Beauty, Brawn, and Brains

## sephet02/23/2019

*Kitchen*

Though it was effective in deflating the argument the general opinion of writing down feedback seemed pretty negative. She wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about working paperwork during her side gig too but she had thought there was a lot they had learned on the missions that could be put into future training. She felt pretty silly now, as people scattered off into their own groups and Andy made a break for the bedrooms. She felt too self-conscious to eat pizza while her body had come up in discussion already and she needed to drive home so she couldn’t drink.
She rubbed her hands together nervously and decided probably it wouldn’t be a bad idea to disappear, so she quietly grabbed her jacket and made her way out to her car.

## Rose | Rhett | Marci02/23/2019

*Kitchen - Front Yard*

Marceline, after taking care of Dax’s clothing by placing them upstairs in the washer, made her way back downstairs to where the others seemed to be still standing around. Her eyes glanced from person to person. Lingering momentarily on Dax still standing in nothing but his underwear.
She grinned before looking away to find the healer, Vindaya, and Leonardo sitting off in the livingroom. She watched them for a moment before turning to take in Lilah. The woman had effectively diffused the tension between Andy and Leo and that in itself seemed like a victory to the illusionist. However, the woman didn’t seem nearly as happy with her achievement.
As the strongwoman gathered her things and headed out the front door without so much of a goodbye. Naturally, Marceline couldn’t let that happen.
Slipping out the entrance behind Lilah, Marci let the door close behind her before walking over to the woman’s car. “Hey, babe. You know there’s still plenty of food and drink to go around.” She put a hand up and gestured over her shoulder at the house. It was clear after having observed this woman and how she spoke so little of herself, Lilah wasn’t all that confident in these situations.
“So, as soon as Andy gets that appointment made, don’t hesitate to give me a call, alright?” Choosing not to force the woman to stay against her will, Marci settled with placing her phone out to Lilah. She tilted her head slightly and smiled. “Mind giving me your number? We should go out sometime. Outside of hero stuff, of course.”
Once she had what she'd asked for, the illusionist reached for Lilah's door and opened it for her. "Maybe we could talk more about that whole paperwork idea, too."(edited)

## sephet02/23/2019

*Front Yard*

“I… I shouldn’t.” Lilah flushed a little as Marci came to find her. She tried a sheepish grin and shrugged. “I know I’m like… the queen of ruining people’s diets but I have to be careful what I eat, you know?”
She took Marci’s phone and put her number in. “Sure. I’d like that a lot, I’m working on finding excuses to go out more. I’ve been in a major work-gym-home pattern lately… except for the hero stuff.”
She laughed a little and looked down, placing her hand on the door but not climbing in yet. “It was pretty dumb. I guess. We just really weren’t ready for the gang fight, and I think there’s probably a few things we could work on… you know maybe not get shot. Or something…”

## Rose | Rhett | Marci02/23/2019

*Front Yard*

"What for?" Marceline glanced Lilah up and down with a bit more interest. Lilah looked like an absolute goddess from the taller woman's view. Not questioning her further on the dieting, Marci was clearly pleased as her phone was taken. "Trying to get out the house more, huh?" The illusionist leaned gently against the side of her car while listening.
"Nothing wrong with a schedule." She finally responded while peering into Lilah's vehicle. *Was that garbage piled in the passenger floorboard?* Marci brought her blue eyes back to the woman and raised a brow as she didn't proceed to enter the car.
Her smile loosened to form a much lazier expression, a hand slipping to Lilah's shoulder and the other pressing lightly under her chin. "Hey, that idea wasn't bad, at all! Everyone in there has had a rough day and just needs to decompress. You are included in that category, babe. I see how flustered you get with Andy." She paused then, hoping Lilah wouldn't react negatively to her observation.
"That's definitely a step in the right direction..." She laughed softly before letting it fade so that she could take on a more solemn tone, her hands going back to her sides. "I know today wasn't a walk through the park for you guys but there's plenty room for improvement. Next meeting, we'll try getting everyone to see the good of writing down suggestions. Even if only half the crew does it, it'll be a start."(edited)

