Promethus 6.b

You sat back, satisfied with the food you’d shoved down your craw as the others rolled their eyes in mingled disgust and amazement. A smug grin slicing across your lips in bare acknowledgement of your superiority in the art of culinary consumption. Even more so to the fact that everyone here was literally hanging on waiting for your final word.

There were serious and important issues to be addressed, and you got to have the final say.

See momma, your boy ain’t too small to be important!

“Well… looking at it logically.” You puffed your chest, leaning forward and letting your voice take on a more elegant tilt, causing both Mercy and Trev to raise their eyebrows as one before looking at each other and stifling a giggle. You frowned just a little bit at that before continuing on. “Frankly after interviewing them, I have to say that both Milan and Cruel… are big heavy swinging cocks. And not even the fun kind either.”

This once again triggered a group snigger, one which even Arlene joined in on this time.

“You know I’d have thought you to be the type that didn’t mind a nice big juicy one. Even if it wasn’t all that nice.” Trev teased, his winning smile flashing teeth as he leaned back against his chair.

“You would know all about that, wouldn’t you…?” You grumbled and groused.

“Ok, ok cock jokes aside. We do need to make a choice. And preferably now... when we step out that door it’s going to be open season on freshers all day long. We’re going to want to have a game plan, especially if anyone’s already planning on poaching our two choices.” Mercy spoke, taking one last bite of the mystery meat on her plate before nodding to herself. “It’s also gonna be a good time to go out and hunt for some Favor for ourselves as well. The clubs are putting out some nice rewards on guys and gals they’ve got their eyes on.”

“Ok, ok fine. Nothing personal Mercy, but… Milan just rubs me the wrong way. Like a rough chafey, cat-dick dildo... don’t ask...” You muttered before taking on a contemplative face. “And besides, Trev’s got a pretty personal connection with the other dick… I mean Cruel, and he can un-revert people. Which is frankly pretty big. So I guess I’ll throw my lot in with the crotchety, entitled grouch over the paranoid asshole. No offence Mercy, but Trev’s girl over there hit me with a super pressured drill bit thingie and I still have more good feelings for her than your boy.”

Mercy shrugged even as Arlene blushed while ducking her head at the mention of her first impression on you. “I suppose he didn’t exactly make the best impression. It was a bit of a dick move, especially since he expressly did it cause he thought you couldn’t handle it. I can deal, but I don’t look forward to if we end up having to fight him any time.”

“Yeah I know what you mean.” You grimaced in sympathy with her. Asshole though he’d been in your meeting with him, he’d definitely come off as competent in his chosen field of combat. He’d be a nightmare to face both in competition and on the battlefield proper.

“I guess I’ll call him then.” Trev spoke up, manifesting his PDA for the call.

“Indeed Durahan, looks like you get your harem for the team this year.” Mercy grinned her nastiest, sharkiest grin possible, golden eyes focused in mirth at the dark skinned channeler.

“Well, not fully. After all I don’t think the other sea food item is on the menu.” He retorted with a quick jab back, before turning his head to show that he was not more concerned with his call. “Oh hey, Cruel. Yeah, we put it to a vote. You’re in buddy… yes I can hear the unending tides of joy just emanating from your voice... Good lord you grump, I’m coming over to pick you up from your room soon, if anyone breaks in just struggle for a bit till we get over there… Yes, yes, love you too asshole. Say hi to the Belle-Fluers for me, I didn’t greet them properly the last time I was over... Yes I know that you dweeb. Geez you’re like a prickly pear. All spiky on the outside and sweet juicy center. HAH yeah sure.”

Trev allowed his PDA to dissolve into motes of light and geometric shapes... a pretty cool pattern mod I should add to mine some time.

“Sounds like team Trev’s Whorehouse and Sharklady is good to go.” Mercy joked, drawing a giggle from you.

“Oh shut it Lesmerci…” Trev grumbled lightly before himself signing. “We should probably head over to his room pretty quickly.”

“Uh, one more thing before we hurry off.” You chimed in, bringing up your own PDA and setting it on holographic display. Quickly the picture of a young looking lad and his Banana tree sauroapod hybrid pet standing side by side popped up, relevant information on the boy, Ton Toto was his name apparently, began scrolling around the pic. “I get the feeling that if we’re going to be going out, we might as well get to doing something as a team. What better bonding activity than hunting down our fellow freshmen for prize money!”

