Aberrant: 200X - Party in Central Park...

[Caitlin Kieran]

"Excuse me," the red-head smiled tightly, rising from her seat. Any other time, a party would've offered her a great opportunity to meet people, relax, and score some free food. This little gathering, though, had quickly become more than she could handle. At least the calm, quiet Tobias had given her an excuse, and she tried hard not to consider it 'fleeing' as she glanced at Tomas, then quickly offered a polite parting nod to the others at the table.

"Afternoon. Sorry ta leave so quickly, Anne. Lovely to meet you all."

Exhaling quietly as she turned, she slowly paced away from the assembled novas, only breaking into a jog again when she'd cleared the treeline.

Of all the stupid... Gah! How am I supposed to deal with that?! One at a time? Tch. Right.

Grumbling to herself, she followed the shady trails she loved at a brisk pace, and silently vowed never to be caught so off-guard again.

[Caitlin has left the party.]

[Magnum Opus]

"Oh, uh - I'm training to become a cop. Well, a civic defender, but really it's a cop." Danielle fidgets with the cutlery a bit. "Before that, well, I tried nova shootfighting like on the XWF but it didn't work out too well."

Understatement of the year there, Danno.

"Oh you're - oh, okay then, g'bye." She waves to Fianna as she leaves.

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

The question snaps Ryusei from his staring and he blushes momentarily for his rudeness. He answers the blonde nova's question as best he can. "Well I still live with my family, helping my father raise my siblings, but when I'm not in school I help maintain the family Shrine in the Northern reaches of Tokyo."

It was by far the most boring thing said, and easily drew note to his relatively young age. Fianna's exit disturbed him slightly, though the only sign was the frown on his face.

When he turns back to the group the frown vanishes as he regards each of them. Well I guess I cant's ay much. being surrounded by so many beautiful women was hard on me at Flicker's little get together. Luckily nobody really made an issue of it.

He smiles to Saori. "Meeting new novas is one of the main reason I always try to make get togethers like this. So far It's never let me down to be a happy and interesting experience."

He chuckles slightly. "Though just once I'd like to host or attend a party in Japan or at least somewhere not half a world away from my home. The trip isn't really an issue, but timing everything is quite a nuisance."

[Eingar]

"Looks like we have a bunch from all walks here." Einherjar smiled slightly as he listened to people's answers. The smile faded as he watched Fianna walk away from the table. Wonder what that's about. She seems to be having some trouble.

He glanced at Knockout as she fiddled with the cutlery. "A supercop, eh?" He gave her a sly but good-natured grin. "Got a uniform? On second thoughts, don't answer that: I might come and steal a candy bar so's I can be arrested."

[Magnum Opus]

"Yeah, I'm getting a uniform. There's a waiting list this long - " She stretches out her arms. "For eufiber so they're gonna try and make it normal, but armored and stuff. It's all red and black and white and it looks pretty keen. And fireproof. I definitely want a fireproof suit."

[Anne 'Rapture' Joy]

"Fireproof is a good idea," Rapture agreed with a subtle twinkle of humour in her eye as she gestures to the food set on the table. It's all good American fare in quantities that suit novas.

[BlackThorn]

Blackthorn watches Fianna leave with a quizzical expression on his face. He listens to the banter between Rapture, Knockout, and Einherjar and smiles. He remembers why she needs as fireproof a suit as she can get her hands on. That was emberrassing/amusing to say the least. It was also not likely to earn points with the blonde bombshell to bring that date up once more. Instead he eyed some of the food. This was more of an attempt to distact him from all the serious beauties than any overwhelming hunger.

[Flicker]

Jogging past the gathering in Central Park, Nova "Flicker" Madigan surveyed the assembly through opaque wrap-around sunglasses. By suppressing her node--"dorming down" was the usual term--she maintained the appearance of an ordinary teenaged girl, albeit one in exquisite physical condition. Despite the need for stealth, she could not resist the temptation to show off her abdominal muscles, so she wore her Eufiber colony in the shape of only a grey sports bra and seamless black running tights so sleek that they appeared to have been applied with an airbrush.

