Gizmo
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"You make yourself indispensable," Winifred assured Matthew, frowning slightly at the accumulating layers of colour on the back of the hand Raina had commandeered. "All of that is going to wash off, I assume?" When the witch handed her the full sized cosmetics she decided not to press the point and risk further smirking."So long as they've found a substitute for lead I'll consider it an improvement." While she understood the health risks the products of her time had posed the line was mainly for her friends' benefit; lead-based cosmetics had turned out to be one of the minor bits of trivia about the Victorian era that remained reasonably common knowledge and was apparently a hilariously absurd notion by the standards of the day. Skimming the list on ingredients while humming quietly the alchemist reversed engineered the approximate ratios based on what she knew of the final product as a mental exercise. There were a few names that sounded like marketing double-talk more than a chemist's notes but she could read between the lines easily enough. Winifred quirked an eyebrow as she reached the end of the fine print on the side of the foundation's packaging. "Well, I could make this," she scoffed, sounding a little unimpressed. Juggling the box with her one free hand to pick up the next she read its ingredients as well before discarding it for the next. "I could make all of this."
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Winifred made a quiet, straggled sound while using her free hand to cover a face reddening enough to make any questions of blush colour temporarily redundant. "Thank you, Matthew. Now excuse me while I turn myself back into jade through force of will..." she grumbled largely to herself. She certainly wasn't going to be able to bring up the museum incident in jest ever again after that; she couldn't believe she'd started with 'lips' of all things. Obviously the eye makeup required more effort. Thankfully the hand Raina was holding didn't exhibit any of the telltale spasms and convulsions that preceded an episode; her embarrassment was evidently not literally life-threatening. "Yes, well, excellent advice," she said a little too loudly as she lowered her hand. "Was that clerk returning soon? It's important that I manage to fit the entirety of these new boots in my mouth in front of as many people as possible."
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"I can see why you wouldn't bother, then," Winifred replied serenely, attention focused on the colour being brushed on the back of her hand. After a beat she blinked and looked up at the blonde. "I regret making that joke before you helped me choose appropriate cosmetics," the shorter girl acknowledged with a glum look and a small twinge of guilt. With the way the witch avoided showing any signs of weakness it was difficult to tell what might be crossing a line. Since Raina was understandably hesitant to risk irritating Winifred too badly toeing said line seemed unfair. "You're very pretty. In a manner that is extremely subtle. Erm, but not so subtle that it isn't immediately obvious! I'm always quite taken by your..." There was an awkward pause while the alchemist narrowed her eyes and scanned her friend's face, trying to spot something that had taken a lot of work to look like it hadn't taken a lot of work. "...lips? Eyes. Eyelashes. Matthew, help."
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Jack of all Blades / Jill O'Cure Present Arms (2) Dance Me to the End (2) Ghost Girl Horrorshow (3) Set / Sekhmet Pharaoh's Dance (8) Reagent / The Alkahest Transmutation (3) Rollover and Ref Point can go to Reagent, thanks!
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The way the corners of the teenager's mouth tightened at the fumbling response said she'd just readjusted her expectations for the shop as a whole down a few notches but she was evidently too polite to say anything of the sort out loud. "'Properties of Humours and Tinctures Thereof' by Schreiber, yes. It may have been catalogued as simply 'Humours and Tinctures'?" Winifred offered helpfully, concerned about asking too much of the obviously flustered clerk. She realized that a survivalist like Smith was an outlier for more than one reason but she'd gotten used to interacting with young men like Matthew or Faretti who at least gave the impression of being able to take care of themselves. This blond youth looked to be composed primarily of too many elbows. Perhaps he was a relative of the shop's owner, learning a trade. "I requested it be held under Winifred Wei?" she added, the statement coming out as more of a question in response to the clerk's own uncertainty. "I have identification if you like?" The woman she'd spoken to the night before had agreed that a school identification card would be sufficient; she'd seemed familiar with the Academy as a reputable institution.
