Whippoorwill nods. "She died for you. She may be... different now, but that part of her, the part that chooses to do good... it's still there. I won't ever believe it's gone."
Looking on the verge of tears herself, she asserts control and smooths her business skirt. "I'll talk to her. Hopefully you'll see her soon... with a huge apology.
"Did you learn about the Chinese girls?" she asks, abruptly changing subjects.
"I did, and I'll tell you what I learned about them either way, but... Shayera said that even if you agreed to leave, that you'd probably bugged the room. I'll answer whatever you ask, but after I do, if you're satisfied... you'll agree not to listen. Does that sound fair?"
He won't open up about whatever just scared him in the hall in front of everyone else. I'll just have to talk to him before he storms off too far.
Whippoorwill winces. She shakes her head slowly. "Bronwyn, I can't take the risk that you missed something. I need to know everything. Besides, if Shayera suspected I was recording, then everything she said was partly for my ears as well. Is there something that was said you'd like for me to keep private?"
Bronwyn's voice was tight, but there was no anger in it, just the tension of everything inside her being barely lashed together.
"She didn't say anything else you need to hear after I asked her to see the mask. If you think you need to hear us break up...
"Why don't you ask her. You said you were going to talk to her anyways, right? Just ask her instead; show her you trust her. She needs... she needs to believe you're on her side right now."
ALexandra's head is low in the rest of the meeting. Kay was pissed at her, and for what? for reminding him that Shaun was Helpful... for reminding him that, as the Silver Shadow, you ignore authority... and now he's the team authority. another, maybe super, maybe hormonal part of her brain speculated.
She was pretty tired. She let the rest of the meeting go on without further ado. no need to piss off more of the team. already had 3 + B unhappy with her. If no one stops her, she goes home afterward, to get some rest before patrolling.
Oh, not as such, that was a figure of speech. You just have Walker-esque traits. she says
someone took a swing at your friend? yikes. and he won't tell you... she says Well... no offense to them, but, Growing up in my family taught that everyone has a skeleton or two in their closet. Maybe Englebert got caught doing something he oughtn't have been . creeping on the girls locker room, cheating on an important test... who knows.. but don't discount that. having dirt on one guy is easier than having dirt on enough faculty members to make them overlook your actions...
I'd make him do homework, maybe... well, if I was the strongarming type. you expecting 'Bert to meet up with whats-his-name, then,after they've left, you put the hurt on him? She asks We, if he's got some buddies.
Kaoru ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. An act made harder by the headphones she was still wearing. Alexandra hadn't addressed any of her concerns about Shaun's reliability. Didn't Alexandra understand that as team leader, Kaoru was the one responsible for all of their safety? How could she do that if she had to constantly worry about if Shaun would throw a hissy fit and, at best, storm off, at worst downright try to sabotage her. Hell, it might not even be malicious on his part; it might just be that he believed his plan was better and decided to go off and do his own thing. He'd then promptly shirk responsibility for getting someone hurt and blame her. And it would be her fault for having trusted him. Because as leader, it was her job to think of everything that could go wrong and plan for every eventuality.
To make matters worse, instead of actually trying to talk things through and convince her, Alexandra had tried to manipulate her into just going along with what she wanted. Had Alexandra even listened to her worries? Given how she had responded, or rather failed to respond, after she had poured out her guts at lunch, she wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't. That was probably her fault too. This is what she got for listening to someone who then either got dumped or dumped their girlfriend. She wasn't even really sure why she would have thought Bronwyn was even capable of giving advice on...whatever the hell her relationship with Alexandra was. Ugg, this is what she got for talking about her feelings. Next time she would just keep them to herself. That what guys did, after all. She shouldn't have strayed from that.
Unfortunately, that didn't stop it from hurting. It hadn't been easy saying what she had. And to have Alexandra essentially just ignore the fact she'd said anything hurt. It made her want to avoid her. Except confusingly she still wanted to spend time with her? She sighed and pulled out her phone, grimacing as she noticed the new voicemail she had received and then promptly forgotten about. Shaking her head, she deleted it without listening to it. She then pulled up Wingblade's contact info.
> Hey, not sure if you want a distraction or not, but I'm supposed to check something out that might be team related.
> You don't have to come and it might be nothing, but if you're _looking_ for something to do...
> ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
> Let me know either way
Alexandra and Bronwyn find identical packages to the previous day waiting for them. Both seem to contain salmon, sliced thinly and seared to a crispy texture reminiscent of the vegetable onigiri of the previous day. "A" seems to have been marinated in some kind of miso glaze while "B" received a ginger glaze. The filling to rice ratio of both seems to more heavily favor the filling than the day before.
Alexis' phone chimes, indicating that he's recieved a text.
Cassie: I've spoken to Gabrielle. Took a bit of convincing - She says you can crash tonight if you need to and she'll see if she's OK with you staying longer once you've met.
Cassie: Let me know if/when you're coming so I can get a bed ready and we're expecting you - I'll come down and meet you if you text when you're near, you won't find it by yourself.
[dice=Provoke]2d6+1+1
Bronwyn's voice was tight, but there was no anger in it, just the tension of everything inside her being barely lashed together.
"She didn't say anything else you need to hear after I asked her to see the mask. If you think you need to hear us break up...
"Why don't you ask her. You said you were going to talk to her anyways, right? Just ask her instead; show her you trust her. She needs... she needs to believe you're on her side right now."
Whippoorwill sets her jaw to avoid scowling. "She's abused the trust I've placed in her, you want me to just keep going? Because it's been working so well so--" She cuts herself off and steps away, pinching her brow in a very similar way that Shayera would do sometimes.
She finally looks up, glaring. "This is a lot of intel you're asking me to ignore." She shakes her head and looks away. "Dammit! I can't believe I'm even considering this."
Conceding, she turns around and faces Bronwyn. "Okay, but be thorough about these girls."
Wingblade lands hard on her balcony and staggers inside. She takes in the exorbitant apartment and wars with herself. He loves me. He wants me to have the best/He's using me. He wants me dependent upon him.
Part of her wanted to destroy the place. The other part just wanted things to go back to normal. To throw those blinders back down and shut out the nagging doubts about her father.
She stumbles into the cavernous bedroom -- larger than most apartments -- and starts peeling off her clothes. She needed a shower, but part of her wondered if she'd really feel clean after using the opulent shower. She throws the water on, pushing up the pressure so its scouring, and collapses underneath the punishing torrent of water.
================
"Shayera."
She stirs, the voice coming from her bedroom, just barely above the noise of the shower.
She'd lost track of time, wallowing under the steady stream of water, trying to let the cold chill numb her emotions. She finally cuts the water off, steps out dripping into her bedroom where she sees Whippoorwill.
"F$%%."
"Language," her mentor chides. Then she tries to give her a sympathetic look. "Okay, sorry. You're going through a lot. But I'm on your side. You know that, right?"
Shayera looks at her flatly. "You know, you and Bronwyn make a good pair. You should team up with her more often. Did you plan that out? Blindsiding me like that?"
She could sense the heat rising in Whippoorwill. "We blindsided you?" she asks incredulously. "When you kept from us the fact that you're a Daughter of the Tiger?"
Shayera scoffs. "And if you were really on my side, you'd have been supportive. But no. You're all pissy, just like Dad said you'd be." Still wet from the shower, she starts pulling clothes on.
"If I didn't have to find out from someone other than you, I might have been more understanding," Whippoorwill says. "Now, I need to know more. I can't let you use that mask until I meet your 'sisters' and find out how those masks work."
Shayera barks out a sarcastic laugh. "You 'need'? I don't think so. I earned that mask. You're so buddy-buddy with Bronwyn now? Go talk to her. I mean it." She turns her back to Whippoorwill dismissively, grabbing up her Abacus handheld and tapping away like she wasn't in the room anymore.
