"I wanna go home…" Tatters said, embarrassed.
"I thought you wanted to do this?" Plural asked surprised.
Tatters looked away and responded with a pleading grunt. Not exactly answering her question.
"I think it looks good on you," Plural said with a smile, ignoring the plea.
"You've said that about the others too," Tatters replied.
They were in a fitting room. Plural suggested going clothes shopping for her, and she agreed because she wanted to do something together, even though she didn't like shopping. It was boring doing nothing all day while Plural was at work, so she wanted to take any opportunity she could get to grow closer to her. Now, though, she was wearing a pink summer dress, and she hated it. Maybe Plural knew that, and she was being teased.
"That's because you look good in everything," Plural said with a flirty look.
Tatters looked Plural in the eyes, trying to see if she was teasing her or being serious. As always, she was clueless.
"W-What? I mean it…" Plural said in response.
Tatters turned around and looked at herself one more time in the mirror.
"Do you really wanna go home?" Plural asked.
"No…" Tatters said without hesitation.
"But I don't want pink. Or a dress," she said as she turned to Plural again, holding up the hem of the dress.
"I can't fight like this!"
Plural smirked and laughed a little when she said that.
"You don't have to fight anymore. It's safe here," Plural said.
Tatters frowned.
"Besides, Jenny protects this city. I've always felt perfectly safe," Plural continued.
Tatters looked Plural in the eyes.
"In the time I've known you, you haven't been very safe," she said.
"That's… different…" Plural said, not quite able to retort.
"I said I'd protect you. Nothing's changed!" Tatters said.
Plural's eyes widened.
"You said I was your familiar!"
Plural threw herself at Tatters and put her hand on her mouth.
"You're yelling! People can hear!" Plural whispered anxiously.
Tatters moved her head to the side to free her mouth without pushing Plural away. But she didn't speak. Instead, she looked at Plural, waiting for her to respond to what she was apparently yelling about.
"I… Do want you to protect me… Life's just different here. Even if Jenny wasn't there, I'd still be perfectly safe at work," Plural said.
Tatters looked down at the ground.
"I know…" she said in a dejected tone.
Plural didn't say anything, her hands moved to Tatters' shoulders and she looked at her, waiting for whatever she'd say next.
"Ever since I came here, I've been sitting around, doing nothing," Tatters said.
"Some days I wish something would just happen… That Jenny would need my help… Or you…"
She had to think hard about what words to say. She didn't regret coming here. It's what she wanted. But she was shocked by how she didn't fit into the way society worked here. She hardly fit in where she came from, but at least she had a purpose in life. Here, she learned enough about this place to know she'd realistically need to get a normal job. Plural was providing everything for her, even these clothes she was rejecting.
"You need to heal first. Doctor said at least six more weeks," Plural said, crossing her arms.
Tatters had this discussion one too many times. She healed faster than normal people, and even then, she never waited for her injuries to fully heal before. Plural wouldn't accept it though, so she stopped arguing about it.
"I like your cooking," Plural added.
In a way, this is the kind of peace and friendship she wanted. She just never considered she'd end up becoming a housewife. That wasn't part of her dream.
Tatters nodded.
"When you heal, you might be able to help Jenny or Circus. Maybe you can join the police," Plural said.
Circus… The reliable one who handled the gun.
"We didn't have police where I'm from," Tatters mumbled.
Plural gave her a questioning look and moved her head sideways.
"Circus said she'd heard of you before we met you. I'm sure she'll be glad to tell you all about it," Plural said.
Tatters looked away again. She felt weird about the idea of being famous.
"Besides, Jenny's happy to have you, too!" Plural said proudly.
"I've hardly even said a word to her since she saved me," Tatters said.
Plural laughed.
"Jenny doesn't know how to act around you," Plural said.
"I think she's avoiding me…." Tatters said.
"She probably doesn't mean to. Jenny's the sweetest ball of fluff in the world," Plural responded.
"Just talk to her. It's not like she'll run away!"
