Heroism 2.0

[Serra_Angel]

Serra flew over the obstacles in her way, there weren't many as he was closer than she expected. She landed with only a small thump near him. She hadn't had a chance to look at him before, so she took it now. He looked fairly ordinary...as far as humans went.

“Serra, of the Angels” she said easily. “Commander was looking for you upstairs. Got lots to discuss. Plus you look human enough, you've gotta be hungry right? Ordered enough pizza to feed a small platoon. Good stuff too, not the crap they serve at Dominoes.”

[JHarrisford]

Jacob pulled at his bottom lip with his teeth as he thought through things. Charles didn't answer his question. Again. Which meant he was hiding something and that made him uneasy.

He decided to study the man's hands again. It was too hot for gloves. Maybe there was something on his skin that would give him a clue?

As soon as he glanced as Charlemagne's hands, his guest tucked them away under the table.

Give him time, the voice of reason spoke in his head. He only just arrived. It's not like you exactly pulled out the red carpet, now did you?

He suppressed a small grumbled in a sigh. How did the morning go from so perfect to near overwhelming in thirty minutes? Jacob caught himself looking at the woman on his right with fondness. He wanted to hold her hand, but he was working, and they had company. He then looked to his left and gave Shelly a weary glance. He was sorry for being grumpy that morning, not that it would change his mind any, but he was glad she was here.

Where the bloody hell is Malcolm? He wondered. Had he left the planet again? Called away by whatever council the Lantern's answered to? Maybe he flew off and found Jake and they were stopped drinking a beer in a pub somewhere, watching football, playing a game of cricket.

Jacob closed his eyes for a brief moment. He hadn't gotten much sleep at all last night, even as relaxed as he was. Normally that wouldn't have been a problem, but the prior several nights before he had barely managed a cumulative two hours. Even with his unique ability, it was starting to wear him thin. He took another slice of pizza. Where there wasn't sleep, there were carbs. He poured himself a third cup of tea.

"Take a seat, James," Jacob asked. "Eat up. We've got work to do."

The immortal turned his attention back across the table and pulled the small box back from under the table and opened it. "I'd be happy for you to explain these to me," he told Charlemagne with little enthusiasm. It was technology. If it worked, that was good enough for him.

[Dnafein]

Malcolm's face stilled into an emotionless mask as Serra's military analogies stacked up. He ran over the events of the night before. While there were aspects of a military operation in some of the actions, it was not the side he ended up on. He motioned for the woman to lead the way, "Lets go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Charles sat up and reached out to take one of the small blue-tooth-esk headsets. "From what i read, the initial design was requested by Mr. Way-" He looks around. "Well, he requested that it be able to remain in place while travelling through winds at high speeds; in adverse weather conditions."

[Serra_Angel]

Serra held in her sigh of relief. She had wanted this to be simple, and she wanted to get back upstairs as quickly as possible. She didn't need to know everything that was going on, or everything about everybody. However she still hated feeling left out of the loop. It was bad enough missing all the inside jokes, comments, and humor.

She trotted up the stairs, making sure Malcolm was close by. She wasn't sure how to lock the cave's secret door behind her so she just led Malcolm to the dining room where the others were gathered, gesturing for him to join the rest of the group.

“Still got food left right?” she asked casually as they joined the others. She hoped they did, for both herself and Malcolm, though he hadn't said anything about being hungry she just assumed he was. She did not, however, return to her seat, merely stood waiting by the door.

[ARedthorn]

Just as everyone settles in and grabs a slice, Shelly raises a hand in a cautionary motion towards Jacob, a distant look on her face for a moment. Barefoot, she'd felt the new arrival just before...

Knock, knock.

Gotta love these marble floors. "I'll get it. By all means, continue- I can catch up on the comms... We appear to have yet another guest." Shelly smirks at Jacob as she excuses herself. "You invite anyone else? Cause we're gonna need a bigger table." Grabbing a still-whole pizza, Shelly heads for the door.

Knock... knock-knock-knock.

Shelly heads towards the door, and opens it just as whoever outside managed to finally find the doorbell. Impatient as ever.

Shelly opens the door- simultaneously shielding herself with the pizza and offering it to the new guest, with a smile.

[Astarael42]

Syren to felt uneasy as Charlemagne dodged Jacob's questions. She was used to people skilled at dodging questions, it was after all a vital political skill, but it only placed a seed of distrust in her mind towards the newcomer. No one revealed everything, that was to be expected. This one however, felt shifty.

Of course that could be because he was just plopped down here, and was obviously a fish uncomfortable with the water in which he now swam. Syren was familiar with that feeling and if she had to guess he had been very recently uprooted from his oyster bed. Both valid reasons for recalcitrance. She realized she was picking up on Jacob's unease and quieted her own. That was more unnerving than the stranger's actions, that she should let another's moods so easily bleed into hers. Charlemagne’s actions at least had a good potential explanation.

Syren glanced briefly at Jacob from under her eyelids. What she saw, what she felt, made her shift softly in her seat. He was weary, not just tired, that was another feeling she knew very well. She moved just enough so that her leg could press against Jacob's, though she did not look at him. Her eyes, and her welcoming smile, were directed at Charlemagne.

