Author's Note
Warning for language, swearing, implied past rape, and implied past sexual assault
This story was written for me by DeadlyAnimalsAreCute who's character is Blake in these stories and the main USAHS story. I hope you enjoy and let them know how much you like the chapter!
Austin knew attending a hero school in California meant stepping outside of his comfort zone every now and then. He also knew he would be thrusted into an environment filled with all sorts of colorful characters. The public may have differing opinions on heroes and trainee heroes but one thing they can agree on is they're…colorful; his classmates certainly are.
Blake is one of those colorful characters. In Austin's opinion, he's very colorful. That is to say, Blake is overwhelming, chaotic, completely insane, and probably had been dropped on the head too many times as a baby. No one could get any confirmation on the last part because Blake switches his answer every time it gets brought up.
"Oh yeah, my parents really liked juggling me as a baby. Sometimes they miss the catch."
"Nah, of course not! They were always careful handling me, they even put bubble wrap around my head. It was really hard to breath in it, haha!"
In hindsight, the smaller boy was definitely toying with them.
Life never went as expected, Austin had enough unwanted experience on that front. He shouldn't have been surprised when the French boy latched on to him, much to his dismay.
"Auuuuuuustiiiiiiin, where are yooooooouuuu? Stop hiding, you said you'd stab me today!"
"Hey, why are you running from me? Ohhhh, you're trying to get faster right? I can help! I'll be the murderer and you'll be the victim! Lemme grab my ax first!"
Despite the hiccups that was Blake and Austin's initial rough relationship, Austin did find himself growing attached to the smaller boy. Abel did ask him if Blake was forcing him to hang out by holding something over his head but that wasn't the case at all. Despite Blake's "intensity", he was a surprisingly nice guy, if in a thoroughly unconventional and misguided manner.
After dealing with him for weeks, Austin had one rule when it came to Blake: never expect anything normal out of him. So when Blake came up to him last night asking if he was free to hang out the next day, Austin felt that familiar rabbit perform somersaults in his chest as invisible pixies rubbed ice cubes down his spine. Oh wait, that was his heart and every instinct in his body screaming at him to run away. Nevertheless, he gave Blake a smile that would make Sheldon Cooper proud and told him yes, he was free to hang out tomorrow.
"Great! I'll come get you early in the morning!" Blake had said. It only occurred to Austin that Blake never specified the time when he settled in for bed that night. Then he also realized Blake never told him where they were going.
So when Austin woke up on the day of the supposed outing, he found himself staring blearily at a white, black, and purple blob that transformed into Blake's smiling face when he found his glasses.
Blake.
In his room.
Even though he locks the door before sleeping every night.
"Hi Austin!" Blake chirps, much too peppy for someone to be in the morning. "I've been waiting for ya to wake up and you finally did! Man, you wake up way too late! I didn't wanna wake ya so I was sitting here waiting for hours! It was absolute torture, especially since I really wanted to play with Quetz and the other snakeys but I think they were also sleeping so I didn't wanna bother them as well. Also I might wake you up if I started messing in their tanks and then you'd think I was a robber and stab me, then I'd die! Wouldn't that be awful? Well, for you maybe. I don't mind dying too much, I don't know why people are afraid of dying really, it's just a new adventure when that happens! Ohhhh, that reminds me of the time-."
It's been a while since mornings were this noisy, a few months to be exact. Coincidentally the timeline matches up perfectly to the day he moved out of his Kansas home into hero school. It's been a long time since he had someone in his room talking his ear out at… Austin quickly checks his clock… 9 in the morning while he's sitting in bed half naked and trying to process everything. Why was Blake in his room talking his ear out while he's sitting in bed half naked and trying to process everything?
He immediately leaps out of bed and only realizes his legs were still fighting with the blankets when he falls face-first on the ground lunging for his shirt. In the floor below Megan looked at the ceiling, broccoli in hand and mouth in mid-chew, wondering if an earthquake was happening.
"Did you break your nose? I know how to fix that, can't do anything about the blood though." Blake pipes up cheerfully.
"Okay, okay," he says as he tries to fit his head through the wrong shirt hole while stumbling around with the grace of a rhino, "just go outside for a minute, please." Without waiting for a response, he all but kicks down his own door and literally throws Blake out the room. He'd have to apologize later but base on the giggle his smaller friend gives as he's yeeted out of the room, he doesn't seem to mind.
Once the door is slammed shut, he breathes a sigh of relief before properly putting on his favorite shirt. For the first time today he was left in silence with his pet snakes who are totally judging his performance based on the look Quetz is giving him.
"Give me a break, I wasn't expecting any of this." He grumbles quietly to his snakes to which they bobbed their heads condescendingly in response.
He grumbles again and takes a deep breath, just trying to get his bearings. What was happening again? Why was Blake in his room? Didn't he lock the door last night? Oh that's right, Blake wanted to do something with him and was going to get him "early in the morning", conveniently omitting the time and the place. He sighs again, it certainly was early in the morning but at least it was nice out. The morning air coming in from his open window crisp and a little cool but not chilly.
He jumps once again at the sudden rapid knocks on the door and accidentally bumps his hip against the table. "Austin? I counted and it's been exactly a minute. Can I come in?"
This day is already going fantastic. "N-No, not yet. I still need to get ready. Give me another minute, well actually give me five!" He quickly backtracks knowing full well Blake was going to count again and his nerves can't handle more knocking within such a short period of time.
About five minutes later, he stands more or less presentable in acceptable clothes and opens his door. Blake was still standing there patiently counting but his eyes lit up with genuine joy when he sees him.
"Are you ready? Can we go?"
"Yeah, lets-." He didn't get to finish his sentence as Blake pulls his arm with surprising strength and semi-drags him all the way downstairs. Austin barely manages to wave goodbye to a confused Megan when the two are already out the door.
"It's gonna be so much fun, I swear! You'll love it!" Blake said, his grip on Austin still strong and he doesn't seem incline to release him anytime soon.
"Where are we going?"
"Ohhhh, I forgot to tell ya, didn't I? Whoops." Blake definitely didn't sound sorry. "It's my friend's birthday today so we're gonna celebrate it and I'm gonna introduce you to her."
Austin nearly tripped over his own feet. "Wait, her?"
