alderwitch
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Freedom City Guidebook
Freedom City PBP: A How-To Guide
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Bombshell's gloved fingertips were light on Min's arm, the pressure light but reassuring. "We'll get them back home before midnight, mark my words. And he'll no doubt have some ridiculous story of daring do for his troubles," She offered with calm confidence. Bombshell, for her part, was concerned but not yet worried. She saved worry for when there was nothing to do and at the moment, they had a course of action. She gave Willow's arm one gentle squeeze before they were all disgorged from the pocket at the site. Bombshell took the odd transportation in stride, landing lightly on the balls of her booted feet. As she lacked any sense whatsover for such things the sad little strip mall looked exactly like that to her eyes, "We spoke on the phone. Bombshell," she provided to Miss Americana, the words short as she mostly wanted to hear if there had been any updates in the time it had take to drop off the girls.
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Talya paused on the landing, her hand on the door and turned to give Erik a decidedly dubious look as if she were perhaps reconsidering walking into the room. "Explain everything and nothing at the same time? That's a tall order. How about we just go with lies. I'm really very good at those," Talya said, falling distinctly back into her comfort zone of sass. Without knowing her, it would be very easy to believe the dry humor was nothing more than that. She turned the door knob then, heading into the apartment as she added in undertone, "Also half truths and avoidance of topics all together. Let's just play to my natural strengths in conversation." She paused and then added, her tone dropping slightly, "I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do." Talya smiled slightly, "Still." She led the way into the kitchen, the word hanging in the air only to blink at the odd tableau and Ellie's shocked expression. Catching only the last part of the conversation, Talya spoke up, "...Maybe who is what now?"
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Talya tensed minutely as Erik waited until the last possible moment to move, only to let out a small, subdued breath when the knife punched into the wall rather than his ribcage. "Show off," she commented, the words more endearment than scolding. Her tone turned amused as she added, "One of these days that might get you into trouble." There was an understatement if ever there was one. She, too, caught the grin and her gaze warmed, her lips twitching with bemusement as she winked. Talya turned then to Raina to answer her questions, her voice gentling at the pink cheeks. "I'm afraid all we can offer you is the more physical end of things - magic and I have never gotten on well together," Talya's words were dry, "But you can do quite a bit without super powers and learning how to get out of things without always turning to your strength will be helpful because, dollars to dimes, there will come a time where you can't use it when you need to. Besides, never underestimate the value of misdirection. If all someone thinks they need to do to neutralize you is take away your magic and that's not true; you retain the advantage."
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"Oh, any plan that ends with someone losing costume parts is a good one," Talya encouraged Dimitri with a slow grin. She folded her arms, resting her elbows on the bar, "Especially if you can ensure it so that they also hand over their coat or cape to ensure that you aren't also topless. It creates an immediate intimacy and an illusion of vulnerability that lends itself well to further 'antics'." How one managed to lose half their clothes during a fight, Talya didn't expound on although she was clearly warming to Dimitri's suggestions and refining them. "Not the forest, no, the beach. That's almost as empty this time of year and terribly popular for cultist activity. Its always that, the sewers, or a warehouse. No one wants to summon things if they have to trek out to the forest to manage it - unless its some sort of Herne thing. Though that pretty much always ends in debauchery regardless of whether or not its interrupted."
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Talya turned to watch, offering Erik a mutely apologetic half shrug as she lifted one slender shoulder. Ellie reminded Talya of their mother, in all the best ways. She finished up with the rope and dropped it off to the side near the door as she followed Ellie's path at a more sedate pace. She nudged it out of the way with one bare foot, her voice quiet, "Not even I could have sold the lie that the sexual tension doesn't exist, dearest." She offered Erik a small smile, her touch on his arm reassuring although it was very quick and light as she moved past for the stairs. Her fingers encircled his bicep before falling back to her side as she started up the stairs after Ellie, hips swaying as she added, "It's alright, I'm fairly certain that the blame for it is all on me now."
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"Well, villains are no more universal than heroes. The fact that you've been on the other side gives you an advantage that can be extraordinarily useful, as much as it seems utterly negative at the moment. Everyone has a pattern and everyone has a tell. You've spent a few years inside Blackstone. Let's take dear old Dr. Quake, for example. If he falls off into bad habits when paroled, you already know him - his quirks and his habits. Perhaps you can use that to help him redeem himself but certainly, you can use that to plan out where he might be going and what he might be doing," Talya took a slow sip of her wine, her hooded blue gaze never leaving Erik's face. She set the glass back down lightly on the table. "I wouldn't say you can't have secrets and friends but when they come into conflict, one has to inevitably take precedence over the other - but then, it's pretty clear what my choice has always been," Talya said, the words light and easy, "It's alright. The world needs people like me too. Someone has to keep the heroes safe."
