alderwitch

I swear I thought I posted my question here! My mind is going on me Well, it depends, is the beastie possessing of a brain to toy with? Psyche will try to detect that first. I have my mental awareness sense and if that doesn't tell me enough, we'll check with mind reading. Sorry!

"I have a friend that I'd like to bring with me. She was assaulted and I believe it might have been my fault" There was a dry self depricating humor as she added, "Fortunately, she managed to capture one of the blasted things. Fluer. She's known to some of the Knights. Do I have your permission?" Her smile flickered quickly under the hood of her cowl. After working alone, it was rather nice to have friends to count on.

The box lid came off with another puff of dust, revealing no games inside but rather a folded up red and white costume. Alex looked over confusedly then set aside Monopoly to peek over, Mike's shoulder. Her brow wrinkled in confusion, she moved the tunic aside to reveal several photographs of super heroes from two decades ago. The photos were all candids rather than press shots and grainy. "Oh, this is mom's Flightpath stuff," Alex said a touch guiltily.

"Oh, no. You deserve to be sicked up on way more than Erin. Specially for bringing up old embarrassments." Alex said, her loyalty in this staunchly with Erin. She scampered in to squeeze between her bigger friends and held on to the bar, grinning from ear to ear.

There were a lot of boxes in the attic, and a lot of board games. Alex gestured vaguely at a stack of dusty and obviously older boxes for Mike to take down, saying, "I think Candylands in there somewhere. Just take them all down and we'll look through by the pool." Alex picked up the smaller stack of old stand-by games that weren't packed in a larger box and proceeded her friend down the stairs.

"Oh, I'm not -- we're not!" Taylor's words came out tripping over themselves. I'm not coming back here again for certain. How do I get myself into these things? The Danger phenomenon, of course She settled for declining the items with a shake of her head and handed the woman her selections along with her credit card. Taylor could afford it. Her food bills, after all, were down to nothing now. It might take a few months to pay down but she was not about to let Ace pay for these purchases. It eould just be too weird. Nor was she interested in losing the arguement with him in front of the shop clerk. "Can you sneak out and wrap these up for me?"

Alex waited politely for the adults to finish their introductions and then held out one small hand to the new arrival. "Thank you for the invitation, sir. I'm Alexandra Albright." Alex said quietly before answering the doctor, "While I do have perfect recall, Doctor, I've not made an effort to recall any memories in utero. I could likely recall some images and sensations but my intellect at the time was not so very much greater than any other infant's. By the time I was six or so is when there was truely a noteworthy difference between my view of the world and my peers."

She pulled back when he released her with a breathy little sigh. It actually took her thoughts a second or two to track back to the conversation and she nodded. Taylor flashed him a brilliant smile as she agreed, "I'll look for your call. Good night, Jack." She waited until he walked away before she removed her keys from the void and let herself inside her apartment to collapse down on the couch with a happy sigh. Her feet might never forgive her for the long walk home in heels but, oh, it had been worth it.

Taylor shrugged at Ace in a way that suggested the color didn't matter over much to her and she either didn't know, or simply didn't want to touch the idea of picking things out with someone else's preferences in mind. It was weird enough standing there having a conversation in the changing room but her leotard costume provided the same amount of coverage or near enough. When the offerings got down to less than that, Taylor accepted them with her hands and said, firmly, "Out, Ace. I've heard enough stories about you to know better than that. Send Saundrine in to report back if you want to know what these look like." Her will might have been strong but there was no way on earth she was going to wear any of this in front of Ace. Taylor was no fool, after all.

"Sure, I'l take the middle," Alex said cheerfully, skipping ahead just in time to catch Mike's pointed gesturing. She spun and thumped him on the shoulder with the plastic water bottle, laughing, "Michael Allen Harris! I had an inner ear thing. And I've already appologized for your shoes like a dozen times. A gentleman would let it go, y'know!"

She blushed despite her best intentions and then with a stubborn lift of her chin gave the undergarments a toss into the air. With a whispered incantation, the clothing was swapped on her body from one outfit to the other. Magic, for all of its little idiosyncracies, was certainly useful. She cocked her hips and struck a pose defiantly. "Voila!" Old he might be, but Taylor had a few tricks up her sleeve.

Phantom: The multiverse's interdimensional guardian, Taylor Chun has her hands full trying to balance out the life she led before the cloak and cowl and the mystic powers she now has a responsibilty to wield. Psyche: Telepathic since birth, the Terminus energies have infused her with the ability to manipulate minds, a talent she's currently strengthening at Claremont. Fortunately for everyone, her mental powers are only eclypsed by the strength of her moral code. Bombshell: A theif with few peers, a code of honor all her own, and a golden age hero, this blonde bombshell's feelings on the law have slipped her to the rogue's side in the modern era.

He startled a full throated laugh out of her. She knew why he didn't want to startle her. It would certainly ruin the mood if she phased out and fell backwards into her apartment. Jack would be aware he'd made quite the impression, at least but Taylor would much rather have a good night kiss instead. She took a step forward and slid her arms up around his shoulders, still amused although her brown eyes were dark with anticipation, "More than alright."

It was fortunate that Taylor managed to jerk back on the instinct to turn intangible at the last possible second. Instead she only jumped out of her skin when Ace popped his head through, her arms flying up over her chest automatically. Even if she was better covered in this than she would be in some swimsuits. "Ace!" She protested, twisting on the pedestal, "You can't just barge in here. Well, you can! But you shouldn't! And I am standing right here." Although she did agree, she always did look good in purple.

