Saturday, September 6th | Fuedz Corner Store | NYC / NY | 20XX
Lindy had tried to relax after she got home, but just wasn't feeling comfortable. Lunch was nice with her dad, but her mom wasn't going to be back until that evening, and that gave Lindy a chance to stretch her legs for awhile. Her dad had been worried, but she assured him she was okay. The worst of it was over, and she was perfectly healthy, like the doctors said! Heck, now that she was on the streets, she felt even better than usual! Maybe it was the freedom after those days in the hospital, but she was feeling faster than usual, and had the stamina of a race horse! Must've just been getting excited about being out and about again, she figured. What mattered is that she was free again, and she'd appreciate the fact she was allowed to come out of that hospital alive. This run would be the start of that!
She'd worked up a sweat after a while, starting to get thirsty. Luckily her dad gave her a few bucks, given the circumstances about her wallet. Damn... Just thinking about that irritated Lindy. She knew she'd have to go replace everything that'd be in there, but some things like family photos she'd never get back. All she could assume is that the girl needed the money, and that what little she had was of use to whatever made her so desperate.
Brushing it off for now, Lindy slowed her pace and approached a corner store, just looking to get a bottle of water and maybe a cheap sweet treat. She pushed open the door, a chime playing alerting the cashier to her presence. Lindy waved happily at the cashier, before wandering in the store and searching for what she wanted. After grabbing a cold bottle of water, she took a minute to eye all the candy. Oh, so many choices. If there’s one thing anyone who was friends with Lindy knew, it was that she had a sweet tooth. Sweets were a weakness and an easy way to make her happy, though she wasn’t bad enough to be unable to realize when she should stop. She’d just eat a little more than that and then call it good. Lindy heard nothing aside from the old song playing from a radio behind the register, a song she couldn't really pinpoint whatsoever because of the audio quality. But she did hear the entrance chime again, eyes focusing on the door momentarily to notice a few men walk in. She quickly looked back at the candy, curiosity satisfied with just that.
Little did she expect…
"Empty that fuckin' register, now!"She flinched from the shouting.
"You've got to be kidding..." Lindy muttered, eyes locking onto the men who entered the store. They both had firearms drawn, threatening the cashier. Who the hell robbed a store in the
afternoon? Were they that desperate? This area wasn’t very populated at the moment so maybe they thought they could get away with it? Regardless, Lindy was quick to pull out her phone, trying to hide behind the candy rack as she tried dialing 9 1---
"Don't even think about it." One of the men spoke, causing Lindy to glance upwards and notice one of them now looming over her, the girl's heart almost pounding out of her chest in fear of the firearm being gestured towards her in one of his hands, while he held out the other.
"Just give me the phone, and nothing bad's gotta happen." He instructed, face covered by a mask and baggy coat. He sounded middle-aged? Or like an adult, anyways. These were grownups threatening her life just for some register cash.
"O-Okay, take it!" Lindy squeaked, holding her phone out with an obviously terrified expression on her face. The man snatched it, seeming to eye the damaged screen for a moment before turning his attention to his partner that was shaking down the man at the register. He walked a short distance away, but Lindy didn't feel safe trying anything. God, first her wallet, and now her phone. What the hell was with this city lately? And why was it picking on her?! She gritted her teeth, simply having to watch this robbery happen in front of her face.
Alan breathed in the fresh air as he walked down the road, hands in the pockets of his jacket, absentmindedly fumbling the mask in one of them. Sure, city air wasn’t quite as refreshing as the air out in the suburbs but after being cooped up in his home for almost three days he wasn’t going to complain.
He was also wearing his glasses again, despite no longer needing them. His justification for that was a simple one: Corrective eye surgery was very expensive and the last thing he needed right now was to see his poor Mom getting grilled by people over money she clearly didn’t have, especially anyone in their supposed “family”.
Vultures. The whole lot of them. Content to sit by and watch while his Mom and himself struggled to make ends yet when somebody had a bit of extra money lying around they would swoop in and act like they were entitled to it.
