Electra

Erin studies the implement for a moment, turning it over in her hands. It's not much bigger than a thermometer, and looks like a laser pointer. "So this will just... open a portal? Just like that?" She thinks about making a joke about whether he sanitizes this thing between uses, but the words won't come. She's already starting to have second thoughts. Nonetheless, she puts the tip of the instrument in her mouth and waits, looking towards the place where the portal formed before.

Even though she knows full well that it isn't real, the illusion helps. Erin takes a few deep breaths and thinks back on her meditation lessons. "I don't need music," she tells him. "This will be fine." She runs through the meditation exercise in her head, and her heart rate begins to drop, her muscles relax. Eventually they stabilize at what appears to be a normal, if exceedingly efficient, metabolic rate.

"Is there a way out of here?" she asks him. "I don't like being in places where I can't see the exits. I don't even know where we are. Are we still on Earth?" Erin flexes and unflexes her hands, still looking around as though expecting someone is going to appear out of all that whiteness and jump her while she's trying to hold still.

Erin is obviously very tense, but she holds stock still for the reading, only her eyes moving to take in the room. No doors and no windows in this empty place, and the portal that brought them here is closed. There's no way in or out. She's not even sure where they are. Her heartbeat begins accelerating as adrenaline flows into her blood, and some of her muscles twitch. It's for the greater good, she reminds herself, and holds still. "What are you doing?" she asks, barely moving her lips.

Stesha listened raptly to the entire recitation, not even eating her soup. "Wow," she said when he was done. "It sounds like an action movie. It's almost hard to believe it's real, even after meeting people like you and Moira..." She hesitated for a moment, then deliberately did not add Jack's name, "who do that sort of work. Cultists and demons and aliens... I guess I can understand how it's hard to come back to just being a regular person after that." She paused for a moment, thinking. "It seems sort of lonely, though. Is there anyone else like you?"

"I think it must be a power," Stesha said with a rueful smile, sipping her own wine. The second course was coming out now, some kind of clear soup with vegetables in it. It smelled very good. "I just hope that it's one I can learn. It's hard to keep a secret like this. Sometimes I think it gets harder the more I live with it. When the power becomes instinct, you know, and you start thinking of how to use it in everyday life." She looked around to make sure no one's attention was on them, then waved her hand. The vase of white roses in the center of the table suddenly brightened, straightening on their stems and opening to full bloom. "And these days it feels like I can't bear to see a flower not living up to its potential," she admitted with a laugh. "Sometimes I think about telling my family, but they would freak out." she told him. "You read about big super battles in the news, you know? And even though that's not what I'm doing, I know that's what they'd think of right away, and they'd worry." She sampled the soup, blowing on the spoon, then sipping. "Worst I've gotten so far was a bunch of bee stings from a crazy guy who could control swarms of them. It was really surreal, more than anything. But fighting alone was scary. How did you get started working with Moira and the Knights?"

Erin needed no further prompting, and as she was already quite close to the door, managed to duck out almost before he was done dismissing them. She didn't take a deep breath until she was out in the hallway again. She paused long enough for one deep sigh, then headed off in the direction of the dorms. That had been quite enough excitement for one day.

Clothes, Updated In the days following the disaster that was supposed to have been the baseball game field trip, Erin kept even busier than usual. Group training added even more hours to her time on the weekends, and both Mr. Archer and Dr. Marquez wanted a couple of extra sessions, all thanks to one stupid punch. Didn't anyone care that those two idiot villains could've killed everyone in that stadium? They should've felt privileged to escape with just a few broken bones and a punctured lung. Why were their lives so much more important than the lives of all the innocent civilians, or the lives of her classmates? It would've been just as fair, in her estimation, to turn off their powers and set them against a few huge monsters that they couldn't control, just so they could see what it felt like. Whatever happened to them would be their own damn fault. Of course, she couldn't say any of that out loud. She simply didn't have the hours in the day for the extra counseling that would've netted her, if it didn't get her the boot from the school entirely. Instead, she carefully laid out a schedule on a sheet of graph paper, pinned it to the wall, and meticulously attended every meeting, every class, every meal, and every training session. Because she was fine, and because she fit in, and because she was being very, very cooperative. It didn't leave much time for anything else, but when she was snatching an hour of sleep in the common room between lessons, she was much less likely to have bad dreams. When she did have a few spare minutes, usually in the darkest hours of the night, she went dumpster diving around the school. The laundry room, especially, held a great deal of interest for her. There were quite a few wealthy students and teachers at the school, the types who would throw out clothes that were worn or torn, rather than try to fix them. Erin had enough pride not to wear other peoples' thrown-away clothes, but they provided the scrap materials she needed to patch her own clothes when they were damaged. She put up with the counseling, with the chastisement, with the hours of extra training, but it was the clothes that finally set her off. It took hours of work to get her blue jeans patched, even poorly, but they were wearable again. The shirt, though, was another story. Erin worked on it past dawn, till even after Alex had gotten up for her morning classes, and she should've been doing the same thing. It was no use, though. Too much of the fabric had been burned to let it be mended, and every patch she tried just made it look worse. There was no way to fix it. Finally, already late for her first class, she put her head on her desk and cried, over the stupid shirt of all things. Two cream blouses One purple blouse One red sweater One blue pullover top One Madman Finale t-shirt One pair yellow cotton pajamas One pair blue jeans One pair patched blue jeans One pair khaki slacks One blue windbreaker Seven pairs socks Seven pairs underwear Two brassieres One pair tennis shoes One Claremont Athletic Uniform

