The rest of the entire demonstration was a lot more relaxing, now that his performance had finished, with a very much acceptable result no less. Acion could now focus on watching the rest of the class perform in relative peace and a much more constructive mind than those before him.
Among them, one of them particularly caught his careful attention. It wasn’t the puppet show by Donny, even though it was kind of cute that he couldn’t help but give some claps to. It wasn’t the half-successful lamp performance by Carol either, or the almost maniacal demonstration by Junko. No it was the much more bland flying show by Alice. However, to Acion, it wasn’t bland. His interest and curiosity came only from the depth of his knowledge with flying and aerodynamics. Once the people next to him settled down and the noises went down, her talent became clearer to discern
Her flight was in complete silence.
In order to create enough lift to keep flying and yet creating no wind at all took special techniques and especially practice. Lots of them. It might not seem impressive here, but imagine a night battle against this kind of ability. Acion could definitely see the usefulness in different situations. Not to mention she’s quite fast too. Overall, a very interesting and impressive display. He gave her a round of applause, although in relative silence and modesty.
”Ah, my favorite class of the day: Lunch!”After his hero class, Donny trudged through the rest of his morning. After obligatory introductions the regular classes were fairly typical, almost boring. Donny had to resist the urge to sleep and subsequently start to drip. His mind was on what Ms. Mako had said and wondered if what she had said were really good things or not. Still once the bell rang for lunch Donny eagerly left class to go stake his claim.
Due to his bizarre alien philology, sitting on a bench or chair was somewhat awkward for Donny, and the way he eats could be considered unappetizing. Certainly, Donny has been taught how to eat “properly”, but he wants to enjoy his food. And so Donny grabbed his bags and headed outside where the trees were. There were enough leaves to provide ample shade and more importantly cover. He looked around for a particularly tall tree, one he felt he could confidently avoid most people. After all of the tree was too tall and provided little shade, no one would one to go there right?
Once he found his target Donny eagerly dashed his way over. Unlike his walking speed where Donny creates legs of a sort to simulate a walking motion like others, when he moves quickly it looks more like he’s dragging his body forward with tendrils and his arms. But this enabled him to move quickly with a low profile as he got to the tree and started climbing. Thanks to his sticky body and natural claws he could climb things fairly easily though he hopes this tree can support his weight. Once he was settled in Donny allowed himself to relax. His body began to soften and ooze, sliding down the side of the tree. He sent out a few tentacles to lift his body almost as if he was leaning against the branches. And finally, Donny could have his lunch.
The introduction was the most interesting part of the day. For the rest...since it was the first day of school, everything was merely introduction, and therefore boringly easy. He still kept all the notes from all classes, but he didn’t really bother with looking it over again, unlike usual. He just headed over to the cafeteria and bought for himself some lunch.
As per his middle school habit, he didn’t like to stay in the cafeteria to enjoy his lunch. He would usually go to the rooftop, by himself or with only a couple of his friends where they can enjoy some relative peace, the food and the view, and that any conversation they had with each other wouldn’t be distracted. But he found a place a lot more attractive to have lunch at: the tree close to the center of the school. It was higher than the rest of the trees in the courtyard, and had a good view. It had little shades, but the height was alluring. The feeling when the wind blowing through your hair, threatening to blow you off your course was thrilling. It wouldn’t come to any surprise for someone who had an entire family tradition of living off the ground to enjoy such a breathtaking environment.
