Okay. So I know my ANs are usually at the bottom, but holy fuck I need to explain this chapter. This is, without a doubt, the most bizarre experience I've ever had writing a chapter. For reference, this entire chapter was supposed to be an introduction to a fairly basic chapter, but then I kept writing, having ideas, writing, getting worried about how easily this all came to me, and more writing. I wrote nearly 4000 words over the course of two days, which is unheard of for me.
I, honestly, have no idea where this chapter came from or why it took 5800 words. Crazy part is, I actually had to cut stuff out!
Purpose of a Hero
November 23, 2317
As was often the case, Hector awoke to the sound of buzzing. He opened his eyes and looked out into a world of color. Flowers of all shapes and sizes, in various vases or hanging pots, filled his dorm room. He rolled onto his back and tapped gently once on a spot on his chest. just above his heart. He smiled as the tiny figure emerged from one of the many penny-sized holes covering his body. The Queen peered up at him with surprisingly intelligent eyes before taking off on her short wings for her daily mating flight.
Unlike normal hives, in which a Queen's only duty is to lay eggs and run the risk of being superseded, his had been living within him since his Quirk manifested. Before attending the Forge, she could be considered the closest thing he had to a friend, he would feed her specialized nectar, speak to her about his problems, and take her to the florist down the street to explore. He'd even forgiven her for the pain that she and her first generation of workers caused him by burrowing tunnels through his body when he was a child. She hadn't been as intelligent back then, afterall.
From what he could tell, it was his Quirk itself that granted her an extended life and increased sentience, which suited him perfectly. He couldn't imagine having to train a new Queen every few years. Nor could he be sure they would possess the same cognitive abilities.
He watched as his Hive's workers floated between groups of flowers, collecting pollen in their usual morning routine, then slid off his bed and began getting dressed for the day. 'Knowing Dom, it would be impractical to take a shower before he shows up to bring me for training. I'll wait until before lunch and after the greenhouses. That way Shaula doesn't make a comment about me smelling like mulch again,' he thought, buttoning up his custom school uniform, with small holes strategically cut throughout.
As soon as he was dressed, he began his usual morning routine, which included watering his myriad of plants and making sure the UV lights implanted into his ceiling were still functioning at peak proficiency. Ever since Dominick had teleported them into the middle of the Hudson in their freshman year, they'd been pretty unreliable. Satisfied that they wouldn't catch fire and burn the whole dorm down, Hector turned and made for the door.
Then he saw the portal. To the unobservant, it looked like a heat haze one would see on a hot day in summer. However, looking closer, he could see the visage of the training fields within it. 'Someone is extra impatient today, huh? Usually he just barges into my room. Must be excited for the patrols tonight. I wish I could share his enthusiasm.' In truth, Hector had been dreading that night's patrols, on the basis that his underclassman teammate had seemingly no interest in meeting him to go over strategy and synergy. The one time he had tried to approach her in person, her voice had gotten loud enough to spook the bees within him, causing her string of insults to be drowned out by irritated buzzing.
It had taken several hours to convince the Queen to not go and hunt the freshman down to sting her.
Deciding to ignore the portal and take his time getting down to the fields, Hector sidestepped the shimmering image and opened his door. As usual, the boy's dorm was a madhouse first thing in the morning. Even during a holiday break, the insanity unfolding made it difficult to get out of his room without being hit by something, be it furniture, a Quirk, or even another person.
A few people waved at him as he traversed the halls, but quite a few more got as far out of his way as the narrow passages would allow. It was something he had dealt with for years, whether it was due to his bees or, more recently, his naming as one of his year's Top Three. To his surprise, and their credit, very few of those that avoided him were amongst the freshman boys. As he passed him, Payton waved and stuck out his hand for a high five, which Hector reluctantly obliged. "How's the hive, Hec?"
"They are doing fine. Though this current generation is nearing the end of its lifespan," he replied, watching with an amused smile as Payton's expression turned into one of horror.
"What about Queenie?" He demanded, eyes wide as he began searching all over Hector for the bee. Hector surprised himself by chuckling and placing a placating hand on the younger boy's shoulder.
