Kirah

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

Fun fact about public schools in the US they provide transport for anyone who'd have to walk more than a mile.

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

I'm excited about it! Tessa lives up on hillside and she's going to be riding a bycicle way more often now, and not just walking to school because oh god that looks so far.

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

Okay! So that was a short post from me just to get back into the swing of things. I'm thinking Acer can start the party soonish, but I'm going to ask: does anyone have any other posts they want to get done first or interactions they want before the party starts?

^{(That includes with me; I'm so lonely ._.)}

@McHaggis

Need to do one with Mal but that's one that can be done at the party if he's there.

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

Tessa Gray

Location: Simone's cafe -> home
Interacting with: Nina @Kittyluna45 and Grant @Altered Tundra via text
Austin @Wade Wilson (in person)

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Tessa’s phone buzzed. She glanced at it, she was confused for a moment because it was a text from Nina, shouldn’t school be in session? Or at least close to it. That memorial should be over soon, maybe she was just checking on her. Man did she have a lot to tell her now.

Grant is not involved. Stay away from the school. Trigger warning.

Text from Nina

That could mean only one thing. Tessa shivered and felt like she was going to vomit. “I need to go home.” She was shaking. “There’s been a- a- murder.” Austin had to know what that meant even if he hadn’t been here when it all happened, he knew, because no one in the town would let anyone forget.

”Jesus christ…” The British teen whispered in shock.

Tessa sent off a quick message to Grant.

Stay safe. I’ll meet up with you as soon as I can.

To Grant

“Austin, will you walk me home?” If she was honest with herself she didn’t even want to be there, but that wasn’t a new feeling. Her phone buzzed again.

Please tell me you’re at home still.

From Mom

I am.

To Mom

Tess, don’t worry, I’m all right. I’ll see you when I can
—Grant

From Grant

”Definitely. If that serial killer is back, it’s not safe for either of us to be on our own.” Austin picked up his phone (which he’d previously been tapping away on) and found a pocket to slot it in. He held his hand out to Tess, as a notion to hold it to stay safer.

Tess took his hand, she found it's warmth reassuring. Then led the way out of the cafe to her house. She was glad she didn't live that far from the cafe, but all she could think about was her sister's last message and how five minutes had been enough for her life to be snatched away.

At her house she led Austin in and locked the door. Years ago the lock wouldn't have ever been engaged, just like the alarm system wouldn't have even been there, but now both were and the knowledge that the alarm hadn't been tripped since she had left was calming.

“I'm setting the alarm to go off if a door or window is opened. So warn me if you decide to step out.” Tessa said as she typed in her code. She looked at the tv curious at what was happening but too scared to turn on the local news. “They said they had him...” Tessa said staring at the tv. “They said it was over and now we just had to lick our wounds.” She was shaking again. “They were wrong.”

”But what if it’s not the same one? Just an ambitious, sick bastard who was…” He shuddered, as if he wanted to swallow the words down and not utter a single letter more, ”...inspired by the killings.”

He embraced Tessa in the hopes to stop her shaking, sitting them both down on the couch. ”It’s gonna be okay. I won’t let you get hurt.”

“Thank you, but that's not what I am afraid of.” She was happily accepting the hug. “I am afraid of someone else I'm close to be taken from me again. I have been pushing people away for ages and finally I think it'll be okay to be friends with people again and not an hour later this happens.” Tessa rested her head on Austin’s shoulder. “I don't want those I care for to be ripped from me again. But I can't keep pushing people away.”

”And you shouldn’t have to push people away.” He sighed. ”Sometimes, you have to take chances. You have to be brave enough to take that extra step further. What I’m saying is, all we can do in life is make the most of what we’ve got. To not hate, or hold grudges, but when it does happen, to always be forgiving. Make memories and have fun, and don’t be afraid of the day when people leave this Earth. Because every night, somewhere up in that sky, they’re always looking at you, and they’re so proud. All the stars in the sky are people who we’ve lost, and the reason they’re shining so brightly is because of how happy they were to have you in their lives, however long or short they might’ve been.

“All we can do in life is love those around us, and express yourself. Shine that personality so bright, that it blinds all the buggers who doubted you.” He chuckled silently, before lifting Tessa’s head up so their eyes met. ”Tess, we’ve rarely spent time together, and just from that coffee at Simone’s, I know exactly how good a person you are. You’re the best person I know, and I would never forgive myself if I let you hide your amazing personality, and warm smile, in the darkness your entire life. People need to see that light, Tess. And I know from experience - cheering other people up is the best way to cheer up yourself.” He smiled, a sudden radiance in his eyes that he thought he’d lost forever. Then he unexpectedly pulled Tess tight to his chest, securing his arms around her as though he never wanted to let go.

Tessa wrapped her arms around him. ”Thank you.” She kissed him gently. ”Today would have been hell without you.” She glanced at the tv. The news could stuff it. ”Splatoon?”

A grin swept across his face. ”Hell yeah.” He laughed, getting comfy on the couch. ”Word of warning - prepare to get beaten!”

”That's what I was going to say.” Tess grinned brightly at him as she set the game up, which didn't take long since she hadn't completely put away everything from the earlier games with Grant.

They were almost done with the third match when Tess heard a robotic voice announce ‘the front door is open’. Then the distinct sound of someone punching numbers into the pad.

”Oh god it's my grandma.” She looked at Austin in horror. This was always a possibility, but this wasn't going to be easy to explain. At least they were just playing video games.

“Tessa! Your mom called and told me to check on you. Where are you?” There was no way out of it. If she pretended to not be there her mom would freak. She mouthed sorry to Austin.

”I'm in the living room.” Tessa shouted back. In response was the sound of shuffling and a cane thumping against the ground.

Austin simply held the controller, looking a mixture of confused and terrified. He looked around for a hiding spot, but unfortunately fate was not friends with him today. He simply sat there and tried to look semi-casual.

“Playing video games again. Did you ditch school just to play? And who is that?”

