Crunch the Crust [Semi-Private]

[Azoireda Ikteris]

Az had absolutely no idea what a pizza was, but there was a place that sold them close by and she wanted to try one.

It didn't take the trio long to get there from the beach, though Az was the last to arrive (she was pretty sure Lauren was hustling extra hard just to make sure that she beat her, which was honestly pretty funny). Stepping inside, she stopped to inhale the heavy scent of bread, cheese, and sizzling meat - which was INCREDIBLE. She was going to love this.

Looking up at the menu as they waited in line, she was taken aback at the sheer volume of options - it looked like an ice cream parlor menu, for Light's sake! "How many kinds are there?" she asked Lauren incredulously.

"Tons," Lauren replied. "They're all variations on a theme, though. Just pick how fluffy you want the crust to be, then choose a sauce, pick your cheese, and then decide how much and what kind of meats and veggies you want on top."

That sounded complicated. "And if I have no idea?" Az asked nervously.

[Lauren Voltaire]

"And if I have no idea?" Az asked nervously.

Lauren chuckled. "Then I'll get a big one and we can share," she said with a smile.

Az visibly relaxed at her offer to share, and Lauren slung a casual arm over her shoulder. "Don't worry, hun, you can't get it wrong. They're all good, but you might like some better than others - just like anything else." Turning to look at June, who had semi-reluctantly tagged along, Lauren flashed her a smile. "Any preferences?" she asked.

Az leaned into the one-armed hug, turning to look up at June curiously at Lauren's question, clearly wanting to learn anything she could about their companion.

[Juniper Azurine]

June wandered behind the two girls, not paying much attention to where they were going. They knew the city well enough that if they needed to they could probably find their way back to their apartment. Wait- no. The dorms. Their dorm. They didn’t live in their apartment anymore. Right.

Next to them, Nox occasionally paused to shake sand and salt water from his fur.

“You don’t get to complain about getting a bath later, okay?” They huffed quietly to the dog, who didn’t react, aside from sneezing once then trotting a few feet away to sniff some seemingly arbitrary patch of the sidewalk. June groaned quietly.

“Nox, here.” They ordered. “I don’t want you rolling in something gross alongside all the fucking sand, that’s bad enough.”

Obediently, Nox returned to June’s side, immediately sniffing and nudging their arms and legs, checking for any signs of distress.

“Cut it out.” June pet Nox’s head a few times to show they were fine. June reattached Nox’s leash to his collar, tying it to the belt loop of their trench coat to keep both their hands free.

As the group came to a stop, June glanced up, eyes flitting around the small enclosure of the pizza place as they entered, taking note of everyone already inside, every door and window. Consequently, they were looking right at Az as she entered, and got to watch the look of wonder and amazement cross her face as she inhaled the scent of fresh pizza. Was this… her first time in a pizza place? Damn. June knew they had a sheltered upbringing, but even they had encountered pizza before coming to Vale. Weird.

June eyed the menu as they stood in line, already making the executive decision to get something with a lot of vegetables, no matter what fucking cheese monstrosity Lemon wanted.

Almost on cue, Laruen was asking for their preference.

“Fuckin’ whatever,” they said, adjusting their coat as they spoke. “Whatever I’m in the mood for.”

“This your first time getting pizza?” They turned to Az, arching one eyebrow expectantly.

[Azoireda Ikteris]

June's pizza preference was apparently flexible. That was cool with Az, since she had no idea what she liked herself.

"It is, yeah!" Az replied brightly. "If it wasn't a prime cut of meat or some rare delicacy my foster mother didn't want anything to do with it, and I didn't really get out much as a kid, y'know?" She shrugged. "It just means I get to try all kinds of cool new food now that I'm here!" she cheered, drawing a warm smile from Lauren.

The sign by the hostess station told them to seat themselves, so Az quickly scanned the interior. Spying a round table in the back near the restrooms and rear exit, she pointed it out to her companions before dashing off to the lavatory. She didn't hear what Lauren said to June as she ran off, but she didn't mind.

