maskormenace

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[ the feed comes on to show a boy with very tall hair and a much shorter girl with scratches on her face over her eye, one looking rather cheerful and the other less so. ]

Hi hi hi everyone, I have an important question. [ he holds up a finger, tilts his head as if a thought had just occurred to him. he's so preoccupied he was going to launch himself into his spiel without even introducing himself. ] I'm being rude. I am Henry Cheng, and we were wondering —

[ the not so tall and in fact very short girl interrupts. ] We're looking for someone we know! [ she pulls a little face, looking over at Mr. Henry Cheng. ] A few people, actually. [ okay, maybe that was a little rude. she murmurs something unintelligible and takes a step back. please, proceed. ]

And that was my lovely friend Blue. [ he gestures with a flourish toward her, shoots her a wink, absolutely unbothered by the interruption or her outburst. ] As she said, we are looking for someone. Multiple someones. I'm sure this place has a list of sorts, yes? A quick way to CTRL-F a friend's name and find out their status?

[ he looks a bit more serious, then, like underneath the cheerfulness he's exhausted. his next words are very earnest. ]

We would appreciate any info. Thank you.

[ in the background, Blue begins tromping away, shedding dead leaves for some reason, and can be vaguely heard to say 'maybe we should've mentioned Gansey by name' before the video ends. ]

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[ Blue really appreciates that. She feels a little better and will probably feel better and better with time (and once she sees Gansey, because that is a super major dire serious priority right now). It's just... everyone has a life here, or so it would seem. She needs to figure out what to do with that information. ]

What? That's amazing. [ It makes that nasty jealousy monster rear its head, but Blue's good at stomping and trampling too. ] What gave you the idea to do that?

Well, a big part of it was that I'd just inherited the garage from a Cybertronian named Knock-Out. - Cybertronians are non-organic beings; they've got technology far advanced beyond ours. He was taken home, and left me the garage, and I wanted to do something with it but I couldn't bear the thought of becoming some sort of capitalist business owner. So I decided to transform it into a non-profit.

[ The amazing thing about that speech? Is that there is not a hint of irony at any point. The whole thing is delivered completely without a lift of her eyebrows, not the slightest bit of isn't this ridiculous double-voicing. This is just normal for her. Socialism and Decepticons. ]

[ Blue is supposed to stay skeptical and be wary and all that, but if this version of her that she doesn't remember being was friends with Kitty, she supposes she understands why.

Also, she fell in love a little. ]

As much as I want to say some of that sounds crazy, here we are. [ Crazyville. ] But it seems to me that's a much better use for it. Helping people. It sounds like the kind of thing Adam would enjoy too.

[ Well, she assumes he's getting paid. Adam Parrish is king of the forest and unrelenting pragmatism. ]

[ Kitty smiles, very pleased by that positive assessment. Hell, pleased by the fact that an assessment was offered at all. She can tell that Blue is wary still, as polite as she's being - after all, she's done almost nothing but ask questions - but that turn towards assessing the business, and assessing Adam, is encouraging. ]

God, I hope so. He's a bit hard to read, Adam. But I think he likes his work. [ She cocks her head slightly to the side - ] I don't suppose you know anything about cars?

[ That comment about Adam endears her a little further. It's not that she's trying not to be endeared. She doesn't know what she's trying to do just yet. Which is probably fair. She just arrived, after all. Apparently there'll be time for that later? ]

He can be, yeah. [ But she's clearly really fond of him if the way she smiles is anything to go by. ] It'd be hard to tell, because he works hard at everything.

[ Which isn't meant to be discouraging! Oh, the question... ] I know just enough to be dangerous. You can't hang around these boys and not know a few things. [ Between Mr. Orange Camaro and Ronan's impossible BMW to Adam being a mechanic to Henry's Fisker that's probably visible from space... ]

[ A laugh of recognition in response to the comment about Adam. God, that's true. He makes her feel so lazy by comparison. ]

Well, if you'd ever like to help out at the shop - I've got the actual car stuff covered, most of the time, but I could use someone sensible who knows a few things about cars to help out at the central office while I'm away. I'd pay, obviously.

