#athrecs

Four knew she’d really done it this time. Her protest against using her abilities on Matt had left the guards to use brute force, and one in particular had taken it upon himself to up the ante for results. They knew they had certain limits and restrictions with Matt, but she was fair game, her parents signed her over, she belonged to the lab, and the people that worked there, didn’t care too much.

When she’d failed again to ignite a spark, arms crossed tightly over her chest, he’d made his move, swinging the butt of his gun at her face. The action wasn’t new, but the force in which it struck was. She heard the crack, and watched as the world went black before she fell. Waking up, she realized the world was sideways and figured she was on the floor. A searing pain screamed below her eye, swelling already starting, and the sound of a high pitched hum and muffled voices came in and out of focus. She could see through her one good eye that one of the guards had moved in front of Matt, just in case he tried to interfere. The other stood bending over top her, shouting and spitting commands, but not getting closer.

Shakily she put a hand out, and saw the blue sparks raging between her fingers, and knew right away why the guard was keeping his distance. It was the same conflicting reason she didn’t want to be in a room with people, despite how much she wanted to see Matt. The guard was scared of her powers, knew the damage they could do, maybe even seen it firsthand. Forcing herself to sit up, she swayed in her half-seated position, head pounding and vision blurry, her eye now completely swollen shut, blood dripping from both a cut where she’d been hit, and her nose.

“Matt - ” Another noise erupted over the speakers, this one drowning out everything else, but not helping her aching head.

Night air cooled her hidden features as a shadow perched behind one of the stone arches above the windows of Ketterdam's university buildings. She was waiting for the sun to set. Darkness was her friend and it would aid her again tonight.

Inej didn't get a night off. There was always information together, another secret to snatch out from beneath the rooms that the inhabitants of Ketterdam deemed safe... but no space and no secret was safe from the Wraith. Kaz needed the harbours old construction prints, another scheme he was running and Inej, for once, was more then happy to be entrusted with a task that would bring her back to the archive's of the university. Even if it meant having to wait out the guards and students staying late to finish their homework.

Being around higher education made her both brim with curiosity and insecure. She didn't deem herself smart or well educated, her parents had taught her all about life and the Saints, everything Inej would need for the life she was supposed to lead, but then the slavers had snatched her up and dumped her in a place that sounded foreign and whose writing looked like scribbled, indesipherable lines. The hard vowels of Kerch, nothing compared to the flow of her mother tongue or the soft cadence of Ravkan.

After escaping the Menagerie Inej made sure she learned to read and write this language she would be trapped in for the unforseeable future, absorbing every bit of knowledge Jesper, Kaz, Rotty, Specht or even Per Haskell offered out to her, learning the rules of the Barrel and the streets of the city to survive... but she'd never had the chance to indulge in matters of biology, history or the theory of the small sciences. It wasn't a necessity... but sometimes Inej wondered what would've happened to her if she'd been more educated, if she'd simply known more of the making of the world... This was something she meant to correct on her own time now and a stint into the universitie's library under the guise of a job offered the perfect excuse.

This wasn't her first indulgance, Inej visited the library regularly after collecting information in the area of while following one of the young noblemen that attended here. She liked the bustle of the university district...

The warmth of the sun was finally gone and the flashing out of the last light pulled Inej from her musings. With a few quick steps she made it to the edge of the roof, simply letting herself drop, gravity doing her bidding. Her slippered foot caught a tile on the roof below, then Inej vaulted herself over to the next window sill, her body spun, hand catching the edge of the window, breaking her fall and silently lowering herself onto the ledge. A slight push confirmed that the window had been locked earlier that night. It didn't matter. Her fingers brushed along her vest until they found the wire wrought grip of Sankta Lisabeta. Inej slid the narrow blade from it's sheath at her side and pushed it through the crack in the middle of the window, her left hand drawing one of the picks Kaz had given her. A satisfying click sounded only a few moments later and the window swung open.

The library was fast, but Inej was familiar with the layout, the way that books were sorted... She'd spent enough nights figuring it out, like puzzle pieces. Even now, she reached out her hand, slender finger trailing along the leathery spines.

She found her mark down a dark isle, somewhere to her right a candle was still burning. Inej took note of it, but didn't bother to investigate. Just another student staying up late to study for a test. Making an inkstain copy of the plans was easy enough, she rolled up the copy paper once it was done and dried, then backtrailed to follow her own desire of knowledge.

It was then, just a second of distraction, that something... someone grasped her wrist and wrenched it sideways. Inej sucked in the air, a flashback of Heleene's henchman dragging her through the cities while she fought and in this moment Inej sciesed to be the Wraith, capable, born with claws, but the helpless girl that the slavers took from her parents caravan.

Manfred slid across the kitchen floor in his socks, hands outstretched and snatching up the old radio off the counter. Sure, he could download Spotify and make a playlist, but there was something nostalgic about being at the mercy of a radio hosts spontaneous song choices that came on through the airwaves. Plus if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Xylda would have been proud to see him still using it. Saves him a bit of money too.

He’d heard the announcer say what was about to come on, and grinning widely, he turned it up just a bit before putting back down. As soon as the first few seconds of the song hit his ear, he grabbed a wooden spoon out of the jar holder and held it to his lips. Completely forgetting he had a house guest that had been staying with him for a while…

“Jessie is a friend. Yeah, I know, he's been a good friend of mine,” Manfred sang along into the spoon, his boxer covered butt bounced in time to the tune. “But lately something's changed that ain't harrrd to define, Jessie's got himself a girl and I want to make her mine!” Dramatically he spun around as the music did, free arm draped against the counter.

“And she's watching him with those eyes!” He fluttered his lashes, head tilted slightly back, gaze going to the ceiling. “And she's loving him with that body,” Free hand lifted up from against the counter and came to trace down the side of his bare chest, and stopped at his hip, “I just know it!” His arm followed the lyrics and slid around himself as he continued, “Yeah, and he's holding her in his arms late, late at night! You know, I wish that I had Jessie's girl, I wish that I had Jessie's girl. Where can I find a woman like that?”

There’s a beat in the song where he bops his head, then straightened, both hands holding the spoon now, “I'll play along with the charade. There doesn't seem to be a reason to change. You know, I feel sooo dirty when they start talking cute! I wanna tell her that I love her, but the point is probably moot! ‘Cause she’s watching him with those eyyyyyyyes! And she’s lovin - ” Movement caught his attention, and the song all but became forgotten as he straightened, lowered the spoon, and cleared his throat, acting as if he hadn’t been busted.

AGENT NUMBER 001

current alias: cassidy storm. college student.

current objective: get close to long zhi (alias: matt). and get as much information as possible about clan black dragon. and most importantly, as always: keep it undercover.

"do you ever plan on sharing what it is that's kept you so busy these past few days or am i just going to have to continue guessing?" a casual sip of the smoothie in her hand, curly locks of hair twisted as she speaks. there was nothing that casey was if not a good actress. hell, she probably was the best spy at the institute because of that. if there was ever a role she needed to play, she'd play it and she'd milk it for all that it was worth. sometimes getting more information than what would ever be needed.

@athrecs​ said:

❛ you don’t know shit. ❜ - athrecs 😎

the punisher starters. ( accepting )