Mercy pretended for a moment to be considering, then simply banged on the table loudly. “You know what… I’m in. That hundred Favor looks like for each person on the team rather than in total. This kid might not actually be a push over with that kind of bounty on him.”

“I suppose a team activity wouldn’t be too much to ask.” Trev admitted, biting his lip lightly. “Gonna make wrangling Cruel that much more of a chore though. Still, this one does look like a promising start. I don’t recognize the kid, so he’s probably not family with anyone excessively dangerous.”

With that Arlene reached out, placing her hand on her lover’s. “Well then, if you’re in for it darling, I can probably make it a bit easier upon us all, and begin sending out a few autonomous dumb-bots to help narrow down where to look for him. The ‘Gardens’, dare I say it, aren’t exactly a small area.”

The Gardens were the place where the faculty kept a large number of naturally channeling plants and animals, lower level creatures which could be cultivated and utilized with minimal danger to most of the inhabitants of the school. Not fully without their dangers though. There was little in there that was openly and nakedly hostile, but there was apparently plenty which tended to give warning that first years were likely to miss first before going into combat mode if one failed to back off.

“So then I assume we’re doing this?” You tapped out a contact acceptance even as you spoke, glancing about at the people who were going to be with you through thick and thin for the rest of the year. Already in your head you were testing the readiness of your new techniques.

Everyone shook their heads in agreement.

It was time to go.


[-][-][-]


Ugggggggg… It was official. You hated the colour green and all it stands for.

“You doing ok there Thorley?” Mercy asked as we all crawled through the messy underbrush, careful to stick to the trail and push away the plant materiel in the way wherever possible. For good reason too... everything in this fucking forest was out to get you, right down to the bark on the flipping trees.

“Fine… just fine.” You groused.

Behind me Trevlain snickered before reaching forward to swat my poor little hinny. “Ignore him. He’s just sour about discovering he isn’t actually invincible.”

Uggg... fucking Trev.

Fucking sexy fuck face should get smacked right in his fuck-face... especially for being right. The three long scratches along your arm were throbbing a bit, something in the wood from whatever plant you’d carelessly brushed pass apparently keeping them from closing up like they should have, it bothered you almost pathologically to know that there was something that would subvert or trump your healing. Especially here in the Garden, where shit was supposed to be the softest and cuddliest you could get when it came to magical biology.

“Magical Flora has many enemies which would exploit its stationary nature.” An unfamiliar voice spoke from beside Trev, haughty in its lit. Our newboy Cruel. “Most local plants of a similar species will link with plants nearby which have been already established and gathering power and magical pressure. Given a proper space to expand into an area of plantlife can easily become a powerful fortress of channeling pressure so long as everything connects to whatever is the eldest plant in the area. And once synchronized with it, they too can become establishing presences themselves.”

“Yep, it’s why places like the Schartzvald, The Blood Red Wood, and... Pando... are such a big fucking deal.” Trev added, clearly knowledgeable about this stuff.

“Yes, but most plants aren’t nearly as… cooperative as those examples.” Cruel rejoined, this conversation being the most lively you’ve seen him since the group showed up at his door and all but dragged him out of his little sanctuary to go on this little hunt. “Most plants will only share certain amounts of pressure as a parasites and other pressures have developed to make use of the same tricks to steal magical power and pressure from those plants which have proven too free in giving out the keys to their survival tricks. Titan Roses nearly went extinct because they don’t actually limit their pressure sharing, Bleak Shrews and Swarm Weeds nearly at them all up via camouflaging their pressure to match the plant host. The Blood Red Wood only gets around this by basically using the magical pressure built up by the entire forest to force new saplings to grow at breakneck speeds, and only after they’ve confirmed the presence of both blood and fire on the seedling they’re forcing to grow. Enough pressure to kill almost anything else outright that’s trying to feed from it.”

“… uh… wow.” You exclaim as a haughty look slid onto the white haired youth’s face, clear satisfaction at having overawed you with the knowledge he’d provided. “You really are an enormous Nerd! I wouldn’t have expected it with that face of yours!”

Cruel’s expression dropped like a hot rock out of a baby’s hand.

“Feh. Annoying.” The youth replied.

“Hey… at least you’re a sexy nerd!”