Marvel, Rebirth:

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"Mrrrrrph."

 

-Tyler

[Snelly]

IC: Ashley

 

It finally dawned on Ashley that maybe bouncing on Dallas hadn't been the best idea, wasn't his arm still broke? She'd forgotten because she'd been all excited and Dallas didn't have a cast on. She turned to look at Dallas, sliding off of him carefully.

 

"Ahhhhhh I'm sorry Dallas I'm stupid! I forgot about your arm!" 

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

Dallas raised his left arm in a thumbs up, even as his mouth was pursed as if he'd bitten into a particularly bone-breaking lemon.

 

"Nothing lasting done."

 

-Tyler

[a goose]

IC:

 

Elle frowned for a second as she glanced over at Dallas and his girlfriend, and then grimaced. #####, he looks pretty hurt. Ouch.

 

"I, uh, I don't know about meeting everyone," she said as politely as she could, looking between Dallas and the other two. What were they called again? Okay, new names: iPod Whisperer and Major League Botanist. The first is a little more inspired but she already made the daughter nature joke. "As I mentioned, the whole socialising, meeting-new-people thing, it's not exactly my forté and I don't know just how well I could really handle meeting everyone in one day. Might be a wee bit much, for now."

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

Brooklyn, after changing out the jacket she'd chosen with one of leather and pulling a beanie over her black silk hair, decided to take the stairs down to the lobby instead of the elevator. Her feet were like twin machine guns affixed to slim legs, spitting a little pattapattapattapattapattapattapatta as she hopped rhythmically down to banister after banister. By the time she was down to the first floor again, her legs were feeling the familiar ache that came with logging miles in the pursuit of answers, and her heart was racing - as it did each day she fooled herself into thinking she'd find something.

 

The day's still young. I'm only meeting Jesika.

 

Brook strode down the lobby with a triumphant Rockette kick upwards, landing on one foot and falling into a natural lockstep. The hotel was, in retrospect, a pretty decent choice, if a bit hard on the ol' wallet. The continental breakfasts (waffles, some Frosted Flakes, an apple [and ooh, la la, some eye candy]) made up for it, for the most part. Deciding to try and drop in if she had time later, the lone Ultimate adjusted her beanie and made her way towards the door, and the brisk January air that clung to New York City.

 

-Tyler

Edited August 23, 2015 by Luke Schwarz

[Krayzikk]

IC:

As he stepped out into the open air, Alistair was glad that his travels had made him grow accustomed to colder climates. Someone who had lived in California for as long as him without those experiences would have found January in New York unpleasant to say the least. But with a thick, warm pea coat and a scarf wrapped around his neck he was at least reasonably comfortable. His bag (and sword) were slung over his shoulders, and he was taking great care not to give away the unseen sword's presence as he stepped out of the lobby.

 

Noting a fellow patron's departure, he held the door open.

"Morning."

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

oh hel-loooooo, it speaks

 

"Morning." Brooklyn shot Alistair a quick grin and flicked her eyes at his attire. "Nice coat."

 

-Tyler

[Krayzikk]

IC:

"Thank you. I like it, keeps me warm." Alistair held out a hand, smiling at her. "Alistair Martin."

[Snelly]

IC: Ashley

 

Ashley hugged Dallas' arm, the arm that wasn't broken. Then she looked at Elle and nodded understandingly. "We will introduce you to people in small doses then, increase the dose in small increments, and then when we get halfway we'll wean you off slowly." She nodded thoughtfully. 

Edited August 24, 2015 by Leonard Bones McCoy

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

and  b r i t i s h  too

 

Oh, don't get sidetracked, Broooooooooooook--

 

i must outbrit him

 

Brooklyn had fought in a particularly pitched battle in London at one point, so she'd learned the basics on how to kiss somebody's hand like a right and proper Tory. Smirking, she pressed her lips quickly to Alistair's proffered hand - and then performed the typical clasping shake/high five combo typical in the land of the people who had evicted he and his sort the last time they tried to charm the pants off their women.

 

"Brooklyn Pace-Carlisle. Friends just call me Brook."

 

-Tyler
 

[Krayzikk]

IC:

"I wasn't aware we were making this a Brit-off." The scholar grinned, withdrawing his hand and returning it to the strap of his bag. "Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Pace-Carlisle."

