Aberrant: Children of Quantum Fire - Rainbow Room IV: Acts of Desperation

[Maia]

"Get a drink, if you want,or simply explore. Butch and I ended up dancing the first time we came."

She sighed. "I did not expect everyone to show up honestly. I had thought this would simply be a girls night out." She may have mentioned going to Cora, but things seldom stayed secret amongst the siblings. Darrik seemed to be enjoying himself, and Maia shrugged. "Nova watching can be very entertaining as well." Her voice was equally soft, enough only for Alex to hear.

[z-Infinity]

“Ooo, a baby Terat,” Infinity purred, grinning at Darrik to show she meant no offense. “But if we’re going to discuss philosophy, can we sit down?”

“Of course,” Darrik said, waving to the chairs at the bar, only to get a surprise as Infinity perched on his knee and looped an arm around his shoulders.

The feisty girl gave him cheeky grin as she settled into place, getting comfortable. Darrik would kicked her off if he didn’t appreciate her actions, but considering that put his face fairly close to her bust, she was sure he wouldn’t mind that much. Leaning past him gave him a better view – and smell – of her as she nabbed the drink that Puck had given her.

The drink was actually alcoholic and Infinity gave Puck a quirked eyebrow to let him know that she’d noticed. A second later, she winked at him to let him know that his liquid apology was accepted. “So. You want to be a Terat. Why?” Seeing the drink down, she looped her other arm over his other shoulder so that she encircled him. Jesus, he’s way too hot. So fuckin’ unfair. Concentrate… he’s talking.

[Karren Gaunt]

Coraline watched Infinity be led off and throw herself at Darrik before turning most of her attention to Norman. She didn't quite trust the gothy terat enough to fully turn her back on her, the sheer spite she was comunicating off-putting. And she had enough eniemies in the world without giving another a shot at her. "Is Infinity going to be okay seeing us together?" she asked softly under the throb of the music, eyes wary and not seeking harm for the other girl but not wanting to leave herself open either, "I've seen Apothesis through anger, pain. It ends... poorly for nearly everyone involved."

[Toby Lupin]

Darrik seemed perfectly content with Infinity's close contact, and seemed to relish the press of bodies, letting his hand come up and one finger idly tracing curves on Infinity's arm. That was where she discovered that his touch was simply exciting, and pretty unfair to the same degree as his visage or voice was. "It started when Orzaiz invited me to a private party at his Kinshasa estate. We had a talk about a number of things, and I ended up following up with Chang later. Suffice it to say, I liked what she had to say, and it really made me self-examine a great deal. I could trace some issues I'd been grappling with back to trying to follow the confines of baseline ideals. Ones rather inappropriate under reflections. In short, I agree on freeing ourselves from baseline strictures and reaching our true potential, and that is at the core what the Teragen is about, is it not?"

[z-The Morrigan]

Morri doubted she could do this when Jason called her hot. It left her shaken and was a vivid reminder that people wanted her sexually. She wasn’t comfortable with it. But she forged onward, her expression set in stone. She could do this. She could control her fear.

That detemination nearly cost her at the door. There were a lot of people there, and they all pressed forward on their group. Had they ignored her to fawn over Bombshell and Maia – like Morri wanted them to do, she would have been fine. But when they called her name and pressed closer to her, it was too much.

A low snarl backed the people up, for just a moment which was all Morri needed. A pulse of desire shifted her outfit, turning the skirt into shorts and the shoes into anklets. Then she leapt, her strength making it easy to grab the supports of the balcony. As the watchers stared at the dexterous spectacle, Morri swung under and up, releasing at the right point to catch herself on the rail. The party-goers there blinked at her – not too hard, this was the Rainbow Room after all – as she jumped again and twisted, catching another, higher balcony. From there, it was a short hop to the rafters, and the feral disappeared into the darkness above the lights.

Morri sighed with relief as the darkness closed around her. She knew immediately that she wasn’t alone; there were others up here. Utterly at ease, Morri jumped from perch to perch, avoiding the other novas. One couple of having sex, and she gave them a wide berth. When she was over the dance floor, she found a good place to sit and waited for people to stop looking for her so she could slip down to dance.

[SalmonMax]

Alex's reply was temporarily waylaid when Morrigan made her dramatic exit. A moment later she relaxed a bit and muttered, "Whew...that could have been worse."

For some reason, the display threw her own uncertainties into a new light though, and Alex made her decision. She gave her sister a shoulder-hug, then said, "Actually, I think I'm going to cut loose for a bit. Go it on my own. Otherwise I'll just be leaning on you all night, and that's not really fair on either of us." She gave Maia a grin, then headed over to the bar...no more certain of herself than before, but paradoxically more confident, because she felt she was doing the right thing. Embracing the uncertainty as part of the experience.

At the bar she sat down on a leather covered rotating stool and caught a bartender's eye.

"I'd like something with a lot of flavor," she said. "It doesn't matter what's in it, or how much is in it...just give me something new to taste."

[Ling]

Ling had been sitting there for a time, watching, enjoying the room about him, people enjoying themselves, that's where he liked to be best. Being sad was a foreign concept for him despite his own past, he just didn't understand it. Of all things in the room, he noticed the one who stuck out, she was feisty. And about the only one who wasn't a supermodel, she was something different, a uniqueness in the room. Like a centerpiece in a treasury. The ruby eyes were a specific trigger, it gave a certain, value of it all. When something catches his eye, Ling must do what Ling must always do, make an impression.

The party was standard fare, there had to be something he could do to liven things up. He pondered this as he watched, his new boss caught his eye, a certainty so long as he was looking. He had come here at her request, he should at least say hello. He made his way over the old fashioned way, walking. Two drinks were gripped in his wing claws, while one was in his left hand, "quite the entrance," he gave a slight bow and grinned devilishly.

[z-Infinity]

“It is,” Infinity agreed, reaching up to twine her fingers through his hair. She twisted the red and the black strands together, watching them combine in interesting patterns. Her eyes came back to his – red and so much like her own – as she said, “I was born into Teras. So I have felt its call the independence – to not be human all my life. I grew up at a Terat's knee, hearing about the struggle to find oneself. I have lived that every day, and still I struggle to rise above.” She smiled sadly. “I hear it’s harder for those who have been raised outside of that life.

“So, Darrik, you tell me that the Core of Teras is freeing ourselves from baseline strictures and reaching our true potential.” The girl leaned in close, so that her warm breath dance over his ear. “But what does that mean?”

[WhiteRain]

Chang noticed all the comings and goings. Some people she knew, some she didn’t. Most were beauties that defied description and demanded the effort. The world seemed full of such these days. They managed to get much of the club to stop talking about Glory’s arrival and swift disappearance, at least.

Names she picked up swiftly, from conversations both open and ones they thought were secret, the stage whispers and such. It amused her somewhat to hear the beautiful Maia say she liked Nova watching.

It should not have been much of a surprise, really. The children were new to the Nova culture, after all, and had not the time to grow weary of it. One could only be amused for so long by watching the beautiful and mad dance their merry dances before it took on the unmistakable air of tedium. Chang was far, far beyond the point of excitement at comings and goings in the Rainbow Room. She cared to hear what people said, and let others waste their time on gawking.

As it turned out, very few of them seemed to have much of interest to say, and only two really caught her eye and held it. Jason and The Morrigan.

She went back a long way with Jason. Back before she was The Mirror Queen, before she was even truly a Terat. Back before Jason was married or a mother, and back before she was a widow, too. They had come close to meeting then, when Chang left a gift on Jason’s doorstep. She had waited there, in the dark, thinking maybe to see her and talk. But she hadn’t. In the end, she stretched away when she saw that distinctive shadow approaching through the glass. Their spheres had brushed since then, but never joined.

