Framing A Moose

The Gifted - Concluded

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Location: Omega Building
Skills: N/A

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As Jack spoke to Waverley, explaining the money situation, the young woman gave a small nod of understanding, tucking the bills back into her wallet and slipping it back into her pocket. She supposed it made sense; there were bound to be a variety of mutations that cut down on resource use. Still, in a country pushed by the mutant elite, she couldn't help but be surprised that they didn't use the age old tool of capitalism to keep some amount of control. Her lips turned down a bit into an uncertain frown as Havock spoke, giving a half shrug.

"Maybe...she already had lunch plans?" Waverley half-heartedly suggested, her hopes of spreading her optimism out to the grouchy man getting dimmer and dimmer. Her expression was dampened more when she saw the look of suspicion decorating the face of Sunshine, looking at her like she was trying to sniff out some grander scheme she was up to. Waverley, for one, was pretty sure she'd never been up to a scheme in her life, and the fact that Sunshine was gazing at her the way Waverley tended to gaze at Max rather than the unfiltered excitement that had been bubbling in Waverley moments prior made her shoulders sag. First she'd blown her off in favor of Max upon waking up, and now she was staring at her like Waves had spat in her sandwich. Waverley couldn't help but wonder if she did something wrong. "Dude, is it that hard to believe I want to record an important part of my friend's life just for the sake of having it?...and maybe showing it to the MarrBow kids, if, y'know, you two decide you want children." A life of geekdom had left Waverley pretty well capable of coming up with ship names on the fly, and she was about to give herself a pat on the back when suddenly the room faded away, leaving them in a strange, semi-futuristic version of on old Norse house.

It took Waverley a moment of confusion before she understood what was going on, at which point she watched young Zari and her tender mother. Waverley couldn't help but feel a hollow sadness at the memory playing out around of them; she would've expected some deep stabbing pain at the reminder that she was now without a mother, but instead, it caused her to look inside for a memory similar to Zari's. She found none. As much as she had mourned the stern woman, Waverley didn't have much in terms of vibrant, loving memories of her. Part of her wondered what would appear were the woman to use her powers on her, but the other part was scared to find out. As the memory faded away from the room, Waverley shifted uncomfortably on her feet, quickly nodding along with Callie, trying to shove past her own thoughts.

The Gifted - Concluded

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Location: Omega Building
Skills: N/A

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"Oh...I see..." Waverley was almost visibly buffering at Sunshine's assertion that her wedding wouldn't be what she was imagining. The girl tended to have a romantic, yet somewhat traditional view of marriage, having spent hours upon hours in the past imagining her own dream wedding. Her head tilted to the side, as if Sunshine was speaking a language she couldn't fully comprehend. In the end, it was memories of her old YA Fantasy Pinterest board that gave her the tools to try to better connect with the younger girl. "So...ceremonial weapons instead of wedding rings? Or maybe matching tattoos?" she suggested, "And can I still record the ceremony? For posterity?" As she asked, her finger twitched to press a button on her video camera, the red light blinking on. It seemed less like she wanted to record this specific moment and more like she wanted to stretch a muscle that'd been left alone for far to long; her videography muscle. She twisted both her organic eyes and the mechanical one that blinked away in her hand to look at Havock as he spoke.

"Well...she was fighting for Genosha, so now that it's here...she's probably chill again, right?" Waverley interjected optimistically, giving a hopeful shrug. She turned to Renegade, beginning to say "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know a woman with really cool hair named P-" before the loud crunching of wood interrupted her, causing her to flinch. She spun around to see Zari, sword out, swinging down on the table. She took a step towards the girl, ready to go see what was wrong, until she saw Veil stepping forward first. So instead, she quickly lunged into the box, pulling out her wallet. "Shit, sorry about that. We can pay for it if you..." she trailed off as she looked down at the pale green faces of the long dead racists that decorated the cash she was pulling out, the realization suddenly dawning on her. [color=purple]"...these don't have any value here, do they?

The Gifted - Concluded

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Location: Some Medical Room in Genosha
Skills: N/A

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Max's clothing magic actually managed to peg Waverley's style pretty spot on, perhaps even improving on it. Waverley had never put much effort into her appearance, having long since mastered the art of throwing on whatever was clean and closest. The magic, at least, seemed to have some sense of color coordination, giving Waves a deep purple blouse under a black baggie hoodie, as well as black leggings and a pair of tennis shoes with purple trimming. All in all, she looked like an ad for leisurewear. She stiffened as the magic worked its...well, its magic on her, her jaw setting as she looked down. She pulled the neck of the blouse out a bit to see if the spandex was still underneath. Luckily it was; she would've had to have a long chat about boundaries with their matricidal magician if it wasn't. But instead, she let it go.

