Aberrant: 200X - The Cleveland Fly-in and Bake Off

[z-Alexis Layton]

Alexis' smile was brittle. "But wanting to fly with a beautiful lady is still something you want from me. You want permission to fly and look at me." Alexis glanced away. "You can do whatever you want. But I am not interested in a relationship at this time, so if you think of something beyond looking, you'll need to find another beautiful lady." She waved at the gathered novas. "There is no shortage here."

[Praxis]

Praxis was mildly confused, though not completely. It was no surprise that one who had similar abilities to him would be wary of his actions and motivations. "Very well, though I may go out on a limb and try to talk as well."

Praxis spread his wings to their full span as he simply hovered there, just barely visible in the slow descent that always came with hovering. "Do not worry, Alexis. I do not know your experiences with others, but I like to consider myself a gentleman. Nothing more, nothing less"

[Jael Carver]

Originally Posted By: Kazuo

Kazuo grinned and stood himself, joining her. "Well, I'd love to Jael, but we've got a little problem - I'm not much good at that flying stuff." He sort of looks away as he says this like he's embarrassed, though he isn't, and then he looks back at Jael with a sly, I-dare-you-to-answer smile, and says, "So, what do you suggest we do about that?"

Jael laughed, a low, throaty chuckle that has a touch of real embarrassment. Kazuo can see an idea in her eyes, and if he had the common sense that he should have possessed, he would have been running at this point. But he didn't listen to his better judgement, and so he didn't run.

Jael had already seen Flicker in the air, and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. She stepped behind Kazuo, slipped her arms snuggly around his torso and said, "I hope you can survive a fall, because I've never tested my strength this way." Before Kazuo could answer, their feet left the ground. Jael was 100% sure that this was a bad idea, but she was still doing it. Grinning, inhaling the scent that was Kazuo with each breath, she rose to join the other novas.

Whereas Kazuo didn't listen to his common sense, Jael had impulse issues. The future explosion promised to be fabulous.

[Magnum Opus]

Knockout goggles at Ausrine, her eyes wide. Oh damn. Oh, damn. I know from hot - I own a mirror - but damn.

So enraptured is Danielle, that her grip on Flicker starts to slip a little, then a little more... but she recovers fast enough to keep herself from dropping Flicker, holding her tight. Don't drop her. Jesus, don't drop her. Bad bad bad.

"Downtown's great! Baseball's great! Who are the Browns again? Are they baseball? Hi. Ausrine, right? I'd shake your hand, but, you know."

[Flicker]

"Boop!" Nova yelped, almost slipping from Danielle's grasp. After a moment, she recovered. "Head for the tall buildings, then, and the baseball and football stadiums are on the other side."

[z-Alexis Layton]

"All men who want something insist they are gentlemen," Alexis said, drifting closer to the rest of the novas. "I can understand that a man might be willing to want nothing from a woman, but I have never seen it." She crossed her arms, adding to her unassailable aura. She seemed willing to continue in silence.

[Vixen]

Ahahaha. Oh boy. Here it comes again. Oh God, I'm so UGLY compared to everyone here. Roxanne gets that look on her face again, as Ausrine's true arrival sends pheromone levels spiking.

"Yeah... woo." Roxanne rubs the fur on her arms, her tails all but wagging in excitement. "I changed my mind, and I think I'm going to dorm. No, land first, THEN dorm. Bad to do it the other way 'round, haha. See you later, Nova, and call me before you leave 'cause I don't think I can fly all the way home. Oog."

Roxanne drifts back down, calming noticeably. She lands, and her eyes glow green, reconfiguring her dress so that her tails flow underneath the skirt rather than poke out the back. Thus satisfied, she dorms, relaxing. "Oog. I am never gonna get used to this nose."

[Dozer]

As Dozer finished off his bowl of Tiramisu and the flyers take to the air, the giant paused and looked through the contents of the cooler for the lid for his bowl, and he looked back up at the flyers. He got a twinkle in his eyes as he yelled up, "Anyone want to play Frisbee up there? I got something that'll work for a flying disc." He pulled back his arm and aimed at the cloud of flying novas, and waited for the launch command.

[Miranda Skye]

Miranda flaps back a bit, taking in the group. "Beautiful. Peach of a shot. Keep it up." She swings the camera to the ground to take in Dozer. "Oh, is he actually going to throw that? Oh my."

[Magnum Opus]

Danielle nods. "Sorry that I almost, you know, uh... sorry." She manages a smile as she tilts, heading towards the buildings. "I hope you're not cold. I heard you can survive in space so I guess that's a dumb question."

[Praxis]

Originally Posted By: Alexis Layton

"All men who want something insist they are gentlemen," Alexis said, drifting closer to the rest of the novas. "I can understand that a man might be willing to want nothing from a woman, but I have never seen it." She crossed her arms, adding to her unassailable aura. She seemed willing to continue in silence.

Praxis simply smiled and nodded to her, duplicating her position almost perfectly(being that he's both male and huge, he can't get it right completely, but outside of that and the relaxed, easy smile on his face, the similarities are uncanny)

((OOC: Perform 5, Artistic Genius -- ))

[Aušrinė]

Aušrine watches as Praxis and Alexis begin the slow ascent up to join her, and those floating around her. Praxis is gorgeous, and she's been trying to ignore that fact all day, because she's already decided that she will not - will not - fall for a man simply because of how good he looks. She's been on the recieving end of that situation far too many times to find it appealing, and she doesn't want to one of those casualties. She is privately relieved that he's chosen to direct his attentions elsewhere.

Originally Posted By: Knockout

"Downtown's great! Baseball's great! Who are the Browns again? Are they baseball? Hi. Ausrine, right? I'd shake your hand, but, you know."

Aušrine jerks her head up to see Danielle speaking to her, and immediately realizes that she's about to drop Flicker.

"Oh! Hi. Careful there! Oh my...", says Aušrine, trying to catch her breath after watching Flicker almost fall.

