alderwitch

Taylor considered that for a long moment before the tension she'd been carrying started to leave her frame and she slipped her other hand over his. "That's all anyone can ask, and more than most people get. I'm not asking for perfect. I know I'm certainly not, myself." After a moment she reached out to brush her fingertips through his hair. Perched as she was, she was actually sitting higher for once so it was easy to run her fingers through the silky strands. "For one, I know I have a temper. I'm sorry about today, I don't think I can imagine a more uncomfortable scenario."

If anything, Phantom had gone slightly stiffer at the sound of the sobbing children but she gave Scarab a terse nod to show she understood her part in this. Unseen under her cloak, her fists tightned until the soft leather creaked in protest. She had nephews no older than some of these children. Some of them were practically babies. Nothing could be done until the guards were dealt with, however. Once she could drop the spell hiding them, Phantom intended to waste no time in getting them out of their cells.

That made Taylor smile and she put a light hand on his shoulder, "For those that spend time around the Danger family, it's a known phenomena. They don't see the world like, well, anyone else I've ever met." Taylor tucked her hand back in her lap before she continued speaking. Not that Jack wasn't very pleasant to touch but this wasn't the time at all to get distracted. As she'd learned, Jack could be very distracting when he put his mind to it. It wasn't as if either of them were enjoying the current conversation. "I do trust you, Jack. I think, and I hope that I'm right, that we've got something that's pretty darn special. I know it is to me." She levelled a very direct look at him, "If this is just us messing around, I'd like to know now. Because if you hurt me, so help me, it's not going to be a pretty sight."

"I've heard of it but I haven't been there. It sounds fine," Hell, she might even drink the coffee there. Too bad caffiene had ceased to affect her. Taylor squinted at the clock and resolved not to lay back down on the couch, "So I'll meet you there in an hour, then." Taylor was as good as her word. For once, she was even early. Dressed in the same casual style she'd been when she'd stopped by Moira's, she picked up a coffee and staked out a back corner booth. Convincing herself that it would just look weird to sit down without anything, Taylor resolved to try and will the caffiene into working with the power of positive thought. She looked up from under her hat brim at Stesha with a small smile, "Hi."

"And Moira?" Taylor asked carefully, her dark eyes guarded as she asked the question. That was a stickier situation for so many reasons. Not only was there the goddess-factor, but Moira was a team-mate too. Taylor shifted a little on the couch's arm, trying not to fidget as she waited for his response. "You said it was a one night thing that you both regretted?"

Taylor perched next to him on the arm after kicking her shoes off to the corner by the door. She twisted at the waist to look at him, "Well, it was a really weird situation. For everyone. Well, everyone but maybe Dark Star." She folded her hands in her lap, one leg curled up under the other, "So, can I ask for the extended version? I mean, Stesha seemed bent enough that I'm pretty sure she's the girl who showed up to tell you off."

"I have odd hours," Taylor admitted, dismissing her costume with a gesture as she paced back to the couch to find a clock and peer at it owlishly. "Don't worry 'bout it." Trying to wake up her brain, Taylor began to make slow laps around the living room. She'd done something horrible to her neck napping like that. "Yeah, yeah. Of course we can talk. Tonight's fine. Where did you want to meet?" She hoped things would get back to normal. Having a friend who happened to be her boyfriend's ex. Well, it didn't look like the uncomfortableness was at an end for the week at any rate. "I can meet you in about an hour, anywhere you'd like."

Museum, collector.... Right! When you're on your way to the man's home... <.< >.>

"I know what you mean. My 'morning' started late last night and has really only gone downhill from there," A hint of her usual smile emerged and she held out one slender hand for him to take, "It's no effort to drop you off at your car afterwards." She threaded her fingers through his and teleported them inside the spartan apartment she called home. This was one of many excellent reasons that the central living area was quite so bare. There wasn't anything to risk a messy impact with. Once there, she slipped her jacket off and stuck it next to the door along with her hat. "The cupboard's pretty bare but I think I have a few sodas in the fridge if you want anything."

Taylor - well, Phantom - was dozing on the couch, cuddled into her cloak like some oversized blanket. Her feet dangled off one end and her head rested at an uncomfortable angle on the other arm. At the phone's tinny jingle of the theme song to Doctor Who, she jack-knifed into a sitting position and went incoporeal at the same time. Taylor slipped halfway through the couch before her sleep-fogged brain caught up to her surroundings. She kicked free of the couch and slid into an empty space in the room to solidify and scoop up the phone. She looked at the number and winced slightly although she did pick the phone up and put it to her ear after a second's hesitation. Instead of the usual curt response, Stesha was greeted with a cautious, "Hey, Stesha. I know. I have your number programmed now. What's up?"

