[Open] - Gonna Triumph!!

[floatsaway]

🧙 WHO: Uraraka Ochako (floatsaway) and YOU!!
⚔️️ WHAT: Catch-All for March and questy things
🕒 WHEN: March. :|b
🗺️ WHERE: All over Camelot and stuff.
⚠️ WARNINGS: None for now, will update as needed!! /o/

i. Sir Fuzzlerton the Cad

[Well, this is quite the hilarious quest, actually. Ochako actually was giggling about it as she read the description on her phone's app, but decided to try it anyway. It seems harmless and simple enough, even if it is a bit time consuming... Still, what else has she got to do today? Nothing, really...so why not help out? Besides, she really could use the reward money, and it's almost like being given meager tasks as a Hero to do on the daily!! She's starting to get used to doing things like this, really, and it keeps Ochako busy.

So, as she preps herself to be out for the day looking for Sir Fuzzlerton, Ochako stares hard at the picture that his owner put of him on the quest descriptions, and tries to memorize it. Maybe she should contact one of her friends, too? Mm...this doesn't seem like anything at least one of them would partake in, and to be fair, they're probably doing it or the other quests posted as well. Maybe she'll run into them? Shoving a few bottles of water into her pack, and a bento box of greens (listen, it's decent bait for a waskly wabbit) soon after, she shoulders her bag and heads out to the first of many new bunny cafes that opened up, heading to the staff first to ask questions and if they've noticed an, um...f-frisky rabbit hopping about.]

He looks like this, and belongs to someone looking to get him back... Would it be alright if I looked around a little bit? I promise I won't bother any of the other rabbits, or customers, while I'm here!!

ii. Run Snagglefoot Run

[Now this is more the kind of quest Ochako is used to. She's not against doing the simpler, more mundane ones, but the adrenaline rush she feels when stopping an actual thief is few and far between. It actually makes her feel somewhat like she's back in Musutafu, fighting crime and stopping villains alongside her senpai, Nejire, and the Dragoon Hero, Ryukyu. Still...this particular thief is a tricky one to get a grip on, and Ochako is definitely getting frustrated. Man, it'd be pretty simple if she had her quirk, or her hero gear, but alas...nothing of the sort. What she does have, however, is a large and very fast running dire wolf familiar, who shows up at last when Ochako calls for her.]

Aludra, I need you!! [The white wolf seems to blinks into existence rather suddenly, its glittering coat like starlight as it curiously peers at its partner, then folds its ears back as it takes in her appearance. Ochako is winded, having been chasing Snagglefoot for several miles and always just missing him. Damnit...he's probably got his greedy little mitts on so many other stolen goods, too!] Please, this time it's important - there's a criminal about and I can't catch him on foot. I-I know...hah...you don't like me riding you, b-but...I really...r-really need your help!

[The wolf is fast, Ochako has seen it before - when Aludra runs she looks like the tail of a shooting star. It was part of how the brunette figures out the wolf's name was that of a star. The star making up the 'tail' in the constellation Canis Major...the greater dog. It's actually rather hysterical, that the dire wolf is so connected to space like that. Sort of like Ochako is, heh. They really were meant for each other. Hopefully, that'll mean the large beast will let the girl ride her...which she has not let happen since arriving in Avalon.]

Please. You know I wouldn't ask otherwise... And it'd be just this once, until we catch him. O-Or if you can somehow make me faster, I-- [Her phone buzzes. It's an alert. The thief is headed for the Red Spring. Shit, she's running out of time!]

iii. Farmers-R-Us

[Ochako never really done this sort of work before - there's not a lot of farmland where she lives, not unless you really go towards the more rural towns and villages, away from the major cities in Japan. She's of course been to farms before, obviously, but never really done work there. Still, it's honest work, and after some pointers from the farmhands, it's easy enough. Laborious, definitely, but Ochako's not against working up a good sweat!! It's a bit like early morning training, and a damn good work out to boot. She'll be doing this for a good, long while...

Hence why she's sort of wearing a lot of her usual workout gear as she goes about, turning soil removing roots and rocks, and hauling feed to the animals. She's pretty dusty towards the middle of the afternoon, sighing a bit as she heads back into the field from her break to take a drink and just rest a while. Breaks are important, after all!! No need to be overheating, or overworking, to the point of real fatigue! As she picks up her hoe to get back to work, she notices one of the farmer's dogs poking at something a fair bit away in the brush. Uh, oh...that better not be a rabbit den. Ol' Fido's gonna get is big trouble if he decided to attack any bunnies this month...]

