Beyond the Shadow of a Doubt: Hunter x OC

First Date

Hunter sharpened his butcher knife absentmindedly, the scrape of metal on metal providing a soothing backdrop to his thoughts. It had been almost a month since the festival, and things had settled into an almost monotonous routine. There were no complaints from him, however, and he found himself quite content with the few regular things on his plate – work at his shop, projects at home, and time in nature with Lyra. A smile touched his face but was soon followed by a rather sour expression as he thought about his family's recent opinions. He'd not only been ribbed mercilessly at family dinner the night before, but he'd also endured some sort of an intervention, where the others seemed to turn on him all at once with what he assumed was well-meaning intention regarding his time with her.

"Hunter, everyone can see it but you," Echo began, swirling the wine in his wooden cup. "What are you afraid of?"

"Who says I'm afraid?" Hunter asked, bewildered by the sudden attention. "And why do you all care so much?"

"Aw, I think it's adorable," Wrecker had said, clapping Hunter on the back so hard that he'd dropped the bite of sushi he was about to eat. "Looks like his senses aren't so sharp in every area."

"An effective joke, Wrecker," came Tech's factual approval. "He should ideally be able to sense the physiological signals of infatuation in another human, but apparently his ability to discern their meaning is not fully developed."

"What?" Hunter breathed.

"He means you're blind as a jogan-bat," Crosshair offered helpfully.

"Perhaps he will be more attuned to the symptoms of sexual arousal, as they tend to be more pronounced in realms such as scent–" Tech continued, immediately cut off by a chorus of disapproving disgust.

"Come on, Tech. I'm eating," Echo complained with a pleading glance at Phee, whose mirth was apparent.

"You boys are ridiculous," she chimed in, shaking her head as she leaned back in her chair. "He's been a soldier all his life and you expect him to just forget all of that and start schmoozing the ladies?" Surprised by her support, Hunter's shoulders relaxed a fraction of an inch as he went back for another bite of sushi, hoping to actually enjoy this piece.

"Some of us didn't seem to have any issue with that," Crosshair remarked, staring pointedly at Tech, whose owlish expression of affront brought an impish smile to Phee's face.

"Aw, don't get prickly just because you're jealous," she teased. Crosshair's indignant retort faded into the backdrop of wandering conversation as they slowly found other topics to pursue. Once there was enough distraction to allow Phee to share a quiet word with Hunter, she leaned over to speak to him privately.

"Don't start–" he began, but she held up her hands with authentic warmth on her face.

"I'm not here to tell you how to live your life," Phee interrupted. "You've had more than enough of that." Hunter fell silent, mollified by her understanding. "And there's nothing wrong with taking your time. Sometimes we just don't stop to look at exactly what is holding us back. You know? But you're a smart guy. And I'm just glad you're enjoying your freedom."

She nodded, leaning back to the center of her seat with a clear intention of giving him space. Hunter remained still, staring at the table as he considered her words. He'd grown quite fond of Phee once they'd gotten past the showy front she had to maintain in her line of work, and he'd come to respect her insights too, which were often more accurate than he'd like to admit.

His awareness returned to his work at the butcher shop, having set the knife and the sharpener down on the counter. He'd been unable to shake the general sense of confusion that accompanied any attempt to sort through the vortex of thoughts and emotions. It wasn't something he'd ever had time to do, much less been inclined toward, and yet he was feeling quite directionless in a realm that he hadn't ever thought he'd be a part of. How does one craft a life that feels worlds apart from their expressed creation and purpose? It was a question that nagged him constantly, and he alternated between feeling an overwhelmed futility and striving to figure out the perfect structure and approach. Life wasn't quite as simple as a mission, however; he hadn't been given any objective or parameters for his own autonomous future. He thought he would find that fact freeing, but instead it always kept him questioning. And yet, beneath it all, when he tried to tune in to a simple, basic voice within, he regularly found himself somewhat resolved around a singular idea...