Shining Bright

September 6, 2020 - The Ostenberg-Welles house

The Heimdall branded car parks outside of the Ostenberg-Welles house. Boon steps out wearing a singed looking tank top and athletic tights. She turns to the car and thanks Caden before heading inside. Maggie is waiting patiently on the couch as Boon steps in. Upon hearing the door open she starts up in her chair and runs to hug Boon. "Blessin'! How was the convention sweetie?"

Boon laughs at her mom's eagerness to greet her and hugs her back "Hi Mom. The con went uh… well you can probably tell by the burnt clothing it was pretty interesting. I had a pretty okay time though. I fought a supervillain at the con. And I won!"

Maggie pulls out from the hug and holds Boon by the shoulders. "Is that supposed to surprise me sweetie? Of course you did, you're my little hero."

Boon sheds a few tears. "It's still not going to be the same, it's going to be harder now, but I'm going to try."

The older Valkyrie hugs her child again "I never expected you to do anything more than try your hardest." She pauses. "Now. I'm glad you're feeling better, because someone's got herself an anniversary tonight, and Freya knows you ain't gonna have any fun if you show up all mopey. Let's get you into some less burnt clothing."

Boon smiles, tears still welling in her eyes "thanks Mom. I love you so much."

"I love you too Boon."

We cut forward to Boon having gotten on her outfit for the date: a purple button down shirt and black slacks with a thin black necktie. Her hair is adorned with a red rose near the base of one of her horns, both of which feature jewelry attached to the ends. She looks in the mirror and with Maggie's help is able to apply some make-up, a skill she forgot in the months of it being unnecessary.

Maggie looks at Boon and smiles "You look stunning dear, you always have." She leans down and gives Boon a kiss on the forehead "Knock 'em dead kiddo."

Boon's face turns red with embarrassment "thanks Mom, I'll see you later tonight okay? And no peeking"

"Sure thing sweetie." Maggie responds smiling before, heading up to her room so as to stay out of her child's way.

Boon pulls out her phone and messages Atlanta.

*I'm ready! Come on over whenever.*

Atlanta has been running around, trying to make sure everything was perfect for the date. She'd packed the picnic basket before heading out to help Hana at the community center, Fearless, Ellen, and Carmen had helped her make the cake, and (after finding her close to tears in the bathroom) Fearless had also helped her do her makeup.

Eyeliner is an evil invention only intended to cause pain and frustration.

When she got home, she realized there was something she'd totally forgotten about: what she'd wear. Currently she had on a pair of dark wash high-waisted shorts and an off the shoulder blouse that Demeter had bought her when they'd gone shopping a few weeks ago. It was far more girly than what she usually wore, but it was also *so* soft. But also she got it before she got her scar. She stared at herself in the mirror on her bathroom door, gently touching her left shoulder, trying to figure out if this was anniversary worthy. And should she cover up the scar so Boon isn’t reminded of Iconoclast or her lost powers???

This was so much easier in winter when she could hide in a sweater.

Atlanta groaned and fell back onto her bed. There was a soft knock on her door, and Demeter's voice came from the other side.

"You doing okay, Bean? Can I come in?"

"Sure. I'm fiiiine," Atlanta sighs and sits up as Demeter opens the door and comes in.

After a moment of surveying the piles of clothes on Atlanta's floor, Demeter sits on the bed next to her daughter. "Had trouble picking out your outfit? You know Boon isn't going to care what you wear. You can wear your ratty old Verve hoodie for all she'll care."

"I knoooooow," Atlanta sighs again. "I just, she's had a terrible weekend and I want everything to be perfect, and that includes this. I know she doesn't care. But I want to do *something* that can help make her happy. And I know that I don't have to do anything special for that, but it feels like I do. It doesn't make any sense."

Demeter nods and puts an arm around Atlanta. "I think it sounds like something bad happened that you can't control, so you're putting all your effort into things that you can. It makes perfect sense, Bean. But you've done what you can, you look very cute, and now it's time to stop worrying and go have fun. Okay?"

Atlanta leans against her mom and wonders what her first date with Boon would have been like if Demeter had been around. "Okay, you're right."

