cosmiccowgirl

Dispatch: Heroes of Claremont

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Tuesday
First Dispatch
"Hey, I'm..."

(collab with Sonnet/Jet!)

((ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴꜱ: @SonnetNSunbeam | ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ: n/a ))

"Asteroid, Blackstar, I need you to help a subscriber with her vlogging channel. Pin sent."

Alaine’s brows furrowed in confusion at that, the movement mildly visible through the thinner material of her upper mask. “Vlogging channel…?” she mumbled.

She didn’t know how a couple of superpowered individuals could “help” with a vlogging channel, it wasn’t like they were IT specialists; maybe the vlogger wanted some special guests in their video? If so, that was kind of crazy that someone could seriously just call up SDN and get a super cameo for their vlog…

“This certainly feels like a priority-” Asteroid’s voice drawls over the comms system. “This is gonna be the best content she’s ever had.”

Oh well. A job was a job, right? At least it wasn’t a situation where she’d have to potentially use her cosmic energy. She was a bit nervous about that.

Pushing the thoughts out of her mind, Blackstar looked to Asteroid and nodded in his direction. He or Lightning Girl would’ve been her first pick on who she’d want to work with for a first dispatch, although her familiarity with the other A-Team heroes was pretty vague.

“Well, that’s us,” she mused, cracking her knuckles absently and tipping her head towards the door. She assumed it was the way out. With her track record so far, though, she might be headed the wrong way entirely.

Uncertain what Asteroid’s particular powers were, as she glanced down at her work phone and the pin James had sent through, she added helpfully, “You want a lift?”

She paused, then tacked on for clarity’s sake, “I can fly.”

Asteroid follows Blackstar’s lead out of the office. “That’d be pretty great, get the job done in half the time.” When they reach the front door he gives her a once over. “So, how we doing this? Piggyback, holding hands, fireman carry, briefcase?” He taps his nose twice, “I don’t know if we’ve got the chemistry for a bridal carry yet-.” A small laugh creeps into his voice through the entire question.

She couldn’t help another grin under her mask; had she been a little more at ease, a little less worried about what being that physically close to another person might make her powers do – she would’ve said bridal carry. Just to be funny.

But she wasn’t at ease and she didn’t fully trust herself yet, and holding hands felt safest with the least physical contact… save briefcase, which sort of felt like the rude option.

“Let’s hold hands. That should work,” she decided.

“I think that’s pretty reasonable." He peels back a glove, exposing his bitten thumbs and reddened knuckles. His hands are slightly clammy, and he’s immediately conscious of it when their palms connect. Shutting one eye, he uses his power to press out the liquid between their hands flinging it away from them. It’s- a little too dry now, but he’ll take it over being extremely damp and uncomfortable.

Once they’re in the air he lifts a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. The midday sun is harsh on his eyes. “Do you, like, listen to music up here? Or do you always just listen to traffic on I-10?” He looks North at the mountains in the distance, what would gravity be like at the top? Would he find it easier or harder to manipulate? His fingers open and close in the air at the thought.

Blackstar was so relieved that flying via hand-holding was working that she almost missed his question.

“Oh – yeah, I listen to music.” She was concentrating very hard on their hands. She hadn’t really noticed his clamminess when they first started out, thanks to her gloves – even if she had, she was too busy trying to figure out how her powers even made the arrangement work to be bothered. “Who wants to listen to traffic? …I don’t even know where I-10 is, anyway.”

Should she have admitted that? Maybe not.

Asteroid blinks at the comment, so Blackstar is new to town, noted. The subscriber is waiting for them at a trendy coffee shop, Iron and Kin, in an older, more downtown-esque shaped section of the city. He clears his throat before they approach, putting on a bit of a superhero voice through dropping his range an octave. It squeaks out in his test run- “Hi vlogger who is clearly an emergency.” His words curl at the end, and he waggles his head in mocking.

Blackstar grinned at that again, not that he’d be able to see. Soon enough they were nearing their destination and she very carefully came in for the landing, easing Asteroid down as gently as possible before letting the soles of her own boots drop to the pavement.

When they approach, UltraGal seems genuine. A pang in his chest, damn, that doesn’t feel good.

"Hey hey, I'm UltraGal! Can you help me with some filming? It's so cool working with supers, I was thinking, like, we explore Claremont, you show me all the best spots from the eyes of a super?"

Asteroid’s chest tightens further. Best spots from the eyes of a super? Every idea on his list is now either illegal or definitely not what she is looking for- namely, the inside of a villain dive bar. He scratches the side of his face through his mask and looks up at the sky. In the distance he sees the mountains and he blinks a few times as the neurons fire in his brain. “Nice to meet you UltraGal.” His voice is the same pitch it always is, the trialed voice completely forgotten.

He points up to the mountain. “Since you can fly- seems like heading up there could lead to some really good shots?”

Thank God he had some ideas, Blackstar thought to herself, also noting he’d apparently given up on the hero voice. She really had no clue what the best super-approved spots were, having only been in town for… what, two weeks?

Following his pointing hand with her eyes, she considered it for a second then nodded. She’d flown over those mountains once or twice. Would’ve been a fun little hike up for a date. As if anyone would want to date a murderer.

