2013.03.20 - Two Pair: Mutants Over Gods

Senri sits quietly at her table, playing her wind-down playlist on Youtube and just enjoying the music as she reflects on the day's events. As usual, she's a long way away from sleep, but for once it's from her mind being full rather than her body having excess energy. After a while, a thought floats through her mind: "(Y'know, I don't think Thor ever did give me his take on what's going on with me. Rather sneaky of him to take off before I could ask.)" At this, she sits up straight in her chair. "(I was gonna wait, but nothing's stopping me from calling now. It's not -quite- 11, after all.)" And suiting actions to words, she takes out her phone and dials the number.
In SoHo, a cell phone chimes. It almost goes unnoticed, given the volume of the movie blaring on the flat panel TV that looks more like a framed picture than a television. The two Norse deities are curled up together under a bright red blanket (read: Thor's cape) with a large bowl of microwave popcorn between them. Thankfully, the second ring comes during a lull in the sound, and Sif's able to pause the movie long enough for them to confirm that they did, in fact, hear a cell phone ring. Thor's cell phone, exactly. Thor starts to get up to go get it from where it rests on the table on the other side of the room. Unlike Mjolnir, the phone can not be summoned.
They have replaced more than enough cell phones for Thor. Before the God can ever reach the phone, the Goddess has teleported over and snatched up. The call is answered with a soft, "Good evening. One moment please." Nope. No idea who she's talking to but it's easier than letting Thor figure out how to answer said phone which is held out to the God. "I'll go change." Because, really, why would they get a call this late at night unless they needed to go out or were about to have company.
Thor takes the phone with a nod and a touch of a worried frown. All of which leak into his voice as he brings the device to his ear and speaks.
"I am listening."
Senri blinks, taken aback by the stark difference in greetings. "(Did I get the wrong number, maybe...?)" Aloud, she says, "Hello? This is Senri Mizushima. I was calling to leave a message, but since you answered, I wondered if we could discuss a meeting. Am I speaking with Thor?"
If there was any doubt before...
"Senri Mizushima! I greet thee! Aye, verily art thou speaking with the Prince of Asgard." (Because Thor is still a bit prideful.) "Discuss! What of this meeting?"
"(Ah. This is the right number, alright.)" A wry expression briefly crosses her face as she answers, "And I greet you. I was wondering what a convenient time to meet you again would be, as we spoke of earlier today."
"Sif and I were watching 'a movie' at current, but as it has been interrupted, and what with everything currently silent with the Avengers, we are available at this moment."
Senri blanches as Thor's words register. 'Sif'. 'A movie'. 'Interrupted'. "(Yeep! I guess I should have waited after all. Stupid me! Wait...Available? This moment? I think I got more than I bargained for...)" Moving the receiver away from her mouth and covering it with her hand, she takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "(He mentioned things being quiet with the Avengers in the same sentence. Dare I hope it's not as bad as it seems?)" Aloud, she answers, "Ah. I truly apologize for interrupting your movie. I honestly hadn't anticipated so quick a response. Where would be the best place to meet you?"
"It would be best, I think, if Sif and I were to collect thee from thy dwelling. I admit I am not so good with directions here on Midgard. If thou wouldst kindly wait, I shall give the device to Sif, that she may get the needed information from thee that we may fetch thee forthwith." This while walking toward the bedroom and the still changing Sif. What? Can't a guy look?
Nodding unconsciously, Senri says, "Certainly." She settles back into her chair, glancing over at her little Netbook to make sure she remembered to pause her playlist. She wasn't sure if she had tuned out the music or actually stopped it. To her relief, she had indeed paused it before dialing the number.
In their room, the Goddess had just finished lacing up the leather on of her top. A brow is arched over at him and a smirk given. "Are we going out or shall I prepare a meal, beloved?" This is asked as she starts donning the armor as well, assuming their going out if he's come looking for her with his phone still in her hand.
Thor holds out the phone without preamble to Senri. His voice is still loud enough to be heard onthe other end. 
"Out. Senri Mizushima, Deliverer of Pizza, is requesting to meet me. She has abilities, not like our Eddie, but of a similar cause, and she would very much wish to test her mettle."
A brow arches once more and Sif takes the phone. "Greetings," is murmured softly into the device as she carefully holds it between her ear and shoulder so that she might finishing putting on her armor. Especially knowing that they are now going out.
And hear it Senri did. She can't help but cringe a little. "(Makes me wish I worked for the post office. At least I'd qualify for the title of Messenger.)" Apparently, he's speaking with Sif, who must be the woman who first answered the phone. This is confirmed as moments later, she hears the voice again. Feeling a bit intimidated, she takes another deep breath to steady herself, covering the receiver with her hand as before. When she is sure of her voice, she uncovers the receiver and replies, unconsciously slipping into more formal speech, "Ah, hello. I'm sorry for calling so late. I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I met Lord Thor today when he chanced upon the pizzeria I work at. We were celebrating the owner's birthday and he stayed to share the festivities..." Trailing off for a few moments, she continues, "As he said, I was hoping to find out more about what I can do. He asked me to give you directions so that you and he could come for me here."
So, Jocelyn had been in the neighborhood, her newly updated age allowing her a little more freedom in her movement around the city, and figured she'd drop by Thor's place, because she saw the light on. Huh. Wonder what the God of Thunder was doing up this late? So, the teenager wanders upstairs to Thor's apartment and rings the doorbell. She's dressed in a grey jacket and blue jeans at the moment, with her usual black gloves on as well.
