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[b]Los Angeles - Café Belle Vie[/b]
[@Shard][hr]

He watched silently as the little girl approached Midnight, seeming starstruck by the prospect of meeting the young hero. It was touching, in its way, but it also made him glad that he had gone relatively unknown. Not many people knew Éclater, not unless he'd done something to help them or he'd had the pleasure of punching them in the nose. He didn't tend to stick around to exchange pleasantries, he didn't tend to introduce himself upon entering a battle. 

He had been very low-key in his work, trying to stray from the public eye. It wasn't that he thought it was [i]bad[/i] to be known or acknowledged for his work, he just preferred his privacy. Hooking up with blokes in bars became a [i]lot[/i] more complicated when they started recognising you as the weird ass guy who ran around in a porcelain mask committing arson. Arson was arson, even if it was for the “better good”.

[i]And what was the “better good” anyway?[/i] He pondered almost constantly, never quite sure what he was fighting for, never quite sure why. That was the million dollar question, it was the only question that he'd never been able to answer. He'd met sympathetic villains before, he'd related with some of them quite a lot and it often made him wonder if he could have gone that route too if he'd been in a different mindset at the time. Of course, here and now wasn't the best time to start thinking about all [i]that nonsense.[/i]

As Midnight and the girl became occupied in their photo, he took another long swig on his flask. He was by far the worst person to represent ideals of a “better good” and in a way, he knew that, but he was also doing this out of the kindness of his heart. That was [i]kind of[/i] good, wasn't it? The sheer fact that he was willing to put his life on the line for little to no gain was [i]some[/i] kind of good. If one could forget all of his bad examples and indulgence of his impulses, he was actually an alright hero.

He waited politely for them to finish up, or at least, it [i]seemed[/i] polite, he just didn't have much to interject. He'd already come off as a glory hound by jumping into this fight, there was no need to incriminate himself more by greeting Midnight’s fan. He waited for them to finish up, stuffing his flask back into the pocket of his hoodie.

“[color=a0410d]Midnight, huh?[/color]” He feigned curiosity because he'd already checked the watch at his wrist and it was [i]far[/i] too early to leave for lunch. He didn't expect the kid had much interest in talking to him either by the wariness in which he'd been watching him, so, he figured, why not keep talking?  “[color=a0410d]I heard your name on the radio. Where's your ah- partenaire?[/color]”

He paused, rolling the word over in his mouth. “[color=a0410d]Partenai- Partner. Where's your partner? Faultline, is it?[/color]”

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