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The sisters look at each other for a brief moment. "No one who wrestles here is baseline. But, some are more..." Zoe tried to come up with the right phrase.
"Flash than substance. Only a couple of us, including my sister and I, have legitimate abilities that would work outside the ring," Elize finished her thought. "But you're wrong about the Kilt. He was given permission, otherwise Salvitori would never have signed off on this."
"I mean, the hero Kilt apparently a couple of weeks ago was breaking up a bar fight in Rustside. The Executioner helped him out - three other wrestlers were there and saw the whole thing. Then Kilt shared some drinks with them, and wrote up and signed a letter of consent to let the Executioner use his name in the ring. If there hadn't been all those people around to tell the tale we wouldn't have believed it." Zoe glanced out at the match while her sister looked around for any sign of the Sineater.
"Nothing here. He just left. What did he tell you, Zoe?"
The elder sister rubbed the back of her neck. "Just that he was looking for others to try the power of Bayler. Though it might be he already has users..."
"He said/she said is going to take too long. I'll just say that our version has less hearsay. Maybe Salvitori got tricked? The whole reason we're here is because Kilt asked her," she pointed to Cassie with her head, "to take a look and see if she could figure out what was going on with the guy stealing his name. But honestly, this Balor stuff is way more important. She might be able to track him, but we have to go now. The most important thing you can do is make sure that everyone here knows that the Sineater is bad news. He's a wanted criminal, and what he takes is far more than he can give."
Cassie nodded. "We can deal with the whole 'Kilt' thing after we've dealt with the Sineater." she agreed. "But after we're done we'll be wanting the names of those other wrestlers. I don't think Kilt,.. our Kilt, would've agreed to that. Even if he was drunk." she adds, a little doubtfully, glancing at Bron. "For now though, let's see if we can find the bastard. You might be able to help with that actually" she says, looking at Zoe. "You were pretty close to him and things like that leave a,... residue. That might help."
Cassie stepped forward. "OK. Close your eyes and concentrate. OK? Try to remember anything you can about him. What he looked like, sounded like, smelt like." her voice takes on an almost hypnotic tone. Reaching up, she'd touched the woman forehead with her finger, closing her eyes and concentrating.....
After several moments during which the two of them remained motionless, breathing deeply in time, Cassie had opened her eyes and shrugged apologetically at Bron.
"It's not working. Maybe he's too far away, or his obfuscation is interfering with it, or there's too much emotion around here, but I can't find him. We'll have to try something else."
Should I have helped? I'm going to tell Cassie anyways, right? No, Zoe and especially Elize know too much without me actually doing more than hand Cassie something useful. Maybe I couldn't have helped anyways...
Shayera isn't dropped off at school by one of the fancy cars that usually bring her. She gets off the metro transit bus that used to bring her from the sky rail. She's also dressed in a way like she used to be -- a simple T-shirt and jeans with a light hoodie thrown over everything. She was almost unrecognizable from the fashion-forward preppy girl from the last few months.
Midway through the second period, Shayera is excused from her class and heads to the vice-principal's office.
Sitting outside Miss Wood's office is Todd Williams, Bryce MacIntyre, and Daniel Thompson. On the other side of them is Bronwyn .
Shayera looks at Bronwyn with surprise that she'd remembered this meeting. "You can go to class, I'll be fine," she whispers.
Miss Wood opens the door to her office and addresses Shayera. "Ms. Li? Would you come in here, please?"
Shayera looks between the vice principal and Bronwyn for a moment. "I, uh, yeah." She heads inside the office.
What does Bronwyn do?
As Zoe stands still and lets Cassie try it her way, she peers into the girl's mind, trying to find some sign of the Sineater elsewhere. She can't find a glimpse of him, but she gets a strange sight - that of a large spotted cat rearing up, snarling and tearing into her arm with its claws!
The ethereal image doesn't damage Cassie's physical body, but shakes her up. Zoe looks surprised and apologetic as she looks at the mage.
"Dammit, you should tell me if you're going to use magic on me or Elize. We have...resistances," She elects to inform.
Elize finally comes back from her much longer scouting of the building. "He's not here anymore. Not that I can tell." She shrugs to Bronwyn. "Sorry, but there's not much more that we can do at this point. We can at least tell the other wrestlers to not get involved with him."
After the day is done, as Alexis does his algebra homework, Alexandra walks in. she takes a moment to confirm Wing is still distracted, before taking a seat across from him.
The plus signs means you can't do that... you'll have to reverse FOIL, if you want to get rid of the fraction. She offers, letting him finish the problem.
So, you and I have to have a... bit of a talk. There's some stuff you should know. She takes a moment, then launches in. You know the Triakosia contacted me earlier. Told me about your condition, the treatments you'd need. after we got you to bed, Wing and I kept talking.
She might have already talked to you. but she had the bright Idea to involve her father in this. You don't know him, but he used to work at Reaver. I suspect he still does, unofficially. Used to turn kids and clones into bioweapons. He'd probably have the tech to treat you, after some experimentation cycles...
Look, he's bad news. used some memory f%*&ery on Wing, so she can't see it. gets defensive when me or B point out that he's not on the side of the angels. I think that, if you let him near your grey matter, he'll do similar stuff to you. Plant in affections, loyalties. maybe even less subtle things. I don't want that to happen to you. Again. But, I guess I can't stop you, just wanted you to make an informed decision.
When Bronwyn heads towards her usual lunch table, there's a neatly tied and folded handkerchief package with a note bearing her name carefully printed attached to the front. Unfolding the note reveals the following message:
Trying a new recipe. Please let me know which filling works better.
- K
Below the signature is a list of allergen information for "A" and "B". Inside the package are two, fist-sized rice balls similarly labeled. Each one is carefully wrapped in removable plastic to keep the rice from making the nori soggy.
Alexandra finds a similar package and note waiting for her at her own usual, people-watching lunch spot.
*****
Kaoru had had trouble concentrating on classes, instead writing up a short list of what she needed to do right after school let out. It hadn't stopped her from worrying, but it had at least stopped her brain from repeating the same list of items over and over again until she went crazy. So as soon as the bell rang, she grabbed her things and headed to where shop was held. She ignored the hum of machinery and screeching sounds of metal upon metal, instead beelining for the back office. Inside, she closed the door, quickly confirming that it was indeed soundproof.
She quickly and efficiently went through her checklist. She scanned for any kind of bugs or other surveillance gear (probably unnecessarily, but she couldn't be sure). Made sure the large table in the center of the room was clear with seats pulled around it. Got the projector set up and hooked into her brand new laptop. Hooked a small camera up to the outside of the door, so she could see people approaching (or attempting to eavesdrop). Shut all the blinds. She even got the two small packets of paper neatly laid out next to her.
Pulling out her phone, she placed it next to her computer. She still had an annoying amount of time before people would likely start showing up. She tried to sit down, but quickly had to stand up again as nervous energy had her thinking up new tasks to perform as she waited.
How did so much stuff happen today?!
Bronwyn flopped onto the guest futon with a relieved groan. She still had to brush her teeth and wash her face and everything before she actually went to bed (and quietly, since Mrs. Browne was already asleep and Mary-Beth was reading), but lying here was nice. Shayera's bed would be better... Nah, she needs space.
I'm actually surprised she hasn't called... ¡Puñeta! My phone's still off!
The mental fatigue of the day vanished in a flash while she waited for her phone to boot up. Okay, yep, voice mails and missed calls from... Gabby? And Papá... Calendar reminders for a bunch of stuff... "Oh, that one's important." First thing's first.
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Yes, and I've never forged a parental signature. That would be wrong.
Kaoru (Phone Savior): But don't worry; I won't tell ur gf
Bronwyn: u up?
Bronwyn: NOT in a booty call way, I promise x-)
Bronwyn: is there a way you can check if my phone's still cancelled?
Bronwyn: k
Bronwyn: hey I don't know if you remember, but we're going to the principal tomorrow about Todd and his cronies
Bronwyn: ur coming too, right?
NOT. WORTH. PINNING?! Shaun’s face flushes crimson with rage as he kips up and charges at ‘Kilt’s’ back, his arms spread wide as he attempts to grapple his enormous opponent.
His arms spread in mocking, ‘Kilt’ has no defense as ‘Sluagh’ grabs him about the waist and arches his spine, pile-driving the giant onto the mat. Hard. Shaun was done being a playing out a fight. Applying every once of his strength, he drops the stunned wrestler onto the mat and locks him to the floor in a choke hold. A real choke hold.
‘Kilt’s’ face is pale with reactive shock by the time the ref calls the pin and Shaun releases his tenacious grip.
The Scotsman is dimly aware of the crowd’s cheers. Or maybe they’re jeering boos. Or something else. He doesn’t much care, nor can he really hear them over the blood pounding in his ears. He’s mad. Madder than he’s been in a long time. Almost as mad as...
