2011-04-19: Performance And Powers

Players:

Aiden_icon.jpg Index_icon.jpg Rashmi_icon.jpg Star_icon.jpg Tabitha_icon.jpg

Summary: It's another day in Union Square but with mutants! Fun ensues!

Date: Apirl 19, 2011

Log Title:Performance And Powers

Rating: PG


NYC - Union Square

Always bustling with life is Union Square, with its large statue of George Washington standing in the center. Live music, dancers, artists, activists, vendors, and more can all be seen here on a daily basis. There are even some tables set up for chess games. The Green Market can be found here, selling fresh fruit, breads, vegetables and other farm products. Union Square has more of a younger feel as most the kids who hang out here have that artistic, indie look to them, making Union Square one of the more open minded parks in the city.


Towards the north side of the park Aiden has set up a small cd player that's playing a sort of techno song. To the beat of the music Aiden is doing a sort of dance with two ropes with a weighted ball on the end. Since he doesn't have enough space to practice in his apartment he's come to Union Square where there's more space. He doesn't care that he's getting odd looks since his large wings are splayed out behind him. There's a rhythm and grace to his dance as every move is done smoothly as he seems to use every part of his body in his dance.

Index is standing off to the side where people are less likely to bump into him, looking down at his cellphone and texting. He glances up frequently, to be aware of his surroundings, and his eyes fall upon the dancer. The man closes his cellphone and approaches Aiden, just to get a better look at the dance he's doing and hear the music that it's playing to.

An afternoon away from the school is just what the doctor called for. Well… Not really, but it sure feels good for Star to get away for a little while and explore the city again. Dressed in jeans, a light weight purple sweater, and a pair of black sneakers, the teenage empath is just wandering, looking at different vendors. The sound of music has her looking over in Aiden's direction curiously, wary caution flowning around her as she keeps an eye on the people around her. She blinks a couple of times in awe at the sight of the winged man dancing and moves closer, her hands shoved into her pockets, so that she can watch for a little while.

Early evening in Union Square, and Rashmi threads through the passersby, a canvas tote resting next to her battered and unsecured old bookbag. Smiling and nodding to the occasional chess-player waiting for his opponent to move, she slows as the spectacle of Aiden's practice, particularly the vivid blue wings moving in time to his steps, pulls her out of her personal thoughts. Pursing her lips as though to whistle to herself, she edges through the crowds, making her way closer to Aiden's spot.

When the song ends so does Aiden as it seems he's choreographed the dance to the song. The 'tattoos' that are visible are a light green colour at the moment. When he's done he goes over to pick up a bottle of water and starts to drink from it. He puts the two weighted ropes into a back pack and sits on the ground. As he smooths down the front of his hair he looks around, spotting Star. He gives a wave and warm smile to Star, recognizing her from the park the other day.

Index notices Rashmi's approach, and he moves to get into conversational distance. "He's a pretty good dancer," he comments, nodding his head towards Aiden as he finishes the song. "Though… not the best." He puts his hand gently on his own chest so there is no question who he is talking about. "But still, good showmanship."

There's a faint blush at being recognized and Star gives a little wave in response, walking close enough that she can talk without yelling, "Hey. Is that the kind of stuff you do in your show?" She reaches up to tuck her hair back behind one ear, not having noticed that one of the people she keeps glancing at is Rashmi. Not yet, anyway.

Rashmi chuckles, the corners of her lips quirking upward at Index's preening. "Well, maybe," she murmurs, lifting a shoulder. "But that's still really impressive. Lots better than the kids with the little glowsticks you see messing around on Coney Island… And besides," she goes on, nodding toward Aiden's striking wings and tattoos, "If nothing else? He can draw a crowd from a ways back, I bet." Star's wave catches her eye, and her smile grows slightly. "Oh good… she's making friends."

Aiden nods to Star. "Yes, but usually those ropes are on fire. Well the ends are. Because of that I have to be able to dance it in my sleep so I don't endanger myself or anyone else." He explains. "So how you've been, you didn't seem so hot when I met you, things looking up?"

Index nods at Rashmi and says, "Indeed, flowering out, meeting new people, it's very nice, I'm very proud of her. Who is she?" He puts his phone in his pocket, but actually inserts it into his inventory when his hand isn't visible anymore. "It's nice to see mutants who're open about who they are," he notes.

