ic Conrad and Cooper Incorporated.

[Thunder King]

Hannah had not been to the beach. "I think some of the beaches are okay." She said. That was about it, though, she didn't have any expertise. "The bus system is fine. At least I think it is." Hannah noticed that Corrine wasn't comfortable with discussing her powers, and she decided not to bring it up. Powers were a thing some people were sensitive about, she'd realized. Best not to discuss it.

[TheAbsurdist]

"Hm.  Okay."  She nodded, seriously.  "How is the... boardwalk?  Is it, like, safe, or is it all Taxi Driver?  Or... most Lost Boys?"  She frowned a little bit, and pursed her lips in thought as she regarded Hannah, hands sliding down to her hips, with arms akimbo as she looked at her.  "Okay, so beaches we gotta do, if they aren't icky and gross, or crowded with sleazy guidos.  Or, yanno, tease the guidos.  And a bathing suit for you then.  Unless you burn..."

 

She frowned a little bit, as she realized she was just bustling ahead madly.

[Thunder King]

Hannah smiled and shrugged. "I burn, but sunscreen is okay. The Boardwalk is okay I think. Sorry, I'm not the best at knowing the area. I don't know if it's all Lost Boys, but I bet there are vampires. Vampires seem like something you'd run into around here." She remembered some of the students she'd met before. Freedom City was a strange, strange place. She did like it, though. 

 

Overall she found she liked Corrine, but, she secretly worried that once Corrine realized she wasn't really very fun that she'd end up forgotten by her, too. That was a big problem, she just wasn't very fun. Wasn't sure if she wanted to be, either.

[TheAbsurdist]

"I burn too, which is funny, considering my father and my mum..."  She laughed a little bit, at the apology, "I mean... like I don't expect apologies for being who you are.  Yanno, unless there is deliberate malice, but but then, I can't really expect sincere apology there huh?"  She arched a brow, and gave a coquettish smirk to Hannah, that was a bit flirty, though it was easy to get the vibe that it was how Corinne was.

She then looked around, seeming to gauge distance, and then satisfied, she dropped into the splits like it was nothing.  A slight flash of discomfort on her face.  "Gah, haven't practiced enough recently."  Pressing her hands to the ground she pushed her body up, and then loweeed herself back down until she was able to get fully extension.

 

"Hm.  Well I will go on adventures, and you can come along, if you are feeling it.  I wont drag you out, unless it is for food. Or coffee... or, okay, you get the picture."  She giggled a little bit.

[Thunder King]

Hannah understood. Corrine was going to poke her and drag her, but not if she didn't want to be, not really. She appreciated it, but she was cautious. She didn't imagine Corrine would hold to those promises for long.

 

"Sounds...fun." Her tone was honest, it did. She looked forward to getting some nice food, or some nice coffee. She did like to go in to town and get coffee. Not the icky straight black stuff her dad liked, but lattes and such like that. 

 

"I'm super quiet." She said. This, she realized, Corrine didn't really need to be told. "Won't have to worry about me partying or doing anything too loud."

 

[TheAbsurdist]

She hummed a little bit, as she stretched back, arching her back as it happened, "It does.  I mean, schoolwork permitting, I guess..."  She laughed a little bit,  "Does it snow here?"  And she pushed herself up, up out of the splits, and slowly she stood up. 

 

"Oh, well I wont be practicing here in the room, maybe stretching a bit?  I do listen to music and am noisy, but I'll do my best to keep it down for you, just... let me know if I mess up, I've never had a roommate..."  Then she laughed a little bit, and she looked down, "Ahm, god this is awkward.  Really...  I mean, tying to be all copacetic and make sure that everything gels."  And then she lifted a hand to her face, and tapped a finger onto her lower lip as she narrowed her eyes.  "Wanna go get some food now?"  

[Thunder King]

At least she was trying to be considerate, Hannah reflected. "Oh, yeah, it snows." She said, shaking her head. "I live near Chicago, so I don't notice a huge difference in snow, but it can be quite a lot."

 

She was kinda hungry, she'd skipped lunch to study and now she was paying for it. "Sure, I am kinda hungry." Way more than 'kinda' but, she didn't say that. "Oh, and, yes, Mexican sounds fine." She said, making a little joke. "If that's what you want, of course, there are a few decent places in the area we could go to if you want." 