His breath catches. No...! S*@&. S%&# s+&+ s+*! F!$@! What the f+!$ is wrong with me!? As best he can, he stomps off stage and back to the locker room, desperately trying to calm down. Not that mad, not that mad! Calm down soldier! Not that mad!
As he smudges away a bloody tear, a hanging light fixture rattles unsettlingly for a moment...
- - -
Damn the men and their cold iron.
For any other mountain in the world, she would have had a quick handful of leaps. From bush to shadow, from shadow to tree, and she could have reached the peak in moments.
She had been climbing the Janus’ mountain for well over an hour now. Without leaping. All because they had had the foresight to build the damn thing out of cold steel.
The Earth ached to return her to its embrace, pulling at her joints and tail like begging pups. It was exhausting. The Janus had chosen a good place to hide himself. But perhaps not good enough, as she finally spied the lip of an entrance above her...
In the stillness of the late afternoon, as the sun nears completion of its decent, Abacus chimes quietly. A quick check of the screen reveals that something has tripped the proximity motion sensors of the apartment. The sensors are tuned to filter out anything as small or light as a bird, but the object in question is sizable larger than any bird. Current projections have it at about the size of a Great Dane and moving towards the balcony.
- - -
Shaun collapses onto a bench, his head in his hands as he tries to think through his rage spike. Was I that mad? I didn’t feel that mad before the match but...what the hell happened? It’s like a bezerker switch got flipped somewhere and...oh f~%+, what if this is part of the Cu Sith s@+~!?
His train of thought is interrupted as Salvitori slams the locker room doors open, looking very cross with eyes fixed on Shaun. ...oh, right. S~!!.
Kaoru was, unfortunately, still up and still worrying. Largely about the meeting. Largely because if she didn't, she worried about other things that kept trying to turn her insides into little balls of unhappy anxiety. She almost ignored the slight light of her phone screen turning on, the only indication that she had a notification with her phone in Do No Disturb mode. But, well, she could only go through mental preparations so many times before going mad. Maybe this would take her mind off of stuff.
< u up?
< NOT in a booty call way, I promise x-)
< is there a way you can check if my phone's still cancelled?
She wasn't sure why 'u up?' might be mistaken for a booty call. Or why Bronwyn would think she would think it was a booty call. There probably wasn't much of a point in asking either. She slowly sat up and relocated to her desk with her new computer. Several key strokes later, she had her answer.
> Sorry, don't have an easy way to check that.
> I whipped up the workaround kinda quickly and that didn't seem like a useful optimization to make
> If you send me your plan info, I could maybe look that up in the morning
> Or I can temporarily disable the workaround and we can just see if it still works
> If you want to go that route, we could meet up at lunch or something since I'd need access to the physical device.
That would also allow her to hand off her package directly to her. Maybe deal with any misgivings Bronwyn might have from accepting her food. Or just more quickly get feedback on what kind of food Bronwyn actually liked. Though her culinary skills were mostly limited to Japanese cuisine, so if she didn't like that, she might not be able to help that way.
< k
< hey I don't know if you remember, but we're going to the principal tomorrow about Todd and his cronies
< ur coming too, right?
> Nope.
> Have fun though.
> Speaking of, how was watching a bunch of grown men prancing about in tights as they pretended to wail on each other?
> I still think it would have been more interesting to watch people who actually know how to fight.
Kaoru (Phone Savior): If you want to go that route, we could meet up at lunch or something since I'd need access to the physical device.
Bronwyn: Would it take a long time? Like if I brought it to you tonight, would that work?
Bronwyn: not 2b pushy :-/
Bronwyn: I got some weird calls and I don't know if I was supposed to be able to get them
Bronwyn:or if...
Bronwyn: Could you do it tonight?
***
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Nope.
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Have fun though.
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Speaking of, how was watching a bunch of grown men prancing about in tights as they pretended to wail on each other?
Kaoru (Phone Savior): I still think it would have been more interesting to watch people who actually know how to fight.
Bronwyn: Some of them have some moves irl, but tbh, i'm not into wrestling ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Bronwyn: just wanted to make sure Shaun was ok
Bronwyn: this one girl KEPT trying to matchmake me and Cassie tho
Bronwyn: luckily I think she was from Spain (accent), so she was mainly doing it en espanol, so it wasn't Supes Awk for Cass :-/
.
.
.
Bronwyn: So umm
Bronwyn: y aren't you going to help with Todd?
Bronwyn: 3v2 isn't the best witness math
Bronwyn: even if there are credibility issues on their side.
Bronwyn: why wouldn't this be worth doing?
***
You really had to fly off today, Shayera? We could really use a tracker.
"Okay... is there anything you could try do you thi-" she blinked and turned aside. "Hey, Fake-Kilt was supposed to win, right?"
Shayera plops down on the chair and pushes back the hoodie, revealing an unruly mess of hair. She hadn't made any attempt at putting on any makeup, either. She stares at the floor, not making eye contact with anyone.
Miss Wood takes a few moments to jot some notes down on a pad of paper, then gives Shayera what's obviously meant to be a comforting smile.
"Now, Qiu Ying. May I call you that? What did you want to tell me?"
"It's pronounced 'Xiu.' A hard 'Sh' sound." Shayera says with no real energy.
"Ah, I see. Sorry. So. What happened, then?"
Shayera lifts her head up enough to barely make eye contact. "So, I was going to the practice fields after school, to watch the track team. I saw those three, Todd, Bryce, and Daniel, and tried to go by them. I said something to them, like, 'what's up?' or 'what's going on?' You know, making conversation."
She shrugs. "They said some things about my sexual orientation. Todd was the worst, asking to watch, stuff like that. Then they started asking me about the new Chinese students. Asking if they were gay, too. I said they didn't like stupid Americans, and tried to walk away.
"Todd pushed me down. The other two were laughing. I was wearing a skirt, so when Todd tried to help me up, he stepped on the hem and pulled me up out of it. I tried to pick it up, but he kept his foot on it and I couldn't."
Miss Wood taps the pen on the desk while she considers what Shayera said.
< Would it take a long time? Like if I brought it to you tonight, would that work?
< not 2b pushy :-/
< I got some weird calls and I don't know if I was supposed to be able to get them
< Could you do it tonight?
Kaoru groaned. Tonight? Crap, that would mean she'd have to get dressed. And bind her chest again. And find someplace to meet that wasn't her house where Bronwyn could drop in unexpectedly while her mom was home and possible screw everything up. But maybe...maybe a quick jog and some fresh air would help her clear her head? She started making her way towards the bathroom as she typed out a response.
> No, not too long. Maybe 5-10 minutes?
> Did you want to meet in Monument Park?
> I don't actually know where you live or if that's close to you.
*****
< Some of them have some moves irl, but tbh, i'm not into wrestling ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
< just wanted to make sure Shaun was ok
< this one girl KEPT trying to matchmake me and Cassie tho
< luckily I think she was from Spain (accent), so she was mainly doing it en espanol, so it wasn't Supes Awk for Cass :-/
< So umm
< y aren't you going to help with Todd?
< 3v2 isn't the best witness math
< even if there are credibility issues on their side.
< why wouldn't this be worth doing?
> What's the point?
> They're already suspended.
> Schools, especially public ones, don't like expelling students since then they'd have to pay for a private tutor
Stupid Delphi getting in the way. Though...actually, so long as she stayed out of any government databases, she could probably still take matters into her own hands. True, it wouldn't be as good as putting them on a sex offender registry. But it probably wouldn't be that hard to plaster all their social media accounts with mortifying things. She already had everything in place for Bren, so it wouldn't be that hard to do the same to these three. Even though the Bren hack wouldn't go off for another...45 days still. Gods, it had felt like a month had already gone by since she had set that up. How had it only been 2 days?
> And if Shaun couldn't handle himself, he shouldn't have joined some fake wrestling club.
> Why would some rando try to play matchmaker for a complete stranger?
> Did you tell her you had a gf?
Was Cassie pretty? She couldn't remember. Which at least probably meant she wasn't ugly. Plus I guess the real question is if she's prettier than Wingblade? Both seemed to make somewhat questionable fashion choices. Though she was pretty sure most guys would disagree with her. Should she pretend to like how much leg they both tended to show off? But also Cassie probably didn't used to be a guy, so it wouldn't make much sense for her and Bronwyn to get together. She had never really understood the desire to push other people into random relationships.
Kaoru (Phone Savior): No, not too long. Maybe 5-10 minutes?
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Did you want to meet in Monument Park?
Kaoru (Phone Savior): I don't actually know where you live or if that's close to you.
Bronwyn: Not as close as it used to be, but it'll be fine.
