valentine's is done.
Who: A Certain Scientific Vampire (tiersdes ) and A Certain Scientific Psychic (soldiershin )
When: The 14th
Where: A place where little girls should not be in---er, Lion's Gate
Summary: A Crusnik and another (yes, another!) Mu cross paths inside a nightclub.
Warnings: mild violence, Seth being Seth.
( The curtains flew, then she appeared. )
When: The 14th
Where: A place where little girls should not be in---er, Lion's Gate
Summary: A Crusnik and another (yes, another!) Mu cross paths inside a nightclub.
Warnings: mild violence, Seth being Seth.
( The curtains flew, then she appeared. )
He doesn't immediately connect the two together - the emotions were too far from each other on the spectrum to click, just like that. Only they do (click, that is), as soon as he blots out the background noise from the rest of the guests, blissfully unaware of his mental chase. And from there? It's just a matter of narrowing down the suspects on a physical level while following the source.
It takes Jomy no more than ten minutes to pinpoint her (a girl one of the thoughts had shared). But a place of the club's size, no matter the number of thoughts, is easy enough to search through if he knows what he's looking for. And a barcode made of thoughts-emotions-presence is easy enough for a Mu to distinguish.
He approaches her at an angle where he can be seen for a reason. A request for a peaceful meeting. At least up until they were out of the public eye, if she wanted to retaliate more physically. Upon reaching her - while scanning her mind with practiced efficiency for information that he can use to determine her identity - he doesn't touch her, but he does step into her path. Making himself known.
"Excuse me." Jomy knows he's not a daunting figure on the purely physical sense, but he hopes his voice and expression can convey the slight urgency (and a faint, faint fleeting sensation of irritation at the shattering of his hopes of a relatively peaceful night). How did this go again? Something like- "May I speak to you privately?"
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And that's when she feels him prying into her mind. Her Crusnik nanomachines twitch---the feeling is even more uncomfortable than when Shiroe tried to do so weeks earlier---and uncomfortable enough to make her thoughts blurt out, Shiroe? for just a split second before she bolsters her own will to shove Jomy out before he finds out too much.
Damn. And the prying is deliberate, too---has she been caught? He's approaching her now, and the way he's looking at and addressing her---it's much too deliberate.
Although his question does make her laugh, and she treats him just like any of the other guys who've been sniffing her butt all night, grinning mischievously and meeting his inquiry with another inquiry of her own: "I don't know. May you?"
...Of course, she won't allow him to respond. Because she's going to vanish again, towards the back of the club, taking one last SERO lackey with her.
The chase is on. She's always been a big fan of those.
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Nonetheless, he goes along with the momentum of the push (it's a strong will, but that's not very unusual in this city), not fighting, not really, but he grasps that slip, grasps what he can without damaging her mind. No need for that (yet).
Shiroe, she had thought. Shiroe knew a lot of people, but to insantly note that this sweeping against the mind was the link between them? That's not the norm. So he grasps at that thought, yanks at it, resorting to the force that he so rarely applies, demanding more information from her mind. The distance that she puts between them relents some of the pressure, due to the sudden break in his focus when she seems to disappear from his physical sight.
Swerving, Jomy's quick to walk off into a quiet, unpopulated hallway and teleports, materializing in a sheen of blue light to where he feels her mind had vanished and reappeared. He's not in the mood to chase. Too tired. Too surprised (alarmed).
"Please." Wait. Firm. Keeping his voice firm, commanding. But also strangely imploring. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
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As she manages to roundhouse kick that lackey into a nearby wall, Seth's face is still covered by a wince as she tries to figure out a Plan B while she dashes further into the hallway.
Wait.
----Ow.
Dammit, there he goes again. He's close when he teleports to where she's at---and he'll notice that now she looks different: she's dressed in black, her hair matches and is much shorter, and her eyes are now green. Her nanomachines twitch again, causing her to grunt as she skids to a stop and whirls to face him.
Her voice has lost the accent, too. She meets his gaze with a cold grin, in spite of her discomfort in his strong presence. Slowly, she draws out a pair of daggers.
Him and Shiroe. They had to be connected, somehow. Their abilities were too similar.
"Make me, sweet prince. I'm not really in the mood for your prying---curiosity is what killed the cat, after all----"
She vanishes once more----
"----So cut it out unless you know what's good for you."
----And reappears above him, having somersaulted right over him, and swooping in with a quick flash of her daggers---not a strike aimed to kill, but certainly to slow him down.