“These gadgets” she said easily “are they waterproof...or at least water resistant?”

He didn't have time to answer before Serra returned, Malcolm with her. She remembered the lantern from the night before, but things had been off kilter enough she hadn't had a chance to really get a look at him. She smiled at him too but her eyes were caught by Shelly.

The woman looked...odd, far off. That was the only way to describe it. When the knocking came she shook her head, the first outward expression of real emotion she had showed in awhile. Suddenly her shoulders started to shake and she worked to suppress a fit of laughter. Chaos reigned supreme here it seemed.

It took only seconds to control herself, suppress her giggles, but when she turned to Jacob the hint of laughter was still there.

“If you wanted privacy Harrisford” she said dryly “you should have purchased Grand Central Station. I think you would have had better luck.”

[JHarrisford]

Shelly signaled Jacob and he froze, mid-sip, watching the expressions change on her face. "More?" He asked in disbelief. Maybe it was Ryan again? She could have forgotten something. Then Shelly left with a box and headed for the front door. Whoever was here was knocking. A lot.

Are all American's this impatient, or is it a generation thin-- Oh.

The immortal glanced across the table at his new guest, then James, then Serra, and drummed his fingers. "You guys might want to lay claim to whatever you're going to eat. Quickly." Then he turned his attention back to Syren and nudged her ankle with his. "Is that what I did wrong?" He laughed in response. "I'll put a platform on the to do list then, right after I start charging rent."

***

Alex waited...and waited...and waited...waited...doorbell!...wait--doorknob! "SHELLY!" Alex grinned, snagged the pizza box firmly with one hand and hugged her friend with the other arm. "This place is huge! Is it true? Is he really here?" She was deliberately trying to make herself slow down. The first few minutes after a run were the worst. Her brain was still processing information at super-speed. "What are you doing here?" Alex asked the question while retreating a step so that she could balance the cardboard box on one knee. She folded two large slices of pizza front to front and then lifted the pile of hot cheese and...who cares...lowering it into her mouth. "Myu wuf mey!" She said, grinning as she chewed - sort of - and swallowed while already taking her second bite. "Ommm, foe goot! N'still hot!" That bite she did actually chew while Shelly was closing the door behind them. "Where's the old geezer?"

Watching the door close... *bite* ...watching the door close a little more... *bite*...closing... *gnaws on the doubled crust* ...click... *reaches for two more pieces*

[ARedthorn]

Same old Alex... If anything, she'd gotten a bit better about slowing down. She must be suffering right now.
Shelly deals with speedsters all the time- they just seem to gravitate to Seattle, oddly enough... And she could still barely keep up, and that just by reacting to everything as it came.

Pizza. Hug. Huge. "Yes. Yes." "Kidnappings." "Of course I do." Try not to think about how many calories are vanishing how fast.

She was starting to slow down to something like conversational speed, enough to warrant a full reply while she scarfed.

"Inside... With the rest of the answers and food. You're welcome to raid the fridge, turns out we have a professional sushi chef, and she made enough to feed a battalion yesterday."

Shelly led the way back to the dining room.

"How've you been?"

[JHarrisford]

Alex kept stride with Shelly, though there was now a half tray of left over sushi sitting inside the half empty pizza box.

"It's good. Reporting and stuff." *puts sushi in between two slices of pizza* "I didn't realize Jacob had crawled out of his hole in 'Carolina. Can he brood or what?" *bite* "This place is huge. Lapped it twice just to make sure I wasn't seeing things." *bite* "I hear this is Wayne's old place. What ever happened to him? They say he disappeared in the invasion." Alex realized she might have said something too casually. Billionaires were people, too. Reporting in war torn countries had made her less sensitive than she used to be. *bite* "Sorry." *bite* "Anyway, my editor gave me a couple of photos from the party. He wanted an exclusive on the new Wayne Manor owner. Is it Harrisford Manor now? Is that a thing?" *bite* "No one could find anything on Jacob and now he thinks he's hiding the source of his money. I think he wants me to discover he's a thief or arms dealer or something else sketchy." She shrugged and shoved two pieces of crust into her mouth on her tiny five foot four frame and made them disappear.

Suddenly the dining room came into view. "Jacob!" She paused, a fresh piece of pizza in her hand. "And..." Alex stared at Syren, cleared her throat, and stared back at her really really old friend. "Um. And other people..."

[ARedthorn]

"To be honest, I wasn't quite sure where you'd vanished to, after..." Shelly let that line of thought vanish into the mists, where it belonged. "I assumed Jacob had invited you. If you think the mansion is huge, wait til
You see the subbasement... As for Jacob's brooding..."

"Maybe you can help there. Things are good, but not perfect. You know how he can get- and... he's being really hard on himself this week. Idiot man." With epithets like that, I could get a job for the department of redundancy department!

Shelly stood back as Alex took in the crowded table, and let them take her in... Unsure which of the two parties was likely to be more in shock.