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Aberrant: The Middle Children of History - Bastion's Block Yard BBQ 2027


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An entire city block... that's it was, an entire city block. The street was, for the day, closed down as all the neighbors of the street gathered their lawn chairs and grills and tables and brought them all out to the curb for a day of loud music and grilling.

Most sane people (read: Caucasian) wouldn't drive out to Crenshaw for a barbecue, and Sebastian Stone liked it that way. These were his people. It wasn't a racial thing, hell, he was so mixed not even his dad knew what the hell he was ethnically, but they were his family, his friends. On this block and the few that followed were the people he'd grown up with and the parent's and neighbors he'd spent his life pissing off for fun. Around here it really didn't matter what you were, but who you were, and when you took bullets for people, beat up junkie boyfriends and found the guy who snatched a friend's chain and beat him silly... well, those kinda things get you respect a lot faster than just 'being a nova'.

So on this clear, sunny, South Central day the meat was grillin', the beat was boomin' and the bub was flowin'...

Like a fish in water Sebastian moved through the crowd of people that packed the street. A DJ had turned one half the block into a dance floor while the other half seemed to quickly be becoming a car show filled with all neighborhoods smoothest rides. He loved the barbeques, mostly for the scent of fine grilling mingled with the scent of the finest bud anywhere in California. It was a pleasant scent, a scent that could get the party shut down in a heart beat. He walked up a small crowd huddled under a tree.

"'B', yo, 'B'," One of the men greeted him as the muscle bound behemoth approached them. "Dog, dis' shit'll hit yo' chest like a double barrel gauge." He coughed and choked a bit.

"Take it inside guys," Sebastian stated. "There's kids n' shit around, and you know as well as I do the Po will be all in our shit closing this down. Fuck this up for these people guys, and I'll be whoopin' some ass."

"But my ma don't lemme smoke dis shit in the da house 'B'..."

Sebastian walked off without saying another word. There wasn't any reason to, the guys knew if they screwed up things that Sebastian would find them and probably break a rib or two. He wandered the block before being hailed again.

"'Bastian! Damnit boy, git over here..."

Rolling his eyes he approached his dad, Darnell Stone, who'd been slaving over his grill all day. The man loved to barbecue and had been shoveling burgers and chicken down people's throats all morning. "S'up pops?"

"Here, try this." Darnell handed him a plate of barbecued chicken that practically fell off the bone. "Made it with a fresh batch of sauce, brewed it last night, chilled it til the morning. It's like brushing fresh sex on a dead chicken."

Sebastian choked, half laughing and half disgusted at the concept of fresh dead chicken sex. "...what the hell? I'm trying to eat here..." Disgusted though he may have been it didn't stop him from shoveling in more chicken, smearing sauce on his lips and fingers. "Shit, Pops. That is good. Too much honey though..."

"Nigga hush." Darnell slapped him in the back of the head. "Don't tell me how to make the sauce. I know how to make the sauce. Git outta here, go meet you a cutie pie and leave me the hell alone..."

Licking his fingers and laughing at his father, he was on the move once more. People were all gathered at tables talking and laughing or dancing out in the streets drinking and being stupid. Children laughed and ran about as the boys who had crushes tried to find ways to impress the girls. All in all it was no different than any other good time. This was summer, and this was what summer love was all about: chillin', laughin' and playin' with the people closest to you...

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He dropped down out of the sky, a fiery blob of light that resolved into a slender flame-wreathed humanoid form that touched down at one end of the street. The golden aura of flame died away and Phaethon stepped forward, brilliant eyes curious for what the day would hold.

The young nova was dressed in faded, sun-bleached denim shorts that terminated at the knee and a black basketball jersey with "L.A. County Fire Dept. MVP" written in gold letters across the back, under which was printed "Phaethon". They had presented it to him publicly in a spirit of gratitude, and Phaethon had been touched.

He wandered barefoot into the crowd, which opened up of it's own accord to embrace him in wary welcome. There weren't many L.A. residents that wouldn't recognise the slim youth on sight these days. His skin was a deep nut-brown, his eyes were shimmering green, and his hair a tumbled mane of red-gold. He didn't have corporate endorsements, wasn't a city defender, didn't seem to do the whole 'nova jet-set' scene, wasn't unbelievably rich - in fact, it was a fair bet that he had NO money at all, according to those who claimed to know. He lived somewhere in Los Angeles, was spotted in other places sometimes, and put out big-ass wildfires like they were nothing without asking for a dime.

He met the looks he received with smiles and nods, enjoying the pulse of the music through the air and the asphalt under his feet along with the scents of food and drink. He moved carefully through the crowd, smiling artlessly at a group of girls who were eyeing him with awed speculation, then stopping as a group of small children ran across his path, head tilted and watching them curiously even as they, realising the presence of a nova, stopped and stared back at him in open wonder. Both parties grinned at each other before Phaethon gave them a little wave, which sent the little ones off giggling and hollering that a nova was here to any adults that cared and didn't already know.

Phaethon kept on moving slowly, watching and learning, letting the crowd get used to him and resume it's natural rhythm with himself as part of it. That was easy enough: the nova had a way about him, an aura of almost childish innocence that was nonetheless tempered by the obvious intelligence in his gaze. He stopped and sampled some ribs, grabbing some paper towel to wipe his hands on afterwards as he complimented their cook on the taste before moving on. An already slightly-drunk young man and his friends approached him, asking if he was actually Divis Mal. This was good for a melodic good-humored laugh.

"Certainly not." he replied with a grin. One of the others slapped the questioner across the back.

"Nigga I TOLD you. You're Phaethon, right? Puts out fires and shit." Phaethon nodded, then accepted the beer that was offered.

"You here fo' B'?" another asked him as a few others drew closer, curiousity and friendliness overcoming wariness and awe. Phaethon cocked his head at that.

"B?"

"Yeah, man. B'. Bastion." The other looked at his friends, grinning. Phaethon smiled widely.

"Well, I was hoping to meet him. He kind of invited me." He looked around. "I've never been to anything like this before."

"No shit?" The human said, eyes widening. "You don't party?"

"No." Phaethon said, then thought for a moment. "Well, there was one party two years ago. That was sort of like this, but less people and the music wasn't as good." That got a laugh from the others.

"Well if B' put down your invite you cool. If we see him, we'll let him know you're in this place. Enjoy the party, Phae-man."

"Thanks. I intend to." He watched the group wander off into the crowd, his hearing easily picking up their conversation.

"-ivis Mal! Nigga, yo' momma done drop you on yo' HEAD."

"Hey, we should tell B' that Faytons is here."

"That's Phaethon, jackass. Some Greek god o' the sun or something. An' I figure B' already know."

"You think B' invited a lot o' novas?"

"Hope they ain't all like him: the honeys are gonna be all up on his shit as soon as they mommas ain't watchin'."

"He was pretty cool, tho'."

"Yeah. He's pretty cool."

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Elspeth stepped through the warp followed by Darres her knight, and a couple other novas who happened to be in Sierra Leone at the time. Whether this was the real Elspeth or not she hadn't told even Darres, but that was a habit she'd become accustomed to for a while now. No assassin could kill her if they couldn't be sure it was the real her. Not that more than a handful of people in the entire world knew she could create clones anyway, but it payed to be paranoid when you had elites with grudges obsessing about you.

