Angles (Patreon)

(Cooldown writing, Locus and Porphyry, the prompt was 'angles'.)

Maybe she was coming at this from the wrong angle.

People might not be telepaths, but they are aware without being aware that they are aware. Walking. Groups. The seaside path is wide enough for people to wander. Wonder. See but not look, calculating the angles, unconsciously avoiding walking into each other. Peripheral vision. Hear but not listen.

Billiard balls following their own paths, put in motion by other balls around them, predictable until someone applies outside force.

Which she doesn't. But what if someone had?

Locus shakes her head free of the river of minds, seeking out her anchor instead. Solid. Dependable. Safe. Porphyry trusts her the way most people don't, letting her hide in the shadows of his mind. She's selfish, using him to shelter her from the rest of the world. Trust. So rare. 

Telepaths don't have friends. Not for long. Nobody likes being known. Not like that.

Porphyry doesn't mind.

"You think they're gonna win?" She dangles her feet over the edge of the embankment, pretending to be a normal girl who could wonder about the world instead of knowing.

"The Clippers?" He mulls it over in his thorough, thoughtful way.  "Maybe. Robert's injury worries me, though. Wouldn't bet money on it."

"Wanna go to the game?" She makes the suggestion as easily as the waves rush ashore. Long Beach is beautiful today, and she's in a good mood because everybody else is. She's not picking up anything weird here.

"You're up for that?" He looks down at her, twice her size in weight, if not height.

"I am. Nobody will look strangely at you." She pats his rocky arm, the thick craggy skin warm from the sun. "And I want to feel something."

"Not gonna be good feelings if we lose." But he's already agreed. She can feel it like the sun on her face and the wind at her back. 

"That's fine. I just want to lose myself." Let her guard down. Let people in.

Nobody is alone in a crowd, she least of all. Nobody cares about privacy; it's all about the shared experience. Rings on the water, two teams in synch, trust, drive, the will to win carrying the crowd. The game. The audience. Sound and light and screams and touch and an organism that breathes and gasps and cheers and despairs to the beat of shoes and balls. She can just be, and not worry about breeching any privacy or see things she shouldn't. Nobody will know who she is.

Just a girl. With her 'uncle.'

"Was it Vince?" Porphyry's thoughts have completed their circuit, and Locus sighs because she knows what he wants to ask but is relieved that he doesn't mind that she does and just trusts her to pick up what she needs.

"He didn't mean it," she lies because he did, but she understands why. "And he's not wrong." 

~The man's an ass.~ Porphyry shifts into private so they won't be overheard, enunciating thoughts as clearly as if he had spoken them. ~If it hadn't been for you, the Long Beach Heroes would still have played in the bush leagues.~

~I'm still a kid in his eyes,~ she admits, gently projecting her words back. ~And he was embarrassed.~

"About what?" The curiosity is there but not prodding. She doesn't have to answer.

"He was thinking about...." Locus kicks her legs back and forth, staring at the water. "You know. Asses."

"Kiara!" Porphyry doesn't look shocked, but she can feel it. He might treat her like a hero, but he was still aware of how young she was.

~Don't give him a hard time. I shouldn't have teased him about thinking about the Marshal.~ She had just thought it was cute. Thinking the Marshal was hot. "I'll be careful," she adds out loud. "And I'll apologize."

"It's not your fault," Porphyry sighs. "He's a grown man. He should be able to... control himself."

"Not everyone is you." She gives him a pat on the shoulder. ~Can't ask them to be. I'm the freak here; it's up to me to be careful.~

~You're not a freak. You're a hero.~

"I can be both." She gets to her feet, stretching. ~Come on, there's nothing here. Let's try a new spot.~

~You're sure you're not barking up the wrong tree?~ Porphyry rises as well, towering head and shoulders over her. ~Vince said...~

~Vince is weird about this, and I don't like it.~ She adjusts her sunglasses, looking inland. ~I don't know what it is. Something is off. Same with Penny.~

"I trust your instincts," he says, and she can feel his thoughts start circling the same target as hers. If something is off, who and why? "Where to, then?"

"Somewhere  where we can get something to eat." She was hungry again. ~And it's easier looking for a needle in a haystack sitting down.~