august-specter

[august-specter]

MILLA BURKE

The way August smiles when he sees her stops Milla in her tracks, halting just short a couple steps of him as a persistent warmth spreads through her chest and threatens to gum up her vocal chords. Just be cool, she chastises herself, and reaches up to give his shoulders a squeeze under the pretense of checking out the jacket. “You winged it!” Milla echoes, obviously in awe, still grinning from ear to ear when she takes a step back again. “I had no idea you were so handy with a costume.”

And then August is complimenting hers, and now she has the chance to be self-conscious — warmth creeps up her cheeks, and Milla only briefly rests her hands against her bare stomach before forcing herself to hold them out again, like a casual ta-daa.

“Thank you! I also, um. Winged it. Oh! And!” Reaching into the back pocket of her gold pants, the tightness of which she’s now hyper aware of, Milla produces a multipass: it’s definitely just cardboard, but a painstakingly printed replica, complete with a picture Laurel took of her with the orange hair and blue eyes. “Check it out! Mul-ti-pass,” Milla says with the perfect inflection, offering the card to August.

“I used to stitch up people all the time, figured clothes couldn’t be much more difficult! They stay still, at least.” August beams, his own cheeks warming, partly from the grinning and partly from the fact Milla looks really good.

To say he short circuits, slightly, at the way Milla looks up at him, perfectly says Mul-ti-pass in a way that was endearing as hell on Jovovich — on Milla? G-d damn. “That’s—that’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

He laughs, louder than usual, a genuine loud laugh sprinkled with embarrassment at the fact he actually said that. August takes the card from her, pleased to see the photo is of her not the actress. “This? This isn’t winging it.”

Handing the card back, he’s aware of the fact this is different. It’s officially a date, an odd change from their friendly hangouts where August feels a little more pressure to impress. “Shall we get some drinks?”

[august-specter]

JOSEPH KONTOS

         “uh…. no, i haven’t,” he admits, more sheepish than before. “that’s fun, though. i’m, um… i matched with someone, too. just a friend! are you guys here as friends… or?” it’s even more of a stupid question, particularly in the fact that it’s none of their business. still… curiosity burns. “you don’t think it looks stupid, do you? err—too stupid.”

Joseph sounds sheepish about, well, everything. August starts on the wig, a light tap against his arm meant to be encouraging, “No! It’s fun! Bruce Willis had a buzz cut going on in the film, but if I needed a wig, I’d be there with you.”

“Have you got the whole gang?” Saying they’re matching with someone too, but quickly saying just friends. August’s cheeks feel warm, his laugh a little more self conscious. “It’s—well it’s a date. She’s with some of her friends right now, though. Do you know her? Milla?”

[august-specter]

JOSEPH KONTOS

          @august-specter​ !!

          “this is probably a really stupid question,” he starts, already sheepish. “but what is your, um… costume supposed to be?” 

“Not a stupid question! You ever seen the Fifth Element? I’m Korben Dallas!” August beams, looking for Milla’s bright pop of orange hair. He points her out, thankfully she’s easy to spot, “There’s my Leeloo.” He smiles at Joseph’s much more obvious costume—no less fun for it!— and the Scooby Doo plush. “Love the wig, man.”

[august-specter]

YAREN AVCI

“Not enjoying the party?” She asks, joining the quiet guy sitting all quiet-like. Yaren makes sure she’s always doing reconnoissance – a nice way of saying she’s nosey. Nudging a mug of warm cider over to him, she studies his face now she’s closer. Alright, maybe he’s not quiet due to suspicious reasons; maybe he’s just introverted. He really does just look a bit uncomfortable, which isn’t the same as looking shifty. @august-specter​

“Hm? Oh, I am!” he smiles, a little delayed. Milla and her friends were dancing to something a little more spirited than his leg could handle right now. He’d happily taken a seat on the side, people watching with an empty glass. A warm mug of cider is just the right thing, he thinks. “Thank you.” Only then does he frown, after a moment it clicks exactly who she is. He’s forgotten her name, but he recognizes her. The newest Omega, whilst he generally thinks positively of them, he wouldn’t consider himself a fan. Definitely makes it easier for him to make small talk. “I’m not a big dancer so I’m sitting this one out. And you? Enjoying yourself?”

