Chase
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Post by Chase on Nov 28, 2009 0:15:08 GMT -5
Continued from "Dine With the Devil"--- It was warm for that time of year... or maybe it was always just this warm in sunny California; Chase hadn't been there long enough yet to tell. Maybe it was, because the locals sure weren't out appreciating the warm weather. December now, with half the world bundled in five inches of fabric, defrosting their cars and salting their driveways to get to work every morning, and here he was in a denim jacket over a t-shirt, having a picnic in the park. He couldn't quite decide whether he was in some fool's version of paradise... or purgatory. They walked in a little ways, and finally settled on a soft spot of grass beneath a palm tree. "Should've remembered a blanket," he commented, squinting through the sunlight with a smile, before sliding off his jacket and laying it on the ground. "There you go. What kind of a protector would I be if I didn't keep you safe from the terrors of grass stains?" And with that he sat down on the grass, himself, and began unloading the paper bag from the sandwich shop.
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Post by Alonna Swanson on Dec 8, 2009 11:13:08 GMT -5
She giggled slightly as she took her place carefully on his makeshift blanket. She wasn't much of a giggler normally, but that had just been too adorable. Who said chivalry was dead?
He couldn't be upset with her then, could he?
She took the sandwich he offered her and unwrapped it, trying to shove her paranoia back to the dark hole at the back of her mind as she dove into a detailed explanation of exactly why these were from the best deli in town - strictly in the interests of preparing him, of course, so as not to overwhelm his delicate taste buds.
The meal itself went by quickly, as they lightheartedly joked and teased and just generally enjoyed the pleasant weather, the meal and each others' company. Alonna managed to let her worry go after only a few minutes, deciding that he would tell her whatever it was when he was ready to. He seemed loathe to bring it up, though, and after almost an hour she decided to take it upon herself.
Clearing her throat slightly, as they lapsed briefly into what would have otherwise been a comfortable silence, she smiled softly across the brown bag that held the remains of their meal, and offered, "So... there's something you wanted to talk about?"
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Post by Chase on Dec 14, 2009 16:34:18 GMT -5
He'd lost track of what she was saying about a minute before, filtering it into background noise and making small sounds of consent when they seemed necessary. Some stupid brats had come into the park a few minutes ago, four of them. They were running around like idiots, playing some kind of makeshift baseball game. The image struck him for some reason, and caught his gaze. He wasn't really sure why - kids definitely didn't interest him, and he hadn't thrown a baseball in years. He labeled the feeling as "contempt" and waited for his lip to curl into the appropriate sneer.
It didn't.
Hell... he hated parks.
He noticed the sudden absence of background chatter, and turned his gaze back to the girl. She was looking at him expectantly, and after a few seconds he managed to pull the memory of her question forward.
"...there's something you wanted to talk about?"
Great, so they'd finally hit the vital moment and he'd been distracted. One more reason to hate kids, games, and parks.
"I, uh..." he paused - half shrugging, averting his eyes and stalling - trying to get back into character, to work out how exactly to say this that wouldn't send the girl running for the hills or unleashing her crazy psychic mojo on him. Sighing softly, he ran his fingers through his hair and met her gaze again. "Ok, this is going to be harder than I thought. Look, there's something that I probably should've told you right away, but I wanted to get to know you a little first. Wanted you to get to know me, so that you'd know I'm ok. That you could trust me."
He paused, trying to gauge her reaction so far. She wasn't running for the hills yet, which he liked to think of as a positive sign. He leaned forward a little, closing nervously in on himself as his lips twitched in a hint of a smile. He was worried, unsure, and completely unthreatening. Or at least, that's how he appeared on the outside.
"I, uh... I didn't want to say something right away and make you run away..." he paused significantly, before adding, "or disappear into thin air."
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Post by Alonna Swanson on Jan 30, 2010 14:02:44 GMT -5
She physically jumped at the word "disappear," and then giggled nervously at her own outburst. That wasn't what he meant. That couldn't be what he meant. It was a turn of phrase - he meant he didn't want her to run off...
But he'd said the two options separately. He'd said "run away or disappear". If he hadn't known about her power then...
But he couldn't know. No one knew. She'd seen enough, read enough, to know that the exact thing you didn't do was start blogging online about your new super-power. Not if you didn't want a couple dozen SWAT people banging down your door, ready to drag you away to the nice government men for tests and dissection.