Acion examined the height of the tree as he slowly made his way over to the courtyard. Once he knew how much he needed to make his way up, he held onto his bags and lunch tight, took one stride and leapt off the ground, making a smooth ascent over the tree height. Then as he stopped going up, his wings beat several times as he chose that high branch large enough that probably wouldn’t collapse under his weight. His legs touched the branch, swaying the trees a little bit, before he positioned himself so he was sitting on the tree branch like he was sitting on the bench. Wasn’t the nicest seat in the world, but seeing everybody beneath him shrinking to the size of bugs was an interesting sight to bewilder. Acion then opened his recently bought lunch and took a bite, unaware of his ‘table-mate’ beneath him
Unbeknownst to both of them, someone had already been present on the tree for a while by now… or rather, as long as the break had allowed it. There were very few indicators of her presence, but the most obvious one should be the backpack resting on a branch just beneath Acion. It had a rather basic design with nothing too special about it. Certainly the backpack of someone who had no intention to stand out or break the norm when it came to things such as backpacks. Whether it was due to lack of caring or shyness one would have to find out themselves. If Acion paid enough attention he’d certainly notice it, although its owner was seemingly nowhere to be found. Indeed, if one were to look for the girl herself, they certainly wouldn’t have any luck finding her nearby…
There was, however, on a branch which was on the same height as Acion’s, just on the opposite side of the tree, a sleeping owl! A great horned owl, to be exact, striking rather pretty brown feathers. It seemed to just stand on the tree, leaned against the thick stump of the tree while sleeping ever so quietly and peacefully, enjoying the soft gushes of the wind and the calm noises of nature itself. While it was certainly interesting to see an owl like that, it seemed like nothing special in itself. Just a very typical appearance for its species.
As Donny took out the bread and opened up his bento boxes revealing meats and cheeses for his sandwiches, he heard the slight sound of creaking above. He spotted Acion deciding to take a lunch here as well but to Donny’s surprise, he saw an owl was here too. He didn’t want to disturb it so he tried to be very quiet as he moved up towards Acion.
”Whaaah… How did I not notice?” Figuring it would be rude not to make his presence known, Donny finished off his current sandwich and used his many limbs to climb a bit higher up, holding his lunch carefully as well.
”H-Hey Nakamiji-san. Fancy meeting you here. Um… I think there’s an owl here. Pretty big... You want a sandwich?” Donny constructs a simple bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich for Acion. He also had some small bottles of condiments such as mayo and ketchup if he wanted some. And of course, a can of cola.
”Oh Kinoko-san. Heh, I didn’t see you.” Acion heard the familiar voice beneath him. He didn’t mind having Donny as his company, as he slid aside to let the black mass crawl his way up to him.
”I have one here, but thank you.” The winged man kindly took the food constructed for him. Even though he already had one, it’s a little hard to deny when he had already made this much. Besides, for the kind of lifestyle that Acion had, having lots of food intake wasn’t bad in the slightest, so he could handle all of this.
”And really? Is there an owl here?” He first looked up then down, looking for the one in question. Nothing. But when he bent forward and looked over to the other side…
”That’s huge. I didn’t think owls are that large. I’d try not to wake it up.”He wasn’t sure how owl would interact with humans, but he wouldn’t want to take chances.
”Anyway, how’s your first day of class?”The commotion caused by the two other students interacting with one another was enough to disturb the peaceful sleep of a particular owl. The calming sounds of nature were usually enough to keep her nicely and softly in her slumbers but of course, as it was to be expected, the presence of other students would be enough to interrupt that.
The owl slowly opened its eyes and let out a cute but inaudible yawn. Contrary to normal owls, Alice was able to move her eyes around just fine even as an owl. It was a lucky advantage of not being an actual owl, but rather an owl quirk user.
Once awake she attempted to locate the source of her awakened state and would soon find the two other students right next to her. Frankly, the sight of Donny still gave her somewhat chills, considering just how out there he looked with his tendrils attached to the surrounding tree… but she was not one to complain much. The other student was more normal compared to that, although his wings were certainly unique themselves.
Alice, while still being an owl, leaned forward on her branch and looked sideways at the two students, unsure of whether she should say something or not. She found it rude to interrupt their conversation, but her backpack was beneath them on a branch… what a dilemma! The fact that staring at them with those wide, round and almost creepy eyes which owls were known for wasn’t exactly non-creepy either was something which Alice had not taken into consideration.
”Hero class was f-f-fun! I was pretty nervous but but I think I did pretty well, all things considered. Mako-sensei had some ah… Interesting things to say about my abilities. The other classes were okay too. Kind of boring but that’s class for you.” Donny made himself another sandwich as he pulled his body up and got comfortable. The branches around him groaned slightly from his weight.
”What do you think about the others in our class? If if you don’t mind me asking! I mean… I don’t wanna be a gossip or nothing, just wanted to hear your thoughts.” ”Oh yeah. It's the first day too so...” Acion had another bite from his large lunch.