Star's eyes widen slightly at the thought of the ends of the rope being on fire, "Wow…" She smiles a little, "That's gotta be something to see!" She shrugs, "I'm alright. Just getting caught up in school right now." She pales a little at the mention of her not having been doing well when she met the older mutant and shakes her head, "Just trying to deal with stuff." She never seems to stop looking around, another little smile appearing when she spots Rashmi talking to an unknown man. The other girl gets a little wave, but she doesn't approach.

"Star," Rashmi says quietly, "a friend from my old school. She's been gone awhile, Nigeria… sort of hit her pretty hard." While hardly an operation by any sense of the word, Rashmi had technically qualified as a prisoner of war, and being a student under SHIELD required a debriefing at the very least. As Star spots her, she straightens, returning the wave. "Hi, Star! Who's your friend, he's really talented!"

Aiden nods. "Well getting caught up in school is good…I guess. I wouldn't know." He says sheepishly. "And like I said, come down to Coney Island sometime, I perform there a lot." Then as Rashmi approaches he offers a hand. "This friend is Aiden. Nice to meet you and thanks for the compliment. Years of practice." He says with a sagenod.

Index's expression becomes more serious about what Rashmi says and he gives a single wordless nod. He approaches the others and says, "Hello, I'm Index, I know it's an unusual name, but the less said about it, the better. I was just watching you perform, great job."

Another mutant comes along, making her way down along the back of the park; perhaps trying to generally avoid the masses of people, and really not having much success. Tabitha's tail sweeps the air behind her as she walks brisquely, having given up the goth outfit for now in favor of jeans, a leather jacket, and a t-shirt that leaves her belly bare. The teddy-bear backpack slung over her shoulder hangs in a way that suggests a couple of books reside within it, as she comes around a corner and comes into view. Her large ears perk up as she spots several people she knows, and she smoothly changes course, as her expression brightens considerably. "Rashmi! Aiden, Star," she greets as she gets close enough, eventually coming to a halt. "And someone new. Hi there."

Star opens her mouth to offer an introduction, but is beat to the punch. She presses her lips together for a moment before it occurs to her to introduce the other girl, "This is Rashmi. She used to go to the school I go to now." That's not the whole story, but it's a decently short version of how she knows her. She nods, the faintest hint of excitement bubbling up around her, "Yeah, of course I'll come. Maybe I can get Cloud to go with me this weekend." She pauses for a moment, a hint of sheepishness mingling with the excitement, "I've honestly never gone to Coney Island…" Even though she's been here for months. She cringes a little when Index approaches, a spike of fear jumping up around her before she can get control of herself, and backs away half a step, "Um… Hi." Then the rat girl arrives and she takes a calming breath, just barely managing to get a grip on her emotions enough that she isn't ready to run away screaming, "Hi, Tabitha."

Rashmi takes Aiden's hand, shaking once and smiling, glancing up between the man's wings as Tabitha calls out. "Hi Tabitha!" she says, letting go of Aiden's hand and patting Star's shoulder. "It's okay," she murmurs gently in the girl's ear, "I know him. He's a really good guy." Clearing her throat, she looks back to the tattooed man, bobbing her head. "You work down at Coney Island? I'd love to see a show, definitely."

"Pleasure to meet you Index, and you as well Rashmi. And thank you very much." Aiden says nodding his head at Index. "Don't worry, won't ask about the unusual name, I like it though. I like unique names. Like I was telling Star, when I perform the ends of the ropes are usually on fire so it looks a lot better then. I'm a fire dancer." He smiles at Star and gives her a friendly wink. "Well that's more reason for you to come. Hey Tabitha, nice to see you again."

Tabitha's attention piques. "Fire dancer? What's that? It sounds really cool, though." She flashes a grin, big front teeth and all. "Index, hunh? I think it's cool. I mean half the time I go by Patches, I can't hardly criticize even if I did want to." She shrugs, and hooks her thumbs in her pants pockets. "I got a little tired of studying," seh explains, glancing sideways at Rashmi. "When I realized I'd read three pages without actually registering any words in my brain, I figured it was time to stop."

