Okay, I'll admit it: the banana thing was kinda stupid. I didn't exactly have a lot of time to think things through, or even come up with more than one idea, so I did what made sense at the time. And, unlike a lot of spur-of-the-moment crazy "plans", it worked. Amy Dallon was successfully discombobulated long enough for me to grab her hand and apply it to her sister's arm and run (or, rather, awkwardly shuffle) away.
I honestly can't think of anything I could have done better for that purpose, not with the tools I had at hand. In my opinion, it was a good thing that the banana was one of said tools, even if how I ended up using it had very little resemblance to how I had planned to use it. You never know when you might need a banana, and you never know why you might need a banana. Or at least I apparently don't.
Seriously, I did not see that one coming. There comes a time when you're doing something absolutely impulsive and poorly thought out and you have to wonder why on earth are you doing this, but it did work. I cannot stress that enough.
Most of what I could have done would have seemed a lot more aggressive, but that was unusual and unprecedented enough to get Amy Dallon to just go along with whatever I did for a few precious moments. That let me get her powers reading Victoria, thus getting her occupied with her more immediate issue. And, from a more me-centred perspective, giving me time to think, plan, observe and grab my clipboard (and attachments) so I could actually communicate in a more versatile way than body language, a banana, and tugging enabled.
And laugh at the supremely disgruntled look on Mei's face as she reluctantly forced down Shepherd's Pie. She didn't even find it that icky, that wasn't disgust on her face. Just sheer petty, childish refusal to admit she was wrong. Judging by the smug look on Sophia's face, the older girl knew exactly what was going on, and was oh-so-generously refraining from rubbing it in.
Though I also noticed that Sophia wasn't eating any herself. Good for her. Hypocrisy is an important parenting skill. And a just dealing with children in general skill.
Also, I may have hugged Sergeant Fluffles as hard as possible to psych myself up. And I may have left the good Sergeant on Sophia's head. But other than those two things and the laughing it was thinking, planning, observing and grabbing the necessary equipment for the next stage of my plan.
Unlike the banana thing, I did actually have a plan. Not a terribly detailed or extensive plan, but a plan nonetheless.
First, I'd wait for the healing to be done. I'd say for Amy to finish the banana as well, but I hadn't actually thought of that before she'd automatically swallowed everything in her mouth and let the rest drop. Which took like five seconds, max, so that was understandable.
Secondly, I'd secure our conversation as best I could. If she really did have a crush on Victoria Dallon, she'd want it kept quiet. I definitely wouldn't want it spread around if it were me. Even if I'd misunderstood, letting that misunderstanding out into the wild wouldn't exactly be a good thing.
Thirdly, I'd be clear that she didn't have to tell me anything, and I wouldn't share her secrets either way. A little unacted upon (and I could tell it was unacted upon by the sheer blush level a little accidental fall induced) inappropriate crushing never hurt anybody except the one having it, and it was hardly her fault.
It'd be best if she talked it through with her sister, assuming the latter had the maturity to handle it, but I couldn't be sure that she hadn't, or that Victoria Dallon did have that maturity. Her chosen name certainly didn't indicate such, though it'd been long enough since she'd chosen it for her to grow up a bit. And that wasn't always a good indicator anyway. Still, it was a bit of a red flag in that regard, and I'd certainly understand if Amy didn't think Victoria could handle something like this well.
Honestly, I don't think I could really blame Victoria if she couldn't either, but I could at least try to handle it well myself.
And, fourthly and finally, I'd be as kind and understanding as I could be. It was a sound policy in general, really, and this was probably hard enough for Amy already. I won't say I understood, not properly, but I understood enough to know something like was never going to be easy.
And there you go. My little devious machination(s). It wasn't terribly complicated, but it was pretty sound, and simplicity has its own advantages. KISS persists for a reason, and I don't mean full-face makeup and guitars. Or actual kisses. There would be absolutely no actual kisses, for any number of very good reasons.
Waiting wasn't exactly very interesting, but I had a decent amount of patience, when I really needed it, and I'd waited longer for lesser reasons more times than I can be bothered to count. Even for my narrowest definition of "I". If it's one of the other ones, I can't even estimate how many times I've needed to do that, so it wasn't that much of a hardship.
That step of my little scheme was just as planned.
