RP Act I: Tanzanite


For a moment, she considered telling him the truth about their location. That what they actually did there was take in special cases like him and keep them in line. That everyone in that building was strong enough, or clever enough, to take his ass and lay it out flat on the ground. She wanted to talk about Pyrrhotite, and how the girl could take his ass down like it was nothing. She wanted to talk about Pras, and how clever he was. She wanted to talk about Sel, and how gifted and controlled she was.

Instead, Ame smiled and the words that came out of her mouth were, “Listen. We can take care of our own. You would be no danger to anyone there, and even if you were, I could put you on your ass, kid. Now, why don’t you come and stay for just a night? A hot shower, a soft bed- got to be better than wherever you’re staying right now.”

Smokey shook her head where she stood by the tree. She didn’t like this. But she didn’t have a bad feeling about it. And Smokey trusted her gut. She was rarely wrong about when things were a bad idea. This wasn’t pinging as that. This just left a bad taste in her mouth, but that might also have been watching the… man… eat another person. She could just not like what he was. She looked up at Selenite, and in as light a tone and as soft a voice as she possibly could, knowing the wind would carry the words to her pupil’s ears, she said, “If we bring this thing home with us, can you keep it separated if need be?”

Ame, out in the middle of the trail, carefully extended a hand toward the kid. There was no fear on her face as she did so, only a hint of caution mixed with the brazen confidence. If he tried anything, she’d shock the fuck out of him and he’d be down before he knew what hit him. But Ame felt like that wasn’t something she’d have to do.​
 
Selenite could see it — him — seriously considering the options. As much as she decidedly did not like Amethyst being in arm’s reach of him, his expression told her everything before he even spoke, scratching his curly-haired head.

“A shower with real water pressure does sound appealing,” he admitted. “A bed would be more than the night, though. I sleep like a bear after eating. Could be a day, day and a half, depending. If one of your baby birds is willing to sleep on the floor for that long, then I don’t have any reason not to take it. Oh – and I’d want to finish up here first, if you don’t mind. I really don’t like to waste all that effort I put into getting food.”

Sel wasn’t really listening to him. She was using his definite distraction with Ame to address a question directed to her.

“I can.” She spoke quietly, using the air to carry her words right down to Smokey, with no chance the monster would hear her. “I suggest entrusting him to Opalite when we get back, though. She’s the only one who could act quickly enough and with enough force to surprise him if something happens.”

Opalite was young, but she’d like the job, Sel was pretty sure. Her ability would be more than enough to keep this thing in check once back at the location, and she had a feeling the younger girl would be infatuated with everything about this. Infatuated to a disturbing degree, but to just the right degree to ensure it wouldn’t be leaving her sight anytime soon. Of course, whether that would happen would be up to the directors; Selenite was just making a suggestion.​
 

Ame smiled, bright and cheerful. She got him. “You wouldn’t be taking a bed from anyone. We keep extra rooms for newcomers and visitors. You’d be put up in one of those.”

She withdrew her hand when he didn’t reach for it, but she was fine with that. She wasn’t hurt by that at all. This would give them the time they needed to convince him to stay, to integrate him into their family. After all, Obsidian was going to want to talk to him. Even if they couldn’t convince him to stay, it was highly likely they could at least convince him to head to Philly to meet Obsidian. Another predator, another thing like him, would surely be of interest once they had a chance to explain it to the kid.

"We're more than happy to wait for you to finish before we go."

Over by the tree, Smokey nodded her head thoughtfully. Opalite was an interesting choice, but the kid was very enthusiastic. She’d probably love the idea of watching their new monster. And Sel wasn’t wrong. Opalite could put him on his ass quickly while simultaneously alerting everyone to his transgression. She was a wise choice for guard detail until the kid woke up.

Of course, Smokey would expect nothing less from Selenite. She knew the teams just as well as Ame and Smokey.