And The Morrigan… well, Chang new better than to try and get close to that one. She was probably one of the few people in the club completely unsurprised when the feral nova leapt up into the rafters. They had encountered one another briefly when she was a guest of Einherjar several years ago, back when the Congo was quite young and she felt the need to make his palace more arty. The Morrigan had looked at Chang’s cock in much the same way most people looked at a ticking nuclear weapon, and that had been the last Chang saw of her. Pity, she thought, she seems rather interesting. But the world was full of interesting people, and she knew better than to try and meet all of them. Some interesting people viewed her as something to smash, kill, or otherwise physically inconvenience, and she had a sneaking suspicion that The Morrigan might be one such interesting person.

Chang noted The Morrigan’s position in the club, though, tracking her movements by sound and the tremors she sent through the rafters. She would trust to Jason to make sure that nothing went wrong. There was something delightful about the Nova’s movements, though. Efficient, precise, deadly, yet unconsciously so.

Listening to the obvious love triangle between Infinity, Coraline and Norman did not make her smile, but it made her want to. Everyone was so busy thinking of how powerful and world-changing all these children were that they forgot about the whole ‘children’ part of the equation.

Of course if Infinity developed some sort of explosive powers later in life, the triangle could be altogether less amusing.

All of this went through Chang’s head as she turned slowly to Sakura, and favoured her with the remnants of the smile born from her rather evil laughter. “Thank you for the gift, Sakura. It’s very much appreciated.” She took the garland and hooked it over her wrist. “And I’m perfectly fine. I just sent one of the most powerful novas in the world packing. I am now indulging in what might be impolitely termed ‘gloating’. I do not gloat often, so I intend to enjoy it, though I certainly hope it will be some time before I get this way again. I feel rather punchable right now, and if there’s one I’ve learned, it’s that being punchable in this world tends to get you punched eventually. Not good when your peers are the sorts who kick tanks over the Grand Canyon.”

Lucrezia began to fuss around Sakura again, not quite rubbing against her but very obviously wanting to. For her part, Chang could feel and smell the heady aroma of Sakura’s pheromones. The urge to take her rose again, just as strong as last time, enough that her right arm actually twitched and lengthened half a foot before she clamped down with all her mental might and snapped the neck of the hungry beast that was stirring in her.

The effort made her shake a little, but she kept it from her voice. Likewise, she kept the worry out of it. Many, many novas would see her tonight. And ninety nine per cent of them would be overcome instantly. If things went wrong, there would be chaos in the Rainbow Room, followed swiftly by blood.

“Darrik’s down there with that rather interesting goth,” she said, nodding over to where Darrik and Infinity were chatting. “I’d leave it another minute or two before you interrupt them, though. Give the dance floor time to smell the flowers, as it were. We’ve got quite enough lookers in the house tonight. If we weren’t all Novas I’d be expecting a heart attack round about now.”

The flesh-seat that Chang had formed for Glory still remained, though Glory never used it, preferring instead to mimic the mimic and make one of her own. Should have taken mine, Glory. I’ll bet it was comfier than yours. “Would you like to sit? I had a wonderful time when you slept on me back in the garden, and I’m perfectly happy to enjoy your rump for a minute or so before you go shake it on the dance floor.”

Her intentions were both polite and selfish. She needed something to assuage the feelings Sakura stirred. Fucking her body into insensibility would work… but that would be submission, and she knew if she gave in it would be an act of betrayal to her beloved. Nobody would have Sakura – nobody – if Chang indulged that feeling. She would take her and when done she would swallow her whole and keep her inside herself forever.

Just thinking about that made it seem all the tempting, but the beast was dead already, and its power gone. Taking a touch or two from Sakura was really just a matter of paying respects at a grave.

[Toby Lupin]

"For me?" Darrik replied casually? "There's one piece that Chang helped me with, but from there? That's what I'm just starting to explore." He felt her hair weaving and chuckled in mock astonishment. "Why my dear. You really are coming onto me? In front of Puck no less... I thought you seemed more likely to share things with him." A lynx grin off excellent teeth reflected teasing lust at the other man as well.

[Shosuro Miren]

"Oh, Infinity and I share almost everything," the pearl-toned nova flashed Shadowheart a grin. "Besides, I think at least for the moment she's trying to be more interested in your thoughts than your body. You said that Chang helped you with 'a piece' of your understanding of Teras. Would you mind sharing that?"

He took a sip of his drink, savoring the rare indulgence in caffeine and sugar. "Or perhaps you have some questions for the two of us? We were both raised within Teras, and as it should be, our views differ to own paths; which differs also from Chang's views and experiences, and so on." That smile was there again, his eyes roving over the pretty picture the two made: Infinity with her unabashed desire for Shadowheart and Shadowheart's playful caress along her arm. It was a large mark in Shadowheart's favor from Puck that he seemed to be one of those novas that could look past conventional nova beauty and take the time to find the actual beauty of person. "Surely we have to time for a little discussion before moving on to more athletic activities, if you are so inclined," he half stated, half asked in his captivatingly sultry voice.

[Toby Lupin]

Darrik flashed an overwhelmingly sexy grin in response, and leaned back against Infinity even more. "I'd ask, since it sounds quite different from my life, what did growing up in Teras entail?" His hand left her arm and cupped her chin, stroking fingers here and there. "Actually, Puck scoot a little closer and tell me." His grin turned wicked.

[Bombshell]

Following Morri with her eyes, Jason cocked a hip as she shifted her weight, resisting the urge to give herself a facepalm. This had been totally her fault, she had given Morri a small push a little too soon. But she had known Morri for a decade and a half and had never seen her looking so fine. She had wanted to give her - and Alex - a showy arrival for their first visit to the Rainbow Room. She should have made the entrance herself - or possibly with Maia - and let them ease in at their own pace.

Well, what was done, was done. She gave a huff, then cast her gaze around the Rainbow Room as she stepped forward, sharing smiles and waves with those she knew. On a raised area above the dance floor and at an angle to the bar, Jason saw Chang, talking with Sakura and surrounded by a bevy of beauties who may or may not have been her wife. She gave Chang a minute nod in recognition and greeting - there was a history between them, complicated, not fully defined and though some of their circles overlapped, they hadn't seen each other in many years.

She had felt the eyes on her when she had bent over to pick up the gift on her doorstep those years ago, and had known them to be Chang's. She didn't know what she would have said then, so close to Danielle's death, but now, she wanted to at least say thank-you for 'When Yanluo Falls.' But it could wait until Morri was on the dance floor, she had already waited this long.

"I believe I'm gonna make a spectacle of myself on the dance-floor, Maia - give Morri a chance to join us in her own time. Care to join me?" Jason asked, glancing over at the young goddess. Just then, she saw a tall young man approaching her, a drink in hand and two in his wing-claws, and gave him a wide grin and graciously inclined her head as he bowed low and flared his wings as he offered her and Maia his extra drinks. "Why, thank-you, Wong," she said, taking a sip and waving at Maia. "Wong, Maia. Maia, Wong. He's playing the lead villain in a movie I'm doing. Maia, she was raised like a daughter by a very good friend of mine."

Jason tilted back her head and downed the rest of the drink in one long swallow, her throat pulsing enticingly, her breasts rising, then with impossible grace, flicked the empty glass through the air to land perfectly on the bar in front of the bartender. "But now, if you'll excuse me, I have some dancin' to do. You're free to join us, of course Wong." Her grin turned slightly teasing. "You may want to have your shades handy, I'm planning on cutting loose."

With that, Jason strutted onto the dance floor, hips already swaying to the pounding backbeat. Morri would get her distraction, but Jason was doing this for herself as well. She was feeling good and not a little lascivious. Men and women pressed close to the staggering, voluptuous beauty as she worked her way to the center of the dance-floor, gathering the music inside her. But as she expressed every rhythm and nuance with sublime grace, space opened up around her, so people could watch in awe and desire.

