Of Love and Death.

The Future Chapter 14: There's No Such Thing As Coincidence Pt. 1

There is an existential crisis and trauma rearing it's ugly head. As well as mentions of a negative relationship between someone and their mother. Also mentions of death, and toxic relationships as well as wanting harm to come to people, all right at the end. Except for the existential crisis. But other than that it's fine! Except for how badly this chapter is going to age once Quadstrike comes out.

Valt piled more cinnamon rolls than he should eat onto his plate. They were one of his weaknesses, and the hotel buffet was all you could eat. It was clear that he was being judged, though. Namely because of the judging look Bel was giving him. "Go back to your mountain of waffles," he whispered to his son.

A chuckle came from the pink mohawked blader. But Bel still listened. He collected more waffles than Valt had realized a plate could hold, and then went to sit with his teammates. It was a nice, fun conversation. Even though it was horribly overshadowed by the events of last night. Events that Valt was well aware his son had mostly figured out.

Not that anyone would have realized that from looking around the room. There were a few hotel buildings around the Grand Arena, and this one had been reserved for all of the blading teams. The mood was actually fairly tense. All over the red carpeted room, you could see the divisions between teams. Each of the four in the semi-finals seemed to have picked a corner. Unfortunately for the Snakes, theirs had somehow ended up being the one furthest from the buffet.

Everyone was busy bustling and talking to each other. Somewhat surprisingly, there hadn't been much smack-talk between any opponents. At least not that Valt had seen, he'd only gotten here a few minutes ago. Apparently, Bel and Valt were very good at sleeping in. Especially when Shu, the one who normally woke everyone else up, had left early.

Walking back to his seat, Valt wondered when Shu and Jamie would be back. Apparently it was obvious that he was worried as well. Once he sat down, the look on his face was enough to tip Honcho off. "I'm sure Jamie will be fine," his friend said reassuringly from across the table. 

Moodily, Valt picked at his food. Yeah, you're probably right, he admitted. I'm just wondering what's taking them so long to get ba- Just then the door to the breakfast area swung open, revealing two standing there. Both of which with unusual eyes. With one having one blue and one pink, and the other having both red. Oh thank goodness, Valt thought to himself.

Standing up quickly, Valt half ran over to Shu and Jamie. Well, he did make sure his face wasn't horribly creased with worry, first. When he reached Shu, he gave the white-haired man a quick kiss on the cheek. Which he was pretty sure may have caused Jamie to start rebelling against them.

Speaking of Jamie, Valt turned to his daughter. "Hey, how are you?" He asked, trying to keep any worry out of his voice. He tried to imagine how the young girl would be feeling right now. He was more than able to find out, but he'd promised himself he'd stay out of her head.

Tilting her head back and forth, Jamie considered the question. "I want waffles. And I want to hug and/or punch a paint set," she declared. With that, the blader walked across the carpet and over to where the waffles actually were. Leaving Shu and Valt alone, but still blocking the doorway. Which may have annoyed a few people who needed to use it.

"Um, we should probably," Shu said, pointing over to where Valt had been sitting. Which caused Honcho to wave back at the two of them.

Nodding, Valt vigorously showed his agreement. "Oh, definitely," he agreed, and led the way back. He, Honcho, and now Shu were all sharing a booth. Sliding his plate over to the inside, Valt moved to let Shu sit down next to him. The white haired blader did as such, leaning back and resting his side on Valt, closing his red eyes as he did so.