brat with a head full of pathological conditions and big, gooey eyes that needed to stop staring at his chest and start staring at the pistols holstered to it. Maybe they should have a...normal talk.

A different kind of poison was making its way towards the door; he could see Beryl skipping along giddily, dragging the poor bastard who had recently joined Vignoble's ranks along in tow. There was someone behind them, but she was short, and at this distance he couldn't--

--is that a Naruto run?--

I wanted poison.

Not social poison, not "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" Poison, I wanted poison! I can't deal with more of these idiot girls and their AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH

Before they got inside, Jericho answered Bianca's question casually, as though he hadn't seen her approaching retard reinforcements:

"My father was a Gold Stripe when he went to school. He's one of the heads of the program now. Captain in the Atlesian military. Two sisters. One's a twin; she left school after we graduated Bastion and signed on with a talent agency. She's doing pop music now. My little sister's with her, learning about humans. And I have my team back in Atlas, but the less you know about them the be--"

Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

My GOD why is that so creepy

"Beryl Harken. Vega Venetia." He almost added poor bastard onto his salutations, but one quick, meaningful glance in Geni's direction was probably more meaningful than anything he could have said to console his fellow captive.

All you're obligated to tell them is name and rank, guy.

He considered finishing his coffee and leaving, but these people were his classmates now. He couldn't escape them - or their insistent questions about what it was like to be a super-spy, what was underneath his cold, surly, pouty facade (it wasn't a facade and he wasn't pouty), and why he was still single - forever. Might as well face them head on, get them out of the way for good.

"Can I buy either of you a tea?"

I can't let that otter get coffee in her.

@HereComesTheSnow

Galla Mindaro

"Yes."

---

@Silvan Haven@Ayazi@LokiLeo789@Plank Sinatra@Ayazi

Papa Mindaro, because the other two are doing stuff that I have no energy to write while more fucking exhausted than a porn star who realises they need to do about a hundred shoots in a week because not only are their partners shoving enemas up their assholes, student loans are too, as well as this mysterious evil force known as the family

Valentinian gave one last wave of farewell to his wife and daughter, before following the latter's frantically-moving friends out the door. He hadn't seen Vega leave the closet, but her sudden reappearance wasn't that too big of a deal to him. Gratia's friends must've been doing something to catch her attentions.

It was nice that she'd finally found people.

And so the moustachioed man too followed.

@Crimmy

Yue stood at the corner trying to calm her hyperventilating when a voice called out to her. She could recognize the woman as a teacher which somehow made this entire situation even more awkward. Yue tried to think of what to say and was only able to squeak out a few words. However nothing came out of her mouth, and it felt like Yue stood there for days, weeks even, just staring at the woman. Eventually something finally came out of her mouth. "I-I'm fine! I'm just trying to get used to this outfit, is all." The only way Yue would be more obvious about her lie is if she was on fire. Though if that was the case than maybe she'd worry less about her outfit and more about important things, like being on fire.

"I was just.... The Wresting competition, I'm going to take part and they said I needed an outfit so I found this and I just wanted to make sure it fits but it's kinda embarrassing but also kinda fun in a dangerous way..." Yue said in a single breath. Standing around being watched like this was very embarrassing and very titillating. Still she couldn't look at the teacher directly and just stared off into the distance, hoping that maybe she'd just leave and Yue could go back to feeling awkward about this entire situation she put herself into.

@Crimmy

Shiroyama Alliance

I...

"Makes sense, at least..."

For a given value of making sense.

I couldn't find fault in the statement, though. Being huge, blunt, and not to mention primarily made for construction, the lexicon of techniques for an I-Beam was probably always going to be rather short. And me still being thoroughly poleaxed by how bluntly superhuman people with awakened Auras were, honestly, just said more about me than it did everyone else.

I'd lived in a home with up to three of them, after all. Did I have reason to be so taken aback?

Probably not, but I still couldn't help myself, sometimes.

"Hey, Nii-chan!"

To speak of living with those three, there was two and a half of them now.

