“How’s it feeling?”

“Getting close to my limit, pretty sure. Try adding a bit more.”

Brooke placed another textbook on the golden pane of light Ava had brought into existence, and Ava winced as some indescribable sixth sense panged. But her concentration held, and the construct didn’t shatter. “One more, I guess,” Ava said. “But it’s definitely coming down.”

Brooke placed another textbook on the growing pile of impromptu weights, and the construct finally gave. It shattered, and the books and other miscellanea tumbled to the floor. 

“Eighty pounds,” Brooke said. “Up from forty-five. That’s no small increase.”

“Almost double.”

“Was that more than you’d expected?”

“Yeah. Eighty pounds might not sound like much, but I’ve grown so used to my constructs breaking at a stiff breeze that twice as strong opens up so many possibilities.” She huffed. “And I know this is ungrateful, but I’d just gotten used to things. Now I have to adjust my tactics, operate under a whole new set of rules.”

“You’re right,” Brooke said amusedly. “You are being ungrateful. It’s unheard of for a super to grow in strength. Not literally, like you.”

And didn’t Ava know it. Brooke was a cape geek, but so was Ava; she knew how bizarre the newest aspect of her power was. While it was expected for a super to ‘settle into’ their powers and grow more competent with them over time, a literal growth just wasn’t something that happened. Not raw, sheer potency wise. Powers were, for the most part, static, and a person’s strength was a mix of how well they utilized their skillset, and the outright strength of whatever they’d been bestowed with.

“My dexterity’s improved, too,” Ava said. “I can summon faster, and vanish, too.” She brought three bright orbs into existence, then vanished them with a swipe of her hand. Brooke, who’d been doing these power-testing sessions with her since Ava’s awakening there months ago, knew what Ava’s capabilities were. She recognized the difference in speed. “And there’s some stranger stuff, too.”

“Stranger?”

“I’ve been playing around. It always felt like I could do something more with my constructs, if I just figured it out. I think I mentioned that before?”

“But you said nothing came of it.”

“Until now.”

“You’re unlocking new powers?”

“Not new. More like … mutating? And I don’t know how useful they are, anyways. Here, check it out.” Ava called forth another golden orb and hovered it in front of Brooke. Covering her eyes, Ava said, “I can feel through them, sort of. Touch it, but don’t tell me when.”

“Seriously?”

“Try.”

A few seconds ticked by, then Ava felt that bizarre prickle of sensation on the edge of her brain. “Now.” She removed her hand and grinned. Brooke’s finger had just touched the orb, and her eyebrows were raised. Ava knew she’d gotten it right. “It’s really rough, but I can kind of … feel … through them.”

Brooke frowned down at the ball in front of her. “I suppose that could be useful … in niche scenarios. Though I’m struggling to name any. But your powers are extending, then? What else?”

“This one’s weirder, and even less useful.” She morphed the ball into a rod about two feet long. “Look.” She loosened her mental grip on the construct, and it started to … sway.

“What’s happening?” Brooke said. “I don’t get it.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

Brooke tilted her head, watching the rod move erratically side to side, like seaweed in the ocean. “It’s doing that itself?”

“Yeah. I just … let go.” Describing how her powers worked could be a task in futility, sometimes. Like trying to explain how, exactly, she moved her arm, or set one foot in front of the next. Just happened. Intrinsic. An instinct so deeply ingrained that the higher-portions of her brain had no right in trying to make sense of it. “Before, it’d just stay still, or keep on the path I’d set it. Now, I can, dunno, let go even harder.” She shrugged. “And it develops a mind of its own.”

“Huh.” Brooke considered the swaying rod. “I wonder if it’s some sort of … nascency. A precursor to something larger. That once you’re stronger, it’ll develop more coherently.”

“I’d hope so. As it is, doesn’t make much sense.”

They watched the rod for a few seconds more, then Ava vanished it.

“Speaking of development,” Brooke said. “I wonder if you can regress? Go the other way. Now that the media coverage is starting to die down, will you get weaker?”

Ava paused. That was a troubling thought, and one she hadn’t considered. This was why she went to Brooke for everything power-related. Ava didn’t think herself stupid, but Brooke analyzed things from every angle. She caught onto stuff in seconds that would take Ava forever. “The articles and news snippets stopped a few days ago, so I don’t think so?”

