[Moth]

Prism snort to herself as Hunter explains his team, and how people think things would’ve ended up. “Hey, I can definitely relate. You’d think given our team name, everyone would be fawning over Coconut. But nah, the dude gets stuck on the team with an asexual chick, a massive lesbian, and a bisexual disaster faunus. So I get it, totally.” She finishes, with a smile.

Prism wanders into their modern kitchen as Hunter disappears upstairs, taking in every little detail of the modern loft. It’s a rather nice place, she’d admit - maybe someday with a proper Huntress’ salary, she’d be able to afford this type of apartment. She spends a few minutes opening cabinets before she finds the cups, pulling out a couple of mugs prior to his request, before setting them down on the counter. She’s picking up one to inspect the decal on the outside as Hunter returns to the kitchen, turning to face him to ask a question-
 
Smash!

The mug drops from Prism’s hand and shatters on the floor as her gaze locks on Hunter, mouth agape. Without his disguise on, the dark rings around Hunter’s eyes let Prism know the professor’s true identity almost immediately. She can only really flounder in shock as she stares on, before reaching up with her spare hand to touch the space underneath her eye to mimic him, before finally expressing her actual thoughts with real words. “The fuck!?”

At least that answers the question of who the makeup artist in the house is.

[NotSurprised]

Hunter cringes at the sound of the mug crashing into the ground. He’s definitely not telling Prim about that, lest he ends up as the scapegoat. Placing his scroll down on the kitchen counter, he put on a rather easygoing grin to tease Prism a bit. ”You gonna pay for that? Also, language.” With the grin immediately returning to a frown as he eyed the shards spread all over the floor. Being the smart man he is, Hunter just picks up all the shards and tosses them into the disposal without any regard for his own safety. Surprisingly, Hunter doesn’t seem to pick up what Prism is shocked about.

Hunter picks his scroll back up to return to his conversation with Prim, which is rather interesting.

2:15 PM <You> heeeey im home
2:15 PM <You> sorry for leaving early
2:16 PM <You> announcing takes too much effort
2:16 PM <You> good news though
2:16 PM <You> i might have made a friend
2:16 PM <You> or two :V
2:17 PM <You> how are the matches going
2:20 PM <You> prim?

My lovely wife, Prim! is typing . . .

2:21 PM <My lovely wife, Prim!> Figured you would.
2:21 PM <My lovely wife, Prim!> Was prepared to do it all anyways. Matches are lackluster.
2:22 PM <My lovely wife, Prim!> We'll talk about how you're going to make it up to me later...loser :^)

Hunter frowned a bit at her last comment, but he smiled in the end and typed his final response before putting the scroll back down and turning to Prism.

2:22 PM <You> okay, love you!!!

[Moth]

Prism appropriately spends a few more moments starring in stunned silence at Hunter as he cleaned up the broken mug, before rushing forwards to clean up all the little shards he left on the ground as he turned to his phone. If she just broke someone else’s mug, the very least she could do was make sure nobody got their foot sliced open if they came through with bare feet.

Brushing the spare shards off her hand, she turns back to Hunter and laces her hands together, rocking on her heels as she waited for him to finish texting. After frowning at his phone for whatever reason, his attention finally returns to her as she stutters into an apology. “S-so, uh. I’m sorry about that. That outburst was one hell of an overreaction, including like…” She gestures to the floor in front of her. “Shattering your mug. I’ll- I’ll make sure to replace that for you, it’s the least I can do. Um. I guess the fact you’re actually a faunus? G-gotta admit, that’s a plot twist I didn’t expect in the slightest.” She finishes, joking weakly.

[NotSurprised]

”Huh?”

