Secrets We Tell and Secrets We Hold

January 11, 2020, Camelot Park

“Okay Babs, game plan. Get my gayest outfit together.” Boon examines her reflection in a full length mirror. She’s wearing a pair of insulated tights, a red flannel shirt, and a wool lined bomber jacket. She winks at the mirror. “Check.” In the mirror, she glances at the horns on her head and twirls a thick beanie in her hands contemplatively. She sighs and tosses the beanie back on to the bed. “Moving on. Drop Brimstone off at Mom’s, already done. Just a touch of makeup...” Boon leans towards the mirror and carefully applies some mascara, just enough to highlight her grey-ish eyes, “Check.” Boon makes her way into the bathroom down the hall, she again looks in a mirror, this time at her hair. She dollops a bit of mousse into her hair and then musses it up a bit for style. “Okay, I think we’re good to go. And last on the checklist… get there early…” Boon grabs a pair of ice skates and heads out the front door of Shady Glen, waving goodbye to Lukas. Once outside she breaks out into a supernaturally fast sprint. In a surprisingly short time, she’s able to make her way to Camelot Park.

The park is covered in pristine snow from the day before. Well bundled visitors wander through the paths, a group of children are having a snowball fight. It’s dark out and the city has set up colorful displays of light around the walking trails. A seasonal ice rink has been set up in the middle of the park and a modest amount of people are gathered there to skate with their friends and loved ones. Boon makes her way to the edge of the rink and starts catching her breath and fixing her hair. She takes on a pose that says “Yeah I’ve been here a few minutes, but I haven’t been waiting long.” She reaches into her pocket as if to grab a cigarette, and then pauses when she remembers that she quit a few months ago. As she waits for her date she instead starts whistling a Flex Girls song to pass the time.

Atlanta had put on at least six different variations on "high waisted pants with an oversized sweater" before hearing her dad come in and realizing that she needed to go. Atlanta had ended up in a dark green sweater that brings out her eyes, fleece-lined oversized denim coat, and black thermal leggings. Her hair is pulled back into a braid and covered with a slouchy dark gray beanie that hopefully won't annihilate her curls if she takes it off. She'd signed goodbye to Jasper before telling her dad she was "meetingafriendit'snotabigdealoranythingkbye" and running out. In retrospect, it wasn't the best lie she'd ever told him.

*Would him thinking it's a Big Team thing be better or worse than him knowing it's a date?* Atlanta pushes the thought aside as she heads out of her apartment building and toward Camelot Park.

When Atlanta finally approaches the ice rink (things take SO LONG when you can't fly), she stops short as she sees Boon waiting for her. It's the first time she's seen her without the mask to hide behind since she found out that Boon liked her. And Boon was early??? She watched Boon standing there, looking relaxed and definitely not panicking internally like Atlanta, for long enough that it was probably creepy before putting on her best “totally not freaking out” face and walking over.

“Uh, Boon, hi.” Atlanta calls as she gets near. *Real smooth, good job.*

Boon looks startled on hearing this. “Atlanta! Hey, um- hi. I didn’t see you there. Don’t worry, I haven’t been waiting here long, but I didn’t like- just get here. I’ve been waiting here a fashionable amount of time, but like, don’t worry about it… hi…” With one hand Boon scratches the back of her head, and the other is extended for a handshake. *Real smooth, good job,* Boon’s inner monologue and parasitic demon say in unison.

“Right, yeah. Of course.” Atlanta nods and shakes Boon’s hand. *What are you doing?* Her cheeks flush, but it’s not super noticeable with her face already red in the cold air. “Uh, so, um. Do you skate a lot?”

“Skating? Absolutely. Ice skating, not as much. I actually play derby! Some of the muscle memory transfers over though, and I’ve ice skated a couple times.” *Alright there we go, brag just a little, build some confidence, you’ve got this*. “Hey you should come to one of my bouts sometime! I’m like, the best jammer in Halcyon.” Boon flexes. *Dial it back a bit champ.*

Atlanta nods again, pulling her eyes away from Boon’s arm. “Oh cool! Uh, sure. That seems like fun? I know nothing about roller derby. I uh, don’t really skate, but how hard could it be?” Atlanta bites her lip and nods toward the ticket booth. “Ready to start? I’ll need to rent a pair of skates.”

