diversified | Death ain't nothing but a heartbeat away [closed]

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Death ain't nothing but a heartbeat away [closed]

He's late.

Being in the employ of Shannon Vaughn means that being late is a bad thing and Eli knew that well, but living with his father and having to deal with him meant that sometimes he ran late because of a conversation had gone on too long or he needed to go run an errand for him. Normally, he could cheat by just teleporting to get there on time, but he still wasn't familiar with this part of town and he didn't want to be seen by anyone who didn't know about his powers. Plus, he had been ordered to go to an alley and teleporting in would just be a bad idea all around in that case.

So Eli had to run all the way from the apartment he shared with his father to the specific alley he had been told to go to, nearly getting turned around at a couple of points due to the mental map he had of the area not being fully complete yet. But he successfully got to the street the alley was connected to only a few minutes late, looking like he had run all the way from home. He took a moment to slow down his breathing and heart rate and did his best to make himself presentable. Once that was taken care of, he slipped down the alley and did his best to try and make sure Shannon didn't notice when he got to where he was dealing with whatever unfortunate person who had gotten on the wrong side of his boss.

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Shannon merely smirked in response to Eli's rambling. He couldn't be sure whether it was the delirium or Eli actually felt that way, but he was pretty certain he could arrange his protege showing up at another performance when someone else inevitably screwed the pooch. Then he could pay proper attention to Eli's reactions.

There was an outright laugh at the chirp. It was a noise he was well-familiar with by now, but again Eli seemed determined to keep Shannon entertained while he was off in Never Never Land. "Don't give me that, Jasper. You're a big softie and you know it."

While Eli continued to coo over his numbers man, Shannon started ordering them dinner. He was an adult, and a very powerful man at that. If he wanted fucking waffles for dinner, he was going to have them.

The next time Shannon brings Eli along to another performance, it would be obvious just how much he enjoyed watching somebody burn to death. Or how Eli enjoyed watching people die in general. It's only thanks to Marcus' parenting that Eli hasn't decided to become a serial killer.

Jasper let out another disgruntled chirp as he maneuvered Eli onto his back and walked him over to Shannon, looking up at him as if asking as to where he should put him. Eli was at the point where rambling was exhausting and instead was just holding onto Jasper and snuggling him, not quite noticing that he was technically riding him like he was a large feline steed.

That would certainly be informative. Shannon was looking forward to seeing how Eli bent and molded under the pressure of their line of work's stresses. He certainly had the potential to be something great, but not all greatness was handled with proper care. Shannon did not intend to coddle Eli, but he did intend to give him the best chance at coming through the flames properly tempered.

Shannon reached out and rubbed his hand along the crown of Jasper's head, behind his ear and down the side of his face in an intensely fond gesture. No one else would know how soft Shannon Vaughn was with his number man's furry form, but then again, who would believe it anyway? He pulled his hand away and gestured toward the couch along the side.

"Put him there. We'll see if he's upright by the time food comes along or not."

No matter how Eli dealt with their line of work, it was definitely going to be interesting. He wanted to truly learn the intricacies of the business and be the best that he can, not only to prove to Shannon that he could, but to also prove to himself that he was worthy of something in his life. Coddling wasn't something he expected Shannon to do because it was Shannon. If anything, he would be tougher on him.

Jasper leaned his head into the petting and nearly chirped in annoyance once it stopped, but didn't do so to keep Eli from being startled back into rambling. Padding over to the couch, he positioned himself so that he could easily slide Eli off his back. It worked pretty well except for the fact that Eli still clung to his neck. Letting out a strangled chirp of help, he glanced over at Shannon. Maybe he could help free him from Eli's grasp.

Of course Jasper couldn't handle the clingy kid. Jasper was too light a touch sometimes; then again, that was why Shannon had him working his strengths instead of trying to force him somewhere he didn't belong. That was also why he had Eli come with him today. Shannon had good intuition on his peoples' strengths and their weaknesses like that.

Chuckling at the sound coming from the monstrous feline, Shannon stood and made to kneel in front of Jasper. He started working at Eli's hold, prying his fingers open and moved one arm out so that Jasper could disentangle himself from the other one. "Don't tell me this kid's an octopus," he said conversationally, "because I won't believe it. You can definitely get out of this on your own next time."

