Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jan 25, 2021 0:25:58 GMT -5
Elpis has tried to save countless worlds. They can't change the fate of an existing world, but they can pull together the sorts of people they think can. Maybe this time, they'll succeed.
They've pulled together some almost-deities from various other worlds, with nothing but a few clues as to what they must do. Fae - Angel, chose to become human to pursue Austen - Hawk Austen - Defecting angel, chose to become human to escape - Hawk Aepyceros (Cyr) - Telepath, can change the way people think, but has never been free to choose how or when to use his powers - Stri Talys - Ghost, touched the stars once and chose to look away - Stri
(ft. Elpis, whom we love very much, rped by Hawk <3)
(aka the "oh yeah Hawk and Stri have ocs!" rp)
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jan 25, 2021 1:07:45 GMT -5
Fae opened her eyes. And froze. Because she wasn’t where she had fallen asleep. She sat up slowly, eyes wide as she stared around, searching her surroundings. The room was mostly empty, she noted, but she wasn’t alone in it. There were others there, too, people she didn’t recognize. It didn’t make her feel better, not being alone. It made her feel worse. She didn’t speak. Instead, she slowly got to her feet, eyes flicking from person to person as she tried to take it all in without acknowledging the tightness in her chest. What was this? She… Didn’t want to be trapped in a room full of strangers.
Austen sat up before he was fully awake, eyes immediately wide and searching. He didn’t stand up, though. Instead he looked around the room, taking it in in a bemused sort of way. He noticed the others almost immediately, and his expression shifted a little, his mouth opening slightly even though he had nothing to say. Well...maybe he’d been kidnapped? Maybe they all had. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. If that was the case, then the kidnapper had been stupid for putting them all in a room together….
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jan 25, 2021 1:41:45 GMT -5
Talys was a tree. Talys was a tree, in a thousand-year-old forest, and then they weren’t. They blinked in surprise, trying to figure out what had happened. There were other people there, which immediately made Talys want to disappear. They faded just a little bit, more of an impression of a person than a person themselves. It was easier than facing the people that were in the room with them. None of them were saying anything. The spirit raised their hand, grateful to at least be translucent in the light, even if they weren’t comfortable enough to disappear entirely yet. Really, they were curious. “Hi,” they managed, voice rusty from disuse.
The boy blinked. He had been somewhere… ah yes, a cell. He glanced at his wrists, tilting his head a little bit at the scars he bore from years of being chained in there. They needn’t have chained him, he would have stayed regardless. But they’d been unnerved by him. He turned his large, wide eyes towards the others, blinking as he considered their minds. He appeared to be looking through them, rather than at them. So neither had any idea where they were. Kidnapped seemed… unlikely. He backed himself up against the wall, preferring to watch from a short distance. He glared at the thing that wasn’t quite human, trying to filter through their head. It was a jumble… he couldn’t quite read it, it made his own head hurt. That was new.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jan 25, 2021 10:36:54 GMT -5
Fae turned wide blue eyes on the person who had spoken. She didn’t move, just stared at him, everything inside of her telling her to stay back. She tried to think where she’d been before...she’d fallen asleep on the couch, and then she’d woken up here. She began to sort through the possibilities in her head. That they’d been kidnapped. What other options were there? She couldn’t think of any that made sense off the top of her head. She looked at the other three instead, and a frown appeared as she looked at the boy, who seemed to be...looking through them all. It was a bit unnerving, but she didn’t flinch away from it, instead meeting his eyes, her own hard to read.
Austen looked up, blinking a little. He hadn’t...well, he hadn’t really expected anyone to speak. Anyone but him, anyway. Then again, it didn’t really make much sense to just go along silently either, so he was glad they’d broken the silence. “Hi.” He returned, deciding it was best to start things off on a friendly note. He didn’t know anyone here. But, still, there was no point in being unfriendly. “I’m Austen.” He added, in case a name helped. “And...I don’t know where we are. Do any of you know…?” It was worth a try.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jan 25, 2021 13:46:24 GMT -5
Talys glanced at Fae, tilting their head a little bit at the realization that they must have said the wrong thing. Otherwise the girl wouldn’t look so freaked out. Well… Talys hadn’t talked to anyone in… a very long time. They couldn’t remember the last time they had a conversation. Perhaps it would come back to them, how to talk normally. Or… perhaps it was more the fact that they had spoken at all, rather than what they said. The boy, at least, seemed to appreciate conversation, so they turned their attention on him instead. “I’m Talys,” Talys replied, not entirely certain how they knew that. They didn’t know much else. Did trees usually have names? They had a feeling they hadn’t always been a tree. Oh well… perhaps there would be time to figure that out later.
“None of you know where we are,” the strange boy cut in, his voice near monotone. He tilted his head, trying to get a sense of whether there was anyone else with thoughts in the building. It… well, it just seemed to be the four of them. Odd. He pulled his knees up against his chest, eyeing the three strangers nervously. At least if they thought of attacking him, he’d know ahead of time. It was odd, being free. He rubbed at the burns from the chains, some of them still raw over the years and years worth of scars. He had grown up in a cage, essentially, and though this was a different sort of cage, it was a cage nonetheless. At least where he’d spent most of his life he’d known that nobody was going to attack him. They couldn’t get in and he couldn’t get out, and having the freedom to even walk around this room… it was overwhelming. He squeezed his eyes shut, pressing his head against his knees. He was monitoring the others’ thoughts carefully. If they were going to attack, he’d know. He’d know.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jan 25, 2021 15:32:42 GMT -5
“Hi, Talys.” Austen nodded a little, glad that they’d answered him. There was no need to be unfriendly. He may not have known what was happening - and he didn’t - but he thought the others probably weren’t to blame. It wasn’t like they’d done anything to him yet, after all. And if they turned out to be behind this somehow, he would still rather have given them the benefit of the doubt. He looked at the boy who had spoken up, frowning a little at the proclamation. Well...he was probably right. He just wasn’t sure where that had come from. “what’s your name?” He asked after a moment. Best to try and get to know everyone here, right?
Fae shifted, looking at the boy quietly as he spoke up, her eyes widening a little. She could offer her name. But she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to. Then again...what could they do with just a name? She couldn’t think of anything. “Fae.” She said quietly, deciding it was worth it. She looked at the boy again, expression curious as she tried to guess at his motivations. “How do you know?” She asked after a moment, her voice cautious. “One of us could have seen what happened. If we were attacked, the attacker could have made a mistake. Or, one or more of us could be lying.” She wondered what he would make of that. Maybe he just hadn’t considered those options? She wasn’t sure, but the first thing to be done was to search the room, which she would have preferred to do on her own, but...well. She would take what she could get.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jan 25, 2021 16:01:37 GMT -5
“Hi, Austen,” Talys returned, not sure if they were doing it right. They figured copying what he said was probably a good way to stay on his good side. And not be seen as rude. They vaguely remembered the concept of ‘rude,’ but they weren’t really sure what it meant. They just knew it was a bad thing, and also that it was a thing it was very easy to be on accident. “Hello, Fae,” they added, nodding at the girl as well. They tilted their head, waiting for the boy to say his name, too. They frowned a little bit, not really sure what was going on here. It seemed to them that the boy had jumped to a conclusion, but nobody was denying it. For the first time, they looked around. The room was mostly empty, but there appeared to be a door on the far wall. They stood up, brushing themself off, even though there was nothing to brush off.
