Our story continues on Sunday night, atop a high-rise apartment building, where Becca Gershwin and her friends have just flagged down Karl Brennan as he was flying home...

Karl is dark-haired, about 6'6" now and though wearing normal clothes it's clear there's a significant physique underneath, that was rather more on display in some of the airport videos. Though he is clothed he's not as warmly dressed as one might expect someone to be in Chicago in December, especially at rooftop level - no hat, no heavy coat, gloves or scarf, not even a sweater.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:02, Wed 04 Aug 2021.

Bex, meanwhile, had on a winter coat and some jeans.  The associated Figments waved with her towards Mr. Brennan.  The teen's blonde hair blew around a little in the wind.  A few things were notable about her--but mostly, people might call her dreamy.  Either way, her unbridled enthusiasm and utter lack of concern about the menagerie around her were perhaps more striking than anything else.

"Hi!  I saw you on TV!  You gave an interview!"

"Yeah, with Katie." He resisted the urge to ask so what did you think? It made enough of an impression for them to apparently come looking for him, unless they made a habit of hanging out on rooftops at night and this was just a coincidence. The bubbly enthusiasm as a little disarming, and Karl relaxed a bit despite the odd collection of characters.

"Oh, you already know, but I'm Karl, nice to meet you." I hope.

"So...how did you all find each other?"

"These are my friends," Becca explained.  "This is Jimmy the Fish--"  She gestured to the anthropomorphic cow, wearing a leather jacket, a fish buckle, various gadgets, and a jetpack.  "And this is Chef Rumblesteak," Bex turned to the monstrously large man who appeared to be made out of felt, with an oven instead of a stomach.  "And this is Wooly Jumper!"  Becca patted the bouncing spring-sheep.  "And he's Smeddly!"  The gnome doffed his woodland cap and bowed until his nose touched the top of the roof.

"And I'm Becca!"  Another wave, another big smile.  "I saw how cool you were with the airplane so I wanted to meet you and be your friend, too!"

“Hi everyone.”

“OK, nothing wrong with more friends.” Karl agreed. “Oh, and thanks, that’s nice to say. Do you all just hang out on roofs a lot, did you find each other on Craigslist, or what?” Odd that none of the others had said anything yet, not that he would normally expect a cow, a sheep, a...felt oven, or a garden gnome to be all that talkative.

Bex giggled and shook her head, before tapping her temple.  "No no, these are my imaginary friends!"  A duck wearing a bowtie walked out from behind Karl, flapping its wings very slowly.  The bowtie was quite fetching, as a matter of fact.  "Ah!  It's Roger Duckington!  He's another of my friends!"

She motioned for him to come closer, and Chef Rumblesteak let out a quiet "kerblerble" that carried tremendous meaning.  Karl could understand it, as anyone and everyone could--the kerblerble of I brought fried squash for you!  It's a pleasure to meet someone Rebecca holds in such high esteem, and we are all tremendously excited to meet you and learn more about how it is you can propel yourself through the sky.

"So you totally just... like, could suddenly fly, huh?  That's so cool.  Nothing like that ever happens to me."

Imaginary?

It was a good thing Karl was already flying as he would have jumped when the duck came out from behind him, walking on air/flying slowly. As it was he drifted a little away in surprise, floating back as the duck moved on.

"How...how did I understand that?" he asked, confused.

"Um, you're kidding right? You can pull out your...imaginary friends. That seems pretty amazing to me. But yeah, for me, just happened the other day, good timing. How about you, how long have you been able to..." Karl motioned with a slow gesture indicating the collection of friends Becca had with her. "...and have other people see and hear them, understand them?" It's not just me, right. Tell me it's not just me.

"Everybody understands Chef Rumblesteak!" Bex explained, failing to explain.  "And I've always seen them.  They're just out of sight most of the time, but the whole gang is waiting!"  She rubbed her hands and got closer to Chef Rumblesteak, on account of the cold.

"Sometimes people don't seem to see them.  I'm not sure!  But they've always been my pals.  They're the bestest, and now you're gonna be my friend, too!  Best winter break ever."

"Um, look." Karl started, rubbing his forehead. "You want to go somewhere warmer than a rooftop?" Not that he was sure where to go, especially if "Uh, are you trying to keep a low profile? That might affect where to go. And I might have someone else you could meet too if you're willing."