[TheAbsurdist]

"Yasssssssssss..."  She bopped about a bit, twisting on the balls of her feet, and moving her hips as hands were held up to her face, doing a little grove and shake dance to celebrate.  "Tamale time!"  And then she stopped.. "Listen, I grew up in the entertainment industry, I grew up with a crash pad in any place I lived with my mom so she could practice... Plus, like, L.A..."  She made a face and she stepped towards the door.

 

"I mean... I promise no like, mulberry, vegan colonic, cleanse stuff.  Though I do like eucalyptus and tea tree oil, so if you don't mind those smells?"  She arched her brows as she looked at her, offering a small smile, and opened the door.  "Oh!  Have you read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell?  Change your life, it seems to work for the powered set better, for some reason.  Well that's my take.  But I am new, so ha."  She held the door for Hannah, as she grinned.

 

There was something going on behind the eyes of the spacey, flighty seeming Corinne, but there was no malice, that she was really as forth coming and open.  That the first take was that she was genuinely that way, both nice and a space cadet.

[Thunder King]

Hannah walked through the door and wondered. She had no idea what Corrine was talking about, but it was probably that hippie celebrity west coast stuff. The only thing she even understood with that was 'mulberry', and her reference point was that involved a monkey chasing a weasel. She did like tamales, and burritos, oo, and nachos. Her stomach rumbled slightly.

 

"All I know about eucalyptus is that koalas eat it." She laughed.  So Corrine was an incense kind of person, among other things. Hannah could deal with that a heck of a lot better than some high strung cheerleader. A slightly spacey but well meaning hippie was a pretty good match up for a shy, quiet bookworm, she thought. She didn't mention to Corrine how nervous she'd been once she was told she was getting a new roommate, or how badly she freaked out. By the time she talked to Corrine, she'd mostly smoothed that out.

[TheAbsurdist]

"I like the way it smells, all... medicinally, it's in the vapor-rub stuff.  But, it's also sort of a disinfectant?  So I use that, over smearing weird chemicals.  If you don't like the smell let me know!  I mean, I can't deal with lavender and it's in everything!  But the plant I am cool with, and I even like it in sweet bread."  She closed the door behind it, as she looked at her, her eyes narrowed as she tried to ask the next battery of questions.

"I mean, I did the orientation-y thing yesterday, so I know some stuff, but...  like they don't cover stuff like the specifics of clubs, or dances, do we have prom?  Do we do any sports?  I mean, I get why not... but it's also kinda weird.  Are we viewed as the weird school in town?  Ooo!"  Her eyes widened, and she surged to Hannah, gently gripping at her shoulders.

 

"Do people know about the kind of students here?  I mean... we can't be that secret... we're teenagers.  With superpowers!  Like, shouldn't someone have... premature energy blasted the neighborhood by now?"  Corinne adopted a horrified expression as she nervelessly released Hannah, and stepped back, covering her now gaping mouth, with both of her hands as she stared again.  "God.. I wont be able to get into Julliard."

[Thunder King]

Hannah was actually confused. She looked Corrine in the eye and said slowly and carefully. "I don't know what you're talking about. This is just a private school, like any other." She couldn't keep a straight face and started laughing. "Yeah the cover story works, just go with it. We do have dances, but no sports. There are some in-school sports clubs I think? I'm honestly not too sure." 

 

She realized, again, that Corrine hadn't discussed her powers. She seemed like the kind of person who would go. 'hey, check this out' and show off a bit. Even Hannah was kind of proud and happy for her little rainbow blasts and shapes. Maybe she was one of the types that didn't have very good control yet. She sympathized, hers took some effort, but weren't that bad. She had heard stories, sad stories, of students who couldn't. 

[TheAbsurdist]

There was a flash in her eyes, and a ripple of something around her.  She inhaled deeply, and then exhaled, smoothly.  Making a rhythm, as she did so, her hand lowering from her face to be held before her abdomen, as she kept in her breathing.  In through her mouth, and out through her nose, as she worked to calm herself.  

