dark star

     There was a moment where Teddy really didn’t know what to do with themselves. They were afraid if they went to touch Zach in anyway again, there’d be another vision. But they couldn’t stop themself, they needed to hold him tightly and tell him how much they loved him, he needed to know that htey were there for him no matter what. No matter what.

     “Don’t apologize, please…” They whispered softly before taking his hand in their own once more. They gave it a tight squeeze, knowing that Zach really needed them. He had been through so, so much and Teddy just wished there was a way for them to make all that go away. They leaned against him, pressing their palms flat together. “You can talk about anything with me,” they said softly. “Just so you know.”

For just a moment, it seemed like the both of them were frozen, watching each other with wide eyes and sad expressions. Nothing about his impromptu trip had been good, and somehow it was worse knowing that they’d been able to see it -- not because they knew, of course, but because they’d been forced to experience a part of it with him. He wouldn’t wish that on anyone, least of all someone he loved so dearly. He sighed, curling his hand around Teddy’s when they took it in theirs, leaning in at last to press a kiss to their forehead. “I know,” he replied, curling his arms around them, “I just... you’ve seen enough. It gets worse from there.” Much worse, and honestly? That was something he wanted to forget for a while... just a little while.

Cade woke to a sharp knocking on her door. Groggily, she made her way from the bedroom of her apartment, through the kitchen, over the couch, to the door and yanked it open. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was and she tried to wake up a little. “What are you doing here?”

There was only one thing Cade despised more than being woken up in the middle of the night, and that was being woken up to go do her “civilian duties” for fricking C.A.R.M.A.

The last thing he wanted to do was run around doing missions so late at night, let alone with a partner, but CARMA was insistent and he didn’t have the right to refuse his duties. Even so, he thought it was a bit unfair that he had to be the one to wake the other assigned agent up, and though he didn’t complain openly, his face was pinched into a scowl as he rapped on the door of their apartment, his gear already ( hastily ) prepared for whatever troubles arose. Given that the mission involved a rogue meta, there was bound to be something.

“Rise and shine,” he said, sounding as tired and irritable as he felt, “we’re going meta hunting.” 

“Honestly…hooking up is…gross. Just…sex in general is being off-putting for me. But yes..it’s being a compliment…so..accepting it.” Ha-neul finished, drumming his fingers against the top of the counter; eyes roaming around every now and then still. It didn’t seem as though he was selling himself to Zach and he’d much rather just get to the point of wether or not the guy would agree. If not, then he had  plenty of other people that would fit the bill. “I mean…I’m not sure how much more I can explain….you’re making this be like so much more difficult than what it should be.” Hans sighed slightly, giving a slightly annoyed look as he stared at Zach. 

Well with that new knowledge, he could sort of understand why Zach seemed confused about his forwardness. But still, a yes or no would have sufficed; as opposed to all the questions. Once he heard the actual reasoning for the other man to come out to his event, he couldn’t help but feel it be a slight jab to his ego. “So…you don’t…follow me on anything? Or like follow any of my other events? You just happened to come to this one?” He asked, trying to make sure he was understanding. Of course of all the people he could have picked from the crowds, Ha-neul had to pick the guy that just wanted a night out; and not actually in it for Hans himself. “Okay, well…I can still working with this. You don’t have to be a true fan…I guess…just so long as you…you know, do a good job of promoting me. That’s if you agree of course; but anyways, was…there a reason for you wanting to get out? Or was it like…a spur of the moment thing?”

It was almost nice to meet someone with a similar opinion, even if he wasn’t sure what his thoughts on him were yet. He himself, as someone who didn’t feel those sorts of things, didn’t have a particular liking to hooking up, but then, he didn’t necessarily think it was gross, either. For him, perhaps, but others could do what they pleased and as long as he wasn’t personally, involved, it was fine by him. “Dude, right? It’s definitely not my thing. Thanks for the compliment I guess, though?” Whether it was genuine was another matter entirely, but Zach didn’t exactly care either way -- praise was praise, after all. Even the false kind tended to energize him. He shrugged at the stranger as he continued, not too bothered by his lack of explanation. It seemed lazy, of course, but that wasn’t any of his business, was it? Didn’t affect him much.