Two new friends today: one human and one dog. How cool was that?

[Lauren Voltaire]

"It just means I get to try all kinds of cool new food now that I'm here!" Az cheered, and Lauren couldn't help but smile. This girl was adorable.

Az pointed out a table before zooming off to the restroom, and Lauren turned to June.

"Just wait until she finds out what a calzone is," she said with a smirk before setting off for the table at a more reasonable pace. The brunette was clearly enjoying herself, and Lauren was pleased. Now if she could just figure out how to let June enjoy herself, too...

Actually, on that subject: "New topic: I've kinda been assuming, but y'know what they say... What're your pronouns?" Lauren asked June.

[Juniper Azurine]

June cringed slightly as Az made a beeline towards the back of the, but settled as they noticed the emergency exit nearby. Still, they were quick to take a seat that gave them view of both the front door and the exit. Nox lay down beneath their chair automatically, keeping watch of the front door without prompting.

“So she’s never had pizza,” June mused as they watched Az disappear into the bathroom. They scoffed lightly, amused. “And here I thought I had a sheltered upbringing.” Though now that they thought about it, they were pretty sure they hadn’t had pizza until they were…what? 11? 12? Those few years where they were old enough to properly sneak out, but before all the shit with… paparazzi. Fuck. They scanned the parlor, looking for that particular fucking jacket. Clear. Nothing. Everything was fine they could see both exits plus the door to the kitchen had one of those mirrors to let waiters know if there was someone around the corner so they could see if anyone was coming and Nox would alert them if anyone walked in the front and they could see everyone and everything was fine.

Fuck, Lauren had said something. They hadn’t been paying attention. Something about pronouns. Their pronouns?

“Oh- uh-” The word he was on the tip of their tongue so fast they barely caught it. Instead, they sat back, messing with the hood of their coat a little. “Uhh… anything’s fine, ‘s whatever. She, for simplicity’s sake. Or they. Whatever.” Great save. So believable. Totally.

“Right. Uh, what about you?” They had really just assumed girl when looking at Lauren. Because, well. Girl. Plus a name like Lauren wasn’t exactly gender neutral…

They idly toyed with the menu stand on the table, scanning over possible items. Good, there was one of those “vegetarian” pizzas, aka one with a whole lot of vegetables on it. As if standard cheese wasn’t also vegetarian. Ridiculous.

[Lauren Voltaire]

"Yeah, I don't think she was so much 'sheltered' as 'imprisoned'? I don't have all the details, but I think she was basically confined to the estate her whole childhood or something."

June was she/they. Aight, cool, that worked. "'She', all the time, every time," Lauren responded, gesticulating to her, well, everything. "If I'm gonna be a hot chick, I'm gonna be the hot chick." She flashed an impish grin at June as Az came back to the table.

"I was thinking meat lovers' for ours, Az, you cool with that?" she asked.

[Azoireda Ikteris]

Her kidneys had finally caught up to all the water she drank today. Coming back to the table, she saw Lauren grinning at June like she'd just told a terrible joke before she turned to ask Az a question.

"I was thinking meat lovers' for ours, Az, you cool with that?"

I have no idea what that is.

"Sure," she replied with a smile. Lauren hadn't steered her wrong yet, so she'd trust her friend to pick something good. Az still wasn't exactly sure what a pizza was, though the pictures she'd found while looking up restaurants earlier looked super interesting.

[Juniper Azurine]

June scoffed slightly. “Yeah, she’s not the only one,” they muttered quietly, tapping their fingers idly against the table, the metal of their fingers producing a dull thud against the wood.

They rolled their eyes at Lauren’s statement, averting their gaze for a moment to stare at the floor. They really weren’t interested in, well, that. Thankfully, Az’s return saved them from needing to make any sort of reply. June passed their gaze over Az briefly, pondering over the new information they’d learned. So she was a prisoner to her estate as well. Huh.