Tatters didn't like that advice. Easy for her to say…
Plural could tell.
"It'll come, okay?"
Tatters nodded.
"So…" Plural said, scanning Tatters up and down.
"…no dress, then."
"…I liked the stretch pants," Tatters responded.
"Oki!"
Plural left the fitting room to go fetch some new items. Tatters turned around to look at herself in the mirror one more time. In the pink dress, with a cast around her arm. How could she still be dissatisfied? She was happier now than she'd ever been in her life. It had hardly been a week and she was already complaining. She activated her power on the pink dress, giving it a… pink glow…
In the corner of the mirror, she could see a dark uncanny shape that looked like a face. She turned around, shielding herself with her cast, which was also glowing pink. There was nothing there. She turned around to check the mirror again and found that the face had disappeared.
She turned around once again when Plural opened the curtain with new items. With her power still active, she met Plural's eyes with her left pupil glowing pink.
"What's wrong?" an alarmed Plural asked.
Tatters checked the curtain and her surroundings one last time.
"I thought I saw something," she said, still scanning the environment.
Plural joined her and looked around, too. She didn't even know what to look for.
"It's nothing," Tatters said.
Plural looked back at her, then held up the stack of clothes, which included stretch pants and regular t-shirts.
"Last one, I promise," she said.
♦︎
They settled on some outfits that were easier to move around in, featuring stretch pants instead of dresses or skirts. Plural admitted Tatters had a point. Ever since she met Jenny, her life had been thrown into total chaos. There was no guarantee that things would stay the way they are now, and Tatters could completely disarm herself. It felt good to have someone so strong by her side.
"It's like a date!" Plural said out of nowhere.
"What's a date?" Tatters asked.
Plural didn't account for that response. She always took Tatters for the type who grew up in a wildly different environment and didn't know what many things from the "normal" world were. But instead, she was far more normal than expected.
Tatters had a phone, even though she didn't lock it with a code. She knew what video games were, she knew how to cook and do household chores. In fact, they were having ice cream right now. Plural expected her to have never had any, because it was cold where she came from, but no. She was perfectly aware of ice cream, in all its forms.
Of all things, the one thing she didn't know about was the concept of a date…
"It's…"
A hard concept to explain. Especially because she was joking. Her intention was to tease Tatters and then say it was a joke. Now she regretted having even said it at all. Who even jokes about that?
"Really?"
She just wanted to make sure that Tatters wasn't taking the piss.
"What?" Tatters asked with her usual stern face.
"A date is…" Plural started explaining with a blushing face.
"…when two people… wanna develop a romantic relationship… and they…"
Tatters was still looking at her with the same expression.
"I was joking! This isn't a date!" Plural said with her hands up.
"Okay…" Tatters said as she licked her ice cream.
"Dates are stupid anyway. Nobody wants to do it, but you don't have a choice!" Plural continued.
She looked at Tatters like that was the end of the topic.
"So what is a date, then?" Tatters asked.
Plural looked at the sky to think of what to say. She wasn't off the hook yet.
"It's like this, shopping, going out together… Movies… Ice skating… Just stuff you can do together," she said.
"You don't like doing this?" Tatter asked with a worried look on her face.
"No! I do! With you! Because it's not forced!" Plural said, again with her hands up.
"I don't really get it, but okay," Tatters said, looking at her ice cream.
"Clearly people skip the dates where you're from. Way better if you ask me," Plural said.
"Uhuh," Tatters mumbled.
Plural licked her ice cream with one eye closed, the other looking at Tatters to check for any kind of reaction to the topic.
"Have you ever… had a romantic relationship?" Plural asked.
"No," Tatters replied without any passion.
"Hmm," Plural said, slightly disappointed at the lack of interest in the topic from her conversation partner.
They didn't say anything to each other for a little while.
"You?" Tatters asked.
Plural looked back at Tatters, who gave her an inquisitive look. Seems like she was interested after all. Plural cleared her throat.
"Once," she said.
Tatters maintained her look.
