Gizmo

Jill accepted the proffered hand, and eyebrow rising behind her bandanna mask as she grinned. "Oh, that is not your real name." She paused briefly and blinked. "...seriously? Uh, wow. Sorry. Kinda taking all the fun out of the irreverent nickname thing there, aren't you?" With an awkward cross between a cough and chuckle, she raised a fist glowing with faint blue light. "But, uh, yeah, sort of like that, I guess." A sphere roughly the same size as Supercape's ball appeared in the air in front of her, glowing with the same light.

Jill was distracted in the middle of a broad wince as Oliver jumped into her lap suddenly. Reflexively petting the orange cat, she sighed. "Yeeeaaah... um. It's more like my mom's in a wheelchair, which my powers couldn't fix. She can take care of herself fine, but it's still super inconvenient, so it's good if one of us is there just in case." She scratched Oliver under the chin and shrugged with her unoccupied shoulder. "My dad's not around. Actually, funny story, he left before I was born but he showed up again just recently for this huge throwdown thing with, well, evil wizards, basically, which is how I ended up with powers at all. Then he skipped town again, so, y'know, not funny 'haha' so much as funny 'odd'." Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Aaand I haven't had a date since, what, jeez, last October? Wow." She blinked a few times, then placed a hand over her eyes, cheeks colouring. "That was way TMI, wasn't it? I never know when to stop talking; it's deeply genetic."

Jill nodded her head to one side ruefully. "Yeah, tuition and a dorm is not happening." With the money her brother had managed to put away over the past few years and a few scholarships she felt good about, her education was fairly secure, but she wasn't about to go out splurging anytime soon, either. "The med school at FCU is pretty good, and I need to stay close to home anyway. Jack's not around the house much anymore, so." She left the thought unfinished and looked away, a little uncomfortable.

It didn't take a genius to realize that there were massive amounts of context Jill was missing out on, but she could appreciate the value of a familial connection readily enough. "That's really cool," she agreed with a smile, drawing her knees up to tuck her legs under her. "Suits you, too," she added genuinely before immediately back peddling by adding, "Probably not an everyday thing, huh?"

Jill was quick enough to pick up on Erin's heightened emotions before going on about financial woes, and immediately clammed up, wincing inwardly and placing one hand on the back of her neck, bangles clattering softly. She had a good feeling about Erin in general, but it would have been a stretch to call them anything more than casual acquaintances. Should she offer some sort of comfort or sit in awkward silence? Finally the teen opted to speak, starting with practiced bedside manner, "Hey, if you want some privacy, I didn't mean to intrude..."

The teenage girl's cheeks coloured slightly with embarrassment, but she gave the older woman a small grin, touching her dyed hair briefly. "Heh. Thanks." Clearing her throat softly and sniffing slightly, Jill regained any lost composure. "Ah, if you've got any other plants I could practice the healing on, that'd be good. You can ask my brother sometime about how many tries it took for me to get good at sutures."

"Well, not Bayview," Jill corrected reflexively. "The West End, though, yeah, born and raised." It occurred to her belatedly that, being from out of town, Erin had probably just meant the city as a whole, but for any native Ender there was a pointed difference. "Anyway, it's where I'm from, y'know? It's not perfect, but I guess I'm, what, invested in it." The teen leaned back in her seat, absently brushing her bangs back away from her face. "Rent's a drag, though, definitely. I've practically lost track of how many scholarships I've applied to just to help with tuition."

"Pfft, well it's not like I'm going to give up at this point," Jill assured Stesha, kicking at a loose rock on the ground with exaggerated nonchalance and putting her hands in the pockets of her crimson jacket. "Anyway. That's probably enough about the teenage condition, right?" She felt more than a little ridiculous whining about how nobody at school wanted to be her friend in front of the superheroine slash planet owner.

Jill noted the reverent way Erin examined the sweater with silent interest. The taciturn powerhouse didn't seem like much of a clotheshorse, so presumably it was the origin of the garment that made the difference. Homesick, I guess. Townie or not, it's nice to hav family nearby. Outwardly, she nodded, pleased to find the other girl so amiable. "I'm going to be a paramedic. Well, that was pre-powers. Now I'm more of a paranormal-medic, so we'll see how that goes. How about you? Big plans?"

Jill let out a few notes of clear, brassy laughter. "Ha, check out Miss Green with the bad girl streak," she grinned, placing one hand on her hip. The teen was definitely looking forward to university, although the cynical part of her wondered if it wouldn't just be more of the same. Suppressing that worry, she turned her attention back to her hostess. "So, you're from a big family?"

"Well, before, mostly administrative stuff, checking people in, extra set of hands," Jill explained, gesturing vaguely to illustrate her meaning. "Since I went all glowy, though, oh my goodness, I guess that broken shoulder was really just dislocated, pop, good as new, buhbye!" The teen had had to be very careful about using her powers at the hospital, given their fairly unsubtle nature, but she was getting better at it. "Happy Birthday, in case I don't see you before then."

