Aberrant: 200X - International Party

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

Ryusei nods. "We have thee days Vixen, for someone who has a friend who can control time, that's an eternity. More tha enough to enjoy yourself."

He looks to Vixen. "So you aren't wearing Eufiber?"

[Vixen]

"I can make whatever outfit I want out of tap water if I have to, so I don't really need eufiber. Being able to turn anything into anything is pretty handy." I just wish I had the slightest understanding of how it works.

[Contessa]

Originally Posted By: Sean

"Contessa?" he called to her firmly, his voice gentle. "We should... I mean, can we talk? Please?"

She faced him, a bit startled for a moment to hear her name, but she kept control well enough. The beauty glared at him, visibly irritated.

"Sure," she said as she crossed her arms in front of her defensively to show Sean that she was every bit as furious at him as he assumed she was. Really all it did was lift her breasts and offer him a glorious view. Her eyes narrowed. "You really didn't have to come looking for me though, I was planning on coming back in when I was ready. Honestly... I didn't think you'd miss me anyway."

[z-Sean "Loki" McCline]

"Maybe I won't, if you keep up this shit," Sean said, his resolution to stay calm not lasting the first zinger she threw at him. Besides, this felt normal with her, fighting. After all, Mixie wasn't around to act as a barrier between them at the moment. "I came to talk to you because you were hurt, and I am trying to fix it! If you are happy with the way things are, I can fucking turn around and walk away. It wasn't hard the first time."

[Contessa]

"So, now you care that I'm hurt? Now that you stumbled upon me by chance? You don't care Sean, you never did. Where was your caring days, weeks, or months after you left? A phone call, a letter, an opmail, where was the caring then?" Her eyes started to water as she started to get emotional all over again. "I searched three continents for you for four months every night after my dad went to sleep, I searched as long as I could... all I wanted to hear was why!?"

"But I'll I bet it wasn't, Sean." She shot back. "I'll bet it wasn't hard at all for tough guy like you. That's all you seem good at, cussing like it gives you some clout behind your words, and running away. Feel free, see if I care, my hair isn't the only thing out here that's yellow."

[z-Sean "Loki" McCline]

"I'll fucking cuss if I fucking want to," Sean snapped. "You certainly don't get to pass judgment on me, Miss. High and Mighty.

"And I do fucking care, Contessa," Sean growled, ripping a hand through his hair. "I fucking cared so fucking much that it fucking killed me that you didn't, at least not to my fucking face. Because this is all you ever do to me. You yell and scream and fucking mock me and I can't just fucking talk to you! Fucking God in Heaven!" He threw his hands out wide, emphasizing the weight and build he'd added since she'd last seen him. "Your dad is a stand-up guy and I never could figure out how he had such a bitch of a daughter. You aren't a bitch, though - you're just a silly, two-faced girl who can't handle real conversations with guys."

[Contessa]

"Or maybe it's because I've had a crush on you since day one, and every time I tried to tell you Sean you just huddled up into a little ball and put up your pathetic little emo barrier of 'woe is me'. It's hard to say: 'Hey, I'd like to share my first kiss with you.' when your crying and mopey and feeling sorry for yourself. It irritated me to no end and that's why I gave you flak all the time. You were so better than that." She wasn't raising her voice, in fact she was as calm as could be (on the outside) which made it all the more condescending in Sean's eyes.

"God, you're such an..." She had to force it, and it did sound quite right coming from her delicate features. Her fists were clenched at her sides and she actually leaned into it a bit. "Asshole!"

[z-Sean "Loki" McCline]

Sean blinked, trying to process the information she'd thrown at him. The part about the crush - that was the hardest to process, and the easiest to ignore. "God damnit, Tessa, I'd just lost everything," he hissed, pressing his hands to his face. More than a year later, it still stung. "My mom, my home, my freedom and my friends - all of it gone. And was a fucking murderer, let's not forget all the babies I killed."

He turned to the rail and leaned on it, staring out to sea. "Stop blaming my grief for your cowardice," Sean said softly. "Hearing those words from you - it would have given me something to look forward to. Some reason to enjoy life." Damn it... I could have lived with my girlfriend.

"I like you too," he said. "Don't know if you care anymore, but I do." He glanced at her, helpless to change the path he was on, sick with yet more loss.

