ic Good Company and Good Cheer [Open]

[Cubismo]

<Run> <Internal Inquiry> [Is Shrike being sarcastic for comedic effect?]

 

<Run> <Behavioral Analysis> [Shrike] Subject is using exaggerated pronunciation, language atypical of common American nomenclature, and is displacing no sign of genuine distress. Final Assessment: Probability of Shrike being deliberately insincere? 93.213%. <Behavioral Analysis> <End>

 

Yeah, she's totally being sarcastic. And perhaps flirting as well given her previous comments about Replica's appearance.  The android decided to respond in kind. 

 

"My apologies, Shrike. I had no intention of exposing your secret identity," she said coyly. "It's just that the grapevine has it that Shrike is Grimalkin's ever faithful sidekick, so I just assumed that you had to be her given that Grimalkin' seemed rather eager to introduce as such. Well, before you stopped her anyway."

Edited December 27, 2017 by Cubismo

[Blarghy]

Leviathan grinned like an idiot when Grimalkin climbed up him; weirdly enough, this seemed to keep happening with beautiful heroines, but he wasn't going to complain about the trend.  He held his own drink aloft for the pictures.  If she signs hard copies, I should put them in my trophy room! he thought. 

 

"You can send them online," he suggested to Gretchen, and then pointed to Bonfire.  "We do blogs!"

 

We "do" blogs?  Jesus. 

 

"Or we can meet again sometime," the festive lizard hastily added.  He really wanted those autographs.  "We should work together!"

[Tiffany Korta]

 

As the impromptu host of this get-together, Klara took the opportunity, after a few more pints, to visit the little groups that had formed around the pub. She'd spent many happy days in pubs, after being introduced to them by Tracy when she moved to the UK and understood how they tended to work.

 

As she approached Leviathan she wondered about his nature, she'd had dealings with a Deep One colony off the coast of Cornwall with a fiery woman who played a mean violin. but now wasn't the time so she settled for playing the happy hostess.

 

"Hello, there hope everyone is having a good time if anyone wants another I've put some money behind the bar so help yourself."

[Heritage]

 

"The correct term is 'partner', not sidekick," Gretchen insisted in her usual dry way. "I'm not anyone's sidekick."

 

 "And the correct adjective is 'long-suffering'," Grim added with a wink.

 

"Amen to that," the young barista concurred as she took another swig of wassail.

 

"Yeah, we should totally work together," said the changeling to the heroic behemoth. "What kind of cases do you handle? Me and Shrike primarily work the supernatural beat, but we also do undercover work, some general detective stuff-"

 

"Children's parties."

 

"Children's parties, theme weddings, both bat and bar mitzvahs...uh, interdimensional rescues..."

 

"Disaster relief."

 

"Oh, yeah, that one's real! So yeah, we like to mix it up a bit, keep things fresh. What kind of cases do you like?"

[olopi]

At first, Bonfire stayed where he’d been, as he observed his friends, who probably hadn’t met each other before, socialize with each other. That was always a pleasant feeling, an he scanned the room for anything else that was happening, as he didn’t feel like he needed to essentially accompany Leviathan in everything. Plus, he still remembered what had happened at the last Christmas party, and the critical mass of people was slowly approaching.

 

There didn’t seem to be much else happening however. So long as one thing was happening, he could still talk to somebody. He gave the others a quick wave, before walking over towards the couple sitting at one of the tables. He raised his glass towards them, before taking a seat.

 

“Hey, hope I’m not interrupting something. Name’s Bonfire, nice to meet you. “

[Blarghy]

Most of those sounded like jokes, and Leviathan laughed accordingly--a delighted giggle aimed more at Grimalkin's continued attention than anything else.  He was about to jump on the chance for common ground, but this time his better judgment managed to get ahead of his mouth, if only barely.

 

"Oh, I've also done--"

 

Don't talk about going undercover!  No one will believe me unless I morph to prove it, and that's still supposed to be a secret.

