Aegis

James Oryx. 45. Shepherd. Protector of those in need.

[aegisprotector]

quinncharn‌:

Quinn shrugged, watching as the man dusted off his hands. “Hey, I never said I was particularly helpful. Being right is really what I was aiming for, give that ol’ bag of truth a solid one-two.” She winced. The dust in the air and the stagnation in her limbs was driving her to make inane little comments, almost like small talk.

Almighty Father, what was this place doing to her?

She laughed, or rather, forcefully exhaled at James’ honesty. “Good for you, gramps. Glad to see someone in this place has some form of common sense. It’s rare enough as is, and something tells me that virus tends to strip it in 77% of cases.”

Quinn couldn’t fight the smirk that rose on her face as she managed to calculate that percentage. Sure, she wasn’t particularly smart, but she would be damned if she let math stop her from making those snide comments she was so fond of.

She had been just about ready to leave, just about bored enough to go bother someone else in the vain hope they might do something interesting when James extended the offer to let her help.

“Yes!” She blurted it out before he has really finished speaking, eyes wide with a steady thrum of excitement playing through her body. “You could ask me to lift the heaviest box around here and I’d do it just so I can say I actually did something in this place.”

“Where do we start?”

James snorted softly. 77% seemed lie the randomest number and he had a feeling it had more to do with how Quinn saw other people than her actual experiences. He almost swallowed the rest of his words when she agreed, he hadn’t expected much after the "gramps" comment. Her reasoning made sense though. The’d been with the group for long enough that he was wondering when Novum would actually start using the people the’d collected.

“Well, uh alright then,” he managed. “I’ve been trying to workin quadrants, so you can help me with this one or take our own?” He sighed as he began to survey the pile again. With how long all of this had been down there, his plan was becoming a long term project very quickly. All he’d wanted was a clea space out of the way...

“Honestly just untangling it all is probably good enough for today. This whole thing is gonna be a process even after the cleaning is done.”

[aegisprotector]

quinncharn·:

James seemed… Surprisingly unperturbed by the state of her room. As she turned and took in his face, there wasn’t curiosity or concern, nothing that implies he had expected to see anything other than what her room greeted him with. It was… odd. Unexpected. Though, Quinn did admit silently, it was not entirely unwelcome.

She couldn’t help the jolt of excitement that ran through her at James’ invitation though. She did her best to keep it hidden, though Lord above knows how successful it really was. “Please.” She said, almost as soon as the man across from her was finished. “I am going to lose my mind if I have to stay here for another hour.”

Quinn pushed past James, making a beeline for the front door. She didn’t look back, clearly assuming he was going to follow in his own time. She did, however, call over her shoulder, “You better keep an eye on me though, no guarantees that I won’t make a break for the airport at the first sign of freedom.”

James chuckled as she pushed past him, it seemed everyone was a tad stir crazy around here. He did take an extra glance around the room after she was out of sight. At the very least they could get her walls done, if the rest of the place was any indication the corners might have cracked pain from temperature changes and moisture. Maybe he’d get a shelf unit. But what would she put on it? “Don’t dig this grave,” he muttered to himself before turning to follow.

He raised an eyebrow at her back. “I’m pretty sure none of us are actually being held here. If you really wanted to go, you could have already. This lot don’t seem the type to blackmail. So you came here for a reason, if that’s gone and you really don’t want to help I doubt anyone could stop you.” 

He winced as he considered his words. “I mean, I think it’d be good for you to stay, you’ll be welcome here as long as I’m around at the very least. But of course the decision is up to you in the end.” God, he probably sounded like the worst lecturing parent no one ever wanted. Wrong foot, James, now eat it. “Do you actually want anything from the store? I’m paying.”

