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enodia_ic2023-07-04 10:51 pm
lenzpolzin) wrote in enodia_ic2023-07-04 10:51 pm
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Who: Minty Payne & Lenz Polzin
When: 6/17, after this conversation
Where: Residential Building Rooftop
What: Minty meets up with Lenz after the storm to give the man, who's struggling with his powers, an unconventional pep talk.
Warnings: Mild body horror. Many swears.
While the rooftop is no longer in shambles and has been put back together after the storm, there are still hints of what happened here a couple of days ago. There aren’t as many chairs and tables as there used to be and some of the survivors are scuffed up or bent. New railing and a new door have replaced what was torn away by the wind. Occasional black scorch marks are scattered across the ground and the brick walls, still needing to be repaired.
And, amidst all this, is Lenz. The man is lying on his back in the center of the empty rooftop, smoking and staring up into the sky. His typically loud, slimcut wardrobe has been replaced by old jeans and a dark, loose hoodie, the shape of which looks…odd even from a distance. The fabric over what should be his left shoulder slumps down as if there’s nothing underneath it and the attached, empty sleeve seems to disappear into the inky darkness of an arm-shaped portal.
Knowing that Minty is on her way, the man pulls in a few breaths in an attempt to steady himself and tries again to force the change back like he’s always been able to. But nothing happens.
“...Fuck,” he murmurs to no one, bringing his cigarette to his lips with his other hand. The one that can still interact with the world. At least for now. He pushes that thought away fiercely and deliberately just as the door across the rooftop opens.
Minty has to take a breath of her own when she sees Lenz. It’s less his new, changing shape and more that her friend has wounded animal energy that gives her pause, but she’s gracious enough to hide the worry now digging into her chest with its dull nails. Instead her countenance is as cool and unaffected as ever when she strides over, her heels clicking against the rooftop with an empty echo.
“I heard Batman wants his brooding space back,” she offers, the signature sharpness in her tone taken down perhaps half a notch.
While even that half notch difference is noticeable to Lenz, Minty's commitment to a cool demeanor and wry banter allows him to pretend like she isn't here out of worry or pity or whatever it is that prompted her to come find him. And he appreciates that. He tilts his head back far enough to look at her as she approaches.
"Asshole's got a mansion and a cave. He can step off," he shoots back with a smirk that doesn't quite reach his eyes. The expression fades as quickly as it came, though, and he brings his cigarette to his lips again, breathing in and exhaling a fresh plume of smoke. "...And I'm not brooding."
She raises an eyebrow at this, then makes a show of putting on a thoughtful face while pretending to consider his words. Finally, she shrugs. “I don’t care enough to insist.” The statement is true enough in essence, but if you broke it down and put it under a microscope you’d see one glaring falsehood: Minty cares. A lot.
But there was no need to make either of them uncomfortable with that knowledge, so she simply heaves another sigh and makes a singular fussy noise as she joins Lenz on the ground. Minty gives him his space as she settles into a criss-cross applesauce formation nearby, dropping her clasped hands into her lap.
“What are you doing up here, then?”
Another fleeting smile crosses Lenz's face as Minty joins him on the ground with a huff -- is this beneath her? probably -- and he looks up at her for a moment that feels a bit too long. Like he doesn't quite know what to say.
"...Waiting, I guess," he admits, "To get my control back or...see what happens." This answer is delivered with exaggerated and cheerfully dismissive ease, as if he's talking about some curious but potentially dangerous scenario instead of his own vanishing body. As if he isn't afraid. "...Besides. I don't smoke in the apartment." He punctuates this by blowing a bit of smoke toward the sky before looking at Minty again.
"Why're you up here?"
So I can help out my friend. That's what she'd said before but what can that actually mean? Still. Fuck. He wants it to mean something.
It takes every ounce of Minty’s strength to keep from slamming the gates closed before even letting Lenz get a glimpse in, and she struggles to encompass the sensation of saltwater lapping against her heart. It would be so easy to play it cool and scoff at the notion of anything deeper than surface level.
But she needs to reach for her friend through an inky darkness she’s all too familiar with, and if that means letting the ice thaw—so be it.
