Chapter 33 (Patreon)

“So you’re telling me that your powers completely rehauled the entire basis of your biological composition. Full stop, no bullshit, ‘let’s make Avalon the epitome of human excellence and vitality’?” 

The patronizing sardonicism in Amy’s voice was tempered by the sheer amount of disbelief and amazement still causing her voice to shake against her will. That - her genuine awe and almost unsettling intrigue - were the only things stopping me from responding with my own scathing sarcasm.

Instead, I nodded for the third time in the past five minutes, leveling the frizzy-haired girl with a lidded, tired glance. “Yep. I’m as healthy as an ox, doc.”

She took my affirmation as permission to scan me again, scooting forward on the now dirtied knees of her plain white robe and gingerly touching my hand. I didn’t react outside of a slight eyebrow raise; I’d already agreed to let her touch me after her initial freakout over the sudden hug, and I had to admit - the little skittering chipmunk touches were actually pretty fucking cute. It was like Amy was scared I was going to bite her fucking head off for intitiating skinship or something.

“O-oh, Jesus Christ…” 

And then there was that.

For her sake, I hadn’t commented on the very obvious excitement her body showed when ‘scanning’ me. It wasn’t anything too outrageous, and it was unlikely that Amy herself even fully realized that it was happening - matter fact, I knew she wasn’t consciously aware of the way that her body became warm to the touch, or the way that her eyelids fluttered and her small, pouty lips parted in awe and intrigue, tongue flickering out to in a nervous habit to moisten her rapidly drying mouth.

She was down fucking bad, in a different way than most chicks got around me. This was something that went beyond skin-deep.

“Right. The thing that’s confusing me is that you’re not just healthy, Avalon - your entire cellular structure is constantly shifting, like it’s trying to adapt to and overcome something that isn’t there. Your bone structure is normal, muscle tissues and connective fibers strong but nothing egregious… but everything’s too optimized. Too perfect. It’s creepy.” Amy’s eyelids fluttered again, and her index finger and thumb squeezed the flesh on my hand, as if checking the suppleness.

Though curious, an amused grin found its way onto my face. “Callin’ me creepy don’t really hit the same when you’re all flushed and sweaty. At least sneer at me a lil’ bit.”

That yanked her out of her head.

“Hey, fuck off. I’m being serious here.” She tried to sneer, but it was a couple seconds too late - and although she tried to push down the heat radiating from her cheeks, her skin was just too pale and sensitive to hide it. The result was her furrowing her brow and looking constipated with a splotchy red face, and the sight ripped a snort out of me that was almost painful.

Her glare turned sour with scorn.

“Chill, I’m taking you seriously. You’re just super fuckin’ cute… kinda makes me bullshit a bit more than usual.” I placated the grumpy healer, patting the top of her hand with my other one.  She glanced down, sneer fading away into her usual neutral frown, and nervousness rippled across her features at the touch of my fingers. She didn’t pull away, though, and I didn’t necessarily feel the need to do so either. I didn’t mind the close proximity.

Though the roof was still damp with rain and the scent of petrichor mingled with the usual salty Bay air, I could smell her perfume - or was it deodorant? Something cinnamon-y with a hint of spice, a far cry from Cassie’s girly, blueberry sweet scent. It was different, but pleasant. 

Silence descended, and frustration crossed her downward gaze. Her cheeks were still flushed, but Amy licked her lips again, her voice dipping lower.

“You’ve got to stop saying stuff like that, Jason.”

I blinked. “What? I can hold off on the bullshitting if ya want, but-”

Amy shook her head, looking back up at me. “No, genius, I’m talking about the flirting. And the compliments. And just- … being you. I’m just… me, but you-...” She paused, a small, almost hesitant smile forming on her lips before she straightened it back out into a forced frown. “You weren’t lying just now, about finding me cute. I can tell because your heartbeat didn’t shift, there was no increase of cortisol or adrenaline…” 

There was a brittleness to her voice, a warning tone mixing with insecurity.

My mouth made an ‘O’ shape, and I paused to actually think before speaking this time. It had completely slipped my mind that she was her very own lie detector while scanning biology. 

Even then, though - what did I have to lie about? I doubted she’d abuse my trust in her by asking me super personal questions, and if she did I’d just tell her to fuck off. Honestly, Amy was in need of a bit of one on one truth bombs, if only to calm down the smorgasbord of stress-related mental problems weighing heavily on her psyche. 

