Interludes (NO COMMENT POSTS PLEASE)

[Storm Scream]

Ok...so this all happened in game, I fixed it up to make it in story form, because I feel everyone deserved to see this masterpiece. Also, I left in OOC comments (they are in bold and blue) so that you get the full experience. Enjoy!

“Hmmm...hot tubs make my mascara run. I was kinda hoping someone was in need of my electrifying personality.”

Jessica tilted her head a little, her hand coming down from her ear. She had just put her earpiece in place and turned on the device when Franky’s voice came in loud and clear. She smiled a little, then pushed the button on the side of the comm to activate it. “Howdy y'all!”

“Hey Jessss” came a hiss on the comm.

Jessica shuddered at the snake sound, and slapped the button on her comm. “Ahh!! Val!! Stop that!!” A few more “Hey Jess” and “Hello”’s came through. There was a small chuckle from a boy before Val spoke on her end.

“Sorry. I get excited.”

Jessica giggled at her friend. The day had been going poorly, but hearing that SOMEONE was excited to hear from her brought a smile to the blue girl’s face.

“Hey Val...start singing 'Trust in me' from the Jungle Book.” Sean. Not funny…

Jessica was walking through Atlas Park. The statue of Atlas gleamed brilliantly in the setting sunlight.

Franky came back on the comm. “I take that as a no. No one needs assistance? Eventually I'll just start having Val repeat ‘She sells seashells by the seashore’ over and over.” Jessica rolled her eyes.

“Jess, want to come join me at the hot tub?” Val asked, then hurriedly added an indignant, “Hey!” to Franky. The same unknown boy came over the comm., laughing.

“Hot tub? umm...I won't get in...”

“Awww.”

“Sorry, Val, just...not today...”

“That's cool. Everything alright?”

Jessica thought for a moment, her eyes glancing quickly to her right shoulder. She quickly shook her head before pressing the button to respond with a fast “Yeah!” to her friend.

“OK, good.”

There was a few minutes of silence. Jessica was strolling down the street, looking into shop windows at shoes or purses. A few Hellions ran as she walked closer, even though she hadn’t really noticed them or cared that they were casing a store.

“Huh, ok. Well, it looks like Levantera and Borea are starting a pick-up D&D game. I'll catch you guys later.”

Jessica stopped for a second, gazing into the window as if she could see Franky on the other end as she spoke. Confusion washed over her face.

“...D&D?” Sean and the other boy echoed Jessica’s question.

“Yeah....Dungeons and Dragons? Oldest roleplaying game in the galaxy?”

The unknown voice spoke up. “Yeah, I know what it is. People play that here?” It was Dusan.

Sean piped in, excitedly. “You mean I'm not the only gamer geek here?”

Val, however, seemed to clue in on Jessica’s feelings on the subject, because she practically spoke right over her as she snorted. “Alrighty, have fun Franky!”

“Oh wow...umm, y'all have fun then”

“Totally...what else do you do on a quiet night in the Rikti War Zone...oh, man...I'm totally gonna play my barbarian halfling!”

Halfling? “....Riiiight...”

“Awesome! Who else do you play with, Franky? Is there a regular group?”

"Oh sure, Grav. Levantera usually has this Dragonlance thing she does when the Rikti aren't trying to blow up the building.”

“Oh lord...there's more of them...quick Val, run away!” Jessica sighed, and turned to keep walking down the street.

“I've played it a little, I'll admit. Couldn't find a regular group, though.”

Val interrupted Dusan. “You guys lost me.” Then she added, “My old boyfriend used to play this...”

Sean continued, excitement noticibly rising in his voice. “Man, I would love to get in or run some games. I've been building dungeon maps around the layouts of the Circle of Thorns ruins…”

Franky sighed on her end. “Nothing like a good, mindless, game of D&D or Hackmaster won't fix.”

“Ookay.”

Jessica rolled her eyes, and without thinking turned her comm. on so that she would be constantly heard. “Uggh...freakin role-players...'let's play a game where we act like total idiots, I mean like people we're not...’”

“Sweet Grav, I'll see about getting some character sheets for you.” Franky gave short gasp, then came back on the channel. “Hey now! Roleplayers just get a bad rap!”

QueenCobra: ((HAHAHA))

“As long as y'all don't start HARPin, or CARPin....or whatever it is, y'know, the people that do it ALL the time…”

“What cross over material do you allow?”

QueenCobra: ((I love you so much Jess))
Storm Scream: [sorry, I just had to, lol]
Francis Cross: (No worries, heh....trust me, poking at the fourth wall amuses the hell out of me)

Franky sounded annoyed. “That's LARPing...thank you.”

“Oh, sorry...MY BAD...”

“Is that when the fat guys run around with plastic swords?”

“Yes, Val.” Jessica stopped walking as she caught the gaze of a few passer-bys who had overheard the conversation.

“And LARPing is fine as long as it doesn't involve Vampires...” Sean seemed equally annoyed.

Franky sighed, then answered Sean. “They're usually working off version 3.5…”

“Wait wait wait...they have different VERSIONS of this stuff?”

“…I think anything currently published works, Grav but I'm not totally sure.”

“Cool. I have the Birthright and Spelljammer semi-official rules for 3.5.”

“Oh sure. You should check out the Vampire game they're running in Croatoa these days.”

Jessica had stopped walking now, her hand pressed against her earpiece so that she could hear what was being said, her eyes wide and her mouth open in disbelief. “Holy crap...are you guys even talking in english anymore?”

A new voice pierced the airwaves at that moment, almost drowned out by Franky and Sean’s talk of Vampires. It was Rudi. “Hiya everyone.”

“Run away, Rudi!!”

Jessica’s outburst seemed to be heard, as a chorus of voices greeted Rudi at once, causing Jessica to wince at the volume of the noise.

“Umm... why should I be running, Jess?”

Franky didn’t skip a beat. “Well, once they killed off Masquerade it lost alot.”

“I liked Werewolf better anyhow…”

“Rudi, they're talking about CARPing and Vampires and version 3.5 and character sheets and barbarian hobbits....”

“Halflings...”

“Same difference...”

“Hobbits? Like in those movies?”

Franky ignored Rudi. “Dude...Werewolf was such an adolescent power trip. Changeling was so much better.”

“There, you hear that, Rudi? THAT’S what they’re talking about!”

“I can't say I'm a fan of warwolves myself.”

“See? Rudi agrees.” Jessica groaned at Franky.

“It was okay. Mage was the best one of the series, IMO…”

Jessica shook her head after Sean stopped talking. IMO…did he really just say IMO? “‘IMO?’ What’s THAT mean?”

Dusan spoke up. “’In my opinion…’?”

“Then why didn’t he just…oh, nevermind…” Jessica shook her head and started walking again, casually glancing sideways into a window of a shop here and there. “Y’all are crazy…”

“Pffff…don’t knock it till you try it.”

“Sounds like they're talking movies to me. Like, Underworld and Lord of the Rings.”

“Exactly Rudi...except....without a script.”

Jessica laughed a little, causing a few people to turn and stare again. Her face flushed, turning a deep purple as the blood rushed to her cheeks.

“Sometimes I think they shot the second Underworld movie without a script.”

“I second that motion, Rudi.”