“That’s a good idea. I think we’ll do just that. Opalite is a strong choice for keeping him in line.” She looked up to where the young woman sat in the tree and gave her an approving smile. Selenite was one of Smokey and Ame’s favorites, all things said. The woman was gifted but had enough trauma to fill a book. They had both taken to her instantly, and as much as Smokey liked to play the more distant one, she considered Selenite true family.​
 

Selenite smiled faintly back down at Smokey to acknowledge the appreciation. Although she sometimes disagreed with the directors’ decisions, she still wouldn’t ever question them. She trusted them, even if she didn’t trust this… man. As much as she wasn’t looking forward to inviting him back to Redeemer, and even less having to sit here for however long it took him to eat roughly 200lbs of human meat one bite at time, she trusted them.

“One more thing,” he said, as he got to work on the next part of his butchering, “I guess you should all know. When I wake up I’m not gonna remember any of this chat. I think my brain blocks out what I do when I’m hunting? Since that’s still human-ish. Anyway.”

He took a big bite out of the next piece that Sel found herself unwilling to try to identify.

“Tell me about this safehouse or whatever, yeah? Lots of other metas there? Is it like, a hotel, or just like, a foster home or something? Just so I know how big the shower might be.”​
 

Redeemer, as it was, was a relatively large complex. The property had originally been some kind of country club, and they had nearly tripled the size of the compound. It housed almost eighty people, a majority of whom were metas. The remainder were made up of their families who wouldn’t let them leave alone, or who had nowhere else to go. Smokey and Amethyst were known for being generous with the space. They did as much good in the city as they did bad. They helped out just as many people as they doomed.

They had placed him in a room at the far end of the visitor and short-term housing wing. It would give Opalite plenty of space to keep track of the man in case he tried to wreak havoc on the compound. They had seen what he did to people when he got his hands on them, and even if Amethyst trusted him, Smokey didn’t. They’d had a disagreement over setting Opalite to be his guardian, but Amethyst had eventually consented. After all, there really was no one better for the job.

Smokey knocked on the door of the room and pushed it open. Her eyes quickly flicked over the small, slim form of Opalite before landing on the sleeping form of Cryptid. He hadn’t so much as budged in the almost two days since they had brought him back. He hadn’t been kidding when he had said he slept like a bear. She looked back at Opalite, her expression softening slightly at her face. “How’s he keepin’, sugar?”

The girl had set up at the desk, and she had her art supplies spread out sporadically. She was in full art mode, her hair pulled back and covered with a paint-stained bandanna. She had earbuds in, but as she turned around to take a peek at Cryptid, Smokey knew she had been heard. This was how Opalite was when she was inspired.​
 

Opalite was in the zone. Her head bobbed slightly along with Florence & The Machine as she twisted in her chair and double checked his facial features, making sure she knew where the contours and angles were. He’d insisted on showering before passing out, but Opalite had been introduced to him before that – most of his clothes were probably unsalvageable based on the amount of blood.

She’d taken one look at that face, though, at those bright eyes and the dried blood, and knew that she’d found a muse.

Seven had been a doll and brought her paints up once she’d finished the charcoal sketch. Her usual method was to make a true-to-life portrait with thick, dark lines in black, then place a thick watercolor page over that and set at the vague outline with colors to fill it as her heart and mind saw fit. She’d done several like this for different people around – one or two for Rut, more for Super Seven, and some for the Directors (or Moms, as she still accidentally called them). She was working through the abstract layer when she saw the door open again out of the corner of her eye, with a Mom standing there. Opalite took one earbud out, though she was almost sure that the question hadn’t changed in sixty minutes.

“Exactly the same as an hour ago,” she said, turning back to the desk and double checking her charcoal sketch, “and the hour before that, and the hour before that.”

He wasn’t, actually. Normally she’d just tell Smokey that she’d seen his eyelids twitch a few times, but he’d said he wouldn’t remember everything when he woke up. It’d been sporadic over the last few hours, but she’d looked over her shoulder and seen it happen again. He was awake, and he was trying to get his bearings. She had no idea why he hadn’t gotten up yet – and admittedly, that piqued her interest. Especially after hearing Sel describe the things he’d done to the idiot who’d gone and gotten himself eaten for dinner. If he was going to try to attack her, he was in for a nasty surprise.

