Electra
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"Hard to say," Paige admitted, her face turned up as though she were listening intently to something. "It sounds far away, like a boom boom car three blocks away, sound you feel as much as see. But it's rhythmic, intentional. Do you think I should start broadcasting, see if anything out there is listening back?" She wasn't entirely sure she was ready to go borrowing trouble in a situation like this, and her psychic talents tended to make lousy television, but sometimes all those concerns had to be set aside in favor of actually getting something done. "I could do a general "We come in peace" thing."
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Erin gave into temptation for just a moment, sliding her arm around Midnight's waist and leaning her forehead against his temple. "They're sure," she said at length, "because I confirmed it." Straightening, she pulled out her phone as they walked into the building, showing him the image that had been transmitted. "If it's a hoax, it's a very well-done one, and I can't think of any reason why somebody would do it." She smiled a little. "After my last trip to space, I was under the impression that they didn't really want to mess with me. I can't believe it's taken so long to get them back. We need better trackers." She led the way into the elevator and up to the communications room without really thinking about it, or the fact that nobody tried to stop them along the way.
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Jessie raised her eyes to look at Bliss when she was addressed directly, but didn't really begin to unfold herself until Aquaria began stuffing the boots awkwardly onto Jessie's feet. "Are we home?" she asked awkwardly, looking around despite a neck stiff from an hour of complete immobility. She noticed the boots and gave one a curious poke with her finger, furrowing her brow when it seemed to give way slightly under her finger. "Thanks," she murmured to Sitara as she pushed herself to her feet. The relative quiet of the journey had chased most of the cobwebs back to the corners of her mind, but Jessie still felt shaky and raw, and she wanted very much to be back in her own bedroom. "Is Erin here yet?"
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Insomnia'd By HGM Fleur de Joie's immunity to sleep fell off her character sheet somewhere along the line, I need it put back on, please. She has unspent pp banked that can be used for it.
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Brave Enough to Burn [IC] (Open to FL Auxiliary Members)
Electra replied to alderwitch's topic in Americas
Stesha was the first besides Dmitri into the briefing room, having already been awake and with little travel time to worry about. She only slept or ate socially anymore, and had been putting a quiet evening to use by working her way through a small mountain of paperwork. When she'd come to Freedom City seven years ago, she'd had all kinds of career plans, each more heady than the last, but somehow de facto governor of an isolated micronation had never made the list. Weird. But it hadn't taken long to toss on her uniform and teleport in the on-call babysitter, then send herself flying through the green to Earth Prime. "Did you set all this up?" she asked, looking at the breakfasts around the table. "Thank you, Mitya, that was very thoughtful." Stesha gave Dmitri a rare, if quick, smile as she went to her place. "Now these reports we're getting, they said creatures from nightmares are cropping up?" -
Jessie came over to inspect the results as well, nodding in approval at the bold design against Aquaria's green skin. "It's very good," she agreed. "It looks like the other ones do, you did a very nice job." She stepped back to allow for the bandaging process and rubbed her own upper arms thoughtfully. "Can you do tattoos on anybody? Like what if people had skin strong enough that needles sometimes break in it, or people who regenerate damage and heal scars and stuff?" She looked like she was ready to say she was just asking for a friend, but managed to bite that back.
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"I'm not underestimating it, I'm exactly-right estimating it," Raina countered as they began spiraling downwards toward the hospital roof. Normally Raina enjoyed a considerably more severe downward vector, but in deference to her passenger she was keeping it gentle today, with the broom still nearly horizontal for the descent. "She gets in plenty of weird trouble on her own, and I'm right there to help her get into the kind of trouble that's actually fun and good for her, and just being at Claremont is pretty much a trouble magnet too. She needs somebody who's going to help her dig out of trouble, not pile it on til she's over her head." Raina hopped off the broom and held it steady for Fred to dismount as well, then Twisted the handle to collapse it down far enough to shove in her backpack. Merlin climbed into the backpack as well, peering out through a well-concealed mesh pocket in the back. "We should find some guy with like, healing powers or something, set her up with him. There's gotta be somebody close to our age with powers that aren't about breaking stuff all to hell and gone."