Sean spoke up after a bit of silence. “Hey, if you guys think that role-playing games are lame, you can always explain it to Vin Diesel. Or Curt Schilling. Or Mr. T...”

Nennya’s voice came in loud and clear in a bad impersonation of Mr. T. “I pity the fool who hates roleplaying games.”

“Nothing better than a late night RP game, with good friends, and more pizza than you can remember to eat.” Franky let out a very happy sigh.

“Didn't Mr. T do a WoW commercial?”

“Is there one going on? Can I be a half-elf?” Nennya asked. Jessica shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“Hey Persi!”

“Hi, Franky.”

“...roleplaying games are for fat geeks with no lives, no girlfriends, who live out of their parent's basements...”

“Oh! You're talking about Role Playing games!” Rudi had finally clued in on the conversation.

“Hey...I'm a girl! and I live at a boarding school!” Jessica groaned, smacking her hand to her forehead.

“You know, I should start up a Cyberpunk game and blow their minds about what a role-playing game is.”

“C'mon Persi...join the geek side.”

Rudi spoke up, continuing her thought. “I knew a bunch of kids back home who played those. They all lived in their parent's basements. Of course, that's cause they were all 14.”

“Okay. Where are we meeting” Nennya asked.

“No Persi! Go towards the light!!”

“Persi, I'm trying to show them the light; the joys of role playing games.”

“My mother writes comic books. This makes me an official ‘nerd.’”

Sean chuckled. “Yes, the might of Arasaka will rise like the phoenix from the ashes....”

“I like comics...” Val suddenly spoke up. Jessica blinked, forgetting she was still on the channel. “I just don’t get roleplaying as a comic book person.”

Franky made her voice sound spooky. “See!?! Roleplayers are everywhere…”

“It's like the Twilight Zone!”

“Seriously, Persi? Which one?”

“Oh my gosh...” The comm. was suddenly filled with the chatter of elves and Halflings and dice rolling and plus-ten-to-hits and character sheets…it was almost more than Jessica could stand.

“Sorry, Jess. I like reading.”

“We practically LIVE in a comic book...why would you want to pretend that you live in a world you already live in?”

Nennya giggled. “I want to roleplay being a nerd who likes math and works at a convenience store.”

“I'd say escapism, but that doesn't make much sense.”

“Because it doesn't involve physical pain?”

“That's why I play D&D...I'm telling you, my halfling barbarian is kick ass.”

Jessica tilted her head forward and made her voice deeper. “’Hey guys, I have an idea! Let's play a game and pretend we're all super heroes!’”

“…plus-ten roll for changing register tape!”

Franky scoffed. “Man...no one wants to play super heroes. They're boring. That would be like playing a game called ‘Human: The Protagonist.’”

“Yeah, might as well play a game where I pretend to be my dad” agreed Rudi.

“Super heroes are boring? Since when?”

“…but a barbarian hobbit is THAT much more exciting? I swear I about stepped on one earlier today…”

“Halfling...” Franky corrected again.

“I like being a ssssooper-hero.” Jessica shuddered.

“Yeah, 'being' one...not 'playing' one. That would be lame.”

Storm Scream: [lmao...this is great]

Sean was quick in his defense. “No way, Frankie. Try Underground. Psychotic, stress-traumaed superhuman soldiers toting around 40mm rifles in post-appocalyptic LA.”

Francis Cross: (No seriously, this rules)

“Grav! That sounds awesome!”

Storm Scream: [totally chat logging this and posting it!]
Dusan Revenent: ((Indeed, I'm cracking up. ))

“…biggest gun they have in the game is a 75mm man-portable howitzer.”

“I've been really been into independent games lately, though.”

“Sean, I saw that at 2 pm! Today, two blocks down from the school!”

No one seemed to hear her. Dusan spoke up. “Sweet. What's it called, again?”

“Holy crap y'all!”

“Y'all indeed” came a biting, almost sour voice over the comm. Scarlett…great…

“…and the artwork for the game was done by Peter Cheung and Geoff Darrow…”

“'Sup, kiddies.”

“Hiya Scarlett.”

Jessica groaned, then chimed in with the rest of the voices. “Hi Scarlett...”

Persiflage: (goth alert! goooooth alert!)

“What's this Jess? You're not happy to see me?” ((PS not a goth))

“Absolutely THRILLED to see you, roomie,” Jessica replied, sarcasm and disdain dripping from every word.

“…I'm telling you Val. One game of D&D and you'd be hooked!”

Francis Cross: (Goth would be me )

“My old boyfriend tried to get me into that. Sssooo lame.”

“It's cool if you don't like it Val…”

“Gah....c'mon SJS...where's the geek cred!”

“Gabba-gabba, Franky”

“Yeah, I know Yuki's GREAT company and all...” Jessica just ignored Scarlett. She wasn’t about to get into a tangle with her…not now, not after the day she had had, and certainly not over the comm. channel.

“Huh?”

“Don't make me drag my old Ars Magica books out!”

“Pew Pew Pew!” Dusan laughed at Val’s sound effects.

Rudi MacKenzie: (( Okay, now I'm afraid ))

“Aren't you alread a witch or something, Franky?”

“Ha! Complete collection of 1st Edition AD&D, WITH the Cthulhu Mythos Monster Manual!” exclaimed Sean.

“Yeah? What does that have to do with roleplaying?”

“...y'all are crazy...”

Scarlett snorted mid-giggle.

“Besides, the nuns can't tell the difference between my magic books and my RP books....it rules.”

“Heh heh, nice.”

Jessica just shook her head, laughing a little. I can’t believe this…I thought this city couldn’t get any weirder…

[Stasis Kiss]

The pounding in her head just wouldn't go away, no matter how hard she pulled the pillow over her ears.

In the thumping darkness she groaned under her breath. Bad enough she'd picked up a cold but did the entire floor have to pick today to hammer stuff into the walls too? She'd chased off Erika earlier but the rest of the dorm was proving to be a tougher sell. Her entire face felt like it wanted to slide off from sinus pressure. She tried to breathe as shallowly as possible through the little hole she'd left to the outside world.

"Sta-sis..."

She breathed some more. Colds sucked. Colds really really sucked. They should be outlawed, she decided. When she got better she'd take up a petition. Everybody would sign it, she'd make sure.

"Staaaaa-sis. I know you're in there. I have something for you."

Huh? She tried to figure out if it was worth crawling out to find out what was going on. Before she could make up her mind the pillow was removed uncermoniously. She grabbed after it, way too slow. She squinted up and groaned out loud this time, confronted by the smiling, way too cheerful face of Nova Daystar. She hadn't even heard him knock.

"Go away. I don't like you anymore."

The grin only got bigger. "I heard you weren't feeling well. You're not feeling well, are you?"

"No. Pillow. Now." She made another grab for it but he held it out of reach.

"I brought you something to make you feel better. It'll help, I promise."

She tried glaring but ended up just squinting her eyes harder, causing the headache to try to crawl out her ears in retaliation. "That's what you always say when you come up with these things. They never do, dayball, trust me."

He affected a hurt look but she was too sick to notice that it reached his eyes as well. She buried her face in the bed again, giving up on the pillow. After a minute she felt his weight settle gingerly next to her. A moment later a tentative hand rubbed between her shoulderblades. She felt lousy enough that she didn't even protest.