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Winifred was roused from distraction at the rows upon rows of little bottles and tubes, reminding her very much of raiding her father's apothecary supplies, as Raina took her hand. She gave the gradients of colour being painted across it a bemused look and glancing toward Matthew for some sort of moral support and finding little. The fact that being as pale as possible wasn't necessarily the stated goal illustrated that styles had changed enough to put her well out of her depth. "Erm. Colours like those?" she asked, jutting her chin toward a row of small bottles with tall toppers that ranged from fluorescent pinks to blues and greens for which she lacked the appropriate adjectives. "How did they even achieve those pigments..? Ah, but perhaps nothing too bold? I expect the clothing will ruffle enough feathers as it is." After some of the comments she'd gotten about the ill-fitting outfits provided by the Academy she doubted all of their peers would take kindly to her suddenly putting on airs above her supposed station. Best not to give them too many targets all at once.
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Although tall by Lor standards and athletically built for a career politician, Diena Th'emme's commanding presence has little to do with the physical. Cool and unblinking under pressure she rarely needs to raise her voice; instead raising one aristocratic brow in enough to convince even staunch opponents to quiet down and listen. Unfailing composed, she has built a reputation for hammering out compromises between disparate groups and pushing forward plans of action with what passed for speed in the sprawling bureaucracy of the Lor Senate. She is equally known for coolly cutting opponents who stand in the way of that progress to ribbons with her acerbic wit. Those who know her well would be hard-pressed to call Th'emme kind but would be quick to note that no one was more responsible for the social reforms benefiting the common citizens of the Republic in the final decades of Lor-Van. Early Life Her original title was Lady Th'emme, daughter of a royal family that could trace its lineage back even before the Lor had achieved interplanetary travel. Though it has been more than a millennia since the royal house of Omgran'te were rulers by right of blood they remained figures of cultural significance and counted many philanthropists and civic leaders among their numbers. Even among the social elite of the Rupublic's capital world they were privileged and a young Diena responded to the perception that she had had everything handed to her by throwing herself into every aspect of her studies with determination that took even the best instructors money and status could provide by surprise. She wielded her family's influence as a scalpel rather than a club and forced her detractors to acknowledge her with the sheer weight of her accomplishments. She earned degrees of distinction in galactic history and anthropology even while she focused on the political sciences. Senate Career As an adult her ambitions earned her a seat on the Republic Senate, among the youngest to hold that office. She cultivated the minor celebrity her name granted her, becoming a public figure recognized even amongst those Lor less concerned with the day-to-day political process. She built relationships with visiting diplomats, masterminding several high profile and mutually beneficial agreements between planetary governments in a process which had historically been slanted almost comically in Lor-Van's favour. She earned the position of Senator-Prime, one of a few dozen senators based on the capital world and directly advising the Imperator. The media styled her as the princess of the underdog, an infantilization to which she vocally objected. It might have been more accurate to say that Th'emme loathed small mindedness and short term thinking. In particular this meant tearing down the legal and social barriers for citizens of the Republic not genetically Lor - though it was only after the Incursion that she explicitly expanded this mandate to include the clones who make up significant portions of the Lor military and science corps. Ever pragmatic, she saw a culturally and biologically diverse citizenry as the only reasonable path toward strengthening and advancing the Republic and famously stated that the failure of the system to provide for a single one of its citizens represented the failure of the system as a whole. Incursion and CoVic Station Th'emme was one of only a handful of Senators who were present on Lor-Van during the Communion's attack and survived. Within a stellar cycle of the planet's destruction she had become the ad hoc leader of the convoy of fleeing city-ships and later the voice of the Republic amongst the loose council of Coalition leaders. Her talents for decisive