[] Laura on a run on the beach
-[] If Missy's that bad, maybe Laura has picked up on it too? If she has guessed, she may be able to provide additional advice. Ask her if she ever hangs out with other capes outside of work like Kayleigh suggested to you
Suntan 13.5
Saturday, July 30
You yawn and open your eyes to stare out the window at the rising sun. For all that you and Kayleigh played around in the arcade until one in the morning, you find yourself not to be tired in the least. It is probably all the late nights you have pulled as a cape coming back to haunt you in the oddest of ways.
Turning over, you find Missy's bed still empty. The covers look a little bit rumpled, but that does not mean that the younger girl came back and slept. She might have simply put her suitcase on the bed to get new clothes out. Without asking her, there is no way to know.
Samantha is also missing, but she is someone you can track down easily. «
Sam, where'd you go?»
«
I'm at the breakfast buffet with Missy,» she replies, handily answering two questions at the same time. «
And, um, we need to talk to Tim about how much demand her generator is putting on her appetite. I know teenagers are bottomless pits, but this is on another level. I don't know where she could be putting it all!»
Your laugh is interrupted by another yawn. A shower sounds wonderful right now, but you are half worried that if you crawl in you will wind up falling asleep again. Instead you have Perfect Storm recreate the swimsuit Barrier Jacket and throw some clothes over it. After your conversation with Kayleigh last night, it only seems right that you have a chat with the one girl on this trip you have not spent much time with. "Can you track Laura down for me?"
"Phone located. Not in buildings. Present on coastline. Mistress wishes to teleport?"
Laura was on the beach already? That is a bit of a shock to you. Considering the older girl's personality, you did not expect her to spend every available minute in the sand and sun. Not that there is all that much sun to be had at the moment. You consider teleporting directly to her, but two potential issues stay your hand. First, a villain might not take much comfort from the idea that a hero can teleport to her location whenever you wish. In fact, that would terrify her; you certainly felt that way when Planeswalker left the statue in your bedroom. Second, just because it is early does not mean she is the only beachgoer present. It would really suck for you to reveal your identity to all and sundry because you were too lazy to walk. You were lucky last night that no one but Kayleigh was in the arcade, but you cannot depend on luck. If you do, it will fail when you need it most. "Just lead me to the coordinates by foot."
You put your hands on the doorknob and frown at a strange noise coming from the living room. Almost a grunt, but each grunt is immediately followed by a clacking sound. You quietly open the door and hold back a laugh at the sight in front of you. "Having trouble?" you ask as innocently as you know how.
"Aah!" Your unexpected question startles Cassiel, and she falls backwards onto the keyboard of the laptop. She flies to set herself upright again and hides her hands behind her back. "Taylor. Good morning."
"Good morning to you too. Again, after you having trouble with something?"
"No, no. No trouble at all." You cross your arms and stare her down, and it only takes a few seconds for the most terrifying of the Endbringers to crack under the pressure. "Promise you will not tell Dragon?"
Something about the way she asks that strikes you as odd, and the reason why is obvious. It likely isn't something terrible because she would not admit to anything that would risk trapping her in the box again. She knows as well as you do that you are the middle vote between Tim, who even now still does not trust her, and Dragon, who wants to give her every opportunity for rehabilitation. So why would she reveal a misdeed to you and want you to keep it from Dragon?
You tilt your head at her and decide to extend her a little trust. "If it's not too bad, I won't tell her."
Cassiel nods and goes back to jumping on the keyboard. "Dragon placed a restriction called a 'parental control' on her internet connection. I thought I could use postcognition to discover the password, but either she placed it long enough ago that it is out of my range or she activated it remotely. I am reduced to guessing."
"And you're jumping on the keys instead of using telekinesis because?"
Her wings droop. "I became bored?"
You shake your head at that. "Why do you even want to get through the parental controls in the first place?"
"There is a cartoon that came on late last night that she refused to let me watch. I am curious as to the reason why."
A late night cartoon? It likely is just a rerun of something old, so what is Dragon's problem with it? "Do you remember the name of the cartoon?"
"It was called South Park."
This time you do laugh. Of course
that would be the cartoon Dragon wants to protect her mind from. An evil thought crosses your mind. «
Go ahead and unlock the parental controls for her. Turn them back on in an hour.»
The screen changes, and Cassiel squeals in delight. "I turned it off for an hour," you tell her. "If you get caught, I will deny any involvement."
"You need not worry! Thank you!"
"I wonder if that counts as a good deed for the day or a bad one?" you wonder after you close the door of the condo behind you. Your Device has no answer to that, and you push the question to the side. "Take me to Laura."
The beach is by no means full when you arrive, but it definitely is not barren the way you would want it for teleportation purposes. Following Perfect Storm's directions, it does not take you long to track the villain down, though you do have to jog to catch up to her. She turns her head to see who is following her and gives you a nod.
"Do you go running every day?" you ask as you fall into step alongside her. You are not the biggest fan of running, thanks in large measure to the fact that between your Template giving you an instant tummy tuck and the ability to fly if you ever tire yourself out, you have never had a reason to do so.
"Most days." You expect that will be all you get out of Laura, so you are surprised when she continues, "It's a good way to wake myself up in the morning. Getting my body going gets my brain going. Plus, when you have a job like ours and don't have your unfair advantages, the endurance is a nice benefit."
"I can see that." The two of you jog in silence for several minutes, your long legs meaning you do not have to exert yourself nearly as much to keep up with her as she does. You catch her throwing a glance at your legs – probably just a glare because of how easily you are running, you tell yourself – and distract her by saying, "I talked a bit with Kayleigh last night—"
"Oh, no."