Hey, hey, none of that!! Don't you do anything naughty over there, you! [Spooked by getting caught (and the prospect of getting punished), the dog races away, and Ochako is hurrying over quickly toward what it left. Sadly for her, though, Ochako has the marvelous misfortune to be right in the middle of a nest of pixies as they emerge and make the assumption that their home was disturbed and destroyed by the girl. Oh boy. Zipping about, clawing and biting at her arms and face, pulling at her hair, Ochako squeaks with horror and tries to swat them away, racing to try and take shelter...anywhere, really.]

AAAHH, G-GO AWAY!! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!! I WAS JUST TRYING TO HELP KEEP THE DOG AWAY!!! EYAAH! OW, OW, STOP BITING!!

iv. Wildcard!!

[None of these prompts suit your fancy? Or want to do something specific and not quest-oriented? Reach out to me via PM or at MelonFlavored to plot something out together!]

Comments

[floatsaway]

[Oh no, you don't. That's not how this is playing out. Ochako doesn't want his pity, and even if Bakugou only was interested in just beating up on some wayward thief, he still caught the guy all on his own. Ochako well and truly didn't do anything, and she's not going to just pick up a sack of spilled jewels and pretend she actually played a part in this capture.

That is not what she wants. And she won't be made to think that's at all fair.]

No. You stopped him, and caught him, Bakugou-kun. You bring them both in. [If he needs help picking the guy up, she'll do that, but she's not budging on this, and keeps her arms extended.]

[apshot]

[ Katsuki isn't getting it. He just blinks at her from down on the ground. No way is Bakugou taking shit from her. Metaphorically and actually, you know. Not going to take those items. ]

Haa? What're you talking about? Weren't you chasing and me cutting the asshole off? Cat and mouse sort of shit?

[ See? He genuinely thinks that they kind of. Had. Worked together on this? ]

Like hell I'm going to take all the credit when I wasn't the one that made it so I could catch him.

[floatsaway]

[Okay now? Now Ochako is visibly confused, and looks genuinely mad at her friend. That is not what was happening - and if it was, Bakugou didn't communicate any of that to her in the slightest. If that was his 'plan' all along, she had no goddamn clue about it, because that's always been Bakugou's flaw - communication. He doesn't talk to anybody, and just assumes they're on his wavelength all the time, then gets upset that no one can read his fucking mind. Any of time, Ochako would wave it off or navigate around it, but she's frustrated and angry and just wants this whole endeavor to be over with so she can go home and not think about how useless she feels, and how it seems like she's being looked down on right now.

Her hand is gripping the bag of gems so hard it's starting to shake.]

You didn't...tell me any of that. I had no idea what you were doing, and I didn't agree to anything either... I was chasing him on my own and...a-and I failed! You caught him!! So take the dumb JEWELS, BAKUGOU!! I DON'T WANT A REWARD I DIDN'T EARN MYSELF! [Yes, her voice was starting to raise, and crack, at the end there.]

[apshot]

[ Hadn't she asked for help? Her familiar wasn't interested in doing so... So it should have been obvious ( at least to Katsuki ) that he would step in? Isn't he supposed to work with others? It's not like Katsuki could do anything to speed them both up. His magic doesn't really work like that. They don't have the tools or the means, though it's likely Ochako could have used wind magic to help her along...

He doesn't say that of course.

In the end, the point is there is only one thing he COULD do - cut off the thief. Seems pretty straight forward. In the end though, he does fail to communicate. ]

Whatever. You wanna earn it?

[ She probably shouldn't have said that. Because Bakugou has some pretty funny ideas when it comes to stuff like this. That's why he's getting up. Setting the bastard loose. ]

So go earn it.

[ Only because he's confident he can catch the guy as he starts to take off again, confused but not questioning. ]

[floatsaway]

[Bakugou is...trying. He's undoubtedly trying to 'play nice' with others, but he's still very obviously struggling, and where emotions are high like they are right now - where Ochako has hit her a very low point in terms of confidence - this was...not the right way to go about it. Day by day, week by week, she's struggled to keep up the façade that she was okay, that she could keep up with everyone else if she just kept trying, but that's not always the case. The reality is that...sometimes you just fail. You fail and there's nothing you can do, even if you try your damnedest. It's a hard pill to swallow, and she's now choking on it.

Furthered by when Bakugou throws dirt in her face like he is now. Her eyes widen, head snapping after the thief as he scrambles to his feet and takes off, and her shoulders tense, eyes filling up with hot, angry tears as she rounds on him and fling the sack of jewels right at his face, crying out between a guttural sob.]

Y-You--! ...YOU'RE REALLY TERRIBLE SOMETIMES, BAKUGOU!!