"Yeah her!" Blake smiles back with genuine excitement. "Her name's Lazuli and she's one of my bestest friends! She's so cool and she's so tall! Not as tall as you but taller than me, but everyone's taller than me. I don't mind though, being short has its perks and I take advantage of that. Lazuli taught me so many things like how to climb in a window, how to pick locks, how to steal things, how to sneak around, that kind of stuff. One time we snuck into someone's shed and took their pliers. I dunno why but Lazuli really wanted those pliers from that shed in particular. I think she was mad at the owner because if she really needed pliers she would've stolen them from a store. She's so strong too and we like to play fight, sometimes she strangles me until I pass out if I piss her off too much, haha."
How can someone so small be so strong? Austin had a lot of questions but that was the one that stood out the most now that he nearly tripped for the third time in a row. He really should ask Blake to slow down but this was the happiest and most excited Austin has ever seen Blake. Considering this is Blake-I-Laugh-As-I-Burn-Myself-Marseilles (yes, Austin saw him touch a hot stove because James was an ass), that was saying something.
"Does she know we're coming? Should I get something for her?"
"Ahaha, of course not. It's a surprise! Don't worry about it!"
Again, there was that rabbit doing cartwheels and the pixies who just won't leave him alone but Austin quashed the feeling. It was going to be fine, everything will be fine. Blake knows what he's doing and he won't lead them into trouble and his female friend is not going to strangle anyone.
Oh who was he kidding, this is going to be bad.
They walked for hours, Blake chattering about nothing the entire way about different species of vampire bats and the amount of rabies they can cause or something. Austin wasn't really paying attention at that point. He didn't really know how to interact with girls and knowing Blake was throwing a strange girl at him did not help matters. But he had agreed and Blake looks so happy he couldn't bear to say anything. Besides, it's already been a few hours and Austin was already hopelessly lost by the first 15 minutes.
For some reason Blake didn't want to take any form of public transportation and forced them to walk the entire way. He seemed to know where he was going, as if he'd taken this route many times. Well he did say Lazuli was his best friend so it makes sense he'd know the way. He really hopes Blake had talked this through with her parents and they're aware of what's going on. He is going to die of embarrassment if they knew nothing of this and opened the door to find Blake had dragged a random boy to their house.
Pretty soon the sidewalks turn rough and potholes litter the roads. The once fancy houses became rundown and in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint. Several mangy dogs barked as they walked past and the pedestrians out and about openly stared at them. Well, they stared at Austin, they seemed to be used to Blake's presence.
Austin was ready to explode from nerves and the rabbits in his chest had multiplied by now but the most eerie thing was Blake's behavior and silence. The smaller boy had squared his shoulders and refused to look at Austin at all, preferring to scan the area constantly as they walked. The hand that had held Austin's wrist had let go when they entered the neighborhood but most of all, Blake was quiet, speaking only to give him instructions.
"Keep your head up and don't hunch over." Blake whispered, quieter than Austin has ever heard him. "Don't look anyone in the eye but don't look weak and don't show emotion."
Questions were on the tip of his tongue but a particularly mean-looking man got up from his seat at that sorry excuse for a porch so Austin did his best to follow the instructions. Blake can answer them later.
He wasn't particularly surprised when they stopped at a house that actually looks serviceable in comparison to the rest on the block. What did surprise him was when Blake took him around the back where no one could see them and pointed at a pile of rubble.
"Austin, hide over there." He says with the most apprehensive and serious expression Austin has ever seen. "I'm going to go and scout to make sure he's not home. Stay quiet, don't move, don't do anything, and take this." He takes out a purple dagger out from his boot, sheathe and all. "Use it if you need to."
He's going to die of a panic attack, why did he let Blake talk him into coming here again? "Who's he?"
"She lives with a pedophilic rapist," for the first time since he knew Blake, Blake was noticeably on edge, "he's awful."
Years ago, a strange woman approached a very young Austin while his mom was distracted screaming after his sister. She had been all smiles and standing a bit too close to him despite his repeated requests for her to stay away. She finally left when his mom had come charging out of nowhere and took him back inside. Afterwards she had a chat with him regarding stranger danger.
Confused and frightened, Austin could only do as he's told. Blake didn't give him much of a choice to protest or do anything other than obey. He sat hidden behind the rubble shaking a little. He had never seen his friend like this, Blake was always so happy and mischievous. This environment clearly wasn't good for him; it wasn't good for anyone.
He watched as Blake skittered around the house, leaving him alone with his thoughts. It's okay, this is Blake. His best friend lives here so he knows what to do, Austin doesn't need to worry about Blake. This is fine. Why was his best friend living with a rapist of all people? And a pedophile! Does that mean Blake's friend is an adult? Oh God, he can't talk to girls but he can't talk to women at all.
He was so deep in his thoughts he didn't see Blake come running towards him until he was up in his face.
"Hey!" He whisper-shouted, causing Austin to jump out of his skin. "No one's home, come inside before he does!"
Okay, maybe something was going right, hopefully. Austin gets up to follow Blake, very much feeling like a lost puppy.
The previously closed front door was already opened, curtesy of Blake. Come to think of it, he didn't know Blake's best friend gave him the key to her house, that's a little weird. The insides were about as ratty as he expected for something that's housing a rapist in a very bad neighborhood. The walls needed a fresh coat of paint, the couches were old and patched up with duct tape, and those windows definitely needed some new curtains. Only the TV looks new.
"Lazuli stole that TV." Blake said when he saw Austin eyeing it.
That explains everything.
"She's thinking of stealing new chairs and if she can, maybe a new dining table." His crazy friend added as he led them into the pitiful excuse of a dining room. One look at those chairs and Austin knew those things aren't gonna hold his weight but the fridge looks somewhat serviceable though. The fridge that Blake is opening and has begun pulling various foods out.
"B-Blake?!"
"Oh don't worry about it, Mr. Ashe takes care of the food. As long as I pay him back, he won't mind. 'Sides, we didn't eat lunch or breakfast, remember? Aren't'cha hungry?"
Oh that's right, Blake had dragged him out of bed as soon as he woke up and they walked nonstop for hours.
"Do you know how to cook? Should I do it?"
"Nah, it's fine. I brought you out here, I'll make the food."
What Blake ended up making was certainly food and it was edible. That was the nicest thing Austin could say about it. They ended up sitting on the floor because even Blake didn't trust the chairs and when they were done, Blake washed the dishes and then slapped nearly 200 dollars on the table.
"…Is that for Mr. Ashe?" Austin asked a little hesitantly.
