alderwitch
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"What? Oh, yeah. It's from gymnastics," Robin said, glancing down at the stomach in question before she let her shirt drop once more. She offered Fred a small smile, "I didn't mean to embarrass you or anything. Sorry, I know we're probably a lot different than the stuff you're used to. What's okay in public has changed a crazy amount over time. But, yeah, it's because I work out a whole lot and have very low body fat. I sink like a stone in water too - muscle density and all that. But as to my 'powers', no one really knows what they're from and none of the tests they've tried make them go anywhere. I mean, they stick me in various circles and have me push things in the gym. And then someone frowns at their clipboard and scribbles something down. I think they just started with 'most common super hero origins' and are working their way down the list. So, I dunno what caused it or how long its been. Archer thinks that its probably been since I was pretty young since I didn't 'get a bullet through the brain pain like some idiot with a death wish'." Robin's Archer impression was relatively accurate, dropping her voice into a gravelly sort of pitch. Perhaps a little too much squinting for true realisms sake but it added comic value. "I'm not so worried about your 'ailment', just not getting you stabbed or shot at. I am not really the best at avoiding trouble but I'm sure we can manage sometime. You really don't owe me for anything, though. I mean, we're friends."
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"My advice is generally to lie. Dimitri, aren't I always encouraging more deceit in my companions?" Talya turned to the thermavore as if to verify her claim. "It doesn't really allow for much emotional intimacy in one's life but it makes things flow much simpler. No one, however, listens to me. It is the saddest thing." She came around then from the bar to approach where Dimitri had all but drained the fire of its warmth. She tapped his shoulder, "That's a new record for you. I don't think you've ever had a demigoddess cry uncle on you that fast. You didn't even get to saying things like arousal or titillated that time. I am duly impressed with your antics." Talya's voice dropped from the throaty purr to a genuine amusement and for a second, clear affection for the Russian as she gave him a quick, small grin before turning back to Set, "If you want to do it the right way, perhaps you'd be better served in seeking advice from those who actually manage emotional intimacy well. I can tell you how to seduce almost anyone - it's a gift - but to have a real, proper relationship. Well, that's a different sort of game entirely. Courtship is a far more tricky thing."
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Silly man. It's always open for you. The fact of the matter was, in addition to not having much to worry about as high up as Alex was, personal safety was less important to her than the open door. Still, despite her invitation to come in, she stood up from where she'd been curled on the couch - watching television and vaguely looking over the reports from the day's work at the company. A single thought turned the television off and another sent the stack of paperwork through the air to pile itself neatly on the corner of her immaculate desk. Part of her brain had been lightly tracking Mike - really, part of her mutant brain was always marking what Mike was doing and how he was. It was autonomic, really, as much a part of her biological processes as the breath she took and the beat of her heart. Which was fair, really, since as far back as Alex could remember, half of her heart was safely tucked inside Mike's invulnerable rib cage. Alex stepped up to the door. If it had been a movie, she would have been wearing something slinky, perhaps something dipping down over one shoulder. But it wasn't a movie, and it was Alex, so she was dressed for bed with her hair in twin braids to keep the tangles down and wearing a faded shirt with the Claremont logo and the school's yellow and blue - muted by many washings. It contrasted rather biliously with pink pajama pants that seemed to be decorated with strawberries or perhaps radishes. Hard to say. Still, she smiled and reached out to open the door for him even though it wasn't locked, "Hey, you. Work things out a bit?"
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"Truth. Lies. Reality is always something a little more complicated. You were an Omegadrone and did horrible atrocities in the name of the power you served. Nothing you do will wipe that clean from your hands, nothing can. You carry it forward with you, every day, and to pretend that it isn't there feels like the worst of lies. Perhaps the greatest of atrocities as it would be one you chose to commit fully of your own volition; to act as it had never occurred. Erik's not going to understand the way you see it, you know, not really," Her lips quirked up then, her tone briefly affectionate as she spoke of the Interceptor's leader, "He's a genuinely good man who has always worked to be better. He's not like us." She shifted to lace her hands behind her back, tipping her head to one side as she watched Steve for a long moment, "He means it only as a compliment. In that you are your own creature and that he doesn't see the things you've done as the person you are now."
