Chloe tuned out of the world everyone else existed in for a moment as Reynold sat down in a nearby chair, and Sarah stood over her shoulder. Chloe said nothing to them, looking down at her pancake. It was a little moment of silence, and Chloe finished up her pancake. "Delicious. Thank you, Jensen." She stood up to go and take care of her plates.

She perked up as she heard her name during Bridget's conversation.

"...You're smart." Bridget let out a brief sigh and looked over at Chloe. "Sadly I can't say that about Chloe."

"Hmm." Sarah said, raising an eyebrow at Chloe. Anyone paying attention would see Chloe look wide-eyed at Bridget and her mean glare, before making eye-contact with an empty space to the right of where she was previously sitting. "There is not much to say about that one, dear," Sarah continued.

"Seems to be a lack of good humor in your new friend Bridget," the noblewoman said glancing condescendingly over at the big woman lazily lay on the couch.

Chloe said nothing back to Bridget, sitting down at her chair. Reynold made a loud comment. "Devils and demons hate when they are defeated in word play, it's true. They always try to make tricksy deals and the like, so they end up with your soul in the after life. Fortunately for you, young Caldwin, it seems the red one is not very skilled at the art of word play." Reynold thought back to the picture of the other she-demon Viorel was shown a picture of earlier in the morning. Strange times.

Chloe shook her head, raising an eyebrow and smiling at Reynold's strange comment. Chloe simply sat at the table, arms in front of her, spacing out once again, waiting for time to pass so she could get to what she was excited and nervous for- the big parade.

10:30 am



The shuttle began to circle around to a car park. Trafalgar Square seemed to have transformed overnight into a splash of streamers, golds, yellows, and blue streamers decorated the street lights in spiraling designs, loud music, and several several vendors were spread across the large square hall. Furthermore to emphasize the theme of the park it seemed several people, not a good portion of the crowd were semi naked or completely painted in various different shades of blue, green, violet, yellow. Some wore partial halloween costumes, devil horns spray painted white. There were even some people who had spray painted their body to look like Bridget, though none of them stood as tall as she did.

Those not brave enough to dawn facepaint, wore t-shirts and jeans. Many of them said, New Breed Ally, or I <3 SYNBAD, others said New Breed is my Spirit Animal. So and so forth. The smell of many different kind of vendor foods all collided together into one “parade smell”. A smell you couldn’t describe unless you were at a parade to realize that certain particular smell. A DJ sat on the stage blasting music as a crowd of people off tune and out of key with each other.

“You guys have fun!” the DJ shouted.

The crowd hollered in joy, “YEAH!!”

Bikes were decorated with different colored streamers. Some creative folks had decided to turn said bikes into different types of monstrosities. As if they were meant for another parade, and yet they didn’t seem to recognize the disconnect.

At times like this Viorel felt like he still experienced culture shock. He never remembers parades being so. Well he wasn’t sure the right word to use to describe his feelings on the matter were.

“Well there are several convincing Bridget cosplays, though she may stand out of the crowd due to her height,” Viorel said an attempt at humor in the car park, though his delivery was so dry no one actually caught the humor aspect, “Keep in contact with with each other. We’ll meet back here later when the festivities have begun to die down. Have fun. Don’t get into any trouble and to remember to support small local businesses that have remained open.”

Angelica hops out of the drivers side and leans on the shuttle.

“Make it sound real boring Viorel,” Angelica tells, “Awight listen up you fuckheads. I want this to be nice and clean. You will kiss the public’s hand if they ask. Fuckin’ kiss their babies forehead. If they ask for a photo. You give them a photo, Bridgett. I want this to go nice and clean. And you will all behave like fucking kiss asses. This could go good for us. Get a lot of sponsorship and funding. And if any of you fucking wankers ruin this for me. There will be a titty twister waiting for you. And now Luka you won’t enjoy it because I’ll fucking tear your nipples off cause I got fucking bear hands. Do all of you shit stains understand?”

It was a rhetorical question because she dismisses them with her hand. Viorel escorts Gemina out of the car park. While the rest of them are wandering off, with a look of fear and confusion. The parade is upon them, and they have become the public’s face. It was a social due or die situation. Where every action they took would be used to judge them. For better or for worse.