"But, well, even if we stay here, can it just be us? I'm sure the chef and the others are all fine" hallucinations "people, but this is all still really new, and" Karl slowly floated one direction, then back as he talked, as though pacing in mid-air "well, I've been questioning if any of this is real at all, and right now, well this isn't really helping my state of mind to be honest." He scratched the back of his head. "Sometime later maybe I can, uh, get to know them more but right now they're, well, they're kinda freaking me out. So can we acknowledge how cool they are but dial it back please?"

Becca considered it for a moment.  "Okay," she finally decided.  One by one, the Figments disappeared.  Some of them were gone when Karl blinked, some simply moved out of sight and disappeared from view.  Some even tickled at the corners of his eyes, waiting to be let out again.

And then it was just her.  A little bit chilly, blonde, but smiley all the same.  "There're so many of them for you to meet," Becca explained, "but the cops asked me to leave the park recently, so... I guess I understand.  Not everybody wants to be friends as fast as I do.  Oh!  Maybe I should get Smeddly back here--he can take us wherever you'd like to go."

Oh good she didn't have a discussion with them about it. Still almost seeing them especially felt-chef was disturbing.

Still a little unsure about the state of Becca's or his own mind Karl decided to go forward for now. "Ok, thank you. I appreciate your understanding, really."

"Uh, that's OK, I can make it on my own. Maybe next time? How about..." Karl thought of where to go. Outdoor places would be safer, but still cold. Take what appeared to be maybe a teenaged girl with the ability to create reality and who might have a tenuous grasp on it (although to be fair, given what she demonstrated maybe she had an exceptionally good grasp on reality, even a stranglehold) back to his apartment? No, that seemed like a bad idea. "...how about, there's a coffee place at (address) not too far from here. Meet you there? I'll see if I can get another friend - of mine - to meet us there too. It's kind of dimly lit, but if you want to maintain some kind of cover or something you still might want to you know, pull a hood up or something if you wouldn't want to be seen in public." he suggested.

There was a Certain Look in her eyes bordering on manic glee at the thought of being incognito.  "Okay!  I'll meet you there, and I'll be very stealthy.  Super casual.  You got it!"

"OK, great. And you're cool getting down safe right?" Karl double-checked, whether it was on her own somehow or through her rainbow-gnome.

Satisfied she would be safe getting down and to their meeting place, Karl waved and flew off, pausing behind another building to text to the person he had just come from:



Ok, easy joke.



Oh, that might be taken the wrong way.

Ok, that still sounds off.



Messages sent, Karl flew back down to the coffee shop, ordering a coffee, doctoring it up a little and finding a darker booth away from the front window to settle into while he waited for his company.

He took a long initial pull of the coffee, having a feeling it was going to be a long night. Not that he was sure the coffee had any real effect on him anymore.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:39, Thu 05 Aug 2021.

It wasn't too long after Karl had seated himself that a young Filipina walked through the door. She was wearing warm black leggings and a big baggy knit wool cream sweater that fell to mid-thigh in a way that was both decent and yet still chic. Her black hair, which spilled down from a matching wool toque, had honey-blonde highlights and she had a cream-coloured purse slung at her hip that admittedly was more bag than purse. It was made of cloth and decorated with several enameled pins of black and white honey bees along the strap. A pair of fur-lined winter boots matched and completed the ensemble. Over all this she wore a cozy wool coat that she opened and began to peel off, now too warm for the inside of the establishment. Anyone aware of when he'd sent the texts might assume she either lived nearby or had made very good time.

Steph swept a glance across the establishment and waved to Karl, fingers twinkling from the holes of mittens who's coverings could fold back and away from them, making them as functional as they were fashionable. The slender sometimes-waitress padded over to the counter and ordered herself a green tea before sliding into the seat next to Karl and giving him a kiss on the cheek. For someone seeing her for the first time, Steph was perhaps best described as pretty. Not a true heart-breaking beauty, but a good match for Karl in a lot of ways.

"Hey!" she beamed, glancing around. "Where's your new friend?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:42, Thu 05 Aug 2021.

And lo, from the bathroom came Cap'n Gershwin.

She was genuinely wearing a buccaneer's costume, complete with tricorne hat.  Brown puffy sleeves, a black corset, with black pants leading down into boots.  Her belt was probably three or four inches wide, and was cinched around her stomach in a way that really didn't seem to interact with where her pants were.  One thing that was definitely the same as when Karl first saw Becca was her friendship bracelet.

