sirenspull | Video

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[The video opens to a disorienting view: floorboards loom in foreshortened view, wood straight and new under unevenly applied varnish - patches of it are worn thin or absent entirely. The camera sits on the floor, creating the odd perspective, empty of any occupants. Sunlight pours in from one side, an open window. The dust motes suspended in it's beam seem a little off, evenly spaced. Then, suddenly, the stillness is violently interrupted. A glass falls directly in front of the camera, shattering into hundreds of pieces, a few droplets of water splashing on the lens, the rest puddling around the sharp splinters of glass. From outside the frame of view, footsteps can be heard, a few mechanical clicks, and a young man's voice.]

Anybody here ever read Asimov's Foundation? Do you remember the part where that guy cuts the steel bar in half with a laser, and then holds the two halves together again? The laser is so precise that their aren't any impurities or uneven places on the surface, and it just becomes a single piece of metal again.

[There's a low, mechanical roar - a handheld vacuum cleaner. The water leaps and and the shards skitter on the floor, blowing away from the vacuum, which must be set on reverse. He moves around the mess, blowing the bits of glass into one heap. As the bits of glass are buffeted back and forth by the air from the vacuum, something strange happens: as if by sheer chance, they keep landing in place, as perfectly as puzzle pieces, until the glass is completely reconstructed. Most bizarrely of all, the water, too, recollects, leaving the camera clean and dry as the water sits placidly in the perfectly repaired container. The glass should be riddled with cracks, but none are visible.

The vacuum switches off. A hand picks up the glass and the viewpoint suddenly swoops wildly, the camera lifted in his other hand before it stabilizes, then is set on a shelf at shoulder level, with Dillon standing in front of it in a bare room. He’s a young kid, maybe sixteen or seventeen, with immaculate clothes and neat red hair. He grins and takes a drink of the water.]

Hi, guys. Some of you know me already, but I'm Dillon, and I can fix anything. Repair or restoration, as long as you bring me all the pieces. Fees on a sliding scale, and I’m willing to do house calls. Let me know if you’re interested.

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[ Okay Ella is officially impressed by that demonstration. ]

That - that is amazing! Is that something you've always been able to do, or something you got here...?

[He smiles, ducks his face shyly for a second, though not actually blushing.]

Not always, although I guess it was there, just latent. It started acting up when I was thirteen, and started to actually get a handle on it about a year before I came here.

[ Daww. Ella smiles at the reaction. ]

Wish I had an ability like that. I bet you'll get a lot of people interested, especially since the rate is fair. Do you need to use the vacumn when you put things back together, or was that just for the demonstration?

[He flicks his eyebrows up, a cynical flash of 'be careful what you wish for'.]

It does come in handy sometimes.

I'm not really telekinetic. With that many fragments, it's easier to have something stirring it all up.

[ Anything is better than what she's stuck with. ANYTHING. ]

Well I'll definitely keep you in mind. I have a lot of...breakables in the house, and a cat that likes knocking them over. [ Friggin Lucifer. ]

Even when I'm positive I've glued them down. [ She adds with a bemused look. ]

I'm Ella; Ella of Frell.

[He'd take that bet, Ella. A minor Eldritch abomination parked in his head to feed off it, which lead to him murdering his parents, his soulmate, and a few thousands others. Fun times.]

Impressive, from a certain point of view. [He laughs a little.]

Dillon Cole, pleased to meet you.

[ Oh yeah. Fun and games all around. She'll pass!! ]

From the point of view of the cat maybe, [ Giggling. ]

Nice to meet you too, Dillon. And hey, if you ever need a housecleaning service, my stepsister has a business. [ Kinda. ]

I'll keep it in mind. I don't actually clean things, I just...leave the mess very, very organized.

Well an organized mess is good and all, but it only takes a single factor to turn that into organized chaos. And then it'll spread over your entire apartment for residential domination - then what will you do?

[He makes a sudden noise somewhere between laughing and choking.]

Run away to Vegas, maybe. Oh, dang, I guess I need a new back-up plan.

[ She giggles, thoroughly amused. ]

It's a little difficult to run away from your messes when you're on an island with no way to get off, yes. Of course you could in theory set said mess on fire and deal with only having ashes to sweep up but that introduces a whole other problem. Financially.

Can't have financial problems until you have finances. I'm taking baby steps, here.

You just arrived here recently? What kind of a job are you looking for? [ pause. ]

Assuming that your offer earlier isn't just a side job.

Edited 2012-08-25 02:06 (UTC)

I'm hoping to focus on fixing stuff for now, until I can afford enough car parts to cobble together. And there are a couple pawn shops here I might work out a bulk restoration type deal with. After that, we'll see.

[He's got a tentative plan, but he's not ready to actually talk about it yet, as though he's afraid of jinxing it.]

Pawn shop? Oh -! Do you know Mr. Gold? He's just opened a pawn shop, he might be interested in that skill of yours.

Showing off now? [It's the first time he's ever used the voice function and he sounds a little self-conscious, even if Dillon's already heard him before. Even so, there's undeniably a little fondness in there too.]

[He thinks of the first time they really put on a show, five kids all in gold, showing up on the floor of the Bellagio during a blackout as if from nowhere, breaking Las Vegas one impossible coincidence after another. He agrees with a rueful grin.]

Nothing like a good show if you want people to notice.

I can't imagine anyone ignoring that. How have you been managing?

It's a parlor trick in a place like this, really.

[Never mind how much more he's capable of.]

But it's useful enough that I expect some interest.

I'm alright. I've been on my own for a while, so... [he shrugs] I'm pretty used to getting by.

[That catches a little. Even knowing that Dillon is hardly vulnerable isn't quite enough to allay his concerns, and while his tone is carefully even his hesitation probably gives him away.]

If you're sure. I know you can take care of yourself, but I wouldn't like to think that... [He trails off unceremoniously, embarrassed.] If you need anything, you only have to ask.

Thanks, man. It - it means a lot.

[The year before Deanna, when he'd been really, completely alone - being in Port is nothing like that, but an honest offer of help and comradeship will always go right to the core of him.]

And you're doing good? None of the monsters taken a chunk out of you yet? Because that's something I can't fix.

Any time. I still owe you a favour, after all. [There's a smile in his voice in spite of himself- it really isn't a matter of evening up some score, after all.

Less easy is talking about himself, as always, but it doesn't bother him too much now that he knows Dillon a little better. He actually manages a chuckle.]

I'm fine. Actually, if I'm going to end up in pieces it'll be at the Knot-A-Fight-Club- though you're going to have better things to do then pick them up for me after every match.

I think that'd be cheating. Then again, it's a place full of powers, maybe that's part of the appeal.

You would think so, but the people there seem to prefer clean fights. No powers. [He pauses thoughtfully.] Maybe it's because so many people have powers here. I don't know. It's difficult to get my head around this place.

That's your power?

It's pretty cool.

Yeah, thanks.

Need any repairs?

Not right now, but probably at some point. Did you have that power before you got here

Yeah. Not always, it's been a few years.

Wow. Hey, you should put an ad in the news, too, for people who might not check the network today. I bet you could make a really good business out of that.

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