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WHO: Duo, Claire, and Mr. Muggles
WHEN: backdated to the afternoon before the blizzard happens as well as during the worst of the blizzard
WHERE: Underground Mall
WHAT: Claire was planning on helping Duo find out what his power was for one night, and then all of a sudden the weather took a turn for the worst. Uhh-- Also, killer cyborgs will show up at some point for a bit.
WARNINGS: nothing??? will update if needed

She'd told Duo to meet her at the Mall for some 'power discovery'. She still hadn't managed to think of a good word for it, but it would work for now. She sat on a nearby bench, holding Mr. Muggles in her hands and trying to feed him a treat. He really was spoiled- any of the 'bargain brand' treats she tried to feed him, he wouldn't take unless he was nearly dying of hunger.

Franz had no doubt kept up the tradition of her mother spoiling him to death. Not that she minded, really; she wouldn't break her bank to make sure he had the best treats. It was his own fault if he didn't want to eat it at first.

The thought of Mr. Muggles having an ability of his own crossed her mind as she sat there waiting for Duo. The idea hadn't even occurred to her until Helen and Haruhi had mentioned it, and now it wouldn't go away. Though, really, how likely was it that she would be the owner of a super-powered dog?

... On second thought, maybe she didn't want to think something like that in a city like this.

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"You don't need to make it sound like a death sentence. I'm pretty responsible." She had to have some hope for him. Not that she could talk, considering the things she'd done.

"You can trust adults, Duo. We aren't all bad." Nevermind the fact that he was about a foot taller than her.

Duo made a face, holding up a finger.

"One, you're not that much older than me. Two, even if you were an adult, forgive me for being paranoid. I haven't had the best time when it comes to trusting 'em."

There was a pause, and his hand lowered.

"But you, I trust."

She could only smile at that. "Good. I'd like to think I'm the kind of person people can trust."

Mr. Muggles gave a restless whine, his tail wagging. "Alright, I guess Mr. Muggles wants to see something happen." Her ideas were pretty creative, she thought. She adjusted her weight onto her left foot, folding her arms and looking up at him. "Let's start with seeing if you can run 'faster than the speed of light'. You up for it?"

Too bad Duo hadn't learned not to trust Claire when she gets overly excited.

He really should have learned not to trust her in her excitement, but unfortunately he liked to believe that she wasn't out to get him.

"Faster than the speed of light? Uh... pretty sure I can still run like I normally do..."

"Have you tried it recently?" Daphne was pretty speedy, but she could still be 'normal' without trying. Claire was convinced that to make a power like that work, you had to think about it. That's what West had told her about his flight.

"Er... well..." he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Considering I kinda had to haul ass while injured a while back, yeah..."

"Oh." She adjusted her weight onto her other leg. "Have you tried lifting anything heavy lately? Maybe you have enhanced strength."

"Ehn!" Duo made a buzzer noise, shaking his head. "Every day at work. Trust me, it'd make my job a hellauvalot easier if I could."

She chewed on the inside of her lip, glancing up for a moment. "Okay, then, have you noticed any headaches recently? Or hearing people talk but they aren't?" She paused for a second.

"Not like if you were insane, before you ask."

"Nooope," Duo shook his head slowly, giving a hapless shrug.

"I think we're gonna run out of powers before the night is up... are you sure I ain't just one of the unlucky saps that the Core forgot or something?"

"No, you'd be surprised how many there are." She read a textbook on a lot of them, once. She turned her body to the left, tugging on Mr. Muggles' leash.

"I have a feeling the Core gave you one." Actually, no- for all she knew, he might have been right. But what was the harm in trying? "C'mon, I have an idea. Follow me."

"..."

Duo quirked an eyebrow at that, but followed obediently. It couldn't be any worse than standing around throwing out ideas that weren't getting them anywhere.

That's right, Duo, follow the short little blonde to your destiny--

Which, as it so happens, was into a candle store. She glanced back at Duo, nodding with her head for him to follow her into there. She crouched down and picked up Mr. Muggles, fully intending on smuggling him into the store.

This would be strangely reminiscent of something from his past... if she wasn't... a she.

He followed her in to the store, wrinkling his nose a bit at the smell.

"... what's this?"

"Candle shop." She liked the smell; it reminded her of her trips to the mall with Sandra in California. There were always weird tropical smells in the stores there, even the non-candle ones. She made her way to the back, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Duo was following and no employees were watching them.

"Have you heard of pyrokinesis?" She stood in front of a cabinet of lit candles, glancing over at him.

"Uh... that crap where people throw fire or whatever?" Duo ventured a guess, canting his head to the side.

Claire scowled at him. "Yeah, something like that. Some people can make it or just control it."

She gently picked up one of the lit candles, holding it out for Duo. "Here, take it. Just concentrate on moving the flame and see what happens."

Duo was... less than convinced this was a good idea, but he had agreed to go along with this and complaining now would have just upset her.

He took the candle and stared at the flame intensely, but... nothing happened. it just flickered.

"Try it again. Think of a strong memory and see if it does anything." That was the only advice she could give, really. She glanced off to the left, checking to make sure the employees were still busy. They were, thankfully.

There was only one memory that was really strong as of late - the one that had been in his globe at new years. Watching Sister Helen die again had dredged up a lot of painful things he just wanted to ignore again, but his dreams hadn't been so kind lately.

Focusing on it, on the smell of charred, hollowed out buildings and burned skin and that coppery tang of blood in the air just made him feel queasy, and nothing happened with the damn candle. He handed it back to Claire after a time, shaking his head slowly.

"Sorry..."

Claire simply shrugged, putting the candle back. "It was worth a try."

She moved to leave the store, keeping her back turned away from the door and her jacket unzipped to cover up Mr. Muggles. She'd been yelled at before for having him in a store and didn't intend on it happening again.

"Let's try electricity?" A small grin directed his way. All they'd need is an outlet, really.

Oh boy...

"... sure."

Duo swallowed hard and forced whatever memories had risen to the surface back again, following her out of the store with hopes that he didn't look as pale and shaken as he suddenly did.

"Are you okay?" It wasn't hard to notice a sudden drop in color in Duo's face. She wondered if it had to do with the memories she had asked him to tap into, or the thought of dealing with electricity.

"Don't worry, we'll just be dealing with an outlet. I'm not going to let you hurt yourself."

Duo shook his head, looking away and clearing his throat awkwardly.

"It's fine. I'm not worried 'bout it..." was all he said, not really wanting to go in to it any more than that.

Claire stopped outside of the store, hesitating and looking at Duo with a slight look of concern in her eyes. It wasn't any of her business, and she knew that, but... She crouched down to let Mr. Muggles walk on his own.

"There should be one around here. Help me look for one." Another glance at Duo, then she walked along the wall, looking for an outlet to try out. Mr. Muggles was interested in everybody walking by Claire, and somehow managed to keep from barking at everyone he saw.

Edited 2012-02-12 07:23 (UTC)