ic (Open) American Woman (IC)

[Electra]

Danica looked up as Micah came in and gave him a smile. "Hey Micah! No, you should definitely stay, there's plenty of room. It's not much fun to just spend the whole evening in a dorm room, right? Just don't set anything on fire, the RAs hate that. Are you doing homework?" She returned her attention to the puzzle, biting her lip as she worked on a particularly tricky piece that was either part of Gabriel's coat or the arched ceiling of Freedom Hall. She glanced up again as Zenith came in, but that notable was obviously busy doing her own thing, so Danica left her to it. 

[Avenger Assembled]

Judy hummed Bon Jovi as Micah approached, then shook her head. She shot a tentative look at Ashley, who made a single cutting gesture with her hand - and with a nod, went back to work. "Ah must have overheard your name somewhere," she said to Astrid with a faint smile. "Hey, can Ah have that? I think it's the end of Fleur de Joie's hair...does she really have this much hair?" 

"Feels with it," grunted Ashley. "Doesn't like it cut." She'd taken in the new arrivals at a glance, weighing in the threat posted by a Zenith-active Corinne and an Oklahoma-connected Micah, then dismissed them. The surest way to be caught covering something was to be too quick to reach for a shovel. 

 

"Oh, my good Lord, really?" Judy's eyes widened as she tangled her fingers in her long brown hair obviously considering the strengths and weaknesses of such a power. "Well bless her heart. That poor woman." She glanced over at Micah and asked curiously, "What part is that?" 

[Cubismo]

Astrid joined Danica in inviting Micah to the growing circle of puzzle solvers, though was fair less graceful about it. "Oh my God, Micah. No one here would care even if whatever the Hel you were working on was messy," she said, playfully. "Just sit right here and chill with us. We'll keep you company while you work whatever you got in that bag of yours." Astrid slapped the empty chair right beside her indicating where he could sit. Micah seemed like a good dude and a hell of a volleyball player by Astrid's book but the guy had a major shyness problem that seemed to pop whenever she talked to him and Astrid was kind of determined to break him out of that if possible. 

 

She also noticed Zenith who had just entered the room. In fact, she was pretty hard to not notice given that she was slightly floating seemingly in a trance. "Hey! You can totally join us to if you ever get bored with just floating around." Astrid turned to the other girls with a questioning look on her face. 

 

"Does she do that a lot? Just... Float around like that?"

[KnightDisciple]

"Fire shouldn't be happening, so I guess it's okay."

 

Micah had to lean to one side to say that to Danica, as Zenith/Corinne just...danced in front of him. He glanced at her with a raised brow but said nothing about the matter. He shook his head, then set the duffel bag down next to the table. Then, he smoothly laid down the towels on the table, making sure he had a clean and even surface. He spoke as he pulled out the objects in the duffel and arranged them.

 

"So, uh, I guess this was going to be a surprise later on, but, ah...Surprise, Danica? I'm trying to put together something smaller than your Segway, that you could clip to your shoes. Something that would help if it broke down again, or just to get around bigger spaces where you can't bring your Segway. Right now I'm  just seeing what I can put together, I don't have an actual design yet."

 

Indeed, strewn across the cloths he has put down are a number of small electric motors, wheels, and other such parts, now surrounded by tools. Micah smiles at Astrid's offer as he sits down to his work.

 

"I'll probably try to help some. With the puzzle, I mean. Just to not get too frustrated with this."

 

He was already poking and prodding the motors in front of himself as he spoke. 

[Electra]

"Really?" Danica got up and moved to the other table, a process that took some time, then began looking over the pieces with great interest. "Like heely shoes, but with motors? Cool!" She was careful not to touch, even as she leaned in to get a better look. "I'm not very good at roller skating," she admitted cheerfully. "My center of gravity is, like, behind me most of the time, and it throws me off. But the good thing is I never hurt myself when I fall. And I can turn myself over just fine!" she insisted, looking ready to argue with anybody who wanted to perpetuate a species stereotype. "Could you put a stabilizer in them to help me keep balanced while I use them?" 

[KnightDisciple]

"Well, the power needed means these will need bigger wheels. So they're going to rest on the outside of your foot. They won't be able to fold up, either, so nothing like heely shoes. I make actual quality products!"

 

There was a half-smile on Micah's face when he said that, so he clearly wasn't really insulted.

 

"You'll need time to adjust, I'm sure. But you'll have four wheels on each foot, two on each side of the foot, so that should help. I'm going to have to play with the system for you to make them go and stop; half the idea here is to keep you from having to lean as much as with a Segway or even a hoverboard. I'm not sure how good the first few iterations will be; this is going to be trial-and-error stuff, to be honest."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Corinne's very nice," said Judy with a smile, "she just, um, likes to keep to herself sometimes." She studied Zenith for a moment, idly fidgeting with the cross around her neck, then went back to work. She knew that when her powers were active, Corinne wasn't the same person she usually was. 

