ABERRANT: WEIRDER STUFF - INTERLUDE "GAMES AND RECONCILIATION"

[Sean Cassidy]

 It was a lazy Saturday morning. There was a cold snap this weekend and frost painted the windows, but the sun was bright and the sky was clear. Sean had a heat-exchange device that Dyson and Lennox would give up more nuts than she had to have, but she was warming the Barn with the wood stove today. The smell was comforting and the open room was toasty.

For a rare change, there was nothing pressing and Sean had no big plans. No imminent alien invasions. No lessons from billion-old mentors on how to be a God. Goddess, I suppose. No invention or new tech she felt the need to work on at the moment, since getting a viable lightsaber to work with Abel's help. Well... it wasn't an actual lightsaber, but it used a magnetic field to contain... The practical differences were negligible and they had even solved the radiation issue.

There wasn't any gaming to consider. Though Sara spent more time at the Barn than she did at home, she had gone out today. Laurie had gone with their mother for some shopping out of town - and a talk, Sean was sure. So all Sean had planned for the day was playing some video games that she had neglected to one degree or another. On a ludicrously large TV based on a 8K LG model. But it didn't loom or overwhelm, being as transparent and slim as a pane of glass. And it offered 16K resolution, which she could adjust into displaying multiple discreet screens so she could watch TV and play a game, or was super sweet for multiplayer games.

She'd finished the hardware and software tinkering yesterday, so it would handle consoles as well as PCs, and upscale graphics to the level that it could, considering the limits of the games themselves. It wouldn't let her cheat on any online games, just give her awesome graphics.

Sean took a lingering shower in the bathroom she and her father had finished adding to the Barn last week. Sara's elemental mastery let them do it despite the weather. It had felt great working with her dad on a job again, something she hadn't done since Laurie had grown taller than she had been as a boy. Things had been different of course, but she had still recaptured that moment, that sense, of a more innocent time with her dad. Her dad had enjoyed the time too. There wasn't the space for a tub, but the shower stall was big enough to share. They planned on adding a full kitchen in the spring, turning the Barn into sweet little bungalow.

Despite her impossible life, mundane and banal chores still accrued. Sean did some laundry, handwashing the underwear and letting them air dry. Sean snorted in amusement - there was no mistaking hers from Sara's, and it wasn't just the far more capacious cups. Only planning on bumming around the Barn today, she simply wore a pair of yoga pants and one of her old shirts, sans bra. The faded black shirt looked like an overburdened crop top, the green 1-UP mushroom distorted by her curves

Though she liked cooking, especially baking, Sean even skipped out on that for today. Laundry was all the effort she felt like putting in today. She flopped down on the couch with the box of cold, leftover pizza and a big mug of coffee, more of a stein really. They had run out of the really good stuff, so she was getting by on the merely good stuff. It would do.

Holding her piece of pizza by her teeth and smiling around it, Sean picked up the controller and turned on the console, the transparent  going opaque with the opening logo of the game, the musical tone filling the Barn.

Spoiler

Feel free to have Jaunt show up anytime. He could have found out Laurie was out for a while, ESPed on Sean and found out she was alone, called, whatever you think fits best. Sean is starting off with an online shooter like Overwatch or Destiny. Superhuman she - they - may be, there are still limited by the software and hardware. And it helps when they self handicap with focusing on another goal like earning someone else play of the game and the like.

 

[Jaunt]

Devin had only a few skills, barring his super powers.  He was intelligent and capable, but really wasn't the kinda guy who applied himself towards many things since he and his family moved to Shelly.  For three years he sat about hating life and being mad at his parents for stripping him of his aspirations for Olympic gymnast stardom.  The only constants in his life in the past three years were his continued gymnastics training, his bond with his twin sister Marissa, being a colossal jerk to everyone around him, and most recently being a full time superhero (according to him).

Aside from that, he was a very talented artist, an artist that hadn't done much work until recently.  Since signing up with the irregulars he'd been participating in their weekly table top games and in between saving the world and dealing with billion-year-old GILFs.  He'd found friends in the most unlikely of people.  Other kids at his high school that he used to bully, argue or would generally pick fights with just to get a rise from them.  Now he'd gone from jerk of Shelly High to someone that resembled a human being with a social life.

With his back to the head board of his bed he sat with his sketchpad resting on his knees as his pencil finished the last few stroked he needed to complete his latest project.  He'd been working on these latest sketches for a few days, drawing he'd make for the table top games that would enhance the adventure experience for them.  All the weapons, spell effects, landscapes and, of course, monsters for their games were illustrated by the young artist.  His eraser gently stroked the fur lining of the orc chief's horned helmet adding just the proper amount of shading he was looking for.  He smiled, content with his work and gently tore the page from his sketch book, adding it to the small pile next to him.  This week's game was going to rock.  He scooped up his illustrations and was gone, literally.

"Dude!"  Devin appeared  in the barn, his gift for teleportation allowing him instantaneous travel was both awesome and sometimes a burden, never knowing when and where Devin was going to appear was less than thrilling for those who knew of his abilities.  "This weeks game is fully illustrated and ready to go."

Thankfully, Sean was fully dressed (this time) and had just crashed on to the couch, pizza in teeth and controller in hand.  She silently cursed as the pizza fell into her lap, biting right through it as Devin startled her.  Sean was generally pretty collected, and getting the drop on her was difficult, but she had few defenses against Devin's way of instantly appearing (usually from behind) and loudly announcing his presence.  He vaulted the back of the couch, landing with a bouncy flop right next to her as she was plucking a pepperoni off her leg.  He tossed his feet up on the coffee table and presented her with the drawings.

"Hi Dev," She said dryly, a mixture of partial annoyance and sincerity.  "Lemme see."  She looked at the first image and to Devin's feet, then smiled.  She noticed something he didn't but continued with the illustrations.  "Seriously, have you ever considered graphic design?  If you an do this with a pencil, imagine if you had a tablet."  In her head she counted down... four... three... two...

"Nah, I'm good.  Call me old fashioned.  I like drawing with a pencil..."  He curled his toes then pursed his lips.  "Ah, damnit... forgot my shoes... gimme a sec."  He disappeared in a quantum shimmer.

Sean laughed to herself as she continued to flip through the pictures he'd drawn.  Devin's ability allowed him to travel at the speed of thought, and often times he did.  Some days  it was a wallet, his shoes, there was even one instance of him showing up to an Irregulars meeting in his boxers.  Despite being able to be anywhere in a single thought... he was rarely on time for anything.  He reappeared and she looked at him, smirking now that he had his footwear.

He raised a finger.  "Not a word," she was silent but her jokes at his expense were implied.  "So, where is my favorite soulless ginger?"  He was referring to Sean's sister, Laurie, who was sort of dating Devin (they were still iffy on the specifics).

"Out with mom today.  Shopping in the city, probably in line for the dating talk..."  Sean smiled, they were siblings after all, so knowing her sister had to suffer through the agonizing torture of mom embarrassing her all day sort of brought a sadistic smirk to her perfect lips.

"Oh, should be fun.  Marissa said she was gonna hang with Laurie today, that explain her leaving early.  If there is one thing my sister loves it's shopping.  You know they're gonna gossip all day about Colin and then I gotta hear about how I have to be more like him... all romantic n' shit.  For the record, I'm romantic as fuck."

"Clearly." Sean laughed.  "So, Mari and Colin, huh?"

"Nah," Devin disappeared and reappeared at the fridge, grabbing himself a cherry coke and popping the top.  "I'm not gonna say my sister is a slut, but she goes through guys like I go through a bag of Steakhouse Funyuns... which is to say like I've never em' before and I'm done with the bag in ten minutes... wanting more."