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"I thought I said just Brook."

 

-Tyler

[Krayzikk]

IC:

"To your friends. Are we friends?" He asked with a faintly teasing smile, slipping his hand into his pocket to ward off the cold. "I can call you Brook, if you'd prefer."

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"I'd call that a start." Brook stepped out into the cold herself, but having spent months in two different universe's versions of a drought-wracked California, she almost welcomed a bit of the cold herself. "Where you headed so early in the morning?"

 

-Tyler

[Krayzikk]

IC:

"Nowhere, really. Might stop in to see a friend later, but I doubt she's the sort to appreciate being visited so early." Alistair paused to think a moment. He didn't really have much of a plan for the day, outside of stopping by Lucia's at some point. "I just got tired of sitting in my room, I suppose. I've ah, been on bed rest since the Jolly Red Giant."

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"He's why I came back," explained the Ultimate. "I've got...fam in Westchester. Wanted to check in on them without actually stumbling into anything X-Men related. Meeting a friend at a Buffalo Wild Wings now, actually - she's having boy troubles, guy she's into frequents the place, it's a whole big story. I'm bailing her out."

 

-Tyler

Edited August 24, 2015 by Luke Schwarz

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

"Sounds serious. I'd ask if you have enough firepower for extraction from a Wild Wings, but you're American."

[AuRon the champion]

IC:

 

"Funny name," Trinity remarked, putting a finger to her lips.

 

"If I was him, I'd call myself... Writing guy."

[25K Now!]

IC: Mikhail

 

"There would be quite a number of 'writing guys' then."

[Advent Child]

IC: As always, Nero found himself noticing scents that were quite unfamiliar to him. Probably belonging to people equally unfamiliar to him "The amount of people that come and go from this place boggles the mind." Nero muttered to himself.

 

Well.

 

Such things could be investigated after food. Food was good.

 

And so Nero's mission quickly became the obtaining of sustenance.

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

"Hey! Where I come from, everyone owned a gun, don't be crude." 

 

-Tyler

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

"Right, so the American South." Alistair corrected himself, deadpan, before breaking into a smile.

 

"I'm joking, of course."

[AuRon the champion]

IC: Trinity

 

"... Funny Writing Guy?"

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

The first time he'd ever gotten Tali Alihera Relo to come back to his room was at junior prom, and Ric Carlisle had worn a bow tie. Six - seven? Eight? O-Oh God, how old am I now? - years later, he could still ###### rock the dance invitation game if he had to.

 

Now Ric was starting to feel the crunch. Here he was, an angelic, easygoing guy in his early twenties, fresh out of college and already a CEO, and he was having a harder time getting a date to this thing than he was to his high school pr--

 

AHA. AHAAAAA. Why hadn't he thought of it before? Ric turned and walked back to the elevator with new vigor. When it dinged and slid open hydraulically in front of his door, Alaric strolled back into his kitchen and through the Gates with aplomb.

 

"Tali Ali-her-aaaaaaaaa!"

 

"Yes, Ric?" Tali looked up from the sandwich she was currently eating and smiled slightly, the wan pallor of her face from her stay in the Shadow King's realm much improved after two weeks of bed rest.

 

"Funny story," Ric said, contritely running his hand back and forth over the back of his neck and sitting atop the leather couch across from the loveseat Tali occupied by herself. "My date for the Gala coming up got eaten while I pulled you out of Quincy's head. All those years you spent taunting me about having to pretend to enjoy rich people things, I think karma's presented me a pretty glorious opportunity here. Be my girl in a pinch?"

 

Tali chewed for a second, miming intense thought, then swallowed a way too large bite. "I suppose I could tolerate that..." She ruffled her hair with her free hand, then smiled wider. "Gonna have to keep me from getting eaten though."

 

"I'm so in your debt for this that I won't even make Bond innuendo."

 

Tali didn't respond verbally, she was too busy chewing another bite of her sandwich. She just blushed and shook her head.

 

Ric beamed and rolled over the back of the couch; the leather made a low oomph as if he'd knocked the wind out of it when he landed. His feet crossed at the ankle and he held his arm up in the air by a lock of his inky black hair, elbow propped on the arm rest. His smile grew more curious as he watched Tali eat for a second.

 

"You're improving in leaps and bounds. In a few more weeks, you'll look like it never happened. ######, I even like the hair."