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So he freezes when the daggers come at him, body going stiff with adrenaline; it's really just pure instinct (subconscious self-preservation) that responds, a shield in blue stopping the daggers in their path. When the energy releases the blades, there is a loud echo of metal resounding off the ground. A short silence reigns as Jomy peels himself out of the defensive (he has a slight preference for the defensive; it's more familiar to him than attacking, and he's never really grasped the idea of moderation), his body hunched a little. Making itself smaller than it is, reducing the surface area that she could target.
A deep breath in, and he releases his grip on her thoughts so that the pressure against her mind relents, no longer causing pain. It's not entirely gone, however. He's not willing to let go of her mind just yet. Not until she's securely escorted (forced? He's hoping it doesn't come to that) out of the club.
That done, he straightens slowly, back to his height. "You'll alert more than just me if you continue this. Whatever it is that you wish to accomplish, you won't accomplish it this way."
Spreading his hands in a disarming gesture, "Let's go outside. We can talk more freely there."
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...So he's kind of like her. If beings like Jomy and Shiroe had certain 'levels' or 'classes,' it's clear that Jomy must be in the top-tier. The hold he had over Seth's thoughts; the teleporting; the shield---all that, stemming from his will alone?
...Scary. Perhaps even scarier than a Crusnik like herself, who was a god even among the equally-inhuman Methuselah.
However, her shock is quickly replaced by mild annoyance and a certain stubborn defiance---not much different from Shiroe---the moment her daggers bounce right off Jomy's shield and as she backflips away from him. It doesn't fade, when she lands in a crouch, looking up at Jomy with a steely expression.
...But she caught how his body doubled over somewhat in defending himself. He was one unused to fighting head-on---she could tell by how quickly he's relenting. But why? she thinks; while she's putting up defenses for her innermost thoughts, she's still in too much pain---even as he loosens his psychic grip---to guard her surface thoughts and emotions.
It makes her feel a little paranoid. A ruse? With this thought in mind, Seth herself rises, still looking suspicious and fairly shaken and weary, but her eyes never leave his.
...And damn it, he had a point. She didn't want to have to deal with Raul a second time. But she won't admit to either one of those things. Not aloud, anyway. Her annoyance and defiance still very much prominent, Seth slowly, but surely, strides her way over to Jomy, still eyeing him warily.
"What's there to talk about?" She huffs, knowing she's been outclassed. "You can burrow into my mind, too."
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Wait. Too, she had said.
. . . Ah.
That's another topic of discussion he would ask for, then. Shiroe was careful in revealing his abilities to the point of paranoia, and the implications of her knowing even to this degree was slightly unsettling. He's gotten used to the necessity of hiding (not that he was very good at it, with how he used his abilities on an almost unconscious level), but it was nonetheless a little jarring that she seemed aware of both their abilities and that such abilities was the common link between Shiroe and he.
"I can," he agrees carefully, slowly. He meets her eyes then, keeping her gaze. "But I prefer talking, when it's possible."
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She doesn't really understand why he's so damn calm---kind of like that Keith guy she spoke to, only not as creepy and amusing (even childlike) and more...off-putting. This calm Jomy exudes---this dignity, this...pacifism---it reminds her of Lilith to some degree; it's a sign that he must have been some kind of important figure wherever he's from (Shiroe's world? Perhaps this one was the leader of the "outcasts" in that reality?). As much as Seth admired Lilith, however, she always found her near-constant state of calm to be a little frightening in some respects. How she was calm even amidst all of the chaos and mayhem that had taken place during the war of Armageddon and even in the face of extreme adversity from the newly born-Methuselah when she had sided with the Terrans.
How she was calm in the mere moments, seconds leading to when Cain killed her.
Seth never really understood what it was that kept Lilith so grounded, considering she was a Crusnik---a monster---just like Seth herself and her brothers were.
And yet...there is a weariness underscoring all of his calm, too. Seth can see it in his eyes. It's a weariness she knows all too well---the weariness of one who has seen too much, lived through too much. She could tell Jomy was much, much younger than she was, but he exuded an aura of one who was also---like her---much older than he looked.
Because Seth felt that weariness, too, once in a blue moon; as much as she tried to stave it off. 800 years of living as Empress Augusta Vradica of the New Human Empire for the sake of the entire Methuselah race was slowly, but surely, starting to take its toll on her.
With this realization in mind, the irritation and aggravation quickly dissipates---and turns into amusement. Seth lets out a laugh when she finally stands in front of Jomy, grinning brightly as if nothing had ever happened.
"Well, I'll give you credit, your Princeliness---at least you're more conscientious about those mind-poking powers of yours than a certain other person I know." She's still chuckling a little, raising her hands in mock defeat. Indeed---there had to be a link between the two boys. Their form of telepathy seemed to be kind of...automatic, like a conditioned reflex, voluntary and yet involuntary at the same time. And the way her nanomachines had reacted in kind...