 

"--Ahhhhmmm...I mean, I've--"

 

Definitely don't mention interdimensional travel!  That one was as Tristan, so it's even more of a secret.

 

"--Uuuhhhh...well, now that I think about it, I mostly stumble over bad people and beat them up.  But it's working ok for me so far!"

[TheAbsurdist]

Boom, the door opened and in walked Amir al-Misri, his clothes smoldering and smoking a little bit.  "Better late than never.  Beer me!."  He had come here before, but then, he made the rounds, the circuit.  And despite looking like he had just had a fight with someone who could knock him through brick and mortar (which was sort of true).

"Swear this night can't get worse... Is like Nero going to bust out next?  Merry Christmas indeed!  Least I didn't have to fight a Krampus that could eat a city bus.  Again."  He snorted and shook his head, laughing a little bit, as he moved to the bar to get something to drink.  "I'm buying!  So top shelf all around!"  He rolled his head around, and then his shoulders, shaking a bit of masonry dust from himself.

[Heritage]

It took Grim a few seconds to figure out what was going on inside the gigantic hero's brain (or at least, close enough to guess) as she watched him with one cocked eyebrow, but then she suddenly nodded. "Ohhhh, I get it; 'If I told you, I'd have to kill you' kinda deal, huh? Top secret and all that jazz? I can dig it. Seriously, though, we're always happy to work with new people. Well, I'm always happy to work with new people; Shrike..." She sort of squinted as she wagged her hand back and forth. "But yeah, you can always reach us via our top secret email address." The changeling conspiratorially beckoned for him to lean down as she handed him a conjured business card which simply read: 

 

tinybrunettesquad@herohouse.com

 

Meanwhile, Gretchen took herself and her wassail over to Replica's table; she was still intrigued by the mysterious technopath, and wanted to learn more. "So what is your story, madame? You're trying so hard to fit in while maintaining a safe and impartial distance. I know this look well."

[Blarghy]

Leviathan couldn't really blush, but he did seem embarrassed at Grim seeing through his evasiveness.  "It's not that I don't trust you," he tried to hastily explain.  "But it's...complicated."

 

He took the card almost reverently, then chuckled when he read it.  Pointing again toward Bonfire, he said, "We're easy to find online.  Got a blog, like I think I mentioned.  If you run into any trouble, or anything fun, and want help, then send a message.  I'm great for drawing attention, punching villains, and opening jars off the top shelf."  He flexed one of his gigantic, scaly arms amidst the folds of red velvet. 

[Cubismo]

Replica searched her sociability matrix again for an appropriate response to Shrike's question. Actually telling Shrike her true origins could be disastrous. While she certainly seemed trustworthy there was always the chance that someone at this packed bar could end up eavesdropping on their confidential conversation. And given that villainous AI’s like Talos haven’t exactly given robots a good reputation, Replica decided that it would best if Shrike only knew an edited version of her origins.

 

Smiling successfully once again (she might actually be getting at that), Replica began to tell Shrike her story.

 

“Well, since you asked so nicely. You probably noticed that I am a technopath. I have other powers, but I think my technopathy is probably the most valuable of all of them. I gained them from one of my father’s human-enhancement experiments.”

 

Stopping for less than a second Replica solemnly added, “He’s dead now. Murdered by someone afraid of his work. Perhaps a rival or a deluded technophobe, I still don’t know.”

 

Suddenly wishing to change the topic, Replica returned the conversation back to Shrike.

 

“Well, with my backstory out of the way, can I just say that I apologize for my earlier sidekick comment. Sometimes I fail to appreciate the impact of improper word choice. I suppose that’s a habit you pick up when you keep a ‘safe and impartial distance’ from other people for too long. Being called a sidekick is demeaning at best for anyone above the age of twelve, I’m sure.”

