Post by Ashton Harper on Jan 24, 2017 22:52:53 GMT
Ashton James Harper
FACE CLAIM:Hunter Parrish
♦ THE BASICS ♦
AGE: Nineteen
GENDER: Male
ORIENTATION: Heterosexual
POSITION: College Student - Comic Book Store Clerk♦ THE ABILITY ♦
POWER: Intuitive Polygraphy (or ya know, Lie Detection)
The ability to detect when someone is lying. This specific ability is based on both intuition and the difference in pulse (he can't so much as hear the pulse change, it's more that he feels the vibrations of the pulse and feels when it changes).
LIMITATIONS:
Ash doesn't have super sensitive hearing, and he can't calculate off the top of his head how fast someone's heart beats regularly, but he can find infractions with the steadiness of someone's heart. The vibrations that come off are mimicked by his own heart beat and therefore he can tell when a lie is being told. The severity of a lie can't be told by this, nor does this ability work on someone with immense control of their emotions that can keep their heart rate steady. Those with pacemakers are also exempt from his ability. He also can't tell the reason behind the lie or anything further than the fact that it is a lie.
SIDE-EFFECTS:
- Ash himself cannot lie. While his ability seems physical, the part of the brain that allows for secrets and lies was mutated in some way to keep him from executing a fib or a little white lie as with any other lie. If asked a direct question that he knows the answer to, he either answers with the whole truth or he doesn't speak because he doesn't want to give it away (his will power is only so strong though)
- The constant stress his heart is put under from mimicking the pulse of others' can later on down the road create severe health problems.
- Chest pains are common if exposed to too many lies in secession (like being around Alex for too long)
- Panic attacks are also possible from the consistent heart-stuttering
- Can develop an anxiety disorder♦ THE FREEFORM ♦
"Where is your sister?" That seemed to be the only question his mother knew how to ask him. It was always 'where's Alex?' 'what is she doing?' 'are you keeping something from me about her?' and Ash was certain he'd lose his mind before he got the chance to move out. Only four more years and then there would be college and he'd move far far away, never to be heard from again.
Ash looked up from his laptop on the kitchen counter and shrugged, fully intending on telling a lie that would keep Lex from wanting to murder him. "Last I knew, she was skipping school to go get that new video game with Sophie," His eyes widened and he clasped his hand over his mouth. Oh shit. Oh no. Oh fuck. What did he just do?! Not only had he thrown his twin under the bus, he'd also tossed Sophie there with her. Man, if she found out, he was going to have to sleep with one eye open for the rest of his life.
"She skipped school? Are you sure?" His mother was giving him an out. He had to take it, make up something else! Anything else!
Swallowing back the bile that had risen in his throat, he tried again, "Yes. I heard her on the phone last night talking about it and then she flipped me off when she was walking out the front doors during lunch." NO! What was he doing?!
His mother smiled at him and he felt sick. Alex was going to actually commit murder. She was going to massacre him and no one would know what happened except her and Sophie. Because Sophie would help bury all of the little pieces that Alex was going to cut him up into. "Thank you for being honest with me, Ashy. I really appreciate it."
But he didn't. He did not appreciate it one bit. Something was wrong with him. He hadn't even meant to! There was just something inside him that blocked the lie that he'd had prepared and forced out the truth. He thought he might die right there on the spot.***"Alexandra, can you come down here?" And this was it. The moment that Alex would lunge at him and rip his throat out. He heard her rustling around upstairs and he could only imagine her weapon of choice when she would come down. Would she use her bare hands to kill him? Throw her gaming controller at his head as hard as she could? The possibilities were endless.
Alex stood on the second to last step and shot him a glare. His eyes widened briefly, but then he recovered and took a bite of his apple. Did she really already know? There was no way. No way in Hell that she knew yet. "Would you like to tell me where you were today?" Ash cringed, his stomach turned and he felt like he might empty the contents of his stomach right on the kitchen floor.
"Who told you? Was it him?Can someone please explain to me how I got stuck with this little narc as a twin? As a brother, fine, that's understandable, but as my twin? Like, we shared the same fucking womb juice! How in the fuck do I come out like this and he comes out like....that. A fucking tattle-tail." Womb juice? Gross. How did she know?! He stared down at the kitchen table and tried his hardest not to make any further eye contact. Alex was livid and it was best if he didn't poke the bear.
He glanced up and she flipped him off, which in turn caused him to roll his eyes. Okay, she was being dramatic now. Who was to say she'd even get in trouble! And it wasn't his fault! It just happened. He'd covered for her so many times before, what made her think he'd rat her out now?
"Your brother didn't tell me anything! Your school called, asked if you were sick and why we didn't call you off. But because you want to put blame on your brother, swear like some trashy little wench and skip school, you're going to be punished. Understood?" Lie. Such a big fat lie. His mother had blatantly lied to her daughter's face and while he knew it was a lie because he had been the one to tell her, something else inside him was vibrating like some buzzer going off, echoing in his ears.
What went further was that when she'd said she was going to punish Alex, that same buzzer went off and shook him violently. He gripped the table and noticed that he wasn't physically vibrating, but rather, it felt internal. It didn't sit well with him, not at all. And while he focused on what was happening to him, he couldn't hardly hear what his sister's retort was. Next thing he knew, she was storming off to her room and her mother had a hand placed on her forehead as if she had a headache.
