alderwitch
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ic How Lucky We Are To Be Alive Right Now (IC)
alderwitch replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in Port Regal
"Congratulations," Alex said with a small smile of her own, although her expression was equally warm. She feigned surprise, but not overly well, and more as if she were adhering to societal conventions than trying to fool anyone. She stood in the shadow of her larger fiance but comfortably and once he restrained his excitement, reached out to collect his hand and pat it gently. "If there's anything we can do to help with the wedding, just say the word," Alex said serenely. "I know that its probably a big surprise but I have no doubt that you'll do well with it." -
ic How Lucky We Are To Be Alive Right Now (IC)
alderwitch replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in Port Regal
As if summoned ( and since it was Alex, it was entirely possible that she'd caught Erin's absent wish ), there was the hiss-pop familiar to those that were used to AEON's teleportation device before Alex and Mike popped into existence in the room. As the AEON technology had been salvaged from Young Freedom's original HQ, it was almost certainly familiar to the majority of the room. "Sorry, sorry," Alex said as she stepped away from Mike to make her apologies. She was still wearing the pencil skirt and blouse of her working day. "Something came up at work and it took longer than anticipated. It always takes longer than anticipated." -
"And Chris, I don't think, has his head in the game," Talya agreed with Erik's assessment, her tone shifting out of its teasing banter as she took in the brief scrap between the youngest members of the Interceptors. Swinging her legs to slip off of the mat and land lightly next to Erik, she reached out to tap his shoulder lightly in mute suggestion; wordlessly offering to sub in to the match for Chris while he took a breather. Stretching her arms high above her head, Talya limbered up while she waited for a response. "Food and a cooked meal - could certainly do that." She agreed with a sidelong smile for Steve that made it clear she'd been teasing earlier.
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"The shirt off of Erik's back?" Talya teased archly, half to see what the stoic straight man of the Interceptors would reply with and half to banter with a heavily distracted Erik. "Heavens knows I don't have pockets in these clothes." Like a lack of pockets had ever been a problem for the thief. Chances were good she had all sorts of things hidden about her person. "Though I'm willing to wager other things. I have ever so many trinkets here and there."
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Sofía's attention had been sidetracked briefly by Lou's transformation. "My god, you do have other modes than surly." She commented with one eye slightly squinted as if she didn't entirely buy it. She probably didn't. Still, the hacker kept a faint ear towards Alice as she worked towards their reluctant solution. "Well, you're not wrong." She agreed with Alice's assessment and gave a little shrug of her shoulders, "Look, think of it as a one time job, y'know, no encores. We'll get these guys off our back and figure out who riled them up in our general direction... and maybe make THOSE guys think twice about trying pull that kinda thing a second time."
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"Cathy's a mortal right?" Ray pointed out, his tone more pragmatic than Heyzel's although he offered the angel a nod of thanks and accepted the peanuts that were offered. "Kiddo, the near-earths are where people go when they don't want to be where they're from. I bet I could toss this handful of peanuts and peg someone who doesn't technically belong here - present company excluded." He, thankfully, did not throw the peanuts anywhere but into his mouth. Ray paused to chew and swallow entirely, reaching for his drink to wash it down before continuing. "But she is mortal. Not something to worry about in your teen years, really, but something to consider before permanently relocating." Absently, Ray ran his thumb over the tattoos across his knuckles, "It isn't always an easy path, leaving home."
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Talya gave Raina's actions a look of approval, inclining her head ever so slightly as she turned to lock the door and slip her baton back away from her hands. The deadbolt slid home with an audible click and the blonde woman turned the sign on the door before closing the curtains. As she turned around to catch up to the girls, she gave Raina's shoulder an affectionate squeeze. "Personally, I think there's never enough practice in tight confines," she replied easily, her lips kicking up in a sidelong smile towards Erik, "I don't get taken to nearly enough fights in ballrooms these days. Its always back rooms and dark alleys with the occasional warehouse to spice it up. Alas." She gave a long suffering sigh as she brushed her hands together to clear the last chalk from her palms.