Originally Posted By: Flicker

"Boop!" Nova yelped, almost slipping from Danielle's grasp. After a moment, she recovered. "Head for the tall buildings, then, and the baseball and football stadiums are on the other side."

Aušrine smiles and says, "sure, that sounds like as good a plan as any."

Seeing Alexis and Praxis drifting closer, Aušrine tells them, "we're thinking of taking a short flight over the city, and then the stadiums after that. Does that sound good to you two?"

Originally Posted By: Vixen

"Yeah... woo." Roxanne rubs the fur on her arms, her tails all but wagging in excitement. "I changed my mind, and I think I'm going to dorm. No, land first, THEN dorm. Bad to do it the other way 'round, haha. See you later, Nova, and call me before you leave 'cause I don't think I can fly all the way home. Oog."

"Oh... well, ok then, I guess." Aušrine feels a little put off by this sudden development, just when things were getting interesting, but there's really nothing she can do about it. "Um, have fun."

At just about the same time, Jael and Kazuo suddenly came floating up to join them, Jael holding Kazuo in much the same way that Danielle was holding Flicker. Aušrine felt herself blushing a little at the sight; she always reacted this way when she happened to see Kazuo with a woman (though Jael was really just a girl! what is he thinking, anyway?), somehow it always felt like he was cheating on her or something, but since they weren't even together that made no sense.

Originally Posted By: Dozer

As Dozer finished off his bowl of Tiramisu and the flyers take to the air, the giant paused and looked through the contents of the cooler for the lid for his bowl, and he looked back up at the flyers. He got a twinkle in his eyes as he yelled up, "Anyone want to play Frisbee up there? I got something that'll work for a flying disc." He pulled back his arm and aimed at the cloud of flying novas, and waited for the launch command.

Aušrine looks away from Jael and Kazuo, glad for the distraction, and shouted back down to Dozer, "We were just about to go flying through the city! You want to come?"

Then, as an after thought, she looked back to those gathered and asked, "or, do we want to play frisbee?"

[Kazuo]

Originally Posted By: Jael Carver

Jael had already seen Flicker in the air, and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. She stepped behind Kazuo, slipped her arms snuggly around his torso and said, "I hope you can survive a fall, because I've never tested my strength this way." Before Kazuo could answer, their feet left the ground. Jael was 100% sure that this was a bad idea, but she was still doing it. Grinning, inhaling the scent that was Kazuo with each breath, she rose to join the other novas.

Kazuo Kanai has no idea what he smells like, but, he supposes, Jael probably has an idea, now that her face is more or less buried in the hollow between his shoulder and his neck. He should ask her about it later.

They're already in the air when he answers her (sarcastically), "well, I guess now's as good a time as any to find out."
Kazuo expected her to do something like this, but the expectation and the reality are two different things, and now he finds himself in an awkward position and with not a whole lot of control over what happens next. He grins. A little voice in the back of his head is telling him that this might not be such a hot idea, but Kazuo says fuck that, he's having a good time right now, and he'll worry about the future when it gets here.

As they rise up to the others floating above, Kazuo sees them watching and shrugs (or tries to anyway, with Jael's arms wedged under his own he can't really get his shoulders to emote properly), and then offers, by way of explanation, "we're testing her load-bearing capabilities."
He makes an obligatory, but utterly futile, attempt to look over his shoulder at Jael, and he asks, "how ya doin, Jael? I don't want you to throw out yer flyin' muscles on my account or nothin'."

[Jael Carver]

Jael is famous throughout her circle of family and friends for not thinking things through. Aušrine's reaction to seeing her with Kazuo was one of those things. While Jael couldn't see it - she can't see much in front of her except a well-muscled neck meeting well-muscled shoulders - she is a woman, and just because Kazuo's feelings are cut-and-dried doesn't mean that Aušrine's are. Jael had a sudden image in her head: the most beautiful woman in the world unable to be with the man she loved because he saw them as partners only. She didn't know if it was true, but it was ironic enough and appealed to Jael's childish romantic ideals, which was were based mostly on soap operas and teen dramas.

Originally Posted By: Kazuo

"We're testing her load-bearing capabilities." He makes an obligatory, but utterly futile, attempt to look over his shoulder at Jael, and he asks, "how ya doin, Jael? I don't want you to throw out yer flyin' muscles on my account or nothin'."

Jael shrugged, a movement he can feel though his back. "I've lifted things heavier than you." As if to prove it, she carefully shifted Kazuo in her arms - which he now knew were quite sturdy - until he was lower than before. She was able to look over his shoulder now, which was good in that she felt less like Kazuo's living elevator and more like an actual participant. It was bad in that this position felt more intimate, and she again wondered if this was a good idea.

"See?" she said, grinning at all the novas. "I didn't want to leave him on the ground. I didn't think I could bring up Dozer; someone should probably get him. But Kazuo is a light-weight and no problem." Casually, conversationally even, she added, "I got enough strength from my eruption to force my claws through a grown man's pelvis bone, his spine and into the base of his rib cage."

[Kazuo]

Originally Posted By: Jael Carver

"See?" she said, grinning at all the novas. "I didn't want to leave him on the ground. I didn't think I could bring up Dozer; someone should probably get him. But Kazuo is a light-weight and no problem."

Kazuo just smiles while Jael jokes at his expense. If all it takes to be carried through the sky by a nubile, young mega-babe is putting up with being called a "light-weight" then sign Kazuo up for the latest diet fad!

Originally Posted By: Jael Carver

Casually, conversationally even, she added, "I got enough strength from my eruption to force my claws through a grown man's pelvis bone, his spine and into the base of his rib cage."

Kazuo has just realized that, along with all of her other considerable talents, Jael is obviously a master of good timing as well. Because there's nothing like cramming down large quantities of sugar-loaded desserts, and then discussing evisceration while flying through the air. Good times.