action and timely diplomacy proved vital during the Incursion. The horrors she witnessed during the war had a profound effect on the senator, though her outward composure rarely faltered. Questions of fair wages and opportunities for education became questions of survival. More than ever she came to believe that the greatest threat to the Lor was their own antiquated sense of superiority. If they were to rebuild, if the fires of galactic civilization were to be saved from being extinguished, it would be as partners with their neighbours, sharing resources and combining strengths. To that end she took on the role of Ambassador for the Republic on CoVic Station, the ideal petri dish for this new order. She has gradually worked toward winning over her peers on the station who might be wary of Lor imperialism, proving herself an ally to the burgeoning Grue Individuality and groups splintering away from the Khanate but at the same time remains wary of those who would seize the opportunity presented by galactic upheaval. She will not see her people lose another home and more than ever she considers all sentients to be 'her people'. Family and Associates Th'emme is married to Scientist Evets Th'emme née Vort're, an environmentalist and 'professional volunteer'. Lantern jawed and given to stony silence Evets is considered imposing by Lor standards but in truth is simply soft-spoken and introspective. He was at their family's home on one of the orbiting city-stations during the Communion's attack on Lor-Van and survived the planet's destruction. He has since been involved in terraforming efforts geared toward finding homes for the massive numbers of refugees displaced by the Incursion. They have one daughter, Iana Th'emme. Technically a 'lady' by virtue of her bloodline, because of her mother's prominence Iana is frequently bestowed the title of 'princess' with vary degrees of respect or irony. Kidnapped by pirates as a child she was rescued by the combined efforts of Captain Myshel Czak of the Flarerider and a group of Terran heroes, notably including the baseline human Arrorwhawk and two founding members of the Interceptors. Now a teenager, Iana has developed a fondness for Terran culture and what might be charitable termed 'larger-than-life personalities', recruiting the Flareriders and Interceptors again years later to rescue her own parents when they were briefly taken hostage. An accomplished fencer and strategist who has begun to display strong leadership skills, after surviving the destruction of Lor-Van Iana served with Captain Shepherd-07 during the Incursion as a quartermaster. Upon assuming her post as Ambassador on CoVic Station Th'emme was assigned clone soldier Jilinson-08 as a bodyguard. Though it was traditionally uncommon for clones to be given assignments of such relative prestige Jilinson-08 had distinguished himself on Garron-9 during the Incursion. Though he demonstrates some of the inflexibility for which the Jilinson series is known, Jilinson-08 has shown a knack for unorthodox tactics which he attributes to working with mercenaries and bounty hunters against the Communion. In the process of helping to settle disputes on the Station he has garnered a reputation as something of a detective, much to his chagrin. Unusually for a clone who has seen active service he prefers his full batch registration over any nickname. Particularly 'Jibby'.
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Navigating the bus routes with the aplomb of someone who had grown up on much less orderly city streets, Winifred soon found the shop as promised on the corner of Pratt and Frederick. It was always difficult for her to tell based on architectural styles but the building looked older than much of the others she'd seen in the city, older than any of the other store fronts down either of the intersecting streets. She considered the sign proclaiming it 'SILBERMAN'S BOOKS' for a moment before tugging her coat into place and making her way inside. A bell on the door jingled as the teenager stepped inside. Her long white coat immediately stood out, looking a bit too large for her and suggesting a lab coat though patterned a bit more for everyday use. Beneath it she wore a green blouse presumably chosen to match her inquisitive eyes and dark jeans tucked into leather riding boots. Her black hair was pinned up and out of the way and a messenger bag hung across her shoulder. The hand not holding open the door as she looked about held a walking stick carved from some rich, dark wood, underlining that the entire ensemble would have been more fitting on a woman twenty or more years older. Sussing out the shop's layout she made her way toward the counter with sure steps. A muffled clink of glass-on-glass came from her bag as she moved. When she spoke it was with a crisp English accent. "Good morning. I called ahead last night...?"
