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Gizmo

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Everything posted by Gizmo

  1. Ryder hooked his thumbs into the belt loops of his overalls and let out a long breath, almost a whistle. "I mean obviously we agree that I'd be a fool to say no. By any reasonable estimation you're catastrophically out of my league," he estimated with a serious tone that might have been interpreted as a teasing impression of Natalia's cool appraisal. "But are you sure you're up for it? Like, I'm probably going to end up saying some pretty genuine and heartfelt stuff about how your outfits are all fantastic and how I really admire your commitment to your personal principles and how you're incredibly fun to spend time with. And I'm probably going to take the opportunity to get to know you on a deeper, more meaningful level, the better to support and cherish you." He shook his head and gave her an exaggerated grimace. "I may even try to hold your hand at some point. People might get the impression we like each other. It's a pretty dangerous proposition."
  2. "Might get Tori's opinion first," Ryder suggested on the topic of mystical authorities. "She'd be more clued in about magic people with, like, pedigree or credentials or whatever. Ouroboros seems like a good place to start to me, though!" He made a point to encourage both Neko and Owain's singing above and beyond even his usual baseline enthusiasm and asked the Robugs to check in on El and the Bernadettes periodically to make sure everyone had whatever they needed. There was still so much to get done and he wanted to pull his own weight while also making sure everyone was organized and supported. His sister caught him as he'd finished filling another bag with debris and was looking around for his next task. "I know you like to get lost in a project but it's not like you to stall," Jenny observed, reaching over to pluck the push broom from Ryder's hands before he could object. The younger Fujioka opened his mouth to feign confusion then slowly closed it again, running a hand through his tousled strawberry blond hair and letting out a slow breath. "...any advice?" Jenny considered for a moment then shrugged. "Don't @#$% up, I guess." Ryder pursed his lips and leaned backward with exaggerated exasperation, far enough that his torso was parallel with the floor and he was staring up at one of Friend's paintings on a curved section of the ceiling. "Great. Awesome. Very helpful." Straightening back up he stuck his tongue out at her before his attempt at annoyance dissolved into an amused grin and he returned the shrug. Jogging across the length of the old church he waved a hand over his head. "Hey, Nat! You wanted to talk about something, yeah?"
  3. "Totally, big fan of looping in folks with expertise and specialized knowledge," Ryder agreed, using both hands to give Natalia and Owain thumbs ups simultaneously. "Just, y'know, let's also make sure one of us is around for that because I also low-key distrust establishment figures where community spaces and real estate are concerned, yeah?" That admission of suspicion didn't seem to diminish his upbeat positivity in the slightest and from the doorway his sister nodded sagely in silent agreement. He snapped his fingers and pointed in Neko's direction enthusiastically as he saw what she was writing, jubilantly repeating, "Graffiti! Oh, do I ever know some people for that. Friend, we can go wall-to-wall with the art! I'm seeing, like, reclamation of religious iconography for body positivity, self expression, that sort of thing and obviously I go in for those high contrast sprays but you have to give people choices--" Ryder clapped his hands over his head and literally jumped in excitement. His grin widened as an idea took shape. "Oh, oh yeah. This room, add some baffling, curtains, refit the electrics. We'll have to work out a way for you to curate a song list, Friend because I'm gonna build you a karaoke machine with just an obscene sound system."
  4. "Oh, that's pretty clever," Jenny observed quietly from the doorway to the daycare, watching the proceedings with interest but staying back and out of the way of the teenagers, content to be an observer so long as there didn't appear to be any immediate danger to her brother or his friends. "Wuloovhernwuh?" Ryder tried to sound out the jumble of letters. "Wait, you've only got one of each letter, sure! Upsidedown 'M' gives you a second 'W' but still... 'Will you live here now?' Is that right?" He looked up to the yellowing picture for confirmation a moment before his eyes went wide with larger comprehension. "Oh! Oh! Duh, it's not about 'offerings' it's like how people like to eat in groups and at restaurants and stuff because the community and the conversation is part of what makes the food a, y'know, a meal." The young man brought both hands to his chest to illustrate what he was getting at to his classmates, his words gradually picking up speed as his excitement grew. "So if you needed music and art and people and maybe belief, like that was your 'food' then a church would be the perfect home, yeah?" He turned back to the wall and his expression fell, the vibrating energy leaving him as quickly as it had built up. "But when the congregation left you couldn't go with them?"
  5. "In related news, the sky has come out as blue," Jill quipped, making a shooing motion to her brother that was much less subtle than Talya's suggestion they step away momentarily. "But seriously, I'm glad you did. You seem a lot less pissed off at life in general than you did in high school. Could say that about a lot of people, I guess. Do the Lor have high school? There's a depressing thought." Once Jack had moved into the kitchenette to rummage for some combination of tea, cups, ice, sweetener and straws the younger Espadas folded her arms and lowered her voice to a quieter, more serious tone. "Alright, I do actually want to see Infinity's 'most likely to go down on an Earth girl' yearbook photos but while Mr. Inflexible is out of earshot I'm going to need some clarification on that last thing Copycat said that you're not interstellar ICE, 'cause that would be a bad look." She raised an arched eyebrow over her bandanna mask and shifted her gaze toward her former classmate. "Benefit of the doubt considering your whole... everything, obviously. Just, you get why I have to ask."
  6. Gizmo