His stunning friend quirked a brow.  "Uh, that sounds like a slut..."

"Hey, I didn't say it..." He raised his hands, disavowing all involvement.  "He's buying her stuff, so he's the pick of the week... I don't think she's slept with him, because we're pretty tight and she tells me stuff like that... but if he keeps up with the cash flow, I'm sure it's a matter of time."  He teleported back to the couch, appearing already in the sitting position.  "So, what's up with you?  You and Sara still scissoring on daily and when will I be getting footage?"

[Sean Cassidy]

"Of course we are," Sean admitted breezily. Around a mouthful of pizza, she flashed Devin a smirk so self-satisfied that the most indolent of house cats would take notes, then waggled a warning finger at him. "And the minute after I find out you have footage, you'll be corpse. Laurie will be sad, but alas..."

Sean scarfed down the rest of her slice of pizza as quickly as any teenaged boy could have, though managing to look a good deal sexier doing it. She gave Devin a coy, sidelong glance as she flipped from Lucio to Zarya while she waited for the rest the Overwatch PUG make their Hero selections. "What do you need footage for anyway?" She gave a little shimmy, her undersized shirt creaking at the strain. "I know you've peeked at the goods."

They both had ESP, though it functioned by different mechanisms even if the effect was superficially similar. She could catch Devin when he was peeking or notice when a jaunt was incoming, but it was damnably hard, even for her. She had to be focusing her sight on the right spectrum and be looking in the right direction. But she had caught the sense of eyes on her in the shower that didn't belong to Sara more than once.

"Posterity," Devin claimed with mock gravity, admitting nothing. "Not all of us have - what I presume is boob-enhanced  - perfect memory. No way all your brains fit in your head."

"Please! As if you'd forget a posterior like mine," she teased in not entirely feigned conceit. She was more than merely attractive, was fully aware of it, and entirely unembarrassed about that fact. She stretched out a long leg and grabbed a controller belonging to the other XBone by an analog stick using her toes and flicked it at Devin, who caught it with unthinking deftness. With their enhanced agility, they made it look like a choreographed dance.

"Here, join in. Someone already dropped the PUG." Sean pushed a few buttons on the remote and she switched the TV from one ridiculously large screen into two discreet, reasonably large monitors. She leaned back into the couch as Devin logged in. "But seriously, things are pretty good, all considered. Not withstanding the alien invasion and our billion year-old minder, of course. Been seeing more of the world flying with Sara - not as much as you, probably," she said, dipping her head in acknowledgment towards to Devin, "but found a picturesque island in a remote part of Fiji with a cabin we spruced up. I'm even starting to appreciate some of the noise Sara calls music - I think it helps when you go see and hear it live. We've caught a few concerts here and there. Starting work on a new video game." She flicked a finger at the pile of Devin's drawings. "Might have to confab with you on concept art."

Sean picked her Hero - Lucio - then tossed her head to flick sunset-coloured hair from her face and gave Devin a wry look. "And... I get beat up and bullied a lot less now." She pursed her lips, then shrugged. "Catcalled and propositioned a lot more. I judge it a better than even trade, overall." She tapped her controller on her thigh as she waited for initial selections to be made. "How are things with you, Devin? Not with Laurie, particularly, just, y'know, in general."

[Jaunt]

"Eh, y'know," Devin was an ace at deflection.  He could talk about other people and their business all day long, but when it came to his own, he wasn't much for sharing.  Sean expected as much, but didn't allow it to deter her.  She knew he was going to try to evade.  "Same ol', same ol', I guess.  I mean hanging out with you guys now is a thing... so I have a social life.  That's cool.  Marissa and I are still talking... I still haven't told her about my powers.  I'm debating whether or not I should.  Y'know, because she could pop too..."

He paused as he went to the character select screen and selected one.  Hanzo was his choice, he liked the guy, the bow was pretty cool and the dragon attack was pretty potent, if you used it at the right opportunity.  As they waited for the game to start, he continued.  "I gotta be honest dude, I dunno what it's like lately.  I've been an dick for so long that I really on't know what to do now that I'm, well, less of a dick.  I don't have anything in common with people at school anymore... I've been meaning to talk to my parents, but they'll get suspicious and think I'm on drugs or something... I don't know... it's just, like... I don't know..."

"Hell," he continued on as the game stared.  "I've not even seen Laurie hardly since Pandubious and her lackey sowed up the other night... having a normal life is tough, bro..."

[Sean Cassidy]

"None of us are anything like normal," Sean laughed lightly, pointing at herself with her controller as she supported the Reinhardt moving the payload on the Route 66 map. "And that's not even considering quantum radiation giving us super powers. I was a teenaged boy most people confused with a tween girl slash computer genius. Sara is a lesbian who sold pot while her father was Sheriff. Kia is a Japanese-Hawaiian American with a father who worked on super secret science stuff for the military. Lily was a super athlete like Bo Jackson even before being super. And you have Olympic gymnastic aspirations, right?"

"Uh-huh," Devin nodded without taking his eyes off the screen. He wasn't as familiar with Overwatch as Sean was and had to pay more attention.

Sean nodded in return, giving Devin a high-five as Hanzo's Ultimate made a breach in the defense. "Right, well, that is a rare thing. Not just wanting to be in the Olympics, but actually striving to accomplish it. Really, there is no such thing as 'normal' but even before, we all deviated from average more than most. We aren't normal." She nodded at the screen and the remarkably high-def action and characters on it, then gestured around her - her and Sara's, really - apartment. "We just do normal things. Play video games and listen to music. Do laundry and cook food. And sometimes... we fight aliens and save the world."

They finished the match with a win and started another, this time playing on an Assault map rather than Escort. Sean switched to Zarya this time. As the match loaded, she gave Devin a sly grin. "I gotta say, aside from the boobs," Sean joked, cupping her abundant breasts and making them bounce, "which are awesome, probably one of the best things that has happened to us all is you becoming less of a dick. I had a big chip on my shoulder for..." she shrugged, "y'know, a lot of reasons, and you took more than your fair share of shots at it. I'd like to say I gave as much as I took, but we both know that would be a lie. Being less dickish with the power at your - at our - command is just plain good for everyone."

Her grin turned commiserating. "Despite what Pandora's said, there's no rush to figure out what you want to do now. Take it a step at a time or dive right in, whatever pace works for you, man." Her lips curled wryly, "Maybe not too fast, when it comes to Laurie. Though I'm hardly one to talk, I am her big sister. She's trying to figure all this out too, the T'tauri, Pandora, you. She hadn't found that something to be super passionate about and now, a whole new bunch of options has opened up for her. And if you can't talk to your parents or find common ground with people at school, you still have us, dude, and my sister and your sister."

The next match ended in a win as well and as Sean mused on which game to play next, gesturing at the stack of game cases and the menu on the screen for Devin to choose if he liked, she pursed her lips. "Speaking of our sisters, I wouldn't be so sure Marissa doesn't know about your powers. Laurie and Marissa are friends and I never explicitly asked her to not say anything to her about... stuff. If you haven't either, she might have assumed Marissa knew, or even took it upon herself to say something. Not saying she has or anything, just a heads up. Marissa might just be waiting for you to say something."

 

[Jaunt]

"That's a possibility,"  Devin replied, paying more attention to the game on the shelf than the conversation.  He could read every title on their cases from the couch.  "Not sure though, Marissa and I usually share everything so if she knew I was holding out on her, she would have busted into my room by now bitching up a storm about keeping secrets from her."

Sean laughed.  "Are you guys that close?"

