The Unchanging World’s Apocalypse - Wild Talents IC

[Vrock_Summoner]

Players, please post a link to your character sheets on your first post for ease of access. Y’know, in case we find an audience :smalltongue:

While Hitomi strolls through the outskirts of Manhattan in her magnificent black trench coat, complete with fake neck beard long coat and hood, she comes across a rather rickety, run-down part of town. People are making their way in and out of small shops, one of which has bullet holes along the wall which haven’t been repaired yet. They seem the generally unfriendly type - mostly avoiding eye contact and trying to give each other a wide berth. As Hitomi passes an old homeless-looking man with strong alcohol on his breath, he mutters quite loudly behind her, “Stupid Japs... We beat you, why’re you still here...”

Thankfully, it seems he’s the only one with any of that sort of remark today as Hitomi continues along through the district. However, her otherwise peaceful stroll is not to last.

As she steps out around a corner, Hitomi finds herself face to face with three men in black biker gear, emblazoned with the recognizable all-too-recognizable “Am I Still Special” in metallic colors, and with their lower faces covered by bandanas. They quickly shove Hitomi backwards as they stride, sending her stumbling and causing her hood to fall for just a moment before she catches it.

One of the men let’s out a hearty chortle. “Hey!” He shouts quite loudly. “We got a nef over here!”

As Hitomi turns (maybe to run, maybe just to get a grip on her surroundings) she sees three more similarly-dressed men coming out of an alleyway behind her, each carrying a baseball bat.

Out on and across the street, people have turned to witness the spectacle with some interest. None seem particularly inclined to immediately rush to the unarmed girl’s aid, especially not when one of the men repeats, pointing, “A nef’s walking our streets! Big ol’ ears! See, why don’tcha show everyone, miss?”

A number of the observers look disgusted and start advancing, picking up stones and taking off shoes and grabbing other throwable things and generally yelling for Hitomi to take off her hood or saying she’s not human, while about as many start looking for the nearest way to duck out of the situation.

Seems like a time for some heroes to swoop in, eh? How do you all stumble upon this scene?

[Elfbird]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xcd8Dbz2_J7hhIp3opKO_0NEnkbHSkXmY_8oVlXl0UI/edit?usp=sharing

Hitomi usually rather enjoys her walk to and from the women's shelter where she volunteers. This part of the city has a charmingly rustic air, and the residents are generally quiet, hardworking folk who rather appreciate their drink.

This would not be one of those days.

Her initial response to the situation is bewilderment, catching her hood and her footing by reflex. Then a moment of numbness as her mind comes out of its haze enough to process the uniformed bikers converging on her.

When she parses the "Am I Still Special" blazon and notices the gathering crowd, panic finally sets in.

Hitomi hunches down, pulling her hood more tightly and stumbling against the wall behind her. She tries to call for help, but all that makes it out of her throat is a series of high-pitched whines and sobs.

Nowhere to run; nobody to save her...

I suppose Hitomi is technically preparing to Block, using her arms to shield her vitals. It's a purely instinctive response, not at all a deliberate or coordinated defense.

[fibericon]

Nadia typically liked to stick to quiet areas. Though she could walk around without being harassed, even a sudden loud noise could startle her into dropping her disguise. It was all fun and games until there was suddenly a demon standing in the crowd. But today, she just wanted a short walk, during the day. That's when she heard it.

She stops in her tracks, looking at her right hand. The illusion was still up. Was someone looking at her through a camera? No, it wasn't about her. Great, the special people found another punching bag. She looks over and sees weapons. They were greatly outnumbering another girl with a tail. She knew what it felt like to get beaten over a tail.

And just like that, the illusion was gone.

Cloven hooves stomp the blacktop as she sprints toward Hitomi. From a running leap, she takes to the air, flying low and darting around the approaching attackers. She stops just in front of the other biodynamic, placing herself directly in harm's way, and lets out an inhuman shriek.


Intimidation: [roll0]

Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DaJslod2qriNjedDSKeZbzxaNlVWLN9BVQIfFIrzx Dw

[Volthawk]

Strike wasn't technically in the area when things kicked off. He'd just finished upgrading the jetpack and was testing its new speed capabilities and seeing how his sensors kept up, when he spotted the beginnings of what looked like a gang attacking someone - even with his sensors, at this range the details that made it a dynaphobe attack weren't clear. He couldn't let this go on, and as such intervened.

He starts to rapidly descend, the suit controlling his speed so he lands without issue in front of the girl, bringing his shock hammer around to hit the closest thugs, his suits precision systems acting to lower his power, pulling the blow to lower the chance of accidental unnecessary deaths. With his armoured costume (fairly bulky with the armour over internal servos and systems, but not as big and armoured to really be power armour or a battlesuit or whatever term the viewer preferred), helmet, shield and hammer, it's pretty obvious what he is and why he's here.

Strike intends for the message sent to be clear - if they wanted her, they'd have to deal with him, an actual threat, first. He looks back at the girl. "All will be well, I'll protect you." He notices his apparent ally in this, but doesn't pay her too much attention - for now at least, their intentions were the same, and he'd learnt enough about dynamorphs to know that appearances told nothing about character.


Strike (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VYfdKeNx_3Uj5hoLrUZuzvJfvodcljbfYTAYKVvLJck/mobilebasic)

Making a single attack at 2x7, up to 4 with Quality 2 and possessing Penetration 2 and Electrocution.

So unless they're the most elite enemies or that somehow 4K+4S doesn't do any damage to my target, that height 7 should beat the demoralisation threshold and thus my attack takes out two of four minions (depending on if Quality applies to width for this) - half actually hit by Strike, and the other half getting out of there.

EDIT: Due to working out the maths I'm OOC, dropped width by two as otherwise it's powerful enough to instantly kill a mundane unarmoured target once Electrocution is applied. Although naturally minions don't have that detail, I'd rather do so much you basically have no choice but to kill them.

[Syless]

It seems like a quiet day as Vivian is making her way to the clinic. She's a little grateful when Medicus (https://docs.google.com/document/d/138h8bB81e7RwCwTX2hdY1m5weG3B9AW_-O1xVmV_wvM/edit?usp=sharing) doesn't have to go anywhere, it means things are quiet in general. But naturally, nothing like this can ever last. The first thing ahead of her she sees is the crowd- normal enough, nothing to be concerned about. Then the bats- ...street baseball game? And then, the shirt. "Am I Still Special". *******s. She takes a step forward- may as well intervene as Vivian before Medicus is needed- only to stop when two other biodynamics appear.

The first is... a demon? That's what the steretypical image would be. Makes the second, a flying champion in power armor, look downright mundane. The two of them seem to have the situation under control, so Vivian quietly shuffles off to the side. She doesn't like seeing anyone get hurt... But they cast the first stone. Rather literally, here. So Vivian waits. She can help the victim after, if she needs it. From the looks of things, the other two won't.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Two of the bikers with bats go down while the other stumbles back and stares at his downed allies with horror, almost as if about to vomit. With the sudden interference and violent entrance, all the massed people start screaming and attacking.

MINIMUM SENSE DECLARATIONS: The hater who’d been calling the shots tries to rally those who’d been taken out of the fight while the other two bikers advance, drawing knives to attack Strike. The crowd begins to throw their heavy objects at the collected heroes.

[Elfbird]

The sudden appearance of her saviors, however welcomed, also adds to Hitomi's overwhelmed feeling just now. When the crowd starts flinging objects, she overflows.

"AAAAAAAAAAALEEEEEEEEEEEX!!"

Block, same as last turn

[fibericon]

Nadia looks around at the growing crowd. The sudden violence had made things a lot more difficult than they needed to be. Two easy solutions come to mind. She could simply burn them all alive. It's hard to throw rocks when you're busy rolling on the ground and crying for mommy. A less violent option would be to attack the man commanding them, but that wasn't a sure bet at this point. These people probably already fear for their lives now.

"Sometimes it's hard to do the right thing. That doesn't mean it's not worth doing." That's what Mr. Miller said to her once. The right thing to do here is to just run. She has that option, and now that she's here, so does the other girl. She scoops up the fox girl and leaps into the air with a beat of her wings.

"Where do you live? Is it safe for you to go home?"


Flight has 3d for speed.

[Volthawk]

Quickly assessing the situation, Strike sees two threats to him and the girl he was protecting (the dynamorph seemed able to take care of herself, and he only had so much he could do at once). The first was the remaining thugs with their knives. No real problem - they were focused on him, and his suit's armour would prevent any real damage to him - which he dealt with in another swing of the hammer. The crowd made up the second threat, and the one that took up more of his attention - their projectiles, while similarly minor to him, could hurt the girl - and he focused his defence against their projectiles that would hit her. Sure, it meant he was open to any throen his way, but he could take it.


Attack: A 2x4 attack, so 4 Stun and Killing damage to the arm,torso and leg, Penetration 2, at init 2.

Block: 3x10, so 5 width, height 10 and initiative 5

[Vrock_Summoner]

Strike manages to block a bottle flying towards Hitomi, but with his defenses focused elsewhere a brick smashes into his right arm, dealing a point of Shocking to that area.

Meanwhile, as Agrat turns to fly Foxy out of the line of fire, a surprisingly weighty metal pipe flies into the back of her left knee, causing her to stumble briefly on her way to Foxy and dealing a point of Shocking to that leg. This slows things down enough that while she did get into the air, they haven’t quite gotten out of range yet.

Foxy passes her skill check to yell loudly. Hopefully Medicus will save the day from ear pain now that she’s snapped her mask on in that alley.

Next round

The leader of the bikers books it like a true hero. Surprisingly unbothered, the mob seems to only be further convinced that their compulsion to throw stuff at superhumans is justified and mostly focuses their fire on Strike, with one or two stragglers with particularly good arms lobbing at Agrat to try and catch her with some extra pain before she escapes with their original quarry.

[Elfbird]

Hitomi yelps in surprise when something swoops down and lifts her bodily into the air. After a second of mindless flailing, other instincts kick in and she latches on tight to the... girl?

She gulps for air a few times before being able to reply. "Th-The compound. For dynamorphs. O-Over that way." She gestures with her gaze, unwilling to let go to point.

Is "holding on for dear life" an action? :P
I suppose "securing her grip with arms and legs", to add dice against anything that threatens to knock her out of Nadia's grip?

I don't think she can really do much else like this; maybe any errant projectiles will hit her instead of Nadia.

[Syless]

Vivian- now donning her mask as Medicus- is still in a bit of a quandary. She's not armed or armored, so rushing in is an obvious terrible idea... maybe that poor girl's hurt? She's being flown away, but perhaps she and the dynamorph can be followed. Vivian takes off, doing her best to keep up with someone flying while on foot.

[Volthawk]

Now the close quarters attackers are dealt with, Strike takes a moment to take stock. The main thing that comes to his attention is the state of the two thugs he struck. Even with the exoskeleton pulling his blows, it's clear that they are in a bad way, bad enough that he can't just leave them here - there's no way he can rely on this crowd to notice and properly act on this. He starts rapidly moving, hammer reattached to the suit and grabs them, careful to not be too rough with them, all the whole keeping an eye on the crowd and blocking any thrown projectiles.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Just before Nadia manages to fly out of the way, a rock flies out and slams into her wing, dealing a point of Shocking to it. Then she manages to get out of range of further hits.

Other heavy objects hit Strike in the head and chest as he’s gathering people, dealing a point of Shocking to each location.

Declarations: they’re focusing fire on the only target left, despite him holding people. These folks are sort of jerks.

[fibericon]

Nadia grunts and winces when the rock hits her wing. That's a bit more sensitive of an area, and the shock makes her feel like she's about to dip. Luckily, it doesn't take her out of the air, and she's able to put some more distance between them and the people throwing rocks. Finally managing to get to relative safety, she looks back at Hitomi.

"Sorry I couldn't get you out of there faster. I hope you're not hurt too badly. And sorry about... all this. I know I'm not very pleasant to look at. I'll put the illusion back up when we land. What part of the compound should I take you to?"

[Volthawk]

Deflecting the projectiles thrown at him, Strike starts to move. Despite its raw force, his jetpack is a finicky thing, something designed more for movement across the city rather than tactical use, and the distraction from even these weak projectiles would prevent effective use. Instead, he moves out on foot, his suit's systems allowing for a very fast sprint, allowing him to quickly leave the crowd behind as he heads towards the nearest medical facility.

[Elfbird]

Hitomi shakes her head at the other dynamorph's apology, furry ears flicking against her savior's face. She smiles and giggles lightly; escaping the mob, holding on for dear life, flying... it's all a bit much for her delicate senses to cope with at once.

"I think bones can be beautiful and sacred, like the home of a god. You should stay like that. I live at the shrine; stay awhile? I'll serve tea."

It's a spur-of-the moment comment; whether or not she really likes bones, it felt like the thing to say, and she's not likely to second-guess it later.

An image of Alex brushes against the edges of her mind. A twinge of doubt and guilt flickers across her conscience before the chemical-driven elation of the moment pushes the image back into the darkness.

[fibericon]

Nadia goes quiet for a moment. She'd just assumed everyone would be disgusted, or horrified, or both, when seeing her true form, and that the Millers were some sort of saviors.

"You're very kind to say that. Your shrine... it isn't Abrahamic, is it? Judaism, Christianity, Islam? Because I can't tread on hallowed ground. I'm... uh... heh. Well, I'm pretty much exactly what I look like. I won't bore you with the story, but suffice to say, my kind lost that war. I-I'm sorry, I'm being rude. I'd be happy to have tea with you. I'm Nadia, by the way."

She had been planning to not use her real name, but that plan went out the window when Hitomi proved to not instantly make a decision based on her appearance. Being vaguely aware of what a shrine probably looked like, she brought them down in what was hopefully the right place.

"Here we are... I think?"

[Elfbird]

"You're very kind to say that. Your shrine... it isn't Abrahamic, is it? Judaism, Christianity, Islam? Because I can't tread on hallowed ground. I'm... uh... heh. Well, I'm pretty much exactly what I look like. I won't bore you with the story, but suffice to say, my kind lost that war. I-I'm sorry, I'm being rude. I'd be happy to have tea with you. I'm Nadia, by the way."

Hitomi laughs.
"Yay! Don't worry, Shinto isn't nearly that picky. Besides, a real demon wouldn't rescue an innocent girl like you did. Oh! Unless... you're planning to seduce my maiden's heart and make me your dark servant?"
She again laughs away the absurdity of the jokingly-made accusation.
"Hitomi is my name. Thank you for saving me, Ms. Nadia."


"Here we are... I think?"

Hitomi wobbles a bit after letting go of Nadia, her body shaking quite badly from the adrenaline dump and holding on so tightly for so long.
"Oh, yes, hello ground, how I've missed you... Right this way, Nadia; please come inside..."

Quite oblivious to anyone else who might be around the shrine or thoroughfare, Hitomi staggers around to the back side of the shrine and opens the sliding wooden door that leads to her living area. It's basically one modestly-sized room with a separated kitchen and bath. Richly-colored quilts hang all around the wooden walls for insulation. A high bed fills a quarter of the room, piled with more quilts and a few stuffed animals. Hitomi retrieves a couple cushions from under the bed and pushes piles of clothes aside enough to make sitting space in the middle of the floor.

It takes a moment to notice, over all the patterns and colors, but... the everything is covered in fine red and white fur. Is Hitomi... shedding?

"Please make yourself comfortable. The tea will be just a minute..." She trails off with a yawn, then disappears behind the partition into the kitchen area and fiddles with the kettle.

