[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/w18T1S3.png[/img][/center]

[color=8882be]"I'm Lauren! Sangue's [i]best[/i] friend on the whole planet, and--aaagh--fuck!"[/color] Lauren had slipped behind the rest of her team and braced one long leg on the wall, attempting to use it as a fulcrum to lift Joyous Guard. For some reason, though, the shield wasn't budging, even with her considerable strength and near-universally active Semblance. She couldn't even be sure she was budging it. [color=8882be][i]What the fuck? This is bullshit!

It looks like a Sangue, but it's built like an Amy![/i][/color]

Either Ben had designed a shield that was too heavy and unwieldy for [i]anyone[/i] to use, or he had used his precious alone time in the Armory to concoct some kind of fucking magical bullshit-ass Camelot weapon that only he could lift. That wasn't fair at all! She was his best friend, his other half, his [i]fembro![/i] How could he design a weapon she wasn't allowed exclusive backup rights to? And after all the Aura her boobs had donated Lawnslot on his behalf, too!

[color=8882be][i]Well, two can play at this game, sneaky waitman devil.[/i]

[i]Next time I molest you, I'm spraying my hands with stickum. See if you can lift [b]me[/b] off...[/i][/color]

Lauren strained to lift the shield up again, a low groan building between her clenched white teeth--

[color=92278f]"Your stance is slipping,"[/color] called an amused voice from down the hall. Lauren's hands slid right off Joyous Guard as she whirled. The woman advancing had to be in her mid-to-late forties, but dressed as though she were still a woman who had just passed the cusp of thirty. Her black t-shirt was tied in a knot, revealing a familiar toned midriff and a pierced navel, and her long legs had an instantly recognizable determined stride. Bright, laughing hazel eyes looked at Lauren and then to the shield with mock disappointment.

[color=92278f]"You lift with your legs, not with your back, beloved. You're going to give yourself a herni--"[/color]

[color=8882be][u][i][b]"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"[/b][/i][/u][/color]

shrieked the girl.

Lauren Negasi took off on a running start to embrace her mother in a flying glomp, legs configuring into a makeshift padlock around the woman's waist as her arms squeezed the life from the woman's neck, gibbering [color=8882be]"momsmomsmomsmomsmomsmomsmomsmomsmomsmomsmoms[i]mooooooooommmmmmmmmmssssss[/i]!"[/color] unintelligibly as the woman squeezed back. Her grip seemed only marginally less powerful than Lauren's - Lauren's back, stressed from trying to lift the shield, popped once under the pressure - and she twirled a giggling Lauren around once in the hallway before resting her chin on the girl's shoulder and looking at the rest of the students - and the grotesque guardian - assembled.

[color=92278f]"Wallahi,"[/color] she greeted apologetically, ruffling Lorena's hair as though the affectionate gesture would instill some manners in her feral young lady. [color=92278f]"I go by Costa."[/color]