#1foulplay

after closing her leg brace, the first sensation she feels is immense pain - which angers her, because why the fuck does something that should be long healed still hurt so much. but like always, she rather focuses on the way the dark blue metal wraps around her body like a second skin. the energy pulsing through it makes her toes tingle a little as soon as they touch the ground, which makes a feeling of satisfaction spread through her chest. it’s good enough for now, she thinks to herself as she tightens the laces of her boots, zips up her training west and stuffs her tablet in her backpack. 

a knock on the doorframe tears her out of her thoughts and she looks up to see ruke, one of the hunters in training. he’s young, completely smeared with dirt and out of breath. he also doesn’t speak until celia gives a gentle nod in his direction, which causes the words to stumble out of his throat (and reminds her of her days in training, where she was way less careful): “miss gallo! you asked to be called as soon as vit- the outworlder shows up again. he has arrived about twenty minutes ago, but nobody had time to-” 

previously very much lacking interest, her attention is now fully awake, and she cuts him off with a hand gesture. the woman has heard multiple stories about him and his fighting techniques (as if it wasn’t already a sensation that an expatriate came to the hunter’s warren for fights), but she has never seen him in person before. 

“the outworlder?”, she repeats, slowly raising from where she was sitting (a little wonky, since it takes her a good few minutes to get used to the leg brace) and gesturing for him to leave her workshop in front her. he goes and she follows, braiding her hair in the process. though she’s about 10 inches shorter and way less buff than ruke, celia radiates more confidence, strength and authority than he does. 

“that’s him, isn’t it?” she asks, pointing towards him and the other young hunter, dexter, he’s currently talking to.

dexter takes a step back after she comes closer and shows through hand gestures that she doesn’t want to talk to him, but to vito, which she kindly thanks him for.

“fight me.”, she says after stopping right in front of vito, her gaze filled with curiosity and persuasion.