"I just started," she admitted, "after I moved to the city. It hasn't even been a year since I got my powers, and it took a while to figure out how to use them. They don't come with an instruction manual!" Stesha laughed. "I really don't do very much of the traditional hero stuff at all, fighting villains, you know. I'm not very good at it. But I think you're totally right about trying to make peoples' lives better, one at a time. Most of what I do is more civic beautification, going to the public parks and giving them makeovers, so the people who live in Freedom City get to experience the sort of beautiful gardens that are hard to find in public spaces. So far people seem to like it. I think they just think the parks department is doing it, mostly, but that's okay." She contemplated another piece of bread, then decided to hold off. Who knew what else they'd be eating tonight? "Maybe we just give most heroes too much credit," she said, half-jokingly. "Not for all the good things they do, but for the experience they have. If they have the style to make it look good, or if they have a name you've heard about since you were a kid, you just assume that they're hugely experienced. But who knows what could be behind the masks? Maybe a lot of them are like us, just doing the best they can with no instruction manual."

"I had a shower this morning," Stesha said, her voice half-muffled by the towel she had her face against. "I don't really need anything to drink today. But it might be nice to cool off later." The sun was already turning her hair from the springy green of new leaves to the deep green of a forest canopy . "I like to sit in the sun, watch movies, go out with my friends when I have time. And, y'know, garden. Obviously." She kept her eyes closed while she talked, which made her feel a little silly, but not silly enough to stop. "Weird thing with friends is, it goes in phases. Most of them are paired off right now, so it's more awkward to tag along. But then some people will get dumped or break up, and we'll all get together again, I hope. What do you do, besides fighting crime?"

Stesha's face turned red when Moira dropped the robe again, but it seemed childish to make an issue of it. Even in her own head she wasn't sure if it was some offbeat sexual reaction to the other woman's superhuman beauty, or just an inferiority complex of her own. Looking at Moira, it got a little harder to blame Jack for dumping her own flabby ass, if this was the alternative. Keeping her own clothes firmly in place, she gathered a beach towel from the wicker cabinet by the house and followed Moira back to the beach, fixing her gaze on the clouds, on the water, pretty much on anything but her nude companion. She spread her towel out on the sand a few feet from Moira's, within speaking distance, and lay down on the sand with her eyes firmly closed. "I don't tan very well," she said, "but the sun feels great. Seems like the only time I go out lately is when I'm working, though given my luck that's probably just as well."

(Just realized I'm way behind on the timeline!) Wednesday, July 8: Fleur de Joie meets her archnemesis, the Beekeeper, when he crashes through the window of her flower shop. The Buzz of Evil Thursday, July 9: Fleur de Joie visits Divine for comfort and camraderie, a visit that leads to a confrontation with Avenger and various drunken antics. It's All Who You Know Sunday, July 12: Divine and Fleur de Joie reconcile after some unfortunate conflicts, and Divine hatches a new plan. Sun and Flowers Monday, July 27: Dalkaresh assumes his civilian identity for a second midnight meeting with Fleur de Joie. A Meeting In New Guises Friday, July 31: Divine's meddling leads to a classy blind date between Fleur de Joie and Dark Star. A Starlit Date

Stesha listened intently to his descriptions, then shook her head. "I don't know if I could even comprehend that," she admitted. "It sounds wonderful, the way you say it, but like it would be really easy just to get lost and forget everything that you were. It must take a really strong will for you to keep yourself together out there. But it does sound beautiful." She finished off her little appetizer before going back to his earlier question. "I would like to own my own shop someday, but that's years down the line. You have to pay your dues in any business, build up contacts, earn a reputation. I figure that by the time I'm ready to settle down, I'll have enough experience to make a go at having my own shop. The place I work at now is really nice, though. We get to do a lot of society weddings, important parties, things like that. The people can occasionally be hard to work with, but the arrangements we get to make are absolutely stunning. And we get good tips, too." Stesha laughed. "I guess it all sounds pretty small, but I do my hero work on a small scale too. It probably takes awhile to work up to the sort of expertise that you and the Knights have. How long have you been doing this?"

Stesha got up and followed Moira, taking a seat in a patio chair in a sunny spot. "I honestly don't mind just sitting here," she said, shaking out her hair. "The sun feels really good. Photosynthesis and all," she added with a wry smile. "A couple hours in the sun is better than eight hours of sleep. But If you're bored, we could find something else to do. I would rather not go back into the city just yet. Too much traffic, too much rain." She searched for a topic of conversation, trying to make things feel normal again. "How are things at the bar?"

