jikan_rpg | Open / Catch-All

Entry tags:

original: glenn sparks

Open / Catch-All

⌛ Who: Glenn and you!
⌛ What: Glenn finds some nyagumo and wanders around with them. Possible TDM things and/or personal starters. (Go ahead and wildcard at me if you want.)
⌛ When: All of September
⌛ Where: Anywhere!
⌛ Warnings: Spider cats. TBD.

Glenn never thought he'd find any nyagumo so soon after sighting their wild counterparts. The few he found around some older buildings seemed a little skittish, but he supposed that was to be expected of a mother and her children, from the looks of them.

Although he really, really likes bugs, these little ones are too adorable for him to turn away from. And... spiders are also a type of insect, even if these ones look like cats.

Glenn can be found out and about with a troupe of five spittens and their calico-patterned mother, several of them and their mom curled up in silk sling-like nests that he's easily carrying around with one arm (from which, the spider thread is also anchored to,) with the fifth making a tiny mess of silk webbing on his hair. If he can figure out what sorts of insects they prefer to eat, so much the better.

Admittedly, he also feels pretty proud and fuzzy for carrying these ones around.

"What about those bugs? Do you like those?" he asks them when he spots a few small insects near a tree, as if expecting a reply.

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Bakugou is heading out to do some research when he spots Glenn. Back home he may not have acknowledged someone just because he saw them, but it's different here and he likes knowing that people and friends he's met are still around. He's about to say hi when he does a double-take and narrows his eyes, reflexively pointing at him out of habit.

"How'd you get them to follow you?! All they do is attack me!"

Glenn's gaze immediately lights up to see the pro hero, hair taking on that familiar burnished gold color. The pointing doesn't really bother him anymore.

"Ah, these are the domestic variety. They don't get much bigger than their mom here."

Glenn uses a tentacle to gently point her out, only to be lulled in for ear scritches.

"Admittedly, I don't know much more about them, except that they go after bugs more often than any actual wild game? I mean, the ones I ran into that were wild just went crazy for a deer carcass."

The nyagumo on his head keeps making web patterns in his hair, while two of their siblings start to perk up at the sounds of all the communication.

"Also aside from mom, the rest are baby." Yes, singular. There's a hint of, well, baby-talk in there, and Glenn clears his throat in an attempt to dissuade himself from gushing.

"That aside, how're you? It's been a little while since we last met."

"Did you steal 'em from someone?"

Bakugou smirks at Glenn to show he's teasing, his eyes tinted orange as he looks at him. If these domestic ones aren't vicious, then there's no harm in him crouching down to reach out to pet one of the baby nyagumo hanging from Glenn's arm. They're fucking weird, but they're kind of cute, he guesses. Not that he'd ever admit that aloud.

"I'm fine." He glances up, the unspoken question weighing on his mind. He tries not to sound too concerned, but he has been ever since their last conversation. "You?"

Had he regained his sensation to feel, he wants to ask.

"Did I--" He almost can't believe it as he echoes it, and then snickers.

"No, just found them in an uninhabited building. They need a bit of care. And at least the building was more or less full of what they were eating, but it shouldn't hurt to figure out how to diversify their diet. Goodness knows I've benefited from it."

He gently adjusts one of the spittens in his hold, smiling as the little one nuzzles into Bakugou's touch with happy purrs.

However, Bakugou's unanswered question lingers, and it's useful that he's taken some of his time to try to think of how to carefully word himself.

"I'm.. better. I'm back to how I was before."

He'd rather not burden Bakugou with how his numbness occurred in the first place. At least, not without being asked.

"The numbness I came here with is still a work in progress, but... I've been trying again to figure out how to reverse the damage."

Because maybe, just maybe, it's not set in stone here.

"They look part-cat. What about fish?" He muses, going quiet when the nyagumo purrs, his mind completely blanking out as he stares.

Fuck...they are cute.

He recovers, his expression hardening but his motions still gentle as he scritches the top of their head, his head snapping up expression relieved when he hears Glenn's answer. In fact, his hair seems a shade lighter.

"Did you figure out what was wrong?" He doesn't need to tell him the details if he doesn't want to. He's just glad he's not entirely numb. That pre-existing numbness, on the other hand...