[aegisprotector]

isabellexthomas‌:

Open to: Everyone

Isabelle had searched her entire room, but she hadn’t been able to find back her lost property. She had been reading a book for the past days and had been unable to stop. The thick book had been a reliability on her nightstand for the past days but it had disappeared since the day before. Probably because she had brought it with her to read in the living room of the inn and she had accidentally left it there. It was not very smart, she knew that. It was unlike Isabelle as well to leave her stuff around. She was already growing annoyed with some of the people living here that did leave their stuff around. It was not her place to tell them off however.

A sigh left the woman before she knocked on the door of one of the bedrooms. Isabelle hadn’t wanted to do so but she simply did not know anymore how to find the book and she did want it back. So then this was a good last solution; asking the help of her housemates to get the book back.

Once the door opened, Isabelle smiled at the other person. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I was hoping I could ask you a question.”

He’d been on a bit of a spree over the last 24 hours. He wasn’t entirely sure what had kicked it into drive, but James had cleaned almost every room he had access to in this place. He’d started with the common areas, moving from the kitchen outwards. In no time at all, he’d put things in as proper a place as he could find for them- hopefully people wouldn’t get confused. 

And then he moved onto his own room. It still wasn’t settling right, despite all the personal touches he’d added. He could get new furniture, but there was no guarantee that would fix the problem. So he moved what he had from place to place within the room. Certain pieces found their spots, but he was still stumped for most of it.

He had been reorganizing his bookshelf again when he heard the tapping on the door. The curiosity on his face melted to a smile one it was open, and he stepped back from the doorway. “Of course, come on in. Is someone causing trouble again?”

[aegisprotector]

embiguity‌:

Kids. Kids! For a moment, they almost chose to be offended regardless, but somehow, nothing came up. The way the man held himself was just too… earnest. Like his comment was out of concern - could be pity, but Emery couldn’t care about that anymore.

“None of us know everything,” they coughed, swaying from side to side. It was not the first time they recognized it, but it was the first time admitting such a thing out loud. Still just as unpleasant. “Thought we did. Things fucked up. The boys’ sister disappeared.” Emery caught a foot behind the other to twirl in place, finishing with jazz hands and a deceivingly playful “poof!”

The tension around their eyes told the truth.

“It’s not just… We want her back. But we also realized we couldn’t leave everything be, and we can’t do this alone. The finding answers, and maybe finding a cure or treatment or something like that; mostly figuring out how to help people who aren’t as strong, or fortunate, as you and me.” Feet outstretched beneath them, they flailed their arms in a cheap imitation of the shields James was noted to create, complete with well-practiced lightsaber noises. They probably just looked like an amateur mime.

The differences between Karter explaining the situation and Emery doing the same was striking. They were both brusque and to the point about Kalista’s disappearance, but Emery seemed to cope with far more humor. Or they were trying to.

“It’s always hard when you don’t see the lesson coming until it’s too late,” he muttered sympathetically. He couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow and chuckle as they bounced around to their own sound effects. “We are pretty high up the lucky chain. I uh,” he scratched his chin in the pause. “I’m glad to hear that there’s more to this than getting her back and doing things to help ourselves. You guys have a good thing going here, and if you need my help for any part of it then I’m here with you.”

He shifted his weight into a more sidelong stance. “Someone’s gotta teach you to do this right at the very least,” he said with a wink as he formed a small barrier into the shape of his own lightsaber.

[aegisprotector]

isabellexthomas·:

Isabelle opened up the door when she heard a few taps on it. She looked directly into the face of James and her gaze lowered to the parking pass that he was holding. She had gotten the information about finding Emery as well, but how were they supposed to do that. The pass was apparently a clue to the whereabouts of her but that was a clue that could send them anywhere in the city. And apparently that was what James had been thinking as well.

“I have no clue either. I guess we will have to figure out where the parking pass lead to.” Isabella pulled her hair together so she could put it up in a ponytail. She looked into the hallway for a moment. “Do you think all the others have gotten different clues from us? Are we supposed to work together with every one of us or do you think that it is going to be just us?” The pass was supposed to give them answers on the whereabouts of Emery but it only gave Isabelle more questions.

