patheticvillain | nine ➢ filter + private

Entry tags:

nine ➢ filter + private

video | 1 friendly conversation filter, sans chris + cass

[Cassel chooses the video option deliberately, as well as the angle: dead on his face with a view of his shoulders and the top half of his torso. His face and posture bleed honesty tinged with regret - a little confusion, too. The confusion's the only part of this that's true, and his anger, frustration, resentment are well-hidden. That's why he's excluded Cass, because she could call him on this in an instant. Chris is out because he doesn't lie to Chris. Everyone else is fair game.]

[He takes a half-breath before he starts, looking at the camera, off to the side - guilt, shame.]

I shouldn't have done that. [Lie.] If I worried you, I'm sorry. [Half-truth, and a self-deprecating smile.] I'm not great at, uh, planning, I guess.

I know there's no way I can make up for worrying everyone, but if it's any consolation I feel like a total ass. Lesson learned, scout's honor, not happening again. [Smile evolved into smirk! Still self-deprecating, though.] I'm also considering putting up a suggestion box. "Shit Cassel should never do" for Barge input.

[And then he gets quiet, tilts his head a little sadly at the camera. Sincere regret, only not.] Seriously. Don't worry about me. And don't take it out on him.

private/video | zane

[Mask down: Cassel is pissed. Royally. About as angry as most people have probably ever seen him. Definitely angry enough to blatantly ignore the previous lie he told, that he didn't trust Zane - he does, and they're clearly the only two people here who have any clue what happened.]

[Again: video, same frame, but Cassel's not looking at the camera; too busy fuming.]

People get in your personal business here. [It looks like that's all he's going to say on that subject, but then a half-shrug:] Are you out of Zero yet?

[The rest is sent as text, more information than he has ever in his life given one person at once, but he's been watching. Zane understands him, he thinks, at least in part, certainly better than most other people do, and he's been inconvenienced by idiots like Rorschach with no intention of even attempting understanding. It's owed. That, and he needs it known, comprehensively, by somebody who understands what it's like to be manipulated.]

I think you like to know things, so here's some info. You chew screws, I wear gloves, because back home everybody wears gloves. It's how we stay safe. Work comes from hands and work can kill you or ruin your life. It can make you forget. That's why if you ever touch me [by which he means bare skin, the punching was fine really] with bare hands again I'll bite your fingers off. Nothing personal, that's just how it is.

Watch out for Barron Sharpe and Touko Fukawa.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ He sent a brief message to Cassel, after finishing his conversation with Kelsier, after giving himself some time to think. It's strange having another Mistborn here, especially one more powerful than him. He doesn't like it.

Even so... at least it's the Survivor. Someone Zane admired, and someone he'd wanted to meet.

So, a message to Cassel, that he's ready, that he's in his cabin. (He doesn't know where Cassel's is, otherwise he would have bothered him there.)

And now he's here, with a handful of coins from a drawer, a few pieces of metal he hasn't yet swallowed. He's already burned pewter, of course, and the difference is immediate and apparent: he looks better, he's stronger, he moves more gracefully.

The door's unlocked. ]

[Things that Cassel's currently thinking about: his mother, his brother, Lila, Chris, what the hell does loyalty even mean - and Kelsier, who was too good at reading him, who he's still not entirely confident is safe. People who sound kind, like they're telling the truth, aren't always. And Cassel has people to protect now.]

[But when he hears from Zane, he drops what he's doing and goes to Zane's cabin right away. He wants to see it, and, because he's paranoid, wants to make sure Zane's safe.]

[When he arrives, he tests the door handle, is satisfied to find it unlocked, and steps in - but there's a big dog at his heels, Kon's, so Cassel pauses in the doorway and ducks his head slightly.]

I have a babysitter. Is he - cool?

[ A glance to the dog, a shrug. He doesn't mind. He supposes that's a consequence of the wardens wanting to feel Cassel is safe.

They probably wouldn't encourage Cassel and Zane meeting anyway. ]

I don't mind dogs.

[Cassel's interested in following the letter of the law, not the spirit, which is part of why he's here at all. Besides, Patches does help him feel safe. Animals don't betray you.]

[He lets Patches in first, to sniff around, and watches him carefully as he, too, enters, kicking the door shut behind him. Then he sits on the floor and pats his knee; Patches comes over to him and lies down, one watchful eye on Zane.]

You feel less poisoned?

Don't I look less poisoned?

[ He's not sure this does much beyond make him feel better. But that's all he needs. ]

Much less. Major improvement. Dying was not a good look for you.

It's not a good look for anyone.

[ Except... maybe Zane can think of a couple people he'd like to see it on. ]

What do you want to see first?

[ Odd: now he's a little bit nervous. Feels strange, just showing what he can do in bits and pieces, instead of fluidly while he's fighting. ]

Whatever you want.

[Tilting his head, he remembers something. Remembering things other people say, it seems to work well, make them calm.]

You said you're best at steel.

[ Best. Yes. ]

I told you, Allomancy is only direct Pushes and Pulls... Only one direction and its opposite. Steel pushes. Iron pulls.

[ He explains this so Cassel will know how difficult this particular maneuver is. He'd had to practice it a long time before he could do it perfectly.