    Out of the Bag

    Erik felt the muscles in his calves tense at Owain took the first swing, instinct telling him to dash forward and stop the fight. He narrowed his eyes instead, leaning into his metamagi senses. He watched students spar all the time and he trusted both teenagers to stow enough control to avoid any serious injuries but adding magic into the mix still gave him pause. Utsuwa's sword sounded like fingernails scraping dried blood off red hot steel, filling Erik's nostrils with dark and bitter colours. By contrast, the flash as Owain summoned his shield was summer sun through the leaves of a green forest canopy, bright and cheerful and utterly without mercy. The older swordsman had run into enough fae to recognize the taste of poison berries at the back of his throat. Maybe that was why he was on edge: two different, deadly threats, both of which would have been more than happy to egg the boys on despite their better judgement. Once again being the responsible adult in the room is exhausting, he sighed inwardly, refocusing on the actual swordplay on display. Maybe I'm worrying over nothing but still has to be better that they make any mistakes they're going to make here than in an actual fight. He flicked his eyes briefly in Neko's direction. Then again I might be worried about the wrong teenager entirely.
  7. "<You're welcome,>" Jenny replied to Neko in Japanese that was significantly better than Ryder's if still heavily accented before following the teens' attention upward. "Huh. Painting ghost," she hummed to Natalia, putting her hands on her hips and squinting slightly. "Oh sure, her you believe." Ryder made sure everyone in their group had taken care of themselves once food arrived then placed a litre bottle of pop and a slice of pizza on a paper plate on the lectern under the wall where they'd first noticed the moving painting. Only then did he grab anything for himself. He stuck his tongue out at his sister while walking back toward the middle of the church and opening a canned drink. Jenny nodded, unbothered. "Sure. Nat would have come up with a way better lie than that." The younger sibling accepted that logic with a bemused shrug before returning to the situation. "Step one 'food' is check! We could definitely try some different music but they seem kinda skittish? I'd say, like, gospel music but they were head banging pretty hard to Eira's playlist." He set his drink down on a damaged pew and set to tapping away at his phone with both hands. "Lemme see if I can find some heavy metal with choir vocals! Y'know, some real goth stuff."
  8. Ryder gave Jessie his rapt attention as she described the incident with her counterparts, the sort of active listening some people found flattering and others intimidating. He mulled over her advise while nodding. "That is actually really helps to hear, Miss Jessie. Thank you!" He let out a short laugh, visibly relaxing. "Utsuwa's right about there being all kinds of wild stuff out there but it's a different thing entirely to be all, 'yeah, thirty mes showed up and I got thrown in jail but I dealt with it, no big deal,' like it's just, y'know, whatever. That's pretty bad ass." He picked up his pace briefly to catch up to Aquaria and their guide, not wanting to be rude while the latter was trying to do his job. "I didn't even hear about this exhibit being in town, go figure huh?" He looked back to his roommate who had a better grasp on Japanese history and general culture than he did to see his reaction.
  9. "Hah, see? You were angling to adopt little baby thieves way before you got mixed up with mi hermano," Jill teased Talya quietly, looking up at the painting and briefly trying to imagine how one would begin trying to move it out of the room undetected. Putting it out of her mind she turned to give their 'guests' a casual wave. "We're definitely people to know, at least. I mostly just wanted an excuse to meet the space girlfriend." "We don't, like, live like this," Jack asserted with a bit more defensiveness than was probably necessary off of Infinity's expression as she looked around the home. "Uh. I mean." He gave Talya a sheepish shrug before continuing, "The Lor Republic, yeah, sure. Bunch of years ago I helped the gang on the Flarerider rescue a kid who got abducted by a squid pirate guy. Iana? I mean, she wouldn't be a kid anymore, obviously. Got to punch that dumbass right in his tentacle face, that was a good day." "I got abducted by the Curator," Jill chimed in with exaggerated cheer. "Less of a good day, more of a very bad couple months. A few Lor soldiers showed up, helped us save everybody on the ringworld. Helped Shepherd-07 a couple years later. They were looking for this chucklehead-" She indicated her elder sibling. "-messed up with the teleporter, it all worked out." Jack scratched his bearded chin, trying to think of anything else immediately relevant. "We were in the deep end when the Gorgon came to Earth 'cause of our wife," he offered, encompassing himself and Talya with a quick turn of his wrist, "but that's not really a Lor thing so much as a Preserver thing? General extraterrestrial thing? I'm probably forgetting something else, we keep pretty busy."
  10. Gizmo