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"There's nothing wrong with a good pun. It used to be a pre-requisite for true arch-villany - before everything went so very serious in the 1970s. Oh, there were a few outliers of course. Overshadow has always been a waste of perfectly good carbon, for example," disdain thickened her accent for a moment before she went on, "But time was when leaving a calling card was practically mandatory and good banter was a skill sharply honed." Talya paused in eating her steak to reach for her wine glass, "But cultivating friends in all walks of life is useful for heroes as well. It just can make one's social circle a little tricky to navigate." That was said with a side long smile, "I've seen less of America than I might otherwise like. In general, I tend to stay close to Freedom City these days. My home in exile, as it were. The west coast is lovely though."
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Talya tipped her head to the side as the sneakers snapped past her face to make sure she didn't get popped in the nose by the younger woman as they came whistling past in a lazy arc. She knew that Ellie's feet ended up exactly where she wanted them but was also fairly certain that if she had been kicked in the face accidentally, it would probably have been satisfying. "Even experts miscalculate occasionally," Talya drawled as she shifted her grip to let her arms take the weight of her body once more and untangled her legs from the length of the rope. With precise control, Talya let her body swing down so that she was right side up once more, her toes landing neatly in the loop as the weight of her movements swung the rope outward and back not unlike a child on a swing. At the farthest point from Ellie, she leapt off of it to land lightly. Snagging the rope in one hand, she gave a few quick tugs to un-work the knot and began coiling it between her hands with practiced aplomb. "Unfortunate, but true."
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"Of course it was a magic time-displacing dumpster. Of course," Talya said, her voice dry. She went to swing Eden down onto her feet, telling her in an undertone as the other ladies agreed the remaining Interceptors would be en-route momentarily, "Go tell your mum that it looks like tonight's a 'Grandma's house' sort of evening." Talya coaxed as she finally retrieved her mask and pressed the black leather into place along the bridge of her nose. She gave Ellie's weary expression a briefly concerned look but refrained from commenting. Once she had her hands free, Talya turned back to the phone, "I think you'll be getting all of us that are left here in as short an order as we can manage it to offer whatever help you need in resolving the situation," Talya's voice was calm and composed. "We'll be en route but if you need to reach us before we arrive, you can call this number," she offered her cell phone, rattling the number off in short order.
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Robin let out a relieved sigh, her breath soft against his cheek as she flattened her hand to curve around Riley's rib cage once there was approval in his voice. "I like touching you," Robin admitted, the smile in her voice clear, "And you don't have to... I mean, I'm not saying we have to do anything more but I just. I don't want to make you uncomfortable ever." Her fingers trailed up along his ribs, the touch slow and careful but no longer hesitant. Robin leaned in to press a kiss of her own to his jaw, "I mean, yeah, it's daylight and someone's probably going to come looking for you in short order as I went out the window to get here first.. but yeah, of course you can. If I want you to stop, I'll just tell you." She pulled back a little then, looking at him with intent grey eyes, her gaze searching his features for something before she said, the words very quiet - like they meant more than most people typically meant them, "I trust you."
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"Well, certainly. If I was going to actually try to stab Erik, I'd do it from where he wasn't watching me," Talya agreed, the bulk of her attention on Erik as she lifted another knife into her hand and twirled it back into a throwing position again. Her blue gaze flicked to the side at the awkward staff twirl before her attention shifted to her target, "Most people will aim at the center of your body - its the largest target and its where most people are trained to aim unless they've perfected head shots. Those are much less reliable if more fatal. I'm a close-in fighter in general which, while Erik knows from having fought me before, he could tell from my stance and the way I hold myself. Before I throw, my eyes drop to follow my target and it gives him the forewarning of where I'm striking." She extended her arm, releasing another smooth throw that sailed end over end from the point Talya's hand released it towards the swordsman. She was better at close combat but she was no slouch at range - it just wasn't her speciality. "My body confirms it, to throw straight - my arm is going to end pointing at the target. Crossbows - archery in general - its still true. The projectile follows a predictable path, it's just a matter of learning how to read it."
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Talya smiled in return, her blue eyes crinkling at the corners as she appreciated the dangerous look the younger Espadas shot at her. It helped knowing that there really wasn't any way Ellie could just shove her off her perch, but mostly, Talya couldn't help but be pleased at the protective streak that seemed to run deep in all the Espadas. It was one of their more endearing commonalities. Talya watched Ellie's face for a moment, debating if she'd swung the pendulum far enough that any blame would land square on her shoulders. She didn't want to cause problems for Erik or Min, after all, and she couldn't exactly walk back decades of perceptions. So this would have to do. "Well, regardless of one's skill - it's always nice to have someone watching your back unconditionally," Talya replied with a small smile, "Would it reassure you to know that I have also met Erik's lovely wife? I can't say that I don't cause trouble but I can assure you, I mean your brother and his delightful bride no harm." She tipped her head to the side and then added, "I think we've assured that the rope is not going to pull out of the ceiling with our weight on it by now."
