ic Only the Best Love Pad Thai

[TheAbsurdist]

June 20th, 2017

Claremont
 

Corinne was dancing in the main quad.  Not just lightly, mind you.  It was a full routine, as she practiced unconcerned about how she might look.  Wearing sport earbuds, she closed the world down to just her and what she was doing.  Wearing a pair of retro sneakers, with high ankles, a patterned white and blue pair of harem pants, and a patterned t-shirt that matched the pants.

 

She was not a delicate type of person, so her dancing reflected that.  Corinne felt she wasn't as good at precise, technical dancing.  She also believed what a lot had told her regarding her size hindering her.  So she tried hard.  Harder than anyone else.  She was a perfectionist, and held herself to an ideal, a pinnacle that she might not be able to reach, or, if she did, maintain.

 

But what she believed, and what the realities were divergent.  Corinne Conrad was one of the best dancers in her prior school,  She showed that now.  Her leaps, the arching of her body straddling the line of violent and precise.  She was not aware of having a visitor.  Or that somewhere in the middle of what she was doing, practicing and working through a routine she hoped to earn her spot in Julliard with, that somewhere in the middle she started to use powers to move on air.

 

 

[Thunder King]

Corinne Conrad, Mali thought. She had a basic description. Tall was part of it, odd colored hair. So when Mali entered the quad and spotted the tall girl dancing, well, it was probably her. Mali was dressed in a dark grey t-shirt with dark red lettering, and a knee length black skirt and sneakers. Between the pixie cut hair, the muscles, and the piercings, she looked a bit odd on the Claremont quad. She waited patiently for a moment for Corinne to notice her.

 

"Hi, I'm Mali." She said with a smile. "I'm a Claremont alum, and I've heard you're having trouble? Your dad asked me to talk to you." 

[TheAbsurdist]

Eventually the fact she had an audience caught Corinne, and she stopped.  Panting a little, and a bit sweaty from the routine being done outside, on a warm day.

 

She wiped a hand across her brow as she looked at the other girl, looming as she did, and blinking her blue eyes a bit.  She took out the earbuds and let them hang on her neck now as she looked at Mali... "Ahm... didn't catch that?  Can you please repeat?"  Her other hand moved to the armband where her phone was and she idly turned off the music. The tall girl did not seem to be perturbed at an audience, in fact people had noted that she apparently had an immunity to shame.

[Thunder King]

Mali smiled. "I've heard you've had some trouble. My name is Mali. I used to go here. Your dad asked me to talk to you." She was, perhaps, not sure how to handle this, how to go forward. After all, while Amir certainly seemed like a decent guy, she imagined there was some potential bad blood here. She couldn't very well lie to her, but would the truth put her out? There was some scandal to their relationship to be sure. 

[TheAbsurdist]

Panting a little, Corinne looked at Mali, before she wiped her forearm across her brow, and her flushed cheeks.  "Oh.  Hm."  She fidgeted a bit under the gaze of the shorter woman.  "Oh.  Hm."  She frowned a bit, and her eyes narrowed a little.  "Father.  He is my father.  My dad is... Never mind, I guess."  She frowned a little bit, as she looked around for her water bottle, which... was somewhere.

 

Hopefully away from the conversation.  Alas.

 

It was actually not that far away Mali, so she had to close the distance and drop down into a crouch smoothly and scoop it up, and she took a big swallow, and slowly stood back up, idly stretching as it happened.  "Okay.  So... what about?"   Her hair was loose, and the edges of it seemed as if it was on fire.

 

 

[Thunder King]

Mali could immediately tell that she had issues with her dad. Probably totally justifiable issues, though, so Mali didn't belabor the point. "Honestly? He kinda awkwardly asked me if I could stop by and see how you're doing." She shrugged. "In the sort of 'concerned parent' kind of way?" She sighed, and hung her head.

 

"I don't know you. I don't know what you're going through. I'd like to see if I can help you, be there, listen to you. From a former teenager to a current one, I know it really, really sucks sometimes. I have fresh emotional scars. On top of the whole superhero thing. I've never done this sort of thing before, so I'm going to go ahead with the time honored tradition of bribery." 