The door swung open wide, as the elder of my two sisters mercifully didn't kick it, as she had the door to my poor bedroom so many times, and all but dragged in the psychedelic-shirted and scruffy form of our elusive, wayward "uncle". For his part, he was taking this predicament about as well as ever, sporting that frivolously casual, slightly amused smirk on his face.

The one he always had.

"Yo, Luke. You're up bright and early, did something good happ—?"

"Do you know anywhere we could grab a snack? We're all feeling a bit peckish, and Tanner doesn't know if any of the old joints are still around, he says!"

The one that survived getting his catchphrase cut off and spoken for, apparently.

Also, how in the hell did anyone believe that?! It was Tanner "Rain, Wind, Shine, or Snow, I'll only Clue You into Half of What I Know" Oshino we were dealing with, here!

He definitely knew. He knew better than me, I was certain.

In fact, I would have even gone so far as to say he knew which I did and didn't know about.

...

I looked down to the table, at the now-finished bit mechanism. A spike of aura through...

A high, distinctly mechanical keening filled the air, and I confirmed that we did indeed have rotation, ladies and gentlemen. Reverse-engineering successful.

And now, I had a whole bunch of nothing else to do with the snacks ball squarely in my court. Pinned beneath two expectant gazes, one entirely blank one, and one that thought it already saw my response coming, I basically found myself coming to one conclusion.

"Yeah, I know a little coffee shop. Shouldn't be too far."

---

@Plank Sinatra@Ayazi@Silvan Haven@Write@LokiLeo789

A short time later, our squad of Shiroyama representatives managed to get there without much conflict, scene-causing, or real incident of any kind, which I would count in my list of small miracles for the day right alongside the tiny piece of machinery I'd shoved into my pocket. It was a quaint place, with a relaxed atmosphere that I could appreciate—

"Oh hey, that's Bianca!"

That April promptly shattered into a million pieces, crowing her discovery as soon as she noticed my new teammate. She waved eagerly to draw her attention—

"And, unless I'm mistaken, that's the Atlesian guy you met on the ship, right?" Dawn chimed in, tugging my sleeve as if I wasn't already well aware of their presence. "The 'secret agent'?"

I shook my head with a weary sigh.

"Yeah, that's Jericho. Just don't flood him with too many— eh?"

I had opened my eyes again to cast a stern, authoritative, older brother-esque look upon the two, but I was shocked to find only dust clouds in their wake. How in the heck did they manage that in a place with a whole bunch of booths, tables, and waitstaff milling about?

"Eh?!"

"Hi there! We're Luke's sisters!"

"It's nice to meet you, Bianca-san, Jericho-san!"

How?!

How'd they do it?!

Teleportation?!

Jack assisting from the sidelines?!

The World?!

I looked to Tanner for an explanation—

And he was gone too. I scanned the room—

"And I'll have a latte for myself, Miss. A shot of espresso in there to wake me up would be great, too. As you can see, I've got some exuberant company."

I...

I was, once again, left in the dust, with only Galla there to just kind of exist stonily near me for comfort.

I don't know why I even bothered deluding myself that they'd have done any different. All I could do now was head over and ensure that they didn't do too much damage to our good family name with their antics...

"Hey. Fancy meeting you guys here."

And so, I pulled up a seat between my sisters and did just that.

"Especially you, man." I continued, giving a pointed, but hopefully not confrontational look to Jericho. "I thought you were rid of us after the Sleipnir?"

Amy Desire, Because Father's Day is Overrated

...Grabbing Lauren's ass to show Ben how it was done would have to wait, unfortunately, for a more opportune time. Preferably one once all the parents had left. Come to think of it, maybe some training was in order...

On the other hand, maybe she should let him maintain his purity. Half the fun was seeing Lauren run circles around him with this.

She was hanging back, a little, at the entrance to the dormitory. She'd let Lauren and Ben get jumped by the other of the elder Negasi's, since they were the tankier members of the team, then swoop in and regain the advantage--Wait, why was she approaching this like a combat scenario? Surely he wasn't that bad... Right?