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Phantom, her family was well aware, could land on the head of a pin without disturbing anything around her in the slightest. The fact that she teleported directly into Huang's dorm room with a thunderclap of displaced air that sent any paper in the room flying was pure showmanship. And Taylor's not insubstantial temper. In tow was Set's own erstwhile guardian although she let Sekhmet go to round on her half naked offspring. Normally, Taylor had to rely on her costume to add the intimidation factor but not today. Even though she was dressed in jeans and a blouse, her feet bare and her hair still wet from the shower, Taylor radiated a long simmering sort of barely contained fury. The fact that the glow of power in her eyes lingered black as the void rather than the normal bright white of Heshem's light added to the effect. "Jack Huang Farretti, Jr.," Came Taylor's low growl as she took in the room, the boys various state of undress and the lingering blood magic in the air. It reverberated low enough that it passed Taylor's normal hollow echo into something else entirely. "What-the-hell-are-you-thinking?" It was all one word as she came over and yanked the coverlet on the bed hard as she switched to rapid fire Cantonese. ^Can't believe this. In your dorm room? BLOOD MAGIC?! Clearly you're not thinking and letting your... fangs make all the choices for you.^ She turned then towards Sehkmet, "I am so sorry about this."
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"Ah," Talya said, understanding but not surprise flickering across her features. It was not what she was expecting from the taciturn Interceptor, but Talya generally lived her life without displaying surprise on her features if she could help it. She examined him, her gaze dropping to the lattice work of scars on his skin. Her expression turned thoughtful, "You were one, you mean. Were you part of the '93 invasion? That was a mess. I fought in that one, actually. Not officially, of course. I was in prison at the time theoretically. Then thirty years or so before it. That one too." She eyed Steve for a long moment, "It's a good plan. The sight of an Omegadrone generally leads to hysteria and panic which is only in very small instances remotely useful. Sometimes though." Talya looked at him for a long moment, her expression expectant as if she were waiting for him to say more.
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"No, they're fine. Min is feeding Mia and Erik is trying to clean tonight's dinner from Eden before bed," Talya assured him as she crossed into the room on bare feet. Without the heels on, Talya made little noise on the ground. She could certainly walk quietly in shoes - and had - but without their presence to remind her, Talya moved like the thief she had been, ghost quiet but for her voice, "You're welcome to call me Talya. It's the name my friends use." She made the offer easily, coming to a stop within comfortable speaking range but outside the spin of his weighted staff, should he choose to resume practicing once more, "You did mention that. I have time now. What happens to be weighing on your mind? Did your lady-friend end up googling me?" Talya asked, her words light and her smile easy.
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"I'd say 'nice moves' but you don't look like you want to hear that right now." It was Talya's smooth, clipped tones from the doorway - well out of range of where Steve was working. She'd come down stairs on silent feet - clearly not to work out as she wasn't dressed in the same manner as when she taught classes. There was no yoga pants or a leotard, but rather a worn pair of blue jeans and a simple tank top. There was dirt on the knees of the jeans and her blond hair was pulled up and back from her face. Clothing was a tool to Talya, like so many other things, and today she had spent the day in her house, searching for what few possessions she cared to relocate. In the end, it had only been two small boxes that would likely be largely unnoticed but it marked the first time that anything had been moved out of the small house in Hanover to anywhere else in almost a half a century. Talya had spent most of her day off in debate over whether to bring anything at all and searching about for exactly what felt right to move. It had been exhausting but none of that showed on the mildly concerned expression she turned towards Steve. "I didn't mean to disturb you. Would you like me to go?" Talya asked as she remained where she was at the thresh hold to the dojo.
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Talya's smile remained friendly for the vendor although Erik's words drew far more attention from her than whether or not someone was trying to parse their interactions. "Erik," Talya said, his name gentle before she sighed softly. Her hand came up to rest on his back, slipping between his jacket and the light sweater beneath as they turned back into the crowd. Trusting that the ambient noise of a busy market would keep their conversation private, Talya wrestled for a moment silently with her general desire to avoid dropping barriers in public. "Erik," she repeated, her clipped words quiet and pitched to not travel much beyond the man at her side, "I expect you to do the right thing which is not always going to coincide with my more selfish desires. I could be flip here, and point out that your adherence to a moral code is one of the many things that attracted me in the first place - it's true - but my feelings are significantly less important than the safety of your girls - or the security of your business. You know these people. If those things were at risk, you'd keep this secret and it would be the right call. It's a call I trust you to make." Looking at Talya's features, without the heavier makeup that she wore when dressed for the Bombshell role, it would be easy to forget that she'd lived through a time where loving certain people meant certain not insignificant danger. Oh, certainly, there was still danger today but the world had at least started to change. Talya, though, she remembered well the threats a simple pair of linked hands could draw. She turned slightly then, a smile curving her lips that broke the briefly somber tone of her voice, "So make no mistake, I expect only the best from you. Do you think I would change a lifetime's worth of habits for just a pair of pretty faces?"
