Gizmo
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"Quick detour first, I think," Erik replied, looking about the crowded farmer's market and spotting a utility shed that would provide a convenient bit of cover. "Feeling a little underdressed for chaos and blood-shedding." They'd only just slipped between two stands and begun heading for the shed when a sinuous, elongated limp stretched over the stands closer to the street like an unusually acrobatic python moments before a mass of grey muscle barreled straight through the wooden structures, sending splinters flying into the screaming crowd. "Out of the way, idiots!" the owner of the former shouted as the rest of her amorphous body followed her arm, resolving into the green-clad, red haired thief known as Grab. Her partner and fellow member of Larceny Inc, the bald and tattooed Smash simply roared inarticulately as he hurled people and objects alike to either side of his path.
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"Certainly different from what I'm used to, yes," Winifred agreed, placing her hands over her own stomach and shooting Robin a wry look. Her roommate was only just barely taller than her but even without taking into account whatever unusual properties granted Robin her superhuman durability and strength she would have assumed the other girl to be a good twenty or more pounds of pure muscle heavier. "Neither, though, am I made of porcelain. I managed well enough as a young, 'exotic' woman on the streets of London, I'm sure I can do much the same in the here and now. I certainly won't adapt any more quickly by hiding away in ivory towers." It hadn't taken her long to deduce that Claremont Academy taken alone was perhaps not the clearest representation of the modern world as a whole. "'Owe' may be the wrong word but friendship does go in two directions. You've already said I may accompany you and I'll not be talked out of it." She raised her hands from her stomach to fold her arms, giving Robin a determined nod.
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"Ra's buttocks, you've truly cut down on your lag time, She Before Whom Evil Trembles," Set remarked, legitimately impressed despite himself as he shuffled over a few inches on the couch under Taylor's glare, leaving a hand's breadth between himself and Huang. "I expected to have a good fifteen or twenty minutes before you thought to contact the Chosen of Heshem." The goddess growled as she stalked forward, staying just half a step behind Phantom as she snarled, "Can thou begin to comprehend the shame thy actions reflect upon Heliopolis?!" Calling the dhampir's mother and admitting she hadn't been able to stop him from teleporting Set away had been positively mortifying for the oft-times lioness. "Brazening corrupting youth, performing all manner of-- rrrowr!" She waved her hands in front of her face to swipe away the images that line of thought conjured up. "'Corrupting' seems a needlessly negative way to frame events..." Set protested sullenly, stormy grey eyes flicking between Huang and his mother.
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I'll say she can reach one more with Takedown Attack 1! Grue Arcane Toughness Save vs DC 27: 1d20+7 9 There you go!
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"Well, come on, be fair. We're really, really pretty," Erik pointed out with a lopsided grin that turned a touch sheepish as he recognized that Talya had ended up going considerably further out of her way to take care of his feelings than the other way around. "But the way you tell it makes it sound like I've got some other good qualities too, sure. Let's see if we can find that butter like you said." With her hand under his jacket Talya could feel him relax slightly and stand a little bit straighter as they headed further into the market. "Oh, and lemme know if you see any flower bulbs for Min. You'd think we'd have run out of room by now but--" His words were cut off as the sound of police sirens swelled in the distance, starting off faint but unmistakably growing closer. The muscles under Talya's fingers went taut like cords in an instant as Erik's eyes narrowed and tried to peer between stalls to make out what was going on.
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Becky's attempt at coming across as cavalier was somewhat undercut by how pleased she looked with herself and Eve's speechless reaction. "Ah, we didn't make an appointment," she admitted, suddenly realizing that that was probably the model a business like Lane's parlour worked on. "Is there a wait list we can get on or...?" "Ha, don't worry about that!" the tattoo artist insisted waving them further inside with big, expressive gestures. "I always make room for repeat customers. Besides, I can already tell this is going to be a good one." The Irishwoman looked knowingly between the pair of younger women as she pulled up a pair of mismatched chairs for them near a larger seat that looks like it had probably been intended for a barbershop originally. "So, lay it out for me, luvs, what were you thinking?"
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"...alright," Wail rumbled as quietly as he was able, gingerly passing the child to Howard, making sure her grandfather had her well in hand and that neither were in immediate danger any longer. "Alright." Without having even thrown a punch he somehow felt more tired than he would have after going a dozen rounds with the worst of his old rogues gallery. Running a hand through his grey-streaked beard he sighed and looked back over to the front door warily. After a final glance over at the indisposed home-invader on the lawn he headed back inside, looking for Hologram. Stopping in the doorway to the kitchen he took in the tense scene with a sharp intake of breath. For anyone else it would have simply been a indication of surprise or concern; for LaMarr it might as well have been the cocking of a pistol. "The girl's alright. No need for this to be any more of a thing."