I hadn’t forgotten how getting a mind blast of her inner turmoil nearly gave me a fucking panic attack. The chick was going through it. 

So, instead of drawing back or repudiating her claim, I leaned into it. Shamelessly. The consequences could be handled afterwards, if they ever popped up.

“You’re definitely my type,” I nodded sagely, putting on a thoughtful frown and gazing up at the dark sky.

Amy’s eyes widened, and I felt her small hands clench mine in a vice grip. Her nails dug into my skin, but I barely even registered the slight pinch. “... What? How?! I’m-” 

“Fuckin’ mint - yeah, I know. Messy brown hair, cute ass freckles, got the whole ‘life fucking sucks and I’m tired of this shit’ aesthetic down pat. It’s a vibe I can get behind.”

She began to scowl at my words, eyes narrowed into slits, only to stop and gape at our conjoined hands. “... Another truth. You’re finding a way to bullshit me-”

I interrupted her, counting off of my fingers now. “Dump truck ass, badass powers, smart, witty, adorable smile-”

Amy's face resembled a ripened tomato. “Shut up, I- I get it! You, er…” she dithered, frowning petulantly as she looked anywhere but my grinning face. “You’re a blind dumbass with a shitty taste in women. So cool and hip, Jason - I’m happy to be recognized for my mediocrity.”

“You know my eyesight’s amazing; you’re inside my skin right now. Just take the fucking compliment and say ‘thank you’, woman. ” 

Her skin paled, and an exaggeratedly disgusted sneer pulled at her lips. “No, just because you used the euphemism ‘inside my skin’. That’s fucking gross.”
“I referred to my body as a meatsuit like five minutes ago. This where you draw the line?”

Amy’s sneer dropped. “Touche.”

I continued smoothly, staring hard into her eyes until she had no choice but to meet my gaze once again. “With my own body as the witness, I can promise you that I mean what I say. I know you said before that you’re just lookin’ for a friend, and I get that - I’m still tryna figure shit out on my end. But just take this as a statement from a friend to a friend - you’re pretty fuckin’ rad, Amy. You, your determination, your baleful glare that can light a man on fire with just a glance-”

She snorted, pinning me with that same glare. The wide, shaky smile on her face was just sweet enough to save me from spontaneous combustion.

“I fuck with everything I’ve seen so far, and I wanna know more about you. But, I’m also autistic as fuck. Sometimes I can get way too blunt and straightforward, and I’m self-aware of that fact. If you want, I’m cool with shuttin’ the fuck up and patro-”

“No!”

The pure vehemence and passion in that one word surprised the both of us.

I leaned back instinctively, arching an eyebrow, but Amy’s grip on my hand didn’t slacken. She swallowed thickly, the flush on her cheeks combined with the near-panic on her face making her look like she’d just ate something way too spicy. Emotions were flashing through her eyes, much too fast for me to individually pick out with Hidden Intuition running in power saving mode, but I felt the warmth of her skin - could almost hear the thumping of her heart.

Amy is torn. Amy is hopeful. Amy is stressed. Amy is scared. Amy is mad at herself-

“Don’t shut the fuck up,” she frowned, shaking her head roughly. “Just- don’t. I’m sorry.”

I frowned, brushing an errant dreadlock out of my vision. “You don’t gotta-”

“No, Jason, I do.” Amy shook her head again, a smile overtaking the frown on her lips. It was a bitter one. “I was being an insufferable bitch just now, and you don’t deserve that. I kind of… got used to being prickly with people, I guess, and I’m fucking exhausted. It’s a shitty excuse, but…” 

“Don’t sweat it, Amy. Seriously. I understand.” I shrugged, because I actually did. I was fucking insufferable back in highschool, angry and mad at the world for reasons that did not warrant such a reaction, and I only mellowed out more in college. That was without having a taboo, soul-crushing love and attraction to my older sister and a self-assigned moral obligation to be a heal slave for the rest of my life. 

She exhaled softly, eyes closing for a brief moment, and I knew that she was still reading my body. “... You really do understand. Good - thank you. Fuck, I feel like I’m messing things up…”

“Our first night meeting, I took you on a magical serpent ride around the city while listening to A Whole New World. Kinda par for the course that our second meeting would go a bit less smooth,” I chuckled, tapping her once on the wrist. 

