"About eighty degrees, though I expect it dropped abit when Autumn introduced a huge chunk of ice into it earlier. Still plenty warm enough for a swim."

"That sounds great!"
He takes off his Hawaiian and t-shirts in a few quick motions that reveal a well-built, tanned physique. Loud enough so that he can be heard, Evan calls out,
"Who wants to take a swim? Connor says the water is great."
While he looks at the other novas, he takes a few steps down toward the shore.

The mysterious masked type?...Hmm, I wonder...? She was inrigued at his appearance behind the mask, and decided that she would get him to take it off...eventually.

"You must be Hero" she said, biting her lip seductively. "It is a pleasure." She had not really associated with many nova before and she was curious, and excited that she was going to spend the weekend with some. She moved a little closer to him so she didn't have to talk as loudly, and gently rested her hand on his forearm.. "Do you have any bags? I can have my manslave, Raphael, get them for you."

Divine looked around and wondered where the others guests were. She did notice the throng of people who were amassing inside and staring at her and the masked 'Hero'. Looking for the others was something she did not want to have to bother with. There were too many novaphiles and groupies for her liking.

Divine pressed her body up against Hero's side and coohed in his ear. She rested one hand on his shoulder, and the other one, she gently pressed against his back.. "Can you look for the others inside the airport terminal for me? Please. I'd do it myself, but there is so much that needs to be done on the plane. I would be very appreciative if you could do it. It would only be for a half hour." She pulled away slightly, but still whispering. "If they don't show, it will be you and me. I'm sure we can figure out some way of entertaining ourselves."

'How can anyone think around this woman-goddess,' Hero thought. She was so captivating he almost lost track of what she was telling him.
"Oh ... sure. I'll go inside. I've got no bags. I rely on my suit for all my ... um ... clothing needs."
He almost heads away but Divine's touch and his own confusion stop him.
"Divine, who am I going to be looking for? Or, should I just grab hold of any nova that comes my way?"
The last is said somewhat jokingly. Still, Hero could imagine any and every nova coming at her beck and call. That idea frightens him somewhat. As for entertaining themselves ... well, Hero is glad his mask hides what he is sure to be a deep crimson blush.

"Hi! Hey, guys!" A girl approached them, waving wildly. Her jeans were ripped and oil-stained and the shirt, while cute in cut and in a favorable color, was in a similar condition. Her long, dark hair was in twin braids and a dirty handkerchief was tied around her head, holding back rebellious tendrils that had worked themselves loose. An army knapsack was slung over her shoulder, bulging with all sorts of items.

"Gosh, I was so worried that I wouldn't make it in time," she said, ambling to a stop and offering her hand. "Karen Dineh, but you can call me Karrie."

She shook any hands offered to her, then babbled onward, "Can you really believe we're going to meet Connor? This is so amazing! I can't believe that I get to go, and all because I'm a nova! Oh! Look what I made!" Setting her bag down, she pulled a white t-shirt out; with a flourish, she let it fall open to show a picture of one of the released screenshots. Connor was in a space-age, anime flavored uniform, printed in all its glory. "Do you want one? I've made lots of different sizes, for people at the party. Do you think he'll like them? I made them myself!"

Despite her cheerful exterior, she was silently irritated. Her rental had broken down on the way here, and she'd been forced to fix it herself. Fortunately, she was more than qualified to do that, and she was pretty sure that she could get the rental company to give her a refund, plus some for the service she had provided. She knew they'd argue, but she actually looked forward to the argument. It'd be fun. In the meantime, though, she got to look greasy and dirty, just in time to meet Mech. She'd cleaned herself up with Auto-wipes, but there was only so much she could do until she got to a sink with some Lava soap.

Missy startled at how quickly the party had gone from quiet to noisy, with the arrival of so many novas seemingly at once.

"That was a really neat thing you did with the ice cooler," she said admiringly to Autumn. "I think I'm going to see if people will follow me and Doctor Caduceus into the water. Want to come with?"

Impulsively, she nearly jumped out of her yellow sundress, revealing her bold red one-piece swimsuit. Missy stuffed the dress into her beach bag and half-jogged to the waterline, watching over her shoulder to see who would follow.



