Heritage

Jeena frowned as Zach explained his side of things; she hadn't been there for most of it, so she had to take his word for it. Maybe you and Brian should avoid each other for a while; at this point, you'll probably just get into a fight. And it sounds like he chastised both of you pretty equally; I think Corbin wanted to keep you guys from hitting each other on school grounds. At this point, Zach's sister laughed out loud, mostly out of relief that some of the tension was broken, even if it was at her poor brother's expense. She sent him a teasing reply as she gently blew on her slice as she'd seen others do. Maybe you should avoid cheese, too; it seems to be your real worst enemy on this planet! With Corbin so close by, Jeena felt the need to explain her earlier behavior. "I want to, uh, apologize to you, Corbin, for what I did earlier; I didn't know you were in a relationship and it wasn't appropriate." The pale-skinned girl visibly sighed with relief. "That is good to hear; it seems she was so busy reminding us to eat and drink that the poor girl forgot to do so herself! Such is the perilous life of the hostess!"

Jeena didn't like the sound of that at all; it was clear from the tone of Zach's sending that he was extremely upset, and the mention of Brian suggested it was somehow all tied together with his pursuit of Gwen. The Tektani girl rubbed her face; perhaps she should've waited a little while before she decided to play matchmaker, say until after she had some understanding of human relationships? Now she was genuinely alarmed. Wait, what? What's going on over there, Zach? I'll be right- Corbin's transformation and angry bellow hit Jeena like a slap in the face; even at her current massive size she could sense the young man's power, and knew to respect it. It seemed like respecting her fellow students was the theme of the day. As discreetly as a fifteen foot girl can, she edged back over to the construction site, her huge pale blue eyes darting between the three boys at the heart of the conflict. Once back at the drinks table, she carefully placed the pizza boxes on the table and resumed her normal size, waiting for her brother to join her. Are you okay, Zach? The pretty pale-skinned girl with the white hair noted the new arrival; another cute boy to add to the mix. Talking out the side of her mouth, she indicated the pizzas she'd just delivered with a jerk of her head. "Right now, I'd suggest grabbing a slice and keeping your head down." She lowered her sunglasses and gave him a friendly smile. "I'm Jeena, by the way; welcome to the field of combat!"

Good question; if they really are heroes, maybe we can help them with whatever they're doing. We've been down here a few months, maybe we've got some clues they need. Jeena drifted much closer to the oddly-dressed trio, floating just behind the rearmost; clearly they were having a hard time seeing down here in the dark, and she felt a twinge of sympathy for the surface dwellers. If I see something dangerous and they don't, I'm going to send them a warning.

The Tektani girl nodded enthusiastically. "That sounds great! Can we go later in the day, or after dark?" She gestured towards her eyes. "It would be a lot easier for me." Suddenly Jeena's head snapped around to look over at the commotion a few hundred feet away; there was an edge in her voice that seemed to come out of nowhere. "Something's wrong with Gwen, she just passed out." Shooting up to fifteen feet tall, she easily grabbed all the pizzas as she pointed across the quad. "I've got these, make sure she's alright!" I'm sending Vicky over; what happened, Zach? Is she okay?

Estelle chuckled through her breathing mask. "Not at all. Perhaps you should engage in more physical exertion; we scientists don't always get enough in our lives, especially when we have remarkable abilities that do all the heavy lifting for us. Let me know if you'd ever like to train a bit." The blonde heroine whistled appreciatively as she stared at the behemoth. "Good Lord, he's massive! Even working together, we may not be able to move him." She looked back the way the came. "I could lift him if I stayed on foot, but surely that would take hours even if we work together." She stroked her chin thoughtfully as she considered both their specimen and the powers of the three individuals present. "Cape, I must admit I don't fully understand how your powers work, but perhaps my ignorance will allow an outsider's perspective." She indicated the unconscious creature with a nod of her head. "Do you have any ability to affect the basic properties of a thing, without altering other properties? For instance, can you reduce an objects mass without affecting its density or volume? Alternately, can you shunt mass between dimensions, placing this mountain of flesh in a sort of pocket universe we can access from another location at a later date?"

Realizing that she'd said too much, Jeena winced and drew her shoulders up slightly' on the plus side, she was back to her normal height, if not an inch or two taller. "I...maybe I'll tell you about it some day. Let's just say, Zach and I didn't have a very normal childhood, for a lot of reasons." That had the desired reaction; the new student's eyes went wide behind her sunglasses. "Really? That's fantastic! Oh, I would love to do that!" Vicky's mentioning of her lost skirt also got her to thinking. "Hey, do you think sometime maybe you, me and Gwen could go shopping?" She looked down at herself. "I don't have a lot of stuff to wear, but money's kind of tight; is there one of those outlet malls near Freedom?" She pulled up her T-shirt, exposing a narrow ribbon of pale flesh. "I can't go too skimpy, because I don't just burn, I ignite. Still, having at least one dress would be nice, like if John and I went out sometime..."

