Electra

Erin looked away, her cheeks coloring just a little as she realized he was stripping down right there in the library. The fireball had her looking back over, very concerned for a moment, but it seemed to be a very directed sort of fire, only destroying what he wanted destroyed. She considered mentioning that they did have a couple of washing machines at the school, but figured her wasn't in the mood. She really wasn't feeling too jokey either, though at least the adrenaline response was already washing out of her very efficient system. "That's a nice trick," she commented aloud. "You look better. If someone was attacking you while you were sleeping, you should tell someone. They've got psychics here and stuff like that. Someone can help you." She looked away again, uncomfortable for different reasons with giving advice like that, but it was true.

She raised her head and gave him a considering look, finally breaking into a wide smile. "You could really do it, you think?" she asked humorously. "That's something to keep in mind. I suppose most of the people here wouldn't get into the spirit of it. But it's fun to imagine, isn't it?" Stesha looked around at the other dancing couples, all of whom were also in eveningwear, some of which was rather tighter than others. "We're all dancing here, and suddenly the music changes, that guy up there on the piano pulls an accordion out of nowhere, and everybody boogies." She chortled. "It's the curse of a vivid imagination. But at least I don't get bored." While the combo continued on with the classic big-band era music, she hummed a few bars of the Chicken Dance and did a little shimmy in his arms, waggling her elbows, then her hips, then bending her knees just a few inches in a very subdued version of the dance. "Maybe some other time," she decided, still laughing as she resettled her hand on his shoulder.

Stesha nodded. "I guess once you have a certain amount of money poured into a wedding, or at least a certain number of people with a certain amount of money, they stop expecting to do the Chicken Dance at the reception. Which is kind of sad, in my opinion." She laughed. "With the right crowd, it can be the best part of the night. And the little kids just love it." She turned her head to look at the band, her head nearly resting on his shoulder for a moment. He caught the smell of gardenia from the flowers tucked into her hair. "I wonder..." She chuckled as she broke off. "Nah, we probably haven't got the kind of money it would take to bribe those guys into playing it."

Erin straightened to her feet, visibly wary as she sized him up. "Are you awake all the way now?" she asked cautiously. He looked better, more like himself, but it was hard to say. She was pretty sure he couldn't hurt her in a fistfight without that blade, but she didn't know about that fire he'd been throwing around. "You were asleep, but something was hurting you. You're bleeding," she pointed out needlessly. "I woke you up. Do you know what caused all that damage?"

Erin has 5pp to spend this month, including her unspent one from last time. I would like to add the following feats: Protection x2 (Extra: Impervious) (increasing toughness to 12, Impervious to 10) Luck 1 (increasing total luck to 2) Stesha has 5pp to spend as well. I also want to add the following Drawbacks to her: Power Loss, uncommon, minor: (-1pp) Having her hair cut to a length of less than six average inches (shave head, chop off braid, stylish summer cut) will remove her ability to photosynthesize (immunity to starvation and thirst, immunity to sleep) and regenerate until it regrows. Regrowing to useful length takes 72 hours, including 24 total hours of sleep if hair is partially removed, or 168 hours with 56 hours of sleep if totally shaved. Without sufficient rest, growth will be delayed. Weakness, uncommon, minor: (-1pp) The last six inches of Stesha's hair are dead and inactive cells, like normal hair, and can be trimmed normally. The rest of her hair is much more alive than normal hair, and hurts if it is damaged. Cutting or burning her hair invokes toughness saves as though her body had been attacked. With a total of seven points, I would like to give her Immortality (5pp), which is immunity to aging, disease, and poison, with one rank of true resurrection. I would also like to add two points to her Snare, replaced Plant Control with Corrosion, and restructure the array accordingly: Snare 9 [entangling vines] (PFs: 7 alternate powers) [25pp] AP: ESP 4 (one mile, sight and hearing; Extras: No Conduit, Simultaneous; Flaw: Medium/Plants) AP: Healing 8 (Extra: 35-ft. Burst Area; Flaw: Plants only; PFs: Regrowth, Stabilize) AP: Corrosion 6 (Flaw: Plant materials only) AP: Plant Growth 9 (Growth 9, Affects Others, Limited to Plants) AP: Stun 5 (pollen burst; Extras: Range/Ranged, Sleep; Power Feat: Accurate) AP: Transmit 5 (five miles, via plants; Extra: Accurate, Progression x2) AP: Dimensional Pocket 3 (Continuous, Ranged) (PF: Progression x4)(cap. 5000lbs) I'd also like to remove the complication Unsponsored, and add two new complications: Responsibility: Helping her new friends Divine, Dark Star and Phantom if they ask Phobia: Jack Faretti. Whenever he's anywhere she is, she wants to leave immediately. This raises problems in "ally of my ally" situations. Edits done by Geez3r

Raw instinct had Erin jerking away at that blank and mindless look, an instant before the blade lashed out. She tumbled backwards, coming up ready to fight. Those same instincts were screaming at her to strike back, that he was a zombie, that he had to be put down before he could hurt her. But James was her friend. James was her friend, she reminded herself, even as she crouched with her arms up. James was her friend, and there were no zombies here. "Wake up!" she rasped. "Dammit, James, it's me, it's Erin!"