"Empowerment alters the personality," grunted Ashley as she slid Gaian Knight's sword into place, saving Judy from having to continue a conversation she knew Judy found awkward. Judy didn't like to speak ill , especially of people who were right there in the room. "Happens sometimes." At least I don't have to give a damn, this time. 

 

"Hey, some people with powers aren't so bad," said Judy with a tolerant smile at her sister. 

[TheAbsurdist]

Zenith didn't fly, rather she was kind of just moved in the air like it was a solid thing that she leaped from, spinning and responding to whatever she was listening.  Alternating between swaying, and violent thrashing acrobatics.

 

The song ended, as it was want to do, leaving her clutching at the head phones as she stopped, violently so, before she sank down to her knees.

 

Her eyes opened, light pouring out as she slide the headphones off of her ears, and down around the back of her neck.  Her head tilting like a dog puzzling something out, as she looked around at her surrounding, at the people.  All of it.  She had caught a little of what they said at the end, but she didn't seem terribly invested in responding to it.  Where Corinne occasionally used her powers, Zenith was her powers, flush with them.

 

"Mm?"  She half grunted, half asked in her inhuman voice.

[Cubismo]

Astrid just shrugged her shoulders at Ashley's explanation as if saying "alright then" and accepted it as just something she'd have to get used to over time. It wasn't as if Asgard didn't have its assortment of weird stuff that just happened out of nowhere after all and Astrid figured she'd get used to Connie's floating and shifting.

 

Right as she was about to pick up another puizzle piece though she heard something crash to ground behind her that made Astrid turn around and see Connie (or was it Zenith now?) abruptly fall to her knees and let out a grunt. Astrid hardly considered herself a chivalrous, in fact she thought of herself as quite the opposite, but she'd seen some many friends trip and fall or outright collapse after one to many drinks at a party that coming someone's aid whenever she saw them take a tumble had become something of an instinctual response. 

 

The demigoddess got up from seat and quickly moved to Zenith's side. She took a second to look her over for any bums or bruises. When he found none she extended her hand out for the girl on the ground in case she need some help getting back up. 

 

"Finally come back down to Earth I see," she said with a snicker before letting a bit more concern enter her voice. "Seriously though, are you all right? Do you need helping getting back up?" 

 

Edited October 23, 2018 by Cubismo

[Avenger Assembled]

"Could you make other stuff, like, Ah dunno, a jetpack?" asked Judy curiously. 

 

"No he could not," said Ashley firmly, her eyes widening at her sister's words. "You told me you hate flying," she added, clearing her throat. 

 

"Well, yes..." admitted Judy, "but if Micah could make super-tech stuff for other kids here, he could probably make a lot of money. And maybe get a job doing that after he graduates. What do you think, Micah?"

 

 

[KnightDisciple]

Micah blinked at the question. As he'd talked Danica through his idea, he'd been laying out small motors, wheels, bits and bobs, and poking at them. But at that question, he stopped and looked up, glancing between the two sisters.

 

"Your sister's right, Judy. I can't make a jetpack. Not right now, not for a while. I mean, even a hydrogen-peroxide-powered pack is beyond me right now. I can reliably rebuild a motorcycle engine or repair a car engine. This..."

 

He gestured at the stuff in front of him on the table.

 

"This isn't really 'super-tech'. I'm just taking something that already exists, a self-balancing scooter, and trying to modify some of the parts to work on a less complicated but more compact model. It's a one-off project that I admitted will take a few tries. Anyone with the time and intent probably can make something like this. I'm...I'm not a super-scientist."

 

He blushed and turned his gaze back downward, resuming his work on the electrical components in front of him. 

[Avenger Assembled]

"Oh, you're just working with machines because you like it?" Judy blinked, then suddenly broke out in a huge smile. "That's so cool! Ah mean, it's great that people are building, um, death rays and powersuits and such, but it's so nice somebody's just...doing things the usual way!" She didn't quite leave the puzzle behind, but she did start paying a lot of attention to what Micah was working on. "Ah always wanted to get an ATV, but we couldn't on account of, um, all the trouble, but when Ah was little I had one of their owner's manuals."

"Better nurse than mechanic," grunted her sister politely. "Should see you with a medical kit." 

 

Judy blushed. "Well, Ah mean, that's just from all the practice Ah did! Ah had a lot of time on my hands lately," she said, brushing her hair back behind her ears. 

[Electra]

"Can I help?" Danica asked curiously. "I mean, I don't know very much about engineering, but I can hold a flashlight or something, maybe?" She had her nose almost level with the table as she studied the partially-assembled project as though proximity would reveal its secrets. She grinned. "Hey, maybe I could get four of these and paint a racing stripe on my shell, then go enter some races." It was much easier to joke about that than recall why Micah probably had gotten the idea to help her. Danica preferred not to think about the frustrating times when her lack of speed and dexterity held her back any more than absolutely necessary. 