"She will be fine. She has already begun rearing the next generation. And her name is not 'Queenie'." Payton nodded, reassured, and fell into step beside Hector.
"Thank goodness, and hey, since you won't give her a name we have free reign to call Queenie whatever we want." Hector just rolled his eyes. 'First Shaula, now him? Why are people so intent on giving the Queen a name? She's never expressed the want for one. I doubt she would respond to it anyway if I were to give her one, it's my pheromones that connect us.'
He and Payton continued to exchange small talk as they made their way toward the common room. Mostly, he listened as the younger man described his class' final practical before the break began. "–ever seen Nathan that pissed before. Dude's been a maniac recently, but even he couldn't land a hit on Damien. Seems like he even learned from the tournament and was able to stop my Zap Cannon."
Hector nodded along, still a little surprised that someone outside of his year was not only willing but eager to engage in conversation with him. Almost as soon as they stepped through the doors into the large, well-furnished room, the Queen made her reappearance, crawling out of the hole on the side of his neck. His retelling immediately ceased when he noticed and Payton's eyes lit up as he held out his finger for the Queen to lazily float over to and land on.
"What's good, Queenie?" He muttered happily, surprising Hector. 'He's being surprisingly gentle with her. He even knew to lower his voice.' The Queen seemed to appreciate Payton's gentle petting and praise as she settled onto his finger. "Mind if I take her to see Zach? He's been a bit moody since Ryūken got the jump on him."
"Sure. If you'd like, I'm sure she'd love some sugar water from the kitchen." Payton's face brightened and he rushed off to both grab his buddy and, after a brief conversation, the two made their way quickly into the kitchen. Hector watched them go with a smile. 'It's a nice change of pace to be accepted like this. The Queen seems much happier and less sting happy these days as well.'
"Hey, Hector, my man!" Hector felt a heavy weight settle on his shoulders and scowled, his good mood evaporating. He knew this voice, and the large turbines sticking out of the person's shoulders were a bit hard to miss. His body began to vibrate slightly as, sensing his discomfort, the bees within him became riled up. While he'd never been a people person, there were very few people out there that Hector simply could not stand to be around. Vance Lawton was generally at the top of that particular list. 'Vance tends to avoid me after the "incident" in freshman year… he hasn't approached me in months. What is his game?'
"Hello… Vance. What can I do for you?" He replied, in a clipped tone of voice. Of course, his classmate didn't seem to notice and began guiding him off to the side of the room, his grip on Hector's shoulders loose, but enough to keep him from running away. Hector glanced nervously back at the Queen and her entourage, glad to see that she was sufficiently distracted. Once they reached one of the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the river, Vance grinned wildly and began to speak again in a hushed tone, waving his hand wildly for emphasis.
"'What can you do for me', indeed! Well, first off, a little birdie told me to keep you from skipping out on training this morning." Hector's eyes narrowed and he silently cursed Dominick. It was very like him to send one of Hector's most reviled classmates after him, assuming he'd already dodged the portal. "The main reason, though, is because you and I need to have a serious chat under the strictest oath… in the Bro Code."
"The… what?"
"Bro Code, bro! It's like a rulebook for Bro-conduct. Come on, everyone's heard of the Bro Code rules. Like, 'Don't date your Bro's Ex' or 'The Bro who calls dibs first, has dibs", right?" Vance grinned at him, then faltered slightly when he saw Hector's deadpan expression. 'I'm going to use my Burning Venom Swarm on Dom today,' he decided, releasing a pheromone to get that particular part of his swarm ready. Undeterred, Vance turned him around so that they were face to face and grabbed his shoulders tightly. "But the most important rule is: 'Bros over Hoes' and that means that, no matter what, you never let a woman come between you and your Bros."
"W-What does this have to do with anything?"
"Because you're my Bro! And if you already have dibs on Shaula, then I won't touch that, but I gotta know, Bro!" Hector's expression instantly went blank and his hands hung limply at his side. His brain struggled to catch up to the words Vance was saying.
"I'm… I'm sorry? What?" Vance huffed, and drew his hands back.