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"Flatterer," Leilani replied to Dimitri but she didn't seem displeased by the hyperbole. The heat around the geothermic elemental kicked up a notch absently as Klara approached, entirely unconsciously on Leilani's part as she adjusted for when the two Russians inevitably bickered, "He does have a way with words." Leilani agreed before offering Klara a friendly smile, "Hello, Klara, how's the family doing? Looking forward to the holiday?" The sudden entrance of another ice-controller caught Leilani's attention - one always had to appreciate a dramatic entrance, "Friend of yours?" She asked Dimitri, only halfway teasing.
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"Man... good thing its just the case," Sofía looked up from where she was lamenting the scratches on her smartphone's case. She huffed a sigh and set about restoring her things to her pockets once more. "Oooooh, looks like a story." She agreed with Alice's assessment before adding, "I owe you one, Ms. Presley, I was not looking forward to explaining a twenty four hour hold to mi abuela at Sunday dinner." She prodded Lou's elbow with what was probably entirely too familiar a fingertip, mostly to forestall the man from wandering off if he decided that was that. "We all do, don't we, Lou?" She suggested then.
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Whatever dry commentary Talya might have had about her offspring fell away as she caught Erik's posture from the corner of one blue eye. "Mmm," Talya said instead as she shifted in place at the counter. "We haven't been sleeping at all well. Teething infants do not make for restful evenings." She offered the easy explanation for Erik's distraction. The hand along her side, the one hidden by Talya's body, shifted, dropping the closed baton into her palm silently. It would be easy to miss even if she brought the hand up since retracted it wasn't much bigger than her palm and no wider than her thumb. "Closed doors sort of lesson, Erik?" She asked mildly as she left her position at the counter to head towards the door.
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Talya's lips quirked in a small smile as she crouched down to the mini fridge to fetch out the fruit as well as replace the water bottle with a fresh one. Handing the bag of grapes to Raina, she gave a shake of her head. "No, not at all. Erik's right, though, hopefully most of them will never see any need to use the skills I'm teaching. I could say that I get enjoyment and teaching them empowerment and all of that... but it's really far more selfish. I was much... much, much worse. I was woefully unprepared the first time I had to throw a punch. I rather love that it's just something you can just... google, you know?" She straightened to fetch a banana for the monkey, offering it directly to Merlin as she leaned her hip on the desk. "But if you're interested in offering tips, I'm always happy to have an assistant if you want an after school job." Talya suggested.
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At some point, Raina's time at the dojo had become less constructed lessons and more open ended. Her mentor, after all, was a master of social nuances and Raina had grown more and more certain that her welcome was unquestioned whenever she stopped by, without ever being told so outloud. It felt far less like awkward charity that way. So, when Raina had arrived mid-Talya's late class of the day, she'd gotten a welcoming smile and a nod towards the alcove that somehow always seemed to be available to take over, whether that be for school work or relaxing. Barefoot and with her blonde hair back in a pony tail, none of the students learning basic self defense clocked Talya as Bombshell. Once the last of them filed out the door, her American accent dropped away along with the changes in her posture. "I'll let you do the heavy lifting then?" She offered to Erik with a sidelong smile as she collected water bottles to refill. Padding over to Raina on silent feet, she paused by the teenager, "Would you or Merlin care for a snack? There's some fruit we just picked up from the store."
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"That's not how it works, really. My immortal soul is as safe as its ever been and you're not real likely to cause any additional hiccups." Ray's smirk softened into a genuine if lopsided half-smile and he gave Phaedra a little pat on the shoulder as he went to lean against the bar. Gesturing for the on tap with one fingertip, he let his leather clad elbow rest on the bar before giving Heyzel a bemused smile at that, "That's a terrible idea, kiddo," he offered, giving Heyzel the same avuncular nickname as he'd used on Phaedra. It didn't have a ring of mockery, but rather the affection of someone who viewed the angel in a similar juvenile vein. "Sixteen is pretty young for marriage these days." He turned his gaze towards Phae then with a shrug, "It's also pretty young to have any confidence in what you are. I am reasonably confident that no one gets through their time on earth without making a few mistakes. What's the S.O.S about? Concerned about conjugal antics or something else?"
