Love is a strange thing

Amor stretched out over a lavishly designed love seat embroidered with what looked to be hearts of various shades of red. Sandy brown hair mussed, an pink eyes focused on a large screen attached to the large palace wall broadcasting various feed with different time stamps. Differences being days, weeks and even hours yet all commanded his attention equally.  When it came to being an immortal being bound to the concept of something nebulous like love he found himself at times fixating on mortals. Particularly fascinating ones at that he found deserving of his attention and at times even his favor. Stories of people being blessed by Aphrodite tended to have roots in him giving something to someone.  Admittedly he never bore any demi-wardens but that was mostly because Amory and Kakabiel would have ripped him a new one. They were rather tricky when it came to their rules of what Wardens should and should not do.

Luckily his nature gave a few exceptions.

Forms moved through the room, human shapes given form within the shroud through his own will. Scantily clad men and women in pink, carrying around trays of food and likely goblets of wine, occasionally offering him samplings from their platters. Sometimes he would accept and sometimes he would not all focused on the current human who obsessed him. If he could even be called human. This man born of glass and flesh, with abilities that put him above the average homo-sapien.  That steady progression of evolution always managed to interest him, though the human form always ended up being something that he favored more than anything else. Okay, maybe he wanted a little wine. With a motion, his dominion grasped one of the goblets and brought it to his waiting hand.

Its taste was tart, yet sweet at the same time.  Sure, he would make a move at some point but now was the time of watching. Making sure that he was dealing with a human that would not deny his prodding advances. For now he watched what seemed to be him and his brother working at something, or maybe talking. The reception wasn’t always great on these things considering the dimensional divide.

”I feel like we don’t talk much anymore,” Travis noted, lips formed in a neutral line. It was rare that their reigning Gamma was found in the compound, sterile whites with a steady increase in color through accents implemented by the other siblings. Something he had with time began to grow more tolerant towards. ”hope your friend isn’t keeping you too busy.” His expression went from neutral to more amused,  levitating what looked to be a paperweight about with the casual wagging of a finger. His insinuation, however, was obvious, considering that the ig battle had the bonus of seeing his brother rather close with an unknown freckled sort.

”Not that i’m judging you. If anything Chris is happy for you, I am too of course. Might have to tape Aaron’s mouth shut before he starts spreading any lewd rumors though,” He chuckled, letting the paperweight settle onto the desk, lifting what looks to be a bottle of dark-colored liquid from under his desk. ”want some? I requisitioned it from Lucius’ private stores since he won’t be needing them anymore.” Despite his grief, Alpha could tell good booze when he saw it.

Gamma was working. Working working working. Seems that's all he did, especially lately. He was obviously off in his head, despite the fact he was constantly moving. Questions from siblings were mostly answered with a low grumble or murmur. He was evwn more distant than usual, although that was not all that surprising, considering what had happened.

He nearly died. That asshole agent had had almost killed him. He was supposed to be superior in every way, and yet a few gadgets took him down. He'd failed. He should have bled out for it, too, but something..... Someone, had saved him.

And now here he was, working on a power core for a device that Alpha said might help bring Lucius back. Even now his brother couldn't let go..... But Oliver couldn't really blame him. Red had been the figurehead of Rise, and Alpha's partner in the cause longer then anyone besides his siblings. Not to mention, one of Travis's oldest friends. It made sense to want him back..... But Oliver didn't have high hopes. Quantum physics, teleportation. These things were one of Lucius' speciality. He was perhaps the world's foremost expert on them. But he was not here. He couldn't use that knowledge to bring himself back, if there was even a Lucius to bring back.

Oliver fiddled with a little powered screw driver, finishing up the power core's containment unit. It was at this point that Alpha spoke up, making a bit of a snarky comment about that kiss. That bloody kiss! He hadnheard the end of it since he got back. Apparently Gamma's siblings forgot it's what healed him.

"Sorry. A lot on my mind," Oliver said, moving to the archway that they had been building in the center of the room. He placed the power core inside, and the portal activated. It was certainly a successful quantum tunnel, but it was not calibrated. There's no telling where it would lead.

This was the part Lucius was so great at. Quantum tunnels were relatively easy to create, but manipulating them was not. Red was the first to take the chaos of the science and channel it. All those disappearing and uncertain particles worked to the advantage of his devices, whereas they had been obstacles to all others.

"And can we shut up about the dude? He was just some Warden or something. I haven't seen him since. I'm glad he saved me, but you guys are making me reconsider," Gamma said, lighting up a cigarette as he stepped away from their creation. He collapsed back into his seat, accepting a glass of Lucius' alcohol and taking long drags from his cancer stick.

