Chương 47: 46. Outside of the Cage

Alright, I'll admit it. Centennial Olympic Park is kinda pretty. As places to defect go, it's not a bad one. It's not that impressive, but maybe I'm biased. I mean, I've been in plenty of parks before, but I've never been excited to see one. The main activity in parks is usually walking. Definitely not a preferred hobby of mine, at least back in the day. Anyway, it's remarkable how lively the place is.

This really shouldn't come as a surprise to me; there were certainly places in and around Chicago that got a significant chunk of foot traffic, and as much as news of the war always presses on every non-soldier's shoulders, it doesn't actually affect them all that much. Alien fights and Angel sightings were little more than scary stories we knew were real and did our best to ignore.

And now, here in this huge park, in the middle of one of the larger remaining American cities, I am being thoroughly reminded of how everyone else gets to view the world. An incursion could wipe this all away in an instant. But what can they do about it? There's no reason not to hang out in the open air and the sun, spending time with friends, family, and pets.

Dozens of different people are playing with their dogs in the grass, watching their kids play around the fountain, getting a daily jog in, or just hanging out. It's a little surreal, but… in a good way, I think? My life was like this, not long ago. It's nice that other people get to have this, too. Unfortunately, we're here with a job to do. That job certainly involves pretending to be hanging out and having a good time, but we can't do only that. Rafflesia isn't with us, but it's not like we're without oversight.

Here in the field, though…

"Well, Morgan, you're the only one with something approaching an officer's rank," Afterimage says as we gather in the parking lot.

"You're in charge. How are we doing this?" Somehow I'm stuck with the responsibility here. Again. Warrant Officers don't even have a title of address, everyone just calls me 'Ms.' I only have this stupid promotion in order to give me enough clearance to get vivisected, but I guess it's enough.

"We split into groups, stretch out our domains, and head in different directions," I answer simply, running my fingers through my hair and subtly re-shifting it so it quits frizzing up in the humidity. It feels weird having long hair, but it seemed like a reasonable way to help disguise myself as a civilian.

"We have no way to know if or when our targets will show up, and there's no point in doing a hyper-coordinated search until we at least catch wind of someone with powers. Better to blend in and stay unpredictable."

"What's our group size?" Afterimage asks.

"Two," I answer.

"Buddy system. Don't let your partner wander off on their own. I'm thinking… Felix and Oscar, Christine and Anastasia, Peter and Ed, me and Maria. We'll do a quick check of the park itself, and then start moving into the surrounding area. We're trying to look like tourists, and there are several attractions around, so… let's split them up and check them out as well. Walk the nearby streets. That sort of thing. We'll meet back up here at six PM."

"Oooh, how are we splitting the attractions?" Peter asks, rubbing his hands together.

"Don't care, so first come first serve," I answer, opening up the map on my brand-new phone. Bought with military money!

"College Football Hall of Fame is over there."

"Oh, I want that one," Degreaser chimes in.

"You in, Oscar?"

"Sure," Afterimage shrugs.

"Okay, then we have the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, and the… Coca-Cola museum?"

"Dibs!" Peter blurts.

"Dibs dibs dibs. Coca-Cola museum sounds awesome. Plus, like, if I was a supervillain, I'd totally put my human trafficking ring in the basement of the World of Coca-Cola. That would be hilarious." Huh. Knowing In-Joke, that actually makes perfect sense. I don't know if their villain organization is what we're going after, but… well, I have a hunch. I nod at Ed.

"You good with that?" I ask.

"Sure!" he agrees amicably.

"I'm down to take Ana to the Human Rights museum thing," Christine says.

"It'll be good for her."

"What? Aww!" Ana protests.

"That's a good point," I agree, giving Christine a thankful nod.

"Her education has been kind of totally interrupted, hasn't it?"

"You're making me go to school!?" Anastasia whines.

"You can play in the park too," I assure her.

"We'll probably be here for at least a few days."

"Okay…"

"There's a children's museum, too," I note.

"That'll probably be fun. You guys can go there if you have more time."

"Another museum!?"