That wasn’t the vibe Opalite was getting, though. She didn’t have Seven’s vibe checker, not by a long shot, but something said that this wasn’t the same as the thing that had come back with Sel and the Moms last night. And she really, really wanted to be the first person to see who, exactly, this second stranger might be.​
 

Smokey chuckled a little as she watched the kid on the bed. He looked… younger, when he wasn’t covered in blood and guts. He looked normal. Dark curls and tanned skin. Coupled with his features, it was clear he wasn’t fully white. Maybe Greek? Either way, him asleep made her less uncomfortable than him awake.

Did his eyes just twitch?

She narrowed her eyes slightly and stared intently at his face, but his face remained in that neutral sleeping mask. She must have imagined it. She nodded and looked back at Opalite, covered as she was in charcoal and paint. She was in the zone, in her element, and Smokey felt bad about having to disturb her when she was clearly enjoying herself. If it were any other guest, she wouldn’t have hovered nearly so much. She sighed and started to back out of the room.

“You’ll come an’ get us right away if he budges, won’t ya?”​
 

“Soon as he’s up, you’ll be the first to know.”

Opalite’s smile was a bit more crooked than Smokey’s as the older woman left. She waited a few minutes after the door quietly closed, then turned back to the desk to pause her music. She mixed some more watercolors before speaking.

“You can sit up, y’know. I don’t bite.”

The steady breathing from the bed faltered. Opalite didn’t tense up or twitch, even as the full weight of the new monster’s attention centered in on her. She knew she looked like a lightweight – a little above average height, short blonde hair, a soft, round face. Somewhere between “cheerleader” and “gymnast” in build. She was used to being stared at for the same reasons she was usually underestimated.

He wouldn’t, though. She’d watched his figure when they were first introduced, and she knew he probably got the same attention, the same initial dismissal. But he had a grace about his movements, like a cat, almost, or a deer. Sel had mentioned the high whistling he could make; deer was closer, but deer sure didn’t eat people. Despite all that, he was painfully hting, enough so that clothes that fit him were impossible to find ready at Redeemer. It explained why he’d insisted on collecting his luggage.

The monster – Fowler, Todd Oscar – waited a long time before he spoke. Probably waiting to take in the room, exists and all. Checking to see if she was a threat.

“Um, sorry,” he finally said. Without the odd bliss, his voice was low and soft, just a little ragged at the edges from sleep. “I’m just… I don’t remember if we were introduced.”

Opalite laughed. She finally turned around, removing her earbud with her free hand. “That’s a neat sorta-truth, but you don’t need to bother. You mentioned the amnesia thing before you went to sleep.”

She stifled another giggle as he blinked his pretty blue eyes in surprise. “I…mentioned?”

“Don’t tell me you’re a deaf predator.” There was no stopping the laugh as he froze, eyes narrowing to frigid slits. “Chillax, tiger, Redeemer’s a safe place. For people like us, anyway.”

“Like us?”

“Different.” She flexed her free hand. “Dangerous, scary, even.”

He let his angular face relax into a smile. “You don’t seem that scary, but I’m sure you don’t get that a lot.”

“Right back atcha, buddy.”

His chuckle dwindled into a soft sigh. “Not when I’m like this, sure.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but you’re not half bad when you’re ‘like that,’ either.”

“I didn’t scare you at all.”

“Heck no. I think you’re cool as shit. You shook up Sel pretty good, though. And the moms Ame didn’t seem to mind too much, but Smokey and Selenite didn’t much like how cheery you were .after eating a whole guy”

“Uh– sorry. Your people saw that?” She saw the discomfort plainly written on his face. “And they brought me back to their– safe place? Why?”

Opalite shrugged.

“Iunno. Amethyst must’ve seen something in you. Or felt sorry for you if you mentioned not having a home, or family, or place to stay, or anybody who understood –”

She trailed off as the frown came back. It changed every shadow in his face, in the exact opposite way from what “the hunt” did. She memorized the new cast at a glance, and never lost her smile.

“Sorry, again, I don’t really…”

“Remember,” she interrupted, waving the third apology away with her free hand. Opalite shrugged. “It’s all cool. I’m sure they’ll fill you in and answer any questions you have left.”

She reached for her phone, typing a quick message: He’s up and normal! [thumbs up emoji]. She set the phone aside, and stood up to stretch, careful about her hands.

