The woman standing to the left of Spright said something that sounded an awful lot like, “Oh my god, Spright.”

I checked, but it didn’t look like the people on the sidewalk heard us. The buzz of conversation seemed to drown out our voices.

“Is he always like this?” I asked, raising my voice a bit.

“Yes,” Spright said.

“No,” she said. “I dare say you’ve inspired him. Unfortunately.”

Spright sounded almost energized by his teammate’s exasperation. “I’m intrigued more than inspired. I’d love to indulge in your, ahem, stories, Victoria with the stylish icon.”

“It’s not that great an icon,” I said. “Nice try, though. I appreciate it.”

“I wanted to work in the flattery somehow. There’s no shortage of things I could say, by the way, and I’m not messing around when I say that. I chose the icon because I do like it, and because when you say something nice about something like a girl’s hair or something else about their appearance, you tend to get that kneejerk resistance.”

“You do,” I said. For me, it’s for reasons other than the usual. It was a shame, but his moment of frankness had brought things home again. My tone of voice was audibly different even to myself as I said, “I’m flattered, Spright, really.”

“Aw darn. But?”

“But while I’d be happy to share a few stories, I’m not up for the other stuff you’re driving for. It’s just not where I’m at. Wouldn’t be fair to you. I’ve gotta figure myself out some, first.”

“I can respect that,” he said.

“Thank you,” I said. “I appreciate the wit. You were pretty snappy with some of that.”

“Thanks for letting me try, I—” Spright stopped as the woman standing to his left made a sound effect with her mouth. I didn’t hear the preceding sound, but I heard her make a sound like a small crash with her mouth. Spright switched tacks to say, “I’ll throw things at you, Tandem.”

The woman laughed.

A moment later, another person joined us. A ripple in the road, and he appeared almost instantly out of the gloom. The cape I’d met early in the day the community center had been attacked, with the blades jutting from his costume.

He looked at me, sizing me up.

“Hi,” I said.

“Mmh,” he made a sound, not really a response. “Hey, Spright, swap places with me for a bit.”

The ‘mmh’ bugged me. “I’m enjoying his company.”

“She’s enjoying my company, Shortcut,” Spright said. “It’s a good night.”

“It’s going to be a long night,” Shortcut said. “I think I know her from the other day.”

He paused, glancing back at me.

“Yeah,” I said.

Shortcut turned back to talk to Spright, then paused, glancing back at me. “What’s that sound?”

I listened, and I heard it. Scratching.