She perked up at the tap, her conflicted gaze finding mine, and I pulled both of us to our feet in one smooth, Azyr-assisted motion. My coat and her robes fluttered in the magically-charged breeze, and Amy shivered at the subtle feeling of static electricity licked at our skins.

Our hands finally separated for the first time in close to ten minutes, and a noise that sounded very much like a half-whine half-sigh escaped her.

“Wait. Shit, your freakishly perfect body distracted me.” She pointed an accusatory finger at me, and I resisted the urge to heckle her for the unconscious compliment. “Fighting the Empire 88 to the death without responding to my text messages was a dick move, Jason. Do you know how fucking worried I was when I heard that you and Sherrel were fighting a whole hit squad?!”

I scratched my right ear, wincing slightly at her raised volume. The rest of New Wave were still not back yet - understandable, considering they’d gone to the opposite side of the district to check on things - but there were still people around. “Say it with ya chest for the whole neighborhood to hear, why don’tcha?”

Amy reddened, but her voice fell to a noticeably more quiet tone. “Crap. You owe me, jerk.”

“I figured you’d be more bothered by me killing three men than me leavin’ you on read.” And kidnapping a teenage girl, but she didn’t need to know that. I still had to discuss my plans for Rune with Cassie, and I was not looking forward to that conversation.

Her face paled slightly, but she didn’t back down or fold at the mention of the nazis’ death. She looked past me, as if thinking about something, and frowned. “Like I said, I don’t condone killing. I don’t like fighting. But those bastards… they’re already bad enough because they’re neo-nazis following the ideology of Adolf fucking Hitler. Doesn’t help that they murdered Fleur a few years ago…”

Amy’s frown turned upside down, shifting into a small, mirthless smile. “I hate them, Jason. They’re evil, but I know that you’re good. I can’t - I won’t get behind just killing villains, but neo-nazis are, like, the easiest exception to make. Just sucks that we can’t just lock all of the bad guys up and throw away the key.”

“Reality is often disappointing,” I sighed, sliding my hands into the pockets of my coat. A strong breeze ripped through the air, this one unrelated to the Winds, but my Aqshy field kept me toasty and warm. “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. ‘Least I know for sure that the Empire won’t be tearing apart another family once I’m done with ‘em. I think I’ll sleep pretty fuckin’ easy at night.”

She stared at me, shivering beneath her robes and scarf. “... I want to disagree, say that death shouldn’t be so easily decided, but after what I’ve seen since getting my powers… I don’t think I can. This city fucking sucks, Jason.” She chuckled, voice thick with emotions that even she probably couldn’t decipher. “This world sucks.” 

I raised my chin at her, making the universal ‘come here’ gesture with my head, and she immediately moved closer with shuffling, stiff steps, visibly rubbing her arms beneath the sleeves of her robes. As soon as she got within a couple of feet her shivering cease completely, and a warm, rosy glow colored her skin. “That’s nice…”

“I’m not the biggest fan either,” I smiled distantly, nothing more than a slight quirk of the lips. “But it’s not like the people here asked for the world to be overrun by power-hungry psychopaths. Guess that’s why I do what I do.”

“Mm,” Amy smirked, softly poking my side with her elbow. “Giving me stress wrinkles and pissing off the local government?”

I glanced down at her, noting the subdued happiness in her honey-brown gaze, the growing trust and warmth in me that I had no choice but to acknowledge due to my supernatural insight. Seeing her smile, knowing that there were so many things going on in her life that wanted to see such a pretty sight dimmed… it roused something in me - something deep and warm in my chest. I wasn’t a kid; I recognized it for what it was. Attraction? Protectiveness?

A crush?

I wanted to talk to her more, get to know her better, hell - even introduce her to the love of my life, because I just knew that Cass would find some way to draw her right out of her shell.

Feeling that warmth in my heart was jarring. I could already see Ralph from the Simpsons snickering, saying ‘uh oh, I’m in danger’.

‘I wonder if Heroic Aptitude activates for trials of love?’

Probably not.

“Among other things,” I finally spoke up, deciding to just ride the wave and see where it took me. “You said I owed you. I could say ‘nah’, but you’ve piqued my interest… what’d you have in mind?”

