Avenger Assembled

"That might be nice," Jack agreed, even as he knew it would be impossible. "I'll tell you what; I'll be the liason when your people come to put the flowers in, right? So we'll have a chance to meet then, and maybe make plans for another night." He was putting off the inevitable, he knew, but he felt less bad about the situation this way. He'd already taken enough from her. "It was a very memorable evening. And I think we'll avoid making it onto the news. Should I...should I look for you there, sometime?"

Jack finished watching the movie with Stesha, feeling oddly guilty for what he'd been doing. Well, he'd paid the price for taking advantage of a friend, hadn't he? If they were friends, anyway. When the movie came to an end they walked out together, but they weren't arm-in-arm anymore. "Well," he said with a small smile, "I don't think I'd ever have gone to see that without you along. But now I can say I did. Maybe there are more to these places than just watching old scary movies." It was quite late out now, the sky above speckled with light pollution and stars.

"No, no, it's okay..." said Jack reassuringly. She hadn't tasted bad, really, just a little odd. He sucked his teeth, then gave her a wry smile. "My bad. I think there was a fly flying around here or something; it had nothing to do with you." He reached down and squeezed her hand. "You're fine. And so am I." He turned and looked back at the movie, not pulling away but a bit less intimate than he'd been earlier. He had a lot of things to sort out yet.

We'll give Vith a couple more days, then get started.

Jack coughed as he came up, sucking hard to keep the blood down. What...was that?! It had been like biting down on a plant and human at the same time, the combination of tastes a bizarre and vaguely unsettling one. He recovered as quickly as he could, acting as if he'd swallowed a bug rather than something else. "Oh, sorry, sorry..." he laughed. "Guess I killed the mood there." No more feeding on meta-humans! Why am I so awkward with the women I actually like?

contents himself with hassling Electra. Ain't love grand?

All right, spending my other HP to shrug off the fatigue from power-stunting: Drain Constitution 1 (Insidious) (PF: Subtle) off Jack's regular ol' Drain Con. Just a little taste as Jack walks that fine ethical line. ;)

Jack and Stesha took full advantage of the darkness to enjoy a lovely little makeout session. Jack rather enjoyed the delay to intimacy, something his personal life usually didn't allow, and was glad he'd fed earlier that evening. But as lovely as her scent and taste was something was missing, and it was his teeth in her neck. But doing that here was going to be difficult, at least until he could do certain other deeds. She wasn't drunk, certainly, nor was she that distracted. He decided to concentrate on leaning in and exerted himself just a little as his teeth hit her neck...

Swinging like a rusty gate! Hey Sac, don't forget that you need to describe your action in the IC.

Oh, okay, I misunderstood what you said above. My bad. APPROV-ED!

"Further back," suggested Jack, who joined her in a cozy row relatively far back in the newly-built, antique-styled theater. The film was subtitled, which helped his education a lot, though it did mean he missed much of the so-inspiring story of the bee struggling hard to make it for herself in a hive overrun by enemies who lay all around her. After all, like any good man on a date, he was enjoying his date as much as he was the movie itself. They were sitting in a darkened corner indeed, the gargoyle overhead providing lovely concealment except to someone who could see well in the dark. But Stesha didn't seem to mind. He liked that about her.

OK, I'm going to approve this. 1 down, 1 to go!

Jack continued flirting with Stesha as they headed over to the small movie theater, talking warmly to her in the Lexus and taking a little while to enjoy the lovely curve of her neck as they went. Her powers didn't seem very overwhelming; her metahuman abilities apparently didn't give her the knowledge to know his true nature. He wondered what she'd taste like, even as he felt a little guilty for wondering that. She was his friend; they wouldn't do anything together that they all wouldn't thoroughly enjoy. He wasn't a monster...at least, not a monster like that. He paid for their tickets there again, after checking if Stesha wanted to see the 1930s version of The Mummy or a more recent French art film about bees.

Hmm. In that case, I would say it's a four point rather than five-point drawback.

Darn it. "Restaurant, eh?" He smiled down at her, something darkly suggestive in his eyes. "Shall I feast upon your lips some more, my lovely little flower?" he replied warmly. "We seemed to be doing pretty well, there...and I'm not actually hungry for food. Adrenaline always kills my appetite. For eating, anyway," he added with a small laugh. "Never for the other good things in life. We could drive over to the Hammond, that new artsy movie palace by the mall. We can catch the late show. And it's close to my place."