[[ Pew Pew Pew's beach outfit: ]]

"Got crowded in a hurry," Backjack observed. "I'll be over there if you need me." He jerked his thumb towards a nearby sand dune that had the dual advantages of being separated from the main body of the party and sufficient height for him to survey nearly the entire site. Backjack hates crowds, and he especially hates having people on all sides of him. With this many novas in one place, he had to be going nuts on the inside.

"Yeah, okay," I said, but his back was already to me as he skulked away.

"Miss Stutzenbach is something of a goer," The Gnostic observed. "She'll be a handful if she ever escapes the yoke of her upbringing--like a preacher's daughter when daddy isn't looking."

"You got that right," I agreed. I hadn't brought proper swim attire, but I saw no harm in wading into the water and getting some sand in my toes. I sat down and removed my shoes and socks, stuffing one sock into each shoe, careful not to get any sand inside.

"What do you think," I asked Autumn, trying to get back into this conversation somehow. "I couldn't help but notice your swimsuit. Does that mean you came to swim?"

Alessa double checked her big huge bag of doom. A big sun yellow bag with the name of one of her recent records on the side, she had everything she was going to need on it. A big can of mosquito spray, tanning lotion, a bunch of bottles of water, a bottle of alcohol based disinfectant, towels, sun glasses, bags of chips, a can of dip that and teriyaki sauce. She just fell in love with Teriyaki sauce during the time she was on Japan.

Good thing she had everything she needed, including her eufiber on, because the plane was about to land and she had forgotten to exchange her euros into american dollars.

The sole flight attendant on this private Jet that Paolo had made her get, approached her. "Miss Neri? We are about to land on the Lake Charlea airport, please put on your seat belt." The attendant proceeded to the cockpit compartment to put her own belt, Alessa was happy she was almost the the party!

-----

After getting past security in the airport, Alessa had managed a quick escape, between the smaller airport, and the surprise visit she kept all the reporters to a minimum, renting a small car she was sure to make it to Connor's party now!

Stepping on it, and lowering the hood of the somehow convertible american made car was a good sign for today.

Mere twenty minutes had passed before Alessa finally took her foot off the gas pedal, the came to an uneasy stop before the radiator hissed and some of the car systems gave out under the heat of the HC Engine.

Hoping the noise was not enough to alert the others, a naive thing to think realistically speaking. But she wanted to surprise Connor with her arrival, priming herself up from the car trip, she moved towards the party, creeping behind Connor to tap on his shoulder. "I wanted to be here before, but it seems American cars can't go as fast as Italian cars do, stud."

Divine had forgotten about the cancellation and the fact she didn't remember...pissed her off. A year ago, she had others that told her who ad when and where. Now she had to remember all of it herself. Still, she must not let Hero or anyone else know her true feelings.

"You know...You're right!" Divine exclaimed, as she pulled away from Hero. "The others had to cancel. Silly me, I had forgotten about that." Divine smiled at Hero and offered him her arm. "Shall we?"

"Which ever way you want it," Hero responds with total innocence. He turns and takes Divine's arm. He looks down on her with barely disguised adoration. Hero's head pops up long enough to get their bearings toward the private exit and he steers them that way.
Fighting to find something conversational to say, Hero grasps at the first thread of thought to come his way.
"Divine, will you know most of the novas at the party? I'm afraid this will be my first time out."

Caduceus puts his drink down with his shirts in the sand before racing to keep up with Missy. Since she's not running all that fast at the moment, he quickly catches up.
"You can all me Evan," he tells her. "Doctor Caduceus is a mouthful. How is the Municipal Defender gig going for you, anyway?"
Evan too keeps an eye out for others that might be following.

Ravenshire shakes The Coyote's hand and responds,
"Hello Karrie. I'm Daniel Ravenshire, but you can call me Daniel."
He listens to Karrie babble on about the wonders of Connor and barely represses a smile.
"Sure, if your offering I'll take one and I'm sure he'll be flattered you went through the effort to design and create these shirts. They have a certain flare to them."
Though Ravenshire only wore t-shirts around the house, he was sure that picking one up would be his own way of keeping Lina on his mind without the wrong somebody knowing.
Looking up from the shirt to Karrie, he goes one better.
"Conner," he calls out. "There is someone and something here you have to see," and he motions toward Karrie and the shirt in her hands."