She pushed the thought away quickly. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

A quick glance between the mountains, then between the three of them. She could probably carry both Asteroid and Ultragirl… But, on second thought–

“Hey-” An inspired little snap of her gloved fingers as she pointed to Asteroid. “-Your powers.”

She had subconsciously noticed what he’d done when they’d first held hands to get over there; she doubted his powers were solely water-based, as the rest of his hero persona didn’t really seem to match that. And if it was some kind of telekinesis then he should’ve been able to fly on his own, right? Her next guess was something gravity-related, which, if that was correct…

“It’s a gravity thing, right?” She moved her hands in an up-and-down motion for illustrative purposes. “Think we could pull off a kind of bungee jumping effect with Miss Ultragirl here? If that’s something you’d be down for,” she tacked on to the vlogger in question.

“Um, yes!” the girl responded enthusiastically, looking between them in eagerness and adjusting the strap of her camera.

Asteroids eyes nearly bulge out of his head behind his mask. “Thats a really cool idea actually. Yeah gravity- a certain amount of pounds up to a certain level.. We just can't get her too high and I can do the math to rubber band her trajectory up to you.”

“I can jump a bit closer, while you take her and I’ll meet you… there.” He points up to a slope of the mountain that looks free of too much snow, and flat enough to stand. Running, he jumps, and throws his arms down on either side, flinging himself towards the mountain. He’s essentially jump running, which is a bit faster, but it’ll still take him a few minutes to get there. The entire way there, his brain is working on the idea that Blackstar proposed, writing physics computations in his head, adjusting for sea level height changes.

Blackstar, pleased her guess was correct, nodded and gave her coworker a casual two-fingered salute. “Right, seeya in a minute.”

She watched for a second as he jetted off, head tilting curiously before looking back to Ultragal. The hand-holding had worked for Asteroid but the vlogger was smaller and, as far as Alaine could tell, not super; not wanting to risk anything and now trusting herself just a little more, she suggested a bridal carry situation which Ultragal immediately agreed to.

Satisfied that she had a secure grip on the vlogger, who held her gopro in hand to film as they flew, Blackstar couldn’t resist the urge to swoop down by Asteroid on the way, adjusting her grip on Ultragirl and doing a smooth aileron roll alongside him. The vlogger let out a small squeal – the rollercoaster kind, not the “stop that right now” kind – and as she came rightside-up again Blackstar smiled to herself and sped up, gaining altitude as she went.

In another moment they’d reached the spot on the mountain Asteroid had indicated and Alaine touched down, carefully setting Ultragirl down as they waited for her coworker to catch up.

Heroes, Defend the City!

went ahead and made a quick post since nobody else had yet! I know I was the last person to post before Zapdos but I didn't think we had a posting order or anything, so I hope that's okay xD

Heroes, Defend the City!

(( ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ: @Byte/Intel ))

For a second, it almost looked like their mismatched little crew might be making some headway. Blackstar hadn't been paying too much attention to the man in the beret though she'd noted him when they first arrived; her flight path after following through with the cut to the dragon took her in a little loop around, getting herself out of the way of any potential retaliation while checking on teammates, but as she did so she noted the man was still there on the sidelines. Like it was some kind of show.

Suspicion suddenly sprung up in her mind as she came around behind the dragon again, preparing for another attack though her eyes lingered on the man with the beret. He didn't seem concerned at all. And what as that he'd just said? She didn't catch it...

Unfortunately, her distraction and proximity to the dragon proved an unfortunate turn of events. She saw the flames as they erupted but was too late to completely dodge them, still zipping out of the way as fast as possible despite her suit definitely catching fire. Gritting her teeth, Blackstar dove for the ground a ways away and purposefully let herself hit the dust, bracing for the impact and, when it came, rolling with it.

Although a bit painful it worked as intended and put out the smoldering parts of her uniform, leaving a few singed holes on her right side. Blackstar swiftly got to her feet, well aware the fight was still going on -- and now needing the share some information with the team.

Ignoring the sting in her shoulder where the fire had made the worst damage, she leaped off the ground and quickly flew back over to the others. Touching down again behind the safety of Maggie's wall, she focused her attention on the IT-looking one who'd been barking orders.

"Hey," she gasped, a little out of breath as she flagged the other woman down. "I think this dragon might not be what we think it is! When I-- ow--"

Blackstar interrupted herself briefly as she pointed back at the dragon in question, flexing her burnt shoulder as she did so but continuing quickly, "--When I was up there, the places where it's being hit are... smudged? Messed up -- not like actually hurt, but like paint's melting or something. Like the whole thing's a stunt."

She cast a suspicious glance in the direction of the beret guy at that before looking back to Intel. She'd seen the other woman's little drone things -- she assumed if anybody was getting a technical read of some kind on whatever they fighting, it'd be her.

Dispatch: Heroes of Claremont

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Breakroom
Claremont SDN

((ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴꜱ:@Aku the Samurai @SonnetNSunbeam | ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ: @Pragia12 @FourtyTwo))

She'd just about made her mind up to go ahead and start some small talk with Lightning Girl when Phenomaman walked into the breakroom.