[Contessa]

"What would have been the point Sean?" she asked, at the point of giving up. "Every time Mixie was nice to you you pulled the same stunt and reminded us all how much in grieving you were. You did it to me, my Dad, Mixie... you didn't want to listen to anyone like you don't now."

She sighed. "We knew you were hurting Sean, I knew. That's why I tried to give you everything that I could. A home, new friends, a life you could rebuild. I was only trying to help, suppose it's just one more thing this silly, two-faced girl who can't handle real conversations with guys, managed to screw up for you."

"I've cared from the start Sean, you're the one who can cast the hearts of friends aside like they mean nothing, not me." She was hitting him with both barrels (not those barrels, eyes up), she was calm and collected, she just wasn't sure for how long. A single tear made it's way down her cheek. "Do you think I would have asked you to come stay with us? Would have stayed up all night playing video games and laughing at cheesy movies? Or do the good times not register in your mind? I'll bet not, because I was never in your heart at all, I'm only there now because it's convenient for you."

[z-Sean "Loki" McCline]

"They registered, and they reminded of- fuck it. I can't explain it," Sean said bleakly. "But don't, don't, tell me what I felt or feel for you." He stood up and went toe-to-toe with her, looking down at her, meeting her eyes. Sensing it was win or lose, he put it all out there, murmuring, "I can't stand fighting with you." He cupped her cheek and used his thumb to wipe away the tear. "I don't handle it well. Sorry."

[Caitlin Kieran]

In the wake of Doc Aeon's bewildered confession, group conversation seemed to hit a lull. Restlessly, Caitlin finished off the last of her previous glass and took a long pull off the one Einherjar had so neatly poured a few minutes before. The fingertips of her free hand drummed impatiently on the table, and she glanced once, briefly, toward the door where Sean had exited.

"We need something to do," she pronounced suddenly, looking around at all the faces surrounding her. "The food's good, company's good, drinks are free-flowing, and we're in international waters... But there's not much of a party going on, is there?" After taking another drink, her brows knitted speculatively. "Any ideas? I haven't really been to 'nova parties,' but this isn't anything like the stories I've heard. It's a lot like a Sunday luncheon for my mother's bridge club," she added dryly.

[SalmonMax]

A little shy at the thought of swimming with so many ridiculously handsome guys around...and let's face it, so many horribly beautiful women to be compared to...Keiko shrugs and looks away.

And in the ocean, natch. She could tell this fox-lady about how the so-called microbes were believed by many global authorities to be part of a much more sinister scheme, but that was usually where people got that condescending look she hated so much.

But that didn't mean she wanted to let the ocean-nanites into her skin.

"I...think I'll pass, at least for now," she decides. "Thanks though." Then something occurs to her and she fishes out her digital camera to snap a shot of Vixen. "Could you change something for me? Just something small, so I can film it."

[Vixen]

"Oh, sure. Give me a second." Vixen crouched and dug through her tote bag. She pulled out her cell phone, which was one of the newer models that was thin as a chocolate bar.

She held it up to the camera. "Nothing up my sleeve... I don't have any... and... presto."

She waggled her fingers at the phone, which grew larger and changed to a beige color, the dials and screen disappearing as it transformed into an old-school telephone.

"It doesn't work, in case you're wondering. I never altered something with a battery in it so I wonder if it'll keep the charge." She held it up. "Still, yay me?"

[Eingar]

"You're right." Einherjar nodded agreement. "We should do something fun." He pretended to think for a moment, rubbing his bearded chin as a slow smile formed. "Got it!" He snapped his fingers loudly. "Let's take over the boat, let Doc Aeon rev it up with his mad science, and go a-pirating!" You could have heard a pin drop as the other novas at the table looked at him, not sure for an instant whether or not he was serious. Ein shrugged.

"Okay. Not such a great plan. How's this instead:..." he got to his feet and leaned on the table, a sudden grin flashing from his previously deadpan features.

"Last one at this table into the water is the drink-fetcher for the rest of us, for the rest of the voyage." He gave them all a second to absorb that, then dashed for the deck, his eufiber reconfiguring as he ran into a thin bracer around his left arm, leaving the rest of the Nordic godling naked as he burst onto the deck with an earsplitting war-whoop that left those watching wide-eyed as he threw himself headlong into the sea.

[Jael Carver]

Jael laughed and followed, abandoning her food, her drink, everything. She jumped into the water, stripping her eufiber away into a collar as she hit the water. The ocean was surprisingly cold to her, but she laughed it off and enjoyed the water instead.