The young man shook those thoughts from his head. Now wasn’t the time to think about that, and instead about whatever tasty treat he’d be cooking for his dear Mom. Maybe he’d make his special peanut butter cups, or breaded pork chops with marinara sauce and melted cheese. Heck, he’d probably do both.
With his goal in mind, he picked up the pace towards the store, only to stop at hearing shouting coming from inside. Curiosity overcoming him, he dropped down low and crept towards the entrance, his eyes widened in horror at seeing two armed men ransacking the place. In broad daylight?! Were these dudes just asking for trouble?!
Sure, he knew times were desperate but he figured people around here were smart enough to not do something like this. Apparently, he was wrong.
His worries were only doubled when he caught a glimpse of a certain redhead in the candy aisle being threatened into handing over her phone. “Lindy…” He bared his teeth at seeing the sweet young girl’s life being put on the line before ducking out of sight.
Alan pulled out his phone but stopped himself. By the time police arrived here, the two men would likely be long gone and there was a high chance that Lindy and the cashier’s faces would be on the six o’clock news.
The young man swallowed a lump in his throat as he could suddenly feel a tightness in his chest at being faced with such a predicament. He hated the idea of getting shot at...but he hated the thought of seeing other people hurt on his account far more.
Welp, Alan, it’s time to be a man of your word. He thought to himself as he brought the ski mask out, eyeing the inside of the store to plan out how he was going to handle this.
"You've got to be the slowest goddamn cashier I've ever met!" The more verbose robber had slammed a bag on the table and put emphasis on his gun at this point. The cashier was panicky, hands shaking and seeming to have a hard time actually handling the money. So much that they ended up dropping a handful of the cash to the ground, annoying the robber even further.
"Get your shit together, or I'm going to shoot you dead! What the hell do you not understand?!""Please, just stop--" Lindy felt herself regret these words instantly, as the man's gun fired. Lindy ducked her head and yelped, but looked up to see the damage: The man had shot into the ceiling, seeming to not want a murder charge under his belt. This tactic startled the cashier further but it seemed to make them start working faster. The man that had took her phone turned back to her, gun held close to him as he put a finger over his mouth, shaking his head. Signaling for her to just stop talking. In that moment, one robber was distracted focusing on the little redhead, while the second was furious and had his gun away from either hostage... It was an opportunity, if there ever was going to be one.
Upon seeing the scene escalating, Alan felt something inside him just...snap. It was clear neither of these men gave two shits about people’s lives as long they got a quick buck, and those were the kind of folks the lad had little sympathy for.
As such, he made up his mind and pulled off the glasses, pocketing them, before pulling the ski mask down over his face. It was now or never.
He pushed open the door hard and crossed the length of the room in only a few steps as the world around him seemingly moved in slow motion. Whether that was a result of his nerves kicking into overdrive or a part of his mutation he didn’t know and didn’t really care.
He went for the man who had fired upward, going to snatch him by the forearm and the wrist then squeezing quite hard, enough to hopefully make him drop the gun so he could kick it far away.
If he ended up breaking the guy’s wrist? Well...he wasn’t gonna lose sleep over it.
The chime from the door alerted everybody that someone had entered, Lindy's eyes shooting to the door and seeing a mysterious man in a ski mask. The man looming over her turned, gun seemingly ready, but he hesitated at the view ahead of him: This masked assailant grabbed his partner, and caused the man to wince as his partner's wrist was snapped and the gun hit the floor, man crying out in pain from the sudden force. The fact this scrawny bastard was capable of something like that was terrifying, but he couldn't hesitate further: He'd have to take aim, and shoot.
Lindy was shocked by this masked man's agility, and the brutal action he'd taken on one of the robbers. She noticed the second man taking focus on him and wasn't having any of it. Gritting her teeth and seeing this distraction as her only chance, she knew she could act: She couldn't just let him open fire and potentially shoot someone here, so she sprang up from her position on the ground, aiming to kick the robber that put a gun in her face in the back of his knee. But it came with results she wasn't at all expecting.