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"They've filed a writ of habeus corpus on us - some fancy, shmancy stationary too. At least someone's done it," Sofí volunteered from where she was sitting on Lou's abandoned bench. She lifted her fingers to make the quotation marks before she flopped back fully, leaving one arm across her eyes. Her multicolor curls spilled down the bench. Her voice was only slightly muffled when she continued, "Means that they're gonna cut us loose sooner rather than later cuz they gotta make up some charges or admit they got nothing." Sofí's voice came out muffled as she draped her arm up over her face, "Either one of you's got a friend in high places or there's gonna be a huge bill from some shady-ass law firm when we get out. Yaaaay." She twirled one finger on her free hand before slumping back to lounge on the bench. "I still think having Crankypants McGee fake a Fed call would have been cheaper."
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Ray had trailed behind to exchange rude words with the slightly inebriated man that Heyzel had attempted to enlighten. Ray wasn't in the habit in general of proselytizing: he left that for the younger crowd, but he was absolutely willing to give some tipsy jerk a piece of his mind. "Now there's the post-Christmas spirit for you," he commented dryly as he finally caught up to Heyzel, in the tone of one picking up an older conversational thread. Ray had been cooling his heels on Earth since before Phae had been born. The man was tall, blonde and handsome, though some of his many tattoos were visible above the collar of his turtleneck and along the backs of his hands and knuckles. "Hey, kiddo, nice to meet you finally," he commented once Heyzel had stepped back from his hug. "We were doing the soup kitchen rounds when he got your call. Hope you don't mind a tag a long."
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Sofía pulled a face at Lou's chastisement. "I didn't dredge up dirty secrets from his past. in my experience, folks that are using false identities like to know what could make 'em better." She grumbled as she flipped the phone over and began wiping any of her virtual fingerprints from it. Despite her clear disgruntlement, she was careful and complete in ensuring that nothing was left of her misappropriation. Huffing she cleared it and then dropped the phone to the ground with a rather nasty *clunk* outside the bars. "Hope he got the full insurance for his smart phone." She quirked a curious brow at the idea of vengeance before taking a seat on the cot that Lou had abandoned restlessly.
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Alex's assent was as silent as her entry to Mark's brain had been, never betrayed by her attention wavering from the people actually talking. But for Alex, telepathy was as natural - perhaps more natural - than speech. She didn't miss a beat in laughing lightly at Joe's offer, "No, no, I'm fine, really. It's always nice to be among friends, old and new," she assured him even as Mark was left with the sensation that Alex was there should he change his mind. "No, I have no doubt they could manage to make an appearance without betraying their identities - in many ways - I just meant that it provides an excellent excuse to avoid it." Alex's hazel eyes crinkled at the corner and she turned her attention around the room briefly before catching the two relative new-comers. Giving Mike's arm a light nudge and directed his attention in Gargoyle's way as he spoke up.
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Talya's blink was slow and innocent as Erik turned his attention in her general direction, the quirk of her lips the only real give away. "All fights are unsporting. That's why they're fights," she suggested in return but really, that was by and large Talya's personal strategy in general. She left Erik to prod Steve, keeping an ear on their conversation as she turned her attention to the match. She tsked at Chris, "I know you can lie better than that. Just admit it, parenthood has dulled your edge. Its alright. It happens to most of us."
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"Hey, this is really good," she commented to Xavier as she flicked through his file with a quick glance but apparently took in a great deal of the information in the process, "Its a nice fake record you got but you should add some scuffs to the edges. Not gonna get a second look with most of the crap work done in this town but someone who knows what they're doing is gonna notice the lack of dirt. Get someone to give you a parking ticket or two or something. Maybe a drunk and disorderly. Whatever. I could hook you up when we get outta here, you want. I got decent rates." Having given her professional if unsolicited opinion, she nodded absently to Alice, "Could do, could do." She agreed before flicking her fingers over the screen, "So they looking for a van as their current lead but mostly got nothing. Professional job by a professional team. We all," She gestured towards Alice and herself as well as Xavier, "Are 'persons of interest' but they got nothin'. Lou's just stuck waiting on processing. I can spoof a number on the phone and fake some flags to get us maybe released faster if someone's good at talking like a cop." She turned her attention to Lou then, giving him a patently expectant look. "Maybe sound like an FBI agent with a bone to pick." She wiggled the phone at him with a beguiling smile. "Alice and I got flags on our files from the MIBs after all."
