"I'm starting to think I'm not cut out for this mentor gig," There was a soft thud as Oliver Queen collapsed face first onto the sticky bar table in front of him, uncaring about whatever liquid had previously been spilled upon it.

One of his drinking companions for the evening, one Carter Hall, rolled his eyes at the blonde's overdramatic (and alcohol fuelled) moping. "I'm sure you're doing fine. You're... good with kids."

"He's a teenager, not a kid," Oliver corrected. "They're a whole different species... No offense."

Dark blue eyes narrowed in displeasure, Carter took another swig of beer from his glass tankard. "If you weren't worried, I'd be concerned."

"I just..." Oliver tilted his head, staring beseechingly at the Thanagarian. "Am I doing the right thing here? I want to do right by him, you know? I really don't want to screw this up."

"And that's why you'll be fine." Carter answered. "Because you're focusing on how this will affect him, not you." He fell silent for a moment as something occurred to him. "Did you call me out for drinks just to ask for parenting advice?"

"… Maybe. And uh, there was something important I wanted to ask."

Snorting a little, Carter drained the rest of his tankard, preparing himself for whatever request was about to be made of him. "Alright, fine. What is it?"

"Can I introduce Roy to Skylar?"

Of all the potentially inane things the archer could have asked, that one was low on the list of Carter's predictions. Wordlessly, he gestured for Queen to elaborate.

"Well, he sort of mentioned he only had adults to talk to about all of the... hero stuff. So I thought, hey, I know who I can ask."

Carter had to admit, that idea wasn't wholly terrible, in fact it had some merit. And it might also solve a problem of his own. He and his wife were growing increasingly concerned they weren't allowing their daughter sufficient social opportunities. On Thangar, she could interact freely with other children, but here on Earth that could have potentially dire circumstances. Ski'Lira hasn't voiced any frustrations about her quarantine period as she adjusted, but that didn't mean she wasn't feeling them.

"Fine," Carter acquiesced.

Head shooting up, Oliver's cheek pulled as the skin of his face stuck to the table for a moment, leaving a prominent red mark when he was fully upright again. "Great! We can compare schedules later to see when it's best for a visit."

Thunk! The chair next to Carter groaned in protest as Aquaman sat down, sliding a newly filled tankard over, and a much smaller glass to Oliver. "What did I miss?"

H

Hanging upside down from the back of the couch, Ski'Lira was steadily making her way through Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with single-minded determination. This was an accomplishment thanks to superior Thangarian evolution, as she had been upside down for a solid half hour at this point, and the book was thick enough that it was too unwieldy for efficient holding. She was starting to feel some strain, but it had become a personal challenge to make it one hour before giving up and sitting on the couch in a normal position.

It was a sudden interference that interrupted her self-imposed trial.

She barely registered the slim fingers wrapping around her ankle before she was hoisted into the air, dangling a good three feet above the ground. Letting out a startled squawk, her wings flailed in an attempt to right herself, only to fail as they weren't big enough to generate enough lift yet.

"Da'mi!" she whined, her book dropping to the ground with a solid thump as it slipped from her grasp.

"Did you forget we're having visitors over today?" Shayera Hol was not sympathetic to her daughter's plea, still not releasing her hold.

Blinking, Ski'Lira ceased her struggling as her mind raced. "... Today?" She was pretty sure that was tomorrow... right?

"Yes, today," Taking pity, her mother lowered her slowly, allowing her ample time to extend her hands so that her palms made contact with the carpeted floor first. Once she was balanced and stable, she threw her legs over her head in a flip and she sat down on the ground where she landed.

"When will they be here?" She picked her book up off the floor, inspecting the pages to make sure they hadn't bent too badly, carefully marking her place with her discarded bookmark.

"Ten minutes. Your room is still clean?"

"Ten minutes. Your room is still clean?"

"Yes, da'mi"

"Good." Anything more Shayera could have said was abruptly cut off as the doorbell rang.