    Out of the Bag

    Erik made room for the teenagers in the middle of the mats and took up a position leaning against the wall near several of the illusory cats. "I don't think either of them would mind if you wanted to come down and watch in person," he noted quietly to a longhaired feline without looking down, eyes on Utsuwa and Owain. He didn't make a fuss about it but he'd not coincidentally chosen a spot near the dojo's first aid kid and remained within a short dash to the boys. They'd both shown a lot of control for their age or he'd have been more cautious about letting them spar but Utsuwa had had some pretty brutal reflexes drilled into him and Erik knew enough about hiding behind a broad grin to want to watch Owain closely once the adrenaline got pumping. Outwardly he didn't seem much more than casually interested in the whole thing. "Whenever you're ready, gents. I'll give you my notes afterward."
  11. The door opened almost immediately, revealing a masked man in a deep blue suit. "Hey, how you doing? C'mon in," he greeted them with a lopsided smile that seemed a little chagrinned with the whole situation. Stepping out of their way he continued, mostly for Fa'Rua's benefit, "I'm Jack of all Blades, obviously just call me Jack. Otherwise this would be weird." He quirked an eyebrow to emphasize the wry punchline - either the result of spending a lot of time talking to young children or just having dramatic body language. "Now, mi hermanita didn't say; which one of you is Copycat?" He immediately raised both hands to forestall a reply. "Wait! Don't tell me, I can use my famed powers of deduction." The swordsman made a show of looking between Ashley's clearly cat themed mask and her Lor partner's visor as if in deep thought.
  12. "That's probably a good attitude to take," Ryder agreed with Jessie, having already downloaded the museum's app on his phone on handed before their guide could ready himself. The Robugs had secreted themselves away in the high schooler's shoulder bag, the more excitable among them intermittently trying to sneak peeks from under the flap while their more reserved siblings pulled them back out of sight. Ryder himself sounded a little less exuberant as he mulled over Singularity's words. "It's weird though, right? Like, a future-me or alternate-me still has a bunch in common with me-me. So I start thinking about what intrinsically makes me a unique individual and if somebody already has all those elements what does that even mean? It's heavy."
  13. 'Jill' gave an amused snort and shook her head. "No, I'm a grappling hook gal. Walking's fine with me." She gestured for Rosalind to lead the way; she knew the spot the teenager was referring to but figured it was best to let the girl set the pace herself. "You're pretty local, right? Settling in to the campus alright or still getting used to being away from home?" She was more getting the vibe that Rosalind was still getting used to being in her own skin let alone anything else. That seemed like a topic to work up to, however.
  14. Part of supporting the community and being a resource of experience and expertise meant that Erik needed to make himself accessible. That wasn't at all compatible with the carefully guarded anonymity of a secret identity. While he liked to think that he'd mellowed somewhat in the last ten years - not that he liked thinking about his life in blocks of ten years because that meant he was getting old - he absolutely had more to lose now than he had at the beginning of his career. He'd expressed those concerns to his partners on more than one occasion; Min had put things into perspective by describing in vivid detail what she would do to anyone foolish enough to endanger their children. Talya's advice had come in the form of her specific brand of spy craft, which was how Jack of all Blades exited the stairwell out onto the building's