Certain Flaws [IC]

[Fox]

"Mmh." Mara tilted her head, frowning. "I...dabble. Sort of. Yes." She frowned over her shoulder at the bike, her mind's eye pulling it apart into...well, parts. "Certainly have everything I'd-- mmh, no. Would have to get proper paint, tires. Or raw materials for tires. Don't have the machinery...could build that. Hate working with rubber and plastic, though. Smell doesn't come out for days, hate to special-order but if it means I could design custom wheels without worrying about...."

She blinked, turning her head back around to look at Trevor and the others as she returned to reality. "Mmh. ....s...sorry. Brain gets away from me sometimes."

[April]

Eve stepped away from watching Trevor and Mara talk, she wasn't a gearhead either but you can't spend time with Trevor Hunter and not come away with some small appreciation of mechanics and engineering. The blond was adorable, the telepath reflected, happy that Sometimes Jill brought her along.

Drifting over to Erin and Hope, Eve paused to listen by was almost immediately interrupted by Renard announcing that brunch was ready and would everyone kindly take their seats in the smaller family dining room.

[Gizmo]

One of Jill's eyes squinted slightly at Mark's pronounced willingness to share his thoughts. "Er, well, glad that works out for you, then," she offered as diplomatically as she could manage. "Claremont's been good, sure. I mean, it took a little while to - oh." It took a moment for the young woman to clue into what the probability controller was attempting to allude to. Muttering something largely unintelligible, she took the opportunity to pause the conversation when Eve's butler announced that the food had been prepared.

[Electra]

"Don't mention it," Erin said to Hope. "We did what we could to help, any heroes in our position would've done the same. And it was pretty satisfying to kick the asses of a bunch of Nazi robots," she admitted with a half-smile. At the announcement of brunch being ready, she followed Eve and the butler into the dining room, sitting down next to Trevor and looking to him and Eve for cues. They were the ones most likely to actually know what one was supposed to do at a brunch in a fancy place like this.

[Avenger Assembled]

For his part, Mark pulled the chair out for his date, who had not incidentally managed to sit herself opposite where Erin and Trevor were as well. Hope was giving Trevor and Erin both looks of frank assessment, and Mark was beginning to get the unwholesome idea that perhaps she'd been looking for more from this date than the roll in the hay he'd been led to believe. When did my dating life get so complicated? It's just supposed to be about dating girls and maybe having sex if they want to. A gentleman, he took his cue from the hostess about how to act.

[Fox]

Mara, in turn, was trying to keep an eye on pretty much everyone for hints on what was appropriate at these things - dinner that typically consisted of "late-night run to the hole-in-the-wall diner" didn't really do much to polish one's fine dining skills. Engineering conversation interrupted by the announcement of the meal, she'd followed the rest in and managed to resist the urge to secure a seat as far from everyone else as possible; instead she politely sat down near Jill with her hands in her lap and devoted her attention to learning as much as she could, as fast as she could, about-everything-related-to-the-brunch-and-its-guests-and-its-host as she could.

[Gizmo]

Taking his seat, Trevor contain a small smile as he noticed the other guests surreptitiously glancing about for a clue to the proper behaviour. The majority of those in attendance didn't know a salad fork from a cheese fork, and neither he nor Eve particularly cared one way or another. Hope's intense scrutiny was less amusing, and it wasn't hard to determine her motives in light of her uncharacteristic attempts at manipulating Mark. He wasn't unsympathetic, but if it interfered with their hostess's attempt at holding a nice get-together, they were going to have a problem.

[April]

For several heartbeats Eve watched her guests watch her, then she shook her head slightly as she tried, but failed, to smother a tiny bubble of laughter. --Oh mercy's sake,-- she admonished, --This isn't some formal affair, it's just brunch!--

Pushing abruptly away from the table the telepath pointed at her stocking feet. --Look, I already kicked my shoes off. Eat, relax, have fun.-- Sitting back down at the table as Renard poured her a cup of coffee, --And tell Renard what you want to drink.--

[Electra]