"That's an attractive image," says Kazuo dryly. "And I'm suddenly much happier that your hands are nowhere near my pelvis than I was a minute ago."
He looks back over his shoulder and says, in a sarcastic, mock-quiet voice that the others floating nearby can probably still hear, "just between you an' me, Jael, that's not really the kind a talent you wanna brag about at a party."
"Jus' sayin'."
Then he says, in a more seriously-quiet voice, but in a tone still laden with sarcasm, "also, next time avoid hitting the pelvis or the spine. That way your claws'll continue on up inside the rib cage, and you can tear out the poor slob's heart or lungs. No matter how gruesomely impressive, you can't call it a proper Death Blow unless you can finish it up by pulling out the guy's heart before he hits the ground. Everybody knows that."

[Jael Carver]

Originally Posted By: Kazuo

Then he says, in a more seriously-quiet voice, but in a tone still laden with sarcasm, "also, next time avoid hitting the pelvis or the spine. That way your claws'll continue on up inside the rib cage, and you can tear out the poor slob's heart or lungs. No matter how gruesomely impressive, you can't call it a proper Death Blow unless you can finish it up by pulling out the guy's heart before he hits the ground. Everybody knows that."

Jael smirked a little. "Meh... first time jitters," Jael said as way of explaination, her warm breath trailing over his ear. "And I wasn't trying to eviscerate him necessarily - he was trying to rape me, so I was trying to emasculate him. It worked." She sounded a little smug about that, too.

One of Sakolove's triggers tripped, and Jael's mind realized that she had made a minor mistake. "Sorry," she added a little sheepishly. "I forgot myself for a moment there. So," she said, clearly changing the topic, "do we have someone get Dozer and fly around, or are we going to play frisbee? Whatever we do, it should include him."

The comment about pelvises - specifically, Kazou's pelvis - sent Jael's mind spinning down pathes that she was better off ignoring, at least around men other than Jimmy. It didn't help that she was now very familiar with the form of Kazuo. She had a sudden urge to rub her hands up and down him, just to see what happened; what the others would say, what Aušrine would do and what Kazuo's reaction would be. And while Jael had impulse problems, she wasn't that crazy. She contented herself with the light brush of his body as he moved against her.

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

He was one of the last to take flight, and his was by far the most simple manifestation of the ability, he simply rose into the air and flew up to meet the others, catching up with the group.

"Sorry I'm late, but I felt it best to at least put our stuff together neatly, lest anyone come to try to take any of it. "A little note stating who the owners were." He smiles and flies along with them.

His eyes beheld Ausrinne and he did not contain his awe. "Simply beautiful. That is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." Despite his feelings for Noriko, he knew that she didn't hold a candle to the image of female physical beauty before him. Still he managed to close his mouth and regain his composure.

He casually flew near to Ausirne and smiled. "I hope you do not think me too forward, but you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met." There it was an open admission, delivered in a truly honest tone. There was no hint of question or indication of desire, just the complimentary statement of a fact.

He looks down at Dozer and feels a moment of pity for the earthbound nova. "I feel bad about him not being able to fly. I can make him fasster, but I can't grant him flight."

[Kazuo]

Originally Posted By: Jael Carver

Jael smirked a little. "Meh... first time jitters," Jael said as way of explaination, her warm breath trailing over his ear. "And I wasn't trying to eviscerate him necessarily - he was trying to rape me, so I was trying to emasculate him. It worked." She sounded a little smug about that, too.

"Oh," says Kazuo, sounding more impressed than shocked, "nevermind then. Good for you!" Kazuo finds that, once again, he needs to reassess his opinion of his newest blonde, blue-eyed, and beautiful acquaintance. That short little statement, and her tone while she said it, just told him a whole lot about Jael, but it would take him a while to sort through it all.
Kazuo is, on the whole, glad that he came today, because so far he's liked everyone he's talked to (which, admittedly, is a whopping two people, both young girls), and he's definitely liking Jael, but he's beginning to wonder about the increasinly large body of evidence that she's got some serious abnormalities in her personality. Kazuo isn't scared of what he's been seeing - or even concerned, necassarily - he's no stranger to violence (as his face can attest), so rather than being afraid of that tone in her voice, he's more excited by it than anything else. He is sort of curious as to what the source of all this suppressed violence is though, because what she just said makes it sound like it was there before this attempted rape she's just mentioned. Interesting.

Originally Posted By: Jael Carver

One of Sakolove's triggers tripped, and Jael's mind realized that she had made a minor mistake. "Sorry," she added a little sheepishly. "I forgot myself for a moment there. So," she said, clearly changing the topic, "do we have someone get Dozer and fly around, or are we going to play frisbee? Whatever we do, it should include him."

Kazuo gets an incredulous look on his face at this (his good eye does anyway, the dead one just sort of squints as though annoyed that it's being asked to participate in what it considers an unnecessary show of emotion), and asks, "Why?"

[Jael Carver]

Originally Posted By: Kazuo

"Oh," says Kazuo, sounding more impressed than shocked, "nevermind then. Good for you!"

Charles would like you, Jael thought as she considered her flying companion. He'd like to take you and teach you how to be a good crimefighter. For the first time, Jael realized that she felt a kinship with someone. She felt like she'd found someone who was just as much of a monster as she was. The thought was thrilling. It should have also been frightening, but it wasn't - it was just thrilling.

It made her wish Jimmy didn't exist. She snuck a glance at Daniel flying with Ryusei and at the silent Praxis flying court to the black-haired girl. They pulled her too, but there was something about Kazuo...

Originally Posted By: Kazuo

Kazuo gets an incredulous look on his face at this and asks, "Why?"

"Because it's nice," Jael's conditioning replied. "He shouldn't be left behind, just because he can't fly. That's why I picked you up. Because you couldn't fly, and shouldn't be left behind just because of that." She sounded sincere. She also didn't sound very much like the young woman who had been pleased to announce that she emasculated someone for trying to rape her. "It's the right thing to do."

[Aušrinė]

Originally Posted By: Jael Carver

"See?" she said, grinning at all the novas. "I didn't want to leave him on the ground. I didn't think I could bring up Dozer; someone should probably get him. But Kazuo is a light-weight and no problem." Casually, conversationally even, she added, "I got enough strength from my eruption to force my claws through a grown man's pelvis bone, his spine and into the base of his rib cage."

