Base Status
The Heap - Current Upgrades:
Tinkertech Walls
Single Layer Magical Barrier
-(Friend or Foe Detection)
Current Energy: 1
Current Training: Mastermind (5/10) - Complete!
Friday, January 28th, 2011
The Heap, Brockton Bay
For once, you manage to surprise your Master by waking up before her.
"Taylor~" You croon to your Master as she awakens, causing her to freeze in place for a second as she acclimates to the unfamiliar sensation of waking up alone.
"Emmy? Don't you hate waking up this early?" She asks you warily, obviously sensing foul play. Which is fair. You don't typically play any other way when it comes to getting what you want.
"I do! But you see, I simply couldn't refrain from awakening early today. You see, I wanted to enjoy every minute of our vacation together." You say pleasantly.
"...We don't have a vacation though?" Your Master states questioningly as she slides out of her sleeping bag and fumbles about for a second until she locates her glasses, quickly placing them on her face.
"Master! How scandalous! Why, if I were to spend each and every day working I would simply die. I can't imagine how you must be feeling." You say with absolutely no shame, ignoring your complete inability to be tired if you don't feel like it, and your Master's frankly freakish workaholic tendencies.
"No seriously, what's actually going on?" Taylor asks you, a note of unease creeping into her voice.
"I took the liberty of arranging some activities today. Victoria should be by in a few hours. I'm given to understand she isn't much of a morning person." You answer her, completely ignoring her question. Your Master blinks at you, then frowns in thought.
"How... when did you even talk to Vicky?" She asks you, perhaps out of a sense of morbid curiosity. You hoist your Master's cheap discardable cellphone into view from where you were hiding it in the folds of your skirt.
"I guess hanging out with Vicky is all right. It's been a few days since we've talked." Taylor says awkwardly, obviously perfectly cognizant of what texting is while simultaneous studiously pretending it doesn't exist.
"Perfect. Now, I'm not usually one for the menial, but I've arranged several sets of clothes for you, on the table there." You gesture to the side, where three pairs of your Master's sweats, an outfit consisting mostly of jeans and a hoodie, and another tastefully put together skirt and blouse combo Victoria foisted on her have been laid out in order.
"I don't think I need that many-" Your Master says trepidatiously. You smile thinly at her and then step to the side, revealing the small table and chess set you've placed behind you, complete with two seats and a cup of tea you know your Master favours already steaming away on a plate next to a set of biscuits you procured from the Hebert family cupboards.
"How did you get all of this without me noticing? I can literally see what you're doing when I sleep." She asks you, eyeing the chess board nervously.
"You've left me with an open set of Gaps for the better part of a few days. Did you think I needed to be looking directly at them to grab things with them?" You point out. True, getting all of this together in the times when your Master isn't obviously paying any attention to you has been difficult, but hopefully, worth it.
"Point. So the extra clothing is?" Taylor asks, gingerly stepping towards the chess set to take a sip of tea.
"For every game I win I'm going to burn one of the ugly ones and have Victoria replace it with something nice." You say cheerfully, causing your Master to splutter and nearly spit out the tea in her mouth.
"But that's like all my clothes! You already got rid of all the ones I have at home!" She complains, quickly wiping her mouth and pointing accusingly at you.
"Why yes, I suppose I did think ahead and attain my goals before you could actively stop me didn't I?" You muse rhetorically, before allowing your face to settle into a slightly more serious expression.
"Master, you know I love you, yes? I think you value your appearance too little. Not because you don't want to be pretty, but because you don't think you are. And that's a shame. In the world this Emulation is from, battles are won on the strength of one's beauty. No one can actually kill anyone else, so that is all that's left." You explain. You leave out the dubious fact that 'beauty' often means 'overwhelming power' in many cases. Partially because that isn't an accurate description of the nuance involved, and partially because it wouldn't help your argument in the slightest.
Your Master reddens slightly - though in embarrassment or anger you honestly couldn't tell given the combination of the two wafting off of her, then speaks.
