[Deleted]

WORDS: 310

TAGS: Pretty much everyone.

Mason's hopefulness was endearing, but she couldn't bring any part of herself to agree with it. If any of them should be worried, it should be him. Here he was standing in the middle of her living room unseen by everyone around him. He couldn't live like that. Though she wished will everything she was to be optimistic, it was impossible for her to be anything but a realist with the situation. Never in history had there been a time when mankind didn't fear anomalies they didn't understand. And now, in this world of control, they'd bee tracked. They were dangerous.. the government didn't like wildcards. This went beyond human rights. 

Claire tried to look up and give Alice an apologetic smile when she seemed disappointed by not feeling included. Then the arguing continued; who had what rights, who would be victimized, if there were any victims at all, etc. She stared at the coffee table in front of her without focus and without a word as they continued on with one another. It was clear she was uncomfortable. Confrontation and her.. they just didn't match up. Now that she'd said her piece she felt trapped in silence. 

Then came Dominic's incredible enthusiasm that just oozed for attention. Still, she found herself looking at him and listening - the first time she'd moved since she stopped talking herself. His mention of responsibility repeated in her head a few times and moved something within her; an idea perhaps that would make sense for both parties that argued against each other in the room. As her back straightened slightly to try and prepare herself to speak, Dominic cut her off unknowingly with his question directed at Will. So, she pursed her lips slowly and focused back to the coffee table again.
 

NOTES: I might have an id-?.. Ohsorrynevermind.
WEARING: Here. 

＃ENY ADOXOGRAPHY

[Mason Warner]

Side Effects May Vary

Alice had also slumped down on the sofa, a prominent pout working its way into her expression. Of all those had just been talking about their powers, the consequences of revealing them, the possible reactions and rewards… she had been the one to most greatly affect Mason. It seemed like the fact that she was – so far – perfectly normal and still holding their abilities in a positive regard had been overlooked by everyone else. Here was proof that not everyone was going to hate them.

“Al,” he whispered softly, trying not to interrupt. As Claire had witnessed, he wasn’t the greatest whisperer, but the group was too involved with the discussion at hand to notice him. “I’m here.” With that, he placed a hand hesitantly on her shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. He’d tried to give her as much warning as possible, aware that his invisibility would make such an act far more disturbing than intended without prior signals.

He nodded fervently at Dominic’s suggestion that her powers hadn’t developed yet, sharing the smile at the downtrodden-looking girl. He could understand and appreciate Will’s caution, not quite agreeing with Persephone’s cutting remark that the guy was “frozen”, but he valued Alice’s positivity a thousand times more. Any encouragement in her direction was sure to only do good for the group’s morale.

Mason liked Dominic’s approach, embracing ideas of independence and responsibility. They were strong attributes. Powerful. It reminded the room of the weight of the choices they were each going to make. For Mason, it was a no-brainer. Unless he could find a way to make himself visible again, there was no way he could return to his normal life. He just had to hope he wouldn’t be forging this new path alone and – thankfully – it seemed like he wouldn’t have to.

It took a few seconds to process the idea. There really was no going back… Every single aspect of his life was now tainted by his power. Even just going to the store for milk and eggs would be complicated by his invisibility – he could just imagine the look of horror on the poor cashier’s face as his groceries floated ominously down the aisles.

This was really it. At the end of the day, Mason was forced to embrace his new identity as fully as possible. It was the only way he could really see himself surviving. Being able to use these powers for good was just a happy side effect, and to do it with others by his side was a luxury that he couldn’t afford to lose.

Previously forgotten amidst the excitement, the heaviness in his chest quietly returned.