Alaine immediately felt herself shrink into the corner, as if the meager shadow and her own dark suit would camouflage her. She'd seen Phenomaman before, and it had been after she'd... done something she wasn't proud of. He hadn't been coming after her at the time -- maybe? -- but it had scared her bad enough to leave an impression. Like the heart attack of speeding a bit and seeing a cop behind you all of the sudden... only a hundred times worse.

But, on closer inspection, she wasn't so sure this one was Phenomaman. He looked... off. Somehow. She wished she'd kept herself more informed on these things but alas, the last couple of years she'd really only learned whatever she happened to catch in others' conversations or the occasional news station playing in random lobbies.

In any case, the giant man wasn't paying her even a smidgen of attention. That made her shoulders relax a bit, but she decided to relocate and put some distance between them all the same. As she casually scooted down the wall a bit she noticed someone else entering; it looked like an actual minor, but there was something adult about the tiredness he seemed to display.

Whoever he was he didn't seem too enthusiastic about Not-Phenomaman either, but that meant his attention then fell on her.

“I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Tyler, dispatch.”

Dispatch? He had to be an adult, then, right? Blackstar bobbed her head slightly in return, noting someone else coming in as she replied, "Al--" Oops. "--uh, Blackstar. Nice to meet you."

Yikes, that was close. She'd blame him for introducing himself with a normal name and making her instinctually want to do the same. Hopefully he wouldn't think too much of it.

She did not envy him the role of dispatch. Him or James, for that matter. Not that she planned on being a pain or anything, she would just hate having to coordinate everything like that and not be there in person to help if anyone was in trouble.

Oh God. She hadn't thought about that. What if she started liking these people? She'd been away from her younger siblings for so long that her big sister instincts were starting to claw at her ribs like some kind of animal trapped inside her. She needed something to actively care about and, now that she thought about it, working with a group she might very well be put into some dangerous situations with would probably trigger that protective instinct.

...These people had better not be likeable. For the sake of her mental health.

"Wow, they're really staffing Claremont up, I thought they'd leave us high and dry for awhile in moving people to the other branch."

That was the other newcomer. She glanced over as he took a seat in a nearby chair -- backwards, of course, as cool people did. His attention shifted to her too then, but she supposed that was her own fault for moving out of her little corner.

"The black on black there is slick- I'm Asteroid, nice to meetcha."

The wink earned a small grin under her mask and melted away a little more tension from her shoulders. Dang it, that was pretty likeable. Now she was really 50/50 on that lower half of her mask, because she realized being non-verbal would look very a-holey without the help of friendly facial expressions. In place of said friendly expression, she tilted her head in a similar fashion and replied, "Blackstar. Nice to meet you, too."

She paused, then grinned again as she nodded down at his boots. She'd seen the red soles when he sat down. "I like the Louboutins." Hopefully the friendly teasing note came through in her voice.

This was the one Lightning Girl had called her doppleganger, right? Interesting. Alaine spared a glance in the direction of said electric woman, as well as the Not-Phenomaman Man, then looked back to Tyler and Asteroid as the latter mentioned needing fish food. For a fish named Ducky. Dang, that was cute.

Hm. A fish... She got distracted for a second mentally as the others' conversation turned to Mamaki, whatever that was, considering the idea of getting herself a scaly little roommate. That'd be low-maintenance-ish, right? In the sense she wouldn't have to walk it or play with it or anything... though that was a large part of the joy of owning a pet. Not that she could really give a cat or dog the attention it would deserve, given her new occupation. Or could she...?

That apartment was just so small and quiet and -- well, lonely. Anything would help. Even a fish.

Maybe that would solve the other problem. Get a fish and let herself be protective over that, not her teammates.

Wow, that sounded bad. Thank goodness nobody in there was a mind-reader... As far as she knew, anyway.

In Secret We Lie: False Gods & Human Servants

ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ: @BunniesofDoom @Ducksworth

There were so many people.

Mairin was both fascinated and extremely nervous. She had been to large cities and towns in past years, so it wasn't as if she'd never seen so many people in one place before -- it was more the way they were all there, together, part of the same group.

Part of the same group. She looked down at herself, womanly figure wrapped in black. It covered her well. Especially the mask. It was hard to break more than a decade's habit of trying to hide herself, and wearing that mask over her mottled eyes was comforting in a way she wished it wasn't. Her hair she had done herself, pulling back a portion of the mousy locks to keep it out of her face but strategically leaving the rest down to hide the single shock of white hair and the accompanying spots at the nape of her neck. Again, old habits died hard.

She had told herself repeatedly over the past weeks that she had been chosen to be there. It could be argued it was just a coincidence, a natural draw where some hand had found her name amid a list of thousands -- but for the last decade or so of her life, Mairin had been denied the grace of coincidence everywhere she went. No, there were no coincidences for her. She had been chosen. By fate, by the Gods, by the stars, it didn't matter. It was the opportunity she had dreamed of since long before the fire that had started her on her wanderings, the opportunity to prove she had not been cursed.

While she would like to walk about unashamed of her spots and speckles, after spending years hiding them, it was hard not to feel the skin-crawling tremble of anxiety whenever said markings were visible to others. Would her fellow servants of the Gods turn on her? Cast her from the island? Beg the Gods to do away with her in order to keep disaster from striking?