While Hitomi is making the tea, a knock comes at the back door. The miko doesn't seem to notice.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Strike travels to a nearby hospital carrying the heavily wounded biker types, the mob dispersing behind him when his speed inevitably left them in the dust. The doctors seem flabbergasted, but take the critically injured in at once, rolling them away to the back room. A police officer on duty in the hospital asks Strike to explain what happened, and after hearing the story, confirms over radio that there are other officers arriving at the location now, though everybody’s dispersed at that point. He takes in Strike’s superhero registrar information and then says he’s free to go. What’s he gonna do after that’s sorted out?

[Volthawk]

Happy that he's done what he needs to now, Strike turns his thoughts back to the other biodynamics that were there. Primarily, his concern was that the girl called out his name - his actual name. There's always the possibility that it's a coincidence, that she knows another Alex she wanted - hell, that's the most likely answer. The possibility that somehow she knew who was, however, wasn't something he could ignore. Additionally, although the dynamorph seemed to be on his side and helping the girl, he didn't know for sure.

He initially sets off in the direction he saw them fly towards, taking to the air in his jetpack to get a good view of where they could've gone. The compound seems like a good place to start, so he lands outside of it, heading towards it on foot and asking those he comes across if they'd seem the pair.

This bring him to the shrine. Well then, he wasn't expecting this. Not quite sure where they are, he starts to look around, calling out "Anyone here?"

[Syless]

Vivian's knocking at the door becomes a bit more frantic. She's winded from trying to keep up with a flying dynamorph on foot, and then she had to ask around about the fox dynamorph and her rescuer that just got back. She -thinks- she's at the right place, but no one's answering. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

[fibericon]

Nadia chuckles at Hitomi's remark. She jokes, but a lot of truth is said in jest. People definitely expect that sort of thing from her.

"I'm just... so bad at that part of it. I mean, I get the basics. It's fundamentally the same as fear, which I'm good at. You reach into them, find the part of them that wants to be terrified, and show it to them."

Inside, she elects to stand, looking around at all the pillows. She offers a half smile and shakes her head.

"Thanks, but my bone plates destroy upholstery. The Millers actually had to switch everything to this thick canvas like they use for pet beds."

With the knock at the door, she reactivates her illusion as a knee jerk reaction. After casting a guilty glance toward the partition, she opens the door.

"Can I help you?"

[Syless]

Vivian looks a bit sheepish as the door is opened. At least as much as one can in a face-concealing mask. She looks a bit silly, wearing a casual outfit along with a fancy hero mask. Huh, someone else must be taking care of her. Maybe "I, ah, saw what happened, sort of, and wanted to see if anyone got hurt. I'm, um, Medicus, I'm a healer. So... If anyone got hurt, I can heal them. Yeah."

[fibericon]

Nadia smiles at the other girl. The mask struck a chord, and discouraging someone who's trying to help isn't ideal. Stepping aside, she gestures Vivian in.

"Please come in. Hitomi's making tea, but I'm sure she would be happy for some help with her bruises. I was too slow in getting her out of there. Yes, I'm Agrat - we all wear masks. Don't worry - I won't make you look at my true form again."

[Elfbird]

"Thanks, but my bone plates destroy upholstery. The Millers actually had to switch everything to this thick canvas like they use for pet beds."

"Oh, that is a problem! Hmm..." She frowns and puts a finger on her upper lip, thinking... "Ah, I've got it!"
A flash of red fur later and Nadia's cushion is covered with a folded-up cardboard box.

. . .

Hitomi emerges from the kitchen with a tray of two teacups just in time to see two strangers entering her living room. A frown of confusion and mild concern flickers across her face; then other instincts take over and her mouth and ears perk up in a smile.

"Oh, more guests! Welcome~ Please come inI I'll just make up some more cups..."
She first fetches two more cushions from under her bed and puts them in a rough circle with the first and the cardboard-topped one.
"Hrmm... now where did Nadia go? Maybe while you wait on the tea, you wouldn't mind checking around for a girl covered in bones? I'd hate for her to wander off and some misfortune befall her..."

Hitomi then disappears back into the kitchen to make more hot water and quickly wash some cups.

[Syless]

The dynamorph who was carrying her disappeared? Huh. Vivian guesses she (?) was one of those sorts. She awkwardly takes a seat on the cushion that was set out. "Um... I didn't really come by for tea. Are you okay? Did you get hurt at all?"

[fibericon]

Nadia raises her hand a bit sheepishly.

"Sorry, I didn't want to scare the guests. I'd forgotten you hadn't seen this form. You're more understanding than most." Furrowing her brow, she adds, "Speaking of guests, I think you may have another one."

She heads back to the door and peers around outside, then walks out to meet them. "Looking for someone?"

[Volthawk]

Naturally, Strike was still armoured, although both his weapon and shield were put away - they were designed to fold up a little, both for ease of transport, and so he's not obviously armed in polite situations, the gear merely looking like two metal boxes on his suit. Looking at the girl, and not recognising her as being involved, he waves. "Hello! I'm looking for a girl who got here recently. She was brought here by a winged dynamorph after we intervened in an attack. I was hoping to see if she's alright, and see if she could help me find the other one who helped her."

[fibericon]

Nadia crosses her arms and smirks at Strike. "Yes, I'm Agrat. And you're the reason I almost had to kill everyone there. Well, come on."

Her tone was a mix of sarcasm and disappointment, but she was actually in a good mood with Hitomi's reassurance. She walks back over to the door and opens it.

"Hey Hitomi, look who I found."

[Volthawk]

"That was your choice either way. I had things in hand without you fighting, as you saw. Without anyone getting killed. Your...screeching was having little effect on them, and without me blocking the projectiles aimed at the girl she would've gotten hurt, let alone if I didn't take on the thugs."

Strike sounds a little defensive - his weapon was more powerful than he expected - but more than anything he sounds offended, annoyed at her insinuations compared to what he sees as the reality of the situation.

Nonetheless, he puts that aside as he walks into the room. The girl seems fine and there's...another hero here? He didn't see here at the scene, but she must be here because of it. When he speaks, be directs his attention at Hitomi. "Hello. I'm Strike, I've come to see if you're alright after what happened. What's your name? I can't keep thinking of you as 'the girl'." He then looks at Medicus. "And who are you? I don't recognise you."

[Elfbird]

When Hitomi next steps out of the kitchenette, she's bewildered by the multiplying guests in her room. Any more and people will have to start sitting on her bed!
Still, good hospitality must be observed; any hostess worth her salt can handle an unexpected guest or three without skipping a beat. ...Or so she tells herself as she bows in greeting, nearly inverts the tea tray, then sets it between the cushions and bows properly to everyone. Then there's still the matter of missing Nadia...

"W-welcome to my humble home! Please accept what meager comforts I can offer. My name is Hitomi Noel; might I have the honor of yours?"

Her ears flick nervously as she picks up the tension between the maskless girl and the military man, but without context she doesn't know how best to soothe them; with luck, redirecting their attention will be enough to keep the peace. In fact...

"...Oh! Are you the one who stood up to those bullies for me?"
She bows again to Strike.
"Thank you very much for saving me. That was very brave of you. Are you hurt at all? I have some medical supplies in back; if you've any wounds, please don't hide them for pride or vainglory."

[Volthawk]

Strike smiles and shakes his head, a little off guard by Hitomi's hospitality, but surprised in a nice way -
it was quite a contrast from Agrat's reception. "No, I'm fine, just the odd bruise. I'm Strike, sorry that I can't tell you my real name." He doesn't sit down yet, thinking about what to say next. "No need to thank me about what happened back there, it's why I'm in this. Were you alone? I heard you call out for someone, but as far as I could tell you were alone before Agrat and I turned up."

[fibericon]

Nadia sighs, looking a bit downcast. She glances sheepishly over at Medicus.

"Sorry, Medicus. I know I said I wasn't going to make you look at my true form, but I'm having trouble convincing Hitomi it's me, so..."

She suddenly drops the illusion, allowing her mutations to become apparent.

"See? This is what I was talking about."

[Elfbird]

Hitomi blushes with embarrassment at being called out on screaming during the attack; she half-hides her face behind a white sleeve.
"O-oh, that... It's all a little hazy now, but I think I called my best friend's name. She couldn't have possibly heard, of course, but at the time..."

She yelps in surprise when the maskless girl suddenly becomes Nadia.
"N-Nadia! You scared me; I'd feared you might've wandered off and gotten lost or accosted!"
She drops her hand from her face to her collarbone, calming her heart rate.
"I'm relieved to see you safe. Though... what happened to that other girl who was just here? She and..."
She glances to the masked girl, searching for a name. If the maskless one was Nadia, and Mr. Strike said "Agrat and I", then this must be...
"...She and Ms. Agrat were just starting to get along swimmingly."

[fibericon]

"No, Hitomi..." she sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut briefly. She's clearly exasperated at this point. "I'm Agrat. I wasn't planning on telling anyone else my real name, but I guess that's my fault for not being clear about that earlier. I walk around with that illusion up most of the time so I don't scare people. The fact that it doesn't bother you is a huge surprise. Seriously, just look at me. I even keep the illusion up in front of my foster parents, and they've seen my true form."

[Syless]

Vivian is, at this point, more just observing the confusion than anything. They're not that hurt, clearly... She clears her throat. "I'm Medicus. I just came by to see if anyone was hurt, I didn't realize none of you actually knew each other. Sorry if I made things, ah, even more awkward."

[Elfbird]

You can almost hear the wind whistling through the hollow space between Hitomi's ears.

. . .

After an awkward silence, the lights come back on and Hitomi clasps her hands together excitedly.
"...Well! Since we're all here and all newly met, why don't we have a sleepover! There's no better way to make friends than sharing a meal and a bed!"
You can see her tail wagging under her skirt. It's probably a little unnerving, if you're not used to clothes moving in unnatural ways.

[fibericon]

"I would have to ask my foster parents about that first." She takes out a cell phone and holds it up, "I'll just step outside and do that now."

She stops at the door and puts her illusion back up, only realizing after the fact that it didn't click for Hitomi. Opening the door, she calls back over her shoulder, "I'm still Nadia, don't worry."

Walking a few steps away from the temple, she makes a call and waits for her adoptive mother to answer.

"Um, Mrs. Miller? This is going to sound weird, but I think someone's trying to be my friend. I'm supposed to be asking you for permission to stay the night, but really I just need to know what I should do. She's also a biodynamic, but the fact that she doesn't react to my true form with abject horror confuses me. In fact, she doesn't seem to be able to mentally connect my human cloak to me, even if I change right in front of her. She, uh... she lives at the Shinto temple, if that makes a difference."

[Volthawk]

Strike watches the back and forth between Hitomi and Agrat (or Nadia, apparently) with a little interest and amusement. Agrat clearly had some hangups about her dynamorph form, which made sense - even past the usual dynamorph problems, she had the bad luck to have a demonic looking appearance. Nonetheless, she seemed like a decent person, their earlier conversation notwithstanding, and he didn't judge by appearances.

He's brought out of his thoughts by Hitomi's suggestion of a sleepover. That was unexpected to say the least. Time to make his excuses, as it's way too complicated to go along with this and still keep his secrets. "I...don't think that'll be possible, Hitomi. Secret identity and all, and the suits a bit more complex than a costume and..." He trails off as he looks over at Medicus. Wait, she's a healer, apparently. What if... "Never mind that, I'll stay, if you'll have me."

[Syless]

Two dynamorphs and a guy in a power suit. Sounds like the start of an offensive joke. And... an invite to spend the night? That's sudden and kind of odd. But... she looks like she'd be disappointed with a refusal? Medicus nods a little. "Um, sure. Let me make a phone call too." She steps out. This is a weird thing to do all of a sudden, but... she could really use some biodynamic friends. It gets realllly boring hiding her most interesting feature all the time.

She calls her dad quickly. "Hey dad. Some, um, friends asked me to stay the night, is that okay?" I pause for a moment, then throw in our keyword to let him know I'm safe. "I'll make tomato soup tomorrow." He probably doesn't remember it, so it won't make sense to him anyway... so she probably will be making tomato soup tomorrow.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Mrs. Miller sounds absolutely delighted. “You’ve made a friend, Nadi! I’m so proud of you, sweetheart! First of all, of course you can have a sleepover. Just make sure not to stay up all night, it’s bad for your health. And remember to brush your teeth. As for what you should do, well, you’re doing it! She clearly likes you if she’s asking you to spend the night. As long as she doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable, of course, I think you should just try to get to know her. Especially if she lives at the shrine; she’s probably the best friend you could have for avoiding anything that might hurt you.” She seems to hum with excitement.

The man on the other end of the line grumbles a bit. When he speaks, his words are slurred; you know from experience what that means. “Tomato... Hrm... That sounds good... Yeah, whatever... Not like you were doing anything useful with your time anyway...” He hiccups. “Volunteering at... Damned cheapskate clinic... Maybe yer friends’ll help you find a real job...” He burps, then hangs up the phone without saying goodbye.

[Syless]

Vivian sighs as she hangs up. Early again. Some days she doesn't know why she bothers... but he's still her dad. Maybe if her powers worked on chromosomally stable people she could fix that part of his brain and liver. One day, perhaps. She walks back into the shrine and smiles weakly, not that it can be seen behind her mask. "Well... that's taken care of. Um... I guess I shouldn't keep this on all night, should I?" Vivian takes off her mask, her short hair bouncing out of it a bit.

[Volthawk]

Watching the others go make calls, Strike figures he should probably do the same. Rather than step out for a phone call, however, he merely sends his father a text. "Going to be out tonight. Interesting developments occuring, might have friends in this soon. Can you cover with Mum?"

Unlike the others, nights away from home weren't too unusual - while active duty as a superhero was still pretty new, the development of the Strike technology was done away from home, in what has now become his base as a superhero, and he had quite a few all nighters working there. Thinking about it, he realises his base pretty close to this compound, something that might come in handy if something goes unexpectedly here.

[fibericon]

"Thanks, I guess I just... I mean, I'm not really able to wrap my head around people meaning well for me. I-I'm sorry, that was kind of a downer. I just mean... Y-You know what I mean. Um, thanks, Mrs. Miller. I'll call you in the morning."

She hangs up and takes a few deep breaths. Scary demon lords don't cry. Scary demon lords don't... damn it. It took her a bit to collect herself, but she eventually dried her eyes and nodded to reassure herself, then went back inside and promptly dropped the illusion.

"I'm fine to stay the night. I just have to call in the morning. And not stay up all night. And brush my teeth." She chuckles a bit and adds, "Hey, how's that tea coming?"

She has a seat on the cardboard covered pillow - carefully. It wouldn't do to start destroying things here.

[Elfbird]

Hitomi smiles with sincere pleasure as she hears everyone's acceptance. However unexpectedly they got to this point, she gets to have a sleepover for the first time since first grade! This calls for excitement!
If they aren't quite friends yet, they certainly will be by morning...

"Yay! Thank you, everyone! This will be so much fun!"

The faux-miko suddenly gathers her composure, though can't stop her tail from swishing back and forth.

"The tea is almost ready; however, there is one ceremony we must observe before partaking. If everyone will please take your seats, I shall make the necessary preparations."

Solemnly, though tail still a-swish, she goes about retrieving more pillows from under her bed and piling them in the middle of the seated guests. There's quite a hodge-podge; some newer, some threadbare, some gaudy, some comfy, none terribly important-looking. By the time Hitomi kneels down on her own cushion, the pile is almost higher than their heads. Were all these really jammed under there...?