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Jessie listened to the phone call, then very carefully and very deliberately took her half-finished bowl of cereal into the kitchen and dumped it down the garbage disposal. She set the damaged spoon aside to deal with later. "It sounds like we're both being called up," she told Aquaria. "And you know I wouldn't let you go alone. I'm going to get dressed." Singularity's dark grey one-piece uniform was heartlessly plain, but it was better than the orange she'd had to wear while still in-house at Project Freedom, and it was extremely durable. It was the work of a moment to get changed, and just another to pin up her blonde hair, safely out of harm's way. She picked up the baton that she kept safe in her underwear drawer when she wasn't working, then returned to the living room. "All right, let's go."
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Erin bolted to her feet when her Freedom League ringtone sounded, despite the fact that she was in the middle of a staff meeting. None of her people so much as blinked; this wasn't exactly uncommon behavior. "I gotta take this, I'll be right back." Nodding to Steve to take over the discussion of security upgrades, she stepped back into her office and opened the phone. Aquaria was looking all right, she noted with an attempt at detachment, Jessie was not. What the hell had happened out there? "Confirmed," she spoke into the phone, letting it transcribe her speech to a return text. "That's them. I'm on my way." She punched another few buttons and sent a text to Trevor on his emergency line. They found Jessie. OMW FLHQ now. Sliding her phone back into its holster, she stuck her head back into the conference room. "I've got an emergency," she said flatly. "Tag me if you've got any urgent questions, otherwise we'll pick this back up tomorrow." By the time she was out of the elevator, she'd sent a text to Mara saying she'd be out of the building for the day and that Steve was taking over her duties. It was good to have an understanding boss.
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"Anywhere?" Erin drew her legs up onto the sofa and leaned comfortably against Trevor's shoulder as she passed him a wonton. "That's a lot of possibilities." She hemmed and hawed for a moment, then tilted her head to look up at him. "Okay, maybe there's one place, but you have to promise not to laugh," she insisted with a warning glare. "So when I was little, like maybe seven or eight, my folks got on an educational TV kick, and they would pretty much only let me watch shows on Discovery Channel or Animal Planet or History Channel, right? And so I got really into watching The Crocodile Hunter, because it was on like five times a day and my mom was dealing with the baby and just let me. And I wanted so bad to go to Australia and see Australia Zoo and go on an outback safari. I grew out of it, but Megan and I would still watch the shows. Then, um, later... I remember feeling sad when I realized that I would never get to go there because even if there were still people there, there was never going to be another airplane or boat that went from America to Australia." She shrugged, a movement he could feel in his own shoulder. "And when I got here, we've just never happened to get out that way, I guess. I didn't even really think about it anymore, except that I was disappointed that Steve Irwin wasn't alive here either. But I still think it would be fun. A real getaway, about as far away as you can get and still be on Earth." Lifting her head, she grinned at him. "We could wear weird hats and pick up accents and everything."
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Jessie had been up for almost six hours by 9am, but because it was technically morning she had still poured herself a bowl of Cheerios to eat as she did the assigned reading for her American History class. She'd missed a lot of school last semester, enough that she'd had to take incompletes in all her classes to avoid failing everything. It hadn't been a very auspicious start, or a very good use of Erin's money, but Jessie was determined to make a better showing of herself this term. Thus far, things had been going well. Chagrined from her misadventures with the Spectrum Knights armor, Aquaria had been amenable to staying at home more often and letting other heroes do the dangerous, time-consuming, potentially probation-violating work of keeping the city safe. And when Aquaria wasn't putting herself in danger, Jessie could stay home too and concentrate on her studies, and maybe even catch a few deep breaths from time to time. Her chest tightened painfully at Aquaria's shout, and reluctantly Jessie looked up to take in the scene on the television. It looked scary and violent. It looked like it was probably not within the Freedom City limits. "Do you think we should?" she ventured, rounding her shoulders and stirring her cereal with a slightly wrinkled spoon. "There are probably other people going to fix it already."
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"I told you that was a dare!" Raina huffed, then immediately brightened again. "But hey, if you liked that, maybe you and Cathy ought to get together for coffee sometime. Iced coffee, maybe." The broom rose into the air and took off, rocketing into the sky with a speed and angle that should've knocked both passengers loose, but instead was no more unstable than the first hill of a roller coaster. The same magic that made the broom fly in the first place went a long way towards holding its occupants on board. "Seriously though," Raina added once they achieved crusing altitude, "Riley might have the best of intentions and he might feel really bad when something goes wrong, but you know he takes too many risks and has crappy control over himself. Does it matter that his heart's in the right place if he gets her killed?"
