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[velocityraptor]

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❤︎❤︎❤︎!

[reincarnesiac]

Ugh, but you said that's painful. We have got to find a better solution.

( He might consider it negligible, but Alex has never enjoyed knowing her friends are in pain. Especially over ordinary things. When she'd been learning how much pain Caleb had been hiding... or when she'd learned how to help mitigate the pain of Zayne's Evol acting up and hurting him, she couldn't stay silent and do nothing. It's just not who she is.

Ergo, Hawks is unceremoniously being co-opted into a "accessibility problem solving" program in her head. )

Hah! Who's spoiling who? I happen to like baking, though I don't always get it right the first try. But let me think, fluffy... sounds like either sponge cake or angel cake. With strawberries? Both would be good...

( Tapping her chin as she continues the mental debate over which kind of cake it likely had been. )

[velocityraptor]

Ah, no more than tugging out a strand of hair, it's nothing to worry about. I seriously do it constantly, it's part of how my quirk works.

[ He really hadn't meant to make it sound so dire. It's not. He barely notices. It's easy to ignore. ]

I'm sorry, I didn't ask. I was kind of busy networking. You barely get to eat at these things, mind you that always have plenty to drink.

[reincarnesiac]

( Nope, sorry, she's on this crusade, no one needs to be in extra pain when they don't need to. Even if it's a minor irritation! (This is a small problem. Small problems are the ones that are easier to address.) )

There should still be something better.

( She says, partly grousing, pouring herself the rest of the tea. )

Oh, those kinds of parties. I'm the worst at those, I just want to live at the refreshments table the whole time.

[velocityraptor]

[ He could shed feathers at anytime. He doesn't need them all to fly, and most of the time caught in combat, he doesn't need them all then either - but he doesn't. Hawks is pretty attached to his wings as they are, they're literally a part of him, so he appreciates her consideration in a way he can't really express. ]

Don't worry if there's not, but thanks for thinking about it.

[ Yet talking about those kinds of events makes him sigh in exasperation and fatigue even though he hasn't been to one in awhile. ]

Yeah, it's all about networking and charming people to give donations to charities and that kind of thing. I'm expected to mingle which is pretty much what I do. They're like all the side things I do, I find it gets in the way of me doing my actual job.

[ He's used to it, so being paraded around is nothing, but that's not why he wanted to be a hero. ]

[reincarnesiac]

( It just makes sense to her. Besides, if they're not watching out for each other even in things like shower sizes (which Alex does realize isn't usually a concern, but when it is?), they're neglecting the important parts of friendship and teamwork.

Which is apparently a little bit of overinvestment, but more importantly, caring that everyone's taken care of. )

If I have to figure out bathroom design on my own... okay, that'd probably be a disaster. But I'll definitely find out what I can.

( His sigh prompts her into a small snort of her own, draining the rest of her tea. There's a whole mood in that one sound alone. )

Are you the PR team's darling?

[velocityraptor]

[ He chuckles. ] Don't feel bad, any renovation I'd try to do would also be a disaster since I don't even know where to start. [ It has been a long long time since he got close to trying and that didn't even count. ]

My PR team loves me, yep. [ Hawks grins, unrepentant. ] It'd be a problem if they didn't.

[reincarnesiac]

So we'd both be better built for the deconstruction part instead of the reconstruction, huh?

( Something about that amuses her, and she laughs lightly, shaking her head. Admittedly, it's on brand for her. )

To some teams, I imagine it might just be work. Liking or hating your subject can be pretty unrelated. Not that we have many people with a PR team just for having Evols back home, but we also don't do heroes. Only in fiction.

[velocityraptor]

[ Hawks chuckles at that. ] Surprisingly, no. I don't have much in the way of collateral damage typically, destructive force isn't really my thing. I probably could break something if I wanted to. [ He's strong enough, but in terms of his world he's small and built for speed rather than strength. ] Maybe I could be the idea guy, or the guy who gets coffee. I'd be good at that.

[ Just call him the Hawks delivery service! ]

We have fiction about heroes too, it's hard not to when the whole world runs on the premise. There are some heroes whose PR teams must hate them. Endeavor's got a real sour attitude pretty much all the time. I took my public relations instructions seriously.

[reincarnesiac]

Oooh, you can be the go-for! ( But she smiles, shaking her head. Unfortunately I can be destructive if I'm not careful. Shouldn't be a worry here.

( She hopes. Her heart's been feeling fine since she arrived. It should be fine. Most all the time, she's okay, and when she'd been investigating with Zayne, there were outside reasons why she'd struggled. )

Mmm, we're supposed to with the Hunter's Association too. Not that we have as much bad public outcry when things are looking well. The problem is anything there's a problem. People get scared. They want answers, and someone to blame. Sometimes we're just the easiest target.

