Is it just me?

Romi

Romi

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"I get that now," Jude said with a small noise. "I didn't back then. I thought that was just... what you did. If you broke up, you went your separate ways. Don't pass go, don't collect two hundred dollars."

Did she even get that reference? Was Monopoly still a thing kids played?

Maybe on a tablet.

"I don't know. I thought you knew, but I realize I was... probably not, uh, entirely clear about that."

Definitely not clear. At all.
 
Sarrain

Sarrain

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"Holy shit, you just made a monopoly reference. What a nerd!" Rory burst out laughing.

"Honestly? I thought I was too much of an idiot for you to like. I mean... shit, I did a lot of reckless things. I guess I just... I mean I — I wanted to prove to you guys that things weren't impossible. That you didn't have to be afraid. So I always... had to jump right on in. It worked most of the time, but still, I figured you looked at me and rolled your eyes. Especially after I broke into your house. That one was bad."
 
Romi

Romi

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"Okay, there is no way I'm going to try and claim I didn't think you were stupid as hell when you broke into my mafia don father's house. That was dumb. Really dumb. But as a whole? You're not dumb. I really liked you. And even when you did things I thought were dumb, I was... impressed? That you were that brave, that you were willing to just do things, and not just... sitting there, obsessing over what could go wrong."

He'd always thought that was good. Maybe not something he could never do, but something he always struggled.

"My VR self was... better at that. I guess because of the situation. I just kind of told myself that there wasn't any other option, that no one was coming to save me. I guess that helped? Knowing it was just us, and there wasn't going to be anyone else."
 
Sarrain

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Rory only laughed harder. "Look! Look! He wasn't gonna kill me! Besides, I figured you'd appreciate feeling like a normal teenager, what with a girl sneaking through your window. I know I wanted to feel... more rebellious."

She caught her breath and steadied herself. "You were really brave in the VR. And, uh, back at the museum when you first got Giltenn. Saved my ass and took care of that one chick. You were..." Lorelai rubbed the back of her neck, "way attractive right then."
 
Romi

Romi

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Oh, he wasn't going to kill her alright, but boy would he have gotten a hell of a lecture if things hadn't ended the way they were. Probably something about choosing the right friends and not drawing attention. Probably a lot of both, really.

"Back in the museum, that wasn't even..." Jude's face flushed with embarrassment. "That was just excitement. Not really bravery. I was so excited about finally having powers, even if they weren't my own, that I was dying to try them out. I don't think I realized how risky the situation was until everything was over and done with. It wasn't like I really thought through the pros and cons."
 
Sarrain

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"Welcome to my life every day," Rory laughed. "But no, really, you did great then. You always did great. All of you. I was almost never fighting, I just had to delegate where you guys would fight and you kicked ass with it.

"And besides, everything worked out well. It usually did. Most of the 'that was extremely reckless speeches' were definitely my fault, but it still worked out."

Rory looked between Jude and her feet before giving him a light punch to the arm. "And we can watch a movie if you wanted. I mean, movie theaters are cold, Jude. I'll wear a sweater. No problem. Or Kaiju sits between us. Imagine that-- Wait no, it would have to be Janelle, Travis would make fun of us."
 
Romi

Romi

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Jude waved off the offer of movies. "It's fine," Jude said. "I mean, we can just watch movies here. And I'll wear long sleeves and you'll wear long sleeves and that'll cover like... all our bases." And then some, more or less. As long as he didn't nod off and slam their cheeks together or something, they'd be fine.

"I've been watching all the super hero stuff they have in this universe. Some of it's really neat, and some of it feels like lame ripoffs of our own stuff. I guess it makes sense there'd be similarities? Only we don't have a batman. That guy's awful."
 
Sarrain

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"Batman? Why's he awful? Who even is he? I'll be honest, I haven't wanted to look at any of the superhero stuff, I figured it'd just annoy me." Or hit too hard, maybe. Who knew the things that would hurt when a person was grieving, surely not Rory.

She laid her head on his shoulder, veeery carefully. "You know, we got along better now than we did before? Think it's cause we chilled out or we're just too tired to fight?"
 
Romi

Romi

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Oh boy, this was going to be an explanation.

"So there's two different companies - marvel and DC. Marvel tends to be a bit more upbeat, where DC tends to be more dark and gritty. Marvel movies are great, DC movies are awful except the batman ones, which are supposed to be really good, only I hated them. Marvel's world is a lot like ours, where everyone's got powers and stuff, while in DC the superpowered stuff is more rare, and you have less people who are just... born supernatural."

Jude's explanation was pretty animated, even when Rory lay her head on his shoulder.

"Either way, Batman is this idiot rich guy who runs around beating up mooks to 'clean the city up'. You know, as opposed to just using the mountain of cash to start some public welfare works or something. It's awful, and he's awful, and DC is awful."

Opinionated, to say the least.

"Probably a bit of both. Our support circles really shrunk, so everyone... I mean, all of us matter a lot more to each other, I feel like. Like, even Broen. Back at home I don't think any of us would have given him the time of day."
 
Sarrain

Sarrain

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Rory grinned out how opinionated Jude was about this as if Batman had pissed in his cheerios. Then, she could also see why Jude might have been personally offended, being a rich boy without powers and a superhero.

"Is that what you would have done if not--" Rory stopped herself from saying 'your dad' and quickly corrected herself, "if you weren't a teenager?"

Lorelai liked the sound of this Marvel company. Uplifting. Hopeful. It was always good to keep those things in mind when everything felt like shit. And it felt like shit a lot when you were a superhero having to run around.

There had been a time when Rory assumed her and her team could save everyone and the longer she'd been a hero the less she thought that way. The truth was, people had to save themselves all too much. But doing anything felt better than waiting for someone else to do it.

"True. I mean, Broen is difficult as fuck, but he's still... well part of us. I can't say I ever hated him. Guess I always kinda felt bad. Abernathy was shit and too many people didn't get out. Like Calliope."
 
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