”I like the class actually. No one seemed to be...what’s the word...outrageous. I-I mean there are some weird and unique personalities, but they seem to be nice people at the end of the day.” It was a lot more of a change in comparison to UA sometimes. Or rather their prospective students. A couple of them were just straight up assholes, perhaps stemming from the fact that they were strong enough to be considered into UA getting to their heads. This school’s modest identity and reputation probably helped filtering out those sort of personalities. If anything, Acion loved this environment. A lot more relaxing and chill than what he was used to.
It was then that Acion finally noticed that someone, or rather something, was staring at them both. It was that owl earlier. It had awakened. And it was staring straight at the both of them. Its round eyes and its unbreaking stare was slowly creeping up his spine. Did he anger it by waking it up? What should he do now?
”S-Say, what do you think about our classmate’s ability? They’re interesting in-in many ways, though personally I like Nova-san’s silent flight. I don’t know how she does that, so that got my interests up.” He nervously asked Donny, but his eyes repeatedly and nervingly glanced over to the owl from the other branch back and forth, unaware it was the person he was referring to. It’s still looking at him, creepily.
”...So is there anyone that intrigues you or something like that?” ”Nova…? Oh, Alice Nova? She’s pretty cool too. Flies like you right? Even though you’re faster the way she flies is pretty neat too. It’s very precise you know? Like Tai chi or something. Heh.” Donny wasn’t actually clear about the nuances of flying but he thought any kind of flying was pretty cool.
”I wish I could fly. I can make wings but I’m too heavy, and my wings aren’t strong enough. I fly like a brick.” To demonstrate, Donny gathered up his mass and morphed his shape into something similar to a bat, with large leathery wings and a relatively small frame. Despite this all this accomplished was distributing his weight across his body in a very awkward fashion and threatening to break the branch he was on, so Donny returned to his regular form, his blackened mass spread across the branches like an ebony spiderweb.
”As for others uh… Off the top of my head, I’m still not really sure what Kurowai-san’s quirk was. She just ran at one of the support students with a knife and jumped around. I mean, she’s super strong and fast. Buuuuut I dunno what that has to do with scaring all of us like that. Let’s see… Horiyama-san’s powers are cool. I kinda wanna eat his bubblegum but would that be weird since it comes from his body? I don’t wanna be a cannibal or something. Hmm… That’s kind of all I can think off right now. I don’t really have much to say about the others yet.” Donny made another sandwich, eating it as soon as he was done before putting the bread and bento away. That was when he realized the owl was awake and froze.
Donny looked at Acion, who was looking between him and the owl. So Donny knew that Acion knew the owl was awake.
”Um… Hi?”If Alice was more of a prankster, she'd certainly abuse this situation and come up with something to get a good laugh out of it. However, she felt it'd be rude to do so especially to people who she barely knew at this point.
Therefore, Alice decided to take this the casual way. After all, it was a nice distraction from the fact that Alice was sleeping on school campus on the first day! It would have been quite embarrassing for a student who wanted to make good impressions like she did.
Alice, still being the owl,hopped over to the other branch where Acion was sitting and walked up to him. This already surreal experience was about to become even stranger though when she opened her beak and began speaking.
"My apologies… I did not intend to disturb you or listen in on your conversation"While she wasn't particularly a prankster, she was curious to see how they'd react to this situation.
Afterwards, Alice opened her right wing and used her beak to pick a leaf which had gotten stuck between the feathers, and remove it.
”Ah!” Acion was startled when the owl hopped over to his side of the tree. So it understood both of them entirely. It also spoke! Human language.
Acion slapped his temple twice before taking a look at the owl again as it was removing the leaf. Nope, it’s not a dream. But this couldn’t possibly be a normal owl. But then he did notice that the owl wings were of the same brownish color as Alice’s when she was doing her demonstration earlier. Its voice was of a female too. Could it be?
”I might be mistaken, but are you Nova-san from the hero class?”Alice was impressed that Acion was able to figure out her identity so quickly. It showed his perceptiveness and ability to form good ideas from context. Certainly something which Alice liked seeing in others- It was a sign of competency.
As a reply, owl-Alice nodded.
”You are not mistaken. I am indeed Alice.” She replied calmly.
