got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
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Post by Nathan Havelock on Jun 3, 2018 17:52:43 GMT
 Through the Looking Glass Carol’s smile broadened considerably at Alice’s mention of Stephen’s ‘Hero Chic’. Nate had found all the costumes pretty cool and even enjoyed some of the artier, more “fashion” looks, but his overall impression of the guy had been severely tainted by the cuttingly jealous glares Stephen had sent his way while they were escaping the after-party. Surprisingly, despite meeting Ashley on several occasions, they had not crossed paths since. Stephen was obviously not interested in being friends with the people Alice had chosen to date.
“I remember that collection well, yes! How very cutting edge,” his mother commented, looking genuinely impressed. “I did manage to run into him in New York, of course, but it would be fabulous to get in touch again.” Never wasting an opportunity to expand her network, of course. “I assume you know him well?”
Nate couldn’t imagine a more awkward experience for Alice than introducing his mother to Stephen – who was, after all, not Nate’s biggest fan – but it would be severe bonus points in her eyes if she even made the offer. He noticed with some relief that Carol was trying to act casual about the whole Hero Chic party, otherwise she would have undoubtedly started name-dropping and there’s no way he could have kept a straight face once she brought up Paladin.
Alice swiftly changed the topic from Nate’s friends – it was going nowhere anyway, and she didn’t exactly know them herself – and Lewis looked across the table at her in gentle surprise.
“I run a large financial conglomerate – we’ve expanded greatly over the last decade or so, but I’ve yet to convince Nathan to come aboard,” he added with a chuckle. Lewis had long given up on tempting Nate into the family business. Carol, on the other hand, seemed to have a lingering hope that Nate might tire of medicine some day.
Nate rolled his eyes. “Tempting though the offer is, obviously.”
At that point Carol entered the room, a plate in each hand. “You wouldn’t mind helping with the rest of the plates, would you Alice?” Nate looked up eagerly to see what was on offer – it probably wouldn’t rival Alice’s cooking, but it was sure to be something delicious all the same, if needlessly fancy. He was looking forward to hearing Alice’s critiques after dinner.
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
Post by Nathan Havelock on Jun 3, 2018 11:19:58 GMT
Paving the Way to Understanding and Control It was amazing to see that Sky had still been asleep, even after all the hustle and bustle of people coming in and out of the room. She must be a heavy sleeper and evidently she had been exhausted after all her efforts the day before. Her first question surprised him.
“Did I sleep here? No, no, why do you ask that?” There was a gentle chuckle in his tone.
He watched as she hauled herself up, the sleepiness gradually fading from her face as she gripped the side of the bed. She followed his eyes to the wall and stared in shock at it, then turned to him. He frowned at her next questions; there was definitely a lot of denial still lingering in Sky’s head. As if the words and drawings could have come from anyone else.
“You did this,” he said simply, gesturing towards it. “In your sleep. Looks like your mind was still going over that vision.”
He joined her in examining the wall, his eyes flickering across the scene as he picked up the little details of it all.
“You’ll be happy to hear that a team is working to secure the building – they’re especially interesting in finding this guy,” Nate pointed to the face. “Seems like maybe the explosion might not be an accident.”
He stepped back. “What do you think? See anything interesting there?”
He asked in case there was something of significance that she'd noted in her vision that might now connect up with what she had produced in her sleep. Sky was sure to have the best perspective thanks to her ability to witness the event before it actually happened - she just needed to think.
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
Post by Nathan Havelock on Jun 3, 2018 9:51:54 GMT
Blue Lips, Blue Veins Nate smiled, happy that Claire wasn’t immediately shooting his theory down. “No, I gotta admit it’s an idea that’ll need some testing. I was thinking of discussing it with Dr. Newton, I believe he’s been wanting to run a few things by you anyway.”