Aušrine smiles at the first part of this statement, but the smile froze and then slowly slid off her face at the last part. How gruesome she thinks. No wonder Kazuo's interested in her, she's just his type. Oh, now that wasn't a very nice thing for me to think! I'm sorry, Jael, maybe you're just trying to impress Kazuo?
And, sure enough, Kazuo shows obvious signs of being impressed. Aušrine just doesn't understand that kind of cavalier attitude towards wanton violence. Although she does have to admit that she's being a little bit hypochritical, because she does understand what it's like to hate someone enough to want them dead at any cost, though she hides it well. This line of thinking was not one that Aušrine enjoys however, so she decides to leave it for something else.

Originally Posted By: Ryusei Hideyoshi

He casually flew near to Ausirne and smiled. "I hope you do not think me too forward, but you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met." There it was an open admission, delivered in a truly honest tone. There was no hint of question or indication of desire, just the complimentary statement of a fact.

This isn't exactly the "something else" that she was hoping for, but Aušrine figures it'll have to do.
She blushes just a bit, and says, "Thank you, Hideyoshi-san! That's very sweet of you."

Since false modesty wouldn't work at all in this situation (trying to pretend that she doesn't know exactly how attractive she is never works, and usually offends), Aušrine is momentarily at a loss for what else to say. But then she remembers her social skills and says, "You are quite the handsome young man yourself. Do you have a girlfriend?"

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

He nods his head. "Forgive me, It was not my intent to embarrass you with my little outburst. It just struck me as something that I should say. I would think you hear that quite often, but still that does not make it any less true."

"As for your question, yes I do, her name is Noriko. We've been friends since grade school and dating since just prior to my erruption. Even back when I was just a simple computer geek she saw fit to grace my life with her presence and vitality, Even though I confess I've never really understood why."

He smiles. "What of you? A woman of your status and Helenic visage can have any man she desires. Is there someone you hold close in you heart?"

He bows his head. "Again my apologies, for such a direct question. Do not feel you are obligated to answer if you do not wish to."

[Kazuo]

Originally Posted By: Jael Carver

"Because it's nice," Jael's conditioning replied. "He shouldn't be left behind, just because he can't fly. That's why I picked you up. Because you couldn't fly, and shouldn't be left behind just because of that." She sounded sincere. She also didn't sound very much like the young woman who had been pleased to announce that she emasculated someone for trying to rape her. "It's the right thing to do."

"Uh-huh", says Kazuo, "riiiggghhhhttt. You keep talking like that, an' I'm gonna start comparin' you to small, furry animals again." Not that Jael can see it, though she can probably hear it in his voice, but Kazuo grins mischievously while he's saying this, and it's obvious he's joking.

"Anyway," Kazuo says, looking down at the metal-skinned giant, "Aušrine already offered to go get 'im, an if he doesn't wanna come that's his business." He pauses for a second, and then mutters, "'right thing to do', my ass."
His voice raises again, and Kazuo goes back to addressing Jael, "An' we both know you didn't pick me up 'because it's nice'. You got ulterior motives girl, and don't try an' deny it! Besides, I said I wasn't much good at flying. I didn't say I couldn't. What I couldn't do was pass up the chance to be held tightly by a total babe while floating through the air. Sue me."

[Jael Carver]

Originally Posted By: Kazuo

His voice raises again, and Kazuo goes back to addressing Jael, "An' we both know you didn't pick me up 'because it's nice'. You got ulterior motives girl, and don't try an' deny it! Besides, I said I wasn't much good at flying. I didn't say I couldn't. What I couldn't do was pass up the chance to be held tightly by a total babe while floating through the air. Sue me."

Jael's arms tightened around him, on the brink of painful. Her expression, while lost on Kazuo, was an impressive mixture of michevious and irritated. There may have been a bit of evil glee mixing in there as well. "Sue you? No, I'm not the litigious type," she hissed into his ear. "I'm the vengeful type."

Dropping him would have been too simple. Instead, she spun around and threw him away from her, tossing him toward Lake Erie. He was capable of surviving the fall, or else he wouldn't have been so mouthy to her. Without watching his landing, she turned to Aušrine and said, "It was very nice of you to agree to get Dozer. I'd get him if I could. But he's too heavy for me."

She gave Ryusei a glance and nodded to him. "Hey, how are you doing? Ryusei, from Japan, right?"

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

Ryusei smiles to Jael and nods. "Yes, I am. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am doing very well, how about yourself?"

He regards the nova Jael had just tossed. "I take it he said something to offend you?"

[Aušrinė]

Originally Posted By: Ryusei Hideyoshi

He nods his head. "Forgive me, It was not my intent to embarrass you with my little outburst. It just struck me as something that I should say. I would think you hear that quite often, but still that does not make it any less true."

Aušrine has more or less gotten her bearing back by this point. She's been "powered up" long enough for her to get back into the swing of things and to stop looking at the world through her old, baseline eyes.
So her demeanor is much more confident, and her smile very assured, as she says, "There is nothing to forgive, Hideyoshi-san. A man should not have to apologize for being honest. And again, thank you."

Originally Posted By: Ryusei Hideyoshi

"As for your question, yes I do, her name is Noriko. We've been friends since grade school and dating since just prior to my erruption. Even back when I was just a simple computer geek she saw fit to grace my life with her presence and vitality, Even though I confess I've never really understood why."

Aušrine smiles again and says, "perhaps that is because you aren't supposed to understand why. A good woman is always at least a little bit mysterious, Hideyoshi-san," Aušrine makes a pinching gesture with her index finger and thumb to emphasize her point while she speaks, "a woman without her secrets is like a fable with no moral. There isn't much point." Aušrine's accent becomes more pronounced as she is talking, her 'l's becoming throatier and her 'r's curling adorably, and, for those attuned to such things, it is clear that she is reaching back into some font of Lithuanian (or at least, the family Vasiliauske's) folk wisdom gained during her childhood.

Originally Posted By: Ryusei Hideyoshi

He smiles. "What of you? A woman of your status and Helenic visage can have any man she desires. Is there someone you hold close in you heart?"

