Certain Flaws [IC]

[April]

On the shore of the Great Bay at the end of a long, private road sits the Martel Estate, hidden behind conifers and a large gated wall affording the owners considerable privacy. Standing on the private pier, one could make out the distant Lonely Point Naval Station across the water. Once known as Windrush, an old Victorian that was demolished during the Terminus invasion, the new mansion is considerably more modern in appearance. While this might have raised a few eyebrows in the community, the current owners and residents where known to be a rather nice sort and were generally left to their own devices.

Eve stood on the balcony attached to her room, feeling the brisk winter wind on her face as she looked out across the water. She was nervous; the young Frenchwoman had spent the better part of a year alternating between the desire to invite her friends over and the resolve to keep everyone at a careful, controlled distance. It seemed sensible at the time, she reflected, but when she fell into the hands of SHADOW it was the very people she kept at a distance that rescued her. She owned it to her friends to let them into her life, all the way in. When she told Nicholas this, she expected he would disagree. His response surprised her.

So she sent out the invitation; brunch at the Martel Estate in North Bay.

[Avenger Assembled]

"So this count as a date?" asked Mark, shooting a look over at his diminutive escort. He'd asked Zarana if she was interested in accompanying him to the Martel brunch, but his sometime-girlfriend had actually referred him to their mutual friend Agent H. "I mean, neither of us are really seeing anyone..." And it was true; despite occasionally pairing off, he and Zarana weren't exactly exclusive, or committed, on either of their parts. As for Hope herself, he didn't pay much attention to these things, but he hadn't heard of the Erde resistance fighter dating much through their time in high school together.

"If you play your cards right," she teased. Hope was cute, Mark had to admit, especially when she smiled. She'd had extensive dental work done when she'd first come to Claremont, and her teeth were the sort that looked white and sharp. "I was talking to Zarana about boys who'd show me a good time and wouldn't expect anything afterwards, and she said you were good at that." Neither Hope nor Mark were planning to stay around Claremont when they graduated, they just had very different plans for where they were going. She yawned and stretched, not incidentally letting her hand land on Mark's leg. She was dressed warmly against the chill of Freedom City in February, but Mark could still make out the pistol she had holstered under her sweater.

At the Martel house, Mark leaned over and spoke into the intercom to get buzzed in.

[April]

No voice answered Mark over the intercom but the large double gate slide open soundlessly on its well-maintained track inviting him and his guest inside.

Eve broke from her reverie and hurried inside, vaulting over the railing separating the second floor balcony from the foyer. This earned her a reproachful look from the older gentleman with salt-and-pepper hair, which she merely answered with a grin.

--It's OK Renard, I got the door.--

The butler sniffed, looking for the entire world as though he were insulted but Eve could see faint smile at the corner of his mouth. Shaking his head he went back into the kitchen. Eve's grin transformed into a wider smile as she stepped out the front door, hands clasped in front of her as she waited for her friends to arrive.

[Fox]

Mara wasn't too far behind Mark's car - by the time he'd pulled in through the gate she'd almost caught up, bringing her motorcycle in after him and pondering the coincidence of arriving at nearly the same time. Granted, if she hadn't taken so long to fret and worry about what someone's supposed to wear to such a thing, she and the passenger sitting behind her might have been a little more early - she glanced up at the building and started to second-guess the simple, dark blue blouse, black jacket, and black slacks (the former two of which she'd had to go out and buy; she didn't exactly stock up on fancy clothes; she'd had to do a little shoe-shopping for nicer black short boots with a short, wide heel, too. She wasn't awfully fond of shoe-shopping, but somehow beat-up running shoes didn't seem appropriate to the occasion).

She sighed a little, turning the machine off and pushing the kickstand down with one foot. She removed her helmet, too, grudgingly admitting that it was entirely too late now to be worrying about that....

[Avenger Assembled]

Mark and Hope were the first inside the door, Hope letting Mark put his arm around her shoulders in a very friendly way. "Eve!" Mark exclaimed cheerfully, reaching over and clapping Sage on the back in his usual hail-fellow-well-met sort of way. "Your house is awesome!" It was much bigger than his own, that was for sure. "This is Hope, I don't know if you've met her."

"," Hope said to Eve in good French. "" She didn't seem interested in much talk, instead just hanging onto Mark and looking around the mansion. She cocked her head up, though, and shot a look behind her out the door. "Someone else is here..."