As they scattered with their plans in mind. There was this overwhelming daunting feeling about this event. On one hand it was meant to be fun. On another hand there was a lot of pressure to perform appropriately.

Nilin smiled, delighted to have such a reaction from her fellow members about her outfit choice. It was the reaction she was hoping to get from someone else and that thought just made butterflies in her stomach. She gently shook her head at Jensen's offer of pancakes and kindly replied, "Thanks but I am saving my hunger for the street vendors and showing them some support." She had really just come for the conversation but that seemed to take a turn as she heard a huge whack sound from the entrance and instantly stilled, knowing exactly who it was without looking as her body was trying to adjust and mind trying to synchronize with Bridget. She quickly forced a link with Jack, knowing that she could control herself with his powers and not look like she had linked with anyone else. Nilin didn't want Bridget to feel bad for being around her. She did want to have a relationship with the other woman after all and didn't want her to feel bad about a painful change when it couldn't be helped. Chloe was already avoiding her which made her feel extremely uncomfortable and a burden when she was around. Nilin had pretended not to notice her scooting away from her and tried not to be hurt about it. She had wanted to ask Bridget if she was alright but when she said to say nothing, she took to silence to not upset her.

The kitchen felt weird for her now, making her debate on leaving when Viorel graced them with his presence with was a surprise as I thought Gemina and him were going out. He called for Myles and Luka, saying they weren't in trouble but it still meant that something was going on. He didn't pull people out of the room for nothing. She stood, feeling a little out of place as comments flew back and forth while people continued to eat their breakfast. It was when she made up her mind to sneak out that Stirling came in, speaking up about the fact that they would be leaving for the parade in about 10 minutes which actually felt like a relief. She carefully scooted by Stirling and made her way up the stairs, figuring she would wait outside to see which vehicle she would be in for the ride over. Bridget joining them made them have to rethink how to get everyone to places as she was quite large and would probably be upset to be asked to ride up top.

“Here’s your shot don’t cock it up,” Harper tells him.

“Thank you for the boost of confidence, really needed it,” Foster says as he walks behind Nilin, making sure to touch only her sleeve as if not to activate her powers, “Nilin. Morning. Hi. Morning.”

“Way to go,” Harper barks under his breath.

Nilin felt the touch on her sleeve and turned to face who was trying to get her attention before smiling brightly. She had to hold back a bit of a chuckle at that cute morning welcome and replied back,”Morning, Foster. How are you? Excited about the parade?”

The moment she turns around is the moment he can’t handle. She looks stunning, a red dress paired with a cute, and her hair is tied up in a ponytail complimenting the outfit. Now he’s lost his train of thought. It doesn’t help their mind is still fuzzy from Harper’s fun night last night so at first he responds, “You parade. Good.”

Realizing the mistake of his he turns away a bit shyly. Harper laughs.

“Oi ur’ shite at this,” Harper goads him.

“I’m...well aware,” he whispers back. He tries to nervously swallow his own embarrassment. Trying to laugh it off in a way that isn’t quite like him.

“I meant to say you look good. And are you excited for the parade?” he replies with a nod.

Nilin blushed, not quite expecting him to lose complete sentences but that didn’t stop the amused smile that appeared at how adorable he was in this moment. She knew that Harper was talking to him and wished sometimes she could read minds or was telepathic so she could be in on the conversation. She raised an eyebrow a little at his laugh as it wasn’t one she had heard quite like this but brushed it off, pretending not to notice he was being a little strange. “Thank you, you aren’t looking so bad yourself. I am pretty on the edge about it, kind of nervous and excited all in one.” she answered honestly.

Now what. Foster looks at her nervously.

“Ask her out?” Harper suggests.

“I’m gettin’ to that,” Foster tries to keep his response low so Nilin can’t hear. Having to explain he’s trying to ask her out then ask her out he’d die of the embarrassment and humiliation.

“Look to me you waz goin’ chicken out bwak bwak,” Harper laughs.

“Ssh,” Foster replies.

