14

Leaning over towards her, Crystal moves close enough that you can feel her body heat. "Is it her date, the company, or did she just have a bad day?"

"You mean Amy?"

"Yeah," you flick your eyes over to Dean, who's looking fairly serious while talking to Lucas. "I've seen more lifelike animation from Leet's video intros and more zest for life in painted dolls."

While you get a chuckle, you're also not surprised when the blonde blows out a huge sigh. "This date wasn't supposed to happen. Vicky and Dean suddenly got back together yesterday and Vicky roped her in to it. She was supposed to be spending the weekend with me, relaxing."

At this point you'd dearly love to knock everyone out and lovingly and deeply mindfuck all of them to figure out their various issues. Including Eric and Alex, who have had their heads together whispering the entire dinner as if the rest of you didn't exist. "And Amy didn't stick up for herself?"

Crystal picks her head up and gives you a tired look. "Amy does whatever Vicky whines about sooner or later."

You don't have to fake an incredulous stare and the very real feeling probably attracts Dean's attention as well, because you see him turn your way out of the side of your eye. "Always?" She nods and you continue, "That sounds wrong as fuck. I'm pretty sure siblings are supposed to hate as much as they love each other."

A quick hit of Legilimency fills in some details—Crystal and Soon struck up a conversation on Tuesday, of which you were only a part. Amy was supposed to spend the weekend with Crystal and maybe the girls to decompress from her sister, and Carol was going to be talked-to by Photon Mom. Vicky derailed everything and Carol caved to her immediately. The only redeeming feature to the day so far in Crystal's mind is being able to flirt with you.

Pivoting to look at Dean who has turned towards the restrooms with a frown shows the girls coming back, the floating blonde smirking and Amy shooting you a frown. Both girls sit back down and proceed to ignore your existence, one smugly and one rather robotically. Lucas once again tries to put an arm over the back of Amy's chair but this time he gets an elbow for the trouble.

Dean and Crystal share a look that clearly says that Amy's date is over. As they work whatever magic they're doing to make that obvious to Lucas without causing a scene you flag down the server and get the check, leaving a hefty tip and joining the general shuffle outside. You're not sure how they straightened things out, but Lucas gets hefted under the shoulders by Vicky and she and Crystal leave to take him back to wherever cookie-cutter jocks come from while you're left with Dean, Amy, and two hormonal fifteen year olds.

Turning around in the little side-street you're in you immediately avert your eyes. "Alright, I guess we should find something to do rather than standing around with each other's cocks in our hands." You hear Dean turn and choke out a noise, then a moment later Amy does the same. Giving it a second you turn back to see Eric and Alex blushing and trying to look nonchalant from where they were making out and groping each other in the back of the group.

With Vicky's absence Amy seems calmer and doesn't object when you settle your coat over her shoulders again. "How about a bookstore, there was one like four stores down?" you propose.

A round of shrugs from everyone other than Dean seals it. The sandy-haired boy seems to have taken on the role of interrogator as he starts asking you questions about how you know Crystal as you set out.

"Well, we've had classes together since last semester, but I didn't go out of my way to talk to anyone or make friends really. What kind of sparked a conversation was Vicky, actually."

Dean blinks a couple of times and the most amazing succession of looks flash over his face. "I can only guess," he says painfully neutrally.

You explain Vicky hovering like a blimp in the library and the later conversation in class. "Then she pulled out her aura and starting waving it around. While it was unpleasant I handled it until Crystal got her to sit down. Most of our talking has been in non Cape 101 classes since then. Vicky always seems to drag her away from where I sit."

The boy's face was a study in mortification by proxy. Even Amy looks fairly embarrassed. Eric though, laughs out loud. "Yeah, that's totally Vick. Holds grudges for years." Dean gives a fake cough and doesn't say anything as you all file into the store.

Amy seems fairly happy to wander off to the sci-fi/fantasy section and Alex trails Eric over to the magazines, so Dean apparently decides to continue what meagre conversation there was. You decide to look at Anglo-Saxon history books, because the stories that Thor told were pretty cool.

You decide to start talking first, no need to just lay back and think of England. "So who decided that Lucas was an acceptable date?"

To give him credit, Dean doesn't miss a beat, but you've seen similar fake smiles from spokespeople who have to talk about things they personally hate. "I don't really know him very well, he is one of a number of people who hangs around the table we all sit at for lunch. He always seemed fairly personable, I believe he dated one of Victoria's girl friends previously. They broke up recently but seemed to still be friends." Dean seems reluctant to discuss Amy, Vicky, or her date more with you, which to be honest is to his credit. You're a newcomer in their group, after all.

Dean wanders off to keep an eye on the horndogs and you pick out an interesting looking book and head to the front just ahead of Amy. After checking out you stick around and notice she's picking up the Black Jewels anthology. She must read something in your face as she hurriedly tucks the books in a pocket as she comes up to you. "What?"