[august-specter]

MILLA BURKE

31st October, 1998; the abandoned warehouse || @august-specter​

“August!” Milla calls out excitedly, all but bounding up to him — she’s too excited to see him to be self-conscious about her costume just yet. ‘You came!’ she almost says, then realizes that’d probably be silly. She invited him, it’s actually a date, of course he came.

“I figured out the hair,” she adds, giving one of the unnaturally orange strands a twirl as if it wasn’t obvious already; her eyes are a stark blue as well, that and the hair color being shifts she’d spent… maybe an embarrassing amount of time practicing for the past month. “And you! You look great! Where did you find that jacket!”

.

It’s a date. With matching costumes. He’s grateful that his costume isn’t too out there so the trip over to the warehouse is painless enough. There’s weirder people out and about, but August’s used to fading into the background.

Stepping in, there’s little chance to be overwhelmed because he hears his name and feels a sudden rush of warmth at the sheer size of her smile as Milla bounds over to him.

Bright blue eyes, orange hair, and Milla’s face. Burke not Jovovich. August’s already impossibly large smile just grows. He was a little worried she’d shift entirely. “Thanks. And thrift shop! Got a sewing kit. Winged it.”

August is hyper aware of the outfit, a croptop and the bright orange suspenders practically pointing down to her stomach. He adamantly looks at her face (which is easy enough, it’s a pretty nice face). G-d, he forgot how all-consuming a crush felt. “But you! You look amazing!”

[august-specter]

MILLA: It’s a date! It’s a date? AUGUST: Yes! Yeah. A date.

AUGUST will be attending the MONSTER MASH  with MILLA in matching costumes because that’s normal first date behavior. He’s the Korben Dallas to her Leeloo Dallas!

[august-specter]

MILO BURKE

“I- don’t know,” Milo admits, cocking his head with a mixture of consideration and amusement. “I haven’t really messed with modifications like that. I guess I found my next project,” he decides with a bit of a laugh. He can’t think of anything it’d be that useful for right off the bat, but practice is practice, and Milo won’t turn it down.

His expression softens again as he watches August consider his options, quietly wishing he could do more for him. Milo wonders if Atticus could help at all. He’s not sure, since he knows there wasn’t much he could do for Milo’s scars once they’d healed over, and August’s injury is older. But it might be worth asking, anyway. He perks up when August asks for a beer. “Yeah! No problem.” Without even seeming to notice what he’s doing, Milo reaches out to give August’s leg another careful but hopefully reassuring touch, then hops up like he’s got a mission. “One beer, coming right up!”

FIN.

[august-specter]

MILO BURKE

Milo smiles as he imagines what Seven must’ve looked like as a kid, but it falters — just a hint. His parents must not’ve thought he was a cute kid, or he wouldn’t have ended up at Essex. Milo’s grateful, at least, that August thinks he would’ve been cute. He knows he’s not just saying it, either.

“Stretchers? I don’t think so,” Milo admits, wrinkling his nose and shaking his head. “I think they can look kinda cool, but probably not on me. And I don’t really know how they’d… work? Like, I might change and they’d just pop out and ruin the whole effort.” He laughs at the thought, glancing towards August and… a little surprised to see he’s already looking at him. Milo’s persistent blush doesn’t feel like it’s going to subside anytime soon.

“I, uh,” he says a little dumbly, then points back towards the main stretch. “Is there something I can, like. Run grab for you? While we’re sitting? It could even be alcohol, I have my own ID now.” One of the few jokes Milo is managing to make about Essex these days; with the fall of the House and reconnecting with his parents, he finally felt comfortable registering for a state ID again.