“Figuring out where it leads to is a good start,” He muttered as he looked down at the blue and white plastic again. “Haze said it was a test of our ability to work together, but he didn’t say if it was within our pairs or as a group. I’m hoping we all got different things, but if not maybe it’s significant to someone else here?”

He scratched the back of his head as he thought for another moment. “I can see what I can dig up online about passes in this area, I doubt they would have teleported somewhere too far away. Do you have any other leads? Might be worth it to see what everyone else is up to...”

[aegisprotector]

Helping Hand | Closed Event Starter

With a sigh James let his head fall to the table next to his keyboard. Half an hour of scouring the internet and he was no closer to identifying this parking permit than he’d been when he got it. Of course there was no end to the templates he’d found for blank ones with the right shape and color, but that wouldn’t be helpful for actually figuring out where it came from or who it belonged to. 

He tilted his head to look at the offending plastic. “Where the hell are you from?”

[aegisprotector]

The First Clue

[Closed starter for @isabellexthomas]

James had been walking towards the common area as he read the note. He knew there would be tests like this, Karter had said as much during his “recruitment”. What he didn’t expect was to be given a clue with no information on it to find someone who could teleport. 

He nearly slipped when he read Isabelle’s name on the paper. He looked up and around the room, face twisting when she was nowhere to be found. He turned and walked as quickly to her room as he could. He gave the door a few solid taps as he flipped over the piece of plastic that was meant to be their clue. “What the hell are we supposed to find with a blank parking pass,” he muttered. Maybe Isabelle would have more ideas, but he had a feeling they would need to group with other pairs.

[aegisprotector]

for-your-secrets·:

He didn’t mean to wake James, that was something he immediately felt guilty for doing but the sight of the older man’s frame was comforting. From past experiences he knew he could rely on the man to save him, James didn’t need an explanation before jumping into combat and that was something that Karzon, well, he wasn’t quite sure what he thought about that. Of course, there was admiration there but there was also a strong tugging feeling that he hadn’t experienced since his father died. Whenever it came to the older man Karzon was at a lack of words- something that he found to rarely happen- so to avoid confusion he simply referred to it as loyalty. 

He leaped off the bed with his arms stretched out reaching for his safe heaven, a happy cry escaping from his lips. Though the feeling of safety was replaced with a sudden jolt of surprise and pain as he smacked into an invisible force field and landed on his bottom. For a few seconds he was dazed, left staring at James oddly, but he quickly realized that the man had activated his ability. “No, no.” He called shaking his head, “There’s a-“ Eyes wide and mouth hanging open he spotted the arachnid trapped in the bubble with him, lacking the ability to think about consequences he let out a deafening shriek.  

His search for an opponent quickly morphed to fear and horror when the screaming began. Karzon hadn't managed to say who or what he'd been fighting, but it was clearly in the bubble with him. Heart leaping in his throat he dropped the shield, watching to see where Karzon was looking. The boy could clearly see whatever this thing was, and James needed to figure out how.

But once he actually got past the distress on the kid's face, he looked down to see... a spider. James wasn't sure if he should laugh or sigh, and could feel them combine into a choking noise deep in his throat. He glanced around for a cup or paper, but didn't see anything in easy reach. He grabbed Karzon's wrist gently and pulled him so he was between the two. Hopefully breaking the line of sight would make Karzon less freaked out about what he was about to do next.

Eyes tracking the pauses and movements of those eight little legs he crouched down slowly. Even more slowly he reached down, down, down until his fingertips were just in the path of the creature. It took a couple tries, but once he'd gotten it onto his palm he rose to his feet. James cleared his throat gently before speaking, "Karzon, I'm going to turn around and I would appreciate if you didn't scream again. You might want to clear the path to the door." With a fair warning given, he chanced a glance away from his hand as he pivoted on his heel. If he was lucky, he'd be able to get the poor thing outside without freaking anyone else out.