With an exaggerated wink to Karl, Becca beamed brightly to Stephanie.

"Hi!  I'm B---bbbuccaneer Shoecannon."  Another wink.  "I'm actually Becca, but I'm undercover, so don't give it away."  Her costume was a Figment, same as the rest of her friends, but at least this one wasn't overtly challenging Karl's conception of the universe.  "Ahoy and avast, these landlubbers have quite the caffeinated grog.  Ahar."

With a cup of vanilla frappuccino in hand, which was not a drink this coffee shop served, Becca settled in at the table with just the most genuine smile across her lips.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:11, Thu 05 Aug 2021.

Karl smiled spotting Stephanie. Had she already scouted out Becca somehow? He hadn't seen her himself yet. Maybe she would wait by the counter or grab another table to observe before coming over...

...nope. She came straight over from the counter and sat down next to him and pecked him on the cheek, part greeting, perhaps part territory-marking.

"Hi, good to see you again. It's been too long" Karl started with a grin, truly pleased to see her again so soon. "I'm not sure. I told them they might want to come incognito too. I wasn't sure how 'out' either of you might want to be with each other. Do you want to..." he stopped, the question moot with the arrival of the Dread Pirate Becca.

"Ah. Welcome, join us in our inconspicuous impromptu gathering Captain. This is..." he turned to introduce Stephanie "...ah, this is, shall we say, the Queen?" he half-stated, half-asked with a questioning raised eyebrow.

"The Captain saw my interview and has some interesting abilities of her own. Including apparently an interesting wardrobe." He briefly imagined Stephanie in a similar getup, thinking being boarded on the high seas might not be that bad. "It seems we have things in common." Karl didn't specify if he meant just him and Becca or all three of them.

"Some initial questions Captain...how long ago did this all start for you? How did you find out?"

"Hhhhheyyy..." Stephanie said at the candid captain's cordial greeting. "I like your outfit."" She added, recovering. And she was sincere. It was quite the look.

Tough to say if it was territorial or tender but Steph sought out Karl's hand so she could slip her fingers between his.

"I'm his Queen anyway" she grinned, laughing in a way that was fond and good-natured. Steph didn't feel threatened yet, but then the queen bee wasn't prone to insecurity or possessiveness. If anything that was the business of her drones, all vying for her attention. "I'm Karl's girlfriend. It's really nice to meet you. Aren't you the girl from tik tok?" she asked, her smile broadening. "Right?? I'm a big fan!" which was in fact true. "Oh my gosh. Are you a super like Karl?" Steph asked, absolutely glossing over her own status with an easy grace.

"Her tik toks are fantastic. I always wondered how she does them, she doesn't use filters! But that makes sense if you have... abilities." Steph suggested, studying the girl as she talked with her hands. The disguise was good. But it mostly looked like Bex in a pirate costume. Which would be confusing to someone who wasn't a 24yr old girl with a cellphone and a tik tok. Tik Tok appealed to Steph because she had very little truly free time and it's content was all bite-sized micro videos. Even now with the new 3 minute format (which she hated) it was still a short investment.

Steph settled in against Karl's powerful arm though, resting her head there, to let him question their new comrade-captain because ultimately she wanted to know too. Steph smiled though to show she was friendly and interested.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:41, Fri 06 Aug 2021.

Meanwhile, Becca clearly had the situational awareness of a grape, so she didn't react to Stephanie's or Karl's PDAs.  When Stephanie recognized Bex from TikTok, her pirate costume gently detached from her and shimmied into the booth beside her.  She was once again in her jeans, with a blue shirt on underneath--her winter coat was not visible at the present moment.

"You found me out," she confirmed with a nod.  "I am not, in fact, Buccaneer Shoecannon."  She gestured to the figment sitting next to her, which appeared to be a suit of living clothing.  It tipped its hat--which, presumably, was part of it?  There was a lot going on with everything, but the semi-amorphous living clothing probably was a violation of Karl's earlier request.

However, he'd said "if we stay here, can it just be us?"  And they were no longer "here," because "here" was now "there."  Therefore, there was no violation.  Besides, Buccaneer Shoecannon hadn't been around to meet Karl earlier, and Becca felt bad not letting all of her many, many friends meet all of these lovely people!