"Now, if everyone would please take one of these cushions in hand, we shall begin... the customary... pillow fight!"

With a bit of an unfair advantage, Hitomi hurls her pillow past the pile's peak, straight at Strike's face! Her composure shatters into a giggling grin, and she already has another pillow in hand looking for her next target.

[fibericon]

While she'd only ever seen a pillow fight on TV, and thus never actually treated it as something people really did, Nadia wasn't so awkward as to not know to join in. She snatches a pillow and moves with peculiar grace, as she dips low, almost seeming to defy the expectations of her own skeleton. Clearly putting a little too much effort into it, she bats the corner of the pillow with her left hand, causing it to spin rapidly in the palm of her right. Her back arches, and she rises in a serpentine motion. With a flick of her wrist, she hurls the pillow back at Hitomi.

"Catch!"

[Volthawk]

Strike is still a little bemused as Hitomi throws the pillow and it hits his still helmeted face. A pillow fight. Wasn't expecting that. Well, he can't exactly keep his helmet on in this situation - even Medicus had taken off her mask. However, when he reaches to take it off, he hesitates, doubting that he's doing the right thing. Was this really worth his identity? As the pillow fight kicks off properly, he comes to a decision, taking it off and putting it to one side. He's going to take a risk here. Nonetheless, he doesn't quite share the other's enthusiasm, he picks up a pillow. And throws it in Agrat's direction, the suit acting so he throws at a human level of strength. It's been a while since he's just played and relaxed with people, it felt a little odd.

[Syless]

A pillow fight at a sleepover? What were they, twelve? Still... it could be fun. Vivian dives for Hitomi's arsenal then grabs one of her own and tosses it at the boy in the powersuit. "Team girl power! Aim for the boy!"

[Elfbird]

Hitomi takes the buffet from Nadia's pillow with a laugh, then takes a shot at Medicus. "Don't assume gender! You're open!"
It's a weighty topic, but delivered with a giggle in the midst of war, it should go over without making anyone feel bad. And maybe it'll make things easier when she introduces her new friends to Alex one day!

[fibericon]

It took Nadia a bit to get less competitive, but she eventually warmed up to the idea of just having fun. By the time Hitomi brought out the tea, she'd completely forgotten about her hangups regarding her mutations, which was actually a first for her. Her tail flits about idly as she takes a sip, glancing around at the others.

"So, um... what do you all do? I'm home-schooled, because... well, never mind. Besides that, I do occult research. My personal library is getting pretty impressive, and I've learned more about my origins. My alias comes from Agrat bat Mahlat, one of the four original succubi."

[Volthawk]

The pillow fight lets Alex relax a little, although it's still fairly clear to anyone paying attention that he hadn't really gotten into it, or gotten the same enjoyment as the others from just messing around. Nonetheless, he sits and drinks tea and joins the conversation.

"I work. The talents that let me build the suit lend themselves to civilian industry as well. Asides from that, I have an interest in history, particularly military, and tactics." He raises an eyebrow at Agrat's last comment. "Origins? I don't follow how they're related."

[Syless]

There's a bit of a drop in Vivian's energy after Hitomi's rebuke, but she still puts up a good show in the pillow fight. She's definitely exhausted by the time they're done- physical activity is not her forte. "I do some, um, activist work. There's not as much call for a biodynamic healer as you'd think, even in a city like this. It's usually too much trouble to call me in compared to conventional medicine. I'm Vivian, by the way. I don't think I introduced myself outside of, y'know, the mask. Sorry."

[Elfbird]

The pillow fight relaxed Hitomi too - well, got her wound up, really, but tea time calmed her back down. Her demeanor has very definitely transitioned from "hostess" to "playful girl". She's also pleased to see the others getting on well - even if they're not all wholly comfortable with each other yet, good progress is being made. She almost has a circle of friends outside of class! Nearly makes her earlier... experience... worth it.

"I'm a student at the high school here in the compound, and I volunteer at the women's shelter not far from here in the city. I like giving people safe spaces, in body and in mind; that's all my biodynamism is really good for." Her ears twitch as she smiles in embarrassment.
"You all are so interesting, working and doing research on your own!
Nadia, what's it like being home schooled? Do you like it? I'd be lonely!
Vivian, what kind of activism do you do? My best friend is really into social and minority concerns, though she's... not the best public speaker.
Strike, have you read The Art of War? It's this really cool old book of Asian strategy written by a great general. A lot of people treat it like a self-help or philosophy book, which is kinda scary to imagine, people taking military advice for modern American life!"

[fibericon]

"I've always been different. Born with a tail and horns - not as large as now, of course. The horns were just nubs under the skin. That was enough, though - even my parents called me a demon. The feds who picked me up after the storm explained it was genetic, but they didn't know much about where it came from or why me. So, I believe it's related to something in our genetic history, possibly very far back. Superstition, mythology, and religion are all tied into reality. A lot of what people believe has some amount of truth in it, even if they don't have the whole picture, often from cultural bias. Consider the culture war between Paganism and Christianity: Paganism lost, and thus, what Christians now consider demons are actually borrowed wholesale from Pagan lore. But that's not the full story!" Nadia gets a little excited, her tail skittering about on the floor. Her eyes light up and she continues, "Jewish lore has succubi as fallen angels, and the Hermetic Qabalah agrees! So much of it is tied together that it's hard to disregard it all. There are many stories of demons mating with humans, succubi in particular. And it's not just for me - Hitomi, your awakening might be tied to kitsune legend. I'll admit I know a lot less about that, but I do know it's said they mated with humans."

She looks around, then laughs nervously, hunching slightly in embarrassment. "Sorry, I rambled, but I've done enough studying into this that I can read the Cypher Manuscripts as if they were plaintext. Um... I kind of have to be home schooled. I have to be protected from religious items. They're physically harmful to me. It's okay - my foster parents are great."

[Volthawk]

Strike raises an eyebrow at Nadia's speech, clearly skeptical but he doesn't say anything in respose - it wouldn't be appropriate to get into that kind of debate here and now. Instead, he answers Hitomi. "Yeah,
I have. The reason a lot of non military sorts read it is because good strategy can be applied to a lot more than just battle - the details are different, but the basic concepts remain. It particularly allies the more cutthroat fields, like business. Also, I suppose you can't keep calling me Strike. I'm Alex - you can see why I brought up your shouting earlier."

[Syless]

There's a quiet pause as Vivian just listens to the others. They're all much more interesting. "I, um, volunteer for the DSA- er, Democratic Socialists of America. There's not too much I can do, being a minor and all, but I help with organizing where I can. And only out of the mask... I don't want to have to deal with all the fallout that would happen if Medicus declared political allegiance." She takes a sip of tea while considering what everyone else has said. Nadia's dynamorphism is rather radical, if she's comparing herself to a demon... Alex is a quite powerful innate... and... hm. "Hitomi, if I may ask, is your biodynamism only your dynamorphism? Or do you have other abilities?"

[Elfbird]

"Consider the culture war between Paganism and Christianity: Paganism lost, and thus, what Christians now consider demons are actually borrowed wholesale from Pagan lore. But that's not the full story!"
Hitomi seems to match Nadia's enthusiasm for the subject of the occult, if not her dedicated study of it. "I know, right?! I don't know a lot of Christian mythology, but the story of how Lilith got kicked out of Eden and demonized by scripture just for wanting to be Adam's equal always bugged me. Like, what is this, Animal Farm? No thanks!"


" Also, I suppose you can't keep calling me Strike. I'm Alex - you can see why I brought up your shouting earlier."

Hitomi's eyes go a little wide as this sinks in. "O-oh my...! Then you and my best friend have the same name! Isn't that something...?"
She's still mulling over whether to be more happy or bothered by this. Her Alex, and this Alex... Time will tell if anything needs to be done about this.


"Hitomi, if I may ask, is your biodynamism only your dynamorphism? Or do you have other abilities?"
"Weeeeell..."
Hitomi closes her eyes as she tries to formulate an explanation.
"I don't really understand the science behind it, but... You know how certain thresholds can keep out various kinds of creatures in folktales? Like, vampires can't cross running water, or fairies can't enter a home uninvited, or that chill you get when you step into hallowed grounds? I do that, kinda. Like this shrine;
I know you're all good people because you could come inside, and I promise you'll be safe here because of those wards. It's the best kind of feeling~"

She seems about to add something more, then cuts herself off. Her 'other self', the one Nichiji helped her bind to the gemstone hidden under her clothes... that scares even her, and after promising her new friends they'll be safe under her roof...
The deliberate omission twists her up inside, but she can't quite bring herself to act, so she masks it with a yawn and gets up to fetch some packaged cookies from the pantry for everyone.

Charm: Lie 2x7 to conceal her unspoken feelings. Overcome it to unlock the secret!

[fibericon]

Nadia beams when someone else shows interest, "Oh there are quite a lot of reasons to not take any one religion's word wholesale. I'm of the belief that multiple faiths are correct in varying degrees."

Nadia's tail twitches during the back and forth with Vivian, and she glances over at Hitomi. She thought she heard a whisper in her subconscious, but... no, nothing. She needed to put more research into it - her abilities were there, but often confusing and useless to her, especially when it came to understanding others. She furrowed her brow, realizing it was more likely a subconscious warning in response to Hitomi mentioning hallowed ground.

"I uh... I think I get a little more than a chill if I attempt to walk on hallowed ground. Hitomi, I think my foster parents would like you a lot. They've put a lot of effort into providing a safe space for me since taking me in. I know it isn't always easy for them, so it can't always be easy for you, either."

[Volthawk]

As the other two discuss the occult, Alex turns to Vivian. "Speaking of biodynamic powers, you said you're a healer, yes? Have you figured out your limits yet - the extent of injury which you can heal?" It's fairly clear he's asking out of more than just polite curiosity.

[Syless]

Vivian thinks back in response to Alex's question. What -did- she know about the extent of her powers? She'd love to know the details herself, but if she doesn't know them only because of a lack of circumstances, that's honestly a good thing... hm. "Not... really. My powers are a bit... shaky? Like, I can heal someone, but it's not going to go at a steady rate- in an emergency it's better for normal triage to keep them alive, but after that I can patch people up. I've never tried it on old injuries, though. Why do you ask?"

[Volthawk]

Alex pauses, thinking before he responds. When he does, he sounds unsure of himself, unsure that he should go down this route. "I see. Well, there's a reason I'm still wearing the suit, despite being otherwise open about myself. Two years ago, I was crippled, denying me the use of my legs. This suit allows me to walk, and to be better than human, but outside of it I'm stuck to a wheelchair. I was curious about your powers as they might he able to help me. Mundane medicine has failed me so far."

[Syless]

"O-oh. I'm sorry. I mean... I'll try. I don't even know if it will work on an innate, though. It only works on biodynamics, and... I dunno." Vivian sighs. "Want me to try? I don't think I could possibly make things worse..."

[Volthawk]

Strike still sounds somewhat unsure of himself as he responds. "I would appreciate the attempt. I did pick up a few bruises earlier, so if they're healed we'll know you can heal me more generally, regardless of your success with my disability."

[Syless]

Vivian nods, placing a hand on Alex's arm. She feels the power flow through her, letting the healing energy rush into her newfound friend, letting it mend what it can mend and leave what it cannot. "Please work... please work..."

[Elfbird]

"Hitomi, I think my foster parents would like you a lot. They've put a lot of effort into providing a safe space for me since taking me in. I know it isn't always easy for them, so it can't always be easy for you, either."
Returning with the cookies, Hitomi blushes at the compliment and covers her mouth with her sleeve.
"Oh, I don't know; everything seems to work out one way or another around here. I'm sure your parents work much harder than I do, without powers to rely on. I'd love to meet them some-- Oh, I know! Want me to come over and ward your house against Christians?"
The shortcomings in her religious awareness show themselves in that she missed the distinction between the locally common Christianity and the larger group of Abrahamic faiths. At least she means well, even if her heart is bigger than her brain.


Vivian nods, placing a hand on Alex's arm. She feels the power flow through her, letting the healing energy rush into her newfound friend, letting it mend what it can mend and leave what it cannot. "Please work... please work..."

Hitomi lets out a solicitous gasp when she sees Vivian touching Alex. Then she realizes what's actually happening and makes an awed gasp - there's a clear difference, you see. She clasps her hands in prayer on Vivian's behalf.
"Will this be a miracle before our eyes...!"

[fibericon]

"It's... my foster parents, actually. My parents are awful people." He hesitates, then adds, "Sorry, I guess I'm a bit of a downer sometimes. Christians are my main problem, yeah. They evangelize - and, well, exist - more often in the US than the other Abrahamic faiths. I'd have to ask permission first, though. I don't know what the Millers would think of the house being warded. But either way, I'm sure they'd like to meet you."

She looks over at Vivian and Alex, quietly evaluating the situation, then whispers up at Hitomi, "I wish I had positive powers. Mine are all hurtful, and most of them deadly."

[Volthawk]

When the healing begins, the first thing Alex notices is the minor bruising quickly fading, and feeling better for it. He doesn't, however, feel anything in his legs and a quick test without the suit systems assisting confirms that they're still unresponsive. He looks at Vivian and shakes his head, not appearing too surprised. "No luck so far. I'm not too surprised, his attack and venom did something to my body down there, made it so nothing we've tried has helped. Looks like your healing is also on that list - I wouldn't take it as a certainty that you can't normally heal these kinds of major injuries, though. "

[Elfbird]

She looks over at Vivian and Alex, quietly evaluating the situation, then whispers up at Hitomi, "I wish I had positive powers. Mine are all hurtful, and most of them deadly."

Hitomi leans into Nadia's ear to whisper back. "You know, you rescued me on those wings of yours. That's one power that can save instead of harm.
And... you have more."

She leans back, leaving that last remark hanging with a gentle-yet-mischievous smile.


He looks at Vivian and shakes his head, not appearing too surprised.[/COLOR]

Hitomi deflates somewhat when the hope for a miracle is left unanswered, though her eyes still sparkle - Stri-- Alex was just healed before her eyes, if not to the full extent of his injuries.

[Syless]

Vivian looks crestfallen. This was not her night. "I'm... sorry. I wish I could have. I'm not even a great healer." She flumps backwards, laying on the floor. Maybe one day she'll do something normal doctors can't... but until then, she's just another medic.

[fibericon]

..."More"? More what? Powers? More than powers? More as a person? Why is she looking at me like that?

Nadia stares wide-eyed at Hitomi, stunned to silence. Her face is red enough to match her hair at this point. A far cry from the demon lord persona she wants to craft for herself - more of a fawn caught in headlights at the moment.

"Uh... I-I... wha-...? Well, I mean, I-I uh... Y-Yeah, I can fly, I guess that's not all bad. And, um, well I'm... looking into, um, you know, mind affecting abilities. M-Maybe calm people down so they don't want to fight or something?"

She chuckles nervously and looks over at Vivian and Alex, perhaps talking a bit more loudly than she should to overcompensate for having been completely blindsided by Hitomi. "I'm sorry that didn't work out for you, but at least you have a good system of support. We all need people we can rely on, and I think I have more of those people today than I did yesterday."

[Volthawk]

Alex shrugs when Vivian apologises. "As I said, it was a long shot, no need for apologies. However, I wouldn't lose faith in your abilities just from that. That would be like losing faith in body armour because it didn't stop a missile to the chest. I would still suggest you work at it - experiment, push yourself, see what you can do then see if you can do better."