"My mother had those books, I came across them while going through her things."

The healer flushes and mutters, "Maybe you should've kept your nose out of her stuff."

Before you can respond Dean is by Amy's elbow. "All done? Let's—"

"So where's Eric and his handy friend?" you interject. When Dean starts looking uncomfortable you flick your eyes over to Amy and continue, "Someone should tell them it's time to go. Not it, by the way."

A moment later Amy echoes your 'not it' and the other boy blanches. As he walks off he clomps loudly, clearing his throat as he goes. The two of you share a moment of amusement, no matter how faint on Amy's part. Checking your phone you have a message from Crystal that they'll meet you at a coffee shop shortly.

By that point the missing three show up, Dean looking faintly embarrassed. You raise an eyebrow at the boy who shakes his head slightly, the tips of his ears turning red.

Trooping down a couple of stores to the coffee shop you find Vicky and Crystal sitting outside sipping drinks. Both girls have frowns on their faces and there's an exclusion zone of a couple of tables around them. It's easy to tell when they spot you, as Crystal meets your eyes and brightens while Vicky's shoulders hunch a bit. Even Dean seems less than enthused to step into Glory Girl's Bitch Zone, but finally does and talks to her quietly. Crystal steps up to you and takes your arm as Glory Girl's aura calms down and everyone gets sucked into the wake of Hurricane Vicky as she heads off to spend her boyfriend's money.

Still, there are serious issues going on with Victoria. It's obvious to anyone who looks for more than a second or two that she's forcing the cheerful look on her face and for some reason Dean's mere existence near her is causing issues—one moment she seems happy and is acting playful with him and the next just looking at him almost seems to bring her to tears. Still, she gets control of herself after a bit and pulls Crystal in to the clothes shopping a bit. You're amused that every chance she can, the older blonde slips off to spend most of her time leaning against you and soaking up your calm.

[X][Shopping] Use this opportunity to discreetly Legilmence the other capes while they're separated

[X][Shopping] Cast health diagnostics on them

[X][Shopping] Do both (but don't Legilimence Dean)

You actually hit Vicky with a diagnostic first. She spends so much time trying on clothes that you have to hit her when you have a chance. She's totally healthy, in a way that would be suspicious all on its own if she didn't have a biokinetic for a sister. She also seems to have no hair follicles on her legs or armpits and her back muscles are stronger than the rest of her core. Her cortisol levels are slightly high, you guess from stress. She is not a squib at all, and registers as totally non-magical.

Switching to legilimency the next time your eyes meet you wrap an arm around Crystal and let information flow as you skim it, just like you learned from Randy. You do your best to keep an eye out to see if anything you do is noticeable, but she never blinks.

Victoria is in many ways a generic teenage girl—she dislikes school (although she likes individual classes), totally thinks she knows everything, and really likes getting her way. She just happens to have superpowers and a will to use them. There's no way that could turn out badly.

Also, she messed around with Lucas the last time she and Dean broke up. Amy's date with him was one part honest—apparently he's an amazing kisser, and she thought her sister deserved some nice kisses—and one part bribery to not squeal to Dean. Unfortunately Crystal's involvement in taking him home kept her from using her aura to intimidate him into silence (or just straight up threaten violence.) She's afraid that Dean will find out and break up with her for good this time and desperately trying to come up with a way to keep her whole life (as she sees it) from crashing down.

You hit Amy next, the chubby sad raincloud that is the world's foremost healer doesn't even twitch when then magic of your spell washes over her.

Panacea may not be able to consciously use her abilities on herself, but something is being done. You can tell she smoked fairly recently by the residue in her lungs, which clears up slowly as you continue to monitor her. Outside of that she's in not great but not horrible shape—she's slightly overweight and doesn't get enough exercise, but has no major health issues. She is a squib.

A second look at her mind doesn't fill you with any more joy than the first. The spikes of emotion that occur when Vicky actually touches Amy are crazily strong but very mixed and last only for split seconds. The more you see the more you wonder if constant exposure to the vagaries of Vicky's aura has just broken her of really feeling emotions unless they are incredibly powerful. She could very well be happy and have no idea what happy feels like as it's drowned out by awe from Vicky's aura screaming at her from inches away. Again, more research would be needed to help her if you want to try doing anything at all.

Crystal is the easiest of the group to hit; you merely establish the mental connection as she walks towards you after trying on some clothes. It turns out that she really does like you and wants to give dating you a try, and is hoping that the resistance that you showed to Vicky's aura wasn't a fluke—she's never been able to keep a boyfriend for very long, and she's starting to suspect that it's partially Vicky's fault. Her last boyfriend lasted from when she started college until the very day he met Vicky in mid-December. She's been going over similar suspicious timings of previous boyfriends breaking up with her since her revelation last week.

You also get some details about Dean and Crystal's chat. Dean mentioned that your emotional responses were somewhat muted and slow, like he's seen in people with depression. Crystal mentioned you losing your parents, and that seems to have ended the discussion. Apparently your false seeming isn't quite perfect yet, but you don't seem to have made any huge missteps.