[Gizmo]

With vetoing the Night Cycle as a means of transportation in her newly acquired skirt, Trevor drove his girlfriend's newly washed, blue pickup up the curving driveway leading up to the Martel estate. What with one thing or another, they'd had to postpone taking Eve up on her open brunch invitation more than once, and the young man was glad to finally have a chance to pay his diminutive friend a visit. For his part, he'd dressed in a black sport coat undone over a light blue dress shirt and equally dark pants. Fortunately, he managed to carry his ever present fedora and oval sunglasses in a manner that made them seem appropriate as well.

Pulling up behind the other vehicles, his eyebrow's raised slightly above the tinted lenses, though it didn't take much to realize that he was more interested in the newly arrived motorcycle than its riders. "Shall we?" he asked, turning to Erin.

[Electra]

"Sure, but later. It's polite to at least say hi to Eve before you go looking at everybody else's vehicles," Erin replied with a grin, deliberately misinterpreting. She climbed out of the truck and smoothed down the slate gray skirt she was wearing, then tugged down the sleeves of the matching jacket. She'd had to go out and buy an outfit to have anything at all to wear to this, but she'd had the gift card Mark had given her for Christmas, and that had come in handy. Anyway, she was hopefully going to need at least one outfit to wear to job interviews, once she got some. She took Trevor's arm and headed with him towards the house, using her free hand to make sure the wind didn't catch her skirt.

[Gizmo]

Taking off her borrowed helmet, Ellie - Or in this case, Jill, she reminded herself - was glad for once to have shortened her hair considerably before dyeing it. She was similarly glad to have hitched a ride on Mara's motorcycle, finally unwrapping her arms after holding on tight for the entire trip. The cream coloured sleeves of the oversized shirt he'd chosen to wear billowed slightly around the layered bangle bracelets on her wrists thanks to the much more fitted maroon vest she wore over top. The black pants flared out a bit at her ankles and matched her unbuttoned pea coat.

Dismounting the the bike carefully, she grinned to Mara. "Alright, that was pretty fantastic." Jill recognized the couple in the truck that pulled in behind them as Erin and her laconic boyfriend and gave them a small wave before looking at the massive house and whistling quietly to herself.

[April]

The white haired teen inclined her head to Hope as she suffered Mark's greeting, the smile on her face evident that she didn't mind his usual exuberance. --Hello Mark, Hope. I'm happy you could make it. If you wish you can wait in the sitting room until the other arr--oh here they are.--

Eve practically glided through the front door and down the sweeping white steps when she saw both vehicles pull into the circle. The question of who to greet first was easily resolved when Erin stepped from the truck first and was quickly joined by Trevor. The young Martel quickly folded the taller auburn haired girl into a quick hug before stepping back and hugging Trevor.

--Mark's inside,-- she informed the couple, --You should hurry on in too. It's a bit cold.--

By this time she noticed the motorcyclists had extracted themselves from their ride. --Hi Jill,-- the telepath called to the taller girl, two heartbeats later she was hugging her like she did Trevor and Erin. She hesitated briefly when she turned to face the blond but she soon pulled her into a quick embrace as well. Stepping back she gestured to the front door, a snow white eyebrow raised in an expression of curiosity.

--I see you finally found someone to come with you,-- Eve murmured in Jill's mind, a sense of playfulness accompanying her words, --I'm glad, though I must say just a little surprised. When we get inside I think introductions are in order.--

[Avenger Assembled]

"This house really is amazing," agreed Hope. "I don't think I've ever seen it looking so clean. Or so new!" She walked around the house, an intent look on her face. "There's an artillery position back home we use for targeting Ubersoldaten flying it over the bay. I helped run it a few times last time I went home for a visit. I took down three, four fliers myself!" she added with a look of grim pleasure. She really had relaxed a lot since Mark had first met her, though the determination was still solid behind her eyes. "I wonder if the hundred year old Scotch is still in the pantry..." She made a beeline in that direction and Mark got in the way.

"Hey, if Eve wants us to have her scotch, she'll let us have Scotch," he said, blocking the path. "We're guests here, and we need to be polite. She's just showing people in now. We can't just rush into the heart of the party..."

"Am I going to have to get...physical with you, Mark?" she poked him in the chest. "Because if so, I'll..." Suddenly, she hooked one leg under Mark's and flipped him downward. Mark might have resisted, except the petite soldier wound up straddling his chest. She grinned down at him and said, "Zarana was right. I am going to like you."