 

Until finally, she managed, and she turned from Hannah, speaking up over her shoulder back at Hannah, "Okay... okay.  So... what, like does the water have five times the amount of flouride or something?  Cause that is... amazing people buy it... I saw a dude with feathers. And wings!"  She pouted a little bit, and rolled her shoulders as she moved at a slow enough pace for Hannah to keep up, as she was like, 78.5% leg.  Unable to help herself at the memory of Jann, "Flash...Ah-aaaaaaahhhhhh.  Savior of the universe!"

[Thunder King]

"Look at it this way. Freedom City has more heroes and odd people than any other, possibly in the world. If someone sees a bird person they might just shrug and move on, assuming it's a hero. Luckily I don't have his problems when going into public." She was grateful that she was under the radar sometimes. Especially since her powers were plenty ostentatious on their own. She was still uncomfortable with how bright and colorful they were, but that was Prism, not Hannah. She could hide her nerves and winces behind a mask. 

[TheAbsurdist]

Her eyes narrow a bit as she stopped and looked at her, "I guess that's okay... I mean... Yeah, that makes sense...  I guess normal is relative..."  That seemed to calm her, as the existential fear of her planned life falling apart dissipated, and she smiled again, and walked along with the other girl.

 

"... okay, Mexican.  Big, huge, large.  Greasy.  Do you like spicy?  Oh... yeah, the uniforms... what's up with those?"  She had seen some since coming here, and they were... urg... hideous.  More or less?"  If she didn't focus on... that, then it wasn't a problem.  Was it?  So she pressed forward, trying to adopt her more confident walk from earlier.  The thought of food helping.

 

[Thunder King]

"I can handle some spice, not a lot, though. Jalapenos are spicy to me." Hannah said, walking forward."I have my own thing, not one of the default uniforms. Just not, uh, in good enough shape to feel good in one." She slightly blushed. A big plate of Mexican food did sound good, though, something hearty and filling. She was worried about comfort eating, though, she always had that little bit of pudge that she was worried about.

[TheAbsurdist]

"So nothing that includes 'muerte,' or 'diablo' in the title then!"  If COrinne had any reservations about her food intake, it did not show, her clothes weren't especially flattering, but then she didn't need it, and if she had an ego or believed herself above others because of her looks, she was not demonstrating that at all.  She moved along with Hannah, moving around, as she did, starting to do one of the routines she knew from Singing in the Rain, soft shoeing her way through the halls, before they got to the stairwell and going down.

 

Corinne was, objectively, a very good dancer, and it seemed she was incapable of walking a straight line between points without a bit of extravagance to the whole affair.

 

[Thunder King]

Hannah had to admire the fluidity of her moves as they walked. "No, I like my taste buds, they do things for me." Hannah joked. She yet again marveled at how much taller Corrine was, how much more sure of herself she seemed. Hannah, was not. However, she recognized that envy was a waste of her time. It was better for her to work on herself than to be jealous of other people. Far better, far more constructive.

 

"As big as Freedom City is, do you think we should at least look up some restaurants first?"

[TheAbsurdist]

"I suppose so!"  She grinned at her broadly as she skipped like a big child, and took an exceptionally long jump, and pirouetted, and landing into a high arabesque, before jumped again to move along with her as that happened.  "Hmmm..."  She pulled her phone out them and tapped away a with with the sound of a machine gunner as she stopped, and looked intently at it, frowning a little bit.

She stopped at the door leaving the dorm, and she frowned a bit more, "Hm.  I see.  Looks like there is a place a little bit away... um... like a half mile from the campus or thereabouts?"

[Thunder King]

"That sounds good, I think I heard of that place." Hannah said with a genuine smile. Corrine was very odd, but Hannah was honestly elated to have someone who was just outgoing and friendly enough to engage her, but not pushy or exhausting. This was going to be interesting, and probably kind of fun. "Corrine, um...I think I'm going to be glad to have you as a roommate."

[TheAbsurdist]

"Right!  Tamales!  And... or something else that looks good on the menu!"  Her exuberance drew a couple looks, of course given her size there was no surprise that she would.  Though she was entirely unconcerned, and she made her way out of the dorm, and walked along with Hannah, idly chatting, filling her in on her life, which was largely normal.  Her folks did have money, independent of her father, and so she grew up affluent, but they were pretty busy the whole time.  They still tried to be normal, but... only so much to go around.