She sees the texts from Kaoru and types out a quick,
李秀英: Sure. where do u want 2 meet?
She waggles the phone at Whippoorwill once the text is sent. "Sorry. Team business. Gotta go. You know the way out."
As Bronwyn hadn't replied to Alexis, he had been quite relieved to see that Cassie had gotten permission. He had to try and make sure to make it up to her somehow. He texted her back, before heading off to the address that she had provided.
Though she was right when she said he wouldn't be able to find it simple by looking around. he stood on the corner of the streets she'd said to meet her. He texted her again, feeling awkward standing there, the heavy bag over his shoulder holding his armor and a few spare sets of clothing.
Kaoru blinked at her phone. Wingblade wanted to do this now. She had half expected Wingblade to say no. Or, really more than half expected.
> Hawkins Rec Center in ~20 minutes?
> There will probably still be people around, so civvies to avoid drawing attention
She quickly grabbed a few things and threw them into her backpack before calling up a lyft ride.
*****
Kaoru step out of the car and immediately began looking around the area, scanning both for cameras and Wingblade. Eventually finding the latter she made her way over.
"Hey..." She gave an awkward half-wave, not really sure what she was supposed to be doing. She was probably wasting Wingblade's time. This was stupid. She shouldn't have asked. But...she had given her a way out, so it's not like she had forced the girl to come.
Not really sure what else to say, she settled for launching into a hushed explanation. "So...this is probably nothing and probably just one big coincidence, but it's slightly possible I was sent a message and one interpretation was that it was coordinates leading here. Or maybe it was just a weirdly repeating string of numbers meant to screw with my head. But either way, Alexandra seemed to have gotten it into her head that it might be the Triakosia, though I'm not really sure what she's basing that off of, so just in case I figured checking it out alone probably wouldn't be a good idea. It's possible she was just trying to scare me or get me to drop it though. As I said, there's no clear evidence that it's them or even that it's anything at all. I figured we'd try to check it out while blending in with a crowd of other civilians. If it looks like a trap or like there might actually be danger, we can leave and wait until we have the full team to investigate."
Shaun looks visibly disappointed when Gill explains her comment. ”Oh...a’ight. I’ll take that as a compliment then. Not as a ‘ye’re just as rotten at social s!~! as we are’ insult.” He paused then looks at Gill. ”Well, most of ye’ anyway. Ye’re pretty good at it.”
”Wh-? Bert a peepin’ Tom? HA! No! No no no, he’s too straight-laced f’that. Sam, eh, maybe? Mordecai definitely not. Though...I dunno what any of their home lives are like...”
The redhead shakes the thought away. ”But yea’, homework was my guess. An’ya’ don’t necessarily have ta’ have dirt on a whole department. Sometimes-...oh s*+&, twelve o’clock!”
Swiveling the cheap plastic telescope to the side, Shaun watches as a yellow hatchback disgorges a handful of student athletes and a semi-groggy coach. A sharp whistle breaks the early morning quiet as the football coach starts warm-up. The Scotsman turns back to grin slyly at Gill. ”Sometimes, y’just need ta’ rule ta’ one boss in ta’ room.” He quickly scrolls through his phone and pulls up a school photo from last year. ”Jason Goodall, our resident quarterback star and local a@#!*@*, who has football practice every Monday morning. The only teacher in the whole place? Coach Marshal, who, if the Twitter feeds are anythin’ta’ go by, has been givin’ ol’J-Boy ta’ rule of ta’ roost so long as he keep rakin’ in wins.
“I know personally that J-Boy’s a piece of work, an’ he likes ta’ get his cronies ta’ do his dirty work for him. Ye’ keep an eye out f’Bert, I’ll watch ta’ field n’ see if anybody sneaks off. An’ when they do...” there’s a brief clatter as he retrieve a disposable camera, ”I’m gonna catch ta’ whole deal go down, then I’m gonna beat ta’ s#&* outta’em. Or, heh, guess we will.” With a half-cocked smile, he extends his fist towards Gill for a fist bump.
- - -
Soundlessly, Shaun mimed laughter as he raised his middle finger at the retreating team leader. ”F$#%in’ hilarious jackass, but ye’ can’t block me out forever.” He was pretty certain the Glorious Leader couldn’t hear him over his music, but it was cathartic at the very least. Too bad caller ID’s a thing. I’d love to freak his ass out with a prank call...unless...I wonder if Halcyon still has the payphone preservation committee rolling around somewhere?
As everybody peeped to leave, Shaun leaned against the wall nearest Alexandra. ”So, how do you think your team meeting went?”
number 4 Alexandra says, pointing for no one's benefit. The raised paddles flip down, revealing the little mechanical arm behind paddle number 3.
that puts your results at 31. Abacus cheerily informs her. one point nine standard deviations above the mean. this is exceptional, but low level, by the ruling of The New international Manual of Power Classifications and Statistics, 9th edition.
Alexandra yawns, and takes a deep draught of her coffee before pulling the manual in question, and putting it in her lap. Any other tests for psychic abilities in those databanks, Abby? Alexandra asks.
I merit a nickname now?
Abacus is long. More to the point, did you just ignore what I asked to banter with me? She asks, surprised it could.
My social protocol subroutine indicated this would be welcomed by you, Miss Walker. To answer your earlier question, we have exhausted all simple psionic diagnostics that I am aware of.
Well, good news for us then. Tomorrow, I'll do some medical scans, see if we can figure anything more out about the physical aspects of my power. Til then let's jus-
Miss Walker, you told me to inform you if anyone entered the building. Someone is in the Lobby
Alexandra nods and dons her coat and mask. back in a minute, Abby.
I'll leave the Console on, Allie. The AI responds. I wonder if he's this Cheeky with Wing?
Alexandra steps out of the elevator less than a minute later, to a very intimidated courier. a kid little older than her. I have a package, certified Mail for the Junior Team Defenders. He says Sorry it's so late, but the instructions said to deliver at this hour-
The instructions were right. this was when you were most likely to catch someone in here. Alexandra takes the boys clipboard and signs, finishing with a magnifying glass beside her (super) name. Thanks for this. you know who it's from?
Mayor's office. Probably a publicity thing she wants... he offers sorry to run out, but I have 6 more packages to deliver before I call it a night.
Forgivable. she smiles. she goes back up, and has "Abby" scan the parcel, just in case. when he gives the all-clear. she opens it, and ehr face lights up in delight,
>Hey, just got a parcel at HQ
>We should get the team together after school, tomorrow.
>Well, today, apparently. late night.
>This is so exciting, Brief you when I see you!
Alexis found himself standing in a small alleyway a off a small road which boats a number of stores with 'for lease' signs in their windows, a pawn broker and a couple of take-away places that didn't seem particularly clean. A moment after sending the text, he got a reply from Cassie, saying that she'd be down in a moment. A couple of minutes later, he turned and was surprised to find her standing just a few yards away.
"Hi," she said, "Follow me." and she turns, opening a door that he suddenly realised had been there since he'd arrived but, for some reason, hadn't noticed. Even more surprising, was the store front next to the doorway which had also escaped his notice, despite the very strange collection of oddities on display in the window - skulls, candles, various herbs and large apothecary's jars filled with strangely-coloured liquids, each of which had a large brightly coloured note attached announcing their contents in large looping handwriting.
