Connor watches Elspeth's transformation and smiles. It was one he could easily duplicate if he wished, but as it stood he saw no need to really show off. Instead he focused his energies around himself and "flew through the watter after them like a torpedo, catching up and smiling. "That was a beautiful transformation, You've got natural talent it seems."

He gives her one of the smiles with which he'd stolen the hearts of women across America and Watched as Ptesan-wi approached holding onto the back of a dolphin. Hovering half in and out of the ater, he wore the most clothing of anyone in the water with a pair of red and black swim trunks. His phyique was the very picture of perfection, easily on the same level as Phaethon. Almost absentmindedly he remarked, "I can become one, but unfortunately that doesn't confer the ability to truly communicate with and understand them." It was said to no one in particular. It was kind of funny to seem him there basically flying in the water, next to a mermaid, with a Lakota Goddess riding a dolphin approaching. The whole scene illiced a chuckle from him. "This is certainly a nice way to spend a day."

She started to smile as he talked about his freedom, and that smile froze with confusion when he said, "Pangaea." She had no idea where that was and really didn't want to look stupid in front of Phaethon.

Another flash of red by the blue water; this time, it was Elsbeth's red hair catching the sun and her eyes. It wasn't sexual - Infinity wouldn't have handled it very well if she'd found the young nova attractive - but Infinity was caught up staring at her just like everyone else. For a moment, she thought it might have saved her some embarrassment, but she couldn't hide her curiosity about the hot, young nova.

"Wow, I've never met anyone from Pangaea before," she said, trying to laugh it off. "So what's it like? Besides completely wild, since you have to wrestle your food into submission first." She gave him what she hoped was a distracting look, while toying with the top of her bikini top. Maybe he wouldn't notice that she was apparently a big dummy.

Phaethon's hormonal young mind latched onto Infinity's expression and the fingertips toying with her top. He smiled, guileless himself, he had little natural caution when he decided that he trusted someone. He had found a friend, a girl his age who seemed interested in him.

"It's beautiful." he smiled at her as he ate another slice of guava, licking the honey off his fingers. "The sky there is a sort of golden color, and when the sun sets, it goes blazing white before darkening to night-time. The creatures there are pretty fierce, too. If we weren't novas, I doubt that it'd be possible to live there as we do, without tools or medicines."

He took her hand again and wandered further around the food tent, looking for the next morsel to try. He smiled over at Infinity as they walked. "I wish I could show it to you, Infinity."

It wasn't a pick-up line. It wasn't a polite nicety or small talk. It was a heartfelt statement from the handsome young nova who wished he could share something wonderful with her just to see her smile at the sight.

The scuba diving was a total blast, Elspeth had never swum in the ocean before and to do it as a mermaid was just awesome. Underwater races around the coral was the best, dolphin and rider, mermaid, Conner and Raijin. Like the volleyball it wasn't really about winning as much as just the sheer fun of it Elspeth hadn't had this much fun in... she tried to think back. She hadn't had this much fun since her parents took her on safari when she was 9. The three of them had run with the lions, her parents running on foot and El riding a big male holding onto it's main. Her mother had been controlling it of course with her abilities, but that didn't matter. It was the last time that she could remember just having fun without any cares at all.

Surfacing again and floating there enjoying the warm sun on her face she made an effort not to think about the past but just about today. This was as good as it got right here. Friends and and new acquaintances all having fun and for one day at least, not a care in the world.

When the others surfaced Elspeth smiled regally at them, raised hand as if to command them to wait for her very important words, then using her tail sent large splashes of water at their unsuspecting faces. "WATER FIGHT!!!"

Connor took the huge splash with an impish grin. "So that's how it is, is it?"

He swings his arms back and brings them back around with all his strength sending up a curtain of water into the sunlinght, returning fire as it were for the tail splash.

Golden skies... white sunsets? Infinity might be a little uneducated - ok, a lot uneducated - but even she couldn't help but know that this wasn't a description of anything on Earth. He's an alien! Ok, he wasn't, but she always wanted to say that.