"I appreciate the offer," she told him sincerely. "I might even take you up on it, except it would probably destroy my secret identity. I can't think of any way to explain how I'd get there without a car or flying. I just remind myself how good I've got it, comparatively, with webcams and email and cell phones. I can still talk to everyone every day, it's just not quite the same as face to face." To lighten the mood and satisfy her curiosity, she changed the subject back. "You were able to go to a Lor wedding? I've always wanted to meet a Lor. I've read articles, but they don't travel much, when they do happen to visit earth. What are they like? What are their wedding like?" She grinned. "Anyone wind up with a lampshade on their head?"

This is the OOC thread for James and Erin in the library, with the vorpal sword.

Erin shrugged, putting the dress back on the rack. "I don't really feel like it," she replied. "This is your gig, anyway. You should try some stuff on, and we'll see how it looks. Maybe we can find a clerk walking around somewhere who doesn't have a bottle of perfume." She fixed a half smile on. "Maybe, if you're feeling really brave, we can actually walk back through there and get you some perfume. Guys like that smell-good stuff, and I promise not to let anyone give you a bath."

"Yeah, I think you're right," Erin agreed with a skeptical look at the dress. "I don't know if it makes you look pale, but it kind of makes you look like a wad of cotton candy. How about the other direction, get purple?" She held up a lavender dress that she would've liked herself if it had been several sizes bigger and several inches longer. "I love the color on this one."

When Erin came upon the macabre scene in the darkest corner of the library, she assumed that an invisible villain had somehow managed to get into the library. She sprinted for James, lashing out at the place in front of him with a silent leg sweep, and then a roundhouse punch, but encountered only air. There was no one there who could be inflicting the wounds that still appeared on his skin. He didn't even seem to be conscious. Crouching down in front of him, Erin grabbed his shoulders and gave him a swift shake. "James! Hellion! Wake up!" she told him firmly. "What's going on? Who's hurting you?" She punctuated each question with another little shake.

"It's only been about two years," Stesha admitted mischeivously. "But it was a really wild party. First big family party after I was old enough to drink, and before getting my powers meant I don't really feel it anymore. Jasha and his wife are expecting their first baby this fall. Most of my extended family is back in Chicago, but I keep in touch. I'm going out there for Thanksgiving and Christmas." Her fingers brushed his collar as they danced, so that she could just feel the warmth of his skin without touching. "I haven't seen any of them in a few months, not since I moved." She looked a little wistful. "It's the only thing I don't like about living in Freedom City, being far away. It's nice that you can visit with your family so often."

Erin burst out laughing. "It sure is," she agreed. "I think my eyes are going to start bleeding, though. And it hasn't got, you know, a back on it. Just those crossed-string things all the way down to your butt. Mark might like it, but I think that's sort of the wrong signal, if you know what I mean. And you couldn't wear a bra." She walked over to another display,nudging aside hangers to look through the dresses. "There's some pink ones over here," she suggested. "They look pretty nice. And pink is almost like red."

“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.â€Â-Friedrich Nietzsche The last few days had been very busy. Erin didn't mind that too much; it was better than doing nothing but working all the time, but it did leave her running way behind on a number of assignments. The library was supposed to have the book she needed on the historical antecedents of superheroes, but it was way, way back in the stacks, where things weren't always reliably filed. It could take a long time to find it, if she found it at all. Nevertheless, she headed back into the maze, hoping that fortune would favor her this one time. She was running her fingers along a line of dusty hardcovers, trying to read faded Dewey Decimal numbers, when she heard the noise. It wasn't very loud, but it was close. It sounded like someone was being attacked. Erin tensed reflexively, then ran for the sound. The school was generally a safe place, but bad things could happen anywhere, at any time.

She beamed him a smile for the compliment as they started to move, just a little swaying and turning in tempo with the music. "I do too," she admitted. "I really wasn't sure about this whole idea, but I'm having a really nice time. And they most certainly do still do the Chicken dance at weddings," she added with a laugh. "I consider myself an expert on weddings, and the chicken dance is always a favorite, right up until you get to the black and white tie affairs. When my brother Jasha got married, we did the Chicken Dance, and the Hokey Pokey, and the YMCA. It's all a little fuzzy to me now, but I think there may have been a conga line as well. It was wild."

