Subject: ((As a suggestion from me, see Falc's reply.))
Author:
Posted on: 2016-05-18 23:32:24 UTC
((I kinda winged it (heh) and had Falc assume that Ave had told Zeb about him. Perhaps it'd be nice to work from that.))
Subject: ((As a suggestion from me, see Falc's reply.))
Author:
Posted on: 2016-05-18 23:32:24 UTC
((I kinda winged it (heh) and had Falc assume that Ave had told Zeb about him. Perhaps it'd be nice to work from that.))
"So..." She clasped her hands behind her back. "Who goes first? And don't you dare say I should because I was in Gryffindor; bravery and willingly making a fool out of yourself for no reason are two completely different things."
"You know, it has been a long time since I had the opportunity to hear many music. If anything it makes for an interesting party." She then looked at Richard, who was scribbling someting on one of his notebooks. "And I feel I will hear this song again in no time."
Ix slowly made her way off the stage, heavily favoring her bad leg. It was feeling stiff again, she noted, and made a mental note to see if maybe this place's medical department could do something about it. She rejoined Marina, still smiling. "I must have listened to it several thousand times by now," she added sheepishly.
Marina nodded at Richard. "He going through I don't know many songs when he can. Don't mind it though. His tastes are usually acceptable, and he's willing to put songs I appreaciate too." She then returned to Ix. "Did you have a problem in a mission recently? With your limping..."
Ix looked down and felt her face turn red; she wished she could disappear through the floor. "No, my leg's just been a bit messed up ever since I was little. It's no big deal, really."
((I think you meant "limping" and not "leaping". :P ))
Judging by the way she had reacted, no point for guessing what was that problem. "No big deal, then. There was nobody able to do anything about it? With magic or ordinary means?"
((Yeah, my bad.))
Not liking how many people were nearby, she jerked her head and moved farther away from the stage to a quieter area of the room. "That's... that's just the thing with werewolf bites," she said quietly. Her face was burning. "They can't be healed with magic, and when I got—when I got bitten, my leg was broken and the Healers never set it right. Accidentally or on purpose, I don't know, but..." She trailed off, twisting the hem of her shirt in her fists and trying to swallow away the dryness in her mouth.
"You didn't have to answer if it was that bad. Besides, you should try your luck with Medical now. With all these sci-fi continua, they should be able to do something for you."
"You mean, like, some sort of special brace? Because if there's no cure in my home continuum then that's that, nothing can be done..."
"Although it's logical when you think about it. But yes, you could try for a brace. Just play the efficiency angle when you do that. I guess this sort of brace would be difficult to make, and you need any argument on your side."
Ix looked down. "In that case, maybe not... My leg doesn't really hurt, it just kinda aches and slows me down a bit, but not enough to really make a brace necessary."
"'slow down a bit' will mean death when things go south. You don't want your leg to fail you against 'glitterbags', as my partner say. And given the way this place works? You can be sure that a situation like this will come up."
Ix smiled; it was a little sad, a little wistful smile, but a smile nonetheless. "I was in training to become an Auror before I came here. Helped my mentor bring in a few neo-Death Eaters, actually. And besides—" She grinned fully now. "—my partner's pretty damn fast when she wants to be and has no trouble carrying me at full speed. It'll be fine."
"And I'm sure she wouldn't let you down. But that's your life at the end of the day. You should be ready for the worst happening to you." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Wait, you went through Auror training? It must have been something. Our own anti-warlocks police, the Wardens, are also supposed to be more than able when it comes to using magic in combat. They also used to have enchanted swords, but now..."
Ix sighed. "They told me they wouldn't worry too much about the leg, since Alastor Moody was one of the greatest Aurors of all time and look at him! He was chasing down Dark wizards with a wooden leg!" She sighed. "I wish I could have met him, he sounded like a great man."
"I don't know if you began reading the books about your 'verse, but he was... Well I cannot exactly tell paranoid, since he had done things to earn all these enemies. But I guess it's also a difference of continuum here. We don't have teleportations spells similar to Apparating, and when monsters generally don't stay in place launching spells."
"You need to concentrate if you want to arrive at your destination unSplinched." Ix shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "That's how I ended up here, actually—wasn't concentrating enough and Apparated here instead of London. I got lucky nothing worse happened."
