Stage fright? Stage fright?
Did the sensei even see her performance? Her quirk was a dud. It was inefficient, multi step, and almost useless. Carol went back to the locker room more or less puzzled. As she got out of her gym clothes, wearing her summer gym clothes, she put her school uniform back on with the leggings scarf and mittens.
She saw the others in her class leave for lunch. She didn’t know what to expect the first day, and so it was best prepared that she had her own lunch in plasticware and eventually found her way to the lunchroom, by mostly seeing Saki as she turned a corner.
Since no one seemed to give her a dirty look, the initial disappointment and confusion had dulled a bit. She wasn’t going to give up. She had to be useful in other ways. Maybe supporting the class.
Support Class… hmm.
“Hey!” She seemed nice enough at the demonstration with her robot abilities.
“Hey Shaki.” She said, her antlers a warm welcoming yellow, but then Nadeko came into view with her vibrant red hair. So much the better. She raised her hand in greeting.
“Hey Nadeko. Want to eat together?” He hoped Saki overheard the welcome.
Nadeko raised her….magnet, and smiled in response as she walked closer.
”Hey, Carol! Sure! I don’t have any other plans!” She turned her head to look at Saki, the robot girl.
”You wanna come too?” she asked.
The hero of festivities that was before her in the quirk display came up to Saki. It was heartwarming to see her antlers give that bubbly yellow color while slipping her tongue on Saki her name. Saki put her hand up in a greeting manner and sweetly smiled at the girl.
“Oh hello Carol~ Your lights always cheer me up~”
She said as she blissfully watched the lights. Nadeko joined the two as well and asked Saki for dinner in the cafeteria together with Carol. Saki turned her still greeting hand towards Nadeko.
“Hmm, yes that would be quite nice Nadeko~”
Carol blinked.
“Oh you like them? Watch this.” She settled her lunchbox on her shoulder as she waved her fingers left and right.
“Do do do. Do do do. Do De do- do do.” She basically gave the little ‘jingle bells chime’ and her antlers seemed to respond in kind, the lights blinking back and forth in sequence or going through the various colors they were capable of shining. She laughed.
“Maybe I could be the classh cheerleader.” She joked just as the three got to the cafeteria.
“Sho, what do you think of the classh?” She asked them.
“Shome people got shum sherioush skills. Like you Shaki, that was nutsh!”Nadeko oohed and ahhed, and clapped once the lightshow was finished. Or, she tried to clap. It was more like giving herself a fistbump, and made solid metal tapping noises instead of a clapping noise.
”That was cool! But the lights aren’t all you can do, thought, right, you used them to power a torch, didn’t you? So, you can convert the lights to power?
And yeah, the class was intense. I mean, this is a Hero school, but I wasn’t quite prepared for how I’d be blown out the water like that. I’m going to have to step my game up to stand out!” Nadeko replied, visibly excited.
”Thatsh pretty much it exhactly. My lightsh are like, bashically sholid electrichity. I can charge phonesh with it too.” She stuck her tongue out. She got a little quiet when games stepped up was brought up. Everyone has a chance to stand out, except Carol.
When Saki told the antler girl that she liked her lights, Carol was immediately on the case to make them as pretty as they could be. Saki watched the glimmering lights float around her antlers in amazement as Carol hummed a melody. Saki lightly clapped as she slightly bounced up and down in excitement “Awa so pretty~” The light tudding of metal against each other caught her off guard. Saki glanced at Nadeko’s arms and softly smiled, she softly muttered “Cute~”
“I don’t really know anyone from the class yet but they seem nice~ Aha it is nothing special~” Saki warmly smiled at Carol. Nadeko had a point Carol could probably put out a lot of power if she tried. “Yes let’s keep trying to get better!~ We can help each other if we need too~” Saki put a softly clenched fist in the air next to her head. Carol didn’t seem as excited though. Saki gently picked up Carol her hand and softly held it with both her own hands smiling sweetly at the girl “It will be alright Carol~”
Carol piped back up with Saki and Nadekos talk. Getting better. It's why they're here. Maybe a little training and secondary prespective would help. She raised a mittoned glove with several yellow lights and two red at the tips.
"Go classh." she attempted to cheer with Saki.
Then Saki got her hands, the antlers flashing a mix of purple and red. Mostly she was surprised but when Saki offered a strange comforting look, Carols white skin flushed red. She hid a little behind her scarf. It felt like pity more then encouragement. But that was her fault for being a downer. She had to remember herself.