His sincerety when he wished that she could see it was heart-warming and Infinity felt a blush creep up her cheeks. She could be as jaded as the next person about almost everything, but matters of the heart were her weakness, mostly because she hadn't had a special someone. She'd had special encounters, but they were short. She wanted to have a partner, but she'd always known that she'd have time before she died to find that someone. Now, her brain was getting muddled with soft thoughts, sweet thoughts that she'd only considered distantly.

His hand was warm in hers as they moved to another table, and she reached out for a chip, dipping it deep into what appeared to be salsa. "This," she warned, "will be probably be hot." She carefully fed him the chip, letting him pull it from her fingers. Facing him, she dropped her hand onto his shoulder and then slipped it down his chest. His openness was making her very bold - and a little dizzy, she acknowledged, as she paused to feel his heart beating under her hand.

Raijin was a poweful swimmer, yet he lacked the facility of aquatic forms employed by the two women or the direct propulsion of Mech. Nonetheless he enjoyed the resistance provided by the water and he strove to keep up.

Suddenly, a splash of briny salt water hit his face, some of it ending up in his mouth.



Raijin says nothing as he wipes the water away from his eyes. Instead he gets a wicked gleam in his eye as the other novas give in to Elspeth's mischief. Unfortunatley those who splash water in his direction find it unceremoniously splashed back in their faces. It doesn't take them long however to figure out what is going on and so with a hearty chuckle, Raijin mimics the sweeping gesture used by Mech a moment before. In response a huge waterspout sucks all three other novas along with a torrent of water up into the air.

"That's cool," Jordan responded to Netherworld. He couldn't hep but pick up the white skinned nova seemed a little bit awkward with the usual social preliminaries. He probably didn't get out too much.

"So...how long have you been a nova...er, or were you born this way? It's been an interesting adjustment for me..."

She was right in her warning: the dip held a heat that left a tingling burn on Phaethon's lips and tongue. But the burn was cool in comparison the feel of Infinity's hand as it trailed fire down from his shoulder to his bare chest. His heart was thumping under her hand, her nearness and the intimacy of their contact making the blood of the Sun King's heir race. He swallowed slightly.

"So tell me about you." he asked her as he placed one hand over hers. "Where did you grow up? What was that like?" He took a chip, dipping it and bringing it up to her lips with a smile.

As soon as Elspeth yelled her declaration of a waterfight, Ptesan-Wi knew that things could rapidly get out of hand. When Raijin performed a hauntingly familiar act and summoned up a genuine waterspout, she was proven right as she was thrown - dolphin and all - up into the sky.

The Lakota goddess had something of a love-hate relationship with the sky. For her part, she loved it; few things gave her more joy than to soar (if a bit slowly) over the world on her "snowshoe", watching the beauty of all creation roll gently by. But the sky did not suffer her presence with ease; a break in concentration was all it took for a majestic glide to turn into a deadly plummet, and without something she could lift and stand or sit upon, she was every bit as earthbound as mortal man.

Somewhere, a sky god chuckled with cruel delight as, reaching the top of the arc, her and her animal companion began to fall. *Not fall. Dive.* The thought - odd and alien - cut through the threatening panic, and it took a half-second to realize that it came from the sleek sea creature she had called to her on a lark, that she reflexively held onto in terror. *Be close. Hit with nose, not belly.* In mute agreement, Ptesan-Wi wrapped herself tight against the dolphin's back as the creature made a sound not entirely unlike a laugh and plunged straight down toward the sea.

To her shock, hitting the water didn't hurt; the dolphin was designed for it, and clinging flat against the creature allowed her to cut through the water as well. They dove deep together, deeper than the psiad could ever hope to go on her own. Coral flashed past, and a world of colour exploded around her as the dolphin dashed through a massive school of fish even as he dived deeper. Light faded, and at the very bottom of a long arc she felt her toes brush against the silky murk of the sea floor before the dolphin turned into a rapid ascent. Once more the pair cut through a now-terrified mass of colour, the larger taking a quick meal while the smaller watched in stunned amazement. And then, as Ptesan-Wi's lungs felt ready to burst, they broke surface once more in an arcing leap before the dolphin brought his terrestrial passenger back toward the shore.

