Chapter Thirty-Eight - Nom Nom de Guerre

Emily hadn’t spent all that much time in Eauclaire before. Oh, sure, it was only an hour’s drive from her hometown, and it was one of the closer cities, but they had everything they needed in town.

The only reason to come to Eauclaire was to visit some of the more niche shops, or to visit the college. There was a decent hospital too. She might have been born there, maybe. She would need to ask her mother to confirm that.

The point was, she didn’t know the city enough to be able to pinpoint all of the nicer restaurants and other places like that. So she was a little surprised when she followed the address Melanie had given her all the way to a strange building set on the corner of a street just a couple of blocks away from the shopping district.

This was on the westside of Eauclaire, where the more affluent houses were, and the nicer neighbourhoods.

Maybe that’s why the restaurant was so fancy... and yet strange.

The Railroad was a two storey building, made of red brick with some nice landscaping around its entrance. That much was perfectly ordinary. The large train engine sticking out of the front of the building wasn’t ordinary in the least though.

It was a big red steam engine, planted there and built around as if the restaurant had grown around out.

“Cool,” Teddy said.

“Is that normal?” Athena asked.

Emily shook her head. “It isn’t,” she said. “I’m kind of surprised I never heard of it.”

She started towards the front door, tugging her sisters along with her. All three of them were plainly dressed, though Athena’s outfit made her look a bit more formal, or like someone trying really hard to look like a businesswoman.

They were greeted at the door by a pimple-faced teen in a butler’s outfit. “Hello,” he said in a voice trying hard not to crack. “Do you have a reservation?”

“Um,” Emily said over the clink of cutlery. “Maybe? Under Melanie?”

“Family name?” he asked with the tone of someone trying hard to be taken seriously.

“I don’t know?” Emily said.

He looked to her, then back down. “Well, there is a Melanie,” he said.

“Ah, um, does she have long black hair and, uh, a loud voice?”

He nodded reluctantly. “Let me ask the lady. What are your names?”

“Emily,” she said.

The waiter left, leaving her and her sisters standing rather awkwardly in the lobby. All the people at the nearest tables were dressed sharply and looked important. She could only imagine what they thought of her and her sisters in such plain clothes. Maybe she could return home and change? But she didn’t have anything too nice to wear, let alone something like that to give to her sisters. They’d stand out no matter what she did.

“Right this way, Miss,” the waiter said as he returned.

They crossed a room full of little booths that partially hid the people having their meals, then walked alongside the parts of the train engine resting in the middle of the restaurant until, finally, they reached a spot with a rounded booth that had a curved bench around a table.

Melanie was there, sitting back with a pair of empty glasses before her. “Hey, you’re finally here,” she said. “The hero of the day!”

Emily nodded and eyed the rounded bench. There was plenty of room for her sisters and herself. Teddy slid in first to place herself between Emily and Melanie, then Emily and finally Athena sat down. Teddy was just tall enough to place her arms on the table.

“Um, so, hi?” Emily began.

Melanie grinned at her. “Yeah, hi,” she said. “Who’s the new munchkin?”

“I’m Tina,” Athena said as she tilted her head up and back. “I’m big sister’s sister.”

Emily looked for the right words, then settled on doing her best. “She’s like us. That is, uh, Teddy, you and I.”

“Huh,” Melanie said. “You know, at this rate you’re building up an entire team.”

They were interrupted as a new waiter paused by their table and filled their cups with icy water, then left a few menus on the table.

Emily eyed the two normal menus and the two kids menus, then pushed the latter towards her sisters. “I, I guess. I don’t plan on having a whole team or anything.”

“Hmm,” Melanie said as she leaned back with her menu in hand. “You should maybe think on it. Speaking of... did you think of what you’ll be doing?”

“You mean, from now on?” Emily asked. “Um, no, not really.”

“You should. This time of year is pretty ripe for new names to show up and market themselves. It’s the only time where the big names chill out for a bit and don’t mind others hogging the limelight before they jump back in it.”

“Um,” Emily said.

“Just think about it, yeah?” Melanie said.

Emily nodded, then turned to her sisters to help them choose. It also meant putting off her own choice, which was fine. She hated picking things off a menu. She never knew what she would like.

“They have fish sticks,” Teddy said. “That’s good, right?”

“I guess,” Emily agreed.

“But look.” Teddy pointed to the picture next to the fish sticks. “They look like little animals. What if they give me some that look like bears?”

“I’m sure they’ll taste just as good?” Emily tried.

Teddy pouted up at her, but she returned to the menu a moment later so Emily turned towards Athena who was glaring at hers.

“Did you decide what you want?”

“All the things on here are for kids,” she said.

“Um. Yes?”

Athena glared harder. “I’m too old for these things,” she said.

Emily looked at the menu for a moment. “You don’t like... spaghetti and meatballs? Or, uh, mini burgers? Look, that one comes in a little cardboard train.”

“What?” Teddy asked. “You get to eat a train? That’s awesome.”

Emily rubbed the top of Teddy’s head and pretended not to notice the flash of envy across Athena’s eyes. She’d give Athena some affection too, if that’s what she wanted, but she wasn’t so sure yet. Athena was a lot harder to read than Teddy. “You can choose from my menu, if you want,” Emily said.

“Right, well while you guys pick,” Melanie said. “I had a chat with our handsome friend about big H and the drive. He’s pretty happy with you, you know.”

“Oh, um, that’s good,” Emily said.

“I won’t ask how you found H, but yeah, good work. Kinda why I wanted to bring you here, to celebrate, you know? One less villain on the streets. Though I think you made a few idiots in the community jealous.”

“Huh?”

Melanie shrugged. “The world of heroes isn’t as pretty as it’s made out to be. We’re all competing for relevance, and there are only so many villains to beat down on. There’s a lot of petty in-fighting and shit like that.”

“Really?” Emily asked.

“Oh yeah. Those who just want to look good for the cameras can pick up little quests here and there, but those who want to be big time heroes, they need worthy opponents. Those aren’t all that common. The world’s an increasingly peaceful place, and that means fewer opportunities. So you and Teddy here nabbing that guy, that got some people really annoyed.”

“But they could have gotten him themselves?” Emily asked.

“Don’t bring logic to a fight about feelings. It’ll only get you stabbed,” Melanie said.

“If anyone tries to stab my sister, I’ll stab them right back with their own logic,” Teddy said.

Melanie snorted. “You go, bear girl,” she said. “But, yeah, I didn’t invite you here for nothing. There’re a couple of things we should talk about.”

“Like what?” Emily asked with growing trepidation.

“Well, first, we need to talk about Cement. He reached out to our handsy friend, arranged for a meeting and everything. A nice face-to-face. I’m not going to be there, too many other affiliations, but our handy friend might invite you to come. Handsy will pay you, of course. Make sure to gouge the price around him.”

“I, I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Emily said.

Melanie shrugged one shoulder. “Up to you. The other thing I want to talk about is your future. Or your lack of it. You kinda made a small splash, you and teddy bear here. I was thinking that maybe it would be a good time to show you around.”

***