“Ready when you are! And don’t worry about not knowing how,” Boon strikes a heroic pose, “I will be your teacher!” She giggles and makes her way over to the rental booth with Atlanta. “Anyway, you can rent skates here. You’ll want to go about a size down from your normal shoe size, these run a bit large. I’m gonna go lace up over on that bench, come find me once you’ve been fitted!”

Boon goes over to one of the benches and sits down as she starts putting on her skates. *Okay Boon, relax, it’s going fine, you’re fine. Atlanta likes you well enough, you haven’t messed up yet. No, not yet, you won’t mess up. You’ve got this. Breathe.* Boon takes a deep breath. And smiles as she looks over at Atlanta.

Atlanta rents her skates, keeping Boon’s advice in mind. She glances back at her every once in a while, but hopefully not enough to be weird. When Boon looks over at her, she gives an awkward little wave before taking the skates from the attendant and walking over to join her.

“Hi, uh, again. I got my skates. But you can see that.” *Why is it easier to talk to her as Verve?* Atlanta sits down before she can say anything else embarrassing and puts on her skates.

"I can see that!" *God she's so adorable.* Boon waits a moment for Atlanta to put on her skates "Okay so, skating." Boon steps out onto the ice and turns to face Atlanta. "The first step onto the rink is always the scariest." She holds out an arm for Atlanta to grab onto. “Need a hand?"

Standing is a bit wobbly, but Atlanta makes it to the rink. She immediately grabs Boon's hand as she steps onto the ice. She's a little unsteady, but doesn't fall. "Okay. Yeah. I've got this." *You've fought eldritch monstrosities, you can handle ice skating.* Despite her brave words, she's gripping Boon's hand tighter than it seems like a girl of her size should be able to.

"Okay so. Step one, bend your knees. Low as you can. Get a nice, low center of gravity. And step two, Atlanta, let go of my hand," she smiles at Atlanta confidently. "Don't worry about falling. As long as I'm here I won't let you fall."

"Okay but what if I don't want to?" comes out before she can think about it. "Uh. I mean. Not that I want to hold your hand. I mean. I do. I mean. I'm gonna stop talking now." Face red from something other than the cold, she follows Boon's other instructions before tentatively letting go of Boon's hand.

"Well… I-I'm not opposed to holding your hand the whole time if that's what helps." Boon blushes. "But uh… you're doing great. Look at you! You're up all on your own. That's half the battle won right there." Boon skates around and loops behind Atlanta. "Okay so let's start with something easy. Point your skates away from each other and let them drift apart a bit, keep your knees bent. See how they moved me forward a bit? Now bring them back together, and I moved forward again, see that? Okay now you try" Boon smiles at Atlanta patiently.

Tentatively, Atlanta does so, letting out a nervous giggle when she moves. Bolstered by this success and the fact that she hasn't fallen over yet, she slowly starts to move. "Okay. Yeah. I've got this." It sounds a little more sincere this time.

"You're doing great! Now start trying to alternate which foot you're gliding on!" Boon watches as Atlanta starts to get comfortable on the ice and skates along beside her for support.

It takes a few minutes, but Atlanta gets past the wobbles and is able to glide with a semblance of stability. She beams at Boon as she realizes she’s actually getting it.

“So, uh, now that I’ve got it…” Atlanta nervously starts to ask, but seems unable to finish. Instead, she just holds out her hand again.

Boon holds back a squee and smiles as she gently takes hold of Atlanta's hand. She goes to say something but instead just enjoys wordlessly skating hand in hand with Atlanta. After a minute she breaks the silence "Hey so uhhh… this is really nice… thanks for- thanks for meeting me here"

“This is a lot of fun. You know, after the first few minutes of terror,” Atlanta grins. “And uh, thanks for inviting me. I was surprised that you’re interested. I kinda thought you were just hanging out with me because of the Gambite rumors-” her eyes widen, *I’m not supposed to know about those*, “uh, that I totally don’t know about or anything!”

“Pssh what!? Those things? I didn’t believe that for a second. You’re way too cute to be evil.” She pauses for a moment. “I’m assuming Ellen told you what was up with that. For what it’s worth, since Verve and a few others fixed GAIA your name has been pretty much cleared. But if anyone from Big Team gives you trouble you know you can count on me, Ellen, or Carm to back you up.” Boon smiles warmly. “Actually, you should keep the two of them close regardless, they’re good people, not to mention an adorable couple. I hope they’re having fun wherever they are right now.”

