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lanaevyssmoved · 1 year ago

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Do you have any other bg3 ocs other than afhiri? If yes then is it okay to tell us about them ? If no then why (again if its okay to talk about this) ?

hihihi yes i do!!!!!!!!!! i've been asked a question like this before and i haven't improved with talking about them since so i clearly haven't learnt a thing in that time but since things have changed since then i will update :D

my character page currently only hosts bg3 ocs, and you can find it here! i've only really worked on afhiri's page however so it's basically just basic information.. however i've also hit this point where i feel like i probably can't actually play bg3 as anyone but afhiri? it would feel.. wrong. so.. bare that in mind

last time i did this i included pictures but i won't this time because one of my main ocs literally can't have a picture unless i.. worked with an artist to finalise it's design. and i don't see that happening and that oc is too important to feel like the loser no picture in a sea of pictures LKSDJFDSFDSF

uhhh undercut so i'm not too annoying !!!!!!!!! warning i wrote A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so afhiri wasn't my first playthrough! in fact the oc of my first playthrough is on my blog!!! all the way back on release! however this was back when i wasn't reeallyyyy that talkative on tumblr so there's only a tiny bit.

that oc is default name tav, because my nonbinary ass fucking loves that name ngl. tav is a half wood-elf strong body oath of the ancients paladin. they use they/he pronouns and are transmasc. his background is folk hero and he is lawful good, and is the typical hero paladin - all about justice and honour and order. tav pushed gale away from the crown as hard as possible and is quite a domineering force to reckon with. my favourite part of tav is how they do not fit the oath of the ancients at all - let's look at oath of the ancients closely for a moment.

The Oath of the Ancients is as old as the race of elves and the rituals of the druids. Sometimes called fey knights, green knights, or horned knights, paladins who swear this oath cast their lot with the side of the light in the cosmic struggle against darkness because they love the beautiful and life-giving things of the world, not necessarily because they believe in principles of honor, courage, and justice. They adorn their armor and clothing with images of growing things-leaves, antlers, or flowers-to reflect their commitment to preserving life and light in the world. Kindle the Light. Through your acts of mercy, kindness, and forgiveness, kindle the light of hope in the world, beating back despair. Shelter the Light. Where there is good, beauty, love, and laughter in the world, stand against the wickedness that would swallow it. Where life flourishes, stand against the forces that would render it barren. Preserve Your Own Light. Delight in song and laughter, in beauty and art. If you allow the light to die in your own heart, you can't preserve it in the world. Be the Light. Be a glorious beacon for all who live in despair. Let the light of your joy and courage shine forth in all your deeds.

tav isn't about mercy, kindness or forgiveness. tab truly believes in the principles of honour, courage and justice. tav isn't singing and dancing and laughing, enjoying the arts. but that doesn't matter. tav finds toril to be beautiful, worth preserving and worth protecting. worth dying for. tav has a spiritual moment with the myconids that had them on their knees in tears at how overwhelming the underdark is and the beauty of the life there - never seen before by his eyes. while tav doesn't fit what the ancients oath is - tav believes in it wholeheartedly, adorning themselves in rich greens the best they can to represent their oath. the hypocricy of tav is the charm point - he would be much better suited for many of the other oaths. but that would be surface level devotion. tav is alive to protect this world, that's all that matters. due to the conflicts in tav, he breaks his oath 6 times - and reclaims it each time. he is doing his best. ^_^

tav is very close with halsin and jaheira, and has a headbutting romantic relationship with gale. he likes minsc, wyll and karlach. lae'zel and he have a relationship based on sparring and mutual respect in skill of combat. he's neutral with shadowheart and antagonistic to astarion - who is killed in act 1. minthara is also dead. tav struggles with the emperor because they can't decide if they believe illithids to be abhorrent to the world, or another beautiful thing they don't understand - but ultimately sides with orpheus.

