8. Public + messages

[orderfromchaos]

[Public, video]

So, uh. Some of you who frequent the eighth floor common room might have noticed. An extremely geometrical tree where your coffee table used to be.

I can fix that. I mean, I'm going to. Fix that. Unless you guys like it? I mean. Whatever. It's not my floor. Let me know.



[Private to Vin]

[There's a long period of silence. Okay, it's only like ten seconds, but that feels like a lot.]

So. That. Happened.



[Private to Elsa]

...have fun?



[Private to Rogue]

A while back you offered to help people work with their powers. Is that still a thing?



[Private to Helena]

You, uh. Don't have to respond to this at all if you aren't comfortable, or anything. But if there's anything you want to ask me, I'll try my best to answer. And I won't be mad or anything.

Comments

private audio

[adelphoktonos]

[There's many more questions she could ask, a lot of places this conversation could go, but some would cut too close to the bone right now, for her if not for him. The silence stretches out for far too long to be comfortable.]

Why are you here? What deal did you strike?

private audio

[orderfromchaos]

I got myself into something I thought I couldn't get out of.

Military prison. I thought I was hurting the world, changing too much, and they could keep me from doing more damage. But it didn't work out that way. But getting out was harder than getting in, and he offered, so. I came.

I did escape, a little while ago. I haven't figured out what my new deal should be, exactly. My world is in a lot of danger but I don't know what to ask for that would actually fix it. But I won't abandon Elsa, so. She's why I'm really here, now.

private audio - I THOUGHT I'D REPLIED TO THIS SORRY

[adelphoktonos]

Elsa. She's your inmate here, yes?

[Do you look after her well? she almost asks but doesn't. There was steel in that other boy, a sharp edge to him that she felt rather than saw. The differences between him and this version of him are important. She wants to know, but he's sharing a lot without many questions and she wants to see how he chooses to reply.]

IT HAPPENS

[orderfromchaos]

Yeah. She reminds me of me, a couple years ago.

[He's Invested. Dillon has his edges - more of them, even, serrated and less well-honed, awkwardly shuffled out of sight most of the time, but never really well-hidden.]

private audio - <3

[adelphoktonos]

Do you use your powers on her? To redeem her?

private audio - <3

[orderfromchaos]

Not - not to change her. I don't think that would count.

I help her calm down a little bit. Sometimes.

private audio

[adelphoktonos]

Mm.

Do you believe in God?

[orderfromchaos]

Yeah.

[Quietly. It's - hard, some days. But he still does.]

[adelphoktonos]

Good.

What can you do? How much?

[orderfromchaos]

Heal. Bring back the dead. Shatter minds. I could break the world, but I don't know if I can save it.

Lots of things. Too much, most of the time.

[adelphoktonos]

Why do you think God gave you such power?

[orderfromchaos]

[That's the million dollar question, isn't it.]

I think I'm supposed to protect people.

Not from like - suffering. That's life. But there's a thing. There are things that eat souls, and even I can't bring them back. I got rid of one but more are coming.

[He's scared. But he's doing the thing young soldiers do, when they are boys but not children, with a high jaw and hard eyes.]