He paused, taking a drink as he pondered the idea further. The fire-breathing aspect of Claire’s power set wasn’t really taken into consideration at the MNRU – Nate supposed there wasn’t much use for a short-range offensive ability when you were always contained within the walls of the research unit. Still, the power had been demonstrated on the odd occasion for Dr. Williams’ interest and Nate had marvelled at the glow of her dragon tattoo piercing through the fabric of her clothes as the flame burst from her mouth. The thick skin was more of a hurdle than a gift to the people she worked with, but Nate was oddly fond of it and the way it coloured her skin-
“-You’re not... blue when you dream-walk?”
He was so unsure of the statement’s truth that it came out as more of a question, but it felt like there was something there. Was he just imagining things in his mind’s eye out of desperation? It had been so long since he’d witnessed Claire at work – they didn’t allow him too much access to the high security areas of the facility as a rule – that it felt like he could be making the whole thing up. He definitely needed to have a word with Dr. Newton. He would know.
“Noted – I’ll do my best to avoid zombifying you. I like my brains where they are,” he teased, following her lead in making light of the subject as though both of them weren’t acutely aware that it was in fact a pretty dark one indeed.
She was shaking a little at the thought of her dreams, disturbing the surface of her tea. Nate’s features pulled together into a sorrowful frown, wishing that he had been able to do more to prevent them. It was frustrating to feel like any progress they’d made was just a drop in the ocean.
“You’ve been through the dreams before and come out the other side,” he reminded her gently. “It might feel helpless but we will work through this, okay? There’s a way forward but it’s definitely uphill.” He shook his head with a sigh. “Is it always the same sequence of events? Anything they’ve been particularly focusing on?”
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
Post by Nathan Havelock on Jun 1, 2018 17:09:34 GMT
Paving the Way to Understanding and Control That morning, Nate was pulled to one side and informed that his “fortune-teller” had been active during the night in her sleep. Dr. Joyce Williams had already been very interested in the case and had been personally overseeing phone calls made to the building and the subsequent investigations. So far nothing had been identified, but Nate was sure further progress would be made this morning.
They had had photos, but it was all still there for Nate to see with his own eyes. He glanced briefly through – he was sure the team Dr. Williams had on the case would be combing through it carefully themselves – but decided it was best to wait and see it for himself.
Sure enough, Nate entered the room to be greeted by a series of fine scribbles above Sky’s bed. There was a building, again drawn in precise detail rather than in any artful way, and other written details that could all connect to the vision she had been experiencing so vividly the day before.
Nate came in slowly, smiling gently at her. “Good morning, sleepyhead – looks like you’ve been busy! How are you feeling?”
He remembered the first time he had met her yesterday – how the notes had pointed towards her being non-verbal and uncooperative – and thought with relief how much she had opened up to him so far. Hopefully she would make even more progress once they could connect the dots of her night-time scrawlings – she was so desperate to understand and control her power, and so desperate for the people in that building to be saved. For them to fail would be a huge blow.
No pressure.
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
Post by Nathan Havelock on Jun 1, 2018 16:58:14 GMT
Through the Looking Glass The best way to lie was to tell as much of the truth as possible. Lying by omission really wasn’t such a crime when you were protecting your secret identity as the country’s most famous hero, anyway, right? Nate certainly didn’t feel too bad about failing to mention that he had actually met Paladin first, Alice second, and he certainly didn’t feel too bad about failing to mention that his third introduction of the night had been to Alice’s hotel room. There were some details that parents didn’t need, or want, to know.
His mother’s eyes had lit up. She had been there too, of course, and had considered it one of the highlights of her social calendar at that time. She had attended the February occasion as well, but Nate had managed to be too excruciatingly busy for that one.
“Amazing – a designer, you say? Will I have seen any of his work?”
Having finished her own wine, with her husband lacking a glass at all, Carol then suggested they move through to the dining room while she prepared the first course. Lewis followed her into the kitchen and emerged with more wine – topping up their glasses en route to his chair. Nate thanked him cheerfully and made a small show of offering Alice her seat before walking round to his own.
“Business good?” he asked his father.