He was silent for what seemed like a long time. With her eyes closed, she pretended she was anybody else, preferentially somebody without a cold. She was right in the middle of trying to figure out if she wanted to be Errol Flynn or Indiana Jones when Nova spoke again.

"How's that?"

Weirdly enough, as soon as he said it, she realised did feel better. Not ready to jump off the bed and take on a charging lion maybe, but definitely better enough that she didn't feel like chopping her own head off. She looked up. "Did you just whammy me?" She tried to sound indignant. Instead it came out sort of hopeful.

"Only a little bit! Don't be mad."

She sniffled and started to cough. "...not mad. I feel too lousy to manage mad."

The relief in Nova's voice was obvious. "Great. I brought you something when I heard you were sick." He reached down out of sight and his hand reappeared with a plate, saran wrapped so much she couldn't see what was on it. "This ought to help. I got the recipe from the internet."

"R... recipe? Oh holy, Nova. No. I think you're great but I don't want to die of internal poisoning trying to avoid a dumb cold."

"Sta-sis!" She winced and his voice lowered. "Stas, really. It's supposed to help you feel better."

This time she looked at him, really looked. His blue eyes were honest but wary, like he really did expect she'd snap his head off for bringing her a present. She groaned. She'd seen that look on Jai too and she never wanted to see it again for the rest of her life. She cursed herself and struggled to a sitting position. She blinked, eyes wanting to water with pressure. "Sorry, Nova. Stupid cold. Makes me real grumpy." It was half an apology but his answering smile was enough to make it worth it. He shifted, spreading his wings a little to make more room. "What is it?"

"Cookies!" With a flourish he uncovered the plate and she was left staring at a mound of orange shapes. Many cute little orange shapes. She poked one gently. "I made them with a whole bag of oranges. I even put the zest in. There's a lot of vitamin C in oranges, you know."

"I know." She laughed a little and immediately regretted it. They were so violently orange they looked like refugees from last Halloween. She picked one up and found herself admiring a perfectly pointed star. "This must have taken forever." Sitting up might not have been a great idea. She sniffled as softly as possible, trying to sound like a lady and not a whuffling bear.

"Nah, not really. Go on, try it." He lowered his head and scooted a bit closer, the warmth impacting her side. His wings stayed scrupulously out of the way. She nibbled a star point cautiously.

"Hey, s'pretty good!" The surprise in her voice was obvious. He laughed.

"I told you. I got the recipe from the internet. Only I added a lot more orange juice and that meant more flour and then I had to adjust the rising agent...." Her eyes started to cross and she sniffled again, losing the rest of it. She nibbled the cookie and nodded some more. Before she knew it, it was gone and she'd picked up another.

She eyed the remaining mound on the plate. He'd baked enough for five of her. She thought as fast as possible, which wasn't all that fast in her condition. "Heyla. You should have some too," she blurted out.

"Huh? They're for you so you get better faster."

"You're right here. You could get sick too because I'm full of germs. So you should have a bunch of orange juice too. You know, just in case." She sniffled to make her point and hastily swallowed a sneeze. Nothing more attractive than sneezing over somebody. She ended up giving herself a coughing fit instead for the trouble. This time her eyes did water and she scrubbed them.

"Are you sure? I made them for you, and I don't know how much... " He trailed off as she interrupted.

"Trust me, dayball. You baked an entire Florida harvest into these things. I'm sure I won't miss a couple."

"If you're sure."

"Totally." She took a bite of her new cookie and chewed. They really were pretty good. His smile at her expression spread across his whole face and she felt better just for that. It was like the entire room got a little lighter just for having him in it.

"Okay. If it makes you feel better, I'll have a cookie too. I sure don't want to get sick either." He made a face at her and she laughed and regretted that too, but not as much as before.

It felt nice to help him pick out the cookie with the most obvious amount of orange in it. They spread out the choices on the bedspread and while her face still felt like it was falling off, it felt good to have company.

It was awfully nice to have somebody care.

[Nova]

It was the one piece of technology he seemed to enjoy, really enjoy. In truth he watched it like others would watch a TV. "Welcome, The Paragon City Community Information services provides and up to the minute..."

He advanced to the next page, having read it many times before. Everything was on here, the events that didn't make the news, all logged so that if the public wished to know they could. Rebuilding efforts, problems, arena standings, who stopped what, anything that could help keep the city safe, it was like a guide to Paragon, in a way.

His fingers moved over the slightly worn keys, entering his hero ID name, his own name, and the number etched across the bottom of his card. A new section came up as he scrolled the small arrow to the "Log In" button. Arena standings for heroes, nemeses, victors, punisher's, all sorts of Faceless names with numbers beside them. His mind traveled back, remembering as they stood in Atlas park, he and Stasis, after spending the past few hours taking the fight to the Rikti. He was sure, her name would have been there, they must have taken out a hundred, no maybe two. But it wasn't there, real heroes who dedicate their life to keeping the city safe. They were always higher. In truth he just wanted to see her name there, it didn't have to be on top of the list, he just wanted her to know... so many things.

Ichis, Sword of Sorrow, King Comet, they were names in the Arena section. He had remembered watching some matches, they were so fast paced, some were over in seconds, to be on the list had to mean something to them, to be some of the best. Victors of Independence Port, the names of the heroes who had spent the most time during the previous twenty four hours keeping the streets in this part of the city safe. Nemeses the people who dedicated themselves to one criminal faction in the city. His eyes quickly looked for the group, the group that mattered. Not family, small time, not outcasts skulls or hellions, who he fought. He helped, but the Rikti were a bigger threat. He scrolled up the list of names, the top of the list caused his eyes to widen. "No way" He said aloud to no in in particular. He had to rub his eyes again "Nova Darkstar" - 881 That as just short of nine hundred, close to one thousand, in one day! His mind boggled some more and all he could do is click on his comm to her.

"Stasi.. remember those terminals I showed you..."

It was the last thing he said to her, but a day later she stood there with a sly smile on her face having revealed her favorite colors. Nova stumbled over his words.

"I... um.. guess if you.. if you wanted you could meet him?"

He made a mental note "Don't bring him up again" Irrational fears were funny that way.

------

[QueenCobra]

Valerie Vanessa Bower felt strange as she sat on a sofa looking at all the happy couples dancing. Sure, she was dancing with Kali and Kalie earlier, but they split because their dates weren't there, and then she was dancing with Io, but he inched away from her more and more.

Stasi wouldn't budge, she's over there refusing to dance.

Seems like Sean and Kiery finally came out of their respective shells, they were dancing the night away and loving it.

Then there was Miguel, who Val had JUST rejected, looking happy with some pretty new girl.

It seemed that as she looked around the dance, she saw everyone having a great time, which only added to her grief. Why, oh why, couldn't she get a date?! The scene was practically mocking her.

On top of that, when she looked towards the entrance, she saw Garrison Pierce and Erika Raeder walk in, hand in hand. She sighed, and looked at Garry. He was looking handsome in his suit, and no wonder he was taking her.

She was beautiful. Dressed in all white, Erika looked like a freakin' supermodel.

