The Best Time For Ice Cream... [Open]

[Chain Dupp]

"...is all the time," said Chain as he entered the ice cream parlor. The first few weeks of classes had been relatively uneventful, and he knew this to be symptomatic of all the new students learning their schedules and acclimating themselves to Beacon and all its hangout spots.

This was precisely why he wasn't on campus at the moment - all the 'little-known hangout spots' were no longer little-known, and all the main hangout spots were taken by people who were a little too boisterous for even his taste. The ice cream parlor he'd chosen as his own hangout spot was much quieter - students came through occasionally, but very few obnoxious groups came by this way, making it the perfect place to settle in and work on essays.

Today, however, he was looking for something a little more social, and an ice cream parlor was as good a place as any to find people with good taste and good taste. With a polite wave to the cashier, Chain slid into his usual seat by the counter and waited for his usual to arrive in front of him.

[Mica Lecent]

A bus rolled to a halt with its doors opening. Various passengers filed out and scattered down the street. While many of these people knew where they were going, one lone traveler lagged behind the masses. Armed with a backpack stood a mildly bewildered youth in a powder blue hoodie and dress slacks for how creased the legs were ironed. One could mistaken her as some rich run away for the wide-eyed and constant head swiveling. She looked back to stare at the tail lights of the departing bus before taking a neatly square folded map from her pouch pocket. Upon it were circled locations of places of interest.

Her eyes narrowed at the names in an attempt to dedicate them to memory before following the road before her. It hasn’t been a week into orientation and Mica was out to scout out what Vale was like. Besides a warmer climate did she learn of how oddly relaxing the city could be. The people carried out their business and the streets weren’t too littered for what was advertised as a shopping district of sorts.

If she were to do any personal shopping around Vale, it’s best Mica did a bit of homework before just asking around the other students at Beacon willy nilly. Last night she spent the last of her day hours studying the layout of Vale before bed time. Yet still, the freedoms of this kingdom were vast. Her lips tightened at the thought of having more to study once back at the dorms.

“I should probably find someone who does know a thing or two.” The girl adjusted her red half rim glasses and mentally placed that closer to the top of her list. Staying at the dorms in Beacon would be ideal but it wasn’t like back home where things were more accessible to find and schedule a delivery pick up.

For now, it’d be best to stick to a simple route to avoid getting lost if she were to make it back to the dorms in a timely manner. Mica nodded and put the map back in her pocket to take in what stores were around. A book store, stationary shop, dust vendors, and some open food carts. Judging by the style of buildings here did Mica get the impression these were homes than office workers. If she kept following this road then she’d find the mall.

“Odd how this part of their kingdom feels more closer to a clustered small town.”

She shrugged with a small grin. A fairly spacious small town. A sign soon caught her attention as her steps slowed down to peer in through the window. An ice cream parlor. The girl thought for a moment on when was the last time she did go out for ice cream. Only recalling various trips to the ice box, she headed inside to browse out the menu.

Right away she noted how mellow and quiet the place was. Are people not very active during the day? Mica held her chin to think while standing back from the cashier counter to observe the options before her.

“I’ll be a moment,” Mica waved to the cashier so they can tend to the next customer instead. Her eyes did slowly gravitate to the side of the menu where the specials looked to be with some substance. Once feeling more sure of what was presented, she lined up to the counter.

“A sundae…? Or maybe one of those parfait. That sounds like it. Excuse me, one parfait please.”

[Castor Achromos]

It wasn’t everyday where Castor had nothing to do, either as a student of Beacon or with in “off school” activities. As such he felt the need to stretch his legs and go for walk through town. Maybe drop by his usual places and bother his usual associates, he soon changed his mind remembering the last time he dropped by the Pepper pool unannounced his almost got barred for life…and before that he almost got shot. Remembering several of his “classmates” talking about an ice cream place. Whatever the hell that was? but Castor felt it was worth looking into given that everyone in the school for the past few days kept talking about it.

“I wonder if it’s got any booze in it?” he thought aloud as he was slowly making his way to the bar? Or was it a store? Either way it only took him a few moments to get within eye shot of his destination. After spending the last few months working around the city he’s gotten pretty used to moving in and out of it. Of course, he did have the tendency of being distracted, such as not half a block away some of the usual bullies of Beacon were trying to do their usual crap of taking money from one of the smaller students. probably someone who just started given that Castor didn’t recognize them. He recognizes the person in question had droopy animal ears sticking out of their hair, “rabbit? Nah…he’s a donkey.” Castor noted to himself.

Usually Castor doesn’t bother with this kind of stuff, he has plenty of money for ice cream. But some light “exercise” should perk him up. The bullies in question were a trio of usual troublemakers, not too different from Castor in that they usually found themselves in detention. Main difference between him and them was that he could back up his mouth with actual skill, whereas three usually had to settle for picking those that were to afraid to bite back. Castor easily snuck up the three of them, tapping their “leader’s” back.

“Hey buddy, got a problem.”

The bully turned his head furious “the hell do you want?!”

“Oh, nothing just needs to do withdrawal is all.”

It only took a moment for Castor to knock out all three of the unimportant bullies. Before he left though Castor handed the Faunus freshman his money back with a little extra “if anyone asks these idiot tripped and fell on their faces alright ?”
He didn’t need any more trouble with the school to start more fights, even with these circumstances at hand. More importantly now that he was done with his daily exercise Castor couldn’t help being in the mood for a snack. Stepping into the Parlor Castor couldn’t help but notice there were not as many people as expected, especially compared to his usual hangout spots. He already felt a few eyes brief glance in his direction as he made his way through the place glancing at the menu as he did so.
“still no idea what the hell ice cream...eh screw it” He said to himself while he waited for the girl in front of him to order. “Another new face.?” He thought to himself, the girl in question seemed like another student of beacon as fac he could tell and guess, though given his current clothes the parlor and guests might confuse him more with a bum rather than a student of a prestigious huntsman academy.

