ic With Black Curtains (IC, open)

[Ari]

"To somewhere warm, with any luck." Leroy nodded to Judy, still smiling but looking faintly confused "Oh, certainly Dee! I love puzzles! Shame to solve them, really. Be right with you!"

 

"And thank you, Nicole, for your kind words. To be Barista to your Joyellen is an honour." the towering boy sketched a smooth bow to the runesmith in the chair "Dio scorched the beans with dragonfire and I crushed them with my own hands for the straining. Delicate work, but the prize,"  smiled so broadly his eyes were nearly lost from sight,  "well, you have tasted it! Now I know the base is solid I can experiment." Leroy suddenly frowned, tapping his chin with one finger as his eyes roamed the ceiling. "I wonder. If you ever have the time, Nicole, we should see if enchantment survives replication. Someday, perhaps, there can be a Grail in every hand."

 

"And if you would like to join us for something much more relaxing, please, be welcome." Clapping Nicole warmly on the shoulder, Leroy went to join Judy, Ashley and Micah. Dropping elegantly onto his knees next to Judy, Leroy smiled fondly at his squadmate as he found and gently squeezed her hand. "Hey," he murmured low so it only reached her(and Ashley), golden eyes sweeping the table as he carefully selected a central piece, searching casually for its mates "what is the matter? Did I do something?"

 

"Ah, a pity to lock you together, my brilliant friends." He sighed dramatically, the wood clking beneath his darting fingers as he wove the center of the picture together. "I am afraid I must decline your kind and generous offer, Ms. Corinne. My mother told me not to eat any 'fake' food while I was here, and until I know what exactly she meant I must keep on the safe side." Looking up at Astrid's arrival Leroy eagerly waved her over with the hand not holding Judy's "Ooh! Battlemaid! Come and see, it is a splendid bit of art!" 

 

"We should visit the cathedral sometime, speaking of art. I saw it last week on a flight with Dio. Such a lovely rustic thing. Haunted too, I hear, by some implacable undead!"

Edited February 4, 2019 by Ari

[TheAbsurdist]

Corinne kept the smile on her face, it even showed a little in her eyes, if there was something denting her mood, it just didn't show.  She leaned forward to work on the puzzle, and not look at other people.  One hand lifted to rake fingers through her blonde hair, as she was finding the pieces and fitting them together piecemeal and in clusters.  What with Judy being distracted by boys.

"Well, they're Liege Waffles, though I let the dough sit overnight.  But if you want blue berries on them, go ahead."  She shrugged a bit as she responded, having no impetus to really push back against the negatives, or non-responses.  Not that she was holding anything against Abby.  She glanced at Reina, "Hullo, name's Corinne, senior."  And she thrust a hand out to her, and flashed a brilliant million watt smile, "Orange Squad, though I prefer us being Gold."  She laughed softly, as she felt daggers thrown at her, so her eyes made contact with Nicole's for a moment, and her expression didn't change in the slightest.

Though it flagged in the moment her attention moved through empty space, only to pop right back up to Ashley, and against the cannier 'older girl' stuff showed.  She pivoted quickly, "Abby!  C'mon!  I got some veggie tempura too if you wanna snack!"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Everything's fine," lied Judy, because everyone was there and watching them. She slid her puzzle piece into place and realized that, between one thing and another, her friends were almost done with the whole enterprise. Still it was nice to have Leroy there, paying attention where it should be paid. Her voice serious, she went on, "You know, before Ah came here, Ah thought things like ghosts and demons were, um, just stuff people made up to scare people." She said it like confessing a sin, blushing slightly even behind her tan cheeks. "But they're really real, even right here in Freedom City." 

 

"Lot of crap goes down in Freedom," agreed Ashley, shooting Corinne a quizzical look. "Lotta better places to live. And you know, you hear things about creatures and stuff like that, but a lot of those things aren't real. You can't actually get demons from a roleplaying game, right?" 

 

"Ashley, nobody believes that anymore," said Judy cheerfully. "But Ah mean, there _are_ haunted places, right? And evil ones? With spirits of eternal darkness and everything? That just..." She fiddled briefly with the gold cross around her neck. "Anyway, where do y'all think we'll go for the trip? Ah heard it might be to Freedom Hall." 