tav also exists in au form in afhiri's universe as an npc!

~~~

my next protagonist is asura. asura is my evil playthrough! who i've promised myself i will do eventually. eventually..... asura is not the dark urge and is just a tav. my idea of asura was to create a character full of hubris and hunger for power. my tadpole eating half-illithid turned illithid. she uses she/her exclusively, except after transformation to illithid she also uses it/its. asura is a coffelock (sorcerer aberrant mind + warlock great old one). her background is noble and is evil aligned - i'm not sure exactly where currently.. most likely neutral evil, shifting to lawful evil later on. this is the 'gale take the crown' and 'ascend astarion' and 'sharran shadowheart' etc character.

i currently have her set to romance minthara, i really like the idea of doing the 'thrall army invade menzoberranzan' ending with them both, where they take over the underdark and rule it together, with hunger for more always simmering.

asura is not a good person, but isn't like a murder hobbo. she thinks she is better than everyone, that she is the most deserving of power, but also enjoys the corruption of others and treats people as playthings to be used, enjoyed, thrown away. turning the other companions more evil aligned and fucking with their morals is pleasurable for her. she enjoys making people squirm and kneel.

her relationship with minthara is tricky because asura would never submit, but in time they both find each other to be equal and worthy of respect. does not mean it's at all healthy and there's not some fuckery going on. minthara is slow dosing poison to asura while asura is casting spells on her like she's a guinea pig without consent. toxic gfs!

asura isn't close with anyone but minthara, but is on 'good' terms with sharran shadowheart and lae'zel. she is antagonist with gale and astarion. wyll, karlach, halsin, jaheira and minsc are dead. asura is the lover of the emperor, and sides with him, but i would be remiss to call them true allies. you can also assume pretty much everyone killable is dead here.. or tormented in some way. some people are left alive for the fun of ruining their lives or twisting them into something worse.

~~~

and now we have my durge! my durge has been more heavily featured on my blog because i tried to play her - until her save bugged out and durge exclusive cutscenes wouldn't play and would just skip? so i quit :D

my durge is rue. named intentionally as rue is in the word durge, rue this day, etc etc. rue is also later known as rue the impaler, lovingly. rue uses she/her exclusively. she is a half drow, and her starter class is sorcerer. as her story progresses, she specs into barbarian. both wild magic! her alignment is true neutral, and consistently shifts in multiple directions, highlighting the conflict within her.

when i made rue she was entirely based on those fucked up kitten memes. where it's just like, a kitten. and the text is MURDER MAIM VIOLENCE etc for no reason... yeah. think of rue as a kitten with spiked out fur looking all disheveled. when designing her looks i thought about those like emo girls who wear massively oversized jumpers and ripped up tights and thick fucking boots and they are super tiny.

rue is primarily a resist urge, but that isn't always the case. she has enough moral compasses surrounding her to keep her mostly on a better track, with intent to preserve her soul and secure herself a good afterlife, instead of whatever she assumes will come of her if she follows what her father desires. rue firmly believes she will live a short life and with the help of those around her, tries her hardest.

i have been having thoughts of shoving rue into afhiri's canon instead of having her as her own protagonist - but i'm not sold on that yet.

rue isn't particularly close with anyone except her love interest, wyll. she is on good to decent terms with karlach, gale, shadowheart, halsin, jaheira and minsc, all of them playing their part in assisting rue when she needs it - moral compass and redemption wise. she is neutral with lae'zel. astarion and minthara are both dead. she is antagonist with the emperor, siding with orpheus.

~~~

all ocs from here on are NOT protagonists!

since i started with tav on the protagonists, i'll start with.. tav here! but not the same tav! and they have the same name with intent! bare with me.

tav is tav's twin sibling. the actual given named tav is my paladin, their twin sibling, tav, simply took their name.. with intent to fuck with them. i have never given tav an actual name because it's not important - it's dead as far as they are concerned. just two tav's, man. to keep it easy, when referring to my protagonist paladin tav i'll just say paladin tav.

tav is a half-wood elf (obviously) college of whispers bard and inquisitive rogue multiclass. they exclusively use they/them pronouns. their alignment is neutrally aligned, shifting between true neutral and chaotic neutral.

tav is both a member of the zhentarim and the guild - playing both sides, loyal to neither. constantly risking their own neck, finding pleasure in the danger of it, the collection of information and gold, always lying and staying two steps ahead. tav has both a romantic relationship with rugan and nine-fingers, the former for petty information as they works the zhent ladder, and the later proof of conquest as they've already climbed the ladder and made their way to the top - granting them some protection when people whisper of their duel allegiance. if push came to shove, they'd leave it all and go to another part of toril and start again.

you can see how a character like this can do damage to paladin tav's reputation, the name being referred to as a thief and a snake who works in the black markets and threatening innocent folks. this is why his twin stole his name - not only is it funny to ruin their siblings reputation, but it also means that sometimes the name can be referred to as the noble deeds of a paladin, using it to their advantage.

tav is both a part of paladin tavs universe and afhiri's!

