Chapter Text
Vista felt weirdly tired.
Maybe it was how her days usually went after morning patrols, but Vista didn’t remember it being like that. Especially since her patrol today was really easy – only one common mugging. And she didn’t even have any nightmares last night… Though her sleep was frustratingly uneasy.
On the other hand, maybe she should’ve been thankful to her own mind for letting her actually sleep instead of continuing pondering yesterday’s visit to the PRT headquarters. She already did quite enough of that.
Humming to the faint music – Vista didn’t have any speakers and wasn’t sure she needed them, so she just played music on her phone – she washed her face and hands with pleasantly hot water and left the bathroom. Vista knew she had to get the groceries, but she was sure she had enough to make some sandwiches. And this surely was the morning for sandwiches. It was probably already day time, actually, but whatever.
Vista stopped dead in her tracks at the kitchen entrance when she noticed a person outside her big and clear – to which she wasn’t still accustomed – windows. Fortunately, before she decided to pull out her gun, she noticed the familiar features… And the way the intruder smiled at the sight and loudly knocked on the glass.
Shaking her head, Vista compressed the room and reached out to the window, unlocking it. Blinking because of the rush of cold air, she sighed as Aisha closed the window behind her and entered the kitchen.
“Hell, that looked fucking weird. Reminded me of Labyrinth.” Aisha paused. “Though no, your powers don’t make me think that monsters will start crawling from inside the walls.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Vista pursed her lips. “What the fuck were you doing on my windowsill?”
“Wanted to surprise you!” Aisha waved her hands. “But you, as it turned out, keep your windows locked, even though you live on the third floor!” She looked at Vista and pouted.
“It’s not paranoia if they’re really out to get you,” Vista muttered with a hint of irony, fully aware of, at least, some of her habits. Which did not at all mean she would stop – not in this city. “Also, yes, how did you even get here?”
“You have a nice big tree outside.” Aisha pointed her finger behind her back.
Vista let out a heavy sigh.
“I hope nobody saw you,” she said, accepting the current events.
“Even if somebody did, they’ll forget about it in a few seconds.” Aisha shrugged. “Hmm…” She turned her head to the tabletop and started tapping her foot to the rhythm of the music. “No one ever lied straight to your face,” she hummed, repeating what she heard, “No one ever stabbed you in the back, You might think I’m happy, but I’m not gonna be oka-” Aisha broke off when Vista grabbed her phone and lowered the volume swiftly. “Heh. A little bit on the nose, don’t you think?”
“What do you mean?” Vista asked sincerely, raising her eyebrows. “I like a song, I listen to it,” she said quietly, a little embarrassed – usually her musical taste stayed between her and her headphones.
“Ah, forget it. So!” Aisha exclaimed. “I’m here to make you actually leave your place without a mask like a normal person! And I don’t take ‘no’ as an answer, Missy! So get your ass dressed!” She met Vista’s eyes, who was silently watching her. “...I’ll wait? And don’t waste half an hour on choosing what to wear?” she said less confidently.
Only now Vista actually took a look at Aisha’s attire: white-and-purple jacket, leggings, pretty nice shoes – nicer than anything Vista ever owned… Overall, it obviously wasn’t the spider-silk bodysuit. And the purple strand of hair on her forehead still was strangely endearing.
“Uh-huh. And what made you think I’m gonna agree?” Vista crossed her arms over her chest, not moving an inch.
Did somebody put her up to this or…
“If I say I had a vision, will you believe me?”
“I honestly wouldn’t be really surprised,” Vista admitted. “Well, would be surprised about me doing that in the vision.”
“Kid Cassandra said that aside from maybe a dozen obvious things, hundreds of other things are almost equally possible,” Aisha said, grinning. “Though I’d say this is the obvious one. You could decide to squeeze mayonnaise into a hamster or something…” she broke off, noticing how Vista frowned slightly.