Foster nervously fidgets with his hands. This is er harder than he anticipated. What would Harper do? No better not, Harper be too forceful. Probably just ask to have sex. His own chest is beginning to tighten right now. You’ve known her for two years, just dig up the courage.

“You want to,” Foster sticks his hand in his pocket and takes his coupon, “like to go to coffee with me. Buy one get one free. You can have the bought one or the free one. It doesn’t matter price is arbitrary anyway. I can...drive...you to the parade as well.”

“Way to go, less cringe next time tho,” Harper remarks.

“Well, what would you have done?” Foster asked.

Harper laughs.

“Hey pancake tits, you wannah hang,” Harper replies.

“Absolutely not,” Foster retorts.

Foster looks at Nilin nervously, “Nothing. Internal dispute. That doesn’t need to be voiced.”

She was pretty sure that she didn’t want to know what Harper was saying at the moment by the reactions Foster was having. It was still interesting to watch but the most important part was that Foster was finally able to get to the point of asking her out for coffee. She would have been a lot more surprised if it wasn’t for Voirel’s heads-up which she was glad for. Nilin probably would have had her heart stop or skip a beat if it wasn’t for that fact. She suddenly realized with Foster’s nervous appearance that she hadn’t answered him yet and a bright smile lit on her face.

“I would love to go for coffee and I won’t say no for the ride either if it means more time with you.”

The response hit him harder than what he was expecting. His heart skipped a beat and for a moment he forgot he was even awake. He wasn’t sure how to respond.

“Your lady is more smooth than you,” Harper remarks.

Somehow that’s what woke him from his stupor. He’s right though. She has more game than he does. What, how does he respond now?

“Still got the sunglasses on?” Harper asked.

“Yes,” Foster replies. Oh that sounds like a weird answer in context. Though he understands what Harper is getting at. He closes his eyes. It’s like for a second they aren’t thinking and they can’t feel their heart, or hear their breathe. They can’t hear each other and the world goes dark. When Harper comes around the world is a mess people sound like they are speaking gibberish and silhouettes look blurry. Considering Foster’s embarrassment it’s not a stretch that they could change and her not know they did. His brain begins to wake up. Oh! Ay-up. Fuck that hangover is a killer. Sun is a killer even through the sunglasses. Headache so fucking rich it’s like the Haiti earthquake in his head. Shit christ sunday.

“A,” crap he’s going to get caught that way, “Ah of course Nilin. Spending time with you is a plus to my morning.”

“I sound nothing like that!” Foster is coming around too it seems.

Nilin raised an eyebrow at him, a knowing smile tugging at the corner of her lips before stating, “That is so sweet of you to say, Harper.” It was hard to tell when the two switched sometimes but once one was fully in the seat, the brain waves were different. It was like night and day, the switch being dawn or dusk which made things a little fuzzy at first. It was when the two were talking a lot to each other that is made it a little harder too but she always knew. She cared for them both and both made her heart flutter in different ways which was hard to explain to others.

“That wasn’t me, it was Foster,” Harper retorts quickly, “Just saying it for him. Don’t get so cocky ‘bout yourself now.”

Harper just huffs and walks over to the car, “We’re parked over here to ditch these twats. Just you know Foster and him. Cause I ain’t interested in no flat chested pancake. And don’t think you’re giving Foster any drive Foster cause of your eyes.”

“Don’t say that,” Foster says.

“‘Ey I am driving the seat,” Harper tells him.

“She already knows,” Foster remarks.

Harper sighs. He takes a second. Switching so close in succession of each other kills the head. Foster is now standing near the car.

“So-sorry,” Foster mumbles.

“I know who is who. You don’t need to state the obvious and I pretty much figured out that it was for him.” Nilin sighed, pouting that he couldn’t take a joke as they headed for the car, her following behind him. She crossed her arms, rolling her eyes a little at the insult while trying not to be hurt but it wasn’t really working and heading to the other side of the car before answering, “Whatever you say, hot shot.” She noticed they were starting to switch, it was the sorry that alerted her this time who was who since she felt hurt and was having a little trouble focusing. “It isn’t you who should be apologizing. Can we go, please?” she asked, just wanting to get to the parade and maybe the coffee shop to lift her spirits a bit. Foster didn’t deserve to have her all mopey on him because Harper decided to be kind of an idiot in her opinion.