The force of her kick caused a horrific cracking noise to emit from the point of contact, the man screaming in agony as his leg was broken as if he'd just been hit with a high-velocity sledge-hammer. He fell to the ground, losing grip on his gun, the weapon sliding across the floor as Lindy stood there, horrified at the result of her strike. Where had all that strength come from? She had been taught about the amount of force it'd take to break a leg, but this was more severe than she could have ever expected, the man's limb was busted beyond any sort of repair, and she found herself stepping backwards, her back against the the coolers with her hands over her mouth, absolutely mortified at the damage she had inflicted. She did it to protect someone, right? He was just some crook and got what was coming to him, his leg shattered, leaving him screaming and unable to do anything. This was a decision she just made, and it was surely the correct one, wasn't it?
Then why did she suddenly feel so afraid, and guilty? She was panicking; Her heart was racing and she just sat there, looking at the scene in front of her unable to move.
Sure enough, Alan’s stunt had the desired effect but, to make sure the guy he attacked wasn’t a threat anymore, he gave him a quick jab to the face to make sure he didn’t wake up.
However, his act of heroism only lasted long enough for the other guy to take notice of his fallen partner and take aim. The masked vigilante hoped he could at least tank a bullet and still have time to knock out the other fella.
However, his plans were thrown a massive curveball when he saw the guy scream bloody murder and crumple to the ground in agony. He didn’t have to look far to see who had lent him a hand as there was only one other person in the store aside from him and the cashier. Lindy.
To say he was caught off-guard by her display of strength would be an understatement. He didn’t like judging based on appearances but, as strong as she was, he doubted she could completely pulverize a guy’s leg like that with just one kick.
It was then he had a theory: Could she have been a victim of the gas attack too? If so, this situation just got like a thousand times more complicated.
Seeing that a phone had fallen out of the guy’s pocket, Alan bent down on one knee and scooped it up before holding it out to her to take back, “Excuse me, Miss, I think this is yours…” His voice was muffled by the mask but he hoped he got his message across.
Of course, that’s when it finally hit him that she was likely having a panic attack at seeing herself basically cripple a guy for life. Granted, he likely deserved it but the look on the poor girl’s face showed she clearly hadn’t meant to do so much damage.
With a sigh, Alan took yet another gamble and lifted his mask just enough to expose his mouth and whisper, “Lindy...Lindy! It’s me, Alan. I’m here…” He went to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “It’s gonna be ok. I’m right here. Deep breath, focus on me and the sound of my voice. I’m right here. I’m. Right. Here.”
Lindy looked up, uncertain of what was going on, as she had spaced out entirely and had to yank herself back to reality. Her phone... That whole situation made her forget her phone. She slowly reached out and took it, staring at it as her hands continued shaking, trying to still process what happened.
"T-Thank you." She replied meekly, unable to pull much enthusiasm out of herself after what she just experienced. She found herself looking at the masked man, eyes somewhat watery as she teared up from the building stress of the last week.
But the tension seemed to drift away, as she felt the man's hand on her shoulder. Her eyes widened, noticing him lift his mask slightly, a familiar name leaving his lips... Alan? Baker boy Alan? What the hell was he doing, wearing a mask and jumping in to fight robbers like that? What if he got hurt?! He wasn't some sort of superhero, or at least she hadn't thought he was... But he handled that robber so quickly, bringing an opportunity to stop the situation. And his voice was so calming right now, causing her heart to stop pounding out of her chest. Lindy lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him, attempting to hug away her fear of both the situation that had just happened, and the damage she inflicted.
"We should go." She whispered, noting the alarm still blaring. The police would be here any second, and Lindy didn't want them questioning them. She needed to understand him first, what he was doing, and why. She didn't want to try and explain things she didn't understand.
