“Special children.” That’s the term the lady, Summers, had used. “Special” because they could each do something that no other child could do. Maybe they could walk through walls. Maybe they could float. Or, hell, maybe they could make a bunch of seeds planted only yesterday be fresh and ripe for picking, making the stems droop with their weight. The whole situation seemed like it was ripped straight out of some 90s sci-fi flick, and yet, it was one Harlyn Enright’s reality. 

Harlyn Enright, and her little spawn. 

Said spawn was currently lying on the seat- well, couch- opposite to hers, stuffing the face of her toy penguin against the window and gesturing wildly at the scenery. No words. Just some enthusiastic pointing and a few signed words Harley could vaguely make out as “more” and “cow”. Minnie was making good progress with that, she mused. She was no professional linguist yet, but she was picking words up fast. At this rate, Minnie would wind up learning faster than Harley could keep up with. Slipping from her seat, Harley moved over to Minnie’s and gave her a light tap on the shoulder, stifling her chuckle as Minnie’s head practically snapped around to look at her. 

“What’s up, kiddo?” Harley asked. Eyes wide, Minnie stuffed the penguin, Bubba, into the crook of her arm and aggressively jabbed against the glass. [i]Cows[/i], she signed. Harley squatted down to better look through the window, and gave a grunt of agreement. “That’s right. Whole field of ‘em, too. And what do cows make, again? Think I forgot.”

A pause. [i]Milk.[/i]

“Ah, yeah, that’s right. Milk.” She signed the word back at Minnie, then scooped the girl into her lap. “And you know what you get from milk? Ice cream. I don’t know about you, kid, but I think I could go for a scoop or two when we get to your school. How about it?” Harley gently poked Minnie on the nose, causing her to let out a wheezing gasp- the closest she usually came to giggling. [i]Bananas?[/i] Minnie signed. 

“With as many bananas as you want.” Harley bounced her a little, taking the opportunity to fix the giant jacket wrapped about her shoulders a bit. “Since you’ve been such a doll.” 

The kid definitely deserved it, that was for sure. Before they had left to go join up in the Grand Hero Academy, Minnie had been losing her head about the move. Crying and throwing chubby little fists and making shoots of grass sprout out from the floorboards. The shop had been the only real home she had known, after all. Hell, it was the only true home Harley had known, aside from her family’s apartment back when she was a little one herself. Minnie was calmer, now, but Harley had taken care not to bring up their old town since then. 

To be honest, Harley didn’t want to just shove Minnie in the hands of some strange government what-not that had appeared out of thin air. It worried her. Minnie’s power worried her. Minnie [i]herself[/i] worried her. But if she were to be honest with herself, it was likely for the best that she got some kind of help with all...well, all this. Harley knew as well as anyone else that she wasn’t exactly “mother material”. She loved the little brat so much it hurt, but she didn’t know how to really take care of a child- especially one with needs such as Minnie. Harley had barely known how to take care of herself before she came into her life. 

Breathing out her nose, Harley ran her hand through Minnie’s hair, pulling her close.

God, what she wouldn’t do for a smoke right now.