open Radio Edit (IC)

[TheAbsurdist]

On 12/29/2022 at 6:20 PM, Spacefurry said:

Leon glanced back at Jonah.

"That's just it. You don't know. No way of knowing where, how or why."

He gave the mountain of a boy a shrug.

"I guess you would be."

Jonah, would, under normal circumstances let it slide. Then...then Leon dug at Holly. For no reason, and he shifted a bit. And then Wilona left after his words.

 

"Leon, if you have a point it's buried under you being an asshole? Or second thought just stop showing off how clever you think you are in front of other people, like friendly adversarial stuff is earned. You don't call strangers a dumbass as an intro because you can't get walk it back." Another shift as if he was uncomfortable physically with his words, or just unable to sit still, "Same as acting like team dad to people who don't really know you. But whatever... We're all dumb kids still in puberty. Or at least I am. Or able to admit it."

 

He let out a huff, a short blast of frosty steam poured out, and he looked to the window, braced for detention, or something similar.

[Avenger Assembled]

Holly gave Jonah a grateful smile and sent him a 'that's not necessary, but thank you' mentally. Out loud, she said, "Whatever. This scenario wouldn't actually be a problem for me anyway, because I could just find whose money it was." 

 

Neko's eyes flicked back and forth as the boys hissed at each other. She was naturally inclined to side with Leon, of course, who certainly treated her better than the he-yamuaba ever could. But actually getting involved in the argument wasn't really her style, especially since it didn't sound it was about anything important. The arguments between boys rarely were. "We take money to the family we know. And for ourselves if we need it. That is the end," she said. With that, she closed her eyes and folded her hands, and seemed to withdraw from the conversation. 

 

At that, a fluffy brown and white cat with only the stub of a tail appeared outside near where Wilona was curled up on herself. The car looked up at her with bright yellow eyes and rubbed against her legs, purring noisily and warmly. 

Mr Hawke had looked concerned as Wilona had left, but hadn't tried to chase her down once it was clear she was on her way out. He'd spoken quietly into a comm unit on his desk, but seemed to relax a fraction when he saw the students were on it. "A counselor is coming to help," he told the students who'd worried.

 

"If you have such wealth," Owain was saying easily to Naomi, "remember that such treasures are of this world, not any other. Spend them here, and spend them wisely. Say Leon," he offered, "thou hast the solution there on the card- what moral are we to draw from this example?" 

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "Puma"

 

Carmen didn't really care about the dawning issues at hand. She herself had grown up poor and knew very little of wealth that maybe some of the other kids at Claremont had. Sure, it impacted her life and she considered herself a little jealous of others that obviously likely had more, but she didn't make much of a fuss nor cared too much. She had more daunting things to worry about, liking dealing with school life and whatever occurred during an outing with the Patriot, her mentor. It also helped that she wasn't really paying much attention. Only enough to see Wilona storm out of the room due to a comment from Leon. He seemed to want to dig his grave in this ordeal, not that she could help the paper boy.

The young cat woman would stand up, and raise her hand, "Teacher, can I please be allowed to talk to Wilona, to make sure she is alright?" Carmen would ask politely and calmly. Hawke, who seemed to know that Carmen was in part genuine in this action to help and also possibly get out of a group discussion she didn't want to be into would relent, allowing her to leave the room and check on the upset fellow teen, if only to keep an until a counselor came.

Leaving the room, the young woman would close the door behind her, spotting her fellow classmate, "Teacher let me out to watch you," she'd tell Wilona, Carmen picking a spot to lean up against a wall across the hall from her.

[Spacefurry]

Leon actually hesitated for a moment at Wilona’s unusually quiet tone. At the use of his actual name his frown was nearly imperceptible, then gone just as quickly. When Naomi addressed him though, he was obviously a little taken aback at the girl’s jab.

“I’ve never asked you, or anyone else, for money.”

Leon did his best not to let the twinge of anger he felt at her ‘offer’ show. The paper checks rustled briefly in her hands in echo of his feelings. He knew the two were very protective of each other and she was just lashing out in her own way, but he thought Naomi would have known he hadn’t meant to drive Wilona out of the room. But it still stung coming from her.

 

Luke’s comment managed to quell the embers of his anger. His roommate knew him well enough to know Leon could be prickly but was never purposefully malicious. He gave the dragon boy an appreciative nod.

 

At least Ryder hadn’t said anything to him.

 

Jonah though was new and didn’t know what they had been through together already. A year of classes, training, trips and even time travel. The young man managed to set Leon on the defensive again.

“Says the new kid.”

 

He started to say something else when Neko spoke up, her answer close to his own. He gave her another smile, a good portion of his ire fading as he watched her settle back and tune out even as Owain spoke up.

“That’s just it.”

He said picking up a card and flipping it over and over, revealing nothing printed on either side.

“There is no ‘correct’ answer. The point-“

He shot Jonah a look, pausing long enough for Carmen to let the teacher excuse her.

“The point is that it’s impossible to have all the answers, cause you can’t always have all the facts.”

Leon glanced at Holly.

“All we can do is what we think is best when we’re in the moment.”

