13876/The world you call your own

The world you call your own
Date of Scene:	18 January 2023
Location:	Forgotten Office
Synopsis:	Raz is visited by the Straw Man in her solitude.
Cast of Characters:	Razili Darnell, Straw Man

---

Razili Darnell has posed:
    Razili likes to explore. She's good at being quiet, and she's learning all the different places the floor squeak in the school's mansion. There aren't many places, but it's good to know them all. She would likely be evasive if asked why she was sneaking around invisible so close to the boy's dorms, but whatever her reason, it paid off, as she had discovered something amazing.
    Walking slowly around the forgotten office, Razili drinks in the ambiance. It's like a secret room in the attic a girl would go into to learn magic in some fantasy story. Despite being invisible with skin that seemed impervious to needles, Razili was still waiting for her mutant powers to come in so she could do things that felt amazing to her. Maybe this was where she would learn magic and do such things!

Straw Man has posed:
    "There's something about quiet spaces, isn't there?" a voice asks. It's familiar. "No hate. No rage. No love. Nothing to distract a person from themselves. Quiet is good. Isn't it?" The face is that of someone unfamiliar perhaps personally, but made an impact that would be hard to forget. The teenager is standing behind, perhaps more invisible than she was until words were spoken. A pair of unfitting khaki pants, wrinkled as if they weren't folded when they came out of the wash. A plaid shirt hangs open around the lanky torso and the white shirt beneath has a stain that was once red, but countless washes have turned it pink with time. Their finger oozes a secretion as they drag it along the spine of a book on the shelf idly.

    "Don't worry. I get it. Even someplace like this could use a few less people, am I right?" It's Jay Stevenson.

Razili Darnell has posed:
    Razili recognizes the boy. "Jason?" she asks. It was on the news. No, though. She knew better. She'd talked to him a few times. Well, he'd talked to her. "Jay, sorry," she tries. "What..." She tries to think of what to say to him. "I thought you died." He DID die. Police were pretty damn thorough about checking. "Are you...are you okay?" she tries. What is one supposed to say to someone like this? None of it feels real, but maybe that was part of his powers? She didn't know.

Straw Man has posed:
    "Death does make for good solitude," comes a casual non-committal response. "He, she, they...it." Jay shrugs. "Doesn't really matter if there's no one to call you any of them, right? Office furniture." The book is pulled from the shelf, treated with the utmost respect, as if it were an ancient artifact of priceless value. It's opened slowly, and he makes a feign of reading it. "I wonder how long it would take to notice if it was broken." The page is turned with care until half way through the process, and forefinger and thumb suddenly tive the most imperceptible tug, only noticed by the tear of the page. He doesn't pull it out, the tear is only half way. Eyes don't come up to meet Raz, remaining on the subject of slow torture. Three pages are turned. Another is partly torn.

    A sudden shift of attention raises with very direct eye contact. "Do you think that's what happened? One page was torn. Nobody saw it happened, but nobody opened the book either." Another tug on a page, and it's once again covered by the next few.

Razili Darnell has posed:
    Razili is quiet as the ambient air in the room, holding her breath for a moment, even. Lucky guess. She is invisible. Nobody can see her. There are no photons in the cosmos that would dare interact with her. She has no idea why, but him looking at her was likely a lucky guess based on where she was standing. So she moves. As quiet as a spider skulking across the floor, she moves laterally to the other side of the room.

Straw Man has posed:
    The eyes follow, never moving from their target. She is seen, clearly. "Oh, don't look so worried," Jay says. "Yes, I understand the irony of the statement." There's a slight smile. The book is closed, no one who didn't see it torn would ever know the difference until they opened it.

    Jay shoves off via shoulders from the wall, and casually strolls to the middle of the room. "How many pages did I have torn, do you think? Before I went from damaged, to broken. How many do you have? You have a remarkable power. The power to remain unseen. But I am not sure that the power lies in your genetics. That power might be there even if everyone could see you with their eyes. Perhaps if I had it, I wouldn't have been found to be broken, would I? Once people could see me, they didn't like what they saw. Maybe the same with you, isn't it? If people could open the book, they'd find a host of torn and ruined pages?"

Razili Darnell has posed:
    Razili is no dummy, and in addition to feeling seen and exposed, there's nothing between her and this creature. Yes, a creature. It's not a boy. It's not a mutant. "You're not Jay," Razili accuses. It's true, of course, but it's still an accusation. Razili steps behind something, since she's very exposed. "What do you want?" she demands.

Straw Man has posed:
    "I never claimed to be," The figure that looks like Jay answers. "You're avoiding the question. Still, I'll humor you and answer first." He sits on the dusty old desk, the old wooden top wanting for a master to write upon it.

