alderwitch

38! Nat 20!

There were few things that made Taylor's blood run cold like the idea of facing down an utterly and completely a moral Dark Star. With her dimensional sixth sense screaming its warning, Taylor hissed a warning to Stesha even as she touched the warm amulet nestled in the hollow of her throat. "That's not your Derrick." Her costume exploded outward from the jewel. The weight of her cloak settled comfortingly around she threw her hands up to defend from this Dark Star's attack. Their powers were similar in effect but not in nature and Taylor had hoped to never have to test herself against the cosmic entity.

1d20=8

Taylor pulled a face at him and dropped back into her chair. Tucking her legs up under herself, she took her time setting her book off to the side and running her hand over the arm of the chair. She huffed a few times, "Well, you're not far off from the 'you're a man now' speech, I guess." Before she could fray the chair with her fingertips, Taylor folded her hands together in her lap and gave him a direct look, "I'm afraid I may need to have your help with some - if not all - of my duties. The timing is abysmal as there is still so, so much left for you to learn but there is little other choice for me at the moment. I'm having a baby. And, yes, it's Jack's." She fixed him with an expectant look as she weighted for him to work through the giant puddle of problems that was.

Taylor shook her head, shifting the blanket to one hand and accepting the toy. "I don't really have theme in mind. I'll probably just go with things I like. I've never really been a theme-sort of person. I don't want it dripping in blue either. I've never understood the color coding once you know the baby's gender. I've painted the walls cream and the carpet's a dark green. It really doesn't go with the rest of the apartment's theme of 'black,red, white, silver'." She sat Pooh back down with a pat and nodded over to the cribs, "Maybe we can start with a crib and go from there. That's the first thing on my list."

Taylor let out a sigh, her fingertips playing over the silky edging of the blanket. She summoned up a wry smile, "I don't know. I don't think most people really want to celebrate this baby. There's the added 'who knows when it'll be born' factor. I honestly haven't thought about it." She shrugged and dismissed the melancholy with a shake of her head and picked up the blanket. She was certain you could never have too many baby blankets. "I'm glad you could come with me. I could have dragged Jack... but I think you'll be a better shopping buddy." It was a nice way to say that Taylor didn't think she could take an afternoon of Jack's thousand yard stare without beaning him with an overly large teddy bear halfway through the day.

"Adorable as they are impractacle." Taylor agreed with a smile, touching the heel of the shoe with one fingertip. She trailed after Stesha in what she was coming to think of as her new uniform. New jeans, loose black top. Eventually that wasn't going to be enough to cloak her changing silohette. If she was entirely honest with herself, it wasn't enough to cloak her shape now. "I don't think I was ever that tiny. Not if you hear my mom's birth stories, at least." She took another hesitant step in, her expression flickering to a looking as lost as she felt. Give her an interdimensional invasion any day. At least that was straight forward. Taylor shook off the overwhelmed moment, her face screwing up with determination. Lists. This was why she had lists. Also, why she had Stesha. "Babies have so much stuff." Taylor reached out to touch the impossibally soft blanket draped artfully over an open chest of baby socks rolled into tiny bundles.

"Come on in, James" Taylor's voice was slightly muffled by the thick door. Inside the 'sanctum santorum', it was much the same as it usually was. The rest of the apartment had more Jack than Taylor in the stark, dark and certainly expensive decorations. The library, however, was all Taylor's choices, from the thick stuffed chairs next to the fire to the heavy antique desk that took up one corner of the room, piled high with books and scrolls. The walls were filled with inset shelves that were filled completely with ancient and priceless tomes. No silly knick-knacks took up space on those shelves. Another antique curio cabinet was filled with the tools of the trade and as James knew from experience, under the expensive rug was a carefully etched circle filled and surrounded with delicate runes. As Taylor said, it saved time when you just had to kick back the rug rather than breaking out the chalk. Plus, a hurried circle risked errors. Which wasn't good for anyone involved. The sorceress in question wasn't behind her desk for once. Instead, Taylor was curled into a chair. She'd been either reading or napping in front of the fire, but she shoved the lap blanket off onto the floor and stood up as James entered. Her usual frayed jeans and t-shirt had been traded for jeans so new that they still had that freshly creased look to them and a loose tunic top. She gave James a bright smile that dimpled her cheeks and waved him over, offering the other chair, "Please, have a seat?"

"I don't think I can be infected, Jack, but I'm willing to go through whatever tests the good doctor thinks are important and neccesary," Taylor soothed, running her hand up and down Jack's arm gently. "It's got to be protected somewhat by my physiology, I imagine, since I've been running around phasing and in space and doing all the normal activities I tend to." She turned her head back to the doctor, her eyes sliding uneasily away from the floating fetus to fix on the Doctor's face. Taylor could feel the tension thrumming along Jack's arm, so she continued her gentle caress trying to soothe the panic just below his urbane mask. "I would appreciate any tests you feel are neccessary. I'd like to be informed as possible so we can decide what to do from here."

Sure, Grim can call Phantom in. When does this take place? :D

For the first time since her powers had surged, Psyche stopped glowing even as they popped into the visible spectrum again. It was a possibility that Psyche had certainly considered so she moved quickly to the gun even as her brain tried to bring her psychic powers back online. She might not be able to access her full psychic prowess but she'd always known that in the end, the most dangerous weapon in her arsenal would always be her actual ability to think. With the focus of someone used to blocking out the thoughts of others, she ignored the chant for the moment and focused on figuring out how to turn off the weapon.