[Elfbird]

As the conversation winds down and becomes punctuated with yawns, Hitomi goes about preparing bedding and finding suitable pajamas. She likes loose, flowing clothing, so it's no trouble finding things to fit everyone. Nadia's option has a laced front; she can wear it backwards to fit around her wings.

As for places to sleep: there's one guest futon, Hitomi's bed, and a floor strewn with the spent ammunition from the pillow fight. Hitomi quite abandons her bed to gather a pile of pillows and curls up inside it (after ensuring everyone's needs are taken care of, of course). Two could fit snugly in the bed, or one could make a nest of spare blankets and the remaining pillows on the floor.
Hitomi is apologetic about the shortage of comfy places to sleep, but also seems amused (maybd hopeful?) at the prospect of two people cuddling up.

The shrine is very cozy with the lights out. It's quiet and warm, like a den, and there's just enough outside light to make the darkness comfortable instead of foreboding. Hitomi falls asleep quickly; her steady breathing makes for white noise from amidst her pile of pillows.

[fibericon]

Nadia considers the floor for a moment. She's slept in worse conditions, and she likely needed the most space - what with the wings. It didn't seem fair to make someone else attempt to sleep next to her. Plus, it would be easiest to spread out the cardboard this way. That and, well, she didn't really know how to manage people yet. She curls up in a fetal position on the cardboard atop her pile of pillows and lays awake. Was it wise to trust these people? Biodynamics seemed to really like the whole "we're in this together" mentality, but she'd never felt that way.

But she definitely liked Hitomi, and the others were nice, at least. But what was up with that look? And why did she crumble in response? Was that a power of Hitomi's, like how she could induce hypnotic terror? It was certainly alien to her.

She eventually drifted off, and found herself staring in a full length mirror. But the reflection was different. The bone plates... they weren't plates anymore. Gorgeous obsidian lacing. Smooth. Smooth? Yes, they didn't snag on and destroy cloth anymore. They didn't give children nightmares. The reflection reached out for her, and the mirror was gone. She looked down at herself, and the mutations were just as before. Jagged. Hideous. Her heart sunk.

"Do you want this?" She knew that voice. It was the sultry tone she used when she assumed the alias. When she became Agrat. But this... this was better. This made her own sound like a pale imitation, like a fake accent. "Follow me."

She followed, and was led to a small alcove. Carved in the walls was a huge amount of text. Ancient Aramaic.

"You only know one word - fear. But you only know part of that word, yes? 'Pahhad' - imagined fear. Or projected, if you prefer. That's the one you control for now - the only one. What people see when they look at you is different - 'yarah'. It's a more concrete form of fear. But consider that the same word is used for reverence." The reflection lazily gestured toward the wall, "This is everything you need to master humans' emotions, but you can't read it, can you? Rectify that, and you'll have everything - and everyone - you want."

Nadia woke up and pushed herself into a cross-legged sitting position. It had been some time since she'd had that clear of a vision, and she needed to meditate on it. After a few minutes, she checked her phone. Morning. There was light coming in, but she wasn't entirely clear on how late it was - unfamiliar environment and all. She crept quietly outside, trying not to wake anyone, and put up her disguise before opening the door.

Moving away from the shrine, she called her adoptive mother, as promised. "Good morning, Mrs. Miller. I just got up. Last night was... I mean, I had fun, I just don't really know what I'm doing yet, you know? I had another vision. This one was really clear. Maybe it's because I'm fretting about the bone plates again. I know you keep telling me it's not that bad, and it's not like those three said anything, but I've always thought they were my worst physical feature. Anyway, Hitomi offered to come over and ward the house against Christians. I don't know how you guys feel about that, so I figured I would ask. And... I think you'd like her. She reminds me of you because she sees the best in people."

She creeps back inside and drops the disguise, mostly for Hitomi's benefit, then approaches her host. How are you supposed to do this? She sits on the bed next to Hitomi and places a hand on the other girl's shoulder. "Hey, Hitomi? I talked to my foster mother."

[Vrock_Summoner]

“Nadia, Nadia,” Mrs. Miller says warmly. “Your bone plates have never been your worst feature. They’re one of your best. They’re a symbol that you don’t need to defend the validity of your differences... Because they can defend you instead.” She pauses in deliberation about the next part, then resumes her chipper tone. “Sweetheart, your friends are always welcome over here. And if letting her do that would help you feel more safe at home, we’d be happy to let her. I look forward to meeting her!”

[Elfbird]

Still mostly asleep, Hitomi reflexively nuzzles the hand with the top of her head, ears gradually twitching to life. When they're fully erect, she stretches her back and lets out an enormous yawn (where you can see her elongated canines), then opens her eyes to meet Nadia's and blinks sleepily.

"Good morning, Nadi-chaaayawnnn~ Didja sleep well? I had the strangest dream... Oh, you called your parents? Everything okay, Nadi-chan?"

[fibericon]

That gave Nadia pause. Only her foster parents had ever called her 'Nadi'. She wasn't sure what to think of Hitomi doing it. Only... people who genuinely cared about her. Oh.

Oh.

"Um, yeah. Everything's fine. I promised I'd call them when I woke up. Mrs. Miller said it would be okay if you warded the house, and she's looking forward to meeting you. I haven't exactly made a lot of friends since moving out here. I can show you my library - I have a lot of books on occult stuff."

[Volthawk]

With Nadia taking the floor, that left Alex with the futon. Both getting ready for sleep and getting up takes a little longer than the others, as he has to take off the suit at night then equip it again in the morning. He has a vest and underwear on once the suit's removed, a lucky break given he wasn't originally planning on removing himself from the suit around people.

As Nadia and Hitomi talk, Alex is in the process of getting back into it, maneuvering his legs into position to lock into the boots and working from there to. It's not exactly a graceful or quick process, but apparently one he's gotten quite used to. As he works, he looks over at the pair. "So what are your plans today?"

[Syless]

Vivian is the last one to wake up, stretching exaggeratedly as she does. She smiles at Nadia and Hitomi's conversations. Hopefully they'll become fast friends. "I wasn't planning on anything in particular... I might have to get some homework done later, but that can wait. What about you?"

[fibericon]

"I think I'm dragging Hitomi over to my house so she can meet my foster parents, and ward it against Christians. I'm interested in seeing how that works, by the way. I've done a bit of study regarding magick, but it hasn't been my focus."

[Elfbird]

"Hehe! I'll look forward to it~
Vivian, do you want to be a study group? It's easier to focus when you're working together than alone, I find. Oooh, maybe I'll invite Alex too...! And we can make snacks and tea! Maybe watch a movie as a reward for hard work...?"

[Syless]

Vivian rubs the back of her neck. She's really not used to people this insistently friendly. "I... sure? I'll need to stop at home first and pick stuff up. Um... how good are your parents at keeping secrets, Nadia? If we're going there. I, um, might be misunderstanding."

[fibericon]

Nadia offers a short, frustrated sigh. "You guys, no. The Millers aren't my parents, and it's disrespectful to them to keep calling them that. They're my foster parents. My parents are abusive, which is why I got put in foster care in the first place. Just-..." She closes her eyes briefly and takes a deep breath. "Sorry. I know it probably seems like nitpicking to you, but they're better people than my parents ever were, and it just seems rude to give them that title. They deserve better." She hesitates a bit and adds, "I don't know. They're probably really good at keeping secrets. They're amazing at everything else, so..."

[Syless]

Vivian, for the second time since meeting this group of people, looks embarrassed and ashamed. "I, um... sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I'll keep the distinction in mind in the future. But you think it's safe for your foster parents to see me unmasked? It's weird enough being around you all unmasked, and they'll probably guess we're biodynamic..."

[Volthawk]

Strike looks thoughtful for a moment. "I'll have to meet you there. I assume you don't want me there like this, so I'll need to return home to change and arrive as my normal self in my wheelchair." He thinks a little before adding another thought. "On a similar topic, at some point I'd like to show you my home base, which is around here. Not my normal home, but where I do my work as Strike. This particularly applies to you, Vivian."

[fibericon]

Nadia considers Vivian's question for a moment. "I understand if you don't trust them just based on my word. It took me a long time to trust them too. No one wants to be hurt. They're everything to me, but you've never even met them. So... I can't make that decision for you. If you would rather not go, I understand. And yeah, I think they would rather not have you stomping around in the suit, Alex. She grins at the last statement, the mental image of him in armor in the kitchen almost making her laugh.

---------------------------------------

Nadia seems uneasy as she walks home, remaining in her true form for Hitomi's benefit. Even though she lives on the compound - ever since the crucifix incident - she almost never remains in her true form. She opens the door and calls out, entering first.

"Mrs Miller? I brought company."

[Elfbird]

Hitomi quickly picks up on Nadia's unease during the walk; she slips a hand in hers and squeezes to comfort her.

What about Alex?

"It's okay. There's nothing to be afraid of. Just do what I do: tune out the world and focus on the people who matter to you."

Like Alex?
Nadia is in front of me; she needs this and I owe her.
Is that so...

Hitomi withdraws her hand before they reach the Miller house, and bows at the threshold before following Nadia inside. "Pardon the intrusion..."

[Syless]

Vivian uncertainly follows along behind Nadia and Hitomi. The Millers might be able to guess Vivian is biodynamic, but it's not like she plans on telling them what her masked identity is. It's pretty clear her foster parents aren't going to judge just for being biodynamic. Upon arriving at the threshold of the house, Vivian awkwardly stands outside, waiting to be specifically invited in.

[Vrock_Summoner]

You hear Mrs. Miller’s voice from another room. “Oh, how wonderful! Come in, children! I didn’t expect you quite this soon... I’ve got breakfast casseroles in the oven already and I’m working on some cookie dough, so things are a bit of a mess in the kitchen, but make yourselves comfortable! And don’t you go running back out the door before I’ve pampered you all with a proper meal!”

[fibericon]

Nadia's voice audibly catches in her throat when Hitomi takes her hand. Her face is red as a beet. She nods quickly. Hitomi's just being nice. Some people communicate physically. Right? Hitomi must be doing the right thing, because Hitomi is nice and well adjusted. Any doubts or fears that Nadia might have must be her own. Homeschooling hasn't exactly helped her become a social butterfly.

I am, beyond any shadow of a doubt, the single worst succubus this world has ever seen.

"Y-Yeah, okay. I'm just, um, well, I-I don't usually walk around looking like this. I always put up the illusion to look normal and this is really weird to me. Even my foster parents don't see this form very much."

It's a huge relief when Hitomi finally relinquishes her hand - that's a whole other conversation she isn't ready to have with the Millers. Though perhaps she should...

As she enters, she turns to face the other two, her tail flitting about excitedly while she backs into the house. She lowers her voice a little, and gestures excitedly, "Mrs. Miller is an amazing cook. I'm from Georgia - I don't know if you can tell because I've been trying to hammer out the accent - and people here definitely cook differently, but I can't say I'm nostalgic."

Upon entering the living room, it immediately becomes obvious what Nadia had been referring to in regards to the upholstery. The sofas and chairs are covered in a thick dark brown canvas, similar to pet beds for large dog breeds. The rug is sturdy enough to handle her hooves. This place is certainly built for one biodynamic in particular.

"Mr. Miller probably already left for work, but I should bring you back another time so you can meet him too. I'll show you my library, but I should introduce you first, and see if I need to help with breakfast."

She leads them into the kitchen, and walks over to Mrs. Miller. Standing next to the woman, Nadia puts one arm around her and rests her head on the shoulder briefly - a compromise for a hug without impeding her too much in the kitchen. Gesturing toward the guests in turn, she says, "This is Hitomi, and Vivian. What can I do to help?" She swallows hard and lowers her voice before adding, "Hitomi has trouble recognizing me with my illusion up, I'm sorry for looking like this."

[Vrock_Summoner]

The blonde, somewhat portly middle-aged woman gives Nadia a pointed look. “Now, hun, you’re going to make your friends think you aren’t allowed to be yourself at home if you say things like that! You should know by now that as long as you’re within these walls you won’t be judged for how you look. Anyway, I’ve got the cooking taken care of, so if you could just get drinks for your friends if they’re thirsty and show them around the house, that’ll be fine.”

[fibericon]

Nadia chuckles nervously, scratching the back of her head. "Sorry. You know I'm self conscious about it. You've been nothing but supportive since day one. Not like..." She clears her throat and addresses the other two, "Does anyone want something to drink? I can make tea or coffee, or juice. Or we can just wait for breakfast. My library is upst-ahhh... oh no. Um..." She starts fretting a little and turns to Mrs. Miller. "So... Alex had to go home first, but he wanted to come by later, and, um, he's in a wheelchair."

[Elfbird]

Hitomi bows to Mrs. Miller when they're introduced. "It's an honor to meet you. Thank you for allowing us to impose on your lovely home. Your daughter saved me from a gang of dynophobes yesterday; I simply can't repay her enough!"

Hitomi votes for tea at that prompt. Does she drink anything else...?

"Nadi-chan, why don't you carry Alex upstairs like you did me? If it's embarrassing, we could hang a curtain so it's just the two of you...?"

Hitomi sniffs twice, then her ears wiggle, then her eyes glaze over and a little drool escapes her mouth.
"The casserole... smells... mmmmmnnnnn...! Cinnamon, cranberries, hash browns, egg..."
She sways a little, looking like she might faint from euphoria. Maybe she let her guard down a bit too much here? Still, it's kind of adorable too.

[Syless]

Vivian steps in, a bit awkwardly compared to Hitomi's eagerness. "Thank you for having me over... it's really nice seeing how much Nadia likes you. And, um, I'm fine with anything. Water or tea, I guess? You really don't n-" Vivian stops herself. Refusing hospitality might be offensive. Right? "Thanks."

[Vrock_Summoner]

Mrs. Miller gives a beaming smile to Hitomi and Vivian. “Your new friends are such sweethearts, Nadia! I’m so proud of you.” Then she stops to mull over the mention of the other friend that’s been invited. “You want to invite a boy over, as well...? Well... Alright, since I’m here. But no being in any rooms with closed doors together, and no inviting him over when one of us isn’t home, is that clear?” She gives Nadia the first serious look she has in... so long it’s actually hard to remember. It appears to use up her entire sternness reserve, as she’s back to chipper within a few moments. “Here, I’ll clear space on the stove for you to make tea for them!”

[fibericon]

Nadia stifles a laugh as she starts to prepare tea. That reaction hadn't actually occurred to her. She saw Alex as a nonsexual object, like a robot, or a lamp. Meanwhile, she had been fretting about Hitomi and her flirty(?) behavior for nothing.

"Yes, Mrs Miller."

Tea for everyone it is.

"Hitomi got attacked by the cult yesterday. I flew her out, but I didn't fight back.
You two raised me better than that."

[Vrock_Summoner]

“Cult?” Mrs. Miller looks confused, then has a realization. “Wait, are you the one who was on the news last night, Hitomi!? That ‘Am I Still Special’ group is becoming a real threat to so many people’s safety...”

[Elfbird]

Hitomi recovers from her scent-trip and responds to Mrs' Miller by tilting her head, puzzled.

"Funny, I don't remember being on the news... Though, I guess I wouldn't, since we were having too much fun to watch television even if I had one...?

"It's a strange name, isn't it? Everyone is special; it's obvious in how we look and act and dress and think. Life would be terribly dull if everyone were the same, don't you think?"

She keeps glancing at Nadia as she speaks, completely unintentionally. Maybe some part of her is afraid of touching a sore note with her, while another wants to convey her feelings clearly?

