Art and Ashes

24. Artist. Akomish Hero-Bound. Conduit. ··· Independent RP blog Delsin Rowe inFamous: Second Son. Good Karma ···

[embersandaerosol]

[[School, Work, and stuff. I owe replies. Sorry peeps]]

[embersandaerosol]

[[Alive but barely. Busy busy busy]]

[akomishcopman]

He walked into the house limping in secret, peeking around corners cautious of his brother. The coast seemed clear, and he hobbled straight toward the back of the hall to his room.

"— I can hear you, you know?”

Except it wasn’t exactly like hearing. If anything, silence seemed to grow quieter, the atmosphere thicker all over the house whenever Delsin put too much effort in not getting caught. It was no surprise that, after almost a decade of putting up with his brother, he had developed some sixth sense at some point, an almost supernatural awareness to all sorts of Delsin’s antics.

(Granted, having checked his location through the phone’s GPS link just before getting up to see what was left to be found in the fridge also helped.)

"So," he said, voice firm and loud just enough to be heard, and made his way from the kitchen to the hall in deliberately slow steps, chin held up. "What have you done now?"

[embersandaerosol]

"H-heyyy…bro…. You’re… not at… the office? Hah, obviously, because you’re right here.” He gave him a charismatic point, which turned into an awkward swing of the arm.

Then he turned away, face scrunching in the horror of his attempt of playing it cool. Despite the suspicion, Delsin continued to feign innocence. Deny, deny, deny, he thought to himself. The end goal was to walk normally with undeniable confidence back to his room.

"Well, don’t let me keep you from your busy work, big brother. I’ll just, you know, turn in early.” Tending to a phantom crick in his neck, and expressing an audible yawn, he gave Reggie a lazy nod. “Man oh man, am I tired.”  

Delsin peeked under falsely tired eyes, hoping the image of his brother vanished back into the kitchen, and pouted when he did not.

[hyalokineticfugitive-deactivate]

She watched as he landed right on the roof of the trailer, taking a few steps back—This thing would explode once he’d weakened it enough, and Shard knew it.

He finished beating the living shit out of the generator atop the trailer, and before Shard could create her own barrier he was already down there with her, already beating her to the punch. Her instincts still kicked in and she cowered away from the blast, knowing full well that the worst it could do to either of them was cause them some pretty bad physical pain.

She coughed through the smoke and ash, looking back toward Smoketastic Guy to see him setting up for a high-five.

Wow—first try at fighting the DUP head-on again and she managed to make it out in one piece and free of chains.

A few more loud coughs and she was finally able to reply, “…Ho-ly crap I actually made it…” She raised a hand and played along, slapping her hand against his.

[embersandaerosol]

When their hands made contact, with a loud and satisfying clap, Delsin held tight her hand, not wanting to let go. He squeezed it hard, hoping she would activate her powers in defense. C'mon, he thought. I just need a small dose.

In truth, he didn't want to hurt her. Nor did he want to be hurt in return. Delsin needed her to use her powers on him, so that he could add glass to his arsenal. He needed to feel the power swelling between their palms and the energy rushing through their veins forming a bridge to her memories he could walk.

"I don't wanna hurt you," he explained between teeth, though his actions spoke differently. He tried to twist her arm, making himself cringe at his desperation and his immorality before saying, "You just gotta hit me back, and we'll be done here. " 

[embersandaerosol]

Headcanon - Delsin's absorption abilities:

Delsin’s absorption abilities seem to work when the other party is using/activating their powers, which is why he seems to have been exposed to Hank and Fetch’s memories twice. He first absorb’s Hanks powers as Hank readily shoots Reggie, and once again in the cannery when they struggle (again, Hank’s arms are mid-“activation”).

Delsin absorb’s Fetch’s powers the first time on the roof as she’s trying to use her powers in defense, and a second time inside the theater. Again with Eugene, as Eugene tries to use his.

Delsin also absorbs Augustine’s, but the moment before, it is seen that she “activates” her powers as he grabs her hand. Which can explain why he can’t absorb downed conduits (other than the fact that they are not prime conduits).

This also explains why he can freely touch others without "absorbing," so long as they don't activate their powers while he's in physical contact.

(BadKarma!Ending suggests that he could "handshake" everyone's power into his collection, but I don't follow BadKarma!Delsin)

He is capable of witnessing the memories most strongly linked to the powers. These memories generally go from the origin of the person first experience as a Conduit to present times. 