So far, no one had done anything of the sort. Yet. Mairin had known brief bouts of peace like that before, where she dared to hope she might live normally somewhere... but all it took was one misfortune, one poor season, one tragedy, and all pointing fingers turned to the easiest one to blame: the Gods-cursed.

And for what? Some silly white spots? Why did the markings on her skin make her an icon for misfortune?

Mairin gave a small shake of her head, stopping herself before she spiraled into the internal debate she'd had with herself a thousand times before. She was meant to be working, no?

Leaving the quarters she'd been assigned, she found the supervisor she'd been scheduled under and was sent to help in the kitchens until she was needed elsewhere.

---

Kitchen work went well at first. She was tasked with helping to prepare some small finger-food sandwiches and the monotony of the task helped her quell her nerves for a while.

At least until the news from the ballroom started trickling to the kitchens.

A night that had been planned for months, organized to perfection, stressed over and triple-checked for inconsistences -- was suddenly going awry.

Mairin heard each new revelation as she worked quietly, back to the rest of the bustling kitchens. In the beginning it was the arrival of the first Gods and Goddesses, passed down from one servant to another; nothing unusual there, but it did start a buzz of excitement among the staff. It was then that things started to go wrong.

First it was just a dropped platter of pastries. The clash of the dish hitting the floor and the startled exclamations of those nearby made Mairin flinch, and although the rhythm of things was slightly thrown it was quickly on the way to recovery.

Then came the shocked word from the ballroom that the Gods and Goddesses seemed to have had a wardrobe malfunction.

This caused a much bigger stir. Mairin could hear the whispers racing around the kitchen, questions and fears that one or more of the human staff had made some terrible error. There was panic among some, worries that the never-before-heard-of wardrobe trouble spelled disaster for the rest of the festival. Each murmur of concern and question of the cause made her heart beat faster.

She hadn't done anything to cause it, of course -- but she never did. That was how it always started. Something bad happened, questions arose, fingers pointed.

Then it got worse.

The God of Death and Decay was there.

Mairin's hands shook as she kept assembling finger foods, grey-blue eyes rooted on her work while her hear pounded in her chest.

Why would a God who'd never attended the festivities before suddenly decide to show up the one year she was there? Surely someone would make the connection. Someone would start the rumor.

Her eyes darted to the side as a pair of cooks debated the topic nearby in agitation, one of them gesturing vaguely with a knife they'd been in the middle of using. The light glinting off the blade made her mouth go dry and her throat feel dry. She thought she could almost feel the old, ugly scar below her ribs where she'd been stabbed once in the middle of being accosted by an angry mob. Luckily it had been a weak stab and a shallow wound, but with only herself to tend to it in the weeks after it hadn't healed pretty.

Something clanged on her other side. Pots and pans maybe. It made her jump. Then another sound, behind her -- an exclamation from one of the head cooks, a raised voice that had her breaths coming quick and shallow.

Any second they'd all be turning on her, grabbing her, kicking her down, dragging her out--

Mairin practically threw the last little sandwich onto the tray and turned, dusting her hands on her apron as she tugged it off and tossed it on a line of hooks by the side door. Nobody noticed her leave, but she was too panicked to notice that.

Out she went, feet moving by instinct as she followed servants' corridors through the magnificent palace, made to keep humble humans out of the Gods' way. She'd learned the halls fairly well since she'd been there, but at the moment she wasn't admiring the architecture much.

Heart pounding, her feet moved on instinct as her mind whirled, body flinching at every sound whether she made it herself not. Walking, striding, running -- until--

Fresh air. Mairin stumbled to a halt, blinking as she realized she'd come out into the gardens. Ah. Well...

She took a deep breath. Unfortunately, ever since she'd been badly sick once as a child, her sense of smell had been fickle; she couldn't smell the lovely flowers that the gardeners had been working so tirelessly on, but she was sure they were delightful if they smelled anything like they looked.

Mairin exhaled slowly, standing there amid the greenery for a long moment and attempting to calm herself down with deep breaths.

"Think logically," she murmured to herself.

Logically, even if everything did go horribly wrong again and she was thrown from the island... it would be done quietly, no? No one would want to make a big scene with the Gods there, would they? ...Unless they'd just have the Gods get rid of her themselves... But that was unlikely. Surely the organizers and supervisors and everyone else who'd put so much time and effort into it wouldn't want the whole event marred by some kind of riotous expulsion of some random, speckled woman from the island.

Logically... The strange wardrobe mishap, with the Gods wearing gowns and the Goddesses in suits, must not be that horrible a thing. There were no Gods raining fire down on the palace or smiting servants from the face of the world, screaming and cursing. Maybe none of them were very bothered by it? Mairin hadn't seen any of them yet, but she assumed that, if they were terribly upset over the situation, she would've heard far more about it.

And, logically... was it so terrible that Getsuy was there?

Perhaps she was biased. She'd spent plenty of time pondering on the eerie God used in children's stories to keep them well-behaved. She never prayed to him or left him offerings, as she'd heard some did, but she did think of him. In fact she thought of him often when alone on her wanderings, wondering if they were so very different. Always roaming, always searching... for different things, no doubt, but still.