Foster nods quietly, he opens the door for Nilin slightly. Hoping the silent gesture will make her feel better. When he walks from the passenger side he takes the time to chastise Harper, “Don’t behave like a child.”

Harper makes mocking noises, “She can get over it.”

“What if she can’t? Do you think?” Foster huffs.

“Fine I ain’t goin’ help for the rest of the day, stumble in your nervous blunders,” Harper grumbles.

Foster gets into the driver side. This headache isn’t going away. Why couldn’t he behave like an ordinary individual? Why couldn’t he say something nice?

Entering the driver side he tries to remain relatively calm. As if nothing had happened between him and Harper.

“Am really sorry ‘bout that,” Foster tells her.

She smiled lightly at the gesture and slipped inside the car, clicking her seat belt into place. She didn’t want to feel weird about what happened and she didn’t want Foster to feel guilty either which is exactly what it seemed he felt like since he was apologizing again. Nilin placed her hand on his and smiled softly, “Foster, you are not your brother. You have nothing to apologize for and Harper is Harper. It is just the way he is sometimes and I just really wasn’t ready to be bit at this morning. Okay? It is fine, so let’s pretend it didn’t happen and we will all continue to have a great time.”

He begins to start the ignition. Forget about it, huh? He wasn’t so sure he could. Harper might be Harper, and he might be himself. Yet there were parts of their life they shared and parts of that were SYNBAD, parts of it were Nilin, parts of it were their jobs. They had to share those things and he could stop. He didn’t know what he wanted him to do. Stop being selfish. Always doing whatever and saying whatever he pleased on a whim.

“He can’t talk to you like that,” Foster mutters.

“Ay, talkin’ bout me,” Harper remarks.

“Well yes,” Foster scowls, “You said you wouldn’t talk during the rest of this.”

“Don’t behave like I am some abusive boyfriend,” Harper scoffs.

“Then stop saying childish things,” Foster quips.

“She wants to sweep it under the rug, so just do so,” Harper grumbles.

“Just talk to her,” Foster replies.

“Do I have-,” Harper says nothing. Shifting this much back and forth is actually quite hard and makes the hangover headache worse in fact. Harper staring at the parking lot. They wouldn’t dare start driving if they were going to switch. It took him a second to recover from the third shift of the morning. God fuck. Does he have to talk to her?

It isn’t like he doesn’t want her ‘round. Gotta understand that. He just. What if she loves one over the other? What if she says she doesn’t mind or can see them, but then cares for one over the other. He’d prefer if he was just the older brother everyone hated so Foster could have something good. But Foster forced compromise and cohabitation. And was this affection his or Fosters, they share the same body. He’s the one who drank, yet they shared the hangover.

“It’s me,” Harper says in his normal tone, “I’m suppose to apologize.” he’s pulling out of the parking lot now, “But then it be forced so it be worth nothing. So, worthless apology is worthless apology.”

“It’s you.” Nilin replied and waiting for him to continue what he had to say since Foster was planning on them playing nice or talk out whatever happened instead of taking her advice to just let it be. “Got it. I guess all is forgiven cause you know, worthless apology. Harper, can I ask you something? Why do you always do this?” she asked, frustration clear in her voice as she slumped slightly in her seat.

Could he not answer? He didn’t want to deal with this feeling. He didn’t know how to explain it though it was the closest feeling to butterflies in his stomach. Every time he felt vulnerable or near close to someone he could drink their depths. There was this weird sensation. This anxiety that felt more like it should be a Foster response. A response not for him. He’s the confident the one, the one who is bold. Though he didn’t feel bold in this moment. Foster’s not saying anything, he’s upset with him.

“Because,” Harper replies with a formality that’s usually not his style, “I am.” he doesn’t want to say it. His natural instinct is to turn tail and run. Just say something she won’t like and she’ll hate you forever. He’ll pass the baton onto Foster and she’ll never want to deal with him again.

“...scared to like you,” Harper mutters so low he wonders if she even got that, stupid. Just tell her something. Tell her you’re kidding. Tell her something now. Back out. Don’t let this happen. Just laugh. Stop yourself before you get too close.