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Raina's steps faltered for a moment at Fred's obvious annoyance, concern widening her already large blue eyes. In normal circumstances, Raina didn't mind at all pissing off one of her friends, especially in an argument where she knew she was right, but Fred was not most people, and Raina desperately did not want to see Fred's worser half come out to play again. She hitched up the strap of her backpack, fingertips restlessly twisting and worrying the rough nylon, and tried to resume her previous pace. Within a few moments, they were pushing their way through the door that led to the roof access, one with a selectively disabled alarm thanks to clever monkey hands. "No, I'm pretty sure they had that back when you were from too, they just didn't talk about it," she assured Fred, tongue in her cheek to make up for the momentary failure of bravado. "My great-grandma used to point out people and be all "that's a girl with her own library card," and I don't even know what that means, except it's probably at least kind of dirty." She arched her eyebrows. "But anyway, Cathy wants to find a girlfriend and I want a double-single tha's 70 degrees at night, so there's probably a way to solve both problems at once." She picked up her broom from its hiding place behind the HVAC unit and hopped on board, rising slightly into the air. "You ready? Got all your stuff? It's a quick flight."
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Raina was waiting for Fred in the hallway, all sharp grin and nervy bouncing on her toes. Merlin darted out of the room as well and swung himself up by the trailing strap of her backpack, chittering something inaudible into her ear. "I knew Riley was going to be behind this whole thing somehow," she began as they headed down the corridor. "Guy's a walking disaster area even when you compare him to the rest of the caped crowd, and that's saying a lot. We gotta get Robin a normal boyfriend, preferably one who's immune to getting shot by arrows. Damned if I know who, though. Be easier if she liked girls, then I could just set her up with Cathy and solve like four of my life problems all at once." Merlin snorted. "Yeah, whatever, like you've got any better ideas," Raina scoffed at the monkey, then half-turned to Fred. "You ready to fly?"
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"That is entirely incorrect," Erin informed him, tongue in cheek. "When Alex met me, I was an emotional basketcase and she couldn't even say the word "boyfriend" without blushing. There was no planning of any sort." She let that stand for a few seconds, then admitted, "I think she had everything planned out about ten minutes after I met you. I'm thinking it's going to be incredibly low-key, like, board games and mimosas and party games she found on Pinterest, but it'll be nice. And I think Steve and the other folks on my team at work are going to take me out sometime that week, that should be fun. I'm gonna try and get him to do karaoke." She closed the top on her box of chicken and turned her attention to a packet of fried wontons. "We probably want to nail down details about the honeymoon too, people are going to ask."
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Raina didn't need any more of an invitation than that. Dropping Merlin unceremoniously on Fred's bed, she snatched the phone and held it like an intercom, not even bothering to put it to her ear. "Riley Smith!" she shouted into the phone. "What the hell did you do? You were supposed to be taking her on some kind of reunion tour of your weird-ass life, not getting her into deadly danger! Not putting her in the hospital! The only good thing about you being a semi-psychotic with a bow and arrow is that you could look out for her so what the hell?!" Spots of color were burning on Raina's cheeks as she finished her ranting, and her breath was coming faster than usual. She stared at the phone in her hand for a minute, still not listening to it, then dropped it onto the mattress and walked into the hallway.
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Minutes earlier Raina's feet were unusually loud as she came clattering down the corridor of the girl's dormitory wing, annoucing her presence long before she arrived at Fred's door. That didn't stop her from rapping loudly on the frame and yelling inside. "Hey Winifred! You in there? You small? I'm gonna go see what the hell is wrong with Robin now." She was missing advanced algebra and would probably miss Hero History as well, but she couldn't possibly have cared less. "You wanna come with us and see whose ass we need to kick for her?" From her shoulder, Merlin chirruped a rather bloodthirsty agreement to the sentiment.