She'd made her peace with death a while ago, anyway.

Beyond that, wasn't it good that he would attend this great celebration of the Gods? Perhaps it meant he was coming around to humankind, or perhaps it was a sign of a change in the fortunes of the world, for the better.

Mairin let out the breath she'd been holding, feeling her mind at last calming down. Her hands still trembled faintly within their gloves -- again, the habit of hiding her mottled fingers had yet to fade -- and her heartbeat was still a touch quick... but it was better. She wouldn't do herself much good if she allowed herself to be the scapegoat for the world's misfortunes, would she? Best to keep a steady head and stay calm, even when things started to go wrong.

There was music playing somewhere in the gardens, a lovely tune. Idly Mairin wandered further, allowing herself a brief break from work before returning to the kitchens. There were so many people hustling and bustling about, she doubted she'd be missed for just a few moments. And there were no Gods or Goddesses about currently, which was good, seeing as it was apparently a very big taboo to be in the sight of one and not be working. Maybe it was about showing respect? No one had actually ever mentioned it. But--

Coming around a bend in the footpath she'd been following, Mairin was suddenly made aware of the fact that she was not alone and her thought that no deities were nearby was mistaken. Two were there, seated at a bench in a kind of tranquil reverie, she assumed; as if they, like her, had been simply taking a breath of fresh air and enjoying the moment. One was golden and draped in blue, the other... less golden. More disheveled, perhaps, was the word, and she had no idea who he might be.

But the golden one -- he looked exactly like her father used to describe. This had to be Melion, the favored deity of her parents. And of her, in her childhood. She felt that those days she had little to do with him, seeing as she didn't have the joy of farming or tending to wildlife... All the same, as she realized who he was, she felt a lump attempt to rise in her throat. Without warning, memories of her childhood came rushing to the forefront of her mind -- old visions of her father sat in his chair by the fire, still a bit dusty from the day's labor, helping her up to sit on his knee as he told her how Melion had helped him grow their crops that day.

Abruptly realizing however that she was standing in the presence of at least one God and quite possibly another that she felt she'd better pretend she wasn't unfamiliar with -- Mairin swiftly straightened up and put on her best manners. Best to act as if she was there for a reason and not just taking a break, otherwise she might end up cast off the island after all.

"My lords," she said, bowing slightly. Which probably looked a little odd, considering a curtsy would likely be more expected -- but she was far more used to wearing pants, and as a child she'd always followed her father around and had learned to bow before learning to curtsy. At least her voice wasn't shaking.

Of course, now she had no idea what to say. She didn't have any refreshments on hand to give her an easy explanation for what she was doing out there, and she wouldn't lie and say she'd been tending to the gardens. Straightening up, she recalled her training and avoided the urge to gaze curiously at the one sitting in front of the bench. Think, Mairin, think! "Ah... may I fetch you anything from the ballroom?"

Hopefully that would do, and they wouldn't be irritated by her intruding on the peacefulness of the moment.

In Secret We Lie: False Gods & Human Servants

Mairin Einarr || Human || Servant

((supposedly art by AliceBlakeArt on X. I edited it with the vitiligo spots ♡))

vitiligo spots hair, neck, eyes, hands, legs, feet

Name: Mairin Einarr
Rank: Server, generally, but will do anything needed of her.
Gender/Sex: Female
Age: 25
Appearance: Mairin stands at 5'6, with a healthy figure. Her eyes are a greyish blue, and her hair is a mousy brown -- with a single lock of white hair at the nape of her neck, where a spot of vitiligo connects with her scalp. Her skin is fair and has known various shades of tan, though she has several pure white vitiligo spots that remain constant; most notably on her hands, nape/back of her neck, knees, feet, and eyes (causing a few eyelashes and a few eyebrow hairs to be white). She usually tries to hide these spots, as people have always considered them an unlucky mark or the sign of a curse -- most often she wears long sleeves, long skirts/trousers, gloves, and keeps her hair down or wears high collars to hide the back of her neck. As the spots on her eyes are not always immediately noticeable, she can sometimes get away with people simply thinking the light is reflecting off her lashes, but it's not uncommon for her to wear a hood and keep her head down. Otherwise, her clothes consist of simple materials and dull colors to attract the least attention.

Personality: Quiet - Curious - Lonely - Observant - Hard-working - Gentle
Mairin is a gentle soul who longs for connection but has grown used to being ostracized and rejected. She holds no ill will towards those who have treated her poorly -- after all, she half-believes the things they say about her. That said, she still always strives to be kind and to work hard, sometimes to an excess, as if attempting to make up for something. Inherently curious and observant, she's very good at reading a room and understanding social situations, despite rarely being allowed to participate, and she's particularly good at spotting the warning signs of aggression.

History: Mairin was born the oldest of three sisters, the second and third following two and three short years later. For a while, she had her family lived humbly but happily in a small town, nestled in the foothills of an ancient mountain range. Mairin adored the stars and animals, and could often be found sneaking off to the woods in search of wildlife or sneaking out of the house at night to stargaze. More than either of these however, she loved her sisters and parents.

When she was in her early teens, she noticed strange, white spots developing on her body. Others noticed as well, and the rumors began -- clearly she wasn't sick, showing no signs of illness or decrease in health. The spots wouldn't scrub off. No poultices or remedies made them fade. Perhaps she was cursed.

