paperwork, pride and coffee (thoth)

There was no response from Iris but a blank stare at first.

And then she buried her quickly reddening face into her hands. He asked.

It wasn't that she was embarrassed about her powers. They were strange, and they were a little bit of an intimate ability in a sense considering that it involved connecting two souls, but it wasn't that. She just wasn't really fond of her wings being so... sparkly and flashy.

"Promise me you won't laugh or anything or even tell anyone about what I'm going to show you," she said, peeking behind her fingers. She stood up, locked the door and turned her back to Emil, before slowly taking off her shirt.

From her shoulder blades, a little above the last strip of clothing still on her torso, flared out a pair of wings. They were extremely strange - though they were shaped like what one would expect from a painting of an angel, they looked as if they were instead a rip in space showing one the universe beyond. As if they were painted with stars and suns that glowed, and as if one could feel the cold of the void if they were to touch those.

Why she even thought of letting them out, she didn't know.

Once again she turned around, fully red with her hands still on her cheeks. "I - I don't know what I am... I like to think I'm human but these... these aren't. You - you won't tell anyone that doesn't already know about my wings, okay? There's - there's already two people in this office who know and I don't like people knowing."

The wings disappeared in weak flash of light. Iris sat back at the table, and began to gesture with her hands. "I'm okay with my powers but I don't like the wings. They're such a hassle and they're too - glittery! And they don't even make sense! You see, my power's about souls and stuff. I can link people's souls together, and make them share characteristics... where in that do wings come in?"

Sighing, she slumped over the table and then remembered from the feel of the wood on her skin that she forgot to put her shirt back on, instead having left it on the ground. "Oh. Hang on, lemme get my shirt back. See, it's such a hassle! I have to strip or else my clothes rip when I let them out."

Once her wings were tucked back away, hidden into an invisible pocket in her back, Iris's embarrassment quickly faded. They were the only part of her that she wasn't comfortable showing to other people in all honesty. Everything else was fine for so long as she was showing it on her terms.

"So the less I have on the more willing you are to talk huh..? If I took everything off would you become chatty?" Iris asked with a flirty grin and an audible wink. She didn't actually have any intention of stripping down in the breakroom - it could be negotiated elsewhere maybe - but Emil was a tight-lipped man, and anything that could make him react had to be tried.

Still, it was actually a little cold. She picked up her shirt again and put it on, even if it provided little warmth to begin with, being sleeveless and all. "That's a little better. Anyway. So, did you like it? What you saw? That's how I met one of my closest friends by the way... except she did the stripping. Let's move on from that. It's getting a little awkward."

Iris didn't sit back down, only pausing to reach for her phone on the table. She stood up and paced the room, rubber soles tapping on the tiled floor. "I've said how my power works right..? So, wanna, um experience being connected? It doesn't give us telepathy or anything but I could maybe share my shamelessness pride and self-belief if you want to try not hating your voice? Don't know if it'll work... but it's worth a shot."

Iris's elation at first slowly transitioned into horror when she noticed that Emil had stopped responding. He wasn't talking, nor was he texting. He just sat there, red and silent. While his redness was something she found strangely charming - in the same way a child's innocence was - it wasn't worth ending interaction for.

She bowed low and began to ramble a string of apologetic thoughts. "I'm sorry. Are - did that make you uncomfortable? It did, didn't it? Okay, I'm not going to be stripping anymore. Most of the people I met were okay with it or liked it like her, but you're not them and that's good - uh, that sounds like I just take off my clothes for anyone, which is not the case. I'm fine with people seeing but I only show people I think I can trust or yeah I think I'm going on too much I'll shut up for a bit? Okay."

Iris began to hum while waiting with both hands on her lap. She'd been spending too much time in the company of like-minded people, and those who were even more open and aggressive in interaction than she was that she half-expected Emil to follow suit. That was her mistake.

Hopefully, she didn't do enough to make him clam up completely yet.

"I... I don't like showing or using my wings," Iris fidgeted. She twiddled her fingers while searching for a way to phrase her strange insecurity. Even if it was probably going to be accepted - and might even get some interesting remarks that she'd like - here on the island, they were a reminder of her being less than fully human.

"Uh... how - okay, you know how sometimes you're doing something and you figure it out and finish it, only to find out you were able to do it only because there was someone else doing the heavy lifting for you? It's sort of like that. Probably. I don't think I'm explaining things right."

She snapped and snapped her fingers, waiting for a little more clarity to explain her statements with. "Um, it's sort of a massive signpost that says 'I'm not exactly human' and I don't like people thinking that that has anything to do with what I do or achieve. Does that make sense now? I think it does."

Pride was a rather annoying thing to deal with at times, honestly. Iris enjoyed having her wings out as they felt more free, and the chill air that came from having to be half-naked to let them out was just a bonus. However, that only worked when she was alone.

"Hey, you've seen me almost naked, Emil." Iris chewed on the inside of her lip, unsure how her words sounded at the moment. 'How about... you show me... your powers? It's only fair..."

"Yeah! Exactly!" Iris exclaimed passionately. Whenever it came to things she managed to do, she had this tendency to become heated in defense. "I got where I am - I applied to Starlight and applied for this job - and got it all because I worked for it! None of that special chosen one crap. I earned all this!"

When Iris realized that she'd just banged her palms against the table heatedly, she sheepishly sat back down and smiled. "S-sorry."

Emil could actually smile. That was a good thing to know. Even if that smile was something she'd have missed if Iris wasn't watching him type out, it counted for something.

Her phone beeped, and she smiled as she read the bit about his power. "Aw man, if only I knew you could do that I'd have kept you around me a lot! I don't know if you've noticed, but I, uh, tend to break stuff. I don't want to say I'm clumsy, but bad luck doesn't quite count for the fact that I drop at least two objects a day and run into something daily."