“Of course,” Lewis said with a nod, and then he fell silent.
Nate was feeling under pressure to push the conversation further – normally that was where it ended, but in Alice’s presence he felt like it should continue before she died of awkwardness.
“Harriet told me you met up with her mom the other week,” he said eventually, trying to conjure up something. “Expanding into petroleum engineering now?”
Lewis scoffed. “Not if I can help it. Lovely girl though, that Harriet. We haven’t seen her in a while – you should bring her for dinner.”
Nate cringed at the comment, so brazenly spoken in front of the girl he had actually chosen to bring for dinner. There was nothing between Harriet and himself, but that hadn’t stopped every girlfriend he had ever had from being uncontrollably jealous of her. Lewis’ comments wouldn’t help if Alice was feeling the same way. He looked across the table at her. Hopefully she wasn’t jealous.
“She’s still travelling the world at the moment,” Nate said lightly, doing his best to pass the question by. “Tyler should be back soon, though.”
“Ah.”
His parents weren’t quite as big fans of Tyler. He was the closest thing to a bad influence Nate had, after all, and those weren’t usually popular no matter how wealthy or successful their parents were.
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
May 29, 2018 10:52:22 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on May 29, 2018 10:52:22 GMT
Let the Healing Begin “That’s the date you’ve written down – tomorrow. It’s okay, don’t panic,” he said gently. “That still gives us a lot of time to figure things out. A little sense of urgency never hurt, right?” he added with a teasing grin.
Her sigh at Nate’s suggestion to try and test her ability once more showed that even now she didn’t understand its purpose. He made a mental note to keep his future instructions for her as simple and easy to follow as possible. It also made him a little concerned for her future and even less sure about informing Dr. Williams about Sky’s ability – if she was confused by a test as simple as that then she could be particularly vulnerable to the kind of exploitation Nate suspected was rife in the higher-security areas of the MNRU. He’d have to keep a close eye on her, maybe get her away from the research unit as quickly as possible.
Hopefully once she felt a sense of control and at least some understanding of her power, Nate could discharge her. She’d probably had enough of being confined to hospital walls, anyway.
At least she tried, adopting a similar position to the one she had used to explore her previous vision. However, with a sigh, she opened her eyes and revealed that she was unable to see that particular future. Nate nodded, thankful that she hadn’t just guessed this time. Then she made a prediction – a different one, but still usable – and Nate sat up straight.
“You saw her in a vision? In this room, at this time, with me present? We can use that!” he said excitedly. Nate jumped to his feet, swiftly locking the door. “If I can prevent that, then we know we can prevent the disaster! Do you see?”
A few moments later, somebody tried to open the door. There was a pause, a sigh of frustration and then a knock and a jangling of keys.
“It’s okay!” Nate said through the door. “It’s me, Dr. Havelock. I’m conducting a private assessment – I’ll take the tray out when I leave, don’t worry.”
There was a pause before he heard a muffled, slightly confused “Okay”, and then the nurse left. He turned back to Sky, triumphant. “Was that it – did I stop the vision?”
Nate gathered his notes. “You can rest now, I’ll talk to my seniors and see what we can do about your vision. Everything’s going to be okay, Sky.” She was so tired now that her eyes were closing of their own accord. “You can rest.” Notes tucked under one arm, he also took the empty tray, true to his word. Now just for the small task of saving people’s lives…
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
May 28, 2018 20:57:48 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on May 28, 2018 20:57:48 GMT
Through the Looking Glass Brief introduction to her husband complete, Carol pursed her lips and gave the table a long look. “I think I might have it painted white to bring some light into the centre of the room. Brightening your living spaces is very important at this time of year,” she told Alice, the look on her face suggesting that Alice should be very grateful for this nugget of interior design wisdom. “That was a gift from a friend. Her husband collects interesting pieces, you see. She knows I have an interest.”
“You gave me something like that once,” Nate said, amusement twisting his mouth into a lop-sided grin. “I still have it.”