## sephet02/23/2019

*Front*

Lilah snorted incredulously at Marci’s question, she felt that she knew what she looked like. “I don’t really have a forgiving metabolism.”
“Sort of. I’m comfortable at home but I know if I don’t do anything I get into a rut. So I’m trying to find things.” She shrugged a little bit, making a bit of a face when she thought of long stretches of doing nothing. “What do you like to do outside of this?”
Lilah groaned a little when Marci mentioned Andy and covered her face with her hand. She didn’t entirely know what to do with Marci’s touchy gestures, but she assumed it was girl-talk comfort touching. She was not particularly good at reading people. “I don’t mean to be so awkward about things. I always put my foot in my mouth when I talk to him. I keep making him uncomfortable but I really like spending time with him.”
“I just think little things, you know? We don’t really know how to work like a team yet. We didn’t assign people to missions they were best suited for. And honestly I think a few of us need to take some serious first aid courses. It’s clearly taxing for Vindaya to heal all our injuries, plus she can’t be all places at all times. We should’ve had a field medic in Chinatown.” She shook her head and blew out a sigh. “I’m rambling. I’m sorry. Today’s given me a lot to think about, you know?”

## Rose | Rhett | Marci02/23/2019

*Front*

Marceline seemed entirely comfortable with the conversation unfolding. Her eyes hovering over Lilah as she went on giving the illusionist answers and responses to various things. She wasn't too unfamiliar with observing people's behavior and Lilah was no different.
"Outside of this place, I'm a part time stripper," She said smoothly and continued without a moment to lose, "This is the more exciting part of my day, admittedly." Her time at HQ, though not very long, had been enjoyable for the most part.
When Lilah covered her face at the mention of Andy, Marci grinned. "Listen, babe, Andy is about as clueless as they come. And awkward. I can see why the two of you would get along but you've gotta stop worrying so much about all that. Besides, I think the feeling is mutual...he was pretty tore up about that whole date night thing on Valentine's..." She hadn't been sure if she should say that but in the moment it didn't seem like such a big deal.
"Don't worry, I'll be working on getting him out of the house more next. He needs the fresh air and to go be a normal human being...I don't think he knows how to do anything but stress and work." Chuckling softly, Marci looked over to the house.

When Lilah started up again, she redirected her attention. This woman wasn't giving herself nearly enough credit as she listed off good reasons backing her earlier suggestion. Once she stopped, Marceline grinned slightly. "You're fine, babe. I think you've earned it with the whole being shot and all." Her eyes glanced to the strongwoman's arm where the blood still seemed to be smeared. "Next time we'll be more prepared, for sure. Don't let the nay-sayers bring you down. Just gotta do some more prepping and, like you said, having a handful of people able to perform first aid is a great idea."
Making a mental note of all the things said, the illusionist was still fairly intrigued by her company. "You're a whole lot smarter than you're taking credit for. In fact, I *know* you're not taking nearly enough credit for anything involving you...if you and that crystal lady hadn't taken out Sunny, there's no way in hell Dax and Rhett would've made it back in one piece." Her eyes had softened considerably, showing genuine thanks for having been apart of the mission today. "You were out there risking it all for your teammates and innocent people. You deserve like a medal or something, honestly. Guess you'll just have to settle for going out on a coffee date with me."

