Masks: A New Generation of Heroes

Game Master Cwethan

Cassie blinked at Alexis as the other girl reached out and touched her scar. "It doesn't hurt." she said, pulling her shirt up to hide the vicious mark as the Alexis took her hand and lying back against the bed's huge pile of pillows but letting Alexis keep her hand in her own - Alexis seemed to like it. "I didn't mean for you to see it. It's from,... well, never mind." she said, "Take the lead? What do you mean you don't want to hurt me? You don't, like, flail around in your sleep or anything. Do you? Cause I'm OK with the couch if you need the room."

Pierce the mask: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 1) = 5

Shayera gives Shaun a serious look. "If I didn't want you here, I wouldn't let you be here. And why would I need you to do anything for me?" She pauses, looking around at her apartment. "For the last few months, it's just been me here. It honestly felt like a waste. All this space, the labs, the kitchen." She shrugs her shoulders. "Why wouldn't I want this to be our headquarters?"

Her pent-up anxiety about going to see how Bronwyn's conversation with her parents was going finally caught up to her. "Look, I really gotta go. I'll see you later, okay?"

She heads to the balcony where she leaps off and dives down to pick up speed before pulling out of the fall and angling towards Northside and Bronwyn's home. She pushes herself to her top speed simply to bleed off some of the adrenaline she couldn't help but feel grow stronger the closer she got. She ended up pushing herself so hard that she almost overshot Bronwyn's house.

When she circles over the house noticing the cars in the driveway, she catches the distinct smells of freshly worked metal and sawdust. She zeroes in on their source and sees the newly-installed bars over the upper floor windows. Her heart sinks.

Oh, no.

"Well, I mean..." Alexis started to say as they laid back on the bed together, her cheeks flushed. She really didn't know how to discuss this stuff. You just did it in the barracks. "I'll go first then."

Her hands were then on Cassie in places that Alexis liked to be touched. And her lips were on the mage girl's the way that she'd been kissed in the barracks - raw and desperate for decent human interaction.

It only took her a couple of moments before she stopped the kiss, looking at Cassie in concern. "Was that all right? I don't know if...that's how the girls in your dorm did it...it's usually like this in the barracks."

Pierce the Mask (Cassie): 2d6 - 1 ⇒ (5, 3) - 1 = 7

What do you want me to do?

A look of pained bewilderment crosses Shaun’s face. ”Why would ya’...?” Why would she need me to do anything for her? I mean, Christ, she’s got everything she could ever want. She can probably call up some of Simon’s friends and get them to do whatever she wants. Why would she need me for anything? He frowns and bites his lip. ”Yea’, a’ight...”

”See ya’...” He flops into the Abacus command chair and huffs out a sigh as she leaves. Well, one stellar day today. Whole lot of letting people down and/or pissing them off. What fun. Mind elsewhere, he pulls out his phone to text Bronwyn.
(false alarm)>
(kissing was 4 spell)>
(seems alright now)>
(ttyl)>
He tosses the cell onto Abacus’s console as he sizes up the monitor. ...maybe she doesn’t need me. But I can still try to be useful.

”Ab’cus, write ta’followin’ down.” As he talks, Shaun rocks back and forth in the chair. ”Ta’ New Defenders...Ta’ Fugitives...Ta’ Wardens...Team 7...” He has an idea and chuckles. ”Psychopaths an’ Lesbians...Ta’ Coven...After School Specialists...Ta’ Dysfunctionals...” He begins idylly tossing his pocket knife back and forth between his hands, eyes never leaving the screen. ”Next Gen...Ta’ Offenders...Ta’ Whiskey Club...”

Cassie's eyes went wide and she gasped as Alexis leaned over and planted her lips on her own, pinning her to the bed, as the other girl's hands began roaming over her body, causing her to flush nd her heart to begin beating faster as she felt herself responding. When the other girl pulled back, she lay still, staring up at her, but not making a move to dislodge her.

"Alexis? That was,...I, I wasn't expecting that. I didn't realize that you meant,.. that. I thought you just wanted to,... just share a bed. I've never umm,.. you know, been with anyone before and I,.. I've never been um,.. in to, ummm,,.. girls. Not like that."

Cassie is conflicted,.. part of her wants Alexis to keep going but part of her wants Alexis to stop and just talk.

Alexis blinked a couple of times as Cassie explained what she thought that she meant. "...Oh. You haven't?" She asks, letting her go and sliding off, feeling uncomfortable now. Like she's done something terrible and inexcusable. "...I'm sorry. We did this all the time in the barracks. Even before my growth spurt. It was a good way to comfort each other, especially after a hard day. Today was a hard day...and Kaoru didn't like me, so it felt good to know someone liked me enough for this..."

Tears well up in her eyes as she wipes them with the palm of her hand. "Do you want me to go? I don't want to make you feel bad. I can sleep on the couch instead," She offered.

She says back to him, before remebrring he isn;t in her head... she hopes.

im in ur head ettin ur tasty, tasty brains.

Kaoru frowns at the rather confusing explanation about Bran and Bronwyn and Branwyn. Did their parents seriously name them Bran and then Bran-win? No wonder Bran would have issues after that... She was glad she had a good ear or it might have turned into a Who's on First schtick. She still had to replay the explanation in her head a couple of times to really follow it. It sounded like a confusing experience. Would Bronwyn also have Branwyn's feelings? She could barely figure out one set of feelings. Two might drive her mad.

