The PPC Roleplay Board - Latest posts

"Ah! Well, anyways, it doesn't always work - Space Marine biology is poorly defined at best, sometimes the acid is something they can control - but it's nicely ironic when it does. Unless of course the Sue is also a Space Marine. Which is between one and five charges in and of itself..."

Thoth nodded. "A Sue who dares to think itself an Astartes deserves no less than a painful death. Possibly prolonged." He took a long swig of mjød.

"Cool!" Gall said. "But you might've mentioned that when I was hitting on you, man." She leaned over and backhanded his arm. It went clang. "Ow."

Derik tetchily waved off Tom's concern. "I told you, that doesn't bother me. I thought it would be a good story. Apparently I'm rustier than I knew."

Whilst...

"Oh! Hi, Charlotte," Jenni said, blinking in the gust. As to whether everything was all right... "More or less. The Ironic Overpower is having its way with some of us. Bad timing, mostly, I think." She looked over at the other group, who seemed fine. "Derik's always a bit unpredictable, and it's worse under the influence. He didn't mean anything, though; you know that, right?" she asked Ix.

(( Hm, some sources say the acid is activated at will. That would seem to make sense. ... I reckon Elms is the most likely to secretly enjoy Twilight, and is also a down-to-earth sort who might be good for offsetting its nonsense. But FicPsych is so small that I believe everyone has at least heard of just about everyone. Apparently not since Charlotte got partnered with Ix, though. ))

"Charlotte? She's... around here somewhe—"

There was a sudden breeze, and Charlotte appeared beside them, her elegant gown held above her knees and her hair coming unpinned. "Is everything alright?" she asked, and then her nostrils flared. "You're bleeding!"

"Just little cuts, I'm fine, Lottie," Ix said, face turning red when Charlotte pulled her hands out of her pockets to inspect them.

"Jenni didn't bug you about healing them?"

"She did—Charlotte, I can take care of it myself, stop worrying so much," Ix said, pulling her hands away and shoving them back in her pockets.

Charlotte sighed and looked at Jenni. "Everything alright over here?"

((Charlotte has to spend a lot of time in FicPsych to get her badfic personality hammered out. I figure either she knows Jenni in passing or has seen her a couple of times, it's up to you.))

Tom sighed. He pulled a spare metal plate off his costume. "Thoth, demonstrate, would you?"

Thoth took the plate and spit on it. The liquid sizzled, bubbling ominously and leaving a hole in the plate. "My spit is acid. It is occasionally useful, although sometimes inconvenient."

"And," said Tom, "it's a good charge for any Sue who endeavors to kiss a Space Marine - rare, but fun when it happens. Or rather, popping the into a reality room afterwards is fun." He looked at Derik. "Oh. Sorry..."

"Great! Then it's settled. Welcome to Team Blast Hardcheese!" Gall stuck out a hand, then thought better of it and made it a fist for bumping.

Derik looked from Tom to Thoth in puzzlement. "You keep mentioning spit. Someone explain the spit."

Nearby...

Jenni nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, you had some bad luck there. Where's your partner, anyway? What if they joined us?"

(( Seeing as that thread seems to have run dry...? Oh, and I know about the acid spit, but my agents don't, and it was a good opportunity to make Derik sound silly. {= ) ))

"Can you also endeavor not to spit on anybody?" asked Tom.

"I thought that was implied."

"It wouldn't necessarily kill them..."

"Not really," she said sheepishly. "I... my partner wanted us to come here, try and... make me talk to people." She sighed. "It's not really working out too well right now."

((Heh, is fine. Ix is probably a few posts away from losing her nerve and bolting unless something happens to change her mind anyway.))

"Wait, wait." Derik waved his hand. "Say rather, 'endeavor not to'. World of difference."

And...

Jenni sighed. You could lead a horse to water, etc. Oh well. This one wasn't hers, and there was only so much meddling a new acquaintance would tolerate. "All right. Sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Are you sure you want to jump back into that circus, though?"

