By a thread [Geata]

Geata was taking the scenic route home, actually walking through Malachite Isle in order to to acquaint himself better with the area for a while before making use of his powers, after talking to Azoth about a potential plan that she might have been interested in. Luckily for him, she had thought it potentially worthwhile, and he was heading back in a good mood.

He kept his mask on in case he encountered any sort of trouble, but he was wearing a dark grey jacket with the hood pulled up, so he was able to stay out of unwanted attention. While he didn't want to waste time with trying to get it on if he needed it, he understood that it would've been a pain for the average civilian to recognize him. He knew that he hadn't exactly been doing much in the way of heroic actions, and nobody would really care about what his intentions were. Hearing Blue Jay talk about the Bulwark's opinions on his actions had made that point very clear. It was best to just stay out of the public spotlight, as much as possible. Or maybe he should just give in, give people a truly good reason to believe he was the villain they thought him to be.

He was musing on the pros and cons of doing exactly that when he turned a corner and bumped into a person he was surprised to recognize. He looked down at the girl, surprise in his eyes. "Sorry, Poppet," he said quietly after a moment. "I didn't see you there. You okay?"

Geata simply blinked at the doll's accusation. He had stalked a super here and there back in the golden days of yore, but he had neither time nor reason to do so recently. And Poppet was slightly less than a person of interest to him, so far. Not to mention the various other things that came to his mind on why he wouldn't be stalking some little kid who looked too young to even have powers.

"Listen, if I wanted to stalk you, you wouldn't even suspect it. I have plenty of experience following around shady, paranoid characters without being spotted. Don't insult my skills." His voice was flat as he spoke, but he was clearly interested in something else. That something in particular was the surrounding area and rooftops. He wasn't the only super who had taken a liking to learning things from the shadows, but was pleased to see that Poppet didn't seem to be the subject of any obvious surveillance. She didn't seem to be the sort who could handle such a thing well.

He sighed as he spoke again. "Besides, if I was stalking you, I'd have some idea of what a Keeper is doing out in the open the way you are." He paused a moment as he looked at the doll, vague interest and distaste evident in his voice when he spoke again. "The way you two are, I suppose I mean."

Geata raised an eyebrow at the doll's exclamation. What part of him not stalking them was so hard to understand? And he was decidedly less creepy than practically every other Keeper he had met, present company included. Carrying around a talking doll wasn't exactly normal, after all. He was just wearing a hoodie, which wasn't exactly strange for most people his age, and he had bumped into her on the street.

He sighed and looked down at the Keeper and her doll. "Listen, kid," he said, irritation creeping into his voice, "could you possibly be any more rude? I had business here on the Isle. I'm on my way home, and I thought walk with some fresh air might be enjoyable. Turns out that, instead, it led to me getting insulted for no reason." He rolled his eyes before continuing, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You might be surprised, but supers don't necessarily always like attention. A hoodie keeps unwanted attention off of me. This is because it's an extremely common article of clothing. No, I'm no spy, what could you possibly know that I'd be interested in that I couldn't find out myself by other, easier means. Now then, is there any other way you'd like to try to antagonize me, or are you just going to keep being rude?"

Geata blinked when Poppet actually covered the doll's mouth. Either she was very committed to her ventriloquism, or the doll was really talking. Unfortunately, with supers, it was just as likely to be something simple as it was something insanely complicated and confusing. That was why the masked super decided it was best to simply go with the flow and question absolutely nothing unless it required questioning. A talking doll, magical or otherwise, didn't really warrant an interrogation.

"Don't worry about it," he sighed in response to the apology. "I'm sorry too. That was rude and uncalled for on my part." He wasn't willing to say that it wouldn't happen again, but he did regret it. He just had a short fuse when it came to people being outright rude for what feels like the sake of being rude. Aurora was rude, but it was more of a byproduct of her personality, and for some reason it simply sat better with Geata. There was also the fact that Aurora was intimidating whereas the doll was not, but Geata preferred to keep that fact firmly locked away at the back of his mind.

The small girl's obvious awkwardness left Geata to question what would be best. He could just say bye, leave, and forget that the meeting ever happened. He could also try to keep a conversation going in the hopes of showing her he had no intention of hurting her, which would help her keep her composure in future fights whether he was fighting with her or against her. That might end up screwing him up later, but it could also help, and it was sure to help her either way.