The girl in question waved him allowing to cut her in line, with a shrug he obliged and went to the cashier, “yeah first time here soooo, I’m thinking of getting one of everything on the menu.” The cashier looked like a deer in headlights from his response but punched the order in and in a few moments Castor paid the entire thing and went to one of the nearby tables and waited for his order.

[Chain Dupp]

The door dinged softly as a young woman entered. She looked to be about his own age, with straight black hair and red glasses that accentuated her face nicely, the backpack slung over her shoulders clearly marking her as a student. The door opened again to admit a patch of grassy hair attached to a young man who carried himself with the practiced ease of someone with Aura training - Chain vaguely recognized him, so he was probably also a student.

Very few people ordered more than one dessert at a time, and even fewer ordered one of everything the shop made. Fewer still would do so for immediate consumption rather than as a catering order. This guy either had a massive appetite or a large group of friends coming to meet him. Chain personally hoped for the former, as he didn't want to lose his quiet hangout spot - he didn't mind sharing it, of course, but he didn't want the place to lose its cozy vibe: something it only maintained because it was never crowded.

His thoughts were interrupted by the Alpha-sized bowl of sherbet lightly set in front of him by the girl behind the counter. "Thanks, Lindy," he told her as he she handed him a spoon with a smile. "What's my balance at now?"

"You've got enough for another three of these abominations," she said in a teasing tone. "And that's including the tip, Link," she added before he could remind her. "How you eat all that so often without getting fat is beyond me, and I work here." She gave him a smirk before the ticket for the other guy's order printed and she stared at it with wide eyes.

"I'll give you a hand," he told her, winking as he took his first spoonful of the delicious dessert. He gave a casual wave to the girl who'd just ordered a parfait. "Have you ever seen someone make waaay too many bowls of ice cream at the same time?" he asked her, motioning to the stools next to him.

[Mica Lecent]

Her head turned at the same moment the order was made with the clerk stunned at the massive order. How abnormal. Mica considered to brush it off when noting how scuffed up the boy looked. It wasn’t….terrible but it did make her want to avoid sitting too closely. She waited for him to take his seat before selecting her place away from his cluttered looks and mountains of ice cream to come.

Speaking up was another patron who was here before as Mica was about to make for a designated corner of the parlor. Equally as surprising was his own mountain bowl of ice cream. Do Valeans love their desserts? Mica cocked her head in silent wonder, knowing only smaller tubs of snack ice creams back home. Such appetites these people possess. His odd good humor seemed to imply some familiarity with the young man who nearly purchased the whole store.

“I suppose not,” she took up the offer of a stool to observe from there instead. Seeing as her order might be a moment to assemble, she took the time to reach for a glasses wipe to clean off her specs and hands. “Not till now anyway. Though if he wanted one of everything, why not place a combination in bowls like yours? The desserts will start to melt before the last item is made.” Having said that, Mica couldn’t deny how curious she was to see what would happen. If a single person can finish them all.

[Castor Achromos]

Castor could have probably done some kind of order modification to save one money and time if he had bothered to fully read the whole menu thoroughly. Granted this wasn’t the first time he had more money than common sense. Especially when it came to food and drinks, he already figured the larger order would weird some people out, in particular the student that was in line before him and another made glances in his direction. He didn’t mind though; in fact, he’d prefer the type of audience that thinks he’s some kind of weirdo with too much money on his hand rather than the type who’d say hello with guns to his face. It only took a few moments for the first of his order to arrive. At his table, a simple sundae bowl drizzled in chocolate sauce. Or least that’s what castor figured it was judging by the smell coming off it. Not being able to see “color” made admiring his snack rather difficult, he couldn’t help but remember the numerous “color” phrases his classmates earlier that day used to describe the food in this place. Regardless Castor dove straight into his first of what would be many orders scarfing the small sundae down in a few bits.

“So, it’s basically just frozen milk?” he though to himself unsure what to make of “ice cream.” Soon after his train of thought was interrupted by a few more orders, many of them with a whole assortment of different toppings and flavors mixed in. Castor, figuring the worst thing he can do is look and sound weirder, soon started pestering the server who brought his “food” to his table, mostly about what flavors each ice cream had and other general small talk. As he tried working his way to what was now about half a dozen different ice cream bowls of varying flavors, toppings and sizes. Of course, the inevitable would happen as some of the ice bowls started to melt, but Castor in his usual nonsense decided to simply start chugging his way through the remaining dishes.

Without realizing that he still had a few more dozen to go through…

[Chain Dupp]

"I guess we'll have to wait and see," Chain said amiably as Melinda got to work making the extremely large order. Her arms were a practiced flurry of motion as she started scooping large quantities of various flavors of ice cream and sherbet, the cashier moving to set out various bowls, cones, and glasses on the counter for her to put the scoops into.

In a move that suggested she'd done this before, Melinda tossed a scoop of vanilla into the air in the general direction of a large bowl before grabbing a scoop of chocolate and strawberry in each hand. The scoop of vanilla careened through the air, looking like it was going to miss the bowl completely- but it didn't. Instead, it slowed to a crawl, its trajectory unchanged as it hung in midair in front of Chain, who was looking at it with a mischievous expression, his eyes not leaving it for an instant as it slowly inched toward the countertop. Melinda set the other scoops in a bowl before picking the bowl up to catch the suspended scoop, then reached out to drizzle a generous helping of chocolate sauce over everything. The cashier shook their head and made an exasperated noise as she handed them the bowl to carry it out to Castor.