Once again you see Amy's hand in her cousin's health. While not as picture-perfect as Victoria she has also had some work done on her to firm and tighten. She is a squib.

Eric is also a squib, and also seems to have had some work done, as you see evidence of acne that no longer exists. Really though, finding evidence of Amy's work is almost impossible because of how her power works. There's no evidence to point to that tags it as artificial, and nothing shows up as spell-created, but some things just stick out as unusual.

Reading his mind doesn't add much to information about New Wave. He's almost totally focused on getting his dick wet and isn't picky as to how or who does it. Unfortunately you may have also awakened an exhibition fetish, as being caught earlier gave him such a thrill that he's already planning to fuck Alex on top of a roof by the Boardwalk as soon as can be arranged.

Alex is not a cape-they've been Eric's friend for quite a few years and when puberty hit they started to experiment together. Alex likes the aesthetic they have going, which is mainly 'I like dressing in things that are cute.' That Eric seems to go wild when Alex dresses up all cute is a bonus-they've been thinking about how damp the panties they're wearing are since they got caught in the alley. That's one of the reasons why they wanted to show off the dress for Eric, when you weren't looking they flipped up the skirt portion and let him know exactly how wet they are.

Alex doesn't really care too much about putting themselves into a box; like Eric they just kinda do what feels good, and don't care about labels so long as it gets their dick wet.

You finally get a chance to hit Dean with a diagnostic while he's paying for clothes. He's healthy, but instead of the the 'benign lumps' that you have been seeing in other capes' heads, his show genetic material that isn't his, which is different than in natural triggers. You can't tell what it is—it doesn't scan as remotely human—but it's your first marker that he is indeed a Cauldron cape, and the artificial trigger does something different than normal triggers. In addition you find minor mutations in finger and toe length that the diagnostic says aren't natural, as well as a handful of other changes that have no visible effect. Perhaps all cauldron vials induce some kind of mutation, case 53s being the ones that go to some extreme? To top it off, he is a squib.

At one point while Vicky has dragged her female relations off and Alex is showing off a dress to Eric—in sight of you and Dean, neither of you are stupid enough to let them out of your sight again—the two of you get to chatting again. "You've handled Vicky's moods better than most guys Crystal's dated."

Oh, it's that conversation. You wonder how your false seeming has been holding up, you've been emulating a reaction to Vicky's aura swings as best you could without really feeling them and Dean hasn't seemed super suspicious, but maybe he's just waiting on dropping the hammer on you?

You give a gallic shrug. "I'm not gonna lie, it's unpleasant to get my emotions jerked around, but I've done a fair amount of meditation, had some therapy, that kind of thing. I know my own feelings and I can feel when they're messed with and fight back. It's not a perfect defense but it's alright." Dean has a contemplative frown on his lips but doesn't press further.

Even Vicky's willingness to spend someone else's money peters off after about an hour. Everyone walks back to the parking garage and shuffles to the cars. You find yourself chauffeuring Crystal and Amy back to campus. The cousins are talking in low voices in the back with you catching the occasional word here and there. Amy's mood when fully away from Vicky has bounced back some and you can feel actual emotions from her, both good and bad. You manage to find a parking spot all the way in the back and walk the girls to the dorm with Crystal once again holding your arm, and on the other side of you the dark-haired girl seems to at least tolerate your presence.

After arriving back at Crystal's dorm she sends Amy inside, but not before you snag your coat back from her. Shrugging it back on you turn and find Crystal close enough that you could share body heat. She looks up at you with a slightly pained smile. "I'm sorry that the first time we got together that you ended up dealing with… all of that, but thank you for being so cool about it."

You can't help but smile back. "I won't say 'no problem', but the parts where we hung weren't the problem—they were the best."

Her smile switches from pained to blinding. "I'll have Amy with me tomorrow and Sunday morning, but we could do something Sunday at noon, maybe after noon? Oh, or the battery thing? Or both?"

You're about to bring your arms up to hug her and respond when she floats up a few inches to your height and slides forwards to give you a hesitant kiss. You

[X][Kiss] kiss back softly

You bring your arms up and cup her face, your hands warm against her cold cheeks. After a moment you pull back just the barest amount and then brush your lips against hers again, faces so close you can feel her smile against you. When she pulls back this time you open your eyes and see her floating, her body parallel to the ground and it makes you cock your head and smile back at her.

Crystal manages to keep her embarrassment from being too obvious, but does give a fake cough into her hand as she touches back down and slides up for a hug. "I'll text you tomorrow?"

"Sure, take your time and hang out with your cousin. I'll pencil in some time in my busy schedule for Sunday," you say as she slides her arms into your unbuttoned jacket and around your back.

You share another soft kiss before watching her walk into the dorm with a smile and wave over her shoulder.