groovygamers.com

The military refers to time between midnight and ten in the morning with a zero in fron of the time.  It is commonly called "O".  O'Dark Thirty.  O'MyGod it's early.  O'WhyAmIUP?

And Sunday morning comes entirely too early.

Sarah had one good idea and it wasn't the notion of going to a farm at OMG in the morning.  She had dug through her old clothing and found a whole outfit that she didn't honestly mind burning if it came to it.  When the alarm went off she blinked and stared into the darkness.  It would be cold out.  Cold and dark.. and she was going to a farm. 
"Idiot!  What was I thinking?  Oh right.  I wasn't.  Still, there might be bunnies.  There'd better be bunnies."  She hit the kitchen, nuked some bacon and grabbed a cinnamon roll.  When she had all the layers zipped up - *zwip*  To wait for the crew at the school.

Donnie lands in the football field, sliding off Althea's broad back and landing cat-like on the brittle grass. Unlike his normal flight gear, he was wearing a heavy denim jacket over several sweatshirts. The denim jacket was his fathers, dragged from the storage room in the basement where mom stores all of their old clothes or rarely worn stuff.

He pulls off the leather flight helmet and goggles, scrubbing at his sweat-damp blonde hair as he walks around to where Althea was craning her neck around. "Master Donnie Boss had a good ride yes?" Donnie laughed and brought her broad blunt head close to his, headbutting the thick skull. "You have been talking with Uther and Pip, I see. Of course, my dear. I always love flying with you."

She preened in pleasure and shivered he long wings. "We must fly more more. You never do it enough."

Donnie looked around, his eyes glowing green as he scanned the darkness for any watchers. "Beloved, if I didn't have school, martial arts, homework, and research, I'd totally fly with you more. Say hi to Uther for me."  Althea fades like a dream and Donnie walks across the field to the US meeting place.

Sylvia, relieved by the thought of waking up at four-something instead of three-something, couldn't resist her usual dose of late-night TV with Carolyn, so when she strolls up out of nowhere, she looks droopy.  Her greeting to Sarah is "Unh."  Her greeting to Donnie is to plant her head against his shoulder and to lean into him with her eyes half closed and her mouth half open.

Colin, ever the early bird, arrives with a smile entirely too loud for the crowd gathered so far.

"Good morning." he says. It really looks like he's enjoying this, and this is sooo irritating.

He welcomes Sarah into his embrace, and gives her a kiss on her forehead.

"It's going to be sunny today."

Donnie, his voice muffled from Sylvia's shoulder, says "Morning? It's still night time. Morning is after sunrise. Preferrably a few hours after sunrise, you cretin. Stop being so damn cheerful."

He's silent for a moment, then they hear him mumble something about 'damn morning people."

"Mrf," Sylvia says, either in hallelujah-like affirmation or objection to Donnie's making so much noise.

Sarah realizes she's made yet another possibly catastrophic mistake.  "Coffee!" she blurts out.  "I mean, um anyone want some coffee?  I'll be back in two shakes of whatever is on this farm's tail."  Better be bunnies.

"Oh god yes. Sylvia, do you mind if I fall in love with Sarah too? She's offering to bring coffee."

Sarah takes orders and *bikitybam* hits the nearest all night java source then *snootchybootches* right back to the crew. 

Colin chuckles "It's not my fault if you stay up at your pc even when you know you have to wake up soon the next day."


... To find a Herschey Kiss waiting for her.

"Mmm!  Chocolate!"  Colin gets a big kiss in return (non Hershey)  She twines her fingers in his with her free non coffee holding hand and says, "Thanks.  I thought this was supposed to all start at Dawn or something which isn't for another couple of hours right?"

Sylvia mutters something that ends in " . . . threesome."

"That's so hawt."

Donnie uses one hand to sip the coffee, making disturbing moans of pleasure as the warmth rolled through him. "Colin, I'll armwrestle you for Sarah's love. She's a heavenly angel." >pause< "Of coffee."

Sarah says with surprised insight, "Wow.  You know Donnie, with you flying around on Dragons and sword fighting bad guys so much lately I'd totally forgotten what a dork you still are."  The last part spoken with a huge grin.  "But I wouldn't want you any other way." 

"You hear that, Colin? I've already won. She says she wants me. I'm not greedy though. I'll share."  Donnie's assured smile crumples as Sylvia pokes him hard in the ribs. "Oy! I actually felt that through all these layers of clothes."

Jakob pulls up in front of the school in a big cargo van.  He leaves it running and gets out to greet the happy crew.

"Morning all." 

He indicates the van - and the man sitting in the passenger seat.

"This is Hector - an old friend of the family.  He's worked on my folks' farm since before I was born.  He's continuing to work there until I'm old enough to take the place over myself."

He looks around - sees everyone but Sammy.

"Why don't y'all come wait inside the van.  Sammy should be along soon."