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April 1, 2017 It wasn't that Winifred Wei wasn't allowed into the city by herself, per se, rather everyone involved agreed that given her condition it would have been monumentally unwise. Still, prudence had never ranked high among her gifts and the restriction chafed. Browsing the breathtaking wealth of information available via the Academy's computer lab kept her reasonably occupied but while picking through the bibliography of references on a poorly maintained page the displaced Victorian was surprised to come across the title of a long out-of-print book written by one Heinrich Schreiber. What Winifred knew which the site's amateur scholar could not have was the Schreiber was the pen name of one Nika Azadeh Sharifi, one of London's famous 'rogue scientists' - famous, at least, in her own day. Old Madar Nika had been wizened by the time Winifred had met her, only half coherent, though that had still placed her among the more reliable in that community of peers. She'd never heard of the older woman having had any of her work published in earnest, only the occasional pamphlet but as she began researching in earnest she learned that 'Properties of Humours and Tinctures Thereof' had been complied well after its author had passed away, complied from recovered notebooks as an oddity more than serious research. She had known, of course, that in the century and a half she'd spent transmuted into a statue anyone she had ever known had surely passed away but it was still a sobering thought. Further digging and several phone calls later the young alchemist had learned that against all odds a shop in Freedom City's West End had a copy of the book on its shelves. The sensible thing to do would have been to explain the situation to one of her friends and plan a day out; the book was unlikely to disappear within the week, after all. Instead she called upon skills learned from watching the cagier of her circle to slip away in the early hours of the weekend, intent on holding Madar Nika's work in her own hands without delay.
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The Freedom Cross Institute was still standing as the unlikely pair arrived, vaguely monolithic in the uneven lighting of the surrounding city and the few windows still illuminated from within. Even the custodial staff would have already gone home for the night - some of the rooms housing more sensitive projects couldn't be cleaned without a project lead present anyway - leaving only the security night shift and the inevitable smattering of researchers too engrossed in their work to be shackled by the concept of 'business hours'. From the outside, at least, all appeared peaceful. Astride his motorcycle, Midnight took in the building with a silence that somehow managed to suggest coolly detached study and analysis. Without turning to look at Leviathan he gestured for the less experienced hero to take the lead. He didn't need to know the specifics of the 'hunch'; if Leviathan was familiar with the FCI, better to use that to their advantage.
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Two Electrum rank-ups and lots of newly unlocked PLs this month! angrydurf +1 Veteran Rewards Kanunu - 1PP (PL13 Unlocked!) Sandman - 1PP Savant - 1PP Phalanx - 1PP [Maxed] Blarghy +3 Veteran Rewards Adept - 2PP Leviathan - 3PP (PL13 Unlocked!) Curious Key +1 Veteran Rewards Warp - 1PP Exaccus +1 Veteran Rewards Doctor Deoxy - 1PP (PL11 Unlocked!) Moon-Moth - 1PP Tekton - 1PP Fox +2 Veteran Rewards Dragonfly - 1PP [Maxed] Eclipse - 2PP (PL14 Unlocked!) Gremlin - 1PP Grim - 1PP Wraith - 1PP Gizmo +3 Veteran Rewards Jack of all Blades - 1PP [Maxed] Ghost Girl - 1PP [Maxed] Set - 1PP [Maxed] Reagent / The Alkahest - 3PP Lou Lubrano - 1PP Grumblefloof +2 Veteran Rewards Mister Strix - 2PP Heritage +3 Veteran Rewards (Electrum Unlocked!) Grimalkin - 2PP [Maxed] Miracle Girl - 3PP KnightDisciple +1 Veteran Rewards Cobalt Templar - 1PP Judex - 1PP Thoughtspeed - 1PP Kolohehonu +9 Veteran Rewards Hyperactive - 9PP MBCE +2 Veteran Rewards Hammer - 2PP Moira Morley +2 Veteran Rewards Scion - 2PP Nick +1 Veteran Rewards Ardent - 1PP Willow - 1PP [Maxed] olopi +5 Veteran Rewards Barrier - 3PP Bird of Arms - 5PP (PL10 Unlocked!) Bonfire - 5PP (PL13 Unlocked!) Sha'ir The Spellsmith - 2PP Raveled +1 Veteran Rewards Blue Jay - 1PP Chrome - 1PP Corona - 1PP Sophistemon +2 Veteran Rewards Presto the Preposterous - 1PP Upgrade - 2PP Supercape +3 Veteran Rewards Flintlock - 2PP Lord Steam - 1PP The Red Rat - 3PP Starshot - 1PP Synth - 3PP TheAbsurdist +3 Veteran Rewards Asad - 3PP Bliss - 1PP Errant - 1PP Thevshi +4 Veteran Rewards (Electrum Unlocked!) Paradigm - 2PP [Maxed] Synapse - 3PP Tsunami - 4PP Tiffany Korta +3 Veteran Rewards Blodeuwedd - 1PP Emerald Spider - 1PP Frostbyte - 1PP Merge Trois - 3PP Dr. Thorne - 1PP The Traveller - 1PP Voin Zhenschina - 1PP
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In his haste to escape the last remaining intruder nearly ran face first into the robed figure floating in the entranceway to the stairwell. Face concealed in the shadows of a tattered hood, the creature's outline was partially shrouded by a cloud of chilling mist rolling down the stairs, making it impossible to see more than a few feet beyond. What could be seen of the passage was covered in a thick layer of jagged rime, looking more like an abandoned freezer than part of an office building. Worse yet dozens of needle tipped icicles the size of kitchen knives rattled momentarily before snapping free and floating into the air, orienting themselves just behind the phantom with their tips aimed squarely at the fleeing criminal. They hung there menacingly while the robed figure raised a skeletal hand to point sternly back the way he had come.