It takes him a second to understand what Milo means by ‘change’ but when it does click he tilts his head to the side, “Could you shift so they’re already stretched?” August is simply grabbing on any passing thought that distracts him from the pain. Looking at Mi, his ear, and noticing the way the blush even seems to creep over to them—it’s a very distracting thought.

August looks away. It takes a little more thought than it should. Now that August knows more about Essex, about Milo’s past pain, even that small joke seems like a big deal. It’s not the sort of joke you laugh at you, but he forces a smile. “Wouldn’t recommend alcohol for pain,” he says, swaying his head in consideration. He stops that when he shifts a little more and a pain shoots through his hip. It might help to let Mi go for a bit, let him scowl in pain by himself, and if he’s going to sit in pain, it might as well be with a beer in hand.  “Could you grab me a beer, please?”

[august-specter]

LEONARDA DA SABBIONETTA

“In any other context, so rude. In this context, I think it’s fair.” Leo says, swinging her now-healed leg out in front of her to inspect it. It looks fine. The skin is perfectly unmarred, and she smooths her skirt down over it. “Truthfully, I’m not totally sure. About five hundred? You stop counting, after a point…” she drifts off, almost pensive, before brightening once more. “I was definitely born in the best era for art, though maybe I’m biased about that since it’s just the art I grew up around.”

Five-hundred, and she stopped counting. August blinks at her, then follows the swing of her leg to see the unmarred, perfectly intact skin. She smooths her skirt over like it’s nothing. Leo doesn’t sound overly thrilled at the concept, he thinks, trying to tamp down his own enthusiasm to have a little more empathy. Living that long? He can imagine she’d been in countless wars. One was already one too many for any lifetime. “Damn.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know my art history, I’m sure you’re right.” How could he really argue with the opinion of someone centuries old? It’s easy to dismiss his own exhaustion after his shift given the most interesting person he thinks he’s ever met. Not to mention he’s a sucker for a story, even a sad one at the way she drifted off, thinking of her own time on earth. She isn’t someone he’d want to lose in the city. “Are you busy? Do you want to…grab a coffee? I need one.”

[august-specter]

@adamrhm​

“Sergeant Specter,” The usual authority in his voice is still there, after all, it just has been roughly two weeks since he’s been discharged from the Military, “Took you a while to notice me there, how are you doing?”

“Yeah,” he says a little breathlessly. He should be happy to see the guy that pulled him out of that wreckage, saved his life but he can only think of Nadir of those empty, lifeless eyes.. “I’m sorry. In my head. I—” he stalls again. August twists the strap on his shoulder. Once. Twice. Back in place. Once. Twice. Back in place. “What’re you doing here? I mean, in New York.”

[august-specter]

JOSEPH & FINLEY

“Well, I know I just don’t want you to feel like—” Her sentiment is cut short by August’s arrival, where she’s instead met with a new surprise: He already knows Joseph. Assuming the interaction the two shared was positive, which she assumes it is by the smile on August’s face, she had spent all this time worrying for next to nothing. Her eyes jump from August to Joseph. “You two already know each other, then?”

Then again, that did make sense. It wasn’t exactly like Finley and Joseph ran in very different circles at the end of the day. They were too similar to ever be that far apart in the world— even when Finley was undercover. She scooches slightly, a subtle offer of her shoulder as to not draw attention to it. He doesn’t ask, but she knows now about the lingering injury now, and can’t help but try and be conscious of it with the knowledge of how her own injuries have affected her day to day life. “Well, that saves an awful lot of awkward icebreaker conversations, then, huh?”

         at first, joseph’s attention isn’t on the figure approaching them, thoughts focused instead on the encroaching dread that envelops their mind. but the moment his name is called, he perks up. all of their worries were for naught. it’s august! “oh!” he exclaims, relief washing through him like a flash flood after a long drought. he knows that he shouldn’t doubt finley’s judgement, but after everything… well, it feels good to be proven wrong. to have it nailed in that not everything in the world is inevitably doomed.