"I ended up in this place in a similar way. Servants of the Fomors just had burnt down my office and my appartment before pursuing me. When I saw I was being trapped, I opened a Way to the Nevernever to try escaping. Except I arrived here."
Ix tilted her head. "You wouldn't happen to come from a fanfic as well, would you? Sorry, just, I'm curious, because it seems like we've got a bit in common."
Ix tilted her head. "Have you taken a CAD reading of yourself? That's how my partner found out where I came from."
"Well, my partner did it. Before the thing was shut down by the hexing, it was alternating between 'canon', 'uncanon', 'RPG character', or so he says."
Ix shrugged. "Guess it doesn't really matter, though, does it? Sorry, I'm being nosy, I'll stop."
"This is quite a music collection, uh...uh...I don't think I got your name. Do you have any Lady Gaga songs?"
((OOC: I decided a performance would be better than Miguel and Violet bickering.))
"Woo-hoo!" she cheered. "That was amazing!"
She winked at Ami. "Glad somepony liked it."
...whereupon he looked at her and asked, "How did I do?"
"Does it matter what she says? You were awesome!" said Sarah, patting him on the shoulder.
"It kinda does. Girlfriend, remember?"
"Oh, right. Sorry!"
"I am trying... so hard... not to act like a rabid fangirl..."
"That. Was. Amazing!" said Lapis. "How are you able to sing like that? I could never do that, I panic so much I just - You'd get full marks on a Tough contest, that's for sure!"
"But contests are for Pokemon, not people," said Falchion, sitting nearby.
"Yeah, but still!"
"I have to rescind my previous statement, it seems." The Librarian was standing there, arms crossed.
"I—" Her face was burning; she didn't like anyone see her cry, especially not him. "What? What statement?" She finished wiping her eyes and crossed her arms, blinking rapidly in an attempt to keep from crying any more.
The Librarian opened his mouth to add something, but closed it when he noticed the Aviator rubbing her eyes. One could almost see the gears turning in his head. "Are you alright, Aviator?" he asked after a moment or two of high-speed thought.
He stayed there, watching intently to see what would happen.
The Aviator shrugged. "I'll be alright," she said quietly.
The Librarian looked at the stage. "Wait, is that Desdendelle over there...?" The Time Lord squinted at his partner and cupped his chin with a hand. "His singing voice is rather poor," he said when the cyborg was done singing, "but I must admit to not feeling as annoyed as I would have it if would have been anybody else." He tilted his head, a confused expression on his face.
He padded around so he was behind the Librarian and butted his head against the back of his knees. "Go—be—nice," he ground out, trying to push the Librarian closer.
The Aviator just looked down at Zeb and rolled her eyes. "He's trying," she said, nodding at Des. "You can't get annoyed at that."
"Watch where you are going, will you?" he growled at Zeb. Turning his attention back to his partner, he squinted. "Where do you think he is going?" he asked the Aviator. "He seems... lost?"
"It was a sad song," she said. She felt the lump in her throat trying to make itself known again and she swallowed it back.
Zeb gritted his teeth and pushed the Librarian again. "You help her," he growled quietly. "I'll see what Des needs."
Instead, he looked at the Aviator. "You do not seem alright," he said. "You should, perchance, sit down?"
The Aviator just stared after him for a moment before turning back to the Librarian with a weak smile. "You do realize he's just trying to set us up, right?" she said, trying to avoid the question.
He stared at the Aviator for a moment and frowned. "Hm."
"What," she finally said after a long moment.
"What was your first clue?" she said, sitting heavily in a nearby chair.
He crossed his arms. Opened his mouth, closed it. Finally he sat down with an annoyed sigh.
The Aviator slouched in her seat. "Keep forgetting you can't be nice without someone holding you hand."
If the Librarian's voice would've been any drier, it would've put the Atacama desert to shame. "Very funny."
"It's not supposed to be funny, it's the truth," she said sharply. "I don't know why you're even a little nice to me most of the time when you can't be bothered to give others the time of day other than to sneer at them."
"I am trying," he said through his teeth. "It is not easy to change a decades-long habit in the space of a month."
"The day you get rid of that massive superiority complex is the day Zeb gets a girlfriend," she said. Her scowl looked like it was permanently etched on her face.
The Aviator took several deep breaths, rubbing her temples. "Snapping at you isn't going to help things, I know. I'm sorry for that."
The Librarian sighed and leaned back in his seat.