”I didn't ditch. I threw up.” Technically a lie, but one Tess was not afraid to tell. ”Also this is my friend Austin.” Tessa's face turned crimson.

“You mean boyfriend. Well at least it isn't that atrocious boy with pink hair.” Tessa wished she could turn invisible, well turn invisible when people were looking because right now felt like the ideal time.

”Yes I mean boyfriend.” She snapped. ”And don't be rude.” Her grandmother harrumphed.

“Turn that thing off and put on the news.”

”You can't be serious.” A glance from her grandmother told Tessa she was in fact serious. ”Fine then we're going into the shop. I'm not watching the news.”

“Not with a boy you're not. Unless you want your mother to hear about this.” Tessa's jaw dropped but she pulled it up almost as quick. Her grandmother was seriously blackmailing her.

”Fine we'll be in the kitchen.” Tessa stood up, looked apologetic to Austin and helped him to stand. She led the way into the kitchen and laid her head down on the marble counter island. ”Oh my god. I am so sorry.” She took a deep breath.
“Though that's the nicest she's been a year.”

”Don’t worry. Hey, if you want, I can help you escape. Just whisk you away,” He picked her up, carrying her in his arms with a laugh, ”And speed out.”

”If only it were that simple.” Tessa said a huge smile on her face, arms wrapped around Austin’s neck.
”But unfortunately she'll call in about five minutes and ask for something, like a drink, and if I don't respond she'll call mom.”

He smiled, looking into her eyes. ”I can explain that I’ll keep you safe on the way to the shop. Maybe you just need to talk to her. After all, I can just pick you up and speed off. Though we might have to leave that part out if we do talk to her.” He chuckled, setting her back on her feet with a kiss.

”It's not far to the shop.” She pointed out the kitchen window to the back yard where a metal building sat on a slab of thick poured concrete.
”Grandma is keeping an eye on me because of what happened and mostly because my mom is probably doing a high strung version of ‘what's next’.”

”Well, we’ll see if we can talk to her anyway, yeah?” He nodded towards the living room. ”She can’t be any worse than my dad when it’s ‘party season’. Ugh, he always keeps a strict curfew, and when I don’t come back on time, guess what he does. Checks me for drugs.” He sighed dramatically.

”In this town?” Tess put on her best sarcastic voice.
”No one does drugs here.” Dropping the voice she added,
”Not that I think you do them, but I can see why he worries. I mean honestly my mom's convinced Jay is going to get me hooked on snorting weed.” Tessa rolled her eyes. ”But okay I'll talk to her.” She gave small shrug and stepped out into the living room again. The tv was up too loud for anyone that didn't need hearing aids (and probably some who did). ”Grandma I'm going into the shop if you need me.” She said it just loud enough that her grandmother couldn't claim she hadn't tried, especially since she turned and looked at her.

“Not with a strange boy.”

”He's not a strange boy. Okay he's as little strange, but he's not as stranger.”

”Hey! I can hear you!” Tessa grinned.

”It's a compliment!” She shouted back. Her grandmother did not seem amused.

“I don't care. You're not going out there. There's a madman on the loose again.”

”Austin is perfectly capable of protecting me.”

”Yep,” He walked into the living room. ”I swear on my life I won’t let that madman kill her. He’ll have to go through me first. Which, won’t happen anyway.”

“Young man it isn't just the notion of a killer on our streets that is preventing me from allowing my only grandchild to go out into the shop with a stranger, it is the fact that you are teens and need a chaperone. So if you don't mind I'm watching the news. Tessa dear bring me a drink of water please.” The old woman turned back to the tv which was recounting all the details about the murder again. Tessa saw Rachel Lewis’ last year yearbook picture displayed.

Austin walked back into the kitchen, and when he was sure Tessa’s nan couldn’t see him, he flopped onto the ground, dramatically dragging himself across the floor. ”Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh.” He muttered. Tessa restrained a laugh.

”I warned you.” She pulled a glass down and then looked down at Austin. “Want a glass of water too?” She was already pulling two more glasses out of the cupboard.

”Have you got incredibly strong alcohol that will make me forget the frustration of trying to persuade your grandmother to let us out? He groaned, sitting up and leaning against the wall. ”I’m practically in prison!”

”Unfortunately my mom is a teetotaler. You do know you can leave.” Tessa said as she filled the glasses with water.

”But it’d be without you.” He announced sadly. ”I’m not ready to become lonely again.” The teen chuckled, standing up and walking over. He turned her to face him, kissing her. Tessa kissed back, savoring the moment.

“My water?” Her grandmother's voice cut through the kiss like a knife.

”You have got to be kidding me.” Tessa sighed. ”I'll be right back.” She took one of the glasses and went out into the living room, and was back as quickly as she could be. Austin smiled at her.

”Don’t think I’ll let your grandma ruin our thing.” He embraced her, continuing their kiss.

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

Tess would be visiting her mom's side of the family, and probably end up at the Well's family block party. Mostly she'd just be sad, but now she had someone new to celebrate it with <3

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

The budding relationship post

Tessa Gray

Location: Home -> Simone's cafe
Interacting with: Grant @Altered Tundra and Austin @Wade Wilson

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Part way through the second round of Splatoon Tess received the first text from Austin. That caused her to almost lose the round. “Sorry,” Tessa told Grant after the game was over. “I’m going to go to the cafe.” How to get him to go to school without making him feel like she was ditching him? Tessa gave herself a mental slap and decided to be honest. “So Austin is meeting me for coffee.” She felt her ears light on fire almost and was glad they were covered by her hair and beanie. “You can stay here or go back to school if you want. My gran shouldn’t come over since she doesn’t know anyone’s home.”

”I think I’ll go to school. I think I’m ready now. Tell Austin I said hi, by the way.” Grant said, waving bye to Tess. Not long after she left, Grant himself would go back to school. He probably missed first period, but he just wanted to go to school. Maybe seeing Olivia would change his mood about his father and what the fear did to him earlier.

