A Bitter Pill To Swallow

Aging, cracking facades, flickering lights illuminating out-of-date ads in the thundering rain, sirens in the distance giving hints of crime, death and injury just barely far enough away to allow them to be ignored.
Graybridge is not a pretty place at the best of times, and this dark, wet October is far from the best of times. The old, ruined streets are littered with dirt, with cheap, broken Halloween decorations that didn't even last the month they were made for, with garbage that nobody bothers to pick up. Seemingly neverending rain has been soaking the city's people to the bone all month, discouraging anyone from stepping a foot outside if they don't absolutely have to.
This Wednesday turned out to be one of the worst in regards to the rain. Ice cold drops of water hammering down in a heavy, constant, neverending cascade. It's no wonder the streets are all but abandoned this dark October evening...

GRAYBRIDGE, 25 OCT 2023, 19:41
Episcopal Cathedral of St. Javelina, Basement
Thin streaks of water flow underneath the small, high up window, betraying that its aged frame is no longer able to hold out the elements. Cold wind, carried through cracks in the walls and doors and windows is barely counteracted by an old, loud space heater in a corner of the room, trying to make a hospitable place for up to a dozen people for whom chairs have been placed in a loose circle in the middle of the room. But despite this optimistic estimate for attendance, ten minutes after the scheduled start of the weekly meeting for those affected by metahuman violence or activity, there are only two people gathered here in the cold church basement - David Draven and Augusta Ang.

Just as Dave is certain no one else is going to show up to this meeting anymore, the door opens and a familiar face leans into the room. Brock Kaminski is a regular attendant of the group whom Dave knows fairly well at this point. Most often, he shows up alone. Sometimes, he comes with his girlfriend Anna. Occasionally, she comes without him. The two metahumans are in a long-standing, mutually abusive relationship, which is always the reason for their presence here. Tonight, he seems to be alone, deep circles underneath his eyes from what looks like lack of sleep. "Uhm, Mr. Draven," the young man says. "There, uh, is something going on outside. Thought I'd tell you. You always tell me not to get involved in anything, y'know."GRAYBRIDGE, 25 OCT 2023, 19:41
Caine and Sloane Department Store
It was supposed to be Melissa's day off. Instead, Mike called her in a panic, letting her know that Paul and Emma had both called in sick and that he desperately needed someone to help with the store today. And so, here she is, soaked through, as was inevitable in the thunderstorm going on outside, hammering against the windows and shaking them with every perfectly simultaneous flash of lightning and clap of thunder.

Here she is, but no customers. Barely anyone is crazy enough to pick an evening like this one to go shopping, so the large, multi-storey department store is almost completely empty. Not that that means she can relax. Mike has decided that this is the perfect opportunity to start decorating the store for the Christmas season, which means plenty of decorations to hang up, stickers to attach to the windows and Christmas hats to place on mannequins while the same Christmas playlist as every year plays quietly over the speakers for her motivation.

Mike meanwhile is busy sorting through the seasonal wares, deciding which to put in the discounted section and which to keep at full price for now. In this work, he somehow always manages to stay at least somewhat close to Eva, who may not have an actual obligation to be here but who has nonetheless braved the rain to spend the evening between clothes, accessories, household wares, toys and many other things, most of which are far out of the price range set by her meager wage from working at Dark Lips.

While the store is mostly empty, Eva isn't quite the only customer. There's a couple searching for just the right toaster, a teenager eagerly comparing the labels on the boxes of liqueur-filled chocolate and one or two other rain-soaked people just wandering aimlessly as they're sheltering from the weather outside. A jingle at the door announces it opening for another customer, drawing automatically the involuntary attention of both Melissa and Eva. A man stumbles inside, swaying as if heavily drunk. He's dressed in a cheap plastic parka to protect against the rain, his face is slack and his eyes unfocused. As he moves further inside and the automatic door closes behind him, he stumbles into a small keychain display, knocking it over. If he notices, he shows no reaction and just continues wandering aimlessly inside.

Belinda's smile flickers for just a moment before it returns just as bright as it had been. "Well, it's not my favorite place in the world but you have to play the hand you're dealt, right?" She turns her eyes to Augusta again. "And it's not worse than some of the functions I've attended. I'm certain Augusta understands." Melissa gets the feeling Belinda is intentionally provoking her, calling Augusta her peer in high society, rather than Melissa.

To the question what would have landed someone like her in the TANC, Belinda just shrugs. "A criminally bad haircut," she says. The hint towards Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow is clear and confirms Melissa's suspicion. But it still doesn't explain what Belinda could have done to be sent to the TANC, which is usually reserved for only the most dangerous of criminals. "If you really want to help, you could bake me a cake with a file inside, like in the movies," Belinda then suggests in her chipper tone. "My nails are really looking terrible these days."

