Crystalized Munchkinry - Act IV - Chapter 36 (Patreon)

"What?" she replied, taking a step back from the grinning blonde at the same time.

"I'm Victoria."

"I got that!" she snapped. "Why did you do that?"

"Oh, well, Dean, my boyfriend," she began, motioning toward a handsome young man and a frizzy-haired girl standing a little farther back. The girl was smirking; the boy, however, had a hand pressed to his face. "Saw you and mentioned I almost hit you way back, and I thought, why not say hi and apologize?"

"What?"

The girl blinked, looking a little confused, then smiled at her, and Taylor somehow expected her to sparkle. "I'm apologizing for almost hitting you."

"Why?"

"You are rather monosyllabic, aren't you?"

"Yes," she answered, trying to inject as much sarcasm into her voice as possible. "That's what happens when a random girl assaults you in broad daylight."

"Hey, I didn't hurt you!" Victoria said, sounding a little panicked as she looked Taylor over. "If I did, my sister is over there, and she could heal you!"

"No, I'm all right," Taylor answered with a frown. "Was that it? Because if so, I have lunch to find."

"Really? We're looking for a place to eat. You can come with us!"

The bombastic blonde didn't even give her a chance to retort. She grabbed Taylor's hand and began pulling her toward the other two.

Taylor could have, of course, wrenched her hand free of the blonde's iron grip, but that would have defeated the purpose of maintaining her secret identity. Instead, she let Victoria pull her along, intending to make up some excuse and leave as soon as the parahuman let go.

Within seconds, they were standing before the exasperated boy and the smirking Panacea.

"Hey there, I'm back!" Victoria exclaimed cheerfully. "And I brought a guest. She's also looking for lunch!" Then she motioned at the boy. "This is Dean Stansfield, my awesome boyfriend!" She gave him a radiant smile before motioning at the smirking girl. "And this is my also awesome sister, Amy, or Panacea, as you know her!"

Amy nodded, still smirking as though enjoying Taylor's visible discomfort. Dean offered her a rather handsome smile that somehow managed to convey an apology for Victoria's behavior.

Taylor returned the greeting with a small smile but stayed silent. It had been so long since she'd been in a social setting with people her own age that she didn't want to mess it up.

Victoria, ignoring the byplay, turned back to Taylor. "And this is... What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't. And you still haven't apologized," she replied.

A few seconds of uncomfortable silence followed as they stood there looking at one another.

"Vicky, you can't just pull people around..." Dean finally spoke up.

"Don't worry... err... she doesn't mind!" Victoria replied with a bright smile at Taylor, ignoring the fact that she still didn't know her name.

Taylor looked into the now-hovering blonde's eyes and immediately knew she wouldn't be able to escape. Apparently, the young woman had decided to adopt Taylor into the group, and nothing was going to change her mind.

It didn't help that Admin, in his usual cheerleading outfit – now with blond hair – was doing his best to encourage her to stay.

She sighed, deciding not to fight it. She would, however, definitely make the girl pay for her food.

"My name is Taylor." She gave a small wave. "Blink twice if she took you hostage."

Amy snorted, and Dean smiled at her. "Hello, Taylor. Nice to meet you! I'm really sorry about Vicky."

Once again, the small group fell silent, looking awkwardly at one another.

Victoria clapped her hands once, rose a little higher into the air, and exclaimed, "Now, Taylor was looking for food. We were looking for food. Let's get that food!"

Everyone voiced their agreement in one way or another while the blonde beamed at them.

Fifteen minutes later, they were all seated in a restaurant that seemed to serve just about everything imaginable. They had already ordered, and now they sat in silence once again, looking at one another.

The first to speak, to nobody's surprise, was Vicky. "So, Taylor, I promised an apology."

"Yes," Taylor replied, looking at the blonde. "If you want to apologize, pay for my food."

"Oh, that's no problem. Dean is paying!" the other girl exclaimed.

Taylor glanced at Dean, who answered with yet another exasperated smile. She suspected he wore that expression more often than not whenever he was with Vicky. Amy, who had remained silent, merely snorted.

