Tropical Stormers

[Malachite]

Renata couldn't help but feel a little out of place and intimidated as she drifted over to the tables of appetizers. She was a Stormer, but hadn't been part of that culture before. None of these people would know anything about her. Weirdly though, the whole crazy getup was kind of...empowering? No one knew her, no one would recognize her. Whatever happened here wouldn't bounce back and splash on her real life. She could be anyone. She...could BE anyone. Anyone she wanted.

That's when she spotted the gal who'd come in with the Thor guy. Hineyguard or something. Not that she was anyone to judge, but that sounded a little gay. Maybe they weren't together?

Hmm.

Normally this girl would be miles out of Renata's league...but Renata wasn't here, right? She was Mask (not Ski Mask, godfuckingdamnit), some kind of crazy space warlord. No one was out of her league.

So she cruised over to Kyria, a smile curving over her crimson-and-black face, and offered a hand.

"I don't think we've met. Call me Mask."

[Malachite]

"So Judge Steinbeck glared at Herr Walhman and firmly said: 'Enough. I see no reason to grant any more continuances.'" Reinhardt explained. "That was when I started getting a crippling headache, and bursting with light. Everything clears, but I start getting all woozy and slump on the table. The last thing I hear, is the Judge saying in that same calm firm voice, 'I will however, grant a recess.'"

Donald chuckled at that. Reinhardt Vassel was a paralegal from Bremen, Germany, in his 30s and a beneficiary of psi-type radiation. "So how did the case go?"

"We won!" Reinhardt smiled, and the two clinked beer bottles in victorious celebration. "The firm is plenty pleased with the publicity we got, though really, being able to control light isn't going to help our clients."

"But it sounds like Germany is taking the Stormers in stride." Donald observed, taking a drink. "More or less." Reinhardt agreed. "We're more low-key about it than the English, and if you'll forgive me, more calm and practical about it than the Americans."

"True." Donald admitted. "Either crazy for us or crazy hate us, no in-between."

[Malachite]

"Seawitch was what i was gonna go with originally but then I found out i could do a lot more than just the water tricks. I was limited by being in the middle of the desert." She said this while pouring Steve another drink then when she went to refill Bastion's glass she saw it was still full.

"Don't like Tequila, no worries there plenty to choose from, this Davian guy keeps an awesome bar, " she took his glass and downed it and smiled at him. Then she looped her arms into the arms of both of the big men and started them all back toward the party.

"Come on boys, let's go make all the other girls jealous."

[Malachite]

Steve grinned at the eccentric girl in the huge suit of armor.  Not just at the sight of her small head poking out from between the massive shoulder plates, but also at her cheerfully dizzy manner.  She seemed an almost classic mad-inventor trope come to life, though he reminded himself that someone who could work up a rough suit of power armor just for a party could probably, with funding and time, make a battle-ready one.  Or any manner of weapons of singular or mass destruction, for that matter.  He'd read reports about those Stormer who seemed to have enhanced intelligence and analytic skills, and whilst Kyria possessed a modicum of such enhancement Deezy seemed to have so much of it that it kind of... spilled out everywhere.

"Party's fine, luv."  he assured the hostess with a smile.  "Tell me, do I want to be standing nearby when the Death Blossom happens?"  Deezy's face screwed up cutely in exaggerated thought.

"Define 'nearby'.  I'm pretty sure the far side of the island is probably... maybe... possibly safe." she said, then grinned like a kid at Christmas.

"Great."  Steve replied dryly, rumbling a chuckle then as Emily linked arms with him and Bastion and started tugging the two large men in the direction of the main party.  "Making girls jealous?  Well, sounds like juggling grenades in a thunderstorm, but if we can survive that we might survive the Death Blossom."  He looked at Deezy as she wrrr-klomp'd alongside him.  "That armor is completely bananas." he said, unable to stop from chuckling further.  "How are you even going to eat or drink in that?"

[Malachite]

"Well I had plans for a set of articulated manipulator arms at about the hip level, BUT it's not lore-friendly and also I was running a little short on time," Deezy admitted. "So I'll hafta disembark."

Then she brightened. "OR...I could get someone to lob food at me and try to catch it in my mouth! Like the beanbag-toss game, only with food! And mouth!"

"So hey, I gotta ask..." Deezy quickly said to Steve right on the tails of her previous idea. "What are you going to do now? Stay a soldier? Join the civilian workforce?" She waggled her eyebrows. "Go rogue? Planning on using your powers for a living, or just looking for a 'normal plus' kinda life?"