Edited January 24, 2018 by Cubismo

[Heritage]

Grim held up her hands and shook her head. "Hey, its all good, dude! I respect the sanctity of secret IDs,  even if my own can get kinda flimsy. Here, why don't you take a load off so we can talk a bit more comfortably." She gestured, and a large wooden chair appeared off to one side, perfectly scaled for Leviathan's massive frame; it appeared to be a sort of medieval, with a high back and wide armrests. The changeling indicated the aquatic hero should take the conjured seat while she hopped up on one of the armrests, her feet playfully dangling off into the air. 

 

 "There we go! Now I don't have to shout and you don't have to get a crick in your neck. Please, come join me!"

 

- - -

 

Gretchen shook her head. "Sorry to hear about your father. I've lost important people, too." Picking up on the technopath's change of subject, she smirked. "It's not really that big of a deal. I enjoy pretending to be offended more than anything else, but I do think it's more of a term for a kid in tights. Not that I wouldn't look amazing in them..." Yep, still a little flirty! Then she took another sip of wassail and returned to more serious conversation. "Do you come from a technical background? Despite the magical basis of my powers, I'm much more comfortable working with hardware. Electronics and computers are more my thing."

Edited January 23, 2018 by Heritage

[Cubismo]

 

"Thank you for understanding." Strange. Replica wasn't sure whether that compliment was for accepting the apology or for being empathic about her father. Was she going through a cognitive malfunction? Was the sociability matrix at fault? Best to leave that diagnostic for later, Replica thought. Matching Shrike by taking a sip quick of her own drink (robots don't get drunk and Replica hasn't installed taste buds yet, but it was a party so she figured she might as try to fit in) Replica put aside thoughts of later internal inquiries and continued on with her conversation. 

 

"Why yes I do, I actually do come from a technical background. In fact, I was recently selected to work as a computer scientist for ASTRO Labs. I spend my days there looking at algorithms, coding, and trying to figure out how to create AI that doesn't immediately try to destroy us the moment it comes self-aware." The last one she said with a self-deprecating chuckle. Moving her hand across the bar filled with superheroes. "I suppose it's my day job from all of this." Turning back to Shrike, "What about you? Electronics and computers are your thing? Is it more of a hobby or a career?"  Leaning in a bit closer added, "I always love to talk-shop with others."

 

 

[Blarghy]

"Wowwww," Leviathan gaped at this new trick.  He assumed that Grim's business card was just up her sleeve, but she definitely wasn't hiding that chair somewhere out of sight.  Before sitting down, he prodded it a bit, looked at the furniture from different angles, and even sniffed to see if this magical conjuration had the faint scent of real wood or varnish.

 

Finally, he carefully slid onto the seat next to Grimalkin.  "I didn't know you could do something like this!  What can you make?  How long does it last?"

 

Can I take it home? he added in his head.  Once he had the thought, Leviathan almost asked aloud, but stopped for fear of being rude.  Assuming he could fit this chair into his submarine and get it back to his lair undamaged, that would be a nice trophy!

[Heritage]

"I'm a musician mostly," Gretchen said as she set aside her drink."Lyrics, composition, instruments, recording and mixing. I've got a nice little studio set up in our garage. Good acoustics. I also write a little code, but I'm better at web design. I still like to get my hands dirty, taking apart and rebuilding old synths. And I love designing a good security system."

 

Then she sighed as she ran a fingertip around the edge of her glass. "People think I'm this antisocial misfit, but I'm really not. I can read people fine. I just don't think most of them are worth the effort." The young barista continued to play with her drink as she shrugged, a hint of smile on her lips. "And yet, here I am..."

 

- - -

 

To all Leviathan's senses, the enormous oak chair was entirely real, and smelled of organic varnish with a whiff of charcoal stain; the thing had to weigh several hundred pounds.

 

 "Uh, I can make all kinds of things," Grim said with an offhand shrug. "Wood, stone, leather, glass and fabric are the easist things to make; I can't make metal at all anymore, unfortunately. It lasts as a long as I want it to last. And it's as real as I want it to be."

 

The changeling casually reached behind the crimefighting behomoth and stuck her arm clear through the back of the chair as if it were air, then pulled it out, waited a few seconds, and then proceeded to loudly knock on it! The elfin beauty shook her head and burst out in peals of laughter.