"Museums can be really awesome, Ana," Christine assures her.

"Trust your big sister, yeah? You'll learn a bunch of important stuff at one, and a bunch of cool stuff at the other. It'll be a good day."

"Okay," Anastasia sighs, admitting defeat.

"If we're taking backups, dibs on the Ferris wheel," Afterimage chimes in.

"I love those things."

"You love… Ferris wheels?" Degreaser squints at him.

"Yeah? Lots of people love Ferris wheels. Why do you think they make 'em?"

"That's fine, you can check out the SkyView," I allow.

"That leaves… the aquarium. I guess Maria and I will go to that."

"What!?"

"There's an aquarium?"

"That sounds awesome!"

"You totally did that on purpose, didn't you?" Peter smirks at me.

"Of course we were gonna pick other stuff if it's first come first serve."

"Not my fault none of you checked the map," I shrug, refusing to confirm or deny.

"It'll be a good place for me to pick up more templates, though, so it makes sense for me to go there."

"Yeah, yeah," Christine rolls her eyes.

"Have fun on your date, you two."

"Everyone, be sure to keep in touch via the group chat," I continue, refusing to confirm that, too.

"Report anything that seems suspicious, and immediately let us know if you're about to pursue a culprit. If nothing big happens, we'll discuss what needs further investigation when we reconvene back here." I get a round of affirmatives and we split up to enjoy the park. Maria and I mostly hang back so I can watch where everyone else heads off to, choosing the route to our destination by pure process of elimination.

I am, admittedly, abusing my extremely limited authority somewhat by pairing Maria and me together so we can try this 'dating' thing out, but there are several practical reasons to put us together I can use to justify it. Both of us have powers that cause unconscious physical changes to our bodies that can be spotted by others: Maria with her eyes, and me with my everything.

Since I'm kind of trying to get 'caught' to serve as bait, it makes sense to put a more obviously powered member on my team, so as to not reveal more teams than necessary. Does meeting up together at the parking lot kind of negate that? A little. If the people we're up against are somehow keeping tabs on everyone that comes into the park all the time, though, I'm not sure there's much of anything we can do to catch them off-guard. We have to play it by ear a little.

A lot of very skilled people have failed to uncover this group; maybe being a bit amateurish is the trick here. But maybe not, because that sounds kind of dumb. Who cares? I'm only going for a B-minus performance at most on this one. If I put in more than the minimum amount of effort to prevent the bigwigs from raising an eyebrow at me, I've done too much. Fuck the military. If the people offering to spirit supers away have a good enough offer, I might actually join them instead of playing the mole. I just…

don't have a whole lot of faith that they'll be any more altruistic than my current bosses. You can call it paranoid, but I call it pattern recognition.

"So," Maria says.

"You're taking me to the aquarium, huh?"

"Well, I was gonna go for the Ferris wheel, but Oscar just seemed really excited, you know?" I brazenly lie, earning a chuckle from Maria.

"It would be a classic date spot," Maria allows.

"But an aquarium is just as classic, and definitely the one I was hoping for."

"Oh yeah?" I ask.

"Why's that?"

"Because I think you're going to be extra cute there," she answers, causing me to blush. I… guess I can allow that blush, just this once. There's not really a pressing need to hide it anymore.

"You enjoy flustering me, don't you?" I grumble.

"And you enjoy teasing me," she counters.

"Although you've been doing it a lot less lately. I can't decide whether or not I should count that as a win for me."

"I didn't realize I was teasing you because I was attracted to you," I admit.

"Now that I do know that, it feels kind of weird to do. Like I'm a middle schooler or something."

"If the teasing is mean, then that's a bit immature," Maria hums.

"But the stuff you do? Nah. It's fine. Tease me all you like." Hrm. Well. I can certainly try.

"I feel like it's a bit unfair that I know what you look like naked, but you've never really seen me naked," I tell her.

"What are you talking about?" she says.

"You're naked like, semi-regularly."

"Naked but decent," I counter.

"I remove parts of human anatomy that would normally be considered risque when I have to abandon my clothing in public. You've never seen me in a body I really consider to be me without any clothes on. With… you know. Everything that entails."

