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[obediences]

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THE HARGREEVES:

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[obediences]

Yeah. Sorry.

[ Not like this particular thing is his fault, but... ]

It's nothing embarrassing, though, if that's a consolation. You and a bunch of other teens lying in the street, or something? Beat-up but picking yourselves back up.

[codeofiron]

[Ah. He doesn't know what incident it might have been, exactly, but he can guess who the people are.]

That was a long time ago.

["But picking yourselves back up."

That was a long time ago.]

[obediences]

Friends of yours?

[ a slight pause before he types out the next guess: ]

Family?


[ Because considering where Luther's coming from, family not looking like each other isn't necessarily a dealbreaker. Found family has historically been more important than the genetic one. ]

[codeofiron]

Friends.

[Family. Synonyms, more or less.

He could leave it at that, and maybe normally he would. But people here seeing Kenny and Nathan, however briefly or indirectly, is...important. Something to hold on to.]

We did everything together, back then.

[obediences]

You all seemed close-knit.


[ It's a bland statement, probably, but it's mostly just a bridge. Providing an opening. ]

[codeofiron]

[Yeah. They were.

He hesitates a moment before replying, but there's no real point in hiding it. It's probably obvious from seeing them.]

We were a gang.

[It's not that part of his criminal activity he wants to keep close, anyway. It's the part that comes after.]

[obediences]

What, like-- hoodlums?

[ It's an oddly antiquated word, but coming from an oddly antiquated man. ]

[codeofiron]

Yeah.

It was normal, in that part of town.

[obediences]

If you were a thief, you know I probably would've had to capture you if we'd met as teens?

[ It's... kind of a joke? Maybe? An attempt at lightening the mood, at least. ]

[codeofiron]

[Behind the safety of the screen, Brandon winces slightly. If he hadn't known that before the City, he can certainly imagine it now.

(What would Luther think of Brandon's actual profession back in his world? He doubts it would be as simple as Rex's "oh, I see.")

Still, he can tell what the intent behind the comment must have been. An attempt to ease any tension, not add to it.]

I wasn't easy to catch.

[obediences]

Man, tell me about it.

[ The wryly long-suffering sound of someone who had tried to catch Brandon, and failed. ]



Can you do that here? In this world. Turn into... whatever you turned into.

[codeofiron]

[He hesitates, again. But he's talking to this Luther, not the other one. It's not something he's shared, but when someone already knows about it, and they're trustworthy...]

Yes.

It's a new power.

[obediences]

I got a new one last year, too. It turns elevators into teleporters. [ An offering; an attempt at saying You're not alone. ]

What is yours, exactly?