Her face didn’t light up, but Amy had very expressive eyes - as dark ringed and tired as they were right now. The chocolate brown orbs became bright, and I was privy to the small smirk on her lips widening into a genuine, cheek to cheek grin before she schooled her expression. “I don’t know, Jason… do you plan to actually answer my texts?”

She tried to hide the insecurity in her voice with aloofness, but it didn’t work. I nudged her with my elbow, giving the smaller girl a lopsided smile.

 “When I’m not participating in mortal combat, sure. Actually, fuck it - I’ll text ya while fighting off nazis. I’m badass enough to pull it off.”

She sniffed, darkly amused. “How about we avoid texting while fighting? I’ve already had to heal enough dumbasses who crashed their car while thumbing their fucking phones. Actual freaking idiots.”

I tapped my forehead, my smile not lessening. “My brain’s super sexy, too. I can multi-task like a fuckin’... well, not computer - that’s Pod 084, but I’m pretty good.”

Amy’s face turned deadpan. “If you text me while in any sort of cape fight, I’ll block you. I’m serious.”

“Sure,” I waved a flippant hand, shrugging my shoulders. “Back on topic; what do you want?”

“... Yeahhh, right. Um, I had something in mind, b-but I figured I could text it to you. Later. My family is probably going to be here soon, Vicky’s already on my case about my ‘new friend’, and… yeah. Later.”

Amy is nervous. Amy is hesitant.

Idly, I scratched my jaw, where a bit of a sideburn was beginning to grow in after weeks of not shaving. “You’re yapping, Panny. Just-”

Hidden Intuition let a low, almost silent whistle fly through my skull, alerting me to potential danger.

Cutting myself off, I turned on my heel and glared up into the darkness. The rain had long since stopped, the buffeting wind from the rainstorm relaxing back down into a gentle, if occasionally forceful breeze, so the hissing sound of bodies cutting through the sky above was just barely audible to my enhanced senses. My vision was buffed by Evil Eyes, giving me a bastardized version of night vision that felt more like someone turning the gamma up in a video game, so I was able to see the three womanly figures flying towards us at what had to be close to a hundred miles per hour.

Two of them were neck and neck, pulling ahead of the third - Laserdream, Glory Girl, and Lady Photon. The teenagers looked like they were… racing?

“I’m guessing they’re here.” Amy muttered from beside me, still swaddled up in her hooded robe. “Caro- or, I mean, Brandish… she has work in a few hours, so she probably ended her patrol early.”

I frowned, watching her from the corner of my eye. Her tone had changed - not exponentially, but just enough for me to catch on to it. Less at-ease, more… cagey. Distant.

I pinched her side.

“O-OW! The fuck, Jason?!” Amy yelped, jumping away from me and glaring like I’d just shot her pet dog.

“Smile more.” I demanded, smirking. “I get it - you’re grumpy, you’re tired, fuck this city… but I like seein’ your pretty lil’ smirks. They’re like serotonin.”

“...I- you-...I-” Eyes wide, mouth wide open, and previously forlorn face rapidly approaching the color of a lobster, Amy gaped at me with naked shock on her face. “You-”

Amy is short-circuiting.

But she was starting to smile! Subconsciously or not, I took that as a certified win.

“Aye, you’re sorta doin’ it.” 

“Don’t just say stuff like that! Shit, my face is so hot…”

“True.”

“Jason!”

__________________________________________________

Meeting Lady Photon and Laser Dream was exceedingly pleasant.

It went pretty damn similar to my meeting with Glory Girl, though with Amy less grumpy-pants and the two other women significantly less fan-girly. There was an obvious, all around sense of mutual attraction that took a little bit to adjust to. You don’t really know how prevalent looks are to human beings until you’re genuinely the peak of what is attainable, physically, by your species. Lady Photon was a respectable and married woman, so her glances were entirely above board and appreciative in nature, but Laserdream…

She pretty much eye-fucked me as soon as introductions were over. 

Her and Glory Girl were sort of similar in that regard - sexy, confident, and straightforward. They knew that they were exceedingly pretty and powerful to boot, and it showed in their demeanors. While Glory Girl was seemingly more brash or outspoken about it, Laserdream maintained a veneer of delicacy and grace that her cousin didn’t bother putting up. That wasn’t to say that Glory Girl was boorish or obnoxious, however - she wasn’t. Laserdream was just more laidback and less in your face.

