Log:Campus Conversations

2014/12/17 Grimm Malcolm Porter Bullet Rose Starfish 1

The Student Quarter

Porter is not much of a student, but he is a fan of the area. Not for anything school-related, but the plethora of convenient eating establishments. And so he walks down the street. browsing tonight's dinner possibilities.

Rose grins as she is once again returns to her own two feet and endures the thud of the earmuff while grinning. "That's easy for you to say, you have muscle-mass to provide insulation. All I have is irony." Her eyes lift. "Nice." and then she beams. "Oh! That would be super-awesome!" IHer dimples deepen into tiny cheerful canyons. "I can totally afford rent and everything, Mister Hahn gives me a pretty good commission on sales."

"Not that much of muscle mass!" offers Bullet. The term -mass- isn't exactly something she wants applied to her build and/or body. She shakes her head and smirks a bit. "More likely it's the fact that my family's Norwegian." she adds as she sticks out her tongue. But then she can't keep a straight face any longer, and she just beams as she leans in to hug Rose tightly once more. "Awesome!"

Grimm is heading off campus after her late night Criminal Justice in Metahuman Society class, and is famished. Her roommate Adam is keeping pace alongside her as she throws her tablet into her messenger bag. "Oh my gaaawd, I thought that class would -never- end. Give me all the cheeseburgers, right meow," she jokes with Adam. Holy cow. A cheerful Grimm? What...what dimension is this again?

Adam rolls his eyes. "Oh god. You can has cheezeburger? Who are you, and what've you done with Gabrielle?"

Grimm suddenly blinks at Adam, then scrutinizes him for a moment. "Waitasec. Who won World War 2?" she asks one of her litmus tests to check if she's in the right dimension.

As an excellent example of a lack of muscle mass, Porter nears the pair of women. "Hi." He gives Rose and Eden a wave, then turns to look to his right where Grimm and Adam appear.

As it happens, "muscle mass" are today's magical summoning words!

Malcolm quite literally - and quite abruptly - falls out of the sky and lands in a heap of a three-point stance more or less beside Porter. Standing up and dusting himself off with both hands, Malcolm looks left, looks right, looks up, looks down, and then looks Rose - of all people - dead in the eye.

"Pigeons are the bane of my existence," Malcolm explains as he finishes dusting off his leather jacket.

"Allies," Adam responds, used to the line of questions.

Grimm nods with one question down. She reaches into her messenger bag and pulls out a fluffy dark gray kitten that mewls plaintively at Adam. "How do you feel...about kittens?" she says with a pregnant pause.

"I could leave 'em," Adam replies. Grimm purses her lips and stuffs the kitten back in her messenger back, seeming satisfied with that answer, but still suspect.

It's literally just a kneejerk reflexive reaction that Eden half-steps between Malcolm and Rose as the former lands. She does this before she has a clue who it is that just landed. Her eyes flicker to Porter and they narrow a bit. (Oh, that's the guy who gave Rose the Plague) O O o o. . she thinks, shaking her head. "Oh... pigeons?" She asks Malcolm, a little confused.

Rose is still grinning like an idiot and bounces to hug Eden for a moment. "We should celebrate! Where would you like to eat?" Looking to the newcomer she nods, still smiling brightly. "Hi Porter." She then answers Grimm's question. "Bhutan, they didn't fight, it's the only way to win in warfare." She then looks to Malcolm and nods. "They're a menace to society." she agrees firmly.

And then.. kitten! "You've been to the Gym recently, haven't you?!" asks Bullet as the kitten distracts her from everything else. She just grins and steps over as Grimm starts putting it away. "Hey wait, can I Say hi?" she asks.

Porter stops. Rose is smiling brightly. And greeted him. Without sarcasm. Grimm is carrying around a kitten. And seems satisfied. And there are no claws coming his way. Maybe he should be the one asking someone questions on who did what to determine what universe he's in...

Malcolm

About 6'6" tall and looking to be about 175 pounds, this is one rakishly good looking black guy. His hair is cropped short, fading still shorter as it nears his ears, while his eyebrows are strikingly thick without being embarassing or distracting, and he even has a short, neatly trimmed Van Dyke encircling his mouth. Of course, his most striking features are his steely gray eyes.

Below the very handsome face, he's made of a whole lot of muscle. Much of the time he wears a gray or black shirt that showcases his impressively muscular build. Still further down, he wears comfortable blue jeans of a generic, workman's style. As for his feet, they're typically clad in leather work boots.

Functional, inexplicably stylish, and quite comfortable to be sure, but it also doesn't give much hint to who he is or what he does.

"Uhhh, oh, no, it's not--" Adam starts, but Grimm grins like a cheshire cat and cuts him off.

"Shut up, Adam," Grimm says as she fishes back into her messenger back and produces a kitten again. "The gym? Er, no, not really. I'm not much of a fitness buff," she comments, then non-chalantly tosses the kitten to Eden with an underhanded throw. The kitten's legs splay out as it sails through the air with a high pitched meow. She loves playing this trick on people. She doesn't even pay attention to her aim as she looks over at Malcolm. Kitten claws could be coming anyone's way. "Well hello there, tall, muscled, and handsome," Grimm purrs instead of the kitten.

Rose's brow furrows as she looks to the flying kitten, tracking it during it's flight while not making the slightest move to catch it... evidently that's someone else's department.

Blinking as the kitten is tossed, Eden's eyes go wide. She stutters as she fails to say anything while her hands reach out to try to catch the kitten without harm to said kitten. She knows her skin is pretty much kitten-claw proof, but her outfit isn't. She's also good at acting like things hurt. But she -is- agile.... and her hands reach for the center of the kitten's body, -not- where the paws (and claws) may be located. "Oh god, you just threw a kitten!" she says as she finds her voice. She looks all kinds of disappointedly towrds Grimm.

And now there's flying felines? Porter makes a hurried, hasty step towards. Not that he had any chanc of catching it. Unless it's claws were out. He does, however, succeed in dumping the remainder of his coffee all over himself.

