alderwitch

Alex did her best not to be bowled over by the enthusiastic tongue bath. By the end she was giggling and completely slobber covered. Still chuckling, she reached out to put her hands on its massive snout soothingly as her friends popped out. "Yeah, getting dry at least would be good. I think it thinks I'm like a baby dino. I didn't realize trex's had mothering instincts...." Alex sounded fascinated. She would have to look into more xenoanthripology when she got home. For now, however, she had to make use of her new big friend. Communicating with the animal with more images and emotions than words, she tried to explain that to get back to her 'nest' they had to deal with the threat of the base. "I'm hoping she might prove a distraction to them."

"Yeah, we can get you, like, popcorn. Or pretzels!" Alex was having trouble deciding personally. She glanced around then offered, "Once we have snacks, I'll figure out where James is."

Taylor had leaned over Jack's shoulder to examine the critter but before she could even start to cast her detection spel, the brute had started to move. Taylor's hands whipped up, black crackling energy forming around them. She sent the bolt lancing at the creature without a moment's hesitation. Anything that could shake off a blow like that she was not going to pull her punches on. "Hands off, fuzzy!"

Init:8, to hit with blast: 20 DC 24 Toughness save on the blast.

Phantom leaned forward in her chair, the wound on her hand healing closed as she turned her attention to the little monster that had bedeviled her, "Who's it working for and what's it doing in this plane of existance?" Her tone was grimly pleased. Hopefully they would have a few more answers than they'd started the evening with. That would more than make it worth the hassle involved. She flicked a glance down and checked the injury. Seeing only unbroken skin, she disposed of the rags and gave Stesha a small smile of thanks before her face hardened once more and turned towards the monitors.

The imps brain is very rudimentary and it has been mindwiped several times. It has been purposed as a spy. The bulk of its memories are memories watching Taylor and Stesha. The memories are stored in a way that they are accessible to its master almost like a walking living video recorder. Its only real goal is to learn about Phantom. It has been following Stesha to see how and where she intersects with Phantom's life. It doesn't have memories of its master save for a rasping voice giving it very brief commands. It isn't that the memories are missing. The creature is hooded like a falcon when its not set to task. It accepts its inevitable death for failure and feels honest remorse that it will not return this information to the master. It is confident that others will replace it.

Taylor looked down at the unconcious brute with a slightly dissapointed look on her face. She was still panting slightly from the run and her eyes were glowing white in her face. Honestly, she was exhilerated from the entire affair. She never had managed to get her hair clip back in and now it was probably gone for good along the fight. "Rats, he fell down quickly." She looked up at Jack, her expression shifting into a grin that dimpled her cheeks. Her cheeks were flushed from the run into the woods and she was still coming off the cascade of adrenaline. Sadly, without the face-smashing part of the plan. Oh, well. "I was really looking forward to knocking that sneer off his face. I should thank you for the rescue." She lifted up his car keys, offering them out to him. "I'm not used to playing damsel in distress."

Taylor would like to think that she'd seen enough not to be scared of a common thug. No matter how big he might be. She lifted her chin pugnaciously and looked distinctly unimpressed at the threat even as she took a few steps back from him. "You want the keys?" She taunted him in a low voice that was far too close to tipping over into Phantom's, "Too bad. You'll have to catch me first." Before her eyes could start glowing, Taylor pelted off between the cars. Just for good measure, she mashed the alarm button on the keychain as she ran, giving the would-be-thief little choice but to follow her.

Taylor scooted back over into Jack's seat, trying to get out of the way of the grabbing hands and went to unlock the door, cursing quietly at how clumsy it all was. If she could have just gone insubstantial, she'd have been out of the car with a thought. Of course, there were lots of things she'd have been able to do to him if that were the case. Now she was stuck like some ninny from a movie, running from a bad guy. If Jack got back he might just laugh himself sick before helping. Taylor pulled the car keys from the ignition as she went. She had no intent of giving the lout the car. When the door popped open behind her, she half fell out of the vehicle onto the ground below with a quiet 'oof' before scrambling to her feet.

Taylor had just found the clip with a little 'ah-ha' of victory when the skin on the back of her neck prickled. Not the 'something magic is afoot' sort of tingle but more of that gut-deep sense of unease that usually preceeded bad events. She'd had her hand half fisted to form an eldritch blast before common sense prevailed. Taylor was in Jack's car in the middle of a highly crowded theater. She wasn't even in costume. Taylor glared at the man with a look far more of accute irritation than anything like fear. I've got to get out of the car. Draw him somewhere less populated. Cursing under her breath, Taylor twisted in her seat and braced herself so that she could slam her foot into the door as he went to open it. If luck was with her, she might be able to dive past him and run. Unfortunately, Taylor had a feeling that her luck was run through for the evening.

Taylor shook her head firmly, "No, its just- It's too dangerous for them to know. And..." Her voice trailed off Ace had an almost surprisingly easy air about him. It was easy to talk to him about things. Easier than Taylor had anticipated, "They'll look at me differently, if they knew. I'd rather not face the concern in their eyes." Or worse, fear.

1d20+10=19

Taylor eyed him, trying to decide if it was false flattery but she actually somehow doubted it. Ace was just to suave to need to lie. If he wanted to compliment her, he could find a much more convincing half-truth than any outright lie. "Thank you," she said, finally and accepted the cappucino. "I've always liked what people tend to call vintage. It's a kinda rude term to span several decades of clothing but I like the look and lines of the 1940s. I suppose that's why I started on the bomber jacket and fedora thing in high school. My folks always thought I was the odd one." She smiled humourlessly. They had no idea just how odd she was for the family of scientists.

