Heritage

Somewhat nervous about this; I like Anne Hathaway, not sure how I feel about her as Selina/Catwoman. Bane is one of my least favorite villians of all time, but they handled him well on BtAS, so it can be done. Will just have to trust in Nolan!

It was truly impressive to see Fusion at work; for a moment, Gossamer wandered if she was holding back more than she should. Was she too busy being civilized to use her own powers effecively? The moment quickly past as more pressing issues faced them all. "By all mean yes! Between the two of us, we should have no problem getting everyone out!" She quickly move to stand on the other side of the hole from the tentacled troubleshooter, and formed several long thick ropes of hair that flopped outside, down towards the street.

Estelle nodded as she led the way into the elevator, punching in her floor. "Yes, I need to spruce up my material a bit; I’m afraid the Willy Wonka shtick has gone a bit stale." Sagging against the wall in a rare unguarded moment, she took a deep breath and let it out as a anguished groan. "Ohhhhh, these things get tiring; you start to feel like a robot after a while, nodding, smiling, shaking hands ad infinitum..." She flashed the younger scientist a sleepy grin. "At least we always have the work, right? The work keeps us sane." The elevator came to a halt, and Dr. de Havilland's well-practiced facade slid back into place as she straightened up and strode purposefully to the door of her office, the laminated panel sliding back with a wave of her security card. In direct contrast to the building's overridingly sleek appearance, Gossamer had carefully selected several vintage pieces of furniture, including old filing cabinets, a roll-top desk and a high-backed leather wing chair to give her workplace a bit of old money class. She slipped out of her labcoat, which a helpful tendril hung on a coat rack as she sat at her desk, rolled back the top and woke up her PC to check her email. "The bar is over there, next to the potted fichus; help yourself to whatever you want."

The tiny elf waved her hand in a casual manner, dismissing her employer's concerns. "Nah, it's cool; I don't have to partake in every single aspect of the holiday to have a great and totally secular Christmas." She beamed as she fed Colt another bite. "Just having everyone here, with all the lights and gifts and everything, is more than enough." Lynn frowned. "Yeah, where is that big girl, and the flatscreen genie we all know and love?" Tilting back her head, she bellowed at the top of her lungs, much to her lover's dismay. "VINCE! GET YOUR ASS IN HERE NOW!"

Finding a few seconds to catch her breath between feilding several reporters' questions, Estelle was indeed somewhat disappointing to see Jessica was not in the least put out by Dragonfly and Cape's noble attempts at comeupance. Ah well; points for effort, I suppose. Slipping through the crowd with an Olympic swimmer's ease, the tall blonde made her way to the much shorter blonde's side. "That was a wonderful speech, Fly; I really liked what you said about the Lab not being 'ours', that was well-phrased." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "So, do you want to take a break, sneak off and have a quiet glass of wine while the wolves tear poor Jessica apart?" She winked, keeping most of the smile off her socialite mask.

Estelle smiled and patted his hand affectionatley. "I know, Greg, and I...love you, too. It's just...I know it's already been a few months, but it still feels so fast! I haven't always allowed myself the time to pursue relationships, a very serious oversight, of course, but it isn't always so easy for me..." While Estelle kept rattling on nervously, occasionally wringing her hands, her damp hair very deliberatly crept around the back of the sofa, inching across the fabric until it circled both their shoulders like a contented pet python. "...And sometimes I don't even know what I want to do; perhaps that's the curse of having an active mind, since you can't just turn it off whenever you want." Suddenly she stopped talking and took a deep breath, which seemed to send a ripple all the way down her locks from the roots to the ends, and she rested her head in the crook of Greg's neck. "I think I think too much sometimes..."

Somehow this just mad it worse; the odd thing was, even though Grim was bascially a faerie herself now, she didn't like the glimpses of faerie culture she'd seen so far. "What about your biological parents, the ones you were taken from on Earth? Do you even remember them? Have you looked up any of their living decendents?"