February 24, 2019

## sephet02/24/2019

*Front*

“Wow you must have a lot of patience, and make *great* tips.” Lilah smiled a little, Marci must have a lot of confidence in her body, and she definitely had a body worth being confident about. She kind of envied the other woman. “I know I almost had a nervous breakdown waitressing, and… I know that’s not even the same, but it’s the closest customer service job I’ve had.”
“I just feel like I keep upsetting him. I feel really bad about Valentine’s Day. I really didn’t mean to blow him off, there are just some times you gotta play mom, you know? And some people never grow out of high school.” She sighed slightly, thinking of the friend who’d had a Valentine’s Day crisis. The pattern of heartache and Lilah showing up to soothe things over had been going since the early days of high school. She slouched down against her door wearily. “I made him uncomfortable with the uniform thing, too. I’m nervous about it and he doesn’t really get it. I don’t *blame* him for that, you talk to any guy about the fashion industry their eyes are gonna glaze over but… I don’t know.”
“He does, I worry about being a nag but it’s really not good to hide away as much as he does. He runs everything out of his home! The agoraphobia’s gonna get him if he isn’t careful.”
“Two gunshot wounds earns the ability to babble, got it.” Lilah giggled a little, it was so unreal to think about that. “I’ll look into some first aid courses, put a fund together so a few people can know what to do in a crisis. The burning building had the benefit of emergency services, the injured in Chinatown didn’t have anyone, we have to be able to step up to the plate, you know?”
“I was a good fit to be put against that Sunny guy, muscle on muscle. I was just a little more nimble and durable. I really need to learn how to fight better, but it’s dangerous to learn…” She smiled brightly and shook her head. “That’s the gold medal, I look forward to doing coffee with you.”

## Rose | Rhett | Marci02/24/2019

*Front*

"Tips are easy to make when you can make anyone's wildest fantasies into reality." Her grin had remained as Lilah spoke of her own experience while waitressing. "No, babe, *that* takes patience." She was enjoying this getting to know one another a bit more than she'd expected. The incredible woman with enough strength to lift a care but soft enough to break down over some lame ass customer telling her their coffee was cold. It was intriguing, to say the least.
As their conversation moved onto the more serious note involving the woman's feelings toward their leader, Marci's grin softened. "Babe, he's *almost always* uncomfortable, regardless of your proximity. Although, can you blame him? You're a dream on two legs!" Marceline, with all her energetic charisma, clapped her hands together before twining her fingers. She carried them on by expressing her plans of moving Andy into more social settings outside his home and smiled warmly, unlike the freezing temperatures around them.
As Lilah chose to speak on, Marceline didn't bother to interrupt her even with the chill beginning to seek in. Her smile grew twice in size at her companion's giggling and a new sense of appreciation went through her. "I don't know why Andy made me a captain when he had you right here." She was more or less brooding for the moment but kept her smile. "Keep me informed on the whole funding thing, I can get the money, no problem."
Hearing Lilah agreeing to putting up a good fight was almost as sweet as her previous giggle. Marceline shook her head before the other could go on. "We'll figure something out, you're already better off than most of us!" Her eyes sparked with a bit of excitement at what came next. Lilah calling her offer the 'gold medal' was oddly adorable.

"Good! Honestly, we can go wherever you'd like." She winked a blue eye at Lilah then stepped from the car, loosening her fingers and putting them to her mouth to blow into. "Well, if you're sure you don't wanna stay, I think I'll head back in before my tits freeze off." Her illusions usually kept her warm when necessary though she hadn't been using her power much in the day. Her mind was simply pre-occupied. "I'll shoot ya a text when I'm free and we'll work something out."

## sephet02/24/2019

*Front*

“You don’t need illusions to make everyone’s dreams come true.” Lilah laughed softly and waved off the compliments, feeling sure they were hollow. She’d never been very good at taking compliments, though she didn’t historically get very many. Marci was an extremely sweet and kind person, it made sense for compliments to come so easy to her. She seemed dedicated to making everyone feel good, and Lilah really admired that. If she tried a little harder maybe she could be able to make people happy like that.
“I am going to head out. Honestly I think my dog is gonna need to go for a walk pretty soon. Thanks for coming out to talk, you go get warm inside.” Lilah grinned a little and waved. “I look forward to it. I hope we can sync up our schedules without too much fuss. Good night.”
She got into her car and turned it on, thankful that the night hadn’t ended on the bad note that it would’ve ended on had Marci not come to see her.

February 25, 2019