 

[Curious Key]

Aurora

 

Oh no...She'd been rude... Reina stared into her lap, trying to hide the mortified look on her face. The moment she'd seen the look on Nicole's face she knew she'd misstepped. She couldn't interpret that look as anything but disapproving, and it made her want to run out of the room. But then the hand was pulled back and she was looking away and it was too late, too late. She was sure that there were words to say that would make things better and smooth things over but her mind was racing too fast and she couldn't pick anything sensible out of the rush. She tried to take deep breaths to settle her heart. Fighting was scary, but talking was scarier...

 

She was thinking of retreating from the puzzle entirely and slipping away before she could embarrass herself further when her ears tickled at the mention of a 'trip.' "...Haven't heard of a trip, did I miss something... important?" A note of panic managed to crawl into her voice. Reina didn't want to be out of touch, what if it was something important? What if she'd missed more things? The teachers would be so disappointed...

 

It took a moment before she realized that someone was talking to her. Her eyes swung toward Corrine. Oh god, if she waited she'd make an ass out of herself again! Reina reached out a faltering hand and gave Corrine an uncertain handshake, never quite meeting the other girls' eyes. "...Reina...Sophomore..."

Edited February 6, 2019 by Curious Key

[April]

Abigail glanced up from the puzzle and over at Judy.

 

"One of my sisters is a ghost," she said in a very matter-of-fact tone.  "The other is possessed by a spirit of avarice, but she's got that under control."  The corners of Abigail's mouth turned up into a faint smile as she thought about Kimber and Becky, two people (along with her adoptive father) who have made the young mage's life on Prime livable.

 

"You know that large skyscraper downtown, with the castle on top?" she asked.  The Dutemps building was a bit of an oddity, even by Freedom City standards, but some of the kids at Claremont haven't really had much opportunity to go into the city.  "They live there.  Well, Kimber does.  For a certain flexibility with the word live."

 

She sighed, made a slight gesture with one of her hands and the rest of the puzzle pieces moved and snapped themselves into place on their own.  Then she spun and turned back to Corinne.  "Ah, good.  I could use a snack."

[Cubismo]

"Well, if you insist, Leroy," Astrid answered playfully. If one wanted to get the demigoddess interested in something, calling her a Battlemaid was a good way of doing it. Flattery was the opium of warriors after all.

 

Taking a seat beside Leroy, Astrid took a look at the splendid art the gravity manipulator was taking about. Even though music was more her thing than art Astrid still recognized the piece as one of Caravaggio's famous oil paintings. "I guess having a Baroque era art puzzle is one way for Summers to remind us that we have a history exam soon. I wonder if that counts as low-key psychological torture?" She asked Leroy sarcastically, though, if she was being honest, she wouldn't put it past Claremont's headmistress to do such a thing.

 

Astrid started to put a couple of the last reminding pieces to their rightful place. While she did, she idly listened to the conversations and music around her, relaxing into the positive atmosphere. It was nice, and exactly the thing she needed right now.

 

She spoke up again when she heard Ashley, Abagail and Reina's conversation about the strange sites in Freedom. Astrid was still a stranger to the city, and although she had taken time to explore and visit some of the city's main attractions and sites, she still felt as if she didn't quite know it yet. "A skyscraper with a castle on top? Fancy. Any other weird or spooky locales in this city I should know about?"

[TheAbsurdist]

She offered up the carton of veggie tempura, and the dipping sauce, before she picked up her smoothie and took a sip of the heavenly nectar that was avocado smoothie.  After the slurp, she peeled off her leather jacket, and tossed it on the back of the chair she was at.  She adjusted the straps over her shoulders of her tops, including a battered AC/DC tank.  "It's from a new vegan cart that parks like, 4 blocks away in that parking lot?"  She flashed an easy smile to her squadmate, and she fidgeted.  Corinne was actually fairly touchy feelie, but she didn't like intruding into people barriers.

Not me! Came the intrusive bubbling.

So she looked back to Ash, the urge to mess with her strong, but she gave a pointed sweep of her bright blues (stunning some might say they were) toward Judy, Micah, and Leroy.  Not that she disliked any of them, but she didn't have enough time in the day to really play at that.   Maybe if I made time that might work... No. No.  

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Salvo

 

"That'll be an interesting exercise," Nicole replied to Leroy. "Even if that's been a long old goal of any artificer worth her salt. I mean, imagine instead of one enchanted object painstakingly handmade in the span of weeks you could have an assembly line of the things. The idea began around the time of Europe's industrialization and the Rendower Club, composed occultists and capitalists, created some interesting theories and practices that characterized that early period and influenced succeeding generations that well..." She stopped herself from turning this into an impromptu lesson, instead  inhaling deeply before she gave Leroy a beam of a smile.

