With his neck slightly flexed and gaze directed towards the floor, Boro was unfocused and heavily preoccupied with his breathing. His respiration acting up caused him to fail at listening to how everyone interacted; at best, he only managed to occasionally take glimpses of what was happening. The gist of what he knew was that groups were actually being formed, but the decision of who to vote off hadn’t been made.
Only several minutes had passed since he gave out his instructions, but Boro was surprised that someone had actually approached him. Tilting his head to the side with eyebrows unequally raised and mouth agape, he briefly stared at Akemi; his face was masked with what looked to be perplexity.
”Uhm, okay then.” Honestly, out of everyone, Akemi was the last person Boro had expected to come up to him. ”I guess they were right, you really can’t judge a book by its cover.” Boro’s epiphany - if you could call it that - momentarily made him forget about the current state he was in. Alas, good things eventually come to an end.
"You know, yes. You can try not smoking. Might make things easier in the long run."
Boro was snapped back to reality and resumed his labored breathing as Akemi plopped down in front of him. ”Okay, never mind then.” It was a mental note to himself referring to Boro's previous thought.
"Or try an inhaler. I needed one until my plant allergy eventually went away..."
Surprisingly, Boro was speechless; this was an unusual occurrence. He wasn’t sure whether he was being mocked or given genuine advice. Was he supposed to feel frustrated or thankful? It was fairly confusing. To the best of his capabilities, Boro attempted to give the most appropriate reply he could think of. ”Suuree...?”
”No, not good enough!” He realized how dumb he was sounding.
”I mean, thanks for the concern. I’ll definitely kee-”
Unfortunately, his sentence was unexpectedly cut short. "Hey Smoky, when do we get to eat? I'm starving and I don’t think I can last much longer. Plus I'm dying to see some real action so can we hurry this along." A flat expression replaced Boro’s previous look of confusion, but no matter his efforts, he couldn’t hide the engorged vein on his forehead that had suddenly become visible. ”Smoky, huh?”
As much as he wanted to show Jake where he actually stood in the current hierarchy they were in and educate him on the meaning of respect, he couldn’t. For now. Also, he had to admit, it wouldn’t hurt if they prevented this whole thing from dragging on for too long.
Brushing off what he had heard from Jake, Boro let out a prolonged sigh as he got on his feet. Recomposed, his fatigue and breathlessness were no longer apparent; whether or not he actually recovered was still up for discussion though.
Taking in a deep breath, with cupped hands, he called the attention of everyone. ”Let's get the ball rolling, people! Some of you are getting impatient, and I can’t blame them.”
A fraction of the hardened smoke walls had broken off and transformed into an arrow, and began hovering over Satan, with its head pointing towards where he was.
”Any volun---?” Again, Boro's sentenced was cut short; this time, the culprit was definitely smaller, but was twice as talkative.
“Hello, Miss. I’m Tommy. I wouldn’t normally just be blurting my name out like this, but I just had a rather embarrassing conversation where I failed to do so! Imagine that, giving someone a hug and them not even knowing your name? Such poor manners I had… now I’m not sure if this is rude, but Miss… you are a very comfortable to hug and smell kinda like a fresh rainforest and that is, if I may be so bold, nice. Would you like to join me and Major Admiral General Shuko in a group? That is if you haven’t already been recruited. Even then I still offer because I’m feeling rather comfortable and would love it if you’d indulge me just a tiiiiiiiiiiiiny bit longer.” Looking over Akemi’s shoulder, Tommy looked at Boro, but it seemed like his mind was elsewhere and failed to notice the volatile mood emanating from Boro.
Instead, he just continued on rambling. “Oh wow, that’s right, I forgot to ask your name! I almost committed the same blunder as just earlier in reverse! That would just be awful, dreadful, and just impolite! Also, Marl! Smoking is bad for your health, you should take good care of yourself, those smokes will kill you some day! They can also make your breath stink, like that grandpa at the... pachinko... parlor...”
........................
Boro, along with everyone else, simply listened and watched. Tommy had indirectly caused the awkward silence that filled the room. However, it didn't seem like he had noticed as he started looking over his shoulder, his attention redirected towards something else.
The silence was broken by the sound of a throat being cleared. ”As I was saying. Any. Volunteers?” There were two veins now and had started to clearly pulsate. The fact that beads of sweat began to trickle from his head probably become more apparent.
