Outback Steakhouse, Wednesday Evening

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Perhaps the island had been satisfied by their sacrifice the last time they'd tried to get Paintball Dinner. Perhaps it figured they had suffered enough today already. Either way, the only shenanigans that Arden and Cal had encountered on their way to the steakhouse for dinner that evening were the traumatized memories of their afternoon.

They really needed to have a talk about appropriate targets for hero worship, Cal.

"So important question for you," Arden said as they were led to their table. "Are we risking an onion blossom with our cicada hands?" She held her hands up to him, waggling her fingers. "Or are we playing it safe and skipping the finger food?"

Yes she'd washed her hands like four times since their detention in the park. But the memories lingered.

[For he who is on the hook for dinner, pls!]

Comments

[moreofaponchoguy]

In Cal's defense, he was learning "Never meet your heroes" the hard way. Eight-year old Cal would be so disappointed about how the last few days had gone.

"I think we've more than earned that onion," he said. "I won't have any shame about using utensils to eat it if you don't."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Let's be real, their intentions of eating a blooming onion with silverware was going to last a bite or two, maaaaaybe as many as three, and then they were going to be using their hands with no thoughts of dead bugs.

"You're right, we absolutely do deserve all the bells and whistles after that," Arden decided.

The cleanup had been terrible.

"I wanna see what qualifications he has to be Dean. So far all I've seen is sadism." And Force jumping. "This week in self defense, we were given nerf swords to swing at targets while some weird space-yak wandered around."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"Aww, did you get to meet a nerf? If you didn't want to get close to it because it smelled too bad, the answer is probably yes," Cal said. "Being a Jedi Master should absolutely qualify someone for being a Dean, but... I can't explain the crazy, I'm sorry."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Well, that explains why there was a space-yak at least," Arden said with a sigh. "And yeah, I went home and changed and showered because I was scared I would smell like that thing by fifth period." And that simply wasn't allowed. Because of, uh. Tourism reasons. Yeah, that.

"I don't really think I'm learning much in self-defense," she admitted a moment later, sounding frustrated. "I think I'm gonna start running with Kamala some mornings, just to get some conditioning in. I don't need to be able to pass as some kind of superhero like the rest of y'all, but I would like to be able to, I dunno. Have at least some chance of fending someone off? Or getting away, you know? Or even just now a liability."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"I'm not a superhero," Cal said quickly. "But I do understand the frustration of not getting to learn something at the speed you want. I'm always up for practicing if you'd like. I'm pretty sturdy."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Sufficiently advanced Jedi stuff is pretty indistinguishable from superhero stuff," Arden said with a laugh. "Where do you draw the line?" Her first comment might have been a tease, but her second was legitimate curiosity.

"And you won't mind? I mean, between self-defense, meditation, and free climbing, I'm gonna be running you ragged."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"Superheroes can fly, right?" Cal asked. "And shoot things from their body, and are immortal? I just have a special set of skills. But maybe I've mis-learned something." He was coming up on three months here, there was a lot he could have misunderstood.

"I figure defense and meditation go together. Physical and mental protection," he explained. "It's more of a question as to whether or not you want to learn from other people. Dean knows how to defend himself, and I'm sure a lot of other people do too, and would be happy to help."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Kamala can't fly, shoot things, and definitely isn't immortal," Arden said. "I don't think Captain Rogers can do either of the first two, either." She knew there were more superheroes on the island, but she wasn't sure who or what they could do.

"I think the super comes from just having more than normal human abilities and hero comes from being willing to put everything on line to protect other people." She gives him a pointed look.

"I'm thinking about asking him or Marc to teach me how to shoot," she added. "Maybe use a combat knife or something? I just..." She glanced around and then continued cautiously, choosing every word with care. "I hate being the underpowered one in a society of people who outclass me in pretty much every respect, you know?"

She didn't mean Fandom.

"So if people are willing to teach me, I'd like to learn."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"Oh, I'm feeling very called out here," Cal said, failing at pretending like he wasn't the exact person she was describing, someone who would risk it all to save others. There was a time where that didn't make him special, it was just part of the job, but now he stood out and... that wasn't a train of thought for this dinner, and Cal made himself refocus.

