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SOCIAL was the exact type of bar that appealed to Adam.

Industrial, so trendy. Industrial, so dark with corners where people could hide. Trendy, so those who were excellent at mixing a drink were present. Trendy, so people there were interesting in ways that made Adam want to dig his teeth into the mystery around him. Hard to dirty, which made it easier for Adam to …

Well.

Anyway.

When he had arrived at the bar, he sat himself near the bartender and immediately asked for what their taste in drinks were. He got offered a vodka drink and a whiskey drink, both of which he took for the sake of curiosity. Whiskey burned a bit, but something about the vodka was smooth enough…

His gaze drifted toward the corner as he noticed a new entry in his periphery. A brow rose in curiosity as the other chose the dark corners that could have been his preference.

… Could be someone worth speaking to.

Adam scooped up his drink selection and drifted closer to the corner, sitting nearby. If the other wanted quiet, he'd give it, but he did give an upwards head nod of greeting.

Adam left it up to the other as to how he wished to approach if at all. For now, he would gaze him up and down, curious about how his outfit was assembled. He definitely looked like the kind of person this place would attract, putting together his own pieces for his own outfit in his own right. Industrial, just like this place was.

If the other didn't approach on his own, anyway, Adam had his own ways around that…

It made it a lot easier when the others joined the conversation, though. Joined with … sign language, actually, which had a fascinating sort of familiarity these days. Borax had dove into sign when he realized it was the primary way his more important boss communicated now, and while he had been struggling at first, he would come with a wry admittance that Tincalconite actually helped him in that regard. That ******** continued to prove himself more useful alive than dead-

There was still a deep urging for the power that coursed through him when he grabbed that starseed, but nonetheless.

Adam was a quick study when he was a brown-noser, and so it didn't take much for him to sign the response of, Absolutely, before gesturing in the direction of the bartender. Her recommendation. It's a twist on a, he paused. s**t. Was this man deaf or mute? “White Russian,” he first murmured, aloud, before attempting to sign Russian. Added salted caramel. It's sweet, but smooth.

Considering it looked like the other man had a vodka drink himself, perhaps he would go for the sweeter side of things.

Mule? Adam gestured at the other’s drink in turn.

To Russians, was easily returned, with some internal relief that he had seemed to have gotten that sign close enough, as he clinked his cup against the other’s. An easy enough transaction, and an easy enough urging to take another sip. He admittedly did quite like the sweetness of this one.

His eyes fluttered closed for just a moment as he let himself enjoy it, but not too long. Adam needed to keep a tighter eye on this … Eles. Interesting name. A-D-A-M, was returned, one of the first things he had learned in his classes. His first tutor had considered giving him a sign name; it was likely easier to stick without that until he got the swipes correct.

Nice to meet you, Eles, and that was sincere, even if the wording was formal. He was an interesting company, at least. Interesting to look at for certain, good taste in drinks… he couldn't complain about that.

Adam was content, for now.

That was an interesting question, too. He liked that.

I just came here. The, hm, what was the right word-, environment here was interesting to me. I like the industrial decor, the places to talk in the corner, and that all was true, as much as he was also drawn to the trendiness of it. Yourself?

Was Eles running away?

So mute, not deaf. That came with relief, as much as his swagger didn't quite give that away. Talking aloud would be easier, as much as this was giving a more immersive practice into if he actually was learning ASL properly or not. He didn't necessarily trust that Evan wasn't ******** with him sometimes, especially because he had some proof that he had.

“Good to know,” Adam did take the chance to speak, though, as much as he just as quickly swapped to, but the practice does help, as much as he was loath to admit not being perfect at something. Maybe he could slide between both instead of trying to find the right word for environment and making the conversation lag.

Adam did know at least one other person who was mute, not deaf. He was the whole reason why Adam was bothering to learn any of this s**t at all in the first place. His eyes were different, though, and he was shorter, and there were certainly more than a couple people in the world with a penchant for industrial fashion and muteness. There were eight billion people on this forsaken place-

Adam let himself be taken by the conversation before he looked like he was studying Eles too closely.

An anecdote? Adam did like the sound of that. He certainly delighted in making lives more interesting, if by lives he meant his own. The evening might remain more interesting, though, if he kept this one sans his boy nearby. Your boy’s missing out, then. Adam motioned the bartender a bit closer to gesture at salted caramel White Russian he was sipping at. She understood, going to work. Though maybe we can see some interesting things.

Or perhaps Adam was the interesting thing.

He would take either one.

Have you been having fun so far tonight? Was this Eles’ first stop? Seemed likely, but it couldn't hurt to ask if just to keep him talking. Any good stories so far?

