[X] Yellow sundress
The girl dithered and dallied for a bit, giving fugitive looks towards her paramour before pulling a dress coloured like a dying sunset off a rack of clothes and entering a room for a time before coming out wearing it.
She most likely picked it as it seemed similar to the birdgirl's usual attire colouration.
Not that it stopped the tension that had started to fill her frame, as if her skin was uncomfortable on her, glancing around.
There was nothing to destroy except herself that would stop those feelings, meaning the shadow was unable to act.
Her paramour blinked, head slowly scanning up and down. A light pink colouring spread across birdgirl's cheeks. "Oh." She muttered. "Ah. Well. That looks… that looks very good on you Taylor."
"Really?" The girl very much sounded doubtful but also testing for a response. A specific response, perhaps?
Her paramour stepped forwards, nodding. "Yes, you look beautiful in that. It really suits you…"
The girl had a small smile as she stared pointedly at the ground. Evidently the birdgirl had said the correct words. "I think you're required to say that."
"Am I required to tell you that I want to see you wear that again?" Her paramour asked. "Because I really do. The sundress looks wonderful on you." There was a click, the communication rectangle in the birdgirl's hand pointed at the girl had flashed. "Would you like to see?"
The girl dithered as she looked at the rectangle for a moment. "Do you really want to see me wear it again?"
"I would not lie to you Taylor, you look really good in a dress." Her paramour informed her. "Would you be willing to wear it again?"
"I guess. Yeah. When it's warmer."
"Any colors you like other than yellow?" The birdgirl asked, "unless you want to wear matching colors." She must have been referencing her normal attire with the skinned face on it's front dyed the colour of rotting fruit.
"Anything you want to see me in?" The birdgirl pressed, rudely not letting the girl speak.
The girl took no offense and instead thought for a moment. "I don't think I've ever seen you wear something other than a warm colour?"
"You are correct. I do not know if warm colors suit you, I am bad at such fashionable designs." Her paramour shrugged jerkily. It was an unnatural motion, untested and unpracticed. "If you wish to share the same colored clothing, I think it will be cute."
"I'm not good at fashion either. Uh, try a darker colour though?"
"Okay. I will also try on a dress then. Of a darker color." Birdgirl tapped her chin. "I will be right back, go ahead and add that to the 'keep' pile."
"Sure." The girl went back into the changing room.
When she came out, clothes in hand, birdgirl stepped into the enclosed alcove next to the girl's. It didn't take long for her to step out, a black dress hugged her frame tight enough to show off her physical assets and the fact that the birdgirl had better musculature than the majority of those the shadow had seen since meeting the girl.
"Well?" Birdgirl asked, pulling at one of the long sleeves the dress featured, the sable fabric only highlighted the bloodless paleness of her flesh. "How do I look?"
The girl nodded. "It looks good." Her eyes lingered.
"So I will put this in the keep pile as well. Do you see anything that catches your eyes? Or do you want to buy what we have and look at other stores?" Her paramour inquired.
"What other stores did you still want to check out?"
"I wish to visit a bookstore." Birdgirl told her, "Give me one minute." Then she slinked back into the changing room, giving the girl a wink as she did so.
The girl sputtered.
The girl was visibly excited as they headed towards their destination. As much as she ever did, she had definitely lead her paramour out of the store the moment she returned.
Her paramour followed without complaint, hand in hand as they walked the length of the agora to a tucked away store that smelled strongly of scribes.
"What do you usually read? Besides westerns."
"Sci fi is always good." Birdgirl answered as she stopped to look at several wrongly preserved creatures. "What about you?" She returned the question.
"A lot; right now I'm on a sci-fi kick. Have you ever read Altered Carbon?"
"I have not. Do tell me what it is about." Her paramour answered as she picked up a particularly badly proportioned cursed miniature trunk. "Oh, a mimic. I do love these."
"Why mimics?" The girl shook her head, before backtracking, "its a cyberpunk novel, that I guess is closer to a murder mystery, at least on the onset? Its far into the future where people's have artificial immortality. Everyone has a, uh... its called a cortical stack, but its basically a hardened harddrive at the base of their skull made from alien tech. If you die and can afford it you can have it switched to another body, called a 'sleeve'. Do you want to know the plot...?"
Birdgirl suddenly straightened up, gently placing the cursed chest on the shelf. Then she hesitated before picking it back up. A genuine moment of indecisiveness. "I wonder if they have a copy of the book here."
"I can lend you my copy? I just finished."
Her paramour blinked. "Ah yes, you could. I would love to read it and talk to you about it. Any other books you might be interested in? My offer still stands." She nodded to the satchel that held their new clothes.
"Ah, no, no, I just want to browse." The girl's eyes started to focus on a different shelf of reading materials.
They spent a noticeable amount of time at the vendor, the girl quite unwilling to leave. When they did leave, birdgirl bought the faulty cursed chest. The next location they relocated to was at the behest of the girl, namely a place selling hot cheese triangles.
It was as they ate that a teenager floated by.