Getting up, Atlanta texts Boon back.

*Be right there!*

She gets to her doorway, then looks back at her mom, "And my Verve hoodie isn't ratty."

"If you say so, Bean. Now go on your date. Let me know when you get home." Demeter gets up and kisses the top of Atlanta's head.

Not wanting to stay and argue the point, Atlanta runs out of her door and over a few houses. She knows she's allowed to just come in, but since this is a special occasion, she knocks.

Boon waits a few seconds so that it doesn't seem like she was waiting right next to the door and then gently opens it. Upon seeing Atlanta any anxiety on her face melts away instantly.

"Happy anniversary cupcake." Boon says smiling warmly. "You look, so beautiful." She holds the door open and gestures Atlanta in.

Atlanta smiles up at Boon and hugs her on the way in. “Hey. You look beautiful, too. That color is super pretty on you.”

Boon's face turns red. "Thanks! I've been saving this outfit for a special occasion… oh gosh that's cheesy." She pulls away from the hug and kisses Atlanta on the cheek. "Anyway sorry for being really vague about what we're doing tonight, I wanted to keep it a surprise, speaking of." She pulls out a blindfold "You don't have to put it on if you don't want, but it's more fun if you do!"

Atlanta blushes slightly at the kiss, then raises an eyebrow at the blindfold. “I have so many questions.” But, without asking any, she closes her eyes. “You can put it on.”

"All will be revealed soon." Boon says in a jokingly spooky voice. "Hold still for a second" Boon stands behind Atlanta and begins tying the blindfold around her head, securing it gently. "Okay, I'm gonna hold your hand and lead you to the workshop."

Atlanta takes Boon’s hand. “Okay, I trust you.”

Boon gently guides Atlanta to the kitchen and down the secret stairway into her workshop, taking care to point out the stairs to her so that she doesn't fall. A little ways into the workshop Boon brings Atlanta onto a raised platform and stops.

"Okay, brace yourself love."

Atlanta can’t help but fall a little more in love with Boon as she carefully leads Atlanta down. Boon showed so much care and gentleness when it mattered. When Boon says to brace herself, Atlanta hugs Boon’s arm. For stability, of course.

The sound of a lever being pulled fills the air and a whirring noise can be heard shortly thereafter. There's a brief feeling of weightlessness and suddenly they're back on their feet, the smell of grass and flowers filling the air.

"Okay. We're here." Boon unties Atlanta's blindfold revealing the two to be in a large meadow of golden wheat with a creek running through it. A forest of massive trees surrounds them and mountains can be seen in the distance with a breathtaking waterfall cutting through the face of one of them.

"Welcome to Vanaheimr!" Boon takes out a backpack "don't worry if you're not prepared for a light hike, my Mom made sure I brought water, snacks, and hiking boots for both of us."

Atlanta’s mouth falls open. All she can do for a full minute is look at the landscape around her, totally speechless. It was more than beautiful. It was otherworldly. Which, you know, it was. Eyes shining, she finally looks up at Boon. “You’re the best, you know that?”

And Atlanta gets her (new, not-made-of-cake) step stool out of her Pockets and climbs up on it so she can kiss Boon.

Boon kisses Atlanta back, letting herself get lost in the moment and nearly forgetting all about the fantastical landscape. She pulls away from the kiss and grins "Yeah, I know."

Boon lifts Atlanta off of the step stool and sets her on the ground. She scratches the back of her head "sooo I take it you like it?"

Atlanta giggles as Boon lifts her up and sets her down. She Pockets the step stool. "I love it. Not as much as you, but it's still very pretty. You said something about a hike? Does your mom not consider Converse appropriate hiking shoes?" Atlanta teases.

Boon laughs "She does not, but hey this isn't gonna be a super strenuous hike so I'm sure you're fine." Boon grins widely "besides if you get a blister I'll just have to carry you the rest of the way." She frowns "If um, if I still can."

“Boon.” Atlanta pokes the taller teen’s bicep. “You power lift. With a power negation bracelet. For exactly this kind of circumstance. You can carry a lot more than a tiny girl up a mountain.” Atlanta grins. “And what if I want you to carry me just because?”