The next, unspoken, step did not.
I didn't know what happened to Victoria Dallon, but healing her went a lot faster than Panacea normally took. I don't know what it was.
Maybe the emotional connection let Amy push her powers further, a real and known phenomenon, one most but not all capes experienced, even for powers that weren't as innately emotion driven as mine. Maybe she knew her sister's body better than she did the random strangers she usually operated on.
Maybe what happened was one of those small but impactful things that are usually the hardest to handle, but which both my power and hers could do more quickly. Maybe it was even the fact that Glory Girl was under my healing as well as her sister's.
Whatever it was, Amy Dallon was done pretty quickly. Then I tried as best I could to get her attention without startling her.
And failed.
She was in some sort of fugue state, there but not really there, you know? Caught up in her own little world. It wasn't entirely unfamiliar, but it felt kinda weird to be on the outside of it for once. In hindsight I should probably have taken lessons from how the people around me handled it, but hindsight is 20/10. But I tried what I knew. I stood right in her line of sight, pointing at my clipboard to indicate we had something to talk write about.
Which communicated absolutely nothing, since she had no way of knowing I was using the clipboard to communicate, but that's also hindsight, and hindsight 20/5. And maybe I waited just a little too long to take further action, but that is hindsight yet again, and hindsight is 20/1. I realised the problem, and moved on to other approaches, and that's what's important.
I tried walking a little closer. I tried waving. Neither met with much success. Or any success at all. So I did something reckless and impulsive, again, and did my seeing-eye dog bit. Again. Gently, guiding rather than pulling, but it was still pretty stupid. Startling people in that state is mean, and with capes it's dangerous. But she just followed along, still lost in her head.
I suppose she did have a lot to think about. And I really don't have room to be criticising her for it. Still, it was just a bit inconvenient.
I could cope with inconvenient.
I could cope with a lot of things.
This was okay. I could deal. And I could help Amy as best I could with the frightening fact of my discovery of one of her secrets.
She had more than one, of course. Everybody did. Especially people attracted to the same sex in a city with a massive Nazi presence, especially teenagers, and especially capes. And especially especially teenage capes who were attracted to the same sex in a city with a massive Nazi presence. And probably especially people who had to live with Brandish.
No, I'm not over that meeting. And there's some other stuff, but I'll get to that when I get to that.
It's okay, I ended up writing. Not terribly specific, but gentle and reassuring in a way she probably needed. And that I probably needed, but there was only so much I could do to reassure myself. It took a while before there was any response, and when one came it was confusion.
The thing was, even if she now knew I was communicating via clipboard, she still had no way of knowing why. Hindsight is 20/0.1. Careless Brutes and too-hot beverages and burning children and desperate efforts to put them out weren't especially germane to the discussion at that particular moment, so I didn't bring them up. I could avoid some mistakes.
Can't talk right now
Simple, and to the point. It was good enough.
Though it didn't exactly explain why she shouldn't talk. Just because I instantly knew that some things shouldn't be spoken aloud in a crowded room didn't mean she did. So I expanded further on the subject of not talking: You shouldn't either, if you want to discuss anything that you don't want getting out
Acquiescence, followed by a slightly different look of confusion. It wouldn't hurt to explain. Lots of bored ears with nothing better to listen to, and capes always draw attention
A third look of confusion, again following agreement. Wondering how I knew what she was questioning. Truth is, it was just that I was aware my behaviour was unusual, and people usually questioned that. In their heads, if not to my face. Perfectly natural. It was the obvious question for the situation.
It was the obvious question for the situation
Amy Dallon made no move to write back. It took me longer than it should have to realise she didn't have anything to write back with. That wasn't the real issue, but it was still something I should have done before. Then again, hindsight is 20/0.001 There was another pen still attached to the board, but she probably didn't want to be rude and grab it. And asking for it would have been fine, but I had just advised her to not say anything out loud.
She did take the pen, when I offered. And she still made no move to write back, and that's when I realised she just didn't want to talk about it.
Which, honestly, was perfectly fair. I suppose I wouldn't either, in her situation. There was really only one thing that needed to be said for this conversation, anyway.
It's okay. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I'll keep quiet about the matter either way
Well, two things. "It's okay" was pretty important too.
I really hadn't expected that to be the thing that started the conversation in earnest.