It wasn't that Jasper couldn't handle, it was more that he couldn't handle him without hurting him, hence his plea for help. Jasper wasn't going to hurt Eli just to be free of him. When Shannon gave him enough room by removing Eli's arm, Jasper slipped away to sit outside of Eli's grasp to see how Eli would respond.

Not surprisingly, Eli didn't seem to approve of the warm fuzzy thing disappearing and moved his arms, bumping in Shannon accidentally with one. Finding another warm thing in the warm fuzzy thing's place, Eli did the first thing any sleepy child would do and immediately latched onto Shannon instead, attempting to draw him closer due to how warm he was. As drained and exhausted as Eli was, it meant that most of his body heat was gone, his body only keeping the important bits running when he was this low and ignoring anything non-vital.

Clearly not expecting to be the next object of desire for eight-legged Eli, Shannon tilted and overbalanced when the younger man drew him in. He grunted in surprise and turned toward Jasper with a scowl. "Not a word," he warned.

This was problematic; Shannon could tell even before touching the young man that he was drastically underheated to be normal or healthy. That much was glaringly obvious even to the blind man. However, he was not going to stand for Eli snuggling up to him just to sap off some of his boss's warmth. Working his way out of Eli's hold, Shannon moved back to the desk and picked up a candle: it was one of those high-quality scented things, good for calming frayed nerves and lasting for practically ever. Brushing the tips of his fingers over the wick, it lit up with a noticeable whoosh. By the time Shannon had moved back to the couch, the orange flame had grown into a larger than natural blue flame and he set it on the floor next to Eli's head.

"Eli," he said sternly, putting a hand to his face to command attention. "Listen to me. Do not touch the candle. It's here to keep you warm and nothing else. Do not reach for it. Do you understand me? No touching, or I'll take it away and you'll have nothing."

If giant monster cats could be smug, Jasper would be so right now. In any case, he stayed quiet, not wanting to turn Shannon's annoyance towards himself. He'll let Eli take the brunt of it, especially since the kid was so out of it that it didn't even matter to him right now.

Warmth wasn't what Eli wanted, instead wanting something to snuggle. He made a soft protesting groan when Shannon escaped his octopus-like grasp, seeming like a small child than the adult he was. His body didn't need the warmth either, this process being Eli's natural sleep process due to his high energy requirements. It wouldn't harm him and once he stored enough energy, he would wake up on his own.

Shannon's voice seemed to pull him to some state of awareness because he blinked blindly in Shannon's direction, looking dazed. "Boss? Why a candle? Wouldn't touch one."

"You're freezing," Shannon explained. Now that he had Eli's attention, he moved his hand away and stood up. "Candles are warm, and we both have work to do. So you'll sit tight until food comes."

Turning back toward his desk, he addressed Jasper next. "Now is probably your best bet to switch out of your fur coat." If they were going to be eating soon, Shannon did not want to deal with Jasper still being his fuzzy self; a human Jasper could also probably nudge Eli into eating while Shannon tied up the rest of his work for the day. "Before he's coherent enough to realize you weren't always like that."

"Tired," Eli responded in a tone that made it sound like he thought that would explain everything. "Food's good. Gonna go charge until it comes."

When Shannon addressed Jasper, he changed back into his human form and moved to sit on the arm on the couch where Eli's legs were. "Good idea, sir. I'll keep an eye on him," he said as he looked down at the kid. Of course he'd end up looking after him, especially with the way his body temperature seemed to be dropping and the fact that he knew that Shannon was busy enough without having to make sure Eli wasn't dying or anything.

Shannon merely rolled his eyes to Eli's rambling. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to him, but he was sure that Eli would explain his deal in a coherent manner once he was back in shape. They weren't in a hurry, not for this, but Shannon could admit to himself that he was curious how draining it truly was to hide a car and then a person. To melt those into slag wouldn't have knocked Shannon out like this... at least, not in the last few years.

Sitting at his desk, Shannon began to feel out what reports had been laid there. "Please do, assuming you're at a good point in your calculations. Are we good for the deal next weekend? Tell me what areas I need to cover, Jasper."

Once Eli's back to coherency, it will all make perfect to Shannon since Eli will expand on it and explain it so that he will understand and not have to worry about it in the future. When practice usually constitutes learning how to not use your powers, it makes actually using them a lot more difficult and will have to be something for Eli to work on in the future.