Following Cassie up a narrow flight of stairs, Alexis found himself in the hallway of a small apartment. The walls inside were decorated with an excessive and strange mix of paintings, pictures and photos varying from classical prints to children's storybook pictures. Cassie led Alexis down a short corridor to a small living room decorated similarly to the hallway within which were two large and old but comfortable-looking couches with knitted blankets thrown over their backs and an odd assortment of furniature. The whole place seems clean and well cared for, but messy - framed photos, small ceramic animals and stacks of books littered every surface.
From the adjoining room, an english-accented and jolly-sounding voice called out. "Just a moment. Followed by a short , brightly-dressed woman, who bustled over to Alexis with her hand held out and a wide smile on her face.
"Hello, hello." she said, eyeing Alexis up and down. "Aren't you dressed nicely! It's so lovely to see one of you young things dressed properly - not like the yobbos I see walking around with their bums visible to half the world! It's so nice to finally meet one of Cassandra's friends! And such a handsome boy! Cassandra, why didn't you tell me he was so handsome? Now. Have you eaten? We have plenty left. Cassandra hardly eats a thing. I'm sure she'll waste away at the rate she's going."
"We can talk later about details, but the big thing is. The mask-girls, the Daughters of the Tiger. They're definitely not White Hats, but they might be Grey. They're someone He's paying, not someone he made."
***
Alexandra.:Tell me the breakup is a ruse to Lull Dr. No into a false sense of security
Alexandra.:Or you cheated or something...
Alexandra.:Sorry, didn't mean it like that, just... tell me this isn't her isolating herself from positive influences...
Bronwyn: she s still on the team
Bronwyn: me to
Bronwyn: she's still Shayera
Alexis (New Girl): I just heard about your break up. Sorry.
Alexis (New Girl): I need a place to stay tonight. Can I stay with you?
Bronwyn: yeah thanks
Bronwyn: do you still need a place
Bronwyn: i'm not home, so I can't promise anything
Bronwyn: did Shayera ask you to leave?
Bronwyn: is there anyone else to ask?
.
.
.
Bronwyn: sorry
Bronwyn: I'll find somewhere, ok?
Bronwyn: Just don't go back on the streets
Bronwyn: You should stay with someone who cares about you
***
Bronwyn didn't make more than the briefest appearance at lunch. The gossip and whispers about her and Shayera were much worse now that they weren't a happy couple. And since Gabby had outed her situation to the whole track team, now she was the homeless girl too.
Before the next class though, she sent a quick text to Kaoru from the third place she'd gone to find some privacy.
Bronwyn: Oh, and I liked A's crispiness, but I neeeeds B's protein... So A for fun, B for fuel?
Bronwyn: b today
Bronwyn: thanks didn't feel like cooking last night
Bronwyn: &sunday was too busy for prep
< b today
< thanks didn't feel like cooking last night
< &sunday was too busy for prep
Kaoru couldn't help but smirk victoriously as she read Bronwyn's text. And then she felt a little guilty that her win came at Bronwyn's personal suffering.
> Oh, I can, like, _actually_ make you lunch tomorrow if you want? A proper lunch
> Any requests/food restrictions? I'm kinda limited to Japanese cuisine :-/ , but I've had a lot of practice with that
< Hey, just got a parcel at HQ
< We should get the team together after school, tomorrow.
< Well, today, apparently. late night.
< This is so exciting, Brief you when I see you!
Kaoru blinked at the texts as she rolled out of bed in the wee early hours of the morning.
> You _do_ realize that you also have everyone's contact info, so you could call them?
> But I don't see why the team would need for a package.
...
> Oh, you mean a package _addressed_ to the entire team? That's...weird
After responding to Alexandra, Kaoru sent a team wide text.
> FYI, the team apparently received a package at HQ last night. If you're interested in seeing what it is, meet after school. Same place as last time.
Wingblade still had dark circles under her eyes, but she looked freshly showered. Even her hair still might have signs of dampness, though her flight to the rec center got most of the moisture out.
She listens to Kaoru without comment as he explains what they were here for. She arches an eyebrow when he mentions the Triakosia, but just nods at the task. "All right. Let's go scope it out. You pace out the spot closest to the coordinates, and then I'll see if there's anything to this clue. Including if there's anyone watching."
Shayera follows Kaoru, keeping her senses trained and alert for danger.
But, she still is off her game, getting distracted by young couples hand-in-hand and the various martial arts classes going on at the center on a Monday evening.
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Oh, I can, like, _actually_ make you lunch tomorrow if you want? A proper lunch
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Any requests/food restrictions? I'm kinda limited to Japanese cuisine :-/ , but I've had a lot of practice with that
Bronwyn: i should really just get off my butt and cook
Bronwyn: helps me forget how much I'm mooching off MB and her mom
Bronwyn: doing the laundry gives me an excuse to get out of the house without mrs browne worrying that she's being a bad temp-mom too
Bronwyn: ugh sorry
Bronwyn: enough of my junk. how're you and Alexandra?
Bronwyn: do you have a cute nickname for her yet? 4 syllables is kind of a lot, and her name breaks into a million parts really easily
Bronwyn: I bet she'd hate Sandra...
Kaoru nodded and began making her roundabout way to the coordinates, being careful to stay out of the line of sight of cameras and blend in with the crowds as much as she could. Occasionally she would stop, apparently to watch an ongoing class or check out a flier for something. Eventually she made it to the location closest to where the coordinates were and looked around.
< i should really just get off my butt and cook
< helps me forget how much I'm mooching off MB and her mom
< doing the laundry gives me an excuse to get out of the house without mrs browne worrying that she's being a bad temp-mom too
< ugh sorry
< enough of my junk. how're you and Alexandra?
< do you have a cute nickname for her yet? 4 syllables is kind of a lot, and her name breaks into a million parts really easily
< I bet she'd hate Sandra...
> What kind of food do you cook?
> If you get bored of it, I'll swap lessons with you. :-P :prayer hands:
> Do the Brownes not have a laundry machine though? Seems like an unnecessary amount of work to go out to do it
> I've been meaing to ask Alexandra why why doesn't like being called 'Alex' but haven't gotten around to it yet.
> :treble clef emoji: Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee :musical note emoji:
"This place is really cool!" Alexis exclaims as he looks around, feeling rather excited. Gabrielle seems nice too. She reminds him of...of...
He's not sure who she reminds him of, the memory escaping him. He tries to not let that show on his face as he looks around. "It is cozier than the penthouse. I think I will like staying here for a short while. Thank you for hosting me," Alexis tells Gabrielle, bringing her into one of his patented hugs. Right after her, Cassie also gets one, perhaps a second longer than Gabrielle received.
"I promise to not stay longer than a week. I just have to make sure that..." he pauses, glancing at Cassie. "Um, how much does she know?"
As Wingblade and Kaoru look around the rec center and avoid getting caught up with the others, they see some of the telltale signs there was a wrestling show the other day, with posters for SuperWrestle still on the wall and programs sticking out of the trash. It's not until Kaoru thinks to check behind the folding stands in the gymnasium that they find the geocache.
The geocache is in a zipped up box, 12 inches by nine by six, covered in canvas for protection of its contents. As Kaoru and Wingblade open it up, they discover inside:
- A plastic bag full of plastic tokens, printed with the current coordinates
- A tiny stuffed penguin toy
- A set of plastic bear figurines
- Several Polaroid photographs of people who had found the cache, writing their names and the date on the bottom
- A laminated card with a history blurb on the Hawkins Rec Center
- A lucha libre mask
- A page that seems to have been torn out of a yearbook and scribbled all over
- A logbook full of names of the people who have found the cache
On further investigation, the yearbook page has something written around the margins of the pages. The names of the students in the pictures have been mostly scribbled out, with a few errant letters still legible.