“Name?” the boy repeated, tilting his head. They all had names. The boy had never really considered what it meant that he didn’t have a name. It had never been important, before. He was just… the boy. That was all he had been. A tool. A weapon, perhaps. People didn’t want to give him a name, because it mean they might feel bad for what they did. The boy wasn’t sure they needed to feel bad. “I know because you’re all thinking you don’t know where you are,” he added, finally looking up, searching each of them with his too-large black eyes. “I don’t know where we are either,” he added, in case that was helpful. “You,” he added, pointing at Fae, “you’re more nervous than the others. It makes more sense.” He fell silent again, pulling his knees tight against his chest like he was cold. He didn’t trust Talys or Austen. Fae at least made sense. Nerves were an appropriate reaction. Nerves made sense. Austen and Talys both also seemed… uncertain, but they weren’t nearly as cautious. That made them dangerous. He shrank away from them a little, eyes narrowing as he glanced between them.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jan 25, 2021 18:50:53 GMT -5
Austen smiled a little, trying to encourage Talys, who seemed to be trying their best. Under the circumstances? This was pretty impressive. He didn’t, naturally, know what all they were having to hande, but he knew that if they had no idea what was happening or where they were, well...this was a pretty good reaction, overall. He probably should have been more nervous. But truth be told, he was kind of excited. This was not normal, this was like nothing he had ever experienced, and why not be excited about it? It wasn’t like being scared would help. He looked at the others, brushing his red hair back and smiling at them, especially the nervous boy and the equally nervous girl. “Wait…” He paused, eyes wide as he processed what the boy had said. “Do you not have a name?” Oh yeah, and the part where apparently he could tell what they were thinking. He considered that for a moment, then focused his thoughts as hard as he could. Can you hear me? Mind reading, among other things, had been marked as ‘impossible’ in neat handwriting. Yet Austen wasn’t the sort to believe what he was told. He was the sort to randomly scream in his head to make sure there were no mind readers around. He decided, for the sake of kindness, not to test it that way just now.
“How do you know what I’m thinking?” Fae questioned, slightly harsher than she’d intended. The idea that her thoughts weren’t safe was...terrifying. She did not want anyone in her head. She shook her head a little, pursing her lips and staring at the boy, who had most of her attention now. “I’m nervous because I don’t know what’s going on.” She added tersely, her eyes never leaving him. She stood up at the same time Talys did, then looked at him, blinking a little. Then she moved, stepping close to the wall to avoid the others, and headed for the door. She didn’t bother with the knob. Instead, she aimed a hard kick at the space right under it, letting out her breath at the same time for maximum impact. From the way she did it, it was clear this was not the first time she had kicked a door open, and when it opened, she stalked out without looking back.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jan 25, 2021 19:57:09 GMT -5
The boy tilted his head again, lifting his gaze to stare at Austen for several long seconds. “I’ve never needed a name,” he replied simply, like it should have been obvious. Most people needed names. They needed to know what to call each other, if they needed each other. But the boy had always been in the same place. If someone needed him, they knew where to find him, and they would tell him what to do. That was his purpose. His purpose was not to have a name. He cringed a little bit away from the extremely concentrated thought from Austen, eyes narrowing. If he hadn’t already been poking around on the surface level of the young man’s thoughts, that would have been enough to get his attention. “Yes, I can hear you, it sounds like you’re yelling when you do that,” he murmured, his entire body tensing. It was the most emotion he had shown since he’d appeared. “And thank you for not thinking any louder than you already were. That was loud enough.” Something like shame seemed to spread over his expression as he turned to glance at Fae. “I don’t mean to scare you,” he whispered, his voice small. Nobody had ever told him that reading minds wasn’t polite. Mostly they looked at him and all he got from their thoughts was an overwhelming wave of fear. He never did the sorts of things he thought he might do to them. It didn’t seem to change what they thought.
Talys frowned at the boy with no name, then shook their head. It didn’t really matter to them if anyone saw inside their head, simply because… well, there wasn’t a whole lot to see. It was pretty empty up there. They were more interested in what Fae was doing. They couldn’t tell if the door was unlocked or not, but it seemed to be a non-issue as Fae kicked it down. Talys wasn’t so sure that wasn’t the brightest idea, considering whoever had brought them here might be upset about property damage, but it was too late to comment on that now. Maybe property damage wasn’t a big deal – Talys’ memories weren’t exactly the most trustworthy. They followed Fae out of the door, looking around at the space around them. It seemed like a house, though bigger than the ones Talys was familiar with. “Do you mind the company?” Talys asked, uncertainly wavering right near the door. If Fae told them to leave and go back in the room, they would. But… they wanted to explore. Wanted to see where they had ended up. Whether it was worth being stolen from their several thousand year repose.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Apr 9, 2021 19:12:00 GMT -5
“Never needed a…” Austen blinked, caught off guard. Names were important, Austen knew that...yet the boy didn’t seem too upset by not having one. “Do you want a name?” He asked carefully, eyes narrowing a little as he tried to think of the right thing to say. It seemed necessary to call him something, but if the boy didn’t want a name...Austen would attempt not to give him one. He blinked, eyes widening as the boy cringed from the thought. “Sorry!” He said out loud, trying to keep his voice from raising too much. “It’s just...that’s what I’ve always wanted to do to check for mind readers. Totally didn’t mean to deafen you. I won’t think at you again unless I absolutely have to. He hoped he hadn’t Juan destroyed their chances of being friends...he liked the boy so far, and he’d always wanted to meet a mind reader. He, too, glanced at Fae, his expression shifting a little at her reaction. That was just rude…so he could read minds. If he could help it, he wouldn’t if you just asked him nicely not to, right? “Hey, he didn’t do anything wrong,” he interjected, crossing his arms as Fae kicked down the door. “And it might not even be locked…” Then she was gone and he sighed, turning to the boy again. “Sorry about that,” he said, offering his best reassuring smile. “That was rude, but it wasn’t your fault.”
