Aberrant: 200X - Victoria Crush Charity Extravaganza

[Bombshell]

The masses had demanded a scene ripped from the wildest fantasies of the wildest frat houses, and if there was one thing the XWF was good at, it was catering to the lowest common denominator. And this night, they certainly hadn't disappointed. Rarely in the Nova Age - and never in another - have such a bevy of overly pulchritudinous beauties engaged in such a gratuitous spectacle. That the spectacle had descended from pure, light-hearted entertainment into true physical conflict had only served to inflame the rowdy crowd even more.

As the men - and not a few women, despite themselves - cooled down from the sight they had just witnessed with a spent groan, more than one wondering what to do about the 'mess' in their pants, the Kombat Krew began cleaning up the Combat Zone. With a ribald comment, one of the men pulled the remnants of Bombshell's evening gown from the Jello-ey muck. She had changed into a real dress instead of her eufiber, for the Jello wrestling match.

In a sore, filthy, and irritated group, the four XWF beauties tromped back to the dressing rooms, Jason carrying StarMaker, since she had ended up with a broken collar bone. BabeZilla, still over six feet at her shortest had a face rapidly growing black and blue, though her broken nose had straightened out, her hair thickly matted with Jello muck. Moriko was sheathed in Jello, hardened and cracking, thanks to StarMaker's starlight blasts. StarMaker, in addition to the broken collar bone - thanks to a redirected Axe from Jason - had half her outfit ripped off.

And Bombshell? She was stripped down to her over-burdened, pale blue bra and matching panties, five-inch stiletto heels, and elbow length, opera gloves, and she still looked amazing. Despite taking the heaviest pounding of the four of them, she didn't even look hurt. The thin, artistically symmetric patches of Jello clinging to her somehow just emphasized her fantastic curves and the rippling length of her flowing, silver hair. Moriko and BabeZilla glowered at her. Jason glared back.

"Really girls, teamin' up on me?" Jason huffed, making sure not to jostle StarMaker. She wasn't even sure who had won, if anyone, only that it wasn't her. "This was suppose to be just a little harmless fun."

"Fun?!" BabeZilla - Barbara - shouted. She had hated being upstaged by the arrival of Bombshell into the XWF, and here she was, still looking like she was ready for the Catwalk. Somehow. "You might like prancing around in your underwear, Jason, but that!? That shit was like fighting in snot, particularly tenacious snot. And it's your fault we had to do it!"

"My fault?" Jason protested. "I didn't like fightin' in that crap any more than you did, guys. And I wasn't the one tearing off my dress, nor the one who tried their damnedest to cut off my eufiber-bra to make the twins jump free."

"That would have been hilarous," StarMaker snorted. "My husband would have loved it, and ready to go once we got home. Not like he isn't after watching us."

Moriko gave exaggerated fantasy of a woman towering over her a contemptuous sniff. "The twins are jumping quite freely right now," she muttered. "You shame all women with this shameless... shameless pandering. The more so for not being a real woman. And yet, because you agreed to such a... such a travesty of a physical competition, we were... influenced to agree as well."

Jason sighed. She was tired of that comment being thrown in her face. "I've never denied it, Moriko. I've have tits and a pussy, just like you, which I never wanted. I'm just dealin' as best I can, 'kay? For what's it worth, the fight was far more disgustin' than I thought it would be too and I'll never agree to one, ever again."

"No one has tits like you, Jase," StarMaker stage-whispered, giggling as she poked Jason in one of her boobs.

"Stop that and no more comments from the peanut gallery," Jason said, lips twisting in a tired grin. "And I told ya, it doesn't bother me what you and your husband do for fun, but me and Dani aren't interested. Here's the infirmary, your stop StarMaker."

Jason left her in the care of the Nova physician to get her collar bone taken care of, then she and the other two women shared scowls and went to their separate dressing rooms. Jason pulled off her gloves, and stepping into the shower stall, let her bra, panties, and shoes flow back together into a blob of eufiber.

Jason's duties for the night were technically over, so after her shower, she got dressed regular clothes, stone-washed jeans, a pair of cross-trainers, and a snug, baby doll shirt, 'With Boobs Like These, Who Needs Brains?' scrawled across her chest. Her formed her eufiber into a scrunchy and pulled her hair back into a long, wild pony-tail, then went looking for her girlfriend.