Riiiight?

...The silence in her head was deafening.

She leaned against the doorframe in an easy stance, forcing herself to relax, making sure to move over enough to the side that Costa and Sangue could still get by her. The one thing she wasn't going to do was check where she knew Lauren kept her stuff, since that would tip her father off if he didn't know where it was already.

At any rate, hopefully the attack vector wouldn't be through the door. That'd take out an innocent bystander or 6, given the people in the hallway. This did offer a promising escape for her though, considering she'd eaten all the candy Lauren had mentioned earlier.

Her father wasn't underneath any of the team's beds, or in the closets, or hiding in any cupboards or the stove. Lauren searched the bathroom, knocked on the ceiling tile, tested for loose floorboards, and even in any of the large duffel bags where the black dragon of Bastille hid her slowly-growing treasure pile. She combed high and low, even turned to her mother with a quizzical stare, and found no response anywhere from her father. For a moment, her face started to fall--

--before lighting up again wickedly and cupping one hand around her mouth.

"Ayyyy yooooooo Pooooooooops!" she called out.

Costa Negasi rolled her eyes imperceptibly and turned back to Sangue with a warm, maternal smile.

"That's a very honest answer," she noted comfortingly. Lauren's mother wasn't quite sure whether her daughter's teammate was just shy or somehow impeded, but the affection the snake had for Lauren was still clear enough to see why Lauren got on her with her so well. "I haven't met anyone who could control her in a long time. She's always been a happy child. Always too excited for one body to hold. So she makes friends to--"

"--ep forward, you ol' dusty ass nigga, you--"

"--try and share in the fun. Normally it gets people in trouble, but she seems to have taken a real shine to you all. That's good. I used to think..."

Costa trailed off before shaking her head, smile widening slightly.

"But I'm musing out of turn. Sorry. It's hard for a parent not to worry about her little girl; you ladies will understand some day. Lorena, child, relax. Your father is--"

"The Goddess of Guap summons this ashy nigga Pops, this klepto-ass, old head-ass, lotion-starved brother who hails from the plains of--"

"Lauren."

Lauren turned to face her mother with the devilish smile of a troll doll.

"Nah he ain't from there, Moms, Pops grew up in--WAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"

Costa Negasi audibly sighed when the great square window in the back wall of the dormitory flung open, and a tall man with sharply carved features swooped in as though he had jumped from a plane to reach them. Lauren hardly heard the noise before she was caught in a hold, a tight headlock that left her mouth wide and her eyes wider - and that was before they grew positively massive as the man who could only be Lauren Negasi's father started dangling her out of the window.

"Caught you lackin', you mouthy brat," the man challenged, with the iron tones of paternity. Lauren's hands were tapping at his arms. "What's up, Lorena? Say somethin' else funny. I missed those jokes of yours."

"I ain't ever lackin'!" Lauren gasped defiantly. "C'mon, Pops, I was just talkin' that--"

"Yeah, talkin' that good shit. I was waiting for you outside, heard everything. How are you gonna be a Huntress if you let an old head like me choke your ass out?"

"I ain't gonna tap!"

"Tap," Lauren's father said calmly, as his daughter's long, toned legs flailed for purchase in the air outside the dorm.

"Aaaaaaaaargh Amy what the fuck help me, Caaaaaaap, Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap"

"Ladies!"

Both Negasis turned in surprise to look at Costa, whose hands were on her hips. The smile had left her face, but her eyes were still warm; she seemed annoyed, but not surprised, at the antics of her other half and her only daughter.

"If you two had the wits that Allah gave a turkey, you wouldn't be doing this in front of Lorena's friends. Sweetheart, look at them, they're white. They don't know discipline from battery. And you, Lorena, child. You're screaming loud enough to interrupt every family reunion on this floor. Both of you get inside, now."

Lauren looked up at her father, who looked down upon her with a mix of bewilderment and sheepishness identical to his daughter's. Lauren was hoisted inside promptly and set down on her feet for all of a third of a second before she had leapt up around her father and wrapped her legs around his tightly, arms clinging tightly to his neck.