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"Be fair, he has a canine sense of smell and rooms with Smith," Winifred reminded Raina as they marched toward the cosmetics section. Growing up where and when she had she doubted there were any odours in the modern world that could offend her sensibilities overmuch. Her shoulder did relax visibly as the blonde related Herrera Miramontes' message; she still wasn't entirely comfortable imposing upon their wealthy classmate's generosity like this but at least they had his explicit approval. As the racks of different makeups and the adjacent chairs came into view her body language tightened right back up. "Ah... I'm not sure how wise it would be to let strangers approach my personal space with various brushes or implements or whatever they might have." It had been such a good day so far that she had an irrational stab of anxiety that she might ruin it all just before the end.
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"Hide the chocolate!" Eden shouted at the full, impressive volume of her growing lungs at the sight of Dimitri, dissolving into another fit of giggles as Talya swept her up. "I didn't tell her to say that," Erik insisted through a short chuckle, "but I kind of wish I had. Hey, Corncob. Thanks." He accepted the bag to set aside with one hand while shaking the Russian's gloved hand with the other. The fencer's expression were much easier to read than Talya's and it was clear that the gratitude wasn't wholly on account of the children's gifts. "And you must be Klara, yeah?" He turned to greet the second arrival with a lopsided grin as Min led her into the apartment. Her prodigious height didn't seem to surprise him; she wasn't the first seven foot tall woman he'd met, after all. "Good to put a face to the name. Lemme grab your coat." He also knew well enough not to extend the same offer to the draugr. Ushering them toward the couch and armchairs in the living room he stepped halfway into the opening that led to the adjoining kitchen, leaving Talya to greet Ace as he arrived just behind Klara. "What's everybody drinking? We can do tea, coffee, I've got some local craft beers?" The grin returned as he added, "I mean, I don't want to assume vodka buuuut..."
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"Porting and wings?" Erik mused calmly as his body launched into the motion it had been beginning even as Phaedra launched her diversionary attack. "Kids these days." The redhead's kick missed connecting between his shoulder blades by a hair's breadth, the fencer's body rotating in the air while he tucked his knees up against his chest. While Phae's momentum took her into the now empty space her instructor's free hand shot upward and was caught by something invisible. A small, ladylike grunt of exertion accompanied a change in his arc as Talya swung him up and over, releasing him into an airborne summersault that saw him through two full rotations before he landed in a three point crouch between Cathy and Raina. "I was doing this for years before I even got a grappling gun, you know! Parkour builds character!" He straightened with exaggerated casualness and added to the blonde witch in a stage whisper, "Also good for flirting with cat burglars. Think fast, ladies!" He slid back a step, keeping all three of the teenagers in front of him, fiery sword once more at the ready.