"OHSHI-"

Malcolm doesn't think about it at all. He just sees a kitten go flying and he heaves himself more or less at Eden on a course to try to intercept the kitten. Eden may end up catching Malcolm as well as the cat, this is a thing that is entirely possible.

In mid-air, Malcolm turns his head toward Grimm and cheerily comments, "How's it going?"

The kitten is very light weight and tiny, but feels warm and fluffy in Eden's grasp. Grimm's smitten kitten smile grows at Malcolm's dashing attempt at rescue while saying hello in mid-air. "Now that's a hero," she murmurs to herself. She hadn't noticed Porter until his coffee fumble, but her attention is completely elsewhere.

And... Eden has -no- idea there's an incoming Malcolm. Eden catches the kitten.. she's saying something about it being tossed just as she is Malcolmed... yeah, that's a new word. Malcolmed. She's bowled under the Starguard agent, somehow holding onto the kitten without smashing it. Her arms extend out from her body as she fights to keep the kitten from the ground. She's watched enough folks playing football to do this right. "Ow!" she announces as she slams... painlessly into the ground. But.. the kitten is safe!

A hurricane of happenstance unfolds in bewhildering succession, dives, jumps, smiles, collisions, thrills, spills, kittens, coffee, come hither looks. She stands gawping, mouth dropping open until Eden hits the deck and her brows lift. "Eden!" She rushes forward. "Are you ok?" She sets down her satchel to help with either standing up or rescuing the kitty, whichever Eden decides takes precedence.

Another observer for the kitten toss is one known to a few, though not in her present, disguised appearance. Wearing all black with a deep red cloak that flows impossibly behind her which seems to break away into rose petals and yet never gets shorter, the small feminine hooded figure steps in next to Porter, after the coffee emerges victorious in the match of who would be covered by whom. Despite having face exposed, the figure is not recognized as Starfish. Just some teenaged girl.

Malcolm collides with Eden in air, eyes widening in a mixture of horror and confusion as he finds himself kittenless and backwards tackling someone. About a half-second after Eden hits the ground under him, Malcolm /BOUNCES/ off of Eden and goes sailing off another foot or so before he hits the ground and slides across the pavement. Grinding to a halt, Malcolm doesn't so much roll as he manages to get his hips and legs thrust up into the air and he inelegantly shoulder-tumbles heels-over-skull to wind up on his face, staring back at Rose, Eden, the kitten, and Grimm.

"... So. Kitten throwing is a new thing for the holiday season?"

Yeah, way to deflect failure. Good job, Malcolm.

Staring at Malcolm down there.. Eden hears Grimm approaching. She starts holding out the kitten to be taken.. but hesitates. This girl just threw away a perfectly good kitten! There's obvious hesitation as she looks up towards Grimm. She has a bit of a tear in her sweatpants on one knee, but most likely she'll just have some bruises. Let's hope they don't show in her uniform! She sits up a bit slowly and holds a hand up to Grimm, kitten held in the other hand. "What's your name?" She asks towards the kitten before looking back at Malcolm. "Generally, you tackle the football players, not the cheerleaders." she mutters.

Grimm covers her mouth at the pile up caused by her kitten hijinx. She winces, steps forward, and retrieves the kitten from Eden and stuffs it back into her bag carefully. "Wow, um. Sorry...? Are you all okay?" she asks as she hands her bag off to Adam so she can assist in cleanup, aisle 3. Adam performs the duties of bag carrier and slings it over his bag, sighing.

Rose attempts as best she can to assist the cat-wielding Eden back to her feet while Porter is discovering exactly why coffee-soaked clothes on a cold December evening are not likely to take off as a fashion trend. Her attention flickers momentarily to Adam and the red-cloaked figure entering the periphery of the gathering but for the moment she's fixed her attention on helping Eden protect herself from the kitten-lobbing Grimm.

"No animals were in any danger," the figure in the red cloak states, her attention obviously upon Grimm. from beneath the cloak, the same kitten is produced, then vanishes beneath the cloak again.

As the kitten is extricated from her grip, Eden looks crestfallen. She's taking Rose's hand and getting to her feet... She limps a bit as if she has a sore leg though. "Huh?" she asks towards the cloaked figure.. she blinks once, twice.. then looks to Grimm, and back at Star. "Huh?" she reiterates.

Malcolm takes a few moments to climb back to his feet. His gaze seems mostly fixed on the kitten for at least a few seconds, though it quickly starts to shade toward the mysterious red figure and the kitten it extracts from under its cloak. Shifting his gaze back and forth, Malcolm sidles up alongside Grimm and claps her on the shoulder.

"/THAT/ is a hell of a magic trick. You two should take it on the road," pronounces the tall man, smiling merrily. He may or may not still believe it to be a real kittengrenade.

Grimm shrugs helplessly. "That wasn't my kitten. But are you okay?" she asks Eden guiltily. Someone's getting free food tonight. She looks up at Malcolm and smiles at the handsome fellow, then blinks and suddenly corrects him politely. "And I don't know her," she jerks a thumb at Starfish.

Rose blinks, lips compressing as Grimm's deception is revealed for all the world to see. Of course when you can feel the minds around you that sort of illusion is less compelling but her brow is furrowed nonetheless and she blinks slowly before making sure that Eden is ok. "Normally magic tricks don't involve the audience hurling themselves into traffic to provide the drama."

"Uhh... trick?" asks Eden. Yeah, she's kinda smart, but she's not the one who should figure all of this out. "Huh?" she repeats. But, she limps forward towards Star, holding a hand towards the kitten. "Okay, I don't care who has it, I just want to know its name." she adds. Totally bamboozled.

"No one knows me," the red cloak says, the figure beneath it providing a convenient ventriloquism source. "And the cat doesn't have a name. Yet."

"The kitten wasn't real." Rose explains to Eden. "It's an illusion. Miss Grimm is using tenebration, the new arrival is also able to make illusions or is an illusion... or she can make cats out of thin air... there are a few options."

"No name? Then I shall name it... wait, is it a boy or a girl ki... huh?" Eden says, turning to look at Rose, "What? Illusion? But it's right there!" she adds, pointing at Star... kinda, confused and convinced all at once.

"Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Rose?" comes Malcolm's voice. He too is utterly bamboozled by the illusions. Malcolm looks over at Starfish, then back at Grimm, regarding her for several moments. "They both clearly had the same, very real kitten," adds Malcolm, gesturing for emphasis, "But changing who's holding it, that was a heck of a magic trick."

Malcolm looks back over at Grimm and offers a broad, warm smile before holding out a hand. "I'm Malcolm, by the way. Nice to meet you."

"The trick is getting people to agree on what they see," the red hood figure says. "The truth is always simpler than everyone makes it seem to be."

"So, it's a boy or a girl kitty?" asks Eden. "Because that's -totally- going to make the difference between naming it Shadowfax, or Spike." She shrugs as she stuffs her hands into the pockets of her windbreaker. "Seriously though, if it has no name yet, it really needs a cool one."

Grimm, Mistress of Tenebration, takes Malcolm's hand and shakes it with a returned warm smile. "Nice to meet you, Malcolm. I'm Gabrielle," she introduces herself. She's perhaps a little too smitten to pay attention to questions about her kitten right off the bat. Eventually she looks to Eden and says, "His name is Tenby."

Adam looks at all the bizarre circumstances. "Hey, Gabrielle, I'm gonna head home for some gaming. Catch you later. Bring some KFC." Gabrielle just nods and waves off Adam as she turns her attention back to Malcolm.

"Wait, you said it didn't have a name." says Eden. She's so confused now. She looks to Grimm though and nods, "A boy cat though. Weird name. You shoulda gone with Spike. It'd be much more manly." she adds, looking past her towards Adam as he departs. "Friend of yours?" she asks.

Rose glances from Grimm to Red Riding Hood and back. "I'm Rose." She says to the latter. "This my friend Eden, that's Gabrielle, and that's Mister Gibbs and the the guy covered in coffee who fled was Porter."

"I said it didn't have a name," the red cloaked figure clarifies. "And it didn't. Until now." She looks at Grimm, then at Rose. "You can call me cows," she says, with a hissing s rather than a z sound.

"Nice to meet you, Gabrielle," replies Malcolm. He flinches when Rose calls him "Mister Gibbs", but restrains the urge to shoot her a Look. Instead, Malcolm lifts Gabby's hand a little bit and plants a kiss on her knuckles before releasing her hand from his grip.

"So, uh. What was with throwing Tenby around before?"

Rose's lips purse. "Nice to meet you cows." She is able to replicate the sound of the name fairly easily, having studied a few different languages. She then repeats "Tenby." keeping her tone neutral, apparently Eden has said all that needs to be said about that name.

"Well, guys, as much as I'd love to gush all over Tenner or whatshisname... I need to get back and like... change into something -without- holes in the knees." Eden says, shaking her head. "Rose... you have my number, call or text when you're available and we'll go over all the arrangements... Roomie." she offers with a grin. She looks towards Starfish and raises a brow. "Okay, I'm not going to call a girl a cow. Sorry. Not happenin'... well maybe Stacy on the squad, but that's as far as I go."

A smile draws over the hooded girl's lips. "You don't get it," she assures. "Cowss, not cow. The difference is more than you currently realize."

Grimm blushes a bit at the kiss on her hand, obviously flattered. "Wow, you're quite the gentleman," she says with a soft giggle. Her head half turns towards Eden at her question, but her eyes don't leave Malcolm. "I didn't say he didn't have a name. That stranger did. And that other guy was my roommate."

Rose smiles and nods. "Take care Eden, I'll talk to you soon." She watches her friend depart and she turns back to regard unfolding events with the rest of the gathering. "It's an unusual name." She comments simply to Starfish - perhaps she hadn't noticed?

Right, he asked another question. Grimm responds to Malcolm, "Well, she wanted to see Tenby. I didn't realize she wasn't ready to catch him."

"Catch you later, Eden," calls Malcolm. He idly folds his arms behind his back, tucking his fingers into the rear pockets of his stylish jeans. The tall man takes the moment to study Grimm a little bit, gaze shading toward 'cowss' a little bit at the revelation of her name. For the moment, Malcolm manages not to ask what kind of name that is. Blessedly, Grimm focuses his attention by answering his question. "Looked like a wild pitch to me, y'know?"

Grimm raises an eyebrow as she looks towards Cows and seems to share Eden's opinion. "Yeah, there's no way I'm calling you that either. I suggest you sue your parents and get your name legally changed to something less...yeaaaaah." Less offensive to women everywhere? She manages not to say that at least. She looks a bit chagrinned. Her attention returns to Malcolm, and she blushes a bit more. "I, well...got distracted while I was throwing," she confesses sheepishly.

"It'll be less unusual once you get it," Cowss responds cryptically. "If you get it. Not everyone will." She turns her attention to Grimm. "It's a moniker. A pseudonym. Also a puzzle. Have fun with it."

Rose nods slowly. "The meaning is not immediately obvious which is most likely the whole point." She observes of the chosen cognomen. "But whatever people want to be called is up to them, I don't feel in a psoition to dictate my preferences to them."

"Is it one of those impaired puzzles like that bar named Puzzles?" inquires Malcolm. He squints over at Starfish for a few moments, considering the possibilities before shrugging. Malcolm looks back to Grimm and smiles cheerily, "Distracted by what?"

There's a hospital and that means doctors. That the hospital is adjacent to the university and has a school attached well.. that explains why folk like Alan frequent both and do both.. like teach and do the doctoring.. thing. Right now, though, he's doing the I have a break in the middle of my day and don't want to eat in the cafeteria thing. This means he's jogging across the street avoiding traffic and coming across a few.. interesting people. He starts walking towards them with hands in his pockets and a completely innocent demeanor on his face. Which is to say, he's smiling infectiously with the suave and swagger that is a good looking Euro male who dresses nicely and could pass for a cologne model.

"I've never heard of impaired puzzles before," admits Cowss. "Probably not though. I like games with fairness, and it sounds like what you speak of has little." It's easy to tell she is enjoying her little game.

