#petaltrail

The Bridlewood Library, part 5/??

     Okay... Not gonna lie, he’s been feeling a bit off since this festival-type thing started. Maybe he shouldn’t have indulged in so many of those special sweets when they first came out-- but the damage is already done, no need to dwell on it! Especially since there’s a much more pressing matter at hand... Finding a Valentine’s gift for Ruby that’ll top any gift to ever be given!! ... But while this would already be a super-serious mission for him, Neptune seems to be... way more into it than usual-- going the extra mile to make sure there’s absolutely no chance she’ll spot him shopping at the mall for the perfect gift.

     ... Well-- in his mind it’s an extra mile.

  words are spoken with a hint of annoyance, eyes rolling as the faunus crosses her arms across her chest. really, it was astounding how many people thought confessing they loved someone in a bookstore over the story of romeo & juliet was a good idea. it really wasn’t. had some of them even read that book? it didn’t have the happy ending so many assumed it did. one hand waves away some of the smoke from the incense burning on the counter, nose wrinkling upwards.

          “ Can’t they stick to a card? Or just say it plainly? “

         luckily for the monkey faunus, an extra appendage, in this case, his tail, served more use than a simple cup holder. to distract ruby, who currently takes second place, the sneaky tail targets her sides -- tickling her to break her focus. all this done without even glancing away from his own screen.

Mitsuba hadn’t, um.

Mitsuba hadn’t realized that powers could be brought back here. And maybe he should’ve! Maybe he should’ve. But -- but -- to his credit, it wasn’t like anyone that he knew was given anything more than the bare minimum, so without anything to change his mind, why would he know that people could get stronger?

He’d probably have been a lot more concerned about things if he knew.

Needless to say. What this was getting to. The whole point of this was--

--well he hadn’t expected someone to have definitely, completely, what was absolutely unmistakably some kinda giant scythe.

Mitsuba really had to get his fight or flight response in line, because any time it went too quickly to flight -- which was, well, most of the time... -- he found himself very suddenly transformed to his Mystery form, his scarf swooping around to shield himself.

“I’m not looking to fight!”

He’d get cut in half -- he’d get cut in half!! That was a whole scythe!

  “ Ruby--! ”

  Penny’s already broken into a sprint by the time she calls for her friend. She stumbles in her footing and she almost wishes she could speed up this process instead of having to waste time to get to her destination, but...

  ( It’s a strange shift, going from new power imbued in her back to feeling so... so...? )

  She slows down as she gets closer, eventually falling into a jog before pushing her forehead into Ruby’s shoulder. Arms wrap tight around her waist and she doesn’t talk, merely keeping her friend in place so she can take a minute to calm down in the warmth and darkness of a familiar person.