Hunter was confused. Why was she making a big deal out of him being a faunus? It wasn’t like it wasn’t obv- Oh. Right. That would make sense. Instead of being apologetic for unintentionally being deceitful, Hunter brings out a full on cheeky grin. ”Surprising huh? A faunus professor at one of the most racist combat academies out there.” He briefly pauses as he realized he should ease Prism’s worry about the broken cup. ”Don’t worry about the cup, you’re fine.” Whistling a little tune as he starts boiling the water for the instant noodles, he turns back to Prism as he leans on the kitchen counter. Then it got a little bit awkward since it seems that Prism was kinda in shock still and he had no idea how he should start with the whole faunus conversation. After a bit, Hunter opens his mouth as if he was going to say something until he got interrupted by the familiar sound of boiling water.

Well. Dinner is the best time to talk about things. Or is it lunch?

Looking back to Prism , Hunter gave a rather relaxed smile. ”Tell you what, if you got questions, we can talk about it while we’re eating.” At unparalleled speeds, Hunter somehow set up everything for the both of them to eat: eating utensils, ready to eat noodles, even some cups of water if they need it later. Taking a seat and instantly taking a bite of the noodles, Hunter motions for Prism to take the seat across from him.

[Moth]

Prism sits down quietly, staring into her noodles for a few moments as she thinks. She’s got a lot of questions, she can’t lie - a faunus professor at Atlas Academy is shocking in every sense, but it’s also… well, fantastic, frankly. It’s nice knowing faunus students at Atlas aren’t totally under the mercy of a brutal staff. Instead of starting right away, she elects to quickly shove some noodles in her mouth and swallow them down with a quick slurp, before letting herself burst into her round of questions.

“Okay, so - obviously, your wife knows with all the makeup pallets all over the house, but like - does anybody else at the academy know? What about any students? Why do you choose to teach and stay here of all places instead of moving somewhere less blatantly racist? How do you deal with it everyday?

[NotSurprised]

Hunter just gulped down noodles at unhealthy speeds as if he didn’t acknowledge Prism’s onslaught of questions. Pausing once the questions ended, Hunter went to take one last gulp and slammed down the nearly empty bowl. As a result, Hunter quickly swiped a napkin and wiped his mouth clean before talking.

”Alright, I’ll go in order.” Hunter holds out his fist to count up for each question he's going to address. ”As far as I know, only good ‘ol Amarant knows.” Second finger. ”No students know, but I try my best to sort of help any faunus students.” Third finger. ”Lived here my whole life in disguise, I can deal with something as small as racism.” Last finger, and it came with a rather cheeky smile. ”That’s an easy one. I have a rather pretty flower that makes it easy for me to enjoy each and every day.”

[Moth]

Prism’s quiet for a moment, shoving more noodles into her mouth as she mules over his answer, before stabbing the chopsticks back into the bowl. “...you’re really lucky then.” Prism answers, trying to choose her words carefully. “Native-born Atlesians who’re cool with faunus are rare. It’s good you found someone like her then. And like - being able to overcome the shit they put faunus through with around here, that takes some guts, let me tell you. I mean, I thought I was used to this shit, but Vale’s nowhere near as harsh as Atlas. Especially with like the occasional death threat and all- but like, besides the point. That’s good for you, and good for the students here too.” She finishes, only somewhat awkwardly.

“Just… why choose to show me, of all people?”

[NotSurprised]

Hunter paused as he thought about Prism’s question. Why did he let his guard down? It sure as hell wasn’t intentional, but Hunter was also usually on point about things like this. The awkward pause in the conversation only grew as Hunter tried to gather his thoughts about the current situation. Grasping at straws, Hunter decided to give a bullshit answer to give him more time to think about it. Hunter tries to speak, but paused once more as he finally realized the true answer.

A wistful grin forms on Hunter’s face as he began to speak his mind. ”To be honest with you, even I don’t know why I chose to show you.” Hunter pushed his food to the side as he folded over his arms on the table. ”But I think I know why. I love Atlas and all, but I’ll be honest, it was a shithole to grow up in, especially for the people that were just trying to live.” Hunter’s wistful grin worsened as he thought about everything he had been through. However, as he started to speak again, the grin turned more accepting of his past as Hunter feels relieved from sharing his thoughts, ”It made me feel happy to know that other people persevered too.”

