Dreams of the Nether

Acquainting himself with the numerous streets of the OCEAN headquarters was proving to take quite a bit of time. At least it felt that way for Adam who was adamantly remaining a singular person for the time being. It was less out of some self imposed challenge this time however. The blond had entered surveying mode as it were and he liked keeping his secrets tucked away when he first met any superhuman. His duplication was really a great ace up his sleeve and he liked it that way.

The blond was clad in a casual pair of gym shorts and a simple well worn green t shirt with a large white power symbol emblazoned on the chest. The shirt was perhaps a little small for him as he did notice it was a bit tight around the arms and chest and his midriff showed whenever he lifted his arms, a side effect of puberty he figured but he didn't mind. It wasn't like he'd had much time to do any shopping for new casual clothes over the last few years. Making sure the planet remained intact made it a little tough to find time for the simpler things even when you had the ability to live a normal life and save the world at the same time. Not to mention he had built a company from the ground up recently so even less time to waste on the little things.

Making a note to look into some new shirts, the teenager rounded another corner headed back towards where he knew his suite lay. It was truly a nice place really and the scenic locale made it acceptable for him to walk around without a mask or costume on. Everyone present was mostly oblivious as to who he was exactly in his secret identity at least. Well almost everyone it seemed.

Strolling along his gaze fell upon a dark haired man who he recognized immediately. It would have been difficult not to really. Sean Collins, formerly known as Deluge, was making his own way down the path. Adam wasn't fully aware of the details but he did know that the other man's abilities were no longer the same as they had been back during Dr. Necrodium's Assault or during his tenure as a Talon. Honestly evidence of that was written all across the other man's body and even pervaded the air as he moved. A slight chill wormed its way over Adam's skin as he got closer to Sean, an unsettling feeling to say the least but not nearly so strong that the blond's calm exterior would crack.

"Sean? They picked you up too? I suppose I'm not at all surprised what with the whole...superpowers thing and all. How've you been?" the teen asked coming to a stop a slight grin on his face as he greeted an old, and new it seemed, teammate.

"Sean, we've been teammates and I'm not in costume. You can call me Adam. We're there. Especially after that New York business," the blond replied, sticking out a fist to the other man.

Normally he wouldn't have been too keen on his actual name being throw out all willy nilly but the fact of the matter was that he had something akin to trust in his head for the other hero, despite all of reasons not to. It had been some time since they'd split from the Talons but regardless, there was sufficiently weighty history there.

"Though, really? You never thought you'd see this face again? You must've been spending some time under a rock lately. My face has been all over Forbes and a few other things lately. Not to mention you know I can...get around if need be," he said with a flash of his pearly whites.

Adam found it nice to see a familiar face in all of this. He was not the sort to be nervous really but he had joined a cause and the funny thing about causes were that they were based on opinions. Shared ones of course but opinions always had proponents one way or another and by standing beside the members of the OCEAN organization, he was blatantly allowing his ideals to be known. Sure he had been doing something sort of similar by donning a mask over the last few years and sending those who would abuse their talents to the detriment of the masses but now it was like choosing a side in a war. The only condolence for such an action however was the comfort in knowing others stood beside him.

It was clear that Sean had struggles involving, well, various things but the important part was he was coping mostly. The way his eyes held a brooding look deep in them like he wasn't completely sure of himself. The slightly sallow look to his skin that belied his nature as some sort of alcoholic. Facial piercings and straightened hair worn like a scene kid. Both symbols of insecurity and a mild dislike for his natural appearance and probably a rebellious nature against authority or something akin to it. There was also clearly more to his story about the bank robbery but he didn't feel the need to go deeper into it which either meant it wasn't at all interesting or something more...personal had occurred.

"Oh yeah. Saileyra booked an appointment with my secretary, masquerading under the pretense that she was there on business related to the military. It was actually a pretty decent idea though totally fruitless. I saw through the whole thing in under 5 seconds but that's not really important. So what do you think about this whole...organization?" the genius asked while his brain stopped taking notes on Sean for the time being. He'd been informed that it was unsettling to say the least to watch him 'dissecting' everything about you if it went on for longer than a passing glance. Adam had of course responded to that allegation that if people didn't cover themselves in details he wouldn't look. He just couldn't pass up a good puzzle and people were the best sort of puzzle to him, though apparently they didn't like being thought of that way.

Grinning at the base line joke left hanging in the air, Adam started to feel the awkward tension of two people about to be conflicted as to which way a conversation was headed and had little to say to each other for a moment. It was a funny feeling given exactly how exciting both of their lives had a tendency to actually be. It was almost ironic, that despite the concentrated greatness between the two of them, they weren't immune to social awkwardness.