Still stunned and amazed, Ptesan-Wi did the only thing she could do: she gave the sleek creature one last hug and sent, *My thanks, Dolphin. For showing me your world, for saving my life. Thank you.* With every bit of grace she could muster, she left the dolphin to swim back to see as she walked ashore with new understanding.

Mom and dad were like him. They were born without powers. He wondered if the nova standing in front of him worked for Utopia. That group liked his kind of nova, but seemed frightened of ones like Netherworld. If he did work for Utopia, he might have information. It couldn't hurt to try.

"I was born like this." He said, trying his best to not 'space out'. "I am also adjusting." He gave him a smile, revealing teeth as white as his alabaster skin.

Ask him about himself. It was, after all, the main reason he was here: to learn about other people.

""What do you, now that you are a 'Nova'?" He hoped the question didn't come out sounding funny, but he had never thought of himself as a nova. To Netherworld, it was cogito ergo sum. Or more precisely, Netherworld just is.

Th waterspout was a bit much. He knew he could survive it but Elspeth was another story. He quickly found her andtook her in his arms and began flying out of the swirling column of water. He opened his mouth to say something and got a mouth full of seawater.

Once he got out of the spout he set her back in the water, his yellow eyes showing he was mildly irritated. "Sorry to grab you like that, but it would be a shame for the birthday girl to get hurt in a waterspout. My apologies."

Elspeth wasn't surprised about the waterspout. Having seen the beautiful demonstration earlier she thought that might result when she splashed him. She was prepared to fly out, but before she could Conner swooped over and took her into his strong arms. She didn't bother to tell him she could fly on her own. She just quietly put her head on his shoulder and enjoyed the ride. After he sat her back in the water and apologized, she just smiled at him mysteriously and said, "Thank you, that was very considerate. Would you like to get some food, all this swimming has made me a little hungry."

She transformed back in to her human self as she headed up to the beach not waiting for Connor. She walked naked out of the surf just ahead of her rescuer, but weaved her eufiber back into a bikini as she moved. Looking back over her shoulder, "So what kind of food do you like?"

I'm going to kiss him, Infinity thought boldly, her heart racing just a bit faster at the thought. She wasn't sure that she could do actually, despite all her brave, mental talk. I'm going to kiss his brains out. All she'd have to do is lean forward and she did a little, her lips parting.

He fed her a chip, and Infinity lost her nerve. Besides, he was asking about her, and it'd be rude to not respond. She chewed and cleared her mouth with a swallow, then said, "Well, I'm from everywhere. My parents never settled down for long. They were always going from place to place, selling their services in exchange for housing, food and partying. They also did stuff for free, if it glorified Mal. They've even met him, once." She tried not to think of that, too much.

"I left them when I was sixteen, kinda settled down more or less in Los Angeles," Infinity said as she spread her fingers across his chest, enjoying the feel of his perfect skin. "Living in LA is like living in any big city... um, well... it's crowded, there are a lot of people always around and it's always noisy. You can find anything you want, though, so that's cool. There's also always a party going on, if you know where to look. It's fun and exciting to live there."

Warm sand once more under her feet, Ptesan-Wi made her way across the beach, grabbing her castaway tunic along the walk and shrugging back into it; as she began to pull her hair back into it's trademark twin braids, the extensive spread of food caught her eye. Nova or not, hunger rumbled its way through her belly, and she couldn't help but quirk a smile. Something I don't have to hunt and cook... this should be novel.

And so it was that she made her way up to where Infinity and Phaethon chatted. Picking one of the decadent chocolate-dipped fruit skewers from the buffet, she smiled at the two as she caught the last bit of the goth-like girl's statement. "I suppose it would be exciting, in its own way. But," she added, "I still prefer the peace of Inyan Kara."

"My father told me of Inyan Kara." Phaethon smiled radiantly at the petite Lakota woman. "It sounded wonderful, much like where we lived in some ways. He told me also of the cities here, how they contained some of the best and the worst of what humanity has to offer. They sounded exciting, too." The young nova lightly squeezed Infinity's hand, and he beamed at both women.