Sammy comes stumbling along shortly after that.  She is sipping coffee from an oversized stainless steel travel mug.  Her hair is a mess, there are circles under her eyes, and she's not too coherent.  She mumbles something that might be "Hi guys, hows it going", "Good Morning everybody", "I just flew in from Sheboygan and boy are my arms tired", or "who the hell gets up at this time of day".  She drops bonelessly into an open seat, pulls her coat hood over her face, and promptly goes to sleep.

Maybe if I concentrated really hard I could move the whole van.  That would be awesome!  "Morning Jakob," says Sarah.  She leans over to the other window and says, "Good morning Hector.  I'm Sarah.  Are there bunnies on this farm?"

"OK... that's everyone.  Let's roll."

Jakob guns the engine and the truck roars off into the morning.  Anyone who manages to stay awake will note that Jakob is a pretty good driver.

Whether or not anyone is listening he points out interesting things along the road on the way out to the farm - a house that is rumored to be haunted, a cool-looking tree with a few urban legends associated with it, a good diner, the start of a beautiful sunrise, etc...

OC: Unless I hear otherwise I'll assume that we make it to the farm.

"Ok. Whenever you want." Colin says, rolling up his sleeve. For a moment, the new symbols on his arm shine threateningly, as Colin turns his arm around to end with a 'come-face-me-if-you-dare' pose a la Bruce Lee.


"Good morning, Jakob. Good morning, Hector. Is there room enough on the van for my bike as well? I'd love to take a look around the farm."


Colin looks at her and then at the others, raising an eyebrow. "Don't you guys ever sleep at night?"


Colin takes a mental note of the question and the answer, and a plan starts forming in his mind.


This inevitably leads to Colin insisting they let him spend at least five minutes visiting it on their way back.

Hector nods and smiles in response to Sarah's question.  She's not sure if that means 'Yes there are bunnies.' or 'Me no speakie English little girl.'

Hector helps get Colin's bike strapped to the back of the van.

OOC: Nothing prevents you from getting to your destination.

Those who manage to stir themselves awake about an hour later are treated to a beautiful dawn.  The colors are not as striking as they are at sunset.  They're softer, more muted, and their beauty is more stillness than fire.
Mist still covers much of the land they travel through and it isn't difficult to imagine that the earth herself is just now rubbing her eyes awake.

Jakob takes a hard left turn onto a dirt road and the truck rumbles towards - you guessed it - a big red barn.  The group can see a few people in and around the barn.  They are gathering things, getting ready for the day.

"We're here," he announces to the groggy group.  "First thing - we've got to get you suited up."

He leads the way into the barn.  Hanging on hooks are several sets of coveralls.

"They may not be a perfect fit but it's better than getting your clothes all messed up," he says as he steps into his own.   "They just go on right over what you're wearing."

Sylvia, a little more awake after the truck ride, eyes the overalls dubiously.  "Nobody's going to starve if we don't get much done, right?"

Sammy looks at the coveralls, then at Sylvia's face, then back at the coveralls.  She starts giggling, stifles it, then grabs a pair of coveralls.  They're way too long in the legs and sleeves, and it looks like she's a little girl wearing her daddy's clothes.

Jakob grins.  "Nope.  No worries - there isn't actually that much to do this morning, which is why I figured it was a good day to invite you guys out here.  We've got a couple of hours of work ahead of us and then brunch.  After that the rest of the day is pretty much clear."

Hector & two other men - Wilson & Raul - are already heading out to the field.

The farm's main crops are wheat and corn.  There are also some smaller vegetable fields - tomatoes, various lettuces & squashes, butter beans, etc - and a small apple orchard.
There are also some cows on the farm - their milk is sold to a local cheesemaker.

Jakob looks over to his friends.

"Any of you guys ever milk a cow?"

Colin takes a lot of pictures. There's something eerie in the way he manages to take perfectly still pictures on the moving truck. It's hard to tell if it's expertise or something more.


After wrapping himself in the coverall, Colin hesitantly raises his hand.

Sammy shakes her head no, then gives Jakob a strange look.  "You're not kidding, are you?"

Sylvia opens her eyes up really wide.  (No mean feat for a Chinese girl.)  "Milk comes from cows?"

"Good - you can help me show people how it's done."

Jakob looks bemused.  "Nope.  It's a real farm we've got here, with real cows."

Jakob chuckles and starts to walk out of the barn and off to the left.

"This way, guys."

It's a fairly long walk to where the cows live.  There are six cows on the farm and they all need to be milked.

"Bigger farms have machines to do this but we just don't need one here.  Pa said it would cost more then what we make off of the milk."

There are buckets & stools along one side of the enclosure.  Jakob goes and picks up one of each, indicating that his friends should follow suit if they want to.

"Ready, Colin?"

