He was knocked to the floor, unconscious, and I looked around for the source of the giant snowball, but there was no one outside that could have thrown it.
“Figured I’d lend a hand,” Arthur whispered, leaning close. When he returned to his full height, I looked up at him with complete surprise. He was like me—someone with powers.
“Wanna talk about it? My apartment’s close by,” he asked, and I nodded, wanting to know more, but then looked to Ruby. She was fine and walking our way.
“Go ahead and get out of here. I’ve got this. I know how much you hate attention.” She touched my arm lightly, but I could feel her appreciation in that touch. She knew as much as I did that those men could have hurt her. She was now able to go home and hug her daughter because we intervened.
This was what being a hero was about. The fact that this woman would see her daughter again because of me.
I was feeling emotions I wasn’t very capable of coping with right now. It had been a lot. Crap. I knew what was coming, and instead of saying anything I took off for my apartment. If I was going to have a meltdown, I wanted to do it in my house.
I heard Arthur running behind me, but I was already starting to lose it. I heard someone’s car crunch outside my building, and knew it was only a matter of seconds before I screamed, scaring everyone in the complex. They were used to it, though. No one called the police anymore like when I was new to the place.
“Gwendolyn, are you okay?” Arthur was following me up the stairs. I didn’t want him to see me like this. Things had been going so nicely, and now I knew this would probably scare him away. No one else could deal with me, so why would he?
I got the door open to my home and fell to my knees. Hands went to my hair, and I screamed. Episodes like this didn’t happen that often anymore, mostly because I didn’t put myself into situations where there was too much stimulation, mentally or emotionally.
“Shit!” Arthur cursed, and I felt him try to pick me up, most likely to move me from the doorway. I thrashed, not liking the feeling of being touched right now. My skin felt itchy.
Cora moved to my side, knowing that I was about to pass out. She would watch over me—protect me—and Pops would make sure my vitals were stable. I was glad I had them.
My body began to sag, and then I was out.
“How long do these episodes last?” A man’s voice was talking near me.
“Usually about four hours. Her mind and body need a break to process all the stimulation. It’s been a while since she’s had one of these moments, so she probably needed an extra hour.” Pops?
My fingers twitched, and I felt warm metal against my side. I rubbed against it and knew it was my Cora. She would always lie with me and comfort me. Sensing I was coming to, she alerted the others with an excited whimper and then began crawling up toward my face, where she’d nuzzle me awake sweetly.
“Thank you, Cora.” I opened my eyes and gave her a smile before petting her metal back like one would a cat.
Pops appeared in my vision.
“You managed to not have any injures this time. Great job getting back to the apartment.” His little robotic voice was calming, and I felt at ease again.
As I sat up, I noticed another person in my home, and I jumped back, not expecting another human here.
“It’s okay. You’re okay. It’s just me, Arthur.” His voice was soothing, and my body seemed to relax hearing the low timbre coming from those lips. Like a thunder blanket you would give to dogs during a storm, his voice had the same effect.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice was slightly scratchy, a common occurrence when I had these meltdowns.
Pops was there in a hurry with a bottle of water for me, and I quickly opened it up to take a large sip. The cold liquid was just what I needed to feel normal again.
“I was worried about you. Wanted to make sure you were all right.”
Well, that was nice. I didn’t have anyone but my robot family and my old counselor that cared enough about my well-being to check on me. Although, I think more people would if I let them in. People like the Hero Society were kind and like a family. Maybe I could try more with them.
Hero Society. Powers.
The memory came to me like a flash of light.
“You have powers!”
Chapter Eight
Arthur
“We can talk about it another time, if you want me to go so you can rest.”
Worry was still coursing through my body even though Gwendolyn was okay. I’d never seen a meltdown like that. Scared the shit out of me. I’d been sitting in her very modern and tidy apartment waiting for her to wake up. I wanted to see it with my own eyes she was okay.
“I’ll be fine. I just have a hard time talking to people, and now that I’m somewhat familiar with you, I want to know about your powers. You make big snowballs?” She sat up and curled her feet underneath her body. That dragon of hers was staying close, seemingly in support. Gwendolyn’s fingers absentmindedly caressed the dragon, feeling her metal body.
The dragon was a robot, like Pops.
But she wasn’t like him; where he functioned as a friend, the dragon was more like a small German shepherd.
“Water.” I leaned back in the chair I was sitting in.
Her eyes seemed to brighten with curiosity, and I continued talking about my gift.
“I can manipulate water. In all its forms.” I smiled as I thought about showing what I could do to her. Hopefully she would be more impressed by that than the art I tried to get her attention with.
I lifted my hand, pointing it toward the bottle of water she was holding. Little bubbles of water started to rise from the container. I felt those little bubbles like they were part of me.
Her eyes were staring at the little bubbles with complete enrapture. Slender, pale fingers reached up to touch the floating liquid, and a part of me tickled as if she poked me.
Then she leaned forward and sucked the water into her mouth.
I had to bite back a groan from escaping from my lips; my concentration was shot after feeling warmth all over my body from her mouth on the water drop. My lack of focus allowed the water to fall down, getting her knees and part of her couch wet. The dragon was a casualty, too; she took off running around the room like a cat who had just been given a bath. It was quite comical, but I felt bad about the mess I’d made from losing my mind.
Pulling the water back from her clothes and the couch, I put it back in the bottle.
“Sorry, I’m still figuring it all out.”
I didn’t understand why I was so awkward around her. I swear I used to be able to play women like a violin, but this girl just threw me completely off-balance.
“I’m working with mine, too. It’s a learning process, but I’ve been grateful to be in a career that I get to play with metal all day.”
The dragon walked back over to its master and dropped a screw in front of her like a prize before turning its head to me, giving me a glare that promised payback for the unintentional bath.
Note to self: the dragon wanted to fuck me up.
I focused on the beautiful woman in front of me, who was in turn focusing on the screw in her hand. It melted, then began taking the shape of something else. A snowflake.
“Wow.”