[Elijah]

This was a rarity for Elijah, but he came across an annoying moment.

His arm was totalled. No, not the human one thankfully, though a part of him would find the benefit in having two prosthetics should it meet the same fate as his right had years ago. But that would not be the case today. Instead it was his metal arm that was broken, having been unlucky enough to brace his fall off the second floor of a building during a simulation. Though many would say he was lucky, as a broken human arm would've hurt a lot more.

He sighed. Lucky or not, he needed to get it fixed if he wanted to continue his courses without falling behind.

The hero student made his way to the support labs, his left arm tucked in his jacket while his right hung limply on his side. There was no point to positioning it when he was going to remove it anyway. Stepping into one of the rooms, he stood by the door as he called out to the occupants inside. "Hey, anyone free? I need help with something."

CHIRP ♪♪

[CHIRP ♪♪]

The support labs were busier than normal.

If you stuck your head in, you would see them marching around with loads of cameras, wires, and similar equipment. At the center of it all was Gabriel. He was something of a control tower for the operations at hand. He had a big project coming up that would determine whether or not he’d graduate from UA University. He could have managed it on his own if he wasn’t wasting time playing vigilante and accomplishing not much of anything.

Someone pokes their head in and almost gets it cleaved off by a clumsy first year nearly dropping a camera.

“OH GOD! PLEASE BE CAREFUL!” A throaty, raspy voice. A type of panic not often seen in Gabriel. Considering the investments he’s already made, he might have been tried for murder if the camera had hit the ground.

“Sorry! Scared! Door!” They pointed at the door where Elijah was at.

“HOLD IT WITH BOTH HANDS, CHRIST!” Gabriel was still in a panic. “EVERYONE PUT EVERYTHING WHERE I SAID AND THEN TOUCH NOTHING UNTIL I’M BACK!”

He clears his throat and goes to the door.

“Hey, they’re all busy in there. You can use that empty room over — oh my god.” He noticed the arm or lack thereof. “You need a hand.”

Beat.

“Ugh, that’s insensitive.” He grabs the bridge of his nose and guides Elijah to the other laboratory. “So, is that your prosthetic in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” A grin that let Elijah know Gabriel was too happy with himself. “What are you looking for exactly?”

Once he sees the arm, he’ll know if it’s in his wheelhouse orrrrrr…

---

Elijah

[Elijah]

Elijah would find himself looking at the ceiling, head leaned back as he narrowly dodged an expensive piece of equipment. Lips pursed in shock, he let himself take a deep breath through his nose and exhale through his mouth, choosing not to put his focus on the yelling within.

Once the noise stopped, the freshman straightened himself and levelled an unimpressed stare at the student who nearly knocked him out. "Do you usually aim your projectiles at the door? It's almost like you wanted someone dead." Before he could admonish them further however, a different person - older, he'd notice - greeted him while also noting his dangling arm.

Elijah's expression was blank at first. "Yes, I do." Because yes, he did in fact needed a hand. Though the unimpressed stare did return at the man's next line. "Hilarious," he answered, voice dripping in sarcasm from the attempt at humour.

Once they reached the empty room he was brought to, the hero student made his way to one of the tables. "Anyways, it's as you said." With a practiced motion, Elijah gripped his right arm and twisted it before letting it slide off his sleeve on to the wooden surface. The limb's forearm was caved in, several pieces looked missing and the whole thing would've been split at the elbow had it not been for the wires keeping the two segments attached together.

He tucked his left hand back in his pocket. "I need a new arm. Broke this one during an exercise." Elijah turned to him. "Are you good with prosthetics?"

CHIRP ♪♪

[CHIRP ♪♪]

“You’ve got a lot of growing up to do,” Gabriel grabbed the arm and set it horizontally atop a blank sheet of paper. He then used a tape measure to mark the distance of its vital areas. First, the shoulder joint, then the elbow, then the wrist, and finally the length of the fully extended fingers. “Your department doesn’t matter — hero, support, business. Some skills are universal.”

Next was to sketch the fingers. Heroes were reliant on muscle memory and nailing the anatomy was foundational. Gabriel wasn’t the best at any particular field. He was great at odd jobs and fixing what had already been made. Props like this even more so due to his time on the set. Practical effects had their charm and what was Gabe if not charming?

An ass, that’s what.

“Skills such as laughing at people’s bad jokes.” He looks at Elijah and gauges his reaction. It wouldn’t matter how he reacted but Gabriel liked to guess before he checked his answers later. “Especially when they’re actually really funny.” He winked. “I can get the job done it just depends on what job is. Feels like you’re due for an upgrade, yeah?”

---

Elijah

[Elijah]

Elijah waited as the other student took measurements of his arm, face scrunching in confusion at his comment. It was unrelated to what they were doing; an opinion that seemingly came out of nowhere. He was right in that certain skills are universal but why mention it?

Then he let the man finish his thought.

His stare remained half-lidded. "My humour's fine. Your joke really did just sucked." Whether that was true was up for debate, but he wasn't one to impart a laugh to a statement he thought didn't deserve it. "Comedy is also a universal skill. Yours needs improvement."

