We Could Be Heroes

“What? Do I have something on me?” Jai said as he looked on himself for anything out of the ordinary. He reached his hand to his back and pulled off a sign that said Kick me, I’m a nerd that was clearly taped on his back. “I swear whoever put this on my back likes to believe they have a great sense of humor, but I have an idea on who did this.”

Luke gave him a sheepish look. Maybe he should have something about the sign earlier. Either way, he found it more mean spirited than humorous. “Who do you think did it?”

   ‘ thanks,   not enough people appreciate me. ‘    followed by a beat, ‘ or call anything i do nice.’      albeit ; it should be more clarified that jeannie solely surrounded herself with the same 3 or so friends in which those words never needed to be said. just the unspoken accepted.  ‘ for your help, i’ll give you a super discount of like, it being free for one semester. it’s the least i can do.’ 

“Oh, you’re welcome.” Luke’s smile fell for a brief moment. He could relate, a lot of his volunteer work often went unnoticed. Not that he was complaining, he was doing it all out of the kindness of his heart. “Maybe they think it, but aren’t so great at saying it. I mean, I appreciate a lot of things my parents do for me but some times I forget to actually let them know that.” His smile had returned as he tried to look at it in a positive light. “You don’t have to do that. I might take that offer up though. It being free for a semester would definitely come in handy.”

“Hopefully, that would be pretty cool if by the time I graduated from high school I can be able to control my magic.” She told him. Sabrina laughed when he laughed. “It honestly does, like right now its starting to get colder at night so i’ve been able to warm up my blankets before I fall asleep. Really, well i think in my opinion you can never go too small on a prank.”

“Anything is possible.” Maybe his belief was a little naive, but he truly thought anything was possible and dreams could come true. It made the world a lot more pleasant to be in. “Wow, I wish I could do that. I had to go out and buy a space heater the other day. In that case, I may have to start trying out some pranks again.”

ᴏᴘᴇɴ sᴛᴀʀᴛᴇʀ

Petra was sitting on a bench in the park, a stone in one hand. She was fiddling with it, turning it a bout and changing its shape. First an orb, then a cone, then something which seemed a mini statuette that was quickly squished back into a flat disk as her mind wandered. The fact that anyone around would take an interest in what she was about hadn’t crossed her mind til she glanced up and saw someone looking at her. 

“ What ? ”

Luke was on his way to the animal shelter for another one of his volunteer shifts when something caught his attention and made him stop. He didn’t have any powers of his own, but that didn’t stop him from being fascinated by the powers of others. The young man was silently watching the stone until he heard her speak up. “Oh um sorry, I didn’t mean to stare. I just saw what you were doing and thought it was pretty cool.”

Althea didn’t go out much anymore, not unless it was to teach a class, practice, or a performance. But she loved this time of year more than anything, she couldn’t miss the market. She was walking, taking a look around before she accidentally knocking into someone.

“Oh - shit, sorry!”

“Oh don’t worry about it.” Luke said with a small smile. While he had managed to lose some of his hot chocolate from the encounter, it wasn’t the end of the world. “I honestly wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings as much as I should have been. It’s really easy to get distracted by everything they set up around here.”

        ‘ oh,    true.   i still probably should have done something though … ‘   lips pursed /    true, it wouldn’t have done anything to ease the situation. except maybe bring the focus away from the poor worker. but that poor worker was going to be soon probably so … for a second her face pulled into a frown, but shifted back to the neutral light smile once more.  ‘  i’m pretty good when it comes to crying people,  like an agony aunt – you know?   .. maybe that should be my job ! like,    a therapist but cheap and totally unqualified.’ 

“I guess there’s always next time. Unfortunately I doubt that’s the last time a barista is going to be yelled at.” Perhaps that wasn’t the most reassuring thing he could have said. Luke let out a soft chuckle. “You know, I think people struggling with finals would actually appreciate something like that. It’d give them a nice break from studying and a chance to vent about all their stresses, which is probably needed.”

“I should be fortunate enough then.” They said to the guy in front of them. “Thanks for the offer but according to me watch, I have twenty mins left and then I get a break. I think I can hold off until then.”

“But don’t worry, I’m sure something exciting will eventually happen around here and give you something different to do.” He of course didn’t mean anything that would put anyone in danger. “No problem.”

“It takes alot of practice and concentration and i feel like there is so much I still have to learn to even be considered a full blown witch.” Sabrina said as she admitted it to him. “So far being able to make things hot and cold has been nice for like food and also using my magic for things like pranks and other things has also been pretty fun to do.”

He silently wondered if it was a lot to live up to. He didn’t often admit it, but even just being a kid to vigilantes felt like a lot. “I”m sure if you keep at it you’ll have everything learned in no time.” Perhaps that wasn’t true, but he liked being optimistic. “I can think of plenty of situations when that would come in handy, especially in the colder and hotter months.” Luke laughed. “I never really got into pranking. I think I’d end up either going too big or too small.”

“Surely just a fictional one, but even that is hard to believe.” Luke said with a laugh. “I have to admit, I never really understood why the audience was supposed to be rooting for Ross to end up with Rachel or why anyone was supposed to root for him in general. He’s not a very likable character and treats the people around him pretty bad. I for one wish Rachel would have gone to Paris and lived her best life without him.”

