"Yeah. Her brother never said he had a batshit sister or anything." The art community in New York was as shallow as a shot glass. Plenty was shared amongst those he'd met in the city, except deep conversations. While Tej confided in Benji, perhaps Benji hadn't been as forthcoming with the past as Tej thought.
A sudden resentment for Benji simmered but was covered up with a grin. "Don't know if I'd want Akhila hunting me down." Actually, nah, he wouldn't mind getting roughed up by Akhila (pure fantasy, he was well aware). "Come on, you of all people can dream up a reasonable way into the dispensary. A chronic ailment or something, hm. Isn't a steady supply better than a smash and grab?"
Tej hadn't thought of Adarsh as Calamity described, but made sense. "Mm, yeah he does have an air of authority for absolutely no reason at all. Narc vibes. It's not just you. Probably frowns at himself in the mirror too."
As the effects of Calamity's power took hold, Tej initially thought she was kidding. A joke in poor taste perhaps, but Calamity knew Tej was rarely fazed. Yet over long suspended seconds the rigid movements and whites of Calamity's eyes became alarming. A possession of death in someone so alive. Selfishly morbid curiosities that had long been gone then flooded his mind (his mother, last images a toddler shuttered away forever).
And then wild brown eyes looked to him once again, groggy but recognizable. Oh fuck me, did I wee myself, again? His lips parted for a few wordless seconds. Brain pedaled fast to catch up to the fact Calamity was alright. With a huff of relief, he asked, "I dunno, you can't tell?" He didn't particularly want to know.
Tej motioned to the water bottle, and dug out the only food with him to hand over. "I've got a protein bar. The savory flavor of cardboard. Help yourself. Does that happen every time? You scared the shit out of me, seriously. Freaked me out, didn't know what was happening to you."
Back in time, reverse time. And Tej already began to calculate how many months ago he last saw Inika. Before he begged Zaid to just come home, both of you. His brow pinched tight, and he rushed through the sentence to get to the most important part. "No, no I can do something with light, it's not a big-- how far back can you go?"
"I don't mind the coaching from the sidelines, as long as we get inside." The next attempt was a failure, as Calamity ended up on the ground again, and Tej clumsily pushed into a wall with no give. He scrutinized Calamity's arm. "Take it easy. Believe it or not, this tower is tougher than even you."
He took a look around. "Can't imagine where the hell a door inside the place like that even goes to. You believe me though, yeah? That I saw it, I was in there." His foot swept a fair bit of dirt away from the base, at the point the 'arse-port' initially worked. "Fine, no more asses." As he tested a few sprays of paint in other locations around the tower, the colors quickly faded as before. "Maybe we draw your drums. Your band logo. Tits to go with the ass, I don't know..."
"What's it say at the top of this thing again. Calamity, mystery, something something... maybe the door leads to the top of tower." Tej shrugged, "What you... okay, hang on. Can you do it again? You know, rewind the tape. Take me back, when I was inside the tower."