"Twins bro,"  Dev teleported over to the game rack and selected a game from the rack.  He twisted Injustice 2 in his hand.  "Dude, online brawling.  It's true what thy say.  We can finish each others sentences, the whole read each others mind thing and when it comes to secrets... dude, no joke we know when the other is holding out."

"You guys seriously have telepathy?" Sean mused.  "And if you keep teleporting everywhere, your legs are gonna atrophy."

"Well, not really.  I mean, you know what they say about twins... it's like that.  It's not a powers thing... but dude, it's weird at times."  He placed the game in the console and teleported back to the couch. "And I use my legs plenty, thankyouverymuch."

They waited for the game in a few moments they were selecting super heroes to batter one another with.  "Dude, I gotta argue that we aren't normal.  We may have been exceptional individuals, but we're still teenagers.  We're supposed to be hanging out with friends, playing video games, dating, making out... we're fighting aliens.  Saving the world.  I was sitting in class and just looking around and I just thought... 'wow, this is so incredibly mundane'.  I mean, how do we be normal teenagers after all we've seen and done.  You can't honestly tell me you want to be better than everyone and the best at everything for the rest of your life.  I was a dick to you, I know, but really dude, you went from being a computer genius to what?  You're so hot Sean it's not even believable... no woman actually plays with their boobs as much as you do and you don't even wear sensible shoes.  You look like a woman, but lets face it, you're a dude, it's obvious in everything you do.  You've gone from being a guy that doesn't fit in to being a woman that doesn't fit in.  I ostracized myself... and now that I have some reason to get back into being a regular guy... I can't, I don't know where to start.  Unlike you, I want an actual life, not revel in how amazingly better I am than everyone else.  These powers are cool, but... they're not me.  That's the separation... without your powers, there is no you."

He cycled through a few heroes and settled on Batman, who was pretty much easy mode for the game.  Nothing but super cheap moves and evasions, second only to The Flash.  "You think Pandora has a point?  I mean, maybe we should just be great.  Quit putting up with people and and all their flaws and be kings and queens like the rest of them... but do it right.  We could abolish crime, the energy crisis, world hunger.  Let's face it... the current management isn't handling it.  We could really help people, y'know?"

[Sean Cassidy]

"We could, we can," Sean agreed as she scrolled through the available characters, sometimes flipping through alternate outfits. "Some of it at least. Energy Crisis, definitely. World hunger, probably. Though we'd have to watch out for the law of unintended consequences of course. Free and instant, unlimited energy and food and economies will collapse, etc etc. But abolish crime? Mitigate it, for sure, but abolish it?" she mused as she made her selection.

"C'mon, puddin', are you for realsies? Mistah J, the only way we're gonna get rid of crime is by gettin' rid of free will too." It was an almost flawless imitation of Harley Quinn's signature voice and inflections, the character Sean had selected, though choosing her Arkham Asylum outfit. She gestured at the TV as the game loaded, returning back to her natural melodious tones. "I would think the plot of this game and the Justice Lords episodes of Justice League Unlimited would be a fair warning of what could happen by people with super powers taking over."

The random stage selector sent them to Kahndaq and Sean came out aggressively with Harley, another combo-heavy character. "That isn't to say I haven't considered how I or we would go about it." She snorted. "One of my ideas was to become the Queen of England, after marrying Harry and altering the laws of investiture during a subtle campaign. There are also tentative plans to become President of the US or Secretary-General of the United Nations. But ours would be a dictatorship, benevolent though it may be. It would take effort to maintain, effort aimed the wrong way."

She sighed, and was put on defense trying to block Batman's rush of combos. "I think we have a longer road ahead of us. Trying to influence people and society at large, to start working towards a common goal and in their own best, enlightened interest instead of against it. I think our best chance of success against Pandora's brothers and sisters is if we can confront them as a unified whole, not as... as Gods and Goddesses and with our followers, whether true or forced. We've been transformed," her nod was for them both, "and not just in body, but in how we perceive and interact with the world. I believe we're gonna have to transform the global psyche as well, to succeed."

"That easy, eh, just... poof and kumbaya?" Devin scoffed, trying to tie Sean up in a corner with cheap, quick combos.

"Never said it would be easy," Sean countered as she countered in game and slipped free, Harley's Mallet coming out to deal some pain. "Nor am I expecting to accomplish some Star Trek Federation Utopia shit either. Just getting us, the collective us of Earth, to something better than what we have now, where greed is good and the 1% reap the most benefit from everyone's effort. Long-term goals, eh?"

Sean shot Devin a quick scowl. "And I wear sensible shoes plenty, thankyouverymuch," she retorted, paraphrasing Devin's earlier words. He was reconsidering how girlish or guyish Sean really was, considering the hint of pique in her voice. "I just have some non-sensible ones for certain occasions and outfits."

She sighed again, slumping a bit into the couch. "You were a dick to me then, and you're being a dick to me now, if admittedly less of one, and probably not even meaning to," she commented. She sounded merely conversational, but Harley on screen was getting particularly vicious. "Yes, I'm a complete over-compensation as a woman - or person, if you insist," Sean admitted. "And yes, I rather enjoy what I am capable of - though I do hope I'm not rubbing it people's faces - but that doesn't mean I don't have some regrets. And I gotta say, it is rather dickish to claim I don't have or want an actual life or that I'm nothing without my... enhanced attributes."

The first bout ended and Sean gestured around the Barn. "I'm trying to make a home here for Sara and I. I'd still like to more video games and a successful gaming company, even if I am also looking at them in the context of them possibly being something to enable societal change. I go to concerts, and not to show off how 'hawt' I am, but to enjoy the music, or at least to see Sara enjoy the music. If I want more, that doesn't mean I don't also want the same things most other people want. We're just gonna have to find that balance between the fantastic things we do and whatever each of consider a 'normal' life, and naturally, that balance isn't going the be the same for all of us."

Sean's tone turned... not sad or bitter or regretful, exactly. Maybe something closer to wistful. "It would be insanely self-centered to be ungrateful for what I have, but you aren't entirely wrong about me missing out on stuff. I've always been good with computers and video games." She demonstrated with punishing series of intricate combos. "But I had to work to develop my talent. I had failures, and felt the satisfaction overcoming them and developing new skills. I've skipped that now for so many things. I still feel satisfaction in coming up with a new idea, or accomplishing something with excellence. But in most cases, I didn't get to fumble, humorously and/or embarrassingly, when trying something for the first time or learning a new skill, didn't get to witness my progress from novice to expert, to look back on it and see all the work I put into it. I miss that."

Sean was silent for a long moment, setting the controller aside and letting Devin play a few rounds online, before continuing in a soft voice. "Y'know how Lilly can shut her node and become..." Her lips quirked wryly, "... human?"

"Uh-huh. She still has a great ass."

Sean ticked a finger in the air, acknowledging his point. "I can do it too, now. I think we all can now, since the battle of Kemu Valley. Some kind of forced evolutionary defense mechanism due to being over-inundated with quantum particles there. I've tried it, to more or less see if what you said was true."

Left unsaid, but heard anyway, was would she be a man or woman with her powers locked away.

Devin felt... something, and looked over. Sean looked the same, and she didn't. She didn't have the superhuman perfection anymore, though she was still at least as attractive as any model he could think of, only his enhanced perceptions able to pick out the subtle changes. Her fantastic hair of sunset yellows, oranges, reds, pinks and purples had returned to her original deep auburn - a  deeper shade than Laurie's - though her eyes were still the same entrancing turquoise that had ever been. Without the searing beauty and sex appeal in the way, Devin could see how much Sean and Laurie actually resembled each other. Sean was a great deal taller and more endowed, but otherwise they had a comparable build and very similar facial structure, though Sean didn't have the natural sarcastic curve to her lips Laurie did.