She looked up through her glasses and fist bump with her free hand.
"Darn tootin it ish! We got to keep up with the powershoushs, like Durga. Gosh she wazh a badassh."As they walked into the crowded room Carol held up her lunch bag, a sky blue cloud pattern with little emblems of popular and thought provoking cartoon characters on it.
"Got my lunch, Ill find ush a table. When we...ssssit… I gotta know more about you guysh. Magnetsh and tech are my jam.""Dulga was something else~ what about Acion he looked very spectacular and skilled~"
"Got my lunch here as well~" Saki sat down opposite of Carol and put down her lunch and pre bought ice coffee. She already started unpacking her bento box as Carol was getting excited a out hearing their quirks. At the mention of it she shortly glanced at Nadeko, then at her arms. "Nadeko how do you like. Eat. If I can make it easier for you just ask~" It felt kind of sympathetic to ask but she wanted to help if she could. Saki unwrapped the cloth from her bento and undid the lid. There was a neatly packed bento box with unusual amount of rice. Rice didn't cost much so she liked to eat it. With a soft click she opened her ice coffee and took a sip for the taste.
"My quirk is more or less the same as yours Carol~ I use a battery that outputs energy for either my: agility, intelligence, strength or outlet. It is kind of limited though, oh and I can do most thing a computer can, not so fast though~ How about you Nadeko-chan~"
”Oh, I can use my magnets to either attract, or repel. But they’re quite strong. And I can make parts of them work. They’re more precise than they look. Speaking of, this is how I eat,” replied Nadeko, before taking an unwrapped, metal bento box from her bag.
It was fastened shut with clasps on either side, which Nadeko opened by pulling from either side, before lifting off the lid. Inside was curry and rice, and one metal spork. She then reached back into her back and retrieved a steel flask. With one magnet, she kept the flask steady. She put the other to one side of the lid and pulled, twisting the screw-top lid and opening her flask full of plain old water. Then, she held her magnet above the spork and it flew up to her arm with a tinny clink and stuck there. This whole process, she did naturally and efficiently. This was, after all, how she lived.
”Yeah, I need to use a spork, like a westerner. But it is what it is,” she chuckled as she ate a mouthful.
Saki watched quietly as Nadeko told her she would be fine with eating, as expected of someone who lived with magnet arms "looks like you have gotten used to it over the years~" Nadeko began the process of opening her bento as well which seemed to be even quicker then opening her own bento. Saki was impressed, she gave a warm smile towards the girl "Glad for you~ Ah curry~ I eat the last bit of my curry with a spoon as well do it is fine~"
Saki stuck her chopsticks in the rice as she took a big chunk as well, quietly eating. She took a moment to look at Carol "Tell us the details about your quirk too if you will~" before taking a bit of soft bamboo out of her bento and happily eating it with her hand softly placed on her cheek. "Just the way panda's like them~"
As a westerner.
"I like shporksh." she wondered if that was a problem.
She unzipped her food box but honestly was watching with interest how Nadeko seemed to flourish everything. With metal, it was like she had telekinesis or something. It was strangely hypnotic.
"I know thish shoundsh weird but I can watch that all day." she pulled out her bit of plastic ware. The interior was a fried chicken wrap, basted battered chunks with pieces of cheese, lettuce tomatos sticking out one end. There was celery and carrot sticks with some dipping sauce, and finally a cute little pink cupcake with an icing caricature of a smiling girl with antlers. A little and embarrassing addition by her mom. She snatched it up and ate it quickly, her antlers flashing red, purple, green for a moment.
Saki asked a question, almost causing Carol to choke before she went for the thermos of hot chocolate. After a refreshing drink she began.
"Itsh really schiency. When I, and I quote, 'transform' Im jusht making an electric field around myshelf. It keepsh me from getting shocked. More importantly, it bashically allowsh me to create electrical energy in a shtable shtate. I need to move though. Itsh a byproduct of kinetic energy. I move, I make electric lightsh. Dont touch them though. They got a bit of a shock to them. Like licking a nine volt." that was pretty much it, though she was happy to show off her nerd a bit.
Nadeko smiled a small, almost shy, smile, and ate in silence as she listened. Her showing-off and confident experior was kind of an act, at the end of the day. A way to convince herself that she had no disability, and no need for pity. Still, seeing people genuinely impressed with her doing something normal, or at least normal to her, made her feel fizzy inside. It made her feel like she didn’t need to show-off or overcompensate to impress these two. They find the ways she’s shown ingenuity and adapted to get by just as impressive as a flashy show of power.