"...Nadia was very brave. Out of all those people, only these two and Alex tried to help me. It's a special feeling, I think."

She tries to make eye contact with Nadia just once. She's not sure why she wants to; they're not feelings that need thought, nor exactly expressed - they need to be received by the one they mean the most toward.

[fibericon]

Nadia feels her cheeks flush when Hitomi catches her eye. It's not as bad this time. After all, hitomi's talking about everyone. She still has a nagging feeling that it's another biodynamic comradery situation, but pushes that idea away. Hitomi is too genuinely kind for that.

"I attribute the good in me to Mr and Mrs Miller. Maybe that sounds silly, but they're the first positive influence I've had." She looks over at her foster mother and opens her mouth, but closes it and clears her throat. "Sorry, I'm getting mushy. Tea is ready."

[Syless]

Vivian takes a cup of tea, but awkwardly sits near the two. There's something in the air between them, but she's not sure what. She should really excuse herself... but she thinks that would be rude too. "So... um... thank you for your hospitality. Would it be terribly rude if I went home for a bit to lea- I mean, to get my homework? If we're going to be having a study group? I understand if you want to just hang out instead."

[fibericon]

Nadia sips her tea and smiles at Vivian. Very nice. A bit shy. She couldn't help but wonder if her appearance was intimidating the other girl. Never mind that no one in the room has ever said anything negative about it besides Nadia herself.

"Hurry back! Wouldn't want you to miss breakfast. Hey Hitomi, what do you want to do until she gets back? Maybe you can help me figure out how to setup a study group. I've never done that before."

[Elfbird]

"Yes, hurry back! I'm sure the casserole will be much more delicious while it's freshly hot!"

After seeing Vivian off, Hitomi looks up and taps her chin, pondering Nadia's question about the study group.

"I think we'll need... a table, to sit around and spread our books out. Maybe some snacks? But we're about to have breakfast, so those can wait.
And a reward for when we're done, like a game or movie! That's all that comes to mind..."

She trails off, then her ears prick up, alert. Yesterday is still a little fresher in her mind than she's prepared to admit. She locks eyes with Nadia, hers wide with worry.

"Wait. Does Vivian live in the compound? We shouldn't let her walk in the city alone! You could fly after her; I, ah..."

She was half-standing in her chair, ready to run, but then relaxes and smooths down her ears and tail in embarrassment (which only really draws attention to them, and sends a few fine red hairs floating onto Nadia's pet-grade carpet).

"I... might not be of much help... Shall I ask your mo-- your foster mother about setting wards while you're out?"

[fibericon]

Nadia considers Hitomi's concern for a moment, taking another sip of tea as an excuse to not immediately reply.

"She's not an obvious biodynamic like us. Or she has a really good disguise that we can't see through. Either way, I think she'll be okay. Plus, I'm really excited to see how your wards work. Is it witchcraft?" Her tail skitters about a little at the suggestion. "Mrs. Miller, are you sure you're okay with the wards? If I understand it correctly, people who hold Christian faith would no longer be able to enter."

She chuckles nervously, scratching the back of her head again. She'd let her excitement get the better of her.

"I'm sorry, Vivian. That was rude of me to dismiss you like that. Would you like me to walk you home? Or fly you home? I can fly really, really fast, but I'd keep it a bit slower if I was carrying you."

[Syless]

"I live out in the city, but I'll be fine. It's a bright morning, and I make the walk all the time. It's not that far. But thank you! It's a good thing I'm not religious, I guess... I'll hurry back, though! Want, um, want me to pick up anything while I'm out? Any food or anything?" Vivian finishes her drink up and starts putting her shoes back on as she readies to leave, grabbing her bag, waiting for a last response before setting out at a fast walk.

[Vrock_Summoner]

“I don’t suppose you can ward against only devout Christians?” Mrs. Miller inquires. “It’s really only the types who make that a big part of their identity that are going to be a risk to Nadia’s wellness, and barring even the entirely nominal Christians would lock our doors to most of the country...” She smiles again. “Though, if your powers don’t work to that level of specificity, we can probably manage by taking up a rule of not allowing houseguests in general to come in... Not like we have too many of those anyway.”

[fibericon]

Nadia opens her mouth in surprise. She hadn't really considered that. After a moment to gather herself, she looks at Hitomi.

"I'd rather you not ward if it would mean no house guests at all. It would be selfish of me to make that kind of demand." She chuckles and adds, "It would be pretty funny if Vivian came back and couldn't get through because of it, but I'd still feel bad."

[Volthawk]

As Strike, Alex made his way to his nearby workshop and base, a somewhat secure location within which he could make his arrangements. It took a few calls to his father, explaining the situation and making arrangements, and a fair amount of waiting before a vehicle finally arrived at the base, after a fair bit of offroading. Although his father was his main confidant with regards to his heroic life, he was not the only one - several friends and employees, whose cooperation was needed or wanted for the success of the endeavour and who could be trusted, were also in the know, and it was their help that ensured that the systems he had in place worked, and that constructions like the base and the suit could be done properly and discreetly. In this case, the man driving was actually a bodyguard - after the incident two years ago, the family stepped up with protectilon, and naturally when Alex started on the path to becoming Strike he found out early on and had given some decent advice. Naturally, however, getting involved directly with his battles as Strike was outside of his job description, although he had no problem helping like this.

Alex found his wheelchair, spare clothes and storage for the suit in the back and changed as the vehicle headed back towards the compound. By the time they came across Vivian as she left, Alex was in the chair and dressed rather smartly, a far cry from the stuff he wore under the Strike suit. Telling the bodyguard to slow down, he winds down one of the windows. “Vivian. Am I too late? In any case, I can offer you a lift to wherever you're going. Don't worry about Sergei, he knows about all this - well, my part in it. I was meaning to talk to you when I got the chance, so this seems a good opportunity.”

[Syless]

Vivian's a bit shocked when Alex pops his head out from the car. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised that someone with a power suit was rich enough to have a driver. "Um, hey Alex! Sure... I was just going to stop at home for a minute, I hope that's not too out of the way? Hitomi's doing her thing for Nadia right now." Normally she wouldn't get in a car with a random guy, but considering he spent the night around her in a power suit, he's obviously not going to try something.

[Elfbird]

Hitomi considers Mrs. Miller's request for a moment, then nods.

"Let's try it! I think it depends on how people see themselves, but I can always try to remove it if there's a problem! Shall we start now?"

Hitomi leads the way outside, mumbling aloud as she evaluates the layout. It's one of the few things she takes really seriously - as her master taught her, a badly placed or badly crafted ward can be worse than no ward at all, and she'd never forgive herself if she did wrong by Nadia after being saved by her and receiving her family's hospitality.

"Too many doors and windows; just the front door won't stop anyone who means harm... Lawn, good, does it separate everything...?"

She wanders around the property, poking her head around the sides and back and particularly considering the clarity of the threshold between the lawn, the street, and the neighboring properties. After several minutes, she turns to Mrs. Miller and Nadia with her conclusion.

"Mrs. Miller, do you have some garden tools we could use? Trowels or shovels? I think the best thing will be to make a small ditch around the edge of your property; later we can plant a small fence to make it more durable. My power needs a well-defined threshold to work, you see; if I just go by the sidewalk line, the whole block would end up impervious to devout Christians, which would be rude. It'll take some work, but together we can have it done in no time!"

She smiles and wiggles her ears to take the edge off her uncharacteristic gravitas. She'd gotten so comfortable around Nadia, showing each other their true selves, that she didn't even think to put her hood up before going outside.

[Volthawk]

Alex nods, opening one of the passenger doors. “That will be fine, just let us know where to go.” When she enters, presumably having given her destination, he thinks for a few moments before asking a question. “I'm curious about your life as Medicus. What do you do? How do you help, and do you want to do more?”

[Syless]

"I mean... less than you'd think. I'm usually called in to hospitals to help biodynamics who got themselves hurt, either doing the hero thing or due to jerks like the ones from yesterday. I'd love to do more, but... I can't fight, and I wouldn't want to hurt people even if I could. I try and do as much good as Vivian as I do as Medicus. I've been called to dangerous situations once or twice, for people who can't be evacuated easily, but I've never really looked for them. Why? Do you get hurt much when you're out in your suit?"

[fibericon]

Nadia follows Hitomi about, and once they're outside, actually starts flying around her, at about head height. Mrs. Miller would probably recognize this as being far and away from her typical behavior, as Nadia usually tried to show her true form as little as possible. She was excited to see Hitomi's power in action, or perhaps just to hover around Hitomi in general.

"Hmm... garden tools would work, but... well, you probably know more about witchcraft than I do, but demons and witches go back a long way. Maybe it would be better if I did this myself?"

Nadia lands, and reaches to her upper back before pulling out what looks almost like a second spine. The long cord of sharpened bones twists and coils as she drags it along the property line, slicing through the edge of the lawn.

[Elfbird]

While Nadia does her part, Hitomi sets aside her serious face and skips along delightedly behind Nadia, watching her bone-thing twist and snake through the soil and tear up the grass in a not-quite-straight but sufficiently well defined line.

Once they make it full circle, Hitomi clears her throat and steps toward the threshold Nadia made, resuming her priestly demeanor.

"Okay. This should be the last step..."

She clasps her hands in a sutra and murmurs a chant under her breath in archaic Japanese. After a few seconds, she points the first two fingers of her right hand at one corner of the trench, sweeps them across to the next corner, then turns on her heels and repeats for the other three sides. (She doesn't need to see behind the house because the threshold is all connected... or something like that.) There's no visible effect; not even a faint glow or heat-haze. It's really rather anticlimactic; one might be tempted to test it just to see if it's any more than playacting.

Hitomi claps her hands twice and bows, then shakes herself loose and smiles at Nadia and Mrs. Miller.

"All done! No devout Christians may cross that threshold~! You might want to put down a fence or rock line before too long, or the grass could grow back and break the boundary. Is there anything else I can do for you while we wait for Vivian and Alex?"

[Volthawk]

Alex nods, seemingly happy with her answer. “A little, yes. That is what I'm referring to - not just you and I, but the wider concept. We all have our skills and strengths, and working together and covering each other's weaknesses allows for a greater chance of success in what we do as a whole. That's what I've been working towards, something greater than just myself, or even you and I. It is clear that our enemies have already organised and banded together - Menace, existing criminal organisations, the dynaphobe groups. We need to do the same. This is why I've been interested in you and what you do - I want you to join me in my endeavour.” While he does earnestly believe in what he's saying - it's the most enthuastic you've heard him so far - it definitely sounds like something he's rehearsed beforehand.

[Syless]

"You want me to... what? I mean, like I said, I'm no fighter... I can be an on-call medic for you if you need me, but what would I do for you out in the field? All I have is a tough bodysuit and this netgun some innate made for me." Looking out the window, Vivian smiles. "Though the thought is appealing. I just don't think I could do much."

[fibericon]

Nadia's bone whip coils around her arm and slithers toward her back, then buries itself in the skin pouch through the opening at the base of her neck.

"Wow, Hitomi. I can't believe you weren't grossed out by that. Is there anything that bothers you? Anyway, I don't think we need you to do anything. I'll haul the rocks here myself later. Do you wanna do something, though? Maybe you can help me with some of my occult research."

[Elfbird]

"Huh? Why would that bother me...?Flesh and bones are part of life; even gods have them, so it's fine."

Hitomi seems genuinely puzzled by the idea that anyone would find that sort of thing gross. But that's just how she was raised, and she has a habit of tuning out most things that could possibly disturb her. (Really, it's actions that squick her out more than material foci - never show her a slasher film if you like having eardrums.)

Hitomi lets out a big yawn, only remembering to cover her mouth at the end. She really does lower her guard around Nadia...!

"Aren't you tired after all that work...? Oh, let me braid your hair! Then you can do mine! Alex wears hers really short, so I never get to try it on other people~!"

[fibericon]

Nadia smiles, attempting a light chuckle, but only manages to blow air out her nose.

"I guess you really don't understand, huh? I've got some serious body issues, Hitomi. People see me and run, before I've even done anything. And that person you called 'Agrat'," she shakes her head, laughing sadly, "That's me, too. It's an illusion I put up so I can walk around outside without feeling like a monster. The fact that you don't see me the way I see myself is... I don't know. You're the third person I've ever met who wasn't disgusted by what they see. One's inside making us breakfast, and the other's her husband who's at work right now."

She sighs, shaking her head and walking back toward the house, "Thank you for making me feel normal, Hitomi. I don't get that a lot."

[Elfbird]

Hitomi skips to pass Nadia, tapping her on the shoulder while turning to throw her an earnest smile. It's meant to say a lot of things, like "I'm here for you", "you're great the way you are", "you saved me from normal people because you're you, so thank you", "I'm not exactly normal-looking either", and most of all: "I'm so glad we're friends."

Once Hitomi settles in behind Nadia and gets into a gentle rhythm of brushing and layering that silky hair, she fills the silence with what she hopes is a fitting parable, modified to the circumstance as folktales ought to be.
Her storytelling voice is as easy and rhythmic as her brushing; there's no rush, just leisure time to fill.

"Do you know the story of the red and blue ogre?"

"Long ago in the countryside of Japan, these two ogres lived outside a small village. The ogres were very kind-hearted, but because of how big and strong they were, and how their big teeth jutted out, and how their bright skin looked like fire and water instead of human flesh, everybody in the village was very afraid of them.

"The Red Ogre wanted nothing more than to be friends with the villagers, especially the children. First he put a sign outside his hut, saying 'free cake and tea inside! Please visit any time!' He stayed up late every night baking cakes and brewing fresh tea, then waited by his window every day, but nobody ever came to visit, because they were so afraid of his big, scary body that they couldn't see his big, kind heart.

"This made him feel very sad and angry. 'Why does nobody visit me? Do they not like tea and sweets, even when they are hungry and poor?'

"'They are afraid because they do not know how big your heart is, my friend,' the Blue Ogre counciled one day. 'You must go to the village and show them your kindness, or they will never know you for true.'

"The next day, the Red Ogre went down to the village to help with the peoples' work. First he went to the fields, where they were tilling soil. When one worker left his tiller to rest in the shade, the Red Ogre took it up. Everybody screamed and fled, but the Red Ogre just shrugged and finished tilling the field all by himself. 'They must have been very surprised to have help; tomorrow I will come back and they will not be so surprised.'

"The next day, he went down to the village again, where they were building a house out of stone. It took many men to lift each stone, but the Red Ogre was as strong as ten or twenty men, so he easily lifted a stone in each hand and placed them carefully with the rest. The people, as before, screamed and fled, so the Red Ogre shrugged and finished building the house by himself. But because he was used to his own hut, not tiny human-huts, so he soon ran out of stone and went to the river to bring more. By the time he went home that night, the village had a very nice new house big enough for three or four families to live in! 'They must have been very surprised by my strength and cunning; I will come back tomorrow and they will be used to me by then.'

"On the third day, the villagers held a festival to thank the gods for their miracles and for saving them from the monster, for they could not believe that such a scary creature could have such a kind heart. The Red Ogre tried to join the festival, waving banners and playing the children's games, but the people threw rocks and torches at him until he ran home in tears.

"'I hate humans!' He wailed to his friend the Blue Ogre. 'I have tilled their field and built their house and joined their festival, but they repay me by yelling and throwing stones!'
Despite his protests, it was obvious from how he pouted that he still wanted the humans to like him.