ψ

[Will Chase]

Frozen in the headlights of progress? Strange, how much more confident and cutting Persephone was when she had people 'on her side', as it were. It also appeared that whatever good will she'd had for him had disappeared as quickly as dew in the morning sun. He wasn't sure why. He wasn't arguing his position out of fear, or selfishness or jealousy or anything like that. He knew that Dominic had realised that, the man was far more observant that he had appeared at first. The man's words had been passionate and convincing, filled with a surety and charisma that was rare. He would go far, probably had already. But Will still wasn't convinced. He wanted to be. Oh god, he wanted to be. But he couldn't believe in the world that Alice and Dominic saw. He didn't know what lives they had led, but he had seen some pretty horrible things in his forty years. Everything from theft to murder to paedophilia, and it was difficult to believe in the goodness of humanity when you'd seen even a small glimpse of its darkness. "I question your choice of words Persephone. It is not cowardice to be cautious, or to be reluctant to do something that you know could cause irreparable harm to others. I am not 'frozen in the headlights of progress', I am questioning whether this would be progress at all." He turned to Dominic. "You say they will still have a choice as to whether or not to reveal themselves, but will they really Dominic? You're smart enough to know what people are like. If you come forward, they will start looking for the strange, for the abnormal; for the super. They will search for a way to gain powers of their own. People are selfish like that." "They will look for people with powers, and they will find them. All it would take is one mistake, one moment of poor judgement, and this whole thing would be blown open." "But I can't make this decision for you. Nor do I want to. As you said, you have spent your whole life making your own choices, and damn anyone who tries to make them for you. Besides, I'm finding it rather difficult to disagree." "I just wanted to make sure that you knew, that all of you knew, that this is not a choice to be made lightly. This is not something to be decided quickly, without serious thought to the potential consequences." Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who'll argue with you. Will Chase 416 Words

♛

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Will Chase + Claire Elliot + Mason Warner + Persephone Dean + Dominic Weaver

Dominic’s words were reassuring, thanks, as was to be expected, to his irresistible charisma. She smiled a little more strongly, at least partly convinced that she wasn’t entirely left out of what was going on. They did seem to be listening to her as well, sort of. Will certainly didn’t seem to like what she was saying. The blue haired teen jumped a little as she felt the pressure on her shoulder. It was all the more disturbing when there didn’t appear to be any source for that pressure. Then her brain clicked back into gear and she realised the only answer had to be Mason. His quiet words were, if anything, even more reassuring than Dominic’s. Even if they did come out of thin air… She turned to smile at where she thought his face might be, after all, it was incredibly difficult to judge the position of a man that light passed through. Of course, she totally missed his encouraging smile. It seemed that the argument was just going to go around in circles, and it was stressing her out. Looking, pointlessly to Mason for reassurance, stood up, trying to make herself heard over the others. “Guys! We… we don’t have to like… make a decision now do we? I mean… we’ve all… most of us have these powers now. Maybe we should actually find out what exactly we can do.” Her voice gained a little more energy, clearly excited by the idea of seeing these impossibilities in action. “You guys could like… test them out… or something…” She trailed off.

© seadra of gs

[Persephone Dean]

Side Effects May Vary

Nod. Nod. Nod.

It was really all she could do as she basked in Dominic’s performance. She saw it for what it was, of course, but it was impressive nonetheless. He was presenting such an Opportunity, capital O. They would be kicking themselves in the future if they didn’t seize it now. The first in the public eye to demonstrate extraordinary abilities… it was significant. Even if greater and more powerful individuals came along, they’d still be remembered as the trailblazers.

She smiled at Will as he defended himself, her expression predominantly blank and meaningless. It was a warm yet empty smile, and intended as such. She wanted him to know that she had no intention of criticising him further as a result of apathy. Persephone couldn’t really offer much in this discussion; her focus was too drawn towards the doctor instead. Had Will lost sight of this crucial detail or was he merely distracted for now?

Alice’s suggestion of testing powers was a fairly good one – it made sense to do at least some information gathering before getting carried away with the PR executive’s marketing dream.

Another nod. Even a bit of a smile in Alice’s direction to signify her approval.

In all honesty, she just wanted this discussion to be over so they could get back to the mystery at hand, intrigued as she was by these newfound abilities and the secret world they came from. They needed to chase down new sources, gain inside information, find out exactly who this doctor was, what she was intending and how Persephone could settle the debt of her life as painlessly as possible. There was no way she’d done this out of the goodness of her heart – she wanted something from all of this, and Persephone wanted to find out just what that was before it came around to bite them.