rooftop in a sharp navy blue blazer, cut with a collar that referenced his costume's greatcoat. The jacket was reversible, with an opposite side that matched his slate grey slacks with a subtle herringbone pattern. The black dress shirt he wore undone to the middle of his chest was better tailored than anything he would have gotten for himself while the belt buckle in the shape of a filigree spade was more tasteful than it had any right to be. He'd put on his bandana mask and a version of his costume'd persona's wig Talya had designed, with the long black hair pulled back in a ponytail. "We should do this sort of thing more often." His sister was already waiting for him, leaning against one of the rooftop garden's trellises in a similar outfit, her own jacket a deep crimson with a dramatic flared bottom that echoed the wider cuffs of her pants. She twirled a grappling hook launcher idly around one finger, a stronger and more compact design than the models they'd once used, curtesy of her own wife. "What, socialize as a family?" "Things that involve Talya buying me clothes, but sure. Your thing, too."
  15. "I'm just saying it's weird they want to meet me for this," Erik expressed for the umpteenth time in the past few days. He refilled a glass of orange juice from the pitcher in one hand and slid an omelette onto a plate with the spatula in the other. Breakfast was a busy affair at the Espadas household between the number of mouths to feed and remembering who'd decided they were a picky eater that morning. Navigating the crowded kitchen as deftly as a battlefield he swapped out the container of juice for a steaming pot of coffee and filled a mug. "Tu hermanita asks you to do a favour for one of her school friends and suddenly you've got an attack of what? Modesty?" Gina fixed her son with a flat look and a raised eyebrow as she accepted the mug. Technically Min was more than capable of corralling the kids on her own while Erik and Talya were occupied, pregnant or not but Raina was busy with plans of her own and Neko and Owain were at Claremont and Gina didn't need much of an excuse to spend time with her grandchildren and daughter-in-law. Erik made a scoffing noise and made a gesture of protesting innocence with the pot. "I said I'd go, I'm gonna go! But this is the sort of thing people go to, like, Stesha for. Or honestly Martel and her bunch in the castle if you're a space lesbian." Gina took a long sip and leaned back in her wheelchair, making no attempt to hide her amusement. "Sounds like you need to accept you've become a respected community elder." She received only offended sputtering in response.
  16. Gizmo

    Out of the Bag

    "Going good, Hedgehog?" Erik greeted Utsuwa as the teenager entered, stooping to pick up a toy car that had somehow made its way downstairs to the training mats. The instructor wore a plain white t-shirt and light grey sweatpants, his feet bare as he exchanged the toy for a practice sword of his own on a nearby shelf, noting the white furred housecoat that appeared to be reclining there. He gave the feline a look with a raised eyebrow as though to ask who it thought it was fooling before turning back to the stretching student. "I'd ask if you'd been practicing in the meantime but that seems like a foregone conclusion. You remember the footwork we were working on last time?" When Owain appeared he paused, not surprised so much as trying to gauge the reaction of the two young men to each other. He looked to the various cats around the room to see if he could read anything from them, too but quickly decided that he wasn't going to waste his time trying to read the body language of cats that weren't actually cats. "Good work. That's up to Utsuwa, though. I know he had stuff he wanted to work on specifically." He raised his hands with the palms upward and looked to Utsuwa with a neutral expression.
  17. Gizmo