“exactly,” he agreed enthusiastically. he was glad that in some small way he had helped luke seeing things a little positively. “that way they’ll know you’re ready and safe, and it can be like a work experience for you. i’m sure everything will work out fine.” luke was just trying to do some good, and that should always be encouraged, in his opinion. 

Of course Luke couldn’t stay down for very long, even when faced with a minor setback and some upcoming challenges. “It’s definitely a compromise that will work for both parties.” Which was honestly what he was looking for. He wanted to be a vigilante, but at the same time he didn’t want to do anything to upset his parents, especially since they were so close. “Thanks by the way. It was nice to talk to someone about this and it helped me get figure a nice resolution.”

“Sometimes I wondered if being a security guard is a curse disguised as a blessing. Like I already had to catch three kids trying to ditch their classes. I’m starting to feel like a babysitter.“ Adonis said as he sat on a bench. “Maybe I’m just saying this because I haven’t had my lunch yet and i’m what the kids call hangry.”

“At least it’s just catching kids ditching instead of something more serious.” Luke comment with a friendly grin. He was always trying to find the silver lining. “I don’t know when you get a lunch break, but I have a granola bar you can have if it’ll help.”

“You’re not the first non-powered person I’ve had to stitch up, recently even. ” Fletcher sighed. Just because he was willing to do it, didn’t mean he liked it. But of course, he was going to do something now that he was voicing wanting to be the doctor for metas, mutants, vigilantes, etc. “I know you’re plenty capable.” But that did not mean that he had to support it. But, “You’ll probably need to get measured for it. Or at least- send me your measurements or something if you’re fine with it being a little off.”

“I’m not surprised with everything that’s been going on.” Luke commented with a frowned. He wanted to be optimistic, but it was getting harder and harder to stay positive when things weren’t getting much better in terms of safety. “Oh um thanks.” He rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m sure I can make some time to get measured this week.”

“I actually do. Besides card tricks and general magic, I also dabble in elemental control and necromancy but i’m still learning how to control those kinds.” Sabrina said very proudly and maybe there a was a part of her that should’t have been so proud but she was. 

“Wow, I bet all that takes a lot of practice.” It had certainly taken a lot of practice for him to even come close to some of the things his parents could do. “What’s your favorite thing to with magic?”

            *       ‘ i once watched a woman scream at starbucks for 4 minutes. ‘ /   jeannie had actually filmed it, given her fledgling interest in video editing but.   ‘ thinking back, i probably should have intervened but yeah …       barista’s really are our first line of defence in waking up for first period classes.            it would be good to support our troops and all, but i doubt anyone would make me cry at a library.’ 

“Jeez.” Luke shook his head. He understood waking up early wasn’t the most pleasant experience, but they didn’t have to take it out on someone else. “She probably would have just started yelling at you and everyone else.” He brightened up again and laughed. “You’ll probably just see other people cry as they study or try to figure out their assignments, especially around midterms and finals.”

Cassidy’s brows rose higher and higher as Luke stated who and what were around town. There wasn’t a better place to find something (or someone) strange, from the sound of it. But even if he didn’t find the reason, the place couldn’t be remotely boring with all of that around. “Jaysis, and I thought angels and demons were the wildest thing out there…” The Almighty must be here somewhere. It’d make sense, wouldn’t it? “Your da sounds like a feckin’ badass, mate. Definitely wouldn’t mind havin’ a drink or two wi’ him.”

Cass briefly eyed Luke’s ID before he handed it back with a nod, “Good choice, la’,” and picked one out to pour it into a glass and set it in front of him. “Let me know if yeh t’ink yeh need some water later, yeah?” But at the question, he tilted his head from side to side, and his lips twisted as he did some mental math. “I’d say yeh got around… fifteen to thirty minutes before it starts gettin’ really packed.”

“Have you run into a lot of angels and demons?” Sure, this conversation wasn’t the reason he was here, but it had become too interesting for him to just drop it. “I don’t think I have, but if they don’t look all that different from humans, I suppose I’d never really know.” Luke grinned widely. He had always thought highly of his parents and their friends. “He’s pretty badass. I’ll have to tell him to come by here sometime so he can tell you the story.”

“Thank you.” He nodded, that gave him some time to make it look like he at least sort of belong here, instead of appearing to be a wannabe vigilante looking for information. “I bet there’s a lot of interesting people that come in here every night.” He continued making casual conversation.

cyrus nodded, he could understand the sentiment. it was hard not to think that there was always a little more that could be done, and that was usually true, but he was wired to focus on what had been done instead of all the shoulds and coulds. “you will, next time,” he offers. he doubts there won’t be a next time. “maybe you can convince them to train you and show you what you’re getting yourself into before it can turn into a huge argument.” always the optimist. 

Luke gave a confident nod. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that there would be a next time, and he’d be more vigilant and prepared, he’d make sure of it. He quietly thought over the suggestion before nodding once more. “Maybe I can get them to train me more and then convince them to let me go out with them.” Not only would that provide him with much needed experience, but it could also show his parents he was ready to be a vigilante as well.