"You're joking, right?" She eyed him for another moment. "You're not joking. Irritable, bitchy, what-have-you."
"Hi! Valon Vance, Department of Floaters; I'm hosting this shindig. Don't think we've met before." He extended a hand to her.
Alleb stopped, blinked once, then took his hand with a smile. "I am Lady Alleb, of the Realm," she said, with a small curtsy. "Thank you for putting on this... shindig. My partner and I are looking forward to performing."
((It's rather funny that you described him that way, because Glimpses are literally whiter than a ghost holding a bottle of milk wrapped in a sheet of paper in the middle of a snowstorm standing on a sheet.
-Alleb))
Valon tilted his head. "That makes me think of Westeros and Creation. You'll have to be more specific."
"A... YA series, I believe you call it. I am still reading them--it's rather fascinating to see Alleble through the eyes of a stranger. Where are you from?"
"My lovely wife is from Monster Musume... that's her over there, with the eight legs and the stinger."
"She looks lovely," she said, hoping she didn't sound as shocked as she felt. She turned back to Valon. "What is Monster Mu... Musume? I have never heard of it."
Just then, Jesse, having lost sight of the Doktor in the crowd, looped back around and rejoined his partner. He walked right past Valon, stopped at Alleb's side, then spun on one heel and tipped his hat with the head of his guitar in one smooth motion. "Howdy," he said.
"Technically the full name is Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou, or Daily Life with Monster Girls..."
He was interrupted by Jesse's greeting. "Uh... Doctor Livingstone, I presume?"
He stuck out a tanned hand. "Jesse McKines, Alleb's partner."
"Valon Vance, Floaters, my wife and I are hosting. I actually just sang. What are you guys gonna do?"
Jesse held up his instrument by the neck, as if it had been invisible before.
"I play the flute," Alleb said, also holding up her instrument, though it was in a case. "Have you ever heard of--" she cleared her throat quietly, as if she had rehearsed this. "See-mon and Garr-funk-el?"
((-Alleb))
Valon shrugged. "The name I know, but I don't know what or who they are."
"Never heard it in my life!"
His tail was limp with worry. "Hey," he said, nudging Des' hand. "Are you okay?"
Des looked down. "Oh, hi Zeb." He sighed. "I'm kinda... I sang that and it made me sad, you know? Especially because of the song that comes after it in my mind." He crouched so his faceplate was level with Zeb's face. "But in dreams," he sang quietly, "I can hear your name... and in dreams, we will meet again." His voice hitched. "It's just... it's sad. Full of the sadness of the mortal Man."
Zeb tilted his head. "Well... why don't you sing something happy instead?"
"I can't sing a lot of songs," he said. "Not well, anyway. And that's one of the few I actually remember all of the lyrics for. The other that springs to mind is, well, 'The Rains of Castamere'. Not exactly cheerful, either."
Zeb's tail drooped slightly before perking up. "Well, did you hear what I sang? That's a fun one!"
Des tilted his head. "That's a smile, by-the-way." He sighed again. "I thought I might have fun here, but I've been deluding myself. This isn't my cup of tea, exactly."
With a groan, he sat down on the floor. "How've you been, Zebbie-boy?"
"Alright, I guess," he said morosely. "Your partner is being stupid, though." He put his nose on his front paws, looking (and sounding) for all the world like a rather petulant child.
Des absentmindedly scratched behind Zeb's ear. "And, well, you sound as alright as I am right now, y'know?"
Zeb let out a heavy sigh. "I made my partner mad, and then she cried, and now your partner is passing up the perfect opportunity to make her feel better." He lifted his head slightly and looked over at the Time Lords. "I should probably go over and help her..."
Des looked at the Time Lords as well. "It sounds like this really bothers you." He paused, glancing at the ceiling before turning to look at Zeb. "You can't always avoid making people angry; that's how life works. You should probably apologise, though." Another pause. "And you can stop shipping them, too, because it obviously bothers her."
"Everything bothers her these days," he muttered.
"But I certainly know this needling is bothering her. It's bothering Lump, too." The 'I doubt you care' tacked to the end was barely audible. "Now, mind you, I'm not a psychologist and neither are you, and neither you nor me are supposed to solve Avirait's problems." He sighed. "But I know that quiet is better than constant arguing."
"If they just tried a little harder instead of being so snippy around each other—ugh." He sighed. "But fine, I'll tone it down if that'll make you happy."