Axkp jbc kdh sxkjyfa, zkmtyfk. Tbsh jbc kdh ezkdg hfbcat gb whhs cs. Lcg pbyfa gtye kfkxba ayohe jbc mtkfmhe. Gtkg zkwhe yg zbdh qcf. Yq jbc ahg gb gth hfp uh mkf zhhg dhkx gyzh. Gth mbbdpyfkghe qbd gth fhrg ahbmkmth ye yf gth scnnxh lbr xhqg thdh, uygt bfh lbfce. Ayoh yg k esyf, yq jbc ukfg gb bshf yg. Pyxyahfg Pba.
Putting the visible letters of the students on the pages in order reads 'pgseventeenfrost'.
What do you do?
As Wingblade hangs back, Kaoru grabs the box, pulling out a device to check for electronic signals and trackers. Looking around, she casually puts the object in her bag to be examined elsewhere before making her roundabout way back to Wingblade.
"Well, there was something. I'm not quite sure if it was some normal geocache thing or if they're just disguising it as a geocache." Her expression was dark. "Someone's clearly f$%$ing with me. I'm considering just burning the entire thing. Or do you think there's actually something worth looking into?" She was pissed. But at least she recognized that enough to double check her judgement with someone else.
Shayera blinks, realizing she'd spaced out again. She takes another look around hopeful that her instincts would have kicked in if there really had been a threat. Then she sifts through the collection of junk.
"So... other people have found this? And then put it back? I don't get it. So, what is a geocache?"
She didn't have the functioning brain power to tackle a code puzzle, so she sifted through the Polaroids. She was about to toss them back in the cache when she pauses. "Wait." She goes back through the pictures, looking for the one that looked familiar.
Kaoru also notes through her scanning that there's an RFID tag pinging from the lining of the box along with a bump that indicates a GPS tracker, meaning that if she does take the whole box it can be tracked.
There's a photo from last year that Wingblade recognizes at least one face from - Humilitas, who she met on the rooftops. She's next to an athletic young girl with bright and familiar eyes, even if the face and hair and skin are completely different. They're giving a peace symbol standing by the geocache.
Kaoru (Phone Savior): What kind of food do you cook?
Kaoru (Phone Savior): If you get bored of it, I'll swap lessons with you. :-P :prayer hands:
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Do the Brownes not have a laundry machine though? Seems like an unnecessary amount of work to go out to do it
Kaoru (Phone Savior): I've been meaing to ask Alexandra why why doesn't like being called 'Alex' but haven't gotten around to it yet.
Kaoru (Phone Savior): :treble clef emoji: Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee :musical note emoji:
Bronwyn: whatever my papa taught me
Bronwyn: borricua specials from home, some fusion
Bronwyn: also just easy batch prep stuff
Bronwyn: i can grill too, but anyone with a nose can grill okay
Bronwyn: they don't have a washer right now
Bronwyn: dryer still works
Bronwyn: yaaayyy?
Bronwyn: :-/
Bronwyn: maybe Lexi doesn't like having a boys name?
Bronwyn: ::shudders in horror, dies::
Bronwyn: you can't just Grease at a girl without warning
Bronwyn: oooh tho you've kinda got a zuko hair thing going on (o_o)
Bronwyn: throw on a leather jacket, and I bet Sandy trips over herself to hop in your tbird (^_-)
Bronwyn: (PLEASE DONT MAKE ME TALK MORE ABOUT GREASE)
<She's still Shayera
>I hope so.
>But he's gonna be a problem real soon
>Condolences, regardless.
<Oh, you mean a package _addressed_ to the entire team? That's...weird
>Figured you'd want to know first.
>Just... trying not to usurp you or whatever, like everyone expects me too
Including you, I think.
Before Alexandra sits beside Kay, she lets a bit of her power do its work. She turns the past few days, and what she knows about him, as well as his proximity, over in her head. Let's see if these really can tell me what I shouldn't know...
"Oh, man," Shayera murmurs staring at the picture. She stuffs the polaroid into a back pocket. "Crap."
Looking even more dejected, she sort of meanders in the vague direction of the exit. Before she gets more than a half-dozen steps toward her goal, she spins around to face Kaoru. "Remind me: where's our lost girl crashing tonight?"
She hadn't meant to not pay attention, but all she managed to retain from the after-class meeting was that Alexis hadn't wanted to stay at her apartment and had been asking around for another place to stay.
Shayera rubs her face, feeling the weight of her last few days pressing in on her. Suddenly she wanted to go to bed desperately. "Imma going to go, I think. Unless you need something from me here," she tells Kaoru.
Gabrielle gave a small surprised squeak as she wass enveloped in Alexis' arms and looked on bemusedly at Cassie's discomfort when the boy embraced her. When Alexis announced that he only planned to stay for a week, both Gabrielle and Cassie looked surprised.
"A week?" Gabrielle asked, glancing at Cassie, "Cassandra said you needed to stay for some time?"
"Um, Yeah." Cassie replied, looking curiously at Alexis. "That's what I thought. I've told her that you're on the team. She knows all about that - I could hardly keep it a secret. And she knows that you've got nowhere to stay and that the Triakosia are after you."
"They're very dangerous people you know?" Gabrielle said, turning to Alexis. "Not the type who give up easily. You're welcome to stay for a few days, in any case, and we'll see about longer if everything goes OK. Now. I need to get my beauty sleep, so I'll leave Cassandra to show you where you'll be sleeping. It's nothing fancy and there's not much space I'm afraid. I don't have many rules, but I'd be grateful if you tried not to spend too long in the loo in the mornings - I have a stomach condition and Cassandra takes an absolute age! Goodness knows what she gets up to in there?" she says, provoking a blush from Cassie. "One thing though. If you go into each other's rooms I think its best you leave the door open. OK? I can't have shenanigans going on whilst I'm supposed to be responsible for Cassandra, after all."
With that, she moved off down the corridor, shooting another curious glance back at Alexis before disappearing into a room off the corridor.
For a couple of minutes Cassie stands there awkwardly. "So, it's this way." she said, heading off down the corridor and stopping outside an open door which leads into a small side room with a desk, chair and a palette bed made up on the floor. The walls are, as with the rest of the house decorated with an array of curious pictures and the desk heaves with piles of paper, stationary and books with yellow sticky labels marking various pages. On the desk is a bookshelf which, in addition to a multitude of books, has various nick-nacks and oddities perched on the shelves.
"So, um, this is where you're staying - if you end up staying longer Gabrielle says we can move all this stuff down to the shop to give you a bit more room. Um,... my room's down the corridor on the right, and the bathroom's over there." Cassie says, indicating another door just down the hallway. "Do you, like, need anything before bed? Gabrielle's fine with you grabbing whatever you want from the fridge if you get hungry or anything. - Avoid the freezer though, she's got some 'samples' in there that are a bit gross."
The papers are a mix of old bills, receipts, recipes, and notes in no discernible order. One or two books catch your attention - One is a copy of 'Macbeth' which, if opened, reveals heavy notes in the margins and several underlined passeges, especially in the sections that mention the weird sisters. The notes are very dismissive, saying things like 'nonsense', 'eye of newt - ridiculous!' and 'Reinforces the arcanophobic, misogynistic paradigm that reinforces the dominant patriarchal power structures inherent in Islamo-Christian and Greco-Roman narratives!'
The other is a well-thumbed paperback copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone which, on closer examination, proves to be a first edition. In the inside cover is a handwritten note that says: 'With grateful thanks for all your advice and help! - Don't let the 'muggles' get you down! Lots of love, Joanne.'
The bed was small, but Alexis could get used to it. The clutter was perhaps the one thing that he had trouble with, as he set himself to try and tidy things up before turning in for the night. "...Shayera wanted me to meet her father to fix me. But he used to work with the Triakosia," He found himself confessing. "That is the second reason that I am uncomfortable in Shayera's apartment now. Aside from the heights. And that the Triakosia know I was staying there. And that I think she is uncomfortable with me now that I am a boy."