(( Not trying to dissuade you, Boarder!Ix; just Jenni being Jenni. {= ) ))

"But I still don't think it'd be safe for him to compete. For one thing, he might spit on somebody."

"I have never spit on anybody accidentally," said Thoth.

"Well, that's not the only issue. For another, you're two meters and built like a ogre. Frankly, having you on any team would be a balance issue."

"I have no doubt that Headquarters contains equally powerful agents who would be willing to participate."

Tom sighed. "Okay, yes, but then you have to worry about killing us normals."

"I would not endeavor to kill..."

Ix swallowed. "Can we just go back to the group, please? If... if that's alright with you. I'll be fine, promise."

"Yes, it is!" Gall said.

"It's a game," Derik went on, ignoring her, "and there are rules. You play in a pitch-dark corridor and hit a light-up ball back and forth until one team can't continue. No magic or powers, no weapons but padded bats."

"And no protection unless you're a wuss."

"Unless it's for other players' protection. We don't actually want to seriously injure anyone."

Gall grinned. "Just to the point where they cry for mercy. If they're still conscious."

"But it isn't supposed to be a brawl, which you always 'forget'." He looked up at Thoth. "I'm not saying you wouldn't be an asset, but someone has to worry about safety! And that's for our own team, too. It all gets very mixed up in the dark. If I had your word it would be all right, perhaps...?"

Meanwhile...

Jenni blinked, not particularly thrilled at being balked twice in one evening, but shook it off with a subtle shift of posture. "Oh, that's good," she said. "Go on, then." She indicated that Ix should proceed with her healing. As long as it got done, she supposed.

"Thoth, standing still in a fight... heh, that's a good one. I'm siding with Derik in this one: I'm pretty sure the other teams would object to a two-meter tall player with centuries of military training who can shoot fire, read the opposing team's minds, and see the future, among other things."

"You overstate my abilities somewhat," said Thoth. "I am rather poor with fire. Nor am I excellent at reading the future. In any case, I would be happy to join you in combat."

She wasn't about to show off the malunion and scars that gnarled her hands. "It's just little cuts," she said. "No big deal, really, I can heal it myself." She swallowed, worrying that what she said had come off as rude. "I'm sure you could do a good job, though," she said, "but I don't want to trouble you."

"Cuz I was thinking about inviting you to join our Australian Indoor-Rules Quiddich team, but—"

Derik, who had settled into the amiable state of drunkenness he'd shot through earlier, barked a laugh. "That is a horrible idea! No offense, brother—rather the opposite—but it hardly seems fair."

"So? No rule says the teams have to be fair. Blast Hardcheese got killed last season, and I don't want a repeat. Even the Physical Therapy nerds kicked our asses thanks to their precog and your totally divided loyalties."

Derik shook his head. "No, I keep telling you, Bjørnsen's useless in Headquarters. And my loyalties are perfectly intact!"

"Whatever. All I'm saying is that if Nevermind can have a kender, we ought to be able to have a giant. I hate playing those guys; half the time we can't even find the stupid ball cuz it's 'fallen into his pocket' again."

"Now, you know Earwig can't help that. Anyway, we've got Suicide. He's, what, eleven percent cyborg? And arguably crazier than I am."

"Yeah, but he's sweet on Green-eyes over there, so he doesn't want to bust up her friends. You both suck when we're against PT, so we need some muscle who's willing to do the damn job. Look at this guy." She gestured at Thoth. "We could just have him stand in front of us and let the other guys knock themselves out trying to get through!"

(( Sorry for running long, but this argument has been playing in my head all day. >_>; ))

Meanwhile...

"No, I'm not upset with you," Jenni said. "No one is. Gall's happy to have her mace back, and I agreed with you jumping in. I only did myself because I thought it was safest if things did escalate any further. Fortunately, they didn't." She smiled. "Now... are you going to be stubborn like 'GL' over there, or are you going to let me have a look at you?"

Ix kept them closed by her sides. "It's nothing, it was just an accident." She glanced back at the other agents, then back at Jenni. "You're... not upset with me?"

