This Party's Better Than it Seems (IC)

[Electra]

"Not really," Erin said with a shrug. "Lots of the townies come over on weekends sometimes. To train or use the library to to hang out with friends. I don't even know what's going to be going on this weekend, since Young Freedom's all going to be gone on this field trip or whatever they're sending us on, but there'll still be a lot of people around. And maybe some weekend you can hang out with me and Alex, play video games or something." It was awkward trying to be the friend who invited, but she felt bad for Jill feeling all alone and out of place. It wasn't as thought she couldn't sympathize.

[Gizmo]

"Hey, I'm not trying to fish for an invite or anything," Jill protested reflexively, setting her folk down and raising her hands defensively before pausing and looking abashed. A faint trace of colour touched her deeply tanned complexion. "Aaaaand that's what I'm talking about. Sorry. Hanging out sometime actually would be pretty cool." Clearing her throat lightly, she added, "The library here is way better than the public one anyway, so."

[Electra]

"Yeah, last time we went to the public library, we ended up in a supervillain battle," Erin said dryly. "Thank God for interlibrary loan, I guess. In our library I've almost gotten stabbed, but almost doesn't really count. And that was an accident anyway." Erin waved that away, taking another bite of waffle. "It's not usually like that, so don't worry. Just don't wake James up if you find him sleeping there. Which is not likely." She stabbed a piece of waffle with sudden vigor, a frown crossing her face.

[Gizmo]

"Wait, which one is James?" Jill asked, running through her mental checklist of faces and names from Claremont. She still hadn't met the bulk of even her own grade, but she had at least made a token effort to keep up with the general who's who. Her brother had mentioned a couple of students he'd run into elsewhere in the city, but he hadn't known any of their real names, naturally. Actually, he hadn't actually known many of their code names; his propensity for jocular nicknames worked against her in that regard. "Is he the one with the old hat?"

[Electra]

"No, that's Trevor," Erin told her. "He's my boyfriend, he's cool." She was rather pleased that now she could say the words without even a blush. "You probably haven't even met James, Hellion. He graduated last spring, but he was Young Freedom and he used to come around to hang out with us still. But he hasn't been by in ages. Too busy, I guess. But we used to be pretty close friends." She shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable with the topic.

[Gizmo]

Jill's eyebrows lifted upward as she visibly filed that piece of social trivia away for future reference. She honestly hadn't expected Erin to be seeing anyone from the taciturn disposition the other girl displayed. Trying not to feel vaguely depressed by her own lack of romantic life in comparison, she picked her fork back up and resumed eating. "So, uh, not to pry or anything, but I mean... did he stop showing up around the time you started seeing this other guy?"

[Electra]

"Yes," Erin admitted. "After Trevor and I started going out, things with James got a little, um, awkward. Not like he'd ever even made a move or anything, but I dunno, I guess he thought he was biding his time or something. He said he was happy for me, and that he didn't want things to be weird, but after that, I started seeing a lot less of him. It's been awhile since he's come around. He's probably just busy, now that he's got a spaceship and all, traveling around the galaxy.Anyway, you're unlikely to see him in the library."

[Gizmo]

"Pfft. Guys, right?" Jill rolled he eyes emphatically, leaning back in her seat as she finished chewing and swallowed a mouthful of waffle and fruit. "Whatever, sounds like you made the right call there, then." Granted, if his ostentatious hat was any indication, this 'Trevor' had his own issues, but Jill got the impression Erin could take care of herself regardless. "I can't get over how casually you can just be all, 'oh, he got a spaceship, beeteedubs'."

[Electra]

"What are beady dubs?" Erin asked Jill, sounding mystified. "And the getting the spaceship thing was kind of weird, he brought it back with him from another reality where everything was sort of trapped in a Leave it to Beaver kind of mentality, and it's got an AI who acts like she's from Lost in Space and who doesn't like me very much. But that's sort of a lot of information to try and convey all at once, so it's easier to just say he got the spaceship."

[Gizmo]

"What? No, I meant-- Never mind, I was just being facetious." At the extended explanation of James' space faring exploits, Jill massaged one of her temples with her free hand. "Right, of course, alternate dimension, that's basically just implied, isn't it." One of the trade-offs for having the more analytical mind was that she wasn't quite as good at accepting the fantastical as her brother. "Oh, wait, so would that be the AI you mentioned to Vince?"

[Electra]

Erin nodded. "Yeah, Vince seems pretty nice and well-adjusted. Maybe if Persephone got to know some other sentient AIs, she wouldn't act so strange. It must be lonely, living up there on the ship with no one but James and the alien animals for company. Unfortunately, it'll be hard to introduce them when I don't even know if Persephone is in this solar system anymore. They could be almost anywhere, literally. James can jump dimensions whenever he wants to, so he has a lot of options."

[Gizmo]

"Vince is good people," Jill agreed, a surprising amount of respect in her tone as a broad grin spread across her face. "It takes a special kind of crazy to keep that loony bin in line, that's for sure." Finishing her breakfast, the teen placed her knife and fork neatly next to each other on the empty plate. "He's more of less in charge of everything over there, which makes sense, given some of the alternate leadership choices."

[Electra]

"Yeah, I guess," Erin said a little dubiously, "but what do you do when you're in the field, if your leader can't leave the house? Or is it more like us, where we have a "leader," but everybody pretty much listens to whoever has the best idea? I mean, Mark's a great person and really, really good to have on our team, but he's not always the guy you want to be listening to in the middle of a battle, especially if you don't have luck control powers yourself." She chuckled at that, polishing off the last of her own stack of waffles.