[Malachite]

"It's awfully loud."  Bastion said, looking at it like it like he didn't care for it at all.  "And big.  You're easily getting in people's way and interrupting conversations as you thunder about while they're are trying to enjoy themselves.  I mean dang, Ms. Klatta, why invite everyone to your barn for a party if you're just gonna ride a bull on the dance floor?  Don't make a lick of sense to me, ma'am."

He looked to Emily and back at Deezy.  "She's not listening, is she?"

"Nope."  Emily smiled and took another shot.

[Malachite]

"We could play a round or two of 'feed the starving genius', I suppose."  Steve laughed.  "Personally, I think she'd end up with food inside there with her."

"As for my plans - pretty undefined right now.  Technically I'm still a serving soldier, but being a Stormer means they can't actually deploy me right now.  No government wants to be the first to open that particular can of worms - Stormer soldiers who can wipe countries off the map are pretty much a U.N. nightmare scenario."

"Person of Mass Destruction, that one opinion piece said, I remember."  Deezy nodded.  Steve made a face, remembering the MSNBC 'Special' on high-profile Stormers and how it had focused a segment on his abilities.  It had just stopped short of becoming a scaremongering piece.

"Yeah.  Not the best thing I've been called on a Friday night."  He shrugged as the odd group made it's way back into the main body of the party.  "Still, opinions are like arseholes - everyone's got one and most of them stink."

[Malachite]

Emily laughed and took another shot and filled glasses of those who were still drinking. 

"We're the new gods, we aren't celebrities on television, we are in the world, we are the world. Everyone is trying to figure out what to do with us, where we fit. But that's not really their problem is it?

 The problem is what do we do with what we have been given? Where do we want to be? Who do we want to be?" 

She paused and looked at the nearly empty bottle.

"This sucks, before the storm, if I'd have drunk this much I'd be so lit, I'd probably be up on the bar stripping. Now I barely have a buzz and even that is fading.

Deezy, you need to invent some thing to replace alcohol for us, that is your new priority."

[Malachite]

"Hoo, okay!" Deezy said, laughing. "First things first!"

She looked down at Bastion and said, "Of course I'm listening! I was just talking to someone else at that exact second. I'm actually sorry about the noise, I didn't realize it was that bad. I just thought it'd be a really cool costume! Anyway...won't be a problem much longer. I think pretty much everyone's here. Plus, I need my hands."

Then she waved a hand vaguely in Emily's direction.

"And as for THAT...I am way ahead of you. When I was taking breaks blueprinting out this bad boy, I did a little light reading in biochemistry and neurology and thought of a pretty good way to give drinks a bit of an extra KICK!" She poked the inside of her cheek out with her tongue for a second, then admitted, "Buuuuut Davian reminded me that everyone would have to sign waivers if we wanted to serve them, and that if a Stormer that didn't have super-enhanced metabolism tried one, even by mistake...it could be really bad. So we didn't put any out."

Deezy waggled her eyebrows at Emily.

"Wanna try one? Just a little one?"

[Malachite]

  On 11/26/2019 at 10:23 AM, Deezy Klatta said:

"Wanna try one? Just a little one?"

Emily grinned up at the armored Deezy, "Girl, you don't not have to ask twice!"

[Malachite]

"Why not just increase the percentage of alcohol by volume, if we burn it faster then a higher ABV will have a lesser effect, but we'd burn it slower, 'an according to the science people, we all have enhanced metabo-thingies."  Everyone kind of looked at the 'dumb' country boy.  "What?  Buddy of mine's paw make moonshine.  I never said I was an angel, I'm just better than average..."  He shrugged, considering his personal appraisal.  "Okay... I'm fair t'midland."

"Unless it's made from like, pure jet fuel or something, I guess."

[Malachite]

Kyria smiled at 'Mask' and shook her hand, unabashedly studying her face. "Nice to meet you. Your costume is so awesome! And looks way cooler than mine. Pirates are hot, but they had to actually be hot. Long coats are not tropical-island friendly." She pulled off her long-coat and shook out the shirt underneath, folding it over an arm. 

"I seem to have been abandoned for the time being. Which is fair since I wandered off first," she said with a chuckle. "Wanna go grab a drink?" She motioned over to the buffet and bar tent.