Face ignored the reproachful voice behind her. Sure, it might have been unlocked, but she didn’t really care. They’d all been kidnapped. She didn’t feel particularly inclined to respect the people responsible. Or their possessions. Besides, she was mad enough that she felt they deserved to be mad, too. She looked over as Talys followed, blinking a little. Did she want company? No, that wasn’t what they’d asked. They’d asked if she minded company. “No,” she replied, turning back to the rest of the house. “I don’t mind. You can come with me.” Safety in numbers, and all that. She didn’t trust them, but they also would be helpful if they turned out to be on the right side and not a kidnapper. They also seemed to not be judging her methods, which made her feel a little warmer towards them so far. “Come on, let’s go. If one of us finds a way out of this, the other can go back and bring the rest,” she continued, looking at them to see if they agreed.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Apr 10, 2021 11:52:09 GMT -5
The boy tilted his head, frowning a little bit at the question. It was odd, having someone take what he wanted and what he cared about into account. “I… don’t know,” he replied uncertainly, shaking his head a little bit. It seemed oddly thoughtful that Austen was willing to try not to give him a name if he didn’t want one. He wasn’t used to people being thoughtful, at least not towards him. “Would it make you more comfortable if I had a name?” He sounded a bit uncertain, like he was afraid Austen was going to yell in his head again – or worse – for asking the question. He wasn’t supposed to ask questions. He was supposed to just… do what he was told. “Thank you,” he added after a moment, the words tasting odd on his lips. He wasn’t sure he had ever said them before, but they seemed fitting. His eyes narrowed a bit as he poked at Austen’s thoughts. Friends? That was a foreign concept to him. Were people supposed to have friends? He’d never had them, but then… he wasn’t sure how much he represented people. As it turned out… many of Austen’s thoughts were confusing to him. “I’ll stop, if you want me to. I mean… nobody’s ever asked me to stop. So I can’t promise I’d be very good at stopping, but I could try. If you wanted.” It wasn’t as though Fae could hear him, but he wasn’t sure he cared what Fae heard or not. She seemed mean, like most people he dealt with on a daily basis. Austen… Austen was unusual. The boy didn’t think he was hiding anything, but… it was odd, to be treated like another human being. Unusual. And at least a little bit disarming.
Talys gave a small smile as Fae acquiesced. They weren’t sure they had expected that. Fae seemed a little bit… confrontational. Not in a bad way, just in an ‘I’m freaked out and I don’t really have time to deal with anything other than figuring out where I am’ way. Which, in Talys’ opinion, was perfectly valid. Respectable, even. Talys didn’t know where they were either, and though they were a little bit nervous about it, it wasn’t as though they could actively be hurt by it. They were dead. They couldn’t really be hurt any more than that. Theoretically, they could probably find a way out of here. But they were curious, and something told them they shouldn’t leave the others behind. Even if the others didn’t get along very well. “That works for me,” they shrugged, following a short distance behind Fae. They didn’t really know what they were looking for. Doors, maybe? If they found those, they were quite certain that Fae could take care of them. She had managed the first door well, even if had potentially been unlocked. Looking at the splintered doorframe, they figured they would never find out.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 3, 2021 16:20:01 GMT -5
Austen, for his part, was trying not to be overly pushy. He wanted to know how he could make the boy as comfortable as possible, but he didn’t know that he was going to have that option. He didn’t want give him a name if he didn’t want one. But it would be much simpler or be able to call him something. “It doesn’t really matter how comfortable it would make me,” he replied, shrugging. “I mean. If you;don’t want a name, that’s okay. It might be easier if you do, but only if that’s okay with you. He didn’t know his thoughts we’re being poked. He didn’t know that he was being prodded at all, actually, he just knew that he wanted to make friends if he could. He didn’t know these people, but surely it would be better to have allies than enemies. He wouldn’t have minded explaining his thoughts. But he didn’t know they were being looked into. He shrugged lightly. “That’s okay, dude,” he replied honestly. “I don’t mind. It’s not like I have anything I really care if you see. But maybe you should ask before you do it to anyone else? I get that no one ever told you that before, it’s cool.” He was trying his best not to make the boy feel guilty for who he was. It seemed only fair...he hadn’t done anything wrong.
Fae wasn’t really trying to be confrontational, but she wasn’t trying not to be, either. She was...she didn’t like the word scared. It had too many negative connotations in her head, such as coward. She decided on cautious, wary. She didn’t mind the company, though. Talys was a stranger, and strangers were best when they could be watched closely. Friends close, enemies close, and she didn’t know which they were yet, so close was probably the safest bet. She walked forward, letting them follow at their own pace. It didn’t matter that she was in front of them, she decided, because she could probably take them out of they tried anything at all. If they were the one responsible for this? She hoped her instincts were good enough to figure that out without ending up dead. She paused at a door, eyes narrowing, then leaned forward ans listened at it carefully. Nothing. If the was anyone inside, they were being quiet. She turned and out her finger to her lips, eyes intense as she stared at her companion. Then she spun and kicked the door.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jun 4, 2021 0:26:13 GMT -5
“Oh,” the boy replied, tilting his head a little bit as he processed that answer. “I don’t know if I want a name. I’ve never needed one, and I don’t think I would be allowed to have one, but I don’t think I’d be allowed to talk to you either, so I’m already breaking the rules. If… if a name would be easier, then please give me a name.” He didn’t know if he was doing this right. He found he wanted to make a good impression on Austen, especially since he had already blown it with Fae. Not that he really cared. If she wasn’t going to be nice, then he wasn’t even going to try to be nice. He wasn’t so sure about asking beforehand. It was easier to just… do it. People’s thoughts were very, very loud, and it was easier to look in and see what was going on in there than it was to tune it out completely. When a radio was on loud enough to be heard, it wasn’t as though you could just stop hearing it, even if you made an active attempt to focus on something else. But he had already told Austen he was willing to try to stop poking around. “I can tell when people are scared of me,” he said, eyes wide as they met Austen’s. “They don’t like the idea that I can see inside their head. I think… they would probably take that ability away from me if they could, but I’m important. So they can’t do that.”