Tessa made her way to the cafe, she hadn’t been there in ages. Of course that had been by choice because she did that to avoid Nina. She didn’t have to worry about Nina being there right now, because Nina would be at school, and Tessa wasn’t avoiding her anymore. Well a part of Tess was still pissed at Nina, and jealous of course, not that she wished Petyr dead, nothing of the sort, but she couldn’t get that feeling of sadness to leave her alone whenever she was around Nina. After the time with Grant and Nina, she realized that more people relied on her than she realized. That didn’t make any sense of course. Why would someone take strength from her? She was falling apart at the seams.

Then to get the texts from Austin, the cute, and silly British guy she had liked almost since he had moved to town. He was just checking on her, right? Really, he just knew that she was a wreck right now, reasonably so, and was making sure all was well. Who was she to deny meeting him so he could see she’d be okay, especially since she was happily avoiding the damn service. It’d just be rude to not invite him for coffee, she had been briefly tempted to invite him over to her house to play splatoon since he enjoyed it too. That seemed too... well just too anything and if her Gran had decided she wanted a glass of water and rather than get it from her own fridge inexplicably made her way over to the Gray house because the water tasted better there (wouldn’t be the first time). Then she’d walk in on them sitting there playing splatoon and the proverbial shit would have hit the fan.

No it was much safer to go for coffee while everyone was at the service, now that she thought about it would Simone’s even be open? God how stupid was it that a bunch of people getting murdered made a holiday in the town. At least she had stopped going to the dinner.

Tessa paused outside the cafe, for a moment frozen, the whole world was just too weird these last couple of days. With a deep breath she entered, and found Austin almost immediately.

”Hello Austin.” Tessa said, she gave a small smile, more than she was known to do in her normal day-to-day life.

Austin flashed Tessa a big grin as she walked him, paired with a cute little wave.

”Hey, Tess! Was just about to order coffee.”

”What do you like? I usually get a cappuccino.”

”What? I totally like cappuccinos too! I mean, if I’m forced to have something else, I’ll go with a latte, but cappuccinos are like, number one to me.” He waved his arms about in an exaggerated fashion of surprise.

”Really?” Tessa raised an eyebrow, her small smile grew a bit. ”I think my second favorite is mocha’s especially the one’s with peppermint.”

”Totally love a peppermint mocha in winter. I mean, I order them all the time in the countdown to Christmas.” He grinned even wider, which until now seemed like an impossible task to accomplish. Tessa stepped up to the counter and ordered her cappuccino dry. Austin ordered the same, with his signature grin ever growing wider.

”The foam is the best part.” Tessa pronounced when he ordered his dry as well.

”Totally. You should come ‘round one day for when my mum-” He cleared his throat, correcting himself. ”-mom makes them. She sprinkles sugar and chocolate powder on top, and it all melts into the foam.

”That sounds amazing! Normally I just put nutmeg on it.” Tessa tilted her head. ”You know you don’t have to correct yourself like that. I don’t mind if you say mum.”

”Really?” His grin became a soft, surprised smile. ”Normally I get all the strange looks on the earth when I say words like they do in England. Also, what’s nutmeg? I’ve lived in America for two years and actually have no idea what it is.”

”It’s fine I swear. It reminds me that there is life and a world outside of this town.” Tessa looked sad for a brief moment. ”Nutmeg though is basically the best nut on the planet. They have some here, so you should totally add it to your coffee to try it.” She pointed to the small counter with the assorted coffee additives.

”Okay then.” He grabbed his cup, taking it over to the counter and hesitantly adding a few sprinkles of nutmeg on the foam. He turned back to Tessa, showing her the cup. ”Like this?”

Tessa nodded, and added nutmeg to her own drink, considerably more than Austin had. “That’s good for trying it.” When they got back to their seat, Tess looked around the empty coffee shop, everyone was at the memorial service except the poor employee and them. Though Tess celebrated that. ”How are things going with that new thing?” God that’s painfully vague.

Austin got what she was getting at, however, and gave a quick ‘oh’ before filling her in. ”Yeah, it’s been going okay. My nose bled around, I dunno, thirteen, fourteen times? But other than that, it’s been pretty cool. Nice to know I don’t have to get up an hour early to make sure I get to school on time.” His grin returned, before he slowly sipped his coffee. His eyes lit up in awe, and he stared at the cup like it was made out of gold. ”Where have I been all my life? Nutmeg is amazing!

Tessa laughed, a real and genuine laugh. ”You can understand now why I always add it to my coffee. Yeah, I haven’t had any nosebleeds, but man did I have one killer migraine yesterday. Haven’t done anything today so the headache I’ve been nursing since Sunday is mostly gone now, which is lovely. Hope it doesn’t turn out that I’ve got the power because I have a brain tumor or something like that.” Tessa shivered at the thought.

Austin let out a chuckle himself. ”I don’t think having a brain tumour can give you powers. It’s not as easy as getting bit by a spider, y’know.” He joked, hoping to god Tess would get the Spiderman reference.

”Well John Travolta is no Spiderman, but I am pretty certain he was in a film about having a brain tumor and getting super powers. Not that I remember the name of the movie.”

He raised his hands in confusion. ”Don’t ask me; I haven’t seen a single John Travolta movie since Hairspray and Grease.” He laughed. ”And that plot sounds pretty weird, I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t turn out a big success.

”Yeah I don’t think it was that big of a film. It was from the nineties, my parents watched it once. I only remember it because the ending was really dramatic. He’s like ‘I sense an earthquake’ and then he died and everyone was safe from the earthquake or something like that. Needless to say I do not recommend it unless you like cheesy nineties films.” She gave a shrug.

”Trust me - I would pick that over non-stop ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ episodes any day. My dad used to watch that, like, all the time!” He groaned dramatically.

”My turn to say I’ve never heard of it.” Tessa said.

”Lucky you.” He chuckled. ”It’s basically an annoying American ‘comedy’ that was on E4 back in England. I don’t think you’ll have heard of the channel, either. They did show some good stuff, though, like Supernatural and The Big Bang Theory.”