Interrupted from his watching of Sif get into her armor while simultaneously juggling his HulkBoxed (think Otter Box, only Hulkier, and yes possibly green and purple) Stark Phone, hears the bell ring. He glances over a shoulder, then turns to answer the musical little summons, leaving Sif to manage the phone and armor situation with out a voyeuristic audience. 
Thor pulls open the door, a faintly curious look upon his face, which fades into a warm smile at the sight of Jocelyn. The Thunderer steps aside so Jocelyn can enter.
"Jocelyn, friend of Eddie! My eyes do see with joy; welcome!"
Sif is securing the last piece of armor as she walks out of the room. "Very well then," is said into the phone. "Relay the directions and we'll be there very shortly." Her eyes lift to the door and she smiles while slipping her sword into the sheath against her hip. She can't exactly wave or speak at the moment so... Bowing it is! Of which Jocelyn gets a small one before straightens and makes her way over to Thor.
"Understood, thank you. I live in the apartment building in Greenwich Village at..." Senri proceeds to quickly give her address and the directions to get there. "I really appreciate this. Thank you again."
"It is good to see you both. My apologies for stopping by so late, Lord Thor. I thought I saw a third person here, but I think I was mistaken. I was hoping to thank Eddie properly for his help the other day and noticed the light on, but as I said, I must have made a mistake". Jocelyn didn't really want to intrude on them too late into the evening; that would be rude. She notes Sif in her armor. "Umm, are you heading off into battle?" the girl asks curiously. Because she hadn't heard of any alien attacks today! "Anything you could use a hand with?"
"Battle? Nay. As for thy help..." Thor's mind isn't often known to move quickly, but he's a Prince and a Warrior and knows when resources are staring him in the face and begging to be made use of. The smile on his face is evidence enough of this. 
"Verily, I think thou art the best person to help, for I've no great experience with mortals such as thyself. There is one I have met recently, to whom we are about to teleport to, that could use thy support. Lady Sif and I were off to collect her, and to take her to an unpopulated area in which we may spar, and she may learn to make use of the gifts her blood hath granted her," Thor explains. As usual, the Asgardian takes the long way around to say that he's met a mutant, is on his way to visit her and help her with her powers the way he did Eddie, and would you like to please come along?
"Understood. We'll be there shortly." Sif's been listening to the conversation going on around her. "We'll have someone with us, however..." She lets that trail off before. "Stay well." She allows Senri to say a goodbye and then hangs up the phone which is handed back to Thor. "If we are all ready, we should be off then." She smiles at little at Jocelyn and holds out her hand. "Hold on tight. I am told the teleportation tends to effect mortals with dizziness..."
"I understand, thank you. You, as well. Goodbye." With that, she hangs up and walks to her wardrobe. Taking out her jacket, she slips it on and heads out the door, settling in to wait just outside.
"Certainly," Jocelyn says. One of the things that her group did was work with new mutants, and though she couldn't recruit anyone herself, it was good to find out who was out there. The tall woman reaches into her pocket and slips on a blue mask. "Though call me Channel while there. My codename, like Hulk or Captain America's. Identity rules and all," the woman adds with an easy smile. X-Men were nothing if not paranoid about people finding out about them! She isn't wearing her uniform, however, which is probably a good thing. She didn't need to advertise the team. She then reaches out to take Sif's hand for the teleportation. "Well, I'll either be completely unaffected or will have a really horrible headache I suspect. One of the two". It depended on how her power interpreted the teleportation. She'd seen Kurt teleport enough, so it can't be that bad. Right?
"Oh, yeah. And if the headache because too much, and thou doth feel as if thou wouldst explode, please give me warning? I shall fly thee out of range of the others," Thor offers, taking up Channel's other hand in one of his and Sif's in the other.
The Goddess looks hesitant a moment when the possibility that she will be causing the child any kind of pain is laid before her. She remember the migraine Joce got the first time she met her. A slight frown mars her features before she sighs. "I am sorry, child," is murmured softly. "If there were any other way to get there as quickly..." Jocelyn's hand as well as Thor is taken and before anyone can blink more than once, they've left the apartment and are standing outside the address given. Luckily, Sif was familiar with the area.
In the space of a heartbeat, Senri suddenly finds herself confronted by a group consisting of Thor and two other women. "(Ah. One must be Sif and the other the 'someone' that she mentioned...)" Feeling much shorter than usual, she nonetheless smiles and puts up her right hand in greeting. "Hello!", she says, descending the small flight of stairs, "Thank you for coming on such short notice." With a polite bow to Sif and Jocelyn, she continues. "Nice to meet you both. I'm Senri."
Well, Jocelyn doesn't get a huge headache from the energy expenditure. She's seen enough of this sort of thing that she is able to keep herself under control through a combination of steeling her will and being used to seeing all of the world's energy. She releases the hands of the two gods and nods to the girl. "It is good to meet you, Senri," the woman says. A glance is given to Thor. "While normally I would introduce myself, I believe Lord Thor does introductions far better than I do".
You're up, big guy!
As the teleportation effect fades, Thor looks over to Senri and smiles. Stepping from the ladies, Thor motions to each to make introductions, since Jocelyn gave him teh perfect opening.