After getting such a feeling off his chest, Hunter would fumble around a bit as he’d try to move towards a different topic, or even get Prism to ask a question. Words that should’ve come out never did, and Hunter shuffled a bit in his chair at how weird he’s being right now. Sighing, Hunter just gave up and reiterate his feelings once again. ”Yeah. I guess that’s why I chose you. You persevered, and I couldn’t help but feel glad.”

[Moth]

Prism’s quiet as Hunter stumbles through his explanation, evidently a bit off-guard. She nurses the remains of the warm noodle bowl as he fumbles, a small smile on her face at the Professor’s awkwardness - before she leans back in her chair with a sigh. Persevered is almost painfully accurate an analysis of her life. “Atlas is a shithole of a place to live, but so is Vale’s fostercare system, especially when you’re a tiny bird faunus. When it came down to it, there was nothing else to do but persevere, or…” Her voice falters for a second, staring off into face. “...die trying, I guess.” She finishes quietly.

Shaking herself out of her revere, she offers Hunter another small smile. “Thank you, though. It’s taken a long time to get to where I am today. In the end, it’s all worth it.”

[NotSurprised]

Hunter shows a soft smile at Prism’s response. How could he not? In front of him was someone that had shared a part of his struggles. In front of him was a survivor. However, Hunter’s smile turns into a frown as he starts to comprehend the information Prism has shared. Fostercare is a shithole for orphans, especially if you were a faunus. Afterall, it was safer to trust yourself instead of relying on others to survive… Now that he thought about it, how did she survive? Maybe it was a sponsor? Hunter decides to voice the thoughts that will inevitably lead to poor decision making.

”How did you survive kiddo? I’m assuming you had to have a sponsor of sorts.”

Hunter was totally not asking this because he wanted to also sponsor her. Prim would definitely not be too happy with his hasty decision, but he has some prime excuses ready to go for that one! Numero uno, Prism was a strong kid and had the willpower to back it up. Numero dos, he can teach the kid a few things, so might as well sponsor her!

”Along the same line of thought… I can also sponsor you if you wish.”

It was totally not because it would fun to mentor Prism. Nope. Not at all.

[Moth]

“The Royale family sponsors me - Royal Senior, specifically. He has scholarships for students who can’t attend Beacon or other combat schools, and I was lucky enough to snag one.” She answers, letting a hint of pride in her voice. “Plus like, two afterschool jobs and night classes at Signal brought me up to par pretty quickly. There’s plenty of time in the day when you don’t sleep.” Her joke is on the lighter side, even if her voice is oddly weighted - finishing with another sip of the energy drink in her hand.

Hunter’s offer to sponsor her though makes her perk up though, straightening her back and blinking at him rather widely owlishly, trying to comprehend what he just said. Getting sponsored was any first year's dream - she was lucky enough to get her scholarship. The direct attention of a professor from what's arguably the best - or at least, the most technologically advanced - hunter's academy in the world? That’s basically any sane student’s dream! She’d be a fool to say anything other than-

"Yes!"

The answer is abrupt, sudden, and even Prism seems a bit taken aback by the way she slams the bottom of the energy drink onto the table in enthusiastic confirmation. She blinks, flushes a slight red, and settles back into her chair again as she tries to calm the literal ruffled feathers peaking out from behind her. ”...if you’re willing to pardon the outburst, I’d be absolutely honored to accept you as my sponsor, and would relish the chance to improve my skills in any professional capacity.” She finishes, only smiling a bit awkwardly.

[NotSurprised]

Well, isn’t that exciting? Not only did Prism accept his offer, but she also sounded really excited! The childish side within Hunter feels so giddy and elated, but it quickly came crashing down as Hunter’s more rational side came rearing - especially since it’s his better half. ’Oh dear. Prim hates it when I do things like this.’ Hunter quickly gets up from his seat and starts pacing around as he tries to go for some damage control (which he isn’t very good at). Should he just tell Prim outright? Maybe he should keep it a secret until for a better moment. Hunter starts to freak out more as he can sense his impending doom.