Sammy looks at the swishy cow's tails and their big kicky back feet and says "Uh, no, I don't think so.  I think I'll just stand over there, out of the way.  I don't want to screw up and hurt them."

Donnie whispers "Mmmmm burgers.."


Donnie smirks. "Wussy." He marches over to Colin and Jakob to see how it is done.

"Sure. Well, I did it just once, so you'd better check on me from time to time."

Colin gathers some hay in front of 'his' cow, and whispers something in her ear, gently patting her back. She answers with a loud moo.

He then grabs a stool and and a bucket for himself, and starts milking her.

Sarah finishes rolling up the cuffs of her coverall and wanders over towards the cows.  Looking at the scene she realizes something.  Taking Donnie by the shoulders she leads him three steps to the side.  While his view of the milking might be a bit hampered he was no longer in range of... anything that might happen from the back end of a cow.  She then falls back to the safety zone of the other two girls. 

Looking at Sammy she says, "I don't think you'd break one.  I'm going to walk around to the safe end of these things.  I don't think cows can kick forwards."

"You people make it sound like an extreme sport. They won't kick you if you don't seriously annoy them. And I really mean seriously."

He looks up at them.

"On the other hand..." he says with a grin.

Sammy just nods.  "Yeah.  I don't want to risk it."

She digs around inside her coveralls and pulls her phone from her pocket.  She thumbs her way through the mp3 playlist and stops, staring at something on the display.  She smiles.  "Cool.  It was real."

"What was real?" Sylvia asks, always looking for the scoop.

Sammy looks up, distracted "Huh?  Oh.  This."  She hands Sylvia the phone.  A slew of music was downloaded last night, with titles like 'BNL/SJ-horn', 'BNL/Annie', 'Annie/KidRock', 'BonJovi/SJ'.  "I was invited to a party last night that had some awesome live music.  I wasn't sure if it was a dream or not."  She smiles self-deprecatingly.  "Honestly I'm so tired that I'm not sure I'm even really awake right now."

"Wow, oldies," Sylvia murmurs.  "Cool.  Elrod?"

"Yeah.  He wanted to see a new band perform and invited me along.  The promoter gave us passes to a private party, and part of the party wound up moving to a recording studio.  These guys might be old, but they were really cool.  It was a lot of fun."

Sarah kneels down in front of a cow as it quietly chews on some hay.  "Moo," she says.  Then she thinks about it for a second.  "Hope I didn't just call you anything bad.  I don't speak farm animal."

Looking over at Jakob she asks, "So this is what you did every day?  Did you wake up early like this and then go to school?"

"Pretty much.  Now I don't get out here except on weekends."

He checks on how everyone is doing with the cows.  "You guys are doing great."

He returns to Sarah.  "This place is pretty much my life.  It's all I could ever ask for.  It's being held, I think the term is, in trust for me?  Until I turn 18."

After a time the cows have given all of the milk they intend to.  Jakob hefts a couple of the buckets and leads the way to the dairy where they are put into cold storage before being sent out to the cheesemakers.

"OK... now, we can either help the guys out in the wheatfield or you can just sort of wander around on your own if you want to.  Brunch is in about three hours.  I'm going to the wheatfield but you guys are free to do whatever you want."

"What do you do in a wheat field in the winter?" asks Sarah.  "I thought it just kinda... took care of itself?"

"It kind of does, but you still have to check it for serious frost damage, you still turn the soil, that kind of thing.  Hector says the better you treat your soil during the winter the better your wheat come spring.  It's not real exciting but he says it's important.  Anyway, you guys don't have to come if you don't want to.  There's lots to see & explore out here.  That's really why I wanted you guys to come out here anyway."

He turns and heads out toward the wheatfield.

"Just be hungry in a few hours!  The house is over there.  After brunch there are some horses on the next farm we can visit and then Hector will take us back to town."

"Jacob, have you got some carrots?"

Sarah goes on a bunny hunt.  Shh be vewwy vewwy quiet...  "I'm going to look around a bit.  See if there are any other animals or ... anything."  Maybe there's a butter churn or something.

Sylvia sees her opportunity to escape udder doom.  "Hey, Sarah?  Hang on.  I've got something I wanted to ask you about."

Sammy wonders if she can find a nice haystack to sleep in and decides that would probably be pushing her luck and inviting udder chaos.  When Sarah, then Sylvia ditches, she's not about to be left behind.  "Hold up, I'm coming too."

OOC:  

Ouch. 
---------------
Sarah nods and holds up for Sylvia.  "I hope they have bunnies here.  Then again I'm thinking maybe it might not be the best future for a bunny on a farm."

"You're thinking liberation?" Sylvia says.  "We can take out the guards and lead the prisoners over the border?  We are superheroes after all."

Sammy giggles.  "We can be the Cottontail Liberation Army.  Or since we're all girls, Bugsy's Bunnies"

"There have to be boy bunnies, too," Sylvia observes, "or bunnies wouldn't have the reputation they do."