"Yep!" Blake cheerfully replied, pulling out a Sharpie and a piece of paper out of his-. Wait were those inside his jeans the entire time?! "That way Mr. Ashe or Lazuli doesn't have to steal food." And then he happily draws a silly face on the paper and puts that under the bill.
"O-Oh, uhh. Is Mr. Ashe the rapist?" Based on how Blake is behaving, he seriously doubts it but he wanted to make sure.
"Haha nah, he's the nicest guy I've ever known. He steals stuff and he always wins at gambling." Blake gives him a knowing glance at that. "Always. Never play against him."
Yeah, he got that hint. "So your friend is an orphan and she lives with two men, how old is she?"
By then Blake was leading him upstairs and he could see other badly painted doors most likely leading to other badly furnished bedrooms. They stop in front of a rather innocuous door and Austin watches as Blake pulls out a thin silver wire woven and hidden very cleverly within his belt buckle. No one in a million years would've been able to see that wire; Austin wouldn't have if he hadn't been watching Blake like a hawk. He could only watch speechless as his dark-haired friend uses the silver wire to pick the locked door open and gestures grandly into the open room like he hadn't just broken into a place.
"Tada! This is Lazuli's room! She's turning 20 and nah, there's another lady who lives here, her name's Rose. She's a stalker, got someone to put a restraining order on her, and is harassing some guy's wife nonstop." Blake finally turns around to see the shock on Austin's face and gives him a quizzical look. "Austin, y' alright?"
"I-You-. You don't have a key." He splutters.
The look on his friend's face was one of incredulousness. "What, to Lazuli's room? Yeah, obviously. Why would I have a key?"
Austin flails his arms in slight distress. "But-but you just used a wire and picked the lock!"
"…Yeah? How else would we be able to go inside her room?"
"We're breaking into her room! She'd be upset!" And it wasn't nice to break into a woman's private room but he didn't say that. "We should just stay out here and wait for her!"
"Ohhhhh," Blake says and a lightbulb seemed to have turned on in his head, "nah, she doesn't mind me doing that. I do that all the time! And no one in this house minds me coming in either, how did you think I got in here?"
Well, at least she won't be mad. Austin let out a sigh of relief before he blinks as Blake's words sinks in. "Wait, you mean you don't have the house key?"
"Ahaha, well I have a key." He holds up the silver wire with that oh-so-familiar shit-eating grin that everyone in 1-A has come to know and dread. Except Synaes because she can't see obviously, but she would dread it if she could see it.
There's nothing he can say. Was that how Blake got into his room this morning? Yeah, that makes sense, except now this means he can access Austin's room whenever he wants or anyone's room really. "Uhh Blake, that's nice but can you not lockpick my room or anyone's room?"
Again there's an odd glimmer in his friend's eye. "Okie dokie, I promise I won't lockpick anyone's locked bedroom doors ever."
Somehow that completely fails to reassure him but Blake was pushing his way into Lazuli's room so Austin follows him without further comment. He shuts the door behind him while taking stock of Lazuli's room.
Lazuli's room, for lack of a better word, looks completely bare and almost untouched for a room that houses a so-called thief. He'd expected mismatching furniture and new things but the only items that were in her room was an old, untouched looking bed, some plain-colored cushions, and a green dresser that looks vastly out of place among the brown and white. Well, she is a thief so she probably has hidden, secret compartments here and there. Maybe the dresser hid a secret room?
Despite the bare and cold environment, Blake looked completely at home. The French boy hopped on the bed, giggling and sighing happily as he mussed up the previously untouched sheets. Austin took that as an invitation to sit down hesitantly on Lazuli's bed and immediately fetched a cushion to protect his bottom from the extremely hard mattress. He had sat on rocks with much more softness than this "mattress" and the only reason he decided not to check if it was secretly a pillar in disguise is because Blake was literally throwing his body this way and that on the hard surface.
Blake also likes being stabbed by Robyn's sword so maybe Lazuli does sleep on a rock slab.
"I miss her bed so much, it's really great when you're trying to get the hard knots out of your back y'know?" Blake grins at Austin. "Although you might break your back if you throw yourself the wrong way, ahaha."
So Blake also feels the hardness. Well, at least it's not just him.
"That reminds me of the time I snuck into Lazuli's room and she was really upset because Norman was home and she was really scared for me. Actually I think I was really scared too because Norman tried to get me alone in a room with him and he was really strong and I was panicking…" Blake says looking at Austin all the while. Despite his friend's ever cheerful tone, Blake's eyes were wide and partially glazed over and that smile showed too many teeth to be sincere.
"What happened?" Austin asked, genuinely concerned. "Were you okay?"
"Yeah, I was. It was just scary ya know? But I was okay!" Blake replied cheerfully; too cheerfully, too loudly, too quickly. Everything about it just struck Austin as…wrong.
He could feel the stress in him rising as Austin desperately tried to figure out how to deal with this new development when he heard a soft scraping noise coming from outside the window. Thankfully Blake jumps up from Lazuli's bed in joy.
"Oh that's her! Lazuli's home!"
Blake runs over to the window and throws it open to reveal a rather young, slim, red-haired and red-eyed woman wearing what amounts to old black thug clothes and holding a small metal wire in one hand. She was actually quite attractive even with the grime and the deer in the headlights look on her face. As Austin watched Blake helping her through the window, he stared at the floor in dread wondering if she did mind having her friend dump him, a stranger, on to her lap without her knowledge. This was definitely a bad idea. Also why was she climbing in through her window? Did she forget her house keys?
"Lazuli! Hiiiiiiiiiii! Just in time too, we just got into your room and we didn't even have the time to settle down and then you showed up. Well it did take some time to make lunch cuz we walked all the way here early in the morning and we didn't have time to eat breakfast or lunch so we made lunch when we got here. Don't worry, I left money for Mr. Ashe. But if we didn't make lunch and went straight to your room we would've waited hours for you to show up, ahaha. Oh yeah, this is my friend Austin! He's from Kansas but he doesn't know Dorothy or Toto so I don't think he's actually from Kansas. But I met him at hero school and he has a really cool quirk, one stab and you go down!"
All the while the woman, Lazuli, just stands there staring as words rapidly rush out of Blake's mouth faster than a river. Austin doesn't blame her; he feels the same way. But he feels the familiar rising blush when she snaps her eyes at him after Blake's introduction.
"U-Uhhh, umm. H-Happy birthday?"
Austin was expecting disgust. He was expecting a "thank you". He was expecting a smile. He was expecting a scoff. He was expecting all kinds of reactions. He was not expecting Lazuli to grab Blake by the hair, throw him on the ground, smother him with a cushion, and sit on his chest.
