Briefly, as she brought his arm against her, nestling it in her bosom, he experienced a scant feeling of physical pleasure, his left eyebrow twitching at the edge ever so slightly. Then he swiftly compartmentalized the sensation into a far off corner of his mind, continuing to his room with her clinging to his arm, which he allowed without complaint, annoyance, or any other notable response or feeling aside from the minuscule twitch of before. As they entered his room, before she had even finished her sentence, he had picked up a towel, aside from the several that were already on the floor. He'd laid them out after checking the weather and his schedule, knowing that in all likelihood his guest would not have an umbrella. As he'd predicted, she was standing on them as she began speaking. He glanced at her, the look brief enough that one could presume he hadn't really given her the typical
once over not that it would've been inappropriate anyways, or that he cared about such things when they didn't benefit him.... He was getting distracted.
As such, he did away with the extraneous thought processes and threw two towels at her, one for her hair, and another for the rest of her.
“There's wash clothes in the bathroom,” he said, waving dismissively as he pulled his chair out and then sat down at his desk. He ran a fingers over the surface of his closed laptop in a pattern, and then applied pressure in two places. There was a small
click before he opened the device and booted it up.
“Oh, and your clothes are in there as well, I figured you wouldn't bother to check the weather for today,” he glanced away from the screen, typing a series of twenty passwords with one hand as his eyes bored through her, the look pointed, eyebrows slightly lifted, head cocked slightly, all as if to say 'you really ought to be more thoughtful.' She'd catch the meaning, she wasn't an idiot, even if she didn't think too far forwards.
He turned his gaze back to the laptop, finishing the series of passwords before using the touch pad to scan his fingerprints. Following that it finished booting up and he began pulling up various files as well as booting several programs he used to organize, locate, and sort data. He'd coded them himself. Likely as she headed to the bathroom that was connected directly to his room, only sanctioned off by three walls, with a sliding door on it that could latch shut he spoke again, not looking up this time as he began sinking into his work somewhat, dedicating more of his attention to it.
“If you want to talk while you're in there, I had something of an intercom installed. Feel free to use it, but please do be careful not to use channel three, it broadcasts to the whole area. Avoid channel two as well as it broadcasts through the entire warehouse.”With that said, he opened three documents and plugged in a USB keyboard, typing on both, his movements precise, his eyes locked only on the screen, though his focus on the individual documents and the visual information was periphery in nature.
He had his mind on long term goals, renovations for the warehouse, expansions to others in the city, recruitment, scare tactics, resource and territory acquisition, threat assessment, interpersonal relations and teamwork within his little operation. Skill sets and training for his too--...men. There was the briefest of pauses in his actions before he continued along, focusing on another train of thought.
Potential Allies: Adumbrate(?), unknown quantities.
Allies: Thralls, mercenaries, Fae....
He frowned slightly as he found the train split to a second engine and diverge onto two tracks, one with less on it than the other. Fae....
He'd scheduled time with her today for...what?
His fingers hesitated, then continued. Planning. He wanted to maneuver her, but she was entirely immune to his master power, so he had to
ask. It was a little annoying, but to be fair she offered another set of eyes, a different perspective he
actually couldn't fracture and build as a simulacrum in his head. An outsider looking in, even if they were pretty involved, in their strange way. It was only sex after all, nothing he really cared about at the end of the day.
He stopped typing, filing away documents, and closing many of the tabs he was using before he opened several more, which he scrolled through with two individual mouses. It was surprising, he thought, that parahumans online still managed to thrive even after something as catastrophic as Golden Morning had occurred. A small smirk played the edge of his lips at the thought and he opened a new tab, accessing a historical archive before finding the document outlining the event.
To have such a power he marveled while he read it over, his eyes and scrolling fast enough that someone who didn't know him would think he was either skimming or just rapidly scrolling down the page looking for some specific spot in the text.
To have instantaneous control like that, even with such a limited range... he shook his head before finishing and closing the tab, then exiting out of each tab, and then the browser. When Fae exited the shower there would only be three documents, a record low, open on his laptop and his hands would be steepled on the desk in front of the computer, not typing, but implying that he was focused, or thinking about something in particular. He looked focused, but also pensive in a way, though that was something only she would pick up, after all...to most others his expression would look blank, a deadpan of apathy and disinterest.
It was how he usually looked. Strange that someone with such expressive thoughts and a vast menagerie of perspectives had the tendency of expressing none of it outwardly unless it was to manipulate others.
Such was his way, it appeared. Very few made him break from that path.
Fae was an exception.