"Yeah!  I'm also on YouTube, if you ever watch there."  She beamed brightly and nodded to Karl.  "I've always had these guys in my head.  Um... I don't know when they started being visible to everyone else, but they've always been with me."  Bex shrugged and looked between the two.  She definitely had a Quality about her physical appearance, but her earnestness and openness didn't come off as insincerity.

If anything, she was too sincere.

Buccaneer Shoecannon took a packet of sugar from the little container and started to play with it while Bex looked from Stephanie to Karl and back to Stefanie.  "So do you fly?  Can you lift planes and stuff?  Karl mentioned he was gonna invite a friend to meet me, and he was talking about how he was questioning if anything was real or not.  If you don't have any sorta powers, that's totally okay, my mom doesn't have any power 'cept that she's the best vegan cook in the world, and also she's super radical.  She taught me all about crystals when I was growing up."

Karl blinked twice when the outfit morphed off of Becca and became its own entity. Was she just showing off here? Or did she do this sort of thing all the time? If so how in the world had she kept anything like a low profile in real life? It's one thing to do it in online videos, another to do it in the corner market.

Steph wasn't technically wrong, though maybe jumping the gun a bit as they had been on all of one date so far, such as it was. Combined with everything else it was part of too much too fast.

But Becca being a TikTok and YouTube star did plant the idea that maybe he should do something similar, get some kind of social media presence going, once he figured out what he might want to put on it. Another way to get out there, maybe even a way to get notified of things he might help with, if he could find a way to filter fakes out.

"Oh, I somehow missed that. Send me one of her things sometime so I can start following. How long have you been making the TikToks with your friends?" Maybe that would give a better timeline. In any event she was bound to have had her powers longer than Karl, at least months most likely, maybe longer. Doubtless though the answer would be something like "a while now", but he could figure it out online later.

Whether some sort of psychotic break or something was part of it or not, or if her mom really existed or was one of those friends, well...

It was hard to tell if she was just crazy in a Hollywood blood vial/Scientology way or hardcore disturbed. She didn't seem dangerous, just odd. If she had a depressive side to this sort of manic state, ooo boy. And how could you keep distinguishing fiction from reality if you could make your fiction seem real to others as well? Maybe there was something underlying, or some incident triggered her powers and mentality, like his and Steph's sudden accidents triggered their abilities, or maybe her abilities triggered a slow change in perspective.

The dark-haired darling nodded slowly as she followed along with Bex's animated explanation of  her own powers. That made some sort of sense. And then it all went out the windows as her pirate clothes sashayed into the seat next to the blonde with all the ease and elegance of a snake or a dancer. Steph immediately glanced around, before glancing back, squinting at the hat-tipping pirate garb. Then she tilted her head to the side in what must have been her best impression of an owl.

"Subtle..." she drawled, more confused that offended. This was... hard to compute. "That's way weirder to watch in person..." she admitted, looking back to Bex and absolutely careening through the possibility of answering her own questions about if Stephanie had powers and if so then what they might be. "You what, make things out of thin air then?" she asked, reaching out across the table to touch the moving clothing with her free hand, her other remaining anchored to Karl's bicep.

"He's alive? Can he talk? Or is he just... a puppet?" she wondered, glancing Bex's way. The questions were limiting and implied a binary that might not be true but Stephanie's eyes were alive with a desire to understand. She was certainly not as shocked or frightened by the idea of living clothing or imaginary figment conjurations as maybe she should be. In some ways she was a terrible liar and in others a profoundly skilled one.

"Oh!  Uh... like two months, I think?  Maybe three?"  She shrugged!  "They've always been around.  People at school started noticing me more before holiday break, so... I don't know, maybe they started to see my daydreams while I was in class.  I try really hard to pay attention, but I just..."

Buccaneer Shoecannon took Stephanie's hand in his(?).  "Yahar, m'lassie, 'tis a brillig and slithy day wot don't permit a salty sea scalliwag as meself t' express... meself."  The voice seemed muffled, as if coming from within the costume.  Despite being a woman's costume, Shoecannon's voice definitely had Geoffrey Rush qualities to it.  Somebody had watched Pirates of the Caribbean once.