"I...I hope you're right," she mumbled to Sunshine, letting out a deep breath. She had to let herself believe that the place could be as good as it seemed, at least for a little while. The thought was quickly expelled from her mind as she finally processed something else Sunshine said, something that made her eyes widen. Her hand shot out to grab Sunshine's arm as they entered the omega building, holding it tightly for a second, practically bouncing with excitement. "Sorry, did you say fiance?! Shit, dude, why didn't you fucking lead with that?! That's big! Enormous! The fucking goliath of news! Do you have a date for the wedding? A venue? Bridesmaids? A videographer? I can do it for free, if you want, though I've never done a wedding. Shit dude, this is so exciting! It's exciting to just say it! Wedding! Sorry, I'm being weird, but god, this is gonna be fucking awesome! Oh shit, I didn't even ask about your fiance. Are they cool? I mean, obviously they are if you're marrying them but, like, what're they like? What's their name?" Waverley excitedly rambled as they made their way through the omega house, up to their things. She bent over the box, rummaging around the things until she found what she was looking for: her camera, as pristine as the day they were frozen, perhaps even more so. She'd been worried it'd be damage, but it was perfect, practically brand new.

The Gifted - Concluded

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Location: Some Medical Room in Genosha
Skills: N/A

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Waverley gave a small, content nod at Veil's affirmation, a warm smile snugly at home on her lips as she readied herself to go. It fell away from her face, however, when she heard Max spoke out in her direction. Her eyes flitted back to him, though they looked to be filled more with soft annoyance than the fiery fury that'd previously been burrowing into him.

"I dunno, dude, I'm not your beautician. Your face isn't my responsibility," she said with a passive aggressive shrug, blowing off his warranted confusion, instead stepping in line with the others, finding herself drifting between Callie the twins, and Sunshine and Kristina. She almost snorted when the name of the hospital was revealed to them, but she managed to stay quiet. She found it darkly funny that despite all it's s Genosha was sticking to the age old tradition of naming things after sketchy people who committed sketchy acts in the name of their country. But that sense of amused irony died inside her as she got an eyeful of the paradise that stretched out before them.

"Holy shit..." she mumbled, those two simple words an instrument of all her amazement. There was, of course, a darkness hanging over that wonder, the knowledge of the kind of people who fought for the place, but it wasn't enough to overshadow the beauty of the place completely. She couldn't bring herself to fault the flower for being planted by bloodstained hands. As the tour went on, Waverley slowed a bit, soaking it all up as she walked alongside Sunshine and Kristina. "I...I kinda think the whole place might be cool..." Waverley offhandedly replied to Kristina, even if the question had been directed at Sunshine.

The Gifted - Concluded

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Location: Some Medical Room in Genosha
Skills: N/A

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"I might have to take you up on that," Waves replied to Andy with a snort, giving one last shake of her bruised knuckles. She winced a little bit when the woman mentioned their things being at her place, specifically the bit about Zari's robots. She knew what was coming even before it came, and within seconds, Zari was chewing out the mystery woman as if she weren't old enough to be her mother. Waverley looked over to Z, deciding it'd be best to try to calm her down before she did something reckless, like, say, punch one of the people who had helped bring them back. "Dude, you're a super genius. There's nothing some kid could do to your robots that you couldn't fix." Ego stroking always worked with Waverley's own genius sister, who had a lot in common with Zari, though admittedly her arrogance was far more prevalent than that of the time travelling Valkyrie. She then looked over to Casper as the glow left his eyes.

"Is there a ghost Hawa-" she began to ask, but her words quickly trailed off as she felt a strange feeling in her knuckles, the disappearing of pain. She looked down, seeing a soft magical hue surrounding her fist. She didn't have to follow it to know whose magic it was, but she did anyway, her eyes landing on Max waggling his fingers away as he worked his magic. Her gaze shifted into a puzzled glare, as if she was trying to figure out a riddle that didn't make any sense. And in a way, she was. She had a picture of Max concrete in her mind, one that was admittedly contradictory, though she didn't like to admit it. She saw him as something both chaotic and conniving, someone who was constantly scheming, always working towards some self-serving goal, but someone who was completely unpredictable, even to himself. So as her eyes burned into him, she tried to discern why it was he healed her, what end did that get him to? Was he just trying to win her over so stabbing her in the back would be easier later? Or was it more complex than that. She pondered on it for a good half a minute, staring at him, before eventually letting out a sigh and breaking the stare. She forced herself to get over her annoyance at not being able to figure out Max's agenda as her gaze fell upon Veil.