"You fucking lied to your friend?! What the hell Blake you complete piece of shit! I told you to cut that shit out, you're gonna fuck up your life and who's fault would that be, huh?!"
Oh, Lazuli was that kind of woman: intimidating, beautiful, strong, and aggressive when displeased. Austin knows how to deal with those kinds of women; by staying the hell away from them. That is what he found himself doing when he realizes he had pressed himself into the nearest wall and was holding Blake's purple dagger in an attempt at self-defense. Oh right the dagger, he needs to give that back.
The only thing that was stopping him from a full on panic attack was Blake's reaction. Knowing his crazy friend, if Blake was in a situation he didn't want to be in, he would be throwing back his suffering at his attacker. Here, the French boy isn't even struggling. If anything he's being patronizing as he blindly pats Lazuli's forearm as she pulls his hair this way and that. She has the reddest hair Austin has ever seen, it looked like literal fire when the sun's rays hit it at a certain angle. What did she mean by Blake lying to his friend?
"U-Umm m-m-ma'am," he stammers awkwardly, blushing even harder both from stress and embarrassment when her eyes dart his way, "p-please don't kill him, u-uhh. M-Mister Bakugou w-would blow me up."
There is a pregnant pause as they stared at each other until Blake decided he had enough and started flailing his limbs for real. To Austin's relief, Lazuli instantly removes the cushion and gets off of him. If looks could kill though, Blake would've been vaporized into mist. As for Blake, he was giving Lazuli the oddest pleading expression Austin has ever seen. An expression that Lazuli returns with a cold glare but a few moments later, she softens.
"So Austin, right?" She says, much calmer now. At least she doesn't seem to be in a strangling mood anymore. "I'm Lazuli, Blake's best friend. I don't think he's ever told you about me." She offers a hand to shake.
"N-No, he didn't." Not wanting to be seen as rude, he timidly shakes her hand. Oh God, was his hand all sweaty? "N-Nice to m-m-meet you, m-miss."
If his hand was sweaty she had to grace to ignore it. "Yes, I expect as much as he got you here with a lie. It's not my birthday today." At that she glares at Blake, the smaller boy giving her a sheepish grin in return.
"…Oh." Well, now he feels like a fool.
"Don't worry about it, it's what happens when you're stupid enough to befriend this little shitheel."
"Hey!" Blake says with false annoyance. "Why am I a heel? Why can't I be a knee or something?"
"Shut up you pissant." She says with a no small amount of fondness in her voice.
She starts rummaging around in the odd green dresser. Austin had no idea what she was doing and though his curiosity begged to be sated, Lazuli definitely seemed like the type to kick his ass for looking over her shoulder. Eventually she pulls out three bottles of whiskey, bottles that looked far too big and deep to have come out of that shallow drawer. Blake meanwhile kicks several cushions together in a circle and gestures to Austin to sit, plopping his butt down on one as he does so.
"Here," she offers him a frankly ginormous bottle, "we each have one. If you can't finish it, either Blake or I will. There's no drinking age limit in this house."
Frankly he's surprised Blake can finish one whole bottle, never mind two. But his friend is already chugging away at whiskey with…43% alcoholic content the same way one would with water. Lazuli did the same and it was almost like she couldn't feel the burn in her throat. Austin is starting to wonder if they got water and he is the only one to get alcohol because he can smell the alcohol emanating from his bottle. Nevertheless, he takes a mouthful and though it burns, it's not too bad.
"So Austin from Kansas, eh?" Lazuli says. "How did you two meet?"
"Oh uhh, well," Austin quickly gives Blake a pleading glance but his friend is too busy drinking away, "i-in school?"
"Oh you're that kind of conversationalist, I see." He definitely got the feeling she was judging him. "At least you met him normally. Blake and I met when I was shoplifting."
Austin nearly chokes on his drink. "W-What?"
"Yeah!" Blake pipes up for the first time. "I caught her stealing bandages and then she ran away. But I really wanted to help so I wanted to steal more bandaids to give it to her. But then Kiran told me not to and we bought them instead and then we found her and gave them to her."
"Everything he said is the truth." Lazuli said when Austin looked at her for confirmation. "That was an interesting day."
"O-Oh, who's Kiran?"
"Kiran Kalassa! He's a Pro-Hero and he takes care of me." Blake says. "He's a nice guy, I didn't like him too much at first but now he's great. He gave me that dagger you know and he brought me here to America-!"
As usual, the French boy starts to babble and maybe the whiskey's already affecting him but he found himself paying more attention to Lazuli than Blake's story. The woman kept looking at him with a judgmental, raised eyebrow like she was internally tearing apart all his words. It was just like being with Drake, no it was worse than Drake. Drake is quiet but he didn't give off that scary energy or maybe he did and Austin just never noticed. He had always been surrounded by Abel and sometimes Blake; he could always tell what they were feeling. But Lazuli? She was a mystery but that could be because he'd only known her for a few minutes.
"-And then that's why Kiran doesn't like walruses or the smell of washed wool but it's really funny cuz he likes wearing wool clothes. I dunno how he washes them in that case. Does he hold his nose every time he has to put them in the dryer? He makes me do his laundry ever since he took me in-."
For once, Lazuli looked at Blake. "Oh, so that's why he always asks me to put his clothes in the dryer."
"He does that? Really?!"
"Yeah, I've been dropping by more often ever since you started your UA schooling. He asks me to do it every single time."
"That's so funny! I really wanna hide some washed wool behind the vents now." Blake laughed completely ignoring poor Austin sitting there feeling very much like a third wheel now.
"He can see the future, good luck with that."
"Oh yeah, that thing is such a buzzkill." Blake pouts, already three-quarters done with his bottle. How can someone so small do that? Austin is nearly two times his size and he's not even halfway done. Is Blake even feeling slightly tipsy? How often does he drink?
"Speaking of Kiran," Lazuli turns to look at Austin, "in my opinion, you should've brought your friend to meet Kiran instead of dragging him to the middle of buttfuck nowhere and into a den of criminals."
""W-Well," Austin says, "it's fine. I don't mind. I-It's a pleasure meeting you ma'am."
Again, there's that judgmental raised eyebrow. "Despite your looks, you're an innocent boy. You don't belong here and you," she violently jabs a finger into Blake's chest, "shouldn't have brought him here. Don't get me started on the fact that you brought him here with a lie."