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Without comment Set raised the temperature around them by a dozen degrees or so, no more than an afterthought for a desert deity. She scoffed good-naturedly at Lady Horus' assurances, at least somewhat mollified. "A point none may argue, truly. Mayhaps steadier with the popular references, though; you'll drive Nephie mad. Well. Madder." The shortening was a calculated choice, both as an irritating barb and a subtler statement. Set's elder self had never been one for diminutives, after all. The current iteration paused, taking stock of the audience surrounding them in the park and judging that they had probably overstayed whatever passed for hospitality in Bedlam City. "...you could tell her, incidentally, that were she to provide some forewarning and drop the 'brother-husband' business, seeing that antiquated aspect of her might not be wholly unpleasant." The godling slipped her bound dreadlocks over one shoulder in a show of nonchalance. "She was never terribly conscientious over such matter but honestly. Tis 2017."
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"One should bloody well hope," Set huffed as she was tapped on the chest, planting her hands on her hips but still grinning despite herself. "I understand nothing anyone has said," Sekhmet protested wearily, shoulders uncharacteristically slumped and looking like she'd been through an emotional wringer. "You know I hate to ruin a surprise, oh Mistress of Dread!" "Set..." "A good one! You have my unimpeachable word! Hold a moment longer, my lady," the godling added, recognizing a theatrically appropriate moment for Lady Horus to shoot off into the sky and forestalling it with an almost hesitant hand atop the loop of the ankh. Her expression darkened, a flicker of something that might have been concern or ever fear touching her features before she willed it away. "Have you given thought to the fate of the last mortal host to my brother's power?" She indicated the artifact before taking her hand away as though afraid it might burn her fingers. "Tis the key to the vault and the getaway car and the smoking pistol all in one. Everything at once except a golden parachute." The redhead looked away from the blonde's eyes with a small cough. "Echoes of diminished gods can be a fickle sort. You will keep your wits about you?"
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Ghost Girl made a thoughtful noise as Wraith mused on evolutionary tracks; it wasn't her area of expertise certainly but she'd rifled through enough fears to agree that gnashing fangs in the dark were a fairly universal feature in nightmares across the board. She doubted this particular group had such complex inner lives as to be exceptions to that rule. "Of course, of course!" she assured her friend from a few steps down from the top of the staircase, making a shooing gesture with both hands. "Go have fun!" The phantom whirled her scythe about and planted its blunt end against the surface of the stairs like a wizard's staff before winking and fading out of sight, invisible to any conventional senses.
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"Ooh, you weren't going to put the blanket there, were you?" Erik asked from the mouth of the hallway, brow furrowed in comically exaggerated apprehension. He waited just long enough for Talya to glance over before raising his hands in his own defence and switching to a disarming grin. "Kidding! Kidding! This is the best this place has ever looked, cielo. Don't worry!" He'd dressed up a bit himself with a freshly ironed, dark blue dress shirt miraculously tucked into his pants but something about the way the collar sat and how the top two buttons were undone gave the impression it had been tossed on without a care and might be torn off at any moment; that might have said more about the man than the attire. Seemingly without his notice Eden had her head planted against his knee and was doing her level best to knock him over like a charging rhino, socked feet slipping on the living room carpet while she giggled manically. Excitement over impending visitors had given her a font of excess energy all afternoon but she'd thankfully been diligent about keeping her own outfit more or less in order after seeing the care Talya was taking in tidying up.
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Winifred pursed her lips and made the small sound in the back of her throat that Raina had begun to recognize as the precursor to a stubborn argument over some particular turn of phrase but the alchemist glanced in Matthew's direction first and instead simply cleared her throat politely. "We do seem to do a fair amount of running, true." She didn't like when the blonde dismissed her own feelings as 'stupid' instead of being forthright about them but that discussion certainly wasn't going to go anywhere with an audience. In practice that discussion had never actually managed to go anywhere other than an awkward near-miss of her condition but that was beside the point. After confirming that she could wear the boots out of the store with the rest of her new outfit and taking a few minutes to properly learn how to artfully tuck the bottoms of her new trousers into them to achieve the current style she took stock of what they'd gathered. "That would seem to cover the gamut, yes? Am I yet missing any essential elements?"
