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 Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 5:19 am
Allergies were the worst things to have. And while Karone might be all powerful when she was Cavansite...during these months of spring, she was absolutely miserable for most of the daylight hours.
Luckily she had a great place to get the medicine she needed, and a great pharmacist who was always happy to help her out.
If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear he was just flirting. It was cute.
There had been plans forming in her mind for him for a while now, and it was today that she felt like setting her plan into motion. He was a hard worker, she saw to that, watched him, almost, but not quite studied him. He had ambition which was very important to her, and he was smart. He had to be to land this job, after all.
So, after again getting her ten day supply of allergy medication, Karone left, but waited around the back, resting against a tree, waiting for that happy time when the pharmacy closed and Mr. Liebel came out.
It was time to play.
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 9:27 am
Laurence was prompt, whenever he could be, but at the end of the day he didn’t always make it out right on time. Today, he was a little less than ten minutes later than he should have been. His coat was thrown over one arm and his car keys were already dangling from his fingertips.
He didn’t seem particularly concerned with the world around him. His car was across the parking lot; he could have parked nearer to the door but it seemed he valued the shade of a tall tree more than he valued the thirty second walk it added to his journey from the car to the building and back again.
He was preoccupied with his phone and gave little attention to his surroundings beyond confirming that he was headed straight towards his car and that he wasn’t walking into any traffic. It was arrogance, probably, or maybe he was just used to this trip. He’d been working here for years even before he finished school and got his degree and nothing ever happened.
Why should tonight be any different?
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 10:17 am
“There you are, Mr. Liebel. Took you long enough.” Karone pushed herself away from the tree, grinning. “I do hope you had a nice day at work, it didn’t seem too terribly busy, but I suppose I couldn’t really see the traffic at the drive through.”
She walked towards him, her steps slow and calculated, watching him as though he were a mouse, and she a cat.
“I’ve been watching you for quite some time, I hope you know. And I think you have a rather fine skill set...tell me, Mr. Liebel. Are you, or rather, have you ever been interested in power? Strength beyond your comprehension?” Karone kept her eyes on him, very well aware that he might end up thinking her a madwoman from the things she was saying, but that was the way the cookie crumbled.
“I think you’re worthy of power, just so you know.”
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 10:20 am
As soon as he registered her voice, his eyes flicked up to her. There was a lack of recognition for only a second before he realized that he did recognize her. He had bristled at first, but now he seemed to relax, even if only slightly. This was unprecedented, but he didn’t seem to feel threatened.
Still, being wary never hurt anyone.
“This line of questioning is a bit odd, Miss Perkins,” he said slowly. There was suspicion in his voice, but he was a curious creature and she’d never given him the impression that she was untrustworthy—or crazy—before.
He supposed she must have meant some innuendo or something that he was missing; if he had been a normal person, he might have asked what she was talking about. He wasn’t normal—at least, in the sense that his immediately concern was her thinking lesser of him because he wasn’t catching on to whatever it was she was talking about. Instead, he continued, “I think everyone is interested in power, of some sort. Physical power, power of persuasion, power of seduction, power of wealth,” he shrugged; there was a limitless number of options. “They have pills for some of those things. Others, you’re either born with or you aren’t. What power, exactly, are you referencing? I have to admit, I think I’m fairly well off so far. Did you need something from the pharmacy?”
He paused, a few feet from his car and a few from her. “We’re closed now, I’m afraid. If you needed something, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.”
Only, she didn’t seem like she’d been trying to get to the pharmacy. She looked like she’d been waiting, and had something very specific she wanted to talk to him about.
He lifted his head just slightly, inquisitively. “Or, did you come here for me, specifically? Those questions seemed a bit peculiar. I suppose I’m a bit flattered that you’ve been watching me, but to what end? I can’t imagine watching me fill prescriptions is that fascinating.”
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 10:21 am
“A bit odd, perhaps.” Karone stopped a few feet from him, grinning now. The answers he was giving were good ones, well, acceptable at the very least. “So you want power. Good. And, don’t worry. I need nothing from the Pharmacy, it’s you that I want.” It took only a moment to shift to Cavansite, and as the chaos altered her outfit and filled her with the power she had grown to rely on, the grin on her face grew.
“I’d like to offer you the chance to gain the power that I have. Won’t you take me up on my offer? I can assure you, if you answer no, it will be a lot more painful than if you answer yes, so make this easy on yourself, Mr. Liebel. Join me and take your future into your hands.”
He really didn’t have a choice...and if he said no, she’d at least have a handsome new youma to tote around with her, either way, she would come out of this on top of things.
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 10:23 am
It was only when her outfit and appearance morphed that Laurence seemed confused and alarmed. His brows knit together and he braced himself—but he didn’t run. He watched her uncertainly, processing what he had seen and what she had said. Things didn’t make sense, but he had enough sense to understand that just because she posed it as an option didn’t mean it really was.
