For once, this isn't a case of Solomon calling Javi up and 'inviting/ordering' him to show up somewhere with little information. It's a humid night, just starting to come down from a muggy and unpleasant high. As a result, the park is actually more busy here in the dark than it had been during the day, with buskers and groups and partiers. A group of college students is being extremely loud near Cloud Gate - the infamous 'bean'. A massive, chromed sculpture in a strange shape, that reflects everything that it sees.
It holds a peculiar fascination for Solomon, particularly tonight. He's been here for almost an hour, just walking around it, staring at it, and taking seats nearby to watch other people walk past or peer into the distorted reflection. In his t-shirt and jeans he doesn't stand out too much, although people who look around and find his stare fixed on them tend to quickly move on.
Solomon may not have summoned Javi here, but for whatever reason he //is// here. Well, it's a decent evening to be out, and maybe he wants to look at the sculpture, too! He's currently weaving his way across the perimeter of the park, looking a lot like he's going to skirt that crowd near the bean completely.
However, he's also looking around, and on one of those passes he catches sight of Solomon. As soon as he does, he smiles, and his steps turn to take him that way -- but before he's taken more than one or two, a thought seems to strike him. The smile pulls into a grin, and he instead starts ducking in and out of the people passing. he moves carefully while keeping an eye on where the other man is, getting closer and closer to try and surprise him. //Scaring// him is probably too much to wish for.
Javi is able to get quite close to Solomon before the professor notices his approach. Was that a tiny //jump// when he does notice someone approaching? It's hard to say, but he definitely turns quickly to see who it might be, his body tense and wary until he recognizes the approaching form. Then there's the flicker of a smile. "Gonna try and teach your grandmother to suck eggs, next, Javi?"
An immediate laugh escapes Javi when he's caught; it's quite clear he's proud of himself for even getting this close. And //definitely// for the jump. If there was one, that is. "Hey, can't blame me for trying," he replies, bringing his hand down on Solomon's shoulder as he comes to a stop next to the other man. He tilts his head up to study the bean, squinting at it in the darkness. "Playing tourist?" he asks, turning toward Solomon and tilting his head toward the statue as his eyebrows raise curiously.
"I don't," Solomon assures him with a smile. "You got closer than a lot of people would have." He sounds approving more than disgruntled, and returns the shoulder touch with a light one of his own. He nods to the Bean. "There's another world on the other side of that thing, you know. Mirror space. I was wondering how the distortion affects the world in there. The mirror people are pretty odd normally. How much more so, now?" He frowns. "Is it traumatic for them, to be forced into such shapes?"
Javi ducks his head a a little at the reply, his hand moving to rub the back of his neck, but it seems as if it's in an attempt to hide the Maglite-worthy smile that Solomon's approval draws from him. Any slightly self-conscious delight ebbs quickly when the other man answers his question, though. He straightens up, peering at the monument more closely again.
"For real?" he asks after a moment or two. "Or is that, like...a metaphor for something?" To be fair, he's still new to most things beyond ghosts.
"For real," Solomon assures him. "For certain values of 'real'. Honestly, that word starts to mean a lot less once you walk certain paths." He frowns at the Bean once more. "There's a place where all paths - or, at least, most of the ones I know - converge. It goes to mirrors, to dreams, to the lands beyond. It's a dangerous place, but beautiful, too."
He stops, shakes his head, and looks at Javi. "Anyway. It's an idle thought. What are you up to, aside from working on your sneaking?"
"Huh." Javi's eyes travel over the monument, following the curve up and then down again on the other side. His gaze flicks back when someone walks across in front of him, tilting his head so that he can try to follow their reflection instead of them. As if he could somehow see beyond into the place Solomon describes. "That's pretty fucking cool."
He's distracted from the study by the question, and he turns that way again, shaking his head to shift his mind onto a new track. "Maybe //I'm// stalking //you// now," he replies, his expression shifting a little mischievously for a second, before it dissolves into another laugh. "Had my class thing earlier," he continues more seriously. "Just got out and it was a nice night, so I decided to walk around a little bit. See what's going on."
Solomon hesitates, then allows, "It is. The world is a multi-faceted treasure." He smiles as Javi mentions the class. "How is that going? Are you enjoying it? Does it still feel like the path you choose to follow?" The mention of stalking brings a mischievous glint to his eyes. "Oh? A stalker of my very own? I should feel flattered." He grins, suddenly. "You think you could hunt me, Javi?"
"Um..." Javi takes a moment to consider the question, studying it from all angles as thoroughly as he'd been observing the reflective sculpture a moment before. "You know, yeah. It's going pretty good." He almost sounds surprised when he says it. It's a lot easier for him to answer whether he likes it, though. "Oh yeah," he confirms, "it's great. I mean, the memorizing part's still tough but when they demo stuff and then we gotta do it back I'm pretty good at that."
