Framing A Moose

The Gifted - Concluded

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Waverley Watts - Feedback

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Location: MU Medical Room
Skills:

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Waverley flinched, partially because of the suddenness of James' freakout, and partially because the way she shifted uncomfortably when she became the center of attention sent a sharp pain through her arm. She lowered her head as James came towards her, gently guiding her into the room. Once she was inside, she awkwardly stood in front of Max's bed. When he spoke, she shot a look of distaste his way. She'd been hoping that he could've stayed quiet, and that she wouldn't have to hear his voice, but she had no such luck. She didn't bother finding herself a seat, as she didn't really label her case as one urgent enough to take up a medical bed. In all honesty, she was hoping to be in and out as quickly as possible, so she could get back to Sunshine. So when Sapphire busted in, more focused on yelling at James than getting straight to work, Waverley frowned. She didn't have time to stick around for the fight Sapphire was clearly picking. So, perhaps in attempt to gain sympathy from the ice-cold woman, or perhaps simply because she couldn't hold back anymore, the tears she'd been suppressing rose to her eyes, coating them in a glossy sheen.

"Can you guys please not fight right now?" she pleaded, her doe-like eyes wide as she looked between them. Unfortunately, as soon as she let the tears surface, she lost control of her emotion. Like a cracked dam, as soon as a crack formed, her whole semi-stoic exterior fell apart. Her tears began to fall down her face and her breath quickened, coming out in short gasps. With every word, her speaking got faster, simultaneously stuttering over them and allowing them to slur together into one long run on sentence. "O-one of my best friends just died, a-and my other best friend is on the edge o-of something I don't know i-if I can save her from, a-and I need to be there for her, and I should be downstairs w-with her right now, but I'm not, and-and I should be, I-I should be helping her through this, b-but I can't do that when I'm n-not in one piece, so-so-so c-could you guys wait to jump at each other's throats and p-please just fix me, please?" Once her mouth ran dry of words to say, her eyes stayed on Sapphire, hoping that the woman would listen and that she and James would work to fix her before they started fighting.

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Iris Rivers

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Location: Danger Room
Skills: Pyrokinesis, Meditation, (Roll Request: Tai Chi)

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Iris stood from her attack on the second hyena, ready to take on another one, when she was caught off-guard by a not-hyena-like but rather very human-like foot colliding into her back. It hit dead on, sending her forward face-first onto the ground. She was on the floor before she even registered the pain of the blow. She was unsure what was happening as someone pinned her to the ground, until the familiar voice of Mary rang out on top of her. That did not make matters better for the bubbling rage seething inside her. She prepared herself to use her training to flip the woman onto her own back and turn the tables, all while explaining the idiocy of antagonizing a pyrokinetic when you're afraid of fire, but something stopped her: when she turned her head to try to get a look at Mary, she was instead met with the sight of leathery dress shoes, undoubtedly belonging to Upsilon. She could feel the heat he aimed at her soul, agitating the tinder that was already beginning to smolder within. All the thoughts of what Upsilon wanted to do bounced around her head in her voice, and none of them were pleasant. So Iris closed her eyes. She closed her eyes, and she breathed. A few seconds was enough to smother the sparks in her chest, and when she opened her eyes, Upsilon was on the other side of the room. Her snarl gave way to her usual impish grin.

"Oooh, kinky. If I'd known this was all it took to get you hot and bothered, I would've let you have the horny rhino game piece. What are you going to do now? Whip me with a thorny vine?" Iris joked, audibly on the edge of laughter. Then, just as suddenly as Mary was on her, she was off. Iris slowly got to her feet, stretching out her arms, rubbing her sore joints. She saw Pietro holding Mary back, and gave him a grateful nod. When Guin asked if Iris was okay, she gave a lazy thumbs up. "I'm alright. But I think Mary and I should probably figure out a safe word so your hubby doesn't have to step in next time." Turning her head, she looked back over to the constrained plant-wielder. "How about Raisin Brand? No one talks about Raisin Brand, so I thinks it's a pretty good safe word."