She didn't say anything to him before she turned and went to the living room, nor did he ask what she was going to do about Alex. He didn't want to know, he didn't care because he knew. He'd figured it out. The thing that was wrong with him was the thing that would tear him away from his family forever. His parents were going to disown him. His sister...he couldn't imagine she'd think much differently of him, she already thought he was different.
Still, he was panicked. He stood up with wobbly legs from the kitchen table and made his way towards the stairs. Slowly, he walked up them, staring ahead in a daze as he passed by the family photos. When he finally made it to Alex's room, he took a breath and opened the door, remaining frozen in the doorway.
She kept playing, hardly paying him any attention, so he watched her. His twin. His other half. Much as they fought and as often as she called him names, they had this bond that was unshakeable. To be taken from her, he felt he'd be ripped in half. "Lex?"
"What, nerd?" She was quick to retort. Clearly annoyed by his interruption. He gulped and cleared his throat, remaining silent. And that caused her to turn and look at him with suspicion and worry reflected in her eyes. "Ash?"
"I'm going to be taken away..." It was all he could force out. It was the only thing he knew, the only thing that made sense in his head. The truth. He was going to be taken away from his family.
She snorted out an obnoxious laugh and rolled her eyes at him. She thought he was lying. "By the aliens that brought you here? Good. Maybe you'll fit in better with them."
"Recruiters, Lex. From that school. I'm like them..."
Her eyes widened and she nearly dropped the controller that had been in her hands, resting there while she stared at him. Alex shook her head. "You're lying." And he knew, deep inside himself that he wasn't. He wasn't lying because he couldn't. He could tell when other people were lying. It was confusing and a mess, but he was certain that he knew what was going to happen.
And it did. Not a week later, he was taken to Bellefonte Academy. While it wasn't far away from his home, it was the furthest he'd been away from Alexandra.
Five years later...
"Hey, have you talked to the She-devil lately?"
Snorting at her words, Ash looked at her and shook his head, "Are you kidding? What makes you think she's gonna talk to me? I'm the enemy, remember?" He sighed and folded his arms across his chest, "It's ironic, ya know, I always thought it would just be you that they couldn't stand." He'd been very wrong, however. In the past five years, since he was recruited, his parents had reached out on holidays but never invited him out. The only time he even saw them was when he picked Alex up for their monthly check-ups.
Alex smashed her hand against his face and laughed, "Shut up. Maybe if ya hadn't gone and gotten those weird ass superpowers, you'd still be their favorite." And she was probably right. "On the bright side of joining the dark side, we've got alcohol!" She waggled a beer bottle in front of his face and smiled.
Ash took the bottle from her and set it down on the bar, "You know you can get fired for that right? I'm still below the legal age, just like you are, Lex." Although, when they were in the comfort of his own apartment he didn't mind when she drank, as long as he could make sure she wasn't getting into too much trouble.
Rolling her eyes, she shrugged and kicked her legs that were dangling off the barstool. "How're things? With the ability and whatever?" She always asked, every time they hung out and Ash couldn't help but wonder every time if she envied him for the ability that he had. Or just the fact that he had one. As twins, they had always expected her to manifest after him, and when she didn't, it had taken a hard toll on both of them.
"Eh, still a bit hectic. Trying to get a substantial hold on it, but ya know, that's what college is for, right?" And by getting a substantial hold on it, he meant he was hoping that in the near future he'd learn to lie again, but the odds were against him on that. "How about you? You're not in jail, so I guess that's a plus." Ash meant it as a joke, but he also didn't. Alex worried him with her choices and when he couldn't be there more frequently, it bothered him.
"Fuck you," She said as a knee-jerk reaction before laughing and shrugging herself. "I mean, yeah, not in jail. Also not going to college, not dating anyone, over all having no life. I have work. And my looks and personality, that's about it."
Ash nodded, and he wondered if it showed how much he worried about her. It wasn't like he could change her poor decisions though, and lecturing her got him nowhere.
Alex gave him a harsh look, "Stop. Stop doing that. I'm fine, Ash. I've got a job, a decent apartment with my best friend and a sort of, okay-ish brother. I'd say that's enough, ya know?"
He nudged her shoulder and laughed, "Okay, fine. But you know, if you need anything, you just gotta call right?" And he'd drop everything. On the spot. Alex was the most important thing to him, right next to her crazy best friend. They'd all grown up together, avoiding parents like the plague which had only brought them closer. Even if he and his twin fought constantly.
"Gah, you sound so fucking sappy. Can we just not? It's implied, we don't have to talk about it."
Ash hid the smirk at her clear discomfort. "Fine. Implied. I gotta run to class though, I'll come visit you and Soph later though, k?" He shot her a smile before hopping off the barstool and slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Lovvvvveeee youuuuuu."
"K. Bye. Go." And he caught her smiling when he glanced back at her before leaving the bar.♦ THE PLAYER ♦
USERNAME: Trix
AGE GROUP: twenty-one
EXPERIENCE: forever
WHERE DID YOU FIND US? .....Mel
