Heroes: The Road of Good Intentions

[Hotfoot]

"Yeah, though I can't call you Gravitas in public anymore, and Gravy just sounds weird. Speaking of food, who's up for a pizza?" Hotfoot smiled, digging through the bags of new clothes to find something to wear. "We can probably get the lunch special someplace decent. Maybe see if there's an all you can eat place we can covertly abuse."

[SirNitram]

"Call me Mike. It's not the name I was born with, nor my proper one now, but 'Black Hole' is fine for headlining a fight or stopping bank robbers... And nothing else." Gravitas smirked.

[LadyTevar]

A shadow tendril reached out and took the large bag away from Collin. "That's not your bag," Lei said quietly, as she pointed him to another. "These three have your clothing in them. Those were Blast's you were going through."

She looked at the pile and sighed. "I should have divided them first...," she muttered as shadow tendrils split the bags into four piles. "If you gentlemen wish to change, I'll stay here with ... Mike ... while you use one of the other rooms."

[Hotfoot]

Hotfoot shrugged and went for the correct bags, sifting through the shirts to see which he felt like wearing. "Okay, Mike, I'm Collin, nobody knew that name back at Ultima, so I should be okay, I think. Anyone else?"

[Cynical Cat]

"David works well enough," said Blackheart with a sigh. "Common enough not to attract attention. He grabbed his bag of clothes and headed toward another room. He came back wearing jeans and a button up shirt. "Nice eye you have Argent. While we're here it would be a shame to pass on Chicago's legendary deep dish pizza. Just avoid provoking a battle to the death by comparing it to New York's pizza and we should do just fine."

[LadyTevar]

"We could call you Daniel, if David's bothering you," Argent offered, remembering how little Blackheart liked being called by his real name. "I'm glad you like the clothing. Collin helped with some of the choices." Like not buying those tiny bikini-thongs she reminded herself with a grin.

"The really annoying part is that after 3 years, I have to drop 'Lei Kè' and get a new name. At least I got to empty that bank account first." Argent said philosphilically. "Until then, Lî Nà T'shaò will do."

[Charon]

Legacies had taken a seat again, his suit shifting around him again and becoming silver again. "You may call us..." Legacies almost seemed to twitch "me... Mark. In the interests of keeping us safe. We will make an attempt to not call the rest of you by your superhero names."

[Marcao]

He paid close attention to the exchange between Argent and Blackheart. He was still trying to get on top of the internal dynamics of Team Mirage and that would only come through time. Blackheart’s money was returned to him before Argent took a tangent and explained to them their situation. Five more offices meant plenty of space, enough so that every one of them should find a nice spot to call their own for the duration of their stay in the premises. When she spoke of the double doors and security he frowned, something about her tone of voice making it quite clear that she was enjoying that.

He did not reply to her final loaded comment about having one before having left for Chicago. Oh, he had very little doubt that he could outmaneuver a handful of donut eating rent a cops or whatever security measures existed on the halls between himself and his desired goal. Argent vanished taking Legacies and Hotfoot along with her and his eyes flickered towards Blackheart as they left.

“It’s going to take some time to get used to that.â€

[LadyTevar]

[quote="Marcao"]“The shopping trip went a bit faster than I had expected.â€

[Marcao]

He caught sight of the crimson as it crept up her face and decided right then and there that he rather enjoyed it. The smile that he offered her when he was looking up at her a genuine one. He wondered if Li Na knew that she had attracted his interest yet or if he would have to leave more creative signals for her to interpret. It was with that thought in mind that he had disappeared out of sight to change.

Upon his return to the group, he caught Li Na's eyes as they lingered upon him a bit longer than perhaps she herself had intended. He arched a brow at her comment and once more offered a full smile to her. He definately approved of her choices. And then she was speaking and his mind moved aside from how much he enjoyed watching the color rise in her cheeks to the business at hand.

"I found a spot in this area that I am growing rather fond of, but you are right Li Na. I am not looking forward to staying up here for a prolonged period of time." The view up here was certainly a perk but that was about all that the could say about it. It was a good place to hide out for a while, but certainly did not scream permanent residence.