“To keep you from disappearing into yourself.” It’s not a remark about Lenz’s body swirling with the void; it’s what she wishes she’d heard months ago. Years ago, even, removed from Enodia and anything liminal. Minty takes in a breath after a moment, regaining composure after a millisecond of grief knocks the wind out of her.
She reaches for his hand but falters, recovering by plucking the cigarette from his fingers. “Disgusting habit,” Minty chides, tapping the ashes to her side.
The response is so sincere that it catches Lenz off guard. For just a moment, his expression gives up all the practiced confidence and indifference, laying everything bare. The fear that comes with losing control and not knowing what will happen next and being pulled out of the world one fragment at a time. The frustration of trying to regain his powers and the exhaustion of repeatedly failing to do it. It would all be easy to get lost in and maybe he is. But not with Minty here. And he thinks he understands. Something like gratitude for her joins the tangle of emotion on his face.
...then he looks away, pulling in a breath to regain his composure. What good is giving in to all that shit going to do either of them?
He's still collecting himself when Minty's fingers brush by his...and take the cigarette. He hadn't expected that and he turns his eyes back to her. He looks more like himself now, feigning indignant surprise at Minty's gall instead of wearing his heart on his sleeve. "You think I don't know that?"
She raises the cigarette to her lips as if she’s going to take a drag, but wrinkles her nose and veers off course at the last minute. “I couldn’t be sure,” Minty responds derisively. “Who knows what’s bad taste versus self-sabotage with you…” Trailing off, she gives Lenz a challenging raise of her eyebrows and the smallest of smirks.
“It’ll get better, you know,” Minty continues, nearly in the same breath. She can’t meet Lenz’s eyes for a moment and attempts to distract him by bringing the cigarette back into his field of view.
A lopsided smirk takes shape on Lenz's face at this criticism and he shrugs dismissively, "You forgot bad habit. Pick up this shit as young as I did and it's with you for life." He's about to say something more when Minty continues and the reassurance renders him momentarily silent.
There's a good chance she's right. But that lack of certainty feels heavy right now. And there's nothing to do but wait for the effects of the storm to pass just like the effects of the pulse had. He reaches to take the cigarette from her fingers, making no effort to look her in the eyes either.
"...Yeah, probably," is all he can find to say on the matter.
Her sigh is simultaneously sharp and exhausted as her eyes snap to his. “I know you like to argue with me, but your life will improve tenfold once you learn to accept that I’m always right.” Minty looks genuinely irritated for a moment, but if Lenz cares enough to look a little deeper he might find that it’s more frustration than anything else. She’s there of her own volition, but that doesn’t make consoling someone any less uncomfortably alien to the tepid ginger.
“Besides, whatever happens—you’ll get through it. You literally don’t have a choice otherwise.”
This harsh but undeniable expression of reality resonates with Lenz and is enough to make him meet Minty's eyes again. He can see that she's pissed off...but he can see the rest too. That this doesn't come easily to her but she's still here even though she doesn't have to be, reaching out to him and keeping him from getting lost in everything. From brooding, like she'd said from the start. It makes him want to get his fucking head together, even if just for her.
And, of course, she is right. There isn't any other choice.
With an ungainly effort, he lifts his partially-vanished body up into a sitting position and crushes the dwindling cigarette against the brick. The empty shoulder and sleeve of his hoodie collapse into a new but equally strange formation, which he pointedly ignores for now. He's focused on his friend instead.
"Right this time," he concedes then nods, managing a tense but resolved smirk, "...Whatever happens. None of you are getting rid of me that easily."
Minty’s jaw unclenches as a weight lifts from her chest, and all the gratitude she shows for it is a ghost of a smirk. “Right every time,” she insists, giving a nonchalant lift of her shoulders before leaning towards Lenz enough that she can bump her elbow against his arm.
“I could get rid of you just fine,” she threatens lightly. “Try me.”
"Pride before the fall," Lenz returns wryly, taking the little nudge without complaint. It's a welcome reminder that he's still here. Then he looks at Minty with uplifted eyebrows. "Hm. Think you will?"
“No, of course not.” Minty widens her eyes enough to create a facsimile of innocence. “I know I will.” She gives a self-satisfied wiggle of her shoulders before leaning back to rest on her elbows and stretch out her legs. There’s a moment where it seems like she might look back at him, but she simply turns her gaze to the sky.