He bows his head. "Again my apologies, for such a direct question. Do not feel you are obligated to answer if you do not wish to."

Aušrine looks away with a demure look on her face. How is she supposed to answer this question without going into a somewhat lengthy, and very whiny-sounding discourse on how hard it is to find someone special when you can never be sure if they're responding to you so favorably because of you or because of how you look? Aušrine has several close friends, many acquaintances, and almost as many would-be suitors, but it has been a long time since she had someone she could "hold close in her heart".
So, instead of answering, she looks back up at Ryusei and says, "I think, Hideyoshi-san, the answer to that question is going to have to remain one of my secrets for now. Though I thank you for your interest."

Originally Posted By: Jael Carver

Dropping him would have been too simple. Instead, she spun around and threw him away from her, tossing him toward Lake Erie. He was capable of surviving the fall, or else he wouldn't have been so mouthy to her. Without watching his landing, she turned to Aušrine and said, "It was very nice of you to agree to get Dozer. I'd get him if I could. But he's too heavy for me."

Aušrine knows Kazuo well enough to know that she doesn't need to worry about his landing either, and so, like Jael, she doesn't bother to look. Instead she begins to float calmly in the younger nova's direction and responds to her remark about Dozer, "Thank you, Jael, but it's not a problem. I'd hate to see him left behind when we're all having so much fun up here."
She stops perhaps four feet away from Jael and then says, very quietly, "Why did you do that?" Her eyes flick once downwards, in Kazuo's direction, and then back up to Jael's, where they stay.

Outwardly, Aušrine looks totally calm and unperturbed, so why is the air almost visibly crackling with tension?

[Kazuo]

Originally Posted By: Jael Carver

Jael's arms tightened around him, on the brink of painful. Her expression, while lost on Kazuo, was an impressive mixture of michevious and irritated. There may have been a bit of evil glee mixing in there as well. "Sue you? No, I'm not the litigious type," she hissed into his ear. "I'm the vengeful type."

Dropping him would have been too simple. Instead, she spun around and threw him away from her, tossing him toward Lake Erie. He was capable of surviving the fall, or else he wouldn't have been so mouthy to her.

Talk about your typical female over-reaction. Jeez.

Actually, Kazuo figured he had about a fifty-fifty chance of winding up in this position – falling ignominiously through the air after being discarded like someone’s unwanted baggage – but still. Kazuo is a pretty insensitive guy though, even by the low standards of other men (never mind the much higher standards of the fairer sex). So, from his perspective, all he’s done is give her a really nice compliment – and what does she do? Instead of using it as an excuse to get a little more physical with him, like he intended (and like she so obviously wanted to), she goes and throws him into the lake.
Or she tries to, anyway. She is obviously overestimating her physical strength (typical, typical female), because Kazuo sails maybe eight or nine feet away from her before his angle of descent is composed of a whole lot of vertical and not much horizontal at all. Oh, well.

Originally Posted By: Jael Carver

Without watching his landing, she turned to Aušrine and said, "It was very nice of you to agree to get Dozer. I'd get him if I could. But he's too heavy for me."

She gave Ryusei a glance and nodded to him. "Hey, how are you doing? Ryusei, from Japan, right?"

Originally Posted By: Ryusei Hideyoshi

Ryusei smiles to Jael and nods. "Yes, I am. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am doing very well, how about yourself?"

He regards the nova Jael had just tossed. "I take it he said something to offend you?"

Originally Posted By: Aušrine

Aušrine knows Kazuo well enough to know that she doesn't need to worry about his landing either, and so, like Jael, she doesn't bother to look. Instead she begins to float calmly in the younger nova's direction and responds to her remark about Dozer, "Thank you, Jael, but it's not a problem. I'd hate to see him left behind when we're all having so much fun up here."
She stops perhaps four feet away from Jael and then says, very quietly, "Why did you do that?" Her eyes flick once downwards, in Kazuo's direction, and then back up to Jael's, where they stay.

Jael never gets a chance to answer however, because all of a sudden a blurred shape that vaguely resembled Kazuo comes zipping through the space between her and Aušrine from the air above, which is probably quite shocking and definitely distracting, and for a number of different reasons. About four meters below the two women, the blurred shape seems to suddenly jump from one in point in space (directly between Jael and Aušrine) to another (just behind Jael), and just as instantaneously it has changed direction and is suddenly traveling rapidly upward.

Travelling at a rather impressive speed, for someone who’s supposed to be so bad at flying, Kazuo scoops Jael up as he passes behind her, and now he’s holding her in much the same way that she was holding him up until just a moment ago.

“I can’t believe you just dropped me like that!”, laughs Kazuo, speaking directly into her ear, and loudly, so as to be heard over the whistling of the wind as they sail directly up like conjoined rockets. Rather than sounding angry, Kazuo sounds almost jovial, and if Jael could see his face, she’d see a big grin on it. “I like you, girl! I take all that shit about rabbits back, because if you got the balls to toss me like that, then I was obviously wrong!”
By this point they are a good hundred meters above the others, and their ascent has begun to slow enough that Kazuo doesn’t have to speak so loudly. He says, “but yunno, I can’t just let something like that go. I mean, I’ve killed people for not much more.” He pauses very briefly, and then spins her part way around in his arms (it’s obvious that her weight means next to nothing to him) and kisses her so quickly and suddenly that he’s already pulled back and is looking her in the eyes again before she knows what’s happened (he really is fast). For such a quick kiss, Kazuo manages to put a surprisingly large amount of passion into it.
“So, we’ll consider that your recompense. If you disagree with the price, and want a return”, says Kazuo with a smile, his voice laden with humor and innuendo, “I’m afraid you’ll have to catch me first.”
And with that, Kazuo gathers his strength and hurls Jael (surprisingly gently given how much force he’s obviously putting into it) upwards, giving her enough extra speed and momentum to send her at least another hundred meters straight up. Kazuo doesn’t do this as an insult, or to get away from Jael, but rather so that she’ll have plenty of time to collect herself and start consciously flying again without any risk of hitting the ground beforehand. But immediately after he throws her, Kazuo begins a downwards dive, tucking in his arms to gain speed. He plummets almost straight down, opening his arms to reveal eufiber-grown patagia and pulling up at the last moment, leveling out into a gently upwards-curving arc and moving at high speed in the general direction of the city.