 

She started with tumbling on her mom's crash pad that was at the house, and then came the dance.  Corine, of course, asked more about Hannah's interests and such as they made their way towards the destination of their question.  Delicious Mexican food.

[Thunder King]

"I like drawing, I'm not great at it yet, but I'm getting better, I do like art in general, so...I love music. And reading. I'm kind of a bookworm. Well, I'm kind of a bookworm the same way you're 'kind of' tall, I guess." She smiled slightly. She liked one thing about Claremont more than anything, it had a wonderful library. It had wonderful everything, really. It was like a playground for the studious. She'd been getting better at using her powers, but had learned a lot more about the world. 

[TheAbsurdist]

And she lurched to a stop, sharply enough her body rocked, and she looked at Hannah with wide eyes, a horrified expression on her face.  "I'm... I'm tall!?"  Then came the small giggle as she straightened up.  "I am pretty okay at drawing, I mean, I did it a lot, it was something to do when my folks were doing things, or mum had me on the set when I was younger.  But that means we can do museums!  God, I could never get people I knew back in LA to go to museums!  Heck, we can skip to Washington or New York for a weekend!"

 

She laughed happily, as she reached out to grasp Hannah's shoulders, apparently having restrained her touchy feely nature long enough, as she bounced and spun with her.  They had yet to leave the campus, so what came next probably shouldn't have surprised either of them.

 

"Ay, y, I gots your works of art, right here!"  Came a booming chorus of voices in a thick local accent.  It made Corinne stop to see a swarm of five identical looking guys, tanned, with spiked black hair while they sported their best 'blue steel' looks, in an attempt to smolder as Hannah and Corinne.  They wore identical, designer jeans, with black tank tops, that showed off sculpted arms, and chest.  Hannah would recognize them, well... him.  Salvatore Tassi, a.k.a Entourage.  The 'Bro' Duplicator.

"Holy s*** they exist in the wild..."

[Thunder King]

Hannah had never been to New York, an art museum in New York would be amazing, but, she couldn't afford to go to a place like that. She giggled slightly as Corrine spun her, not really minding too much, considering how friendly Corrine was. Then, 'Entourage' showed up, those guys, well, that guy.

 

If Hannah had rolled her eyes any faster, they would have started humming. This guy was not her type. Not that she was his type, of course. He was probably making eyes at Corrine. So many eyes, so many creep, jerk, idiot eyes. She hoped Corrine wouldn't fall for his, whatever it was, but, honestly, she didn't fear that. He was pretty much exactly the kind of guy Corrine was describing earlier.

Edited May 23, 2017 by Thunder King

[TheAbsurdist]

Corinne whispered to Hannah, "Wait... Jersey Shore was real?"  Her eyes wide, as she stood stock still.  "Don't move Hannah, they see movement..."

"Hey there, you foine thangs!"  Said the lead member of the Entourage hive, as he approached them, with the other four following closely.  While they flexed, and made their pec dance seductively (well to them at least).  "Entourage ova' here," said one of them... him?  Like Corinne knew how to sort this out!  But he licked his thumb, in a showy, and more than a little grody display of verve and cheek.  "Just here to let you soak in the Pectacular Greatness that is... well me!  And also to ask you ladies..."  And then in ineffably horrific unison, "How you doin'?"  And the inevitable eyebrow bob, again in unison.

 

Corinne's jaw dropped as she clutched at Hannah as if to shield her with her much larger body from their... his... um... greasiness?

[Thunder King]

Hannah actually facepalmed. She raised her hand to her face, and slapped herself in the forehead. Even she, shy, mousy little Hannah, had a limit, and this guy just crossed it. At least half of the rest of Claremont seemed to be muscular, this guy wasn't that special. It was a bit disconcerting seeing more than one of him do his....whatever it was, but the real disconcerting part was that he was doing it at all. Corrine was weirded out, she was just confused, and disgusted.

 

"Not interested." She said, flatly, in an almost but not quite apologetic tone.