 

"I'd love to."

 

Her eyes followed him as he walked over to the group of students to beside Judy where he sat and cupped her hand in his. She could see the fondness when he looked at Judy, the way he would lean over to whisper soothing words into her ear.

 

Her smile faltered, shoulders up like a nervous excited puppy, instead falling and crunching inwards in moments.

 

Of course, who was she kidding? She must look so stupid and so shallow to do as she had, to believe in something else for just that short moment.

 

Leroy and Judy were a couple, forged all the way back to the Fall Dance and before even that. She shivered as she remembered what she saw, all the details playing out in her mind in an instant.

 

When she thought no one was looking, she set Leroy's thermos on an empty table. She left the common room, fingers rubbing hard against her temples.

 

Damn it. She had a headache and her mind was a mess of memories playing out of control. Yet she couldn't help but think of the assembly line theories and their merits and weaknesses, links and processes flowing into more things she should experiment on, more variables to keep track of. It was a useless exercise, and yet...

 

Valentine's was in two weeks. Maybe she could have a working theory before that.

Edited February 9, 2019 by Zeitgeist Blue

[KnightDisciple]

Micah stopped playing as conversation picked up and he had to concentrate more on following everything going on. He replied to Danica's question about his abilities first.

 

"I mean, yeah, sure. Not all day long, but for a little bit. I'd say I can do stuff that size without a lot of worry, and stuff at about the campus's size without a major issue, if it's subtle. Making the whole campus warm might jack with local weather, though. A tunnel is small enough the patterns will just kind of...move around it.I just don't want to do something that, like, makes a super-storm in Africa or something."

 

He scrunched his face up in confusion at Corinne's description.

 

"I've never heard of 'Liege Waffles', is that a special brand or something?"

 

He heard the chatter about a trip. Thinking on it for a moment, he offered up his own thoughts.

 

"I mean, if it's a surprise trip that doesn't need extra paperwork from our families, my guess is that it's someplace safe and 'mild'. Freedom Hall, City Hall, something like that."

[Electra]

"We went to Freedom Hall in eighth grade," Danica commented, rolling fully up to a sitting position again. "If you're on the Nicholson field trip, they show you things that the public doesn't get to see, like the communication tower and the locker rooms. And then somebody from the Aux team tells you that if you work hard in school and learn to manage your powers responsibly, you could be on the League too someday. I got to do the field trip twice," she added, sounding pleased, "because I was in eighth grade twice. We had Fleur de Joie one year and Gabriel the next. It was before they got bumped to main team." 

 

She looked over at Abigail, her eyes going a little wide. "You live in the castle on the skyscraper? I see that all the time, but I didn't know anybody actually lived there. I thought it was, like, a museum or something? Is it really castley inside, or do you have wifi and Nintendo and hot water and stuff?" 

[Avenger Assembled]

Ashley noted Nicole's hasty departure, and figured the reason for it. But what the hell, teenage relationship woes were decidedly not her professional concern. Really none of this was, and now that she and Danica had their tutoring arrangement worked out, she decided she didn't need to say anything for a little while. Though now she didn't have any supper if Danica wasn't going to eat that bar. Dammit. Guess it's MRE after Judy's in bed again. Oh well. Is...is Corinne trying to have her way with me? Did...did I just think have her way with me? She said a few words inside her head that her grandmother had said when the health inspector gave the family restaurant a C. "Yeah?" she asked Corinne, looking at her dead-on. 

 

Judy gave Abby a serious look for a moment, but when Danica intervened evidently decided to let the changed subject stay changed. "Ah once took a field trip to an alpaca farm. But that was back before everything got...different," she went on, twisting her fingers in her hair for a moment before adding, "Ah, uh, never met any superheroes before Ah got here," she lied, "that's cool, Danica. Y'all ever wonder what they don't show us?" 

[olopi]

"No idea where to, honestly. Or if there even is such a thing. I just overheard Jenny and her clique talking about some school trip by the lockers earlier. She doesn't necessarily strike me as somebody who'd make that up out of nowhere."  

 

Freedom Hall, huh? Monica had spent quite a bit of time there, she was even willing to wager that she'd spent more time there than the rest of the room combined. Beth had arranged for her to stay there when she'd needed to disappear for a bit after getting her powers. On her other visits to FC, Monica had usually stayed in a hotel (including during the Invasion, a memory she still preferred to ignore as good as possible), but she'd still been in the Hall occasionally.