"I see what you're doing here," Maria smirks.

"Sorry, I'm not that easy. Not when I'm prepared for it." I smile. That's the thing, Maria. Preparation is all that was.

"There's a problem, though," I continue.

"I'm not really sure what counts as a body that's 'me' anymore, you know? I mean, I can look like anything. Anyone. I might need some help settling on everything, right? What size is good? What shape? I want to make sure whatever I am is sculpted for perfection. Optimized for its purpose." I make sure to articulate clearly, slowing down the pace of my words to give her time to soak each and every one in. A glance at her reddening face indicates it's having the desired effect.

"But the one who decides whether or not I succeed in this case is you. So logically, you'd need to be part of the process. Helping me form every last bit of myself with your hands and your eyes. I'm very curious to find out how you ultimately decide to make me." Maria doesn't meet my gaze, squirming and swallowing a bit before she finally manages to answer.

"…Alright, point proven," she concedes.

"You haven't lost your touch."

"Never accuse me of failure unless you want to see me succeed," I answer smugly.

"I certainly wasn't expecting anything quite that… direct," she mutters.

"It is only our first date, you know." Oh. Right. I mean… I'm honestly not sure how much of any of that was actually honest rather than a calculated series of plausible statements to fluster her. The idea of being naked in front of people has become increasingly more mundane to me, sexual contexts or otherwise, and I certainly wouldn't mind collaborating with Maria to create a body she particularly likes. Anything more than that, though? Well… I don't know. It's weirdly terrifying. I still haven't…

explored that aspect of the human experience. Not even alone.

"…Well, never accuse me of failure if you don't want to see me succeed in a somewhat unnecessarily intense way, then," I correct myself.

"Sorry."

"It's fine," she smiles.

"I won't say it wasn't hot." Aaaand now I'm back to being on the defensive. Bah! Fine then!

"It would help if you'd give me some idea of your preferences beforehand," I tell her.

"You know, like…" I raise my eyebrows at her, noticeably increasing and decreasing the size of my chest several times to the limits of tolerance my bra will allow. It's kind of uncomfortable, since I usually just fit my boobs to my bra rather than the other way around, but it's worth it to watch her eyes bulge and struggle to look away. It's weird how lecherous stares feel entirely different coming from someone I like rather than random strangers on the street.

I guess on one hand it seems kind of obvious, but on the other hand I'm curious exactly as to why. What flips the little switch in my brain that makes it go 'yes! Breed with that one!' instead of 'protect your womb from the unworthy interloper!'

"We are in public!" Maria hisses.

"So you're saying I should wait until we get to the hotel room," I smile, remaining on the attack.

"H-hotel room!?"

"I mean… yeah, where did you think we were going to be sleeping tonight?" I ask.

"It's a multi-day operation. Don't get too excited, though, it's all the girls in one room and all the boys in the other. You can share a bed with Anastasia if you want. I'll sleep on the floor as a cat or something."

"You are incorrigible," Maria pouts.

"I am precisely as corrigible as the situation requires," I disagree.

"Which, admittedly, is usually not a lot, because 'corrigible' actually means 'capable of being corrected or reformed,' and I prefer to make things like that unnecessary by just being right the first time."

"Pfft. And how well does that work out for you?" Maria asks.

"Eh. Shoot for the moon and you may land in the stars," I shrug.

"Or, I guess in our case, in the tendrils of the Grand Queen, may she not kill us all."

"Wait, what?"

"Moon's still alive. It's bad."

"Oh!" Maria breathes.

"Okay!"

"Alien culture is honestly super interesting," I admit.

"Like, the ones we just fought couldn't really be reasoned with because they worshipped Blasphemy, but there's no reason to believe other councils wouldn't be amenable. Hell, Corruptor of All Creation was amenable, she was just sort of… purposefully insane? But other Queens probably won't have that problem. Like one of yours! I bet Legion's values would match up just fine with humanity, especially the military."

"R-right… you've talked about this a bit before," Maria hedges.