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"I've got it," Talya volunteered from where she was attempting to retrieve her black domino mask from a giggling Eden. The rest of her costume she was already wearing, dressed in black leather from boots to neck but she'd made the mistake once of letting Eden play with the leather domino that covered her eyes and now there was some question as to who it belonged to. Scooping the toddler up with one arm while she laughed, Talya reached for the phone with her free hand, her voice affectionate as she added to Eden, "Little monkey, I need that if I'm going to out and figure out what happened to your father. I'll get you one of your own - when you're older!" Putting the phone against her ear, Talya expected to the call to be a belated check in but the voice was unfamiliar, "Well, you're speaking to one of them," came the clipped British voice as Talya righted Eden onto one hip. "Hullo, Miss Americana. What's the news?" She raised her voice just a little so that the other ladies in the room would know who was calling. "Let me put you on the speaker." She added, touching a button on the phone so that everyone would hear the woman's news. It probably wasn't a good sign.
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"I told you that people weren't going to know you'd switched emails if you didn't update them all," came Alex's friendly 'I told you so' tone that was familiar to the majority of the people in the room. "It's alright, Mark, I saved them all. I'll forward them along to Mike now that he's back in the swing of things, so to speak. He'll catch up." Turning her sunny smile back on Joe, she beamed at him, "Thank you so much, Joe. I'm really proud of what we've started to accomplish although, really, AEON wouldn't exist without Mark and Erin. They both helped out when it was just a brief idea when we were kids. I'm just hoping I can use it to really give back to the community. I think we're only going to see more meta-humans as the years go on and eventually the systems we have in place will be strained. Hopefully we can make sure that doesn't come to pass. It's great being located in Freedom City because there are other companies with similar mindsets. I always think that it makes you sharper to see what other people are doing. No one can do everything alone and with ArcheTech and Hax, there's lots of different eyes looking at similar problems."
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"It's better to not have to deal with angry city officials if one can avoid it," Talya pointed out dryly, turning her head to give the Russian a fond smile, "I am certain I could get a secret evil lair built under any part of the city I really wanted given the time and the willingness to track down old acquaintances but that seems to beg having said 'old acquaintances' rat out my newest hiding spots to any number of not-yet-dead enemies. Having something built perfectly legal and with good, normal folk who have no idea what its purposes is remains the better bet. And that, my darling, requires permits." Reaching up to flip the visor down, Talya took advantage of the mirror within to smooth her hair out and begin removing the red-as-sin lipstick and cat-eye make up that had been fitting for earlier in the day. The Talya that taught at the school, however, was different enough from Bombshell's public face that she'd need to make some changes before they reached the West End. Talya would have to be a good deal more inebriated than she currently was to not keep her identities straight. With quick fingertips, she unravelled the neatly maintained pin curls into something more contemporary. The tailored peplum jacket was quickly removed and discarded for the back seat and she began to adjust the blouse below, with quick and practiced gestures. "Having trouble establishing good friendly rivalries?" Talya asked with sympathy as she went to reapply a softer shade of makeup, "Its the post-eighties phenomena, I'm afraid. Super heroes grew serious and then it's hung around like a pall. When's the last time you saw a flying ape with a laser gun?"
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"I'll be alright, Dimitri. I've always been tougher than I look," Talya pointed out with a jaunty sort of smile. Her hands fluttered in a small 'what can you do' gesture, quick to reassure one of her oldest friends of her well being, "When have you known me to not land on my feet? Besides," Talya hesitated for a long moment, her tongue loosened at least a little by the evening's libations. "... it does make me happy. Happier than I've been in a long time." She reached over, giving his parka covered arm a gentle pat, "No one is 'trifling' with anyone but I'm not sure we've reached the 'I built you a nuclear bunker' stage of the relationship. I could be wrong but I think one works up to that sort of thing. Besides, you were just pointing out that its less likely nuclear fallout and more likely to be fought with powerful titans in the next go-around. I am dubious as to the use of a bunker save for storing canned goods. Besides, the permits alone to get one built in the West End would take ages. A safe room would be easier and probably more useful in the long run and I think they might already have that."
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"Hmm. It's hard to get more exciting than Freedom City. The density of super heroes leads to an exceptional sort of experience unlike anything else on the globe," Talya replied, watching the appreciation for food with an understanding glint in her blue eyes. Prison food was uniformly a horrible experience regardless of the prison. She began to slice hers up as well, cutting it into small manageable bites. "And 'interesting' is a complicated term. I have to admit, I like the cities. Moscow in winter is unlike anything else. Most people don't visit then due to the bitter cold so most of the tourist attractions are emptier than they'd otherwise be and the winter festivals are worth seeing more than once in a lifetime. Paris will always hold a special place in my heart - its the museums. I could spend a week in Paris and see nothing but the art. I've seen that city in all sorts of states - right after the war, she was a different creature..." Talya lifted one shoulder in an elegant shrug, "New York, during the 1960's. That was an exceptional time. Everything was changing and the city resonated with it. What about you, any place you'd like to go see now that you can?"