“Come on, Batman. Watch the clouds with me.”
When: 6/17, after this conversation
Where: Residential Building Rooftop
What: Minty meets up with Lenz after the storm to give the man, who's struggling with his powers, an unconventional pep talk.
Warnings: Mild body horror. Many swears.
While the rooftop is no longer in shambles and has been put back together after the storm, there are still hints of what happened here a couple of days ago. There aren’t as many chairs and tables as there used to be and some of the survivors are scuffed up or bent. New railing and a new door have replaced what was torn away by the wind. Occasional black scorch marks are scattered across the ground and the brick walls, still needing to be repaired.
And, amidst all this, is Lenz. The man is lying on his back in the center of the empty rooftop, smoking and staring up into the sky. His typically loud, slimcut wardrobe has been replaced by old jeans and a dark, loose hoodie, the shape of which looks…odd even from a distance. The fabric over what should be his left shoulder slumps down as if there’s nothing underneath it and the attached, empty sleeve seems to disappear into the inky darkness of an arm-shaped portal.
Knowing that Minty is on her way, the man pulls in a few breaths in an attempt to steady himself and tries again to force the change back like he’s always been able to. But nothing happens.
“...Fuck,” he murmurs to no one, bringing his cigarette to his lips with his other hand. The one that can still interact with the world. At least for now. He pushes that thought away fiercely and deliberately just as the door across the rooftop opens.
Minty has to take a breath of her own when she sees Lenz. It’s less his new, changing shape and more that her friend has wounded animal energy that gives her pause, but she’s gracious enough to hide the worry now digging into her chest with its dull nails. Instead her countenance is as cool and unaffected as ever when she strides over, her heels clicking against the rooftop with an empty echo.
“I heard Batman wants his brooding space back,” she offers, the signature sharpness in her tone taken down perhaps half a notch.
While even that half notch difference is noticeable to Lenz, Minty's commitment to a cool demeanor and wry banter allows him to pretend like she isn't here out of worry or pity or whatever it is that prompted her to come find him. And he appreciates that. He tilts his head back far enough to look at her as she approaches.
"Asshole's got a mansion and a cave. He can step off," he shoots back with a smirk that doesn't quite reach his eyes. The expression fades as quickly as it came, though, and he brings his cigarette to his lips again, breathing in and exhaling a fresh plume of smoke. "...And I'm not brooding."
She raises an eyebrow at this, then makes a show of putting on a thoughtful face while pretending to consider his words. Finally, she shrugs. “I don’t care enough to insist.” The statement is true enough in essence, but if you broke it down and put it under a microscope you’d see one glaring falsehood: Minty cares. A lot.
But there was no need to make either of them uncomfortable with that knowledge, so she simply heaves another sigh and makes a singular fussy noise as she joins Lenz on the ground. Minty gives him his space as she settles into a criss-cross applesauce formation nearby, dropping her clasped hands into her lap.
“What are you doing up here, then?”
Another fleeting smile crosses Lenz's face as Minty joins him on the ground with a huff -- is this beneath her? probably -- and he looks up at her for a moment that feels a bit too long. Like he doesn't quite know what to say.
"...Waiting, I guess," he admits, "To get my control back or...see what happens." This answer is delivered with exaggerated and cheerfully dismissive ease, as if he's talking about some curious but potentially dangerous scenario instead of his own vanishing body. As if he isn't afraid. "...Besides. I don't smoke in the apartment." He punctuates this by blowing a bit of smoke toward the sky before looking at Minty again.
"Why're you up here?"
So I can help out my friend. That's what she'd said before but what can that actually mean? Still. Fuck. He wants it to mean something.
It takes every ounce of Minty’s strength to keep from slamming the gates closed before even letting Lenz get a glimpse in, and she struggles to encompass the sensation of saltwater lapping against her heart. It would be so easy to play it cool and scoff at the notion of anything deeper than surface level.
But she needs to reach for her friend through an inky darkness she’s all too familiar with, and if that means letting the ice thaw—so be it.
“To keep you from disappearing into yourself.” It’s not a remark about Lenz’s body swirling with the void; it’s what she wishes she’d heard months ago. Years ago, even, removed from Enodia and anything liminal. Minty takes in a breath after a moment, regaining composure after a millisecond of grief knocks the wind out of her.