"You good to go get our stuff, or do you need a bit more time?" she asked, her voice soft, trying to be comforting.

The Gifted - Concluded

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Location: Some Medical Room in Genosha
Skills: N/A

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Waverley half expected all the fear to flood back into her as soon as the immediate consequences of her actions reared their ugly head, but even as the menacing man straightened out and released an evil laugh, she couldn't find it in herself to care. A small smile spread across her lips as she realized this, her eyes turning down towards her knuckles. She flexed her hand, gazing at the evidence of bruising that was starting to show. Her stare was broken when she felt the soft hand of Callie, causing her to glance up. She was about to respond to her, when a bright blue glow filled the room, stealing Waverley's attention. Sapphire. Waverley's expression softened, her smile widening, becoming warmer as it did.

"Good work, Sapph. You saved the day," Waverley said, filling the few words with all the sentiment welled up in her for her deceased teammate. She gave the woman a small nod, doing her best to convey that just because she was leaving most of the fussing to the other members of the Underground didn't mean she didn't care. She knew that the others needed the closure more than she did. As soon as Sapphire mentioned her old friends, Waverley gave a nod. "You got it. Kristina can contact her sister, I'll get in touch with the Doc," she promised, reaching to her backpack, only to find it wasn't there. Right, all they had was their weird scifi bodysuits. Lovely. She turned to look at the two older women, purposefully asking them over Nemesis. "Um, do you know where our stuff is? I need my laptop to contact Watts."

The Gifted - Concluded

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Location: Some Medical Room in Genosha
Skills: Punching Robot eyes on guys named Nemesis

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Waverley flinched as Veil suddenly popped out of existence, using her abilities to shield herself from view. Part of Waves wanted to reach out with her powers, caress the air where Veil had just been to make sure she was still there, but the notion didn't last long. She'd already decided she'd let Echo comfort his sister to avoid crowding her, so it wasn't going to do much good to know she was still there. After a few seconds, her silent stare directed at the empty spot Veil once inhabited was interrupted by a warm hand around hers. She snapped her head in the direction it came from, seeing James looming over her. She let out a breath through her nose, feeling undeniable comfort in his presence. It was strange; her body reacted to James' comfort as much as it did to his powers, so much so that it was hard to tell where one began and the other ended. It was hard to differentiate the relaxing of her muscles from the healing of them. Her insides had a pleasant warmth as they were pulled out of their damaged state. She almost missed his words in the feeling.

"A parade isn't what we need right now," Waverley replied into James' shoulder as his arms wrapped around her, though her words were sharper than she had intended. She let out a deep breath, returning her friend's hug. "Thank you..." her tone was as apologetic as it was grateful. As he stepped away, however, she was met with a new feeling, a feeling spurred on by the doctor's words, insensitive, apathetic.

Waverley wouldn't have normally done what she did. She likely would've glared at him like the others, maybe cussed him out. But...there was something odd in her brain. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say there was something missing: fear. All her life, she lived in horror, worried over every little thing, terrified that any wrong move would end in disaster. It'd gotten more visceral, vivid in her time with the Underground, dealing with actual life and death situations on a regular basis. And it'd all built up to the X-Cutioner. The worst had happened. She'd died, effectively. And here she was. It was like...anxiety afterglow. Bliss. Liberation. There was no fear in her as she stepped off her bed, briskly walking up to Dr. Nemesis and rearing her fist back, slamming it into the side of his face. Pain shot through her fist, the first vibrant feeling she'd had since waking up. It was almost refreshing, feeling the pulse of bruised skin in her fist as she let it drop to her side.

"I don't know what the fuck that was supposed to mean, but if you talk about anyone in the Underground like that again, there won't be a council in the world that'll be able to save you," Waverley threatened. It was true, Sapphire and her hadn't exactly been friends, but they'd still been family. And no one talks about family like that.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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Location: Apollo Cabin
Skills:

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"I'm a bureaucrat, Ms. Isley. Most of my strength lies in the pen rather than the sword," Leandra said, though the statement was only partly true. She was a fighter, but she'd found that her strengths were most powerful when she was underestimated, so she didn't mind understating her role in New Rome. "I was calling for a tactical retreat. I was loving Team BureauCat as much as you, but I thought the battle would end with less injuries had we the aid of more warriors, perhaps even a plan. And inventory is the lifeblood of any organized institution. Back at New Rome, keeping a close eye on it was part of my job. I've made an effort to do so here as well. You can never be too careful." With that, Leandra exhaled a breath from her nose, letting any desire to engage slip away with it. She let her eyes glide back over to Alexandra, giving her a nod.