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Talya gave a slight lift of her shoulders at the comment about Scarab. The fact of the matter was Elena was in a very different place when Talya had come back from an unintentional four year jaunt with Ace and while she'd always have a special place in her heart for Elena - no, the relationship was certainly off at the moment. "It's alright. It's how such things go," she said and gave a small shudder at Dimitri's very Russian take on the inevitableness of an unpleasant future, "I'm not sure if 'quick and brutal' is better than 'slow and brutal'. Perhaps. The lack of irradiated wasteland would be a plus. It's something I was nervous about in the fifties. I mean, I'll get better but will my body actually shed the radiation or do I just have to avoid people until I'm no longer toxic. A war between superheroes, though, we'd end up fighting long time friends this time. A different sort of terrible." She shifted in her seat then, smoothing her hands over her skirt as she'd run down things to say that weren't the relationships talk she wanted to avoid. "It's both - a husband and wife," Talya offered, since that was the easiest question. She turned slightly in her chair to give Dimitri a small little half smile, deliberately lightening her voice as she asked, "I don't suppose you'll believe the line I gave Klara's wife about loving nothing and no one, would you?"
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"Jealousy backfires for everyone, gods and mortals," Talya pointed out, "Relationships forged in deceit rarely have any staying power. Which might be why I am single so much of the time." That was added with an easy, lazy sort of smile. "Although if its just an affair, manipulation is perfectly fine and Frost's advice remains sound. Don't turn his other dalliances into a goat or anything, though." As Set finished the shot, Talya turned at the waist to fetch a bottle of water and set it down in front of the agitated godling. She wasn't entirely sure if Egyptian gods could or couldn't get drunk but regardless, Talya thought she'd err on the side of not letting the immortal turned teenager not dehydrate herself in the process. "What's the goal? To ensure that the pretty boy is not completely turned off by a less than stellar first snog and is interested in future banishments and necking activities?" Talya asked then, "Always good to know the end goal to plan any endeavor."
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Talya sighed, scrunching her nose in a way that she would not have if she'd been sober. "It's more than a friend, really," Talya admitted after a long, long pause and some internal squirming that never showed on her serene features. She paused and then offered Dimitri a brief, small smile at the memory, letting the topic briefly change to ones that were more comfortable, "I do remember that. It was a good day, it truly was. We've had some good times, haven't we? Many bad ones, for certain, but it's not all bad." She paused then, turning towards Dimitri. "Do you dread it? The next time war splits the globe in half to slaughter each other. There have been conflicts, some major and some minor. But another world war... do you dread the day that it comes calling?" The other half of the question was unspoken, of course. Talya didn't doubt that she'd see another in her lifetime. No, as she said, forever was a long time but sometimes Talya was afraid that part of her would be relieved. Anticipation was a dreadful thing.
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Talya arched a brow as her hand was distinctly ignored and put it back on the rope. With her position, it was easy to meet the challenge in Ellie's gaze and her expression didn't give away her internal dismay as she summoned the slow, confident smile that was in so many ways far more familiar than her own. Well, it wasn't like she could protest she wasn't interested in Erik's backside unless she wanted to develop another different persona specifically for Ellie, or perhaps the rest of Erik and Min's circle of friends but adopting a persona on the fly was so messy. Of course, a normal person wouldn't consider which facade was the proper one to adopt but old habits. "Well it is a very nice backside and while I can't say that I don't appreciate it, I think he's quite capable of looking out for his own behind," Her brows arched up towards her hairline, her voice dropping slightly as she added mock conspiratorially, "He's a big boy, after all." Talya supposed that since smoothing it over wasn't an option, at least she could ensure any blame would shift away from Erik and onto her. That was easy enough to do.
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Talya laughed. It was a different sort of laugh than the one most people usually heard. This one was utterly genuine and with her hair still rumpled and no make up to speak of, it made her look young. And happy. As Min leaned over, Talya absently caught her free hand, lacing their fingers together. The thief had deft, delicate hands, and she absently ran the pad of one thumb along the back of Min's hand, before letting her go. "Dinner and a show? Truly, I am spoiled." Leaning a little forward on her stool, one bare leg tucked up under her, Talya reached forward to catch the next celery and peanut butter plane before it went flying off. With peanut butter on her fingertips and the comforting presence of Min's shoulder against hers, Talya glanced up to catch Erik's deft work with the kitchen knife, "But at the moment, my loves, not a single blessed thing."