She reaches for his hand but falters, recovering by plucking the cigarette from his fingers. “Disgusting habit,” Minty chides, tapping the ashes to her side.
The response is so sincere that it catches Lenz off guard. For just a moment, his expression gives up all the practiced confidence and indifference, laying everything bare. The fear that comes with losing control and not knowing what will happen next and being pulled out of the world one fragment at a time. The frustration of trying to regain his powers and the exhaustion of repeatedly failing to do it. It would all be easy to get lost in and maybe he is. But not with Minty here. And he thinks he understands. Something like gratitude for her joins the tangle of emotion on his face.
...then he looks away, pulling in a breath to regain his composure. What good is giving in to all that shit going to do either of them?
He's still collecting himself when Minty's fingers brush by his...and take the cigarette. He hadn't expected that and he turns his eyes back to her. He looks more like himself now, feigning indignant surprise at Minty's gall instead of wearing his heart on his sleeve. "You think I don't know that?"
She raises the cigarette to her lips as if she’s going to take a drag, but wrinkles her nose and veers off course at the last minute. “I couldn’t be sure,” Minty responds derisively. “Who knows what’s bad taste versus self-sabotage with you…” Trailing off, she gives Lenz a challenging raise of her eyebrows and the smallest of smirks.
“It’ll get better, you know,” Minty continues, nearly in the same breath. She can’t meet Lenz’s eyes for a moment and attempts to distract him by bringing the cigarette back into his field of view.
A lopsided smirk takes shape on Lenz's face at this criticism and he shrugs dismissively, "You forgot bad habit. Pick up this shit as young as I did and it's with you for life." He's about to say something more when Minty continues and the reassurance renders him momentarily silent.
There's a good chance she's right. But that lack of certainty feels heavy right now. And there's nothing to do but wait for the effects of the storm to pass just like the effects of the pulse had. He reaches to take the cigarette from her fingers, making no effort to look her in the eyes either.
"...Yeah, probably," is all he can find to say on the matter.
Her sigh is simultaneously sharp and exhausted as her eyes snap to his. “I know you like to argue with me, but your life will improve tenfold once you learn to accept that I’m always right.” Minty looks genuinely irritated for a moment, but if Lenz cares enough to look a little deeper he might find that it’s more frustration than anything else. She’s there of her own volition, but that doesn’t make consoling someone any less uncomfortably alien to the tepid ginger.
“Besides, whatever happens—you’ll get through it. You literally don’t have a choice otherwise.”
This harsh but undeniable expression of reality resonates with Lenz and is enough to make him meet Minty's eyes again. He can see that she's pissed off...but he can see the rest too. That this doesn't come easily to her but she's still here even though she doesn't have to be, reaching out to him and keeping him from getting lost in everything. From brooding, like she'd said from the start. It makes him want to get his fucking head together, even if just for her.
And, of course, she is right. There isn't any other choice.
With an ungainly effort, he lifts his partially-vanished body up into a sitting position and crushes the dwindling cigarette against the brick. The empty shoulder and sleeve of his hoodie collapse into a new but equally strange formation, which he pointedly ignores for now. He's focused on his friend instead.
"Right this time," he concedes then nods, managing a tense but resolved smirk, "...Whatever happens. None of you are getting rid of me that easily."
Minty’s jaw unclenches as a weight lifts from her chest, and all the gratitude she shows for it is a ghost of a smirk. “Right every time,” she insists, giving a nonchalant lift of her shoulders before leaning towards Lenz enough that she can bump her elbow against his arm.
“I could get rid of you just fine,” she threatens lightly. “Try me.”
"Pride before the fall," Lenz returns wryly, taking the little nudge without complaint. It's a welcome reminder that he's still here. Then he looks at Minty with uplifted eyebrows. "Hm. Think you will?"
“No, of course not.” Minty widens her eyes enough to create a facsimile of innocence. “I know I will.” She gives a self-satisfied wiggle of her shoulders before leaning back to rest on her elbows and stretch out her legs. There’s a moment where it seems like she might look back at him, but she simply turns her gaze to the sky.
“Come on, Batman. Watch the clouds with me.”