sensoriium

i guess you could say that my life’s a mess but i’m still lookin’ pretty in this dress

Lexi leans back in her chair, a dry smile crossing her lips. “Well, I mean, just wanting to drop in could technically be a reason.” She raises an eyebrow and pulls up Brook’s account. “Work as far as what? Do they want you to be more professional? Or like… what?” She looks over at the supe in confusion. “Cause I mean, you really don’t have anything inappropriate on your page. You’re not like posting nudes or shit.” She scrolls through. “They want you to be squeaky clean or something? Someone’s already got that market cornered.” She mutters. 

Brook couldn’t help the scoff that left her lips. “Yeah, no shit. I always thought Soldier Boy was full of shit right up until I actually met the guy. Can’t believe he’s really that boring. Honestly, it’s a waste of that ass, if you ask me.”

Even with his long history of being in the limelight, nothing compared to this day. And as much as this was everything he wished for, he couldn’t properly enjoy the moment.

There was a nagging thought in his mind, a small grain of doubt over how deserving he was in receiving the medal. He did kill someone for this ‘prize’. (Not to say that his record was the cleanest, but he felt even worse that their success was attributed to an accident – an accident he caused.)

Once they returned to the green room, Jet took off the medal, as if it was scorching and burning his skin. He avoided looking at the incriminating artefact, choosing to focus on Brook instead. “Even if it doesn’t go with your outfit?” he teased, leaning on one of the sofa. “You seem happy.”

“Please, I’d wear a burlap sack and nothing else if it meant I got to put this on.” Brook angled herself in the mirror, tilting her body a certain way so the gold trim on the medal shifted and glimmered against the light. It really was beautiful. There were only a handful of people in the world who had these, and now she was among the likes of them. She’d checked too – her name was already up on Wikipedia. 

Finally prying her eyes away from her own reflection, Brook turned to regard Jet with a look, one he was likely all too familiar with. “You don’t seem as excited as you should be.”

“I ain’t,” he lied. A ping noise kept goin’ on his phone for the hundredth time tha’ day. Members of the press wantin’ to speak to any supe that fell in the age range of Maeves to find out who it could be. It wouldn’t be long till someone found out. “I’m jus’ pissed at all of ‘em trying to find information out ‘bout us all. They tried gettin’ hold o’ you yet?” Wantin’ to deflect he put on a can’t be arsed look. “Who are you bettin’ is Maeves kid? We think its someone from Young Americans or Super Douper. Not a clue who tho’ .”

“I mean, if her baby daddy is Latino then sure, it could be me,” Brook scoffed. She went silent for awhile, the gears in her head turning. She’d had a couple of mentions on Instagram and Twitter, and she knew that people on supe Reddit were going wild talking about conspiracy theories, but she hadn’t actually stopped to wonder if the kid was someone she knew. She’d always just assumed that it was a civilian. “What makes you think it’s someone our age? What makes you sure it’s a Vought Supe?”

Lexi smiles thinly. “Maybe y’all should stop giving me things to stress out about.” She jokes halfheartedly. She laughs softly. “I.. maybe you’re right. I don’t feel like I deserve more.” She admits with a shrug. “Anyways, what brings you over here, Sensor?” She raises an eyebrow at the supe across from her. 

Brook shot Lexi a look of mock offense. “Do I have to have a reason to see my favourite social media specialist? Can’t I just drop in?” Granted, they hadn’t really spoken much, but she’d taken a liking to the girl, and giving a shit about anyone was honestly a rare accomplishment for her. The other members of the social team had already managed to piss her off one way or another. “But okay yeah, I came to ask if there was anything you could do to boost my profile a little. We just won a fuckin’ Presidential Medal and PR still says my image needs ‘work’. No thanks to the Homelander situation.”

Shockwave didn’t say anything, didn’t even sigh at her attitude, just walked to the direction they needed to go to. He stayed completely quiet in the elevator, not sparing a glance to the other supe. There was no reason to stir the pot and be snarky now, he could do that afterwards. For now, he needed to think positive thoughts and hope nothing from the last few days would spoil his mood for the next couple of hours. 

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Shockwave grinned brightly to the people waiting for them. He had to stop himself from jolting when Sensor stepped closer for pictures, used to doing this alone, yet laid a hand on her shoulder in a similar friendly fashion, only lightly enough that he was barely touching her. Call him cautious, but he didn’t need people making assumptions. 