[ That's not a charitable offer, exactly. She could use help. But her primary motivation is offering Blue a bit of work close to someone she cares about, so that she'll have a little bit of structure in the early days here, while she's getting her feet under her. In, hopefully, a way that doesn't come across as insulting or high-handed. Nathaniel had joked the other day about how her superhero name ought to be The Human Steamroller, so she's trying not to steamroll. ]

[ Adam makes us all feel lazy. He didn't need superpowers to make him superhuman. His work ethic does that for him... ]

You don't-- [ 'even know me.' She can't say that, can she? Not that she should, it's just her instinct would be to think you shouldn't hire on a total stranger. But she's not a total stranger. ] have to do that. I mean, it sounds interesting. Really interesting... [ She wants to say yes. Oh, but hold on while she gets temporarily side-tracked. ]

The thing they gave me [ Here she waves the folder around a little. ] said something about a job. I guess I shouldn't say anything unless I know that won't conflict with work, right? [ She looks sort of disappointed by this revelation. The job they gave her is the same one she had at home. And Kitty's talking about something interesting that would be a lot more meaningful in her eyes. ] I'm not sure how I feel about just being assigned a job.

Oh, that.

[ Kitty wrinkles her nose. Huffily: ]

When I first got here, they had me working in a banana stand. I had to dress head to toe in a giant yellow banana costume. You do not owe loyalty to the job they picked for you. [ Though now that her curiosity has been piqued - ] What did they pick for you, anyway?

[ Blue looks offended, intrigued, and relieved. Not necessarily in that order.

The offense is on Kitty's behalf. ]

That's sort of reassuring. [ She slides the folder out of sight again, then reaches to tug on one of her hair spikes. ] Waitressing. I did that at home, so it might just be weird to do it here.

[ Noah mentioned he's a waiter, but unless he were working at the same place as her, by some miracle... ]

Oh. [ She has to admit - ] To be fair, waitressing here would be really lucrative. Being an imPort means you're a bit of a celebrity, so tips are really good. So you would get paid better there.

[ Blue's face goes a bit blank for a second. ] A celebrity? That's the trade-off for being kidnapped? Superpowers and fans?

[ She has so many words for this situation. Which clearly means she's already doing better! ]

[ A shrug. ]

Less a trade-off, more a side-effect. But - yeah. It's a bit strange.

I'll just add it to the list of strange things. [ She takes a deep breath. ] So do most people just... not keep their abilities, or powers or whatever you call them, secret?

[ Kitty shakes her head - and then tilts her head to the side, amending - ]

Or, well - some do, because they're nervous about people knowing the specifics of what they can do. Like, I kept my power quiet for a long time, just 'cause it was potentially a threat to people and - well, you know. But they don't keep it a secret because they're afraid of being seen as weird or freakish or something. Just out of paranoia. Justified paranoia, a lot of the time.

Okay. [ She says that slowly, like she's still thinking when she begins talking. ] I don't even really know how mine work yet. Just-- [ She bats more leaf litter around. Where is it coming from? Grr. ]

Obviously! [ Okay, cool your jets, Blue. ] I think I need some time to think about all of this. I guess.

[ A little curiously - ]

I'm guessing those leaves are from you?

[ She sort of half-shrugs. ] I think. [ Because she has plant armor and hey, what do you know...

She is feeling might defensive right now. ] Did I... [ Ugh, this is weird to ask. This is really weird to ask! ] Did this happen before?

[ She shakes her head. ]

I...don't think so, no. You were able to magnify powers before, I know. But nothing, erm - leafy.

[ Sooo, hey. Guess what: ]

Is there a way to talk privately on this thing?

[ Oh? Kitty nods, and fiddles a bit with her communicator, and - bam. Private. ]

Done.

Thanks. I'll need to figure out how to do that. [ She frowns slightly. ]

You said I could still amplify things before though?

I can teach you. It's easy, once you've got the hang of it.

But yeah. Other people's powers. We talked about it a bit, just 'cause I shut down powers, myself.

[ Without reservation: ] Thank you. I'm sure there's plenty of stuff no one would want someone else listening in on. [ aka butt out eavesdropper ]

Oh? Can I ask how that works? I can sort of switch off the power to what I do.

[ She shakes her head, indicating that her power is different - ]

For me, I touch someone and it automatically activates. Can't help it. Though it's gotten weaker, lately - since I went home.

[ That was a pretty brief reply, but it raises about a hundred new questions. And she already got sidetracked from the last list a few times. ]

You went home? [ And came back? And remembered it? This is all so confusing. But okay, focusing. ] But it wasn't something you could do at home, right?

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