I helped Ravel adjust her new backpack and frowned. It was kinda bulky on her, and it looked a little silly. They didn't make many doll-sized bags, and my sewing skills were rusty, plus I'd mostly just quilted anyway. I sighed and put her phone in it, the round top poking out and the bottom not fitting into the pocket all the way, even with my alterations, it was pretty bad. I pulled the phone out as Ravel shimmied out of the backpack and I tossed it on the foot of Dahlia's bed, annoyed.
"I think we need to buy a phone case, then mod that into a backpack." she said "Instead of getting a backpack and modding it into a phone case."
"Nice to know that now." I said "I already went to a toy store and bought the backpack."
"Aw, you didn't know!" Tipsy said "It was on patrol anyway, so it's no big deal, right?"
"I guess." I agreed "It was nice to get to do an impromptu photoshoot with the kids there, that's the exact kinda thing I wanted to get done as Comfit today."
"What next, boss?" Ravel said "Are we going out for a phone case or are we going to stay here to play cards?"
"Mm, what kinds of cards?" I asked, looking around the room at the other residents doing their own things. Inky would get them slimy, Gemia's claws would poke holes in them, and Dahlia was nowhere to be seen after her 'upgrade'. I didn't know that playing cards with this group would be very interesting, to be honest.
"Oh! I like poker!" Tipsy said "That's my favorite! But we play other stuff too, like blackjack or the one with the spoons Ravel showed us!"
"Spoons, it's called spoons." Ravel said "That's why there's spoons."
"Spoons... spooooons" Tipsy said "Ick, it did the thing where it doesn't sound like a real word anymore, spoooooons..."
"I did that with 'Chosen' recently." I said "I felt weird saying it for days. Anyway, I'm not much one for cards, but we could go out to eat? It's about dinner time."
"Will I have to stay in a bag?" Ravel asked "I can't eat you know, so if we're going out and I'll be in a bag the whole time for no reason, I'll just stay here and play spoons."
"Spooooooons." Tipsy nodded
"There's a few places downtown that have privacy booths, we could go there? I know a great sweets shop that does amazing chocolate strawberries!" I said
"Again, can't eat, but I guess I can hang out with you at dinner, sure." Ravel shrugged
"Can I come too?" Tipsy asked "I wanna see the strawberry! And I can still smell the good food, even if I can't eat it."
"How does ju smells der foods?" Gemia asked from over by her workbench "Ju has no nose holes."
"Aw don't worry about it, darling!" Tipsy kicked their feet over the edge of Dahlia's bed "Just magic, I guess!"
Gemia walked over to the bed and frowned at them, then shrugged, picking up the backpack and phone in her claws "I can makes ju a nice custom packpack for der phone if ju wants to buy me dinner too?" she said to me hopefully
"Uh, I guess so?" I said "If we're doing that though, I'd like to see who else is free, so we can make a thing of it."
"Is fine, I just warnts to hav good fuds, am tired of stale breads an pizza." Gemia said "And ju owes me too, I tink."
"I already said I'd pay, no need to bring that up..." I grumbled "How are you getting there? It's all the way near the coast, and you can't fit in my bag without taking your limbs off."
"Wh- dey does not come off!" Gemia's eyes widened "Is connercterd to mah brains! Is to verdy bad to take dey off!"
"That was a dumb design." Ravel said "It'd be way better to have them detachable."
"No! Deys would fall off an be clumsy!" she protested "I wants to be stronk and verdy good at fiddly tings! Is not as good as real arms, but is gedding there..."
"Mm, how'd you lose your limbs anyway?" I asked, typing out a message to the group chat with the other heroes in 247 "All four limbs? I can't imagine."
"I think that's rude to ask, Candy." Tipsy said
"Jas, is... not wants to talk aboud it..." Gemia's face turned a darker shade of green "Is not to be a goot story..."
"Right, sorry. So if they don't come off, how are we getting you across town?" I asked, folding my arms "I can't be seen with a wanted criminal."
"Jus fly?" she said "Is too small to see me up high, then jus pud me in a secret place an I wilt meet ju at der strawberdy place on mah feets."
"I'd prefer a disguise." I said, pulling my phone back out as it dinged "Oh, perfect! Driz and Lucy are coming, I'll ask Drizti to bring you a gnomish robe and hat."
"They both know about..." Ravel looked at Inky's tank, unsure of she was sleeping or not "...the plans, right?"