"So," Chain asked Mica as Melinda threw another scoop of ice cream at him, "Where are you from?"

[Mica Lecent]

Observing the flow of the worker’s hands reminded her of a few days when customers arrived in masses. Mica nodded slightly at the work load ahead of the two man operation in appreciation of their efforts to accommodate every order. A shame the overall menu couldn’t have been smaller but variety is a daring choice. Her head turned to note how each bowl and cone were added to the table and yet, still, there was the lone patron. Mica suspected there was some tactics involved.

Scoops were flying across the counters and into bowls in a circus of colored creams. Mica sat tight in her seat upon seeing how most were moved about to drizzling chocolate sauces to keep from entering the crossfire. Somehow this patron was amused by all this. “A..normal occurrence, is this?” She asked as one scoop in particular suddenly remained suspended in the air. How…? Guesses of some kind of Semblance was behind it but who would really use a skill to move ice cream around. Though it would explain the store’s remarkably high skill performance. The girl folded up the cleaning cloth and pocketed it when asked of her origin.

“Atlas,” she replied curtly with her hands resting in her lap. “And yourself? A Vale countryman, I take it?” He did look as relaxed as many seen roaming the city. “And that fellow over there. An acquaintance? I notice how casual you’re taking all this.”

[Castor Achromos]

Despite the strange situation he found himself, Castor found himself enjoying the veritable mountain of ice cream and sweet he was devouring…at unreasonable pace. Stuffing his face full of any order put in front of him like a starving beast, granted this isn’t something he would normally be able to enjoy before. Usually, he was too busy with either making up for any missed classes as a Beacon student or “working” off the clock with rather the most unsavory of people. Despite his best efforts Castor couldn’t help but feel his pace slow with each bowl he digs through. Each sundae, sherbet and “milkshake” was just as great as the next one. Part of him couldn’t help but keep going despite the slowly filling stomach and constant brain freeze he was fighting off.

“ah sh!t, it’s like someone shoved an icicle in my skull” he blurted out loud…while still enjoying his current sundae. Despite the clear pain he was dealing Castor still seemed to be enjoying himself regardless. If people thought he was strange before now they probably see him as a Bona fide freak. Of course that never stopped him before, if anything it makes the whole experience even richer, So many In this kingdom he felt were too uptight for his taste, so messing with them was just one of his many hobbies he did. Through sheer will, guts and stupidity Castor was finally able to force all but one dish down his mouth hole, at this point Castor was all but spent. At this point he was about to ask to just take the last order to go
…until it came to his table

“final order for the kingdoms of Remnant special. enjoy” this server said before leaving him with his final dish.

Before him was simple sundae order placed in waffle cone instead of the usual bowls, four scoop of different “colors” representing each of the kingdoms numerous toppings like nuts, whip cream and other stuff for “decoration” sprinkled across this monstrosity of a “dish” Castor knew when he was done for and bashfully turned to the rest of the guests of the Parlor
“Anyone wanna help with this?” Though truthfully he wasn’t sure how many of them would honestly answer him, as he was eating his previous order Castor could tell more than a few other the other guests had given him their fare share of sour looks. Aside from the two students from before that is, they kind of kept to themselves.

“Anyone? Seriously? It’s free food…sides if I eat anymore I might drop dead.” He joked.

[Chain Dupp]

Chain couldn't help but chuckle at Mica's reaction to the speed with which Melinda assembled the large order. "They get catering orders often enough. As to the floating ice cream..." he held a spoonful of sherbet up slightly above his head between himself and Mica, then let go of the spoon as he activated his Semblance again, his gaze locking onto it as his eyes shifted shade slightly to be more ice than blue. The spoon fell nearly halfway to the counter before it slowed to a crawl, Chain letting it float for a few moments before his hand reclaimed it. "That's me. I've been here enough times while business is slow that we've goofed around a little with my Semblance. It's good practice for me, but I'm starting to worry that she's going to throw a scoop of ice cream at someone who can't make it slow down and they're going to end up wearing it." He flashed a cheeky grin as he shoved the spoonful of sherbet in his mouth and turned to look at the green-haired dude.

The guy was absolutely obliterating his large order, which was honestly just impressive more than anything else. That said, the guy was only human - er, Faunus. Melinda set the last thing he'd ordered in front of him, which was of course the Four Kingdoms - she'd definitely done that on purpose - and he sheepishly admitted defeat.

Never one to leave a perfectly good dessert to melt, Chain gave him a wave. "Don't worry, bro, I got you," he said with a laugh as he slid off the counter and carried his bowl of sherbet over to sit at the table. Turning back to Mica, he answered her first question. "Sure am. I grew up in this city - it's how I met Lindy in the first place." He gestured to Melinda, who was wearing a huge shit-eating grin as she cleaned her hands on a towel, the cashier having put their hands on their hips pointedly when Chain mentioned someone wearing a scoop of frozen dessert. "You did hit someone with a scoop, didn't you?" he accused in a loud tone of mock indignance. "You absolutely did, and you were hoping I'd take the blame for it, weren't you?"

A silence fell over the shop as Melinda hung her head. It lasted only for a few seconds as neither Melinda nor the cashier could keep a straight face for very long. "I totally did," she said, nodding as she laughed. "It was a double scoop of raspberry sorbet and it hit him square in the nose," she continued, causing Chain to cackle.