”I like Supernatural, never got that into The Big Bang Theory. I always felt like it was over the top.” She gave a small shrug.

”Well, it can be a bit much, but I enjoy it anyway. I’ve tried to keep up with Supernatural, but my time of watching CW is too busy being spent watching The Flash and Arrow.” He chuckled. ”I’m enjoying what episodes of Season 10 I can catch, though.”

”I didn’t even see all of season 10.” Tessa facepalmed. ”I’m a terrible nerd. I also haven’t caught up with Doctor Who. It’s just been too painful lately. I can’t do it.”

”Ah, I’m just waiting for Season 9 to start! I can’t believe-” He stopped himself. ”Wait, which was the most recent episode of it you watched? Doctor Who, that is.”

”The Christmas special.”

”Wait, last year’s?” He chuckled. ”You’re that far behind on it?” Tess gave a sad nod. Austin hugged her. ”Don’t you worry - I’ll get you caught up.” Tessa hugged Austin back, and was thankful he couldn’t see her face, because she was certain it was beet red from how hot it felt.

”Thank you.” She said leaning back from the hug. ”I need someone to watch it with.”

”Don’t you worry, my fellow nerd. You shall be saved from this terrible isolation of non-Doctor Who!” He proclaimed in a jokingly triumphant way. He burst into laughter afterwards, garnering a strange look from the barista in the process. Once he’d calmed down, he looked into Tessa’s eyes and smiled. ”You know, I don’t think I’ve ever felt this genuinely happy in a long time.”

”I have to say, same here. It’s weird, but since the eclipse things have seemed to be a bit brighter. I mean all day I haven’t once wished to disappear and normally by this time I’ve done it at least a dozen times. And this is nice. I haven't talked to people much lately, especially about the extra nerdy things.” Tessa paused, “Have you ever seen any of my art?”

”To be honest, I didn’t actually know that you did art. Would you be willing to show me some?” He smiled, adding, ”And yeah. This is nice. Just don’t go disappearing on me, okay?” He laughed.

”Yeah of course I’d be willing. And don’t worry it’s hard for me to do that when people are actually looking.” Tessa said, smiling. ”Pictures or the real thing?”

”The real thing would be awesome. If that’s okay with you, of course. I don’t know what your gran would think if she came over to yours and you’ve got a random guy there. A British one, at that.” He finished off his coffee, taking out his phone and looking in the reflection. He carefully messed around with the foam on his lip, making a twirly mustache out of it, donning a posh accent. ”I presume that is where you keep your art.”

Tessa had watched Austin with a bemused smile, and then she snorted when he spoke with the posh accent. ”I’m glad I wasn’t drinking anything just now.” She shook her head, still smiling. ”Yeah that’s where it is. I have a woodshop in the back yard that used to be my dad’s. Gran might come over, she’s been known to show up randomly. I’ll show you pictures for now, then the real thing later okay.” Tessa took out her own phone and pulled up the file that was of her art. ”There everything in that file is my work.” Most of it was partially finished wood statues, some with paint, most without.

Austin flicked through the pictures, all the while with a look of awe and admiration on his face. ”This is amazing, Tess! I just wish I could do stuff like this. The best I can do is draw a crappy cartoon dog.” He chuckled, pretending to twirl his mustache, and re-donning the accent (making sure Tess wasn’t drinking first, of course). ”And a charming gentleman, on occasion.” Tessa laughed.

”My drawing isn’t that great. I can just do sketches of what I want to do with the wood. Wood though, that speaks to me. When I was little we’d go to the beach and I’d collect driftwood and make things out of that. For my thirteenth birthday my dad gave me a key to his wood shop and I’ve used it almost every day since. That’s what art is, really, just doing it.”

”That’s amazing, Tess, honestly.” He handed the phone back, smiling. ”Though, just a word of advice? Don’t tell my brother that. Otherwise he’ll use it as an excuse to binge-eat Oreos.” He laughed, sending a little froth flying onto the table.

“Oh god that’s not art.” Tessa said laughing. ”That’s more like attempted suicide by diabetes.”

”Not to be morbid, but some days, I wish it was. Anyway, away from all that.” He swatted at invisible flies. ”How’s your life been? You know if you ever need support, I’ll be there.” He smiled.

”Honestly, like I said, things are looking better. I actually had a conversation with Nina this morning. Where I didn’t quite apologize, but I promised I’d be less of an ass, which is a big start for me.” Tess shook her head. ”It’s hard, I’ve been mad at her too long I think, and she doesn’t deserve that. Other than that I got invited to a party, which hasn’t happened in years.” What Tessa didn’t say was that the last time she had been invited to a party it was because Janice had been invited and so you can’t tell the weird twin they’re not invited right in front of the person you want at the party.

”That’s great! I’m glad to see you’re fixing broken bonds and all that jazz. Honestly, I don’t think I’d have the guts to. But I truly am proud of you.” He embraced her in a warm hug. ”And honestly, now things are looking better, it’s only gonna go uphill from here. You’ve got a helluva life ahead of you, Tess.”

”I hope so. I never saw a future without...” She trailed off. ”But I think I can do it now.”

He came back from the hug in order to look her in the eyes. ”Tess,” he smiled. ”I know you can do it. And if anyone doubts you, tries to bring you down, or says you can’t do anything, then they’ve never been so wrong about something in their life.”

”Thank you Austin. That means a lot to me.” Tess leaned over and went to kiss Austin on the cheek. He recognized the move, and turned his head, so the kiss ended up on the lips. Tess bounced back, surprise on her face. ”Sorry I didn’t mean to...” Her face was burning again.

”Hey, don’t worry - I did.” He smiled. ”Tess, I’ve had a crush on you ever since I moved here. And spending this time with you has made me realise… I love you.” He stared into her eyes.
”Really? Me?” Tess stared at him confused. ”I was practically invisible before I could even turn invisible, and you’re telling me you even noticed me?” She could tell her face was only getting redder.