[Doctor Aeon]

Though he was certainly the slowest nova here, he had the advantage over Caitlin in that he was closer to the edge. He grinned with a maniac rictus that only fear could bring as he launched himself toward the railing. Clumbsily he tried to climb it then slipped and went head first over the side.

He tried to realign himself into a cannonball and was incredibly successful. His eufiber failed to transform itself from a white dinner jacket and attire ... because it wasn't eufiber. Some people only have clothes. He hit the water and came bobbing back up for air. The questions on his mind were; was he the last one in the water, and ...

A Clone came running up pell-mell. Spotting a floation device, the Clone grabbed it and throw it into the water after the vanishing Doc.

"WE CAN'T SWIM!" he shouted to the people below.

Yeah, that was the other question: how to avoid drowning?

[Vixen]

Vixen watches them run by, staring a bit too long at Einherjar and cupping a fuzzy hand across her eyes at Jael.

Oh God. I can see it now. Foxy Nova Found in Nudist Frolic, Marriage Hitting 'Stormy Waters?' Hell.

"Oh... second thought... ah... you all... go on ahead."

Mitch would freak out if he caught me with a bunch of naked people on a boat by myself. And he's be right to. Why'd I come here? Someone always winds up either naked or getting punched at parties like this.

[Adrian Moss]

"We can stay up here and talk, if you like", said Everyman. He seemed friendly enough now, more relaxed.

"You seem like one of the more normal people here. You must be married."

He looks off into the waters momemtarily,

"We are not all hedonists, I'm glad to see, though some of this can be put off to youth. There are plenty of youngsters here, but what can you say? A high schooler is the host, smart as he is."

He looked at Vixen, his eyes and facial features hidden behind a mask of white.

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

Ryusei watched the unfolding spectacle with that sort of look only an older brother who has watched younger siblings do something he thought of as incredibly childish and stupid could manage.

"Honestly, I'm one of the youngest people here... He trailed off as Doctor Aeon started calling out for help. Reacting much faster than most he launched himself over the side and swam over to him. His eufiber shirt quickly withdrew to a collar around his neck, and he quickly found a not so fun fact. He couldn't fly in the water. "Dammit." Left with only one recourse he swam over to the doctor and did his best to calm him down.

"Relax Doc I gotcha." This didn't look good. "Just grab ahold of me and I'll get you back on the yacht."

[Contessa]

Her heart raced and her mind reeled by the tumult of emotions that came with Sean being so close to her. The way he brushed the tear from her cheek in the warm night air on the deck of the yacht in the salty breeze of the pacific. It was all too romantic, like one of the stories she'd spent too many years of her life reading and wishing that the heroine in the story was her.

In the back of her mind she wanted the moment to last, to finally see Sean being so gentle, and so handsome in the aura of the silvery moon. In that instant she never looked more beautiful in every day he'd ever known her.

Her hand rested on his chest, her fingers rubbing his shirt gently noticing how firm and powerful he'd seemed to have become in their time apart. Softly her cheek touched his chest once more and her arms slid lovingly about his waist.

"Come home." She finally said, the soft crack of tears rising in her voice. She knew he wouldn't, but she had to try.

Click to reveal..

Boost - +1 Appearance (Appearance 5 / Mega-App 4)

Seductive Looks - 3 Auto Successes for seduction attempts. No attempt has actually been made, but he couldn't ask for a more beautiful woman to be in his arms.

[Doctor Aeon]

Well ... he was drowning and found the irony biting. He was working on a new submarine propulsion system for the US Navy and here he was going to join them under the wavs. The hand around him saving his life was a godsend and he didn't mean to sound ungreatful as he was being pulled to safety, but ...

"Actually, could you hurl me at that floaty? This life-risking stuff is ... well exhilirating," he spouted over his shoulder. "If I can just reach it ..."

He extended out his hand out and touched the circular device. Instantly it was transformed into a serpent like foam that surrounded him and flowed over his body and clothing. When it settled down, it formed a floaty vest, two arm floaties, and, unseen, a pair of flippers.

"Thank you, my host. Didn't mean to get you wet, but I blame that on the Clones. They just can't live without me," and he got that out with a huge, shit-eating grin!

[Vixen]

Vixen smiles at Everyman, holding up her hand and waggling her ring finger. "Yes, I am. Three years now. Sweet of you to say I'm normal. Most of the time, I don't feel it."