[Praxis]

Praxis's head started to ache as the tensions ran high behind him. As much as he hated looking away from Alexis, some part of him knew that he would be looking towards Ausrine and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Praxis's wings shifted as the nova himself repositioned himself. 25 feet of fanning light changing orientation like a flag in the wind, allowing Praxis to get a look at what was happening before returning to slow movements. As Ausrine and Jael closed in on each other, he noticed the flying Kazuo and understood almost immediately what had happened. He glanced back at Alexis and smiled to her.

"Well, I'm sorry you have had such poor experience with men, perhaps some day I can help give you a better one. In the meantime, I think I'm going to have to go play referee for these two. Excuse me"

Praxis's wings beat downwards once as the angelic nova made a lazy arc towards the other two, where the air crackled with tension and the emotional highs were coming from for the most part.

[[activating The Voice]]

Giving an award-winning smile to both parties involved, "Ladies, ladies, I'm sure that whatever happened has a perfectly reasonable explanation and that there's no reason to get so worked up, don't you think?"

His read on Jael was pretty standard. As standard as he could expect from a lunatic. She pretty much wore it on her face anyway. Combination of sadistic glee and irritation. Ausrine was a different story entirely. She looked calm and collected, but his simple ability to understand people gave that one away. Finally, since he was over here, he flicked an ever-so-tiny twinge of.... hmm, what's a good one... jealousy in Alexis' direction. Always good to stir up the pot.

Sure, he could open up the floodgates of emotion on anyone here, but what was the fun in that? It was the ability to wield one's art like a scalpel that made a master.

Edit: For consistency sake, let's say the above takes place directly before Kazuo does his little show.

((Insert Kazuo Post Here))

Praxis is actually almost stunned at this. Partially because of the surprise at what just happened, and at the same time, a bit disturbed at why he couldn't sense Kazuo coming back. Ah well, at the very least the elite's actions had left him relatively alone with Ausrine. Such a loss. Really. Ok, not really.

Praxis looked at Ausrine, a look of humor, admiration, and mild confusion on his face. "Well that's one way to resolve an issue." He rotated in the air, so that he could converse with them without his wings blocking the view of Alexis, Ryusei, or Ausrine from seeing each other. "I don't think we have met. I am Praxis"

((going through First Impression points like a madman, almost got everyone ))

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

Ryusei nodded in affirmation to Ausrine's reply. "True enough, even my little sister is like that. Though having seen some of her expiriments, and their aftermath, I can heartily say I don't wish to know all of a woman's secrets. Though I will say that having Noriko has been a great joy in my life. She understands me, even as I am now. Sometimes I would say she knows me better than I do."

Before he gets a reply from Jael, Kazuo interdicts her and shoots off above them, and then goes on to toss her further into the air. "I do believe the aerial nova games have begun."

[Mr Fox]

Daniel's own emotions were a rollercoster. He'd been forgetting about the issue with Jael and been having a good time as everyone started to fly. He was still sensing the emotions of those around him which was new. It was starting to become more focused now that he was paying attention to it. That was when Jael came sailing up with yet another guy in her arms. Jeez, what the hell am I, a leper? She was obviously not concerned about her boyfriend so it wasn't guilt that was making her keep her distance from him. The curious thing wass she seemed to be feeling the same way about Praxis who she was totally focused on when they arrived. That just confirmed his decision that she had issues. Then came the statement about emasculating the guy and he swallowed and decided he was glad she hadn't done that to him when they'd been messing around.

He thought for a minute about picking up Dozer, but then rejected it. He just couldn't bring himself to get that close to another guy. Someone would surely take pictures and he'd end up looking like he was part of the Gay Nova Alliance or something and that was right after his eruption... he'd never shake that kind of first impression in the media.

After that everything happened so fast. Jael tried to throw that elite guy, and he'd somehow turned the tables on her sending her sailing up into the air, and Praxis had tried to play peacemaker, and Ausrine had been getting very tense toward Jael. Serves her right, but still...

Screw it. He looked around the gathering and considered all the complex jumble of feelings he was sensing and it was hard to push away. Under it all was a barely repressed sexual tension and being a teen nova boy with raging hormones surrounded by all these mega-hawt women was not helping. He was just considering a quick dip in the lake, but he didn't think it would do any good. Instead he focused on Alexis, she was waaay hot too, but she seemed to be the least effected by the tension that was underlying everyone else.

He drifted over to a conversational distance and made sure to look her in the eyes. "Hi, I'm Daniel. Sorry I didn't introduce myself while we were on the ground, but I just got here before everyone took off. I hope you don't mind if I float over here with you. This is the first time I've been around any other novas besides Jael or the Utopia docs and it's a bit overwhelming. You seem to be handling it well, you must be used to this kind of thing."

[Jael Carver]

Originally Posted By: Aušrine

Aušrine stops perhaps four feet away from Jael and then says, very quietly, "Why did you do that?" Her eyes flick once downwards, in Kazuo's direction, and then back up to Jael's, where they stay.

Jael opened her mouth to tell Aušrine the truth of the matter. What she was going to say was lost when Praxis showed up, and she nearly swallowed her own tongue. Then her chance to speak was lost.

Originally Posted By: Kazuo

A blurred shape that vaguely resembled Kazuo comes zipping through the space between her and Aušrine from the air above, which is probably quite shocking and definitely distracting, and for a number of different reasons. About four meters below the two women, the blurred shape seems to suddenly jump from one in point in space (directly between Jael and Aušrine) to another (just behind Jael), and just as instantaneously it has changed direction and is suddenly traveling rapidly upward. Travelling at a rather impressive speed, Kazuo scoops Jael up as he passes behind her, and now he’s holding her in much the same way that she was holding him up until just a moment ago.

