ic Like Walking on Water [IC]

[Avenger Assembled]

Oooh, this is awkward. Sharl had told his own parents about his powers, they and his sister were among a very, very small circle of Tronikians (smaller now that Leroj had died defending the city, died doing what Sharl was supposed to be doing as Tronik's native hero, he realized with a stab of guilt) who knew a part of the truth - that Tronik was imprisoned in an alien dimension by the mad computer-god the Curator. He had never actually asked Eliza why she hadn't told her father about her powers, figuring it was just one of those weird things humans did like burying their dead. "She's really awesome, though, sir," he said reassuringly. "I mean she and I have fought a lot of bad guys, and she is really impressively badass. She obviously knows what she's doing out there." 

[trollthumper]

Michael looked from Eliza over to Sharl, and then back to Eliza again. He had one hand to the side of his forehead, as if it was taking some deal of effort to force a conclusion out of the proceedings. "I don't doubt you've been doing a good job," he finally said. "The stories I heard weren't bad, you know. I just wish I knew..."

"Remember when I was 13?" said Eliza. "We had that bad drought during the summer. Mom's garden was withering. I asked why you didn't just spruce it up. And you said, 'There are expectations. I can't use my office for that.'"

"Is that what you... Eliza, that was politics. That drought had been arranged through a series of deals that..." Michael shook his head. "Look. I wish I'd known. But that's... well, water under the bridge." He winced at his own joke. "I can't keep you from doing this. I know you're going to. So, what I can do is this. You're grounded for a week."

"Dad --"

"An optional grounding. You've been learning these gifts on your own. I want to show you what you're capable of. I don't want you back out there until you know the ropes."

Michael turned to Sharl. "Sorry for the disruption, Sharl. It's been a pleasure meeting you."

[Avenger Assembled]

Sharl only had an intellectual understanding of what was going on, but tried to be adult about it. "Well, uh, okay sir," he said with a nod to Michael. He thought suddenly of Gina's anger at him before the trip to Erde that had evidently gone so spectacularly south, and decided that there were definitely other models of parenting on Earth-Prime. "Thanks for having me. Eliza..." He smiled, knowing there were some pleasures about the evening that would just have to stay between the two of them. "We'll have to do this again sometime. Later," he amended with a look at Michael. "Email me when you can, okay?" He turned and headed for the door, already wondering how he was going to tell this story to Koshiro. 

[trollthumper]

With some words to her father, Eliza took off to walk Sharl to the coffee shop down the road. They had free WiFi, and thanks to Sharl's programming, that was as good as the subway. Even if it meant trading a certain amount of panhandlers for a certain amount of spam. The first block or so was somewhat quiet, as Eliza was trying to find the right words to say. But eventually, she figured it out.

"Sharl," she said. "Sorry about that. Things got weird tonight. And not for any reason I was thinking they would. I'm probably gonna be a little busy over the next week or two, but... well, Dad's taking an active interest in my hobbies. Always one of the weirdest times for a girl's life."

She smiled. "But for all that... I wouldn't trade tonight for anything. You were great, Sharl. And... I'm looking forward to being able to do this again. Only without the elemental turf wars."