"There's so much to see here. So much I've only heard about. At least I've landed on my feet, meeting friends on my first outing." He grinned and ran his free hand through his drying hair, his emerald eyes shining. "Have you two met before?"

Ptesan-Wi's presence was completely unwelcome, but Infinity took it in stride. Well, not completely in stride; Phaethon's reaction to the tunic-garbed woman was gratifying in its neutrality, but Infinity wasn't that confident yet. Still, she managed a smile instead of a stiff frown.

"Oh, I only know Ptesan-Wi though reputation," Infinity said with a smile. "Hi, I'm Infinity," she said to the woman, giving her a nod. "We've spoken online briefly. It's nice to met you in person, though. That's been the best part of this party. Meeting people." She gave Phaethon a meaningful smile, leaving no doubt which people she meant.

"Are you having as much fun as we are?" Infinity asked Ptesan-Wi, curling her free arm around Phaethon's waist and giving him a little squeeze. Her expression carried a mild warning to the other woman - nothing too extreme, but Infinity made sure the perceptive nova knew that Infinity had already made her claim.

Connor nodded. "My Pleasure." He watches her reemerge on the beach and thankfully at least wear some form of bathing suit. He trotted up behind her. "Seafood mostly, but i game for anything. Do you have any suggestions?"

The Indian woman returned Infinity's smile with one every bit its equal in warmth and warning. "I'm having a wonderful time, yes. And it's nice to meet you as well, Infinity. Your own reputation preceeds you as well.

"Of course, once the day is done here, it's back to business. Which reminds me, Phaethon: when we leave, do you want to fly to Inyan Kara and see the lands as we pass, or would you rather enlist the aid of one of the warpers present?"

Phaethon, though he was inexperienced and naive to some of the finer points of interpersonal skills, was neither dim nor unperceptive. Thus it was he had started to realise some undercurrent to the conversation. Pleasantly distracted by Infinity's arm around him and her bikini-clad form against his body as he was, he nevertheless caught a tail-end of the hidden communication between her and Ptesan-Wi. Am I doing something wrong? Are they enemies? he wondered, then wondered why two enemies would even be at the same party together. Giving a mental shrug, he decided that whatever the friction here was, it was not enmity as such. He smiled at the beautiful woman his father had told him to trust.

"Well, I'd like to see the lands, but the warper would mean we could stay here longer." He smiled down at Infinity, wrapping his free arm around her in return, then back at Ptesan-Wi. "Also, I'm not sure how far it is or exactly how to get there." His handsome young face went a little serious. "I also heard that sometimes the humans get scared of novas crossing their 'airspace'." He said this last with a bemused tone, as if the concept of territoriality over the sky was a funny one to him.

"There's a lot I need to learn about this place. I know that's one reason my father sent me to you, Ptesan-Wi." He chuckled, a little embarrassed. "I feel like some half-wild animal trying to figure out an automobile. I'm just glad that not everyone here is going to judge me by the impressions left by my father. That'd make things harder still." He gave Infinity a gentle squeeze, enjoying the feel of his arm around her waist for reasons he wasn't terribly sure of.

Infinity could honestly say at this moment that she didn't give a shit about who or what Procyon had been. Whether that had been true an hour ago wasn't important. What was important keeping Phaethon from the cougar.

"You guys can totally stay longer," Infinity assured them. "I have a warper here with me, and he can pop you right back to Inyan Kara when we're ready to go. Or," she turned her head while speaking and giving Phaethon a smile, "anywhere you want to stay while here. You don't have to stay in a cave; I'm sure you've already done enough." She rubbed the hand wrapped around his waist up and down, making sure she put enough pressure behind it that it wasn't ticklish. "Running water and electricity are amazing luxuries."

She glanced at Ptesan-Wi. "Besides, in the city, I can show you the things that novas our age do. Parties, sight-seeing and lots of other novas to meet and share experiences with - Inyan Kara is beautiful, but you've already done the living in the wild thing already. Try city life for a while."

Phaethon was torn. He wanted to go to Los Angeles with Infinity. He wanted to see the sights and meet other novas, as well as go to parties, though he didn't know how different they could get from this one, knowing as little of "walking on the wild side" as he did.