With a mental shrug, Erin took Eve at her word and dug in, scooping a slice of quiche and some melon balls onto her plate. "I'd like coffee with cream and sugar, please," she told the butler. Everything looked and smelled really good, and somebody had to start eating before it all got cold. "So this isn't where you grew up, right?" she asked Eve, looking around at the palatial building. "Who does it belong to in your family?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Hope put her hand on Mark's thigh while fixating on Trevor, an intent look on her face. "Trevor, did you know the first Midnight?" she asked him. Trevor's secret ID was known to more people than he probably would have liked, but evidently Mark and Claremont as a whole hadn't been gossiping about who he was and where he came from. "You don't have to answer if you don't want," she added, "I know you have a secret ID. But Midnight's an...important man where I'm from." She ate with her other hand without interrupting her conversation at all, something she was evidently very good at.

"So, uh, I'm going to Tanzania in July," said Mark suddenly, his unusually quiet voice at normal volume for everyone else. "I just wanted to make that announcement!" he added, brightening a little, as if actually saying the words made them more real. "I'm going to Tanzania for a three-month internship with UNISON's after graduation. If it works out, I might stay there the whole year."

[Gizmo]

Evidently more used to communal meals than some of the other guests, Jill followed Erin's lead and helped herself to servings of the various dishes on the table. "Tea, please, with sugar," she requested a little more self-consciously, the idea of having an actual servant on hand giving her slight pause. "Probably your brother's, right?" she suggested regarding the mansion's owner, recalling the photo Eve kept in her dorm room.

[Gizmo]

"Black coffee," told Renard with a polite nod before giving the food a second glance. He paused slightly as Hope addressed him before sliding a cucumber sandwich onto his plate with the unreadable stoicism he displayed in public as opposed to the merely reserved countenance he normally allowed himself when with his friends. "...yes," he informed the intense young woman simply, his quiet tone not giving her much to work with.

[Fox]

Mara tilted her head, helping herself to a platefull of food as she listened to Mark's announcement. "Coffee, milk. Please. Tanzania?" she requested and asked in rapid order, popping a morsel into her mouth and trying to not interrupt the other conversations. "Odd choice. Good luck. Africa...not sure if I'd want to stay there long. Number of reasons...probably same or similar reasons to go and offer help. Mmh." She pondered that for a moment, head tilting as she took a small bite of bread. "Still. Hope you do some good there."

[April]

As Renard went about filling requests, Eve shook her head at Jill, --Technically no, Nicholas is leasing this property. Of course the company he is leasing it from is one of a dozen real estate firms created to handle non-corporate land acquisitions. It all comes down to one big shell game; there are some people out there that really don't like us. SHADOW especially.--

The telepath shot Mark a warm smile, and though she didn't put it in words she directed a strong feeling of approval at the young man.

--But to answer Erin's question,-- Eve said, turning back to her attention back to her strong, auburn haired friend, --I grew up in Orléans. Mm, now there's a thought. Who would like to visit France in the spring? I think my mother and father would love to meet you all.--

[Avenger Assembled]

Hope sensed readily that she was making Midnight uncomfortable, and nodded politely to him as Mark spoke, "Yeah, I mean, I know a lot of you have been expecting me to go work for the Freedom League," he said. "But I've been thinking a lot lately about how I can really do good for the world with my powers, and I think I can accomplish more there than I can in Freedom City. I'll still wear a costume most of the time, because even there that's how they know superheroes should work, but I'll be trading in azure and gold for blue and white." To Sage, he added, "I've been to Orleans, but I was really little at the time. My, uh, dad used to be friends with the Triplicate Musketeer, and they had a party for the League d'Heroes."

[April]

--So was that a yes to visiting France, Mark?-- Eve asked with eyebrow raised. --We liaise with the Legion from time to time; their interests are mostly national after all while the family has a more global outlook. It never hurts to have more contacts in the community.--

--And let me know if you need a hand in Africa, Mark.--

[Electra]

"Maybe if we can get away," Erin said to Eve's suggestion, a bit hesitantly. "It's going to be pretty busy with getting ready for graduation and stuff, but at least we don't have to arrange plane travel and all that stuff. Are you sure it would be okay to have us all come visit at once?" She shrugged. "I mean, we kind of have a bad track record of being attacked by supervillains and stuff whenever we try and go anywhere all together, you know?"

