[ Not that he doesn't use his last name, or doesn't have pride in it - he does. But right now, it feels superfluous.
He listens to Isabelle, to the way she recites the words like she's read them out too many times, a little impersonal, pompous, until she starts talking about the runes. All of it, beforehand, feels rehearsed, but John doesn't comment, or interrupt.
The world in light, she says, and John has to keep himself from snorting. That's not the world he lives in. That's not the world he's ever lived in. ]
Well. This is a lot to take in. [ Even for a Mutant. At least, there's science behind who and what they are. Vampires? Angels? Folklore tales. ]
No, we're not. We are - genetically different from human. The x-gene gives us powers, different from one mutant to the other. Sometimes it's nothing you can even see, and we look like normal humans - like me, and sometimes, it's... a lot easier to spot us.
[ Looking down for a second, John goes back to crossing his arms over his chest. ]
We're a known entity. There's nothing secret about us - Mutants are known and under constant surveillance, especially in the US. Which begs the question... where do you come from?
[ Because if she came from here, she would know of them. ]
Most mundanes can't — ( a sudden press of her lips together stops the phrase from finishing, and she pauses for a moment before continuing as the words rise up from her throat. ) Shadowhunters don't often reveal themselves. We wear a glamour rune to keep ourselves hidden, so those without the Sight cannot see us. I was surprised you could.
( mutants or heaven-sent or demonic, whatever the answer, he could see her. even with the glamour rune activated, he could see her, if not the demon lingering above him. that alone had caught her attention, sparked her curiosity, made her want to know more. it had made her a little reckless, perhaps, following her own curiosity rather than returning home to the institute right away... )
That's why I wanted to meet with you.
( if she had known about the society he spoke of, perhaps she might not have been so surprised. genetic differences was just another way to explain your lineage, a similarity they shared. perhaps if the institute had known, they might have made an alliance. or perhaps not. isabelle only has to think of the clave's treatment of seelies and other downworlders to know that their judgment call might not be so kind. )
I live in the New York Institute. My family... we are from Idris, originally. ( the name won't spark any recognition. she knows this. ) In Central Europe.
[ Lifting his chin a little, John walks a few steps closer, looking around them. If he focuses, he can tell so many things - animals scurrying around them, a car on the road a way away, her heartbeat, steady and rhythmical. ]
My abilities - they allow me to track things. Very little gets by me without being noticed, and I can see through a lot of disguises.
[ He considers her for a moment, her words making him think she feels it's an honor, of some sort, to be able to see her. And she's beautiful, for sure, but. ]
You live in New-York, and you've never heard of Mutants before?
You live on this Earth, and yet you've never heard of Shadowhunters. ( to be fair, it's not as if the six o clock news is really played out within the walls of the institute. so much of what the world would call mutants passing her family and those like them would call downworlders — the recent developments often are brushed aside as just identities lost in translation. ) I suppose it's not that surprising that the secret worlds would stay apart.
( she considers him for a moment. tall, strong, clearly capable. he'd be an asset. someone worth aligning with, if only to protect cities in their absence. something he's clearly doing already. )
Your abilities are unique. I assume others — the mutants — are unique as well?
Are the Shadowhunters some kind of out-and-about organization?
[ He's got enough to worry about without going looking for more trouble in the name of demons, or whatever it is Isabelle hunts. Shadows. He's got more than enough on his plate with what's in plain daylight. ]
Mutants aren't much of a secret anymore.
[ Maybe her world is full enough that she doesn't need to add Mutants to her plate, either. Which he can understand. But this - her help, and her strength, is something they would definitely benefit from having on their side. ]
They are. We all have a different set of skills. Some are mundane, banal little things. Some are incredible, cities-leveling kind of powers. Which is why we're terrifying to humans.
What about Shadowunters? Do you have unique abilities?
( her head tilts to the side for a moment as she considers him, arms coming up to cross loosely over her chest. mutants may no longer be a secret in the world of mundanes, and if she's especially honest, she can't very well say she's surprised. something beyond the everyday is nearly impossible to ignore when it's right in front of you, after all; she can't blame the mundanes for being simultaneously terrified and captivated by mutants when she was equally captivated herself. not that he had scared her, but then, it took a lot to scare isabelle lightwood.
she hums, low and soft under her breath, for a moment before the words finally align in her mouth. when she speaks, there's a hesitancy to it, a quietness that hasn't quite shown itself before. ) No. No, I suppose we aren't. To downworlders — to our demon parallels, those with the Sight, we are known. But we don't expose ourselves to the rest of the world. ( the corner of her mouth quirks up a bit as she considers him again. ) But you do.
( for that, isabelle can respect the mutants. reactions of mundanes can never be predicted, nor guaranteed as pleasant, and yet the mutants do not hide themselves regardless of the consequences. she can appreciate the courage in that. )
I suppose we're varied... in our own, small ways. My whip, my brother's arrows, Clary's runes. We each carry some small favor of the Angel in our training, something that sets us apart.