"Lazuli-."
"Don't "Lazuli" me, I don't know why it's so hard for you to tell people the truth, they're not gonna judge you."
Austin genuinely doubts that. No one ever listened to Blake, Synaes and Megan in particular ignored him and so does Drake now that he thought about it. No one ever took Blake seriously, how could they take him seriously? He said all sorts of ridiculous things but being dragged here had exposed Austin to all sorts of ridiculous things. His heart fell when he looked at Blake's troubled face, another expression he had never seen on him before. Was it...possible that all the things he said before...were the truth?
"Yeah I guess." Blake said amiably but again, that weird, unreadable expression quickly flashed by his face. Austin knew he saw it and he knew Lazuli saw it for she stopped and searched Blake's face carefully.
There was a pause for a moment. Blake was deep in thought over...something, Lazuli was too busy being concerned over his reaction and to be fair, so was Austin. It's only been a few hours since he has arrived in a household of criminals and he had already seen so many parts he didn't know Blake had. At this point, he had no idea if he even knew who Blake was.
"So Porcupine," Lazuli says and nearly causes him to jump a mile out of his skin, "what's your quirk?"
Porcupine? "A-Ah," he held out his spiked arms, "I inject people with venom."
Another awkward ensues as she waits in vain for him to elaborate and when that obviously didn't come, she sighs. "You're not much of a conversationalist are you?"
"He can't talk to girls." Blake explains as Austin blushes. "It's kinda sad but he did manage to talk to Synaes once."
"Well good for Sinus whoever she is but if that's the case, you really should've let him meet Kiran first."
"But Lazuli, we're not at the boyfriend stage yet." Blake says innocently as Austin almost spits out his drink.
"You're trying to kill your friend aren't you?"
"Am not, Austin and I are developing our relationship." Oh no, the rabbit is back around the same time Blake's shit-eating grin manifested itself. Then the pixies with buckets of ice cubes appear as Blake leans over and puts his arm around Austin's shoulder. "We're hoping to take it to the next step after this-."
Whatever God out there must have taken pity on Austin because Blake paused when they all heard heavy footsteps stamping through the front door and heading in the direction of the kitchen. Austin looked at Lazuli and Blake, mostly to see if he should start panicking but was pleasantly surprised at Blake's overjoyed face and Lazuli's...weird facial expression?
"Ashe is gonna beat your ass." She says flatly.
To confirm her words, a loud "BOY!" reverberates from downstairs and shakes the house's very foundation. Or perhaps that was Austin's nerves, way too many things are happening and at such a fast pace.
"I'm gonna go say hi!" Blake eagerly jumps up and thunders downstairs, taking his now empty whiskey bottle with him. When did he finish that?
Maybe Austin should go say hi too, it's only polite. Oh who was he kidding, Blake's the only familiar thing in this environment and he didn't want to be left alone with Lazuli. But just as he starts to get up, Lazuli reaches over and yanks him back down.
"Sit. We need to talk."
Forget about the pedophilic rapist, this is the most ominous and most threatening words to ever be uttered. Why does she need to talk to him? Isn't that what fathers always say to their daughter's boyfriends? Does she think they're dating?!
"We-We're not dating." He stammers red-faced.
And there's the judgmental eye-roll. "I know you're not. Blake is physically incapable of falling in love, much less date anyone."
"O-Oh…"
Another pause as he could feel her eyes searching his soul. "You didn't know that did you?"
Austin shakes his head.
"Interesting," he didn't like that tone, "how long have you been friends with him?"
Is she trying to establish some sort of friendship hierarchy? She doesn't need to, Austin already knows Blake's her best friend. She doesn't need to compete with him and he doesn't want to compete with her. "J-Just a few months." He takes several long swigs from his whiskey bottle, God knows he needs all the liquid courage he can get.
"I see, so what do you know about him?"
"W-Well umm…" He stammers and then flinches when Lazuli sighs sharply.
"Look, if you can talk to Sinus you can talk to me. I'm not going to eat you alive, I promise. Trust me I don't like this anymore than you do but Blake brought you to me because he's too fucking chicken to tell you himself."
That got his attention. "Blake's too...scared?"
"Yes he is, he did the same exact thing with me. He dragged me all the way to his place, told me it was Kiran's birthday when it wasn't. Then he made an excuse to leave so that Kiran and I were alone to talk. Like he did just now and I'm 100% sure he stalked Ashe to figure out his schedule and he knew Ashe was coming back at this time and date." She jerks her head at her bedroom door just in time for them to hear "Ashe" yell at Blake, something about taking his food, and Blake's cheerful greetings. "He definitely knew I was out and when I was coming back."
Austin couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But why?"
She shrugs. "Like I said, he's too chicken to tell you himself and I'm too pussy to tell him to grow some balls. We're going to have a talk, I'm not going to let you out until we're done, and Blake sure as hell isn't going to come back up until we're done because like I said, he planned this."
Well, it didn't seem like he had a choice. Austin took a massive swig and downed a good portion of the bottle to numb the process. "Okay well…"
"Don't "well" me. I already asked you a question, Porcupine. What do you know about him?"
"Oh, he likes green and he talks a lot and he really loves his parents, uhh. He says a lot of weird things, he likes stabbing himself, umm…" He trails off slowly while he wracks his brains desperately for more. "Everyone thinks he's weird, uhh…his guardian's name is Kiran?" Okay the last part was cheating since he didn't know that until now but Austin really couldn't think of anything else. Glancing up at Lazuli's face, he could tell she expected this.
"What's his favorite color?"
"Green."
"It's actually purple and black, he only likes green because I like it. His birthday?"
"April 8th I think…"
"That's the date he and I met, his actual birthday is August 17th. Hobbies?"
"Uhh, talking?"
"And?"
"Umm," he's starting to wilt at the barrage of questions, all of which he's apparently getting wrong, "needles?"
"He also likes jumping on beds, talking, crafts that make use of his hands, anything remotely risky and outdoorsy activities like skydiving, and acupuncture. Why did he attend hero school?"
That sounded like it had a fairly obvious answer. "To be a hero."
"Wrong, he only attended it because he had nothing better to do and because Kiran and I told him to. Favorite subject?"
"I-I'm not sure."
"Advanced anatomy and physiology. Favorite movie?"
"I don't know, " Austin says now frustrated, "I don't know at all, he never said it."
