[center][h2][color=salmon]Ace Cadet[/color] & Nadia Fortune[/h2]
[i]Tuesday afternoon aboard the Avenger[/i]
Word Count: 2467 (+3)
[sub][@Yankee][@Lugubrious][/sub][/center]

The monster hunter kept all but his helmet, rigging, and the bulkiest pieces of his armor on even after washing the remnants of the morning's battles off of himself and his equipment. The Avenger was a safe haven, but there was still plenty of time in the day... and he felt it would maybe be awkward to completely relax so soon after their mission was completed, especially in the wake of what they'd given up to do it. Being half-armored was about as good a compromise as Ace could come to with himself.

He sat directly across from Nadia rather than beside her this time, with his own two plates in front of him. One had the day's hamburg steak special, the other was piled up with more simple food fare such as sandwiches and wraps. The Cadet could have easily demolished much more, but he remained mindful of everyone else that still had to eat. When they touched down next, he'd probably wipe out the closest food seller of their stock. That was a thought for the future though - at present Ace kept his attention with Nadia, letting out a light chuckle at her joke.

[color=salmon]"Fair. I think anyone'd give you a pass-on that one."[/color]

Was their making light of the situation a little morbid? Maybe so. But it was the pair's way of coping, and not letting life's various horrors get them down. The Seekers [i]had[/i] come out of the Dead Zone victorious, and Sandalphon had mentioned a memorial later tonight. There would be time to properly and appropriately dwell on the team's sacrifices then.

Though meal time made the mess hall lively, when compared to breakfast the tables at lunch were not quite as packed. Ace and Nadia's own table wasn't so small that they had it all to themselves, but neither were they totally surrounded by other Seekers. They ate and talked together, occasionally following each other's gazes as they passed around the room. Such as now, when Ace glanced over at Dawn and her family when Nadia's eyes lingered there.

They were a cute family, especially the young ones with their father's Shepherd Hare-like ears. So why did the feral have a look of apprehension, however brief?

He remembered talking with Nadia about the future back when they were on the boat headed for Twilight Town, well before they knew the full story of how the world worked. If what they knew now even was the full story. He couldn't quite glean the feral's thoughts from her face at the moment, but maybe some of the things Moebius had said had gotten to her a little. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about it too, but... well, for now he tried to steer Nadia's thoughts away from uncertain, possibly depressing topics.

[color=salmon]"You know, we didn't get to catch up as much at breakfast as we could have,"[/color] the hunter said, giving her a slightly sheepish smile. [color=salmon]"Guess I was just excited to talk with everyone else again. But hey - I'm all yours now."[/color]

Ace’s voice swiftly retrieved Nadia’s train of thought from the nebulous future it had meandered into, and for his gallant rescue the hunter received an appreciative grin. The events of this morning had cast an unavoidable pall over even the sunniest Seekers, and after so much running and fighting Nadia just didn't have the energy to affect her usual unflappable cheer, but the joy she felt when around Ace was very real.

“No worries,” she replied with a wink. “I knew you'd come running back eventually. And, well…” As demonstrated by their earlier puns, neither of these two were above laughing through the pain, but after coming so close to actually losing Ace in the fight against the Gravemind, and getting bone-chillingly close to annihilation herself, Nadia couldn't pretend everything was hunky-dory. She let go of her cheekiness with a sigh. “Gotta hold on to our people while we can. Right?”

Her words came out a little more ominous than she intended, so Nadia gave an apologetic look as she stopped her coffee. She tripped over her words for a moment afterward, brushed her hair back somewhat self-consciously, then tried to verbalize her feelings. “I mean, I really am glad you're here. Honestly… part of me is afraid to grow fond of other people, ‘cause it makes losing ‘em that much harder. But I can't help it.” She chuckled to herself, shaking her head. “You're just too likeable. Besides, what good is keeping my heart safe if I can't ever use it?” The feral smiled at Ace. “Anyway, all this to say… well, let's keep trying our best to stay alive, eh? We might not be as invincible as we think sometimes.”

[color=salmon]"Nadia..."[/color] Ace breathed. He knew she'd been through a lot, but he could hardly imagine being scared to get close to people for that reason. He was glad that despite her doubts she hadn't closed herself off though, and he was definitely going to show her it was the right choice. After a moment he returned her smile.