"I'd rather you didn't call anything 'my Queen,' though."

"Right, yeah, sorry about that," I allow.

"I just mean 'a Queen of the same God that chose you.' Actually, come to think of it, I've never actually asked. What was that like for you?" We finally manage to finish walking through the park, heading across the street to the aquarium. Naturally, we didn't feel anyone else with powers the whole way over, even with my domain as wide as it'll stretch.

"What was what like for me?" Maria asks.

"Do you mean getting powers?"

"Yeah," I answer.

"I had this whole spirit vision dream thing while I had a seizure. I don't remember it all that well, but I'm pretty sure Possibility and I chatted a bit before it actually granted me my powers."

"Huh," Maria says, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I might remember something like that, actually. My house was well outside the range of the Queen's domain, but we could still see the incursion scar from where we lived. I didn't look at it for more than a second, of course, but then afterwards I… felt something. Like my head was going to burst into pieces. And then something started talking to me." If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"What did it say?" I ask.

"I don't remember," Maria admits.

"Well, I kind of remember. But each of us remembers the conversation differently. Like there was a background noise of a ton of other conversations, all at once, but we could only really hear the one."

"Huh," I murmur.

"I wonder if all of you already existed independently from each other before Legion came around, and you just didn't know it. Like, your powers didn't split you into multiple people, you were already multiple people and that's why you got powers at all."

"Maybe," Maria hedges.

"It's either that or this Legion person split me right then and there. I mean, you said that's the kind of thing they like, right?"

"Could be," I concede.

"But the actual act of splitting is more of Division's wheelhouse. I'm not sure it entirely fits."

"I see." We make it to the entrance of the aquarium, entering a predictably short line. Honestly, I'm surprised that Atlanta has been as busy as it already is; it must be part of a pretty substantial refugee program in order to maintain this many extraneous attractions. I mean, sure, this aquarium is one of the biggest remaining in the world and is therefore pretty damn culturally important, but the College Football Hall of Fame? Really? Why is that still open?

We don't even have private colleges anymore, they've all been converted into military-owned trade schools. Is it just a bunch of volunteers around Ed's age trying to remember the glory days when the majority of Earth's landmass actually contained Earth-born life? And they have for some reason decided the best way to do this is to think about people who are kind of okay at football? I don't know. I'm kind of happy continuing to not know. We get our tickets and head inside, grabbing a brochure on the way in.

This place is pretty darn big, and they have a good chunk of shows that only happen at specific times. We'll need to plan our route if we want to see them. Hmm… there's more than I expected.

"There's a dolphin show, a penguin show, an…" I pause, trailing off as I read, "…octopus meet-and-greet, a sea lion encounter, a whole shark thing, all kinds of stuff."

"Any of those sound good to you?" Maria asks.

"I'm down for whatever you want to do," I answer.

"Looks like some of them happen at the same time. Probably a ploy to get more repeat customers. We'll have to pick and choose."

"I mean, we gotta do the dolphin show, that's a classic," Maria says. That's at the same time as the octopus thing.

"Yeah, sounds good," I allow. Maria gives me a look.

"…You want to go to the octopus one, don't you?" she asks.

"Like I said, I'm good with whatever," I assure her.

"You become half-octopus on a semi-regular basis," she says.

"It's less than half," I insist.

"Just parts of my head and a bit of neurological stuff. And sometimes all of my skin, I guess."

"And that's not a big deal?" she presses.

"Not really," I answer.

"Your skin ripples a little when you think about missing it," she tells me.

"And every time you deny wanting to." What? No it doesn't. Right? I'm not even using… oh, I am. I shift myself back to normal, though the difference is practically invisible.

"Well that… does not change anything I've said," I tell her frankly.

"If you want to see the dolphins, I'm down to see the dolphins. It's not as though I don't like dolphins."

"Hmm. Well, it does change what I've said," Maria smirks.

"Let's go to the octopus one."

"No, really, you don't have to do that."

"I thought you were good with whatever I decided."

"Yes, and therefore—""I decide octopus. We're doing that one." I… ugh.

"Okay, if you're sure," I grumble.