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"Of course he's not going to be disappointed," Erin assured him. "You're his best guy friend, he's absolutely going to want to be the one standing up with you and toasting you. Plus, the best man throws the bachelor party, which should be a lot more actual fun..." Erin trailed off for a minute, then turned to Trevor, putting a hand on his arm. "We have to get someone else to plan the bachelor party," she insisted, her eyes wide again. "You can't be waking up hungover on Mars the morning of our wedding. How do we do that and still make it seem like everything was his idea? I'll ask Alex," she decided, picking up her phone to send a quick text. "She was phenomenal at doing that back in the Young Freedom days."
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Erin choked on a bite of egg roll, but managed to recover before Trevor felt called to intervene. "No," she gasped, even before she finished catching her breath. "There is no possible way in the entire multitude of worlds that Mark is going to officate at our wedding. There is no way that Mark should be allowed to officiate at anyone's wedding, ever." Her eyes were perhaps a little wider and wilder than was strictly necessary. Erin liked to think of herself as a fairly easygoing bride. Hadn't she just smiled and nodded her way to fifteen binders full of wedding material, most of which was entirely incomprehensible? Hadn't she just agreed on the fly to an entire second wedding reception for four hundred fifty people she didn't even know? But this wasn't a matter of personal preference, she reasoned. This was public safety. "You have to tell him no."
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Raina extended her hand, her brow furrowed in thought as she looked at the herald. She wasn't totally stupid when it came to arcane matters, she did her homework. Prophetic and portentious dreams were a thing, and agreements made while sleeping could wind up binding the waking body as well. And she knew a little bit about the Welcoming and Ravenous Host. They weren't evil, but they were chaotic, her books warned her that one could never be sure whose side they were on when it came to conflict. That didn't necessarily seem like a bad thing. Raina certainly didn't know whose side she was supposed to be on most of the time. She paused with her hand over the herald's outstretched hand, then turned her wrist, pouring purple flames like water over his fingers, his wrist. They spilled harmlessly over his skin, or whatever it was that covered him. When he did not flinch, she took his hand. "I'm interested. Show me what you've got."
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Raina rolls a 27 on her Arcane Lore.
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Puppet day! Wander and Fleur would make lovely puppets, Sparkler would be much too flammable.
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Erin drew herself up again as Trevor stepped away, dropping onto the couch amongst the scattered binders. "I don't think she knows how she feels half the time. I might try and sound her out about it without coming out and asking. I think she'll at least want to come to the wedding, especially since Aquaria will be working it and they've got that weird codependency thing going on." She laid her head against the back of the sofa. "And Steve will probably be happy doing whatever, but I've got the tiny bridesmaid brigade going right now, and I don't know that it wouldn't look a little weird. I guess it doesn't really matter." Slanting her gaze in his direction, she folded her arms and braced herself. "What's Mark's idea about the wedding?"
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"I could live with that, so long as we also have a reception for the people we like," Erin conceded. "I don't know why anybody endures a wedding ceremony as a guest except for the party afterwards. If we cut it down like that, I think we're at less than a hundred guests, and most of them are superheroes, or superhero-affiliated. That makes things easier." Erin flipped to a new page in her notebook and passed him a carton of food and some chopsticks. "I've got Alex, obviously, she's maid of honor. And then Eve, and if you've got Mark I better have Nina so she doesn't feel bad. I thought about Steve, but I don't think he'd fill out the dress exactly like Frank might hope." She grinned, but it immediately faded. "I thought about Megan, but it doesn't seem right," she admitted. "My sister should be in my wedding, but she can't, and I can't just use a substitute." She leaned into him, even as she closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. "And I thought about Jessie, but I don't know if I should. I don't want to hurt her with this, and I don't know which way is going to hurt more." She sighed. "What have you got on your side?"
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"So far we've got palace chicken, kung pao four delight, egg rolls, fried rice, and a five-hundred name guest list, of which about twenty-five are my people," Erin reported. She offered him a piece of her chicken from her chopsticks. "We probably need to whittle that down some. You had the talk with Stesha Madison about flowers, and Alex has a huge list of vendors we can start talking to as soon as we figure out how many people are actually coming to this thing, and how cape-friendly we want to make it. I talked with Steve about helping to line up some event security, maybe hire on some people who don't really care about being at the wedding to make sure nothing ridiculous happens." She consulted her list again. "And we gotta finalize the wedding party."