Just then the door opened, and Mark waved from the floor as his friends came into the house and Hope disengaged herself from pinning him to the floor. "Hey everybody! Good to see you made it!"

[Fox]

Mara hesitated herself, but managed to give the white-haired girl a small, if a little awkward, hug back. She tilted her head, opening her jacket and letting her helmet sit on the bike itself as she watched the quiet host. psychic? - nothing yet - not looking forward to that - still - El -- Jill's friend - worth the headache later

She glanced at Jill, then back at the house, following the former toward the latter. should be - mmh - interesting?

[Gizmo]

"Oof. Hey, Eve. Thanks for having us," Trevor greeted with a small smile, patting the gymnast briefly on the head as their hostess made her rounds. It was good to see her so upbeat after a rough few months. The blonde motorcyclist he didn't recognize from around the school, though he'd met the other girl briefly. Of course, fighting off extradimensional demons in Claremont's library had been fairly memorable regardless.

Following Eve's advice and stepping in from the cold, the dark haired young man found his preternaturally lucky friend in a characteristically compromising position. "Mark," he nodded with stoic dryness.

[Electra]

Erin returned Eve's hug, just a little awkwardly, which was pretty good for her. She nodded and smiled to Jill and her friend as they came in, and counted herself to be doing well in the social graces department. She was brought up short when they got into the actual house, just in time for her to hear part of Mark's conversation and see the aftermath. She'd been in the Martel house before as well, actually, in yet another world. Some of the security systems had valuable salvageable parts, but she thought it wouldn't be polite to mention that. "Hope," she said dryly, echoing Trevor's intonation. "I, ah... we're not interrupting anything, are we?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"No no, not doing a thing," said Mark innocently from the floor. "We were just horsing around a little, and I guess Hope won. How's everybody doing?"

"Just showing Mark a little hand-to-hand," said Hope with a wink, smoothly rising to her feet and offering Mark a hand up. This sort of aggressively physical sociability wasn't what the Young Freedom kids associated with the bantamweight resistance fighter from Erde, but then weird things did seem to happen around Mark.

"Hey, everybody!" It really was good to see everybody there: Trevor and Erin looking content together, Jill Pique and Oh snap! The bathroom wall was wrong! the skinny little blonde he didn't know, and of course Eve Martel herself. It had been too long since a socialization moment hadn't turned into an occasion for random violence. "I guess we just got here first."

[Gizmo]

Jill had to cover a short chuckle with a cough as Eve decided to hug Mara as well. --Only a little?-- she replied telepathically, the thoughts carrying more good-natured humour than wry embarrassment. --Surprised the heck outta me at the time.--

As they headed inside, she surreptitiously slipped her hand into Mara's and gave it a quick squeeze, quietly telling her, "Thanks again for coming." She knew this wasn't really the engineer's scene, but it meant a lot to have her there, just as it made things seem much more real in an odd way.

Entering after Trevor and Erin, the prospective med student coughed lightly as the pair on the floor righted themselves. Well, don't have to worry too much about embarrassing myself, anyway. With everyone inside, she raised her free hand halfway in a muted wave. "Uh, hey. This is Mara," she introduced her date before turning to those she hadn't had a chance to meet in person before now. "I mostly go by Jill." The inflection was innocent enough, but carried enough weight to draw the notice of those already familiar with here. --So, yeah. Gonna owe you an explanation on that one at some point,-- she mentally apologized to their hostess.

[April]

--We all have secrets,-- Eve replied to Jill, the mental tone carrying no feeling of recrimination.

The gymnast moved over to the stairs; moving up a few steps so she could look everyone in the eye. --To those of you who I count among my friends,-- she started, smiling at Erin, Trevor, Jill and Mark, --I am truly pleased that you accepted my invitation. Those of you who I don't know well or have just met, it is my wish that before this day is through we can establish a lasting relationship.--

--We have a few moments until Renard is ready for us to eat the lovely meal he has prepared, so I just wanted to take this moment to officially welcome you to my home. You are all welcome here, at any time, and under any circumstances.--

[Fox]

Mara winced a little, Eve's words warped by that familiar echoed static she got whenever a telepath tried to do anything with her head. It wasn't as bad as she was expecting, though - maybe it was the white-haired psychic's extensive practice, maybe it was the relatively low 'strength' it took to just send words into someone's mind - and she didn't have too much trouble hearing what was said as long as she kept her focus on it. never get used to that "Thank you," she replied, trying to be as graceful a guest as possible. "Your home is very nice, and...know what a home can mean, sometimes. It's a....gracious invitation." It was sincere, at least, if a little awkward.