"This is the Valkyrie Sif Ragnahilde, the Lady of Blades, Shield Maiden of Asgard, Sword Maiden of Thrudheim, Betrothed of Thor Odinson, and the Goddess of War," Thor says as he motions to Sif first, letting a bit of pride seep into his words. He turns next to Jocelyn, and makes the same motion as he speaks her introductions.
"This is Channel the Flarebright, Friend of Axiom the Spear of Thrudheim. She is as thou art, with gifts born of blood."
With his companions introduced, Thor turns to them and motions to Senri.
"This is Senri Mizushima, Deliverer of Pizza." And some how that title sounds ladened with respect.
Silvery-blue eyes sparkle with pride as she's introduced. There might have even been a little preening involved as he announces her as his betrothed. It happens every time he does it.
Stepping forward, the Goddess bows her head deeply. "A pleasure and an honor," is said softly before she straightens. A gentle smile touches her lips before she looks back at Thor. "Where are we taking them, beloved?" Because what needs done most certainly can't be done here!
Senri blinks once as the introductions sink in. It's one thing to know someone by reputation, quite another to be introduced face-to-face, especially when that someone is introduced with all the titles due them, as Thor did for both women. Feeling more than a bit awed, she nods and says, "And I'm honored to meet you both. Thank you again for coming."
Thor's answer is succient and simple: "Practice field." Beause that makes sense to the Goddess. 
Once again, Thor takes up Sif's hand, then offers the other to Senri, so that she might join them in the Sailor Moonish Circle of Teleportation.
"(Practice Field...? Makes sense.)" Senri takes Thor's offered hand reflexively, joining herself to the circle.
Once everyone is gathered, Sif warns Senri, "Hold on. The teleportation effects people differently." Some have gotten sick from it while Joce didn't even blink. Speaking of blinking... They don't even get a chance to do it once after her warning before they're all standing in a field on the far outskirts of the city. "This is where Thor and I practice. Anything that needs done is safe to do here..." Because they haven't killed anyone yet so chances are no one else will either.
And there is more teleportation! That's a nifty little power. Jocelyn kind of wishes she had it, but oh well. She does turn that title over in her head a bit. The Flarebright? Huh. So Jocelyn had earned a title, though she's not sure that's a good title. Going off like a nuclear warhead seemed to not be a title to really aspire to, though she knows Thor means well by it. "Just call me Channel. And yes, like Lord Thor said, I am a mutant," the younger woman tells Senri.
The woman looks around the practice field. Everyone seemed to know of these awesome practice fields and such to do power training. "So, what is it that you are able to do?" Jocelyn asks Senri casually. It was kind of like a ritual for mutants to ask each other that question that extended to other metahumans and gods, it seemed.
Nodding, Senri tightens her grip, only just in time to have the world lurch abruptly sideways before righting itself. Looking around, she takes in their new surroundings, recognizing the city in the background. "I see. Lots of open space. That's good!" Turning to face Jocelyn as she speaks, comprehension flashes across her face before she answers, "Ah! Well, right now, I can run really fast." She quickly amends, "Not -super- fast, but faster than I can go on my road bike. I feel like I could probably do more if I just knew how I was doing it."
Sif smiles at the the girls and takes a step back, lacing her fingers with Thor's. "I fear I will be of little help in this. I will, of course, offer what I can but my skills lie elsewhere." Someone talk to her about fighting and the art of war and she's good to go... This though... She was just the taxi!
"Go ahead and demonstrate for me," Channel tells Senri. "I can see energy, so I might be able to tell you what's going on behind the scenes a little bit". Effectively, she can analyze what Senri is doing with energy and the type of energy the woman was using. It might give her an idea how to move forward with it. A glance is given to Sif. "Which is actually why I had headaches the first time I visited you and Lord Thor. You both shine rather brightly," she explains. "Took my brain a little bit to adjust to it. Sort of like walking into a really bright room". Gods had a tendency to just emit lots of energy.
A glance is given to Sif and Thor. "If we have a chance, perhaps one of you wouldn't mind giving me a chance for a spar?" she asks casually. An opportunity to learn from a god about fighting was something she had to admit to being curious about.
Senri's eyes light up at the prospect of a run, even though she had already been anticipating it. "Ah! That's awesome! Okay!", she chirps. As soon as she's sure that Channel is watching, she takes off running. As with her earlier demonstration, she wastes no time in 'going faster'. Responding to her desire, the air is pulled into a strong tailwind to propel her even as it thins dramatically in front of her. Oddly, her ponytail is lying rather close to her neck rather than streaming out behind her, and a closer inspection shows that her clothes are relatively undisturbed, as well. It seems there's a thin 'shell' around her that lowers her air resistance.
The request for a spar cause both God and Goddess to grin. First at each other and then at Channel. "Either or both of us would be delighted," Sif responds with a bow of her head.
And then Senri is moving and Sif turns an analytical eye to her. While she can't see the energy the girl uses, she's got a keen enough eye that she might be able to pick up on something.
Two on one? Was that something Sif just implied? Channel wasn't quite as sure she could handle two at once, thank you very much! She does, however, keep an eye on Senri. Okay, so there's a bit of information. "Alright, come on back and stop next to me," Channel instructs her. "It looks like you're manipulating wind. Basically, you're controlling the kinetic energy that is air in motion. It's propelling you forward when you run, and you've got a little bubble around you. It looks like it's lowering your air resistance," Channel explains to Senri. "So try to think of your power more along the lines of that than just running fast. You might be able to improve that way, though practice is really what's going to help out the most".