"I told you," he chided cheerily. "And to answer your other question, no, I have no idea who this dude is. I think he goes to Beacon?" Chain raised an eyebrow and shrugged before turning to offer his hand to Castor. "Chain Dupp. Yes, that's my actual name. No, I'm neither an edgelord nor a dungeon master. Though my weapon has many edges and I have been in a dungeon before."

Melinda set Mica's parfait in front of her, still giggling. "I'm so lucky the guy I hit was another regular, or I'd have been in so much trouble," she confided in a stage whisper.

[Mica Lecent]

Lo the glutton has admitted defeat. It was impressive, valiant even, but despite all that did the girl thought it served him right to have eaten so much. Almost made her want to avoid the place to keep the memory of the devoured desserts to a minimum. Not even a shred of if anyone of it tasted that good. Somehow that left an ill feeling despite not having a single bite of her own dessert yet.

“Catering large amounts of ice cream is rather unthinkable. Is the demand for the stuff truly that great?” She asked with all prior thoughts of ice cream being that small odd dessert easily forgotten in the ice box but always handing and ready to have when the inkling for sugar calls.

In terms of that odd ability, knowing it was kept under control was comforting. Somehow maintaining the ice cream’s form and movement. Not even a spec of the added chocolate sauce dripped now that she recalled it. Also implying that this youth was on familiar terms with the staff. A usual haunt. Mica contemplated hanging about as well, if this cirque du crème keeps up.

“How friendly,” she remarked as the young man left and introduced himself as Chain Dupp to the cream stuffed patron and help finish that Four Kingdoms speciality. As pretty as it was, Mica still wanted her own dessert first. Maybe a trait about the people in Vale. Her eyes moved from the duo to the parfait placed before her from Melinda. To throw food on a customer on purpose was an oddly uncomfortable remark. “That would be risky business if they were not though, if I’m not mistaken, you are hoping to have, weren’t you,” she replied to Melinda and took up the provided long spoon. The granted layers of ice cream, sliced fruit, whip cream and bites of cake pieced together charmingly.

Having her first bites of the mixed creams and sweets, she tried to enjoy what brief peace there is since arriving to Vale then enrolling to Beacon. In the meantime she took her folded paper map out again to set on the counter to decide where to scout out next before returning to the dorms rather than join the boys just yet and their cluttered table.

[Castor Achromos]

Castor wasn’t all that surprised, most of the parlor guests chose to ignore his invitation to take on his dish, most of them seem content with eating what little ice cream they had in front of them already. His vulgar display earlier and general demeaner didn’t help matter either. Lucky one of the student’s who Castor noticed before grew stepped up to the challenge before quickly introducing himself as Chain Dupp. It seemed he was somewhat familiar with the people who worked at the parlor, not surprising that if some of the student of Beacon ended up being regulars here given how popular it seemed to be.

Castor was grateful that last this new person was at least talkative, most students tend to avoid him like the plague. “All right two questions, what’s the biggest thing you kill with your toy of yours?” From what he could see calling it “edgy” seemed appropriate if nothing else, though given the nature of his own weapon he wasn’t one with any room to argue. “Also, that dungeon of yours got anything of note?.” The second reasoning was more personal a cave might have something worth looking into, who knows it might have something that interests him as unlikely as that sounded.

“Before I forget, the name’s Castor Achromos , if I had to guess you and the girl over there are new students?” It was the only reason he could think of for them to being so casual with him, most of the other students who started around the same time as Castor did. Either knew him personally such as with Vee or knew of him in some capacity…usually for his wild and usually dangerous antics. Any thoughts on “the school so far?” Castor in this case wasn’t really interested in their answers, specifically just in how exactly they responded to it, despite his outward appearance he was a rather decent judge of character. The way they carried themselves also peaked his interest, the boy was much more relaxed and open whereas the girl in comparison was reserved and quiet.

“If you guys want any tips about anything feel free to ask, I’m something of an expert to student life here in Vale.” He lied naturally as he took a small spoonful of the behemoth of ice cream in front of him.

[Chain Dupp]

"Oh, absolutely," said Melinda at Mica's question of popularity. "We mostly do birthday parties and stuff, though - an ice cream cake and a couple gallons to go with it is a pretty normal Saturday order, especially come summer. We get a few specialty orders from some of the bars, too, when we do our seasonal flavors. We also sell tri-packs of triple pints if you want to take some back to toss in your dorm freezer," she added with a wink.

Chain regarded Castor a bit more closely before responding. Yeah, this kid definitely went to Beacon, now he thought about it. Chain remembered seeing him running around the wing with all the Professor's offices in it at least once. "Nice to meet you, Castor. I am indeed a Frosh this year, and I while I don't want to speak for the lady, given that she's not from around here I would assume that she is, too?" He tossed a questioning look over at Mica, allowing her to correct either assumption at her leisure.

"Biggest thing I ever took down solo was probably the old busted water tower out by the farms. Biggest solo Grimm was an Alpha Beowulf, though I'll admit that I had help distracting its pack. As to the dungeon..." his voice trailed off as Melinda suddenly looked very interested in their conversation. "It's not mine, I ended up down there completely by accident, and if I ever go near it again I think my mother might actually disown me. What about you: what's the biggest thing you've ever taken down?" he asked quickly before Lindy could press that subject.

[Mica Lecent]

“How festive,” Mica reluctantly agreed to this parlor’s catering choice. Must be a real money service to have people demanding for ice creaming. She took a dainty mix of cream and fruit from her dish and ate it. This parfait alone can hold her over but a tub is just outright. “I’ll keep that in mind when I’m in need of a serviceable amount. Does this take student discounts on large orders?” She now wondered if there was even such a thing or if the school did have partnerships with local businesses. Something worth looking into for doubling these funds.