"Lucius devoted most of his life to cracking this tech, and not even he got it down well enough to get his dead girl back. I know he said we just move on when we die, but.... Maybe this is hopeless. I'll still help you, but, I say we just go to Plan B. Make one last toast to his memory and call it a day," Gamma said, lifting his glass up in mock toast, before downing the whole thing. He wasn't much of a drinker, but right now he had the desire to make up for lost time. If there was any occasion to do it, now was it.

Quantum tunnels delved into a branch of science he had no understanding of really. If Lucius’ hypothesis was true about death, one of these tunnels could potentially  bring back one of his only friends.  His index ran over the rim of  of a glass, watching his sibling lost within his own thoughts while tinkering on something. What was it he was working on? ”I’ve noticed. Worried if I tried reading what’s going on in your head I would go deaf,” He noted with a smirk. Teasing him about his kiss with someone he didn’t know was just icing on the cake and something to amuse himself with in the slow hours. Opening the cap of the large glass decanter he poured two glasses, pushing one to Oliver to allowing him his drink.  Trying to work with Lucius’ notes was difficult and far from his normal genetic work.

”We’re just not used to you doing things like kissing people and whatever.  Honestly, i’m just happy you’re having those human experiences is all.” His eyes focused on the cigarette. Bright orange burn and smoke trailing from the end. ”probably pretty rich for me, considering I used to be the most mechanical person in existence but we all grow.” He downed his drink alongside Oliver, wincing at the sensation that came with it. Despite how hard it was to get drunk, that didn’t meant he was immune to the taste of the stuff.  Still, he would appreciate the drink that belonged to one of his own friends that extended beyond the family.

”Prefer not to say what is and is not impossible until it’s done.  Unfortunately I can be pretty stubborn,” More poured into his glass, already having made plan A-G within his head. ”made any improvements on the design? Tinkered with it a bit myself but not sure if I actually improved anything. Unfortunately my knowledge of the subject is more theoretical than anything I can put into practice.” His brows furrowed, looking over the archway of a machine that Oli had been working on for a while. Something that  he had hoped would work but could not tell for sure about.

”Doesn’t matter. This’ll be our try and if it doesn’t work I guess i’ll have to put other plans into motion. Not as if Lucius dying was...completely out of the realm of possibility. Seemed like the kind to piss off the wrong person who could actually do him in at some point,” Now that was cause for another shot. ”thing ready to go now?”

Gamma puffed his cigarette a bit more, sucking the life out of it with each. He was clearly stressed out, but that wasn't something the serious sibling would express much. Oliver poured himself another drink, listening to Travis explain a bit about where his expertise laid. This of course Oliver already knew. His brother was a mega genius at genetics, and a super genius at everything else, but Lucius was no slouch. The fact of the matter was that some people had the things they focused on, and others had what they focused on. Sure, the test tube kids could understand Red's notes better than most, but this wasn't something they had the same level of experience with. Lucius had been infatuated with the subject, along with computer science, for the last twenty years. A mind like Red's so laser focused was of course going to be an untouchable master of their chosen fields.

"It's active, just not focused on anything. It's entirely random right now. Going through it, you could end up in Hell, an incomprehensible universe, or a reality where I actually have a romantic relationship," Oliver said, knocking back his second shot. Lucius sure had some good stuff.

"Lucius' devices had a means to calculate the volatile nature of quantum physics, narrowing in on and utilizing only the aspects that were useful to their function. Instead of trying to take into account all the quantum functions and pathways, he pinpointed the one's he wanted in the chaos, and for lack of a better term rode on top of them. Or at least, that's what I get from his writings. If we want to find Red, we have find and anticipate the random quantum events that will get us to him. Frankly, I don't even know where to start. Can't even focus the damn thing on anything let alone on something as specific as a single person," Gamma was blabbering now, he knew. He'd been reading too many of Lucius' notes. They were all extended rants that used terms nobody even knew what he meant by. Alpha though had most likely done enough research to realize what Oliver was saying, though. Basically, the portal needed a means to locate Red, then predict exactly when an uncertainty, or "Wildcard", quantum event was about to take place, utilizing it for travel.

"Could get Sven. See if he can pull off the calculations or if he knows some other way to do it. He was Red's AI after all.... But he's in that sword, with Lucas.. Kid hasn't responded to my calls yet. Who knows what he's doing?" Oliver was just lamenting now. The event had left everyone shocked and injured, if not physically than mentally. He could only imagine what would have become of his family had he died as well.

"But, the portal isn't going anywhere. I'm sure we can figure it out. We always do," Gamma said, remembering all the situations he and his two eldest brothers had been through. They made a good team, back in the day.