Turning to the broken arm, he hummed at the question. Originally he just wanted it to be fixed so he could continue his exercises. He didn't consider it an opportunity to have the arm rebuilt to do more than just brace his falls. Elijah tilted his head. "Suppose I do. Increased durability's a given; it's become unreliable during hero work. Tools could also be built into the arm." Straightening himself, he looked to the other student again. "Would incorporating knives and a grappling hook be possible?"

CHIRP ♪♪

[CHIRP ♪♪]

“Comedy is not universal.” The elitism dripped from Gabriel’s tongue. In the same way that Elijah found him unfunny, he found countless artists — some of whom were renowned for how funny they were — entirely disappointing. “But that does give me an idea.”

At this point the rough sketch for the arm is complete. The anatomy is functional, even if some of the lines were wobbly at best. He’s not an artist, after all! The rough will get the job done as long as he has the materials. Gabriel starts shuffling through the laboratory.

“I need better jokes. You need to laugh when things aren’t funny.” He shuts one cabinet and opens another. Gabriel shuts that too before moving on to a different countertop, tapping his fingers on the countertop. Where would it be?

“We can make this a weekly thing. I come with a tight five and you sit in a one-man audience and pretend to laugh. You can write a real score for each joke and then I’ll rate your laugh based on how funny you thought my joke was.”

Absolutely convoluted. A waste of time. But he needed to waste time because… he couldn’t find it.

Dammit. He sighed. It’s in the movie room.

“Knives? Grappling hook?” Gabriel returns to the sketch and starts taking notes. Then he does some preliminary drawings and shows how he’d incorporate the designs. “I’m open to feedback if you have any.”

---

Elijah

[Elijah]

Elijah watched as the other student flittered around the room, making a face at his plan. "Sounds like a waste of time. I don't see the benefit in me learning how to pretend to find something funny. The onus seems to be on the other party if their goal is to make people laugh." He lifted his remaining hand to stifle a yawn. "Which I've no obligation to help you with either."

He looked at the offered sketch, nodding in understanding at the design. "Looks good. Regarding the knives, they're deployable yeah? People probably wouldn't appreciate receiving cuts from a handshake." He squinted at the design, trying to think of anything else he could possibly want added. But nothing was coming to mind.

So instead his eyes were on Gabriel again, curious. "Also, were you looking for something?"

CHIRP ♪♪

[CHIRP ♪♪]

“If you plan on becoming a hero, you will deal with the media. More often than not, the path of least resistance is through compromise. Laugh now, give your quotables, and walk off before the headache sets in.” Gabriel looked Elijah up and down. “Unless you plan on being your authentic self?”

He stifled a laugh.

“Deployable like a cat. Mrow.” That has got to get a chuckle out of him, right? A chortle, mayhaps? “I could always add a sixth finger. With your attitude, I bet you’d love to give the cameras two middle fingers with one hand. Lie and say it has ‘your special peace sign’ and they’ll eat it right up.”

Another ridiculous suggestion but it was fun to tease the serious types. They showed the world just how fragile they were. Guarded, inflexible… it reminded him of his younger self. A self that knew not the value of misdirection.

“Looks like the stuff I need to fix your arm is in the other room. Because of the production, it’s gonna take a few days to clear out my rig and then build your arm. It’ll be done in two days unless you want, like, a fire extinguisher or something. Then that’d make it three.”

---

Elijah

[Elijah]

"I plan to work underground. Avoiding the media is practically in the job description, so I'm not worried." Though Gabriel would get a snort out of him. "Authentic. As if anyone is. Now that's funny." Elijah's well aware of how people play up their appearances to gain favour in the media. Or to get better results in more personal interactions. But he learned long ago that some will be set in their opinions no matter how much you convince them otherwise.

Maybe that's why he's not a fan of playing pretend. Too much work for potentially no results.

A hum escaped him, choosing to ignore that piece of introspection. "But yes, like a cat. And hold off on the sixth finger. While a fun party trick it's impractical everywhere else."

Elijah raised a brow. "The camera room?" While all the equipment perplexed him, he wasn't curious enough to ask. The man seemed like he would go on a rave about his latest project, so the hero student would rather not get himself involved in that. He eyed the sketch again at the suggestion.

And deemed it a good one with a nod. "Three works."

CHIRP ♪♪

[CHIRP ♪♪]

A laugh.

He did it. It may not have been in the way he wanted or from what he considered the peak of humor, but something innate to Gabriel reached Elijah’s core. There was a sense of humor in there. A sense of humor informed by a cynical, judgmental perspective but whatever works! Gabe would hold on to this granule of information in the future and leverage it when it was most impactful.

“Fine.” Gabriel rolled his eyes. Humans could adapt to anything but, sure, let’s stop at five fingers when six was a whole, extra finger. “Five fingers.”

Then, Elijah bit. A younger Gabriel would have spilled everything then and there but as an older, mature auteur he kept his projects close to his chest. With the way this child had been acting, he wouldn’t appreciated such highbrow artistry anyway.