When the bartender slid Adam's new drink his way, he pushed it in Eles' direction. “Welcome to try.”

Adam's nod was easy in response as he watched Eles' response to the drink. Finish out his own, which was fair–the mule would go well enough but not quite perfectly–before moving to the new one presented. Adam didn't make any effort to hide the faintest lift of his lips when it seemed Eles did like it well enough, looking back down to his own drink assortment.

… Briefly. That was the most frustrating part about conversations like these. Adam couldn't quite look at everyone as much as he might've liked.

But was there a need?

To ask about anecdotes was one thing. You're in the right place for, hm, “unglued people,” that sign didn't match, did it, though is early. Unless you find some drunks.

Considering who he had learned a lion’s share of his ASL from, making references to drunkenness wasn't too hard. As Adam started to practice more casual conversation, drunkenness came up often enough. That was especially true as Adam would do things like ask how Evan’s work night was, a topic he only actually marginally cared about.

… Mostly.

To ask about monsters, though, was entirely another. Adam picked up his whiskey drink to swirl it in its glass. With his hand occupied, Adam's words slipped to verbal as he glanced over above his glass. “Depends on what you mean, Eles.”

He realized he still preferred the salted caramel White Russian. Ah, well. This would work for his purposes. As he moved to put the cup back down, Adam glanced ahead for a moment. “There are many types. Some are more obvious and blatant, the kinds children might tell each other about to keep them awake at night. And then there are more subtle types.”

He set his cup back down, glancing back over to his conversation partner.

It's never too early for the second monster.

It was definitely late enough for them to start coming out.

Adam took a moment to decipher what instigate was, but when he did, the impression on his lips only increased. The only word that made sense considering the context, which was a wonderful thing. This Eles would be a good start of the night, Adam was certain. Or finish, perhaps.

Either worked.

If you instigate, easy enough agreement, as slow as his echoed signing was for that word, I'll follow.

Perhaps he was helping the impression that he certainly wasn't acting like prey. Adam didn't feel particularly vulnerable, or depressed, or nervous – in this place, he felt like he was in his element. It would be even better if there were people around him to bait and tug and enjoy, but this was the first step to that. Adam had his ways.

There was something to the way he cocked his head when Eles asked which he was.

“Wouldn't be as intriguing if I just told you, would it?”

Adam hummed.

“Though perhaps my knowledge makes it too,” he paused, before signing, known.

It was an answer to which one he was as much as it wasn't, and Adam was content with that.

… For the moment.

Sweetest thing ever said? Adam was definitely liking where this was going. It was the inebriation that helped that coming from Eles, Adam was certain. If Eles was going to create trouble on purpose, what better way than going into anything drunkenly swinging? Adam would fully admit that bar fights, while not his personal style, were beautiful opportunities for energy draining and starseeding.

If someone got hit so hard they died? None would be the wiser other than blaming it on some drunken assholes. No way it could step anywhere near the man in the corner.

Especially when the guise was discarded.

Adam sipped at what remained of his drinks as he watched over the rim what Eles did. Would he take the bait or would he think better of it against the haze? The answer to Adam's question came in short order with the way that glass was downed and the remnants licked off his lips.

… Good. It was more interesting when they went for it.

Adam slid off his barstool with an ease that betrayed having just had two drinks. “Coy?” If Eles wanted to see, he would see. The reaction would tell Adam what he should do with the other from there. “Believe I'm simply being sensible.”

To the bathrooms they went nevertheless.

Once they arrived, Adam eyeballed the stalls for any obvious feet and listened in for any obvious noises. It didn't matter if there was anyone there he didn't notice on first skim; the answer to that was easy. He then turned his gaze to Eles.

In short order, Adam was no longer Adam.

This one, was the beginning of the explanation, Borax supposed.

It might've ended up the end depending on the reaction.

Borax watched Eles with an idle sense of fascination. Was this one familiar with powered figures already? Certainly had to be, with the conversation of monsters. The depths of his familiarity were the most important piece, in the end.

The fact that he wasn't stepping away was an important piece. There was no backing away, no real fear, no instantaneously powering up in response. There was only a question.

Eles knew, at least, what this uniform meant.

Yours? signed Borax, as he looked Eles up and down for any signs of fear. It didn't look like he was suppressing pissing himself at the concept of Borax potentially killing him.

He was just there, with a curiosity that might have just been so bold it would dodge him away from the horrors.

“No.” Borax’s smile was slow. “Think you're more useful alive than dead.” Eles’ behaviour was delicious.