"Ta-da," Sean exclaimed blandly, striking a pose to do Vanna White proud, while still sitting down. "It doesn't actually feel that different. Just... less?" She still felt that uncanny competence in nearly all areas, it just wasn't superhuman anymore. But how did she explain that to someone who hadn't felt the same. "It's... It's like not breathing - for those of us who still need to breath, of course. I can still do everything - nearly everything - I could before, it just takes more effort and feels more.... unnatural the longer I maintain it, and having to think on it makes everything else... duller."

She shrugged, trying to nonchalant, but Devin could see the effort it took her and in her mild grin. "Makes walking around with out garnering undue attention easier. Though the catcalls really aren't that much less. Maybe it'll feel different for you, depending on how used to or instinctively you Jaunt around, despite your claims of using your legs. But I wouldn't call it feeling 'normal'."

[Jaunt]

"My legs get plenty of use."  He rebutted.  "I have to walk and run around the house, since my parents don't know I can, y'know.  I run every morning for about an hour, and I practice my gymnastics everyday after school for an hour.  Come to think of it... I only really teleport is when I'm with you guys or alone in my room and feel like Italian food... from Italy."

"You have no idea how envious I am of that," Sean smirked and shook her head.  "So not fair."

Devin laughed silently.  Both he and Sean were insanely perceptive.  Sean's perceptions were analytical while Devin's were instinctual.  One handn't played a challenging video game opponent until one battles an overly perceptive enhanced person in a fighting game.  Each were able to anticipate moves and react to the other player faster than the game would allow them.  It was interesting to watch, especially since their enhanced coordination saw to it that each combo and special maneuver was performed with flawlessly.  There were no wasted movements.

There had to be a winner and this time it was Devin, the moment Sean shut down her node she lost a majority of her advantage and he trounced her.  "Okay, that was unfair, but I'm still taking the victory."  Devin smiled.  "You still have those pizza rolls from game night?"  He teleported away to the kitchen area, his movement operating at the speed of his impulsive thoughts.

"Okay, so you're right, I'm not intentionally trying to be a dick, it's just that it sort of comes out that way,"  He was in the freezer and already rummaging for the bag of pizza rolls.

Sean quirked her brow, preparing for the next barrage of Jauntisms.  "You say that to follow it up with what?"

"Dude," that was never a good start.  It ranked right up there with him starting out with 'bruh' or 'bruh-bruh'.  "Building a life?  Are you actually serious?  You're sixteen and you're settling down with Sara?  Bruh...," there it was.  "Bruh-bruh... does Sara actually seem like the settling type?  Dude, Sara is awesome, she's also a wild at heart free spirit who will want to eventually go out and try new things... that aren't you.  Girls like Sara don't settle, not until that fire in their belly has burned into embers, and even then, they're a handful.  We're in high school, Sean.  We're supposed to be discovering ourselves emotionally and sexually, that's why our relationships don't last... on average.  Not to burst your bubble, but you're setting yourself up to be Harley to her Mistah J.  Which works out because you prolly already got the costume."

The rolls were scattered about the pan, one thing they all noticed about Devin was that he didn't microwave anything, he even boiled water the old fashioned way.  "I'm not saying Sara is a bad person,"  He thought about that.  "Okay, she is a bad person, but my point is that I highly doubt she'll be around as long as you think she will.  She has her own life outside you, dude... living in a barn in Shelly I don't think rates very high on her list s'all I'm saying.  Especially being locked down at sixteen."  Devin visibly shudders at the thought of his single life being over at sixteen.

[Sean Cassidy]

"Funny thing is, most of the time, I don't feel sixteen, Dev," Sean admitted with a sigh as she released her hold on her node and bloomed back into her enhanced self. She wasn't mad or irritated with Devin, they just saw things differently, even if they both saw clearer and further than any human that had come before them. "All this knowledge and skill I got with my metamorphosis, even free of the actual experience of earning them, it ages you in ways. At least, it seems to."

Sean flowed to her feet and sauntered over to the kitchenette - having to actually walk the intervening distance - and reached around Devin to filch a pizza roll from the pan with her bare fingers. She leaned back against the counter, chewing thoughtfully. Still a bit under cooked, the pizza roll was still tasty. She had made a large batch of them and frozen the leftovers for another time.

"But you misunderstood my intent." She brushed the hair from her face and nodded around the converted barn. "This is home, but just for now. I never planned on living here forever, with or without Sara. Bill Gates has Xanadu 2.0, even before... this, I had dreams of building my own fantastic haven. As you said, we're still discovering who we are, together and apart." She smiled enigmatically and arched a brow, letting Devin read into it what he may. "Some curiosities I have Sara can't answer."

"I-"

"No." Sean wouldn't even let Devin finish the thought, let alone the question or proposition. "Here's the thing, I'm into this relationship for as long as it lasts, instead of seeing it - or at least expecting it - to be temporary. I believe Sara is too."

Sean got out a plate and some paper towels to share the pizza rolls - a pointed glare told Devin that he was sharing, whether he wanted to or not. She snagged herself a Pepsi from the fridge and with a nod of her head, asked what Devin wanted then rolled her eyes and got him his damned Cherry Coke.

"Devin, over a long enough period of time, everything is temporary," Sean continued. "And at the least - barring premature deadening - we're going to live two or three centuries from what I can tell. On the far side... well, look at Pandora. But thinking of everything as temporary, transitory... " This time, it was Sean who shuddered. "I think one would go insane. Or lose any sense of connection or empathy with others, which is a type of insanity, I suppose. That's besides the point. We have time, Devin, great heaping gobs of it. There's not need to burn through a relationship to get to the next one, afraid you're missing out." There was a faint warning tone in her voice, considering Devin was in... whatever he and Laurie were in. "We have lifetimes to seek out all manner of experiences."

[Jaunt]

Devin popped a pizza roll and chewed like a typical caveman.  "We'll have to agree to disagree, bro.  I know you have like super-mega-uber-intelligecne or whatnot, but no amount of intelligence can prepare you for real world experience and lets face it Sean when it comes to relationships, women, and knockin' them boots you have no experience, dude."

"Okay, some experience, now that you're carpet sharking taco on the daily, but regardless how old you feel or think you are, we both know you have absolutely no clue what you're doing."  With a swig of his Cherry Coke he winced at Sean and her Pepsi.  "How do you drink that swill?  Ugh.  And don't tell me you do.  The way you talk, the way you act, the way you move, I hate to tell you dude but you're just as autistic as Abel half the time.  The dude is so smart and so out of touch of reality that he doesn't even realize how awkward he is."

"You're the same way," He pointed to her.  "You're so wrapped up in being what you are that you don't realize how off base you are ninety percent of the time."  He saw the look brewing on her face and raised his hands in defense.  "Woah, chill, before you get all PMS on me, I assure I'm getting to a point in all this."  He took her plate from her, which garnered him a strange look.  For a moment she thought she might have to protect her pizza rolls from the incursion of Jaunt's  oppressive regime of 'everything in the fridge is mine, except the healthy stuff'.  He offered her his hand.  After a moment of looking at him skeptically he flexed his palm, waving her forward.  "Sean, it's my hand, I'm not gonna propose, sac up.  C'mon."

"Video games, fancy lunch," she motioned to the pizza rolls.  She offered him a sultry smirk and quipped.  "Now dancing?  Devin, you're with my sister, I'm starting to feel trashy..."

"Starting?"  He raised an eyebrow.  "Girl, have you seen what you wear lately?"

"Dick."  She said as she took his hand and they shared a laugh.

