Ren| Reflections |Shade

by **Ren** Mon Sep 17, 2012 2:08 am

Ren blinked lazily at the setting sun through his reflection. The late-afternoon light was lengthening the shadows, and the daytime residents of the city were wisely heading home, eager to shut the door on the shadier activities that took place in the shadows. Ren knew that he should be getting back to his own apartment, but he loved the quiet that came after dark. During the daytime, the usual noise of the city was unbearable – Ren would usually avoid going outside, or if he did, he’d retreat into his reflection – like he was right now – where all the sounds were muffled by the glass.

By now, the sun had slipped below the buildings, and the streets had almost cleared. Ren was hiding in the glass window on some random storefront, just watching. Anybody walking by would see that there was a disembodied reflection in the glass, but Ren had found out that, especially in the city, most people didn’t pay enough attention to actually notice him. In any case, he was almost out of time anyways, so Ren slipped out of the mirror and onto the sidewalk.

The glass rippled slightly behind him before settling back into a solid wall. Ren yawned and stretched – his muscles were a bit stiff from hiding in his reflection for a few hours. He ran his fingers through his dyed-white hair, shaking it out of his eyes, and soon realized that the street wasn’t as empty as he’d originally thought.

by **Shade** Mon Sep 17, 2012 3:38 am

Shade covered a yawn, heading back home from the shop she had just bought some groceries from. She really should make Felix do this sometime. He needed to get out more. Lowering her hand again, she just barely caught the sight of someone stepping out of their own reflection.

Stopping dead, her eyes widened under dark goggles. Temporarily losing track of where and when she was, all she could see was broken marble and blood, scorch marks and a flashing blade. With the insane, high pitched giggling echoing in her ears, Shade didn't even notice when the bags in her hand fell to the ground. Or when her right hand reflexively went for her left wrist and the weapon she wore as a bracelet.

Taking a step back to slide into a defensive stance as she let the wire fall, she also called on her mutation, ready to shatter every reflective surface she could that was in range. It was a few tense moments before she remembered where she was. Williams, "Alice", was still locked away as far as she knew and looked so far apart from this guy in front of her.

Shade forced herself to relax and stand normally. He wasn't that psychopath, but that didn't mean that she was going to let down her guard either.

by **Ren** Tue Sep 18, 2012 12:08 am

Ren started when he heard the shopping bags thump to the ground. He whipped around and caught the unmistakable glint of some sort of weapon glinting in the half-light. Ren froze. Normally he was careful to sneak in and out of his reflections where no one could see him – and it was easy to see why. His unnaturally pink eyes were one thing, but seeing him actually use his powers was another. In any case, what was done, was done – but now he had to deal with this person.

The girl was wearing dark clothing, and had a hood pulled up over her head. And despite the relative darkness, she had on black sunglasses. It was a bit strange, but Ren was too focused on the wire-looking weapon in her hands. This was not good . . . but at least she seemed to have relaxed slightly, even though her bags were still laying, discarded, on the sidewalk.

Ren lifted his hands to show that he wasn’t holding a weapon – though his thoughts were on the dagger hidden in the lining of his coat. He knew that if it came to an all out fight, he wouldn’t stand a chance, but it was comforting to know that he was armed nonetheless. He glanced quickly at the glass windows out of the corner of his eye – judging if he could manage to slip into his reflection and run before the girl could do anything . . . probably not . . . so he turned his attention back to the other person, seeing what she would do next.

by **Shade** Tue Sep 18, 2012 1:14 am

Sighing softly when he raised his hands to show he wasn't going to attack her, she also caught the flash of apprehension in his eyes. She hadn't meant to scare him, but considering that he has scared her, she felt it was fair. She gathered up her wire again, clipping it into the bracelet again, all without taking her eyes from the boy in front of her.

"Hey. This is probably going to sound dumb, but is your restitution a metal deterioration? And have you killed anyone?" If he answered in the affirmative, she'd most likely take preemptive action. She had nearly lost her life to one teleporter - she wasn't going to chance it with another.

Unwilling to look away, and more comfortable with her own power than she had been even a month ago, Shade called up some energy and directed it to push everything into the bags again, a flicker of darkness being the only indication that something was there. Leaning over, she scooped up the bags again, settling the handles over her palm in just such a way that she could easily dump them again if she had to fight.

by **Ren** Tue Sep 18, 2012 2:22 am

Ren looked on as the girl coiled the wire back around her wrist, all the while watching him. It was a bit unnerving to be scrutinized so closely, but he supposed that he was doing that same to her. But he did relax slightly as she put her weapon away.