Her dance was primal and powerful, sensual and care-free, divinely improvised, contemporary masterpiece. She spun and gyrated and twisted, every movement ineffably graceful and drawing the eye. It was vibrant and energetic with her joyous laughter as counterpoint, and even as mouths dried at the sight, the onlookers felt their spirits soaring and from staring in awe, they found themselves joining her once more on the dance-floor with their own improvised steps.

Dancing Queen!

Physical Prodigy (+3 Auto-Successes), Bardic Gift (+8 Auto-successes), Mega-Charisma 8 (+3 Auto-Successes), 15 regular dice, and 8 Mega-Dice.

Bardic Gift - it's not really emotion control, just really good at conveying an emotional resonance, like any amazing piece of music or art, only moreso.

And, she's letting herself be Beguiling - Has the enhancement twice, meaning anyone attracted to her has their Intelligence and Wits reduced by 8, to a minimum of 2. Megas are reduced too. Technically, there is no resistance to it, but I was thinking Empathetic Shield would reduce the effect by 1 per dot, to both regular and Mega attributes.

[z-Infinity]

"It was like growing up in the place of ultimate expression," Infi said, letting go of his hair to slide her hands over his shirt. Turning her head a little, she lightly kissed his wrist, smiling like a fallen angel as she said, "No one expected you to be anything, other than what you were. If they started to, someone else would mention Teras, and suddenly, all the pressure to change or conform was gone. We had schooling, where we learned the history of baselines and the Movement. We learned how humanity had fucked up the planet and how novas saved it - and how they were repaid by forced conformation to humanity's laws. Those laws are great for controlling a mass of people that can barely control themselves, but novas don't need to be controlled. We shouldn't be, and humanity attempted to control us by calling us 'just humans' and trying to get us to follow their rules."

Her fingers hovered over his belt buckle now, having slowly inched down while she was talking. "Sorry, rant's over. For me, it was like being in a college dorm - lots of kids around all the time, with adults watching over us." Her red eyes darkened. "We couldn't stay with our families and we grouped together for protection. There are people who hunt nova children. Did you know that? Fuckin' baby-killers - afraid of us because they can't control us."

[Maia]

While near the level of Jason, it wasn't really for Maia to refuse. She smiled to Wong nodding. "Nice to meet you." Knowing there was nothing she could do about Morri, she followed Jason out, losing herself in the rhythm of the music, Smiling the entire time. No one dared touch her, an inviolate beauty dancing among others.

[Ling]

Ling gave her a toothy grin "pleasure is all mine Maia." As Jason walked away his eyes inevitably drifting to watch her backside as she sashayed to the dance floor, his eyes closing as he covered them with his shades. He followed the vibrations of her to the dance floor and joined in her dance, while he wasn't a mega beautiful individual, he is considered still quite attractive. Jason's moves brought him almost to par with her, his natural grace less than hers, but still spectacular. Even his wings were apart of the display showing amazing dexterity and beauty, though he would only go down as the guy that danced with her, at least for now. His smile continued on truly, this was a man with no cares in the world.

[Shosuro Miren]

Puck slid his barstool closer at the open invitation, leaning casually against Shadowheart's other side as Infinity - carefully, Puck noted with appreciation - described what growing up in the Nursery was like. He'd only spent about half a year there himself, well half a conscious year, so he had much less to say on the matter. And while Infinity might have resented being taken from her family, his own brief interaction with his parents had made him grateful for the tutelage and parental companionship Bounty, Scripture, and occasionally Divis Mal had visited on him. "I think," he said softly, "what they fear about us the most is that we never were like them. We never knew what it was like, none of us, not completely. So why should we feel like playing by their rules? We didn't make them and they weren't made for us."

His eyes drifted over to the divine beauties dancing, but he managed to pull himself back to the conversation - and the warm bodies - at hand. "As for growing up in Teras, it is like Infinity said. The only rules were that we must each find our own way and not infringe on the paths of the others. Guidance was given, if it was asked for, and some basic education was required simply so we could understand where our world came from and to interact with the world at large if we chose to. And you? How did you manage to escape the hunters and spend your childhood?"

Infinity knew that this question was one of intense interest to her lover; having had no actual childhood of his own, he was endlessly fascinated by the recounting of others experiences. His gaze was intense, the turquoise blue all the richer for his deep curiosity.

[z-The Morrigan]

“Holy shit, that was her.” The speaker was a taller man, large and well-built. Dark hair and eyes contributed to a darkly handsome appearance. Tonight, he was dressed casually in black slacks and a silver shirt, stretched across his honed body. Unlike his companion next to him, he was paying no attention to the dance floor; he’d pulled out his opPhone a few minutes ago and had been studying something on it in great detail.

The man next to the big nova looked up from his contemplation of Bombshell’s dancing form to gaze at his brother. “Maia?” the Utopian called Alpha asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, already saw her when she came in. I’m pondering the possibility she’ll make a scene and whether we should leave.”

“No, her.” Wendigo turned the phone so his brother could see that he was looking at a Utopian case file.

The name heading the file made Alpha’s eyebrows rise. “You’re crazy, Brother,” Alpha said flatly. “There’s no way that Mr. Stormy-Face’s pet nova is here. Especially since I don’t see him.”

“No, it’s her,” Wendigo said, pushing off the bar and peering upward. “She took off to the rafters almost immediately. She looked pretty freaked out.” He gave Alpha a big grin. “Pretty much exactly how I’d expect a feral nova to react.”

“Which makes me wonder – just where the hell is her handler?” Alpha asked, his voice a touch nervous.

“I’m going to ask,” Wendigo said, his body shifting and reshaping itself into a massive snake. He was somehow able to talk clearly as he began to extend his body upward. “And ask her to dance.”

“You’re going to ask The Morrigan to dance?” Alpha asked. “I knew you liked dangerous women… but The Morrigan?”

“You only live once,” Wendigo said before his head disappeared into the darkness.

[Quantum Fire]

So this was Norman's friend, the one he had protected from others growing up. Whatever else she was, she certainly didn't seem to want to share him. Which bothered Coraline on a deeply emotional level, but she wanted even less to kick off Infinity's apotheosis in a fit of anger at the way the other girl was clinging to *her* boyfriend. A quick following of the newcomer's wave and Darrik's presence lessened the anger. If anything could distract this girl, Darrik would, Node that would be a good thing for once.

"I'm sorry," she offered to the other girl, expression genuinely contrite as she touched down, "I don't mean to be rude, Infinity. I just haven't had a lot of practice interacting with other novas until very recently. It's a pleasure to meet another of Norman's friends if you care to make it a pleasure."

And that was the peace offer, simple and direct and honest as she thought would be helpful at the moment.

Fortunately or unfortunately, someone else cut in before matters devolved into something that he didn't care for at all, Puck intervened, which he was quite grateful for, there were times when he wished that Infinity would shift her more amorous affections to Puck permanently, it wasn't that he didn't love her, she was important to him, but he had always avoided sexual encounters with her, because he knew they would make her more enamored of him. The problem was bigger then that.. it wasn't that a romantic relationship wasn't possible between them, it was that his feelings for her weren't focused in that direction.

Coraline on the other hand, stirred all kind of romantic desire and feelings with him, passion was there, rather then the soft affection he had for Infinity, and his mind told him that there was trouble in this path, regardless of what he tried to do, someone would likely be hurt.

"Come with me." He grasped Cora's hand and they were suddenly far up in darker parts of the room, the teraces that reached up much higher, that were kept somewhat dark compared to the floor, and he slide her into lap kissing her softly. Part of the reason to move here was to it kept them out of sight of the from the ground floor. "Sorry about that, love, Infi is sometimes possessive."