“Shockwave, you’ve been here before, how does it feel to be back?” Another reporter asked. It had been a long while since he’d done this sort of event, having been too busy with everything going on, but it felt so natural to be doing this despite that fact.

“I’m always happy to be back to see how everybody has been doing and help out, and it’s so great having Sensor be here today.” Shockwave replied, smiling. He turned to the doctor that was in change of the patients, a man he recognized, and greeted him with a warm handshake. Looking at the patients, it was a mix of adults and children, the oldest being an elderly woman, and the youngest being a little boy. 

Brook recognised a couple of the journalists. They exclusively covered Supe news for some major publications and blogs and she always spoke to them at events, sometimes even anonymously tipped them off when something big was about to happen. It was always good to have favourable relationships with the press, and it was how she knew that this event was going to go well. 

She stepped up to the doctor, reaching out to shake his hand with a smile and listening intently as he gave them an overview of the patients, telling them their stories and what exactly they needed help with. The cameras continued flashing. Across the ward, a few nurses were filming with their phones. If Brook were a different person, she’d almost feel this was dirty.

The little boy was up first, clearly the most excited of the bunch to be meeting two real life superheroes. He approached them gingerly, a little wobble in his legs, his eyes shining with excitement. Brook knelt down to meet his eyeline, giving him a little hug as he neared. The cameras went crazy.

“Hi Kieran, it’s so nice to meet you. I’m Sensor,” she smiled warmly, catching his name from the tag above his bed. “I’m going to do a little something to help you, okay? It’s not going to hurt a bit.” As she took the boys hands in hers, she felt the weakness in his limbs, the effort it was taking his muscles to even keep him upright. Concentrating, she restored sensation into them. Granted, she wasn’t able to heal him and the results would fade within a few hours, but what she could do was give him hope, a momentary break from feeling so defeated.

Kieran looked down in shock as he felt the sudden strength in his legs, a wide smile breaking across his face as he found himself able to jump and give little kicks. He ran over to his mother excitedly, showing off his newfound strength. There was a murmur of excitement from the crowd behind them, and Brook played along.

POINT CALL   //   22.11.20 – 28.11.20

Gif Chat / Para Replies – 100 (10 posts)

Meme Responses – 20 (4 posts)

Self-Paragraphs – 0

Starters – 30 (2 posts)

Replying to Open Starter – 30 (2 posts)

Point Shop Purchase – 0

WEEKLY TOTAL – 180

Being a solo supe, Ben had done his fair share of charity events and fan meet ups. Being the social type, he loved doing them, as it let people both fawn over him and made him look good. He’d actually done this kind of thing before, helping people going through physical rehab after operations, accidents or for other reasons at hospitals. This hospital specifically he was familiar with, since it was close to his father’s workplace and he’d done other events he before, to the point he knew some of the staff by name. Shockwave was promoted as the ‘approachable athlete’ type of supe, so this was all part of his appeal. 

He especially needed this distraction at the moment, since his mood had been pretty foul for the past couple of days. A lot was on his mind and he was angry at a lot of things, namely himself. The one downfall about this whole thing was that he was being partnered up with Sensor. He had nothing against the other supe, he just found her annoying, for lack of better word. 

“Hardy har har, very funny.” He replied flatly clearly not in the mood. His outfit was the same as always, glasses and all. “I’m assuming you read the event brief. You good with everything on it?” It was simple enough, turn up, show some support, Sensor would do her thing, Shockwave would give exercise tips, look good for the cameras, leave. 

“Yeah. Nothing new,” Brook muttered, almost bored. "Let’s just get this over with.” Having to pretend like she was suddenly BFFs with the guy for the next two hours in front of a bunch of cameras was going to be torture. But she had a feeling the sentiments were mutual. 

The Vought publicity team was ushering them up to the upper floors now, where a small group of journalists were waiting at a wing filled with patients with mobility issues. Brook checked her reflection one last time in a mirror in the elevator, ensuring her hair and makeup was still intact, before stepping out. 

