Julius listened to Mari's tales of her time abroad with a gentle smile; he was glad at least one of them had been able to live for a while before the world turned against them again.
"That sounds wonderful, I'm glad. I wondered a few times about going back to Britain in the last six months; nearly booked a plane ticket and everything." A sad look crossed his face. "One of the homeless shelters for disowned Empowered was bombed... I couldn't leave the survivors to fend for themselves. Sad thing is I've neatly rounded them up into one place for the authorities to move into a testing facility now. Maybe I should have left well enough alone and gone abroad." He sighed, following her slowly as she went from room to room and prepared a few beds. The mattresses were cheap but were mostly in decent condition and there were enough beds for two dozen people on this floor; he hadn't heard from Alexis on whether she'd started on the floor above or not and had no inclination to hobble up the steps for now.
"Ali went with Bryan to Britain. He started regressing about two weeks after you left; withdrawals from the drug they forced him to take in the House. Alexis could temporarily relieve the symptoms but he needed proper treatment and there's no way he could get it here. Do you remember Elena, from the British Guardians? She came over to collect him, said they'd look after him properly." He nodded at his laptop bag. "She gave me a few classified documents as well. MI6 reports on what the situation was over here; that was when I found out about the plan to get rid of me so I got Ali on that plane. She's not suited to combat and we've already been through too much. I managed to phone her two nights ago, told her what was going to happen. She was going to come back but she can really help Bryan's recovery so I managed to convince her to stay away for now."
When Mari went to change, Julius got his laptop out and put it on the desk. He wiped his glasses clean of rainwater on a microfibre cloth from his bag and tapped a few keys. Soon the CCTV footage from the various cameras in the area, those that still worked anyway, appeared on his screen. As far as the government knew these cameras had stopped working weeks ago and they were too cautious to enter the area to fix them; Alexis had simply redirected the feeds so the apartment block could be used as a safe house for a while.
"So, Mari... did you hear anything from Diego?" Julius ventured cautiously; for all his intellect he still couldn't work out what the relationship Mari and Diego had was. Over the past six months it had been put under so much pressure it was hard to keep up and he had never been good with the more complex and passionate emotions. "Although I guess if you were abroad you wouldn't have had much contact with anyone back here."
Jinxer Member
The British One
- Last Seen: 2 yrs ago
- Old Guild Username: Jinxer
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- Jinxer 12 yrs ago
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11 yrs ago
Currently living inside Life is Strange.
11 yrs ago
I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack.
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AllOurPrettySongs said
Because the drinking age is 18, we get people determined to still under age drink. So you get a bunch of twelve year olds stumbling blind.
12? Bah! Happens here in the UK at the age of like... six.
ShieldsOfWar said
..........................................You win! Everything that I am and everything I have is yours; now until the end of times lol :-). Including a weenie dog named Bane because he is my town's reckoning....I know I'm lame.
The actual vows are very much less interesting than that sadly (I know, Catholic service for me...)
Right, I was planning to have a post up this morning but I have to leave in 10 minutes for work. I might be back early today so we'll see if I can get one up in a few hours' time. Otherwise it'll be in like... 12 hours' time.
Whisket said
Oh I knew he wasn't blind, I was just exaggerating his poor vision.
Shiny. I wasn't sure whether I'd made it clear or not >.<
I should point out that Julius isn't blind. His eyes were removed but his brother's were implanted into him - he is developing acute long-sightedness though (can't make out details close to him when not wearing glasses).
Julius nodded with a smile, he had a photographic memory so it was hard, if not nearly impossible, for him to miss such small details.
"I noticed, he's also like us. He somehow swapped my watch for another, his is heavier and there's no ticking sound." Julius' hearing had become incredibly accurate and sensitive due to his eyes having been removed and that strengthening of the sense had not left him, largely because he went to great pains to ensure it did not. "Hold on a mo, I'll get my radar up."
He closed his eyes, focussing intensely on reading the air currents in a five block radius. Normally he would spend time before retreating to an area setting up his 'radar' but he could not afford to alert authorities to this place if they noticed irregular air movement; they jumped at the slightest thing these days and would surely notice his power especially. Making a few, very small adjustments, to the flow of air in a few alleyways, Julius was able to construct a map in his mind of everything in the area. If anyone came looking for them or followed them he would know now. He noticed the man at the bus stop had left, walking away. It was odd for someone to move on from a bus stop when the bus hadn't yet arrived and he had only been there when Julius and Mari retreated into the alleyway.