Bronwyn: Thanks! This really means a lot
***
Bronwyn: because getting them suspended once for something horrible they did doesn't stop them doing horrible things later
Bronwyn: you don't just get tossed in the Bad Person bin, and never show up and harass people again
Bronwyn: todd's never going to stop if he doesn't get in trouble
Bronwyn: he might not then either, but at least it gives him a chance
Bronwyn: it gives the school the chance to do the right thing too
***
Kaoru (Phone Savior):And if Shaun couldn't handle himself, he shouldn't have joined some fake wrestling club.
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Why would some rando try to play matchmaker for a complete stranger?
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Did you tell her you had a gf?
Bronwyn: well he didn't join it, remember?
Bronwyn: we can go into it at the meeting tomorrow
Bronwyn: I said something about pretty girls being into tall boys too much and she made some guesses
Bronwyn: didn't tell her about Shayera
Bronwyn: habit :-/
Bronwyn: but i must have told her a hundred times that Cassie and me were just friends
Bronwyn: and that Cassie's straight.
"Okay... is there anything you could try do you thi-" she blinked and turned aside. "Hey, Fake-Kilt was supposed to win, right?"
Cassie shrugged. "I think so, but does it really matter? If the Sineater's still here we need to try to find him and I can't think of anything else to do apart from just wandering around and hoping we bump into him."
As they were talking, the charm's red glow had faded and it now shimmered in Cassie's hand - where the eye shape had been a lustrous blue before she'd infused it with the 'Sluagh', or whatever his name'd been's pride, it was now a glistening golden color. Carefully, Cassie wrapped it in a cloth and returned it to her satchel... It might come in handy to have a pride-bomb on hand, or for use in a spell. It'd be especially potent against Slaugh, since it'd come from him but, since they weren't likely to bump into the wrestler any time soon, that was unlikely to be very useful.
The pride-charm secreted away, Cassie turned back to Bron. "We should probably stick together. He went that way," she says nodding at the doorway the Sineater had departed through. .. so I guess that's where we start?"
Kaoru quickly sent a location and meeting time and then did her best to hurriedly but correctly put on her bindings. The good news was that she did as good of a job as normal with them. The bad was that by the time she was done, she barely had time to do anything else. Which is why she ran up to the meeting spot, slightly out of breath and very clearly not dressed with her typical care. Her pants were still her dark blue, soft cotton, slightly too large PJ pants that she had quickly tucked into the tops of her sneakers to avoid getting dirt and mud all over the bottom of them. The t-shirt she had grabbed and hastily put on was too small, making it impossible for her to tuck it into her waistband and though it was hardly skin tight, it made her nervous to wear. As such, instead of struggling to pull it off, she had thrown a soft fleece pullover on top of it, just to make sure no anomalies would be visible. Her hair had been hastily finger combed (yet another advantage to keeping it short) and while it wasn't up to her normal standards, at least didn't look actively bad. She just had to keep reminding herself that some people actually tried to go for the kinda messy, just-rolled-out-of-bed look.
"Buenas noches, señorita." Kaoru held out her hand. "Phone, por favor."
*****
> And getting suspended isn't getting in trouble?
> Might wanna tell him that.
> And what do you mean he didn't join it?
> I saw his name on those SuperWrestle posters around school.
> Seemed like a dumb move, but WB didn't say anything about it being, like, disallowed or anything
She tapped her fingers idly on the phone, trying to figure out how to respond to the height comment. She wasn't sure why, but she felt a need to point out how dumb that was.
> That's dumb
> Why would a girl want to be with someone she'd have to constantly tilt her head up to see?
> People already have a lot of tension in their necks. They don't need to add more
> Makes more sense just to date someone roughly the same height as you.
> Maybe you should have just told Cassie to tell them she was straight?
> Though I dunno why people don't just listen when you tell them you're not into someone else
> You shouldn't need someone else to confirm that for them to believe you
> They should just believe you
"Yeah, I don't get what happened, I didn't see it," Zoe spoke up on Bronwyn's inquiry. Elize was writing down something and handing it over to Bronwyn and Cassie.
"Those are our numbers. I know this guy must be bad news if you so badly want to go after him. Call us if you need anything - we're not bad in a scrap and if he's messing with wrestlers, he's messing with family."
Despite their efforts, it doesn't take long for both of them to realize that the trail for the Sineater has gone completely cold - whether or not he succeeded in his mission remains to be seen...
"What the HELL was that, kid?! You were supposed to go under!" Salvitori shouts at him, before thinking better and calming down a touch. "Well, this is what I get for hiring a rank amateur." He reaches into his wallet, taking out five twenty dollar bills and slaps them on the bench next to Shaun. "Your promised pay. Hope you feel you earned it," Salvitori tells him. He turns to leave, but an angry and annoyed Scotsman bursts into the locker room, held back by Bobby Brass and a couple other wrestlers.
"He ruined my debut! This is seriously the best you could come up with after the Gremlin bailed on us?" He asked, flush with anger. "I just heard that little pissant never even showed up to MetaBrawl's event!"
"The hell did he go then?" Salvitori grumbles, throwing his hands up. "Whatever, at least you got sympathy from the crowd. We can milk the Kilt character for a few more shows and hopefully, get you proper talent to wrestle."
Kilt settles down, but glares at Shaun. "You seriously tried to choke me out in the ring there, you bastard! I was counting on your help and you screwed me over. Take your damn money and get the hell out of here," He snarls at him.
Alexis filed into Kaoru's meeting room. He hadn't attended school, but had slipped in when the students were being let out. He'd gotten in without much fuss. He was wearing one of the vested outfits he'd gotten tailored for him, which made him feel a little more mature than everyone probably saw him.
"...Hi, Kaoru," He spoke to him, finding a good place to settle down.
Alexis looked a bit confused at the whole spiel. He'd mostly gotten sidelined by the fact that she'd mistook the differential calculus equations he'd been solving to keep his mind sharp with algebraic equations. He elected not to point that out, being irrelevant to her topic of discussion, and go to the heart of the matter.
"I don't trust him. He worked for the people who I worked for. But I trust Shayera. And I trust her mom. So we're all going to have dinner tomorrow so we can talk about it. Me, her mom, her dad, and Shayera."
Alexis: Shayera
Alexis: there a dog climbing up the penthouse
Alexis: How do I stop it?
Bronwyn had just re-dressed in the day's outfit, which was a good deal less labor intensive. She wasn't sure exactly which angle Kaoru would be approaching from, so she kept her running speed to about 15mph avoid looking overly proficient. Most people didn't gauge running speed that well by eye, but there was no sense in going too fast.
She grinned a little weakly at Kaoru's Spanish, and handed her phone over.
From the last time Kaoru had messed around with her phone, circuit-board design apps had dropped off her most used, and 3d modeling programs for rather larger projects, as well as daily affirmations had taken their place. Language learning was still a favorite.
***
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Makes more sense just to date someone roughly the same height as you.
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Maybe you should have just told Cassie to tell them she was straight?
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Though I dunno why people don't just listen when you tell them you're not into someone else
Kaoru (Phone Savior): You shouldn't need someone else to confirm that for them to believe you
Kaoru (Phone Savior): They should just believe you
Bronwyn: Well I wasn't like offended that they thought i liked cassie
Bronwyn: i was a little annoyed that they
Bronwyn: Also as a tol with a smol gf I'd like to think there's SOME kind of benefit ;-)
Bronwyn: like she gets to wear muuuch nicer heels...
Bronwyn: But you get why Todd being punished once for something bad he did doesn't mean he shouldn't get punished again for other bad things, right?!
Bronwyn: Like he got suspended in middle school for putting Kyle in the hospital. He should still have gotten suspended for beating you up years later. He should still not get a free pass for forcibly stripping Shayera.
***
"Yeah, but if the guy who got brought in was supposed to lose... Does Salvatori have a temper?"
***
"So that was pretty nuts! Hey, do you mind if we duck off somewhere for a sec? I've got some questions I've been putting off, and... they're kinda private."
Kaoru took the phone without further comment. She was about to sit down right there before she thought better of getting grass stains (possibly from wet grass) on her PJ bottoms and instead headed over to a nearby bench. She sat down, pulling her new computer from a messenger bag (she hadn't really felt like lugging about her heavier backpack) and plugging the phone in. She silently waited for it to connect before clicking on a few thing and typing a few more things in, absently gnawing on her bottom lip. Eyes still glued to the screen, she suddenly spoke up. "Hey, does Wingblade look down on you for, like, not having powers?"
*****
< Well I wasn't like offended that they thought i liked cassie
< i was a little annoyed that they
< Also as a tol with a smol gf I'd like to think there's SOME kind of benefit ;-)
< like she gets to wear muuuch nicer heels...
