Chapter Thirty-Nine - A Mouthful

Emily looked at the menu with eyes that weren’t quite focused. She wasn’t actually paying it any attention. Rather, she was focused on other things.

Most notable, was Melanie’s offer.

Emily had to think of which potential path would lead to her and her summons seeming the least suspicious. That, and which path would take up the least time. She already had a lot more on her plate than she expected to.

Her plans had been to lead a quiet college life, get a degree that could help her find a nice quiet job, and then live as a lone bachelorette with about eight very cuddly cats.

Those dreams had collapsed a while ago. Her quiet college life was in shambles. She hadn’t even done all the homework due in a few days!

Emily shifted her grip on the menu, then carefully turned the page. She kind of wished that she was looking at images of kittens instead of pasta and steak. Those would at least calm her beating heart.

She had to refocus.

Melanie’s offer would put them in the spotlight. That... might not be the greatest thing there was, but it had potential. They could come out as heroes, then slink back out of the limelight. People would assume the pressure was too much or something.

Maybe they could do a few nice acts, cement themselves as good people in the community?

She nodded. That made sense.

The problem was joining a corporate team or anything like that would mean placing themselves in a position where they’d be asked a whole lot of questions, some of them uncomfortable.

What were her other concerns?

Handshake’s... thing. He wanted her for something? Backup, maybe? Some sort of intimidation thing when meeting with Cement? That made some sense. She herself wasn’t very intimidating, but Teddy could be. Especially when she was in her bear form.

Was she strong enough to take on someone who could move cement around with his mind?

Emily would rather not find out. Even in the best case scenario Teddy would complain a lot if she got wet cement caught in her fur.

“Ma’am?” Emily jerked up to see that she was the centre of attention. A young waitress was staring at her, notepad in hand and a patient smile on. “Your order?”

“Oh, oh, uh, sorry, I’ll have... what she’s having,” Emily said with a finger pointing towards Melanie.

“A second lobster and fillet mignon plate then,” she said.

Emily blanched. That sounded expensive. But then, Melanie was the one footing the bill.

“And you, miss?” the waitress asked Teddy.

“Yeah, I’ll have the fishy sticks, but not if they look like bears.”

“Um, noted,” the woman said. She had a bit of a smile that she hid from Teddy by raising her notepad. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, I’ll have the train meal too.” Teddy pointed to an image of a cardboard train with a chicken breast and fries and cheese.

“That’s a full meal,” the waitress said.

Emily waved her arms to try and dispel the comment. “It’s okay. She, uh, eats lots. Weird... metabolism?”

“Yeah, I got the best meta.”

The waitress nodded, “Of course, and to drink?”

“I’ll have a pint of vodka.”

Emily wanted to press her face into her hands.

“Um,” the waitress said. She looked over to Emily and Melanie.

“It’s best when served really cold,” Teddy explained. “Maybe with some ice?”

“She’ll have juice. Any sort of juice,” Emily said.

The waitress nodded rapidly, and turned to Athena next. Fortunately, the owl-girl just ordered some chicken risotto with a glass of grape juice.

“So,” Melanie asked when the waitress started to walk off. “Actually, wait, you never told me about the new girl.”

Athena leaned forwards a bit so that she could better meet Melanie’s gaze. “I’m big sister Emily’s little sister,” she said.

“Ah, so she knows everything, right? Because I just assumed back there.”

Emily nodded. “She knows, yeah.” She wasn’t going to admit that Athena had her own power, not when she herself wasn’t familiar with it yet. She had to remember to test that, actually.

Bringing a notebook around with her was growing to be a priority, she had so many little things to remember all the time that it was getting to be too much.

“Cool,” Melanie said. “So, there’s this thing where the corps and the government grab all the newbies and jumble them together. It’s a semi-public thing. So no press, but plenty of press.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Teddy said.

“It kinda does,” Melanie returned. “When we say that the press is somewhere, it usually means that they’re there in force. Cameras and reporters and all. Now they’re aware of the event, if you want to call it that, but they’re politely told not to show up. So lots of paparazzi hide around the planned routes and take ‘in action’ photos. They’re pretty big sellers. It makes the new heroes out to be pretty active and such.”

“Will we get to beat some other villains up?” Teddy asked.

Emily’s heart constricted at the ‘other’ but she realized that Melanie would probably assume that Teddy meant ‘other than Homie.’

“Probably not,” Melanie said. “Heroes are kinda awful at law enforcement.”

“Really?” Emily asked.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, they act as a decent counter balance to the police, but most don’t have training, and a lot of powers are a bit too lethal for proper policing. Even then, most police calls are simple things. Speeding tickets, the occasional accident, some domestic disputes. You don’t need someone in a cape to show up to every fender bender.”

“Then why’re you keeping the heroes around if they’re not helping the proletariat?” Teddy asked. Her eyes narrowed. “It’s some capitalist ploy, isn’t it?”

Melanie snorted. “Pretty much. There’s a lot of money in marketing and such. Lots of donations and heroes make the politicians standing next to them look great. That, and there is a need for heroes. Endgames can’t and shouldn’t be tackled by normal folk, actual villains with strong powers are downright terrifying if you’re a normal person, and some heroes bring a lot of flexibility to situations that the police just can’t manage.”

“It sounds as if the world isn’t quite used to the idea of there being some who are just better at things,” Athena said.

Emily looked over to her little sister. That was a weird sentiment, and one that certainly didn’t mesh with what she’d been taught before.

“Something like that,” Melanie said. “It’s a weird situation to be in, but it’s not like you can just tuck away every person with powers. Some places have tried that, it doesn’t end well.”

Emily nodded. She had a few questions still, but the waitress returning with some drinks put paid to that. The girls each got a glass of juice, and then the waitress set down two very fancy glasses before her and Melanie. She left without a word, leaving Emily staring at her drink.

It had a little umbrella, and crumbs around the rim, and the drink had a few colours still mixing within.

“Neat,” Teddy said.

“Um, what is it?” Emily asked.

“You’re over eighteen, right?” Melanie asked.

“I... yes,” Emily said.

The woman shrugged, flicked the umbrella out of her drink, and took a sip. “Then enjoy.”

Emily hadn’t ever really tried drinking anything alcoholic before. Oh, maybe a sip from her dad’s beer when she was little, but that was so far back.

But then, she was already pushing way past her comfort zone, with acts of heroism, and fighting, and surrounding herself in the kinds of people she never expected to befriend before.

Maybe continuing to try new things wouldn’t be so bad? She’d certainly dreamed of being far, far braver than she was.

Carefully, she picked up the cup and brought it close to sniff at it. The drink smelled sweet, and like alcohol.

Emily made up her mind.

She took a sip.

And then she almost gagged at the taste, while Melanie broke out into uproarious laughter.

Maybe new things weren’t for her after all.

***