Ski'Lira opted to stay where she was, letting her mother handle greeting their guests and escorting them further into the house. Standing up, she stretched out her arms and wings before hopping up to sit perched on the back of the couch.

Ollie was the first to step into the living room, beaming brightly as he ruffled her hair in greeting. "There's my favorite honorary niece. How're you doing?"

"Fine," she answered, well used to this routine by now. "Just reading."

"And school?"

"I got a ninety eight on my last math test." She proclaimed proudly, earning an enthusiastic high five from the man.

"That's what I like to hear! Now that the boring pleasantries are out of the way, Skylar, I'd like you to meet someone." With an overdramatic wave of his hand, he stepped aside so she could get an unobstructed view. "This is my apprentice, Roy Harper."

Her first impression was violently ginger and grumpy. Arms folded and jaw set, he looked like he'd rather be anywhere else than here. So far he seemed to check all the boxes for a stereotypical moody teenager.

"Roy, this is Skylar." Ollie prompted, giving his ward the smallest of nudges.

Clearly reluctant, he snapped out a terse, "Hi," before lapsing back into silence.

Ski'Lira looked him up and down, trying to put this gangly boy in the role of Green Arrow's sidekick. "His arms are so skinny... How can he even draw a bow?"

Her comment snapped Roy out of his gloom real fast. Arms dropping to his sides and eyes narrowing, he spoke through gritted teeth. "Excuse me?"

"Archery is very intensive on the upper body," she began to explain, sure that he should know this information by now. "And your arms are like twigs. Are you sure you don't wish to take up another fighting style that would suit your physique? Like fencing."

"I can draw a bow just fine." He insisted, cheeks coloring.

"Your unfounded claims mean nothing to me."

A long-suffering sigh left Oliver, his face firmly in his hands. "Why do I feel like I've just made a massive mistake?"

"The hostility will pass," Shayera put a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder. "Perhaps we should let them have some time alone? I doubt having constant surveillance will help with the tension."

"Yeah... Yeah, fine..." Allowing Shayera to steer him out of the room and towards the kitchen, he angled his head over his shoulder for one parting remark. "Both of you behave. No murdering each other while the adults are out of the room."

"Not even a little?" Ski'Lira asked.

"No. Zero amounts of murder."

Pouring, she crossed her arms. At this point, Roy's sullen attitude had morphed into a strange combination of confusion, anger, and concern at his current situation. Said concern most likely was for his own wellbeing, as he was left alone with a child for a penchant for violence.

Ski'Lira watched him with laser focus, waiting for him to make the first move. Scraping his hand through his hair, he let out a breath and promptly collapsed onto the couch. She expected him to do or say something, but it seemed he had resigned himself to self-imposed silence for the entirety of the visit.

Well, she was never one to waste an opportunity when it was presented so nicely. Snagging her book from its place on the coffee table, she padded over the armchair and curled up on the seat. Flipping through the pages, she quickly located her spot, and was rapidly engrossed in Harry Potter's first venture as a makeshift Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

She could vaguely hear her mother and Oliver talking in the kitchen, but she was tuning them out in favor of focusing on her reading. It had the added benefit of also being able to ignore Roy.

That had been her first mistake.

If she had been paying an iota more attention to her surroundings, she could have picked up on the heartbeat spike and change in breathing. And if she had been looking at him, the gleam in his blue eyes would have been unmistakable as 'incoming mischief'.

"You know Sirius Black dies at the end, right?"

The entire world screeched to a halt. Ever so slowly, Ski'Lira looked up from the inked pages, dark blue eyes locking onto his much lighter ones. He had a self-satisfied grin on his face, like a child who had gotten away with stealing cookies from a jar. "... You lie."

The smile only widened, "Nope. Bellatrix kills him."

One beat of silence.

Then two.

And three.

With a screech one could only describe as 'unholy', Ski'Lira threw her book aside and launched herself across the room. Roy barely had enough time to jerk his arms up into a defensive position before she made contact, clawing and screaming incoherently in her rage. In an attempt to dislodge her, Roy staggered to his feet to dump her onto the ground, only for her to lock her much smaller legs around his torso. Once she was clinging to him like a hissing, murderous limpet, she drew back and head butted him straight in the face.