Many thoughts went through his mind once he allowed it to roam. The curious make of the machine, Oliver’s cigarette smoke curling and fading into the air. Travis knew he couldn’t match Lucius in his field, so he couldn't make meaningful improvements upon his design. All he could do truly was make it look more aesthetically pleasing compared to what it would normally look. Were it something trying to make waves within the genetics landscape, now that would have been something that he could have done things to. ”Always the cynic but that’s not as impossible as you would think,” Travis mused, calculating the odds of getting what they want and coming up painfully short in the end. More and more he was told the specifics of the machine, working over what one could do to pull a single person to them. There had to be some method to make that possible were they willing enough to go through any means.

”Finding Lucas would be difficult. Seems he doesn’t want to be found and went off with that old alchemist along with Ryan. Might have to question that old man the next time I see him,” For a moment his expression grew intense before growing more placid. The torture of an immortal would wait, for when they had such a man in hand and they had other things to do. ”maybe we could find something to narrow in on him. Something that he was deeply connected to in this life.” It sounded like magic to be certain but when were quantum physics ever far separated from magic? One just happened to be explained and the other layered with an air of mystery.

”We’ll think something up. All it takes is finding that one event and forcing it into motion. Much like dominoes.” Images of a line of dominoes came into focus, Travis miming a flicking motion as they all fell in line before fading to nothing. It was known he had become different after the incident, colder in some senses and not so cold in others. ”not as if we’re in any great rush. We have all the time in the world don’t we?” He punctuated that sentence with a draw from his glass, realizing it was empty. ”now the question is what we do next. Lucius is dead, and Gravitas is missing. For all intents and purposes it seems Lucius’ little venture has fallen apart save for me. Will have to think of what to do with that eventually.”

Gamma took one last drag of his cigarette, then put it out in a nearby ashtray. It was hard not to get a little cynical about all this. As Travis said, they were seemingly the last of Rise. One minute it seemed like they were an undisputed force in the world, and the next they were bleeding out. Who knew what would happen once word got out in Belarus. The instability caused by Lucius' demise could have massive destructive consequences. That was partially why Gamma thought they should focus on a solution to that particular problem, instead of trying to get back what was lost. Oliver's eyes flashed back to his brother.

"I think it might be in our best interest to figure that out sooner rather than later. We have time to find Lucius, but we're on a time table when it comes to his stakes in Rise. Belarus and his following aren't going to be happy," Oliver said. He knew Alpha probably knew that, but he couldn't help make the suggestion of shifting focus. They needed Lucius' position filled, and not by just anyone. The guy had a huge cult of personality going, among his country and among his followers. They wouldn't be united in the same way by anyone else.

The portal sparked a bit. Oliver saw some strange radiation readings on a monitor in front of him. Nothing crazy was happening, but it was peculiar. It was like energies were trying to reach through from the other side.

"Hm, well that's interesting."

Travis nodded, aware they would need to do something now compared to later about  Rise and the assets that would be lost in the chaos. Lucius’ death was something that would dissolve so much in so little time. ”Even in death Lucius is nothing more than a pain in my ass,” Travis growled, glaring at the table and then the sound of readings spiking though he didn’t care much for it. Well, maybe he cared a little but there was just too much going on. People leaving the compound whenever they wished and a supposed structure collapsible around his head rapidly. ”what’s interesting?” H questioned as the machine sparked to life and spoke for him.

The energy was vaguely pink as a portal swirled and writhed within its confines and from it rose a humanoid form. Maybe a little taller than him with artfully toussled hair, a face lined with freckles and curious pink eyes scanning around him quickly. Dressed in a light pink suit save for a jacket which was switched out for a kind of vest over a white short sleeved button up. Words came to mind, but he had nothing to say or even think. Not often peoples not boyfriends popped in through portals dressed in what he assumed was a lettermans jacket and jeans with the legs rolled over his ankles.

”Yeah...not the strangest way i’ve popped in,’ He noted to himself, before smiling at Oliver.

Gamma stared at the monitor, brow furrowed. He was inclined to shut the this whole project down until he figured out what was going on. Since building this portal thing, nothing like this had happened with it. It was strange to say the least. Hell, with the radiation it was kicking out, the thinf could actually be dangerous. Gamma got up to deactivate the device, but he didn't get far.

The universe decided to get even weirder when that one guy--yes, him--just showed up out of nowhere. The facility had anti-teleportation tech, and yet still people always managed to just pop in whenever the hell they wanted. Oliver was at a loss for words as The Love Warden smiled at him. He just stared dumbly, waiting for the kid to say something.

Amor had a strange way of dressing. It was apparently preppy, just with pink thrown everywhere. The flamboyant hues and vibrant whites were in stark contrast to Oliver's own mostly grey, begrudgingly kept attire. He wasn't a fashon guy, that was for sure. Boring grey pants matched with a boring grey jacket and black shirt. It was expensive stuff, to be sure, but Gamma obviously didn't care very much about how he dressed.

Maybe that's what was so striking about this guy? He looked like he spent hours in the mirror, tediously solving every imperfection in his hair, skin, and clothing, except for those freckles, of course. Those he had deemed pretty enough to leave. Funny how blemishes could actually work in your favor if they properly mixed with the rest of you.