With Lady Photon, Glory Girl, and Laserdream all standing on the roof together, it was, of course,  ridiculously easy to see just who the odd woman out was.

Amy seemed hyper-aware of it, too. Despite my words, she had almost immediately gone back into her shell when Supergirl 1, 2, and 3 landed, trying to fade into the background of introductions and conversation.

(un)Fortunately for her, I wasn’t having any of it. The occasional annoying tickle or gentle elbow brought her ire to the forefront, pushing down the depression.

“This will be our last sweep before bed, ladies and gentlewomen,” Lady Photon began, her hands resting firmly on her shapely hips. Her dark blue eyes, multiple shades dimmer than both Glory Girl’s and Laserdream’s, found mine in the darkness of the early morning. She smiled a flawless smile, showing white teeth that seemed almost fake with their perfection. 

“And Avalon. The PRT will be focusing on the Docks almost exclusively for the next few days, but that’s no reason for us to do things half-assed. Last night was… exhausting, and I know we’re all tired, so let’s just do what we can for now and deal with the rest tomorrow. Agreed?”

Glory Girl seemed immune to the mere idea of sleepiness. She leaned back on the balls of her feet, a determined furrow to her brow as she gave Lady Photon her full attention. “Sounds good! I can have Ames home in about ten minutes, give or take. That’ll leave the team split two and two.” She sneaked a glance over at me, where I stood casually with Amy greedily absorbing the warmth from my Red Wind blanket, and I matched it with a lidded one of my own.

I was certain that her snubbing her sister wasn’t done with conscious hostility in mind, but that wasn’t gonna cut it for me. At this point, about 75 percent of the reason why I was still here was to hang out with Amy after unknowingly ignoring her for like half a week. Following orders had never been my strong suit. “Actually-”

“I’m staying.” Amy suddenly announced, her tired voice resolute and stubborn. “I’m a part of this whole clusterfuck too, guys - I had to clean Dauntless’ forehead blood off of my sleeves. Besides, I haven’t seen J- Avalon’s healing in person yet.”

At her family’s blank looks, she scowled. “He could fuck up and give someone cancer-”

“Alright lil’ lady, enough of that.” I stepped in, a wry smirk on my face as I lightly pulled her back by her hood. She yelped, spitting out some cuss word, but I was already moving forward to address the others. “I think what Panny’s tryna say is that she misses my presence and wants to be on Team Avalon for this excursion. You chill with that, Lady P?”

The ‘Lady P’ in question didn’t respond immediately, opting to simply watch me with a more neutral look on her pretty face.

Lady Photon is appraising you.

Right, because I couldn’t tell by the way that she was basically shooting claymores down my throat with her glare.

“Makes sense to me,” Laserdream shrugged, crossing her slim arms over her chest and tossing a pouting Glory Girl an amused look. “Three is better than two, right Glory Girl?”

“B-but Amy never goes on patrols! That’s, like, the one thing she actively hates!” She retorted hotly, before turning to a silently glowering Amy and jabbing a finger at her. “What gives, Amelia Dallon? Fighting crime isn’t some joke, you know - it’s serious, high octane stuff. You can get hurt.”

“First off, don’t ever call me ‘Amelia Dallon’ in front of others ever again. Don’t call me that period.” Amy shivered, a look of visible disgust curling her upper lip. “Secondly… I know what crime fighting looks like, Glory Girl. A couple hours ago, I was there watching you get slapped around by Night for fifteen minutes straight. Just, you know… hiding and waiting to kiss your boo boos better like any other time there’s a dangerous threat. I’m not new to this.”

“Yeah,” Glory Girl frowned, a spark of frustration igniting in her crystal-like gaze. “A dangerous threat, like Night and Fog, two renowned nazis who probably kidnap babies. Bringing you along for a routine patrol would do nothing but put you in harm’s way for almost no reason.”

I took a step back at the exact moment both Amy and Glory Girl took steps forward. ‘... Gonna just let them duke it out.’ I believed in Amy, and I wanted to help her become more independent from her family. This was probably just the… second or third step. 

The Grimoire, as if sharing a box of popcorn, slid a very small mote of light forth from its eternal pages, and dully, as I watched Glory Girl open her mouth to give more actually decent reasons to leave Amy at home, I allowed my soul to touch and become aware of the perk being offered.

I had to stop myself from visibly gaping at what I sensed.