Boon's face turns bright red. "I- you- I'm not opposed to that..."

Atlanta flutters the back of her hand to her forehead like a damsel in distress. “Oh, woe is me. I am but a simple city girl who isn’t prepared for such a harrowing journey. If only there was a dashing and strong girlfriend around who could help me.” To her credit, Atlanta gets through this without laughing, but can’t hold her serious face for much longer and starts to giggle.

Boon has an even more difficult time holding it together and gives a hearty laugh. She bends over and scoops Atlanta into a princess carry "Worry not my dear. I will assist you!" She begins to make her way to the edge of the meadow with Atlanta in her arms.

As she's walking she looks down at Atlanta "Hey, thanks again for being there for me through this… I... I find it hard to be sad when you're with me."

Atlanta grins up at Boon, glad her plans to cheer Boon up have been working. “I’d be a terrible girlfriend if I wasn’t. And I’ve heard from a pretty reliable source that I’m not a bad girlfriend. Besides, I love being around you, too. You always make my day better. I love you, and that means being there for the ‘cuddle and watch gay cartoons times,’ the ‘hiking in Van Halen times,’ *and* the ‘just got attacked by a supervillain’ times.”

Boon laughs "Okay first of all it's Vanaheimr. And second of all, I love you too. And I'd do the same for you." She lifts Atlanta up and kisses her on the cheek. She continues walking for a bit with Atlanta in her arms "Did you- did you actually want me to carry you the whole way, or was that a bit. Because I will!"

Atlanta giggles, like maybe she said the name wrong on purpose. “Mostly I wanted you to feel like you could, because you’re still strong and capable, but I’m perfectly able to walk. I do like being carried by you, but if you put me down we could hold hands.”

Boon looks as though she's considering for a moment. "hmmm. I do like the idea of holding hands as we walk through the forest." She gently sets Atlanta down and grabs her by the hand, walking by her side. "This has really been a wild six months huh." She looks over at Atlanta "I wouldn't want to have spent it with anyone else though."

Atlanta squeezes Boon’s hand. “Same. You asking me how to ask me out was the start of something really wonderful.”

Boon giggles "You are never gonna let me live that down are you? You give some pretty good dating advice though, I'm glad that happened"

“Never,” Atlanta replies cheerfully. “Just like how you and Celerity ruined my Halloween costume on our first mission, and you only became friends with me because you thought I was in Gambite. And I guess I give good dating advice? Everyone keeps asking me for it anyway.”

Boon displays a show of mock indignance "The slander! I may have thought you were in Gambite but I was *also* genuinely concerned for you… and you know- maybe thought you were uhhh- you know really cute from the minute I first laid eyes on you or whatever."

“Well anyone who looks at you has to think you’re pretty. Or else they’re just wrong. I’m legally bound not to say, but once a friend and I were talking about you and we both got flustered about how pretty you are. And this was way before you got your beauty powers. I definitely had a crush on you from the first time you flexed at me. Remember when you came to see me after that first mission, to make sure Atlanta me was okay? It was then.”

"Man, we were just disasters at each other for months then. Imagine if one of us has said something sooner!" she's silent for a moment. "You know I'm realizing that the last time I felt as bad as on Saturday was right after the Gambite attacks. We were there for each other then too. We make a pretty good team." She smiles at Atlanta.

Atlanta squeezes Boon’s hand again. “Yeah, we do. You know, at Christmas, Gwen asked me to keep an eye on you, since she was leaving and she knew we were friends. I’d say I’ve done a pretty good job.”

Boon raises an eyebrow. "Dating me to keep an eye on me eh? An interesting strategy." Boon giggles.

The two walk through forest hand in hand, golden light streaming in through the canopy. A cool breeze gently caresses the two as leaves crunch beneath their feet. It's perfect.

Boon feels a lump forming in her throat, there's something she'd been wanting to say, that had been nagging at her for a while but didn't know how to put into words until talking to Ryan yesterday. Eventually she turns to Atlanta and gets it out of her system.

"Hey um. Babe?" She scratches the back of her neck. "Hypothetically speaking, would you… would you still want to date me if I." She sighs "if I wasn't a girl?"

