As if to confirm this, Electra muttered a chilly, nigh-inaudible “Thanks” in response to Myshtal’s comment.
Her remark was followed by an uncomfortable silence – a blatant indication that the mood of our group had definitely been altered. Of course, I hadn’t contemplated a scenario whereby Electra, Myshtal, and Vestibule would be in close proximity to one another, and it was a lot like transporting nitroglycerine and dynamite in a keg full of gunpowder. Basically, it felt like simply breathing the wrong way would set something off.
Seeking to reestablish the jovial atmosphere that had existed just moments earlier, I racked my brains for something to say but came up empty. As luck would have it, however, we were saved from having the situation become too awkward by one of my friends.
“So, Jim,” Gossamer intoned, “any chance you can make good on that promise to meet your grandmother?”
“Uh, sure,” I answered, trying to keep the relief out of my voice. “It might take us a minute to make our way through the crowd to get to her.”
“No need for that,” Electra chimed in. “Here she comes.”
I looked in the same direction as Electra and noticed that she was correct. My grandmother was indeed headed our way, walking with purposeful determination.
“There you are,” Indigo said when she reached us. From the way she said it, I got the impression that she had been looking for me.
“Did you need me for something, Sxahnin?” I asked.
“It can wait a moment,” she replied. “Who are your friends?”
Taking that as my cue, I introduced my grandmother to those among us that she didn’t already know (which was essentially everyone except Myshtal and Electra). Indigo then spent a few minutes chatting amiably with everyone, which actually did a lot to ease the tension in the air.
“Anyway,” she said after a minute or two, “I’ve got to get back to meeting-and-greeting folks, but it was very nice meeting you all.”
“Wait,” I said, almost too eagerly. “I think you mentioned needing me for something?”
“Actually,” she replied, seeming to contemplate, “I believe I’d prefer to take the girls with me.”
I frowned, nonplussed. “The girls?”
“I think she means us, genius,” Electra replied. “Me, Myshtal, Gossamer, and Vestibule.” She then turned to Indigo. “How many of us do you need?”
“All of you, to be honest,” my grandmother replied.
You didn’t need any special powers to know that Electra was a little crestfallen at Indigo’s response. My girlfriend had obviously been hoping to get rid of her rivals (for lack of a better term) – at least for a little while tonight. Unfortunately, it appeared that she and Gossamer would be going with them, and a moment later they were off, following close behind my grandmother as she worked her way through the crowd.
<I hope you don’t mind me stepping in like that,> Indigo said telepathically, not bothering to turn around as she led the others away. <But you looked like you were in trouble.>
<No problem,> I assured her. <I appreciate the assist.>
<Happy to help. Plus, I think if these girls spend some time around each other without any…distractions, they may find that they actually have a lot in common.>
I smiled as Indigo, Electra, and the others headed back to the receiving line, now understanding that my grandmother’s arrival hadn’t been completely fortuitous. Apparently she’d been keeping an eye out to some extent.
“So,” Kane droned, bringing an end to my musing, “what should we men-folk do while the women are preoccupied?”
“There is much we could do to entertain ourselves,” Li noted, “but should we not include Smokescreen?”
“Smokey can join us when he gets here,” Kane stated firmly.
“I think what Li meant to convey is that Smokey is already here,” I said, pointing.
Kane looked in the direction indicated, where I assume he saw what I did: Smokey working his way towards us. After realizing we’d seen him, he gave us a quick wave. At that point, I noticed that Smokey had his other arm extended behind him, as if leading someone by the hand – presumably his girlfriend, Sarah. Thus, it came as somewhat of a shock to me when they cleared the crowd and I realized that his date was someone else entirely. Even more telling, they continued holding hands as they headed in our direction, not letting go until they reached us. Last but not least, Smokey’s date was actually someone I knew – a powerful teen super called Atalanta.
I kept silent as Smokey introduced Atalanta to Kane and Li. Truth be told, seeing her again was a little awkward for me, because the first time we met I was operating under a love spell that caused me to become wildly infatuated with her. Thankfully, very few people (including Atalanta herself) knew about the spell that had been cast on me, but I still found it embarrassing. Thus, I simply stood by quietly while the others chatted and probably would have been content to remain that way indefinitely had not Atalanta unexpectedly engaged me in conversation.
While Smokey was busy explaining something to Li and Kane, she suddenly turned to me and – speaking with a slight accent – said, “So, it appears that you’ve had some type of adventure lately.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Your aura. It’s changed significantly.”
I nodded. Atalanta had the ability to sense auras around other people – an atmosphere which she claimed reflected their inner qualities in the form of a few basic colors. My aura, however, had been different in that – per Atalanta – it pulsed through a wild kaleidoscope of chroma, among other things.
“So what’s different?” I asked after a