Walking up to the Skyboxes, Jason heard the announcer proclaiming the last event for the night, the Black Circle title bout between Duke 'Core' Baron, Rob 'Superbeast' Steel, and Michael 'Emperor Narcissist' Heller, and the special conditions affecting the fight.

Not finding Danielle in their skybox, though her laptop and camera - not to mention the collection of outfits - were still, Jason debated where to look for her. Not wanting to head back to the Talent Lounge, Jason decided to take a quick look in the VIP Lounge...

And practically bumped into Danielle, who was standing right inside the door.

"Hey, Dani, what's up?" Jason asked, giving her girl-friend a brief, one-armed hug. "I'm more or less done for the night, so I can give you and your Charity For All all the time you need."

[z017]

Shae leaned up and kissed her demon prince on the cheek, then stood and took the arms of her other two spouses. "I think perhaps it is almost time for us to leave for the evening? Jello wrestling aside, I find myself ready to retire for the evening. Do you mind stopping by the VIP lounge to say some good evenings, loves?"

The other three nodded and the Quartet swept from the room, leaving behind both relief and an aching sense of loss. The trip from the Talent Lounge to the VIP lounge was uneventful, thankfully, and stepped into the room just behind Jason and Danielle.

[Eingar]

Mod Fiat post

Fahrenheit paused, considering the tension levels at the table in a rare moment of intuitive perceptiveness that would have done her mentor proud. The other two at the table - Contessa and Dozer - were inconsequential at this time, insofar as any member of the One Race could be considered so. The girl was practically shying away, which was an... interesting reaction. After all, her visible mutations were no more extreme than Sunshine's. The huge Dozer was affably silent, seeming happy to watch and listen. No, they were not the main reason for the tensions Fahrenheit was feeling.

The woman, Jael, with her arm around Sunshine's glowing shoulders and the hard blue stare - she was formidable. Perhaps not in power - Fahrenheit would weigh her own destructive abilities against any non-Elevated nova - but in will and intent, certainly. She was protective and possessive of the glowing youth, that much was obvious.

And Sunshine himself was tense. Perhaps he picked up on the vibe from Jael, or perhaps Fahrenheit made him nervous. Her aggressive demeanour and style of dress together with her reputation as a Terat were likely to make many nervous, the red-skinned woman supposed, and she reminded herself that this nova born from the Crush was only a year old.

"I came to meet with you, primarily." she answered frankly in response to his question. "Though not with any hostile intent, I assure you. I wanted to see you with my own eyes." She smiled, a little wickedly. "And now that I have, I shall withdraw." she rose, then looked directly at him. " Perhaps we will meet in less overwhelming circumstances, Sunshine." she suggested with no trace of innuendo. "Farewell for now."

"Goodbye." he said, handsome brow furrowed in puzzlement as the fiercely predatory flame-wreathed Terat strode away from the table. Fahrenheit smiled a little. The encounter had not been a total loss - she had taken the measure of the young man, and his friends.

And if she was right, he would need those friends and more in time.

[z-Xiao Saori]

Saori scanned the room, smiling as her eyes alighted on Chang, sitting by a truly massive cake. That didn’t elicit a reaction from Saori save a knowing smile. She too had taken advantage of nova-metabolism to indulge in truly incredibly insane food adventures. With a slight moue of distaste, she stepped around Bombshell and Knockout, ignoring them.

The room was beautiful to Saori; not because of the aesthetics or decorations that had gone into it, but because of the members of the One Race who filled it. To her, their variety and power was dazzling. It was an example of the glory of the Race, and even the baselines in the room couldn’t diminish her people’s glory.

Another table caught her eye; filled with novas, it made Saori smile to see them. From the beautiful to the big to the awe-inspiring, they were the future of the world. The shining young man; the twin predator-goddesses, one California golden and one living fire; the sweetly innocent blonde; the massive man who had a wing chair rather than a regular seat. All of them were her people and Saori gloried in their individuality.

Truly, her people were wonderful, she mused as she stopped next to Chang. Others might see a freak, but Saori saw sexuality and beauty; art and intelligence in the woman. “We are soon to go,” she told the artist known as White Rain, “but we could not leave without saying farewell to you.” Chang received a rare smile from the young woman.

