aequoreal

Nathan feels strange leaving the district but he boundaries never stopped him even when the terror was around. He has always been different than other people so wandering through dangerous parts of the city doesn’t scare him. It didn’t growing up and doesn’t now. He’s smart enough to know that those ideals don’t just go away even with Nova gone. It feels good to walk around this part of Star City. He even had his cybernetic arm out today and not hiding it under a sweater or one of his many jackets. He wore fingerless gloves though, a habit.

He doesn’t mean to stare, stopping when his eyes caught sight of a stranger watering flowers it looked like.  “It’s a shame more people don’t take care of the planet. Those flowers are lucky to have you.”

The voice was a surprise, if only for a moment before her eyes caught sight of the familiar face - at least, familiar to the district and in passing. Elysia couldn’t lie - the arm looked cool. 

His hand smoothed across the controls for another split second before pulling back. A hum fell past his lips. He turned his gaze back to the younger mutant, eliciting a gentle reassuring smile. 

“We try to keep everything safe for our students, regardless of level,” he explained. “At the same time, these simulations are as realistic as we can make them. Mutantkind has never been fully accepted in society. They never go easy on us.”

Elysia wound her hands together. “People just don’t like what’s different... I get it,” she returned solemnly, though there was a tinge of annoyance to her voice. “It doesn’t even matter if you look the part, either. If just one thing’s off, forget it. They’ll tear you apart...”

Gabby has been venturing outside of the district more and more ever since the terror has left the city streets. She knows everything about the district like the back of her hand but the rest of the city leaves much to be discovered still. Which intrigues her if she’s quite honest. She even brought Jonathan along, but attached to his harness since that’s the law or whatever. Well, pretty sure it isn’t legal to own a Wolverine but that’s beside the point right now.

“The way you watered those flowers was really cool.” She admits with a grin, not meaning to pry but happened to be walking by and caught glimpse of her abilities in action. The world would be a better place with more people taking care of it.

The compliment was surprising, yet wholly welcome. Elysia was used to the odd look or two, and even more used to the discrimination — and sometimes even to the violence that stemmed from those willing to dish it out. She wasn’t used to someone taking the time out of their day to say something nice about her power. But then again, she also wasn’t used to seeing what looked like a wolverine on a leash — maybe it was a day of new things?

She wasn’t much to look at. Roman would have never given her a second glance if he didn’t know who she was, hadn’t tracked her down on purpose. He still didn’t know the extent of it, but what he did know was that she was a mutant. She was a mutant and she’d survived a massacre of a family that had been on even his radar. Was that it, though? Had she just survived? Roman doubted it. 

“Roman Sionis,” he introduced himself, extending one leather glove clad hand toward her. If she got paint on them, he might rethink the entire venture. Hopefully she’d know better without being told. “Do you take private commissions for your…lovely…art? I have an office with a bare wall.” Oceanscapes weren’t something he gave a single damn about, but he wanted cooperation more than a canvas. “I pay very well.” 

Elysia swallowed. It didn’t take much for her to get an odd feeling about someone, not after what her family had done to her. She didn’t take people too lightly anymore, didn’t let their words woo her or lure her in. The mask itself was off putting enough and something told her to flee. Still, she rooted herself to the spot and watched the gloved hand draw close in greeting.

She took it, being careful not to ruin anything of his. There were few people who would appreciate getting paint on themselves, but she doubted he was the type. Prim, clean and intimidating seemed much more up his alley. And judging from his personnel and getup and theatrics of having someone ‘retrieve’ her for him, she figured that he did indeed pay very well. It was just the question of whether she’d take him on as a client. Or was it the other way around?

His hand outstretched towards the doors to the controls, sucking in a short breath. He could hear the buttons on the other end, as he did before. Though the incident had been months ago, it still sank deep into his stomach at the horrible sight he had seen during Daken’s confrontation. Opening the door this time around, the images flickered for a split second but in truth, he could see everything was in working order, as usual. Clearing his throat, he gestured a gentle hand towards the other and approached the control panel.

“Usually, the technician assists with adjusting the levels, but I have experience using them as well,” he explained, gesturing towards the controls. “For mutants not yet used to the simulations, we try to keep them a lot less intense. From there, we can raise the level if they’re comfortable.” 

Though unsaid, Elysia took note of the professor’s uneasiness. She wasn’t an empath outright, but she could tell when the energy shifted and right now, it had shifted in a big way. Still, he looked ready to teach her, so she obliged - more so to quench her curiosity.

Water droplets were pulled from the air to nourish and bring back to life a section of garden plants that were overwhelmingly droopy - and maybe even a little crispy. They looked horrible and no one in the neighborhood seemed to do anything about it for a week now; she wouldn’t have intervened seeing as it wasn’t part of the District, but the flowers looked parched and pleading for something, so she had to oblige.