 

Monica got up from the couch, stretching a bit before walking towards Reina. Monica had not seen her before, and it was good to get introductions out of the way quickly. She sat down by her and the others, although her interest in the puzzle was limited. She still had her textbook on her, after all. She nodded to Reina as she sat down, then turned to address the entire room again.

 

"I mean, if you're interested in a tour of Freedom Hall, including the parts you wouldn't  usually see, let me know. I'm sure I can get us in. "

[TheAbsurdist]

Corinne rolled her eyes, her eyebrows moving about like she was conducting a symphony.  Though in regards to who was the target of that, in the chaos of this room it was unclear, to be a bit understated, and unable to help herself, she reached out to her side and draped an arm across Abby's shoulders.  "Right, so like anyone wanna go skiing on the long Presidents day weekend?"

Her lips tugging into a crooked little smile, "Liege are, like, Belgium waffles.  Made with those proper cast irons, and pearl sugar."  She nodded a little bit, and didn't let her arm linger too longer around her squadmate, pulling it away, and with one hand holding the smoothie she was slurping down, she slapped the other down onto the table.  Corinne was a little reticent to use her powers most times, but the call was strong, it was an option on the table that she indulged.  The puzzle was finished, so, let's change that.  A big grin on her face, as her power exploded out, the puzzle rising, changing and then falling apart onto the table top.  "How about the Night Watch?"  

Eventually she looked to Ashley, and rolled her eyes, mouthing an exasperated 'Not that.'  Then looked pointedly at Judy and the orbit the others found themselves locked in around her.  Though it slipped to an easy smile like it was nothing when someone else's gaze fell onto her.

 

[KnightDisciple]

"Freedom Hall would be cool. Even just the regular parts. I mean, what exactly are we even looking for in a 'behind the scenes' tour?"

 

He frowned at himself.

 

"Sorry, that came out harsh. But I guess I just don't get much of the hype about that stuff. Isn't it mostly just janitor closets and maybe private rooms for the heroes that stay overnight or whatnot?"

 

He turned toward Corinne at the description of the Liege Waffles with a grin.

 

"Sounds tasty! Those, at least, I'm down for. Skiing's kind of a meh for me? Sorry, just...didn't really have nearly enough snow to ever get the practice, back home. Didn't ever really get on any ski trips, either. Just wasn't time or means."

[Ari]

"Ooh!" At the masterwork's name, Leroy's already bright eyes lit up even more, his fingers darting into the descending cloud to snatch the face of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq. Inspecting it with loving care, he held it carefully so it would reflect the light glaring down from the ceiling. "Alas, Corinne," he said, eyes fixed on the miniature portrait in his hand as the other gently squeezed Judy's and withdrew to start snapping the rest of the pieces into place, "I have already agreed to accompany Suzanne Suresh to her Mistfall draft at Castle Comics that day. She desires an easy victory to make top 7. What mountains were you planning to grace?"

 

Off the others' looks he added "Suzanne is Alpha-10, Violet Squad, jetpack and such."

 

"And very glad to make your acquaintance, Reina Sophomore!" The smile he turned on the hesitant huddler was matched with eyes and teeth bright and piercing as a lighthouse "Please, make yourself at home, tell us about yourself and your dreams! Which reminds me..." A faint scrtching against the building had gone unnoticed until Leroy rose, marched to a window and opened it with a flick of a finger. Outside, leaning on the wall and looking the soul of misery, was the great green dragon Dio. His frilled crest drooped, his wings sagged and even his huge reptilian head managed something like a human's expression of anguish and despair. 

 

"What," Leroy asked testily, bouncing the puzzle piece in his hand, "is this about a 'crisis'? I left specific-"

 

Dio's face pushed Leroy firmly back into the room, the dragon's eyes seething with impatience and his voice a hissing growl. "Loss on hand three."

 

The furious argument that ensued might have been of interest to someone who was very into the game and had strong views whether or not Host of Horns was a valid strategy. The end result was that Dio called Leroy several very rude names and ducked back through the window in a huff, almost forgetting to teleport out of school grounds instead of flying. Closing the window with a snap, Leroy ran a hand through his lengthening curly hair and took a breath. He smiled at Monica as if nothing had happened. "I should relish such a wonderful opportunity, Liberty. Even my mother thinks well of the Freedom League, seeing how they began from such humble beginnings, it would be quite the inspiration! Astrid, forgive me if you can, I have stolen a central piece." With a rueful look, he handed Captain Cocq's face back to the visitor, looking curiously over her shoulder as it came together.