"Tried a little harder?" Des asked. "Zeb, mate, I don't know about Avirait, but Lump is trying very hard indeed." He stared at the wall for a moment. "He's trying to change a decades-old habit. I can't even fathom how hard it must be."
Zeb made a face. "Why can't he just go back to being nice? It's much easier than being mean all the time and people will like you more!"
After a somewhat-lengthy pause, Des cursed softly under his breath. "That's a raised eyebrow, by-the-way. Anyway: I doubt that Lump 'chose' to be 'mean'. Rather: it is highly likely that it some way of coping or for defence against a hostile universe. Everybody here has problems, Zeb, it's just that Lump's are more evident than others'."
"The Librarian's mean, the Aviator drinks more than the cast of The Sun Also Rises—I don't know which one's worse."
Des sighed again. "Though I suspect it has something to do with what they're coping with. Me, I have my problems, but, well. I have Shakhar." A pause. "That's a smile. I have someone I can trust; I have a safety net, somebody to help me climb back to my feet. I don't think either Lump or Avirait have that right now."
Zeb jumped to his feet, his mane bristling. "She's got me and she knows I'm here for her but she never talks! What made you go to Dawn, huh? Why can she help you and I can't do anything for my partner?"
"Zeb, she's my girlfriend. It goes a little more than hi and bye in the corridor." He made a small noise. "Smile again. I trust her more than I trust myself. Unless it's tea, in which case, ugh, sugar." Another sigh. "You're not Avirait's boyfriend, you're her partner. It's a different sort of relationship."
Zeb sighed and lay down again. "I just wish there was something I could do."
Des shook his head. "But such is the life when you're not a hive mind; people have to sort their head problems themselves."
Zeb sighed and glanced over at the Time Lords again. "Want to go rejoin them?"
Des snorted. "I mean, my mood is crappy anyway, it can't — no, scratch that, IO might be listening." He got up. "Shall we?"
Charlotte applauded as she strode in, Ix trailing behind her with hunched shoulders. "I never really liked that song but you did good." She elbowed Ix, who yelped and jerked away, but nodded agreement.
"I've got other things in stock, more cheerful too, if people here are interested. And once other people also had a go with the micro too," Richard said, looking pleased as he exited the stage. "Now, who are you? I don't exactly know that many people, but I don't think I ever saw you around. Oh, my name is Richard Legard."
Charlotte grinned, showing off her perfect, shiny teeth. "I don't leave my RC much, but I've been working in Floaters for about two years now. You're one of the newbies in Sues, right?"
Ix offered him a nervous smile. "I'm new, too," she said.
"Why wouldn't we go discuss with my partner? More comfortable than next to the stage." He then waved a hand towards the chair next to Marina, who eyed Charlotte with a bit of suspiscion. Richard didn't see this though, and faced the brunette. "You didn't tell me your name, and the way you look... Is there a problem?"
"N-no, no problem at all," she stammered. "I'm just... I don't like crowds too much. Sorry." She shuffled her feet for a moment before remembering she'd been asked a question. "I'm Ix, by the way," she added, holding out a hand.
"Do you mind staying with us? Unless four people is too much of a crowd." He offered both of them a seat near his own, before turning to face his partner. " Marina, these are Charlotte Webb and Ix, Floaters. Ix, Charlotte, my partner, Marina Nicodelli."
"Pleased to meet you," Marina said, offering her hand to Ix, and looking at Charlotte out of the corner of the eye.
Ix returned the handshake, taking several deep breaths to calm her nerves. This was going better than she'd thought.
Charlotte just eyed Marina back, as if daring her to say something.
"I'm from Harry Potter," Ix said. "Nothing special. So you're a wizard?" she asked Marina, trying to get the topic away from herself.
Charlotte harumphed and crossed her arms, glaring at Marina.
It was probably less than polite, but Ix had already learned the hard way that elbowing her partner only resulted in bruising. She licked her lips nervously at Richard's words. "I'll pass, thanks. Don't really like werewolves that much."
Ix tried to keep the note of desperation out of her voice.
Charlotte put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile before turning to Marina. "Geez, who shoved that stick up your—"
"Lottie!" Ix said sharply.
Ix looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "I-I dunno, I never thought about it..."
"Hm. Fair enough," Charlotte said. "I can leave if you don't like me hanging around."
"We shall. Let's do this."