"All right," Taylor said.

Then they fell silent again.

Thankfully, the server arrived with their drinks, interrupting the uncomfortable pause. Once he left, Vicky took a sip of her fruity drink and sighed.

"Okay, this is awkward. Let's try talking. I don't want to sit in silence the entire time," she said, lacking some of her earlier cheer. "So, Taylor, tell us about yourself!"

Both Dean and Amy turned toward her with interest, though Taylor could tell Amy was definitely enjoying her discomfort.

Taylor looked at Admin, who was holding up a cue card that read ’MAKE NEW FRIENDS’ while grinning at her.

After enduring several seconds of everyone's expectant stares, she sighed in defeat.

"As I said, my name is Taylor. I'm currently homeschooled, and I like science."

"Oh? Why are you homeschooled?" Dean asked, frowning as though trying to remember something.

She grimaced, but she knew she couldn't spend her entire life hiding the truth. And what better way to start healing than with strangers? Or something like that.

"Several people tried to kill me, so my father pulled me out of school after I got out of the hospital."

Her blunt honesty seemed to catch all of them off guard, with Vicky wearing a horrified expression. Amy, however, was the first to speak, snapping her fingers in realization.

"You are the Locker Girl!"

"What?" Taylor exclaimed, turning to the brown-haired girl, who immediately seemed to regret her outburst and began to blush.

"I mean, I heard the nurses talking. Mostly about how lucky you were not to catch anything," Amy explained without meeting Taylor's eyes.

"I see," Taylor answered with a frown. "I expected better confidentiality."

Amy just shrugged. "They didn't mention any specifics, but nurses basically live on gossip..."

"Okay, let's talk about something else!" Vicky said, visibly uncomfortable with the subject.

They spent the meal making small talk, mostly about Taylor's experience with homeschooling, while the other three regaled her with funny stories about Arcadia or, in Amy's case, the hospital.

Despite the awkward beginning, Taylor found herself enjoying the afternoon. Spending time with people her own age was surprisingly easy. She had expected to be rusty, and she was, but as the conversation flowed, things gradually came back to her.

Before long, she found herself debating the main character of one of the latest fantasy novels with Amy while ignoring Dean and Vicky making eyes at each other.

She found the mousy girl highly intelligent and sharply sarcastic, with a rather bleak outlook on the world and a deep-seated exhaustion that seemed to permeate everything she did.

Vicky was annoyingly cheerful, yet Taylor couldn't help getting swept up in her boundless energy and found herself genuinely enjoying talking with her.

Dean mostly stayed quiet, answering questions whenever they were directed at him, but he also seemed to be having a good time.

After leaving the restaurant, they wandered closer to the water and found a table at a café overlooking the bay.

They continued chatting until Taylor's phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen and saw a message from Tess. It looked like she would be coming over for dinner. Checking the time, Taylor frowned when she realized it was already around four.

"Anything wrong, Taylor?" Dean asked, immediately noticing the change in her mood.

She waved a hand and smiled at him. "Nothing. I just got a message that we're having guests for dinner, so I need to make a quick grocery run and throw something together."

"Oh, is that good?" Vicky asked curiously.

"Oh, yeah. A friend is coming to visit. I haven't seen her in a while," she answered, beaming at the thought of Tess visiting her in the real world.

"That's nice," Vicky replied, and Taylor could tell she genuinely meant it rather than simply being polite. "Do you need a ride?"

"What?"

"Dean has a car. We could give you a ride." Dean simply nodded, apparently unfazed that she'd volunteered his services without asking.

"Really?" Taylor asked, surprised. She'd had a good time with them, but that still seemed like a little too much.

"Sure!" Vicky exclaimed, rising from her seat with her power. "You're our friend, so it's not a problem."

"I'm your friend?"

"Well, yeah. What did you think was happening here?" the blonde asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"I don't really know. I haven't made friends in a long time," Taylor admitted.

Only to be immediately suffocated by a hug from the bombastic blonde.