Taylor and Jack - Hashing things out after Holding Out for a Hero

Taylor walked down the steps of Moira's apartment, feeling more weary than when she'd climbed them. It can't have been more than a half an hour ago, can it? "I need a hot shower before I'll be able to think clearly. I was up all night last night." She spoke finally, coming to a stop on the building's stoop, "And I think I'd also like to ask you a few questions about all of that." She gestured vaguely back at the apartment. It was clear that she didn't mean Moira's sudden vanishing act. "Do you want to come back to my place?"

"No, they're surprisingly comfortable, actually. I've never worn heels that didn't hurt in some way before." Taylor told the young man honestly, as she crossed back to that side of the room before she sat down to pull them off and set them back in their box, "Uncle Huang's the one that got me onto my love of all things ancient. I almost ended up in anthropology but went into linguistics instead. He mentioned your grandfather a time or two in his stories when I was just a little girl."

Why don't y'all give me some notice checks on your way to the museum. :)

"Great-neice, but yes. He, like the rest of my family, calls me Zee though." She corrected with a smile before she slipped her feet into a pair of break-your-ankle peep toes. They were a little higher than the heels she was used to but not so high that she teetered on them. Mentally, Taylor added another tick to difference between these and payless shoes. These were actually a great deal more comfortable. She had to shorten her stride walking in them from her usual walk but she bet they'd make her legs look a good deal longer which was nice. She had always had nice legs. "Your grandfather too?"

Taylor nodded and flipped the box closed before she absorbed into the void for storage. Without the cloak to sheild the action, the hand she extended towards it rippled with the void appearing in place of her skin and the box vanished with a soundless 'pop' of displaced air. She stood in Jack's wake and gave Ace an irritated look at his insinuation, "I can't venture a guess. I'll see what traces of magic I can detect on it but I may end up having to talk to a few sources knowledgeble on matters arcane. Rest assured that I will manage as quickly as possible, any 'distractions' aside." Not that she didn't have matters to discuss with Jack but that was entirely besides the point.

Taylor tucked her ankles together after she was done sticking her foot on the measuring device used. That was definately different than payless. She wasn't sure she could handle this level of elite wealth for shopping. Every place seemed to provide some sort of snack tray. If she hadn't moved beyond the need to eat, she wasn't sure she'd fit through the door after an afternoon of shopping. Especially with all the french pastries. "He's a friend of my family. My uncle traveled with him years ago." Taylor provided truthfully.

Psyche settled herself on one of the cushions large enough to cradle her body and wiggled a few times until she was semi-reclined, her legs crossed at her ankles and her hands folded gently on her stomach. She made sure that her hairclip wouldn't dig into her skull and let herself slip into the first stages of a half-trance. 'Okay.'

And I will burn one of my HP to clear my fatigue.

Phantom floated up through the cloud of smoke until she could see the surrounding area once more. Focusing her attention on the so-called Sky-Lord men, she gathered the crackling eldritch energies around her hand and fired quick successive blasts that struck each man in the chest with a concussive bolt of black energy. "There are more than a dozen men showing up. We should get the sarcophogus out of here." She called down to her companions, twisting in mid-air to survey the warehouse. It made her an obvious target but Phantom would rather they fire at her than Ace below.

Phantom will float out of the smoke cloud and find the two that threw the smoke grenades. I'll hit one with my blast, surge and then hit the other. DC 24 Toughness Save. 1d20+10=25 ; 1d20+10=24

Taylor smiled and shook hands with the owners of the store. Ace's well-bred distaste of mall-shopping didn't phase her so much as amuse her. The only difference to her mind, was that the sole of a shoe here would likely take much longer to seperate from the body of the shoe and when it did need to be repaired, would probably cost as much as a regular pair of shoes to fix. Still, it was fun to see how the top two percent of the world lived. "It's a pleasure. Ace has told me glowing things about your selection."

1d20+12=16 Search check to find a suitable candidate with ESP. Activating Enh. Int for the search.

Once safely within the compound, Alex fell back behind the other three to mentally search the area for a possible scientist to force to work the teleporter. The last thing she really wanted to do was closely examine the things inside the facility but it was that or run, blind. She looked for a scientist that was alone or at worst in pairs. The less people they had to interact with the better. "Lemme find us someone. Just take a moment."

Taylor sighed, "Yes, same fellow as the observation deck. I know you have better things to do than watch other people have dates outside your window. As a matter of fact we have a date to go to the movies in the not-so-distant future." She stopped as they came to a shop with strappy high shoes on graceful pedastals in the windows, "This is 'not ritzy'?"