A - TRAIN,

REDEMPTION INTERLUDE. independent & private writing blog for the canon character A-TRAIN / REGGIE FRANKLIN, divergent past season four. written by octavia (21+). psd by orestes. inspired by themes like quick wits & reflexes, the deconstructed public persona, exploitation of image, fear & self-loathing, running from oneself, and running towards the fight. CARRD. DC'S BUMBLEBEE. FALLOUT OC.

his slipstream leaves cash behind & earthy cedar with bergamot, the only signs of his presence. stolen moments of anonymity last for a short eternity in slow motion. the world almost catches up to him stopping to watch @neridoes. it was rare for a star to be starstruck: honest admiration is too close to vulnerability. but another nanosecond of self-conscious musing might have missed the body shifting through the barricade. one by one, reggie arranges her security personnel as a wall in front of the man. the dominos fall to his laughter as he brushes pine needles out of his braids.

you didn't need to step in like that.

her voice is the first sound reggie hears in real time, before he can catch his breath or hide his surprise. rhythmic bass & his own heartbeat rush him back into the pace of life with excited energy behind his smile. "nah, of course not," is all he can say in the shock of seeing her & being seen.

he takes out an airpod to hear the last of medusa's shocked, gasping statement. the bottle girl's sign knocked her glasses off and then ... nihilist boredom is a comfort against the sympathy & horror rising in his chest. it wasn't her fault. a-train swipes the blunt from the ashtray before cleaners take away the table of indulgences. just like nothing's ever my fault. embers light up on the end as his lighter closes with a click.

what the fuck is wrong with you?

he's rolling his eyes into a smoke trick, as a plume of smoke billows in front of vought's favorite @attckdog. "calm down," he sighs through a smoky exhale. the taste of lip gloss & champagne still sits on top of bitter tobacco leaf. "we already know the blunt's not what killed 'em." he sighs through a smoky exhale.

"this is what i would be doin' if they didn't call me. this was my off day." no such thing, when a-train had been vought's special courier since his upperclassmen days. "the hazmat suits are movin' the garden fixtures so why am i here?" he uses the still hand of a bouncer to discard ash. confusion tilts his head towards leon, even as he blows smoke away.

such a funny question for a universe with psychics!! the good times in between scarcity with his mom and brother aren't really known by anybody. his public life kind of just begins with teenage kix to people. not even popclaw would've known about family stuff like that. that relationship was one of escape, even at the start. that is also a thought he would guard from others.

the last moment he had with his mother is extremely guarded, because he knows he broke his promise to keep being a real hero after she passed. these are things that are a little too real and break the very well-crafted image he's maintained. i personally think him mentioning how he got his powers was a lapse in pattern brought on popclaw's death: an action he took to keep up a lie of his reputation. it was a tiny attempt in trying to act differently.

cheekbone. what makes them smile ?

for a while, victory was one of the only things that truly made his smile reach his eyes. that used to be his own gratification, acceptance, whatever. he's competitive by nature. but the surprise in someone's eyes when he arrives is always going to spark a little smile from him. he loves running into a sunset, running over water. he's also forever a little brother so teasing and being annoying is his default. he makes himself laugh so much, it's ridiculous. but real acceptance from the people he loves will have his dimples showing.

mandible / jawbone. what are they incapable of saying out loud ?

he wishes that hughie and annie let him die that first heart attack. that's part of why he's intent to kind of haunt starlight in that first bit of season two. the other is fully disbelieving she wouldnt hold it against him.

reggie never thought supersonic and annie's plan was going to work. he just wanted / needed an escape. he does regret getting him killed because he knew exactly how that would go down. but he did not have faith that joining with them would get anything done.

he killed blue hawk the way he did because he knew it could kill him. the last thing he actually wanted was to survive that, which adds to his confusion of why this wasn't the right choice in nathan's eyes.

hyoid / neck. who taught them to speak up, or stay silent ?

in a way, he feels a certain pressure to perform for the people around him. so i'm counting this as totally disappearing from everybody. not just vought and the things that remind him of thee company. if it were possible to completely go off the grid, he'd go to the track for the indy 500. one of his very first public uses of his powers was racing one of the pros, because it was the first thing a six-year-old reggie could think of for his birthday. it wasn't even really publicized like that. one of the track attendants knew reggie's dad and gave him a shot. nobody really knows about that place being special to him.

reggie never sits with his back facing the door. he is always somewhere that he can make a beeline for the exit. in this line of thinking, he's also usually checking that his laces are tied or just tucked in. this isn't a problem with the custom cleats so he tends to constantly wear them. he took a few pairs but was not wearing them when he died.

he's a good tipper. like, a very good tipper. it's not the most well-known detail and only really came out after he died. but he tips pretty much the same amount as the check, if not twice as much. and that's on top of automatic gratuity for his entourage. he knows what it's like trying to make a life with what you can.

reggie moisturizes with body oil most of the time, it is a purely a personal preference and it kind of leaves this jasmine scent in his wake during early morning runs. the other one is more of a teakwood, mahogany kind of scent towards the end of the night.

teenage kix era. there's a reason why mesmer and him still kept contact. reggie genuinely wanted to be a real hero but never had the luxury of annie's pollyanna. he was a team player that wanted to do some good. it's easy to see the heart behind the runner and the earnest drive to be the best. it also becomes very easy to see how he's being pulled in all the wrong directions. he's a sweet kid with a bright smile, who wants to make his mother proud. but he's also insecure and driven by fear of failure, which leaves him vulnerable to the worst influences.

goldolkin. reggie initially comes off as humble considering his skill and previous work with vought. and humble compared to a lot of supes in college. maeve would have encountered this version of reggie first, eager to prove himself but better at hiding it. he comes off as a party boy because he realizes the need to insert himself into the spaces that matter to people with power. he understands the hierarchy and that there always has to be a loser, reflected in his treatment of kevin before the seven. he really starts out drinking and smoking socially because it would make it easier to be the life of the party. he actively fakes as if he's used to the opulent lifestyle that his skill affords him, or any of the attention that people give him. people like tek knight could see that: the financial insecurity under the fear of failure, driving him much more than those who had certain things assured. so he comes off as a peacock but lacking the certainty of nature.

vought, then after. a heartthrob who acts above it all. i'd say his clinical view of people as obstacles or speed boosts shows his persona of moving too fast to truly consider the people around him. chasing instant gratification becomes running from himself. that path becomes one of casual, but detached cruelty. he's someone who doesn't care, with tunnel vision towards keeping his status. it's based in that constant fear and almost a resignation: this is what it is. the ends justify the means, the destination is what matters. the incident with blue hawk truly does hollow him out of all that entitlement and thinking that way. it forces him to literally and figurative slow down and understand the damage he leaves behind in his wake. he takes the time to see all angles now and seems less like that party boy who always has a smart remark. he becomes very introspective and slowed down to a fault. there's a negative lingering that weighs him down as the misery and fear he refused to acknowledge catches up with a swiftness.