[Gizmo]

Jill blinked several times before exchanging a look with Mara as Eve's abrupt offer. "Uh, yeah no kidding," she started. "I was kinda surprised Mr. Star's wedding went off without villainous shenanigans." Addressing the question of the trip itself, she shrugged, a bit bemused. "It might be tough to swing the time away, but does sound pretty cool, Eve. Actually, Mara's from there originally and I've been working at learning French." Mentally, she added, --So, whatever happened to, and I quote, "it's better and easier to just keep people at an arm's length'?--

[Fox]

Mara had paused, food halfway to her mouth, at the vacation offer; by the time she exchanged the glance with Jill the food was back on her plate and she was rather pensively giving the idea some consideration. "....could," she said, tilting her head. "Been a...very long time. Haven't thought about visiting again...too busy. Very generous, but...very tempting. Some travel concerns, but...." false ID? - passports difficult to fake - best to take advantage of citizenship - wouldn't expect me to leave the country anyway - make a distraction just in case.... "Could deal with that myself. It's...yes. Especially if Jill goes. Might be.....nice."

[Gizmo]

"Wise decision," Trevor told Mark with an approving albeit terse nod. The dark haired young man was clearly still more withdrawn than usual, but there was a note of something akin to pride in his expression. Flighty though he may have been, Mark's dedication to helping others and doing good never failed to bring out the best in him, and this decision had clearly been a long time in the making. Glancing briefly to Jill, he noted, "Lovely ceremony."

[Avenger Assembled]

"You know," said Mark conversationally, "if you guys wanted, I could take us to France now." He shot a little fingergun at Trevor, signaling that he'd learned from his trip to Seattle with Trevor that just up and warping reality around everyone without a warning made people uncomfortable. He didn't want to do that, especially with Hope paying so much attention to him. He'd been a little worried when she'd paid so much attention to Trevor, but she'd backed off when the other teen looked uneasy. "To Paris, or Rouen, or something? I could probably hit your house if you show me a map or something, Eve. That way we could finish our brunch right there!"

[April]

Looking a little uncomfortable, Eve shifted her gaze down and away from Jill, as though she found her plate and the food on it intensely interesting. --I learned otherwise,-- she thought to Jill, cutting the others out of the telepathic link as Eve shared brief images of her brutal capture and interrogation at the hands of SHADOW, and her subsequent rescue. She didn't share everything with the medic; she left absent the emotional sub-channel and some of the worst moments, but it was enough. When it was over, she looked back at Jill with an apology in her eyes.

With a faint sigh she reconnected with the other minds present and shook her head at Mark. --Now would not be an appropriate time Mark. Trips of this nature require planning and there are protocols to follow.--

[Avenger Assembled]

"No, it's cool!" said Mark with a little wave. "I've been practicing," he said ingenously, "I could take everyone here, this whole room, and put us all in Paris like that! If we go in costume, no one'll say anything. Superheroes can get away with...no? Okay. Okay, then." He sighed, letting Hope take his hand. "If you ever want, though, I can do that. That's how I'll be getting home when I work in Africa, I mean, they need to save plane fights for what people really need."

[Gizmo]

Jill abruptly dropped her fork with a stunned expression, the utensil clattering into her plate. "Ha, sorry, butterfingers," she quickly recovered, picking it back up with a suitably chagrined expression and a small shrug. --Dios, Eve, are you alright?-- she thought back at the telepath. --Wait, dumb question, I just mean... Dios.-- Looking back down at her own plate for a moment, the young woman attempted to switch gears as she looked back up. "Ha, well, this second would be kinda short notice, but yeah, would definitely be nice," she agreed, slipping her hand into Mara's underneath the table.

[Electra]

"You don't just pop over to France during breakfast, Mark," Erin pointed out, still doing justice to her own meal. "It's not special if you do it like that. You've got to plan and look forward to it and stuff first. Plus, it'd be kinda rude to Eve's family." She looked over automatically when Jill's fork clattered, but nothing seemed to be wrong, so she went back to eating. It was a truly excellent breakfast, a few big steps up from the decent meals served in the school cafeteria.