Beneath their chair, Nox huffed and adjusted his position. June glanced back down at the menu, looking for something they could order for him. Nothing really, given it was all pizza. Fucking surprise surprise.

It didn’t take too long for a waitress to come around to take their orders, June ordered that vegetarian pizza they’d been thinking about, as well as a bowl of water for Nox.

[Lauren Voltaire]

June ordered a veggie pizza, and their waitress looked at Az.

"We're gonna split a Jumbo size Meat Lovers," Lauren chimed in, giving her friend a smile.

Az's scroll buzzed, and the brunette fished it out of her pocket, frowning. "Who..." she started, trailing off as she read the notification. "Nope," she said, slight annoyance creeping into her tone. "That's a problem for Tomorrow Az," she announced a little too brightly, shoving her scroll back into her pocket.

[Azoireda Ikteris]

"That's a problem for Tomorrow Az," she said, forcing a smile she didn't feel. The text had been from the office of a local therapist she'd been recommended to by the school confirming their appointment tomorrow afternoon. She wasn't really looking forward to talking to a stranger about her childhood, but it had been an enrollment requirement, so she'd just have to make the best of it.

"Speaking of future plans," Lauren started, clearly trying to be helpful and change the subject, "we should totally spar sometime. Want to join us, June?" Az brightened immediately at the idea of combat training with Lauren and possibly other friends.

[Juniper Azurine]

If June took note of Az’s reaction to whatever message she got, they didn’t show it. It wasn’t their place to pry, even if they were curious. They were glad when Lauren brought up sparring, happily taking the change in topic in stride.

“Sure,” they said, genuinely meaning the excitement that leeched into their tone. They hadn’t had a chance to spar with other people in a while, let alone multiple people at once. Having multiple sparring partners would give Lemon a chance to try out that new combo move she’d been working on. Plus, these two girls were definitely older than June, they had to be second years at least, or even third years, that would add a satisfying level of extra challenge to a sparring match.

“On the topic,” June added, “what’re your semblances?” Know their opponents semblances now could help the plan for the future, give them extra time to prepare strategy before even going into a fight with the two of them.

[Azoireda Ikteris]

Az raised both arms above her head and gave a whoop of delight when June agreed to join them for a spar. "Whoo! Training partners acquired!" Her big, genuine smile made it hard to believe that she'd just been feeling down about going to therapy. "Professor Noire says I need practice fighting with people who actually know how to use their Semblance," she continued. "Most of my experience fighting is against people who only know how to hit things harder, so this will be great practice."

Hmm, how to describe her Semblance without making it sound lame? Before she could figure that out, Lauren chimed in.

"Az here can bend time to make people miss," she said, and that was such a cool way to describe it!

[Lauren Voltaire]

Az and June both perked up at the mention of combat training, and Lauren smiled at the genuine excitement from both her companions. Then June asked what their Semblances were, and Az started to look nervous again.

"Az here can bend time to make people miss," she jumped in without hesitation. "It's kinda nuts. As for me, I mess with voltages to make electricity move where I want it to." It was a simplification of the applications, but she needed some cards to play later.

"My Semblance is a little trickier than just making things miss me," Az added, "because I can't turn it off. It's the reason I didn't meet my little brother until I was 16, and why I didn't come to Beacon until this year. I'm actually a first-year, just like you," she nodded to June.

That part about her brother was news to Lauren. Hopefully she could get Az to open up about her past more over the course of the term.

[Juniper Azurine]

Well, those were certainly interesting semblances, far more unique that June’s own. Making people miss would be an awesome challenge, could she beat that semblance just by going faster? Probably not. Oh! What about predicting moves and aiming where she thought Az would be? That could totally work! They’d have to check that out. They were pretty sure one of the training rooms had moving targets for rifle practice, that could be helpful.

“A passive semblance? Huh, I’ve never heard of that before.” Honestly, she hadn’t. Beacon was their first real introduction to more semblances that just hers and their father’s, and so far they hadn’t encountered any passive semblances before. “So, are you just in a constant state of warping time? That’s pretty cool.” That had to be trippy as hell. And probably super annoying.