[z023]

Sakura glanced over at Darrik and the goth girl sitting on his lap, as well as the pretty man leaning up against him and grinned. He's quite the popular fellow. "Nah, he's playing right now and he'll probably be off in some dark corner or private room before I could even get over there." She grinned, obviously amused at the red and black haired nova's antics.

Her eyes flicked to the dance floor, unable to not pick out Jason and Maia, and her own urge to join them banished thoughts of interrupting Darrik and his little personal party. Sakura had picked up the heady, excited feeling of the room and grabbed one of Chang's hands and one of one of Lucrezia's hands, tugging them towards the dance floor. "Come dance with me instead! You said you feel good, and dancing feels good too! Besides, isn't that what clubs are supposed to be for?"

She gave both hands another squeeze and tug, her smile absolutely shining as she pleaded with them to come play with her amongst the other dancers.

[Karren Gaunt]

"So I've gathered," Coraline responded with a wry expression as much as her words once they came up for air, not unhappy at the distraction and somewhat coozier confines. The pinging of glances and stares on her sixth sense was less intense up here and she had been somewhat spoiled by their week 'aboard', much as she fully intended to get back into the swing of things as soon as possible. Her Node gave her what it gave it and there was no good to be found in being irritated by those gifts.

"But let me repeat my question before I give you an answer I promised to you before we left," she whispered, tracing his jaw with one hand, "Is she going to be okay seeing us together? I've seen apothesis through pain and anger. It rarely ends well for nearly everyone involved, at least short term."

[Toby Lupin]

Darrik drew Puck in closer to him, before he regarded the rampant curiosity of Puck with a willingness to answer. "The phrase I believe is 'The Applegate Life.' For most of my life, my mother and I masqueraded as baselines. Father kept up appearances and we didn't see him that much. Of course, it involved a good deal of homeschooling and moving as needed. And then at some point, I did get out of the house- without her knowing. I doubt she was happy, but... who could deny me anything at that time?"

His face had a hint of memory and sadness tainting the smile now. "Then my father died on the job. He was an Elite, but DeVries could tell he was set up. That's when I got handed off to a 'friend' of my mother and I largely have been in hiding until recently." He looked back over the dance floor, at Cora and others of his family in a circuit. "It's amazing how much of my family circle is out here now."

[Butch_Cole]

Butch watched the commotion caused by the entrance of Bombshell, Maia, Morrigan, and Alex. Morrigan lasted for all of a minute before she appeared to flip out and headed for the rafters. Attractive but frightening woman. At least she didn't eviscerate anyone. Thank God for small favors...

He watched Alex make her way over to the bar and order a drink. After picking up his own half-finished drink from the bar, Butch gently pushed his way through the crowd and over to where Alex was sitting. Tapping her on the shoulder, Butch squeezed into the small space next to her at the bar.

"Evening, Alex. Figured I'd stop by and say hello," Butch said, smiling. "You look great."

He took her appearance in for a moment and added, still smiling a genuine and handsome smile, "Slightly different than usual, but definitely still gorgeous. I like your outfit, too. It's nice to see you outside of your lab and in a social setting."

He took a sip of his cranberry juice.

"So, what do you think of this place?" He made a circular motion with his index finger pointed upwards. "Is it everything you expected?"

[WhiteRain]

She barely heard Sakura’s words, or in truth she heard them perfectly but was barely paying attention. Jason was making the club hers, in that special way she did that devolved everyone around her into mere puppets for her adoration.

Breaking away from that walking personification of elegance was near-impossible, but she did nonetheless, to meet Sakura’s smile with her own.

“As you wish,” she said, and rose, table and chair melting away into her buttocks.

Lucrezia came with them eagerly. “Are we going to do that?” She asked.

Chang nodded. “Find your place in the dance, Sakura. I’ve been working on this routine for a while.”

She did not walk onto the dance floor. She stretched, half a rubber band, limbs a-tangle. Lucrezia accompanied her, all of her flowing into their latex shapes, abandoning their human seeming. Back up dancers for her show.

The dance floor, already cut up by Jason’s display, warped further as people recognized that something truly unique was about to go down. Chang had not performed live for months, even though everyone wondered when she would.

Her arms snaked along the ground, coiling around Chang’s feet before surging up and forming a helix around her. Tendrils of flesh whipped out from her arms then slammed downward, erupting into sub-tendrils that shaped into impromptu dance cages around one, two, then three and four of Lucrezia’s bodies. The cages remained still, while the helix around Chang’s body began to writhe, to palpitate so fast that her features blurred, and her glowing eyes seemed to flicker like strobe lights.

She parted her lips, and gripped the sounds around her, twisting them to her will, calling back sounds from before so that the music distorted into something strange and peculiar, the interplay of sounds growing queer and complex. She spent a minute reshaping the song and music around her, and only when she was pleased did she smile.

Her clothes rippled, then erupted out from her, transforming back into her hair, which fanned out around her like wings. Her cock stretched upward, becoming a third strand in the helix of her arms. All across Chang’s body, images began to come to life. Her flesh shifted to display people running, leaping, screaming, and dancing in the dark to some unknown tune that did not fit the rhythm of the dance floor. Her hair became another part of the storm around her, a raven black mass of whipping tendrils and feather-soft strands, while all her visible skin faded to black, the better to display the neon green figures that seemed to leap in half-seen glory across the canvas of her body.

Chang Zha-Yang danced. Her dance was avant-garde, inhuman, every motion so intense it would have snapped a person’s spine or neck and caused her to twist too far in every direction. It was sensual, hungry, yet distant, a passion untouchable, and incomprehensible.

In her cages, Lucrezia melted her legs away, pooling on the floor. She danced a different dance, slower, more elegant, more directly seductive. A liquid cage dance, with morphic dancers shining under the dance floor lights. Two of her, free of the cages, danced with Sakura, just as free and flowing, partly wrapping around her, melting down and reshaping with unnatural elegance and with practiced ease.

Most of the dancers did not know what to make of her, and gravitated to Jason’s greater elegance and more comprehensible beauty. But some stayed with her, and found their place amid the cages of skin and the whirling helix in which the Mirror Queen thrashed, while the music around her played and replayed a hundred times, and stranger, half-heard sounds joined the composition.

Bardic Gift (+7 auto-successes), Mega-Charisma 7 (+2 auto successes), 12 regular dice and 7 mega dice for a bunch of successes

In addition using Elemental Mastery: Sound with both her Replay and Echo techniques to both create sounds and greatly play around with what’s there

And finally using advanced chromatophores, shapeshift and prehensile hair to do weird stuff

[z023]

Sakura's eyes widened as Chang and Lucrezia began to dance. I've never seen that before. It took her a few minutes to find the new beat and melody of the song Chang was creating, and to feel the flow of not only Chang's form and Lucrezia's gyrations, but of the others that remained or gravitated to utterly awe inspiring display of nova inhumanity. Once she could feel it, deep down to her bones, she lept in.

She landed silently among the dancers, her whole body moving in time with the echoing melody and counter melodies, her feet sounding only with each drumming beat of the music. Her hair spun around her, a living crown of flowers, and the shimmering thigh-length dressed flared sensually with every twist and turn of her perfect physique. The dress began shifting colors, always shimmering and sparkling in the lights of the dance floor; as the dance went on, it began to shimmying tightly to Sakura's every curve and then flare out at the hem almost up to her waist as she danced, like a lover caressing and spinning her across the floor. She laughed in pure ecstasy, abandoning herself to wild, primal feel of the dance and the dancers. It had been far too long since she'd let loose like this, and it had never been in a place where so many could keep up, could keep dancing, instead of slowly stopping and staring because their minds could handle nothing more. This was what it was, at least in part, to be surrounded by those like her, godlings and demons all dancing to the same rhythm.

