Lone Druid
Two days later, Iris went out hunting with Amelie and Natasha, as she had been texting with the former lately. She still could not tell if Amelie was attracted to her beyond simple endearment, but with lesbians it was rather difficult anyway.
"You said Claire's your mentor?" said Natasha. "I don't think I've seen her around."
"That doesn't surprise me." said Amelie. "She isn't the type to really attend class, or... training, for that matter."
Iris glanced at Natasha as if to ask her to shut up, which she did. She interjected: "She won't be mad at us stealing you for the day, will she?"
Amelie shook her head. "No, she certainly won't be. To be honest, this is my first time hunting with someone else in a while." She looked to Iris, wanting to change subjects. "Iris, you said you used to work as a mechanic before Urasaria?"
"I did, yes. I was certified enough that it wouldn't look suspicious to hire me, but most of what I did involved using Phantom or just diagnostics. It usually fell to me to otherwise do the menial work that kept the place open: they didn't terribly like that I was a host."
"Yeah, she was usually working 10-12 hour days." said Natasha.
Iris smiled to her. That part was somewhat true, at least. "Well, I figured it'd be best to get as much training in with Phantom as I could before Urasaria. Content's not a word I generally know when it comes to her; I wouldn't have delayed entering Urasaria if I thought it might've decayed her strength."
"But you were using your Revenant for money?" Amelie glanced around, then with all the secrecy of discussing nuclear weapons whispered to her: "But you realize that's incredibly illegal. They impose sanctions for that."
"I know, but I wanted to delay entering Urasaria for a few years until I could develop myself more. It wasn't like I was using her to hurt people."
Amelie pulled away and nodded, seemingly having forgotten Natasha was there. "Oh, I understand, Iris. It doesn't bother me, but... I would be careful who you tell that to. I just worry that some other student might report you for that."
"Don't worry. I don't tell it to anyone I don't feel I can trust."
"Alright, Iris. I just know that there's very strict penalties for that sort of rogue host concealment, even if..." Amelie twisted her fingers.
"I promise I'll be careful." Iris decided to move from this subject to soothe Amelie. "I was meaning to ask: did you finish the book you were reading?"
Amelie nodded. "Yes, I finished it the other day. It was well-written, of course, but I thought it was rather unrealistic after having done a few investigations. A true sociopath like Raskolnikov wouldn't oscillate as often as he does between guilt and violence. But I suppose there was a need to make intellectual what really is rather plain."
"Leave it to writers to overthink what doesn't need to be. I doubt the average criminal host thinks much of grand matters of good & evil; moreso that they have some need for a morality that'll remove their guilt over something, one usually without any content besides what benefits themselves."
Amelie nodded. "There was this one student, no longer alive, who I remember civilians were always afraid of -- not for undue reasons, of course -- but all I read of her was this was a woman who could barely form a functional sentence, let alone a coherent philosophy of evil. She likely just enjoyed exerting power over civilians; from what I heard, she was a complete coward otherwise. And yet people had all sorts of theories about her, for whatever reason."
"Right. A first glance might not always reveal motive, but philosophy can't either." said Iris. "Was said student the one Swarm executed?"
"Yes." Amelie laughed. "I know everyone loved her as president, so I don't want to sound like a bandwagoner -- but I really did admire her the most out of any other president. I just loved her intelligence. I know I must sound so pretentious."
"I don't mind."
"It's just not often that I-"
- she pulled Iris & Natasha with her as she slid back -
- and two lasers narrowly missed them from the right, and as they turned their vision there, Natasha sagely asked: "Is that a fucking bear?"
The fucking bear was on the sidewalk to their right and 40ft away.
Iris She saw that Amelie had Delinquent's spike of a right arm extended and was sharpening it with the other. It was a full-body Revenant of pink & black morphing metal, a bit like it had been repurposed from a sports motorbike.
She remembered Amelie's registration that she had shown them before they went out:
[DELINQUENT: A full-body Revenant of pink & black morphing metal. Complete control over the suit; host's body is very pliable within it.]
"Delinquent." A full-face visor shot up from Deliquent's neck and melded against Amelie's face, leaving only her hair exposed as two diamond-shaped red eyes formed.
30ft separated her from the bear as it began to rush at her; soon 20ft, and as it was 10ft within she stood her ground and shoved Iris & Natasha behind her, lasers striking her armor to no damage as the bear pounced upon her -
- Delinquent's chainsaw shot up through its jaw & out the top of its head, a groan coming from the bear as it writhed, stuck within the constant churn as blood spewed onto Amelie's mask -
- and a second chainsaw sliced its head off; it disappeared and Iris & Natasha's eyes suddenly shut as Amelie stepped back, dual chainsaws churning before they melted back into Delinquent's arms. Her eyes extended like they were stalked, then shook out the blood. "Are you alright?" Her voice was distorted through a heavy filter.
"B-Blinded us." winced Natasha, her vision steadily returning as Amelie glanced around. "W-Who isn't hiding?"
"I can't verify yet, but it escapes through light --"
- Natasha felt the bear's presence behind her and her vision opened just in time to turn with a spinning fist that slammed it in the jaw and sent it staggering; but it soon recovered and clawed at her, then pounced upon her as lasers shot from its eyes and towards her face -
" - Phantom!" shouted Iris, slowing the air ahead of its lasers' path so little light could enter -
- and slowing its advance, buying enough time for a Delinquent arm-blade to impale through the bear; it attempted to escape through the light but Phantom slowed its dissipation, and with one sweep Amelie sliced it into several pieces.