”Tess, every time I was in a school corridor with you, you were the only person I could focus on. Everytime I’m near you, it’s like I can just sense it. You’ve given me confidence without even meaning to.” He smiled.

”I noticed you too. I mean you’re hard to miss. Everything about you just makes me smile. I swear you’re one of the few people that has gotten me to smile in the last few years. I just, oh god how do I say this, I just didn’t think I mattered and so I didn’t say anything. God I’m going to have a lot to talk about Thursday.” She buried her face in her hands trying to hide the growing redness. ”What I’m trying to say is I like you too. I don’t know about love, that’s harder, and messier, but I want to be around you. I want to get to know you even more. I want to watch Reno nine-nine just to see what it’s about and so I can know what you watched growing up.”

Austin smiled. ”I feel the exact same way about you. I want to learn how to sculpt wood, watch that movie with John Travolta, and be around you all the time. I want to know what shows you like, if you read comics, what books you’ve read, what fandoms you’re in, what friends you have.” He lifted her head out of her hands. ”Don’t worry, you don’t have to be embarrassed. You don’t have to be afraid to show your flaws. Heck, I used to be scared of hamsters.” He laughed. Tessa laughed too.

”That’s ridiculous. So does this mean we’re... Uh, dating?”

”Yeah… I guess we’re dating.”

Northwood Academy

Looks good I'll get a response for Ash up soon. Kat and I are going to have a guest over this weekend so we may be a bit distant, but we'll try to keep up on here.

Wolf Manor

I'm here just busy with work

The Mundane [Small-Town Teenage Superheroes]

The “my family’s dead” gang

Tessa Gray

and

Everett

Location: Home -> Outskirts of town

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Tessa needed air. Her mother and grandmother were fighting again and it was driving her nuts. She walked out through the front door not even noticed as she passed right by them. The part of her head that always started aching when she activated her power let her know that it was indeed active. She only kept it up long enough to get off their street unnoticed. There were a few people that might tell her mom she was out and about if they noticed.

Once she was a few blocks away she let the power drop and felt the headache take a back seat, even after the advil she had had earlier the headache was impossible to kill. Tessa figured that’d just be something she’d have to get used to when she used her power now. At least it wasn’t a bloody nose.

The air was warm, and felt nice as she walked, wandered more like. Lost in thought. Everything that had happened that day ran through her mind. The meeting, the text from Nina, and of course that the next day would be the stupid memorial. Her therapist had brought that up, asked her how she felt about that. Irritated she had tried to disappear, but apparently when someone was watching her she couldn’t vanish from their sight.

Now though things just sucked. Her head hurt and her heart ached. If she weren’t so mad at Nina she’d probably take her up on the chat, she could use her best friend. Tessa’s thoughts were cut into when she heard a motorcycle round the corner, she glanced over her shoulder curious as to who it might be.

Everett hadn't been gone for more than five minutes. Stopped at a stop sign he looked both ways. All he could see was a figure a couple of blocks down. It was the only person that was gonna be as miserable as he was gonna be tomorrow. Tessa, she lost her sister. He lost his parents, one would think they be close but they did a decent job of keeping away from each other. It was almost like a talent for the both them.

He sat there for a moment, thinking of what he should do. The smart thing to do was to leave, and not talk to her. It was just gonna piss him off more to talk about tomorrow but Everett wasn't one to run away from a little hurt.

In his pack he could feel the helmet he’d let Nina borrowed get heavy. With a heavy sigh he pulled it out and slipped his arm through the visor. Pulling right up to Tessa, he held it out. “Nice day for a ride. How about it?” There was a certain sorrow in his eyes, one that only Tessa was really going to understand.

Tessa was torn. This was Everett, an old friend of Janice’s. She had avoided him, much like she had avoided anything to do with Janice’s life as much as she could. It only took one serious look at him though for her to take the helmet without a word. She slipped it on and climbed onto the bike behind him. “Can we leave the town, just for a bit? Anywhere but this stupid place.” Her voice sounded wet, as if she had been fighting tears.

“Yeah… just hold on tight. We don't need another death around here.” That was far from the best thing to say, or to hear. Yet, there was a truth to it that hit home more for the both of them. Tessa’s arms tightened around him either way.

He popped his bike into gear and took off. Still heading north. There was a place out of town, an old dirt road, long forgotten by the people of the county. It was quite, peaceful and good hour and half outside of town.

The dirt road lead to a hill side, one that you could see for miles around. It was the stuff that postcards were made of. The ride was silent and as enjoyable as it could be, given all the goings on in both their lives. As they reached the top of the hill. Everett killed the engine, letting it roll to a stop. He relaxed waiting on her to hop off so he could put the kickstand down.

Tessa climbed off the bike, and removed the helmet. She handed it over to Everett when he was ready. At first she was quiet, what could she say to him? They had barely spoken in over three years. She finally decided for, “Thanks.” Simple and to the point. There wasn’t anything else she could say, at least not yet.

Everett didn't reply, he hung the helmets on the rear view mirrors and walked towards the edge of the hill. Lighting a cigarette and exhaling, he just sat there taking in the view. It took awhile for him to say anything. Partly not wanting to, partly because he was worried how far down the rabbit hole this was gonna go. “How yah been Tessa. It's been what…? Six, seven months?” His focus stayed on the landscape.

“Oh I’ve been okay. Mom’s been making me go to a therapist. He’s pretty useless. It’s not like you can actually talk to them about what you’re really thinking. If you do they send you in for more serious tests.” Tessa looked out at the land laid out before them. It was a beautiful view, something she hadn’t seen in awhile. “I think mom’s getting more religious every day. Throws herself into it like it were her only lifeline. Grandma is getting more insane, half the time she calls me by my aunt’s name who moved to Utah fifteen years ago.” Tessa took a deep breath. “And then today happened.” Today was just too weird to even start on.