“Well, I’d love to practice semblance use some time, I need to figure out some more versatility for mine,” they said, without actually giving away what their semblance could do. That could be a secret for later, a surprise to reveal during a match.

She wasn’t scheme. She definitely wasn’t scheming, nope, not at all.

They were definitely scheming.

[Azoireda Ikteris]

It did sound cool when you said it like that. "It sounds way cooler than it actually is when you say it like that," she admitted. "It's definitely helpful in a fight, but on the flip side I am literally incapable of getting to class on time." She shrugged. "I can totally win a race, but you have to tell me the finish line is further away than it actually is or else my idea of where to stop will affect my Semblance and make me slow down at the end - it's a real pain."

Lauren's hand came down on her shoulder a little harder than was strictly considered friendly. "As you can see, this one likes to be moody and refuses to take a compliment about anything related to her ability as a Huntress-in-training. It would be annoying if she wasn't so damn cute." Her words were light, but Az could tell that she was genuinely frustrated. She shot her friend an apologetic smile.

[Lauren Voltaire]

Oh no you don't.

"As you can see," Lauren cut in before Az could neg herself any further, "this one likes to be moody and refuses to take a compliment about anything related to her ability as a Huntress-in-training. It would be annoying if she wasn't so damn cute." She shook her head in mock exasperation.

"I see you over there being all mysterious and shit, y'know," she told June. She gave them a flirty wave before turning to Az, leaning in to stage whisper behind a conspiratorial hand. "They want to keep us in suspense about their Semblance until they unleash it in a fight for dramatic effect."

[Juniper Azurine]

June, if asked, would not be able to describe the emotion that flashed through her briefly at Lauren’s comment about her being mysterious—something like defiance, something that felt a lot like the phrase oh shut the fuck up—but whatever it was, it was rather uncomfortable and not something she commonly felt, not to mention the poor timing of it. She blinked rapidly for a second in surprise, and had to press her calves into Nox’s flank where he was still lying dutifully beneath her chair in order to center herself. Whoever was letting their stupid temper tantrum bleed into her attempts to make friends was so going to get chewed out later. She was trying to make friends, goddammit! They needed more friends!

Instead, swallowing the annoyance that wasn’t hers and was also really unhelpful, June laughed gently.

“Wow, it was that easy to catch on, huh?” She said, her voice just the right level of amused. Right? Totally.

Thankfully, their food arrived before June had a chance to slip up and give away her semblance preemptively now that she’d gotten caught. Honestly it wasn’t even for dramatic effect, her webs were nothing flashy, but keeping it a secret for now was strategic, so, planning for the future. Yep.

“Since you already caught on to my plans, I guess I don’t have to be subtle about asking about your weapons either.” She commented, not quite a question but an imitation of one, as began to carefully pick all the olives off of her pizza. June Of Fifteen Minutes Ago™ should have remembered to ask for no olives. Whatever, picking them off wasn’t that difficult. And if she fed a few of them to Nox, well, no one had to know.

[Lauren Voltaire]

"It totally was." Lauren gave an easy laugh, and was thankfully saved by the arrival of their pizzas.

"I use tonfas," she volunteered at June's question about weapons. She didn't need to mention that those tonfas were metal and had blades rather than being blunt wooden instruments, did she? Nah. That would be a fun one to pull out when it came time to spar. "What about you, Az?" she asked as she served up a nice and hot slice for her friend, who was clearly trying to figure out how she was supposed to eat the circular food.

[Azoireda Ikteris]

"What about you, Az?" Huh?

Oh. Weapons. Right. "Swords," she said simply. There honestly wasn't much to say in that regard: she wasn't really that good when it came to fighting. She could take a hit, sure, but that only helped when you spent less time taking hits than you did avoiding them; besides, it didn't matter how many hits you could take if you couldn't land a decisive blow yourself. Az knew she was fast compared to the untrained masses in the underground fighting pits she'd been to before, but Beacon was totally different. Any academy would be, really. She had soo much to learn when it came to fighting.