Other girls her age whispered and giggled when she passed, calling her a spotted calf. Who would ever marry such an ugly little thing?

Talk of a curse grew stronger as the town fell on hard times. Weather was bad for craps, livestock bred poorly, fewer children were born, travelers came seldom, sickness came often.

Gods-cursed, the townsfolk insisted Mairin was a sign. Marked by the gods. Ill-fated, ill-spotted.

Her parents began keeping her home, suggesting she avoid the market and offering to stay home with her while her younger siblings went out to play with their friends. Mairin grew resentful; she wasn't the cause of every misfortune. She couldn't help the strange, pale markings, and she'd done nothing to offend the gods. She resisted all claims of a curse.

Until one winter's night, in her fifteenth year.

She had slipped outside to watch the stars; in recent years she had found herself increasingly alone, often turning to the stars to talk and feel welcome. That night was just like any other as she slipped from her bedroom window, wandering a short ways away to one of her father's hilltop fields where a large boulder stood. She had barely been there for an hour when she began to hear distant cries from town and smelled smoke on the air. When she turned back there was a dark plume rising into the night sky and a haunting orange glow over the hillside; running back for fear her family's small barn had caught fire, she found the truth much worse.

Her family home was on fire. The blaze was fierce and overwhelming -- the entire home was engulfed by the time she reached it. Others townsfolk tried in vain to quell the flames and help those trapped inside... but it was pointless.

Her family died that night, swallowed by a fire no one could truly explain.

Wracked with grief, the pain was made worse as all blame fell on Mairin. She was cursed, the gods had done this. And for once, she believed the angry cries of the townsfolk.

Barely a week later, she was strongly encouraged to leave town.

Mairin has been wandering ever since, rarely settling anywhere for more than half a year. The title of Gods-cursed followed her from one town to the next as she became an easy target and convenient scapegoat for anything and everything that could be pinned on her presence. A small part of her still clung to the belief that she wasn't cursed, but the longer she lived and the more her pale spots grew, the less she believed.

Until the letter arrived.

Chosen. Chosen to attend the gods. Surely it was proof that she had been right all those years, that she wasn't cursed?

Hoping for answers or, if nothing else, the proof that she was no Gods-cursed soul, Mairin accepted and set course for the Palace of the Gods.

Beliefs/Perceptions: Mairin's feelings about the gods are... complicated. Her parents prayed to Melion as they were farmers, and she did as a child as well; ever since her spots appeared however, she slowly fell out of regular prayers and offerings to any god. How could they allow her to take the punishment of a curse they didn't give her? ...Or, if they had cursed her... why?

During her wanderings, Mairin has felt a kind of reverence for Roshan. As one who was often traveling and in the wilderness, she has sent him a few prayer-thoughts for guidance and protection.

As someone who adores the stars, she would perhaps still pray and worship any deity who presided over the stars and the night sky in particular -- but if one exists, she's failed to learn of them. If they do exist, she often thinks they must know her better than any other being in the universe.

Relationships: None that go beyond friendly acquaintance. After so many years of loneliness, Mairin struggles to connect despite wanting it very badly. She still fears that being at the festival won't completely free her of being thought of as Gods-cursed.

Color: color=#000000 ((If it won't show up well enough I'll be happy to pick something else! I simply think black suits her best lol))

Other:
✧ Mairin has a special fondness for anything considered "blemished" or marked in an "unappealing" way -- animals, people, objects, she could never bring herself to hate something that is unloved for something so superficial.
✧ Her favorite colors are black, crimson red, and navy blue.
✧ Mairin has only ever had one crush so far: a boy from her town when she was younger. It broke her little heart when he joined in with the other teens in mocking her newly-formed spots.
✧ Some of her favorite foods include fruits, sugar-powdered pastries (a rare treat), and venison stew like her mother used to make.
✧ She prefers to wear pants, as they're less likely than skirts to hitch up and reveal the markings on her legs.
✧ Mairin loves to dance and is rather good at it, but she really only knows the common/poor folk dances and nothing very formal.

In Secret We Lie: Still Accepting, In Need of Humans

@NekoKyu hellooo so I got sick and completely forgot about this :'3 but if you're still looking for writers, I'd love to pop in with a human character! not sure if y'all are more active here on the discord, just let me know where you'd prefer me to submit a character sheet <3

Heroes, Defend the City!

Things didn't seem to be going to plan. The dragon appeared unfazed by everything, dodging attacks and letting loose a bolt of fire that Blackstar had to pull some quick aerial maneuvering to avoid. Luckily she was good at that. Still, she could feel the heat even through her thermal-regulated uniform as she darted out of the dangerzone.

Nothing seemed to distract the beast. Except that wire that had been shot at him and caught hold of his wing -- though, rather than falter and try to get away, the huge creature seemed to try and pull the holder of said wire up, over the wall the witch-girl had made. If it managed that, the wired woman would be in direct danger.

Wait, there was someone Blackstar hadn't clocked before, calling out orders in an almost monotone fashion, like she did this sort of thing ever day. The rebellious streak in her resented someone just stepping in and assuming command without discussion, but before she had much time to consider it she saw the flashy guy shoot a ball of light up into the sky.