[aegisprotector]

isabellexthomas‌:

It was mostly out of boredom that Isabelle had decided to make her way through the building, exploring the many places that she hadn’t seen yet. It had been the kitchen and her own room that she had seen the most. The woman kept to herself most of all, simply because that was the easiest for her. But in the end that would bring boredom to herself. So she had found her way around, to be exact; she had found her way to the basement where she had heard some sounds come from. Her curiousity had been triggered.

Isabelle made her way down the steps and there she found a man standing there. He seemed to be cleaning. Or piling more like it. She could understand that; it was a big mess and her ‘I have to organise everything’ side began to stir inside her. It hadn’t been her goal to make him jump. And it definitely hadn’t been her goal to trigger his powers because that showed that he was completely ready to jump into action.

“I should be the one to say sorry. I should’ve let you know that I had come down here instead of sneaking up on you,” Isabelle apologised as she looked at the boxes that were the victim of his fall. She motioned towards the mess that he was trying to order. “Do you need some help?”

He smiled up at Isabelle, if anyone had to come down and witness whatever that had been, at least it was the one who’d be nice about it. “Yeah, if you’ve got time that’d be wonderful! I’ve got uh, some piles going,” he waved at them sheepishly before pushing to his feet. “I couldn’t figure out a better way to set it up at first, but maybe with two people we could set up a better system?” When he’d begun this process, he hadn’t known what sorts of things he would find. He still didn’t think he had a good grasp of the pile, but what he’d done so far could use some reworking already.

“I’m James by the way,” he held out his hand for her to shake. “Sorry if we’ve already met, there’s so many new faces I can’t quite keep track.” God, he hoped they hadn’t already met. His people skills weren’t as sharp as they’d been a few years ago, but that would be a new low.

[aegisprotector]

✊😠

✊ - keeping promises

James takes promises very seriously. It was slightly detrimental to his work at first, but once he’d developed a reputation for being trustworthy people were far more likely to listen to his proposals and plans. He feels very guilty when he has to break a promise and never does it without a good reason. He’ll usually tell the person if there’s an opportunity.

😠 - managing with their temper 

I went into this a bit when talking about how he expresses emotion, but James is slow to anger. He can take a lot before reaching that breaking point, and he does his best to avoid it due to some of the social stigmas around Black men and anger. He does his best to resolve the conflict or tension as soon as possible to avoid it. Once you hit that point, though... A lesson will be learned.

[aegisprotector]

🌷💞

🌷- taking care of plants/pets

I answered plants here. James loves animals. He grew up with dogs, but he’s actually a cat person! He doesn’t have one currently, but there was a beautiful stray that hung around his old place that he was going to take in. If he ever ends up back there he still might, he worries about her sometimes.

💞 - expressing their feelings

Ah, here’s where the stone wall becomes a bad thing. James internalizes a lot of things. Anger, fear, sadness and other negative emotions he’s far more likely to tamp down, especially if he’s around other people. This is part of why he always seems so stable. He’s much better at showing positive things like comfort and affection and happiness, so some people don’t realize how much he’s holding back.

[aegisprotector]

🌷 taking care of plants 💃 dancing 💪 staying fit 🎤 singing

🌷 taking care of plants

James doesn’t have a green thumb, but he doesn’t have a black one either. He can keep most plants alive for an average amount of time depending on how much care they need. Once they’re gone he can’t bring them back, but he doesn’t mind getting replacements when he needs them.

💃 dancing

He’s got rhythm and he dances for fun, but he hasn’t been trained in any way. As long as he’s enjoying himself he doesn’t really care if he’s good or not. (He’s not bad, but..... he’s a bit of a dad.)

💪 staying fit

He’s got an athletic background, so he’s well aware of what to do to stay in shape. Now that he’s older he doesn’t care about it so much so he mostly trains to keep his strength and flexibility up than to look good. Plus he knows that it’s not all workouts, so it’s easy to keep it going even if he’s busy.