Renata looked down at her rather revealing costume, concealed mostly by the flowing black cloak. "Thanks," she remarked, grateful that her altered pigmentation concealed a pleased blush. She returned, "I like your outfit too though. Seriously it looks like you put a lot of effort into it." Then added, "Yeah, a drink sounds good." She moved up alongside Kyria and walked with her. "So what am I calling you?"

"Oh!" Kyria flushed, "Sorry, I guess I'm used to people knowing who I am before I even know they exist. I'm Kyria.  Uh, Stormborn. They told me I had to pick a surname for paperwork. So, Stormborn. Made the clerk twitch." She grinned, all red-head fox mischief. 

She grabbed a beer she vaguely recognized and scooped up a quick plate of finger-foods. "So, you're American, right? Like Karrie. I read they had you all cooped up like Steve and I, but let you out earlier. Thanks for paving the way. We'd've destroyed the whole row of houses on the base if they'd kept us cooped up for much longer."

Renata took a beer for herself as well and popped the top, feeling a little conspicuous...but she wasn't in the US and no one knew who she was so...yep. She took a swallow and shook her head. "Yeah, we had a guy blow his top and beat up a mountain," she said. "I guess tensions run high or something." Ren eyed Kyria speculatively and waggled her beer can at her. "Stormborn. That's like that TV show right? The dragon thing everyone was talking about?

Kyria shrugged her shoulders. "No clue. I get some cultural references, but anything from the past few years I've got nothing on. Everything else is kinda weirdly hit or miss. Guess it's whatever leftovers didn't get completely scrambled when my brain rewrote itself. But if there's a show out there about me, I'm gonna make Steve watch it with me." The last was said in obvious jest.

"Steve...that's the guy you came in with right? Are you two together?"

"Yeah, we came together. The whole pirate get-up was his idea. If this becomes a yearly thing, next time I'm going to make him dress up like a merman or something." There was that impish look again. Maybe the woman didn't know many other expressions. "Payback for boots and hot coats."

Renata chuckled, even as a familiar sting of disappointment hit her. "Crazy, huh? There's hardly any Stormers anywhere in the world...I mean, like as a percentage of everyone...and you two found each other anyway." She shrugged and took a drink. "Congrats though. I definitely think next time you should be in charge of costumes." A little smile curved her lips then. "So, yeah...I haven't really been into Stormer stuff. I don't know your bio. So what're your powers, if you don't mind my asking?"

"We didn't so much find each other as a giant ice monster started destroying things near us and then we got thrown together in a plastic bubble for weeks," Kyria said with more amusement than annoyance. She knew something was bothering Mask now, but hadn't the vaguest clue what. "And I don't really have a bio. Like literally. No one knows who I was before the Storm except Jane Doe coma patient, and I only know that because they told me after they managed to track down where I'd woken up."

"As for what I can do...." She folded her legs up under her without sitting down, her body just suspending itself in midair; she grinned. "That's the most fun. I'm a bit smarter, stronger, more perceptive, that sort of thing. Like I just got boosted and tossed out a hospital's window. Well, I did jump."

"Huh, that sounds pretty cool, I guess," Renata said, nodding. "So...that's why no one can figure out who you are? Like, if your whole body changed, your fingerprints and voice and everything changed too? As for me..." She let go of her beer can, now empty, and left it hovering in midair.  With a gentle wave of her hand, she moved it this way and that...then crushed it by clenching a fist. The flattened remains flipped into a nearby trash can.

"Ha! Neat!" Kyria looked delighted, but shook her head to answer Mask's question. "Nah, my fingerprints didn't change, at least from what they had on file. I just had pretty severe brain damage. They figure when the Storm came through and changed me, it just 'fixed' all the stuff that was broken - mangled brain and all. Doing so took out...uh, neural pathways, they said? So, no more memories from those areas of the brain.

"So, Mask, everyone asks me this question, might as well give it a try from the other side," Kyria said with a cute scrunch of her nose. "Do you have any plans on what to do with your newfound powers of beer can crushing and tossing?"

Renata grinned. "Cleaning up after sports events, probably." With a laugh and a shake of her head she said, "Actually, honestly, no fucking idea. Before all this I was in school, you know? I wanted to get into law enforcement, but I was a ways off from really doing it. I still want to do that, but...I have this feeling like having powers kind of messes it up." She shrugged. "Personally, I think it could make me really good at it...buuuut...legal issues, and public opinion issues. I dunno. RIght now I'm just going to focus on getting through school. God only knows what'll happen next, so planning seems kind of futile."

