002; action; closed; backdated to Friday

[kingside]

WHO: Brendan & Kallie
WHERE: Dead District, near the statue
WHEN: April 19, afternoon

[While there are numerous reasons to not do something as reckless and ill-advised as venturing into a vacant district (pardon, vacant except for the werewolves) just to see a statue, Brendan is at least temporarily convinced that the reasons for doing so outweigh them. After all, it isn't like he's going at night; that would have been stupid. There is still the uncomfortable notion that travelers into and out of the district are being monitored, if not by the police then by others on the network, but Brendan has... something of an excuse for that if he's caught. "It was a dare" has to convince some people, right?

... Right. He really should have thought this through more.

Sighing to himself, Brendan shifts the weight of his bag and slowly approaches the statue. There's something reassuring in the fact that he can resist the urge to leave if he sets his mind to it, but he's all too aware that the desire isn't entirely external. Really, what had he been thinking? But if this statue holds some link to what's going on and he can learn more by interacting with it and the damned thing is going to be demolished in a matter of days, he doesn't have much of a choice.

This whole situation is annoyingly symbolic, he knows that much, and grimacing, he resumes walking.]

Comments

[struckout]

[ ... Nothing happens? Kallie follows suit in frowning as it becomes apparent that, whatever just occurred, it doesn't seemed to have impressed Not-Lost here. However, then again, several of the times she'd gotten something, it hadn't been immediately evident afterward, either. Maybe he just hadn't realized yet that his head was now filled with special knowledge of the inner workings of steamboats or whatever. ]

Might take a while to kick in.

[ -- Is what she offers as she steps up, eyebrows twitching. All the same, it puts her on edge a bit as well, after she'd been prepared for something a little more obviou--

The woman blinks as she suddenly double-takes, tilting her head at the man. She's not always the most observant person around when it comes to other people's appearance, but with as wary as she is here, the sense that something is different is prompt... even if she's then at once sure that it was just her imagination.

But still... the distinct purpleness of his eyes doesn't seem to go away even when she's paused long enough to get a second look, and she's certain she would have noticed something so unusual beforehand. ]

What... color are your eyes?

[kingside]

[It isn't what she asks but how she asks it that catches Brendan's notice, even if he is actually somewhat accustomed to the question. Blue eyes with black hair isn't exactly common, after all, but the way she's staring at him, like he's just grown a second head— or had she just not noticed before? Or...

Reflexively, he lifts a hand to his face, right hand lightly touching below his right eye.]

They're blue. I inherited them from my mother.

[He sounds less than certain when he says it, Lightning's worry evidently catching.]

What happened? Did—

[He breaks off, shakes his head, and pulls out his own phone, indulging in the frequent vanity of using it as a mirror and... oh, god.]

You must be joking.

[struckout]

[ Kallie has pale eyes herself, so she's used to the comments. As for him, he's definitely gone violet. She doesn't really try to get a word in as he reacts, again simply watching as she once again finds herself not sure what to say anyway. Distractedly, she lifts a hand to smooth down her pulled-back hair- which used to be a lot darker before a little less than a week ago... ]

Maybe it just doesn't like normal coloring.

[ That's her best guess, anyway, sort of. However, with that she finally seems to remember what she was doing before, quickly shaking off her attention towards him yet again. All things told she's not really looking forward to this, but at this point, it nearly seems necessary if she's to get any closer to the bottom of why it's happening.

With a deep breath, she steps up to the pink stone, slowly reaching out as she looks up and down the height of the sculpture. It occurs to her that maybe she should have issued a warning as well, given the rather shocking nature of what she's experienced at least once before... but before she can go through with it, her fingertips brush against the statue's surface.

She freezes... and then naturally, promptly has that bad reaction Brendan had been warning her of. Jerking away as if burned, she gasps sharply and stumbles backward, not quite successful in maintaining her footing; with exactly zero sense of elegance, she falls rather squarely right on her ass on the dirty pavement. ]

[kingside]

[Maybe it doesn't like normal coloring. Not the most reassuring, that statement, but he shoves his phone back in his pocket without comment anyway, scowling openly. He'll have to find some way to disguise the change, he knows that much, but for right now, with what they've come here to do, it isn't his first priority. Back on the lookout he goes even before she begins to make her move, gaze fixed on their surroundings. It's probably too much to hope that she'll respond to the statue in a similar way to how he had, but at the very least, he probably has an opportunity to observe here that he wouldn't elsewhere.

What he isn't prepared for is for Lightning to jerk away and fall as she does, and caught off guard as he is, his gaze is immediately drawn to her. He doesn't have the reflexes to catch her, unfortunately, but he does stop immediately and kneel by her side, eyes concerned. He may have only just met her, but that's no reason to dismiss her well-being as unimportant.]

Lightning? Are you all right?

[struckout]

Ah...

[ Stunned, maybe. She feels weird, as if there's a charge under her skin, a buzz lacing through her thoughts. She feels... displaced, although she wouldn't be able to explain why, and there's a heaviness in her chest that makes her automatically lift a hand to press over her heart, blinking as she ducks her head.

