[open/closed] i want disaster, i don't want to sleep

[friendsfordinner]

Who: Hickey & OPEN
When: early September
Where: Gloucester, around the ADI complex
Summary: Hickey comes into his own as the Hunt's bitch a newly Entity aligned.
Warnings: Threats of violence, stalking, just general creepy behavior, will edit as needed

closed to Eda, the inciting incident
ADI has been asked to keep an eye on Dogtown, beefing up patrols and recording paranormal activity while not entering inside. One of those people who's been asked to patrol is Hickey—which is a shame as Hickey is fundamentally lazy. He's leaning against a tree, not doing much work, ignoring the world around him (and unfortunately ignoring the shifty-looking teenager who's been eyeing him for the past few minutes, fully intent on stealing his wallet).

He only perks up when he hears someone else enter his area. He looks around before a wide grin spreads across his face. Eda. He likes her, even if he wishes she could be a little more upfront about the whole owl monster thing.

"Here for a visit?" he asks, shitty grin on his face. "Or did ADI drop you off here to play security guard as well?"

later on, open
This? This is fucking phenomenal. It's exactly what he wanted when he first heard of these Entities, exactly what he wanted from tuunbaq all the way back on the ice. He's more than just Cornelius Hickey. He's something better. Something new. And as far as he's concerned? He's more than happy to help the Hunt out as long as he gets what he wants.

He tests out his new gifts in all sorts of different ways. He follows people as they walk through busy areas, seeing just how long he can tail someone before they realize he's there—and the adrenaline rush he gets when they pick up the pace or double-back to try and lose him feels better than any drink he's had. He actually does his job helping to patrol the borders of Dogtown, slipping into the park more often than not. And when he's back at his apartment, back at the ADI complex itself? He'll just sit somewhere and stare at someone or something, taking in all the new details, scents, noises that he never knew before.

It is all intensely creepy.

Comments

[edalyn]

Right, looks like this won't just be a matter of talking. When Hickey gets the knife closer she moves quickly with a low growl, aiming to grab his arm and keep him from getting any further at the very least, and pull him back sharply enough to stop him pinning the panicking kid if she can.

"Or maybe you won't. Like I say, you've got your stuff back, let him go." She sounds more serious now, dropping all her usual flippancy for the moment.

[friendsfordinner]

When Eda grabs his arm, Hickey's attention goes off of the kid. He turns towards her...and for a moment is just overwhelmed. His grip slackens because Eda now is just so much more than she was before. His senses are overwhelmed as he looks over at her and just blinks. His expression is very much 'high person staring at a lightbulb' and it takes him a moment to force himself back to something regaining composure.

"You know these sort of brats won't learn a lesson if you just let them go. It'll need to be a bit more permanent."

As they talk, the kid is obviously using the opportunity to try and wriggle out of Hickey's grasp. And once he's out? He's booking it, outside of Dogtown, outside of Hickey's vision, anywhere that isn't here.

[edalyn]

Eda tilts her head to the side and raises an eyebrow. She's watching Hickey curiously, trying to figure out exactly why he's looking at her like, well, that. She's pretty sure she isn't normally that overwhelming, even when she's thinking highly of herself.

"They don't need a permanent lesson for picking a pocket or two. Learn to keep an eye out." Not that she'd been paying much attention either, but then again it wasn't her wallet.

She glances at the kid when he manages to wriggle away and tightens her grip on Hickey just a little as he bolts. She'd like to double check that the kid is alright, maybe feed him (and give him a few tips on spotting better marks) but that's probably less pressing than whatever's going on here.

[friendsfordinner]

When the kid makes a break for it, Hickey strains against Eda's grasp. But it's at this point he discovers whatever changed him didn't change his physical strength—and he's a weak little no muscles man. She's able to hold him down.

Hickey turns back and glares up at Eda, daggers in his expression as he points out, "You're letting him get away."

[edalyn]

Eda's glad that Hickey doesn't actually seem stronger than usual. She wasn't sure what to expect at the moment.

"...Oh no, am I? Whatever shall you do. Guess it's a lost cause." Eda's tone is flat and she doesn't make any move to stop holding the man down, for the moment anyway.

"What's with you? You're being weirder than usual." Not that weird is a bad thing, or at least it usually isn't. This might be a bad kind of weird.

[friendsfordinner]

"I'm fine," Hickey frowns. There's a moment before he lets out a little chuckle, "Actually? No. I'm doing better now."

And because he and Eda had this conversation before, he'll at least admit to her, "I dunno entirely how it happened, but I think it worked. Those entities? Those things? I think they heard me."

[edalyn]

Well, that's... she doesn't love that. The fact she knows she's something of a hypocrite doesn't really change that, even if part of her thinks it should.

"So you... what? Just offered to work for one? Are you siding with them?" Because that seems like an important question at the moment. Eda absolutely loathes the idea of turning anyone in to an authority figure, so she may not be entirely sure what she'd do with that information, but she still wants to know.

[friendsfordinner]

"I don't know." There's a pause, before Hickey lets out a slightly deranged little chuckle. "I don't know! This literally just happened! But I know you smell like birds. Birds and trash and...oddly enough, Hunter. Something about you smells like that boy."

He's giving Eda a wide grin, slowly getting drunk off the new power he has available to him.

[edalyn]

Well, if he hasn't decided yet that could be worse. He's a strange little man but she usually likes him alright, or at least enough that she'd rather not end up on opposite sides of this nonsense.

