rowan aubri

Nick jumped when the water shot into the air and turned to her with a surprise look. As he listened to her explain his expression went from surprise to curious. “You got powers that’s awesome water, fire, and air. It must be elemental manipulation have you tried messing around with rocks or anything?”

It caught Nick a little off guard when she asked what was going on him. Did she not see the green skin? It was possible Rowan was the first person today that didn’t run screaming in terror. At the sight of him so maybe he looked like his regular self to her. “I don’t look like some horrible monster to you right now. Because that’s how everyone else sees me and every time I try to help someone. Sometimes goes wrong and I make the situation worse. I’m trying to avoid everyone till it goes away.”

“Awesome? You think this is awesome? I’m lucky I haven’t broken my nose yet. Did you know I can solidify air? That that’s even a thing?  I’ve already done that three times this morning, right before I walked into it.  So.  That’s fun.  Not to mention the trees I uprooted on my way in.”  Rowan sighed, frustrated.  Walking her brother through getting a handle on his abilities had been one thing.  Trying to do it herself, with no guidance whatsoever?  Completely different can of beans.

It was only when Nick asked her the question about his appearance that she realized that she hadn’t had the gumption to even look at him yet - which should have been a red flag all on its own.  She kept her eyes averted as she considered it before shrugging, trying to play it off as casual when deep down she knew something was very wrong.  “Everyone but me, huh?  I’m flattered, Howling.  Even if it might be in your best interest to stay away from me and any and all elements at the moment.”

Recognizing the voice behind him, Erick turned around to face Rowan, shrugging his shoulders.  “Hey, I stayed long enough for them to run their tests and take their samples.  I’d say that’s an improvement."  Hooking his thumbs into his belt, he leaned back against the wall.  "Just didn’t see the point in hanging around for ‘observations’.  I’m not a damn lab rat.”

He could see the concern on Rowan’s face and he had to work to keep the grimace off his face.  This was why he tried to keep anything that bothered him to himself.  He didn’t like worrying his friends, especially when it was his fault he got in the situation in the first place.  “Hey,” he started, a playfully offended look on his face.  “I didn’t become the commander of the Covert Ops division through my good looks alone you know.  I can be quite sneaky when I need to be.  Besides, they’ve got no reason to stop me.”

“You do realize that tests and samples don’t indicate your overall health until the results from said tests and samples come back, yes?”  It was partly the scientist in her, but mostly her concern for her friend - though she knew Erick wouldn’t accept it if given the choice.  So to hide it, she pinched the bridge of her nose before offering a half-grin.  “I couldn’t bribe you to go back until said results come in, could I?  I’d even offer to hire a prostitute for you to sniff coke off her ass, but I doubt you need more drugs in your system at the moment.”

Noah’s smile turned crooked when Rowan cut off, distracted by the scent of his offerings. He knew his audience–he ought to, after all this time. A shrug was his only response to the comment about his behavior; she was right, and he wasn’t about to argue. “I don’t know about any girl’s heart,” he said as he stepped inside, brushing his fingers over her shoulder familiarly as he passed. “Maybe just yours, sugar. You’re the only one who puts up with me.”

Of course, she was also the only one he’d given a chance to put up with him, but that wasn’t the point.

He raised an eyebrow at her as he followed her to the dining room, cast an amused look at the cluttered table. His free hand twitched with the desire to snoop–to peek through papers and mail and books for secrets he could sell–but there’d been some truth to what he’d said before. He didn’t steal from friends, not in the ways that counted. 

“Breakfast was many hours ago, Rowan,” he said, nudging papers aside to set the food down and stepping into the kitchen uninvited to find plates. “We must feed our bodies regularly, or we die, doc,” he told her sagely as he returned. “They taught you that in your fancy school, right? I don’t think that’s a street lesson.”

“To be fair, the greasy food makes it remarkably easier to put up with you,” she teased, though they both knew the truth when it came to the friendship that had been born from their pain.  Simply put, she adored him.  Let Noah in in ways she didn’t with most people, probably because they had similar ways of dealing with their pain.  Quick wits and light commentary over anything deep.  Ignoring what hurt and making light of it instead, acting like it wasn’t a big deal.

