Heritage

Silbermann's Books. Tuesday, January 15th 2024. 1:05 pm

The snow just kept coming down! With 12 inches reported at 8 am and no signs of slowing down, Lynn Epstein decided to send her staff home while they could still see; no one was crazy enough to face a winter storm for a muffin and newspaper anyway.

So Lynn took the opportunity to do a little bookkeeping in the store for a few hours before deciding to take a break. She left her cozy office to make herself a cinnamon chai latte behind the counter. As the milk steamed, she turned on the store's stereo system to play an old playlist, with a lot of her early 2000s faves. She didn't realize how loudly she was singing Gwen Stefani's "The Sweet Escape."

"Woo hoo. Yee hoo!"

"Woo hoo. Yee hoo!"

Shift

Pol saw the portal waiting for their dreadful foe. With but a thought, she formed a set of bracing arms to extend down to the floor, locking her in place. Then she shifted part of her nanomass into two powerful hyraudlic pistons. With all her might and focus, she launched the Conquerer Worm at the portal, praying that her rapid-fire calculations were correct.

Initiative: 1d20+6=13

Grimalkin

Grim snorts. "What? Kids love me! I'm cool as f###!" But then she becomes more serious. "I know it's scary; for what it's worth, I've never been in this position, either. I know she'll always wish her mom would come back, and I can never replace her, not that I'd ever try to."

Then she reaches out to take his hand.

"You're a good dad, Cas; I can tell, because you worry. You understand that what you do has an impact on your daughter, and you weigh the pros and cons of every decision based on that. It's probably giving you ulcers, but you're daughter always comes first. And that's huge."

The changeling takes a deep breath.

"Aaaaand she should definitely meet Lynn Epstein first." A ripple of vapor flows over her body, revealing Grim's everyday form; still very attractive, but much more down to earth. "Maybe you could bring her by the store sometime. Is she a reader?"

Grapple check: 1d20+33=36

You have got to be kidding me! Time to spend her last Hero Point towards a reroll with Extra Effort!

Grapple reroll: 1d20+33=49

Attack roll: 1d20+21=28

Sure hope that's enough!

Shift

Pol beams at Bernadette's compliment. "I'm glad you like it! We worked very hard putting everything together. Charlie did most of the planning, and I did most of the heavy lifting." She held her arms up and flexed her muscles, then shifted them into hydraulic presses for a few seconds before returning them to normal.

Grimalkin

Lynn is listening attentively to Ghost speak, nodding occasionally in response to his words. Halfway through his response, she remembers what she's wearing, and with a roll of her eyes and a flick of her wrist, she's wearing a casual outfit that still looks good on her, but is much less likely to cause heart palpitations. When he's finished, she looks thoughtful as she pours herself another glass of champagne.

"Look, I'll be honest, I've made mistakes in the past; I haven't always been the best partner. I'm...I'm not fully human, y'know? And that has pulled my heart in some dangerous directions. I can't promise I won't hurt you, though God knows I'll try not to. There are risks."

She looks down glumly at the glass in her hands.

"Mortals were always warned not to trust the Fae."

Shift

For her part, Pol was definitely enjoying herself, even though without using her powers she wasn't particularly stealthy. But if she was being honest with herself, she was starting to feel rather hemmed in without using her powers. After all, she was called Shift for a reason! So after the first ten minutes, she cheated...by becoming Bernadette. The more observant might notice their guns were different, but in the disorientation of the battlefield it was an easy thing to miss. Plus people were used to seeing more than one Bernie; maybe they'd think she was the one cheating!

Of course this was all in good fun, but then things took a more serious turn when an armored vehicle came crashing through the wall. Forgetting her appearance in the moment, Pol ran up to her redheaded teammate and addressed her in her own voice.

"What do you think is happening?"

Toughness save: 1d20+17=33. Yes!

Grapple check: 1d20+36=51. Yikes!

I think all those bonuses are right?

Grimalkin 

Lynn swirled her champagne around in her flute for a few seconds, looking thoughtful. Then an idea struck her, and she smiled.

"Let's toast to...possibilities."

As they clinked glasses, her hairstyle changed and the blue dress peeled away to reveal a green one underneath that was...a bit, no, a lot to take in. She took a sip of champagne and sighed.

"Okay, admittedly at this point, I'm just showing off," she said with a rueful chuckle and a shake of her head as she looked down at the slinky garment. "To be honest, I was down to this one and the other one, and I wanted you to see both, so-" 

Suddenly the changeling paused, and got a very serious look on her face. Then she locked eyes with Ghost for several long seconds, an intense searching gaze. Finally she hunched forward slightly, her wrists resting on her knees as she spoke, rolling her glass back and forth between her palms.

"There are...things about me you have to understand, if we take this in the direction I hope we do. I am a terribly vain creature, but I make up for it with a surprising lack of jealousy. I won't hold you prisoner, but I expect the same freedom in return. I am an irrepressible flirt, but never out of malice. And despite my sometimes outrageous appearance, I'm actually a bit of a homebody; I love to curl up with a cup of mint tea and a good book by the fire."

Lynn shrugged, finished her champagne with a swig, and gave Ghost a look of aching sincerity as she set her glass aside. This was not some fae creature made of stardust talking; this was a flesh and blood woman who didn't want to be alone anymore.

"So that's it, that's the whole package: I am mercurial and constant, and made of contradictions. If you think you could handle all that, I'd love to see you again."

Reflex save: 1d20+6+5 for Inspiration=21

That's a fail, so that's the harder Toughness save.

1d20+12+5=36 Go Go Gadget Toughness!

