Bonding over Wine and Cupcakes

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee10/29/2018

*Living room*

Cole nodded at Val as he took the last bite of his cupcake and mourned the end of his snack for a brief moment until he noticed the cookies sitting on the table with a glass of milk as if served for him. "That's uh..." he didn't even lift his gaze as he leaned over to dunk a cookie in milk "this old, rich guy. One of the villains these guys took down today was his sugarbaby, you know, like sex for money and stuff." Cole's mouth opened wide as he fit the cookie into his mouth in one bite and chewed it down, speaking with his mouth full as he continues "I'm not really sure what happened to be honest, though."

## Jax (token white guy)10/29/2018

Eli looked up as Vin approached the bench and offered her help. "Sure. I need some tomatoes diced and if I can find a grater we can get the cheese ready." He said pushing the chopping board over to her. Eli was already feeling better. he was in his zone. He turned and started looking through the cupboard which was well stocked but looked mostly untouched especially the spices and herbs which had a light coating of duct on the containers. He grabbed the salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper and placed them on the bench then began looking for the brown sugar.
 "No no" he said replying to Anastasia. " My mother's the chef. I am but her humble student. She has.. ah found it.. She has been the head chef at the restaurant in the Two anchors inn down at the boardwalk for the last thirty years. My dad was a maintenance guy their for the last twenty-eight. Its where they met." He started mixing the ingredients in a saucepan making a beautiful barbeque sauce. "And while professionally I followed in my dad's line of work my mom refused to let me be the son of a chef who didn't know how to cook." A smile spread over his face as he remembered all the little lessons she had given him over the years. All the meals they had shared both in preparation and enjoyment.
Eli looked back up when Leo started scolding Ana on her choice of alcohol. His last comment however made Eli stop stirring for a second and he stared blankly across the room before snapping back and continuing the task. Finishing the barbeque sauce and dicing some bacons strips before tossing the bits into the pan with the chicken. The meal was almost done. He started grabbing plates to serve it on.(edited)

## Vodka Aunt10/29/2018

Anastasia cheers at Leo's entrance, she gives the taller man a squeeze while popping another fry in her mouth. "What? Its good," she says simply, licking the ranch from her fingers.
The Mimic grins impishly, swishing the cheap vodka around in her bottle."All wine tastes the same. I think the vodka has literally seared my tastebuds, everything tastes kind of cardboardy." She taps the cheap plastic against Leo's bottle to *cheers* him.
In her drunken state, the young woman simply nods along to Eli's words, throwing in a few "uh-huhs" to spice it up. "Занятная телега, браток. I'm gonna judge you on your cooking skills. My mom tried to teach me to be a housewife and I burnt down the kitchen."

## Mob Boss Peggy10/29/2018

*Kitchen*
Leo shook his head dramatically at Mimic after she toasted him with the bottle. "To successful missions!"
He slyly slinked away from Anastasia, around the counter to spectate at Elijah's cooking, listening to his story, and laughed at the Russian's little quips. Yeah, he didn't cook either. But they didn't need to know that.
"You have no class. The good Doctor, however..." Leo reached over with the wine glass, nudging Vindaya's shoulder with it until she took it, however long that took. "You look like you need it. I know I do!" He added, as he reached to pour himself another glass from which he immediately took a long sip.
Yep. Tasted like ~~the same shit you get from the gas station~~ money.
"So, Doc." Leo said, leaning with his back against the counter with his ever-present smile. "What made you wanna' be a part of this unsophisticated little band of outcasts, here?" It was obvious that Leo was well aware of Vindaya's tendency to seem *above* them all. She was a notoriously hard nut to crack.(edited)

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis10/29/2018

*Kitchen*
Vindaya set the paper bag down and positioned the cutting board and her tomatoes and knife and began carefully dicing. While her cuts were precise and clean, they were slow, unaccustomed to doing such work. But it was nice to focus on a mindless, repetitive task for a while, idly listening to Annie and Leo chat and Eli recount his stories. Being surrounded by voices felt... nice.
She didn’t know how much later, she paused dicing to pay attention to Leo, who definitely wouldn’t be going anywhere. And she was more grateful for the wine than he realized; she could appreciate his consideration on top of wanting a glass of wine to decompress. So she took it and took a healthy sip before setting it down on the counter next to the gift from Lilah and resuming her dicing.
It did take her a few moments to answer, though. “I wanted to be proactive,” she said, thinking back to the first time she’d contacted Andy. And, a ghost of a smile on her face, she added, “Besides, you’re all refreshingly different from my coworkers.” Realizing she should probably reciprocate the interest—and realizing she actually *was* interested—she then asked, “And you, Leo?”(edited)