The Negasi patriarch was a Big Guy. From the ground, it was clear he towered at least half a foot over Lauren, if not a couple inches more than that, and he was clearly no stranger to gains; if Lauren was the spitting image of Costa, then it was clear that her mysterious father must have been the archetype for her similarly mysterious brother Sloan. Lauren lifted off the crooked Atlesian Paladins cap her father was wearing and ruffled his close-cropped black hair with a rakish grin, which he returned after a second with a kiss atop Lauren's own thick head of hair. He had a statuesque face, jaw and cheeks strong underneath skin lighter than his daughter's or wife's, but the family smile was the same.

Lauren's chastisement was wearing off; when she started to speak, her voice was once again the loudest in the room.

"Gang, thiiiiiiiis nigga--"

"Lorena."

"--grrr, this guyyyy" - Lauren droned the replacement word out in a nasally monotone that must have been a relic of her pre-Ben white guy impersonation - "is my daaaaaaad. Say hi, Daaaaaad."

Her father's eyes went over to the only white guy in the room first, and then searched the redhead beside Costa before landing on the redhead currently wearing a leather jacket that had been in the family for four generations. Then they landed on Lauren again, just as Costa's stare had before him.

"Assalamualaikum," he said with curt politeness. "I hope you're all enjoying my daughter."

"Giiiiii-ggity!"

The all too blue eyes frowned down on Datura. "Take it from someone without a family - that's not fair to the girl. Stop chatting up strangers and go pay attention to her!" she sighed, turning from the woman and leaning on the window, looking out on all of the happy people enjoying time with their loved ones. Makes me just want to split a few skulls! She shook her head. What was with her?! She wasn't usually this pissed off - well she was, but it usually subsided quickly. But today it just kept on building, feeding on itself. Whenever she tried to change a topic, she just ended up thinking about something else that set her off.

"Sorry, just... a bad day. I'm really, really primed to blow up." she growled, her nails digging into the wooden frame of the window she was leaning on. It took a second to remember what the woman had asked her afterwards. "If you're worried about your 'daughter', go talk to her about it. As for me? Hah hah hah..." she turned her head ever so slightly towards Datura, "I could tell you, but wouldn't you like to find out on your own? There's a gym right 'round the corner."

She whipped around, throwing her arms wide. Her shadow latched up her shins and crawled upwards like water flowing up a capillary, spilling onto her arms and turning them into a pitch black, long clawed nightmare fuel. "Do you fight? I could use a good warm up. That always seems to calm me down!"

@SevenStormStyle

Gratia Mindaro - VGGB Dorm, Bathroom

"How long has it been since I last did your hair?" asked Severa Mindaro nostalgically, running her pale hands through her daughter's silky, dark locks. "Has it been several years yet?"

Gratia shifted slightly in her seat, watching her mother in the mirror. "It was before I chose to go to high school," was her succinct, toneless reply. "You and Papa started taking extra shifts. There wasn't time for it."

Her mother played with a few black strands, looping them around a finger. "I would have definitely taken time off to do it if you wanted me to," murmured the elder Mindaro quietly.

"And could you have afforded it?"

It was a question that didn't need an answer. The rising figures on the bills had necessitated those extra shifts. It wasn't something Gratia begrudged them for, not when she had walked past the decadent, crumbling hall where the trashy shitbags responsible worked everyday on her way to school. It had been irksome, seeing less and less of her parents as she pushed through her studies, but spending less time with them was unimportant compared to them being able to earn money to spend on everything else.

They didn't need to worry about that anymore. Not when they were now being supplemented by the payments she sent home. Not when she had the power over her parents' fate, rather than the arseholes in the council.

"That's why you're providing us with so much each week, is it not?" mused her mother, picking up a brush and delicately beginning to move it through Gratia's hair. "You don't need to worry that much, Grat, we can pay for ourselves!"

Unless you need to buy pork.