Karrie's eyes zipped straight over to Mech, then widened until Ravenshire was sure that they were going to come loose from their sockets. "Oh... my... GOD! Eeeeeeeee!" Her excited shriek was mostly muted by her own sense of docurum, but those near her could clearly hear her excitement through the decibels she reached.

Clutching a t-shirt - and then grabbing the whole bag, remembering that she'd want to share with everyone around him - she made her way toward the man of the hour. She hadn't seen him, but now that she had, she immediately recognized him. She took notice of the beauty accosting him, and there was a second's flash of irritation on her face before it was smoothed away. She quietly waited her turn, unaware of the personal history between these two that may make her wait longer than she had supposed.

[[Appearance 2 and Charisma 2, just for RP purposes]]

Connor had been about to put some more food on the grill whenhe felt the tap and heard a voice he hadn't heard in awhile, except in certain dreams, or put on her cd. He whirled around, his arms snaking out to encircle Alessa in a warm embrace. She was as beautiful as ever, and part of his mind began immediately trying to imagine what sort of bathing suit she was wearing. "Well Pretty Lady, they have govenors in them to save on fuel economy. They aren't meant to go as fast. That's why I drive my Jeep, speed isn't nescessary when you can go anywhere."

Connor's smile is the biggest he's worn all day, at last someone who he did know had shown up at the party. He let go of Alessa and turned back to the others, well at least those not heading off into the water.

"Autumn Solstice, Harold, Bellator, Ravenshire..." His eyes indicating the nova of that name as he spoke. He turns over to where Ravenshire is standing and notices the Young Woman standing there. "It seems there's another guest. He starts leading Alessa over to meet them and continues trying to put names to faces for Alessa.

He looks to where Missy and Evan are heading into the water. The waves are only about three foot, the light southwest wind promising to pick up and make them larger through the course of the day. "Missy and Evan have decided to go try the water for awhile, after I get some more cooking done I think I'm gonna join them."

He stops in front of avenshire and the newcomer and smiles. "Good morning and welcome to the party. I'm Mech, or Connor if you prefer. Please make yourself at home. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask."

"Autograph?" Karrie asked, then realized she'd gotten ahead of herself. Her dark skin darkened a bit more, but her Navajo heritage shielded her from revealing too much through her traitorous cheeks. "I mean, hi! I'm Karrie? May I please have your autograph?" She held up the shirt, smiling brightly enough to double as a lighthouse. "I made them myself!"

She waited for his reaction, wondering who the dark-haired woman was. Clearly, she was Connor's good friend or maybe even girlfriend, and that made Karrie curious. Or rather, it made the part of her that had become intrigued with puzzles and mysterious curious, that little flare of malicious humor that had appeared deep inside the day her brain had exploded.

"Autograph?" the word took him by suprise but he nodded, noticing the picture on the shirt. It was him in Akira's dress uniform from the show. She's a fan, that's pretty cool. No harm in signing the shirt for a fan. "Umm sure, no problem." He took the offered marker and signed the shirt for her and then smiled to Alessa.

"Daniel, Karrie, this is Alessa Neri. I had the privelage of traveling with her on her tour here in the States. She's pretty much taking the charts by storm over here." He left out the incident in Dallas, not wanting to bring up the bad memories of that show.

He chuckles and looks to Karrie. She also sings both the intro and the closing theme for Gundam Superior in all its versions."

He looks to Alessa and smiles. "I don't think I've heard of music bringing a tear to Tomino-sama's eye, but yours did. You definitely made him a happy man."

Missy splashed into the warm gulf water and dunked herself, coming up soaked. She shook her head to get her shaggy hair out of her eyes. The salty water felt different than the water in a swimming pool back home. She felt more buoyant, and it really tasted like salt.

"Okay, Evan," she said to Caduceus. Calling an adult--a doctor no less--by his first name felt strange to her, but she did so anyway. She'd not yet latched onto the idea that as a recent high school graduate she was about to join the company of adults herself, and she had definitely not yet grasped that among novas she was a peer.