 

"I mean, it's totally crazy, I know; glamour makes no logical scientific sense whatsoever! It refuses to conserve mass or energy, it's not a wave or a particle; it just is. And that drives my more scientifically-based friends crazy." She could only shrug again. "I don't know what to tell ya; I don't know how it works, I just make the stuff."

Edited February 6, 2018 by Heritage

[Blarghy]

Perhaps Grimalkin had made another science friend.  Perceptive as she was, she might see the shrewd thoughts behind Leviathan's eyes; he no longer just listened to her voice and marveled at her attention, but studied what she actually said.  The way he gently and unconsciously rubbed his fingertips along the arm of the chair and made a "Hrrrrmmm..." of consideration seemed more like an old scholar than a brutish bruiser.  He took a long drink of his cider and sat down the empty pitcher beside them.

 

"Well, however it works, it's amazing," Leviathan beamed at Grim.  "I've never seen, ahh, glamour before.  It's a great skill!  I just break things, but you can build, and that's very cool.  Can you make big, complicated things?  Like how Dr. Metropolis repairs widespread damage to the city?  You seem like the organic to his industrial--only more fun at parties," the lizard added with a smile. 

[Cubismo]

"That's a diverse assortment of talents you have there, Shrike," Replica said not unkindly. "Seemingly anyway. People try to divide the art of music from the science of engineering and computing, but I think their are a intertwined discipline that both utilize an understanding of mathematics to construct beautiful things." <Alert!> <Sociability Matrix> Statement can be interpreted as elitist and pretentious. Advise changing topic. <Sociability Matrix> <End> 

 

Taking the program's advice, Replica did just that. "Everyone's antisocial to someone or someones. That doesn't have to be a bad thing. I think you're right and just did to meet the right people who are worth the effort." She motioned to the heroes in the bar. 

[Heritage]

As Replica spoke, Gretchen cocked her head to one side and looked at her intently, her dark blue eyes intense in their focus. At length, she seemed to come to some sort of decision, and her posture shifted as she reclaimed her glass and took another sip of her drink. When she spoke again, her tone was not unfriendly, but the hint of flirtatiousness was clearly absent.

 

"You may be right," she said with a shrug. "Or I may be an elitist bitch. The jury's still out on that one." 

 

At this point, the young barista slipped easily into affable 'shop talk', happy to talk hardware and software with a fellow techhead; while she didn't have the same 'processing power' as the android (not that she suspected her true nature!), her knowledge of technology and computing equaled and sometimes even exceeded the lovely blonde's, which made for stimulating conversation.

 

- - -

 

Grim looked thoughtful as Leviathan asked her to elaborate on the nature of her powers. "Um, well there are some limits and a few sort of 'double-edged sword' aspects, and because of those, I'm less inclined to use my glamour for long term projects. The big one is that if you touch a piece of glamour with iron, it melts back into vapor; now, you might not think there's not a ton of iron just floating around loose in Freedom, but there's more than you might think." The changeling began to count items off on her fingers. "Manhole covers, fire escapes, railings, frying pans, waffle irons, some of the older bridges. And in a city with lots of superheroes and supervillains occasionally duking it out in the streets, some of that s### can end up airborne." She winced and shrugged. "I wouldn't want anyone to live in a house I built that might go 'poof' if they drop a pan in the kitchen. So I tend to use it for more temporary things."

 

And then she sighed and ran a hand down her leg. "But there's also a more selfish reason, if I'm being honest." Grim gestured towards the giant chair they were both sitting on. "Anything I make out of glamour is still linked to me, is in a sense still part of me. I can sense things through it, even travel through it, which can be damn useful in our line of work. But...it's a two-way street; if someone damages a piece of my glamour, I feel it, painfully. So I get nervous about leaving lots of it around..."