She had considered coming to the party in disguise, but then she wouldn't be able to introduce her new friends to the other novas that would show up. Besides she was tired of disguises, hadn't that whole ordeal of being a 'normal' teen been taught her that? You are who you are and no disguise will ever hide it, not and make you happy anyway.

The warp had definitely attracted attention. She had been careful to open it in a spot where no one was too close for fear of injuring anyone, but it was hard to miss a 15 foot tall, 15 foot wide hole in space-time opening up and half a dozen novas walking through with a night sky outlined behind them. As entrances go it wasn't half bad. Elspeth led the way, 15 years old and dressed casually in jeans and a lite airy blouse. It wouldn't do to over dress for this party. Add to that the fact that it was a wedge of white novas walking out of the night into the bright California day lead by just about the whitest girl on the planet and there was no way in hell this little group was going to go unnoticed or unaccosted. Not that Elspeth minded, she was long used to the contrast since the vast majority of her subjects were very dark of skin. What she wasn't as used to was the attitude. She was used to getting respect and deference wherever she went, but this crowd didn't give a shit that she was a Queen, most of them cared more that she was about as hot as a white girl can get. Wolf whistles, 'damn that bitch is fine' and 'I gotta taste me sum of dat!', were heard from around the street.

Elpseth grinned, it wasn't the adoration of her people, but it was appreciation of a more crude but honest kind and she found herself surprised that far from being offended she was flattered. Darres on the other hand stiffened and looked ready to break some heads so she gestured at him that it was alright.

Much like home the music of this place had a beat that pulled on the soul and made you wanna move with it. Combined with the delicious smells of grilling it instantly put the young teen in the mood for some fun. She looked around and easily spotted Phaethon to her right half a block away and a little further on Bastion's massive form with a plate of bbq in hand. There wasn't any hurry though, the smell of some ribs from nearby called out to her more urgently than saying hello to her fellow novas.

She approached the woman doing the cooking and smiled, "Would you mind if I tried one of those. They smell incredible!" The woman seemed a little unsure of how to respond but took the compliment in the manner it was given and grinned in reply, "Help yourself sweetie. I make some of the best ribs you'll ever taste, my momma grew up in Atlanta and this recipe was handed down to her by her gramma."

Elspeth took a paper plate and some paper towels but didn't bother trying to avoid the messiness of the sauce, and somehow despite the smears of juice on her fingers and face it was adorable. As she ate she made appreciative noises expressing what she thought of the ribs. After she had finished and cleaned up she opened a small 1x1 warp and pulled a large bowl of potato salad through and placed it on the woman's table. "Those were great. I hope you don't mind, I've got some potato salad to share in turn if you'd like." She presented the bowl like an offering. The older heavyset black woman took it and set it down and dished some up on a plate. She took a bite with her spoon and nodded in turn. "That's not half bad sweetie. Goes good with da ribs. Thank you."

The exchange between the girl and the older woman seemed to melt the tension that had been and unconscious undercurrent among the people around the new arrivals. Mamma Jo had accepted the girl so she must be alright.

Elspeth turned to Darres, "It's ok. You can go and have some fun, I'll be fine. I won't leave the area, you don't have to hover." Her body guard didn't look pleased but moved off to find a good spot to watch over his charge from a distance. To the other's she said, "Let's go say hi to Bastion and Phaethon."

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Garrett nodded feeling somewhat out of place. This the crowds noted regarding Elspeth's group. He was black, yes. But a different shade than the others, not to mention though he was wearing casual clothes, there was the trace of the white collar man that he was.

White collar, in a blue-collar ghetto crowd. So he smiled and took a plate of BBQ chicken and complimented the cook on her excellent recipe.

It worked for him. "Sounds good." Talking to the other novas did appeal to him.

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"Yo, B'!"

Bastion looked up from where he was leaning against the edge of one of the picnic tables just bull shittin' with a few people engaged in a game of Dominoes. He never had the patience for the game, or Chess, or even Chutes n' Ladders for that matter. Sitting down and competing never caught his interest so much as standing up and competing. Naturally, Sebastian went into sports and fighting instead of head games and public speaking. "S'up?"

"Dude, novas are showin' up." The guy told him, slightly nervous.

"So?" Sebastian shrugged, blowing it off. "The little Nodies gotta eat too, don' they?"

"Terats, bro." The reason for the nervous became apparent now. "Cal said they're Terats, he saw like half of them on Op-Net sites and the news n' shit."

"Aight." He stood up and knocked on edge of the table where the men were playing, politely saying goodbye without interrupting their game. "I got it."

He moved through the people, some had noticed the new comers, some didn't; when you had a whole city block as your playground, sometimes news didn't travel very fast. He could have flew up and over everything, but he didn't use his abilities around his neighbors that often.

It didn't take Elspeth long to find find Bastion, within a matter of moments he emerged from the crowd and began walking towards her, he made it about half way, stopped and folded his arms. His eyes scanned over her entourage and finally he shook his head and his lips curled in a 'you gotta be fuckin' kidding me' sort of gesture. Chuckling to himself and pressed forward.

"Well, well..." He swept his arms out wide to bring their attention more to the party around him than himself. He was too far away to cut loose with what he really wanted to say, so he kept it slightly rude. "Decided to hobnob with the peasantry, huh?"

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Elspeth walked forward to meet Bastion since he had stopped halfway. She understood this was a test. Bastion didn't have a very high opinion of her, but this was a social occasion and that was what Elspeth excelled at.

She pointedly looked around at the people at the party then looked back at bastion, "They are a little richer than the people I'm used to hangin with, but I guess that doesn't bother me. I brought potato salad..." She held up another bowl in offering and smiled hoping he would accept her, she knew she was crashing the party but she wasn't here for confrontation, she just wanted to have some fun and it had been two years since the last time she'd had the chance to just chill with other novas. Plus she'd never admit to him, and barely even to herself especially since they clashed so much but she wanted Bastion's approval.

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"You brought potato salad." He repeated amused. He chuckled again and shook his head taking the dish from her. "Thanks. I'll get it to Pops. I'll make it simple Your Worship, they told me you brought Terats with you. They start trouble, and I swear to God, Princess, your citizens or not, they will not be going home. Those that do, will stutter for the rest of their lives."

With a straight face, a grin, and a pleasant wink he continued. "Baseline laws don't apply to Terats, and they sure as hell don't apply in Crenshaw." He laughed as he said that last part. "So enjoy yourself and keep yer people on a tight leash. We cool? Oh, and thanks for the potato salad."

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"...An' this one's Core! He's a bad-" A pair of young eyes darted around for parental eavesdropping and, emboldened by the coast being clear, decided to finish that sentence, albeit at a lower tone. "Badass."

Sitting comfortably on a patch of someone's lawn, Phaethon examined the shaped plastic action figure of the famous XWF shootfighter. Clustered around him, children of various ages from five upwards watched the young nova with a mixture of fascination and awe. He looked up at the toy's owner and smiled, handing back the action figure. "So what do you do with them?" The kids looked at one another and smirked. From a distance, a loose circle of neighbourhood women watched from the corners of their eyes. The mothers mainly watched their children, making sure they were safe around the strangely angelic nova and staying out of trouble.