Took me a second to realize the second paragraph was about Alexis and not Bronwyn still.
She doesn't resist when Alexandra puts her arm around her and pulls her close. She tries to relax and push the chill at the back of her neck away. It was nice to be told it wasn't her fault (even if it might be), but it didn't quite extinguish the feeling gnawing at the back of her mind.

She tried to push down the growing anxiety at Alexandra's next words. "Well, actually you hugged me..." She muttered. She fiddled with her watch. "I...don't know." She finally admitted softly. She continued slowly. "I...like spending time with you. And I like being close to you, like this. I just...don't know what that means. Or in what context I like you. I haven't really dated much. Or spent much time thinking about it. I thought- I mean-" She paused. She really wasn't explaining this well. But how do you explain something you don't understand?

She kept her gaze on her hands, which were now fiddling with each other anxiously. "How...do you know if you like someone as a friend or more than a friend? I thought it would be obvious once you got to know someone. But...I mean, both you and Alexis seemed to-" she made some incomprehensible gesture with her hands, flushing slightly "-and neither of you really know me all that well. So...how do you know?"

"No, Don't be sorry," Cassie said, sitting up and facing Alexis. Reaching forward, she took the other girl's hands in her own "And don't go. You didn't make me feel bad. I promise. It felt good, really, it's just,.. Maybe we can just, I don't know... Be here together and maybe just talk? Would that make you feel better? We can talk about whatever you like. Kaoru, me, Shayera, the barracks, even my mom. Whatever you want."

I feel like Cassie should be making a Comfort/Support roll there for Alexis, but I won't demand it. It's still fun to just do it freestyle.

The girl looked at Cassie. In a way, there was something about everyone (except Bronwyn) on this team that she could relate to them about. Everyone was broken in some way, just like her. So she appreciated Cassie and how she was helping by listening to her problems.

"...Okay. And, if you want to bunk like before, I'm okay with that," Alexis told her, as she took some comfort in Cassie's presence, leaning against her and starting to talk idly.

"My first time bunking was with a boy, Charles. We just used our hands. I got to bunk with his sister after that. They were nice before they were picked for the Triakosia like me. In the barracks, we'd fight with each other, and make up after lights out like this. That's what comrades do for each other. When I escaped, people who weren't comrades wanted to do those things with me. They tried luring me into their cars and vans with food. One tried to stick me with a needle. Others just thought they could overpower me. It was hard, because I was always hungry, so I often took the risk. Sometimes it would be other men in the camps offering me food if I would let them stay with me in my tent. I would tell them no, because they would try other things that I didn't like."

"...Shayera's been so good to me. This week I got to shower every day, eat as much as I needed, and wear nice clothes. I even get to go to classes now and learn more about Shakespeare and romance. I wish that Kaoru felt okay with romance. I like him, and it made me mad to see Alexandra holding his hand. I don't like that. But he's really nice for a boy. I don't know if I'll fall in love with him like Olivia fell for Cesario though. I want that. I want to love and be loved. It's something we never had in the barracks."

Alexis drifts off, pulling Cassie down on top of her. "...You're a good friend for listening. Thank you. Do you think we can try kissing some more until we're tired?"

On that note, if Cassie agrees to some 'light bunking', we can go ahead and fade the scene to black and probably to Saturday Morning. Though Alexis is self-conscious enough to not go farther than above the waist tonight. Second base for baseball terms.

The house was quiet, but her arm still hurt.

Dinner had been quiet, almost quieter than it was now that her parents were asleep even though they'd had a whole conversation about her 'taking some responsibility' as a way to 'demonstrate that they were right to trust her.' She'd pretended she didn't know what their idea for that was... and honestly it could have been a lot worse.

She needed to sneak downstairs to get a look at what on earth Shaun had been messaging her about, so she'd gone back to Bronwyn before everything was fully knit. Her scratches and scrapes were gone though, leaving just a couple of yellow patches that showed where bruises might have bloomed.

...Wow.

You know what? I am glad I did not see these texts. Not that she'd be interested in Cassie or anything.

Shaun: ttyl
Bronwyn: ???
Bronwyn: okay I have followups, but they can wait
Bronwyn: umm thanks for keeping me posted?!

Wait, do all Cassie's spells involve kissing or groping people? Fine, not like, literally groping, but still! Boundaries!

...She's probably waiting for me.

I have to do *something*. I can't just keep waiting for the perfect moment.

Very carefully and quietly she opened the door, shivering a bit in the night air as she looked around to find where Shayera was waiting.

"Hey. You're here, right?"

Something near panic had set in when Wingblade saw the bars on the windows. She had a sudden and powerful urge to fly up to them and slash right through them, in some strange version of a fairy tale. But something like good sense overruled that, and instead she circled the house while the tumult of her emotions warred with each other.

Finally, she tried calling Whippoorwill for advice.

Fireside Chat: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (1, 1) + 2 = 4
On a miss, they don’t have time for you because
something big has gone down; mark a condition,
GM’s choice. Bron, you want to pick a condition for me? Or have someone else choose.

With whatever was occupying Whip keeping her from getting a cooler perspective, Shayera couldn't decide. She landed lightly on the roof and sat for a while, listening. There was definitely people inside, but everyone was being quiet for some reason. Were they afraid she was outside, snooping?

But Bronwyn knows I'll be here. I can't leave. Should I?

She runs some scenarios around in her head, but though several end in the fantasy of her and Bronwyn flying off to live in her apartment, she knew that's exactly what it was. More likely, the bars would be a prelude to even worse restrictions on her.