“Most you've said to me since we laid your sister low… Don't be so hard on ‘em. Not that they can handle this shit any better than we can... I'd rather lick a bear’s ass than deal with that memorial horse shit tomorrow. I don't see why they can't let a sleeping dog lie.” Everett held out the pack of cigarettes, not knowing if she smoked or not. “Coke in the backpack if you like.”

“Thanks.” She took a cigarette, she had smoked a few times, but wasn’t a serious smoker. The coke sounded more appealing. As she turned to grab one, a tear was visible on her face. “Sorry I’ve been such an ass.” She said as she lit the cigarette. Tessa took a drag and then looked at Everett seriously, “Did you see the eclipse yesterday?”

“I ain't mad about it. Yeah I saw it, I was talking to Momma and Daddy when I saw. Shits been weird ever since. Ain't like they were so normal before.” He said getting to his feet. He saw the tears on her face. He reached out and wiped them away before going to get a Coke of his own. “You going to the service tomorrow?” His voice was starting to get a little shaky.

“Hell no I’m not.” Tessa finished cleaning her face, “Sorry about that.” She sighed. “I can’t stand that stupid service. I went last year, mom made me. I can’t do it again.” She took a deep drink from the coke.

“You ain't gotta have the whole fucking town over to celebrate the lives of the fallen. Fuckin Aunt Lou says it's what they would want. I can't even say no to that, she's right, Momma would do that for the town. Don't mean I wanna sit through that shit.” Everett sighed as he took another drag.

“I’ll disappear if I have to.” That probably made no sense Tessa thought, but it was true. She had the power to now. The power to not be where she was made to be, as long as she was careful about it. “I don’t think Janice would appreciate it.” The name caught in her throat as if from disuse. She took a drag, and then continued. “I think Janice would like the trees, but the service, every year, she’d call it something like ostentatious. Or she’d say people were living in the past too much. That we all should move on, but how am I supposed to move on when half of me has been taken away? How am I supposed to exist and live when the person I was going to be was always someone who was one of a pair? And now that other part of the pair is gone forever.” Tessa was shaking and tears had welled up in her eyes again. “I feel like everyone just wants to live in this pocket of life that we had between finding out what was going on and what happened. It’s stupid and redundant and I just don’t want to be here anymore. I don’t want to have to deal with any of it anymore.”

“Be happy you got the option to leave. I got three miles of land and rights to pay for. Ain't a one tells a fifteen year old about how to pay off almost two million in debt. Just got word last week, I'm one of the top rated high school football players in the state. Doubt I'll even be able to play college ball without losing half the fucking land I got. Aunt Lou might go hungry. And you know damn good and well your sister would be in the kitchen helping my Momma cook up elk for this town…” Everett's sorrowful voice finally gave way to a tear. “I ought not complain. I got it better than most, but I'd see the whole of that town burn for a little more time with em.” Everett sniffed and tried to shake the sorrow away. It wasn't working as well as he'd hoped.

“Same.” Tessa had tears pouring down her face too. She leaned over and wrapped her arm that was holding her coke around Everett. “I’d do it myself if it’d bring them back for even just one day.” The power she held was nothing compared to what that would have meant. She’d give up the superpower in a heartbeat to see her sister again.

Everett wrapped an arm around her. “It'll be okay one day… Or we'll both get lost in a bottle. Whatever comes first.” His free hand was clenched in a fist. One that started glowing brightly, responding to not only his sorrow, but anger at the situation. When he looked at his hand and opened up it, he could see a small picture, one of him and his parents. The picture was no bigger than his palm and fading in out. Unable to hold its form. “Well, I got this going for me…”

Tessa stared at the bright light. “Right the eclipse.” Tessa wiped at her face again to rid it of her tears. “So there was an emergency meeting for the astronomy club. You’re not alone. A bunch of us have powers now. Here I’ll show you mine. Close your eyes for a second, and count to five. When you get to five open them again.” Everett did as he was asked. Tessa focused on the thought that she knew would make her invisible. ‘Don’t see me’.

Everett could still feel her wrapped around his torso “Sure as hell can smell you.” Everett said deadpan. “Looks like you finally got what you wanted Tess, you can't been seen anymore.” He said holding her a little tighter. He couldn't help but wonder, if all this wasn't going on, if the memorial service and his parents weren't messing with his mind so much, just how much would he be freaking out right now?

“Yeah looks like it doesn’t it?” As soon as Tessa said that Everett could see her again. “Still learning how it works. Apparently touching doesn’t break it. Talking does, and if you’re watching when I do it, it doesn’t seem to work. I tried it at the therapist today. Anyway a lot of people seem to be able to do something. Like Moon can float, and Jay can open wormholes or something. He apparently teleported into girl’s bathroom this morning.”

“Fuck Moon, I hope her French ass floats off to whatever swamp she learned that voodoo shit in.” Everett thought bitterly. He knew she'd been hanging out with Moon as of late. That was the only thing keeping his mouth shut. “Jay in girls bathroom ain't all that surprising, bet he wanted to the study the effect of a used tampon.” There was a hint of a chuckle there.

“I know that Nina can control fire, she's just shitty at it.. Poor girl.” Everett said almost coming back to his normal self.

She took a drag off the cigarette. “Guess I will have that chat with Nina tomorrow. She’ll be surprised.” God the world was too different. Everything was just wrong. Tessa finished the cigarette, and put it out on the bottom of her boot. “How’d you find out?”

Everett wasn't ready to tell Tessa about the budding… Whatever they were. What happened out in the woods, might be better told from Nina than Everett. “She came over and we banged. For like… three hours, all kinds of butt stuff. That girl in the sack… Damn that's the shit dreams are made of.” Everett couldn't help but bust out laughing. The first smile since he last saw Nina.

Tessa’s jaw dropped. Nina, her best friend since they could walk, Nina... “That explains the text.” She took a swig of her coke, finishing it off. “No but in all seriousness.” She added, for a moment she had believed him, for one brief second she thought Nina had gone to the ‘dark side’, but now she was grinning at the joke. “Bet it was hot.”