"I was married to my high school sweetheart," Plural continued.
"Married?" Tatters said with a surprised look on her face.
"So, you got divorced?"
"Yep!" Plural said amused.
"Surprised?"
Tatters scanned Plural up and down.
"I didn't expect that… You're so young…"
"Hey! I can't be that much younger than you!" Plural responded.
"How old are you, anyway? I never asked…"
"Twenty-four, I think," Tatters casually replied.
"Twenty-f- … I'm older than you! I'm twenty-six!" Plural said, like Tatters was supposed to know that.
"Hmm," Tatters muttered.
"What do you mean, you think? You don't know for sure?" Plural asked.
"I've been an orphan for as long as I remember. Didn't celebrate any birthdays, either."
Plural looked at her in amazement.
"One day I decided I was ten, like the other kids. And I've been counting ever since."
Plural maintained her look of amazement. Tatters met her eyes and frowned.
"Don't tell me you're feeling sorry for me," she said with a bitter face.
"No, I…" Plural mumbled, looking away.
"Do you have a birthday at all? The day you started at ten?" she asked.
"Twenty May," Tatters replied, finishing up her ice cream.
Plural grabbed her phone and entered the occasion in her calendar. Tatters gave her a nervous look.
"Okay…" Tatters said, looking away.
Another short silence followed as Plural continued on her ice cream.
"So what happened?" Tatters asked, leaning back, giving Plural her full attention.
Plural gave her a puzzled look.
"To your marriage," Tatters clarified.
Plural already forgot about that topic. She was happy Tatters was interested enough to ask.
"Classic. I met someone else, and I discovered I like girls," Plural said.
Her heart was beating faster than usual. She didn't know why. She's never had any trouble telling this story.
"Hmm," Tatters muttered.
"Although the girl I was into, didn't feel the same way…" Plural continued.
"…still got divorced, though…"
"…turns out most girls aren't into girls…"
More silence again. Now her mood wasn't as good anymore. She wondered if Tatters was weirded out by this revelation.
…
"I like girls, too," Tatters said.
Plural looked at Tatters like she just confessed to a murder.
"As in… A-As in…" Plural stuttered before she was interrupted.
"Hiya girls!"
Plural shook her head and pulled herself together again. She greeted the visitor with all the swagger she could muster.
"Hi, new girl! Back to work?"
Tatters waved at Circus without saying anything, unbothered.
"Yup! Since yesterday! Never been worse!" Circus replied with a smile.
Tatters gave her a confused look.
"Still hurting?" Plural asked her.
Circus smiled and pulled up her shirt to show them. The wound Dark Jenny gave her was still visible but healed.
"Nah," Circus said in a casual tone.
"No work today?" she asked Plural.
"Nope! I'm taking Tatters shopping! We got some new clothes!" Plural replied.
Circus examined the two with a look of jealousy.
"Are you supposed to be alone?" Plural asked.
There weren't any other officers in sight.
"My colleague's inside, taking a statement from a storeowner," Circus said, pointing to the nearby mall.
She folded her arms and sighed.
"Back to my old life, like nothing ever happened…"
"Don't you feel like that?" she asked Plural, then looked at Tatters.
Tatters had her full attention on the conversation but had been silent ever since Circus showed up.
"I guess you don't…" Circus said to Plural while looking at Tatters.
"Actually…" Plural spoke and leaned forward.
"You think she could become a cop?" Plural asked Circus, pointing her thumb at Tatters next to her. Tatters reacted like she didn't like becoming the next subject.
"Hmm, maybe…" Circus said, touching her chin.
"You're crazy strong, so that's good. But you gotta be able to work with others," she said while leaning forward and getting closer to Tatters.
"And you gotta be able to take some shit from your boss," she said, giving Tatters an investigative look.
Tatters looked back at her like she didn't like those words. She was probably perfectly aware of her own lack of social skills.
"Jenny's sure got it good, huh? Doesn't have to listen to anybody!"