Gamma realized he'd been staring, slightly mezmerized, for quite some time. He shook his head, instantly back to Mr. Serious mode. He cocked an eyebrow, leaning on the chair he'd just been sitting in.

"What are you doing here?" Gamma ask, a little more forcefully than he intended.

Amor felt the eyes on him, both pairs a dull grey that felt more like water than the blues that some humans manifested. The ones that he allowed himself when he wasn’t going about as a warden making sure the concept of love didn’t explode on itself. Anti-teleportation tech he imagined lining the facility, though they punched their own hole through and he tried out to see what would happen. A pink portal happened to be the result of such meddling with forces. Luminescent pink eyes scanned over the two before resting on Oliver who seemed to demand why he was here. ”Was bored and I would be lying to say our last meeting didn’t leave an impression, ” Of course he was oblivious of the eyes staring at him before, if only because he was used to people staring regardless their interests. ”though I imagine it’s the same for you,” His smile was more a grin.

”Great, I can practically smell the tension,” Travis groaned, making a slicing motion through illusory pink fog. ”so, this some kind of call for Oliver? Because you know there are other ways that teleporting into peoples highly fortified compounds. That's my nice way of saying get out, ” That seemed to annoy Travis, though amusement was also existing in the same moment.   Seemed like he had come into an interesting situation if nothing else.

”Yeah, still not used to modern human technology. Cellphones are pretty neat, so someone might have to show me how they work sometime,” He walked, with a practiced and swaggering ease as he gave the machine he came through only a passing glance. Not like he could understand the thing to begin with. Sounded more like something that Kakabiel would care about. Maybe he would want to know about it. ”hope you don’t try to kick me out. Would be a shame to see this place get all torn up over a little fight,” He was genuine enough, hands intertwined behind his back and standing only a few feet away from the table they were both sitting at.

Ignoring the fact that the portal itself hadn’t closed yet.

Oliver didn't know how he could be so simultaneously annoyed with a person and intrigued by them. For once he was at a loss for an opinion of a person. Did he dislike this guy? Did he actually like him, but simply didn't trust him? Oliver really didn't know. His suspicious and judging nature was keeping him standoffish, but at the same time part of the male wanted to be kinder. Being polite didn't exactly come easy to Mr. Serious, though, even when he wanted to be.

"Yes yes, as much as I just love looking at you, we're kinda busy keeping an international organization responsible for the relative peace between humans and inhumans from crumbling. You can understand why I don't have the time for flirty banter," Oliver said, sarcasm thick in his voice. He found you didn't have to lie to hide things. Often, you could just tell the truth with a sufficiently mocking tone.

Before the conversation could continue any farther, and before Alpha could lose his shit on the guy, something happened: The portal whirled to life, blackness swirling into the pink that was there previously until the darkness consumed it entirely. Those with keen ears may have even heard a faint laugh in the machine's sudden mechanical uprising. Gamma raised an eyebrow, perplexed at the events taking place before him.

His cool, non-reactivity soon turned to genuine concern, though. The portal started pulling objects in, telekinetic force exerting itself with such strength not even Alpha could prevent it's influence. Similarly, Amor's teleportation would not work. They were going into that portal, whether they liked it or not.

Gamma was the first to go, having copied no powers to present any sort of resistance. He was flung into the portal, being quickly swallowed by it's void-like depths.

Amor expected the stand-offish nature almost, even with that aura he managed to emanate with his own presence. People always found it hard to hate or even dislike him; always stuck on the cusp of like at the very least and that made dealing with people interesting. That didn’t always lead to people being polite, even when he wished they were more polite to him. Instead all he did is shrug when one brother was threatening him and the other was just giving him  an excuse which likely was serious as to why he should leave. ”Wow, quite the struggle there. Reminds me when the humans and their cousins were around, until one stopped being,” He shrugged, almost lamenting the destruction of the Neanderthals through that long and slow process.

”Though I should be flattered you like looking at me,” He allowed with a smile, one he knew would have charmed the lesser man. Oliver and his kind however were not lesser men. Travis opened his mouth as if to say something but that was when he heard something, turning to see the portal he stepped through still open. Pink eyes open in subtle confusion . ”did I do something wrong? This is why I hate machines,” He noted to himself as the suction grew even stronger, all telekinetic attempts to hold him and Travis in place as well as any attempts to teleport out proving fruitless.

The block-hole like force sucked them into what could only be described as a void and all Amor could do was drag them together, keeping them from floating off into likely oblivion. ”I think your boyfriend broke it Oli,” Travis said after a few seconds of silence, arms crossed over his chest in annoyance.

”I broke nothing!” Amor defended himself with a frown.

”Yeah sure.”