At this, his mother shot him a somewhat piercing glare. “Ah yes, you moved it to the windowsill in your bathroom last I saw.”
He beamed broadly. “It brightens up the room, mom.”
Lewis chuckled, though gently. He was wiser than to directly antagonise his wife with uproarious laughter at Nate’s defiance. Instead he turned his attentions to Alice.
“Wonderful to meet you, Alice,” he said. The way he said her name suggested he was hearing it for the first time, and not the fiftieth as was actually the case. “Has he indeed?”
He turned to Nate. “Only good things, I hope.”
“What else is there to tell?”
Carol smiled delicately at Nate’s innocently-presented response. “Let’s not talk about us, I’m afraid we’re not very interesting. I’d love to hear more about you, Alice. And the both of you! How did you meet?”
She had asked him this before but he’d brushed it off. He’d assumed he’d done so successfully, but apparently Carol’s curiosity was piqued. If only she knew the truth… that she had in fact met Alice before on the very same night that they had. He’d have loved to have seen the look on her face if Alice had said that. But no, probably best not to reveal her secret identity on the first meet-the-parents. Nate wasn’t sure that his mother could actually be trusted to handle such information with the secrecy it demanded anyway.
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
May 28, 2018 10:51:47 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on May 28, 2018 10:51:47 GMT
Let the Healing Begin Nate took his notes back from Sky, quickly scanning the page for the date she’d presumably written on it before collapsing back against the head of her bed. She looked tired which wasn’t too surprising – even without taking into consideration the physical exertion that may be required for her to use her power, all the tears she’d cried were exhausting enough on their own. He caught her eye.
“So this happens tomorrow…” he said, glancing back down at the page in search of more clues.
He was fairly sure he knew where the building was and, fortunately, that meant it was actually in San Francisco rather than on the other side of the world. Once they could prove that Sky could not only tell the future, but also that it could be changed, then he could alert the higher-ups and they could investigate the scene. Maybe the Hero program would need to be involved, or maybe it was a simple case of identifying a potential source of an explosion – be it a fault or the intent of a more deliberate actor.
Nate pulled the coin out once more. “That gives us some time. Time to figure out if we can alter the future and time to contact Dr. Williams. Is that okay, or do you need some rest?”
He passed it between his hands before hiding it behind his back. If she was ready, she could try to predict the outcome with her visions, and then Nate would see if he could change that. If she wasn’t, he could always come back in a few hours. Hopefully they wouldn’t lose too much precious time in preventing the disaster – if they even could.
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
May 26, 2018 10:48:46 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on May 26, 2018 10:48:46 GMT
Let the Healing Begin Sky collapsed into tears yet again. Nate waited, fully understanding now just how emotional she was, and sure enough she had eventually cried herself once more. She grabbed his notes once more, and Nate could only hope that the piece of paper she had chosen was unimportant because she’d started drawing without warning.
Her eyes were shut as the pen moved across the paper. It reminded Nate a little of the times he had seen Claire work, although the drawing lacked her creative eye and natural, graceful movements, but for what it lacked in creative artistry it made up for in very clear, fine detail. Even from where he was sat, Nate could tell that Sky was producing the images straight from her mind’s eye without any hesitation. After a while her eyes opened up and Sky passed it over to him, saying nothing.
Nate scanned the image.
“Okay, this gives us some clues.”
He looked up at her, wishing the pleading look would fade. It was so hard when it felt like your patient was pinning all their hopes on you. Competent though he was, it didn’t get any easier to be relied upon 100%. Nate could only hope that this session would give Sky at least some sense of agency.
“Noon, right? It seems to be in daylight. Looks a nice day, weather-wise. And this guy reading the newspaper…” He squinted, trying and failing to make out any hint of a date or headline. “It’s perfect, if only we could see what the date on it is. Is that… possible?”