Nilin felt like her heart was in her throat and was frozen in place as she tried to process if she had even heard. She wanted to say something but honestly, that wasn’t quite the answer she had expected and was just speechless. She knew that her silence would only make it worse but this was Harper, right? It seemed out of character for him but then she was reminded of Gemina and the conversation she had with the other woman that they all viewed as a type of mother. Maybe it wasn’t so out of character after all? She straightened up in her seat and replied, “Oh….um...why would you be scared to like me?” She couldn’t wrap her head around the why of it all. She knew he pushed people away, had seen it in the few years she had known him but she never got it. Now, hearing that he was scared just didn’t seem right. She didn’t like the thought of him being scared ever.

It didn’t sound like him at all. He knew she knew who he was. He even announced who he was. Shit. How did he abort out of this? He couldn’t. He was trapped. He didn’t want to confront this weird feeling. It felt like he was sliding colliding into a wall, unable to put the breaks on the situation. Shit. Shitsticks. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“Cause….” Harper hates this feeling, he feels small, and not in control, “...if you like me....and I like you. How...do I…..keep. I don’t know. Honest. I been tis way since I was smol. Foster more likable. He’s quiet. Definitely behaves more like an old man. And I’m loud, and rebelling. Just don’t want ruin things like I ruin them. Thought I have a big revelation. All I know is I am scared. I am scared…..to be close. I’ve never been close like that before. And, how would it affect Foster if I cock it up?”

“I….” Nilin bit her lip, terrified with what she was about to say and swallowed hard as she continued, “I like both of you…..alot….and I know you both. It isn’t like I didn’t know that you push people away, Harper. I know you aren’t perfect, none of us are. I...I am scared too….... What if we can’t make this work? What if I lose you guys? What if one of you decides that I am not the right one? What if I get hurt? I guess my point is, I am sitting right here and willing to see where this goes. I haven’t left, you haven’t been able to cock it up as you stated or ruin anything. Yeah, your comments hurt. I would be lying if I didn’t say it but I am still here.” Nilin couldn’t look at him, her heart racing as she just admitted to them that she liked them and that she wasn’t planning on going anywhere. This was not exactly how she thought a somewhat first date would be going. She at least didn’t say she thought she was falling for them but it was basically saying she wanted more than to just stay friends.

---

The park had been transformed and if she was being honest with herself, it was like someone mixed comic con with a carnival and she was watching the combination. Streamers decorated the street lamps in a variety of swirling colors and music pour out into the crowds. People were all dressed in different costumes as well as some less bold looks and the vendors were happily selling to customers. The air smelled of rich foods and sweets and the noise of the people held such joy that it was worth coming just to see the happy faces. She didn’t feel like she did much all the time but she did what she could for the people.

Nilin looked around the car park, spotting Bridget fairly easily as they made their way over to the others. If anything was to be said, at least one of the two leaders would make a speech since that was their go-to though Viorel was more polite when it came to speaking while Angelica took a brash approach. It was about what she expected them to say but at least she could be there with the others to say she understood the ‘rules’. Nilin pulled out her phone from her pocket, making sure it was off vibrate and to check the percentage so anyone could get a hold of her before placing it back in her jacket. They were free to do what they wanted for now and with that she glanced to the red haired man next to her.

"No problemo Chloe." He replied when she, once more, comlimented his pancake. After watching the exchange and then finishing his pancake, Jensen headed over to Chloe who didn't reply to Bridget's snarky reply. He only gave her an encouraging smile. He was pretty sure that her friends had already gotten to talking with Chloe and telling her that she shouldn't mind Bridget all that much. Jensen actually wanted to talk with them so badly, and see them as well, but he just can't do that. It was a shame. He loved spirits and he was pretty sure they were spirits as well. He wanted to know more about them, but he, once more, convinced himself that he should wait for a bit more time before delving into personal questions about them.