They kissed for a while, enjoying the moment and each other in the warm, dark alley. Jack had enjoyed his share of late-night encounters in dark alleys with willing women, but somehow this didn't seem like the right place for that. He could still hear the sirens on the other side of the building, and who knew if the Freedom League might show up for other investigations? He was sure he'd snuck them both out of there, but you could never be sure. "Let's get out of here," he whispered to her again as they broke the kiss, now in each other's arms, but he was smiling in a way he hadn't been before. "Some place warmer."

"I won't tell a soul." Jack looked down at the blooming flower, an odd smile on his face as he thought about the abilities his cute date had presented that night. "It's beautiful, Stesha, just like you. I envy you your powers." They were lovely abilities, he realized, a beautiful touch of life that he'd never have himself. What wonderful powers those were; how much he'd enjoy them if he had them! Between thinking of Stesha and her flowers and the super-romance of the moment, Jack succumbed to temptation. He bent down and kissed Stesha right on the lips.

Okay, durf, we're getting close: Is his Involuntary Transformation common, uncommon, or very common? Can he resist the transformation with a Will save, or is it automatic?

Jack's face was completely uninjured, with hardly a mark left from the blast he'd taken at point-blank range. "I'm all right," he lied smoothly as he looked down at her, "they must not have put a full charge in those things." He smiled down at her, enjoying the post-fight emotional rush and the pretty girl by his side. "How about you, did you get along all right? You did a good job dealing with those guys, surprised or not."

"It was," said Jack, giving her a little half-smile. "Was that your first big fight like that? Watching one, I mean," he added, not wanting to pry where it wasn't his business. Well, maybe it was his business, but he hazarded that it was improper to ask after your date's secret identity. "It looked like you did all the right things. I was glad you were there."

Outside in the alleyway, Jack seemed to relax a little. "Well...that was something." They'd stepped out into a rear alley behind the museum, the loading dock for exhibits and artifacts. There was privacy here, at least with everyone having either rushed out the other exits (for civilians) or rushing in the front door (the arriving emergency personnel). He looked down at Stesha, a half-smile tugging at his face. "Most of my dates don't go like that. Let's get out of here," he suggested.

Despite Stesha's skepticism, the guards ran right past them to subdue the feebly-struggling "Omegadrones" as the frightened crowd recuperated. Amid shocked voices and loud alarms, not to mention the guards yelling at the drones as they ripped off their helmets to find shady-looking men with a day's growth of beards underneath, no one seemed to notice the two hiding heroes at all. Jack leaned close to Stesha, finger over his mouth, and pointed towards a fire exit near the back of the building, miming that they needed to walk very slowly and very carefully that way.

I'm going to spend an HP for Ultimate Stealth, giving Jack a ridiculous 42 on his Stealth check for disappearing behind the statue with Stesha in tow.

Fleur's tangling vines went flying past the fast-moving thug in the drone suit, her vines wrapping themselves firmly around a statue of Andrea Atom. Jack could see the security guards running up behind him in the thug's armor, and knew that he had to end this fight fast if he didn't want the whole fricking world to know who he was and what he was doing! (Much less Stesha, who obviously had a secret identity of some kind.) Knowing that it was now-or-never, Jack slammed his fist into the last drone's head, finally powering him into the ground with a sudden, definitive thud. With that he turned and took Stesha's hand, an urgent look on his face as he ducked down with her. "Ssh! Don't move!"

The thug Stesha had hit with the pollen groaned again and began coughing loudly as pollen infiltrated the putatively protected confines of his suit, but didn't actually pass out. Over on the other end of things, Jack had opted to end the fight quickly. What better way was there for him to get the fight done and get the heck out of there before anyone noticed the two of them fighting? He drew back his fist and slammed it directly into his antagonist's face, hitting his jaw so hard that the tough metal bent beneath his knuckles. The overmatched man in the drone suit staggered back, this time managing a shot from the pike that smacked into the ceiling. Plaster and bits of hanging tile fell down, the torso-sized hole overhead exposing the wiring inside the ceiling.