Beyond the Shadow of a Doubt: Hunter x OC

The Festival

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"Your turn, Silver!" Luciana yelled over the music, holding a hand out to Crosshair after just having released Wrecker. The Town Square was packed with people from the entire planet, all enjoying the highly-anticipated lunar festival. Hundreds of tables and tents had been erected for a great variety of foods, activities, and wares, and huge screens and stages had been set up around Square as well as across the beach, allowing the party to continue beneath buildings and the palm trees alike.

"Not a chance," Crosshair said, folding his arms across his chest and not moving from his lean against the stone wall beside him.

"Come on, you have to!"

"I do not."

"Yeah you do!" Wrecker hollered, pushing his brother forcefully toward Luci, who dragged him out into the throngs of people dancing in front of one of the makeshift stages. She whirled around in front of him, grabbing his hands and placing them on her hips as she swayed with the music. Hunter elbowed Echo and tipped his head in their direction, both sharing a hearty laugh at the sight of an insanely-stiff Crosshair almost refusing to move as she danced against him, but there was the tiniest flicker of amusement on his staunchly grumpy face.

"He deserves it," Wrecker insisted, picking up his tray of food. "Aww man! Now my wraps are cold!"

"Looks like he's paying for it now," Echo remarked, laughing again at Crosshair's expression of shock as Luciana turned to face him, staggering her legs between his and slithering down to the ground and back up again.

"She looks like a snake on a tree," Hunter chuckled. "Can't say I'm surprised though."

"If I were the betting type, which I am decidedly not," Tech chipped in from his seat beside Phee, "I would estimate that it would take a longstanding relationship that included a great deal of depth and trust to convince Crosshair to dance without the need to portray a sour and unwilling front."

"Well, don't hold your breath," Echo said.

"I wasn't planning to," Tech answered.

They chatted and ate, tucked into a large table that was squeezed into one of the many nooks and crannies of the Town Square. The space had been totally transformed: it was filled with colorful tents, string lights, and sparkling mirror balls, and they'd had some time to explore the fantastic variety of goods from other islands on the planet. Omega had enthusiastically perused row after row, first with Hunter and then with her friends from the school, who she was apparently back on good terms with. So Hunter had returned to his brothers and Phee, who together had procured an impressive assortment of plates and trays from the food carts.

"Well get a load of this," Phee said, the rest following her gaze back to Crosshair, who now had not one but two girls grinding on him from both the front and the back.

"Women have such weird taste," Echo commented, and they all had to stifle their laughter to quickly look back at their plates and each other when Crosshair's sharp eyes flickered in their direction. A few minutes later, he'd extricated himself from the situation, walking stiffly to the table with his hands clasped over his crotch. He sat down wordlessly, crossing his legs and shifting uncomfortably before pulling his jacket off and settling it in his lap.

"Can't enjoy it too much, can you?" Phee jabbed, sliding a cup of the tropical drink they were sharing in his direction. Luciana was now dancing with the other girl and had been joined by a few others that seemed to know her, all bouncing around in a jubilant cluster. Hunter scanned the square, squinting against the strobing lights that reflected off of the mirrored balls that hung across ropes from rooftop to rooftop.