10083/Unexpectedly Settling In

Unexpectedly Settling In
Date of Scene:	11 February 2022
Location:	Penthouse - Kord Co
Synopsis:	Ted and Stella survive a demonstration of his trampoline setup, Bailey insists on proper footwear.
Cast of Characters:	Ted Kord, Stella Roundtree

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Ted Kord has posed:
Stella had scored a coup on Ted, getting a U-haul for her stuff. She loaded it herself at her hotel and drove it to Kord Co. However, she made one mistake, mentioning her progress to Ted. When Ms. Roundtree parked in a loading dock, she found a squad of burly men to assist her, along with Bobo. The moving in was expedited to say the least. In fact she was ensconced in an apartment below the penthouse in under an hour.

"This is a good thing. We have our own spaces. She won't do that nesting thing women do. Good thing she didn't move up here. Best thing for a new relationship. We won't have our normal routines interrupted. Everything will proceed as usual!"

Ted really had no idea how he went from that to sitting on the couch, Stella stretched out, feet in his lap, with him doing her toenails. Being Ted, he was wearing goggles and using small UV light to harden the polish in seconds. Bobo sets a couple beers on the coffee table, unaware of the irony. Bailey watches the proceedings.

Stella Roundtree has posed:
     Stella was surprised at the speed, and the friendliness. Well, at least the speed. Her people are a very friendly sort, she just didn't expect it in the city. Her stuff moved into an apartment, a snack and some organizing and hey! She has quite a bit of nailpolish, and Ted's willing.
     She's not bare-faced today, her long golden brown hair in a chunky fishtail braid over her shoulder, brows filled in, pink eyeshadow. and deftly applied eyeliner. And of course, a bit of mascara to make those lashes really pop!
     "Is Bailey learning?" Stella asks. At that moment, her phone rings, "Ah, one sec... it's my little sister. Ignore me. Hey, Lu! " Happy squealing on the other end.
     "Oh, really?" Stella pauses, listens. "No, no, I'm really happy for you. Aiden's a good dude. No I'm not- Luna, I'm happy for you, seriously. I..." And then she's silent, but her mouth is moving, the phone is getting input, but those soundwaves are staying very contained. She furrows her brow a bit, closes her eyes, shoulders rising and falling in a sigh. She nods, mouthing, 'I understand.' and 'I love you,' then pulls the phone back and looks at it before turning it off and grabbing a beer. She smacks her palm on the nearby coffee table and the cap pops off the bottle in her other hand. "Welp. My sister's engaged, so I guess I'm gonna have to get a dress at some point for the wedding. Hoorayyyy." She does not sound enthused.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord had come to the conclusion tat Stella's feet might be too small for super heroics. They were hardly larger than his hand. Bailey grabbed the bottle of nail polish he set down.

Ted jumps a little at the beer bottle smack down.

"Older sister?" he ventures. He immediately regrets this action. He lets go of her foot. "Uhm you're done, I mean feet are done. I'm done. Are you okay?"

Stella Roundtree has posed:
     Stella, flexible as she is, leans back, pulling her feet up and flexing her toes, "You did a pretty good job! Thanks. And no, Lu's six years younger than me. I don't have to do much, though, her sorority sisters are apparently very happy to help her organize it," she says, rolling the beer bottle between her palms. "So I don't have to take off work or anything, I can be a good little employee," she says. "But it'll be nice. I'm looking forward to nieces and nephews, that'll be fun in a few years." She thankfully doesn't chug the beer, but she does take a sip and looks deep in thought. "Her hubby to be doesn't know about me, though. So I hope she told him."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord savors the taste of his own foot in his mouth. To his credit he does not engage verbally. Face it: him talking had a single point of failure. He does move a little closer to her, grabs a quilt and beckons her closer with a free hand. He decides not to tell her that she has small feet. Commenting on a female's volume and mass is just too fraught with peril. He nods as if in agreement with what she says.

Stella Roundtree has posed:
     "What, did that scare you a little?" Stella asks. "Don't worry, family stuff won't interfere with my work performance. I can keep it all separate," she says. She does eye the offering of a quilt, "You sure you want to do that? I thought we were slowin' things down. I could use a hug, though, that'd be nice," the brunette says with a nod, going back to admiring her toes. "And once I'm sure these are totally good to go, maybe some kinda workout?"

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord reaches out to grab Stella and administer a hug. "I was thinking you looked upset. And slowing down does not mean a dead stop. But this s a friendly hug. As for a workout... sure. Let me know when you had enough hug and I'll show you some moves on the trampoline or we can swim some laps. Toes are good to go." He gives Stella a squeeze.

"So what will Luna (I love the name thing) tell this guy? Her sister has a good heart? She's enterprising? She doesn't think crap of people she doesn't know on the basis of genes? She's fundamentally a sweet soul? She sees a hero where some people see a rich headcase? She sees the world in a way you can't imagine? I envy that for the record."

"If your sister has half a brain, this guy won't care about your extra gene or whatever it is -or she'd kick him to the curb."