This just makes Sammy giggle again.  She's way overtired.

Donnie can't resist a parting shot. "Hey Sarah! Let me know if you find any bunnies. It's been ages since my friends had rabbit!"

"Yup.  There's a winter vegetable garden down on the other side of that ridge there.  Maybe you could ride your bike over there if you want to check it out."

Colin grins. It's clear he has something in mind. He unloads the bike from the van, and rockets away.

He returns some time later, looking for Sarah.

"Well if there are boy rabbits and girl rabbits we should probably just leave them alone.  I'd hate to interrupt anything.  As it is I don't even know.  This might just be a wild goo uh rabbit chase."

Sarah starts hunting around the farm with Sylvia and Sammy looking for anything interesting or potentially bunnylike.  As long as I don't start talking like Lenny.

After a while, Sylvia starts talking--casually, like it doesn't mean anything.  "I've got a what-if situation you guys can help me with.  What if someone at school told you to watch out for kung fu?  Like a cryptic warning kind of thing.  Like, an up-and-coming villain kind of thing.  What do you think that might mean?"

Sammy yawns.  "Weren't there some ninja karate kung fooey kind of guys around earlier in the year?  Something with Kel Stilley?"

"You think?"  Sylvia looks troubled.  "I'll keep an eye on his house."

This wakes Sammy up a little.  "So it's not really a what-if, but a what-when?"  She looks hard at Sylvia.  "Guess it would depend on who told you?  Somebody you trust?"

Sylvia can't quite bring herself to answer that, but she nods like she'd stake her life on it.

"That's good enough for me."  Sylvia can read minds.  She'd know if somebody was shitting her. 

Sarah scratches her head, "Yeah I mean there was the ninja crowd but I didn't think they were a problem.  They're more of a bully monitoring group.  Oh!  There's what's his name... Book...Brooks!  Mike Brooks.  I heard he was big into martial arts and kung fu theater and all that plus he and .... uh, blanking on his name, were stockpiling that gas we got dosed with by Megan's crush.  So there's a kung fu with a possible threat level.  Or it could be a whole cartload of evil dimension jumping ninjas."

When Sarah mentions Mike Brooks, Sylvia's eyes narrow.  "They're in juvie now?  Mike Brooks and company?"

Sarah shakes her head.  "No," she says, "not by us at any rate.  There wasn't a good way to nail them for stockpiling the gas and they said it was just for a prank anyway.  We took away their stash but they walked away."

Sylvia growls incoherently and kicks something that rockets into the sky like John's best punt ever.  It's Mike Brooks's head, and it issues a jellied splatter of horror-movie blood as it fades into the stratosphere.

Sarah pats Sylvia's shoulder.  "Remember it could just be a coincidence.  Maybe your friend with the warning about kung-fu is expecting something to go down during a movie festival or someone dressed up like Neo is going to show up..."

"Wo-o-o-o-w" Sammy watches in admiration.  "Nice kick."
It bugs her a little that she forgot about Brooks and friends, but she rationalizes it by recalling everything else she had to deal with at the time.


"Or maybe the Panda Delight delivery guy is about to go postal."  Sammy shrugs.  "You'll find them.  You always do.  Nobody can hide for long from Auntie Syl."

Sylvia does what girls do when they get together.  She bitches.  "What the hell is wrong with people?  Most people smart enough to put this stuff together--you'd think they'd be revving up to do something great.  Cure cancer, end world hunger, bring about world peace.  But no.  For some reason we get all the psycho retards whose highest aspiration is to, I dunno, cause as much chaos as they can beween now and spring break.  And then, when we give them the beat down, are they put in prison?  Are they given hardcore psychotherapy?  No.  They're released back into the school to turn it into some kind of free-for-all warzone all over again.  Sometimes I seriously wonder if we're not letting this happen by not--"  She frowns as the thought occurs to her.  "--asserting ourselves more."

Sammy gazes uneasily at Sylvia "Asserting ourselves more?  What exactly do you mean by that?"

Sylvia turns her frown on the dirt.  "I don't know."  Then she looks at Sammy.  "Any one of us could flatten the school.  Any one of us could be truly catastrophic.  But we're not.  And that's good.  But sometimes I think it means that there are kids out there who think they can fuck with us, and all of the innocent people around us, because we won't respond with the kind of brutality that would give them pause."

"She means we should kill them, or at least make them good."

Colin suddenly arrives from behind them, carrying a little brown bag.

"The premise is not true, though. All those really responsible for something bad have been punished, at least all those we found. Some people died as well, and that's rather brutal. I really don't think anyone can truly believe they can mess with us. But sometimes she has these phases, and she sees everything bleak, and she doesn't realize what behaving that way would do to her."

He turns to Sarah. "I've got a little surprise for you. Can you come?"