Upon realizing there wasn’t much room to place his offering, quick hands made work of clearing off the table at least somewhat.  Enough to give them both room to sit and eat and to make sure the bag didn’t take a suicide leap off the table and ruin both of their nights.

“Didn’t have to get that fancy learning to know that much,” she laughed, following him into the kitchen to grab some utensils - just in case they were needed, though often the food they shared with each other required none.  “But that fancy learning seems to have gotten in the way of my appetite.  Which trust me, I’m just as shocked by this as you are.  The only saving grace seems to be that it hasn’t affected the caffeine addiction, so all is not lost quite yet.  What’d you bring me, my sneaky friend?  Though I swear if there’s pineapple on that pizza, I will kick you out now.”

Rowan is still ardently working at C.A.R.M.A., desperate to make a breakthrough to help reverse the so called ‘cure.’  Where she once was a social butterfly, she’s become closer to a workaholic now, sometimes going days without returning to her apartment on campus.

It wasn’t in Erick’s nature to leave things for other people to do, especially when it came to something like what had just happened to him and the other kidnapping victims.  That was why as soon as the doctor had finished checking on him, Erick had pulled out the IVs and the various leads from the monitors and walked out of the infirmary.  Sure he probably should have stayed for observation like the doctors wanted, but he wasn’t going to let any more time go to waste when he could be out tracking down the group that had kidnapped him and the others.

Slipping into the agent’s locker room and grabbing his clothes, Erick scowled at his service pistol hanging in his locker before grabbing it and tucking the holster into his waistband.  The fact that he was forced to rely on it again instead of his natural abilities only served to reignite his anger at the group who did this to him.  The final touch was the hat he grabbed so he could blend in, hopefully without being stopped and forced back to the infirmary.

It wasn’t until he got outside to the motor pool that Erick ran into his issue; the agent in charge of watching over the motor pool was sitting inside the building.  “Fuck!"  Erick shouted, fuming at his lack of luck.  "Ymir’s hairy frozen ballsack!  Of all the gods damned…"  Erick trailed off when he heard someone approaching him and sighed.  "Alright, you caught me.”

“I go to the bathroom for all of two minutes and you decide to stage a prison break, Magnusson?”  It wasn’t necessarily a surprise, not when it came to Erick.  She’d never known him to take anything lying down, much less ‘take it easy.’  In fact, Rowan had been shocked to have gone to visit her friend and found him in the infirmary at all.  It was a surprise that it had taken him this long to arrange his escape.

She did feel bad to have surprised him so thoroughly, but her short little legs could only track him down in C.A.R.M.A.’s building so quickly.  Heaving a small sigh, she leaned her body against the door frame and looked her friend over.  It could have been worse, she mused - they could have decided to eliminate Metahumans completely, rather than just ‘cure’ them.  Though that was bad enough, at least Erick was still around.  But it didn’t erase her concern for him and whatever place he was mentally at the moment.  “So what was the grand plan?  Hope and pray that none of the unlimited surveillance in this building and numerous agents wouldn’t notice you after everything that just happened?”

A week into his new role at CARMA, and Jonah had managed to spill three cups of coffee, set one of his sweaters on fire, and locked out of his apartment… well he was too embarrassed to admit how many times that had happened already. He’d insisted he was ready to be on his own, and he wasn’t about to let his father have the satisfaction of his failure. Jonah didn’t actually know if Winston Wright would even really care either way, his disinterest in his son was the only consistent thing about him. 

Today he was in the dining hall, battling one of the vending machines, trying to get a soda. He’d already fed it three extra dollars than he’d needed to, but the machine seemed hellbent on just taking his money. It was late, and the hall was mostly empty as Jonah nervously looked around, silently willing for the machine to give him his drink. A few tables down there was a woman, her head bent over some scattered papers and books, and Jonah kept glancing towards her. He’d started the conversation in his head about four times as he stood there, pressing the button a few more times as if it would finally decide to give his soda. 