"Well, I already asked Dominick, but he said he didn't have dibs, but that you might and he wasn't sure. So he told me where'd you be and to make sure you got to training on time, which is like, super important! You can't be missing out on your gains at this stage of our schooling otherwise the Villains are gonna mess you the hell up, you know what I mean? Anyway, I even woke up early today to ask because Shaula is like, super freakin' hot and that tail is like, super up my alley, y'know? But I didn't want to step on your toes if you already called dibs."
Hector stood there, stunned. He'd never heard someone rattle off so much inane garble so quickly, not even Rune during his worst sleep talking moments. Vance, for his part, was bouncing on the balls of his feet with the expression of a child on christmas morning. There was only one thought that made it through his bemusement, and it wasn't one that helped him in this situation. 'I'm going to kill Dom.' After taking a subtle deep breath, Hector took an extra second to make sure his face was completely blank before answering. "I do not have dibs."
"Yahoo! Bro, bro, bro, you are the best!" Seeing Vance jumping up in the air, screaming, and calling the attention of everyone else in the common room to them was almost enough to make the irritation at both the situation and his friend fade. After a few more shouted 'Bro's and 'Sweet's Vance began to calm down and patted Hector on the shoulder with, much to the other boy's horror, tears in his eyes. "You're a real one. I owe you big time!"
"O…kay?" Hector murmured, still not quite sure how to process the whirlwind of chaos that was Vance Lawton. Luckily for Hector, the moment he started searching for an escape from this unpleasant situation, Vance's eyes met someone else's from across the dorm and he was off like a dart.
"I won't forget this, bro!" Hector let out a relieved sigh and wanted nothing more than to sink into one of the plush recliners that furnished the common room. Instead, he felt his eye begin to twitch as another portal opened up on the window beside him. 'Yes. I'm thinking both Paralysis and Burning Venom for today. He is infuriating… and he must have something else embarrassing planned if I skip out on this portal. Either way I play into his hands… as usual. Let's just get it over with,' Hector groaned and then let out a quick, shrill whistle.
He heard Payton's 'Aw man' from across the dorm and felt, rather than saw, the Queen land on the back of his neck and enter through one of his pores. From her trajectory, she was heading right to her chambers to rest, which suited Hector just fine. He didn't like when she tried to get involved in combat. She was always a bit too enthusiastic to use her stinger.
Turning back to face the portal, his face hardened. 'Time to get some revenge. I'll show him to try and interfere with my love life… or the lack thereof.' Without another thought, he stepped through the portal and grimaced as the sunlight met him.
"Howdy, Hec! Having a good morning?"
'Oh yeah. He's gonna suffer today.'
Purpose of a Hero
"Christ, good to see you in a cheery mood," Dominick said as the pair of them collapsed, covered in sweat, onto the side of the hill surrounding the training fields. Hector immediately sent him a heated glare, but smirked as Dominick let out a yelp of pain. "Hey! That better not have been another friggin' poison bee! I'd like to feel my legs tonight on patrol!"
"Just a normal one. You deserve a Burning Venom, though, so don't tempt me." Dominick shot him a look that may have been convincingly innocent, except for the fact that his shoulders shook with barely concealed laughter. Hector pulled off one of his shoes and hucked it at his friend, who laughed and opened a portal, through which his shoe disappeared. "I better get that back."
"Depends. You gonna tell me what Vance's face looked like? I imagine it's a lot funnier than what I got pictured." Hector scowled and looked away. 'I knew it was intentional. I really should get a Venom bee ready.'
"Seemed pretty excited. Jumping up in the air and acting like an idiot," Hector said, trying to keep his voice as monotone as possible. Beside him, Dominick shot into a sitting position and peered at him accusingly.
"What, exactly, did you tell him?" Hector signed and closed his eyes, trying to avoid the sun that was now dangerously overhead.
"He was rambling about bros and other nonsense. He asked if I had 'dibs' and I told him no. Completely asinine conversation," Hector explained, causing Dominick to groan loudly enough to draw the attention of a few freshman passing by. He then hopped to his feet and kicked the grass like a petulant child throwing a tantrum. "Are you good?"