[And off she goes, despite a part of her screaming to throw a punch his way as well, chasing after the scraps he threw for her to fetch. It's hard to follow the thief with her eyes filled with tears, streaking from her face and down her rosy cheeks, but Snagglefoot wasn't as careful and coordinated as he was before his first capture. Plus, he's still reeling from the hit he took from Bakugou as well. It's not long before Ochako corners him and knocks him out with a hard jab to back of his neck, striking the pressure point there and...well.

Nighty night peanut time.

But she's not happy about any of it, and even as she's tying Snagglefoot up with some construction tape (listen, you improvise on the spot if you don't have capture tape or cuffs on hand) from a nearby worksite. Sniffling and hiccupping, tears still running down her face, she drags the thief out of the alley and coughs, scrubbing at her face fruitlessly. Everything feels heavy, and she's sure she probably tied his up too tight, having to redo the knots thrice through her blurred vision, but...she's going to see this through.

It's the bare minimum she has to offer.]

[apshot]

[ Look, if he could know the right ways to handle interpersonal situations, he wouldn't be where he is at with Deku or a lot of different people. Bakugou would actually be personable. However that's not the case. So how could she expect anything less of Katsuki if Ochako is going to complain about not being able to handle it on her own so she can get credit?

By now he's learned that how much one contributes to something really isn't easily measured. Everyone has their own limits and own talents. No, Ochako hadn't technically caught the guy, but her actions made it so that Bakugou could. That is enough. That is sufficient. At the end of the day the task had still been completed, even if she's not the one that snatched the thief up with her own hands. And Bakugou, of course, had only focused on the thief. Not the jewels or anything else.

He follows though hands in pockets and catching up with Round Face and Snagglefoot all the same. ]

I know.

[ That he's terrible? Yeah, sure does. But unfortunately his terrible sometimes has a point. ]

But I'm not here to make you feel better or to stroke your damn ego. If you can't see your own damn worth or realize how your actions play into the overall success of a mission? That's your problem. Not mine.

[floatsaway]

[Thing is, it's been harder and hard to measure her success since arriving in this new world. The harsh reality born of their world, and the measure of what it took to be strong - a quirk. A good quirk equated to a good hero was the mentality of their society. Without it, a person was less of a person, that was simply the reality hammered into everyone from the start. It's the ugly truth about quirk culture. Ochako has felt, as time went on, more and more useless the more she struggled with the weight of not only being quirkless, but the lack of being able to utilize the powers she was given here. She tried, with her own strength - unbound from quirks and magic alike - and saw failure. Failure in the mission and failure in herself.

Hence why she tries to muffle her sobs a bit more when Bakugou comes close, turning away from him so he doesn't see her face of her ugly tears. Her vulnerability. Ochako rubs viciously at her face and eyes, enough to make her skin red and raw later tonight, perhaps, but she doesn't want to show that weakness to Bakugou.]

I-I...I can't. [She chokes out at last.] I can't see it. I'm trying really hard, Bakugou-kun, but m-more and more, d-day by day, I--...I just see a blur. I see you, and Deku, and Momo, and Tsuyu, and everyone else all doing your best, and adapting, but I can't and I don't know why! Why I can't do it.

I don't wanna give up, and I won't, but...but it r-r-really stinks sometimes. S-Seeing everyone e-else like...l-like I'm on the other side of a river, by myself. [She takes a deep breath, looking up at the sky to try and hold back fresh tears welling up in her eyes.] But it's no one else's problem than mine, you're right.

[apshot]

[ Poor Snagglefoot, doomed to hear teenagers talking about their problems and struggles. Well. Katsuki isn't going to break down or just open his little heart here. There's not going to be mutual gushing about how hard all of this has been on him too. They are all struggling, even if no one is really seeing it. Just because Ochako is more visible doesn't mean that she's really on the other side of that metaphorical river. ]

That's your damn problem - you're comparing yourself to others. Don't bother looking at me and gauging whether or not you're successful or not! You're not gonna get anywhere!

[ Because Bakugou is Bakugou. Ochako is Ochako. The things that they struggle with are different than what the other one does. That just makes sense. Not to mention, Bakugou has been through this already. He had been so caught up in comparing himself to other people that he hadn't thought about himself. It hadn't been "how can I get better" but "how can I beat them." It's a completely different mentality! ]

You think Imma pat you on the head for a good job? Is that your motivation? You have some of the best damn magic here and you're wasting your time worrying about how everyone else is doing!

[floatsaway]

[Good thing he's unconscious :|b Flinching slightly, fresh and hot tears well up in those big, brown eyes, and she looks away from him again, trying to hide her face. It feels bad getting yelled at--no. Not even really yelled at - she's being lectured. Lectured on how stupid she's being right now, whining over how hard it is for her, how much she is struggling, without even really thinking that others may be just as well, but not showing it. There's a quiet sound and Ochako hiccups, scrubbing at her face again as she starts to cry anew.