Iris jumped when Neil tackled Lance to the ground. Boy did that seem awfully familiar. The sudden influx of infighting concerned Iris. Was it a ploy put in by the trickster god? They hadn't had this intense of an issue with X-Man on X-Man combat in the past. She didn't voice the thought, though, for as soon as Neil got off Lance, the tackled boy had her full attention. She could see the emerald hue spread across and intensify on his skin as he laid there. She quickly paced to him, not bothering to look at the newest riddle, instead putting a tender hand on his shoulder.

"Shhhh, shhh, it's okay, you're okay. Remember, we don't need the green. Deep breaths, Lance. In through the nose, out through the mouth." Her words were hushed and calm, even as enormous spiders began to crawl into the room. She took her own breaths in and out, as if for him to follow suit. But her attempts looked to be unsuccessful, with Lance letting out quick, panicky breaths. She looked up to see where his eyes were looking, and she found that he was staring with horror at the horde of arachnids. Then everything snapped into place. In a split attempt to calm him and protect the group, her gaze shifted to Upsilon. "Upsilon, lets try that wall of fire again, yeah?" she called. He didn't resist, instead raising his hand of melted skin up and causing a wall of fire to spring forth between the group and the spiders. Her attention immediately went back to Lance. "Lance, why don't you do your light teleportation thing to get out of here? Take a breather, calm down, nobody will judge you. We can reconvene at the greenhouse." With that, she stood up from his body, taking up position in front of her, dropping into a stance she'd learned in her tai chi training, ready to deflect any spider that was intent on coming after Lance.

Passive Roll Request

Iris is currently attempting to use her tai chi to keep the spiders away from Lance, so do with that what you will fam.

Forgotten Space

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Location: Galley -> On Her Way to the Atrium
Skills:

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Cal watched with an intense gaze as the Space Roomba rolled back into its little cubby, before shifting her gaze to look down at the monitor that depicted what the camera saw. It moved through a narrow passageway for what felt to Cal like an eternity, and as she watched its movements, her finger absentmindedly rubbed her lighter, as if it might bring them luck. She didn't believe in luck, she realized as soon as the thought crossed her mind; she was of the belief that the universe was chaotic and uncaring, without fortune, karma, or any sort of deity. The rubbing of her lighter was more a nervous twitch than superstition. As their little Roomba finally turned right, quickly finding itself in an open room, a small smile found itself on her lips.

"Alright, lovely, a second option. It's a tight fit, but it's got to be safer than potentially drowning in a pipe. Let's go get some of the smaller people and see if we can figure out a plan," she said, standing up straight from her position leaning on the table. But as soon as she turned towards the door, Manny stepped through, followed by Raynor. Cal's eyes widened, and her smile quickly disappeared. "WHAT?! Where, in the Atrium?! You two've got the most muscle, why didn't you send Vinnie or someone to send the message while you roughed up the aliens?!" she exclaimed, the panic and anger evident in her voice. She quickly shoved passed the pair of them, quickly walking towards the Atrium.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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Waverley Watts

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Location: New Rome - The Augery -> Cohort 5 Barracks
Skills:

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Waverley gave Niah a thumbs up when she told them where they'd be meeting, but didn't say anything, instead following her co-fivers back to their barracks. Once there, she walked immediately to her sliver of room, with the small collection of items she'd brought to Camp Jupiter. She slid her open suitcase out from under her bed, which was already filled with all her clothes. She was so used to living out of a suitcase from her years on the road that she never really got around to unpacking, even after a number of months staying at Camp Jupiter. So all she really had to do to get ready was zip it up and she was good to go. She was unsure why she'd even asked how long she should pack for, since all the clothes she owned fit inside the bag.

As she waited for the others to finish their packing, she chose to discard her guitar case, instead opting to use its strap to sling it across her back, making it easier to access in case of a fight. Afterwards, she made quick note in pencil on the map that decorated her section of wall saying 'Off to Mount Tam to talk to Atlas, holder of the heavens?!?!?! He's real I guess.' With that, she dropped her pencil into her bag, and walked to the middle of the barracks, between the two rows of beds, waiting for the others.

"...Do you guys think we need armor? I really don't like how it feels, but I also don't think I'll like how getting stabbed feels," she said into the quiet, before adjusting her guitar to be resting on her thighs. She began to tune it by ear, a process much akin, for her, to sharpening a blade before a fight.