Rose glances at the figure swerving through the traffic and brightens. "Doctor DeLucca!" She calls out. "I never got to say thank you for the work you did with Miss Temple on a cure for my haemorragic fever." Her head inclines. "Seems a bit lame given that you saved my life but thank you very much for your efforts.

Alan is mildly taken aback by the sudden greeting. "Ahh. I wish I could say that were my effort alone but no. We all put in quite a few hours trying to find the cure. The breakthrough was not mine to be had even if I aided in the synthesizing of the cure." He bows his head. "But thank you for your kind words. I will pass them on to the rest of the team." He smiles again and looks to the group. "Well wishers? I would have thought you'd have been avoiding being in eyesight of the hospital considering how much time you spent within."

Rose gestures to each of the gathering in term. "Gabriell Grimm, mistress of tenebration, Malcolm Gibbs, meta-human at large and veteran member of STarGuard... and Cowss" (that last is pronounced with an unvoiced 's' cow-sss rather than cowz). "This is Doctor DeLucca, he's a neurosurgeon at memorial hospital."

Grimm is still blushing as she answers Malcolm, "By your impressive...entrance." And totally not the good looks. Or muscles. Which her eyes drift down to for a quick second before returning to his eyes as she catches herself staring. Maybe she was so dazzled by the landing he nailed that she didn't hear about the pigeon talk?

"Well the joke is that everyone wonders why the bar is called Puzzles, which /IS/ the puzzle," offers Malcolm, by way of explanation. He shrugs at Cowss before looking over at the arriving - and well-met - Doctor DeLucca. Smiling cheerily, Malcolm lifts a hand from behind his back to wave at Alan.

"Hey, Doc. Nice to meet you, thanks for helping save one of my favorite civs. It's much appreciated," intones Malcolm. He glances back at Grimm and cocks his head to one side. "Uh. Really? I didn't think it was that impressive," he comments faintly, having thought falling out of the sky was anything but impressive.

Grimm is still blushing as she answers Malcolm, "By your impressive...entrance." And totally not the good looks. Or muscles. Which her eyes drift down to for a quick second before returning to his eyes as she catches herself staring. Maybe she was so dazzled by the landing he nailed that she didn't hear about the pigeon talk? 

"Well, the landing looked nice." Grimm half glances Rose's way and raises an eyebrow at her introductions. Her gaze turns back to Malcolm with a look of intrigue as she chews a little on her bottom lip. "Metahuman and a veteran member of Starguard, hm? Does the job come with a...uniform?" Something about her tone says she loves a man in uniform.

Alan gives a nod to all introduced. "Alan DeLucca. I work.." He gives a casual gesture across the street. It's redundant really. The nametag clipped to his jacket lapel gives it away. There's like three of them. Badge. Radiation alert. Prox card. For the perceptive. He mouths 'cowss' then extends a hand. "Pleased to meet you. I have an interest in names. Where's yours from?"

"Pretty lame puzzle," Cowss comments judgementally. Her hooded head turns to Alan, whom she examines, but has nothing to say to in the way of gratitude. Beyond what Rose says, she knows nothing about him. The hand though, and the question, get her attention. "It's a pseudonym. And a puzzle. I'll be interested to see who can figure it out."

Hand is taken! Shaken and taken.

"Well, yeah. It's the military. There's a bu-"

Malcolm cuts himself off as his brain suddenly catches up to Grimm's inflection. He pauses for a few seconds before he clears his throat and says, "There's a bunch of uniforms involved. I'm off-duty at the moment, otherwise I'd probably be wearing one."

Rose shrugs, looking from Cowss to Alan. "WOuld it help if we knew what powers you had and a little bit about how they work?" She asks the crimson-robed figure.

Grimm's grin grows a little more at Mal's answer. "Ooo, off duty. I see. So what do you do in Starguard?" she asks as she shifts her weight onto her right foot, folding her arms over her chest. It's quite cold this winter night, but she's not dressed for standing around outdoors.

"I don't think it would," Cowss says, smiling. "With me, perception and truth are often pretty different."

Rose announces abruptly. "Chaos. It's a homonym of chaos with the initial diphthong softened."

Rose tsks. "The initial component of the diphthong..." she gestures. "You sort of round out the 'a' sound and turn it into a long 'ow'"

Alan merely arches a brow at the talk of superpowers though he does keep his attention focused upon Cowss for the most part. "Truth rarely is represented by what we see. Our eyes are merely tools of the fragmented realities our minds fixate upon and those.. those are a roiling stew of that which is fact, that which is supposition, and that which our subconscious demands we pay attention to but often ignore." He chuckles.

Malcolm starts to answer Grimm, but is cut off by Rose's abrupt announcement. He squints suspiciously as he looks over at the mighty mini-mentalist. The tall man shrugs out of his leather jacket, still squinting suspiciously at Rose as he carefully wraps the jacket over Grimm's shoulders. In the process, he leans in close and inquires, "You have any idea why she's talking about dipping thongs in fabric softener?"

Clearly Malcolm does not work as a detective for Starguard. That is not a thing that he does.

Chaos shows a grin. "Well, now you've gone and spoiled it. Or enlightened those around you. Either way, I suppose that game is done. Until I meet more who know not." She shrugs nonchalantly, unbothered. "Language structure," she informs Malcolm. "She is a student of how we communicate."

Rose turns to regard Alan for a moment. "Very profound." . o O (This was the team leader of the scientists researching my cure? Thank God Allison was there.) Looking over to Grimm and Malcolm. "If you spent more time reading and less time wrestling freight trains you'd know what a diphthong is." She shrugs. "though it's unlikely that that knowledge would ever save tens of thousands of lives so perhaps my argument is less than water-tight."

Grimm blushes at the chivalrous gesture from Malcolm. "Who says chivalry is dead?" she smiles as the jacket is draped over her shoulders. As he inquires, she leans close and whispers in his ear as her grin turns mischievious, "Well, they're not as comfortable when you forget the fabric softener." Although she knows that's not what they're really talking about.