I had this image of Colt talking to Grim about the 'heck of a kiss' she gave him earlier, and her tiny brain exploding inside her head :P

Estelle chuckled self-consciously. “Ah, sorry about that; I can get a bit technical when I’m excited.†Sadly, Doctor de Havilland wasn’t quite sure how to deal with something like Protectron; to her way of thinking, it was basically just a highly-advanced robot, but many of the staff and even visitors like Dr Archeville apparently had no problems dealing with it as a person, which completely went against every instinct she had. The lack of facial expression, vocal intonation and body language played havoc with her well-trained social radar, leaving her flustered and confused. “Oh, I don’t, ah, I don’t think that will be necessary, Protectron; I’m fairly well versed in human communication, and I think…uh…†At first, the brainy blonde was somewhat startled by the alien thoughts forming in her head, though at the same time she was deeply relieved to have a back door open to converse through; she did her best to send a message back Sam’s way. Oh dear god, it makes me so uncomfortable! I never know what to say around it!

Estelle nodded and smiled as she graciously accepted the two business cards. "Thank you, Corbin, and you as well." As the handsome and courteous young man rejoined his parents, the blonde heroine sighed, while two slender golden tendrils plucked the crisp linen cards out of her fingers and sucked them deep into her hairdo for safekeeping. The night was starting to wind down, but there wqas still time for a dance or two. As she sought out Felix, she passed Viktor and Mona and called out softly to the couple. "If you would care for a waltz, Herr Doktor, I'm adding the last names onto my dance card." She gave him a friendly wink, and finally spotting thier host, approached him. "Well, the young Hughes boy has turned out quite charming, but I wouldn't mind taking a turn with a more sophiticated partner." She extended her hand in lady-like fashion. "Shall we?"

Lynn chewed her lip a bit at this statement, and drummed her fingers on the table. "Soooooo, when you say 'your parents', you mean...the faeries who raised you over there, right?" She wans't quite sure why this idea disturbed her as much as it did.

Okay, I have a sort of odd idea for a Grim/Dragonfly/Dok thread, thogh others could also be appear if interested. It's sort of a spin-off of Little Chat, when Grim pushed her powers in freakish new directions while Dok tested her. Grim arrives at the Lab looking for Dok, not realizing that he really has nothing to do with it (as I imagine many other folks might assume); however she is informed that he is visting Dragonfly, and is sent to her area. She confides in Dok (and Fly, with a bit of relucatance) that she did a bit of an experiement that wnet horribly awry. As a whim, she attemped to conjure up a double of herself, like a more advanced form of the golem she made in Little Chat. However for reaons she unsure of, the darn thing fled the Brownstone and is now lose in Freedom! Though a weaker version of Grim (more than likely a PL8), the double is still dangerous, but she is unable to track it; she asks the help of the Lab in finding the copycat. Note: Grim does not want Colt or most likely any of the other Interceptors knowing about the double!

The lovely blonde shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut in frustration. "No no, of course not; any woman would love for a man to tell her those things." She opened her big blue eyes, which sparkled with tears that made them twinkle, and sighed deeply. "Sometimes I just get...a bit self-conscious. You have to understand, Greg, that I was brought up very properly; as much as I love my parents, they've always been a bit distant, and then there were nannies and boarding school..." She squeezed his hands tightly as she tried to find the words to explain her feelings, then laughed at the irony of the situation. "That's actually sort of the problem, isn't it? I'm not usually at a loss for words..." Forgetting the pizza and the movie for the moment, she led her lover back to the sectional sofa, and sat down facing him. "You see, I'm actually very fond of you, Greg, but that doesn't keep me from experiencing the occasional twinge of doubt, the sort of doubts women get from time to time when...they're older than their boyfriends." Estelle shook her head in embarrassment. "And I know I'm not really old at all, even in a country as obsessed with youth as ours, but that doesn't mean that I don't get scared now and then, especially when I'm so happy." She daintily wiped her eyes with her hand. "Oh dear; too much wine, I think..."