Missy bobbed in the surf, getting accustomed to the waves which washed over her at regular intervals.

"The defender thing is going great," Missy said cheerfully, paddling playfully in the water. "There's been no real trouble, and it's a lot of fun getting the inside skinny on how everything really works in my town." Missy left unsaid that her duties were largely ceremonial, and that aside from twice-weekly ridealongs with the Marshalltown police department, she mosty ran odd errands around city hall and the county courthouse.

"Sounds like fun," Caduceus said before diving beneath the surf. Coming up, he continues,
"It must be nice to have the kind of community you have developed in Marshalltown."
Caduceus looks around then smiles conspiratorially to Missy.
"Say, if you aren't super fast do you want to race up the beach ... say to that old pier."
Evan hoped that the two of them could have some fun and she wouldn't beat him too badly.

The housecat crept closer to the edge of the salt marsh, waiting and watching. It wasn't like Kara to be so melodramatic - well, not this melodramatic - but she was nervous. She knew a lot of the people out here; in fact, she had seen everyone here or talked to them online. They were not strangers, and not dangerous. They were not Cyn.

But she was still afraid.

Bellator was out there, and his presence was comforting to her. But he was one of many, and the housecat's fur bristled as someone laughed loudly.

This was ridiculous. She was a grown woman, and she was about to go and join other adults at a party, where nothing bad was going to happen. I'm doing it. I'm going to do it, she told herself, gathering her courage. Her therapist, though he'd only lasted half a session, had told her it would get easier every time she did it. Seeing LiberTeen had been a start. This would be another step. Alright, I'm going already!

That was the moment the coyote attacked. She was a hungry bitch, with puppies hidden in a den further away from the beach. She'd been hoping for some easily-claimed trash from the two-legs, but all the food-scents were coming from the place with two-legs. And so she had meant to wait. But the small-cat had been a surprise, and the bitch eagerly crept forward, getting close enough to strike with infinite patience.

Her teeth snapped shut around a furry neck, and she jerked her head violently, a move that would crack it's neck. But when she stopped, the cat was still alive, and worse, it twisted around and dug its claws into her cheek. They hurt worse than they should have, and the coyote dropped the cat with a yelp.

It hissed at her, and the bitch prepared another attack. That attack was postponed when she saw that the cat was swelling, getting bigger while spots appeared on its fur. Confused the canine backed away, whimpering unhappily. The cat hissed again, a noise that raised the fur on the bitch's neck. With a warning growl, she turned and slunk away, looking for easier pickings.

Damned mutt! Kara growled to herself, twisting her jaguar head so that she could awkwardly press a paw to her bleeding neck. She could feel it knitting up, even as she dropped the paw and sighed. Thankfully, the brush was thick enough to hide her escapade from the partying novas.

Suddenly, she laughed, the sound coming out as a raspy purr. I was so worried about joining my friends that I missed the same thing sneaking up on me, she chuckled to herself. There's a lesson in that - while you're forgetting to live, life is sneaking up to bite you in the ass. Still laughing at herself, she checked to make sure no one had wondered over toward her. When she was sure she was alone, she released the shape-shift, feeling her body settle into its familiar human lines. Her cooler and the bag of chips were in her hands, and she walked forward, joining the party.

"Hello!" she shouted, smiling and waving to everyone with a friendliness she didn't feel. "I'm back! Hide all the eligible bachelors! And the bachelorettes!" She wore a white bikini top and bottom, though her bottom was hidden by a sarong wrapped around her waist.

[[For those looking, she's completely healed on the outside, though her eyes are behind sunglasses. Any questions, just let me know.]]

Mech turned his head to see who it was that had just arrived and it was only through alot of self control and the fact he was still standing next to Alessa that he kept his jaw from dropping as the newcomer walked up to the party. Jesus Christ who is that... Thank God for quantum enhanced appearance... I really wish I had worn my sunglasses.

He recovers himself and nods to the others. He's pretty sure they could all have read his shock and awe, and it made him a bit embarrassed. "Sorry." he mumble to nobody in particular.