[Edward Mansfield]

Edward held out a hand for Chang's, and lifted hers to his lips, pausing an inch or so from her skin, as was courteous and respectful. He released it then and smiled warmly at her, placing a hand gently on the small of Saori's back and nodding in agreement.

"My wife speaks truly. The evening has indeed been an eventful one, and it has been our deepest honor - and pleasure - to make your acquaintance, Ms. Zha-Yang. Dare we might hope that you would accept an offer to grace us with your company in a more casual setting?"

[WhiteRain]

She guzzled the icing sugar, sucking it up the 'throat' of her arm. Chang had never possessed much of a sweet tooth, but she thought that might change now. Food had become fun with her new sense of taste, and interesting, too.

While Chang pondered the fate of the cake before her, she noticed Fahrenheit rise from the table with Sunshine and extricate herself from the gathering there. Her words were unambiguous when she left. She had come here just to speak with Sunshine, by the sound of things.

Chang imagined that Sunshine would have to deal with such attention for a long time. What had motivated this particular bit of interest, though? There seemed something odd about Fahrenheit's manner, something a little off. And why had she made that jibe towards Jael? Some sort of probe, perhaps.

When the quartet made their elegant entrance, Chang removed her hand from the bucket. Saori and Edward approached her, while Shae and Tomas angled more towards the exit. She felt a definite lightness in her heart at this. It felt a bit like having friends.

“We are soon to go,” Saori said as she paused at the table, “but we could not leave without saying farewell to you.” She smiled.

Chang turned all the way to Saori, noticing for the first time how beautiful she was. Her cock stirred a little, half-stiffening. A few drips and drabs of icing sugar that had not been sucked up sank into the skin of her hand and arm. "I appreciate that. Thank you. I owe you and your spouses a great deal of thanks for this evening. And," she said, smiling back at Saori, "I always pay my debts."

Edward strode forward, then, always the soul of courtesy. He took her hand and made as if to kiss it. One of those european courtesies that were quite unfamiliar to Chang, but she understood the reason and the origin.

"My wife speaks truly," he said, his tone warm and genuine. "The evening has indeed been an eventful one, and it has been our deepest honor - and pleasure - to make your acquaintance, Ms. Zha-Yang. Dare we might hope that you would accept an offer to grace us with your company in a more casual setting?"

"Oh, I would suspect so," Chang said. She turned away from them both for a moment, and picked up her cake. With a great creaking sound, her jaw distended, stretching and broadening into a gaping cavern that distorted her beateous features. She swallowed the screaming cake whole, gulping it right down, cake and plate together.

A great storm of tastes hit her buds. Three different sorts of cream, the richness of sugar and sponge and icing, colourings and preservatives, raspberry filling. And in every one of those she tasted the rich panoply of elements that made them what they were. Nitrous oxide in the whipped cream, the mix of natural sugars in the filling and unnatural ones in other places. Chang let her mouth slide closed, and it contracted and shaped into a smile.

She rose, her chair-body morphing back into her upright shape, and turned back to Edward and Saori. "Yes, Edward, I would like to see all of you again some day, and hopefully not too far in the future. Might you have a piece of paper or other writing implement?"

Edward made a deft motion with his hand, and a leather-bound pocketbook appeared, with a black pen hooked into the ring.

Chang clicked the pen and flipped the book to an open page. Her hand became a split-second blur, and she handed the pen and book back. "My address in Vancouver, and OpNet contact details. The private ones. I had a filter or two put in place to keep my public inbox clean but I am afraid it's somewhat over-enthusiastic. I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening, whatever it brings. Now, if you will excuse me for a moment, I have one final piece of business to attend to tonight."

She bowed to Saori and Edward, then looked over to Shae and smiled at her, before walking past the quartet over to Sunshine's table. Her half-stiff shaft grew flaccid again. She felt a little glad of that, though did not know exactly why. Perhaps it was the look on Jael's face. Fahrenheit seemed to have put her in a poor temper, and Chang would rather she did not make any guesses as to her own intentions. Her cock, unfortunately, could be something of a traitor at times when beautiful women were around. And Saori and Shae were beautiful. Edward and Skein were good-looking, but men. Her body had no desire for men.