[embersandaerosol]

Wind of Change || Rowe Brothers

Where are you? The muted voice on the other end spoke. It was Betty. 

"Nowhere, Betty. Would you just-- Just don't worry about it, okay?" Delsin replied, his phone on speaker as he ran through the city and towards the port where the once-bridge stretched proudly. Now, it was a sad desolation midst the Seattle port fog. 

She continued to talk, gently reprimanding him with ceaseless worry.

"No, no. I'm not. I promise. Yes. YES. Okay. I just..." He spoke as he reached his destination. Past the caution tape laid out by the Seattle Police Department, and down to the fallen slabs of concrete half in the bay, he stood at the edge of what remained, looking down to the waters below. It was silent on his end, Betty chattering on the other.

"I'm sorry, Betty," he confessed over the line, having lied about his whereabouts this entire time. His voice shook. "I just...I can't just leave him there, alright?" He hung up.

It was just then that he saw a glint against the concrete slab he stood upon floating on the water. He stuck his freehand toward the shining metal. A sheriff's badge.

The familiarity had a far greater effect than Delsin would have ever guessed. Breath escaped him as he clutched his phone in one hand and the badge in the other, and it wasn't coming back. He formed fists trying to remember how to breathe. Hyperventilating. He was hyperventilating. In his mind he repeated, commanded himself to breathe slowly, but he couldn't.

And the ill timing of the phone vibrating in his hands caused it to slip through sweaty palms onto the broken pavement. With a loud crunch, the screen shattered. Still it buzzed against the ground, beating against the gravel.

But Delsin couldn't pick it up. He had to lean over, his hands on his knees. It was all replaying back in his head: looking down at Reggie's face, feeling his fingers slip from his, knowing what was coming and what was going, and what would be gone forever. 

"Shit." His voice cracked between shortened breaths, looking desperately for something he could focus on, to get his mind off of the terror. "Shit!" He tried to say louder, hoping to break free of the invisible chains that bound him. Weakened knees dropped, the badge flew from his hands. Smoking fingers dug at the cracks in the broken bridge, trying to hang on to anything, but mostly to himself.

"Reg," he whispered. "Reg," he pleaded. I really need you.

But there was no one to calm him down, now.

The phone buzzed again, lighting up through the newly-formed cracks. Maybe it was Betty again. Maybe she could talk him out of this freak out. He had to answer it, now. Swallowing hard, Delsin looked toward his phone. Focus. Focus on that. He reached out, quivering hand struggling to grip the thing. You're a Conduit, Dell. A hero. Pick up the damn phone.

He finally managed, flipping the phone over to see the screen. But it stopped ringing and he couldn't read the missed call from behind the cracks. He felt trapped in the wide, open port. And he couldn't breathe. 

[aliceliddells-blog]

[birdoforigami]

A (paper) Bird in a Cage | K & D

It was mayhem out of her cell, a hell full of ashes and… neon. She wasn’t understanding much of it, only that those D.U.P. motherfuckers were having their asses kicked to the moon and it was good.

As for her, instead of just sitting on that dumpster they’ve threw her earlier, she was calling paper to come to her, stretching her arm out of the bars and calling for flyers, newspapers, anything she could use. She was still weak, but she could pull a… was that a Hustler magazine? Whatever, it would be enough.

Rearranging papers and letters and doing a great collage work out of it, she wrote something, folded it into a little plane and threw it right into the vortex of ashes and sparkles: a tall, lanky boy wearing a beanie.

“Hello sunshine,

                     I know you have better things to do, but                      can you please take me out of here before?                      Preferably before more explosions and before                      something fall onto my head?

                                                                Thank you                                                                  Birdie.”

And when her little paper plane hit the boy in the head, she let out a loud whistle, trying to catch his attention. 

[embersandaerosol]

"The hell?" The sound of paper crunched right at his eye and he shook violently his head to throw the unidentified object off his person. A hand over his left eye to sooth the pain, and his weight on his toes, Delsin looked to the ground for what hit him. A piece of paper floated at his feet, calling to him. 

Out of curiosity, he reached for the paper, unfolding it and read the message. "Uhhhh," he let his hand slip from his face. "What." There was no one around, and no words he could say. Curious still, a sharp whistle stole his attention. His head jerked in the direction. 

"Alright, Birdie. Let's see what you got." He ran toward the sound, the sight of a paper trail, and the smell of a new mystery.

[aftermidnightgamer]

Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you

There’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do.

