InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Let's get demented!"

Edward Shaw (homo_validus) wrote in axis_city_,
@ 2009-07-08 08:31:00

Characters: Edward Shaw, Open To All
Setting: The Streets of Axis City
Content: Worksafe
Summary: Witnessing a Super in Action and Some Chance Meetings

He was lucky really to live in a city which placed so much value on learning and knowledge. Some cities didn't have grand old public libraries that contained thousands upon thousands of books on every subject avaliable to man. Some only stocked the latest best-selling paperbacks and a few well-worn Mills & Boon titles. Axis City, at least, while having more Mills & Boon than anyone could read in a life-time, also had one of the finest collections of scientific journals he had ever had the pleasure of browsing.

That was his intention, at least, finishing off his coffee as he strode down Main Street, busy in rush-hour traffic and people desperate to get to work on time. He could hardly blame them- on any other day he'd be exactly the same. But today was a research day, a day he could use for anything he saw fit.

The traffic was getting heavier, and it seemed to him momentarily that the pedestrians had also slowed, and then he realised why. There was smoke, tendrils at the moment but growing ever thicker, escaping from the vents underground. Vents that he knew led down to the subway station.

He panicked briefly, and then began to try and push his way through the crowd. By the time he got to the front, however, some Super had already beat him to the scene, helping two civilians up the subway steps and to the waiting ambulance crews. That at least was a relief, and he managed to breath again, relaxing as the crowd once more began to move, the Super disappearing. Thank god it hadn't been Richard. LiveWire, he corrected himself, otherwise the traffic would have had to wait while he posed for photographs and signed autographs.

He turned, about to head back towards the library. There was no harm in watching someone else at work, especially not when the end goal was to save lives and make the city a better place, and he didn't mind the break.

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rescueblues
2009-07-08 07:00 pm UTC (link)

Dustin was sort of jazzed, really. He SHOULD be in class, and usually he didn't work during the day. Largely because his half-assed costume didn't exactly hold up to daytime perusal. But he'd been near enough to see the smoke, and he HAD watched firefighters work well enough that his body knew what to do, and common sense had the rest. It wasn't a job well-suited to his powers really. But well. . . he was there.

Luckily the people he had to help out weren't that heavy, or there might have been more of a problem. As it was, his back sort of hurt.

He helped them out, flushed at the attention from the gathering crews and audiences, and then somehow managed to dodge it all, coming out in back of the building free of his mask. . . he had on the same jeans, but luckily he'd had a jacket stashed to pull on over the shirt, and he'd hidden the mask.

Of course he did still have a large dash of soot on his nose when he walked by Edward, and his cheeks looked flushed with exertion and exhilaration from the whole ordeal. And he smelled like ashes, but that was pretty much the whole neighborhood at this point. He saw Edward, stopping for a second to try to see if he'd been watching the whole time to see where he came from, and then decided he was being paranoid, just giving the man a quick nod and a warmer smile than Dustin usually gave to people in passing - he was still jazzed from having SAVED people from a FIRE.

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homo_validus
2009-07-08 09:51 pm UTC (link)

Edward took a moment to double take, stopping dead in the street and apologising profusely to the man in the suit so close behind him that he had no time to stop and thus walked into him. And when he looked back, the young man was wandering off, almost lost in the crowd. But Edward recognised the build, the jawline even without the mask and he rushed forward, not completely sure but needing to be sure, needing to give the young man thanks in what was all-too-often a thankless job.

He touched him on the shoulder, being more than careful not too break the boy's bones with what he was certain was only a gentle touch. "That was great, what you did back there." He said to him, giving a small smile as he noticed the soot and smoke-staining that remained on the young man's face, and indicated his own nose in an attempt to make the boy aware of that grime. "I'm sure those people and their families are more than greatful."

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rescueblues
2009-07-08 11:54 pm UTC (link)

Dustin spun at the touch, blinking up at Edward. He seemed to be caught between grinning proudly and trying to smooth his expression to look confused. He didn't come close to succeeding at the latter. "I don't know what you mean," he answered automatically.

It took Dustin a long moment to catch on what Edward had meant, and then he reached up, rubbing furiously at his nose until it was as red as his cheeks - which was impressive, since they looked like tomatoes once he realized what Edward was telling him. Crap. He wasn't very good at this hiding thing, when it wasn't the middle of the night with no one around.

