ic Can I Borrow A Cup of Adventure? (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

November 11, 2011

Erin White's Apartment

One of the advantages of being able to jump from continent to continent was that if you wanted to go to your friend's birthday, you could just take advantage of the Armistice Day celebrations that gave most UN employees the day off and walk right over to Freedom City. So it was that when Erin White reached the age of nineteen, her high school friend and ally against the Terminus, Mark Lucas, just headed over to her place around ten AM eastern standard time, a big package under his arm fresh from a nice store in Switzerland. They'd all exchanged addresses before they'd moved out their various ways, so it was no trouble even for the usually scatter-brained Mark to find exactly where his old ally and Liberty League comrade was living these days, for all that he hadn't visited her there. He knocked firmly, whistling a jaunty tune.

[Electra]

Despite having the day off, Erin had seriously considered going in to work that day. She'd been working very hard since taking the reins of security at HAX, and there was plenty more to be done. Group training was going slower than she'd expected. Even experienced security people weren't as thoroughly trained as the heroes at Claremont, a fact she'd sort of forgotten when setting her timeline. It might take some time, but she'd get them in shape. Today was a holiday, though, and it was her birthday... and she'd gotten a significantly better offer last night.

When the knock on the door came, Erin sprang awake instantly, pushing the covers off her head and looking around. "Huh?" She sat up quickly, making Charlie jump to the relative safety of Trevor's chest with an indignant meow. "Sorry kitty, mailman must be here." Dragging a hand through her hair, she threw on her bathrobe and yawned as she made her way to the door. She looked through the peephole automatically and groaned. "Mark's here!" she called into the bedroom, considering it only fair warning before she opened the door.

[Gizmo]

Though typically a light sleeper, Trevor had allowed himself to sink into a warm haze deep enough that it took a moment for him to awaken at the sound of the knock. Catching a furry, living projectile to the chest hastened the process considerably. Propping himself up while Erin went for the door, he scratched Charlie behind the ears as thanks for the kitten's restraint with his claws. The announcement from the other room drew a pause followed by a resigned sigh as the cat was gently deposited on the now empty bed while the dark haired young man cast about for wherever his pants had been unceremoniously discarded. To be fair, appearing in the hallway rather than teleporting directly into the apartment was rather tactful by Mark's standards, and much appreciated.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Hi, Erin!" said Mark cheerfully. "Happy birthday!" He offered her the big, bulky package he was carrying, the glossy wrapping paper suggesting (accurately) that he'd gone to the store's wrapping department rather than done his usual job of finding the most colorful comics he could. "Can I come in?" he asked, so ingenously it was hard to say no. "Sorry if I took you by surprise; I'd have called ahead first, but I knew you'd be home since it's a holiday and all, so why not come over?" He grinned, as that explained everything, at least for Mark. "Are you gonna have a party at your work?" he asked curiously. He was sure Trevor, ever-clever, had planned something, so he didn't bother to ask about that!

[Electra]

Erin smiled ruefully and stepped back from the door to let him in, taking the present he handed her. "No, I'm, ah, not doing too much today, kind of just taking it easy." She couldn't keep her face from flushing, but she did her best to act blase as she set the package down on the postage-stamp sized dinner table. "Go on and get yourself some coffee, it's on a timer in the kitchen," she told him. "I'm just gonna go, y'know, put some clothes on."

She gestured vaguely at her bathrobe and escaped back into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her before giving Trevor a rolled-eyes look that was half-amusement, half-exasperation. It wasn't an unfamiliar mix of emotions when dealing with Mark, but the reality warper always meant well.

[Gizmo]

Trevor offered her a shrug in return, a faint ghost of a smile passing over his features. as he finished with the buttons of his light brown shirt, leaving the collar undone and his feel bare for the time being. The young man waited until Erin had finished dressing before stepping over to place one hand on her hip and quickly kiss her. "Happy birthday," he noted somewhat redundantly, a genuine grin briefly parting his lips. Opening the door quietly and stepping out into the rest of the apartment, he cleared his throat so softly as to be barely audible to alert Mark to his presence as he entered the kitchen.

