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XX Briar Harvent
Briar stands, praying his words will hit their mark, his smile wavering. Oscar steps back and Briar lets him. Then Oscar's eyes are on the stranger at the mouth of the alley, staring at them, and Briar realizes- Oscar might hurt this person. He reaches for Oscar's arm and holds tight. Oscar looks at him and Briar is tense, because though he loves the Oscar he knew, Briar is still terrified of him. xx
"No one in this area intends to harm you. That can change. I will take you somewhere safe." xx
Oh thank God,xBriar thinks, breathing a sigh of relief. His grip on Oscar loosens, but only for a moment, because then Oscar is lifting him up and Briar scrambles to hold on, clinging to the man for dear life as the ground moves farther away. Briar focuses on his breathing rather than how high up they are and it occurs to him that this is new- Oscar never had this level of control before. It's like they're flying. Briar feels the breeze brush against his cheeks, looks out over the polished buildings as far as the eye can see, and he can't help but think, How beautiful it is to be up here... xx
Briar wonders how long it took Oscar to hone this skill. To learn to manipulate his own mass as well as the mass of another person? That likely took years to even attempt, let alone fully master. xx
When they finally land, Briar finds himself in an apartment as blank as Oscar is. It's entirely void of color and personalization, with not even a set of dishes or a misplaced sock to be seen. It feels empty, like a mock apartment that's been furnished just enough so that a potential renter could see the possibilities for decorating. Briar unsettled and the feeling isn't helped by Oscar pulling an unhealthy amount of weapons off his person. He could have killed me a hundred different ways. xx
The display makes Briar unsettled, but more than anything it saddens him, watching his routine, his robotic movements like something out of a horror film. When they were children, Oscar was the strongest of the group, not because he was powerful - he still is powerful, so very powerful - but because he was a leader, determined and kind and unwilling to bow down. Now, the Institute's conditioning has whittled him down piece by piece until his power is really all that's left behind. xx
And Briar, being the person he is, starts to cry. He cries for the Oscar he remembers, and cries for the Oscar standing in front of him. He cries for the families he can now never go back to without risking their lives. He cries for himself, because now, Oscar is all he has, and his Oscar is gone. xx
Briar stands, praying his words will hit their mark, his smile wavering. Oscar steps back and Briar lets him. Then Oscar's eyes are on the stranger at the mouth of the alley, staring at them, and Briar realizes- Oscar might hurt this person. He reaches for Oscar's arm and holds tight. Oscar looks at him and Briar is tense, because though he loves the Oscar he knew, Briar is still terrified of him. xx
"No one in this area intends to harm you. That can change. I will take you somewhere safe." xx
Oh thank God,xBriar thinks, breathing a sigh of relief. His grip on Oscar loosens, but only for a moment, because then Oscar is lifting him up and Briar scrambles to hold on, clinging to the man for dear life as the ground moves farther away. Briar focuses on his breathing rather than how high up they are and it occurs to him that this is new- Oscar never had this level of control before. It's like they're flying. Briar feels the breeze brush against his cheeks, looks out over the polished buildings as far as the eye can see, and he can't help but think, How beautiful it is to be up here... xx
Briar wonders how long it took Oscar to hone this skill. To learn to manipulate his own mass as well as the mass of another person? That likely took years to even attempt, let alone fully master. xx
When they finally land, Briar finds himself in an apartment as blank as Oscar is. It's entirely void of color and personalization, with not even a set of dishes or a misplaced sock to be seen. It feels empty, like a mock apartment that's been furnished just enough so that a potential renter could see the possibilities for decorating. Briar unsettled and the feeling isn't helped by Oscar pulling an unhealthy amount of weapons off his person. He could have killed me a hundred different ways. xx
The display makes Briar unsettled, but more than anything it saddens him, watching his routine, his robotic movements like something out of a horror film. When they were children, Oscar was the strongest of the group, not because he was powerful - he still is powerful, so very powerful - but because he was a leader, determined and kind and unwilling to bow down. Now, the Institute's conditioning has whittled him down piece by piece until his power is really all that's left behind. xx
And Briar, being the person he is, starts to cry. He cries for the Oscar he remembers, and cries for the Oscar standing in front of him. He cries for the families he can now never go back to without risking their lives. He cries for himself, because now, Oscar is all he has, and his Oscar is gone. xx