The girl responded well, how
cooperative of her, she thought, her expression unchanging from the gentle confidence of before. Shaking the young cape's hand before heading off at a walk, the girl following, Adumbrate waited a few moments before responding,
“A safehouse,” she began, her voice cutting through the rain as her movements acted to mitigate any resistance it might reach,
“We can't go to your house or mine, we're not so close I'd think, but I can at least direct you somewhere you can hideout in costume if you need to. Plus, perhaps we can get to know one another, I've been looking for a partner, and you seem the right sort.” She glanced towards Spindle, smiling,
“You have quite the interesting power, I must say,” she commented, her hand running lightly over the surface of the alley wall, tapping in a pattern of sorts—though it was likely to seem random to the girl.
“Have you settled on a name?” She asked after several moments, using the time to draw in the girl's attention. Her footsteps began to alter ever so slightly and as they did, so too did the pace of the falling rain. It would be imperceptible, but over a period of time the clouds almost sped up as her power bid the storm to pass over their area.
After several minutes they'd covered a good three blocks, with Adumbrate leading her newest companion through alleyways and largely empty streets. Even when people were present, they seemed to look away, enter buildings, or their cars, around the time that the two came into view. It was quite a serendipitous sight, at least for her companion, she figured. To Adumbrate it was normal.
After an additional fifteen minutes of walking they would finally arrive at a building that looked to be a store. Swiftly, she pulled her companion into an alley only for, two minutes later as they rounded a corner and she unlocked a door, for them to hear police sirens race by. Not that it mattered, the PRT was too late, their quarry was already well out of reach.
Entering the building, Adumbrate closed the door behind them before walking out of sight only to come back with four towels. She handed two to Spindle, and used the others on herself, patting herself down and drying out her hair as best she could, using her power all the while. She let it spread from her person, helping her companion dry off as a result. Water would seem to almost move
itself out of the fabric of her clothes and the fibers of her hair, pulled into the towel. It was all fairly subtle, but it was likely the girl would notice that she was drier than she ought to be, once she was done with the towels.
Meanwhile, Adumbrate was essentially dry, almost as if she hadn't been in the rain at all. It might strike Spindle as a bit eerie, or it might cause her to fall further into awe and admiration. Either was preferable, as fear could be a wonderful means of control, though adoration was a much more positive and favorable result.
Ceasing the use of her power she walked to a new room, which was fashioned much like the living room of a house. There was a TV, a couch, a table with four chairs, and one visible safe, as well as one or two pictures hung on the wall...and a clock, of course. She took a seat on the couch, laying her towel down length-wise and bidding Spindle do the same before she crossed her legs, relaxed, and spoke.
“Well, feel free to make yourself comfortable. You can spend as long as you'd like here. I've even got an extra key,” she said with a smile,
“...if you want it that is.” She spun her key around her finger, before throwing it, catching it and then laying her hands on her lap.
“I'd suggest staying at least an hour. I can leave before you, you can change, and then head home at your leisure, as by that time the PRT and police will have left the area for the most part.” What she didn't say, but what was still portrayed, was that she had effectively given Spindle almost assured safe passage, as well as a place she could hole up whenever she wanted to.
Offering hospitality was, of course, the mark of a good host and she considered herself an
impeccable one.
“Now, since we have time to kill, are you hungry?”
She'd gone to bed early the day before and she'd woken up drowsy anyways, that's what she got for patrolling and practicing with her power too long, she thought as she rose from bed in her typical sleepwear, a biiig soft baggy T-shirt, and undies. She walked drowsily out of her room and to the bathroom, just a door across the hall, rubbing her eyes along the way and closing the bathroom door behind her. She realized she'd forgotten her towel, and so sighed and brushed her teeth instead, taking care of her business, before walking back to her room in a similar, if slightly more awake, state and retrieving a change of clothes and a towel. Then she went back to the bathroom, turned on the shower, set her clothes on the counter and hung her towel up near the standing shower, before disrobing and climbing in to let the war--
oh god cold!--water wash over her, shocking her awake.
“Wooo,” she exclaimed loudly, before swiftly slapping her hand over her mouth, realizing her parents would still be asleep. However, after a moment, while she swiftly adjusted the heat of the water, she laughed a little at her silliness, as she remembered that her father was off on a business trip, and her mother had told her yesterday that she'd leave her breakfast because she had some early errands to run.
Retrieving her shampoo from the bathroom counter via reaching out of the shower curtain with her dripping wet arm before squirting some onto her hand and rubbing it into her wet purple hair. While she washed her hair she planned out the rest of her day, her brain sufficiently awake after the cold water to allow such.
Hmm, I think I'll do half of my homework, then head to HQ to stretch my power and work out a bit before going out on patrol, she thought, only to frown slightly after that point, her hands briefly stopping in their attempt to wash her hair. She didn't have anything to do after that, but she didn't want to patrol all day.... Maybe she'd call one of the other wards and they could hang out? They knew each other by now so it wouldn't be a problem if they met up out of costume, right? She nodded her head before her hands began moving again, finishing her hair before she rinsed out the shampoo and retrieved the body soap to begin that process. Ten minutes of shower-time later she was letting the water run over her, eyes closed, with a smile on her face, before she turned off the water, pushed back the shower curtain, and grabbed her towel, standing on the bathmat while she wrapped it around herself, before realizing that she hadn't brought a second towel in for her hair.