Nova made sure to keep her head pointed along the jogging path as if she were looking straight ahead, but swiveled her eyes to the right as she passed the elaborate table setting heaped high with food and ringed by novas. Without pausing she jogged past, breathing in carefully-measured puffs to simulate the cadence of an ordinary baseline athlete on an ordinary training run. Her heart nonetheless tried to skip a beat when she caught a glimpse of Danielle and remembered their passionate but brief roll in the red dust of Mars. Nova redoubled her effort at maintaining her disguise, and despite the overwhelming urge to abandon the charade and leap the rope barrier she continued down the path. Only after rounding the next bend and disappearing behind the foliage did she pause, taking hold of the back of a park bench and pretending to stretch her calves as a runner would.

As Nova stretched, acutely aware of the admiring glances that her sculpted legs were attracting from passers-by, she rewound her brief glance at the gathering and considered who she had seen.

Danielle's here! she thought first. That one fact had decided the course of her day, and she would definitely join the party. Any thought of returning to Cleveland after her brief reconnaissance was forgotten.

Don't know who that is next to her, she thought, regarding Blackthorn. Looks like he's in the business, though, she mulled, meaning the illegitimate business of governments, spies, criminals, and so on. Since erupting, Nova had quickly entered that world, unwillingly at first, but with increasing determination as she realized that even though she'd been involuntarily drafted into a shadow war by her supposed nova mentor, she could not walk away without consequences. The twin scars on her breastbone itched briefly, as if to remind her that she'd been shot twice at point-blank range on her first outing to Bishkek in the company of such men. Are you Directive too, she wondered warily, or what?

Nova switched her grip on the bench and stretched her other calf, heedless of the distraction she presented to those around her.

Ryusei's here too, she remembered, meaning Ryusei Hideyoshi. The memory of the taste of his peanut-butter cookies surfaced briefly, and she remembered the too-brief flirtation they had shared in Cleveland before Danielle had swept her off of her feet. Nova smiled ruefully and wondered how Danielle would react to the suggestion of a three-way. Probably poorly, she realized, noting that Danielle still struggled with her own identity as a former man and that her (his?) sexuality was badly stunted and kind of geekish besides.

The glowing girl must be Rapture, Nova guessed by process of elimination. The other one, meaning Xiao Saori, looks Asian, Japanese maybe? Definitely not the daughter of all-American churchy types. Don't know who she is. Nova frowned.

Of the three men remaining, Nova had no idea of their identities. She mentally cursed herself for not doing her research more carefully. If she had even taken a minute to skim the OpNet forum discussion in which the invitation had gone out, she would at least have names to try to match to their faces. Instead, she had nothing. That'll get you killed someday, she thought.

((In fairness, I'm going to wait before posting again so that the novas have a chance to spot Flicker as she passes if anyone wishes to. She's dormed down, but a nova's physique is hard not to notice, and some of those present have seen her in person before.))

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

There was seemingly a lull in the flow of coversation and Ryusei sat back and watched as several other patrons of the park jogged past. One, clad with only the minimum requirement of clothing for jogging stuck out though. The young woman's physique was flawlessly perfect, almost too much so to be human. there was the odd sense that she was familiar and he decided that since that shouldn't be, further investigation was warranted.

"Please excuse me for a moment, I'll be back shortly, I'm going to go stretch my legs for a minute."

He excused himself as graciously as he could and then took off at a steady jog in the ssame direction he'd seen the young woman go.

He saw her stretching on one of the park benches not that far away and smiled. He walked up and stopped a few meters away. "Nova is that you?" A dozen other questions went through his mind, but that one seemed the most pertinent.

[Anne 'Rapture' Joy]

Rapture looked around the gathering as the conversation died down, not quite certain what to say. She wasn't used to such a ... diverse party.

[Flicker]

Dormed down, Nova relied on her native wit to guide her actions. She was acutely aware of how dull her response seemed as she slowly unfolded from her doubled-over stretching pose. Despite giving herself as much time as possible by slowly rising and turning to face the young Japanese nova, her best response was somewhat disappointing.

"Ryusei," she said in a carefully neutral tone as she smiled and looked into his blue eyes. Nova wondered what he smelled like up close.

Busted, she thought, knowing that she'd been caught spying. Epic fail. Lamer. She tried her best to appear to be relaxed, just another athlete out on a sunny day.

"Imagine meeting you here, eh? It's been a while since the fly-in. How are you?" She put as much emphasis as possible on the final question, hoping to divert him away from questions like "why are you spying on us?" or "what do you think you're doing?"

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

He smiles vindicated in being correct and not hallucinating. "I was just thinking the same thing. We're along way from Cleveland, though for soeone with your abilities distance really isn't a factor."

