apocalypsehowcomm | LOG | July Catch-All

Of all the places on the ADI's campus, the library is where Hunter can often be found. It isn't nearly as grand as what he's used to in the Boiling Isles at the Emperor's castle, but it's something, and there's a comforting familiarity being surrounded by knowledge. The whole world could change but books? Books will always be the same.

He's currently at a table, hunched over a number of books on various Earth subjects, reading away like a diligent student. Flapjack is with him, perched on top of his head, and it's the bird who spots Raine first. He lets out a loud cheep which causes Hunter to glance up, and when he sees the coven head his jaw drops.

"Raine?? You're here??" He's already on his feet, hurrying over, looking entirely bewildered. "When did you here?!"

The sound of the Golden Guard's voice clicked before they even saw him. Raine stopped dead in their tracks and swivelled their attention to the approaching boy like they were a deer caught in headlights, not that the comparison would mean anything to either of them.

A million things ran through their mind before it slowed down enough for them to straighten their posture and nod to him. The last time they saw the Golden Guard he was trying to arrest them for an attempt to invade Belos's mind. They know he was in there, even helped him escape from afar.. but they never did find out what exactly happened to him after he seemingly ran away from the coven, only that the Emperor wanted him back.

After a moment of stunned silence Raine realized they were getting lost in their own head and snapped out of it. Shaking their head a bit before looking down at Hunter and offering an unnerved but patient smile.

"A few days ago. I've been trying to adjust but it's rather different than anything back home, isn't it?" Their eyes flickered up to the palisman with him. They'd seen it both before they absconded from the mind-invasion spell and when Hooty was talking to it.. but it was odd to really process that the Golden Guard had a palisman even before he ran off.

"Whose your friend?" They asked as they gestured a bit to the bird.

Luckily for Raine, Hunter has absolutely no clue about the future happenings of the Boiling Isles, including the attempt on Belos' mind. That's great for them! No irritating little bootlicker attempting to immediately arrest them in the middle of the library!

On the flipside, because Hunter doesn't know, he's already in his very pathetic puppy dog please validate my existence mode. It's wonderful to see someone who doesn't loathe his very existence in the human realm, and while they certainly aren't friends, they're amiable coworkers, and for Hunter, unfortunately, that's basically the closest he's ever gotten to friendship. So when Raine smiles Hunter grins back.

And then that grin drops when Raine asks about Flapjack.

"Oh! Uh - " Right, right. He hasn't really been keeping Flapjack hidden here, since there hasn't been a need. Of course, he's kicking himself now, because any lie he comes up with it something Raine will see right through, and they'll tell the Emperor, and Belos will -

Hunter's hands unconsciously shake as he sucks in a breath. "A... palisman," he says nervously. Flapjack gives a little cheep in greeting, though he looks wary, too. "My palisman."

This was.. weird. They weren't exactly sure how to handle this. They didn't exactly want to pretend they were loyal to the Emperor still.. not that they ever were but the kid didn't need to know that. They'd try to play along as best they could but if it came down to it they may indulge at least some of the truth.

Raine blinked a bit blankly as Hunter responded, staring at the palisman like they were trying to figure it out. Though.. very quickly Raine's neutral expression turned into a warm smile as they lowered down a bit to get a closer look at Flapjack. They looked nervous, both of them. It was a bit odd, the guards didn't have them, neither did most of the Covenheads, other than Lilith to their recollection, but that all ended before they officially took their position. He also had a staff like Belos, last they checked..

Then there was the reason for the confiscations and..

"They seem very attached to you, I didn't know you had a palisman." They chuckled as they straightened up, though their expression turned a bit more worried as they pressed on. "Does the Emperor know about them..?"

Edited 2022-08-10 22:53 (UTC)

There it is, the question Hunter is completely dreading. There's no way for him to get around this, no lying, no being clever with his words to get around the subject. He sucks in a deep breath, giving Flapjack a small glance for reassurance.

"No," he replies, his voice tense. "No, he doesn't. I'd like to keep it that way."

He has no idea how Raine will take that. As far as he knows they're completely loyal to the Emperor, so he's taking a huge risk here. Of course, he is too, Belos is his family, but... but he can't let Flapjack be taken. He knows what will happen if he does, and the thought of subjecting the bird to that fate is unthinkable.

They watch him tense up, wary and nervous. He thinks they'll tell Belos, doesn't he? Raine weighed their options, they could give up the goat right now, tell him they don't care about what Belos thinks.. but they don't know how comforting that would be if HE still cares what Belos thinks. They'll have to find a middle ground.

Raine made sure their movements were easy to track as they reached out to Hunter's shoulder, resting a hand there gently as they cracked a more wary smile to him. "Don't worry, if you don't want him to know I won't say a word. It's not my place to step in."

They pat his shoulder before their attention scanned around the library, then down to Hunter. "How long have you been here? Not the library specifically but this.. world, I suppose?"