## Rose | Rhett | Marci10/29/2018

Rhett stayed in place, watching Holtman from beside the chair where Andy sat. He bowed briefly when thanked for the phone then watched Andy show off a bit. His eyes went back to the old gentleman wondering how he truly felt about everything he was learning. “We’re not so bad, promise.” He chimed soothingly then stepped aside a bit as the leader of their band of heroes stood up.
His eyes gleamed gleefully at being given responsibility over the man. This was exactly what he needed to show that he could handle it. “Ok, captain!” He smiled but let it loosen at Andy’s additional words. His smile morphed into a sly grin then. “Of course.”
Once Andy headed to the exit, Rhett turned his attention back to the old man. “So, uh, hi!” He stuck out his hand a little awkwardly before taking it back uncertainly. “I’m Rhett Jones, also known as Prowler. If you have any other questions, I’ll be happy to answer them for ya.” He soon took the now empty chair and leaned back into it.(edited)

## Mob Boss Peggy10/29/2018

*Kitchen*
"Yeah," Leo responded. "We're not coworkers. We're friends! So I'd like to think, eh *amigos*?"
The man was prepared for Vindaya's question. He wouldn't have asked it to her if he wasn't ready to answer it himself. "For fun. What good is having a cool ability without being able to use it or show it off? Meeting beautiful people," He added, taking a sip from his glass after swirling it around. "Is a bonus."

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis10/29/2018

*Kitchen*
“Friends,” Vindaya echoed softly as though testing out the word. She was unsure how to respond to that, but it made something tighten on her chest, and she wasn’t sure if it was good or not.
Nonetheless, she found that she would much rather hear Leo talk about himself. So she tried to come up with another prompt for him. “But you could show them off legally, without doing superhero work. So why?” Pausing to take another sip of wine and look at him over her shoulder, she said, “Based on today, it seems like you might have some strong morals.”(edited)

## whipding10/29/2018

*Living Room*
In just a few minutes, that ground floor of the house was suddenly swarmed with people, apparently coming from both upstairs and downstairs - Sam had forgotten there even *was* a downstairs until this point. Being around this many people wasn't uncomfortable as such, but even so, both his body and mind began to respond. In his younger years, this would likely would have been incredibly problematic, with a lack of both control and understanding leading his powers to act without his conscious input. It wasn't unusual for his size to quite literally reflect his self-esteem.
Thankfully, that wasn't as much a problem these days, with him retaining more than enough self-control to hold his size in most situations. It helped that he was surrounded by people who could do things that were as odd - if not odder - than what he could do. As such, he was actually quite happy for a while, simply standing to one side, watching the world go by. Life was good.
And then she walked in. Vindaya.
The memory of who he was came rushing back. How he'd been so close to dying in such a pointless, insignificant way. How no-one would have even have known how he'd died. Hell, no-one would've known if he was even dead - most people didn't check the soles of their shoes for corpses. It wasn't the only near-death experience he'd had as a result of his powers, but none had hit so close to home before. As much as he tried not to think about it, having her standing there as if nothing had happened - which nothing had, as far as she was concerned - was just a bit too much.
As such, he began to make his way out of the room, desperately holding on to his current size, annoyingly slowed down by all these *people*.(edited)

## Mob Boss Peggy10/29/2018

*Kitchen*
Similarly, Leo quite enjoyed hearing himself talk about himself, so he was happy to oblige when Vindaya actually acted like she wanted to talk to him. Unlike before, when their conversation had been unpleasant and tense. He held up his chin with pride at her rare compliment. Well, what he *perceived* as a compliment.
"Like... Joining a circus or something? That's not useful at all. And no fun. We're all here for the same reason at the end of the day, eh? To help people. What, you didn't think I had morals before? I'll have you know, I was teacher of the month last year. January, baby!" He said, with a chuckle.(edited)

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis10/29/2018

*Kitchen*
Sometimes, it was easy to forget that Vindaya wasn’t actually that introverted, just very dedicated. It was almost embarrassing for her to enjoy the social interaction so much, even if it felt like she was walking on thin ice. But she didn’t mind the danger, as long as she was the only one who stood to get hurt.
“What does being teacher of the month have to do with morals?” she asked, setting her wine down again and returning her attention to the tomatoes. With all the people and her focus on a few very specific things, she was oblivious as to how her presence affected Sam. “For that matter,” she went on, “what made you want to be an educator?”(edited)