After a while, though, they had joined those without such maternal concerns in mainly just watching Phaethon.

"Play." said one as though the question was a little stupid. "Din't you ever play when you was little?" Phaethon blinked and laughed. "Not like that." he said with a smile. "I played by learning to use my powers. My father made every lesson a game."

"That sounds like fun. Man, I wish my teacher let us play games. All he does is "blah-blah-blah" like a robot." Another child cut in as the rest started giggling at the first speaker's stiff-armed robot impression. "So you didn't go t' school?"

Phaethon shook his head. "No, my father taught me." The boy snorted. "Shoot, my pops don't know nothin' except how to pimp out his car."

"What about your momma?" asked a girl who couldn't be older than ten. Phaethon turned to her, enjoying the barrage of questions from these small humans. They were still bright, sharp and inquisitive, despite the natural cynicism and affected world-weariness of their lives.

"I never knew my mother." he said matter-of-factly. The girl blinked. "Is she dead?" Phaethon shook his head.

"I don't know. I hope not. My father took me away, you see."

"He kidnapped you?!" The kids leaned forwards. Phaethon laughed again, shaking his head.

"No, no. As I understand it, my mother didn't want to raise me. Or couldn't. Father didn't really explain, you see." The children around him nodded sagely.

"Yeah. Grownups are always keepin' secrets from us. Ray's momma won't even tell him 'bout sex." Another boy started with embarrassment and protested.

"She will so tell me. It's just that she says I have to wait till I'm twelve." This got a chorus of derisive laughter from Ray's contemporaries.

"Twelve? Shoot, nigga, you ain't gonna kiss a girl until you thirty!" The jeering was interrupted by a sharp female voice.

"Jerome Waller! What did I tell you about that word, you little thug?! Git yo' bee-hind into the house, boy, and don't you come out until you're good an' sorry. I reckon that'll be one hour from now." The young mother pointed wrathfully towards the house, her other hand on her hip and eyes flashing. Jerome hung his head.

"You lucky you don't have a momma. See ya later, Phae." he muttered before marching off like a man going to his own funeral. His mother watched him go, then turned back to the shining youth in the middle of the cluster of children. Her eyes and voice softened.

"You let these kids know if they're bein' a bother, mister Phaethon." She told him with a smile. "They've got plenty else to do than pester you, day like this."

"They're no bother at all, Miss." He replied with a cheerful grin. "I've never sat and talked to children before."

"Well, they ain't never talked with a nova before." The woman said with a charmed look on her face. "And please, call me Leesha." She started to raise her hand to primp, then caught herself, flushing faintly and looking flustered before heading away. The children snickered.

"Man, Jerome's mom's checkin' you out." giggled one girl. Phaethon smiled and shook his head. "She is! She's totally checkin' you out." the girl insisted.

"Maybe she is." Phaethon allowed. "But I'm curious about what you learn in your schools. What do they teach you there?"...

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Far less dramatically than either the fiery arrival of Phaethon or the otherworldly tear in time and space created by Elspeth, another figure serenely floated along over the roofs of South L.A. With the party below building toward full swing, she was almost unnoticed... at least, until one small child chanced to look up and followed it with a pointed finger.

"Flyin' lady!"

Other eyes tracked upward to see the Lakota woman known to most as Ptesan-Wi, clothed in her traditional doe-skin tunic and riding on her trademark leather-and-bentwood disc, gently descending toward the ground in the general vicinity of a cluster of barbeque grills. As she came lower to the ground, something entirely incongruous could be seen on the disc behind her: the unmistakable form of a large styrofoam cooler.

With an unbelievably warm smile, she raised a friendly hand in greeting toward those who gathered around her. Behind, the cooler rose - seemingly of it's own accord - and floated over to a stunned grill-chef. *I didn't want to come empty-handed,* she sent directly to the chef. *Fresh buffalo steaks, hunted earlier this week. Please save one for Bastion.* As the cooler settled to a rest beside the grill, she spoke with her actual voice to the crowd. "Hau kola! Would someone help me find Bastion? I promised him something a long time ago."

While those around her were disarmed by Ptesan-Wi's charms, many further out were not; she'd never been shy about her affiliations, which were well known by anyone who surfed the OpNet. "Yo B'," one called out to Bastion, "we got 'nother Terat, bro. That Indian chick."

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Elspeth grinned and squeeled in delight. "PW!" She calmed abruptly remembering that she wasn't quite finished talking to Bastion.

"Uh, B. The Doc there is newly erupted, and Garrett was actually a topian until last week, neither of them are terats. Only Darres is, and he won't cause any trouble unless anyone attacks me. He's only here as a bodyguard."

She couldn't contain herself any longer and didn't wait for a reply but rushed to PW and threw herself at the older woman in an excited hug. "PW, it's been so long, I've got so much to tell you!" The teen in Elspeth was showing through, more so than at any time in the past. Her recent time spent living as an American teen apparently having had more of an effect on her than she would admit.

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Angus, still a bit uneasy as he steps out of Elspeth's warp, gazes up at the sky for a moment before shaking himself back to his senses. Having asked Elspeth to make a small stop on the way, he grabs the large silver canister and heaves it up onto his shoulders. Angus keeps one hand on the rather large keg and with the other, picks up two sawhorses he had left in his workshop. He follows Elspeth in the general direction of the buffet, then sets to work placing and tapping the keg. When he's finished, he wipes the edge of his tweed suit jacket across his forehead and lets out a small sigh. "Been quite ae while since I done tha'. Ae seem to be outta practice." He drops the knapsack he had been carrying on his back down in the dirt and sticks his upper body in, rummaging around before emerging with a frosted stein that glitters a bit strangely in the light. He fills up the stein from the keg, producing a fair amount of head off the definitely not Budweiser contents, before tossing the whole thing down in one long gulp before refilling with a pleasent sigh. The second one he sips on as he leans against the keg and just watches the goings-on with a detached air. There, a group of little girls play double-dutch, using language that would have had his ma turning his bottom bloody way back when. There, a guy tries to make some time with a girl, but his buddies keep ragging on him and breaking his concentration.

With a wistful smile at that last sight, he takes another sip of the lager, trying to conceal the pain he feels at the sight and how it reminds him of his Marianne...

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This was a bad idea. Infinity knew that it was a bad idea, even as she stepped out of the taxi. She'd had to try three cabs before she'd found one willing to drive her down here. That driver had smelled awful, and Infinity decided that the scent was designed to drive an mugger away the instant they got close enough to threaten.

The dark-haired Terat lingered outside the area of the party, waiting for the smell to dissipate. She knew she looked nice - she was wearing black cut-off jeans and a midriff-baring shirt with the anarchy symbol on it. Black Keds and black sunglasses topped off her clothing, while her piercings glinted with ebony luster. She nibbed on the one in her lip while she considered her options, as far as her goals.

She wanted to meet Bastion. It was plan and simple why she was here; she wanted to meet him. They'd been in the same city for years, but had never crossed paths. Now, Infinity was going out of her way to cross his path and see what kind of nova he was.