She waved goodbye to her new friends as they drove away in Dean's rather nice car. They had taken her to the grocery store, gone inside with her simply to spend more time together, and then dropped her off at home.

It was a really, really strange feeling.

Was that how friends acted? Or was that just Vicky?

Amy didn't seem like the type to do something like that. Maybe Dean would, since he seemed genuinely committed to the whole gentleman thing.

She would look it up later, but for now, she needed to clean up and finish dinner.

Her father arrived shortly before eight, happy but exhausted. He also seemed excited to finally meet one of her friends, and he was even happier when she told him what had happened earlier that day.

"I told you, Taylor. No need to worry. You'll make new friends easily," he said, pulling her into a hug.

"Well, not that easily..." she replied.

He just smirked at her before going to check the food in the oven.

She was about to head back to the bathroom for one last check of her hair despite her power when the doorbell rang. She sprinted to the front door and yanked it open.

Standing on the porch was a young woman with lustrous black hair, wearing a nice dress and holding a bottle of wine.

"Tess!" Taylor shouted in greeting before throwing her arms around her.

The woman returned the hug before answering. "Hello, Taylor. Nice to meet you in real life." Then she looked past Taylor. "And hello, Mr. Hebert. It's nice to meet you. My name is Theresa Richter."

Danny smiled and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Richter. Please come in. The food is almost ready."

"Excellent. I'm starving."

They were sitting in the living room, all of them full from the simple roast Taylor had prepared. Danny and Tess were sipping wine, while Taylor jealously clutched her orange juice.

They spent the evening talking, mostly about how Tess and Taylor had met, before moving on to the latest happenings around the city.

Taylor could feel her face hurting from smiling so much throughout the day despite her brute powers.

She was trying to figure out a way to get Tess upstairs to show her the tinker-tech projects without her dad around when Danny spoke up.

"So, Tess, you said you work as an engineer. What kind of work do you usually do?"

"Well, Danny, I mostly work with tinker tech. We're trying to reverse-engineer as much of it as possible."

"I see. Is it interesting?" he asked, taking another sip of wine. "I'm afraid I was never much for the hard sciences."

"It has its challenges," Tess replied before turning to Taylor. "Taylor told me she's also interested in them, though mostly from a programming perspective."

Taylor nodded. "Yeah, I'm hoping to get into a school with a good programming program."

"I've seen some of her projects," Danny said with a smile. "They're very impressive. I'm sure she'll be great at it."

"That's how we met," Tess explained, while Taylor watched with a little jealousy as the older woman elegantly raised her glass. Taylor would never be capable of doing the same. At least the gynoid body was functioning properly. If she hadn't known Tess wasn't human, she never would have guessed. "I posted a problem on a website, and she managed to solve it."

"Really?" Danny asked proudly, while Taylor blushed at the story.

"Yes. Sometimes you just need an outside perspective," Tess replied. "Then we got to talking, and when I learned I would be coming here, I suggested we meet."

Danny nodded in understanding and sent another proud smile Taylor's way. "I'm glad Taylor is making new friends."

"So am I. She's a very intelligent young woman."

"That she is," her dad agreed. "And say, where did you say you worked?"

"I didn't," Tess answered with a demure smile. "But I can tell you I work closely with the PRT. After all, they're one of the biggest sources of tinker tech."

"Makes sense. Did you hear about the fight at the docks?" Danny asked.

Taylor frowned. Why would her dad bring that up?

"Oh yes. Who hasn't? Nasty business."

"Mm," Danny agreed. "Luckily, I was far enough away. Though I heard the damage was substantial. Dragon even hired us to repair some of it."

"Oh, really?" Tess replied casually. "You work with Dragon?"

"More like she hired us for a job. So we work for her, not with her."

Taylor watched the conversation with a strange feeling that she was missing something. So she stuck to her juice and continued listening.

"Still, working for Dragon. It must be rather interesting, right?"

"Indeed, it is," Danny replied, the same small smile still on his face. "Just the other day, several Merchants threatened me. Fortunately, Dragon showed up, and they ran away."