At this point, Senri has managed to cross a good distance, but she hears Channel calling to her so, with a grin, she throws herself into a backflip, lands and dashes back to the group once more. As she listens to Channel's analysis, her eyes widen more and more and with it, the smile she wore already. As she is advised to 'think of your power more like that', her mind indeed immediately snatches that information and starts turning it over, possibilities already starting to occur to her. In an excited whisper, she breathes, "Wow! I can control the -air-? I wonder..." Her face settling into a mask of concentration, she looks down at her hand, then abruptly swings her arm up to point, following its motion with her eyes and focusing on making the air move 'that way'.
Sif and Thor stand on the outer edge of the field, watching the two talk and work on Senri's abilities. It's not a new stance for them really. They often did this in Asgard as they assessed the soldiers. Like then, they murmur quietly to one another so as not to interrupt. They don't give off the feeling of anti-social so much as analytical.
Watching, Channel nods. "I can see the attempt, but it's not quite there yet. Might get it with practice," Channel suggests. "Though you'll want to start small. Work on a small breeze first. Don't go trying to knock trees over or anything like that. You got a place you can regularly practice?" she asks the mutant easily. "People tend to get a little nervous around us when we use our powers around them, you know?"
A~nd nothing happens, other than her looking a bit silly. The concentration on her face is pushed aside by a look of comical bewilderment. "(Well, -that- was anticlimactic.)" Lowering her hand, she breaks into a short fit of giggles before recovering her composure and listening carefully to Channel's advice. "So something was happening after all? Whew." Nodding, she nibbles on her bottom lip for a moment as she considers Channel's question. "I'm fine with practice. I don't have any place in particular, but there's always rooftops!", she finishes with a bright smile.
Channel chuckles. "Invest in a mask or something. Trust me, it isn't a bad idea," the woman says. "Here, let me try to explain mine a little bit. It might help". The girl walks over to stand next to Senri. She holds her hand out. "When I draw in energy from the air, I let myself feel it around me before I let it out. Focus on feeling the air. It's temperature, the speed it's moving at, everything," the girl states. She picks up a rock and tosses it with her free hand. "Then, when I've got ahold of it, I release it". There's a silent and invisible blast, but the rock she tossed suddenly gets shot forwards about fifty yards as some invisible force strikes it.
Senri blinks. "A mask...? Makes sense," says, nodding slowly. She turns her attention entirely toward Channel, focusing intently on her demonstration. She finds herself almost subconciously following Channel's instructions even as they're given, trying to feel the air pressing against her and to work outward from there. It gives her an odd feeling, but her focus is broken as the rock is abruptly propelled forward. For a moment, she thinks she could actually see what's really going on, but the moment passes and she has to consciously stop herself from reaching up to rub her eyes.
"Now you do it," Channel comments to the girl. It's a simple instruction, really. but there was a difference between seeing something done and actually doing it. Channel figures that seeing a demonstration might help. However, for the moment she simply waits for Senri to give it a go here. The girl instead bends down and grabs a small rock, tossing it a couple times idly. "When it's in the air, blow it away from me". She continues tossing the rock, waiting for Senri to react.
Finally, Sif moves from where she stands next to Thor. Walking over to the two girls, her head tilts. "I will be of little help to you, Senri and for that, I am sorry. Don--Thor, however, may be able to help. Wind is something he's good at harnessing." She smirks a little before looking to Jocelyn. "You wished to spar... -That- I can do."
The comment about winds was heard and of course the two dieties spoke about it, with Thor nodding and appearing thoughtful and more than a touch curious. He's never 'trained' anyone to manifest storms before. It was always something he could.. just do. He's the son of the Earth, of Jord as she is called to the Norse, Gaea if you're more inclined toward the Grecian version of her. Storms and the very ground itself are his to command; they leap to his Will. As Sif moves forward, so does Thor, but to the air-bender rather than the channeler. He folds his arms thoughtfully over his chest, one hand stroking at the bit of a beard that's been growing in slowly as he thinks. One day, some millennia from now, when he's older with significantly more white than gold in what will no doubt be a full flowing beard, the motion may turn into his twisting and tugging at the hair there. 
Storm-colored eyes watching, studying, assessing, Thor murmurs to Senri, "Show me again, thinking of this as wind, what thou thinks thou can do." At his hip, the runes across Mjolnir's face flicker to life.
Senri jerks her attention back toward Channel as she issues her instruction. Nodding acknowledgement, she gives a distracted-sounding "Okay..." as she follows the rock with her eyes, concentrating on the air around it, and its interaction with the rock. Things slowly seem to slip into place, but she still can't -quite- get it. She blinks and looks over at Sif and Thor as they comes to stand with her and Channel. She perks up as Sif gives her explanation. "I was hoping for that, honestly..." She nods to Thor, and takes a deep breath to steady herself. Turning her focus back to the rock, and 'pushes' at it, willing the air to blow it forward.
"Almost had it that time," Channel says to Senri. Though she does step back when Thor moves to take over. Well, she got the girl started at least. She then turns to Sif. "If you are alright with that, while Lord Thor works with Senri," the teenager says. "I am alright if you wish to use your weapons," she adds. The girl channels up some energy to charge her own physical attributes even as she moves to a space away from Thor and Senri for the spar. She figured that fights were not always fair, and if Sif had weapons, she should be able to use them. Of course, Channel might use her own blasts as well, so hey. Unfair was fair, or something like that.