"I just don't think I'm that attractive." She tries to explain indignantly.
"I'm like a stick figure. I have a paunchy-" She pauses, patting her perfectly flat and toned stomach and then changing what she was about to say; "- I'm not you know, all curvy. Like you or Emma."
"Master. You have a superhuman body. And of course, you don't look like me! You're fifteen!" You counter flatly. The two of you stare at each other for several seconds before your Master looks away, obviously not agreeing with you, but clearly not interested in continuing the argument, since she likely knows she won't win it. Very good tactic that. If you can't win, don't play.
Too bad she won't be able to put it into practice.
"Regardless. All you have to do is beat me once before we get through all those ugly sweatshirts." You say beatifically. Not for the first time, you consider a number of scenarios that end with the constituents parts of the girls who so clearly ruined your Master's self-image strewn across the planet. Then you shake the thought off and gesture at the chess set.
"So? What will it be? I'll even let you play without any of the additional rules every other game." You say teasingly.
Your Master, obviously assuming that you couldn't possibly win every game with such a disadvantageous rule set, grabs a biscuit off the plate next to her, and then moves a pawn forward when she finishes chewing on it, alternating between glowering at you and the single blouse behind her as she does so.
"You know dear, if you keep being so sour about it I'll have to find the other outfit was I considering for you. Your legs are such a terrible thing to waste on such a long skirt." You chide her pleasantly, ignoring the way her face pales at your description of the barely knee length article of clothing.
Would you actually dress your Master in something as scandalous as short shorts purely to show off her legs? No, likely not.
But the threat is apparently enough to get her entirely focused on the game - which is really for the best.
Friday, January 28th, 2011
The Boardwalk, Brockton Bay
"Man, you are so useful for shopping." Vicky says cheekily, grinning at you from where you are gliding along behind her, having just thrown an outrageous amount of clothing into an open Gap in order to avoid having to physically carry it.
"Anything for my Taylor. Let's go into this one next." You say with a hum, turning to the left and drifting towards a clothing store that appears to have a sizeable collection of hats and other headwear. Your Master responds mostly by making a sound you have come to associate with her soul failing to leave her body.
"How is the Boardwalk even open? Wasn't it basically torn apart less than a week ago?" Your Master complains, throwing her hands into the air in an exaggerated gesture. She's not nearly so distraught as she's portraying herself to be of course. Despite her lingering discomfort at being forced into public wearing nice clothing, she is obviously enjoying herself, having discreetly purchased a few things for herself when she thought no one was looking, and made a fair amount of idle conversation with Victoria as the three of you perused the Boardwalk for things to try on. You don't think she's overly fond of the shopping itself, regardless of her newfound status as an almost millionaire, so much as the company.
"Well, the Boardwalk is basically the biggest source of income in the city. No way they let it stay messed up for any longer than they absolutely have to. Besides, this is Brockton Bay. I bet half these stores were open the day after the first riot." Victoria answers with a shrug, lifting off the ground and swiftly gliding about the shop you have entered for a second in order to determine where she would like to start perusing things.
"I have such mixed feelings on that. On the one hand, yay for us Brocktonites. We're all very resilient. On the other hand, the fact that everyone is just accustomed to having their business exploded by a man made out of chainsaws once a week is... really messed up." Taylor says with a sigh, aimlessly following behind Vicky so the other girl can hold different sets of clothing up against her for comparison.
"I wanna say it could be worse? But then I remember that the only thing worse would be... I dunno, The Nine? Nilbog?" Vicky says with a touch of morbid amusement.
"Is it common for you 'Brocktonites' to constantly compare the situation in your city to the absolute worst humanity has to offer?" You ask without really putting much thought into the question, staring as you are at the double set of shelves displaying a number of styles of hat you're sure no one actually wears casually.
The only hat you've seen worn for any reason at all really has been baseball caps much to your horror. You don't even understand why, given this shop sells a perfectly adequate selection of the things. There's even a tricorne in the corner there, though that's a bit much for your tastes.