"We can talk once we're away from here..."Alan was a little surprised by the sudden hug but a part of him was saying that Lindy needed this right now and so he didn’t put up a fight. Instead, he just smiled and hugged her back, “Yeah. I...I think we both got a lot of things we need to talk about.”
He pulled the mask back down before going to scoop her up into his arms and leaving the store and the broken bodies behind.
The masked man moved like the wind away from the shop and started heading back home, “We can talk about all this back at my place. Don’t worry, my Mom already knows about my...special talents, so you’re free to say whatever you want with her around. I’ll see about getting you something sweet too.”
Lindy was surprised when she ended up being scooped into Alan's arms, but didn't fight it whatsoever. Instead she huddled close to his chest, still afraid but comforted by having him there. He wasn't wrong, there was a lot to talk about. He seemed to know a lot more than she did about this situation, especially to keep his cool where she was a panicky, crying mess. Her eyes scanned over the robbers as they took their leave, feeling bad still despite them being so dangerous and harmful. She hurt that guy
really bad, and it was obvious that leg would never be used again. The cashier seemed to just stay behind the register, not trying to stop them after what he witnessed, and given that his life was safe, had no desire to try and keep them from leaving. It made him anxious to think of dealing with the police, though...
They were moving fast, now that they were out of the store. His mom knew he was doing this? Lindy wondered if she had really known this guy as well as she thought, if he was pulling off stuff like this. But she wasn't going to shun him for it, especially after the ordeal they just went through. She simply allowed herself to be carried, the offer of sweets and a place to relax sounding really good right now. They could talk more once they were comfortable.
Saturday, September 6th | Walker Residence | NYC / NY | 20XX
“Here you go, dearie,” Miss Walker set down a mug of hot cocoa in front of her guest before turning to call out, “Alan! Did you find a blanket yet?”
“Sorry Mom,” The young man dragged into the living room a rather large and comfy-looking blue cotton blanket trimmed with white, “Moment I opened the closet half of everything fell out. Anywho…” He placed the blanket next to Lindy before sprinting to the fridge and pulling out a tin of brownies, setting them in front of the redhead.
“There you go. Feeling any better now?”
Accepting the mug and blanket, Lindy offered a small smile along with a polite
"Thank you, ma'am." Turning and looking between Alan and the brownies in the tin, her smile grew a little wider.
"I'm feeling much better, thanks to you, Alan." She replied to him, truly thankful for his help. If he hadn't been there, she would have been in a lot more trouble, she felt. Setting down the mug, she brought the blanket over herself, the warmth of it replacing what she lost from not being huddled against Alan's chest anymore. She had so many questions and so much confusion from the events that transpired... She had to start somewhere.
"I guess all of those times I called you a hero for the pastries aren't as much of a joke now, huh?" She tried to be lighthearted about it, but she was still confused and worried.
"You... Been doing that for a long time?"“That’s good to hear,” Alan breathed a sigh of relief as he also took a seat, pulling out a can of root beer from his pocket and taking a moment to ponder how he should start explaining. He was saved from thinking too hard by Lindy’s question, to which he shook his head, “Not really. To be honest, that was my first time today doing something like that…”
He pulled open the tab on his drink and took a swig, “Though, to be perfectly honest, it ain’t the first time I’ve had to punch some jerk in the face to protect a person in trouble…” The young man glanced down briefly, memories resurfacing, before looking up at his Mom warily, “Mom? Think you can take over for a bit?”
“Certainly, son,” Miss Walker took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, “As much as I love my son to pieces, Miss Lindy, he has had a few bad run-ins with the law in the past, as have I,” She put up a hand to stop the young girl before she spoke, “And before you ask, no, neither of us have a criminal record. It’s just we’ve run across some….unpleasant individuals in the past…”
“Unpleasant is an understatement…” Alan quipped as he drank some more, “Remember a few months ago some bloke tried to pull a knife on you while we were out for a walk?”
“Yes, and if I remember correctly, you jumped him and broke his nose and his two front teeth. I’m pretty sure he’s still eating through a straw even today,” Miss Walker shook her head, “You’re lucky the police let you off with a warning, young man.”