“My future has always been in my own hands,” he said, eyes on her. “I’ve worked hard to get to where I am. You don’t move up in the world if you aren’t willing to take a risk. I’m not one to turn down any offer, but I have to be honest with you, Miss Perkins—” It was still her, right? She looked different, but she was still talking like she had been.
He might have been confused, but he pursed his lips for only a second before he continued, “I have no idea what this offer entails or what power you’re inviting me to have, nor do I know why you would offer me something like that. So then, just to be clear, what are you asking of me in exchange?”
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 10:29 am
“Nothing more than loyalty. Loyalty to a great cause. Loyalty to me, of course, as I’m the one who will be bestowing this power on you, but the rewards you get from it. The power to take people's lives into your own hands...not that you don’t already have this power, of course, but now you get the chance to do what you want and nobody will be able to trace it to you. Haven’t you ever just had the urge to take someone’s life?”
She summoned her spear to her hand and looked at it fondly for a moment. “You get a weapon. Something that you’ll become quite skilled with using...although it never starts out as anything amazing, it ends up that way. There’s a war going on in this city, you knew that, didn’t you? I’m asking you to join us in fighting this war. There’s glory and plenty of rewards in it for you, and all we ask for is loyalty and a bit of energy, perhaps someone’s soul every now and then...you’ll have that power too, you know. You won’t even need weapons to kill if you don’t want to use them. And speed and strength beyond what I’m sure you can imagine. I know when I joined I couldn’t quite believe it.”
Cavansite watched him, and gave a small chuckle, remembering how she had been skeptical too, when Painite had offered the invitation. “I’ve picked you because I can see you’re a hard worker, and I’d rather someone like you be on our side rather than the other side. So, I’m asking for you to join us. Now, won’t you?”
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 10:31 am
As Laurence listened, he became aware of one thing in particular: she was dangerous. Even if he didn’t think she was delusional, even if he did believe everything she said, there was something about the way she talked about taking someone’s life into your own hands—about taking someone’s life that made him think he should have walked away.
Only, that would have been foolish—especially when she had just summoned a weapon out of nowhere.
He wasn’t stupid enough to consider actually running, and he’d seen enough movies to know that the smarter thing to do was agree and feign complacency until you could formulate a plan and escape safely.
At the very least, if she trusted him a little more, maybe he’d have time to get to the bottom of this. He had questions, of course—how did she get that weapon, and change clothes, and appear so different. This wasn’t in his head; he knew his eyes wouldn’t deceive him. She was doing something, something he’d never seen before, and he wanted to understand it.
“You paint quite a unique picture,” he said after a moment. “Does that really sell? Killing people? I have to confess, you might have wanted to take a different approach with me. I am in the business of saving lives.”
But he understand that this wasn’t a situation where ‘no’ was an option, so before she could think he might have meant such, he flashed as charming a grin as he could manage. “But I am fascinated with what you have to say. And so flattering. I suppose I can give it a try. But if you’ve been stalking me, I’m sure you’re aware of how busy I am. I can’t sacrifice my time at the pharmacy.”
He didn’t go through all those years of school just so he could get fired for missing work. “I assume we’ll be working around that? I have some time now, though. If you want to give me a taste of whatever this ‘thing’ is, and shed a little more light…?”
All this talk of war, and skills, and killing. The hair on his back of his neck was standing up but he didn’t seem alarmed. It was just odd; she talked about it so casually. The words sounded like they could have belonged to someone out of their mind but she seemed totally stable.
It made him wonder—what was she on?
Or, what was he about to get himself into?
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 10:55 am
“Lucky for you, most of the real work is done after dark, and I know for a fact that the Pharmacy closes early.” Cavansite winked and crossed whatever distance remained between the two, placing her hand against his chest. “Now, I’m so glad you decided to ask, but I have to warn you, if I give you a...ah, a ‘taste’ of it, there’s no coming back. It’s the full meal or nothing at all…”
Well, so perhaps that was a lie, but he didn’t know that. He was corrupting one way or another, but the more she spoke with him like this, the more she wanted him to remain whole.
Her hand slid into his chest and she watched him, watched for the fear to creep into his face. It wasn’t that she wanted to frighten him, but she did like being a frightening and intimidating women...it was just how she rolled.
Cavansite wrapped her fingers lightly around his starseed and began pushing chaos in, changing him, corrupting and twisting his very soul. There would be pain, there had been for her...but when she was done...he’d be stronger. Faster. Better. And he would thank her. There was no way he wouldn’t. He was, at least to her mind, the kind of guy who would take this power and grow it, just as she had. He would help guide the Negaverse to victory...and have fun doing so.
