[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/rxa8BBL.png[/img][/center]
[@Plank Sinatra] [@Kaithas] [@NarayanK]

[i][color=00aeef]Ohhh I'm going to suffer for this.[/color][/i]

But, Ben mused to himself as he watched Lauren struggle to lift his new shield, it was kinda worth it. This was funnier than anything else he'd seen over the weekend. She was [i]really[/i] trying. Like, he was almost thinking of telling her to chill before she hurt herself trying. He would've, if he wasn't putting so much work into [i]not[/i] laughing. Lauren was [i]pissed[/i]. Joyous Guard was always going to be a great prank, before he got around to getting it to recognize her, but this was [i]beautiful[/i].

He made a mental note to borrow the battery from Lawnslot later. It’d been in her care long enough to get an Aura signature off of, and it wouldn't take too much to add her to the shield’s whitelist.

Not that he was ever, ever gonna tell her about how that was the technical term. Some battles you don’t fight. 

He was just about to tell her to relax when a woman that [i]had[/i] to be her mother showed up. The family resemblance was way too strong for her not to be, even though calling her Lauren’s mom seemed impossible. Costa, she said her name was, really didn't seem that old. But she was definitely a Negasi. You could see the prototype Lauren in the way she moved and carried herself. Lauren was [i]thrilled[/i], something Ben honestly hadn’t seen before. She was always pumped up but not like [i]this[/i].

Bastille’s captain couldn't hide a grin and a quick, quiet laugh anymore. He walked back to his shield and scooped it up with one hand to put it back on his back; then he walked towards Lauren and her mom, pausing halfway between them and his team with a little wave.

[color=00aeef]“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Negasi. I'm Ben.”[/color]