Post by aquarius on Jan 14, 2022 15:59:31 GMT -7
Finesse could learn just about anything near instantly, and when it came to knowledge that usually meant understanding it. The one major exception to this was human emotion. She had read many university level text books on psychology, was effectively probably the most knowledgeable person in the world on the subject, and yet... she could not understand even simple concepts which observation taught her were comprehended by even pre-schoolers. Why did people cry? Laugh? Why did she understand the evolutionary purpose of an emotion, and yet even when she had felt it for herself did she not understand why others could not control it like she could?
Naturally, her scientific mind sought more data in the hope that it would answer her questions. And since she'd already read the books considered the most advanced on the subject, she needed to enhance her experience of the other component of the subject. This meant seeking out situations with intense emotional components. But this proved more difficult than anticipated. Horror movies would not have scared her even without her experiences with the Avengers Academy. Her incredible talents meant dangerous situations were if anything often rather boring. Her only real desire was to learn, which was not typically a particularly emotional experience. Intense pain was an easy one to feel, but given how often she'd been exposed to it due to her training, there was limited new information to be obtained that way. But perhaps...
observing and interacting with others in emotional situations, that seemed a promising means of gathering data. With others as the subject of study and herself as a control of sorts, she would potentially be able to learn far more effectively. But how to interact with large numbers of people, ideally all with similar emotional mindsets? That was easy enough for an attractive young person. A nightclub.
Perhaps she was underage, but it was back in middle school that she'd learned the skills to fake an ID well enough to fool any mainstream checks, not that she'd ever used them for such an... ordinary deception. But tonight, between a careful choice of wardrobe and an alias that not even the FBI would find a flaw with, she easily gained entry into one of the local hotspots popular with the students at ESU.
It wasn't long before various young men were trying various methods of getting her attention, all of them lacking any subtlety to her mind, though most women would likely consider them quite tactful. Eventually she showed one at random a bit more interest than the others and when she joined him on the dance floor, the others lost interest and wandered off to seek lesser prizes for their base interests.
This young man though, he was relatively respectful of her personal space, without being too distant. Almost anyone else wouldn't recognise the signs of someone faking normal emotions, but Finesse had been doing the same for her entire life, and spotted immediately the indicators of a sociopath trying to blend in. Whilst unexpected, this merely offered a different data set to what she had originally anticipated, so Jeanne saw no reason to discontinue the interactions.
Only when they paused for a drink did that change. When he returned with two glasses of coke, she noticed the one passed to her was... near identical, but had a slightly different meniscus, and there was a faint disruption to the condensation pattern along one side of the inner face. Conclusion - something had been added to it. It didn't take a genius to work out what, and she immediately determined the best thing to do. The glass was kept near her mouth, occasionally feigning taking a sip, whenever he looked away a varying amount being poured away to emulate actual consumption of the beverage. After a few minutes she feigned signs of intense fatigue and dizziness, and was not surprised when he began to hold her up, helping her towards the exit.
Once outside and out of sight of the public his behaviour changed near instantly. It took only a fraction of a second for where his hand had been placed to induce a surge of fury from Jeanne, resulting in a sudden Rising Mongoose Palm breaking his nose, followed by a jumping spin kick with no specific name that she'd once seen a video of Georges Batroc use against Captain America, connecting squarely with his chest and shattering three ribs. Even before she'd landed a single thumb had connected with the junction between his neck and shoulder, a pressure point she'd figured out for herself back in high school. And with that he was falling to the floor briefly unable to move, with two reasons that breathing was going to trouble him for the near future, one of which also meant he'd not be doing anything too strenuous for a few months.
Jeanne found herself delivering a swift kick to an area that none of her combat instructors had ever officially endorsed targeting, especially in a prone, already defeated opponent, but that surely none of them would have any problem with under the circumstances. And with that she walked away, enjoying that last cry of pain a lot more than she'd ever done so in a fight before.
She was around half way home on foot before she realised what had happened. She'd gotten angry, and lost control of herself. This was...
Wonderful!