Atlanta takes an extra long step to crunch a particular leaf and shrugs. "I don't know why it would matter? I'm in love with you, not your gender." After saying this, her eyes get wide and she looks up at Boon as she realizes what Boon probably means. "Oh, OH! Um, are you not? A girl?" Atlanta stops walking so she can look up at Boon's face better. "Because that doesn't matter to me. I mean, uh, it matters because like, you matter and your feelings and everything about you matters to me, but um, it doesn't change anything for me, is what I mean."

Boon is noticeably relieved, tears begin to well in their eyes. "That's- thank you dear. That makes this so much easier." They give Atlanta a firm hug. "And as far as that goes I… I don't really know? I've been thinking about this for a while, and I there was just so much that was making me feel insecure about it but I didn't really know how to bring it up until I ran into Ryan and just sorta… spilled to them."

Atlanta returns the hug, squeezing Boon tightly. She makes a mental note to find out what Ryan’s favorite cupcake flavor is. “I’m so glad you could talk to them about it.” She pulls away from the hug and gets on her tip-toes to wipe the tears from Boon’s face. “Thank you for trusting me with this. Do you want to use different pronouns?”

Boon looks sheepishly to the side and rubs their arm. "I don't know. I mean I'm not like, *bothered* by she/her pronouns you know? But I think I want to try out just they/them for a bit to see how it feels. That's a thing I'm allowed to do right?"

Atlanta nods. “Yeah, of course you are!” Atlanta fishes her phone out of her pocket and pulls up a picture of Boon napping in Atlanta’s room. Then, like she’s introducing Boon, she says, “This is my girlfriend Boon, they’re wonderful and perfect. I love them. Oh, wait, should I use something other than girlfriend?”

Boon laughs "Hey! When did you take that!?" They look contemplative for a moment "Hmmm, let's try partner for a bit, or you know, could call me your soulmate, that's gender neutral." They grin smugly.

“You’re cute when you’re sleeping, how could I not take it?” Atlanta says, then nods. “Partner. Okay. I was thinking I could call you my sweetheart, my person, my cuddle buddy...just mine.” Atlanta grins up at Boon. “This is my partner Boon. I love them.”

Boon puts their hands over their heart and looks at their girlfriend with a look of pure unadulterated love. "I love you too!" They chuckle "those are all great too though, I especially like 'mine' that one's good. Seriously though, I appreciate you so much for helping me through this."

“I’m just standing here and saying nice things about you, but I always do that, so I don’t know that I’m really doing much.” Atlanta shrugs, and takes Boon’s hand again. “Is there anything else you want to talk about?”

Boon's face turns bright red. "Um, I mean- you already knew about this but, but uh… I'm just constantly in awe at how beautiful you are, and have spent the last six months thinking about how I want this to last forever." Boon shifts uncomfortably "...And now that I'm saying that out loud I realize it sounds like I'm proposing to you. That's- we're too young for that. I just wanna say I love us, a lot" They verbally keymash.

Atlanta flushes as well. “I um, yeah. We’re too young. But uh, you know, maybe in the future. That’s a thing. We could do.” She clears her throat awkwardly. “So uh, are we almost to the place?”

"Almost! Hang on, it should be down this way." Boon says double checking the map their Mom provided. After a few more minutes they arrive, the trees give way and a breathtaking view is revealed. A long fjord stretches out below them, with sheer cliffs on either side and a setting sun straight ahead. In the distance a port can be seen, made of ornate stone architecture and with wooden ships going in and out of the crystal blue water. A crisp breeze flows towards the two of them through the valley.

Boon looks at Atlanta expectantly. "So uhh, what do you think? Nice view right?"

Atlanta is speechless again, looking out over the landscape, and then up at her sweetheart. Boon had a way of doing that to her. Letting go of Boon’s hand, she wraps her arms around them. “It’s amazing.” With a little grin, she pointedly looks up at them. “And the view is perfect.”

Boom blushes again "I- I meant the fjord!" They giggle. "You're a gremlin, you know that?" Boon sets their backpack in the ground and sits at the edge of the cliff, looking out across the fjord, they pat the ground next to them motioning for Atlanta to sit.