When she was sure she'd ditched the scent, she pulled out a cigarette, lit up, and started into the party. Unlike the other novas, there was little to no sign of her nature; she was just a weird-looking white girl wandering into the wrong neighborhood.

"Hey, girly," a voice called, but Infinity ignored it. She kept ignoring it until the speaker darted in front of her, looking pissed and slightly out of breath from having to chase after her. "Hey. I was talkin' to you."

"No, you were monologuing because we weren't having a conversation," Infinity snapped, then regretted her big mouth. "I'm looking for Bastion."

"Bastion don't like white girls," the man replied.

"I'm not looking for a fuck," Infinity said irritably, blowing a plume of smoke into the air. "He invited us. Me. Novas."

"You a nova?" The guy took another look.

"Nominally. I'm almost a baseline," she added bitterly. "Now, do you know where Bastion is?"

The man considered, weighing the odds that she was a friend of Bastion's against the odds that Bastion would knock him in the head anyway for giving someone trouble at the block party. "Last I see, he's over there," the man finally erred on the side of caution. "Hang by his ole man... you'll see him soon enough."

"Thanks," Infinity said and made her way up the block, wandering in the indicated direction.

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"Have a good time then." He nodded to Elspeth with street suave the uptown girl almost missed. "D.J.'s down the way, car shows over there, pick a table play some games, get fucked up. Welcome to Crenshaw. As you're welcome by them," he motioned to the people of the party. "You're cool with me."

Quote:
"Yo B'," one called out to Bastion, "we got 'nother Terat, bro. That Indian chick."

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Well aren't I the popular one." His deep, husky voice complained. "Where?"

Elspeth shot off like a dart and threw herself at the Native woman. "Never mind..."

"Dude, it was sweet. She all came floatin' down n' shit... and made this cooler float of her ride n' shit." The teenager sucked his teeth and shook his head in contemplation for a moment. "I'mna erupt dog, you wait n' see. Then I'ma be up out dis' bitch, all George n' Weezy like. Go where I want, do what I want..."

"You gon' be lazy n' useless like all the others too?" Bastion asked, flatly.

"Huh?" The boy looked up at him. "How're they lazy 'B'? Novas do all sorts o' shit."

"First," He slapped him in his head. "Quit cussin'. Second, have you seen em so far? All they are are powers with people attached to them, man. Take away the powers and none of them would know what to do. Why lift the cooler, when you can make it float. Why walk or run, when you can fly or warp. Why get to know someone and have a conversation when you can manipulate them and make them like you instantly... They're fake. They can everything so much faster and 'better' that they don't take time to actually work for anything or earn it. You wanna get outta the hood, bruh, you work for it."

"But... B'?" The teen asked, a hint of confusion in his voice. "Didn't you fly to the store the other day instead of takin' Pop's car like you usually do?"

Humbled slightly during his wisdom lesson Bastion looked from side to side, thinking of an appropriate way to explain his own hypocrisy. Finally the right words came to him. "Nigga hush." He slapped the teen upside the head again and pointed to Pop's grill. "Go help Pops make a plate for Mrs. Ruthie, and here," he handed him Elpeth's potato salad. "Give him this too, tell it's royal potato salad, imported from from the... Sahara Leon Islands or some shit, hell I dunno, make something up."

He smiled a bit as the teen ran off and sighed, he wasn't good at teaching people except through pain, but he hoped the kid was listening. Novas were cool, but most were just as he said, nothing but powers with people attached to them.

He walked some more, following Elspeth's path. Her bodyguard kept looking at him as he walked, just doing his job, but Bastion had to seriously wonder what the tool thought he could do to him. Not missing the opportunity Bastion simply looked at the guy out of the corner of his eyes and grinned with that 'bitch, please' attitude of his.

His voice seemed to speak over the crown although it wasn't raised at all. It was very distinct, and when his deep husky tones filled the air people who knew him seemed to instantly know 'that's Bastion talking'. He was half sarcastic and half joking when he asked the Native woman. "It's a hundred degrees outside. Don't you have jeans and a damn T-shirt, or did the White Man take those from you to?"

Television and pictures didn't seem to do him justice. His mulatto heritage shown through light caramel colored skin that had been darkened by the California sun. He was the local 'white boy with a perpetual tan' in the neighborhood, light in the cool months, dark in the warmer ones. Jagged tribal tattoos covered his back shoulders in an intimating mantle of ink that entwined downward ending halfway down his biceps. He wore a white tank top and khaki cargo shorts with some Reeboks and ankle socks (you didn't wear flip flops in Crenshaw, in case you needed to chase some punk ass lookin' to get stomped). Gleaming slightly from the summer sun his skin was perfect. Not a blemish, scratch or scar. Each muscle was perfectly toned and every time he moved his body was a symphony of action and reaction beneath the skin. Born with a body that possessed the density of steel (and grew tougher with maturity), one could see where every muscle was tightened and corded into the matrix of an invulnerable layer of skin and tissue.

"Welcome to Crenshaw, Petan-Wee." His mispronunciation was just that. Not one for diplomacy or words, he took a shot at saying it, and didn't do so hot.

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The exuberant Elspeth bounding up to her brought a broad smile and hug from Ptesan-Wi. *Good to see you again! You should come to the mountain after this; Wakinyan is home, and I'd love you to meet him!*

And then, the remarkable and imposing form that was Bastion walked up.

His quip about her choice of attire brought a surprising chuckle from the usually formal Indian girl. She made no comment about the mutilation of her name - it wasn't the easiest of names to say - but she did give him a polite bow of her raven-braided head before looking back into his intensive eyes with a sparkle in her own.

"Thank you for your welcome, Bastion. Some time ago, I promised you a buffalo steak; it should be on the grill now."

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Originally Posted By: Bastion
"Dude, it was sweet. She all came floatin' down n' shit... and made this cooler float of her ride n' shit." The teenager sucked his teeth and shook his head in contemplation for a moment. "I'mna erupt dog, you wait n' see. Then I'ma be up out dis' bitch, all George n' Weezy like. Go where I want, do what I want..."

"You gon' be lazy n' useless like all the others too?" Bastion asked, flatly.

"Huh?" The boy looked up at him. "How're they lazy 'B'? Novas do all sorts o' shit."

"First," He slapped him in his head. "Quit cussin'. Second, have you seen em so far? All they are are powers with people attached to them, man. Take away the powers and none of them would know what to do. Why lift the cooler, when you can make it float. Why walk or run, when you can fly or warp. Why get to know someone and have a conversation when you can manipulate them and make them like you instantly... They're fake. They can everything so much faster and 'better' that they don't take time to actually work for anything or earn it. You wanna get outta the hood, bruh, you work for it."

"But... B'?" The teen asked, a hint of confusion in his voice. "Didn't you fly to the store the other day instead of takin' Pop's car like you usually do?"

Humbled slightly during his wisdom lesson Bastion looked from side to side, thinking of an appropriate way to explain his own hypocrisy. Finally the right words came to him. "Nigga hush." He slapped the teen upside the head again and pointed to Pop's grill. "Go help Pops make a plate for Mrs. Ruthie, and here," he handed him Elpeth's potato salad. "Give him this too, tell it's royal potato salad, imported from from the... Sahara Leon Islands or some shit, hell I dunno, make something up."