He sits down on the bed, looking up at Cassie. "Thank you for letting me stay while I figure it all out. I will think of something to make it up for you. Do you think that you can not tell Shayera how to find this place?" He paused, thinking about it. "...Can I find this place now on my own since you showed me the way, or will I forget?"
As Kaoru and Shayera crawl out from behind the extended bleachers, both get hit with a sudden flash and the click from a phone indicating a photo was taken. The rec center director, a pudgy man in a polo shirt with a name tag and a bushy mustache stands there grinning at both girls.
"Nice to see so many young people taking an interest in geocaching - don't try and deny it, I put it back there so I know if someone's extended the bleachers to look. I hope you put in something nice for the next hunter to discover. Hey, why don't you pose with your medallions? Makes for a great post to the site, you know?"
What do you do?
A few minutes after he leaves the school Bronwyn’s phone chimes with texted from Shaun:
(hey stranger)>
(where were u @?)>
(s~&+ kinda went down in the meeting)>
(kaoru did a 20-slide presentation on how duncan is my brother)>
(in front of everybody)>
(kinda wish youd been there)>
(your boss did an alright job though)>
(hes not nearly as dumb as he looks turns out)>
(stopped me from doing something kinda stupid)>
A little after 11pm, Cassie’s phone chimes with a message from a certain red-headed Scotsman:
(hi cassie)>
(sorry if i woke u up)>
(sorry 4 a lot of things actually)>
(like duncan)>
(and how he works 4 your mom)>
(sorry)>
As Alexis started to tidy the desk, Cassie stops him. "I wouldn't do that if I was you. I did it once in the shop and she went on for ages about how she couldn't find anything - she says she has 'a system'. I think its best if you keep away from anything to do with the Triakosia." she continued. "I don't know anything about Shayera's dad, but.. well yeah. I'd stear clear. I won't tell Shay how to find us here - don't worry. And, yeah, you'll be able to see the way up, now that you know where it is, so don't worry about that."
At that moment her phone chimes and she pulls it out to examine the message. "Are you all good here?" she asked, returning the phone to her pocket. "I'm kinda tired and there's an algebra test tomorrow. Gabrielle will be up pretty early - she'll probably lay on a fair bit of food - she usually does. I'd try to get to the bathroom before she does - otherwise you'll have to open the window - you'll see what I mean. I'll see you at breakfast?"
Heading for her room Cassie sat on her bed and pulled her phone back out.
Cassie: No problem - still up...
Cassie: Alexis here... Awkward
Cassie: Nothing to be sorry for
Cassie: My mom's not my fault, Duncan's not yours.
Cassie: Same thing really.
Messages sent, Cassie changed into her night clothes before heading to the bathroom to wash up and clean her teeth before heading to bed.
"Gee mister, that's pretty cool. Can I see the picture?" As he hands over the camera, Kaoru makes a "be ready" gesture to Wingblade. As she pretends to admire the image and look for other ones of them, she subtly deletes them without him noticing. "Looks great, but I'm afraid we're late and gotta run now. Bye!" The two of them then make a hasty escape, still avoiding cameras.
Once safely outside, Kaoru responds to Wingblade "You mean Alexis? There was some debate about if he was staying with Cassie or not, but I'm not sure if they ever resolved it. I think I'm good here. Thanks for the backup." Or painful *lack* of backup. Hopefully had there actually been a threat, Wingblade's presence would have been more useful. Sighing, Kaoru headed home.
*****
< whatever my papa taught me
< borricua specials from home, some fusion
< also just easy batch prep stuff
< i can grill too, but anyone with a nose can grill okay
< they don't have a washer right now
< dryer still works
< yaaayyy?
< :-/
< maybe Lexi doesn't like having a boys name?
< ::shudders in horror, dies::
< you can't just Grease at a girl without warning
< oooh tho you've kinda got a zuko hair thing going on (o_o)
< throw on a leather jacket, and I bet Sandy trips over herself to hop in your tbird (^_-)
< (PLEASE DONT MAKE ME TALK MORE ABOUT GREASE)
> I have no idea what kind of food that is :-x
> But lmk if you want me to make you a proper meal instead of just being my guinea pig
> If I get enough heads up, I make some pretty killer soup
> ...I promise it's a lot more awesome than it sounds
> Also, "Alex" _isn't_ a guy's name. It's both
> Whaaaaat?
> But the music!
> Ok, so Sandra Dee, not so much. It's kinda crude and the actress spends most of her time talking instead of singing
> But c'mon, Summer Nights? Grease Lightning? You're the One That I Want? Some _great_ music if you ignore some of the lyrics
> Though that last note on Summer Nights makes me cringe
> Also, admittedly, a _lot_ of stuff went over my head when I first watched it
> I was in, like, kindergarten or something at a friend's house and her dad decided to put it on for us for some reason
> We missed a _lot_ of what was going on but we all enjoyed the music
> Kind of like how the plot of Sound of Music makes a lot more sense once you know about Nazis, but you don't need that to like the movie
****
< Figured you'd want to know first.
< Just... trying not to usurp you or whatever, like everyone expects me too
> Oh, ummm, thanks?
> I appreciate the thought
If a little unnecessary. Though she wasn't really sure what the line was between this unnecessary overhead and what she would actually feel like was 'usurping' her.
Wednesday's tester lunch breaks from the onigiri pattern to instead feature yakiniku skewers. A and B are both chicken skewers while C and D are beef. A and C seem to have been marinated in a ginger sauce while B and D were stuffed with some kind of ginger/vegetable slaw.
Shayera returns to her suddenly empty-again apartment, catches up on her sleep, and shows up to school in cutting-edge fashion and makeup expertly applied by Tiffany. She spends her free time at school hanging out with the fashionistas or the Chinese girls exclusively.
Rumors about the breakup go through all kinds of theories, but a common thread is that Xiu Ying is trying really hard to act like there's nothing wrong.
It was really unfair that Gabby always made her feel like a little kid. I'm bigger than her now, shouldn't that... Where are we even going? Ugh. I am Not going to ask her. Bronwyn shifted up in her seat, correcting the slouch that had brought her down to Gabby's eyeline. What is Gabby doing?! Did she talk to Mom and Papá? Why would they send her to...
"I think this is the quietest I've ever heard you, Bronwyn."
"You had to show up and out me to my Coach? I was handling things with Mom and Papá; if you were worried you should have just ca-" "Called? Tried that Bronwyn, your phone was off." "It wasn't 'off' it was-" "I know, I know, I called Dad; he told me about the whole- Did you really tell him to go f*$% himself?" "What?! No! I would never-" "Yeah, that didn't really sound like you."
"Where are we going anyways?"
"Well your girlfriend, you know the famous Superhero asked me to swing by the house and pick you up some clothes since you donated her gifts? And by the way, what the f~!%, Bronwyn? Why didn't you tell anyone about any of this?! Also, were you like trying to get her to dump you or something? Why would you throw a gesture like that back in her face?"
Bronwyn looked away, watching the houses zoom past as their surroundings became more and more residential.
"You shouldn't speed so much, you're gonna get a ticket."
She could practically feel Gabby's eyes roll at the back of her head.
"Good tip."
"So why'd you pull me out of practice then. Shayera told you where I was staying, right?"
"Okay, one: I'm just doing this as a favor to her, because she bought me a nice dress as an apology for scaring the s&~% out of me, which since I am not a psycho, I am not giving away like a crazy person. Two: I've barely seen you since Thanksgiving when - Oh Yeah! You were mourning your Girlfriend's Death in Secret!
