The day went by like any other, and it soon came time for Hunter's lunch break. Well, it wasn't a designated break, per say, but he finished his current duties so he found it reasonable to pause everything for a few minutes while he had a bite to eat. He would be quick, he wasn't allowed to have long breaks unless it was an incredibly slow day (but even then, there was work to be done), and he wasn't even all that hungry (though his rumbling stomach would disagree). All he really wanted was to login to Penstagram and chat with Willow for a few minutes, and maybe send a few messages to the group chat too. Hunter was a very busy person, so he relished every free second he could get. If that meant he had to skip eating lunch again to text instead, then so be it. He'd be perfectly fine until dinner, or even breakfast tomorrow if he really had to.
Hunter made his way to the castle's library, where he often spent his little free time. It was usually pretty empty in here, so he didn't have to worry about anyone (*cough* Kikimora *cough*) snitching on him for being on social media during work. He looked around for a minute, glancing every which way, before choosing a simple armchair to sit in. As soon as he sat down, he took out his scroll. He didn't have a second to lose.
RULERZREACHF4N: hello.
RULERZREACHF4N: at sschool rigHT now?
Willow didn't seem to be on Penstagram at the moment, so he switched to the Emerald Entrails group chat while he waited.
Emerald Entrails Group Chat
RULERZREACHF4N: is evRyone ?
BardQueen15 is typing…
BardQueen15: Ya we're all at school ?
BardQueen15: What ru up to?
RULERZREACHF4N: wHat. Does ru meaN?
BardQueen15: are you ?
RULERZREACHF4N: am.I wHAT?
BardQueen15: ? ﾟﾘﾑ
BardQueen15: hunter ?
: 'ru' means 'are you'
: is what she's trying to say
RULERZREACHF4N: oH. Thnk you
BardQueen15: U can just say thx lol
RULERZREACHF4N: what s. thX mean?
BardQueen15: ?￢ﾀﾍ ?￢ﾀﾍ ?￢ﾀﾍ
: it means thanks
: u can type thx instead of spelling the whole word out
RULERZREACHF4N: oKAy. thanKyou
RULERZREACHF4N is typing…
RULERZREACHF4N: i mEan thx
Hunter placed a fist against his forehead and shook his head in exasperation. "I'll never understand text abbreviations," he mumbled to himself. But no matter, he was just glad Skara and Gus were online right now. He would have been a little disappointed if he had no one to talk to during this short break. They tended to be the most active on Penstagram in late afternoon all the way until sunset, but Hunter usually didn't have the time to reply then. If he was lucky, he would be able to quickly scan over the many texts he missed, but because he was such a slow typer, he couldn't send more than a few messages here and there. It seemed like the only times he actually was free to text in the group chat was when everyone else wasn't.
Well, excluding the weekends, anyway. As he found out a couple days ago, Hexside students got the weekends off from school. For two whole days each week, they were free! The concept of having that many days off definitely was a bit of a shock to him, but it worked out in his favor. The team stayed up later on weekends, they told him, so he had more chances to talk-er, text-to them then. He would love to talk to them in person more, but that…wasn't really possible right now, so he was taking all he could get.
Hunter continued messaging them for several minutes. At one point, Gus disappeared from the chat, but Viney got on for a couple minutes instead. They didn't discuss anything important or anything (in fact, a lot of this conversation seemed very nonsensical to him), but it was still…enjoyable to have this little change of pace from his usual daily activities.
Puddles_time: Hey Hunter! How r u free rn anyway?
Puddles_time: u usually don't get on till later
Hunter's eyes skimmed Viney's texts before typing out a reply.
RULERZREACHF4N: my lunch breAk rihGt NOw
Puddles_time: Lunch break huh? Surprised u get those in the emperors coven ?
Hunter felt a bit of guilt at that last message from his teammate. Surprised you get those…She was probably expecting him to be working right now instead of texting the group chat, wasn't she? And she would be completely right in the way that he should be working right now, not doing…this! What in the titan's name was he doing?! What was he doing just sitting around here in the library when he should-
Oh crap.
Oh no, no, no, no, no.
As Hunter checked the time on his scroll, an immeasurable amount of panic filled his stomach. It was 12:58 pm, which meant he was two minutes away from being late to the coven head meeting. Which he had to be at because he was supposed to lead it, and it had already been rescheduled once, and-
Breathe, breathe. He had to breathe.
Hunter had never been late to one of these meetings before. In fact, he usually made it a point to come early. He only meant to stay here for about ten minutes or so and then head over to the meeting room, but he got so distracted by his limited free time that 20 minutes had passed by instead. Twenty minutes! He'd been sitting in the library, texting, for twenty minutes.
RULERZREACHF4N: sRry. haVeto go.
That was probably the fastest he'd sent a text so far, due to him currently panicking over the fact that he was going to be late for the meeting! This was bad, this was really, really bad. All the coven heads would be at that meeting, which meant that all of them would be there to witness him being late, and then his failure would get reported back to Belos for sure, and Belos would wonder what was keeping him distracted, and then he'd find out about Hunter's scroll and he'd confiscate it, and…and…
Hunter tried his best to get his breathing under control upon realizing that he, in fact, could not breathe right now. He was also trembling, and his head suddenly felt a bit foggy, like he was too overwhelmed to think straight. He was panicking, and he needed to calm down so he could get to the meeting room as quickly as possible.
It was scary, not being able to catch his breath due to his current panic. He'd panicked like this before, but he still felt like he was going to suffocate each time this happened. He tried to take deep, even breaths, but it was like his mind or his body or something wouldn't comply with him.
But after what felt like an eternity (but was really only seconds), he finally regained control of his breathing, stood up, and left the library. He checked the time on his scroll again as he all but ran to the meeting room.
1:01 pm. He was now officially late. Great, just great.
All Hunter could do was hope desperately that no one would notice he was a couple minutes late. To anyone else, those couple minutes probably wouldn't have mattered, but Hunter was in a position of authority that required him to always be punctual. Not to mention that some of the coven heads weren't particularly fond of him, and there was a good chance someone would spread the news of his lateness to his uncle.
Yes, it would be an insignificant thing to anyone else, but to Hunter, being late even just two or three minutes could end up with him getting his only source of freedom taken away. And honestly…Hunter wondered if he deserved to get it taken away. He was being sloppy right now, afterall. He lost track of time, and that was simply something he couldn't afford to do.
Right now, Hunter wished that Flapjack was hidden in his pocket again, with him, instead of hiding in his room. Because he could really use some company right about now…Company, an ally, a friend…None of which he really had here, except for his palisman.
Hunter reached the room the coven head meeting was being held in and took a deep breath before checking the time once more. 1:04 pm. Perfect, just perfect…Four minutes late.
He had to take another deep breath to calm his nerves before taking his mask out and putting it on. He didn't need to wear the mask right now, of course, since all of the other coven heads now knew what he looked like without it, but…Well, right now, the mask helped separate Hunter from the Golden Guard, which was what he needed right now. He depended on the mask to conceal his expressions, to hide any traces of panic or anxiety that were left on his face. He needed the mask to remind himself that he had duties and responsibilities far greater than most other people could imagine. Without the mask, he was just half-a-witch Hunter. Hunter, who just got distracted by a silly, trivial thing like Penstagram. He couldn't afford to be Hunter right now.
So, as he straightened out his mask and pulled the hood of his cloak up, the Golden Guard opened the doors to the meeting room and pretended he didn't notice when nine pairs of judging eyes immediately turned to him.