A time for merriment and laughter

[refinedmaestro]

Who: Everyone in Luceti!
What: The annual musical rendition of A Midsummer Night's Dream that everyone's been waiting for with the party!
When: From 8:00 pm to later into the night.
Where: At the school gym/auditorium and the cafeteria.
Summary: The big time for the play has come, time to put it on then party!
Rating: G to PG-13 at best.

Comments

[lightningcute]

[Pao-lin almost changes the subject, for a number of reasons: she hates admitting (even just to herself) that it still bothers her, she thinks it might upset someone as sensitive as Luca seemed to be, she shouldn't talk about it when she still wasn't entirely sure that she was far enough away from Sternbild because officially Heroes weren't supposed to talk too much about what went down that winter night because having been that helpless might be bad for their image...

Well,, she thinks, I already brought it up, so I might as well say something about it.]

It's fine. [She stares down into her cup of punch.] About a year ago, me and my friends [if her co-workers hadn't been friends then, they certainly were by this point] were kidnapped by someone who made us wear explosive collars around our neck. We could deactivate them by pressing a button on the collar, but if one person did press it, then the other collars would go off. We couldn't use our powers to destroy the collars or to escape, either, because otherwise the guy who kidnapped us would just detonate all the collars himself. [She sighs a little bit at that; she probably could've short-circuited her own collar if she'd been able to use her NEXT power. Then again, it had occurred to her belatedly that she'd had just as much of a chance of accidentally setting it off in the process.]

[subsultive]

I see. [It brings back memories of seeing people in tubes, rows upon rows of them in the laboratory, and he knows it isn't the same thing (and maybe it's worse, to be used as battery power for a war machine) and he shivers. He wants to reach out and-- he doesn't know, put a hand on her shoulder or something but he hesitates, mostly because he's not bold enough to do that and because they only just met this morning. That'd be weird, wouldn't it?]

I'm sorry. It sounds terrible... [Another shiver; he knows the feelings of helplessness, too, one more than one account.] ...What kind of powers did you guys have?

[lightningcute]

Oh, we've got all sorts of powers. Nathan can create fire, Keith can control the wind, Ivan can copy the appearance of anyone or anything he's touched... [She smiles.] I can create lightning.

[subsultive]

Oh, that sounds neat! [He can do fire too! ...but he has a feeling they don't use artes like he does.] Can I see?

[lightningcute]

Uh...sure!

[Pao-lin steps away from the buffet table a bit, making sure no one's too close to her. She holds her hands out just in front of her chest, and her eyes glow electric blue.

Lightning blooms and crackles between her palms. It remains chaotic and formless for a few seconds, then suddenly forms itself into an image of a roaring dragon's head before sparking back into nothingness.]

[subsultive]

[He's speechless - it really isn't like anything he's seen before, and he definitely knows it isn't an arte.]

Wow... So it comes from inside of you?

[lightningcute]

I guess it does. [Her old sifu had told her to think of it as a physical manifestation of her life energy. While it had definitely served her well in learning to control and come to terms with her powers, she doesn't know if he's actually right.] NEXT -- that's people like me -- only got officially recognized about forty-five years ago, and so far all we've been able to find out is that it's a genetic mutation of some sort.

[subsultive]

So you've always been able to do that... [Interesting. He studies her for a moment - nothing really seemed out of the ordinary physically; you probably couldn't even tell NEXTs from regular people.] Are any of your friends in Luceti, or are you the only one?

[lightningcute]

So far I haven't seen anyone else that I know. [Mixed feelings on this: she's glad that she's apparently the only one that got taken, but it'd sure be nice to have one of the other Heroes alongside her to weather this storm.] But New Feathers don't arrive at exactly the same time, right? So maybe someone will show up later.

[subsultive]

That's right. And you'll be the most experienced if they do come, so you'll get to teach them everything. [Isn't it a nice feeling to know more than other people? Knowledge is power!]

[lightningcute]

[Teaching the other Heroes? That'll be an interesting change. As the youngest of the current roster for the past few years, she's been but the learner most of the time. But now she will be the master!]

I can introduce you to my friends, too -- they're very nice people! [Quirky, sure, with some being significantly older than she is, but very nice.]

[subsultive]

That'd be great! [New friends are always welcomed in the life of Luca Milda.] You can meet mine too -- two are already here, so it shouldn't be a problem...

[ooc: also re: that log does a pao-lin -> luca -> spada -> iria tagging order sound good? iria-mun is asleep rn since she lives in poland and etc. ' 3']

[lightningcute]

Ah, yeah, I think you mentioned them earlier. Your roommates?

[[OOC: Oh, yeah, that's fine! Sorry, should've probably discussed that earlier. Will add that to the log. :)]]

[subsultive]

Yes, that's right. [Did he mention they're a handful?? They're terrible.]

[ooc: np bro!! spada-mun and i were just discussing it]

[lightningcute]

Well, I'd definitely be glad to meet them! [She scratches the back of her neck sheepishly.] Especially because I forgot your jacket back at my room in the Welcome Center. I'll bring it by your place tomorrow.

[subsultive]

[Oh dear. He'll just... prepare himself to never live it down.] That sounds good to me. They're, um... quite a pair, I'll have to admit. [Sometimes he wonders why they're his friends.]