Val looked down at herself. She was wearing her own crappy home-made blue dress, with her scales poking out from under her dress, and her mother's necklace and gloves were on her.

No wonder I couldn't get a date, she thought.

She looked away to the rest of the dancers. Nova was still trying to get Stasi to dance, but failing miserably. Alex was dodging all the dancers and rotating between Mieri, Joni, and Jake, talking. The other Alex was just trying to dance with a girl.

She saw Mimi for the first time in weeks, and waved to her.

Valerie sighed, and got up to get a drink.

As she approached the bar, she could hear Kat's voice.

"The winner of best dressed girl was a three-way tie... When I call your name, please come over to me."

Val looked over hopefully.

Well, a lot of people said I looked nice tonight... maybe I could've made it?,she thought.

"...Brianna, Erika, and Alex, please meet me up here! Congratulations!", Kat finished.

Val sighed, finished her drink and began to leave quietly.

As she left, Miguel quickly ran over to her and called for her to stop.

He spoke quietly.

"Hey, Val I just wanted to thank you before you left. You told me to believe in myself, and I was able to get a date because of it."

Val smiled brightly, and nodded. "No problem. Hey, get back to your date! She looks restless. Have some fun."

So then Val left with a grin, to go change out of this uncomfortable dress.

Hot tubs, here I come.

[Alter Mage]

“Why the hell did I agree to this?” the shape shifter mumbled, holding the cake he had conjured in front of him. For the first time in a great while, Miles was in a good mood. Apparently Stasis had remembered him “resetting” a cake for someone’s birthday some time back and had asked him to make one again.

“Screw it, it’s just a cake.” he thought, making his way towards the girls dorm.

He made it to her door and set he cake down. Miles then noticed that he’d forgotten to write the note on top of it, he extended his index finger and put it close to his mouth. “Zacharono, kerasi.” he said before blowing a shallow breath onto his fingertip. The chimera kneeled down and hovered his finger over the cake as a steady stream of frosting oozed out of it, spelling out “To Stasis, Nobody Else Touch or Die.” over the cherry frosting he’d topped the cake with.

Miles then reached in his pocket and removed a Polaroid photo of him eating a piece of test cake for assurance that this one wouldn’t kill anyone who ate it. He scribbled a note of the back of it saying “You’ll be fine.” and set it next to the door.

He walked out of the dorm into the quad shaking his head, “Sometimes I’m just too nice.”

[Mercy Strike]

This time when she poked her nose into her new dorm, it was empty. Aura breathed a sigh of relief and push-kicked the bag on the floor through the door, struggling with the box in her arms. The last of her stuff might have taken some explaining.

What's the big deal? Just tell them your mom made you do it.

"Mercy, that's not fair. You can't blame my mom for everything."

Sure I can. Mercy obviously wasn't interested in being understanding today. It's worked so far. Where you gonna put it all anyways?

"Uh... under the bed?" Aura hooked a foot into one of the trailing loops of the bag and started to shuffle in that direction. "It'll be safe enough there and it's not like I'm going to need it all the time anyways."

Don't tell your mom that. What are you gonna do when she asks? The tone was half smug, half curious. Lying's bad, you know. Your karma will take a dive to the basement.

"Oh, it will not. You're exaggerating again." Aura shoved the bag under the bed with her toes, ignoring the crunching sounds. "My karma can handle a little white lie to my mom so she doesn't Vesuvius on me. And I'll use it. Just... not that often." She dropped the box on the bed, bouncing it a little. Aura stretched then, trying to work out the kinks. The stuff wasn't that heavy but getting it over here on the bus hadn't been fun. She found herself wishing wistfully that she just could have flown over.

Uh huh. Well, your mom doesn't talk to me anyways so it's not like I'm going to rat you out. Spooky demon here, remember. Aura could feel the whisper that was Mercy fading and then returning again as her attention refocused. What do you think of our new roommates?

"Oh, wow! Are you kidding me? I think Sam is *great*! She says hi to me all the time, just like we're friends and she doesn't seem stuck up or anything. I haven't met Joni yet but I bet she's just as nice."

Joni's the one in the contraption? Mercy looked at it, Aura automatically turning her head towards at the weird machine taking up what felt like half the quad. There was a feeling of more understanding than Aura personally had.

"Yes, that's her. I think she needs it to keep warm. You know, because she's cold all the time."

You know, you really ought to bring your mom here sometime, Aura. I bet once she sees stuff like this, she'll stop ragging on both of us. The mind-voice was quiet, without a trace of the usual sarcasm. She needs to join the real world instead of wanting you to be in hers all the time.

Aura sighed, turning back to rummage around in the box, shoving her clothes around. "She wants what's good for me. That's what moms do." Her fingers found the velvet pouch by touch, pulling it out. "And besides, I know you're not a demon and you know you're not a demon, so what does it matter what my mom thinks? It's not like she can force us apart or anything." The small girl spilled the contents out on the bed, turning over the lumps with a forefinger. The toilet paper that wrapped each stone in a little insulated barrier didn't disguise what was in the center of each white cloud. Aura could have probably sorted this set of wards just by passing her hand over them.

Aura nibbled her lower lip, thinking.

I still think you should have your mom visit this place. She might learn something once her brain clears out from incense saturation.

"Mercy, stop it okay? Maybe. I'll think about it. After we get settled in."

Her fingers moved, selecting without conscious effort. She unwrapped each stone, blowing on the surface to flick off the fuzz. Blue quartz went to the north corner of the bed, a yellow citrine to the east. An large uneven piece of tiger's eye ended up on the west side and a flawed sliver of lapis lazuli rested at the south. She pushed each piece down, wedging it between the mattress and the bed frame. Finally she put a piece of clear purple amethyst on her headboard, rolling it between her fingers, liking the facets of this one. It was one of the few finished pieces and it always felt good to hold. She picked the rest up in her cupped hand and spilled them back into the pouch, cinching the drawstring.

Sure thing. After we get settled we invite your mom over for tea and biscuits. There was a heartbeat's pause then a slinky whisper slid across her mind. And speaking of things to eat... just how is Nigel lately?

"Mercy!"

[Kierin]

"You ready?" said Kierin.

"Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be," replied Jess.

They stood in the middle of an abandoned warehouse, a good place for a lot of space, but not much weather to interfere. It was mid afternoon, with some spring sunlight streaming through the windows. Jess and Kierin stood about 10 feet apart.

"Alright," said Kierin. "Uh… let's start with rain."

Jess nodded. "Sure. Start it up."

Kierin held out her hand, and water drops started to materialize several yards away, quickly thickening into a downpour of frigid rain.

Jess did the same, frowning in concentration as she created a torrent next to Kierin's. The rain she produced fluctuated, falling irregularly and swirling as if caught in intense wind. The effect started to mirror itself in Kierin's rain, until both of the storms resembled a swirling, misty explosion more than rainfall.

Kierin frowned, clenching her fingers. "Hm. Maybe if we try bringing them together."

Jess grimaced, obviously trying hard to control the rain. "Kierin, I'm having enough trouble as it is. Your magic makes this almost impossible…"

Kierin's arm shook slightly. "Well, let's just try it and see what happens. Maybe it'll work if they're both in the same area."