Danvers tilts his helmeted head at Eva's introduction. "I'm very sorry," he replies. "But I've been in here for so long. If we've met, it must have been years ago. I can't say I remember." He lets out a chuckle, then adds, "I'd shake your hand but they might electrocute me for it."

Danvers can't see but that doesn't stop him from turning the face of his helmet towards Dave when the man speaks up. "I'm not sure what you're referring to," Danvers says lightly. "My next day parole when I could go for a nice shopping trip isn't scheduled for another hundred years or so."
His tone then turns a bit more serious as he adds, "That does remind me of a recent dream I had, though. I was in a shopping center and two women were there. I remember glass shards and flying toasters." He shakes his head. "It's these new meds they've put me on. Make my imagination go very vivid." While Eva may not be certain, not knowing the man well and not having the best social skills, it's plainly clear to Dave that Danvers is lying, and not even trying to be convincing. Danvers is well aware that the encounter at Caine & Sloane was not a dream.

Belinda bites her lip, her composure slipping even further for just a moment. "Mel, just... let me have this, alright?" she asks, scratching her arm. As she does so, she involuntarily pushes up her sleeve, revealing strange marks on her skin, some looking like needle marks, others like irritated skin. Melissa and Augusta both can clearly imagine medical equipment hooked up to her, some pushed into her skin, others attached to it through adhesives or similar means. It looks like there are tests being run on her. Now that the two women are watching all of Belinda's movements closely, the way she moves, how she avoids leaning certain ways, she looks like her body is sore, though it appears less like the cause is injuries and more like sore muscles from heavy workout. "Being in here sucks," Belinda continues. She gestures towards her face, to the makeup she's wearing and to the smile she is putting back on her lips. "This lets me be in charge, at least a bit. Alright?"

She takes a deep breath, then her facade is back in place, the smile looking just as genuine as when the two women first came in. "Now, you haven't been to see me in ages," Belinda scolds her friend. "I appreciate you coming back now, but don't tell me there is no reason for it beyond you being worried about me. Why now?"

Danvers doesn't answer right away. He steps over towards the desk and reaches for the simple chair in front of it. It takes him two attempts but then he grabs the backrest and moves it so he can sit down in the chair, facing his guests. "You know how it is with dreams. You don't go somewhere. You just are." He shrugs. "If I had to guess, I'd say someone wanted me there. Or maybe they just didn't want me somewhere else, like here. I was acting somewhat silly in my dream, after all."

Belinda's eyes move from one woman to the other and she seems to actually contemplate their offers for help. But her facade doesn't drop again. "It's not all bad in here," she tells them. "At least not for me. Some of the heavy-hitters, the guys you'd call supervillains, they're having a bad time. I just keep my head down, take my meds and do my exercises and if I give a sweet enough smile, one of the guards will even slip me something nice at the end of the day." She gives a shrug. "Of course I miss the parties and I miss you, but it's not like I don't get to meet interesting people here at all. You'll never guess who I saw talking to Roz Parker the other day." Belinda's voice is excited and playfully secretive, like schoolyard gossip. "Your old flame. Brian."

"Just small favors," Belinda replies to Melissa's question about her and the guards. "Stuff we're not supposed to have but nobody really cares about. Candy, mascara, warm socks." She shrugs. In response to the question about her meds, she explains, "The TANC loves its pharmaceuticals. They wouldn't mess with mine - I still take just what I used to before I got thrown in here. But some of the real powerhouses, I heard the warden put them on some new stuff that's really messing some of them up." With a smile that looks conspiratorial, she adds, "Lucky for me that I'm just a normal, average gal."

To Augusta, she says, "Oh, I'm not talking about an inmate. He looked more like a consultant or something, judging by the suit. Unless he's in the test group for a new inmate uniform. As for who he's fucking, didn't get a chance to ask." She shrugs, then chuckles and adds, "You think Parker is his type?"

Hearing the name Floyd from Augusta, a curious smile appears on Belinda's face and she leans back in her seat, watching her friend closely for her reaction. One could imagine that if she had any, she would be reaching for popcorn right now.

"My schedule's pretty busy in the near future," Danvers tells Dave sarcastically. "So I don't think I'll be able to fit you in again until maybe two weeks from now." There is a smirk in his tone as he adds, "But if you have any questions, I'm sure my lovely secretary Roz Parker would be happy to help you out."

After this, they exit the secure room again, rejoining Parker in the hallway. "Have you had a productive chat?" the muscular woman asks with no real interest in her voice. If she wasn't listening in, someone else was. She gestures back down the hallway from where they came. "Let's get you and your two other friends out of here."

Standing in the rain, her rage bellowing out of her, she hears others follow her out of the diner. She turns slowly, crouching aggressively, and snarls.