Cassan… Dinah. Right. Another person with whom I should talk. Maybe not even about all that happened, just… talk. Me leaving was always a possibility, right? A small one, of course. But then…
“Missy?” Aisha tilted her head questioningly.
“You know Dinah?”
“I mean, not really… Saw her a few times, asked what are the chances for me to kill the President on my own…” Aisha chuckled, noticing Vista’s expression. “Hey, it would be quite a feat! Though she didn’t give a clear answer, ‘cause of all the Thinkers or something like that, but it was a possibility!”
“You know, I am a little worried about you guys thinking about threatening the government more often than… never.”
“Comes with the territory.” Aisha shrugged nonchalantly.
“...Maybe, I guess,” Vista grunted.
“I mean, haven't you, like, become a criminal since you joined us? ‘Cause you hated how this government organisation of yours was doing things?”
“Justice is the goal, Aisha.” Vista shook her head. “Suicide is not. And that’s exactly what it’ll be. After all, you guys prefer not to fight the PRT more than necessary, right?”
“I suppose… Though maybe the tiniest bit more than the necessary amount, but yeah.” Aisha smirked. “Also, I know how these talks go with people like you or Tay, so let’s stop right now before we end up arguing about morals or ideals or laws or whatever.” She pointed at Vista. “Ease up, girl!”
“As if that will make those things and my opinions on them disappear.”
“Yes! Well, no, obviously, but you’ll feel less shitty! Just go outside, look at the streets like we all do, have some fun. In no way that can make things worse!”
“And what if something happens while I’m looking at the streets not from a rooftop?” Vista said evenly, knowing that not a lot of people would probably answer that like she did.
“My god.” Aisha sighed and moved closer to Vista. “Then I’ll tell this to your face as well: the more you think like this, the more are the chances that tomorrow other people die ‘cause you already did!” She jabbed her finger at Vista. “You’re a hero, you don’t wanna fuck up, I get it, so you have to be in a good shape, and for that you shouldn’t think about how you can fuck up all the time!”
I try.
“Sounds so simple,” Vista replied bitterly.
“It is,” Aisha’s tone became warmer. “It’s just you people always like to overcomplicate it. Big damn heroes. Don’t you ever get tired from carrying around that shiny metal stick up your asses?”
Vista, taken aback for a second, only huffed.
“Yep!” Aisha replied to that, nodding.
“...We do that for a reason. And I’m sure you know that.”
“Yeah, unfortunately.” Aisha blew a raspberry. “Then, I guess, that wasn’t the last time you called me to talk just ‘cause you were feeling down, huh?”
Vista shamefully lowered her gaze.
Maybe. Maybe not. I doubt that something just as bad as was the day I left the PRT will happen soon – I fucking hope so. I won’t be that fucked up.
But… Even if we talked not for really long and about somethings and nothings, it helped. You helped.
Did I say that to you? Don’t remember those few hours very well. Should I say?
“You need only to say something for that to become the last time,” she muttered, trying to keep her voice steady.
“I mean, I can…” Aisha shrugged, and then went past Vista to the corridor, almost imperceptibly touching Vista’s shoulder with her own. “But I didn’t yet, right?” she said louder when Vista lost sight of her. “Hope we’re done now!” Aisha continued cheerfully. “So, are all your clothes also green?”
We are not. …But I’m also willing to postpone this.
“Just so you know,” Vista easily caught up with Aisha, and they entered the main room together, “I have some strong opinions about that color, so no. Never. Also, next time phone first.”
“Before you shoot me by mistake?” Aisha chuckled.
“Yes!”
“Alright, alright…”
Vista didn’t really have a lot of stuff, but she made an effort to make her apartment look like it was… well, her own. Even if her favorite wool blanket clashed with the style of the sofa and the whole room, near the table there were two stacks of books, because there were not enough shelves for now, and the big table that she moved to the side became her improvised workbench.
Thankfully, no one yet saw how the nightstand in her bedroom was slowly filling up with medical supplies – and anyway, it wasn’t her fault that the most comfortable mirror in the apartment was there.