As Colin appears behind them, Sylvia doesn't even turn.  Instead she holds up her hand and flaps her fingers together, duck-bill-style, while Colin sermonizes.  Otherwise she refuses to address him, for the moment.

Sammy tries not to giggle at the talk-talk-talk gesture.

"OK," she says, sobering.  "Maybe not kill them, but step up the response a little?  Or," she pauses, "make our presence more palpable?"   She bends down to pick up a long stray shaft of wheat, and toys with it.  "I've kind of decided that I'm not hiding anymore.  After Sammy 2 'Electric Boogaloo' visited, what's the point?  People can add one and one to get two, so they've got to at least suspect I have powers.  I'm one of the few of us who can be overt about power use too.  So, next time something happens, maybe I shouldn't even try to be quiet or stealthy about answering back.  Maybe I should go full-out djinn with an attitude on their sorry behinds, and dare anybody to even try to push me even a millimeter further.  It might not change everything, but maybe it'll change things enough, you know?"

Sarah says, "I'm really not very good at these morality questions.  I just don't want to become a judge if I don't have to.  If we can't present something to the local authorities then maybe we should work on a way to provide quick information to groups more used to more supernatural events.  Maybe the NSA if they are investigating this stuff.  Maybe Jack can point us in the right direction.  If we don't have the right kind of details to get someone investigated by the police but we know they are guilty?  What then?  Do we start making citizen arrests?  I'd be happy dropping a bunch of baddies off in a jail cell every so often.  Or an interrogation room.  But not down a pit.  If someone given authority decides to let them go.. well that's okay.  We did our part."

She looks at Colin, "What's up?  What did you want to show me?"

Colin doesn't react either, except for a slight shrug. Their games work better when they're alone.


"That's not a bad idea. Just be sure to kick the right asses. A change in attitude does change your world, but I wouldn't expect it to scare trouble away. We can't do mauch about trouble looking for us. At least as long as we stay together, I think."


"The problem here isn't the police. They do their job. The problem is that we cannot turn in everybody we think will do something nasty, just because we read their brain or something like that. Doesn't it sound bad already?"


The grin quickly returns to his face.

"We should get to that field over there and I'll show you."

Sammy looks at the pair of them, smiles gently and says "Ah.  I'm going to leave you guys alone."  As she wanders away, she softly starts to sing an old Sting ballad:

"You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we walk in the fields of gold

So she took her love
For to gaze awhile
Upon the fields of barley
In his arms she fell as her hair came down
Among the fields of gold

Will you stay with me, will you be my love
Among the fields of barley
Well forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we lie in the fields of gold...

Sammy has got to be kidding, Sylvia thinks.  The only thing Colin's going to remember is his floppy bits turning blue and falling off in the cold.

Nevertheless she, too, begs off and heads back to the cows.

Jakob comes loping up the hill to where the gang seem to have congregated.

"What's up?"

Sammy looks over her shoulder at Colin and Sarah and smiles.  "I think Colin's trying to get Sarah all to himself for a little while.  So I'm clearing out so he can have a chance."

She looks up at the sky and sees a lone hawk circling high overhead.  "Ever wish you could fly, Jakob?"

Sylvia gives Sammy a look.  "You're so mean," she says, but it's almost admiring and not a little envious.

Sammy is amused.  "What about you, Sylvia?  Do you ever close your eyes and imagine yourself soaring through the sky, looking at a very far horizon?"  She looks up.  "Its colder up there than down here," she says.  "I imagine she's glad of the sun on her wings, even though its only an early morning winter sun."

"That's what boyfriends are for," Sylvia says.

Donnie walks up, vigorously rubbing his hands together to return circulation from washing them under ice cold water. He looks at Sylvia, thinking hard. Duh. You've flown dozens of times on Althea..

"Heh."

Sylvia was in a bad mood, and Colin made it worse.  But here's Donnie, and suddenly she's smiling again.  She bounces over to his side and hooks her arm through his elbow.  "Sammy is making fun of our plodding mortal feet.  Either that or she's fixing to give Jakob the scare of his life."  Then her brow furrows.  "Wait a second.  You and Jakob are here.  Colin's over there.  Who's milking the cows?  Aren't they going to get cranky if someone doesn't, um--"  She makes obscure hand gestures.  "--squish them?"

Sammy flushes.  "We're just friends, ok?"  Then she turns her back and hunkers into her coat, wishing she had stayed home and slept the day away instead.  "Jakob, do you want to fly or not?"

"Nyuh?" Sylvia says, and then she almost, almost, goes prying into Sammy's head to figure out what she meant.  In the end she contents herself with what she hopes is a knowing silence.

"Sure, I wish I could fly.  Can't really say I ever gave it much thought though.  If you're giving sky tours I'm game."

"Let's go then!"  Sammy grabs Jakob's hand.  "Hang on."  In a moment she lifts the two of them up and has them circling high over the farm, force field wrapping around them to preserve some heat.  "You ok?  Not afraid of heights?  By the way, I can fly, if you didn't know that already."

