Out With the Old (IC)

[alderwitch]

"[Colorp#008080]No, of course not," Alex said automatically as she pulled back from the shelf to look down at Erin, "Mike doesn't care if I talk about him. You would have. Mike's dislike of talking about things isn't because he cares what people know. I haven't told anyone about your past. You wouldn't have been comfortable with it."

[Electra]

"Oh," Erin said, considering that. "I guess I probably kind of confused him then. I assumed he probably knew more than I tell most people, but then he acted really clueless, so I wondered. Not like I think you wouldn't keep a secret," she added, "but I thought maybe you might have, I dunno, coached him a little or something. Just to help him out."

[alderwitch]

"Well, I can pretty much coach Mike without actually telling him anything. He trusts me more than he trusts himself," Alex said with a fond sort of exasperation, "I wish he had more confidence sometimes."

[Electra]

"He seemed to be doing okay," Erin said with a shrug. "We had a pretty good time talking anyway. I don't know that it was very, you know, date-ish, but it wasn't horrible and awkward like I thought it was going to be. I mean, you know, mostly. It's just I don't want to be anything more than friends with him. Or anybody." She shrugged and attacked another spot of rust on the shelves.

[alderwitch]

"How come?" Alex asked curiously as she floated gently to the ground to look at Erin, "I mean, how come not anyone?"

[Electra]

Erin kept her eyes focused on the spot she was cleaning. "I dunno, I need to get myself in order first. Thinking about guys like that would take up more time and energy than I've got to spare, and then you start worrying about them, and if they like you back, and what you're supposed to do with them once you've got them."

She scrubbed vigorously at the spot, till the metal made a squeaking noise of protest and started to smell hot. "And then if you make this, this big investment in falling for somebody and then it goes to hell, you're worse off than before you started. Mike's okay, but he's yours in the long run. And I don't think I want any learning experiences."

[alderwitch]

Alex cocked her head but didn't disagree about Mike. Alex was aware enough that even if their relationship never blossomed into more than friendship, their psychic link meant that no one could ever mean more than that relationship. The link was too deep, too old.

"What about Mark?" Alex said thoughtfully. If the idea of suggesting her own boyfriend as a possible dating partner was weird, it didn't seem to occur to Alex, "He's sweet and cute and good at kissing. And has no psychic link holding him back."

[Electra]

"I mean anyone," Erin said more forcefully, pulling back from her task when the rag began to smoke slightly. "It's easy for you to go out and have fun with Mark and kiss him, because you don't really need anyone else that you don't already have." She concentrated all her attention the rag, folding it in quarters and squirting Windex on it to cool it off.

"We talked about it before, remember, how it can be just for fun with him, because it doesn't matter very much, and neither of you will feel that bad when it's over. I don't have any fallback position, or any psychic link, or anything to pick me up again if something goes bad. If I started going out with anybody and it got to be more than going out and playing baseball or watching a movie or stupid stuff like that, it would mean a lot more to me than it would to them. I'm not going to risk that with anyone, especially not somebody like Mark, who I don't think even can really care very much about people, because he never worries about anything."

Keeping her face turned toward the shelves, Erin neatly scaled the structure again, pretending to look for places she'd missed. She hadn't really meant to say all that, but that was one of Alex's talents, prying things out of you that you didn't even know were there. She'd be a great shrink one day, if she didn't go into heroing.

[alderwitch]

"I'm sorry if I've given you the impression that I can't be hurt. I can be, of course. I'll be sad when the relationship with Mark ends but I'll be okay. Not because I can replace him, but cuz I'm emotionally secure in who I am." Alex said thoughtfully. Too used to Erin's prickly nature for any thing to be taken personally.

"Mark's depth aside. You have to risk being hurt eventually because its worth it to love people. You don't love people cuz they'll always be there to return it. You do it because in the end, its better to have the memories than nothing. At least in my opinion." Alex shrugged and gave her sunshiney smile. "I mean, I love you like a sister but eventually we'll grow up and prolly move away and keep in touch via phone and all that but it doesn't stop me from caring now."

[Electra]

Erin thought about saying that wasn't what she meant, that it was different to lose one person when you only had one person to lose, but she decided not to. She hadn't hurt Alex's feelings, so at least she didn't have to worry about that, and the last thing she wanted was to have a chat about loving and losing with someone who'd had so few losses. She didn't need any more memories to drag around, that was for damn sure. But Erin didn't want to go down any of those mental avenues, so instead she refocused, like a good little therapy patient. "Do you think we should get that what-do-you-call-it to your grandpa before we start messing around with the rest of this stuff? He's probably waiting to start fixing the teleporter.

[alderwitch]

"Sure, no doubt." Alex picked up the metal thermos with a rather cavalier swing and waited for Erin to stand up and join her as they trotted down the haul. Finding Alex's Granpa in the area below the manor took a few minutes of poking down corridors but they found him next to the computer and monitor bank setting out some tea and sandwiches. He accepted the thermos with happy mutterings like "Why would I put the blasted thing in that old device. Silly old man." but shook himself for those musings and offered them the tea and sandwiches.

He still stole occasional glances at his only grandchild and sometimes it seemed as if he was seeing someone else in her place. But then, Alex and her mother did have a strong family resemblence. "Oh, hey, you cut the crusts off and everything. Thank you! Erin, you hungry?"

[Electra]

"Sure," Erin said with a shrug. She wasn't really, but she rarely turned down a chance at food that wasn't caf food. After washing the rust and chemicals off her hands, she sat down with Alex and her grandfather. "Did you build all the stuff down here?" she asked him curiously, between bites. "Or did you have other inventors and scientists and stuff who helped you get it all set up?"

[alderwitch]

He went quiet for a moment, swallowing his sandwich bites before a wistful smile curved his face, "My wife built most of it. I was the more athletic type. Bouncing on rooftops, things like that. Alex's mother takes after me but my wife was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Met her when I needed a new grapple gun and it was love at first sight. Took me a year to convince her to even go out with a meat head like me. She built everything down here, pretty much."

Alex's eyes rounded with quiet fascination, eating her sandwich in absolute silence. She'd always thought her intellect was more of fluke than it was. Erin could practically see her mind recalculating the genetic probabilities.

[Electra]

Erin was surprised to hear that, she'd never really heard much about Alex's grandma. "Was she a superhero too?" she asked curiously. "I mean, did she do outside hero work, or was she a builder? It must've taken a lot of time and energy to put all of this stuff together." She glanced over at Alex to see if her friend knew about all of this. It was interesting stuff.

[alderwitch]

Alex gave a tiny shake of her head to signify that she hadn't known of her grandmother either even as her grandfather replied, "Oh, no. She could have but it wasn't a life she wanted. Too dangerous. If she could have gotten me to retire any sooner..."

His voice trailed off, lost in memories before he cleared his throat and added. "Well, at any rate, I know enough to get some of it up and running again. Alex has a few ideas for modifying the beacons."

Alex nodded quickly, stuffing the remainder of her sandwich in her mouth as she kicked over to the computer bank and began to punch buttons with authority.

"The beacon itself is the size of a quarter." it came out a little muffled until she swallowed and continued. "We can fit that, the casing for a communicator chip in a belt buckle no problem. I think if we can compress it we might be able to fit fabric under macropressure in a unit behind them. Then, no more bathroom changes!"

Designs and schematics flowed from one screen to the next.