"What is it about my accent that fascinates you lot so much?"
"I can't explain it, it's just sexy," I replied, earning a disconcerted look from the Chris fellow as we entered the restaurant. Seeing that
he didn't believe me, I sighed. "Excuse me," I said, tapping the shoulder of the young lady -- blonde, college age, tight shorts, perky -- in
line ahead of us. She turned, a puzzled frown on her face, and I beamed at her, turning to stand next to her so both of us faced Chris. "Say
something," I said to him.
"Er, what?"
"Something more than that, c'mon!"
"This is a bit silly, isn't it, Rhea?"
Ignoring his question, I turned to the girl at my side. "Is that a sexy accent or what?" I asked her brightly.
She blinked, a grin forming on her face. "Yes, yes it is," she admitted. "Friend of yours?"
"Oh, I just met him tonight," I replied.
"Hmm. Well, good luck!" she said, turning back to the counter. I giggled, turning back to the others. "... what?" I asked at their
expressions.
"Did you... wait... I... um... wait, what just happened here?" Chris inquired.
"You got hit on by a girl," I informed him. The girl in front of us suppressed a laugh, refusing to turn around.
"Well, of course he's having trouble," Nene put in. "It's a totally new experience for him."
"Hey!" Chris looked indignant.
"Now, now, be nice," Silver -- er, Uni -- chided. "You shouldn't tease the poor guy. It's not his fault Australian girls don't
notice the accent. He should have come here sooner, is all."
I grinned and turned to peruse the menu as Chris made incoherent spluttering noises and Uni and Nene laughed. I could feel Spud holding back his own laughter
as well, which was a very odd sensation, not entirely unlike when Whiskers is laughing at something but different somehow. I took a deep breath and paused as
odors assailed my senses. Wherever Whiskers and I were, it might be primitive by the standards I was used to -- that's what Chris said, anyhow -- but if
the smells were any indication they knew how to do a burger right. Which goes a long way in my book towards making it a nice place to be.
Not that I'd want to stay here -- I had to get back to Lisa and Terr, Mr. Whiskers and I needed to sign some papers next week for his cartoon show, and the
manager at Second Skin wanted my opinion on the new lines for fall. And that wasn't even counting all the hero stuff, which I loved doing and which Mr.
Whiskers had to do, it was his duty!
But right now, the important thing was food. I was starving. Or Spud was. I shivered at that thought, and caught a flash of him giving me a dirty
look.
I'm used to having Mr. Whiskers' voice in my head, but this guy...
I don't know if the others were as hungry as I am, or if it was something in the air, but we ended up ordering a lot of food. Uni saved the day for us
when one by one we realized none of us could pay -- Nene had what's-his-name's card, sure, but no ID; Chris was from another country; and as for me, I
had my ID, but who carries cash or credit cards in Paragon? I just charge it to my account, the entire city accepts it and that way I don't have to worry
about it.
Uni rolled her eyes at us and handed the confused cashier her credit card, saving the day. I hugged her. "Thanks!"
"Um, sure," she said, seeming a bit disconcerted.
We found a booth big enough for the four (six? eight? ow, my head!) of us and dug in. Between chomps of my burger and tub-o-fries (it was HUGE!) I
people-watched and tried to follow the conversation, which was a continuation of the one in the car, about how we needed to lay low and couldn't let the
government get involved and how we'd get arrested for using our powers and things like that. All of which was very annoying and I was trying to figure out
how best to point out that, hello? We'd be helping.
(This could be a problem, Rhea,) Whiskers told me.
"Listen, guys," I said, and stopped as a pair of men came up to our table. Well, young men; I figured them for college students -- which wasn't
surprising, most of the people in here this late at night appeared to be students, sipping at their shakes, chowing down on fries (and some sort of pink sauce,
weird), and perusing books and laptop computers. These two weren't bad looking, I thought, and focused on what they were saying as Whiskers cleared his
throat at me.
"Sorry, don't mean to be rude," the taller one was saying, "but ... we heard you talking about superpowers?"
"Yeah!" his buddy added. "Which system do you use?"
I raised an eyebrow and turned to Uni, who looked back at me, her eyes wide, and shrugged. Chris groaned softly next to me. "(Busted,)" I heard him
mutter.
"It's a new one, we're beta-testing it," Nene replied brightly. I blinked. Slowly all three of us turned to look at her.
"Oh yeah?" The shorter guy was the excitable type, I noted. "What's it called? Who makes it?"
"It was written by a friend of ours," Nene said smoothly. "It's called, um, the VIRTUE system."
"That's a wierd name," Tall Guy put in.