“And, hey. Keep this up and you might grow on Smokey. She’s not heartless. She’s just a worrywort.”
​
 

When Opalite walked in with the kid, he looked normal, or as normal as something that they knew had just eaten an entire person could look. He was looking around him, his eyes flashing from place to place as he took in his surroundings. Smokey and Amethyst’d had Opalite bring him to the meeting room, which was technically their small library. Shelves lined all the walls but the one where the fireplace sat. There were small couches and big chairs, all overstuffed and comfortable looking. A coffee table in the middle of the room, within reach of all of the seating, completed the room.

Smokey and Ame were curled up together on one of the small couches. Smokey had her arm thrown across the back and Amethyst was curled subtly into her partner’s side. They were whispering between themselves when the two showed in the doorway. They immediately stopped and turned their attention to the kid.

“So yer awake then. Come on in, take a seat. We need to talk to ya.” Smokey’s drawl was thick and she made no attempt to conceal it as she spoke. Despite that, her tone and pitch were casual and could possibly even be considered warm. Whether that was residual of talking to Ame or genuine warmth for the now normal-looking kid, there was no way to tell.

“Todd Fowler, right? I’m sorry, but one of our team members went through your things. We were going to leave it alone until you woke up, but she found your name and told it to us. Come sit, we aren’t looking for any trouble. We just want to talk to you. You told us you’d forget everything that happened, so we wanted to explain.” In contrast to her partner, Ame’s voice was almost accentless, a Newscaster accent, and was full of warmth and kindness.

Smokey’s eyes were still hard as they watched him, but something around the edges had softened ever so slightly. Something about the way he looked around him, like he was quickly trying to place everything and find exits, made her feel a bit more charitable. Maybe this really was a normal kid most of the time. Maybe Ame was right.

They were about to find out.​
 

Todd O. Fowler didn’t know where he was, wasn’t sure why he’d agreed to come here, and was following a strange twenty-something who seemed to like playing up her appearances to seem way younger than she actually was to meet with the “location directors.” Opalite, as she’d introduced herself, seemed to think she was dangerous enough to handle him if things got bad. He didn’t exactly want to question anyone who’d actually seen him in full hunt firsthand, so he didn’t bother.

He was somewhat tuning out her tour, even if he was looking in the directions she indicated. He’d learned a lot in the last hour. The last two hours he’d been awake, really, but the last one especially. Opalite didn’t really explain Slate or Redeemer beyond saying the words. He hadn’t missed that almost everyone here had a name that was a gemstone. Organization with funny nicknames. Definitely nothing suspicious there.

The most important thing that Todd had learned upon waking up was that his huntsong was, apparently, just him. Everything Opalite described was just… behaviors he’d display. Things he’d say, and leave out. So that meant that to some extent, he’d come to trust these people. Enough to sleep, anyway. To shower, to show them where he was staying. And maybe he’d had a bit of a right to it. Given they’d seen him eat and didn’t call the cops, or anything.

He’d told them about the amnesia thing, though. And that meant that he had to be on his toes about anything they told him about last night – two days ago, whatever. Apparently, he’d agreed to meet with the directors. Todd didn’t mind the idea. Years as a PI, however, had left him with the sense that everybody had an angle. They’d want something from him. He’d have to tell them that if he’d wanted to sell his teeth, he would’ve done it years ago, when he first realized what he was.

Years as a PI had also left him with an eye for detail. While normally he’d be less… obvious, about looking around when he came into a room, turning his head and face to find exits and escape routes made him seem a lot more threatened than threatening. It also meant some people might not notice his eyes actually lighting on important stuff. Organization of bookshelves, notable setpieces on the coffee table, the way the two women sat on the couch side by side without the faintest whiff of attraction between them.

When one of them addressed him, he looked her way. He did his best to read her face without seeming like he was reading her face. He skimmed over eye contact, and smiled without teeth.

“Holler if ya need me!” Opalite chirped, as soon as a nosy team member was mentioned, before disappearing from the doorway. He turned his head to watch her go, then looked back at Smokey Quartz and Amethyst.

“Hey. Yeah, that’s me. Sorry about – whatever happened. I can’t imagine it was nice.”