"I am," Jasper responded. If he hadn't been at a good point, then he wouldn't have been waiting for Shannon in his chair. He may be soft on some thing, but Jasper was smart enough to get things done before he slacked off as a monster cat. "We're good for the deal, sir. The others will probably wish to discuss other aspects of the deal with you, but on the numbers front, you should be satisfied."

"Then I'll assume your report is one of the many right here in hands," Shannon allowed. Some of them were for longer term projects that needed dissection and approval to move into the next phase, but others were more time-sensitive and those were the ones he had begun piling together for immediate perusal. It really paid to be the boss: everything printed was always printed again in braille to make sure that if Shannon wanted details, then he would damn well get them.

As his fingers began sliding over the words, he tilted his head toward the couch where both Eli and Jasper had settled. "What do you think? Not of him, but what he can do. Did it look good?"

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't." He wasn't stupid enough to show up empty-handed, especially if Shannon had come back from taking out somebody. Jasper knows far better than that and would rather be in good standings with his boss than piss him off by not being productive.

There's a moment where he just silently looked down at Eli. "If I wasn't in my other form, I wouldn't have been able to tell. He did good work making you look completely different and him not showing up at all."

It was one of the myriad reasons that Jasper was Shannon's favorite. Not that he would ever admit it or allow anyone to comment, but Shannon definitely felt a fondness for working with Jasper that could only be explained by the man's unending competence and respect for his boss. (What Shannon did not know, and thus would never consider, was that he was a slave to instincts and feelings he had no idea were even there. Nate adored Benjamin, and Shannon's constant flirting with those borders between power and personality left him feeling similarly generous to his de facto second in command.) With a chuckle, Shannon nodded in acknowledgment. No, Jasper would indeed not be here if he hadn't finished his work first.

"What tipped you off?" he asked. It was good news that human eyes were easily deceived with Eli's trick, but he needed to be aware of every angle and find a way to plug the hole. If Jasper could tell as something other than human, then any other animal could potentially ruin their facade at some inopportune moment. "What am I covering for?"

Unlike Shannon, Jasper had full access to the memories of his original, which helped him handle Shannon in a way nobody else ever could, even among the Aspects. He could separate Shannon from Nate without a problem in his mind and was better for it, but he knew some still had trouble with it, though they never expressed it where Shannon could find out about it. The man may be blind, but he definitely made up for it with his other senses.

"Your scent, primarily. Both you and the kid have pretty distinctive smells," Jasper started explaining calmly. "And my whiskers picked up something like static around the both of you, though that was fluctuating when you both walked in."

"Static," Shannon said quietly, mulling it over to himself. The kid had said he could use electricity as well as manipulate the sense of sight, but perhaps it was more connected than Eli had led Shannon to believe. At some point his fingers had paused on the report, and he picked that up again.

As he began sorting out the details he would need to tie up on his own, he asked, "Explain the fluctuation. How do you mean? An unnatural sort?"

"Definitely seemed to be unnatural to me. It felt out of control, which I could chalk up to the kid being tired," he said as he looked down at the sleeping Eli. This was definitely something that he'd have to talk to the others about. He couldn't be an Aspect, but his other memories said that it was possible. Loopholes were after all Thomas' thing and Eli had his fingerprints all over him, especially with his powers.

"You've got plans for him, don't you, and I don't mean the ones you had before he decided to show off to you." It wasn't a question because he knew Shannon had plans for Eli. He had plans for all of them in some way or another. Bringing it up could probably be thought of as some form of insubordination, but Jasper was the closest thing Shannon had to a second in command and they both knew it. If Shannon had plans, then Jasper needed some sort of hint towards what they were so he could plan around them accordingly. "You think he can do anything else besides changing your looks?"

"Yes, I do," Shannon replied vaguely. Jasper was prodding and Shannon wasn't going to let him get the information that easily. It was, however, true that he was much more patient and understanding with Jasper than with the rest of the elites in his ranks. It came from the hard work and above average loyalty Jasper displayed and not at all from vast amounts of favoritism. Well, not that there wasn't any favoritism, but Shannon liked to think that he valued the skill above the personality when it came to work-related things.