Before she could headbutt him a second time, another set of hands latched around her waist and physically pulled her off the older boy.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Oliver shouted, fighting to be heard over her screaming. "Calm down!"

Haze of anger fading just enough to cease her frantic squirming, she went limp and instead attempted to kill Roy Harper with just the power of her brain. Meanwhile, Roy's face was being carefully checked over by a blank-faced Shayera, who disappeared only briefly back into the kitchen to retrieve a hand towel for his bleeding nose.

"It's not broken," Shayera assured both him and his guardian. "You should count yourself lucky she was restraining herself."

"That was restraint?!" Roy spluttered, only to be silenced as Shayera pressed the towel none-too gently under his nose.

"What the hell happened?" Oliver demanded, "We were only gone for three minutes!"

Ski'Lira remained stubbornly quiet, Roy following her lead.

Glancing between the two of them, Shayera was clearly analyzing the situation, before finally settling her attention on her daughter. "Ski'Lira, what did he say to you?"

The last vestiges of her anger drained away, the gaping maw it left behind replaced with desperation as she looked beseechingly at her mother. "Da'mi, please tell me Sirius Black doesn't die."

A Thangarian's tells were difficult to detect, and Shayera Hold's more so considering her background in espionage. But Ski'Lira knew her mother, and saw the minute shake of her wings and the slightest tick of her mouth as she fought back a grimace.

That could only mean... Roy was telling the truth?!

Letting out another short scream, she went completely boneless instead of merely limp. Startled by the sudden shift, Oliver ended up dropping her purely by accident, and she flopped face first onto the thankfully carpeted ground.

Even though her nose was smooshed to her face and the fibers of the carpet dug roughly into her face, she didn't care.

"Roy," Oliver snapped at his apprentice. "Apologize for... spoiling her book?"

She heard more than saw the older boy grind his teeth. "... I'm sorry... That Snape kills Dumbledore in the sixth book."

"WHAT?!"

H

Needless to say, neither adult was happy at the turn this visit had taken. In a desperate attempt to both save the furniture in the house from accidental destruction and salvage a possible friendship between the two hellions, Shayera had ordered them both outside. Chagrined (and knowing she was in for a much longer lecture later), Ski'Lira had wordlessly led Roy down the path that stretched from behind the house down to the beach.

As the house sat on a small cliff, the part of the beach closest mostly consisted of rough stone. But once past that, it smoothed out into untouched sand. For a few tense minutes, the only sound they made came from the gentle shifting of the sand they dislodged with every step. Ski'Lira had shed her shoes near the base of the cliff, and after a moment of hesitation, Roy had followed her lead. He stripped off his sneakers and white socks, placing them carefully near Ski'Lira's discarded sandals.

Ski'Lira had noted that her forced companion was gradually growing more and more restless, fidgeting with the buttons on his shirt, stuffing his hands in his pockets and taking them out, and smoothing back his hair every time the wind caught it. He had something to say, but was reluctant to do so. So she just waited, patient and silent like a predator lying in wait for its prey to creep close enough to pounce.

"I'm... sorry for spoiling. That wasn't cool." He blurted out in a nearly unintelligible gush of words, vehemently avoiding eye contact as he did so. Already his pale skin was flushing red, blushing creeping up his neck and the tips of his ears.

Ski'Lira let him stew in silence for a solid minute before opting to put him out of his misery. "I wanted to find out how the story ended for myself. Half of the fun is not knowing how a story will end."

"That's fair, but... did you have to attack me?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"... Yeah, okay." He stuffed his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans for a final time, this time seeming far more at ease. "So, uh... Do you have anything like Harry Potter on Thanagar?"

"You mean wizards?" Coming to a stop in a suitable place, she was just close enough to the water's edge for the waves to lap at her feet when she sat down and stretched out her legs. She flared her wings out, letting the feathers be ruffled by the cool breeze coming off the sea.