“I…” Vista broke off, looking at her home clothes with a frown. “One minute. I’ll find something.”
Vista walked to the large wardrobe which probably would never be filled completely, opened it and, after a moment, stepped behind its door: maybe she didn’t have a modesty problem – couldn’t have one with her life, honestly – but still, it would be… weird.
“I’m not criticizing, but do you really need your armor and weapons out in the open like that?” Aisha asked. “I doubt that even most of the villains have them just lying around!”
“A weapon you can’t get to is no weapon at all!” Vista replied with a small smile, trying to choose between the three of her dark blue shirts. “Though actually on the table there are those I need to do something with! Those I could use right now are in my cloak’s pockets! But it is right there on the wall as well, so…”
And in the pocket of my pants as well, yeah.
“Fair enough!” Aisha’s voice became a little louder, indicating that she started walking inside the room. “Though I have a feeling that somebody here is overcompensating! The people in suits didn’t allow this hard-boiled hero to carry lots of big’n scary weapons, did they?”
Vista suddenly caught herself blushing, because she knew she was doing just that. Of course, there were objective reasons – and not enough downsides, since she had her own place – but…
“Can you blame me?”
“Hell no! I mean, if you’re cool, you gotta do cool stuff, and this… is pretty cool. At least, it’s cool if you could actually use them, but I saw first-hand that you can!” Aisha laughed. “Hey, do you know how to use a rocket launcher?”
“Eh-h-h… Theoretically? It’s easier than it seems. Doubt I can handle it, though.”
“Then we’ll get back to that,” Aisha muttered, nodding to herself.
Among other things, Vista also knew very well that everything she knew about style and fashion came from Victoria and somehow stuck in her brain, so she didn’t expect anything, really. But she would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t feel… warmer when she stepped to the center of the room, and Aisha, clearly checking her out, smiled at the corner of her mouth.
“Good enough?” Vista asked evenly, putting her black coat on.
“Considering that I expected…” Aisha tapped her cheek thoughtfully. “I dunno, you putting some old jacket on after your armor… Yay, I guess. Gray trousers, red scarf… More effort than I thought you could put into it.” She chuckled.
“Don’t make me regret it before we even go outside,” Vista grunted, turning to the window. Despite it being a stupid idea on many levels, she did consider getting out with the help of her powers.
“Don’t be all sulky,” Aisha retorted.
“Maybe I wanted to be sulky today.” Vista pursed her lips, moving to the window close enough to see the actual street. “I don’t like surprises, Aisha.”
“What, I ruined your sadness schedule?” Aisha stood to Vista’s side. “That was the point, though!”
“At least have the decency to be sorry for not letting me have my daily quota of self-pity.” Vista rolled her eyes, not admitting outright that Aisha was somewhat succeeding all this time.
“As if.” Aisha snorted. “You seem exactly like the person who doesn’t know what self-pity is.”
“Do I now?”
“Remember when we three talked after you joined us? ‘Cause I do. ‘Want to hear the whole sob story?’ ‘This way out is for the weak.’” Aisha shook her head. “‘If you have nothing more important to do.’ For a person who can do such great shit, you say so much bullshit. Your freaking video message which was all about you being glad to be able to sacrifice more or something.”
Vista didn’t say anything, looking at the passing cars.
“But, thankfully, you idiots have the great me!” Aisha continued and confidently raised a finger. “...And you’re also cute, which is a plus.”
It’s hardly worth it, Aisha. …Though you are cute as well. Huh, if only I knew what it meant.
“Snow…” Vista said quietly after several seconds, ending the discussion.
“Eh, this year’s really warm. Doubt it’ll last ‘till the evening.”
“Yeah, probably. Do you like it?”
Vista didn’t really know why she asked the question. Maybe because she never really asked it herself – never really had the time to look at the window. After all, despite their winters being warm, the activity on the streets usually was lower, so Vista just spent more of her time on useful things. And usually there was no one near her to answer this question when she stood near the window – certainly not her parents.
