[Nicholas Acker Villin]

The charity event was about getting funds for the youth programme organised by the church. The youth programme was about helping underage people in need, mostly teenagers in need of help. The programme had been successful before, so the Villins were raising funds again.

It was a classic church charity event with games like bingo, and other kind of entertainment suitable for this kind of charity, especially because it was taking place in the church.

Acker was standing in front of the cross, looking up at the man who had to sacrifice himself for everyone else's sins. Not Acker's though. He wasn't intimidated by any kind of super-power, and if Hell existed then he would face it like he faced any obstacle. Also, why would any kind god give someone like Acker any powers?

Zeus & Apollo were sitting next to Acker, but Apollo's tail stared wagging when a little girl approached the dog, her little hands in front of her trying to reach the dog's snout. Instead, Zeus barely eyed the girl, in fact he seemed annoyed by her presence. The same could be said about the doc, he rather the girl left his dogs alone, but he knew Apollo would enjoy being petted by the little girl, so he let the girl get closer to Apollo.

"Wendy! Get back!" a young blonde woman ran after the little girl "It's okay, Apollo won't hurt her if that's what you are worried about" the young woman smiled "Oh no, it's just...I didn't want to bother you...your family and Father Falcon helped me and my daughter so much thanks to the programme" a programme that Acker's family helped fund via charities and that Priest Falcon managed.

Acker nodded and let Apollo get closer to Wendy. The little girl giggled when Apollo licked her face. Even though Apollo was a robotic dog, his body felt like the real deal. In fact, no one knew that the dogs weren't real animals. No one besides Acker and his assistant obviously.

"Thank you, she loves dogs the young woman smiled while looking at her daughter playing with Apollo. Meanwhile, Zeus was checking the crowd, he was always on the alert. In the crowd, Acker's mother was talking to the Priest, she was thanking him for managing the programme so well and thus helping so many people. Emilia was a good person who genuinely cared about others, the exact opposite of her son, although not even Acker was completely evil, no one was.

Acker felt the urge to leave when Emilia pointed at him while still talking to the Priest. Nope. His atheist self didn't feel like having a debate on religion. Sure, the Priest probably would just talk about the charity, but Acker didn't want to risk it "Excuse me" the doc started walking away and Apollo reluctantly left Wendy behind to follow the doc.

Macon Falcon

ps. please tell me if i need to change anything!

[Macon Falcon]

Stepping out from the darkness of the backroom, into the light of the main hall where the festivities were being held, Macon was positively glowing. As much as a normally drab man such as himself could be. He wore a small, but pleasant smile, some might describe it as plastic, but his churchgoers knew it nothing more than genuine. Dressed in his black cassock and white collar, he walked the floor, greeting all that passed by, shaking hands when he saw it appropriate.

He made a deliberate stop by the table of a rather elderly woman, one who was participating in the bingo event they had going on. He spied at her bingo card, bending down to her level like an attentive teacher and pointing to a square on her sheet. “They’ve called I25 a couple of minutes ago, Mrs. Witherby” he advised gently, placing a hand on the elderly woman’s shoulder.

Her head tilted upwards, as if trying to read the newspaper through her bifocals. When she realized her mistake, she realized a withered laugh. “Oh, God bless you, Father Falcon. Some days I’m not so sure which will go first, my hearing or my vision” she spoke in a sort of upbeat manner as she uncapped her bingo dabber and gingerly stamped I25. “They just need to call a G42, though now I suppose I owe you a bit of the prize money.”

Macon raised his hand in dispute. “Not at all. Helping my favourite girl is reward enough” he answered rather plainly. They both shared a small laugh amongst themselves, though Mrs. Witherby’s turned a bit sickly, likely caused by declining health. Macon’s expression showed concern, but he decided to leave her to her bingo game as she was hardly the only guest for the night.

There was never an event more extravagant than when the Villins pitched in for charities. Honestly, without their funding other galas were quite lacking. He supposed that he was lucky that the Villins did not live up to their otherwise unfortunate surname. Then again, perhaps luck had nothing to do with it.

Speaking of the devil though, as soon as the thoughts of the Villins came to his mind, who would appear from the crowd but the most generous Emilia Santini. Macon would bless her as he did most of his esteemed guests, and it evolved into a bit of chatter. In most places and circumstances, small talk would very quickly drain the otherwise anti-social priest, but the church was his domain. He could talk about both it and its gospel for hours on end and still have more to say.