Arousing Fluids (EratohoK - 100 CP): The bodies of the sex demons from the Dream Dimension are designed for pleasure, and yours shares this characteristic. Your body fluids taste inhumanly good and act as a mild aphrodisiac, arousing people and heightening their sensitivity in proportion to how much they’ve come in contact with.

For the low, low sum of only a fraction of my consolidated charge, I became Incubus-lite, turning my bodily fluids into medium-grade aphrodisiacs. True it wasn’t a power that I necessarily needed, but the sex fiend in me was salivating at the thought of what I could do with such a perk. Cassie was a little fucking whore who already got herself off from having my dick in her face, so the ability to magnify that by multiple levels through mere saliva or even cum…

Yeah, I liked that. This would be the ultimate self-gratifying purchase.

Yoink.

“Mom’s going to be pissed, Ames.”

“She won’t even fucking notice that I’m not home. Trust me. It’s happened before.”

“... That isn’t true and you know it-”

“Enough,” Lady Photon demanded, stepping between the two girls and placing her hands on both of their shoulders. Her supple lips were angled down in a disappointed frown that only a mother could have, and she eyed both Amy and Glory Girl with a stern glare. “I know that you’re both exhausted and stressed and that can affect anyone’s moods, but we do not fight on patrols. Especially not in front of potential allies. I have half a mind to send you both home.”

Abruptly, both teenagers snapped their mouths shut. In the back, still watching with her arms crossed and an amused smirk on her face, Laserdream let out a quiet snort and a murmured, “Dramaaa…”

Amy clenched her teeth, looking away with a scowl, but Glory Girl never turned her gaze away from her sister’s face. “Sorry Lady Photon, won’t happen again,” she said stiffly, finally taking a step back from where she and Amy had been almost nose to chin. Her face was schooled in an expression of indifference, but it wasn’t nearly enough to stop me from picking up on the tiny microexpressions littering her body language. 

Glory Girl is frustrated. Glory Girl is concerned. Glory Girl is jealous.

Seemed like Glory Girl and I needed to talk, but that could wait for later.

“Anything you want to say, Panacea?” Lady Photon focused solely on the silent, frizzy-haired healer, and Amy looked down at her feet through her messy fringe.

“I’msorry…”

A light twinkled in the woman’s intense gaze, and she tilted her head. “Speak up.”

Cheeks flushing with embarrassment, Amy finally looked up at her Aunt and spoke quickly, “I’m sorry, Lady Photon… but I still want to stay. I want to help.” Her voice didn’t waver despite the heightened volume, as stubborn as it was nervous, and she tossed a surreptitious glance in my direction.

Unabashed, I sent her a thumbs-up and a grin. It wasn’t much, but Amy’s stormy face subtly brightened.

“Good,” the older heroine nodded her head, her disappointed countenance cracking to show a proud smile that radiated both warmth and amusement. “Then I’ll handle interference with Brandish after the patrol’s over. Laserdream, you’re with me.”

“Figured. Can’t say I’m not disappointed,” Her daughter hovered closer, her previous laidback amusement replaced with boredom.

“Shush, I’m an awesome mom. Girls, you’re both with Avalon - comb up and around the interior of the Northern Docks and the Trainyard, starting here, Laserdream and I will go do a last minute check-up Downtown.” Lady Photon looked between all of us, her hands back on her hips, and after a moment of silent observation she nodded her head, satisfied. “This is a good-looking team. Stay safe, stay mobile, and, as always…”

“Stay strong.” Three different voices spoke in unison, one bored, one terse, and the last one mumbled with embarrassment.

I blinked, feeling a little left out. “Damn, y’all couldn’t teach me the badass pre-patrol motto beforehand?”

“Work with us more and you’ll get used to it, Avalon. Laserdream, with me.” Lady Photon winked, giving one last nod to Glory Girl and Amy before rising into the air. 

“Don’t kill each other! Or, like… do the opposite. That tension is freaking crazy,” Laserdream snickered, flying into the air after her mother. 

“... She doesn't want us to alive each other? The fuck does that mean?” I tilted my head, watching them fly away at relatively high speeds. I knew what she meant, of course, but considering the awkward stillness I could still feel in the air, I figured that cutting the tension with a lame joke would probably help everyone involved. 