Poppet ended up making the decision for him, though, as she asked about his business on the Isle. "Yeah, she was part of it," he said, "but now that I think about it I should probably stop by Happy World to see if I can catch Unhallow. I'm not big on having to ask a person to get ahold of another person for me; it feels like I'm bothering them, you know? Even if the first person is Sin Eater." He paused a moment before chuckling. "Odds are you either already understand what I mean by that or you will soon."

"Anyway, why are you out and about, Poppet? I thought most of you Keepers were rich folk who could hire people to go shopping for them, and I'm not seeing the signs of super activity in the area."

Geata didn't really care about the doll's outburst. So what if people thought he was creepy? They couldn't connect it to his mask or face, so it wasn't as though it really mattered. Especially not in the face of the new information provided. If Azoth bought Unhallow a new house, that rose a few important questions, but it also answered something important as well. Suddenly, it made sense why he hasn't been able to find them in the amusement park. He needed to ask Azoth the address, and possibly to accompany him to prevent him from being seen as a trespasser again. He also made sure to note that he needed to ask Azoth exactly how much disposable cash she had, if she can just go buying houses on a whim. Still, he had been accused of something (again).

"I work with her because she's a personal friend of mine," he said coldly. "Just because you Keepers are so shallow as to only offer assistance when you can benefit from it doesn't mean I'm the same way." He may have met Poppet for that reason, but it wasn't the only reason, at least. The other reason may have solely to ruin a Keeper's day, but she didn't need to know these things. After the accusations thrown at him, he was willing to be a slight hypocrite.

"What makes you think she's given me anything for working with her, anyway? Last I checked, I certainly wasn't going around talking about how 'Azoth gave me information'." Granted, she had, but again, what Poppet - and Jessica - didn't know really couldn't hurt her. It's not as though there was any proof of the accusation, just circumstantial evidence that the Keeper before him had no way of accessing. "I don't appreciate such things being said like an accusation against my friend, either," he said.

Geata frowned underneath his mask. If there were rumors, then there was still somebody saying something in order to give the rumors reason to exist. Like he just said, he hadn't exactly been going around, telling everybody who would listen about where he got the information that he did. The same could probably be said about Azoth. That meant that there was somebody else who had said something, but there was a shortage of Keepers who would know anything that could even lead them to think that. Unhallow didn't strike him as the sort who would say anything, and she was the only one who had worked with the two of them. Arcanum had only worked against them the once, and there wasn't anything that Geata could think of that would lead her to think that Azoth was sharing Keeper info. That left only one other terrible person who could be saying something like that, and they were the only one who had said anything that would lead to them possibly spreading such a rumor.

Damn Sin Eater.

He sighed as he considered what else had been said by the small Keeper before him. Azoth certainly seemed that way, sure, but for whatever reason, she wasn't when it came to him. That didn't matter, though, not at the moment. What mattered was that he needed to figure out a way to convince Poppet that there was nothing more to focus on. It wouldn't do to have her potentially say something to the wrong person and cause problems of an unpredictable scale.

"Sorry, but it sounds like you met her once, if I'm not mistaken," he said calmly. "Appearances can be deceiving, you know. Maybe you just got off on the wrong foot with her, and one of you got the wrong first impression. I'm willing to bet that I've known her longer and better than you have, probably. Or maybe I just know how to handle people like her." Honestly, he had no idea what he was doing when he interacted with Azoth or similar people. Somehow, though, he seemed to be doing fairly well, so he wasn't going to complain.

"Anyway, even if our relationship was suspect, I'm admittedly curious as to how that pertains to you two. It's not like it would be the business of the Keepers or even you personally. Mind if I ask why this would be a subject of interest?"

Geata smirked under his mask as Jessica pointed out the obvious. Well of course he wasn't one of "them". He had dealt with the Keepers enough that he knew there wasn't really a "them". There were individuals only, with their allegiances only extending as far as they benefit. The fact that Poppet hadn't realized that yet betrayed just how new to the faction she really was. It was almost hard to believe that he understood the Keepers more than a Keeper did.

Her implied question about approaching Azoth was less surprising. He thought for a moment before sighing. "Honestly," he said, "my only advice is to keep trying, but don't overdo it. You're probably already fine as far as getting her to like you. As for you figuring her out, I can't help with that. Either you'll learn, like I did, or you're sadly out of luck. Sorry I can't help more."