It was five in the morning, and Tumble found herself lying on the floor. Drooping eyes, she was almost lifeless and reeking of alcohol. Beside her, was whatever was left of her desktop. She learned it the hard way, yet again; alcohol, despite how soothing it was, didn't mix well with her work. She had been like this for well over an hour; it was about time she got up and prepared for what was to come later that day.
As Tumble sluggishly pulled herself up, her mind was suddenly struck by an amazing idea. In reality though, it was probably just the alcohol. Without hesitation, she acted on her thought and the moment her gait has stabilized, zoomed out to the streets.
"And they said I wasn't a genius." Hopefully, by the time she gets to wear she needed to be, the staggering stench that she was exuding would disappear. Or at least become somewhat milder.
It was thirty minutes passed five, the sun was far from out, and Tumble was alone at a park. Specifically, at the playground; even more detailed, sitting in a sandbox. Tumble realized that her initial plan of going to each of their homes was inefficient and would waste to much time. Luckily for her, she had an incredible alcohol-empowered brain that never let her down when she needed it. Pulling out her phone, she started making some calls. Whether the person on the other end was awake or not didn't really matter to her.
"It's me, Tumble." The tone of her voice was stern and unwavering; how she instantly got rid of her drunker slur was a quirk by itself.
"Meet me at the Toshinori National Garden, beside the swings. I'll be the one in the sandbox. I'll explain when you get here." Tumble was fairly certain that they didn't need or want to reply. Her thoughts were absolute, so she was probably right.
As much as she wanted to boast about what she had devised, Tumble didn't have the time for it. For now, she had more calls to make.
@Orange Juice Might be able to use her in the future. Who knows?
Anyway, maybe you'd wanna join us on discord. The links at the top of the OOC OP. The guys there usually discuss about possible interactions and post collaborations. Makes communication a lot easier.
Hey, guys. Finally on a PC, so I guess its time for some character reviews.
@Iatos Alright, then. Not relevant whatsoever, but first and foremost, Jake Lake sounds like a gigolo.
Anyway, everything seems generally okay. I appreciate the detail you put into her backstory. Gives a better feel to her personality and how she sees things.
I just edited out some typos and fixed the spacing between texts. Also, moved the part about her future dreams to the [OTHER] segment in the CS. The only thing I'd want to request from you is to include what Ruby would usually wear, just to give everyone some sort of idea in the event they'd want to interact with her or just simply mention her in their post. The image you used helps a lot in understanding her quirk, but maybe you could briefly described what she wears.
Just use this code then edit it in below her image.
[CENTER][SUB]Description of What She Wears.[/SUB][/CENTER]
[NAME]
Rubina Westerville; Ruby Lake
[GENDER]
Female
[AGE]
16
[PERSONALITY]
Self reliant, rebellious and somewhat naughty would probably be some words that you could use to describe her. She's quite fiery, very active, and not really shy as she trained that away ages ago. She can be rather tsudere to people she likes. She's hard working when motivated, and tends to goof off or get bored when she's not.
Ruby is a girl who seeks some excitement and enlightenment in her life, coming from a strict and sheltered life, she's curious about the outside world and experiences she could gain from not being constantly molded into perfection by various people in her life. She's not unfriendly as she has been taught to be rather well behaved towards others and will try to behave around people she doesn't know how to give good impressions to. However, there are times when she needs to just try new things, gain new experiences and just see things for herself.
One could say she's on a path to discovering who she truly is. Is she really the girl her parents want her to be? Or is she someone completely different? Only time will reveal the person she truly is or will grow into.
[BACKSTORY]
The daughter of a quite wealthy family, Rubina or 'Ruby' as she prefer being called, from what she has seen, has been living a rather strict and controlled life. While her parents nearly never home, they have almost forced their wills on what they would like Ruby to become upon her and against her will. They wanted her to become the heir of their legacy and have had quite strict ideals of what skills was required to do so. While not being able to force them upon her in person while being away, they have kept contact with their servants to do it for them. Most of her life, Ruby has been raised, lectured and taught by servants and private tutors.
However, Ruby grew to dislike most of them as they seemed to have had a square view on what they thought would make a 'perfect girl'. And their constant nagging and attempted corrections on her behavior made her even further resistant as she grew older and smarter. As she started seeing through their behavior, she grew rebellious, doing whatever she liked instead and letting others take responsibility at times. During most of her life, there was only one person she really trusted and could relate too, a butler named Jack Lake. He was nice to her and seemed to get her. He earned her trust over the years from her childhood through kindness and compassion. Ruby liked him a lot and continued to do so even as she grew older. He became somewhat of a father figure for her as she didn't see her real father very often and had grown to dislike him.