Amy, nose red and conflicted eyes darting between the silent Glory Girl and the purposefully-obtuse Me, froze and let out an almost pig-like snort. Immediately, she flushed and covered her mouth with both hands. “... S-shut up. Don’t say a fucking word.”

I simply smirked. “Yeah, ‘ight.”

“If we don’t wanna be out here all night, we’ll need to move fast,” Glory Girl abruptly spoke up, eyeing the both of us with thinly-veiled amusement. Her smile faltered when she looked at the flushed Amy, before she shook her head and moved past it. “How fast can you fly, Avalon?”

I glanced down at Amy, who’d moved back to my side at some point during the conversation, and back up at the resplendent Glory Girl. It was obvious that Amy wasn’t planning on broaching the little sibling’s spat, and her sister hardly seemed excited to bring it up either. Rather immature of the both of them to not just say ‘sorry for being pushy’ and move past it, but everyone didn’t run on the same casual, insouciant logic that I often did.

If they didn’t wanna do it, I guess I’d do it for ‘em. I still wasn’t sure exactly what my plans were for Amy Dallon, but I did know that I liked her and that I wanted her to be happier. The only real way I could think of doing that was by making her more independent and cracking the Aura-reinforced romantic love she held for Victoria. Easier said than done, and I wasn’t a fucking therapist, but…

When did I ever let that stop me?

Crushing the Empire, hunting down Kaiser, retraining Rune into a decent person, cleaning up the Docks, cracking omnidimensional magic, and now… what, saving Amy Dallon from herself by seducing her so hard that she falls out of love with her fucking sister?

What a ridiculously overloaded plate to have on your lap. At least I could work on two out of three of those before hitting the sack.

“Guess we’ll see tonight, blondie. Tryna put your money where your mouth is?” I challenged Glory Girl with an easy, confident smile on my face.

Amy looked up at me, a confused furrow to her brow that practically said ‘you know you’ll lose, right?’, but I ignored her gaze in favor of focusing entirely on my ‘opponent’.

It was clear that her interest was piqued. Glory Girl walked closer to the two of us, a beautiful, curious white grin of her own forming on her full lips. “I hate it when guys call me blondie. Just for that, I’m taking all your money. How much and where to?”

“A rack’s all I got on me,” I shrugged, patting my satchel. “We’ll race up to the Trainyard, should be quite a few miles… Northeast-ish. Then we just start our patrol from there. Sounds good?”

“... A ‘rack’? One thousand dollars? On a race?” The grin had diminished, but only slightly, and Glory Girl was watching me with a much more cautious glint to her eyes. “This is pure flying ability, right? No teleporting.”

“No ‘porting,” I confirmed.

“More shitty, overly-expensive food court trash for us, Vic. Sounds simple enough,” Amy smirked at her sister, only to flinch and subtly draw back when the blonde tossed a silent glance in her direction.

Glory Girl tried to hide her wince at Amy’s reaction, failed, and doggedly pushed forward in our conversation to avoid dealing with it - a classic teenage maneuver.

They were both still teenagers, I had to remind myself. ‘Patience.’

“Okay then, let’s do it! One thousand is kinda steep, but I have a decent amount saved up. Sucks that our first day meeting’s gonna end with me robbing you, but eh…”

“I like the confidence,” I chuckled, before doing something that caused both girls to gape at me - Amy’s reaction a little more vocal than Glory Girl’s.

With absolutely no strain or hesitance, I slipped behind the short healer, slid my arms behind her knees and upper back, and smoothly picked her up in the classic bridal-style carry. She felt like she weighed absolutely nothing in my arms, and ignoring her shocked and panicked writhing was just as easy as lifting her up.”

“W-what the hell, Avalon?” Amy hissed, a mixture of embarrassment and wonder turning her voice shrill. Funnily enough, other than her initial startled reaction, she seemed to settle into my arms easily - almost comfortably. Surely the toasty Aqshy field around the both of us did nothing to influence it.

Glory Girl hesitated, but only for a second. “Are you sure you want to do this while holding Amy? It’s one grand…”

“This is lightwork,” I replied simply, beginning to slowly float upwards. “Random question: You’d consider cash an ‘object’, right?”

She eyed me like I was a weirdo, but slowly nodded her head. “If it’s in bills and coins? Sure… y’know, you won’t throw me off by asking random questions.” Her smile faded, then, and a pointed frown took over. “You better keep your head in the game, because if you drop her I swear to God…”

In my arms, Amy rolled her eyes, though she tried to hide a smile. “He won’t drop me, Vicky.”

