It had felt like forever since Steven had managed to catch a good look at the night sky, and he couldn't help but gawk at the chasm of stars above him from his perch on the rooftop. He felt like a sod, blinking stupidly at the display, plaid in a white, threepiece suit, golden batons held limply in his hands, but in the moment, he couldn't really bother himself with caring all that much. Marc usually reserved the nights for his vigilante work, and as much as Steven appreciated having most of the day to himself, he missed the night sky. Missed the beauty of it, and admittedly he felt a little envious of Marc.
But Marc was tired. Jake was tired. The body was tired, and Steven couldn't help but feel as though he was the last thing keeping them lively. And so, he had offered to take over, allowing Marc and Jake to fall into the mindscape for some well-deserved rest.
Steven sighed. Three days had passed since the street fight with the hounds, and the team had since then decided to split into sectors. They took it in shifts; one person in London, another in New York, and finally, a third in Hong Kong. It had been suggested by Wong that they positioned themselves near the sanctums, as he had a theory that the gaps were more likely to appear in areas with high concentrations of magic. It was all a bit chaotic, leaving the three— or, more accurately, the two other alters, in a not-so-great condition. Marc had taken the worst of it, though Jake sometimes stepped in when no one was around to notice. He had been more careful since his initial meeting with the team, that was, as careful as Jake Lockley could have gotten.
"Steven Grant.".
Steven looked up rigidly at the tall, bird-headed deity standing beside him, his eye sockets trained at the night sky, staff held lightly at his left. "Someone is coming. It would be wise to let Marc regain control, I do not want anyone becoming more suspicious than they already are about my avatars."
Steven frowned under the mask.
"Marc's asleep." he said, carefully prodding at the alter to confirm his statement. "He's been pretty buggered out lately, wouldn't want to interrupt."
After a moment of silence, he added;
"Are they dangerous?"
Konshu shook his head.
"No." he said. "Try not to mess anything up, worm."
And with that, he dematerialized, seemingly swept away by the wind. Steven smiled. He could tell that the old pigeon-head was starting to warm up to him.
It didn't take long for the looming presence to draw closer, the silent padded footsteps left in the stranger's wake making Steven turn around, only a little bit surprised to find the tall Asian man walking up to him.
"Didn't think someone was already out here." he said, and Steven gawked, for a second, at the metal hoops laced around the man's arms. They glowed an unforgiving orange, decorated with shiny runes too small for Steven to even attempt to decipher from where he stood.
"Yeah, well, here I am." he said, tilting his head to look the man in the eyes. "I'm surprised you aren't in Hong Kong. I- I mean, don't get me wrong! Sorry if that was racist, I don't mean to be rude. It's just, I'm British, so, I'm more comfortable in London, you know. Home nostalgia and all that. Not saying that that's the case for you, I- I just…"
Steven faltered. He was rambling at that point, heat rising to his cheeks and in that moment, he was thankful for his mask. The man— to Steven's relief, only chuckled, walking forward and taking a seat beside him on the ledge.
"I spent most of my life in San Francisco." he said. "My name's Shang-Chi. Xu Shang-Chi."
"Steven Grant." Steven answered, immediately realising his mistake. "But- But sometimes I go by Marc."
"Marc? Why's that?"
"Ooh, you know… just- just… Honestly, I'm not sure."
Shang-Chi laughed, a hearty sound that encompassed the entirety of the block.
"You know, when I ran away, I used to go by the name Shaun thinking that no one would find me."
"Oh- Oh yeah? And did it work?" Steven asked, momentarily at a loss for anything else to say.
"Nah. Though I do get a few laughs every time I tell the story."
Steven snickered, more so out of his own awkwardness than anything else. He was a right mess when it came to conversation, arguably more so than Marc. Not Jake though, Jake was an absolute twat.
"So." Shang-Chi continued, snapping Steven out of his train of thought. "What's with the new suit?"
"O- Oh! This suit, yeah. Sometimes I like to switch it up a bit, you know?"
Shang-Chi raised an eyebrow, seemingly dissatisfied with the answer, so Steven continued.
"I guess you could say this is my non-battle attire. Though when I do fight in it, I have to admit I do look pretty good."
Another laugh, followed by a sigh, Shang-Chi's gaze averting towards the street below.
"Yeah, well, you are a pretty good fighter from what I've seen."
"Y- Yeah." Steven said, turning away. He minutely wondered if it would have been better to just come clean about his DID, save everyone the trouble of trying to figure the system out, and save the system the trouble of having to hide. But he knew that he couldn't have done that without Marc and Jake's blessings. They were a team, after all, and after all the backtalk Steven sneered about keeping each other in the loop, telling Shang-Chi about the system without its knowledge would have only made him guilty. "Yeah… So. How 'bout you? What's with the- the rings?"
"Well, they're alien tech, or so I've been told. I… inherited them from my father before he died."
"Ah. Were you close?"
"At some time, perhaps. But overall no. Not really. I mean, to be fair, he was kind of a terrorist."
"O- Oh."
"How about you? What's your whole family situation?"
Steven tensed, feeling a second presence shove its way to the forefront. Jake, he identified. How long had he been awake?
"Not that good." Steven answered vaguely, pushing down Jake's consciousness as the other tried desperately to front.
"Give me the body, Steven. No puedes manejar esto."
"No." Steven said, but Shang-Chi didn't seem to think too much of it. "I mean, yeah, no. It's really complicated, sorry."
Shang-Chi nodded in an easygoing manner.
"I understand." he said. "No pressure."
Steven sighed, feeling Jake's presence withdraw, albeit only a bit.
"Thanks, mate. It's just not something we like talking about."
"We?"
"I! I mean I! Sorry, just a lil' sleep deprived, 'sall."
"I can take over if you want."
"N- No. I wouldn't do that to you. Besides, it's all in a day's work, you know?"
Shang-Chi smiled, but he didn't prod any further, sitting silently, legs dangling by the edge of the roof, kicking marks into the brick beneath, and for a while, the two sat in a comfortable silence. It was an hour past twelve when someone else came to relieve them off their shift, this time the Asian woman.
"Hey, Shang. Made yourself a friend, did ya?"
"Katy." Shang-Chi said, standing up to greet the stranger. Steven stood up as well, stretching his arms in a wide arch in the air.
"Who's the tuxedo?"
"Steven." Shang-Chi said, gesturing towards the man in question. "He's the guy from before, the one in the robes with crescent darts."
"Nice to meet you." Katy said. "My name's Katy Chen."
"Steven Grant."
She reached out an open palm and Steven took it gladly.
"Nice get-up. I like the tie."
"Y- Yeah. Me too. I- I mean, you look pretty swell as well."
Steven mentally kicked himself, Jake's ruggedy voice whispering a quiet; "Estúpido." in his ear.
"You can go. We'll take over from here." Shang-Chi said abruptly, and this time, Steven could only nod. He was tired, the weight of the body's own exhaustion cascading into his own.
"Appreciate it, bruv." he said, and with a final wave back at the pair, he left, knowing in his mind that he had maybe, hopefully, probably made a friend that night.