[TheAbsurdist]

She blinked, before her glowing eyes narrowed as she took the hand and pulled herself up, looking at Astrid, "I am fine, but thank you."  Zenith couldn't help but come off as a little haughty, even imperious.  Admittedly, she was Corinne without restraint, her stage persona kicked up to 13, or so.

"I was walking on air, and enjoying music," she announced, offhandedly, like a cat trying to  make sure no one noticed what misstep they had taken.  She looked to the rest of them, her eyes resting on Ashley, finally, and she moved to lean her tall frame over the pieces and them, then she slowly reached out, going to tap Ashley on the nose, "Hello shadow, anyone ever tell you you're cute?"  Her impulse control either ignored entirely, or she was intentionally trying to tweak the nose she was attempting to tap.  Though, she wasn't move swift enough to make an earnest effort.

 

"But, Astrid, I am fine, even if I am being talked about while I am enjoying artistic swells and strains."  She turned her head to regard the Asgardian.

[Avenger Assembled]

Ashley didn't like Zenith. Letting your powers affect your personality struck her as a rather shabby way of doing things - especially when it was power enough to tear apart steel doors if you really put your mind to it. In a sensible universe, she mused, they'd have put power nullifiers on this one till she got herself sorted out. After all, unlike her ward, she'd never heard that the other girl would start to die if you turned her powers off. Summers is too soft on these kids anyway. She watched the hand come close, her face set in a frown, then moved away before she could actually touch, then smiled. It's a good thing you didn't try and touch Judy, honey, because then I'd have had to knock you on your ass right here in the common room. 

[KnightDisciple]

"Yeah, I work on cars and stuff because I like it. I want to be a mechanic. Or...maybe a pilot. I'm not here because of super-science. My power is...something different."

 

He trailed off and seemed to just drop the subject. Instead his attention shifted to Danica's questions.

 

"I mean, I guess I could rig up...hand-units? Or build something else for the shell, yeah. I figure if I can get these right, then we can work on other stuff? Maybe we can rig up your Segway to handle rougher ground better, too. Although I guess they just make those, so."

 

His gaze drifted to Zenith. Danica could tell that he wasn't ogling her like an amped-up teenager. Micah was watching her as if she might be some kind of threat, or as if something might go sideways. He was clearly not entirely comfortable with Zenith's presence, now that she seemed intent on tweaking the other students. But Micah stayed put, clearly too stubborn to move. 

[Cubismo]

It only took Zenith shooting her a look for Astrid figure out that she definitely didn't need any of her help. 

 

When the matter manipulator turned to Astrid and once again clarified that she was fine the demigoddess made a short self-deprecation laugh. "So you heard us then, eh? Sorry about the gossiping. I just wanted to know why you were..."

 

Astrid made a stereotypical ghost sound and wiggled her fingers. "Floating all creepy like. Not that you're creepy or anything." The half Asgardian cocked her dead to one side and thought about Zenith's recent comment and attempt to tap a very irritated looking Ashley by the nose. "Well actually randomly walking up to someone making a pass at them and trying to touch their nose is kind of creepy, Zenith."

 

Astrid's voice got a bit more serious then. She had to deal with her fair share of creepy people who got in their hands they could be handsy with her. "Maybe you should knock that off? Unless you two are a thing and this is just how you greet each other?" Astrid didn't think that was very likely given the daggers Ashley was throwing Zenith's way but she figured there was no harm in asking and getting a lay of the land.

[TheAbsurdist]

"She likes the other one better.  The other me."  A crooked smile on expressive lips as she shook her head, before spinning on her toes away from them, and padding on the balls of her feet away from them a bit.  "She has a lot to say, but doesn't.  But then that's the point of this place?  As we are free, so must we be caged?"  She laughed, a short, wry sound, before she reached up, and pulled herself up into the air, sprawling on her belly while she snapped her finger, and the shimmering air illuminated, filling with complex lattices and fractals of light.

Once done, she was on a large cushion that hung there about her shoulder height off the ground, her arms folded under her head, her chin digging into her forearm, as her hair shivered and moved about above her, impossibly, and in a manner that seemed to have it skip points in space.  "Of course... of course..." she trailed off, and let the air slide out of her lungs, before pivoting her head to look away.  "Mm, I came looking for Judy.  She wanted her to have something,"  She rolled over and withdrew a DVD case, and then idly flicked it over towards the table.

It stopped in mid-arc, as it was snatched up by a clock work flying thing that snatched it up and gently deposited it on the table, before it disappeared into a scattering of white light, like heat-less sparks.  The cover showed it as the Dark Crystal.