"I do not consider you a threat. However, I thought that a warning was in order."

Tom has been frowning, wondering what Jenni had meant, but Thoth's statement caught enough of his attention to earn the Marine a glare. "Thoth. Try to do it properly."

"Very well," said Thoth, slowly. "We are... cool." The word felt slightly wrong in his mouth.

((Tom's still a bit oblivious, bless him.))

His excitable energy, well-meaning though it was, was reason number one she'd wanted to step away, and he had not been invited along.

"Yes, thank you," she said curtly. "A moment, please?" She pointed him back to the others.

With a perimeter firmly established, Jenni calmed her own feelings and addressed Ix again. "He's not wrong," she said. "But first things first: where are you hurt?"

Meanwhile...

With the others out of earshot, Gall shrugged, stuck her mace back in its belt loop, brushed her hands off on her trousers, and sat back on the chair. "So, Jötun, we're cool, right? You know I was just messing around. Didn't think you take me seriously. I mean, come on!"

"Do I detect the meagerest hint of an apology?" Derik muttered dryly. He gave in to gravity at this point and plopped down on the floor beside Thoth. Much easier.

"That's what you're worried about?" He tried not to laugh: that wouldn't help. "Ix, I don't think anyone's upset with you. Honestly, I think most of us are just wondering if you're okay... Are you okay?"

Ten seconds from the nearest exist, now.

Twelve seconds.

Unless she Apparated out? No, she didn't want to try that in HQ again. She'd been lucky enough to arrive in one piece as it was.

Besides, for all she knew, Jenni could talk to the Flowers. And then the Flowers could decide she was more trouble than she was worth and throw her out. And then what? Her memory wiped, no place to her name, no safety net during the full moon and no Wolfsbane—

"I got blood on her mace," Ix said, ashamed. "I... I can clean it, though, it wouldn't be any trouble. I didn't mean to lose my temper, it was an accident, please..."

Gall held up both hands (mace dangling from her arm on a loop) to show that she was innocent. "I didn't do it!"

"Do what, though?" Jenni said. "Ix? Please tell us what's going on. Or just me, if you want." She gestured an invitation to step off to one side.

(( Thoth, I think you might've been looking at the post where Jenni had put her arm around Ix? Cuz Gall didn't. But Gall being falsely accused of skulduggery is fun. {= ) ))

"She's shaking like a leaf..." He turned his attention to Ix. "Ix... You do realize nobody's going to hurt you, right? It's okay! Just relax."

"I'm fine," she stuttered, shoving her hands in her pockets. "Please don't hurt me, I—I can clean that..." Her eyes darted around as she scanned for the closest exits. If Gall didn't want to listen, she could be out the door in approximately eight seconds. Less, if that crowd of agents between her and the exit happened to part.

"And don't worry, the only authority I have is 'moral', and even there I've got people who'd argue the point... or would have."

Derik was relieved, too, and felt happier taking his new friend's part. "It's all right, mate. The wretch had the lesson coming—and look, all's well."

Meanwhile, Gall took her mace tentatively from Ix, somewhat shocked at getting it back in one piece so suddenly. "Huh. Thanks, Bucktooth. You're all right." She slapped Ix bracingly on the shoulder and made to slide the mace back into its loop on her belt, and her hand encountered a stickiness on the haft. "Oi, what...? Hey, did you cut yourself or something?"

A shadow has passed over Jenni's face, but just as quickly lifted, and she turned around, concerned. "Ix?"

(( And now I dash out the door. Might be able to sneak something in around 2:30-3:00 CST, but otherwise, I'll check in again this evening. ))

"Come on, don't go!" He sighed, turning to Thoth. "Bloody hell, look what you've done now. I get that you like to make a point, but... You know what you have to do." He fixed the Marine with a glare.

Thoth bowed his head. "I am... sorry. I recognize that what I have done is wrong and I am prepared to make amends. Please, do not expel me."

Tom nodded. "Better."