She'd kept quiet, and save that very first time on the street she'd made sure absolutely no one was around before she pulled her disappearing act. But, as her fit of giggles faded and she took in his earnest look, she was left with no doubts of exactly what he was talking about.
So what to do? She could try a feeble denial, or flicker out right now and make a run for it. She'd gotten pretty good at it over the last few months, and if she focused hard enough she would be able to make herself disappear in the span between two heartbeats. But then...
He was right, she'd gotten to trusting Chase. He was a sweet guy, and after all - as she kept reminding herself - not everyone was manipulative, conniving, and untrustworthy. Not everyone was like her mother. She shifted her weight slightly, sliding her legs out from where they'd been tucked under her, kept safe from grass stains by the jacket Chase had leant her.
What could she say to him?
And I'd been expecting him to talk about a crush...
"I don't..." she faltered in her denial, grimaced slightly, and then drew in a long breath before settling on, "What exactly do you mean?"
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Chase
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Post by Chase on Jan 30, 2010 14:26:17 GMT -5
[OOC: Thanks for the message, Lon - hope the vacation was fun. Now, let's knock off a few of these posts, shall we?]
Looking shifty but still not running. Damn he was good at his job.
He smiled slightly - a reassuring look rather than the victorious grin that was trying to force its way up - and replied softly.
"You know what I mean, Princess. And look, I haven't been stalking you. No, I don't work for the government, and I'm not out to expose you or to blackmail you or... any of the other crazy thoughts running through your head right now. And... I'm still the same guy. And you're still the same girl. You're just... special." And wasn't she just.
He paused for a moment, holding his body in its least threatening pose, and tried to gauge her reaction.
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Post by Alonna Swanson on Jan 30, 2010 14:43:12 GMT -5
[OOC: It was great, thanks! And yay for post-a-thons! ] It was hard to focus on his exact words past the general shock of his saying them. She couldn't have been more blindsided if he'd decided to confess he was actually her long-lost brother. She couldn't react, simply staring at him, wide-eyed, until they dried to a painful point, forcing her to look down and blink several times, quickly. "This is just..." Insane. Unreal. All the times she'd used her power, alone at practice in her house with the blinds drawn, out gathering evidence to help the social work agency deal with abused children, throughout everything she had never once spoken to another soul about it. And now, to hear someone acknowledge it aloud, to stifle the last flickers of suspicion that this actually was happening, that she wasn't just a slightly crazy girl playing pretend... She started to laugh again. A high, wild giggle, and her hand flying to her mouth couldn't stifle it. It went on for at least a full minute, and by the time they began to fade tears were on her cheeks. Someone else knew. It was terrifying, but it was also relieving. He knew, and he wasn't running away. He wasn't calling the loony bin or the government. He was... calm. Was he maybe just a little too calm? The relief rushing through her mind flickered to suspicion and, clearing her throat, she asked him, "So... how exactly do you know?"
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Chase
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Post by Chase on Jan 30, 2010 15:05:28 GMT -5
She giggled helplessly, balled up hand trying to stifle the sound, and he felt himself smiling along with her.
She was so cute when she was terrified and hysterical.
Finally she calmed down, and he twisted his features back to that look of careful concern.
"So... how exactly do you know?"
Moment of truth, no backing out now. All bases were loaded and he was heading for home...
He paused for a second, fighting a scowl. What the hell was with the baseball references? Stupid kids...
He shrugged, glanced away to stare briefly at the screeching brats on the other side of the park, and then turned back, running his tongue over his teeth as he tried to work out the right wording.
He didn't like to plan scenes out ahead of time when he was working on assignment. He'd discovered that just going in the moment tended to look and feel a lot more realistic than any kind of pre-rehearsed speech. Of course, the big bosses had pre-approved a general cover story, but all the specifics, the little details, all of these were his and his alone. That's what made him a superior asset to the Big Seven than those little puppet pals of theirs. He didn't care how much "individuality" they supposedly possessed. Nothing beat having your own will about you when you were working in a high-risk situation.
Finally deigning to meet her waiting gaze, he replied,
"Look, I don't talk about this much, but when I sensed you around I couldn't just..." He paused and ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head slightly. "Wait, I'm not doing this right. Ok, so the reason I know about you is that I'm... well, I'm kind of like you. I mean, not really but... I get vibes. I can tell when other people like me... us are around."
There, he'd done it. He let out a nervous breath, and actually felt a tiny twist of nervousness in his gut abate - damn method-acting - as he waited for her response.
