Aberrant: Children of Quantum Fire - [Interlude: Bombshell & Ling] Lights, Camera, Action! [Complete]

[z023]

Questions flowed pretty quickly from then on, Kareena only having to reign in the insatiably curious (mostly over Jason's declaration of leaving acting for a time or Sakura's pregnancy) a dozen times or so. Kaji even managed to get his question out: a very insightful series of questions about the use of eufiber outfits in modern productions and the necessary change in skill sets and general landscape of wardrobe/costuming when dealing with nova actors. It was grueling three hours for those unused the spotlight (most of the cast) and the penetrating, often personal, and sometimes incredibly technical questions that the students posed. Jason, Indira, and Rajinder managed to field the most difficult ones, and Kareena wrangled the students and alumni into to keeping the questions at least peripherally connected with the actual movie.

One girl, a cute, spunky-looking Japanese student with pink stripes through her hair and a small fortune of piercings along her ears did manage to ride a request for a date with Han onto her last question; Kareena cut her off and asked Han not to respond to that during the interview or the whole cast would be swamped with requests or proposals. The exasperated-and-amused tone of voice hinted that such had happened before.

Then came the really scary part: mingling.

A ballroom just down the hall had been set up for the post formal-interview social, complete with nova-sized buffet offerings, gentle music piped in to try to keep people calm and polite, and a security staff just visible enough to remind people to mind their manners or they'd be quietly and unceremoniously tossed out of the building. Sakura kept Chang's advice well in mind and stuck close to Jason as they moved from one room to the other. The social was open to any of the MIFTT students, alumni that hadn't had the money or clout for the closed interview session and, of course, reporters. Everyone there had heard at least bits and pieces of the interviews from Chirps* and blog posts made by students waiting for their turn to ask questions. Flash photography had been forbidden, primarily because of Angela Whitfield's, who played Gabrielle, sensitivity to bright lights in strobe patterns. OpPhones were still snapping hundreds of pictures and short videos as the cast and producers made their entrance.

Sakura grabbed for Jason's hand as the crowd surged forward, shouting over each other and the pathetically outmatched music in the room with questions about Jason's sabbatical and Sakura's pregnancy and claims of her fertility powers in the interview. The older nova could see the wide eyes of fear in her young friend and the quivers running through Sakura's body as the cocophany threatened to overwhelm her. Nearby Wong, Damien, and the other nova cast members were similarly fallen upon; the Japanese girl, Miya, even managed to elbow her way through the crowd and take a firm position if front of Han. Her manner was both confident and coquettish as she waited for his answer to her early request for a date.

*Chirps, the QF timeline version of Twitter, because it made me giggle.

[Ling]

Ling watched Sakura, he wondered if she would be alright, then shook it off, of course she'd be fine, he thinks at least. He looked at Miya and grinned, "well have me cornered now, I suppose there isn't much to do but give an answer."

Miyu giggled and tapped her foot awaiting his answer taking a step closer, "that sounds about right."

He snickered, "forward, hrm, very well sounds good, I'll get some information and let you know when and where."

Miyu grinned and gushed, Ling was slightly emberassed, or so people thought, shouldn't people be such in situations like these after all?

[Bombshell]

Jason laced her fingers with Sakura's and gave them a reassuring squeeze, soothing her anxiety with her presence. Questions and comments and the crowd converged on them like a tsunami and Jason faced it, stopped them from being overrun. Jason didn't act as a barrier, but rather danced among the tides of humanity swirling about them, giving Sakura a calm space without holding themselves apart. A gracious word or wry comment here, a stunning smile or deep look there, her ineffable presence and decades of experience satiated the crowd without revealing more than she wished.

On Sakura's other arm, clung Danica, like a grinning, chatting imp. The young girl drew her own share of the attention, rare was a such a young nova seen in public. Charming and cute beyond measure, Danica giggled and talked easily without any artifice. Despite being born a nova, for all that, she was just a girl, and in a sign of respect to her and her mother, those talking with her didn't press or badger her.

Standing between mother and daughter, Sakura could sense another reason for Danica going hassle free. Though Jason seemed perfectly as ease, there was... not a sense of threat exactly, but an awareness, a potentiality, that unequivocally stated that no harm would come to her daughter, no harm of any sort, and that promise extended to the pregnant woman on her arm.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jason caught Ling flirting with the woman who had asked him for a date during the interview and Damien, red-faced again, as a pair of tall young women and a fashion designer she knew were talking to him. Jason's faint smile of amusement widened as she turned to a lovely blonde, tall and statuesque, dressed in a silver soieleau evening gown approached them, her heels elevating her to the same height as Jason.