"Okay, I surrender---I'm not sure I want to experience the full extent of your abilities, anyway, and I suppose having to deal with the usual nasty critters outside now that it's quite late is more than enough of a punishment for my pranks---just don't take the expression "kick me out" literally!" She continues. "Although it's a shame we had to run into each other under circumstances like these...you seem like an interesting one! I didn't think I'd run into anyone else on my power level besides Vincent; we're not much different, you know? You have the likeness of a boy, but the mind of an all-seeing god."
And suddenly, her gaze becomes a bit colder when she says: "But let me ask you this---why does one like yourself serve their interests?"
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(And they didn't really seem related to Shiroe and he. Not exactly.
The undercurrent of her own weariness is noted, however. Hers feels like a fleeting touch. Ghost-like, strangely softened by... something. Not like his own, where it was a constant presence that he shouldered with muted pride.)
There's so much from her words that Jomy can respond to that he needs to pause, taking it all in. He's finally noticed her quirk of calling him prince; it makes him twitch, awkward in the notion of being called a member of nobility, no matter how jokingly. The small smile falls at being related to a god though - because no, he wasn't. Not at all. He's as flawed as any other human.
It was another topic of possible conversation, then. From behind his exhaustion, there is a spark of curiosity. Her words had caught his interest several times over, and maybe (maybe), should her amiability last, he could speak to her in a more neutral setting.
But that was not now. Focus, focus. One thing at a time.
"It's not their interests I'm serving." A turn of the head, gaze moving in the direction of the room where the majority of guests are gathered. Their minds are still buzzing at him. Little bits and pieces of thought. Not very strong, but together, it's a very loud white noise. Eyes flickering back to the (not-young) girl, his lips thin a little. "I do not condone their actions. But striking out at them blindly, or in the manner you have, would do more harm than good."
A short pause. "Short of destroying the system outright, change is always slow. I want to respect the efforts of those who are bringing about it by this world's rules." An effort that didn't leave as much casualties, hopefully.
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But she keeps that hypothesis---and thought---to herself. Now wasn't the time. They had to leave here. Well, okay, no, she had to leave here, but...he was making no motion to make her get out. At least, perhaps not alone.
Prince, indeed.
"...Don't I know the snail's pace of change." Seth murmurs, more to herself than to Jomy, irritation briefly taking the forefront once more. And I am the system, in a way. With that particular thought (now guarded, of course; now that he's let up a bit on his telepathy, she's got her mental shields back up with renewed vigor) comes a fleeting note of sadness and perhaps---perhaps---regret. But she quickly dispels all that with a shake of the head, and she grins at him again; the coldness has left her eyes, and now there's a sort of mischief in them.
"But rules were made to be broken. Whenever a new system is put in an old system's place, that old system inevitably has to be destroyed, or at least taken apart to an extent where its vestiges are nowhere to be found. Almost every form of government owes its existence to some form of rebellion, or some form of cataclysm." A laugh. "...Anyway, I'm sure you probably want me to explain myself, don't you? Well, I can't do it here. Not after the little mess I made! But unless we can somehow fly (teleport?) to a more private setting, we'll probably have to deal with the Darkness outside."
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"My shift should be over." A beat. "I can walk you back to your residence if you require it. We can speak at a later-" more neutral "-time."
He doesn't really think she needed the protection, but it was worth offering, in any case.
It's a choice to not address the comment about the flying (teleporting). He really needed to be careful about revealing his powers; telepathy alone put people at unease. This wasn't his world, and the majority of the Mu weren't here for him to represent - to demand widespread acceptance in this city would be only self-serving. (Not that it was actually necessary, with how the city seemed to be a hub of powers.) As well as dangerous, with how SERO targeted unusual abilities.
The fact that 'psychic' abilities weren't all that uncommon here gave them (he and Shiroe) some degree of cover; one that he was thankful for. It was just a matter of hiding the scale they were on for them, really.
Gesturing a little with a hand, he says, "There's a side-door we can use down this hallway."
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...Interesting. It made the weariness she could sense in him all the more credible---if he'd gone through similar experiences (she hoped not: war, near-genocide, and continued tensions were not situations she'd wish on anyone) to her own. It takes her a moment to respond to his offer. Only because...
...Only because, yeah, the telepathy kind of startled her. But inherently, she could tell Jomy wouldn't use it for nefarious purposes--not unless he was pushed, probably.
Nevermind that it seemed he didn't want to come off as an enemy to begin with, so---
Seth laughs again.
"If you insist, Prince." She chuckles, looking toward the door and then winking at him before adding, "keep up with me, though!"
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