Strangely enough, she seems unusually aware of the fact that she can make a choice at all about how to answer the question. ]

-- I'm fine.

[ Though on the other hand, lounging around in a place and time like this is probably not the best of ideas. Irritated and baffled, she at least tries to start gathering herself back up as embarrassment colors her face. ]

[kingside]

[For obvious reasons, Brendan is less than convinced by the assertion, but one look at Lightning is all he needs to know that mentioning this would not be a good idea. He backs off instead, rising with comparative ease and casting another glance around them. Should he offer a hand? Would she be offended? Or... no, to hell with it, there's still such a thing as basic manners.

He holds a hand out to her, eyes refocusing on her face before he thinks better of it and looks off to the side. The less he acknowledges her embarrassment, the better, and he tries to make it as plain through his body language as possible that the hand is entirely ignorable if she so chooses.]

I imagine it would be best if we left separately, but staggering our exits may draw attention on its own. Which would you prefer?

[It's as polite a way as he can think of to indirectly offer to walk her back wherever. The gesture may very well go unnoticed or possibly even offend her, but he feels better for having it out there anyway.]

[struckout]

[ The air of discomfort here is nearly overwhelming- above all else, Kallie does not like to be fazed so thoroughly, and in her mortification, it takes her a moment to even realize she's been offered a hand at all. She can't decide if this is better or worse than the time she'd managed to trip over her own feet and go sprawling in front of the entire track team in high school. At least then it had been an accident.

He's not laughing at her though, so that's a plus. Still, it's with enormous reluctance that she takes the offered help and finally gets back up on her feet, putting just enough pull on him to compensate for the lingering daze.

She almost doesn't want to know what's changed in her this time, to have caused such an unusual effect. Lyall had claimed that when he'd made contact with this statue, he'd felt as if his blood was boiling... but she's not sure that's exactly an accurate description of the odd sensation she got out of it.

All she can hope is that she isn't about to morph into anything weird as this keeps happening. Purple lightning and invisible swords and mysterious memories are one thing, turning into a multi-faced Ezekial-esque tetramorph-angel (or something) is... another.

Her brow draws in irritation at the question, even if she recognizes the practicality, and after only a second or two: ]

We can walk to the bus station, at least.

[ Even if she doesn't like it. Regardless, pleasing or not, she's still concerned more about whatever's safest than uneasiness. ]

[kingside]

[No, not laughing, not smirking, and in fact not in any way acknowledging that that she had fallen at all once she's back on her feet, continuing their conversation as if nothing at all had interrupted it. Had the moment been any less tense and in any way casual, he might have made some remark, but even if he is still a teenager, Brendan can easily recognize that this is neither the time nor place. Time to move on.]

The bus station it is.

[He hesitates before actually taking his first steps in that direction, though, visibly restraining himself from asking something else. Are you sure you're all right? seems most likely, but even if he doesn't know Lightning especially well, she already strikes him as the stubborn sort (no pun intended). It would likely lead nowhere.

He doesn't glance back to check that she's following, either, instead hauling his messenger back around, opening it, and beginning to root around. It's too much to hope that he has a pair of sunglasses handy, isn't it? The eyes, after all, are something he's fairly certain he won't be able to write off all that easily. Yes, he could claim that they're contacts, but how long would that hold up? And then when he went home... shit, how is he supposed to explain this?

His search proves to be in vain, unfortunately, and with a small sigh, he speaks again.]

Do you happen to have a pair of sunglasses I could borrow? Then again, it seems moot point if we're unlikely to meet again.

[Well, he can always just buy a cheap pair at a corner store. That should hold off some of the more awkward questions for a while. He hopes.]

[struckout]

Huh?

[ Kallie obliquely notices him going through his bag, but at the question she looks up in surprise, distracted from the important task of studying her hands perhaps a little too closely. All things considered, she'd actually managed to completely forget about his now oddly-colored eyes, so it takes her a moment to realize why he might be asking a girl he barely knows for concealing eyewear.

She doesn't ever bring that kind of thing along though, and shakes her head even as she goes for her pockets by instinct, as if subconsciously expecting sunglasses to magically appear in her running clothes just because she thought of some. ]

Sorry.

[ And she presses her lips together, suddenly imagining if it had been her with such an obvious effect. There's...whatever is going on with her hair, yes, but she figures she can just either buy some dye herself or pay someone to fix it while claiming some odd mistake she'd done to it herself. ]

[kingside]

[... To be expected. All right. Okay. He can handle this, right? He's an intelligent young man with many worthwhile skills and plenty of knowledge. He'll just... yes, buy a pair from a corner store, probably not when in Lightning's company because he hadn't thought to bring any cash with him and she might somehow catch sight of his name printed on one of the cards in his wallet. Unreasonably paranoid, probably, but that's the name of the game where the network is concerned and he doubts she'll take offense.]

Nevermind, then. Let's just go.

[And get this baffling outing over with.]