Something told her she'd better look away before she was blinded, and she did so just in time. If she'd been looking, her retinas definitely would've been feeling that burn.

Rolling through the air and coming back up behind the dragon, she manifested the dark energy blades she'd dismissed a moment ago. All she needed was for the monster to be distracted by that light, just for a second -- there.

Blackstar dove down, cutting dangerously close to the dragon's head to score her cosmic blades along the side of its skull. It was a risky maneuver, but she was quick. She didn't know how the dark energy would respond to the scales, but she knew it wasn't a killing blow -- just something to sting and hopefully keep the monster distracted from Wireframe and everyone else on the ground.

Heroes, Defend the City!

working on a post, should have it posted later today!! <3

Dispatch: Heroes of Claremont

---

Tuesday
6:16am
Skies Over Claremont
(and beyond...)

Flying to work like that should’ve been a dream come true. Instead Alaine was just nervous.

Being up there in the sky always brought her some level of peace, but today it was minimal. Her eyes kept darting around, sure she’d run into some other flying hero before the rain started and they’d somehow recognize her, even though she’d never seen any of them in the flesh before and none of them had ever seen her in that suit.

John had told her to wear the one with white. She probably should’ve, yeah, but she’d gone with the black instead. She liked the color better and she preferred the way it didn’t stand out so much as the white. She'd gone with the lower half of the mask too, the "optional" part.

Plenty of heroes wore full face coverage, yeah? It wouldn't stand out.

She'd popped her earbuds in under the mask before leaving the park -- she'd taken flight from the park. Didn't want anyone catching her leaving her apartment -- and as she flew the next track in her playlist came up.

Like magic, she felt a calm settle in the ever-shifting stardust of her veins. Not because the music itself was calming -- more because the lyrics seemed to understand her.

♫ Smoke in my vision, so hazy
Shots in the dark can't make me fall
Decisions in the past what made me
All these eyes on me, can't breathe... ♫

Alaine took a deep breath as the lyrics drifted into her head, fresh air filling her lungs. It was a hard thing to do sometimes but it was easier when she was up there to stop thinking and just feel.

The wind in her hair, the weightlessness. The way she felt so much closer to a universe that was just out of reach. Her course strayed from a straight line to a drift, coasting on the wind ahead of the rainy weather slinking its way towards town. Muscles relaxing, body moving with the atmosphere rather than through it.

♫ Catch a breath, count to ten
Take a sec, stomach feeling nauseous
Say I'm fine, lie again
These thoughts weighing on my conscience... ♫

John had told her she wasn't her bad decisions but Alaine knew better. She was. She knew because she knew that she'd still make some of those decisions even then if the circumstances were right. Did that mean there was something wrong with her?

Well, there was something wrong with everybody, right?

Alaine took another deep inhale, wind rising as she closed her eyes.

♫ Gotta keep from falling (falling)
I've been running, but the past keeps calling (calling)
Took a risk even though it might hurt me
But the fire in my chest keeps burning (burning)
I'ma prove I deserve it... ♫

Up she went, her own voice humming along but barely audible in her ears over the sound of the air and music. Head bobbing, arms moving along -- micro-dancing mid-flight, she shifted one leg subconsciously to put a little spin into her horizontal flight. Rolling with the movement, she let herself sink into the darkness behind her eyes. It wasn't really dark, not anymore. Those days she so often saw stars behind her eyelids... Or something that looked like stars, anyway, glittering and sparkling like it was a very part of her physiology and not some kind of mental trip.

With her eyes closed, it was like the sky around her had transformed. She could feel herself moving through it, the shift of gravity and equilibrium as she gently kicked one one boot like pushing off an invisible foothold; up her legs went, body turning smoothly upside-down for a brief second before he followed through with the motion, coming rightside-up again.

She could smell that rain coming. Better hurry up... well, maybe not. She didn't have to be there until maybe 12pm. She had a lot of time before she needed to report for duty. She could spend a little while up there... Up there.

The song faded out, the end of her playlist. Alaine's eyes opened but there was no one there to see the way they flashed behind the mask with an ethereal, starry light as she shifted, turning and shooting upwards with a sudden burst of speed.

Higher. Through the sting of overcast clouds and bursting through the top.

Higher. Beyond the level of low-laying clouds to the next one, higher up and wispy. She cut through that too, the chill of the heights beginning to sink into the material of her suit.

Higher. She chased the lack of oxygen like it was a surplus, the thinning atmosphere offering her nothing but a stab of cold as she held her breath.

Higher-- One arm stretched up, fingers outstretched like she could claw her way further out of the mesosphere. There were only two layers more. A little further and she could be a star.

It was a dream she had a concerning amount, that. Being a star. Cold and brilliant, a solitary light of a thousand colors. Drifting through nebulae and a darkness that wasn't dark at all, full to bursting with lights and worlds no one would ever see.

When she woke and came back to her senses, she thought it had to be a side effect of... whatever had happened to her.

Alaine's lungs burned painfully in her ribs as she tried to push it just a little farther. She could probably do it -- it wasn't a lack of ability to fly, it was a lack of ability to breathe.