Soon after that, it was announced that they would move out in ten minutes. He quickly cleaned up the plates that piled up in the sink with the help of Gemina who had insisted she do something this time or else she'd ground him. Jensen allowed her to help him with the dishes as a compromise. He really didn't want her to because she looked so beautiful and he didn't want to let her do something when she looked so good. But, he knew that Gemina would do so much more than ground him if he continued resisting. Alyssa was humming to herself once more with the asme song as before.

He soon finished up and urged for Gemina to go on first as he took out his phone and began to text his girlfriend as he ascended the stairs towards the lobby area to wait for Angelica.

"Hey Faye! Heading over to the parade now. You coming?"

"Sorry Jensen, I'm looking into a certain something for Laura. Send me pics, alright?"

"Will do. Don't get in trouble."

"Back at you."

Jensen closed his phone and pocketed it. Once Angelica and the bus had arrived, he waited for everyone to get in before getting in himself. He preferred being next to the door since he didn't like cramped spaces all that much. It wasn't a phobia - just a preference. As they began to move, he gazed out of the window without speaking - Alyssa now sitting on his left shoulder and watched as Angelica drove their shuttle.

He put on his half-mask when they got close. Even if people started to figure out who he was somehow, he still preferred to keep the mask. He felt a lot more confident in his powers when he had it since he has been wearing it during investigations for such a long time that it practically became part of him. It became a sense of security for him and he doubted that he would leave it any time soon.

When he first saw the parade, he couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh. This was... just woah. There were so many people and they went so far as to even cosplay... as Bridget! "Look Bridget, you have so many fans!" He said, gesturing to the people outside. This was pretty amazing when he remembered the fact that people used to hate them - that Viorel and so many others were forced to live in a barn because of them. It was all thanks to Angelica and her publicly announcing the making of SYNBAD. Jensen knew that that helped a lot and he owed her.

Jensen opened the door when they get there and got out. The energy of the festivities was bearing down on them and Jensen remembered something familiar in this - the times when he was still in sports during his highschool years. Same pressure. Same energy. No problem.

Viorel then went on to give a joke - but it wasn't obvious thanks to his lackluster delivery of it. Still, the joke was not lost to Jensen and he smiled in response. He crossed his arms as Viorel began to list off their instructions. "All duly noted Viorel." He said with a nod but Angelica gave a more direct, no-filter instruction as to what they had to do which he also kept in mind.

"You got it Miss Angelica." He said with a grin before looking at the others. He gave them a nod and a grin. He spotted Nilin and... was that Harper or Foster? He wasn't exactly too sure mostly because he couldn't see him properly. He gave them a friendly wave first.

"Well guys, looks like I'll be seeing you all later!"

Jensen headed towards the crowds and began mingling with them, cheerily talking with the strangers and taking pictures with them as he passed. He wasn't the most famous - not by a long shot. They loved the other ones more, like Bridget and Myles. He didn't let it bother him as others still went out of their way to ask for a picture which he happily gave. Some even asked for his signature and he was really enjoying it so far.

In the end, Jack never figured out if Myles and Luka got their breakfasts. It'd be a shame if they didn't, but even if they hadn't, he hoped they managed to pick up some food from the festival, or somewhere else. Maybe they could save the bacon and eggs for later? The pancakes could just be refridgerated and microwaved, for sure, but nonetheless, they'd be good to eat later on. Maybe not the cooked food so much, but you never knew. He'd let Gemina handle that; she was an expert in creating food and forcing it to taste good, even when it shouldn't.

They drove up to the festival, with Bridget taking up a lot of the van, naturally. Aside from being ten feet tall, she also had very wide... uh, wings. Yeah, definitely wings. Well, also wings, but there was no need to elaborate more on that. Focus on Myles instead. Yeah, Myles, what a guy. He claimed he looked like a cancer patient, sure, but he was perfectly fit. More than, even, with how flexible he managed to be, and very popular with a lot of people for his Snapgram images. When they said he was pretty... well, they weren't wrong. Wait, crap, he was doing it again. Luka, Luka, yes, Luka was nice to look at. He'd dressed very well indeed for this event, in a way that really showed his figure off- GAH. Why did he always do this? Killer Queen, Killer Queen was nice and fuzzy. Cats were nice, especially when they could properly communicate what they wanted.