He was still a little amazed that his idea had worked at all – it felt like he was pushing the limits of her power now. Being able to know exactly when her vision took place would be an incredible achievement and hopefully give her the sense of control she was desperately seeking. Still, Nate wasn’t going to place any expectations on her shoulders, just gentle hope.
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
May 24, 2018 17:48:05 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on May 24, 2018 17:48:05 GMT
The Best Medicine Nate was enjoying watching Claire play hostess, particularly delighted in the care she took of the tea preparation. He would have to let Harriet know about it the next time she was in town – although the girl was such a globe-trotter at the moment that he had no idea when that would be. He was amazed she’d had the time to share her love of tea with Claire but… then again, maybe Harriet always had time for tea.
Claire’s succinct summary of how she came to be a resident at the MNRU was short and entirely avoiding addressing any emotional aspects. It was true, she was kept safe, but Nate felt like she was only being kept as safely as she was due to the influence of people like him working to keep Joyce Williams from burning her out.
“Claire helps a lot from what I’ve heard,” he added, a little pride creeping into his voice, tainted slightly by his concern that her “a lot” was bordering on “too much”. “She does all kinds of confidential Hero work. Yet she still finds time to be an exceptional artist and tea connoisseur on the side. If you want some more ideas for hobbies, Claire’s your gal.”
He sipped the tea – still not yet a convert away from coffee but definitely understanding how Claire and Harriet found it so satisfying.
“This is amazing tea,” Nate said, echoing Anna’s words. He breathed it in for a moment, enjoying it. “We should probably go after this, we were luckily to evade security on the way here and I think I’d like to achieve a similar feat on the way out.”
He paused. He could see so much potential benefit from these two interacting more. Nate tilted his head in thought. “Call this a crazy idea, I don’t know… Do you have a phone, or email or something?” he asked Claire. He genuinely wasn’t sure how much outside contact she was allowed.
“If not, I guess you could always use me as a penpal messenger guy. But I think it would be neat if you guys could stay in touch after this. Right?” He looked between the two of them – two strangers – seeking approval. He felt horribly like his mother trying to set him up with yet another rich socialite’s daughter, but he was hoping that this matchmaking effort might have a little more success. If not, no harm in trying, right?
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
May 24, 2018 11:25:13 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on May 24, 2018 11:25:13 GMT
Let the Healing Begin It seemed like Nate was finally getting through to Sky. In an instant she had managed to compose herself, tears no longer falling, and sat up on the bed with a nod in his direction. Then, closing her eyes, Sky began to take deep, peaceful breaths and Nate watched her cautiously for any signs of breaking down.
Miraculously, there were no more tears, only a frustrated sigh as she plunged back into the process with a roll of her eyes. Nate was amused – wondering if the girl had some secret attitude hidden behind the fear and vulnerability. He’d try to bring that to the surface by the end of her time here at the MNRU, he decided. If there was one thing Sky was severely lacking in, it was confidence.
Suddenly Sky broke the silence, her words slow but brimming with excitement. He saw her fingers tense on her knees as the vision came to life in her mind.
‘Now what’ was a good question, and one that Nate couldn’t possibly know if he had the right answer to or not. All he could do was make suggestions and hope that Sky’s intuition would guide her through the use of her power.
“We’re looking for some clue that could tell us when the vision happens,” he reminded her slowly, anxious not to break her concentration. “Anything at all – a clock, a newspaper, a calendar, a phone… Even the weather might give us an idea…”
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
May 23, 2018 20:23:27 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on May 23, 2018 20:23:27 GMT
Through the Looking Glass Nate was yet to sample Ashley’s cooking, though he’d met her many times. Alice hadn’t exactly sold the culinary experience to him somehow, and Ashley seemed equally eager to remain a healthy distance from the kitchen whenever possible. Apparently she was able to fend for herself but objected to doing so for the most part when she had a live-in chef at her disposal. Alice seemed to love having a live-in cheerleader, though, so it worked out.
Alice was positively enthusiastic in response to his mother’s question about wine. She smiled broadly, lips together. “Well then, I do hope my choices this evening… pop for you.”