"This is just the full extent of my powers, I suppose. What I showed earlier was just partial.”“Cheesus!” Donny was nervous seeing the owl approach, but when it talked it nearly made him fall out of the tree. Instead however he simply repositioned himself to keep a branch between him and this strangely sentient owl. However thanks to Acion’s quick deductions followed by the owl’s own confirmation, this was actually Alice Nova. In hindsight he should’ve figured: she did seem kind of owl-like, and she did demonstrate the ability to transform wings. Why wouldn’t she be able to do a full owl?
”N-Nova-San? You can turn into an owl? That’s… Thats cool!” Moving back to a more comfortable position Donny looked over Alice. He knew a few folks who had animalistic forms, but Alice would be the first he'd ever see who could shift between full human to full animal, and possibly any hybrid form between. Donny made her a turkey and cheddar sandwich.
”You want a sandwich? Maybe a cola?” Donny also produced a can of cola, popping it open for her.
”So you can shapeshift your wings as your arm, or fully. Can you like...choose what you want to shapeshift?” If she could do that, then things would be incredibly convenient. If she wanted to fly, she could simply just get the wings out, and when its use was not needed, she became a human again. It would be a stretch to say that Acion was jealous of that kind of power, but he didn’t deny it would have been nice if he could...retract his six wings somehow. It was currently carefully curled in and placed in a way that did not impede his surroundings, or his balance on the trees. Having to always worry about that kind of thing was sometimes annoying.
”I’m kinda curious though, do you have that much food stored in your...black body...” He was trying to find the best words to describe Donny’s physique.
”...or you just made it right on the spot?” Donny’s demonstrations were more entertainment than really showing off his capability with it. It didn’t really say much about the inner nature of his quirks rather than his personality. Now that school’s out of the way, perhaps Acion could get to know that a little better now.
“I store it.” Donny demonstrates by revealing the box of soda he had inside of himself.
”The only thing I can make from my body are bones and stuff. Everything else I just sorta… Stuff inside and hold onto. Since I can’t really wear clothes I’m basically my own pocket.” Donny demonstrates his bone work by having small finger-like appendages appear all over his body, grasping at the wood to pull himself around. From each finger a full hand would form, followed by the rest of the arm, with each bone connected via ligaments made from Donny’s black mass.
Then he draws the bones back inside of his body, taking out his cellphone to play some games while he chats with Acion and Alice.
”It’s kind of hard to describe. I mean… I don’t have a normal body like you, obviously. So it’s like…. Hmm…” Donny was at a loss for words to describe his quirk and how it works. Between playing on his phone, making sandwiches to eat, and paying attention to Acion, Donny’s mind was a bit scattered.
”I guess it’s like… Yeah, imagine wearing a hoodie with a huge pocket in the front. Or no, a backpack you wear on your your chest I guess. You know how much you can fit in there so you can just ya know, put all your stuff in there, pull it out when you need it, and you always have it on you. T-That’s kinda what it’s like I guess.” Glancing at the two, Donny felt it’ll only be fair to ask them how it was like with their quirks too.
”W-What about you two? How’s like… Your bodies like or something? I think I said this before but but even if I make wings, I can’t fly. I dunno how d-d-different you two are to a normalish person. I’m sure you you you got some pros and cons.” Alice respectfully declined the offer for food and beverages..
”Thanks, but… I’m not hungry at the moment.”Truth be told, she was mostly weirded out by his appearance which sort of reduced her appetite for eating anything which he “produced” from his body… pockets? She wouldn’t let it cloud her judgement of his character however, of course. Alice liked to believe that she was above those superficial things.
Before Donny began his demonstration, Alice answered Acion’s last questions for now.
”-Yes. I can shapeshift whatever part of my body I desire to shapeshift. Although I do feel quite uncomfortable unless I fully transform into an owl. Partial transformations feel weird... this is also why I am wearing glasses as a human. My owl-eyes work amazingly well, much better than human eyes ever could really. My human eyes however are… well… I am wearing glasses for a reason. I could partially transform just my eyes but firstly it’d look creepy, I mean you are seeing my owl-eyes right now after all and you were already creeped out by it, and secondly it’d be uncomfortable as I just mentioned.”Afterwards, as Donny demonstrated his more or less exact characteristics of his body, although the details were still cryptic afterwards, Owl-Alice tilted her head in a typical fashion as she observed. Frankly… showing bones beneath the black… mass… didn’t exactly make him any less creepy in appearance. Alice was able to get somewhat of an idea as to how Donny functioned but it was still very much… out there. Honestly, it might just be one of the most unique quirks she had ever heard of or seen.