🎤 singing

James doesn’t sing much! He’ll hum along with a song if it’s catchy, but it’s very rare that he actually gets going with it. He’s pretty good though, got a decent sense of pitch.

[aegisprotector]

👗🔮

👗 - dressing with style

James isn’t stylish in the way most people think of when they hear the term, he doesn’t keep track of the newest designs and whatnot. But he needs to look good to do well in his line of work and damn can he rock a suit. Long story short, the man knows the value of a good tailor.

🔮 - magic

James has... no magical ability. No card tricks, no sleight of hand, but more importantly, no real magic. He had a good week or two after his powers started showing where he thought it all might be based in that, but he has a better handle now.

[aegisprotector]

hckuaonami‌:

they don’t want to say it. they don’t want to say it. but as they watch james diligently quiet an argument… there’s a twisted mix of respect for and jealousy of him that slivers through their head. hoku was only in the room for the view outside, never intending to be a witness —— and now they’re thinking about what would have happened should they intervened, how that might have gone down. they catch james an hour later as they’re about to head out, not intending to make eye contact. but they do, and it feels awkward not to say anything. “you, uh, want to come with?” @aegisprotector

He’s not entirely sure how he fell into this role, but James has never been more thankful for his PR training. The number of snide comments that nearly turned the group inside out is only growing, and while he’s not the only one keeping the peace, it almost seems expected when he’s around. So when Hoku catches his eye an hour later, he almost expects to hear that someone else is about to get a new one ripped into them. But instead they surprise him and ask if he wants to leave the house for a bit, and James has never been more relieved. “Sure,” he says, already moving towards the door. “Where are we going?”

[aegisprotector]

quinncharn‌:

The amount someone travels can tell an observer their whole life story. It paints their materialism, their ties to their home, and how much money they have. People go to the beach and bring Chanel and Armani with them as their poor underlings are forced to haul suitcases as large as a middle schooler after them. Quinn left her life with a backpack and a duffel.

Everything she had fit in those two bags.

Unpacking had taken minutes, at most, and the room she was now going to be living out of hardly reflected her. The only personal touches were wraps, stained in sweat and blood, and a partially burned photograph on her dresser.

When the person behind her cleared their throat, she turned, a sardonic smile already forming. 

“Here to help me unpack?”

James had a feeling he was walking into the lion’s den as he neared the open door. Quinn was quick in a lot of ways, and while he could appreciate them, he always felt like he was trying to keep up with her in a conversation. Hopefully being the one to start the conversation would make it easier. Well, it was worth a shot at least.

He’d raised his hand to knock on the door frame when he’d realized she was apparently done unpacking. The room looked exactly the same. She hadn’t even moved the furniture, just fit her own things within the arrangement she’d been given. It gave him pause, maybe his lead in wouldn’t be welcome.

He’d cleared his throat unconsciously, and schooled the curiosity off his face as she started turning. He’d smiled at her question before realizing that she was probably just messing with him. Already ahead. 

“If you need it, I’d be happy to. I was actually going to ask if you wanted to go to the hardware store with me? Need some tools I left behind and I could use some paint.” He paused as another thought came to him, “Of course, if you don’t want to join me I’d be happy to just bring things back for you.”

[aegisprotector]

quinncharn‌:

It was a truth universally acknowledged that Quinn was prickly, hard to get along with, and more likely to lash out than work through an issue. There were more people living with Quinn than she was comfortable with, and if one more well-meaning child jumped out and asked her if she needed help with anything, she was going to throw them into a wall. Whether they went through it was a whole other matter.

She had been looking for somewhere quiet, especially since the kitchen seemed to be practically hopping with activity at all hours of the day (did everything have to happen there?). It had been an off-handed comment that tipped her off to the existence of the basement. From what she could tell, it was largely abandoned and didn’t serve any particular use. It sounded perfect.