Thor watches closely as Senri pushes ineffectually at the rock, lips frowning. His eyes cast about for a moment, taking in the trees and the grass, and the flowers, and the white puffs of dandelion seeds ready to take flight. He moves then, snatching the rock out of the air and tossing it carelessly over a shoulder. 
It's odd to see so large and so heavily armored a man move with such gentle care to the dandelions. Thor, with the greatest of care, delicately plucks a single flower from the bunch and returns to Senri. And then, from the mass of white fluff, Thor plucks three tiny seeds.
"Raging hurricanes and twisting cyclones are far easier to create than to control, but even they have a challenge in moving earth about. For thy first tries, I give to thee these," Thor says holding out the trio of fluff-attached seeds. Wordlessly, Thor collects three for himself, and holds them in his open palm for Senri to see. His eyes shift, warming to the delicate blue of a warm and breezy summer sky. There's a soft rustle, and a tiny zephyr dances past, brushing at the hair on Senri and Thor's shoulders before dancing downward toward the Thunderer's open palm. The breeze collects the seeds and spirits them away, almost seeming to laugh and dance with them. Thor's eyes follow the seeds, helping to support the breeze until it can merge with a larger and more natural flit of wind, and the seeds are whisked away. 
Thor, God of Thunder, standing there while delicately scattering seeds to the wind. Sif had better not make a snarky comment about him also being a Fertility God if she values her non-split lip or long flowing tresses.
The sword is left in it's sheath for now though a light smile plays on Sif's face. "I will draw my sword if need be." She squares off with Jocelyn. If she's about to make a move, it's halted as she catches sight of Thor's example out of the corner of her eyes. A sly, playful and rather devious smirk curls her lips. "Fertilizing the earth are you, beloved?"
A simple nod is given in response to Sif's comments about the sword. It was her choice. Jocelyn slides into an easy, comfortable stance as she discards her jacket. She's wearing a green t-shirt today. Nothing fancy or that is going to help her much in the fight. "Whenever you are ready," the woman says to Sif. Thor's actions are noted, but she discards them quickly. She suspected she may be busy defending herself at any second here.
A bit put out at her lack of success, Senri watches as Thor snatches the rock from the air and throws it away. Her spirits are quickly lifted again as curiosity sweeps over her. She watches him intently, wondering what he is planning. As he collects the seeds and speaks, she locks onto his words and things begin to fall into place. "(So two things: I need to start smaller, and it's going to be harder to affect earth directly.)" Taking the seeds with care, her attention turns toward Thor's opened hand as a light breeze blows past her, and plucks the seeds away. With Thor, she follows the seeds in their flight, and comprehension spreads across her face. "(Third lesson: Avoid being heavy-handed.) "I see! I think I can do it!" 
 
Looking down at the fist she's gently closed, she opens her fingers and turns her focus to the seeds resting on her palm. Drawing on Channel's lesson, she considers the air around them, watches how tiny movements lift the seeds minutely one way, then another. Finally, she exerts a gentle push, coaxing the air to move in the direction she wishes. Slowly, the air begins to move, then gathers momentum much more quickly. At last, the seeds are blown from her hand, and she guides them onward and upward, marveling all the while. And then she releases them, a small smiles on her face. "I did it..." she says softly.
Sif's comment is ignored for the moment. He's teaching, after all. And so silent and calm and composed does Thor stay as Senri absorbed what he said, considers what he doesn't say, and then... success.
Thor smiles gently to the mutant at his side, placing a gentle hand upon her shoulder. The other hand holds up the dandelion bloom, still covered with its white fluff. That's when he tosses his retort back at Sif.
"Nay. Scattering seeds upon an already fertile land, my Sword Maiden. Though if thou would like to be more technical about it, I would most assuredly be pleased to argue the point more fully," Thor retorts in a tone that turns all the lengthy phrases into a terse and playful: Dem's fightin' words, woman! One could almost imagine him sticking out his tongue at her.
There's a bright laugh from Sif, eyes sparkling. "I would be more than happy to indulge you in such a discussion, my Prince, but I did promise the young woman a spar..." She smirks slightly. "Perhaps later..." The unspoken part of that? 'If you can be torn away from your flowers'...
She looks back at Jocelyn and grins. "Show me what you are capable of." The Goddess continues to patiently stand her ground and waits for the mutant across from her to move.
"Good work," Channel says to Senri as she succeeds. Though she'll leave the teaching to Thor. He's got more experience in just about everything, given how much older he was than her! The young woman then turns her attention fully back on Sif. She takes a couple steps forward and launches a pair of invisible kinetic blasts at the woman before darting forward. The girl has much quicker reflexes than one would expect, and she launches a pair of right jabs followed by a left uppercut and then a couple hard side kicks.
It was a reasonably standard opener for her to determine an opponent's reaction time and ability. Sif will be able to tell that the woman has clearly had a lot of training, though not as much as Sif or Thor have had, of course. She's just quick, which helps her out a lot.
Senri beams up at Thor as he places his hand on her shoulder and says, "Thank you! I really mean it. This has made me really happy!" She considers the dandelion thoughtfully. "A tiny step. But it's my first one."