Circus' face was uncomfortably close to Tatters now, but she didn't look bothered by it. Come to think of it, Tatters had a habit of ignoring personal space herself, too.
Circus stepped back, crossed her arms and closed her eyes.
"Do you really wanna be a cop?" she asked Tatters.
Tatters had to think about her answer for a second.
"I wanna help people, and do what I'm good at…"
She looked at her two friends.
"Get my hands dirty… if that makes any sense…"
This subconsciously prompted Plural to check her own fingernails. To each their own, I guess.
"You should join me sometime. See what it's like," Circus said, giving Tatters a thumbs up.
"After you heal!" Plural said, like a worried mom.
♦︎
That night, Tatters couldn't sleep, so she wandered around outside, exploring the city in the dark for the first time. She had her cape with her, along with her grappling hook and a new umbrella she'd picked up during her shopping day with Plural. This one wasn't modified to spin around yet, but it was a better non-lethal alternative than her daggers. She'd renewed her vow not to kill anybody ever again. Although she wondered how long that would last.
She was walking around over the rooftops, like she was used to. This city was quiet at night, and there were no signs of trouble. Sometimes she would see a police car driving by, and she'd have liked to follow it, but her fractures gave her only one arm to work with, and they made her slow.
Her hometown in the north covered a lot of land but did not contain nearly as much life as this city. This place didn't seem like it had any abandoned buildings at all, and the city center was relatively enormous. Tatters sat on the edge of a building, looking down at one of the streets containing bars and other shops that were open at night. Plural's house was in a more rural area far from the city center. It got livelier the closer she got.
Every other minute, she would see that strange apparition again in the corners of her eyes. The same one from the fitting room. Now that the world was dark, it appeared more often in all the dark spots around her. It was never there when she moved her eyes to look straight at the spot, so she didn't know for sure what she was even seeing, just that it looked like a humanoid figure with an uncanny face, that stared at her.
She'd also gotten plenty of sleep lately, unlike her old life, and this had never happened to her before. She had to focus on ignoring it, which was easier said than done. That's why she was out here now, instead of in her bedroom. More distractions. If this was going to keep happening, she'd become sleep-deprived once more.
A group of guys yelling pulled her out of her thoughts. Finally, trouble. Someone was getting beat up in an alleyway on the other side of the street.
Tatters shot her grappling hook to the edge of the roof of the opposing building and gracefully swung down to the ground, landing in between the victim and the assailants. They looked at her in shock and stopped what they were doing.
"Are you serious?" one of them asked in a mocking tone.
Tatters looked over her shoulder at the victim. He was badly hurt. Didn't look like a very friendly guy either.
"I thought it was sparkles for a second," another one said behind her.
"Yeah, if she was going through a goth phase…"
Tatters looked back at the assailants that were making comments about her. They didn't look like they were scared of her, so she grabbed her umbrella from the quiver on her back.
"What the fuck do I do with her?" the one in front asked, chuckling, like he really didn't know.
"Even her arm's broken…"
Tatters gave him an angry look and activated her power, making her umbrella pink. This prompted a surprised reaction from the man.
"C'mon, scram," he said, waving her away.
They weren't going to back off. Apparently, the visual effects of her power weren't special enough to scare them. The umbrella probably looked like a prop. She pointed it straight at him.
Tatters had to think about her next move carefully. Things worked differently here, and she wanted to avoid violence wherever possible. Jumping down was the easy part. Now she was just standing here like an idiot. Best option: call the cops. But she only had one arm and was using it to hold the umbrella. Stowing it was not an option.
"Guys, let it be known I kindly asked her to leave," the man in front of her told his buddies. He slowly walked towards her, looking ready to do something to her.
"Okay, you're going in the dumpster, back where you got your cape," he said, approaching her like he was about to grab her and just throw her in there.
Tatters flipped the umbrella around, so she grabbed it at the tip, undoing the effects of her power on it. No matter, it wasn't going to do much anyway, and the opposite polarity was lethal, so she couldn't use it. She stepped forward and grabbed his leg with the curved handle, making him fall.