He's briefly surprised by the last question, and he turns, taking another few seconds to study the other man this time. He squints, tilting his head to the side like he's weighing something -- or several things -- before he has to laugh and shake his head. "Nah," he replies. "Prolly not. Maybe I could get you like, once, if I tried hard. Better at hiding than tryna sneak up."
"Good," Solomon says, with a nod. "I'm not surprised; you've seemed to pick up on things pretty quickly. But if you need help with anything, tell me." There's satisfaction and approval in his face as he studies Javi - although it turns to a wicked sort of amusement as his status as prey is considered, and then rejected. "Ambushes are a valid form of hunting," he says. He falls silent, staring at Javi thoughtfully.
"Oh yeah. Don't worry, gonna make you quiz me before the exam." Javi says //that// with a decisive nod -- and a smile -- though it's tempered a little bit by the sudden way Solomon is looking at him now. He's absolutely not scared of the other man anymore, but being the subject of the other man's unnerving stare when he doesn't seem to be that comfortable being the subject of //anyone's// stare at all didn't suddenly become less disconcerting. "What?" he finally asks, shifting a little from one foot to the other, though there's some amusement in his voice, too. "You wanna play hide and seek or something? 'Cause I'll do it."
"Oh, excellent. I'll borrow some electrodes and stimulators from the psych department," Solomon says, deadpan. At the suggestion of hide and seek, his whole face lights up with sudden delight. And surprise; it doesn't seem like that was what the man was thinking. But since Javi brought it up? He clearly _loves_ the idea. "That does sound like a lot of fun. I haven't played hide and seek in years. Did you want to be the hunter or the prey?"
Javi snorts, shaking his head and eyeing the other man for his first comment -- but even with the juxtaposition of electrodes and //prey// just seems to amuse him now. "You hide first," he decides. "'Cause I wanna win once and I feel like you're be all learning what I do and stuff so I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna be able to get you later." Pragmatic, as ever. "To a hundred?" And once the other man confirms, he'll close his eyes, and for good measure, cover them with a hand and begin to count. Silently, though. There are still other people around.
Solomon chuckles. "Very well. That does make a certain amount of sense. And I am most intrigued about how you'll go about finding me." He nods to the choice of a hundred - and as soon as Javi closes his eyes, Solomon flits away. He retreats several paces backwards, before changing direction and dashing off into the darkness, towards the closest vegetation. For this, he tries to find a good place to go to ground, settling for a copse of semi-tamed trees providing some shade on a path. In the darkness of the night, they might hide him well. Maybe.
Javi seems to be taking this game seriously. Or at least, seriously enough that he doesn't peek, and he definitely counts to a hundred, or close enough to make it seem like he did. And if Solomon is able to observe him doing it, when he opens his eyes he shakes his head, glancing to that ever-shifting but always present space in the air with a very loud nothing. "Nah, no cheating," he says, before he starts to look.
At first, he goes the wrong way, starting around the other side of the bean and out of sight. He does seem to have a methodical approach to looking -- he ducks in and out of the people carefully, his gaze sharp and watchful. He seems to be focusing on places where people don't pass as often, the spaces that are overlooked; if he was looking in the //right// one, maybe he would find the other man, but at the moment he is not. He seems to be getting vaguely closer, but he's picked a circuitous route.
Solomon can't watch Javi's entirely progress, not without moving, and he seems content to remain hunched and watchful. But what he can pick up, he studies through the screen of dark leaves, eyes widening and narrowing by turns as Javi circles around and passes in and out of his vision. If nothing else, Solomon has a predator's patience. He doesn't stir, even when Javi's path meanders - he seems to trust that the other man's deliberate searching pattern will bring him close enough to have a chance to find him.
Or be ambushed in turn, perhaps.
When he's able to see what Javi's doing without giving himself away, Solomon also may notice that even while Javi is trying to find him, he does seem to be hiding a little himself. He's not a big man, so it isn't difficult for him to find people bigger than him to use as cover, but he also seems to be picking them specifically for that purpose, at least when he can. He's also not drawing a whole lot of attention to the fact that he's actively looking for something. If someone didn't know what he was doing, they might just think he was walking along like anyone else, if in a bit of a roundabout way.
Eventually, his gaze lights on the trees, and his eyes narrow. He hasn't looked there yet, and so after a glance from one side to the other, he starts that way, the thoughtful look shifting into a slow smile. He clearly feels he's got him now.
Solomon notes the pattern in Javi's movements with interest, his eyes going half-lidded as he thinks. When he realizes that Javi is making his way over, he grins. He doesn't move or stir, but as Javi approaches, it becomes possible to pick Solomon out even behind his screen of leaves. He's well-hidden, but Javi's eyes are sharp, and he's had a chance to check a lot of the other possibilities.
