Making a friend? [Brainiac Five]

[Sent Pryor]

Hm… Where was the lab? The Holo-vid message had been an interesting surprise, she felt, and hey, the boy, Brainiac, seemed like interesting company. His insults and words had honestly made her laugh, because he was trying to be insulting, that much was clear, but… He was a cute little boy! How old was he? He certainly looked younger than her, but maybe his species… Colan? Something like that? Aged differently. Would definitely explain the big words that he was using, she had lost him at some points.

Still, she got the gist. If you’re an idiot, stay out. Thankfully, she wasn’t an idiot, and as for the ‘no touching’ rule, well, she could just stay intangible the whole time, and not touch anything. He’d be fine with that, right? She just hadn’t met any other Legionnaires, aside from the ‘Big Three’ (as she had dubbed them), and they were a bit busy with the whole ‘new Legionnaire’ business, so it’d be nice to see another face around here.

Even if he didn’t seem so friendly.

Coming to a halt, Tinya frowned slightly, examining the spot where the lab was supposed to be. There was… nothing here. No door, unless that door a little bit back was it…? Nope, that wasn’t it. Huh. Biting on her lip slightly as she considered, the girl ran over her course. She had gotten directions to the lab from Saturn Girl, who had given pretty good ones (and even put a quick pic in her mind, great), but… no lab. Had she taken a wrong-

Oh! Bonking her forehead with the palm of her hand, she grinned brightly, problem solved. She was on the wrong floor! Time to go up! Flitting upwards through the ceiling, her head emerged from the floor, followed by the rest of her body, up to her waist as she peered around what looked to be the lab curiously. Cool. She had no idea what half the stuff in here was, but cool.

And there must be Brainiac! “You must be Brainiac, hi! I’m Phantom Girl!”

[Brainiac Five]

Querl honestly let out a shrill chirp of surprise, at the sudden voice. Spilling a few chemicals, (The acid promptly beginning to eat a hole in the table) and turning abruptly. Only, of course, to plaster an unenthused look on his face. Eyes a little wider than usual, muscles slightly more tense, but demeanor returning to it's normally mechanical stature. It wasn't every day that he viewed an unknown species that just happened to fly out of the floor, every day. ".....That happens to be Brainiac Five, to you." Was his immediate response. The coluan dialect of interlac clear in his voice. Tone acrid, and a frown tugging at his lips at the prospect of immediately being called simply 'Brainiac'.

He was not his ancestor, nor was he one for petty 'nicknames'. Grife, it wasn't very hard to say, was it? Brainiac Five! Yet everyone seemed to mangle his title the second they heard it. He had already been called Brainy, Five... And much to his displeasure, the teasing name of 'Darkseid Two', courtesy of an almost kalanorian-level brat of a human. Hmph, typical of their species, if he had read the files correctly. These 'Legionnaires' had already made a name for themselves in Querl's mind... Annoyances of the highest level. It almost made him miss the silence he was raised in on Colu. Almost.

His movements rather stiff, he simply 'continued' the conversation by giving the girl before him an ornery look, before turning back to his now ruined laboratory table. Leaning down, and collecting the acid in a bowl shaped force-construct. Then, predictably going to properly dispose of it in the hazardous chemical chute on the other side of the lab. After walking back, and tidying up what he could of his test tubes and salvaging whatever equipment remained unharmed, he just... Stepped back. Completely at a loss. This was his second day in this 'Legion Headquarters', and it had already proven much harder to navigate than the institute. He had no idea where to procure the means necessary to fix this lab table, and he had already been confronted about utilizing more than one for his projects. (Apparently 'other people' were interested in using the laboratory. Hn. He almost let himself smirk.)

And so, he sat back on his lab stool, shoulders hunched, and gaze fixated on the hole in the table. Completely ignoring the 'Phantom Girl', as he huddled in his lab coat, not bothering to remove his goggles. This laboratory had been his one place of normalcy, apart from all the chatty aliens that surrounded him. And now it was ruined. he had to face the fact that he wasn't used to being surrounded by so many... People. His life was filled with robot caretakers, and laboratories. The occasional older coluan passing by and looking in at him. But there was never any real interaction, unless he was being scolded for doing something 'unorthodox'. (Not that he had ever listened.) Suddenly, he was surrounded by all sorts of creatures, who would just... Wander up to him, unafraid. Try to initiate some sort of conversation. It was rather awkward, in his opinion. He hated Colu vehemently, but he couldn't exactly say this was a huge improvement.

Another consciousness track clicked in his mind, reminding him that there was someone else here with him. Blinking, he looked at her from the corner of his eyes, before focusing back on the table before him. Still appearing utterly distraught over the incident.