He cocked a brow at Ha-neul as he continued, throwing a shoulder in another quick shrug. “Nah, not really. I don’t follow a lot of people on anything, actually... or party that much.” Plenty of people followed him, of course, but he preferred to have a less active feed -- too much could be overwhelming for him. His friends and a few other trusted individuals ( acquaintances, perhaps ) were it. “There wasn’t really a reason, I guess. Just kinda wanted to have a good time,” he answered, not totally lying. There was, in fact, a reason he had decided to go out, but none of it was something he’d admit to a stranger... or even most people he knew. Teddy was about it, aside from those who were given clearance to know about his supposed re-education. “I guess I could probably be your... uh, hype boy, or whatever. Sounds whack, but it’s something to do.”

     When you grew up like Teddy did, there was a part of you that lost how to be an actual person and feel actual person emotions. Between losing Zach for so long and knowing what was going on with their boyfriend but not being able to do anything made Teddy close to losing their mind. The fact that Zach was finally back and kind of safe had Teddy relieved beyond comprehension, though Zach probably understood since he had lived it.

     It was cheesy and cliche, but it was comforting, that he was being so touchy with them. Teddy felt weird and self-centered, but they were relieved that he had missed them, relieved that he loved them, relieved that he was theirs. Typically, their experience was just the opposite, it was nice that Zach was theirs. “I love you too,” they whispered softly, unable to add on the ‘so, so much.’ That was just something that came with being emotionally detached from things. They took Zach’s face in their hands, making him look at them, “I love you.” 

     Suddenly, Teddy felt their body go rigid and in front of their eyes was a dark room, they felt the cold creeping over their skin. There was a shadow of someone standing over them while they were laying down. They tried to move, but they couldn’t, they struggled and struggled, shouts that weren’t theirs came from their mouth and they felt their skin burning, whether it was from a knife or something else, they weren’t sure though. Before they could figure out anything else, the vision stopped and they found themself back in Zach’s apartment, holding his face and staring at him.

     “Did– was that–” Their voice was cracking already, “I-I’m sorry…”

Zach wasn’t normally known for coveting anyone’s affection, but in that moment he was glad he had Teddy’s. It’d been far too long since anyone had said anything kind to him, said anything that implied he was wanted, and if he hadn’t been so focused on keeping his cool ( as much as possible ) he might’ve teared up. The only thing that kept them back, in fact, was that he’d already wasted too many on the likes of CARMA’s top re-educators ( read: torturers ) and didn’t think he had any left to shed even if he’d wanted to seem more vulnerable than he already was. “God, you have no idea how good it feels to hear you say that,” he mumbled, his expression softening as they took his face into their hands. “Or maybe you do, I don’t--”

He cut off as they suddenly stiffened, and realizing what was happening, he quickly wiggled out of their grasp and away from them -- he didn’t know if it would help or not, but he hoped it did. The last thing he wanted was for Teddy to accidentally dig through his freshest memories of CARMA. They didn’t need to see him like that, through his eyes or otherwise. The fact that they’d already known was troubling enough ( had they seen it? ) and the idea of them being forced into one of his memories through his point of view was almost too much to bear. Unfortunately, Teddy’s powers didn’t much care what either of them thought, because it’d taken them there, anyway.

When they ( finally ) seemed to come back from their vision, he scooted closer to them again, grimacing at the horror that seemed to break their expression -- they’d seen. He didn’t need any sort of explanation to know that, and the sympathy they expressed only proved him right. “It’s... you know, it happens,” he mumbled, leaning back against them again, more carefully this time. “I’m sorry you had to like, you know... see that.” He wouldn’t wish being there on his worst enemy -- not that he needed to, given where they all were. “I’m... I’m fine, I promise.”

When he’d joined the Rebel Army as a scout, it had sort of been an impulse thing. Honestly, Chan-bye had felt like he sort of owed them. Especially since one of their members had helped him out, when he got into a bit of trouble with some agents. Plus, didn’t joining them sort of count as like…a big step towards socializing…well, since he couldn’t really tell his family; he’d assume not. But since he was a registered Meta, and lived practically right next to HQ; the boy assumed he would prove as a useful teammate

Currently strolling through the Wolfhurst shopping center, his eyes fell onto a man dressed in his C.A.R.M.A gear and walking around; just seeming to keep an eye on things. Suddenly, he was struck with a rather intelligent (well in his eyes it was) idea. The place was pretty crowded, Chan-bye could easily tail him from a distance. Well, maybe a little closer than just a distance; since he didn’t have a scent on the guy, it would be easy to loose him. Especially since it would also be far too easy for himself, to get swept up in one of the many crowds of individuals. So he’d just, keep a safe distance sort of directly behind the man and staying partially hidden by a body or two. In his opinion, he was doing pretty darn well right now; of tailing the guy. That is until he’d turned a corner, which in turn made the scout speed up a little bit; turning the corner to try to find where the agent went. Only to come face to face with said agent, who didn’t seem to be very pleased. 