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Iris Rivers

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Location: Danger Room
Skills: Pyrokinesis, Aikido

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"Mira, my partner in this crazy game we call life, and more pressingly Jumanji, if you don't like the way I fight, I'd be more than happy to sit on the sidelines eating my pecans, but somehow I think that'd irritate you more." Despite Mira's verbal pokes and prods at Iris' defensive fighting style, Iris was grinning ear to ear. She quite liked their little back-and-forths when they weren't overly aggressive. The observation she'd made in previous such interactions bubbled to the front of her mind; their verbal fighting styles were much like their normal fighting styles. Mira would throw her argumentative jabs at Iris, and Iris would prance from side to side, dodging with her own conversational deflections. Sometimes Mira would manage to hit a nerve, but this was no such time. Iris looked over to Bethany, giving a nod of affirmation at her detestation of the name. "If you insist...what about a different plant? Like Nightshade? It's another pretty flower, but it's a pretty flower that can be, like, super deadly and stuff too."

When Mary started yelling, Iris was aghast. Iris always expected attacks from Mira, but she was friends with Mary. She couldn't keep her smile from falling off her face. Her wide-eyed expression of horror was only cemented in place as blood from the freshly ripped hyena splattered across her face. She was frozen like that for a few moments, before her face morphed into something that looked to be a mix of determination and frustration. She raised her hands in the air, before quickly lowering them, quenching the ring of fire. In those moments when the flame inside brought her blood to a boil, when she was acting on passion that was so often buried under the smoke polluting her mind, she didn't need to ask Upsilon's permission. She was like a conductor and he the orchestra, rather than the usual dynamic of a petulant child and a strict guardian they so often portrayed. But as soon as the fire was out, Iris let out a huff from her nose, the anger inside dimming to annoyance.

"I'm not going to damn these creatures to hellfire for the sin of being hungry," Iris lectured at Mary, though her eyes were staring down at one of the hyenas that had just tried to attack her. Her martial arts were usually meant to be used against other humans, but that wasn't a necessity. She sized up the animal, before imagining it's face as a hand. After a moments more hesitation, she flung the candied pecans into its face and dropped the mug, grabbing it by its throat while it was distracted and flipping it onto its back, where she pressed her knee to its underbelly to keep it pinned. It took her a few seconds, but eventually she choked it to the point of unconsciousness. She repeated the process with another hyena, talking to Mary as she did. "Only the truly awful deserve to burn, and that's not them. I kinda thought you of all people would get that."

The Gifted - Concluded

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Waverley Watts - Feedback

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Location: George Washington University
Skills:

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Waverley's heart sunk when the young Valkyrie explained that she wasn't there for Cayden. It made sense, of course; if she were here to take his spirit to the afterlife, she'd have had no reason to stick around this long. Admittedly, though, hearing her say that another of her kind had done the deed was comforting. Even if Zarina was just some kid who escaped the psych ward, which was the most likely scenario, Waverley didn't really have the mental or emotional energy to doubt the origin story she gave. Especially considering all the insane things she'd learned in her time with the Underground. When you live with a boy who can speak to the dead and the literal queen of limbo, your stance on what's possible can get a little more broad.

Waverley's head popped up when Veil mentioned Magik's fate. The simple, straight-forward sentence hit her like a brick. For Cayden's passing, she'd been allowed a pillow of denial to cushion the blow. She'd had reason to believe he wasn't dead, even if the belief was unrealistic. But with Magik, there was no reason to deny it. Her chest tightened, feeling as though it'd been caved in. She hadn't been as close with Magik as she had been with Cayden, but they were friendly. What really hurt, though, was the thought of Sunshine's reaction. The pair had had a special relationship, the specifics of which Waverley could only guess. This would crush her. So, with that thought, Waverley swallowed her own grief. Perhaps putting others' problems before one's own wasn't a healthy coping mechanism, but it was one Waverley subscribed herself to often. All she knew was that she'd be okay. She'd bawl her eyes out under cover of night for a few weeks, and then quietly mourn for a few more, but the day would come where she was okay. The same, she felt, couldn't be said about Sunshine. Waverley loved the girl dearly, but she feared she was a timebomb, with every tragedy that happened to her bringing her one step closer to exploding. Who knew what would happen if she ever did? It was something Waverley wanted to keep from happening more than anything in the world.