“I guess?” Aisha said thoughtfully. “I would really like to see actual snow, like in Canada, not this… as Lisa would say, pale imitation. I never got to build a proper snowman in my life, can you imagine?!”
“And I guess I never thought about it. A season’s a season. Snow is just one of the differences of winter. Makes driving harder, makes footprints easier to see…”
“Ever tracked someone like that?” Aisha asked, interested.
“A few times… Well, wanted to. Or watched how other heroes did it.” Vista sighed.
“Not to worry, Sherlock, you’ll get your chance.” Aisha laughed and patted Vista’s shoulder. “Maybe some other drug dealers get here… Win-win: I’ll fuck them up, you’ll get to play detective a little!”
Hmm. Brockton Bay is certainly big enough to attract all sorts of… people constantly. It’s certainly possible.
“It’s a deal, Aisha.”
“Okay! So, we’re going or what? If two people are alone in the room, they should undress, and not the other way around!”
“Let’s go,” Vista turned around and started walking without dignifying the last part with a response. “Also, Aisha…” Vista glanced at her over her shoulder. “Thank you. For all that.” She brushed her hand across the surface of the table, grabbing the pieces of her armor that immediately shrunk, and walked out of the room.
Aisha smirked, then with a little sigh looked at one of the handguns on the table – it was fancy enough so that she wanted to grab it, but Vista certainly wouldn’t be happy – and with a graceful stride followed her companion.
***
It felt a little weird walking through the streets without her armor… and not alone. Vista was sure it has been at least a year since she walked about with someone else like that – the Wards usually spent their time together on patrols and inside the headquarters, and she, of course, couldn’t just walk into Arcadia.
Some could probably say the surrounding scenery wasn’t exactly a wonderful sight, but Vista really enjoyed seeing her city… peaceful. Covered with snow and not smoke. And if Vista had to be honest, Aisha alongside her – and Aisha’s chatter – didn’t make things worse. Though she totally would if they were working, but they weren’t.
Vista was content with just following Aisha – after all, this whole thing was her idea, but she didn’t expect them to stop near the strange bright sign with the depiction of a flamingo. The little bell rang when they walked in.
“To be honest, I expected… I don’t know what, but not this,” Vista said thoughtfully, looking around and following Aisha to a table in the corner. Actually, this cafe looked exactly like something called “cafe” should’ve looked like in a book: not a big amount of space, warm colors all around, simple wooden furniture, the lighting that wasn’t blinding… And not a lot of visitors.
“Wanted a big luxurious restaurant?” Aisha raised her eyebrows. “Fuck those. Having to dress up and make faces for an opportunity to eat the same food, but five times more expensive? Thanks, but no thanks!”
“...I like you a little more now.” Vista chuckled. “Honestly, fuck those. Always hated those places. And how people there behave.”
“Been there a lot?”
“Not a lot, but enough times to realise that it’s not my thing at all.”
“Well, next time we can go to Fugly Bob, if you dig that.” Aisha shrugged her shoulders and sat down.
Next time? Hmpf, somebody’s optimistic. We’ll see.
“Just so you know,” Vista sat down opposite her, “I can eat, like, anything. I usually ate at their cafeteria,” she lowered her voice, “and they provided… eh-h… a pretty balanced diet. But if you’re tired, you just get whatever’s in stock, without really caring. Doesn’t mean I don’t adore tasty food – damn I like Fugly Bob’s shrimps – but… yeah. Anything,” Vista paused for a moment. “Except olives.”
“Bleh. Olives,” Aisha said that word as if it was poisonous. “Sometimes I think my brother and Lisa pretend to eat them like normal food just to fuck with me.”
Vista without thinking held out her hand, and Aisha high-fived her. Vista slowly blinked, being used to that mostly with Dennis and Jill, but still decided to answer to Aisha’s smirk with her own smile.