“O-oh…ahh…hello, sir…” He began warily with a sort of forced chuckle, as he stared with wide eyes at the C.A.R.M.A agent before him. “Uhm….so you…knew already I was following you around? I was ahh…curious about like…all of that stuff you’re wearing…and I…I…” Chan-bye trailed off with a small stutter, never being the best at lying in general. Especially lying on spot. “Think Chan-bye, think. Say something that will sound real.” He muttered to himself, shaking his head and refacing the agent. “Is it fun? I uhm…want to join! So…I was going to ask you like..questions and..yeah..” It sounded bad in his own ears, he could only imagine how it sounded to the man before him. Mind going a mile a minute, the rebel scout wondered to himself if things would get physical; and he’d really hoped not. He’d joined as a scout specifically due to his powers not being the most useful in actual combat.

@zachacosta

Unfortunately, there were drawbacks to being out of the torture chamber, the first of which was the fact that he was back on the job. Since there hadn’t been any serious metahuman incidents, he wasn’t particularly worried about causing a scene, but the ever-monotonous work of patrolling felt drab and uninteresting, especially since there was nothing he could do but wait for something to happen. Given the temporary calm that’d settled over CARMA, he wasn’t optimistic that he’d find anything to soothe his boredom -- at least it meant his job was an easy one. The only problem was that it gave him time to think, and with everything that’d gone on in his life lately, that was the last thing he wanted to do. Maybe if he played his cards right, he’d be able to distract himself with some not-work-related thing, but with everything he’d seen so far... he doubted it.

There was just nothing interesting going on in Pansaw... or so he thought.

He realized somebody was following him several blocks back, and finding enough of a reason to suspect something was up with them, had decided to confront them in an alleyway up ahead. After all, since he was in full gear, it wouldn’t have surprised him if it was somebody looking for trouble -- given all CARMA had done lately ( and not-so-lately ) he couldn’t say he blamed them, but the occasion did give him an opportunity for entertainment. And to stop thinking so hard on the not-so-distant past -- something he’d take any excuse to do. Once he reached the alley he prepared himself to face them, one hand on a neuralring just in case the person happened to be a metahuman... something that definitely wouldn’t have been surprising.

When they turned the corner to follow, he was standing at the ready, eyes narrowed and suspicions raised, only to find that their excuses were worse than their ability to follow discreetly -- it was impossible to lie to him, of course, but they were particularly bad at it. “You do know I can tell when you’re lying, right?” he asked, cocking a brow. “Not that it’s like, hard with you or anything, but I just figured you should know before you say anything else. You know, just in case you finally thought of something that isn’t whack as fuck to say.” He paused, sizing the other man up and deciding he probably wasn’t much of a threat, although he knew that first instincts were rarely right when it came to metahumans. “So, you gonna tell me why you’re really following me around, or do I have to kick it out of you?”

     The last few months had been all kinds of hell, with flashes of what could be happening to Zach paired with dreams of what was definitely happening to Zach. They had barely had any sleep anytime their mind showed them the hell their boyfriend had been forced through. They had done everything in their power to spend all their time with the other heroes, or drinking enough caffeine to keep them up until they were so tired they wouldn’t even remember their dreams.

     Finally though, there was peace. The peace wouldn’t last, but Teddy was savoring it while it did last.

     As they laid on the couch, curled up with each other, there were so many questions running through Teddy’s head about what had happened. They wanted to know so much, but they weren’t going to ask. Zach was so tired, he looked dead, they weren’t going to push their boyfriend like that. “You’ve got me now…” They whispered in response, letting their head rest on his shoulder.