Nate joined Alice in taking a very generous sip as they followed after Carol, not having quite the same reservations as Alice when it came to over-indulging. He was planning on making the evening as bearable as possible and he knew he could count on his father to keep their glasses filled.
He had spent the majority of his childhood in this large apartment, although the interior had changed a hundred times over since he had last called it home. Nate’s old bedroom had long been turned into a tasteful guest room. If he closed his eyes, he could still picture his mother’s horror when he and Tyler had plastered the walls in posters. They’d been fifteen so their tastes had been… less than refined.
Alice, of course, had not spent the majority of her childhood here and as such was impressed by the understated grandeur of it all.
“It’s fantastic, isn’t it? Especially when the fog behaves itself,” his mother added with a faint sigh, casting her eyes distastefully over the day’s choice of weather. “Now, I know there’s no use asking Nathan, so come and look at this coffee table. What do you think?”
Nate settled himself into the sofa, propping himself up against one of the many designer cushions. She always asked him his opinion about the furniture in her home and he never had an answer. He didn’t really care what the coffee table looked like, so long as it supported a healthy stack of books, the TV remote and a couple of mugs of coffee. From what he could tell, the Havelocks’ current table fulfilled that purpose, although it didn’t have anything remotely useful on it such as books or remotes. That would ruin the aesthetic, apparently.
Once Alice had responded, there was a quiet creak and an increased aroma of tobacco as Lewis appeared in the doorway. He gave a small smile to all present before moving to the armchair besides Nate.
“This is my husband, Lewis,” his mother explained, as though that wasn’t clear. Lewis nodded wordlessly in Alice’s direction by way of greeting.
This was going just about as well as Nate could have hoped. He took another healthy swig of wine.
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
May 23, 2018 12:18:11 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on May 23, 2018 12:18:11 GMT
Let the Healing Begin Nate turned his attention back to the drawing for a second.
“Okay. How about we try to figure out how long we have. This vision seems very clear and specific, maybe there could be some clues as to when it occurs. If we know we have some time to stop it, then that should take the pressure off and you might find it easier to focus.”
He waited for Sky to emerge from sobbing into her pillow before sliding the picture across to her. His gaze was steady but firm as he looked at her, trying his best to help pull her out of her hysteria. He was speaking slowly but confidently now.
“Don’t worry about anything else. Try to remember this one. Look, you’ve done so well in remembering so much detail – you’re good at this! Trust me!”
Nate sat up a little straighter. “Close your eyes and just focus on your breathing. Just in, out, nice and calm. When you’re ready, try to step back into the vision. If it gets too much, just go back to your breathing. It’s okay. Take your time. There might be some hint as to when it happens, maybe the weather, the moon, a nearby newspaper or calendar even…”
Hopefully if Sky could succeed at this task then it would give her more confidence in focusing in on other visions that could then give them the proof they needed that her visions weren’t set in stone. The coin was slipped away into his pocket for now until she was ready.
“Close your eyes,” he instructed. “And breathe.”
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
May 22, 2018 13:12:11 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on May 22, 2018 13:12:11 GMT
Let the Healing Begin He could tell by the slight huff that Sky hadn’t realised why it was so important to test whether they could avoid the outcomes of her visions, and it was with disappointment that he heard her say that she hadn’t seen it in her head. She didn’t seem interested in even trying, which was frustrating, but Nate did his best to coax her along.
Easily, he shifted the coin into his right hand instead. He put both his hands back in front then unveiled it quickly. “Well, I could change it. But that doesn’t matter if you didn’t predict it anyway. Do you see what I’m trying to do though?” It occurred to him that maybe Sky didn’t understand the whole process at all, let alone its significance. Perhaps she was too emotional to think straight, which was understandable.
Her tone was forceful now, adamantly demanding they do something to save the people in her vision. Nate had to hold himself back. I’m trying, if you would just listen to me. Sky raised her voice considerably as she pleaded with him.
