MacKenzie Rider (fleetfootmac) wrote in marvel_nextgen,
@ 2011-02-22 20:48:00

Entry tags:

inactive - ben parker, inactive - kassia frost, mac rider, vincent vernard

Valentine's Night.
He'd headed to work as soon as he got up in the morning, barely stopped for lunch, and worked some more. Valentine's Day at a plant shop was kinda busy; go figure. Then there was the charity thing and a beautiful evening with Andrea. Mac had had an exhausting but excellent day.

And then he got home, and knocked on Kassi's door to check on her.

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

quitethecharmer
2011-02-23 03:49 am UTC (link)

Vincent nearly snorts at 'won't need to be granted', but the end of MacKenzie's statement smooths it over. He sits down at the end of his bed, drawing the chair out from his desk with a gesture, and nodding for MacKenzie to have a seat.

"I was just trying to be friendly with Kassia. The situation spiraled out of control when her would-be suitor showed up without forewarning."

He places his hands behind him on the bed, leaning back slightly and turning his gaze to the ceiling as he thinks. "What did Kassia tell you already, specifically?"

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	fleetfootmac 2011-02-23 03:54 am UTC (link)
	"You came with roses, Ben came with roses, Ben inferred what most guys would infer, Ben ditched her, and her life is over. Sure, the last part's an overreaction, but she's 16. The fact that she's wrong doesn't change how it feels right now. I'm surprised Ben didn't give more space between the inferring and the ditching. He's a smart guy." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

quitethecharmer
2011-02-23 04:09 am UTC (link)

Vincent turns his head to MacKenzie. "I'm not certain Mister Parker was entirely in command of his own decisions at the time."

He sits up. "My psychomantic aptitude border on empathy when I so choose, and he was practically leaking irrational impulses, so I..." Vincent chooses his words carefully. "I listened, intently.

I was just about to offer the two of them the reservation I'd made for Kassia and myself, when whatever was in his head... was overjoyed with how upset he was. It purposely made him feel worse."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

fleetfootmac
2011-02-23 04:14 am UTC (link)

"...Okay, sometime, when it doesn't look like there's something more urgent, we are going to talk about how you should avoid mind-magicking fellow guests in somebody else's house. Are we talking 'hey, how unified is human consciousness anyway"' are we talking you diagnosing that Disassociative Identity Disorder stuff, or are we talking deviant brainwashing or brain-eating space slugs?"

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

quitethecharmer
2011-02-23 04:27 am UTC (link)

Vincent shakes his head. "The severity rules out conventional mental disorder, and this was only a surface reading. As natural for my abilities as breathing underwater for you, if you want to put a comparison upon it."

He sits up and steeples his fingers, thinking over some likely possibilities. "An emotional parasite is possible, although I didn't sense any magical presence. It would have to be conducted remotely, and with great skill to hide the link.

Brainwashing could implant a secondary consciousness, or we'd be looking at extra-dimensional influence or some sort of biological or technologically implanted element. I'll have to check Dr Richards' files to see if anything sounds familiar, but examination of Parker is going to be vital.

It spoke directly to me. It used 'we'. Then it screamed to push me back mentally. By the time I got out into the hallway after Kassia requested I leave, Parker was gone."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

fleetfootmac
2011-02-23 04:36 am UTC (link)

Mac was going to keep moving, but at the 'natural as breathing,' he raises an eyebrow. "I may be stupid, man, but I know what a surface scan is and I'm pretty sure if you have to do them to random people all the time, they fail you out of all the good superperson schools. So let's accept that we're going to have issues on this subject I won't just acquiesce to 'cause you can out-talk me and get back to what the hell's wrong with Ben."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

quitethecharmer
2011-02-23 04:42 am UTC (link)

"My apologies, perhaps next time I can paint some figures on the wall out of seashell-based paints." Vincent responds reflexively, clenching his jaw afterwards, displeased with himself.

"Anyway..." He exhales sharply. "--yes, the matter at hand is that there is some unnatural presence in the young man's mind. What can I do to help? I've already told you what I could discern."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

fleetfootmac
2011-02-23 04:47 am UTC (link)

There's pause there, as Mac keeps his royal mouth shut on 'Yep. And I'll stop tripping over my own shoelaces long enough to tell Andrea to lock her diary.' Because despite Atlantean stubbornness, someone has to give up on the last word for the part that isn't the important part.

"Checking Dr. Richards's files and talking to your brother would be great. Thanks. I'm going to try talking to Ben tomorrow."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	quitethecharmer 2011-02-23 01:14 pm UTC (link)
	Vincent clears his throat, then mumbles. "The cave painting implication may have been a bit over the top..." Which is more or less Latverian royalty for 'Sorry, that wasn't cool.' He nods. "I'll get on it right away and contact you directly. I will assume that we are not involving Kassia until we have something more concrete to act upon?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	fleetfootmac 2011-02-23 06:14 pm UTC (link)
	"Oh, well, y'know, I thought our potential friendship was still salvageable up until 'seashell-based paints,' but I'm real slow on the uptake." Mac coughs. "Thank you very much. I'd prefer Kassi not have to deal with this until we've got a real explanation, yeah. Mind if I use your window? I got work in the morning and wanna get home fast." He's walking to it. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	quitethecharmer 2011-02-23 06:23 pm UTC (link)
	Vincent grunts, leaving who got the last word in up to interpretation. "Help yourself." Vincent snaps his fingers and the window opens. "I'll go over the files and get back to you with any possible matches." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	fleetfootmac 2011-02-23 06:29 pm UTC (link)
	"Thanks." Mac had meant it. He'd really thought they could work out the disagreement later before Vincent got that personal -- and potentially heritage-related, to Mac's ears. He politely flies out and heads home. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

quitethecharmer
2011-02-23 06:49 pm UTC (link)

"You're welcome." He waves Mac off as he leaves.

Vincent scratches the back of his head, something about the conversation sticking in his mind, but he puts it aside for now as he shuts the window. Kristoff won't be awake for another few hours, and even if he's still up, Vincent won't bother him now. The Building has plenty of open resources for him as it is.

He heads down to the archive servers and gets to work.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

(Read comments) -

scribbld is part of the horse.13 network
Design by Jimmy B.
Logo created by hitsuzen.
Scribbld System Status