"Uh...o-ok. Sure, go for it."

Kierin closed her eyes, moving her hand slightly towards the other storm. The separate rainfalls drifted together, becoming more violent as they got closer.

"Hey..." said Jess. "I don't like the looks of this..." Kierin didn't respond, but continued to move her storm in.

The downpours overlapped, blasting water and wind outward for a moment before vanishing with a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder. The two girls both fell backwards from the force of the concussion.

"Oww...well THAT went well," said Jess, picking herself up and straightening her jacket.

Kierin was laughing as she pushed herself up. "That was awesome! Let's do it again and see if we can manage it better."

Jess sighed, rolling her eyes and smiling a little herself. "You're enjoying this too much."

Kierin didn't respond. The rain was already starting to fall again.

[Stasis Kiss]

"Um... large coffee please. With uh.. a shot of vanilla."

Stasis rattled the change in her pocket, wondering if she could afford to upgrade to something with foam on top. Probably not. It was pushing the end of the month and her allowance from Services was squeaky thin by this point. She'd treat herself to something nice next week, honest. With double foam and two shots of something awesomely full of sugar. She squinted at the board, wondering if there was anything else up there that would be better, if no more expensive.

"That's mild roast, right? And vanilla?" came the automatic reply as the older woman reached for the cardboard cup.

"Yes, please." She started to count out the silver coins on the counter.

"It's nice to see you, you know. You were always in here on Fridays, right on the dot of three thirty. I was starting to be worried about you." The woman smiled as if sharing a personal revelation. "Everything okay?"

"Oh yeah. Things are fine. Thanks for asking. I just ... I mean... I didn't know I was on a schedule," she finished lamely. The clerk laughed, putting the steaming black liquid under the pump, expertly dispensing one full measure of the flavoring.

"Dear, everybody has a schedule when it comes to coffee. I notice when people do something different because you can almost set your clock by seeing certain faces. I know when I see you, for example, that means my shift is nearly over." The woman's dark eyes crinkled. "That'll be $2.46, please."

Stasis sorted faster, laughing a little herself. One, two, two twenty-five.

"Is your friend coming today? He was the straight up hot chocolate, wasn't he? No extras."

Stasis blinked. She felt the absence suddenly at her shoulder, a presence she hadn't actually realised she'd gotten used to until it stopped appearing. She smiled through it, accepting the coffee, pushing the money across the smooth laminate.

"He had other things to do. I think his brother's in town." Wry observation, easier definitely to summon up the memory of the mirror who had just been annoyed with her and wanting answers. Annoyed and angry was something she knew how to deal with, even if it just came down to yelling instead of thinking. Better than watching somebody hurt, her trying not to see it, him trying not to show it. At least her track record was improving because they were still friends, still talking. That had to count for something, right? Still friends. "I'll tell him you missed him knocking stuff over though."

The woman punched the register, making change swiftly in the tray. Her lips pursed. "Heavens, no. Although it was nice of him to wait by the door after the first time."

Stasis smiled stiffly, stuffing the nickels and pennies back in her pocket. "Yeah, that's the dayball. Thanks for the coffee."

But the lady was already turning to the next customer, her voice digging through the background hum. Stasis shuffled over to the bar counter and reached for the cream jug.

She poured a very, very generous amount. If she couldn't afford latte, she could do the next best thing.

Stasis blew the hair out of her eyes and capped the coffee, glancing at the clock on the wall. Just enough time to get back to the campus and Mr. Asumio's last class.

She found herself grinning a little. If she was on a schedule, it wouldn't do to be late.

[Nova]

Nova can you please go to sleep already!

There was a resounding agreement from his roommates still awake from the squeaking of marker on paper. Looking up with one in his mouth, one in each hand, and one behind his left ear he stood up looking down at what he had come up with. Scratching his head, thinking if it was completed there were breaths being held hoping he would just be done with it already. Heavy exhales with a groan followed as he dropped down to his knees switching the one held in his mouth with the one in his right hand adding the finishing touches.

Done!

He announced with pride stepping back again as at least one set of curious eyes managed to see what this was all about. While he went over and picked up the markers putting them away, pillows were pulled over heads and lights went off. Nova found his bed soon enough, laying on his back, a wing on each side looking up. "I can't believed I missed her coming back"

Nova! Go...To...Sleep!

The voice was louder this time as he quieted down, eyes still wide open staring at the ceiling.

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

The next morning, he was up early, hoping it was early enough as he rushed around putting himself together as quickly as possible, making it out the door before he realized he forgot last nights project. Spinning around quickly he dashed back in carefully picking it up, rolling it into a tube and tossing a rubber band around it. He ran as fast as he could until he was out side, several bouncing steps later wings spread wide catching in the air and lifting him off the ground taking flight towards his destination.

He walked down the halls now looking over the numbers atop the lockers until he came to the one. Tossing his book bag aside without much care he pulled out a small roll of tape from the pockets of his favorite pants and began to unroll the paper. Several minutes later, with tape stuck to his fingers, sleeves, and some in his left wing he landed looking up at the sign. It wasn't perfect, there was too much tape, and the marker smeared a little the night before on one or two of the letters. It was easy to read, and it caused him to grin before picking up his bag and tossing it over his shoulder. Taking one last look over his shoulder he read it to himself "Welcome Home Violet" before he took off down the hall, one thing on his mind, breakfast.

[Timothy Bastian]

(( This takes places in mid-December of 2007. Many thanks to Stasis for inspiring me to write this. ))


Timothy sat cross-legged on his dorm floor, facing a largish pile of dirty laundry. He flipped through Grunberg's journal until he found the spell he was looking for, then began to read.

• Incantation of Dirt Transmutation
  
  A mage in the possession of a suitably clear crystal can use this incantation in place of acts of mundane cleaning, such as washing laundry or dishes. The spell will transmute unwanted dirt into impurities within the crystal. Thus, it is desirable to use a crystal with as few impurities as possible. As a crystal fills with impurities, it will become harder to use the incantation successfully.

Timothy skimmed through the rest. Warnings about this, cautions about that. Descriptions of the ideal crystals to use, followed by acknowledgments that any crystal can work. As useful as the journal was, Timothy felt that it sometimes went overboard in how comprehensive it strove to be. He ended up ignoring most of the exposition and plucked out the important part, the incantation: exsisto tersus. That's all he really needed, so he flipped the journal shut, then set it aside before picking up the crystal he'd bought: a large piece of rose quartz. It was cloudy but not fully opaque. He'd wanted to buy a clearer crystal, and had in fact been watching for them for quite some time before he finally just gave up and ended up purchasing a large (and inexpensive) piece of rose quartz that had caught his eye at Shepherd's Road Apothecary. He'd just focus extra hard, spells work best on improvisation half the time anyway.

He stood up, holding the crystal ahead of him on the palm of his left hand. He was glad his roommates were all out, because he knew he probably looked rather dumb, but if it saved him a few hours of laundry work he could deal. He gestured outwards with his right hand, then pulled back as he commanded the laundry with the incantation. "Exsisto tersus!"

He felt the crystal warm for a brief moment, then cool again. That's exactly what was supposed to happen! It worked! Too bad he didn't have a spell to automatically make it all fold itself and put itself away, he thought as he went to start putting stuff away.

