[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]

"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.

[friendsfordinner]

"What, which one do you think noticed me?" There's a pause as Hickey goes over all the Entities in his head before deciding.

"It's got to be Hunt, isn't it. It's the chase. And I've been chasing this ever since I learned these things exist."

[edalyn]

Eda looks thoughtful, but she nods. "That'd make sense, I guess." Going after that kid sure scared him, which fits the... self-starting effect that she's had work with her own powers.

She debates saying something like welcome to the club but she isn't sure that she actually wants to share that little fact. A couple of people know that she's aligned with the Hunt, but she doesn't particularly want it to be common knowledge.

After all, it might get harder to keep volunteering for appropriate missions. Or to get away with eating shrews and voles and chasing seagulls at the beach.

[friendsfordinner]

Hickey shrugs a little before admitting, "Honestly, I'd have taken whichever looked at me first. I'm not picky."

Others might take that admission as 'Hickey being desperate.' He's going to take that admission as 'him being practical about his choices.'

[edalyn]

"Seriously, why are you so eager to sign up for this? Powers ain't that great when we've got the ADI breathing down our necks... and if the whole helping usher in the apocalypse thing is to be believed."

She doesn't necessarily expect an answer, and she knows she's kind of a hypocrite for prying, but she's curious. The ADI doesn't seem like a terrible deal for your average human, if they have to be stuck here. Meanwhile the urge to feed and the risk of getting caught doing it aren't haven't exactly been a fun time.

[friendsfordinner]

Because he wants to be more than he currently is. Because the man that calls himself Cornelius Hickey is tired of being at the bottom, fighting and scraping for just the slightest bit of advancement. Because he knows he deserves more and this is simply the universe acknowledging that fact.

"There's no guarantee ADI would be around forever," Hickey points out, with a little shrug. "What's to stop someone from skipping town the moment things get a little too hot? Besides, look at all of us with connections to one of those things. If we all put our mind to the same cause, nothing could stop us."

[edalyn]

"Bringing about an apocalypse could stop us... like I say, if that's to be believed." She really is torn. A few years ago, there's probably no way she would have worked with these people. But now, now she knows you really do have to take big threats seriously.

But on the other hand, she has more reason to suspect that humans lie about whether people should use their powers. But some reason to believe these ones, because the compulsions from the entities do seem real.

"And it does seem like it's hard to stop feeding these things, once you start."

[friendsfordinner]

"Why would I want to stop?"

There's a pause before Hickey continues with,

"Of course, I know the actual answer. We don't want to cause the apocalypse, we don't want to cause trouble, so on and so forth. Still. It's hard to turn down power."

[edalyn]

"Yeah, it is... but that doesn't make it worth working for something."

Whether that means fear gods or potentially shady government organizations, as much as she likes power she doesn't like owing anyone for it. Or having them able to control it, or take it.

[friendsfordinner]

"Depends entirely on if you and the something you're working for share ideas," he shrugs. After all, if ADI or the Hunt are on the same page as he is? Then he doesn't mind working. Why not share the same goals?

"I'm flexible."

[edalyn]

"That's if you trust it saying you do." But Eda shrugs too. It's his life, unless he seems like he's getting dangerous enough to be a real problem.

"Me, I'm not a huge fan of authority. If something can give you power it can take it, too." Which is part of the reason she hates that these Entities can latch onto what people brought with them, not just offer new opportunities like in his case.