[color=salmon]"The same goes for you - you're amazing. I'm happy you're here too... it's nice to have someone to fight and come back safe for, makes you want to get back in one piece all the more. So you're not gonna lose me that easily,"[/color] he said, meaning to sound reassuring. Of course, it had seemed frustratingly quick when he'd been overwhelmed and felt the harsh cut of the scythe before darkness took him. At some point he'd fallen behind the other Seekers; he'd have to get better and stronger if he was going to keep that particular promise to Nadia.

But it could wait at least until lunch was over.

[color=salmon]"And... well, not to be a worry-Wulg but like I said, same for you. Even with your gem, when everything's said and done we gotta make sure you're safe in one piece too. No ifs, ands, or Congalala butts."[/color]

His tone was lighthearted toward the end, if only to slightly counter the topic.

Nadia grinned at him. “Bein’ in one piece isn’t really my thing, but I getcha. I’ll do the best I can.” Though she’d allowed the darker topic to cloud her horizon, Ace’s attitude and praise were rays of sunlight that cut straight through. “I appreciate the compliment, by the way. Usually, the best I get is ‘a-mew-sing’. But you’re totally right. Gals like me light up the world–that’s why it’s called ‘broad daylight’.” She snickered as she tossed a cucumber slice into her mouth, then started crunching away. Ace could not help the snort of laughter even if he had wanted to.

“So,” she began again after a moment. “I’ve been curious, so help meowt. In my world, everyone who’s anyone’s got some kinda magic, freaky parasite, or livin’ weapon. But you’re all natural, right? How the hell’d you get so crazy strong? You can swing around weapons even bigger than I am without even breakin’ a sweat, runnin’ and jumpin’ around like nobody’s business, all while decked out in heavy armor and carryin’ a boatload of items.” She smiled as she shook her head, incredulous. “The heck are they feedin’ you guys over in your world?”

Before he answered her, he had to point out in slight amusement, [color=salmon]"you know this is the second time you brought up parasites while we've been eating."[/color]

The first had been way back in Limsa. It hadn't been enough to ruin his appetite then, and it didn't now either though. He took a moment to wash down part of lunch while he thought of what to say, because really... it wasn't all that interesting. The times he'd talked about his home world were few, since learning about everywhere else had been more intriguing.

[color=salmon]"All normal stuff, same as you'd find anywhere. Just, y'know, a lot of it."[/color] He grinned. [color=salmon]"I dunno, I guess the humans from my world are just different from those in other worlds? We monster hunters usually start young and do a ton of training, but otherwise its the gear that does most of the work."[/color]

Ace shrugged. A good blacksmith was as important if not more so than a good hunter sometimes. [color=salmon]"Not that exciting of an answer, but yeah - all natural. Except the, uh, boon thing."[/color]

Maybe humans from Ace’s world really were just built different, but the idea that someone could attain strength and stamina like that just from exercise and diet intrigued Nadia. After a glance at the Cadet’s plate, she raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh! Since you’re a monster hunter…does that mean you guys eat the monsters you hunt? That’d definitely explain it!” She popped off her head into her hands, resting her elbows on the table. Her sea-blue eyes glittered with curiosity. “What’s the weirdest thing you’ve eaten?”

[color=salmon]"Yeah, of course we eat them! Never really thought if that would make a difference... Weirdest... Probably a Rathalos tail?"[/color] he said, touching a hand to his chin in thought. [color=salmon]"Maybe a Basarios tail..."[/color]

He was quick to explain a little more, figuring the names alone meant nothing to her. [color=salmon]"Basarios are juvenile Gravios, they live in the ground and eat minerals so their hides get really tough. They even grow rocks on their backs as camouflage, so when you eat them you have to crack off all their scales and soak the meat for a while. It's pretty much as tough and chewy as you imagine - and Rathalos are venomous, but only in their claws. Females have poison stingers on their tail though, so some Rathalos, especially young ones, have a vestigial venom gland in their tails you have to watch out for if you're cooking it. Goes really well with Wyvern Amber Ale though."[/color]

Once more he thought about being able to show Nadia the Grammeowster's place in the Frozen Highlands. It would be nice, and maybe if the two of them could slip away they could have a date night or something.