"I can go for Pizza right about now." The truth was he was starting to get hungry. Chicago also had a reputation for having very good pizza, Uno had started in this city had it not? "Do you have a particular means in mind of getting us to this establishment Li Na or will you leave us to our own devices?"

The truth of it was, he would not mind seeing her wrap herself around him once more. His mind took a tangent then and it was his turn for color to rise to his cheeks, his eyes avoiding those of Li Na as the coloration occurred.

[Hotfoot]

Collin smirked as he took his bag of clothes into a room to get changed. Once inside, he started to snicker madly, doing his best to keep it quiet so that the others wouldn't hear him. He slipped into a pair of jeans and a new t-shirt, this one some new band that had hit the scene recently and was fairly popular in the college crowd, called "Shipper Unions". Chances are that nobody other than Collin had even heard of them, but he felt it was appropriate. At some point, he'd have to get Lei...Li Na...Argent alone and help her with reading body language and how to respond. Funny as it was to watch her try and react to Elias, it wasn't helping that she was being so obvious about it.

He came back out, smiling as he showed off his new clothes...again. "What can I say, I am a stylish, stylish man, and these two boxes just accentuate my awesomeness." He smirks, holding up the two power boxes he had been hiding in his jacket up until this point. "So, um, am I gonna Frodo these things for a while, or do we have a place we can stash them?"

[Charon]

Legacies looked between Argent and Tachyon. "Focus on the mission, not your hormones. Or at least go to a back room somewhere and get this over with so we can continue our mission."

[LadyTevar]

Legacies looked between Argent and Tachyon. "Focus on the mission, not your hormones. Or at least go to a back room somewhere and get this over with so we can continue our mission."

And here she thought it was Collin she'd have to worry about. At least he'd walked away before starting to snigger. All she could do was stare at Legacies in shock and embarrassment.

at least he didn't make the same comment about how she was looking at Bla... David as well.

[Marcao]

His attention slid towards Collin as he reappeared, his eyes sliding over the young man’s clothes. The name of the t-shirt was unrecognized and his eyes lingered on those two boxes that he was carrying. Even now he was uncertain as to what exactly they were, but he was under the impression that when it was important for him to know he would be informed. It was then that Legacies made his pitch, his words seeming to hang heavy in the air about the mostly empty office. He blinked, on some level surprised that Legacies would take such a direct route. He did not look at Li Na, not right away. His eyes sliding towards Legacies for a moment as he considered how to best approach the situation.

It was not something that could be ignored. In the end, he settled on a particular path. “Our mission, you mean figuring out what pizzeria to eat on?â€

[Charon]

Legacies was half-tempted to throw the man out of a window, and to get the idea across, he let the emotion filter past his defenses for a brief moment, then hid it again.

"Raising Caine is not the only issue right, we have to deal with having left Ultima and making certain that they aren't going to keep looking for us. We need to deal with whatever group was after myself, and whatever group was after Saibot. We need to deal with how openly known Gravitas is. We need to deal with the fact that we're currently sitting in a suite of Sears Tower, which doesn't seem very subtle to us. Finally there is the matter of Tarot. Raising Caine is the main concern, but there are many things that we need to concern ourselves over. We never said not to do anything, we simply said that if you two are going to be making doe eyes at each other, do something and get that part over with so we can deal with more important things."

Legacies had a calm tone through his voice the entire time, no anger at all being shown.

[Marcao]

Elias blinked as Legacies seemed to switch gears, going from a relatively irritating comment to a expansion of his points in an apparent monotone. The lack of anger was more indicative than anything else, his response to him had been the equivalent of a pleasant mind your own business after all. He hesitated for only a moment before answering the new set of points.

"I see." he paused for a moment, his eyes sliding about their current surroundings. "And how do are these threats worsened by my admiring Li Na's beauty at this time and place?" It was not an insult, he was honestly trying to wrap his mind around it. Finally, he blinked. This did not have to be a game of brinksmanship. He did not have any desire to come to blows over the comment and frankly, Legacies had given him an opportunity.

"But you are right." He admitted. His eyes flickering towards Li Na for a moment. "We can find out what interest is there another time." His eyes lingered on those of Argent for a moment as if his words were something he had every intention on following before he glanced towards Legacies once more.

