|| conditions for the revolution || (invite only)

[subtle fox]

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂
Name → Erin Tellan
Powers → Appearance shift,
power amplification.
Age → 24
Location → outside small town
Tagged → Santiago, Evelyn
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"Who's they? No, no. I'm not going with you. No offense," this he directed at Evelyn, "You look like a nice girl, but I don't know who you are. I don't know who any of you are." He took a few more steps back, rubbing the specks of blood off his jaw, his neck. Zipping his jacket closed around bloodstains. "And I doubt I'll be safer with him," Erin glanced at Smith, whose forearms were red with the blood of the men he was just now dragging off into the bushes.


(I may add more tomorrow, if it isn't replied to by then.)

[.synthetica]

{santiago || rebels || terrakinesis, minor healing || tagged; erin}

Though Santiago nodded along as Evelyn spoke, his attention was fully focused on the shorter man - not out of suspicion, just curiosity. He had no idea about anything, he wasn't in uniform, he looked genuinely terrified (though seeing Smith do what he was so good at could put fear into anyone)... Santiago opened his mouth, then halted as the man began backing away from them. He moved to step forward, then took a step back instead - he raised his hands in front of his chest placatingly.

"I... I don't know how you've been spared from it all but look, man, they're not gonna stop chasing you, because..." Pausing, he tilted his head to the side quizzically. "But then, you don't know them. You don't... ah. This girl?" He nodded towards her, just before Smith moved silently across the scene and went to place her somewhere else in the forest - she'd wake up and contact her boss, who'd mete out whatever punishment they saw fit.

"She's a... a mutant. Like you, like us. An experiment. We can all do things, and they don't like us being free, because they, the, the organization behind it all... they think we're no better than wild animals." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look. Go, if you want. I can't stop you. I just... please. Safety in numbers, right? So many of us tried to escape, so many died... we need all the help we can get."

Not to mention the fact that Santiago knew he'd never be able to live with himself if the other man died just because he didn't do a good enough job of convincing him... if he went his own way and his bus broke down in another dead town further down the road, with another squad of enforcers waiting for him. Pushed by his nervousness, he stepped forward and clasped the man's shoulder. He met his eyes with an imploring look, just a hint of desperation in his brown eyes. "They're not gonna let you go. Ever."

[subtle fox]

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂
Name → Erin Tellan
Powers → Appearance shift,
power amplification.
Age → 24
Location → small town
Tagged → Santiago, Evelyn
▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

"I doubt I'm anything like you. Like any of you. I wasn't made in a lab, for one. And I don't go around killing people." His skin flushed a few shades darker and gained a mottled pattern, and his hair was now dark and bristling. "So why the hell would I want to help? What makes you think I even care?" He was no longer a rabbit running for it's life; no longer the timid young man who'd just witnessed three murders. No, Erin was, instead, angry. Of what, he wasn't sure; nor was he positive of where this new-found outrage originated from, but he was willing to see where it would take him.

Well, it took him down an interesting road. The moment the man, who was trying so hard to convince Erin to throw away what life he had left and join some merry band of mutated murderers, the moment he gripped Erin's shoulder, Erin knew something was about to happen. Something big, perhaps; or maybe just something that had never happened before. It wasn't pleasant, that feeling. He imagined it to be what a physic would experience in the moment before realization. And this 'out of the blue' anger - it didn't help very much.

So he reached out with his hand to grab the man's wrist and, just as it was too late to stop, he knew it was a bad idea. Sure enough, as skin touched skin, he felt a connection snap into place. For a moment, he could feel the man's pure, untapped potential. It was exhilarating. He was standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down at all this unrealized power. Erin could feel it all: from the bed-rock-steadiness of the man's inner core, to the pebbles and sand rattling about, an embodiment of the man's nerves and agitation and worry. Not just for him and his friends—that was who they were to this man—but also for him. For Erin, a man he'd met but a few minutes ago.