Index nods at Aiden and says, "Oh, I imagine that /would/ be quite a show. I find fire pretty entrancing, it dances backup nicely." There is not much else to say on the matter. He nods at Star politely, and replies, "Hi," because he has no intention of scaring the empath any more than she already seems to be. He repeats, "Patches. Interesting handle. You know, it's always good to take breaks while studying. Though usually short breaks."

Star nods, "I'll do my best to get out there this weekend." She flushes a little and grimaces, "I kind of snuck out tonight. I'd promised Cloud I wouldn't go out by myself, but I just wanted to get away for a little while." And she's a lot more observant than she used to be, so… She gives Index a little wave in responce to that 'hi', nodding at Rashmi's assurance that he's alright, "Sorry. I'm still pretty jumpy sometimes." More like all the time.

Rashmi bobs her head. "No, it's okay," she says to Star, then looking to Aiden with a broad smile. "I'll have to ask my boyfriend if he wants to go to the Island this weekend, then. You dance on your own, or part of an act maybe?"

"Fire Dancing it's dancing with an object…that's on fire. Best way of putting it I guess. I also breath fire and swallow swords and do some escape artistry." Aiden says. "Blue Bird is what I go by, well my show name. It's kind of not daring or astonishing sounding but it was a nickname given to me by someone whose very much an older sister to me many years ago. So I keep it for sentimental reasons." He then answers Rashmi's questions. "Years ago it was part of an act now most the stuff I do is solo. I've only been here for six months so I'm still getting used to the other performers."

"Plenty of performers in this town," comments Index. "That's kind of what I like about it. I've always been a fan of these kinds of displays of talent, whether part of an act or unstructured. I'm sort of a drama teacher though, so…" the man waves his hands around like he's totally demonstrating something. He nods at Star and smiles, "Totally fine, I don't mind."

The talk of alternate names has Star flushing, but she remains silent on the subject. She nods, runing her fingers through her hair and just listening to the conversation around her for the moment.

"I bet I could tightrope-walk," the rat girl throws in with a bright expression. "I've been way more nimble since I picked up mutant powers than I ever used to be. I'm still not quite used to it." She giggles softly, and shifts her hands to rest on her back to either side of the base of her tail. "There's a bit of a story behind Patches, but it's kind of long and uhm… not very interesting, really." She shrugs her shoulders. "I think Blue Bird is cool, thoug. And yeah, breaks from studying are good. Otherwise I'd transform from a rat into some kind of worm."

"Blue Bird," Rashmi repeats after ducking Index's broad gestures, glancing at the strikingly blue wings and nodding. "I'll definitely remember that. When d'you usually perform? Just so I know, I like the excuse to go to Coney." At Tabitha's remark, the redhead raises an eyebrow, smirking quietly. "…So, wait, what's wrong with studying too much?" This, from the law student no less.

"Well it depends on what you're studying, I mean school work, I can't relate to studying in regards to that but it's taken me years to get down what I do." Aiden says. "Tightrope walking….we never did that with our act." He says sounding intrigued by the idea. "Well if the story means something to you it's interesting. And I perform mostly at night, sometimes during the day. I'm there about five days a week, I have Mondays and Thursdays off." He then raises his drawn on eyebrows at Index. "Drama teacher, that's pretty impressive. So you know a lot about plays and stuff?"

"Oh, yeah, I'd say so. /Personally/ I prefer musicals, because they're so much more fun, but I know lots about other forms of stage plays," explains Index, nodding at that, "I'm not sure if it's a really impressive position, though. Kind of, well, okay mostly." He looks between Rashmi and Tabitha and says, "Well, nothing wrong with a bit of overtraining when it comes to schooling. But yeah, breaks are important, too."

Tabitha's eyebrows rise raise as well, mirroring Rashmi's. "My brain can only handle one thing at a time," she replies. "Well, actually two, since I'm a girl, but I'm not a mom so it doesn't go past that yet. So I need a break now and then or my brain says to me, 'Tabitha, stop this now or I'm going to make you stir-crazy." She shrugs her shoulders, and shifts to rest her weight on one hip. "I don't think I ever see myself as a teacher, but I think that's cool that you do it," she observes, glancing to Index. "And I'll have to come see your show sometime, Aiden. Sword-swallowing sounds pretty dangerous though."

