come the fuck on

[hemomancer]

It's a bright New England winter day. Xan and Leo have elected to take the tunnels from Poe dorm to the Powers Theory classroom, because regardless of their Exemplar ratings, they're still from California and it's eight degrees out. And the tunnels have central heating. Glorious, glorious central heating.

In the middle of an extended diatribe against artificial turf, Xan opens the door to Schuester Hall, which is... not the door to Schuester Hall.

Xan peers at it. "Are we being pranked or something? Has someone not been informed that I piss napalm?"

"You bleed napalm," notes Leo. "If you were pissing it we'd have a medical issue on our hands. Somebody could've thrown up an illusion, but I don't really see the point of replacing Schuester with... a bar? With some chick inside? Like, what, we're going to whip out our fake IDs and get in trouble? But Mom always says that if you can't see the point of a trap then whoever set it is smarter than you are. Let's go down the hall and take the south door."

"Jesus Christ," Xan mutters, hauling Leo in by the arm. "Let's avoid the cool-as-shit magic bar, he says. You're such a fucking girl."

Leo makes a noise of protest. "I'm working on that! And I object to your manhandling!"

"Shut up."

"Okay."

They behold the bar. It's a very nice bar. It has a window to some exploding stars. "Huh. I'm... pretty sure that's magic of some kind," notes Leo.

"So am I, dipshit, we're both wizards."

"Just making conversation."

Comments

[stonedtimewitch]

Damara takes him not running away as a sign that he might not be the one she is looking for. She speeds up her internal clock so that she is now traveling through time at a rate of one second per second and smiles. "No I new, name is Damara," she says, waving at him. She steps into his room and closes the door behind her. "You know Sky? She said you good with holograms and tech."

She is doing her best not to seem actively sinister, there is an entirely good chance that she is looking at the person who will help her decorate. However she is completely on guard in case this is another trap.

[andaisq]

He sits up. "Yes indeed. Sky's my SO. You fucked up on its pronouns, but I won't hold it against you. You also sexually harassed it yesterday, which I do hold against you, but Sky's decided to play nice, so I'll let it slide. Apart from zapping you, I mean. So I guess it might be more accurate to say we're even?"

[stonedtimewitch]

She starts laughing. Oh well, she had a literal list of other people she could get her sailor moon related holo statues from. "[Did you get a video of the show?]" she asks, walking towards him. "[I know I look sexy wet and on my back.]"

She sees the visor he wears on his face and has an idea. "[If you want to be even give me those silly glasses, don't make me force them off you.]" She would give him five seconds, presumably he has a translator of some sort, even if he didn't she would make good on her threat.

[andaisq]

Hakim sighs. "I don't speak Japanese. Were you threatening me, or making weird innuendos?"

[stonedtimewitch]

"[Yes,]" she replies, although she says so while speeding up her internal time as fast as she can. The ticks extend longer, becoming louder as they cease to be ticks. At this point all Damara can hear is the gears grinding behind the clock, she grits her teeth and moves forward. She just needs to touch the visor before whatever defense system thats around it becomes active. If she can do that then she can reduce the visor to dust.

[andaisq]

As her fingers brush the visor, there's an eldritch spark. It feels like her entire body is a funny bone being hit with an enormous rubber mallet.

Energy drains out of her like water through a sieve as the glow intensifies.

[stonedtimewitch]

Damara feels the gears in her head speed up as her ability to hold them back drains out of her. She ignores the way the spinning gears chafe against her being, instead concentrating entirely on the visor. She fells her finger move through it as the material rusts and then turns to dust beneath her hand.

Time snapped on her, suddenly everything was going at the appropriate speed. She fell forward, landing on Hakim. Her head aches from the shock of the ticking forcing itself to go at full speed. Her hand is just on his face now, covered in the dust of what had been his visor. His actual face is completely untouched by her powers, as she intended.

[andaisq]

Hakim blinks.

"Cool. Love when people break my shit, it's the best. You done?"

[stonedtimewitch]

"Next time I stab you in the eye," she says, breathing deeply, she tries to push herself up and then decides that is not happening. "You have asprin or something?"