Hunter chows down on what’s left of the noodles and quickly move to wash up and put things away in preparation for what’s next. Speaking of what’s next, what exactly is next? Hunter quickly looks to Prism, and knew exactly what to do. Freeloading time. ”That’s great! Lesson one: damage control! Help me get the place cleaned up real fast!” As Hunter moves to clean up some of the mess within the kitchen, his mind is moving at extremely fast speeds to also put an actual lesson into the bullshit he just pulled. If he can do that, he’ll be a genius!

[Moth]

Prism like to consider herself a realist.

She didn't’ consider the future a positive place, she knew she had to make it a positive place. It was only thanks to her relentless desire to preserve what remained of the legacy of her family she’d gotten into the first place. Endless sleepless nights, with sewing commissions and extra shifts and so many wasted bullets turning herself into cutthroat sniper. Turning the insomniac hours into semblance training, teaching herself to fly in a form that wasn’t just falling off a cliff more slowly and actually controlling where she went-

She’d survived off the concept of a dream for nearly five years, and in the very end she’d made that dream a reality.

So now, securing her place as a semifinalist in the Vytal Festival and having professional hunters reach out to her, asking to sponsor her and become their prodigy-

Well, she could consider the future a positive place. Just this once, she could see the real potential opening up before her.

At least that’s what she let herself think for a single golden moment, before Hunter suddenly starts pacing the kitchen like the place is on fire, recruiting her to help clean the place up. She only snorts to herself as she pushes her chair back, standing to her feet and gathering their now-empty bowls from the table. “I’m assuming this wasn’t exactly discussed with your wife ahead of time?”

[NotSurprised]

”As a tactical genius, I assure you that this is all planned.” Hunter releases a rather shaky laugh as if he was trying to pass off the error he had made. Hunter turns on the faucet in the kitchen as he would then start moving into the living room to put all his personal belongings back to where they should be. While doing so, Hunter would think about how to turn this into a lesson. Even though he has experience with the idea of damage control (especially considering how he was before), it was hard for Hunter to sort of explain.

Making his way back into the living room, it then looks like Hunter was struck by an idea! The tactical genius reveals himself once again as Hunter had just figured out where to continue with the quick intro to his lesson. ”Though I suppose things like these just occur regardless of what you do. It’s natural to do things on impulse, so mastering the art of damage control would be an excellent thing to learn!”

Unfortunately, Hunter isn’t very good at controlling his impulses. Such as the fact that Hunter is pulling a rather large whiteboard out of nowhere as he starts to write some main points about damage control. ”There’s a few types of impulses. There’s the life threatening impulses, there’s the risky impulses, and there’s the relatively safe impulses!” At rather quick speeds - being the professor he is - Hunter would start write down what he’s saying just so it can be easily noted.

In a rather quick manner too, Hunter would proceed to draw Prim in a rather cute cartoony manner, although since it’s rushed, there’s some obvious tells about some flaw in the drawing. Right after, Hunter would draw small rough cartoon sketches of them both right now, all panicked and scared! ”Right now, this is a life threatening impulse, and to do damage control for those impulses are really tough. Understand so far?”

[Moth]

Hunter's ramblings must be growing on her, because Prism finds herself smiling for no particular reason as she crosses the room to the sink. She's an pessimistic optimist on the best of days, striving towards goals she knows she may never truly reach. But with Hunter-

There's something about the professor's energy that near-infectious, putting something resembling a skip in her step and a sway in her sashay as she starts running hot water and reaching for the dishsoap. "Life-threatening, risky, and relatively safe impulses. Cleaning up for the first is difficult. Don't do stuff without at least checking in with your partner about it first, because there's a risk they'll brain you." She parrots back, including her new mentor's unspoken lesson.

...a quiet humming of a tuneless song emanates from the kitchen as she begins to scrub with mechanical efficiency, low enough that she can still pick up anything else he says. "What's next?"