"Sunshine," Chang said, parcelling off a part of her mind to examine her sexual awakening, such as it was, and consider her responses, "may I have a moment of your time?"

He looked up, blue eyes bright and happy. He smiled at her. "Sure, Chang! Or White Rain. Do you have a preference for that? I mean, are there occasions where you'd rather be called White Rain?"

"An interesting question. It is my registered Nova appellation with Apellate-Lexington, a rather grubby move forced on me by my record company. Accordingly, I would expect to be called White Rain on stage. In general, though, I consider it as much a name as Chang Zha-Yang. Perhaps more so. It is one I chose for myself, after all, rather than a name I was given at birth by people who now hate and fear me." She shrugged. "Still, I'm really not bothered either way."

"Okay! What did you want to talk about?"

"Our prior arrangement," she said. "I've had what might be called a surge of inspiration. Could you meet me at the dock on Friday morning?"

[Magnum Opus]

Originally Posted By: Bombshell

"Hey, Dani, what's up?" Jason asked, giving her girl-friend a brief, one-armed hug. "I'm more or less done for the night, so I can give you and your Charity For All all the time you need."

"Ah, I got a text from someone named Ray O' Sunshine to come to the VIP room so, yeah, here I am." Danielle returned the hug. "Uh, Jay, why is your hair wet? I can smell shampoo - did you just step out of the shower or - something..."

She quieted as the replay of the Jello match came on the UHDTV in the VIP room. "Ah."

[Jael Carver]

“Well.” Jael visibly relaxed as Farhenheit left their table. Sunshine relaxed a bit more, too, as her anxiety eased and the chances of blood being spilled lessened. “That was… dramatic.” Her fingers began to toy with Sunshine’s hair. The excess adrenaline in her body was still there, however, and a different tension began to build. This was something Jael was a little better at controlling. Mostly. Relatively. She couldn’t quite stop the thumb that stroked the back of Sunshine’s neck with a light touch.

Despite her hormones winding her up, Jael felt better. She hadn’t wanted to fight, not here. Though little touched her, the tragedy of the Crush had left its impression even on her. She was glad the woman had left before a fight had to occur. “What were we discussing before she showed up? Oh, yes. Contessa. We were talking about you having confidence,” Jael said, her posture shifting fully into a casual readiness, her standard demeanor. “Girl, you’re so pretty, and with that rack, I don’t know why you think you’re a nobody. God, with those sweater puppies alone, you should have the confidence to look any guy in the eye and ask him to lick your boots. And he’d do it.”

Chang's arrival was ill-timed in that Jael was still wound up, but that spark of territorial jealousy quickly faded. She was pretty sure that Sunshine wasn't going to be looking for what Chang had to offer. She nodded politely to the artist, as she didn't really know the woman.

[Bombshell]

"Yeah, 'ah,'" Jason agreed with a crooked smile, glancing at the replay of her Jello Match. She would readily admit it was hot to watch, four incredibly attractive women fighting in/through gelatin, their outfits seeming to disintegrate in front of their eyes. She might have even pondered trying to talk Danielle into a private bout, save for the fact that she had fought in that disgusting muck. "That Jello-stuff's far more disgustin' that it looks."

Jason sighed, seeing Saori's lips curve with distaste as she walked by. It was a look she'd seen on a number of women at the sight of her, but it didn't really bother her anymore. Not much anyway - it wasn't like she could do much about how she was 'built.' Jason gave Chang a small, two-fingered wave of acknowledgment, smirking at her extravagant cake, then arched a brow at her girl-friend. Since sprouting boobs, she'd gotten amazingly good at the whole brow-arch thing.

"Ray 'O Sunshine, eh?" she repeated, amused, then nodded at the table her glowing ward was sitting at. Along with Jael. there was also the huge, steel-skinned dude who had taken on 'Ironskin' Andy earlier, and a really cute blonde somewhere between Alex's and her own apparent ages, that looked like she had stepped out of the pages of a comic book every bit as much as she and Danielle did, if not quite as... exaggerated.

"Then let's go see what Alex wants, Dani." As soon as Jason said it, Dani's eyes widened, making the connection between 'Ray 'O Sunshine' and Alex 'Sunshine' Andrews, and feeling a bit... blonde. Jason tilted her head at Danielle, then led her to the table, just as Chang was approaching too. With a gracious nod and a graceful wave of her hand, she let the eccentric - really eccentric - artist go first.