Ordering sandwiches in a cafe seemed stupid, so Vista decided on some Belgian waffles with berries – not her usual comfort food, but close enough. Aisha, scratching her chin at that, ordered an apple pie.
“We’re like in a movie,” Aisha started after the waiter brought them their food. “A nice place, some deserts…”
“Well, our t… group of friends are respectable people, are we not?” Vista arched her eyebrow. “I’m not about to buy a beer and some peanuts, anyway.”
“Now that’s arguable.” Aisha chuckled. “Don’t know about you, but I’m hardly used to this. You said you hate this stuff, but you actually… saw it, right?”
Hmm, this place is unusual for her too?
“From the sidelines, I guess.” Vista grimaced. “Had to look good for the cameras, to be a good-quiet-smart-pretty-whatever girl, since the organization has a reputation to uphold… Always be ready to say ‘sir, yes, sir, we will protect the high values’ or something.”
“Sounds miserable,” Aisha commented. “But so much stuff to do for shits and giggles with such people…”
“And was even worse,” Vista grunted. “Usually one of my friends did all the mingling. But hey, I had a pretty much perfect record, so I usually was present as well, unlike some people who couldn’t work like a clock.”
And, of course, I usually was fine with watching Dean mingling. He looked at ease there, like he belonged in those dinners and gala events. Imagined standing with him arm in arm… Yeah, it’s been a long time.
We’re on different sides now, and I don’t regret that. And, obviously, it was a hopeless crush. A nice one… A somewhat painful one. But still. Also a little bit disrespectful to Victoria, though they are on break nowadays – long one as well.
“A few successful pranks would’ve changed that, just saying.” Aisha smiled. “With your skills, you absolutely could paint Halbeard’s bike pink.”
With every passing day this idea seems more and more appealing.
“That wouldn’t help me serve the cause better. And that’s what I wanted,” Vista said thoughtfully, staring at the berry in her fingers. “You could say I didn’t yet learn how much my efforts and arguments didn’t matter in comparison to my age and the rules. Though I did envy Clock a little.”
“You learned now, then?” Aisha tilted her head.
“I’m here with you, right? Trying to create some better memories about such places.” Vista smiled wryly.
“Good for you. I get’cha, people bad there, but great food is always… great. Heh. Besides, it’s a nice place, comfy, with music in the background and stuff…” Aisha mused, twirling a fork in her hand.
“Wanna me to be honest?”
“Sure, whatever.”
“The last time I was in such a place, I painted the floor with Shatterbird’s blood and almost got the same treatment thanks to the glass in that cafe’s windows,” Vista said evenly, as if reminiscing. “After I killed her, I slipped on mustard on the floor near the exit – when most of the building crushed – fell and spent a minute just lying in it because I was completely worn out. And maybe injured,” she muttered the last sentence. “Kinda hate its smell now, by the way.”
An uncomfortable silence settled between them for a moment, and Vista started to regret telling all that – being relaxed enough to tell that. But unexpectedly, Aisha let out a heavy sigh, put the money on the table – Vista noted that there was more than enough for both their orders – and nodded to herself with a strange resolve in her eyes.
“I won’t admit that it was my mistake,” Aisha drawled, “‘cause it wasn’t, but probably I should’ve known the usual stuff wouldn’t make the cut. You’re not an ordinary person, after all.”
“...Huh?”
“We’re leaving.”
“But… Wait, I mean…” Vista frowned, struggling to find the words.
Fuck, did I mess it up just like that?..
“You should decide where we’ll go, yeah.” Aisha said. “I guess I should’ve asked, but anyway, we don’t want you to freak out suddenly or something…”
“I do not!..”
“Any ideas about a place you actually don’t hate?” Aisha looked at her expectantly.
“Really?”
“Yeah?” Aisha shrugged. “I’m not here to… dunno, spook and blackmail you, am I?” She snorted. “We have time to find something else.”