As usual, the flashes from the cameras that greeted them were blinding. And as usual, she lowered the sensitivity of her vision so she’d be able to look them head on without being fazed. It was easy for Brook to turn on that sweet smile that her fans seemed to love, and she stepped closer to Shockwave for pictures, her arm going around his waist in a friendly gesture. Their height difference was vast, and she just knew the internet would eat the pictures up. If it inspired dating rumours and shippers then gross, but even better.

“How are you guys feeling about your visit today?” asked one reporter.

“Honestly, we’re really looking forward to it,” Brook answered with a bright grin. “Shockwave and I can’t wait to see everyone today. We’ve been planning this visit for ages, and we’re so happy it was finally able to come together. We’re going to try to help as many people as we can today.”

Brook had thought Payback’s publicist was joking when he said she needed a more human angle. Especially after being awarded the Presidential Medal, and the increasing slew of selfies she’d been posting on her Instagram, it seems like general public sentiment of her was beginning to sway, according to him. It was never that she was a girl-next-door Starlight-esque type, nor was she as much of a red carpet darling as Looker, always somewhere in between. Either way, she was beginning to feel ‘unattainable’, and he’d advised her to return to doing charity runs like she used to. And this time, to partner up with one of Vought’s lesser known solo Supes.

Brook was honestly offended. Not by the charity runs – they were performative, yes, but she sometimes actually genuinely enjoyed doing those. It was more the fact that she wasn’t rating as well even though she’d shed fucking tears at the White House, in front of hundreds of cameras. Wasn’t that enough? What else did they want from her, to adopt an orphan?

“You’re late,” she said, mild irritation in her voice as she turned to her partner. She was dressed for the occasion, in the good girl version of her costume, no legs or cleavage on display. “Way to go breaking speedster stereotypes. I’m actually, like, legit impressed.”

starter for: @sensoriium​

location: Payback Headquarters

status: closed

~~~~~~~~~~

Today Soldier Boy was full of pride and was in a genuinely good mood. He was getting almost everything that he’d wanted. Even though his team had made a rather massive mistake, like they tended to do, it had worked out in their favor. Payback were growing more popular than he’d ever imagined. That meant he was in noticeably more happy mood then normal as he made his usual post-outing checkups upon their return from the White House. That was his habit to make sure his team was alright after every group outing mission or not.

Next up on his list of people to check on was Sensor. He would have tended towards the more removed side around her. Given how forward she’d been when they met. However he had put that in the hindsight for the time being and had a smile on his face as he approached his teammate. “You know the drill Sensor. How are you doing post outing?” There wasn’t the usual monotone straight forward lilt to his voice when he asked. This time there was an uplifted tone that was tinged with happiness.

The first thing Brook had done after receiving the Presidential Medal was check her Wikipedia page. To her delight, someone had already updated it with the win, and there were an increasing number of press photos showing up across social media. She’d made sure to shed a few tears of joy and pride while the President had been placing the medal around her neck - all it’d taken was a bit of a tickle and a slight burn in the back of her eyes. Her powers really did come in handy sometimes. As she’d expected, her teary photos were a hit.

The medal was still hanging around her neck when the team touched down back at base, and she was just making her way back to her quarters, an extra spring in her step, when she heard her leader speak. The guy was hot, she would gladly admit any day -- right up ‘til the point he opened his mouth. “I’m great,” she answered with a pleasant smile and a nod as she turned to him. “Though I’d be better if you’d one day stop speaking like we’re on a military base in the 40′s.”

Seein’ someone he used to get on with made him stop in his tracks but all tha’ everyone was sayin’ around them was about the revelations on Marias show an’ wha’ it meant for other supes, who it could be an’ who her girlfriend was. “Do I need a reason? Jus’ cover for me or find someone else. I need t’get out of here for a lil bit.” He didn’t mean t’be so short wi’ her but couldn’t help himself. “Sorry. I don’ mean to be such an ass I’m just a little stressed wi’ all the Vought shit goin’ on. Forgot to say, congrats on the medal. Fuckin’ glad you got some acknowledgment for all ‘ya do.”

Blarney was one of the few Supes Brook actually genuinely cared about. She’d been glad to be rid of her last team but she was always going to see him as a good friend and ally. She noticed his distress almost immediately, and her brows furrowed as she lowered her phone, studying him carefully. Something was going on, no doubt about it. “Thanks,” she said shortly. her eyes narrowing just a little. “Why are you so pressed about Homelander’s bitch fit?”