"God just shut up Gabby!!! No I didn't tell you! God! Why do you feel entitled to know everything that's going on in my life?!"
"Bronwyn, I don't give a f+@$ about b!$~~%*# like your grades or your track meets or what new shows you're watching, but you don't think I should know that my sister's a lesbian?! Or that her girlfriend died?! Or that you f@&@ing ran away from home?! Be a better f&@&ing sister, Bronwyn! God! We're here by the way. Oh, and three? You need to try actually talking with Mom and Dad, so that's why I'm taking you home.
"Gabby, yesterday I tried talking to him and he called me a dy*e in the middle of a diner."
Gabby winced, but shot back, "Fine, then you need to try talking to them with me there too."
Bronwyn didn't even roll her eyes, just looked away in utter weariness.
"He said it in Spanish, right? And the diner, was it the place near church with the good pancakes and the weirdly bad eggs?" Bronwyn looked back, surprised, and nodded. "Yeah, you two were probably the only ones who habla within a block. He doesn't want people to see him being s!&%ty, Bronwyn."
Being s%++ty?
"...You think they're wrong?"
"They put bars up and chased you out of the house Bronwyn! That's loco! I mean, don't get me wrong, you're a self-righteous dumbass who needs to learn to back down, but why do you think I"m here?! I swear, you are the stupidest smart person I know."
***
Shaun: s++# kinda went down in the meeting
Shaun: kaoru did a 20-slide presentation on how duncan is my brother
Shaun: in front of everybody
Shaun: kinda wish youd been there
Shaun: your boss did an alright job though
Shaun: hes not nearly as dumb as he looks turns out
Shaun: stopped me from doing something kinda stupid
Bronwyn: i was busy
Bronwyn: family stuff - a lot of family stuff
Bronwyn: not like supervillain level, but
.
.
.
Bronwyn: I'm sorry about the slideshow though.
Bronwyn: If I'd known, I would've made sure that Kaoru talked to you first.
Bronwyn: Not a fun surprise :-/
Bronwyn: Of course he's not dumb!
Bronwyn: Even the tech/future stuff he gets pretty quick
Bronwyn: I don't waste my time on dumb!
***
Kaoru (Phone Savior): I have no idea what kind of food that is :-x
Kaoru (Phone Savior): But lmk if you want me to make you a proper meal instead of just being my guinea pig
Kaoru (Phone Savior): If I get enough heads up, I make some pretty killer soup
Kaoru (Phone Savior): ...I promise it's a lot more awesome than it sounds
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Also, "Alex" _isn't_ a guy's name. It's both
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Whaaaaat?
Kaoru (Phone Savior): But the music!
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Ok, so Sandra Dee, not so much. It's kinda crude and the actress spends most of her time talking instead of singing
Kaoru (Phone Savior): But c'mon, Summer Nights? Grease Lightning? You're the One That I Want? Some _great_ music if you ignore some of the lyrics
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Though that last note on Summer Nights makes me cringe
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Also, admittedly, a _lot_ of stuff went over my head when I first watched it
Kaoru (Phone Savior): I was in, like, kindergarten or something at a friend's house and her dad decided to put it on for us for some reason
Kaoru (Phone Savior): We missed a _lot_ of what was going on but we all enjoyed the music
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Kind of like how the plot of Sound of Music makes a lot more sense once you know about Nazis, but you don't need that to like the movie
Bronwyn: My childhood love for Grease
Bronwyn: My ability to deal with Grease after the bazillionth time I heard it after my sister Gabby got cast as Rizzo
Bronwyn: and boricua = Puerto Rican
Bronwyn: but like island PR instead of states PR
Bronwyn: and one of my best friends goes by Ronnie
Bronwyn: even if some girls have a name, it can still be a boy's name
Bronwyn: I guess Alex is more gender neutrally than Alexis though...
Bronwyn: shrug
Bronwyn: you know Bronwyn's a boy's name?
.
.
.
Bronwyn: hey ur not just offering me food to be nice, right?
Bronwyn: that didn't come out right, of course you're being nice
Bronwyn: let me try again
Bronwyn: ahem:
Bronwyn: ur not offering food just 'cause I'm a mess, right?
Bronwyn: 'cause like, i ditched out on The Meeting and you didn't say anything
***
Bronwyn: Okay if I just hold Bran's proxy for whatever this is? School meetings aren't super discrete for him
Bron's phone chimes, indicating a message from Cassie.
Cassie: U OK? Bran seemed alright but...?
Cassie: Would've texted earlier - Alexis crashing. Had to sort him out a bed etc.
Cassie: Super awkward
Cassie: Breakups suck!
Cassie: Breakups suck!
Bronwyn: thanks for finding Alexis a bed.
Bronwyn: not sure where I would hvae
Bronwyn: I'll be ok. long day tho
Bronwyn: I don't know what I would've done if Shayera had skipped the meeting
Bronwyn: Glad Bran wasn't visibly a zombie though.
Gillian nodded Xan... makes a show of disregarding the opinions of others. she likes being "above it all". Gillian Gripes.
Home life is another possibility. and the coach thing is a good catch. I forget how influential he is, sometimes. She nods
Gillian accepts the fist bump, and holds out a hand, borrowing the binoculars for a moment. I just want to see him unlock his phone if I can... while you and he have heated words, I can clone his SIM, and you'd have access to his incoming and outgoing texts, could even sent them. she smiles
after that, she keeps a diligent lookout.
Shayera returns to her apartment to the smell of wonderful cooking. A number of chefs were busy making a spread of traditional Jiangsu cuisine.
Her mouth drops open. "Aw, man," she mutters as she realizes she forgot about the dinner date she'd set up with Alexis to talk about the procedure to fix his memories.
<Your apartment is rather empty, Xiu Ying,> comes the voice of her father, who is standing near one of the floor-to-ceiling windows on the upper level.
Shayera straightens and clears her throat. <Yes, Father. I... Well, many things have happened since I messaged you about meeting with Alexis. He won't be joining us.>
Her father studies her without expression. <What has happened?>
Her lower lip trembles as the events of the last few days crash down on her. <Whippoorwill caught sight of us. We got away, but she managed to count our numbers.>
<Sloppy.>
<It was Whippoorwill. Anyway, she and Bronwyn talked, they put together the clues, and then cornered me at school. They... I... They didn't understand. They wouldn't understand. So I... broke up with Bronwyn. I can't talk with Whippoorwill without getting into a fight... I just... can't...>
Her father opened up his arms and it was all the invitation she needed. She races forward and hugs him fiercely. He places a comforting hand on her shoulder. A part of her wants to doubt, but she ignores the voice for a while.
<Are you still on the team?> he asks in a soft voice after a while.
Xiu Ying pulls back and looks up at him. <Yes. For now. Well, yes.>
<Then why is Alexis not staying here?>
<Oh. Well, he found out that the Triakosia knows about this place. He freaked. Says its not safe. So he's not staying here anymore. Probably won't ever come back, unless we can make the Triakosia forget about this place.>
Her father manages to look irritated. <They would not strike here. Well, it cannot be helped, I suppose. Will he still need the procedure?>
Xiu Ying shrugs. <We'll see. Lot of people telling him not to trust you.>
He looked less irritated. Just resigned. <I cannot change my past,> he says simply.
Nodding vigorously, Xiu Ying agrees. <Yes! That's what I keep saying! Like, only Whippoorwill gets to have redemption?>
Her father studies her, nodding his head slowly. <Indeed. Well, it will be up to us to change their minds. Are you hungry? I believe it will be just the two of us tonight.>
Alexandra was surprised that was the first thing. not calling her on being a phony who had powers and still was barely ahead of him. this was SO not my meeting. I would have preferred to work in cells. Me, You and Kay looking into Duncan, Cassie being put to work on anti-fire spells, not doing a big thing like this. I don't know if you noticed, But Me and Kay there got into a bit of a row. All in all, I'd say it sucked less for me than you, but I'm a still second in hating this.