"Got you!" Javi crows delightedly when he finally //does// get him, and he lifts a hand to point to where the other man stands among the trees. It may have taken him a few minutes, but he doesn't seem to mind. "That was a good one, good job." He laughs, admitting as his eyes shift briefly to one side, "It's a lot easier when I got help. But that was good. Now you go."
Solomon chuckles when he's pointed out. He emerges from the leaf cover so abruptly that a couple strolling by jump and stare. One of them mutters, "Pervert," under their breath and the two scurry on, quickly. Solomon's gaze flits to follow them, for just a second, before it draws back to Javi. "Good job, yourself. You've got a solid search strategy, from what I could see." He nods at the turn about. "One hundred seconds, same as before. Starting...now." He closes his eyes, and starts to count - only the first few are out loud, so Javi's got a sign, then he falls silent, eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest.
"Yep." Javi grins, going up on his toes and then lifting off to jump once, like he can't quite contain his delight at the game when he's on the ground. Then he turns, heading off in search of a spot. Even as he's finding one, he's still using the people for cover, weaving through a group of tourists carefully while managing not to touch any of them as he goes.
He ultimately chooses about twenty feet or so away from the bean, and while it does have some cover of its own, it also has the bonus of being a place that has plenty of foot traffic that passes by, breaking up the background and providing a distraction.
"...and one hundred," Solomon whispers to himself when he finally reaches that illustrious number. His eyes pop open, and he actually sniffs the air before setting off. It's worth noting that his search pattern doesn't feel like it's as deliberate as Javi's; Solomom moves more on instinct, and with his observations of Javi's own motions, he gravitates towards crowds and places where people provide cover. Unfortunately, those places also mess up his heightened senses, making it more difficult to pick out which - if any - of those crowds might be hiding his prey. He seems to be narrowing it down, moving in a spiral around the Bean, but he clearly can't quite zero in on the other man.
The people passing also make it more difficult for Javi to keep an eye on where Solomon is -- which he is also wont to try to do, as may have been noted by now. But he holds steady, keeping his head mostly down and trusting in his strategy to at least give the other man a run for his money
Warmer, warmer...but now starting to get colder. Solomon's brow furrows as he moves from one potential hiding place to the next. But none of them seem to have a Javi in them, and he starts spiraling out from the Bean, then back in, and unless he's a very good actor - which no previous evidence indicates - the professor is having a //real// problem figuring out where Javi has gone to ground.
Is it strange that someone would be a little bit proud of their ability to hide from their friend? Maybe. But everyone has to be good at something, and maybe Javi is trying to prove himself after being snuck up on several times. Whenever he catches sight of Solomon, he does try and discern whether the other man is actually just toying with him until he suddenly disappears and pounces, but eventually it's pretty clear he isn't. Once he's accepted that, he only draws it out for another half a minute or so before he slips out and makes his way toward him again. Not to scare him, but there's a //little// drama in the way he makes it look like he's suddenly appeared from behind a little knot of people. "Yo." The grin on his face might actually be capable of lighting up a city block.
Is Solomon a little disgruntled that he didn't manage to hunt Javi down? Maybe. Almost certainly. But when he turns at the greeting and there's that bright grin facing him, the grump fades instantly into a smile of his own. "There you are. That was a _very_ good job. Where were you?" he asks, with genuine curiosity, his eyes sweeping past Javi as if he might find a portable hole or something that he had squeezed himself into.
"Over there," Javi replies, turning to point to the cover he'd found. It's small, but he's not large. "You got that whole like, scent thing going on, right?" He's been sniffed by Solomon before, of course. "So I was like, you know, if there's a bunch of people going back and forth maybe it'd be harder for you to pick me out." He turns back to Solomon, admitting, "Thought you had me a couple times, though. Haven't played hide and seek in a minute either." Shockingly, since despite his sense of whimsy, he is an adult. "Used to love it, though."
"That's sharp thinking," Solomon says, quietly. "And correct. Although if I'm honest, I more track by motion than scent. I can pick up a few things you wouldn't be able to, but it's not a tremendously large difference, I think. Having a lot of other people around, though, absolutely derails it." He smiles. "Very good. And yes, this was...fun. Quite fun." A pause. "I had to chase down another person like me, just last night. With help, of course. It's had me nerved up."
"Mm hmm," Javi agrees. "You want a rematch whenever, let me know." He seems to be filing away all of that information, though -- not in any particularly pointed way, just like it might become important at some point. However, when Solomon goes on, his eyebrows raise, and he leaves off any planning of future hiding spots in favor of this new information. "Oh shit, really?" He glances briefly from one side to the other, though there are no apparent fugitive Lost around. Or maybe there are. He wouldn't know. "How come?" he asks as he turns back.