Her ears did feel warm to catch hints of the conversation the boys were having came to ask about her status as a student. Her hand held the spoon poised for another sample when answering pointedly as she has been thus far. “I arrived here earlier this business week actually. Beyond the basic orientations thus far, this is my first outing into Vale proper.” The girl clarified for certain before posing confusion on their questions.

“What are you going on about? Some dungeon in this kingdom?” Her posture turned so her knees were directed toward them. The dessert pulled closer to her off the counter for quicker bites than at a leisurely pace.

[Castor Achromos]

Castor listened in on the conversation going around him , he loves being the center of attention but there was a time and place for it. Then there is a time to shut the hell up and learn. It was clear Chain had some history with the person. The girl on the other hand seemed somewhat fixated on her ice cream to really chime in on the conversation. When the talks about Grimm slaying came up, a thought crept into Castor’s head.

“Biggest bastard I took down?...hmm probably big the big ass bird, you know the one that shoots feather and likes eating people whole?...what about you little lady ? what the biggest monster you kill?” Taking a bite of the soon crumbling Kingdoms of Remnant dish, he stopped stewing over which words to use next “that was before becoming a student though, as a student nastiest thing I fought was…something else.” . The faculty at Beacon had expressly told him to keep quit on what happened that day with him and Vee…but Castor was never one for rules or respecting the authority of Huntsman to begin with.

Leaning in with a whisper only they two could hear him “I can tell about some real crazy stuff I’ve seen in the past few months, but it’ll gotta ask you something first.” He leaned back and his normal casual tone as before asked “so why’d’ you wanna become huntsman?” It was a surprisingly simple and sincere question compared to how he was just a few seconds ago, partially him being cautious with them and genuinely curious. Most of the everyday no-name students he “runs” into want in on the profession for money, fame or were too stupid to understand how big of a threat the creatures of Grimm are.

[Chain Dupp]

"Sure do," Melinda answered brightly as she cleaned the counter, preparing to make a pickup order that had just came up on a hardlight screen by the register.

"Well, then here's to hoping you love this city as much as I do," said Chain, raising his massive bowl in a mock toast before shoving an enormous spoonful into his mouth.

He nearly choked on his sherbet as Mica asked about the dungeon. "Ahh, the dungeon in question is in, uhh, *ehem* a nightclub." Searching desperately for a change of subject, he was luckily saved by Castor's question. "I'm studying to be a Huntsman because I don't want people like my parents to have to worry about the Grimm, I want them to worry about how to make their restaurant the best it can be. I want kids everywhere to to aspire to be whatever they want to be, without having to worry about how to make that possible with the Grimm around. I want to make that fairy-tale safety real." He smiled, thinking about his parents' restaurant, as he ate another spoonful of sherbet.

[Mica Lecent]

“Thanks Miss,” her head nodded slightly Melinda before giving her full attention to the boys across the floor in their booth. Seems as though her early arrival didn’t mean much. Guess new students happen into the school as needed. Must have a lot of transfers too in that regard. Mica used her spoon to fish up a piece of soft sponge cake in the depths of the glass as that boy seemed to have choked on something when inquiring about this dungeon.

“Odd,” she said and ate her piece. Probably some slang or terrible experience. If it was supposed to be a secret then they didn’t seem good at keeping one. Mica noted the plausible options. If literal then the country of Vale is housing Grimm. If figurative then probably some ‘in’ thing the local students were on.

Knowing little else about Vale nor knowing any people that would, the girl became a touch annoyed at how much ground she’ll have to cover in this country and school. If only there was someone clearly knowledgeable around. These boys might fit some gaps.

At the question of why she became a Hunter, it was more mundane as any. “I have yet to fight Grimm before. Mostly keeping thieves and robbers away. So the plan is to make enough money and retire. If I had enough money then my folks can do something else. We can close up shop and maybe retire somewhere warmer. Something like that but can’t do any large upheavals without financial backing.”

Mica explained and examined her half finished meal. Seeing whether to get a scoop of fruit or cake next. “The idea of safety would be wonderful. Head out, remove the source of Grimm, and then everyone would be more at peace to expand. Though, from how both of you speak, it seems as though Vale has its own share of events.”

[Castor Achromos]

Castor would listen to both their reasons for wanting to make a job of killing Grimm, couldn’t help but notice how both of them seem to be complete opposites of the other, Chain seemed like a decent enough kind of person wanting to do right by his parents and those around him. Reminded him of a certain bird who’s constantly playing with her potions and aura back home, as for Mica. She made it very clear the business aspect of the job is all that seemed to matter. He didn’t blame her though after all if you’re good at something, never do it for free. Part of her reminded him of another person back home. Granted there was a big difference between the two, “so, you’ve never killed a Grimm…not enough a bewolf?” he asked Mica both teasing the new huntsman in training and because he was starting to get tired of stuffing bits of ice cream into his mouth every few seconds. Castor decided not to bring up his earlier point, figuring it was better not to get fresh “meat” involved in the kind of Grimm he was thinking about. Maybe If he got the chance, he could get the location of this dungeon out of Chain without arousing suspicion?

It was at that moment more people started entering the parlor, some of the new faces Castor recognized as the bully he dealt with earlier. Not surprised they hang out here also, it seemed though they didn’t recognize him yet…maybe it was the enormous size of the dish in front of him blocking their view?...or the numerous bruises he left on their face making it hard for them to see clearly?. Knowing Castor, it was probably both.

[Chain Dupp]

Sounded to Chain like her reasons for becoming a Hunter were similar to his own - she wanted to help her family, just in a slightly different way. "No cause more relatable than helping one's family," he said with a smile before he finished his sherbet.