"I got my memories back. Before I was here, I got kidnapped in a different world where they'd stick nanites in you like some kind of fucking experiment that would give you superpowers. Explosions are my own quirk, but I was also able to heal and shit. I haven't bothered trying it here."

At most, Glenn gives a nod, expression briefly clouding. Yes, he did figure out what "went wrong" and to be honest, he's not entirely sure Bakugou will go without yelling at him for it if he tells it in detail.

Instead, he listens to this new information, noticing the change that Bakugou had upon hearing that his own situation improved.

"...I'm sorry that happened to you."

Meanwhile, the spitten is just happy to have head scritches. One of their siblings gets closer and bunts Bakugou's hand, hoping for attention as well.

"They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No," Bakugou shrugs, trying not to sound bothered by it despite the undercurrent of anger that makes his tone bitter and his shoulders stiff. "They didn't."

Still, it's hard to stay mad when the spittens are so fucking adorable. He pets the other sibling with his spare hand, changing-or redirecting-the subject back to his point.

"But if it works here, maybe I could help you with that."

And like a soft, fluffy tidal wave, the other spittens and mama nyagumo all want attention, and Glenn can't help but giggle at their excitement, the scent of it tickling his nose. All the same, he remains a sturdy foothold for them, able to support all of them on his arms - and then tentacles - without needing to fidget to adjust his posture or hold.

Still, Bakugou's words don't go unheard, and his gaze remains soft - and, tentatively, a little hopeful.

"I would be willing to try. Even if the scars are too old to go away."

Though it might be nice, maybe, not to see the effects of his body's incompatibilities every day. Even though he can't remember what he looked like without them.

"...To be honest, a lot of these marks happened around the onset of my powers, because my body is incompatible with the ability to be completely malleable. So it would tear itself apart trying to change me into some other shape that was too strange for my body to handle."

His brow furrows.

"...And I wouldn't be surprised if some amount of wanting to not hurt anymore is my fault that I'm numb, taken to some sort of misinterpreted extreme. I was able to make sure some places didn't have scarring. I could move it. But once places got too crowded, my body wouldn't let me move it there anymore.

"But honestly, if any part of me can be mended at all... I want it to be my hands, first."

There is no overstating his desire and joy in being touched and touching, and able to feel it. And hands are so important in so many things....

"Fluffy morons," Bakugou grumbles, but there's no animosity in his voice as he tries to give each of the nyagumo some attention. Once he gets to the mama nyagumo, he scolds her, though his eyes are soft. "You're supposed to be a role-model- Look, Spacecat's right there, he can give you attention too. Tch..."

It's clear that despite his words, he doesn't mind giving any of them attention at all.

"You have a quir-power incompatible with your body," It happens sometimes, or other times the quirk is simply dangerous and hard to control. Quirks developed at a young age and were biological. How did Glenn end up with his powers?

Finally, he looks up and meets Glenn's eyes, his own seeming to blaze with determination. "I can't make any promises. But if I still have it, I will get strong enough and heal your hands." He probably should have put more effort into using his ability before, but now that he has a goal and someone relying on him, he refuses to quit.

Glenn looks like his first instinct is the protest, but instead, he stops and offers a shy smile, instead.

"Thank you."

His gaze searches Bakugou's for a moment, and he lets out a soft sigh. It might be best to give him the details, anyway.

"I should... probably give you more information about it, since you're... wanting to do this favor for me."

It's hard to phrase himself well like this, but he tries. A little listlessly, he starts petting mama nyagumo with a tentacle, so he can make sure that he's not being rough as his desire to pace crops up. He looks around to make sure that they're alone enough, and, satisfied, he resumes speaking.

"I'm not sure what any information would be of use to you in your approach. Oh, and... you're welcome to call it a quirk if you'd prefer. But it's simply a species trait.

"By nature, Igaes are shapeshifters. They have a preferred body, but not one so firmly rooted like ours are. Human bodies are like clay cooked in a kiln. We don't change much. Unless we use artificial means or grow old, our hair doesn't change from one color to another.