Sean's toes were suddenly very warm.  She looked out over the Grand Canyon, not the touristy parts, the one of the bends of the Colorado River that made a 'U' bend, giving them a breathless view of everything around them.  "I'll never get used to that, Devin.  This is... wow."  She looked around and smiled, taking all the scenery in with innocent eyes taking in something for the first time.  She and Sara had come here before, but not here, here.  Jaunt had a gift for finding 'the spots' that sung to the heart.  He possessed the artist's eye for capturing the scenery.  "But why?"

"Because that was real, Sean."  He said.  "Because everything about you is fake but that was real.  I could hear the change in your heartbeat, for a moment you didn't have control of that perpetual clam of yours.  Your smile, the look you offered the scenery, your entire expression was real and it was gorgeous."  Despite it being Devin, she tried, poorly, to hide the flush in her cheeks.  "My point is, Sean, the only way you let the world in and show who you truly are, is when you shut down that mega brain of yours and just be a normal person.  When you're surprised, which is rare, like what I did with this... the real woman you are can shine through, and she.  Is.  Beautiful.  We may have lifetimes to take it all in, but you are at your finest when you're living in the moment.  Sara deserves that Sean... not the mega-brain, super slutty Sean trying to hard to be something she's not."

"Are you seriously preaching to me?"  Sean laughed.  "How did this get to be about me?"

"Because I'm making a point so I can make another one,"  He smiled.  "I'm in the same boat you are are dude, I have no clue what I'm doing.  This," he gestured to the scenery all around them.  "This, is all I have.  I'm a fast talking, no filter having, douche who's only meritable skill is doodling on a notepad and doing back flips, but hey!  I can take you anywhere in the world to impress you!  My people skills are shit, I have no idea how to meet people and make friends... and somehow in all of this crazy shit that's been going on I've ended up friends with some incredibly cool people who've come to treat me decent despite how much of a terrible person I was to them in the past.  I'm scared that it's just a matter of time before I do or say something that will cost me all I've found and I'll be back to square one... angry and alone with no friends and desperately wanting nothing more than to be someone else.  Sound familiar?"

There was a long awkward silence as they both took in the warm desert scenery.  Finally Devin spoke, as he did the Grand Canyon and Sean's barn superimposed over one another.  As the interior of the barn faded into view, the Grand Canyon fades out.  In the the slow span of a single eye blink, they were back in the kitchen.  "I'm gonna screw things up with Laurie, Sean.  We both know it.  She's gonna hate me, and I'm gonna have to be that guy who shows up to Just Us League meetings and have everyone glare at me judgmentally for being the guy who did exactly what they were expecting.  I'm more afraid of that glare than I am of breaking your sister's heart... and I feel kinda shitty about that, but it's the truth."

[Sean Cassidy]

"The fact that you're worried about that and feel bad about it proves that you aren't as big of an ass as you pretend to be, Dev," Sean informed him, putting a hand on his shoulder. A hand that could crush steel, it wasn't a threatening gesture, nor was it a sensual or teasing one. It was simply an expression of human sympathy and empathy. Which didn't mean Devin wouldn't motoroboat those epic tits bobbing right before him given the opportunity. "Look, I can't promise what you're afraid of won't happen, but we're not going to cut you loose just because you break up with my sister, even if it's messy." She waggled a warning finger. "Well, messy to a degree, this is still my sister we're talking about."

Sean leaned back, perching her ass on the edge of the counter, and rubbed a foot on the opposing calf and then switch, rubbing off the dirt and sand. "Dude, we've fought aliens together and saved the world, and likely will again. Don't get me wrong, if you break Laurie's heart, I'll eat Haagen-Daz with her and totally bad mouth you as a good sister should, but the judgmental looks will pass and you've endured worse I think. And who knows, maybe you'll surprise us." She waved a hand, alluding to their recent, if brief trip, a wistful curve to her lips. "You managed to surprise me and few enough manage that nowadays."

In other ways, he didn't surprise her, like how he commented on her clothing and exaggerated how much she played up her sex appeal. She was self-aware enough to know she played with it like a kid with a new toy, but Devin was seeing it filtered by how he saw her when she was boy and now as a woman. She wore jeans and t-shirts more often than not, but when she wore a dress or skirt or heels - or yes, yoga pants - it stood out to him more than when any other person he had always known as a girl wore the same.

Yes, her legs were really long, her tits were nothing less than big, she couldn't really hide them and people noticed. If she and another less endowed girl wore the same shirt, she was automatically considered more inappropriate or sexualized if she showed a bit of cleavage even if the other girl was showing off half her goods. It was a double-standard Laurie had mentioned before that Sean only could really understand once she was on the same side of it as Laurie. Devin might be as perceptiive as she was, but there were still things he was blind to.

"Now, I want you consider a few things before you wallow in a failure and a disappointment you haven't perpetuated yet. One, if you break up with Laurie, that doesn't mean it has to be acrimonious and full of drama. You guys might just find out you're better as friends than more and maturely decide to keep your relationship that way or move it back to that." She smirked a bit a nudged him with a shoulder. "Well, Laurie might be adult enough to do it. And speaking of Laurie, what if she's the one to break up with you?"

Devin blinked. Break up with him? It took him a moment to really his not-quite-unassailable confidence and ego. "What lady could pass on this awesomeness?"

"I know right?" Sean sighed in feigned agreement, rolling her eyes. "Women are always changing their minds. And Laurie can be contrary at the best of times, just to make a point. And if she does, If you need someone to listen or just vent on, feel free to jaunt over. If nothing else, I might be able to explain where Laurie is coming from. But what I mean is your relationship doesn't just go one way and how it progresses or ended isn't just on you Dev."

While she let Devin wrap his head around the fact any relationship he might have with Laurie didn't solely revolve his every action, with triumph or mistake, Sean popped another pizza roll into her mouth than sipped on her Pepsi.

"One more thing I want you think on. When you were back in California, where you still the jerk you convinced almost everyone in Shelly you are?" Sean asked, her eyes not condemning or judging, just inquisitive.

"Well... " Devin reached up and rubbed the back of his neck with his fingers. "Better weather, my friends were there, better access to Olympic facilities. Shelly on the other hand..."

Sean nodded, not needing him to say it. "Right. Understandable if still petulant and childish. Here's the thing - you aren't stuck in Shelly anymore. You can literally be anywhere in the world  whenever you want. You don't have the excuse of being stuck in Shelly for being a jerk anymore." She narrowed her eyes and folded her arms beneath her breasts. "And let me up the ante a little with some ego-stroking. I'm very really wrong - now anyway - so I double dog dare you to prove me - to prove us - wrong about you." Her lips curved in a challenging smirk. "I think you're enough of an ass to succeed in proving me wrong in how much of a jerk you are."

Sean stepped back over to the couch and sprawled out on it, relaxed, and scooped up a controller. She glanced over a shoulder back at Devin, a private smile on her lips. "And just because you might not see the 'real' me often, doesn't mean Sara doesn't." She dipped her head towards him, granting him a point. "But I'll see what I can do about letting you see her more often without having to surprise me. Now get over here so I can beat the shit out of Batman some more."

[Jaunt]

"Bitch please," he smiled at her, saying with a swift, playful delivery.  He sprang over the back of the couch and in no time they were back into the fray of beating each other up on screen.

They were well into their third match before either of them spoke again.  Sean, seemingly at random selected their next topic of conversation.  "You got so lucky."

Devin's brow furrowed and he looked at her, his perceptions allowing him to look away from the T.V. but still 'see' everything that was happening.  IT was the little things like that that all of the teens could do.  Feats of strength, perception, manual dexterity... strange little things they had to try hard not to do in front of baselines lest they have some explaining to do.  "What?  You're full of it, Cassidy, that was a legit hit, guard your legs."