"'I have a plan, my friend,' said the Blue Ogre. 'But you must be very brave, and very strong, and perhaps less kind - but you may be the judge of that. You see, a pack of wolves has been prowling near the village, but they have been too scared of you to attack there. You must go back to the village, but hide so that neither the wolves nor the humans will have the slightest inkling that you are there. Then, when the wolves attack their children and livestock, you will leap out and save them. If you are wounded, lie there quietly and do not cry out. Soon a human with a heart as kind as yours will come out to help, and then because the other villagers will see a fair exchange, they will not be so afraid, and side-by-side they will see the likeness of your kind hearts and be happy with you. Do as I have said and it will go well.'

"The Red Ogre thanked his friend and went about getting ready for the wolves to strike. First he rolled in the hay, so that he would smell like the village fields. Then he went to the river and ground stones into chalk, painting his skin gray so that he would not stand out. Then he crept toward the village and crouched in a stand of trees, and did not move for a day and a night, so still that the birds and squirrels thought him a fine rock to stand on!

"He waited patiently for the wolves, and when the villagers started screaming and the livestock rose in a panic, he leapt from his hiding place and fended off the wolves, pulling women and cattle from their very jaws before hurling the wolves back into the woods. He was bitten many times, and when the last wolf was gone, he fell over. Though his wounds stung fiercely, he recalled his friend's advice and did not moan or call out, but instead lay still and waited quietly.

"Some time later, a shy girl crept out of her house and cautiously approached the Red Ogre. He blinked one eye at her, and she gasped but did not flee, and then she blinked her eyes back at him. She began tending his wounds, gently and tenderly, and he could see that her heart was just as big and kind as his.

"When the villagers began coming out of their houses, they were very angry at you and the girl. But she spread her arms wide and spoke back, and soon convinced all of the villagers to give you food and gifts, and their children climbed all over you. It was very late by then, so they made you up a bed of leaves and a blanket of hay so that you could sleep in the village, and the kind-hearted girl stayed with you to tend your wounds and brush your hair, and the next morning they held another festival to thank the gods for sending you to help them so many times.

"The Red Ogre went back to his hut after that, but from then on he was always welcomed in the village, and when he died of old age many years later, the villagers enshrined his bones and made him a god so that he would always watch over their children and grandchildren. Even today he still comes down from his shrine to play with them sometimes!"

With the story's end, Hitomi makes a final tuck of Nadia's hair and puts the end of the braid over her left shoulder, then hands her a mirror. It's a somewhat elaborate braid, though not perfectly even, going once around her crown before coming down her neck and over the shoulder.

Hitomi's self-satisfied grin appears in the Nadia's mirror. "What do you think? I need more practice, but it turned out pretty good, right?!"

[fibericon]

"Yeah..." Nadia's voice cracks, and she forces a smile, "That's a nice story, Hitomi. I guess I just always assumed I would be sought out by some demon lord or another and told what my purpose was, but who knows when that will happen, if ever? Oh, you meant the braid. It's quite nice, actually. My turn."

She swoops behind Hitomi and begins braiding the other girl's hair. "And you think I should be a hero, huh? I sure hope no one prays for me if the wolves get me. That would be bad. Well... do heroes usually kill people? I have two things I can fight with. You saw one of them already, and the other one is even more brutal."

[Volthawk]

Alex shakes his head. “You'll do what you can, and I expect that is more than you think. Even if you are correct, and your only value is your healing ability, there are merits to having you within the fold, and even on the field - asides from directly keeping more combat capable allies going, another person around to help in more mundane concerns is useful. Take the previous incident - I was the only one fighting, but it was not just me helping and doing the right thing. It was Agrat who got Hitomi to safety. However, I am sure you are more capable than just that. You should have more confidence in yourself.”

“Additionally, I don't think you understand the scope I am talking about here - I see this becoming something far larger than just the two of us. A larger organisation, where all who work towards the same causes as us can work together, not just fighting villains but otherwise working to make things better. I'm not going to turn anyone with the will and heart for this away because of someone's judgement that they are weak or worthless - even, especially if that someone is themselves. To do so flies in the face of the principles that drive someone to do this.”

He pauses and smiles - this conversation is the most emotive he's been since they all met each other. “All that is irrelevant, in the end. The simple matter is that you are a good person, and I want to have more people like you around me. It's simply a matter that you can also help in this part of our lives as well.”

[Elfbird]

Hitomi silently contemplates Nadia's questions for a while. An image of her gemstone floats to mind, to which her master helped her bind her more frightful half. She absently presses palm-sized lump, hanging around her midriff under her clothes.

Finally she says, "I think it's up to you to decide what kind of hero you want to be. There's always a way, however obvious or difficult or strange it might be. Don't feel bound to a fate that makes you unhappy, because freedom and rebellion are also a kind of fate."

When her braid is about done, Hitomi yawns and leans back into Nadia, then slithers down until the foxgirl's head is resting on the demongirl's lap, her weight allowing little chance to escape. Hitomi flicks one eye up at Nadia, then smiles and snuggles in. Geeze, she's pretty pushy after that talk of freedom.

"Just... until the others are nyaaaaaawn back..."

[fibericon]

And now, there's a sleeping fox girl in Nadia's lap. Okay. Well then.

She has no clue how to handle this situation. Should she ask Mrs. Miller for help? That seems silly. What would her foster mother even do? Okay, that's out. Just sit here like a lump? That seems a bit silly, too. Lullabys are actually terrifying, so let's skip that. She instead attempts to hum a soothing tone while petting the girl's head, probably doing more to distract her than anything else.

[Syless]

He's... really rather noble, isn't he? Vivian thinks quietly for a moment as the car drives. "At the very least, I can try. I'll follow your lead, I'll see what I can do." Around this point the car reaches her home- she picks up her school supplies, creeps around her still-sleeping father, and makes her way back. On the way back, she alternates between small talk and asking questions about his plans. "Do you plan on inviting Nadia and Hitomi? What's going to set your organization apart? Have you spoken to anyone about this yet?" Her questions only stop when they arrive back at the Miller's.

[Volthawk]

When Vivian agrees to join him, he nods, pleased at her decision.
“Excellent. I suppose when we're done at Nadia's I can show you where I am based. It's still small for the purposes of my wider ambition, but for now it'll do.”

Out of her questions, it's the first that gets the most thought. “I'm still not sure about those two. Nadia…Agrat, she has the ability to some degree and she's shown promise when it comes to the will, the desire to help and be heroic, as shown by her actions helping to save Hitomi. However, I'm unsure is she'll want to - she seems like she would prefer a more peaceful life, and her issues and beliefs about her form and powers will likely complicate things. As for Hitomi, I don't think she's a fit at all. Those warding powers she mentioned earlier might be useful for security, so arranging that at times would be a good idea, but asides from that I don't see her involved in this. She's a good person, just, well, not suited for it, as far as I can tell.”

The others are answered more easily. “What sets it apart? Well, for now it'll be the only one of this kind here in the city - that I am aware of, in any case. On a wider level, my vision is something that can not only stand up to the threats of criminal and hostile biodynamics - and more mundane individuals, naturally- but can also leverage the powers and talents it possesses towards other ends. For instance, your medical assistance - imagine how more effective you'll be just at that once we're established and have proper lines of communication and support set up, allowing for you and others with useful gifts to quickly learn about and respond to incidents that need your help.

If you're referring to me talking to other heroes, no. To be honest I was planning on starting this later on, when I was more familiar with the notable biodynamics in the city, but there's no reason to not start early with what's happened. More will come later, as we become aware of them and the time is right. Additionally, I will require some degree of cooperation with the authorities to achieve the full extent of my vision, but I haven't started that process yet.”

When they arrive, Alex looks out the window. “You go ahead, I won't be long behind you, it just takes a little longer for me. ”

[fibericon]

Nadia hears a knock at the door and chortles. And with Hitomi on her lap. Of course. She attempts to maneuver Hitomi off her lap and onto her bed, but the other girl clings to her arm. Whatever. She weighs what, a buck five, tops? Nadia could throw more than that with one hand. Nadia hoists Hitomi up onto her shoulder and stands up.

"Come on. That'll be Vivian. Or Alex. Or both. Or someone else entirely, but that's a lot less likely." She goes to answer the door and grins at Vivian. "Hitomi fell asleep. Come on in!"

[Elfbird]

Hitomi groans and mumbles as she's picked up, but doesn't start to wake up until Nadia is greeting Vivian at the door. These events, however, are excluded from Hitomi's awareness on account of the swishing tail filling her sleepy vision. She reaches toward it - above her? - and...

"Uhn." Bop!

"Ahn." Bop!

"Nnh!" Bop! Swish!
Her own tail starts waking up, swishing Nadia (and Vivian, if she's in range) in the face.

"Nh-nh-nh!" Bop-bop-bop! Swishy-swishy-swishy!

She gets Nadia's tail going enough that the tip flies within reach; she claps it between her palms, smiling with the self-satisfaction that only a child or cat can show (not that anyone's looking at her face), then rubs a non-sharp part against her cheek before letting go. Her arms go limp, worn out now, and her tail falls to a rest on top of Nadia's head.

Hitomi yawns. "Good morning, Nadi-chan; good morning, Vivian," she says between Nadia's thighs.
"...When'd your house turn upside-down, Nadi-chan? Thanks for holding me, or I'd fall on the ceiling."

[Syless]

As Nadia opens the door, Vivian readies to speak, only to start giggling uncontrollably as Hitomi wakes up and starts talking from between Nadia's legs. "I... um... well... hi? Am I interrupting something?" She seriously doesn't know. At this point things are entirely outside her area of expertise, but whatever it is, it's cute. "Should I come back later?"

[fibericon]

Nadia is laughing as well when Hitomi starts playing with her tail, both from the ridiculousness of the whole situation and the fact that it tickles a bit. Then the tail lands on her face and she laughs even harder. Then Vivian snaps her back into reality and she looks down, seeing Hitomi's face. Her eyes go wide, and her neck stiffens.

She carefully places Hitomi back on her feet and quickly turns around, walking off toward the kitchen.

"Heybreakfastshouldbereadynowwhowantsmoretea... or maybe a cold shower... ha ha... ha..."

[Elfbird]

Hitomi stands beside Vivian where she was set, staring after Nadia in bewilderment.

She then turns to Vivian, eyes wide with confusion.

"Was I... too heavy? I hope Nadia didn't hurt herse-- oh! Maybe you could use your power on her, Vivian? I-I'll go apologize!"

The ideas come to Hitomi all at once; she follows her impulses and dashes after Nadia, already bowing when she skids into the kitchen.

"N-Nadia, I'm so sorry! I must have bent your tail too much or strained your back! Vivian can heal you right away, s-so please forgive me, okay?!"

She stays bowed at a right-angle, but lifts her head enough to watch Nadia's reaction with just one eye open. It's either a little cute or pitiable; she clearly missed the point either way.

[Volthawk]

Alex now arrives, coming up behind Vivian in his wheelchair. He only heard a little of what went on and saw nothing, so his curiosity was piqued. “What happened, Vivian? I heard you all laughing, but it seems the other two have gone inside. Should we follow?”

[Syless]

Vivian manages to regain her composure. "Heh, let's go inside. Though I'd hate to interrupt Nadia and Hitomi... they looked like they were enjoying each others' company." This was such a strange group she'd fallen in with so quickly. But it's... nice? There's something different about spending time with other biodynamics. It's like... they really understand, even without anything being said.

[Vrock_Summoner]

Mrs. Miller raises an eyebrow at Nadia. “Nadia, you’re red as a beet. Did you get a sunburn? ... In your room?”

She offers a hand to stop Hitomi’s freakout. “Relax, child. Nadia’s a very strong girl. And she doesn’t seem to be in pain. She’s probably embarrassed about something, as usual.”

[fibericon]

Nadia looks back and forth between Hitomi and Mrs. Miller. There's an attempt at a frown, but it seems pretty obvious that she's trying not to laugh after her foster mother's last comment. She crosses her arms and stomps one hoof with a "hmph!" but only manages a dull thud against the well padded floor.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Hitomi. That was all me."

Which also means she's been completely innocent through all of this. What does that say about me? I'm not ready for this.

"I should collect our other guests."

[Elfbird]

Hitomi stares between Mrs. Miller and Nadia for several long moments, expression shifting through concern to guilt to confusion and, finally, relief and a smile. "...Okay!

She then pokes her head back down the hall, tail wagging under her hakama.

"Everyone, it's okay now! Come have breakfast with uuuuus!"

[Volthawk]

Still not quite sure what happened, Strike puts it to one side and wheels himself into the kitchen, stopping when he sees Mrs. Miller. "Ah, you must be Nadia's mother. I'm Alex, pleased to meet you."

[Vrock_Summoner]

Mrs. Miller beams warmly at Alex, shaking his hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, young man. Though I should correct, I’m her foster mother. Nadia responds... rather poorly to anything that sounds like someone comparing us to her biological parents. Anyway, I’m glad you’re here; you’re just in time for breakfast!”

And with that, Mrs. Miller returns to the kitchen and, with a few minutes of effort, has a plate of food set out for everyone and the ceramic in the center of the table for people to grab seconds from. She sits down at the head and, in a chipper tone, says, “Dig in, everyone!”

[fibericon]

Nadia wasn't actually expecting to be called out on that. Alex was a clever guy, and he'd heard her issues with the foster distinction before.

Was that intentional? And if it was, what was he hoping to gain from it? Or was it just a slip of the tongue?

This group was presenting questions she wasn't prepared to answer.

I'd never compare the Millers to my parents. The Millers are actually... wait... No. My parents are awful. My 'biological' parents. Hmm.

Nadia furrows her brow, considering this.

I do react poorly, don't I, Mrs. Miller? But you won't admit that you deserve better than to be saddled with a monster, so I guess we both have our faults. Though I suppose your only fault is treating me like a person.

Nadia's expression softens, and she sounds a little distant.

"Yeah... sorry if that causes confusion."

[Elfbird]

"People deserve to be called what they want to, right? If it takes a little extra effort... that just shows we care~"

She takes the seat next to Nadia's, says a traditional thank-you for the meal, then digs in like a starving dog.

When she comes up for air, it seems she might explode from happiness. Her body is a volcano full of sparkly rainbows.

"Mmm... Mmm...! Mmm...! yyyyYYYYYUUUUUUM!"

She pants a little and wags her tail, face utterly beaming across the table. Her ears are stretched straight up, struggling to radiate her happiness before the pressure becomes too great.

It's not enough.

The only means of relief left is to lean over and nuzzle her head enthusiastically into Nadia's cheek.
"Your foster mother is an amaaaaazing cook, Nacchan! You're soooo lucky!"

[Syless]

Vivian can't help but laugh as Hitomi goes all-in on her food. She tries her best to stifle it, but it's so cute.

And then the nuzzling. They're a cute couple already. She ships it.

The food really is good, though. She eats enthusiastically, though not quite as ravenously as Hitomi.

"This really is delicious. Mrs. Miller, will you want any help cleaning up after we're all done? It's the least I can do for your hospitality, really."

[fibericon]

Hitomi doesn't seem to approve of Nadia being stuck in a weird place about her family, and yanks her out full force, possibly by the horns. She watches with mild amusement at the other girl's display, but getting nuzzled like that makes her yelp and laugh loudly.

"You! Yes, I know, I'm very lucky. Don't scrape yourself on my horns!"

I also may have just fallen for a girl. Who acts like a puppy. Alright, then.