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Any preconceptions about Winifred's fragile nature were probably not helped by the distinct plum colour that crept into her cheeks as Robin pulled her shirt up over her stomach. Scientific curiosity won out over prudish embarrassment after briefly looking away reflexively but she still raised one hand to the side of her face as though she might need to cover her own eyes. "Ah, yes. Well done, there." Her roommate's attitude toward her collection of scars and the prospect of adding to it was a little troubling but she did seem to have a point in so far as the common ruffians she challenged posed little true threat to her. She opened her mouth inquire about the specific amount of time it had taken for the wound to close and instead found herself remarking, "I didn't realize the muscles of the abdomen could even become so well defined. Lord." Coughing with a renewed blush, she turned her gave studiously to their ceiling. "Ah, regardless! I can more than take care of myself, I assure you, certainly without relying on my... ailment."
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"There, you see?" Set cut in, nose scrunching up in distaste as she pointed accusingly at Dimitri. "When you speak that way, tis creepy. Simply... blech." Squinting, she stuck out her tongue through a scowl of brown-black painted lips to emphasize her point. She looked over to Talya imploringly. "Make the bad man stop using words like 'sensual', I beseech thee. And why does everyone assume I require a story or a lie, white or otherwise! In practice I lie very little! ...relative to expectations, anyway." She tossed her brick red dreadlocks over one shoulder and folded her arms. "I can make this work, properly. I can."
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"I think they're going for a 'dad thing', muñequita," Ellie drawled, responding to Mara's hip bump by slipping an arm around the blonde's waist as they chatted with their hostess. "I can never believe how much more you've done with the place every time I visit." The couple of month's she'd spent stranded on the Curator's ringworld had adjusted her standards for what constituted 'low-tech' but she knew the lack of machines and wireless signals was a little disconcerting for her girlfriend. Erik scoffed at Elis' concern over impartial judging. "Are you kidding? I brought all my toughest critics with me!" Still, he had no objections to Faretti stepping in and was more than happy to take the first turn at the grill. Making a show of stretching his arms and back like he was about to enter a weightlifting competition he gave Richard a broad grin. "Then I better beat you to the punch," he began, waving both hands over the heat of the grill, "and cut to the chase!" Fire roared upward to his waiting fingers, coalescing into a pair of long, thin blades made of raw heat, visible by the way they rippled the air. "That's your barbecue, Mixtape; speed it up!"
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Reagent Initiative: 1d20+5 10 Knowledge (Technology) check: 1d20+5 6
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"Yeah, well, we're shooting a little higher than 'alright', mi cielo," Erik insisted with a bit of a blustering huff that didn't quite match the gentle way he pulled her a little closer as she leaned into his arm. "It's not just about not putting in positions you don't want, it's about putting you in positions you... do... want. ...that flowed better in my head." The bearded man keeping watch over the fresh egg stand gave him a quizzical look and Erik shot him a glare that suggested he should stick to selling eggs and keep his criticisms to himself. The seller shrugged amicably and deftly loaded a small carton for them before accepting a folded bill in exchange. Pulling one of the cloth bags out of his jacket pocket Erik placed the carton carefully at the bottom, tossing his empty cup into a nearby trash bin. "Anyway. You're allowed to expect better from me. I want you to be able to."
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"Yet you don't know the cause or origin of your greater abilities nor their theoretical upper limits? Fascinating!" Now it clearly was a struggle for Winifred to resist the urge to scramble out of her sheets and snatch up a notepad to start scribbling down new information. She recognized, at least, that Robin was unlikely to enjoy that level of examination. "What you're describing is certainly much closer to the goal of my original serum than I ultimately achieved. Might you have been dosed with something similar, unbeknownst to you at the time? But then to what end? Simply fascinating!" Catching her roommates expression Winifred cleared her throat and composed herself, rearranging the sheets over her lap. "Hem. Regardless, I strongly object to any attitude that downplays the issues with your being 'knocked around', particularly should that same breath contain the words 'bruised' or 'bloody'. If you're planning on another one of your 'Tuesdays' any time soon I insist you allow me to accompany you and render assistance. It's very much the least I owe you."