Her words, however did startle him all over again. A mental deterioration? Strange question . . . he thought, shaking his head. "No, it's nothing like that. I assure you, I'm quite sane."

Then, the groceries at the girl's feet moved. All the items were pushed back into the bags . . . without any physical intervention from her. Ren started fidgeting - it looked like her strange appearance was in fact, probably due to a her own restitution - which meant she had powers - which meant that she didn't need that wire to inflict damage.

He forced himself to calm down, though, as she didn't seem to be threatening him. Well, at least not anymore. He watched her balance the bags on the tips of her fingers, her whole body looking as if she were ready to spring into action at any second. In some attempt to pacify the tension, Ren managed to give the girl a small smile, "I'm Ren by the way."

by **Shade** Tue Sep 18, 2012 1:50 pm

"No, it's nothing like that. I assure you, I'm quite sane."

Shade nodded slightly, willing to take his word for it. She just really wasn't in the mood for a fight or anything, not after the past few weeks she had been having. Huffing softly, she forced herself to release the tension coiling through her muscles when he offered his name.

Eying him again, she replied verbally but didn't return the smile. She didn't really look the type to smile easily or often. "Shade. And sorry about that. A couple of weeks ago I was nearly killed by someone who could do similar to what you can." She gestured at the window behind him. "I'm understandably wary with teleporters now." And had started looking into what other ones could do.

She took a few steps nearer, cocking her head in curiosity. "Is there a range limit for your power?" Well, there must be. Every harbinger had their limits - whether it was the power itself or the wielder was the part that varied.

Shade stopped after those three steps, watching him for any sort of response. She just hoped he didn't take offense and attack.

by **Ren** Wed Sep 19, 2012 1:09 am

Seeing the girl relax her body, Ren’s heart rate slowed back down. It seemed that this wasn’t going to escalate into violence – well, at least not anytime soon. Shade – probably not her real name, thought Ren, but I suppose it is fitting for her appearance.

“Ah. Well then.” In that case, her sudden hostility did actually make sense. Ren stepped back a half step when she came forwards, though. He wasn’t overly weary of her anymore, but being in close proximity with other people just made him pretty nervous. He rubbed the back of his neck absentmindedly as he contemplated the girl. There wasn’t really any good reason for him to tell Shade about his power, but then again, there really wasn’t any reason not to. And besides, he should probably just tell her what she wanted to know, lest she decide that he actually was a threat . . .

“Yeah – I can mirror jump within five meters.” He looked Shade over once more, and crossed his arms over his chest. ”So what’s your deal?”

by **Shade** Wed Sep 19, 2012 2:40 am

She nodded. Five meters was about fifteen feet. That was about a quarter of what Williams, 'Alice', had been able to go. Well, that was reassuring.

Shade couldn't help the small frown when he asked about her mutation. It was only fair though, so she answered. "I'm a manipulator. Shadows." She lifted her free hand and rolled her wrist, using a small bit of energy to create a winding structure, almost like the decoration one would expect on a wrought iron gate, and held it for a handful of seconds before letting it fade and collapse on itself again. "That's my 'deal'."

Looking at him, she raised an eyebrow as she took in his reaction. He was a harbinger, yes, but that hadn't stopped others from being frightened of her. But then, that was usually because of her manner, not necessarily her power. It wasn't like she could really help how she was a lot of the time though, but she was trying to get better about it. Being stared at in fear wasn't something she particularly enjoyed.

by **Ren** Wed Sep 19, 2012 3:31 am

Ren caught a glimpse of a frown as he asked her about her powers, but the momentary look was gone as soon as it had appeared, and Shade was already answering his question.

Waving a hand in the air, Shade conjured up an intricate design made up of shadows to match her explanation. Ren's eyes widened at the display - it was certainly impressive. Manipulating shadows was a pretty versatile mutation - there was a lot that she could potentially do with the materialized darkness, and naturally, it was a bit frightening. But Ren supposed that there was nothing to fear from the girl at the moment - she was showing him her power after all, and if she had plans to attack, she wouldn't have been.

His eyes were fixed on the molded shadows, even as they collapsed back into one another and melted back into the shadows of the street. Ren blinkedd rapidly, trying to regain some of his coherency. "That was . . . actually very cool." he said. Sure, there were plenty of ways he could think of for the shadows to be used as a weapon, but so could most harbinger powers, including his own. And besides, he had had enough of other people just seeing a mutation instead of him, so it wouldn't do for Ren to go around doing the same.

