maskormenacelogs | horrible people get

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horrible people get

WHO: HANS and MAX LORD
WHERE: City Hall
WHEN: 4/21, early afternoon
WHAT: They be like smooth (what) can you teach me how to mind control?
WARNINGS: Mind control/persuasion powers in full effect, horrible people?

One of the problems with having a government job, Hans was starting to find, was paperwork. There was so much paperwork to do and Hans was starting to dislike it. The fact that he was one of the lower rungs of city government and thus couldn't pass it off to somebody else was equally annoying.

At least, he didn't have someone underneath him he could directly pass it off to. So, in a relatively empty hallway, Hans found an intern who looked like she needed something to do. "I really hate to be a bother," Hans said, kicking the charm power into full gear, apologetic smile on his face, "but could you make some copies of these? I've written down what needs to be copied how much and it would be such a help if you could do that for me." The intern's expression shifted from something grumpy to a small little mollified smile as she took the papers. "Oh you're the best," Hans called out, as the intern headed out to make all the copies.

It's obvious that Hans needed to work a bit more on the subtle uses of his power, especially if he was planning to keep it a secret. However, he had successfully managed to charm some people already (most notably Chilton, back at the dance) so he felt pretty good about the success of his power.

And then he noticed that Max Lord was there and had probably watched the whole encounter. Damn. Hans tried to smile it off, giving Max a wide grin, but not using his power (yet, at least.) "Max! I didn't expect to see you here today."

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To someone else, Hans's use of the power might not appear like much except for some strangely effective smooth-talking, but Max Lord had a persuasion power as well -- he recognized the signs of a person who just had their mind changed with a little extra help.

Interesting, was his thought. He was meeting all sorts of psychics, it seemed like; good to be aware of. Even better to befriend. He smiled back, raising his hand in a wave.

"Just wanted to stop by and see about following up on some of our budget ideas," he said, but in a dismissive sort of way. He raised his eyebrow, walking closer. "But while I'm here I should offer you a word of advice. Always keep the conversation short, first of all."

He inclined his head in the direction the intern had gone in.

"Less obvious."

As soon as he hears Max's words, Hans's eyes widen. He knows? How on Earth could Max know about his powers? He was trying to be subtle and yet he still was found out?

Obviously, Max was proving himself to be a greater ally than Hans had realized.

"So, you have experience with powers like mine. Mind giving me a few more pointers?" Hans is smiling, trying to outwardly keep cool while he inwardly tries to figure out what exactly to do.

Max's smile sharpens and he puts his hands on his hips, looking Hans over with a casual sort of smugness. He nods, raising his eyebrow and patting Hans's shoulder.

"Some experience," he says, giving his chin a thoughtful tap. "And I'm guessing you don't. I mean, it's obvious. That wasn't bad, but it'll need a lot more work if you're ever going to take it public."

Getting ahead of himself there, yes, but Max was trying to impress caution as a priority. Nuance. His own power made him bleed; subtlety was indispensable.

"What exactly can you do?"

Normally, Hans would just tense away from Max's shoulder pat. It was too friendly, too...paternal for his liking. And yet, he was fine with this. Max had power. Max could control this. He could learn from Max and learn from him he should.

"I've only tried it a few times, but I can charm people, so to speak. With my words, I can convince them to do one thing or believe something else."

He smirked slightly, shrugging a little. "Like I said, I need practice."

"Useful," Max said with approval, not mentioning that his power worked very similarly... or, well, it used to. Recently Max had foregone then necessity to use words at all, which was moderately better. "You do, but everyone needs practice. I take it you haven't had it for long."

He moved away, removing his hand from Hans's shoulder and putting both hands in his pockets. Normally, Max wouldn't be quite so open about his powers himself, but here? It seemed like fate or especially good fortune that he kept happening upon people with similar abilities without even knowing it, particularly people who were still just grasping the powers. There was potential there. He could use this -- having allies.

"We can figure something out, I think," he said. "If it's practice you're interested in."

How did Max know so much about his power? Did he have something similar himself? Or did he just have experience with it? He knew that a large amount of people had powers before coming here, was Max one of them?

Hans watched Max as he talked, hanging onto his every word. At the word practice, his face lit up. Oh how did he want practice. If he was going to be more subtle with this power (and he needed to be more subtle,) then he needed to practice on people...and hopefully keep it a secret.

That's another problem. How to mention to Max that he'd like this power under the rug...it was one of the tools in his arsenal that nobody really knew about and he wanted to keep it that way.

"I would like to practice. But, it all depends on who and how many people know I'm practicing." Hopefully Max would get his hint.

Max chuckled, shaking his head.

"Obviously not public practice. This is the sort of ability you won't want to advertise, Hans, if you remember any of my advice remember that." He clapped Hans on the back once before glancing down the hallway in both directions.