[ He heaves out a sigh, running a hand through his hair, probably looking at frustrated as he feels. The fact that they can't hide anymore, the new laws and the registers and the inability to be a secret these days makes life so much worse, for so many of them. ]
It'd be easier for a lot of us if we were still in hiding, but we haven't been in a long time. It's... some of us can't really hide what they are, or what they can do. Without the proper training, it can get really dangerous.
[ It's brave, or just plain stupid. That's why most of them are still in hiding whenever they can be. ]
So it's a - family thing? You have to be born with it, like us? Can anyone be born a Shadowhunter?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2017-11-22 01:20 pm (UTC)He listens to Isabelle, to the way she recites the words like she's read them out too many times, a little impersonal, pompous, until she starts talking about the runes. All of it, beforehand, feels rehearsed, but John doesn't comment, or interrupt.
The world in light, she says, and John has to keep himself from snorting. That's not the world he lives in. That's not the world he's ever lived in. ]
Well. This is a lot to take in. [ Even for a Mutant. At least, there's science behind who and what they are. Vampires? Angels? Folklore tales. ]
No, we're not. We are - genetically different from human. The x-gene gives us powers, different from one mutant to the other. Sometimes it's nothing you can even see, and we look like normal humans - like me, and sometimes, it's... a lot easier to spot us.
[ Looking down for a second, John goes back to crossing his arms over his chest. ]
We're a known entity. There's nothing secret about us - Mutants are known and under constant surveillance, especially in the US. Which begs the question... where do you come from?
[ Because if she came from here, she would know of them. ]
no subject
Date: 2017-11-25 05:12 pm (UTC)( mutants or heaven-sent or demonic, whatever the answer, he could see her. even with the glamour rune activated, he could see her, if not the demon lingering above him. that alone had caught her attention, sparked her curiosity, made her want to know more. it had made her a little reckless, perhaps, following her own curiosity rather than returning home to the institute right away... )
That's why I wanted to meet with you.
( if she had known about the society he spoke of, perhaps she might not have been so surprised. genetic differences was just another way to explain your lineage, a similarity they shared. perhaps if the institute had known, they might have made an alliance. or perhaps not. isabelle only has to think of the clave's treatment of seelies and other downworlders to know that their judgment call might not be so kind. )
I live in the New York Institute. My family... we are from Idris, originally. ( the name won't spark any recognition. she knows this. ) In Central Europe.
no subject
Date: 2017-11-27 03:54 pm (UTC)My abilities - they allow me to track things. Very little gets by me without being noticed, and I can see through a lot of disguises.
[ He considers her for a moment, her words making him think she feels it's an honor, of some sort, to be able to see her. And she's beautiful, for sure, but. ]
You live in New-York, and you've never heard of Mutants before?
no subject
Date: 2017-12-15 04:49 am (UTC)( she considers him for a moment. tall, strong, clearly capable. he'd be an asset. someone worth aligning with, if only to protect cities in their absence. something he's clearly doing already. )
Your abilities are unique. I assume others — the mutants — are unique as well?
no subject
Date: 2017-12-18 11:08 am (UTC)[ He's got enough to worry about without going looking for more trouble in the name of demons, or whatever it is Isabelle hunts. Shadows. He's got more than enough on his plate with what's in plain daylight. ]
Mutants aren't much of a secret anymore.
[ Maybe her world is full enough that she doesn't need to add Mutants to her plate, either. Which he can understand. But this - her help, and her strength, is something they would definitely benefit from having on their side. ]
They are. We all have a different set of skills. Some are mundane, banal little things. Some are incredible, cities-leveling kind of powers. Which is why we're terrifying to humans.
What about Shadowunters? Do you have unique abilities?
no subject
Date: 2017-12-18 05:28 pm (UTC)she hums, low and soft under her breath, for a moment before the words finally align in her mouth. when she speaks, there's a hesitancy to it, a quietness that hasn't quite shown itself before. ) No. No, I suppose we aren't. To downworlders — to our demon parallels, those with the Sight, we are known. But we don't expose ourselves to the rest of the world. ( the corner of her mouth quirks up a bit as she considers him again. ) But you do.
( for that, isabelle can respect the mutants. reactions of mundanes can never be predicted, nor guaranteed as pleasant, and yet the mutants do not hide themselves regardless of the consequences. she can appreciate the courage in that. )
I suppose we're varied... in our own, small ways. My whip, my brother's arrows, Clary's runes. We each carry some small favor of the Angel in our training, something that sets us apart.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-02 12:45 pm (UTC)It'd be easier for a lot of us if we were still in hiding, but we haven't been in a long time. It's... some of us can't really hide what they are, or what they can do. Without the proper training, it can get really dangerous.
[ It's brave, or just plain stupid. That's why most of them are still in hiding whenever they can be. ]
So it's a - family thing? You have to be born with it, like us? Can anyone be born a Shadowhunter?