![]() “He did, after finding five others outside the school to do it with,” Jason says, lips pursed. “Right.” Perfect lying, indoor teleportation, maybe even sakki. Not to mention do things like imitate Leaf’s state of mind, or Blue’s Battle Calm if he ever got a sample of it… “Did he ever merge with an exeggcute?” The dread grows sharper, rising into his chest and making it hard to breathe. ![]() “Up until recently, he was trying to imitate your ability to perfectly copy another mindstate and inhabit it completely while his ‘main self’ stayed safely overwatching and able to reintegrate as needed.” Sabrina meets his gaze, and he sees his worry reflected there. “I know it was related to partitions, but specifically…” “What was his primary project?” Red asks as his sense of vague foreboding grows heavier in his gut. He said he needed more time for his research, and to be fair, he was making obvious, if erratic, progress.” As I was just explaining to Jason, Rowan has been steadily reducing his classes for months. “I did, and I wish I could say I knew what it meant. “Did you get a chance to read the message?” Red nods, then takes off his backpack and sets it down beside a chair before sitting, one hand resting on his abra’s head to rub between its ears. Sorry if we interrupted something important.” He wants to say something to that effect, but Jason is here too, and instead he just exchanges bows to his friend and old teacher. ![]() He reminds himself not to assume this is all his fault-she’s been dealing with some new emergency or major incident one after another all year, same as everyone else-he fleetingly wishes he had more cheerful news to bring her over the course of his time here. More subtly, she also looks like she lost weight. ![]() Not of grief, maybe, but lack of sleep? Definitely, and not just a few nights worth. But even that has its limits, if you know the signs. He’s never seen Sabrina without makeup on, but he’s also never noticed her makeup before… which, he knows, is a sign of artfully applied makeup. Eventually she started using it in the house as well, to hide how bad she was doing from him, and noticing that was one of the biggest things that caused him to put more effort into his appearance, as well as things like therapy. But a few weeks after the funeral, when she would have to leave the house for some reason or the other, he would notice, through his own numb haze, the way she used makeup to cover evidence of her lack of sleep or hours of crying. His mother went through a similar period. It took months before he started to care if his shirts were rumpled or his shoes stained, and he still remembers the shine of tears in his mom’s eyes when he joined her for breakfast with his hair combed again. …which lasts up until he makes his way to Sabrina’s office and sees her again.Īfter Red’s dad died, one of the things that stopped mattering to him was his appearance. Given the general increase in security throughout Saffron after the attack, he did his best not to feel guilty about it at all… Jason said the security was barely noticeable, just a pair of guards at the buildings’ entrances and some extra screening of guests. ![]() Which didn’t make him feel great, but was also a relief. When he’d asked why she was okay with him potentially putting the school at risk, she’d raised a brow and asked, “You think people would be after you for what you can do, but not your teacher? The whole school and gym is upping its security.” He last came here the week after the attack on Silph to remove his things, though Sabrina let him know that she’d be keeping the room empty until all the others are full in case he wants to visit. The shades have been drawn on his windows, but other than that it looks just as it did when he left. Which is why he arrives in his old room in Saffron alone, feeling a momentary bout of disorientation as he looks around at the familiar layout stripped of his belongings. He knows it stresses them out, but they can’t exactly claim it makes him safer when going alone makes it virtually impossible for anyone outside to know he’s there. The stealthy option, where Red goes on his own without any backup, was decided on for any indoor location he’s been to before, since that made it possible for Red to take advantage of his ability to teleport indoors. Another perspective was that he should arrive together with his bodyguards, just in case ambush teams are prepared to strike as soon as he’s spotted. One perspective was that any visit should only come after the team ensures the location is safe, but while this might be optimal in some situations, in others it would just tip off potential observers that Red would be arriving soon, after which they could just blow up the building. There was a lot of debate among Red’s security team about the best way for him to visit known associates. ![]()
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