night of the hunter

[chosenfake]

Who: Luke and anyone else in the vicinity!
What: It's deer season.
Where: Silverglen Retreat and the forest surrounding it.
When: April 18th, daytime.
Warnings:

[ A. Silverglen Retreat (Red, Bronze, and Green flights only.)]

[After proving he could do the freaky fire thing with his hands, Luke has been admitted to the village. He's getting a lot of looks, though. He's human, and pretty short, and his fiery red hair is uncommon enough to be remarked upon. Most night elves have shades of white, black, or blue hair. It's like walking into the dark side of anime.

He keeps to himself as he checks out the little market and the way the people live, only asking small questions with a lot of apologies and grateful smiles. Sooner or later, he'll endear himself to them. Maybe. In the meantime, he's learned what a barter system is. Without any real marketable skills besides his sword, that means he has to go hunting.

Oh boy.

If one doesn't find him wandering the stalls in the morning, by afternoon he's bringing in a couple of freshly-killed deer in exchange for spices and clothing.]

[ B. The outlying forest. ]

[Luke is a mighty hunter. The mightiest of all hunters. He actually doesn't know the first thing about hunting a wild animal, so he's spent the past couple hours in a tree hoping this crazy idea works.

One may aid him in stalking and killing the stags. Or, they can simply watch him drop out of the sky on one's back. He's able to kill one after wrestling it for a minute. In the end, hitting the deer very hard in the head finally earns him the quest completion.

Time for a break. He plops down on the grass, panting, covered in fur and leaves.]

Comments

[chosenfake]

[Luke couldn't even PRETEND to be smooth. He's just bad at existing. He's obviously flustered, and he ducks his head to avoid eye contact-- though he doesn't try to run off now that Zelos is taking him halfway seriously.]

Uh--

[Oh god.]

S... someone special? Uh, n... not really?

[Very convincing.]

[wilder]

[So very convincing]

Hm? Really? No one at all?

[chosenfake]

[Look at him, trying to lie to the master of lies. How cute.]

Nn... no? I mean, does it really matter?

[wilder]

[It's so cute when they're stupid. He just smiles and slings a free arm around Luke's neck]

Haha, yes. It does. ♥

[chosenfake]

[That smile is terrifying, as is the sudden invasion of space. This is like half of a stranglehold and he knows it.]

Well...

[A pause.]

Okay, what if there was someone? Just, you know, what if.

[wilder]

[Just think of how much lloyd had to endure this]

[But oh! He knows this not really hypothetical game]

Yeah?

And is this someone taken? You know, if there was someone?

[chosenfake]

[At least Luke realizes he has romantic feelings.]

Not that I know of.

[wilder]

[Yeah good job. the eight year old beat Lloyd on emotional awareness]

Oh? And hypothetically, would there be a reason you can't make a move?

[chosenfake]

[The eight year old also had to kill a lot of people to do it tbh.]

I'm really close to this person. Uh, hypothetically. They were cold to me at first-- not that I blame them-- but they've watched me all this time. They mean a lot to me, more than almost anything else. When I met them again in Exsilium... it was really, really important.

I... I'm afraid I'll ruin everything.

[wilder]

[Hey whatever works!! Except try to kill less gosh Luke]

[And yeah, he's wondering who this person is supposed to be, because frankly he only really knows Jade and Asch]

[Which no way in hell it's either of those two, right? ....Right?]

[But okay seriously now!]

Hmmm....

That's a pretty valid concern to have, I'll admit.

[chosenfake]

[That's like asking Zelos to stop having casual sex tbh.

IT'S A HUGE COMMITMENT.]

I'm not even sure if they like me back. How do you even tell?

[wilder]

[SHHH DON'T REMIND HIM HOW LITTLE SEX HE'S HAD LATELY. IT'S A DEPRESSING THING.]

How do you tell?

[You're asking a guy that assumes everyone hates him until they spell otherwise out to him, OKAY. But okay, he can fake it, right? Just think about...other people!]

Well...it depends! Everyone will react differently. I mean some might out right tell you, others...well-

Do they like spending a lot of time with you, or get easily flustered with you when they don't with others?

[chosenfake]

[Oh god, he's no good at this either.]

We... didn't exactly have a lot of free time. We were trying to save the world, so...

[He scratches the back of his head.]

I don't think so, but she does get mad at me a lot.

[There you go, it's not Asch.]

[wilder]

[Oh thank goodness it's not Asch. Thank the goddess]

Yeah? Well- [OH GOOD THAT SOUNDS FAMILIAR HE KNOWS TSUNDERES] what does she get mad about?

[chosenfake]

[... Is 'everything' a good answer?]

I never really know what it's going to be. Usually it's because I've said something dumb, even if I didn't mean for it to come out that way.

[wilder]

Oh.

Well...that could mean she likes you, or it means...the complete opposite!

It's all about context, you know!

[chosenfake]

[He scritches the back of his neck.]

In Exsilium, we usually just sat around and talked about stuff. She never ignored me, even when it was the middle of the night. So... I dunno.

This girl stuff is hard.

[wilder]

Not ignoring you is a good sign. Lots of people would hang up on you if you called in the middle of the night. [INCLUDING HIM...if he actually slept in Exsilium but w/e]

[He gives a chuckle and a pat on the back as he pulls away] Yeah, it sure is. You're not alone in that thought.

[chosenfake]

[HAHAHA... HA HA... HA.] No kidding...

[His shoulders slump a little.]

Well, if she ends up here, I guess you can see for yourself.

[A pause.]

... But if you talk to her like those girls over there, she'll probably kill you.

[wilder]

Really, huh?

[he shrugs; hardly intimidated]

That's fine, I know how to take a punch.

[chosenfake]

She's a soldier. And she always has knives.

[Luke might also get a bit jealous, but he doesn't want to admit that.]

She's kinda scary, honestly.

[wilder]

...See Luke, describing her as a terrifying lady with knives is probably one of those things that doesn't win you many favors.

[chosenfake]

Look, I just wanted you to know what to expect-- it's not like--

[FUCK. He's giving up.]

Never mind!

[wilder]

[He laughs]

Don't worry, I'll heed your warning.

[Not that he's really all that worried because seriously. Look at the girl he likes]

And of course, look forward to meeting her.