He wants you to apologize
He want you to Concede that you were wrong. which you weren't.
You defended Shaun, and in his head, you dismissed everything he said
He was being ridiculous. and he didn't have the authority to follow through anyway.
If he couldn't, why even challenge him...
Hi Kay she says, taking a seat. sorry about the other day. I maintain he's more useful than detrimental, but you weren't wrong that he was being... Alexandra pauses, ostensibly considering the right words. Swallow your f!+!ing pride, and say the words. funny thing about words... meaning them is optional. Just SAY them! obstinate and unreliable and petty. Sorry I kinda dismissed that concern the words are undermined each syllable by her own mind, though she manages to keep her tone sincere.
But, these just came! she says, smirking as She passes Kay his envelope. Yours has something extra in it. But open it she say excitedly,, before adding under the table.
6 hours, light refreshment provided, black tie attire.
As a sponsored hero, your presence is especially valued,and failure to attend will reflect upon both you and your sponsor, as this is a critical fundraiser for the Defenders support fund.
also inside is a thin black wristband, like a fitness tracker, and a ticket for Machina with a +1.
"So, tell me again why you can't listen to this?" Whetstone asks, holding the small recording device he designed.
Whippoorwill sighs. "Because I promised."
"And me listening to it doesn't count because...?"
"Because I didn't promise I wouldn't let someone else hear it."
Whetstone gives her a disapproving look. "That's pretty underhanded, you know."
"I don't feel good about it, but there's too much happening. I've got enough about the Daughters to do my own research, but Shayera's behavior is way out of whack. I mean she broke up with Bronwyn and now she won't talk to me. She practically threw me out of her apartment."
"Sounds like pretty typical post-breakup behavior."
Whippoorwill scowls. "Except... Bronwyn told me I needed to talk to Shayera. But when I tried, she rather pointedly told me to talk to Bronwyn."
"So talk to Bronwyn again."
She rolls her eyes. "I'm not going to risk being run around in circles again. If there's something I need to know on that recording, I'll save myself lots of time."
Whetstone looks dubious, but relents. "All right. What are you going to do?"
"Learn a little Chinese history."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ;>
"So?"
Whetstone looks bewildered. "I'm confused."
"Huh? Confused about what?"
He lifts his arms in a helpless gesture, then lets them drop to his sides. "Teenaged girls."
Whippoorwill looks at him askance. "Oookay."
"Well..."
======================
Whippoorwill tries to keep from gritting her teeth as she smiles at the screen. The SCA SIDEKICK Overseer's look of distaste was made worse by him sitting too close to his computer's camera, forcing her to get a close-up look at his nostrils. "Mr. Innis. Good to <ahem> see you again. What was so urgent that you needed me to call you?"
Fleming Innis' image froze for a second on the screen just as he was about to speak, leaving her to look at his nostrils and a curled lip while she heard him say, "Please, call me 'overseer.' Well, Whippoorwill, I wanted to let you know I'm very excited that you will finally be attending the Heroes Gala this year." The image mercifully unfroze, but then she got a look at his smug smile.
At the mention of the Gala, Whippoorwill rolls her eyes. "You must be mistaken. I've already sent in my regrets."
"Ah, yes. I believe you said that Friday you will be, 'preening your feathers'?"
With a completely serious expression, she replies, "It's very important. My wings require a lot of upkeep."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. You are aware that I've made attending the Gala mandatory for all SIDEKICK sponsors. If you're stepping down, then I'll simply have to find someone to replace y--"
Whippoorwill leans forward, stunned. "You wouldn't dare."
"Replace you? Well, if you resign, I'll have no choice but--"
"No, I mean, make me go to that utter waste time, money and... and... dignity!"
Innis sneers, which unfortunately gets frozen on her screen. "It's a prestigious honor to be chosen. Your avoidance of the social aspects of superheroing sets a bad example to your young proteges."
"It's a bunch of wealthy snobs who want to waste our time by posing for photo ops."
His image starts moving again. "It's for a good cause, and you will be going, or else you will have to step down as sponsor."
Whippoorwill glowers at Innis through the video chat. She was seriously beginning to loathe that man. Further, she keenly felt the temptation to call his bluff. I hate being outmaneuvered. "All right. Fine. See you there."
Kaoru slowly sifted through the contents of the geocache. The page with the "gibberish" stood out the most. She quickly pulled out her phone and automatically ran the text through a few things. Not a rotational cipher. Vigenere/Beaufort with a Frost comment doesn't work. Neither does using that as the key for a substitution cipher. Ugg, that probably meant she was supposed to go look up some book by Frost and check out page 17. And given that the cache didn't have a Frost book in it, that was an incredibly dumb move. There were undoubtedly more than copy of Robert Frost's...poems? It was probably still a simple substitution cipher though.
She briefly entertained the possibility of writing a code to just brute force hack it. But no. There had to be online solvers already, right? She found one almost immediately.
Glad you are playing, machina. Hope you are smart enough to keep up. But doing this analog gives you chances. That makes it more fun. If you get to the end we can meet real time. The coordinates for the next geocache is in the puzzle box left here, with one bonus. Give it a spin, if you want to open it. Diligent Dog.
She rolled her eyes. This person wasn't nearly as smart as they thought they were. First off, they had just given out the fact that they only knew her from the SCA reports; no one outside the team called her that. Which meant they hadn't found any of her online hacks or her online handle. Second off, they thought a substitution cipher was at all challenging? She rolled her eyes and started to look to see if anything she had taken from the geocache was spinnable.
*****
> What was I supposed to say?
> You had family stuff, and I've been busy
> And ahh, I guess that makes sense for why you might not be into Grease
> I'll avoid it from now on
> And yes, I was able to look up the fact that boricua = Puerto Rican
> I meant that I'm not familiar with Puerto Rican cuisine :P
> And why do you have a boy's name?
> Did your parents think you were going to be a boy?
*****
> *If you're interested* in seeing what it is, meet after school.
*****
Kaoru blinks wordlessly at the envelope as she slowly opens it out of sight. She silently reads it, shoulders slumping as she reads the underlying threat. "Ugg, they couldn't even have the decency to let us pick our own colors?" she muttered to no one in particular. They even managed to ruin the one interesting part of the event. She put the letter away and instead began examining the wristband. It looked kinda like a fitbit sans the branding. She wasn't exactly up-to-date on the wearable fitness tech scene, but this looked less watch-like than she would have expected. She couldn't tell if there was no screen or the entire thing was somehow a screen. "Is this the 'something extra'? What is it?"
Going through everything else that Kaoru had taken from the geocache doesn't yield any sort of puzzle box. Kaoru does find what is apparently a clue looking in the log book. 'Diligent Dog' has apparently made the Duck Hunter dog his seal and insignia, as an ink copy is printed into the logbook, along with a date - the day that Kaoru discovered her computer had been compromised.
Underneath that is another signature, as well as a date - Sunday, the day of the wrestling show. 'Elize Malvadas' had apparently used the geocache then - in fact, looking up the site, Kaoru notes that Elize has posted a blog post - a young woman in a lucha libre mask holding up one of the plastic tokens from the geocache. The same mask that was now in Kaoru's possession.
Kaoru also notes looking it up that the cache owner has recently posted, asking other geocachers to beware a teenaged Asian boy and girl, as they robbed his cache of everything.
"...OH NO!"