"I know I'm hard to stop looking at, but close your eyes real quick. I have another surprise." They fish through their backpack, causing a sound of jingling metal. "Okay. You can open them!"

Boon holds out an ornate golden necklace adorned with teardrops of amber. It catches the light perfectly. "Okay so, this is a replica of Freya's necklace, Brísingamen. I added an enchantment to it so that when the sunlight hits these gems it stores it as fire that you can use! All the materials for it are from here, which, well, gold is a lot more abundant in Vanaheimr so I promise I didn't break the bank on it. Happy anniversary darling."

Atlanta had obligingly closed her eyes, and gasped when she opened them. “You *made* that?” She slowly reaches out a hand, almost like she’s scared it’ll vanish if she tries to touch it.

"I started work on it the second my Mom showed me the workshop. There were a few failed attempts, but I'm really happy with how it turned out." They gently set it down in Atlanta's hands.

Atlanta just holds it for a moment, staring down at it, before she gently traces over the amber and the gold work. “I...yeah, you should be. This is...this is amazing, Boon.” Pulling up her hair, she asks, “Do you want to put it on for me?”

Boon smiles "Absolutely!" They gently wrap it around Atlanta's neck, latching it and being careful of her hair. They find their face close to Atlanta's while doing this and once it's firmly latched they wrap their arms around her and kiss her.

Atlanta wraps her arms around Boon’s neck and returns the kiss. When she pulls away, she keeps her face close, gazing into their eyes. “I feel like my gift is gonna really fall short after this.”

"I know I'm like, *supposed* to say this, but there's absolutely no way that could be true."

“I know you’re going to say that, but it doesn’t mean I don’t feel shown up.” Atlanta pulls back and holds out her hands. She un-Pockets a rectangular package, wrapped in tissue paper, and a tiny brown paper envelope. A strange look crosses her face as she looks at the envelope, and hands the other package to Boon. “I uh, obviously also baked something. And brought picnic stuff. You know, just in case we were out late.” She holds onto the envelope, wishing she hadn’t un-Pocketed it.

"Very thoughtful! I think we can be back before it's too late without issue, buuut this seems like as good a spot as any for a picnic dinner." Boon takes the package, while making note of the envelope. They carefully unwrap and open the package.

Inside is a framed photo of Boon and Atlanta in a funny pose, wearing their “tol gay/smol gay” t-shirts.

“I uh, I know I like a lot more decorations than most people, but I thought you could put it in your workshop. It doesn’t have a lot, besides the DDR machine...which I guess isn’t exactly decoration.” Atlanta rubs her wrist nervously.

"Oh my goodness! This is wonderful. Thank you so much dear." They clutch the photo close to their chest. "I will treasure it always." They notice Atlanta's nervous body language and place a hand gently on her wrist "What's wrong cupcake?"

“I uh, got you something else, but um, I don’t think it’s good anymore. And I mean, I couldn’t have known or anything, but it still feels bad to give it to you.” Atlanta holds up the little envelope, not offering to Boon, but also not pulling it away.

Boon tentatively grabs the envelope. Eyeing Atlanta to try and see if she changes her mind as they do so. When Atlanta doesn't pull away they take the envelope and gently open it.

Inside is a silver necklace with two interlocking Venus symbols, with BOON written on one circle, and ATLANTA written on the other.

“I uh, since you’re not a girl, I can get something else. Since it’s, you know, not right.”

Boon begins crying upon seeing the necklace and holds a hand up to their mouth. "Atlanta this is gorgeous. I love it so much." They lean over to hug Atlanta, resting their chin on her shoulder. "Don't worry about the symbols for now. I love it regardless. Once I get a better idea of... what I am, we can make adjustments as needed. For example…" they pull away from the hug and hold up the necklace "If I decide I'm a demigirl like Maria we can cut off one of the cross-bits. Or if I realize I'm agender like Ryan we can weld in a bar through the circle, and cut of both sides of the venus cross. And there's plenty of other symbols we can use! But I'm comfortable with it as is for now."