( And it turns into demands to do better, to do more, even if there's no logical or logistical way to do that. They're already deployed all over the city and surrounding regions. With people being turned into Wanderers through horrible science... no point dwelling. That's back home. She's here right now. )

[velocityraptor]

For the most part, for my life so far, everything has been good. It's just now that things are getting tense, there's a lot of unrest, and things are going to be bad in the future. I just know it. [ His quirk does not give him premonition, but he's a smart cookie. He can see the writing on the wall. ]

Mistakes were made, before I was born, and they're still being made. It's going to come back to bite us, and yeah, the public is not going to be that helpful. All the same. I want to protect them.

[ He's annoyingly heroic, to a fault. ] I'm sure this kind of thing happened in the past too but I...don't know a lot of history. Wasn't important enough to be taught to me.

[reincarnesiac]

Oh. Well, that's a headache and a terror. I hope things don't get to the kind of bad it takes a decade to rebuild after.

( Because a lineage and history of bad mistakes being consistently made is... unsettling to say the least. Too human, to say even less. )

... Hey, Hawks. Do you... want to see if we can learn any? While we're here?

( Ask Aurora for history books that tie to his world, or see if the library has any. )

[velocityraptor]

I'm hoping for the best. [ Because that's all he can do and he's the cheerful optimistic type.

The question gives him pause. ]

I suppose not. I don't really need to know it, unless it comes up for a mission or something.

[reincarnesiac]

Beats drowning in expectations of the worst!

( It's fine. There are deep concerns about potentially her world ending due to corporate greed and the drive to find eternal life. It's just a thing you sometimes find yourself facing. )

It might be a case like that... but that's some really messed up stuff you've had done to you, huh?

[velocityraptor]

[ He got over dwelling on the worst when he was young, it's better to look at things optimistically, there's no point in seeing only the bad parts. It'll just make him sad. ]

Ah...what makes you say that? [ There's a reason that he's not supposed to get close to people, likely because talking with him for more than a few minutes makes people ask questions that he's not really supposed to answer. ]

I don't know if my life is any more remarkable than anyone else's.

[reincarnesiac]

( Try out selective amnesia sometime, it performs much the same way! (Do not try it out. It is not recommended.) )

People controlling what you're allowed to know or not... there's a difference between protecting kids from doing dumb things online or making bad decisions about safety and not letting them learn history. Knowing patterns and where we come from is how we can recognize and try to avoid repeating mistakes all over again.

Or... it should be.

[velocityraptor]

[ He doesn't need amnesia even if there are things he'd rather not think about. ]

Hmmm, you have a point. [ He should rephrase that then, good to know for future conversations with other people. ] I don't know if it's a matter of permission or not, it just wasn't deemed necessary and so I don't. I know some basics, because they came up when I was dealing with a group of villains, like the quirk singularity theory and the history attached to that, but I don't really have time for reading most of the time.

[ He probably wouldn't even if he did, that's just work to him. He consumes things for work and that's about it. ] I have a really busy schedule.

[reincarnesiac]

( Come on, Hawks, it could be fun...! (It isn't.) )

Geez... Really wish you'd been allowed more of a sense of curiosity. Not a knock to you now!

( She looks away, out over the water. )

I just feel like kids should be allowed to be kids, no matter what else they are.

[velocityraptor]

I have a very big sense of curiosity, just in other contexts. [ Hawks smiles, but doesn't seem like he's going to explain much more on that point. ]

I don't think I ever really was one. [ He offers the wistful reflection, but also trails off instead of explaining why that is. He isn't sure he'd be inclined to, and it's not polite picnic talk. ]

[reincarnesiac]

( She laughs, shrugging her shoulders. )

Fair enough! And, well. Terrible as what we're facing, maybe we can all figure out how to be a little like kids sometimes when we're here. Like enjoy ourselves, or just do things that adults aren't 'supposed' to enjoy. Like... I don't know! Fingerpainting.

[velocityraptor]

[ Hawks just stares at her a moment too long. ]

What do you mean by fingerpainting? [ Sure, he's met kids, but none of them were actively painting at the time. ]

[reincarnesiac]

... Okay. We're totally fingerpainting after this mission. You, me, and primary colors on paper.

( She holds up both hands, wiggling her fingers. )

It's exactly what it sounds like. You paint with your fingers!

[velocityraptor]

I've never painted anything in my life. [ Hawks chuckles lightly. ]

I mean I guess it can't hurt to try.

[reincarnesiac]

Great, means I get to see the very first Hawks original! Just you wait, I'll frame it. Then put it on my fridge.

[velocityraptor]

[ He laughs a little more openly, sitting back on his hands and grinning. ]

Yeah, sure, why not. I'll even sign it for you. It'd be worth something for you in my world.

[reincarnesiac]

Worth something in mine, too, but that's for sentimental value. Priceless!

( A pause. She snorts, looking sidelong at Hawks. )

I could never let the artist who hires me as a bodyguard see though, he'd be asking why I don't have any of his art up around my flat. Like anything he makes is in my budget.