11 Suns

--- Jon ---

“So, uh, what’s on the itinerary today?” He asked, as his ma slowed to a stop in one of their usual training spots.

“Yesterday you mentioned Edna was good at throwing knives, right?” His ma confirmed as she began digging through a duffle bag she’d brought with them.

“Fairly decent. And I’m guessing that’s what we’re practicing.” He commented as he caught sight of a carrying strap with three knives in it.

“Yeah, I know you can still throw based on that spar the other day, but I figure it doesn’t hurt to make sure you haven’t gotten rusty over summer.” His ma explained handing him the knife set.

(The knife pierced the man’s shoulder, forcing him to stumble back, and buying Jon enough time to smash his partner’s skull into the wall.)

(He threw the axe -instinct and practice assuring him that it’d hit- before turning to the mad wolf accompanying the Corrupted Hunter and catching the beast as it lunged for his throat.)

“Don’t think you’ll have to worry about that.” He admitted, testing the weight and balance of one of the throwing knives.

“Don’t get cocky kid.” His ma scolded him, more amused than anything else. “And even if you don’t need the practice, your old set was starting to look a little worn. Won’t hurt to replace them before they give.”

“Fair enough.” He conceded as he threw his new knife towards a nearby can, piercing it with ease.

Scene Consequences

-New Skill Revealed: Throwing at Lv. 3 (0/8)

-New Item: Throwing knife set. (3 Knives, each of which gets +2 when thrown, but -2 when used as a combat knife.)

---

Once more he found himself in the school library, this time finding Aliyah moving between the various bookshelves as she placed book after book on the shelves.

“I didn’t think books would need to be re-shelved before anyone started checking them out.” He commented as he read a couple of title off the shelf.

“Agh, Jon!” Aliyah jumped dropping a couple of her books, something that caused her to glare at him even as he caught them in his hands. “Quit scaring me like that!”

“But I’m not trying to scare you.” He pointed out with a confused frown, since he was fairly certain he knew when he was being scary given the haunted house he and his ma helped run while they still lived out in the country.

(Actually, I should probably see if ma wants to try setting one up for next month.) Halloween was a Whitaker’s favorite holiday after all. (Hopefully that thing about city kids being rougher than country kids holds, I’d hate for one of our houses to get banned again.)

“I know you’re not.” Aliyah sighed, unaware of the tangent his mind was running. “But you’re so… quiet all the time.”

He blinked before looking around a bit. “Uh, but we’re in a library, aren’t we supposed to be quiet?”

“That’s…” Aliyah’s face scrunched up a bit, before she eventually shook her head. “No, never mind. Um, was there something you needed?”

“Mm, no, not really.” He admitted. “Just didn’t see you in the cafeteria so I was wondering where you ran off to.”

“Oh, uh, the librarian is almost done scanning in the new books so she asked if I could help put the ones she’s finished on their shelves.” Aliyah explained, waving one of such books in the air.

“Hm, you need a hand?” He asked waving his own book since figured there was no harm in trying to help.

Aliyah gave an unsure glance at the librarian’s desk before turning back to him. “Um, there aren’t too many books left, but I don’t think it’ll hurt to ask.”

With that decided he helped Aliyah put away the remainder of her books, before following her to the librarian’s desk. Where she explained how he wanted to help around the library and occasionally read here even if it was still technically closed.

“Mm, I suppose since Ms. Jefferson has always been such an avid reader, it wouldn’t hurt to let one of her friends assist her around the library.” The librarian told him, before narrowing her eyes. “So long as you respect the books.”

“Always do.” (Even the creepy evil ones that may or may not be made from human skin.) Though it might be more fear than respect in that case.

“Then I see no reason you can’t study in the library during your free time as well, so long as you return the books to their proper place.” The librarian nodded.

“Of course.” He nodded back.

“Good, and next time Ms. Jefferson please don’t sneak your… friend into the library without me knowing.” The librarian told Aliyah with an almost amused look. “The doors are supposed to be locked for a reason.”

Aliyah blinked before frowning. “But I didn’t let him in.”

Two sets of curious eyes turned to him, and he couldn’t help but blink.

“What?”

Scene Consequences

-Jon can now spend time reading books in the library.

-Grown a bit closer to Aliyah.

---

Seeing as he had a bit of time to kill -and how he’d promised to both take Pix to the park and give her make-up muffins- he decided to go ahead and bake the muffins for his ma’s station as well as for his various neighbors.

Not that he actually needed much of a reason to bake or cook.

Given his ma’s inability in the kitchen, his tendency to help Miss Edna in the camp kitchens, and a personal satisfaction feeding others, he’d come to see cooking as a relaxing hobby. Even more so in the last few months, due to the fact that said hobby had absolutely nothing to do with fighting, combat, or conflict whatsoever. Making it something of an oasis in his more violence and horror story filled summer.

He’d picked a number of hobbies and talents up over the years with magic being fun, combat thrilling, and friends nice, but cooking, cooking was peaceful, orderly, and controlled.

Something he found he couldn’t help but appreciate as a break from the hectic stresses of life as he set a dozen blueberry muffins next to their banana-nut and chocolate chip cousins, while wondering if he should make a cake or two in case someone wasn’t feeling the muffin might.

Scene Consequences

-Cooking gained 1XP

--Currently: Lv. 9 (1/20)

-Muffins ready for delivery.

---

He glanced around, sure that he was far enough in that he wouldn’t have to worry about people, but still wanting to be safe. (And given how many times paranoia has saved my life these last few months…)

He shook his head at that thought, before unzipping his backpack. “Alright, Pix we’re here.”

The little fairy burst free of his backpack and immediately began stretching from being stuck in a small space for the hour it took him to make it to the small forest on the outskirts of the city’s western suburbs.

Rolling her neck, Pix took a good look around as a sense of curiosity began to fill the little fairy as she took in the trees that had a distinctly different feel than the magical forest the little fairy had spent her life in.

“Alright, so we’ve got a few hours before we need to head back to the apartment, so try to get this out of your system while you can.” He let her know while taking a seat under a nearby tree. “We’re far enough out here that you should be able to play around as much as you want.”

Pix nodded enthusiastically while making a series of excited trilling sounds, before flying up into the treetops where he watched her dash between the various branches a trail of light and magic flowing behind her enhancing the growth of all the plants caught in its path.

Part of him thought it a bit odd that given free reign to do as she pleased, the little fairy chose to do essentially the same thing she did every day he didn’t come up with something to occupy her time. But in the end he figured that perhaps tending the garden was in fact her idea of a good time, just one she couldn’t take to the level she had during her time in the forests of Blackwell.

(I guess it’s enough to entertain her but not enough to actually let her have fun.) That wasn’t something he was necessarily happy with, in fact it was something he felt he should probably do something about at some point, even if he was sure what.

Unaware of his concerns Pix continued to use her magic all around the little clearing they found themselves in, pushing plants to grow and stretch bigger and farther than they naturally could under these conditions.

It was an application of her magic he hadn’t seen since they were back in Blackwell, when she’d occasionally use the plants to trip a Corrupted here and there. Something that admittedly hadn’t been all too practical given her inability to do so at any real distance, and without the obvious light show, but it was still something that had kept her safe the few times they were separated after finding each other.

(Still, at the very least that Contract and those potions seem to be doing her some good.) He decided with a soft smile as he watched Pix bloom a trail of flowers across the ground.

Scene Consequences

-Pix Skill Revealed: Nature Manipulation Lv. 3

-Grown a bit closer to Pix