"No," Sean laughed.  Dashing back to avoid Batman's onslaught and Harley quickly launched into a counter attack.  They'd turned the time limit off, they had to considering thay they were so adept at anticipating the other's actions a few of their fights could take ten minutes or more.  "I meant you got the ability to go anywhere you want, anytime you want.  That's pretty lucky."

He shrugged, paying attention to the screen now.  "I guess,"  that wasn't the reply Sean expected.  She expected him to burst out with stories of all the places he'd bee and trouble he'd gotten into.  "I thought that too," he finally said.  "But truth is dude, I don't really go to too many places.  I did when I first discovered I could and how far I could go... then it was just boring.  I do hit up Maui on lunch break at school nearly every day, to work on my tan.  Or hit up Greece or Norway to chill for some peace and quiet.  I hate to sound like an after school special, dude, but it's true."

"What is?"  She asked, leaping over his slide attack and landing with a ranged attack that nailed him in the back.

"Don't laugh... but," He took in a breath, adjusting his characters tactics after not anticipating the attack to the back.  "Being given the whole world isn't much fun without people to share it with.  I'm a little shy of friends, you guys excluded, of course, but with all that's going on reconnecting hasn't been easy."

[Sean Cassidy]

Sean sighed in satisfaction as the bout finished, having just edged out a win. She'd always loved video games, had once wanted to make them and play them for a living, but it was much harder to find a challenge in competitive ones now, of course. Devin could fit the bill for some types of games. Which didn't mean she felt bad when she ostentatiously stretched to distract him for a moment. He might have accused her of sexing it up, but he was still a guy with senses on par with her own and she was still a super hot girl with big tits and amazing legs.

"Great match, man!" Sean selected random character for the next match and grunted when she ended up with Gorilla Grodd. He was considered one of the lowest tier characters. He would be rough pick against Devin. "Fun fun. Hey, did you keep in contact with any friends back in Cali when you moved here, Dev?"

"I did... for a while," Devin admitted, idly flipping through the character select. He shot Sean a crooked grin tainted with self-reflective regret. "But you know, it took a lot of effort to passive-aggressively tell everyone how much I hated Shelly. So... stuff sort of faded away."

"Have you actually tried reconnecting with them?"

"What do you mean? When would I have done that, what with being part of the Military-Industrial complex, fighting off alien invasions, trying to understand Laurie--"

"Good luck with that," Sean interjected with a laugh. "I mean have you actually called any of them, dropped a comment on Facebook? That sort of thing. You could have done it anytime. Hell, it's a Saturday now and we're not up to anything of particular importance. You could drop by, if you think they are still hanging around your old haunts or take a bit of time to Facebook stalk them. I'll help if you like and want some company. Just say you were passing by and decided to visit your old gang."

Sean smirked wryly. "Just give me a minute to get dressed and put on my 'normal people' outfit." She made air-quotes as she referred to dorming and glanced down at her bumming-around-the-house clothes. "I need a bra at least. Besides, other than Halloween, I haven't really visited California."

 

[Jaunt]

"Uh, sure."  Devin collapsed mentally at the thought of going to meet his old friends.  He'd honestly not thought of it.  "But, dude, you've met my mom.  She monitors our Facebook at home.  If one of my old friends posts up 'Great to see you again!' or 'Stop by again soon!' how am I gonna explain that to my mom?  It's like a serious breech of the secret identity code."

"The what now?"  Sean asked slinking away to go change.  She smirked ad Devin didn't bother raising his voice, knowing she could hear him clearly.

"The secret identity code, dude.  If, while you are out in your secret identity, that is to Devin, me.  Then where I am and what I'm doing has to be plausible within the realms of my secret identity.  For example... we shouldn't be seen all entering and exiting the base... we're all kids, we have no business being there.  Well, except Lilly, but she has an I.D., we don't, or shouldn't rather.  If I'm seventeen, I have no business being back Malibu, 'just passing through' without my parents.  If my mom sees that she'll be like 'what were you doing in Cali?', y'know?"  He kicked back, tapping out a lewd text to Laurie then smirking when she sent back a rude emoji.  "Go with the blue," he said to Sean who was behind a screen and well out of his view, or, at least was supposed to be.  "Black, in Malibu in December... not a good idea."

[Sean Cassidy]

Sean's unmistakable silhouette moved from behind the folding screen patterned with cherry trees as she glided into full view.  She had tensed her node again, so merely looked like a slumming supermodel rather than a superhuman beauty, her vibrant auburn hair several shades darker than Laurie's. This outing was supposed to be to allow Devin to reconnect with old friends rather than have them fawn and flirt - over much - with her.

Devin could tell what Sean was wearing before she came into view, still, seeing it directly, he could help but grin at the sight. As he opened his mouth to comment, Sean held up a restraining hand, her other hand straightening and aligning the straps of her tank top and bra, her lips quirking in self-deprecating amusement.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I noticed as soon as I started putting the top on," Sean interrupted before Devin could say anything. "Still, it's comfortable and casual, and I make it look good."

Devin comments wouldn't be denied however. "Dude, you make everything look good," he said with an exaggerated leer at the modest amount of cleavage the tank-top revealed, and a longer one at her legs in snug cargo-shorts that fell short of mid-thigh. "But I was going to say, while the reboot was more than decent, I've always been a fan of the early games."

Sean snort-giggled. "Yeah, I was too."

With a teal tank top , snug, brown cargo shorts, and rather dramatic proportions, Sean resembled a particular video game archeologist, sometimes even known at a Tomb Raider. The belt decorated with recurring Punisher Skulls contrasted a bit with the theme, but Sean made it work - supermodel with nerd cred. Sean scooped up her shoulder-bag and sunglasses, then dug out a pair of cross-trainers.

Sean arched a brow at Devin as she laced up her shoes. "Monitoring Facebook doesn't seem to impede Marissa any, and you can't tell me she's always where she says she is. But if you're still concerned about it, I can code up a simple mod for your Facebook account so your Mom will only ever see innocuous, completely consistent pics and comments on your feed."

Sean stood up and slug her satchel over her shoulder with a casually graceful motion, shooting Devin a small, considering smile. "You do know what the simplest solution to your secret identity problem is, though, don't you?"

"Glasses?"

"No, doofus!" Sean sighed in exasperation, going to swat Devin upside the head, but dormed, she came nowhere close. "Actually tell your parents and sister what's going on. They might look at you a bit different, at first, but they won't care for you any less. And not telling them doesn't actually protect them either, despite what you might tell yourself. Okay, I might be biased, because in my situation, well... " Sean shrugged, maybe with a slight more vigor than was necessary to make the already obvious more obvious. "It's not like I had the option of keeping it secret from them. But it's your choice, of course, man. Give it thought, eh?"

[Jaunt]

"Dude, telling my parents is not even on the table," he rebutted.  "I get it, I do, they won't love me any less, I know.  But if they find out, they will flip the hell out.  You've met my mom, she's like the gestapo of Shelly High.  She still thinks me and M.J. haven't had our first kisses yet and that when Mar is crashing here for the weekend she's not out getting freaky with half the football team."

Sean laughed.  "I don't think Mari is that out of control, Dev."

"I dunno, she's been going through guys quite a bit lately."  He shrugged.  "Maybe I'm just being over protective.  I've wanted to tell her, I have, but every time I think about it something pops up.  We're going to a dance, we have a world to save, she's nowhere to be found for a weekend.  We're close, insanely so, but since the whole power acquisition thing... we've barely talked, I've been swamped."