"Always plan," Kyria said more levelly. "Be flexible and open, but still plan. You want to go into law enforcement. You're American, but if the American's won't let you do something you'd probably be amazing at because you'd be amazing at it, then come over to the UK. I don't think you'd have a problem with us."

She spread her hands. "Kind of a tall ask, don't you think? Can't have your dream job, so bail on your country? I mean, what you would leave England to go do?"

Kyria shrugged and answered truthfully, "Whatever I wanted to do that they said I couldn't?" Clearly national loyalty was also a lesson lost to the amnesiac Stormer.

Renata nodded, feeling a stab of sympathy. This girl didn't have anything to leave behind. No connection. She'd lost all that. And that sucked. "I've got family...friends... I don't know. I'm the first to admit that the USA stinks for me sometimes...and for a lot of reasons...but that just makes me want to make it better, you know?"

"What about you? You've got Steve...anyone else? New friends? Maybe people from your past who remember you, even if you can't remember them yet?"

"Oh, I get mail all the time about a lost relative. Apparently I have dozens of concerned parents, cousins I 'spent my whole childhood' with, and siblings that have been searching just everywhere for me." She rolled her eyes, taking a bite of food from her plate. "No one real yet and people seem put off that I don't really care. I mean, I was in a hospital bed for three years. Even if there are people that know the old me out there, it was three years. They've moved on and I don't remember them. New friends...a few. Mostly Steve's friends, old mates of his."

"Shit," Renata said, the enormity of the situation sinking in. "That's the worst. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm the first to say family can be a giant pain in the ass, but...that's rough. People suck sometimes, and you deserve better." She wagged a finger at Kyria. "Not to get up in your business, but if most of your friends are your boyfriend's friends, you need to get out on your own more."

Kyria blinked, surprised at Mask's comment. "I, uh, don't really have anywhere to go. I haven't figured out a job yet and the few times Steve and I have been out in public for very long, things get....loud? I don't know that I could actually do most jobs I have any qualifications for. Which is to say jobs that don't need any qualifications. I'm smart, but I don't have any degrees or work history or anything. Maybe I could do construction? I basically function as a crane." She shrugged, "And I don't go to church or have old chums or anything." 

She motioned to the crowd, where she was one of the Pretty People, but not the Pretty Person, grinning. "This is the best time I've had with more people than just Steve since I woke up. I'm practically unremarkable here."

That brought another laugh from Renata. "You're a long way from unremarkable, trust me. But I get you about being recognized. There's a reason I'm going by a stupid fake name and changing my face and...other stuff for this. I lucked out, and didn't get my real face attached to what everyone saw during the Storm." She considers Kyria for a moment. "We could probably get you some kind of disguise if you wanted. I mean, I can't help with the job or degree or anything, but if you just want to hang out with me sometime without drowning in paparazzi, I could help you out with that."

That got a genuine, non-mischievous smile out of her. "That could be fun."

[Malachite]

"Why not just increase the percentage of alcohol by volume, if we burn it faster then a higher ABV will have a lesser effect, but we'd burn it slower, 'an according to the science people, we all have enhanced metabo-thingies."  Everyone kind of looked at the 'dumb' country boy.  "What?  Buddy of mine's paw make moonshine.  I never said I was an angel, I'm just better than average..."  He shrugged, considering his personal appraisal.  "Okay... I'm fair t'midland."

"Unless it's made from like, pure jet fuel or something, I guess."

Deezy shook a hand at Bastion and nodded happily. "That's actually REALLY close! Hang on, lemme ditch this thing."

She clomped over to a spot a little farther down the beach, where a small concrete square was planted on the sand. She maneuvered onto the square, then powered the suit down. A moment later, with a pneumatic hiss, bolts popped out, and the torso of the suit opened like a clamshell. And out popped Deezy in a blue bikini.

She hurried back over to where she'd left everyone.

"So I thought about just upping the alcohol concentration, but it turns out that just makes the drink taste really bad! It totally overwhelms whatever else is in there and makes it taste like you're just drinking pure alcohol! Plus, even though most of us...not all of us!...have enhanced metabolisms, there's enhanced...and there's ENHANCED. You know? Like, there's folks who visibly heal injuries up. So to make alcohol hit, there has to be a LOT...and it has to spend as little time as possible in the body before it gets where you want it to go."