Todd rubbed the back of his neck and put one hand in a pocket. His eyes turned toward the two waiting women. His posture communicated something relaxed, if a little awkward. He wasn’t afraid of them. Maybe he should be.

Only one way to find out.
​
 

Smokey’s eyes seemed to relax the rest of the way and she breathed out a soft sigh. Ame looked at her and she looked back. They stared at each other for a moment before the darker-skinned woman nodded, her curls bouncing. The other woman smiled and turned her attention back to the kid. The interaction was quick, but it seemed as though something had been settled between them.

“If you mean the whole eating-a-person thing, it’s fine. It wasn’t pleasant, but it’s what you have to do. We understand that. A lot of us have to do things in order to survive that we’d rather not. And our boss, well. We’ll get to him in a bit. For now, come sit down. There’s no need to feel awkward or be scared. We won’t hurt you.”

Smokey nodded her head and leaned forward, bringing her hands together on her knees. She looked him over with those softened black eyes and gestured toward one of the comfy chairs across from where the women were sitting.

“Get comfortable. There’s a lot to talk about. Yer pretty unique, and we’d like to offer somethin’ to ya.” She reached forward and picked up a mug sitting on the table. She took a long drink of the hot lavender tea in it, taking deep and even breaths as she set it back on the table. She bit the inside of her cheek as she continued to watch him.

She might not be the powerhouse that Ame was, but she was the one who could tell when someone was about to attack. She was the planner, the General, and the strategist. Ame was the entire battalion rolled into one, the fighter, the devastating power behind her that gave her the backing she needed. But when it came to people, Smokey was the backbone. She was the one who could tell people no, who wouldn’t be budged. And if she thought this kid was going to be a danger to their community, to their home, to their people--

Well, it would be the end of that immediately.​
 

Todd smiled faintly as the more talkative of the two women – even if they knew he didn’t remember, he still felt rude and awkward asking their names – mentioned feeling scared. What was it with these people? He really wasn’t the one who should be scared here. Though, if they’d seen him eating and still said that, maybe he had to rethink that. He didn’t exactly feel like he was in danger, but maybe he should be paying more attention.

He pretended not to be watching their little exchanges for context clues as he sat down across from them. He stayed relaxed, which wasn’t hard in the big chair. “Getting comfortable” wasn’t all that hard when the cushions seemed to want to eat him alive in a way much nicer than his own feeding habits.

Something in what she said itched at him, though. He did have a job, a job that required him to deal with certain kinds of clientele. This wasn’t a job offer, but the way she just said offer in the same sentence as unique put him on the alert. He’d never actually gotten one of these kinds of proposals before. Maybe he was just expecting the worst, but he smiled anyway, still with his lips closed.

“Alright. I’m listening. What kinda offer?”
​
 

It wasn’t Ame who spoke up this time. It was Smokey who bounced one of her legs and began speaking. “Listen, kid. We’ve seen whatch’ya are. Our boss, he ain’t exactly like ya, but he’s close enough. We take care of our own no matter what, and Ames here thinks you could be one of ours. We want to offer ya a place to stay long term, or even short term. For however long ya’d like.”

Ame nodded her head enthusiastically and leaned in for the other mug. She took a drink of the hot chocolate before continuing. “Now, I know. I know you don’t need anyone or anything and you’re doing just fine on your own. And we don’t think you need help. But everyone needs people, people who understand them. People who can care for them. I think that you are someone we can care for. I think you’d be good for some of our residents. Opalite already adores you, the young thing. What do you say? You can still go and hunt and eat and all of that, just as long as you don’t hunt any of our people. That’s the only rule we’d have for you.”

Afterward, Ame took in a long breath, as though she had forgotten to breathe the entire time she was speaking. She leaned back into the couch, leaning against Smokey’s shoulder. Smokey flashed her a brief and small smile before returning her eyes to Todd. This was an offer they’d made to plenty of others over the years, but never to someone quite like this.

If he said no, they’d do nothing to stop him from leaving, but they might try and convince him. They had several arguments lined up and ready to go. But hopefully appealing to any potential loneliness would work, and they wouldn’t have to pull out any of their other arguments.​
 
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