She frowned, and then a brilliant idea struck her and she closed her eyes and focused. Immediately awareness of her projection lit up in her mind, brought to the forefront of her attention, the silver glow of its
shadow hovering in her room around her bed in an indistinct shape. She scanned her bed in its entirety: Blankets, sheets, wooden frame, the memory foam of her mattress, and the downy pillows before she had it expand and find the glass of water by her bed. With all that in place she swiftly picked a size and shape, deciding on a diminutive four foot tall imp-like creature. She pushed the idea of 'cuteness' into the projection, then picked the materials it would be made from.
Internal Traits: Wood(hardness)/water(fluidity) for structural traits=flexibility, minor durability and reliability. Bone analogue.
External Traits: Cloth(softness and its other properties), flesh/skin analogue.For fun she had it scan one of her buttoned shirts and some marbles before continuing.
Eye analogue, marbles. Light refraction, two sets of eyes for larger range of view.She then made a point of shaping an extension off of its head to create something akin to a hood.
When she was done she opened her eyes, three seconds had passed. She bid her projection to manifest next to her bed. It did so and she commanded it to get her a specific towel. It did so and then opened her door, presumably as she heard it and
felt it do so as its location approached hers. It opened the bathroom door and closed it behind itself. That when she got a glimpse of it.
It was
adorable in its own weird way. Standing at four feet with a two legs and two arms, it was a little hunched over imp-like figure with the patterns of her blanket over it. Its body was composed almost entirely of cloth, probably stuffed with the down material she'd scanned from her pillows, and its fingers had tiny wooden claws at the end of each finger and its thumb. Its eyes were marbles and it had buttons down its chest, as well as a cloth hood-like construction that extended from its back up over its head and to where a human's eyebrows would be, slightly overshadowing its face. A friendly smile was stitched onto its face as it looked up towards her, holding its short arms up with the towel.
She smiled and giggled, taking the towel from her creation and drying her hair with it, commanding the projection to run on autopilot. Mentally she had already started counting down the minutes to when she'd have to dismiss the projection. She wanted to keep the cute little imp around for a little while. She was certain it'd be helpful somehow, if only for a bit of cuddling while she ate breakfast, or some reassurance while she did her homework.
She was right. After drying her hair she walked to her room with her clothes, deciding to change there as she'd changed her mind a bit on what she wanted to wear, she rifled through her dresser before deciding on her casual wear for the day. Glancing out her window she saw the rain, the sound of it striking the house and the ground quite distinct. She frowned a bit and reassessed her choice in outfits, picking one or two other things, before laying it all out on her bed and staring at it with a slight pout on her lips, her hands on her hips. She sighed, realizing it had already been three minutes and all she'd put on were her underwear.
After another minute she finally settled for pulling on some black tights, a long sleeved
very dark blue sweater dress and some knee length jeans—also blue. Turning her shoulders from side to side, and her body in turn, she checked her choice out in the mirror, before smiling a bit and offering a quiet and victorious
“Hnm,” at her reflection. She spun a bit, smiling again before looking down at her projection, which had cocked its head to the side at her. It had been five minutes, so it was acting of its own accord now.
“Do you like it, Imp?” she asked, bending down as if she were talking to a child. The cloth imp put a finger to its cheek, thinking a moment, before nodding, eliciting a smile from Evelyn, as well as a nuzzle to the projection's cheek.
She then went downstairs, ate the french toast her mother had left her
yum~ before asking her projection, nicely, to retrieve her homework from upstairs—it did.
When it returned she checked her phone, noting it had been seven minutes. She began laying her homework out on the now empty dinner table. She'd cleared the table and done the dishes while her imp had gathered the necessary supplies for her schoolwork. Once she had it all laid out she glanced at the imp, kneeled down, gave it a little hug, before speaking
“Time for a nap buddy, wouldn't want you getting grouchy on me,” she said with a small smile before standing up and dismissing the projection
juuust at the 9 minute mark.
She then sat down to do her homework. It took her about an hour to get through three subjects, which was half of what she had to do. Stretching she began putting the work away, before using her projection to scan the same stuff and take on the same cloth imp form. She bid it to carry the stuff back to her room and arrange it neatly. It did so.
She checked outside again, noting that it was still raining, so she had the imp retrieve her raincoat and umbrella before it came back downstairs from her second floor room. Once it arrived she donned the coat, having already put on her shoes. She noticed that it had also grabbed her backpack. She smiled at it and took it, putting it on, before she realized she didn't have her keys.