A completely new emotional experience with intense personal significance, coupled with observation of similar in another person! There was so much to learn from this, she'd be considering the implications for several days, at least. Maybe the entire week! As she walked the remainder of the distance back home, she couldn't help but smile, something which would surely confuse any normal person - something which was not lost on her - which only made her smile all the more.
Naturally, her scientific mind sought more data in the hope that it would answer her questions. And since she'd already read the books considered the most advanced on the subject, she needed to enhance her experience of the other component of the subject. This meant seeking out situations with intense emotional components. But this proved more difficult than anticipated. Horror movies would not have scared her even without her experiences with the Avengers Academy. Her incredible talents meant dangerous situations were if anything often rather boring. Her only real desire was to learn, which was not typically a particularly emotional experience. Intense pain was an easy one to feel, but given how often she'd been exposed to it due to her training, there was limited new information to be obtained that way. But perhaps...
observing and interacting with others in emotional situations, that seemed a promising means of gathering data. With others as the subject of study and herself as a control of sorts, she would potentially be able to learn far more effectively. But how to interact with large numbers of people, ideally all with similar emotional mindsets? That was easy enough for an attractive young person. A nightclub.
Perhaps she was underage, but it was back in middle school that she'd learned the skills to fake an ID well enough to fool any mainstream checks, not that she'd ever used them for such an... ordinary deception. But tonight, between a careful choice of wardrobe and an alias that not even the FBI would find a flaw with, she easily gained entry into one of the local hotspots popular with the students at ESU.
It wasn't long before various young men were trying various methods of getting her attention, all of them lacking any subtlety to her mind, though most women would likely consider them quite tactful. Eventually she showed one at random a bit more interest than the others and when she joined him on the dance floor, the others lost interest and wandered off to seek lesser prizes for their base interests.
This young man though, he was relatively respectful of her personal space, without being too distant. Almost anyone else wouldn't recognise the signs of someone faking normal emotions, but Finesse had been doing the same for her entire life, and spotted immediately the indicators of a sociopath trying to blend in. Whilst unexpected, this merely offered a different data set to what she had originally anticipated, so Jeanne saw no reason to discontinue the interactions.
Only when they paused for a drink did that change. When he returned with two glasses of coke, she noticed the one passed to her was... near identical, but had a slightly different meniscus, and there was a faint disruption to the condensation pattern along one side of the inner face. Conclusion - something had been added to it. It didn't take a genius to work out what, and she immediately determined the best thing to do. The glass was kept near her mouth, occasionally feigning taking a sip, whenever he looked away a varying amount being poured away to emulate actual consumption of the beverage. After a few minutes she feigned signs of intense fatigue and dizziness, and was not surprised when he began to hold her up, helping her towards the exit.
Once outside and out of sight of the public his behaviour changed near instantly. It took only a fraction of a second for where his hand had been placed to induce a surge of fury from Jeanne, resulting in a sudden Rising Mongoose Palm breaking his nose, followed by a jumping spin kick with no specific name that she'd once seen a video of Georges Batroc use against Captain America, connecting squarely with his chest and shattering three ribs. Even before she'd landed a single thumb had connected with the junction between his neck and shoulder, a pressure point she'd figured out for herself back in high school. And with that he was falling to the floor briefly unable to move, with two reasons that breathing was going to trouble him for the near future, one of which also meant he'd not be doing anything too strenuous for a few months.
Jeanne found herself delivering a swift kick to an area that none of her combat instructors had ever officially endorsed targeting, especially in a prone, already defeated opponent, but that surely none of them would have any problem with under the circumstances. And with that she walked away, enjoying that last cry of pain a lot more than she'd ever done so in a fight before.
She was around half way home on foot before she realised what had happened. She'd gotten angry, and lost control of herself. This was...
Wonderful!
A completely new emotional experience with intense personal significance, coupled with observation of similar in another person! There was so much to learn from this, she'd be considering the implications for several days, at least. Maybe the entire week! As she walked the remainder of the distance back home, she couldn't help but smile, something which would surely confuse any normal person - something which was not lost on her - which only made her smile all the more.