"Pretty much, yeah." "Basically." Taylor and Victoria chorus in agreement to your question after a second to consider it.
"Hmm." You muse aloud, trying to decide on which hat to purchase. You suspect you will only really have one shot at this. Your Master is going to take some convincing just to wear a hat regularly. As it is, you have to argue with her every morning just so she'll have the decency to wear a ribbon in her hair before going outside.
Eventually, you settle on one, and discreetly take it to the counter for purchase.
[ ] Write In (Type of Hat)
A few hours and much shopping later, Vicky and your Master find themselves seated on a rooftop overlooking the bustling people below, many of whom pause to wave or take pictures of the pair.
"Hey, Taylor?" Vicky says awkwardly after a while, fidgeting slightly as if unsure how to phrase what she wants to say next.
"Mmm?" Your Master hums in question, too busy attempting to almost literally inhale the vast ice cream sundae she had purchased for herself before coming up to the rooftop to speak.
"I - don't take this wrong way okay? And, and you can totally say no! But, um." Vicky stammers, her aura of respect and perfection increasing in strength slowly as she works her way through her thoughts, hands tightly gripping the lip of the building she is on. Your Master just keeps eating her ice cream, either not noticing or not worrying about the sudden shift in tone from the otherwise chipper girl.
"Dean told me about Miss Militia, and Amy was talking about it too, andIknowI'mnotsupposedtoknowbutcanyoubringbackmyaunt?" She blurts out all at once, finally drawing your Master's attention away from the religious experience she seems to be having with her ice cream in order to blink stupidly at her.
Then your Master parses the statement for what it is and shrugs.
"Okay." She says simply, before returning to what she was doing.
"I know you're getting a lot of money from the PRT and that it isn't something you can just do for free but I'm sure my mom could - huh?" Vicky stammers out again, stopping only after fully registering your Master's blithe response.
"Um. Taylor? I still totally want you to do it if you can but shouldn't you, I dunno, haggle or something?" Vicky asks, a quiet but hopeful tone entering her voice. Your Master stares at the blond like she might be exactly as stupid as her hair colour would imply for a second.
"Vicky, you're like my only friend besides Emmy. You came to see me after I triggered, and you've been with me the whole time. If you weren't already with New Wave I'd have asked you to join my team. Of course, I'll bring your aunt back." Taylor explains slowly, as if she was being forced to explain to a toddler which way was up. You stifle a snort at your Master's blunt manner.
"Besides, everyone knows about Fleur." Your Master points out, before returning to her ice cream.
"O...kay. Cool. Cooool. Do... I mean I have a college fund and all but-" Vicky starts again nervously.
"Vicky. I'm not going to charge you." Taylor sighs in exasperation.
"But Dean said the PRT is going to pay you like a million bucks each time!" Vicky retorts.
"Yeah but I really don't like the PRT." Your Master responds with a huff then adds; "...also that wasn't my idea."
Vicky stares starstruck at you Master for a second, then a wide smile envelops her face, and her aura flares to possibly the highest point you've ever seen it, temporarily stunning Taylor. Seeing what is about to happen, you gently remove your Master's sundae from her hands just in time for a blond missile to collide with her, sending both her and Victoria sprawling across the rooftop in an overenthusiastic hug. You've noticed that Vicky is just a bit more physical about her displays of affection with your Master than with most others - probably because she was always that way and just couldn't often do much about it given her strength and the chances that she might accidentally hurt anyone she was too friendly with.
You pointedly don't think about how that works for her relationship with Dean.
"Thankyouthankyouthankou!" Vicky laughs happily shaking your Master about like a ragdoll.
"N-no problem. Um." Your Taylor says awkwardly, readjusting her glasses and keeping her eyes on the sundae in your hands as her friend shakes her about happily.
She narrows her eyes at you when you take a tentative scoop of the cool dessert for yourself, then stick your tongue out at her.
Friday, January 28th, 2011
Hebert Household, Brockton Bay
You hum pleasantly to yourself as you putter about Taylor's room, slapping a number of paper tags on various surfaces in out of the way places while your Master watches you move about curiously.