"Okay, I'm not sure that first part takes having supernatural senses," she points out, not afraid to make a joke at her own expense here and there. "And... yeah, that's not actually that odd I guess. I mean, we're both witches. You smell like a human." She wrinkles her nose, just to be obnoxious about it. It doesn't even occur to her that she might have anything more specific in common with Hunter.

[friendsfordinner]

"I couldn't tell that before," Hickey points out. "And that kid...I know where he went. Let me go and I'll find him again."

[edalyn]

"The fact you wanna find him again is the reason I haven't let you go." Eda says, flatly. That, and she wanted to know what was going on. But she might have had that conversation without holding the man down if she wasn't concerned about what he was going to do with the rest of his day.

It isn't like she can keep an eye on him forever... which might actually be a problem, depending on how good he is at tracking now. But she'd wanted to buy the kid some time.

[friendsfordinner]

"So what? Plan on just keeping me pinned down as long as possible in the middle of the day in the middle of the spooky supernatural area?"

It's an idea that can't work forever and they both know it.

[edalyn]

"Okay, so I haven't really figured out step two," Eda admits with a huff. "I mean, I could just eat you if you're gonna be a menace," she muses, tilting her head and looking into the middle distance like she's actually weighing the option.

It's pretty clearly an empty threat, as possible as that might or might not be, it's not like he messed with one of her kids after all. If he had, she probably would try and eat him--ADI rules be damned. But as it stood, she just wanted to convince Hickey to lay off on the pickpocket hunt.

[friendsfordinner]

"Too stringy," Hickey points out, with a little shrug. "Besides, probably still have some of that lead poisoning bouncing around my bloodstream."

He's relaxing a bit more. As the kid gets further away and as his senses start to dull, Hickey shifts more towards his normal demeanor. It's less an animal that's gotten the scent and more of a relaxed, calm, normal sort of human.

[edalyn]

"...Okay, I'll pass." Eda wrinkles her nose. She isn't necessarily sure if that would hurt her, but it doesn't sound particularly tasty.

After another brief pause she sighs and decides to let him up. She gets back to her feet and absently brushes off a few leaves she acquired while following him in here. She's still watching him closely, though. "But I still think you should leave that kid alone."

[friendsfordinner]

As he gets to his feet, Hickey rolls his eyes. "Why's it mean that much to you? You don't know him."

But Hickey's not making any goal to try and find the kid now. He's instead just looking over at Eda, frown on his face, as he watches.

[edalyn]

"Cause he's just a kid. Teenagers may be awful but most of them deserve some time to grow out of that," Eda says, with a shrug. If it had been her she might well have made some overblown threats, but the difference is that she'd know she wasn't serious.

"And besides, I've been there. Sometimes you need a few snails... and sometimes you're bad at picking marks." She probably wouldn't have gone for Hickey, personally. She might or might not happen to remember that snails aren't a currency here.

[friendsfordinner]

"Most of the time back home when you're bad at picking marks, they don't let you leave with just a shake of the head and a 'don't do it again.'"

As far as Hickey's concerned, a few scrapes, a few scratches, a few cuts and wounds that the kid'll have to look at for the rest of his life? That'll teach him more than just a few words of warning would do.

[edalyn]

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he needs more than a good scare." It's true where she's from, too--you might get off with a warning or you might get eaten or sent to the Conformatorium, but personally she isn't for anything permanent all the same.

[friendsfordinner]

There's a pause before Hickey rolls his eyes.

"You're a sap, Clawthorne. All talk."

He's slightly teasing her, though. Sure, he thinks that being a sap is a quick way to get yourself taken advantage of. But he still likes Eda, even if she's way too kind to kids who don't deserve it.

[edalyn]

"A sap maybe," Eda admits with a little shrug. "But also the most wanted criminal in the Boiling Isles." Well, she used to be at any rate. And she doesn't want to worry about what's going on there now.

"I'm only talk until you're a cop or you fuck with my kids." She says this very matter-of-factly. It doesn't matter terribly if he believes her, because he hasn't actually gotten on her bad side yet.

[friendsfordinner]

"Then it's a good thing I'm not either of those things," he points out, with a wry little grin. "Certainly not a cop, don't even know who the hell your kids are."

[edalyn]

"It sure is," Eda agrees brightly. There are other ways to have things go badly with her of course but those really are up there.

"Either way... we should probably get out of here." As much as Eda kind of wants to take the excuse of already being in the park to explore it a little more. It really is tempting, and that probably shows in the way she looks around thoughtfully.

[friendsfordinner]

"Probably," he agrees, looking around at the park. He closes his eyes for a moment, re-orienting himself, taking a moment to take advantage of his new state of being...and catches the scent of the outside world. The smell of exhaust, the sound of cars, all the unique sounds and scents of the city.

"This way," he says, gesturing towards where he assumes the exit is. Also assuming that Eda will follow him, Hickey starts to walk.

[edalyn]

"Someone's having fun with this..." she muses, although she doesn't sound terribly judgmental. While Eda really is worried about his new connection to an entity, she can't exactly judge him for using his talents at all.

"Say, which one do you think it is?" She asks as she follows. She can make a guess or two, but she's curious. Her own alignment with the Hunt wasn't terribly hard to figure out, but she's also guessing it happened when she got here. It wasn't like she had a chance to try and choose.