With a sigh, Erik spread his arms, then used Eli's open stance to wrap the speedster in a friendly headlock. "Never said it was a compliment either, hermanito," the swashbuckler grinned, mussing the younger man's blond hair with his free hand before releasing him with a small shove. Ellie's amused smirk turned to muted surprise as the Doktor enthusiastically joined in on the discussion of wedding venues. "Uh, wow. He's a lot more... chipper that I remember," she mentioned quietly. Her brother raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I guess. Probably just in a good mood since, well..." he trailed off from a low whisper. The young sibling cast a glance toward Mona, supplying, "...he took up mountain climbing?"

Initiative. (1d20+3=6) Nuts.

"Ha, yeah, no," Jill brushed off with a blunt wave, dissolving her force field slowly to set the large first aid kit back down. "I'll take nobody having any idea who I am over three years worth of being the weird moody girl who ruins the bell curve any day of the week." The girl's expression twisted with dismissive contempt, as though annoyed by the triteness of it all, but the older woman could tell it was a sore subject.

Jill's smile broadened despite her typically sardonic demeanor as Oliver pressed his head into her hand, purring. "Nah, I'm alright," she told Erin as she stifled a yawn and took a seat. "All the running and jumping is new, but it's pretty much the same principle as volunteering for a graveyard shift at the ER." Noticing the conspicuous row of gifts, she raised an eyebrow. "Aw, care package? Is it your birthday?"

Trevor murmured indistinctly in agreement, though he wasn't looking up at the sky anymore. Sliding closer to Erin on the rooftop, the young man gingerly ran a hand across her cheek and through auburn hair, long, lean fingers still warm from the coffee mug. Propping himself up on one elbow, he leaned over and kissed her lightly on the forehead, backing away just enough for his distinctively discoloured eyes to trace the lines of her face, the corner of his mouth tugging upward in a guileless grin.

Jill snorted and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, 'cause that's what high school really needed: godmode." Pausing, she glanced over at Stesha and winced slightly. "Sorry. Doing to the bitter thing again, huh? It is actually a pretty good idea, but, well, it's still high school, y'know?" Coughing lightly, she covered with a smirk. "Besides, from what I saw of her, 'covered in corn syrup' is probably just a Friday night for Divine."

"Heh, hey puss," Jill grinned lopsidedly, crouching down to scratch the orange tabby behind the ears obligingly, overlapping bangle bracelets clattering quietly against each other. "What a cutey. He's yours?" She looked up, tilting her head slightly to one side as she watched Erin's intent treatment of the package. "Ah, yeah. Not so much an early morning as a really late night, y'know?"

After a late night patrol with her brother, Jill had faced the choice of trying to grab an hour or so of sleep before getting up for the school day anyway or simply staying up. Opting for the latter, she's arrived at Claremont significantly before her first class started. Mildly annoyed, she headed for the dormitory common room, hoping to run into Eve or at least commandeer the television to kill a little time. Knapsack slung over one shoulder, the coltish teenager was surprised enough to find a lounging cat as she entered the room that it took a moment to recognize the other occupant. "Oh, hey, ah, Erin." It was a little strange seeing Wander in a casual setting; one some level Jill was used to think of the super-strong girl as one of her brother's contemporaries, not a classmate.

Trevor murmured in agreement, looking over at Erin. "Glad it helped a little," he told her softly, removing his sunglasses with one hand and placing them in one of his jacket's many pockets. "If hearing it all changed anything, I'm just more amazed. You are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for, and I'm not talking about powers." Placing his hands behind his head, he laid down on the cool rooftop and looked up at the autumn sky.

Repacking the kit, Jill nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I don't think I'd want to just hang out in all that... green for too long. Kinda freaky." The coltish teen took another look around the room. "This could be a total game changer, though. Being able to get people out of the way like this? It's like Doc Metro big." Considering Stesha's question, Jill shrugged broadly. "Well, I haven't gotten to do too much. A lot of it's just normal school stuff, and the meta stuff is mostly learning control. The more advanced students have, like, squads, I guess, who get more extreme training. Or so I hear."

"It... was a lot to process all at once," Trevor admitted, raking a hand through his black hair, tipping his fedora backward. "Knew it had to be bad, but..." Lowering his hand, the young man shook his head slowly. "Never wanted to pry, but it means a lot that you told me. Can't even imagine how hard it must be to talk about." He recognized the faith Erin was putting in him by doing so, and was determined to live up to it.

Did she just...? No, don't be dense, she's just being friendly. Hiding her momentary unbalance well, Jill quirked an eyebrow upward. "I'm going to take that 'someone like me' thing as a compliment," she grinned wryly, brushing her hair back with her fingertips once again. "I, uh, don't really have anyone to bring, but yeah, that'd be cool. The brunch thing, I mean."

"Uh... huh." Jill tilted her slightly to one side, her dyed hair slipping out from behind her ear again. "That's actually a pretty good question. Keep pretty busy most of the time; studying, volunteering and... part time job slash internship thing." She shrugged and rubbed the back of her neck for a moment, thinking. "Don't really just hang out much. Man, that's kinda weak when I say it out loud."

Trevor raised a finger and opened his mouth to object again, but after a moment slumped down again. The barely halted outbursts, so out of character for him, clearly demonstrated how close to the edge of self control he found himself. Leaning back on his palms so that his jacket fell open, he managed a weak attempt at a smile. "Heh. Zombies do screw stuff up." Bleakness crept back into the corners of his shielded eyes. "I... just wanted you to know that I am sorry."