    Out of the Bag

    Erik didn't pretend to be particularly convinced by either of their assurances but decided the best way to show them respect was to take them at their word for the time being. "Offer stays on the table," he told Neko in particular with a level look. "If it ends of being too weird we can move it elsewhere next time. That said, I think that's probably a good attitude." He nodded in approval to Owain. "None of us get to pick our crappy relatives." He hadn't been pushing the young man to talk about the Green Knight but between what Talya had told him and what he'd inferred from Neko and Owain's own accounts he'd developed some opinions. "If you want to talk to Utsuwa about it but want to have an adult around, let me know, yeah? Not trying to get in your business, so no pressure." He pulled a face and placed a thumb and knuckle against his forehead as though beset by a sudden migraine. "Neither of you are going to get why it's embarrassing that I sound like I'm trying to be a 'cool dad', huh? 'If you're going to be experimenting with magic swords we'd rather you did it in the house where we know you're being safe!' Dios." Trying to reconcile how old he felt with the knowledge that his wives were both immortals and the young teens upstairs were World War II veterans Erik headed downstairs to prepare the space for the training session.
  18. "It's actually Mrs. O'Cure," Ellie greeted with a lopsided smile for the hesitent teenager. "Well, it's technically Dr. O'Cure but nobody needs to be that person, amirite? You can call me Jill if that works for you." It was always a bit of a toss up how she was going to have to handle her secret identity - or identities - around Claremont Academy but if she'd been introduced to Rosalind by codename she could roll with that. "I figured we could find a spot wherever on campus you felt comfortable? Unless you've got any questions for me right off the bat?"
  19. "That is the point of jail," Ryder agreed amiably, apparently unbothered by Aquaria's abrupt shift in tone. He squinted for a moment in consideration before correcting himself, "Well, the point is really more of an antiquated tool of fear mongering designed to disproportionately disenfranchise specific racial and economic groups while generating massive profits for a select few with a side helping of security theatre and political clout. But that just makes what you said even more true, huh?" Meanwhile Magenta perked up at the compliment and scuttled over from in front of Baxter toward Aquaria, rubbing to top of her triangular head with the back of one curved forelimb as though shining herself. Yellow seemed to recognize Jessie's quietly mounting stress and landed near her feet, bobbing her head in a sort of commiserating apology and trying to reduce the number of moving objects Jessie needed to track. "We're probably fine though, yeah! Well. Somebody did come back in time to try to kill me and called me the 'father of modern war crimes' so that definitely changed up the critical lens I apply to my own action, y'know? But hey, Utsuwa is... hmm." He looked over to his taciturn roommate and suppressed a small wince before turning back to their visitors with a broad grin. "Off campus sounds fun!"
  20. "Some people are always going to assume the worst," Ryder nodded along to Aquaria in a commiserating tone, "but it's awesome that you were able to repurpose the armour and, like, put your own spin on it with the underwater vibe!" He'd done a little research ahead of time but hadn't managed to learn much about Deep Ones except to avoid asking Heroditus any follow-up questions. "And Baxter, what a good guy you are!" With a friendly cheer that matched the dog's own energy surprising well he knelt down to offer the back of his hand to sniff. "These guys are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black!" As they were introduced the Robugs disengaged from their perches on Ryder's cardigan, the cricket bounding from one side of Aquaria to the other before landing on the teen's shoulder, the preying mantis scurrying excitedly up to Baxter's front paws before taking a queue from her creator and backing up to a respectful distance, the wasp buzzing nervously in the middle distance between Ryder and Utsuwa as if undecided on where to go and finally the beetle slowing walking over to the edge of the pool, apparently disinterested in the larger conversation. Ryder himself looked up from Baxter at Jessie's rush of words and a flicker of surprise touched his expression before giving way to a broad, genuine smile. "See, Utsuwa, I told you we picked the coolest ones. Alternate dimensions, carving out a new life, that's total badass stuff! Claremont is pretty nice, to answer your question, Miss Jessie. I mean, look at the sort of people we get to meet here, ha!"
  21. Claremont Academy Early Afternoon, Wednesday, November 3, 2021 Dr. Ellie Espadas had gotten used to walking the Claremont Academy campus as a visiting mentor rather than a student but she hadn't really been expecting to be asked back to speak with another student. Guess I'll take it as a vote of confidence, she mused to herself, long maroon coat switching about her ankles in the brisk November air. She'd worn a tan turtleneck and black slacks with enough stretch to move about freely; she wasn't expecting that sort of action specifically but around that many kids with powers you never knew when the situation might call for some acrobatics. Waiting outside one of the school's dormitories she mentally reviewed the brief description she'd gotten of Rosalind Sommaripa ahead of time, which hadn't been much more than a photo of an uncomfortable looking teenager and a couple of sentences about extraterrestrial jewelry. Ellie considered the chunky bangle bracelets hanging about her own wrists. Probably not looking for accessorizing advice.
  22. Gizmo