Unsure of exactly what she was supposed to do with the triangular piece of the circular pizza that Lauren had just slid onto her plate, she busied her hands with snapping open her napkin and putting it in her lap.

[Juniper Azurine]

“Oh? That’s so fun,” June commented. Her inflection definitely wasn’t right there, her own manner of speaking peaking through. Whatever. It didn’t matter anyway. Well, she thought it didn’t matter, others would disagree. But too damn bad, they weren’t here to police her right now so. Suck it. Yeah.

June tucked each piece of information away for later, noting absently that they were both close range fighters. That would make it easier for her to use her semblance, plus it could give her more practice with her own melee weapon; she hadn’t dual wielded against multiple opponents in far too many months, she would hate to get rusty. Much like with the discussion about semblance, June neglected to offer up her own weapon.

Before digging in to her own pizza, now that she’d removed all the oh-so-offensive olives, June slid a pair of gloves over her hands. Sue her for not wanting to get grease and crumbs in her joints, those were a pain to clean, especially because she’d have to do it all one handed. Once her hands were covered, she picked up a slice and folded it in half like a taco to keep the toppings on before taking a large bite. Sure she was brought up with fancy, proper table manners, but that sure as hell didn't mean she had to use them.

[Lauren Voltaire]

"It can be fun," Lauren admitted. "Especially when I get nice and close." Gods, was she flirting right now? Stoppit, Lauren. You're mature enough to get through a meal without flirting with everyone. Right?

Picking up two slices, she folded one over the other to form an impromptu pizza sandwich. "See, this is why I love pizza," she said. "You can eat it however you want. Unless you use a fork and knife," she added, gesturing with her head at a nearby table, where a woman with an expensive-looking manicure was doing exactly that. "If you want to keep your nails all perfect then you can order a salad or some shit."

[Azoireda Ikteris]

Az watched June and Lauren pick up their pizza in completely different ways. Ahh, so it was a finger food, huh? There hadn't been any of those in the house growing up unless they were hors d'oeuvres of some kind, but she'd heard all about 'that stuff the peasants eat with their hands'.

Fuck that witch.

Suddenly very happy, Az picked up her slice of pizza and tore into it.

"If you want to keep your nails all perfect then you can order a salad or some shit," Lauren finished.

"She looks just like my Aunt Macy," Az said quietly as she inhaled the last of her slice before mimicking the holding of cutlery in long-nailed hands. She set down the invisible knife to pick up an imaginary teacup, delicately extending her pinky at a comically large angle, and Lauren coughed, clearly having just choked on her drink. Az looked at her, concerned, but Lauren's bright eyes and casual wave told her she was fine.

Ducking her head in embarrassment at having spoken ill of someone she didn't know, Az timidly served herself another slice of pizza.

[Juniper Azurine]

Was this chick flirting with her? June blinked at the statement. Part of her was more than happy to match the energy, but unfortunately somebody had other plans, and the warning that played in her head to not say a goddamn word was enough to deter her. Whatever. This chick was probably too old for her anyways.

Look at her making healthy choices about her sex life, gold star right there.

In response to the comments about pizza styles, June nodded along. “Yeah I’m not like a prude or anything, just,” she wiggled her free hand to indicate her gloves, fingers gently clicking with the movement, “finger food doesn’t interact well with metal joints.”

She didn’t really get the joke Az made, but rather than smile and laugh anyways like she’d like to, she just blinked again with unimpressed eyes. There. Was that good enough? Was she pretending to be bad enough at making friends? Hell, this sucked so much. She couldn’t wait to get into a ring with these two girls, then she’d be the one calling the shots and no one could tell her to be unsociable. Ha!