For a brief second though, Macon’s eye was drawn elsewhere, not that he was getting antsy, but sometimes he could sense something wrong in his environment, his powers triggering enough to get his attention. He looked over to see Acker standing before the cross, a little girl playing with one of his two dogs. As Acker’s head turned though, there was a ghostly face peering over his shoulder. Macon’s eyes shuttered, the splint second of his blink causing the ghastly image to vaporize. Macon raised the wrist of his sleeve, the scent of lavender filling his nose. Last thing he needed was an invasion of everybody’s worst fears to break up such an otherwise lovely event.

Macon turned the conversation he was having with Emilia onto Acker. All things considered, he was in some ways a person of interest to Macon, and seeing him had only just sparked that curiosity once more. As soon as he was mentioned, Emilia pointed Acker out to Macon, giving him the proper social etiquette to leave this conversation and pursue his own interests. “Thank you again, Mrs. Villin. I’m glad your son could bless us with his presence this evening. I would like to thank him personally, though, I’m sure him being here is a considerable effort on his part.”

With his part said, he briskly walked toward Acker, who seemed to be trying to avoid him. “We seem to be seeing you less and less with each year, Nicholas” he spoke, an underlying concern in his throat. Macon paused at where Acker once stood, briefly looking at the cross and the man who was adorn it. “I hear so much about you from your mother, the person you are almost seems like a ghost. So vivid, but not visible” he added as he looked at the cross once more. His head tilted, almost in wonder as he grew an open smile. “I’ve always considered my time with my mother at the church to be sacred. I hope one day that you’ll think similarly” he said nostalgically.

“But” he started up again, lowering his head now, but not looking in Acker’s direction. “Your mother is not the only one that talks about you and because of that, I thnk we should share a bit about ourselves.”

[Nicholas Acker Villin]

Gosh darn it! The Priest had managed to approach and start a conversation, it was cruel considering that the exit to the garden was so close too! In fact, Acker could see it a few meters in front of him. Garden meant freedom because it led to the street outside. It was like the church itself was mocking the mad scientist, after all it was the Priest's domain.

Acker kept in the long sigh he wanted to let out and instead turned around towards the Priest "To be fair, it would be hypocritical of me to come" the scientist had never hidden his atheism. And no, he wasn't being blatant about it because he wanted to be disrespectful. Quite the opposite. He was honest about it as a way to show respect because lying about his belief would have been worse. So, it wasn't a secret that the scientist believed in science and not religion. Acker had never made it a secret.

The underlying concern hadn't gone unnoticed as if the Priest was judging the doctor for not going to church more often, so this time keeping in the sigh had been really difficult, however Acker had managed to keep decorum. After all, he was a Villin so he had to behave appropriately during events like this one. Suddenly, unenthusiastic memories about having to take etiquette lessons during his childhood popped up in his logical mind, perhaps as a reminder on how to behave accordingly to costumes.

Acker frowned at the Priest when he mentioned Emilia and some kind of symbolic ghost "What do you mean?" he cursed himself internally after asking the question. Why had he asked? He wanted to end this conversation as soon as possible, but his curiosity had to be satisfied. The mad scientist had lost count on how many times his curiosity had put him in trouble.

The doc had to look away because the way the Priest admired the cross made him uncomfortable, especially that smile. Then, Acker had to bite his tongue, but his mouth was closed so no one could see it. That reaction was about the Priest admitting that he would visit the church with his mother. Acker had noticed that most religious believers had born into the religion, meaning that someone in their family believed in god and consequently kind of imposed that belief on their children. Acker had been lucky that his family hadn't been like that. Sure, his mother was a believer, but she had never forced her children to attend church or believe. Emilia had let her children decide for themselves, instead of indoctrinating them into believing. Acker's brother had become a believer in his own accord, meanwhile the doc had pursued a more scientific journey. Wasn't that ironic, though? The one with the power not believing in a higher power.

This time, Acker looked back at the Priest while crossing arms across his chest. The Priest seemed serious, but the doctor kept a straight face as if he didn't know what the Priest was talking about. To be fair, Acker didn't actually know. Who would have talked about what? The Gifted were really careful about revealing their existence for obvious reasons. Acker needed to know, just in case it was something he needed to take care of.

In that moment, the tension was cut by Wendy coming back to pet Apollo. She was running as fast as she could on her little legs. Someone else would have found it adorable, but instead Acker was annoyed by the interruption. At least, there was someone happy to see the little girl. Apollo's tail started wagging when he noticed the girl and lowered his head so that the girl could pet him.