Solomon grins. "I'll probably take you up on that. It //is// fun, and you're a good opponent." But the question has the grin wilting and retreating back into a thoughtful look. "Things are complicated. Right now. A fellow gatecrashed a party with some rather incendiary accusations, so we ran him down. He's either trying to spread paranoia and weaken us - or trying to warn us about something very important. Or he's lost his goddamn mind. Right now, any of those three options is on the table."
"Oh damn." Javi's eyes widen, and a little shiver runs through him at the image planted in his mind. He may only know a fraction of what Solomon's deal is, but it's enough to be worried about what might happen if one went completely rogue. "That's crazy. Got enough shit going on right now without that." His head tilts to one side, considering, before he adds, "You all end up finding him? Or not yet?"
"There's always too much shit going on for this," Solomon mutters. He gives a quick nod at the last question. "Yes. Ran him down, someone took him into...I suppose you could call it custody. He didn't resist." There's a palpable relief in his voice. "But I can't help but wonder if he intended to be caught. Intended for some of us to hear what he wanted to say. To doubt." Then a grimace. "But, as it is said, 'prize the doubt; low kinds exist without'. It's simply...distressing." His eyes turn back to the Bean again, staring at the distorted reflection, wordlessly.
"...huh. Yeah, that's kinda weird," Javi admits. "Maybe he did. Like...just tryna fuck with you." He reaches up to rub a hand over his forehead, turning back to the bean as well as he considers Solomon's words. "Yeah," he agrees quietly.
He's silent for several seconds, too, lost in his thoughts, before suddenly he speaks again. "You all have a way to know if one of you's one of you?" he asks. "Like, just by looking?" He seems at first like he might just leave it at that, but another second and he clarifies a bit more. "'Cause I feel like maybe this dude I met the other day's one. Not sure, but he kinda reminded me of you. I mean," he amends, "he wasn't //like// you, like he didn't look like you or nothing like that. Just, like...a vibe." He shrugs a little helplessly, but he can't seem to explain himself better than that.
"We do," Solomon says. He gives Javi a sharp look, then seems to struggle with himself for a moment. Before saying, "What you saw, of me? That's what I truly look like. Everything else is a mask for mortal eyes. We don't see the mask, just the truth." His lips press together. "Be wary. Most of those like me are...a bit weird. Like me. Some are dangerous, though. Don't make any promises, and if anyone fucks with you more than you're okay with, let me know."
Javi's eyes widen just slightly at the memory -- but today there's no shivers down his spine, or leaning away. He doesn't pretend he doesn't remember, but he just nods. "Feel like that'd get really fucking distracting," he admits with a huff. "But I guess maybe not if you're used to it." Speaking as someone who sees weird shit. "But yeah, I got that. I mean, he was definitely pretty weird. Tailed me for like thirty blocks." He makes a little sound with his tongue against his teeth, shaking his head. "Coulda just asked to come with me, I woulda told him yeah. Helped me out with something for a ghost so he kinda earned it. But decided to be creepy about it instead. Prolly 'cause I didn't say what it was for but I thought it was kinda obvious."
He shrugs, "Oh well. I will, though. Let you know. Can't wait 'til someone fucks with me, I'mma be all like, 'yeah well, my creepy friend's gonna kick your ass!'" It's coupled with a look at Solomon and another wide grin.
"Following people is..." Solomon tilts his head to one side, thinking about how to say it, "it's a common method for some of us to get what we need from people." Because that doesn't sound terrible. He does snort, and add, "You're too accepting, you know. You have the right to be pissed when people pull that shit."
Does he include himself in that 'people'? It's hard to say, but what's easy to say is that he grins at the last. "Mm. Happy to be of service. You're my friend, and I'd rather not see you come to harm." But as if that was perhaps too much honesty, Solomon turns and says, "But I should go. This was fun, though."
"I was pretty pissed at the time," Javi concedes, "but then he threw some money at me when I caught him so I got myself one of those fancy coffees." As if this makes up for all the weirdness. And it also sounds vaguely apologetic -- though why he should be apologetic for //not// being more pissed at some random person is not apparent.
His smile pulls wider again at the admission. He always seems to be able to tell when something Solomon says is significant, just like he seems to pick up on his moods, but while he doesn't make him sweat this one too much, he can't help but needle him a little bit. "Aw, that's sweet. Still waiting on my friendship bracelet, though. Just saying." He starts walking backwards as he's speaking, lifting a hand to point at Solomon. He's //waiting//. "See you, compa." The point turns into a wave, and then he's off, sidestepping a bench before he melts into the crowd.
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