Lazuli sits back on her heels. "Don't beat yourself up, this is exactly how he's like. When I went through the process with Kiran I thought I knew him but it turns out I didn't." She sighs but this time it sounded sad and resigned. "Have you ever noticed that even though he can talk for years, Blake never truly talks about himself? It's always about someone else. Have you ever noticed he can say so much but say so little at the same time?"
He didn't but now that she pointed it out, it was true. Blake never really said anything about himself, it was always his parents this, his parents that. Coming here was an eye-opener, Austin had no idea Blake tangled with criminals, he had no idea Blake drank, he had no idea Blake had close encounters with a rapist, and based on his reactions, Blake probably had been molested or even raped.
"He brought you here for a reason," she adds, "it means he's starting to truly see you as a friend. I gave him shit for bringing you here first instead of Kiran but in reality, I know why he did it. You didn't know any of this beforehand, correct?"
Austin could only nod.
"And he talked about weird shit regarding his parents, something about them torturing people, correct?"
He nods again. "Was-was that all true or-or was he just kidding?"
"It's all true. I knew him for three years now and get this, he never said a word about his parents until recently."
"So why…?"
"I think it's just his way of processing things. Blake has had a very...abnormal childhood."
"It sounds horrible." And it truly does, if his parents did all those things, no wonder he now had Kiran as a legal guardian.
"The way he says it, I don't think it was bad or he doesn't see it as bad. I'm guessing you didn't know he sees a therapist?"
"N-No, is he okay with you telling me?"
"Oh definitely and now that you know that please keep your treatment of him in mind." She says gently, the most gentle he has ever heard her, "the therapist helps him with a lot of things and he's only starting to come around."
"Starting?"
"Yeah, he was very resistant to it. He hated Kiran at first, would throw things at him and he once physically attacked him. But he's getting better now. Look Porcupine," she says but her voice was soft, "you look like a bulldog but you're really a puppy. He needs a lot of support but you're not obligated to help him. If this is too overwhelming for you, you can run away and ignore him for the rest of your life. Blake will understand and so will I."
"Well…"
"You don't have to tell me or tell him. Trust me, he can tell if you don't want anything to do with him anymore. He won't run after you if you decide to leave."
It didn't seem right to leave. Sure Blake was chaotic, overwhelming, and a "shitheel" but he's so sweet and he had protected Austin the entire journey here, something he had also never seen Blake do. "He's my friend, I won't leave him." For the first time in the entire conversation, he's sure of his answer.
Lazuli looks at him, searching for a lie and when she finds none, looks relieved. "Yeah, okay fuck that's great. He needs a good influence."
"You're...not?"
There's that incredulous judging eyes. "How did he get inside this house?"
"He picked the lock, I think."
"Who did you think taught him that?"
Oh right, Blake did say she taught him how to break into houses and locked doors.
"Do you know how many times I have told him not to come here?" Lazuli continues to say. "Do you know how many times Ashe told him not to come here? We're technically villains and criminals, the last thing Blake needs in a criminal in his life but he keeps coming back."
"You could leave." Austin says feeling braver than he normally does. "You said he knows when someone doesn't like him anymore."
She stares at him surprised and he doesn't blame her, he's a bit surprised at his own boldness too. Then her shoulders sagged. "Yes I could but I won't. He reminds me very much of my brother Carmine. Blake's very similar to him and has a high chance of going down the same path."
"O-Oh, what happened to your brother?"
She shrugs. "Carmine became a monster and now he's dead, murdered because he lost his humanity. Don't give me condolences." She says sternly just as Austin was about to open his mouth to do just that. "It was a long time ago, I put it past me, and he deserved it."
"O-Oh, I-I see umm…"
""Umm" nothing, it's fine and like I said, Blake needs a good influence in his life. He also doesn't know anything about my dead brother so take this to your grave." Lazuli stands up. "So we're done with the talk and you're still alive, congrats. I told you I wasn't gonna eat you alive, both of you can go home now."
"W-What?" They just got here and he just met her and she seems...nice.
"You heard me, Norman's coming home in an hour and I know Blake doesn't want to deal with him and neither do I. Get your fat asses home." She lightly nudges his side with her shoe.
Norman sounded like the rapist everyone seems to hate. "But, doesn't Blake know when he's coming home?"
"Of course not, he's terrified of him. He doesn't want anything to do with him which includes learning when he comes home." At Austin's look of disbelief, Lazuli sighs. "Yeah, I know it's fucking dumb but I don't blame him, fear does certain things to you. C'mon, I'll introduce you to Ashe and gimme your bottle."
Austin didn't really have the time to give it to her before Lazuli got a bit too close to him, snatched the bottle out of his hand, and downed the rest of the whiskey. Now that he thought about it, was Lazuli 21? He didn't want to ask; never ask a lady her age.
Lazuli ushers Austin out of her room and downstairs into the kitchen where the loud shouting was still going on. It didn't sound angry but it was still enough to cause his nervousness to spike once again. There in the kitchen was Blake and a gray-haired older man they call Ashe. That was some pretty nice gray hair but he didn't look very old, not old enough to have gray hair. Was he born with gray hair? No wonder his name is Ashe.
Ashe stopped his loud talking when he saw them enter, blinked open-mouthed before rounding on Blake once again. "Ya tangled with more villains? Boy I swear to da Virgin Mary, yer gonna be da death of me!"
"W-What me?! A villain?!" Austin stammers.
"What him?" Blake says incredulously.
"Ashe, Blake met the Porcupine at hero school." Lazuli says flatly.
"THAT'S EVEN WORSE!"
"Chill Ashe, Blake and Porcupine are gonna leave now and never come back, right?" And there is that judgmental raised eyebrow once again.
"What, leaving already? We just got here." Blake whined.
"And they ate all da food, Blue!" Ashe exclaims to Lazuli. Why does he call her Blue? She's...red.
"I left money, more money actually." Blake pouts.
"Shut yer mouth Boy, I have t' go to da store now!"
"Aww don't worry, Austin and I can go buy it for you and then we'll bring it back." Blake says with an impish grin.
"HELL NAW! I TOLD'CHA T' NEVER COME BACK!" Man, this guy can outshout Mister Bakugou and Present Mic.
Blake's face turns genuinely sad and he gives the man a tight squeeze. "I wanna, I miss you Mr. Ashe. You're my friend."
Said man softens and gently pats him on the head. "Boy, yer a good kid and ya ruin your life if ya keep hanging 'round us. Ya deserve better."