Jeena shrugged indifferently; any remaining squeamishness the Tektani had about gender and sexuality had more or less vanished in the struggle to survive under the domination of the Star Khan. It wasn't like the whole race had lost all vestiges of intolerance, but a sexually-intergrated resistance movement had more important things to worry about than who was sleeping with who most of the time. "Oh, I would...like to see those." Talking about a personal passion was hard for her; she was so used to keeping them to herself that articulating them did not come easy. "I like to...draw? Or is it 'sketch'?" She waved her hand to demonstrate, as though she gripped a pen or stylus. "I've used charcoal, and salvaged pigments." Her face clouded over. "I wasn't allowed to have such supplies, and I couldn't keep any of my work; we had to pack light and be ready to move a moment's notice. I had to burn a lot of it..." Jeena looked decided crestfallen at this statement.

It was nice talking with Vicky; more than anything else, Jeena was relieved that she appeared to be forgiving about her flirting faux pas, but it was just nice to talk about dating with another girl. Of course she'd talked about such things with other girls back home, but it was typically nothing more than whispers and giggles after lights out in the girls' barracks, and out in the field there was little time for such distractions. She'd never had an open conversation on the subject like this, with a chance that something might even come of it; it was actually kind of fun! At Vicky's suggestion, the pale-skinned girl wrinkled her nose. "John? Really? He seems...like some sort of training robot. Do you even know if he likes girls?" She put her cap back on and pulled the brim down to her eyebrows as she thought more seriously about the issue. "He's definitely good looking, and has a nice body, but I'm not sure...well, I wouldn't rule him out altogether..." Seeing that she finally had the teleporter to herself, Jeena looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was within earshot, then quickly grabbed her upper arm and leaned in to whisper with barely concealed excitement. "Okay, about this 'art club'; do you make art, do you talk about it, or do you just look at it? I mean, I'd be happy just to look at it, but I'd rather do the other two as well."

By all means! A quick scan of Toque's sheet leads me to believe he and Jeena might be interesting together, even if just as friends.

Jeena froze in her tracks; despite having lived in the tunnels beneath the city for several months, there were still apparently miles and miles of sewer and subway lines they hadn't explored, and they were clearly in one now. For this trip, the twins had opted to break out their stalking gear, brought all the way from Tektan: simple black bodysuits with no loose fabric or fasteners to catch on anything, tucked into knee-high Muka moleskin boots. They wore special tinted visors to protect their eyes in case they ran into anyone carrying bright illumination or explosive devices, Jeena's in violet and Zach's in ruby-red. With their black gloves and the hoods of their suits pulled up to cover their silvery-white hair and most of their faces, they stood out a lot less than they did back on the Claremont campus. Will do, she sent back; shrinking down to a mere inch in height, the now-tiny girl hovered on the dank air of the sewer, bobbing up and down slightly as she maneuvered to ride the ripples of pure stench. Tilting forward, she slipped easily down the tunnel, her alien eyes allowing her to see clearly when she soon came upon a rather bizzare trio advancing down the passage. Jeena came to stop and held her position some ten feet away from them and some three feet above the brackish water; at her size, it was almost impossible to spot her form. Zach, I think they're more of these hero types; two human males, one human female, all dressed up like it's the Feast of Nodin. Suggestions?

Jeena's Stealth check at Miniscule size: 1d20+23=29 Quote, we never spoke of costumes, so I came up with the 'stalking suits' as a sort stop-gap design until we come up with something more heroic; based on their military background, a sort of ninja/Delta Force style made sense. I hope it's okay with you.

The friendly gesture caught Jeena quite off-guard, and she started at the touch. "What? Oh thanks...sure." She wiped away a few tears and took a big swig of Gatorade. "It's my own stupid fault; everything is so different here, and I haven't had a lot of chances...with boys." She sighed, but did seem to regain a couple inches of height. "I think I was being too pushy or too obvious, and Morgan figured out what I was up to; I didn't know the two of you were together, or Corbin and 'Quotus', whoever that is..." The fair-skinned teen met Vicky's eyes with her own pale blue ones. "I'm so sorry; I should have just asked." Jeena nodded and smiled, seemingly to herself. Yeah, I really like her; I think you two would be good together, if that ever works out. I’m actually starting to trust her, which feels pretty nice stuck here on lonely old Earth. His sister laughed and shook her head. Well to be fair, he did get there first; don’t give up just yet, but... try not to do anything too stupid.

So do we want to keep this one going? I think Bree sort of got what she needed out of this thread.

Whoa, what sort of can of worms did I open up! I dread to read the IC now :?

Jeena merely nodded and smiled. Duly noted. She wasn't so vain that she couldn't imagine someone not being attracted to her; not all the boys back home liked her, and since coming to Earth, she'd learned from watching movies, TV shows and commercials online that many humans preferred a bit more color in their women. She assumed she probably just wasn't Corbin's 'type' and moved on. When Morgan locked eyes with her, the Tektani girl felt her heart sink, because in an instant she knew she'd been caught; her face went taut, her pale blue eyes never wavering from his. This was a young man not to be underestimated, and her childish games were an insult to both of them Jeena's face flushed with color, perhaps more than it had since she was a child; her head downcast, she set down her tools, returned to her regular size (actually a few inches shorter than normal), and mutely headed over to the refreshment table, where she had some more Gatorade. She stood somewhat apart from the others as she slowly drank and stared at her feet, deeply ashamed.