"Hey guys and girls, hope you all had fun tonight." Jason flashed Alex an inquiring grin. "You coulda just talked to Dani if you wanted to ask her something, instead of texting her, y'know." Jason tilted her head in Chang's direction, a curious light in her incandescent, indigo eyes, though she didn't ask for elaboration on what they were talking about. If they wanted her to know, either, or both, of them would tell her. "But answer Chang first, she got here ahead of us."

[z017]

Shae hung back from the rest of her family, watching Chang and Sunshine; the changeling smiled, a wicked little idea forming in her mind. She made her way over to where the pair were speaking.

"Might I join the two of you?" she asked smoothly. ""I find my interest in art and artists quite piqued by the evening."

[Contessa]

Originally Posted By: Jael Carver

Despite her hormones winding her up, Jael felt better. She hadn’t wanted to fight, not here. Though little touched her, the tragedy of the Crush had left its impression even on her. She was glad the woman had left before a fight had to occur. “What were we discussing before she showed up? Oh, yes. Contessa. We were talking about you having confidence,” Jael said, her posture shifting fully into a casual readiness, her standard demeanor. “Girl, you’re so pretty, and with that rack, I don’t know why you think you’re a nobody. God, with those sweater puppies alone, you should have the confidence to look any guy in the eye and ask him to lick your boots. And he’d do it.”

"True," Contessa conceded, "But I'm not really good at relating to people, especially boys. Especially boy who are interested in me. I guess I just spent way too much of my youth in seclusion that I just don't really have the social graces most people do. My wiring's shorted I guess."

She noticed the way Jael stroked the back of Sunshine's neck and felt a slight pang of her own jealousy creeping up inside. It didn't make much sense to her since she just met Alex, but a nonetheless a part of her wanted to be Jael: brave, confident, bold and comfortable enough with herself to show someone she was interested affection the way Alex's girlfriend did. "Besides, I deal with enough guy ogling and drooling over Tweedledee and Tweedledumb that its sort of desensitized me towards wanting to get to know a guy. Before I erupted the most attention guys gave me was lining up a shot with a rock, icee and in one cace a strawberry milkshake, which went well with the shirt I was wearing, so it wasn't all bad, I guess." It was obvious that she was deflecting the irritation and pain of talking about her pas experiences with an over abundance of cheer and mirth. "Now, they all want to be my friend and take me out. It does wonders for reminding what people find important. It kinda sickens me, so I tend to not be a very social person. In case, y'know, it shows."

[GDP_ST]

Originally Posted By: WhiteRain

"Our prior arrangement," she said. "I've had what might be called a surge of inspiration. Could you meet me at the dock on Friday morning?"

"Sure." Sunshine replied with a smile, the combination of Fahrenheit's graceful withdrawal, the lessening of tension at the table, and the renewal of normal conversation relieving the young nova no end. "I'd be happy to."

"What's this?" Jael asked with a slight narrowing of her eyes as she considered Chang.

"Chang wants to paint me." Sunshine explained with an 'aw shucks' bashful smile and shrug. "It sounds like fun, so I said sure."

"Ahh, cool." Jael nodded. Chang wasn't exactly sending off the cougar vibe, and besides, by all accounts the strange Terat's tastes ran to women. She smiled at White Rain. "I'd be interested in what you come up with, after seeing that bust tonight." If Chang could capture Bombshell's universal sex appeal, she could likely do the same with Sunshine's radiant innocent beauty.

Originally Posted By: Shae Mansfield

Shae hung back from the rest of her family, watching Chang and Sunshine; the changeling smiled, a wicked little idea forming in her mind. She made her way over to where the pair were speaking.

"Might I join the two of you?" she asked smoothly. ""I find my interest in art and artists quite piqued by the evening."

"I don't mind if Chang doesn't." Sunshine said with an easy smile for the pretty red-head. "I don't really know what the etiquette is for artists at work."

Originally Posted By: Bombshell

Jason flashed Alex an inquiring grin. "You coulda just talked to Dani if you wanted to ask her something, instead of texting her, y'know."