~~~

i'll talk about druthaea next, or rather just dru. dru was originally a protagonist whos story didn't work in context of the games endings so much so that i'd have to rewrite much of the game to make it work that i just.. gave up, because i wasn't passionate enough to go through that effort and make sure it makes sense.

dru's original story was going to be a story of pushing the powerful of the story to surpass their opressors or gods. gale becomes the new god of magic, shadowheart surpasses shar and takes her place as the god of loss, lae'zel rules the githyanki people, ascendant astarion, etc. however you can see how much work i would have to put in to make some of that work right.. yeah. okay. moving on to what she is now LOL

dru is a high elf who truly, with her entire soul, believes she is an eladrin, as in noble (fey) eladrin. she uses she/her pronouns. she is a wild magic sorcerer - blessed to her when she stumbled upon the fey realm one time, the source of her delusions.

dru lives the life one would akin to a crazy wizard, locked within her tower pouring over tomes and messing with deadly experiments, however she doesn't spec into wizard - she isn't stable enough to actually study and improve with learnt magic - she just.. fucks around and finds out.

she does unfortunately suffer quite a great deal in her disillusionment, having dreams or rather nightmares that reveal her truth - that she is just a common eladrin, a high elf, and not greater. dru exists, for me, as a trans allegory heavy on dysphoria, as well as suffering from hallucinations and other less pleasant things that would require a trigger warning on this post. she is quite dear to me for these reasons.

while existing in afhiri's universe now, she and afhiri never meet - she is just a piece of that world.

~~~

next is candor, who is very well developed and has been developing alongside afhiri for some time now.

candor is a solar, a type of angel. highest in rank, most powerful of all the angels. in 5e lore, there are only a few solar at a time, i believe currently there are 24 known. zariel was a solar before she fell. candor is exiled before the events of the game, though the choice was his own. having been in service of lathander for millennia, the events of one moment in history led him to seek exile - to find himself and his purpose.

candor has been heavily intertwined with existing realms lore for my own purposes, so if you're really into the realms lore you might not like what i do with candor? or whatever so. many stop here cuz you probs won't like the oc after either LOL

for gameplay reasons (candor is a hireling in game for afhiri), he is a cleric of lathander, light subclass, and a redemption paladin (devotion in game). in actual canon, candor doesn't have a class, and is just a 'monster', large celestial. he uses he/it pronouns, and is lawful good.

the lore that candor ties into is the lore of the blood of lathander, which is his weapon. it was candor who acted as the avatar of lathander and and smote the fallen chosen of mystra, sammaster. it was his blood that was spilled, and his mace that was left in the care of the priests. during the course of the story, candor is reunited with his mace.

on toril, during its exile, candor takes the form of a tiefling - having seen a small tiefling child playing, taking the form to approach her and introduce himself to the world of toril, pretending to be an average person there, not an angel of high regard. he keeps watch of this tiefling child, noting something different about them, and finding a need within himself to protect and guide her, giving himself purpose during his self imposed exile from the upper planes. this tiefling child is blessed with wild magic by the time he meets them - and uses his power to stop that wild magic from causing any harm or damage to themselves or those around them from a distance.

when this tiefling child is a child no more, setting out on their own to adventure, candor approaches again with a proper introduction - having studied the people of baldur's gate and surrounding land, calling himself candor, having chose the name for himself as a virtue name akin to that of other tiefling it has met, hoping the tiefling understood it's meaning.. but they didn't, much to candors dismay.

if you haven't already guessed, the child no more is afhiri! candor acts as a full companion over the course of the game, and is the only reason afhiri is able to survive her wild magic (while not understanding it's coming from her and not realising how dangerous it can be) and survive the wilds and her adventures for the year she travels before the events of the game. much of candors early development came from "wait a minute how the fuck is afhiri alive" because uh.. the clown wouldn't be. she just wouldn't!

over the course of the game, candor has an interesting dynamic with gale, who candor distrusts inherently due to his position of a wizard, ex-chosen of mystra, and ex-lover of mystra. at the end of the game, candor feels content with his work on toril, and returns to the upper planes, agreeing to work in service of lathander again, his mace in hand. during my 3 years later fic, when afhiri is unfortunately killed, it is candor who greets her soul in limbo, and begins escorting her to lathander, who candor has worked hard with to make him accept afhiri despite her lack of faith in.. well anything, but is ripped from candor when gale resurrects her. that doesn't do much for their sour relationship lol.

candor and afhiri have a romantic relationship, but it isn't anything you would expect. candor is as close to a god as afhiri gets to personally experience - solar are incredible beings, powerful enough to choose if they even serve a god, completely capable of acting of their own free will... but at no point does afhiri really understand that. not even when candor reveals his status at the monestary, or shows his true form before leaving at the end of the game.. or when candor is literally escorting afhiri to her afterlife. so from afhiri's point of view, candor is a hot tiefling with a thing about authority and order and justice but, yknow its hot. so. but to candor, afhiri is his charge, self appointed, and its purpose on toril has become mentoring her, keeping watch of her, caring for her. candor is an angel who falls for the being its supposed to be impartially guiding to faith, and keep alive.. because she needs help with that. it isn't a health dynamic (like i am won't to do with my afhiri teehees) but it isn't toxic, it's just imbalanced... on one side.. because afhiri isn't aware it's imbalanced.. again i remind it isn't because it's kept from her - it's because she's thick as shit. sorry afhiri.

since candor is a companion for afhiri - i'll share some of his interpersonal relationships. obviously he is antagonistic with gale, but the pair came to a mutual agreement to at least try not to hate each other in front of afhiri, who obviously doesn't enjoy them fighting (except for the fact it's kinda hot. sigh). candor mostly stays to themselves, but has had pleasant conversations with lae'zel, halsin and jaheira, and surprisingly thought-provoking ones with minsc. candor is antagonistic to astarion and shadowheart (for the most part) and friendly with wyll and karlach. candor does not approve of the emperor, or afhiri's growing infatuation with it.

if you ever want an oc to talk about to get me going crazy that isn't afhiri............. your best best is candor.

