Chapter 2
- Location
- Texas
Chapter 2
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[] Plan: Achievable, Realistic Goals/-|-\
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-[] [Feelings] She was your first crush, before you really understood your feelings, and you still feel pretty awkward about the whole thing.
-[] [Salvage] Promise to introduce her to your family. Probably/preferably after you tell Vicky first, because she'll be shocked if she's the last to know.
-[]"Also, before any of this happens, you might want to think about whether or not you'd like to keep your powers/identity secret."
-[] [Date] "To the boardwalk."
"Er…" Taylor hesitated, "...telling Vicky about…us."
Your mind blanks for a moment. "I…could…" You agree, if only to stall for time.
And really, you should have, you know that. But you haven't because:
She was your first crush, before you really understood your feelings, and you still feel pretty awkward about the whole thing.
You're over it these days. Now that you have Taylor and you've actually been doing some introspection. Doesn't change the fact that your subconscious seems to love torturing you with how much of a cringy freak you were when you were pining after the only actually good thing in your life, but at least you know you're doing better these days.
"I-I mean, if you don't want to, t-that's fine too." Taylor tries to drop the subject.
You don't need your power to tell you that's a lie. Sighing again, you realize you're really going to need to address this if you want this relationship to continue. Taylor may not be very assertive with you, but that doesn't make it right to let her stew in her laundry list of anxieties.
Like I don't have my own. You almost snort.
You see Taylor start to pick up her book, about to dive out of the conversation. Your mouth opens, words leaping out of your throat before you have time to think.
"I promise I'll tell my family about you," you say suddenly. Taylor looks up, emerald eyes sharp, but you force yourself to meet her piercing gaze. "I-
You swallow thickly, the words coming harder, but they need to be said. "I'll probably tell Vicky first, she'd kill me if she was the last to find out, but…I swear, I'll tell them."
Taylor holds your eyes for a moment, and for a moment you think you see a flicker of something like gratitude or relief, but far deeper. She nods, mutters a thank you, and moves to go back to her book.
Unfortunately, you're not done.
"But," You cringe knowing full well that this uncomfortable conversation isn't over. Taylor twitches, her whole frame tensing from the lone word.
"If I'm going to be introducing you to my family, to Vicky," You drag the words out like you're pulling out splinters. "Then…before any of this happens, you might want to think about whether or not you'd like to keep your powers secret."
"...Oh…" Taylor says, breathless.
"I haven't heard anything about a bug cape running around, though, so I'm guessing you aren't active on the streets?" You start, but then you have a thought. "Or…well…with your powers, I guess it'd be pretty easy to stay under the radar."
"...yeah." Taylor agrees.
You frown, "do you even have a cape identity yet? Like…a costume, or a name?"
Taylor doesn't meet your eyes. "...kinda."
If you were an idiot, you might have taken that at face value, but you can see all the little tells. The bugs writhing at the edge of the garden. The way her eyes stare blankly at the pages, not even bothering to read, the minute twitches of her fingers, the utterly expressionless look on her face. Your words have obviously taken their toll, and now Taylor's all wound up.
You're not sure what you can do to help, but you want to try.
"Do you know what you want to try and do?" You start. "You know, Wards, Independent, Rouge…I'd invite you to New Wave, but we're kind of a train-wreck of family drama to be honest." You force a grin at your joke, mostly hoping that if you fake it hard enough things'll be less awkward.
You feel a tiny thrill of victory when Taylor's lip twitches up for a moment. "You don't say…"
You snort, knowing full well that half the time you chill out with your girlfriend here you're venting to her about how much of a stupid pain the oh so "perfect hero-family" New Wave is behind the scenes.
"...I'll think about it." Taylor says eventually. "It's…complicated, but…I do want to be a hero. I just…"
"You don't feel like you're ready for the spotlight?" You guess.
She nods, and you can feel her relief from the way the tension eases out of the garden around you.
"I get that," You sigh wistfully, fondly remembering the days before you were Panacea
Oh, wait, no that sucked shit too. You remember, a macabre kind of grin flashing across your face at some sort of inexplicable cosmic joke.
"Well," you force yourself back to the here and now, where Taylor could really use your help. "I can give you a bit of shitty advice, if you want it."
She glances up at you, a look in her eye equal parts nervous and determined. "...I…sure."
Alright…so what kind of advice do you give her?
[ ] [Advice] Vicky may be a bit much…but you can trust her.
- Encourage Taylor to reveal her powers to Vicky
- Tell Taylor that while Vicky may be great, she isn't good at keeping a secret.
- You believe that being a Hero is hard, but ultimately a worthwhile endeavor.
- You are entirely jaded to the idea of being a "Hero" and find it unproductive at best.
- Try to encourage Taylor to join the Wards for her safety.
- Encourage Taylor to join the New Wave with you.
- Recommend Taylor take a page out of Parian's book and use her powers for an actual job.
A minute later, Taylor turns back to her book and you let out a quiet breath.
Well…that's one crisis averted. You think, but you can't even begin to relax before your mind turns to Vicky. And it just took invoking a whole new one.
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It's the end of the school day and you're making your way towards the bus stop with Taylor when you remember just a little too late a hitch in your plan to take Taylor out on a date.
Your very dear, and very loud, sister.