[Avenger Assembled]

Mark was more than a little naive about a lot of things, but he was no fool: he'd spent nights in girls' rooms too, and he knew Trevor and Erin had been intimate for a while now. "Heeey, Trevor," he said innocently, giving his friend a wink. "So I guess you guys are having a party, huh? I'll just stay so Erin can open the present, then. And maybe for coffee," he added. "You just can't get that midnight brew in Geneva. So how you doing, man? Seems like we hardly see each other when we're not fighting Nazis these days."

[Gizmo]

Trevor ignored Mark's wink with a heroic effort, taking a moment to recall in which cupboard Erin had secreted her mugs. Although the wealthy heir dropped the bulk of the high society mannerisms which were arguably a part of his birthright when among friends, there were still some topics it simply wasn't polite to discuss. More importantly, it might have encouraged Mark to share on the subject, which was surreal experience at best.

Retrieving the cups, he set them on the counter while the already brewing machine finished its work. "Been well. University classes have been interesting. Attendance poorly monitored, thankfully."

[Avenger Assembled]

"That's really great, Trevor," said Mark with a smile as he took a seat at the small kitchen table. "You're already so smart, you could probably teach those classes anyway," he said without a hint of self-consciousness: he was sure it was true. "I'm doing pretty okay in Geneva," he added. "They've got me taking special classes for meta-agents, but most of those are just warmed-over Claremont classes anyway." Most of his colleagues had gone to college themselves, something that occasionally gave him pause, at least momentarily. Why worry about that when there was so much awesome stuff out there? "I just spent a week and a half in Ireland, where they're repatriating those Brigadoon refugees. At least now they've all got modern houses." He picked up the coffee and smelled it, savoring the scent. "Ah, now that's midnight coffee." He thought for a minute. "Hey, I bet midnight mist-infused coffee would probably taste pretty weird if you mixed in it right. Ever try it?"

[Electra]

Erin took a moment to brush her hair down flat before emerging from the bedroom with Charlie on her shoulder, though she'd followed Trevor in foregoing shoes or socks. There wasn't enough room in the kitchen area for three people, so she perched on the arm of her recliner, just steps away. It wasn't a very big apartment. "Trevor doesn't believe in diluting coffee," she pointed out to Mark even as she accepted a cup. "Are you just back in the city for this morning, then, or are you sticking around?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"I've got the day off, so I'll probably go over and visit my mom. It's tough because of the weird time zone thing, but that's teleporting for you. Reminds me why I usually didn't bother with it back in school." He hmmed. "You should probably open the present sooner rather than later, so you can decide if you want it. The place only offers 72 hour return, and I bought it yesterday. Oh, is that your new kitty? Hi kitty!" he said with a wave, offering his fingers for a smell and scratch if he could get away with it. "Are you doing anything else for your birthday?" he asked her. "Anything at your new job?"

[Gizmo]

Leaning against the counter, Trevor looked between Mark and Erin with a one eyebrow lifted just enough above his ruby and onyx eye to look disquieted. "Difficulty mixing liquid and gas aside," he began in his level baritone, "you realize that the mist comes from my body? Not a... condiment." He suspected Mark was still used to thinking of midnight mist as the chemical concoction of the original Midnight, as opposed to the organic compound exuded by the current bearer of that mantle, but the idea was still a little unsettling.

[Electra]

Erin walked to the table and picked up the present, letting Charlie off her shoulder to accept his just due of pettings from Mark. It was much easier to open the present than to think about the coffee and midnight mist thing. Sitting down cross-legged in the recliner, she began to open the present, being careful of the pretty wrapping paper. "I took the day off," she told Mark. "Things are just getting started up at work, so we aren't doing any parties or stuff like that. I figure I'm just going to hang around the house, maybe do something for supper."