Of course, as soon as she’d gotten down the stairs, her eyes were immediately drawn to the man going through boxes. Quinn couldn’t escape the rush of frustration. She drove her fist into a nearby box, hoping it was full of something breakable. It was full, and whatever it was, it was heavy. It didn’t break, it didn’t move, it just thudded.

The man, however, seemed to her like he may, especially as he flew into a stack of boxes with the noise. Quinn couldn’t stop her eyebrow from rising as the man picked himself up and apologized.

“Better jumpy than pissed,” she said as she looked around. 

“I can’t believe every inch of this house is packed with people.” Quinn’s chin jutted forward. “What the hell are you doing down here anyways? Hoping to find some of your lost youth?”

James cocked an eyebrow at her. Quinn had made it very clear to everyone in the short time they’d been here that she didn’t want to be with the group, but James hadn’t heard why yet. If someone else found out he’d know before the day was done. Word spreads fast when strangers get crammed together. He dusted his hands off before propping them on his hips. “I suppose you’re right, but I find that neither is particularly helpful in our situation.”

He bent down to the boxes to tidy them as she spoke again, wry smile growing in response to her questions. There was a long moment where he simply looked up at her to watch her face before he shrugged and pushed back to his feet.

“I’d have thought it was obvious, but I guess you didn’t see it before,” he said with a wave towards the path. The smile broadened to a grin as he continued, “And well, It’s not really lost if I know exactly where it went is it?” There was a split second when he considered simply letting her be alone with her obvious distress- anger in her own words. But this place was already a powderkeg waiting to spark, and if he could do something to tamp out whatever flare had been set in her at the moment it would be worth it to keep the peace. 

“I could use some help if you've got the time. Not so many people down here, and there’s enough work you won’t have to be near me at all. If you don’t want to be, that is.”

[aegisprotector]

codename-caliban‌:

Would he rather be alone?

A large part of Edison very much wanted to say yes. He wanted to explain that it wasn’t James’ company that he found objectionable, it was the fear that his covering might slip, that James might be subjected to the sight of the manifestations his body had settled into at the present moment. Thus far, he had no idea if James was even aware of what ability he had – though, with the resignation of the self-defeating, he was certain James would find it unpleasant.

Still. There was a certain soothing quality to James’ presence, a generosity and consideration that settled his jangled nerves somewhat. And Edison supposed he had to hold conversations eventually.

“Oh, no– you’re fine,” he hastened to say. “Attenborough’s wonderful, but I thought I might be a bit more… productive.”

He gestured with a sleeve-covered hand at the fridge, and popped it open. Inside lay one of the saddest sights Edison had possibly ever witnessed: a quarter block of cheese, a stray packet of ketchup, what might be yoghurt, and… a disposable straw? Which was in the fridge? For some baffling reason?

“I’m beginning to suspect very few people in this base can actually, er, cook. So I thought I might make something. For everyone. The middle of the night seemed to be the wisest time to do it. I don’t mind if you stay.”

In all honesty, James had been surprised that he wasn’t sent back out of the kitchen. Edison hadn’t given an signs that he wanted to be close to anyone in the group, though in fairness that could happen for any number of reasons. It was a good thing that he was trying now though. For a moment, James wondered if he was just shy and needed to be brought into the group slowly. 

But then light poured into the dark kitchen and James winced as his eyes tried to switch adjustments. When the spots finally cleared from his vision, he wished he’d been stuck with that blindness. Of course the only thing in the damn thin was dairy products, no doubt beyond their expiration dates. 

He couldn’t even question the unwrapped straw after seeing everything around the place. How were they all supposed to live here if they couldn’t *eat*. “I think you’re right,” he smiled weakly. “They’ll probably appreciate a good breakfast. I hope you brought your own ingredients? It’s a little late to go to the store.” Cooking would be nice, he’d been right about being productive. Maybe Edison would let him help chop vegetables or something.