"Igaes use whatever body they like, and it's theirs. The concept of gender dysphoria doesn't exist for them, since they can simply become what they're comfortable with. Their bodies are like soft clay - changable into whatever shape they can think of. Avians, insects, aquatics, mammal-likes - anything. Even as children, they can do this with the ease of someone learning an easy skill. Like using a pen to draw a line, however irregularly formed"

Frowning a little, he sighs.

"When this power first manifested for me in full, I was eighteen. It quite literally tore my body to shreds; I became an alien in my own skin. My body changed whenever it wanted to, but especially when I was hungry, and left almost every mark you see on my body, like a creature erupting from within me. It took decades for me to be able to shift without causing horrible injury to myself, and longer still to move every inch of scar tissue away from the few places I couldn't stand to have it.

"And now, hilariously, injury is one of the only ways my scarred skin can feel a thing. Because for a brief moment, the nerves feel just enough stimulation to react to it. Because the damage is down to the muscle, too."

It's clear that he doesn't actually find this funny.

"...And I've lost my train of thought. Apologies."

Rather, there's just so much information whirring through his head right now.

Bakugou seems to realize Glenn almost protests, because he narrows his eyes, more than prepared to start arguing, shouting, and demand that Glenn accept his help.

But he doesn't have to because Glenn isn't an idiot unlike a certain broccoli haired classmate. He relaxes a fraction, shrugging as he looks off somewhere to the side and grunts a quiet 'whatever', meeting his eyes again. He's not the most patient person, but he's quiet as he waits for Glenn to speak whatever is on his mind again.

Holy shit.

Bakugou doesn't consider himself very squeamish. Subjects like gore and pain have never bothered him. But that-

"Sounds like hell."

He mumbles without thinking, quiet as he still processes what Glenn said. He doesn't understand everything, but he has a few questions.

"The Igaes or whatever- did it bond to your body like a symbiote? Or was it always there?"

Ahh, this is the heart of it. Glenn gives an initial shake of his head.

"It's always been there since birth. I.. I was made because of a government weapons project. They found alien cells on some rock and decided to merge it with a human zygote using donor samples. Well, I lived, but, I looked completely human, with no tangible traces of what they'd bound my cells with.

"My mother took me after her project lost funding, faked my death and left. And.. never told me what I was. Even when I lost my eye color. She didn't know what to expect, and... didn't think to tell me about my origins. Especially after it was only my eye color that was lost. I have no idea what she was thinking.

"There is no second mind, but I have both human and inhuman instincts. They.. mostly melt together, but I can usually pick it apart these days, because I remember what it's like to only have human instincts. And the alien ones are.. pretty basic: eat, scent mark, fuck. Stuff like that."

Glenn frowns, and uses a tentacle to pet one of the spittens. Their mother gives a soft chirrup in question when Glenn's scent shifts to something more muted - giving off a sensation of uncertainty to her and anyone in his immediate range.

Bakugou narrows his eyes, his stare critical. Didn't think to tell him about his origins. He's certain Glenn's mother did think to, making your child a human experiment with a fucking alien wasn't exactly the same as forgetting to make them lunch the night before or missing a parent teacher conference. She just decided to avoid it for whatever reason.

...But maybe she loved him too, if she faked his death and everything. The whole situation still turned out to be a fucking mess. And even if it was some misguided choice made with good intentions, he can't ignore the flare of anger that seems to ignite his body, his eyes become a deeper shade of orange.

"She should have told you," He snarls, more harshly than he intended. The scars, the nerve damage, it could have been avoided.

But then Glenn goes and says...that, and Bakugou nearly chokes on nothing, stumbling back in embarrassment.

"Y-you-!"

He quiets as he picks up the scent, and (almost) forgets what he was about to begin yelling about. He redirects his attention the spittens, petting them.

"You don't gotta talk about it if you don't want. But I know a moron who produces tape out of his elbows and one of my teachers makes black holes out of her body. I've met a lot of people here with different powers and shit, and you'd fit right in my school."

Glenn looks up, watching Bakugou carefully, and his own cheeks color with a bit of shame for speaking about those instincts so openly.

Even so, the things that Bakugou mentions, Glenn's eyes water as he thinks about the possibilities. Of what could have changed if only he'd been born in another world with people like Bakugou.

"...The heroes in your world...."