## Mob Boss Peggy10/29/2018

*Kitchen*

"If the school board says so, it must be true!" He shrugged.
Leo felt rather chuffed that Vindaya was so interested in his story. He was starting to catch on, though, that she was asking him questions just because she didn't want to talk about herself. Still, Leo obliged. He couldn't refuse a lady's very valid question.
"Don't be too surprised, but I'm not just a pretty face, *bella*, I'm *very* good at what I do. All of those engineering things, stock market stuff, architectural shit, is boring as fuck to me. There's nothin' like cultivating young minds, in the middle of a beautiful school in a vibrant city. I don't need to be goin' to no *Borneo* to build submarines, right?"
Simply put, being a professor was easy work for good pay.
"Your turn. It was because of your powers, right?"

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis10/29/2018

*Kitchen*
Vindaya nodded along as she listened intently to him. Leo was good to talk to if just because he didn’t stop talking. At the moment, it felt like just what she needed—that and the glass of wine, which she paused again to sip from. She was trying to think of another way to keep him talking when suddenly the tables were turned on her and, caught somewhat off guard, she set her wine down and turned her attention to the cutting board. She’d been at this for quite some time and she didn’t know what Eli was planning; maybe she should try finding the grater he’d mentioned earlier.
As she began rummaging through drawers and cupboards, she deliberated how to respond. It wasn’t a question she’d been asked before. Finally she said, “Mostly.”
This kitchen really was something of a nightmare, but she supposed she couldn’t complain. Once she found the grater, she set it on the counter and awaited further instructions from Eli. In the meantime, she leaned against the counter with her wine and contemplated Leo. There was of course much more to her answer, but she couldn’t figure out where to start, what to share. Was he even really interested, or just being polite?
She’d been told many times that the truth was, nobody ever cared.
“It was a frustrating power to have, when I was younger,” she said hesitantly. “You must have driven your parents crazy with yours.”(edited)

## Mob Boss Peggy10/29/2018

*Kitchen*
Leo wasn't commonly known for being 'polite'. Rambunctious, reckless, cocky, yes. He didn't care for small talk. That was incredibly boring. What *wasn't* boring was finally getting to know some of his teammates on a personal level. He was sure that nearly everyone was curious about each other's origin stories.
Vindaya wasn't satisfying Leo with her answers, but it made him want to push further. He wanted to draw words out of her. He wanted to see her face change, to show him that she was human, too.
The one-liners in response to his sprawling stories weren't cutting it. But Leo was a fighter.
Still, there was something inherently awkward about trying to dig into someone while surrounded by spectators. Normally he wouldn't have cared, but for some reason now, he felt like he was neglecting the others. Leo held his glass by his fingertips, letting it dangle as he casually watched the doctor.
"Less than five minutes and we're taking about family already, eh, *muchacha*? You know, this conversation could be saved for a better time. Maybe over din--- *hold on*..."
Leo's eyes had flickered just briefly toward the refrigerator, where there was a photo pinned by a magnet. It was a dark, somewhat fuzzy photo, but it caught his attention suddenly, because...
"I... Think I know this person." The Mexican said, breaking his moment with Vindaya to look closer. "Yeah. Yeah!" He snapped his fingers excitedly. "This is Viv!"(edited)

## sephet10/29/2018

*living room*
Lilah followed the others upstairs, not really keen to linger around alone in a basement. Especially on a day where she was assaulted by the undead. She smiles a little bit to see her grocery shopping was for a good cause it seems like everyone’s crowded into the HQ all at once. She snags herself a cupcake and leans against the counter to watch the cooking at work. She jumps though, when Leo identifies their necromancer. “You know the witch bitch?”

*Living Room*
Kyle finds himself an empty spot somewhere to sit and takes a hearty drink of his spiked coffee, only barely hiding the face. He’s not very good at hard liquor, for all he’s drunk plenty, it still burns its way down and tastes like dying. He’s not entirely sure he wants to be under the influence of something again, but he’s also pretty sure he doesn’t want to be sober enough to think so he takes another drink. “I can microwave a mean hot pocket…” He mumbles in response to the cooking chatter then settles in to watch everyone mingle and chat. He should try and jump into a conversation, but he feels both numb and a little bit like screaming so he nurses his drink and tries not to get lost in his head instead.