Eles might have been a useful corruption target, with his desire to instigate trouble and his bold lack of fear. Perhaps he'd make a good teammate for Tincalconite or Mizuki, who both did the same. Considering Albite’s behaviour lately, he may also have made a good teammate for him. Borax’s mind kept dancing through the possibilities though kept hitting record scratches that confused him.

Why did something about that thought line seem incorrect? So far, it seemed that Eles fit the bill.

He tilted his head, hiding his internal bends and turns around a concept he wasn't quite certain of. “Said you wanted to instigate. Having a general could certainly be useful for that.” Borax’s gaze turned toward the entrance of the bathroom.

Still just them, for now.

… Definitely more useful alive than dead.

Borax’s gaze didn't break away either, and it was for a multitude of reasons. Perhaps Eles would have been able to figure out those reasons on his own. “General, yes. General Borax in particular.” Perhaps Eles’ future boss. He was certainly proving a utility in a way another of his underlings had, and his brain ran over the possibilities in short order before quashing it under dealing with the line of questioning instead.

“Ranking system of my underground organization, if you will.” Militaristic considering what they truly were underneath, but Borax didn't necessarily care about the particulars. He cared about the fact that it provided him a power that had never actually thought he would be able to hold, the ability to reach in and end a life without a second thought about it.

He could do the same to Eles if he wished, but he wasn't a necrophiliac.

The question, combined with Eles' continued curiosity, drew Borax’s voice down to an unintentional rumble. “It seems they would have made a mistake, wouldn't they? Surely they could wait their turn.” The bathroom was theirs, at the moment, wasn't it? “I don't take well to intruders.”

Well.

“Perhaps they want to squirm and suffer and watch something so flagrant in front of them.” There was a delight to that kind of torment. On the other hand, “Perhaps I could remind them that they have no power here. That their life is much easier to bring out of the world than it was to bring in.”

He lifted a hand to grasp the air and twist.

“Just like that.”

The power was addicting in a way he hadn't quite expected when he had been invited in, but wouldn't want to live without. So addictions went, he supposed.

As Eles pulled away from his body, Borax watched him carefully. The way the other reacted was a key to how Borax took the next moments–would he need to add a second body to the floor? A waste, truly, with a mouth like that.

Borax's gaze didn't shift to the man crumbled on the floor until it seemed Eles was more interested in that, too.

He scoffed dismissively.

“He was warned.” Borax played with the starseed in-between his fingers, letting Eles see the way it sparkled and glowed faintly from a distance. “How dare he interrupt such a lovely show.”

He'd pick up the body and set it up in a stall. Easy enough to make it look like he had reached a final, overdone high.

Tragic, really.

“Lovely story for your boy, I'm certain.”

It is, came Borax’s signed agreement, along with a smile that spoke just a bit off. There was a beautiful tragedy behind these starseeds. Life could be taken away so easily, and now he didn't even need weaponry to do it. His hands would do.

It was a much cleaner end.

Starseeds had no direct translation into ASL so far as he had been able to tell. Evan had tried to work in an extrapolation into his teaching, and Borax had to consider if it was the same one Faustite had been using. What Eles did felt familiar enough, though the point solidified it.

“Energy,” came the easy response. “For ourselves, for our great eldritch leader,” there was a small eyeroll at that. “We use it to power our ability to … help the world, you might say.” From the way Borax said that, it was clear he didn't buy that they were really helping anything.

In the end, it didn't matter. Borax knew where the power lied.

Borax eyed the starseed, again. “Some of us pop these for the healing of life energy, or the power of life energy.” His gaze swung back to Eles.

It would be interesting to see his reaction.

Eles wasn't reacting negatively to the concept, which was something he keyed into. Still unafraid, still intensely curious. Those qualities would make an excellent agent if honed correctly.

Borax pondered simply reaching into Eles’ chest and pumping chaos into that starseed now, but perhaps he should wait. Perhaps he should let this one percolate and develop a bit longer. It was the same he had done to all of his prior recruits, even unintentionally. Multiple meetings to cement the deal.

He would need to keep track of this one.

His attention snapped back to Eles’ hands once he began signing again.

Perhaps it was part of why Borax had taken so well to the task in front of him as he endeavoured to climb the ladder within the Negaverse. His position as a banker made so much of what was in front of him feel familiar, if not considerably more violent. Money drained people metaphysically, energy drained people in a more literal sense.

Either one was something Borax delighted in.

“Both are equally draining, aren't they?” Borax would give him that much, even if he was satisfied where Eles was resigned. “Both sap from the life force of the populace.” Literally or figuratively. “The question is, who ends up winning?”