Stella Roundtree has posed:
     The brunette allows the hug, leans into it. It is comforting. She settles into the hug, resting her head against him. "I'm not sure what she'll tell him. I met him before, but she warned me to behave. Honestly, I got into a few fights in high school and she thinks I'll... ahem. When she introduced me, I think it was, 'This is Stella, she's my sister and she drives around taking pictures of cheaters and she can install that sound system that's sitting in boxes in your garage," That at least gets a giggle from the short mutant. "I don't think he'd care. He's commented a few times in favor of mutants in front of us, because my mom's kinda loopy and everyone sort of knows what she can do. I genuinely do like him." % r      She gives Ted one more squeeze, then lets go. "Next time I have a tablet around, I can show you how I see things if you have one of those doodle programs. And a sparkle brush. Gel pens on a photo work, too," she says. "So, let me polish this off and you can show me some of your workout stuff, huh?" she asks. She does chug that bottle and smacks her lips, leaving the empty on on the floor, habitually tucked out of sight.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord gets three sips into the bottle before he notes the casualty. He sets his down. It's actually bad to drink before a workout. He kicks his shoes off and runs toward the trampoline. On the way he does a handstand that becomes a flip onto the trampoline. Once on the trampoline he goes through a series of flips before coming to a stop and then hopping onto the trapeze. He sits there. "All yours. I want to see what your powers make of this. I do the trampoline for an hour every day. Weight training when Booster is here to spot me. Swimming when I get a chance. then there's the course... but I need to work with you a little before then."

Stella Roundtree has posed:
     "If you can't find it at a Planet Fitness, it's beyond me," Stella says as she watches him bounce and flip. She does seem rather impressed with this, walking over to watch. "I like to warn people before I do anything with them, so... if you want to go really high, I can definitely make that happen from here," she says, resting her hands on the edge of the trampoline, getting a feel for it. "Or if you wanna end up completely stopped by the time you come back down."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord hops off the trapeze onto the trampoline. He bounces off to land behind Stella, did you want to work out or watch me work out? I never test things on myself first. Hit the trampoline!" He doesn't wait but instead scoops Stella up and tossing her onto the trampoline, ensuring she will land on her behind. He watches avidly.

Stella Roundtree has posed:
She bounces up to standing in one bounce, braid definitely moving along with her. But then she stops, bounces a few times with nothing happening, and then shoots MUCH higher up than she should- landing at a standstill on the surface, "Ooh. Now that is fun," she says, starting to jump normally. She does play with height and force, and it's a very strange thing to watch, as people get used to seeing things that physically make sense. Her erratic changes in height and force might be jarring.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord watches for a moment in awe. Ten when she bounces high again he jumps on the trampoline and grabs the trapeze. He threads his legs through the trapeze and hands inverted till Stella bounces up slowly and grabs her around the waist and legs, grinning like an idiot. "Very impressive. You were totally checking me out."

Ted swings back and forth, wondering what to do next when Bailey flies up waving her manipulators... which now have little dots of nail polish on the ends.

"Very nice. That's a good bot. Go show the secretarial pool."

Stella Roundtree has posed:
"Haven't seen too many guys do actual flips in front of me!" Stella says. She looks over to Bailey, "Aw, that's so adorable! You did a good job!" she says, watching the happy bot. To Ted, she says, "Well then. Let's go higher. Don't worry, we'll always land soft," she reassures. "You ready?" she says, the most confident of moving people.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord says, "Thanks. She is cute." Ted is very glad he's cheering her up and giving her a chance to show off. He's not so sure about what she wants him to do so he releases the trapeze and attempts to bounce on the trampoline still holding Stella.

She's that cuddly.

Also he knew he caught her checking him out. Usually Booster gets all the appreciative stares from thirsty females. Not that Stella is thirsty.

She did linger in that bug hug.

Stella Roundtree has posed:
When they hit the trampoline, they barely touch it. Contact is made, and then the pair shoot off fast and high. The force around them flips them once, twice, thrice before they jet back down and land on their feet- again, feather light. "Howabout THAT!" Stella says, laughing and bumping her head against his chest. "Not too shabby, huh?" She bounces a few inches in excitement.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord laughs. He touches his forehead to hers, holding her a little higher to do so. "You're amazing. I want you to hide while I challenge Nightwing or that Daredevil guy to an acrobatics contest. I have a million questions about this... I want to do that thing with the photos and the glitter. You could do a photo of one of the bots. This is..." He suddenly gets off the trampoline wit her, marveling how it seems firm footing right now.He plops her on the couch and puts the rest of his Beetle gear on. This includes those two mysterious discs he slaps onto his feet.

"I want to show you my magic now. I want to see what you make of them." He floats into the air and holds his hands out again. "Come fly. I have a clip to attach to you, you'll be safe."