He could feel the shift of attention, as something inwardly powerful turned it's gaze outwards and into him. He could feel it stir, feel it's innate attraction to this mass of power that had finally noticed it. This other power, magnifying and full of energy... it was Erin's own. He stumbled back, snatched his hand to his chest, felt the link tear. Simultaneously he both missed it, was was glad—so glad—it was gone. That had been too personal. Too revealing. And it had made him want to join with this crazy lot. It made him want to protect these people.

It made him want that beyond-familial bond he'd felt for but a moment, that unbearable rush of connection. He wanted that feeling back.

"You know what?" Erin suddenly grinned, and his eyes turned into a bright, anticipatory yellow-gold. "I'm in."


(I kinda just wrote...then this happened. I couldn't figure out how to change his mind for the longest time.

[.synthetica]

{santiago || rebels || terrakinesis, minor healing || tagged; erin, evelyn}

Santiago had planned to be angry in return. Irritated and indignant - first of all, he'd never killed anyone. They were just trying to survive, to grab onto a life with some sense of normalcy instead of being pushed around and prodded like cattle. Why did this stranger get to judge them as murderers when apparently he'd never experienced anything even close to what they'd gone through? He opened his mouth to protest, eyes narrowed and his posture tense and hostile...

But then he touched him.

Eyes snapping wide open, Santiago's jaw dropped and a strangled cry was ripped from his throat. He felt like he was being cut open and inspected - every part of him clear to see. He was the mountain and the grain of sand and this presence was life, pure energy sweeping across every inch of the vast expanse of his being, everywhere at once. Never in his life had he felt anything like this, like he could achieve, conquer, become anything. Adrenaline surged through him as a reaction to this ruthless examination as well as an exhilarating, rushing welcome. Despite it's awesome, overwhelming intensity, some part of him longed to never stop feeling it, to be caught in this torrent forever. His own power shifted its attention and expanded outwards, reaching to grasp the source, reaching, hoping...

But, much too soon, it all stopped. Leaving Santiago feeling heart-wrenchingly cold and empty, with a lingering sadness clutching him, like a punch in the gut. The mountain left barren and lifeless in comparison to what it had been, with only a mournful wind as a reminder of what once was. Tears pooled in the corners of his eyes and he shuddered, his entire body struggling to keep up with the rapid, extreme changed. He stumbled back, away from the man and almost doubled over, arms wrapped around himself as he slowly regained some sense of normalcy.

...I'm in.

For a moment, Santiago was torn between demanding that he do that again, or even just questioning what the hell had happened to them both (because he was sure that the man had felt everything as viscerally as he had), but in the end, he pulled himself upright. Looked at his hand for a moment - normally, a deal would be closed with a handshake. But he wasn't sure if he could handle that particular shock just yet.

So he returned the man's smile with a weak one of his own, and nodded tiredly. Apparently intense out-of-body experiences could be incredibly draining, as well as just being incredible. "Thank you." He said earnestly. Whether he was thanking him for the experience or his agreeing to join them... maybe it was both. Santiago shivered one last time before he spun to look at Evelyn. In the corner of his eye he saw Smith, the scorpion, lingering in the trees and undoubtedly waiting for them to join him. "So. We'll do introductions soon, I think we'd best move on right now."

(ohhh my god that was cool. damn that was cool.)

[subtle fox]

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂
Name → Erin Tellan
Powers → Appearance shift,
power amplification.
Age → 24
Location → small town
Tagged → Santiago, Evelyn
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He'd caught the man's uncertain glance at his hand, and hid a smile. He understood that expression, caught somewhere between apprehension and a visceral need. It was exactly what he was struggling to hide, himself. So he forced himself to ignore what had just occurred - he really didn't want to know, to be honest - and slowly re-gained as normal of an appearance as he could. He kept the cat's eyes (he always thought they looked cool), but managed to find his old skin, his usual hair. It took longer than usual, which was confusing, until he realized he was light-headed. Great. Just what he needed, to faint, just as things started to wind down. A slight consolation was that the taller man - the one Erin had connected to - was looking a little shaky, too.