In response to his question Alice would give a quick nod.
”Well, it is like how I explained earlier for me. Anything that isn’t full owl or full human feels uncomfortable… not sure how to describe it. It’s like a weird tension which gets worse the longer I stay that way.Alice untilted her head and looked at Acion.
”I would be curious about yours too though. You’re certainly no average guy with wings from what I’ve seen earlier…”So it did have its problems, but still a lot more useful than having to have mutant quirks stay. Although if he were to be honest, it was creepy more because he didn’t know who Alice was before. Having a large owl that you had never seen staring at you would pluck some of your nerves.
When Donny was explaining his quirks, Acion also tilted his head, but let his cheek laid on his arm as it rested on his other arm folded on his torso. The way his inner body was structured was very unique. A black blob that engulfed bones that Acion honestly didn’t understand what kind of mutation caused that kind of structure. Well, Acion’s wing structure is definitely unlike everybody else, even among his family, but the last time he remembered meeting Donny, his parents were normal looking. So either they could control their forms or it was just the time that God was not looking his way when he made his subject.
When both of them inquired about his physique, Acion would shrug his shoulders a little.
”The way I fly is a lot more...gravity I would say.” Acion was also trying to search for the right way to express it. Both sides of his wings panned out a little for both of them to have a look at.
”It may look cool per say, but it is more of a drag than anything. I mean look at the shape of it.” He twitched his wings a little. It definitely did not resemble any normal birds. One pair was forward swept while the other backward. One pair was curved outward, while another inward.
”When flying, it just creates more drag than anything. In a speed race, I would be more than likely to be last place. So when you said earlier Kinoko-san, that I am faster than Nova-san, it’s because I use height to gain speed, rather than me being fast.” He then retracted his wings back to his previous position and took a sip from his soda.
”That’s...pretty much all how my body works. The rest is just practice. Everyday until I master it. Well I wouldn’t say I mastered it, but...you get the idea.””Practice practice.” Donny echoed as he ate the sandwich he made for Alice and drank the soda. And then ate the can. He put his lunch away having eaten at least half the bread and one bento box worth of meat and cheese, putting everything back into its container before absorbing it back into his mass. Acion and Alice’s words echoed in his mind as he started to realize something.
”You two practice your powers. It kinda… Kinda makes me nervous. N-n-not about you two of course! I mean… I never really trained to be a h-hero or anything. I’ve used my powers a lot sure, eat stuff to clean stuff and just live ya know but… Hero stuff like saving people or fighting bad guys, I’ve never really done that. Not seriously at least. Just games I play as a kid ya know?” Donny created a pair of fists from his mass and threw some punches, but it was obvious that he didn’t really know how to throw a punch.
”K-Kinda related to what I was talking to you about before Nakamiji-san, I always figured you’d be a hero. And N-Nova-San, you’re pretty smart too, you know the strengths and limits of your quirk. I uh… I don’t really know much about how to use my quirk in a fight. I mean I know how, cuz video games, but I’ve never practiced I guess. Um… What I’m saying, or asking, is like… How experienced are you two at using your quirks for heroism?”After having listened to Acion speak, Alice watched Donny just casually eat the can of soda after having emptied it. Again, rather weird but somewhat practical?
”At least he cleans up after himself like that… that is kind of neat.” she thought to herself.
Acion did make quite a lot of sense though in what he was saying. And while inspecting his wings carefully as he showed them off and aloud the two of them to observe them, Alice came to the same conclusion. However, while maybe not the fastest in flying, they would certainly create some powerful swings, especially considering that there were multiple of them.
”I can see that it requires a lot of practice indeed… but those wings certainly have a high skill ceiling, I’d say.”While the lot of them were talking, Alice was just idly sitting on the branch using her feet/claws to hold herself onto it. Luckily she wasn’t very heavy as an owl and didn’t add too much weight to the already fragile branch which was also carrying Acion and partially Donny.