Castor seemed surprised at Mica's admission that she'd yet to fight a Grimm, something that also earned her a curious glance from Chain. "I'd imagine that a plurality of the student body had yet to fight a Grimm before going to school to learn to fight them," he commented, "but it's interesting that you managed to make it to secondary school without having killed any." Pulling the bowl of ice cream toward himself, he inserted a spoon to begin providing the promised assistance with consuming it.

The door dinged as a small group of the local hooligans entered the shop. They weren't around as often as Chain was, but they were here often enough - thankfully they never caused trouble inside the shop, though that didn't stop them from getting into trouble outside. Something that had clearly happened today, judging from the fresh bruises on the leader's face.

"What about you?" he asked Castor between spoonfuls of ice cream. "Why'd you enroll?"

[Mica Lecent]

“Grimm were typically handled by the local enforcement and barriers. Though they do little against warding away people who feel to attempt robbery. It probably wasn’t like this before when my folks opened our shop at first but there does seem to be a rise of issues with burglary in the last two decades.”

Polishing off the last little bit of her treat, she set the glass forward with the spoon left in it for the staff to collect. Having finished her dessert, the girl moved from her seat to a few bar stools down to place herself adjacent to their booth. It looked a bit crowded to her so it did save raising her voice over the next set of customers to arrive.

The momentary scuffs on their clothes made Mica want to ignore them more, if she hadn’t noticed them at all. Who goes walking around like that? “Honestly,” the girl sighed with a slight adjustment of her glasses. Turning her head to Castor and Chain, her eyes lingered to Castor with her lack of Grimm training being so startling.

“If Grimm were akin to animals then surely everyone would have encountered one before. Not that there isn’t much on the local news to report such incidents within respected kingdoms.”

[Castor Achromos]

“Why I enroll? Well, it isn’t anything noble or fancy like doing good or providing for family. After all only thing I’m good at is killing grim and holding my guts in.” Castor would leave it at that, after all, anything else would be a bit more personal than if he would prefer to talk about with people he just meets. Changing to topic quickly, “tell you what next time you got free time the three of us can go Grimm hunting.” He spoke.

“After all if an idiot farmer can kill a Beowulf with a pitchfork then killing a pack of those furballs should be no problem for you two.” For a moment he stopped to ponder what to add “I’ll even through in a prize for whoever kills the most.” He thought a little motivation would make the offer more tempting, getting to see the abilities and semblances of other huntsman was always a treat…sides most of the remaining ice cream was starting to melt. Even what’s left of the kingdom’s dish resembles a mushy pile of melted cream.

Castor figured they would be hesitant to take him up on his offer but he hadn’t had a chance to step out of the city wall’s in the past few weeks due to work so he figured it would be a good break from the norm, as the conversation carried on Castor could feel the sensation of something eye him from a distance. It wasn’t long to figure out who it was, as across from the room the punk he had “dealt” with earlier had been glaring at him for the past few minutes.

Still likely sore and sour over what happened earlier in the day but Castor paid no attention to them, which only seemed to aggravate them further, eventually one of them stood up and seemingly was making their way towards them, likely to pick a fight.

Normally Castor would be thrilled to have a bit of an after-snack exercise but the idiots were no fun last time.

[Chain Dupp]

It still amazed Chain that for all the things he'd heard about the Atlas/Mantle situation, the Atlesian military did in fact keep Grimm far enough away from the city that a plurality of the normal townsfolk didn't see them on the regular. That wasn't to say that Vale's Hunters were any less effective at keeping the capital safe, of course, because they did an excellent job - you didn't have to travel far beyond the city's borders to find Grimm, but you did still have to leave the city.

The hooligans seemed to know Castor - well, to be more accurate, they seemed to dislike him. It didn't take a genius to piece together from the bruised faces and Castor's general demeanor that the particular brand of trouble the group had run into today had been Chain's verdant-haired upperclassman.

Moving one hand to his belt to rest on the master link, he popped another spoonful of ice cream from the rapidly melting sundae into his mouth as his gaze locked onto the leader, whose Aura control proved lacking as he immediately slowed by a perceptible amount as he approached their table.

"Help you fellas with something?" he asked casually.

[Mica Lecent]

The three of them? Hunting? Mica tilted her head slightly at the sudden inclusion. Was better than being excluded and safety in numbers is preferable. Least they weren’t unsavory toward her lack of Grimm experiences. She heard other academy students weren’t as kind. A chuckle at the attempt to even throw in a prize.

“What will said prize be?” Mica had to bite the question that taunted an answer. Compared to these two, all she had to do is not be last. Simple. The foot steps and shapes off to the side had her raise her head to look upon their new guests. Chain looked to have adjusted his posture by shoulder movement.

Not knowing either of these people, Mica can only assume these people were locals or students out of class as well like the rest of them. “Hello,” she greeted the newcomer. “These people more friends of yours to introduce?”

[Castor Achromos]

“Prize? Honestly was thinking cash but I’m open to suggestions.” He was glad they seem at least interested in the idea at least, to many of the students rarely seemed to have the backbone to go out on Grimm hunts unless it was part of a class or other assignment, Castor already built a habit of going outside the kingdom’s wall for some peace and quiet from his work as a student as his other “activities”. Besides knowing how to kill a Grimm and hunt one is two different things, any bum with some luck could kill a lone Beowulf or two. His conversation with them would cut short as the walking ATM’s from earlier seemed to have found enough courage…or spite to finally confront Castor.