“I’m not sorry I did it,” He replied while shrugging, only to wince at the scowl she gave him before turning away, “But...I am sorry you had to see that, Mom.”
“I know. I just…” She put a reassuring hand on him, “I worry about you sometimes. That’s all.”
Lindy listened to their story, but had a hard time believing Alan was capable of such things. He seemed so sweet, and kind. But when someone was threatened, as she saw personally back at the corner store, he clearly had the action to back up the words she was hearing now. She couldn't blame him for defending his mom; She'd do the same in a heartbeat if her mom was in danger. She couldn't believe that Alan had just started doing this, though... He came in and got things done effectively, as far as she could tell. Though it was a lot more violent than she would have preferred, thinking back on that man's leg. She looked at her own hands, nervous about picking up the mug again, wondering if she'd just squeeze it too hard and break it, or something.
"Well, I'm not going to judge you for defending your loved ones." Lindy made that clear, glad that neither of them ever ended up in that much trouble with law enforcement. It was saddening to think of bad things happening to these good people often enough for them to be so casual about this. This brought her to another question, trying to dig a little deeper to sate her curiosity.
"What made you do the whole... Vigilante thing, now of all times?" “I appreciate you understanding my situation. I really do,” Alan gave Lindy a grateful smile before laying back on the couch, gulping down more pop, treating it like “liquid courage” of some sort, before speaking, “You remember that gas attack at the local college about a week ago? I was there,”
He waited for his words to sink in before he continued, “All I wanted was to make a bit of extra money selling my baked goods and what happens instead? I get stuck in the hospital for three days not sure if I was gonna live or die. I swear, the universe has a messed up sense of humor at times…”
Alan sat his drink on the table and grabbed a brownie for himself, “And even after I get out, things don’t really improve much. A good portion of the city’s in an uproar, hundreds, if not thousands, are dying in hospitals and it’s clear the police have no idea what’s going on or how to stop it…”
He then glanced down at his arm, “And then there’s this...try not to freak out too much, ok? But if you do I wouldn’t blame you…” With but a thought, he got the muscles in his arm to expand then he hauled his glasses off and blinked. For a brief moment, his eyes were replaced with black beady ones, like a bug’s, before reverting to normal.
She couldn't judge him, not after the help he'd given her. Not before either, really, especially when family was involved. She nodded to take notice of his appreciation, listening to him talk further about the attack on the university. She felt her heart sink, hearing Alan had been in the attack as well.
"My god..." She muttered quietly, knowing how it had been for her, so she pitied him for having to go through that all himself. He'd just wanted to make some extra money, and he got caught up in this mess. Guess he wasn't in much of a different situation than she had been. It made her realize that a lot of people aside from students were impacted from the attack if they were in the surrounding area... She chased that thief into there, and had no idea of she was even alive anymore.
She winced as Alan talked badly about the police, not sure of why it was necessary. This was a big and horrifying ordeal, and it was bad that it ever managed to happen... But whoever pulled it off was obviously prepared. Surely they wouldn't just let some officers catch onto the whole thing, would they? She felt it was an overly harsh judgement, but didn't speak as she couldn't exactly handle conflict right now, and with Alan especially considering their current affairs.
Raising an eyebrow at her telling her to 'not freak out', she had to question it.
"Don't freak out? At what--" She found herself cut off as Alan began to display something unnatural, her reaction quickly changing.
"What the hell?!" She recoiled in the chair, eyes wide. What the hell was he?! What kind of trick was it?! Was he pranking her right now? That arm thing was so goddamn weird, she thought she'd faint from the shock she was just sent through.
""A-Alan, don't tell me this is because of what happened at the university?!" What the hell had they released into the air?! What did she walk into? She looked at herself in a panic, hoping she didn't end up that way. She never did anything that unnatural, or strange... Maybe she got lucky? Though, that being said, she did think back to that man's leg...