Agreed. She'll probably just shelve him under 'disinterested' for now unless she sees compelling evidence to contrary. Quinn, Morgan is sure the contact was deliberate flirting; I don't know if he's sensitive enough to detect the lack of malice involved or not. It was done out of curiosity more than anything else, with no associated vamping or anything, but he's definitely sharp enough to see her following glances gauging his reactions, which she thinks are discrete enough not to be seen. Make of that what you will!

Jeena's Sophomoric Brush-Past Test! Sense Motive on Morgan: 1d20+9=13 Sense Motive on Corbin: 1d20+9=15 Bluff vs Morgan: 1d20+10=22

Again Jeena laughed seemingly at nothing as Morgan finished the last of the catwalk assembly. Just remember, Zach, that every game has a winner and loser; 'be humble in victory and honorable in defeat'! Then she paused. But yes, I will keep you up to date on the goings on between Brain and Gwen, but I won't break any confidences; I have to live with her for a year, so I don't want to pour theetle spores into the deep-well. For her part, Jeena wanted to test a theory of her own; not very scientific, but any data obtained would be most helpful. As she worked, she made a point of brushing up against both Morgan and Corbin; she used discretion, but made she there was decent contact lasting a few seconds. She made no comments or apologies and kept her face neutral, but carefully looked for even the most subtle change in posture, speech or attitude that might reveal the two boys' dating status. After all, it was only right that she be just as cautious in love as her brother!

The next few days are going to be crazy busy, so I will be in-and-out a lot; probably won't post at all today, but will be back on by tomorrow night. After that, I'll pop in from time to time.

Oops, I forgot; NPC Grim is attending Freedom College, not FCU. My mistake!

Jeena winced sympathetically. "That does sound awkward; is there anyway you could...distract them, or give them something else to do while you...uh..." Happy for a distraction of her own (as her conversation with Gwen was getting a bit too personal), the Tektani girl eagerly clapped her hands together. "Yes, let's get to it, then!" She followed him into the incomplete greenhouse and grew up to fifteen feet in height, a nice compromise of size and strength. The giantess snorted to herself as she held a piece in place for Morgan to insert the fasteners. Well you never know; I'll let you know how things turn out, but for the moment I wouldn't worry about it too much. There are good beverages and pizza is on the way! Seeing her brother in the flesh, she waved at him from inside the greenhouse before returning to work. Glad to hear it! I was starting to get worried about them.

She barely heard him as she gently cradled the instrument, her fingers working the valves as several strands of hair lovingly caressed the sinus curves of the sax. "I love it; it almost looks like it was designed by another species, you know? Something aquatic, like a nautilus." She placed her lips upon the mouthpiece and gave a tentative little blow, which of course produced a discordant honk. "Hah. Musical instruments are among the most beautiful things humanity has ever devised, along with cameras and microscopes. Acoustics and optics..." With a reluctant sigh, she handed the sax back to its owner, while a golden tendril offered him a drink. "Here you are, and this is for you, as well." She raised her own glass. "Cheers."

This information pretty much confirmed Jeena's suspicions: the easy contact between the two of them, as well as the little thrilled looks on Gwen's face when they were close, Brian's apparent need to impress her; all tell-tale signs of a budding (Seriously? Come on, now!) relationship. Part of the Tektani girl really wanted to use this information on her brother's behalf, to perhaps start to drive a subtle wedge between the new couple so that Zach could step in and be with the girl he liked and be happy. She almost unconsciously started to map out the tactics she would use in such a scenario, the mixture of hints, suggestions, flattery and misdirection she would employ; as Gwen's roommate, she would have ample time to work several possible angles. But that would be wrong; it would be cruel to Gwen and Brian, it would lead to a potentially poisonous relationship with the sweet girl who's room she shared, and most importantly it would be a selfish abuse of the Shard's generous gifts. So even as all these plots and schemes raced through her amazing brain, Jeena politely squashed them into a ball and incinerated them. Instead she smiled a sincere smile and placed a hand on her roommate's shoulder. "That's wonderful." She snuck a glance over her shoulder at Brian, and then gave Gwen a playful wink. "Just let me know if you ever need the room to yourself, alright?"

Her brief emotional spell passed, Jeena found a good stopping point to take a break, making sure through hand gestures that Corbin and the others were clear she was taking a breather. Shrinking back down to normal size, she headed over to grab a drink; as a Tektani who'd spent her whole life living beneath the surface of a seismically-active planet, it took a great deal of heat to make her sweat, and at her giant size she wasn't really exerting herself too much, but eventually even she began to develop a thirst. She found a bottle of orange Gatorade, which turned out to be wonderful refreshing, and removed her cap and pulled back her hood to cool off a bit. Holding the cold bottle to the side of her neck, she approached Gwen. "Oh, ah, anything is fine with me; whatever everyone else is having." Sneaking a quick look over at Brian, she indicated with a nod of her head for florapath to follow her. Once they were out of earshot (she hoped), she indicated the red-eyed boy with an inclination of her head. "You like him, don't you? As in, really like him."

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