(no subject)

[herr_bookman]

There's a girl on the practice range today, wearing blue snakeskin gloves and matching boots. Ribbons festoon the leather harness of her silver wings, and her arm bangles bounce when she does.

How ridiculous she looks is entirely subjective.

The girl smiles.

Then she punctures a steel plate with a tiny, glittery fist.

Comments

[ever_lovin]

Eh, Ben has seen worse costumes. He's also heard of Molly Hayes so the little girl putting her fist through a steel plate isn't odd to him, her? This new body thing is weird for the mental dialog.

"Nice punch," a towering woman says. She's aglow from her own work out and is coiling a length of chain with a mace at the end as she walks by. "Careful about over extendin' yer reach though. Ain't gonna do any good if ya lose yer balance."

[herr_bookman]

"Thank you," Autor says, and turns to the new--possibly old--person. "That's good advi--"

She squeaks, craning her neck to peer up at the woman who stands nearly two feet higher than she does. "Good heavens, you're tall. Are you normally that tall?"

She's pretty sure she could dodge the mace, but still.

[ever_lovin]

The woman smiles.

"Nah, I'm usually about a foot shorter an' much wider." She holds out her arms to demonstrate his her usual girth. "Cubefall fer you too?"

[herr_bookman]

"And here I thought it was Cubefall for everyone," she says, and winks.

"Have you built anything, yet? Did you build that"--she points at the mace with a snakeskin glove--"or did that come standard with your shape?"

[ever_lovin]

"True enough," Ben says to answer the first question. "This old thing? Nah, it came with the form. I happen ta know the gal whose body this is and this thing is like her clothes...actually it's more ta her than her clothes."

[herr_bookman]

"Wait, you know her?" she asks, blinking. "Isn't that a bit awkward? Do you think she'd disapprove if you ran into her wearing this shape, or would she find it hilarious?"

Now Autor's wondering if the woman in question had the option to take this person's original shape.

[ever_lovin]

OK, girl's got a point. This could be potentially creepy.

"Well, I ain't seen Thundra in years an' I ain't never seen her here." She says weakly.

[herr_bookman]

The girl grants him a look. One of those, wait, really? looks. But it's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it glint.

She turns the cheer up to eleven and tears through the steel as if it were rice paper. "Well, Cubefall only lasts for three days, and it's almost over, right?" she says, smiling as she extracts her fist from the metal. "So you are statistically unlikely to run into her again. Why'd you make that choice, though?"

[ever_lovin]

Ben's too buys wrapping the chain around her wrist to have noticed it.

"That's true," Ben replies with a big grin. "An' actually, she comes from another time where woman are stronger than men an' in control o' government an' stuff, so she'd likely would take it as a compliment!"

[not_his_pa]

William's been trotting around outside and when he spots someone by the range goes over to peer at her. She's colorful and he spooks a little when her fist hits the steel.

[herr_bookman]

Autor smacks the steel again, popping another hole clean through. Then she tries a kick and--while overcompensating for range he previously had--slams her ankle against the edge, landing straight on her bum.

"Oww," she says, rubbing her hip with one hand and grasping her ankle with the other.

[not_his_pa]

That looks painful and he comes over to see if she's hurt with a neigh.

[herr_bookman]

It is painful, and he's kicking himself for not expecting it. At the neigh, she glances up, and nods.

"So are you a real horse, or transfigured?" she asks, prodding the swelling for a break.

[not_his_pa]

He neighs at the second one and tries to figure out how to help, she could lean on him.

[herr_bookman]

Autor nods, and hisses. At least it's not completely shattered. She does, of course, try to stand, and falls down again in a heap.

Then she grins at him, in a rather self-depreciating manner. "Dumb decisions, everywhere."

[not_his_pa]

Gently, he kneels down so that she can use him as a support or even ride him, that might work better. He neighs in what's meant to be a helpful way.

[herr_bookman]

Autor shakes her head once. "Are you sure? Isn't that sort of humiliating for you?"

No, she's not going to ride him. Even for Milliways, that's a bit... She will take the support, though. Until she can't hop anymore and the break hurts too much.

"Thanks," she says once she's pulled herself up. "Is this your first Cubefall?"

[seat_five_girl]

The outfit is ridiculous. That is a simple fact.

Punching holes in steel plate? Not so much.

Which is why Ako's expression goes from one raised eyebrow to two.

[herr_bookman]

Autor's silver bracers glint in the sun as she continues to turn the plate into a Swiss cheese sculpture. She doesn't notice Ako until she leans forward and rests her head on the plate, panting.

"Oh, hello," she says, and grins.

[seat_five_girl]

"Hello. Your special projects?"

They could be handy.

[herr_bookman]

Snrk. That they are.

Autor nods, and holds up a gloved fist, ready to conquer the world--or, rather, the world's supply of steel plates. "Yes, indeed. Have you built anything yet?"

[seat_five_girl]

"Nothing that dramatic," says Ako in reply, "And they've all stayed toys."

But these are different. Transformed.

"You used the furnace, didn't you."

[herr_bookman]

Autor offers her a smile with a hint of 'cat who caught the canary'.

"I did indeed," she says, and demonstrates her toys with another right hook straight through the plate. "But I cheated. I asked for blueprints from Bar ahead of time. I'm shocked they actually work, and they'll go away, of course, but I'm not complaining."

[seat_five_girl]

"Ah," says a somewhat less enthusiast Ako, "There had to be a catch."

Perking back up, "What can you do?"

Long tag is long! <3

[herr_bookman]

"Oh, there's more than one catch," Autor says, peeling back the glove to show off the bracers holding her red-limned wrists together. "The gloves are built for strength, but I am not. They compensate just enough to keep my fingers from turning into pulp, but if I miss a shot, everything else is fair game."

She grins warily and replaces her glove. "There is always a catch."

At Ako's next question, she grins even broader. "I can run across the lake. I can lift and punch through most things. I can fly. If I get creative, I can do more."