He smiled. "Well, I'm going to go greet our new arrival and then I've got to get cooking. Please everyone make yourselves at home and enjoy the parrty."

He walks over to Kara and smiles. "Welcome to the party Ma'am. We've got plenty of food and drink and I think I've got a few empty chairs left. Make yourself at home. I should have some fresh barbecue done soon."

After greeting her Connor moves on over to the grill and freezers and removes about three dozen pounds of hamburger patties, hot dogs, sausage, and chicken breasts from the cooler and puts them in one of the large empty pans. he opens the barrel grill's door and goes on about his buisness cooking for everyone and enjoying the warm summer breeze. "I'll say this much I never expected this many to show. I may have to call Uncle Bud after all."

Missy looked around, and noticed that the majority of the party-goers were failing to enter the water. Still, now that she had, she was reluctant to leave the water too soon.

"Okay sure!" she said, agreeing to Evan's impromptu race. The old pier he'd pointed out was a few hundred yards down the beach. Not waiting for a proper start, she splashed face-first into the surf and swam for the pier, parallel to the beach and the waves. Every few seconds another wave would push past her, shoving her closer to the beach and disrupting her rhythm.

This is hard work, she realized. She couldn't see Evan, so she assumed he was still in the chase, and swam on.



[[ two successes in athletics ]]

Evan took off after Missy and was just getting into his rhythm when she slowed down to get her bearings. He kicked his strokes into overdrive and pushed ahead of the young Iowan farm girl. Swimming faster than he had ever been able to do in the pools in the Project's base in Italy, Evan seemed to match the pulse of the surf. Adrenalin kicked in and soon he could catch definite glimpses of the pier ahead of him. Part of his mind wondered just how close Missy was and wether or not he should let her win, but he figured that wouldn't be fair to the young woman. This was a race between two equals so he let it be that - a race to the finish.

[[ four successes out of six dice in athletics - Woot!]]

While staying close to Karrie, Daniel greets Alessa,
"Glad to meet you, Ms. Neri. You have a wonderful voice."
Before he can say much more, Kara makes her appearance ... a move that almost catches Ravenshire's social reflexes off-guard. Instead, he watches Connor move toward yet another captivating woman while he introduces the newcomer to the novas around him.
"That's Kara B'nath. She's an actress in her own right."
Once Connor heads back toward the grill, Daniel waves Kara to come on over. He greets her sincerely with a hug and,
"Its good to see you."
There is a hint of worry in his eyes as he looks at her, as well as a twinge of regret for not being able to do more.

The pier was not growing larger as quickly as Missy had expected, and she realized that swimming in surf was much, much different than doing laps at the YWCA. Missy raised her head out of the water to look for Evan and caught a wave right in the face just as she was taking a deep breath. Sputtering and coughing she flopped onto her back and let the surf carry her to the beach, where she crab-walked to the the ankle-deep water and coughed the rest of the salty water from her lungs.

"Well, that was awkward," she said ruefully once she'd recovered. The party was a hundred yards down the beach to her left, and the pier was at least two hundred yards to her right. She scanned the waves for any sight of Evan.





[[ botched endurance roll - OMGLOLWTF ]]

The opening strains of "Ode to Joy" start playing from Bell's pocket, as he looks down and reaches for his cell phone.

"Hello? Oh, Akaisha, heya. I'll be there shortly to pick you up. I'll be waiting for you just outside the big military recruiting station in Times Square. I should be wearing a t-shirt and shorts, oh and, a backpack. I'll see you in a few minutes."

He turns to Connor, "Looks like I've got to get another guest. Be right back. Can you please make sure that the wine doesn't get opened 'til I return? I want to make a toast, and it's hard to do that without a drink."

He looks around, and notices Kara walk onto the beach. Bell waves to her, and slowly fades out of sight.

In front of the recruiting station, Bell fades in. He looks around, seeing that a few people were startled by his sudden appearance, but no one seems to be approaching him. Bell reaches into his backpack and takes out a pair of aviator sunglasses, and puts them on. He leans against the wall of the building, glad to be in the shadows, and waits patiently.