~~~

lastly we have cirok, also part of afhiri's universe, and becomes a major player in her story in my 3 years later fic.

cirok is a rivener, which is an unearthed arcana homebrew race. riveners are kaortis, or rather the failed or incomplete transformation of person to kaorti. for those unaware, kaorti are made similarly to that for a mindflayer, consider a rivener to be conceptionally similar to a half-illithid in bg3, which is half an incomplete transformation. cirok uses it/they/he pronouns.

its class is phantom rogue, the description is important for you to understand cirok as a character.

Many rogues walk a fine line between life and death, risking their own lives and taking the lives of others. While adventuring on that line, some rogues discover a mystical connection to death itself. These rogues take knowledge from the dead and become immersed in negative energy, eventually becoming like ghosts. Thieves' guilds value them as highly effective information gatherers and spies. Many shadar-kai of the Shadowfell are masters of these macabre techniques, and some are willing to teach this path. In places like Thay in the Forgotten Realms and Karrnath in Eberron, where many necromancers practice their craft, a Phantom can become a wizard's confidant and right hand. In temples of gods of death, the Phantom might work as an agent to track down those who try to cheat death and to recover knowledge that might otherwise be lost to the grave. How did you discover this grim power? Did you sleep in a graveyard and awaken to your new abilities? Or did you cultivate them in a temple or thieves' guild dedicated to a deity of death?

cirok, over the course of my story, acts as gale's right hand. going out and gathering information, finding lost and hidden things, whatever is required of it. they are gale's shadow.

gale uses his magic to keep ciroks condition under check, placing mental barriers in its mind to help retain its humanity and sense of self, keeping a place for them to maintain their resin without interruption or risk, occassionally assisting in the task.

the relationship between cirok and gale is strained and difficult, they fight and argue, they make love with teeth and claws, acting as an outlet of frustration for one another in many ways. but cirok is loyal, doing everything asked of them with no complains.

however afhiri is often there to sweeten the deal, despite not actually needing to - she just enjoys it. the pair never fight, though cirok does find afhiri to be quite exhausting to be around, occassionally reaching points of irritation and annoyance, though rarely expressed due to it understanding afhiri isn't seeking to bring those feelings out, but the exact opposite.