"....So, Phantom Girl, where do you hail from?" He mumbled, voice low, but the slightest hint of curiosity audible within it. After all, which planet even had a race of intangible people? He had never heard of such a place in his studies. The prospect was... Rather intriguing.

[Sent Pryor]

She winced slightly at his sound, though her hands flew to her mouth to hide her smile. Aww, she had been right. He was a cute little boy. How old could he possibly be? However, her happy expression slid away at his words and tone of voice, and she let a frown pass over her lips momentarily. Alright, Mr. Grumpy Pants… Still, make the best of it, right? So, letting her smile settle itself on her lips once more, she gave a good-natured shrug. “Sorry, Brainiac Five.” Maybe he just couldn’t take a nickname? Though that really wasn’t a nickname, more dropping the number… Huh, maybe there were more Brainiacs. Other past heroes? Were there past heroes?

Well, whatever. Giving him a grin to match his… ugly look (was there a better word for it?), cause fighting fire with fire was probably not going to help with this grouch, her eyes widened slightly as she took in the damage her surprise entrance had wrought. She… really should’ve thought that one through, huh? An actual apologetic smile finding its way onto Tinya’s face, she offered up an apology. “Er, sorry about your table…” Okay, gotta remember: People here aren’t used to people just walking in out of nothing. Gotcha. A bit hard to remember, because that was the norm, but-

She wasn’t at home anymore, she supposed.

So, floating upwards so the rest of her body was clear from the floor, but remaining intangible (if she broke something else, she was pretty sure she’d get kicked out), Tinya watched the boy, Brainiac 5, work with curious eyes, standing about where the floor was. Hard to tell when you couldn’t feel it. He was efficient, and for a moment, she was reminded of how her mother was when dealing with politicians, when just getting rid of them rather quickly and the like. Grife, he better not be like her mother. Efficient, fine, everything else… Eugh.

Another wince came when he decided to just plop down, staring… Yeah, okay, definitely had to remember people weren’t used to it. At least he wasn’t yelling at her or something. Better to have messed up like this in front of him, who wasn’t freaking out, over someone who would. Or, grife, if she walked in on someone in the shower or bathroom or something. Horrid.

But there was only so long she could stand there with her lip caught between her teeth, feeling kind of bad, before her attention was caught by, well, what was in the lap. He wasn’t moving, so… Not wanting to interrupt him when he was likely thinking DEEP THOUGHTS, especially after what she just did, Tinya peered curiously around, drifting over to inspect some piece of equipment. Cool… Again, no idea what it was, but cool. She wasn’t well-versed in science, but it was the kind of thing she had always wished she had the patience and know-how to, well, do. It was just kind of cool, y’know?

The quiet question, however, pulled her from her examinations as she looked up, surprised, before smiling at him. That kind of question made sense. “Oh, I’m from Bgztl,” she replied, drifting over, the name falling easily from her lips. “It’s from another dimension, so don’t think you’ve heard of it?” She gave a light shrug, grinning easily. “Had to hop through a wormhole to get here, so spacefare’s not exactly cheap.”

Understatement. Seriously. That trip hadn't been pleasant experience.

[Brainiac Five]

"Bgztl, of another dimension... Quaint, I suppose." He hums in response, letting his eyes flicker over to Phantom Girl, before going back to the table. This continuing several times, as he made mental notes on these quick observations. Allowing a track of thought to process the information. Fascinating, indeed. He had never thought there were actual inter-dimensional beings with the capability of traversing their barriers... Hmn... Perhaps that would be worth an experiment. After all, so-called 'mad science' seemed to be his specialty.

After a few more awkward minutes, of Querl shooting Phantom Girl more analyzing looks, he finally sighed, and pulled his goggles off of his head, hopping off of the stool, and putting them away in a cabinet. Then, when the girl was busy inspecting his prototype miniature particle accelerator, that he had stowed away in a corner of the room, Querl began hastily, but methodically unbuttoning the lab coat, hanging it up on the rack shortly after. He didn't quite know why he was so anxious about simply taking off a coat in front of someone else, but... Hmn. That was a psychoanalysis for another time, he noted, adjusting his tunic. He didn't quite know where this Phantom Girl had procured such a uniform, but he would admit that it looked rather combative. Suiting, considering their new occupations. Perhaps he should inquire as to where he should get his own. One would think a ridiculous looking outfit would be all but necessary on a Legion of Superheroes. All the Superheroes that Querl had read about in the history files did, after all, wear some rather... Interesting choices of clothing.