Sakura's Dancing

Enahncements: Catfooted (drum beat feet effect)

Physical Prodigy (+3 auto)

Perfect Balance (agan, just for effect),

The Voice (happy laughing for effect)

Natural Empath (effect and gettin' in the mood with other dancers)

Synergy (with the other dancers in general and Change and Lucrezia in specific)

Awe Inspiring and Divine Visage (just for being super hot while dancing)

20 dice pool with 5 Megas (take your pic on Charisma or Dex, they're the same rating)

Style 9, Weave 5 (-3 diff from Eufiber Attunement) for what she's doing with her outfit.

[Shosuro Miren]

"Oh?" Puck asked with curiousity, glancing out to the dance floor. Which was a mistake. If Bombshell was hard to take your eyes off of, then the combination of her, his mentor and her wifes (his only privately clever way of referring to Lucrezia in both the singular and plural), and several other novas letting themselves go completely with the music and the crush of bodies was captivating. Literally.

If Shadowheart had answered his question, Puck didn't hear it. He couldn't stop watching. So many beautiful people moving, dancing, gyrating, sliding, and slithering around each other. It was sex in every way except procreation. Infinity to see the signs in Puck: his eyes almost black pools with only a thin bright blue line around the pupil, his breath speeding up with his heartbeat, a pink flush spreading under the iridescent cast of his skin. His eyes and mind were on the dance floor, but his body was pressed against Shadowheart and close enough to pick up the heady, spiced smell of Infinity and her favorite perfume. One hand brushed over the back of hers, pushing her hand against Shadowheart's belt buckle; he reached up with his other arm, wrapping it around Shadowheart's side and reaching up to run his fingertips across the skin of his neck just below the hairline. Infinity knew what to expect; she'd seen Puck like this before. She'd gotten Puck like this before, but she didn't have the time to warn Shadowheart before they both felt a flood a pleasure pour through from his light touches.

He would have gone and joined the dancers, but it would have meant moving away from Infinity and Shadowheart; he would have kissed either one of them right then and there and drug them both off to one of the special private rooms of the club (complete with bed, beds, toys, and minibars filled with any number of creative items for guest use), but he couldn't pull his gaze away from the dance floor. Instead, the pleasure from the gentle movements of his fingers kept building, filling the other two novas with same haze of desire and sensual bliss that the sights in the Rainbow Room were rising in him.

[Toby Lupin]

The touch was a clear and potent aphrodisiac, Darrik could concur. And the sudden focus on the scintillating dance had a similar effect on him, his pulse hammering and his eyes going very very carnal. But he had enough self-knowledge of his own beauty and the experiences that required a measure of restraint every day with his female siblings. So after a moment of enrapture, he inclined his head to Infinity and no succubus could match his smile at that moment.

"Seems like Puck is ready for the athletics." He confirmed with Infinity, voice dripping at that moment with utter wanton lust. He chuckled as a cursory look confirmed that Puck was distracted and on auto-pilot. "How do we break him out of that though?" The purred question seemed more of a statement- for the answer would naturally follow in order.

In a long moment, he sent his focus far far elsewhere, moving in the directions of the private rooms, where they could continue their fun. It was a swift process to find one with a good bed and no occupants- also, the way the shadows cast in that room, and then Darrik snapped his awareness back to normal. Attuning Infinity and Puck at that moment, Darrik pushed himself backwards. The fact that Infinity and Puck were holding onto him pulled them backward through the momentum, and they toppled towards the floor- and vanishing through the shadows sans chair- landed comfortably all back first onto the bed.

Darrik rolled back up and radiated desire from his expression facing towards Puck and Infinity. "The dance was amazing, I agree. But I think we can top that here, can't we?"

Now his voice was the Deadly Sin of Lust itself, his shirt already was melting downward- and when one hand began touching Infinity's thigh, the other sliding under Puck's shirt to feel his abdominal muscles... well, what Puck had been doing seemed like child's play.

Continued in...

http://www.rpgpost.com/topic/16362-fic-acts-of-desire-mature/

OOC

Quantum Awareness and Shadow Step with Modulate skill to find and bring everyone to the boudoir.

For smexy flavor:

The Voice

Symphony of Touch (at M-Man 8 level vs Puck's M-Man 5 for comparison)

[Bombshell]

Even as she sinuously whirled and twirled, dancing gracefully and elusively with all around her, Jason watched the awesome display Chang was performing... if that was the right word. Create might have been better. And if she didn't fully appreciate the appeal of Chang's inhuman waltz, backed by Sakura and her equally malleable wife (wives?) she could full appreciate the artistry. It was like nothing else. Almost nothing else - it could only be compared to something explicitly Chang.

And as she danced, and they danced, and everyone on the dance-floor danced, she could sense a sheer forming between those dancing with her and those dancing with Chang. Their dances were paeans in opposition, transcendent humanity compared to ascending inhumanity and their fellow dances were forming into factions... which didn't necessarily follow official faction lines. Though they shared the dance-floor, subtle intimations of conflict were brewing, sending discordant trembles through their mutual performances.

This wouldn't do. She had come here to have a good time, and more importantly, for Morri to have a good time. While she would probably be a home in a brawl, it was hardly conducive to her having fun time dancing, There needn't be conflict here - there was room for most that one style of dancing, one nova philosophy and they could co-exist, even if they didn't truly understand each other.

Jason flowed around the periphery of fleshy cages and the center of the melodious cacophony, a request made in exquisite motion, an invitation offered by flesh rippling with scintillating colour. A fluid curtsy, and a smile, and Bombshell joined her dance to White Rain's, weaving her dance in and around the helices of flesh teased into ropes, the writhing puddles of Lucrezia, Chang at the center, and the bewitching Blossom Princess between them, the grease mating two pieces into one smooth whole, a foot in each of their worlds.

There was no one-upsmanship, no competition, just a blending into one dichotomous whole, a taijitu crafted by unmatched movement. Chang was awesome and inspiring in her inhumanity - going where no baseline could follow - Jason exquisite and inspiring in her superhumanity - almost it seemed, if one but strived far enough, they could follow her every step. Her hair broke free of its restraints and lengthened, flowing around her like a gossamer veil of pure silver and she raised her voice, clear and sweet and rippling like the purest mountain stream, singing in glorious counterpoint to Chang's uncanny interplay of sound and light.

Again, the crowd stared in awe at this new turn of events, but not for long, as the compelling gyrations pulled them back in, for to miss this was to miss being part of a singular event. Two women - who could hardly be more of polar opposites - forming a pas-de-deux that encompassed the entire Rainbow Room, and conveyed all the passion and sensuality residing in the soul, human and inhuman alike.

Dancing Queens!

Bombshell is pulling back on Beguiling, so anyone watching can use their full faculties to appreciate the scene.

And using Tactful, so their performances match in sheer quality.

And what the hell, why not activate Awe-Inspiring and Divine Visage as well,

[WhiteRain]

Chang kept up her frantic pace as Jason wove herself into the tapestry she, her wives and Sakura had woven, adding to and expanding upon it. She did not quite welcome the addition, even though her flesh exulted in every tremor Bombshell’s flawless feet caused as they skittered over the dance floor. There was something to be said for artists having room to work alone.

But that was fine. This was nothing but a prelude, and Chang was content to let it take on a life of its own, to let Jason take and change what was offered. The dance was not the purpose. The music was the purpose. And she had yet to even begin on that front.

