|| @occultsleuth | continued via x ||
Atom.... loses track of a lot of things, nowadays. Pencils and nails disappear into forgotten corners of his workshop. Receipts and to-do lists languish in the labyrinth of his file cabinet. Urgent business, if not immediately noted down on the appropriate calendar app, will likely go unattended. New names slip from his grasping hands like some kind of cartoon roadrunner. Faces....
Well, he’s pretty sure he can remember faces. Which is why he’s pretty sure he doesn’t know this guy. He’s even more sure after stringing him along for a good hour, waiting for him to be the first one to start the conversation. But no. This is some kind of stalker. Or, maybe he’s an incredibly underfunded private investigator. The coat matches, but it’s a bit too unwashed to be worn by a well-funded private investigator.
The mask slips. For half a second, the shadow of a grin always present on Atom’s face vanishes. For that moment, his eyes could be that of an undead corpse, stumbling through the cemetery in search of its soul, which has since moved on without it. It’s an ill-fitting metaphor; Atom is very much in possession of a soul. But for a moment, one might believe otherwise.
Quickly, the facade is reinstated. The corners of his mouth once again flirt with the appearance of a smirk, and his eyes look, for lack of a better word, normal.
“What an odd question,” Atom replies, with a hint of amusement. “From an odd stranger. Surely you’re not in America solely to ask lil’ ol’ me a question of philosophy. Can I ask what business you might have over on this side of the Atlantic?” He doesn’t sound threatening, per se, but no one in their right mind would talk to a presumed stalker with such an easy smile.