Atlanta decides to ignore the memory of Boon telling Verve that if GAIA said Atlanta was evil, she believed GAIA. Maybe she forgot about it. Boon was having memory issues, after all. Or maybe she just doesn’t want to admit it on their first date. “Uh, yeah. Ellen told me.” She smiles at the thought of her friends. “Yeah, they’re both really great. And uh, so are you.” *Did I really just say that? I mean it, but is that what you’re supposed to do on a first date?* Atlanta looks down at her skates and tucks a curl up into her hat with her free hand.

Boon blushes and chuckles, “I am pretty great aren’t I.” *Too smug dipshit.* “A-and you’re even greater. You’re the like, the greatest.” *Well played Bobby.* Seeing Atlanta tuck her hair under her hat reminds Boon of her own lack of hat, which makes her suddenly self conscious about her horns. “Hey um. Atlanta. Awkward question. You wouldn’t um, you wouldn’t happen to have an extra hat would you? I’m uh- cold...”

“Oh. Um.” Atlanta thinks about the basket of beanies in her room. “Not with me. I kinda ran out when my dad got home. I also only have one head so I don’t usually carry more than one around. Uh. Obviously.” Smooth. “You can have mine, if you want? I’m warm now that we’re moving around.” Looking up at Boon, she takes off her hat. Her hair frizzes out where it was in contact with the fabric, and there’s a dent where the band was. As she offers it to her, she remembers the conversation they had while baking. “Be a shame to cover up your horns, though. They’re cute.”

“Oh? You think so?” Boon’s free hand reaches up to feel the horns, “Thanks, I uh… I think they’re cute too. I just never know how people are going to react to them.” Boon waves her hand to show that she doesn’t need the hat. “You can keep it, I’m not actually that cold.”

“Oh?” Atlanta asks, but looks a little smug as she lets go of Boon’s hand to put her hat back on. With it securely back in place, she spreads her arms and skates a little faster. “This is fun!”

Atlanta glances back at Boon, grinning, and loses her balance. With a squeak of surprise, she wobbles for a moment before falling backwards squarely into Boon.

Having seen Atlanta losing her balance Boon digs the tip of one skate into the ice and brings her knee to the ground, extending her hands to catch her. “Told you I wouldn’t let you fall!” Boon helps get Atlanta back up onto her feet. “That wasn’t so bad was it? At least you’ve got me around to catch you,” Boon winks. “You feeling okay? Need a break?”

Atlanta went from fine, to falling, to in Boon’s arms, to back upright so fast she hardly had time to think. Her entire face turns red. *You've hugged Boon before this isn't really different, calm down.* She stands there for a second, catching her breath and looking up at Boon. As Boon winks at her, something just clicks, and her anxiety about the situation drains away. She starts to laugh.

"Yeah, you did. And you did. I'm glad you're here, Boon." She pauses, letting the statement linger for a moment before moving on. "And I'm okay to keep going, although I'm definitely going to be sore tomorrow. Unless you want to grab a hot chocolate or something?"

Boon laughs along with Atlanta, relieved that she’s okay. “I’m glad you’re here too! This is so much fun. And I’m also good to keep going. That said, I could really use some hot cocoa.” Boon takes Atlanta’s hand and the two skate to the edge of the rink. After a moment of awkwardly walking on solid ground with skates the two make it to the rinkside hot cocoa stand. Boon fills up two styrofoam cups and hands one to Atlanta, the steam visible in the cool, dry air. Boon grabs some candy canes from the basket next to the hot chocolate pot and offers one to Atlanta as they shuffle over to a place to sit down.

Atlanta happily accepts the candy cane. After peeling the plastic off, she dunks it in her drink to melt. The two sit on a bench far enough away from the bustle of the ice rink to have a little bit of privacy, but not so far that it's too far to walk with their skates on.

Atlanta lets out a sigh as they sit, her legs already starting to get sore now that she's stopped skating. She breathes in the steam from the cocoa before taking a sip. It hits her, suddenly, that this is a date. A date with Boon. This thing she'd been anticipating and worrying about is happening. And it's going really well. Not that she'd forgotten, but she has a moment where everything seems really real. She savors the moment, sipping on her drink and watching the skaters.