“She's got this one thing she does with her tongue, honey, it'd make a porn star jealous… That girl has talent. You should call her Tessa, she'd love to hear from you.” Everett was trying not to laugh. It was nice to see Tessa smile, even if it was just a little.

Tessa was a little grossed out, she knew Everett was joking, but this was her best friend, well Nina had been her best friend before... She gave a bit of a shiver, and was glad she didn’t have anything more to drink because she was certain she would have choked. “Yeah, she’s planning on dropping by tomorrow morning before school. I may not hide from her anymore like I was planning.”

“She'll have a story to tell to be sure.” Everett said calmly. “You ought not hide from her, do you good to be friends again.”

Friends was reaching, Tessa was still mad at Nina, but maybe something in between. “What are you going to do tomorrow to avoid the ceremony?” Tessa asked deciding a change in subject was in order.

“Same thing I do to avoid everything else. Work, unless Aunt Lou throws a fit. We're having a party afterwards, you outta come. Might be fun, I think me and Rowdy are gonna go a couple rounds.” Everett said with a certain resignation to his voice.

“I’ll see about that. If you don’t see me around I may still be there. Or I might be in my shop building something. That’s what I do to avoid stuff.” Tessa wasn’t certain if Everett knew about her art, it had been that long since they had really talked.

“Am I gonna need to send a search party? Nina ought to be there, bunch of other people from school.” Everett said trying to coax her into it.

“They’d never see me.” She grinned a bit. “I might be there okay, no promises though. Don’t freak if I’m not. Sometimes I just can’t do things, even if I want to. The shrink says it’s because I’m depressed. I say it’s because sometimes even the things that seem like fun have no life to them.”

“You know I gotta wolf right? If I can smell you, he can too. We'll find yah Tess. Even if it's just to check in on you.” Everett sassed back. “Maybe Jay can use his tampon research to locate you.”

Tessa was about to say something smart back at Everett, but the last bit caught her off guard. She stared at him wide eyed, and grinning. Tessa shook her head. “Oh my god. I was going to say I’ll take a shower, but that takes the cake. All right you win. If mom let’s me I’ll be there okay.” She held up her hands in defeat.

Everett took a couple of small bows. “Thank you, thank you. I'm here till next Tuesday. I may not be the smartest around, but I know pink haired dude. You ready to head back?” Everett said fully satisfied.

“Yeah I’m getting tired, and I know mom will eventually realize I’m not home.”

“Home it is, let's get going.” Everett said handing her a helmet. Tessa took the helmet, and once Everett had climbed onto the bike she climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around him again.

The ride back was much more enjoyable than the last one coming out. He stopped about a block from her house, wanting to make sure he'd not cause any issues.

Tessa climbed off the bike and handed Everett the helmet back. “Thanks Everett. I appreciated it tonight. I needed that more than I thought. I hope you feel a bit better too.”

“Don't be a stranger Tess. Stop by the lodge sometime.” That was all he said before riding off outta sight.

Tessa gave a deep sigh and headed toward her house. God she smelled of smoke, and that apparently didn’t go away when she disappeared. She was dead meat if her mom was awake. Once inside the house she could hear the television going. Her mom was awake. Maybe just maybe she hadn’t noticed her missing daughter. She closed her eyes for a second and willed herself to be invisible again, and she bolted up the stairs to her bathroom. Her mom never called out her name.

Frontier – [ Full || Sci-Fi || Firefly-Inspired ]

Beth with special guests: A ton of angry and very rude people ie: Red, that Doctor, and some henchmen

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The coffee in Beth’s hands was cooling down, but she didn’t seem to notice. She hadn’t taken a sip for a few minutes. Instead she was staring out the window seeing something that wasn’t there. One might think she was watching the horizon, not there was a whole lot to watch, but if one could see into her mind they’d know that she was thinking about her twin sister’s wedding. An event that had happened almost three years prior, an event that Beth had missed.

Jess and Beth hadn’t spoken in nearly five years, not that they didn’t want to, or at least Beth wanted to speak with Jess. She missed her twin sister, but Beth had gotten herself into and out of a few pickles that made contacting Jess dangerous for the other twin. Now she was starting a family, for all Beth could guess Jess probably already had kids, which made Beth an aunt. Not that that was something new, but it’d be the first time she was a full aunt instead of a half-aunt. With dozens of half-siblings out there, not to mention the even more amount of cousins and fictive kin, it was impossible for Beth to go somewhere and not run into family. There was however so few full blooded siblings that Beth held their relation to her closer. The thoughts of Jess turned to her baby brother, and what he may be doing.

She took a sip of her coffee, the added ‘flavorer’ burned a bit, but nothing she wasn’t used to. A proximity alarm beeped. The other’s were back, that was a relief. Spending alone time meant thinking too much. Beth made her way down to bay, took another swig of her coffee, they hadn’t been gone long enough. Something must have gone wrong.

The bay doors opened on their own. Beth stood for a moment confused. The door revealed, a man who was clearly in charge of this expedition, a woman in a lab coat that had once been white but the desert had turned it a yellow brown, and several henchmen.

“Fuck.” Beth said under her breath, and finished off what was left of her cold coffee it left a bitter acrid taste in her mouth. ”Can I help you?” She said, this time loud enough to get the man’s attention. Beth wondered what happened to her shock gun she had stolen on Godwin.

“Heh, yes you may. Your captain told me there was a box here for me. A very valuable one. I’m here to retrieve it.” How had this tool heard about the box? Who had Trish told? There was no way the capt’n had sold it, not for anything. Beth had seen his look when he found out it was space sickness. No this was Trish’s doing, it had to be.

”Sorry no can do. He told me no such thing.” Beth made a small prayer to the gods of the circus, the only gods she had ever prayed to.

“I don’t think you understand. I’m here for the package.” Several guns were raised and pointed at her. Well that escalated quickly. Over her dead body Beth decided. She dived, rolled and bounced up onto a crate. The circus gods were listening it seemed. The coffee mug lay forgotten as she jumped and grabbed the railing of the catwalk. Bullets rang out as they hit the hull and cargo crates.