< But you get why Todd being punished once for something bad he did doesn't mean he shouldn't get punished again for other bad things, right?!
< Like he got suspended in middle school for putting Kyle in the hospital. He should still have gotten suspended for beating you up years later. He should still not get a free pass for forcibly stripping Shayera.
Well, Kaoru was sure he at least wasn't going to get a pass. Even if she hadn't yet figured out what exactly she was going to do to him...
> The administration isn't going to do anything, and I'm not interested doing things that won't have an effect
> They only suspended them because they already had several recent strikes on their record and there was video footage showing them starting the fight
> And annoyed that they...?
> You forgot to finish your sentence. :-P
> I would have been annoyed that they didn't listen to me
> Like, what? They think if they ask a third time I'll suddenly change my answer and want to lay myself at their feet?
> Not that you can't change your mind, but that's not going to happen just because they want you to.
> Things need to _actually_ change, y'know?
> Did you know heels were originally invented by King Louis XIV to show off his athletic calves?
Shaun sighs, first at the money then at ‘Kilt’s’ outburst. Yep, I’ve royally f*~$ed this one... Reluctantly picking up the bills and tucking them into his kit, he addresses his plagiarist. ”I...ah f!&*. Look lad, that was an accident. I didn’t mean ta’ hurt ya’, I was just...ta’ reflexes kicked in an’ I took ya’ down like I was trained ta’, ‘kay? Nothin’ personal.”
The redhead moves to change out of his costume, then pauses. ”...hey, Salvitori?” he asks as he drops his kit onto the bench. ”I just wanted ta’...damnit, here.” Ignoring the nagging voice that told him he needed all the money he could get, Shaun puts $60 back into the manager’s hand. ”I only did half ta’ job, only right ta’ get half-...er, least close ta’ half pay. Sorry I screwed thin’s up.” But what else is new...
Re-preparing to change and leave, Shaun tried as he does so to study the towering ‘Kilt’ and trying to think of a way forward. I still need to figure out why he’s stealing my name. Or, hell, if he’s even doing it intentionally...oh God, what if he’s isn’t and I just choked out the effective victim in all this? Stupid, stupid, stupid...
Before they left the backstage area, Cassie slipped her charm back on and follows Bron outside. At Bron's question, she raises an eyebrow. "Sure. I've got plenty of time. Where'd you want to go?"
"Of course not! I mean, she makes sure that if one of us is going to fall off a building it's the one with wings, but that's not looking down on me; it's seeing each of us for who we really are. Neither of us even knew the other one was up to super stuff when we met though. I actually sicced Bran on following her since she was heading home through a rough neighborhood. She figured out I'd been behind his mysterious appearance, but she actually asked him not to tell me that she had powers, cause she wanted to be my friend without that being between us. Then she thought better of that thank God, and took me flying. And then we fell a little bit in love..." She smiled to herself for a moment. "Why do you ask? How Shayera interacts with her girlfriend isn't like a straight shot to how she'd feel about unpowered teammates. Or is it someone else on the team you're worried about?"
Tell me about Alexandra so I can give advice!
***
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Like, what? They think if they ask a third time I'll suddenly change my answer and want to lay myself at their feet?
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Not that you can't change your mind, but that's not going to happen just because they want you to.
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Things need to _actually_ change, y'know?
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Did you know heels were originally invented by King Louis XIV to show off his athletic calves?I
Bronwyn: Sure, that's why I wear them too
Bronwyn: Why let boys have all the fun ;-p
.
.
.
Bronwyn: So what are you going to do to him instead?.
***
Doesn't matter as long as- Actually, how about my forge? It's just twenty minutes away? As long as we run to catch the crosstown. "
It was simple enough to get Cassie waved in than Shaun. Bo was much lighter on the banter for Blah Girl after all. Bronwyn led her through the twisting lines of detritus, taking a running jump to haul herself to the top of the wall that kept her set up private. Casually balancing herself atop it, she lay down and reached out a hand towards Cassie. "In case you don't want to levitate," she grinned.
Cassie grinned and reached up to take Bron's hand, letting the other girl haul her up and onto the wall of junk - it was a bit undignified but there was no one watching so it wasn't too bad - still it was a good reminder that she needed to spend a bit more time on her physical training reigeme. Once she was seated next to Bron, she'd glanced around curiously at the lines of cars and other junk, and at Bron's setup, she - it reminded her of one of the places she and some of the other girls had used to go to smoke or just to get away from school.
So, this is, like, your secret lair, yeah? Gotta admit, its kind've cool. How'd you find it?"
"Bran saved the guy that runs this place from... Wow, some powered up goon... Meltro? Anyways, his armor got totally trashed in the fight, and Bo offered to help out with the rebuilding. We got to talking, and he carved out a space for me to work and Bran to train. Bo's got a little Gae-Dearg charm too, just in case. Gets me materials at cost too. But uh, yeah, Bran or me built everything here, which is kinda what I wanted to talk to you about..."
She hopped down and started walking towards the improvised sedan I-beam barbell. "You know those 'side effects' I told you about? Well... There's more to them than I told you."
In a single smooth motion she reached out with one hand, squared her stance and began to curl the cars.
She let them drop and turned back to look up at Cassie on atop the wall.
In a flash she was gone, and Bran the Blessed stood there. He removed his helm, saying simply. "Bran is... He's really me."
Kaoru did have someone in mind. And while Alexandra hadn't explicitly said she wanted to keep her abilities a secret, it had been clear enough that hadn't been sure she wanted to share that information with everybody. She wasn't about to reward Alexandra's trust by immediately telling everybody what she had said. That was a surefire way to make sure she never got told anything meaningful ever again. So instead she gave a half-shrug and switched directions as she told her computer to undo the hack on Bronwyn's phone. "How d'ya know that you were in love with her?"
*****
< Sure, that's why I wear them too
< Why let boys have all the fun ;-p
< So what are you going to do to him instead?
> ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
> Why? Was there something you wanted me to do to him?
> And I've talked to girls who've worn high heels
> I don't think any of them would describe it as "fun"
> More like lots of complaining about how their feet hurt and lots of batting of eyelashes and none-too-subtle requests that I do one thing or another for them as a result
> I kept telling them to choose more practical footwear, but they never listened to me
> I never really saw a point in them. They didn't seem to make much of a difference as far as I could tell
> They were just kinda...taller
Kaoru had fortunately gotten away with mostly wearing flats. Even still, she could hardly say almost spraining her ankle attempting to walk in a pair had been the highlight of her existence. Though her so-called 'friends' had been pretty amused at her attempts. Despite her embarrassment, she had just smiled and played along. The idiot who didn't know what the hell she was doing. She had made sure never to try in front of them again though.
Cassie shifted so that her legs were dangling over the edge of the wall watching curiously as Bron made her way down into the yard talking. She wasn't sure what Bron was about to reveal, but she knew that the other girl had been keeping,.. something,... secret, and it looked like, make, she was about to find out what it was.
She hadn't been expecting this though! When Bron'd casually, easily, lifted the cars she'd gaped in surprise. When she'd turned into Bran, though, Cassie had almost fallen off the wall.
For a few moments Cassie remained silent where she was, silently reevaluating what she'd thought about the team - Bron was more important, a lot more important to keep on side than she'd thought. ...and just how many people in the team are going to spontaneously change sex?
"Hold on." she'd said as she'd dropped to the ground and walked up to Bran and then around him, examining him from every angle as if he was some curiosity from the museum. "So,... Bron's like, a disguise?,.. No, she's got a family and a history so.... OK, I give up. I think you'll have to tell me how this," she gestured at Bran, "...all happened and just what it is you want me to do?"
Ugh. Fine. I mean, I love this story and I Never get a chance to tell it...
"I mean... I knew I really cared for her. We'd just clicked so easily... It was kinda weird looking back though. I never brought her home, and a lot of the time we spent together was alone, and almost never at one of our homes. Almost like spending time together had to be different. I didn't even see her old house until she got really hurt. She couldn't fly and she was just so depressed and angry, and I couldn't let her stay there alone to brood... And then, she went on a mission with Bran and the rest of the old team... And she was gone.
"She didn't come back like Alexis did. She probably wouldn't be able to come back if she actually did die again. I've never seen something that convinced me more of God's love, or that He really does turn all things to good, or that I'll never be able to see the plan while something's happening.
"But yeah, losing her and finding her again really drove home how important she was to me. I still didn't really realize though. I really didn't want to look at how I felt about her, or this other... goddess who was trying to date me- That part's a long story. But umm... I don't know when I would've realized how I really felt, but then I got whammied by something and for whatever reason Shayera kissed me to fix it.
"And it was fireworks. And once I realized that she wasn't just a friend, and that the ways I'd sometimes thought about her was real... I'd been in love with her for months. So I told her. Umm... Do you think you and Alexandra might be heading that way?"