[hyalokineticfugitive-deactivate]

Well this was pretty cool. Seattle’s posterboy for out-and-proud conduits had noticed the commotion she’d made and decided to help out with his fancy smoke powers. She rolled her eyes at his first comment and began shooting huge fans of glass clusters at DUPs from around cover before moving to try her glass cloud move again, but she’d forgotten his little smoke grenade.

"I guess I’ll just have to wing it—" she muttered to herself, flashing him a quick thumbs-up before making a quick ‘glass-dash’ (as she’d decided to call it) into the smoky scene and scope out any remaining DUPs. There were only a few left down there—maybe four or five at most. Shouldn’t be too hard.

The fingers on one hand curled into claws as she raised it before her, her show-offy way of summoning large, jagged glass spikes from the pavement to act as a pen for the leftover DUP soldiers in the area.

She grinned, surprised with her new-found prowess—that she definitely was not forcing in order to look cooler than she actually was—and decided to try something new: raining shards over her enemies to pin them down at least for awhile.

The conduit smirked to herself and drained some more from the windows of all the buildings in the immediate area before redirecting them to rain down upon the DUPs trapped in her little pen.

[embersandaerosol]

"That's what I'm talking about," Delsin said aloud, watching the shards rain down. It cut through wind but avoided flesh entirely. He raised a brow, impressed. After a beat passed, Delsin rushed toward the vehicle, his eyes only on the blue glow of the power source atop it. A skip, hop, and a smoky jump later, he climbed atop the truck, pulling from it the core from its nest and beating it until the it creaked and died.

"Move, move, move," he commanded himself, jumping off the truck and toward the glass-Conduit. "Get down!" He used his body to shield her as the truck burst into flames and erupted. The booming sound shattered the remnants of glass. Debris, ash, and shards riddled the streets. 

"Not. Bad." He turned to the Conduit. That's right. She was a conduit. Her power had to do something with glass. It couldn't hurt to have that in his arsenal.

He held his hand up. "High five!"

[aerostigma-deactivated20150405]

Blazing Storm { ; Aria & Delsin ; }

[aerostigma-deactivated20150405]

    “So you just… touch them?” A eyebrow cocked up, making the girl’s astonishment completely visible as her lips separated, trying to release words that she could barely manage to form inside her mind. How could someone simply steal one’s powers by the touch in their skin? Maybe that was Delsin’s primary power, just like a sponge, he absorbed powers. That was the only reasonable explanation Aria could find to explain his speech. Still… it felt off, almost far from reality, but then again, what about the conduits didn’t feel like something out of a book or a movie, a videogame perhaps? A decade ago, no one would believe what would be going on in the future.

    Once the bright wave of wind danced around the male’s fingers, the brunette could almost sense that something wouldn’t end well. Her hands reached in his direction, a noise reminiscent of a growl escaping from her lips before a  "Careful" was cut halfway by the sound of something slamming against the ground. For a second, she could feel her own cheeks heating up from anger and worry to a point were the paleness was replaced by a deep shade of red.

    Quickly, green eyes traveled their gaze through the room, fearful that something valuable had been broken or at least damaged. Luckily, it was just a chair, fallen in the carpet. Some more inches to the left, and the wind would have hit the shelf where some of her treasured belongings were placed; framed pictures of her family and old team in the military, accolades from the army and old gun kept inside a crystal box. If Delsin had destroyed those… well, things wouldn’t end well. 

    Before Aria could recover from the shock, his words and the sound of something cutting the air while blended between the sirens echoed through the room. Great, the girl had found someone who simply couldn’t resist some trouble, huh? Shaking her head in disapproval, her body turned into mist, a wave of air that raged towards the window, surpassing it and following the trail left behind by her new comrade, running through the rails and streets until reach him upon a alley where the D.U.P soldiers were located.

    Without a word, she watched from a small distance as the military opened fire against him. Admittedly, the female expected to see him avoid the bullets or maybe use another trick he could hide inside his sleeves, but that wasn’t exactly what happened. “Look out!” Shouted the girl, shape forming from bright particles that appeared right in front of Delsin. Quickly and dexterous, her hand raised up, aiming at the soldiers before a circular shaped eddy was shot, taking the bullets only a few inches before they could hit her body, and sending them right back at the soldiers, making them fly a few meters away, but different from the last time, they weren’t dead, just stunned.