"How long have you been on Earth?" He then inquired, voice slightly more clear. It hadn't been much time at all, but Querl was very, very slowly allowing himself to relax. She didn't seem as if she wanted to cause him any harm. For all he knew, she was another draftee, who wanted to leave as much as he did. Though, judging by her curious demeanor, it didn't seem like the primary possibility to consider. Besides, in a world full of complete aliens, he had to keep his guard up at least a little, correct?

[Sent Pryor]

She… wasn’t sure how to take that response (quaint? Okay then?), so she shrugged. “I guess. But this dimension’s a lot more fun, lots of different people.” Back home, it was mostly just them. Yeah, there were other planets, and stuff like that, but it wasn’t anywhere near the degree that they had with the United Planets here. Which, to be honest, was pretty darn cool. Maybe if she studied up on it, she could express the ideas to Mom with she got home? Maybe… Smartypants Brainiac 5 over here might help her on that one. Hm. She’d have to think about that.

After all, if she could shove it all in Mom’s face and prove she could totally have a handle on the whole political business, too? So worth every studying moment.

His glances were making her a bit uncomfortable, though, not because they were those kind of glances (she might clock him for those, or mess with his head, depending on how she felt), but because he was just so… awkward about it. He was just awkward, period. What was that word that one of her friends had used…? Ah, yeah, ‘adorkable’. Except it seemed like the dorky part was coming out more and more.

So, Tinya turned back to the… whatsit whatever that looked kinda bizarre, letting him look her way and do whatever he was doing, until a small side-long glance showed that he was just changing out of his lab stuff. Oh, would he be willing to give her a tour, maybe? Saturn Girl had told her she’d give her one later, but she was busy, so getting one right now would be totally fine with her. Or maybe they could explore together, if that was cool with him? He seemed kind of like the stick-in-the-mud type, but if she played her cards right… Well, you didn’t grow up with your dimension’s biggest political figure/manipulator and not pick up a couple of tricks.

Turning around as soon as he spoke up, floating over close to him, she smiled. “I actually just got here today. I’ve only been in your dimension for… three days now, about.” One day getting mixed up with the Science Police, one day rescued and hanging with Mr. Brande, and now here. She was moving pretty fast, which she was really okay with. It was fine. “What about you, have you been here long, Brainiac Five?”

There, she used his name correctly. Or codename. Whatever. Hopefully, that would be appreciated or something.

[Brainiac Five]

"Mn. Yes. There are certainly quite a lot of people." He muttered under his breath. Folding his hands behind his back, and turning to face her. Though his eyes wandered about the lab just as much as hers did. After all, if the theme wasn't repetitious enough, new places are rather hard to get used to. Especially new laboratories.

He hadn't even time to blink, when he became aware of the girl next to him. Jumping slightly, as her voice alerted him of her presence. "Only three days? You seem to have adjusted quite well for three days in an entirely different dimension." He responded, sounding a little wary, but genuinely impressed. Had he been in the same situation, it is more than likely he would have simply been floundering, not knowing where to turn, or what to do. Not a far cry from his current situation- Of course, minus the fact that he was expected to become familiar with people. To be 'social'. Bah.

"Well, you have certainly picked up the language, at least." He added, after the thought clicked in his mind. She was quite confident in her speaking, but had a rather heavy accent of some sort. Of course they wouldn't have interlac in another dimension- The amount of coincidence that would take would be simply absurd. Perhaps she had some sort of telepathic aid? He allowed another conscience to go off track, musing about the sudden dilemma. He had to know everything, after all.

"I can assure you that I have been in this dimension for the entirety of my existence." He states, expressionless as he does so. "However, if you are referring as to how long I have been in these 'headquarters'....At midnight, I will have lived through my second day out of an indefinite amount, here." He dipped his head slightly upon saying that, staring at his feet. He didn't know how long he would have to be 'legion'. He was still iffy about the entire ordeal, after all. Was this the metaphoric 'end of his life'? Or was it the beginning. Another conscious dropped, thinking deeply about this.

Shaking his head slightly, he adjusted his gaze to focus back on Tinya. Noting her close proximity, and shying away a few steps. He wasn't accustomed to being such short distances away from people, and it was still something he felt inherently worried about. Not to mention, he wasn't very eager to expose himself to any interdimensional bacteria any time soon either.

"...So. Why are you here, actually? Your planet is obviously exempt from the U.P. draft for this 'Legion'... You also seem to be the only person who wants to be here of their own free will..."