He maintains a neutral smile and tries to avoid staring at her. "I've been well, Summer break's been going well for me. I only have till Febuary then I graduate."

He cocks his head slightly and poses another question. "I admit I am suprised to see you here though. The Park we all met in was beautiful, and while I admit this one is impressive too, I was wondering why you went through the trouble of teleporting out here just to go for a morning jog."

[Flicker]

Nova had graduated high school earlier that year, so the reminder that Ryusei was still her junior set her at ease. Inwardly she relaxed, and outwardly her pretense of being relaxed was replaced with actual casualness.

"Ya got me," she chuckled, putting her fist on her hip. "I was totally scouting out the party before deciding to join in or not." To demonstrate her commitment to stay, Nova altered her Eufiber outfit. The waistband of her tights spread up her torso into a sleeveless unitard, and her bra blossomed into a white long-sleeved linen blouse with the shirt tails tied in a knot.

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

It's a very nice set-up. Not as big as the one you organized, but still this one's got several new faces."

He smiles as she changes her eufiber into something abit less revealing. He had noticed the scars, but to question them would be too prying. So nodded his head back towards the party and said. "Come on, you'll have fun. The novas here are pretty diverse and I think they're about to start serving the food."

[Flicker]

"Food is good," Nova said cheerfully, walking with Ryusei in the direction they had come. "Let's meet some people." She ducked under the rope which separated the group from the outside world.

"Hey everyone," she said, waving cheerfully with her left hand while grasping the back of a vacant chair with her right. "Mind if I have a seat?"

[BlackThorn]

Blackthorn looke around and nodded to the newcomer. He smiled readily and hoisted up a glass of water in a welcoming salute. He recognized her as Flicker, that nova in high school from Cleveland. She threw that large party a few months back, and she teleported.

Of course, she was supposed to flicker in and out too. She must be dormed, which seemed a bit odd for a gathering of novas. Whatever floated her boat, Tessio decided.

Wait, wasn't there some N-tube stuff about her and Danielle?

[Eingar]

Einherjar had already popped the cap off a bottle of Guinness and filled his glass during the lull in the conversation. When Ryusei came back with the attractive young woman in tow, the blond Elite studied her curiously. Tight body, probably a nova. Didn't she go running past earlier? Hmm. Scouting trip. He lifted his glass in imitation of Tessio.

"I don't mind at all if you do." He smiled slightly at Flicker, his blue eyes friendly enough despite the air of detachment about him. "I'm Einherjar. Call me Ein." He held up the still half-full bottle of Guinness. "If there's anyone here that wants this and won't get me arrested for supplying to minors, feel free." He placed the bottle towards the middle of the table.

[Flicker]

You're over-dressed for the occasion, aren't you? Nova thought as she returned Tessio's welcome with a smile and a nod. Has to be in the business. Too smooth-looking. Dangerous. Nova glanced down as she took her seat, the looked up again to return Einherjar's warm greeting.

"Glad to meet you, Ein," she said, paying attention to his stated preference for address. Rogue, and experienced, she thought, noticing the easy way he sat, as if he were confident that he could handle a stampeding bull elephant if one were to suddenly burst through the hedge. Nova wondered briefly how the fight would play out if he tangled with Tessio. Einherjar would win the fight, she decided, but Tessio's backers would likely assassinate Einherjar in his shower a month later and a thousand miles away.

"I'll have water, thanks," Nova said sweetly as she poured a glass for herself from a convenient pitcher. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Nova Madigan, but my handle's Flicker." She turned to her left.

"It's good to see you again Danielle."

[Magnum Opus]

Danielle was carefully assembling a hot dog.

Hot dogs, to Danielle, were not slapped in a bun, but carefully condimented to the point the wiener was made almost redundant. After the application of ketchup, relish, horseradish and mustard, she raised it to her mouth, and that's when Flicker sat beside her.

"Oh. Oh!"

She reflexively squeezed the hot dog. The effect on the wiener was like squeezing soap with a wet fist. It shot out the end and across the table, bouncing once before it hit its target.

"Oh! Oh dammit - agh - "

Originally Posted By: OOC

Anyone who wants to get hit by the hot dog may do so. First come first served, as it were.

[Flicker]

Nova could only stare in mute horror at Danielle's astonishing display of clumsiness. Every bit of the erotic tension she'd felt for her first nova crush vanished in a fine mist of condiments and nervous chuckles. The yellow, red, and green stain on the white linen tablecloth was every bit as lurid as the bloodstain on the linen in the "baseball" scene in the movie classic The Untouchables.