She waits and ponders until she hears the front door open and Bronwyn call out. She leaps into the air and glides down to land lightly in front of her.

Shivering, but not from the chill night air, Shayera stands before her. "I-- I'm sorry. It's my fault. I shouldn't have pressured you."

Alexandra is silent as Kaoru tries to explain his feelings, trying to decide if Just kissing him again would be bad form... she decides it would be.

Well... I can't explain it, I don't think. it's hard to really know until you know. and... Okay, this is gonna soind maybe harsh, but I'm not, like, in love with you. I couldn't be, I've known you for 3 days. but if you need to be in love before you start dating... well, you'll be lonely. I like you because you're funny, and seem smart, and keep your cool in a bad situation. And being good looking helps. her smile falters Hello introspection, my old friend.

And yeah, I move kinda fast, I don't see why I wouldn't. I'm not religious, not puritanical, I'm sure as hell not waiting for marriage or that crap. I'm here to have fun, and If that means I sleep with someone it turns out I wasn't super into, whatever, another on the pile of regrets. She says But, I don't think you feel the same way, and I'm not going to criticize that. You get to make your own choices. But if you decide you want to do more, or go farther... well, I'm right here, and if you ask, I'll probably be open to it...

Hmm. Since the catalyst is not reaching Whip, but feeling like she needs to, I'll say Insecure or Afraid

Bronwyn's face filled with relief, then she simply crumbled, all the frozen fear and indignation breaking free in an instant. She flung her arms around Shayera, hot tears pulsing into her girlfriend's hair.
"I couldn't do it. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Shayera, I couldn't do it. I'm such a coward."

"I...tried dating someone I wasn't in love with, and it ended really badly. I think I...really hurt him." Kaoru's faced burned with shame as her arms tightened their grip around her midsection. She may not regret what she had done later, but she did at least regret that. "I don't want to hurt you like that."

The implication of Alexandra's later words came with a mixed bag of emotions. There was the almost instinctual panic that she very quickly shoved into a little tiny box and sat on. The almost mandatory confusion and disbelief. The entire half-second of warmth that she thought she was good-looking before her brain had to come in and ruin correct that. Some kind of tightness or tension that she couldn't quite place. And relief that Alexandra didn't seem interested in trying to pressure her into something.

It's not that she didn't know people had sex before marriage or even that people had sex without dating. But she had always kind of thought she was just too young for that kind of thing. How could she not be when she still thought the whole thing seemed kinda...icky? People universally looked better with clothes on. And she herself hated to be stared at while fully clothed, so how much worse would it be if she were naked? If someone were actively concentrating that kind of attention on her. She could maybe deal with another naked person, but she wasn't sure she could deal with that.

She had kind of assumed (which is to say desperately hoped) those feelings would fade as she 'grew up'. That some switch would turn in her head and suddenly these things would seem like a great idea. But it still hadn't happened. And she was a teenager, so weren't her hormones supposed to be running rampant? If she didn't feel that way now, did that mean she never would? Was she just...broken? Were her only options to remain forever alone or to make herself perform (or at least make herself tolerate it)?

Maybe if it were really dark... If she were with a guy, she could probably just...not do anything and let it happen. But a guy would expect certain things from sex, and the thought of letting someone do those kinds of things to her terrified her. With a girl, she'd probably have to be more active, but at least that was off the table. Or...at least it was something that wouldn't be a foregone conclusion. And if sex with a woman seemed more tolerable than sex with a man, did that mean she was gay? Or...I guess it would make me trans? Maybe...it wouldn't be that bad. Maybe it'd get better once you actually got into it. It was supposed to feel good after all, right? Wasn't that the whole reason people did it?

This was getting out of hand. Even if Alexandra was interested in that, it's not like she needed to decide this right here and now, right? As she had pointed out, they had known each other for less than a week. A super intense, adrenaline and stress-filled week for sure, but a week nonetheless. And even if some people were ok with moving that fast, she's pretty sure no one (hopefully) would fault her for not being one of those people. But then...when do I need to decide by? She really wished relationships came with a manual that laid out these kinds of things. Or that at least laid out a ballpark estimate. Were they talking weeks, months, years? Years was probably too much to hope for if she weren't with one of those 'no sex before marriage' types. Jack had let her dodge for months.

Aware that she had been quiet for a couple of minutes now, she added, "I do think you're really pretty though. You have a nice voice and beautiful eyes."

She paused and cleared her throat slightly as nervousness butterflies started to flutter in her stomach. Just go for it! If she's open to...other things, she'll probably be ok with just this. But she wasn't sure. And she didn't trust herself to be able to tell if Alexandra objected. "Can I- Would it be ok if I hugged you?"

I'll go with Afraid, then, unless someone else disagrees with that.

Shayera holds Bronwyn as she cries into her hair, her mind suddenly confused. "What are the bars for then, if you didn't tell--? Wait, they would have put them up earlier!" That made so much more sense, and she should have realized it, if her own hurt and fear and confusion hadn't interfered with her logic. "But that means, they're doing this to keep me out, right?"

Anger starts burning in her belly and her wings twitch agitatedly. Like a few metal bars could keep me out. A slash or two, and then I'm in. "Do you want me to get rid of them? Send them a message?" she asks softly, but her voice is rough.

Then a gnawing pit that felt suspiciously like fear supplanted her anger. "Wait, no, I want them to like me. But they don't. They won't, not ever, will they? What can I do?"