"I don't think I do anything," Bex explained.  "All of my friends just wanna come out, and they like to play games with me and stuff.  But they're not puppets. Not even Chef Rumblesteak, but he sort of looks like a puppet because of the felt.  But he's a four star Michelin chef!"  Rebecca was earnest in her assessment.  Guile was not one of her talents.

"The Burblemeister'll be right persnicked that he weren't invited to such a hallowed assemblage of personages."  Becca nodded to the tricorne hat.

"But you aren't answering me," Bex observed.  "Sometimes when I don't wanna talk, I try to ask questions.  And then my teachers get mad.  Is it because you're shy?"  There was nothing even broaching accusation in her tone.  Just the simple, chipper, slightly Out There timbre and lilt that she always had.  The person on TikTok was exactly the person before Stephanie and Karl--sunshine, rainbows, yoga, and crystals!  And smiles, of course.

Right?

Karl was surprised again by Steph apparently being able to touch the outfit. He had thought the friends were just holograms or something similar, not anything with actual substance. The bit with the sugar packet he thought was part of it, an illusory prop.

But Michelin only goes to three...no, stay focused that’s not one of the weirder parts of all that.

Karl rested his hand on Steph’s leg under the table, trying to be comforting. “No I don’t think she lifts planes or anything like that. Teachers huh? I’d guess that’s frustrating, keeping things bottled up at school.”

There was an overpowering desire to dissolve into a wash of bees and climb throughout the costume, to truly explore it's secrets and confirm this wasn't some weird trick; Stephanie's mind struggled with the logistics of Buccaneer Shoecannon even while her plan involved superhuman powers.

Though her instinct was to pull her hand away she held fast until the animate outfit had said it's very Pirates-y piece before sliding back down into her seat. Karl's hand on her leg was nice. It was a comfort.

Unsure how exactly to speak to the pirate costume Steph just nodded and smiled politely before turning her attention back to Bex.

"I have been," she admitted of Bex's accusation, her voice warm with culpability and apology. "I'm not... out yet as a person with powers." Steph explained, forcing a pained smile, "I haven't decided that going public with it is the best way for me to make a difference."

She sipped her tea before glancing back to Becca.

"How old are you, anyway? Fifteen? Sixteen?" Truth was, the hyper-friendly nature, the airy disposition, and the fantastical friends and figments all made Bex feel young to Stephanie. Which was a concern when it came to sharing her secret. She remembered being a child, remembered not appreciating the gravity of certain secrets.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:09, Sat 07 Aug 2021.

Bex considered Karl’s comment. She didn’t really feel frustration anymore. Ever since…

“Most people always ignored me, or made fun of me, or laughed at me. I don’t really blame them, though. I am kinda weird. But that’s okay, too! My mom always encouraged me and I’m pretty good at teaching yoga and stuff so I feel good about that!” Becca smiled again and looked over to Stephanie. “I’m sixteen!” Something she said made Bex’s tilt her head to one side, in a facsimile of a golden retriever.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she admitted brightly. “But someone took pictures of me while I was in my backyard a little while ago. And they left pictures so I guess it was some kinda boomer with a Polaroid. Or maybe a hipster! Either way, I don’t know that I can do any good. All I can try to do is make friends and help people feel better, you know?”

Polaroids? Uhhh...

“Someone you don’t know took pictures of you...at your home.  And left some too?” Karl looked at Steph to see if she was having the same first impression he was.

“Not to alarm you but that sounds kind of freaky to me, real stalkerish. Be careful, and let your mom know. As for the other part Karl smiled, relaxing a bit “I think helping people feel better can do a lot of good. If you’re making people smile and helping them feel better that seems like a good thing to do to me.”

"Yea, Bex that's not... that's not harmless fun. People shouldn't be taking your picture without your permission and then leaving it for you..." Steph said, adding on to Karl's concern. She shared a glance with him before scooching in closer so they could provide a more unified front. And to get closer to him, which she enjoyed doing.

"You should maybe tell your mom about it, just to be safe." Steph agreed. "Especially with your online presence... it could be some weird stalker guy."

"I showed my mom first thing," she reassured them.  "It didn't even look like sex crime stuff.  Do you want me to get the pictures for you?  Here."

A gnome crawled out from beneath the table and wiggled onto the bench.  A blue tunic and a large red hat, giving him similarities to lawn gnomes.  With a bulbous nose and pronounced mustache, the small gentlegnome... well, he seemed like what you might've come to expect from Bex's friends.