"Good evening, miss..."

[Bombshell]

Julia felt the pull as soon as Bombshell entered the ballroom, as insistent and pervasive as gravity. The siren's call of her true love lured her from across the room and she glided across the tiles in her five-inch pumps with hard earned grace to meet the woman who had captured her soul with a casual glance that had seen what truly resided in her heart and enticed it to come forth.

And then she was standing before the silver-tressed goddess, those perfect lips that haunted her dreams with their promises curved into a welcoming smile, pleased at seeing her transformation, her chrysalis, into the one who could fulfill her as no other woman could since Knockout. Eyes wide and bright, heart pounding wildly in anticipation of what was to come, Julia was barely even aware of Bombshell's daughter or the Blossom Princess on her arm.

"Good evening, miss...?"

The pure music in Bombshell's voice made the tips of her breasts stiffen more painfully than they ever had before. "Julie Njambe, my love," she whispered emphatically, stepping close, so close their breasts brushed together. Her lips parted, waiting for the kiss she knew was coming, her eyes brimming with joyous tears. She took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders and elevating her chin to display the fine line of her jaw. "The one whose eyes you looked into, seeing the woman that I could be, and summoning her forth. And now, here I am."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Julian had been at the Vancouver comicon when he had first seen Bombshell in the flesh. She had been revealing the first news of the new Dark Sun production Dead Rising at a panel when she turned her head, flicking a strand of shining silver hair glowing under the fluorescent lighting from out of her face and their eyes had met - luminous indigo to deep brown. Lips that deserved their own fan-page on the OpNet - and indeed had more than one - curved into a smile of greeting and nodded at him before she turned back to continue revealing the public details of the new movie.

That one look seared a place in his soul. In one casual glance, Bombshell had revealed so much to him - adored by millions, billions, and yet, she was lonely. Everyone loved the idea of her, so few bothered to love the real her. Would he? By God! He would! He just needed an approach. Ah, the itinerary said she would be signing autographs after the panel. Instantly, he left, and eagerly spent way more than he had intended to spend at the Comicon on the alternate cover of Barsoom #1.

But when if finally was his turn to get his comic signed, his mouth went dry and his tongue tied itself in knots, he could barely get his name out when she asked.

"Ju.. Juli-"

"Julie, hmm?" the goddess of a woman said with an amused giggle, teasing and so friendly no one could take offense. In an instant, everything become so clear to Julian. Though the tabloids conjectured who Bombshell may have slept with, male and female, she was a woman who was once a man; she could only love a woman who was once a man too, just like her former wife Knockout. "Unusual, but I'm hardly one to judge, eh?" She signed her name with a flourish, her grace and deftness turning her mere autograph into a work of art. "Here, you go, Julie." To show she was only jesting, she added an imprint of her lips to the cover before handing him the comic. Julian shivered as her fingers brushed his. "Try not to throw up on eBay too quick, hmm?"

"Never!" he promised vehemently, holding the comic to his chest.

When he told his parents what he decided, he couldn't believe they didn't understand. If they had met Bombshell themselves, they would have. Fortunately, he had made his own fortune, so when they disowned him, he still had the funds necessary to follow through on what Bombshell had asked of him with her peerless eyes.

He did his research, checked sources, looking for the best and truest method to transform himself into the woman Bombshell believed he had inside him. Plastic surgery and hormones took too long; there were Nova cosmetic surgeons that could work miracles, but it didn't seem right, too artificial still. His answer came through the Tiresias Foundation, of which Bombshell was a founding member. However, they psychiatrist didn't deem him fit for undergoing voluntary injection of Hera's Revenge.

Of course, that was merely a test - Bombshell must've known - determining his resolve, they couldn't just let him have the nectar that would open Bombshell's heart to him. It was tricky - he hadn't much experience in such - but he managed to contract a band of 'entrepreneurs' to recover a sample for him. Another expense, but one he was more than willing to make. As soon as he had the vial in hand, he filled a syringe and injected it.