 

She held up her car keys. "I have a car, plenty of money, and I know where to get good food. Especially Thai. I'm definitely biased, but, I love Thai food. So what do you say, if nothing else, you let me treat you to lunch and see what happens from there." 

[TheAbsurdist]

Corinne had a hard time explaining to the nuclears that she had a dad.  Harold.  That Amir was her father.  Some kids got it, of course, and admittedly she had a fairly stable family life until... recently...

 

But really food caught her, as her stomach grumbled, and she frowned a little bit.  "I like Thai."  That was a truism... and she moved to take a step towards her, and then she looked down at herself,, and picked at her clothes, and then frowned more.  "Okay."  

 

Sighing as she stepped again towards her, and it was like she was ripping through reality like it was tissue paper, the tatters of what was clinging to her before it dissipated with a digitized effect, her clothes changed in the process to something more appropriate.  In this case a pair of ripped, acid wash skinny jeans, with rolled cuffs and a pair of black courdoroy Converse high tops, a black halter top, and a acid washed denim jacket covered in nonsensical patches.

 

She stopped, to look down at herself and to make sure it was to her standards.  Then looking back to Mali, "Some parts are nice."

[Thunder King]

Mali drove an old black car, a 1967 Ford Fairlane convertible. Even in Freedom, it was remarkable, especially with it's dark red interior. "It's a bit of a secret, but I'm kind of a gear head. I didn't build this, but my next one, I'm planning on it." She was comfortable behind the wheel. "I know it's odd, but I like older cars better. There's something about the power and the steel body and...yeah. Much more my style." 

 

She had to admit, if she had Corinne's powers she'd be changing her clothes all the time, too. It was interesting to see how people used their gifts, she thought. Some people feared them, other people loved them. Corinne seemed to do both at once. She would ask questions later. For now, she wanted to drive

[TheAbsurdist]

Corinne whistled low as she looked at it, then she shrugged a little bit, as she smiled softly.  "I am not too into cares, I mean, I want one, but I haven't been able to get my license yet...  Been kinda unexpectedly busy."  She made a face, as she walked to the car, and vaulted into it smoothly, as one would expect if they knew her background.  "Tally ho?"  Looking for Mali, and crinkling her nose a little bit, before grinning.

 

They were going to...  Thai Me Up, close to campus, and apparently heaped the plates.

 

"Feels like we're something out of a teen movie in this car."  Once they arrived, Corinne once more vaulted, this time out, into a slow flip from seated onto her feet, using the door for the assist, and she bounced a bit.  "So... you may not want to cover my tab..."  She ventured as she looked Mali, as while the woman had seen her dance, Corinne was... big, and she ate a lot.  It was not necessarily evident by looking at her.

 

 

[Thunder King]

Mali chuckled. "Your tab is covered. Don't worry about it. The kind of working out I do means I have to pack away a lot of calories." She glanced up at the restaurant. "On the one hand I can eat pretty much whatever I want. On the other hand, scares away guys sometimes." Not that she seemed to mind, just an amused observation. "Oh, and some of this stuff gets pretty spicy. I've been eating it since I was little, but I've had friends in tears." 

 

She had to admit, this place was pretty good. Not that she wasn't proud of her own skills in the kitchen. Mali put a hundred percent into everything, even cooking. "I'm not sure how familiar you are with Thai food, so if you're not sure about something, don't hesitate to ask."

[TheAbsurdist]

Corinne looked at her, "You'll seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."  She managed to sniff a little bit theatrically for it as well.  Unlike Agnus, Mali wasn't an ex of her father and she was starting with Thai, which Corinne hadn't had since the move.  

 

She settled into her seat, and looked through the menu, before ordering, "Okay, appetizer order of the salad rolls, and satay.  Do you guys do side orders of Tom Ka Gai?  If so, yes please.   Then some Pad Thai with shrimp and chicken, and that special on the sign outside? The red curry with peanut sauce chicken and avocado.  Oh!  And Thai iced tea, and keep it coming!"  She was gleeful at the prospect of gorging, as she had been dancing awhile before Mali had showed up.

 

In short, Corinne hungered.