"International Club...Ta' Apprentices...Ta' Kingmakers..." Shaun paused for a moment, trying to think of more names. "...hm...Ta' Crusaders...Ta' Best...uh...Defenders 2...Halcyon Knights...an'...Ab'cus stop writing." He stood and stretched, idyll wondering if the girls had gone to sleep at this point as he headed for the lab showers.

I'm good to move to Saturday when everybody else is. In the meantime though...

- - -

Cassie let Alexis lean against her as she started to talk about her experiences. "I'm really sorry Alexis." she says, "It all sounds so,.. just, awful - at the 'barracks'. I can't imagine all that. I'm,.. I'm sorry you had to go through all that but I'll do my best to make sure they don't get you back. We can help each other - I'll keep you away from them, and you keep me safe from my mother? And if anyone tries to do anything to you that you don't want them to, or you need anything, you come to me OK? I'll look after you, promise. she propped herself up on her elbow, facing the other girl. "Have you ever actually seen a Shakespeare play? I could take you to one if you'd like?I think maybe Kaoru just needs a bit of space but,.. well, he might be a bit weirded out by us kissing,.. although most guys seem to think that its really hot for some reason... So maybe he wouldn't mind after all. Cassie says, as Alexis' eyes start to droop.

"...You're a good friend for listening. Thank you. Do you think we can try kissing some more until we're tired?"

Cassie blushed. "I,.. I,.. Well, ummm,.. I. um. .. You really like kissing, don't you?" she said, hesitating for a moment before she let Alexis pull their faces together.

Agree on fade to black, but Cassie isn't willing to go much further - nothing below the clothes or south of the border. She certainly avoids taking off her own top and revealing her scar any more than she already has.

Comfort: 2d6 + 0 ⇒ (1, 2) + 0 = 3

"To keep you out, to keep me in, to... just show me how much they hate this!"

"They just don't get it yet, Shayera. I went through... I mean not this, but they didn't really want me to focus so much on track, or to go running around alone all the time. I can get through to them again, I just-"

She'd slowly been unburying her face, but as her voice broke again, she just squeezed Shayera tight, feeling her sobs shiver through her girlfriend's body.

"I was going to get us tickets to prom, you know, to set a deadline for myself? But... God. I'd probably just chicken out then too..."

She took a series of deep, ragged breaths, not quite fast enough to hyperventilate.

"No. You know what? It's their house. They get to decide if they want bars. I could take them down anyways if I wanted."

"But umm... instead of the bars. There's two things you could do for me.

"First, I need a kiss for luck."

A surge of excitement mixed with a broken heart hit Shayera when Bronwyn mentions prom. She leans her head against her chest, still hugging her fiercely. "You're not a coward, or a chicken. You love them. You love them and they don't understand. This is not what they're going to want to hear."

Shayera looks up when it seems like Bronwyn has an idea. She doesn't hesitate, lifting her head up to meet her girlfriend's lips with hers.

Cassiphone lay in the huge bed with Alexis' head on her shoulder and her arm dropped over Cassiphone's body. Turning her head so that she could see the amazing view through the large windows, her mind wandered back to one of the few times her mother had actually taken an interest in her....

It had been back when she was just twelve and had just started middle school. She'd gone back home for her first break of the semester and her mother had seen, it - the tiny, light scar, no more than a discolouration on her forehead and barely visible. She'd gone apoplectic, and had phoned the school to complain - and had, somehow, managed to get the girl responsible - Rebecca Malone - expelled. She had been a bit of a bully, but still, it usually took more than a minor fight between girls to be kicked out... All of that had led to 'the talk'. Not the one about sex - Circe'd left that one for the teachers and the other students at school. No, this one'd been about how to survive.

You're just like her, aren't you." Cassie thought to herself. Its just what she would do - Finding the strongest, toughest person she might be able to manipulate and then making sure they'd be there to look out for her. Even lying about not having done anything with girls before.. That's just what she'd have done, although you went further than you should have done so soon - exaggerate innocence and always keep the promise of more to come. You're more like her then you want to admit. Aren't you. B$+~&

The kiss was fierce and hungry and too short, her grip on Shayera's side was almost too tight, like she needed to be absolutely certain that Shayera was really there. "Okay. Okay." Another kiss, fiercer and briefer, until it broke off into a ragged smile. "Okay. You're right. They're never going to be ready to hear it.

"Don't go yet. I'll be right back."

She walked back into her house, long habit making her footfalls quiet until she caught herself creeping, and let herself be heard.

**knock-knock**

She waited a couple moments while she heard her parents stir to grogginess then opened the door.

"I'm going to go stay at Mary-Beth's tonight, maybe for a few nights, we'll see."

"I love you both."

***

She came back out very quickly with a very high-quality black duffel slung over her good arm, and a shaky smile visible through a sheet of tears.
"I did it."

"Just pull the trigger. It's okay. Do whatever it takes."

Early Saturday Morning

Her eyes snapped open and she took a moment to remember where she was. The warmth she was clinging to was Cassie. She smelled nice. She was grateful to her for staying by her side.

The sun hadn't come up yet, but she was still wide awake. She was still simmering with anger. She thought spending time kissing Cassie last night would help her feel better. In the moment it did, but now she felt a hollow sensation in her. She slipped out of bed and doffed the pajamas, pulling on a borrowed sports bra and some shorts to work out.

She really needed her own, because Shayera's bras were too small to fit comfortably on her.

It was never too early to start training though, as she slipped into the gym and got the hundred pound dumbbells for some warm-ups. She added some of the wrist and ankles weights as well as she stepped onto the mat, going through her shadow-boxing routine.