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Post by Alonna Swanson on Jan 30, 2010 15:18:49 GMT -5
She almost started laughing again, but managed to hold it in, only barely.
Relief.
She wasn't the only one like this? She hadn't been bitten by some radioactive invisible-spider in her sleep, or walked too near a nuclear experimentation site or talked on her cell phone until the radio-waves had made her body particles loose enough to just float away from each other?
I mean... he's not the same. But he's different like me. There's somebody else who's different.
Special, he'd said. She thought it over and decided she liked that word. It could mean so many different things, but none of them sounded like "freak."
She needed to say something, but for the life of her couldn't imagine what. Should she be angry at him for not telling her sooner? Should she break down and thank him for showing her she wasn't alone?
Instead what finally escaped her lips was an undignified snort and:
"Wait, 'vibes'? Your superpower is being a cheap Miss Cleo?"
When in doubt, turn to sarcasm.
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Post by Chase on Jan 30, 2010 15:49:56 GMT -5
His eyebrows shot up, and he almost snapped her neck right then and there. No, that wasn't true. But he did imagine doing so with some enjoyment.
Miss Cleo? People didn't often say stuff like that to him and live.
His eyes flickered back to the baseball brats, and finally something clicked into place. Why they kept catching his attention, why they kept drawing his gaze.
Jonas had tried to teach him how to play. He'd called Chase stupid nicknames, too. Long ago, back in the days before Matthew, sometimes after Matthew, always so naively certain that just because they'd shared a home that they had to share a bond as well.
And now here Alonna was, thinking because they were both "special" that she had the right to joke with him, tease him. That they were connected, somehow. Why were people so obsessed with being bonded to others, anyway? Cowards, weaklings, that was why. Too pathetic to try to make their ways in the world alone. They didn't understand, not like he did. They didn't know what he'd realized all those years ago, standing over a crib, clutching a pillow, staring at the small, empty object that had used to be alive.
He grimaced; he was coming dangerously close to sounding bitter. But he'd done the bitter thing a long time ago. Every day growing up in that hell of a house had been bitter. Every day listening to them say grace at dinner and knowing that every single one of them was just deluding themselves. Idiots.
He didn't have time to think about them now. He had a plan to carry out, a demon to serve, and a world to destroy. And so he buried his anger behind an abashed chuckle and retorted, "Don't make fun. It's embarrassing enough as it is. I'm just some lowly psychic and here you are, miss Invisible Woman..."
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Post by Alonna Swanson on Jan 30, 2010 16:01:14 GMT -5
She watched him avert his gaze, the flicker of a dozen emotions playing across his face, and felt a spark of guilt over her flippant reaction. If she'd finally managed to come out and admit her strange ability to someone, the last thing she would've wanted was for them to laugh at her. Still, she'd already started them down that path. The only thing to do, really, was to try to make him understand that she hadn't been insulting him. A little self-recrimination couldn't hurt there.
She quirked a smile at him, shrugged and responded lightly, "You know, I was never really a fan of the Invisible Woman."
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Post by Chase on Jan 30, 2010 16:07:28 GMT -5
When he laughed this time, it was actually halfway sincere.
So, the Pretty Princess knew some Marvel references. Who would've guessed?
"Yeah, can't say the Fantasic Four ever really caught my eye. More of an X-Men, Age of Apocalypse fan, myself. Though the Invisible Woman was played by Jessica Alba, which is kind of an interesting coincidence with you, if you ask me..."
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Post by Alonna Swanson on Jan 30, 2010 16:13:36 GMT -5
Her eyebrow quirked skeptically. Was she going to have to deal with a crush issue after all?
"Alright, you say I look like Jessica Alba, I might just have to leave the park right now."
She said it with a smile, though. How could she not? This whole conversation was so surreal it was funny. How had she gone from revealing her most closely guarded secret in the whole world, to discussing superhero movies? It was completely ridiculous... and it was probably the only thing keeping a full on vanishing-inducing panic attack at bay.
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Post by Chase on Jan 30, 2010 16:39:42 GMT -5
He could see her relaxing visibly with each snark she sent his way. That was good. He needed her happy, joking with him, trusting him, and that meant that he had to laugh with her, tease her. Push past his melancholy mood and act like a "normal guy." He'd shaken her too much already with his first revelation, and to keep her from running, he had to prove that he was exactly what she'd expected in every other way.
And so he tilted his head a little, grinned, and responded,
"No, you've definitely got different looks. I'm just wondering why the hot girls always end up going for invisibility."
