[log] worth noting that i also have a lot of pictures of people who haven't been murdered

[errantknights]

The first time the notion came up in any sort of seriousness was months ago, when Master Snape went missing (and later turned up, hale and hearty as ever - which is to say, not very). He'd had to go to Grif in order to find someone who could manage with this technological bullshit, and while ultimately it had still been pointless, the fact remained

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[obscuronoctis]

It's easier to hack and meddle and play with the Nexus interface via computer if you have an established link, versus forcing repeated anonymous renewals. Setting up a dummy account is simple and, what's more, helpful: he looks more like a real person when his alter-ego, Tom, has an actual PINpoint number (which, he's come to realize, is a bit like having an IP address for a living person).

Initially he was tracking Lourdes. Digging up her new name lead him to Martel - which he inspected and then promptly moved on from, having the initial reaction of God, this asshole before canning the session. He wasn't doing anything sinister, it's just something of an unavoidable compulsion to look up everyone he interacts with

[errantknights]

With the workload that Valdis generates, dropping everything to keep himself closer to home is not as easy as just dropping everything, and there's still work he can do. Can and must, for the sake of the people who rely on him - so his visits to the nexus lately have been primarily work-related and necessarily brief.

He doesn't come across Bruce until the tail end of one of these, leaving a meeting that he'd brought forward a day, and he very nearly keeps on walking. Not because he doesn't notice him - he does - but because a long day doesn't necessarily need to get any longer. Curiosity, though, will always get its cat (and he wonders what was being looked for, in the first place).

"Hello, again."

[obscuronoctis]

People stare at him all the time - either casual glances, typical of passersby, up to the extreme, horrified mistaken identity gazes (he doesn't acknowledge those - he's met enough Robins, thanks), and so he doesn't look up until Martel speaks. When he does, it's a little slow, like if he just gives him a minute he'll go head and leave on his own.

No such luck.

Bruce doesn't say anything, and just looks at him.

[errantknights]

The opportunity to be more of a bastard than is strictly necessary is noted and ignored; Martel's not an idiot, and moreover he's been required on many an occasion to learn how to deal with people. Just because he knows how to push the right buttons doesn't mean he has to do it every time, unprovoked.

"Were you looking for something in particular?" he inquires, instead, neatly sidestepping the issue of making accusations - at most he seems mildly curious, blandly friendly.