Colin looks at the retreating girls a little dumbfounded. "They could come too. Oh well."

He hands her the nag with some fresh carrots. There seems to be nothing peculiar in the field he leads her to.

"Wait a moment."

He rolls up his sleeves, an rubs one of his tattoos, which seems to glow faintly for an instant, then he rubs his lips. He picks up a wide blade of grass, and begins softly whisting with it.

For a few long moments, nothing happens.

Then, with the corner of her eye, she notices a couple hares, then another, and then another couple. They seem to be coming there.

"They trust us, but just in case, don't move too fast." he says with a smile, as they gather around her feet.

With a squint into the sky, Donnie watches Sammy clutch Jakob close as they lift off. "She's cracked. I think Sammy is losing it. She's off flying with boys all the time now. I don't know what she's thinking but holding teenage boys so close to her as they hurtle into the stratosphere is not going to make them think of anything but sex. We are teenagers, for crissakes. It's what e usually think about."

OOC:  She's only holding Jakob's hand.  If anything, it looks like they're sort of ice skating side by side, but in the sky.  She holds onto them because she's afraid of them freaking out and causing her to lose control, maybe dropping them.

She'd be just as happy to go flying with the dragons, if she were ever asked.  She'd probably be happier -- they can fly under their own power, so she could let loose and really play with them.  With a non-flyer, she has to maintain a higher level of responsibility.

Jakob is just digging the ride... it's a perspective he's never seen before in his life - he's never even been on an airplane - and he seems enthralled by the beauty of the earth as seen from above.
Any anxiety over falling seems to be very, very far from his thoughts.

"So - you can do this anytime you like?"

"Truth," Sylvia says.  "If you could read minds and walk from one end of the school to the other, it would be like getting The Big Golden Book Of Porn in 3-D, interactive format.  I could tell you the closet kinks of everyone in school."  She doesn't sound especially thrilled about that, just jaded--and a little shellshocked.

"I'm glad that I am just a sorcerer who summon dragons and is the future BorderLord for our world and the Dragon Lands. Reading minds would just make things complicated." Donnie laughs and takes Sylvia's hand.

She smiles at him.  "You know, you make that sound really exciting when you say that, but I always imagine you with a bullhorn in a Jeep, rounding up a bunch of dragons trying to cross over from Mexico to the U.S.  What's that about, anyway?  How can you be the lord of a border that no one but you knows how to cross?"

"Well, most of the dragons follow the rules. It's the humans who keep breaking the laws. Sure there are rogue dragons who come over, but they take a very dim view of labreakers. Plus, they eat anyone who breaks the laws. Kind of makes things risky. Same with humans who cross over there, looking to dominate or capture a dragon. Munch-munch-munch. No more problem." Donnie laughs, as if the notion of dragons killing and eating a human is an amusing one.  "Once I learn what my position entails, I'll better be able to understand exactly my responisbilities are. Right now, Dylan is experiencing life as a human, and sometime soon, I will experience life as a dragon. Right now the universe seems content that I am to be the Once and Future BorderLord or something. The sword seems to have chosen me."

She baits him with idle questions because it amuses her.  "See, now I've never understood that.  How can a sword choose?  Does it have some kind of lord-choosing algorithm?  Is it like Geiger counter?  Does it detect lordly radiation?  Or is it really just a phallic symbol that represents your capability--your Rod of Lordly Might, as it were?"  Sylvia has read too many of Mitzi's women's studies textbooks.

Sarah whispers, "Bunnies!"

Donnie lifts his chin in a lordly air. "Magic, my dear. Plebian mudbloods like yourself would never understand." Then he chuckles, a boy once again. "Did you just call it my Rod of Lordly Might? Oh Sylvia, I hadn't realized you were reading the Dungeons and Dragons books I loaned you.."

Sylvia, recently piqued by Colin, rolls her eyes.  "You magic types are insufferable, you know that?"  But she's not upset by Donnie, so she softens her words with a rumply smile.  "As for those books, now Ginny wants in on a game.  But she says we all have to wear costumes and go out in the woods and duel."

Donnie laughs. "LARPING! SCA!" At Sylvia's look of complete beilderment, Donnie explains. "Live Action Roleplaying. There is a organization called the SCA- the Society for Creative Anachronisms or something. They dress up, run around and beat each other with foam weapons. Lightning bolt! Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt!" Donnie mimes shooting a lightening bolt from his fingertips. "Pew-Pew!"

He would fall to the grass giggling uncontrollably but for the possibility of cow patties.

"I'll send you a Youtube link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_ekugPKqFw) when I get home." Donnie giggles again.

"All right," Sylvia says, "but if we do it, I get to be the dragon lord and swing the sword around.  I'm tired of being the one who doesn't fly or cast spells or throw heavy things around."