Concealment check: 1d20=8 That's a failure but not so big a deal as I was hoping to switch my array anyhow. TK: 1d20=2 That's not working either. *sigh* Tech check to figure out how to shut the gun down: 1d20+13=19 HP for the reroll: 1d20+13=30 Much better. And the roll for protection: 1d20=7 Which is down too. Great.

"I think, perhaps, we should take her to Daedalus or Archevielle. The chances are very high that Otaku has a homing device or worse inside her to use that one of the good super science folk can remove." Phantom said pragmatically, having watched all of this unfold impassively from under her cowl. On the off chance this was all some trick, no doubt one of those folk would be able to ferret that out from the robot's programming as well, "We ought also return that anime to the convention if its possible for you to fish that out of your flower, Fleur?"

"Not so much anymore on the morning sickness, no real dizziness or headaches. I feel like I'm napping an awful lot but I don't know if that's because I'm actually sleeping a lot or because I was sleeping too little before." Taylor said with a smile as she perched on the edge of Jack's abandoned arm chair. She'd kept the jeans and sweatshirt look from earlier because it was comfortable and she didn't think Stesha would mind the shlumpy casual look. With her hair drawn up into a sleek, shiny knot, it made her look very much like the young college student she spent a good portion of her time as. "Pretty well, I think, its weird to get back in the habit of. I think I still have long stretches that I forget and go without.

1d20=14

Well, Grim does have one of Freedom City's mystics on speed dial. ;)

Phantom Pruning & Tending Pressing Concerns Once Upon A Midnight The Coo Coo's Nest Gothic Christmas White Wedding Darkness Rising Friday Outing Growing Up Vampire Crossroads Holy Meeting Con Games Psyche It's A Wonderful Life Near Than You Think The Velvet Glove Lazy Sunday Back to School Battle of the Sexes Its a Jungle Out There

And when Taylor said 'Impressive', what she meant was 'Creepy as Hell'. That opinion did not change as the Doctor gleefully peeled back her facscimilie to its composite layers. Taylor had that studied blank look that she used to face the horrors of the Omniverse as Archevielle cheerfully showed them the 'visible woman' version of Taylor Chun. Privately, Taylor really hoped that he'd delete her image when they were done but she rather doubted it. She was shaken from her inner musings as they were treated to ultrasound-Doctor Archevielle style. Her lips parted and she took a stuttering step forwad. "Is it...?" Taylor's voice came out low and raspy before she shook her head and continued determindly, "Is it normal? Healthy?" Human?

"That would be great. Does Chinese work for you? Get whatever sounds good to you, I'm really not picky." Taylor agreed with a smile. "You coming the normal way or should I stick a houseplant in the library?" Taylor didn't bother to ask Jack. It wasn't like he'd be eating any of it, after all. "We'll see you then."

Alex laughed and brushed off the cold snow from her red curls. Shivering a little, she quickly bent at the waist and shook her hair until it was simply damp. "Brrrr....! That was most unkind, Mike." She teased him before she saw Eddie rounding on them - snow free. She beamed at him and nodded, "Yeah, I'm starved. Thrashing about in the snow you really work up an appetite. Besides, thanks to someone, I could use a chance to dry off. Not all of us are immune to the cold, you know." She poked Mike in his unyielding stomach with one index finger before asking, "Joining us, Eddie?"

Taylor was surprised into a laugh at that, her eyes crinkling in amusement as she pictured that scene. "Of all the times for Derrick to put everything together." She shook her head with another chuckle, "What a comedy of errors. If you're not busy tonight, why don't you swing by and maybe you can help me come up with a plan of attack. I have to find a way to explain things to my folks, and then there's school and work to deal with of the non supernatural variety. Then there's coverage for my guardianship duties which will take a bit to set up."

"Oh, of course they can understand it not being the most important thing," Alex laughed and made a little waving motion with her hands, "You don't give them enough credit. Its just their own discomfort made manifest. Finding your soulmate, so to speak, in preschool tends to make people uncomfortable. Everyone has their own reasons for it which it would be kinda rude to go into, I guess, so I won't. But you're cute when you blush." She beamed at him and added silently as she took a bite of her pizza, 'And, no, you won't smush me. You don't smush me when you hug me, after all.'

Psyche looked momentarily pleased as the force bubble popped closed. She didn't expect it to last. "Its kinda like a superstrong gerbil ball. I'm trying to 'think on my feet'."

"Nobody is wrestling the Omegadrones without their powers," Psyche finally spoke up from her concerned checking over of Phalanx. Her hands trembled as they ran over the scorchmark on his chest. "Our first priority is to get Edge back. Hellion can teleport Gecks and Wander to get to the tube while Phalanx and I try and take out that cannon." A frown creased her brow as she looked up at the Volcano's edge, "Our powers are from the energies of the terminus which may prove easier to nullify than any of yours. It also may be more detectable. I can cloak Phalanx while he carries me and we'll see if we can take it by surprise. If nothing else, it should give the gun a target while you get Edge out."

"If you feel up for it - and only if you feel up for it - I could probably use some moral support when we start announcing it to other people." Taylor admitted. "I think Elena and Derrick will be fine, as will the Midnighters but most everyone else in our small community is up in the air... Also, you have to protect me from any Moira shopping trips. The last thing I want to do is try on small tents standing next to the local goddess." The last, true as it was, Taylor partially added to lighten the mood.