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Post by Alonna Swanson on Jan 30, 2010 16:44:52 GMT -5
She grinned, and ducked her head to hide it.
"The world's just not ready for us, I guess."
She couldn't get over how comfortable she felt with all this. Still, it was huge, and she couldn't let herself get pulled completely off topic without having any kind of answers.
"So anyway, this... 'vibing' thing. How exactly does it work?"
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Post by Chase on Jan 30, 2010 16:57:26 GMT -5
They were back to that, then. He straightened from his lazy pose as he worked through his story in his head.
Mindless flirting was easy; planning out a believable superpower was the tough part.
"Well, it's like..." He trailed off, sending his gaze upward and drawing in a long sigh, before dragging his attention back to her inquisitive gaze. "It's pretty random... or at least, it seems pretty random. There's no way to tell if I'm not sensing someone's powers, you know? Unless they use them in front of me, which pretty much doesn't happen. But sometimes, if I get close to someone who's Special I just... know."
It was an ideal cover, really, for his knowing who she was and remaining someone "trustworthy." This way he was setting himself up as someone on the same side as her, without having to demonstrate any gifts of his own. Whatever inside information he seemed to know when he shouldn't could be explained by his "psychic touch."
"And then sometimes, like with you, I can even get a sense of what their ability is. I don't know if it's a proximity thing that lets me know more, or if the other person is more powerful or what. But that's basically my power in a nutshell."
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Post by Alonna Swanson on Jan 30, 2010 17:16:38 GMT -5
She had to admit, as skeptical as she'd been about his ability at first...
"That is really cool." She took in a slow breath and shook her head slightly. So maybe her ability was a little more Action Hero than his, but he... he could find other people like them. While she was stumbling blindly, confused and alone, he was tracking them down, making connections, figuring stuff out.
Shaking her head, laughing slightly, she noted, "So then if I'm the Invisible Woman, I guess that would make you Caliban."
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Post by Chase on Jan 30, 2010 17:24:30 GMT -5
It took him a second to realize a grin had crept across his face again, and he almost forced it away out of spite.
No making expressions when I haven't told you to. But hey, if his own attitude was playing right into his ruse then all the better for the cover, right? And hey, who would've thought the former mainstream model would have had more than a passing knowledge of superhero lore?
"Caliban - little albino kid from the Morlocks. Nice reference, Princess. And here I was thinking we'd have to stick to movie-verse for your sake."
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Post by Alonna Swanson on Jan 30, 2010 17:31:00 GMT -5
She shrugged in pointed nonchalance, internally beaming. Whatever else Alonna might be, a stereotype she was not.
"Eh, I got into comics for a while in high school. 'Cause it bugged my Mom, mostly." Understatement of the year, that was.
"You're sitting around reading children's stories? When you could be practicing your walk? At an industry event? You blew off Milano's party so you could sit at home and read this garbage?"
"You?"
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Post by Chase on Jan 30, 2010 17:49:11 GMT -5
He smirked. Off to his left the two of the kids got into an argument over the legitimacy of some play or another, and the game turned into a scuffle.
"Always driven down the dark paths by the families, aren't we?" He sighed softly, contentedly, as a smaller boy aimed a punch at the larger. It was deflected, however, before a satisfying impact, and, growling, the boy spun away. Chase rolled his eyes at the boy's defeatist attitude, and tilted his head lazily back toward Alonna. "Yeah, my folks were a bunch of religious nuts. All 'God wanted us to be this way, so we shouldn't idolize characters not made in his image.'" He smirked. "So of course I started buying them by the carton as soon as I had access to my own cash."
Maybe it was stupid to spill out a story that strayed so close to the truth. The Bosses probably would've told him not to, that it was a conflict of interests, that it could affect his ability to operate to his highest potential. Aleksei, if no one else, would have his head for sure. But right then he didn't really care what the Bosses would have said. After his little trip down baseball-memory lane he had a point to prove to himself: that he didn't care.
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Post by Alonna Swanson on Jan 30, 2010 17:56:21 GMT -5
Alonna winced sympathetically. He was speaking as though he didn't care, but the words hit a little too close to home for her to miss the bitterness that masked his words. And not only that, but what kind of a psych student would she be if she didn't recognize some sense of longing in the gaze that kept returning to those kids on the other side of the park, playing together? She took a moment to wonder if he had any brothers, but decided that now wasn't the time to ask.
Instead, staying closer to topic, she said, "And after all that, here you are with super-powers. How'd they take that?"
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