"Where's your office?" He asked after another moment. "And does it have a phone?"

"What passes for my office is down the hall," Hans remarked, with a little frown. "And yes, it does have the phone. Follow me." Walking down the hallway for a bit, Hans opened the door.

The office...was small. Hilariously small. Small enough to comfortably hold a desk, a filing cabinet, a visitor and not much more. Hans smiled weakly as he opened the door.

"Like I said--what passes for my office."

Surveying the small office without comment, Max raised his eyebrow before he stepped instead, walking across the room so that he could sit against the edge of the desk. It was small -- smaller than Max's office, anyway -- but that didn't matter much for the moment.

"You can always get yourself a bigger one later," he suggested, the insinuation barely hidden in his tone. He gestured with a hand to the phone. "For now, all you need is enough space to make a call. And," he added. "I bet you can figure out what kind of call to make, right?"

He was assuming, of course, that Hans didn't have to be face-to-face for the ability to work.

"A call to get a bigger office," Hans remarked, with a short bitter laugh, as he made his way back towards his desk. Sitting down, Hans reached over to the phone...and paused.

"I've never used my power over the phone before," he tentatively responded. Would it even work? What would happen? All he knew was that Hans was having a few doubts that he wanted to clear the air with first.

Edited (WORDS) 2014-04-27 17:20 (UTC)

"Can't hurt to try. Right? If it doesn't work--" Max smirked, shrugging one shoulder like he wasn't too worried about that possibility. "You can always smooth it over in person next time you see your superiors. But the phone is one-on-one, one of the more private ways of stretching your legs. So to speak."

He crossed one leg over the other, sitting more fully on Hans's desk so he didn't lose his balance.

"Unless you have a better idea," he offered.

"I don't," Hans admitted, as he picked up the phone. Max's words rang in his head as he started to dial. Keep the conversation short, don't make it obvious.

Picking up the phone, Hans met Max's eyes, as if he was looking for reassurance. However, the phone started to ring, so Hans's attention turned back to the phone. "Hello there! Just calling to say that I've sent the paperwork over. And on a different note," here he started to use his power, something that would be fairly obvious to Max, "I'd like a bigger office." There's a pause. It's obviously not working the best it could. Frowning, Hans continued talking, trying to strain his power to its limits. "This small office is hardly conducive to..ah, to my work environment, which I'm sure you already know." Another pause, then a grin started to spread on Hans's face. "Understood. Thank you, sir."

Hanging up the phone, he turned back to Max. "I think it worked."

While Hans was occupied on the phone Max kept quiet, though he grinned and nodded whenever Hans looked his way. He also tried to gauge, if he could, how Hans's power actually worked, which didn't seem quite so straightforward as his own -- but the necessity to justify his wants might be overcome through more practice, on the other hand. From the one conversation Max couldn't determine if it was an inherent restriction.

"Congratulations!" He said, after Hans hung up the phone -- he leaned over, clapping him happily on the shoulder. "Good job! See, I told you. The phone is quick, safe, and easy. It's really hard to go wrong."

He tapped his fingers on his knee thoughtfully. "Want to try one more before we do a field test?"

Hans didn't protest as Max clapped him on the shoulder, instead smiling still at the man. This practice was just what he needed--and he could already feel himself getting more used to his power.

"Why not," he answered, with a grin. "Got anything in mind?"

"Nothing big -- I think the smaller the goals, the more likely the success. At least until you've got the swing of things," Max said, still tapping his knees as he determined what Hans could try next. Something simple, but not so easy that it wouldn't qualify as a real test.

"Have you used it to order yourself free lunch yet?"

It's pretty telling that Hans doesn't outright reject the idea of scamming himself a free lunch and instead is mulling it over, debating the pros and cons of it.

"You know, I haven't. Aside from what we've done, I've used my power to help sneak extra favors at work."

And convince Chilton to go to his way of thinking during the ball, but Max didn't need to know that.

Edited 2014-05-06 15:53 (UTC)

Max grinned, crossing his arms and nodding his head. "That's one way to start," he said with approval, gesturing to the phone again.

"What do you like? Pizza? Italian? Something fancier? Sky's the limit, Hans. Or it will be once you really master your Prince Charming routine."

The cultural reference of Prince Charming totally flew over Hans's head, but he still had to grin and laugh at the statement.

"Let's start with something simple--Italian sounds great."

"Glad you approve. I love Italian," Max said, beaming. He handed Hans the phone receiver, giving him another encouraging nod. "Just remember -- simple, direct, and quick. Don't linger on the conversation longer than you have to, that's when people might start noticing and poking their heads through the holes."

It had been a problem for Max, when he'd first started using his, although more it was people wising up to some unethical influence on his part after the fact. He'd learned to be more subtle.