And then he stopped cold as he looked closer at his laundry.

Half-frantic and extremely irritated, he grabbed the journal back up and flipped quickly to the spell he'd just used. He'd read it well enough that he knew it didn't mention anything about... oh. Maybe it did.

• It is important to be wary of using crystals that have acquired coloration due to impurities imparted by other spells. Though rare, certain magicks can result in the crystal being charged to backwash its impurities, leaving the targeted objects in a worse state than they were to begin with.

Timothy chucked the journal at his desk, then turned and kicked his laundry furiously.

His pink laundry.

[Lagomorph]

March 10, 2008


Matthew Lamport poked his head into David Conrads' office. Conrads was sitting at his desk, reading some papers, but he looked up at Matt's presence. "Hi Mr. Conrads! I'm sorry I'm late, I totally got distracted on the way because someone was telling me about how Ty is really a woodchuck who needs to wear a bikini to stay a boy and that--maybe I shouldn't be tell you that, am I too late for my appointment?"

David Conrads smiled. "No, you're not too late, come take a seat. But next time, try to focus on the time better, okay?"

Matt quickly scampered through the door, shutting it behind him before hopping into a seat. "No problem! I'll totally try to remember to try to get here on time better next time, for sure!" He nodded enthusiastically for emphasis.

"Good. It's been about three months since I've seen you, how have you been doing?"

"Oh, I'm great! I mean, I got sick for a bit a little while back but Nova made me carrot cookies and then I felt better really fast! And I still haven't found any snipes which is kinda frustrating but I'm gonna keep looking! We'll find them eventually! And I have a part time job, I'm an Easter Bunny over at the mall in Steel Canyon! It's really fun because all the kids think I'm a really-real Easter Bunny and want to get photos with me and I think the mall's really making out well with it and somebody I think it was Kara said I should get, ohwhat're they called? oh yeah, commissioned for each photo so I make more money but I'm not too worried about it because they're still paying okay and besides it's really fun!"

Conrads started to ask about the snipe thing, but thought better of it. "How have you done with keeping to the schedule they set for your job?"

"Oh, heh, well I'm late occasionally but not by much! They complained about it so now I'm not as late as often, I don't want to get fired or anything, plus I don't want the kids to be disappointed that the Easter Bunny isn't there for them, you know?That'd probably be pretty upsetting if you're a kid and your mom tells you 'we're going to see the Easter Bunny!' but when you get there, the Easter Bunny is nowhere to be found, can you imagine? So yeah, I'm much better about being on time now." Matt nodded emphatically.

"I'm glad to hear it." Conrads smiled again, glancing down at his notes. "And how about your schoolwork?"

"Schoolwork? Well, I'm passing my classes all for the most part I think! Some of the teachers scold me a lot, especially Sister Moltar, but I'm all good other than that."

"Several of your teachers have noted that you aren't working up to your potential, Matt." Conrads sat back in his chair. "It sounds as though you do well enough with the stuff you put your mind towards, but that you just aren't really putting forth any effort towards doing more than passing."

Matt shrugged. "Well, that's all I need to do isn't it? I mean, it's not like the stuff is interesting or anything." He wrinkled his nose.

"What about college? You'll need good grades to get into a better college, or to get scholarships."

Matt wrinkled his nose even more. "Ack, I'm not going to college!"

"What are you going to do after you graduate?"

"I dunno." Matt tilted his head thoughtfully. "I hadn't really thought about it. I guess I could help people full time, like I do after school!" After a brief pause, a mild look of concern flicked across Matt's face and he added, at a very fast clip, "But never overnight after curfew because we're totally not allowed to do that and I'm never out past curfew!!"

Conrads stifled an amused smile. "Curfews aside. You think you'd like to be a hero?"

Matt laughed. "Not a hero! I mean I'm not that powerful or anything, I just help people you know?"

"That's exactly what most heroes do, Matt. And compared to the average citizen on the street, you have more ability to help people in those kinds of ways."

"Yeah, but still! A hero?" Matt snickered. "I dunno about that."

"You have a registered hero name and identification."

"Still..." Matt shuffled in his seat.

"If you want to pursue heroic work when you graduate, a college education will be helpful. So will good grades in high school. Places like Freedom Corps and Hero Corps will pay better if you have an education, and you'll be able to take on more important cases."

Matt blinked, looking a bit surprised. "Really? Are you sure?"

"Yes, Matt, I'm sure." Conrads had to chuckle. "Seriously, you should apply yourself more to your schoolwork. It might seem strange, but getting good grades now may mean you get to savesomeone's life later."

Matt frowned, not in an unhappy way but more in a thoughtful way. "I guess..."

"You might even consider checking with Freedom Corps or Hero Corps about an internship. There's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes in organizations like that. Even if it that part isn't the sort of thing you want to do, seeing it might help you understand why an education is important for the part you would like to do."Conrads paused, considering. Matt's personality probably wouldn't do as well in a regimented organization like Freedom Corps. "I can give you the name of someone in Hero Corps if you want to pursue it."

"I dunno... I mean..." Matt hesitated, then shrugged with a smile. "Well I guess taking the name wouldn't hurt, ya?"

"It certainly couldn't." Conrads flipped through a rolodex on his desk, pulled out a card, then copied the information to a slip of paper that he then handed to Matt. "There you are. Is there anything else on your mind?"

"Nope! I'm all good!" Matt smiled more brightly.

"All right then. I'll see you in several months, but don't hesitate to set up an appointment sooner if anything comes up."

"Okay!" Matt got up and started to bounce towards the door, but stopped and turned before leaving. Serious yet somewhat skeptical he asked, "You really think I could be a hero after I graduate?"

"Yes, Matt. I do." Conrads smiled.

Matt smiled back, opened the door, and headed out.

[Blitzen]

((Okay, I'm a slow writer. This took place St. Patrick's Day. Thanks to Tony and Ty for their input, grammar checking, and letting me use them in the write up.))

Sam zipped up her black hooded sweatshirt, like it would somehow lessen suspicion. Outside of the dorms, she met up with Tony and Ty who were waiting patiently. Actually, Tony was waiting patiently, Ty was being held at bay.

"C'mon! C'mon!" Ty complained as she made her way over.

"Coming, coming." Sam replied, taking careful steps to not break the heels of Erika's boots. Erika always looked great on radio night and she could easily pass for 21. Sam would have settled for 19, college age, so when she needed advice on what to wear? Erika was the first one who sprang to mind. Sam made up some lame story she was pretty sure Erika didn't buy, but she was still happy to help raid Sam's closet to find something not trashy but mature and even loaned her pair of boots. The guys looked great as well, Tony with his faded Dropkick Murphy's tee peeking from behind his leather jacket and a pair of baggy cargos, Ty in a black "I'm Not Irish But Kiss Me Anyway" shirt and track pants. They could easily pass for college kids.

The party could be heard when they were still nearly a block away. Ty became even more animated at the sound of the music coming from the two story brick building on boathouse row. Tony rolled his eyes and told him to chill, which worked for all of a minute or two. He gave Sam a "what are you gonna do?" glance on the doorstep as she took off her sweatshirt and folded it over her arm. She smiled back, having convinced herself she was mostly going to keep an eye on Ty and Tony, just in case. Make sure they were out of harms way, out of trouble, but truth of the matter was she'd been looking forward to it herself.