Alan gives a shrug at Malcolm. "Clearly, starch chaffes women, too." He says it so deadpan. Then he looks to the women and smiles pragmatically. To Rose, he offers. "My dear, I will choose to take your word at face value though I do not see the point to be particularly profound. I suppose I'll try to avoid witty repartee. Please disregard my quip about starch." There's a mild shake of his head and a pleasant enough smile before he takes a moment to ponder the food options around him.

Malcolm looks no more or less comfortable without the jacket on than he did while wearing it. He does, however, look more muscular without it because he's apparently only wearing a "loose" blue t-shirt over a tight-fitting black long-sleeved shirt. Rubbing the back of his head, Malcolm peers at Rose and Starfish before offering a bright laugh at Grimm's response.

"I'm just going to admit defeat here. Word games are clearly not my thing."

Rose shrugs. "Well, I'm going to head back to my dorm and start on my packing. Lovely to meet you Chaos, thank you again Dr DeLucca, and catch you later Gabrielle and Malcolm." With a final smile and a heft of her satchel the tiny undergraduate starts in the direction of the student accommodation."

"See you around, Rose! Good luck with the move," calls Malcolm.

Chaos bows graciously. "But then again..." Her form seems to dissolve in place, becoming a pile of rose petals that blows away in the wind.

Grimm waves to Rose as she leaves, "Let me know if you need some help moving stuff. I can have my friends help," she offers helpfully. Then she glances curiously towards the vanishing Chaos. "This town is so...interesting." And speaking of, she looks back to Malcolm. And...more muscles. Wait, eyes. His eyes are up there. "I didn't quite get her game either. So then...do you work...more in the field?" she asks, her eyes drifting to his biceps.

Malcolm may or may not feel like a piece of meat at present. It's hard to say exactly how he feels, having been left alone with Alan and Grimm - and with Grimm's eyes roaming him. He offers a cheery little smile and replies, "Yeah. I'm a field agent, of sorts, though I'm pretty handy with tools so I get a fair amount of assignments down in motorpool."

Glancing over at Alan, Malcolm cocks his head to one side and smiles a little bit. "You on lunch, Doc? Space Burger's supposed to be pretty good, if you haven't already tried it." He promptly looks back to Grimm and smiles, "You want to get out of the cold, Gabrielle? Maybe grab some dinner?"

"I was considering it." Alan offers distractedly. "Mostly, I think I skipped it as I envisioned the slathered morass of secret sauce likely to be oozing from every bite and wondering.. just what planetoid deemed it edible." He sighs faintly. "I think I'll just walk on to the Tropical Smoothie again." Doctors. Health nuts even when they try not to be. "You both have a splendid day, hmm?"

Grimm manages to keep eye contact finally. Her attention turns to Alan, vaguely remembering him from his talks with her professor. "Oh. Take care, Dr. Delucca," she offers. "And say hi to Professor Harim for me," she says with a sly grin. At Malcolm's offer, she glances back to the tall man in surprise. "You know...Dinner sounds really nice," she smiles. "You have any place in mind?"

"Alright then, Doc. Take care of yourself; thanks again for what you did to help Rose," replies Malcolm. He offers a crisp little faux-salute before shifting his attention back to Grimm. The tall man seems vaguely surprised by her expression of surprise at the offer of dinner. Give him a couple of seconds to realize where exactly he went wrong (right?) in this regard.

"Oh, I dunno. Isn't there a killer diner two blocks over?"

Grimm nods after a moment's thought. "Yeah, I believe so. In the artist's quarter, on a corner near that strange Lucky Finds shop. Is that the one you're talking about?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right," replies Malcolm. That is probably not the diner he was thinking of initially, but the reminder of that diner is more than enough to convince Malcolm that Grimm has spectacular taste in cuisine. "Catch you around, Doc," comments Malcolm, smiling cheerily as he gestures to Grimm, "Lead on, McBeautiful."

McBeautiful? Flattery works in some cases. "Sure, ask the new girl for directions," Gabrielle chuckles. "Just don't blame me if we get lost on the way?" she requests sweetly as she starts to walk. At least she's going in generally the correct direction.

Malcolm grins warmly and rolls his shoulders a little bit, this may involve an inadvertant gun show for Grimm. He strolls along with Gabby, keeping pace easily, as he replies, "Oh. You're new in town, Gabrielle?" Pause. Beat. Beat. Beat. "Don't worry 'bout it. Colonial Bay's a great city. I'm sure you'll fit in just fine."

Grimm nods softly as they walk. Inadvertant or not, she subtly notices, although her eyes stay fixed ahead. She smiles a little to herself as he rolls his shoulders. Gabrielle doesn't even need to oogle with her eyes to oogle. "Yeah, just moved here in October. I'm from Seattle originally. Colonial Bay has nicer weather by comparison," she says as she shifts the jacket on her shoulders to hold it closed. "But it's pretty crazy."

"It can get pretty intense around here, yeah," agrees Malcolm, nodding his head. He maintains that gentle, warm smile as he strolls along with Grimm, hands absently getting stuffed into his pants pockets. "But I'm from Brooklyn originally, so I guess I'm kind of used to cities being sideways."

Grimm's eyes widen slightly, and she actually glances his way with an impressed look. "Wow, big city. What brought you down here? Haven't been to New York yet. I should probably check that out. It's on my long list of places to see."

"Starguard," replies Malcolm. He shrugs a little bit, with the attendant gun show, not that he seems to notice it again. Malcolm smiles and elaborates somewhat, "I joined Starguard 'bout eight years ago now. Two years ago, they finally transferred me back to the East Coast since Starguard Gamma re-opened here in Colonial Bay."

Pausing a moment to let Grimm soak in backstory, Malcolm regards her thoughtfully. "You should check the Big Apple out. It's a great place. Seattle's pretty spectacular, from what I hear though, and birthplace of some great rock bands too."

"Oh yes, -awesome- music scene in Seattle. I do kind of miss that. Don't miss the rain though," Grimm says with a whimsical smirk. "Hmm, I think I -will- check out New York. You're a native there. Maybe you can recommend some nice sights to see? Or...you could give me a tour," she suggests with a smile. Then she reflects on his story. "Wow, eight years. You must've seen a lot of amazing things with Starguard. Quick, what was your craziest adventure!" she pop quizzes him with excitement.