    Out of the Bag

    "'Bloody' works, too," Erik assured her quietly, clenching his fist over the little flicker of illusory fire then forcing himself to relax his hand. "I don't honestly know. I only met her the one time and we didn't, uh, talk much. There was a robot pirate and a bunch of those cultist ninja guys in a museum-- you know what, that's not really important." He waved away the temptation to get sidetracked by the easier conversation of an anecdote. He looked back to Neko where she had taken a seat and belatedly put together her meaning. "Oh! Like a bloodline, it's tied to-- right. Yeah, that makes sense. Hm." Setting aside the questions that raised he met her eyes with a serious look. "You don't have to stay up here. What I was going to ask is if you'd rather I moved the training session somewhere else. The whole point of you and Owain staying here is for you to feel safe. That means you get a say in stuff like this."
  23. “Sure but I’m saying that you already train with your sword all the time - like arguably a concerning amount not that I’m judging - but fighting in armour? That’s the other side of the violence coin, right?” Ryder was still pitching his choice of mentor for the day to Utsuwa as they walked across the campus, his arm over his roommate’s shoulders. He wore an oversized cardigan knitted in a rainbow of pastel colours that reached halfway down his thighs open over a black tank top with a heavy metal band’s name across it and paint splattered jeans. His enthusiasm was more convincing than his reasoning but fortunately he caught sight of Sea Devil before Utsuwa could cross examine him. “Haha, oh wow! It’s like if you asked somebody to reverse engineer Star Knight armour, wild!” He slipped away from Utsuwa to jog up to Aquaria and get a better look at her suit. Up close she could see a collection of brightly coloured robotic insects hanging off of the back of his cardigan. “Hi, sorry, I’m Ryder, this is Utsuwa, we were supposed to meet you?” The teen gave her a broad, dimpled smile before looking over to acknowledge the second woman and her furry companion. “Hi— oh! Say, do you know Mrs. Hunter-White, works over at the HAX building? You’re a dead ringer, is why!”
  24. Gizmo

    Out of the Bag

    It wasn't exactly the reaction Erik had been expecting; it was hard to reconcile the polite teenager he'd gradually gotten to know with the knowledge that she had seen far more death than he had himself. The illusory katana was convincing and disturbing but it didn't taste the way the real one did to his metamagi senses and so his attention remained on her expression. He let out a long, audible breath and quietly replied, "I think so but it's... attached to him so I don't think he had a lot of say in it." If he'd been more proactive he could have spoken with Utsuwa ahead of time and tried to get the kid to open up and clarify some points but he'd been trying to give the boy his space. After another beat of silence broken only by the drip of illusory blood from the blade he softly continued. "I know what the sword looks like, Neko. C'mon, you don't need to be looking at that." He extended an open hand, still more than a full step away from her and she felt a small tug on the magic threads woven into the image she'd created. Not enough to pull it away without her permission, just an offer to carry the metaphorical weight for a moment.
  25. Gizmo

    Out of the Bag

    Erik blinked a few times as he considered Neko's assertion. "He is like a hedgehog, yeah, wow. I'm going to use that." He returned his attention to conversation at hand and gave the girl a small shake of his head. "Oh no, there's nothing you need to do, that's not what I was getting at. The thing is..." He placed his hands on his hips and looked at the ceiling, deciding finally that there was nothing for it but to be direct. "Utsuwa has powers, yeah? Specifically, he's got a magic sword, only not like Owain's? It pops out, can be sort of a surprise and I didn't want you getting surprised." He was starting to speed up his words a bit and forced himself to slow back down. "You know I can sense stuff about magic and I haven't gotten into it with Utsuwa himself but I've seen the sword before, yeah? And I'm pretty sure you'd recognize it too 'cause it used to belong to the Crimson Katana." He stopped to give her a chance to process, hopping ripping the bandaid off had been the right move.
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