"Great, moving," Erin repeated, blinking. Man, whatever had just happened between him and the geokinetic - he was pretty sure that's what he was - had drained him as badly as a complete appearance change. He needed sleep. No, scratch that. Food, then shower, then sleep. Then something occurred to him. "Hey, what about my stuff? I left a bag at the bus station." Clothes, mostly. Food, importantly. But he wasn't going to leave behind the old picture of his mom and him, at the park, taken nearly thirteen years ago. She was smiling in that picture.

"And, please. At least tell me your name, I couldn't care less about proper introductions. Because, right now, I'm calling you lot 'geokinetic', 'freaky insect guy', and 'nice, quiet girl'."


(yes, please, names. I don't have an unlimited stash of descriptions, and I can't keep calling Santiago 'the tall man' or 'the geokinetic'.)

[.synthetica]

{santiago || rebels || terrakinesis, minor healing || tagged; erin, evelyn}

Perhaps Santiago was eager to move on, back into the relative safety of the forest, away from the incriminating bloodstains and the site of this amazing thing that had happened to him. He was sure that he could feel the stone beneath his feet calling to him, crying out for more - he could feel every fiber of his being resonating, as if it was sacred ground he was standing on and the other man was his absolution.

It was disconcerting, to put it mildly. He wanted to squirm under the significance of the connection he'd experienced. He could feel it burrowing deep into his bones and settling there for good.

"Oh. Right." He said, incredibly reluctant to let them stay there any longer. Meeting the cat-eyed man's gaze (but not for too long, never for too long), he cleared his throat then gestured to himself, "If 'geokinetic' is getting old, there's always 'the handsome one', or..." Though his lips quirked upwards slightly at the corners, his tone was dry and humorless and his 'joke' was just an attempt at nervous deflection. "Ahah. Eh. I'm Santiago." Then his hand flicked towards the forest where, presumably, Smith was hidden. "Freaky insect guy is called Smith, since he probably won't care to make an introduction."

Then he paced forward in stilted, skittish movements - his nose wrinkled as he moved. It felt incredibly unpleasant to put distance between himself and the beacon of energy that was the other man, which is why he felt it necessary to put as much space between them as possible. He sneezed and a spike of stone burst up from beneath the asphalt - its sudden appearance made him jump visibly. "S***. Didn't... didn't mean to do that." Feeling more out of control by the moment, he set off in long strides, almost jogging towards the bus station without looking to see if the others followed... Not really considering that it was the other man's bags they were retrieving, and he had no idea where to look.

[subtle fox]

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂
Name → Erin Tellan
Powers → Appearance shift,
power amplification.
Age → 24
Location → small town
Tagged → Santiago, Evelyn,
kinda Smith
▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

He ignored the ragged, hollow feeling invading his chest, ignored the hunger pangs, and the headache that always followed. Erin ignored it all and gave himself one task: follow the man, Santiago, to his locker and bag. Then eat whatever food was in there. God, the last time he'd been this hungry was when he'd disguised himself as a middle-aged woman, about three months ago. It was a long story, but most people never even notice the generic 'harmless woman' he'd had to become. It had proved to be useful many a time.

Lengthening his strides he nearly caught up to Santiago, then immediately slowed. Put some distance back between them. That had been weird. The tingling vibration that had appeared when he'd approached the taller man disappeared as soon as it had arrived. It left his chest feeling taught, like there was a rope stretched between them. But, opposite from a rope, it slackened the further apart they were. Or perhaps, it was unraveling.

Erin mentally paused, then mouthed a few obscenities. He was probably worrying over nothing. Hell, he wouldn't be too surprised if the whole thing was some elaborate dream his subconscious was inflicting upon him, and he was really just sleeping in the bus while on the way to the city. So he didn't even react when Santiago sneezed, and a pillar of rock shot out from the earth. He'd always had a strange sense of humour.