NaraK

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

pook

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Apophis gladly remained silent as he looked around the Armory, naturally taking an interest to the presence of metal all around him. He was a bit of a collector, so it was only natural for him to at least pay some attention to the place- even if it wasn’t some kind of legendary forge that rose from the underworld or something. Although he remained near the others, he let his mind wander about, his hollow eye taking in the details of the academy’s Armory.

Sangue, on the other hand, remained quiet. When Lauren wrapped an arm around her, the red-haired girl made no attempt to break free. She rather enjoyed Lauren’s warmth, and out of everyone in BASL, Lauren easily had the highest body temperature. It made her feel fuzzy inside. And safe. A weak blush appeared on her cheeks due to the heat she felt.

She didn’t know what it meant to be “sun-bleached,” but it must have been a harmless thing if Lauren described her like that.

She blinked without much thought when Lauren pecked her cheek, glancing at Lauren, and then at her pretty mom.

The snake noticed how Costa seemed a lot calmer than Lauren, who was practically bursting with energy and joy. But despite their differences, Sangue could tell that the family loved each other well. It was nice to see.

As she glanced at Ben, who explained how Lauren fit right into the team to Costa, Sangue looked back at Lauren’s mother with her idle expression still unchanging. The faint blush that had appeared earlier had yet to vanish.

Meanwhile, Apophis wondered if he should just start eating before he lost the food he brought.

@Krayzikk@Kaithas@Plank Sinatra

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Eklispe Happy birthday!

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

It's Sangue's birthday today! Aka, the day she officially became a part of the Heroes of Beacon cast. I'll continue to try being a better RPer and person! Thanks for making this RP so good and memorable, guys (and I hope to keep contributing to it!). :D

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

I didn't tag in the IC post this time... so!!!

@Kaithas@Krayzikk@Plank Sinatra

I tagged here instead. o-o

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Apophis wondered if he should laugh at the last comment Amaranth made about her name, but he realized that would just be him laughing for no reason.

Her ruffling her hair almost prompted him to do the same. He had some long-ass hair that only had its length hidden with the numerous things he tied it with. Sometimes, a good shake caused some random item to drop out of the ponytail he had.

He knew he needed a haircut someday. He just never liked paying attention to his hair, though.

Then there was Sangue's self-proclaimed best friend, which Apophis wondered if that was something to be proud of, immediately dropping a Fuck Bomb as soon as it was her turn to speak. Good impressions. The way she was struggling to lift up a fucking shield was the greatest way to assure him that Sangue was in safe hands.

...Eh. Maybe the shield was 10000000x heavier than it looked.

As if the girl squirming and trying to get the shield up wasn't obnoxious, she literally fired a single shotgun round straight into Apophis' ears with her intense scream when some woman strode in.If she was just a bit louder, she could have shattered his eardrums.

He figured out the next technique he should use against anyone who pisses him off.

Screaming. Really loudly. Lauren loudly. That sounded right.

Well, she was happy, that was for certain.

Judging by Lauren’s extreme reaction and the intelligible and thoughtful words she used, Costa was her mom.

She had a damn good body for a mom and sure knew how to show it off. Turning away from everyone for a brief moment, Apophis made sure his stitches were still on before turning his gaze to the others again.

“Apophis,” the ex-manhunter greeted simply, leaving almost everything important about him aside to make himself less significant. “I’m, uh…”

Glancing at Sangue, who seemed to silent admire how pretty Costa was, he lazily pointed at her as he grumbled, “I… know her well, I guess. Not really a guardian but I just hang around.”

---

Sangue approached Costa silently, looking up to her with an idle expression. Yet, something about her movement made her out to be more timid than usual.

It was probably because the woman was Lauren’s mom. Her parent.

“Hel…lo,” she spoke. “I… am… Sangue Naga…”

She bowed politely as she looked up to Costa.

"...It's... ni...ce to meet... you..."

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Yesterday, BASL celebrated Valentine's Day by lazing about! (i think)



@Kaithas@Krayzikk@Plank Sinatra

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Yukinaga celebrates an early Valentine's Day! She didn't have any chocolate so she resorted to some extreme measures.

Safe Version!

