Baltimore | Thursday Night

[defenderofdesmoines]

So far, Starlight's first patrol in Baltimore was a raging success compared to her first patrol in Fandom!

After a fair amount of waffling, she had ultimately decided to try her luck across the causeway rather than attempt another dimension. Not that she had any lack of faith in Portalocity or Summer's directions on how to use it - it just didn't seem like the kind of thing one tried for the first time without...you know, witnesses. Maybe a buddy. Like skydiving.

However, Starlight knew she was taking a risk by heading to a city that didn't normally have heroes. Discretion had been the name of the game, and she'd done pretty well so far. She'd managed to stop a guy who was tailing some other costumed girls coming home from a Halloween party by blending in with them for a couple blocks, and by the time the guy caught up, the pack of girls had drunkenly stumbled ahead, and all that had been waiting for him was a very unamused, very sober Starlight.

She'd left the creepy guy's creepy, unconscious body amidst some trash (where he belonged!) before calling in an anonymous tip to the BPD. With that accomplished, Starlight retreated into a dark alley and reached up to yank down the ladder of a fire escape. Creaky and rusty, yes, but if she could work her way up on top of a building, she'd be able to see for several blocks and would minimize the risk of someone spotting her before she was ready.

[expecting one!]

Comments

[defenderofdesmoines]

Oh, she was. Starlight tilted her head, giving him a pretty obvious once-over.

"This is probably a better look," she decided. "So why only 'used to'? You retired?"

It did not seem like he was retired.

[knife_bender]

"More like I went freelance," Diego said. "Just for future reference, don't be on a superhero team with your family."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Starlight let out a surprised little laugh. "Done. I'm an only child. Your whole family has powers, though? That is...pretty rare, where I'm from."

Like, completely unheard of except in a few specific cases.

[knife_bender]

"We're adopted." Collected, you could say. "So am I to expect to run into you often here? Seems to be enough crime for the both of us."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I think so," Starlight decided slowly. "I was warned I might freak people out here, doing - you know, my thing - but so far it hasn't been too much of a problem. Have you seen a lot of action tonight? I left some asshole out cold like two blocks south of here, but that was it until I ran into you."

[knife_bender]

"Tonight? Nothing big, no," he said. "Was shot at earlier this week and made a getaway in an ice cream truck full of weed."

And then immediately after he was third wheel during a crab date. Which was weird.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Oh, sure," Starlight giggled, though she was kind of staring at him a little. "Who hasn't done that?"

Now that her adrenaline was a little less high and she could think straighter, she could actually do something helpful. Starlight illuminated one hand, casting it at the ground like a flashlight until she found one of the knives he'd thrown. "You want these back, right?"

[knife_bender]

"Yeah, thanks. Wouldn't believe how many of these things I go through," Diego said, reaching for the knife. "Your powers are really cool."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Thank you. Yours don't seem like anything to sneeze at," Starlight noted, smiling over at him and pointing to the twin holes in her top's fabric. "Pretty great aim for a guy who should not have been able to see."

[knife_bender]

"I can generally make them go wherever I want them to," Diego said. "But it should have just done more than rip your clothes--sorry about that, by the way."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Pfft." Starlight waved a hand at that. "I have a few of these, no worries."

She grabbed another of his knives off the ground, pushed up her sleeve, and stabbed the blade at her forearm in a fairly alarming way. It bounced off her skin harmlessly, albeit with much less force than when Diego had thrown it. "It's not you, it's me," she added, offering him the knife after her demonstration. "But that's really cool. Just knives, or anything you throw?"

[knife_bender]

"...wow." Now he was really jealous of her powers. He took the knife back, storing it in one of his many pockets. "It's pretty much anything I want, but knives were what I was trained with so I'm most comfortable with those."

Little did he know he'd get more powerful if he got his head out of his ass and hung out with his siblings but noooo can't have that.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Did you train with a professional knife-thrower or something?" Starlight asked, only half-teasing. "Man, I just took taekwondo lessons when I was little."

[knife_bender]

"My dad was very serious about all of us cultivating our skills." Yeah that was a nice way to phrase it.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Sounds like my mom." Not really. Her mom was awful in a different way. "Are hero pageants a thing where you're from?" Starlight checked. It didn't sound like they were from the same world - she was pretty sure she'd remember a family of Supes who wore school uniforms - but maybe there was still some overlap. "Because with that kind of attitude, you guys would've swept."

Or at least any sisters he had would have, since Starlight wasn't sure if she'd ever seen a Little Mister Hero pageant advertised (though they should! Boys can do pageants too!)

[knife_bender]

"What the hell is a hero pageant?" Diego asked.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Well, that answered that.

"Like a regular pageant, like Toddlers and Tiaras or whatever, but you show off your powers, too," Starlight said, shrugging. "It's a good way to get your name out there when you're young. Most of us don't get offered actual gigs until we're teenagers."

[knife_bender]

That sounded absolutely insane. But he had no doubt if Sir Reginald had known about it, he would have absolutely submitted the Umbrella Academy.

"Yeah, no, we don't have that where I'm from," he said. "It's basically just me and my siblings."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"That sounds...." Starlight hesitated before landing on a word. "Lonely. There's no other Supes at all?"

[knife_bender]

"Never met any until I moved to Fandom," he said with a shrug. "But I have six siblings so it's not that lonely."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Your parents adopted seven kids with powers?" Starlight leaned against the very wall she'd been pinning him to, because she needed to settle in and get completely the wrong impression for a second, here. "Wow. They must have really big hearts."

[knife_bender]

Yeah Diego's brain broke a little at that. Did his dad even have a heart?

"Something like..." He trailed off and shook his head. "Sorry, I was gonna lie to not be weird, but I can't do it. No, my dad is an asshole. I think he just wanted a collection of special kids."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Shit, Diego, I'm sorry." Starlight's little smile melted right off her face, and she reached over touch his arm lightly. "That's...really messed up."

And in an effort to make him feel like it wasn't weird, she cast around for a distraction. "Hey, wanna climb up that fire escape with me?"

He could totally still talk about his dad - and honestly, she'd probably ask more questions - but she wanted to give him an out.

[knife_bender]

Diego's relief was probably palpable. He certainly didn't mind telling people his dad was an asshole but he had trouble going any deeper than that. It got too complicated. Dad was bad. Vanya was bad. That was where he liked to stay.

"Yeah," he said, shoulders relaxing. "Yeah that would be good."

[defenderofdesmoines]

And considering Starlight had father-related angst of her own (though it was kind of...opposite), she was pretty happy to let that lie for now, or else it was going to turn into Dark Alleyway Therapy over here.

"So," she said, smiling over at him as she crossed over to said fire escape, "I was trying to pull this ladder down when you interrupted, but it's pretty rusty. I could boost you up to the scaffold if you think you can pull me up after?"