"Yeah, they do." I confirmed "We can be chill around them."
"I does not warnt to be a gnome..." Gemia frowned "Is like to be a gobling."
"It's just a disguise, you'll just wear it until we get a private booth." I sighed "Come on, they'll be here in like, ten minutes, can you do some measurements or something for Ravel? I promised her a backpack after all, and I am paying you for it."
"Fine, fine." Gemia nodded, and turned to Ravel with a sly grin "So... how mandy weapons does you want hidden inside?"
~~~
We all landed at in front of the cafe and I put Gemia down. The robes mostly covered her up, Driz was a little bigger so her metal hands and feet were hidden inside the robe. She was still green, but if she kept her head down the brim of Drizti's sunhat should cover her face. I shook my wings out and waited as the other two girls landed. Drizti un-transformed into her base form, wearing a nice pink dress and tights, and Lucy remained in her magical girl form, as per usual.
"Look, see there?" I pointed to the street "That's where I was hit by a car once!"
"There's not even any blood stains..." Lucy said disappointedly
"It was like, ages ago." I said "There wouldn't be any."
"I'm glad you ended up being ok." Drizti said "I was so worried when you showed up to the base all covered in blood..."
"Huh, was that when you found out?" I frowned "For some reason I remembered you being there with me when I woke up."
"Is not to cares about der car accedent, I wants to have der strawberdies!" Gemia said, pointing at the shop
"Fine, the dolls need to be let out anyway." I said, and headed inside.
The smells of the baked goods and sweet treats hit me and I hummed in delight, practically floating up to the counter to order. No, actually, I did float up to the counter, my wings fluttered just enough to give me lift. My eyes poured over the menu, it all looked so good, chocolate oranges, lemon wedges, cherry pie, cobbler... I licked my lips and swallowed, trying to focus. The lady behind the counter gave me an encouraging smile, and I held in a shudder of anticipation.
"I'd like one of all the deserts, an extra large double dark chocolate mocha with heavy cream, sea salt, and a shot of caramel, and an extra one of your special strawberries, but to go, for when I leave." I said, my gloves twisting as I tried not to break into excited giggles, I was going to feast! I'd gotten a bump in pay when our range extended last week, and that beautiful double sized paycheck had just hit this morning, I could afford anything.
"One of-" the lady looked up at the menu and back to me "Ma'am, we have twenty different deserts on the menu today, is this for your whole group?"
I glanced back at the others "No, we're separate. Ah, except for the girl in the robe, she's on my tab too."
"O-oh, uh, ok." The lady said, looking me up and down "Fair enough..."
"I wants der strawberdy, and a choclate drink, and ummmm..." Gemia looked at the board "A big piece of der coconut cake pleaze."
"No problem, just let me..." the lady said, typing away at her key pad "I'll get this rung up in a sec, uh, booth for four?"
"Privacy booth for six." I said "We'll need the extra table space."
The lady opened her mouth to protest giving us extra seats, but changed her mind at the length of the order. She raised her eyebrows and shook her head "Alright, we'll be with you shortly with your order, I suppose. You can take booth number nineteen, in the back. How are you paying?"
"Charge it to Lorgiaia's Angels, attention to: Candy." I told her "It'll be paid up by the time we leave."
As I made my way to our seats, my bag wiggled and I held it tighter. If they could just wait for five seconds, we'd be able to let them out, gods... Gemia slid into the booth first, and I slid in beside her, closing the screen. Lucy and Driz could sit on the other side, this would be the easiest. I put my bag on the seat between me and Gemia and unzipped it, letting Ravel climb out, holding Tipsy in her arms.
"You can just tell people to charge stuff to your church without ID?" Ravel said "That's wild, what if someone claims to be you?"
I looked at her expressionlessly and fluttered my wings behind me.
"Oh, duh." she said "I guess Chosen can just prove they're Chosen, I didn't think about that."
"I'm looking forward to seeing all the snacks!" Tipsy said "You ordered so many, will they all fit on the table?"
"They'll put them on combined plates, I bet." I said "The presentation will suffer, but it'll fit."
"Wilt ju shares some of der snacks?" Gemia asked "Is not a problerm if ju wants dey all for juself, but is to tink about, if dere is so much of it ju would explode to eats it all..."
"I might, depends." I said "Now, dolls, you will have to hide in my lap when the food comes, just for a minute, alright?"