"Yup."  Sammy seems happy just to be in the air.  "I figured this was a good a place and time as any to officially share the truth about me, if you haven't already figured it out.  I'm glad you're enjoying it; I like having company.  This is too much fun not to share."

She takes him up higher, so that he can get a good look at his farm and the surrounding land.  "Let me know if you want to barnstorm anything.  Or anyone.  Its better than any rollercoaster ride."

"Wild bunnies. They jump around a lot more, so they don't look as fluffy, but I hope you like them all the same. They like you. And if you would give them the carrots I promised them, they would like you even more." he says with a grin.

Jakob chuckles.  "Let's barnstorm Colin & Sarah over there."

OOC:  and chase away all the bunnies?  Can Sammy see what they are doing?  If she can, she'll veer off just in time to prevent that.

"Colin and Sarah?  All  right, you've watched hawks stoop to their prey, right?  We're going to dive just like that, so think like a hawk."

"Not a problem."

Jakob straightens out a bit, trying to imagine what a more aerodynamically sound position should be.
Being up this high has been a little humbling.  He's become used to being the biggest guy around.  Up here though he feels very, very small - and he's ok with that.

Sarah nods to Colin and crouches down moving slowly towards the bunnies.  "Here bunny bunny"  She holds out the carrot and lets the wee fluffy critters hop towards her.

Headfirst, Sammy and Jakob come plummeting down from the heights straight at Sarah and Colin.  Then Sammy sees the bunnies, all gathered around Sarah's feet.  "Oh crud!" she bellows, "Sarah found her bunnies!  New plan!"

She quickly snaps herself around so that she is plastered against Jakob's back, and she pulls the two of them off the 'bunny trail'.  Instead, they do a series of rapid barrel rolls and race close enough past a barn's roof to make it's weathervane spin.  She lets loose a yell that sounds suspiciously like "yee ha!"

When the wild bunnies hop over and start nibbling on the carrot she just sits quietly for a while watching them.  Finally she says, "You always give me the best gifts."

Jakob is grinning like an undertaker.  Never in a million years did he expect to experience something like this.
He bellows something incoherent, which might confuse Sammy, until she remembers that he's as fluent in Polish as he is in English.

They zip around the property, weaving between copses of trees, darting through tight spots under bridges that span small streams.  Finally she settles gently down somewhere not too far away from where they started.  She's grinning like a maniac.

"Fun?"

"Awesome."

He's still grinning.

"But if we can go up again and have you put us down in front of the house about a half mile that way we'll be first in line for flapjacks & bacon & eggs & sausage & biscuits... it'll show you the real meaning of the term 'fresh from the farm'."

Colin sits beside her and wraps his arm around her. "You brighten up my world."

"Yum." She grabs his hand and says "Let's go!"  She takes one or two running steps (not necessary for take off, just for fun) and they're off to the farmhouse.  She puts them down right by the steps leading into the kitchen.  "Do you guys want help in the kitchen or is it already taken care of?"

"They've got it totally covered.  All we have to do is show up & eat."

"OK."  She says in explanation,  "My mom would be embarrassed if she found out I didn't offer to help."

"S'ok.  You just did."

Sarah grins and nods.  She reaches out and strokes the nearest bunnies that are consumed in their carrot munching.  "So cute.  I really wish my family didn't have allergies.  It's just as well though.  With our lifestyle these days it's not like I could really take care of a pet or give it all the attention it deserves.  School, homework, projects, saving the greater Chicago area from supernatural threat, the occasional date with my boyfriend..."  

She breaks the carrot into a many small pieces as she can and scatters it to the crowd.  Standing up she backs away from the bunnies slowly and takes Colin's hand.  "Thanks again.  So anything special I can do for you?  I can't fly you around like Sammy but if you ever need to sneak into a sold out concert or anything just let me know.  Or we could go sky diving without parachutes.  I've tried that a few times now.  It's a total rush."

He grins. "If you'd fly me around as she's doing with Jacob I think I'd be sick, and that wouldn't be very special. I can't think of anything at the moment. I'm quite content lately. Maybe I'm changing. Maybe that's why these changed as well." he says, rubbing his arm.

"I like our movie evenings. Would you like to try something more... lively?" He plays with her fingers. "Sometimes I'm afraid to be a boring boyfriend."

OOC: sorry!  I forgot to respond because the lunchroom and construction site both had a postsplosion at the same time.
IC:

Sarah says, "Definitely.  What are you up for?  Dancing?  Fighting crime?  Okay that's not exactly a date.  Um... a day trip somewhere?  New York?  Miami?  We can come back on Monday with tans.  Well you can anyway."

After Sammy sets him down on the front porch of the farmhouse Jakob jogs over to a bell hanging next to the porch swing and starts ringing it.  It clangs long and loud, calling the workers in for brunch.  He knows from long experience that the sound of the bell will carry for well over a mile in almost any weather so he considers his friends informed that food is available.