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

Ryusei nods. "Learn to swim before you do this again Doc." Sensing that he was no longer in any danger, Ryusei prepares to go back to the Yacht. He concentrates, and vanishes, Reappearing about five feet away from where he had been standing. One of the porters arrived with a towel and a first aid kit. Ryusei, clad only in his swim trunks took the offered towel and began drying himself off. Everyone present got a nice view of his perfectly toned body and once he finished drying himself His eufiber returnedto it's previous pattern as a Hawaiian shirt.

"Well that was my good deed for today." He made his way back to Vixen, Keiko, and Everyman.

He chuckled. "S is prophecy also among your abilities? You mentioned swimming and people ran right by and jumped in, nude."

He left unspoken Aren't you glad we talked you out of it?

[Doctor Aeon]

The Doc Aeon who was standing close by walks up to Ryusei.

"Thank you, Hideyoshi-sama," he says with a slight bow. "Sometimes I don't know what comes over me. I theorize that it is because of close proximity to the obscenely attractive nova. I'm working on other possibilities."

[SalmonMax]

Keiko, mouth dangling open and eyes wide from the awe at Vixen's powers along with similar awe at nova nakedness and the demonstration by Ryusei among others, can do little but stand there, poleaxed. After a second she realizes Ryeusei is talking to her. Or...near her at least.

"What? Prophawha? Oh! I get...echos sometimes...but...wait, did you mean me or her?" she jabs a thumb at Vixen.

[Caitlin Kieran]

Caitlin glanced about inquisitively, one copper eyebrow raised as she watched everyone's exit over the rim of her glass.

"Well," she said mildly, addressing her Guinness. "There goes Frisbee." Shrugging, she leaned forward in her chair, cradling her drink in both hands and propping her elbows up on the table.

She could hear the whoops and laughter of those outside, but made no effort to join them. Instead, she sat quietly and drank, processing the drama and happenings she'd observed so far.

[BrokenSunlight]

"I think the party is elsewhere," Pasquale said dryly to Daniel, gazing at the naked rush to the ocean with amusement. He calmly stripped off his clothes, nestling his flute within them. As he passed Caitlin he remarked, with mock sadness, "I am afraid this is a good example of a nova party." And dived over the side.

[Doctor Aeon]

A Doc Aeon walked up to Caitlan, chicken wing in one hand and plate of, well, stuff, in the other.

"Mind if I join you. I can't say that swimming nude appears to be much fun to me either."

"Ummm ... what do you consider fun?" he asked innocently.

[Caitlin Kieran]

"Nah, go ahead and have a seat. I'm pretty mellow, honestly," she shrugged. "I love my work... Going camping and rock-climbing upstate is nice, going to protests and demonstrations, playing with my dogs, rappelling, bungee-jumping, soccer, skiing in the winter, that kind of stuff."

There was a pause as she took another drink, and added thoughtfully, "Okay. Maybe 'mellow' isn't the right word. And, actually, I kind of thought skinny-dipping would be fun, but I'd rather do it when I can get a tan, and I haven't eaten less than forty-five minutes beforehand. I mean, I'm not sure if that whole thing still applies to us, of course, but... Tch."

Shaking her head, she scowled.

"You don't just walk away from a pint, and I can't take it with me, so what's the point, right? What about you, Doc? Working on a secret lair in a volcano or something?"

[Doctor Aeon]

"Wow," the Clone said. "You do a whole bunch of stuff I've never done. I'm more of a writer about life than someone who experiences - one of the reasons we are here."

He giggles about about the volcano.

"Do you know of one I can rent? I'm kind of boring. I own a factory in St. Louis. It's vacant now. That way my ... failures are contained. See, my money-making work are all in little steps, kind of like protesting versus direct action, I imagine. What I want to do are the big things: Cold fusion, gravitic flight, space exploration, stable wormholes, and personel force field technology."

"I'd like to go rock-climbing some time. I'm not sure I would be good with dogs. What do you protest anyway? Anyone I've worked for?"

Man, this guy can blather a lot.

[Caitlin Kieran]

"Well, I guess that depends on who you've worked for," she replied, the ghost of a grin lingering on her lips. "And, yeah. Rock-climbing is great. Free-climbing is the best. You don't use all the equipment," Caitlin explained. "It's just you, the sky, and this massive mountain or cliff that's probably been there since before anything bipedal even started shuffling around." Her grin broadened just thinking about the experience.