Hesitating for another minute, Jonah swallowed, forcing himself to walk towards the other person. “Hi–” He stops, and even though he’d gone over what he would say in his head, his words suddenly disappeared out of his. “I um, I was wondering… see, the um, the vending machine over there, do you know if it works? I um, it keeps just eating my money.” His words come out scattered, realizing how stupid he sounds as he’s saying it. 

@rowanaubri​

It wasn’t unusual to find Rowan burning the candle at both ends in the C.A.R.M.A. facilities.  With the rise of H.A.M.E.R. and their destructive ‘cure,’ it felt all the more important for her to have a breakthrough in the genetic side of things.  Perhaps by tracing down precisely how Metas were born, it could give them a clue into where to focus their efforts on reversing its affects.

She’d been sitting in the dining hall for hours now, poring over every experiment she’d run since arriving at C.A.R.M.A., somehow certain the key was already within those pages.  The guy messing with the vending machine was barely on her mental radar until he spoke and she looked up at him, almost bleary eyed from all of the text running together.  A few blinks and she fully processed his question before letting out a chuckle.

“You must be new,” she offered gently, stretching in her seat before standing and approaching the offending vending machine.  “I’m not saying it’s hazing necessarily, but they keep promising to fix the thing and never do.”  One hand cupped the fist of the other before she gave it a hard elbow and multiple cans of soda tumbled down.  “Lucky I was here, or you might have had to resort to ...” she trailed off as she looked at the other vending machine.  “Gatorade.”

“Not sure if keeping them alive is actually creepier,” he chuckled. He usually didn’t like to stereotype, but Rowan didn’t look like your typical insect collector. When she asked how far away they were and started complaining about her shoes, Jax rolled his eyes as they strolled along. They weren’t too far, but just to prove a point, he picked her up bridal-style. Luckily he was actually sober enough to walk in a straight line, so he didn’t find it too difficult. “There, you happier now?” He smirked, walking a little further until they reached the steps to his apartment. Jax gently set her down and unlocked the door, taking hold of her hand and leading her inside. “Feel free to take those uncomfortable shoes off,” he chuckled, closing the door behind them.

“Well, alive also means I’m not snuffing out their life in the interest of a personal collection.  I’d think being willing to kill the things would be creepier.  Though ... I have met a few people that get creeped out when I have Brutus out and about.”  A surprised squeak came out of her throat as Jax picked her up unexpectedly, followed by a bright laugh.  Not what she had been expecting when she’d asked about his apartment, but she wasn’t going to complain.  Instead she just rested her head against his shoulder and enjoyed the ride.  “Much happier, thank you,” Rowan mused, slipping out of her shoes as they apparently had arrived at his place.  She definitely didn’t need to be told twice, each dangling from a finger as she followed him in.  “Any warnings about a mess that I should heed before I start snooping around?”

Kaden would have thought he’d gotten used to the random supernatural events that occurred within Pansaw. Today seemed to take the cake for weirdness as he not only woke up as the opposite sex the day before, but he now donned a large pair of feathery white wings. How the hell he was supposed to get dressed and go to work was beyond him, but somehow the Second in Command managed. He found the wings more annoying than this new body, for they made getting dressed a real pain in the ass. By the time he’d declared himself decent, he was already late for work and sped out of his home, cussing the whole way to C.A.R.M.A. 

He slowed down when he came across the scene of someone trying to get into the building. Feeling the need to help, Kaden strolled over with a raised brow. “Is there an issue here?” he asked, glancing between the security guard and the strange-looking person attempting to enter, his wings fluffing out behind him. “I’m sorry, but do you work here?” 

“Of course I work here!” came the exasperated huff, Rowan desperately trying to keep from pulling her hair out in frustration.  “If I were some kind of covert spy person, I’d hardly be trying to come in the front door with someone else’s ID, right?  I’d be trying to sneak in somewhere with all of this chaos happening!”  Though she paused as she realized that might give the security guard and this unfamiliar woman another suspected motive.  “And I swear I’m not causing a scene here so someone can sneak in elsewhere.  Just look my name up in the system, I’m Dr. Rowan Aubri and I share a laboratory with a giant irritating alchemist named Aleister.  Surprisingly he makes me feel like pulling my hair out a lot less than you are at the moment.  And as you can tell, I don’t have much to spare.”