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Looking quite pleased with himself, Erik let a rumble deep in his chest reverberate against Talya's fingers. "What, after you talked up the baking?" he chuckled, the heady rush of relief at having but his indecision behind him evident in his looser posture. They were taking up enough space in the crowded path that he slipped an arm around the blonde's waist and led the way back toward the booth he'd spotted selling eggs on the way over to the cider. Taking another sip of the now cooled drink he gave Talya a sidelong glance and said more quietly, "Sorry it took me a second there. I can be a little thick sometimes. I get better with practice, though, promise."
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Winifred's expression turned thoughtful at Robin's heated words, brow furrowing in the particular way it did whenever she was mulling over a problem from various angles. Her preconceptions about the nature of poverty had certainly been challenged since she'd been awoken in the museum and she considered her roommate's perspective invaluable on the subject. Robin seemed to have a grasp of cause and effect as it related to societal issues that appealed to the alchemist in roughly the same way as reading about a new chemical reaction in a rare tome. Any time the topic came up she had Winifred's complete attention through the shorter girl had so far managed to refrain from actually taking notes. As the Fens native shied away from the subject Winifred turned her attention back to her own situation. "Gossip, at least, I understand. That has changed very little, it seems," she sighed before giving Robin an appraising look. "I have been meaning to ask, though forgive me is this is a sensitive topic: how did you manage against the Alkahest?" It was the first time Robin had heard her give a specific name to her monstrous form but she'd always been quite deliberate in discussing it as a separate entity. "Hannah and Cathy are capable of making all manner of barriers, as I understand it, and Raina is... resourceful to understate things but I am surprised you were not more gravely injured. Not that I'm not glad you weren't!" she emphasized quickly, green eyes characteristically intense.
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Standing with perfect posture in front of the Headmistress' desk it was almost imperceptible when Winifred stiffened at the clarification that this was a 'powers' assessment. Robin had had some particularly intense things to say following her assessment alongside Raina among others, most of the focused on one of the faculty, a Mr. Archer. Even setting that aside she couldn't help but feel that such an experiment meant something very different for her than it did for someone like Hannah. "Is that wise?" she blurted before sucking in a short breath and looking to see how annoyed Summers was at being second guessed. "I-- I don't wish to endanger anyone, even under controlled circumstances." She didn't outright say that she couldn't control her monstrous form, everyone there already knew that, she was sure. She straightened the white morphic molecule coat that had been designed to accommodate any unavoidable outfit shredding realizing that there was likely no way to talk her way out of this, given the Academy's focus.
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"Is that a catchphrase? Are you catchphrasing us?" Erik laughed at Richard's boisterous challenge, his own grin looking like he was used to being in front of an audience himself. "Alright, if it means everybody gets to eat sooner, I think we'll manage, right Doc?" He gave Elis a bump with his elbow, roping the single father into the competition he'd suggested whether he'd meant to participate or not. His usual method of making friends would have involved a more literal sparring match but this seemed to be about the same level of throwing someone into the deep end to teach the swim that he was most comfortable with. "No hard feelings when I show you two up, though, right?"
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Ellie gave Steve a reassuring pat on the arm along with a reassuring smile as she sat back down in her chair. The big man was slowly getting more accustomed to the near constant banter and teasing that permeated life surrounding the family and team but the unspoken agreement was that he was largely off-limits when it came to more pointed teasing. That didn't keep her from laughing quietly to herself about sausages as she turned back to her dinner. "She doesn't mean you need to start handing out a dossier on a hundred years of spy stuff to everybody," Erik assure Talya, lifting his head from Min's shoulder and offering Steve a sheepish look. "Just, y'know, kinda goofy to dance around the the subject of this--" He circled a finger through the air to encompass the three of them. "--around people who are just going to be happy for us anyway, yeah?" He knocked a knee into his sister's under the table in appreciation which she chose to thoroughly ignore save for a subtle smile. "And I guess also, like, dangerous stuff? If you were in trouble or had to deal with some stuff from your past or whatever, we'd want to know about that, obviously. That's obvious, right? It seems like it ought to be."
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"Oh, is that an old English remedy?" Erik teased, puffing his cheeks out slightly to avoid touching them with his burnt tongue. The comment was glib enough but Talya could tell he was buying himself a moment to think. It wasn't as though he gave a damn what anyone thought of him but how would any gossip they started reflect on Min? On their daughters? It wouldn't be that long before Eden was in school and if that wasn't a scary enough thought already how hard would he be making it for her if people though her father was sleeping around? On the other hand Talya was all too willing to adopt a persona or fade into the background when she thought it would be easier for her lovers and every time it was like a little icy dagger in Erik's chest. How could he act one way in private only to turn around and treat her like a shameful secret in public? Obviously he couldn't, was the simple answer. It wasn't as though Min cared any more about public opinion than he did - less, if he were being totally honest - and his daughters would grow up knowing that their father did right by the people he loved no matter what, not just when it was most convenient. He could live with that and it wasn't like there weren't excellent fringe benefits, too. Moving Talya's cup out of the way with his free hand he leaned down and caught her mouth in a pleasantly deep kiss.