On the other hand, he had promised to return with Ptesan-Wi to Inyan Kara. Not just to her, but to his father. Not only that, but her emotional outburst on their first meeting had made an impression on the young nova. His father had told him that Ptesan-Wi was a composed and centered woman, so she must be under some strain to act as she had. He bit his lower lip and gave Infinity an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, Infinity. Ptesan-Wi is a friend of my father's and one of the few people here that he trusts. I've got a lot of things to talk over with her, and messages to deliver from Procyon. Also, I imagine that plunging into life in a human city would be somewhat... chaotic for me? Inyan Kara, with the Lakota reservation around it, is probably the best place for me to acclimatise." He looked into her eyes, hoping that she wouldn't be offended.

"But I promise to come to L.A. and sample city life as soon as I've got my footing here, and understand a little more about the sort of trouble I can get into." This last was delivered with an impish grin and a friendly squeeze of his bronzed arm around her. "And besides, there's the rest of this party to share, too."

Try as she may, Ptesan-Wi couldn't help but be impressed with the power play that Mal's "Future" was running. Stunning disappointment to the Teragen or no, Infinity was altogether capable of exploiting at least this social situation... and Ptesan-Wi's years of isolation didn't help matters.

That didn't mean, of course, that she was anything close to conceeding.

"A warp sounds perfect; it is over two thousand miles to home, which is a long flight for anyone. You will have plenty of time to see the sights. And I cannot think of a reason in the world why the first of those sights after the Black Hills should not be the lands between there and Los Angeles.

"It has been far, far too long since I have travelled. This is my first real excursion in years. And there are many of my People in the Southwestern states. Yes, I think that a nice, leisurely trip would be in order after a brief stay at Inyan Kara. It would be a great opportunity for you to see some of the wonders of the land. How does that sound to you, Phaethon?"

A radiant smile lit up Phaethon's features. "That sounds good to me. Isolation can't be a good thing... well, beyond a certain point, anyway." He shrugged and grinned. "I think I've had enough isolation for a little while, at least."

He looked around at the other novas in the tent, noting the strange-seeming Netherworld and the one called Nodespark quietly talking to one another whilst Infinity's escorts (one of whom had kissed her in an oddly possessive way) were casting glances at him.

Infinity choked back her disappointment. It actually took her a moment to remember that she was in the middle of something anyway, something that would make it hard to show him around Los Angeles. "Well, ok, that's probably for the best, considering what I've got going on," she said softly, sure that the war had just been lost before she'd even met him. And that was how it went, right? The pretty, crazy, fucked-up girls got the guys, and ruined them. By the time Phaethon got out to LA, this crazy bitch would have him so screwed he'd think up was down.

Infinity ripped a page from Katsuro's book. She was already really close to Phaethon; she simply closed that scant bit of distance and gave him a quick kiss. It wasn't as long or even as possessive as Katsuro's, but Infinity made sure it counted. "There's a reminder," she said when she'd drawn back, looking into his green eyes. "So you don't forget to come see me."

From the shaded spot where Katsuro and Stanley waited, a faint golf clap rang out. Infinity didn't look; she knew exactly who that was, and she refused to give him the attention he clearly craved. But a slight blush did tinge her cheeks at the mocking appalause.

Under different circumstances, the kiss might have been annoying. But given what amounted to a retreat by Infinity - and the distant teasing by one of her bodyguards - Ptesan-Wi couldn't quite manage to be annoyed. And at any rate, there were other matters that still needed to be attended to today.

Looking around, she saw Elspeth gleefully engaged in conversation with Connor and a few others as they closed on the buffet. With so much trouble in her life, it's good to see a day like this for her. A hint of a frown touched her lips for a moment at the thought. It doesn't help matters that I was... less than charitable with NodeSpark.

That matter had been a stunning disappointment, and she knew that her overreaction to his efforts afterward had been just that: an overreaction. Goddess or no, she owed the poor man - nova, she corrected herself - at least some small bit of amends.

Touching a mind is a delicate thing. Touching one so recently assaulted, much more so. But if there was one thing at which Ptesan-Wi excelled, it was at the art of making such contact.

