The Alliance discussion

For Sarah Taleweaver and C.B. to roleplay in only. Please request RPs in the Info/Request discussion.

Jenna paused before the door of the common room, glanced up at her brother. "You're sure we have to do this? I bet we could just find the training room if we looked."

Simon shook his head. "No way it'd be somewhere everyone can just get to it. Remember back at the compound? You couldn't even get to the training level without a retina scan." He reached past her and put his hand on the knob. "Besides, we need to know who these people are. Talking to them's the best way to do that."

"Fair enough. Let's go, then." Jenna moved aside slightly, making room for her brother in front of the door. Simon pushed the door open with a nod, then both siblings stepped inside.

((Is that starter ok?))

((Definitely! Obviously, it'll be different in the main rp, and it's different in all the one-on-ones, too. :P))

The door opened and two kids came in. Lark glanced up from her book and then back down at the pages. Dustin waved. "Hi, guys! You must be Jenna and Simon." Tarelle managed a grunt and Cade gave a short hey.

Simon nodded, glancing around the room. "That's us. And you all are . . .?"

Dustin smiled. "I'll introduce you. I'm Dustin. I'm the only cheerful person around here." He pointed to the dark haired girl with her hair in a bun who was simply standing against the wall. "That's Tarelle. She doesn't talk much." He motioned to a dark-haired girl gazing at a book with a puzzled expression. "That's Shera. The blond girl next to her is Addy." Addy raised a hand in greeting with a small smile. "The other blond girl too engrossed in her book to pay attention is Lark." Lark pushed her hair back, revealing an earbud, and Dustin rolled his eyes. "Shoulda guessed. And that's Conrad." He motioned to a boy in a wheelchair, who gave them a friendly smile.

As Dustin introduced each person, Jenna glanced over them, assessing as much as she could with one look- which, after four years of suspicion, was a fair bit.

Dustin: Likely to ask well-meaning but prying questions. Didn't look particularly threatening, but powers made it hard to say.

Tarelle: Dangerous. Jenna couldn't say exactly how, but something about her said "Don't mess with me." Probably the biggest threat in the room.

Shera: Wearing a dress and high heels. What the [heck]? Definitely not a threat. And what was that- no, the illusion of wings behind her had to be just Jenna's imagination. Right?

Addy: The smallest person in the room, though size wasn't always the best indicator of ability. In fact . . . Jenna made a mental note to keep an eye on this girl, just in case.

Lark: Looked fairly average, not unlike Dustin. Probably not much of a threat, though again, her powers might change that.

Conrad: In a wheelchair. Unless he had some seriously impressive powers, a definite non-threat . . . except maybe to her sanity, if he ended up being the sort to ask too many questions.

Jenna realized she was tensing up, unconsciously preparing to run or fight- either one. She forced herself to relax and attempt a smile back at Dustin.

Simon, on the other hand, smiled genuinely, if coolly. "Nice to meet you all. So. Dustin. Do you mind if I ask how you ended up here?" He gave Jenna a little nudge to the side, his meaning clear enough to her: I'll talk to this guy. You go chat with someone else.

Dustin grinned. "I don't mind at all. Others might. I definitely had the best time of things." He lowered his voice. "You might want to walk on eggshells around Tarelle and Cade to start out with." He returned to his normal volume. "Tucker just talked to my parents and me about joining. I was never super secretive about my powers, and my parents knew."

Simon nodded, matching Dustin's lowered voice. "Got it." He could understand why- he didn't mind people asking how they'd ended up here, but asking where he and Jenna had been before Tucker had found them? Definitely off-limits. "Huh. Lucky you, I guess." He noticed Jenna still hovering just behind him and nudged her again. She made a face at him.

Lark pulled out one of her earbuds and glanced over at them. "Have a seat," she offered. "Plenty of room."

Simon nudged Jenna a third time. She gave him a "You didn't have to do that" look and walked over to sit by Lark. "Thanks."