He looked up at Mr Hawke with an obvious look that told the older man that was what Leon thought of all of these questions.

“These have all been based on real events."

He said leaning back again.

"This wasn’t any different. We used some of it to buy dinner, then gave the rest to our neighbor.”

He said flatly without any further explanation.

[TheAbsurdist]

"Cool," came Jonah's curt reply to Paper Mache. His tone said he didn't care about Leon's excuses, or justifications, or whatever. The memory of getting called 'blue' by him immediately told him most everything he needed to know in the current framework. But, he wasnt open to having a discussion because he didnt see a point until he was pushed again. 

 

His overt attention immediately slid to Mastermind, as he received his first (and by his estimation unsettling) mental communication.

 

But Leon, with his love of hearing himself talk, continued, and he rolled his eyes and sighed. "Okay, whatever man. Rather than saying 'Hey I've earned this rapport with these people,' you immediately turned it into a 'newb' insult. So, okay cool. Whatever."

 

His attention was pointed to Mr. Hawke then, "You got any assigned reading or...?"

[EternalPhoenix]

Wilona

 

Wilona was not someone who cried easily or for very long. So by the time the friggin’ cat showed up, she was merely slightly red-eyed and a little sniffly. Neither Carmen nor Neko was on her team, but it did not take a rocket scientist to figure out a sudden mystery cat belonged to one of them. She reached out and started petting it. “Not like you understand English. You’re a cat.” She sighed. “You’ve got it easy, cat. You can do whatever you want, and all anyone’ll do is chase you away. Me, I get to hear all these words about ‘potential’ and all the things I could be if I tried really hard. Do they care if I even want any of it? Hell no.” She sighed again. “Look, this place is nice, but all I want is to go home.” Her voice cracked slightly on “home”. “I know it’s not paradise or anything, but it’s what I understand. And if I say that to anyone human, they’re gonna get that look of pity in their eyes for the poor little homeless girl and it makes me SO GODDAMN MAD THAT I COULD-“ And this was when Carmen walked out. So the cat belonged to Neko. …yeah, that tracked. The usual mask snapped back into place with an almost audible sound. “Watch me do what? Skip class? I was tired of being in there anyway.”

 

Naomi

 

Naomi brightened immediately at Ryder. “Yes.” This was loud for her. She opened it and flipped through them so he could see. “My art. It’s good and people like it.” She gave a rare mischievous smile. “Bank wanted to sell them, but they’re mine.” She nodded in thanks at Owain. And now Leon was upset at her. She was noticeably baffled, which was a rare change from her usual unreadable expression. “Why not? I don’t mind. I have lots.” Had she taken a shot at him? Oh. Oh, no. She had. She didn’t mean to do that. Feelings leaping out ahead of her conscious mind, ugh. So, instead of writing him a check, she put the checkbook away and rummaged around in her pockets. She found a battered five dollar bill, and gave it to him. “You’re my friend, Leon.” Meaning she’d help if he asked, and it had nothing to do with how much money she had. Also she was sorry for making him feel bad.

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "Puma"

 

The young cat woman pointed towards her ears, signifying that likely she heard what was said to the cat created from Neko's powers. Carmen didn't know wither or not it was a real genuine cat or just some illusion, it sure seemed to smell and sound like it though and she didn't care to ask either way, genuinely expecting it to be some sort of eavesdropping power potentially, "I don't need to really see, I hear you just fine. Not like I'm gonna stop you from running from that aburrida (boring) class," she responds back somewhat uncaring, arms crossed as she looked down the hall. The counselor would likely take a few minutes to get to them.

"You got family right, a place away from here?" she spoke, remembering that they had snuck into that unused pool during the summer, this dour mood not what she remembered, "Lots of people I'm told don't have family local here."

[Avenger Assembled]

Owain gave Leon a very skeptical look. "Leon, hast thou deceived us? Was this not a choice given to us by Master Hawke?"

 

"If you remember the instructions I gave you at the beginning, you all had the option of inventing  your own," said Hawke easily as he walked past the group. "Going your own way was always a choice. And it seems like that sparked a little more conversation than anything I did."

 

"Okay," said Holly Cline, thinking for a moment before she spoke firmly. "This one actually happened to, uh, somebody I know." The pretty psion colored slightly in her pale cheeks before she spoke. "There's a force about to invade Earth. Even if they lose, they'll be able to inflict some real damage; it'll be the thing with Atlas or the last T-invasion all over again. The leader of the invading force knows you, and they send you a message that says if you'll come to their palace and become their, er, companion, they'll call off the invasion. What do you do?" 

 

Her eyes still closed, Neko's lips moved almost imperceptibly as she murmured, "<tears fall like rain; soft words of comfort I speak; child's cries soon cease.>"  Outside, the fluffy white cat jumped into Wilona's lap and began purring, settling in loaf-style as it looked up at the two girls with the expectant face of a cat that expected more petting. If the look it gave Carmen was rather insolent, wasn't that true of all looks any cats gave? 

[Nerdzul]

On 1/6/2023 at 6:27 PM, EternalPhoenix said:

“Why not? I don’t mind. I have lots.”