Atlanta also tears up in relief and relaxes into the hug. When Boon pulls back, she rubs her face to get rid of the tears. “Okay, okay good. I didn’t want to be like ‘hey here’s this girl thing’ when you just told me you weren’t a girl. But I bought it from Gwen, so I’m sure she’ll help fix it if we need to.”

Atlanta holds her hand out to the side and un-Pockets a picnic basket and a light blue blanket. “I don’t know if you’re hungry yet, but I’ve got cake? And a blanket, so we don’t have to sit on the ground.”

Boon's eyes widen at the sight of the picnic basket. "Gods, I didn't realize how hungry I was until just now. I haven't actually eaten today, I woke up late and then got too distracted by the attack at the con to get lunch. And yeah, blanket's a good idea, it's a bit rocky here."

“Booooooon!” Atlanta chides. “You need to eat! Here, spread out the blanket and I’ll get out the food.”

Atlanta shoves the blanket into Boon’s arms and pulls out the food she’s prepared. There is some lobster mac and cheese (still fresh and warm from the community center), sliced baguette and honey butter, pea pods, baby carrots, and the centerpiece: a spiced chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, chocolate dripped down the sides, and topped with strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries.

Boon lays the blanket out on the ground as Atlanta pulls out the food. They marvel at the cake and it's decorations as well as the dinner Atlanta prepared. "This is all wonderful!" They look at the Mac and cheese "let me guess, community center had another lobster problem?"

Atlanta giggles. “Yeah. Although there was this part lobster guy, he called himself the Lobstar, who took most of the rest of the lobsters with him to the lobster sanctuary in the bay. So it might be the last lobster infestation? But there were these Cockney orphans from the 1800s who had caught some before that, and I promised to make them some. The others there helped, of course. And we had plenty, so I figured this was more exciting than just sandwiches.”

Atlanta gets some plates and a knife out of the basket. “So. Do you want cake or regular food first?”

Boon looks confused at the mention of lobster people and Cockney orphans but decides not to worry about it. They contemplate the question for a moment. "Regular food first I think. As delicious as that cake looks."

Atlanta nods in approval and serves herself and Boon. After crunching on a carrot for a minute, she quietly asks, “So how are you doing? You seem...less down than yesterday, at least?”

"I'm… I'm feeling better, yeah. Don't get me wrong this all sucks, a lot. And it's going to take some getting used to. But I realized earlier that I'm not facing this alone, and if I give up now I'm just letting him win." They're silent for a moment. "I wanted to prove to myself that I've grown, that I'm a better person than I was a year ago. I was so angry, and despite that I tried to talk him down. I even modified my spear so that it'd be safer to use if I had to fight him. But I almost feel like if I'd just attacked him outright I wouldn't have lost my powers." They look out at the fjord, and the sun gently setting behind it. "But I don't regret it. Not one bit."

Atlanta scooches closer so that her knee was touching Boon’s, just for a grounding point of contact. “You know, six months ago, I don’t think you would have even considered giving him the option to back down. Or thought about making sure you didn’t hurt him. I’m proud of you.”

"Thanks. I'm… I'm really proud of myself too. I've come a long way." They frown "I just wish I could've kept my healing magic. I'm fine with losing everything else but… I wanted to use that to help people. I was going to go to school to research it and learn how to replicate it. And maybe even figure out how to teach it to others without them needing to pay the cost that I did. And now it's just gone. What am I supposed to do now?" Their voice grows increasingly distressed as they talk about their missing power.

Atlanta puts a hand on Boon’s knee. “Hey. You can still go to medical school, if that’s a thing you want to do. You don’t need your powers for that. And even if you decide that’s not a path you want to follow, you have time to figure it out. You’re mostly taking gen eds this year for college. You don’t have to figure everything out right away, or on your own. Besides,” Atlanta’s expression turns a little harder, “there’s nothing that says you can’t get them back. I know what you gave up for them. However Iconoclast’s de-powering mojo works, we can figure out a way to reverse it. He can’t just--” Atlanta stops herself and takes a deep breath. She can’t be angry right now. Boon needs someone supportive, not mad.