afhiri generally doesn't mediate the fights between gale and cirok, instead choosing instead to stay out of it. they don't understand half of what they're talking about - what causes the bickering. you're likely to see afhiri sitting on gale's desk kicking her legs while the two reach boiling point. the only time afhiri would speak up is if things turned violent, or are about to by reading their body language. afhiri is an expert at talking to people, after all - if anyone is going to stop these two killing each other, it's her.

without cirok, gale's plans of immortality, and eventual godhood with afhiri wouldn't make much progress, potentially it wouldn't find any success without it.

much of cirok is still under works and it requires more development! but i am super interested in cirok as a character, and the ot3 dynamic of afhiri/cirok/gale!!!

~~~

ok that's it. i stop here. LSDKFJ SI HOPE THIS IS DETAILED ENOUGH FOR U ANON!!!!!! I DID MY BEST

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theconfusedartist · 1 year ago

Text

Before Penn Station [permutation 1] Ch. 2

Hi guys! I finally managed to get this done! I hope that you all like this chapter, and I replied to the person on ff.net. I wasn't sure if I should also give the reply to the concerns here too, but I'll answer here in the notes too.

Here's the chapter below the cut!

After shoving his way through an entire crowd, Alex doubles back as fast as he can, ducking around a corner then back over the rear entrance of Bad Weather. Ignoring the irritated and outraged looks he got as he ran past people, he quickly started scaling the nearest building, eyes alert for Desmond's telltale presence.

He managed to catch a glimpse of it as Desmond teleported (because what else do you call it when someone straight up disappears in broad daylight?) somewhere else, a low computer noise the only thing he left behind. Alex felt his lips pull as his mouth widened to a cheek-to-cheek grin.

He'd been just a bit late, but he'd managed to find Desmond as he was escaping, and he was only getting better at it.

Satisfied, Alex climbed back down in the nearby alleyway, dusting off his hands and wiping off the debris in his (what used to be) white hoodie. He didn't have any work to do, since today was a field-testing day, and Dana told him she'd be occupied for the better part of the day before doing some other things she had to take care of. His apartment was already clean and the idea of laying down to sleep was repulsive at this point.

Which meant he only had one other option, since he wasn't nearly desperate enough to call up his insane boss for company. Karen.

Hopefully, she was in a good mood today—he really didn't want to hear her talking about her murder scrapbook. His phone was a basic Nokia brick flip, but it worked and that's all that mattered, and he didn't pay it a second thought as he called Karen.

The phone rung four times, then Karen answered with a terse, "What."

Ah. Not a good mood then. Oh well. "You free right not?"

A loud sigh, "Unfortunately. How soon are you coming over?"

Alex shoved his way back onto the sidewalk, holding his arm up for a passing cab's attention, "I'm catching a cab now."

"I'll see you shortly then."

Alex never saw any reason to make small talk with people he wasn't interested in, so after shooting down the cab drivers' initial attempts at conversation, the trip was a short and awkward one. Pushing the money at the disgruntled cabbie, he wasn't surprised when he heard the screech of tired as the car peeled out of the lot.

Karen's apartment was on the third story, no elevator to speak of, just two sets of rickety stairs with dying bushes and potted plants littered around carelessly. Karen's door was easy to puck out, the almost gothic door knocker that sat in the center of steel ivy vines above a cheery 'Welcome!' mat was a dead giveaway.

Alex slammed the door knocker once, and waited for a few seconds as the door swung open to reveal Karen, sans makeup in a light grey bathrobe, a cup of coffee in her hand. She turned back into her apartment without a greeting once she saw it was him, yawning loudly and moving to eat her breakfast of bland scrambled eggs.

"Hey, Karen." Alex greets dryly, slamming the door after walking inside and grabbing his own mug for coffee, "You look like shit."

"Coming from you, that means nothing." She chugs her first mug then blankly sets it down to grip at her second cup, already hot. "You look like you fought a bear."

Alex scoffs, "Please, none of them were big enough for that."

"So, why'd you call me anyways? Did you need help with disposal again?"

"Nah, I already took care of that." Alex's head absentmindedly touches his right coat pocket, the inner lining pressing against his shirt. "There isn't anything left for anyone to find now."

"Then why are you here?" Karen yawns again, "Seriously, if you came here to talk about that girl you've been trying to date, then you better be prepared to hear me talk about my love life."