She glanced at Trevor and shrugged ignorance, not sure if he had anything in mind for the evening. Nineteen wasn't the milestone birthday that eighteen was, and it wasn't like they hadn't already started, hmm, celebrating. That had been especially nice considering how little time they'd been spending together lately, between busy separate schedules and her own rigorous training. Something was going to have to change soon, but she had no idea what. Setting the paper aside, she took a good look at the gift. "A... cuckoo clock?" she said slowly, looking over the birdhouse-shaped device with a surprised expression.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Yeah," said Mark excitedly, moving over there so he could show her how it worked. "It's original, straight from Switzerland. I asked some of the local agents for a good place to shop, and they recommended the craftsman." He demonstrated its operation by setting it up on a nearby table, the clock's "voice" in this case being a jaunty-looking blue cuckoo carved in wood, wearing a Tyrolean cap to complete the alpine look. "I wanted to give you something that would make you think of me, and what better than a cuckoo clock! Since I work in Switzerland," he added without missing a beat. "I figured you could use a wakeup call that didn't rely on batteries."

[Electra]

Charlie was fascinated by the clock, watching it in action before crouching on the table in a hunting posture, tail curled over his back as he watched the door and waited for the cuckoo to appear again. Erin watched the clock as well, picking through several possible responses. The clock's tick was clearly audible, and the cuckoo itself even more so. She imagined hearing that at three in the morning after dropping into bed, and wondered how long a freshly wound cuckoo clock took to stop working. "It definitely reminds me of you, Mark," she finally said with a half smile. "It's really beautiful. And unique. Look how much Charlie likes it." Charlie lashed his tail, giving the clock another suspicious glare.

[Gizmo]

The composed look Trevor gave the clock was all but unreadable, his habitual stoicism serving him well. This was entirely one too many topics he did not feel up to discussing before he'd even had his morning coffee, and the dark haired young man turned his attention fully to the mug in his hands with the intensity of one searching for refuge. A few long moments and a largely emptied cup later he was feeling considerably more able. "Certainly is a clock," he noted with measured precision, noting in retrospect that it was probably going to take more than one cup.

[Avenger Assembled]

"It certainly is," said Mark, who looked quite pleased at the good reception his gift had gotten. "I'm glad you like it, Erin!" He smiled, looking pretty darn happy. "And hopefully Charlie will like it as much as Oliver liked that pillow...I got my mom a big box of Swiss chocolates, but that's just cause she likes to snack while she's drawing." He knew his mom's status wasn't something his friends and fellow survivors of the last Terminus incursion really liked to dwell on, so instead he changed the subject. "Have you heard anything from your folks in Seattle, Erin?" he asked her. "Did they call you or anything this year"

[Electra]

"They sent me a nice card," Erin replied, rolling her shoulders in a way that betrayed her discomfort. "We don't really talk on the phone much, and we've all been busy. The other Erin's just started college, her dad got a promotion at work, stuff like that. I'm glad your mom's started working again," she told Mark, trying to turn the subject back around. "It was kind of weird when she wasn't doing Andie anymore, I mean it's been around basically forever."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Yeah, the fill-in stories were starting to get really weird," agreed Mark. "She had to come back in and say the whole Andie wedding story was an imaginary fable, and then she had to send Sharona off to that monastery on the West Coast..." He hmmed for a moment, picking up on his friend's tension about her family, and got a really neat idea. "Hey, you know what, I think there's another present I can give you guys." Charlie the kitten had abandoned his post at the clock for a moment and crawled up on Mark's lap, and he happily petted the little kitten for a moment before standing up and handing him to Erin.

"What if, for your birthday, you guys," Mark had been practicing his emergency teleports with UNISON agents so he could be used for evacuations in disaster situations, fast, subtle warps in the fabric of space that could transport a whole group of people at one. And so it was, with a flash of light and swirl of inky ripples in the air, the trio of teens vanished, along with Erin's cat, and reappeared on an all-too-familiar suburban front lawn. "went to Seattle? Ta-da!" he exclaimed, waving his arm towards the familiar face of the White house, looking far more intact than the last time they'd seen it: indeed, the neighborhood around them was a bustling, populated suburb on a festive fall morning, one just waking up to start the day at a little after seven local time.