"I… okay," Rashmi says to Tabitha, subsiding, "I sort of can't have quite that problem. That makes sense, then." She seems about to say more, but 'sword-swallowing' grabs her attention causing her to glance between Aiden and Index, grinning and nudging the older man. "See *that* takes a special kind of talent, sir," she says with a chuckle. "So yeah, definitely gonna have to see if i can drag Travis down."

"It is dangerous and takes a lot of time to learn and master. I haven't mastered it yet and I started when I was sixteen. Well learning how to do it." Aiden explains. "I'm not trying to show off my ego by saying that but it's not an easy art to learn." He smiles at Rashmi. "That's great, I love an audience." He then looks at Index. "You know, I've never seen a musical. I've seen some small stage plays at fairs but that's about it."

"Never seen a musical?" repeats Index, "Kind of a shame. But I guess I have strong opinions on those sorts of thing. I've seen a few different kinds of stage performances, at street performance festivals or what have you. It's always interesting." He looks over towards Rashmi and says, "I could probably swallow a sword. But only if it were made out of cake… That's indeed pretty impressive."

"Yeah, I just start going stir crazy, anyway… That's why I'm out here tonight." Instead of safely locked away at the school, "And I'm sure going to try to drag Cloud out to see you, Aiden." Star smiles a little, still warily watching the crowd, "I've seen a couple of school plays, but that was a couple of years ago." She finger combs her hair forward over her shoulder, absently comforting herself with the simple feel of untangled hair running through her fingers.

Tabitha hunhs softly. "Yeah, I uhm… sorta almost killed myself the first time I tried popping a wheelie on my bike," she admits, and the insides of her ears color as she blushes. "Bu it's all good! I just needed a new leather jacket and about three hundred bucks to fix the bike, so I got off pretty light. Dad was pissed." She shrugs, and plants her hands back down in her pockets. "How many things… *can* you think about?" she asks, tilting her head to eye Rashmi. "You haven't mentioned this before." The rat girl giggles, tail swaying from side to side behind her. "I never really got to go to any musicals, there never were any good ones where I grew up. …And, you know, having wings must be pretty awesome. I'd love to fly."

"About, um… half a dozen, I think? Sort of a side effect of my powers, it was a pain to get a handle on at first," Rashmi answers with a shrug. "Some people thought I was a twit, when it was just a bunch of thoughts all getting jumbled up on their way to my mouth, y'know? But musicals…" Rashmi grins, shaking her head. "Well, you're in the home of *Broadway,* and all those off-avenue shows. You *gotta* find *something* you'd probably like to see. And you could sit in the back, Aiden," she continues, turning to the younger man. "I'm pretty sure there's at least one or two or a dozen houses that can help you get comfortable. If only because helping customers is good business, right?"

Aiden laughs at Index's comment about cake sword swallowing. "I've heard their great but I just never got the chance to see one. Also sitting like that for an extended period of time, my wings get really cramped up." He smiles at Tabitha with a shrug. "Well I do love my wings and I love being able to fly. That's why I never bothered learning how to drive, that and it was really hard to find time to learn to drive. I mean Alejandro could have taught me but never really cared to." He looks at Rashmi. "So are you a mutant too? I only asks cause you mentioned powers. And honestly I don't know what anything is about there. I'd have to find someone, maybe you Index, to recommend what's good?"

"Oh, there are plenty of good shows currently playing. What kinds of shows do you think you'd like? Something funny and lighthearted, or maybe something a bit darker strikes your fancy?" says Index, tilting his head slightly. He then looks towards Rashmi as she's questioned on the nature of her powers, and he scratches his head lightly.

Star winces at Tabitha's mention of wrecking her bike and shakes her head, "That sounds painful…" Rashmi gets a look of sympathy for the thought of being thought badly of because of her powers, but the empath just nods in agreement about Aiden needing to find a good musical to watch, "I'm sure they'd help you. It's only right, after all." She offers her own opinion of a good musical, "I saw Wicked not too long ago. It was really good!"