To his disappointment, he didn't immediately transform into the beautiful woman he believed he would become. But a week later, the virus had taken hold, and he was now indeed a woman. She frowned, a mildly attractive woman, not a striking beauty, and one who moved and held herself awkwardly. This, a nova-class surgeon could remedy. Using one to become a woman would have felt wrong, but refining her appearance into one worthy of standing beside Bombshell was acceptable.

During the two months it took to transform her into a ravishing blonde beauty, she studied and practiced, turning her outward appearance into something that permeated her entirely. She lost contact with friends and family, but hardly noticed, her every waking moment devoted to becoming the woman Bombshell deserved.

She debated sharing the progress she made with her, but decided to save it for a surprise. Besides, Bombshell would hardly care for the ungainly, male thing she once had been. And then reading about the interview and meet-and-greet at the Mumbai Institute of Film, Television, and Theatre, Julie knew it was the perfect moment to make her reveal - just as she had first met Bombshell and had been shown the truth when Dead Rising was first mentioned, it had a symmetry that Bombshell would see the results of her chrysalis just after the movie had wrapped. So soon, my love, I will bask in your strong and graceful arms...

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Julie." The melodious voice was different, warm, caring, yet still it made Julie's heart freeze in trepidation. Gentle hands rested on her shoulders and opened a space between her and Bombshell with implacable strength. Julie couldn't bring herself to meet her eyes. "Julie..." Bombshell's sigh was a caressing exhalation. "I think you've read more into our previous encounter than I ever intended."

Though one hardly thought of her as a genius, by the standards of those without a node, Jason was very intelligent indeed, intuitive and empathic. She might not have recognized this woman, but she noticed the way she said 'Julie,' recognized the way she tilted her chin, and realized she was the same person as the flustered man from the Vancouver Comicon several months gone. She wished she could say this was the first time something like this had occurred, but it wasn't. Despite all her care not to overwhelm or unduly influence those around her, it was simply impossible to account for the vagaries of the human mind and how it perceived the world and others. Some simply were susceptible to obsession. Some had tried to sue her too.

It didn't mean Jason cared any less. Her eyes filled with sympathy and pity. Meeting those eyes, Julie flinched, the pity she saw making her believe she was lacking in some way. Foolish, foolish, fool! You may be as beautiful as any human woman who has ever lived, but it takes a woman who is more than human to stand beside a Goddess. With a circumspect motion, Jason waved away security.

"Whatever you think there is between us, it's an illusion, okay?"

Now that Bombshell said it, Julie could see that it was so.

"I'm sorry this happened, truly. You need help."

Yes. Yes, she did need help. It was getting hard to breath.

"Please, take this." A crisp card was pressed into Julie's hand. "The people here are good people, and they can help you."

Julie glanced down at the card, a subdued chuckle breaking through her lips. The Tiresias Foundation. They had helped her once - though they didn't know it - and now they could help her again, she's told. Julie forced herself to meet Jason's eyes, looking deep into them, forcing an intimacy.

"You don't love me?" she whispered in a small voice.

Jason's eyes closed for a moment, then nodded firmly. "I do not."

Julie swallowed, nodded, feeling her heart break into a million pieces. She had thrown it away without looking along with her manhood and Bombshell hadn't bothered to catch it. She straightened herself proudly. "I understand. I've made a terrible mistake, it seems, Ms. Bellefleur-Waters, and for that and the drama I've caused you and your guests," she nodded at Sakura and Danica, finally deigning to acknowledge their existence. "I deeply apologize. I shall put an end to it."

Not waiting to hear any condolences or consolation, Julie turned on her heels and swept out of the ballroom with a regal hauteur. She knew she couldn't live without Bombshell, and yet Bombshell was forever out of her reach, unless she erupted. She was only one option left to her, but regardless of the outcome, she'd make sure Jason 'Bombshell' Bellefleur-Waters never forgot her name.

The click of Julie's heels were cold on the marble floor, and had the sound of finality. Which was probably for the best - if she had tried to drag it out, to ease the situation further, Jason believed she would just be feeding the woman's obsession. Damn, but it's been nearly a decade since the last time something like that happened. She moved over to stand by Sakura once more, hugging Danica as her daughter slipped in under her arm, sensing her mother's distress.

"Sorry about that, girls. Even I have my off-days, but howsabout we don't let it drag us down, eh?" Jason said, her mellifluous voice encouraging, but her indigo eyes were incandescent with melancholy.

[Quantum Fire]

End of Thread

XP: 3 Standard, 3 Baseline, 3 Nova