Nene shrugged. "Hey, we're just testing it. What can you do, right?"
"Think we could get in on a game? We've got characters with us, they're GURPS so I bet we could adapt them easy..."
Game? GURPS? I tried not to look as blank as I felt, even as Spud groaned -- not out loud, thankfully -- and I had the sudden image of him dropping his face
into his hand.
"Sorry, not tonight," Nene was saying. "We're just about done here anyway, y'know? Maybe next time?" She smiled up at them and I
giggled. She knew how to play it, that was for sure.
Ah, the power of redheads.
"Aww..." Short Guy said, but his friend nodded agreeably enough.
"No problem, see you around then." He dug in his pocket for a moment and handed Nene a card. "Call me next time you've got a game going?
Or, y'know, whenever."
It was delivered casually, not rehearsed, just confident. My estimation of the Tall Guy went up a notch. That was smooth.
Nene blinked, her mouth hanging half-open.
Okay, well, she got ten points for being quick on her feet, but lost a few for thwiffing at the pitch. Rhea to the rescue! I leaned forward and smiled at the
two of them. "We'll be sure to do that. You guys look fun."
"Yeah," Nene mumbled, still stunned. "Fun."
They grinned and waved goodbye, heading back to their own table. I leaned back and stole one of Uni's fries -- she wasn't eating them anyway -- and
waited.
"Did they--" Nene began.
"Yes," Chris said flatly.
"Eeep."
"That settles it," Uni noted. "We need to find a way to change Ben back."
Ben? Oh, right. I shook my head.
"If this happened to us, it happened to others," Nene said, dropping the card on the table with a shudder. I snagged it and tucked it away -- only
Chris noticed, I think, and I answered his questioning glance with a wink.
What can I say? I like confident, and Tall Guy was cute as well.
(Focus, Rhea!)
I tried to ignore Spud's resigned grumbling in my head -- like a muttering voice heard through walls, I couldn't make out what he was saying but the
tone was Not Happy -- and finished my burger. I'd lay low, sure. If using powers here in everyday situations would get me in trouble, then I'd try
not to use Mr. Whiskers powers. Simple.
But it'd be a cold day in Hell before I stood by and did nothing if someone needed me. I wasn't sure how to tell them that, so I didn't.
(This sucks, Fuzzbutt,) I sighed.
(We'll figure it out,) was his calm reply.
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
"I can't explain it, it's just sexy," I replied, earning a disconcerted look from the Chris fellow as we entered the restaurant. Seeing that
he didn't believe me, I sighed. "Excuse me," I said, tapping the shoulder of the young lady -- blonde, college age, tight shorts, perky -- in
line ahead of us. She turned, a puzzled frown on her face, and I beamed at her, turning to stand next to her so both of us faced Chris. "Say
something," I said to him.
"Er, what?"
"Something more than that, c'mon!"
"This is a bit silly, isn't it, Rhea?"
Ignoring his question, I turned to the girl at my side. "Is that a sexy accent or what?" I asked her brightly.
She blinked, a grin forming on her face. "Yes, yes it is," she admitted. "Friend of yours?"
"Oh, I just met him tonight," I replied.
"Hmm. Well, good luck!" she said, turning back to the counter. I giggled, turning back to the others. "... what?" I asked at their
expressions.
"Did you... wait... I... um... wait, what just happened here?" Chris inquired.
"You got hit on by a girl," I informed him. The girl in front of us suppressed a laugh, refusing to turn around.
"Well, of course he's having trouble," Nene put in. "It's a totally new experience for him."
"Hey!" Chris looked indignant.
"Now, now, be nice," Silver -- er, Uni -- chided. "You shouldn't tease the poor guy. It's not his fault Australian girls don't
notice the accent. He should have come here sooner, is all."
I grinned and turned to peruse the menu as Chris made incoherent spluttering noises and Uni and Nene laughed. I could feel Spud holding back his own laughter
as well, which was a very odd sensation, not entirely unlike when Whiskers is laughing at something but different somehow. I took a deep breath and paused as
odors assailed my senses. Wherever Whiskers and I were, it might be primitive by the standards I was used to -- that's what Chris said, anyhow -- but if
the smells were any indication they knew how to do a burger right. Which goes a long way in my book towards making it a nice place to be.
Not that I'd want to stay here -- I had to get back to Lisa and Terr, Mr. Whiskers and I needed to sign some papers next week for his cartoon show, and the
manager at Second Skin wanted my opinion on the new lines for fall. And that wasn't even counting all the hero stuff, which I loved doing and which Mr.
Whiskers had to do, it was his duty!