"So, pizza anyone?" He was only getting hungrier by the minute...

[Charon]

Legacies simply nodded to the man and leaned back, getting comfortable. He watched the rest of the team, as Legacies didn't need to eat as often he had little interest in what the team ate.

[SirNitram]

"Sooner we deal with the threats, the less threats there are to her beauty, if you must view the world through that lens." Gravitas... 'Mike'.. Replied. He shook his head, slowly flexing his body. "Gonna be sore for days... What problem do we tackle first? Move somewhere less obvious? Try and find out what Tarot's up to?"

[LadyTevar]

Li Na could only watch the ... the... pissing match!... between Le -- Mark and Elias. She felt the Mark's intent to do harm before he hid it again, and caught the odd shift to Elias' eyes. Her own eyes went to David in a silent 'stop this?' plea before Elias' next words brought her attention back to him fully.

"But you are right." He admitted. His eyes flickering towards Li Na for a moment. "We can find out what interest is there another time." His eyes lingered on those of Argent for a moment as if his words were something he had every intention on following before he glanced towards Legacies once more.

No empathy needed to understand that message. It was a pure, honest come-on in front of the entire team, and it left Li Na floundering. Black-on-black eyes showed a touch of nervous white around them as she looked to David in half-shock. "I didn't do it! I can't even read him! I'm not influencing him!"

Three months ago, she's mind-bonded with Saibot by hitting him with her empathy. One month ago, she started seeing the tarnish on her shiny hero/lover, courtesy of Blackheart's bluntness. Three days ago, they'd had a fight and she'd taken some time alone to think about the whole thing. Two days ago, he'd gone nuts and tried to kill her. This morning, he'd said goodbye before being arrested. Now, a complete stranger that she couldn't read or touch with her empathy was openly declaring his interest.

Considering that history, her outburst was understandable: she did not want a repeat of Saibot.

[Hotfoot]

Collin winced. The exchange between Mark and Elias was painful to watch, mostly because he could imagine how it made Argent feel, then he felt it over the link. "Oookay....didn't know my very presence could cause that. Guess that's a new power. Li Na, a word?" He wasn't giving her too much of a choice as he took her arm and went to pull her to a side room for a moment. Just trust me on this, okay?

[LadyTevar]

She stared at Collin, wide-eyed as he tugged her away, even as she'd tugged him forward in Macy's earlier. Her eyes shot back to David's as she was dragged out, her empathy reaching out to beg him to believe her.

Once out of the room, she looked up at Collin with those same wide, fearful eyes. "I didn't do that to him, Collin. I didn't."

[Hotfoot]

"Shh...keep it down, willya. I know you didn't do it. Look, Lei, Li Na...whatever. This isn't about that, but it is. Look, I didn't want to say this until later, but that you didn't make a link with him yet? That's a good thing, hang on to that. The simple fact of the matter is, all joking aside, he likes you, or at least he's attracted to you, something which, trust me, is not hard to imagine happening without your empathic powers. Calm down, okay? Lega...Mark was being a jackass, probably because he hasn't been laid by anything but that silver shit for years." He put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"Now don't worry about it, okay? Just take things as they come. Even if he's nothing more than someone to flirt with every so often, something good can come from that later."

[LadyTevar]

The physical contact was steadying, but his words told her he didn't really understand why she was nearly hyperventilating. She had to force herself to calm down, to lock down...

"The day I met Saibot...," she whispered, "I used my Empathy to break him."

[Hotfoot]

Collin blinked, not quite expecting that. "Um...what? What do you mean?" He was confused more than anything, wondering what all he was missing to this story.

[LadyTevar]

Shame leaked out into the air around her.

"He was attacking me, as Ember and I helped cause a disturbance at a local park," she admitted, head down, voice cracking. "To stop him from harming me ... I made him desire me." She recalled how hard it had been, forcing her way past his will, breaking him down to where all he wanted to do was kiss her and claim her.

"The joke was on me..." she whispered. "Best we know, his Ring did something, and we wound up soul-linked. And now, it's gone, and he's gone, and I don't know if it was the Ring or me or real at all."