"The guy from the bus stop is probably tailing one of us, probably me as well. They can't have got someone on your tail already." Julius warned Mari, opening his eyes. The radar was still there in his head; he had perfected keeping it active passively when he wasn't fighting or focussing on something which required his complete attention.
It wasn't long before they made it to the building. Julius led the way, leaning on a handrail to take the weight off of his injured leg. They passed a few of the homeless, most of them looking like they had been there for some time. Once they got to the third storey of the building suddenly it was quieter; devoid of the population below and with bits of odd furniture here and there in one large room that had previously been used for conferences.
"This used to be a charity building. It seems only right we use it now." Julius said to Mari, chuckling as he limped forwards and found a wheeled chair in half-decent condition. "People are too scared of the old gang that worked here to come and nick it all which is ideal. Oh... see the cupboard in that wall? I had Alexis stocking it with bed rolls, sleeping bags, blankets; that sort of thing." He reached into a pocket and tossed it to Mari.
"That opens it. I'm not sure where to go from here but there are plenty of places to access the sewers and forgotten subway lines around here as well as disused basements and the like. I should have planned better than this, Mari. They were keeping a tight eye on me, even sent a few fake muggers and a sniper to get rid of me. If I'd realised earlier then maybe we wouldn't be back where we were six months ago. I guess Diego was right about them." He smiled sadly at Mari.
"So... how was Europe? I want to go back to Britain some time; when this is all over and if I'm still able at the end."
"I noticed, he's also like us. He somehow swapped my watch for another, his is heavier and there's no ticking sound." Julius' hearing had become incredibly accurate and sensitive due to his eyes having been removed and that strengthening of the sense had not left him, largely because he went to great pains to ensure it did not. "Hold on a mo, I'll get my radar up."
He closed his eyes, focussing intensely on reading the air currents in a five block radius. Normally he would spend time before retreating to an area setting up his 'radar' but he could not afford to alert authorities to this place if they noticed irregular air movement; they jumped at the slightest thing these days and would surely notice his power especially. Making a few, very small adjustments, to the flow of air in a few alleyways, Julius was able to construct a map in his mind of everything in the area. If anyone came looking for them or followed them he would know now. He noticed the man at the bus stop had left, walking away. It was odd for someone to move on from a bus stop when the bus hadn't yet arrived and he had only been there when Julius and Mari retreated into the alleyway.
"The guy from the bus stop is probably tailing one of us, probably me as well. They can't have got someone on your tail already." Julius warned Mari, opening his eyes. The radar was still there in his head; he had perfected keeping it active passively when he wasn't fighting or focussing on something which required his complete attention.
It wasn't long before they made it to the building. Julius led the way, leaning on a handrail to take the weight off of his injured leg. They passed a few of the homeless, most of them looking like they had been there for some time. Once they got to the third storey of the building suddenly it was quieter; devoid of the population below and with bits of odd furniture here and there in one large room that had previously been used for conferences.
"This used to be a charity building. It seems only right we use it now." Julius said to Mari, chuckling as he limped forwards and found a wheeled chair in half-decent condition. "People are too scared of the old gang that worked here to come and nick it all which is ideal. Oh... see the cupboard in that wall? I had Alexis stocking it with bed rolls, sleeping bags, blankets; that sort of thing." He reached into a pocket and tossed it to Mari.
"That opens it. I'm not sure where to go from here but there are plenty of places to access the sewers and forgotten subway lines around here as well as disused basements and the like. I should have planned better than this, Mari. They were keeping a tight eye on me, even sent a few fake muggers and a sniper to get rid of me. If I'd realised earlier then maybe we wouldn't be back where we were six months ago. I guess Diego was right about them." He smiled sadly at Mari.
"So... how was Europe? I want to go back to Britain some time; when this is all over and if I'm still able at the end."
AllOurPrettySongs said
#2spoopyYeah I use hashtags. I'm too young and out of control.
I genuinely don't understand how Twitter works. I feel old.
Julius shook his head, saying nothing. He and Diego had hardly left on the best of terms; another argument about how to handle the government. Finally, taking off his glasses so that he could look at Mari but with vision so blurry he didn't actually make eye contact, he spoke.
"I... kept tabs on him, where I could. It wasn't like after we escaped the House of Powers but it wasn't great either. I've spent the last six months trying to mediate but the government were just appeasing me; they showed up this morning to take me back to the House. I might have been taken if it weren't for Alexis warning me ahead of time."
He looked away, ashamed of his failure. For a time he thought they were making actual progress but the stories coming in from the streets soon told him another story; they were trying to pull the wool over his eyes until he was no longer useful. Six months wasted on a cause destined to fail when he could have been using his influence to hide and protect fellow Empowered from the government and the darker gangs... more than he had been, anyway.
"Wait, Mari. Hold on a mo." Her frantic walk had been too fast for him to keep up with, his left leg slowing him down drastically with two bullet wounds; one to the knee and one to the upper thigh. If it weren't for his now lost regenerative powers he probably wouldn't be able to walk at all anymore. "There's an abandoned apartment building two blocks from here. I've had Alexis spreading rumours to sympathisers about the place, try and gather Unnaturals there. An old gang used it but they moved out a month ago so the authorities think it's just left over tales about them."
As he was speaking someone approached them and asked an innocuous question about the time. Julius glanced at his watch and ground his teeth in frustration; the clock face was nothing but a blur to him without his glasses. The roman numerals were too fine and the clock arms too thin for him to make it out when he held the watch further away from him where his vision normalised. Instead he held his wrist out towards the man.
"Here, I haven't got my glasses on."
The sound of sirens nearby nearly made him jump but he controlled the impulse carefully, eyeing the scenery nearby for any movement. He had assumed the two men from earlier had radioed in his location before their confrontation which probably meant that specialist teams were incoming; the price for infamy it would seem.
"I'm sorry, but we need to get going." Julius turned to Mari and leaned in close. "We need to go, now. They've got Empowered teams patrolling the area and they'll know I was nearby now. We should get out of sight."
"I... kept tabs on him, where I could. It wasn't like after we escaped the House of Powers but it wasn't great either. I've spent the last six months trying to mediate but the government were just appeasing me; they showed up this morning to take me back to the House. I might have been taken if it weren't for Alexis warning me ahead of time."
He looked away, ashamed of his failure. For a time he thought they were making actual progress but the stories coming in from the streets soon told him another story; they were trying to pull the wool over his eyes until he was no longer useful. Six months wasted on a cause destined to fail when he could have been using his influence to hide and protect fellow Empowered from the government and the darker gangs... more than he had been, anyway.
"Wait, Mari. Hold on a mo." Her frantic walk had been too fast for him to keep up with, his left leg slowing him down drastically with two bullet wounds; one to the knee and one to the upper thigh. If it weren't for his now lost regenerative powers he probably wouldn't be able to walk at all anymore. "There's an abandoned apartment building two blocks from here. I've had Alexis spreading rumours to sympathisers about the place, try and gather Unnaturals there. An old gang used it but they moved out a month ago so the authorities think it's just left over tales about them."
As he was speaking someone approached them and asked an innocuous question about the time. Julius glanced at his watch and ground his teeth in frustration; the clock face was nothing but a blur to him without his glasses. The roman numerals were too fine and the clock arms too thin for him to make it out when he held the watch further away from him where his vision normalised. Instead he held his wrist out towards the man.
"Here, I haven't got my glasses on."
The sound of sirens nearby nearly made him jump but he controlled the impulse carefully, eyeing the scenery nearby for any movement. He had assumed the two men from earlier had radioed in his location before their confrontation which probably meant that specialist teams were incoming; the price for infamy it would seem.
"I'm sorry, but we need to get going." Julius turned to Mari and leaned in close. "We need to go, now. They've got Empowered teams patrolling the area and they'll know I was nearby now. We should get out of sight."
wolverbells said
IT WAS MORNING FOR ME
I'm going in go work in an hour and half. I'm excited to see my kids again. It's been almost a year!
I seem to recall you calling them something other than 'my kids' a few times before.... ;)
Gonzo said
*insert angry Dr. Cox face here.*
Yeah yeah.
What you mean is "Shut up, Charlotte!"
wolverbells said
Well good morning to all of you too
Morning?! I finished work then! (Shiny new job :D)
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