“...I don’t really get you, I think,” Vista muttered, standing up.
“Well, at least sometimes I also should get the opportunity to be all cool and mysterious!”
“Not exactly my point, but…” Vista sighed.
What is my point, though?
I’m still here. Still with her. Sure, I am inexperienced, but I was asked out a few times, and I never was interested. Not only due to having a crush.
Vista didn’t really notice how she turned around and started walking.
Is it because we actually fought together? An ally’s an ally, that I learned because of the Undersiders quite some time ago. Because she seems to care not only about my looks? Whatever she says – and, ha-ha, my looks. Or, maybe… Maybe. Maybe she’s just similar. Not several years older. A cape. Not… Ugh, taken.
Maybe I shouldn’t be like my former superiors and ask.
Vista snapped to reality when she suddenly felt a warm and relatively strong grip on her wrist. She blinked, wincing from the gust of wind.
“Missy, goddammit!” Aisha said in an annoyed tone. “I’m not Lisa, I can’t… you know.” She rolled her eyes. “At least, you- What the hell’s wrong with your hand?” Aisha asked abruptly. “The blood…”
“Ah, right.” Vista looked down at the back of her hand. “One of the reasons why I don’t particularly care for winter instead of liking it or something.”
“...What?”
“Allergy to cold. The skin is cracking. Usually I have my amazing gauntlets, but…”
Aisha stared at Vista’s hand for a moment, then huffed and for some reason covered it with her own.
“Fucking hell, buy a pair of gloves, I won’t be around all the time.”
“My knight in shining silk,” Vista deadpanned, quickly pulling her hand away. “I won’t die, don’t worry. Let’s go. I think I know a good place… If you insist.”
“Uh-huh, you all say that,” Aisha grumbled quietly, following Vista, “but then it turns out you’re fucking blind and forgot to tell anybody. Never a moment to relax with y’all.”
***
From Vista’s point of view, parks in winter looked pretty beautiful as well – different, maybe, but still. The snowy glades were nice and peaceful, there was not enough snow to be a nuisance, and the trees were certainly looking better now than a week ago with their white coating. And even the same fat ducks were still waddling by one of the ponds. It felt almost like a different world. Vista briefly wondered if Earth Aleph was actually calmer and quieter than her own Earth in its day-to-day life.
Aisha, judging by her glances, wasn’t enjoying it just as much, but looked interested enough – if Vista had to guess, Imp or whoever else from the Undersiders didn’t really visit such places. Well, except Bitch, probably.
Fortunately, the usual ice-cream stand was still around. Even more fortunately, so to speak, there was no Amy to tell Vista and Victoria that it'd be foolish… And Aisha’s challenging, but satisfied look told her that she would also be absolutely fine with that. And, maybe, this was foolish, but Vista was fairly confident in her health in this regard… And she had an unexpected desire to just not give a fuck.
Though any smallest bits of possible romance disappeared when Aisha bought a pistachio ice cream, earning herself a side-eye from Vista, who, being a sane person, bought the strawberry one.
Eventually they stopped to sit down on a bench in front of another pond. They both started to clear the snow from their own halves of the bench, before Aisha suddenly stopped, made an unhappy face and silently gestured towards the wooden slats. Vista mentally admitted she had a point, since there was no one around, and for a second made the slats extremely thin, letting the snow fall down. They sat down.
Vista let herself lean back and close her eyes, breathing deeply. Hearing Aisha doing the same, she smiled. Maybe, she chose this place unconsciously just as consciously – a place where she would be relatively comfortable. And thanks to Aisha, it was easy to justify just sitting here… It was her idea to go out in the first place, after all.
It felt weird, having time to do something like this. Whenever she went out with her friends, she would never waste time in this way – it happened rarely enough as it is.
“Hey, Aisha.”
“Hmm?”
“Can I ask a question?”
“Shoot.”
“Why…” Vista let out a sigh, gathering her thoughts. “Why are you doing this?”