"So how long have you been doing derby?"

Boon is resting with an elbow on the table with her face propped up against her hand. She peers over her cup of hot cocoa at Atlanta. There are two wolves at war within Boon's mind. One is still adjusting to the fact that Atlanta agreed to be here today. The other is telling her that it's no surprise that someone would want to go on a date with her, she's pretty great after all. Boon is gay.

After hearing Atlanta's question Boon ponders for a moment. "I started skating when I waaaassss ten? And then I started playing derby just before freshman year of high school," she stirs her drink with the candy cane and takes a sip, "I've known that I liked girls since I was little, when I told my Mom that I was gay, near the end of middle school, she was thrilled and encouraged me to give derby a shot. And I'd already been skating for a bit so I figured why not? But I was a little confused at why she had specifically suggested roller derby though," Boon gives a warm smile. "Now my Mom is bi, and she played derby back in the day too. So you see she knew that it was the perfect way to meet other gay girls," Boon taps the side of her temple with her index finger. "Georgia is… sparse. And it can be hard to find people like yourself down there. But people came from all over the state to play in the league. And it was incredibly important for me to have a sense of community a… team…" Boon visibly struggles past the word team and looks a bit momentarily solemn.

“You’ve got a team again, now, though, right? More than one.” Atlanta puts a hand on Boon’s forearm, unsure of where the hesitation came from. She smiles. “I mean, I don’t know your derby team, but Big Team has a lot of good people on it.”

“Yeah... good people…” Boon sighs and looks back up at Atlanta “I- I messed up pretty bad recently. I just… feel like they deserve better than me” Boon stares down at her hot chocolate “I’m sorry this is supposed to be a date, don’t let me ruin it by sadgirling.”

Atlanta bumps her shoulder into Boon’s. “Everybody messes up. I know it feels like the end of the world sometimes, but I haven’t heard anything about anyone wanting you off the team or anything.” She takes a sip of cocoa, then grins. “But as a distraction, if you don’t wanna talk about it, would you like to hear the incredibly embarrassing story about when my parents knew I was a lesbian?”

Boon wipes away a tear and laughs “Atlanta, you should know that I would always like to hear stories about lesbianism.”

Atlanta sets down her drink because all good stories require making vague gestures with your hands that don’t really make sense but emphasize your point. “Okay, so I don’t actually remember this but my parents used to tell the story all the time. I was five, and one day coming home from Kindergarten I was just sobbing. And my dad was trying to figure it out, consoling this sobbing child but having absolutely no clue why I was crying in the first place. By the time my mom got home all he’d gotten out of me was something about another girl in my class. So with both of them trying to figure out what on Earth was going on, they finally got it out of me that Sutton, my classmate, had held my hand during recess and I was crying because she was so pretty. And my mom starts laughing, which my dad doesn’t appreciate. ‘It’s not funny, Demeter,’” Atlanta does little imitations of her parents’ voices, “and she said, still laughing. ‘It isn’t, but it is though.’ And dad still doesn’t quite get why I’m crying about it, and mom tells him it’s because their daughter likes girls and doesn’t know what to do with all of her feelings. She got me to stop crying by having us make cupcakes. So I never had to come out to them, and they were always cool with it.”

Atlanta grins as she finishes, though it falters for just a moment when she realizes this is the first time she’s talked so easily about her mom since her disappearance. It was just easy to talk to Boon.

Boon lets out what can only be described as a verbal keymash. “That’s adorable holy shit.” Boon laughs, visibly having forgotten about her troubles for a moment. “Your Mom sounds really nice-” Boon falters for a moment after remembering what Atlanta had told her about Atlanta having lost her mother and is silent for a moment. “Verve uh… Verve told me that she’s not around anymore… I’m sorry…”

“Uh, yeah.” Atlanta picks her drink back up and takes a drink to stall. “It’s been about four years now. I guess I’m finally able to talk about her without stuttering through it.” Atlanta shrugs and covers up any sadness with a smile. “But yeah, it gets easier. Verve said your mom was coming, though, how did that go?”

