Kat blinked and Vahl was visible once more, Rowan brushed by close enough that the remaining fog around him fluctuated before returning to the oval shape and dampened her shirt sleeve. In the next instant, it dissipated entirely. Vahl, dry as a bone despite being completely encapsulated in water molecules the moment before, gave a curt nod to acknowledge the plan and turned to join Rowan. His silence was rapidly becoming indicative of his desire to think things through.
Why does this draw so much more energy for her? There has to be a way to minimize the effort...
Gavin, grateful to be on the move once more, caught up to Rowan and Vahl in a few lengthy strides. He instinctively... or habitually and reflexively... took inventory on his team and possessions. This was a civilian run with little room for war prep, so aside from the ever-present knife in his boot he'd wear even to visits with The Brute, or his own mother, they were otherwise unarmed. That is, if you didn't consider what he and the rest of the group could do as displayed in the last couple weeks. His confidence was growing in their effectiveness, he had to admit, despite the sometimes glaring lack of teamwork or purposeful use of their... abilities. Every team went through growing pains and this one was negotiating some very traumatic spurts. They were no Bonnar's Badasses. Not yet. But he had one original crewmember with him and, all things considered, he felt like his back was covered. And that went miles in the right direction.
It wouldn't have ever occurred to Rowan that walking into a place she called home could cause such trepidation. But was it even home anymore? Logically, no. Too many variables, heavy evidence to indicate some level of danger, questions about intent that were, frankly, terrifying to consider. On the plus side, she knew the grounds and would recognize many of the faces. Lack of social skills -or desire- did not preclude her prodigious memory from doing what it did, capturing data like a cotton candy spindle does to spun sugar. And there was this group. This mysterious group of individuals brought together in as equally a mysterious way. They'd already saved her once. She'd seen them interact in ways that, by all accounts, seemed friendly -and annoyed- to the point of family. She felt some measure of safety in their company and, even now, they marched with her into the unknown without hesitation. She hadn't known acquaintances... or friends... like that before.
Daenus watched the group start to walk away, freshly opened beer in hand, and stretched his legs to rest his feet on the dash. He settled in for a nice people-watching session, a warm breeze blowing gently through the cabin. Kat came alongside the van last, weirdly allowing the majority of the crew to gain some distance. Lazily he looked over at her. Then she stopped, shoulder to shoulder with Daenus. Slowly, she turned her head towards him and leveled a gaze that genuinely caused him to consider the amount of fluid he was willing to store in his bladder. Her jaw was tight, her face expressionless. She made no other move. Daenus gulped his mouthful of beer uncomfortably hard as his tendency to speak once again tried to override his physiology.
"Wha-?..." He wiped his mouth with his free hand, then used it to gesture to the building like she was running late.
"I'm not even-... what do you...? I was going to prote-..."
She didn't blink. The unbroken eye contact was unsettling. Nay, it was disturbing. Frightening. He'd seen what they could do.
She wouldn't... he found himself grasping at straws.
S'what I get for looking at her. Maybe she needs everybody to not look at her to turn invisible herself, that's probably why she's mad. There was an epic hero of yore that had a similar ability, now that he thought about it, though that one was male. Also part of a group.
A group that knew to not look at him. C'mon, Daenus! You KNOW this stuff!
Making a production out of dropping his feet back down and popping open the door like everything was a huge obstacle in his way, Daenus sputtered,
"FINE. Fine. I'm coming. Get out of the way, I can't open the doo- okay, THANK you. I'm bringing my beer, though." He said that last with a pause in all activity, clutching the bottle close to his chest with the wide-eyed, ear-back look of a feral dog challenging a competitor to dare take its meal.
Kat finally broke the eye contact and moved to follow the rest of the team without a word. Daenus shut the van door and slogged along behind her muttering about leaving the van unlocked and unprotected, that he didn't even care if it got robbed. He thought about the remaining beer in the cooler and paused once more.
No. NO. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made to teach valuable lessons. He continued on again, ran back to lock the van, then caught up to Kat and the rest.
The complex was as lavish on the inside as the outside promised. The air actually smelled and felt fresher indoors, the sheer magnitude of plant life in one place was more than most of them had seen in their entire lives. Walking in the main door granted them access to a massive hall whose ceiling was the very top of the building, the structure supported by pillars that spiraled with greenery and fanned out to the mostly open top floor. All of the apartments had balconies facing the great hall with boskage spilling over each rail, a grand exercise in both sociability and Earth care.
Rowan, having seen it all before, walked with determination to the nearest elevator, tugging the bill of her hat lower over her brow. The rest of the group scanned their surroundings with the general awe and interest of a people seeing a new civilization. They passed a front desk kiosk, a large but minimalist structure with a friendly person behind it who made a concerted attempt to address the group with a friendly wave and pleasant greeting.
Person at the front desk is trying to say hello. If you have any questions you'd like answered before you post, please PM me and send me a Viber message to let me know.