"Don't call me 'doll', it's sexist." Ravel said
"Oh, is it?" Tipsy asked "I thought she called us that because we're dolls."
"I- ugh, whatever." I rolled my eyes, I wasn't going to get into this with her right now.
The booth slid open and Drizti slid in, followed by Lucy. They settled in and Lucy raised an eyebrow at me, waving back towards the counter we'd come from.
"Really? 'one of everything'?" she snarked "I know you have a sweet tooth, but gods, that's too much, even for you."
"It's what my power wanted, shut up." I snapped "Look, your power is telling you not to untransform, you can't judge."
"That's not my power, it's dysph-" Lucy's face screwed up and she leaned back "Wait, fuck, is it my power? Fuck, am I going screwy too?"
"Going screwy?" I asked "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're kinda driven by your power recently, you know this." Drizti pointed out "We all are to some extent, I probably am driven to... I don't know, be helpful or something, it's just not as visible."
"I think it's fucked up that the gods can just decide you need to be doing something, then make you want to do it." Ravel said
"It's just a theory, really." Lucy said uncomfortably "The theory has legs though, just looking at Candy here. I gotta wonder, if it's true, does Lorgiaia want me to present cis or something? Is that why she's getting me to stay transformed?"
"Dis is why am not to have der gods." Gemia said "Is stupid to follow der peoples who tell ju whad to do. Dey can do it deyselfs."
"Amen to that." Ravel said, snickering to herself "So, you're the famous 'Angel Sable', huh?"
"Me?" Lucy asked "Oh, yeah, I guess. I heard about you, you're like, Candy's new pet or something, right?"
"Lucy!" Drizti squeaked as Gemia broke into giggles
"No!" I said quickly before Ravel could get mad "Friend! She's my friend! Not a pet, just, like, a pal who hangs out with me, not a pet."
"It's not like, a bad thing." Lucy said "I get it, I'd be a pet if I could. I kinda was, online."
"I'm. Not. A. Fucking. Pet." Ravel ground out "I'm a person, and I will fight you if you try to say otherwise."
"No, no, like, yeah, no kidding you're a person!" Lucy nodded "People can be pets! Not saying you are, but like, yeah."
Ravel looked back at me and frowned "This is the girl you wanted me to meet?"
"Well..." I shrugged "You're both... you know..."
"Annoyink?" Gemia said, poking Ravel in the side "Is not too goot to see they being annoyink to each other, is jus... more annoyink."
"They're not annoying, that's rude!" Drizti said "They're both interesting people!"
"Yeah, Ravel is my best friend, she'd never be annoying!" Tipsy crossed their arms.
"Ugh, I just was saying you two needed to meet because you both had 'views' on queer stuff." I said, frustrated
"Tipsy is queer, you didn't think they needed to meet Lucy?" Ravel asked
"Wait, I am?" Tipsy tilted their head "How so?"
"You're non-binary, right?" Lucy asked "That's a kind of trans, you're queer."
"Oh, I didn't know I was non-binary..." Tipsy shrugged "But ok!"
"You- I've been- what?" Ravel asked, looking at them incredulously "Tipsy, what are your pronouns?"
"I have no idea!" they said happily "I don't care!"
"That's non-binary." I said "You're non-binary, but see, Ravel? They don't care as much, so it's not as big a deal to them. You and Lucy cared more, so I thought..."
"You thought we'd argue?" Lucy asked "Wow, ok."
"This dinner is turning sour..." Drizti sighed "Look, can we just drop the whole... I don't know, shields? Walls? Whatever is keeping everyone acting so hostile."
"Hostile is interesting." I said "It makes dinner seem more fun."
"I is just warnting to get mah foods..." Gemia said "Is to be much longer?"
"Way longer." Lucy nodded "They gotta feed Candy after all, and you're on her tab."
"I'm starting to regret inviting you guys..." I grumbled "Why couldn't Alele have said she wanted to come instead?"
"She assumed you're mad at her or something." Drizti said "You didn't text yesterday, and it's almost night today, and still no text. She went out as Trigger Warning by herself to try and help your brand, she thought it'd help your relationship."
I sucked in a breath "Oh, fuck. Quick, help me figure out a good text to send her!"
"She is to be jur girlfrien, is not to be our job to help ju to fix tings." Gemia said
"Oh, oh! Tell her she's pretty!" Tipsy said "She'd like that for sure!"
"I need to tell her how I'm feeling about our relationship and stuff." I said "Calling her pretty isn't going to help."