“you gotta lot nerve showing your face around here” the leader of the punks said, Castor didn’t bother to even look at the three student, hell he didn’t even bother to remember their faces for all he cared they could be those faces generic background extra in cartoon shows. When Castor final turned his attention towards them to he simply smirked “shit man, what happened to your face?” The punk leader was confused for a moment before continuing “you happened you fu-“ and with that Castor’s cut him off

“Wait now I remember, you were those idiots picking on someone earlier.” Castor of course was just messing with them as the grin on his face grew, their faces soon twisted and distorted in anger and shame. “Whatever man just give us our money back!”

“Yeah…bout that got bad news for you.” he said sheepishly as he pointed the small mountain of plates, cups and other dishes from his order, “tell you what you can have the last bite of this ice cream and we’ll call it even?” Castor would soon get a spoonful of the remaining ice cream dish and tried to hand it to them. Of course Castor knew they wouldn’t accept the ridiculous offer and as one of the other goons walked and slapped away the dish Castor grin would sour “hey it’s your money but if you wanna take this outside be my guest.”

“Why too afraid to fight us here?” one of them barked Castor would laugh at the idiot while pointing at the employee who had been serving food not too long ago now seemingly was brandishing a twelve-gauge shotgun at both them and him “no, but I’m afraid of her.”

[Chain Dupp]

Chain was lucky Lindy liked him, else he might find himself persona non grata in the parlor before long. Which would have been a real shame, since they made a mean sundae.

"Y'all wanna cause a scene, you can do it outside," said Melinda tersely, shotgun in hand making it clear that this was not a request.

"Now, now, no one's causing a scene, right guys?" Chain asked both Castor and the hooligans. "Way I see it, the money in question wasn't yours to begin with, anyway, so why don't we call it payment for services rendered as a tutor at the School of Hard Knocks? You fellas can go back outside and do... whatever it is you do instead of going to class, we'll go about our own business, and we never have to see each other again?" The easy smile on his face betrayed none of his inner tension, and a glance at the cashier showed that the staff were as ready as he was for this to go sideways - literally, he thought, the idea causing his smile to grow.

"Somethin' funny?" the leader asked before moving to upend the table, his hands grabbing at the glass tabletop - and passing straight through them as his friends charged forward.

Chain's smile could only grow into a toothy grin as Melinda pulled the trigger, the Wind Dust cartridge in the shotgun blasting the entire gang off their feet, straight through the window, and into the street in a pile of limbs. The window shimmered for a moment as it became solid again, the cashier's extended hands opening from the closed fists they'd been previously as his Semblance deactivated.

Rising from his chair to give a lazy stretch, Chain gave him a thumbs-up. "Nice one, Roy," he said cheerfully as he turned to look at Castor and... huh. The girl hadn't actually given her name yet. "Something tells me they aren't just going to let either of us gents walk outta here, but the lady should be free from harassment - unless she'd like to join us in a little post-meal exercise?" he asked with a questioning look at their fellow classmate.

[Mica Lecent]

Rude. Mica concluded and tried to ignore the group except for the fact that they partly were in her way as these thugs tried to hustle the boys in the booth. Feeling that this spot got a bit crowded, Mica got up to shuffle down a few counter stools when something hit the arm of her jacket. Looking at it, her eyes fixated at the milky colored smear and chocolate drippings of the melted ice cream sloshed on her clothes with the spoon clattering to the floor. "Ugh," she hissed in disgust.

Not a moment after this gust of wind accompanied by the shotgun somehow sent those hooligans flying out the window. The gust tossing about her hair and sent her glasses flying with those hooligans. And...the window didn't break? Well, first issue would be her glasses. She patted her blank face in an attempt to straighten the frames only to find them missing. Great. Well, no matter, she'll just grab her spare from her backpack. Upon seeing the chocolate dripping reach her gloves, she inhaled sharply to look for some napkins to brush away some of the ice cream. Now made worse with the chocolate cause seemingly digging into the fabric. Any wiping would just make it worse. Annoyed by their rudeness and, mostly really, dirtying her jacket, Mica set the crumpled up wad of tissue she was using on the counter. "They get one last say before they're going to be the ones cleaning up their mess," she replied and went for her spare glasses to slip on. A glint in the lenses that made them go opaque for a brief instance.

Having just her backpack with her though, Mica resolved to make do with her semblance alone. Quietly boiling under the surface, she took a water bottle out of her backpack and stepped outside with it in hand while shaking the container.

[Castor Achromos]

“Course, if we were to cause a scene here the school is sure to suspend everyone involved.” Castor replied as Chain seemingly tried to deescalate the situation, of course Castor wasn’t going to let that happen. After all it hasn’t been the first, second or even fourth time he’s been caught picking fights outside the school. More importantly he couldn’t help but laugh as the scene played out in front of him, one second these morons talking out of there ass and the next their on their ass thanks to a well placed shot from the girl with the shotgun. If anything they were lucky if it was loaded with something strong then there would have been a mess all over the parlor floor.

“Since this little dance is going to be outside it means we won’t have to deal with an audience.” Castor said as he made his way out of the parlor door, there seemed to be enough cannon fodder for him and everyone else. His Cetus gloves were a lot less pointy than chain’s weapon but the moment he put them on an life “sparked” out of them with vibrant electricity they were a bit more flash in their own right.

Castor would quickly turn his head towards both Mica and Chain “let see how you do again these dummies, might help decide what the prize will be for the future Grimm hunt.” He said half-jokingly. Not a moment he stepped out of the door the gang leader jump and attacked him…more accurately tried to attack him. As the soon the unconscious fool leaped without thinking aiming a knife straight at Castor. Only for Castor to casually grabbed the knife by the blade with on hand while also throwing a punch with the other, the moron soon found himself face first on the floor once more but slowly started to get back Up, granted this time with a new bruise on his face,

[Chain Dupp]

"Speak for yourself, mate - I was involved in an unfortunate incident outside an ice cream parlor, but I wouldn't call it a scene. That would imply that there was both an audience and uncertainty as to the outcome." As if to demonstrate his point, the leader of the gang found himself casually tossed aside by Castor as the trio made their way outside.