 

 

[Avenger Assembled]

"Hm." Ashley looked down at the puzzle and pulled back slightly from the building. "Not my favorites." As she did so, Judy looked around at the group in the room and shifted uncomfortably, then seemed to focus on Corinne.

 

"Hey, Corinne, could Ah talk to you about, uh, girl stuff?" She colored slightly as she rose from the couch, extemporizing, "Ah need some, uh, fashion advice." She smoothed her knee-length skirt and nodded towards the door. 

 

With all this going on, Ashley rose to her feet herself.

[TheAbsurdist]

Pushed to her feet, all sunshine and being tall, because that's pretty much an accurate description of her in general.  Even when she was being heel to someone.  She took her time following after Judy, nodding to those around her, and giving a little wave, to those she hadn't said hello to prior.  "Sure thing Judy!"

Humming as she moved past them, not giving Ashley any more looks, though happy, at least that Abby had moved to the rest of the people.  Not that she expected miraculous Hollywood-esque opening of the wallflower.  Though, Corinne hoped it would not be a discussion of relationships, as she had... none?  Really?  A few casual dates, but she never had a free enough schedule to do so, and generally intimidated the other dancers with her status.

[April]

Abigail smiled at Corinne gave her a small nod of thanks, watching her briefly as she walked away.

 

"Ah, no Dani," she said turning back to Danica, shaking her head.  "My foster sister lives in the Castle.  I still go back to Ottawa when I'm not here at Claremont.  I can't quite bring myself to into my father's place.  Not yet, anyway.  Not while I still think of it as his, you know?"

 

She rolled a shoulder in a faint shrug.

 

"Anyway,. the first floor of the castle is public access and a good part of it is the Allies of Freedom Museum, yeah.  The rest of it is... quite modern on the inside."

[Cubismo]

Astrid's piqued up at the mention of Freedom Hall. She hadn't visited the Freedom League's headquarters yet and was curious about what kind "behind the scenes" stuff she might see while there. The thought that her would probably be thrilled to visit it too was an added bonus that made Astrid smile to herself. Leroy voice brought her out her daydreaming. 

 

"Forgiveness granted," she said coyly before looking at the window Dio had just flown out of. She pointed a finger at the window knowingly. "Sooooooooo... You want to talk about what that just was? Or is that personal stuff that you want to deal with by yourself?"

 

Astrid was no stranger to drama between friends mostly because she was usually the one to cause it in the first place. Still, she wanted to be someone people could confided in even if settling drama wasn't her strong suite as opposed to causing it. 

 

 

[KnightDisciple]

Micah watched some of the byplay in the room and shifted uncomfortably. He couldn't pick up on everything, but some instinctual part of him said stuff was going on. Probably girl stuff. 

 

'If I just leave it be I should be fine. Not like it involves me, right?'

 

Instead he chose to lean forward and glance at the ongoing puzzle work, before carefully pointing to a couple of pieces.

 

"Don't these go here, kinda toward the corner?"

[Avenger Assembled]

As they walked down the hall together, going the opposite direction from anyone else they could see, Judy asked Corinne a question. "Corinne, Ah have a question, and Ah know this makes me sound really stupid, but you're the only friend Ah have here who knows anything about this stuff." When they turned down another hallway, this one a set of rooms that were mostly vacant, Judy whispered, "Can we, uh, go to your room about this? Ah don't want everybody gossiping." Inside her head, even as she kept pace with Corinne and Judy, Ashley was imagining herself somewhere peaceful - maybe on her knees in prayer at the Catholic Church that had dominated much of her early life. It was pleasant to imagine being there, even though she'd fidgeted and tried to think about other things at the time, because that moral certainty seemed quite far away given what she knew perfectly well she was about to observe. Behind Judy, she looked faintly nauseous for just a moment. 

[TheAbsurdist]

Corinne shifted on a dime, as mercurial as one might imagine someone like her to be.  "Oh, they'll probably wag their tongues about something."  She grinned at Judy in a conspiratorial manner, "We're teenagers it always happens...  Wait, wait..."  And as she walked with Judy out of the room, she started to prance in a way, her voice raising, "Judy!  I was not giving your sister eyes like I wanna kiss her!"  She said loudly, and in a shocked, and scandalized tone, making sure that people could hear that, over anything else.