"Finally!" Karen shots, slamming her empty cup on the counter top loudly. "Trina dumped me last night and I've been drinking coffee to stay up and reread our chat history! She blocked me." Karen glowers at Alex, "She blocked me! I'm such a catch and she blocked me!" She looks to Alex cheerlessly. "What am I doing to drive these women away, Alex? Why can't I find love?"

'Lots of reasons.' Alex thinks, but has the sense not to say out loud. "Why'd she break up with you? Was it the murder-"

"It was the murder scrapbook." Karen lets out a long drawn out groan. "I set up my bathroom as a dark room to develop my photos, and Trina decided to surprise me with some supplied because she's a photographer too, walked in and saw them! She saw all my latest murder shots!" Karen rubs at her temples, her short blond hair choppy and ragged from it's most recent haircut. "At least she didn't scream and run like Priscilla did, but it was honestly worse. I got her to sit down see we could talk it out and she, in the nicest ans sweetest way possible because that's just how she is, told me that she was utterly repulsed by me and realized I wasn't the person she thought I was."

"Ouch."

"Yeah. I tried to convince her that this was just another part of me, y'know like a puzzle you found pieces to you didn't know existed, but she just. She walked out, Alex. And she didn't even look back, all I saw was her back and the door."

"You should find someone who isn't on the straight and narrow, Karen. I told you, you've gotta find someone who can keep up with you have going on and has their own shit going on."

"But I don't want someone who lacks morals, that's the reason I'm not dating anyone from the company, Alex."

Alex shrugs, not willing to add anything to the topic, as they'd spent many nights bitching about the absolute depravity being fostered and encouraged at Gentek. At this point, any further discussion would be beating a rotten horse.

"I just...wanna come home to a nice girl who isn't going to stab me in the back or poison me for corporate secrets. Who I can share my love of photography with, who I can share my passions with and enjoy her passions, with the benefit of rough sloppy sex! Is that too much to ask?!"

Alex shrugs, "I mean, if you asked me a few years ago, I probably would've said that you met her and the time is past. But now...I dunno, Karen. If I can run into my other half again, after fucking up my shot on three seperate occasions, there's still a chance."

Karen looks at him morosely, "You think so? You think there's still a chance?"

"Maybe. But you have to chase it, when you feel like you've met that person, otherwise you'll regret it."

"Speaking from experience?"

"Yeah." It's not said with shame or sadness. He says it so matter-of-fact that Karen has no choice but to accept it as the truth. Or at the very least, it was Alex's truth.

"Well. Ok." Karen sits up. "Thanks. You give good advice sometimes."

Alex barks a laugh, "I had to take care of Dana growing up, so I've had to give sensible advice every now and then. Just...don't expect me to do this too often."

"What, you might combust?" Karen snorts.

"Absolutely." Alex nods, but she can see the slight quirk of his lips. "I'd be nothing but meat chunks all over."

Karen laughs and a comfortable silence descends over the room. Karen is content to stare at the counter, mulling something over, while Alex gets up to get a mug from her cabinet. He already grabbed one when he came in, but it's a bland boring thing with the Gentek logo engraved on the front. He already has to deal with their bullshit on a near daily basis, swallowing from a mug with their logo almost feels like defeat. She has a couple of mugs in the cabinet that's ended up there after so many years of spending time in her space, migrated over from his apartment, and Alex chooses the familiar one with the words 'resting bitch face' on the front in black, the rest of the mug a faded crimson. Karen's coffee machine is the kind you'd find an office, but at the very least she has cream and other flavors available, for as much as she drank the stuff she wasn't all that good at roasting it.

Cup full of coffee, a spoonful of sugar and a lot of cream later, Alex returns back to the counter.

Karen sighs then taps her fingers on the counter top. "So, c'mon. Why don't you tell me about the good news?"

"What good news?"

"I mean, you sounded pretty upbeat on the phone-well for you at least. Did something go well?"

"Oh." Alex slowly grins, showing all of his teeth as it stretches from the cheek to cheek, his eyes only visible by the excited gleam. "I've been getting batter at tracking him without him being able to tell I'm near. I saw him teleporting today-and that was after he got done glowing."

Karen blows air out from her teeth, "Man, how am I supposed to take you seriously when you say shit like that? People can't glow or teleport, Alex. Do you need to take something for hallucinations or something?"

