Raven's Watch the ghost of electricity howls in the bones of her face

at the woman's sarcasm, cortez blew another puff of air in her direction, nothing to indicate he was joking in his long, solemn face. her barb had already not endeared her to him, and her esteem plummeted further when she spoke of killing the birds; cortez felt a twinge of gratitude when the other stepped in with a threat of her own. cortez was not one for violence, but sometimes even mentioning it was effective and justified.

and then a question for him—do i know you? now he let the smile return to his face and peered at her, head cocked slightly before shaking it, his slender shoulders rising in a shrug. if you do, it's news to me, cortez remarked. i've certainly never met you before—and i've got a pretty good memory for faces.

there was nothing—no deja vu, nor the awkwardness that prickled at you when you saw someone and you knew them from somewhere but. . .where? and you tried and tried to get the name to surface and sometimes it did, but many times it didn't. so you stood there looking like a slack-jawed fool, perhaps offering a weak, "hey, pal." but it was never adequate. not graceful, either.

i'm cortez shakti, he offered, immediately wondering why he'd offered the surname. for all it was the only thing in this world he really owned, he rarely used it, especially in conversations with strangers. but here it was, out in the open.