"Ames!" A familiar voice from above calls.
Victoria hurtles to a standstill right in front of you, hovering an inch or two off the ground to stop from putting a crater in the pavement. Her aura is blaring, her voice is boisterous, and you can suddenly feel the eyes of every teenager in the school on both of you.
"God dammit Vicky." You curse in a sigh.
Your sister brushes it off with ease, though Taylor looks like an incredibly uncomfortable third wheel right now.
"I was looking all over for you!" Vicky exclaims, waving at the parking lot around them, "Did you forget about our plans with Dean? He's gonna be driving us over to Bob's so you can meet Tim!"
Plans? You wonder for a moment. Then you realize she'd probably brought it up while you were tuning her out. …I should probably stop pretending to agree with her when I'm not paying attention, shouldn't I?
"Ah…" you grimace, idly scratching your face with a finger as you glance back at Taylor. "...right…Tom…"
Taylor's form is filled with that same cold tension as she pointedly looks away from you. A pit forms in your gut as you realize that this is your chance to put your money where your mouth is and Taylor knows it.
She probably wouldn't blame you if you couldn't fess up now, not with the whole school watching. Taylor probably wouldn't even say anything about it.
But she'd remember.
On the other hand…if you admit it here and now, you might have to kiss any chance of discretion goodbye.
So what do you do?
[ ] [Confession] "I can't, I've got plans with a friend"
- Deflect with half-truths
- Tell the truth, but be vague
- Introduce Vicky to Taylor like you'd promised.
- Deflect and delay until you've got a better chance.
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Finally, the two of you make it to the boardwalk to start your very first date.
Almost immediately you regret your decision.
…I have no idea what I'm doing. You're forced to admit. And I'm starting to remember why I hate coming here.
The boardwalk is full of stores, restaurants, street vendors, and worst of all people. A massive throng of tourists, shoppers, and beachgoers churning across the shorebound promenade. All looking to lighten their wallets on greasy food, overpriced trinkets, rigged games, whatever latest fashion the vendors peddle, or enjoying the sights and sun of the bay area, all in the name of a "good time".
Frankly, you don't get it, and given the way Taylor is trying to vanish into her hoodie, she probably feels the same.
Still, you think, Vicky takes Dean here all the time, so there has to be something to it, right?
"...So…what was the plan here?" Taylor asks.
You're not sure if she's mocking you or not.
"Right…plan." You mutter, trying to ignore your burgeoning headache. You don't know if it's from stress, the roar of a thousand idle conversations, or something else, but it's not helping your mood.
"Well," licking your lips, you grasp hold of Taylor's hand for some sliver of comfort. "Here's what I had in mind"
Select up to 4 POINTS worth of activities.
[ ] [Boardwalk] Food
-[ ] Expensive => 3
- Spare no expense to make this a date to remember.
- Shell out a good price for a good time.
- It's the thought that counts, right?
-[ ] Expensive => 3
-[ ] Balanced => 2
-[ ] Cheap => 1
[ ] [Boardwalk] Clothes
-[ ] Expensive => 3
-[ ] Balanced => 2
-[ ] Cheap => 1
[ ] [Boardwalk] Sights
-[ ] Expensive => 3
-[ ] Balanced => 2
-[ ] Cheap => 1
[ ] [Boardwalk] Games
-[ ] Expensive => 3
-[ ] Balanced => 2
-[ ] Cheap => 1
[ ] [Boardwalk] Write in...
-[ ] Expensive => 3
-[ ] Balanced => 2
-[ ] Cheap => 1
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12 Hour Moratorium
Vote for [Boardwalk] By Plan
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A/n: Alright, time to get your date started. Which means, I guess, that we're diving into the meat and potatoes of the quest, so to speak. \/-\_|_/-\/
12 Hour Moratorium
Vote for [Boardwalk] By Plan
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Sort of, at least.
In any case, to expand on the votes:
Advice is voting for what kind of advice about cape stuff you're giving to Taylor. Whatever you tell her will reflect on you(Amy's) own views on the world. This isn't a guarantee about what Taylor will or will not do, but it will be something of major consideration for her.
Confession is, basically, about putting your money where your mouth is at the risk of losing any kind of discretion when dating Taylor. Basically, you can introduce Vicky to Taylor now, but the whole school is probably going to know who you're dating by the end of the week.
Boardwalk is determining what you actually intend to do on your date. For the boardwalk date stuff I'm using my own experiences on the Ocean City NJ boardwalk to fill in what you can get/do. Expensive things aren't guaranteed to be the best options, but they will be "fancier", while the cheaper options will be dirt cheap. All the selections you pick have to total up to a maximum of 4 points worth of activities, which is why this specific vote has to be by plan since they all have to balance out. That can be a 3pt Expensive Food with a 1pt Cheap Trinkets to have dinner with Taylor at a fancy(ish) quiet Italian restaurant overlooking the bay and then getting her some neat little seashell necklaces to remember the date by.
I'm also giving you the option to do a write in activity there, if only because I can't write down everything you can do here, but note that I will be carefully moderating said write ins to be balanced and reasonable.
Not all options, even the expensive ones, are guaranteed to go well. Basically, you got to figure out how to spend your points(money/time) to give Taylor the best time you can. Or make me write the most entertaining chapter you can think of.
Whichever works.
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