"Sure. Next time I've got a weekend pass and you're free, I'd be happy to hop a Transmat back to En Why Sea to show you around town," replies Malcolm. He grins broadly and starts to say something else, but is quickly cut off by pop quiz time. Malcolm's gaze shades off toward a nearby building for a few seconds as he contemplates the question. "I helped break up a biker gang one time..."

That doesn't sound terribly exciting.

"... In, you know, space."

Okay, that might be exciting. Maybe he met Lobo.

Grimm beams brightly at the offer to get shown around the city. "That'd be totes awesome. Let me know next time you get a pass? I'll make the time. I'm sure you can show me all sorts of secrets only locals know about," she says as she takes a few quick steps ahead, then spins about to walk backwards so he can look at him while talking.

He can see her eyes light up at his adventure story once the 'in space' tag is added. "Really? No way!" She gazes up at the sky, but sighs as the light pollution obscures the stars. "Is it nice up there? In space? It always seems so scary and dangerous in movies."

Malcolm laughs a little bit and smiles as he assures Grimm, "I'll do my best to show you my favorite parts of the city." The tall man grins, studying Grimm's eyes as she watches him. He nods a little bit, following her gaze up toward the sky above as he replies, "Totes really," in a chipper tone of voice.

Shrugging a little bit at the follow-up, Malcolm's voice gets a bit more serious. He smiles thinly and answers gently, but seriously, "It's beautiful up in space. We haven't been up there long enough to have words to describe it, but it's... It's a different kind of beautiful from pretty much anything down here in atmo. On the other hand, space is probably the harshest, most unforgiving place there is, whether you're prepared for it o-"

Malcolm is cut off by a massive, resonant *KRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGK* as he rebounds off of a light post. The tall man takes a stagger step backward before he topples onto his butt on the sidewalk. Quite impossibly, the light post appears to have taken a worse hit than Malcolm did - he doesn't look bruised so much as startled...

By contrast there is a Malcolm-face-imprint in the metal of the light post.

The invisible eyes in the back of Grimm's head help her avoid the light post. But since her attention is suddenly rapt on Malcolm's description of the beauty and danger of space, and the fact that he's facing forward, she misses the fact that he doesn't see it coming. She startles at the ringing impact of Malcolm's face on light post, gasping and clapping a hand over her mouth.

"Ohhh, shoooot," Gabrielle manages to censor herself, dashing to Malcolm's side and kneeling beside him. "That looked and sounded painful. Are you okay?" she asks with her eyes filled with concern. She looks him over for injuries, bruising, welts, and then shoots an accusing look at the light post. And blinks at its mishapen form. She looks back and forth between the two until finally settling on Malcolm. "Wow...so...you're a super tough meta. Guess you'd have to be to be in Starguard," she concludes with a grin.

It takes Malcolm a second or three to regain his full senses. He doesn't appear to be at all injured from the impact, although his head clearly must be ringing. Shaking his noggin, Malcolm sits up slowly and blinks a few times as he regards Grimm from up close and personal.

"They don't call me Forge for nothin', Gabrielle," replies Malcolm, tone absolutely sheepish. He's doing a good job at supressing 'mortified', he's really only emoting 'undignified embarassment'. Malcolm rubs the back of his head a little bit as he starts to get back to his feet.

"I promise, I'm better at the heroing thing - Hell, I'm better at riding one of my motorcycles - than I am coming off right now."

Grimm giggles softly while looking apologetic, not really so much laughing at Malcolm as she is finding his sheepish look charmingly cute. "Sorry," she says as she tries to lend a hand to help him up if he'll allow, her smile turning kind. "I'll keep you to that promise next time I need a hero," she says sweetly. "I feel bad I didn't give you a heads up. Maybe I should treat at the diner?"

"My own fault for not looking where I was going," replies Malcolm. He smiles warmly and accepts the helping hand up - Malcolm is heavy, heavier even than his height and muscle would imply, though certainly not impossibly heavy - even though he does most of the work in getting himself back to the feet. "Nah. You don't have to do that. I'm a big boy, I can pay for my own dinner, Gabrielle."

Grimm isn't super strong, or even mildly. She has to grunt a little and dig her feet in, so thank goodness she's only helping rather than doing it all on her own. She lets out a breath from the exertion and chuckles. "I think I need to hit the gym," she says as she takes a breather, resting her hands on her hips.

Once she recovers, which doesn't take long, she glances to Malcolm. "You sure? Well, if you insist."

Grimm and Malcolm have made the mostly uneventful walk (that poor lamp post) from the Student Quarter to the diner. Malcolm was so kind as to loan his jacket to Grimm and drape it over her shoulders to keep warm during the walk. When they step into the diner, the smells of greasy spoon comfort greets them.

Meanwhile, Bethany is in the diner already. She is sipping a cup of coffee as she sits in the back and flips through the pages of a book while doing research. . o o O O (Okay Arthur. Is any of -this- true?) she asks mentally. She's just... by herself, physically at least. But she does have the mildly subdued aura of someone connected to two very potent relics at least.

Despite the temporary loss of his jacket as a loan to Grimm, Malcolm is his usual stylish self. Inexplicably stylish jeans, tight black long-sleeved shirt under a slightly looser blue t-shirt, and rockin' kicks. Malcolm smiles cheerily and gestures toward a small booth with a good view of both one of the chrome-blinded windows /AND/ the burger flippin' chef behind the grill tonight. "How 'bout over there? It's got a good view no matter which way you look."

"Sure, looks good," Grimm smiles. Now that they're in the warmth of the diner, she slips off his jacket as she walks over to the recommended booth and sits down, then holds Malcolm's jacket up to him. "So since you recommended this place, what do you recommend? They got good burgers here?"

"Ham and swiss sandwich is actually quite good." pipes up Bethany from the book next to the one you two selected. She looks up from her own coffee and inclines her head with a sly little grin on her face. "Evening." she adds.