The imp went and got them, bringing them to her before she dismissed it, opening the door to the pouring rain, before opening her umbrella, locking the door and heading out. It was a bit of a pain walking through the dreary rain to get to HQ. Partway there she stopped in a park, using her projection to expand over a wide area and act as watch. She entered an empty bathroom and changed into her costume. She waited a few minutes, using her projection to notify her as to whether or not there was anyone or anything watching as she exited in costume. She had it scan some nearby things, metal, light fixtures, concrete, as well as taking some traits from her bedroom that she'd scanned before she left, before arranging it into a 12 foot tall figure with an Evelyn sized hollow in its chest. She bid it to manifest in a way that suited for travel, protection against the rain, speed, and comfort for her.
It did so, forming into a massive humanoid construct made of an odd mixture of concrete, metal and cloth. Oddly it didn't make the ground crack as it knelt down, letting her climb into its chest through a hole that sealed behind her. She noticed it had also used
glass in its construction, which had apparently been reinforced by other traits. She could see out its chest cavity because of the clear substance. She had her backpack in the spot too, noticing that aside from the glass it was quite comfortable, what with it feeling like a mixture of a pillow and a blanket, plus a water bed. The small chamber was even warm, as it had scanned some electrical components from a nearby camera, which channeled through its body, generating a measure of heat. She smiled a bit and then commanded it to head for headquarters.
It sprang into action, small tendrils of cloth-like material bracing her. While she did bounce a bit with its steps, the trip wasn't really that uncomfortable and she arrived before she had to dismiss the projection. Climbing down and extending her umbrella she waved to her projection, backpack on, before dismissing it, the 12 foot behemoth vanishing, replaced by a dull silver glow that was hardly visible in the rain. She entered the building waving at some of the staff before heading to the observation room that had been set up beneath the PRT building. Sadly, no one was there, causing her to frown. She did notice that the computer said that both Dreamwalker and Chronicle were on patrol. As such she decided to stay at HQ for awhile, using the gym to get some exercise in before it was her shift.
Her shift never came, instead her comms device went off, notifying her of a robbery, apparently committed by a parahuman. She ground her teeth at the mere thought of it. Why would someone use their power to hurt and disadvantage others,
especially given the state of the world when they could use it for
good. It just didn't make sense to her...and it bothered her more than she liked to admit. Eventually calming down and sighing, she headed back up the elevator and towards the exit to the building. She had already reconfigured her projection when another transmission came through her earpiece.
“As a 'teambuilding exercise' Chronicle was wondering if you, and the other Wards, would like to meet at Giorgio's Steakhouse for lunch,” the almost monotone voice of a PRT communication operator informed her. She couldn't help but laugh a little as she pushed the door open, thanking the operator for relaying the message before she switched channels and contacted Chronicle directly.
“Hey Chron, it's Tulpa. I'm pretty hungry actually, I think I'll join you for that 'teambuilding exercise'” she said with a smile in her voice.
“I'll be over in, uh...” she paused a moment as she glanced at the heads up display she'd asked Cory to integrate into the 'blindfold,' of her costume, using GPS to figure out how long it would take by car to get to Giorgio's. After several seconds she spoke again, tapping her earpiece,
“...maybe, like 8 minutes, give or take. Hopefully less than 10,” she said, before she reconfigured her projection, manifested it and figuratively 'buckled up,' for the ride.
“See ya in 10!” she said before her projection's now quadrupedal, but nonetheless massive, wolf-lizard form, erupted into action. She'd designed it with horizontally aligned frills, that ended up shielding her from the rain. She obeyed the traffic laws, of course, using her tulpa to get her from point A to B as she tended to do rather often.
It took awhile, but finally, after 11 minutes—she was really pushing it this time—she arrived at the steakhouse. Jumping from her projection's back and unfurling her umbrella almost in the same motion, she dismissed it even as it turned towards a car that had just blared its horn. She shuddered a bit, realizing that it had been
growling before it had de-manifested.
Realizing she was in costume, Evelyn frowned before walking away from the steakhouse and heading into an isolated area, using the attention the gas station was drawing to slip away. She went a block or two away before, rather scandalously, changing clothes in an alley. She exited the alley and headed back to the steakhouse, entering in her same outfit from earlier. It would draw less attention. She had however, kept her earpiece in.
“Nolan, you better have come her out of character. I'd like to eat in peace you know,” she said a few minutes before arriving at the steakhouse. She entered the building to get out of the rain, closing her umbrella, before looking around for Nolan, aka Chronicler.
Where was
that boy, she thought, a hand on her hip.
Member
The World
Zetsuko
Megatron
evierose
Fallenreaper
Snowdrops
Taka
Dark Jack
Crimson Flame