It was good to be her, it really, really was.
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 10:57 am
Hands on his chest made Laurence pause; he leaned back just slightly—instinctively—but still made no effort to draw away.
He wasn’t afraid, until her hand went into his chest. It hadn’t hurt, at first; he thought he must have been imagining it. Hands didn’t just go in your chest and not hurt. His clothes seemed intact, and there was no blood. And yet, he felt her.
Fascinated, he couldn’t raise his eyes from her hand. He wanted too look into her eyes but he couldn’t break his focus from what she was doing.
And then he felt the pain.
A gripping pain that prickled and stung and burned. It felt like the dry ice he’d accidentally touched while still in school, sticking to his skin. So cold that it was on fire. Flashes of white blinded him and an unfamiliar blackness tried to claim his vision. He thought he might pass out only, in the last few seconds of weakness it faded.
It faded, and left something else.
Strength.
His breath returned to his lungs and his muscles, tensed as they had been, relaxed.
He felt like he’d just had an energy drink; his heart was pounding and he felt power in his veins just the same as he felt the power radiating from her, before him.
He didn’t blame her for the pain; it was all but forgotten the moment he realized that something about him had changed.
He caught sight of a different color than he’d been wearing and realized that he didn’t just feel like he’d changed, he looked it, too. He raised his gloved hands up and examined them.
“Oh,” he said after a moment.
“Oh, I like this.”
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 12:58 pm
His outfit didn’t look nearly as exciting as hers had when Painite had corrupted her, and somehow, that made Cavansite both a little sad as well as rather smug. Not that it meant she was better than he was, but...well. She was obviously better than he was.
“I’m glad you like it. Now...what to call you.” The general walked around her new lieutenant, inspecting every inch of him and nodding in approval. “Amesite. That will do for a name, if you don’t mind. And if you do mind. Well. Let’s see you search for a better one.” Cavansite stopped in front of him once again, admiring the deep purple of his outfit.
“Now, I’m going to see what your weapon is, summon it, won’t you? It’s not going to be anything exciting at first, but as you progress on your journey, it will progress on a journey as well. I started out with nothing but a flimsy fairy wand. Also, a word of advice, Lieutenant. If your weapon breaks, it’s not broken forever. It will come back good as new the next time you summon it. I learned that the hard way. Now, please concentrate and call it to you. I’m eager to see what it is that you have, Amesite.”
She paused, then grinned. “And I apologize. I am Cavansite, and I’m your General. But, we can discuss that later.”
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 8:06 pm
Laurence—Amesite—didn’t seem to have any objections to the name; he barely gave it much consideration before nodding. It was easy enough to follow along so far; the rational side of him was still struggling, but the adaptive side told him to go with the flow.
He wasn’t dead yet, so that was a plus—and everything she’d said so far seemed to have some truth, even if he didn’t quite understand how. If she wanted to call him Amesite, fine. It was better than her sticking her hand in his chest again.
He didn’t know how she expected him to focus on something he had never seen before, but he held out his hand as he expected to grab something—and something appeared. Focus was never an issue of his, so apparently grasping at nothing still yielded something.
In this case, a scalp massager.
He blinked a the object and raised a brow before presenting it to her. “What’s the point of calling it a weapon if it’s something flimsy? I don’t think a head massage is going to scare anyone into submission. Though,” he paused before turning the weapon on himself. He slid the soft tipped prongs into his hair and sighed contentedly. He had a lot of hair, it was worth rewarding himself every now and then.
Maybe this was the perfect weapon.
“How did you do that other thing?” he asked, far more interested in how to stick his hand in someone’s chest. “And what does it do? –Or, is that one of those things that should be discussed later? Because, I’ll be honest—this is fascinating and all, but maybe we shouldn’t do it in the parking lot behind my work. Teach me how to go back to being me and I’ll treat you to dinner.”
He gestured to his car, just a bit away from them. “You can explain all of this while we eat. I’ll be a bit more focused if I’ve got something in my stomach, I haven’t eaten in hours.”
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Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 6:48 pm
A...whisk appeared in his hand? And for a moment Cavansite nearly laughed. Nearly. Her own first weapon had been an absolute joke, but she was slightly confused when he brought the thing to his head and ran it against his scalp. Perhaps it wasn’t a whisk after all? It was a…head whisk? Interesting.
“If you want to buy me dinner, that would be lovely. I am utterly exhausted from bringing you into our little group, so some food would be sublime.” Concentrating for a moment, she shifted back to Karone Perkins and grinned at her newest lieutenant. “Just think of yourself. Who you are, who you were, all that stuff, and you’ll go back to nice, kind, Mr. Liebel.”
A new lieutenant and a free dinner. This night couldn’t possibly get any better.
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