“What?”
“Act like… you like me or something. I am reasonably sure I’m not really worth it, but even if I was, for what? For my slightly-above-average ass? Don’t think so.”
“You have a great ass, I think…” Aisha murmured absentmindedly. “Though I’d need a hands-on inspection just to be su-” She broke off when Vista opened her eyes and glared at her. “Damn it, you already dragged me all the way here, do we also need to talk about stuff?” Aisha waved her hand.
“It’s serious for me,” Vista replied quietly. “Or it seems to be. So yes.”
“What a drag…” Aisha shook her head.
“And taking me out isn’t?” Vista raised her eyebrow.
“Not until we have to talk about such things. Nothing really even happened yet!”
“Well… Yeah,” Vista grunted. “Shouldn’t something happen first, though?”
“Why? I see somebody cute, I ask ‘em out, what’s wrong with that? I mean, what else?..”
“Cute?” Vista repeated uncertainly – this time the word seemed to hold some meaning. “Weird to hear it from somebody… like you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You are… conventionally attractive. It’s obvious.”
“What, and you’re not?” Aisha smiled wryly.
“I can’t remember a time when I liked looking at the mirror,” Vista said evenly, unwittingly touching the scar on her cheek.
“Maybe I have a thing for scars,” Aisha laughed.
“That’s it?” Vista asked incredulously. “Like, no pure feelings? You know, with butterflies inside and all that?”
“You can ask Taylor for that.”
“Shit, that’s actually quite terrifying. Okay, but still…”
“Come on, did you have an amazing first love experience or something? It’s all bullshit.”
“…I did not,” Vista forced herself to answer.
“It was probably a crush, you felt stupid, moved on…” Aisha listed in a humorous tone.
“Since when did you become so smart, Aisha?” Vista scoffed.
“Always were!” She smirked. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
Wonder if she ever had a crush like that.
“But what about, for example, Lily and Sabah?”
“What about them? Sure, I don’t know what Lily was doing before joining, but Sabah said she was quite nervous about that whole thing, considering all that shit with Bonesaw’s fuckery and other stuff, and they didn’t not, like, fall in love when they first met, not all sunshine and rainbows, right? And even after, I do know, for example, they had a fight ‘cause Lily wanted to be Parian’s right hand at first, which is not the same as being an Undersider – well, Tats made a point on that, and Sabah felt indebted to Taylor, so…” Aisha unexpectedly trailed off, looking down.
Vista reflexively held out her hand, hovering somewhere near Aisha’s shoulder, but didn’t touch her. Yet she did move closer.
“Okay, you asked about being honest, want me to be?” Aisha sighed.
“Always will want to,” Vista said sincerely.
“Well… Here’s your fucking reasons: you’re cool, like, tough, so I’d have to worry only about you dying because you decided to be a noble hero, and you have fucking amazing powers, and… You had the balls to stay even if it meant leaving your big superhero boysband. So, maybe, if push comes to shove, you’ll stay next time as well,” she said, suddenly a little sad.
“What do you mean?” Vista asked in a serious voice.
“Sounds crazy, but when we were discussing that, Lisa and Rachel agreed with each other that you joining means some things changed. And we were talking and talking… And… some of us were fine with the idea of cutting our losses if needs must, you know what I mean,” Aisha grunted, frowning. “Sure, it’s nice to fly to Florida or something, but damn it, I’m Imp! I don’t wanna lie on a coach or sunbathe and sip smoothies! And yeah, obviously we’ll fight if we’ll be attacked just like that or if they hurt one of us, but… Fu-u-uck,” she drawled. “Fuck this whole situation. Well, I’m not talking about you,” she glanced at Vista, who was completely silent. “You… Taylor said you decided to leave the PRT because you, among other things, wouldn’t leave. So, you know… Would be nice to be sure you’ll stay with us.”
And with you, right, Aisha? That I’ll stay and won’t run away if Myrddin or Legend come to scare us. I mean, there’s a lot of things that could happen… But I really doubt that I’ll have to doubt this particular decision.