He smiled a bit as the teen ran off and sighed, he wasn't good at teaching people except through pain, but he hoped the kid was listening. Novas were cool, but most were just as he said, nothing but powers with people attached to them.


Angus listened to the rather abrasive nova lecture one of his associates about the relative worth of people, his introspectively sad mood suddenly changed to wry amusement. It was...interesting hearing someone who was probably one-fifth his age echo things he'd said repeatedly over the past few years, mostly about people one-fifth his age. He mused further as he took another swig of his lager. A few of the local Crenshaw boys came swaggering up.

"Yo dawg, whachu got in the keg?"

Angus raised an eyebrow and responded lazily. "Ae proper lager, not that horse piss ye think beer is locally."

This prompted some whispered discussion amongst the lads for a few moments before the leader of the trio piped up.

"We gon' get some. That cool witchu?"

Angus shrugs. "As long as ye don't start pissing and moaning about how it tastes different than the feckin' Budweiser, ae relly don' give a shite."

The three young toughs grabbed some nearby plasticware and filled them up, staring in trepidation at the chunks in the beer for a few moments before remembering that there were girls watching and tossing them back like practiced drunks.

The illusion of their toughness is broken quickly when they all look at each other with almost awed expressions.

"Damn, that shit's the bomb!"

Angus grins. "Good tae hear that Anheiser-Busch just lost three customers 'cause thae developed taste fer rrreal beer."
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Originally Posted By: Ptesan-Wi
"Thank you for your welcome, Bastion. Some time ago, I promised you a buffalo steak; it should be on the grill now."


"Cool. We'll see how that goes." He said calmly. "DJ's over there, grills're right here, people are everywhere. You might see some white people, that's okay. Don't panic. It's normal. White people like burgers and chicken too, just don't let em' dance."

He grinned, showing that somewhere under all his machismo there was a sense of humor, however tiny. "I'll let you ladies talk, I got things to do. We'll talk later, or try to anyway."

Dismissing himself, L.A.'s bad boy nodded at those in the crowd that knew whim, and nodded to a few that didn't but just nodded because he was, in theory, the law around this place at least for the day. He walked to Pop's grill where he was enveloped in smoke and chatting it up with several other all holding plates in their hands.

"Pops, Tre come by here and get a plate for Mrs. Ruthie?" He asked, waving the billowing smoke as he approached.

"Sho did!" His father replied enthusiastically, holding up the potato salad. "Dropped off some Australian Jello, too! Smells like potato salad though, man, I'm tellin' ya boy, those Austrians love their veggies..."

"Austria and Australia are..." His father looked at him and grimaced, as if to question Bastions questioning of his geography. "Y'know, never mind... Enjoy the Jello, but could hand me a beer please?"

"You's a recovering alcoholic, you don't need to be drinkin', boy."

"Alcoholics go to meetings, I was a drunk." Sebastian mused. "Just get me something please, I don't wanna disturb your barricade of culinary masterpieces and borderline arson charges."

"Don't hate. It's kept y'ass fed for twenny-some-odd years... ain't it?" Pops flailed a spatuala at him with one hand and tossed a quart of bottled Kool-aid.

"Twenty-seven, shit, you don't even know how old I am?"

"Shit naw. When you's a parent you'll unastand. My ass counted down from eighteen, not up."

Sebastian about choked on his drink as he, and those nearby shared in his laughter. "Nice timing." He looked around, still half laughing while shaking off a juice covered hand in search of a napkin.

Pops just flipped burgers and laughed, pearly white satifaction plastered on his face by way of a huge smile. "Almost got it out yo' nose again."

The nova wiped his hands and face, while laughing a bit more. "Dare to dream..."
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Elspeth's cell phone rang. That was unusual. There were very few people who had this number and most of those would have just contacted her with Telepathy if they wanted something. It must be important, but not private. She clicked open the tiny device and thumbed the answer switch.

Instead of the speech were only the text words on the small screen, "Get out now!"

Elspeth cursed under her breath and opened a warp stepping through to someplace dark. Around her the crowd shied away from the large opening in the fabric of the reality. Before she had quite stepped fully through she shot a quick focused thought to the guests she had brought with her to the party. I am sorry, something unexpected came up and I had to go. Please excuse my absence and feel free to come visit whenever you wish.

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The massive warp in the middle of the party was kind of a dead give away to the presence of novas. Infinity paused in her attempt to blow smoke rings - she'd never admit that she was delaying finding Bastion out of nerves - and eyed the display, wondering who and what that was heralding. Then it was gone and Infinity shrugged. She'd find out soon enough, if it was important.

The young Terat started walking again, watching the zips scurry around, eating food and playing their social games. Infinity had never been to a party that wasn't primarily composed of novas, so she had no idea what zip parties were like. Oddly, they seemed pretty much the same as the Terat parties she'd attended, just with less obvious sex and much less food. She flicked ash off her cigarette, troubled. It was just like she'd thought - novas were replicating baseline social habits rather than finding their own. "Fuck," she muttered, finishing her cigarette and grinding it under her toe. It bothered her, but what the fuck was she going to do about it?

It took asking a couple of more times, but gradually, she found her way over to 'Bastion's ole man'. The elderly baseline made Infinity a little uncomfortable. He was clearly old and starting to decline into frailty, even if he was just at the top of the arc. Infinity wasn't used to dealing with old people; even 'old' novas were usually limber and as healthy as a baseline in the prime of their life. Still, Infinity took a stab at making conversation. "Hi," she said, then had no idea what to add.

Darnell eyed the girl standing there nervously. "Hi," he replied but made no further attempts to start conversation. He was quietly bemused, wondering where this was going.

Infinity nibbed nervously on her lip ring and looked around for a smooth conversation starter. Her gaze fell on the meat being cooked and she blurted, "Holy shit, that's some big steak!"

"Buffalo," the cook said after chuckling at her excited utterance. "And it sure is big."

There was more awkward silence. Finally, Infinity muttered, "Aww, fuck this." Clearing her throat, she asked, "Do you know where Bastion is?"

"He's around," the old man said calmly. "Stick 'round here, and he'll be back. Say, while you're waitin', go get some bar-bee-que sauce out of the ice-cream bucket in the fridge." He passed Infinity a bowl which still had the remnants of the last load of sauce clinging to the sides. "Just fill 'er up."

At a loss for what else to do, Mal's Future turned and walked into the kitchen. It took a few minutes but she found the tub of sauce; another few minutes to find a clean ladle was all she needed to fill up the bowl. Then she headed back out, feeling a little out of sorts. Had she just been put to work? By a zip?

But her patience was repaid when she got back to the grill and saw a familiar face. Everyone in LA knew Bastion by sight. "Oh, Bastion," Darnell said to his son, "this girl was lookin' for you."

"Hi," Infinity said, as she passed the sauce to Darnell, "I'm Infinity. Thought I'd stop by and finally meet you."

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One could have called a sudden wave of 'normalcy' when the two novas finally met. Infinity was the epitome of what could scientifically be recognized as 'nothing special', or 'meh' in some circles. And while Bastion certainly possessed an incredibly amount of power, one could never have noticed unless he chose to reveal it. There were no auras, anima displays, crackling eyes or engorged members...