She tapped her head.

"The answer? Tiny bubbles!"

Deezy laughed at that and actually sang a little bit, "...tiny bubbles...in the wine...I mean like literally. Tiny bubbles."

She cleared her throat. "The, uh, bubbles are like those capsules you get drugs in sometimes. Time release. Only they're tiny. Microscopic actually. So you don't FEEL them as you drink, and the alcohol in them doesn't mess up the flavor, but there's ENOUGH of them that they can really up the amount of booze hitting the old noggin! The shell is composed so that it will react to the specific blood composition within the brain. So they get into your blood during digestion, circulate around, and then when they get to your brain they rupture...and suddenly the BAC right in that spot spikes."

With another laugh, she smacked her hands together. "BAM! Super drunk. Or, you know, if you're a regular human...probably dead."

Deezy then gestured at the refreshment table and nodded at Emily.

"Pick whatever you want out, and I'll do my thing, and you can try it. If you're sure. I don't want to hurt you. We DO have trauma teams stationed...uh..." She looked around. "Here and there. Out of the way. Just in case. But still."

[Malachite]

"Oh, not thank you ma'am," Bastion raised a hand at the offered counter.  "I don't drink."

Bastion looked at the armor, then the booze, then back to Deezy.  "Miss Klatta, ma'am, pardon my asking, and I hope I'm not crossing a line here, but," he shook a lazy finger at the armor.  "If you can make anything you want, why are you wasting your time with gawdy suits or armor and super booze?  Seems like a waste of talent when you could be providing homes for the homeless, making free medication for people who have no insurance and companies are charging a thousand dollars a pill.  Blankets to those who need them, clothes, plasma for hospitals, presents under a tree, a new roof, or redo someone's old pluming, heck, I don't know... it just seems people could benefit a lot more from your gift than what you're doing with it."

His cheeks flushed, "My apologies, I didn't mean it like that, that came out sounded rude."

[Malachite]

"Nah, it's okay!" Deezy assured him. "It's because THIS is a party. And because solving all that other stuff isn't just about whipping stuff up out of nowhere, you know? People aren't homeless because there's no homes. There's a looooooooot of institutional and social stuff going on that factors into it! Pharma isn't quite the same set of obstacles, but it's a similar idea. Scarcity of resources, at least in the context of the United States, not the source of our ills. Which is not to say that I'm giving up on the situation, just saying it's a bit more complicated than you might think!"

"I do have plans though. This party is part of them. So, in a roundabout sort of way, making a cool costume and serving super-drinks to super-people is actually helping solve those things."

"In theory at least. And I know where you're going next!" Deezy pointed. "What about places that aren't the United States! Places where scarcity is TOTALLY a source of ills! On it too. The key is building an infrastructure though. My powers to whiff things up aren't unlimited. But the power of money and influence to distribute things to where they need to be?"

She winked. "Much less so."

[Malachite]

"She is," Davian said, sidling up to the group after having heard Bastion's suggestions. "Trying to help, I mean. She's been spending a lot of her time trying to figure out how to make new technologies that'll give lots more than just one person at a time those homes, food, medicine, all of that. She just does also sometimes needs a, what did you call it, Deezy, a brain cleanser?"

He pointed over to the drinks. "For example, the whole thing with the alcohol? It's not really about getting drunk. It's about medicine for people that can't take a Tylenol or get anesthetic now. Imagine if one of you all with superquick healing needed surgery to remove an object that got stuck in their body and healed over. Or just needed their gallbladder or appendix removed. Right now, they'd have to do that without anesthetic and with constant cuts to get it done. But Deezy's hoping her bubbles can be used to get anesthetic that will work, maybe even something that could slow down or stop the healing factor long enough to get the medical work done. Or be used for psychiatric medicine, given how much the world is looking to all of you to solve their problems and be their boogie man at the same time."

He pointed up at the mech costume. "She got plans on her work desk for using variations of that to do underwater exploration, search and rescue in caves or forest fires, dangerous places. She's got some larger plans for ones that can function sorta like cranes and roofers on their own, keep people from having to climb up on roofs or beams to do construction. Those go along with these modular home designs she's been working on to use with the souped-up 3D printer idea. Trust me, she's trying to save the world. She just also takes a little bit of time to herself so she doesn't burn out before she makes good progress."