“Maybe it’s because you’re still on the public’s mind. But go too long, and they start forgetting who Spotlight is?”

“I see your point.” Ava bit her lip. “And it sucks to admit, but my gut’s saying you might be right. So maybe. But it doesn’t matter. Things go to plan, I’ll be back in the public’s eye.”

“Still,” Brooke said. “It could be smart to accelerate the timeline, wherever we can.”

“Big event’s already in two weeks. Faster than that?” Ava’s stomach squirmed at even mentioning Brooke’s big idea. God, that was going to be the most mortifying thing, bar none, that had ever happened to her. And she’d be walking into it voluntarily. Even thinking of what she’d need to do sent shivers of embarrassment down her spine. But … it was necessary, right?

“No,” Brooke said, shaking her head. “Two weeks is good. You need to have at least a small viewership, so there’s kindling for the ember to catch. There’s not much we can do to go faster … I guess I’m thinking out loud. I just don’t want you to start relying on your stronger constructs, and all of a sudden your powers drop out from you.”

“I don’t think it’ll be sudden. And since you brought it to my attention, I’ll be careful. I’ll make sure before patrols that everything’s working like I expect it to.”

“Good.” Brooke leveled a serious look at her. “Remember, safety comes first. I know it’s dangerous out there … I’ll feel awful if you get distracted with the camera stuff, and your changing powers, and you let yourself get hurt. Promise me you’ll be safe?”

“Not actively trying to get hurt, Brooke,” Ava said, reaching out and squeezing her friend’s hand. “And besides, the Code protects me from real danger.”

“A flimsy, unwritten agreement between supers,” Brooke said. “How assuring.”

Every violation of the Code made the news, so it was rare enough to be a scandal. Clearly it held some weight. Though Brooke knew that. She was just looking for reassurance. “Promise, Brooke. If I got hurt, it’d mean I couldn’t come back and watch those dumb shows with you. Think I’d let that happen?”

Brooke tried to look offended, but it didn’t work. “They’re not dumb.”

“They’re a bit dumb,” Ava said. “But that’s why they’re fun.”

“Like you?”

“Hey!”

---

Despite all the change looming on the horizon, some things had remained constant.

“I’m so, so sorry,” Ava said, her black Paradise Pizzeria uniform clinging to her skin. It was an even hotter, muggier day than usual, and Ava had needed to sprint the last gap to the man’s house. She’d seen airport runways shorter than this man’s driveway … and she’d needed to leave her bike at the gate. She might’ve been late on that merit alone. “Traffic in Capital City, right?” Normally Ava would try to ignore the fact she was overdue on the off chance the customer hadn’t noticed, but this time, she’d gotten really distracted. She was a good ten minutes past the guaranteed delivery time.

And what a shame, because based on this absolute mansion, she probably would’ve gotten a nice tip. At the same time, since he was loaded, surely he wouldn’t be a cheapskate, and try to wriggle out of paying.

“This means the pizza’s free, right?”

Some things are a constant, Ava thought for the second time. Can’t ever catch a fucking break.

“That’s what the policy is,” Ava said, “but I, um, would really, really appreciate it if you helped me out?”

“Why?” he asked. “Comes out of your pocket, or something?” By the tone of his voice, he didn’t seem particularly sympathetic to her plight, but he was also less antagonizing than the last customer she’d been late for. Maybe she had a chance of convincing him.

“No, but I’m on thin ice with my boss. I think he’s looking for a reason to fire me, and I really need this job.” Ava wouldn’t go so far as to say Hal wanted to fire her, but hey, spicing up the story never hurt anyone.

The man considered her. Finally, he shrugged, crushing Ava’s hopes. “That sucks. But it’s your business model. You plaster that guarantee over half your marketing. And you weren’t a bit late, but ten minutes.”

Ten minute’s hardly anything, she wanted to protest, but Ava needed to be tactical about her approach. Even more than a few days earlier, she couldn’t afford to be fired, not with finances being crucial for her next several steps in her hero career, and Brooke having gone into literal debt to kickstart her.

Her stomach squirmed as she came to terms with what she needed to do.

“Right …” Ava said dejectedly, passing off the two pizza boxes to the man, who took them. “But, are you sure there’s nothing I can do to change your mind? I really need this job.” Ava started fiddling with the hem of her shirt, lifting it up and revealing hints of her stomach. “I’d do a lot to change your mind.”