"I knew Dani was busy." Alex said with a wryly sympathetic smile. "So I sent her a text asking if I could come and see her rather than just dragging Contessa over to the booth. I didn't expect her to come to me." He smiled at K.O gratefully. "But thanks, Dani."

"Dani, this is Contessa." he said by way of introduction. "She's got a question for you that she really wants to know the answer to, but she wasn't sure she could ask. So... yeah. Over to you." he smiled at Contessa, his blue eyes sparkling. "Dani's nice, so don't worry about offending." he said reassuringly. Privately, he felt sympathy for the beautiful girl, and hardly blamed her for being uncomfortable. He'd been at high-school long enough to know that kids could be mean, even at a rarified place like Bodwell. He'd not been the victim of pranks himself, outside of having a CoMA hate-filled flier stuffed into his locker once or twice. He didn't let it bother him too much - it wasn't like hicks with shotguns were a threat to him, just as Jase and Jael had said.

"For the rest of the introductions, this is Dozer and Shae. Everyone knows Jase, of course." He relaxed a little more, enjoying the slight tickle of Jael's thumb on his neck, both soothing and exciting. He smiled up at her, glad to have the focus off him for a moment or two.

[Jael Carver]

For a moment, Jael considered being jealous of Chang, but Shae was a much better target. The girl was cute and had invited herself along, turning a situation that Jael had no issues with into one that was going to bother her. But then Jael felt Sunshine look at her and her irritation melted away. She smiled at him, then on impulse, leaned down and gave him a light, quick kiss. There was a murmur from the ever-watching press.

He was only momentarily surprised. “I guess we’re going public?” he murmured to her, his blue eyes shining.

“I’ve always been shitty at keeping secrets,” she murmured with a grin that was one part apology and four parts ‘fuck it’. “I really don’t think anyone’s going to care. Well, not care too much. I mean, they’ll care about it because you’re the Crush Kid and I’m a nova-ho, but the worse we’ll have is some jealous Alexphiles, right?”

Sunshine flushed a little. Jael chuckled at his reaction, remembering the scarlet blush she’d witnessed the day he’d first been assaulted by a pack of the Alexphiles in public. Ah, good times… “Alright,” he said, “but I’m not going to be responsible if one of them leaves a dead cat for you.”

“And with those girls, that’s a possibility,” Jael said, laughing because it was true. Even as she enjoyed the banter with Sunshine, she kept half her attention on Contessa and Knockout’s conversation.

[WhiteRain]

"I'd be interested in what you come up with, after seeing that bust tonight." Jael said, that moment of suspicion passing from her eyes. A possessive one, this. But no impediment, it seemed.

Chang gave a slight bow in Jael's direction. "What I make with Sunshine will be of significantly superior quality, though in a different form. I intend an aura painting, of sorts." She studied Sunshine closely, her eyes penetrating the different layers of the glow that always emanated from Sunshine's body. "Oh yes. I think it will put that bust to shame, as well it ought to." She could not quite keep disdain from her voice when she said that.

It had taken most of the evening to realize she had made a mistake in creating it, but now she knew. That thing would be heralded, celebrated. It would be attached to her forever. And it would be lazy. Her face screwed up into an expression of complete distaste, before relaxing. She shook her head. "That sculpture was a mistake. A foolish mistake."

The bust was qualitatively different than the throwaway paintings and sculptures she sent to Noah for sale, her 'bank roll' as she sometimes referred to it. This was something she had presented, she had spoken for. It had her blatant and clear stamp of approval. Chang never visited galleries that displayed her work unless she believed the work worthy of her presence.

Chang was surprised when Shae slipped over to them, but more than welcomed the sound of her voice. It helped break the darkness of her thoughts, for even as Shae spoke, Chang's mind filled with thoughts of the bust's destruction.

"Might I join the two of you?" Shae asked smoothly. "I find my interest in art and artists quite piqued by the evening."

"I don't mind if Chang doesn't." Sunshine said, offering a welcoming smile to Shae. "I don't really know what the etiquette is for artists at work."

"You will be welcome, Shae. I imagine Sunshine will take care of the issue should you get in the way of the light," she did not smile at the quip, not turn her head to look at Shae. "Friday, then," she said to Sunshine. "I will be looking forward to seeing you."