Being a lone child was quite tough, she had to shoulder whatever her parents tried to put on her, from learning how to act like a lady, from her mothers ideals, to how to run a company, from her fathers. From learning how to dance waltz and other dances, to studying economics. It was tiresome, and the only way Ruby really got to vent was during her free time when she took to unleash pent up emotions often through her quirk and physical training. Interestingly enough, one of the few ways Jack helped her was by helping her train in Dragon-Fu, a somewhat combined material arts practice with dragon like abilities added in. He also helped her stretch, and actually helped her practice dancing in a fun way by teaching her that it could be used both in combat and interactions as it was important to be able to move around securely while also having attention on opponents and respond to their moves with her own.
Her young life was pretty much what one would expect, from an early age she was raised mostly by the servants and they became somewhat more of a family to her than what her real one ever was. As a child she hadn't started to dislike anyone just yet, but she had gotten some bad experiences from interacting with her parents already.
The older she got, the less people she started to trust, mostly because there was too many folks to listen too and too few she could really relate with and feel like she belonged. They treated her as a little princess, and while they spoiled her, they also required a lot from her in return. Ruby learned that her parents thought they could just buy her affection if needed, but the older she got, the more she realized that they didn't realize how smart she was becoming.
The biggest moment in her life was probably when she started developing her quirk. She started growing horns and wings, suddenly turning more dragon like. It was difficult at first getting used to it, and she often accidentally sat fire to something which she ended up getting scolded for. As she grew, so did her appetite. She turned into somewhat of a glutton, wanting food very often, so much her servants thought she was going to get fat. Since it was 'unlady-like' to eat a lot, they tried to restrict her.
It was another factor that made her stop liking most of the people around her. She started sneaking into the kitchen to grab whatever she could find. The chef however caught her, and wanted to teach her a lesson by putting out red hot chili peppers on the table, something to make her regret eating it. However, it turned out that it backfired as Ruby loved the taste of them; having a breath that literally could set things on fire, spicy things were nothing but treats and candy to her.
Growing into a teenager puberty would hit at some point. The spur of growth and development would be a time where she would wreck down all the foundations of her past life and test all limits. It was a time of big change, one that would make her into the girl she is today. From learning more advanced things to turning from a rather 'obedient' girl to a rebellious teenager.
Learning how to fight, how to lead, how to dance, and how to do difficult calculations. She grew more and more self reliant, trusting only Jack whom she shared just about all her teenage problems with. From the really embarrassing stuff to fun and games. She was just glad to have him around.
[QUIRK]
Little Dragon: Little Dragon is a quirk that grants Ruby characteristics of a dragon. Namely a dragon's horns, tail, wings, claws, and ability to breath fire.
Mostly shown by the illustration above, several parts of her body are diffusely covered in a layer of tough scales. These protect her from most physical hazards and provide resistance to fire. The claws Ruby possesses are relatively sharp, allowing her to do some real damage when needed. Her wings are slightly smaller than that of a fully grown dragon, but these still allow her to fly or glide over short distances and heights.
While labeled as a strong quirk by some, it is not without its weaknesses. The traits that Ruby received are more complementary and do not provide any boost in her physical capabilities. Although not that obvious, Ruby doesn't posses more strength or endurance than a normal girl her age. And despite the resilience provided by her scales, not all parts of her body are protected by it, giving her several vulnerable areas that could be used against her. Lastly, sustained flight or a prolonged, steady stream of fire aren't things Ruby is capable off. Well, at least for now.
[SKILLS]
Dragon-Fu: Basically a mixed material art formed with dragon parts added. She was taught this mostly from Jack Lake who knew a lot about martial arts, training, and how to find the knowledge on how to advance it.
Gluttony of Spices: Ruby is very found of anything spicy; from red hot chili peppers to whatever else is considered as 'super hot'. Being able to literally breathe fire, she is resistant to heat and almost complete immune to spicy food. She does however really like the taste of it.
Dancing: Not a skill she's technically found off, but she can dance really well because she was forced to take learn it. The only one that could make her like doing it was Jack when he said she could use it to learn how to fight better because it gave mobility skills and the ability to read others.