He waved away the whole conversation.  It wasn't uncommon for Devin to ignore important topics or anything that resembled responsibility.  "Neither here nor there, dude."  He waved Sean over to him.  "C'mere, lemme get us to Malibu."

Within a few moments the two of them were in California, standing in front of a large house, one that was easily three or four times more expensive than the one's one would find in Shelly.  Sean whistled when she saw it.  "Wow, nice digs."

"Heh," Devin smiled.  "Yeah, our old house.  My easiest memory to home in on."

Sean's eyes popped in shock.  "You lived here?"

"Yeah," he shrugged.  "Mom and dad were doing pretty well for themselves."

It was Sean's turn to dismissively wave aside Devin's casual responses.  "Woah, woah... dude, your mom's a teacher and your dad is a forest ranger.  That house is like... woah."

With a smile Devin nodded his head, resting his hands on his hips letting Sean bask in what she believed was total bullshit.  "My mom has a Doctorates in English Literature and a Masters in Philosophy.  Before his 'dream job' of being a park ranger my dad was an investment banker to some petty posh people.  Then, outta nowhere they give it all up and we're Shelly bound... only God fucking knows why..."  By the time he was finished she could tell how much talking about it angered him.  He was white knuckled as he stared at  the house.  It wasn't often Devin that swore and Sean could hear the contempt and rage in his tone.

"Dude, c'mon," he swayed his head towards the end of the block.  "I'll show you the skate park, we used to hang out there."

[Sean Cassidy]

"I don't recall ever seeing you skateboard in Shelly," Sean remarked idly, subtly trying to redirect him from dwelling on why the Jauntsen's may have moved.

She could make several hypotheses as to why they might have moved, from the banal to the dramatic, but Devin was clearly in no frame of mind to hear any justifications or reasons as to why. The bitterness still lingered. But she would make some surreptitious inquiries later, in case Devin actually wanted to know... or to use as an interrupt when he was on a particularly intense bitchfest about whatever.

"Shelly is practically a one road town," Devin snarked, tossing Sean teasing smirk. "A dirt road at that. For skateboarding, you need concrete. Thus, concrete."

They rounded the corner of the block and Devin gestured with a hand like a game show hostess minus the sequined dress or the curves, if with a great deal of the enthusiasm. A wonderland of poured concrete came into view, bright under the sun and clear sun, the scent and sound of the surf on the air. Kids ranging from half their age to several years older assaulted the plethora of ramps, rails, and smoothly curved pools and craters.

There was a playful sort of ordered chaos on the part. Some people encouraged the others, cheering at a good move. Others jeered a mistake or fall with gleeful malice, some competed with the others, and a few where just there for their own thing, ignoring everyone else. But no conflict or brawl ever seemed in danger of brewing.

She might not have had the full capacity of her mental capabilities at the moment, but Sean still couldn't help considering designing a skate park that would do M.C. Escher proud. Many of the Irregulars were possessed of inhuman agility - they would be a sight to behold on such a playground, aside from any other abilities that could come into play.

Sean suppressed a smirk as one skater took a tumble when he spent too much of his attention on her  - or her breasts, at any rate - rather than his 360 Varial kickflip.

"I'm almost surprised the skate park isn't more red than grey, unless you get a lot more rain here than I expect. Fair number of skinned knees and broken bones, I'm guessing?"

[Jaunt]

"No, he was staring at your tits and almost wiped out, but It's cute the way you blow it off like I don't know people get distracted when you're around,"  Devin rolled his eyes.

Devin jogged ahead a few steps and cupped his hands on his mouth.  "You still kickflip like a biiiiotch, Bear!"  He shouted and the guy who almost wiped out looked over in their direction swiftly with that look that told them he wanted to know who just said that like they knew him.  He saw Devin and his eyes widened as a smile crossed his lips.

"DeeJay?!  Oh, man!  Dude!  When did you get back!?"  The guy ran over as fast as he could.  Sean could see the guy was a lot bigger than she first estimated, athletic but in a chubby kinda way.  He was a fluffy guy with boyish dimples, dark hair and a rose to his cheeks after the work out at the skate park.  When he scooped up Devin like he was a paper weight and Devin's eyes almost popped out, she understood why Devin called him Bear.  "Wow, man!  This is great, how you been?!"

"C-an't... breathe..." Devin slapped him on the forehead a couple times and Bear set him down.  He took a few breaths, "Christ, dude."

"Sorry," The big guy blushed.  "Happy to see ya is all.  What're you doing back, dude?"

"Dude," Devin started and Sean was already counting the 'dudes'.  "Just visiting for a bit, wish I could stay but, y'know how it is.  Oh," realizing Sean was standing not to far from him he motioned to her.  "This is my friend, Sean Cassidy.  Sean, Michael Barret, we call him Bear."

"Hel-lo Sean," he smiled as he took her hand.  She was used to the charmed expression he held in his glossed over eyes.  "Yeah, Bear is fine.  So... you and Dee Jay a thing or do I have a chance?"

"Not-a-one," Devin smirked.  "See, she likes vagina," with his open palm he waved around his mouth.  "Mostly in this region here."

Bear was unphased and simply shrugged.  "Me too.  Stable relationships start with having things in common."  He shot her a wink and a grin all in fun.  "Nice to meet you, Sean."

Devin was looking around while Sean and Bear got acquainted.  "Dude, where's Tawni, and is Brian still skating?"

Bear turned and looked to the skate park, scanning around with him.  "Tawni's over there," he pointed across the way to a young blonde with pigtails and pink shorts.  "Brian?  Dude, he moved.  Family dipped out to Texas last year, his dad got a job with the U.S. Marshals or something."

"Bummer."

"Yeah," Bear nodded.  "So, uh, how's your sister?  She, uh, come with you too?"

Devin rolled his eyes.  "Dude, are you still trying to climb that tree?"

Bear whistled and several whipped their heads about.  Tawni was among them and he waved her towards them.  "Tawns!  Dee Jay's here!"  He quieted down and looked to his friend.  "Dude, I have as much of a chance with Mari as you do with Tawni... so yeah, I'm still climbing that tree."

Devin smirked and gave Bear the finger.  "I happen to have a girlfriend, so boyah."  He nodded to Sean.  "Her sister, actually."

"You brought the sister... but not the girlfriend?"  Bear asked with a raised eyebrow.

"With Laurie and I it's special, what Sean and I have is just purely sexual.  Laurie gets the nice dates... I take Sean to slum it with you losers."

Bear nodded for a moment, seemingly hurt then smiled wide and high fived Devin.  "Nice, run that game playah."

[Sean Cassidy]

Sean sighed when Devin thought her comment was an allusion to the conceited potency of her curves when all she had meant was remarking on the drive of the skaters to push their limits sometimes resulting in injuries. Injuries whose scars she was sure they bore with pride. Devin held some funny ideas about her, in her own opinion, but she chalked it up to him holding onto the idea of the boy she had been inside the wet dream of a woman she now was and not being able to resolve her chrysalis in his own mind while projecting his own beliefs about what and who she was based on her appearance.

On 1/1/2018 at 3:20 PM, Jaunt said:

"With Laurie and I it's special, what Sean and I have is just purely sexual.  Laurie gets the nice dates... I take Sean to slum it with you losers."

Bear nodded for a moment, seemingly hurt then smiled wide and high fived Devin.  "Nice, run that game playah."

"You're slipping, Dev," Sean commented, wagging a finger at him before gesturing at Bear with a thumb. "I think you've used that line before. I like him." Sean chuckled, winking back and giving Bear a nod and an easy, honest grin. "Nice to meet a guy who doesn't think he can 'fix' me. We need someone like you in Shelly, Bear. If you're ever in Montana..."