"No! You are such an idiot! I can't believe you didn't see what I was doing! Vance should have made you realize your feelings AND gotten him off Shaula's case. Now if you go for her after he told you he was interested and has dibs, then you're the one in violation of the Bro Code!"
"I don't even know what the Bro Code is!" Hector yelled back, his patience frayed to its breaking point. Dominick fixed him with an incredulous look then threw his hands up in the air.
"I give up! You two are hopeless!" Dominick exclaimed before stomping away. Hector watched him for a moment before realizing that he was actually leaving.
"Hey! Where are you going?"
"To lunch! I need to be around people who ain't idiots for a bit."
"What about my shoe!? Dom! Dominick! Bastard," Hector swore, reluctantly getting to his feet and chasing after his friend.
Whenever he got even a little bit close, Dominick would gradually pick up speed to put distance between them again. By the time they got to the Forge's cafeteria, they were at a full sprint and only managed to avoid smashing into the doors due to a group of senior girls exiting them and diving out of the way when they realized the boys weren't slowing down.
With the eyes of the entire hall – thankfully not too many as most students chose to eat at their dorms instead – on them, Hector coughed and apologized, straightening up and trying to quell his burning cheeks. Dominick on the other hand, seemed to revel in the stares, grinning like a maniac and slapping Hector on the back. 'Made a fool of myself and ruined my sock. Why do I still hang out with him?' he pondered, though couldn't help the small smile on his face as his shoe fell out of a portal onto the ground in front of him.
"Right then, come on, Romeo. Juliette awaits!" Dominick said, winking at him. 'And he goes and ruins it immediately. I'm beginning to think I should have stayed in bed.' Despite his urge to turn and walk back out of the cafeteria, he allowed his feet (thankfully both covered by shoes this time) to lead him over to a table in the far corner, the very same one Dominick had claimed for them on their second day of school.
Other than Rune, who was most likely still asleep, it appeared as if they were the last to arrive. The Uliral twins, as always, sat across from one another, speaking in fast-paced Mongolian and seemingly trying to annoy the other, Geoff sat next to Ovol with a long-suffering look on his face, while Shaula chattered his ear off. The sight of his scorpion-tailed friend brought back memories of Vance and 'Bro' and that was enough to tank his mood almost immediately.
The same could not be said for the Queen, who almost instantly shot out of his neck like a bee possessed and began circling Shaula's head. It only took a second for her to notice and when she did, her entire face lit up. "Ah! There's my favorite girl!"
"Yo, Hector, Dom. How's it going, bros?" Geoff asked. Hector's eyes immediately shifted away from the sight of Shaula lavishing praise onto the Queen and seemed intent on burning a hole through his skull. "Ah, I see Dom went through with his plan then?"
"Never say that word in my presence again," Hector grumbled as he collapsed into a seat beside Zuny, across from Shaula. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dominick and Geoff exchange a look and his suspicion rose dramatically.
"Hey, Hector!" A chill ran up his spine as he turned to face Shaula, who was grinning at him. The Queen sat perched on her nose, perfectly content, which made him smile back. "Let's see, how about Cleo? Like Cleopatra?"
"She was a Pharaoh, not a queen. Besides, she doesn't need a name, we've been over this," he replied. Shaula frowned and her face scrunched up, causing the Queen to shift slightly.
"Sorry," she said to the bee, before focusing back on Hector. "I don't see why she doesn't, you're supposed to name the things you love so you can connect to them more!"
"I am already more connected to her than most people could ever understand. I don't need a name to love her any more than I already do," he said, getting a genuine 'Aw' from Shaula and mocking ones from Zuny and Dominick. He felt his face heat up again and reached across the table to grab a french fry from Shaula's tray and threw it at Dom, hitting the unsuspecting boy right between the eyes.
Before an all-out food fight could begin (as it had several memorable times throughout their schooling thus far), Geoff whispered something to Dominick that made him grin and turn his back on Hector. 'What are they up to?'
"Okay, well. Even if you don't need a name to call her, why can't I call my best friend something other than 'Queen'?" Shaula said. Beside him, Zuny cackled.
"You can call me Queen anytime, Shay." Shaula rolled her eyes, then lowered her chin to rest on her folded arms, her tail swaying distractingly behind her.