Her fears of passing for college age were wasted, there was no one checking ID's, and she laughed at herself for thinking someone actually would be. Inside was a sea of people. The crowd wasn't much bigger than they were used to seeing in Pocket D, but they were wedged into a smaller space. A band played loudly from a makeshift stage by a staircase, and kids with red plastic cups packed the place like sardines.

"I'm finding some action!" Ty said loudly over the din, instantly disappearing into one of the clusters of people. Tony rolled his eyes dramatically and grabbed Sam's arm, nodding for her to follow. They made their way through the living room to the kitchen, where a bunch of plastic cups were set up on any horizontal space around.

"Dude! You made it!" A tall blond guy with a goatee said, clamping a hand down on Tony's shoulder.

"Wouldn't miss it!" He shot back over the noise.

"Here!" He said, grabbing two filled cups from the kitchen counter. "Keg's in the mudroom. Great to see you, dude! Erin go bragh-less!" Tony took both cups, holding one up to say thanks before handing one to Sam.

"Friend of yours?" She asked, accepting the cup filled with green beer.

"Never seen him before!" Tony smiled back with a shrug. He downed his beer in two chugs, nodding his head in time to the music. "So what do you think...." He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes trailing a pretty girl with long dirty blond hair and a short red skirt. "About... the... uh..." Sam smiled and rolled her eyes, tapping him on the arm.

"Go!" She waved him off.

"You sure?" He asked, smiling as he made eye contact with his mark. "I don't want to just ditch you. I mean, If you get in any trouble, I'll..."

"I'm a tank." She scoffed back, nudging him with a shoo motion. "Go."

"You're the best." He said, squeezing her arm before making his way through the crowd. Sam smiled and shook her head, taking a sip of beer, making a face at its bitterness.

"Tastes like socks." She said to no one in particular. Still, the house being so overcrowded added all sorts of heat, and at least the beer was cold, she rationalized as she nursed another sip. She caught a glimpse of Ty on one of the sofas talking to two college aged girls, her high school buddy doing his best to try and impress. She watched as he flashed a cheesy grin at one of them, attempting to play smooth. She shook her head and took another sip walking back towards the kitchen, noting the cup was still half full.

"Not a fan?" A broad shouldered boy asked, sidling up to her.

"The music? It's great." She replied with a nod. "You can't go wrong with a Dropkick cover band." At least that's what Tony said on the way in.

"The beer." He replied. He had an easy smile and bright green eyes that complimented his dark brown hair. "It's okay, I'm not a fan of it either."

"Yeah, I'm just not much of a beer drinker is all." She admitted. He smiled again.

"Well then, let's get you something else. I'm Adam, by the way."

"Sam." She replied, immediately wondering if she should have given a fake name.

"Sam." He replied with a nod. "How about we go get something to drink that doesn't taste like socks?"

"I said the same thing!" She said, sharing a laugh with him, as he took the plastic cup and tossed it in a trashcan.

"It's quieter downstairs." He nodded to a door leading from the kitchen. Sam nodded and took one last look through the crowded room. Ty was still being Ty in front of a small audience. Tony was off in a corner leaning his hand against the wall, close talking with the girl who caught his eye. Whatever she was whispering in his ear made his smile grow wider and his wings shiver a bit. Confident that they were both all right, she smiled again at Adam and followed him down the stairwell.


********************************************************************************************************************************************************************


"Think of it as a VIP lounge." He said, pointing to the dim room. There were several small mismatched couches and chairs throughout the finished off basement most with groups of two or three people , and he was right, it was much quieter than up above. She could actually hear herself think, and it was nice to take a breather.

"I qualify as a VIP?" She asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Very incredibly pretty." He said back, causing her to smile and roll her eyes.

"Lines like that don't even work in Pocket D." She kidded, and he flashed her an easy smile.

"Well, the sentiment is true." His eyes crinkled just a bit at the corners with the response. She glanced over to where he was motioning, a few people were waving him over to one of the small sitting areas. "Sam? This is Terry and Brett, that's Amanda and Ryan." They introduced themselves anyway and invited them to sit down, but first Adam motioned to a ping pong table set up as a makeshift bar. "Since neither of us care much for beer, it's a good thing I know about the reserve. So, rum and Coke sound good?"

"Oh. I... it's... I don't really..." She stammered, causing Amanda to giggle. Adam nodded knowingly.


"I'm not a big drinker either, but I mean, it's St. Patrick's after all, right? I'll go light on the rum, don't worry." She mulled it over for a second. It was like everyone was staring. One beer. She was just going to have one beer, keep an eye on Ty and Tony. But at the same time, she didn't want to come off like some dopey high school kid, and it was no big deal, right? It was still just one drink. "Sam?" He asked again. "Coke and rum?"

"Coke and rum s'fine." She nodded, and true to his word he did go light on it. She could barely taste the rum at all. Plus the beer had left an aftertaste that the Coke easily washed away.

She wasn't sure how long they talked for, but she was enjoying the company. They went through the standard fare, where they were from, what they were into. Turns out Adam was a center for Rhode Island's football team, Brett was on special teams. She near said she played for SJS but managed to remember just in time that she was supposed to be in college. Luckily, they didn't press the issue of what she was majoring in or what school she went to, but the conversation never lapsed, so she didn't mind when Ryan fixed them each another drink. She could taste the rum this time, it burned her throat but then felt warm as it settled in her stomach. Adam apologized, and offered to make her a lighter one.

"Or I tell you what, as soon as there's some room in the cup, I'll fill it up with just Coke, that'll lighten it up for you." Ryan offered.

"That's fine." She told him with a nod, not wanting to make a big deal over it.

"And besides, today everyone's Irish." He grinned, raising his cup for a toast.


**************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Upstairs, the band was taking a break, but the stereo system still cranked out songs loud enough to make DJ Zero jealous of the sound system. Tony's improv date moved on to devouring his earlobe, the blue haired boy obviously enjoying the attention. She finally whispered something that made him both blush and smile like a Cheshire cat at the same time, her coyly raising her eyebrows and twisting a lock of his hair in response. The pair soon after disappeared.

Ty on the other hand had been coaxed into playing a game of beer pong. He bounced a white plastic ball into a near full cup, getting a cheer from his teammates and a kiss from a redhead who hung on his arm. The defenders team groaned as a boy staggered over to the table and chugged the contents. Sam could hear the cheers from above and glanced at her watch. She should check on them. She went to get up, but Adam and Brett goofing off with a paper football and quoting Grid Iron Gang, giving her a bad case of the giggles. The boys would be fine for a bit longer.

***************************************************************

When Brett's good natured ribbing led to an argument with Ryan, Sam took it as a sign that the VIP lounge would shortly be closing. She snickered as she missed the top step of the staircase, bending the doorknob in her hand accidentally as she steadied herself, not really caring if anyone noticed. Squinting her eyes to scan the room, she spotted her blue haired buddy looking slightly disheveled as he talked to the bass guitarist from the band. An easy grin came across his face when she giggled and knocked into him. He put an arm around her shoulder and chucked along with her, pulling her into a half-hug.

