[CLOSED]

[flowerette]

WHO: Raina and Kavinsky
WHERE: The streets of Maurtia Falls
WHEN: Late at night
WHAT: Kavinsky gets recruited into Constellation.
WARNINGS: Kavinsky, probably.

[ Joseph Kavinsky isn't the ideal person to work with. From what she's seen he's obnoxious, underprivileged, and uneducated. But the young man is clever in his own ways and not only that, he's extremely powerful. He will be a valuable asset to the team. And while Jesse Pinkman would have been better suited to recruit him, what he has in store for them fits in better with Raina's line of work.

So she feels it should be up to her.

It's late at night when Raina finds him, likely having foreseen the meeting place and the meeting time. How it will go? Well, that's up to her skills of persuasion. Either way, she starts off with a pleasant and almost sultry greeting. ]

Do you believe in fate, Joseph Kavinsky?

Comments

cw drugs

[pillz]

[he won a race an hour ago. the kind you drive, headlights off to suck up every spare drop of engine power, tires screaming, against same-age peers in their punk-ass ricerods or whatever the equivalent of that is in this world and town. which is probably why he stinks of beer. because that's definitely how you should smell if you've been at a high stakes driving competition.

he's sitting outside a burger drivethrough now, shirtless under his leather jacket. his ass perched on the stark white hood of his car. holding a burger in his hands. the expression on his face is somewhere between very high on a lot of drugs and the calm that comes shortly before catastrophic burnout. but her visions aren't wrong.]

Matter of fact, I do. [he raises his burger higher.] You wanna bite?

[flowerette]

[ Raina stares at him. It's hard to believe that this kid is capable of anything at all. But her visions had showed it with immense clarity, and Raina knows not to question her visions. So to the kind offer to share his food, Raina waves her hand. She's more of a vegetarian. Partly by choice. Partly out of sympathy for Chilton's lifestyle. ]

Fate is a funny thing, isn't it? You like to think you're responsible for your own future. But sometimes, things align and you find yourself in the right place at the right time. What do you hope for, for your future?

[ She tilts her head curiously, approaching the teen until she's standing only a couple feet away. ]

[pillz]

[kavinsky shrugs as if to say, your loss. he then sinks his chompers into his burger, with a noisome squelch and crunch. he tears free another bite, chews quick and swallows. despite the gory delight he obviously takes in eating, however, he's also obviously paying her a fair amount of attention.

mostly, that's obvious because he's trying not to. glancing around at the cars drifting past her, in the background, instead of watching the gravitas of her high-heeled approach. careful not to blink when she says hope. careful not to blink at all. uncharacteristically silent, he thinks about his answer. thinks about how much he should lie to the woman silver-tongued woman in the flower dress.

(she's wearing flowers, isn't she?)

she doesn't look like she's particularly impressed, but he knows, on some level, she expects to be.]

Revenge, baby, [he says. a blob of cheese falls on his shoe.] Then I wanna fucking go home.

[flowerette]

[ Raina always wears flowers.

But she struggles not to look revolted by Kavinsky's eating habits. Fortunately, years upon years of dealing with all sorts of men has led Raina toward a mastery in her body language and facial expressions. Her expression seems more impassive at the blob of cheese falling than anything. And then it illuminates with interest once he's finished speaking. ]

Revenge is always the purest of emotions.

[ There's a hint of a smile on painted lips. ]

And what if I were here to tell you I have an opportunity. An opportunity that could make all of those wants and desires of yours come true?

[pillz]

[under ordinary circumstances, kavinsky has no interest in purity. but something about the way raina says that does have its appeal. the purity of good cocaine and expensive liquor, maybe. diamonds and lust. less so the stupid shitty puritanical moralistic bullshit everybody else tends to mean when it comes to purity.

besides, she does sound kind of like she's peddling drugs. and as a general rule, kavinsky appreciates that genre of life. his eyes flicker with interest like one of those hyenas looking into a nocturnal safari camera in the dark. it doesn't actually surprise him, that he isn't the only one looking forward to returning home.]

Can't think of a joke about turning rentboy, [he says,] Pretend I did. What are you talking about, lady?

[flowerette]

Constellation.

[ Raina answers simply as though the answer is everything even though at the moment it means nothing to Kavinsky. But the dramatic pause is more for affect, more to get him hanging on her words and listening. The pretty girl in the flower dress steps closer and casually leans against the side of the car next to him. ]

We're a group of likeminded people. People who are tired of being oppressed, people who are tired of never getting revenge, people who want what has been denied to us for so very long. The Porter.

[pillz]

[likeminded. kavinsky's eyes flicker and he almost smiles-- not hard to tell he's finding it difficult to see where she and he are like in anything, never mind their minds. but she keeps speaking, and the look on his gaunt face sharpens further. he doesn't ask her if she's a cop. cops don't wear flowers, he doesn't think.

the name's an odd choice, he thinks. he doesn't ask about it, not even to make fun.]

And how the fuck are you gonna get to that? [he asks.] Government's got us crawling with teeny tiny fucking robots. When the Russians whipped it out, we saw what they can do.