[Volthawk]

When his mistake is called out, Alex nods. "My apologies. I did not intend to cause offence, I merely saw you as her real mother from what she said about you, regardless of the biological aspect. I'll keep that distinction of terms in mind in the future, Nadia."

That said, he gets started on his food, eating less enthusiastically than the others but still enjoying his meal, looking over at Hitomi's antics but not commenting. He also looks over at Ms. Miller once he finishes. "Yes, I will also help in any way that's needed."

[fibericon]

Nadia opens her mouth to reply, then purses her lips shut.

"Real mother"? What...? Hm.

She looks somewhat confused for a moment, but ends up shaking it off and nudging Hitomi with her forehead. After a bit of prodding the fox girl and giggling, she turns back to Alex.

"So... I'm about to say something really ignorant, and hopefully it doesn't offend you, but... my library is upstairs. We don't really have wheelchair access to that part of the house. What's the proper way to handle this?"

[Volthawk]

Alex shrugs. "The question is not offensive, do not worry. I suppose I will require assistance from one of you. Carrying myself and my chair up there would likely be the simplest way."

[fibericon]

"I can bench more than the combined weight of you and the chair, so... I guess that's on me. Though it won't be nearly as romantic as a certain foxgirl makes it out to be."

Nadia smirks at Hitomi.

Or was she projecting...? No, stop that. Stop it. She's innocent. I'm the one projecting.

Realizing she's staring, she suddenly breaks eye contact with Hitomi and grins at Alex.

[Volthawk]

Alex nods, apparently obvious to Nadia's attention towards Hitomi. "Very well. When we move upstairs, your help would be appreciated."

[Elfbird]

After the meal, Hitomi presses her hands together and bows over her licked-clean plate.
"Thank you for the feast!"

Then she hops out of her chair and makes it halfway through the kitchen before suddenly freezing mid-step.

She looks to the sink.

Then to the stairs down the hall.

Back to the sink.

Back to the stairs.

A petulant frown develops as the back-and-forth progresses, her lips pursing cutely and her ears twitching in the opposite direction of her gaze.

"HnnnnnnNNNNNNnnnnnNNNNNNNnnnnnn..."

She's... going to need help getting out of this.

[fibericon]

Nadia gets up to help Alex, and sees Hitomi struggling with... something.

What is she...? Wait. Oh, I get it. Yeah, Mrs. Miller would never let a guest help with dishes. Alright.

Thinking about the chair for a moment, she goes to look at the stairs, then back at the two people she has to carry.

Boo. It's going to have to be one at a time. Oh well. Hitomi isn't going anywhere.

After pushing Alex's chair to the stairs, she lets him show her where to get a good grip on it to avoid bending anything, then carries him up and leaves him at the top. Swooping back down, she chucks Hitomi over her shoulder without ever touching the floor, and flies them both up.

"And away we go! Need a ride, Vivian?"

[Elfbird]

Once deposited at the top of the stairs, Hitomi wakes as if out of a trance, now freed from her impossible decision.

"Ah, you saved me again, Nadi-ch--" Nadia is already flying back down the stairs to Vivian.

Hitomi smiles brightly at Alex, noticing him nest to her.
"It seems we've both been spirited away, haven't we? I suppose we'll just have to make the best of our new life in study hell! Come on, we can use this room. What kind of homework do you have to do, Alex?"

She leads the way into the library and begins fussing about to make it comfy for four people to sit around a table or on the floor, including some aesthetic rearrangement of the windowsill decorations to improve the view. Her tail swishes in circles.

[Syless]

Vivian giggles when the offer comes. "Sure, if you don't mind. I'd hate to feel left out." Once she's at the top of the stairs, she looks to the others. Once she's in the library, she claims one of the seats Hitomi made, setting her bag down. "So, what work are you all doing?"

[fibericon]

Nadia picks up Vivian somewhat more gracefully, laughing as she flies a third passenger up.

"Alright, studying, yeah. Hmm. I have my..."

She goes over to her desk and stops at a whiteboard, bearing a pentagram and some ancient Aramaic script. Muttering to herself, she turns it over to a show some algebra and grabs some books off her desk. She's not well organized.

"Uh... I have... this."

Her syllabus, however, is. It shows her full daily school work schedule. Clearly, someone else prepared it.

[Volthawk]

Once Nadia has flown him upstairs, Alex wheels himself over to the library and gets down onto one of Hitomi's seats. It is only then that he answers the others' questions.

"I do not have school work. I no longer attend, as my knowledge as an Innate is sufficient to do my job in the business, and I now have more important priorities that are incompatible with a school timetable. However, I will help as I can, and if need be I have projects I could develop further."

[fibericon]

"Huh. That's... pretty cool, I guess. I'm... caught up, for my age, I think. I fell behind a little because we had to move. But now I'm back to... well, I don't really know how this is going to work, to be honest with you. I'm not old enough to get my GED or TASC, and I can't attend school, so... I guess I just sit on my hands until I turn 19? The Millers said I could take college courses without it, though."

Nadia hesitates a moment, looking at her books, then looks back up at Alex.

"What did you mean when you said... that thing about 'real mother regardless of biological aspect'... or something like that?"

[Volthawk]

Alex takes a moment before responding. He wasn't very good in these sorts of situations, but he had butt give it his best.

"Well, I just do not see why your situation with your biological parents should prevent you from calling your foster parent your mother. It is ultimately just a role someone plays in your life, after all, and while it may traditionally be fulfilled by a biological parent, that is not necessary. I suppose I mostly don't follow why you call them 'mother' and 'foster parent' rather than 'biological parent' and 'mother'. From what I have seen, that fits the situation you have better."

[fibericon]

"I... hmm."

Nadia purses her lips shut.

Great. I get to be confused about my sexuality and my family situation all at once. Cool. That just leaves Vivian to impose some existential crisis on me and the group will be complete.

"I need to think about that, I guess."

She takes a seat next to Hitomi and cracks a book open.

[Syless]

Vivian looks around, misinterpreting the air in the room as an awkward one. "So, um, Alex... do you want to mention to them what you told me about? About the chance to do something bigger?"

...she should not have said that, she ruined the mood. "...never mind. I've got some trig, if anyone is any good at that...?"

[Elfbird]

"Wooooow, you're all so smart! I'm a little embarrassed to show my homework now..."

That aside, she pulls a sketchbook and pencil case out of her satchel and starts doing some rough outlines of random objects to warm up. She's not bad, but... not good, either.

[Volthawk]

When Vivian mentions his idea, he nods, a little surprised at it being brought up but willing to talk about it.

"Very well. I won't go into the full speech, but essentially I envision an organisation, made up of those of us who want to work towards the same cause. Something that can oppose the groups who oppose law and justice - Menace, the dynaphobes, existing criminal organisations - and protect those who need it, then go beyond that, making things better for everyone. Something...something more than just individuals doing what they can. It's still something I'm working on, though. Haven't even started recruitment, apart from asking Vivian about it on the way here."

[Elfbird]

As Alex illustrates his vision, Hitomi's eyes light up, her sketchbook forgotten. You can almost see the sparkles radiating off her face.

"Yeah... yeah! Let me do my part to help too! It sounds really good - like the shelter, but bigger and stronger, because we can do things that chromosomally stable people can't! I bet Alex would be into it too..."

That's not Alex you're looking at.

A-ah! But... I can't look away. She saved me. She needs me.

You know what happens to dogs who go after too many bones. Just because you can bark like a human doesn't mean you aren't a b--

Hitomi suddenly stands up, slamming her hands on the table. But when she raises her face, she's grinning with excitement and her tail is wagging inside her hakama. There's a faint hint of fierceness there, as if her energetic cuteness were itself a weapon against something held inside.

"Please let me join! I have organizational and clerical experience from volunteering with the women's shelter downtown, my biodynamism lets me create spiritual barriers that can protect our holdings, I have team-oriented personality with great customer service skills, and if there's fighting I--"

She clamps her jaw shut, narrowly missing her tongue. Her aura of enthusiasm wanes in the course of an awkward silence, until she sits down and looks aside, too sullen and embarrassed to meet anyone's eye.

"I'm... really not much good. Sorry."

It's pretty obvious that Hitomi's hiding something there, and badly.

[fibericon]

Nadia was going to respond without looking up from her work. It would have been really cool and nonchalant, like a proper succubus. But when Hitomi gets way too into it...

"Fighting and running are about all I'm good for. No one wants a demon on their side. But I guess I can... be the red ogre like you said."

[Volthawk]

The strength of Hitomi's response surprises Alex somewhat, since she wasn't someone he was really considering asking. Still, as he thought about it he could see some advantages to the idea.

"Fighting isn't necessarily required, I suppose. The vision involves other tasks, and these barriers of yours would have their uses. I imagine you'd also be good for morale and image too...

If he picked up on Hitomi's secret about fighting, he doesn't press the matter, instead looking at Nadia.

"I was planning on asking you to join when the time came, Nadia. You showed yourself to be a good fit, with a good sense of justice and the will to step in when you need to, when you helped Hitomi, whatever your preoccupation on this demon business." He pauses. "Asking you was actually one of the main reasons I came to find you after you flew off with Hitomi."

[fibericon]

Nadia stands up and puts an arm around Hitomi with a sigh.

"Look, I see how you and Vivian look at me. And I'm not placing any blame. That's how people see me. I'm covered in grotesque mutations, and I'm a demon to boot. If you want me to fight at your side, you have to be okay with that and worse."

She reaches behind her neck and pulls out what almost resembles her own spine. The bone whip shudders and skitters about, seemingly of its own accord.

"There's worse. I can project hell into the world. Nothing I can do is pretty. I honestly don't know if I'm okay with it. Can you really say you are?"

[Elfbird]

Hitomi reflexively nuzzles Nadia's side, enjoying the bones massaging her jaw and temple.

Then she pauses, frowns, and reaches around Nadia's waist, holding her a little tightly. Something about this situation...

"If we're going to work closely together, you need to know... I'm not always this quiet, meek girl either. I try to be, but..."
She swallows and holds Nadia tighter. Her hand trembles and tears pool at the corners of her eyes.

"Sometimes I black out and... and... People and animals... wind up d-dead."

Of course, you're misrepresenting the danger of those incidents so that they'll see you as more of a monster than Nadia...

The risk is there. They have a right to know that the next time they startle me might be their last.

Just like Alex?

That... was different.

...

She takes a shuddering breath to steady herself. Her other hand fingers the heavy pendant hanging under her robes.

"I can control it now, somewhat, but it hasn't been tested completely. Kitsune are rightfully hated in some threads of folklore; you should know whose help you're asking."

[Volthawk]

Alex's first response to the pair is a sigh, before he takes a breath and looks at them.

"Very well. First: Nadia, you're the one with the issue over your appearance. I don't care about the way either of your dynamorphisms make you look, nor these parallels you insist on drawing from mythology."

Second: If I rejected anyone because their powers could be dangerous, I'd have a very small organisation. Of course some people's powers will have dangers to them. Even the technology I use has shown itself to be rather excessive against those without some kind of protection. That just means that training, control, restraint and discipline is required. That is also part of the point of the idea behind the organisation - so we can make sure any accidents won't happen, and so those we take on understand what they can do and what their limits."

"Third: To make it clear, I do understand what you're saying. I just won't react like the fearful idiot you seem to want me to be. I'm still willing to have you in the organisation, providing you're willing you're willing to put in the work that I mentioned, to get control and understanding over what you can do. Ultimately, however, the choice is yours, if you're ready to be more than afraid."

[Elfbird]

Hitomi opens her mouth as if to snap back at Alex, but chokes down her reply. The hurt expression turns into a little pout. She lowered her guard and confessed her darkest secret, and she and Nadia didn't get taken seriously at all...

Of course not. Who would take that cute, airheaded persona seriously?

She takes another deep breath.

"My... the monk who owned the shrine before me, he taught me a method to contain that... other me. He died before my training was complete. I haven't had any episodes since then, but I can't promise that the binding is perfect. It could come out at any time, even if the chance is low. I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have invited you all without warning you. I'll just go now that you know the danger..."

Her voice starts to shake again. She tries to get up, but between Nadia's arm around her and her own arm still locked around Nadia, she can't really get further than an awkward half-sitting position. She doesn't meet anyone's eyes.

[fibericon]

"...Fine. I believe you."

Not being taken seriously is a first for me. Maybe he really does have a plan.

She sheaths the bone whip, and focuses her energy on consoling Hitomi.

"We'll see if either of us can be more than our legend."

[Volthawk]

Alex nods as he listens to Hitomi explain her situation. "Very well. That's a start, and something we can work from. I would still like you to stay, if you are willing."

As he looks at the pair, he finally realises something about their reactions.
He was missing something. Of course he had, he knew this kind of environment wasn't where he was skilled. "There's another thing I want to make clear. I'm not ignoring your concerns or thinking they're not something to take seriously. I am simply not in the business of giving up in the face of obstacles."

[fibericon]

Nadia smiles at this and rests her head against Hitomi's, taking care to not jab her with the horns.

"You're alright, Alex. I'm just iffy about people."

[Elfbird]

Hitomi sighs and leans into Nadia for a moment, her expressions softening into a faint, contented smile. With a couple deep breaths, her usual bright energy is restored.
She moves away from Nadia to fish an embroidery kit out of her bag and lays it on top of her ignored sketchbook.

"If we're gonna be a team of superheroes, we need some kind of badge or emblem! What do you think? Sleeve patches? Baldrics? What are our colors?"

She affixes a fresh piece of cloth to the hoop even as she rapid-fires questions - meant for the group, but mainly directed at Alex. She might be skipping a few steps there; wouldn't it be better to sketch it first...?

I wonder if Alex would want to jo--? ...No, Alex is mine. She doesn't need all these people interfering...

Nadia...?

...--

[fibericon]

As the group is drawn into the design, they go through several ideas each. Some of them are thrown out almost immediately. Some linger a bit longer. Some linger to the very end. At first, they wanted to have a collection of symbols - one representing each member of the team. Alex manages to talk them out of this with the suggestion that there may be more members in the future.

Simple colors end up prevailing, and Hitomi is relieved to hear that Alex intends to have it templated and passed off to manufacturing, rather than making her create each badge by hand. Still, the idea of personalization lingers, and each member selects a symbol that matches their abilities. Nadia suggests a pentagram for herself, given her demonic appearance, but it doesn't take much to see her heart isn't in it. Vivian is quick to point out that wings would be better. Better for Nadia's mental state as well, though she holds her tongue on that bit.

Not a lot of studying got done that day.

[Elfbird]

By the time the long, often-sidetracked discussion is finished, dinner has come and gone and the moon is rising, alone in the sky save for the few planets that can overcome New York's light pollution to keep her company.

Hitomi's satchel is empty, having been thoroughly unpacked and its contents scattered about the Miller house in the course of their use through the day. Crafts, school books, notebooks, miscellaneous lucky trinkets...
She's still shedding a little heavily in this season. She'd be dreadfully embarrassed if she noticed it now. Luckily, she's too tired and comfy for that.

With everything about the badges and Alex's vision for the superteam settled, Hitomi sighs contentedly and lets her excited energy give way to exhaustion. Nonchalantly - yet quite deliberately - she tucks her feet up under her on the chair, leans into Nadia's shoulder, and nuzzles the side of her head into the bone plates there until she settles into a comfy spot. The reddish scratches it leaves don't seem to bother her at all.