"Smeddly actually brought me to meet Karl today.  He's really nice!  Smeddly, did you get the pictures that creeper took?"  The gnome offered a manila envelope, still cold from the outside.  Smiling, she gave him a hug, and he wiggled back beneath the table and disappeared.  Undoing the metal, Becca offered the pictures over to the two adults.  "I didn't think they were, like, sex crime-y stuff or anything.  Just kinda whack. Mom was going to go to the police about it, but she was all 'what am I gonna tell the police?' and I don't think she did.  And then Smeddly stole the pictures to bring here, so I guess she never sent the pictures in."  Becca shrugged.

"I think some of the pictures are really nice, actually.  Like... I wonder what kinda camera the creeper used?  It really got my cheekbones."  The pictures, cold to the touch, revealed Rebecca in her backyard with a number of her friends.  Karl recognized some of them.  The anthropomorphic greaser with the belt buckle shaped like a fish, the felt man with the oven in his stomach, the duck with the bowtie.  The sheep, caught mid-bounce.  But also a thirty foot gummy bear, what looked like a spider made of cotton balls, a sagacious turtle, a clothing iron with a mustache.  There were about two dozen pictures in the manila envelope, showing the day's array of frolicking in the backyard.  Judging by the angle and such, someone must've been directly outside of the fence to take those pictures.

"See?  It's totally okay.  Nobody was, like, tryinna peek in my window or anything.  I was just playing with my friends!"

Speaking of creepers Karl thought as the small...person came up from under the table.

Yeah, a thirty foot tall gummy bear is kind of a giveaway even with a fence.

“What would a...no never mind. I can see someone taking pictures of all that, sure. Leaving some without talking to you still seems weird. But I guess I’ve experienced stranger things lately. Still be careful.” Karl figured if something did happen that gnome could apparently whisk her away so she was probably a lot safer than your average distracted teen.

"Jesus!" Stephanie cried, startling back from the sudden appearance of the gnome as he emerged from below the table, literally out of nowhere. For just a fraction of a second the girl dissolved into a cloud of bees as she started backwards from the creepy little man, ultimately hitting the back of the booth bench and reforming. Despite any cutesy appearance he may possess, a man of any stature climbing from beneath the table she was sitting at was startling and frightening.

"Seriously??" She accused with a scowl, as much angry for embarrassment as for the very real possibility someone had seen her, despite the late night sleepy coffee shop being reasonably empty at this hour in the midst of a snowy Chicago night. "You... you can't just have a creepy little many crawl out from under the table, Becca!" Steph growled, crossing her arms beneath her chest.

"But those photos are definitely weird. You... you should definitely go to the police with your mom." she said, softening dramatically. "People don't drop anonymous manila folders of photos to you unless they're trying to scare you." But she looked to Karl. "If they were following her before, they might still be stalking her right now."

Bex tilted her head to the side again, the opposite side from the last cant, but she nodded.  "Okay, I'll let my friends know not to come out from beneath tables in the future.  Got it."  The comment about going to the police made Becca nod, but slowly.  "I guess I just figure, if they wanted to scare me, they would've tried to scare me, you know?  Like... somebody took some snapshots of me playing games with my friends.  And my friends wouldn't ever let anyone hurt me.  So... I don't really mind?  I guess?"

Still, she gestured across the table to Stephanie.  "I think I get that pun Karl made earlier now!"

As startling as the gnome’s arrival was, Steph’s dissolution was even more so, though it was only for an instant. Even more impressive for that fact, that she was able to go back and forth so quickly.

“It’s not just tables Becca, it’s the surprise in general. Other people don’t know them like you do. Rumblesteak suddenly being behind someone in an elevator or one of them popping out of someone’s bag or suddenly being in the backseat of their car, whatever, it’s startling and could be scary. Sometimes it’s better to ease people into things.”

Hopefully if anyone was watching they would associate the momentary blur around Steph as just another thing Becca was doing.“If she can just appear places she would be pretty hard to follow.” Karl mentioned. “But home is home, and they know that spot. This person probably won’t be the last to come around especially if you keep flaunting your friends like this. People will recognize from your Tiktoks and videos. Once they see it’s not just some special effect...I don’t know. But you should really seriously consider if you want to keep things online or let everyone see the works in real life. Not all the attention you’ll get is positive. It’s your choice just be careful.”