"I'm completely free," Taylor informed him as they reached her apartment building. She started to run her hands over her slacks looking for pockets that weren't there before she remembered - once again - that her keys were in the void. She could fish them out, but she could also just as easily walk through the door of the apartment. "What about Saturday evening?" Taylor lingered for a moment on the doorstep, one slender hand on the door's frame. She was relaxed, her posture inclined slightly towards him as they worked out the details for the weekend.

Taylor made a face at the back of Ace's head. It was feeling a little like the first time she'd gone bra-shopping with her mother. Except, of course, Taylor's mothers would have died a thousand times over rather than suggest anything like what the growing pile was made of. Half of them, Taylor wasn't even sure where they went. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, she vanished into the changing rooms to dutifully try on whatever Saundrine had already in her hands. "I don't even know what this is," she muttered to herself as she quickly stripped down. Glancing around the changing room, it was certainly not the mall for sure. The room was covered in mirrors with a little pedestal in the center. Presumably to stand on. More and more I'm feeling like 'dress-me-up Barbie'.

Taylor didn't take a step back, merely tipping her chin to keep her eyes on his face. Her pulse leapt in her throat but it wasn't out of fear. "Hmmm..." She mused aloud as if considering her possibilities. Her gaze flicked down to break eye contact finally, but certainly much more coy than submissive. Finally she glanced back up at him with a small secretive smile, "I intend any number of things. We'll simply have to see what comes of all these 'intentions' in due time, I imagine. What I will tell you is that I, for one, look forward to it."

She lifted her chin automatically, rising to the challenge in those dark eyes unconciously. A smile played about the corners of her lips, not quite deep enough to dimple her cheeks but enough to curve her lips invitingly. Taylor's hands settled on her hips, her stance cocked to one side although far more playful than combative, "I don't think you ought be complaining at that. After all, I don't really think you want to keep me away. Do you?" Her chin lifted up a fraction of an inch more, to meet his gaze.

She took the amulet back and replaced it carefully. Taylor took the time to settle the Eye in the hollow of her collarbone once more before replying, "Not really, no. The Eye's not mystical. Not really. There's no magic power contained within, anyways. The binding was in the words and I spoke them of free mind and free heart. Incantations are tricky like that. Its how you get kids unleashing things from the pit of hell, just by reading aloud from books." Taylor tilted her head back up at him and raised one eyebrow archly as she teased, "Never tell me that the grim and gritty defender of the city was checking out my legs during the last fight. Now I see why you wear a hockey mask. Covers all sorts of expressions."

"Part and parcel with the package, I'm afraid. Believe me, if I could summon something to wear with pants, I would! Here, I'll show you," Taylor stopped him at one of the more deserted sections of their walk, stepping into an alley with the confidence of a woman used to protecting herself. When they were out of the way of foot traffic, she reached up to the glittering amulet at her throat and drew it off over her head carefully. She tipped the necklace into his hands to reveal a runic engraving unlike anything still used in modern parlance. The golden setting was ancient and still warm from her skin. "I translated it aloud and the next thing I know I'm pulled from this word into the void." Taylor said, her tone actually amused, "And people say linguistics is a boring art. When I got back from off world training, the cloak and costume came with it. Of all the things I've learned, I can't manage to alter that at all. Its okay. It covers up just how short I am pretty well. The whole leotard look would be much more embarrassing without it." One hand under his, Taylor bent over the necklace to run her fingertips over the surface of the amulet. Beneath her touch, the writing shifted to a clear, if formal-looking English. 'To every light, a darkness. To every darkness, light. The balance shall be kept'

"So you had the whole look down before you went looking for trouble?" She looked up at him, curiosity in her lively eyes. It was always hard for Taylor to wrap her mind around the origins of her fellow super-heroes. Her own experiences always were so different. In a way, she considered herself lucky to have had the advantage of mystic training but it was one more thing that made it difficult to relate with the others she ran accross. Not to mention when you did happen to meet another super-hero, it wasn't usually a 'lets trade origins' moment. It did allow her to ask another question that had been kicking around, "Why a hockey mask, anyways?"

In verbal play, Taylor was relatively certain that he'd come out the far and away victor of any playful sparring contests. She shook her head at him bemusedly. "Thank you, but I'd end up all awkward and stammering and I'm currently doing so well! Instead, why don't you tell me about your early exploits behind the mask... Nothing overly serious! Just, tell me what the learning curve was like for you?"

Taylor startled at the sound of palm cracking against the skin. Shooting Ace a drolly amused look, she obidiently stood still for measurements. Being recalcitrant would only make this take longer after all. She answered the questions fired at her with collected ease that was only slightly flusteres by Ace's omnipresence in the corner. "Look, I really don't need that much..." Taylor attempted to point out once again.

Taylor blinked and stared at the window displays as she unwittingly found herself neatly manuevered inside the shop. She left Ace to do the talking while she internally debated fleeing back to Freedom City. Ace would be fine, after all. World adventurer and all that Taylor had a snaking suspicion that once Ace had his mind set on an activity, that was that. How embarrassing would it be to end up dragged here twice. I've faced demons and despotic overlords. I can handle a bit of shopping with Ace Danger Squaring her shoulders, she adopted the cooly remote expression that had served her so well in the past.

Alex was thankfull for the training that kept up the psychic shield even as she skidded down the side of the path and into thr foilage. Her hazel eyes were wide and frightened, her breath coming in a few sharp gasps as she watched the TRex. Alex tried to remind herself that this was just a bigger cousin of the cute little bird dinasaur at school. Which actually gave her an idea... Easing herself up to the edge of the bushes, she tried to get a good look at the creature. If it had a mind, she might be able to get the dino on their side instead.