But right now, the important thing was food. I was starving. Or Spud was. I shivered at that thought, and caught a flash of him giving me a dirty
look.
I'm used to having Mr. Whiskers' voice in my head, but this guy...
I don't know if the others were as hungry as I am, or if it was something in the air, but we ended up ordering a lot of food. Uni saved the day for us
when one by one we realized none of us could pay -- Nene had what's-his-name's card, sure, but no ID; Chris was from another country; and as for me, I
had my ID, but who carries cash or credit cards in Paragon? I just charge it to my account, the entire city accepts it and that way I don't have to worry
about it.
Uni rolled her eyes at us and handed the confused cashier her credit card, saving the day. I hugged her. "Thanks!"
"Um, sure," she said, seeming a bit disconcerted.
We found a booth big enough for the four (six? eight? ow, my head!) of us and dug in. Between chomps of my burger and tub-o-fries (it was HUGE!) I
people-watched and tried to follow the conversation, which was a continuation of the one in the car, about how we needed to lay low and couldn't let the
government get involved and how we'd get arrested for using our powers and things like that. All of which was very annoying and I was trying to figure out
how best to point out that, hello? We'd be helping.
(This could be a problem, Rhea,) Whiskers told me.
"Listen, guys," I said, and stopped as a pair of men came up to our table. Well, young men; I figured them for college students -- which wasn't
surprising, most of the people in here this late at night appeared to be students, sipping at their shakes, chowing down on fries (and some sort of pink sauce,
weird), and perusing books and laptop computers. These two weren't bad looking, I thought, and focused on what they were saying as Whiskers cleared his
throat at me.
"Sorry, don't mean to be rude," the taller one was saying, "but ... we heard you talking about superpowers?"
"Yeah!" his buddy added. "Which system do you use?"
I raised an eyebrow and turned to Uni, who looked back at me, her eyes wide, and shrugged. Chris groaned softly next to me. "(Busted,)" I heard him
mutter.
"It's a new one, we're beta-testing it," Nene replied brightly. I blinked. Slowly all three of us turned to look at her.
"Oh yeah?" The shorter guy was the excitable type, I noted. "What's it called? Who makes it?"
"It was written by a friend of ours," Nene said smoothly. "It's called, um, the VIRTUE system."
"That's a wierd name," Tall Guy put in.
Nene shrugged. "Hey, we're just testing it. What can you do, right?"
"Think we could get in on a game? We've got characters with us, they're GURPS so I bet we could adapt them easy..."
Game? GURPS? I tried not to look as blank as I felt, even as Spud groaned -- not out loud, thankfully -- and I had the sudden image of him dropping his face
into his hand.
"Sorry, not tonight," Nene was saying. "We're just about done here anyway, y'know? Maybe next time?" She smiled up at them and I
giggled. She knew how to play it, that was for sure.
Ah, the power of redheads.
"Aww..." Short Guy said, but his friend nodded agreeably enough.
"No problem, see you around then." He dug in his pocket for a moment and handed Nene a card. "Call me next time you've got a game going?
Or, y'know, whenever."
It was delivered casually, not rehearsed, just confident. My estimation of the Tall Guy went up a notch. That was smooth.
Nene blinked, her mouth hanging half-open.
Okay, well, she got ten points for being quick on her feet, but lost a few for thwiffing at the pitch. Rhea to the rescue! I leaned forward and smiled at the
two of them. "We'll be sure to do that. You guys look fun."
"Yeah," Nene mumbled, still stunned. "Fun."
They grinned and waved goodbye, heading back to their own table. I leaned back and stole one of Uni's fries -- she wasn't eating them anyway -- and
waited.
"Did they--" Nene began.
"Yes," Chris said flatly.
"Eeep."
"That settles it," Uni noted. "We need to find a way to change Ben back."
Ben? Oh, right. I shook my head.
"If this happened to us, it happened to others," Nene said, dropping the card on the table with a shudder. I snagged it and tucked it away -- only
Chris noticed, I think, and I answered his questioning glance with a wink.
What can I say? I like confident, and Tall Guy was cute as well.
(Focus, Rhea!)
I tried to ignore Spud's resigned grumbling in my head -- like a muttering voice heard through walls, I couldn't make out what he was saying but the
tone was Not Happy -- and finished my burger. I'd lay low, sure. If using powers here in everyday situations would get me in trouble, then I'd try
not to use Mr. Whiskers powers. Simple.
But it'd be a cold day in Hell before I stood by and did nothing if someone needed me. I wasn't sure how to tell them that, so I didn't.
(This sucks, Fuzzbutt,) I sighed.
(We'll figure it out,) was his calm reply.
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs