Flesh and Bone

[Electra]

The sun had not yet risen on a very foggy Saturday morning, which meant the park was technically not open for the day yet. That didn't stop Fleur de Joie, who sat placidly on a wrought iron bench near a suspiciously bright and chipper patch of rosebushes, and she was confident that it would not stop the colleague she was here to meet, either. She just hoped that colleague arrived soon, since even through her cowl and long-sleeved outfit, she was freezing her butt off on the metal bench. It was only the middle of October, and already Stesha missed summer. But this was a good time of year to teach someone a few of the finer points of healing the land, if nothing else. There were plenty of dead plants around!

[Gizmo]

The sound of light, rapid footfalls sounded through the fog before the coltish form of Jill O'Cure appeared. The teenage girl had made some concessions against the weather, trading her cropped turtleneck for a heavier top that tucked into her belt, with a long, black and white striped scarf trailing behind her crimson jacket as she jogged over the he bench. "Sorry, sorry!" she called ahead as she spotted Fleur. "It totally didn't even occur to me that, durr, it's cold out until I was halfway out the door. Thanks for coming out to talk to me."

[Electra]

"It's not a problem at all," Fleur replied, rising to her feet. "I hear it's supposed to get into the seventies this afternoon, and I'm hoping they're right. In the meantime, though, the cold and the fog aren't really doing me any favors." Even though it was in the low fifties this morning and not nearly as cold as it was going to get this winter, Fleur's cheeks and the tip of her nose were pink, and she had her hands tucked away in her pockets. "In the meantime, though, do you mind if we hop on over to my headquarters for a little while? It's a lot warmer there, and we can talk a little about what exactly you want to learn more about."

[Gizmo]

"Oh, no, yeah, absolutely," Jill nodded quickly before catching herself, clearly trying to strike the right balance between enthusiasm and cool aloofness in front of the more experienced heroine. "Turns out mi hermano wears thermal underwear under his jumpsuit during the winter; woulda been nice to let me in on that one ahead of time." She glanced over at the unseasonably vibrant flower bush. "Are we going to do the, ah, green woosh thing?"

[Electra]

"Yep, just a quick hop next door," Fleur confirmed with a grin, her face cast in shadows by the darkness and her hood. She reached out and took Jill's hand, and suddenly the darkness and cool night air was replaced by the green of sun through leaves, and the smell of mown grass. It seemed to last a second longer than before, but then they were out again, and standing in a cozy little cottage. There was a sofa and two chairs in a conversational grouping, all of them facing a working space heater that stood where a fireplace might otherwise have gone. There was also a little kitchenette and a table with two chairs on the other side of the room. Lamps were placed in the corners, casting the whole room in a warm incandescent glow.

Looking closer, it became clear that the green walls were actually made of living leaves and branches, and that the whole plant was, in face, a garden in itself. "Welcome to my place," Stesha said with a smile, pushing back her hood and tugging off her mask. "Would you like some tea or coffee? I need some, I can barely feel my fingers."

[Gizmo]

Jill crouched slightly as they arrived, subconsciously rebelling against the idea of moving without physically moving. Even so, she wore a broad grin. "Ha! So neat. Uh, yeah, coffee would be nice, thanks." Looking about the cottage, she raised an eyebrow. It was considerably more homey than she generally expected from a headquarters, but then Fleur struck her as a fairly soft touch all around. Running a hand over the verdant walls, she loosened her scarf. "Huh, talk about your DIY projects..."

[Electra]

Stesha went over to the kitchenette and poured water from a gallon jug into the coffeemaker, then set it to warming up. "You like it? It's the first thing I've ever done like this, but it was basically just a giant topiary project. I've got a little generator hooked up outside to keep everything running, it works on sun and wind. When it gets a little lighter out, I can take you outside, if you want, and show you all my earlier drafts of this place. It took some practice to get it right."

She laughed as she measured ground coffee into a filter and set up the machine. "Have a seat anywhere. I usually stick close to the space heater, myself. Tell me a little bit more about the work you're doing," she asked. "You're with the Interceptors now, aren't you?"

[Gizmo]

"Uh, yeah. Dios, still sorta weird saying it out loud." The slim teen took a seat nearby the space heater at Fleur's suggestion, still craning her neck to look about absently. "There was kind of a whole... thing, with our dad, and then, hey! Superpowers! So." Finally looking back over at the chlorokinetic, Jill shrugged emphatically. "Jack tired telling me it was too dangerous and blah blah blah, but I was like, 'hello, force fields and healing powers, pretty safe'. Ultimately, he knew I'd be out there one way or another, so he might as well go with it." Fidgeting with her shortened hair, she suddenly blinked. "Wait. Generator? Where exactly are we?"

[Electra]

"We're in Freedom City, sort of," Stesha replied blithely. "We're where Freedom City would be, except that it doesn't exist in this world. I wanted to find a place where I could really practice my art, including building this place. This world used to be inhabited, but it isn't anymore, and it's pretty low on plant life too. I've been working on fixing it up in my spare time. I thought that it might be the perfect place to work on some healing, if that's what you're interested in doing. It's also where I brought those bees your brother sent my way."

[Gizmo]

Jill was still for a long moment, an odd look on her face indicating that she was trying to decide if Fleur was being serious or not. Very slowly, she turned her head to peer out one of the windows covered in plastic sheeting. It was hard to see much from her sitting position, but it seemed somehow rude to leap up and run over. "You... have your own planet." The teen was saying it out loud mostly for her own benefit. "That, uh... huh."

[Electra]

Stesha chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't call it mine, except for the fact that it seems to be mostly just me and the giant bees who live here. There are a huge number of worlds out there, and some of them don't have any people living on them." She poured two cups of coffee and put them on a tray with cream, sugar and spoons to carry over to the sofa. "This one pulled at me for some reason. Maybe because I could see that once it was a beautiful place, and now it's not. I have an opportunity now to make it beautiful again, and to practice skills I need for heroing at the same time." She handed over a cup of coffee.

[Gizmo]

After another moment's pause, Jill repeated, "You have your own planet." Looking back to Fleur she grinned broadly. "Can I just say I totally want to be you when I grow up?" Accepting the coffee, she poured a bit of cream into it to cool it down more quickly, taking a sip without bothering to stir it. "But, yeah, I was hoping you could give me some healing tips. I'm used to patching mi hermano up the old fashioned way, and the whole 'laying on of hands' deal is sorta weird, still."

[Electra]

Stesha nodded, stirring cream and sugar into her coffee. "I understand that. When I first started, I thought that it was the medicinal herbs and poultices and such that I used on people that made them recover. So I'd be there in the middle of a fight trying to poke a handful of leaves down somebody's throat, and elated when it worked!" She laughed. "I eventually realized that it was my own power doing the healing, but that the plants were the focus. When I work with the medicines, it helps me organize my power so it does what I want it to. It could be that your power is the same way right now, that you use the "old fashioned" way because it helps your mind get organized."

She sat back comfortably on the sofa, her green clothes and hair matching perfectly with the rest of the decor. "Tell me more about your powers," she asked. "What do they do, and how do you use them?"

[Gizmo]

"Oh, uh, right," Jill nodded, bringing each of her gloved hands up to chest level. The right lit up slowly with a faint blue light, dappled spots moving about lazily as though radiating though leaves moving in the breeze. "Basically, I touch someone and think about what's wrong with them, like a broken bone or poison or whatever, and the glow just sorta kick starts their body into fixing it. Sometimes it feels like I'm actually in there, doing surgery with my mind, but that might just be in my head." The left hand, in turn, radiated a virulent green, dark speckles moving ominously within its light. "'Cause of the way I got my powers, I got the flip side of the coin, too. This one makes people sick as all get out. Nothing fatal... I think. Wouldn't want to push it, though." She didn't mention that she wasn't really sure which of the two powers was the one she was born with and which was created by the enchantments of the Jack of Coins card. "I can sort of extend that bio-electric field into decent barriers, if I want. Gotten the most play out of that one so far, honestly."

[Electra]

Stesha watched in fascination as Jill demonstrated her powers. "It's beautiful," she observed pleasedly. "That's a nice bonus. Can you heal any living thing, or just human beings?" she asked. "Does your healing power extend to objects?" She took another thoughtful sip of her coffee. "When I was first getting started, I could only heal plants, but then the effects began to widen out. You haven't had your powers very long, is that right?"

[Gizmo]

Jill snorted derisively. "Yeah, I'll be a real hit when the disco ball breaks down." The teen gave her hands a quick shake, and the lights winked out. "I guess it's been, what, a little more than a month now? I haven't had much chance to experiment, no. I, uh, was a little worried about screwing up while I was working on someone. I haven't tried it on anything besides people at all."

[Electra]

"Well then, this will be a good opportunity," Stesha said, pleased. "The sun's almost up, so it should be warming up pretty quickly. When we've finished our coffee, I'll take you out to some trees that could use some significant help, and you can see how it goes. This way, even if it doesn't work, I'll be right there and I can back you up. Better to practice on a plant than a person, that's for sure," she added with a smile. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

[Gizmo]

"Uh, no, actually," Jill admitted a little sheepishly, running a hand through her hair self consciously. "I was kinda, well, excited this morning and wasn't really paying attention, so I, well... I sorta 'death hand'-ed my grapefruit. Not pretty." Coughing lightly, she looked upward and took a deep breath before turning back to Fleur. "It's still sort of insane that I can call up a real superhero to hang out. I mean, obviously this is 'work' related, and I wouldn't be bugging you otherwise but, well, I mean..." The coltish teen trailed off, evidently deciding silence was her best option at this point to avoid further embarrassment.

[Electra]

"We have to stick together," Stesha replied matter-of-factly. "Superheroing is hard work, and if you don't have friends to help you out and just to vent to, you'll go crazy or get burnt out." She seemed a little sad about that for a moment, then deliberately shook off the mood. "We can do something about breakfast, though. One second." Going back to the kitchenette, she pointed at one of the vines along the wall, which obediently sprouted a daffodil with a cup eighteen inches in diameter. Reaching one arm through the cup, she fished around and pulled out a box of doughnuts.

"It's not the healthiest breakfast in the world," she acknowledged cheerfully, "but we'll work it off." She set the box on the coffee table in front of Jill, opened it up, and selected a jelly-filled long john for herself. "Are you going to school at Claremont this year?"

[Gizmo]

Jill blinked again, doing her best to keep up with Fleur's casual demonstrations. "You have your own planet," she repeated once more, "with flowers that grow donuts. I... there are no words." Retrieving a chocolate glazed confection from the box, and took a small bite, covering a soft smile with the mug of coffe. "Friends, right. Heh." Looking back up she nodded to her hostess. "Well, in theory, yeah. I mean, I'm there for class, but all the cool kids live in the dorms, so I'm totally the townie new kid nobody knows, which is actually still a step up for me. I know, apparently super-angst is one of my powers too, right? Well, whatever, it's going to make getting a university scholarship way easier, anyway."

[Electra]

Stesha chuckled. "I can't grow doughnuts, which is probably a lucky thing for my thighs, all in all. I just opened a little portal back to my apartment and pulled them off the counter. It's one important reason why I wanted my cottage right here, it corresponds exactly to my Freedom City home, so I can transit easily."

She brushed a few crumbs off her lap and sat back. "But in any case, surely you can make some friends with the heroes your own age? I'd think they'd be pretty nice people, if they've decided already to devote their lives to being heroes. Maybe you could stay over for a couple weekends and do activities with them, get to know people better," she suggested helpfully.

[Gizmo]

Jill gave Fleur a dubious look. "Yeeeaaah... I don't know what high school was like for you, but you can totally organize the charity bakesale and still turn around and ostracize someone just fine, believe me." Wincing heavily she shrugged, taking another sip of her coffee. "Bitter much, right? I mean, you're right, I should probably try joining the AV club or whatever, make some friends, but... I guess I just got so burnt out I got used to not even trying." Sniffing, she rubbed the back of her hand over her face quickly with a half-hearted chuckle. "Sorry, I'm not usually like this, honest."

[Electra]

"It's okay," Stesha assured her, compassionate worry writ large on her face. "Starting at a new school in the middle of high school is tough, even without all the superpowers to deal with. You're entitled to a little frustration. But you should give yourself and your classmates a chance. You could be colleagues with them for a long time, if you all become superheroes in Freedom City. Maybe some of them are lonely and isolated too. And they should be nice to you," she suggested slyly, "if you've got the power to heal them up during a fight. That can come in pretty doggone handy under the right circumstances. No pun intended," she added after a beat.

[Gizmo]

"Ha! Yeah, 'I have the powah'. Thanks." Embarrassed though she was by laying her social frustrations on Fleur's feet like that, Jill had to admit to herself that she did feel better having talked about it with the green haired heroine. Finishing her donut and washing it down with another swallow of coffee, the slim teenager clapped her hangs together. "Okay! So. Wacky Magic Healing 101. Lead on, teach."

[Electra]

"Absolutely!" Stesha agreed, setting aside her cup and rising to her feet. "We'll start just by going outside and taking a look around, so you can get a feel for the place, then I'll move us about a hundred miles away, to an area I haven't done a lot of work on yet. You'll be able to cut loose with your healing and see how it works on things that aren't human. Oh, and you can call me Stesha while we're working here. Half the time I forget to use my code name anyway," she laughed. Opening the front door, she gestured to Jill to precede her.

They stepped out of the house an into a forest that looked a little like it had come from a Disney cartoon. Tall stately trees clustered around them, their autumn foliage providing a roof under the sky, but allowing sunlight to trickle through in golden beams that illuminated carpets of flowers. In front of the house was a path paved with seashells, though it was obviously only half-finished, turning to dirt after about ten feet. Nearby were a few other plant-based buildings made with various degrees of sophistication, a few of which were being allowed to collapse like fairy mounds, others that seemed to be intact. "This is it," Stesha said with a laugh. "Fleur de Joie central. It's where I've been practicing."