...just two rather ordinary people. One capable of great things and the other was Infinity. (( laugh ))

"S'up," He said, giving her an appraising once-over. "You and every other nova in the world. Richest fuckin' people on the planet and you guys run up and jack free food. Where's the justice?"

He offered her his hand, "Sebastian Stone, don't call me Bastion, he's dead. People 'round here call me 'B, but you ain't from around here so it looks like yer stuck with Sebastian or Stone. Infinity your real name, or you got another one? Always wanted to ask you that."

He motioned down the way, "Walk wit' me, gotta check on Mrs. Ruthie, she's in her eighties and doesn't handle heat very well. Wanna beer?"

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He really didn't seem like much at first, but when she shook his hand, she felt some of his casual power in that grip. She nodded at his name correction - what people chose to call themselves was their business, and she always tried to respect that. "Yeah, Infinity is the name my parents gave me," she told him, squinting slightly as she looked way up at him and was stabbed in the eyes by the LA sun. "I got the good one - they decided Potential was a good name for my brother. You know, normal baseline choices weren't good enough for us." She rolled her eyes a touch at that, the motion obvious even with the sunglasses.

Infinity fell into step with Bas- Sebastian, she corrected herself, feeling a little surreal. That was one of the least climatic meetings she'd ever experienced with one of her people. "Beer's great," she said, and he snagged her one from a cooler.

Infinity mused over his remark on 'richest people in the world jacking free food' and let it go as she twisted the lid off her beer and took a swig of the cold brew. It didn't apply to her that much; her family had all the money and she lived on their dime mostly. Her own funds had been incredibly limited of late.

"This Mrs. Ruthie... she doesn't have family to look after her?" Infinity asked, mildly curious. She wondered if Sebastian just liked keeping an eye on the elderly and infirm in his neighborhood.

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The sound of the decade-old fan oscillating behind her on Mrs. Ruthie's porch, the distant, incomprehensible thump of a half-dozen stereos overlapping into nonsense, the delighted shrieks of children, the whoops and yells surrounding the dancers and the turntables... The sweet-sour taste of icy lemonade on her tongue and the smell of more spice and meat and smoke in a one-block radius than the public health agencies would ever condone...

Yeah, it was summer.

Cass smiled, tipping back her cup for another sip as she stretched her legs out. The cracked concrete steps weren't exactly comfortable, but when Mrs. Ruthie offered you a taste of her own home-made lemonade because you ambled along with her back to her shady front porch, you didn't argue. She glanced over her shoulder as the rocking chair creaked, unable to resist a grin as the elderly woman's cotton-topped head bobbed along to the beat. A styrofoam plate laden with barbecued chicken, potato salad, and baked beans was quickly disappearing, and Cass wondered secretly where it was all going.

The opening of a second wound in reality made her wince, and she felt a guilty twinge of relief that one of the novas stepped back through it and promptly vanished: relief because it meant one less superhuman to potentially cause these people a lot of grief, and guilt because she hadn't even known who it was. She hadn't counted on dealing with novas... well, apart from 'Bastian, anyway... and it set her slightly on-edge. Sure, there were decent novas out there, even a few locally, but it always seemed that the terrorists were the only ones getting publicity.

"Don't worry," Pops had told her over the phone. "It's jus' gonna be a few close friends and acquaintances, nothin' fancy. Don't worry about gettin' all gussied up, just come on by!"

Yeah, right, she grinned to herself. She owed him for that, she mused, scanning the throngs of people.

As she twisted the ring on her finger, still uncomfortable for its unfamiliarity, she tossed her dark curls back over her shoulder, grimacing at the tickle of a bead of sweat rolling down the back of her neck.

There. She froze, feeling suddenly warmer despite the fan, the breeze, the lemonade, and her pretty yellow tank-top and denim shorts. She wasn't ready for this, and her cheeks burned hot as she watched her ex-lover part the crowd of people. The fact that he was with the whitest white-girl she'd ever seen only dimly registered, but their path was obvious. They were moving towards her, both of them, and she took a long swallow of lemonade, wishing fervently it was something stronger.

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Angus watches Elspeth duck through another of her Warp fields with the nagging feeling that he's forgetting something. He takes another sip of his beer, only to do a spittake.

"Bollocks!"

Frowning and cursing under his breath, he fills up his tankard to the brim and downs it, only to repeat the process again as he slumps down next to the sawhorses cursing a blue streak.

The three teens' eyes widen a bit at some of the curses, considering that they'd never heard them before. Finally, the unofficial leader of the trio taps Sinclair on the shoulder.

"Yo dawg, you a'ight?"

Sinclair finally shuts off the cursing, realizing that there's women and children present. He shakes his head at the question. "No, nae really. My rrride just left, my luggage is in a small African countrrry, and now ae'm stranded in wherever we arrre now wi'out a farthing to me name and no passparrrt."

Sinclair tosses back the contents of the mug, reaches around to the front of the keg and fills it again.

"Kids these days, no considerrration aforre theirr actions."

Sinclair continues steadily drinking as he watches everyone else enjoy their party...

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Originally Posted By: Infinity
"This Mrs. Ruthie... she doesn't have family to look after her?" Infinity asked, mildly curious. She wondered if Sebastian just liked keeping an eye on the elderly and infirm in his neighborhood.

"Not really," He said honestly as they walked through the crowd. "Her husband of sixty years past last summer and it's kinda not quite sunk in yet. She's a sweet lady though, but the years are taking their toll on her mind, so we look after her." He looked about to the people of the block, "All of us. It's what families do."

"She's lonely, but shouldn't be out in the heat for too long, so if someone doesn't check on her from time to time we're afraid something might happen; heat stroke, wander off n' get lost, choke on a chicken bone... shit like that." He shrugged rather nonchalantly about the whole thing, to him it was just another day. "Lady makes a good glass of lemonade though, I'll tell ya that."

His pace slowed a bit as they approached Mrs. Ruthie. H didn't say anything about the lovely woman sitting near the elderly woman, although a warning sent Infinity's way would have been the nice thing to do. Back when Bastion was spending more time drinking than thinking, he and Cassandra had dated for a few a years. How it lasted that long was anyone's guess, but Bastion knew it was because she loved him more than he loved her, or so he thought. The night she left him drove home the realization that he'd lost the only good thing that ever happened to him. It's strange how sobering certain epiphanies could be.

"Cass?" He said calmly as he approached her and Mrs. Ruthie. "Hell you doing here? The Governor still think sending you to come see me is gonna change my mind? I ain't saving his state, it's his problem, not mine. So tell him to piss off." He smiled at the elderly woman. "Sorry, Mrs. Ruthie." He added, for cussing in front of the elderly.

"Infinity, Cassandra." He waved from one to the other with a sway of his arm. "Cassandra, Infinity."
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"Hi there," Infinity said to the pretty girl on the porch. Yep, there's a pretty girl. Perfect. She beat down her jealousy - which was always there when she met a woman more attractive than her - and said, "Yes, Infinity is my real name, just to get that out of the way." She gave the other girl a crooked smile and pulled out another cigarette. She had it lit before she realized that she was reacting to the sudden tension in the air. She wasn't sure what was going on, but the reactions between the two of them indicated History.