Talys wasn’t much one to fight. They didn’t know what Fae was thinking, but they thought it would probably be more productive to look around than it would be to just sit in that room and wait for things to happen. They had been waiting a very long time for things to happen, and so far, nothing had. It was… frustrating. They didn’t remember what they were waiting for wherever they were from. Here, they weren’t willing to wait long enough to forget. They didn’t want to forget their tree, first and foremost. It was a nice tree. And… and with it was the nagging feeling that there was something they were supposed to be doing. That there was something they had to help with. If they left their tree, would they forget that there was a mission that was important to them? What if they never got to complete it? “Oh,” their voice was soft as they yanked themself out of their thoughts, instead focusing on what was in front of them. It would have been easier if they had known what they were looking for, but looking around might give them an idea, right? The door was interesting. It was much like the door they had just come from. Which meant that it might not be locked? It was hard to tell. They didn’t hear anything when Fae listened, so they didn’t really see the need to be quiet, but they were a naturally quiet person anyway. They didn’t have anything to say, so they didn’t have any problem standing back and watching Fae kick down the door. Although… they did think that sort of defeated the point of being quiet.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 28, 2021 15:54:56 GMT -5
Austen frowned a little, unsure what to make of that answer. Did it mean the boy wanted a name? Did it mean he didn’t but he was willing to have one for convenience sake? He didn’t want to force him to have a name. But it would be a lot easier if there was something to call him. “Okay,” he said, tapping a finger against his head in thought. “God. I’m not even any good at naming stuffed animals. This matters so much more than that. Um…” He wished he could just come up with a cool sounding name, that meant something impressive, but also rolled off the tongue. But his brain just bleated the word Steve over and over again. He decided to switch languages, in case that helped. “How about Felix?” He asked finally, crossing his arms. “It’s Latin. I like it, but it matters more whether you like it, so...if you like it?” He hesitated as the boy went on, and shook his head a little, expression turning more serious. “They shouldn’t be scared of you,” he replied bluntly. “Or…I just mean, they probably can’t help it, but they shouldn’t be. You’re not scary just because you can do things. And your powers are cool...it would be so wrong to take them away from you without your permission.”
Fae didn’t have a mission, that she knew of anyway. She did have a sense that she was chasing something, though she didn’t know what it was. She had a feeling it didn’t have anything to do with being kidnapped, though. She was secretly glad not to be alone. She didn’t trust Talys, of course, but she thought they probably had a common enemy, which was good enough for the moment. If they ended up betraying her, that would be unfortunate, but she’d deal with it. For now, she was counting them as safety in numbers. She’d have been interested to hear more about them, under other circumstances. As it was, she was perfectly content with trying to figure this out first. She knew the kick probably defeated the purpose. She wasn’t trying to be stealthy, so much as she was trying to get the jump on whoever was there, if anyone. She stepped onto the room, arms up and ready for a fight, but… Nothing. Not nothing, she corrected herself. No one. There were things, Mostly just odds and ends, knickknacks on the shelves, a dreamcatcher hanging in the window, red yarn crumpled on the floor. She narrowed her eyes at it like it might be a snake in disguise, and stepped around it, heading further into the room. “See anything interesting?” She asked, glancing back at her companion.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jun 28, 2021 22:36:38 GMT -5
“Felix,” the boy repeated, brow furrowing as he tried the name on for size. The truth was, he had never felt like he deserved a name. He was just a tool, and you didn’t normally name your hammers or saws. People seemed afraid that if they gave him a name, they’d have to start thinking of him as human, and that was unacceptable. Or maybe just terrifying… they might feel guilty if they started seeing him as a person. The boy supposed he should have had some sort of feeling about that, but he didn’t. If Austen wanted to give him a name, that was fine… although he didn’t think he liked ‘Steve’ very much. Austen seemed like he was trying very hard to think of something else, though, so the boy felt no need to comment. “I like it,” he decided nervously, looking up to Austen to see if he had done that right. He had never been asked for his personal opinion on anything before, and he wanted to make sure he didn’t mess up when giving it. The boy – Felix – gave a small shrug. Hearing that people shouldn’t be afraid of him was like being told that the sky shouldn’t be blue. Maybe it shouldn’t be, but that was the way it was, and there wasn’t really anything anyone could do about it. Felix didn’t mind much, though… he rubbed at his wrists, frowning at the scars left there from being restrained for so many years. He didn’t mind the fear, but he had never been free. As much as the others seemed to think of this as a trap, for Felix it was the most free he had ever been. “They need my powers,” he said distractedly. “They won’t take them away unless they stop needing them. And at that point they’ll kill me because I know too much.” He sounded very calm about the whole situation. It was just life, to him. As mundane as deciding what kind of jam you liked best on your toast.
Talys wasn’t thinking much about trust. It wasn’t something they had ever needed to worry about before. Either people were trustworthy or they weren’t, and it had been so long since Talys had interacted with anyone that they couldn’t quite remember how to tell if someone was trustworthy. They trusted Fae, though. Trust, coming from them, didn’t mean much. They would consider any stranger trustworthy until they were betrayed, at which point they would flip that person’s name into the ‘untrustworthy’ category and move on with their life. That was, they supposed, the good thing about being dead. Even if someone betrayed you, you weren’t going to die from it. Talys peered into the room behind Fae, eyes wide as they realized there really wasn’t anything to see. They didn’t know why they had expected people. Had Fae heard something that suggested there were people? Or were they both just hoping they weren’t completely alone here? “Yes,” Talys murmured in response, making a beeline for the red yarn. It was… well, it was a little longer than was ideal, but if they tied it right… they made a satisfied noise as their knot held, and they began to weave their fingers through the loop of red yarn. They held the pattern out to Fae, wondering if she was familiar with the game. They could play together, if she was!
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 3, 2021 23:19:17 GMT -5
Casimir thought everyone deserved a name. He had a theory that names were more important than more people thought they were, that maybe all the legends of names being stolen were rooted in some fact. He didn’t exactly believe that it was exactly like the legends said - there were a lot of legends - but he did think that names mattered. He also kept forgetting that Felix could read his mind. Of not forgetting, so much as not realizing the full extent of what that meant. Could Felix sense emotions too? Could he tell when Casimir was listing to music in his head? He had questions, and he wasn’t sure whether the boy was comfortable asking. “I’m glad,” he replied, offering a bright smile as Felix confirmed that the name was okay. He didn’t think about whether Felix might have been lying to protect his emotions. He was just happy that he’d come up with a name that wasn’t too terrible. Just because something was one way, didn’t mean it was okay. Casimir wasn’t interested in the way things had to be. He wanted things to be the way they ought to be. He didn’t like the idea that there wasn’t anything to be done about it...he wanted to help, he wanted to make Felix’s life easier, somehow. He blinked, startled from his thoughts, as the words processed. “What? No!” He protested, eyes widening. “I mean...no! They can’t just…kill you. Isn’t there anyone there who can help you? Can you escape?” He didn’t like the idea that his new friend was in that much danger. He caught sight of his wrists...had he been tied up? That felt really, really wrong, and Casimir didn’t think he wanted to let it happen all over again.