Boon’s grey eyes light up at the mention of her mother “It went so well! Verve helped me make a cake for her, and she really liked it! And she wants to stay in Halcyon! And she was really cool about the whole demon thing!” After mentioning the word demon Boon looks horrified and the mocking tones of Sapphomet’s voice ring in the back of her mind *Whelp, Smooth move dipshit. Now she’ll want nothing to do with you.* “Y-you know like, I-I wasn’t sure she’d be cool with m-my aesthetic you know.”

Despite being pretty sure it would happen, Atlanta hadn’t totally prepared for how to get through this part without revealing that she already knew. “So, uh, the horns aren’t just aesthetic? It’s okay if they’re not. I mean, you do have a hellhound.”

Boon deflates after realizing that the gig is up. She sighs and rubs the horns on the top of her head. "Yeah I uh… I had promised to tell you about this soon anyway but… I wasn't prepared to do it today. I've got what I like to call a chronic case of mild possession. I've got a demon that gives me my powers. My actions are my own and everything most of the time but... She speaks to me, offers me deals. Sometimes louder than others." Once again a tear rolls out of Boon's eye. "I understand if you don't want anything to do with me because of that." She looks back up at Atlanta expectantly and with one hand nervously plays with one of her sideburns.

Setting her empty cup aside, Atlanta takes one of Boon’s hands in both of hers. “You seem to forget that I grew up here. It’d take more than that to scare me off. I mean, my fourth grade teacher was an ooze monster, so my perspective on normal is definitely skewed.” *This would be a good time to tell her...but I don’t want to make this about me*. “I’m not saying this isn't, like, concerning? And I have some questions, but I’m not gonna run away screaming or suddenly stop answering your texts or anything.”

There's a moment of silence between the two of them. In the rink besides them skaters make their way lazily around. Boon takes a moment to absorb Atlanta's words. "Thank you Atlanta. I- that really means a lot to me. I'm just, never sure how people are going to react, and it's a difficult subject to broach."

Atlanta squeezes Boon’s hand. “Yeah, I can imagine. So, can I ask some questions, or should we save that for a not-first-date scenario?”

Boon visibly relaxes a bit as she starts to feel comfortable sharing this part of herself with Atlanta. "Well, I mean this is why we go on dates yeah? To learn more about each other. Ask away," as she says this, Boon opens up her pose and puts on her usual cocky air once again.

“Okay. So, you said that your actions are your own most of the time. Is there a way to know when they’re not?”

"Good question. And absolutely. My eyes turn red when Sapphomet is in control," she leans forward and points at her gray-ish eyes, "The cutoff isn't exactly clear, but the redder they are, the less me it is. She's only really taken control when I'm in a lot of distress though."

Atlanta nods, though her brow is furrowed like she doesn’t totally get it. “So look you in the eyes a lot, I can handle that.” As she realizes how that sounded, she blushes. “Uh, so, yeah. She? Tell me about her? What does she want with you?”

Boon swirls her coffee in her cup. "So… don't laugh… um, she goes by Sapphomet."

“Like, the poet?” Atlanta raises an eyebrow, but shrugs and continues to listen.

"Yeah, I mean. I doubt that's her like, demon name or whatever. Supposedly she went by Norn when she was with my Dad, some kind of Norse fate creature. It's hard to tell what's real and what's aesthetic with her."

Boon proceeds to tell the story about how she acquired her powers, a story that Verve has already heard by now. Boon of course recounts it with full enthusiasm, showing signs of solemness when talking about her Dad.

Atlanta holds Boon’s hand throughout, squeezing it when Boon talks about her dad, and glad to have a few additional details. When Boon finishes, she takes it in for a minute. “I’m glad you trust me enough to tell me this stuff, Boon. It can, uh...it can be hard to trust people sometimes.” She takes a deep breath, looking out at the skaters. “Speaking of that-”

Atlanta is cut off by her phone ringing. She jumps, and guiltily looks at it. “Sorry, it’s my dad. I should make sure it’s not an emergency or anything.”

Standing and taking a few steps away, Atlanta answers her phone. “Hi?”

“If you’re not going to be home for dinner, I expect you to tell me beforehand,” Noah James says, sounding annoyed.

“I am going to be, it’s,” Atlanta holds her phone away from her ear to check the time and grimaces guiltily. “Oh. Dinnertime. Sorry. I lost track of time.”

“Well come home, we’re waiting for you.”