[flowerette]

I've made it my goal to find a way to turn them off. Or at the very least, block the remote access the government has to them.

[ Her expression darkens. It's not something she likes to be reminded of -- how weak she had been when the Russians had infiltrated. Never again would she let herself fall victim. And that's what the Constellation is about, isn't it? ]

But I can't do it on my own. There are others. Others who specialize in their own things. I cover the science department. Another covers the militaristic aspects. And yet another covers the financial needs. And we need more people. People like you to see this through to fruition.

[pillz]

[the boy's eyes thin. his interest is unmistakable, to one who is accustomed to boys frontin' about their machismatic machismo macho mannyness. children his age would be easier to fool; they might fall for the air of indifference, the aesthetic of defiance, the hollowness to his eyes. but everybody has something they care about, and raina knows that better than most.]

You calling me a fucking nerd?

[distractor question. he's prodding the wall for weaknesses, first, and secrets second— after all, he's not the most likely candidate for team science from the looks of him. he's also biting the hamburger again, with a noisy squelch.]

[flowerette]

I'm calling you far more brilliant than most give you credit for.

[ And if he wants to take that as calling him a 'fucking nerd' then teens will be teens. But Raina also knows that Kavinsky thirsts for acceptance in a way -- for people to see him not as some idiotic teen, but as someone capable, smart, and far more than the drug-induced haze would make him seem. ]

But in a way, it's better for people to underestimate us, isn't it? It means that you will be the one to take them all by surprise.

[pillz]

[raina's right, of course. kavinsky is just like an idiotic teen in all the most ordinary, generic of ways. the appeal to his ego sidesteps his paranoia. at best, there's just enough suspicion to clip her as she goes by. but the constellation isn't going to be doing trust fall and team building exercises or brunch together anytime soon.] Yeah. All right.

[he'd rather be hated and feared than underestimated, but he's willing to buy that. she puts it well, and he's really high.]

What's your ETA for getting the Porter? [he asks, finally, straightening. he tosses his burger, under-arm. it slaps into a nearby garbage can with admirable accuracy.]

[flowerette]

As fast as we can obtain it. The more help we have, the better our chances at success. But we do have the skeleton of a plan.

[ Raina hasn't seen it yet -- whether they would succeed or fail. And she hopes that once they get closer to her goal, she will be able to have a vision to depict it with more clarity. For now, obtaining the porter means that she could control whether she stays or where she goes if she has to go. Considering her fate back home, she would much rather head to Baltimore and take her chances in Hannibal Lecter's world. ]

And that plan will only succeed with you on our side.

[ Her tone is a whisper of promises -- promises that he's important to their goals, that they need him. It's another appeal to that teenage ego. ]

[pillz]

[it works.

kavinsky half knows what she's doing, and it works anyway. his eyes travel her face, pupils huge, blown out by some combination of substances and promises. he trusts nothing and no one, but greed and ambition, the sundry flaws of people, have always been a little more reliable than everything else. skeleton doesn't sound promising, but it's better than nothing. and he's literally pulled meat out of his dreams, before.

he curls his lip. pretend arrogance.] Sounds like a pretty picture, lady.

But what do I gotta do?

[flowerette]

It's more than a picture. I see it with such clarity. I'm talking about the future. One of the gifts I was given well before the porter could ever grant powers -- to see the future in my dreams.

[ Her lips round in a coy smile as she studies him and his false arrogance. ]

Something you and I both have in common, don't we? Being able to possess such tangible dreams.

[ She reaches out, her fingers brushing Kavinsky's head with the gentility of a mother and the tenderness of a lover. And her hand stops to rest against his temple. Raina leans in a bit closer, large and intense eyes lingering on his bloodshot, dilated ones. ]

All you have to do is let your imagination run wild.

[pillz]

[at this point in the conversation, it's late to be feeling self-conscious and watched and known, maybe stalked, even if only psychically. it should've been a foregone conclusion. but kavinsky's power, despite the many people with whom he's shared it in this world, has always felt like a private matter.

she knows his power and he didn't tell her. for a moment, his mind leaps between paranoid possibilities. she has people watching him. she has people watching jesse (hahaha). satellites in the sky. she's with the government, after all. she's controlling his mind. she's listening to his thoughts. she's trying to figure out how to kill him, to take what he has.

he tries to kiss her anyway. he leans in abruptly, without optimism-- lizard brain reflex from a brain-damaged lizard.]

[flowerette]

[ Goddamn, Kavinsky!

But Raina plays with it. She allows him to get just a breath away before she reaches up and presses the pad of her index finger to his lips. ]

I'll take that as a yes.

[ She smiles, mischievous and seductive, pulling back from him in order stand once more. ]

We'll be in touch, Joseph.

[pillz]

[look, he's a lonely angry insane eighteen-year-old boy who's trying to get himself manipulated into all the nihilistic goals he wants to achieve in life. what else do you want from him! what else was he really going to do.

but he stops up short on the tip of her finger, his eyes slitted. not surprised. not happy, but not surprised.]

Aight, [he says, tilting back slightly on his feet, his skinny shoulders immediately back in a slouch.] Look forward to giving you some good nerd.