Oh Danielle, Nova thought forlornly, you'll always be a dork at heart.

With her node dormant, her youthful reflexes were merely human, and she could not react as quickly as the others seated at the table.

((That's your cue to do something clever, anyone, anyone?))

[Sampajanna]

With inhuman quickness Sampajanna leaned forward in his chair and snatched the hotdog out of the air....Oddly enough, he'd already had time to roll up his sleeve. He dropped the hot dog on the table, face showing mild, restrained distaste, and wiped it with napkin. He looked up as he did so, his look of distaste turning to clear amusement, and he gave Knockout a wink. "Not so firm a grip, next time, eh?" he asked quietly, perfectly calm, as though his feat of dexterity was nothing to be wondered at. And indeed, in a gathering of novas this large, it really wasn't.

[Eingar]

"Well, hot dogs are supposed to be fast food." Einherjar grinned impishly at Sampajanna, then glanced at Danielle with a humorous glint in his blue eyes. "If you serve one my way, hold the relish please." With aplomb, the large British Elite leaned over and set the half-full bottle of Guinness in front of the scarlet-faced municipal defender.

"You win first prize for the funniest moment of this party, I think." He told her with a friendly smile.

[z-Xiao Saori]

Saori had been quiet, watching the party. She'd been both relieved and bummed when Ryusei had become distracted and left. She wasn't sure how to feel about her half-brother. Should she love him as he was kin? Should she hate him because he could be the public family of their father, while she was cast aside?

Or could she find a third way to deal with the hand she'd been dealt.

When Ryusei came back, she asked him softly, so as not to detract from what others were doing, "Would you like to get together in Japan, hang out sometime? I think that we could exchange notes on being nova, if nothing else. I have not been one long - how about you?"

[OOC: As requested, Saori's hit everyone she's directly interacted with First Impression. By my count, that's Sampajanna, Ryusei, Fianna, Rapture and Ein. (QP: 23/28)]

[BlackThorn]

With careful mimicry of near-perfectly crafted motions, Tessio prepared Danielle another hotdog and handed it to her. Of course, he said nothing, but his smile was genuine and kind. He figured the best he could hope to do was to totally ignore the humoruos gaff and give the Civic Defender some sort of refuge ... in food.

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

As he watched the comedic scene unfold Saori approached and when she actually asked about getting together in Japan he was momentarily suprised. "I'd like that. I've been a nova for a couple of years now, though my power isn't all that impressive compared to others who've been novas that long."

He smiles and nods. "Is there a place you'd like to go in Japan, somewhere in particular you'd like to meet? I'm game for most anything. If you like I could possibly get a couple other novas involved as well. My younger sister Sakurako and my friend Kaien are both novas that attend school with me. I'm certain they'd love the chance to meet another Japanese nova."

[z-Xiao Saori]

Sister... my little sister. Or... is it big sister? No matter. She'd known about Sakurako, but this small connection to her meant so much more. "What school do you guys go to? As for meeting up... Can you ice skate?" Saori asked. "My mother makes me take lessons... well, ok, I enjoy it, but I wasn't any good. Now my coach is thinking that I could do exhibitions, since now that I'm a nova, I'm actually pretty good at it. But it can be fun to just skate."

Her dark eyes shone as she talked about skating; it was apparently something that she enjoyed. Her tiny hands moved a little, as if outlining movements performed on the ice. She hopefully waited for his answer to her offer.

[Magnum Opus]

Danielle takes the offered wiener from Blackthorn, clearly embarrassed. "Thanks. Uh..." She takes a bite, relaxing a little, and thus emboldened she turns to Nova. "Uh's ghuh tuh suh - "

She pauses, swallows, and tries again. "It's good to see you again." She manages a smile and tries not to let it show that she wishes the earth would swallow her whole.

[Tomas Saint-Etienne]

He sat and ate quietly whilst watching them all, drinking in the sensations. The curvaceous Danielle's mortification was an delightful appetiser for him, garnished as it was with Nova's embarrassment, which seemed to suggest something deeper between the two. Glimmering green eyes studied the newcomer from behind the fall of black hair, predatory intent perfectly hidden beneath a facade of guileless curiousity. Straightening up a little Tomas tucked the errant midnight locks behind his ear, letting the sunlight play on his face as he caught Flicker's eye. Leaning slightly towards her across the table, the feyly beautiful young man smiled slightly.