    Closed fists were circled by blue wind, similar to boxing gloves, filled with pressure and tempest, making them feel almost heavy despite the fact it was just air and nothing more. "C’mon, power-sponge, let’s kick their asses" She said, rushing towards them in a wave of wind before appear again, her feet barely touching the ground before a freinless punch was struck against one’s helmet, crushing it and causing some blood to sneak through it.

[embersandaerosol]

"I can't...exactly...kick ass..." Delsin ran toward the side, staying behind the path of her blast. "...if mine doesn't know what it's doing!" He ducked quick, avoiding bullets she shot back at the group while he threw out his hand, and a gust shot from behind, as if a spirit of wind rest on his shoulder and waited for Delsin's command. 

"Oh, shit! Did. You. See. That?!" He exclaimed to himself. He seemed to have been saying that a lot, but since activating his Conduit powers, guessing and going-with-it was the only option he had. 

Watching her rush through with an observing eye, he wondered if he could do that too. The speeding thing he got down quick. It wasn't too far off from turning into smoke. Levitating? That seemed easy enough. He tried it out, kicking a DUP officer in the head. Delsin put his hand over the downed DUP's chest, the weight of the air pinned him to the ground. "Better get comfy. You're staying here for a bit." 

Delsin looked up to the woman, who had formed a blue barrier around her fists. The more the wind whipped behind her, the more, it seemed to him, that her powers grew more aggressive. For someone so inclined to run, she seemed to have an awful lot of fun giving a group of men a beat down. 

"Hey!"

What was he doing? He wasn't actually defending the Black-and-Yellows, was he? "I think they've had enough. Let's call it, yeah?"

But there was no answer as she sped by. Wide eyes watched the blue aura surround her fist crash against a DUP's helment. Red popped onto the clear masks of the foot soldier crushed by her blue vortex. 

"Hey! Stop! You're killing them!" He reached out to grab her at the elbow. 

[goddessofbloodandfire-deactivat]

She quickly rolled her eyes at the snarky somment. "No, you dont know me." She rubbed her forehead and avoided eye contact with the man. She really didn't care to study his face either. "Look, just tell me where I can get out of here without going the way I came. Please."

[embersandaerosol]

We protect our own, rang in his ears. He didn't know what it was about her, but something about her mannerisms seemed familiar. One point in time, it mirrored his. She's Akomish, he thought at first. We are Akomish.

"Hold up. What are you running from?" He stepped back so that she couldn't get around him if she tried. "I mean, you're obviously running from someone. Some.. thing?"

[goddessofbloodandfire-deactivat]

Then DUP was really cracking down and she was soon to be a target. She swiftly manurved through the people, trying to escape the annoying Dupe on her ass. She threw her her hoodie over her head and pushed her way into an ally way. She bumped hard to into some guy. "Hey you know a way to the main street?" She looked over her shoulder.

[embersandaerosol]

"Jesus," Delsin's breath escaped as a force hit him at his chest. It was a woman, it seemed. His eyes narrowed as she posed her questions and he turned to look over his shoulder as well. "The main street? Yeah, the main street is obviously not IN an alley way, only walls and-- oh!-- more walls. I think you might wanna turn around and--"

He paused. Then he motioned to her hood and mimed pulling an invisible hood off his head. "You... look... like someone I should know."

[triumphantwind-deactivated20140]

"Alright Delsin, I’m not going to lie. I don’t get what the hell this is about. Not one bit. Like seriously." 

[embersandaerosol]

"Just saw what you did out there. All that-- whatever it was. Thought it was pretty cool and wanted to uh-- formally meet. Why don't we shake hands?" 

[akomishcopman]

Just Breathe || Rowe Brothers

On the first day, his very first thought — or at least the first coherent one — was that death wasn’t supposed to suck that bad, leaving him to feel as if he had been hit by a truck. Twice.

(That was pretty much how he figured he was still alive, right before everything faded again.)

Time started to go by in a blur, he being barely able to tell reality from dream — if he had any sort of reasoning at all. But at some point he had to start pull it together, fight the numbness taking over his senses and get a grasp of the situation.

Until that point, breathing was what hurt the most. Each time his chest rose, it felt as if he was buried under pavement slabs; each time he released the air from his lungs, it was like giving up. But forcing his mind through the events that led him there — hospital room? Yeah, definitely a hospital room — was what finally left him breathless, desperately gasping for air only to realize he’d better not even utter a word.

He had no idea how long he had been out — or worse, what had happened while he was out.