***
Bronwyn: Hey. Is it going to be something that you think I'll be... Mad about? Or something?
Bronwyn: or I could call on comms if this isn't secure.
Bran began to intone then interrupted himself with a grimace, "In truth- Sorry. I practiced a lot to switch up my vocal patterns based on different physical cues. How tall I am, the armor, that kind of thing helps me remember to talk like him. Bran's the disguise. Kind of. So I was in a bad scene at the museum, yes, the same museum, and I'd decided to get involved, to fight these cultists of Balor that were holding everyone hostage. I'd done a few years of martial arts for self defense, and I figured I could do even better with a javelin, so I took Gae-Dearg out of the case and BAM!" He clapped his hands together with a crunch of metal on metal, "I was Bran. And like, I knew I was 'Bran the Blessed' and that the spear I had was 'Gae-Dearg,' but that was it. But when I turned back... I was still strong, really strong."
Alexis: Shayera
Alexis: there a dog climbing up the penthouse
Alexis: How do I stop it?
Alexis' text receives no response from Wingblade.
However, with a flap of brown feathered wings, a figure descends down out of the sky.
Whippoorwill circles around the strange hound, whip in hand. "Okay, I'm having a bad day, so I'm not in the mood for a lot of shenanigans right now. Are you something I need to put down, or just some new pet one of Wingblade's friends picked up?"
"So I guess you really like kissing her, huh." The comment was more directed at herself than Bronwyn as she started to worry her bottom lip. She felt something inside her sink. That seemed to settle things. When you kissed someone you liked, you felt 'fireworks', whatever the hell that meant. She didn't really feel anything when she kissed Alexandra, so she must not like her like that. Well, I mean, you don't feel *nothing*. You feel, like, warm and tender towards her. But how could you not? I mean, she's all gentle and sweet about it. It's clear she's being considerate. That she cares. But it's obviously not 'fireworks'.
Well, but, I mean, the first time she kissed you out of the blue, so you were clearly too surprised to feel anything. And the next time she was just, like, teaching you *how* to kiss, so that doesn't really count, right? Maybe if I kissed her again.... But wait, I'm still going to suck at kissing, won't I? Do I need to be proficient at it to enjoy it? When will I know that I'm proficient?
...wait, are you actually trying to talk yourself into liking Alexandra as more than a friend? What the fk is wrong with you? You should be happy! You were right the first time. They were wrong; you're not gay. You don't like girls like that. There's just something wrong about your friendships with women. Ugghhh, but wasn't pretending to be a guy supposed to fix all of this? Except Alexandra knew from the beginning that you weren't, so maybe that's why things went wrong? But she's straight, isn't she? So she should only like me if I were a guy?
She rubbed her eyes, suddenly a lot more tired. Then realized that Bronwyn had asked her something. "What? Oh sorry. Tired." Technically true. "Ummm...I dunno. I thought--" She cut herself off, pretending that something on her screen had caught her eye to buy her time to think. She wasn't sure what she had thought. But she guessed she needed to break up with Alexandra, so she didn't keep leading her on. Was it even breaking up? She wasn't even really sure they were dating. Except Alexandra had called herself her "girlfriend." That meant something, right? But it was probably going to hurt her and she desperately didn't want to hurt her. But this would be better in the long term, right? It was the right thing to do? She couldn't hurt her like she had Jack.
Oh gods, what if Alexandra thought it was because of the whole powers thing? What if she just decided to go along with things, so Alexandra didn't make that mistake? She did really like spending time with Alexandra. And the physical stuff wasn't bad. And it's not like she wanted to be with anyone else. She could certainly put up with kissing if that was the price to make Alexandra happy and keep spending time with her. But what about if she wants to do more than that? Fkkkk, why was this all so complicated?
She pulled out her phone and sent a test text. "I've disabled the hack on your phone and sent you a test message. We should give it a few minutes to see if it goes through. If it doesn't, your service is still cancelled, and I assume you'd want me to re-enable the hack?"
Maybe...you're just broken. You've never really wanted to kiss guys. You didn't particularly like kissing Jack, despite everyone saying what a perfect match you were, so if you liked guys, you would have liked him. You've never wanted to kiss girls either, and are you ever really going to find a smarter, prettier, nicer, or all-around more amazing girl than Alexandra? So if you don't like her, you're probably not into girls. And you're almost 16. If you were going to have those feelings, surely you'd have them by now with all those crazy, teen hormones. Which you've obviously got flowing through you 'cause, I mean, all the other signs of puberty are there. And literally everybody you know has had romantic feelings towards *someone*. Some for *years* now. So clearly, there must be something wrong with you and you just don't like anyone.
She drummed her fingers on her computer as she tried to will time to speed up, so they could see if the message would arrive, and she could just go back home. It was unfortunate really that she couldn't just skip school the next day. She really just wanted to curl up in a ball and hide from the world.
*****
< Hey. Is it going to be something that you think I'll be... Mad about? Or something?
< or I could call on comms if this isn't secure.
Ah fk, she had forgotten to ask anything. Kaoru absently tapped her phone as she tried to think of a new train of conversation to distract Bronwyn with.
> I don't have any specific plans.
> So if you have something you want me to do, I could look into it
Technically true. She had the vague idea of using social media for something, but that depended both on what information she was able to dig up and the fact that she'd be able to use it in some way to stop Todd. And really, more ideas certainly wouldn't hurt.
> Hey, you do blacksmithing stuff, right?
> WB asked me to look into some gadget building ideas
> I've got some designs for one of them, but I've never, like, made a knife or whatever, so I don't know which one would be easier to try to make/more feasible
> If I sent them to you, would you be able to tell?
Once Shaun started speaking, the Kilt's eyes started to grow wider and wider before he erupted into a tirade of inventive expletives. "What in the Lord's puckered ass are you doing here, Kilt?" He demands of him. "Couldn't tell with your mask on or the fact that you weren't speaking proper English, but-"
"Woah, hold up. Did you seriously take this job to fight against the guy you gave your name to?" Salvitori asked him, looking incredulous at the news. "Because he's got your written consent. Signed and witnessed at McDougall's two weeks ago."
'Kilt' nods at that. "Though if you've changed your mind about it, I don't mind going back to another persona. But you seriously could have just asked if you had second thoughts. I did give you my number," He points out to Shaun.
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"So I guess you really like kissing her, huh."
For a moment Bronwyn freaked out internally before realizing that Kaoru didn't know Alexandra had kissed Bran, and didn't know she was Bran anyways.
"I know I said that kiss was fireworks, and it really was what made me realize. But umm, it wasn't for Shayera, not in the same way. Especially not the first time." She grinned conspiratorialy, "She was pretty bad. Lotta teeth."
"But hey, umm. What is going on with you and Alexandra? You don't seem... blissful. You guys having some problems? Or are you not official-official. I heard you were maybe taking things slow?"
***
Kaoru (Phone Savior): I don't have any specific plans.
Kaoru (Phone Savior): So if you have something you want me to do, I could look into it
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Hey, you do blacksmithing stuff, right?
Kaoru (Phone Savior): WB asked me to look into some gadget building ideas
Kaoru (Phone Savior): I've got some designs for one of them, but I've never, like, made a knife or whatever, so I don't know which one would be easier to try to make/more feasible
Kaoru (Phone Savior): If I sent them to you, would you be able to tell?
Bronwyn: Okay, first, of course I'll help
Bronwyn: And I appreciate how hard you're trying not to lie to me
Bronwyn: but you don't have to
Bronwyn: so umm I'd like to know what your gonna do, and help if you want
Bronwyn: but that's up to you
Bronwyn: either way, Shayera and I are going to talk to the principal about this
Bronwyn: I would really like it if you came
Bronwyn: Will you please do that for me?
Cassie smiled to herself as Bran/Bron corrected themself, stopped circling their large frame and stood in front of,.. ok, she was going try to mentally start thinking of Bran as 'her'.... Stood in front of her and looked up into her eyes.
"OK. I guess that makes sense.... Although if I had, like, super strength without having to turn into a big, muscly he-man, then I'd probably just wear a mask. Well, mostly anyway - i guess I'd be a bit curious. What's it like being a guy? I guess Shayera knows? What about the others? And,... why tell me? You said you wanted to ask me some questions? I guess its something to do with... all this, or you wouldn't have shown me Bran? And, do you think you could change back? It's kind've weird talking to Bran like this.
In a flash Bronwyn was back, "Sure thing. Umm.. I don't know, I'm not really a guy. I just pretend to be one sometimes. I don't just like hang out as Bran. And Shayera doesn't know what it's like to be a guy! Why do people keep- Oh. Yeah she knows Bran's me. No one else on the team does though.