The smile oozed off his face as Alex looks down his nose at her, "This is why I rarely ever tell you thinks about him. You don't believe me."

"I mean," Karen shrugs, "You let the weirdest shit slip when you talk about him, and it sounds literally impossible. I mean-" she fumbles to gather her words. "-how am I supposed to believe you met him once, and he somehow captivated you so badly that you jumped his bones in Vermont, you somehow didn't have the sense to give him your address or phone number. Then! And this is the part that I really don't believe, but you saw him with his baby-mind you, you've literally told me that this was a guy that you slept with. Also! And this is something you told me by the way, you saw this guy eating glass and metal in a crowd without anyone else noticing. And this was somehow on the one day that you had to get a secondary copy of your dissertation to copyright the strain of virus that McMullen sold to that-who was it again?-that weird as Whister-Water-Wesky-Wesk-something dude from the company that went bankrupt and got bought up by Tricell. Mind you, you managed to see him at the exact time you were coming out, then you had to chase him down and lost him in the crowd. Literally what are the odds? I rarely ever see you lose a mark when you go hunting."

"He talks about 'the Calculations' sometimes when he's super tired or drank too much." Alex shrugs. "No idea what he means, but for some reason he says it like a title of something or an event. Won't explain it though."

"...right. Alex," Karen placles her hand on his arm. "I saw this because I care about you. Are you going crazy or something? The only person I've ever seen you chasing after is a woman, in any of the times I've been your wingwoman she's always been a dancer or a bartender, and? I've never seen her glowing or talking to another person that you've said you've seen. I really think that you might be hallucinating or something."

"He's a woman sometimes, that's all."

"He...crossdresses?"

"No."

"Then...are we even talking about the same person?"

"Who do you think I'm talking about?"

"Uh...? That girl that always wears the huge white hoodie, right?"

Alex puts a hand to his chin, "Is that the main thing that you remember him by? Do you remember anything else about him?"

"...she had really short dark hair? I dunno, Alex, she didn't really have that many distinct features and she's not all that pretty." Karen narrows her eyes, "Maybe it's just because you're biased you think she has some...beauty or whatever."

'No,' Alex thinks. 'She's not the only person that described him like this. Before I gained such a bad reputation at the bar, most patrons and employees only recognized him by the hoodie and hair.'

"Alex?" Karen waves a hand in front of him. "Alex, can you hear me?"

'Karen might've just cracked the case for me. People don't remember him as Desmond or Desiree, since he never introduces himself by either of his real names, they don't even notice the scar on his lips. Does he have some ability to hide? Is that why people only ever seem to see the hair and hoodie? If that's the case, I can use it to my advantage...'

"Alex. Alex!" Karen claps her hands once, twice, thrice. "There he goes again."

'I have a plan now. I've gathered everything to make this work, all I need to do is get Des in a romantic environment, and it'll work!'

"Karen!" Alex straightens up with a yell, smashing his hands onto the counter, startling Karen who'd been skimming a book. "You've done! That's it!"

"What's is?!"

"I figured out what I need to make him mine!"

Karen blinks, then blinks again rapidly. "H-what?"

"I'm going to get ready, Karen." Alex gives her his full toothy, cheek to cheek grin. "I greatly enjoy speaking with you. See ya!"With that he turns and strides out her apartment, making sure to close the door behind him.

Karen rolls her eyes, "Always with the dramatic entrances and exits…"

------->

Author's Notes: Karen was implying that Alex could win in a fist fight with an actual bear, but Alex was talking about the sexy gay kind. Karen has lost multiple girlfriends to her murder scrapbook, she always makes sure to cover her tracks and let her exes know that if they try to turn her in, she will kill them. Karen and Alex were dating before he entered Gentek, and she was actually his link into the company, she's on his team working on is counteragents and immunizations. Alex doesn't have that many members on his team, but the few that does all specialize in things that he doesn't work on, so he doesn't have to worry about anyone taking credit for his work.

No one has ever entered Alex's lab, it was one of the conditions that Alex made when he became a director in the company. Also, yes Karen did imply a few things about other franchises. Shout outs to all the people that recognize it.

#before penn station #fanfiction #protocreed #alex mercer #alex j. mercer #dr. mercer #uhhh #i don't know what else to tag this as #writing

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