Tabitha perks an eyebrow upwards. "Well, hell," she replies, and laughs softly. "Rashmi, I am going to have to try copying you sometime and see what happens. If you don't mind, I mean. I need to practice… and the onyl way I can practice using my powers is kinda… well, to use 'em." She shrugs lightly. "I wouldn't mind going to a musical… but last time I tried to go see a movie I walked up to the box office and the poor girl sittign behind the neat glass booth… uhm… fainted. So I decided to just wait for TV instead."
"I also don't know if I can afford to go to a show but Wicked…I'll remember that name and use the internet to look it up." Aiden is very proud that he's recently learned how to use the internet. "I haven't been to the movies since I was a kid and I don't own a TV either. I…" He rubs the back of his head for a bit. "I really am out of the loop when it comes to technology and pop culture honestly. But I don't see why she would have fainted." He rolls his eyes thinking people shouldn't have a problem with how Tabitha looks. "Well I gotta run. I have my other job I gotta get to. I wait tables at a Bistro in Mutant Town, not as awesome as a fire breather though." He says smiling. "Please meeting you Rashmi, Index and it was great running into you again Star and Tabitha. You all have a wonderful night." He says gathering his stuff before flying up into the sky.

"Good to meet you too!" Rashmi calls, waving up to Aiden, then turning to the others with a shrug. "Iunno, Tabitha… I mean you could try, but, that's only half of it. The other half of the powers, well… It's half a dozen miniature psychic wrecking balls that need all that brainpower to keep them orbiting where they should be. So sure, I wouldn't mind… just, y'know, maybe wanna do it in a real wide-open space. But um, yeah, Wicked? That *did* look good, I still haven't seen that yet."

Index nods and says, "Wicked's indeed a pretty good one." Index raises his brow slightly at Tabitha, and asks, "Are you some kind of copycat, then?" He puts his hands in his pocket and shrugs.

Star nods, smiling a little at Aiden's pride in his new learned skill. The thought of not having a TV or going to movies has her somewhat amazed, though, "I couldn't imagine not having a TV… I don't think I'd survive without being able to watch some of the shows I keep up with." She pouts, disapointment filling the air, "I can't believe they've canceled Smallville, though." Then Aiden is leaving and she gives him a little wave, "Good to see you again, too, Aiden. Catch you later." She just listens for a moment to Rashmi's explination about her power, nose wrinkling a little from the mental comparison to her own power, "Well, at least you've learned to control yours." Unlike her. She grins a little at the comment about Wicked and nods, "Yeah, it was great! I wouldn't mind seeing it again, honestly."

Tabitha looks up at Aiden as he makes his exit and watches for a moment, then tilts her gaze back to the conversation at hand. "I never watched Smallville," she admits. "There weren't many shows my Dad didn't let me watch, but Smallville was one of them. I thought it was lame-o at the time, too." She shrugs her shoulders dismissively. "Oh well, whatever. And, yeah, I'll uhm, save that until sometime when I'm out in some wide-open place with you, Rashmi, I…" She trails off, and bites her bottom lip. A strange look comes over her face, and she reaches up behind herself to scratch at her back, under her jacket. "I uhm… I think I've made a mistake here," she murmurs, very quietly.

Rashmi chuckles at Star, shaking her head. "I never got into most TV… but then I've always been this huge bookworm, so I never felt like I was missing out on all that much…" She trails off, as Tabitha scratches at her back, frowning in concern at her words. "Tabitha, are you o—" And the leap of logic is made, apparently, her gaze darting up toward where Aiden went, and back down to the girl. "….you copied Aiden, didn't you." Wincing, she takes a step or two back, glancing at Index. "…She might need someone to take her back to the school, sir… oh, and Tabitha? …Um. If you like that jacket, um… get it off."

Index quickly pulls his cellphone out of his inventory, opening it up to check the time and closing it again and genuinely slipping it into his pocket, before reaching his hand out quickly to touch Tabitha's jacket. Without so much as a sound, it simply vanishes, tucked into the free space of the man's inventory. He glances around and scratches beneath his ear and says, "Not much else I can do for you…"

The jacket vanishes from Tabitha's body, leaving her clothed in the belly-shirt. She drops her arms to her sides, and looks back and forth between Rashmi, Star, and Index. "I didn't even really mean to," she protests, as her eyes go wide. "It was dumb, I normally have way better control than that. I—" She takes a step back from teh group as she speaks, and never quite finishes her sentence. "Oh, FUCK!" she declares abruptly. She sucks in a deep breath, and drops to her knees, clutching at her chest as her breathing picks up, and her eyes bulge with a spike of agony and terror. Her lips curl back, and she sucks in a deep breath before issuing forth an ear-rending scream. Her hands go down to the ground as she pitches forwards; and then the back of her shirt splits open in line with each shoulderblade, as brilliant, feathered wings burst from her back and swiftly expand to full size.