"No, no." Roy followed her lead, though he ended up in a graceless sprawl next to her, uncaring of the sand getting in his hair, content to stare up at the sky. "I meant like, books-wise. Do you have any like, famous books at home?"

"Oh, no," she answered succinctly. "Thanagar does not have fictional stories."

That revelation threw the older boy for a loop. "You... What? Like... You don't have books or movies?"

"Of course we do," she rolled her eyes. "They just aren't made up. We tell tales of our history, old and recent, other places and their peoples."

"Okay, that's... weird, right? Like, all societies tell made up stories."

She shot him a slightly irate look, "Earth societies."

Opening his mouth, he thought better of it, before nodding his head. "Right, alien. You know what, that's my bad."

"The universe can be just as strange as some of the tales your human authors tell."

"Really? Like what?"

Ski'Lira wracked her brain for a sufficient tale to tell, before settling on a short one. "There was once a Thanagarian general named Sy'an whose soldiers were stranded on a hostile planet, inhabited entirely by a species that communicated through music and dance. General Sy'an found himself struggling to keep his people safe as they waited for rescue to arrive. Traditional techniques and tried and true strategies all failed, as the native peoples had skin nearly impervious to being punctured or cut. Instead, he adapted, and used a language that his enemy could understand."

"He played them a song?"

"No, he challenged their leader to a dance battle. And won."

"That's... ridiculous. But I guess it worked? Is he some kind of... hero then?"

"He's certainly a renowned figure, most well known for his near unrivaled intellect when it came to battle strategy. Of course, the entire dance competition was a mere ruse for him to get close enough to stab the leader through the species' singular weak spot that he had spent weeks studying them to find."

"Why am I not surprised?" Roy huffed out a laugh. "Man, if Earth history was like that, maybe I'd pay more attention in school."

Turning to face him, she couldn't help but notice that his perpetual scowl had smoothed into a more easygoing expression. "You go to school?"

"Uh, yeah? Of course I go to school. Don't you?"

"Online school," she answered, earning a nod of understanding. "Will you tell me about it? What your human school is like?"

"It's... normal, I guess. Not that interesting."

"It is to me."

After a little more prodding, Roy acquiesced, unleashing a torrenting rant about his school. He took the opportunity to air grievances about antics of his peers, subject matter both taught and not taught at his school, and some of the things his teachers had done that pissed him off in particular. Anyone else might have grown tired of his complaining, but Ski'Lira was enraptured. It was all just so... different, from the limited experience she had in places of education. As she kept pestering him with follow-up questions and prolonging the conversation, eventually they were engrossed long enough that Shayera and Oliver went searching for them.

There had been some concern that maybe Ski'Lira had attempted to drown Roy in the ocean, hence the lack of noise. The two adults were visibly taken aback to see the children chatting so freely and amicably, when a mere hour ago there had been literal bloodshed. But despite them finally getting along, they still had to leave.

Now standing awkwardly on the driveway, Roy shuffled from side to side as they made some terse farewells. "Maybe... this whole... friends thing can work out after all?" He suggested. "You can message me or something and you can ask more questions. You have AOL Instant, right?"

"We'll figure it out," Shayera promised on her daughter's behalf. "But before you two go..." Fishing a disposable camera out of the pocket of her sweatshirt, she held it up hopefully. "Just one?"

A few minutes of convincing later, the two League kids were standing shoulder to shoulder where Shayera had carefully posed them, framed just so with the sunset-streaked sky behind them.

"Smile!" Shayera prompted.

"Like you mean it!" Oliver added after their initial lackluster attempt.

Rolling his eyes, Roy plastered a real grin on his face, and planted a hand on Ski'Lira's shoulder while she mirrored his smile. Her wings curled around the two of them, wind catching at her braid and sending it blowing off to the side.

Click!

"Perfect," Releasing the children from their obligation, Shayera tucked the camera away once more. "I'll be sure to send you a couple of copies once I get them developed. You two have a safe trip home."