Simon glanced at Dustin, seeing if he was going to sit down or not. "So what do you usually do around here, when you're not training?"

Dustin shrugged. "Mostly just hang out. We play some games and stuff." He motioned to the huge screen that took up the back wall. "Watch movies. Prank each other. Play truth or dare. Pretty much anything."

Lark smiled at the other girl, slipping a bookmark into her book and pushing it to the side, but leaving the one earbud in. Addy joined them. "So, it's Jenna, right?" Lark asked.

"Fun." Simon couldn't remember the last time he'd been able to just "hang out". He and Jenna had their games they played when they had the chance, sure, but they could never just relax.

Jenna nodded. "Yeah. And you're . . . Lark and Addy, right?"

Lark nodded. "Right. Tarelle, come be friendly!"

Tarelle looked over, gave her a look, and went back to people watching. Lark grinned. "She's cool, once you get to know her. So, you and Simon are siblings, right?"

"Right." Jenna glanced at Tarelle, then looked back at Lark, though she kept watching Tarelle out of the corner of her eye. "Do you have siblings here?"

Lark shook her head. "I'm a single child, as far as I know." She mentally kicked herself for the last part. "Nobody else has siblings here, although sometimes Dustin's family will visit."

Jenna's eyebrows rose- she couldn't help herself. "Wait. His family knows where this place is and is allowed to visit it? The guy in charge-" She couldn't remember his name right now- "is ok with it?"

Lark tilted her head. "Well, they don't really know where it is. I'm not sure how Tucker gets them here, but they meet up somewhere and he brings them here blindfolded. For safety precautions. But yeah, they're allowed to visit occasionally, and Tucker's okay with it."

Well, that made slightly more sense. Still- there had been some people in the compound who'd had families before they arrived, but those families never visited. Jenna could still remember some of the other kids crying over it. "Interesting."

Lark shrugged. "Nobody else but Conrad has family, and Tucker doesn't want to break Dustin and his family apart. So, what powers do you and Simon have?"

((Sorry to interrupt but Conrad had family.))

It's a fair question. One you'd ask yourself. Jenna again forced herself to relax. "I have force fields and telepathy. He has wind and electricity control." And one other power . . . but they didn't talk about that one. They saved that as a surprise for anyone who tried to mess with them.

((Oh yeah... would they visit?))

((I'd say that addy teleports Conrad back home once every week or two.))

((KK. We'll keep that in mind. :D))

"That's neat," Lark said. "Conrad has telepathy, too. You'll like him." She grinned and pulled a knee to her chest. "It might be interesting to see Simon and Cade face off. Cade can manipulate metal."

So. The boy in the wheelchair did have a power that made him a threat after all. Even so, he definitely wasn't the highest threat here. "Manipulate it how?" Jenna had heard of the power, but never met anyone with it.

Lark shrugged. "Well, bend it, cling to it, move it, control it... and you don't want to see what happens when he has a breakdown. Not cool."

Darn it. Now I'm curious. Jenna nodded slowly, keeping her curiosity off her face. "That would be interesting to see who'd win." Probably Simon. "So what do you do?"

((It would also be interesting to see them work as a team, but of course Jenna won't think of that right now. :P))

((XD Yep, it would. *Cade sticks wires into bad guy* *Simon electrocutes him*))

"Water manipulation," Lark said. "Not as useful as some powers, but I did nearly drown Tucker once. And sometimes when I freeze water little kids think I'm Elsa."

((Exactly. :D))

Jenna's lips twitched, and her eyebrows rose again. "You nearly drowned Tucker." That made Lark another one to watch, yes- but at the same time, it was somewhat amusing to consider.

Lark waved her hand in the air. "He snuck up on me. Of course, I heard the Tarelle nearly choked him. That's just a rumor though." She grinned. "Everyone has fun theorizing over her and Cade's pasts. Conrad can't read her mind, because she can block, and he knows better than to tell anyone about Cade's." She grimaced.