Ewan didn’t trust people. It wasn’t that she couldn’t, exactly. She knew she probably could choose to trust someone, if she decided to. She could probably make it work, somehow. But why? Was there anyone in the world who was safe to trust? Fen unintentionally, they might betray her, if they found a good enough reason. She couldn’t hold that against them. She would probably do the same. She just figured it meant she was better off not having relationships in the first place. There was no need to go through all that, when it was much, much simpler just to assume the worst and continue on from that. There wasn’t really much to look at. Ewan was more disappointed than relieved, though. She wanted to catch whoever had done this. She wanted to know how it was. She glanced back as Talys made straight foe the yarn, her eyes narrowing a little. What was…? Oh. She blinked, surprised. This seemed like an interesting time to play with the yarn, but...something in her tugged quietly, insistently. She approached, quietly sitting down across from Talys. If they wanted to play...she wouldn’t say no.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 3, 2021 23:41:33 GMT -5
Felix didn’t really know whether everyone needed a name or not. He hadn’t had a name for a very long time, and it had been just fine for him. Nobody really had any reason to address him, and if they did, they just called him ‘boy.’ He hadn’t come to associate names with any sort of identity, they were just something that most people had that he had missed out on. There were plenty of things that other people thought were normal that Felix had never experienced before. He wanted to, of course, but he knew he was never going to get the chance to. Sometimes, he imagined he could feel what those things felt like just by reliving them in other people’s memories. It was the closest he could get to actually doing those things. “I can only sense your emotions if they’re really strong,” Felix said after a moment, picking at a loose thread on his tattered shirt. “I mean… they come across with your thoughts, but I’m really bad at interpreting emotions. Someone else might be better than me, if they could do what I can. And… I guess I can sort of hear music if people have a song stuck in their head. I don’t tend to pay it much attention.” He was more than happy to answer Casimir’s questions. It was rare that anyone showed interest in who Felix was beyond what his powers could do for them. Or worse, what his powers could do to them. “The only people who know I exist don’t like me very much,” Felix shrugged after a moment, trying to sound completely unbothered. It worked, mostly. “And I don’t know what to do if I tried to escape. It’s not like I could survive for very long on my own.”
Talys was easily distracted. If they saw something that piqued their interest, they moved towards it and did whatever it was their mind wanted them to do with it. It often broke through important thoughts that probably shouldn’t have been broken through. It wasn’t really Talys’ fault, but it certainly could be inconvenient. They didn’t seem to think anything of turning their back to Ewan. They saw no reason for the girl to betray them, and even if she did, there was very little that could harm Talys. They weren’t worried in the slightest. In fact, the possibility of betrayal hadn’t even crossed their mind. Perhaps it should have. Talys gave a wide smile as Ewan settled down across from them. They held their hands out, tilting their head as they tried to determine whether or not Ewan knew the game. It would be fun either way, of course. It wasn’t terribly difficult to explain. “Have you ever played before?” They asked after a moment, blue eyes searching Ewan’s. They weren’t sure if their own eyes had been blue before or if they had settled on blue as they considered in the back of their mind what the best color of eye would be on everyone. Blue was striking, so blue it was.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 6, 2021 22:14:27 GMT -5
Casimir frowned a little, watching Felix. He didn’t want to pry, but…in a situation where Felix was able to see into his head, he had to wonder whether it really counted as prying. It did, though. Because Felix wasn’t doing it on purpose, and Casimir didn’t have to ask questions. And he was pretty sure if he asked, Felix would do his best not to watch his thoughts, anyway. Truthfully, it didn’t bother him. It wasn’t like he thought Felix was collected information for a secret government organization. Not that he didn’t think secret government organizations weren’t a thing. He just didn’t see what they’d want with a bunch of kid thoughts. He didn’t even know anything he wasn’t supposed to. Except things that secret government organizations wouldn’t care about, of course. “I could try to think about more interesting things if you want,” he offered after a moment. “Not gonna lie…I am not the most interesting person you could have gotten stuck listening to. I’m pretty much always like this, unfortunately.”
Ewan was pretty sure this wasn’t going to help them escape. She could see no way that this could be used as a weapon - that was a lie. She could see several ways to kill someone with this. She just doubted somehow that Talys had that in mind. They were so….trusting. She couldn’t wrap her head around it. She wasn’t too inclined to try, either…it didn’t really matter, did it? They were still trapped, whether Talys was cautious or not. She hesitated, torn. Then she gave a small, reluctant nod. “Yes,” she replied, watching the string quietly. “I have. It’s…relaxing.”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Aug 6, 2021 22:30:22 GMT -5
Felix regarded Casimir for a long moment, tilting his head as he read his thoughts. It was hard to tell whether he wanted him to stop or not. He seemed to be pretty conflicted about it himself. Well, Felix thought, I’ll stop when he expressly tells me to stop. That way I don’t have to worry about doing it when he doesn’t want me to. He knew he could have just stopped right then, but he found himself incredibly disoriented when he couldn’t anchor himself on someone else’s thoughts. He took a deep breath, looking at Casimir and then glancing in the direction the others had gone. It wasn’t as though their thoughts had been that much more interesting that Casimir’s, though the boy seemed fairly certain that they would be. “You don’t have to change how you think,” he said after a moment, crossing his arms and watching Casimir. “Your thoughts aren’t as boring as you think they are. Besides, most of the time people are just thinking about how dangerous or scary I am, and… and I like your thoughts better than those thoughts. They may be boring to you, but… they’re nice. To me, I mean. I don’t have to worry about cutting myself on them.” He shrank back a little once the words were out – he hadn’t meant to be that open, but the words were out there, now. He couldn’t just take them back.
Talys wasn’t thinking about killing anyone. They knew they could, if they really wanted to, but they didn’t want to think about death. Never mind the fact that they were dead, they just… preferred to see the world as alive. They would much rather see themself as alive, though that illusion was much harder to swing. “Maybe it will help us think,” they said, giving a small smile as they held their hands forward a little bit, encouraging the girl to take her turn with the yarn. They didn’t know if it would help either of them think, but they knew for a fact that they thought better when they had something to occupy their hand. And it wasn’t as though there was really much else to do, other than break down other doors. They thought there were probably better ways to go about exploring than breaking doors down, but they kept that thought to themself. They liked Ewan so far, and they didn’t want to come across as rude as a first impression.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 24, 2021 13:47:35 GMT -5
Casimir hesitated, watching Felix for a long moment. He wasn’t opposed to having his mind read. He actually thought it was cool. But he did think he understood why some people were afraid of the kid, even if he hadn’t thought of it right away. Even if it wasn’t fair. Everyone had a weakness, deep down. Everyone cared for something. You could do a lot of damage with that knowledge, if you wanted to. And the people around Felix? They’d been keeping him in a cage and using him. Of course they were afraid. They knew he had the power to fight back. Maybe that was why Casimir wasn’t afraid. He didn’t believe Felix was a bad person. He trusted him, even if he’d only just met him. So as long as he wasn’t mean to him, Felix had no reason to harm him somehow. “That’s good,” he replied after a moment. “I mean, that you like my thoughts. You’d be a great therapist, man. Or like, a psychologist. Or you could help fight crime, like, by seeing if someone is lying. You know, if you wanted to.” He fell silent, considering him. “Or you could be a writer. You’d know how to write thought processes really well.”