"The only thing you're the queen of is taking three hour showers, Zuny." Shaula ignored the other girl's squawk of indignation and reached her hand up to stroke the Queen's back. Hector had to fight back a smile at the sight, lest he give the leery-eyed Dominick or Geoff more firepower. "Anyway, even if the two of you have got your little pheromone bond thing going on, I should be able to give her a nickname at the very least. She's your partner! We should at least give her a Hero name for her secret identity, right?"
"Hate to break it to you, Shay, but people aren't typically going to see a bee flying around a crime scene and stop to ask its name," Ovol interjected. Shaula pouted, which only increased his instinctive urge to smile, and popped a fry into her mouth, taking care to chew slowly, so as to not disturb the Queen.
"Everyone seems to be of your opinion lately. Payton the freshman has been calling her Queenie whenever he speaks to her," Hector said. Shaula's eyes narrowed and she mouthed the word 'Queenie' before frowning.
"So unoriginal. Gotta find something she likes. Let's see… Anne? Elizabeth? Marie? Are any of these vibing with her?" Shaula asked, glancing up at Hector, who shrugged. The scorpion-girl's pout became more pronounced and she appeared to go cross-eyed looking down the bridge of her nose at the Queen, still resting without a care in the world. The sight made Hector chuckle, which got him an elbow to the stomach from Zuny for his troubles. He turned to glare at her, but she just gave him a wide, shit-eating grin back. "Maybe not a history kinda girl, so let's try fictional! Let's see… Padme? Arwen? Glinda? No? How about Cersei? Helen? Hera?"
Hector felt a shift the moment Shaula said it. He peered down at the Queen, who had begun flapping her wings, but not taking off – a sign he had come to learn to mean happiness. No one else noticed, of course, they rarely ever did when the Queen's way of showing emotion was so subtle. Shaula kept on listing names, some of which he recognized, others… well, he had no idea where she kept pulling these names from.
"Hera. She liked that one," he interrupted. Shaula's mouth dropped open and she let out a squeal of excitement. He still wasn't sold on the idea of the Queen needing a name, at least from him, but seeing the way Shaula's entire demeanor changed, as well as the Queen's giddiness… it couldn't be a bad thing.
"Smooth," Dominick whispered to him, which almost immediately chased his smile away. He turned and pushed his friend's face away from him, nearly sending him toppling out of his chair. The instant Dominick righted himself, he looked back at Hector with the most smug expression the beekeeper had ever seen, and in that moment he knew he should have stayed in bed. "So now that Hera's got an actual name – great choice by the way, Queen of the Olympians and all that, very nice – let's move onto more pressing matters. Zuny, Ovol, Shaula–" Hector did not like the way he emphasized Shaula's name. "Y'all have any plans this weekend after patrols are done with?"
"Ugh, no. I have to work during the day," Zuny moaned, resting her cheek in her palm with a frown. Ovol rolled his eyes and took another bite of his sandwich.
"You are the one that wanted to work and make money to send back home. Crying about it is just counterproductive." Zuny whirled on her brother and stuck out her tongue at him. Hector watched the interaction with muted amusement, while Shaula giggled. Undeterred by the distraction, Dominick leaned over and stared at Shaula intently until she noticed and sighed.
"He's been like this all morning?" She asked Hector, who nodded and grabbed his friend by the collar of his shirt, pulling him back down into a seat. "Jeez, no I don't really have plans either." Dominick's expression faltered slightly, though it reformed so quickly Hector was sure he was the only one to see. 'Plan not working out for you, eh?' It took every ounce of willpower he had to push down his smugness. However his victory's short life ended abruptly at her next words, "Vance asked me to go see a movie or something with him, but I said no."
"What? Awww, Shaula. You couldn't take pity on the class idiot?" Zuny crooned. Shaula shook her head and shot Hector the briefest look, which he was sure did not go unnoticed by the group.
