Gizmo

"Don't forget that if you wanted to make a couple calls and skim a power set or three you could pretty much make your biology work however you want," Ellie pointed out as they retrieved their coats and headed back out in the December weather. "It'd take some careful experimenting and frank discussion of bodily functions which I know are your favourite, but..." With a shrug she leaned into Mara's shoulder, ostensibly against the chill. "Dios, Yoyo is just the most special kid. I mean, she's a teenager now, don't know when that happened, and I know everybody thinks their kids are perfect but I think about what we were like at that age and I just can't get over how she knows exactly who she is and doesn't budge an inch if someone has a problem with it. I'm serious!" She laughed, a broad if lopsided grin splitting her face. "Forget honour student, our daughter could go ten rounds with a bulldozer and not blink. Also she's an honour student. In case you were wondering."

“I’m a catch,” Ellie confirmed serenely, touching fingertips to her chest and nodding. She tilted her head to one side, one eye closed while the other sought out Ashley’s gaze but she didn’t press the issue when the other woman looked away. Gently she continued, “It’s not your job to convince her or win her over, y’know. Representation or normalizing or whatever is one thing but I think that’s more about giving closeted folks some courage and shutting up the real %$&?s. If someone who knows and loves you specifically wants to put conditions on that it’s up to them to get their heart in order.” She gave a small shrug and tried to adopt a lighter tone. “Every family’s different, though, yeah? Might be messy but I’m sure it’ll work out in the end.”

"Wow wow wow!" Ellie leaned over the table, halfway standing out of her chair to get a better look at the photo on Ashley's phone. "I love the shoulders on that. And that's such a sweet tradition." Thinking on the 'traditional' along with the reminder of the other woman's fairly conservative politics gave her a moment's pause. She leaned back in her chair and took a moment to choose her words. "This is always the thing with weddings in the community but does your family know that your ladyfriend is from 'out of town'?" Ellie chewed on the corner of her bottom lip and wrinkled her nose in a muted wince as she added the potentially more delicate question, "And, y'know, a lady?"

Chitin Standard Action: Activate CMYK Driver Move Action: Activate Bush Cricket Instar Extra Effort: Surge Standard Action: Charge Canister: 1d20+11+2 = 23 Canister Toughness Save vs DC 20: 1d20+10 = 19 Move Action: Demoralize Chitin; -5 Challenge (Fast): 1d20+10-5 = 16 Standard Action: Unarmed Attack vs Chitin: 1d20+12 = 28 Chitin Sense Motive Check vs DC 16: 1d20+13 = 19 Toughness Save vs DC 23: 1d20+5 = 8 Toughness Save vs DC 23; HP Reroll: 1d20+5 = 14 + 10 = 24 24 - Chitin - Uninjured, -2 Defense, Extra Effort, 2HP 21 - Canister - Bruised x1 19 - Nocturne - Uninjured, 3HP

Ellie rolled her eyes at 'government drone'. "I've worked too may ER shifts to think cops with guns sounds like a good idea and I've never had to wonder how one of the bees' body cam footage mysteriously went missing. And look, this is obviously a downer but people already vote to put kids in cages; would it be inappropriate if, whoever, say Gabriel said that was a crappy policy?" She leaned back in her chair, not looking terribly pleased to be committing the the more serious topic but also unwilling to brush it aside for the sake of social niceties. "The main issues with policing come from them prioritizing property, wealth, maintaining established power structures because they're part of those structures. The system is actively hostile to cops who actually want to "work for us" and being a fewer steps away from lobbyists and @#$%s jockeying for re-election doesn't seem like it would make the Patriot more effective, does it?" The brunette raised her empty hand in a vague gesture and looked into her teacup. "Look, obviously I'm coming from some bias here since I've met most of the current League but the geology nerd has gone of bat for "us" time and again. On the other hand, last time a Patriot was on a League there stopped being a League. Which, with the benefit of hindsight, I think we can confidently label 'not great'? I didn't miss any campaigns on social to make McCarthyism cool again? I never check mine, the algorithm is still showing me nothing but wedding stuff, it's unusable."