He opens the door and holds it for Sammy.

"After you!"

Sammy doesn't waste time.  She smells real butter in that frying pan.

"Nah. I've tried. I just stay red. Uhmmm. What about the Niagara falls? We could forget everything else and for a couple of days just be the silly tourists taking photos of everything, instead of the sexy teenagers busy saving the world." He says, laughing.

Sarah looks aghast.  "Niagra Falls... in winter???  Brr!  Let's save that one for a study break in late May or something.  Ooh!  Mardi Gras in February?"  She hears the bell ringing and leads Colin towards the house.  "Let's get some of that brunch!  Are you into winter?  I'm not into it.  Other than the cocoa.  I'm all about the cocoa." 

Colin loudly slaps his forehead. "I can't believe I forgot to tell you!"

As they get to the house, he runs to retrieve his backpack, rummages through it, all the while mumbling to himself, and finally comes back with a rather crumpled leaflet (http://www.chicagochocolatetours.com/), and hands it to her.

"Sorry. I found this the day before Sammy and Sylvia's doubles appeared, and I got distracted. I meant to show it to you sooner, but this is as good a moment as any."

"Hey, a chocolate tour!  That sounds very cool.  I wonder if it's like Willy Wonka... except maybe without the creepy Oompa Loompas.  That would be awesome." she sighs in sugar filled bliss.  "Okay, now I'm totally starving."  In a blink they are across the field and outside the farm house.  "We'll figure out a time when something horrible isn't happening  and go?"

"Ok. I'll look forward to it." he says, gallantly opening the door of the kitchen for her.

The kitchen is a den of activity & conversation.  An abundance of wonderful aromas compete to be the first to overwhelm each person who enters the room - eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, biscuits, about a dozen different jams, fresh butter, & coffee all are in the mix.

Hector's wife, Perdita, is busily filling the dining room table with eatables.  She orders everbody out of the kitchen and into the dining room.  Jakob stays behind and helps her haul serving dishes to the table.  When everything is ready she sits herself down and introduces herself to the guests.

Jakob looks around for Donnie but since he knows full well that the bell ringing would have carried to him pretty much wherever he was on the farm he doesn't worry too much about him.  He does ask after him though.

"Anyone know where Donnie's at?"

Donnie comes in, red cheeked from the cold and smiling broadly. "Sorry I'm late. Chasing mice. Man that smells fantastic!"

He grabs a plate and tucks in, though he's leery of the pitcher of milk.

Even though Jakob told her it was not necessary, Sammy helps Perdita as much as the woman permits it.  She slides down on a seat and starts filling her plate.

Sylvia comes in, too.  At some point she decided she'd try to make herself useful by feeding chickens, and she's still scraping her shoes as she leaves the welcome mat.  "Is everything farm fresh?" she asks, trying not to let her gaze fall on the bacon.

Sarah washes off and helps if possible but manages to help near the bacon.  Mmmm bacon.  If Sylvia is on receive mode she's getting a steady stream of bacon thoughts.  Also bunnies.  But mostly bacon. 
Sarah steals from the plate. 

Sylvia doesn't broadcast this at all, except in the trauma on her face, but she's stricken, thinking about all the cute little floppy-eared piglets she saw running around in their pen.  Even the eggs and milk are a little daunting.  She'd love some soy milk and cornflakes right now, but as she hasn't seen any tofu cows in the barn, she'll have to hope no one will notice that she's hogging the hashbrowns and dried apples.

Donnie, ever the gentleman, gallantly offers Sylvia the plate of bacon and sausage. "Bacon or sausage, Sylvia dear?"  

He knows he will totally pay for that later.

Sylvia wilts.  "Can I just have a glass of water?"

Jakob makes his Notice roll (1d20+9=20) and does notice Sylvia's discomfort.

Jakob notices that Sylvia is avoiding any and all meat & dairy on the table and passes her a large portion of Pedita's corn spoonbread.

"She makes it with oil instead of butter," he whispers to her, "and no lard either.  We freeze the last of the corn each season so we'll have some over the winter... it's just corn, a little corn oil, some flour, some flour, & some sugar."

Donnie feels a heel for his joke, and lathers up a thick slice of homemade bread with jam and places it on her plate. He then pours a tall glass of water and a smaller glass of orange juice.

Sorry. That was mean.

"Thanks," Sylvia says, giving him a distressed smile.  "I . . . uh . . . this is my first time on a farm.  Like a real farm.  With animals.  I've been to a vineyard and an organic-gardening co-op, but not since--"  She taps her head.


Pigs think, Sylvia says with just a tinge of anguish.  They think, and they're smarter than Bell Jar.  It's like eating dolphins.

OOC: Think we can close this or is there more to be said here?

OOC: Unless there's a surprise waiting for us on the way back to the school I think we're done here.  Burp.