(The island collapsed, Augustine was the one survivor. Had he dreamed about it?)

From all he knew, Delsin could be locked up as well, except in some facility that wasn’t even half as welcoming as the sterile white walls surrounding him. Even if he trusted his little brother to handle things by himself by that point, he’d never risk bringing up the fact that they were related. At least not before he was sure there was no way they could use him to get to Dell. That Augustine woman tried it once; it wouldn’t happen again.

For two days, he was left to mull about what was the point of being alive when he couldn’t even be there for his brother (there was no point at all); for what felt more like eternity, he stared at a blank TV through his waking hours, both anticipating and dreading the time when the power supply would be fixed, bringing the screen back to life.

When they brought up Augustine’s downfall, craftily illustrated by a panoramic shot Delsin’s goddamned flag on top of Space Needle, he didn’t even bother to pretend he wasn’t crying.

He had to go home.

[birdoforigami]

"Kid, I don’t care if you painted the new Mona Lisa on my wall, you got it? I. Don’t. Care.”

"You’re gonna restore it to its previous state of plain and dull or I’m gonna arrest your pretty artsy ass, are we clear?"

[embersandaerosol]

"Why, yes. It's clear that you think I'm both pretty and artsy. Thank you, officer."

"But I really must go. My people need me. And by people I mean more of the world's canvases primed for my ingenuity."

[embersandaerosol]

The Game Is A-Soot || Monica Reyes & Delsin Rowe

[singingwithwhales]

The decisive moment. As per Bresson’s definition, the precise time when significance and form come together, a fraction of second that defines the event. And though it was meant to be about photography, Monica would rather see it on a different light, with a broader meaning – the moment when you simply know, even if you still can’t quite place it.

Just like now.

She had noticed the young man turning around and walking just the opposite way, clearly avoiding the area where she stood. That had been enough to catch her attention, nothing more. But then he looked back over his shoulder, eyes meeting hers. On that moment, they both understood what came next, and it was almost in synchrony that their feet started moving, giving start to the chase.

"Stop right there! FBI!" Granted, he was faster – but not that much. She still managed to stay close enough to not lose him from sight, and judging by the seemingly random turns he would take, it would be more of a matter of endurance and patience.

So far, the investigation in Seattle had led to nothing but dead ends; forensics wouldn’t come up to with any meaningful conclusion, there was not a single witness nor rumors running around, and the local police enforcement seemed to be absolutely unwilling to help.

The closest to a lead she had was some punk who, for some reason still to be found, decided to avoid her at all costs. It could be nothing, but still she felt he would take her somewhere.

And Monica Reyes wasn’t one to give up.

[embersandaerosol]

Maybe he was being cruel. The woman, the supposed FBI, wanted to catch him, to arrest him-- whatever-- and he wasn't about to let that happen. Delsin burst behind corners just out of her sight, then slow his pace letting her keep up. Only just barely. He wanted to have some fun before he got rid of her. But he only saw how far she was willing to go.

"Lady!" He called at the end of an alley way. "Just give up. It'll be easier for the both of us." Delsin canted his head, taking in one more good look. She lacked the DUP uniform and the narcotize look of a Conduit. He would have pegged her as a politician if she didn't run so damn fast or tried so damn hard. "C'mon, lady. You're really killing my buzz here." He almost felt sorry for her.

Almost.

He praised his own enhanced speed, continuing the chase, until he found himself staring down the Black-and-Yellows' gun barrels in a courtyard connected by alleys. Slowly raising his hands, he tried playing the role of innocent bystander, yet he knew very well that it wouldn't work. 

The DUPs and the SPDs congregated at what appeared to be a dead body off to the side, already covered with a sheet. Plastic tents with numbers had been placed in various places of importance, presumably. This scene was a very bad sign for someone of Delsin's talents.

"There he is! We've been waiting for you!" One of the blues cried. That, was the other very bad sign and was enough for Delsin to start running. The muscles in his calves tensed, all weight shifted to the pads of his feet. 

"I'd love to stay and chat but--" But nothing. There was a tug between knee and leg, but no movement. The ground beneath him crackled and crept up his legs, gripping them in place. He twisted and slapped away at the concrete, though it only ended with embittered frustrations. "Aww, you kidding me?! I didn't meant it. I actually don't want to stay."

He grit his teeth and his palms grew hot, ready to blast the cement trap. The foot steps of his pursuer finally catching up rang loud in his ears. "Great."