It was then that Jael leaned in and gave Sunshine a quick thieves' kiss, one the press positively ate up.

“I guess we’re going public?” Sunshine said, his glow growing a little more intense than normal. Chang wondered if maybe she ought to invite Jael to their session as well, if she had this effect on him. Those patterns in the light were all the more visible, and complex, now.

“I’ve always been shitty at keeping secrets,” Jael murmured, grinning. “I really don’t think anyone’s going to care. Well, not care too much. I mean, they’ll care about it because you’re the Crush Kid and I’m a nova-ho, but the worse we’ll have is some jealous Alexphiles, right?”

Chang watched them talk, and chuckle, remembering how things had been with Olga. The happy times felt a thousand years ago now. But so did the bitterness, even though she had left it behind only recently. She tried not to dwell on the past too much. It could only ever drag her down and keep her from the future.

"Congratulations to you both," she said. "And to you especially, Sunshine. It seems you've found love early. My last relationship ended with me on trial for rape," she added, giving a thoughtful nod. "I hope you fare better than I, at least. Now, I feel I have somehow outstayed my welcome. Time to leave. Goodbye to all of you, and enjoy what remains of your evening."

Chang bowed to them all, and then to Jason, and once more to Shae, before turning and striding towards the exit. One of the press people approached her with a mic, already eager to ask questions about Jael and Sunshine.

"Ms. Chang, Ms. Chang! Do you have anything to say about Ms. Carver's stateme--"

"Be silent." Chang's four voices merged into that single, harmonious tone, scything through his ears to his brain and forcing it to obey. The reporter's mouth shut with an audible clack of teeth.

She left him standing, and kept on walking, giving a nod to the remainder of the quartet on the way.

[Contessa]

Quote:

"Dani, this is Contessa." he said by way of introduction. "She's got a question for you that she really wants to know the answer to, but she wasn't sure she could ask. So... yeah. Over to you." he smiled at Contessa, his blue eyes sparkling.

Um, hi, Dani. I'm Contessa." She looked at he floor and rolled her eyes at herself. "Which you already knew, so yeah..."

"Doing great so far." Alex grinned and rooted for her with a mock pumped fist, before continuing his conversations with Jael and the others.

"So not helping." She looked up to Dani and managed a smile. "Uh, I was curious, you gave me a rose earlier and I don't have any admirers as far as I know, so I was wondering if you could tell me who asked you to give it to me?"

[Magnum Opus]

Originally Posted By: Contessa

"Uh, I was curious, you gave me a rose earlier and I don't have any admirers as far as I know, so I was wondering if you could tell me who asked you to give it to me?"

Danielle frowned, thinking of Sean. "Ah, I can't. They specifically requested I never tell anyone." She scratched the back of her head. "And a promise is a promise, you know?"

[Fahrenheit]

The exotic red skinned Nova left the lounge finding her way outside as she lost herself in deep thought. She had spent the most of her existence in confinement or seclusion and even after her ‘birth’ that didn’t change much. Although she possessed the power to travel to virtually any place on earth she stayed at her mentor’s side, training patience and listening to his wisdom.

Maybe she was still too young? Maybe she should’ve waited longer but she was losing patience. Her nature was too aggressive to be kept under the lid for almost a decade. Her eyes searched the horizon hoping to find a sign that gave away how the future would be like. The One Race should’ve been more than just a scattered bunch of Gods amongst mere men. They deserved a better fate than this but something or maybe someone was holding them back.

She could hear Scriptures voice telling her that she should look for answers within herself and not expect someone else to be handling her future or fate. Her father may be the defacto leader of the movement but he didn’t provide the kind of guidance she expected and if she was honest to herself she knew it was the wrong question she was asking. Fahrenheit was worried for her people. Worried about their fate and not only her own which brought her back to the reason to come to this place.

Unfortunately Sunshine wouldn’t provide much answers – at least not the kind of answers she was looking for. Carver on the other hand... she could actually be more resourceful, at least about the circumstances of Sunshine’s eruption. It seemed that the answer to her questions would better be answered by Sunshine’s friends rather than himself although she’d still keep an eye on him, just in case...

Finding Carver’s OpNet-address shouldn’t be that hard...

[Iron Rose]

In the booth up top, Rianna looked over to Cecilia and nodded. "Having fun yet?"