 

She smiled slightly again, but it was nervous, tentative. Her hand went to her hair and brushed through it, then went back to holding her sandwich.

 

"I'm still pale. Still a little too skinny. And Ric... I can feel this chill in my mind..."

 

"It's natural. You spent a year in that thing's mind being tortured," Alaric assured the power controller steadily. "Just give it time, let yourself distance from it, alright? I drink with the guy who built Rome, and he sure as ###### didn't do it in a day, so don't expect to get back to yourself in a couple weeks. I'm right here to help you along if you need me--"

 

His consolations were broken off by the sound of a familiar buzz at his door, and he looked up with brief alertness from Tali to the door in his kitchen. Heh. The fight with Kyle must've left me jumpy.

 

"C'mon in!" he called out to whoever it was calling on him before noon.

 

-Tyler

Edited August 24, 2015 by Luke Schwarz

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC (Cynegild):

 

Cynegild opened the Gates delicately, being far more careful about it than usual. There was an unusual stiffness to his gait, and his hands and eyes seemed to twitch a little as he attempted to stalk into the apartment, coming across more like a stork that had been clubbed over the head and was still working out which way 'up' was. As he came in, his eyes locked on Alaric, and he spoke, sounding politely casual in the way that can only really be achieved if you've spent the last fifteen minutes rehearsing.

 

"Alaric, I'm glad to have finally caught you. I know I don't usually bring personal matters to you, but some things were said, and I might have," he wrung his hands, trying to work out a dignified way to put it, "that is, I think I've," and didn't find any. Time was up. His face tensed, as the full horror of what he was about to admit to hit him.

 

"I made a bet with Lacey, and I have to find a date for the gala."

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

Alaric's expression was more than fluid. Alaric's expression was a facial interpretation of the movements of Tai Chi, the placid rippling of water after a skipping stone mars its surface. Alaric's expression was the calm of a bird bath and the final howling rage of all tsunamis. Alaric's's expression changed and ebbed like that of the very ocean that gave his eyes their color.

 

And yet, when Cynegild Picker's last sentence left his mouth, that expressive face grew as hard and cold as a statue of Poseidon, in all of the sea god's cruel, vain glories.

 

"I'm in."

 

-Tyler

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC (Cynegild): Cynegild was far too deep in his predicament to pay attention to the shifts in the Black King's expression, but there was, nonetheless, a deep sigh of relief when the answer came. The tension went out of Cynegild's spine, and he bowed his head deeply in gratitude.

 

"Oh, thank you. I have some very old, very expensive cognacs, perhaps more than my share of bourbon, a shelf devoted to bottles of champagne older than the English language... It goes without saying that I am not comfortable with your secretary getting her hands on any of it."

 

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and finished, seeming much more composed than when he had walked in, "Help me convince someone to say 'yes,' save my liquor cabinet from Lacey's demonic clutches, and two bottles of the best and oldest champagne known to man are yours."

[shadow pridak money gang]

IC:

 

Yes. Yes. Between him and Romulus, soon my friends will give me ALL their alcohol stashes. I'll be getting plastered on the nectar of the gods from now until the sun becomes a small hard rock the size o--

 

Don't get ahead of yourself, Alaric. 

 

Right.

 

How was he supposed to hook Cynegild up? He'd never really had...trouble with asking a girl out. Even his high school girlfriend had been a simple enough matter, after he'd finally decided to pursue his interest - jump the fence during Beast's PE class, elbow John in the mouth for the football and hyperkinetically run it up the field for Tali with a devilish smirk.

 

Man, he was either such a dick or the most Hollywood- high schooler ever. And Cynegild...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Would the bobblehead count?

 

"The key thing here," he said carefully, still sitting on the loveseat with one foot kicked up irreverently on a coffee table, "is to avoid asking any of the GoldPoint girls. It's the tempting option, but Lacey and Saphine are tight, and she has them all in her pocket. Have you tried Bo--"

 

...

 

...

 

>...

 

 

"No, you're right. Aha! Try the Starbucks girl. She listens to all but speaks to none. She's sworn to stay neutral. It's perfect."

 

-Tyler

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

Alecto raised one well-groomed, black eyebrow at the Jurassic World crack.

 

Oof.