He took a deep breath.
“I want to save those people. We will save those people if we can. I need to know if we can, and that means knowing that we can change the future you see. Okay?”
He was speaking slowly and calmly, keeping the frustration at bay for now. He too was worried about the vision Sky had described, and he too wanted to help, but he couldn’t risk setting her back with the trauma of failing to stop an inevitable conclusion.
“Can you see any other visions? Anything small, that we can try to stop? If we succeed, that means we’ll be able to try and help those people in your building-vision. But we need to know that’s possible first, or else we have no hope. We could try the coin again, but only if you really try this time. At the moment we could ask the building to be evacuated, but they won’t believe us without any proof – we need that. Okay?”
Nate could only hope he was getting through to her.
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got a photograph dream on the getaway mile
ALIAS
Nate
AGE
26
Inactive
|
May 21, 2018 21:32:07 GMT
Post by Nathan Havelock on May 21, 2018 21:32:07 GMT
Through the Looking Glass Really, Nate wasn’t sure how he’d ended up in this situation. Alice was by far the coolest – was the coolest the right word for a total nerd? – girlfriend he’d ever had and that meant his parents would definitely not approve. As such, he’d kind of enjoyed the last few months of quietly dating her behind their backs. Unfortunately things were getting quite serious and there was only so much dodging of his mother’s matchmaking attempts that Nate could attempt before he would let something slip. It was best to come clean…
Carol Havelock instantly insisted on dinner, Nate instantly insisted on a more lowkey occasion, and the compromise ended up being a meal at his parents’ home. Nate was feeling more and more like that had secretly been his mother’s plan all along.
His father was vaguely intrigued – he’d asked Nate if he knew her family and grew less interested once Nate made it clear that Alice did not have her own pipe-smoking father that Lewis could hide away in the study with.
Alice was about as terrified as could be expected. She’d handled Carol’s social pleasantries perfectly fine as Paladin but meeting her afresh as Alice Morrow was a whole new ball game. Her hair looked extra blue where her face seemed a little paler than usual. Maybe, hopefully, it was just the light.
“Did I ever say this was a good idea?” he said softly, sighing dramatically. “Hey, no,” he grabbed her head and planted an overly enthusiastic kiss on her forehead. “We’ll survive, and it’s not like I care about her approval anyway. Just make all the right yum-noises about my mom’s cooking and I’m sure everything will be okay.”
Nate was trying to convince both Alice and himself, and he wasn’t doing a terribly great job for either of them. Still, there was nothing more he could say, as the door swung open seconds later.
“Nathan! How nice to see you on time. This must be Alice – please do come in – hello!”
Carol had drinks ready and waiting for them on the dainty entrance side-table, her own clutched elegantly in one hand. Nate’s father had obviously decided to hide away in his office until explicitly called for – the faint smell of tobacco creeping through the door. Nate busied himself with hanging up his jacket and taking of his shoes, with his mother taking the opportunity to introduce herself.
“I’m Carol, lovely to meet you.” Nate started to go faster with his shoes, returning quickly to Alice’s side, drinks in hand, so she didn’t have to be alone for too long.
“What’s this?” he asked pleasantly as he handed Alice’s over.
Carol waved a hand. “Just a Merlot, darling, 2010. We’ll have the nice wine with dinner – your father’s picked something out. You do like wine, don’t you?” she asked quickly, turning back to Alice. She spoke it like it was concern for Alice’s preferences, but it was pretty obviously the first of many tests. Fortunately, Nate knew Alice had nothing to fear when it came to her tastes in food and drink. If anything, her only concern would be knowing far more than Carol.
As they spoke, Carol led them down the hall to the lounge, which had clearly been redecorated again in whatever the latest interior design trend was amongst her friends. The smell of smoke from one of the wooden doors off the lounge was the only indication of his father’s presence, but Nate nodded courteously towards it all the same, smirking with amusement at the old habit.
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