Energy: 7
Current Training: None
Inner Peace - Learned!
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
Oathbound Headquarters, Brockton Bay
"Tell me again why you needed me for this?" Taylor asks dryly from where she is using her ability to stand on air in order to muck about in the wiring further up in the wall of the tiny office of the Headquarters - which Trainwreck has affectionately started referring to as 'The Heap'.
Your Master would have probably argued the point with him, but since the team doesn't have patrols, go anywhere, or appear to actually do anything, the infuriatingly brash tinker had ample time to fashion the letters for Heap from wrought iron and have them bolted to the roof of the building.
As with most of Trainwreck's creations, he insists that this counts as Tinkertech.
"Did you have something better to be doing? Come on, I always knew I'd have to teach you how to take care of the house on your own eventually. I just thought it would be our house." Danny replies with some amusement, lifting a small device out of his toolkit and handing it to Taylor so she can check for any live current.
This is, of course, despite the fact that she could probably rub a live wire on her tongue and suffer no harm. Danny however insists that the proper safety procedures be observed, which is why he also forbade you from punching through the flimsy walls until something electrocuted you.
Also, Trainwreck suggested he might suplex you if you grievously damaged 'his' place.
"You don't think my future husband might have it under control?" Taylor says, with an air of doubt in her voice.
"I always assumed you would be successful and have your own house well before you married. That or well..." Danny answers, then trails off awkwardly. Left unspoken is the very real chance he would be lost to gang violence before Taylor ever made it to adulthood. Which is something you know the man has at least partially made peace with already. You suspect that have the reason he is so supportive of Taylor's choices now is in order to prepare her for when he's gone. Of course, being a Hebert, he hasn't said any of this to his daughter any more than she has admitted to both knowing about and resolutely denying her Fathers self imposed prophecy.
A more obstinately incommunicative family you feel you'd be hard pressed to find. Your sure you could find one, but the fact that it would require the use of your Transdimensional Search Routines is quite telling.
"I'm sure Emmy will turn into a sentient house or something at some point," Taylor says, aiming for a joking tone but instead sounding mostly grim. Her grip tightens imperceptibly on the device in her hand, causing the cheap plastic case to shudder a deform.
"Taylor..." Danny says quietly.
"No! I'm strong! I have a team! I'm keeping my head down with the gangs! I'm doing everything right!" Taylor snarls, eliciting a wince from the older man.
"Baba Yaga." You say suddenly, interrupting the rather tense moment and drawing the attention of both Heberts.
"She has a big house with legs that runs around. I could kick people off the lawn." You explain. You're actually rather proud of this bit of information. You don't typically have the opportunity to directly learn new things, but Taylor spends so much time at school that you've had ample opportunity to poke about the school library.
"You can turn into mythical beings?" Taylor asks.
"You can turn into a woman?" Danny asks.
The two share flat looks with each other, each one obviously questioning the priorities of the other. Then they both break out laughing.
You take the opportunity to give yourself a purely mental high five. You are so good at this human thing. Panda thing. Whatever.
"Go on, you'll get it this time. I promise." You encourage your Master, who is now standing in the center of the Non-Trainwrecked side of the Garage. To say the junk based Tinker has been busy over the last few days might be something of an understatement, given the huge hunks of ruined metal strewn about one side of the chamber, and the double-sized suit of riveted armour hanging from several chains in the middle of the mess. Trainwreck, you are gathering, doesn't really make 'advanced' devices. He just does a handful of things really well, really fast. It would be very impressive if it wasn't so cringe inducing. You're pretty sure your Master is going to need a tetanus shot just from being with ten yards of the mess.
"What specifically is she learning?" Jamie asks when your Master neglects to answer you, instead choosing to focus on the blade of grass balanced precariously on the tip of her sword.
"Inner Peace." You state confidently.
"And this helps with that by...?" He continues pointedly. From anyone else you would think he was casting doubt on your teaching methods. From Aspirant, you get the impression he just genuinely wants to know the answer. Certainly, there is a certain degree of skepticism in his questions, but it's of the respectful variety that is agreeable to being proven wrong, which you can appreciate.
"It's kind of like, imagine you're a pond right? and there's all these fish darting around in it, going back and forth, making the surface ripple. You can't do anything about the fish, but since you are the pond, you can control the ripples along your surface." You explain as best as you can. Honestly, as good as this Emulation is at this type of thing, his deductive reasoning and ability to explain how one gets from point A to point B with it is severely lacking.
"...That make's no sense." Jamie says, turning to look at you quizzically.
"It's a spiritual thing. Like, if you are unaffected by the self, you can be unaffected by reality in the same way." You try again. Jamie continues to watch you pensively for a few seconds before turning back to your Master who has yet to move.
"As above so below huh..." He muses.
"Sure, that. Totally." You concede happily. Spiritualism is so far away from anything you can even pretend to understand that the best you can do is regurgitate what your Emulation would say and pray. A fact that you are loathe to admit.
Suddenly, Taylor's eyes flash open, and she begins to move. Slowly at first, twisting her sword in lazy arcs around herself that use simple centrifugal force and fine control to keep the blade of grass in place. Then she begins to increase her pace, twisting her blade around in a blinding fast series of blows that you know would be executions for any non-brute they met. And yet somehow the movements are much less brutal than you have come to expect from your Masters sword style. They have a much more premeditated feeling to them, a relaxed mien that makes the attacks feel like simple cursory movements, taken out of necessity more than anything else. Not hesitant but not... eager either. A mild pull on your remaining energy storage lets you know that what you have just witnessed wasn't merely a fluke, and your Master finishes her impromptu sword dance by planting the tip of her blade in the ground with a gentle click that is belied by the single blade of grass that flutters down to land on the hilt with perfect precision.
Your Master of course chooses to break this peaceful and solemn moment by pumping one fist excitedly and prancing slightly.
"Yes! Yes yes yes!" She cheers, stopping only when Trainwreck leans over and slaps something you hesitate to call a 'device' which immediately begins belching music.
"Eye of the Tiger?" Jamie calls across the room to the Tinker dryly.
"Fuck else did you want me to play? You're in here sweating on everything every day and the Boss prances past periodically to do all that kung fu magic bullshit you two get up to. This isn't even a radio, I just figured out how to tune the different metals to make this specific song." He grumbles back, before turning back to work on some portion of the massively oversized suit hanging from the roof.
"Point." The younger man admits without ire. Your Master, for her part, pinkens slightly before turning to you, ignoring her coworker.
"Right so... Parian?" She says hurriedly.
"Yeah let's-" You begin but are cut off when Trainwreck speaks over you.
"Hey, if you're going out can I come? I'm fuckin' bored." He declares, not bothering to look away from what he's doing.
"I thought you were Tinkering?" Taylor asks hesitantly, likely for a number of reasons. First among them being, Trainwreck isn't very... PR friendly.
"What the fuck makes you think this is fun?" Trainwreck asks incredulously.
"...You're a Tinker?" Taylor offers weakly.
"And you're a masochist, but even you get tired of the song and dance sometimes right?" He shoots back.
"I wouldn't mind going out myself. I... might need a change of clothes. Maybe some toiletries." Jamie puts forth, wrinkling his nose and looking down at himself. The same set of clothes he's been wearing since he joined you, in fact. Taylor blinks at him for a second before something dawns on her, and she winces apologetically.
"There are no showers here huh?" She muses, before pausing to think about it.