" I still have to make the meal schedule for next month and assign chores. Then Diana and I already have plans to do some training during our down time," she explained. The mention of her underclassman mentee brought a bright smile to Shaula's face and she clapped both of her hands against her cheeks. "Ah, she is just the cutest thing! So sweet and adorable, she'll make a perfect Dorm Head once I'm gone. I am so glad I got assigned to her, I wasn't sure Mr. Holl would take my request into account."
Whether or not they noticed her abrupt change of topic, the others – surprisingly even Dominick – seemed content to let it slide. Hector relaxed, leaning back in his chair and watching as the Queen circled above their table, signaling her boredom. He listened as Zuny and Ovol regaled them with the story of their first training session with their mentees… and how horrible it had gone. At Shaula's concern, Ovol smiled. "They'll be much better when we get into the field. Nothing like the real thing to knock some sense into the little punks."
"Those two always seem to be fighting. I swear, with the amount of times Eris has shown up at the Boy's Dorm on a warpath, we're gonna have to put in some security measures," Dominick said. Hector snorted. 'I'm pretty sure that half of the time she's not showing up to yell at her brother, Dom. Even I'm not that dense, come on.' Dominick's smile grew as he stole a few chips from Ovol's tray. "Let me tell you though, Sirius is a damn funny kid. Doesn't try to be, of course, but seeing this little ball of determination and bluster just trip over nothing and faceplant never gets old."
"And how is Epi doing? She usually doesn't work well in teams other than with Sirius," Shaula interjected. Dominick's smile turned slightly nervous and he reached one arm up to crack his neck – usually his signal for an unpleasant subject – intriguing his audience.
"She's… a bit scary. Two of them make a great team though. They'll make hella good Heroes." Dominick's nervousness gradually turned into fondness and his smile got softer. Hector found himself unable to quell his own grin. 'Takes a lot for Dominick to admit that. Especially with that much sincerity.' Then Dominick's expression turned a bit more malicious and he turned to Hector. "How's your partner, Hec?"
Hector's face darkened and he lowered his head onto the table. "She hates me. I haven't even talked to her more than once. This is going to be a disaster. If we get into any sort of altercation it'll be the death of both of us," he mumbled, with each word the aura of despair around him growing larger. Zuny and Ovol shared a look, then laughed, while Dominick's stupid grin never left. For his part, Geoff was silent – he'd been that way a lot recently – but Shaula took pity on him and reached across the table to pat his head placatingly.
"She doesn't hate you. Clara's just a bit of a spitfire. She's the type of person where you really have to earn their respect. Believe me, I've been dealing with her all year. Just show her what kind of person you are and she'll start to see you as more than…"
"Human pondscum?" Dominick filled in.
"A useless waste of space?" Zuny added.
"Both of you hush!" Shaula retorted. As his belittlers shared a high-five, Hector raised his head up and nodded at Shaula appreciatively. 'How the hell do I earn her respect? My Quirk isn't flashy enough to grab her attention. Most people are just grossed out. Honestly, I just don't want to deal with her attitude. Maybe our patrols will just go by quickly and incident free?' Knowing his luck, that wouldn't happen.
As he raised his head fully, he noticed Dominick sending some sort of hand sign to Zuny, which caused Hector to narrow his eyes. Sure enough, Zuny got to her feet and pulled Ovol out of his chair with an apologetic bow towards the group. "Sorry guys, but we gotta get going. Gotta get ready for patrols tonight and we're meeting the little goblins in like half an hour."
"Oh, okay. Good luck if we don't see you again!" Shaula cried after them as Zuny pulled Ovol along on their hasty retreat. Hector's jaw clenched and he turned back around… only to find neither Dominik nor Geoff anywhere to be seen. 'Judging by the slight hint of the river in the air, he must have made a portal," Hector thought, scowling. Shaula made a surprised gasp as she too turned and saw no one. The two sat in silence for a brief moment before she laughed. "Not very subtle, are they?"
"Not in the slightest," Hector bemoaned, already theorizing ways to get back at his so-called friend group. Shaula, once again proving herself a saint compared to him, just sighed and gave him a sad look.
"They're still teasing you then? I swear, those two are the worst sometimes." Hector felt his face getting hot again and turned to look out the window,
"It's fine. I don't really care. Dom will always find something to tease me about. It's… just not really fair that you're getting dragged into it," Hector said, turning back but unable to meet her eyes, instead staring at her tail as it swayed ever so slightly just above her head. Shaula looked surprised for a moment before rolling her eyes and smiling.