Hunter is expecting the worst here, and his eyes dart nervously to Raine's hand when it settles on his shoulder as he involuntarily flinches a tiny bit. Touching is a bad indicator, in his mind, it can only mean that this was the wrong move. Even though he's in a whole other realm from the Boiling Isles, he should've kept Flapjack hidden.

Those thoughts are swirling around in his mind as Raine speaks, and lucky for him, their reaction is entirely reasonable.

It's not my place to step in.

His eyes widen and he stares in total shock at that, silent for several long moments even as Raine moves onto more important matters. Sorry, give him a second to process that question.

"Oh - " Yeah, he needs to answer that. "About two months, approximately? The same as - the Owl Lady. She's here too, and I believe we arrived here at about the same time."

They didn't blame him for needing some time to respond. This must be hard, even without knowing the whole truth about the Emperor and the Day of Unity and.. everything really. They don't know what he saw in the Emperor's mind, but it had to be bad. The least they could do is throw the boy a bone until that time comes for him.

"That's quite a bit of time to be here on your own, though I'm not surprised someone like the Golden Guard has been able to manage in such a strange place."

They nodded and kept their glance off to the side. "Have you spoken much with the Owl Lady in your time here? It may be best that we work together as the only witches here thus-far, pool our resources until we can make sure we can get home safely, don't you think?"

Hunter at least perks up at the compliment. Even the slightest amount of validation from an authority figure is something he's going to accept, he practically thrives on it. That, and the fact that Raine doesn't seem to mind that he has a palisman, makes this so much easier.

"I... have," he admits that a little reluctantly, because she's a criminal and all. It must look bad that he not only has a palisman, but it associating with someone so firmly against the Emperor. "There were some creatures in a town outside of this one causing some problems, we went hunting for them together."

They could tell he was still nervous about this, they understood that instinct. It wasn't easy, trying to play by someone else's rules and having too much to prove. They had to guess he had it worse, just.. knowing how the Emperor was, and what they've learned.

The least they could do is assure him he doesn't need to worry about siding with the 'enemy', at least when it comes to Eda.

Raine nodded along and gave a wry smile as they glanced back down to him. "I take it that went well enough? She didn't give you too much trouble, did she? I know she can come on pretty strong sometimes." Raine let out a nervous chuckle and nodded, "We're old friends, you don't have to worry about getting in trouble with working with her when it comes to me, okay?"

Pretty strong is certainly an understatement when they're talking about Eda, in Hunter's opinion. He makes a bit of a face, because he really, really isn't used to Eda's anything, but he doesn't complain. Their personalities might clash but, for the most part, he's been able to work with her.

Of course, what's way more surprising to him is the new fact that Raine and Eda already know each other. Just - what!! Hunter looks baffled. "You're old friends?? How?! Why do you know each other??"

At Hunter's evident shock Raine couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. They crossed their arms over their chest and nodded with a somewhat wry smile. "It isn't something I've advertised much, we haven't really seen each other in some time." They let out a soft sigh, it felt nice to talk about her- about them both, without it necessarily being to her.

They had a chance to reminisce without the raw emotion of everything else getting in the way.

"We met when we were kids, at an Instruction Future Witches of Tomorrow event, shortly after I started to attend Hexside with her and, well.. it's history from there really. The point is.. I know Eda, she's strong and she's capable, and she'll be a great help here, regardless of her criminal status. After all, what Belos doesn't know won't hurt him. Even if he did find out, you can always say you were leveraging her skills in order to return to your duties with haste."

As he listens hunter tilts his head, appraising Raine and trying to picture them and Eda as kids. It's really difficult though, so he figures he's going to just have to trust Raine on this. Which, honestly, that's fine. Raine's an adult and an authority figure and it makes him feel pretty comfortable doing that.

"I... suppose that's true. He would probably be alright with that." Probably. Maybe? Hunter honestly isn't sure, this is entirely new territory for him and as much as he doesn't like it, he knows at this point that it's a necessity. They all need to be working together in order to get home, and that's the most important thing here.

So having thought that through, he gives a nod with a bit more confidence. "Yes. Right. He'll understand that logic."

"Glad we can agree." They nodded and their gaze swept over the walls of bookshelves again. Crossing one arm over their chest, the other propping up on it to rub at their chin. They glanced over at Hunter before smiling brightly, it would probably be good to change the topic.

"So what have you been able to figure out about this place so far? Anything important or even interesting to know? I'm still pretty out of my depth here so if you know anything of note it could be a big help to getting adjusted while we're all here together."

It certainly would be easier than trying to keep pushing it by talking to Eda.

At Raine's question Hunter droops a little. He wishes he had some good information to share, but sadly that isn't the case.

"I haven't learned much more than what ADI has provided us with." Which, to be fair, in his opinion is quite a bit of good information. "I suppose... our magic is tied to an entity, so we aren't supposed to be using it. That makes it a lot harder to complete our missions."

LOG | July Catch-All | Closed for Now

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