It was almost as though Ewan and Talys were switched. Talys was dead, but trying not to think about that. Ewan was very much still alive, and trying to stay that way. But she didn’t try not to think about darker things. She wasn’t bothered by it. She thought, sometimes, that she should use that to her advantage, but then she always wondered how she could, and really, it didn’t matter anyway, because she wasn’t ready to make those sorts of choices. And also, she had just been kidnapped and was trying to concentrate on that. Ewan hesitated, looking at the yarn. She didn’t see how this was going to help…unless they were right. Maybe it would help them both think. She reached out, carefully taking her turn, her fingers quick and sure, as if she’d done it a million times before and could likely do it in her sleep.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Aug 25, 2021 15:51:42 GMT -5
Felix tilted his head, looking at Casimir for a long moment. He wasn’t used to people being so free with their thoughts. He was used to people who tried to guard them, but in thinking hard about making sure he didn’t have access to them, they instead drew attention to the very same thoughts they were trying to hide. It had never made sense to Felix, but… it was what he was used to. After so long of people desperately hiding their thoughts, someone who was free with them was… new. And honestly, rather welcome. “A… therapist?” Felix asked, brow furrowing. He didn’t know what a therapist was, but he wasn’t sure if that was because they didn’t exist where he was from, or because he had been so sheltered as long as he could remember. If there were therapists where he was from, the people who used him never thought about them. It was possible they were unaware of a scenario where mind reading could actually be a good thing. “I don’t know,” he admitted after a long moment. “I don’t know that I would be good at anything other than what… I already know how to do.” It wasn’t a self-pitying thought, it was just the truth. Felix had been used for one purpose his entire life. Trying to do something different was foreign, and he wasn’t sure he would be capable of it.
Talys watched Ewan, a grin settling onto their features as the girl continued the game. It was… fun. They weren’t sure why they thought that (they were just playing around with a piece of string. It wasn’t exactly a stereotypically ‘fun’ exercise), but it felt much lower pressure than trying to escape from wherever they currently were. The thought of being kidnapped hadn’t even really occurred to them. They were trapped, they didn’t know where they were, and there didn’t appear to be an exit. There were other people who were also trapped. If it weren’t for that last condition, Talys might have wondered if they had just fallen asleep for a few hundred years and happened to end up somewhere where a secure building had been constructed around them. It didn’t seem unlikely. But living beings ending up with them… that was where it didn’t make sense. “You know,” they mused, gaze flicking upwards towards the door Ewan had broken down, “There may be a few more doors that we can break. We’ve only tried two, and this place seems very large. Although… I think I would prefer to try something a little less violent than kicking them…”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 6, 2021 18:16:52 GMT -5
Casimir shook his head. He wasn’t worried about his thoughts being seen, true, but the just meant him actually talking was probably not as important as it could have been. Felix could just see what he was going to say before he said it. He wanted to talk anyway. It was nice to be able to have a conversation, even if it was in a situation like this one. “Yeah. You know, someone who helps people deal with things. They usually can’t read minds, but I bet it would be really useful if they could…they could figure out what was really wrong. There are a ton of things mind reading could be good for.” He hesitated, then focused, his expression a little more serious. “I don’t know what you already know how to do, but I think you can do anything you want. You just…have to try things.”
Ewan was willing to play with the string. It really was relaxing…even if it wasn’t exactly very productive. They were trying to find a way out, after all. But she didn’t think they were on much of a schedule. This would be fine. She glanced at the door, giving a small nod. It seemed likely. If there were other doors, and other rooms, she would be able to break into those, too. “You don’t want to kick them in?” She asked, glancing at them. She considered, then gave a small nod of agreement. “Okay. Should we knock on the next one, then?”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Sept 6, 2021 18:31:06 GMT -5
Felix tilted his head a little bit, giving a firm shake of his head. “I don’t technically have to hear you say things out loud, but… it’s nicer when I do,” he admitted, mot quite looking at Casimir. “I mean… I can hear the shape of the thought, and I can sort of feel the emotion around it, but I can’t hear it. There’s… there’s tone and facial expression when you say it out loud, which makes it a lot clearer. I’d rather have that than have to… to guess at all that, I guess.” He wasn’t used to being able to express how he felt about things to other people, so he waited for Casimir’s response before continuing. He didn’t want to make the older boy uncomfortable, he just… didn’t know how to avoid it. He thought sometimes that he was destined to make people uncomfortable. That there was no other option for someone like him. “What if I saw something that someone didn’t want to see?” Felix asked, eyes wide and unblinking. “People lie to themselves all the time. Wouldn’t they be upset if they point out that they’re lying?”
“Not really,” Talys admitted, blushing. They took their turn with the string, then looked up to meet Ewan’s eyes. They had expected the girl to be upset or disappointed about their not wanting to kick doors in. There must have been a reason she had kicked the door in before, right? Maybe she thought that was the best way to go about this, and Talys was just making it more difficult for her. Maybe she was going to resent them forever for stropping her from kicking in the doors. Talys pushed that thought away. It didn’t really matter what Ewan ended up thinking about Talys. Eventually, she would fade. Talys would remain, as lonely as that existence was. “Knocking might work, but… we should make sure there’s nobody there. Maybe we can find a key or something, so we don’t have to alert whoever lives here that we’re here, in case they’re violent, but we can still move around freely.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 20, 2021 5:10:37 GMT -5
“Oh, that makes sense I guess,” Casimir mused, thinking that through for a long moment. “So it’s not just what I say, but how I say it. You can’t hear my tone or my inflections or stuff like that, just the words. You know, that must make sarcasm really annoying for you. It’s all the trouble people have with talking online, with none of the benefits, because it’s not even a conversation, it’s just…people’s internal monologues on loud all day. Have you ever tried to say something in someone else’s head?” He had to admit, Felix was a very intriguing person to talk to. He didn’t want to treat this as some sort of q and a session, instead of a real conversation, but he also found he preferred talking about Felix to talking about himself. He wasn’t exactly boring, but he did get the sense that Felix needed someone who showed actual interest in him as a person, not just what he could do. He winced a little as Felix continued. That was…probably a little deeper than he had intended, but it was a fair point. “You could ask if they want you to point it out, when they do that,” he suggested. “Sometimes people want to be called out on it when they lie to themselves, they’re just too scared to do it.”