Grim came back from the kitchen, where she'd set all the delicious grub out buffet-style, including conjuring up a stack of thick paper plates and plastic utensils; clutching a plate heaped high with greasy goodness, she actually looked a bit annoyed at Jack's declaration. "What? Damn it, why doesn't anyone ever have to save Hanukkah! No one even bothers to threaten the Jewish holidays!" She made an odd face. "Well, I guess the Nazis kinda did, but still..." She scooped up a forkful of egg foo young, rolling her eyes. "Yes Jack, please tell us the amazing story of how you saved the greatest holiday ever from El Diablo." But then she realized just how bitchy she sounded, she sighed and gave the swordsman a crooked grin. "Sorry, dude; actually I'm really glad you saved Christmas. Otherwise I couldn't stuff my face like this, right?" Shoveling the food in her mouth, she gave Jack a big thumbs up. The pointed ears of Grim didn't miss much, and the elf sidled up to the speedster and murmured as she passed him. "Yes, but Erik actually though to do it, didn't he? The act isn't the impressive part, dude, it's the thought that counts. Now you bring me some Italian spumoni, and you've got yourself a date under the mistletoe" She gave him a saucy friendly wink as she sauntered over to Colt, taking a seat beside him. Between bites of takeout, Grim whooped at their boss's colorful entrance. "Yay, it's Archy Claus! Now all we need is Mona and VINCE!" Grim looked back towards the kitchen. "Yeah, there's a bunch of stuff I can't eat, like an order of the 'goon, so all you gentiles go dig in." Then Lynn stopped and did a comedic double take, her eyes gone anime-sized. "Waitasec, did you say 'feast'? As in plum pudding and roast beast?"

Grim felt a swirling mixture of emotions boiling in her chest; the giddy thrill of victory, a gnawing shame and embarrassment at witnessing a son mourning the death of his father, anger at the young man's misdirected rage. Finally she took a deep breath and strode up to the Russian aristocrat, not quite sure what she wanted to say. "Look, I know the Brits aren't perfect; the whole colonial thing screwed up a lot of people's lives, but trying to plunge a whole country into an endless winter of death is just...not the answer, man. You think it's gonna make you feel better, but it's not, and what you did to your father...you have to let him go. Turning a beloved parent into a weapon of mass destruction, prolonging his life just to get revenge; is that the guy who raised you, that poor wretched thing in the chair? Is that the man who held your hand when you got scared?" She shook her head, a sad queasiness rising in her guts. "He's gone, dude, and even killing every single person in the British Empire is not gonna bring him back."

Lynn shook her head. "No, I think you had it right the first time; this world is plenty wavy and explosive, especially in this town." The older faeling looked thoughtful as she considered the younger (only relatively) girl. "So is it true that Faerie is kinda...stuck in reruns? Y'know, the same stories and themes repeating over and over?"

Grim laughed, a short little laugh of disbelief. "Nah, I'm good with the old-fashioned way, but thanks for the offer." I guess mad scientists really aren't like other people. She set the simulcrum down on the ground so she could walk under her own power, but held her small wooden hand as she led her over to the viewing area; SimulGrim dutifully followed, looking up at the screens with wonder. "Sure, okay; digestive system or no, I still dig popcorn." With a flick of her fingers, a large overstuffed chair appeared, and the shapeshifter hunkered down in it; the child-like entity crawled into her lap, more and more curious. Grim looked down at her and smiled. "These are called 'trailers', kiddo, and most of the time they're better than the movies are." The doll nodded, still not quite getting it.

