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]

[ 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.]