Ewan hadn’t exactly had a reason to kick the doors in. She just hadn’t had a reason not to kick them in, either. It was less that she’d decided to do it, after deciding against any other method, and more that it had been her default method, and there had been no reason to switch to a different one. She didn’t feel very much like respecting property that was being used to hold her against her will, for one thing, and it was a very efficient way to get them open, even if they weren’t locked. She wasn’t attached to it, though. If Talys had a preference, she would follow that preference. It wasn’t a loss. She considered that, taking her turn with the string as she did. “A key would be useful,” she conceded after a moment. “We should find weapons, too. Anything will do, but I don’t want to be caught with nothing. That could be what landed us here in the first place. Do you have anything that could be used in self defense?”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Sept 20, 2021 22:47:00 GMT -5
“People are sarcastic in their head?” Felix asked, eyes widening in clear surprise. He hadn’t actually known that. “But… why would anyone be sarcastic in their head? Isn’t sarcasm usually for other people’s benefit, not the benefit of the person saying it?” He didn’t quite understand. People were sarcastic as a way to connect with others or… or make other people feel a certain way, right? So why would anyone be sarcastic when they were just thinking to themselves? It didn’t make much sense. It also meant that Felix had probably misinterpreted what people had thought in the past. Were people being sarcastic when they came to his cell and thought about how scary he was? Deep down, Felix found he hoped so. He didn’t want to scare anyone. He just wanted to be allowed to live. He wanted freedom, though he doubted that would be possible for someone like him. “Oh,” Felix mumbled, tilting his head a little bit. Does this work? The words were thought in Casimir’s direction with as much focus as Felix had. He had never actually considered that he might be able to speak into someone’s head. It made sense if he could, though. It was a power Felix had never tried to use before, but it seemed it worked. The words were likely barely more than a whisper, but they should have made it through. “Anyway… would people tell me the truth?” Felix asked, frowning a little. “I mean… they might get upset if I tell them, even if they asked me to. Because they’re not ready to hear it.”
“Weapons,” Talys replied, an edge to their voice as they thought. They had carried weapons, once. A long time ago, they thought… they couldn’t remember the last time they had picked up a sword. A… sword? Was that their weapon of choice? They closed their eyes for just a moment, fingers freezing where they had grasped a part of the string. Shouts. Shouts were coming from the hall. The hallway was so dark… it was darker than an absence of light, something else was filling the hall, stifling life so completely it felt like even breathing could be dangerous. There was a weapon in their hand. Gold, a sapphire buried in its hilt. Worth something, for sure, but more decorative than it was useful. It had served its purpose. There was a matching blade beyond the door. Silver, a ruby catching the light… a fair hand holding it… Talys’ eyes snapped back open and they stumbled away, accidentally ending the string game. “No weapons. Not for me.” There was something intense about their voice, like they were filling up more space than just the air that was occupied by their body.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Oct 2, 2021 18:34:55 GMT -5
Casimir gave a small shrug, not quite answering for a moment. He hadn’t intended to make Felix uncomfortable with the comment…although, if Felix hadn’t known anyone was ever sarcastic in their heads, it made sense that he’d be worried about finding out they could be. “Well…yeah, sometimes,” he admitted, offering what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “But probably not very often. Some people are sarcastic in their heads as a joke only they get. Or maybe they thought of something sarcastic to say, but they know it’s not a good idea to actually say it, because…well, maybe because no one there likes sarcasm, or maybe someone would take it the wrong way. Or maybe no one else is even there to hear it anyway.” He blinked, distracted as Felix’s voice echoed faintly in his head, barely there, but there all the same. He grinned at him, answering inside his own head, trying (and probably failing) not to be too loud about it. Hi! It worked! That’s so cool! It took a moment for him to bring himself back to the vocal conversation. “Well, couldn’t you figure out what sorts of thoughts meant they were ready, and what didn’t?” He pointed out, tone reasonable. “People who are lying to themselves probably have different thoughts than people who aren’t, even if it’s hard to tell from outside their heads. And, like, even if they did get upset, it could be good for them in the long run. And you could at least tell if they were lying to you on purpose.”
It took Ewan a moment to understand something had gone wrong. A moment. Maybe two. Probably longer than it should have. She was preoccupied. The idea of weapons was one she had thought she’d mention without expecting to think about it too much, like double checking that someone was still intending to come to an event. More of an aside in the main conversation than anything else. It was only when Talys ended the game and moved away that she looked up, suddenly very aware of the fact that Talys hadn’t just been lost in thought, not in the usual way. She blinked, watching them. That voice…she couldn’t tell what about it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up, but her eyes were suddenly intense as she stared at them. She’s never been good at reassurance. She’d learned a long time ago that it was best left to people who tended to say things they didn’t mean. She wasn’t necessarily an extremely logical person, deep down, but the sort of words that made feelings smaller instead of larger were often lost to her, unless she was specifically told how to use them. “Okay,” she agreed, trying to make her perpetually rough voice soften. It wasn’t really successful, but her uncertainty did at least make it less forceful. “You can be the person who opens doors while I hold the weapon, then.”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Oct 3, 2021 2:34:05 GMT -5
Felix considered that. He had been taught for so long that he was only good for one thing. He could tell if people were lying, and that meant he was useful to have around because he could make sure liars were punished. They usually weren’t lying about small, innocent things. They were lying about treachery and disloyalty. They were lying about taking lives. Felix had only interacted with a very limited subset of people in his short life, and he had come away from the experience believing that people were fundamentally bad. He didn’t get that sense from Casimir, though. Maybe it was that his thoughts were far more innocent. There were things that intruded, sure, things that seemed a little bit out of place with the other thoughts, but… Casimir’s head was quite possibly the safest place Felix had ever been. It was a meandering place, as minds tended to be, but it was kind. And it didn’t try to shut him out with walls that were easy to see through but hard to push away. “You know a lot more about people than I do,” Felix admitted, pulling his knees to his chest. “Even though I’m the one who can see inside their heads, you understand it better. I wish… I wish I could read people like that.” He gave a small shrug, trying to pretend it didn’t matter to him. It did. “I… want to be able to do something like that. I want to make a difference, and I want to do good in my life. But what if I’m just not built for it? What if I never understand people like you do?” He hadn’t meant to get so vulnerable so soon after meeting Casimir, but nobody else had ever treated him like a human being. Was he truly to blame for responding to the first person who did?