"Excuse me, but is your name truly 'Nova'?" He asked in a soft voice.

[Flicker]

Om nom nom, Nova thought derisively, cringing as Danielle tried to talk immediately after stuffing her mouth with food. No matter how she tried to see otherwise, at that moment all she could see in Danielle was a socially inept nerd boy wrapped in a beautuful female skin, but a boy nonetheless. While her appearance was flawlessly beautiful and feminine, her origin as a boy shone through in her actions and behavior. What on earth did I see in him, her I mean, anyway?

Obviously uncomfortable to be sitting next to Danielle, but unable to change seats without drawing even more attention to the situation, Nova did her best to remain outwardly placid and polite.

"It's good to see you too," Nova lied pleasantly to Danielle, half-hating herself for saying it. She glanced around the table. The other girl (Xiao) had had a brief and furtive word with Ryusei, she saw, and the big guy (Einherjar) was continuing to be awesome. She wondered who the young man--he looked a little older than herself--was who had snatched the rogue dog from mid-air. She leaned in his direction to ask him his name, but was cut off by Tomas' query from across the table.

"That's true," she said with a smile, gobsmacked by the boy's striking features. "I was born before N-Day, so 'Nova' hadn't yet come to mean what it does now."

[Tomas Saint-Etienne]

His smile became wider, less tentative, mirroring her as a sparkle of interest flickered in the depths of his gaze. His features were neither masculine nor wholly feminine, but a breathtaking fusion of the two that was spellbinding. His voice was likewise androgynous; neither gruffly male nor definitively female, it had a uniquely musical sound.

"Tomas." He stated simply, his tone warmly at odds with his cool colouration. Slender fingers tapped his shirt over his heart. "Pleased to meet you, Nova." One corner of his smile crooked upwards as a strand of hair escaped and brushed against his cheek. "So what did the name Nova mean before N-Day ruined it?"

[Magnum Opus]

Danielle felt a hot tingling underneath her scalp, as Flicker's demeanor changes. Aw crap. Aw crap. I blew it. I'm so stupid. She just - I'm so nervous and - I was surprised and - dammit - I'm so stupid -

Okay. Try and be smooth. What would C.F. do? ... probably tell her there's a party in his pants and it's BYOB. Okay, what would Bizarro C.F. do?

"Let me try that again. Can I mulligan that? Hi. Great to see you again, Nova. Uh, I didn't recognize you without the, you know, the blinking thing." She runs a shaky hand through long blonde hair. Gah, don't mention the blinking thing that probably upsets her shit shit shit - "What, uh. What have you been up to? Still blipping off to parts unknown?"

[Eingar]

Einherjar relaxed and took a sip of his stout, leaning back in his chair as he listened to the various conversations around him. The big nova was content. It was a beautiful day, the setting was idyllic (the hazard of flying foodstuffs notwithstanding) and the company was loosening up as people found common ground. He shared a smile and a nod with Tessio as the quiet, well-dressed man offered Danielle another hotdog. That was decent of him. He was about to talk to the sleek-looking nova when his calm was interrupted by the opening bars of 'O Fortuna'. Sighing, he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a slim satphone. A flick of his hand answered it as he smiled apologetically at the others. "Sorry, been waiting for this call." Raising it to his ear, he listened to electronic sounds of a 256 bit encryption 'handshake' took place. As soon as they stopped, he spoke quietly.

"Unsecure." A simple warning that there may be people present capable of listening in.

"Understood. This is Hilde. 'Sparrow' is a go." The voice on the other end might have been male or female, but was distorted.

"Window?" The Elite asked, his eyes greying as they gazed off into the middle distance, a sure sign that he was thinking.

"Twenty hours. Recall to Ithavoll in ten, eight hours turnaround, two hours insertion." The other voice said tersely.

"Plenty of time. Have the jet ready. Einherjar out." The blond man stated as he hung up, then smiled faintly at the gathering. "Sorry about that, folks. Business." A chill had frosted the sky blue of his eyes, but his smile was genuine enough. Whatever the business was, he anticipated it keenly. Building himself a couple of hotdogs deftly, Einherjar bit into one.

((The italicised speech is for those with mega-perception and who are actively listening in.))

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

"I haven't been since the winter months, but I do know how to skate. As for School, we all go to Jindai Private Academy in Tokyo. It's one of the nicer schools and I like to think everyone there is fairly openminded."