Malcolm opens his mouth to reply to Grimm, but Bethany beats him to it. The tall man closes his mouth, looks back and forth, then opens his mouth again. "Hey, Bethany. How's it going?" He even waves! "Gabrielle, you met Bethany yet?"

Once potential introductions are done, Malcolm opines, "They do have great, classic burgers here. Personally, I'm partial to The King Special though. Peanut butter 'n' banana sandwich, crispy bacon on the side."

The King Special: It's a hunka-hunka burnin' heart attack.

Grimm glances over, her magical senses tingling as she looks over Bethany. "Don't think so? I'm meeting so many new people since I moved here, it's hard to keep track," she says uncertainly, glancing at Bethany's forehead for a moment as if seeing something on her head. Then her attention turns to Malcolm, her eyes widening at the aptly named special. "Wow. That sounds intense. I'm curious to try it, but I'm afraid to eat one all on my own. I may just stick with the burgers," she snickers.

"I've seen you on campus, yeah. History wing, right?" asks Bethany. She just shrugs and inclines her head. She knows Grimm better than that, but she's not exactly planning to let on to it. "The burgers are good, but I'm a ham fan myself. They have a funny name for it.." she remarks, looking up at the menu. "Uh... something with Blue Suede, and that's not exactly a great name for a ham sandwich, but trust me, it's good." She shakes her head and looks to Malcolm, "What brings you two out this way?"

"Nothing wrong with that," replies Malcolm, grinning, "Not like we're outside Graceland."

Malcolm winks at Grimm and rolls his shoulders a little bit. He glances over at Bethany, seemingly trying to figure out what Grimm was looking at moments earlier. Naturally the guy with the super weird aura sees nothing of particular note in his quick visual inspection of Bethany. It's not like he's a magician.

"Just catchin' some dinner, figured I'd show Gabrielle my favorite diner," explains Malcolm, smiling cheerily. Tilting his head a little bit, Malcolm inquires, "What brings you up this way? Wouldn't have expected to find you in a nostalgia joint like this."

Grimm still looks like she's trying to place Bethany's face. "Uh. Maybe? Most of my time is spent in the Humanities building. I'm in the Metahuman Criminal Justice track. Hmm...well...the anthropology class I'm in is in the history wing."

Laughing softly, Bethany grins. "Seriously? Nostalgia is way to refer to history, isn't it?" she asks with a chuckle as she gestures to the book she was skimming. It's a book written about historical research into the European Royal families of the middle ages. "I just needed to find some place where I could relax and catch a bite while reading." There's a pause, and she glances towards Grimm. "Gabrielle?" she asks. "That's a pretty name." Then she laughs, "Oh, Anthropology! That's a cool subject. It's related to history, but more along the lines of cultures, right?"

Malcolm doesn't respond to Bethany's question, save to offer a small grin and a shrug. Instead, Malcolm's gaze has shifted to focus on Grimm again, one eyebrow quirking as a clearly impressed expression crosses his features. "Really? Metahuman Criminal Justice? That's pretty cool."

Grimm shrugs at Bethany's compliment. "The name's alright. And yeah, study of human culture and society development. I thought it was an interesting elective to take with my classes." Her attention shifts to Malcolm and she smiles. "Yeah, I transferred here because I was told CBSU had the best curriculum for it. That, and occult studies. I'm kind of a mythology buff, too. Haven't really decided which will be my major and my minor. Maybe I'll bite the bullet and go double major. I haven't really decided exactly what I want to do with my life, but I'm leaning more towards a career where I can help people." She folds her legs and leans back comfortable into the padded seating. "So how do you two know each other?" she asks with a glance between Malcolm and Bethany.

"Well, I don't remember much but... Rose introduced us once a while back." Bethany just shrugs and reaches for her coffee, taking a sip before she smiles, "I have a good memory for faces." she adds. "But Mythology.. you ever need any help with that, I'm your gal. Well, at least when it comes to Northern Europe."

"Basically mutual friends," adds Malcolm. He shrugs a little bit and smiles, taking a moment to skim the menu whilst Bethany continues on the subject of mythology. When Malcolm looks up from the menu, it's both with the intense knowledge of what he'll be ordering and because there's a gap in the conversation for him to put his two cents in, "Occult studies? I guess CBSU must have a real good curriculum for it, with all of the magicians and supernatural types roaming around town. Plus, y'know, Doc Reynard floating over the Student Quarter in Pied a Ciel."

Grimm's attention turns back to Malcolm with sudden interest. "So that's what that is? I saw it over the campus and totes wanted to check it out. Have you been in there? Who's Doc Reynard and what's his deal?" Gabrielle chirps excitedly with a list of questions about a mystery that's been nagging her since she transfered in.

Of course, Pendragon's been in there but... she can't very well say so. Of course, she was only there once, and only to say no to someone trying to recruit her to go dimension-hopping. "From what I understand, it's a flagrant, excessive, and wasteful use of power to have a floating house up there. Why spend the energy for that?" she asks with a shrug. "It just seems... ego-tastic."

"Yeah, that's Pied a Ciel over campus. I think the Doc opened the plot of land it's connected to as a park or something a while back too," intones Malcolm. He smiles cheerily and leans back in his seat, one hand coming up to rub the top of his head as he considers the questions. "Doc Reynard's the new-ish head of the occult studies department, I think. He's replacing the original owner of Pied a Ciel, who was the one that floated the house in the first place."

Shrugging at Bethany, Malcolm smiles thoughtfully. "I've been up there a few times. The Doc's kind of a showboat, makes his money using his magic for the rich and crazy, gives him time to teach and be some kind of Master Magician of the Mortal Realm or some shick. He means well though, which I think is what counts."

Grimm remembers to look over the menu, picking out a burger and setting the menu aside. "Wow, interesting history. Well, it -does- sound a bit show boaty, but most mages tend to have a flare for the dramatic," she smiles a bit to herself. "Wonder what sky real estate costs in this city." Or any city, for that matter.

Helpfully Malcolm comments, "If it's in the sky, can you actually call it "real" estate?"

Grimm chuckles, the corner of her mouth quirking up in a grin. "I guess not."