Jael snarled, sure she was under attack for a few moments. Aušrine and Ryosei are granted the briefest glimspe of her claws before she realized that it was Kazuo, and he was just playing. Still snarling, but with an entirely different intent, Jael put away her claws and enjoyed the ride.

Kazuo shouted into her ear, and Jael had a grin of her own on her face - this was fun! Then Kazuo changed everything, when he spun her around and kissed her. Jael had been kissed before - Daniel being so far the best one - but Kazuo was there-and-gone so fast she barely caught it. It was deeply frustrating, especially with the smokey-cigarette taste of him on her lips, but almost no sensation of note.

He tossed her away before she could respond, the act of fleeing igniting her desire to chase after him. But Jael resisted; she wasn't going to run after him at all. He could chase her, if he wanted her. Instead, she drifted upward, slowing by the second; at the apex of her "fall" she was almost floating. Then gravity reclaimed her, and Jael arched her back into the fall, spreading her arms to guide her tumble. The wind snatched at her, snapping her clothing and her hair around her. Yet she did nothing to break her fall, listening to the freeing scream of the wind.

She passed the watching novas without braking, seemingly in free-fall, lulled by the comforting roar of wind.

[Mr Fox]

As Jael passed them by on the way down Daniel felt the brief urge to dive after her and attempt a rescue. The thought was there but he restrained himself for just the briefest of seconds unsure what to do and by then it was too late to do anything. If he were a warper like that guy that just turned the tables on Jael then maybe, but he wasn't. There were three warring urges inside him. The one that originate between his legs, the brain that men think with far too often for their own good. The one from his gut that drove him to compete and not lose to anyone, not Praxis, not this other guy, no one. Then there was his head, it was saying maybe he should just let this one go. He was sure he felt her emotions earlier, and even in the last few seconds before this latest incident. She was worse off than he was, and he knew he was being a sad sack dumbfuck over another pretty girl.

Still, those first two urges were strong... Far too late he finally realized that not interfering had been the right thing to do. He'd given advice to a lot of girls that were his friends at school and they never listened. They asked for advice, they asked for help, but never yet had he met one that actually wanted that help. And he wouldn't be fool enough to try and stick his nose in where it wasn't wanted. With those claws of her's he'd lose it and he didn't have any doubt about that. He watched her fall hoping she would pull out of it in more ways than one.

[Kazuo]

Originally Posted By: Jael Carver

She passed the watching novas without braking, seemingly in free-fall, lulled by the comforting roar of wind.

Kazuo should have seen this coming. He really should have seen this coming. But then Kazuo isn't half as good with the ladies as he likes to think he is, so maybe it's not surprising that he didn't see this coming. Whatever the case, he is both surprised and miffed to see Jael not only not following after him like she's supposed to be, but pulling an extremely obvious here-I-am-if-you-want-me-come-and-rescue-me stunt. Grrr....

Much like a small infant, Kazuo doesn't like it when things don't go his way.

Pushing his inhuman reflexes and dexterity to the max, Kazuo pulls his extremely unaerodynamic form around in a tight U-turn and goes hurtling back the way he came. He realizes almost too late that he's moving too slowly to intercept Jael before she decides to either give up her ruse or hit the ground at much too high a speed. So he closes the gap with another short spatial hop, hurtles through the last several meters of intervening space, catches Jael (again...women), and opens another of his warps.
What happens at this point is probably very disorienting for Jael, because she goes from falling straight down to flying upwards at about a 45 degree angle - and the scenery has changed in subtle, but significant ways (like, for instance, the sudden presence of a large building in front of them).
"We just met, and already you are a pain in my ass, girl," mutters Kazuo as they begin slowing. Their momentum carries them in a slow arc that reaches its apex only slightly higher than the top of the building in front of them (which, Jael realizes, is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) and the short downward arc takes them just past its edge.
Kazuo lands with an effortless grace that he has, up until this point, not given even the slightest indication of possessing (Kazuo usually moves with a Yakuza swagger, and he isn't gonna change that just cuz he's one of the most physically coordinated people on the planet), and looks at Jael with a look that is just about three parts irritation and one part amusement (ok, so maybe it looks like he's trying to hold back a smile, but you're not gonna get him to admit that). He puts her down, but doesn't let go of her, and says, "Well, I came back for ya. I hope yer pleased with yourself."
And then he just looks at her, waiting to see whether he can let that smile show or not.

[z-Alexis Layton]

Originally Posted By: Daniel Fox

He drifted over to a conversational distance and made sure to look her in the eyes. "Hi, I'm Daniel. Sorry I didn't introduce myself while we were on the ground, but I just got here before everyone took off. I hope you don't mind if I float over here with you. This is the first time I've been around any other novas besides Jael or the Utopia docs and it's a bit overwhelming. You seem to be handling it well, you must be used to this kind of thing."

History had a terrible way of repeating itself, and Alexis was seeing the living proof of that in the pained look in the eyes of the young man before her. It stirred her heart, and Alexis felt some of her icy reserve melt. "I'm not handling it that well," she said, smiling a touch. She took complete pity on the lad and said, "The trick is mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."

She watched him watch the blonde girl, one who clearly had issues, fall, seeing the breaking of an old pattern when he didn't rush after her. "It will get better," she said, wondering when she had turned into such a bleeding heart. "If you're lucky, you'll heal enough to try again."

[Jael Carver]

Jael wasn't sure if she was going to brake. Part of her, the part that knew what Charles did to her, ached to be free. Another part of her wanted to live, so that she could kill him. And the part of her that was completely his wanted to return to him safely, as he had commanded. Conflicted, she fell, trying to decide what to do.

The choice was taken from her in a flurry of movement and shimmering fields, as Kazuo caught her and dragged her through a warp. Together they looped and flew through the air, coming to a rest on the roof of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kazuo puts her down, but didn't let go of her, saying, "Well, I came back for ya. I hope yer pleased with yourself."