He notices how she seems much happier when she talks of skating. "It will be awhile yet before we could ice skate in Tokyo though, even on the northern island. Though I'm not opposed to going somewhere else if that's what you'd like to do."

[Flicker]

"Tomas," Nova replied, entranced by the boy's voice and appearance. "It's good to meet you too." Nova wondered briefly if she was taking an unnecessary risk by keeping her node dormant, then brushed that worry aside. She glanced in Danielle's direction and was struck by the contrast between Tomas' sweet and measured tone and Danielle's chaotic--almost desperate--attempt to recover.

"I've been well, thank you," Nova said to Danielle, being intentionally vague. Her whereabouts over the past summer were an uncomfortable topic, and one that she wanted very much to keep a secret. Speaking more to Tomas, but with the occasional sidelong glance to Danielle, she returned to Tomas' query about the origin of her name.

"It was 1990, and everyone was giving their children weird names, and my parents were no exception," Nova explained to Tomas. "In Latin it means 'new star' or something like that, but my mom chose it for its meaning in the Hopi Indian language, 'she who chases butterflies." Nova smiled self-consciously. "Kind of dumb, I know."

[Tomas Saint-Etienne]

"Not if you do chase butterflies." Tomas replied with a shy grin. He picked up his glass of juice and took a sip, his luminous green eyes still on Nova. He gave her another crooked smile as he snagged a breadstick to nibble on. "I don't suppose you do, by any chance?" He asked with playful mock-innocence.

[Magnum Opus]

"Mm."

Danielle turned back to her food, taking a bite and chewing, her feelings a raw churning maelstrom in her stomach and her head. Christ, I screwed up. She's pissed and I don't know what to do. And lo and behold, in comes whoever this guy is and now I might as well not exist. What the hell? Okay, I goofed up, but no one else seems upset. They all seem cool with it...?

"Thanks for catching my wiener, Sama. Uh, and thanks, Blackthorn, for getting me a new one..."

Danielle pauses as her acute hearing picks up Einherjar's discussion with his handler. Elite stuff? Ack. I think I heard too much. Can they kill me for listening to a phone call? I haven't checked the newspapers today.

Danielle goes back to waiting for a gap in the conversation with Flicker and Tomas.

[Flicker]

"I'm afraid I don't," Nova replied to Tomas with a smile that contained just a twist of amusement. She intentionally let Danielle twist in the wind a bit longer, giving most of her attention to Tomas and only infrequently glancing Danielle's way. Maybe a dose of shame will help her to grow up, she hypothesized.

"I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it, anyway," she said enigmatically.

[z-Xiao Saori]

"What's is school like?" Saori asked, leaning on her hand and smiling. "Is it like it is on tv? I have private tutors. My mother likes to have a personal hand in my education, but I wonder what real school is like. And what do you mean by 'openminded?' Seems like an odd thing to say about a school."

When he mentioned ice skating, she grinned widely again. "I have access to a rink," she said. "We can go anytime - right now, if you'd like. It's where I take my lessons, and so long as no one else is using it for hockey or something at the moment, I can use it when I want."

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

"Well It's been very fun each day, even if I had to stop competing like I used to. It isn't like the classes are really hard. For the most part the student body has been very accepting of the three novas in their midst. Though unfortunately everyone gave Kaien grief at first for being half-chinese. That stopped quickly enough after he and I became friends. Since then he's actually managed to have a fan-club develop around him, it's kinda funny."

"Perhaps after the party we could go Saori. I'll have to find a pair of skates. It does sound like fun though."

He smiles at the mention of her mother. "It's good that your mother can spend time with you. What about your father? Does he make as much time for you as your mother does?"

[z-Xiao Saori]

"My father is very busy," Saori said easily. "Sometimes, it is like he has another family - us and his work. I'm sure your father, as the head of your family's company, is busy, too."

Saori looked thoughtful for a moment. "Do you think your school would have been as accepting if he hadn't been a nova? Or is you hadn't been his friend? What if you hadn't been a nova? What if a baseline half-Japanese student came to the school. Do you think they'd be accepted?"

She shrugged suddenly, her somber mood fading a bit. "That's a bit dreary to talk about, though. Let's save that for later. This is a party! Speaking of, you talked about having a party in Japan. Why don't we plan a skating party? It will let a bunch of novas show off on the ice. I'm sure I could reserve my rink."