[SAMPLE POST]
It all really started on a rainy Monday, with black and gray filling the sky. Rain was beating towards the roof like small nails falling and Ruby was particularity sulky because she couldn't go outside. While rain was not dangerous to her she din't like the cold rain, nor was she technically allowed too go outside either, but there was few things except for chains that could stop her if she really wanted too. It hadn't been a bad day, but Ruby was in a foul mood anyway. She was just getting tired of being locked up, locked in and forced to become a princess. Most of her life she had never really left the estate, only gone outside to play in the yard as a child or go for walks in the sun. Of course, there was those occasional moments when she got into a car to get driven to an airport or wherever her parents sent her.
Between starring out car windows, airplane windows, reading or watching television about it, Ruby had hardly ever seen nature in its full beauty. And it was what made her feel trapped inside, maybe a little by herself too since she probably could have run away if she wanted, but there was a wide unknown world outside.
Tapping on her computer that she at least was allowed to have, Ruby checked the various pages and news that she used too. An article about heroism and heroes that popped up on the front page drew her attention as usual; various heroes performing large deeds so that people like herself could live a normal boring life. Ruby was jealous of them, they could be out there in the heat of the moment, fight crime and whatever. And here she sat, bored to death by the weather, and freaking starving since dinner hadn't been served yet.
A few more clicks got her to a forum which she used to rant, she found herself often writing about her daily troubles without revealing who she was or what they technically was about. Using her username "Red_Lake". She had just wrote a short rant. "Ugh...I wish I could be a hero, and not need to sit through another of Bob's lectures about social classes of old. Who the fluff cares if there were peasants and nobility in the past? Its not that much different today. What I wouldn't give to go camping in the mountains, get a soda, and just live a life outside four walls for once. Sorry for ranting as usual" she wrote, and then laid back on her bed to stare at the roof.
Her eyes trailed around as she laid there on her back with wings spread to the side, her hair was somewhat getting in the way of her face as she had laid down suddenly, but she mearly let a the back of her right hand rest on her forehead before slowly sliding down on the pillow behind, her left was on her belly. The idle sound of her tail scraping against the bed filled her eyears, yet she just closed her eyes for a moment to rest. Suddenly however she as stirred by the sound of a message popping up on her computer screen. For a second she groaned that she forgotten to turn the sound off again, but she lazily shifted to the side and looked to the screen.
"There's a someone that can show and teach you how to be a hero"; it was from an anonymous sender.
The message in the screen was burning into Ruby's eyes, at first she thought nothing off it. Was it a joke or just someone trying to really make her feel better? No matter she decided to not leave it unanswered and replied "Like how? Not like you just go and become a hero or something. Besides, four walls you know." she replied.
It was silent for a while.
She then received another message. "Here's the -Link- if you don't believe me."
Ruby looked to the message and idly stroked the link with her cursor to read the destination while pondering over if she should or not. She didn't want to end up somewhere weird or get viruses or something, after all she didn't need the extra trouble or end up loosing her computer. Figuring she might as well, she clicked the link and ended up with information about Tumble. She spent a good while there, reading up, checking sources and when she was done, she was not dissatisfied.
A few days more passed and Ruby eventually got fed up with everything. Eventually she couldn't stand being locked up anymore. Thus when the weather cleared she headed outside before taking to the sky. She let the winds guide her as she went to seek out Tumble, wherever she may be.
[OTHERS]
As for what she aspires for, Ruby dreams of making a name for herself in the world rather than following the strict path carved by her parents or ride on any wave they have created. It was because of this she made somewhat of an alias for herself. Ruby Lake, she called herself, because Ruby being a nickname she preferred over 'Young lady' which she had heard too many times. And the last name Lake, mostly because she often wish that Jack Lake would have been her father instead so she wouldn't have to go through all the bull crap just to live a good life.
@Pirouette I think all the edits I've mentioned on discord have been included in the sheet. Nothing more I can add; so I guess we know have a Star Slugger on the team. Feel free to post in the character tab. As for her intro, I'm in the process of actually typing it out.
@Orange Juice Everything seems to be in place. Maybe just omit the [OTHER] segment in the sheet since nothing's under it. After that, feel free to post in the character tab. As for his intro, same thing as I mentioned for Pirouette. By the way, his mom seems like quite the character though.
@Jin Of Mana Great to hear! No real rush though, so we can discuss about your character with no problems. I'll be introducing your character into the IC together with 2 others (hopefully) anyway to ease in the addition of the new characters.