"Um... H-hello, everyone!" Her voice was small, so she had to lean into the mike to make herself heard. "Oh man, I'm r-really going to regret this... Uh, would it be okay if I performed just one song tonight? Hmm, how about "Try Everything" by Shakira, from the soundtrack of Disney's 55th animated feature, Zootopia?"
In the stands, Sarah began nodding enthusiastically. This did not comfort the blue-haired girl. At all.
She then scuttled to her dazed husband and withdrew two pairs of Snerchphones from his vest. "No offense, we just haven't seen the movie. No spoilers."
"Hey, kid. You did well up there." She settled down next to the smaller girl.
"Um... I'm already married... and yes, I'm Kala. So, um, why did you run from Valon?"
Kala brushed her hair back. "Unfortunately, we had to go there during business hours. Valon doesn't hate kids, really, he just doesn't know how to deal with them. He had to live with his hellion of a younger brother for ten years, so I can't really blame him for that. He likes kids, but he can only handle them if they're well-behaved."
A pair of gold tentacles wrapped around his waist and reeled him into a tight embrace. "HI CUPID!"
...the tentacled embrace of the kraken girl who was, apparently, right next to the group.
"H-hey, Steph! How are you and Chak tonight? Oooh, are you performing? I know I am!"
"How have you been?"
"An interrupting badfic." Stephanie's entire body darkened. "Nothing ruins a date like a Sue invasion."
"What happened?! Was this about what you said earlier?"
"Yep." Cupid looked understandably cross. "Monster Musume and Naruto. Nothing ruins your day quite like a monster-girl Kurama replacement..."
"Wait, what?!"
"I don't know. Cupid learned a lot about liminals, though... and I learned that I can't use PPC technology..."
Stephanie turned an even shinier gold color and reeled Sarah into a hug as well. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!"
"Happy to help a friend of a friend," she said. "Now could you please let go? I think Lapis wants me to introduce her to Valon..."
Cupid gave her a look indicating his assent.
... and immediately turned to Cupid, her eyes sparkling.
"So when are you gonna sing?"
"And I do know what to sing! Not telling, though. It'll spoil the surprise!"
She smiled and gave him a kiss on the forehead.
"He likes making friends, and the thought of losing one forever makes him sad."
"... he'll probably find you, he's been dancing around all over this place."
"Oh, Va—"
He appeared almost as if by magic. "Yes, hon?" He froze at the sight of Lapis. "Er... hi?"
"Um. Am I that scary? You actually look kinda huggable." At six-foot-six, Valon towered over Lapis; he knelt down in an attempt to be less intimidating.
"Sorry, I didn't hear it... I was still dazed from my face-to-floor, and when I collected myself there were Snerchphones on my head."
"Her song was from a movie you hadn't seen, Valon." Kala shrugged. "I thought that maybe it'd be spoilers."
((Think maybe next time you could let the "whole crowd" decide for themselves if they want to be amazed or not?))
Falchion rushed over to Valon, ready to extend a hand until he realized that he had razor-sharp wings for forelimbs. So he offered a talon instead.
"You okay? That was a great performance, but... well... Hey, can I help you clean up all that stuff?"
Rashida glared at him from the stands, but didn't argue.
Valon stood up in something of a daze. "An' sure, knock y'self out..."
Her glare softened slightly. "Hey," she said grudgingly. "Didn't think I'd see you here."
((Jumping up to the top to keep the threads from getting unwieldy.))
The Librarian sat down in Taldaris' vacated seat. "That is to say, my dear partner." He paused. "How are you doing?"
"Was doing better until some protoss came up and started asking questions," she said sourly. "At least it looks like the others are getting ready to start singing soon. This should be a hoot and a half..."
The Librarian sounded rather confused. He tugged at his chin. "You mean the telepathic alien?" he asked after a while. "I could... feel it, I think. It was broadcasting like a faulty antenna."
The Aviator briefly tugged on her ponytail. "He mentioned something about having problems with that. Dunno if it went two ways though... maybe I was too short with him." She sighed, then gave him a tired grin. "I guess you're not going to be singing today?"
"Me, sing? As if the whole idea of non-professionals singing in public was not embarrassing enough," he said. "Supposedly, I am here to 'socialise'." He frowned.
The Aviator punched him lightly on the shoulder and glanced up at the front of the room. "Oh, hey, it looks like Zeb is going first. This should be interesting."