“It’s a secret.” He raised the prosthetic’s finger to his mouth. Then, he lifted up two more of those fingers. “Three days it is. See you then and not a moment sooner.”

---

Elijah

[Elijah]

The man wasn't all jokes after all. He could feel the minute annoyance when he was deprived of an opportunity to add an extra finger.

Good.

Except he's back at it again by toying with his prosthetic. Elijah tilted his head, promptly confused by his antics. There was a noticeable pause before he spoke again. "I'll come by in three then. Will check the room we were originally in for you first. Hopefully I won't almost lose my head that time too." Though the guy did mention clearing his stuff out, so his survivability in his next visit would be assured. Unless he replaced the cameras with something equally heavy.

The hero student walked to the door, on his way to leave. "See you then I suppose." Then he paused as if he'd forgotten something. Because he did.

He turned to glance at the person helping him. "Hawthorne, by the way. Don't think I've mentioned my name."

CHIRP ♪♪

[CHIRP ♪♪]

Boy, he sure held on to a grudge. Near decapitation was standard fair in heroism, Elijah should consider the experience a gift. A free lesson in survival. But he was just a first year and they never wanted to hear wise, sagely advice from their upperclassmen. A soon-to-graduate upperclassman, nonetheless!

Gabriel picked up the arm as Elijah proceeded to leave. It was an awkward affair saying goodbye while going in the same direction, but he had a film to attend to. Unpleasantries would have to fall on the first year’s consciousness.

“Gabe.” He gave a wink and slinked off to the other room. As soon as the door closed behind him Hawthorne would hear him shout. “I SAID NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING…”

.
..
...

3 Days Later

...
..
.

The room was empty. Gabe’s project was submitted. And all he had to do was wait for Hawthorne to show up. The new and improved, better-than-ever prosthetic had undergone a few experiments. As much as Gabe wanted to surprise Hawthorne, he couldn’t get the sixth finger to work. The damn grappling hook took too much space.

Lurking in the background was one of his previous crew. They had been held over for OPERATION PAPARAZZI and wanted to capture Hawthorne’s face when he tried his new, fancy arm. Gabriel straightened out the sheet atop it, making sure it was perfect.

---

Elijah

[Elijah]

It's been three days.

Elijah made his way to the lab as promised, wearing his jacket over his shoulders like a poser since he needed his shoulder to be free to put on the new arm. He remembered his near head-loss - how to avoid such should be taught in simulations, not labs 🙄 - so he's a little more prepared in that regard.

He didn't immediately step into the room for one. Instead he turned the handle and let the door swing open, making sure to stay well away from the doorway. Only when the silence stretched for long enough did he show himself, ready to draw the knife hilted on his hip should he need to.

Then he noticed the room was empty save for Gabe fixing a sheet.

Elijah sighed as he dropped his hand. "Hey." He eyed the covered item as he walked in. "I doubt a prosthetic warrants a big reveal like this."

CHIRP ♪♪

[CHIRP ♪♪]

The star finally arrives.

The second star. Like in those star systems where there’re two of them but one is a little bigger than the other? Yeah, that’s Gabe. Elijah is the little star. Who else is gonna put on the arm and show off all the great features that Gabriel added? Not Gabe, that’s for sure! He had no spare nubs to put this prosthetic.

“Oh, trust me. It does.” Gabriel can’t hold back his grin. It stretches across his face to such an extent that most people might consider it offputting. Imagine being this obsessed with yourself? It’s like reading everyone’s texts in your internal monologue’s voice as opposed to theirs! Gabe rips off the sheet. “Ta-da!”

It… sure is a prosthetic. He didn’t do anything to make it look fancy, actually. He kept it exactly the same. To an eerie extent, even.

“Go ahead.” Gabe offered. “Give it a try. See if you can figure out how to use it. I made it pretty intuitive if I do say so myself…” Gabe turned to the cameraman. “Did you get that, by the way?”

---

Elijah

[Elijah]

Elijah squinted at the man, suspicious. No one should be that happy over fulfilling a request as simple as his. It wasn't like he would've made a breakthrough or anything; all the hero student needed was an arm that could survive a constant beating from his many exercises.

Maybe Gabe was just nuts. Can't cross that off the list. "We'll see," was all he could offer to his declaration.

And there it was, his new prosthetic revealed... if it could even be considered new. If Elijah suspected Gabe had a time Quirk he would've assumed he used it to return his arm to its original state. He turned his head to him, the cameras surely catching his perplexed expression. "You did make additions to this right?" It'd be weird if he didn't. They just met so it wasn't like Gabe had any reason not to.

"But sure." Elijah stepped forward to pick up the arm and put it on, locking it to his shoulder. He lifted it on its own, twisting it this way and that, finding familiarity in the motion. "Huh. Looks good so far." Moving it some more, he tried to search for how to use the tools it supposedly had. He made a fist to examine his knuckles-

Only to douse his face in foam.

Silence. Then, very slowly, he turned to Gabe again and just stared at him, not unlike an unamused wet cat.

CHIRP ♪♪