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"That seems like an expression devised in response to a stupid question," Winifred drawled, managing a more genuine smile as she finished with her hair and set aside the brush. Robin had noticed that the smaller girl made a ritual of thoroughly brushing her hair each day though whether that was out of particular concern for her that facet of her appearance or just because it was one of the few routines still available to her was hard to say. "Regardless, you are a delight and anyone disagreeing is welcome to take up that matter with me." She sniffed decisively with the straight-backed posture that said that she'd made up her mind and was resolute. Her roommate might have been a bit rough in some aspects but she'd proven herself more honest, patient and kind than many of their more polished classmates. Shoulders slumping very slightly, Winifred added, "If they should be afraid of anyone, I would it think it should be me but the more common reaction seems to be testing the limits of my self-control." She tried to keep her voice dryly amused but there was a point where the provocative comments and 'accidental' collisions in the hallways began to wear. "And I rather am a target of charity, by any reasonable definition, hm?"
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Though a bit anxious over the summons, Winifred maintained a outward appearance of perfect calm, straight-backed and shoulders squared as she sat primly. She shot Robin an appreciative look for about the third time since they'd arrived in the foyer while trying not to seem obvious about it. She hated to be a burden but not having to be there by herself went a long way. She didn't think she'd done anything that warranted reprimanding but she was still learning all of the rules of the school and the present day in general so she couldn't discard the possibility out of hand. Wracking her mind for some slip or faux pas did little to ease her discomfort. When the blonde girl she didn't recognize sat down she tried to politely avoid eye contact until it became clear that the younger student had no such compunctions. Frowning slightly Winifred finally spoke up, "While I admit I'm not as current yet as I might like, my understanding was that staring was still considered impolite," she commented coolly.
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"Cider we can do," Erik agreed, looping an arm around Talya's elbow and pulling her down the pathway deeper into the market. They passed a stand with farm fresh eggs which he noted for later but their more immediately destination was a booth flanked by overflowing baskets of apples. Among several other apple-based products they were also selling piping hot cider and Erik promptly procured a pair of steaming styrofoam cups for them. Immediately taking a sip he promptly managed to burn the tip of his tongue lightly, something he tried and failed to hide with a strangled grunt. "Hhnh--! Ah, I'll take your word about the butter, I guess." While he'd managed to demonstrate his cooking skills quite thoroughly in the past weeks he professed a complete ignorance of baking in general, confining his experiments to the stove top while shunning the oven itself.
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It seemed impolitic to clarify that whether 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend' was the correct term to use in this specific instance was part of Winifred's confusion. Still, it seemed straightforward enough to follow Robin's example and refer to Riley using male language, regardless of what she'd overheard from gossiping students around the Academy. "Well, when simply mentioning him makes you smile, that seems a good sign. I'm glad." She switched sides and continued to brush her hair. "He often seems... disappointed to see me but I suspect he simply does not want a chaperone," the alchemist added sardonically. She'd take disappointed over the looks she got from many of their other classmates. "Not as quickly as I'd like," she admitted to answer her roommate's question. Winifred shifted about uncomfortably, her legs still under her bed sheets and for a few moments seemed reluctant to meet Robin's eyes. "Bad enough to suddenly be an idiot child who doesn't know the first thing about the sciences by the standards of the day but it feels as though every time I open my mouth someone reacts as though I'd very politely offered them a cup of jaguar blood for afternoon tea. I am accustomed to thinking of myself as quite the progressive." Her smile was tight and obviously forced but she kept in place with the best of her composure.
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Reagent Sense Motive check.: 1d20+5 15 Winifred is suspicious of the little blonde girl!
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"Probably only a few weeks left, yeah," Erik confirmed, looking over Talya's shoulder to make note of what she'd been looking at on the table of scarves and mitts. Christmas wasn't that far away, after all, and an Espadas took any gift-giving holiday pretty seriously. "They do an indoor thing closer to mi mama's place, in a community center, but that's almost all crafts and there's more overhead so not as many places bother and it's not half as good." He stepped in a little closer just behind her to make way for a passing mother pushing a stroller and looked over her head and down the pathway to see if he could make out any likely places to pick up the additional items on the shopping list. "What's wrong with our butter? It's butter."