Or perhaps...it wasn't social awkwardness and something more akin to sexual tension?  The joke had been a sexual ploy on words anyhow and approximately 50% of jokes were based in truth somehow. It had been a few months since Adam had ventured outside of his own bed to get behind someone else but he didn't like to think he was getting rusty on picking up signals. He was 17 for the Universe's sake! And on top of that one of the smartest people on the planet who could solve a mystery just by walking into a room where it happened. Though somehow someone wanting to jump his bones escaped his notice? How disgustingly normally of him.

All of these thoughts flashed through his own mind while he explained how he'd come to be here and then listened to Sean reveal his envy on just how normal his meeting with Saileyra was. Then Sean was inviting him to grab a bite to eat.

"Oh yeah sure. I could eat. Growing boy and all, though if I get any stronger, I might have to start benching actual tanks to get in a workout," the duplicator remarked as he gestured back towards the way he had come, giving his raven haired companion the chance to lead the way to the mess hall.

Was it actually possible Sean was just being nice or asking him on some sort of half assed date of sorts? The way he'd been using his tongue to press on the rods through his lip suggested he was toying with something in his head, perhaps a nervous tick? Difficult to tell without further observation he decided.

Following the other superhuman, the yellow haired hero couldn't help but notice that the other man's body did have a few of his favorite qualities that was pretty common amongst the mask and cape types. A nice ass and a lean physique, though Sean was surprisingly short. At least he had managed to shape himself well.

"So what's your new heroic handle? I haven't heard though I presume you dropped the 'Deluge' thing. I'm sticking with Plural myself for the time being though I've been contemplating switching to something that gives a little bit more of the element of surprise but nothing I've thought up has really sat well with me yet. Odd since I speak like 11 languages and have around 30 thoughts a second really," he said attempting to stave off the awkwardness for a few more minutes.

Adam was beginning to wonder exactly why he was smiling so much. It felt funny to be genuinely grinning. It wasn't that smiling was so foreign to him. He was generally pretty content and amused a lot of the time so as to prevent himself from becoming a jaded narcissist, but actual mirth had been off the table for damn near 3 years. Why was he grinning so fucking much? Was it possible that he was actually pleased to be apart of OCEAN and see old faces?

"You should be impressed then. I used to entertain the thought of curling buses but they're just so damn flimsy, keep snapping under their own weight a few feet off the ground," he said with a chuckle as they made their way down the walkways and elevator.

The blond found himself to be pretty impressed with the size of the headquarters this organization boasted, even though he also found it overly extravagant and inefficient. It housed only a few actual operatives and yet could house an entire town's worth of people if they so wished. it just came off as a bit much to him. He allowed the idea to pass.

"Yeah I know but it's like putting my abilities right out on the table. A lot of people haven't met me but hearing my name loses me the element of surprise doesn't it? I suppose it's not super obvious but still anyone with a modicum of intellect should be able to make some sort of estimation. Of course that isn't going to help too much once I turn my thoughts to dismantling someone but I digress since we seem to be here," the hero stated as they came to a brief stop at the edge of a sleek looking red room.

Several scents mixed and wafted around the room in a somewhat enticing manner. The mixture of scents might've been nauseating to some people who had never ventured into a mall food court the genius figured as he glanced around the room for the second time ever. It was just one of the many secondary properties that came about when so many different types of food were prepared in one area. Another of those, was that the room was populated with more than a few exuberant of the more menial workers OCEAN had to offer, the men and women who were payrolled to basically make everything work behind the scenes. The people that were there to remind them all as to why they were supposed to be fighting out there. The sort of people who reminded you that you were glad to have some sort of power to accomplish something magnificent in the world.

"Well I was thinking of just doing some ramen or something. Miso broth doesn't sound unappealing to me right now. What about you?"

Adam pretended to not hear Sean's stomach gurgle as the scents of the mess hall wafted over them both. The other boy's body was rather correct, the blond thought: the food did smell pretty good even though the mixture of cuisines from all over the world was usually not a great combination.

As the darker haired demititan wandered off to collect a pasta dish, Adam glanced around taking in the whole area for but a moment, absorbing exactly how things worked there and the layout in a single sweeping gaze before he followed suit and ordered up a large bowl of miso ramen and a few dumplings before making his way to the same table, tray in hand.

Stirring his glass of ice water while his companion inquired about the finer points of his recruitment, Adam for the first time in a long while, found himself curious as to just how intelligent he came off as to other people.

"She asked me to head up the Tactician Squadron because she wanted to utilize my tactical planning abilities. I also presume she wants me to work with the more technical facets of the organization as well but nothing much has been mentioned about that as of yet. What about you? I haven't bothered to go through the personnel files as of yet because I'm a little busy with some of my own things for the moment, though I plan to get to it later today probably." he admitted. It was rare for him to not already have that sort of information in his head, but he had only been at the headquarters for a few hours as it was and had yet to reveal his ability to be just about everywhere at once, though for efficiency's sake, he felt that time might be fast approaching.