As she was reaching for her next slice, Nox nudged her ankle from beneath her chair. Immediately, her gaze shot around the restaurant, looking for—green. June was already halfway out of their seat in alarm before they clocked the rest of the owner of the green jacket that had just walked into the pizza place. Blonde. Way to tall to be who they thought he was.

They were already standing, though. And, right, with company. Quickly, they jumped between options of how to save face.

“Uh- I’m gonna grab a drink. Want anything?” Ew. Gross. Hated that. Who even talks like that? If it were up to them they wouldn’t be here at all.

[Lauren Voltaire]

Lauren coughed, nearly choking on her pizza, when June flirted back. Yeah, she knew that it could be interpreted as a response to her disparaging comment about not-Macy over there, but there was an obvious double entendre in that sentence that Lauren was going to ignore before she said something she shouldn't. She'd just met Vee and Cinth yesterday, for gods' sakes.

"I'm good with water," she lied, wishing she could shelve her forward for more than five minutes at a fucking time. Heh. F-NO. Stoppit.

[Azoireda Ikteris]

"I'm gonna grab a drink. Want anything?" June asked as she stood up.

"I'm good with water," Lauren said quickly.

"I'll have whatever you're having," Az decided quickly - she still hadn't tried all the 'standard' beverages, so she'd let June pick for her.

Lauren looked visibly uncomfortable as June left to get drinks, and Az looked at her quizzically. "You ok?"

[Lauren Voltaire]

"You okay?"

Dammit.

"Yeah," Lauren sighed, giving a shallow nod. "My inner monologue is just being a butt." Az nodded at that, seeming to understand, and Lauren was silently thankful that she didn't have to explain further as she took a sip of water, letting the cold wash her frustration away.

[Juniper Azurine]

Nox followed obediently as June wove their way back through the parlour towards the front, where a few drink refrigerators stood. They perused their options for a moment, though the glass of the refrigerator door also provided a decent vantage point to keep an eye on the new arrival, and everyone else in line they couldn’t see from their table.

“Nox, block,” June said quietly as they scanned the shelves, not liking that they had their back turned to the door, and more importantly that person—who was totally fine and not all who they thought he was and really he’s just a guy and it wasn’t fair to treat him as anything else but they couldn't just take that risk either could they—for too long. Nox adjusted position to stand behind June, providing a barrier in case anyone decided to come up behind them.

Okay. Now they could focus on actually looking at drinks. There were… more options than they were expecting, and yet somehow still a frustrating lack of variety. Who needs four types of soda that all effectively taste the same? What even is the difference between them? It’s totally stupid.

After another minute, June finally grabbed two blue sodas—were they blueberry? Blue raspberry? Who the fuck knows, the bottle only advertised the flavor as Tropical Ocean—and a water, taking them back to the counter.

Nox, still on lookout, circled once around June to keep the other people in line from getting too close. Which—whoops—wasn’t their intention, but was appreciated nonetheless.

Once they had finally paid, June returned to the table.

“I have no idea what this is, so we’re about to find out,” they announced with their arrival, setting one of the blue sodas down in front of Az, and the other two drinks in front of their respective seats. They sat back down after another quick glance at the door, giving Nox the hand signal to settle at their feet once more, which he did happily, though still kept a vigilant watch towards the front door.

[Azoireda Ikteris]

"I have no idea what this is, so we're about to find out," June announced as she returned with their drinks. Az picked hers up, tilting it and giving it a curious sniff before taking an experimental sip. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't going on her 'try this again' list.

"Huh," she said, then shrugged and served herself another slice of pizza.

"That's it?" Lauren asked with a raised eyebrow. "Just 'huh'?"

[Lauren Voltaire]

"Yup," Az confirmed. "I don't know how to describe the flavor. It's definitely a blend of things, but I don't think I know what any of them are."

"One of those 'tastes like blue' drinks?" Lauren asked. "My decision to just have water is vindicated," she added with a cheeky smile as she grabbed another slice.

Az shrugged as she shoved her slice of pizza into her mouth and Lauren chuckled.