"The theme? She sings the theme?" All of Karen's quiet disapproval of the apparently vapid woman changed with that revelation, and suddenly Alessa was the attention of all of Karrie's geek-fueled attention. "Ohmygod! Will you sign my shirt too?" She offered the marker to Alessa and waited for the woman to sign.

"Is anyone else related to the show here?" Karrie asked excitedly. "I should get them to sign too!"

After walking a few minutes with Connor, being introduced to new people a girl came up to Connor, dressed in jeans and top with oil stains and keeping her hair back with a handkerchief. It reminds her sligthly of her youth, specially the slight ill intent she has towards her and the adoration to Connor. A fan. I wonder if she likes the show, or just Connor

In an instant, her demenor towards herself changed in a second. "The theme? she sings the theme?" Alessa was suddenly barraged with a t-shirt with Connor's picture on it. "Will you sign my shirt too?"

Taken sligthly aback, Alessa had never signed anything but CD's or checks, she took the shirt and used Karen's back to get a place to sign, putting her signature on the other side of Connor's picture. "Here it is! As far as other people related to the show, I didn't get to meet a lot of people that worked on the show, only Mr.Tomino, Lina, Connor and a couple of the other actors who also put a part of them in the intro song."

Handing back the t-shirt, Alessa looks at Kerrie's "But tell me, have you heard the intro? I'm really worried my accent will ruin the song for the japanese listeners, and make the non-native have a horrible time understanding the lyrics." Alessa has a worried smile on her face, something between happy about her work gettng to yet another corner of the world, and her work being dubious in that same corner of the world.

"Awesome, thanks!" Karrie cooed, looking at the shirt. "No, I actually didn't get to hear the intro, yet," she said, "but I'll give you an assessment after the viewing, for sure."

Carefully tucking the shirt over her arm, she took the others and spread them out on the table. With her marker, she wrote 'Free!' on a piece of paper. Leaving her sign with the shirts, she snagged a soda before turning back around to follow Connor to the grill.

"So what was it like to be filming?" Karrie said, taking a gulp of soda. "Did they have any mock-ups that you could sit in?" Her eyes almost glowed. "I could make some if you guys need more. Oh, hey!" She dug around in her sack and pulled out drawings. She held them up for Mech to study as he grilled. "I had some ideas for some other Mechs. Do..." Her voice became suddenly shy and her dark eyes lowered nervously. "Do you like them?"

“Pardon?” Autumn asked Harold. She was slightly surprised at the speed at which Melissa suddenly left her behind. She never knew someone could slip from their clothing that fast, except maybe her sister, Summer. “My swimsuit? Oh, yes. I did wear one.” She rubbed her neck where the silver strings were tied.

“I thought maybe I’d lay out in the sun for awhile, but the water certainly is inviting.” Her eyes were locked on the shore as Evan and Melissa laughed and played in the warm shallows of the gulf. She turned her head only to see that Harold was no longer there – until she looked down. He was taking of his shoes and socks. “Oh, sure, dumped for the coast.” She mused, as it appeared everyone she was speaking with was now suddenly fixated on getting wet. Hang on a second, let me get out of my travel clothes, kay?”

She dashed back to her bag heedless of who may be gawking at her buoyancy.

[[cue slow-mo and sexy sax music]]

She stood facing most of the partygoers but she certainly was making no attempt to gain their attention. Time seemed to embrace her curves like a jealous lover and those who saw could not take their eyes away. She unzipped her yoga top exposing what little fabric dared to cover her impossibly curvaceous figure. The top fell into her bag as her hands rolled down her hips and she bent over to remove them, placing them in her pack as well. Simple, silver thread was that preserved what little modesty Autumn appeared to have. Swiftly she rose, snapping her head back to whip her hair back over her shoulders where she preferred it lay (gotta have a trampy hair whip).

[[you may return to your drinks now, mouths agape]]

If she cared what people thought of what little she was wearing, she didn’t show it. She may be shy with meeting people, but certainly not with her body (novas wore stuff like this all the time, and usually less). “Harold, no suit? I’m sure we could get you one, if you like.” She stated, as she looked herself over, straightening lines of thin fabric that had gotten misplaced since earlier this morning.