Fast Food! Get It? (G)

THE BAT GREW SULLEN WHEN Gilbert’s response about what heroes were was not quite what he expected. His ears drooped slightly. You had to study to be hero? Shiloh was not very good at studying—in fact, it was a well-known fact amongst his former classmates that the boy was a bit of a dullard. Couldn’t read, couldn’t write. Of course, that was because he couldn’t see, but they didn’t know that.

To make matters worse, heroes needed to be strong. Shiloh wasn’t very strong, either.

“Oh,” the boy sighed, clearly dispirited. Gilbert tried to keep the spirits up by offering to help him, and the fickle child shook his head. Apparently this phase was more fleeting than either of them had initially suspected—

“I’m not very good at school,” the child admitted, “And I’m too small to be strong. But… maybe I’ll grow to be as big as Papa, though! Papa started out small like me, but then he grew very big! Bigger than you!”

The rest of the shopping trip passed in relative normalcy, with periodic stops at different displays, until the cart was rather full from all of the groceries Gilbert had grabbed. Shilohs’ wings butted against the boxes and bags of goods within the cart’s basket.

The faint, rhythmic *beep* of the scanners along the front of the store grew louder, and the cart came to a rest. They were getting in-line to checkout. The child turned his head, and one ear, to confirm—there were other people nearby, neatly lined-up in a row.

The obvious question niggled at the child’s mind, as well—what next? He’d only just been dumped at the orphanage, and this was the first person he’d encountered, who had showed him the smallest bit of kindness—how could he get out of this?

How could he avoid being sent to that wretched, wrought-iron place?

No responsible adult would let him just… waltz away. The child would tuck his head as he thought, his undulating legs settling to a standstill.

ft. g

quirk: e-rank echolocation, flight, speed; f-rank durability, multilingualism

GILBERT INSISTED THAT HE WOULD simply have to grow taller than Shiloh’s dad, and the bat let out a delighted shriek of laughter, shaking his head.

“That’s impossible!” Shiloh insisted, “Papa is the tallest man ever!”

The bat watched as the man checked-out, looking bashfully at the cashier as she and Gilbert completed the transaction. He didn’t understand a word of their exchange… something he would need to work-on, if he hoped to stay on the streets. A kid would likely raise suspicion—but a kid who didn’t know the native language was even more suspicious.

As they left, Gilbert was suddenly, and unexpectedly, joined by a massive, inhuman creature. One moment, the space it occupied was open—and the next, Shiloh’s echolocation was reverberating off of a very large obstacle. The child let out a startled squeal, scrambling out of the seat he’d occupied and picking clumsily over the groceries. An attacker? An oncoming car?!

He was so alarmed by Goliath’s sudden appearance, it took the child a moment to realize that Gilbert was talking to him. Clumsily, Shiloh clambered the rest of the way out of the cart. Once on the ground, he hid somewhat behind, and below, the cart, hopefully where Goliath couldn’t see him.

“I have a home,” the child said, his voice very small. Maybe Gilbert wasn’t actually a good man, but a bad man—and if he found-out that Shiloh had no home, he’d take him away. Maybe the mandarins were a ruse, “M-my mom and I live outside.”

He couldn’t bring himself to say that “he and his dad” lived outside, because the pain of losing his dad was still raw. But Shiloh had never known his Mom, so the lie was a lot easier.

“It’s just… hard to get food sometimes…” Shiloh persisted, keeping his head tucked, “That is why… why I was stealing the apples.”

Another pause. What if Gilbert didn’t believe him? Why wouldn’t Shiloh’s mom steal the apples?

“I just wanted to help her.”

ft. g

quirk: e-rank echolocation, flight, speed; f-rank durability, multilingualism

THE MINUSCULE BAT HAD BEEN CLINGING to the tire of Gilbert’s car while the man spoke, his head tucked against the wheel-well and his heart hammering against his ribs. He folded his ears back and closed his eyes, totally shutting-out the information of the outside world. Shiloh’s explanation of his situation had been uttered quickly, the fear tangible, and Gilbert picked-up on that, speaking reassuringly. The bat felt a hand on his back as the man explained that the bug was his bug. His quirk.

The child looked over his shoulder, a small frown crossing his muzzle. How could an entire creature be someone’s Quirk?

“I don’t like it,” Shiloh insisted quietly, so that the giant bug couldn’t hear him, “It scared me.”

Not that the bug “was scary” but it “had scared him”. Big difference.

Thankfully, the little white lie about being homeless, and with his mother, seemed to work—Gilbert sighed, asking if there was any way that he could help.

“M-mama would probably be mad if you followed me back,” Shiloh explained timidly, “Especially if she found out that you c- that I was caught stealing.”

Even a child knew that stealing was inherently bad. He rubbed his muzzle with his clawed hand, dropping his gaze, “Maybe… some other time… we could eat mandarins together?”

ft. g hajimari

quirk: e-rank echolocation, flight, speed; f-rank durability, multilingualism