Ellie looked up to listen to the televised interview as the proprietor drew attention to it and was polite enough to wait until he'd delivered their tea and stepped away before pulling a face. "Can't say the lady's not trying, at least. Wouldn't see me taking that job. Sucks they trot the kid out there too, though." She looked across the table to Ashley and gave a gesture of embarrassed apology. "Sorry! Not what we were talking about. It just gets me, like, meta-humans can't have a political opinion? Should we not vote, either? The government's going to make laws about people with powers, about our bodies but watch out, it'd be inappropriate if we had opinions about it?" The subject had obviously hit a bit of a sore spot and the young doctor looked over her shoulder briefly to make sure she wasn't disturbing anyone else in the little restaurant. Lowering her voice just in case she extended a hand toward Ashley. "Like, we both come from cops, yeah? Can't be a cop if you've got powers. But how is the Patriot not a cop? So what even are the rules?" She made an irritated gesture before picking up her teacup. "Don't get me wrong, I'd rather it was her doing it than some bro from your hot wings place; everything I hear is she's good people. You can just tell there's ten speech writers off camera vetting this stuff. They know exactly what they're doing getting the Soqotri kid up there going, 'meta-humans in government is bad, actually,' like that's the squeaky wheel in this country." She hunched her shoulders and covered most of her face with her cup. "Ugh, Mara, baby, help change the subject again or I'll keep being totally unbearable. Sorry, Ash."

Chitin Initiative: 1d20+10 24 Canister Initiative: 1d20+10 21

Canister punctuated the statement by snapping the aerosol can in their hand to the left, right arm crossing their body while their left grabbed a lever on their belt and pulled it to a locked position on the opposite side of the chunky central piece. "Chitin Runner Canister, online!" A gravelly, distorted voice replied from the belt, "RGB! Leave a mark!" Their index finger plunged down on the head of the paint can, spraying in a wide arc in the space between them and the others present. Rather than a hiss of compressed pigment the sound was like a shotgun blast as thousands of droplets each punched a pinprick hole into a pocket dimension, bright white light and displaced air bursting forth, creating a streak of distorted space that hung in the air. Slamming the can into the space on the belt opened by moving the lever, Canister charged through the violent tear. "Danger! Flammable!" They emerged on the other side armoured in black and slate grey plates, burnished bolts spinning to lock pieces into place and steel studs on the knees and reinforced toes reflecting the last of the quickly fading light behind them. Their scuffed and stained red jacket echoed the X-shaped visor that dominated their helmet, pulsing with a muted crimson. They channeled their momentum into a high kick aimed at Ryder's chest. The startled teen had just enough time cross his arms in a hasty block before being sent flying backward into the chair Natalia had been using. Not missing a beat, Canister pointed a hand toward Koshchei's scientific equipment and let loose a torrent of scorching flame in an unavoidable arc!

"Honestly Dr. Koshchei, bit of a fan but you've pretty much made all your meaningful contributions to history so..." Canister shrugged, face schooled into a flat expression that was hard to read. "Omelettes, eggs. You get it." Despite the relaxed banter they noticeably didn't come any further into the room, staying where they could keep all of the room's occupants in their sight lines "Wow. Okay, ethically a hot mess and also weirdly, needlessly rude?" Ryder took a show, careful step forward, one hand still raised toward the intruder. "There's gotta be a smarter way to deal with your whole deal than trying to start a fight so you don't feel as bad about the whole premeditated murder thing. Literally just talk to me, okay?" One of Canister's eyes twitched as their neutral look broke into an irritated scowl. "Wild. I just assumed the sanitized, sexless, loves-children-and-animals, theme park mascot version of you from the corpo history minute vids was propaganda but you're actually an oblivious caricature of a person, aren't you? I've had to @#$% around in your time period for longer than I wanted and it's not just an old-timey thing, it's just you, you actual clown!" Ryder puffed up his cheek and let out a loud breath. "Woof. I mean, most people like children and animals, that's sort of the default? And I'm still feeling out labels on the ace spectrum, but 'sexless' is factually--" Abruptly remembering who was in the room he stopped short. "We don't really need to have that conversation right now." "What d'you know. Consensus."

Jill O'Cure Americhristmas - 3 Chitin Past & Future Tense - 1 GM Past & Future Tense - 1 Rollover and Ref Point can go to Chitin!