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Taylor had been laughing at the exchange, well aware of what Elis had unknowingly started with a slow shake of her head. Of course, she stopped laughing as Richard roped her spouse into being the judge, "Ahhh," Taylor said, arching her brows up in silent question at her husband. She drifted over that direction, in case interference needed to be run, "Are you sure about that?" She paused to watch the kids run past in a small herd, "That doesn't even look a little like bocce... Oh, well, no one's throwing the balls," Taylor added as she gestured for her offspring take it down a notch. "...Yet." Taylor added as she raised her voice so the men grilling could hear her, "If there's a giant fireball over there in a few seconds, I know who I'm going to blame."
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Phantom's nod was short and curt as she raised her gloved hands to create a portal once more as she floated back to where the barrier between the worlds thinned., "There shouldn't be any humans here, no, and there's no magical residue of passage - or the tracks have been hidden. It looks like we'll be cutting this trip short so I can get to work. Children if you could--" Her words were cut off with a sudden crackle of electricity as her arcane spell tripped sensors hidden below a layer of top soil. Arcing up from the ground in an eyeblink, a cage of what appeared to be electricity snapped closed around their mentor. Phantom's voice cut off with an intake of breath that was clearly pained. Whatever the light was, it seemed to flicker in and out of reality in time with its victim, locking her limbs into rigidity that she was clearly struggling against. "...rrrrun." That it was a trap, was obvious and it seemed unlikely one crafted for dinosaurs of any stripe. To those who'd been trained to hunt, it was clear that this ground had been marked for a particular sort of prey with a trap designed to point and purpose. The grass rustled, with something larger than lizards, and on the hill slightly above their position - in the high ground - three humanoid and armored figures shimmered into view, using some sort of a high end technology entirely out of place for this world.
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It's that time! Initiative, ladies and gentlemen. Everyone can claim an HP for the bad guys getting the drop on you with their wicked tech. Taylor would get HP, but she's been MacGuffin'd for the plot. Poor Phantom. If you want to try and suss out something about the tech, tell me the appropriate skill you are using to do so!
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"I think it's a matter of scale, darling, most people couldn't invent a battle suit - or even make one when given the schematics," Talya commented with bemusement, her chin resting on one elegant hand as she'd finished her meal. "You sound more like an artist, though, than scientist, I have to say. Which isn't a bad thing. Mechanical creations can be just as much art as painting or sculpture. Or poetry. Is that the excitement, then, of your new project?" She asked with a small gesture towards his hand and the hard light he'd been talking about earlier, "The ability to create whole cloth?"
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Robin watched, some bemusement flickering across her features before she gave a small wave of her hand, "You can take notes, Fred, s'cool." Robin offered, having grown at least somewhat used to being treated like an interesting experiment as she was told to push things, pick things up and run faster. "Probably not. I mean, unless there's a super serum getting tossed out in the garbage bins behind Ol' Mac's diner." Robin laughed at the idea and then gave a little shrug of her shoulders, "People need help and I can do it. It was harder when I started but especially now as I get more training here, dodging bullets isn't so bad. See, look." Robin paused then and hiked up her shirt enough to reveal the hard line of her stomach and the clear line of muscles below the skin. Criss crossing her abdomen were faint white lines of old injuries. She pointed to one that was still pink, and said with clear pride, "See, barely nicked the surface. Stopped bleeding pretty fast, too. That guy will think twice before trying to rob some old lady next time I bet. If you wanna come along, sure, you can. Its dangerous though." The concern in Robin's grey eyes was much less for the monster inside her roommate and far more to do with the fact that the delicate girl seemed like she was ill suited for the rough streets of the Fens.
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"Ah, now that is a long story. It really depends on which suite of skills that you're talking about, to be honest," Talya offered with an easy smile, "I was recruited from civilian life to serve as an informant by the group that went on to become the SOE - Special Operations Executive. They were looking for civilians who could blend in, bilingual if at all possible, and I spoke German flawlessly which made me an ideal candidate. There was a bit of basic training, how to use a gun, how to do some basic self defense in a pinch, how to trip a lock with a bobby pin and then off we went to send information back home as we were able to. By the end of the war, I had figured out quite a few more things but I'm not against adding to my grab bag as I go. Never know when a skill will turn up handy." Talya's smile was the slow, flirtatious grin that had convinced more than a few enemies to give up their secrets as she added, "And then, as you know, I spent the swinging sixties stealing things and confounding the heroes of the day with elaborate encounters. I picked up a few tricks from watching the way they worked. Didn't really do the whole swinging from a grapple line until then. I have it down pretty pat now. What about you? Self taught genius?"
