(Ivory Tower) Sipping on Jungle Juice

[Star]

A smirk peeked out. Bear. Bait.

"That's, like, totally a great nickname..."

He nodded at the other two, eyes lingering on Avis for half a second longer. Honestly? He'd wondered if she'd blend, but the Avis-In-Mufti nixed that. He shouldn't have, she'd been on her own before. And, yeah, totes he was just looking a fraction longer just because.

Asp probably ate frat parties for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Probably come out with a fist full of sorority invites, favors owed, and someone's car keys. Bear Bait. Gets. Hers.

He bounced out at a wide angle, seperation, it's a thing even if you're not a wide-out, and angled into the party.

Careful? Sure. He kept eyes on, but Just Jack fit in like candied corn on Halloween.

First stop? Keg. Then drinking games. True fact: Want to find a drunk 'caster at a party? Find the person spinning quarters for half an hour or hitting swishes at beer pong.

  Dayummmm 6 Suxx

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-11-10 11:33:09		Chameleon Jack rolls 6 to Manipulation + Socialize +1 SC (10 Again)		10, 3, 8, 3, 8, 10, 1, 10, 8		6 successes

[Avis]

The bass? Yeah, Avis could get behind that. In, ya know, an actual musical sense. This whole bass as a -- what? Metaphor's were supposed to be kinda subtle, right? And why the fuck was the song still considered empowering if it was still talking about physical appearances? And what men found attractive? Shouldn't it talk about, ya know, the qualities of the person besides their ass? No, apparently it was all about the booty. Fitting: for dumbasses.

Yeah, could Avis relate to these people? Hell no. Could she imitate them? Maybe. It was hard, and certainly would've been easier with the assembled knowledge of socialization, collected from the minds of every human to ever breath, but she didn't need it. Especially when it would just paint her, or Asp, with bright a neon 'kill me!' sign. A sign which might lead back to Chris Jack Star. So yeah, she'd do without. Any frustration she felt at having to limit her potential for this evening was just more fuel for her will so she could make this happen. After all, if they all blended in, if they all got some actual info, that would lead them so many steps closer to actually ridding this place of ' higher learning' from the fucking Banishers, and then they all could walk without fear.

So, yeh, it was hard, but it was worth it. So, despite her lack of internalized social graces, Avis proved that a lot of interest, a lot of focus, and no fear of failure could make the normally improbable quite possible.

   2 successes, -1 WP

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-11-11 23:25:25		Avis rolls 4 to talks to people? fuck yeh. (manip2+untrained soc-1, +WP) (10 Again, WillPower)		10, 6, 1, 7, 10, 3		2 successes

[Star]

"Dude. Adam. Talking tests is a legit party foul," he laughed, spinning a finger upward. Use the name. Build rapport. "Like, almost as bad as this music."

He grabbed a cup and started pumping the keg. Work it. Geez. Bubbly beer drizzled sadly into a cup until it was full, and he took a long swallow. Establish that there's a party, right?

"I'm solid. This your thing? Like, you hostin'?" Fist bump. The way he'd asked if he'd needed anything, it sounded like it.

A few half steps positioned him next to his new bestie, looking at one of his actual bestie's dance.

"Yeah, I know her. That's Lisa," he offered. He used that Super Casual but Slightly Surprised tone that suggested Everyone Knows Lisa. Not Knows knows. Just knows. You. Know.

"Oh, whoah. Or are you asking me, if, like," a finger waved back and forth. "No. Defs. Is that you, bro?"

Yeah, right.

[Star]

He could feel it, subliminal, but visceral. Circling wagons. No, a herd. Half of him was surprised. Ironic. The other half, maybe not so. Zoey was more in your face holier-than-thou, but Asp could do it, too. Every now and then it crept out, obvious, like when they'd been at that wall climbing thing, but there was also just this... thing. Like a tiara. This whole, 'I'm perfect and awesome', that wasn't condescending, but still annoying. True fact: Intimidation is annoying.

And they were pretty good friends. Asp? She didn't play well with other girls. True fact Number Two.