ψ

[Dominic Weaver]

Surge The best part of “believe” is the “lie”. + Mason Warner + Will Chase + Persephone Dean + Alice Morrow + Claire Elliot

It seemed that Will was still not convinced by his idea, which was unusual. Dominic was a master of selling the impossible dream, but like any truly good salesman, he would never lie. He was playing a card game with only half of the deck here, but he was damned if he was going to let the deliberate silence of those in the know control his decisions. All Dominic knew was that he had been handed a golden opportunity, and like any major athlete who had realised their talent, he was going to grab that opportunity with both hands. Still, it was clear that Will wasn’t happy about it, and from the sound of it would continue to argue his point. He’d brushed over Dominic’s question, which was interesting, and he wondered why Will was hesitant to talk about that. He didn’t seem the type to miss so pertinent a question without a good reason. Then Alice piped up, and Dominic smiled at the opportunity to take control of the situation once more. It was a good idea, after all, currently all he had done was fry his computer and scorch the walls, and it would be interesting to see just what he could do if he kicked loose. “That… is a great idea.” He grinned around at them all. “We don’t need to come out about all of this, but we could at least try and have a little fun while we work out what exactly we have on our hands here. We find some waste ground or a warehouse, there’s bound to be somewhere we can do this without people noticing.”

© seadra of gs

[Mason Warner]

Side Effects May Vary

Mason perked up a little as Alice provided the catalyst for a more positive turn in the conversation. It was far easier to think of the concrete, achievable things they could do with these powers than it was to think of the fears and restrictions that undeniably came with them. It was how Mason usually dealt with incidences of low mood; pouring himself into something productive until his sunny disposition returned. He especially appreciated the way she almost smiled in the right direction, evidently grateful for his reassurance and reassuring him in turn with her acceptance.

“Some kind of base of operations would be good,” he agreed, grinning at Dominic encouragingly. “Just a temporary hideaway to work out all these new changes… I don’t think Tats would appreciate the repair costs of a power experiment gone wrong.” Mason motioned towards the tattoo-bearing Claire so that everyone could keep up with his nicknaming.

Nothing was fitting just yet. He’d slap a nickname on her eventually, as he did with all his friends and colleagues, but he was feeling a little insecure after the apparent failure that was “C-Laire”. Okay, it wasn’t one of his best, he could admit to that.

“Maybe I’ll be able to actually do something with my power,” he added hopefully, glad that nobody could see the frown etched on his face.

Oh, wait, nobody would have seen him motioning towards Claire either. Too late now. Stupid invisibility.

Mason shook himself, trying to pull himself back into a more cheerful mindset. “You guys seem to be able to hide your powers for the most part, so we could keep it secret outside of the base until we have stuff figured out.” A thought occurred. “I uh… might need some help though, until I learn how to turn this power off. If that’s okay…”

He scratched his head. Somehow he’d managed to make his mood worse by thinking of his own problems. Go figure.

ψ

[Will Chase]

Alice's suggestion certainly made much more sense than many of the others being thrown around; they did need to know more about what the others were capable of, even if both of them lacked powers of their own. Well, she had said she lacked powers, and he was fairly sure that he didn't have any either. But that strange shift sensation when he had been speaking to Harry, and the odd thoughts he'd woken up with... No, he was being silly. Dominic, Claire, Mason and Persephone had all known of their abilities seemingly as soon as they developed them, surely he would've known by now if he also had a power. But Will knew that he'd allowed himself to become distracted from what was truly important. They still had no idea why the doctor wanted to reveal everything, and since she apparently hadn't gotten in contact with any of the others he had no idea how to even begin finding her. He had only found her in the first place because she revealed herself to him, and from the way she had vanished he doubted she'd be leaving any tracks that he could recognise. She was an enigma, and Will Chase was a man who enjoyed puzzles only so long as he was actively going about solving them; he couldn't stand being forced to just sit around and wait for something to happen - it was one of the reasons he hadn't done so well on stake-outs when he was still in the force. He needed to be doing something, to be actively learning, or he would start going insane. But a new discussion had started around Alice's suggestion, and he should probably respond. If he couldn't track her down on his own, he'd need something to do while he waited for a new lead. "You guys do need to practise with whatever abilities you've developed.  After all, we don't want anything going wrong with them, better to try and find their limits now, so that when push comes to shove you know exactly what you can do and how far you can go." "I know a couple of places where you could practise in relative privacy if you want to get started, though obviously I can't guarantee that they'll all still be empty; I haven't checked quite a few of them in months." The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. Will Chase 394 Words

♛

[Deleted]

WORDS: 342

TAGS: Pretty much everyone.