    I'm a neighbor, really. It's good to meet you." The smile suddenly seems unusually sincere. "I'm here because, quite frankly, you requested me." A hand is held out before an objection can be given to that claim. "Not by words, mind you. Or thought, or even biproxy request of another. But you did. Request me that is. You see, I'm a neighbor not from next door, or next room, or anything of that nature, though I think you already know that. I'm a neighbor from next to you. Your one self. You see this world around you? It's like the covers of old books on a shelf, golden print on leatherette spines. "I'm from the pages within. I see your monsters. The ones you saw as a little girl, until you were told that we don't see monsters. We're civilized. But you and I know they are still there. I want to unearth your monsters. Make them do their tricks. Give you mastery over them so that they are truly YOUR monsters."

Razili Darnell has posed:
    There's a pause as the teenager parses the statement. "You're not Doomsday, either," she says, almost defiantly. Doomsday was defeated. Doomsday is dead. But...her friends were killed because of Jay. Her monster? What did that even look like? Razili had spent her whole life running and hiding where nobody could see her. This...whatever it was...COULD see her. That wasn't okay. Picking up a nearby paperweight, she threw it at the visage before her. She was...not a great shot, never having really participated in sports.

Straw Man has posed:
    The paperweight strikes Jay's face unerringly in the nose, and ther's no attempt to dodge it. There's no aggression as a response though, after an immediate recoil from the impact, there's a laugh, and a check of blood oozing from one nostril. "There's one now!" Jay announces as if it were some animal that had been spotted on safari. "That little beast inside." A clap of the hands, and Jay hops up from the desk back to his feet suddenly and quickly. "Are you satisfied?" Three lanky steps close the distance. "Now, to that little matter of my question. About those torn pages in your book. Those ones that no one sees." There is the arching of a brow. "Because your invisible." Blood trickles from the left side of the nose, not powerfully, just a little reminder of the impact.

Razili Darnell has posed:
    Even if she was clear-headed, Razili wouldn't have been able to remember a time when she was as angry as she was in this moment. "Stop," she begins. Grabbing a lamp, she lunges forward and finishes her sentence, "LOOKING AT ME!" she shouts at the not-Jay as she tries to hit him. It's not just a love tap. She's only as strong as a High School Freshman girl, but she's filled with adrenaline, fear, and growing rage.

Straw Man has posed:
    The Not Jay takes the strike to the head. Full force. Blood sprays from his eyebrow as it's cut open. He stumbles backward, a more ugly trail of life coming from him. He flails backward toward the wall, crashing into the shelf. He pushes off again, disrespecting his wound. "Is that my answer? Because there's a monster inside? Are you the monster they are afraid of? Why do the humans fear?"

     His pace is quick, as if he is going to attack, but he only comes forward with a steady pace, as if to run her over if she doesn't back up. "People say they fear what is different. Mutants tell you that they are afraid of you because you are not like them. But that isn't it. No no!" He raises a pointing finger in victory, pressing her back to the opposing wall even if he's allowed. "It's not what's different. It's what's the same that they are afraid of. They know they couldn't stop you. Not a girl like you. Not a monster like you. The unseen spook. They'd never see it coming. A simple thing, a single strike and BAM! They are DEAD! They KNOW it's in you. They KNOW you can do it, because they know THEY could do it. THAT. Razili, is why they are afraid. And with good cause. That is why you are hidden. That is why you remain invisible!" His tone is hyper, gone is the smooth slyness of tone, replaced now with the rantings of a victorious debater. He drops the tone again. "Tell me that I'm wrong."

Razili Darnell has posed:
    Razili bats him away like he's a softball slow pitch as he comes at her. As he rants, she moves. "Never telegraph your attacks," she quotes. This isn't Jay. He's trying to get into her head, and he's doing a poor job striking at what she's afraid of. She knows little of pain and doesn't care about objects. She drop-kicks not-Jay in the balls, though she doesn't really expect to do more than rattle the family jewels, given how he's not reacting to anything.
    Taking the lamp by the chord, she spins, using her whole body mass as a counterweight and slamming the weight of the thing at stretched-out chord against whatever was assaulting her. Shapeshifter? Figment of some telepath? She didn't know. She didn't care.
    Superman knocks down buildings, sometimes. She can bust up an office to defeat a bad guy. Superman is too strong for Earth. He could probably break the planet. Spiderman has an entire news media outlet after him. Mutants are ALL monsters. She grew up with that. It's not news. Until now, she has not fought back. Now something in her is filled with hate. She was sad when Jay was killed. Whatever's using him is making a mockery of that.

Straw Man has posed:
    Blow after blow, Razili's unrestrained rage sets him back, laughing as he's struck in the groin, but only for a moment as she's set the weight of the swung lamp against him, he is laid out spread eagle on the floor, blood pouring from his forehead, nose, and now jaw from the impact, swelling beginning in his face. His breathing is labored, but that impudent smile manages to make a showing again as he looks up at her weakly, blood in his teeth.

    "Can you see your monsters yet?" he asks lazily. "Are you ready for them to see you?" The question seems to be one not meant for his ears, though, for as he finishes his question, his eyes close and head falls to rest cheek against the hardwood floor.

Razili Darnell has posed:
    Razili screams as she vaults over the not-Jay. For the first time in her life, she wants to be heard as she flees. "Help!" she calls out, running toward the teachers wing. "Somebody help me!"