He let his eyes slide over yellow plaid, checking, not pausing. Because if he paused, he might laugh. And point. Highly Effective Individuals don't Break Cover to Laugh and Point.

"I feel ya, I get that," he agreed agreed. Just a dash of sympathy. "Campus is a big place, who knows who you might, you know, run in to." Little bait in the water, check for nibbles in a few. "So what's the deal with the, like, Sigma-Sigma? They always tight, or just because the presidents are getting down?"

Totally Interested. Actually, he was.

Heck, he might even look spiffy with a greek sweatshirt.

[Avis]

She caught sight of the Sentinel stepping outside from the corner of her eye. She didn't turn to look, though. The whispers got around. A drunk sorority girl had even accidentally whispered one of the messages to her when Avis had drifted into the space her friend had drifted away from while Ms. Whisperer was flirting with some guy.

It was hard not to smile.

Honestly, it was. It was also cruel, but getting to see Asp fail? The woman who stabbed her into unconsciousness on multiple occasions? The woman who beat her at everything when it came to the Ungula Draconis? The woman who quoted the fucking Phalanxes to her while stabbing her into unconsciousness? The same woman who looked down upon her capacity to lead because she put her fucking fists where her mouth was? Yeah. There was so much spite getting massaged with every whisper from the brainwashed dolls around her that she couldn't help but feel triumphant as her cabalmate fell. She didn't even fall far, but it was still, in some ways, fucking delicious.

That didn't mean it was right, however. She didn't feel guilty about her joy at Asp's failure, but she did know that it was fucked up. It was because of all the trappings and bindings she still had to shed, even though she claimed to be Awakened. There was so much work she still had to do on herself, so many growths that still needed to be burned away, but for now she couldn't focus on those. She had to focus on finding information. On finding something, so she had to do more than just sit around. She had to hone in on something useful.

Step one, find a group of people simultaneously sipping on their drinks. Step two, make sure they weren't too drunk. Step three, approach.

"Hey y'all," she said, walking up to a group hanging by the stairs. "This is an awesome party. But, like, does it get more awesome? Like, a step up from just bass and beer?"

Streetwise roll appropriate?

  2 Successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-11-16 21:04:51		Avis rolls 4 to talk da talk (manip2+streetwise2) (10 Again)		9, 6, 2, 10, 1		2 successes

[Zodiac]

She was working that night, so being late to this party wasn't a surprise. What might have been a surprise, however... was the figure that stepped out of the car. This wasn't some classy, high-end party... but making an impression? With college kids? That was the key. Popularity was a goddamn war, and this was a game that needed to be won. This was war against society. A war in which demeanor, fashion and a sharp wit were the primary weapons.

So it was a gorgeous smokey-eye she wore, her hair straightened and shining rather glamorously, a feminine black a-line dress falling to her knees. She forewent the nylons, given that her legs were in quite good shape anyway, and that this wasn't really the nylon type of party, but she definitely wasn't skimping on the shoes. That would be a deal breaker. These particular shoes, though? Classics... Louboutins - a gift from her mother from ages ago - a black shoe with the clearly red sole that any girl worth her salt in this place would be able to recognize.

'Investment Pieces' her mother had always called them... every girl had four or five staple investment pieces, classic pieces that could go with anything... that were expensive as fuck. And that was precisely why it wasn't her own car she drove that night. That would've broken the whole tone she was setting. Her hair got flipped absently over her shoulder as she got out of the car, pulling her purse over a shoulder and not even bothering to acknowledge the 'gentlemen' that she didn't deem worthy of her time. Not now.

No, she was watching the to and fro of the situation, who interacted with whom, where the power was, who was considered by those here to be important... establish a place. This was her scene. People. Manipulating the flow. Awakening had made her infinitely better at that than she'd once been as an awkward student. And her attainment? Well, that turned this entire situation into one amusing joke.

ST

Zodiac's Attainment does grant her something similar to First Impressions without even needing to cast magic, so no spells are on her, but she is taking utmost advantage of her attainment to gauge where the flow of power is and where best to insert herself.