Grimalkin 

Lynn stepped over to the doctor's side, looking back over her shoulder to give Ghost a reassuring smile before addressing the former supervillain in the room.

"Well Viktor, what do you say? There's a lovely bed over a very nice bookstore waiting for you if you want it. You'll have as much time alone as you'd like, although you'd be welcome to join me for dinner or breakfast any time you want."

She shrugged.

"Lunch I usually grab on the go when I'm working in the store."

Grimalkin 

As soon as Ghost opened the box, all the smells of Lenny's deliciousness flooded her brain, and Lynn instantly felt her mouth water. She smiled and shook her head.

"And you remembered my order. Such a gentleman." She indicated the champagne with a nod, then considered their somewhat exposed position. "Mmm. We can do better than this."

With a wave of her hand, Grim conjuered up a sort of wooden gazebo with an open roof. The latticework walls were twined with ivy, and thousands of glowing phosphorescent berries provided enchanting illumination. You could still see the view between the gaps in the trellises, but at least now any snipers or paparazzi would have to work to get a good shot.

"Much better. A toast?" She raised a glass and arched an elegant eyebrow.

Crystal-Gazer  0 posts = 0pp

Holiday Cheer (0)

Test Your Might (0)

Shift 0 posts = 0PP

Dance Beneath the Stars (0)

Meanwhile, at the Guardians Mansion! (0)

The Young Guardians Returns! (0)

The Eel  0 posts = 0 PP

Hunted and Haunted (0)

--Titanium Characters--

Grimalkin  0 posts = 0PP

Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow (0)

Ghosts and Grimalkins: Dancing Star Night (0)

Holiday Cheer (0)

Grim's posts split between Eel and Shift

Shift

The young robot appeared conflicted by all the 'girl power' comments; although Shift technically had no biological gender, she tended to prefer a female form, as she felt more comfortable around them than boys. Part of her wanted to join the other team, but perhaps that would be disingenuous? Of course in the grand scheme of things, the gender rivalry between humans was pointless, and maybe even bad for them in the long run. However...

These ideas flew through Pol's head in a matter of seconds, and the construct ultimately decided it was probably best to accept the situation as it was, enjoy the team building and learn more about her new teammates. 

"I will assume a surgical sniper role. I can maintain a still position for an extended length of time with no discomfort, which makes me well-suited for this sort of operation."

Shift

As the vile creature attempted to burn into Shift's nanomass, she grunted for a second, and then millions of nanobots flooded into the area, absorbing the damaged micromachines and cannibalizing them to build millions more. 

Shift locked eyes with the Worm, her face totally impassive as all her limbs ratcheted tighter around the foul thing, applying enough force to make his bones creak.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Shift will continue to hold Wormy.

The Eel

After unlatching the door with an extended limb, the elastic Brit quickly scampered off the bed to dig into dinner.

"Mmm, that smells delicious! That smells authentic. Oh, I haven't had a Thums Up in ages!" 

Judging from the appetite on display, Eileen hadn't eaten very well recently. She actually had to pause at one point to catch her breath.

"Thank you so much for that; I haven't had proper Indian takeaway in...well, I have no idea how long. That's the problem, isn't it? I quite literally don't know what I'm missing."

As she paused to allow the heat of the peppers to slowly seep through her body, Eileen closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Mmm...that's heaven. Thank you so much, for everything."

Here we go...again!

Rerolling Toughness save: 1d20+17=26

9 on the roll means +10 so that's 36! No more HP to buy off Extea Effort, though.

Here we go!

Toughness save: 1d20+17=19

....how nasty will this be if I don't spend my last HP on a reroll?

What bonus do I have on the TOU check?

Shift

In response to Leon's earlier comment, Pol simply nodded. "I suppose that is correct. Classmates are a different classification than allies or friends. My disappearance therefore had little impact on your life. I understand."

When Luke made his inquiry, she could only shrug.

"I was powered down into safety mode when Charlie found me. I'm still not entirely sure why. I looked like this-"

And here the feminine robot collapsed in on herself, folding down to a compact form for a few seconds before once again resuming her prefered form.

"Thankfully a few months ago, I powered back up. Charlie kept me safe in storage, and I awoke inside his home."

Crystal-Gazer  5 posts = 1pp

Catching Up (0)

Holiday Cheer (1)

Test Your Might (4)

Shift  7 posts = 1PP

Dance Beneath the Stars (2)

Meanwhile, at the Guardians Mansion! (3)

The Young Guardians Returns! (2)

The Eel  8 posts = 1 PP

Hunted and Haunted (8)

--Titanium Characters--

Grimalkin  2+6 = 8 posts = 1PP

Ghosts and Grimalkins: Dancing Star Night (2)

Holiday Cheer (6)

Grim's posts split between Eel and Shift

Crystal-Gazer

Lulu shook her head and rolled her eyes at Davyd's theatrics, but he wasn't wrong; between the three of them, they could all operate very well in foreign lands, even though Lulu's telepathy could be a bit invasive and unnerving.

"Why don't one of y'all make th' introductions; no sense me spookin' 'em with mah voice in their heads."

In the meantime, the Southern belle put her arm around Davyd's waist to steady herself (plus let's be honest, it was an awful nice waist) as her eyes went unfocused and she had a look around the property, just to make sure there were no hidden threats.

Grimalkin

The lovely fae creature paused for a moment as she slid into the offered seat, and the facade of her sexy swagger slipped for a minute; she was genuinely touched by the obvious effort he'd put into this evening. Lynn looked up at him at him and smiled, her eyes a little damp.

"Thank you...for all of this."

Then the playful confidence returned as she rubbed her hands together. "So, garçon, what is on the menu this evening? I am starved!"