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He shook his head.  “No.”

Wait, what?

Was that somehow a fraction of Taylor’s power?

“No?”

“She wasn’t in my darkness, I’m almost positive.  And my power’s weaker than whatever I’m stealing.  It doesn’t make sense that I was able to form myself as fast as I did.  It wasn’t like she’s described it, either.

Yeah, that’s a good point.

Remember, I worked with her when we were dismantling the ABB.”

I nodded.

“It was more like… a forcefield.  Except not.  A hole in reality, and it took something out of me to feed and shape itself.”

Maybe one of the civilians running around as decoys had a trigger event before the Undertravelers got there?

It’s not Night, is it? No, I think that would just result in Grue himself changing into something slightly monstrous.

I blinked a little in surprise.  If Brian was stealing a share of other people’s powers, then-

I blinked again.  My eyes were itchy.

…alright, so the itchiness is important somehow.

Also, one thought that I forgot to write above because I dismissed it: What if he somehow borrowed the power of a Dandelion?

“So the healing?”

“Othala.  I was so worried she’d escape my darkness before I finished giving you guys regeneration.

Ohhh.

Right, there’s more than one healer in this city.

I couldn’t just use her power on each of you, because it was only lasting a few seconds after I touched you.”

“a fraction of a power.”

“And the regeneration was… Crawler?”

That sounds like it would result in a much more monstrous Brian, unless Crawler’s super fast regeneration counts separately from the power that replaces his parts with stronger ones.

He nodded.  I could see that dark look pass over his face.

Maybe something did change because of that, just not something visible, because the part of the regeneration that would make him monstrous was also just a fraction.

“And then the duplicate you created would have been Genesis.”

…damn, that was honestly the coolest thing he did, so it’d have been neat if it stuck around. Guess we won’t be seeing that again, at least not very often.

I wonder if “circuit” implies that the access to the powers in the darkness is shared with the other people, with all the powers going through everybody in the circuit. I doubt it from what we’ve seen and the fact that that would be a huge double-edge, but it’s worth considering given Brian’s odd choice of words.

“Right.”

“And when it works, I feel… a circuit?  It’s like the darkness comes alive, a cord or wire between me and the people in my darkness, and I can actually see it.

Huh. Some kind of connection? But circuit, cord and wire imply something similar to electricity…

If I focus on it, it gets bright and hot, and I have access to whatever my power’s sapping from them.

Oh fuck, that’s awesome! He can weaken powers and then use them himself! That’s such a good power.

So where did he get the healing from, if that was something he used this ability to copy? Was Panacea within darkness range or something?

A fraction of a power, one power at a time.”

Reasonable limitations. Still awesome.

“Right.”  It was like a shadow had passed over his face.  He stared hard at the shuttered window at the end of the room.

Oops, you reminded him of what got him these abilities.

I sat down,  pulling my knees up in front of me so I could wrap my arms around my legs, and I waited for him to rejoin me.  He’d healed himself, but he hadn’t exactly bounced back.  It wouldn’t be right to expect him to.

Physically or mentally. He’s been through a lot of shit on both sides.

Was this the kind of interaction Tattletale had wanted to avoid, when she’d urged Aisha to go to Brian, instead of me?

Maybe. Or maybe she thought it was more important for him to talk to Aisha right after he had a trigger event involving her.

“I’ve talked to Tattletale about this.  My power’s always had some effect on capes like Shadow Stalker.  Her powers didn’t work as effectively in my darkness.”

Oh yeah, that’s right. I just figured that was a result of how his darkness… wound up… inside her. Huh.

“Velocity struggled, too.  He was slower, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of the increased air resistance or something else.”

That would make sense, but Velocity had his whole quantum-based thing. The power would end up sort of inside him too as he became less physical, wouldn’t it?

“Yeah.  So we think I always had some effect in that department.  That’s stronger now.

Stronger and more frequently applies because the darkness goes through people now.

Affects more powers, according to Tattletale.  She’s making an educated guess that this aspect of my power is going to be more effective on capes with a physical power.”

I suppose that makes sense, given the darkness interacting with their bodies.

There was a pause.  I saw him raise his hand and create a slithering mass of darkness around it.

“Feels different,” he said, “And I can tell where it is, more.  Slower to create, spreads faster.”

Interesting. That’s more of a respec than an upgrade.

“But the other powers?  I counted at least four.”

“One new ability.”

One?

I nodded.  Didn’t want to argue, so I waited.

From the other end of the couch, he raised one hand and pointed it towards my head.  I stayed utterly still as a tendril of darkness snaked through the air, taking its time as it approached.

So is it being a tendril relevant or can he do it with any of his darkness?

I stood up, abruptly, and he jumped to his feet in alarm.  I could see his hands clenched, lines standing out in his neck.

…why’d you do that, Taylor? Did you chicken out re: having the tendril hit your head?