She was a hero now. Her team was counting on her to protect them. Especially Kaoru and Bronwyn. She had to make sure they didn't get hurt. She would be great at this, being a shield for them.

Then maybe she wouldn't feel so broken anymore.

Oh, I had... well, I figured this was your first... anything. Sorry. she says, feeling bad for the assumption.

Do you even... are you just latching on because he was there, and you wanted someone to comfort you... well, yeah. You couldn't get bran alone, so maybe you just kinda... Is Kaoru a consolation prize... are you okay with her being that. Is he?

Her own musings stop well before Kaoru's, and she is left watching the emotions watch over his face. What was going on in his head.

Pierce the Mask: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (5, 1) + 3 = 9

What are you planning? (That is the long term one, I think.)

You're not bad looking either. She says, blushing at the compliment. what was it about Kaoru that made his words seem so... genuine.

I say I'm willing to go as far as you will want to push, and you ask about a hug... Gods, Kay. she says, hugging him.

Saturday Morning

As Alexis begins to work out, there’s a quiet shuffle of movement from underneath a pile of exercise mats. ”I dunno who ye’ are, but ya’ better have a damn good reason f’wakin’ me up this f$!@in’ early...” Looking remarkably like a worm emerging from the soil, Shaun’s bleary-eyed head pops out from between the mats. ”...Lex? What’re ye’ doin’...?”

"Training," She bluntly replied to him, finishing up her kata and moving on to reps, squatting and rising with the dumbbells in each hand while barely breaking a sweat. Though the stitching in the sports bra was starting to strain more than she'd like.

"This is a terrible place to sleep. There are couches to lay on," She was quick to point out, finishing her set, moving over to the weight station, and going with the two hundred pound dumbbells now that she was good and warmed up. She still easily held them up, extending them to either side and doing one legged squats now.

Like that, it was done. Bronwyn had the duffel bag she'd given her from the Defenders HQ and a face full of tears. Shayera blinked in near-disbelief, struck by a strange uncertainty.

"What happens now?"

The Scotsman watched the workout for a bit before replying. ”Uh...yea’, but couches get bloodstains easier. Ye’ can just scrub a mat.” Jesus, how strong is she!?

In an ungainly manner he dislodges himself from the pile, a pair of boxers and an old t-shirt his only dress. ”Well, least now I know ye’re a mornin’ person...” He stretches, popping his shoulders and spine a few times. ”I’m gettin’ some grub. Ye’ want anythin’?” He blinks to clear his eyes and gives her what he hopes comes off as a friendly smile.

Cassie woke as Alexis slipped out of the bed but burrowed back into the pillows, hoping to get a few more minutes of sleep. She couldn't get back to sleep, though she felt bad about lying to Alexis, but had enjoyed their time in the bed together, and found, to her surprise, that she actually quite liked the other girl. If she wasn't careful, she'd fall into 'the trap' and start to feel protective of Alexis, rather than the other way round.

Cassie climbed out of the bed and had a brief look around the room, once again checking out the closet jealously before heading for the door and towards the kitchen to get something for breakfast. Once their, she headed straight for the kettle, switched it on, and began looking around for where Shayera might store her coffee.

When Shaun enters, he finds Cassie, still dressed in the pajamas she borrowed from Shayera (button up shirt and matching shorts), looking through the cupboards with her back to the door.

"I couch-surf with the Brownes until the bars are down or Mary-Beth's mom gets tired of me, and I have to find somewhere else." She awkwardly wiped at her face with her good arm, but gave a surprised laugh as she mainly just smeared things around since her duffel was still hanging from it. "You do have to keep loving me though, even while I'm a wreck," she mostly-joked, "Pretty sure that was the deal."

Shayera's brow furrows as Bronwyn says she's going to stay with someone else. "But... you're not coming to my apartment? I've got, like, two-thirds of the team crashing there, sure, but I can make room. I mean, you don't... want to?"

"I umm... that would feel a little too much like shacking up with my girlfriend." She blushed. "Plus, practically speaking, even assuming I'd have my own bed and I would need to have my own bed, knowing you'd be right there... I mean even I can't only have sleepless nights, you know?"

Shayera looks a bit bewildered. Fear and confusion fill her eyes. "Why does this feel like things are worse? You're leaving your home, but you're not coming with me? Bronwyn, I just want to be with you. What... what can I do?"

Bronwyn's eyes dried instantly at Shayera's distress, two clear, calm points in the middle of a puffy red face. "Shayera. You are right here with me, standing at my side in one of the hardest moments in my life. You are with me. I'm yours, you're mine.

"I'm just not sleeping with y- I'm just not sleeping at your house because I don't want to be over there while I'm swooping between being ecstatic at the idea of kissing you wherever and whenever I want and breaking down crying. And because I've thought of so many different excuses for why I really should just take your offer, and they all start with 'Normally this wouldn't be the right thing to do, but...'

...she's so sad. You should comfort her
...it will only be for a couple nights. You could be good for a couple nights
...I love her. It's okay as long as we're in love, right?
...it will only be for a couple nights. If you gave in, you'd be back in your own bed before it became a habit. You could just confess it and go back to waiting.
...you're so sad. You should let her comfort you.

"That's usually a pretty bad sign." Plus, I've had enough dreams that started with one of those lines not to know where they end up.

"But you helped me so much already tonight. Things only get better from here, Shayera." She laughed ruefully, "I mean, 'What happens now?' We get to happen now.

"Come on, my arm still hurts when I run, and I think I'll need a night's rest before flying is comfortable. But if you carry my duffel, we could hold hands while I walk to Mary-Beth's."