"I am," she says firmly. Squirming slightly, we decide on the other shows we'll attend and set about exploring the rest of the aquarium itself. It really is impressive how this place actually manages to keep existing with how on the brink of annihilation we are as a species. It's inspiring, in a way, to know we're still fighting for comfort. It's reassuring to be reminded that we still have all this left to lose. Kind of terrifying, too, but… reassuring.

There's something to come back to, between the little slices of destruction and death. I'm admittedly very impressed as we make our way through the exhibits. A downright overwhelming level of biological information pours into my head, but I'm far better at processing it than I used to be and most of these are variations on templates I got in training anyway. There are a lot of fun little toxins in the sea…

though basically all of them are useless against aliens since they have a fundamentally incompatible biological structure. Still, it's a trove of countless different ways to move and live in the water. All in all, it really makes me want to go swimming.

"Check out these guys!" Maria grins, directing my attention to a pair of tropical fish.

"They're very… bright," I comment. Yellow and almost fluorescent blue, they definitely stand out. I've never been a big fan of that particular adaptation.

"Hey, I like bright colors," Maria says.

"The drabness of everything military is kind of depressing."

"There are practical reasons to have the uniforms colored the way they are," I remind her.

"Yeah, but… still!" Heh. I guess it really matters to her. We've hung out a lot, but I guess I've never really learned much about Maria, have I?

"What else do you like?" I ask her.

"What did you do with your time, before powers and the draft and whatnot?"

"Uh… I guess I hung out with my siblings, mostly," Maria admits.

"They're younger than me, but only by a few years. We were pretty close. Did all kinds of things together. Dad had us help him with a lot of renovations to the house, and we'd entertain ourselves during the work by singing dumb little duets with each other. Any songs we could think of with backup parts."

"I've never sang," I admit.

"I really enjoyed music, but my voice was… not the best."

"Heh. Well, it's not for everyone. Though I guess you can't blame it on a lack of capacity now, can you?"

"I guess not," I admit.

"Though come to think of it, why'd you come with us on our break if your family's still… y'know. Alive?"

"Too far away," she shrugs.

"Couldn't secure permission to head all the way up to Illinois, and even if I had it I'd have needed to drive the entire distance."

"Aw, that sucks. Hopefully you can see them soon."

"Hopefully I can!" Maria agrees.

"Maybe you can send a fairy up there," I half-joke, though I am curious to know if they have a maximum range.

"I… Huh. Maybe I could," Maria admits.

"We'd all fight over who gets to go, though, and manually flying all the way there would be even more of a pain than driving. Plus, y'know, it would be awkward to visit my mom and dad as a tiny naked version of myself."

"You could buy and wear doll clothes or something," I point out.

"I… hmm. Maybe I'll do that," Maria nods. I blink.

"Has that honestly never occurred to you?" I ask.

"I mean… the idea of hanging around in fairy form for extended periods of time wasn't something we were honestly prepared to consider," she answers.

"Not until recently. But we've been taking your advice, splitting up more in private, talking to each other… things are getting better. Blue and Orange are resolving their little feud. It's working out okay. Plus, like, just in terms of practicality… we're stronger when we're split up. So it's important to get used to that.

Having clothes for my fairy forms so we can all be out together in public seems like something worth doing, but it wouldn't have been feasible just a little while ago because I didn't want them out at all."

"Well, it's great to hear you all are coming around to each other," I tell her.

"I happen to think all of you are pretty cool."

"Yeah, lucky you getting so many girlfriends as one package deal," Maria smirks.

"How do you feel about little fairy kisses all over your face, huh?" I, uh. Hmm.

"Let's see how I feel about having any kisses at all, before that," I say.

"You are gonna be my first, you know. If the date goes well."

"If the date goes well," Maria agrees with a smirk.

"No need to put any pressure on me." Ugh. Not my intention. It seems pretty obvious that she's joking, but I feel embarrassed about my words anyway. Stupid hormones. Change the subject, Julietta, quick!