Picking up the phone, Hans started to dial the number for an Italian place. Simple, direct and quick. "Hello," he said into the phone, as nicely as possible. And then, putting as much of his power into his words as possible, "I'm sure you want to give me a free meal."

Even Max could hear the yelling coming from the other end. And, as Hans's face changed from smug and overconfident to utterly confused, he continued on. That wasn't going to happen. Something about company policy and she had no idea who he was, why the hell did he think he deserved a free meal, and Hans was honestly starting to tune her out, just trying to find out how he went wrong. But maybe he could at least convince this annoyed waitress to consider it? "Well, it's a good suggestion," he added in, charm in his words. She responded by hanging the phone up in his face.

Hans just stared at the phone, confused. "It didn't work."

Blinking, Max stared at Hans and the phone, sitting back with a look of confusion on his face. What exactly went wrong, that time? He wasn't sure -- but then, that was sort of the point, wasn't it? Testing this out in easy but discreet ways.

"Well, that's no good," he said, after Hans hung up. He leaned forward, concern on his face. "What went wrong, Hans? Was anything different that time?"

"I can't think of anything," Hans said, with a shrug. "I did what you did, tried to follow your instructions, but she just wasn't having any of it."

"Obviously something must have been different or it wouldn't have failed." Max stood up again, mildly exasperated, though not at Hans specifically. He ran the last conversation through his head and tried to pinpoint for himself what went wrong.

But of course, that was pointless; it wasn't as if he knew the ins and outs of Hans's ability.

"Has it ever done that before?"

"Not as badly as this," Hans responded, frowning at the phone. "It's gone badly before, but I was able to scavenge the conversation after it. This...is a first."

This complete failure was a first, and it was something Hans wasn't so sure he liked.

Max raised his eyebrow, crossing his arms and pacing in front of the desk.

"So," he began, exhaling sharply and looking at Hans questioningly. "Why? You have to be able to tell me why. There has to be a why."

Hans frowned, thinking as he talked. "Well, I called her up, turned on my power, gave my request...and then she started yelling. She said something like 'do you want me to get fired, of course I won't do something like that.' Something about company policy as well."

"And that's never happened to you before," Max said skeptically, frowning -- just how had this gone south so quickly? He sighed, rubbing his temple as if to massage a headache away. "Obviously your power wasn't on or it's have worked, right? That makes sense, doesn't it, Hans?"

He gestured irritably with his hand, picking up the phone himself.

"Do you want me to try? Show you how it's done?"

"My power was on and it was working," he snapped back, with a frown. "I think I'd know how my own power works." The slight accusation that he was incompetent rankled Hans more than he wanted to admit.

"But go ahead and try. Why not," Hans grumpily retorted, as he gestured to the phone. Frown on his face, he looked at Max, watching the man carefully to see what he would do.

"You'd think you would, yes, but obviously not as well as you think you do," Max said a bit tersely, but shook his head to calm himself down. Temper, temper, this guy was probably only half Max's age. It wouldn't do to lose it in front of him.

He picked up the phone, raising his eyebrows at Hans again before he dialed a number and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket in the same motion, holding the phone up against his ear with assistance from his shoulder. Max held the cloth to his face.

"Hello? Yes, my assistant just called you, it seems there was a bit of a miscommunication," he began, nose beginning to bleed. "You were supposed to send us over a free lunch. Yes, that's right, for two. Am I going to have to complain to a manager that you haven't filled our order yet?"

There was a pause as he listened to the voice on the other end, then smiled. "That's great -- I knew you could do it, Cheryl. Twenty minutes is just fine, have a great day yourself." And then he hung up, mopping the blood from his face.

Hans sat back in his seat, watching and frowning as Max redialed the number. As he saw the cloth, he couldn't help but frown briefly. What was that supposed to be? Steepleing his fingers, Hans watched, paying attention. And then there was blood. Max was bleeding--and honestly must have known it was coming, because of the handkerchief. Suddenly, Hans was thankful that his power didn't manifest any bleeding and worried that it might.

As Max hung up the phone, Hans shook his head, frowning. "I don't get it. My power still should have worked!" Frowning, he looked over at Max, studying the man, as if that unlocked some magical clue as to how thing worked.

"I mean, the main difference was that you had a nosebleed--which has never happened to me, by the way."

Max hung up the phone and sat himself back down, cleaning his face off before he put the handkerchief away. He raised his eyebrow and shook his head. "It's a side effect," he said pointedly. "I didn't expect yours to work exactly the same."

But that was part of the problem, wasn't it? Obviously the powers wouldn't work exactly the same -- well, most likely -- but that left a lot of uncertainty still. Max clenched his jaw, trying to think.

"Anyway, it's obviously not something in the air," he went on. "Were you confident? Was it-- what sort of stuff have you used it for already? Successfully."