"One person, one blanket, one dose of medicine, it can make all the difference to that person," Davian said with a nod to Bastion. He gave Deezy a look that had hints of both a crush and wonder in it. "She's trying to change the whole paradigm, though. Change the world on a grand scale so that there are always enough blankets, houses, medicine, presents - all of it."

[Malachite]

"Things change, sir, one person at a time.  One act of kindness, one act of decency and one act charity is like a pebble in a pond.  Wars are won by one person saying 'if not me, than who' and then other minds change, people start to self reflect and understand that they are, and always will be the change they're trying to create.  We're just to dang selfish to realize it."  He looked at the two of them.  "But there's not profit in one person at a time, is there?  There's no profit in charity.  You don't need a pebble in a pond, you want a current to sweep through, corner the market, and make you rich.  Any other way and you what?  Violate monopoly laws, destabilize economies?  Can't have free in a world where everyone is trying to get rich, can we?"

Once again Bastion demonstrated his down home, Montana, corn fed lack of a filter.

He extended his hand to Davian, which seemed like a completely fake name one would find in a trashy romance novel written or read by desperate housewives.  Probably contained vampires and werewolves or something.  "Bastion, sir.  Heard you were hiring, and I find myself needing work.  I'm not super smart, but I'm strong, so if you're needing someone for construction or wreckage, I suppose I could do that.  I'm only sixteen, but I can work for less and get it under the table, that's not a problem.  I'm trying to help my folks out, after I got all this," he motioned down his body to imply his powers after the Storm.  "We've sorta lost everything.  Is there an office I come to to fill out an application?"

[Malachite]

"Dude, if I wanted money, I'd just build a skyscraper made of gold," Deezy chuckled. "Money's just a means to an end. And the end isn't 'making more money.' At least not for me."

She shrugs.

"But whatever, it kinda sounds like you already made up your mind about this. We'll prove ya wrong."

Deezy glanced at Davian and added, "And he's not entirely wrong. I mean, helping a billion people in ten years does kind of overlook the ten thousand you could have helped now. Could be worth looking at shorter term projects too."

"Anyway! I believe the lady..."

She reached out to touch the drink Emily had chosen.

"...wanted a drink."

"Oh! And as for the job, yeah! Of course! That's one reason we wanted to meet everyone here. Circulate the flyers, so to speak."

[Malachite]

Ryan had finally finished bringing the last of the attendees to the island Soiree, and head towards the gathering where Deezy and Davian were.   he'd made abit of small talk with each guest, welcoming them, and  answering questions about the facilities.  He caught the tail end  of Deezy's comments, and nodded. They would make the world better together, that much he knew.  He also knew all too well that proceeding quickly would be folly, simply because humanity wasn't ready, and those in power would react poorly if they saw their fortunes and powerbases threatened to overtly.   They'd have to act tactically and strategically, it was something they'd already discussed at length.  

[Malachite]

Emily held the drink that  Deezy had magicked, cautiously sniffed it before taking a small sip, then she looked at it again.

"I don't taste any difference, or feel anything."  She downed the rest of the drink in one long swallow, grabbed another from a passing waiter and held it out for Deezy again, then looking at Bastion said, "Hey Superboy, the world is screwed up place, and maybe thats why we are here now. It's shit that some ashholes took advantages of your folks with this..shtuff, " she took another swallow of laced alcohol and draped an arm across Bastion's shoulders, "but we are gonna get your folksh place back and we argonesa shtraighten out all the shtuff that ...is fucked up all over." 

Emily swayed a bit and both Bastion and Weatherman reached out and steadied her.

"Holy fuck, Deezheey," she held up the empty glass she didn't realize she had drained, "whatchufuckputinthisanyway..."

[Malachite]

Ryan chuckled as the drink hit Emily.  "That's a good one.  The first batch put me flat on my ass."   He smiled as he admit to having been the guinea pig for the drinks, knowing that he was like Emily, in that Alcohol and pretty much everything else had little to no effect on him.

He smiled to Bastion, then looked to Davian, who nodded.  "I'm fairly certain we can help your family get your farm back, and for what it's worth, I am sorry that they lost it in the first place.  We can work out the details later if you like, and of course as you're a minor, we'll have to get your parents' consent if you choose to work with us."   It was a good deal as he'd already stated his willingness, and he was already prepared to right this wrong himself if he had to, though he knew his partners already saw the benefits of helping Bastion outweighed any negatives.  

Ryan wanted to help him because he'd gotten a raw deal, and  he knew what that was like.