         “yeah, uh…” how do they explain that? “he helped me out on time, when i was… well, you know.” not themselves. finley, of all people, will understand what they mean. the both of them would. turning to face august, he pats a place on the picnic blanket. “it’s good to see you again,” they say, smiling warmly. and to think, they were concerned someone from the brotherhood might show up… “how have you been?” @august-specter

It’s a small, nearly unnoticed gesture that August wildly appreciates. Finley, offering her shoulder. Gingerly, placing a hand carefully whilst trying to not put too much weight onto her. he lowers himself down. Just enough that he can sit without it looks too awkward. August does make the stereotypical old man ‘grunt’ as he drops down, though. Joseph is vague about how they know each other, so he lets it stay vague. Nodding to Finley. “Only met the once but you know,” he shrugs looking back over to them, “Nice to see a familiar face in this city.”

“Yeah, great to see you again too! And looking good.” makes a change from always seeing people on their worst days. “Been all right, all things considered.” Bergen and the subsequent hospital stay is off topic in his mind, even if it’s the most thrilling to happen to him recently. “Same old. And you?” He almost wants to joke about how glad he is to not have seen Joseph till now, or that he hasn’t heard about any incidents involving dinosaurs. ( @finlcyxwalsh​ )

[august-specter]

LIEUTENANT COLONEL RAHIM

location: anywhere status: open

“What’s a fun thing to do around here?”

August doesn’t register the familiarity in the voice. Not at first. Not until he looks over his shoulder, till he sees a familiar face. It doesn’t even fully register till he’s staring for a moment, a little in shock. August twists the strap on his shoulder. Once. Twice. Back in place.  Ok. A lot of shock. “Colonel?” Small fucking world.

[august-specter]

He’s been through a lot of different places in his life, done emergency work on men bleeding out from all manner of injuries in bombed out buildings to late at night in dark alleyways, he’d even seen a g-ddamn dinosuar in the middle of the city! Still, a film set? One of the stranger places he’s been. Especially sat in the middle of it being rushed to the person who on the face of it, doesn’t look too injured. The amount of fuss over one person... Bizarre. “Hey, Noah?” he’d been told his name like it meant something, they’re not familiar to August. “I’m August. Want to fill me in on what’s happened?”

@lumiiniferous​

[august-specter]

LEONARDA DA SABBIONETTA

Iraq doesn’t mean a huge deal to Leo; she’s not very up to date on current events. Hasn’t been for a few decades, in fact. She just can’t be bothered. So she’s not sure what side August would have been in, and ultimately it doesn’t really matter because if she’s learned anything about war, it’s that nobody is really ‘good’ or ‘bad’, it’s just miserable for everyone.

“Gosh, I was a medic too! Funny world,” she says brightly, like this is such a charming coincidence and not a shared trauma. “And yes, that Gallipoli. Though I remembered it being 1915… could have been ‘16, though, I’m just awful at dates. I’m rather difficult to kill, as you might have noticed. If a few centuries couldn’t kill me, a war certainly couldn’t, and a poxy little automobile certainly couldn’t.” She glares at the ongoing traffic, which has resumed at its normal pace.

“Real funny world.” If he hadn’t seen her survive a hit and run, he’d be worried about her state of mind. Even with mutants around. There’s something just too... joyful about her. He’s definitely watched and read too many stories where a long life weighs heavy.

“Think it started in 1915 then finished early 1916. Both right, you moreso.” His younger, military history obsessed self would lose his mind over this opportunity. His older, more jaded self (military wise) is... well, still losing his mind a little bit. “Did you say centuries? Wow. Can I ask how old you are? Is that rude?”