No. Those two things couldn't be related at all, right? He must've just had a really fragile leg, or something. Right? R-...Right?
Hearing her worried voice snapped him back to reality and the changes vanished abruptly. Seeing she was distraught once more, he quickly came over and pulled her into his arms, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry...I know this is a lot to take in. Honestly, I’m still trying to make heads and tails about it myself. I just…”
He glanced up to his Mom for guidance but there was nothing she could say...and honestly, what could she say? This entire situation was like out of Alan’s comic books and he was the expert on such matters, not her. As such, he would just need to take this one step at a time, “Ok, let’s...back up a bit, and start with something simple...Lindy? Were you at the campus the day it was attacked…?”
Lindy was surprised to feel herself in Alan's arms again, but regained her composure quickly.
"I'm okay, sorry... It was just really shocking." She apologized back to him, not wanting him to feel guilty about it. He had warned her, she just couldn't have prepared for it. When she was asked about being on campus when the attack happened, she slowly nodded her head, figuring she owed Alan an explanation as well.
"Some thief stole my wallet that day, and I ended up chasing her there." She began explaining, wincing as the memories hit her.
"It was so sudden. First there was this itch, and then blood, and before I knew it I couldn't even move. I don't know when I passed out, but I eventually woke up in the hospital." She took a breath, feeling calm enough to pick up the mug and take a sip of her hot cocoa. Which started getting a little cold, but it was still tasty.
"I only got out today. Figured I'd go for a run, stretch my legs and get a little exercise after being bedridden for most of the week. But I went into that corner store to get a drink, and well..." She slumped down, a little nervous.
"Y-You know how that went..."“Thank you for being honest with us, Lindy,” Miss Walker said with a warm smile.
“Yeah, I know this last week has likely been hell for you…” Alan admitted as he hugged her again, “Now...as crazy as this is gonna sound...I think whatever that gas was gave certain people some sort of...mutations...powers...not sure what to call it. I mean, you probably felt it. The energy, the stamina, the alertness…”
"I did feel really energetic when I was jogging. Faster, too." Lindy admitted, thinking back to the corner store again. That kick, and the force behind it... She was obviously stronger too, wasn't she? It explained why she recovered so well at the hospital, why she had no issues hopping up at the first opportunity. She wasn't normal anymore, was she? Something was wrong and now that she focused on it, she
felt wrong.
"After what happened at the store, I guess I'm stronger than before too. It must be affecting some people more than others, because I don't think I have anything that weird. I'm just... Stronger." In a way, that was relieving. She could cope with increased physical abilities, but having crazy powers? She'd be having a crisis right now.
“If the two of you have these, well, powers, then it’s as my son suspected. You’re likely not the only ones to have been affected this way…” Miss Walker wringed her hands together nervously, “And, if I know people as well as I think I do, some of them aren’t going to have your noble intentions.”
“That’s just how some people are, Mom,” Alan remarked with a shrug, “They’ll use their gifts to get whatever they want and aren’t gonna care who gets hurt in the process.”
“All the more reason for you to find more people out there like you and Lindy here, Alan,” Miss Walker said, fixing him with a stern look, “I know you feel responsible for all those who didn’t make it but New York is massive. There’s no way you’ll be able to protect it all by yourself.”
Lindy was confused at first about what Miss Walker had been saying, but then came to the realization that Alan intended to keep doing this. Helping people, and using these abilities of his to protect their home. Lindy looked at him silently, looking at his honest expressions and how wonderful of a person he was. Such a thing was dangerous, wasn't it? But he seemed dead-set on it. He could stop things the police couldn't be there for, and it'd keep the city just a bit safer, even if it was just him. It was a noble goal, and she could respect it.