The rest of the ensuing brawl went by in a flash, ending up with all the assailants on the ground. The victim had gotten up and run off at this point. One of the assailants that was closest to him got up and tried to give chase, but Tatters grabbed his leg too and made him fall again. Is this how Jenny felt when they fought for the first time? She wasn't used to doing this at all.
The man in front got up again and looked ready for round two. Nearby sirens decided that wasn't going to happen, and his buddy grabbed his shoulder to pull him away. The man shook his hand away.
"I am definitely throwing her in the dumpster now," he said, irritated.
"Nah, I'm not about to get ratted out by you," he said as he pulled him away and into the street.
"See you, lady! Good stuff!"
The rest followed. Apparently, they placed more value on not getting any of them arrested over winning this fight. At least the smart ones. Tatters couldn't believe what just happened. This would never happen in her hometown.
She looked at her outfit again and wondered if she really looked that ridiculous. She'd never gotten any comments about it, not like that anyway. Then again, she remembered Saturn calling her some name she didn't recognize when they first met. Maybe it was a cultural thing. Maybe she should've worn the pink dress after all.
Tatters stowed the umbrella and picked up her grappling device from the ground, which was still attached to the rooftop. She clicked a button on the device to make the hooks at the end let go, and it fell back down. When she walked out into the street, she saw the police car whose sirens she heard before, driving in the general direction the guys ran. She wondered if they were part of a gang or something, or maybe they were just some normal citizens who had too much to drink. Either way, she was happy she didn't hurt them.
As if getting out of her comfort zone, Tatters did not return home via rooftops. Instead, she walked, and it made her feel more vulnerable. The sun was already rising. Maybe it was the spotlight on her that made her feel that way, like there were eyes on her. At first, she shrugged it off as the strange hallucinations she'd been seeing, but it wasn't quite the same. Tatters stood still in the middle of a large playground in a park, then turned around to look behind her.
She felt both relief and panic. It was Jenny. Tatters was surprised she was out and about, given the sun had just come up again. Jenny was trying to hide behind a playground slide but was easily visible. Tatters wondered if Jenny herself actually believed she was hidden, like that time in the car. Jenny's face showed… curiosity. Tatters took a step in Jenny's direction, making her jump a little.
"Hey…" Tatters spoke up.
No response. What a weird girl. She'd never seen this side of her before. Tatters walked closer to Jenny, causing her to back away, too. Now out in the open, Jenny's face was clearly visible. She had a shy expression and was clearly deep in thought about what to say.
"Say something…" Tatters said, pleadingly.
Jenny touched her index fingers together and looked away.
This was difficult. Tatters still felt guilty for everything she did, or intended to do, anyway. She never apologized. Jenny, however, did. Even though she never did anything wrong. Tatters wondered how Jenny really felt. She didn't look scared, but shy.
Against all her instincts, Tatters approached Jenny again. For each step she took forward, Jenny took one back. Tatters increased her pace, and Jenny matched it. Eventually, with Jenny walking backwards, Tatters started gaining on her. When she got close enough, Tatters held out her one usable arm to grab Jenny's shoulder, but Jenny turned around and ran away.
This was so weird. Jenny behaved like she was still hidden behind an obstacle. She ran while looking back with that same shy look on her face, index fingers still touching. She ran with the same kind of graceful effortlessness she showed during their fight. Even exaggerating her movements, hopping up and down as she ran, like a cartoon. In contrast, Tatters didn't run nearly as gracefully. She could feel her ribs again, and she ran with visible discomfort, still reaching out with her one arm.
At this point they were running in circles around the playground. Jenny ran fast enough not to get caught, but no faster than that. Tatters knew from the research she'd done on Jenny during her time at home, that she could run fast enough to win a motorsport race. What was she doing? Tatters had to restrain herself from losing her temper and calling Jenny names.