It was true, on both accounts. Now that he had learned of Eli's powers, his potential as Shannon's protege had skyrocketed and there were far too many things the kid could do for him as part of Shannon's organization. Aside from being able to keep Shannon's identity under lock and key, he would be able to be anywhere in the city as soon as he was needed or otherwise subdue or dispose of unwanted complications. His powers were bar none for usefulness and there was no way Shannon was going to let Eli get by with only minimal control over such abilities.

"So that's how it's going to be," he said with resignation. He expected this from Shannon, but he was hoping for something more to work with. Not that his job was ever going to be easy thanks to Shannon. Jasper thankfully could work around his boss' vagueness and make sure everything was prepared for.

"You going to train him yourself?" Eli was already being trained normally by Shannon and the others, but he was curious to know if Shannon was going to personally oversee the kid's training with his abilities. If he and the other Aspects were any indication, he knew that Eli had enough control to keep himself out of trouble, but not enough to properly use his abilities.

'Easy' was in the eye of the beholder. Whether Jasper found the solutions quick or not, he had to admit that there was a certain thoroughness to everything Shannon did whether or not he gave those involved every piece of information. He made sure they knew what they had to while opting to keep his own interests away from their prying ears. Right now, it was simply a game of cat and mouse. "That's how it always is," he agreed.

Shannon laughed at the question, turning to give Jasper a look. "Of course I am. He was already under my wing before this, and it isn't like I would trust such a delicate situation to anyone else. Marie, perhaps, but none of you." It wasn't said as an insult, but a simple fact. Shannon was actually one of the few Aspects who had actively trained and mastered his abilities rather than have the responsibility of so much power thrust upon him. Who better to teach someone with so much potential than the one who knew exactly how to utilize it?

Of course it was a game of cat and mouse, but Jasper didn't know if he was the cat or the mouse for this game. It was obvious that there was a thoroughness to what Shannon did and Jasper expected it from him. He also knew there was a reason why he did things the way he did, but it didn't mean that he had to like it. The elites were there to help not hinder his organization and he wished Shannon would trust them a little more to keep the information out of the hands of others. "But not how it should be," he replied.

He didn't take it as an insult, knowing that none of the Aspects were as properly trained as Shannon and Marie. Hell, even Jasper was lacking in his shapeshifting abilities, only able to change between his normal form and cat form despite knowing he had the potential to shift into many different forms. "Would you really trust Marie with your protege? She may have taught you, but I don't trust her, boss."

"How should it be, Mr. Keaton?" challenged Shannon. It wasn't a dangerous sort of challenge, not the one that would result in someone dead or fired, but there was always a hint of something going on in the background when Shannon was involved. He was curious to see how Jasper thought he should handle the affairs of his people, the ones he had taken in and claimed as his own which was about as close as anyone ever got to Shannon Vaughn. They were his elites and he took care of them. Did they consider that not enough?

Shannon leaned back in his chair and allowed the question consideration. "That's why I would let her train him. Because she trained me, not because you don't trust her. Whether I trust her or not is inconsequential, it's because she gets amazing results. You honestly don't think I'd leave a kid like that alone with her, do you?" he added pointedly. "We're only speaking in hypothetical, anyway."

Edited 2014-04-24 03:56 (UTC)

"Be more open with us. Let us know what's going on. We'll only be strung around on vague notions for so long before we can't deal with it anymore," he responded, his voice staying calm. Even now, it was a game Jasper was playing with him to see how he would respond and how to change things to work in Shannon's favor. "You know we'd do anything for you, boss, even die for you if we had to."

There was a moment of thought on what he said and sighed loudly. "It's not just that I don't trust her, but I don't know what she'd do to the kid once she'd get her claws into him. She trained you, sure, but do you think he'd be able to handle it?"

Shannon dipped his head while he listened. There was no outright dismissal or obvious anger, but he did seem to be chastising when he finally spoke. "Any of you would die for me?" he asked. That was rhetorical. He knew they would, and he was indeed gratified to have his peoples' trust like that. "Are you telling me that your curiosity is strong enough to break your devotion should your fancy strike hard enough?"

Here, he merely gave a shake of his head. "Like I said, it's merely hypothetical. We'll see how he takes to my instruction first. He's talented and there is a whole lot he could do with himself, so I'm simply not ready to write off the possibility that Marie wouldn't chew him up and spit him out." More than that, the kid seemed enamored with Shannon. He knew that he could use that to ward off any of Marie's advances to try and twist his protégé to her liking.

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Death ain't nothing but a heartbeat away [closed]

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