Slowly, slowly, Chang’s movements slowed. First it was her body, her wild, inhumanly flexible gyrations slowing and slowing, until she came to a stop with one knee bent completely backward, her head turned round two hundred and seventy degrees, so her neck was twisted up like a length of rope. The look on her face was divine. Her mismatched eyes blazed gold and crimson.

Then her writhing shaft and arms slowed to a stop, as well, like the workings of some infernal machine being shut down. The pace of everything changed. Even Jason came to a pause if not a stop.

Chang sought her eyes, and gave her a nod, both of recognition and dismissal. She chose her place for a reason. She had not wanted their spheres to join. Not yet. Jason gave her space, expression unreadable.

She retracted her arms until they were normal length, retracted the tendrils of herself that had formed the cages for Lucrezia.

Chang seemed, at first, to be finished. She raised her head to look up at the rafters.

Then she raised her hands above her head, as if reaching for something unseen in the heavens. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. Now, gods and mortals, you will feel. For I am become song, shaper of beauty.

Chang slammed her arms down to her sides, opened her mouth, and sang.

It erupted from her in a thunder of sound, words in three voices, a sonorous hum emerging in the last. And at the same time palpable waves of power rolled off her, as she seized the pathetic sound coming from the Rainbow Room’s speakers, ripped it into shards and wove them into something unrecognizable, glorious and beautiful. This was the first time the world witnessed the changes her chrysalis had wrought, and felt the power it brought into her being.

The song was sex and hunger, the joy of a new sunrise and the sorrow of a shattered moon, the horror of pouring blood and elation of war survived.

Her torso stretched, elevating her above the dance floor as she sang. Her cock she wrapped around herself, stretching it up with her and coiling up and up. She began to turn like a disco ball, and her skin, once showing running men, began to flicker-flash through different images and scenes and colours. A sun exploded across her breasts. A star birthed down her back. A great wyrm twisted across a virgin sky on the backdrop of her cock.

She extended her arms outward, extending them to encompass the dance floor, and sprouted six more arms that extended just the same, before her thumbs and smallest fingers shot out to the others, forming linking strands of flesh that made a great, impossible wheel. Her face emerged from the centre of that wheel, still looking upward, lacking a neck.

The wheel of song turned for five whole minutes, before Chang slowly pulled herself back together, shrinking, contracting, resuming her humanoid shape.

For a few moments she stood naked on the dance floor, surrounded by gawking Novas. Then her hair enwrapped her and formed her well-known chong-sam. As her divine music ended, the Rainbow Room’s dance music swelled back up. For some it was like a handful of cold water tossed into their faces, waking them from whatever nightmare they had been plunged into. For others it was almost offensive, a crude and ill-conceived tune that attempted foolishly to follow the unfollowable, and they left the dance floor in silence to recover.

Chang bowed her head, a mysterious smile upon her lips. She glanced over at the speakers. “And you call that a song.”

Without a further word, she walked off, mentally drained, yet determined not to show it. The vision in her mind was becoming a fog. Jason and Sakura and Lucrezia and her… dancing, dancing, dancing. She did not belong amongst them. Better to let Jason and the children have the dance floor and have their fun with it. Chang had said, shown and sung all she needed to tonight.

Her vision kept fogging, and cleared only at her will. Lucrezia was at her side, almost begging for sex, until she realized what was happening. Then she was fine to hold Chang’s arms and whisper sweet nothings, and guide her to a free space where Chang could form a wide sofa and table, and sit to rest and think.

Her flesh felt afire, her soul had taken wings.

This, Chang thought, this is what I live for.

Power max on Elemental Mastery: Sound, use of both techniques, enhanced vocal organs, shapeshifty shenanigans and general madness.

Probably some chrysalis gain too.

[z023]

Sakura's flitted out of Chang's way as she began to collapse herself onto the dance floor, at first concerned that her friend had exhausted herself. Then she began to expand and twist again; Sakura relaxed, but waited to see what Chang was up to before returning to the dance.

And then Chang began to sing.

Sakura had never heard anything like it before; it stirred awe and fear and that primal place she drew from nature that mixed two together in a terrifying euphoria. The song filled her mind with running with the wolves that would roam down the mountains where she grew up; of the first time she'd gone hunting with her father and the shock and darkness of the buck's death; of the first time she had made love to another and the power that it had unleashed in her; of being chased and beaten by her grandmother and the servants in the Imperial Palace; of the feeling of the lives inside of her; of every rush of emotion and adrenaline she'd ever had. By the time Chang began to weave the end of her song together, Sakura face was covered in tears; not those a weeping woman, but of a complete emotional elation and overload.

As the club music once again returned to something people called 'normal', Sakura was shaking and leaning up against one of the walls. Her limbs were quivering from the jumble of memories, emotions, and the attempt to somehow make the last few minutes of her life fit in her mind and her soul without overwhelming either. It was taking time, but after about five minutes she had enough control to move again. The rest....could take years.

Will I ever get used to...all of this? We're so...so much. Even amongst ourselves. It's like walking through wildfire and swimming up a waterfall and falling through the sky all at the same time. The thoughts were shaky, but balanced between somber and wonder-filled.

She made her way back to Chang, grateful that with Jason here far fewer club-goers were trying for her own attention. She smiled at Chang, a tiredness in her that was mirrored in the Mirror Queens mismatched eyes. "Is it...may I sit?"

[SalmonMax]

Butch watched the commotion caused by the entrance of Bombshell, Maia, Morrigan, and Alex. Morrigan lasted for all of a minute before she appeared to flip out and headed for the rafters. Attractive but frightening woman. At least she didn't eviscerate anyone. Thank God for small favors...

He watched Alex make her way over to the bar and order a drink. After picking up his own half-finished drink from the bar, Butch gently pushed his way through the crowd and over to where Alex was sitting. Tapping her on the shoulder, Butch squeezed into the small space next to her at the bar.

"Evening, Alex. Figured I'd stop by and say hello," Butch said, smiling. "You look great."

He took her appearance in for a moment and added, still smiling a genuine and handsome smile, "Slightly different than usual, but definitely still gorgeous. I like your outfit, too. It's nice to see you outside of your lab and in a social setting."

He took a sip of his cranberry juice.

"So, what do you think of this place?" He made a circular motion with his index finger pointed upwards. "Is it everything you expected?"

Alex glanced over at Butch and nodded at the seat beside her. She was drinking what the bartender had given her...a whirl of red and yellow, with a bit of something chocolatey and minty, and stinking of alcohol. No sooner than looking at it she'd dissected its molecules, rendered it down to the atoms and ghostly particles, before deciding to just drink it, because no amount of understanding its structure would tell her how it tasted.

The chocolate was a bit rich, she decided. It clashed with the light fruity tastes. And the alcohol was ill-chosen. Rum. She'd have preferred a less intrusive flavor. But it wasn't bad, for all that.

She looked at Butch to answer, when the music on the dance floor changed. They both turned to watch the spectacle of Chang taking the floor.

It reminded Alex of a little movie she'd seen once a long time previously called The Thing. Ostensibly a horror movie, but interesting in its premise of an alien lifeform. Here and now, a nova was reveling in the absolute control she had over her body; shaping it to her will, her whim. It was visually fascinating, and Alex found her emotional reaction mixed...and suspected that was precisely what Chang desired from her performance.

Then it was over, or at least that part of it. Chang left the floor, and the more...conventional...dance resumed.

Alex looked back at Butch and nodded. "Pretty much."

[WhiteRain]

The words reached her through the haze of sensory input. She felt herself ready to slip away to that ‘other’ place where only her muse dwelt, waiting for Chang to find a gateway to reach it.

Tonight, though… she could not succumb.

