Raz really hoped he hadn’t been called into Hollis’s office to discuss the… incidents he’d played a hand in over the past two weeks, but he wasn’t holding his breath.

At least there was a chance that, so soon after her vacation, Hollis would still be in a good mood.

The odds didn’t look good as he stepped into her office and her eyes immediately snapped to him, fingers steepled in front of her face contemplatively. She inclined her head toward the seat before her desk, and Raz did his best not to slink across the room.

Hollis didn’t waste any time, moving her hands down to fold them over the paperwork she’d prepared, “I’ve been hearing reports that you’ve experienced some… hydrokinetic difficulties while I was on vacation. Is that true, Razputin?”

“I dunno, they seemed pretty easy to me.” He said evasively, wilted at the look she gave him and then admitted, “Kind of.”

Her annoyance softened marginally at the tone, a stark contrast to her sharp nod, “And have you approached anyone in regards to the matter? Lucrecia or any of our agents?”

Raz shook his head. Nona had already been through a lot; he didn’t need to bring up his own issues when they were so relevant to her traumas, both new and newly uncovered. And the other agents– he just didn’t know where to start. Milla… had the wrong idea what was going on there, and he really didn’t want to have that conversation with her, even if only to set the record straight. Coach understood on some level– even had his own phobias to contend with– but Raz was fairly confident that Oleander’s suggested solution, well meaning though it would be, would mostly consist of running drills. The idea of talking to Ford on the matter just hit way too close to home right now, and anyone else either wouldn’t have the tools to help, or would need a primer.

So really, he’d been experimenting over the past two weeks, and the only conclusion he’d come away with was that he had no idea how to control the Hand.

At least other people could see it now…?

“I see. Is there a reason for that? [Reports indicate that…] It seems to me you could benefit from some training.”

“Yeah, but N– Lucrecia’s still recovering, so I didn’t want to bother her.”

Hollis gave a conceding nod, “That’s a reasonable [idk]. As a Junior Agent, you’re within your rights to refuse being assigned a mentor– short of an official order from a higher ranking agent– but I’ve got something lined up that I think you could really benefit from. Will you hear me out?”

Okay… this was not going the way Raz had feared it might; Hollis really was in a good mood. Either that, or she’d just been in an extremely bad one the rest of the time he’d known her. For her sake, he hoped it was the former.

He smiled, nervous energy beginning to dissipate, “It’d be cool to have a mentor for real this time!”

“Yes, well, I suppose that’ll average out.” Hollis said, lips quirked into a subtle grimace. Without bothering to explain, she pushed away from her desk and stood up, two fingers resting against her temple, “Gentlemen, if you would?”

A second passed, then three. The tiny pause was punctuated by the odd weightlessness of teleportation– albeit a [lesser] sense of it as the user made his entrance.

Or, rather, the users made their combined entrance.

Hollis nodded at the pair of perfectly mirrored salutes aimed her way, and then the room’s collective attention fell to Raz.

Raz, for his part, immediately jumped out of his seat from excitement, hands clenched as he tried to contain himself.

“A pleasure to meet you, Agent Aquato,” Said the elder Agent Motif, followed by his brother’s amused, “We’ve heard a great deal. We are–”

“Ingo and Emmet Motif! The Countertype Conductors!”

For just a moment, they seemed startled by his enthusiasm and Raz made to reel himself in– but then a booming laugh washed over the room. Hollis raised a hand to snap next to one ear, double-checking her hearing and, abashed, Ingo angled the bill of his cap over his eyes. Completely unfazed by the outburst, Emmet humored him for [idk] seconds before flicking a wrist and TKing it back into place.

“You’re… gonna teach me how to use hydrokinesis?”

“I’m hardly suited to the task,” Emmet said mildly, the angle of his smile twitching into something [mischievous]; Raz recognized the tone of a sibling about to pass the buck, “But Ingo has agreed to accompany you to a station called proficiency.”

“Which isn’t to say it’s the only track we’ll be riding. Your file indicates that there are several techniques which could use refinement, since your previous mentor was… ill equipped to assist you.” / “Regardless, while our priority is hydrokinesis, we intend to cover a number of different subjects. Presuming, that is, that you’re open to working with us.”

“Yeah!”/ “Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?”

Behind her desk, Hollis grimaced and, even though it wasn’t said on the physical plane, something clearly passed between the twins.

“You would be surprised.” [x]

“Now, we can hardly expect you to clear today’s schedule on such short notice, but if you would report to our office in the eastern wing– room [#]– at 9:00 tomorrow morning, we can begin without further delay.”