Ren turned his attention back to Shade. "So," he said, "What exactly has you wandering around the streets alone this late."

by **Shade** Wed Sep 19, 2012 2:49 pm

Cool? First useful and now cool? What was with people and her power? Putting aside that it was a mutation in the first place, there really wasn't anything special about it. She'd have been quite content without it. Maybe then her uncle wouldn't have experimented on her. But... that wasn't quite the case, was it? He probably would have used her to try and recreate the mutation in someone who didn't have it. No, she'd have been content if there was no such thing as harbingers. Not that it really mattered, there were and she was one so she had to deal with it - and the corresponding restitution.

Raising an eyebrow at him, Shade huffed in amusement, lifting the hand with the grocery bags and jiggling them a little. "Not that it's much of your concern, but my lazy-ass roommates. At this point, because of how often it happens, I think it's just an excuse to get me out more often." She shrugged then gestured at the window again. "Any reason you were in there?"

by **Ren** Fri Sep 21, 2012 5:45 pm

Ren laughed a bit at her reason for being out. He didn’t really know anything about roommates, but they sounded like they could be a huge pain in the ass. In any case, he really couldn’t seem to blame there nameless people – Shade did look a bit like she wasn’t all to comfortable with being out, what with all the dark clothing, the hood, and the sunglasses. Not that he was much more comfortable with social interaction . . . sure, he’d go out often enough, but he’d usually stay in the safety of his reflection.

He turned back to glance at the window he’d been hiding in as the girl gestured at it. He shrugged, his shoulders raising to just brush the tips of his unkempt silver hair. “It’s more interesting than just staying at home I suppose.” After all, his tiny little apartment was anything but entertaining, so Ren would come out and observe. Normally, just watching was were the interaction with other people ended, but there were some days when he’d manage to somehow strike up conversation with some stranger – and today was one of those days. Ren looked back at Shade. “And it’s quieter in the mirrors than on the streets.” He shot her an apologetic half-smile. “I just didn’t think that there was anyone out here to see me come out.” He fiddled with the trim on his coat. “But I guess that there was no harm done, right?”

by **Shade** Fri Sep 21, 2012 7:26 pm

Shade peered at him when he laughed at her. Why did so many people do that? It wasn't like she had said anything funny (admittedly, if she had, she probably wouldn't have realized it anyway).

She blinked. "Standing in a window is better than staying at home?" Well, she could understand not wanting to stay at home. After so many years of being shut in, she kept going out at all hours and staying out as long as possible. She wasn't sure if it was helping her in interacting with other people or not, but she was learning plenty of new things.

"It's fine. But you should be more careful. Just because you were lucky this time, doesn't mean that you might not get hurt next time. At the very least, look around before you stretch. That leaves you completely open." And there she goes, lecturing someone again. Why did she keep doing that? It wasn't like he, or any of the other people she had done it to, hadn't been able to manage so far without her or that they wouldn't continue to do so afterward. She should probably work on not doing that anymore.

"Sorry," she muttered, turning a faint pink.

by **Ren** Sun Sep 23, 2012 4:51 am

Ren nodded at her first few words. “Well, yeah. There’s really nothing to see in an apartment, while out here, there’s a bunch of people – which inevitably leads to things happening.” And of course, the best part was that they couldn’t see him. . . . And as stalker-ish as that sounded, it was true – people were much more entertaining when he could observe them without actually having to get involved.

He let out an awkward little laugh as she pointed out the flaws in his behavior. It was true – and he knew it. Normally he would be a lot more careful, and make his way nearly all the way back to his apartment before stepping out of his reflection in some back alleyway. But he wanted today he had wanted to enjoy the night air for a bit longer before shutting himself back inside . . . of course, he saw just how well that had turned out . . .

Catching the faint traces of a blush from the shadows of Shade’s hood, Ren grinned slightly. “What for?” He asked. “You’re right. And after all, I probably would have done the same thing in your place.”

by **Shade** Sun Sep 23, 2012 2:15 pm

Shade raised her eyebrows. Done the same thing? She doubted that. Lips twisting in amusement, she said as much. "You would have been ready to shatter every reflective surface big enough to crawl through in a twenty foot radius while throwing the person in question into a wall? Lucky for you, I try not to use my mutation for everything." She shook her head. "But then, I don't exactly have normal reactions. Bit hard to when you aren't normal, but..." She shrugged, pushing her hood back.

Glancing around and deciding it was plenty dark enough, she stepped closer, pushing her goggles up to rest on her forehead so she could study him a little better. "Is that a tattoo or just some makeup?" she asked, lifting a finger to point at the marking on his cheek. Dark chrome eyes dropped down to look at his boots. "And where did you get those?" She really liked the look of them and wanted a pair like that. Not that she was sure when or where she would wear them, but that didn't stop her from wanting them. It just went to show that she was indeed a girl after all.

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