As the bear dissipated in a constellation of light, they heard a loud scream coming from around the corner and in another street. Wheels formed underneath Delinquent's legs as Amelie skated to the corner, Iris & Natasha following behind as her eyes extended and curled around the corner, then pulled back as another laser went past her -
- and at the end of it formed the bear -
- but its claws hit only air as Amelie skated past, ducked into a slide with her foe up ahead & 30 ft away; 20ft soon separated them, and as a final slide put her into range -
- two chainsaws punched through his chest and went out the other end; writhing, he screamed as Amelie hoisted him up high -
- and ripped him apart both ways, the grisly halves falling behind & ahead of her as their remnants rained upon her, nothing but the metallic laughter of her churning weapons.
Iris liked this.
Amelie stepped off to the side, and watched as Natasha crouched down to scan. She thought what it might be like to slice her own hands off using Delinquent. It couldn't harm her, not unintentionally, yet she worried that her mind may flicker for a second and that a nightmarish force would cause her to commit suicide. At these thoughts she felt stressed, and wondered why they had appeared.
Then she did not. She extended Delinquent's right-hand saw and began sharpening it with the other, the rest of Delinquent's suit retreating into itself.
[TWO-MINIS: Laser bear; travels through light.]
"Didn't know you could move your eyes." said Iris.
Amelie nodded and Delinquent's mask unsheathed. Its eyes moved to the side of her head, and she shambled about unnaturally. "I can move the eyes around freely, but not my limbs." Her eyes extended like they were stalked, and she poked Iris on the cheek with one.
Iris noticed she didn't do this to Natasha. "Does it feel odd to have your vision moving around like that?
The visor retracted and Amelie smiled. "Well, it does lead to a little dissociation. I actually find it comfortable. A bit of time in my own body isn't always what I want."
Iris thought of saying something but reconsidered it.
On their way back, Natasha looked for whatever convenience store was closest, said she was going to steal [[whatever it was she was going to steal, Iris wasn't listening]], and went off inside to leave Amelie & Iris alone.
Amelie smiled, then turned to look at Iris a little coquettishly. "So, aside from all the gore, how do I look?"
"You look great. Especially with all the gore." Iris sidled up closer to her, tentatively wrapping her arm around Amelie's waist. She didn't move away.
"Well, I was about to say: I noticed that you've been eyeing me the entire afternoon. Was I seeing that correctly?"
"Is that alright?"
"It is." Amelie smiled. "If I was looking at you piece by piece, Iris, then maybe I would find you to be a little rough. But you're another student with a sense of kindness, and you have this intensity that I find attractive. I'm just not quite sure yet what I'd like you to do with that."
"Can just acknowledge it for now."
"Mm. Maybe that would be best."
Iris kept her arm around Amelie as Natasha came back, eating/drinking/holding whatever it was she had stolen.
Amelie was distracted, however, for a bit of guilt had come over her: she felt that somehow she had forced Iris into being attracted to her. Her stress often caused her to view other humans as unnatural; that if she were to touch them, their skins might crumple like a chitin carapace. Their humanities had temporarily left Amelie's mind again. "…I should get going, though. My mentor was very strict on wanting me back. But please text me when you're safe on campus, Iris."
"Alright, I will."
Amelie skated off, and Natasha turned to Iris. "So, are you thinking of dating her?"
"…I'm not sure yet, either. Sex, yes, if she'd like that. But a relationship?" Iris frowned. "The longest one I've had only went a couple months, and even then, I had to stop it after... death in the family. Lack of personal intimacy's something I've found fairly manageable so far."
"Every lesbian says they just want friends with benefits. Two days later you're standing at the altar." Natasha shrugged. "I'm not gonna pressure you, though. I just wanted to know how I should act with you two."
Iris nodded, and off they went to be nipped by the autumn breeze. She was reminded of a girl she had known once in highschool, who she had fought with another host over. The host girl had confronted Iris, alone, over the girl she had supposedly already 'claimed'; and not knowing Iris was a host as well, Iris had landed a surprise attack on her that fucked her up into next Tuesday.
The host girl always claimed she was just trying to amicably communicate with Iris, but one suspects that was to cover-up the ass-kicking Iris doled out to her. She gained a reputation as a hothead who would fight anyone who provoked her and acted before she thought, but not necessarily as an idiot. She had learned that life's many bastards would try to push and bend her, and that she needed to cultivate the best defense against this by having them believe she would fuck them up if they tried.
Of course, she amplified her own reputation. No one really minded, least of all her highschool's registered hosts. Most hosts know a few rogues: sometimes they date. Moreso by hosts than civilians, it's understood that Revenants are dangerous and can easily kill civilians, so few begrudge the rogue host keeping it for self-defense.
Then there was Amelie again. It seemed always intertwined with Iris: attraction and worry. She was afraid that Amelie would reconsider her attraction to her, or worse yet that someone else would approach her to bed her first. It would force Iris into doing what she had years ago, only she knew she would not be able to avoid consequences this time. Why she would need to do so, she was not really sure: only that loneliness still occasionally gnawed at her.
Maybe she could take Amelie out to a play or an independent film those artsy types like. She imagined it being in French, and the romantic hue time with Amelie possessed meant that the annoyance of subtitles would be a secondary thing. Yet she knew what businesses around Urasaria were like, so even if she chose an independent theater close-by, it would be smoke-crusted and blood-scented outside; and she could not ignore the impingement of these conditions, pressed upon by the vastities of her respective time.