## Mob Boss Peggy10/29/2018

*Kitchen*

Leo didn't look when he heard a voice behind him. His eyes were pasted on the photograph. He'd know those cheekbones anywhere. But Viv looked *rough*. Almost... Like a living dead.
He snatched the photo from the fridge. "She's a professor at CKU. Well... She *was*. I haven't seen her in a while. Taught anthropology or philanthropy or something. What's she doin' *here*?"(edited)

October 30, 2018

## Jax (token white guy)10/30/2018

Eli worked silently as the conversation continued around him there was something comforting about it. He pulled the Chicken breasts out of the pan placing them on individual plates. He poured the sauce out of the pan into a glass jar he had found and cleaned. Using a large spoon he spread the sauce across the top of the chicken followed by the bacon bits. He reached across and picked up the grater and the cheese and began coating the top of the chicken with a thin layer that began melting almost immediately.

Eli turned to grab the beer- battered chips out of the oven. They were store bought but Eli didn't have them time or the potatoes to make his own. Eli stopped when he heard Leo speak as he held the photo. Almost dropping the chips onto the floor, he managed to get the tray onto the bench. He looked over at Vindaya for a second as he leant over the counter. "What was her full name?" he said pulling out his phone and opening google. His posture had changed completely from a few seconds before and his face had become much more serious. He didn't answer Leo's last question. He din't know what his relationship was with this "viv" but he wanted to find out what he could before let Leo know that she was an evil necromancer.

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee10/30/2018

*Basement*

One moment they were all gathered and talking and the next everyone had up and left her sitting in this basement full of machines and wood. Venus sat in silence for a couple of seconds and crinkled the bottle of water in her hand idly for few moments before deciding it was time to wander back up the stairs. It was so lively on the main floor it hardly felt like the comfy and quiet headquarters she knew, and right now she really just felt like finding a quiet corner to decompress and think about something other than today's events. Venus downed the last of her water with the same ease Ana had for downing vodka and held on to the empty bottle, squeezing it idly like some kind of loud stress ball as she made her way past the living room.
Somewhere in the back she spotted Sam finding his own corner as well, something seemingly off about him. Venus paced over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder "everything okay, love?"

## Chew I Venus I Cole I Dee Dee10/30/2018

*Spare room*

The line between being protected and being captured was beginning to blur the longer Holtman stayed here– the small flame that erupted from Andy's fingers doubling as a proof that he was in safe hands and a warning against testing the boundaries. "Thank you for your hospitality" he said with a that soft smile that old age had granted him. At least he had a phone now, but there was a clear intention behind leaving him under the watchful eye of what could best be described as a babysitter. If only he wasn't as finely crafted as Greek marble, then he could find it in himself to be upset about it.
"Hello" he responded in jest, amused by the young shapeshifter's cheery disposition. "Nice to meet you Rhett Jones" Holtman uttered as he pulled on the covers to bring them further up. This room was warm, but the sight of snow falling outside was enough to make his bones chill. "Tell me abut this leader of yours, Rhett. What kind of guy is he, really?"

## Elysium | Vindaya | al-Fasis10/30/2018

*Kitchen*
Vindaya followed Leo’s diverted attention to the picture on the fridge. Had that been there this morning when she’d come by to heal Sam? By the reactions to it, she was guessing not; and by Lilah and Eli’s, she started to put two and two together. As she pushed the finished tomatoes over to Eli, she asked, “Did this ‘Viv’ have something to do with what happened at the hospital today?” She’d been so caught up with having to go back to work, she hadn’t considered the bigger picture of what had happened earlier. And she didn’t like the reminder, so she buried her grimace in her wineglass.

## Rose | Rhett | Marci10/30/2018

*Spare room*

Balancing on the hind legs of the chair, Rhett nearly lost his balance due to Mr. Holtman’s question. What was he supposed to say? That the guy was almost as soft as a marshmallow and wouldn’t hurt a fly? Nope. He knew he most definitely couldn’t do that.
“Uhh,” he paused to get his thoughts together while gently setting the chair back down on all four legs. “He’s a pretty cool guy. In fact, he’s the one letting me and a couple other lost souls stay here too.” He made a gesture outward while glancing around. “He doesn’t look like much but trust me, if he wanted to, everyone of us could be charcoal right now.” Snapping his fingers, the dirty-blonde stretched upward in his seat before relaxing back into it. The snow outside catching his eye from time to time. Later on he’d have to go make a snowman.
Looking back to the snowy haired man, Rhett found himself curious again. “Mister, you’re in safe hands here. There’s nothing you need to worry about other than that mess DeeDee’s made of your estate and all that. I’m just here for anything else you might need. And to make sure you don’t cross us, of course.” He smiled and scooted the chair closer to the bedside. “What’s living the life of the rich and wealthy like??” His sky blue eyes looked over the old man with a bit more intensity than he’d realized.