It was an argument people had for millennia. Borax knew the result of the pattern. No matter what, those who had control of the means of power always pulled ahead. “I opt to remain on the winning side.”

Borax’s shrug was terribly nonchalant.

“Our influence is wider than it might seem.”

So Eles did already know who they were.

Was someone else already pursuing him for recruitment? Borax would simply need to get to him first. It proved how deep his curiosity was to have already managed to gather as much as he did about them. It also proved how fearless he was to have managed to figure these things out and not be terrified. Many on Earth would turn heel at any of the assortment of words Eles had spoken.

The question that followed was a fair one. Borax had quickly understood what it meant to be part of these not-multilevel marketing scheme, but from the outside with no further context, that would be hard to understand. Without the power flowing through his veins, it would be hard to accurately explain to a degree-

Earth, was signed, easily enough. Borax pondered it, for a moment, before he continued with, A war so giant that monsters from other planets come here to fight in it. There were a few seconds of confidence that followed his signing, though he soon moved on from it. There was no need to show where he was weak.

Though, in these incidents, he suspected the mute would understand it despite.

Borax shifted from one foot to the other.

“The conspiracy theorists who believe that everything is controlled by one organization are not entirely off. The Negaverse is in your media, your Internet, your hospitals, your banks, your schools, your bars. We own things like this,” his gesture was wide and sweeping, “worldwide.”

It was something they were told to not tell the populace, to let the conspiracy theorists continue to look like they lost their collective minds in the fringe corners of the streets and the Internet.

But Eles was asking, and Eles was increasingly appealing as a recruit in the same way that Cressida had been, with a dash of Evan’s fearlessness. Eles would know the depths soon enough, whether that be with this knowledge or knowledge anew.

“Depends. It's individual.”

His goal was more power, and power in a way that could both be understood by a civilian and also impossible to comprehend. There was so much behind the way he could simply reach into a body and withdraw a life force. So much behind a hilariously simple act.

“There's a great power behind all we do. Some say it's to protect the Earth, but,” Borax fully believed that was the fakest thing he had ever heard.

He leaned against the sink in turn, shrugging in nonchalance. His gaze, for a moment, slid to the door. Still closed and undisturbed, it slid back to Eles.

“No. For who would believe you?” His lips ticked upward. “You would just join the conspiracy theorists shouting into a void that never answers back.”

Borax had no doubts in his mind that some people who spoke of an underground cabal on the Internet did actually know the truth. Perhaps some of them did know that there was a secret organization that ran it all. Perhaps others at least knew a slice of it so the rest of the theories that had been around for decades sounded realistic enough. None of it mattered to him. It continued to get them all mocked while the Negaverse simply entrenched itself deeper.

Being a private force had its benefits. People were less likely to protest the creep they didn't even know was occurring.

That was why they already had so much power.

Borax slid the starseed into his pouch, a way of disappearing it into subspace.

Anyone was certainly true, Borax would give him that. Information was cloudier than it ever was in the age of artificial intelligence sweeping the world. By the same degree, “Sure, I'll give you that. But there would be an equal if not greater amount of people talking about how it was fake news even with obvious proof.”

It was a fascinating thing, really. People recorded the fights and the monsters and the events happening in Destiny City and worldwide all the time. The changes and spikes in their reality even outside of magic made it easier for them to hide.

Borax preferred it. Easier to move in the shadows.

He watched Eles start to venture away from the bathroom stall, away from the comatose boy, toward the door. And to be honest, Borax was willing to let him leave from that perspective. Borax had nothing to fear. Let him spread the information if he wished to. What would it truly do?

But what Borax was watching was also a potential recruit slipping out of his fingers. How would he find him again? Cressida was a client. Evan was a regular bed partner.

It would be easier to keep track if Eles was already his.

“Not worried, actually,” Borax stepped forward to slip his hand into Eles' chest, “but I think we'd work well together.”

There was something so easy and yet horribly heady about the process of corruption. Within a few moments, Eles would be a different person. He would be a lieutenant, and Borax would have a new, fearless person under his immediate command.

There were two issues within.

The first was the fact that this wasn't instant, and Eles seemed unwilling to stay put. The second, and the most important, was that despite his hand on the jewel within, it wasn't working.

Borax could feel the power within. There was something there, something different. It made Borax hungry as much as it made him curious. He had corrupted people without assistance before. When it hadn't worked, he called Faustite. Should he call-

His brain cut off as Eles palmed him in the ******** let go of the starseed as much as he didn't want to, his mind screaming in pain as much as it was doubling down. Eles would make a fantastic agent and another check in his record. What the ******** was wrong with Eles' starseed that it refused to take the plunge?