"The Doc's flair for the dramatic can be a bit much, but he is a nice guy. Hopefully you'll meet him some time," intones Malcolm with a smile. The tall man nods to Bethany, shrugging absently as he fixes his attention on Gabrielle again. "I was serious though. Metalaw is pretty cool and it sounds like you're in it for the right reasons, Gabrielle."

Grimm shifts shyly in her seat. "Well, I'd hate to be in it for the wrong reasons. But I can't imagine people want to study criminal justice and don't want to do good in some capacity, right?" she offers up a small grin. "It started off as just an elective class. But since then, that one class got me way more interested in the topic. Not many metas back home in Seattle. I mean, there were, but most, once they realize they have great power, decide they can live somewhere nicer than Seattle. So their study programs just weren't top notch."

Malcolm grins and nods, "You'd hope, but there are some people out there looking to game the system whatever way they can. Sometimes that's Metalaw." He listens thoughtfully, nodding a little bit and starts to say something when the waitress finally arrives to take their order. The tall man orders a classic patty with cheese fries and a large Coke.

Grimm glances up and smiles at the waitress. "And I'll have the avocado cheese burger with bacon, a side of fries, and a Dr. Pepper." Afterwards, she looks back to Malcolm with interest. "Ohh, metalaw. I imagine there are some lawyers in that field who are in it more for the money. I don't want to go the law degree route. I'm thinking more of an investigator or detective maybe. Solve crimes. Find people. That sort of thing."

Malcolm smiles warmly and nods, shifting his weight slightly to get better situated in the booth. "Like I said. You're in it for the right reasons," replies Malcolm, tone firm and fairly heroic sounding. He absently rubs at one of his forearms, watching Grimm quietly for a few moments. "You gonna poke around CBPD or Starguard, see if they have internships with their meta crimes divisions? Or do you have other plans for getting more experience in the field?"

Grimm's eyebrows perk up. "Hmm. I was thinking maybe the CBPD or some of the private investigators around town. But...Starguard. That's aliens and stuff, right? I mean...I don't know much about their meta crime division. It's more military though, right?" she asks with keen interest, leaning forward as she rests her elbows in the table and knits her fingers together so she can rest her chin there as she listens.

"Well, yeah. There's aliens and stuff, but Starguard Gamma is the local all meta unit. Pretty much all of the Starguard outposts have a few meta teams; the other two local meta teams are on dedicated assignments off-world," explains Malcolm. He smiles as he leans a little forward, meeting Grimm's gaze evenly. "It's military, sure, but I don't know that that's a bad thing? You'd certainly get to see a lotta guys in uniform that way," teases Malcolm, winking.

Grimm blushes a little at the mention of uniforms, her grin growing. "Well, nothing wrong with the military. They do great work. I just don't know that I'd fit in very well with the military life, personally. I am terrible at making my bed, for one. And I'm terrible and taking instruction, for two. And that's just for starters."

"I'm just throwing it out there," replies Malcolm, smiling warmly. He rolls his shoulders a little bit, watching Grimm thoughtfully. "Working with some of the pee-eyes in town would probably be real good experience for what you're looking to do with the field."

Grimm chuckles. "It's good to know the options. And it's something I'll keep in mind. I think I enjoy my free time, though. I met a Pee-eye and a detective with the CBPD recently. So I think they may be good people to ask about internships. But I'm sure there's got to be lots of Pee-eyes in the city." Just then, the waitress returns with a tray of food that she begins to dole out to the pair. "Ohhh, yes. Noms!"

Malcolm straightens up as the waitress appears in the corner of his eye. The tall man smiles, quietly thanking the waitress for the safe delivery of food before he digs into his cheese fries. MMmmm... Cheese fries.

Cheese fries were a great idea and Grimm was remise to not order them. She smiles up at the waitress and says, "Thanks!" Then she reaches for the ketchup and pours some by her fries and a bit under her burger bun. "Does Starguard Gamma deal with a lot of mysteries and cases? Or are they more like SWAT, getting called in as the big guns?"

"I think the team itself works more like SWAT, but individual members get sent out to deal with smaller scale stuff all the time," replies Malcolm. He gestures with a cheese fry as he elaborates, "Gamma is sort of a weird unit. When the Starguard post re-opened here, they had try-outs for new members of the team from local metas. I'm kind of an exception because I got transferred from a different SG post to join SGG. Team members get individual assignments, but we also get deployed when there's larger matters at hand."

Grimm swirls a fry in some ketchup as she listens curiously. "Who else is on Starguard Gamma? I haven't really heard much about it yet. I'm still getting used to all the metas in this city and learning the who's who. Do interns need to do tryouts?"

"Well there's Lt. Colonel Hearns, from the U.S. Marine Corps. Commander Perrault, who's the head of the team, Star Girl, Sapphire, Jolt, Pleiades," replies Malcolm, smiling cheerily, "If you do want to do the intern thing, you'd want to talk to Commander Perrault. He's a cool guy, he could tell you exactly what's expected of interns and what sorts of stuff you'd be doing, if you did intern."

Grimm nibbles on her fry thoughtfully as she listens, waiting until she's polished it off before replying. "I guess it shows that I'm a total newb in this town when those names don't sound familiar. But Commander Perrault, huh?" She gulps a little at the title, seeming intimidated. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to find out, for when there's a gap in my schedule for an internship."

"I figured internships were a between semesters kind of thing," remarks Malcolm. It's sort of a neutral statement, not quite a question, not quite a statement of fact, simply... A comment. He takes a bite of his burger and chews pensively as he regards Grimm, expression thoughtful.

Grimm's head bobs a few times. "Some are. If I had a light schedule, I could probably fit a part-time one in a semester. Winter break just started. Does Starguard do short internships? I start classes again mid-January." She seems to be considering it more seriously as she picks up her burger. Then looks concerned for a moment. "Wait, do they require try-outs for interns, too? Should I be working out, or training at obstacle courses or something?" she sounds perplexed on the requirements. "Hmm...maybe I need to contact the Commander's assistant to get the details." She eyes her large burger and shifts it about to find an optimal place to bite down, then risks a big bite.