#emutationstart

A new face, he’s wilting under their gaze and making himself small as can be in the furthest booth. The diner isn’t much but it’s dry and warm. No one asks questions or why his hands have an inhuman sheen to them. It feels like a lifetime since he’s been back in New York, especially this close to the school.

Xorn gave him so much freedom at a cost.

Specifically the power dampener masquerading as fancy jewelry on his wrist alongside countless other leather bands and braided loops of colorful string. What was he without his gifts? Better yet, did he really want to know? Joshua looks up and finally allows himself to meet the new man’s gaze when he sees their shoes first approaching his table.

This time he was not going to let anyone take what he’d found, especially not once he knew that the bag contained not only money, but food as well. He left the memorabilia and family photos on the ground. They were useless to him and going back to the man made it more likely he would be caught. Maybe the other would find his things later. He clutched the bag to him like a wild animal with a cut of meat as he heard footsteps approach. A switchblade was in his hand in the next moment, pointed toward the other person. “Go away,” he snapped, the look of a cornered wolf flashing in his eyes. “What do you want?”

Few people’s presences would cause him to want to leave his office, but people with powers were an exception. He smirked, then mentally sent the message of come up to my office, along with directions. He had no desks, his office looking more like a room for private dances than one work could be done in. He himself wearing what amounted to white bondage gear and a white speedo with boots. He was nowhere near above using his looks to his advantage, in fact, he relished in it.

“Well.. Welcome to the Hellfire Club... What brings you here?” 

Raven took the phrase to heart, making short work of one man before turning to another with a fresh face and a new persona. Everyone wanted to fall in love, to fuck, to find something worth living for or fighting. Motivations were the cornerstones of manipulation but today?

Today there was no plot or ulterior motive.

Raven was, for once, himself and walking through the department store with a low hum. Fingertips run along tweed, houndstooth, wool, and polyester blends as he appreciates the suits laid out in front of him. Shrugging out of his shirt, there’s a song on his breath as he pulls on a crisp cotton button up.

“Pity.”

Draping it carelessly over the rack, his gaze lands upon the other clientele in the row. An amused sort of smile curls his lips. Raven tests a belt in his hands next, running his hands over the feel of leather. A sharp crack echoes out when he pulls it sharply together without warning.

“Oops.”

Nathan reasons it is because he knows what is to come and wants to change it for the better. He can’t save everyone, that’s the real shame. Pushing it from his mind, he ends up looking around where he’s landed. Unfamiliar walls but there are familiar faces. A fond sort of smile quirks on his lips.

Briefly he wonders if Wade is here, causing trouble. The thought slips away and he steps further through the room. A cafeteria? No. There is the rich scent of coffee and the dull murmuring of voices. A cafe then. Metallic fingers smooth along the frame of a picture as he examines the faces beneath glass.

His parents haven’t aged at all from how he remembers them.

There is a bump to his shoulder and Nathan’s attention is ripped away from the picture of college students. Instead he faces the man that’s knocked into him, a hand outstretched to steady him. Shaking his head, he waves aside the apology and steps outside breathing in the fresh air. Ironic that it’s him now that collides with someone when he turns. Instinct has Nathan reaching out, steadying the person without a second thought.