Gore Warning! NSFW

Yukinaga: "I-I hope you enjoy it! It's best served frozen, so I did my best to tidy it up... (I hope he likes my new eyes!)"

_{I'll get an actual Valentine pic sometime soon!}

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Ben. That’s right, that’s right. The guy’s name was Ben. He kept forgetting it now and then, but at least it sounded familiar to him.

He remembered Sangue repeatedly saying his name. And now that he thought about it…

Yup. She said it so many times to the point where it sounded like Ben was responsible for one-thirds of the good things that happened to her in her school life (the other one-thirds respectively going to her other teammates), and somehow, Apophis fucking forgot his name.

I deserve every single thing I suffered for.

And the team used to be Bastion, but was now Bastille. People being weeded out due to circumstances wasn’t unheard of, but it still made Apophis wonder just what were the exact requirements needed to attend Beacon. Back in his day, all he did was cleave things with any object around him and it got him to places.

If anything, the news of Sangue being useful was more of a surprise in itself. Sure, he sparred with her so that she wouldn’t be steamrolled by common dangers around herself, but he never really thought of how useful it’d be. Considering that the only way Sangue could be useful was by cutting things down, it at least showed that she put the few skills she had in hand to decent use.

He didn’t give a shit about it, but it did admittedly give him a dose of nostalgia. Some people liked his strengths, and those were back when his life was simpler.

Maybe even similar to some of those attending the academy.

The hand extended to him and the smile that went with it, however, dispelled any emotional aura surrounding Apophis. It felt odd. He had to remember that it was a student wanting to shake his filthy, burnt hand. Before meeting Sangue, getting people to shake his hand was- without a doubt- him wanting to tear his target’s arm right off its socket. He realized how out of touch he was with society, and while he didn’t regret abandoning morality, it caught him off guard for a split moment.

At least he had some gloves on. He wouldn’t want Ben shaking a hand that looked like it came straight out of that one trapdoor nobody ever opened. It was clear that Apophis was very reluctant to do so, but he did end up accepting the handshake. And he shook back, almost with a lifeless strength.

A hollow smile entered the crooked man’s face, the stitches on the corners of his lips preventing the smile from widening too much.

“Yeah,” he said, his words forced to sound civilized. “You seem alright.”

Letting go of Ben’s hand first, Apophis wondered how he should explain what he exactly was to Sangue.

“I’m neither a parent nor a real guardian to Sangue,” he explained shortly. “I’m just… someone she gets along with. She’s nothing like me, and I guess that’s a good thing.”

The left corner of his lips twitched as he glanced between Sangue’s other teammates and Ben. If he recalled correctly, the dark-skinned one was… Maurice Benghazi. And the redhead with the collar was… Baby Nazario.

…But for some reason, I’m getting a gut feeling I’m dead wrong, so I’m just going to let them do the talking.

He knew he had to cut the alcohol and listen to Sangue while he was sober sometimes.

Apophis stood on the thin line between being hungry enough to just bust out the bread he brought and being curious enough to at least know more about them and confirm what their actual names were.

---

Sangue remained silent as Ben and Apep talked to each other. It was fine if nobody knew that she really wanted to have Apep meet her friends. But it happened, so she was happy for that much.

It was hard for her to call Apep a “friend” or a “guardian” because of how they interacted with each other, so she never really referred to him as anything aside from "Apep."

Apep was Apep.

As she stood still, she felt the warmth of Ben’s hand envelop around her shoulder. A few moments after he placed the hand on her shoulder, the snake slowly closed her eyes, enjoying the fuzzy sensation with her idle expression. Her eyes promptly opened after he let go, and she went on to walk and stand next to Amy without a word.

@Krayzikk@Plank Sinatra@Kaithas

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Everyone was at the armory.

She did it. She showed Apophis her team. Her closest friends.

Her heart warmed.

Lauren and Amy seemed to be wearing... different clothes. It almost looked like they were wearing Ben's clothes.

Or maybe they were.

"Hel...lo," she began, though everyone had noticed her quiet voice even before she spoke up again. It was a surprise, but not an unpleasant one, nonetheless. She walked to her team.

Meanwhile, Apophis stared at the team.