[Sent Pryor]

“It’s pretty similar,” she replied easily, though she did have to admit he had a point. “Plus, I’m used to stuff switching on a credit, y’know? I’ve been bouncing from planet to planet for a bit. Been fun.” Of course, it was nothing compared to switching dimensions… But then again, the fact that she had only been here for three days was probably why she was so cool with it. After all, she’d just been moving, no time to fret about the fact that she didn’t know if she could ever go back, or to worry about what was different here, or anything. It’d probably sink in later…

Not something she was looking forward to.

Oh, yeah, the language. That little bump in the road was barely something she had registered. “They’re pretty much the same,” Tinya informed him, honestly sort of feeling like this was a casual interrogation, versus a conversation. Her giving up a ton of information, him not so much… He was good. “I mean, there’s a few basic differences, but not really big stuff.” Nothing super huge, but like… basic underlying stuff. She could definitely still have a conversation with someone, but it might have confusion. Next time, she should study up before popping through a wormhole. There were probably books on this place back home…

She had to let out a snort at his joke, though, smile growing into a grin. Niiiice. Maybe he wasn’t so bad, after all. “Cool, think you could give me a tour of the place, then?” she replied with a grin, only half-joking. He definitely didn’t seem like the type to actually do that, but hey, who knew? Maybe he would. That would actually be very fine with her. She wanted a look around the place, and while maybe one of the other Legion… Legion-ers? Legionnaires? Legionians? would know it better, or be a bit more… friendly (not that he was unfriendly, just… stand-off-ish? Good way to put it?), but hey, they were teammates now. They’d have to get along eventually, or at least try.

…Okay, note to self, Tinya. The Brainiac 5 green kid doesn’t like you being in his face. Not that she was always going to listen to that, of course, but good to know. She’d be more likely to go through him, anyway. The people of this dimension thought it was so weird! “Oh, yeah, I volunteered. I like adventure like this, and I get to help people, too. And make some new friends.” Tinya made her grin a little bit bigger at that, sending it towards Brainiac 5. Maybe…?

She’d try, at least, that was all she could do. “You were one of the draftees, then?”

[Brainiac Five]

Querl hunched his shoulders slightly. A tour!? He barely knew the area himself! How could she expect him to... Oh, never mind. If he ignored the statement, he could probably get out of it, correct? So he simply turned his head to observe a random object in the back of the room, making 'Mhm. Mn. Nh..' And related noises, when she continued to ask him things. Until, the query regarding his status here. He narrowed his eyes, dipping his head. Face looking rather grim.

"...Yes. I was." He opened his mouth again to continue, but promptly closed it, letting his eyes drift to the floor. Quite honestly, he didn't want to discuss that much. At all. It was similar to those ancient novels the earthlings wrote about a game of hunger- He was chosen to represent his home, but was basically selected for certain death. This whole Legion, this idea that a bunch of meta-being teenagers could serve as a vanguard for the United Planet's military was... Unsettling. The fact that many of his 'teammates' were walking around, acting so nonchalantly about being here... It scared him. Did... Did they not read the fine print when they signed up for this? In a world of genomic supremacists, xenophobes, and blatant oppression of the young... Nobody would care much if they were to die 'in service'. They were a jumbled collection of freaks and oddities. Sentient being feared abnormalities. Things they could not harness and control as a whole.

Was Querl the only one to understand this?

He gave Phantom Girl a forlorn look, before promptly shaking his head, masking his expression with a blank facade. "So... Uh... Have you viewed the recreation room yet? I haven't, but... I have heard rumor that it isn't horribly boring." He forced a small smile, before turning towards the door.

To be honest, it was all he could do to keep from vomiting. He should look into sleeping aids or something- Being cut off from the sleepnet was wreaking havoc on him.

[Sent Pryor]

He… wasn’t paying attention. Or didn’t care, either or. It was like talking to a brick wall, ugh. A quick thought flashed through her mind, maybe of reaching over and flicking him on the forehead, just to get him to just freaking participate, but considering how he clearly wasn’t cool with her being close… Probably traumatize the stick-in-the-mud. But if he didn’t soon, personal space issues or not, she would. Serve him right.

But Tinya lifted one of her eyebrows at his words, surprised by his sudden mood shift downwards. Oh… kay? Clearly, someone wasn’t good with being here. She didn’t particularly get that, honestly, because she thought this was going to be fun, but this wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Somehow. He did seem like the ‘stays indoors at all times’ type, so it could be something like that. “Well, at least something good came out of that, right?” she teased, attempting to brighten him a bit. “You got to meet me, after all.” Her statement was punctuated by a grin and a wink directed his way. Again, gotta try. Sides, that look… Grife, it was like kicking a pet. A cute little one.