The short-haired blonde nodded a little with the other woman’s guidance, momentarily getting distracted with the mention of food. “Oh nice, I was honestly in a bit of a rush I forgot breakfast. Might need to make a pit stop at the cafeteria,” Skye muttered almost to herself before snapping back to attention with her task back in focus. “But um what about the training room?”

“Well you’re in luck, because that’s precisely where I was headed.  I’m out of coffee and sweet treats and both are entirely required lab fuel.  Not to mention it gives me an excuse to not be around a certain colleague who is brewing up the gods-know-what right now in our lab.  You’re welcome to join me if you’d like?  And then I can get you to the training room,” Rowan offered, clipboard falling to her side as she gave the new girl a grin.  “Let me guess, first day?”

“Everyone gesticulates differently, so it is better to ask and be certain than make assumptions and be wrong."  Turning toward his bag, Aleister pulled out a clear thermos full of a dark green liquid, taking a large drink from it and then setting it aside to pick up the spray bottle once more.

"No, not a prank at all,” he replied with a smirk, heading over toward where his clothes sat folded up.  He had been about to spray them when she made her challenge.  “Very well, I will.  Thankfully I have not doused my clothing yet, so they will serve that purpose nicely.”

Laying his shirt on the table, Aleister rummaged around in his bag a bit, pulling out a hot plate and a sturdy metal tin.  With the hot plate in one hand he yanked hard on the cord, separating it from the plate and handed the plug end to Rowan.  “Here, plug this in once I’ve embedded it in my shirt."  Using a pocket knife, he peeled back the rubber casing, exposing the wires themselves before threading them into the shirt fabric.  "The electricity flowing through the cord will intensify the energy fields, making them easier to see,” he said, pulling off the lid of the tin to reveal a fine silver powder.  “This powder reacts with those energy fields and will hover at different heights based on the strength and type of energy that was absorbed."  With a nod of his head, Aleister waited for her to plug in the cord before grabbing a handful of the powder and slinging it over his shirt.

Rowan almost wanted to ask what the hell was in the thermos but opted not to - something told her she didn’t want to know, not to mention she had enough crap to wrap her head around already.  So she told herself it was a green smoothie and left it at that.

A sigh parted her lips as he reassured her that it wasn’t a prank.  There went her last hope that Aleister wasn’t serious.  She was quiet as he explained, a rarity for the typical bubby scientist.  When he handed her the hot plate, she took it with one wary eyebrow raised but did as he instructed.  Skepticism still reigned, but she was still a scientist.  Hard proof, the replicability of an experiment, data - she believed in them all.  And if he could provide even one of those then she might be able to view him and his brand of pseudo-science with an open mind.  The plate plugged in, she turned to see what would happen, though - “You realize I’m going to want to investigate each of these materials in turn to ensure that it is precisely what it seems to be, yes?”

Nick saw the look on her face and knew his presence was having the same effect on her. As it did everyone else but Rowan didn’t seem to be outright terrified of him. So that was a win for him and she agreed to let him stay. As long as he kept his distance which he had absolutely no problem doing. He took a seat a lab table in the back of the room. “Why is everything volatile right now? Someone messing with you too.”

“To say the damn least.  I shouldn’t even be here right now, but I had some samples in a time sensitive experiment and ...”  She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose - which seemed to prompt the eye rinsing station to shoot off like a water fountain.  “That.  Right there.  That’s a thing I can apparently do now, and I have no idea how to make it stop or control it or anything, really.  The bunsen burners are all thankfully off but I can’t exactly cut the water off to the building, can I?  Or get rid of air.”  It shouldn’t have been a relief that Nick sat as far away from her as he could, but it was.  Only then did the last word seem to echo - “Too?  What’s going on with you?”