A weird emotion passes through Blake's face once again, one that Austin didn't know how to decipher and he didn't have the time to try to figure it out as Lazuli started speaking.
"Blake, Norman is coming back in an hour." And just like that the mood in the room plummeted, even Ashe looked extremely unhappy with this information. "Take the Porcupine and go back to school."
"We have an hour before we have to go." He says sadly though Austin could sense some hesitation there, they all could.
"I know, I know, but you should still go. If he comes back earlier and Porcupine's still here, it's going to be bad."
For a moment, Austin was afraid Blake was going to start an argument but his friend sighs, shoulders slumped. "Yeah okay." He gives Ashe and Lazuli another tight hug. "I'll come back-."
"No, yer not Boy." Ashe interrupts instantly. "Ya stay outta here and stay outta trouble. And you Blondie," who? Oh right, Austin is the only blond in the room. "Don't come back here, yer too good for this place and tell this little bastard," Ashe ruffles Blake's hair fondly, "to piss off and stay in school. Tie 'im up if ya need to."
The last time that happened, Blake had maliciously kept Hunter and Anton just as tightly bound as he was and refused to let go for hours. The most impressive part was how his concentration held well past lunch and dinner and midnight and Pathogen's vicious attacks. He only let go when Drake had enough and cut him loose sometime at 1 in the morning. Sure Blake had a massive migraine that extended well into the next week but spite sure powered him for all those hours. Austin wasn't going to tell Ashe that however.
"O-Okay sir."
After much stalling on Blake's part, Austin had to physically drag him out of the house and shut the decrepit door with his foot. He stares wordlessly at Blake while the smaller boy moans and whines.
"I really wanna spend more time with them Austiiiiiiiin. We had time."
Did he forget about the rapist coming home?
"I know, I know he's coming home but it's been a while is all." Blake pouts.
"They seem…" Intense, scary, loud, chaotic, overwhelming, fierce, insistent. "Nice."
That was the right thing to say because Blake beams as he starts walking away from the house, Austin following right next to him. "I know right? They taught me a lot of things and they seem scary," at least Blake can admit that, "but they are huge softies inside. They're really good people ya know?"
"Even though they umm, do crime?"
"Yeah," Blake says, suddenly turning sad, "they just…" He trails off.
He waits for Blake to explain but none comes. Instead, his friend seems intensely focused on his thoughts as he leads them out of there. Just like before, Austin was getting a very bad feeling but for completely different reasons.
"Blake?"
"Hmm yeah?"
"...Is everything okay?"
"Oh, oh yeah." He gives Austin a very unconvincing smile and tugs his sleeve, completely ignoring the judgmental looks of all those scary thugs loitering around in this rundown neighborhood. Austin's still worried and more than a little confused but Blake's touch is grounding and now is not a good time to ask questions. He keeps his mouth shut and stores them for a later time.
Another few hours of silent, unnerving walking later, they were finally back in the dorms. Blake's mood had not once lifted which was easily one of the strangest and most concerning things Austin has ever witnessed. Still silent, Blake gently tugged him back to Austin's room and gave him a small smile.
"So uhh." He says awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. When was Blake ever awkward? "Lazuli told you everything I'm sure."
Austin only nods.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know how to say it and I wasted your entire day." The sun was still up at least. "And put you in danger several times. If you get mad, it's okay. I understand and I deserve it."
"Oh no, no." Austin says hurriedly. "It was a trip and I'm glad I met some of your friends. They really are nice." And they were, despite their rough exteriors Ashe and Lazuli really cared about Blake and Austin even though they just met him.
Blake smiles again but it was still nowhere near the big grin he always wore. "That's great, I'm super happy. I think Lazuli likes you."
He knew what Blake meant by that but he still couldn't help the furious blush that traveled across his entire face. "U-Uhh…"
"She liked you enough to jump me and yell at me." Blake snickers but quickly sobers up again. "But yeah, I'm glad." And then he gives Austin a big hug
Austin returns it a little worriedly as his mind runs a few miles a minute. Something was wrong but he can't figure out what. Blake was extremely upset he had to leave his friends early… "Hey Blake? We can still hang out, you wanna play with Quetz?"
"No, I think I just need to…" Blake trails off quietly and without even finishing his sentence, turns and walks back to his room, leaving Austin standing there stunned.
This… Blake had never turned down an opportunity to play with his pet snakes. Something was very wrong but he didn't know what to do. Austin didn't want to chase him down and he personally didn't like it when he was bothered on a bad day so why would Blake be any different?
With nothing left to do, he had no choice but to go back into the room. Even though it was an exciting day, both in a good and bad way, the ending to this trip was...disheartening. Sighing, Austin sat down on his bed and immediately heard the crinkling noise of paper in his pants pocket. That's odd, he definitely didn't remember putting paper in there.
It turned out to be a neatly folded piece of paper that he definitely didn't put in his pocket. Unfolding it revealed unfamiliar handwriting but a speech pattern he was definitely familiar with.
I'm only giving you my number because I know you're going to need someone to translate Blake-ese. Use it to flirt with me and I will chop off your fingers. I know where you sleep.
-Lazuli
P.S. Close your damn window when you sleep, I can't fucking believe you leave it open. You're asking for death. How did you think Blake got in this morning? And no, he definitely didn't pick your door; he doesn't like breaking into places but climbing through windows apparently doesn't count.
P.P.S Don't ask me why he doesn't think entering through a window is not breaking and entering
At the bottom of the note is the number and immediately there were two things that went through his mind: when did Lazuli write this and slip this in and wasn't Blake's room 120ft away from Austin and both of their rooms are about 40ft above ground?
He runs to look outside his window and sees the little bird feeder Blake hangs outside his room window. Yep, they are at least 100ft apart. Austin didn't know whether to be impressed or terrified by that.
Speaking of Blake, whether she knew it or not, Lazuli's number couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Fighting down his nervousness, Austin shakily dials her number into his phone and waits apprehensively as it rings.
Then it stops and someone on the other end picks up.
"...I told you to fuck off Dwight, I paid you last night! It's not my problem if you're too busy spreading your legs to check your wallet!"
Who's Dwight? Nevertheless Austin gulps nervously before speaking. "L-Lazuli? It's Austin."
A pause. "Y'know Porcupine, when I gave you my number I didn't think you would jump to calling me immediately."
"T-There's a problem, it's Blake. Something's wrong with him and-and I don't know what to do."
"What's he doing? What's wrong?"