Stella Roundtree has posed:
     "Well you'd have to be pretty close to me! I tested it once, it only goes about fifty feet, then I can't control it. Unless I'm hiding in a trash can or something," she says, pondering this. "I'll have to go to a craft store later today, I'll show you how it looks. It took me a few tries to get right. My dad keeps one of them on his work fridge," she says. Apparently one of her parents took her mutant abilities better than the other.
     "I'm not worried about falling," she says from her place on the couch, watching him suit up. She does eye the discs, "Huh, that's... very different than normal electricity, though..." she says. She takes the offered hands, ready to try something new.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord chuckles as he pulls her up to put her feet atop his own. A strap is cinched to Stella's belt and they stand face to face and kind of close. The Blue Beetle clicks a control in his glove and the skylight opens. He lifts slowly.

"So you're not scared of heights? Falls don't hurt you?"

There is a difference between being in no harm and being afraid. When he was a kid he was frightened of crabs. Completely irrational they said. But the bastards could grab onto you with those pincers! they scared him. So she might not like heights.

As for the aero-discs, they seem more a living nervous system than a construction. Feelers of electrical impulse run along and through Ted's legs and they ripple and reach tentatively at Stella, almost as if they are reacting to her.

Stella Roundtree has posed:
     "I mean, I have to be aware of it, but falls punches... horse kicks," she says. "I can stop it or even freeze the person doin' em, or push it right back at them, even harder," she says. "But anything over two stories is a little intimidating..." she says. But the electrical field is more intimidating yet. "So those discs of yours don't look like regular electric," she says. "They look... alive," she says. "Like they want to connect. They're all over you," she says, gesturing towards his legs.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord looks thoughtful. "Two story drop, hmmm kinetic energy should be... let's not dwell on that. I won't go off the roof." He doesn't. He does hold her tight, despite her being secured. It almost looks like two people dancing in mid-air. then they are joined by a tiny bot, flying up and waving a pair of slippers in their faces.

Stella Roundtree has posed:
     "Hah! Oh, Bailey, thank you," Stella says. "But I'm not sure how helpful those will be right now," she says. "Gosh, they're so cute. I can see why you have them around," she says. She holds onto him, looking down, "No panic yet but I'm not sure how to test heights higher than what I'm used to, which is bar-height. Or small apartment or barn height."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord knows there are ways. Bungee cords, bots with nets, cameras to measure falling speed and engage the nets and safety gear if the speed crosses a threshold. Or merely testing the amount of kinetic energy she can stop or reverse and working backward with her body mass...

"Your hair smells very nice."

He holds her a little ways away and says, "I really want to give you a kiss right now. But I'm not because I sort of have you attached to me and in a clinch. Then again, you could stop me cold and ground me in all likelihood. So. I am going to try, and you stop me if you don't like it. Okay?" He leans down wondering what being frozen will feel like.

Down below Bailey gets those slippers on said feet, regardless of any toe curling.

Stella Roundtree has posed:
     It is a strange feeling. Like one just can't move forward. The more he may try, the more neutrality there is. The complete absence of forward movement. "Ah!" Stella says. "Nope, not yet. You gotta take me on a real date if you want that. I'm not a hussy. Well. We said we'd go slow, and if I rush right now, just seems like I'm trying to show up Luna," Stella says. She pushes her index and middle finger to his lips, smiling up at him. "Slow is slow. Sound fair?" And he's released.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord chuckles when he can move. "I thought it'd feel harder." He does give that finger a little kiss though. "As long as you aren't angry... and this is a case of not yet, not never happening, right? You're worth the wait. A date is fair. Let me just drop us down. Uhm you like jazz at all? Or the Dropkick Murphys?" They drop slowly down through the skylight. He looks down and notes, "You have really small feet."

Stella Roundtree has posed:
     "Well I didn't wanna smack you," Stella says. "I'm not mad. But I am serious. If you actually want to do things with me, it has to be normal. I don't care if you hang out with superheroes, things will proceed at a normal pace if you want to date me." She does keep using that word. Perhaps she really does crave some of it. "Otherwise, it just turns into friends with benefits, which is the worst. As for music... love just about any music, especially live," she says, perking up, "I do not see you getting in the pit with me at one of my usual shows... but that's not for everyone" she says with a smirk as they descend. She looks at her be-slippered feet, "Really? I guess I hadn't ever measured," she says, extending one foot up a bit to take a look.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord nods his head. "Okay. A date it is. Live music. I can do this. Prepare to be courted. But know I really like you. I... just acted on an impulse but a date sounds great." He detaches her belt. "Uhm... listen I have a friend who is openly a Mutant, a pretty powerful one in her way. She's also the most together person I know. I mean I tried dating her, in honesty, it seems we're just friends. The bots love her. She named Bailey in fact. I'd like to introduce her if it's okay with you?" He pulls the hood off his uniform, or rather it retracts. He removes his goggles. Bots grab the backpack he wears.

Stella Roundtree has posed:
     The discs are intimidating. There's just something about power that reaches out towards a person that's disconcerting. And thus, Stella departs from her demonstration. "Well, whenever Joan is around, I'd love to meet her. I've met more mutants in the past week than I've met in my life up to that point," the brunette says, back on solid ground. She flips her braid back over her shoulder. She's still got her slippers on from Bailey's insistence. One can't help but enjoy the friendly service!