“You have no idea how glad I am about that,” he mumbled, holding them as close as physically possible without aggravating his injuries. Of course, the statement wasn’t entirely true -- Teddy had been just without him as he’d been without them -- but he was just so grateful to be back and out of CARMA’s hands. Saying it’d been a tough two months was a horrible understatement, and now, perhaps, he could get used to things getting back to normal. No torture, no threats, no nothing -- just him and his favorite person in the entire world.

Truthfully, it was that which made it difficult to focus on the dumb cartoons Teddy had put on. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate it ( he did, more than anyone would ever know ) but all his attention was on how their head was tucked against his shoulder, how their chest rose and fell with each breath, how they were both alive and together again. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. He didn’t want to stop thinking about it, as if the moment they left his thoughts they’d be ripped away from him again and he’d be back in that horrible chamber.

“I’m sorry, I’m probably gonna be saying this shit for the next like, million years...” he started, a bit embarrassed by how touchy-feely he was being, “but I just... I love you so much, okay?”

Hans could see the confusion written across the guy’s face, but ignored it in favor of continuing to explain why he was speaking to him to begin with. “Correct. I’m not flirting, believe me. Not to say you’re being like hideous or anything, just…no. I’m more important than some random hooking up.” He explained with a small roll of his eyes, “You’re welcome. And that’s being perfectly fine. You’re just like having that look you know, if people are like seeing someone like you on my media pages; more will come to my events.” Ha-neul explained, examining the crowd for any other potential people he could try this on. Just incase Zach decided to not take the offer.

“Exactly. My hype boy. And well….yeah, is that like not being something you’re doing over here?” He asked absentminded before getting back to the topic at hand. “Zach. Right, listening to me though. I’m offering to you a very cool deal, all you’re having to do his buy some of my merchandise, come with me too the most popular events and promote me online as well in public. It’s very easy. If you’re like…wanting to be paid, it goes by each event. I’ll giving you like a certain precent.” Ha-neul said, giving another pointed look to his phone; then raising a brow in slight surprise at the following comment. Thinking it over, and listening to what track was being played currently from his USB; he nodded finally. Moving to scoot just a little closer, so he wasn’t yelling over the music. “Fine. Ahh…so…what is like…the reason for you to coming to this event. If you’re like not a frequent participant?” He asked, trying to get some form of conversation going.

“Good, because I’m not really the kind of guy who goes around and like, hooks up with people.” Not that he thought himself above it ( although... he most certainly was ), but for the simple fact that he wasn’t interested in that sort of thing. Hook-up culture just wasn’t his scene. “So, is that supposed to be a compliment? Because, that’s dope and all, but I’ve got no fucking clue what it means.” What kind of look did it take to seem popular? Was Ha-neul trying to say -- without saying it outright -- that he was attractive? It was true, of course, but he thought there were better ways to go about that sort of thing... namely, being upfront about it. He listened with a slight air of disbelief as Hans went on about what being a hype boy entailed, unsure if he wanted to be a part of something like that. Sure, he wouldn’t have minded the excuse to get away once in a while, to feel normal, but still above people, but the whole thing still seemed rather odd to him.

“Nah, man, I’ve never heard of it, anyway.” It didn’t necessarily mean that it wasn’t done, just that he didn’t know about it... but he liked to think he was well-versed in how things were done in the area. Admittedly, the idea of being paid for nothing more than attending parties and posting a few tweets now and then didn’t sound like a bad idea, and as Ha-neul scooted closer, he thought maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea, after all. He seemed reasonable enough to hold a conversation before having anything set in stone, after all, and it was important to have some flexibility in a job... or so he’d heard. CARMA didn’t often give much of that. “Just kinda wanted to get out, to be honest,” he said, shrugging a shoulder. “You know, try and have some fun.” And forget about the fact that he’d been violently tortured for the past few months.

Ah, words to Hans’ ears. With that news given to him, all awkwardness fell away to his usual cocky persona. Moving to put a little more space between him and the other male, but not to where it seemed off-putting. “Oh, perfect. Then I’m not needing to do all of this.” Pausing to take a sip out of his water bottle, Ha-neul paved on to what he was actually here for. “No, no, no. Thank you, that wasn’t why I was coming over here, trust me. But you’re very like…popular looking, like your taste is being obviously great; since you’re coming to my events.” He began explaining, watching the other male to be sure that he was following along with where he was trying to take this.