...wow, where had the time gone? They were already there? He had to pay more attention to his surroundings, really. And what surroundings, so bright and colourful, with a lot of people in costume - or out of costume, so to speak. There were some very skilled artists out that day, apparently. Viorel offered them instructions and what seemed to be a joke, followed up by Angelica offering her own instructions, more direct, but less concise. She was very forceful when she wanted to be, of course, but not so charismatic. He was pretty sure he wasn't a shitstain, after all. Bit rude of her, though he understood that maybe there was a bit of pressure to be nice to people.

Speaking of, hey, Nilin, Foster and Harper had arrived. He'd been wondering where Nilin was, a little bit, but it looked like she'd been driven up by Foster and Harper after all. He didn't know which one was in control of their shared body from just a cursory glance, of course, hence "Foster and Harper", but whoever was out, both he and Nilin seemed in high spirits. Had they finally managed to get their date on? That'd be swell if they had, honestly. He'd just leave them to it, he figured... in that case, should he buddy up with somebody else? He spied Jensen heading off on his own, so that was always an option, but he figured pairing up would give him people to chat with between fan talks. Decisions, decisions...

Bridget squeezed herself out of the van grunting as she needed to apply a little bit of force to get out of the door. She hated driving, mostly because a large amount of them aren't designed to take someone of her proportion. As both her feet finally made contact with the pavement she let out a quiet sigh of relief, stretching out her arms and wings. I hate cars... she though to herself as she took a brief moment to look around. There were people here of all shapes, sizes and colours, Bridget wasn't at all surprised to see some imitators among the crowd. Though her sight see was interrupted by Viorel and Angelica. Bridget was a little confused as she could have sworn Viorel just tried to make a joke, she didn't know why this disturbed her so much but she tried not to dwell on it.

Then as to be expected Angelica was tactless as usual but her message was clear. Bridget rolled her eyes when Angelica addressed her specifically. Of coarse Bridget would take photos and behave, what did Angelica take her for? Some kind of bitch or something? Angelica's "pep talk" couldn't have finished sooner, Bridget just wanted to get away from everyone. Some because she didn't care for them, others she found annoying and others she didn't feel comfortable around. She really wanted to get along with some of them at least, but it was hard. She looked over everyone trying to pick out someone she could be bothered to try and get to know.

You had Myles there, she did admire his courage for posting pics on snapgram, but Bridget couldn't help feel anxious around him. He was cute, though she didn't know if he'd cope well with all the attention being close to her would bring. Chloe was a no, sorry not sorry Chloe. Harper and Foster were strange, Harper was pretty annoying actually so that was a no on the dynamic duo. Nilin was pretty nice, but being around her could cause some nasty complications. Luka was too small and adorable, she might step on him accidentally. Jensen was... Already leaving, cross him off the list too. Stirling was just a little strange so she'd leave getting to know him for later. Then there was Jack, he seemed alright, wasn't bad looking either. But he was sooooo boring! Talking to him is like reading a history book, though he still doesn't hold a candle to Viorel. Maybe she could pick Jack, they were at a festival after all, it's not like he could make that boring? Could he? Only one way to find out.

Bridget didn't know how to go about getting his attention though, and she couldn't just ask him to go with her. That'd be showing weakness and Bridget can't be doing that. She'd make him ask her, or at least initiate the conversation, yes that was it! Bridget took a moment to look around, then with a little turn she bumped her tail into Jack gently, just enough to get his attention.

A bump against Jack's leg, just firm enough to have him stumble a little before righting himself, pulled him out of his internal world of considering who to buddy up with. Turning to face the source of the bump, he found Bridget, studiously not paying any attention to him. He'd only known her for a week or so, and he still wasn't quite sure what to make of her... then again, if they were to become friends at some point in the near future, he'd want to get to know her somehow, right? So why not now?

'Bridget,' he asked, trying to draw her attention, 'it looks like everyone's off doing their own thing for now. Would you mind if I went with you to go talk to people? I just reckon, you're famous enough that people will flock to you, but if people see you and are rude about it, then I'm there to say "actually, she's a cool lady", right? Well, not "say", but show that that's the case. I might need to say that, actually, if they say it to your face, but if they're doing that, you could say it yourself, too. But we could also both say it, is my point. We can meet some cool people around, you know, and chat about things and whatnot.'