So Conrad was a mindreader and a telepath. The former might not be a problem- he evidently knew how to hold his tongue- but it also might if Jenna and Simon needed to escape this place. Jenna stowed that fact away for later reference. Jenna considered asking about the theories, but then again, Tarelle was still in the room- better to wait. "I see."

Lark leaned forward. "Just a tip, don't finish up the Cocoa Puffs when you eat breakfast. If you do, on accident, get Addy. She can refill them."

Jenna's eyebrows rose again- slowly this time. "Why?"

Lark frowned. "Why? Oh, Cade loves Cocoa Puffs. That's the only cereal he eats. And it's not a good idea to make him mad. He gets..." She glanced towards him. "Difficult."

"That's-" so descriptive. Jenna bit back the rest of the sarcastic comment. She'd try to be nice for now. "-interesting. I'll keep that in mind."

"You probably shouldn't make Tarelle mad, either," Addy pointed out.

Lark nodded. "Yeah, that's true. But at least she has a handle on her temper."

"We're in a house full of people with superpowers." This time Jenna didn't bother to keep the sarcasm back. "Is there anyone I shouldn't avoid making mad?"

Lark frowned at her. "Try as hard as you want, and you can't make Dustin mad. Unless you kill one of his siblings or something. But Tarelle and Cade are the big ones. Cade will make you miserable for the rest of your life, and Tarelle will just kill you. I think. Nobody dares to do anything to provoke her."

((Except when Cade smacks her during Truth or Dare. xD))

"Obviously, since you're all still alive. Or did someone die that I haven't heard about?" Jenna glanced around. "Where is this Cade you keep mentioning anyway? Besides not in this room, apparently."

((Going to disappear for a little bit to do schoolwork, jsyk.))

((XD))

Lark's face reddened. "He's over there." She nodded in Cade's direction.

((For the record, the second part of Jenna's statement wasn't meant as a sarcastic "You know you're talking like he's not even in the room" way- it was more of a "You keep talking about this person and I haven't seen him" way because I didn't think he was in the room.))

"Ah." Jenna glanced at him. Oh, yes. There was definitely another threat- he looked like he could handle himself in a fight.

((I wasn't sure about that. Dustin mentioned him in the beginning, but yeah. Sorry 'bout that.))

Lark nodded, reluctant to talk now. "Hope he didn't hear me," she groaned. "Well, so where were you and Simon before this?"

((No, he didn't. I checked. But it's fine.))

Jenna's mouth pressed into a thin line. "Places."

((Oh, whoops. :P Do you want me to ask one of your characters next in T/D?))

Lark glanced at her. "Secrets don't stick around here, y'know. Please tell me you're not going to be all close-mouthed like Cade and Tucker and Tarelle when it comes to 'before'."

((Sure. I've been meaning to have Simon say he's playing for a while.))


Jenna shrugged. "I could say that, but I'd be lying."

Lark wrinkled her nose. "Just to warn you, you're either going to be rooming with Shera or Tarelle, or maybe the other new girl, Ella. If you get Tarelle, at least, you won't have to talk." She stuck her hand in her pocket, turning up the volume on her iPod a little.

"She's feeling a little put out," Addy said, frowning at Lark. "She doesn't like it when people don't answer her questions."

Jenna shrugged. "And I don't like talking about where I was. Ask me about something else and I'll answer. Probably." She glanced at Tarelle again, then at Shera and Ella (if Ella's in the room?). "I could deal with Tarelle as a roommate."

((Ella's not there yet.))

The corner of Lark's mouth turned up. "Except for the fact that she gets up at four every morning, and that if she has a nightmare, you may end up in the same room as a wolf."

"A wolf." Jenna's eyebrows rose again. "That's . . . different." She could deal with the four A.M. wakeup- she and Simon sometimes had to get up earlier than that to avoid getting caught. But wolves . . . well, Jenna was pretty sure she could deal with one, but she'd rather not be woken up by one.

"I heard that she morphed and sliced Tucker's chest open when he asked her to join," Lark said in a low voice. "And that he nearly bled out." She shuddered.