 

Then a thought struck her, and the elfin beauty chuckled as she pointed towards the business card she'd handed the giant reptile earlier. "So you might not want to take that home to your secret lair or undersea kingdom." She shrugged and looked as coquettish as inhumanly possible. "I mean, some guys might like having a sexy little pixie pop into their house in middle of the night, but maybe you're not that kinda guy, y'know? Gotta protect that secret identity, am I right?" Oh, she was evil!

Edited February 14, 2018 by Heritage

[Cubismo]

The musician clearly knew her stuff Replica realized. Talking 'shop' with her felt almost natural, with Shrike never missing a step, whether the topic was electrical engineering, coding or acoustic design. She even corrected her on some her own misunderstandings when it came to sound design. She was an undeniable genius through and through, and talking with her having giving her interesting neural feedback. 

 

Replica did notice that Shrike was slightly more subdued than before. She wondered if she had said something wrong. It wouldn't be the first time and her sociability matrix was by no means perfect after all. Ultimately she accepted the change. Flirting was a new experience to her and Replica felt uneasy about pursuing anything in light of her not divulging her synthetic nature to Shrike anyway. 

 

Keeping the conversation causal but still curious about her self-deprecation about her supposed elitism, Replica asked "And who would be the jury in this hypothetical court? You or others? I, for one, do not see your elitism". 

[Blarghy]

This obviously made the wheels start turning again in Leviathan's head.  He frowned and looked down at the business card, and this lovely chair, with torn thought.  "I didn't know any of that," he admitted.  "I...would not want to hurt you by letting something happen to your creations, so perhaps it is best for you to keep them.  Once I write down your contact information, of course."  He let Grim's last comment slip by unrecognized, but the faerie could surely guess that it stuck with him. 

 

Still, he soon focused on a happier aspect of glamour.  "You can really travel through anything you make?  Even something small?"  Leviathan held up the business card.  "So you could pop out of this?  That sounds like a fun party trick."

[Heritage]

Gretchen smiled just a bit and shook her head. "No, it's...a bit of a joke between me and my girlfriend."

 

Her eyes drifted over to Grim perched on Leviathan's chair, and despite herself she smiled a full smile, if only for a few brief seconds.

 

 "My God. She's such a flirt."

 

But there was no jealousy or mistrust in her words, only affection; clearly she trusted her lover, and didn't keep her on a short leash. Then she turned back to Replica and indicated the android's drink with a nod of her head.

 

 "Can I get you a refill?"

 

- - -

 

Grim pouted when she saw the reptilian hero look forlornly down at the seat she'd made him.

 

"Aww! You wanted to keep the chair!"

 

Then she shrugged.

 

"Y'know, my dad's a pretty good carpenter, and I'm not half bad myself; if you're looking to get a real live, genuine version of it, maybe the two of us could whip something up? He always looking for new ways to give back to the superhero community."

 

But then poor sweet Leviathan made the mistake of mentioning 'party tricks', and the little Jewish pixie's eyes lit up like two stars.

 

"Oh, you don't know the half of it, buddy! I got something that'll knock your socks off!"

 

Then she took a deep breath and seemed to collapse in on herself, until all that was left of her was a tiny sprite, less than a foot high, hovering in the air on two pairs of gossamer wings that hummed pleasantly as she floated in front of the massive hero's face.

 

"Ta-daa!!"

[Blarghy]

At first, Leviathan thought Grimalkin had disappeared to do as he suggested: pop out of her business card like a rabbit from a hat.  He held it away from himself, only to then lean his head back in surprise when the pixie was flying just ahead of him.  He sloshed his cider a bit, and his eyes crossed to keep track of her. 

 

"That's definitely a trick!" he agreed.  It put his own shapeshifting to shame, although Leviathan wasn't about to say so.  He almost started talking about the conservation of mass and how it clearly didn't apply to Grim, but stopped himself; she'd already said that her magic defied all science.  Besides, another question came to mind anyway.

 

"So...is this the 'real' you?" Leviathan asked.  He took care to turn his head a little, just in case his breath might be like a strong wind to someone so small.