Eva's voice radiates in the downpour, and her left ear twitches. She doesn't want to attack this woman, as (she's petty big and) she shared a french fry.

Her savage, anger-fueled mind pushes her however to circle the woman, sizing her up, trying to find a weakness.

When Melissa comes out and then Dave, she senses even more connections to these people. Melissa, however, is a threat. She wants to steal Brian, and Augusta prowls toward her rival, her threatening posture and intent to attack clear.

When Melissa says Brian (How dare she?) Augusta launches herself, she wants to grab her and drag her through the puddles, leaving her clothing torn, dirty, and disheveled, I.e., less attractive for her habitual man stealing.

"I'm meeting a friend here," Tanya replies to Dave. He does notice her clearly trying to peek past him, but it's not difficult for him to block the woman's view. "But as I was heading for the door, I was thinking 'I recognize that tall man there', and so I came over. It's so nice to see you. I'm really excited for our next session. Brock drove me home on Wednesday and he told me about some of the other people. Very fascinating. I don't think I could have picked a better place for my community service hours."

"That sounds like a nice idea," Tanya agrees to Dave's suggestion, following where he is pointing with her eyes and spotting their booth inside. She turns back towards the group, not making a move towards going inside until she, after a moment, catches Dave's expectant look. "Oh!" she then says. "You meant..." She somewhat awkwardly points between herself and the booth. "I should already go now. Sure, yes. Good plan. It is cold out here." She tries to peek past Dave again, then turns and hurries inside, head lowered against the rain. Through the window, Dave can see her take a seat at their booth. She's looking in their direction, but with how much brighter it is inside than out, the glass inbetween and the heavy rain outside, she probably can't see much of what is going on out here now.

As the group steps out of the rain and back inside the diner, Eva finds to her relief that the woman Dave spoke to outside doesn't seem to have stolen any of her fries. She is sitting in their booth, however, and the eyes behind her glasses are focused on Eva in particular as the four join her there and sit back down. "Ms. Ang, nice to see you again," Tanya greets the dark-haired woman when she recognizes her, then she turns her focus to the two blondes of the group "I don't think we have met yet. Friends of Mr. Draven's, I assume?" She holds out her hand, first to Melissa, then Eva. "I'm Tanya. I work with Mr. Draven at the church." Then she chuckles at herself. "Well, that's putting it charitably. I'm baking cookies and arranging chairs to stay out of prison."

As the group freely talks about newly gained supernatural abilities and an apparently two-timing man in front of her, Tanya goes silent, listening curiously to the surprisingly interesting conversation. Shortly after the group arrived at the table, the man working the diner tonight approaches the table and puts a cup of coffee and a small glass of water in front of Tanya. She quietly thanks him, then takes a small sip from her coffee, eyes glancing around the group.

Tanya is also looking at Eva now, more curious than worried, judging by her expression. At least until she realizes that Melissa is looking at her, at which point her expression quickly grows more concerned.

The way Tanya's eyes dart between you all as you're discussing Brian make it clear that she's eagerly listening to the conversation and taking in all that's being said. She does tear herself away from it briefly to throw Eva a sympathetic look and to say, quietly, so as to not interrupt the others, "I know how you're feeling."
She then turns back to the conversation, clearly curious about their topic. As she is listening, she reaches into her backpack and takes out a small pill case. She removes a single yellow pill from it with a practiced movement and slips it into her mouth, swallowing it with water. "If this Brian really was trying to run experiments, would seducing women and building a relationship with them really be the best way to go about it?" Tanya interjects. "It seems there would be easier ways to find willing or unwilling test subjects."

Tanya is clearly aware that Eva is more focused on her than on the conversation going on around them, and while Tanya still seems eager to hear as much as she can about this Brian and his women, as well as this apparent spreading of superpowers, she does glance over to Eva more than once. As the conversation continues, she stands up, her backpack slung over one shoulder. "I'll be right back," she explains before heading towards the back of the diner and disappearing through a door with an old bathroom sign on it.

When Eva enters the less than pristine bathroom, she finds Tanya in front of the mirror, just freshening up rather than actually using the toilet. She turns when the door opens and smiles when she sees the tall woman enter. "Eva, hey," she says. She sounds nervous, but more asking-your-crush-to-prom nervous than about-to-be-beaten-up nervous. "How are you feeling? You looked pretty queasy back there for a moment."

Tanya lets out a deep breath as she looks up into Eva's face. She's not short, but next to Eva, she certainly looks that way. "I've been dealing with things like this myself, all my life. Fatigue, tremors, heart racing, nausea, migraines..." They're all symptoms Eva has experienced as well since she got to Graybridge. Maybe even longer, though she wouldn't remember. "It comes and goes but when it hits... I don't know, you just reminded me of myself." She reaches into her backpack and takes out that same pill case from earlier. "I have these to help with the symptoms. One per day, plus up to one more each day if it gets bad. They're prescription, so I really shouldn't, but..." She removes a single yellow pill from the case, identical to the one she herself took earlier at the table, and offers it to Eva. "You should try it."