Rashmi shies away from the scream, darting her eyes around as the passersby pull away from the screaming girl, and hurrying to kneel at Tabitha's side and curl an arm around her shoulders. "Okay," she says quietly, "Okay. Just breathe, okay…? In and out, deep, slow breaths. I know it hurts," she murmurs, reaching up to stroke the pained girl's hair. "I know. It'll go away. Just think about breathing. Pull in the air, push it out…"

Index stands back from the expanding wings and he raises his brows, letting Rashmi do all the touchy feely supportive girly stuff. He glances at the passersbys and makes sure to keep too many prying eyes from approaching the girl in pain.

"I really liked that show. I used to watch Supernatural, but I haven't been able to get into it since back before Thanksgiving." Star shudders a little at the memory of that month spent dead in another dimension. Then Tabitha is squirming. Her eyes widen slightly as she watches Index make the rat girl's jacket vanish, taking a deep, almost gasping, breath as the younger girl's terror hits her. There's a little whimper of fear and the empath takes half a step back, looking around frantically, before she just sort of digs in. Her shoulders hunch a bit and she quickly steps forward, dropping down to kneel beside the panicked girl, reaching out to hesitantly try to rest a hand on her shoulder and doing her best to calm herself so that she can try to calm the pained girl, "Calm down, Tabitha. You'll be alright. It's okay."

She looks up at Rashmi and Index for a moment, her eyes slate gray with worry, before focusing again on the panicked girl just as the wings erupt form her back, "Woah!" She falls back on her butt, blinking in surprise. For once, she's not paying any attention to the other people around her, just focusing on the three people that are closest to her.

The rat girl's chest heaves as she gulps down ragged breaths of air; the fur on her cheeks is left damp, as tears stream from her eyes, and she wimpers openly, still crouched down on all fours. Her shirt is thoroughly ruined, shredded open at the back and hanging loosely off her body in tatters. She settles back on her legs, and sits up slowly, clutching her right hand to her chest over her heart. Tabitha coughs, and shakes her head as she slowly gets her breathing under control, and shifts her hand again to wipe at her eyes. "That was… my whole body," she gasps. "Everything hurt. *Everything*. It's dieing down… now. Never felt… anything hurt that much, before." She coughs once more, and pinches at the bridge of her muzzle, clenching her eyes shut. "Bonehead… bonehead…. bonehead…"

"I know," Rashmi murmurs. "I guessed it would be. It's okay, though… it's just pain. Once you've felt it, you can be ready for it. You can even think over it, if you know it's coming. Just stay there, wait for everything to settle… and um… remember that it's going to be just as bad the other way… So, um…" The redhead looks up at Index and Star, eyes pained and sympathetic, especially when she turns her gaze to Star. Rashmi knows what it's like to deal with hurt you can't stop from coming, and as she looks at Star, it's clear she imagines the other girl has dealt with it too, just as long ago. "Sir…? She's a student, d'you think we could call for a pick-up? I don't know how long it'll be, and if we're not back by the time she goes back…" She trails off, letting the Agent fill in the blanks.

Index nods at Rashmi and raises his cellphone, pressing a single button on it before tucking it back away. He nods at Tabitha and says, "I'm sorry that you had to go through so much pain, but Rashmi's right, we should get you home. Might be able to find something that'll help so it won't be so bad…" He glances between the girls and approaches Tabitha to return her coat out of his inventory, in case she wants to stay decent, and slips his phone back into the inventory. "They should be here right away."

Calm surrounds Star as she finally gets control of herself. She gives Tabitha's shoulder a little comforting rub, "You're going to be alright… It was just an accident, right?" She doesn't really know what to say to comfort the other girl, but she just concentrates on calm and comfort.

Tabitha shakes her head, and waves off the jacket. "Never get it on anyway," she gasps. "But thanks." She pauses, and tilts her head upwards. "Guess… I should call you 'sir', too," she mumbles, before she allows herself to pitch down face-first in the grass. "Dumbass thing to do," she mutters. "But… don't worry. I'll be okay… when this all subsides. Always the same… can't get rid of powers for a day… can keep them for seven. If I want." Her new wings stretches out, and beat the air a couple of times, sending gusts of wind in all directions for a brief moment. "Sorry… didn't… really want to be the center of attention quite like this."