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Steve's somber statement drew a quizzical look from Talya but she inclined her head to the man, "Of course, whenever you'd like, Steve. I'm not so hard to find." She paused and then added with a small smile, "These days at least." Turning her attention then to Erik's more specific requests, her concern eased somewhat. Although, from the brief expression that flickered across her aristocratic features, the adage about warning them regarding old enemies was not, in fact, obvious. "I don't actually have a hundred years of spy history. I won't be a hundred until 2017, and they didn't put me in the field until I was over twenty," she teased, "The crown frowns on child spies in general. But, yes, that much I think I can certainly manage. Thankfully, I have largely managed to outlive most of my enemies." Emphasis on most. "And those that would like to see me dismembered with the most burning of passions are still rotting in Blackstone. I send them fruitcake during the holidays."
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With heels on, Talya's hip was just about even with Erik's and she leaned in to the warmth of the arm around her waist. Erik felt more than saw the slight lift of her shoulder in a shrug against him. Her body was warm against his side, relaxed in a way that was natural. The hand against the small of her waist was a better metric than a lie detector, really, as while Talya could look relaxed - the tension of her muscles would betray her mood. Today, though, the curve of her hip was soft under his hand. She turned her head then, offering him an affectionate smile, "I'm fine, Erik. You don't put me in any positions that I don't want to be in." The slight quirk of her smile said that she knew the other meanings of her words and that it was intentional, although a lighter form of her flirtatious sort of banter that was markedly different than the flirtation-as-threat that she'd honed for war. "I'm fond of you just the way you are. If you weren't ready for things like that, it would be alright. We'd be alright. Even I would be alright." The corner of her mouth kicked up, turning her smile bemused, "Although it is decidedly odd to have people fret over my emotional well being, I have to say." She shifted then, leaning into the arm around her waist, "I do prefer this, though. I can admit as much."
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"Uhm, well," Robin seemed suddenly embarrassed, twisting her fingers together in her lap. Sheepishness wasn't an expression that flickered across the girl's features often, but it clouded her grey eyes tonight, "No, no. It's fine. A lot of people have that question. I mean, I never thought I had powers - it's not anything I noticed, really, growing up. I mean, sure, I did well in gymnastics and sports but there wasn't anything crazy..." She trailed off and then shifted the topics to the present day. Although Robin would offer up information about the Fens, her own family and childhood was a topic she tended to avoid, "Anyhow. I've been, you know, protecting the streets of my neighborhood for the last few years." As Robin was sixteen, that would have to mean she'd started very young indeed, "But I just sort of, learned as I went. The doctor, Dr. Marquez, says that I was 'malnourished and fatigued' when I got here but eating regular meals has let my body catch up to I guess what it's supposed to be. I hit pretty hard and I don't get hurt real easy but I'm not invulnerable. Bullets still imbed in my skin, and all that. So, when I got knocked around, I just got bruised and beaten up but not broken. And really, bruised and bloody is just another Tuesday. It's no biggie, really."
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"I'm pretty sure it's been around for ages," Talya agreed with a small smile, clearly willing to let him buy time or even disengage. It's true; Talya would use all the skills at her formidable disposal to keep their lives running smoothly and while Erik or Min might have been concerned at the emotional cost, for the thief, it was one of the few things she had to give. Compartmentalizing things into separate containers wasn't just habit - for a long time it had been a matter of survival. Hard was letting the masks fall away in private, in knowing that she was slowly but surely punching holes in the perfect facades of her many personas; holes that could be exploited to hurt those she'd begun to love. Hiding, though, that was easy. In fact, she was turning to the side to do just that and let the moment fall away as if it had never been when Erik reached out to catch her hand. She smiled at him - not one of the playful, flirtatious smiles that Erik had seen several times both in and out of costume - but one of those small, sweet smiles that had only just started to appear behind closed doors. Her lips were still warm from the cider and her free hand came up to land easily on his chest with a comfortable sort of intimacy. She stayed a little bit closer when she shifted her weight back onto the heels of her boots, her voice a little huskier as she pointed out, the words playful, "We could skip the eggs."
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Talya had been watching the interplay with bemusement, her slight startle at Steve's unintentional innuendo laden statements well buried under the more emphatic responses of the Espadas siblings. She'd been just about to take a bite of her burrito when she paused at Min's gentle but firm admonishments. Tipping her head to the side, she turned her attention away from her food to fix Min with a thoughtful expression, "Dearest, I'm going to need you to expound upon that just a small tetch more. 'No secrets' is not something I'm certain I'm entirely capable of. Could you perhaps narrow down those parameters so I can avoid inevitably disappointing you? Perhaps we could start with what sort of severity of secrets we're talking about and the list of people who should know them? As in 'our family - this predefined list of people - should have relatively open access to knowing what's going on in our lives' - that sort of 'no secrets'?"