Pleased? When she didn't know whether she was happy he had grabbed her? So she settled on her emotional standby: unstable. Jael laughed, grabbing at his shoulders. "Did you really think I was going to hit the ground?" she giggled, her blue eyes sparkling. Clearly, she didn't expect him to answer, because she continued, "I'm not suicidal. Haven't you ever sky-dived or just let yourself free-fall? It's... exhillarating!

"But big, tough-guy-you," Jael continued, "had to come to my rescue." She kissed him on the cheek, standing on her tiptoes to manage. "Thank you, even if I didn't need it. By the way, I don't think your partner likes me very much." She glanced down at the arms clasping her loosely. "Soooo... are you going to let me go, or would you prefer to have a federal statutory rape charge on your hands?"

[Mr Fox]

Daniel blinked and looked away. Damn, do all these novas have the ability to sense peoples emotions, or am I just so pathetic that it's that obvious. I'm gonna bet... that obvious.

When he thought he was as composed as he could be he turned to face Alexis, "It's not really Jael, she just opened an old wound she didn't have any part in creating. It's not her fault." He hesitated a minute before adding quietly, "and I don't think she can help what she does, even if it occurred to her that I might be hurt."

Speaking louder and with a bit of forced cheer, "You are right though, it's already better than it used to be. No brooding, no angst. I'm done with being like that." He gave Alexis a wiry smile, "Just have to remind myself sometimes is all. You must be much better at this than me, you look like you are handling it very well at least." Now that he was close he could sense a complex mix of emotions from her, but despite her words and sadness and some fear, she seemed more muted than a lot of the bright spikey emotions and lust that he was sensing from most of the others in the gathering. Only Ryu seemed to be handling the gathering better from what he could tell, of course things changed from moment to moment.

"I won't pry, but if you want to talk, I can be a pretty good listener."

[z-Alexis Layton]

Alexis was suddenly unsure. She rarely confided in anyone other than her brother, and the offer was coming from a man who, while young, seemed sincere. Still, she remained surprisingly anxiety free.

But there was that nagging bit of jealousy as she watched Praxis talk to Ausrine. With effort, she wished them well, if it was meant to be, and turned so that she wasn't watching him anymore. Alexis felt as though her emotions where yanking her around, without consideration for her feelings. All in all, it was a bizarre sensation.

"I can't talk here," she finally admitted. "Even with privacy, I'm not sure I could talk to you, and that is not a judgment on you. I'm a very private person, and I don't like to share myself with others." Seeing his pain, she tried again. "I don't trust men anymore. One hurt me very badly." He could find that out if he did a search on her on the OpNet - the entire mess with Akil was probably archived somewhere on the gossip rags. "As it was my first... relationship, I've never really recovered." Her smile was humorless. "My former therapist told me I was hanging onto the pain."

She stopped, realizing that she'd said a lot. He's not threatening to me, at all, Alexis realized, relaxing a touch more. Praxis, though no fault of his own, was. It was one of life's hateful ironies.

[Mr Fox]

Even without this ability to sense emotions he knew that Alexis had just opened up to him more than she'd intended. He felt honored that she would so readily open up to him. "I think we have something in common then. I didn't go to a therapist, I just erupted because of the girl that hurt me. What has helped me more than anything though has been meeting Jael and coming to this gathering. Being able to see that there are others out there makes a big difference." He blushed slightly realizing how that must sound then tried to dig him self out, "What I meant was that my whole life had revolved around that one relationship and it's ups and downs. Meeting Jael and being here has shown me that there is more to life than just that one pathetic relationship. Bah, that still isn't coming out the way I'm meaning it." He sighed then added, "anyway, I think we have something in common there even if only in the most superficial way. I don't know what happened in your relationship and I won't try and compare it to mine. Mine was so pathetic I'm ashamed of the way I was, and I don't ever intend to be like that again." He glances again toward where Jael went and then back to Alexis and smiled. "Done."

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

Ryusei supresses a chuckle at the ongoing escapades of Kazu and Jael. "Honestly..."

He runs his fingers through his long black hair and sighs. "Sometimes I think becoming a nova sends everyone backt to a childhood mentality. Only rarely do people seem to be more than a child who was just given a new toy."

IT wasn't said to anyone in particular, or in a tone that was codescending, moreso one with immense resignation. He looks to Ausrine and shrugs. "Though to be fair alot of us are that way."

He gives her a warm smile and vanishes in a blue-white flash, only to come shooting by at terminal velocity only moments later. As he nears the ground, he pulls out of the dive and rockets out across the water, kicking up roostertail of water as he alternates his hands dipping into the water as his spins like a corkscrew. Only his inhuman reflexes and physical condition let him pull the maneuver off. He returns up nearby and casually shakes his hands to rid them of water. "Sometimes it's good to play with your toys."

His bright blue eyes seem to almost sparkle as he talks. "That felt good. Flicker definitely had the right idea when she pioneered the whole "teleport-diving" idea.

[z-Alexis Layton]

Alexis smiled in return. One good deed done today. "Well done," Alexis added with a nod. There was a moment of silence, then Alexis smoothly covered the pause. "You are in high school currently, correct? And you're not a senior, if I recall correctly. So young, to be a nova. What are your plans from here?"

Idle small talk would hide so much, and turn her mind from her increasingly loose tongue. But she found that she liked the teenager, even if he had displayed some poor judgment. Of course, she has no room to talk about poor judgment; she had made her mistakes long before Daniel had made his.

[Praxis]

As Jael and Kazuo went off like crazy people, Praxis looked over at Ausrine, her concern for her partner evident on her face, through her silent mask. Ok then, looks like things have been resolved here. Praxis turned to see how Alexis was doing over there, if she was still drifting around doing the silent thing. Finding her back, she was over having a nice little conversation with Daniel, who, if the opnet was to be believed, thought himself to be a singer of some kind. This should be interesting. And, as lovely as Ausrine was, her conversation skills left quite a bit lacking.

A quick flick of the wings and he was drifting on back over towards Alexis and Daniel. He had done a fantastic job at killing conversation with his mere presence thus far, time to see if he could affect two people at once.