Thor smiles down at Senri, giving her a nod. But there's something ...almost... mischievous in his gaze. He steps toward the girl, back to the sparring, summoning a breeze to take their words away. It also serves to pluck more of the dandelion fluff away.
"Now that thou hast gotten the idea, it is time for thou to 'play'. Unleash upon Sif. I shall aid thee, as well as keep Channel occupied. Ready?" Thor's words are soft, conspiratorial, and once Senri gives him a nod, Thor winks, grins, and turns. 
The gentle breezes shift suddenly into a bitterly cold gust, bringing the scent of rain and the threat of blizzard. There's a crack of thunder as the sky overcasts suddenly. Thor stands there, eyes aglow with electricity, Mjolnir in hand.
The strikes from Jocelyn are, for the most part, able to be dodged. A few find their mark and only cause the Goddess to smile. The kinetic blast is easily shook off. When she returns the blows, her strength is carefully measured.
And then the weather changes and she looks over at Thor, eyes narrowing. "Now now, Donar..." Her lips curl into a 'dangerous' smirk. "You don't truly want to do this... Do you?"
Channel dodges a few of Sif's strikes, though she has to put more effort into the dodges than Sif does. A few of them strike her, however. She's wearing significantly less armor than Sif, but the blows don't seem to affect her particularly much. She'd toughened up her body significantly with that charge, and Sif would realize that upon impact, especially with the measured amount of strength Sif uses.
Jocelyn attempts to strike at Sif an uppercut followed by her dropping down into a sweeping leg kick to try and unbalance the goddess. She wasn't sure how much she was challenging the goddess at this point, though she'd guess the answer was somewhere around the lines of 'not much'.
Then the weather kicks in, and the woman does give Thor a glance, but lets Sif handle that discussion. That was going to make things a little more tricky.
Senri's eyes widen slightly as Thor's words sink in, but then she grins with mischievousness of her own and nods firmly. She opens herself to feeling the air around her, sensing with much greater confidence the flow and what is almost the taste of it. She joins her efforts to his, encouraging the air to flow swiftly toward Sif, helped along by the current Thor has already introduced. The intensity of her wind mounts gradually but surely until, with a flash of inner surprise, she finds it an appreciable echo of Thor's own.
"Now now, Sibba. Thou did make mention of indulging me in 'conversation'," Thor retorts as the sky lights up with flickers of lightning. Milk name for milk name, Lady of Blades. Thor can go tit for tat with you.
By conversation, he means battle and by indulge, he means two versus two. 
Come on, Goddess of War. Can you keep your wee little charge, the mutant Channel, upright against Thor, God of Thunder? And can Sif press her advantages to force Thor's hand in protecting Senri long enough for Channel to get in a 'killing' blow and ending the match? 
Thor twirls Mjolnir in his hand once, waits for Senri to begin her attack, then aims a low powered bolt at Jocelyn. Or, rather, at the ground between where she is now, where Sif is, and where Senri will most likely end up. The attack, despite the tone of his voice, sounds looks and feels very real. Only one who knows him well, his temper and his moods, could tell for certain that Thor is, with all complete honestly, playing around. 
This is why they can't have nice things.
This is also why various superheroes, Avengers, and Stark Industries CEOs routinely show up in the middle of a sparring match to try to talk the Thunderer down.
Indeed! Playful God/desses are a dangerous thing. -Especially- Thor and Sif who use 'sparring' to express everything from displeasure to their flirting!
"So I did, beloved... So I did..." Silver-blue eyes sparkle as the Goddess draws her sword just as the lightning strikes. Before it can hit, the Goddess has blinked away. She blinks back in behind Jocelyn in an attempt to move her out of the way. "Looks like you're going to get a bit more than a spar. Thor is in the mood to play. Senri is his weakness in the game..." Among other things, but she isn't going to give away all their secrets.
Her eyes lift to Thor and she smirks. If he wants to play war with her, she's more than happy to play with him. Her sword is twirled with expert ease, their wind whipping her hair and cape about her. Rather an epic and intimidating look for the Goddess if one doesn't know her... And those who do know the look doesn't matter.
Okay, that wind was going to get cold fast, but Channel wasn't going to complain about it. She also doesn't have time, because Thor has launched a freaking lightning bolt at her. She's not really quick enough to completely dodge that, but she doesn't need to be, because Thor's bolt wasn't at full strength and Sif just hopped behind her to push her out of the way. The girl makes the necessary sidestep and nods. "Got it," Channel tells Sif.
Channel is not in the mood to let this opportunity pass her by, however. She reaches her hand out as she steps out from behind Sif and 'pulls' the bolt towards her. Everyone is treated to seeing the masked girl actually bend the lightning bolt towards her. It then gets absorbed inside of her. She holds her hand out and fires a blast of electrical energy (basically a lightning bolt) back at Thor. Yes, Thor, she just effectively ate your lightning bolt and spit it back out at you. That was the trick Thor hadn't gotten to see from her yet.
She then aims a low-powered kinetic burst at the ground between Thor and Senri, attempting to knock their feet out from underneath them. There's a small bang as the shot goes off, and there will be a nice little dent in the ground between Thor and Senri from where Channel centered the burst. It probably won't do much to Thor, but she's trying to more take the legs out from Senri here instead of the big guy.
"So, we are sparring with all that we have, Beloved?" asks the Thunderer as Sif teleports behind Channel to help her get out of the way. The laughing flashes of lightning in his eyes spark to impressed as Channel absorbs his lightning bolt and flings it back at him. He brings Mjolnir up, 'catches' the bolt, and then flicks it away.
