[open] porches - not just for windchimes anymore

[sent_farfaraway]

Things hadn't exactly calmed down in the barracks, but Ruby was tired of being the one that snuck in and out of the place. She'd toured the woods, she'd slipped into the shadows, and now she was just plain old bored

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[sent_farfaraway]

There were a few things that Ruby picked up on in the conversation, her least favorite being that there was a red-head named Anna here. Just what she needed. It was either going to be the defiant angel that had a fondness for the backseat of the Impala -- or a crazy psycho babble girl that didn't have her grace.

Still, Ruby kept her expression in check, making sure to note that for the next "not-call" that Sam had with her. Instead, she opted to just continue with the plan. If anything, she was pretty shocked that it was getting on topic so quickly.

"Yeah, I know that I'm seriously considering finding a roll of duct tape to stick to my legs." Which was a lie, since she had a knife and didn't actually care too much if she nicked herself when doing her haphazard job using just soap and water.

Of course, then she let her expression get a bit serious. Her brow furrowed a bit, "Wait... weird abilities?" Ruby made sure to put the emphasis where it needed to be. The long chat with Sylar had given her a pretty good idea of how screwed up the world he came from was. If anything, she could just use her own demonic skill with telekinesis to pull this girl into thinking she was 'just like them'.

"What's so... weird about them? I mean, other than the attacking people part."

[autophoenix]

"If you find duct tape to actually try that with, let me know." Her lips quirked into a half amused smirk. If only it were that easy. Discussing personal hygiene, or the lack thereof that was available to them in the wood, was making her feel a lot better than reliving her attack redux by Sylar in the middle of the freaking forest. But, of course, all roads lead to Rome, and she was dragged back to the topic soon enough.

"Things that normal humans … shouldn't be able to do. Like … I know it sounds weird, but considering those weird animals from before? It's not the weirdest thing in this forest. She said he could move things with his mind. And, seriously, if he can do something like that? Who's to say he's not one of them. I mean, they could have planted one of their freaky little fairy friends among us and made him look normal."

Relatively normal, but Claire kept that inside. It was secondhand information, she wasn't supposed to be able to comment judgmentally on Sylar's more noticeably awkward physical attributes, regardless of how up close and personal she'd gotten with them in Costa Verde and again in Primatech. In fact, if she had things her way, she'd never have to think of his ugly face again, so she tried not to.

"It's just … really weird. And dangerous, considering he already tried to hurt one person. I'd just be careful if I were you, okay? I don't want anyone getting hurt."

[sent_farfaraway]

This was her time to really sell it, and her eyes relayed the moment of panic when Claire said something about moving things with his mind. She even folded her arms across her chest, trying to put on a defensive front.

"So, do you think people that can do that -- they might be responsible?" Ruby made sure to let her tone imply that she was more worried about herself, over the rest of the people. "I mean, how do we know that those kind of people aren't just trapped here too?"

[autophoenix]

"How do we know the people who brought us here don't want us to think that they're just stuck here like us?" It felt a little underhanded, trying to manipulate someone she barely knew into distrusting Sylar, but she had to keep telling herself it was for her own good. There was no way she could put to words the actual horror that was Sylar. It was safer this way, and would probably do a better job of keeping Ruby from getting involved.

"But yeah, I definitely think people with powers are responsible. I mean, it explains how they got us here, and I'm pretty sure that's reason enough to try and avoid the guy who's not only potentially one of them, but was definitely trying to attack that girl Anna?" She shook her head. "Better play it safe and try to stay away from him. I mean, I know that's what I'm gonna do." That much, at least, was true.

[sent_farfaraway]

Nodding, she kept her eyes on Claire. It was funny knowing something about someone without being able to call them on it. Not that Ruby knew a lot, but she knew that the girl had a power herself, that by her own ruling, maybe there was something to be said about her distrusting herself.

Still, that was doubtful. It was sort of pathetic to just cater herself to this girl, but really, she was at a loss as to how else to get her to start sharing and opening up and being all... girl-bonding-time with her.

"Yeah, attacking someone isn't exactly going to get my vote for class president. Still, I don't know if just grouping all the people with these weird powers together is going to be good. I mean, some of the people in our group might have had them. They might not even realize how they got these powers..."

It was grating on her how pedestrian she was making herself, but it was taking everything in her not to just send the chair across the room and show her the power she had.

[autophoenix]

"Okay, fine, so maybe we shouldn't automatically assume the worst of all of them." Being called out on her generalizations wasn't something Claire was thankful for overall, but, well, on the off-chance that someone caught her healing, Ruby's mentality might keep her from being burned at the stake or something equally unpleasant.

She wondered briefly if burning at the stake would actually hurt. Probably not.

"But, I'm not gonna be in their fan club either, I mean, unless you've seen someone around who's helping people with abilities like that." An expectant look colored her expression. Maybe there was something marginally morally bankrupt about pumping Ruby for information like this while she was feeding half-truths to her in return, but if there were other specials excluding herself, Sylar, Elle and P-- Right. Peter was powerless.