"I have a somewhat irrational desire to jump into some of these tanks and swim around," I admit, because yeah, sure, that's a way more reasonable conversation topic, that's not dumb or crazy at all!

"I think the staff might get upset with you if you do that," Maria says.

"Well, only if they see me," I tell her.

"Once I'm in there I can look like whatever I want, so it'd be fine. But I could also maybe pull the superhero card and get special access? Seems like it'd be a little petty, but it could work."

"We could find a pool or something," Maria offers.

"You want me to inhale chlorine?" I gasp, scandalized.

"Maria, are you trying to kill me?"

"Like a little deadly poison could hurt you, Ms. Armor Nine."

"Actually I think I'm a ten now," I tell her.

"After surviving my brain getting disintegrated. I mean, I'd better be a ten after that, anyway."

"Jesus," Maria swears.

"First rule of Discontinuity of Consciousness Club, huh?"

"Thankfully, it's much easier to not think about things when you don't have a brain," I joke.

"But not as easy as you'd think? My thought process is at least partially brain-optional."

"Uh… how?" Maria asks.

"I don't know," I admit.

"I have a few theories, but it's not really the sort of thing I want to test more often than I need to. I've hit a bit of a wall when it comes to testing new ideas on how to use my powers anyway."

"Aw, that's too bad. I feel like I'm honestly just starting to learn." The conversation fades out as the two of us peruse the exhibits, enjoying the vibrant collection of life along with each other's company. The first show of the day is the penguins, which mostly just involves us sitting on benches while forty-year-old aquarium employees with scars happily introduce them all by name.

As the show goes on, Maria and I end up sitting closer and closer together, leaning shoulder-to-shoulder just to feel each other's warmth. It's weirdly exhilarating for something so mundane, but… in a good way. In a really good way. I want to keep doing this. It's kind of stupid how big a realization that is for me, isn't it? That this basic physical contact is enjoyable. Of course it would be. My dumb brain is flushed with so many hormones I can barely focus on anything but her.

And while I resent that, my resentment is slowly but surely being worn down to nothing by the simple, instinctive joy of her presence. It feels wrong, but I want it anyway. I can no longer tell what's more irrational: the feelings themselves, or my stubborn refusal to accept them. I guess I'm probably going to end up kissing her. I am, admittedly, curious to see what all the fuss is about. They always make such a big deal out of it in movies.

The show ends and the two of us regretfully stand up, breaking off the tantalizing contact and allowing me to think halfway clearly again. As we resume our tour of the exhibits, however, I can't help but find myself yearning for that pressure on my shoulder again. I suppose nothing prevents me from doing it while we're standing up. She's just right there. I could lean into her. Or just pretend to bump into her. No, what? That would be stupid.

It's not like she'll mind if I do it, I don't need to lie about it or make this more complicated than it is. Unless she does mind, I suppose, though that would be entirely inconsistent with her comments and behaviors so I really shouldn't be worrying about— Ah. I freeze, glancing over at Maria, who has taken the initiative to lean against me before I could do the same. She smiles at me. I smile back, and then carefully rest my head against her as well. Yeah. Yeah, okay. See? This is fine. It's good.

"I think you were less nervous when we were preparing to fight the Queen," Maria murmurs to me.

"That wasn't really a big deal," I answer.

"Hon, that was one of the only successful Queen kills ever. It was a suicide mission and a defining moment in human history." I instinctively try to ignore the tingles that run through my body when she calls me 'hon.' I don't even know why. I'm not used to actually liking being called something other than my name.

"You're right about it being a suicide mission, but for entirely the wrong reasons," I sigh.

"That Queen let us kill her. She determined that she wouldn't win and stopped fighting back. I suspected it would happen, so of course I wasn't that nervous."

"You always have an answer to everything," Maria says.

"I'm starting to learn that doesn't mean you're always right." I frown.

"…What does it mean, then?" I challenge.

"It means you will overthink absolutely everything if given the opportunity," Maria answers.

"And no matter how confident you are, there are still things you struggle with. Even if you try to make sure no one else knows."

"Cataloguing my flaws, are you?" I ask.