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Sophía slipped up alongside Alice as Lou laughed, watching the large man with some interest even as she palmed the phone from the thief with surprisingly practiced movements. Oh, she wasn't in Alice's league, but it wasn't her first rodeo either. Ghosting back so that her cell mates stayed between her and the retreating, aggrieved cop, Sophía traced her fingertips over the case of the phone. "Good enough." She muttered about the technology. "Let's see what's causing such a fuss." Retreating to the back corner of the cell, the phone hidden by her body, Sofía went quiet as her fingers ghosted over the phone's keypad with sure confidence, her eyes flicking over each screen of information swiftly as she moved on to the next, "Just have to... ah, there we go. Hello, BCPD back-door."
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"Twelve?" Sofía scoffed, "I'm spitting distance of thirty, thanks. Just 'cuz I still got my good looks don't mean I'm an infant." Despite her grumbling, she did at least step away from the bars and tucked her hands in her pockets, her boot scuffing absently on the ground. She huffed a soft sigh, "And 'course they will. We ain't white." That was said as if it was matter of course and in Sofía's world, that was true. In her experience, her hispanic heritage was more than enough in Bedlam to lay all sorts of potential crimes at her feet. Ironically, never any of the ones that she actually committed. Watching the exchange with the other cop, she nudged Lou in the side with her elbow, her voice dropping into a whisper, "Hey, get him to come over here, yeah? Sticky fingers, there, think you can lift his phone?" The last she directed to Alice having caught enough of the professional questions to infer that the woman might be able to do a lift through the bars.
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Sofía eyed Lou is if she were still considering patting him down for a cell phone. Her nose scrunched up in mute dismay as he started to call over the guards. "I'm not worried about recordings. Those, I can make vanish, no problem." She snapped her fingers once to demonstrate how long it would take to scramble a few recordings. "If I had my gear, it'd already be done and done." She let the debate lie about just how much yield a bank robbery would be and felt the need to point out, "Money is money, sure, but they got insurance and all that. Money gets stolen everyday without this kind of red carpet getting rolled out." She kept her voice low, in case Lou did successfully draw the guards closer. "This much of a shake down, including evidence fabrication? Something bigger than money got nabbed, I bet you. Savings and Loans got some of those security deposit boxes. People get mad about money, sure, but they'll kill for secrets. I bet you dollars to dimes that its about something more than money this time."
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"If I had a phone, I could tell you why there were holding us," Sofía commented from where she was once more wiggling their cell door with faint rattling sounds. She shook her head, shaking those multicolor curls back in place. "Everything's digital these days; memos, emails... court cases. Gotta be some tip off they got from the actual folks responsible." Her brows creased then with barely contained fury. "Oh, when I find out who, they are gonna be knocked straight back to the stone age. Gonna have to listen to music on a walkman." She huffed out her breath, letting her hands drop to her sides and swiping them against the sides of her pants. "Who robs a bank anymore, anyway?"
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"Steve has faith in very little," Talya said as she pulled herself to sit on the freshly stacked mats, crossing her legs under herself nimbly. She propped her chin on one hand, "He doesn't gamble, really, which is what makes him a stellar tactician and a terrible thief." Her teeth flashed in an even, white smile, "I'll wager on you, Buffy, but I am very attached to my material goods. Consider it additional incentive, if you will." It may also have increased the odds that if Talya got bored enough, she might just start taking pot shots at Chris. She did at least answer the question though, "Generally one starts these things with a flag or something waved... Oh, didn't you bring a flag?" Her eyebrows arched in mock surprise at Erik, "Thank goodness you wore a white shirt. Just wave that then." Talya; so very helpful.
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"Pendejo," Sofía spat as she was shoved into the cell. Her multicolor hair was more tousled than usual and she spun to give the bar a kick with the heel of one foot, her posture pure defiance. "You got nothing. Nothing!" It wasn't probably something someone innocent would say, but Sofía knew for damn certain that any trail of her particular crimes was out of the league of the local PD. Now, if some governmental cyber crimes division had shown up, then she might be actually nervous. Huffing once as they were left in the cell, she turned to take in the rest of the group in the room. "They probably think that we were involved in the stupid bank heist." She offered her opinion as her hands flew down over her clothes to see if any of her devices had made it past the pat down. "Not a lot else on the horizon that'll stir up la policia like a hornet's nest. Though how they got my name is something I gonna look into, just as soon as I get outta here." She paused then and added absently, "Sofía, by the way."