"Having fun?" He asked, as a familiar song came on the stereo. She recognized it from Radio Night.

"Tony? I am having a blast, bud!" She called back.

"Should we round up Ty?" He asked, nodding to where their friend was in the kitchen, playing air guitar to celebrate his win.

"You can if you want." She said, nodding over to where a few people had cleared room as a make shift dance floor. "I'm gonna go dance. I love this song!" Tony laughed in response.

"You do, huh? Then who sings it?" Sam tilted her head to the side and smiled.

"That's easy bud." She replied over the noise. "Not Elvis!" He laughed again and drew her into a hug, Sam laughed and hugged him back in response.

"One dance." Tony agreed, checking his watch before leading her over to the floor. "Then we get Ty and head back."

[Watchpoint]

Sarah plopped down under the tree, right next to the sitting boy. She'd seen him there a couple days after she had arrived, and wondered what he was up to.

"Hi!" she held out a metallic hand in greeting. "I'm Sarah."

The boy continued his writing.

"Whatcha doin', there?" she asked, lowering her hand, undaunted. "Ah, writing, are ya? That's cool."

He hunched a little closer over his notebook, hiding the words from view.

"You know, I wrote a book once," Sarah continued, oblivious to the boy's obvious desire to be left alone. "It was really neat, about this interstellar space pirate, and the wacky hijinks he and his crew had while shipping illegal goods from star system to star system. I never got it published, though." She grinned. "The one publisher I brought it to got so engrossed in it, that they didn't eat or sleep because they wanted to read it over and over again. I couldn't in good conscience release that on the unsuspecting public, now could I?"

"It's like this book I read once, there was this book - in the story - that had this spell on it that made anyone reading it unable to stop. I don't remember what the book was called - the actual book, not the one in the story - but I do remember it was pretty good."

"There was lots of good books at the library back home. It's because the librarian was - like - psychic or something. She could totally read your mind and find out what books you liked, then she'd rearrange the shelves you would go to with her mind powers so that you'd find all the really good books - like - that you'd really like a lot."

"The guy at the comic book store back home was like that, too. Not psychic or anything, but he could tell what kind of comic you'd like just by lookin' at you. It was kind of creepy, actually, but he wasn't as creepy as the librarian. I talked to him a lot, I'd go there after school. The comic book store was right next to this candy shop, and he had this little trap door in the wall that opened right into the licorice section, and sometimes when I'd hang out there, we'd sneak some candy through the wall."

"I couldn't tell anyone about that, though, 'cause we had this law that you had to be - like - nineteen to eat candy. I swear, they wouldn't let you in the candy store unless you showed them your ID, kinda like with bars and adult stores." She giggled. "So we had to be real careful-like when we were sneaking candy, right? But it was cool, 'cause we never ate too much."

"There's times now, though, I think I could eat - like - an entire horse. I mean literally, last weekend when I went home to visit - I've only been here - like - a week or so, and my parents already miss me. Anyway, to get to my place we have to drive through the country, right? And as we were driving by this one field, there were these horses standing there, and I was thinking that they just looked really tasty, you know? I didn't actually eat one, of course, but my mom did make a pretty big dinner that night, and I ate soooo much."

"Now if I'd suddenly wanted to eat an entire cow, that would be different. Did you know that cows are smarter than horses? They can predict the weather. It's like, if you see a bunch of cows in a field, and they're lying down, that means it's going to rain."

"It's a good thing we lived on the edge of the city, actually, and that we had to drive past a couple cow pastures to get anywhere, 'cause when it would rain back home, the rain was - like - all rainbow coloured, and if it hit your clothes, the colour wouldn't come out. Lots of people had polka-dot shirts from when they were caught outside in the rain, and everyone's raincoat was all different colours."

"Except for this one guy, at my old school..." Sarah trailed off when she heard bells chime in the distance and looked guiltily at her watch. "Damned, I'm late for class. I'll see ya around, okay?" She scrambled to her feet, pulling her bag into a firm position on her shoulder.

Shaun watched her run off, peeking over the top of his book, then returned to his writing, looking relieved.

[Blitzen]

The polished hardwood floor made a satisfying squeak against the rubber sole of her sneakers as Sam walked into the auxiliary gym, a sack full of bocce ball equipment in tow. Coach Waters asked her to return it to aux storage, where the P.E. teacher kept all of the equipment he labeled "crap that's not really sports but I have to teach anyway." She smiled at the row of beds used for temporary housing, remembering her first few nights at SJS. Placing the bag back in the storage closet, she amused herself by squeaking back across the floor. Just as she reached the door, it was violently jerked open with such force that Sam held up her own hands to show she wasn't touching anything.

"I SO did NOT do that!" She stated to the now unhinged door and anyone within earshot.

"I... uh...." someone stammered from behind it. Sam grabbed the heavy wooden door and placed it down by the frame, seeing a sheepish looking boy on the other side, still holding onto the handle with one hand. His sandy colored hair was in stark contrast to his now reddened face and apologetic eyes, and Sam couldn't help but smile.

"That happens all the time." She assured him with a dismissive wave.

"Really?" The newcomer asked, raising his eyebrows.

"No." She admitted with a smile and a shrug. "It used to though when I first got here. I'm Sam. You must be new?" She held out a hand, but the boy jammed his in his back pockets and shook his head.

"Ben. Benjamin Young." He said quietly, looking around.

"I'm a tank, Ben." She said bluntly. "You wouldn't hurt my hand or nothing. Let me guess? Having a hard time gaging your own strength?" Ben nodded in response, causing her to do the same. "I had that too. St. Joes will help you a lot."

"I hope so." He muttered.

"It's not bad. No matter what you're doing? Just try to imagine you're picking up a pencil. Use the same amount of force. That's what Train told me when I first got here."

"And it works?" He asked, relaxing a bit.

"Well, yeah. 'Cept on pencils. All of mine are broken." She smirked with a nod. "C'mon, I know where Scruffy keeps hinges and stuff in the basement. We'll get this fixed up before anyone notices."

[Stasis Kiss]

Monday morning.

She puts her forehead against the cool metal of the locker and watches her fingers spin the wheel. Autopilot finds the numbers even though if asked she'd never remember the combination. It opens with a jerk and she hooks the curve of it into the holed tab, feels the rough metal tongue pressing into flesh as she opens the door. She is thinking of math and the homework that is, this time at least, mostly finished.

A piece of paper flutters to the ground, startlingly white. She bends without thinking, opens it to reveal the black adornment. It is too early in the morning to remember that all things have consequence.

She reads then the words that struggle for dignity. She reads the things that she's struggled with herself, hurt for. Her ghost eyes scan the words a second time, a third. Something tightens with fright and breath exhales with prickling frost.

"What you got there, Stas?"

Her first, best reaction. Hide, slide away, feel nothing until what's important can be pinned down and vivisected. The air warms then with a near audible click and the autopilot sticks a grin on her face. She folds the expression of pain back along the crease and tucks it into the textbook. She reaches for the matching binder.

"Nothing exciting. Cheer squad's trying to rope me in again."

She kicks the bottom plate of the locker as she closes it, out of habit.

She is not sure, even now, whether she hurts more for him or for herself.