It hurt. This would be the first time in her life that Chang resisted the call. Rather than let herself be overcome, she allowed herself to dip a little, to witness some of the storm of ideas that the combined insanity of the dance had spawned inside her. The song was hers alone, of course, along with the wheel and…

“Lucrezia!” Chang slapped her hand to her forehead. “I did not let you dance upon the wheel!” Her head lolled back on the sofa. “Ten thousand bloody buggering hells. Gods I’m an imbecile.” She covered her face.

The motions of the dance had been rehearsed, the wheel, the turning, that was rote. Chang had added her song to it, but in doing so had been so overcome she forgot about the rest. “Oh forgive me,” she said, all four voices wretched.

Her wife touched her gently on the thigh. “Beloved, I would probably have fallen off and embarrassed myself. Maybe if we do a recording of that. Was it for your next album?”

The words were skilfully chosen. They came from different angles, different copies. She knew what was being done, little tugs on her mind to pull her out of the misery her failure warranted. Chang could have resisted, but why bother? Her wife’s personal art was her manipulations, the one she did not let the world see. Not the sum of her being, but an important part of it.

Chang gave her a smile, though she did not feel it. “Yes, in fact. The title track, no less,” she chuckled. “It seems to have gone down quite well.”

“If fleeing the dance floor counts,” Lucrezia said.

One of her finally turned to Sakura. Their bodies were still shining under the club lights, unnaturally smooth, latex head to toe in red, black, blue and red again. “Sorry for ignoring you. I knew she’d remember,” she said, in a stage whisper.

“I heard that,” Chang said immediately.

“She’s no fun. Of course you can sit down. Just make sure to rub up against her.”

The speaking one surged up in a liquid rush, flowing over and around Sakura’s body. She turned and pushed her onto the sofa, and reformed standing before them both. The other three of her were arrayed around Chang like apostles at the feet of a saint.

Chang knew she was being rude. She did not like this aspect of her character, but it was hard to focus between the song and her failure and Sakura’s presence and the fear, the fear in the back of her mind that all they had planned would come to naught.

She turned to her. “My apologies, Sakura. I loathe underperforming.” She slumped backward again. “I mean… imagine how good it would have been if we had gotten it all right. Just imagine!” She let out a groan. Chances like that never came again. You got them right or missed them, and she had completely missed this, and inflicted an inferior work on the world. By morning she would have repudiated the entire performance, she knew.

“We wouldn’t,” the Lucrezia standing in front of them said. “I would have fallen, beloved. It’s not a joke. You’ve never done anything like that before. Not where I’ve heard it. And so it’d be four of me begging your forgiveness instead.”

Chang dismissed it. “I’d have caught you if you fell. Easily. You’d have recovered. There’s no need to balm my wounds, Lucrezia. Nobody is perfect,” she said, bitterly. “This has been my cruel reminder of that fact.”

[z-The Morrigan]

Here, in the darkness, she felt mostly safe. It was an illusion; novas could see in the darkness. But she felt safer, at least for a while. Morri watched as Chang took to the floor, watching the other nova as a bird might watch a snake. When the woman’s cock began stretch and writhe, Morri whimpered and gripped the rafter tighter. The woman’s cock terrified the feral; it was like seeing her worst nightmare, amplified beyond the normal realm. Seeing it writhe and move the way that no penis should left her shaken and afraid.

And then Chang sang.

And she was running free across the Primal Lands, seeing them with wonder-filled eyes.

And she was pinned under Hatchins, drugged into insensibility as he raped her.

And she was smiling at a dark-faced woman, who hugged her and wished her a good trip, to be safe, and told her she was loved.

And she was in the war again, fighting next to Ein, not really yet understanding why she fought, only knowing that he was going to war and she was going with him.

And she was standing in the sunlight, watching the palace being rebuilt, while Ein asked her what she wanted in her room and she realized that she loved him.

And the day that they’d shared breakfast in the garden, a day like any other, and she’d realized that those feelings from the day watching the rising palace had a name, and that name was love.

Then Morri was herself again, clinging to a rafter and shaking. The urge to cry was incredibly strong, and when Morri swallowed, she almost choked on the urge to sob. But she would not cry, because Hatchins was the last to make her cry, and so long as she didn’t, he was the worst thing to happen to her. And that worst thing was in the past, not the present.

“Wow, that was something, huh?” The voice made her spin; the man speaking was far too close to her; she’d been enraptured by the song and her own pain and let him sneak up on her. Inexcusable. Morri glared at him, her glowing eyes narrowing to a dangerous slit. “My name is Wendigo. You’re the Morrigan, right?”

Her lips pulled back from her teeth. All of her intentions about tonight had just been shattered by Chang’s song; the emotions it had dredged up had left her feeling like she was under attack. And now, a man was talking to her.

“Well, I’d imagined us having actual conversation,” Wendigo sighed, taking a seat on a rafter. “I know you can talk. I know I haven’t intentionally offended you. Have I unintentionally offended you?”

His words made sense to her and reminded her of her mission here. Morri forced herself to relax. He hadn’t hurt her or threatened her. “No,” she said. “Chang’s song… it…”

“No need,” he assured her, smiling. “That’s what she does. I’ve listened to some of her earlier stuff, but that was… it was the difference between an artist and a dabbler.”

“She… I do not like her,” Morri replied, baring her teeth a little.

“Well, some people don’t like her because of the Terat thing, others because of the physical abnormalities.” He cocked his head at her. “Which are you?”

“I do not like her cock.” It was truthful, but it seemed to surprise him.

“Succinctly said. I’m mostly troubled by her political views, but I admit that she tends to make many males feel…” He paused and shrugged. “Like they have to be more of a guy than she is, which is a little silly.” There was a bit of silence; he seemed uncomfortable with it. “So, is King Einherjar here?”

“No,” Morri said. Though he might be here. It would be like her guardian to be secreted somewhere, waiting for her to need him. He’d been concerned when she told him she was coming here. She knew he worried, but he hadn’t stopped her. He’d just asked her to be careful.

“Cool.” Wendigo was quiet another moment; she thought he was waiting for her to continue the conservation. “Would you like to go down and dance?”

Morri started to say yes, then remembered a dating convention she’d heard about. “With you?” she asked bluntly.

“Well, I guess we could dance on opposite sides of the floor, but I’d rather dance with you, yes,” Wendigo replied, with a raised eyebrow.

Morri’s eyes, which had started to relax, now narrowed again. “You want sex,” she accused.

Wendigo started to laugh, only to realize she wasn’t playing some game or being funny. “Not right now, necessarily,” he told her, quietly. “I am interested. You don’t seem to be, though. Don’t like men or don’t like me?”

“I don’t like sex,” Morri told him.

“In the name of God, why not?” Wendigo asked. “It’s super-fun. Please don’t tell me you’re waiting for marriage. Have you had sex?”

Morri paused. She didn’t want to talk about this, but Jason had told her that there was no shame in what had happened to her. She had also said Morri should talk about it. “I have not. I have been raped numerous times and have not found someone that I trust to have sex with yet.”

Wendigo stared at her. Morri stared back. “You’ve…” His big hands clenched tight. Morri watched as he ground his teeth and seemed to struggle with anger. “Who?”

“They are all dead,” Morri assured him.

“You killed them?” he asked, then held up a hand. “No, don’t tell me. Just… don’t. Just tell me they’re not in my jurisdiction.”

“They most assuredly are not,” Morri told him. She tilted her head. “Why are you angry?”

“Why am I… Morrigan, you tell me that men have committed a brutal and cowardly act on you, one which I find personally offensive, and you wonder why I’m angry?” He frowned at her. “Do you think I’m such a monster that I wouldn’t be enraged on your behalf? I’m aware that the Congo holds no great love for Utopia, but surely you don’t think that low of me?”

“I don’t think anything of you,” she replied. “You don’t like rape?”