The dam breaks and tears flow freely from her eyes. She shakes her head and steps back. "No. No, this isn't right. This isn't what's supposed to happen."

Her hands ball into fists and tremble at her side. "Just-- just go home! Dammit, I don't care, go wherever! Sure, go to Mary-Beth's! Yeah, let me walk you there, and then what? What do I do? Sleep on her roof? Should I go home, alone?" She steps away from her, her wings out and flapping. Holding up her hand to keep her at bay, she can't bring herself to look at Bronwyn. "Whip's got something going on. I should go and see if she needs help."

She staggers, running and stumbling away until her wings finally take over and she flies into the air. She taps the communicator, activating the directional indicator and somewhat drunkenly orients herself in the direction of her mentor.

Clearing Afraid by running from something difficult?

=====================
Mercy Heights

Whippoorwill flings another quill, causing a concussive explosion and sending four of Sunray's goons flying into the air. With a flick of her whip, she snags one of the airborne minions and with an aerial pivot maneuver sends that one crashing into another land-bound minion trying to activate the Solar Radiance Dish. The two go sprawling.

The light-controlling supervillain curses as the ranks of her foot soldiers dwindle. "Fine! You may be able to take on the rank and file, but you can't outfly the speed of light!"

The mechanical suit powers up with a brilliant corona and a blast of dazzling light emanates from Sunray. Whippoorwill wheels about and dives behind a chunk of the solar panels for cover before she's cooked by the intense radiation.

The minions, shielded in their reflective suits, begin recovering. They slowly begin to rise and advance on Whippoorwill's position. "I don't have to outfly the speed of light; just you," Whip shouts from her position, then quickly repositions herself behind another bank of machinery before her goons can zero in on her.

Unfortunately, it put her too far away to prevent one of the minions from going back to the Solar Radiance Dish controls. Flare quills won't work. Masks prevent tear gas from being effective. Explosives are too deadly. Looks like I'll be getting a tan, she thinks as Sunray's intense light fills the room.

There's a crash behind her and suddenly two goons coming around on Whippoorwill's flank are thrown to the ground. "Hey. Can I beat someone up?"

The Defender smirks as she sees the brilliant white light being reflected back from Wingblade's metallic wings. "Sure. Let's work."

=================
Saturday morning

Shaun and Alexis see Wingblade asleep in the chair at the main Abacus console, her clothes singed in odd patterns.

Despite the permission, Kaoru was tentative about wrapping her arms around Alexandra. She slowly slid her arms around the other girl's waist, barely making contact as she did so until she gently tightened the embrace and leaned into her. It was a nice feeling. One she hadn't realized she had missed quite so much. Why couldn't more things feel like this? Though she was fairly certain this was exactly the sort of thing that had landed her in trouble last time. Except that everybody (more or less) thought she was a guy now, so that would make it ok, right?

She wasn't sure what to do with Alexandra's assumption. How far did she think she had gone with Jack? Should she tell her that they had never really gone past kissing? Not that he hadn't tried; she had just been really good at deflecting him. Or was it better to let her think what she wanted in the hopes that maybe she wouldn't realize that she was possibly defective in some way? In the end, she tried to hedge her bets. Turning her head to bury it in Alexandra's shoulder, she mumbled, "Just because I dated someone before doesn't mean I know what I'm doing." It was really just...pattern matching. Though that didn't explain why trying to do that seemed so much harder now.

It was oddly hard to stay stressed when surrounded in warmth, and she found herself slowly relaxing. Her brain started to slow down and quiet. It wasn't quite enough to make her feel like everything would be ok, but it was enough that she didn't think things were going to blow up in her face just yet. Her confusion could be tomorrow's problem. For now, she just wanted to end the night on a high note.

Slowly and somewhat reluctantly she released her embrace and twisted enough that she was facing her computer once more instead of her companion. "Did you want to check out the files now? I don't know if there's a particular one you wanted to look at first."

Ugg, guys, the reason I like to Mary-Contrary your Pierces is so that I don't have to think up answers to these questions. Alexandra especially seems to be under the impression that Kaoru has much more of a social plan than she does.

What are you planning?
Pretty much the same thing as last time you asked: try to figure out what she wants/what she's willing to do and in the meantime continue to get to know Alexandra and support her. Also, try to make sure neither of them get killed. And maybe try to get more hugs.

Not sure if Alexandra had more she wanted to say/talk about in this scene, but I didn't have anything planned.

"I want scrambled eggs and toast, with cereal, some apples, milk, a stack of pancakes, a waffle, bacon, sausage, fried potatoes, and a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon and honey," Alexis ordered as she continues her workout, doing standing flips now while having a weight belt strapped around her waist.

Once she'd finished getting on her sweat, she stripped off all of the weighted gear, letting it pile down in the corner, before going back to check on Shayera. She sniffed and cringed at the scent of burns, though it was her clothing that had the damage, not the heroine.

"Shayera, wake up. You have to shower," She urged her, before picking the winged girl up and bringing her up to her bedroom. "It'll be faster together. Then we can have breakfast. Shaun said he'd make it."

Shayera is limp and listless as she's carried to the shower. She doesn't protest as her damaged clothes are pulled off of her and she's put under the hot water. Her legs give out from under her and she collapses on the shower floor, the water making her hair fall straight over her face that she doesn't bother to push out of her eyes.

Alexis is seriously concerned as Shayera is unresponsive to her. Not a protest to being carried, or even washing herself properly. She wasn't sure what to do about that.