Taylor shook her head, pushing herself up a bit on her seat. She reached up to start gathering her hair to knot it back from her face once more, and she wasn't exactly where the clip had ended up, "You can go first. I never have problems with crowds." Plus it would give her time to locate the absent hair clip. Maybe it had landed in the back seat? She watched Jack head off to the restrooms and once he was gone, twisted and wiggled halfway over the center console to see if she could figure out where it had dissapeared to.

She reached up to trace her fingertips lightly over his cheek, enjoying the feel of the skin under her questing touch. Under the hand on her throat, her pulse leapt in response at the dark promise in his eyes. Taylor cupped her palm against his cheek, her lips quirking in a smile that really was answer enough itself, that, yes, he could touch her and, yes, she would enjoy it. "Jack," her voice came out, husky to even her own ears. "If it bothered me, I'd tell you. I am far, far from bothered."

After Saundrine, the assumption people kept seeming to make was a little less disconcerting. A laugh bubbled out of Taylor's throat and she said, not unkindly, "If Ace wanted arm candy, he could get plenty that he doesn't need to help dress themselves. He was my uncle's good friend and feels an overwhelming need to make sure I don't embarass myself in public with a casual pant suit." Here at least, Taylor was a bit more confident with expressing her opionions, although she was always polite in expressing her opinions. She wasn't the type to be bowled over and dressed up in something she didn't care for. The dresses were all gorgeous, but Taylor had a definate retro asthetic coming out in her opinions.

She leaned into the touch on his cheek with a contented murmer. There was a definate advantage to this whole drive-in movie aspect, a certain quiet intimacy to closed car and no need to worry about bothering other people with your conversation. Taylor cuddled into the embrace before she spoke up again, her voice soft in the confines of the car, "Well, we all do need to stick to our strengths. You could stomp me into the ground in a hand to hand fight. If of course, you could get your hands on me." The slightly challenging, flirty smile was back on her lips, easily visible in the dimmed car, "As for being here, there's no place I'd rather be."

Alex hesitated, torn between her mother's wishes and the possibility of a base. After a long moment, she finally spoke, "We'll go see if we can find the base. I mean, we need one. And if it's not in use, that's just a waste. The rest of this stuff is mom's memories to share or keep away if she wants to. We really will need a headquarters other than the school, though, and we might as well see where the map leads." She looked up at her friends to gauge their thoughts on the matter.

Taylor shifted a little so that she could look at him easier and laced her fingers together over her stomach. She chuckled and shook her head a little, "No, I don't need the cloak. I actually don't have to talk or gesture like most mystically empowered, either. It's all just smoke and mirrors." She hesitated, obviously chosing her words carefully, "The cloak's not the gateway to the void. I am. Despite all appearances sometimes, I'm completely human. I just don't have a home dimension anymore. I'm a little out of synch with everything and with the ripple in space that creates, I can store things there. It's handy. The most useful spell though... the eldritch blast." She tilted her chin up to give him a lopsided smile, "I use that the most. After that, definately teleportation."

"I'm not quite sure," Taylor admitted, glancing at the dresses in the window. They appealed to the part of her that had watched old movies and loved the glitz and glamour but she was realist enough to doubt that she'd ever be able to pull that off. Even in the tallest heels, no one would call her statuesque. "Ace showed up on my doorstep to do this Auntie Mame thing, so I really have no idea what he has in mind. I do think that is stunning, however." She gestured to a white fall of silky fabric that was gathered at the throat in a halter and entirely backless.

1d20+10=20, 1d20+10=21 Only made the first.

"You're not a psycho in a halloween mask. You're a psycho in a hockey mask. Totally different franchise." She teased in response. While the previews played, Taylor adjusted the seat slightly at his suggestion before she pillowed her head on his arm and crossed her legs at the ankles. She slanted a smile at him, "Always be prepared, right? Fortunately, my costume shows up with a gesture. It's very handy. I won't say its the most useful spell I learned but its definately a favorite."

"No, almost never when it comes to scientists. I only have a vague feel for magic things. More like a chill on my spine when I'm around anything magical. It's more accute when there's anything that's affecting the dimensional veils. Both of them go off around the doctor. Its strange." And disconcerting. Taylor glanced up at the screen and settled into her seet a little more comfortably. One of the few advantages of her height was there was always plenty of leg room in the car, at least. She glanced up and shook her head, "No, honestly, I didn't even know we still had those two. We never did the drive-in thing when I was a kid. You do you know you've totally jinxed us, though." She grinned over at him and pointed out, "A healthy background of shlock horror has proven to me that you never say things like 'The worst we'll have to deal with is...' It's practically inviting some psycho in a halloween mask."

Taylor watched the rapid shift of expressions on his face as he spoke about Divine. Her expression flattened slightly, but not out of jealousy and she glanced away. Moira was a difficult subject. Technically, the woman didn't belong here. Less so, even than Grim. As Phantom, she really should drag her back off to the Hellinistic pantheon. She was also a team-mate. Which really left Taylor in a quandry. One which she was hoping to continue to let slide as she silently prayed that Divine didn't start setting herself up as a goddess on earth. She watched the surrounding environs outside the window, "I don't know the doctor well at all. All I know is he makes every mystical sense I have go completely beserk. I've never felt anything like it. Creeps me out, frankly."

"Ooooh, yeah!" Alex enthused as she was strapped into the coaster. "Specially if they caught him ripping the bars open on his chest like he was doing that fast-change thing. But outta a roller coaster." Alex pantomimed the gesture with her hands over the bars before she added, "But if we get stuck upside down for too long, I really will barf." After that small announcement, she flung her arms up in the air and spent the entire ride whooping and shrieking like an absolute child. Alex had forgotten how much she enjoyed the amusement park.