Looking across the table at Alex and Vivian through half-lidded eyes, she murmurs to the group as a whole.
"Thank you again for saving me. I'm... almost grateful to that mob, because... I got to meet you all. If I weren't a dynamorph, and there were no dynaphobes... If there were no hatred and mercy in this world... then I never would have experienced something so wonderful... as meeting all of you. So I'm glad. Thank you."

She yawns into a long, relaxed sigh, settling a little more heavily onto Nadia. She lets her eyes rest, but her rate of breathing and the intermittent twitching of her poised ears show she's still involved in the conversation.

[fibericon]

At first, it seems like Nadia might try to dissuade Hitomi from nuzzling like that, but she quickly closes her mouth and lets it happen.

"I'm sure you would have charmed your way into our lives one way or another. I've never been big on the whole... we biodynamics need to stick together' thing. So you guys are really my first friends."

[Volthawk]

Listening to the others talk, Alex feels like he should probably contribute. He was happy about how things were going, and relaxed in the presence of the others, but that doesn't seem to extend to his physical stance.

"I...am not the type to make friends easily either. Particularly after what happened to me, and once I started focusing on the Strike project. Authority, I can handle, but I'm never as sure about things when it comes to these situations. Thank you for handling some of my...blunter aspects."

[fibericon]

Nadia looks over at the clock. It was getting late. Mr. Miller should be home by now.

"I should... I mean, do you all want to stay over? I should check with the Millers first."

[Vrock_Summoner]

Your chatting is interrupted by a beeping sound emanating from Alex’s pocket.

“Strike, come in!” The voice on the line says once the device is retrieved. “We’ve got a situation. The police have been going crazy for the last half hour. Every car’s been getting a different request for backup, and they’ve been scrambling around the city to place after place where nothing at all was happening. We think this may be an anomaly at work; some biodynamic crook is probably messing with their signals to keep the police from showing up at the site of an actual crime. Can you look into it? We aren’t able to isolate the origin of the fake calls from this side, but maybe you could figure something out.”

[Volthawk]

Alex is quiet for a moment as a plan starts to form in his mind. "Very well. I will see what I can do. Can you show me where the police have been sent? " His focus remains on the device, looking at the screen and making the odd comment to the person on the other end, the rest of the group being mostly ignored as he works.

It's only when he feels that he's solved it that he turns to the group. "By charting the areas where the police are not present - areas their requests are keeping them away from - and checking for potential targets in those areas, I think they have been found. It appears that whoever is doing this may be masking a gold robbery. I'll need to go."

He starts moving, but pauses, looking at the girls.
"If any of you wish to help, I would be happy to have you with me out there"

[fibericon]

"Gold heist? Sounds exciting! Hitomi?"

Nadia's tail twitches and sways about at random.

[Elfbird]

Hitomi's ears twitch back and forth as she tries to wake herself up. Finally she lets out an enormous yawn and sits up off of Nadia.

"It's amazing how quickly you figured that out, Alek! Let's go protect everyone's investments!"

[Vrock_Summoner]

Alex - Strike - guides you to a relatively quiet block on the outskirts of city. It isn't late by the area's standards, with a steady number of people moving brusquely down the street towards storefronts or off into the distance, to food and comfort beyond sight. As you continue to follow the street's natural flow, a car stands out to you. There's a shift in the way people walk, their pace and demeanor shifting within a few feet of it. Many turn to cast glances back at it. The car itself is tucked out of view among the tightly packed rows of parallel parked vehicles, an unassuming black Ford. You would have easily overlooked it as an empty vehicle if it weren't for the gleam of a sweaty bald head lit by the glow of a screen within. The man with is intently focused on the radio in hand, periodically looking up further down the street.

A simple white van and moving crew in front of a gold exchange seems to be the only objects worth any attention in that direction. A series of solidly built men work with efficiency, large bags sailing out the second story window and being caught in the waiting arms below to be bundled quickly into the vehicle, among a growing stack of similarly sized bags of the same color - a dull reflective grey mesh highlighted by flashes of metallic tones underneath. The longer you look at the moving crew, the more seems out of place. Hoodies aren't uncommon at all, but these are heavy and obscuring. The men's faces are masked by bandanas, but there's no dirt or dust in this move. And the only people on that section of the road hurry past with their eyes down, often crossing the street to avoid the storefront.

You've found the scene of your crime.

As you're putting together the situation, something new is thrown into the mix. A tanned boy, long black hair pulled back in an impromptu ponytail, swathed in bandages, grey shorts, and a black classic X-box T-shirt sprints out of a nearby alleyway and past you all, towards the "movers". He wears a stiff white mask with no holes for eyes or mouth that ends at his eyebrows, exposing a large, iris-less white eye that dominates his forehead. The black pupil seems disgustingly bare without the ring of color around it. His fingers work rapidly to loosen the bandages in select spots, his exposed flesh peeling back to reveal more eyes, some surprisingly human, others animalistic and cruel. People recoil in disgust as he meets a dozen gazes at once, but he continues undeterred towards the van. Meeting the gaze of one of the eyes gives you a cold feeling in the pit of your stomach. The commotion draws one of the bulky men to look his way --

The situation is escalating. What's your response?

[Volthawk]

Dropping to the ground to let his passenger down, Strike takes a moment to assess the situation. The appearance of the biodynamic gives a slight pause, but he decides to leave the guy alone - he seems to be trying some kind of solo heroics, and Strike isn't about to discourage that (and if he's wrong about the newcomer, that's what his weapon is for). At the least, the thieves were the bigger priority right now.

Charging past the boy, Strike swings at the van with his hammer, striking as hard as he can while he keeps his shield ready for counterattacks. Presuming the impact got their attention, Strike looks at them and speaks, attempting to say his one word message loud enough for the thieves to hear him over whatever sound a van hit very hard with a powerful electrified hammer makes.

"Surrender."

[Hypersmith]

Kotaro continues to run towards the criminals, breathing heavily. Running all the way back home for the mask had been a hassle - he was lucky they were still around. For now, he just needs their attention. From there, he can subdue them and have them tied and placid till police arrive. He catches sight of the flying suit of armor and grinds to a halt, tracking it with a few eyes while the others continue to probe towards the thieves taking up the majority of his attention.

Unfortunately, he doesn't take up much of theirs as the flyer bulldozes into their van and makes a grandiose deceleration... maybe it was best to back off. This guy seemed pretty serious. He feels a moment of eye contact, and leaps upon the opportunity to collect information by peeling away everything hidden behind the gaze. The contact lasts only a moment, but it lays bare... a lot. He shoves down the guilt with the new rush of adrenaline. Alex. A teenager. A crippled teenager who built his own super suit. The rush of information associated with the mechanics of building and flying something like that leaves him reeling for a moment, trying to sort out the useful from the incredibly complex.

He raises his voice, not to be left behind. "There's no need for trouble. Just give up."

A yellowish eye focuses on the ruined Van. That was quite a lot of damage. More than he could do comfortably. It was a good thing this guy was on his side.

[Elfbird]

Hitomi was pretty gung-ho about heroing back in Nadia's library, but now... well, she's not shivering from the cold.
What if they have guns? What if we get in trouble? I-it could even be another biodynamic! V-Vivian can heal us if we get hurt, right? Th-this is all too sudden!

She feels a reassuring squeeze from Nadia, which reminds her to focus on calming her breath. Thinking back to when she was assaulted the other day, she imagines what she would have done if she were rescuing someone else in that situation...

That's right... everyone's working hard, even though they're scared too. I have to do my best too! Something that only I can do...

When Nadia sets her down, Hitomi surveys the crime scene. Door, windows, van, sidewalk, pedestrians, debris...
Her gaze is drawn to the crosswalks at either end of the street. Boundaries. She scampers toward the nearer one first, using the painted lines as a focus for her murmured chant.

No civilians may pass!

She slashes her right hand through the air, following the line of the crosswalk from corner to corner. A faint spiritual pressure confirms that the boundary is established; even if she's trying to be a hero, she's still pretty sure she's not not a civilian, so it'll be just as impossible for her to cross the boundary from this side as it would be for drivers or pedestrians to cross from the other side...

[fibericon]

Nadia lands, depositing Hitomi carefully before approaching the robbers. Pulling the bone whip from her back, she offers an unsettling giggle. Dissonant whispers surround her person.

"Bow down before the visage of terror, or learn why you should have."

[Vrock_Summoner]

Most of the loading men immediately put up their hands in a show of surrender, the lot of them terrified by the incredible displays of strength and terror from the heroes.

“Oh, to hell with this!” The man in the driver’s seat shouts, and next thing any of you know the heavily damaged van is flooring it in reverse, moving away from Strike... and directly towards Nadia. Despite its rapid acceleration, she would still have time to get out of the way, if only narrowly. However, there are stunned and terrified civilians in the van’s path as well, so instead she braces to try and stop the van’s movement.

The van may not have had the distance to accelerate to a particularly impressive speed in vehicular terms, but a couple tons of metal at 20 mph is rather more conspicuous at the scale of a human, mutant or otherwise. Nadia attempts to catch the van with her hands and her arms immediately give out under the immense pressure, as the van slams into her and she finds herself pushing against it with her whole body. Any normal human would have crumpled further and tumbled under the car with nary a change to its speed, but Nadia’s feet dig into the asphalt of the road and tear two lines through it as she’s pushed back towards the civilians.

The impact leaves her head ringing - gonna puke - pop goes one of her ankles, with another spike of pain - bones creaking, about to break - she roars, pushing harder - seeing red - smelling blood and burning - burning? - burning rubber.

Reality comes back into focus.

Nadia’s body has pushed its way into and through the back part of the van, shredding and totaling the machinery on the bottom of the car and putting the finishing touches on Strike’s wreckage of the cargo area. The van clearly no longer functions, and it seems like the driver doesn’t either - the whiplash of his van being suddenly stopped has apparently left him unconscious or incapacitated.

A few of the more quick-thinking men took advantage of the dramatic distraction to make a break for it on foot, only to find themselves coming to a sudden stop at the crosswalk. It’s as if they physically can’t proceed, yet nothing appears to be there to stop them. Distraught at the possibility of running back towards their biodynamic menaces to try the other way down the street, they soon surrender as well. It seems all is over down here.

Strike and Kotaro notice something, however - Kotaro through his many wandering eyes, and Strike via his powerful sensor array. It’s an old medieval knight’s helmet peeking out of the window, ostensibly surveying the goings-on down below, but something is very strange - it doesn’t appear the helmet’s visor has any slits. So by all accounts, whoever is looking out shouldn’t be able to see. You don’t have time to notice or think of anything else, though, for the head ducks back almost the same second you notice it.

[Hypersmith]

Kotaro grimaces at the horrible array of sound that comes from Nadia physically holding back a van. The sounds of buckling metal and grinding asphalt were not ones he wanted to associate with bones and skin. He turns to face her, though he continues to eye the window behind him as he does so, taking note of the helmet and deciding the smoothest course of action would be to appear to be one of the group.

"Agrat-"

I should not have said that.

...Can't back down now.

"- uh - are you okay?"

He grapples for a moment with himself as he makes eye contact with one of the fleeing criminals. Get him to go upstairs, make sure everything was well. It would minimize casualties and provide good info. He feels the moment of eye contact begin to slip, and attempts to push through - too little too late. His focus shifts back to the surroundings.

"There's more upstairs. Be careful."
He could do more. He just needed a little space. He didn't want to go up there blind with something that didn't have eyes - that would mean using the voices. The organs practically hum in anticipation.

[Syless]

A flurry of panic runs through Medicus' head as she sees Nadia get injured. She'd been keeping back during the fight- the others handled it fast enough that her netgun would have been useless- but now she needed to act, before anything serious happened.

She rushes out of the alleyway she'd been staying in and places her hands on Nadia, beginning her visualization. Threads coming from her hands, winding through Nadia, reinforcing her being. There was no such actual image, but the visualization helped her focus, helped her make it work. Once she'd pumped her full power into Nadia, she slumps over, hoping it worked after the failure the night before.

"C'mon, c'mon, get up... Agrat, you'd better not be immune to my powers too..."

[fibericon]

Nadia slumps, her body propped up by the jagged, twisted metal. Blood and brake fluid mix together and pool at her hooves to form a viscous, sickly candy red. Cracked bone plating, dislocated joints, concussion.

Agrat is not okay.

My wings didn't get hit. I can still...

Then Medicus steps in.

Nadia pushes the van away. Civilians. New guy. Time to put on the act. She looks through her brow at Kotaro for a moment with a sly smile, then replies in an attempt at a sultry tone.

"You're too sweet, Medicus. Think they've had enough?"

[Volthawk]

Strike smiles as he sees Agrat's heroism, Medicus' aid and Hitomi's barriers at work - he was already happy with his choice of allies, and this just showed that despite their doubts, they were up to it. The newcomer still seemed friendly, but he still wasn't sure there - the mention of Agrat's name (or more accurately, one of her names) had not escaped his notice.

"Good work. We are not done, though. He is right, however." Strike turns to look at Kotaro, still trying to judge him. "There is at least one more upstairs. Some kind of biodynamic, I think, or at the least using innate-created technology. Looks like a knight, with no visible ways of seeing - hence either powers or hidden sensors. He is aware of us, so we need to act now, and quickly. Can you still fight, Agrat?"

[fibericon]

"Mmm, I haven't even started. All the armor in the world doesn't stop someone like me from reaching into your head and pulling out your most intimate fear. And knights fall all the time."

I really hope someone's falling for this. It would be horrible if I looked as stupid as I felt.

"Shall we fly the others up?"

[Hypersmith]

Kotaro is glad the mask conceals his expressions from Nadia. It was kinda cringy, but he took her talk seriously anyway - he dedicates an eye to tracking her movements, just in case she was another mind reader.

"Fly me up there first. This power is a little harder to use around too many folk."

[fibericon]

"As you wish..."

Nadia hooks her hands under Kotaro's arms and flies up.

[fibericon]

Nadia looks up at the building, thinking for a bit.

"I think a deal with the devil is in order. They know they won't make it out of here. Perhaps I can deceive them into following me... directly into a trap? If the stated price is high enough, they just might believe me. And I'm sure they'll pay it. After all, how highly do you think thieves value their souls?"

[Volthawk]

Reluctant to go through the window into the unknown, Strike first takes flight, keeping his distance as he uses his sensors to get an idea of the situation. Two enemies, only one of which seemed to have the right mindset to be a threat - particularly as they were likely to be the suspected biodynamic. This was manageable.

Returning to the others, Strike listens to Nadia's suggestion and nods, thinking. "There are two of them up there - I suspect the person in the helmet and one other. The other person appears panicked, so they should not be an issue to convince, although I cannot be sure that they are not a threat - both appear to fall in the age range that means they are possible biodynamics, and there is still the possibility of more Innate technology. However, they seem ready to attack as soon as someone enters through the window, which may cause an issue. Perhaps if I keep presenting a threat here, you could try to go in from inside - the element of surprise might make them more complaint, or if you deem it better you can just use it to attack. In any case, Hitomi, whatever our exact plan you will have to keep using your barriers - there may be other exits they'll try, and if possible I would prefer that they fail. Medicus, I can see both you staying here or you going with Nadia working well - my role here might lead to injury if they respond particularly well, but Nadia might find herself in a close quarters battle if her social solution fails, and in that case your weapon might be a useful aid as well as your powers. I shall leave that call to you and Nadia."

[fibericon]

Nadia looks over at Medicus, and after a nod from the other girl, hooks her hands under the medic's arms and spreads her wings.

"Once we get inside, stay behind me. I'll try to talk them down first."