[CENTER][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjE0Mi42ZjBiYjcuUzJGc2FTQk5ZV2hsYm1SeVlRLjE/crash-bang-zipdap.regular.webp[/img][/CENTER] Interactions: Mainly Edict, a bit with Britney at the end [hr][color=bc8dbf]Flower's and Canvasses Late Evening[/color] [hr] The feeling of cold steel pressed against my head. It's not surprising. It's honestly... [i]a little too familiar.[/i] [color=#D01417]This is your fault.[/color] I don't care. Like I said, I'm prepared for this. But as I close my eyes and prepare for the [i]agonizing[/i] feeling of having your skull being caved in from a subsonic round fired at point blank range... Nothing. That was fast. But... wait. I can still think. [b][i]I'm not dead.[/i][/b] That's when it hits me. Red. So much red. All of my view painted in nothing but red, fire, and regret. I don't want to see this. I never wanted to see any of this. [color=#D01417]A bit late for that now. Just sit back and enjoy the show.[/color] It all flashes before my eyes in an instant. Moments, people, feelings, all of it. I can almost feel my brain overheating from it all. I wouldn't be surprised if it was dripping out of my nose by now. And yet, I can't look away. Not yet. Not until it's all done. [color=#D01417]You know, you two might have more in common than you'd to admit. All that guilt for things that don't involve you. All that drive... for things you [b]know[/b] will [b][i]kill you.[/i][/b][/color] And then. It's over. Whatever link there was is violently cut and I feel my soul getting hit by a truck as it gets sent back into my own body at mach speeds. Fuck. Did they see it? The eye color, it must've shifted. Steady breaths, that's what I need to do right now. Don't make any sudden movements, don't make any changes in your expression. If you do it'll only draw attention to it. I look around. I see. Thankfully the [i]gun[/i] caught everyone's eyes. Great timing. [color=#D01417]Hm... looks like the vote's going in our favor.[/color] Each person's response, each person's words, I take it all in, one at a time. Not my intention but, at the very least it gives me an idea of where everyone stands with me. Who I can talk to. Who I can't. [color=#D01417]I would've had this all under control if you let me.[/color] Not without a few bullets you fucking psycho. [color=#D01417]It would've been more efficient.[/color] Regardless, this is fi- Then Drake steps forward, and for the first time in my entire life I watch this man... [i]defend me?[/i] [color=#D01417]Defend's a strong word.[/color] Strong enough when compared to what he'd usually do. [color=#D01417]Maybe he has a voice in his head too.[/color] Or maybe I'm just getting lucky today... The meeting's finally getting back on track. Finally. My eyes settle on Auri as she begins to explain information I already know. Still, so that's the extent of what she has huh? [color=#D01417]No mention of the cult, or the [i]other ones[/i], not to mention the remnants of [b]that fucking group.[/b][/color] Yeah... I glance for a moment towards Eve. It's less than a second as I realize I probably shouldn't but I did it anyway. [color=#D01417]Small town.[/color] Really small... [i] *chck*[/i] I glance back towards Eve again but what greets me is a flying payload of [b]deadly force[/b] coming my way. I reach out a hand, catch it, and then look back over to see where the gun that's suppose to be attached to this thing is but that's when I'm greeted by a different sight. Grayson. He's walking over here, and he's not even trying to pretend he's changed. [color=#D01417]And he's trying to pull the same shit he did [i]years ago.[/i][/color] A warm feeling. I'm sure that's how it must feel to most of them, but to me it's like feeling [i]rat[/i] trying to claw it's way into your brain. A warm rat, but still a [i]rat[/i]. [color=f49ac2]"Well, I mean... Great pitch Kali. You wanna help us now?"[/color] Grayson says to me. [color=#D01417]He's acting confident.[/color] A little too confident. [color=#D01417]Just like ten years ago.[/color] Seems like he's forgotten a few things. [color=#D01417]Slow, deliberate, steps.[/color] He thinks we don't know that playbook. [color=#D01417]It's a power-play. Textbook.[/color] He wants to play this game. [color=#D01417]He's still trying to get in.[/color] It'll be harder than last time. [color=#D01417]We should teach him a lesson.[/color] Not now, he's not vulnerable yet. Eventually, he gets close, walking up to me with that empty pistol in his hands holding it out like he's trying to feed a stray dog. I will admit, he's certainly always been impressive in the sheer amount of disrespect he can convey through physicality alone. [color=f49ac2]"You really wanna help these people? Help us? You'll fly back to Quantico, or whatever pit they keep your unnatural ass in, and you'll make up a big fucking story about how you didn't see shit, you didn't hear shit, you didn't find a fucking thing in St. Portwell. Now take your gun and fuck off."[/color] Grayson says to me as he drops the gun. Wordlessly, I catch it, reload the magazine, and stow it away back to where it belongs in the holster hidden inside my jacket. [color=#D01417]I swear I'm going to tear that boy's brain apart...[/color] Not now, we need an open- And that's when Britney Williams shows up. It doesn't take his emotional field changing for me to know what's going on. Grayson's face says it all. [color=#D01417][b]And that's all I need to strike.[/b][/color] The wall goes down in less than a millisecond. He finally gets his in... [color=#D01417]but so do I.[/color] Grayson's abstraction, it's a familiar one. Easy to take in. Easy to use. Easy to [color=#D01417]weaponize.[/color] He always uses it to smooth things over. That [i]warm fuzzy feeling[/i] is his way of making people do what he wants. I'm not here for that right now though. I'm here to [color=#D01417][b]send a message.[/b][/color] I stand up, walk towards the man. I can see it all. The Screaming. The shaking hands reaching for a gun that isn't there. The shivering of his spine as his fight or flight instinct kicks into overdrive. That accelerated heart-rate. It's all there for me like an open book. He fancies himself a hunter. A creature of the night stalking through the woods of everyone's subconscious. He's still not used to being [color=#D01417][b]hunted[/b][/color]. As I get closer, close enough to whisper into his ear that [i]cold dead hand[/i] I've sent into his soul slowly starts to [color=#D01417][b]squeeze.[/b][/color] [color=#D01417]"What's wrong Grayson? You're slipping."[/color] I whisper to him, not even bothering to look at him as I do so. [color=#D01417]"You heard the vote. I'm here to stay. But I'll give you a [i]friendly[/i] tip. Everyone else isn't on their radar... but [b]you[/b]. I suggest you behave yourself. None of us want [b]trouble[/b] here, do you understand?"[/color] I whisper to him before putting the walls up again, cutting off the connection instantly. I don't spend any more time on him. That interaction was enough, I have other things to worry about. That's when I turn to Britney, walk over to where most of the other people are in the group to blend a bit more with the crowd and say, [color=#8670AD]"I almost thought you wouldn't show up. Still, you seem to be doing well."[/color]