"I think I owe you at least that much," Maria responds seriously.

"You've helped me out a lot. I'd probably be a complete mess without you. Some of the stuff you said seems so obvious in retrospect, but I needed an outside perspective from someone I respected to actually get it through my skull. I want to return the favor. Help you see the things that are harder to see from the inside." Oh. That's… very reasonable, actually. And thoughtful.

"I suppose it would be foolish of me to turn you down," I say.

"I'm definitely running into several situations I don't feel equipped for today."

"Well then it's up to me to step up to the plate, isn't it?" Maria smiles.

"That's what partners are for." Partners… even outside a romantic context, I've never really had anything like that before, have I?

"I guess it is," I admit.

"Thank you. I'll count on you to watch out for me."

"Thankfully, we are both uniquely capable of looking in several different directions at once," Maria jokes.

"Now we should probably head for that octopus meet-and-greet, right?"

"Oh, uh, yeah!" I agree.

"Yeah. Thanks, by the way. For choosing that. I know you only did it because you could tell I wanted to go."

"One big thing you need to work on is actually asserting your own opinions," Maria says.

"Uh… I don't know, I think that's a bad idea," I tell her honestly.

"I have a lot of asshole opinions. If I actually spoke every thought in my head out loud, everyone would hate me."

"Oh, Ju… Seraphim," Maria sighs, correcting herself at the last moment.

"I knew you were hard on yourself, but that's a little too much."

"Is it?" I ask.

"I'm a misanthropic pathological manipulator. Most of my opinions about people are negative, so I hide those opinions because criticizing unpleasant individuals mostly tends to make them worse. Why would I speak my mind if doing so only has negative consequences?"

"Well, it can be cathartic," Maria answers.

"You don't have to complain about people to their faces. You can just complain about people to your friends."

"Who wants to be complained at all day?" I ask.

"If my friend isn't interested, I'm being selfish. If they are interested, I'm being a gossip. Insulting people behind their backs isn't without consequences."

"Okay, but now you're getting me really curious about some of these insults," Maria says.

"What dark thoughts consume your forsaken mind?"

"I'm not some edgelord, Maria, I'm just a bit of a jerk," I answer, rolling my eyes.

"There is nothing particularly interesting or insightful I'm holding back. I just have a low opinion of other people."

"Hmm. Do you have a low opinion of me?"

"What? No!" I insist.

"Of course not! I mean, I'm not sure I'm really capable of forming a rational opinion about you at this point, but no, I don't have a low opinion of you."

"You know, if I look at that statement in a certain light, it's actually really romantic," Maria hums.

"What? Oh. Huh," I frown.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it? I guess it's what most people mean by 'you make me crazy' and the like. Is classical romance just about taking one's experiences and phrasing them less accurately? Because if so, I'll master this in a day. I can do that easily."

"I'm going to tell you 'yes,' but know that this is exclusively because I think the results will be hilarious," Maria grins.

"So noted," I tell her.

"You send my heart aflutter, dearest Maria. Or phrased another way, your presence incites an involuntary stress response that releases enough endorphins to be not entirely unpleasant."

"You dork," Maria chuckles.

"Thanks, though. That's very sweet."

"Wait, was it actually?" I ask.

"I was just joking around."

"And that's sweet," Maria insists.

"You're one of a kind. I just like seeing you be you, I guess." I'm not sure what to say to that, but it's at this point that we make it to the octopus show. Perhaps due to the scheduling, it's significantly less busy than the penguin one. I suppose most people prefer the dolphins for some weird reason. I'm not sure why. Dolphins definitely have cool traits, but so far not a single animal has interested me as much as the octopus. They're just incredible creatures. The 'show' is relatively straightforward.

They've set up a little obstacle course for the octopus to squeeze through in order to get some food. The animal, amusingly, is rather questionably obedient. She doesn't really seem to be in the mood to do the course, so instead she just huddles up inside one of the pipes and wriggles into a comfortable position to nap. It amuses me how completely untrained she is for what is supposed to be a major attraction.