Not today. She stopped pushing and floated for a moment, caught between atmospheres as she let the strain permeate her lungs and ground her again. Ah, well. If she couldn't be a drifting star out there in the universe -- she'd be a falling one. No one would see that early, probably. People looked at the sky less and less those days.

Letting go of flight, she started to fall in a controlled arc, turning over to stretch her arms out in front of herself and creating a small buffer against the force of the air. She picked up speed rapidly, and with the speed came a glow -- a light that enveloped her in a shimmering haze, that from the ground or any distance would make her nothing but a shooting star in the early-morning sky.

Down she went, a glowing trail of stardust twinkling out through the mesosphere, the stratosphere, and finally the upper troposphere. She slowed there, arms breaking from the spearhead formation to spread on either side of herself as she spun, the luminosity dying away within seconds. From afar, it would look as if the shooting star had burnt up and finally disappeared.

Of course, now that she checked her location, she wasn't actually anywhere near Claremont anymore. Oops.

---

Tuesday
11:10am
Claremont SDN

It had taken her a while to get back, but she'd made it. Everything worked out alright, the flight had actually used up the time she had to spare. The smart thing to do would've been to not get up so early, but she'd been working an overnight shift for the past year and a half so that ingrained sleep-cycle -- also nerves -- had kept her up that morning.

In any case, Alaine was just in time to meet with HR and get her picture taken and SDN ID card made. She could tell the woman taking the picture wanted her to remove the lower half of her mask, probably, but that wasn't happening. Looking at the photo on the pass as she made her way back to the lobby, she realized it was the first time she'd looked at a picture of herself and not been dissatisfied with how it turned out. Probably because literally all you could see of her face was the top of her forehead and her hair. Nice.

What wasn't nice was the way she immediately forgot the secretary's verbal directions.

Luckily, her wandering led her right to one of her new coworkers -- none other than Lightning Girl herself. The woman seemed friendly. Helpful, at the least. Alaine appreciated the way she showed her up to the offices where she was supposed to be, and she did her best to remember the information she was given. Especially about her other team members.

Eclipse, Payback, Princess, Solaris, Madcap, Asteroid. She was curious about that last one, if only because Lightning Girl had said they were like her "doppleganger". Alaine wondered how. Suit-wise? Power-wise? Couldn't be personality or looks-wise, because Miss Sparkplug didn't know enough about her in either of those regards.

Meeting the team in person would have to wait until later though, as she had her favorite part of the onboarding process to do first. That was sarcasm. She hated paperwork. But John had warned her about it, so she was prepared. She'd memorized the fake stuff, or at least the bits she'd need to fill in, which she did promptly and quietly when the dispatcher, James, handed it over to her.

His comment, as she handed back the papers she'd filled, caught her attention.

"I looked at your record. Impressive, and while there’s gaps… you’ll fit right in."

Blackstar probably looked eerie for a second then, staring over at him from behind black lenses, face unreadable thanks to the way she was hiding it.

Impressive. She knew. John had made it up. Most of it -- she'd gone out and done a few things that could be referenced by witnesses, at John's prompting, but the rest of it? Lies. She hadn't spent the last two and a half years steadily working up her hero status, helping old ladies cross the street and handing over petty criminals to the cops.

Alaine blinked, not that James would know, and snapped out of her split-second reverie. "Thank you," she said, polite as ever. "And yeah, just let me know whenever you want me to work on that paperwork, I'll get right on it."

Be normal. Be normal. Act like you've never killed anyone. She took the transponder and earpiece, standing as he told her where the others on her team would be. Act like you wouldn't do it again.

---

Tuesday
12:47am
Break Room
Claremont SDN

Nobody else was in the breakroom yet so Blackstar popped right on over to the vending machine for a water then quickly settled in a corner. Removing the lower portion of her mask, she took a moment to reach under the upper portion and remove her own earbuds; these were put away into an inner pocket of her jacket, which she'd elected to wear because of the forecasted sprinkling. And because she liked the jacket and just wanted to wear it.

The earbuds were replaced with the SDN earpiece, and once it was in place she left the lower half of the mask off for a few moments, sipping on her water while the break room was briefly empty.

When the first person entered it took her by surprise (as she'd briefly gotten lost in her thoughts), and Alaine snapped the mask back on so quickly that it hurt the bridge of her nose. Her other hand, which held the water, nearly spilled the beverage in her haste to straighten up and look... hero-y.

Uncertain whether to speak up or or if she should just wait to be spoken to, Alaine was content to just linger unobtrusively on the edge of the room until a familiar face appeared in the form of Lightning Girl. Even then -- well, she'd never been the first one to speak up in a group, had she? Always better to watch and get a feel for the people around her first.

Besides. Despite how John had encouraged her, she wasn't there to make friends. That was a bad idea.

A small bob of the head was the only response Blackstar gave Lightning Girl for the moment, and she focused on keeping the bottoms of her boots securely on the ground instead of hovering. She'd noticed she did that when uncomfortable, hover. Usually just an inch or so off the ground, but she didn't want anyone to start realizing it was a nervous tic. In an effort to distract her body from the urge to levitate, she busied her hands with slowly screwing on the lid of her water bottle like it was an exact science.