Bear gave an ostentatious shudder, amusing in such a big man. "Montana? With... snow? Not if I can help it. Although..." He made a point of giving Sean another once-over. "If the ladies there look like you and can catch DeeJay's attention and Mari is hanging around... "

Devin slugged him in the arm and Sean laughed again. She was out as a lesbian - few knew and fewer suspected she had been born a boy - and nobody but Courtney and Chet had the audacity to say anything about it to her face. But Shelly was a small town - if growing now - and alternative lifestyles were still looked at askance. She could see the question and disapproval in the occasional face that wasn't voice.  There hadn't been a hint of that in Bear  - and really, not in anyone - just an unconscious acceptance, with maybe a tinge of regret that they shared the same romantic interests in girls. Subtle and rare as the prejudice might be, it was nice not to have to deal with it at all.

Which didn't mean she didn't get stares of disapproval of other sorts. Tawni gave her one measuring glance then promptly did her best to ignore the taller, more curvaceous woman to lavish coy attention on Devin. Sean suppressed a smile as Devin lapped up Tawni's teasing regard, playing into her hands even as he was clearly aware of it.

"Think of this more as... vetting Devin for my sister," Sean explained with smooth fiction. "I was coming out this way and thought it would be handy having a local with me." She gave an overly dramatic sigh. "Alas, in Shelly, the pickings for a California Native are slim, so I had to settle for him. But it does let see where he's from. Gotta look out for my little sis, after all."

Her smile turned wicked. "And of course, share with her all the juicy dirt I find on him, now that I've met some of his old friends. You guys gotta have some great, embarrassing stories to share about this guy when he was a kid." She bumped Devin's shoulder with her own, then made a show of crossing her heart. "I swear, I'll only tell everyone I know back home. Honest."

[Jaunt]

"God damn, girl," Devin shot Tawni a once over.  "What happened to you girl?  You got all... hot.  Where's the braces?  The dirty blonde hair?  The training bra?  Damn."

Tawni gave him a wry grin and a middle finger.  She was in pink shorts, knee pads and a tight girls tee.  She had a few scrapes here and there and there was some dirt smeared on her face.  She took off her helmet and her long pig tails were allowed to fall over her shoulders in an unkempt mess.  "Braces were off, like, two years ago.  I learned to dye properly, and these," she pointed to her very perky breasts.  "Were my sweet sixteen present."

"And we haven't minded one bit," Bear interjected.  Tawni grinned at the lovable big guy.

"Boobs for your birthday," Devin laughed.  "Man I miss Cali."

"So, what about you?  Girlfriend, huh?"  She squeezed him for the intel of what was happening in his life.  He certainly wasn't the Devin that left years ago either.  He was certainly more handsome and there was just something, more about him than when he left.  Every micro expression she had told him he had a chance with her now.

"Well, it's complicated, to be honest.  Laurie has a very demanding... internship in Washington.  It takes a lot of her time, and we don't see each other much.  We're sorta, seeing where it goes."  He shrugged.  Sean knew things weren't very good between them, she was always busy and when he did have time to see her, it was only for a few moments at a time.  He was taking it pretty well, for the most part.  "It is what it is.  Won't know til we try, right?"

"Long distance relationships," Tawni sucked her teeth and gave her head a shake.  "They never work out, dude.  And... did she just say 'alas'?"

"Yeah.  She's weird, like Canadians."  He nodded again, letting the comment flow smooth as truth.

"Oh,"  Tawni nodded in complete understanding, like that explination made everything crystal clear.

"Embarrassing stories?" Bear asked.  He looked to Tawni and they both smirked.  "Oh, man, we got tons of them.  Let's see... surfing lessons... shark week... oh there was that time he asked out... uh, crap... uh-"

"Candice."  Devin said lazily.

"Yeah!  Candice!  Man, she roasted you."  Bear laughed at the memory.  Devin nodded and gave him the finger, which seemed a common segue for them.

"Laugh it up, big guy, I recall a few rejections on your side of the fence, and I remember them all..." Devin smirked.

Bear pumped his hands outward, telling Devin to relax.  "Okay, okay... no need to get savage, bro, damn."  He looked to Sean.  "Some of them have been pretty brutal.  I'm not what one would call a ladies man."

"Aww," Tawni frowned and grabbed the big guy and gave him a hug.  Kissing him on the cheek.  "Not true!  I think you're great.  We just have to find you a girl drunk enough to see the world the way I do."

"I'll buy the booze," Bear laughed.

While so close to one another Tawni and Bear and both grinned like they suddenly had an epiphany.  "Spin the bottle!"  They both cried in unison before nearly falling over each other in laughter.

"No," there was a tone in worry in Devin's voice.  "No, we agreed that never leaves the house.  Fuck you both, we do not talk about spin the bottle."

"Oh, god..." Bear completely ignored Devin.  "Who was it?  It was me, Tawns, Bry, Mari, DeeJay..."

"Jasmine." Tawni reminded him.  "Mari's friend who was sleeping over."

"Oh!  Right, yeah,"  Bear's smile got wide and Devin glared at him as the big took in a breath to tell the tale.  "Dude, you can't keep the neurosis buried, bro.  We're helping you heal.  Okay, so we're all chilling in Dev's basement one night, right?  Weekend sleep over, doing some XBox, some gaming, y'kow, the yuge.  Mari and Jasmine come down to bother us, and end ups staying for a game of spin the bottle.  So we play a few rounds and Devin's talkin' mad shit trying to impress this Jasmine girl, right?"

"No," Tawni corrected.  "He'd been talking mad trash for a couple weeks, Deej had a major chubby for her, and we'd sat through weeks of 'oh, if she was mine I'd be hittin' that daily'," her voice slipped into a mocking impression of Devin.  "I'd haave her walkin funny for days', 'she needs to open her eyes and see the real man in front of her'.... Ugh, it was a fuckin' nightmare listening to him go on about her.  This was during his anime, 'Japanese girls are teh hawtest' phase."

"She was Filipino..." Devin chimed up, like that would carry any saving grace to upcoming embarrassment.

"So, it ends up Deej's turn, right?"  Bear and Tawni were smiling like a pair of guilty Cheshire cats.  "So we hook him and Jasmine with 5 minutes in the closet.  About two minutes into it we her just scream bloody murder.  We all ran and threw open the door... Deej was so nervous he puked all over her, right as she went to kiss him.  It got in her mouth and everything... ugh it was so nasty and so funny all at once."

"Oh, fuck.  You. Both."  Devin was laughing while shaking his head.  "Seriously, Sean, it wasn't that bad... it was like a little bit..."

Both Bear and Tawni were shaking their heads slowly while looking at Sean.  Bear made a hurling gesture on Tawni while used her hands to vividly trace how much of her would have been covered.  When Devin looked at them they swiftly recomposed, like they were doing nothing behind his back.  e was being a good sport, considering se knew he could see them no matter where around him they stood.  "Keep it up, ass hats... whatever happened to her, anyway?  She refused to ever speak to me again."

"She's super slutty now," Bear chimed up.  "Like most likely to drop out and do porn, slutty."

"No joke.  We're pretty sure you scarred her for life..." Tawni smiled and put her arm around him and hugged him as apology for embarrassing him. 

It was a bit surprising that Devin's friends made him out to be no different than Sean when he was a guy.  Devin was an awkward, nerdy guy whose friends were just as awkward and nerdy.  He was bullied, had all kinds of embarrassing hang ups, and most of all, a sister that tormented him.  The more of his life Sean got to know, the more he saw the similarities in them.

"Cool," Devin smirked.  "Got her number?"