"Thou art going to have to blow the winds harder to ruffle my Sword Maiden, Senri," Thor informs his teammate as he uses a gust of wind to shove himself toward the air-bender where he puts his back to the explosion to shield her from the shrapnel and the concussive shockwave. He's going to need a new cape before this is over if this keeps up. 
"See to it," Thor states to the girl before he turns back to Channel with a wicked grin. Sif knows the grin. Thor's having fun!
Senri leaps backward away from the blast, carrying herself through another flip. When she lands, she nods at Thor firmly in acknowledgement, her mind already working. In spite of the seriously impressive, in her humble opinion, combined assault, Sif doesn't even to turn a hair. Mildly frustrated, but not surprised, she tries instead to focus her own contribution, drawing more air into the stream, increasing the 'push' behind them, and concentrating it into blast of wind about as wide as both her arms together. This she aims and released toward Sif once more. Sweat beads her face, and she shakes from exertion. Glancing over at Thor, she tries to convey what she's doing, or at least draw attention to it.
The wind thrown at her from Senri causes the Goddess to pause a moment. Her hair is tucked under her cape to keep it from whipping her face. "I shall only use the teleportation for defense," is promised softly. The problem is, affecting Sif with wind isn't easy. She's fought dealt with Frost Giants in their realm and... Thor. Still, she does dip her head slightly, but not before giving Thor a pointed look and tossing a quick warning to him though it isn't spoken in English. "Do not let her push too hard too fast."
Channel wasn't going to try and get into hand-to-hand range with Thor. No sir, not today! That would be a fast way to end up on her butt. Channel digs her heels into the ground to brace herself against the wind, now having to do so with a little bit of visibility, but not in danger of that whole 'falling over' stage that Thor would like her to be in.
Instead, Channel fires off a vertical burst in front of Thor in an attempt to distract him while firing a pair of low-powered kinetic bursts in the direction of Senri. So far all she's using is kinetic energy, though she is pulling some of it from the air that Senri is sending their way, which helps her in not getting knocked over, too. The best tactic in this case, Channel figured, was to use the enemy's own energy against them. Channel could just do that literally. She figures that Thor might be someone who could be ribbed into making a mistake though.
"Come now, Thunderer. Don't tell me a girl not even twenty yet has you pinned down?" she calls, the look in her eye saying she's having rather a lot of fun, despite the obvious challenge of it all. She figures Thor can take a little ribbing and not be insulted. They were obviously having a game of it here. She raises an eyebrow at the spoken words, but doesn't understand them, of course. Ah well!
Senri's efforts aren't nearly as effective as she hoped, but she smiles triumphantly as Sif visibly pauses. She notes the look she sends toward Thor, and this only raises her spirits higher. Dare she hope that she was actually accomplishing something? Out of the corner of her eye, she notices that Channel has her attention on her. Not wanting to chance a hit, she cartwheels to her left and nudges herself forward into a flip to land on her feet, keeping her focus on Sif as she moves so that the wind doesn't die. Sure enough, she is slightly rocked by the impact of the twin energy bursts landing where she had been moments before. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, she steers the wind away from Sif into an arc set to strike Channel from behind.
"Certainly, Beloved, though you /are/ the target," says Thor in that same ancient language, giving Sif a nod and a wink. And then he's tracking Channel's movements while keeping Sif in his peripheral vision. Channel's quip makes the Thunderer smirk and he flicks his gaze fully to her for a moment. Just long enough to fix her location in his mind and throw his hammer at her.
"I'm certain that if I didn't complain about the possibility, Sif would most likely turn on thee, so... I'm just going to smile," retorts the Prince as he watches Mjolnir's path and Sif's reaction to that.
Sif laughs at the teasing Jocelyn gives Thor. So much like something she, herself, would do. It's then that she notices the rise in Senri's confidence and the redirection of the wind. Instead of replying to Thor, she cast a glance at Joce before she laughs again and nods. "Do it." And then she's turned towards Senri and actually charges the girl only to flip at the last moment to try to land behind her in order to drop and sweep a leg out, intending to take the girl down.
Hammer Time! Okay, Channel has a really terrible idea here. It is either going to be epic and worthy of telling the story of in Thor's hall later with Eddie hanging around, or it's going to be a complete failure. Those are really the options here. But, first things first!
That blast of cold air from Senri just gets absorbed by the younger girl, her instinctive absorption shield soaking up that yummy kinetic energy. She's probably going to need to get hit with multiple blasts or something of that nature, because her shield keeps just eating the windy attack.
Besides, that hammer is more the problem. The girl's muscles tense as she ducks the hammer as it flies towards her, using her energy sense to time her movement. Then she takes a few quick steps forward towards Thor, even as Mjolnir starts to return towards the Thunderer, coming at her back. A mental clock kicks off in Jocelyn's head.
Three. Two. One. NOW!
The girl leaps up into the air, doing a nice backflip, and catches hold of Mjolnir's handle about five feet from Thor. Using that momentum, she swings around and up, bringing her feet up towards Thor's chest, intending to strike with full force and also unleash a kinetic blast from her feet in an attempt to really send Thor flying. She's hoping that her superhuman strength and the kinetic blast will be enough to at least stagger the man.
