Kaze leaned over the railing between the street and his lab. Well, "lab" was putting it generously; he'd just managed to rent out a cramped little suite downtown, on the fifth floor of one office building among countless others. It gave him space to store equipment, teach his classes, and most importantly, meet up with candidates for trials.

Today's work had been mostly taking blood and skin samples from a variety of partially-mutated humans. He was hoping to narrow down the genetic switches responsible for creating permanent mutations; if things went well, it could potentially lead to a cure. That would be a long way away, though -- likely beyond Kaze's lifetime.

Rain poured down in front of him, the awning above his head causing the rushing droplets to barely miss his face. The white noise of the rain hitting the asphalt seemed to reflect Kaze's rushing thoughts; it was already dark out, but his brain refused to keep quiet. If he could hasten the path to a cure, a life spent using Visimancy without fear of consequences would be within his grasp. It was far from realistic -- the odds weren't in his favor that his research would go anywhere at all -- but it was so tempting to think about.

The door to the office building opened, and someone else joined Kaze at the railing. He looked to see Oscar, one of the trial candidates from earlier.

Oscar was mutated towards Chronoborn; he had an ashy skin tone, broad pointed ears, claws on his hands, and a long reptilian tail curling behind him. He even shaved his head to deal with patchy hair growth. Combined with his angular jaw and heavy brow, he was an intimidating sort. And now, he was leaning over the rail and staring out into the rain in silence, just as Kaze had been doing.

For several minutes, neither of them moved. Only the sounds of rain and passing traffic kept them company. Kaze shot a nervous glance over at Oscar; what was going on? Why hadn't he said anything? Kaze didn't want to imply the company wasn't welcome, but--

"Want one?" Oscar asked.

Startled, Kaze looked down at Oscar's held-out hand, which was holding a box of cigarettes. "Oh... oh, no thank you," he said with a stiff shake of his head. He used to smoke back in college, but never touched the stuff these days.

Oscar nodded, lit up one for himself, and took a slow, thoughtful drag. Blowing the smoke out into the falling rain, where it immediately dissipated, he turned towards Kaze again and said, "Are you doing alright?"

"H-Huh? Yes, I'm... I'm fine."

"It's not my business or anything, but I'm a pretty good read of people. And you, Dr. Hawkinson, don't seem fine to me. Something on your mind?"

Kaze stumbled through a few false starts of sentences, trying to think of the best way to politely deflect. He hardly knew this guy and wanted to keep things strictly professional, but he also didn't want to offend or patronize. And yet, maybe it was something about the way Oscar watched patiently without a hint of judgment, but Kaze found himself being honest. "I'm scared of using my Craft," he blurted, mortified but unable to stop the admission from tumbling out. "It's all I was looking forward to for years, it's one of the largest reasons I moved here, but I'm terrified of the changes. I don't want to end up like--" He froze, realizing he was probably crossing a line. "Well, you know," he finished lamely.

Oscar took another drag. If he was offended, he didn't show it. "Sightcraft, I take it?"

"That's right."

One more inhale, and then Oscar snuffed the cigarette out on the railing and tucked it back into its box. "I used to be real scared too," he said, still staring out into the rain. "Once you get used to messing with time, it's hard to give up. Tough times go by quick, and good times last as long as you want. I blew through some of the changes so quick it scared off my partner."

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"Don't be, they weren't worth it anyways. Shook me up for a little while, but I went back to it. Timecraft's real useful, 'specially in my job. It gets me through life. I guess I stopped caring about the side effects, they're worth it to me. But still, I get it." Idly, Oscar scratched a line in the railing's paint with one of his claws. "It's hard to tell where the line is. I still get nightmares every once in a while, about turning into one of those things they shoot on sight."

"But how do you live with it?" Kaze said, shoulders growing tight. "If you keep going as you are, maybe your nightmares will come true."

"Maybe... but probably not. It's a risk worth taking if you ask me. Shouldn't let your fear hold you back from something that'd make you happy, Doctor."

With that, Oscar walked off into the night, heedless of the rain soaking his clothes. Kaze watched him go until he turned a corner and disappeared.

Risk and reward... hm.

Kaze took a deep breath, shut his eyes, and bade them to focus beyond their means. Visimancy tickled at the back of his skull like the warm crackle of a fire. When he opened his eyes, the ambient light of the city initially blinded him; it took some trial and error to get his vision focused in just the right way.

But when it clicked, and he looked up at the night sky, he saw through all the usual light pollution to a brilliant nebula of gleaming stars.