"Well, how are you feeling about the relationship?" Drizti asked "I know you really wanted to fix things when you discussed it with her at the arcade."
"I feel like, I miss her?" I said "I don't know, it's not been long enough to miss her miss her, I just saw her earlier today and it was fine, we didn't talk, but I still feel like I want to resolve... something."
"She told me you two were going to take it slow, what does that look like?" Lucy asked
"I think I'm missing some context, but I think the first step is to tell her you miss her." Ravel said "You mentioned that first, you should say that first."
"Ok, so... 'I miss you, I still want to take things slow, but I am thinking about you a lot'?" I said, typing in the message
"What kinds of things are you thinking about her?" Drizti asked
"Ju tinks about smooches and tongues maybe? Oooh!" Gemia poked my arm "Is tell her der pervert stuff ju tinks 'bout her, is to get her to be all over ju!"
"That's not helpful, our relationship isn't that kind of physical." I glared at Gemia "I think about, I don't know, I want to watch more of our show together, and I want to play two truths and a lie with her, and like, I guess I want to dance with her?"
"Ooh, that's good." Ravel nodded
"You guys like to dance then?" Tipsy asked "I like to dance too!"
"We haven't danced, I was about to dance with her when I asked her out, but-" I broke off and my insides curled at the thought of Forica, and I felt tears sting my eyes "We- we never got the chance."
"Aw, that's sad. Tell her that!" Tipsy said
"O-ok, the message says... 'I miss you, I still want to take things slow, but I am thinking about you a lot. I miss watching our show, I wished I'd gotten to hear your two truths and a lie at Kiri's get together, and I still need that dance from you sometime.' Is that good?"
"Is... perty romantic." Gemia said begrudgingly "Would work on me, I tink."
"Is it too much? I don't know, I feel weird getting you guys to help me write it." I said
"We didn't write it, you said all the stuff you typed." Lucy said "We were just here while you did it, it's fine, I think."
"Yeah, that's all from your heart!" Drizti encouraged me "I think it sounds like a wonderful message."
"Ok." I said, and sent the text.
I watched my phone, my eyes on the little blue bubble, waiting on it to turn green to show that she'd read it, but if she was out and about as Trigger Warning, she probably didn't have time to be checking her messages. I opened her CirNet page and flipped through tonight's posts, sparkling them from my Comfit account, and sharing a particularly badass photo of her standing on a bridge. She must have asked a fan to take that one, or maybe just paid a random person. It looked pretty nice, with the evening sun behind her, the light glinting off her helmet, her armored leather outfit making her look stronger and more powerful than she was, she was beautiful...
There was a knock on the privacy screen, and Ravel and Tipsy hopped into my lap where I covered them with the edge of my skirt before opening the booth. There were over a dozen plates of dessert, all of them smelling sweet and wonderful, my mind getting fuzzy at the sight of them. Gemia gasped in delight as a slice of cake the size of her head was pushed in front of her, and my mouth watered as the strawberries were placed in the center of the table. This spot was by far my favorite place, once me and Alele made up, I was taking her here for a date. Not a fancy date, just a normal one, and after, I'd get that dance. I plucked a palmier off a plate and bit into it lightly, smiling and reaching for my oversized drink. This was a good day, I was happy with how things were going finally! The doors closed and I helped the dolls up onto the table, I was happy I'd invited people to join me, I needed this.
~~~
I thudded my head against the wall of the convention center and groaned. Why was there a line for the stupid science convention? Why did this many people care about stupid inventions and junk? Plus, I'd found out too late that I didn't need tickets for Tipsy and Ravel, so of course Gemia had invited herself when she heard I'd have an extra ticket and that it was an armistice zone. Galorna had tagged along as well due to not having anything to do today and wanting to extend an olive branch to me. Both me and her were in hoodies and jeans to hopefully hide the fact we were attending a nerd con with wanted criminals, but the disguises were paper thin if we met anyone we knew. It wasn't illegal to be with them here due to the armistice, and technically since they'd escaped from jail over a week ago and didn't have any murder or assault charges they weren't supposed to be re-arrested without committing a new crime, but it could still be a PR mess to be seen with them.
"So, think we'll see anyone we know?" Galorna asked "I'm kinda wondering if other Chosen will pop up here to scope out the threats."
"I doubt it." I said, my arms crossed "Why would a Chosen give a shit about science junk? We have powers."