 

"You know, if Leon doesn't want them..." Luke grinned. "I know a few people who can use some..." That included himself of course, but truth was, if the a billionaire classmate had some cash to burn, there were definitely more than a few of his neighbors that could have definitely benefited from some extra dough. 

 

Cool. Luke chuckled at the icy boy choice of words. Then again, the rest of the conversation wasn't exactly as enjoyable. 

 

"You know man? We were newbs last year too, that's how life works..." He shrugged. 

 

He listened to Leon finishing the story. Yeah makes sense.  He threw a glance at the door though, wondering how was Wilona's faring in Carmen's care. Unfortunately he had no way to know until either of them came back.

 

"That depends is she hot? This invasion leader..." Luke joked after listening to Holly's scenario. Juvenile perhaps, but he was a teenage boy after all (and Muirne wasn't around to hear him).

 

"Seriously though, if that person is trustworthy... I mean, like not gonna take me home and then invade anyway... I'd do it and figure out something from there." The young man added.

 

"You know... turn on the charm." He grinned playfully.

 

"And if that doesn't work... Unlikely, I know..." He paused for a moment for dramatic effect. "It'd still be saving lives and I bet I can make enough of a mess to stop the invasion from inside."

Edited January 11, 2023 by Nerdzul

[Fox]

"Accepting seems like the reasonable gamble," said Natalia, who'd spent the last few minutes of drama inspecting her nails. "If they're trustworthy enough to call off the invasion, it gives everyone else more time to counter-attack; if not, perhaps it buys time to set up a better defense. Either way, it brings me closer to the person who thinks they can force my hand that crudely."

 

Seemingly satisfied with her manicure, she folded her hands in her lap, legs crossed, back straight. "It's a dangerous gamble," she admitted. "Unless they fell for my beauty at first sight - which isn't unreasonable - they likely know I'll be uncooperative and may have other threats or dampeners or the like to try to deal with me. I think I nevertheless like those odds better than trying to fight an entire invasion force, and in the worst case - if they're fully irredeemable - I can try to collapse the leader and their power structure before they can bring me to heel." Something about the way she said 'collapse' implied it wasn't a metaphor. "I'd have no intent to fulfill my end of the bargain, though."

[Avenger Assembled]

"I would tell said demon lord, or whatever beast he might be, what he might do with such a foul offer," said Owain, simmering at the thought. "We gain nothing from deception." 

 

"Oh?" asked Gwen, a curious look in the butterfly fae's eyes as they looked at Owain with purple eyes, pink hair tucked behind their pointed ears. "Surely you might practice deceit on the battlefield. Did not Arthur do so many a time?"

 

"In some tales," said Owain, sounding defensive, and the two began arguing about specific events from Arthurian romances that nobody else was familiar with.

[Spacefurry]

Leon rolled his eyes at Jonah's retort. It took an effort to keep his moth shut and not push the kid's buttons, for now. Instead he glanced back at Naomi.

 

He wanted to stay angry, but just couldn't. The girl never meant to anger anyone. Leon had just been angry already, snapped without thinking and now he had upset her. He took a deep breath and exhaled it, smiling down at her as he did. He gently accepted the battered five, inclining his head in a conspiratorial way anyone who knew him was familiar with.

"Thanks."

He grinned mischievously. Another thing he was well known for.

"You realize I'm just gonna hang on to this until I can spend it on you or Wilona."

He chuckled as he sat up straight again and tucked the money away, but Naomi could see him glance towards the class door and see him frown briefly before turning to look at Owain.

 

Leon gave Owain an 'I'm hurt' look, complete with his hand on his chest.

"I  am hurt, wounded even, that you would think me deceptive good sir."

Even he couldn't keep a straight face though and he started to snicker before Mr Hawke stepped past and Leon composed himself with some effort.

 

It was Holly's turn and Leon leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table as he listened. When Neko started to murmur though, Leon's attention shifted to her. He frowned, wishing he knew what she was saying.

 

He started to say something but Luke beat him to it. Leon gave his roommate a smirk and a grin. Between Luke and Natalia, it started to look like a consensus to go with the invaders until Owain answered. He had to give the young knight credit for sticking to their guns... or rather swords. When the boy fell into debate with Gwen Leon chuckled.

"I'd have to say no to that deal too. First off, I'm not going to bow down to anyone. And secondly, I'm not about to make my Ōjo <princess> angry."

He had taught himself a few words, but still need to learn it for real. Leon chuckled and grinned.

"Course, if she did get angry, she could probably drive them back on her own."

[TheAbsurdist]

"Maybe." He was rocking, and wriggling in his seat not so much agitated as clearly just not able to sit still. While he was not frowning, his condor-esque wingspan was folded across his chest. "Sure. I guess. Lot of stuff depending on the good graces of someone who'd think that deal was something to offer. I mean, they probably got contingencies for someone like us. Right?" He snorted enough to jostle his body.

 

"I mean, like, they might be nuts to enough to go back on their word. Which, ok, dumbest thing even. Because I will totally just go gaga over an alien overlord who lied to me and the nuked my family from orbit."