"Will do," Ollie feigned tipping a hat, slinging an arm around his protégé's shoulders and leading him towards their waiting vehicle.

Only once the car had started and been backed out of the driveway did Shayera speak again, starting the trek back into the house as her daughter scampered behind her. "So, did you have fun today?"

"I did," Ski'Lira couldn't help but admit. "Roy is cool. Uh... Da'mi?"

"Mmm?"

"When do I get to go to school?"

H

"Ollie, I am going to murder your sidekick."

Spluttering in surprise, Green Arrow dropped his freshly poured mug of coffee. Hot liquid splattered all over the floor of the conference room, porcelain shards skittering an impressive distance and creating a genuine safety hazard. "Goddammit, Carter. A little warning next time?"

"That's certainly one way to start a meeting," Superman, ever the good Samaritan, stepped up from his seat and started picking up the mug shards. Thanks to his impervious skin, the task was easily accomplished, and he sped off and back to dispose of them safely in the blink of an eye.

With Carter's arrival, that put all of the current League members (apart from Hawkwoman, who had excused herself from the meeting in advance due to having a child to care for) in attendance. Today was meant to be a relatively mundane discussion of primarily financial matters, but the peaceful atmosphere was shattered just as much as Ollie's coffee mug.

"What did the kid do?" Flash asked, leaning forward and propping his chin on his folded hands. Ever one to have difficulty sitting still, the distraction was most likely a miracle in his eyes.

Katar let out a grumbling huff, dropping onto one of the two remaining seats. "He's corrupted my daughter, that's why."

"You think it would be the other way around..." Hal Jordan trailed off as he incurred a death glare from the Thanagarian. "You know I come from a place of love."

"Carter," Diana politely garnered his attention, clearly amused by the situation. "I'm sure we'd all appreciate some context for a murder we certainly do not condone?"

Reluctant to air his grievances immediately, Katar's jaw worked in silence for a moment. "She's... gotten the idea in her head that she needs to go to school?"

Clark's brow furrowed, "But I thought she was already taking online classes?"

"She is. She wants to go to an actual school."

The amount of understanding and sympathetic looks he received were downright suffocating, as his fellow heroes realized the full depths of his struggle.

"And how is this Roy's fault, exactly?" Oliver asked.

"He told her all about his school and now she wants to go." In a rare show of exasperation, Carter slid his helmet off his head, scraping a gauntleted hand through his hair. "When we told her no, along with a list of why we said no, she started plotting against us. My daughter is a passive aggressive monster."

A muffled laugh drew attention to Black Canary, who was trying and failing to stifle her mirth. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "But has a proud Thanagarian warrior and member of the Justice League been laid low by a thirteen year old girl?"

"I am not ashamed to admit it." Carter admitted. "This is worse than her first molt. Then, she was just angry, I can deal with angry. This time... she's being clever. I regret ever letting Batman babysit."

"Hall, I am not the one who taught her how to pick locks." Batman snapped back, halting what was an ongoing argument between the two men before it could start again.

"She knows that violence isn't going to work, so she's resorted to full-blown psychological warfare." There was a haunted look in his dark blue eyes. "She won't stop rearranging things in the house. This morning I found every third button on all of my dress shirts removed and she's been periodically blunting every razor I have for shaving. She set Shayera's ringtone to the opening song from the Lion King and called her in the middle of an important investor meeting, saying she 'forgot what time the meeting was and she was sorry for interrupting'. Every time we ask her to refill the ice tray for the freezer, she only fills one side of the tray."

By the end of his spiel, Dinah wasn't the only one stifling laughter. Aquaman was obscuring a full-blown grin behind a fist as he feigned nonchalance, convincing absolutely no one. Even the ever-stoic Batman's lips were quirked minutely in amusement.

Chuckling himself, Hal leaned over to place a reassuring hand on Carter's shoulder. "At the very least, we know that your daughter's been paying attention during her stealth lessons. But hey, if this is such a problem, why don't I have a talk with her. Maybe good old Uncle Hal can convince her to give up the crusade?"