 

Alright. That was a good one. Credit where it's due, it mixed anti-mutant xenophobia (genetic tampering resulting in a horrible monster) almost perfectly with the....somewhat mix-and-match appearance a (fairly attractive if he did say so himself) guy with bat wings tended to bring to mind. He'd need to work to match that one. 

 

......Xenophobia...

 

Oh yes. This was going to be fun. "Good one. General Forrest would be proud! Well...he would be...if it weren't for the...y'know..." Alecto flashed his best ######-eating grin.

Edited August 27, 2015 by Havelock Vetinari

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC (Aramis):

 

Oh.

 

Touché.

 

Batman still wouldn't work, it was so obvious it might be *genuinely* insulting. He had to think fast, before his chicken got cold.

 

Ah.

 

Aha!

 

Clapping slowly at the flawlessly-executed quip, Aramis inclined his head in respect to a worthy foe.

 

"So, Wild Wings, you got a name?"

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

Alecto would have turned around to glare at Jesika-that could have been his line -but his self control or more accurately, his childish desire to win a petty stare off won out. 

 

"Well, Wesley Evans, the name's Alecto. Alecto Kava. You?"

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC (Aramis):

 

He threw up his hands in a gesture of mock-offense, as if to say Really? Is the Klan the only bunch of geriatric shouty bigots you can remember the names of?

 

"Name's Aramis. Aramis Saavedra," he answered back, taking extra care to roll the 'r's. "You always this clever with the nicknames? I'd have thought one Klansman would have been enough."

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

"I like to think of it more as a...theme. I was tossing around Fred Phelps, but I was gonna wait to see if something that'd offend you more would come up." Alecto waved his hand lazily. "Besides. My so-called friend here told me Wild Wings wouldn't hold up so well." He jerked his head at Jesika. "So I was making due with the runners-up."

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC (Aramis):

 

"Oooh, Phelps," he groaned, clutching his chest as though in terrible pain. "Keep this train rolling all the way to the Inquisition and you might manage to personally insult me and all of my ancestors, and I haven't even started to even the score."

 

"So," he began, making a grand show of cracking his knuckles, "Kava. I'm guessing... Czech?"

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

Alecto smirked. "Good to know. I'll start in on your extended family next. Sound cool?" The smirk grew wider. "Course it does. As for the name...Got it in one. Family has roots all over eastern europe. Evidently the great great grand 'rents reaaaaaaally got around." Alecto shrugged extravagantly. "Least they knew how to have fun though, y'know?  And hey, the family tree hasn't collapsed under it's own weight....yet....so they must have been doing something right."

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC (Aramis):

 

"Haha, yeah, seems they knew what they were doing," Aramis replied with a wink and a smile. "Sooooo, eastern Europe... Well, I think we can both agree that Stalin would be passé at this point, and using Dostoyevsky as an insult is lukewarm at best... Wow, this is kinda- wait." He's named Alecto. That is not Lithuanian, it's-

 

"Haha hey, did Zeus ever sneak his way into your family tree?"

[sunflower]

IC: Jesika

 

Meanwhile, she was busy capturing it all on digital tape, while listening intently to the conversation at hand.  She gave a small wave in... Armiss?  Ramanmiss?  Saa-####-it's direction as Alecto mentioned her in a oh so kindly way.

 

What a doll.

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Alecto)

 

"Depends. Is Intestinal Beetle Heaven in your family tree?" Oh. Shaka Zulu. That was a man with a fun name. Great conversation starter! Or ender. Alecto flicked a strand of hair out of the front of his eyes. "Dad named me after this bigass artillery piece his unit had. Evidently it was a...mascot..."

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC (Aramis):

 

Aramis wasn't sure if Mr. Artillery Piece (oooh, that'd be fun to bring up later) knew that his friend was recording all of this, so he didn't return the wave, though he did laugh out loud when he caught the reference to Shaka.

 

"I gave you Spain and you still guessed that far south? I suppose I shouldn't expect you to take hints well, what with being named after the Fury of punishing such terrible sins as getting cranky and being sarcastic, yet still having a mouth like yours."

[sunflower]

IC: Jesika

 

She nearly choked on the carbonated water she'd ordered, she'd heard that soda eats your bones or something, and she really didn't want to know what they did to cybernetics.

 

"I like him, can we keep him, Alecto?"