"Science is to be verdy goot! More than powerds, is to be... versatile." Gemia said "Der is lots to do wit der science powerds can't replicate."
"I gotta ask, you've got a pretty good vocabulary." Ravel said from on my shoulder "But your accent is all over the place, and I swear I've heard you say the same words different ways, what's up with that?"
"That's incredibly rude, Ravel!" Tipsy gasped from Galorna's hands "You shouldn't make fun of the way someone talks!"
"I'm not making fun!" she protested "I was just asking, jesus."
"Ju is from der other world, so is to give you der pass one time." Gemia said, shrugging "I am der tribal gobling. We does not have a real languich like domestic goblings or cave goblings, and we does not have der sign languich of der plains goblings. We is... to talk wit our minds, we speak, but der words, is not imporntant. One word is to mean 'apple', den ju says the same word, and is to mean 'chair'. Der words just focus der other goblings minds on jur thoughts, so is not to learn real words ever."
"Oh, so like, since you've never learned how to use language like other races, you have a hard time learning it now?" Ravel asked
"No, is der thingies in mah brain, der... parietal lobe and der frontal gyrus, dey are designed to send der words out and translate der words coming in straight from der other brains of tribal goblings. Is not to have der tools to decode human words. Is have to tink verdy hard to understand dey words and to say dey too, because der left inferior frontal gyrus tries to put gobling words over top der human words I hear and say."
"Oh, wow." Ravel said "So like, you're like, smart, smart, huh?"
"What do you mean?" I asked her "Because she knows the brain stuff? She's a scientist, of course she knows science stuff."
"No, like, she's actively speaking two languages at once every time she opens her mouth, it's just wild."
"Is... not quite like dat." Gemia said "But ja, am verdy smart, thank ju for noticing!"
"I'm always impressed by scientists, I feel pretty dumb sometimes, I wish I could think like that." Galorna said, petting Tipsy's hat
"You're not dumb," I said "you do the whole schedule every week and you calculate all those, uh, proteins and macros? When you train? I don't understand that stuff, but it's like second nature to you."
"It's all about what you care about!" Tipsy said "You're as smart as anyone, I bet!"
"Aw, thanks..." Galorna grinned sheepishly "I wasn't fishing for a compliment, I was just thinking out loud."
"Nah, I get it." I said "Ugh, finally, we're almost inside..."
"Am excited to see der weapons!" Gemia said "Wants to make a gun dat shoots hog dogs at der speed of sound, but dey keeps esploding before they get out of der barrel, maybe I wilt find help here!"
"If you shoot me with super sonic weenies I will personally force feed you your entire stock." I glared at her
"No, we is friens now! Ju save me from der bad guys!" she said "Aside from ju smaching my babie, is still mad 'bout dat. But is ok, not to fight ju with hog dogs!"
"Whatever." I said, waving my badge in front of the scanner and stepping inside the convention hall "Hey, me and Ravel are gonna go find someone who specializes in interdimensional travel, you three ok to wander on your own?"
"Sure, I can wander." Galorna said "I'm just here out of curiosity anyway."
"Cool beans." I said "Ok, meet you all back here... whenever, I guess, I'll text you."
I walked off into the rows of booths, scanning both sides of the walkway for anything that looked like it was 'interdimensional' in nature. There were some weird things, one booth was advertising a chair that followed you in case you needed to rest, one booth had a shovel that looked like a drill but it teleported the dirt to a special wheelbarrow as you dug, one had a hat that injected headache medicine directly into your brain, and one had a rug that changed designs based on your moods and hormone levels. I didn't know why anyone really needed any of those things, they were all either useless or just re-designs of existing things with a twist, but that's what super science was; just people mashing things together to make something new. At least, that was my understanding of it.
"Hot damn, there so many cool things here..." Ravel said "God, I wish I had money, I'd love that bag of holding!"
"The what?" I asked "All bags are 'bags of holding', that's the point of a bag."
"No, look that backpack is bigger on the inside!" she pointed "If I had money, I'd get one in my size!"
"That's stupid, the items still have weight when they're in there, you'd still only be able to hold about the same amount of stuff."
"Oh. I mean, I'm kinda strong? I could fit more I bet." Ravel said "Anyway, my world doesn't have super science, so this stuff is super cool."
"No magic and no super science?" I asked "Your world sounds more and more boring every time you talk about it."