For the most part Stephanie just nodded along in agreement with Karl as she looped her arms back around his own and leaned in against him. She liked his warmth. And his strength. He knew way more about this public image stuff than she did and was speaking strong wisdom.

"The Queen thing? Yea. I can turn into them. I can talk to them." She explained without being more specific. But there was a bit of a restrained smile, as if she were proud of it and trying to hide it. Stephanie thought really strongly of bees. She really admired them. She thought there was a lot to learn from them. "But you really should be careful, Bex. Not everyone you wave down is going to be as gentle as this big lug." She said, pointing with her eyes up towards Karl.

"Gotcha," she confirmed with yet another nod.  "I just wanna make friends with the whole world, you know?  And like... we all need people who're nice to us, right?  And I wanna be that for folks, if I can be.  It's why I do the, um, the YouTube tutorials on mindfulness and yoga and stuff.  It's healthy, sure, but like-- it helps you really... um, really understand the world.  You know?  I dunno.  I just..."  Bex sort of squirmed a little in her seat, and Buccaneer Shoecannon patted her shoulder.

"I just wanna make the world happier if I can, I guess.  All of my friends make me happy, and I wanna be friends with everybody so I can make everybody happy, too.  Sorry if I scared either of you, or if my friends did.  We really didn't mean to."

A sudden flash draws the trio's attention to a nearby window, where they spot a man with a professional-quality camera snapping photos of them from outside the cafe.

“I’ll have to look up some of those videos; I could use some relaxation techniques I think.” Karl started. “It’s just been coming so fast, the plane, voices in my apartment” a gentle elbow poke at Steph “your friends and so on. I know I kind of need to keep riding the wave, it’s going to be there no matter what I do, but I’m glad to have some quieter moments like this to catch my breath.”

Not for long though. Even towards the back in a darker booth away from the window it seemed clear they were the subject of the photographer.  Becca’s stalker or someone else? It seemed doubtful some random passer by would spot them this deep in and have a camera like that ready, so either a lucky tip-off or he had some way to find at least one of them, probably Becca.

“Do one of you want to handle that or should I go out and try to see what’s going on?”

"I think that's really sweet," Stephanie said to the younger woman, and she meant it, </goldenrod>"I just don't know if everyone can be brought to the same table. It's fine to serve honey in your tea, but sometimes people don't want to play nice. There's a lot of bad men out there who might take advantage of your kindness."</goldenrod> How did one explain the sometimes rapacious arm of the patriarchy and human cruelty to a wide-eyed teenie-bopper with living imaginary friends?

Steph's reverie was broken by Karl's nudge but she only had time to look up at him and smile before there was a flash going off outside.

"Hey!!" Steph shouted, standing up, indignant. She didn't wait for a vote, she slid out of the booth, detaching from Karl, and went stomping over towards the source of the camera and the flash. "What gives??" she shouted at the figure through the glass, throwing her hands up into an indignant Windy City shrug. There was nothing fantastic about her other than her outfit which was most certainly on fleek, if people even said that anymore; sometimes Stephanie was too busy minding two course loads, her little brother, three languages, the very thin façade of innocence, and the restaurant to keep up on what was hip to say in English anymore. She was just a pretty, fashionable, early 20s Filipina enjoying a coffee with Chicago's new superman and a Tik Tok sensation with real-life imaginary friends. By comparison she seemed really out of place. She hoped.

Becca, meanwhile, flashed the camera a smile and did a peace sign.  When Stephanie and Karl reacted negatively, she looked at Karl--Stephanie was now up near the window, after all!  "What's the, um... what's the goal of stopping the pictures from being taken?  You're both super pretty and you're super famous now, so like..."  Bex shrugged.  "Aren't people gonna be interested?"

The concerns about people taking advantage of Becca's kindness definitely gave her pause, but she wasn't sure what to do about it just yet.  Instead, she filed that away in her expansive file of 'stuff to think about later,' and then went back to the issue at hand.

"Oh!  Ohmigosh.  Speaking of sending you videos!  We should take some selfies!  Ohmigosh, people would be so excited if we did a quick video.  It would do numbers on the 'grams."

The man with the camera snaps another burst of photos, then hurries away down the sidewalk out of sight.

The handful of other customers in the cafe stare at Stephanie. A few of them whisper to each other while glancing toward Karl.