Or rather, because of that she thinks that I will stay… Right? And that is one of the reasons why. Well…
“I always intend to fight ‘till the very end, Aisha. That I can promise.”
Aisha perked up at that. After a moment of contemplation, she let out an unusually cheerful smile.
“Does it mean ‘yes’, though?” She made herself more comfortable and turned to Vista fully.
Vista could not help but be surprised how quickly Aisha’s visible frustration washed away.
“I don’t know what exactly you’re talking about, but probably not.”
“Hard to get, aren’t you?” Aisha grinned.
“Foolish, more like.” Vista chuckled self-deprecatingly. “Guess I kinda believed in love at the first glance or something like that. Still do.”
“We’re capes, we don’t get to have that.” Aisha shrugged calmly. “Though it’s really bullshit, I’m sure. And otherwise it’s more fun anyway.”
“...Listening to you, one could think everything is more fun with you.” Vista smiled.
“Well, smart-ass, tell me what was so great – and more fun – in the PRT that you miss right now. Nobody took you out for some waffles, hmm? Nobody got you a nice pricey camera for your big video message?”
“Fine, fine, you’re right about that. But actually, several things are just different… Oh, wait, I know what I really won’t miss. Writing reports about getting shot. Never again.” Vista winced.
“Those are, like, hard?” Aisha raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah. Long, hard… I was a Ward, after all. I made a template eventually, but still.”
“Maybe you just get shot too much,” Aisha snickered.
Vista only sighed – that certainly wouldn’t change with her leaving the PRT, quite the contrary.
“By the way, you’re one crazy gal.” Aisha nodded excitedly. “I mean, if you didn’t know yet. But it would be boring otherwise!”
“One thing our life isn’t is boring…”
They fell silent for a moment.
“Speaking of fun, you know, we should totally have a snowball fight,” Aisha said thoughtfully, a little bit quieter than her usual volume.
“Not enough snow, I think.” Vista didn’t even want to turn her down.
“Eh, you can change that, probably. Wait, no, we can build a snow fortress and you can make the size of a real fortress!”
“...Huh.”
“Awesome, right?!”
“I mean, people would like that, probably… The PRT wouldn’t.”
Aisha simply snorted.
“Yeah, that’s what I actually thought as well. Hmm. I guess I gotta do some research about building from snow… But later.” Vista stood up. “Aisha… I… Well, it wasn’t really… romantic or something – and I didn’t intend it to be, but…”
“Oh god, don’t be… like that.” Aisha stood up as well.
“No, no, I mean… It was nice,” Vista admitted. “Because I got to actually listen to you, I mean. Thankfully, you didn’t try to take me to an amusement park or something.”
“I thought about that…”
“Don’t. Please.”
“Yeah, I too think we see more funny stuff as Undersiders. So?” Aisha looked at her expectantly.
Vista could guess what her companion was thinking about. Or imagining. Or just remembering what usually happened in movies in such moments.
“I stand by what I said, Aisha,” Vista murmured. “Hardly your best decision. And I would hate to be sorry eventually. If there’d be something to be sorry for.”
Their eyes met, and Vista felt a little warmer, seeing Aisha’s stubborn gaze – the same one she had when she told Vista ‘we’ll break through somehow’. Maybe Aisha even meant something like this.
“But,” Vista continued quietly, “I think I should ask if you want to walk me home. You did like to travel through the city with Vista, right?”
“Actually, I really did,” this time Aisha’s smile felt a little bit more tender and exposed. “And you still don’t have any gloves.” She glanced at Vista’s hand. “Taylor would be so upset if I’d let you… impair… your combat capabilities.” She smirked.
“I don’t think it really matters-” Vista heard Aisha’s sigh, “but you might be right. Still have a patrol in the evening, after all.”
“I had no doubts,” Aisha muttered with an obvious note of sarcasm.