“Basically what I’m doing is like, asking of you a favor. I’m needing for you to like hype me up you know, your friends and their friends and so on. Tell them about my events and the music I make, how much fun they’re being; just overall promote me.” Ha-neul finalized pulling out his phone to bring up the digital add telling about tonights, and other events happening within the month. “Give to me your number, and I’m gonna sending this to you. Telling all your friends and tell them, to tell their friends; there are VIP passes and shit that I’ll give out. So long as they follow, like and share my social medias.” He explained, all but demanding that Zach share his contact information with him. If he was going to continue to grow in popularity, he’d need multiple ways of getting his name out there. Sliding his phone to the man, he gave a pointed look to him; silently telling him to punch in his number. “Ha-neul by the way, its good that you’re knowing my actual name, since you’re gonna be like my hype boy. Hans will work if you can’t saying it correctly, and my stage name is ‘Starboi’.” 

Suddenly, he was confused. Or more accurately -- the man beside him was confusing. He’d never met someone who’d gone from awkwardly flirtatious to cocky and relaxed so quickly, and even on his worst days, he doubted his pride would cause such a drastic change in character. He was known for exploding out of nowhere, but somehow that felt different than the apparent show the stranger had given him. At least his anger was genuine; with Ha-neul, the only way he could be certain of his genuity was the fact that he couldn’t be lied to. “So... you’re not flirting with me?” he asked, a bit relieved but wondering exactly where this man was going with all of this. Especially with the compliments that came next. “Thanks, I guess? I just kind of came to this one on impulse,” he admitted, shrugging. “I don’t usually do these kinds of parties.”

He hadn’t in a long while, at least.

Any confusion in his expression immediately turned to surprise as Ha-neul went on about hyping him up to his friends ( what friends? ) and anyone willing to listen. So surprised was he that it took him several long seconds to even begin to react, and by that time the stranger had already set his phone down on the table, shooting him an expectant look. “You want me to be you’re fucking hype boy?” he asked, clearly bewildered. “Dude, what the fuck? Do you just like, randomly pick people you think look popular and pull this shit?” He wasn’t mad -- it was quite the compliment to be recognized -- but he felt more like he was being targeted than valued.  “Name’s Zach,” he said, eyeing the phone that’d been set before him. “Hey, you mind like, actually having a conversation with me before trying to recruit me for your ad campaign?” He didn’t have anything against the idea, in particular, but he liked to feel appreciated for his work.

After almost two weeks of no progress in regards to the city’s alternate reality dream and the now missing Metahuman responsible, Elisabeth had finally decided that it would be more productive – and less detrimental to her health – to focus on other things that needed her attention just as much if not more so.  Reports and file updates, potential employee applications, additional information Monica sent over to her that needed to be reviewed soon…  And the agent that she was trying to find.

After his temporary removal from the Meta Squad and extended rehabilitation, Elisabeth wanted to make sure Zach was recuperated before she approved him to return to full duty and go out on any big field missions.  She finally managed to track the young man down in one of the training rooms, unusual enough given the evening hour and little traffic on the building level.  The commander watched for a few minutes before venturing into the training room, taking care to alert him of her presence so she wouldn’t caught him off guard and end up with anything thrown at her.

“Agent Acosta,  I’ve been looking for you.  Do you have a moment?”

@zachacosta

It’d been several weeks since his latest attempted re-education, and it was safe to say he still hadn’t taken it well. While not quite as openly defiant and care-free as he’d once been, he took a particular joy out of hissing insults under his breath and criticizing the organization whenever possible. Anyone who knew him knew of his displeasure with everything they stood for and he made no attempts to deny any of it. If that meant another trip downstairs into re-education, so be it; he was done pretending to support their cause. He continued to cooperate only to save the people -- or rather, person -- he held dear to himself, and he knew that CARMA would have no trouble ripping them away from him if they felt it was necessary.

It was his turmoil with his loyalties that caused him surprise when someone much, much higher up than him found him -- in the training room, no less -- and he didn’t bother to hide that. What would she possibly want with him? All things considered, he was surprised he wasn’t viewed as a traitor. “You’ve been looking for me?” he repeated, still working through the possibilities in his mind. “Uh, yeah, I guess so. I just finished up here... did you like, need something?”