…Come to think of it, she actually didn’t know anyone who had pets…

Returning his smile, though hers was definitely the bigger between theirs, by far, and it wasn’t like she favored those big cheesy smiles, she snorted. “Not horribly boring? Do stop with your raving, Brainiac 5, already sounds stellar as it is.” He was a downer, wasn’t he? Even the great powers of Tinya Wazzo herself might not be able to brighten up this boy! The tragedy!

Floating after him, though, she made a slight face, speaking up in a question. “Do you have a nickname or something? Or can I call you by your actual name? Cause ‘Brainiac 5’s a tad long.” A pause, and then, an added afterthought. “Oh, and you can call me Tinya, too, if you want.” Honestly, despite the fact that the simple notion of a nickname seemed abhorrent (Not even Brainiac? Really?), she might just spontaneously give him one, anyway. She really didn’t feel like slipping through four syllables every time… Three was like, the highest. The Big Three had that number, right? A quick mental counting sequence proved that yes, she was right. Awesome.

[Brainiac Five]

"Mn. Yes. Because meeting an apparition of a girl is obviously going to be the pinnacle of my existence. Surely a cynosure, if nothing else." Querl sneered, rolling his eyes a bit. Quite frankly, meeting anyone wasn't something he was about to find pleasant. Unless they had their mouth sewn shut. Then perhaps that could be an exception. He mused about this a little, before shaking off the pointless thoughts, and exiting the lab. Only to have Phantom Girl phase through the door right after him, a few sparks flying as she did. Were her powers able to disrupt electrical currents? Fascinating. Certainly something to experiment on at a later time...

Her request, however, only caused Querl's face to warp back into a rather irritated expression. Eyes rolling again, jaw clenching and unclenching. If he was asked about his name one more time after this... "If you insist on knowing, my 'given name' is Querl Dox. However, you will adress me by my title, which happens to be Brainiac Five. Not 'Brainy' or 'The Brain' or whatever other disrespectful machination you low-levels feel the need to replace it with." He seethed. Was everyone really that lazy? Unable to say a twelve letter title? It wasn't as if they were rushing to do anything, or carry on any kind of hasty conversation.

So, with a snort, he started walking in a random direction. Or, was it that random? He could have sworn he walked down that hallway to get to his assigned quarters... He did, after all, need to at least try and organize his few belongings, didn't he? (He had left his rucksack open, and contents strewn across the small desk he had found there. Having preferred to leave that a mess for later, and investigate the much more important laboratory complex.)

"...Well, it was certainly... Interesting, to make your acquaintance, Phantom Girl." He said quietly, turning around and giving her a small, two-fingered wave, before ducking into a branching hallway. Sighing a bit after she was out of sight,

...Goodness, he had never known that conversations with other organics were so... Taxing. Certainly something to take note of, for the next, inevitable occurrence of one.

[Sent Pryor]

Tinya didn’t know what a ‘cynosure’ was, but she could definitely get his point, and her grin grew slightly as she let out a snort. “Got that right,” she commented, floating after him and passing through the door. Honestly, she probably just could’ve gone through it like a normal person, but she was use to just passing through stuff. Besides, it was much more fun this way, even if it was the norm for her. Just… more fun, weird as that sounded.

The response caused her to lift an eyebrow, surprised, folding her arms. “Ooh… kay, Mr. Touchy. Brainiac 5 it is. Don’t make such a big deal. But you can still call me Tinya.” Even if he wasn’t being super pleasant. She wanted to make friends and stuff here, right? Well, looks like step one would be stopping Mr. Grumpy Pants here from, well, being that way. Looks like she had her job cut out for her, ugh. She’d have to regroup and think of strategies. Maybe if she kidnapped him, brought him out to do something fun? Hm…

He started off, and Tinya watched him go, unsure. He had mentioned the recreation room, was he going to lead her there…? He did seem in a really bad mood, though… (something which she’d have to bring up again later, to bug him, but for now, she was thinking she had to rethink her approach) Thankfully, before she could do something stupid and do the opposite of what was intended, something she was sure he would hold over her, he bid her good-bye. And hmph, that was a thinly veiled insult if she had heard one. Nice. “Absolutely amazing to meet you too, Brainiac 5,” she replied, injecting her voice with a light coating of sarcasm.

Now that that was over with… where was her room, again? Let’s see… Oh yeah, she had come up from the floor, so it was down there. And with a grin and a wave to the surly green boy, Tinya simply dropped straight through the floor. Aha, she knew this hall, so that meant her room was over in that direction, awesome…