Talys’ eyes narrowed as they slowly came back to themself, the shouts fading from their head, the room solidifying around them. They were here. This was real. The other thing… well, that had been real, too. Once. A very long time ago. A time that Talys didn’t want to remember. Was that why they didn’t remember very much about who they had been before? Was it an intentional choice on their part? Was it meant to save them the pain of memories like that? They let the thought rumble around in their head for a few moments before they pushed it away. What had happened in the past didn’t matter right now. It had mattered once, but they weren’t the same person they had been. They still didn’t want a weapon, but they weren’t going to stop Ewan from having one. That wouldn’t be right. “I… apologize,” they managed, their voice once again as small as it had been from the moment they had appeared here. “I don’t want to put the burden of protecting us on you and you alone. It is… unfair of me not to want a weapon. But I will not accept one. I… I cannot be the kind to hurt and kill. Not anymore.” Not anymore. The words rocked through them. Had they been, once? They had been holding a weapon in their memory, but they couldn’t recall their experience with it. They just remembered the intent. Kill the leader. Win the war. “I don’t suppose I’d be very good at fighting, anyway.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 30, 2021 3:22:28 GMT -5
Casimir couldn’t imagine what like for Felix had been like, before. The boy hadn’t had a name, hadn’t been able to talk to anyone besides the people he was forced to talk to, and then only to serve someone else’s purpose. A tool…Casismir rejected the thought instantly. Felix was not a tool, and thoughts could probably be misread without context. He’s not a tool. You’re not a tool he thought, concentrating on the words for a long moment to make them clearer. “I think you could, if you wanted to,” he replied after a long moment, offering Felix a small smile. “It just takes practice. I mean…some people are naturally better at it than other people are, but you already have an advantage, so there’s no reason you couldn’t figure out how to read them, too. It’s not your fault no one taught you how.” He felt something ache in him at the next words, something he didn’t know whether Felix would even pick up on, because it wasn’t in words. Although…him thinking about it was in words. Do you ever get tired of me forgetting you’re there? “I guess people trying to lie to make you feel better is pretty useless, isn’t it?” He said suddenly, shaking his head. He hadn’t planned to, but he had thought of it because he knew no one had probably ever even tried it. Something burned in him for a moment at the thought. “There are lots of ways to do good,” he continued after a moment. “Way more than the things I just told you about. Even if you never understand people, even if it has nothing to do with your power at all…you can make a difference. I’ve always thought individuals were a lot stronger than anyone believed. And I think you count.”
Ewan watched, eyes wary as she studied Talys’ gaze. They seemed to be back now. That was good. She didn’t know where they’d gone, but clearly it had been somewhere…perhaps from their past? A memory? The idea of weapons had caused it. Had they…? She didn’t like wondering. She wanted to ask, but even if she’d been willing to interrogate them about it, she doubted she’d have gotten a straight answer. She’d just have to keep an eye on them. “I don’t know if you would be good at it or not,” she told them. “But if you don’t want a weapon, then it wouldn’t help me to make you carry one. You’d just be too busy hating it to be any use.” She breathed out, glancing down at the string again for a moment before she turned dismissively away. “Either way, even if you won’t fight, there’s other things you can do. If we were taken, there could be enemies somewhere in this building, and two people watching is better than one.”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Dec 3, 2021 1:41:45 GMT -5
It was interesting, how Casimir kept changing his thoughts when he remembered that Felix could hear him. Like he wanted to clarify the way he meant his thoughts, like he didn’t want them to be misconstrued in any way that could hurt Felix. Nobody else had ever cared about hurting him. They likely hadn’t even considered it a possibility. Someone with the power to read minds wasn’t likely to have feelings of their own, right? Especially someone like Felix. Someone who was used to expose secrets, who knew exactly what secrets to pull from in order to hurt someone. If his victims saw him as human… as someone capable of feelings… well, then it would be a lot more complicated, wouldn’t it? He would be a little bit harder to hate. Or maybe he’d be easier to hate. How could someone with a conscience do the kind of thing that Felix was asked to do? He pushed the thought away, instead focusing on Casimir. For the first time, he began to understand how others felt when they saw him. If Casimir had been able to read the thoughts that had just flickered through Felix’s head… he shuddered, looking away. “You’re the first one who’s ever actually… cared how I feel,” Felix admitted after a moment, searching Casimir’s eyes. He wondered if that was the wrong thing to say. If admitting the truth would just hurt Casimir more. Felix had never told anything but the truth. He didn’t know when to start and when to stop, and he found he was actually afraid of doing it wrong. Casimir was nice. The last thing Felix wanted to do was accidentally hurt him. “Maybe I’ll be able to do good one day,” Felix added after a moment, searching Casimir’s expression. “I don’t… know how, yet, but… I’d… I’d like to.”
Talys glanced over at Ewan, frowning a little bit. On one hand, a weapon seemed like a good idea. They would be able to defend themself if things went wrong, and then they wouldn’t need Ewan to overexert herself trying to keep both of them safe. It would be better for both of them if Talys had a weapon. The thing was… they couldn’t stop remembering snippets of a time when there had been weapons. When weapons had been a very bad thing. When… when they really would give anything not to have to carry a weapon again. Ewan was right. No matter how logical it was for Talys to have a weapon, it just wouldn’t work for them to carry one. “Tell me how I can help without fighting,” Talys said after a moment, trying to sound more confident than they felt. They didn’t want to be dead weight (no pun intended. Although… they couldn’t be certain why they felt like that was a pun in the first place. Were they did? It was so hard to remember the difference between dead and alive…)
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Mar 11, 2022 17:08:21 GMT -5
Casimir wasn’t sure he understood exactly how the mind reading worked. There were details he didn’t think he had any right to ask about - they’d just met, it wasn’t an interrogation, and he’d probably had a lot of interrogations in his life already, anyway - but it didn’t mean he didn’t wonder. Could Felix tell how he was feeling? Did he hear the thoughts like he’d hear a voice, or like he heard his own thoughts? But it didn’t matter, he added mentally, breathing out. It didn’t really matter how his power worked, because Casimir was more interested in how Felix worked. “Really?” He asked, soft eyes searching Felix’s expression. “That’s…not your fault. You know that, right? And it doesn’t make me an amazing person or anything…everyone should care how you feel. Everyone should care how everyone feels. I mean, why wouldn’t they? Just because you don’t know someone doesn’t mean they aren’t important, right? They could have been your best friend if you’d met them earlier.” You’ve probably done more good than you think, he added mentally, but he didn’t try to out it into words. He guessed Felix would get the message just fine, anyway. “I think you will. If you want to, then…yeah, you will.” He added confidently, giving him a small smile. “And don’t worry about the people who get freaked out. It’s not like you’re hurting anyone. You aren’t even meaning to listen.”
Ewan knew it would be better if they could both be armed. It would be a lot safer, wouldn’t it? If they could have each other’s backs, fewer things could go wrong. But the thing was, if Talys couldn’t, then they couldn’t. Trying it when they were scared would be a lot more dangerous than not trying it at all, and the main thing Ewan was focused on was escaping as quickly as possible and putting some distance between them and here. Playing to other people’s strengths was the best way of making that happen. “You’ll be able to try the doors,” she said after a moment, determination slipping back into her voice. “I’ll stand to the side with the weapon in case anything jumps through. You’ll have not your hands free. That’ll be useful if we end up finding something we need to take with us…we can work with it. We’ll make it work.”
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