Regardless of the result, she continues the spin and flips backwards, releasing the hammer and landing on her feet about ten feet from where she makes the attempt on striking Thor.
Senri gives a slightly hysterical mental giggle as she thinks, "(Oh, I did something alright! Here comes Trouble!)" Dropping her control of the air for now, she bends her knees as Sif charges her, holding her ground until Sif is in striking range. As the Goddess flips, "(Pulling a page from my book, n?)", she drops into a slide, pivoting on her right hand and kipping up to face her. And not a moment too soon, since Sif is going for a sweep kick. Throwing aside the focus she had drawn upon, she calls on muscle memory instead, timing a jump straight up to carry her above Sif's leg. Knowing that she's outmatched, she pushes her shaking body into another backflip and takes off running as soon as her feet find purchase again. Her vision is blurring now, and she shakes her head quickly as she opens the distance, trying to put Thor between her and Sif.
Jocelyn's got guts, Thor's got to give her that. Seeing her latch onto Mjolnir and riding the hammer toward him, he tenses, ready for the impact. What he wasn't ready for was her strength or the added impact of her blasts. He stumbles once, grunting. Right hand catches Mjolnir. Left hand tries to snatch at Channel... and misses. 
With Sif bearing down on his charge, Thor growls lightly and stomps. 
If you've ever played World of Warcraft, the stomp would look oddly familiar. The Tauran have it as a racial ability. War Stomp. It sends out a little crackle of broken earth and stuns everyone in a 10 yard radius. From Thor, the ripple of mini earth quake isn't centered on him. It's centered on Sif.
The Goddess actually smiles as the girl dodges her attack. That smile immediately fades though when she notices the girl's condition. She's concerned enough that she doesn't even register the mini quake and so is immediately knocked on her a--rear end. She doesn't even bother to get up as she yells out, "Enough!" Her eyes go to Thor and then to Senri. She gone far enough for one night. A proud smile is shot to Jocelyn before the Goddess finally stands. "You both did very well this evening."
Channel manages to just evade being grabbed by Thor with her crazy flipping tricks. She then spots the kinetic energy of the ripple and leaps up into the air to dodge the blast wave, though it does catch her feet and staggers her for a few moments as she lands right back down again. At Sif's statement, however, she straightens up a bit and nods, standing down from the fight. She does watch Senri, however, to make sure she is able to come down from her burst of speed there. "Well fought, everyone," Channel adds to the group, taking note of Thor's protective growl. Well, she at least staggered him. That was a start!
Senri skids to a stop as soon as she her Sif's yell. Too tired for any sort of grace, she drops to the ground with a small 'thump'. Looking around at each of the others with a woozy but victorious grin, she chirps in a cheerful sing-song, "Thank you~! That was fu~n!" And with that, she flops on her back, still smiling, exhausted but not quite passed out.
Tensed and ready to press the attack on Channel the moment Sif dropped to her rump, Thor's advance is halted by the Goddess' command. His cape flutters about him then comes to a sighing stop about his ankles. The battle hardened expression fades quickly, replaced first by a grin, then by a concerned alertness as Senri flomps to the ground. He eyes Senri for a long moment, assuring himself that she is in fact okay before he straightens, clips Mjonir to his belt, unsummons the weather effects, and turns to help Sif to her feet.
"Agreed, Channel. Thy skills are intriguing," Thor compliments over his shoulder as he extends his hand to Sif.
Taking Thor's hand,Sif pulls herself to her feet and immediately leans up to give him a quick a kiss. "Well done, my love." She then turns her attention on both girls. "I think that's enough for tonight. Let us take you both back to your dwellings so that you may rest."
"You can just take me back with Senri," Channel says. She hasn't exactly given her address to Thor and Sif, so they couldn't find it anyway. "It is close enough for me, and I will be fine". Channel looks over to Senri. "Will you be alright?" she asks. "I'd advise giving your powers a rest for a day or so. It'll help you recover". And when they get to Senri's, if she'll let her, she'll exchange phone numbers with the woman to keep in touch.
Her speech slurring from sleepiness, Senri replies with a small giggle, “It's okay. You can leave me here. This grass makes a nice bed." Waving her hand in Channel's general direction, she says, "Think so. Just re~ally sleepy. I can do that. Feels like I ran a couple Marathons."
The sleepy voice makes Thor smile gently, and the Thunderer makes his way over to scoop her up from the grass. Cradling her as one would a child, Thor makes his way back over toward Sif, ready to be teleported to Senri's home where he'll see her tucked into bed. The issue is that she locked her door before she left. Jocelyn was able to fish the girl's keys from her pockets. Thus allowing themselves inside, the two gods and the mutant get Senri into her bed, shoes and outer jacket off. Sif even took a moment to run a damp washcloth over the girl's face, cheeks, and neck to clean her of sweat a small bit before Thor brought her blankets up to her chin and brushed back a stray lock of hair from her forehead. When asked, Thor gave Jocelyn his phone so she could pull Senri's contact information from it. Anyone with any phone sense could find it from the call log easily. 
Sif once more offered to see Jocelyn home, but the channeler declined. Asgardian custom required that regardless of Thor's personal feelings on the matter of a maiden walking home alone, that he not disrespect her wishes by forcing himself and his offer of protection. He could, however, inform her that should she need help, she had only to pray his name and he would go to her. 
And with that, the gods and the mutant part ways, Senri left tucked in and sleeping in her apartment.
Category:Log