"They're so much more than painkillers," Tanya says, though Eva can barely make out that last word as a wave of dizziness hits her that almost knocks her off her feet. Tanya notices and takes Eva's arm, trying to steady her a bit. "That really doesn't look good," she says, what sounds like genuine concern in her voice. "Just trust me, alright? Mr. Draven does."

Tanya is still right there, steadying Eva's arm and rubbing her back, as Eva seems to be having trouble standing. She either actually cares about Eva's wellbeing or is pretending well that she does. She also doesn't seem surprised at all at the torn off faucet. "It's something that makes me feel better," she then replies to the tall blonde's question, apparently taking it as asking about the medicine. "And that will make you feel better. Which you obviously desperately need." She sounds a lot more confident about this now than she had during her initial suggestion for Eva to take it. With a gentle smile, she then adds, "But I'm not trying to pressure you into anything." She pulls back, letting Eva keep herself steady, and turns to leave the bathroom. With her hand on the door handle, she turns back to Eva one more time and suggests, "Just think about it."

Not too long after Eva entered the bathroom, Tanya comes back out of it, returning to the table with the rest of the group and sitting back down in her previous spot. She glances over towards the bathroom with a concerned expression, but then just focuses back on the conversation going on here.

"Wait," Tanya says, reaching out but stopping short of actually touching Augusta as the woman gets up. "Eva isn't feeling well. Maybe give her a moment."

ANNESBURG, 1 NOV 2023
The Mill Coffeehouse
The two women enter the coffeehouse. It's a cozy place - lots of wood, a strong smell of coffee and a view across the water. Brian is sitting at a booth near the back of the small café, immaculately dressed and groomed as always and looking perfectly handsome, a much better fit for the high society that Melissa aspires to than she herself, it feels. There are two cups of coffee on the table, an espresso in front of Brian and, untouched, Melissa's usual drink of choice opposite him. As he notices her approach, his face turns into what looks like a genuinely happy smile. He stands up and offers her a hug as greeting. "Melissa, I'm so glad you came," he says in his deep, warm voice. "I know you're still angry with me, but I wanted to try and have a conversation about what happened."
His eyes move past her and land on Augusta, standing a few meters behind. There is no surprise in his face as he waits a beat, as if to confirm that she is here because of them, then he says, "Augusta. It's always nice to see you, but I did not expect you here." He turns his eyes to Melissa. "You asked her to come?"

GRAYBRIDGE, 1 NOV 2023
Episcopal Cathedral of St. Javelina, Basement
Anna shakes off Eva's arm as the tall woman tries to help her, muttering something about how she doesn't need help from 'some fucking blonde'. She does accept the glass of water, however.
As Eva's eyes meet Tanya's, the shorter woman smiles at her. Eva might not be socially aware enough to pick up on it, but Dave might notice that Tanya always seems to have a smile for Eva or tries to sneak glances at her. Either she's a great actress or she seems particularly interested in getting to know the statuesque blonde. It shouldn't be a problem for Eva to catch her alone when she wants.

ANNESBURG, 1 NOV 2023
The Mill Coffeehouse
Brian sits down opposite the two women, his attention focused on Melissa. He listens to her without interrupting her, not letting his thoughts show on his face. When she finishes, challenging him for an explanation, he takes a deep breath before saying, "I fucked up, Melissa." Brian doesn't usually swear, so this stands out to both women. "We had something great and..." He stops speaking and turns his eyes to Augusta. "I'm sorry, but this is a really awkward conversation to have in front of my ex," he then says. Looking between the two for a moment, he then asks, "Melissa, can I ask why you wanted to have Augusta here for this?"

ANNESBURG, 1 NOV 2023
The Mill Coffeehouse
Brian turns his beautiful eyes to Augusta. He always looks so attentive when he's listening to someone, like they're all that matters in the world at that moment. When Augusta finishes, he smiles sadly at her. "I was willing to stay with you, Augusta, figure out what was happening together. No, I didn't know what was going on with you. I still don't. But I cared enough about you to try and work it out."

He then focuses back on Melissa and clears his throat uncomfortably. "But that was months ago. Before you and I got together. And I don't see what Augusta's change has to do with us, Melissa. What happened between us..." He stops and blinks in surprise when Melissa mentions having developed a power as well now. He stays quiet for a moment, seemingly thinking this revelation over before he asks, "Are you certain?" His eyes are locked with Melissa's as he says with conviction, "I don't know anything about this." He then reaches out across the table, taking Melissa's hand if she lets him. Concern in both his tone and his eyes, he asks, "How do you feel about it?"