That was helpful. But, if there were specials other than herself, Sylar and Elle around, she wanted to know about it. That was fair, right? It was for everyone's good. There was nothing wrong with not being up front about that while she was figuring out a way to help people. Ruby would thank her, in the end, and she was never going to need to know about Claire's white lies, anyway.

She tried not to think about how similar to her father that made her.

[sent_farfaraway]

Exhaling, Ruby glanced around then stood up. She could come back to sitting on the porch after she finished wrapping Claire around her finger. Or at least trying to.

"I have to show you something." Sounds nefarious, right? It sure does. Still, Ruby won't hurt you, she's just going to lead you into the cabin and shut the door.

Then, comes some more of the World's Best Actresses finest work.

"You said people with abilities... that the Sylar guy, could, move things with his mind? I think... I think I can do that too."

Ruby turned around and glanced at the glass that she'd set on the table. She did her very best job of making it seem as if she wasn't sure how to do it but she was doing it... and eventually, all her 'hard-work' paid off with the glass lifting into the air and hovering toward them, before Ruby let it drop into her own two hands.

Of course, then she grinned like a moron, trying to make it seem like it was the coolest thing she'd ever done.

"I swear, I only just started to do this. Like, maybe a week and then I showed up here. If I'm the reason? I mean... I don't think I am, but..."

In fact, this sort of went against the slight front she put up in the woods, but that could be played off as the obvious fact that they were stuck in the woods. "I didn't trust anyone out there, before, I mean, I thought I was some sort of freak."

[autophoenix]

With some hesitation in her step, Claire took a quick glance at the surrounding cabins and then followed Ruby inside. What was the worst that could happen, right? She seemed more scared than dangerous, and Claire was supposed to be playing the responsible reassurance, which, now that she thought about it, felt pretty weird to do again after all the time she'd spent focusing on herself instead.

Ruby's assertion only proved to worry her further -- if all she had to do was start talking about people with abilities to get her eager to talk about hers, then if Sylar wanted it -- when the glass floating up and moved into Ruby's hands, Claire's stomach eased. What would Sylar want with something he could already do, right? She should be totally safe. Should be. Claire immediately put her hands on Ruby's shoulders.

"You can't show that to anyone else." she ordered firmly. "Not … because of the freak thing, I mean, don't think that -- your'e not a freak. You're special. Just … there might be people who want to hurt you because of it." After the story she'd just spun about Sylar, she couldn't even further explain to warn her. Crap. Conflict passed through the ex-cheerleader's eyes, and she looked around the room.

"I don't think you're the reason necessarily, but … it does explain why they pulled you in. I think there's a good chance that everybody here is special -- like you. LIke … us." A pause. She dropped her hands away, expression setting in something more determined and nodded. "I have something to show you, too. Do you have anything sharp?"

[sent_farfaraway]

It was odd watching Claire react to her power that way. She could see the concern, the worry that the girl had for her. It made her almost wonder what other things had happened to her. Clearly, there was something not being said there, but Ruby tried to tell herself that she didn't actually care. She was doing a favor and in return... he'd owe her a favor.

At Claire's insistence, she nodded along, "No... I mean, I wasn't even sure I would tell you, but I just -- I didn't want it to come up and then you think I had lied."

Which was exactly what Ruby was doing anyway.

"Sharp?" Ruby's eyes darted around the room, she was pretty sure she'd put her hunting knife somewhere that morning. "I think I found a knife in one of the drawers in the kitchen when I showed up."

She moved toward the other room, pulling it off the counter, "I'm not sure how sharp it is though. I figured it'd be smart to have something in case any of those creepy things from the woods showed up."

Turning it around, she held the handle out to Claire, curious if she was going to get a nice demonstration.

[autophoenix]

"No, it's okay. I understand why you'd want to keep it to yourself, I mean … I appreciate you telling me, though." She followed Ruby into the kitchen, checking out the windows of the cabin and making sure as she took the knife from the other girl that she wasn't in view of any of them. The last thing she needed was for someone to observe their little show and have the fact that she was indestructible make its way around the camp. Even in a place like this where there was no chance of becoming a labrat, that wouldn't end well.

She turned the knife over in her hand, jaw clenching a little. It was dull and just a little rusty, which wasn't ideal, but at least she knew it wouldn't hurt. Feeling any kind of gratitude for that fact was still strange when she still missed the pain, but … well, in this case, it was probably better.

"Don't freak out or anything, okay?" Hopefully that request alone would be enough to make sure that Ruby wasn't going to scream or something. That would be a surefire way to draw attention to them both and there was no promising that the mess would have cleaned itself up by the time 'help' arrived. With an intent look that begged for some trust, Claire rolled up her sleeve and sucked a breath in.

Biting down on the inside of her cheek, she stabbed the dulled point of the knife through her forearm.

[sent_farfaraway]

Ruby wasn't really sure what she was going to see, but she hadn't expected her to just shove the blade through her arm. Still, there it was blade in and deep, too.