Erin Growing Up Claremont Sweet Sixteen Re: Darian and Erin (June/July) (18 posts in July) Out Tonight Take Me Out to the Ballgame (20 posts) Up All Night (14 posts) And Hell Came Knocking (11 posts) Making Friends (8 posts) News: Wander Stesha Nobody's Home A Starlit Date Sun and Flowers (16 posts) A Meeting In New Guises (12 posts) It's All Who You Know (25 posts) A Dusty Revival (14 posts) The Buzz of Evil (12 posts) Stesha's questionnaire is also up this month: News: Fleur de Joie

"It's okay," she assured him. "I really mostly only keep a secret identity for the sake of my family and my job. They'd freak if they found out I was moonlighting, for different reasons." Smiling, Stesha took another sip of her wine as a waiter brought over plates of little pieces of bruschetta with fancy toppings. When he was gone, she continued. "I got my degree in botany, thought about being a scientist, but it wasn't really want I wanted. I like flowers because they're beautiful, not just because they're interesting, you know? Being a florist lets me use what I know to make people happy or cheer them up. I was a florist before I got any extra powers, and I like it too much to quit. Plus, doing hero work doesn't pay, well, anything." She picked up a piece of bruschetta and nibbled on it as she turned the conversation. "So you can fly into space? Can you do it without a protective suit or anything?" she asked with great interest. "What's it like?"

Since it seemed easier that ignoring Eddie and more polite than arguing with the birthday girl, Erin slid off the ledge and into the pool. "I'm staying away from the dunking," she told Alex with a grin. "It's been too long since I went swimming at all. And if they don't knock it off, someone's going to get pantsed and we'll all see more than we want to."

Erin walked out just in time to see the guys take the plunge into the pool. The one-piece suit she'd found didn't fit terribly well, especially around the shoulders, but it was close enough to swim in. In a swimsuit, her substantial muscle definition was far more obvious than in the loose clothes she usually wore for everyday, and her skin was pale all over, like she never saw the sun. With the pool pretty busy at the moment, she sat down on the edge again and watched, not bothering with the sunscreen. "Go Alex," she cheered, clapping a few times.

After a moment's hesitation, Stesha smiled just a little. "Sure, why not," she agreed. "You got better weather than the rest of Freedom City today." The bee stings had entirely faded since their last meeting, but it was still nice to catch some rays. "Where did you find this place, anyway?" She untied the wide ribbon securing the bottom of her braid and began undoing it, letting her hair loose. "I've never even been this far north."

Stesha sighed. It was not easy to stay mad at Moira, even when she felt like she had a legitimate grievance. "I guess we both did things we were embarrassed about later that night," she allowed. "Definitely one reason I don't drink very much. Just... let's never do anything like that again, okay? I hate waking up in the morning and contemplating strangling myself on the showerhead cord." She rolled her eyes. "And let's never, ever, ever talk about Jack again."

Erin listened to the conversation going on at the table, but most of her attention was taken by the action in the pool. She wasn't always entirely fond of Mark, but he was a very good swimmer. She pulled her feet out of the water and went to find Alex. "Did you say you had some extra suits?" she asked quietly, not wanting to broadcast the conversation. "I know you and I aren't the same size, but do you think there's one that might fit me?"

"I just moved from Chicago at the beginning of summer," Stesha told him. "When I realized I was, hmm, special, I wanted to come someplace where there are a lot of us, to get some good examples. I met Moira on my very first night out exploring. She's sort of making me a project of hers, which is about equal parts helpful and embarrassing." She grinned at him. "But I'm only part-timing now. I spend most of my time as a florist, downtown. I really like Freedom City so far. Chicago's great, but after you grow up there, you start feeling like you've been every place worth going to. But here everything's new, and you never know when you're going to see something amazing happen. Do you have a daytime job," she asked curiously, "or are you doing the thing with the Knights full time?"

Stesha jolted at the sudden embrace, grabbing hold of her hair with both hand. "Moira, please stop," she asked uncomfortably. "We need to talk about this, for real. I know Jack and I are through, but dumping me off on your couch and sleeping him when I was right there in the next room was just mean. I really liked him once, before all that other crap."

Stesha frowned at Moira, pulling her braid over her shoulder to fiddle uneasily with the end of it. "Why didn't you tell me the way things were between you and Jack before we went over there?" she said again. "You made it sound like you were just coworkers. You could've at least said you were interested in him." She took a deep breath. "I want to know if you planned it out ahead of time. I want to know if it was some kind of joke."

"Step into my parlor," Stesha muttered, too quietly to carry across the distance. She looked around the patio for a moment and found Moira's discarded robe near the phone. Picking it up, she carried it down onto the beach and handed it to Moira, then took a few steps back. It felt really weird to be standing when Moira was laying on the ground, so Stesha pulled off her sandals and sat down cross-legged in the sand. The sun was making her hair even greener than usual, and she fought the impulse to let it out of the braid and do some sunbathing herself. "I had some questions on the phone," she reminded Moira. "I'd like to hear the answers."