“You can just eat without me, I’ll get something on the way home.”

“No. You said it yourself that what you’re doing isn’t important. That means you can be home for dinner. Unless you want to tell me why what you’re doing means you can’t come home.”

Atlanta droops, glancing back at Boon. Secrets on secrets. “I’m not doing team stuff, Dad,” she whispers.

“I don’t know why I’d believe you at this point, Atlanta, but regardless, come home. We’re waiting.” And he hangs up.

Atlanta flinches at the accusation, but can’t really blame him. There were so many lies. The anxiety that had vanished earlier came back in full force. Tucking her phone away, she walks back to Boon. “I guess we lost track of time. I need to head home.”

Boon frowns “Trouble with your Dad?” Boon looks down at her watch. “I should probably get going too. I left Brimstone at my Mom’s apartment, I’ll probably go hang out with the two of them.” Boon begins unlacing her skates. “So. You want to do this again sometime? A more lighthearted one? I had a lot of fun today… I like hanging out with you Atlanta, I feel like I can share anything with you.”

Atlanta sits down and stares down at her skates for a moment before untying them and taking them off. “Not really trouble, exactly. Um. So. First I wanna say yes, I’d really like to go out with you again.” Atlanta hesitates and pulls the sleeves of her hoodie over her hands. “Um. Just. Part of the reason my dad is upset is because I didn’t tell him what I was doing today. He uh, doesn’t like powers. And I don’t want you to feel like I’m hiding you or ashamed or anything because I’m definitely not...I haven’t even told him I’m friends with Ellen, and she’s my best friend...so. Yeah. It’s okay if you’re not okay with that, with me not telling him yet.” *Like you need more secrets. You’re going to drown in them.*

Boon grits her teeth. If Atlanta were watching boon's hands she might see her knuckles tensing as her hands curl into tight fists. "You want to know what I think Atlanta? I think we should keep dating just to spite him." The side of Boon's mouth curls into a smirk. "But I'm cool with being your secret."

“Not like, from my friends or anything. Just...my dad.” Atlanta sighs and puts on her regular shoes, oblivious to Boon’s anger. “He’s a good dad, but sometimes it’s just...hard to talk to him about this kind of thing.”

Atlanta takes a deep breath and turns to face Boon, smiling. “Sorry, I don’t mean to end this on a downer.”

Boon takes on an apologetic expression "Hey don't worry about it. If we're gonna keep dating this is important stuff to talk about." Boon finishes putting her boots back on. "And besides," she smiles warmly, "it doesn't have to end on a downer." Boon stands up and offers Atlanta a hug.

Atlanta stands and gladly accepts the hug. *You know what else is important to talk about? Lying to your friend’s face in both your identities.* She holds the hug for a bit longer than she usually would, partly to hide the guilty look on her face and partly because she really wants to. When she finally pulls back, she’s smiling like nothing is wrong or weird. “Give Brimstone some scritches for me, okay?”

"Always do. Take care At-" Boon pauses for a moment. "Wait a second… you said you were in a hurry to get home right?" Boon flexes one of her arms and smiles at Atlanta. "Need a lift?"

Atlanta blinks in surprise for a moment before a grin takes over her face. “Gimme a sec.”

She runs over to return her skates and is back quickly. “Um. Yes. That’d be nice. But uh, if you wouldn’t mind dropping me off a few blocks away, or at the community center? In case my dad’s watching for me.”

Boon nods, "Community Center it is!" She picks up Atlanta up with both arms, holding her bridal style and a pair of large stone wings unfurl from her back. She looks down at Atlanta and smiles. "Brace yourself."

Boon picks her up and takes off before Atlanta can really process what's happening. She lets out a short squeak of surprise and clutches to Boon's coat at they take off.

Now, Atlanta has flown before. She's even been carried by Gwen as Gwen was flying with wings. But being lightning is a lot different and she was barely conscious when Gwen did it. She also has never been on a date with Gwen. All in all, flying with Boon is very different than how she's flown before.

Basically, she's being held by a pretty girl who likes her and her brain is making dialup noises as she's pretty much incapable of coherent thought the entire way to the community center.

After Boon lands and takes off again with a wink, Atlanta has to catch her breath and let her incredibly red face cool for a moment before she can head home, smiling like she can't quite believe this happened but is so happy it did.