"I guess... Well I always thought I'd just found this magic spear that let me turn into this mythic giant. And there were parts that didn't add up: Like why didn't anyone else transform while the spear was being moved around, why did myths say Gae-Dearg was someone else's spear, why did I get his powers too, and not just transform?
"But I just figured I'd been chosen by someone, that not everything you hear in myths is true, and that my strength and everything was... Just a side effect, and I kinda figured that if I stopped running around as Bran, that they'd go away too.
"Then when I got vanished at the park, I found out I might be wrong. I was sent Elsewhere, and I talked to Bran and Branwen, well, a Bran and Branwen - he was super old and bearded and beheaded, and Branwen was a pure white raven, and they both talked like there were others, or had been others... But the important thing is that they told me that they hadn't chosen me, and that Gae-Dearg wasn't his spear! And then you brought me back, and I couldn't ask any follow-ups. So umm... I don't know. Alexandra at one point thought I was possessed by Branwen, but I've seen what that looks like, and I don't think anything like that is happening to me. Also, Bran's a hero. I don't think heroes would do that, even if they had to fight across the ages. I think there'd be another way.
"So can you help me figure out what's real?"
Kaoru's brows knit into a frown as she blurted out, "Wait, but then how does she know she likes you like that? How do you know?" God, this was confusing. Why couldn't she just be a robot and feel nothing? That would make everything so much easier. There were too many thoughts buzzing around her head, trying to piece things together. Was Bronwyn's relationship one-sided? Was Wingblade just pretending? If so, was an ok thing to do? Or did she need to find a way to beat the crap out of her on Bronwyn's behalf? It was like she was working on a puzzle but all she was given was square-shaped pegs to put into round holes. Maybe the smart thing to do was just to give up. Except of course, she wasn't even sure that "giving up" would look like. Did that mean just go along with whatever Alexandra wanted? Or isolate herself and become even more of a social outcast? Hell, maybe she should just drop out and run away. It probably wouldn't be that hard to get a contracting job online, and with a good enough portfolio, a high school diploma wasn't even necessary to get a good job in the tech industry.
On the bright side, she was pretty sure she hadn't used a bunch of teeth when kissing Alexandra, not that she was even really sure why that was apparently a bad thing. She had been pretty careful to follow the instructions she had been given. Which probably just meant she had some other deficiency. Maybe if she was terrible, Alexandra would do all the hard work and break up with her. She wouldn't even really need to try to be bad. After all, she had no clue what the hell she was doing or supposed to be doing in any of this. And eventually Alexandra's patience would wear out or she'd get tired of teaching her and just end it. And if she ended it, then at least she wouldn't be mad at her and they could still be friends and hang out, right? It was sad to think of Alexandra looking at her with frustration and annoyance instead of warmth and compassion, but she could handle that if it meant things turned out ok.
She gave a half-shrug in response to Bronwyn's question. "I dunno." She opened her mouth to say more but then closed it. There wasn't really more. She didn't know if they were taking things slow. She didn't know if they were "official" or even really how together they were. She didn't know if she needed to "break up" with Alexandra or if that even made sense (Though given Bronwyn's comments, that seemed like a vote in the 'yes, you would actually need to break up with her' column). She didn't know if there was a problem, though she was beginning to suspect that she was the problem. So 'I dunno' really did answer everything. It was actually kind of beautiful in its simplicity.
*****
> (◔_◔)
> I don't have any plans for you to help with
> Hence the solicitation of ideas
> I might not even do _anything_
It was probably more accurate to say that she might not be able to do anything, but she was hardly going to admit that.
Miss Wood leans forward, her mouth twisted in distaste. "I understand that may be what you perceived, but Mr. Williams explained that he was simply trying to help you up."
Shayera rocks back, eyes wide. "What?? But that's--"
Shaking her head, the vice-principal gives her a fake smile. "He's admitted to some crass language regarding your sexual orientation. I'll be recommending sensitivity training to him and his friends. That's not going to be condoned here. But I also don't appreciate these sort of allegations just because your feelings are hurt! He's a young man who comes from a very good family. An accusation like this could ruin his future. Do you really want to be responsible for that?"
Shayera sits back in her chair, stunned. "So... you think he didn't pull my skirt off?"
"It was all an accident. He was helping you up after you fell. He didn't realize he was standing on your skirt. He feels really bad about it."
Shayera rubs her face, trying to make sense of this. She already felt numb about everything else going on, but she knew she should be outraged. She could imagine Bronwyn going ballistic. "But... what if he's lying to you? What if he really did all this on purpose?" she whispers.
Miss Wood shrugs. "Well, it's your word against his. And his friends. But it's your right to bring charges, if you'd like. Shall I call the school resource officer?"
With an exhausted roll of her shoulder, Shayera shakes her head. It was evidently an uphill battle that she hadn't really wanted to fight in the first place. "No, I guess not. Are you going to make him apologize? It was an expensive skirt."
Miss Wood gives her a smile. "I'll talk to him. I think I can arrange that." She gets up and steps out of her office, leaving Shayera as she slumps in her chair and stares at the ceiling.
"She wasn't sure at first. We just knew that we both really cared about each other. And we've been working to figure it out. Shayera still kinda thinks there might be something wrong with her, and with everything that's been done to her, it's really possible that something got messed up or rewired in her brain, or that just, the traumas and abuses of her upbringing have put up walls that she needs help and work to batter down, or go around.
"But I think she's just asexual; it's who she is. But umm... Also, we know what we mean to each other, and we're both happy with what our relationship might become someday. But she has a therapist, and we both see her for couples counseling. We're doing it all together."
A slightly embarrassed look came over her face. "Or umm... I dated a guy before Shayera. Before I realized... And I liked him, he's a great guy, and he was everything I thought I wanted in a boyfriend. But... It wasn't Shayera's fault, like, our relationship was getting kinda rocky because of that goddess who... I dunno, I definitely wasn't in love with her. But when she was courting me... It felt really different. It was really scary, 'cause I had no idea what 'next' might even look like with her, but... There was something there. Something more than friendship, or just how ridiculously gorgeous she was. Even if Shayera hadn't woken me up with True Love's First Kiss, and I hadn't realized I was gay yet, I would've known that that connection wasn't really there for me and Marco. And umm, I'm sure Alexandra would be fine, and understand if... If anything like what I'm talking about sounds familiar."
***
Bronwyn: Okay. If this doesn't work with the principal, and you decide you do want to find something more to do, I'll help.
Bronwyn: Please help me before then?
***
"Are you going to ask to talk to any other witnesses?" As soon as the door opened, Bronwyn was standing and waiting for Miss Wood. "Or did you already decide that he's lying?"
Vice-principal Wood makes the tightest of eyerolls, then gives Bronwyn a saccharine smile. "I believe the matter's been resolved, Miss Pascal. But if there's something you'd like for me to know, go ahead and take a seat in my office. I'm going to say a word with Mr. Williams here, then I'll hear what you have to say."
She gestures toward her office, where Shayera is seated looking defeated. She waits until Bronwyn steps inside, then she closes the door and speaks with Todd.
Inside the vice-principal's office, Shayera doesn't make a move but her eyes turn towards her girlfriend. "Don't bother," she mutters.
A dark clad figure brings a baton down on a not dissimilarity clad man's knee, and turns to a group around him. She tosses a dart at the first two, watching them go down moments after the darts make contact. then the figure, Clearly feminine, dodges backward as another person takes a swing at her with a katana.
F~#&ing Weeb Supervillains She groans, and louder, she says What is it with low-level capes and katanas? She asks, tossing a dart at the figure. he declines to respond, instead cutting the dart out of the air. She tries again, and again he deflects, advancing all the time. she leaps back before tossing again, this time from a different pocket. as his blade tries to deflect this one, she continues retreating. as his sword carves open the object, he and the others near him realize that what she threw at him wasn't another knockout dart, but a can of bear mace...
a few minutes later, the girl walks away, the men handcuffed, leading a group of scared looking, under-dressed women. The police station is two blocks that way... I'll be shadowing you. tell them that. She sighs before forcing herself to say the ringleader's name Katanonball's human trafficking ring tried to abduct you. I'd take it as a favour if you didn't mention it, but don't get in trouble on my behalf. She tells them. true to her word, she stays nearby, on rooftops, until she sees them safe in Quinlan's precinct. After that, she sits, letting her feet dangle off a 14 story building, and taking out a cell phone.
>hey, Shaun
>It's Gill
>I have a thing to talk to you about, but it'd be better in person.
>Meet up tomorrow?