All eyes were drawn to her, something ephemeral leaked from her, intoxicating and toxic.
Gold was shimmering about her, untold strength that was belied by its spurious nature.
That nature being fraudulent.
"Oh." The girl made a quiet noise as she stared up at the floating pyrite. "There's Glory Girl."
The pyrite in question was currently acting as a bastion of some controlled insanity within the marketplace. Her presence alone seemed to cause some semblance of order.
Her paramour slowly looked up, blinking like a lion lazing in the sun on a particularly comfortable rock. "I wonder if Panacea's nose is better. I do not think I broke it that bad."
"I still can't believe you broke her nose."
Birdgirl shrugged, seemingly ignorant of the fact that the teenager had started floating towards them. "It was only a little break. Promise."
The girl made an aggrieved noise. "That's-" She paused, froze, and then looked at the floating girl.
"Taylor are you-"
"Could you repeat that." The floating teen ordered, voice flat as she floated around them to face birdgirl.
Birdgirl turned in her seat, head pivoting to face pyrite. "This is a private conversation."
The girl stared up at the floating threat.
"Uh."
The girl blinked.
"Um."
The girl blinked again.
"That?"
The look pyrite gave the girl could have seared flesh if she wasn't as threatening as a kitten. Mayhaps the pulsed synaesthesia wafting off of her added more to it? But then her gaze swung slowly back to birdgirl. "Repeat that, what you said about Panacea. About
breaking her nose."
There was a promise of violence hanging around the teenager.
Of blood to drip on her gloved knuckles.
She was the most active threat the shadow had seen to the girl in over a moon.
Threats needed to be removed.
Two sensations warred in Taylor, simultaneously.
Her eyes were drawn to Glory Girl.
White and gold.
Immaculate and beautiful.
Paragon and flawless.
It only heightened the building anger on her face, causing it to clash in a dichotomy as she stared at Nikki, who only watched with a keen disinterest as the superheroine loomed over her.
"Frankly. Panacea folded like a lawn chair." Nikki stated, speaking as if she had called the sky blue causing Taylor to sputter.
It was not what the younger member of New Wave had expected as she gaped at the brightly dressed girl. Nor Taylor, as well, what the heck Nikki!?
"She will heal." Nikki finished, her hands under the table. "The experience might help her develop empathy."
"Nikki! What the hell!?"
"She treated you like a medical curiosity instead of a suffering person." Nikki calmly stated. "I disagreed."
Glory Girl apparently thought the same, because her hand snapped out like a snake, grabbing a handful of Nikki's hoodie. This partially lifted Nikki out of her seat, jolting the table slightly, causing Taylor to fumble out of her chair and onto her butt. "You and your girlfriend are going to be medical curiosities when I'm done with you!"
Then there was the other sensation.
Rage.
A wrath other and not her-own on the very precipice of percipience.
It was not her own feeling, for Taylor didn't think she could feel such an all encompassing, all consuming, omnipresent emotion.
Not without losing her mind to it.
Her perception of it was that of a passive observer.
That fury belonged to the giant, for she could see a colour that could never be described in a language that did not lessen it cloak him and deepen as Glory Girl got closer to her.
The giant wanted to materialize.
It wanted to turn Glory Girl into a bit of stained white fabric as the only indication that she ever existed. Nikki antagonizing her was only making it worse. It wasn't to the level it had been when Kage had put a blade to her throat, but it might get there the longer this went on. He strained against the imaginary muscle keeping him from materializing- Taylor was actively having to push on it to keep him from appearing. It was getting harder and harder to keep that from happening.
Nikki held up her hand, once hidden from sight by the table. In it was the sleek black rectangle of her brand new dragon-tech smartphone. Idly Taylor noted it was the same model as her own. The green light at the top of the phone blinked softly. "Yes PRT? There is a blonde haired blue eyed parahuman in costume at the mall's food-court, threatening my girlfriend and I with bodily harm."
"
You-!" Glory Girl sputtered, face stuck between a fish out of water and incandescent rage.
Nikki ended the call the moment the pissed off parahuman got the first word out. "I think you Americans say: '
The ball is in your court'?"
Taylor is trying to keep the giant from appearing and killing Glory Girl. The problem is, Nikki seems to keep escalating the situation.
[] Taylor is going to focus on keeping the giant from appearing and let things between Nikki and Glory Girl play out. No one will probably die, at least? Hopefully? Zero chance of the giant appearing.
[] Taylor is going to grab Nikki and try to leave as quickly as possible. Glory Girl will
totally let them just walk away after calling the police on her and Nikki gloating about breaking her sister's nose… Low chance of giant appearing.
[] Taylor is going to intervene and attempt to actually de-escalate the situation. Which she should be able to. It was really just an accident, right? Higher chance of giant appearing.
[] Fuck it, let the giant appear Haha, no.
Author's Note: Uh. So. Almost a full two weeks since last update. I tried, but writing can take a while some times, sorry!
Nikki is certainly… something. Yes. The giant describing things is fun as well.
Please vote and discuss! Like, actually vote, so I don't get stuck with a tie again.