He frowns, concentrates, and holds a coin out in front of him. He gives it a light Push, and where most other Mistborn would have smacked it into a wall, it angles up and away from him. It begins to fall, as gravity pulls on it, and when it's hit the lowest part of its arc, Zane pulls, less artfully, and the coin zooms back into his palm.

An arc, made by only Pushing and Pulling. ]

[Cassel's eyes don't leave the coin. He's expecting it to smack into the wall like Kelsier's had, but instead it looks almost like it's flying. It's beautiful, in a weird way. He's never seen anything like it.]

[When the arc's complete, he meets Zane's eyes again, young-looking and excited.]

Cool.

[ He drops the coin, then, and Pushes delicately on it. This is another tempered Push that requires concentration, but gradually he leans his weight on it and steps into the air, hovering a couple of feet above it. ]

This is more difficult than Jumping higher.

[ Drops to the ground. ]

All Mistborn can Jump from sources of metal. Most use coins, like this, but you can use a pipe - the metal of a chimney - the clasp of a shutter. Burning iron or steel means you can sense all the metal around you.

[It's tempting to think that Zane's showing off - pointing out how difficult this is - but Cassel just smirks. He'll wait until later to point that out, when a theoretical sulk won't cut off the demonstration.]

How high can you go?

The larger a source of metal is, the higher I can go from it.

[ Which isn't really an answer. But Zane's never tried to use a truly large source of metal to jump before. ]

What, now? Copper and bronze can't be shown. Copper hides Allomancy and bronze Seeks it. [ He hadn't asked Cassel for either; he got copper from Charles and he hadn't thought he would need bronze. Except now there's another Allomancer on board. ]

[His hands seek out the soft spot between Patches' ears, and he closes his eyes, trying to remember. He does, of course, just like he remembers the way his body twisted and came unmade making them, it's just a matter of remembering what does what.]

Pewter, tin, zinc, brass, duralumin.

[He opens his eyes again.] You explained some of them. Show me what they do. I don't care what order. [A grin.] Flip a coin.

The main metals are eight in number. Internal and external, pulling and pushing, and mental and physical. Steel and iron are external, physical. Bronze and copper are internal, mental...

Pewter and tin are internal, physical. Pewter is pushing, tin is pulling.

[ He burns tin. Closes his eyes.

He can hear three heartbeats in the room. His, and then the next louder is the dog, and then...

He taps two fingers, in a rhythm. Ka-thump. Ka-thump. ]

Your heartbeat.

Edited 2013-05-03 04:52 (UTC)

[It speeds up, when Cassel realizes what he's doing, then settles. Trust. Tin is for senses, he remembers that.]

[He's starting to understand the shape of this now. It makes him wonder if there's a way to understand his work the same way, to categorize it in a logical way that he can control. Maybe then he can work as smoothly, as painlessly as Zane does. No more false starts.]

All five? [Senses, he means.]

[ He nods. ] All or nothing.

You understand that it's a weakness, too.

[ It isn't a question. ]

And pewter...

[ He wonders how to demonstrate it. And then his eyes light on the coin, and he smiles, to himself.

He takes a leap, flips and Pushes at the same time and lands lightly on his feet - on the ceiling. Upside-down. ]

Pewter enhances all of the body. Agility, strength, speed. I've run faster than a horse on pewter, for more than a full day, withut stopping.

[For a second Cassel doesn't know what Zane's doing, is intensely confused, but then he's on the ceiling like, he doesn't know, Spider-Man or something. Patches, who's used to this kind of crap from Kon, doesn't react much, but Cassel laughs out loud, leaning back on his hands and shaking his head.]

Holy shit. That's the coolest thing I've ever seen.

Even if you're being a huge show-off. [He smirks.]

[ He lets himself flip back to the ground, landing again on his feet. Like a cat. ]

You should see what it's like in the mists. The night is ours. We're born for it, not like -

[ Not like this, like being trapped on the ground. ]

Not like here.

...Zinc and brass are last. They're external, mental. They push and pull on emotions. Other's emotions.

It sounds - [Like something that could never happen in his world. Like one of Daneca's worker-rights pipe dreams. Like something he'd give anything for.] Pretty great.

[He's been relaxed so far, absurdly, stupidly relaxed, but the second Zane mentions that - external, mental, emotions - his shoulders tense and he puts his hand back between the dog's ears. It's easy to paste a smile on, impossible to make it convincing.]

Like my mom.

[Words fall out of his mouth lately. Gotta stop doing that.]

[ He hears the undertones and the overtones. Frowns. ]

What could she do?

She's not dead.

[He prickles at this concept, that she could be gone forever. It's part of his job to protect her, to keep her safe. Because she can't protect herself - no judgment, and the blowback, and - ]

She can make anyone feel anything she wants.

No. It's not the same.

[ He says this simply, but with the assurance of the truth. ]

These can't create or eliminate emotions, but only soothe or riot what's already there. Either directly reduce or directly inflame an emotion.

Could you tell when she was changing what you feel?

I could tell.

[When she put her hands on him and Barron and then on Phillip and told them, Love each other. You're brothers. Until they cried. Too much.]

[He eyes Zane warily, skittish as a cat. Zane, he thinks, wouldn't lie. But this makes his skin crawl.]

I want to make a comparison.

[ He steps to a drawer, and extracts a pair of gloves, then moves to Cassel and sits down cross-legged in front of him. ]

I won't touch your emotions. I won't hurt you. Will you let me show you what I mean?

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