He hm pensively. "It might be," he allowed. "I do hope I will not have to clean my ears afterwards."
It took him a while, but he finally decided to follow the Aviator. What could possibly go wrong, he asked himself.
"Who wants to sing first I DO I D—mmph!"
Kala clapped a hand to her husband's mouth and dragged him away. "YOU can wait. Let's see..." She looked around at the gathered agents, before pointing at Zeb. "You. You're on first."
Zeb looked up in surprise before bounding over to Valon and Kala. "Okay, then! I'm cool singing anything." He beamed and swished his tail happily when a thought occurred to him. "Though—" He glanced over his shoulder at the Aviator, who he noted with a pleased smile was talking quietly to the Librarian. "Do you have that first song from High School Musical? I think my partner would like to sing it next..."
"Just tell me what song you want played; I've got Apple Music, YouTube, Soundcloud, the works."
"I have no idea what any of that means, but okay. Um..." He thought for a minute, then hesitantly said, "Maybe 'You've Got a Friend in Me'? From Toy Story? I always liked that one."
The first few notes of 'You've Got a Friend in Me' issued from the speakers.
The cadaverous agent tapped at his laptop again, and the song started up.
"Forget it, Zeb, I'd rather stay here and not sing."
And with that, the Aviator turned and strode back to her seat, leaving Zeb to run after her, the music still playing in the background.
((Next singer?))
((But after seeing this, I'm half the mind of singing Please Don't Say You Love Me, Gabrielle Aplin. Would that trigger any reaction?)
((I saw Something New's lyrics, and now I'm not getting this idea out of my head.))
((This isn't The Little Mermaid; you're not going to get anyone to fall in love by having them listen to a song. :P))
((Just wanted avoiding on anyone's toes by doing something they could judge annoying.))
"If you want a seat, there is still some chairs here," he said waving his hand slightly.
Marina looked a little bit more dubiously at the larger and bulkier agent. "Are you sure that's a good idea? This armor wouldn't fare very well if..."
"You only need to avoid touching him. Things should be fine."
"Do I need to scram? Because going hallucinatory or having life support break down right now would suck massive balls," he said and crossed his arms.
"Well, Marina is a Dresden Files wizard, and they pretty much disagree with tech. However, we've found out that getting her a World One disguise supress her powers, and the techbane field."
"Except if I touch something directly. But I only need to not stay close of you for avoiding any problems. Or you can go elsewhere if you really want," Marina shrugged. "Cannot blame you if you want to avoid risks."
Surprisingly, the vehement answer came from the Librarian, who, immediately afterwards, frowned and looked aside.
Des' helmet turned a little toward the Librarian, his faceplate as immobile as ever, before turning back to Richard. "I'm a cyborg, mate. More machine than man here." He sighed; it sounded metallic. "I mean: if, say, the cybernetics regulating my heart fritz out, the resurrection cocktail will kick in after a minute, but it's not pleasant. Gods forbid that my CyberBrain will short out — we're looking at permanent memory and capability loss at best, in that case."
Richard looked disappointed. "Marina is right, I cannot ask you to remain here if you can get hurt that much. Unless you use a disguise yourself, since being cyborg must make the singing difficult, but... No if you want to go, just do it. Sorry for the disturbance, ... What's your name? Mine's is Richard Legard."
"And mine is Marina Nicodelli, just like he said," Marina said, before eyeing silently the other man, perplexed by his reaction. "You don't exactly look like you have a life support system. Could you tell me why my — suppressed — hexing seems to scare you so much?"
"Blame Intelligence for your trollfic problem, not me," he said. You could almost hear the unsaid "idiot" at the end. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go avoid having my brain fritzed by techbane wizards. Not to mention Lump's in some sort of problem."
With that, the cyborg turned a hundred and eighty degrees and made a beeline for his partner, his heavy boots stomping noisily on the Generic Surface floor.
Well, the disguised dinosaur, anyway. Chris soon found himself staring down a tall Japanese redhead, who was making sniffing noises and tilting his head at him curiously.
"There's a faint scent of close kin on you," he said. "Not the same species, but similar."
He looked away and snorted, before glancing back at him and specifically the empty seat next to him. "Can I sit here, or is there anyone else who is due to occupy this particular resting spot?"
"Oh, h-hello! I'm Ami Seeker. It's nice to meet another pony. I hear about the others in HQ sometimes, but I never see them. We should organize a meetup in the Courtyard!"