Kaoru continued to frown. She didn't really understand everything Bronwyn was saying. How could they be ok with their relationship if they didn't really know how Wingblade felt about her? That just sounded like a recipe for disaster. It was a recipe for disaster. How could Bronwyn possibly be ok with that? She guessed it made sense if people had been mucking about in Shayera's head that Bronwyn might be willing to take the risk. Bronwyn was kinda crazy like that. She didn't know the details of Shayera's past, but she did know her own, incredibly normal one. She didn't have scientists experimenting on her or abusive...whatevers or a fake parent implanting memories. She didn't really have any good excuse for not wanting what everybody else seemed to want.
"I don't...wanna hurt her." She started slowly, fiddling with her watch. "I hurt the last person I dated because I didn't feel that way. I thought I would just sorta figure it out as I went along, see if anything developed. But it didn't, so I broke things off. But not before I caused a lot of pain. And I just...really don't want to do that to Alexandra." She looked off to one side. "But I really like spending time with her. She has this way about her, y'know? It can be kinda unnerving...but it's also kinda cool" The corners of her lips tugged up in a slight smile. "I dunno, I just...I can tell how careful she's being around me. When she first...indicated that she might be interested in me...like that-" She couldn't help the slight blush she could feel rising at the memory. "I...maybe kind of panicked slightly. And she was just...really...I dunno. And since she's always been just really considerate. Making sure I feel comfortable and safe and just..being really sweet." It made her feel light and warm and happy to think about, and she savored the feeling for a moment before turning to look at Bronwyn, smirking.
"Plus, she's kind of a badass. Before this whole 'team' thing, she maaaayybbeeee sorta pulled me into this side caper." Her eyes sparkled mischievously at the memory. "I fked up of course, and she ended up having to bail me out. We made it out fine, obviously. I thought for sure she'd be mad at me, but she wasn't. She was just...happy and excited. She totally could have done it solo. Probably could have done better solo. But she was still happy I was there." Her gazed flicked away to stare off in the distance briefly before softly adding. "I'm really glad I agreed to go with her."
She placed her hands behind her head, stretching her torso backwards until she could feel her spine pop. "I'd do it again, if she asked. And I think she might've, if this whole 'team' thing hadn't happened. I think...I think she sometimes needs someone to tell her it's not always her fault or that it's okay not to be perfect. I think she puts a lot of pressure on herself to 'live up to' her predecessors. Too much pressure. And I just...really want to be there for her, y'know? I want her to feel like she can talk to me about...whatever. Whether it's some big, scary, new thing or just some random event that made her laugh in one of her classes. I want her to feel as...I dunno...as safe as she makes me feel."
She gave a self-conscious half shrug again as she moved to start stretching out her neck, painfully aware of how dumb her words sounded. She wasn't even really sure why she was saying all this. "So...yeah. I don't really know what's going on with us." Her voice had lost the warmth it had picked up over the course of her monologue, instead returning to a neutral, if slightly tired, tone.
*****
> I'll think about it.
*****
Kaoru hadn't really known what she was going to do until she had done it. Or maybe there had never really been a question about if she would do it or not? Either way, she couldn't recall actively making a decision. She had been thinking about it. And then she was just sort of...there. In the waiting area before the vice-principal's office. She would have liked to have blamed muscle memory except she had only been here twice before. Once while doing semi-illicit activities involving her school records.
She must've known on some level this was what she was going to do though. Why else would she have favored slightly more formal attire today? The kind of clothes that adults tended to look at and smile and whisper that there was a lad who was going places. Or whatever the non-Pleasantville equivalent was. Or maybe she was just trying to make a good impression at her first meeting as team leader? God, they would definitely think she was trying too hard. Unfortunately, she didn't exactly have time to go home and change between the meeting and the end of school. Not if she wanted to make sure the room was adequately set up for the meeting. Uggg, bad things happen when I don't get enough sleep... Her late night with Bronwyn hadn't helped. Neither had waking up early to prepare the extra onigiri for Bronwyn and Alexandra.
She sat silently, looking straight ahead and avoiding eye contact with people (especially the three who were glaring daggers at her) as she sipped on her thermos of matcha. It was comfortingly warm and familiar, and she liked the way she could feel the hot liquid as it moved down her throat to settle in her stomach. Her posture was straight and her expression was a careful neutral. She did note that Wingblade sounded tired. And dejected. Probably not a good sign for their side of the argument. Hmm, maybe if she and Bronwyn thought up something suitably amusing to do to the trio, they could share it with her to cheer her up.
Cassie looked a bit non-plussed. "Why would Shayera know what its like to be a guy?... So, you haven't told anyone else?" Ok, I guess that's a good sign, but she wouldn't have told me if she hadn't wanted my help. Still, it shows that she trusts me.
OK,.. Well I don't know what I can do to help, but I'll do whatever I can." Cassie replied, sitting back on a pile of old tires as she thought. "We know the spear is magical though, and its what triggered your transformation, or whatever. But you say its nothing to do with Bran? We should probably find out as much as we can about it then? Do you know who's spear it was, or anything else about it? It might be worth talking to that,... you know 'The Mouse' at the museum about it. She knows about these things, and she asked to see me after that stuff with the undead dinosaurs."
For a minute she sat, thinking. "I guess that this is probably a good time to tell you that I saw my mom last week." she said, shifting a bit uncomfortably. "Apparently parents have certain 'rights' that aren't lost just because of what she tried to do to me. Not when you've got lawyers like hers, anyway. Don't tell the others, OK? I know its kind've weird. Anyway, she... asked about Bran - I didn't say anything, well, I couldn't really, its not like I knew anything. But, anyway, she seemed surprised that he was here, like now. She asked what I thought of him - whether I thought he was 'attractive'. She seemed surprised when I said I didn't."
'The last person I dated'. And as careful as he is about not technically lying, probably another boy. Except... I mean, how likely is it that a guy this confused about what he likes, and with such weird baggage about gender roles among lesbians has actually... Oh. Okay, well that's not the only explanation... Doesn't matter. I'm not gonna be the kind of person who throws every trans person she knows in his path so I can feel helpful. If he wanted to talk about it, I mean with Alexis on the team...
That might actually be really frustrating. Someone just instantly getting the kind of body you wish you had... And it's not like they have the easiest rapport... Just be here. If he wants to talk he can talk.
She leaned over and gave Kaoru a gentle side hug. "Okay. So you definitely have a crush on her. Don't worry so much about what comes next. Every relationship means figuring out what you like and don't, and how compatible you are. I can see how happy she makes you. Just be honest with her. You know Alexandra and I have had some friction, but I still think she's a good person. Don't let being afraid of what might go wrong stop you from finding something special. Just umm... Like with Shayera and me, I'm Christian, so we weren't really gonna do more than kiss until... Well, my point is that some other teens use umm... sex stuff to show that they care about someone. Which isn't really a good idea anyways, but umm... Just make sure to tell her how she makes you feel. Especially if you've been worried about letting her down, she might not know for sure. And I promise that she'll want to."
Her phone rebooted with a chime. No service. "I guess he didn't turn it back on..."
She blinked rapidly, turning to look back at Kaoru with a fixed, mirthless smile on her face. "Okay. Guess I know. Hey, Kaoru? If you ever wanted to meet up like this, but at your house, just so you know, I would totally follow your lead on talking to your mom about anything. School, cape stuff, Alexandra, Anything. No questions asked."
***
"Okay, Ms. Wood. I'd like to hear what you have to say to him. I'll head in afterwards."
***
Bronwyn visibly blanched. "That's awful, I'm so sorry Cassie. But... Hmm. I know I had kind of a weird thing where I keep calling her Ceridwen. And I kinda recognized her magic..." She pursed her lips and decided to explain further, "Plus, when I handed you Gae-Dearg at the wrestling match, to help with the spell? I had kind of a vision... I was fighting this beautiful woman who looked a lot like you, and I think I was trying to save you, or I guess her daughter? It didn't work though. I don't think I died, but... I definitely failed."
Miss Wood pauses in the doorway between her office and the common area adjoining several school administrators' offices. She shakes her head at Bronwyn. "No need. Xiu Ying, why don't you step out while I discuss what we talked about with Mr. Williams?"
Shayera reluctantly rises from her chair in the office and sullenly walks out. Miss Wood turns to the boys seated and whispering to each other. "Todd? Could you step into my office for a moment?"
She waits until the youth brushes past Shayera and enters her office, then she shuts the door.
After a few minutes, the door opens with Todd standing there. He's trying to stifle a grin and look contrite, but failing miserably. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got your skirt dirty when I was helping you up."
Miss Wood clears her throat. "And?"
"And I'm sorry I was insensitive about you being a lesbian."
Despite Todd's apparent disengenuity, Miss Wood looks smugly satisfied. "Well, I'm glad that's settled. You can all go back to class, and I'm hopeful I'll hear nothing more of this. Understood?"
