my eyes like butterflies [OPEN + closed prompts]

[landing_lights]

Who: Ade Bennett + various + maybe you?
When: Throughout July
Where: Near ADI headquarters, at Dogtown, and possibly other locations
Summary: Ade deals with an unexpected change to his eyes + various catch-all prompts
Warnings: Freaky alien eyes

[ When Ade first feels it, he thinks it’s allergies.

He is at a pet supply shop after all—there must be all kinds of dander and dust in there—so when he notices the faintly stinging heat in his eyes, he ignores it for the first few minutes... At least, until he remembers that it shouldn’t even be possible for him to have allergies. At that point, he hastily finds a restroom with a mirror to take a look at what exactly is going on—

—and promptly has to suppress a shout of surprise. His eyes are no longer those of a human—they’re those of a wess’har, dominated by a golden iris and alien, four-lobed pupil. When he stares, those pupils abruptly snap shut, forming the cross shape he saw so often in the eyes of particularly inquisitive wess’har back on Bezer’ej. ]

Shit, [ he whispers. Of course this happens when he’s outside of ADI headquarters, with no psychic disguise because he hadn’t thought he’d need one.

He needs to get back. Fast—and without any civilians seeing his eyes.

What follows is a painfully extended trip back to ADI headquarters. Ade keeps his head tucked down, moving as quickly and purposefully as he can while barely being able to see in front of him. Still, he fares surprisingly well for most of the trip, letting his feet retrace his steps. At some point, he even realizes he can make his bowed head look more natural by holding his phone as he walks, pretending to be engrossed in something on the screen. He begins to feel almost hopeful that he might be able to make it back to ADI without incident—

—until he walks headlong into someone in the home stretch.

He jerks back, heart pounding, remembering to close his eyes at the last second. Unfortunately, that leaves him not knowing who is standing in front of him—or how to step around them. ]

Sorry, [ he says. ] I’ll just—

[ Cue him very awkwardly trying to side-step someone he can’t see. ]

Comments

[landing_lights]

[ When Ade hears Misty's voice, it's with a mixture of relief and trepidation. Relief, because it means he's finally made it to his apartment. Trepidation, because he knows he's in for a whole barrage of questions the second he opens his eyes—and, likely, before then as well.

He manages not to startle at the touch on his arm, determined as he is to get out of the hall and away from prying eyes and cameras. He tries to shoulder past Misty as gently as he can without being able to see her. ]

Yeah, sorry, I know, just—let's go inside first, yeah?

[citizendetective]

[There had definitely been something weird about his eyes. Misty hadn't been able to catch what, because he'd closed them so fast, but there had been a flash of something. Were they a different color, maybe? Or was something stuck in one of them?]

Are you injured?

[She asks, keeping her hand on him even as he moves into the apartment, giving his arm a little squeeze as she follows along.]

I do have medical experience.

[landing_lights]

No, no, nothing like that—

[ Ade navigates the apartment as best he can with his eyes closed, counting his steps until he knows he's well away from the door before coming to a stop. ]

Listen, Misty, [ he starts, trying to think of where to even begin with explaining what's happening to him. When he'd first arrived, keeping his alien biology hush-hush had seemed a prudent decision. Now, his initial secrecy seems determined to bite him in the arse.

He decides to start with what's immediately relevant. ]

When I open my eyes, they're going to look... strange. Really strange. But it's nothing dangerous or painful, so... Try not to be afraid, okay? I'm still me.

[ He waits for his words to sink in and, hopefully, for Misty to ready herself. Then, holding himself as calmly and nonthreateningly as he can, he opens his eyes. ]

[citizendetective]

Okay.

[She says it easily and casually, like it's nothing - like she's not bracing herself at all, because she doesn't see any reason why she would need to. And true to her word, she doesn't recoil or reel back in fear - instead, she leans in a little, studying them.]

-- So! How did this happen? You're not turning into an Avatar, are you?

[landing_lights]

[ ...Well. She took that a lot better than Ade thought she would. He blinks at her, pupils snapping fluidly between clover and cross-shaped in that classic wess'har expression of surprise. ]

Uh... no, [ he says slowly. ] This is something from my own universe.

[ ..Fuck it, if she can take the actual sight of his eyes in stride, he may as well stop beating around the bush. Not like he can deny anything anyway now that she's seen the evidence for herself. ]

It's a parasite, [ he blurts out, ] called c'nataat. Mixes my DNA with DNA it's picked up from its past hosts. That's what the eyes are from—someone it's infected in the past.

[ 'Someone who's not human' goes without saying. He watches her reaction, waiting to see how she absorbs this first part before continuing. ]

[citizendetective]

So, not an Avatar, but something not that different from an Avatar...

[She muses, gaze still locked on his eyes - watching for more interesting shape changes. Maybe there's a clue in them.]

Is ADI going to come after you for this?

[landing_lights]

[ Ade's brow furrows at that. He doesn't think he's much like an Avatar—but the question is a concerning one all the same. What he thinks doesn't matter nearly as much as what ADI does. ]

I don't know. I mean, why would they? They've already got non-humans working for them. What's one more?

[ If they find out his involvement with what happened to Luka, though... that might be a different story. He sighs, dragging a hand through his hair. ] I'm going to have to tell them, anyway. I can't hide this— [ a gesture at his face, ] forever.

[citizendetective]

You just seem so invested in hiding it, and so scared of people finding out; I wondered it you were worried about that.

[She shrugs nonchalantly, as if it's the same to her either way - worried or not worried, big secret or small secret, she doesn't plan on tattling.]

Okay, well, can it take over your body, or influence your judgement? That might be something they'd have some concern about!

[She says this last bit with a smile, and an out of place chuckle.]

[landing_lights]

[ Misty's nonchalance about the situation is beginning to unsettle Ade. She seems so unbothered. It's almost as if she knew already—or is trying to act like it, for some reason. Is this a prelude to blackmail? ]

I'll tell them, [ Ade says again, this time more firmly. ] Just didn't want to scare anyone on my way over.

[ Didn't want to scare them, didn't want to answer their questions—didn't want to deal with more people knowing that he's not completely human. Maybe he'd gotten a little too cozy just being a normal bloke again—or as normal as anyone can be in a world like this.

He shakes his head at her question. ]

No, nothing like that. It's a microbe, it's not that smart.

[ It can give him other people's memories, though—their thoughts and emotional reactions, too. Doesn't that influence his judgment? Ade bites the inside of his cheek. Exactly how much ADI will want to know? ]

[citizendetective]

But you're still scared.

[She says, taking in his expression; that inwardly-sucked cheek.]

You're not just worried about scaring other people, you're scared.