"And you're Mrs. Ruthie, right?" Infinity added to the old woman sharing the porch with the bombshell. "Infinity, as you heard. Good to meet you, too." Subtly, she tried to distract the old woman so that the other two could work out whatever was going on. And of course, Infinity was trying to listen in, just a little.

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"Infinity," Cassandra repeated shakily, setting her cup on the steps and brushing off the back of her shorts as she rose to greet the pair. The girl looked young, Cass decided, maybe college-aged, and Sebastian... still looked exactly the same, which was to say, huge. Inwardly, she wondered exactly how the two had met, given the girl's overall "disaffected youth" vibe. A concert, maybe? She returned the crooked smile with one of her own, and shoved her hands into her back pockets for lack of anything better to do with them. It kept her from fidgeting, at least, and watching Infinity fiddle with her cigarette, she almost wished she'd taken up smoking.

"It's nice to meet you," she breathed finally, silently willing Bastion to just go away. Being this close to him was like standing in a vacuum, with all the air sucked out of her lungs and the dull thud of her heartbeat pounding in her ears. Grimly setting her jaw, she forced herself to smile. "I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse 'Bastian. He sometimes forgets little details, like the fact that he wasn't actually raised by wolves."

The dark-eyed woman turned, and if looks could kill, well, Bastion in all his nigh-invulnerable glory might not be dead, but he'd probably wish he was.

"Pops invited me, 'Bastian," she said quietly, a knife-edge of bitterness underlying the evenness of her tone. "Not my boss. If you really want to have this discussion later, that's fine, but I would hate to embarrass you in front of your new friend, and I'm pretty sure Mrs. Ruthie doesn't need to hear it, either." That little twinge of guilt rose up again, for the pale girl standing on the sidelines of their ongoing conflict, and for everyone else who'd been sucked into their messy, melodramatic battles over the past couple of years. She prayed they'd understand, and that this time the furniture casualties would be kept to a minimum.

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Ayato had thought better of this, but in the end, his curiosity won out. He appeared near the outskirts of the area, a young Japanese-American Male, and walked right into the party. He was almost as mind-numbingly handsome as Connor, And he knew it. He nodded politely as people noticed him, his radiant smile seeming to disarm any hostility towards him.

He was dressed plainly in jeans and a tee-shirt, and made his way to the nearest Familiar face.

Coming up behind Angus he chuckled. "So, she just left you here did she? I can give you a lift back, after the party."

He smiled. "Good to see you Doctor. I wouldn't worry about our friend, if it were truly important she'd have called her network."

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"Actually, no." A radiant smile accompanied the statement. "I don't have any money, truth be told."

Phaethon was sitting on the trunk of someone's car, enjoying the feeling of the bass vibrating through the air around him as around him neighbourhood residents closer to his own age(if not older) gathered. Word like Phaethon spread fast, and the unattached females were gravitating to him like moons to Jupiter. And where the women were, the men wouldn't be far behind. Besides the guy was so damn likeable, if a bit fuckin' clueless.

"Shit, man, but you could make serious bank!" exclaimed Tay, a youth three years senior to the flame-haired nova. "Ain't the fire department ever paid you fo' that shit you do?" In his experience, whether a nova worked for Utopia, or the government, or DeVries for that matter, there was no such thing as a poor nova. A node was THE ticket to celebrity, fame, product endorsement deals in the six-digits, and job offers from all over. He handed Phaethon a cup of beer as the nova shook his head.

"I wouldn't accept the money anyway." he replied earnestly. "It wouldn't be right..." He looked at the blank expression on Tay's face, then around at the others present, most of whom wore the same look, then sighed and waved his free hand in the air as though attempting to conjure the right words. "It'd be like... like you charging that lady Mrs Ruthie for bringing her food. It's nothing to you but a little time, right? Putting out those fires is the same for me." The others looked doubtful, but nodded slowly.

"So whaddya do when you need food, P'?" asked Tay, shaking his head. Phaethon just grinned back.

"I don't. Need food, that is. Good food is still fun to eat..." he snagged a rib from a plate in the hands of a girl leaning against the car next to him, eliciting a blush from her as he smiled in warm thanks before biting into it with strong white teeth. "mmf... But I don't need to eat. Or sleep, or worry about keeping warm or cool." he said as he finished the mouthful.

"You're weird, P'." Tay gave up, shaking his head again with a good-natured smile. "Weird, but okay."

"I think he's just fine." said the girl with the plate. This prompted some eye-rolling in the Y-chromosome-carrying demographic, which she noted with a smirk. "Some men don't need money to be men."

"Jaliqua, weren't you sayin' to me last month how I needed to get my ass a job befo'- ahh!" A well-aimed kick to the shin silenced the dissenter.

"I said some men. You ain't the type of men I was talkin' 'bout." Jaliqua shot back as the crowd exploded into laughter. Phaethon chuckled and shook his head before hopping down from his perch.

"This is fun, but I think I'd better go and say 'hi' to Bastion." There were a few protests, to which he held up his hands in mock-appeasement. "Hey, I'll come back! Can someone just point me at him?"

"You'd better come back, Phae-man." Tay grinned at him. "Or else the honeys be hunting yo' ass down like K-9's. 'B's over by Mrs Ruthie, prolly. He looks out for her when it's hot. If he ain't there, he'll be by his pops. Dude his size, tho', you can't miss him."

"Thanks." Phaethon slipped out of the knot of people and wandered in the direction Tay had pointed him, smiling and nodding as he passed other partygoers, eyes searching the throng. It didn't take long: Bastion was every bit as large as Tay had said, and as Phaethon came closer to Mrs Ruthie's porch he saw the bronze-skinned giant talking to a pair of brunette's. One was a delicately lovely human woman with an odd tension about her posture and eyes as she looked at Bastion, and the other...

Was Infinity.

Phaethon hesitated in his step, his expression contemplative. He should have realised that Infi might have shown up... she'd talked about meeting Bastion a couple of times. It had been a few months since she'd last 'dumped' him (and how he hated that word), driving him away out of some neurotic need to beat herself up that he found frankly baffling. He took a split second to think, then mentally shrugged and continued on his course. He just hoped that Infi wasn't in a mood to make this awkward. The emotional tension in the trio ahead of him was already palpable. Putting a warm smile on his lips, he stepped up to try not to make things worse...

"Sebastian Stone? We've spoken briefly on the OpNet. I'm Phaethon." He offered the larger man a hand, his own skin tone close to Bastion's from a life lived under an alien sun. Eyes sparkled like emeralds in the tanned face under the fall of untamed red-gold hair. "Thank you for the invitation. This is a wonderful party."

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Originally Posted By: CassNPC
"Pops invited me, 'Bastian," she said quietly, a knife-edge of bitterness underlying the evenness of her tone. "Not my boss. If you really want to have this discussion later, that's fine, but I would hate to embarrass you in front of your new friend, and I'm pretty sure Mrs. Ruthie doesn't need to hear it, either." That little twinge of guilt rose up again, for the pale girl standing on the sidelines of their ongoing conflict, and for everyone else who'd been sucked into their messy, melodramatic battles over the past couple of years. She prayed they'd understand, and that this time the furniture casualties would be kept to a minimum.