[Malachite]

Deezy watched Emily with rapt fascination, then burst into giggles. "Oh damn you really drank the whole thing all at once there, didn't ya?"

When Emily started showing signs of inebriation she produced a little flashlight pen from her pocket and shined it into her eyes.

"Dosage might still be a tich high," she concluded to herself. "No one wants to get crap-faced on one drink. Still, pretty good guess for a first try. Lets see how fast you can burn that off before we go to second trial. Still! That's a good result. I was concerned the beads wouldn't get into the bloodstream that fast, but it looks like they're small enough this time around."

She turned to beam at the others. "Beads! Good for getting superpeople drunk, might also cure most forms of cancer someday. Also, archaic form of currency. Who knew, right?!"

[Malachite]

That got a genuine, non-mischievous smile out of her. "That could be fun."

"Definitely." Renata paused thoughtfully, then said, "So...I asked if you and Steve were together, and you said you 'arrived together.' Which is an answer, but not quite to the question I meant to be asking."

She steeled herself against disappointment. Better to rip the band-aid off early though. Kyria seemed like a lot of fun, regardless of her status or orientation. Once Ren knew she was off-limits, they'd be free to just friend it up, no confusion or awkwardness.

"Is he your boyfriend? Fiance? Anything like that?"

[Malachite]

Steve rumbled with laughter as Emily went from distressingly sober to sloppily drunk mid-sentence, though he did ensure that she still had her footing, braced against Bastion though she mostly currently was, as he removed the second drink from her hand and took a swallow to test it.  It was a sweetish cocktail, which made him grimace a little, but this was for science so he endured.

"Hey thas'sh'mine."  Emily protested, grinning up at the well-built Brit even as her hand tested the firmness of Bastion's shoulder and found it not at all wanting.  "D'you Shtormer guys all get ripped n'shit?" She asked, peering up through her lashes at Bastion as she leaned on him.  With effort, she focused on enunciating her thoughts coherently.  "Like, were you ninety-pound weaklings before and then 'bam! muscles for miles!'?"

"Pretty much the same as I used to be, looks-wise."  Steve shrugged as he took another swig from the glass he'd appropriated.  He felt the familiar (though not lately) haze of alcohol interacting with his brain, then took a third swallow, draining the glass.  "Cheeky vintage, that." he nodded approvingly to Deezy.  "Though you definitely want to lower the dosage.  Two mouthfuls for a pleasant buzz is a bit strong.  Lets see how quickly we sober up and I'll let you spike me a real drink."

[Malachite]

"Careful Miss Thompson," Bastion supported his companion rather easily, if not a bit awkwardly.  Super strength didn't mean everything was easier, it was just not as heavy and people were notoriously squirmy critters.  He slithered an arm around her waist and held her close to him.  "I got ya.  Just, hold on and quit squirmin'."

"An, no ma'am," he replied to her question.  "I was this big 'fore the storm.  In fact, the storm didn't give me muscles, it just let me lift heavier things."

"An the government relocated us, so there isn't any real way to get our property back.  Clear as I understand it, when they move people the land they own become the property of the government, like a kid becoming a ward of the state.  No point in letting us relocate and go into a relocation program if we're just going to keep our old house.  Even if we had it, all our houses are gone, so we got no way of makin' a living."  He shrugged.  "Papers were signed, that means it's all legal and whatnot.  Ain't much to be done, which is why I need work and I don't need anyone's permission.  Child labor laws are for human children written by humans for humans.  Like that old guy said in those movies... 'we're gods among insects'.  Human's can't tell gods what to do, they're too stupid, they just run around in the name of gods and beat up and degrade homosexuals, cut off people's heads and mutilate women.  Frankly, between us and the trees, humanity isn't the most creditable source when it comes to setting a good example of how people should act, let alone rules and guidelines for decision making.  If I wanna work, I'll work.  Way I see it, as long as I'm not destroying things willy-nilly then ain't nobody need be concerned with what I'm doing."

"I want to use my abilities to help people, good people.  The governments and companies of the world have no right to tell me whether I can or can't do that.  If I want to help, I will.  They don't like it, well, they can go cry about it."  He said sternly.  "It's about time this world had someone looking out for it that wasn't owned by a corporation or crooked or just looking to make a profit on other people's misfortune.  I plan to be that guy.  The guy who helps the world and if that bothers the people in power, well, chances are they're part of the problem, and we don't need em' anyway."