Having already gone through this and identifying himself earlier, Manny was able to persuade the officer that this person was indeed Rowan Aubri, despite the change in appearance. He let her through and the psionic grinned wickedly, glancing down briefly at Rowan’s groin area. “You’ll get used to it,” he said, meeting the scientist’s gaze again as he answered her unspoken question. Was it his business? No. But he found it too amusing to pass up mentioning. “Right, we’ve met. Probably look a bit different too, don’t I?” he chuckled, looking down at himself. “It’s me, Manny.” He started walking back inside the building, the guard letting Rowan through. “Might wanna hurry up into work before this guy can’t remember who you are or something.” 

Rowan binked in disbelief at the glance and the statement, clearing her throat and running her hands through her short locks.  “Heard that one, huh?  Though how would you kno-”  And then everything clicked into place as the beautiful woman introduced herself.  Or rather, himself.  Yeah, she guessed that if anyone knew how strange this was, it would be Manny.  “Knowing my luck this morning, that would probably happen and we’d have to go through this whole circus again,” she replied, shuffling inside the doors behind the Meta with a relieved sigh.  Though how many times she’d probably have to go through this with her colleagues ... “Why did I even bother trying to come in today?  I should have called out with male problems or something.  Female problems is a thing, male problems should be one too.”

Whatever strange magic had gotten into Jackson’s mind, it wasn’t allowing him to think clearly. There was no way he’d act like this normally–he’d probably have to cringe at himself for a few weeks to come because of it. The one saving grace was that this wasn’t his body, not the one he’d always worn, and at the very least that would keep him from the actual embarrassment he was bringing upon himself. 

“Right–” He nods his head, long hair cascading over his shoulders, the flirty grin still on his face. “I mean, I’ve never been one to oppose a good day drink, there’s gotta be somewhere around here that’s open.” He says glancing back towards the door, rolling with the suggestion, because all he knew was that his mind was telling him he needed to be around this girl. 

Day drinking wasn’t precisely in Rowan’s repertoire, but something that had been known to happen from time to time.  An occasional Superbowl party she felt obligated to attend despite the fact that she didn’t like football, sure, or some mid-afternoon garden/engagement party.  But on a random Saturday with lab results to pore over for hours?  Unheard of.  Though as close to a breakthrough as she felt, she’d also been going over the numbers for the last three days with no new information to show for it.  Maybe a little day drinking and a break from the results would be good for her.

“Pretty sure there’s a pub a couple of blocks away?  I haven’t had bangers in mash in a little too long for my comfort.  What do you think?”

Starcrossed Ladies || Jackson & Rowan

Love was something Jackson had experienced before, but being in love? No that wasn’t something Jackson was familiar with. Or at least, that’s what he’d thought until today. The day was already far from normal, since waking up with a pair of tits and a brand new vagina, but the feeling he was hit with when he saw her was what shocked him. Before he knew it, Jackson found himself walking into the coffee shop where she was sitting, admiring the way her hair framed, and the look of concentration on her face. 

He couldn’t even question it: he was completely and totally in love with this woman. 

Without thinking too hard, Jackson walked up to the table she was sitting at and sat down, his own voice catching him off guard for a moment, forgetting that he wasn’t in his usual body. 

“Hi,” He says with an almost dazed little smile on his female features. “I’m J–” He stumbles for a moment before finding his words. “Jessica, I’m Jessica, and I just saw you sitting here, and I just thought that I would uh… you’re um… god you’re gorgeous, you know that right? Like, wow. Could I buy you a drink?” He rambles, completely missing the fact that she already had a coffee sitting in front of her. 

@rowanaubri​

Just because it was a Saturday didn’t mean that Rowan ignored her work - especially when it felt like she was right on the edge of a breakthrough on her pet project.  Typically she would be out for a hike, or wandering Pansaw to find some hole in the wall with the best burritos in town or the like.  But not today, not when it felt like the answers on her Metahuman genetic project were just within reach.  Brow furrowed, she was pouring over her results when the chair across from her was suddenly occupied.

“Uh.  Hi?” came the almost confused response, though she did flush slightly at the compliment.  Thirty and she still hadn’t gotten accustomed to being complimented on her looks or her mind.  Much less having someone be so direct in what felt like clear attraction.  “I’m flattered, uh, thanks?  But ...”  Rowan picked up the half-full coffee cup and gave it a little shake.  “Unless you’re suggesting we start drink-drinking before noon?”  