"It was nothing terrible," you tell her with a shake of your head. "We were talking about 'work' life and how easy it is to lose ourselves in our jobs. Outside of Kayleigh and Missy, it isn't like I have any normal friends. I know you have it easier on that score…"
You trail off when you see her shaking her head. "No, I really don't. Kayleigh is my main friend. I know some people through her, and I have acquaintances at school and stuff, but no close friends. I just don't have the time."
"Is that also the source of your dating trouble? You told me during the birthday party that you were between boyfriends," you remind her. "Is it because you don't have any free time to spend with them?"
Your words catch up to you, and you mull over that discrepancy. Her actions, both during the party where the Beasts attacked and here in Florida, paint her as having an attraction to girls. People do not typically grind up against members of the sex they are not attracted to, after all. At the same time, she told you she was between
boyfriends. Was she just using a more expected phrase when she was revealing personal details to you? That is certainly a possibility, but it came too easily from her for her to be lying specifically to you. More likely that is what she tells everyone who asks, and you are worried you know the reason why. Brockton Bay and the Empire made you familiar with the concept of gangs that will attack and hurt other people for their sexual orientation. Even their own members are not immune, and probably are under more scrutiny and bigger risks. If Winter Hill is homophobic like the Empire was, no one would want to admit to any 'unnatural' attraction.
An old Latin phrase your mom used sometimes with your dad comes to mind.
In vino veritas. Between your eyes and her words, you know which one you trust, and your sympathy goes out to her for how much of her life she must have to hide away just to keep herself safe.
"It definitely doesn't help," Laura says, pulling you from your thoughts.
So she has the same issues with dealing with non-capes that you and Missy do. That is both good and bad to know. If anyone had heard Kayleigh's advice before, you would think Laura would be the one. "So I guess you hang out with other people from your job then."
She scoffs at that. "Yeah, no. That's not going to happen. I trust them to have my back, don't get me wrong, but we aren't the same age, and I wouldn't say that most of us have the same interests. As for finding friends in our competitors? Fairyland is full of primpy precious princesses. The Warlocks, back when they were a thing? Fuck no. The Maras? Ha." She shakes her head. "I don't have time for civilians, and there's no way I'd want to hang out with anyone I work with or around."
"You could always give me a call if you want." Laura whips her head around to stare at you, and you give her a grin that is just the slightest bit self-assured. "I'm independent, remember? I don't have anyone breathing down my neck about who I hang out with or when. I'm not going to help you with your group's big, you know,
activities"—she nods in understanding, thankfully receiving the implied message that you are not considering a switch to villainy—"but if you're going out to check on your customers and want some company, just shoot me a text or something."
"…Seriously."
You ignore the flat tone of her voice and give her another smile. "Seriously. It's no problem."
"And what if…" She smiles and continues in a voice filled with mirth, "
Chevy makes an issue about it?"
You slow to a stop, and she stops next to you. A quick look around confirms that there is no one close enough to hear what you are about to say next, which is a good thing. This is too important to couch in implications and subterfuge. "I don't give a shit about his opinion about me. It's already low enough, and I don't respect a lot of his decisions either." Like spilling the beans of your age to the entire Protectorate and how he's been handling Missy. You shrug one shoulder. "Besides, I've met on more than one occasion with Legend and Alexandria. I routinely spend time with Dragon. As far as I'm concerned, Chevalier can fuck off."
That startles a snort out of Laura, and it continues and morphs into laughter. You join in after a moment, and when the other girl catches her breath she wipes tears from her eyes. "Now
that is an opinion I can agree with—"
The sand beneath your feet trembles for a split second, and the sea explodes as ribbons of purple light cross over each other and form a solid wall of undulating purple and pink. The ribbons crest over your head towards so many more that are coming from all around the resort, and when they meet in the air right above the buildings they form a complete dome. It is impossible to look out, and you suspect it is just as hard to look in.
Screams come from down the beach.
"We need to get those people to safety," you tell the other cape, already turning around to sprint back the way you came.
"They can get to safety on their own," Laura tells you, and you wheel back to stare at her. "If you want to help them out, be my guest.
I'm heading to the entrance and the bridge where we came onto the island. It's obvious this is somebody attacking the resort, and I want to know who. It might even be the best time to hit back, when they're in the open and before they can hide somewhere within all the buildings."
"If you want a look that badly, I can fly us to the roof and get a better vantage point."
Laura waves her hands in front of you. "Nuh-uh. I've flown with you once. That's enough. I don't like dangling weightless from someone's hands when they can just decide to drop me. My feet are staying solidly on the ground, thank you." She points to one end of the island. "The entrance is that way. You can join me or do something else, but we need to move on whatever we're doing."
Mana overload at 20%.
30 cartridges left.
Hinting at Missy/Vista's identity just wasn't going to work without spilling too much information. Since this was a question you wanted to ask in-character, I will go ahead and tell you that Laura doesn't know or suspect a thing about her. At least not for now.
You didn't think this arc was going to be all social and hanging out with your girls, did you? 
Nah, this is a lot more fun.
What to do, what to do?
[ ] Shepherd the civilians to safety. Getting them to leave the beach won't be hard, but keeping them from panicking will be more difficult.
[ ] Go with Laura to check the entrance. If this is an attack by a villain, that is likely where they are coming from.
[ ] Take to the air and see what's going on. Most capes can't fly, so this will give you the best vantage point. Just don't get caught transforming!
)