Bridget smirked as her plan worked, Jack had initiated the conversation. Bridget then realized this was Jack and him starting the conversation might last for ten minutes. He was like the king of rambling, Bridget didn't know how he was so good at it. At least he said he'd stick up for her, though if someone insulted her she'd like to deal with them personally. Actually it might be better if Jack handled it... Bridget knew she'd probably overreact and get into trouble...

"Yeah, meeting some people and chatting sounds grand." There wasn't much enthusiasm in Bridget's voice. "And I don't need you to stick up for me, I've dealt with criticism and insults before." Bridget then turned and started to walk off, it was pretty clear she expected Jack to follow her.

'Well, I'm just making the offer,' Jack mentioned congenially, treading lightly after Bridget as she began wandering off. 'If you'd rather I didn't, that's fine. Like I said, you're clearly capable of handling yourself. Speaking of which,' he asked as they hit the crowd proper, for what it was given how they either split or converged as the duo moved about, 'how was life as a childhood celebrity? Was it really great, or did you have adults trying to control everything you did or something? I know a lot of child celebrities do get that, to the extent that all the pressure really damages them later on in life, you know how it goes with most. But then, you aren't most, and I bet they wouldn't have been able to force you to do anything you didn't want.'

Bridget's tail twitched a little as Jack asked about her childhood, though it was hard to hear him over the sounds of the festival. She continued walking towards the many food stalls as she answered Jack. "My childhood was fine, only thing that was different for me is that I was home schooled and a lot of other people are home schooled. That and I was six foot three at 9 years old..." She didn't sounds so proud of that last part, her volume dropping substantially as she said it.

The pair would eventually make it to the food stand area, and god did it smell good. Being that bit taller than everyone else meant the smells had un-impeded access to Bridget's nose with no people smell to get in the way. Bridget very much wanted to get right into eating, but she remembered that they needed to suck up to the public. So that meant food had to wait, and it was time for photos and autographs. She sighed internally and looked down at the crowd before putting on a smile. "Photos anyone?" She said to the many waiting fans. There was a cheer from the crowd as a Bridget cosplayer stepped forward, and Bridget had to admit she was impressed. This girl was dam near identical to her, only off details were the hips, face and tail length. But aside from that Bridget was amazed, or creeped out, she couldn't decide yet. The flood of photos was about to begin.

---

“I don’t appreciate being singled out.”

Luka shot Angelica a look and then hopped out of the van before she could yell at him. He shouted a quick “see you later” to the others before scampering off into the crowd.

Almost immediately, he was overwhelmed by noise, motion, and bright colors. It was a good thing Killer Queen decided to stay home; she would have hated this. Luka, however, felt right at home in the middle of the crowd of weirdos. Only a few minutes in, someone in a bright green morphsuit threw a handful of confetti at him.

That had to be a good omen, right?

Luka went on to join an impromptu dance party led by a guy holding up a boombox, then managed not to lose his shit and embarrass himself when a really handsome guy (who, by the way, was shirtless and very fit) told him he looked cute.

After running into some people he knew from the local theater, he hung with them for a while, then split off to take a breather. Sitting against a building with a sandwich the length of his forearm, he watched the crowd go by.

He was pretty relieved that nobody had recognized him as Samhain so far. His identity wasn’t exactly a closely-guarded secret, but he definitely didn’t want it to be common knowledge. It was mostly because his parents were semi-famous public figures (a best-selling travel writer and her editor), and there was no doubt that someone would ask them about their son’s hobby of fighting crime dressed as a cat. That would be an issue because, well, Luka never told them about it. Plus, they weren’t the most sympathetic to New Breeds (among many other kinds of people) and while he didn’t care about what they thought of him, he wanted to avoid the drama. He knew he would probably have to deal with it later on, but wearing a mask and keeping his face off of his social media were his way of buying more time to mentally prepare.

Luka sighed. Thinking about his parents was really bringing his mood down. Shaking off the negative thoughts (or at least trying to), he stood up and typed out a message to the SYNBAD group chat.



Perfect.

---