Boon sets their hand on Atlanta's. "He's not worth getting angry over. Trust me. What I saw the other day was a pathetic man, desperately clinging to whatever control he could. I pity him more than anything at this point."

“Yeah, but he hurt you, Boon!” Atlanta again has to stop herself and lower her voice. “And not like, in the way that villains and heroes hurt each other. He stole something important from you. I’ve never forgiven Kieran for hurting Jasper, and I don’t intend to forgive Iconoclast for hurting you, either.”

"I mean, I get that. But there's a middle ground between forgiveness and revenge. I will never forgive Iconoclast. But the most appropriate way to get back at him, for me at least, is to think about him as little as possible." They look at Atlanta with determination. "I'm not gonna go seeking him out. That said, if we run into him again, I think I could spare a punch or two." They grin.

Atlanta returns the grin, though hers is a little less sincere. “Okay. Yeah. If it wasn’t for the fact that I want to make sure he can’t hurt anyone else, I’d say I don’t ever want to see him again. But I hope someone stops him before he can hurt anyone else.”

"Yeah you're right. I don't want him hurting anyone else. But hey, that's what we've got friends for. It seems like the entire team wants his head now. Hell, even most of his former followers don't seem too jazzed about him anymore. Maybe it won't be us that does it, but something tells me his operation is gonna be over real soon."

“I hope you’re right,” Atlanta replies softly. Then she shakes her head and squeezes Boon’s hand. “But let’s focus on better things right now, yeah? Like this food, and then this cake. You have no idea how excited I am for you to try the cake.”

“Oh gods please I’m regretting saying we should have dinner first. Plus, knowing you it’s probably a flavor I really like.”

Atlanta puts on her best pretending to be innocent face. “Whaaaaat? Why would you think that? It’s not like I put your favorite fruit on top, either.”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice that!” Boon sighs “You’re perfect, you know that?”

Atlanta flushes. “What? No. I’m not *perfect.* Baking you a cake you like doesn’t make me perfect.”

Boon giggles “Not just the cake! Just” They wave their hands “Everything. Everything you do makes me love you more.”

Atlanta covers her red cheeks with her hands, wishing for a hoodie to hide in. “I...well...if that makes me perfect, then you’re perfect, too.”

Boon looks off into the distance dramatically “And that is a burden I must bear.”

Giggling, Atlanta pats Boon’s knee. The two continue to eat and watch the sunset, sharing some other small talk about their days. At long last, however, they finish and it’s time for the cake. Atlanta cuts two slices of cake. They come out a little crumbly and uneven, but cupcakes don’t need cutting, she isn’t used to this! She hands Boon theirs and waits to see her partner’s reaction before she starts to eat her own.

Boon takes a bite and their eyes immediately light up. “Holy shit… Atlanta this is…. This is AMAZING!” They take a few more eager bites “And it’s chocolate and spices! That’s my favorite kind!”

Atlanta grins, proud of herself. There are few things quite as satisfying than seeing someone be happy and excited about something she made. “I’m glad. Elena helped me make a test one a few weeks ago. We used her recipe. Well, mostly. I added the spices. She helped me make it again today, too. So did Ellen and Carmen. I uh, may have nearly forgotten about it with all the excitement at the community center.”

“Well, I’ll have to thank them as well! You all did a wonderful job.” They waste no time in finishing off their slice. They set down the plate and stare off at the fjord, leaning their head on Atlanta’s shoulder. “This is nice...”

Atlanta wraps her arm around Boon and sighs happily. She looks at her sweetheart and says, “Yeah. Yeah it is.”

The two put away the dishes and wrap up in the blanket as it gets chilly. As night falls, they watch the stars come out, much brighter and much different than they are in Halcyon. The two try to find and name new constellations, finding at least three each that they decide to name after the other. Additionally, they find and name ones for several of their friends, including one that Atlanta insists looks uncannily like Brimstone. Knowing they’ll have to go soon, but unwilling to let the night end, Atlanta snuggles in close to Boon, and watches a shooting star cross the sky. Nothing is perfect, not by a long shot, but here, in this moment, Atlanta doesn’t feel the need to make a wish.