There's something strained and raw in his tone, something making his jaw tremble as he forces himself to keep his expression neutral. It feels like he's going to burst if he doesn't keep talking. That it's all just going to implode on himself if he stuffs it down again. It hurts and his chest tightens, anxiety clawing at his throat.

"Can any of them stop natural disasters? Or... ones that were made by a person with powers?

"I-- I need to know. I... I need to know that, if there's ever another me in another world... th-that... that there's someone who could stop someone like me...."

He bites his lip hard enough to make it bleed, but it stops after a moment, a faint scar lining it in a matter of seconds before fading somewhat.

For a brief second, Bakugou glances up and notices the way Glenn's eyes water. He looks back down at the spittens, because he wouldn't personally want to be seen crying and he doesn't know how Glenn feels about it yet. Maybe he should say somethi-

His head snaps up, eyes flaring in understanding. Glenn doesn't need to elaborate for Bakugou to understand, but he does and the blonde has to try very hard not to snap at him impulsively as outrage and something else-fear?-cloud his head.

What the hell kind of request is that?

His shoulders are tense, but after a second he forces a cocky smirk, even though there's an underlying threatening growl in his voice as he answers him.

"I kicked your ass, remember? You got nothing to worry about..."

He slaps his hand on Glenn's shoulder, his hold firmer than he intends.

"'Cept the fact that I'll kick your ass even harder if you think for a second I would go along with something as stupid and self-destructive to one of my friends as that."

The underlying growl doesn't set Glenn on edge, but the sudden slap, however friendly, gets him stiffening up and bracing - and nearly crying at the sudden gut-feeling of fright that he's about to be struck. For a split second, he's a child again, covering his head with his arms and trying not to show anything else.

When only the contact to his shoulder happens, he hesitantly unfurls, only to notice that with the pressure Bakugou is using, he can somewhat feel it. He blinks away the residual tears, though they slightly linger.

"Huh? Self-destructive?? I said "stop me" not anything else?"

Confused, Glenn squints a little as he tries to think on what else "stop" could mean. The hint, he realizes, is in "self-destructive."

"Not kill, or anything drastic, just, literal interpretation of "stop" is what I meant. I didn't intend to infer anything more than that."

As his confusion eases, he quickly starts to show a shy, but giddy smile.

"...It's nice to hear you call me your friend, though. I promise, I try not to say stupid things in general."

He sobers again.

"But, I asked because unlike your world, mine wasn't... prepared for a man-made flood. Especially in an area that was deliberately protected against it by various barricades and piping.

"But there weren't any heroes like you there. No one powerful to redirect the water pouring in from a place where it should only be flowing outward. Structurally, that was the only way it should have ever gone, due to the use of specialized pumps and gravity.

"...But I'd broken the whole structures with that surge of water, in a fit of what I thought was an isolated meltdown that wouldn't harm anyone. And it wasn't the first time I'd vented at the shore.

"...It was only after that, that mom told me what I was, and why I was made. After I lost the person I cherished the most as a result, and took damn near a hundred lives with her. People who couldn't get to high ground fast enough."

Glenn regards Bakugou with a gentle, but still unhappy, expression.

"I greatly envy you and your world. You get specialized training to protect those you love. To be able to go toe to toe with others if necessary and walk away alive. And I'm glad you have the world that you do for it."

Oh. Bakugou notices, but he's too quick to hesitate when he sees the way Glenn reacts. He's aware it doesn't stem from his behavior-probably-but it has him pause all the same, his hand lingering there and his expression unreadable, only scowling in realization as Glenn explains.

He suddenly gets flustered, his shoulders tensing as he removes his hand and steps back. "I knew that!!!"

(He didn't.)

"Why would you ask me to kill you?! That's stupid!"

Still- There's a hint of relief knowing Glenn wasn't even remotely thinking about that. Bakugou looks to the side and scoffs.

"Tch. I'm used to hearing stupid shit from everyone..."

Destructive quirks that could get people hurt weren't so rare in his world, which is why so many laws and limitations existed in his world. But to accidentally kill someone you loved because of it? He regards him quietly, because of course he would envy him.

"That diet of yours allow you to drink?"

It's an offer to go somewhere quiet where Glenn can talk if he wants to, or just...not be alone, if he doesn't feel up to it.

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Open / Catch-All

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cw: death talk

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