Erin glared at the clerk. "We're not interested," she said firmly. "Could you tell us where the Petites section is?" Cowed, the woman pointed them in the right direction. Erin grabbed Alex by the elbow and pulled her through the cosmetics department. "We could've just gone in through housewares upstairs," she pointed out as they left the danger zone. "Nobody's probably going to coat you in Teflon the minute you walk in."

"I'd like that," Stesha said with enthusiasm, taking his hand and rising from the table. "I love dancing, but I normally only get to do it at weddings." She laughed. "I don't think they'll make us do the Chicken Dance here though, thank God." Stepping onto the dance floor, she put one hand on his shoulder, the other in his hand. "I admit, I don't really know the steps," she told him. "We might just have to make it up as we go along." He was tall, but not so tall that it was awkward, especially with her heels to help out. It just meant she had to stand a little bit closer, and that wasn't so bad.

Erin led her on a very roundabout trip, bouncing up onto dumpsters and fire escapes, over rooftops and across roads, looking as though she was very familiar with the terrain they were following. She checked once in awhile to make sure Alex was keeping up, but all the jumping meant she wasn't at nearly her top speed, and it never became much of a problem. She was a little flushed by the time they reached the mall, but in a better mood. "I always like doing that," she agreed. "Sure beats walking." They'd dropped down on the service entrance side of the building, so they made their way around to the side door before actually going in. "I remember this place," she commented. "They must've changed the facade in the last couple of years; it's got a new sign. Which stores do you want to check first?"

After chasing the last of her veggies across her plate, Stesha wiped her fingers on her napkin and took a sip of wine. The live combo had already started playing this evening, and there were several couples taking advantage of it on the dance floor. She watched them for a moment, looking over at Derrick to see if he'd take the initiative. She wasn't a very good dancer, but she still enjoyed it. And it seemed a shame to waste the night, and the dress.

"You'd be surprised," Erin said wryly. "Even in Freedom City, no one ever looks up. It's a lot more subtle than running fifty miles an hour on the sidewalk, that's for sure. Unless you plan to buy a whole lot of stuff, we can just go ourselves, easier than asking for a ride. I know the way, if you just want to follow me." She sat long enough to retie her shoes and put her headband on, then rose. "We should prolly go now if you want to have time to shop around before closing."

Erin shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The last thing she wanted to do was go to the mall, which was full of people and noise and fast movements. She wasn't as uncomfortable with any of that as she'd been six months ago, and she wasn't really worried about losing her grip, but it still made her feel weird. And, she could admit to herself, it wasn't much fun when you didn't have any money and couldn't buy anything. But Alex wanted her help, and she still felt a little bad about dumping on Alex the other day. And it was better than staying on campus and running a few more laps on the endless stupid hamster wheel of a schedule she was trying to keep. "Sure," she said after a moment's pause. "We'll have to find a ride, though, if you don't wanna jump rooftops."

Erin grimaced at the ensemble Alex held up. "Um... no, I don't think that's quite what you want," she told her roommate. "And not the uniform. They'll think you're trying to steal the displays or something. Maybe you could go to the mall and get something?" she suggested. "The clerks there will know what goes with your, you know, skin tone and color palette and stuff. They can find you something good." Privately, she didn't think any two items of clothing that Alex already owned matched each other at all, somehow. They were all just too many colors.

Erin pursed her lips and surveyed the damage, looking faintly amused, but trying to hide it. "Well... you have a lot of red," she pointed out helpfully. A lot of a lot of different colors, really. "You've got, hmm, that red shirt," she offered, pointing one out as it sped by, "and those red pants. They're not exactly the same color of red, but they're pretty close. You've already got the hair." Pulling out a notebook, she wrote down her new assignments for algebra and English, then looked over at her roommate. "So he actually asked you and you said yes, huh?"

Erin walked into the room just in time to nearly get beaned by a brightly-colored jumper as it soared past her head. She dodged with the grace of a combat veteran and gave Alex a raised-eyebrow look. "Did you have a war in here or something?" She dropped her backpack on her desk and began unloading all the day's homework.

Ex3leven mentioned that his internet is wonky. This month his character Midnight II was in one thread: Midnight Madness. JackDaniels has not been online for nearly two weeks. This month his character Golden Guardian was in: Apes A'Poppin Crack the Crack-Heads Bendigeidfran was in no IC threads, but he did complete the questionnaire. Blink had no IC posts this month. Genericangst had no IC posts this month. Nothingtoseehere had no IC posts this month. Akmenos' character Duskstalker was in: Apes A'Poppin Getting the Goods Raylis' character Twilight Gryphon was in Brainiacs of Freedom, ver. 2.0 Sandman's character Wesley Knight was in Taking Stock There's Magic in the Air Sandman's character Quark was in An Amazing Bargain...but for Whom? Darian and Erin A True Horror: the Co-Ed Halloween Dance