Macon Falcon

[Macon Falcon]

While Macon’s eyes weren’t on Acker as he was trying to casually walk out to the garden, he could see him through the corner of his eye. There was a slight sense of delight seeing the man turn back around and abide by the socially constructed rules.

He returned his vision to the cross again, mouth agape as Acker cited his reason for evading regular church masses, as though he was ready to let out a small airy laugh. It didn’t come though. “Ah, my good Dr. Villin” he answered as his head very subtly turned to face the opposite man. “I wouldn’t expect a man of your stature to hold much belief without proven research. That’s the way of your industry. But there’s more to church than belief. There’s community, accountability, loyalty. Your mother understands that, and I think, to a certain extent, you do as well, otherwise we wouldn’t be standing here talking right now.”

“But that’s beside the point.” Before Macon could continue though, the ever bubbly Ms. Wendy came rushing over to pet one of Acker’s dogs, causing him to get a bit sidetracked. Macon smiled at the child’s show of affection to the dog, all that was missing was the sound of stretching plastic to fill the air of the room. Macon turned to them, squatting down to his knees so that he could be at the little girl’s height. “Wendy, my child, I might have to bring Buster along during our next event, I didn’t know you loved dogs so much. Why don’t you go over to the children’s table for now though? We have a colouring contest going on and I wouldn’t want our best colourist to miss out” he explained pleasantly as he pointed across the way.

As the child presumably ran off with Father Falcon’s advice, Macon returned to standing upright, though this time instead of admiring the cross on the wall, he was decidedly facing Acker, back to the social event happening on the other side of the church. His face was also a bit more serious now, less smiles and bright godliness. “To be frank, Nicholas, I’ve heard some news that stung me a bit. Normally I don’t divulge what people have told me in confidence, especially the confessions of people who have chosen to turn their lives around, but someone with vested interest in you told me a great deal.” Interlocking his fingers, Macon balled his two hands together placing them at his chest and looking to Acker with sincerity. “There’s nothing to be ashamed about being gifted, you could have come to us at any point and we would have heard you out.”

Macon had decided against mentioning that the person in question was a hunter that had previously targeted Acker, though perhaps he could already guess that based on what has already been said. He would prefer keeping his source as anonymous as possible for the sake of avoid a possible flare up between the two in the future.

“What can we do about this now though?” he asked rhetorically, turning to face the cross on the wall once more. “Well, like I said, our church is a community, we can help you navigate your life moving forward, avoid the usual troubles that gifted folks like you normally face. We don’t divide ourselves as gifted and non-gifted here, we’re just people” he explained eloquently.

[Nicholas Acker Villin]

Acker's eyes couldn't help but find his mother when the priest mentioned her. She was talking to someone, smiling and laughing naturally. Emilia and Acker were the exact opposite on that aspect. Socialising came natural to Emilia, instead it was a chore to Acker. He much rather preferred a lab and something to work on than having to endure unwanted conversations, like this one.

However, seeing his mother was a reminder that Acker was there for her, so he stayed and endured whatever the priest was blabbering on about, also unwelcome interruptions. But, the priest took care of it, Apollo wanted to bark at the priest to show his annoyance, but Acker ordered him to stay quiet via the power. Apollo listened, but he didn't like the priest right now. Apollo sat beside Acker while Zeus briefly glanced at his brother before returning his gaze to the priest. Zeus had been staring at the priest, but Acker pretended not to notice. Acker petted Apollo on the head as a way to comfort him, thanks to the power he could sense Apollo's moodiness while the dog was observing the girl walking away.

Acker didn't comment about the community, after all science had a community of its own that was actually useful to humanity, progress was not in the religious agenda to say the least. He didn't want to waste time in a useless diatribe. So, the scientist kept silent, but also kept listening.

Acker rose a brow when the priest called him Nicholas, but let it slide. The doc seemed calm, but the dogs beside him seemed more agitated because they were sensing their creator's uneasiness. Apollo was glancing at Acker, but instead Zeus was focused on the priest and sat between Acker and Macon.

Even though the mad scientist would have preferred a more subtle reaction, he couldn't help but feel fondness towards the Lads considering that the dogs willingly cared about him and couldn't be forced by the power anymore.