Kaoru tried not to bristle too much. "You sound like Chloe." She muttered, a little darkly. She didn't pull away though. It would almost be a relief if she could just listen to Bronwyn declaration of 'you have a crush' and just take it as truth. It would certainly be less confusing. She also didn't understand people who made promises they had no control over keeping. Especially since she wasn't even sure what Bronwyn was trying to promise. Vague hope at...something?
"Mother's already met Alexandra." She responded flatly. "She likes her. Good grades. Dresses nicely. Thinks I should have her over more often. Start a study group or something. Dunno what she'd think of cape stuff..." What would she think of Kaoru being forced into a teen superhero group? "School, all you'd really get is that she wants me to transfer to the preparatory academy." She tilted her head back to look at the stars. Or rather, up at the sky where she would have been able to see stars if not for all the light pollution. " 'Sides, park is nicer than my place. Though it doesn't have all my gaming systems. Or a projector so I can watch movies on the ceiling while I lay down in bed."
She pulled her head back so she could see her computer screen again, tapping in a few things to upload the hack once again. "Yup." She popped the 'p' sound at the end. "Looks like still canceled. I'm uploading the hack again, so you can still use it."
*****
Kaoru's expression remained neutral. But it had been about what she had expected. She glanced at Bronwyn, waiting to see if she planned on fighting this through the system or if she was going to accept that the administration had no intention of doing anything.
Alexandra leapt from a fire escape to the ledge, and pulled herself up enough to push off a windowsill, and clambered the last couple feet to the roof. 45 stories high, it was a stupid choice, but she wanted to talk, and it wasn't like she had a number. Alexandra brushed herself off, and strode over to the roof door. there was a little yellow post-it note on it.
Your Ident card will get you in through the front door. next time, just use that.
-F
Aleandra sheepishly opened the door, which had been kindly left unlocked... and ran into a security point just feet inside, necessitating her use of the card anyway. she was glad she had it. SHe made her way to a common area, where Whip would see her, and sat down to wait, hoping Whip found her before Teck or Matrix, or Haden did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wavy lines of waiting~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey, Whip. she said, as the hero came in from a night of Justice. I'm gonna start by saying a lot of what I said the other night was out of line. I'm just really tired of them, especially after the s*!# they pulled on us following their f&#$ up in the park. she says
But... I'm a little lost, right now. the other night, I was cornered by a power nullifier, and his perception-filter-er son. they... told me I have powers. showed me too, turned them off, showed me how little of what I am is baseline. Kinda been reeling ever since. she says
I've been... kinda-sorta dating Kaoru for a few weeks now, but when Bran found me, after the revelation, I... I kissed him. tried to go farther. I've spent most of my time since trying to process, with brooding, alcohol, or both.
Kay knows. So does Bran. haven't told the others yet. How can I. Shaun'll think I'm a liar and cheat, Wing and Alexis will resent my conflicted feelings, wondering how much of what I am is earned.
[b]B... either won't get it, or will get it too well, depends if I'm right nor not. If she is part of the team, which she kinda is and kinda isn't... our cheerleader?. and... Well, Cassie is a hell of a mystery. that damned charm means I have trouble getting a read on her
and I think a lot of that is... the team doesn't trust me. I said I haven't lied to them, which is almost true. at the time it was mostly true. B was convinced I'm full of s!#&. and Wing is still upset over the disappearance thing. Shaun is convinced I'll be running the show, now that Kay is. I... well, B is right not to trust me. and Alexis is... a little too emotional for me to get, except ion a "She's feeling this,a and it will make her do this" sense...
F+*%. my inclusion was probably a mistake, wasn't it.
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"Absolutely not. What Todd did, and his friends watched was not an accident. His apology is grotesquely insufficient. He has a history of violence and homophobia. People saw what he did. Take this more seriously."
***
"Hey, it's between you two, but if you tell her how you feel at least you won't have to guess, y'know? And I mean seriously don't try to think your way past what you're ready for, just tell her like you told me. She'll get it. As for the rest, I'm not angling for an invite over to La Casa Miyamoto," she grinned, "I just wanted you to know... Whatever you need, okay?"
As the hack uploaded and her phone once again buzzed with unheard voicemails, she couldn't bring herself to pick it up.
"... Could you... If my papá didn't think I could hear him... It's been a really hard day, and I don't think... Could you listen for me?"
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It's late when Whippoorwill arrives back at Defender HQ. "Matrix, I want you to do a search on Chinese tiger masks. See what you can--" She stops abruptly when she sees Alexandra. "Oh, hi there."
She's quiet and attentive as Alexandra talks, though she does take a moment to start a kettle of tea. When she finishes, the Defender sits silently and in thought before responding.
She finally gives Alexandra a cheeky smile. "You know, I've always wondered why those gifted with super intelligence are somehow incapable of applying it to themselves." She lets that hang in the air for a bit, her smile warming, hoping the latest Silver Shadow will catch the irony in her situation.
She passes a cup of tea to Alexandra. "I think you're so concerned with how other people will see you once they learn you have powers, because you still haven't figured out how you feel about it. Let me guess: you've always had a low-level of resentment for those with abilities, especially those who didn't earn them. They didn't work as hard as you, so what gives them the right to have more power than you?
"Then, you find out you've used some of the same shortcuts that they've had, and now you're feeling like a hypocrite?"
She smiles sympathetically. "I had something similar happen to me. I went through the procedure that gave me wings, yeah, but other than the wings I thought I was baseline for the longest time. I thought all I did was work extra hard. But I later learned that it was more than just adding these huge wings on my back. Pretty much everything else had to be modified to accommodate them. Heart, lungs, nerves, musculature, and more."
Whippoorwill reaches over and gives Alexandra's hand a squeeze. "Focus more on accepting it yourself, than worrying about how the others will see you. You've told the one who I think you care about the most. Wing's not going to give you grief unless you give her reason to. I doubt the others will, either."
She pulls off one of her gloves and waves her hand before taking a sip of tea. "I don't think including you is a mistake. Will the team work out? I don't know. Sometimes these things click, and bonds are forged, and a team becomes greater than the sum of their parts. Other times, they fracture and split. I don't have any great insight on these things, just that I can be surprised. Though, I feel bad for Bronwyn getting roped into it. Yeah, she works with Bran, but she didn't need to be a card-carrying member. But she also didn't need to be arrested either. So, there you go. We can't always get the outcome we want."
"Miyamoto no ue." Kaoru corrected. "And, I guess?" She held her hand out, waiting for Bronwyn to queue up the voicemail. She hit the play button and then almost immediately made a face. "Español." She listened for a few minutes anyway, frowning in concentration. When the message ended, she shrugged. "I didn't really get a whole lot. Some 'please's and 'sorry's. Something about you being gay. He...sounded sad. I mean, he was crying a lot. But his voice was also dark. Not, like, bad dark. More like a deep pool of water where you can't see the bottom, but you know it's got to be pretty deep and that darkness kind of permeates through the color, if that makes sense. I could probably look a lot of it up in Google translate if you want.'" She paused to look at her companion.
"You also, like, don't have to listen to it if you don't want. Obviously. Or...if you do want to, I can, like, sit here with you while you do? If you want, I mean. And if it's bad..." Ok, threatening to drain his bank account into Bronwyn's own private fund probably wouldn't go over well "...I have ice cream at home for that sweet, sweet, dopamine hit. I mean, I only really have mint chocolate chip, so if you don't like that, it's not going to be of much use. But we do also have about a bazillion different types of tea, if ya need a nice cuppa." The last part was said in a cockney accent. It was admittedly a bit of a gamble; it was the middle of the day in China, so her mom would probably be up. But hopefully too busy working in her office to come out and notice them. And Bronwyn didn't really seem like the type to randomly pop over unannounced unless it was really important. And hopefully soon mother would go back to her normal work/travel schedule, at which point it'd be pretty unlikely that she'd run into anyone, even if they did happen to randomly stop by.
*****
Kaoru raised an eyebrow at Bronwyn's words. She didn't really think it would have the desired effect; while she didn't know Miss Wood very well, she didn't seem like the type who liked being questioned. But then, sometimes a good shock was exactly what was needed to jolt an adult out of their mental rut. Though it was quite possible Bronwyn had already established a reputation for pulling this kind of thing, in which case they were back to the 'ineffectual' result. She carefully studied the vice principal to see what her reaction would be.
But unfortunately she wound up just catching the eye of the 3 bullies, now giving her death glares behind Miss Wood's back. Whether that was because they were still pissed that she actually had managed to get them in trouble or because they realized that she was here to back Shayera up and were now angry about that, she wasn't sure. The good news was they couldn't do anything to her right here and now, so she evenly met their glares with a calm stare. This probably meant she should step up her time table on thinking up a way to shut them down though.