glam, meet your new best friend

[mrglam]

With Armsmaster's death, Miss Militia is promoted to team captain. Even with the losses, however, the Protectorate ENE doesn't get new capes - all teams got hit hard by the last Endbringer attack, and even though it was by all accounts a major victory, it did not cause capes to start lining up to join.

Days pass, and winter hits Brockton Bay. It's pretty mild, as winters go, but it's enough to drastically reduce criminal activity. The heroes have an altercation with white supremacists the following week, but nothing much comes of it, as cape muscle seems to prefer to remain comfortable inside. Capes nationwide are somewhat subdued, perhaps as the aftermath of the victory against Behemoth. Nothing much seems to change, however - the Simurgh continues to fly around in her unpredictable pattern, Leviathan continues to be impossible to locate, lurking in the depths of the ocean. The public gets hopelessly contradictory information about what really happened during the fight from unofficial sources, secretly fed from official ones to make sure people don't jump to the right conclusions, and the topic loses its momentum.

And all of this completely fails to distract Sadde, who seems to not be getting better from the post-battle funk. Or, at least, not straightforwardly better. The depression and fatalism turn - maybe not completely, but at least a bit - into unease and anxiety, or perhaps stir craziness. It is, after all, true that, other than for class, Sadde doesn't really leave HQ a whole lot, not since they reached the comfortable position of being able to patrol from the comfort of the console - of, in fact, being more effective when doing that, for the average uneventful patrol.

Fatalism, depression, anxiety, and unease, all combined into a Sadde-shaped ball, are currently floating upside down in Lorica's workshop, failing to read a book while she fugues.

Comments

[hold_dear]

Pretty good. Saw a movie and wandered around town.

[msglam]

Well I'm free now, so how about we meet up and you tell me all about it in person?

[hold_dear]

Sure! Where should I find you?

[msglam]

The museum?

[hold_dear]

So they meet at the museum, and:

"Oh, look at you, you're so pretty!"

[msglam]

"Thank you!" she beams. She does in fact not look exactly like she could because it still should look like this could be the result of makeup and clothes, but she's happy Chelsea likes the look.

[hold_dear]

Chelsea sure does seem to like the look, but she doesn't go into any more detail on it, probably for reasons. Into the boat museum they go.

[msglam]

The boat museum: has boats! And also a history lesson on Brockton Bay, from colonization to the modern day, explaining its history as a port of trade, its relevance for the U.S. economy, the boom in the second half of the twentieth century, being overtaken by villains in the nineties, the closing of the ferry, and the arrival of the heroes. Sadde talks excitedly about everything but especially the parts involving capes, expanding upon the audio guide's descriptions and giving more detail when it's glossed over.

[hold_dear]

Chelsea is of course wonderful company.

[msglam]

Of course she is! They spend most of their afternoon there, and then it's dinnertime and perhaps they could go eat together...?

[hold_dear]

Gosh, could they?

[msglam]

Yep! They could! Sadde knows this nice Brazilian barbecue restaurant, if she's up for it.

[hold_dear]

What fun.

[msglam]

It is! They have a lovely time, Chelsea subtly gets Sadde to do most of the talking again, and Sadde pays for the food.

"How long did you say you were planning to stay here?"

[hold_dear]

"I don't actually have a return ticket right now. I thought I'd see how long there were things to hold me here."

[msglam]

"Oh, cool. I hope we can find enough of them to hold you here for a while."

[hold_dear]

"Feel free to entice me."

[msglam]

"I just might."

...she's not flirting. She's just... look it makes sense in context!

[hold_dear]

Chelsea giggles.

[msglam]

They say their goodbyes and Sadde returns to the PHQ, trying not to sigh in happiness/frustration/something too much.