"It's a lot easier now, of course, but that just means I have to find new ways to make it challenging, which is part of the fun. Gives you lots of time to think, to be alone with the world, to find out what your limitations are and push against them."

She didn't think it was quite the Doc's cup of tea, for all that a climbing partner might be interesting, but at least it made for pleasant conversation.

"So... You're an inventor, then, I guess?"

[Doctor Aeon]

"I could start repelling for relaxation in my factory for starters ... with big mattresses underneath. Maybe one day you could take me to one of your favorite spots. I doubt I could keep up," he gets a devilish grin, "but I bet one of me beats you to the top!"

"As for inventions ... I spend about half my time doing ... normal inventions. Let me see ... oh! Here's one you might of heard of. About seven months ago I came out with Melthprizal. Its a drug that denies tumors their blood supplies, making them shrivel up and either die, or be easily removed by operation."

"Anyway, I was asked to create a equine derivative. It was used in Lexington Ky. to remove a brain tumor on a thuroughbred."

"The FDA still hasn't approved it, but it is in human trials."

He looks at her deeply,

"The world seems to run so slowly it sometimes seems to be going backward. It's frustrating. As you said, you ... I need to find new challenges to keep in interesting."

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

Ryusei smiles. "I was referring to Vixen since she was the first to mention going swimming."

[Eingar]

"Fucking HELL that's cold!" Einherjar gasped/roared as he surfaced again, shaking water from his mane of blond hair. Looking around, he saw Doc Aeon still fully clothed and wearing floatation devices. Jael and the flautist gentleman were swimming around with a fair degree of confidence, but the four of them seemed to have the ocean to themselves. The others seemed to be still on the deck and not interested. Christ, it's like a Sunday School outing. "Ein, put your trunks on before Sister Mary Margaret takes the ruler to your knuckles, young man!"

He grinned up at those at the railing, his blue eyes sparkling. "How about a compromise?" he called up. "We cover up, you guys and girls grab a frisbee or a ball, and we have a little harmless fun. I assure you, as bracing as the water is, it's not conducive to impropriety!" He trod water easily, his chest and shoulders bobbing in and out of the swell.

[Vixen]

"Ah, no. No, I can't see into the future better than any normal person can. No, it's just, ocean, right there... swimming's likely to happen."

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

Ryusei chuckles. "Indeed. I take it you aren't interested in swimming with our nude friends." It was said half as a question and half as a statement. He looked around and nodded to Ivana and Tessio. "Feel free to join them."

He left and made his way to one of the supply closets and retrieved an inflatable beachball and blew it up by the time he returned to the deck. He looked over the railing with a smile and casually sent it up and over the side. "Heads up!"

[Vixen]

"Haha, no. Not really. Only one naked man in my life." She fidgets slightly with her ring. I should call him. Probably can't get reception out here, though.

[Ryusei Hideyoshi]

"Well they did just offer to cover up." He chuckles. "Besides, everyone knows you're married. I'd like to believe everyone can respect the sanctity of that."

[BlackThorn]

Tessio looked to Ivana. She looked at him then past him to Ryusei.

"It sounds like fun down there, though we'll keep our clothes on. Isn't the water cold?"

The two concentrated. Their clothes warped around their bodies until Ivana was in a fashionable white one-piece and Tessio was in loose black trunks. The moved like elegant birds of prey across the decks to the railings. Up they went, balancing on the top of the railing on a moving ship like it was nothing then in they dove.

The made little ripples as they knifed in unision into the waves around the ship. Ivana came first, cussing fiercely in Russian then turned to Engish. Through chattering teeth she exclaimed,

"Fuck, this is cold. I feel like a Polar Bear!"

Tessio came up close to her and effortlessly glided to her side. Ivana turned to face the boat and raise a hand to her mouth.

"Through us the Ball!"

[Eingar]

Einherjar rose up out of the sea, the chilly pale blue of his shifting anima strangely suited to the cold water. Luckily, his anima wasn't the only thing he was wearing, his eufiber having reconfigured into swim shorts as the Nordic giant snatched the ball from the air at the apex of Ryusei's throw and tossed it towards Ivana with a grin.

Hanging there in the air for a moment, water pouring off him, Ein smiled at the people on deck, holding his arms out to the sides in a "see?" gesture. "There. Better for propriety and more tender sensibilities, hmm?" With a laugh he let go his mastery over gravity and plummeted back into the ocean with a loud splash.