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"Well, sure, so am I but needing charity and being a 'charity case' are two different things. It's like, ah, pity without being able to have empathy. So giving things to you makes 'em feel good but it isn't what you actually might need. It's about them, not about you. It happens a lot, you get people wanting to 'clean up the streets' where I live but it usually just means shuffling people out of the way so they're just not seen." Robin realized she was warming to her subject, her tone growing more passionate. She caught herself, a little embarrassed as she gave a shake of her head, "Sorry, I'm getting off topic." Resettling on the edge of her bed, Robin laced her fingers together once more in front of her, like it would remind her to stop gesturing, "Well, its all just rumor. No one but Hannah, Cathy, Raina and I really saw it and so people probably think if we were okay, they'd be fine. Superhero kids seem to be over confident by nature but just ignore 'em. They'll let it go and fixate on some other piece of gossip. There seems to be no shortage of that in this place."
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Robin followed along, a half step behind Fred as she tucked her hands once more in the pockets of her worn jacket. She shrugged, the gesture as laconic as her greeting to Changeling had been earlier. "Fred was a little nervous about what might be going on and so I tagged along for moral support. I have study hall during this period so I'm not skipping class or anything," Robin provided, her tone falling into familiar defensive patterns. Robin's entire file probably had 'has issues with authority figures' scrawled over it in large letters. Her chin tipped up, the gesture defiant, as she pointed out. "It didn't say anything at all about what it was for so we didn't know it was for assessment." Her jaw snapped shut before she could continue on and make anything worse for her friends. She shoved her hands deeper into her jacket with only a mutttered, "Needed moral support for my assessment though," instead.
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Robin was starting to get used to being summoned, so she went along with Fred with less concern than most would have had. Of course, Robin also braced for the assumed inevitability of getting kicked out of the program. It gave her a bit of emotional buffer from the idea of it, at least. She followed along, hands in her jacket pockets and surprisingly light on her feet as she followed Fred into the room. "It'll be fine," Robin told her roommate as she dropped into a chair next to her with boneless grace, "You're practically a model student." Stretching her legs out in front of her, Robin slouched into her chair like she was settling in to nap - which she might have been. Robin could really drop into a light nap in most places and most positions. As Winifred decided to address the staring student, Robin cracked her eyelids open with a much more laconic, and somehow slightly menacing, "'Sup?"
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Talya grinned at him over the rim of her cup, her blue eyes twinkling. Learning from Erik's mistake, she kept her cup in her hands, curling her fingers around it for warmth as she waited for it to get past the tongue burning stage, "What's that they say - drink in haste, repent at leisure?" Talya teased, misappropriating the quote for her own purposes. Blowing on her drink she waited and then took a cautious sip as she added, slanting him a sideways smile, "But I could offer to kiss it. You know, for medicinal purposes, of course." That was as close as Talya got to the typical 'kiss it better' line, her smile flirtatious over the rim of her cup. Still, she left the ball largely in his court. Oh, in their home, Talya was openly affectionate even as she adjusted to the ebb and flow of the household but outside, where there were observers, the ex-spy fell quickly in the habit of letting her new partners set their comfort levels, taking her cues from their interactions. Min was easier, in some ways. Talya had quickly learned that the ancient immortal didn't care to adjust her reactions regardless of observers and had adjusted accordingly. But these were Erik's friends and neighbors, and so she smiled at him over the rim of her cup and flirted. "You can tell me if you agree or not after you test the difference."
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"Aw, hey, look," Robin shifted uncomfortably on the bed at her roommate's discomfit and then folded her legs up, tailor style under on the bed as if she were finally settling in to be comfortable. Unlacing her hands, Robin spread her palms wide. She did not have delicate hands although they weren't overly large. Rather the knuckles had been flattened from pugilism and calloused from climbing. They were the hands of worker from Fred's day - or a fighter - but she gestured with a deftness and grace despite that, growing more animated as she warmed to her subject, "No one in the world could catch up in a week or two. You're doing great for all you're having to take in, and anyone who thinks otherwise is just judging you without getting that. No one's perfect. Honestly, most of these kids are nice, and well meaning, but they don't try half so hard to figure out what the right thing is. They just assume they know it." Robin shrugged and then gestured to herself, "I mean, look at me for example. These white, middle class kids look at me and they see a thug - or a charity case. They either pity me, or they're afraid of me. But most of 'em don't know a darn thing about me and just make a whole lot of assumptions. You ask. You try. No one can ask for more than that from anyone, really. What's that quote... the one about there being no stupid questions?"