I'm Not A Monster | Nick & Rowan|

@rowanaubri

Nick almost had a heart attack when he woke up and looked in the mirror only to see that. He had turned green overnight and he couldn't help but roar in rage. The roar was so loud his entire apartment shook from the intensity of it. Jax dashed from the bedroom whining as if he was being abused. When Nick went to soothe him the pitbull cried even more and just cowered in a corner. His own dog was afraid of him whenever he got the chance. He was going to hunt down the Meta responsible for this and rip them apart. Right now he needed to get to work and all the way to C.A.R.M.A HQ people ran from him screaming. He tried to be nice and help an old lady across the street, but somehow she ended up faceplanted and hurt. After that Nick just gave up and got to work as fast as he could.

But his monster troubles didn't get any better Nick decided that. He would just hide out in the lab with Rowan for the day. If he could convince her not to run or attack him that is. Nick gently knocked on the lab door and opened it just enough. For her to hear him there was no way he was just going to barge in like usual. "Hey Ro Ro it's me Nick can I come in?"

It had been something of a shock to wake that morning and discover that suddenly she had powers.  There had always been a hint of jealousy and bitterness in Rowan when her brother had come into his abilities; now no trace of those emotions remained.  Instead they were replaced with frustration over the total lack of control she had over her newfound powers.  She’d already solidified the air in front of her multiple times that morning, leading to a very sore nose and a very impatient scientist.  The plan had been to get to work as quickly as possible to try some of the exercises she’d come up with when Hawthorn became Metahuman.  But the plan didn’t take into account the havoc her uncontrolled abilities were wreaking.

Which meant that by the time she had managed to figure out showering when the water wanted to explode rather than drip, and how not to uproot trees, she was very late for work.  At least she didn’t have to argue with security over if she was who she said she was like the previous week.  Flustered didn’t even begin to describe how she was feeling when a knock sounded from the door she’d just closed a couple of minutes before.  Rowan began to smile when she heard it was Nick until another feeling overtook her instead - dread.  Her forehead wrinkled seeing as that was not an emotion she’d ever felt with him.  “Uh.  Yes?  You might want to keep your distance though because I am ... not myself.  For the third time this week.  And everything feels a little ... volatile right now.”

It seemed Manny wasn’t the only one who’d woken up in the opposite sex today. Most of C.A.R.M.A’s employees were experiencing the same problem, which made security protocols a real bitch to handle today. Naturally, the only way to know for sure who really was part of the organization’s staff here was to call the telepath every ten minutes. Manny made his way downstairs at the latest call, coming face to face with today’s security guard and some strange man he’d never met before. His eyes narrowed slightly as he stared, diving just enough into the other’s mind to get a name and a few recent memories. 

“Rowan Aubri?” he said. He hadn’t interacted with the newest researcher much save for a few passing hello’s in the hallways. He gestured at the security officer that this one was okay and offered Rowan a small smile. “You look different. Done something new with your hair?” 

@rowanaubri​

“Come on, call my labmate if you have to to verify my identity!” she was exclaiming, hands flapping like they had been the past five minutes at the security guard who had refused her entry.  Sure, her picture didn’t exactly match right now - but given the battery of tests she’d had to endure to become a part of C.A.R.M.A. in the first place, certainly they could call a fellow lab technician out to verify her DNA?  Apparently not, or at least according to the guard.  Instead a woman she hadn’t seen in the facility before approached, looking well, beautiful but maybe a little flabbergasted as well.  Rowan could only assume they had some sort of mental ability; that or she was here to kick her ass out of her place of employment.

“Yes, thank the gods, someone with some common sense!” came the response, relief flooding her that she was not going to be refused entry and ruin the current tests she was running.  Though she did snort at the query, followed by a soft chuckle.  “Yeah, among other things,” she murmured, trying to discreetly adjust her newly acquired penis while pulling a face.  How did men walk around like this all the time?  “I’m sorry, have we met before?”