[august-specter]

JOSEPH & FINLEY

Finley’s nerves were most likely misplaced. She knew how concerned Joseph was, even if they didn’t want to voice it, and she knew asking August to hang out with one of her friends after barely three weeks of actually being friends mostly through the bond of similar trauma response. But, she was trying to push any worries about two seperate sets of friends getting along. Even if there were plenty of worries. But they would have a simple picnic in the park, wide open with plenty space to escape if need be. “So, you’re sure you want to do this? I can make up a killer excuse for you,” She jokes, trying to lighten the mood as much as she can. ​​

         his nerves, to start, are almost unbearable—but when are they not? even before dying, even before joining xavier’s, anxiety has been a force to reckon with in their lives. right now, he trusts that his instincts, however convincing, are wrong. that finley’s judgement is good, and that the friend she’s invited to hang out with them will be, too. after all, what’s really the worst thing that could happen? it could be him. the person that had seen him dead. “i’m sure,” he says, more firmly than he actually feels. “i want to meet your other friends, too. i mean… we are already here, aren’t we?” @august-specter​ ​

August was running late. Not by a lot but by enough. He’d gotten stuck part way through leaving the flat. The sudden, sharp fear something terrible was going to happen if didn’t lock the door ‘properly’. (Multiple times, testing the handle, openshut, open shutopenshut—) But he’s made it, and he’s brought some extra drinks for Finley and her friend.

“Hey, sorry, got a little cau—Joseph?” he stops suddenly, smiles at them. The dinosaur person! He pauses. That may be awkward, Finley doesn’t know the extent of the occasional damage. If Joseph wants to explain how they know each other, he can, if not, August can wave it off as a dull story. “Saved you an introduction,” he smiles down to Finley, looks at the ground and accepts the fact he’ll look a clumsy dropping himself down. August simply has no plans on moving for a while. @finlcyxwalsh​

[august-specter]

“Why love what you will lose? There is nothing else to love.”

– Louise Glück, from The Triumph of Achilles (1987)

[august-specter]

MILO BURKE

‘His loss.’ His loss? Milo blinks and stares for one long, embarrassing moment. His loss. Two simple words that he’s going to spend at least several days picking apart and overanalyzing, trying to place them anywhere and everywhere on the spectrum between ‘just a comforting thing a friend would say’ and… lots of much more meaningful things. Milo wants it to mean more than that.

Finally, though, he reigns in his immediate overanalysis to refocus on what August has to say. ‘Someone’s going to think I’m—’? Milo smiles in confusion but lets the unfinished sentence go, managing an easy laugh as he catches sight of the blue baby in question. “A blue baby!” he agrees, enthusiastic. “Really cute. Reminds me of Seven.” August and Seven haven’t exactly been introduced, but Milo assumes he remembers him from the interviews. He makes a mental note to introduce them properly someday.

“There’s, um…” Milo cranes his neck to peer through the crowd, grateful they’d moved quickly back to this and far away from his own past embarrassments. “A guy with those big, like.” He gestures towards his ears. “Ring things. In his ears. Do you think that hurts a lot? Stretching out your earlobes like that?” He wrinkles his nose and glances back to August with an air of amusement, and actually manages to look at him without the flutter of too many persistent butterflies in his stomach.

Prejudiced, was the thought he didn’t finish, someone passing by seeing two normal looking people pointing out mutants might not be... the best thing to do. They’re being kind, at least. Just as Milo is grateful to move on from that embarrassment, then August is now trying to run from that ‘his loss’ comment before he embarrasses himself. The mention of Seven, the most visible mutant from the Escapees interview, and he nods. August smiles a little at the way Mi agrees with him. “He must’ve been a cute kid.”

Looking to the side, a quick glance at Milo who’s focused on the crowd. He’s... pretty. Not something August actively noted but now he’s simply looking, he can’t help but notice. Cheeks with the faintest dusting of pink, he hopes it’s not too warm out for him. It also helps with how eager Mi is to distract August, despite the grumpiness and abruptly stopping the day to sit down like some old man.

“Stretchers, I think they’re called. Got my ears pierced years ago and that hurt so I imagine it’d ache.” It looks... interesting. Not something August would do himself. “Would you ever get that done?”