The story begins again

((So, everyone is being slow to check the guild, and I felt like writing this. So here it is, the first scene of the guild continuation. I haven't gotten permission to use everyone's characters yet, or even to continue writing like this. So if we end up going with yet another attempt to restart the guild, then okay, I'll delete this, and we can pretend that nothing I write here ever happened. But the moment I get confirmation that it's okay to do this, I'll add more posts continuing the story (and the next one will be with the group of Gifteds, instead of the Agents).

You guys can get involved, too. For one thing, it'd be cool if I could have some pictures of the characters- I'm going to try to pretty up this blog so it's not so bare-bones. Also, you're not relinquishing control of the story all the way. Post in the comments what you want to happen next, or what you want your characters to do next, or anything like that, and I'll write it for you. :3

In the meantime, here's what I wrote in the last fifteen minutes. Looking forward to hearing again from you guys soon.

ETA: Also, if any of you would prefer it, I can put your characters on a bus instead of roleplaying them- I can write them out of the story for you, instead of continuing with them, if that's what makes you more comfortable. I'm all about respecting your wishes- you guys came up with these characters and much of this world, and that's important. Just let me know if that's what you want.))

Kate knocked on the door once again, frowning as she shifted the tray of food to one arm. “Leon? Come on, let me in. Starving yourself isn’t going to make things better!”

Silence dragged on for a few minutes. Then, brightly, Dextera’s voice piped up from behind the metal door, bright and cheerful. “He says to leave it outside the door!”

“We both know he won’t eat it. And I’m not going to pick up moldy food for him again!”

A shorter pause. Then, hesitantly, “I’m not sure if I should repeat what he just said…”

Red flashed behind Kate’s eyes. That idiotic little… “Fine!” she yelled, turning away. “Stay in there! See if I care!”

She didn’t care. Really, she didn’t. Leon was pathetic and disgusting, and… and… And completely the way he had felt, in that hall, during the attack on Buma. That was how she felt about him! How she had always felt about him!

…So why did she feel like she was doing something wrong, by walking away from him like this? This hollow ache, somewhere deep inside of her… Why did she…

…She needed to see Marq. That was probably it. Probably…

~~~

Dextera cracked the door open, peering out cautiously, then slowly closed it with a sigh. “She’s gone.”

“Good,” Leon said calmly, moving the screwdriver in his hand with a deft flick of his wrist into another screw. “It’s better if she’s not around to see this.”

“Why?” Dextera asked, looking back at him.

“Because,” he said, as he lifted the weapon he was creating, holding it up to the light to examine it from a different angle. “What I’m doing at the moment isn’t exactly legal. What do you think, huh? A scared little Gifted like you, you’re watching me break rules. Ones even more serious than the ones being broken by your existence.”

He glanced at her, flashing her a smile. “What do you say? They’ll be appointing a successor if the Captain isn’t found soon. You can report what you see me doing, and they’ll probably be grateful enough to give you some protection. Want to give it a shot?”

She frowned, silent for a moment. “…You’re not crazy. They think you are, but… You’re being rational about this. You’re not telling me this just because you want to be caught. You have some kind of plan, don’t you?”

“You could say that.” He placed the weapon back in his lap, frowning as he tried to figure out which part of it to attack next, screwdriver flexing uncertainly between his fingers. “And I can’t seem to get you to go away. You’re glued to me, these past few days. And you were the Captain’s pet- you’re not used to breaking rules. …So I guess what I’m asking is, if I break all of the rules wide open, just what side are you going to fall on, anyways?”

She said nothing. But she watched him, for a long moment. And slowly, she crossed the room.

This man hated her, hated everyone like her. It didn’t matter that she had been on the side of the Agents- he hated her very existence because of what she could do, her “geis”. He could never respect her. Acceptance, love… Those were things she could never expect, from someone like this.

But then, acceptance, love, respect… Those weren’t things she could expect from anyone. There was only one thing that she had learned. Agents would put her in a cage. Gifteds would be appalled by her, and would chase her far from them. And ordinary people would fear both Agents and Gifteds, and would never let her be near them.

Everyone kicked her out eventually. Except for the Captain- he had kept her close to him, to use her abilities. And this man, also, for some reason, was not chasing her away.

“It’s not a problem with the casing,” she said, after crouching by him for several long moments. “The conduits are fine, too- you’re wasting your time trying to fix it with just ordinary hand tools like that. You won’t find the problem.”

“Oh really,” he asked skeptically, frowning up at her. “And I suppose you know all about advanced weaponry?”

“Yes. I studied with a top expert in the field of munitions for six weeks, until he got angry that I had learned more than he knew. Here.” The little girl reached forward, lifting the casing off and pointing to the circuitry beneath. “See? I garuntee you that one of these connections here is shorted out. You’ll have to test them by trial and error- test them one by one, until you see which one needs to be replace. You do it like this…”

She took the weapon from him while he looked on in astonishment, taking it into her own lap and demonstrating. A small smile curved on her lips, as she felt Leon watching her. Right now, he was realizing that he could use her, that she could be useful to him. He would keep her, for that reason.

As long as he wouldn’t chase her away, as long as she could be useful to him… Dextera would stay beside him, for as long as she could.