"Oh, you must have been terrified!" Tess exclaimed, and Taylor had to give it to her, her acting skills were impressive.

"Yes, it was rather scary, but it all worked out in the end," her father explained.

"That's good."

"That's why I wanted to thank you in person. I would have hated leaving Taylor alone," Danny said, raising his glass toward Tess.

The two women, however, froze in place until Tess began to chuckle.

"What gave it away?" she asked while Taylor gaped at her father.

Danny chuckled as well. "It was a lot of little things, in retrospect. Taylor makes a new internet friend, then Dragon contacts me. The things you knew about the Union, while discoverable, were also things Taylor knew. The medi-gel facility? Somebody hiring Dragon? Please, I'm not blind." He wore a smug smile. "And now your voice. While it's disguised when projected, it's similar enough."

"Impressive!" Tess said, giving him a small round of applause.

"Also your hair," Danny added, sounding a little melancholy. "I'm not aware of any other relatives of Annette who have that kind of hair besides Taylor. So while I won't pry into what Taylor helped you with, I'm sure it was significant enough for you to choose to wear your hair that way."

Taylor listened to the explanation and couldn't help being impressed by her dad.

"Wow, Dad, that was awesome!"

"Thank you, honey."

"Indeed, Danny, that was rather impressive," Tess agreed.

Danny took another measured sip of his drink before turning to Taylor. "I assume, based on her new facility, she knows about your hobby?"

Taylor blushed and looked away. "Yes."

"Good."

"What?"

"She's an experienced parahuman, Taylor. She can give you much better advice about this than I can," he replied calmly.

"That's true," Tess agreed, smirking at Taylor. "I've mostly been spending my time trying to talk her out of going on patrol. Her time is much better spent inventing things."

"Really? Good luck with that. I still don't know how she managed to restrain herself from going out."

"Hey, I promised, didn't I?" Taylor answered indignantly.

"Yes, you did, honey, but a father still worries. I was a teenager once. I know how teenagers think."

"Maybe in a controlled environment?" Tess added, the smirk still on her face. "I could arrange a joint patrol with the Wards."

"That sounds nice. A simple patrol as a first outing," Danny answered with a perfectly straight face. "Do you think you could take pictures for me?"

"Daaad!"

As they drove away from the Hebert house, Vicky thought back on the day. It had been a really nice one, even if it had started out awkwardly.

The impulsive decision to talk to Taylor after Dean pointed her out seemed to have paid dividends. The girl was smart, funny, could keep up with Amy's sarcasm, and didn't immediately hit on Dean.

That earned her several bonus points. It was so hard to make new friends who didn't fawn over her because of her parahuman status – which Taylor, for some reason, seemed to completely ignore – her looks, or her sister.

She hoped this would be the start of a long friendship, so she'd even given Taylor her number so they could talk later.

"She is weird," Amy spoke up.

"What?" Vicky asked, turning around in her seat to look at her sister.

"Taylor. She was weird."

"Why?"

"Your aura. It didn't affect her."

"I noticed that too, but I didn't want to point it out," Dean added, still focused on the road.

"So what? Not everybody gets affected by it the same way."

"Vicky, she didn't even notice when you used it," Amy replied with an exasperated tone.

"So what? She is a parahuman?"

"Maybe... I touched her once. Her body is that of a normal, healthy teenager."

"Nothing stood out about her emotions either. I saw nothing that would indicate she was a parahuman."

Vicky frowned slightly in thought. "Maybe we should stop talking about this. Unwritten Rules, guys."

"Agreed. It's probably a bit over the line," Dean said.

"You are still going to be her friend?" Amy asked, shifting the topic away from Taylor's possible parahuman status.

"Sure! She was nice, and I enjoyed talking to her," Vicky answered cheerfully.

"Suit yourself. Just don't come crying to me when it turns out she's some kind of monster in disguise," Amy said, turning to her phone to check PHO. Maybe she could find something about a new parahuman who looked like Taylor...

Vicky snorted, turned back around, then cranked up the music and started singing just a little off-key to annoy Amy.