"This again?" Shaula asked, her voice still calm, but now with an undertone of amusement. "We've talked about this, Hector. You told me you weren't ready and that's totally fine. I'm okay with waiting until you have an answer, one way or the other." Hector's brow furrowed as images of the previous year's Halloween Festival and their… enlightening talk during the fireworks display, flashed through his mind.
"You shouldn't have to wait. I mean, you shouldn't have to turn down every guy that shows interest in you just because I can't make a decision. It's not fair to you." Shaula stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing.
"Oh no, are you talking about Vance?" At his bewildered look, she only laughed harder. "Oh sweetie, Vance is… nice, but he's nowhere near my type."
Her merriment must have been contagious, because despite his miserable demeanor, Hector began to laugh right alongside her. "How many times did he say 'Bro' when he asked you out?"
"Oh god! About five or six, it was almost funny. He's such a nice guy underneath all that bravado, but jeez I can't stomach it for very long." Hector watched as her face scrunched up and her eyes closed as she laughed harder. 'It's not really that funny, I guess. Not something Dom or I would find that amusing on our own, but Shaula's always had this effect on the people around her,' he thought. Ever since he'd first met her freshman year (or rather, ever since she found him and made him be her friend), he'd always admired that power she'd had to light up a whole room almost effortlessly.
Their laughter was abruptly cut off as the alarm on Hector's phone went off, making both of them jump. Swearing under his breath he pulled the offending device out of his pocket and nearly fainted at the time. "It's nearly time for patrols!" He exclaimed, which sent Shaula into a panic as well. 'How long have we been sitting here?' He wondered, noticing for the first time that they were the only two left in the cafeteria.
While he didn't have anything to throw away or pack up, he still waited, despite the time crunch, for Shaula to join him. When she did, bag slung over her shoulder, she smacked him on the back and the two left the building at a fast jog. 'Damnit, I was hoping to track down Clara beforehand to try and speak with her again. This is going to be a disaster, I just know it. Dom and the others couldn't have given us a little warning? If their bullshit idea to get us alone together makes us late, I'm personally making sure he's going to spend the next week in the Nurse's Office.' They reached the Girl's Dorm first and, before he could react, Shaula grabbed him into a quick hug before breaking apart.
"Just remember, show her your strengths and don't let her needle you. The best way to earn her respect is by proving you're not a burden on her in a fight!" As she practically flew up the stairs, Hector spared a brief moment to watch and listen to her words. 'I doubt she'll find my sneaky and underhanded tactics respectable… but thanks, Shaula. I'll do my best.' As soon as the doors slammed shut, he took off at a sprint to get back to the dorms on time. 'Clara Ramirez… this is the beginning of our partnership. Whatever deity is watching over us right now, please don't let me screw it up.'
Purpose of a Hero
This chapter was supposed to just be an intro to Hector, his friendships, and then his meeting with Clara and the beginning of their first Patrol. Vance is just a funny character to write (I imagine him as Reiner from A Slap On Titan if you've watched that youtube series) so I knew I needed him in here to talk about Bro Code. Then I figured "hey, why not have Dominick be the one to put him up to it to tease his friend" and then I kinda ran with the idea that, while Dom and the others are teasing Hector there actually IS something going on between him and Shaula. I also really like the idea that, while it's obvious Shaula had a super stereotypical "confession scene" (maybe I've been watching too many rom-com anime recently) we never actually see it. I love when things are just implied and left up to the imagination of the reader because it makes the world feel more alive.
Anyway, this chapter was weird for me, I don't know where it came from, and maybe I should have just done a Slice of Life story from the beginning and then we'd already be on chapter like 200. Honestly have no idea how my writing style (as shaky as it usually is) lends itself to this sort of storyline, so please let me know how badly it sucks.
Next time, we're back to our regularly scheduled programming with (and yes I changed the name of this chapter. I'm just too lazy to go back and change it in last chapter)
Chapter 64: After Dark