I'll be the watcher of the eternal flame [Eachdraidh IC Contact]

[zerotohiro]

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[zerotohiro]

[He pauses then, just staring at her. She wasn't there five seconds ago. He knows that. But there she is and he's blinking in surprise before shaking his head.]

Dude. What did you just do?

[chaoticwhimsy]

Well I was goooooonna tell you. [She shrugged, along with an exaggerated arm gesture.]

But if you're gonna be so grumpy...

[zerotohiro]

Like you wouldn't be mad if I did the same thing to you. [Don't even try it, Lumina. Now that he can see her, he's more curious than he is angry.] So...what is it?

[chaoticwhimsy]

[She manages to look annoyed for about four more seconds before the facade cracks and she grins, holding up her hand to show where she has a hairpin pinched between two fingers.]

This.

[And then she reaches up and clips it to her hair...and disappears with a giggle.]

[zerotohiro]

[He almost reaches for the pin before she takes it out of his reach and slips it into her hair...and promptly disappears. Well excuuuse him.]

Whoa...[Does he sound impressed? A little bit.] Dude. Where did you even get that?

[chaoticwhimsy]

[After a few seconds she reappears, pulling the hairclip back off. She's grinning so widely.]

I got it as a boon! It wasn't exactly what I asked for but isn't it awesome?

[zerotohiro]

Uh, yes? [He motions with his hand for her to pass it off so he can examine it.] So with this...you can be invisible for as long as you want? [That's even better than the rune he's been working on. He might be a tiny bit envious.]

[chaoticwhimsy]

[After a second she hands the hairpin over.]

The imps said it'll last six hours a day. I haven't really tried testing it though. So I mean, it could just be...six hours from whenever I first use it, or six hours of actual use or...man. I don't know.

I get kind of bored of being invisible after like, three.

[It was more fun when she could see herself being sneaky.]

[zerotohiro]

[He rotates it in his fingers, eyeing it carefully and opening and closing it to see if he can see any physical signs of enchantment while Lumina explains.]

That's just because you haven't had a chance to really think of how to use it. Be creative with it. [There's a devious grin forming.] We should start testing this out and see what it can really do.

[Yes. "We."]

[chaoticwhimsy]

'We?' [Lumina smirks, but doesn't explictly object.]

It does what it does, Hiro. Turns me invisible. ...Why? What else were you thinking?

[zerotohiro]

Everything can be upgradable if you figure out how it works. [He's still letting the clip roll between his fingers.] I bet we could figure out a way to make it last longer than six hours...and we should make sure it doesn't have any boundaries, like it'll wear off and not work in certain parts of the Drabwurld.

[Testing, Lumina. This is what he lives for.]

[chaoticwhimsy]

Hmm. [She was looking at the hairclip thoughtfully now, tapping her fingers against her side. Finally she grinned.]

Well, first thing to do is see if it works for anybody but me, right? Put it on.

[zerotohiro]

[One would think that Hiro would be a giant baby about sticking girly things in his hair. But instead he's busy plucking the clip out of her fingers, holding it up to his eyes to stare at it again before shrugging and prying it open to clip his bangs out of his face.]

So...what's the verdict? [He...doesn't feel invisible, but maybe he's missing something here.]

[chaoticwhimsy]

[Her eyes go a tad wide when he puts it on, and after a second she laughs.]

That is weird to see...

[zerotohiro]

Lumina. [He sounds annoyed, but his expression doesn't quite match that. A hand reaches up to lightly push at her as the other one moves to adjust the clip as though it'll make a difference.] I know it's weird but it's for research. But if you can still see me I think that means it only works on you.

...or maybe it only works on girls? [That's also a possibility.]

[chaoticwhimsy]

[She lets him keep talking, stepping back at the push and putting her hands on her hips until he's done.]

Maaaaaybe you aren't paying enough attention, Hiro. It was weird to see you disappear like that.

[zerotohiro]

[...] Wait, what? [Give him a moment to bring his hand up to his face, squinting at it as though he's determining if it's real or not.] I can see myself still.

[chaoticwhimsy]

And yet.

[She just rolls her eyes.]

I could see me too. But not in mirrors or anything.

[zerotohiro]

[Here's the thing. He likes Lumina. He'll actually admit that now. He likes her, they're friends, and she's possibly one of his best friends in the Drabwurld. That doesn't mean he believes 80% of what she says and the incredulous look on his face says so. On the other hand, with something like this is was hard to tell what to believe. He's still busy looking at his hand, a thoughtful "huh" under his breath as he rotates his wrist in front of his eyes.]

You don't have a mirror on you or anything, do you? I don't think the blade of my dagger's shiny enough to use.

[chaoticwhimsy]

Why would I have a mirror on me? [Another huff, and she manages some fake indignation.] Are you calling me vain, Hero?

[But that lasts all of five seconds before she just laughs and rolls her eyes.]

You're not just gonna trust me on this, are you.

[zerotohiro]

[He opens his mouth to argue, but he doesn't have to the moment she starts laughing. He rolls his eyes, gesturing for her to follow him suddenly as he starts to walk again. If Lumina's going to stick around, she can follow him on his own agenda.]

How dumb do you think I am? [And then quickly before she can answer:] I trust you on some things. This isn't one of 'em though. [There's silence as they continue and soon it's apparent he's leading her to the armoury.] ...and anyway, Honey always carries a compact with a mirror and she's one of the least vain girls I know.

[Has he ever told Lumina about Honey Lemon? He's not sure, but his point still stands.]

[chaoticwhimsy]

[She opens her mouth to answer that but he moves on and she just rolls her eyes again. It's only the footsteps that indicate he's walking away.]

If you're leaving, you get that I can't see you to follow, right?

[She declares this to where he was standing.]

And who's Honey?

[zerotohiro]

[He's still 100% convinced she's just playing along and teasing him, not that he's...actually, quite possibly, invisible. He laughs from somewhere up ahead but he's walking slow enough that she can follow his footsteps.] We're going to the armoury. I wanna check something out.

[And since he has her hairclip, she has to come. Logic. There's a small sound as he hums in thought.] Honey Lemon. She's a friend from home...I met her a little while before I came here. She's a chemist and she's actually really nice. She's part of my team now.

[It's occurred to him that maybe he hasn't told Lumina enough about himself either...but whatever, their friendship's been fine without sharing things. Right? Right.]

[chaoticwhimsy]

[Would she do something like that to him? Well. Yes. Yes she would. It would be hilarious. But after a moment she falls into step behind him, though it's hard to say if she's following him or his footsteps.]

You had a team?

[This is the first she is hearing of a team.]

[zerotohiro]

[He's pretty set on what he thinks and he's pretty determined to prove her wrong and point out that she is, in fact, just teasing him like usual. But even as they move he can at least answer her question.]

...you asked me a long time ago if I was a hero just because my name's Hiro. I guess I just forgot to tell you that the answer's "yes." [There's a sheepish smile.] Me and five of my friends. We make up a team of superheroes back home to keep our city safe. It's just something we started doing really recently. Like maybe a week or two before I got here. So...it's been a year and a half since I've seen any of them, but I'm kinda glad none of them have been dragged here.