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"Oh, here we go," Set scoffed, largely ignoring Lady Horus' initial attempts to defuse the argument. "Too glad to play the brooding iconoclast but dragging your feet in the sand over any true change. Discount everything the mortals-- ack!" The taller blonde pushing her way between herself and Nepthys forced Set back a pace so that she could properly glower but as the surprisingly sincere speech went on the retort on the godling's lips turned into a small frown of concentration. There was a long pause before she allowed, "You speak honestly. And literally. But that would make you..." Once the Heliopolian realized the masked woman was intentionally dropping hints the pieces began to come together. "You wore... Nay. Nay!" Set clapped her hands over her mouth and practically bounced on her heels in delight. "Truly? You magnificent, unparalleled cheat! And the doleful shadow remains locked in your mind? Oh, tis too good!" Bobbing up and down again in barely contained glee the godling let out a whooping laugh.
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"The idea of proportionate anatomy is not a recent one, Matthew," Winifred noted with an exaggerated glance toward her classmate's shoes and a poorly concealed smirk that gave way to an embarrassed cough as Raina reappeared with the clerk in tow. She might have been getting a better handle on modern banter but there were practical limits. "Ah, yes. Thank you then, Emily." The thought of having three or more pairs of shoes seemed positively decadent but she supposed that would place here somewhere between the extremes represented by Robin and Raina respectively. Before long she'd selected a pair of heeled riding boots in a rich, dark brown with laces up the length on their fonts but looking for something more general purpose a bit overwhelmed for choice. Looking over a row of tennis shoes - she'd gathered that like the riding boots this was a case where the name owed to the original function more than the current use - she paused to ask her blonde friend in a lowered tone, "Is... is everything alright? You seemed irritated earlier. I realize my questions must be trying your patience by now."
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"I don't doubt you recall my tongue in detail, oh Lady of Laments," Set hissed, letting her head resume its human appearance as she stepped closer to the shade, close enough to be uncomfortable regardless of the latter's incorporeal state. "Should dissatisfaction now arise, permit me then to convoke He Who is Ever Youthful. Worry not, I shall say tis Isis who calls." A few feet away Sekhmet groaned quietly to herself, hands now covering the whole of her face. "Blessed Ra deliver us..." Ignoring her Set flatly informed Lady Horus, "'Amicably parted' be a euphemism. Dismemberment was involved." She turned her attention back to the winged figure, surprise having fully given way to mounting irritation. "Truly though, I should dearly love to hear what 'work' you might need done. Tis not Nepthys but the impression she left in the cushions after too long on the mourning couch. Ironic indeed for one so shallow!"
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"That's why I said it, Butterfly," Erik clarified with a smirk that had gotten a rise out of more composed targets than teenagers. If there was one thing he'd found to be true of both supernatural creatures and polearm wielders it was that they were a little too easy to goad into using raw brawn over finesse. "Points for working a little flirting with your gal pal in mid-fight, though." He advanced on the winged girl, his body language relaxed but his steps quick and sure. Although they lent her some extra mobility in the closed space her wings presented a much bigger profile. She struck him as having her wits about her enough to know she was backing into a corner but he didn't see what gambit she might be planning by doing so. Guess I'll bite, he decided, keeping some of his attention on Raina and Cathy as Talya disappeared even to his enhanced senses.
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Grey eyes wide Set sputtered in disbelief, frozen in place with her spine ramrod straight and half-clenched hands twitching at her sides. "...oh. Oh nay." With both hands in front of her mouth Sekhmet looked back and forth between the two aspects of the Ennead, Lady Horus and the surrounding crowd very nearly forgotten for the moment. Muscles bunched the leonine goddess looked very much like she was considering sprinting for the nearest tree and hiding in its branches. "No glad ending may come of this." The look of utter shock stuck to Set's face began to crack as one eye twitched dangerously until her mouth contorted in a snarl so severe her head stretched and elongated into its black fur covered, canine snouted form to better accommodate the expression. Never breaking eye contact with Nepthys, her cry resounded loudly enough to resound throughout the park. "MOTHER @#$%!"