That said, Carol’s description of power left Nadeko with a question.
”Wait, so if I’ve got this right, the fast her move, the more power you generate, right?” She looked from Saki to Carol to see if either of them picked up what she was implying.
Carol nodded.
"Ash long as I'm exerting, the more lightsh I get. I tried it shticking my head out the window of a car and it didn't work. I guessh bloodsh gotta be pumping.""Yes same~ This is very interesting to watch~"
Carol her lunch seemed really diverse it has a lot of green, she knew people at these things but couldn't understand how it would be better then rice.
"Your lunch seems really nice Carol~ It looks… westerny~"
Carol began about her quirk explaining how it worked. It was sort of difficult to vision how it would work but it sounded powerful enough. Nadeko kept asking about her quirk and they came to the conclusion that it had to be movement made by herself to produce electricity.
Saki softly smiled and nodded at Nadeko. "I can spin you around Carol~ Like really really fast~ Maybe Nadeko can do so as well with magnets~"
Hearing Carol talk about her trying to activate her power by sticking her head out of the window "What do you transform into by the way?~" Saki knew it was probably something along the lines of a reindeer.
Carol nods, pushing her box a little towards Saki,
”It ish. I told the classh, I’m from Alashka. My mom and me are trying to get better with the local shtuff. I have to forche myshelf to like white rice.” She was chewing on the wrap when Saki recommended the spinning option.
”How will getting me dizzhy help?” She thought it was a joke.
She put down her food when she pointed to her nose.
”Remember, my noshe went red? I activate the electric field. Technically it’sh a transhformation quirk, and an emitter, and I guessh my antlersh make me a mutant too. Quirksh are weird. Here one shec.” She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and seemed to puff out her cheeks. The lights on her antlers went brighter, and the color of her pale cheeks and mostly her nose went red and bright, her nose almost glowing itself. Carol then grinned and booped Saki’s nose, her hair would get kind of staticy and the hairs on her arms would stand on end. Nadeko would feel the tingle of her electric field a few seconds later, like a field around her. Carol just grinned happily.
”That is so cool!” Nadeko exclaimed, eyes wide and leaning forward.
”Also, I didn’t know you were from Alaska! Isn’t it cold there?””It’sh friggin freezing!” She grabs the ends of her scarf and seems to tighten it.
”I shwear I shtill feel the wind blowing through me!” "Plain rice is great though~ Adding some green helps as well~ Like bamboo <3~"
Saki had picked up a bit of rice and a slice of bamboo and held it in front of Carol her nose. Carol didn't see the plan go into fruition. Saki exclaimed it would work though "you need to exert force on your body right?~ If we spin you the kinetic energy will make electricity for you~"
Carol exclaimed that her quirk was every type of quirk. It did look kind of like that, she heard that quirks would mix a lot through the years so maybe she was an X tier user. Just like Saki, her quirk was a combination between her parents' quirks. I thought Carol was powering herself up and pushed Saki her nose in. Saki jumped up and felt her hair be on end. Saki awkwardly pushed her hair down so as not to let it float around too much. "Very static he~"
”Hehe, shorry.” Carol she disengaged her quirk, holding up her plate for Saki to drip on the suggestion. She would eat the rice and the bamboo, keeping the chopsticks in her mouth. As she seemed to contemplate.
”Shpin me around hmm? You guys want to try a few thingsh? Maybe after classh shometime? You ever hear of combosh? It’sh like, you put quirksh together, they have a shynergishtic effect.” She made a motion like putting a ball in her hand.
”Yo, we could pull off shome crazy shtuff!” She seemed excited, her antlers lighting up a bright yellow.
Nadeko nodded, and then smiled. A few seconds passed as she finished what was in her mouth before speaking.
”I’m not sure if that would actually work but it’s worth giving a try! I’m down for trying combo moves out of you two are!”Saki put another bite in her mouth and blissfully smiled as she swallowed down her food “That sounds like a lot of fun Carol, Nadeko~! I’m sure we can think up some more moves together~”
And then came the planning, well not so much as one suggestion would segway to another conversation. But all and all friends were made. A great first lunch.
Expendable
Noctis
Carlyle
Xaltwind
The Otter
wintersoldier
TheMushroomLord
Neziul
Pen Name
Lugubrious