So she did what she thought would work, as she helped her to wash up properly. It was interesting to compare her body to Shayera's, which was sleeker and thinner compared to her body, holding well defined muscles, a larger chest and hips. She put that out of mind as she helps to pull her hair back, hugging her slightly awkwardly while she did it, since she didn't want to get cut by the wings.

"...Is everything okay with you and Bronwyn?" She had to ask. "Did you fight with her about something?" She frowns, before thinking of something nice to say.

"She told me before about what its like to be in love. She said a lot of cool things about it. I'm pretty sure she feels that all for you. So whatever your problems are, I'm sure that you'll work them out. And until then, I'm here. You're my friend." She fidgeted a bit. "...So let's get ready. We can go shopping with Cassie today. She's really nice. Nicer than Alexandra."

She diligently helped to wash Shayera, before bringing her out and helping to dry her off too.

Comfort/Support Shayera: 2d6 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (3, 6) - 1 + 1 = 9

"I want scrambled eggs and toast, with cereal, some apples, milk, a stack of pancakes, a waffle, bacon, sausage, fried potatoes, and a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon and honey,"

Shaun nods along with the order, surprisingly mostly unfazed. ”Got it. Probably won’t be ready f’a bit, but I’ll get it out ta’ya’ quick as I can.” He takes a moment to don some grey sweatpants, marvels at the girl’s workout routine again, then heads to the kitchen.

As he enters the room, his eyes are somewhat unintentionally drawn to a pajama-shorts-wearing backside. He quickly adverts his gaze (down boy!) and cleats his throat. ”Mornin’ Cass.” With practiced deftness he begins collecting relevant tools, pans, and ingredients. ”Mm-hm...got that...an’ the chopper...hey, if ye’ see any oatmeal in there pass it over.” He clicks on the stovetop and gets the butter simmering. ”Oh, yea’, ye’ want anythin’ in particular? Lex ordered most-everythin’ there is, but just checkin’ if ye’ want somethin’ special.”

It was a much longer walk to Mary-Beth's house than normal. Much colder too.

Her arm still hurt.

Mary-Beth was practically bursting at the seams with good advice, and was surprised and kind of disappointed that Bronwyn didn't seem to want it. She was just really quiet.

Mary-Beth showed her to the guest bed, Not like I don't know where it is.

It was late; there wasn't time to winkle Bronwyn out of her shell, so Mary-Beth just gave Bronwyn a hug goodnight, and the words suddenly leaked out of her.

"Tonight didn't really go how I thought it would."

"Yeah... I just..." Shayera might have dumped me. "Shayera was really mad I came here. I don't know why. I even told her. I... I told her this was the plan! I- I...

"I'll call her tomorrow."

Cassie glances up from where she's finally found the coffee. "Oh, Morning Shaun. Um,, yeah I think I saw some oatmeal somewhere over here." she says, making her way over to a high cupboard and reaching up to get it from the top shelf. Turning, she places the oatmeal on the bench. "I'm making some coffee." she says, "Want some?.. Don't worry about breakfast - I usually skip it."

Completing her coffee making, she walks around the bench and takes a seat on a stool as she watches Shaun go about the business of preparing breakfast. "I'll help out after I've finished this if you want?" she says holding up her cup. "I'm essentially immobile until I've had at least one. That's,... a LOT of food. Are people coming over or something?"

Shaun: ttyl
Bronwyn: ???
Bronwyn: okay I have followups, but they can wait
Bronwyn: umm thanks for keeping me posted?!

Bronwyn: Is Shayera home?
Bronwyn: she's not ansering her phone
Bronwyn: *answering
Bronwyn: The call just doesn't go through

Crack eggs, whisk, add garlic, cooking...done. ”Yea’ I’ll take a mug. Four creams if ya’ would. No sugar.” Crack eggs, add flour, add butter, whisk, add chocolate chips, pour into pan, cooking...flip...flip...done. ”Ye’ sure ya’ wanna skip? I make a mean steak omelette.” Chop potatoes, add salt, add pepper, cooking...done.

In the time it takes Cassie to get through her coffee, there is already a sizable display of food waiting on the counter. And Shaun hasn’t stopped cooking on all cylinders. ”I’ll take some help, sure. Once a burner opens up if ye’ could get that bacon goin’ I’d ‘preciate it.” He pauses to add yet another skillet-full of eggs to the pile and slice another apple. ”As f’ta’ quantity, that’s mostly f’me. Gotta load-up. I’ve been missin’ meals lately, an’ Saturdays are high-impact days. Can’t be goin’ hungry. Plus, Lex just wanted, like, one of everythin’.” He takes a moment to drizzle the oatmeal with honey. ”Side note, have ye’ seen her work out? She was doin’ flips holdin’ 400! F&$$in’ flips!” He punctuates himself with a flapjack flip. ”We really gotta have a PT day, figure out what each of your caps is.”

At this point, the smell of food has practically filled the suite, tempting all occupants to come and partake. ”So, what’s your Sat lookin’ like? After this I’m gonna go find a park n’ run f’a few hours.”

@Shayera: Shaun absolutely left the team names list open on the computer, so you probably know about all of those. Feel free to invent some new names and retcon them onto the list too.

Shayera remains compliant as Alexis finishes helping her through the shower and drying her off. She's so morose that she barely acknowledges the attempts to comfort her. While Alexis is drying her hair, she mumbles, "Bron... told. Left her house. But... she didn't want to come with me."