But I was too busy searching for something in my soul. Glory Girl’s words resonated with me, causing a certain mote of light in my sea of magic to warm, if only slightly.

“So if I lose this race,” I murmured, eyeing her as she rose into the air beside me. “I lose my cash, right? It’s gone.”

“Yes, Avalon, that’s how betting works,” she rolled her eyes.

At that, a fire burned into my soul, and my body felt different. Energized. Strong.

“Sweet. Lil’ addendum - if I win, you and Amy gotta get over yourselves and apologize and figure shit out. Genuinely. Capische?”

Both Glory Girl and Amy froze at my words, their eyes darting to each other.

“That wasn’t the bet-”

“Avalon, we’re not freaking childre-”

“Three,” I began, cracking my neck to the side. My magic hummed in my veins, coating my muscles, and both Azyr and Aqshy began to lick along my skin, preparing me for the cool, buffeting winds.

“I- …fine! Get ready to eat my fucking dust.” Glory Girl aimed her fist forward, body hovering horizontally as she prepared herself to shoot forth like a bullet.

“Two…”

Amy swallowed audibly, burying her face into my chest. “Why the hell am I a part of this bet…”

“One-”

A gust of wind slammed into my body, dispersing past the shell of Aethyr that protected me from the usual environmental hazards of flight, and I caught the slightest glimpse of Glory Girl flying across Cypress Avenue at what had to be ninety miles per hour before my brain caught up and forced my body into action.

Normally, I’d say that with the Winds’ assistance and just my body’s natural physical ability, I could outpace a car driving at a reasonable fifty miles per hour, sixty if I stressed myself. Heroic Aptitude stacked alongside Superior Form, granting my body the speed and strength of a human who has surpassed their base limits. I could Soar roughly the same speed as I could run, so that put my flying speed a decent clip below Glory Girl’s maximum.

For all intents and purposes, without teleportation, I should have lost the race.

Unfortunately for her and her pocket money, Sole Protector considered my funds worth protecting as well.

I grinned at Glory Girl’s look of pure shock and confusion as I blasted past her, Amy’s head poking over my shoulder as she gasped at the city moving in a blur beneath our bodies.

Within moments, as I pushed well past the 100 mp/h mark, Glory Girl turned into nothing but a distant figure behind me.

Up there, in the dark sky, feeling the breeze flow through my hair, I once again realized just how free I was.

And it was all thanks to ol’ Grimmy.

‘God,’ I thought, as my speed began to level out at a respectable two hundred miles per hour, ‘I fucking love magic.’

_______________________________________

Perks Accepted: 

Arousing Fluids (EratohoK - 100 CP): The bodies of the sex demons from the Dream Dimension are designed for pleasure, and yours shares this characteristic. Your body fluids taste inhumanly good and act as a mild aphrodisiac, arousing people and heightening their sensitivity in proportion to how much they’ve come in contact with.

OOC: 

Another lewd perk from ol’ Grimmy! It’s almost like the being who granted him the Grimoire is curious to see more sexual escapades from our favorite young hero.

Not much action happened in this chapter. We had the big Empire fight, so I wanted a bit of socializing/fluff to calm things down before Avalon sniffs out Kaiser and dunks on him really hard. The actual patrol happens in the next chapter, so there may be a bit of action coming soon. Mayhaps Amy and Victoria realize that she is not nearly as defenseless as they believe she is?

One thing that I want to say about Avalon is that he is protective in the way that he will protect you when the chips fall, but he wants his people to grow through adversity and courage. It’s why he let Cassie come with him to the ambush, why he let Amy stand up for herself and be a bit of a stubborn dummy to stay with the team, and why he wanted to bring Amy on the patrol. He knows that he can protect them if it comes down to it, but he doesn’t think people can grow without going through those tribulations.

Some can, for sure, but being spoiled hardly works out for most people when the chips fall.

That might be Heroic Aptitude influencing his attitude a bit, but he thinks it’s a worthwhile mentality to have so he doesn’t mind it.

Also, he likes Amy. Finds her attractive, likes her mind and personality (for the most part), but he doesn’t love her or anything. He’s just self-aware enough to realize when he has a crush.