"Well, we're not missing entire continents, and all of our land masses are still intact, so we're doing better than you." she countered
"I still think it sounds boring." I said "Hey, what about that booth? It specializes in wormholes, wanna check it out?"
"Oh, perfect! Yeah!" Ravel nodded "Wormholes are exactly right."
I shoved my way up to the booth past the crowd and snapped my fingers to get the man's attention "Hey, hey! You!"
The man looked up from a small device he was working on and frowned "Me?"
"Yeah, you, do you deal with other universes?"
"Oth- uh, excuse me, what are you looking for?" he asked, confused
"Hi, sorry about her." Ravel said "I'm from another Earth, I'd really like to go home, can you help with that?"
"I'm sorry, another Earth?" the man said, frowning at her "I don't think I know how to send you to another Earth, no."
"But you do wormholes, can't you just make the wormhole go to her world?" I shrugged "Just like, scan her and see where she can from, then set that as the destination."
"It doesn't really work like that, I can't just 'scan' someone to see where they came from. I don't even think I can send people to other worlds, I focus on wormholes. I just teleport people without killing them first; I tunnel from one place in the universe to another."
"Oh, damn." Ravel said "Do you know anyone who does do that kind of thing?"
"Not outside a prison, no." The man eyed her. "Say... are you a soul jar? I have some people who might be interested in running some tests on you..."
"Never mind." I snapped, grabbing Ravel off my shoulder and shoving her in my pocket "We're gonna keep looking."
I stomped away from the aisle and turned a corner, walking to a quiet area of the con. I stepped behind a curtain, leaning against the closest pillar in a huff. I shook my head, trying to push out the hustle and bustle of the convention and clenched my fists. How dare he? The fucking nerve of that guy, just blatantly asking about it like that, I should report him for... something, damnit. I should have taken my glove off and- Ravel wiggled out of the hoodie pocket and jabbed me, making me jump, and she climbed up my front to look at me blankly.
"Candy, don't manhandle me like that, we talked about it." she reminded me
I turned to block the view from the convention area with my body in case someone came back here "They want to use you for a battery, Ravel, this was a bad idea."
"One guy said he wanted to run tests, they didn't say they would use me." she shook her head "Maybe the tests were to see where I came from?"
"He asked if you were a soul jar, they wanted to use you to power an electric toothbrush or something. If they use you too much and you don't have enough soul left when you die, you don't go to Samsara, you just vanish forever. I don't want that to happen to you, damnit." I snapped at her
"Wait, do you actually care about me?" she asked, leaning away to look at me more "I thought you barely considered me a person."
"I know you're a person!" I said, exasperated "We talked about that! I care about you, I'm a hero, I care about all my friends, gods."
"Oh." Ravel said quietly, and leaned against me "Well. Thanks, I didn't know you cared, I thought you just were helping me because I was blackmailing you."
"That's the only reason why I'm here." I said "I'd never come to this dumb nerd thing if not for that, but like, I don't know, I'd still have helped you if you'd just asked me, I guess."
"So... once you merge your accounts, like, you'll still help me?" she asked "Really?"
"I think so, probably. Yes, I mean, I would. Will." I said. I hadn't planned on it, but thinking about her being alone on the streets, still hunting for a way home with no backup made my heart sting. I liked having her around, to film, to provide comments, and I'd really liked it when she called me 'boss' yesterday... "I was thinking about you being out on your own again after I merge, and, I know you're not my responsibility, but still. I'll keep helping you."
"Yeah, no, that's- yeah that's cool of you." Ravel nodded "Uh, I can drop the blackmail thing now, I guess, for what it's worth?"
"I'm up to ninety five thousand followers so far, I'd merge this week either way, but like, sure, we can drop it."
"Yeah." she said "I, uh, so now what?"
"Now nothing, we're not doing anything different, we're just going to do what we do." I said "You can call me boss though, if you like."
"Boss?" she frowned "Like I'm a minion? I guess that's fair. I never thought of myself as a minion though."
"Ew, no, sidekick, you'd be a sidekick. Heroes don't have minions. Anyway, wanna finish going through the rest of this nerd thing?" I asked her "I wanna get back to the safe house and change, I've got patrol tonight and I wanted to do a loop of the 130s as Comfit first, shake some hands with the business crowds as they get off work."
"Yeah, I guess so." she said "Can I stay in your pocket though? If they really do see me as a battery, I don't want to tempt them."