But she also worried. What if Alan got hurt? What if that gun had fired, and he got shot? And nobody had been there to help him? If there were more people like this out there, maybe they had similar intentions. She wasn't sure how likely that was, but his mom was right about him not being able to do it all himself. It made her reflect on herself, wondering if she could be like that... A hero. She wanted to join the police force, ever since she was a child, in fact. But what if this was a chance for her to do more? Save lives that others couldn't? She wasn't sure if it was a good idea, she turned into practically mush in the corner store after hurting that guy... But if she controlled herself, maybe she could do it. Maybe she could learn control through helping him.
"I don't know how comfortable I am with this..." Lindy commented honestly, feeling a little discouraged due to her doubts.
"If I understood myself more, maybe I could help. But how I am now, I'd just hurt someone. Again."“Nobody’s gonna force you to do anything you don’t want to do, Lindy,” Alan said in a comforting tone of voice and with a sad smile, “I’ve read enough superhero comics to know that this life ain’t for anyone. This is your life and you got the right to spend it however you wish. If you don’t think this is for you, that’s totally alright,”
“I just want you to know I really do appreciate what you did for me back there. That could’ve gotten bad pretty fast if you hadn’t stepped in. You were scared but you found the strength to act anyways. For a lot of heroes, that’s what real bravery looks like. Admitting you’re afraid but being able to do something anyways,”
He pulled her into an even bigger hug, “If you ask me, you’d make a pretty good superhero, and if you need help understanding yourself, well, I’m no therapist...but I can certainly give it a shot.”
Lindy felt warm, Alan's words and tight embrace affecting her more than he probably could have expected. She accepted his embrace and found comfort in it, glad he was around or else she'd be really stressed. He made her feel confident... Like she could actually do this if she chose to. She did help him, but... She didn't feel like she did it in the right way. It was her life and her decisions, just like he said. And Lindy had to wonder if she could pass up an opportunity to help people; If she could leave Alan alone in this.
Maybe she could be a hero with his help... But not yet. There were too many variables and things to consider regarding herself, and she wanted to sort those issues out before making any promises or having someone rely on her to help them. The last thing she wanted was to slip up and cause a bigger problem, and make people like them look bad in the process.
"I need to understand myself more. The powers, I mean." She replied, somber.
"I'll find ways to test them out, maybe get a grasp on how strong I am. Maybe once I understand myself better, Alan, I can maybe help you." She grabbed his shirt, glaring at him momentarily as she grew serious. There was one condition Lindy had, and there was only one answer she wanted when she presented it to him.
"Alan... You better not get yourself hurt while I'm figuring out my abilities, got it?"Alan yelped at being yanked by his shirt and having Lindy stare him down. At her words, though, he simply nodded, “Y-Yeah, I got it, but…” He then gave her a playful pat on the head, “I’ll only do that if you promise to do the same. Remember, you got your whole life ahead of you and I’d hate to see one of my friends throw away their future in some reckless display of bravado,”
He then blinked at what he said and looked away, “Assuming we are friends…” He then raised an eyebrow at her, “We...ARE friends, right?”
Calming down from his answer, she released her grip on his shirt. She figured all in all, it was fair enough. She was thinking about playing safe for the sake of others, she wasn't thinking of herself too. She needed to understand her potential just as much for her sake, too. Her thoughts went back to her parents, and how worried they'd be if she was injured doing something like this... She couldn't say anything, at least not now. The young girl needed more time to mull it all over.
"I'll try to be careful, I promise." She said, appreciating him looking after a friend... But then he questioned if they WERE friends. Lindy tilted her head, uncertain of his intent with the comment, but answering anyways.
"W-Well, of course!" She answered truthfully, offering a somewhat shy smile as she shifted in her seat.
"Though, I think we'll be becoming better friends than ever, with all of this going on." She added, unsure if she should've but she did it anyways. She needed affirmation to not feel so awkward, bringing a fist forward and lightly bumping it on his chest.
"Don’t ya think, baker boy?"Alan smiled and held out his own fist for a bro fist moment, “As a matter of fact, I do.”
Lindy’s fist met with his, the girl giggling in amusement.
"Good..."
Majoraa
TruthHurts
LG