Good God. Conflict. Conflict everywhere. And in her living room no less. Claire was visibly horribly uncomfortable, hands placed stiffly on either of her thighs as she sat on the couch beside Alice who had tried to take up the reigns in an attempt to lead the conversation into a more positive direction. It was ironic that the youngest of them had the best idea of calming everything down.

When the girl's voice dipped in sadness again when speaking on everyone else's powers, Claire's mouth made a small scrunch to the side - her attempt at a half-smirk - and the hand closest moved from her own thigh to Alice's as a way to try and comfort her. She was bad at that (she thought), but way better at it than dealing with conflict which were the only two things available at the moment to react to. So, comfort it was.

Wait. Did he just call her-.. Tats? Really? An amused but exhausted expression lifted over to his direction, not unlike one someone would receive for having shared a bad pun, and her head shook only twice in mock judgement.

To be perfectly honest, Claire didn't want to go 'testing' things. She wanted to go back to school and work in the studio, walk normally through her classes, act like nothing happened. Very obviously the minority in that, she wasn't about to openly express her opinion.. so instead, she took a breath and nodded in quiet agreement with them.

The small falter in Mason's usually-positive voice was what had her finally speaking again. "You'll find out. Until then.. just.." she shrugged and tried to think of something he'd say. Some terrible joke. "..don't go making footprints in the snow to scare old ladies." Okay.. it sounded way better when he did it. Her hand remained above Alice's knee, but her face became awkwardly embarrassed at her best 'Mason' attempt and looked back to the coffee table.
 

NOTES: I tried to be Mason. It didn't work.
WEARING: Here. 

＃ENY ADOXOGRAPHY

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Will Chase + Claire Elliot + Mason Warner + Persephone Dean + Dominic Weaver

The blue haired teen perked up as it became evident that people were agreeing with her idea, at least for now. Mason had attempted a new nickname for Claire, which once again missed the mark. Alice winced in sympathy at his failed attempt to tag the other girl with a more casual name, and in sympathy for the poor girl who was in reception of it. At least Al was just a straight forward abbreviation. “Great!” Most people seemed in agreement that they needed to find out how exactly these strange abilities worked. The best way to do that would surely be to try it out on a patch of waste ground; or better yet, a warehouse so they wouldn’t be spotted. After all, they didn’t want to kill anyone with these abilities, and that would be scarily possible now that Dominic had become Electro. She could almost feel the static that he was generating, and she wasn’t entirely sure if it was as a result of his new power, or just the excitement that he was clearly experiencing. Whatever it was, she could feel it starting to affect her as well. She might not have powers but at least she could be a part of whatever it was that was happening. Like Oracle in Batman, or Overwatch in Arrow. “So where do we go?”

© seadra of gs

[Persephone Dean]

Side Effects May Vary

It seemed like Claire was continuing to play the role of Mason’s shadow, even making an obvious attempt at replicating his overly cheerful, immature sense of humour. She forced out a polite laugh, shaking her head in bemusement just in case anyone thought she’d actually found the joke funny of its own accord. It definitely seemed to be in her best interests to keep somewhat on the group’s good side for now and she could always haul some of the more useful members aside in order to focus their attention on tracking down the doctor.

Will was obviously good at what he did and seemed obsessive once he properly set his mind on a task. He would be undoubtedly instrumental in unravelling the mystery. Claire was just a random art student and Alice seemed childish, even for her age. They’d be no use, she imagined. Mason’s new power could actually come in handy for more hands-on detective work and Dominic no doubt had access to all kinds of contacts and resources.