"I understand how worried you might be," he answered quietly. "You deserve to feel safe, and to be able to protect yourself."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

She held up her hands. "Look, you don't have to take my word for it," she said. "Ask anyone on the island and I bet you get a functionally equivalent answer." She glanced at her menu really intently for someone who had called out what she'd wanted before even stepping into the restaurant. "It's a pretty rare quality in people," she pointed out, voice bitter with the pain of an old, unhealing wound. "Plenty of people out there happy to play hands off and mind their own business when acting might put them in danger. Which is why I need to learn. Because when the chips are down, the only person I can guarantee will be there and willing to help is me."

Another moment of staring at various sides and not seeing any of them, Arden set aside the menu and gave Cal a bright and determinedly cheerful smile. "But enough about all that. No point in feeling sorry for myself, right? We're getting dinner and nothing horrible has happened since Shenanigans cleanup! That's practically a record for us! So tell me something that's good with you."

[moreofaponchoguy]

Cal was grateful to have the menu to hide behind as Arden's words hit him. There really were far too many people willing to hide from trouble, and while he understood that sometimes hiding meant keeping your family safe... it just wasn't his gut instinct. It never had been.

After a moment, he brightened up. "I do have a good thing, actually. I'm going to be working on getting speakers up outside the manor for when people want to hang out on the roof or in the back. So we'll be able to have music while we're doing things on the roof."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Kinda like a hero, one might say.

"Oooh!" Arden said. "I love that we're turning the roof into a hangout spot, now complete with sound system. Put a mini-fridge up there and we'll pretty much have all the amenities we'll need! How'd you decide to do that?"

[moreofaponchoguy]

"I didn't decide, Marc asked if I could do it," Cal said. "I'm not an expert, but it'll make me useful around the manor, you know? Plus I like a fun technical challenge."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden tried to bite back her fond smile at that, but it was impossible to. "I'm pretty sure your full name is Cal I Like A Fun Technical Challenge Kestis," she said. "And, huh! Marc asking for a favor? He must like you!"

Or, you know, have really hated looking up speakers.

"Especially since it's something to do with Midnight. That might be Marc's version of a high-five or a pat on the back."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"I think Marc likes that he doesn't have to buy things or try to figure out how they work. Hopefully, he'll like me more once I have everything working," Cal said with a laugh. "There's nothing wrong with liking a challenge. I've got to keep my scrapper skills sharp."

He gave her a grin as he set his menu aside. "What's gone well for you recently?"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Well, I got a new tattoo and got to climb a tower and visit the top of Mount Everest," Arden said with a soft laugh. "And when we get to blue in photography class, I'm gonna have some baller pictures to share from it."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"That really did work out well. And BD's willing to model if you need a few more pictures. He's got some blue highlights."

BD-1 straightened up a little and nodded, striking a pose from Cal's back. He had a wonderful face for pictures.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I mean, I want BD pics just for BD pics. Actually, you know what? Hang on." Arden reached into her bag and pulled out her camera, holding it up to get both of them in the shot. "Gimme your cutest faces," she instructed.

[moreofaponchoguy]

Cal tilted his head a little and smiled, and BD-1 leaned in, poking at Cal like he was kissing him on the cheek. "This is the 'Before the Blooming Onion' photo."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden laughed and snapped a picture, then set it up so that it would show every time he called her. Which, okay, she didn't expect to be often because who called people, but you know. There might be times.

"Actually..." she said, and made a 'move move' motion with her hand before getting up and joining him on the other side of the table for a moment. "Scooch," she said, before sitting down on the booth with him and leaning against him while holding up her phone again. "This is the 'Before the Blooming Onion' picture," she teased. "While we're still friends."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"I can't imagine not being friends with you again," Cal said. This time, he leaned his head against hers, and BD-1 squeezed in on the other side of them. "This will be the 'Before We Stuffed Ourselves" picture instead."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"You're right," Arden said, free hand finding his to give it a squeeze. "That's way better."

She lifted up her phone to get all three of them, taking several pictures in quick succession so they can choose the best one.

"This," she added, turning to look at him, squeezing his hand again. "This is what's going really well for me right now. Glad we finally got a chance to make this work."

[moreofaponchoguy]

"I am too," Cal said fondly. "We'll have to come up with a way to maintain this dinner thing even after Paintball is over."

"You could just get meals together for fun," BD-1 pointed out.

"Yeah, we could just hang out, but the competition aspect makes it extra fun," Cal replied.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden's smile went a bit complicated for a moment before she chuckled softly, sliding out of the booth and back to her side. "We'll just have to keep taking classes together," she said. "I'm sure we can find a ton of ways for you to keep owing me dinners."