"Oh, absolutely!" she said, looking around. "We'd just need a head count, and someone to send a message, and... and..." She took a deep breath. "Oh, right. Did we intr— yeah, we introduced ourselves. So, where are you from? I'm all the way from Vanhoover, hence the scarf!" She pointed at the article of clothing in question that was peeking out from under her armour's harness with a hooftip. "Alright, so maybe the scarf isn't necessary since we're mostly indoors all the time, but I think it looks good on me. So, er..."
The pony realized she wasn't waiting for Ami's response. She then tried to stand still for a minute and waited for an answer with a smile on her face.
"I hope that works out for Vanhoover!"
"If you're referring to the karaoke event, yes, I'm very excited," said Violet with a grin. "We've been practicing!"
"Or all individually?" asked Fire Flash. "That'd be so cool if you were doing a duet with one of your partners. I wanted to do one with my big bro over there," she said, nodding in Taldaris' direction, "but the grouch said he didn't want to. Something about 'uncontrollabe psionic emissions'. Pah."
"Who? I don't think I saw anypony disappear somewhere."
Turning back to Ami, she added: "So... what kind of magic are we talking about? Super-destructo voice or something? Sounds neat! Makes my own talent sound lame by comparison." Fire Flash smiled and shifted her position a bit, making her armour's plating clatter against each other.
The Aviator had been slouching in her seat at the back of the room, arms still tightly folded, when she noticed the protoss approaching. Noting the grimace on his face, she said, "Your partner drag you here, too?"
Though she knew protoss were telepathic, she'd never met one in person before. It was interesting, to say the least.
"Day's been sh***y," she said, shrugging. "Had to take down triplet Sues in a Twilight badfic and then get dragged down here by my own partner." She nodded at Zeb, who was bouncing excitedly around a very familiar looking Skarmory. "He's the grey and blue lion over there. Gets waaay too excited about this sort of thing for his own good." She paused. It would probably be polite to return the question. "How was your day?" she asked lamely.
"A little disorienting. I have recently lost on of my... senses," he said, turning his head slightly so that the Time Lady could see the cleanly-severed neural cords at the back of his head. "Even if it has been a few days, I still cannot find an efficient way to channel my psionics. I fear HQ's technology had been a crutch. Were it not for plothole technology I would have had to deal with this issue much sooner."
The protoss then seemed to sigh. "Forgive me. I did not wish to say so much. My sister," he looked at Fire Flash, "is trying to distract me from my troubles. I appreciate the thought, but I'd rather discuss it with a peer."
The Aviator gave a tired sigh. "I know it's not exactly the same, but my species can feel others of our kind. Ever since leaving Gallifrey, it's been weirdly quiet having only a few others around. I still have all my abilities, though, so..." She grimaced. "Not even close to the same. I'll shut up now, sorry."
"As you wish." He let his gaze wander around the room. "Do you know any of these agents? I'm afraid my department doesn't let me socialize often; I have very few acquaintances outside Internal Affairs." The High Templar seemed to sigh again. "I forget my manners. My name is Taldaris of Aiur, formerly of the Templar caste before its dissolution. And you?"
The Aviator eyed him warily. DIA. Great. Just what she needed. "I'm the Aviator," she said, internally cringing. "And I recognize most of the agents here, but I only know a few of them—" She broke off when she sensed the Librarian, only to notice his and Des' arrival a moment later. This day just kept getting better and better. "...a few of them personally," she finished.
Despite his half-muted psionics, he could acutely feel the tension emanating from the Aviator. "Excuse me," he said, "but I am feeling quite a lot of negative vibes coming off of you. Have I offended you? If so, I apologize."
The Aviator took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Sorry. Just. DIA. Makes me nervous."
Finally realizing that he was serious, she shook her head. "DIS hasn't got anything to do with it; that was way before my time. But if you don't know, then I'm not going to say." She tilted her head. "So you're Emiran's trainer? I don't think he's mentioned you."
And worked on setting up mental walls, hoping that would keep Taldaris from doing whatever it was he was doing to read her mind. "Tell me something I don't know. Believe me, I'm already seeing a shrink. FicPsych just loves me."
It was an odd mental noise— and it seemed to burrow in one's ears.