And in her 'surprise,' Corinne stumbled a bit, and did fell in a very convincing manner to the ground, as if what what she was reacting to was truly shocking, before she outright slipped and fell to the corridor floor.  She laid there for a moment, and in a manner indicating she was trying to brush off the fall, and the embarrassment, she got to her feet and leans in close to talk softy to her, making it look like a fierce whisper.  "_{Hey, like it's okay,, we can go to my room, and discuss it.}"  And if she was the fool, then that was what will likely be the takeaway from others.  She looked back to Ashley, "C'mon Ash we gotta sort this out."

Unwittingly she was pulling the fool ploy her biological father lived and died by, adroitly taking attention onto herself because she could hang with it.  Trusting Ash to follow along with her example, as she rubbed at the elbow that she had landed on, managing a very sheepish, and chagrined expression.

 

[Ari]

"Dio dislikes it when I play to lose. When he heard that was my reason for agreeing to be educated on Prime, he sulked for a week." Leroy laughed aloud, his golden eyes glittering with malice "More fool him. Game loss in one hand, else I am blind." Still grinning, the boy reached over Astrid's shoulder, slipping the pieces of the drummer together, nodding at Micah's point about the corner, "Just so. Those are the cracks of the paving stones. I was surprised to learn some parts of this world still use them."

 

Hearing Corinne's very loud declaration of anti-lust, the boy startled. "She...was not? But...but then who is this secret love I hear so much about? By the claims I hear half the school has her affection. I should ask Pan, he understands these vagaries of the heart better than I."

 

"Speaking of hearts, who were these 'Allies of Freedom', Abby?" he said over his shoulder, "was your father with them?" 

Edited March 3, 2019 by Ari

[Avenger Assembled]

Earlier in her time at Claremont, Judy would have either spluttered loudly or set the hallway on fire when Corinne shouted loud enough for everyone back in the room to hear. Instead she simply bit her lip and kept walking, her cheeks paling as she lengthened her stride. "Trust me," opined a stone-faced Ashley. "You don't want any of this," she added with a gesture at her own face, then on down, as she followed the two of them down the hall. 

 

"This isn't any time to mess around!" declared Judy as they stepped inside Corinne's dorm room, a familiar location for the Smith girls. "Ah need to talk to you about, you know, mah...dating life." She didn't call it her romantic life; romance would be reserved for the boy she would eventually marry, who at this point she was pretty sure wasn't anybody at Claremont. "Ah like...two boys at the same time!" she declared, as if it were a forbidden secret. 

[TheAbsurdist]

There was a moment, a flicker of something across Corinne's face at Ashley's response.  "Probably," was all she said to Ashley, nonplussed either because she didn't see Ashley as a threat, or wasn't invested in finding out whatever Ash was deadset on warding her off of.  Despite every Corinne wasn't a gossip, she had a life that she was fully invested in.  Despite however Ash might feel about both aspects of the tall teen, who she was as a person was not really ever hidden.  

 

Stepping into her room it was in whatever disarray it normally was.  An explosion of clothes, school stuff, innumerable snacks,  various art projects in several stages of development, and a little electronic drum kit to one corner.  One might feel that the place was bigger than it could possible be on the outside.  Corinne took off her shoes, before she padded over to pick up Percival her loyal hedgehog from his enclosure.  The little fella made grump noises, before she cradled him in the crook of her elbow, before she picked up a chocolate bar and flipped it towards Judy.

"It's the perfect time to mess around, unless you're promised to marry one," Corinne responded smoothly, before she perched herself with that picture perfect posture on the stool for the drum kit.  She wasn't teasing, or at least that wasn't her tone, she was dead serious, and that was her appraisal.  "I noticed you like them, you look at them pretty pointedly.  I..."  She frowned a bit, and gently stroked at the hedgie's belly, and her lips twisted into a wry expression, "I dunno if I am the best to help.  I really don't have a boyfriend, or haven't ever really had one, been kinda busy for like twelve years.  But I guess, just be honest with them, don't string them along, but say you like both and you're a teenager dealing with powers, but trying to sort romantic things out isn't easy..."

Then her eyes widened and she made a shocked face, and hopped to her feet as she moved over towards Judy, "... but you aren't sexually active right?"