Upstairs in her visualization lab, part of a an extensive laboratory suite she maintained on the twelfth floor, Dr de Havilland was wearing a pair of sleek VR gloves that she was using to manipulate the holographic representation of a long string molecules, which hung like leftover holiday garlands in the air; with a flick of her wrist, she sent a few carbon atoms spinning off into the corner, where they dutifully popped out of existance. She wore her usual labcoat over her blue-and-silver bodysuit, her golden hair coiled down her back in her prefered braid; the look was a bit flashy, to be honest, but it was surprisingly comfortable indoors. With a start, her bright blue eyes darted over to the clock on the wall, and she cursed softly; she really hated when she fell into the absent-minded professor cliche. "I'll be right down," she called into the air. "Save sim 119 into project folder." She slipped off the gloves, which powered down the imaging system, and casually tossed them into a drawer in an old file cabinet, which she bumped closed with her hip as she headed for the hall. Even in a workplace this modern, she felt a few classic pieces of furniture lent an air of class. In a matter of seconds, the high speed elevator brought her down to the lobby which she strode across to meet her guest, the heels of her boots clicking smartly on the tile. She smiled warmly at the handsome Russian hero standing there, and offered a firm friendly handshake. "So wonderful to see you again, Sam, and thank you for making yourself available! Have you eaten? I can have lunch sent up to my office."

I'm cool with it.

Sorry to see you go, Moira I will be unavailable to post until tomorrow night, but will more than make up for my absence this evening (I hope!).

I won't have a chance to post here tonight (heading over to a friend's to spoend the night), but I will jump on this tomorrow night after work. Thanks for posting, Doc!

And now the blonde heroine's face went bright pink as she seemd to become very interested in refilling her wine glass; she leaned forward slightly as she took a sip, and her hair shifted a bit, providing her with a small amount of 'cover'. "Well, yes, they certainly have been pleasant; you're quite a remarkable young man yourself, Greg." She winced just a smidgen when 'young' tripped off her tongue, and then conviniently remembered dinner. "Oh, let's see if the pizza is cool enough to eat!" She quickly rose and scampered back to the counter, and noisily rummaged through the drawers looking for the pizza cutter. "Yes, it looks ready; I'll cut it up and bring over two plates!" She suddenly felt very awkward and foolish. Get a hold of yourself, you stupid girl! He's not that young!

Suddenly the shapeshifter's nostrils started to twitch, as a wonderful familiar smell wafted into the room. Waitaminute, what is that? Do I detect...egg foo young? Grim vigorously shook her head at Ellie's comment as she approached Erik, her eyes transfixed by the delightful-smelling bags he carried. "No no no, your brother speaks wisdom! And more importantly, he brought mushroom fried rice! Oh, it's a Christmas miracle! God bless us everyone!" She hopped up, threw her arms around the startled swashbuckler, and for the second time in living memory showered his face with happy kisses before dropping back to the floor, snatching the takeout from under his arms and making a mad dash for the kitchen. "Mine mine mine mine mine!"

Lynn smiled sympathetically and nodded “Well okay, but I might check up on you guys later, since cold doesn’t bother me much, either.†The tiny shapeshifter beamed at the equally tiny mystic and waved. “Hi, Taylor! Oh man, you look great! Can’t wait to see you with your hair up!†Her sensitive ears caught the murmured question to Jack, but she politely said nothing. “Yes…thanks…†At the mention of the ‘G-word’, Lynn’s cheeks went a little pink, but she resisted the urge to comment; it’s not like he out-and-out called her a faerie in front of complete strangers, so hopefully no one picked up on it. Wow, he really doesn’t remember not everyone is a public super sometimes; at least Mark doesn’t seemed too fazed, but that might actually be a physical impossibility. Guess Mister Fedora is a fellow ‘classmate’; interesting. Following the rest of the group into the sanctuary, the Jewish girl couldn’t help but be impressed; she’d seem some fairly nice synagogues in her day, but leave it to the goyim to go all out with the fancy-schmancy architecture. Her gaze lifted up, tracing the line of columns skywards “Huh. That roof just keeeeeps on going, don’t it?†Softly humming ‘God Help the Outcasts’to herself, she wandered about the place with her hands in her jacket pockets, happily smelling all the amazing flowers.

Extra Effort and an HP to increase her Flight by 1 rank; a few seconds can be the difference between life and death!