[Gizmo]

Trevor gave Eve a deep nod that might as well have been a courtly nod from the reticent teen. --Merci, ma diminutif amie,-- he chuckled softly over their telepathic rapport before turning to the newly introduced blonde as she carefully chose her words in thanking the welcoming gymnast. "Yamaha?" he asked without preamble, subtly indicating the door and through it the motorcycle parked in front of the mansion. He wasn't asking for confirmation, recognizing the model easily, but was curious about Mara's choice in vehicle.

[Fox]

Mara blinked, glancing back through the door at her beloved vehicle. "Mmh," she nodded. "Yes. Partly impulse - needed a way to get around, wanted to...celebrate freedom." innocent enough "Liked the design, engineering was...wasn't too bad. Been dependable so far - take very good care of it. Keep getting tempted to build my own from scratch, but need it to be registered...and street-legal. Bothersome. Will find a way around that eventually."

[April]

--Go ahead and build it,-- Eve said having listened carefully to the exchange between Trevor and Mara. --Just let me know when you're done and I can have my brother handle all the legal wrangling. We just sponsored the opening of a new oncology wing at McNider Memorial as well as providing donations for renovations at Trinity Hostpital so I am pretty sure we can swing it.--

The teen shrugged, --We don't usually call in a marker but this is such a minor thing it's no big deal.--

[Electra]

"It was very nice of you to invite us," Erin said politely in response to Eve's greeting. She was three for four now, which was still a passing grade. When the conversation moved to other things, she walked over in Hope's direction. "I hadn't heard you and Mark were going out," she commented casually. Though she didn't spend a lot of social time with Hope, Erin had trained with her, and the two of them understood each other perhaps as well as anybody could. Erin was facing an uncertain future on Prime after graduation, but Hope was going back to a future that was certain to be grim. She supposed she couldn't blame the other refugee for seeking out a little fun in her last months of school, but it did seem a little bit out of character.

[Gizmo]

Jill managed to gracefully step out of the conversation about motorcycles, giving Mara's hand another squeeze before moving to mingle a bit. She didn't know the first thing about engines let alone building custom vehicles from scratch, and didn't want to embarrass her date with a lot of dumb questions. With the extra dimensional students chatting, however, that left her standing is awkward silence nearby Mark Lucas. The gregarious young man certainly had a larger than life reputation around the campus, but she'd never had an opportunity to interact with him personally. "So..." she began experimentally. "'Horsing around', huh?"

[Fox]

Mara blinked in surprise, tilting her head. She honestly hadn't expected the offer, and the idea was...awfully tempting. would probably require at least cursory inspection - suppose I could hide nonstandard features easily enough - hadn't really given it serious thought - need to review applicable laws? "Will...think about it," she answered, her brain already churning out blueprints and revisions to blueprints that she might not ever get around to implementing. "A...generous offer. Thank you. Would certainly make for an enjoyable side-project...."

[Avenger Assembled]

"We're not," said Hope with a little smile. "Not really, anyway. I asked Zarana first," she added, "and she thinks it's swell." Tearing her eyes away from Mark, the resistance fighter studied Erin for a moment, her demeanor growing more serious, and added, "You're right, we haven't hung out nearly enough. I've been busy hanging out with the Alterniteens this year. I saw what you did to that giant robot in the Doom Room last week. That was pretty keen." The old-timey slang felt perfectly natural in the girl's mouth. "I never did thank you for last year."

"Yup," said Mark, who looked remarkably difficult to embarrass. "Hope's not really my girlfriend," he confided, "but we get along okay. She's very physical, and that's something I respond well to." He looked at Jill and considered how to broach the subject of her date. "So, do you find Claremont a good school? Are they...supportive?"

[Gizmo]

"Have to build from scratch," Trevor agreed with a decisive nod. "Only way to really know what you're riding." There was nothing wrong with the factory model Mara had arrived on, strictly speaking, but the young man could think of a half dozen modifications he'd make just off hand. From the blonde's diplomatic assessment of its construction, he got the impression the same was true for her. "Engineer, then?"