"Yes, of course. You can always just...come get me," Leandra stated, letting out a small sigh at the words. She so dearly longed for the days back home when the scheduled appointments and meetings outweighed the "I'll find you when I need you"s that Camp Half Blood seemed to inspire in its residents, even the new Roman ones. "Anywhom, I'm going to fetch myself some breakfast. Would you like me to grab you anything? Or have you already eaten? I know it's a cliche, but breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Also, erm..." she reached her finger under the neck of her shirt, poking it through the bloody hole. "Is that a no on the top?"

The Gifted - Concluded

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Location: Some Medical Room in Genosha
Skills:

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"Ungh," Waverley grunted as she used her weak arms to push herself up into a sitting position, letting her feet dangle off the side of the bed, bare toes gently touching the cold tile floor. She sat slouched forward, finding herself without the excess energy to sit up straight. Her eyes caught the face of an older woman stepping away from Casper, and the words she spoke made Waverley visibly shudder with relief. She let out a stuttering sigh, one that sounded almost like a tired laugh as she let her head hang limply forward. "Good, good, that's...that's amazing. I was afraid that...y'know..." she mumbled, trailing off. As she saw Sunshine come near, she shifted a bit in her seat to make room for the girl, only to watch as she walked past her to stand instead at the foot of Max's bed. Max, of all people. She'd thought that her and Sunshine were on the same page about that boy, she thought she shared her loathing. And she at the very least thought that perhaps the girl who Waverley seemed to be in a perpetual panic attack over trying to care for would at least stop by to see if she was okay. She had to admit that it shattered her a little inside to see her friend swept up into the arms of the guy who killed her mother. But this pain was almost immediately made trite and inconsequential when, only a few yards away, James disclosed the fate of Sapphire to Veil.

"Fuck..." Waverley couldn't help but mutter, her eyes going wide and wet despite her physical exhaustion. She gulped back the lump that began to rise in her throat. She was quiet for a few moments, before she lifted her head looking to Veil, her eyes soft, eyebrows furrowed in sympathy. She hadn't been all that close to Sapphire herself. She'd respected the woman, but she never elevated from 'boss' to 'boss and friend' the way Veil had. There was always that chill wall she put up that Waves never found the nerve to crack. But she knew that her and Veil were close, and she wanted more than anything to make this as she could for her. That said, she wasn't sure she was the best person to comfort Veil - she cared about the woman deeply, and the two were friends, but she didn't have the same history with her as Callie did, much less Echo. So instead, she did her best to shoulder the burden of...everything that was happening to allow Veil more mental capacity to mourn. She turned towards the older woman from before, the one who had been caring for Casper, and began to speak. "I...I think it would be better if we had some time to...process and heal. This is...this is a lot. Is she...here somewhere?" As Waverley asked about Sapphire's remains, she couldn't help but feel a small gnawing suspicion in her stomach, but with everything happening so suddenly, she didn't have the mind to give it any substance, and it remained a feeling rather than a thought.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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Location: Apollo Cabin
Skills:

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Leandra continued to hold her shirt to the side for Alexandra as she came over with needle and thread, leaning down to close the distance between her and the wound. As she felt the needle pierce her skin, she let her eyes drift up to the medical supplies off a few yards away. Her mind went into overdrive, immediately looking for any equipment Alexandra and her co-medics might not have in stock. She was pulled out of her mind when Alexandra spoke, causing Leandra's eyes to dart down towards hers.

"Oh, yes, yes I did. I tied it to an arrow, hoping to give the creature a taste of its own medicine, but unfortunately it missed. Had it hit, it would've been one for the books, let me tell you," Leandra said with a small chuckle, lips twisted up in a smirk. When the oracle pulled back, the job done, Leandra slipped her sleeve back over her shoulder. She graciously took the nectar from Alexandra, sipping a mouthful, letting the taste of expensive French champagne fill her mouth, the phantom bubbles prickling softly at her tongue and down her throat. "Lovely...Now while I'm here, Alexandra, is there anything you need in terms of supplies or equipment you don't have or are running low on here?" As soon as she was patched up, Leandra hopped right back into her mama lion business mode, looking down to pull out her notebook, only to quickly catch sight of the bright red hole left in her shirt. "Oh and...you wouldn't happen to have an extra top I could borrow, would you? I'm not sure blood-soaked chic is really my style..."