[andaisq]

Hakim slides out from under her and, grumbling, walks over to his roommate's sink, which contains an eyewash station. He begins cleaning particulate heavy metals and glass dust off his face.

"As I mentioned, there will be no next time, because we are in a state of détente as long as Sky tolerates you. And I don't have aspirin, but I can get you some Midol."

[stonedtimewitch]

"I don't give a fuck what it is so long as it works," she says, grabbing the headboard so that she can push herself to her feet. "Do you actually not have asprin or are you fucking with me?"

[andaisq]

"I don't get headaches unless the red tide is in, so no, I don't get much call for aspirin when Midol would do. Brand loyalty, you know."

He retrieves a bottle, counts out three pills, and deposits them in Damara's hand. "Anyway, did you actually want to commission me, or was that just an excuse to break my shit? Because if the latter, feel free to get out of my room; if the former, my prices are reasonable and I also make combat holdouts at a fixed rate, I can get you a price sheet."

[stonedtimewitch]

Damara downs all three pills at once because she has no concerns for choking hazards. "Maybe actually, can I trust that there would be no funny shit with statues?"

She hits herself on the side of the head in an attempt to get rid of the headache. "Like no cameras or random shocks? Because it be more easy for us if there is no cycle of revenge bullshit."

[andaisq]

"Yes, that's kind of been my point here. Revenge is tedious and gets in the way of getting shit done. Anyway, in the spirit of truce I'm willing to give you half off your first piece."

[stonedtimewitch]

"I like being winner," she says, feeling the headache recede slightly. "You aren't going to be picky if I ask for anime shit are you? Because that totally all I will ask for."

[andaisq]

"Not a problem. Extra charge if you want me animating all the tentacles, though."

[stonedtimewitch]

"I feel like that would be confusing in 3d hologram form," she says, heading towards the door. "I'll send you what I want and money, whenever I get money anyway. Right now I need to find where Xan is for some exercise or something. You know where that is? Sky is there too."

[andaisq]

"You'll be going down to Arena 99, then. Right under Dunn Hall. You can just go north until you hit the big geodesic dome in the middle of campus, then east until you reach the hideous concrete building. Can't miss it."

He sits back on his bed lazily. "Also, you're like five minutes late if that's what you're doing. I recommend hustle."

[stonedtimewitch]

"Okay, thanks. By the way I would tell Sky about this little fight. They might want to know that their scrawny little boyfriend does stupid shit like that for them."

She gives him the traditional Damara good bye, a smile and a middle finger as she slams the door and then makes her way to the Arena, managing to be a full ten minutes late when she gets there. She hums a slightly inane tune as she walks in, not showing any outward signs of her headache or the drain on her energy.

[fortheliving]

Harry is sitting in the stands while five youths, including Xan, Leo, and Sky, commit aerobics.

"Xan wants me to consider you for team membership," he says without preamble. "Our sixth member isn't very reliable, so I'm open to the suggestion, but I don't know how well you'd fit with the group. What's your opinion on teamwork?"

[stonedtimewitch]

"Me?" she asks. She thinks about it for a moment and then shrugs. "If the teammates are hot and don't fuck me over somehow then I will work with them. So the fuck am I late to?"

[fortheliving]

He rolls his eyes. "Fortunately, all of your teammates are hot. Or, at least, they're all Exemplars, so they're symmetrical and they have clear skin. I can't guarantee Xan wouldn't screw you over, but you seem closest to him anyway, so what do I know? And you're not late per se, since you're not part of the team yet. But what you would have been late for if you were is the warmup exercises before they beat the hell out of each other and/or some simulated supervillain in the combat sims."

[stonedtimewitch]

"I want in on the beating the hell out of people," she says, doing a few stretches of her own. The idea of beating people up has her excited enough that she isn't going out of her way to be sexual about stretching out. "You are making this sound like the best gym class ever, don't fail to satisfy me."

[fortheliving]

"I won't, I'm sure. How experienced are you in combat? Tae kwon do classes when you were six? Street fighting? Having your My Little Ponies try to kill each other?"

[stonedtimewitch]

"I know how to fight, my ponies know to behave themselves around me," she says, not wanting to detail things further. "[Want to test it out by wrestling me to the ground?]"