I opened my hoodie pocket enough for her to crawl back in, and I turned to look out at the convention. Why had I done that? Just offered to keep supporting her like that? She was a detriment, a criminal who freed other criminals from jail. Still, she wasn't actively being hunted now, so it wasn't popularity suicide to be around her, but it was still edgy. Could I do edgy? I was planning on coming out with my power soon as it was, that would be super edgy, maybe having a cute little former criminal as a sidekick would actually help boost my image? That must have been why I decided to keep her on, that made the most sense.
~~~
"I still would have come along!" Mod protested "I literally am super science!"
"And I would have loved to see the advancements made." Ryllis said "I know I cannot create super science myself, but I am pretty good at repurposing existing tech."
"You hear that, Candy? I could have gotten upgrades!" Mod shook her head "You gotta let us know about things like this."
"Sorry, gods, I thought you all would have already known about it.” I sighed "It was just a convention though, Ravel didn't even find anything useful there."
Ryllis leaned back against the sofa and put her clawed feet up on the table, crossing all her arms at once. I politely didn't look and shiver, my eyes stayed far enough away that any reaction I had to her insectoid body was internal. I was a guest in her living room after all, it wouldn't do to be rude here of all places.
"I understand, but you do know we like that kind of thing." she said
"Gemia and Galorna claimed the other two tickets anyway..." I said "I couldn't tell them 'no' without being rude. Maybe Gemia can tell you what she saw and collab with you or something, make Mod a... I don't know, digging attachment or something."
"I don't want to put anything Gemia made in my body..." Mod shivered
"Is she a bad super scientist? She’s making a thing for Ravel as we speak…” I asked "Her inventions always work, at least."
"She takes shortcuts and doesn't do things right the first time." Ryllis explained "She kept using shorthand in Dahl's code and we had to go back in and fix it. I asked her about it, and she said she'd prefer something break and give her a chance to upgrade it than to make it never break, and never see it get any better. I don't like that."
"I can see why you wouldn't want that..." I said "Ugh, I'd hate for a body part to just break on me or something."
"Exactly!" Mod said “For the record, I’m not annoyed at you not taking us with your extra tickets, but I'd have liked to know about it at least."
"Yeah, fine, sorry about that, then." I said, shrugging "Anyway, I gotta head back out, I've got patrol with Mourner and Dahl in a minute. Speaking of, how's she doing? I haven't seen her since her, I don't know, brain surgery? Chip surgery?"
Mod shuddered and put her head in her hands. “It’s- she’s recovering…”
"Closer to brain surgery." Ryllis said, patting Mod’s shoulder "She's doing ok, she's feeling fragile and she's not having an easy time overwriting her now-blank personality slot with her own self, so expect her to mimic you and Mourner a little. Be kind to her, Candy. Please."
"I- yeah, I'm always kind." I said, standing up and not meeting Ryllis's eyes "I'll treat her like a kid sister."
"She's older than you, just treat her like an equal, ok?" Mod asked gently "Remember she's fragile right now and you'll be great."
"Mm, yeah, I can do that." I muttered. I didn't need to be lectured about kindness from these two, I had stuff to do. "I'm heading out, I'll see you in the morning."
They said their goodbyes and I walked out into the cool streets, fluffing my wings to take off, when my phone made a ticking sound. I smiled, a text from Alele! She'd read but never responded to yesterday's message, and today when I'd asked how her patrol went, she didn't even open it. Her finally responding was a good sign! Hopefully she wasn't upset with me now.
I opened the message and frowned. Instead of a response, the message was a picture of her, untransformed and in her underthings. She was lounging in a chair in a dark room, looking at the camera intensely, her head tilted to one side. A single word accompanied the photo; 'probation'. I was thankful for the photo, she had a pretty, haunting look that made my heart flutter, but what did 'probation' mean? We were on a break, but it was a soft break, so we weren't seeing each other... This must mean she was sending me pics instead of cuddling me, because I was on 'probation' from being around her after my fuckup. I smiled and sent her a heart reaction. My teeth found my lower lip and I snapped a selfie, high angle, my top unbuttoned and held open a bit, and captioned it 'Here's a little community service for you, maybe the probation can end early for good behavior?'.
I giggled and put the phone in my pocket, I felt great about my response, I wasn't usually clever in texts, but it made me feel sexy to play along like that. I took a deep breath and lifted off, heading towards the south-west corner to meet Mourner and Dahlia. That photo had put me in good spirits, tonight was looking to be a wonderful patrol!
~~~