[Gizmo]

Having experienced this particular train of Mark's thoughts before, Trevor recognized what his friend was planning a moment too late to do anything about it. It took only the most cursory of glances about their new surroundings to confirm his suspicions. Downing what was left in the mug in his hand very deliberately, he took a step closer to the reality controlled, narrowing her discoloured eyes and lowering his voice to a barely audible whisper. "Mark. I have not showered, have neither my shoes nor my sunglasses and barely a single cup of coffee in my system," he intoned as calmly as ever, though his free hand rose in a vaguely claw-like gesture. "Do these strike you as ideal circumstances to arrive unannounced at the home of an alternate reality version of my girlfriend's family?"

[Electra]

Erin automatically caught Charlie before he could bolt under the nearest car or bush, smoothing his spiky fur with an absent hand as she stared at the house. Trevor's comments and any reply Mark made barely registered as she took it in. She'd been back, of course. She'd lived here for several months before coming to Claremont, it wasn't as though she didn't recognize the place. The neat white house sat on a tidy lawn, just sprinkled with a few autumn leaves that had dodged the rakes. A cluster of bright balloons was tied to the mailbox, and there was an extra car in the driveway. Erin recognized from descriptions the blue Camry that had been her counterpart's graduation present. Guess the gang's all here, she thought before turning back to the guys.

"What are we supposed to do here?" she asked Mark, curling her toes against the sidewalk. "I haven't even been back here in two years." Aside, of course, from the broken, hellish mirror version that actually belonged to her. This was someone else's home.

[Avenger Assembled]

"...I don't know, talk to your parents?" asked Mark, looking stricken. Erin and Trevor looked much more annoyed with him than he'd expected. It was obvious he hadn't entirely thought this one through. "Or, um, introduce Trevor to them!" he hazarded. "And Charlie too!" He looked at Trevor and winced, "Yeah, I guess I should have looked at that first." He thought for a minute, then brightened. "I know! I'll go get your shoes and...wait, no, I'd have to ditch you guys for that. Even better idea! Now hold still!" He snapped his fingers, and suddenly Erin and Trevor were both nattily dressed: Erin in the purple blouse and slacks she'd been wearing in the Midnight Manor last time Mark had seen her there, and Trevor in a black suit and tie, complete with shiny black leather shoes. "Bam, there's some clothes. I've been working on making them for charity, but this seems to work for you guys. And for Trevor..." He pulled, as if from nothing, a black fedora. "Here you go! I memorized your size and everything."

[Gizmo]

Gritting his teeth ever so slightly, Trevor debated attempting to impress upon Mark specifically why this had been a uniquely poor idea, to illustrate for the well-meaning young man which factors he might be observant of in the future to avoid similar indiscretions, but it seemed a largely futile effort. Instead he simply took the proffered hat brusquely, placed it atop his head then turned to Erin while he removed the tie that had appeared around his neck, attempting to affect a slightly less formal look more in line with her own outfit. "Can be gone before we're seen," he offered softly, searching her expression.

[Electra]

Erin looked towards the pretty house and pursed her lips, then mustered a ghost of a smile. "Well, we talked about you meeting them sometime, and we did come all this way." She petted the kitten, who was now hissing in Mark's direction. "Maybe it'd be nice to have had some more time, but I guess it's like jumping into cold water. They get up early, so we probably won't be like dragging them out of bed or anything." She took a deep breath, then shrugged. "Wanna meet what passes for my parents?"

[Gizmo]

Trevor didn't particularly want to, given the circumstances, but he supposed they'd at least have a perfectly legitimate excuse to keep the visit short. Stuffing the undone tie into one of his jacket's pockets, he found and withdrew a pair of sunglasses for all intents and purposes identical to those he customarily wore to hide his eyes. Putting them on, the dark haired youth took a moment to hand Mark his now empty cup and take a centering breath before turning back to Erin and gesturing cordially to the front door, indicating that she should lead the way.