When the car came to an eventual stop, Waverley slid out of the car, leaving the gas station snacks in her seat. She was still clutching her arm, trying her best to keep it from moving as she walked into the Underground. Once she was inside, she immediately felt queasy seeing Sunshine on the sofa, Magik in her arms. She approached the two of them, but when she slowed to a stop in front of the sofa, she realized she'd made a mistake. This, with a broken arm and Sunshine still clutching to her beloved, was not the right time for comfort. Still, Waverley couldn't continue onward to the medical room without saying something.

"I'm sorry...I know she meant a lot to you...if you need to talk to someone, I'm always here, ready to listen..." she mumbled, the silence between the words as prevalent as the words themselves. She wanted to say more, to do more, but she knew that it wasn't the right time. So, after a moment of standing there silently, she walked up the stairs and made her way towards medical, passing by a loopy Luna and an uncharacteristically helpful Negasonic. Once she got there, she stood at the door, looking inside. It wasn't exactly Disneyland. Casper and Max were both in less-than tiptop shape, with James standing over the latter. It was still stressful for Waverley to see Max laying there as a member of the Underground rather than an enemy, and she did her best to avoid such occurrences as much as she could. She leaned against the doorframe, waiting a few seconds, unsure whether she should interrupt or not. "Um, hey James...I took a bit of a tumble and banged up my arm a little. When you get a minute, I'd appreciate a little help with it, but don't make it a priority. In fact, just say the word and I can come back another time." Waverley did her best to undersell the injury. It hurt like a bitch, but she knew she'd live. There very well could've been more pressing matters he needed to attend to, and she didn't want to keep him from them.

Forgotten Space

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Location: Galley
Skills:

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Cal let out an involuntary huff of morbidly amused disbelief as Luke proclaimed that they weren't going anywhere. It was only matter of time before they joined up with the others, and she'd be alone again. Again? The strange word latched itself onto the end of her thought like some kind of vocab vagabond jumping into the last railway car of her train of thought, and she wasn't sure why. Maybe it was just referring to the isolation to which she'd woken up to. Or maybe it was something more. Either way, it wasn't the most important thing she had to deal with. Her eyebrows popped up in surprise as the people around her jumped into action, taking her uncertain suggestion to be the beginning of a plan. It felt a bit weird to Cal, having people go along with something she'd said without needing to push or guide them to her way of thinking. But it was a good weird. She jumped a bit when Kyle pushed the warm beverage into her hand, still on edge from the memory that seemed to render her mind raw and sensitive.

"Uh, thanks mate...she sounds like a lovely woman," Cal replied. There was a very subtle undertone of bitterness in her voice that seemed to go unnoticed by her as she took a long sip from the cup. Once the warm liquid was down, she let out a deep sigh as she tried to relax. To some degree it worked. When she spoke, her voice had less of a tremor to it. "Alright, unless there's anything else we need, I say we put this bad boy together. It'd be embarrassing if the others came back with the secrets of the universe in their grasp and all we had was the power of friendship and a fuckin' sandwich."

Maybe Roll Request?

Cal will be down to help the others put the thing together. If it's a roll, her improvisation might help with the makeshift crafting.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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Waverley Watts

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Location: New Rome - The Augery
Skills:

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Waverley gave a nod when Alexandra answered her question about commissions, as if she were satisfied with the answer given. She wasn't, of course; 'depends' was only ever a helpful response if it was followed up by an explanation as to what it depended on, which Alexandra had unfortunately left out. Still, Waverley didn't want to upset the girl. She didn't seem like she was having a great day. Honestly, she didn't seem like she'd had a good day in a long while. Waverley was happy to see the smile that the girl flashed her way, which she took to be a sign that her attempts at kindness were helping. Though that didn't stop her from wincing when she tore into the stuffed animal.