She knows Bakugou is right, this is stupid, but it's not easy either. Not easy to compare herself to others, to try and mimic them a little bit. She wants to break away from the image people have of her, wants to feel like she has something to contribute, that she's not just baggage, or a cute face with no skill. She wants people to think she's dependable and strong.]

...What good is strong magic if I can't use it? Do I have to watch someone dying in my arms each time for it to work? Does one of my friends have to be in mortal danger? I don't want a pat on the head, Bakugou, I want...help. [And she looks a little defeated admitting that. But it's the truth, isn't it?]

I need help. I can't do it on my own. I don't know how...

[apshot]

[ No, that isn't right. She is being lectured by comparing herself to others. The only person she should compare herself to is herself. That's all that Bakugou is saying. If she always keeps looking at others she won't ever see herself. Bakugou's already learned this lesson in a way. He looks at people but doesn't try to compare himself to them. Not now anyway. ]

It's your magic. No one can tell you how you should make your magic your own.

[ But at the same time there's... Not an issue asking for help. ]

You want help? All I've got is the ability to spar with you. From there you have to figure out how to best adapt your magic to your style.

[floatsaway]

[Ochako sighs. That's right, there's really no way anyone can just show her what to do. It's something she has to discover for herself, and that's the hardest thing for her to really grasp - the confidence that she can figure it out. That she can do it. It'll only take a bit of faith, and a lot of practice, but Ochako's faith in herself has never been great. But she's never backed down before, so--

Looking up again, Ochako blinks, looking a little startled at first. She didn't expect Bakugou to actually offer to help. Or at least offer to be a sparring partner, so she can test her magic against him. It'd...probably be effective to spar against him, considering he has his barriers to protect him from the worst of it. Nodding her head, that she'd like that very much, Ochako cleans her face and stands up a little straighter.]

You'd really--? O-Okay...thank you, Bakugou-kun, that's re-really nice of you. Um...c-can you help me carry back this guy, too? [She motions to Snagglefoot, who's just now starting to slowly come to, with a soft groan.]

[apshot]

Yeah you'll say thank you until I work you like a dog...

[ Katsuki scoffs. After all, she had gotten on him about training with Deku too. That Katsuki is "too rough" and whatnot. Might not be something that Ochako remembers at the moment, but he does. Oh does he remember getting lectured when it had been Deku that had wanted him to go all out and not hold back.

Then he rolls his eyes and yanks the thief to his feet. ]

Are you gonna stop whining now?

[floatsaway]

[Ochako smiles at his chiding, unable to really help herself. No, she doesn't know about her lecturing him on being too rough with Deku, she hasn't gotten to that point in her timeline yet, but she...is a bit protective of Deku more than she is herself, to be perfectly fair. If he works her 'like a dog' like he says, then Ochako feels she can take it. In fact--]

I won't complain, if that's what you're saying. I think your kind of training is what I really need, Bakugou-kun. [Some hardcore, no nonsense practice. Someone she can fight against without overthinking herself, or being as afraid of hurting him by mistake if something goes wrong. Bakugou is stronger and smarter than her when it comes to a real fight, and he's already more skilled with his magic...] Y-Yeah, I'm...I-I'm sorry. I'm okay now, I think.

[Ochako sniffles, looks at her friend a moment, then takes a step forward before she hesitates. Biting her lower lip, she reaches out and takes his hand for a moment - just to give it a tight squeeze before releasing it to go on Snagglefoot's opposite side. That should be enough. Bakugou doesn't like to be touched, and while Ochako's...really wanting for a hug right now, that should be enough to show she's grateful, while respecting his boundaries.]

Ready to head back now?

[apshot]

[ Hardcore, no nonsense practice that's not going to hold back just because Ochako is Ochako. If someone wants the full experience and requests it, then that's what is going to happen. Bakugou will go all out. So if she has made her peace with that then there won't be any problems.

Again, he doesn't really like this any better than Ochako does. Katsuki is pissed that he has to learn an entire new skillset just because this place houses magic and not Quirks. ]

Good. Crying in front of your target... Gotta work on that too.

[ Notice he's not saying NOT to cry. Just that there's a time and a place for it. Right now wouldn't have been a good time. Good thing his grip on Snagglefoot is good. The guy ain't going anywhere - even when the grabbing of Katsuki's hand startles him a little. He's about to say something about her being grabby, but the blonde will let it slide. Round Face isn't hugging him and she looks like she could launch herself but is restraining. For him.

Augh whatever. ]

All right. Let's go.