Speaking of Donny, he mentioned some of his insecurities next which caused the owl’s eyes to stare right at Donny again. It was a bit weird since owls cannot really smile so it was hard to read her emotions other than through voice… and her voice was friendly but also respectful.
”Firstly, thanks for the compliment. I do kind of have to be smart considering how I am an owl and all that.” Alice chuckled to herself slightly after that joke.
”But honestly, you need not worry too much about heroic activities. With a body like yours, at least from what I’ve seen, you’ll have no problem at all. I can imagine you being effective in a vast array of situations from combat to rescue ops- Honestly, in theory the possibilities of what you can achieve with that body are amazing. You just need to get your mind behind it.”Alice paused for a moment while shuffling her wings a little to get more comfortable.
”If it’s any reassurance, I’ve never done anything hero related either.” she said, in response to Donny’s question.
”But I’ve given thought as to how to use my quirk for such things of course.”Alice wanted to add more to that, e.g. giving Donny some tips, but she felt like she’d be overstepping some boundaries since they had only just met.
”She’s right.” Acion concur as Alice spoke.
”Truth be told, I don’t think many students have first-hand experience at combat. The most they got is with a fight instructor or someone like that. So I think you’re not that bad off.” He understood the peer-pressure. After all, he is living with a hero sister, who was a lot more advantaged than he was in many ways. It was nervous simply living up to her image, not even considering surpassing it. Acion did have insecurities considering his flight capability when he was younger. What got out though was more down to success than approaching heroism in a different mindset, which may not translate in the same way like with Donny.
”My experience?...” He stopped to think. Should he just say it out loud or he would keep it under a lens.
”The only time I actually use it for heroism is one small skirmish with a villain like...6 months ago on a camping trip.”When he said one small skirmish, it was actually a brutal fight involving lots of bruises and bloody noses. If one paid close attention to the area of his right arm a little beneath his shirt sleeve, there would still be a memory of that time: a short straight scar caused by a sharp object. It could easily be mistaken for something else, but it was a grim reminder of what real combat could turn out.
”I didn’t really do much then but just hold out. The pros arrived soon and just cleaned the mess up.””Awawawa!” Lacking a face to make facial expressions, Donny could only convey his shock via words and jiggling. Apparently Alice was about as knowledgeable as he was when it comes to heroics, which he simply thought was weird because she seems more of the well-read type, whereas Donny just took the class on a whim. Though what she did say about him gave Donny a bit of encouragement. He always knew what really was holding him back was himself, but even as obvious as that was he still always had doubts about if he was even capable as a hero. It wasn’t like there’s many slime-based heroes in recent history after all.
However what Acion said surprised Donny too, though Acion was being vague. Still it seemed like he did have a run in with a villain, and even had a scar to prove it. Acion didn’t seem like the type to embellish a story so he was likely telling the truth, or at least Donny thought so.
”That sounds so scary! I’ve never seen a villain in person before… I kinda don't really want to either. I’ve dealt with jerks and mean people before but a straight up villain that’s… Thats gotta be something else.”Mentioning this, a thought came to Donny’s mind. Before he could really filter it he just said it outloud. He was getting very cushy around Acion and Alice so he spoke pretty freely.
”Who do you think in our hero class might be a villain?” ”So you’ve fought a villain before? Impressive.” Alice added to the conversation. It was impressive indeed, she thought. And while Alice did notice the scar, she did not put it into relation with the skirmish since, realistically, it could have come from anything. Acion really seemed like someone to look up to… at least, that was the first impression which Alice had gotten at this point. Really, she herself only knew a couple of things about combat, but her quirk wasn’t made for combat anyways. Although talking about these things was not too important right now, which is why she remained quiet.
Donny’s next question did draw Alice’s attention again though.
”A villain? Are you referring to our teacher?”Donny’s next topic also caught his attention again, and in a strange way. It felt a little polarizing to be speculating who might be a villain, considering villainy isn’t some sort of game where if you defeat him, he goes to jail and you get hailed. People get injured or even killed in these fights.
”...I don’t know to be honest.” He struggled to tell an answer.
”It has only been the first day. Judging them of that right now would be a little...presumptuous.”By the time he answered the question, he had already finished his lunch. It was such a filling, having to consume both his own lunch and Donny’s as well. He figured that having a little bit of a walk would help digesting all of it.