"Not that much," Hans replied, with a frown. "Mostly to convince interns at work to do something. Though, I did use it to...ah, help change someone's opinion of me one time."

That was a nice way of phrasing it. There was a pause, then Hans continued. "I've never used it on a stranger like that before. Maybe that's the problem?"

"Hmm." Max rubbed his chin thoughtfully, looking back at Hans -- he looked the guy over from shoes to head as if that might help, though it didn't give him any more answers. "Could be. It's possible, at least," he ventured.

Turning it over more in his head, it seemed to make some degree of sense. Max considered it quietly for a moment longer, then asked: "Do you think familiarity makes a difference? If there's a degree of trust to begin with?"

Hans frowned. "I doubt it. I know for a fact that one of the people I used my power on does not trust me." His relationship with Chilton was...rocky, to say the least, but trust never entered into the equation.

Back to square one, apparently -- Max sighed again. "Jesus. You're not making this easy, Hans. Any bright insights, then? I'm operating on guesswork here, your powers seem either weaker than anticipated, or more inconsistent than anticipated. What do you think?"

"They aren't weak," Hans snapped, obviously a bit self-conscious. "I've gotten what I wanted so far. So I suppose inconsistency it is."

And really...he didn't like that. At all. "Which probably means that there's something massive about my powers we're over looking."

"That you're over-looking," Max corrected, mostly because he was disinclined to take responsibility for this being his problem. He crossed his arms and tilted his head back, still thinking nonetheless. His problem or not, he still wanted to solve it. The more he knew about how Hans's power worked, the easier Max himself could control it later.

"You have more insight to these abilities than I do," he added. "So you're the one that needs to make the breakthroughs. Maybe not today -- we can come back to this, if you'd rather."

Though, Max considered, he could always push Hans to that insight if he was desperate.

"We will not stop until we find out what went wrong!" Hans snapped, obviously desperate, obviously wanting help. It was then that he realized snapping at Max wasn't going to fix the problem. It wasn't going to make things better.

"That is, you're already here. You're here and you know more about this than I do." He knew Max would probably notice, but still, Hans put a small amount of his persuasion power behind his words, trying to charm Max to his way of thinking. "Let's find this problem out now."

It worked, however slightly; enough to convince Max it perhaps was time to try alternative measures to get to the bottom of this.

"Fine, let's figure this out," he said with a nod, pulling his handkerchief out again and looking at Hans, smiling placidly. Max pressed the cloth to his face before any bleeding began. "I want you think real hard about this, Hans. The answer is sitting somewhere in that subconscious of yours."

Nodding, Hans started to think. He started to think about all the times he did use his power, all the times he helped convince someone. Charming Chilton into thinking he was unassuming. Convincing his boss to upgrade his office. Coaxing people on the lower totem pole to do things for him.

One similarity started to stick out to Hans--the fact that all of his suggestions were just that, suggestions, and that they all were relatively reasonable. "They're not orders," he said, pause as he frowned. "They were suggestions, not orders."

Max watched Hans with an almost predatory intensity, eyes bright and focused over his handkerchief; when Hans seemed to have fallen upon his eureka! moment, Max mopped his face again and put the cloth away, grinning broadly.

"Well, well. Now you're onto something," he said, thinking back in their conversations for the other attempts he had witnessed. It seemed logical, in theory. Max would have to see it in action again to be completely convinced, but then again... his powers didn't lie, did they? "That's not too hard to work with, if that's right. It's all in how you phrase it, then."

Frown on his face, Hans still continued to think. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about this. Of course, he was one more step closer to figuring out his powers completely. But Hans prided himself on...well, himself. This was needing help.

"I'll still need more practice, but you're right. It's a start, at least." He flashed Max a thankful smile.

It was something of a relief, having that starting point. There was more work to be done -- mostly on Hans's end, but on Max's as well in terms of keeping a grip on this leash -- but they at least had an answer.

"Not a start," he corrected, grinning encouragingly. "A beginning. See this as a journey, Hans. This is your first step of many, many more to come, all of which will take you closer to where you're trying to go."

"A journey of a thousand miles, and all that," Hans responded, looking over at Max. But yes. A beginning. He was fine with that. This was just a beginning to figuring out his powers, to getting what he wanted.

"I've got to say, thank you for all of this." After all, though his feelings about Max were mixed, he couldn't deny the fact that the man had helped him out so far.

"Oh, it's no problem," Max said, raising both eyebrows. "Happy to help. You know how it is... we're all in this together," he adds, still grinning brightly.

Mostly, it's quite to his benefit to be in the know about this sort of thing, but he doesn't say that. Hans doesn't need to know. Better the guy just be better informed about his powers than either of them needing to get caught up in the details.

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horrible people get

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