The people running it don't seem all that surprised either, disassembling the course to return the octopus to a special tank before inviting people to come up and greet it. I sit back and let the families of kids go first, though the lady running it doesn't actually let the kids get their hands on the poor creature. Probably for the best.

"Her beak is mildly venomous, so be sure not to let her pull you in," the attendant warns.

"She's stronger than she looks."

"Venomous? That sounds really dangerous," Maria says.

"I think she's just trying to make sure people are cautious," I say.

"She's not lying or anything, but that species doesn't have venom that will do anything noteworthy to humans."

"You wanna go touch it?" Maria asks.

"Nah, it's fine."

"…Actually fine, or 'you' fine?" Hey, what's that supposed to mean?

"Do you want me to go interact with the octopus?" I ask.

"It'll probably blow our cover."

"Who cares?" Maria asks.

"You like them, right? Go say hi." Hngh. Fine. I get up and get in line, eventually approaching the tank and listening to the attendant's instructions. This octopus really seems to like to grab things, and I can't really blame her because grabbing stuff with tentacles feels kinda awesome. In fact, when I reach my arm out to the delightful little creature, it's a bit hard to not turn my hand into a set of my own. The octopus latches onto my wrist immediately, trying to pull me into her tank.

"Oh, she really wants you," the attendant comments.

"I think you have a fan." Hah. No, I don't. I think that, more than anything, this poor creature is bored. She doesn't have much to do in her little tank. Why wouldn't she investigate every halfway interesting limb that quests within reach?

"Croissant here is by far our friendliest octopus," the attendant continues, as I resist the muscular tug of the tentacles, ignoring the jet of water the octopus squirts my way.

"Very social. She really likes getting to know people." She likes the world. She's tired of only being able to see it through a glass cage.

'Getting to know people?' This creature doesn't think that way. She probably remembers a few of her closest favorite humans but the rest are little more than an obligation to earn her some shrimp in a jar. If she can't have freedom, she'll take survival.

"Your name's Croissant, huh?" I ask aloud.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Seraphim." The attendant's eyes bulge as I let loose the changes that have been screaming in the back of my mind since I got close. My arm dissolves into several tentacles of my own, my skin fluttering into different colors to match Croissant's. The octopus reacts immediately, jolting with territorial aggression, but I let my tendrils calmly writhe with peaceful intent until the poor thing relaxes, swimming back over to explore my split arms some more.

It's weird to interact with tentacles other than my own. They're squirmy little things, aren't they? But fun. Poor girl. I wish I could free her. But like with so many other injustices, there would be too many consequences to try and fix things. I wish I knew what to do. I'm a pretty flexible person, literally and otherwise. I can get used to just about anything. But in a lot of ways, that's a weakness. I don't have ironclad principles that will force me to act when things get bad.

I'm always just making it up as I go. Unraveling myself from Croissant, I return my body to normal and step away, flicking excess water off of my hands. I know in my heart that something has to change. That I can't just keep letting the world tug me in whatever direction it chooses. But I just don't know what to do. Outside of the cage, there are too many potential paths.

"Did you have fun?" Maria asks. And… you know what, fuck it. I stand up on my tiptoes, guide her chin with my hand, and kiss her. It's unexpectedly… mundane. At least at first. The pressure of our lips against each other isn't all that unusual, but a similar bubbling warmth to when we sat shoulder-to-shoulder slowly starts to suffuse it all. A kiss is symbolic, sure. A social declaration of love, an unmistakable statement of extreme affection.

Perhaps that's all that's needed to give the action so much weight, but I suspect now that there's more to it. Something intrinsically elating that marks her as mine, and me as hers. We break away sooner than either of us want. We are in public after all, it wouldn't be appropriate to start chowing down on each other's faces. But I've finally done it now, and I honestly feel a little silly for being so worried about it before.

"Thank you," I say.

"I did."

"A-ah," Maria breathes.

"Date went well, then?"

"Very." We depart together, hand in hand. It figures that, sometime in the next couple months, the girl I've fallen for is prophesized to die. But if nothing else, while I prepare to change her fate, I think I'll enjoy having such a good excuse to stay close to her.