"Uh. . . thanks," he muttered, pursing his lips uncertainly. It wasn't THAT big of a deal, right? It was only one man, and he didn't know Dustin's name really.

Plus it was. . . sort of cool, having someone actually recognize that he'd done something good. Still. "I umm. . . don't say anything, okay?" he managed quickly, glancing around them with an exaggerated casualness that wasn't at all casual. There wasn't anybody nearby though, so he relaxed a little.

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homo_validus
2009-07-10 10:06 am UTC (link)

Edward gave a small smile, "Of course I'm not telling. But come this way, I think... I think you need a few pointers." He said gently, not wanting the brave young man to be disheartened. "You did fantastically back there. Saved the day before anyone else could have done so. You should be really proud of yourself." He said, congratulating the young man and offering his hand, "Edward." He said, not expecting the young man to introduce himself. They all, after all, had to be careful.

"The costume, did you make it yourself?" He asked, hands moving to his pockets as he walked alongside the young man, the flow of people moving quickly around them. "I thought it was very good. Probably not fire retardant though, am I right? Or very hard wearing? I know someone that would be able to make you up a few, one or two at least, that would offer you a bit more protection."

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rescueblues
2009-07-10 11:19 pm UTC (link)

Dustin proved that he was less-than-brilliant with on the fly identity coverage by actually answering, though. "Dustin," he answered. He was caught somewhere between chagrined irritation and confused interest when Edward shook his hand and offerered pointers. Pointers? He'd saved people! Maybe it hadn't been SMOOTH but he didn't have fire-proof powers, so it hadn't been that bad. What did this guy know?

Unless. . .

Dustin blinked as Edward went on, starting to catch on. "Uh, yeah, it's just clothes, and a mask I bought. . . you know someone? Do they. . . make things for you?" he asked cautiously. He wondered which super the older man was. If he WAS one and wasn't just full of it.

Dustin wondered if it was rude to ask for proof-of-powers. He wasn't sure he cared if it was, anyway. He wanted to see, if Edward was really. . . enhanced, like he was.

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homo_validus
2009-07-11 07:21 am UTC (link)

Edward smiled, "Nice to meet you Dustin. I'll pretend that's your real name." He said, laughing. "But how about we find somewhere a little less busy than Main Street in rush hour? Unless you have somewhere you really need to be?" He added, not sure if the young man had, like Edward, been on the way to a previous engagement when he had discovered the underground fire. And while Supering was important, very important, they had to maintain their cover and that meant not skipping out on work or family more often than could be helped.

"Lets say I can put you in touch with a few people that would be able to help you out. It's not easy being young, and adding powers into the mix isn't so easy either."

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rescueblues
2009-07-11 09:23 pm UTC (link)

Dustin's face screwed up a little. Okay, it was better that the guy didn't believe him. . . but was there something WRONG with his name? Other than the D's, which he wouldn't know about since he only knew Dustin's first name. "Uhh, no, I don't really." Well he did, but it wasn't like he couldn't blow it off. He did it all the time. Too often, really. But he had a genuine reason this time.

Dustin's lips pursed a little, and then he bit the lower one, eyeing Edward a little suspicious and hopeful at the same time, trying to decide if that meant he DID have personal power-having experience. "We can go talk," he agreed. "I'm not going to follow you into a dark alley or anything though. A diner, or something?" He probably should have just suggested the diner and left off the bit about not wanting to follow him into alleys, in retrospect.

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homo_validus
2009-07-12 06:40 pm UTC (link)

"I was thinking Starbucks. Or the library, I was on my way there." He offered, "Dark alleyways aren't really my thing." Rats made him twitchy, ever since that night he'd had to inject himself with the serum they'd been testing on the lab-rats. He should have known better, but at least that syringe had been clean and he hadn't almost destroyed the whole building and killed everyone. But Richard never wanted to be reminded of that fact. Dustin however didn't need to know any of that, and he was sure that the young Super wasn't going to let him know every detail of his past. "Or a Starbucks on the way to the library, you could probably do with refuelling. I have a slight addiction to their skinny muffins..." He admitted, reaching up to mess the hair at the back of his head.

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