Alexis jumped to his feet, clapping his hands to his face and feeling mortified. He scared the cat in Gabrielle's apartment out of sight, his current school book spilled to the ground. Gabrielle herself rushed from the kitchen, looking concerned.
"Everything all right?" She asks, a wooden spoon in hand with some kind of sauce coating it.
"...I forgot I was supposed to have dinner with Shayera and her parents today," Alexis groaned.
"Oh, that is unfortunate. Could you still make it?"
Alexis shakes his head. "I can't go back to the apartment now. I have to stay away for everyone's safety. I hope it goes well without me."
Alexis shows up to Alexandra and Kaoru's table. His tray isn't as loaded as he normally has it, with only some pasta and meatballs. He peers curiously at the envelopes and invitation that Kaoru has. "Did you get a letter from someone?" He asked.
Kaoru implants a virus into the website. Every time the owner logs in, he continues to see his posts as is, however anybody else viewing the site sees the word "Caucasian" wherever the man has typed "Asian."
*****
Kaoru shrugs half-heartedly before simply saying, "No." and continuing to puzzle over the new gadget.
After a moment she adds, a little smugly, "So I see you decided to use my new student ID. What other classes did you end up picking?"
Cassie looked up from the couch where she lay with her feet raised on its back and an old leather-bound book with indecipherable writing on its cover in her hands.
"Just text her and say sorry you can't make it." she said, unconcerned. "She'll understand."
Kaoru (Phone Savior): What was I supposed to say?
Kaoru (Phone Savior): You had family stuff, and I've been busy
Kaoru (Phone Savior): And ahh, I guess that makes sense for why you might not be into Grease
Kaoru (Phone Savior): I'll avoid it from now on
Kaoru (Phone Savior): And yes, I was able to look up the fact that boricua = Puerto Rican
Kaoru (Phone Savior): I meant that I'm not familiar with Puerto Rican cuisine :P
Kaoru (Phone Savior): And why do you have a boy's name?
Kaoru (Phone Savior): Did your parents think you were going to be a boy?
Bronwyn: Not that I know of?
Bronwyn: Bronwyn's more of a girl's name here in the states (for the like, fifty of us), but it's a masculine ending, and it's still a boy's name over in Wales
Bronwyn: something something silly americans :-p
Bronwyn: Oh, I mean, lotta rice, lotta spice... Not like, hot spice though (unless you add it)... /shrug it's a big island
Bronwyn: I'll repay the sushi once I've got a kitchen and my ingredients. I don't know how to describe everything via text.
Bronwyn: okay, I'm gonna eat and catch up on my trig.
Bronwyn: thanks for distracting me
Shaun smiles when the bump is returned, but quickly breaks into impressed shock. "Wait, ye' can even do that!? Damn that's cool! Yea', I'll see if I can get ya' a good angle on it."
The next 45 minutes are largely uneventful, aside from Shaun nearly sending the camera over the edge from fiddling with it too much. Eventually however, Gill catches sight of a exceptionally rusted corvette driving up to the front of the school and disgorging a beleaguered-looking Engelbert. He briefly speaks with the driver of the vehicle, who peels out of the drive up at (at least) 20 miles over the limit. The heavy-set boy sighs, then slowly starts making his way to a line of open-air lockers facing the lookout point.
Moments later, Shaun pipes up: "Hellllllo...! J-Boy just went up to the coach...looks like he and his two cronies are going to take a 'water break.'" He briefly glances away from the telescope to catch Gill's eye. "I'm guessin' Bert just arrived too?"
Bert finally stops, seemingly in front of a specific locker, as he opens his backpack and produces a two-inch-thick folder of paper. He sighs, and glances back and forth down the walkway as he anticipates an arrival.
After having the location pointed out to him, Shaun frowns. "That's...a lot of paper f'just homework..." He shakes his head. "Figure that out later. Right now, it's time f'a photo-op." Carefully positioning the yellow Kodiak, he snaps a few shots of Bert standing alone, then snaps his fingers. "Wait, s@@@! I need ta' get down there, just in case J-Boy starts something' fast. Uh, I know ye' want ta' beat face as much as I do, but would ya' mind takin'ta' evidence while I get in position?"
- - -
Shaun starts to nod along, then seemingly catches himself. "Ah-hahah, nice try, but ye' played too many cards." He taps his temple meaningfully. "I know ye' can just read my mind n' say what makes most sense ta' me. I'm not falling'f'that. Kaoru doesn't care enough ta' put all this together himself. Somebody had ta' get him ta' do it. Maybe he got a little mind-nudge from ye'n' that's why he's mad at ya'." A smug smile crosses his face as he makes his moderately-unfounded claim.
Reading deeper though, it's clear Shaun is trying to calm himself down by taking some easy jabs. There is an underlying tension in his posture that betrays just how shaken up the Duncan reveal left him. More than that, there's something else...something the Shadow-sense can't quite figure out...
- - -
<(I don't waste my time on dumb!)
(well i know that's not true)>
(u r still talking 2 me)>
(but considering the first thing the big guy did was throw me)>
(*without consent*)>
(i think i can b forgiven 4 thinking he was a bit more cave than man)>
(but u got my sympathies w/the family s$#@)>
(if u need anything)>
(well i dont have much rn, but its yours)>
(whatever u need)>
(i owe you that much @ the very least)>
(but i just wanted 2 make sure u were good)>
(considering glorious leader threatened 2 fire me 4 leaving early)>
(i wanted 2 make sure he hadnt fired u 2)>
(u did just kinda ghost)>
(least as far as i was told)>
- - -
<(Same thing really.)
(uh)>
(well)>
There is a long stretch of time as the indication of typing switches on and off from Shaun's end.
(i kinda knew tho)>
(like about duncan)>
(shayera saw him at the park n confronted me about it)>
(i lied, said i had no idea)>
(then bron talked it over w/me)>
(we came 2 a half-result that it was very probably him)>
(i asked bron not 2 say anything)>
(i didn't say anything because i did want u 2 b scared of me)>
(so)>
(sorry)>
As if on cue, a certain voice echoes from the gym. "HEY WING!? WHAT SMELLS SO GOOD!?"
Shaun emerges from his temporary accommodations, sweat towel currently covering his face. "Gah! Sorry, just gettin' some reps in. Are we doin'somethin' special tonight or-?" He finishes drying the sweat off his brow, only to immediately see the small army of chefs staring back at him. "...uh...WING!? When did all these people get here!?...and how good is the sound insulation on this place?" He waves politely but cautiously at the cooks, suddenly very aware that he was dressed in athletic shorts and a plain tank. Not exactly fancy dinner attire...
Wingblade starts when Shaun shows up just as they were about to sit down. She glances at her father, expression unreadable behind his glasses, and then moves between them. "Father, this is Shaun MacGregor. He stays here from time-to-time. Shaun, let me introduce to you my father."
The Man in the White Coat gives Shaun a smile that shows neither amusement or menace. It seems the smile of someone who practices the expression in the mirror without truly understanding the meaning or reason behind it. "Hello, Mr. MacGregor. Please, join us for dinner. I have met so few of Xiu Ying's friends and acquaintances."
"If you want to grab a quick shower, I think we can wait," Shayera offers.
"There's no need. Jiangsu tastes best when its freshest. Go on, sit," her father says, gesturing to the table. It's laden with colorful dishes of shrimp, fish, spare ribs and bowls of soup of matching color. The chefs begin dishing out servings on the plates, then retreat to the kitchen.
Shayera does as her father bids, sitting next to him. "We decided on Su cuisine, since Alexis doesn't like spicy foods," she explains. Then she watches as her father starts eating, and only after he's sampled everything does she pick up her chopsticks and begin.