”Anyway, it’s nice to meet you two today. I’d go for a walk around school now, if anybody wants to join me.”Once Donny realized how weird his question was, he opted to do the best thing and quickly move on. It seems like the others were confused or disinterested in the topic as well, so Donny accepted this outcome.
”Y-Yeah! Sure. I mean uh, I don’t mind just walking and chatting and such. I just need to to put some of my extra food away at my locker, we can meet up somewhere, just hang out and such.” Donny says as he starts to work his way back down the tree. It mostly consists of him sending out some tendrils to grab onto the trunk and just letting his body free fall for a bit, then holding himself up with his tentacles.
”I’ll see you guys soon!” Donny waves a little black tendril at Acion and Alice before he rushes off to the lockers, dragging his dark ooze across the grass. You could plainly see the trail he left behind on the grass that was flatten underneath his weight.
”See you in class.”Upon seeing Donny slither away and leaving a trail on the floor Alice frowned slightly. Well, as much as that was possible anyways. Acion’s proposition caught Alice’s attention and she was interested in joining. After all, she’d have to explore the school grounds herself to get familiar with the campus layout. Making a friend, especially one who has similar quirk characteristics, would certainly be useful and nice as well.
”I wouldn’t mind joining you, if that is okay with you. I haven’t had a proper time yet to explore the school and I’d like to familiarize myself with the environment.” she asked respectfully.
Afterwards, regardless of Acion’s answer, Alice just remembered something.
”Ah right... I usually don’t go “full owl” around people…”Alice jumped down a level and landed on the branch where her backpack was.
”You see... “ Normally Alice wasn’t one to stutter much, but this was slightly embarrassing even for her.
”My clothes th-they don’t transform with me. Which means that… if I turn back I…will be exposed.” she looked at her backpack. Luckily owls cannot blush!
”So would you mind dropping down so I can turn back without being watched?””Alright, see you later.” Acion said goodbye to Donny as the latter headed off elsewhere.
”And sure, I would love a company.” When Alice explained one specific detail about the transformation leaving her ‘exposed’, Acion was aware of what that really meant from her tone.
”Oh I see...S-Sure!” Yet still it didn’t allow him an articulative response.
”I-I’ll be...you know...down there.”He quickly realized that he was making himself a doof in front of a girl, so Acion just stopped saying anything more and just got his backpack and jumped off the branch, landing gently just close by, where he would stay there, back turned against the tree, until Alice was done.
Once Acion had dropped down Alice could finally get ready herself. She opened her backpack and jumped inside of it, loosely putting the clothes over her owl body, which must’ve looked kind of funny to anyone unfamiliar with the situation. This was done in order to kind of put the clothes on while transforming by essentially growing her human body into them.
Afterwards she changed back into the normal non-feathery human Alice. Thanks to her loosely putting on the clothes prior, the only thing missing were the skirt, socks and shoes. Luckily those few items were rather quickly put on as well. Now, Alice was never exactly naked during the process but she obviously did not want Acion, or anyone else for that matter, to see her underwear which is why she stayed in the protective crown of the tree.
After having finished getting dressed again, Alice put on her backpack and climbed down the tree. She didn’t feel like flying so climbing was her way to go for now.
She patted some dust off her clothes and then put on her glasses again.
”Thank you for waiting. I am good to go now.”After a couple of minutes waiting for Alice, Acion could now reel in himself and gained back his calm. He didn’t need to be that stupid. It’s just a common thing that happens in the quirk’s world. Next time, just relax and reply casually and respectfully.
’You’re not that kind of person’ Acion forced himself to believe.
Once Alice appeared behind him, signifying she was done, he turned around, allowing her to take the lead.
”After you.” He said, internally sighing in relief that he didn’t screw anything up.
The walk was spent in relative silence, with the occasional small talks in between the two. And yet, at least for Acion, it was a pleasant time. He didn’t need a crowd of friends around him, to be filled with sounds of chatter, in order to fulfill his social need. Just someone who he could occasionally chat with was enough. It was fun, and eventually they toured a large part of the school.
”Oh we’ve been here before.” Their current destination was the gym, where his class had demonstrated earlier. Now, it’s free space for students to have their fun or practice their crafts, until the next class begins.
@Melpaws@Lucius Cypher