"He's really quiet and he looks upset and he doesn't want to play with my snakes." He blushes and quickly explains. "I-I mean I have pet snakes and Blake loves them but I asked if he wanted to play with them and he said no. He never said no."
There was a long pause. "Where is he now?"
"In his room."
"Go to him, ask him if he's okay or if he wants to talk. If his sentence starts with a yes, back off. If it starts with a no, push forward and comfort him. If it starts with anything that's not a yes or a no, insist until it starts with a yes or a no."
"O-Okay. Umm, thanks."
"Anything else?"
"No, I'll uhh hang up now."
"Alright, see ya and good luck."
He ends the call with a beep and takes a deep breath before heading to Blake's room. His friend's door looks innocuous, as if it's not hiding a potential firestorm waiting to happen. Austin steels himself and knocks on Blake's door.
For a moment he wasn't sure Blake heard it but then there was a light pitter patter of feet and the door opened.
"Oh, heya Austin. What's up?" It has only been a few minutes but Blake didn't look any better.
"Umm," Austin takes a deep breath, "you seem upset, do you want to talk about it? I'm here."
"...Well…"
If it starts with anything that's not a yes or a no, insist.
"It's okay Blake, I'm your friend, it's what friends do."
The smaller boy stares at him for the longest time but he opens his door and gestures for him to come in. And so Austin does, into the loud and colorful place with the weird hanging skeleton that is Blake's room. Blake still hasn't told anyone if that was a real skeleton or not. He sits on Blake's bed as his friend does the same, still morose and lost in thoughts.
"So Blake, is everything alright?"
"Not really no," Blake says dejectedly, "it's just...well… Y-You don't mind them being villains do you?"
"Lazuli and Ashe? No, they're nice, just in bad places. It seems like they don't have any choice in what they do."
To Austin's horror, it was the worst thing he could have said because tears started to drip down Blake's face.
"I-I don't know what t-to do! Mr. Ashe wants to-to stop but he can't and-and Lazuli thinks it's too late for her but-but it's not but she won't listen…" He sniffs.
Trying to ignore the flutter of panic in his heart, Austin quickly and somewhat frantically pats him on the shoulder, trying to get him to calm down. He'd never been good at comforting crying people, much less Blake whom he had never seen cry. "H-Hey, it's okay. They'll be fine-."
"No, they won't!" He wails. "The heroes won't care, they'll arrest them. M-Mr. Ashe is gonna get himself killed and Lazuli's always so scared. K-Kiran tries to help her too but-but she doesn't let him, says she deserves it but she doesn't!"
By then Blake's arms were around Austin's midsection and he was crying into his shoulder. For his part, Austin was doing his best to ignore the discomfort and settled on wordlessly rubbing Blake's shoulder.
"They don't want me t-there but I don't want them there either, it's b-bad for them."
"O-Oh, is that why you keep going there?" Austin asks.
Blake nods pathetically. "It-It's hard there so I go there to-to make them happy but they can't leave. I'm so worried."
Austin's heart sinks at that. This isn't right, Blake should be smiling and happy; he shouldn't be upset and worried. But was there anything he could do? "Blake, how long have you known them?"
"Three y-years."
"...And it's been the same three years?"
He nods pathetically again. "The cops are useless, the h-heroes won't help, and-and Kiran can't do much or people will start questioning why he's letting me be friends with villains and they'll take me away."
He wished he didn't know what Blake meant but in reality he did. People only see what's on the surface and judge too quickly, they will only do the same with Ashe and Lazuli. Blake clearly had limited options and was at his wit's end. People like Ashe and Lazuli have an uphill battle to climb and though Austin wanted to help, really there was nothing he could do about it either.
"It's okay, things will get better. I know now and I'll try to help." Austin says trying his best to comfort his still crying friend. Really he didn't know what he could do but at least he could be there for Blake.
Austin didn't think the day would be like this. He didn't think the day would end like this. He didn't know what tomorrow would bring but then again that's every day. One thing he knew for sure, he didn't expect any of this, seeing all these new sides to Blake and well, his friends. Too chaotic, too unexpected, too random but he was going to stand by Blake no matter what the smaller boy throws at him, it's only what he deserves.
Author's Note
List of Deleted Scenes because it didn't fit, was weird, or the story was already too long:
-Lazuli and Blake arguing in thieves cant while Austin stares at them in confusion
-After breaking into the house and waiting for Lazuli to show up, Norman the rapist shows up first. Blake shoves Austin inside Lazuli's room, tells him to be quiet, and protects Austin by acting as bait. He's sexually assaulted and is only saved by Lazuli showing up in the nick of time. The first time Austin heard Blake sound so terrified.
-Lazuli telling Austin part of her backstory and her brother in so much detail it took up four very long paragraphs.
-Norman shows up just as everyone was in the kitchen. A commotion happened, Austin was hidden in the kitchen while Ashe prevented Norman from entering as Lazuli and Blake stood there visibly frightened.
Weird Trivia
-All the names have meanings.
***Blake: light, fair, dark, black indicating his extreme natures and the paths his future can take.
***Lazuli: lapis lazuli, a blue gem despite having red hair and red eyes
***Kiran: light, as he was the first one to pull Blake out of the darkness he loves
***Carmine: a type of red pigment, despite having blue hair and blue eyes (not mentioned at all but that was what I intended)
***Ashe: grey and indicating his morality, being a thief and a cheat but only out of necessity and wants to leave the criminal life
***Rose: the obsessive stalker who loves this one guy. Roses are a popular flower used to declare your love
***Norman: Named after Norman Bates from the movie Psycho
-Ashe calls Lazuli "Blue" because of her name
-Ashe's quirk is Locktouch. No matter how secure, difficult, or advanced the lock is, any locked item will instantly unlock safely when he touches it. This also extends to things that have passcodes and passwords like computers. Nothing is safe from Ashe.
-Lazuli's quirk is Shadow Transparency. It lets her turn completely invisible when she's in dim light or darkness
-Lazuli is 19 years old going on 20. Ashe is in his mid 30's. Norman is in his 50's. Blake is 15.
-Lazuli never enters through doors if she can help it. Yes she knows how to open locked windows from outside. It's just a habit of hers
-Yes she really does know where Austin sleeps at night and she does know where everyone in 1-A sleeps at night. Blake had nothing to do with it for once. It's because she has secretly visited Blake at hero school multiple times.
-Thieves Cant is a secret code that only thieves and criminals know. Blake's parents were the ones to teach him that, not Lazuli.