sing for me, my meadowlark
"Neo?"
She does not respond.
His heart begins to pound in his chest. It is too dark, the mission has gone too sour- this isn't time for any bullshit and they need to get out immediately, so what is she-
He reaches out a hand to touch her shoulder where she has been standing guard on their emergency escape route. "Neo," he hisses, "we have to go-"
The moment his hand comes into contact with her, she seems to simply… shatter, glass shards falling soundlessly to the ground, her entire image disappearing into dust as if she had never been there to begin with.
He almost screams, if it were not for the parasol handle which hooks around his neck and forcibly drags him down, choking out his cry with its strength. He splutters and turns to look at his assailant, eyes wide and heart racing, only to find two pink eyes staring at him. He blinks. "…Neo?"
The grin she gives him answers his questions effortlessly. My gods, she's figured out her Semblance.
Once they have managed to fully extract themselves from the warehouse robbery gone awry, he demands that she explain the extent of her powers. As they make it back to their home, the girl merely responds by glowing a myriad of colours, all matching her natural hair colours, before her appearance seems to morph, shift, change.
Suddenly, he is looking at a carbon copy of himself.
He laughs, removing his now-trademark bowler hat and pushing orange strands out of his face as understanding slowly begins to dawn over him. "Neo, you demon," he cackles, replacing the hat and reaching out to the image. The illusion crumbles the moment he taps this depiction of himself, leaving behind Neo's almost feral grin. "You realize what we can do with this, right?"
She frowns, pouts, concentrates; then, she opens her eyes wide. Her eyes are now both brown.
He laughs long and loud, throwing his head back and arms out to the side. "Neo, my girl, we are going to take over the world!" he calls, rushing into the open air of their balcony. "You and I are the perfect team!" When he turns around, however, he finds a Scroll waiting for him, the screen reading Neo's thoughts.
"I told you I'm gonna be useful to you."
He rolls his eyes and flicks her forehead gently. Even that tiny motion is enough to shatter the illusion, her heterochromia growing visible again. "Okay, so we're going to start practicing how to maintain your Semblance even with a few hits, okay?" he says sternly.
She nods, but continues pointing to the words on the screen.
He frowns. "Yeah, Neo. You already are- you're part of the team," he says, patting her hair.
"No," she types, fingers flying across the screen as she leans back against the balcony door. "My place is HERE."
And she moves to stand right beside him.
He presses his lips together and flicks her forehead yet again, even harder this time- she pouts and stamps her foot, annoyed, for this time there is no illusion to dispel. However, as he steps past her, he makes a beeline for his own bedroom, for the tears which threaten to stuff up his face and- dare he say it, spill onto his cheeks- are too cloying to bear.
She's right, after all. Her place will always be by his side. She's the best ally he could have ever asked for, with all her youth and energy and strength. They could truly take over the world one day, especially if they are able to use her strength.
To think, I picked her up as a joke almost what, eight years ago now?
He is grateful for every day with her. He sniffles, wipes his eyes, slaps his cheeks to regain some colour, then grabs his cane on his way back out the door. "Neo, use your Semblance so I can kick your ass to next Tuesday!" he calls into the dark hallway. "We've gotta get your disguises in top form!"
And she comes to his beckoning call, parasol in hand, ready to fight. She really is his girl.