“A lot?” He mostly seemed confused, though he’d definitely noticed Ava playing with her shirt.

Great, he’s oblivious. This had been easier when she’d been coerced into doing it. 

Subtlety wasn’t an option, then. She’d have to be direct, but that was risky. Not everyone would be receptive, obviously, and if they reported it to Paradise Pizzeria, she’d be fired, also. Just for a different reason. A much more embarrassing one.

But seeing how it was the only way out …

“Not anything,” Ava said, “but a lot, yeah. Maybe I can … do something for you?” This time she wasn’t half as subtle about fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. She toyed with it until it was just beneath her breasts, revealing the toned stomach she’d spent so many nights at the gym for. The humid air probably did her a few favors. She flexed, subtly, and turned just a bit to the side, so the light caught the sweat and made it glisten. “Can you think of anything?” She batted her eyelashes up at him.

He blinked several times, but nobody was oblivious enough to have missed what she was implying. A grin crept across his face. “I suppose I could be persuaded,” he said. "You wanna come in?"

Ava forcibly prevented the grimace. She hadn't meant she'd do that much. She needed this job, but not suck-a-stranger's-dick bad, or whatever else his invitation implied. Surely he hadn't thought he'd gotten that lucky.

And how come last time this'd gone down, Ava'd been so much more hesitant to flash herself? The first time was always the worst, the most intimidating … or maybe it was all the planning she had for the future which had recontextualized her perspective on some things. Because showing off her tits? To a single person? Not so bad, big picture, was it?

And why shouldn't she? Looking was just looking. Maybe if she'd been blessed with something, she should use it to its full potential. She hadn't gotten Brooke's brains, or been born into filthy riches, but what she had gotten was a nice rack, a tight body, and curves most girls would die for. She ought to use them.

Maybe she wanted to use them. Maybe even for that greasy, rude man she'd secretly enjoyed being forced to expose herself. Maybe deep down, Ava was a gross little pervert. Maybe right now, as Ava was pulling up her shirt and her bra down, baring her tits in their perky glory to a total stranger, her heart was slamming in her throat and she was needing to fight away the urge for a hand to go between her legs, because this was so fucking hot, and she loved the way his lustful eyes crawled across her chest, the way they ignited her skin and fluttered her stomach.

You know. Maybe. Hypotheticals. Ava certainly didn't acknowledge any of those thoughts. They just bounced around somewhere in the back of her head, pointedly ignored. The real reason she was doing this was because she couldn't afford to lose her job. Same reason she had readily agreed to Brooke's plan. Necessity.

"Sorry," Ava stuttered out, playing a persona, a timid, shy girl forced to do something she didn't want to. "This's all I meant. I know they're not much … but please don't report me?" She pushed her elbows together to prop her tits up, shape them for her lustful spectator's viewing pleasure.

"Jesus," he said slowly, unable to look away. Ava turned her chest side to side, and his eyes followed. "Not much. You're joking, right?"

Ava preened at the compliment. She pushed her chest out and continued wiggling her torso side to side for a few moments longer, making sure to give the man his money's worth. He was, effectively, paying twenty-four dollars for the view—and doing Ava a huge favor, besides. "Does this mean we're even?" Ava asked sweetly.

The man took a second to reply, the blood in his brain clearly having reallocated itself. "Can I take a picture?"

“Of course not." She made sure to say it without heat, to keep up the demure act. Tugging her bra back up and situating it, then pulling her shirt back down, she said, "Who knows what you'd do with it?"

"I’ll keep your face out of frame," he said. "Maybe you'd get a nice tip, for the above and beyond service."

Ava hesitated, tempted. But showing off her chest in a one-and-done instance wasn't remotely the same thing as being immortalized forever on a random man's phone. And probably the internet, afterward. "Sorry, sir … I'm just not comfortable with that."

He seemed disappointed, but not upset. Things had worked out. "Alright. Well. Good doing business, either way." The words were playful, and for some reason, a real blush heated her cheeks as she took the bills he passed her as a tip. She counted. Good, but nothing amazing. About what she’d expect from a rich dude.

Ava briefly regretted her decision. With a house like his, who knew how much he would've paid for scandalous pictures? And her face wouldn't even have been attached.

But of course she hadn't considered it. She wasn't that type of girl.

Right?