Ari Rainshadow - 1 Guide Point = 1PP Dr Archeville Artificier - 0 posts + 1 Ref Point = 1PP Horrowshow - 1 post = 1PP EternalPhoenix Effigy - 1 Ref Point = 1PP Fox Eclipse - 1 post = 1PP Grim - 1 post = 1PP Nocturne - 1 post + 1 Ref Point = 2PP KnightDisciple Patrioteen - 1 Guide Point = 1PP MikeFCPBP Patriot - 1 Ref Point = 1PP MoonSimply La Puma - 6 posts = 1PP Nerdzul Nightscale - 6 posts = 1PP Spacefurry Chimera - 1 post = 1PP Paper - 8 + 1*2 GM = 10 posts = 2PP TheAbsurdist Jotunn - 1 Ref Point = 1PP Thevshi Multigirl - 3 posts + 1 Ref Point = 2PP Tiffany Korta Starshine - 1 post = 1PP Zhenshchina-voin - 1 Ref Point = 1PP trollthumper Cavalier - 1 Ref Point = 1PP

Ellie followed Ashley's lead while ordering, giving the proprietor a broad, lopsided smile as he ushered them to their table. She noted the news segment with a glance but decided to steer away from politics given the occasion. "You don't need to go big with any of it, is all I mean," she continued an earlier thread of the conversation, reaching under the table to link fingers with her wife. "Everything online is going to say you need these flowers and this cocktail menu at the reception and some relative is going to have opinions about tradition all of the sudden and if they want to propose to their 'out-of-town' girlfriend they can do whatever they want. It's not like you've ever been about dressing up all ostentatious and giving speeches in front of a huge audience and you shouldn't have to fake it on a day that's supposed to be about the two of you." She paused. "Unless you want the princess gown and everyone you've ever met in attendance, in which case go off, queen, absolutely."

"Aw, nostalgic," Ellie approved of the statuettes, turning one over in her hands and giving a little laugh at the explanation for its design. She stopped short when Ashely segued into her announcement. After a slow blink the young doctor's expression split into a broad grin. "Well @#$%, that's huge!" She set down the tchotchke to step closer and clap a hand on Ashley's shoulder. "Do you need help with the proposal or were you thinking more low key? You were never big on having an audience. Intimate is probably better anyway. What about location? Are you going to make her dinner? Our kitchen isn't huge but it's got more room than the boat if you want to borrow it."

"Ahoy, Captain," Ellie deadpanned as she stepped aboard, giving a flourish that vaguely implied a salute. She overcorrected for the gentle rocking of the boat for a moment before years of gymnastic training and real world experience saved her balance and her pride. "This is great," she assured Ashley once they'd entered the main interior space of the vessel. "It's honestly wild that we don't know more people with houseboats. We're around a lot of people with big 'lives on a boat' energy." She handed off the cookie tin and gift bag so she could walk in an admittedly small circle to take in the living room, leaving Mara to accept the box Ashely presented in return. "This is how I know we're getting old, because I unironically love those throw pillows. I have throw pillow opinions now, Ashley. Hot throw pillow takes." The gift bag was surprisingly heavy and nestled in bright red and green tissue paper Ashely found a soft plush cat with cartoony smiling eyes, about the size of a dinner plate and almost as flat. It's weight shifted with the telltale sound of dried grains pouring as it was lifted and an attached tag explained that the pancake-esque calico was a saffron-scented reusable heating and cooling pad for soothing aches and pains. The cookie tin was also densely packed, a wild variety of homemade cookies grouped into several sandwich sized resealable bags for easy refrigeration and piled atop each other so that the lid barely stayed attached. "Yoyo and her cousins had a baking day with mi mama so if you like those for the love of all that's holy let me know so we can foist more of them off on you. I cannot overstate how many cookies we've been working though. Just an unconscionable number." Ellie picked up one of the mugs and noted the sports bar's logo while blowing gently across the steaming liquid. "Tell me again how you thought you were passing for straight...?"

"And only being able to copy other people's cool @#$% is sort of a raw deal when you're a teenager," Ellie was explaining to her wife as they walked from where they'd parked Mara's own bike toward the marina. One arm was linked with Mara's at the elbow before her hand retreated to the warmth of her white puffer jacket's pocket white the other supported a small gift bag balanced atop a tin of cookies. "I dunno, maybe it would have been cool for some of the kids with weirder situations, like they'd have somebody to practice with or relate to about whatever but with the side-effects nobody was lining up to shake Ashley's hand, right? So she pretty much never used her powers at school and got a reputation for having big hall monitor energy." After a pause she rephrased to account for Mara's lack of high school experience. "Fun police, I mean. My point is it's kinda huge that she'd reach out at all and making friends as an adult is like pulling teeth so I just want it to go well. Do I seem nervous? 'Cause if I seem nervous she's going to think it's her fault." She huffed, breath hanging in the chilly air.