He just stood there staring at Cass, keeping a look of seething irritation plastered to his face as best he could. He didn't really care why she was here or who invited her, all the mattered to him was that she was actually here. Everyone knew the muscle bound idiot was still in love with her.

"Yeah, fine." He glared, trying to intimidate the one woman whom he couldn't intimidate. "We'll settle up later."

Quote:
"Sebastian Stone? We've spoken briefly on the OpNet. I'm Phaethon." He offered the larger man a hand, his own skin tone close to Bastion's from a life lived under an alien sun. Eyes sparkled like emeralds in the tanned face under the fall of untamed red-gold hair. "Thank you for the invitation. This is a wonderful party."


Sebastian gripped his hand firmly. It was a tight handshake that told the nova 'I could tear it off it wanted to' but Sebastian didn't squeeze to hard. "You sound like some master of ceremonies n' shit, bruh." He didn't offer a 'nice to meet you' or a 'glad to have you here'. "Sebastian Stone, an it like this party is mine, these people here invited you, I just let you know it was cool to show up."

He gave Phaethon a once over standing one step away. He quirked one eye brow up, looking at the glowing, jersey wearing and completely out of place nova. "Where you from? Malibu? Cuz you's way to pretty."
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Some novas could handle their exes showing up at a party with style, snapping off some quip that made the ex look lame. Or they would have said and done nothing, showing no reaction and letting the entire situation roll off their backs.

But this was Infinity, and she couldn't stop staring at Phaethon, or stop the blush that crossed her face. Fucking shit... I knew this was a bad idea! She turned away after too long, glaring at the ground as she fiddled with her cigarette. She picked up her beer where she'd set it down to light her cigarette and took a drink, still not sure what to do or say.

The problem was that she was completely torn. Part of her was angry that she literally couldn't go anywhere in LA without seeing or hearing about him. The other part of her wanted to throw herself at him and kiss him, and then let him banish the self-loathing - at least for a time. But he couldn't eradicate it; Infinity knew that she was the only person who could, but she wasn't sure if she had the ability or even desire to do that. Being hateful toward herself made it easier to handle the universe being the same way toward her.

Sebastian's question broke the spell. She snorted at his words to Phaethon, and that helped her to get over her unease. "Hey, Phae," she said casually, a plume of smoke tumbling out with her words. "How's it hanging?"

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  • 3 weeks later...

Cass paused, momentarily taken aback by the fact that an aura of tension was now emanating from a decidedly different direction. She couldn't help the flush that stole into her cheeks as the radiant young man greeted them, and something in the back of her mind casually reminded her that she'd already been involved with one nova, so it wasn't as if it would be strange...

"Um," she fumbled for words, grinning somewhat self-consciously and tucking a dark brown curl behind one ear. "Yeah, we'll catch up later. I'm just going to go check on Pops, and see how smoking the- how hot- I mean-" Blushing furiously and cursing herself for her lack of composure in front of 'Bastian, Infinity, and the gorgeous young man, she edged away from Ms. Ruthie's porch. "Thanks for the lemonade, ma'am," she murmured politely, feeling her cheeks burning as she hastily merged back into the crowd.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Bastion looked to Cass and folded his arms then looked to Mr. Malibu standing there all good-looking and awe-inspiring. He rolled his eyes and sighed a bit. "Uh huh. We'll talk later then I guess."

Bastion didn't say much else, it looked like the Hot Topic cast off and Mr. Malibu were about to have a moment, laced with some history, so let the event play out as he watched Cass's amazing posterior shimmy itself away.

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,,
Originally Posted By: Bastion
"Where you from? Malibu? Cuz you's way to pretty."

"Actually, I'm from somewhere a bit further away." Phaethon smiled back. "And as for being too pretty..." he shrugged. "There's prettier novas than me. I am what I am. If it helps, though, I'll try to hit myself in the face with a few trees before the next party."

Originally Posted By: Infinity
"Hey, Phae," she said casually, a plume of smoke tumbling out with her words. "How's it hanging?"

"Infi." Phaethon looked at her, his deep green eyes delving into her, bringing heat to the surface of her skin as she realised that, as usual, the damn kid's heart was in his gaze. So she was only a year or two older - Phaethon was still a kid. This was just a crush of his that he hadn't gotten tired of yet.

And yet... and yet... She knew better than that, knew him better than that, deep down. And it didn't help. Damn it, say something other than my name, Phaethon! she screamed inwardly.

"It's good to see you." the flame-haired young man told Infinity as he broke into a warm smile. "And this must be Ms Ruthie." The old woman smiled at him.

"You lookin' like you could do wit' some lem'nade." she declared, reaching for a glass and jug. Phaethon smiled back.

"That'd be wonderful." he replied before turning to the fourth person...

Originally Posted By: CassNPC
"Um," she fumbled for words, grinning somewhat self-consciously and tucking a dark brown curl behind one ear. "Yeah, we'll catch up later. I'm just going to go check on Pops, and see how smoking the- how hot- I mean-" Blushing furiously and cursing herself for her lack of composure in front of 'Bastian, Infinity, and the gorgeous young man, she edged away from Ms. Ruthie's porch. "Thanks for the lemonade, ma'am," she murmured politely, feeling her cheeks burning as she hastily merged back into the crowd.

...only to watch as the young woman made her excuses and slipped away hastily. Phaethon blinked, then looked at Bastion. "I think you might be right about me being too pretty." he said with a small, puzzled smile as he stepped forward to take the glass of lemonade from Ms Ruthie. "Thank you, ma'am."

"So..." Phaethon took a sip of the cool drink and looked from Bastion to Infinity. "How are you both?"

When most people asked that, you got the impression that they were just being polite, or maybe interested in a superficial way. "Oh, so you're not incurably ill and your legs haven't fallen off. Good, good." But with Phaethon, both of the other two Novas got the distinct impression that he meant it, but that it was cool if they didn't feel like talking. Infinity was used to that with him - Phae tended to say what he meant and mean what he said. It made arguing with him infuriating. It wasn't that he didn't get emotional or upset, it was just that he wouldn't say stupid hurtful things that he didn't really mean like most people did.

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Infinity snorted at Phae’s joke about uglying himself up with a few trees to the face. She didn’t make that amused sound because she thought the joke was funny; she was laughing because she was pretty sure that Phaethon would do that exact thing if he thought it was the nice thing to do. Phae could be so damned nice.

Her amusement was ripped away by the heart-wrenching look on his face when he said her name. She wanted to scowl at him, but she couldn’t. She didn’t know a woman hard-hearted enough to shut this man down when he looked at her like that. The only reaction she could have was to blush at the heat in his gaze. Thankfully, Cassandra and Ms. Ruthie provided her the breathing room she needed to recover.

By the time Phaethon asked his question, Infinity was as close to ‘in control’ as she could manage. She gave Phaethon a smile that she hoped was cynical, but actually came off as brittle. “I’m about the same,” she said, unintentionally leaving the proto-sun-god little hope that she’d experienced any personal improvement. “Same home, same life, same Infi.” She took another drag on her cigarette and another swig of her beer, trying to be nonchalant about it.

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