"I don't want everything Mama and Papa have done to go unpaid," said Gratia flatly. Almost stubbornly. "I have the power to make sure of it."

Severa smiled sadly. "And for that power, you became a Huntress."

The older woman continued to brush her daughter's hair, letting out a quiet sigh.

"Your father and I worry a lot about your occupation," she admitted, glancing up at the mirror to meet her daughter's eyes. "We know you've enjoyed fighting ... but as your parents, it's always worrying to know that you've thrown yourself at another opponent with reckless abandon."

A pause.

"But if your opponent is now the Grimm, it's more and more frightening. I know you love being a Huntress. It's made you so much happier."

A light, teasing smile.

"It's even made you friends~"

She hesitated again, watching Gratia's silent, stoic expression.

"But I still worry. I'm sorry, but it's scary."

She breathed in.

"I don't want to lose you."

"You won't."

Gratia's voice cut through the silence. Stated as if it was a fact. Because she refused to allow the repulsive pests born from creation's dregs to kill her.

And her mother giggled.

"I'm sure," she said honestly. "You've never ever let us down before. Except maybe when you were three and-"

"Not important," Gratia immediately interrupted, looking away from the mirror. There was a tinge of red in her cheeks. Yet she was happy. Happy at the praise.

"Ahaha, sorry dear." Severa gently ruffled her daughter's hair. "But just remember, the word Hunter; it's somebody who hunts, who works to obtain a hunda - a prize. You might hunt for wealth or fame, but against the Grimm, I ... I believe the prize is safety."

She placed the brush down.

"That is what you risk your life for," she whispered. "To ensure our safety. Your reward is to know that we can still look forward to tomorrow. So that's why ..."

Severa Mindaro reached down to embrace her daughter.

"Please stay safe," she murmured once more. "It's not a reward if you can't be there for it."

It was a repetition of the feelings her mother had expressed earlier. But Gratia Mindaro didn't mind. Because she would be safe. She wouldn't die.

She giggled. "I won't leave you or Papa or Galla, don't worry."

Her mother hugged her tightly once more, before slowly pulling back.

"Well, shall we get back to picking you a new outfit then?" asked Severa happily, as if a weight had been taken off her shoulders. "I think you would look great in twintails again~"

"No."

Utter rejection. 0/10.

"But you looked great in them when you were younger! Then how about a bun or a braid? It might look nice with that cardigan you have!"

"The latter would take longer. Do you want to miss the café, Mama?"

Her mother pouted. An unfitting expression for a middle-aged woman.

"I want you to look as good as possible, Gratia! Also, what are your opinions on a skirt ..."

There seemed to be no stopping her mother now.

Gratia Mindaro could only allow herself to be caught up in the wake.

But ...

It was fun.

@Plank Sinatra @Kaithas @NarayanK

Ohhhh man.

Benjamin Lloyd wasn't a small guy. He wasn't a mountain, but he wasn't small. Not thin, either, he had the build of a guy who'd been swinging a hammer and lifting metal since he was old enough to learn the trade. Even without his Semblance he was stronger than most, even stronger than a fair few people bigger than him.

Lauren's dad still had a few inches on him, and the guy was big.

If he was an enemy, Ben'd already have been moving. No one got to get the drop on Bastille unanswered. But in the safety of Family Day, and the knowledge that this was her dad, he instead just processed. Anything he'd heard about Sloan got a whole lot more significant in retrospect. And Lauren, good 'ol 'Rena "Neck Snap for the Cap" Negasi, Lorena "Thighs Break The Necks of Guys" Negasi, just got dangled out a window like she didn't weigh a thing.

Wew.

Still, wasn't a time to think about how that fight'd go. His smile came back when he saw the same sheepish look on father and daughter alike, and he met the Negasi patriarch's eyes with a friendly grin when the big man looked at his team in turn.

"We have been, sir, handful that she is. But you know that." He shared that same grin with Lauren, took a step forward and held out a hand to shake her father's. "Best friend I've got, even though it'll go to her head to hear it."