Near the other end of the tent, Jordan "felt" something. It was familiar in a way, but like nothing he had felt before; whereas the previous contact had come as a harsh shout, this was a barest touch of silk, a gentle whisper, the murmur of cool water. *What happened before was not your fault,* he heard/saw/felt. *I had hoped for something very rare, very important to me, and I let my hopes run away. When it wasn't the case, I was badly hurt, and took it out upon you. I cannot undue the pain that I brought to you, but I can at least bring you this as an apology.* Then, something akin to true feeling came to Jordan, something entirely new. He felt wind rushing over phantom wings as he caught a thermal and spiraled upward in a stunningly blue sky. Powerful muscles rippled and pulled at the sky as he soared over a vista of mountains seemingly untouched by human hand. *This is a memory, a experience my mate who is now gone shared with me years ago. It is a memory I treasure beyond price. I have shared it with no other before. I share it with you now as an offering of amends.*

First kiss. Much has been written in lyric and prose about the phenomenon. Sometimes it is disastrous, sometimes comical, sometimes merely equal measures of clumsy and sweet. Phaethon had wondered about it in a distant way when listening to his father's perfectly memorised and recited library of Human tales and poems from a dozen cultures. But his musings were nothing compared to the experience of Infinity's lips on his.

In his already hormonal and excited state and heightened awareness of Infinity's closeness, the brief-yet-intense kiss was like a thunderbolt coursing down his spine, reaching the soles of his feet, and richocheting back up through his body, from loins to chest to head, with such force he felt as though the top of his head would catch fire. With her hand over his strong heart, Infinity felt it give such a jump it was as though it would leap out of his chest. At first he was caught totally flat-footed, and was just starting to return the kiss when she broke the contact.

He gazed back down as she labelled the kiss a 'reminder', his body trembling slightly as he took a deep breath, trying to concentrate on her words, a blush tinting his face a deeper, hotter bronze.

"Forget? Me?" He murmured to her, his voice a low sultry sound that was more the result of his fight for control of his voicebox than a deliberate attempt to sound sexy. He swallowed and smiled at her. "Never worry on that score."

He stayed like that for a long moment, his arms around her as his green eyes regarded her brown ones.

Ok, so her timing was off; she didn't give him quite long enough to respond to her advances. Still, it had been a nice kiss; he tasted just as sweet as she had thought he would. And the way he'd pulled her close to him had been worth any chance that he'd hate the kiss.

Infinity grinned at his reaction, her rivalry with Ptesan-Wi was neatly forgotten. At that moment, it didn't matter that the native woman would probably win the war; Infinity had gone head to head against a nova with powers and had won a small victory. It was the first time she'd really had that pleasure and the thought was a surge of warmth in her gut.

But it wasn't as warm as the feeling that she was getting just from the look he was giving her. That look was a bonfire in comparison to the match of victorious satisfaction; it was a warmth that couldn't be stopped or stymied. Katsuro's mocking gestures and Ptesan-Wi's conflict didn't matter any longer, not when he looked at her like that, or his voice trembled like that. In fact, the only thing she could do when faced with that reaction was laugh huskily and murmur, "Oh, I'm going to show you the best time when you come to visit me."

Raijin watched amused as Ptesan-wi's terror turned to glee as she dived into the pristine water. Likewise he found it interesting that the young hostess accepted a daring save in spite of her own levitative abilities. Seeing the others retreat from the water, Raijin cannot help but feel slightly estranged from this gathering.

Perhaps I have been aloof from the world for too long after all, thought the godling.

Never one to give up so easily he made his way to the buffet where many had congregated and found a massive turkey drumstick to savage. It was dwarfed in his hands appearing little more than a broiler chicken. Floating effortlessly to where Ptesan-Wi seemed to be having a spat of subtext over the scion of Ameterasu, he watched the exchange with further amusement. He waited until the moment was right, that being about the time Infinity kissed Phaeton to Ptesan-Wi's not quite concealed irritation.

"Hau Pteheincalasanwin. You wanted to speak with me. I am here." It was obvious that the intimidating nova was used to the direct approach but he waited patiently as Ptesan-Wi seemed to drift off for a moment.