Beth pulled herself up onto the catwalk. ”I’d have your men stop firing. They might hit the crate with it in it.”

“You wouldn’t be dumb enough to lead them to shoot at it.” The man shouted at her.

“I was born shipside.” That response weighed heavily across the distance between her and the man. His group boarded the ship. Trish for the love of god please tell me you left a bomb somewhere on this ship. Beth doubted it, all of those resources were being used on the mission the group had been sent on. The man looked up at her on the catwalk.

“You’re spry.” He grinned. “Could use you. If you hand over the crate I’ll let you join my men.” Beth felt a chill down her spin.

”I’d rather suffer space sickness.” Not that she could of course. The guns were raised again at her, she was already rolling away from where she had been standing when the bullets started flying. Good thing these ships were designed to not let bullets through. In space that’d be really bad for the oxygen level. Beth dropped off of the catwalk behind several of the crates.

Beth opened one to see if by chance something useful was inside it, packets of food, that’d be great for dinner, if she ever got to see that again. Okay, time to split them up, she could handle one at a time. There were four henchmen, the doctor and the gross man. The henchmen would have to go first. Then she’d have a gun.

“Behind those crates.” There was a scraping sound and the crate Beth was hiding behind started to move. She now stood feet from the invaders of the ship. Jerks. She jumped, using the crates as a step up again, grabbed the catwalk, swung around and kicked one of the henchmen in the head. Beth missed her barstool, made fighting more even when everyone had a barstool or a cue pole. Beth was good with a cue pole, at playing pool and kicking ass with it.

“Impressive.” The man said as Beth flipped up onto the catwalk again. She was running, and used that momentum to launch herself onto another collection of crates. “Find the crate.” She heard from the man. Beth cursed under her breath. The psycher did not make this easy. Trish really needed to pick better friends, ones that didn’t like to kill, that’d be nice. Beth didn’t particularly want to be killed, she had things to do, people to see, things to drink. Mostly the last one if she was honest with herself.

The henchmen were searching now though. One was unconscious, three searching, and damn she hadn’t grabbed that gun. Maybe now she could get one of the henchmen alone though. That’d be the best. Bar fights she’d fight many, real fights she preferred one-on-one. She slipped off her boots, they’d only make noise and get her caught.

For a few seconds Beth thought of her days high up on a rope with nothing but air between her and the hard ground. Those were the good days. She mentally sighed and started making her way around the crates listening for the sounds of boots against the metal of the cargo bay.

Someone was rummaging through a crate. Silently she stepped from behind her own crate to find one of the henchmen elbow deep in the packaged goods, looked like it might be linens. Before the man could realize she was there she kicked the side of his knees hopefully shattering it. He cried out in pain, and the cracking sound was satisfying. She pulled his gun away from him, shot him once in the chest and ran, hiding again.

A part of her felt bad for shooting the man the other part of her knew she had to. If his knee wasn’t broken he’d be picking up the other gun in moments. Beth doubted the shot actually killed him, it would just finish incapacitating him. She remembered a phrase from her father, ‘An injured man did more damage than a dead man’. An injured man would draw more manpower to help him than a dead man. It was too late for the dead man.

Another shot rang out, and the sounds of the man struggling to breath stopped. Well so much for that idea. The doctor wasn’t going to be distracted now.

Two henchmen down, two to go. Then the doctor and the man. She did not want to kill someone the capt’n had been doing honest dealings with, but this was not honest. She hoped he’d forgive her. Maybe taking out the doctor first would be a good idea. What little Beth knew about psychers though she couldn’t do too much heavy lifting without knocking herself out.

Beth climbed back onto the catwalk. High ground was always good to have. She saw one of the henchmen trying to sneak around a crate. Seriously, she had already proven she could get up on the catwalk without trying, no one was looking up. Idiots. She shot him aiming for his head, but hitting his shoulder. Yuck.

Not taking the view in too long Beth already started moving, no way in hell was was she going to stay in one place too long. A life philosophy practiced on a much smaller scale.

A few shots rang against the catwalk and pain flared in Beth’s back. She reached back and when she brought her hand forward it was covered in blood. That was bad, very bad. The only doctor Beth knew about was the one below her looking for the space sickness containers.

“Found it.” The last henchman’s voice rang out behind her. Sure enough he was standing in front of the correct crate. Beth took the shot, missing him, took another and shot him in the arm. She needed to practice her shooting badly, if she made it out of this. He shot at her, a bullet just missed her face. She dived and shot at him again this time nailing him in the chest. The doctor came into view, holding her own gun now. Beth took a shot, missed her, the doctor raised her gun and aimed at Beth. Both guns went off at the same time. The doctor’s shoulder started bleeding and Beth felt like her forearm was on fire.

The doctor retreated.

“Best hope this is the last time we meet little miss.” The man called from the cargo bay doors. He and the doctor left, leaving the four bodies behind.

“Great I’m going to have to clean that up aren’t I?” Beth leaned against the catwalk railing and took a few deep breaths. ”First my wounds, then the bodies.” Beth pulled herself up and took the stairs off the catwalk. She closed the cargo bay doors, and then went to the medical bay. She stuffed the wound in her back with gauze first. There was no exit wound, which meant at some later point she’d have to get help getting the bullet out. It also seemed that nothing major had been hit, that had to be a miracle.

Once Beth finished cleaning and wrapping that she took care of the graze on her forearm. That was basically the same as a burn. A drink was order when she was done with that. From a flask in her now ruined coat she took a deep swig. ”Alcohol thins the blood don’t drink it when you’re freezing or bleeding.” She recited and took another drink. ”I know dad.” That was better all around though. Now to clean up the mess and make sure the one she had kicked in the head was still unconscious or dead. That probably would have been a good thing to check before she had left him alone. All well, she had been bleeding pretty badly.