Then the Lads barked as a warning when Acker's gifted status was mentioned. Some in the crowd looked at them to check what was happening. The doc put his hands on the dogs' heads and the Lads calmed down as if they had been trained. Emlia walked on them while Acker was saying "I am not ashamed of my talent, and my successful company is proof of that" feigning ignorance on what Macon was actually referring to.

"You must excuse my son, Father Falcon, but he doesn't believe in modesty" Acker rolled his eyes at his mother's words "In false modesty, mother" Emilia gently patted her son on the shoulder "Is everything okay? Perhaps, they would like to walk outside for a while" Acker felt his heart beating a little bit faster when the opportunity presented itself "You are right mother, I should walk them for a while...excuse me" and with that Acker walked outside in the garden with the dogs tagging along.

Meanwhile, Acker's brain was trying to deduce who he had to silence for good. This was serious, the mad scientist had an idea on how the non-Gifted community would react towards Gifted and it wasn't pretty. Fear mongering didn't just belong in religion, panic used it too.

However, Acker suddenly stopped on his tracks. Was Macon going to say anything to Emilia? No, right? That would have been idiotic because even the priest should have known better than revealing anything to anyone in Acker's family. The mad scientist would have retaliated, and that was an understatement. For instance, burning the church down would have been just the beginning.

Zeus nudged Acker on the leg with his snout. He looked down at his dog, and understood what he meant. The Lads could easily hear Emilia and Macon. Also, there was the possibility that the priest would follow the doc in the garden. So, Acker started walking the dogs around the garden in order to keep the facade on.

[Macon Falcon]

Macon continued to wear his stone face, even as the dogs barked at him. It was quite odd how the dogs did that in unison with the reveal of the information that Macon knew, almost like they could understand the conversation going on. He paid no mind to that, but it seemed that the dogs had caught the attention of the room, everyone now staring at them as if a set of firecrackers had gone off. Well, if they wanted to end that conversation, that certainly did it, wasn’t much point continuing now that they had eyes and ears on them.

Turning to the crowd with an easy smile, as if to show the rest of the church that there was no ill will transpiring between them, Macon did a little wave to further reinforce that everything was alright. He turned his head to Acker momentarily to say “yes, I hear you use your talents well” just before Emilia walked on the scene.

With the arrival of the good Mrs. Santini, Macon politely bowed his head. “Oh, no need, Mrs. Santini. I believe I might have rubbed him the wrong way, many pardons on my end. I forget sometimes that he doesn’t enjoy the more religious side of our community here” he apologized calmly as he rubbed his wrists together, very subtly pressing a button on his wristwatch.

As Acker walked off with the dogs, Macon shot him a pleasant smile and a wave goodbye. Though, once he was out of sight, his attention turned to Emilia once more. “Some fresh air will do them well, dogs don’t much care to be couped up like that” Macon excused. Right as he finished speaking, his watch began to beep, immediately drawing his attention. Like a militant soldier, he revealed his watch and looked to it with much concern. “Oop, lost track of time, I’m sorry to cut this short, but I have to check on the volunteers in the kitchen, we don’t want those cookies to burn like last year.”

Upon excusing himself, Macon walked off toward the kitchen, though checking on the baking was not his true motive. No, just through the kitchen and out of sight from the rest of the churchgoers was a door leading outside, not quite to the garden, but not far off either.

This provided him a bit of time to question whether the information he got was legitimate, as Acker didn’t quite have the expression or answer he expected, though it was only natural for a gifted to keep their secret close to their chest. It wasn’t like Macon went around advertising his abilities either. No, Macon trusted the word of the person who confessed to him, on the basis that they didn’t have a reason to lie, not to mention that admitting to a sin you hadn’t committed wasn’t quite the way someone would go about for appeasement.

Regardless, Macon crept along the side of the building, up until he came across a nice and tall shrubbery to hide behind. Sticking his head out, he scanned the area quickly, catching sight of his inquiry fairly quickly. It wasn’t like Acker was trying to hide himself. Macon took a moment to steady his breath, then narrowed his eyes at Acker, focusing on his target intently, just like his father had taught him.

As Acker walked forward, a figure would walk toward him out of the darkness, a person that looked suspiciously like him. Given the way that they were walking toward one another, Acker might think that he was about to walk into a mirror, though his reflection looked far more frazzled than himself, almost crazed.

(OOC: I think it might be more effective if you took control of Acker’s illusional other self for the time being, especially if they’re going to exchange dialogue, though let me know if you want me to handle it and I’ll try to add in something here and attempt my best “crazy Acker” impression. I can take back control when needed).