Then, just when Tatters thought she had Jenny cornered inside one of the playground's structures, Jenny turned her hair blue and ran up the wall in front of them. Now in the clear, she stopped running and reverted to slowly walking sideways up the wall, as if her feet stuck to it, still looking back at Tatters.
Tatters stopped and had to catch her breath. Jenny stopped too. This was ridiculous. She was now "standing" horizontally against the wall at about the same distance she'd been keeping all this time.
"I'm sorry!" Tatters yelled.
"…that I tried to kill you… I was wrong…" she said, her voice volume going down with each word. She didn't like apologizing, even though it was how she really felt. Maybe she just didn't like to say her feelings out loud.
"Thank you for saving my life," she said at such a low volume a normal person wouldn't be able to hear from this distance.
She looked up at Jenny, embarrassed. Jenny was blushing now, although she still didn't say anything. It only took another couple of seconds of staring each other down before Tatters ran out of patience and turned around.
"Fine! Forget it, princess!" she snarled.
Frustrated, she sat down on a nearby swing. She just wanted to be able to interact with Jenny normally, not have it be weird like this. Tatters closed her eyes and focused on what she was feeling. A strange kind of hopelessness, like there was something she was missing completely. It wasn't a new feeling. She was used to not being able to read other people.
When she opened her eyes again and looked back, Jenny was standing next to her, by the other swing, still just as shy-looking as ever. Tatters decided not to get up, since Jenny looked like she'd jump at the slightest movement. She wasn't even sure why she wanted to touch Jenny in the first place.
"What do I have to say to make you forgive me?" Tatters asked.
Jenny still didn't say anything and sat down on the swing. She looked away and started swinging back and forth. Tatters decided to swing with her. They spent some time together saying nothing in this way. Minutes of silence must've passed as the world got brighter and brighter with the sun coming up.
"I could've killed it," Jenny finally said.
Tatters looked at her in surprise, both at the fact she finally spoke, and at her confusing words.
"The creature… Dark Jenny… I almost killed it before it turned into me," Jenny continued.
She looked at Tatters with a guilty look in her eyes.
"If I did, your people wouldn't have died."
Tatters looked back at Jenny as she considered how she felt about that topic. Jenny eventually turned her head back to look at the rising sun again.
"I'm not sure if I ever really cared about my people…" Tatters said.
If anything, Tatters was upset about her apparent lack of grief for it all. However heartlessly, it felt like a family member died that you didn't really care about.
The two had stopped kicking the ground, and their swings were only slowly rocking back and forth now.
Jenny didn't seem surprised at what Tatters just admitted and returned to what she was saying before.
"But you wouldn't have gotten hurt."
Tatters gave her a confident smile.
"This is nothing. I've had way worse," she said.
A bit of an exaggeration. The state Dark Jenny left her in was the worst she'd ever been in.
"Besides, then I wouldn't have met you guys, or come here."
Jenny looked into the distance, conflicted.
"You didn't answer my question yet," Tatters said.
"You didn't do anything wrong," Jenny said without changing her expression.
"Well I think YOU didn't do anything wrong!" Tatters replied.
"That's not true," Jenny said, still looking guilty.
Tatters frowned at Jenny. She'd almost doubt Jenny was really a robot, with the way she was acting.
"Fine then, I forgive you!" Tatters said, closing her eyes and looking away.
Jenny gave her a humbled look and took a moment to think of what to say.
"I forgive you too," Jenny said.
Tatters was caught off guard by a wave of positive emotion upon hearing those words and started giggling.
"Good!" she said with a smile.
Jenny was subtly hopping up and down in her swing seat, saying nothing, just examining the face of her conversation partner in excitement.
"Plural was right, you are sweet," Tatters said.
Jenny got up out of her swing and stood in front of Tatters, hopping up and down, looking like she wanted something.
"What?" Tatters asked with a perplexed face.
Jenny held up her left hand, implying she wanted Tatters to touch it.
"Friends?" she asked nervously.
Tatters swallowed, then touched Jenny's palm with her own and wrapped her hand around it. Her hand was soft, like a real person.
"Friends," she said.