"Yep, no problem. Happy to help," she replied, though she didn't sound as happy as she claimed to be, watching the stuffing get pulled from its body. She could almost hear it begging for its savior to save it once more. But Waverley held herself back. When the psychic painter began to read the animal's fuzzy insides, Waverley let out a nervous laugh. "Monsters, great. Good thing they're sending New Rome's first line off defense, eh?" the musician joked, giving a thumbs up to the gardener and the barista she'd walked in with. Clearly they were the fiercest warriors Camp Jupiter had to offer. She then nodded in agreement when Emily when she mentioned meeting up with the others, but before she followed them out, she gave a wave to Alexandra. "Thanks for the help! We'll try to bring you back a souvenir!" With that, she pranced out of the Augery, following behind her two companions.

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Iris Rivers

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Location: Danger Room
Skills: Pyrokinesis

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"Holy shit Bellflower, have you been holding out on us? That was dope!" Iris said with excitement when Bethany rendered the mass of animals uninvited from their little Danger Room party. Her massive grin faltered, however, when Elizabeth and Carolina evaporated from existence. It took her a moment to process the sudden change, and catch what had happened: the game had sucked them up, and it sounded like the only way to get them out was to keep playing. Iris was about to volunteer herself and Mira to roll next when Guin went instead. Not long after the riddle was read out, cackling laughing sounded throughout the room. At first, Iris half hoped it was the trickster god coming out to play himself so they could beat his ass. Instead, a whole pack of hyenas began to slink towards them.

"Well, on the upside, at least there's someone around now who will laugh at my jokes," she mused with a smirk, hoping to lighten the mood a bit. She watched as a number of the critters came forward with the intent to kill, with Bethany trying to fend them off, but finding herself unable to do so. Iris looked over to her wall of fire, and then to Upsilon, still standing among the rubble of the partially repaired wall. "Alright Upsilon, it's time for a burning ring of fire!" she called out like a demented Pokémon trainer. To her surprise, Upsilon complied, using the pre-existing wall of fire as base, wrapping it around the group of X-Men. In addition, the flames rose up, with the end result being a circleof fire that rose to roughly the height of Iris' neck. It looked like it'd be high enough to offer them some protection, and she hoped that it'd be enough to scare the creatures away without them trying to jump through it. She didn't like the idea of killing animals when it could be avoided. "Shoo! Shoo, before you get yourselves killed!"

The Gifted - Concluded

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Waverley Watts - Feedback

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Location: George Washington University
Skills:

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Waverley's shoulders slumped forward as Echo gave his explanation as to why Cayden was in the van, an audible sniffle coming from her slouched form. She sat with her head down for a time, before turning back to look at what was left of Cayden. He was motionless. Left without his jubilance, without his spirit. She stared. As much as she didn't want it to be the case, the truth was all too clear. With every passing minute, her denial became more and more unbelievable, until it was a small, desperate voice drowned out by the facts: he was no longer himself. He was devoid of all the joy and life that had made him who he was. Now, propped up in the back of the van, he was no longer a he. He was an it. And it was a corpse.

Waverley blinked out more tears as she turned away from the body, going back to her slumped position, wincing as she held her arm tighter to her chest. It was hard to ignore the young green-haired girl prattling on about mythology, especially given the fact that, under different circumstances, Waverley would be first in line to geek out about it with her. But as her words filled the car, Waverley's mind slowly crept back to what the girl had said when she'd first appeared, causing an uncomfortable question to pop into her head. It was a question that lingered there as they drove, and remained even as they pulled into the gas station. It wasn't until Echo came back with food that she spoke, mumbling out an almost inaudible, "Thanks." She made no move to eat the food, instead opting to give it to Sunshine once they were back at the Underground. It was something she'd made a habit of doing whenever her appetite fell victim to stress, anxiety, or, in this case, mourning. Even so, the cold beverage on her lap helpful, managing to pull her out of her own mind. She raised her head, blinking for a few seconds, before looking over to Zarina.

"You..." Waverley began, before pausing. The question that had been on her mind the whole car ride sounded even more ludicrous as it started to leave her mouth, but she knew she wasn't going to be able to think about anything else until she asked it. "You said you were a Valkyrie. Are you...here for him? Are you here to take Cayden to Valhalla?" Waverley asked, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. It was true that Christianity was Waverley's preferred religion, but when Thor and his brother came along, she'd cut Norse mythology out some wiggle room.