## Mob Boss Peggy10/30/2018

*Kitchen*
Leo looked back at the others, and to Elijah especially, because he was the first to speak up about the photo.
"Uhhh..." He thought for a minute, scrunching up his lips as he tried to remember. He wasn't in terribly close report with too many of the other teachers. "Ripley. Mrs. Ripley. I'm sure of that. Nice lady... *Really* striking facial features. I would never forget her face. Do you want me to see if I can get in touch with her? I probably could, *hombre*."(edited)

## Vodka Aunt10/30/2018

*kitchen--> living room*

"To succesful missions," she echoes with laughter in her voice and takes another swig. She pouts at Leo as he leaves her side and lowers herself into one of the stools by the counter. She flips him off at his comment about class.
She absently spun slow circles while the adults spoke, catching sight of Sam trying to escape. She bounces up from her seat to chase after him.
"*Saaaam*, where do you think you're going? We're all partying out here," she calls after him, wobbling slightly on her feet after the liquor and spinning chair. She was halfway through the room when Lilah enters and she stops to beam at her. "Thanks for the booze and food, you're the best."
She looks back towards Leo when he says he recognizes the figure in the image. "Is she that milfy stuck-up one? I heard she was banging the janitor."

## Jax (token white guy)10/30/2018

"Vivian Ripley." Eli mumbled to himself as he typed it into his phone. He reached across and took the diced tomatoes. His movements that had moments ago been fluid and calm were now sharp and rigid. The stress of the day showing as finished preparing the meals. Setting a thin line of tomatoes across the tops of the chicken breasts and then putting the rest on top of the fries on Andy's plate. If he had remembered earlier that Andy didn't eat meat he would have prepared something else. Eli didn't know how to respond to leo. It seemed more like a choice for andy so he turned to answer Vin.
"She... " he said almost throwing the chopping board into the sink." is the source of all or troubles. She's responsible for everything. The orbs, the creatures , the gir.." The last words caught in his throat. He pushed the plates across the counter to the waiting teammates. "Dinner's served." He turned to Vin and stated "I need to make a call" Then turned and walked towards the balcony. He didn't know if they should try to contact her or not. Technically they had no proof that she was even the one who did this she was just the last one to enter the morgue. But Eli could feel it. He leant against the balcony railing feeling the cold bite of the air. He pulled out his phone and dialled the number mumbling "come on, come on pick up."
He brought the phone up to his ear and said. "Clara... I know what you said but I really need your help."

## whipding10/30/2018

Sam found himself irreversibly cornered, with both Venus and Annie blocking his way out. Any other day, he really (*really*) wouldn't have minded, but not today. Right now, he just wanted to be alone, whatever the cost.
Annie was, of course, not entirely sober, which actually wasn't a terrible thing. She seemed to lose interest pretty fast, being far more inclined to go after Lilah instead, which suited him just fine. Venus, on the other hand, was much more in control, but in many ways that was worse.
She didn't apply much pressure to his shoulder, but that didn't matter. Her voice and face carried a tone of genuine concern, which normally would have been perfectly fine, if not welcome, if it wasn't for Vindaya standing in the room behind him.
'I'm-... I'm fine."
He tried to control it, but it was all too much. His body had began to shrink slowly as Venus's hand had made contact, crippled by his unstable emotional state. His voice seemed to be keeping mostly steady through sheer will alone, but his physical form didn't reflect this, now shorter by a few inches.

October 31, 2018

## Mob Boss Peggy10/31/2018

At the end of the night, HQ was kind of a *mess*. Finch and Eleanor, with the help of some others were prompt in cleaning up. Before he left, Leo had to sit through an excruciating meeting with their 'fearless’ leader as Andy lectured him about not jumping the gun.
“We're a team,” The shorter male told his stretchy acquaintance. “You can't be reckless like you were today. The younger members are looking up to us.”

*Yeah, right.*

Andy told him firmly as he could, not to take any action yet regarding the necromancer. Leo was shocked at the realization that one of his fellow professors was involved in something so heinous.
“We're not going to even *try* to approach this without a plan.” Andy said, and for once, Leo agreed without arguing.