born from dark water

[shadeofviolent]

Who: Helena Bertinelli and YOU. (Closed thread for Stephanie Brown)
What: Flipping around town like a proper vigilante/working mom/person
Where: Around Baedal, but with a focus in Bonetown
Notes: Start a new thread if the ones I've set up don't fit what you have in mind C:
Warnings: Possibly violence in some threads?

Comments

[hearditbothways]

Shawn is busily exploring the town, drawing a mental map of the streets he's walking, when he runs into her. At first he pays her no mind but there is this itch of recognition in the back of his mind that makes him stop after a few steps and take a second look.

There is just something in the movements that gives it away, the way she turns her head and the automatism kicks in. Shawn's mind quickly strips her from the ordinary, daily life outfit, his photographic memory overlapping her with the figure that visited him in the inn and it fits just a little too well to be a coincidence.

But how to be sure? Well. There is just one safe way to find out, really.

When he passes her he stops, drawing in a sharp breath and pressing his fist against his temple, swaying and collapsing against the nearest storefront for support. "Ohhhhh, I'm getting something here! The spirits are speaking to me, they have seen something! Something-- distorted! Shady! Not shady, but shades! Not Anastasia but definitely in the Dark of the Night!"

[shadeofviolent]

Initially, Helena pays Shawn no mind -- she's more interested in getting home to put Benny down for a nap before he gets cranky. When he steps up to her, though, she frowns, unsure where she remembers him from... and then he eyes go wide when he finishes his spiel.

No one has ever recognized her before out of costume, not just randomly on the street. Maybe it's not what she thinks, though. She smiles nervously at him, like an uninvolved civilian might. "Ah, if the spirits are talking to you, you might want to stay out of the fog, hun."

It's a good act, but probably not good enough to fake Shawn out, not with her initial reaction factored in.

[hearditbothways]

Shawn takes a closer look at her and he sees. Sees the change in her eyes and the small twitch in her smile, those tiny little hints that tell him entire stories.

He pushes himself away from the wall, opening his hand to tip against the side of his head. "I can feel anger. It's so intense, a fuel to the soul. An enhancer of wardrobe choices. A narcotic to that part of our brain that develops after our tenth birthday and suddenly tells us that heights are a dangerous thing and subsequently ruins climbing trees forever."

[shadeofviolent]

There's definitely annoyance displayed in those elevens on her forehead now, barely restrained as she continues to play dumb.

"Deeeefinitely ought to stay out of the fog."

Helena tilts her body away, knowing that she should leave. She doesn't like letting challenges like this go, though, so she doesn't move, just turns. It's not in her nature to back down, especially from someone as silly as Shawn.

[hearditbothways]

At this point he is pretty much convinced that he got it right. Shawn leans forward, smiling brightly - probably not even to mock her, just pleased with himself that he figured it out.

"I prefer clear nights myself."

It's followed by a short pause that he doesn't like, because it is that certain moment where Gus is supposed to chime in and continue the one-liner wrap-up. Shawn compensates by pushing even further. "You know, watching the stars by an open window..."

Is there an unneccessary stress on windooowww? Yessir, there is.

[shadeofviolent]

When Shawn leans in, Helena curbs her urge to lean back, and instead smiles with just a bit too much tooth.

"Is that right?"

She moves her bag to her other arm and looks around. Yes, they're surrounded by people, but none of them are really watching what's going on. That's the beauty of public spaces.

"Oh, I think there's a bug, let me just--"

Helena darts her hand out, pretending to swat at something, and jabs her fingers into a nerve cluster in Shawn's neck. He falls over unconscious almost immediately, and she steps in to catch his weight, waving off bystanders with a cheery smile and a "Oh, I think he's just tired -- spends a little too much time near the fog. You know how it is."

It's a bit hard navigating while carrying a grown man and pushing a baby carriage, but somehow Helena manages. When Shawn wakes up, he'll be sitting in an empty alley with Helena looming over him, looking rather pissed off.

[hearditbothways]

He comes to slowly and clumsily. It is quite obvious that while he possessses a sharp mind he's even less-than-average in the physical department. Shawn groans, one hand feeling up the pinched nerve in his neck and rolls his head back, glad of the supporting wall behind him.

Until he looks up.

Right.

Mental note, do not out vigilante moms in broad daylight.

It does make some kind of sense, in retrospect. It's just one of those damn consequence things he can never think of beforehand. "... Dude, did you just spy-pinch me?"

[shadeofviolent]

She tries to hide it, but Helena can't quite keep the smug grin off her face as she flicks her hair back over her shoulder. "In a manner of speaking, yes, I did spy-pinch you. You were making too much of a fuss in public."

With that, she folds her arms over her chest and looks down her nose at him.

"Now, how did you know it was me? Did someone tell you?"

Because if they did, she has to go threaten them with bodily harm.

[hearditbothways]

"No. Yes."

Shawn's hand goes up to his head again and then he winces, pulling a face when his world keeps spinning. He takes a couple of deep breaths and blinks a few times until his vision clears.

"The spirits told me. I am a psychic." He wriggles his toes in his shoes, feeling a moment of relief that the pinch doesn't seem to have done any permanent damage, like paralyzing him from the waist down.

"It's... what I do. I divine things. I am a diviner."