Persephone was finding herself relying on the males of the group for this one. It was disappointing but not a real issue. Maybe Claire and Alice would have their uses elsewhere.

“You guys should follow up any places you know of,” she said, mostly directed at Will. “I know there are a ton of warehouses further south,” she suggested vaguely. “San Mateo county kinda way, unless you’re planning on travelling even further away from the city. No idea if there are any isolated enough for our purposes… Or alternatively there might be places in nearby shipyards.” Persephone shrugged and grinned apologetically.

There, she’d been as helpful as she could. It was not very helpful, but she considered it important to contribute to the discussion if it would help them to progress – or if it appeared like it would help them to progress. Sometimes all people needed to remember was that you’d said something relevant, not what it was.

“When are we planning on doing this? ‘Cause I have work most days…”

ψ

[Dominic Weaver]

Surge The best part of “believe” is the “lie”. + Mason Warner + Will Chase + Claire Elliot + Persephone Dean + Alice Morrow

Dominic nodded, it seemed that even if everyone wasn’t on board with his initial concept, they were still willing to start exploring exactly what was going on since the accident. As far as he was concerned, that meant it was only a matter of time before they started to find out just how they could change the world with their new abilities. “That’s great, Will, could you check if there are any of those places that we could use? As for warehouses Persephone, I’ll have a look and see if any of them have a short term lease available. Someone will be amenable to not asking questions.” After all, he didn’t want someone else jumping the gun on these abilities, someone who took cash and didn’t care what they did with the warehouse would probably not be too hard to find. As to Persephone’s concerns, he could appreciate them at least. He had enough money to take a few days off, and enough trust in his staff to allow them to run things, but he usually got restless when he spent too long out of the office. The only thing keeping him out now was these new powers and the possibilities they represented. “We’re all adults, we should be able to find some time that we can all meet up, or most of us anyway. I know you work a lot but I’m sure we can fit something in. Besides, do we really need everyone to be there all the time? It’ll be great to get a few people to help out and experiment, but it might just get confusing if all six of us are there…”

© seadra of gs

[Mason Warner]

Side Effects May Vary

Practising was good. Establishing limits and applications was something that Mason actually had some experience of. Magical powers, not so much, but he felt like he could at least be a little useful in the process of experimenting with them. There was so much about his own power that he didn’t understand yet – its passive and unyielding nature was a little difficult to work with, after all – so his only hope in controlling it was by learning how it functioned.

He wasn’t feeling overly optimistic yet about his own ability, but he was hopeful that he could help the others get to grips with theirs. Persephone’s seemed pretty tame but he’d be more than happy to help out if it turned out to be more complex. The experimentation had already started with Claire’s newfound toughness and, well, who could be better placed to assist Dominic than an ex-electrician?!

Claire’s reaction to the new potential nickname wasn’t awful, but he could do better. It was becoming apparent that he was seizing potential projects like they were limited editions – anything to distract himself. He took on board the two shakes of the head. It had to be something else.

Her humour was well-intended and he laughed perhaps a little excessively in response. What he’d actually been after was a concrete offer of assistance… there was no way he could live a normal life independently now without revealing his invisible nature. She’d definitely tried to reassure him though, and he appreciated that she was trying to do so at his level. Maybe it was just hard to get across to the others that a grown man was requesting babysitting.

“Well, Tater Tat, with all these recent events I wouldn’t be surprised if it did start snowing here.” He laughed. “And in June, of all months, why not?”

Mason liked the idea of renting a warehouse. It fit with his vision of having a base (a mental vision which was currently borrowing a little too much from the Batcave for the interior) and it seemed a good way of ensuring relative privacy.

“I’m sure you guys have it covered, but if you want me to check out a warehouse or two I can probably do that pretty stealthily,” he announced, the hesitant pride that been rising in his voice suddenly collapsing as his foot slipped off the coffee table with a thud. It dragged a set of keys with it, drawing even more attention to his act of clumsiness.

He chuckled. “Or, uh, not. Count me in for any experiments though. We don’t need to figure out everyone all at once, but I’d like to be there with the ones who are available. It’s not like I can go into the office right now anyway…”

ψ