[color=salmon]"Want me to try and cook one for you sometime? If we find an edible monster,"[/color] he asked her with a toothy grin. [color=salmon]"As long as you like frontier style food."[/color]

“That’d be AWESOME!” Nadia chirped, her eyes lighting up as a huge smile spread across her face. “A guy willin’ to cook for me? I knew I’d hit the jackpot, but wow!” She stuck her head back on and leaned back in her chair. “I’m not picky or anything either, not after livin’ on the streets as a kid. Plus, everything tastes better when you make it yourself, right?” Her eyebrows shot up. “But then, we’d have to hunt it ourselves too, right? I’m excited already! I mean, we’ve been takin’ out tons of monsters, but the only thing I’ve actually hunted lately is pigeons.” She glanced around for Ganondorf, wondering if the king of evil remembered that fun little morning in Dirtmouth. “Guess we’ll have to keep an eye out when we touch down again!”

Her enthusiasm melted Ace's heart a bit, and his grin turned a little more dopey.

[color=salmon]"It's a plan then! I know you'd make a Gargwawesome huntress."[/color]

Of course despite her words, she might change her tune when she actually got a taste of his cooking, but that would be a future problem if it even turned out to be a problem at all.

[color=salmon]"Did you have any unique eats in your slice of the world?"[/color] he asked. Then he actually thought back to everything Nadia had told him about New Meridan and Little Innsmouth, as well as her apprehension about possibly seeing pieces of her home town cobbled together with something else. Would talking about them keep her mood up or risk pulling it back down? Hopefully the former. [color=salmon]"Actually, is there anything back home you haven't been able to find in this world in general? Like something you kind of miss?"[/color]

The question wasn't exactly subtle, but the Cadet himself wasn't a very subtle person. And who knew how much longer they'd be here fighting now that their opposition was onto them and getting tougher by the day.

A heavy sigh escaped Nadia as she flopped down on the table. “Ohh, you have no idea. I mean obviously, I Miss Fortune, but for eats? Gotta be Dagonian food. It…well, I guess I mean Dragon Empire food, ‘cause not all Dagonians are from the Empire, but it doesn’t roll off the tongue, you know? Back home, my favorite Dagonian place was my buddy Yu-Wan’s. Dim sum, gong bao, Peking duck, chow mein…the man was a culinary genius. Stick me and the gang ‘round of those rotatin’ tables, with a Dagonian feast and a round of beers, and I could die happy.” Her fond reminiscence quickly gave way to dejection. “Buuut I know the odds of findin’ that stuff is pretty low. If we didn’t find any traces of Little Innsmouth in Limsa, where could it possibly be…?”

Though her silly joke had Ace chortling, as Nadia went on it looked like maybe bringing up her world might have been the wrong move.

[color=salmon]"There's a lot more ocean, it might be out there!"[/color] the Cadet said. It might even be on some other body of water, of which there were a lot according to the constructed world map... Though whether they'd naturally run into it during their world saving duties, only time would tell. He'd have to remember the names, but at the very least Dagonian and Dragon Empire were sure to stick in his head.

He offered Nadia another light smile, [color=salmon]"we'll see if we can find [i]sum[/i] of that out there."[/color]

“Even if the outlook is [i]dim[/i]? Nyeheheh!” Though Nadia put on a dramatic act, she wasn’t too bothered by the lack of Dagonian cuisine, in truth. There were much more important things than finding her favorite food going on, and the mishmash of worlds she’d found herself in meant there were plenty of great things out there to try, like today’s hemborger. And who knew what they might find waiting for them once they disembarked in Hammerhead? As long as it wasn’t more Consuls, Nadia was game for whatever adventure the World of Light might throw at her next, especially with Ace by her side.

Nadia pushed her trey away with the last few vegetable scraps intact, crossed her arms, and leaned down to lay her head down on them. “Okay, next question. And this one’s important, so no fibs.” She narrowed her eyes. “If you were a dessert, what would you be?”

The Cadet made a show of very seriously considering the question, and the two passed the lunch hour with inane, casual chatter to lighten the mood.