Bex looked around, and Shoecannon slid back over and returned to being her costume.  "Why's it feel like there's a buncha tension in here now?" she inquired, looking around.  "Is everybody okay?"

Though it was amusing seeing the cameraman run off by the decidedly non-threatening Stephanie, Karl frowned at the whole scene.

"Pictures in general, sure...I think we are worried this is the same guy who took pics of you earlier, which raises questions on how he found you again, out away from home."

He sighed, as some of what Becca was saying did make sense, though he was still concerned about the particular photographer.

"Yeah, sure, some selfies would be great. But let's not get her" he indicated Stephanie "in them unless she wants to. Ah, I don't know what to really say right now for a video though..."

"Paparazi, right??" she said, briefly catching the gaze of the staring individuals, "Total creepers." She added in a tone that co-opted their participation in the situation as agreement with her. "And yea, he's the guy." she said, getting out ahead of it. "But he's had a long couple days and we're just trying to grab coffee with our friend."

Then she turned and returned to the table, sliding back into the booth and under Karl's arm. Absolutely keen eyes might notice that she slid through his arm to get under it, body-dissolving into bees and parting ever so subtly on a need-to-change basis, but she had the benefit of the angle and the booth.

"I don't mind. I'm not a secret, just my powers." She said, nodding up at him before smiling in preparation for the pictures.

[OOC: Steph is using both the Subtle and Selective feats on her Swarm Form to slip through his arm instead of looping it over her, the result is ultimately the same though.]

And lo, with the bubblegum and pep she had in infinite reverse, Becca pulled her phone out and started to take some pictures.  She turned around to take pictures of herself and the couple, and then got over into their booth to take more selfies with the team.  Some of the pictures involved Shoecannon's glove holding the camera while she posed with both hands, but those were relatively rare.

"Ok, so...anything else? Or should we call it a night and see what fresh chaos tomorrow brings?" Karl asked when the pictures were done, including a couple from his own phone.

Internally he was thinking of whether to post them himself and what to say. He was getting a start on the organizational side and felt he did OK in interviews so far but the inherent celebrity side of celebrity was still very new, as new as his abilities. They'd both take some figuring out.

When the selfies got underway a softer, maybe even younger, side of Stephanie came out. A side that knew all the filters and poses that made for great selfies. A side that was collaborative and instructive in a warm and passionate sort of way. It was easy to forget she wasn't all that old herself under the double major, near full-time work and volunteer activities. Her favorite filter proved to be the Faux Freckles, especially on Karl which made her laugh and fall against both of them for how out of place they looked on him.

"Oh," came her response, rich with surprise. "We can... if you want." He wasn't wrong. She still had a few hours of school work to do and she was hoping to do some yoga. But she also really enjoyed his company and it was obvious from her body-language and tone that she was disappointed at the idea of an early parting. He was the one who'd dragged her back out after they'd said goodbye after all.

"I'll go ahead and head home," Bex confirmed with a nod.  "It was super nice to meet you both!  Sorry about being weird.  It's okay.  I've always been weird."  She beamed at them back and shimmied out of the booth, before heading off towards the bathroom door again.

"Yeah you too Becca. Sorry if I may have overreacted to some things, just...not used to them yet." Karl gave a wave as she departed.

Turning to Steph, "Take you home, or is it better for you to slip in without potential gossip?"

To: Atlas solo thread or Karl & Stephanie thread
This message was last edited by the player at 11:17, Wed 25 Aug 2021.

"Oh, sure, cya Bex!" Steph said raising a hand to wave her off. As she lowered the hand she looked back up at Karl and shrugged, obviously disappointed. "Split the difference, I guess. We can walk out together and then go our separate ways. My parents think I'm asleep in my bed but if Chicago's new super-man drops me off they might get the hint otherwise." she said, patting his arm with her hand, tracing her finger down the sleeve.

"But I'm not tired." She lamented. What she meant was I like spending time with you and now that we're together again I don't want to split up so soon because I just might miss you... But that wasn't what she said. Instead she said "But you've had a big couple days. I bet you could use a good rest and some time to yourself." Then she leaned up, trying not to sound too glum and mopey and for the most part succeeding, kissed him on the cheek, and slid through his arm the same way she'd slid under it, and out of the bench.

"C'mon." She encouraged.

[OOC: I figure we can just fade the scene to black there?

<To: Stephanie solo thread>]