"So... what's this now?" She asks you curiously, tired from a day of social interaction but also strangely content in the afterglow of the experience.
"Well, all these clothes are going to have to go somewhere." You point out, gesturing at the Gap that is hovering behind you, containing all of your purchases that day.
"The... dresser? My closet? I know you like to use your power over the glue that holds reality together for mundane things, but before literal magic we had this stuff called furniture," Your Master says to you sarcastically. You smile at her, pleased with the sensation of contentment you are getting off of her in the waning light of the evening.
You quirk an eyebrow at her, then allow your Gap to begin disgorging all the clothing you bought today. It falls into a loose pile at your feet and then begins to expand upward, going high enough that you eventually have to shift your Gap to the right to allow it to finish emptying without creating a pile that will touch the ceiling.
You gesture between your Master's frankly diminutive dresser and the enormous pile of clothes, while your Master's pupils contract to pinpricks at the sight of it.
"Whhyyyyyyyyyyy?" She asks, elongating the word comically to make her point.
"Well, you have your winter wardrobe, summer, beachwear, formal wear-" You start, pointing at various points in the pile until your Master begins to frantically wave her hands in front of herself to make you stop.
"Just- okay just- do whatever you were going to do. I'm going to change into my Pajamas." Your Master says in exasperation. You smile at her blankly until as she gets up, waiting for her to return.
"You burned my Pajama's too didn't you?" She asks in annoyance. You didn't actually. You just discreetly moved all of her old wardrobe to the basement, since actually destroying all your Master's clothes would be stupid and rude. But continuing to act as though you did allows you to do things like withdraw the sleeping gown you purchased for her out of the pile of clothing and proffer it to her.
She accepts it without minimal grumbling, and by the time she has finished changing, you have mostly completed all the preparations you require.
"Now then Dear, if you could just pour some power into this talisman here..." You direct your Master gently upon her return, gesturing to a conspicuously marked piece of paper attached to the headboard of her bed. She does so without complaint, causing the room to immediately balloon in size, easily becoming large enough to fit the entire main floor of the house itself within it. The dresser and closet also expand, making enough room for all the clothes you purchased, and most importantly of all, the bed has expanded, becoming large enough for multiple people to stretch out on comfortably.
"...Huh." Your Master says aloud, blinking at the much-expanded room, the gears in her head obviously turning as she considers the best way to use this application of her abilities.
"The plans to expand the Heap are on the table there. You can read them in the morning." You say with a yawn, gliding forward and sweeping your Master into the bed and under the covers shortly after flicking the light off.
"You know... just because the beds bigger doesn't mean I'll stop waking up... early..." Your Master points out, her characteristic ability to immediately sleep or wake up once more showing its face as she yawns and then - only a few seconds later - slumps into her pillow asleep.
"Ehem." You faux cough expectantly, waiting patiently. Your patience is quickly rewarded when you Mini-Taylor - Nemesis you suppose, though Mini Taylor is much cuter to your mind - appears in the bed, silently watching you from beneath the covers like a small animal.
"I believe I am owed a cuddle." You point out the tiny version of your Master that is sandwiched between you and Taylor. Mini Taylor doesn't directly answer you, but she does shimmy up enough that you can envelop both her and your Master in a wide hug that squishes the smaller girl between the two of you.
"You know Master, I'm not sure the world is ready for you to have the ability to always get what you want." You whisper while idly going across your mental checklist.
Procure a bed large enough for you, your Master, and your Master's irritating but cute sword? Check.
Your Master's state of dress has been improved and seen to? Check.
Get your Master a hat so that no one can accuse her of being a degenerate?
You pause to allow your Gap to drop the hat you purchased for her on the table next to the bed.
Check.
Then you gaze fondly at your Master one last time, and allow the last of your Energy to pull away to complete what you started the day before.
"To bad for the world I suppose~" You say breathily, as you close your eyes and allow yourself to be pulled into your constituent parts.