Rashmi nods her thanks to Index, patting Tabitha's shoulder very gently. "It's a new thing," she murmurs, "it happens to all of us one way or another. Just… think of this as a *really good excuse* for your powers training classes." As the girl pitches forward, she throws an apologetic look Star's way. "Sorry… we're probably going to be going, soon. How're you settling in at the school again?"

Index pulls the coat away and eyes it suspiciously for a split-moment before it re-enters his inventory on a failed action. This launches a ham sandwich directly in the downwards direction at high velocity, and it just splats on the ground. He slips the sandwich away with his shoe in that embarrassing display of inventory management. He makes no comment on it, and gestures towards the street. "Let's get that ride, they should be here."

Star nods, leaning back to avoid stretching wings, "It's alright. I don't think any of us are going to hold it against you." Everyone makes mistakes with their powers, after all. As is so vividly demonstrated by Index just a moment later… She looks up at Rashmi and nods, "Oh yeah! I need to get back to the school, anyway." She makes a face, mild disgust filtering into the air around her, "Cloud's gonna be pissed I left the mansion alone, anyway." She shrugs one shoulder at that and stands, brushing off her jeans, "It was nice meeting you, sir." She gives Rashmi a half hesitant smile, "And I'll see you again later, Rashmi. Tabitha…" There's a little pause, "Take care."

Tabitha pushes against the ground, and groans loudly as she sits up, and then climbs back to her feet. She ends up jumping a foot up into the air, and lands in a light crouch before straightening. "…I weight less than I did five minutes ago," she observes. "Pain is gone, I'm okay, now. At least until I lose the powers again. In a week's time." She gives her wings an experimental flap. "Definitely a week. Anyway, uhh, yeah. I…" She glances at Index, then at Rashmi, and then back at Index. "Do we have to go back… *Right* now? I'd really love to try flying, while I've got this." She turns, sweeping her wings across the ground and dangerously close to bowling Rashmi over while she's at it, as she faces Star. "Thank you, Star. I really appreciate it… from all three of you. You take care, too."

"Probably a good idea," Rashmi says, nodding and lifting a hand to Star. "If it helps, tell him you weren't by yourself? I mean, there's us, right? It was good to see you again, Star!" Glancing back at Index, the sandwich at his feet, and raising an eyebrow, the redhead manages not to chuckle, or even smile, but the desire to is plain as day. "I've got an idea, Tabitha. We go back, and tomorrow after school I can show you the training room. Bet you dinner that we can find a flight-training simulation, so you can see how much work you need at flying with those wings."

"Well, I just called SHIELD agents to come pick you up, so yeah, you can fly around in the quad if you want, but they'll be kind've cross at me for just pressing buttons all willy nilly," says Index, raising his eyebrows slightly. "'cause I was tired of taking the subway." He waves at Star as she leaves.

There's a small smile and Star nods, "Yeah, I'll tell him I was hanging out with you. That should keep him off my case." At least until he finds out that she didn't actually plan on meeting up with anyone, anyway. She winces a little when Tabitha almost hit Rashmi, but nods, "Yeah, sure. What good is it having powers if I can't use them to try to help people?" She reaches out to try to put a companionable hand on the rat girl's shoulder, her voice low, "I know what it's like hurt and not be able to do anything to stop it." Then she offers a little wave to the others and turns to leave, "Later."

Tabitha flashes a smile after Star, before turning to face Rashmi and Index once more. "I uhh… yeah. That's probably a good idea, on both counts." She blushes, and thrusts her hands down into her pockets. "How am I gonna get in the car? These things are huge." Her wings beat the air once more, though thankfully without coming close to knocking anyone over this time. "I'm sure you'll win that bet, Rashmi, but uhm… just so you know, I suck at cooking — unless it's campfire chow. If you want to roast hot dogs on the end of sharpened sticks, I'm your girl." She shrugs her shoulders, and scuffles her feet a little. "Oh! My bag." She backs off a couple of steps, and looks about until she locates the teddy bear backpack, which she picks up and just ends up… holding. "So uhh… yeah. Which way, Ind—uhm, sir?"

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