“No! And no man, who is a man, does,” Wendigo replied, his expression wrathful. Dark eyes roiled with rage. “Surely… hasn’t anyone told you this?”

“I have not talked about it much before,” Morri answered, wondering why he seemed to be taking it personally.

Wendigo drew a deep breath; Morri recognized an attempt to calm himself. “I find rape reprehensible,” he told her with a bit more calm in his voice. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. You’re not… being hurt right now, are you?”

“Not for a year,” she replied. “I wasn’t wary enough. I wasn’t-”

“Morrigan, you’re not to blame at all.” Wendigo was just as resolute as Jason had been. He took another deep breath. “Would you like to go down to the bar and have a drink? We can talk more, if you’d like. Or we can dance.”

Morri frowned in thought. “Dance,” she finally stated. It was what she’d come to do, after all. And Wendigo seemed to be nice. “Let’s dance.”

[Ling]

Ling was enjoying his more baseline style of dancing, he was the background, the emotions brought on let that be okay in his mind. Then she sang, he was overwhelmed with emotions. This was not something he wanted. His glasses hid some of the ranges as he bit his lip drawing blood. He managed to find his way out of the Rainbow Room and quickly took flight, clumsy as it was. The night was young, perhaps after he vented, he would join some baselines elsewhere.

[Bombshell]

Jason felt a flash of irritation even as she marveled no less than anyone else at Chang's virtuosity. She had wanted it to be an inclusive atmosphere on the dance-floor, to make it that much more comfortable for Morri to join them, but Chang had turned it into a stage big enough for just one, not all.

Still, even if the mental walls she had studious built after her 'association' with Lady Envy, Jason felt the impact of Chang becoming song. Her emotions surged, clashed, resonating with moments from her past: The moment leading to her eruption and yet not realizing it; waking up to discover now being a fantasy woman; the first man she had killed, the blood spreading over her fingers from the mortal wound in his skull; the fury she felt when freed from Lady Envy's possession; the day she married Danielle; the day Danielle died; the day Danica was born; more and more and more...

If she was being honest, Jason could claim having one of the greatest, if not greatest, voices in the world, as captivating, sexy, and beautiful as she look, and there were few enough who could compare to that indeed. Purely by voice, many ranked her higher than Chang. Alejandra might be Chang's superior in manipulating raw sound - at least for now, Jason didn't expect that it would hold true for long. But neither of them had Chang's mad genius for composition, and if they each exceeded her in one facet of music, she exceeded them with the sum of her multiple talents.

Bombshell could sing. White Rain was becoming song. One reached heights many could aspire to, if very few ever reach, the other strode upon a path on another plane even fewer could see, let alone understand.

Jason sighed and shook her head as she wove her way to the bar and ordered a Pinkmelon Rainbow Starburst. This wasn't going the way she had hoped, she thought, glancing up to see if she find Morri in the rafters, but though her eyes were keen, she couldn't penetrate the deep gloom to resolve the shadows up there into distinct people.

Drink in hand, Jason flowed back onto the dance-floor, now dancing more freely and sedately, approachable, instead of reaching for the limits of her skill. She bantered and chatted easily with the others dancers, friends, acquaintances, and unknown alike, many disbelieving they were dancing with the Bombshell.

She saw Ling leave and gave him a concerned wave which she thought he didn't see, and glanced up again, hoping Morri was still there and hadn't been chased off by the attention and Chang's monstrous cock. Maybe I should have taken her to a different club, the Rainbow Room isn't the only one frequented by novas...

[z023]

Sakura pulled her legs up onto the Chang-sofa, giving the artist a wide-eyed stare. She considers that a failure? "Um, I thought it was....amazing. Overwhelming, a little, honestly. But....very beautiful. I don't know why you would think it was a failure at all....look at all the people that heard your song and how it...it..." she screwed up her face, trying to explained what she was feeling from the room. "It touched them. Not in the little 'oh that was nice' way, but pulling deep down inside them and bring back something of them from something of you. I don't know. Maybe I'm not making any sense."

She watched the dance floor as people recovered, either gravitating to Jason or forming circles of their own groups of like-moving dancers. She sought out Darrik at the bar, then among the dancers when he wasn't there; Change could feel her stiffen and the scent of fright roll off of her as she realized that he wasn't around. She almost left to run to Jason and ask her to take her back to Kinshasa, but the feel of the perfectly warm, supportive, comfortable living furniture she was half-reclined on reminded her that she was still with friends, and powerful ones at that. I'll...I'll be okay. I'll leave when Jason does, if Darrik hasn't show back up by then. Where is he?

[Toby Lupin]

Then Chang, Lucrezia, and Sakura saw Darrik come out of a nearly wall shadow, and he looked around, before catching sight of them in turn. Thank goodness. More than a little remiss of me, I think. At least she seemed to be having fun earlier. As he approached, Sakura did notice through her senses, the little signs similar to what had happened the day they met. Combined with the earlier companions, it had been clear what had been transpiring, and interrupted.

But his casual smile seemed to dispel any feelings of annoyance. "Chang, Madame Lucrezia, I presume." He said by way of greeting. Darrik then turned a penitent gaze on Sakura. "My apologies, Sakura. Remiss of me to forget about you, consider me suitably chastened. Enjoying your time here, or do you want to return to Kinshasa?"

[z023]

She smirked at him, her good humor restored just by the fact that he'd remembered her, even after having obviously found playmates for the even. "I'm fine, thank you Darrik.....and I think I can get a ride home from Jason, if you're going to be," she barely kept her chuckle in, "entangled for the evening."

Which did remind her own needs, but she pushed the feelings away, unconsciously pressing against her Chang-couch in her ongoing little drama of sexual frustration. She wasn't going to interrupt Darrik's fun for the night, though, and she wasn't one to jump into bed with someone(s) she'd just met - well, she tried not to. She waved her hands at him, shooing him back to his fun. "Go on," she smiled sincerely, "I'll be fine."

[Toby Lupin]

Darrik grinned and chuckled a little at her willingness to give him a pass. "Thank you. And it's the kind of thing tying you up in a good kind of mess. Enjoy the rest of your night." Before he left, his gaze turned to Chang for a moment. "If you don't mind, I do need to continue our conversation from last time later tonight, after... the pressing needs are handled."

"Of course." Chang responded, a little amused herself considering Darrik's romping with her student and his companion.

"Then if you ladies will excuse me." Darrik politely nodded and headed back for the shadows from which he had came. Simple enough, but a minute or so had passed... Puck and Infinity would not be happy about coitus interruptus, but at least he had the capacity and readiness to make it all up to them.

[Quantum Fire]

"So I've gathered," Coraline responded with a wry expression as much as her words once they came up for air, not unhappy at the distraction and somewhat coozier confines. The pinging of glances and stares on her sixth sense was less intense up here and she had been somewhat spoiled by their week 'aboard', much as she fully intended to get back into the swing of things as soon as possible. Her Node gave her what it gave it and there was no good to be found in being irritated by those gifts.

"But let me repeat my question before I give you an answer I promised to you before we left," she whispered, tracing his jaw with one hand, "Is she going to be okay seeing us together? I've seen apotheosis through pain and anger. It rarely ends well for nearly everyone involved, at least short term."

He had started to respond then went silent as both of them watched the totally awesome performance, before returning to Coraline's question, after he snapped her out of a the dazed look she had. "Honestly, Coraline? I am not entirely sure, I've seen her jealous before, she can react a number of different ways, some less acceptable then others. I hope Puck can keep her under control though, she's developed a really close rapport with him over the last year or so, and for Infinity, apotheosis is likely to distract her so much that whatever brings it on is likely to fall by the wayside." Norman considered the matter carefully. "Should be careful around her though, don't have to push things on her, until she passes though that point I think, if that sounds fair to you, darling?"