An awkward, tense silence reigned, as we stood facing each other.

I waited until he’d relaxed before I spoke.  “Had a bad time with someone else trying to get into my head, not so long ago.  Um.

Ah, right.

Can we- can we just skip the demonstration?  Or make it more blunt?”

It kind of seems like Taylor has developed some kind of phobia after last chapter. A phobia of things getting into her head, of things done to her body without her permission.

Considering what happened, that reaction on Taylor’s brain’s part is entirely fair.

Gratefully, I approached the couch and sat.  I could see him tense as I jostled the couch.

Too close?

“Are you hurt?”  I asked, stupidly.

I mean he’s gotten the power of healing. If he was still hurt after the mass healing he did last chapter, he’d probably do something about it by now, unless it took a while to recharge.

That is a somewhat reasonable guess at why he tensed if you forget about that development, though.

He shook his head, but he didn’t offer another explanation.

“Can I ask about the new power, or-”

You’re kind of implicitly doing that already.

“Yeah,” he interrupted.

Sweet, let’s get some firsthand deets!

“You say something?”  I asked.

“I said you can check on me in person, if you want.”  The words were kind, but the look in his eyes wasn’t.

“Stop bugging me.”

His stare reminded me of Bitch.

Ouch.

So is this just a product of having just been through some shit, or is he going to be permanently like this?

Does he blame her for some reason? I mean I’ve expected her to blame herself, but him blaming her would be a whole other beast. And if he expresses it to her face, that’s gonna hit her like a ton of bricks that she frankly doesn’t have the carry capacity for right now.

“Okay,” I replied, feeling dumb. I’d come to do that anyways, hadn’t I?

And now I didn’t know what to do with myself.  I hadn’t mentally prepared or planned for this conversation.

Oops.

I stood there, feeling an impending panic as I tried to think of what to say.

I couldn’t ask if he was alright.  That might be the last reminder he wanted, in much the same way that I’d been trying to avoid dwelling on my own anxieties and worries.

…I suppose so.

Could I approach closer, or would that bother him?  If I left, would I be abandoning him?

It sounds like you’re best off staying put.

“Keep me company?” he asked.

Oh, thank you, Brian.

Taylor and I both needed to hear that.

I shifted restlessly.

My bugs ran into a wall of Brian’s darkness in the living room, on the couch.

Oh hey, this ought to answer one of my questions from last time: If Taylor’s outside and the bugs are inside, is her control still weakened?

I could feel it seep through them, tracing their internal organs.  I didn’t move them further.  I didn’t want to wake him if he was sleeping.

Fair enough.

He wasn’t.  A hand settled over my bug and covered it.

Oh, hey!

I felt him scoop up the cockroach and lift it into the air, holding it on the flat of his palm.  The darkness dissipated, and the cockroach heard the bass rumble of his voice.

Taylor seems to have been quietly phasing in accepting some visual and audio input from the bugs, though not enough that she’s been able to use it to much effect.

I made myself rise from the bed.  My ribs didn’t hurt anymore, and my burns were gone, but my muscles had kinked up from my sleeping in the fetal position on a piece of furniture meant for sitting.

Or, I suppose she doesn’t really so much accept the input so much as sense that the bugs are sensing things. With hearing, especially, that’s not too surprising considering sound is air vibrations.

I stretched as I made my way to the living room.  He was sitting on the couch with his feet firmly on the ground.

How you feeling, dude?

No, I wouldn’t be getting to sleep any time soon.  I turned my attention to checking my surroundings, rousing my swarm to check the surrounding streets and rooftops, count the nearby civilians, and get a sense of who was around.

It’s a thing to do so she can stop thinking so much.

Sundancer was out cold in the bunk beds in another room, and Bitch was sleeping in another bunk, in a heap with Sirius, Bastard and Bentley occupying the open spaces.

Aww. 🙂

Trickster and Ballistic were walking outside, maybe keeping an eye out for trouble.  Genesis was off-site.  She had to be awake for a while to recharge her power, so she’d told us she was going to report to Coil and check on Noelle.

Seems reasonable.

If my bugs were any indication, she wasn’t back yet.

Parian had gone her separate way.

Aw. See you later, Parian.

She’d had stuff to deal with; her family was dead or surgically altered, their faces changed to make them near identical to some of the most hated individuals in the western hemisphere.  I felt bad about leaving her with the aftermath of that scene, but we’d been prioritizing Brian.

You had enough shit on your plate. Admittedly you did cause a bunch of destruction by bringing Purity and co. there, but yeah.

Seems Brian’s commentary to me on the morning we’d found out about Dinah, the morning Leviathan came, was ultimately on target.

Oh yes, that… thing he said about the, uhh.

I’m drawing a blank.

When the cards were down, we protected and helped the people we care about, and we ignored the greater suffering of the world beyond that.

Oh yeah, that bit! Yeah, he had a point back then.