[h2]Alessa Heather: Charity Fundraiser[/h2]
Oh YES, this was wonderful! For three weeks, Alessa had been practically grinding her teeth over her inability to help, the fact that she’d been specifically denied the option of preventing crime and saving lives, but this, now? This was helping - the Wards were interacting with the community and showing they were well; laughs were being shared, not to mention genuine smiles; the event would raise funds for the PRT and Protectorate to further improve everyone’s lives! Everyone was happy.

...nearly everyone was happy. Behind her mask of light- or rather, the fake plastic mask she’d been asked to wear along with her normal outfit just to avoid blinding anyone too much- Alessa certainly felt better than she had since the warehouse tragedy, but... it hung over her still. Even three solid weeks of therapy had not quelled her fears, her worries... particularly the possibility that she’d flashback again, and...

No. No, no, she knew that wouldn’t happen again. One nightmare and one slightly singed house were nothing to worry about. She’d not even had another scene like that since then. Plus, how could she have her mind on things like that when the sweetest kid had just asked for her to sign her poster?

‘...and there you go, Jenny, one poster autograph!’ she exclaimed a couple of moments later, handing the poster back to the little girl, who took a look and let out a legitimate squeal of joy. 

‘Thank you, Messiah! You’re the- the best hero ever!’ she squeaked, giving a massive smile - the sentiment clearly reflected by Jenny’s mother in her grateful expression.

‘Nah, you know who’s the best, Jenny? You are.’

‘Eeeee! Thank you!’ D’aww, how heartwarming.

As the two walked off, both clearly pleased, Lillian walked over to Alessa, her own mask hiding her features as she asked how everything was, whether she’d talked to Furnace yet, how G4M3R was having such a bad time, but it was so good to see Noble and Morales back on the field, and...

‘Heh. Don’t worry about it, Lily,’ Alessa replied kindly, lifting her mask just enough to show a grin before returning it to its usual position. ‘Today has been pretty great, but it’s been busy as heck too!’

Before she could say much else, her eye caught the approach of a, uh, draconic, sort of, silvery... rather well-endowed dragon woman. Oh, jeez. Her immediate instinct was a mixture of slight fear, on account of her size, her wings and other reptilian features, and substantial attraction, on account of her... [i]size.[/i] Yeah, Evelyn’s comment pretty much summed it up, and it was essentially her own PR training that let her quickly twist the comment to something hopefully more PG:

‘Yyyeah, your outfit’s really well-designed! Can you direct me to whoever set that up for you? Because I want in on their work, hahaa! Ahh, but uh, I recognise you, I think,’ she said thoughtfully once her PR moment was over, frowning beneath the mask. ‘Correct me if I’m wrong, you’re… Sylph, right? The new Case 53 working with the Protectorate?’ As she spoke, she couldn’t help but glance over to Margrave to see how he was doing... oh, jeez. Not that great, huh? Maybe she should go over and see whether she could help him out.

‘Messiah. Wonderful to meet you,’ she offered to the newcomer, holding a hand out to shake semi-distractedly. Once it had been accepted or rejected, she briefly clasped her hand around the dragon-lady’s, murmured ‘Sorry for rushing off like this, Sylph, I swear I’d stick around longer if I wasn’t needed over there, and again, [i]wonderful[/i] to meet you,‘ before speed-walking her way over to Margrave just as [i]another[/i] highly attractive woman made her presence known to him. Damn it, why were there so many hot women around?

‘Hey, Margrave,’ Alessa uttered in a friendly fashion. Open, she hoped. ‘And of course whoever you are, ma’am - Messiah, nice to meet you.’ Offer a handshake, nod to her in a friendly fashion if and when she gave her name, return to the matter at hand. ‘Now, Margrave, I couldn’t help but notice you seemed a bit on-your-own over here,’ she mentioned matter-of-factly. ‘Do you want to have a chat for a bit? You, me, and Angel? If you want to chat, obviously.’ Was she saying too much? Making this too personal in front of an utter stranger? She imagined Margrave would say something if he was uncomfortable with the notion, but she could never quite tell how he’d react in some situations.