"Besides - it's not like we started it. Riiight?" He shot Castor a pointed look as they fanned out in front of the shop door. So, two for each of them, huh? He could work with this. With a practiced motion, he undid the clasp on his belt, leaving his hand on the buckle in a manner reminiscent of a Vacuan pistoleer, cocked hip and all. "Your move, gents."

This was, apparently, not the right thing to say, as the two goons he had squared off with scoffed and drew weapons. "Come on, kid, you really wanna fight both of us?" one of them asked as they charged, matching each other step for step - or at least, that was their intent.

Reality didn't seem to catch up with the one who wasn't being affected by Chain's Semblance until he slung his arm around his head as though he was swinging a whip - for indeed he was, his belt revealing itself as a heavy, wrought-iron chain that flew around through the air with precision, wrapping itself around the goon's weapon, yanking it free of his hand, and tossing the blade down the street before striking the goon in the face and retreating to coil around Chain's forearm, who, with a few steps forward, had closed the gap between them to deliver a savage metal-wrapped punch to his attacker's groin. "No, I don't," he admitted as his gaze snapped back to the other hooligan, who'd barely managed to return to full speed in the short time his Semblance wasn't active on him. "I'd much rather fight you one at a time." The chain was once again a blur of motion, and the second goon found himself joining his fellow in short order, his weapon clattering to the ground a few shops down to join the other one.

With a twirl of his arm, Chain wrapped his belt back around his waist, clasping the master link back into place to secure it before raising his arms above his head in a casual stretch. "Stay down, boys."

[Mica Lecent]

How much force that shotgun of wind dust may have been too kind for these delinquents. Mica backed up a step into the parlor as one of the boys in front of her were jumped. Now she wished the shopkeep have had used a higher caliber for petty thieves and thugs. Having her path out of the store briefly blocked did she find the time to open up her backpack for a small canister of pepper spray. Threatening patrons and making a mess before getting thrown out in the process, she grated her teeth in frustration.

“Filth. Filth is what you are,” the red spectacled girl summarized to the last remaining assailants. Didn’t matter if she were a girl or smaller than them though it always left room for taunts.

“What’s a meek glasses girl gonna do?”
“Don’t have what it takes to be a Hunter. Run home to your parents.”

Her brow twitched as she aimed her water bottle at them. A loud hiss of spray stringing their faces followed by a cloud of pepper spray. Their pained yells from their eyes burning. Arms flailing to get the sensation out of their eyes.

“Your parents even teach you better? Picking pointless fights and causes a mess in public? How about you be ashamed of yourselves!”

Mica emptied out the contents of the bottled water and divided up between the pair that splintered to pick on her while Castor and Chain handled their sets far swiftly. She moved back from their arms that tried to blindly punch while effortlessly minding the water around them with her semblance. The water moved and collected the pepper spray particles to swirl around their heads, pressed to their eyes. A band of dyed orange water around their heads to mask their eyes.

“Crazy girl! Argh! My eyes!”
“You’re dead once we get our hands on you!”

Her glasses gleamed as she moved around and kicked the back of one of their knees. Forcing one of the punks to fall into the other. Blinded by the spray and water, Mica watched the pair claw and curse at once another on the ground.

“As if I’d let filth like you touch me,” Mica grumbled. If only there was more water to use then she’d really horse them down the street.

[Castor Achromos]

Castor figured the morons they were dealing with were pushovers, they did try to gang up one student before. Though it did give him a chance to get a look at both Chain’s and Mica’s fighting styles, anyone could say they prefer one method or another but when in a real fight it’s a lot harder to lie about those sorts of things. Granted their current foes were less useful than a rock, with a rock or sturdy tree you can easily see how much damage they can dish out and take. As for the current goons they were stuck cleaning the street with, fighting them was like going against a toddler. Castor would almost feel bad if they didn’t deserve it.

“All right, let’s make this quick.” He is turning his attention back to the goon apparent leader, putting away his gloves knowing he wouldn’t need them. They’re still on the floor with their faces kissing the pavement from his last failed attack. Realizing Castor was slowly making his way toward him, the leader scrambled the reach into his side revealing a small, concealed pistol. The weapon lacked the usual flair of style or folding metal associated with Beacon students, if anything the old fashioned designed of the snub nosed pistol reminded him something a few of his “associates” tend to keep on their person when working in the city.

“I see your idiots are only pretending the be students.” Castor heard from the occasional gossip from other students and from other sources of a group of idiots pretending to be students. It made more sense than a famous huntsman academy would accept these poorly skilled fools. Though why play pretend as students? Castor couldn’t help thinking there was more than he realized.

Before Castor could question him the leader squeezed the trigger of his gun with the resulting round firing off at Castor’s jaw landing right causing him the jerk his head back from the reaction…or so it seemed. As Castor soon revealed the bullet snuggly between his teeth seemingly catching the projectile before it could hit its mark.

“ta da!” he said sarcastically as he waved his hands around, as if he had pulled off some strange magic trick. With the bullet still between his teeth he forced a quick “for my next trick.” Where he would quickly spit the bullet out and letting spin in the air in front as he lined up his shot before he fired of a “shot” of his in the form of a strong left straight sending the bullet back down the same barrel it came from causing the gun to explode from the impact.

“I’m going to make a gun disappear” he said smirking and filled with smug satisfaction.