cassandra

[point_b]

The Swan girls have their evaluation appointment. It is largely uneventful. Alli splits and merges under various inoffensive conditions; Bella teleports to various other evaluation stations around the country and to one in a military base on the other side of the world (the evaluators call ahead about this) without incident. They have already - well, Bella has already - determined all the interesting wrinkles of the Swan girls' powers, but it's nice to have them on paper. They sign up for the Junebugs - the evaluator sniffs and says that it's the Gemini Guard, have some respect if you're going to join them! - with Bella as a solo bonus, junior grade, stratum 3 (she gets a badge and dog tags and a lollipop) and Alli as her optional/emergency support, junior grade, stratum 4 (she gets dog tags and a lollipop but no badge).

The evaluative office is crowded. A bunch of twins got their bonuses over the weekend and piled up on the Monday appointment slots. There's a pair where one can apparently conjure objects and the other wield telekinesis over them, juggling. There's a cryokinetic and someone who seems to cling to arbitrary surfaces, the one making a little ice sculpture and the other sitting on the wall (Bella supposes he can probably cling to his brother's ice). There's a set of triplets who don't seem to be doing anything, so she can hazard no guess as to what their powers are. There's a girl weeping into her hands while her brother tries to soothe her; she's crying about fire, ash, devastation, the menace lurking under the ground, and Bella hopes that's an overreaction to some TV show. But considering where she is -

"Er, what's her bonus?" Bella asks the brother.

"Not sure," he says. "Besides really upsetting. I just got a luck tweak, far as we can tell, dice and stuff..."

"So she doesn't pyro or -?"

"No, no, she's not dangerous," he assures Bella. "Not so much as a wisp of smoke, I don't know what the problem is, bonuses are supposed to help."

"I hope the evaluators can figure it out," Bella says, disconcerted, and she and Alli go back to school.

Spanish class is the next one they can catch.

Comments

[blink_and]

Another nod. "Thank you."

[you_miss_it]

"C'mon," says Savannah, and she carefully supports a somewhat wobbly Adana. She's pretty sure her sister didn't even notice being healed, but - that's fine, as long as she's okay that's what matters.

[point_b]

The dispatcher calls Bella.

Bella comes in and transports Adana to Charlie's house.

[blink_and]

Adana puts a portal down by Savannah and by where she is, and Savannah comes through.

Then she closes the portals, and is scooped up by her dad in a hug.

[point_b]

Bella goes back to sitting on the couch with Alli.

"Now that we're going to probably... sleep more... we should probably get air mattresses or something," she murmurs. "And decide who's in what room besides based on what beds are unoccupied..."

[you_miss_it]

"Yeah," agrees Savannah. "Did we grab air mattresses? I don't remember if we grabbed air mattresses..."

[steppingup]

"Two. We didn't have any more."

[you_miss_it]

"Meh. I can sleep on the floor, I don't give a damn."

Because she wants her sister to sleep in a bed right now, and if that means 'Savannah sleeps on the floor' that's okay with her.

[kindestgarden]

"As long as we're short on space I can go back to sleeping in the queen bed," Renée says. "And then there's our girls in their room, me and Charlie in the master, and air mattresses and the couch for three more."

[you_miss_it]

"Sure. Thanks, Renée."

[point_b]

"Where should the air mattresses go?" asks Bella. "Options seem to be any combination of this room, our room, and the master bedroom."

[blink_and]

"How much space is free in - all of those rooms?"

[point_b]

"You could probably fit them both in the master bedroom, or in the living room if the coffee table was moved, and one of them on our floor or in the living room without moving the coffee table."

[steppingup]

"I don't know how long we expect to stay, but it seems best if we're not - constantly in the way of everything."

[kindestgarden]

"Master bedroom it is."

[sundayfish]

"Hard to say this early how easy it'll be to find another place to be," Charlie says. "Not going to turn you out, though."

[steppingup]

"Thanks. That's very kind of you."

[sundayfish]

Charlie shrugs.

[kindestgarden]

"I'm - I think I'll go make brownies. Even if it's going to get hard to buy food the eggs will go off whether we hoard them or not," says Renée.

[you_miss_it]

"Ooo. Brownies! I love brownies, you're the best."

[kindestgarden]

"Thank you."

[alli_oop]

"At some point we probably have to start going to the nearest Gemini school, don't we? Would that be Port Angeles?"

[point_b]

"At some point. If they don't give us a-at least a week then - then I'm giving me a week, anyway, but at some point yeah."

[blink_and]

"I think they're going to give us more than a week," says Adana, softly. "If for no other reason than for the - people in school who lost family members."

[point_b]

"They'd better. I'm - Alli, twine me when brownies are ready, I'm going to go - for a - run. I've barely taken a step all week."

And she lets herself out the front door.