"Moving on, then," he said. He glanced at Zeb, who was mingling with the crowd. "I see that your partner is one of these... Pokey-men. If it is not too much trouble, can you explain what they are? I have worked alongside a green fairy in white robes and what appears to be a grass goat during some of my assignments. Are they Pokey-men too?"
...then shook his head.
"If these beings, these... so-called 'monsters'... if they are as intelligent as Officers Victoria and Buck... why do they allow themselves to be captured? Do they have a civilization? A language? I do not understand."
((And thanks for the catch. Fixed.))
"Hey-hi-howdy! Name's Valon Vance, Department of Floaters. The seven-foot scorpion is my wife. And you might be?"
"The dragonborn here is my partner, Nickul Tiamat"
"To be honest a human having a half scorpion wife is not the strangest thing I've seen, but it's up there." Nickul said.
"Ignore him, he's socially awkward. We're here to sign up." Levy said, to the insult of her partner.
Valon grinned widely. "You sign up just by walking in and wanting to sing. Pretty simple, eh?"
"SALVO YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD!" He yelled, having noticed the green monster. He then promptly glomped the being, knocking both to the ground.
"Apologies for my friend here, he doesn't usually do this." Ajax said, annoyed.
"Well, I used to. Transferred out a few weeks ago. Got stuck with this ray of sunshine" He pointed his thumb behind him, having already gotten up.
"Hey!" Ajax said, the receiver of the pointed thumb.
Zeb almost tripped over his paws in his haste to reach Falchion. "Hello!" he said. "I, I, oh gosh, I don't know where to start! Skarmory are really cool! Hi! I'm Zeb!" His tail swished happily. "What's your name? And yours," he added to the agents near Falchion. "Sorry, am I being rude again? Just, I've never met a Skarmory before, so this is neat! Nice to meet you." He gave a rather toothy grin.
"And yeah, she's my partner. She's..." Zeb glanced at the Aviator, who was still sitting sulkily in the corner. "...not too happy to be here, but she really needs to socialize more, you know? And, um." He shuffled his paws and gave the armored bird a shy smile. "I dunno what I want to sing, but I'm willing to try anything! I think it could be fun."
((I must have totally missed he was disguised. My fault entirely.
...Hm, not sure how to fix that...))
((I kinda winged it (heh) and had Falc assume that Ave had told Zeb about him. Perhaps it'd be nice to work from that.))
((...that doesn't explain how Zeb recognized him as a Skarmory when he was disguised.))
((...but then how would he be able to hold the mic? With his talons? xD
Eh, if it's okay with you, I'll retcon the disguise thing anyway. ^^;))
((Though mic stands are a thing; Falc could always have it lowered for him. :P That's what Zeb's planning on doing, anyway.))
"Uh... hi guys... I did not expect this many people to show."
Valon waved. "Howdy! Which of you will be singing?"
"Er... um... uh..."
Oh god who invited a kid I'm going to lose my mind where's my aspirin I'm gonna want a freaking drink...
Kala turned to Cupid. "Yep, I'm Kala Jeng. Nice to meetcha. Steph's nice, but she's a little too affectionate for my liking."
((Valon and children do not mix well.))
"Didn't know we had superheroes here, but then I'm not sure I should be surprised. I mean..."
Without much warning, he reached into his vest and withdrew a jackhammer, a Haloverse bubble shield, and what was unmistakably a smaller version of his Box of Memes. "... look what I'm carrying."
"Welp, if there was any doubt that HQ is one weird, amazing place, it's gone now," she said. "Adam mentioned that thing about your vest pockets, nice! I've gotta ask Seung-Li if they could try coming up with something like that."
"So, does Kala plan to sing, too?" Rayner asked to Valon. "I mean, I'm fine if she doesn't want to, but I'm wondering now if she can."
"Now where were we? Oh right. Er... she's still deciding what song she wants to sing, I think."
Valon waved cheerfully. "So, Ave, what do you think of Halestorm? I'm trying to think of something to sing myself... Hmm... English, Japanese or German..."
Kala shrugged. "I dunno what I'm going to do either, Valon."
Zeb glanced over his shoulder at the Aviator, who gave Valon and Kala a little wave before crossing her arms tightly. "And I'm sure she'd say hi if she weren't on the other side of the room. She doesn't really want to sing," he said, lowering his voice slightly before perking up again. "But I do! I don't know Halestrom—or much of any songs, really—but I'll try anything!"