The three who stood closely to each other seemed... surprisingly alright. There was something suspicious behind the excited dark-haired woman's jewel-like eyes, but that could have just been him overthinking things. Apophis was never one to judge people well because he mostly put himself in situations where judgement wasn't needed.

The redhead whose name wasn't Sangue Naga, on the other hand, seemed okay. The collar could say otherwise, but hell, who was he to jump into the realm of fashion? He wore a hoodie and jeans, the most bog-standard set that seemed everything but fitting on a freakishly disfigured guy. She could probably go to places with her relatively healthy face.

Now that he thought about it, he dressed up in what could have been the most formal he could have ever worn. Years had passed since he tossed aside the damned Alt-Trin uniform. Not that anybody would remember- or should be able to remember, anyway. He looked completely different back then.

Last but not least, there was the only guy amongst the three girls. He looked like... like...

…

Fuck you, Noxus.

This guy was only getting off the hook because he didn't have the blond hair and the bartender outfit. Far away from Beacon Academy, a certain bartender felt a chill run up his spine and sneezed like there was no tomorrow.

Another reason Apophis wasn't trying to bite the brown-haired guy's neck off was because Sangue described him like he was Superman or something. Apophis didn't find him to look too Super, but he could already tell just by looking at the guy's face that there wasn't much he could be hiding from others. He liked that- a slight tinge of honesty was always an alluring trait.

He could also tell why Sangue looked up to the guy. He already looked like someone who’d tolerate Sangue’s shit. Also, the shield he had with him wasn't half-bad, so that was a plus.

To some, Apophis' face could come off as creepy or disturbing. Sangue didn’t find him disgusting, but that was only because she stuck to him for several years. One would think that they would be able to see the insides of Apophis’ eye socket, yet there was nothing but an empty black color covering his empty eye. The corner of his right lip twitched every now and then, and he moved around in a sluggish, yet hasty manner. Almost like a zombie. He even smelled like nothing-

On a second thought, he smelled like a human being.

If there was one redeeming feature about his looks, it was his remaining eye. It had a very pretty shade of cyan that contrasted with his red hair, but who actually cared about the color of a stranger’s eye?

Just when he thought he could come up with something to run away and eat, the brown-haired guy just happened to point him out. He cringed, his frown opening a bit.

Fortunately for everyone, Sangue perked up and nodded. The snake was just happy that they got to meet Apophis, but truthfully, she didn’t have any plans outside of just showing Apep to her team.

So she turned to her team.

Her expression softer than its usual idle form, she glanced at Apophis before telling her friends,

“He…’s… Apep…

“He’s… nice…”

A brief silence snuck in-between her words as she glanced at Apophis again before turning to her team again.

“…and… strong…”

…

“…and nice-“

“You just said that.”

“O-…Oh…”

…

Turning to Apep, Sangue glanced at her team once before fixating her gaze on him.

“They’re… my friends…”

“Uh huh.”

“They’re… nice…”

“Uh huh.”

“…and-“

“-strong?”

“…Yes…”

Apophis took a deep breath.

These guys are godsend for dealing with Sangue's shit every day.

As Sangue absentmindedly walked over to stand with her friends, Apophis felt his lips twitch again, threatening to tear apart the stitched corners of his mouth. Usually he wouldn’t mind too much about it, but as much as he hated to admit it, he didn’t want to ruin Sangue’s first day seeing him at Beacon.

Like, yeah, he looked and even was an asshole, but he didn't see any gods forbidding Sangue from being happy.

“So,” he began, deciding to fill in the gaps Sangue missed because she only talked about how strong and nice he was, “I’m Apophis, but Sangue calls me ‘Apep.’ Don’t mind it too much.

“Sangue talks about you all as if this team is everything she has, and frankly, it is. So I respect all of you for that. It’d be… nice to have you introduce yourselves since Sangue would take forever in doing that.”

Although most of Apophis’ words were usually spoken out of spite or sarcasm to people he didn’t know of well, anyone could tell that he meant his words well. He also made sure not to talk like he normally did in front of Sangue’s teammates.

That stuff was reserved for Mark’s bar.

@Kaithas@Plank Sinatra@Krayzikk