Fighting Sunray hadn't been cathartic as she had hoped. She wasn't able to lose herself in the battle, and there had been that awful, gnawing pit in her stomach that refused to dissipate even as she engaged the supervillain.

Then the dreaded buzzing of her phone had started. She couldn't bring herself to hear Bronwyn's angry voice, being chewed out for being so unreasonable and for leaving her there. So she told Abacus to block her calls.

She didn't even know if Bronwyn went back to her prison or continued to Mary-Beth's.

Alexis reminds her of their shopping trip and she stirs to life a little, more out of obligation rather than any eagerness. She selects an outfit at random and ruins it by not being careful about her wings. Her second attempt was more successful, since she grabs her magic pendant and activates it.

She follows Alexis toward the smell of cooking, and sits at the table with a flat expression. She forces herself to eat, but she picks at it mostly since her stomach is still twisted in knots.

Alexandra lets Kaoru envelope her, smiling a little at his nervousness. what the hell happened to him, last time.

I don't think anyone does. we just... do what feels good, and don't be stupid about it. She nuzzles into him a little, face rubbing against the fabric of his shirt. then he ends the hug, and she is surprised how sad she was... she had always figured cuddling was one of those things for those nutters who didn't want to do anyhting fun. she never figured she would enjoy it

let's see that one, it looks fun. She says, indication a file entitled The Church of Nephilim

Shaun: ttyl
Bronwyn: ???
Bronwyn: okay I have followups, but they can wait
Bronwyn: umm thanks for keeping me posted?!

Bronwyn: Is Shayera home?
Bronwyn: she's not ansering her phone
Bronwyn: *answering
Bronwyn: The call just doesn't go through
Message failed to deliver, press to resend.
Message failed to deliver, press to resend.
Message failed to deliver, press to resend.
Message failed to deliver, press to resend.

Oh. I guess Mom and Papá are awake... And I'm guessing this means the bars aren't coming down today.

She turned her WiFi off and confirmed her suspicions. No service. Cancellation must've gone through after the first few calls.

Maybe she's been calling me? No... We have a comm. But it's not like she's thinking clearly...

A quick Skype download later, Shaun's phone began to ring.

Kaoru reads the file quickly. Given how much of her time was typically spent online and how she didn't always have the leisure to go as slowly as she wanted while hacking, she had figured learning to speed read would be a good investment. She wasn't sure how fast Alexandra read, so instead of disturbing her, she began googling a few things on her phone.

Neither she nor her mother were particularly religious, but she did kind of like Bible stories. Though in her head, they were typically put on the same level as ancient mythologies. Plus a lot of supernatural stories tended to include Biblical references, so it was good to have a passing knowledge the material. Nephilim were the offspring of humans and angels (at least according to one tv show she had watched). Delilah was the woman Samson fell in love with who ended up cutting his hair and causing him to lose his strength. She wasn't sure of the details of Jezebel other than what it meant to call a woman one. Ciaphus wasn't a name she was familiar with though, and that's what she googled. Seemed like he was the one who organized the killing of Jesus.

"Seems like odd names to take for a religious organization. I mean, even villains consider themselves to be heroes of their own tales. Do you think they're taking on these names because they view these characters as misunderstood and identify with that? If it's an apocalypse cult that considers powered people to be harbingers, then these 4 other members mentioned might be considered to be the four horsemen by the group. Though it's probably too much to hope for that they coincidentally have powers tied to the original four horsemen." Though that gave her an idea. She paused to look up Jezebel.

"Hmm, wikipedia says the biblical Jezebel convinced her husband to turn from the Judeo-Christian God to instead worship demons. Given that, the 'suspicious converts,' and her 'suspected secondary power,' what do you think the chances are she can exert some kind of mind-control? It fits with her other mental ability. If so, if we ever came upon them, finding a way to neutralize that ability would be key. Which means definite recon first." She looks up at Alexandra. "Have you ever dealt with mind-control before? Just based on tv and such, I could imagine it working via sounds waves so destructive interference could mess with it, pheremones maybe some chemical agent could block that, or just some kind of straight-up telepathy-thing maybe something could block the brain waves somehow? But I have no idea if those are legit things or just fiction."

As Shaun added a touch of pepper to the eggs, his phone belted out a fiddle musical sting. ”Ack, that’s me...” Still sprinkling seasoning with his off hand, he fished out the cell and swiped it open. ”Hey, can I call ya’-...HEY! Bron! How are ye’doin’? Oh, are ya’ on your way f’breakfast?”

Is this a video call, or just audio?

"I've had better nights. Maybe... Is umm... is Shayera okay?"

Video's more fun, we'll go with that

Despite the lack of dark circles under her eyes, Bronwyn literally hadn't slept. To make sure everything healed up, she'd just been sitting quietly on the floor as Bran, not letting herself nod off in case she had to quickly transform back before someone could burst in.

A night of prayer is good every once in a while. Probably should have done it anyways.

He quickly wipes his hand off on a towel around his neck. ”Shayera? Oh she’s just...” He peeks his head around the corner to look at the heroine. He expected to see her enjoying the food. Instead he saw her looking forlornly at the plate, mindlessly breaking bits of toast off.

The phone caught Shaun’s shift from tired enthusiasm to concern as he looked back at the screen. ”...she’s just tired.” He moves towards the back of the kitchen, trying to get out of earshot if everyone for a moment. ”Bron, is everythin’ okay? Ye’ okay?” Judging from her face on the screen she very much wasn’t, but he wanted to see how open she was currently willing to be.