She couldn't help but let her jaw drop a bit, because if there was anything she actually could admire it was someone who didn't have any fear when it came to something they could do and do well. There was always hesitation with Sam, even when it was something she knew he could do. He was always thinking about the outcome, about what would happen after he did it.

"That doesn't hurt or anything?" She had to admit, she was getting slightly distracted by the fact that this girl had a blade in her arm.

[autophoenix]

She held her arm out for inspection while the blade was still pierced through it, chuckling a little at Ruby's reaction. It was a relief, at least, that there was more fascination and curiosity than actually being disturbed. She even looked a little impressed. Overall, Claire couldn't really complain about the response -- it was better than any she'd gotten before, anyway.

Reaching out and with a slight grimace at the discomfort, she pulled the knife back out and waited until the wound had healed up before their eyes, flesh and muscle knitting back together, though the blood remained streaked down her arm, to respond.

"Not a bit," she replied, though her tone was a little bitter. It was still a recent issue, this lack of pain, and it was one that she wasn't altogether too grateful for on most days. It was just an ever-present reminder to send her back mentally to the day she'd stopped feeling it. To that feeling of being trapped even though she was supposed to be invincible and fearless. Before the weight of the thoughts could weigh too heavily and steal the breath from her, she forced herself back to reality.

"Not as flashy as yours, maybe, but … I think it's the same principle."

[sent_farfaraway]

Even if Sylar had given her some insight to the ability, there was nothing like seeing it in person to sell it home. No wonder he wanted to keep it, this made him indestructible. As she exhaled, she tried to clear her head, focusing on how she was going to even push this forward into actually getting what she wanted.

"That means, you're --" Ruby narrowed her gaze a bit, that hint of mischief edging into her eyes, "I mean, you would be almost unstoppable, right? I mean, bullets? Knives? Chopped off limbs? Does it all just ... do that??"

[autophoenix]

The interest suddenly felt awkward. She didn't like the prying, or getting put on the ropes about it, as much as she'd put the effort in to test her ability -- it made sense that others would be interested in getting the same answers she'd gotten, but … it made her feel a little claustrophobic .

It reminded her of what her father had warned her about -- how the Company, if they got their hands on her, would push her to her limits and beyond just to see what she could do. Granted, they hadn't done it, but it was still a very real threat of what could happen if people knew about her ability. It took her a moment to fumble for an awkward smile and a suitable response.

"I haven't found anything that can stop be yet." It was a lie, of course. She knew exactly how to stop it, but she wasn't going to go telling people how to unless they needed to know. She'd done it to Sylar. Killed him. Maybe the fact that he was from before he got her ability meant he really was dead in her timeline. But, the overbearing sense of paranoia kept her from accepting that fact. Something had gone wrong -- there was nothing else that would make those people disappear.

"Anyway, it's … really not that cool, I mean, when it comes to helping other people, it just makes me kind of useless, you know? But, you …" A girl on her side? With Sylar's ability? Or, one of them, anyway … it was good. Really good. Especially since Ruby seemed considerably less self-righteous than Anna had. "You can really help people."

[sent_farfaraway]

Ruby's gears were turning, trying to think about it all. She was actually sort of curious about the power, not that she needed it for herself, because she could just heal herself already, but this was different.

"Sorry, I just -- I've never met anyone that could do something like that, so it's sort of a relief to know I'm not the only freak in the room."

As Claire mentioned her helping people, she smirked, it wasn't anything pride filled, but just out of curiosity. "Really? You think I could help people with that? I mean, it's like a cheap Hollywood special effect. What you can do? You could put yourself between a bullet and someone else! You could... I don't know, run into a fire and save people. Take a bomb about to explode and take it into a field." She paused, "Well, I guess you'd have to run really fast too."

Exhaling, she glanced to Claire, "I think it's still pretty cool. I bet you had flawless skin... forever. No crazy break-outs from stress or you know, other times..." Smirking she made an amused face at Claire, trying to get some girl-bonding time in the books.

[autophoenix]

The word freak hit her like a poison dart and Claire couldn't help the slight cringe at it. Sure, she'd used it towards herself plenty, but regardless of how eager Zach had been to drill in that she needed to embrace her inner freak, she still hated it. Mostly, though, she just hated that it was true.

It was easy enough to move past it anyway, though, because Ruby had a lot to say -- Claire was understanding of that. She'd had a million questions she wanted to ask Peter when she realized he could do the same incredible things that she could. So, she tried to mute the chuckle in her throat and instead, share in Ruby's enthusiasm. That was just a little hard to do when her ability, in this instance, was really just a target on her back.

"Yeah, well, you could move the bomb away from everyone with your mind. And stop people from getting … I don't know, crushed under things." A thoughtful pause. "I bet you could even stop a bullet, if you worked your ability out. Besides. It's not just protecting people, I mean, you could stop the bad guys." It sounded so juvenile when she put it like that, but that was exactly what she wanted -- more than anything. And here was Ruby with this incredible ability that could easily combat Sylar's slew of them and she didn't even realize how amazing it could be.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, having good skin is great. I mean, living forever it's … sure, what everybody wants. But, it doesn't make a difference. Not really. You could make a difference."