Closed RP Eyespots

[Slate]

Obsidian gave Hazel a soft smile as she said her goodbyes, nodding his head to her. “Drive safely. Have a good holiday. We’ll see you soon.”

He held a finger up at table height, to tell Sulphur to wait, until she had fully left the building. It was then that he casually turned his face toward his brother. He was in general good spirits, all things considered. The manic energy still burned beneath his skin, but his pleasant conversation with Hazel had done a lot to help him tame it. He still smiled as Sulphur approached him, his white blonde hair slicked back. He held his hand out for the file, which his brother dutifully handed over to him, and he flipped it open immediately.

A quick read through, and the sharp energy was back and bright. His smile stretched into a full grin, teeth showing, and something sharpened in his eyes as he looked at Hazel’s retreating back. A technomancer. She was a technomancer. She could see through and hear through any electronic device with a microphone or a lens. That was an incredibly useful power, even if she seemed to not have full control over it. But that was an anxiety condition, according to the medical records that were laid out before him. His grin broke as he laughed softly, flipping through the medical documents and tests results, the accommodations report from her college, and what appeared to be several articles that Sulphur had cross-referenced on Vigilante Watch and connected to her writing from her blog.

This was more than he could have hoped for. Someone who could see in buildings, who could listen in on conversations, who could be eyes and ears and recon. This was valuable. He looked back up and out the window, seeing her stop at her motorcycle. Obsidian flashed a wild grin to his brother. “Be ready to move on this. We’re going to start working on her. I want this one. She doesn’t understand how powerful she actually is. We’ll teach her otherwise.”

He stood from the table and took a deep breath, laughing. His head tilted back slightly, and he breathed in, feeling revived after the last few weeks. This was what he needed.

A new project.​

 

[Arcane Eye]

Hazel went to her bike at the curb without looking back – not with her eyes, anyway. As soon as she was out the front door, she turned her attention back to the camera above her table, watching while she started to strap on her helmet.

Another man [younger, lightweight hair, serious face – carrying a folder. Documents. Business?] approached Obsidian as soon as the door closed. Of course that would get her attention, but her vision was only as good as the camera’s – and while the camera was clear, it definitely wasn’t picking up any fine details like what was written in the folder. She finished buckling on the helmet and was fishing for her keys when Obsidian looked up at her.

Right at her.

Not at the camera she was looking through. Out the front window of the Diamond, at her, physically, at her back as she froze. Her hand was wrapped around her keys, but in that moment, she felt like a deer in the headlights. Like a bird when a snake saw it.

She couldn’t move.

He bared his teeth, and said something to the younger man. That manic presence was back, the wild energy that she’d felt when she first sat down – when he first sat down across from her. Her heart was racing now, racing for real. She couldn’t catch a breath. Her hands were shaking, but she found herself scrambling for the chinstrap of her helmet. She swayed, just a little. Just a little as she caught herself before her legs could give out. She pulled the helmet free and closed her eyes. She tried to take her focus off of the camera, even though there wasn’t anything else close by. Her breathing was shallow, short and sharp, and she focused on that instead of the toothy grin, on all the things he might’ve found out about her from that file – because what else could that laughter she couldn’t hear be about?

It was a very, very long minute before she opened her eyes again, before the racing heartbeat and breathing subsided, before she was just shaking as she put her helmet back on. She ignored the bright windows of the bar as she straddled the bike, as she turned over the ignition and guided the bike onto the road, away from Obsidian and the Diamond.

It might be a while before she’d come back.