"Your attempt would be greatly appreciated," Carter was never one to beg, but he was close to resorting to it.

"Now that we've come up with a viable solution for this... newfound problem." Batman interrupted. "We do have a meeting to get through. First on the agenda, I have full financial reports for reported destruction of public property from the last six months."

H

"So, I hear you've declared a war of attrition on your parents."

Freezing in place, the fork bearing the chunk of freshly made waffle Ski'Lira had been about to stuff in her mouth hovered. "... This was a trap."

Hal short her an unapologetic grin. "It's a pretty nice trap, right? You'd never expect me to lull you into a false sense of security by taking you to my favorite diner."

Her grip tightened on her fork, even at her young age the metal threatened to break under her fingers.

"You've got nothing to lose now, so why don't you eat your breakfast and tell Uncle Hal what's got you worked up enough to terrorize your poor parents."

Pouting petulantly, she took her bite, chewing slowly to buy herself some time before she had to inevitably spill the truth. "... My parents won't let me go to school."

He gave a thoughtful hum, but she wasn't fooled by his placid expression for a moment. "That's fair, I suppose. But why?"

"... Because Roy gets to go. And other normal humans."

"I hate to break it to you, but you're not Roy... or a human."

She blinked at him, unable to combat his sound logic, though she wouldn't be swayed so easily. "I can pass for human. I'm doing it right now!"

"Sweetheart, while we've been talking, you've bent that fork into the shape of your fingers."

A quick check proved he was right, five perfect indents marring the previously pristine utensil. Seeing that she'd just discredited her own argument, a frustrated huff left her throat as she handed the deformed fork over to Hal. He took it with a smile, slipping it under the table. Only the slightest flash of green light betrayed he'd taken action at all, handing the newly fixed fork back to her so she could continue eating.

This time she was far more carefully handling the utensil.

"Alright, so other than 'the other kids are doing it', can you explain why else you want to go to school?"

With that one question, Hal sent her into an introspective spiral. She guessed she hadn't... really thought about it before. When Roy had told her about the school, the things he got to learn, the people he got to meet, the friends he had made and how they-

Oh.

She had verbalized her small exclamation without realizing, her wings drooping in their hiding space under her oversized hoodie.

"Seems to me you've just figured out something important. Care to share?" Hal prompted her, some of the joviality leaving his face in lieu of honest concern.

"I think I just... miss it."

Spine straightening, Hal snagged a mug of his black coffee, taking a sip now that it had sufficiently cooled. "You miss school?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Or, hear me out..." He offered. "Do you think that you miss all of Thanagar?"

Her cheeks burned at the accusation, avoiding eye contact and giving the smallest of affirmative nods.

How was she supposed to not miss it? Thanagar was her home, where she could spend her days not having to hide who she was purely for her and her family's safety. It felt like something had been carved out of her chest, something that could never be replaced.

"Well, that's a much bigger problem to deal with. So how about we start small, okay?" Hal set his mug back on the table. "First, the whole school issue. I understand you're looking for some kind of familiarity, but Earth school isn't anything like what you're used to. For one, they don't have classes outside, they're mostly in poorly designed buildings with fluorescent lighting and linoleum floors. Two, any physical classes have strict rules about violence. Gym classes are mostly running when you're told to and playing human sports that have the rules changed to make them safe for kids. And finally, you'd be stuck in a room full of human children all day."

He let her ponder in silence for a moment before continuing. "Now, if this is something you really want, I'm sure we can come up with some kind of plan to make it happen. We've got enough geniuses about to figure out the logistics. Is it?"

"I... guess not." The way he had framed it, Earth school sounded like literal torture. No wonder Roy was so grumpy all the time. "I think my reasoning was seriously flawed."

"Hey, it's okay to be a little irrational now and again." Her honorary uncle assured, reaching across the table to ruffle her hair. "It's just part of being a person. And between you and me? I get homesick all the time when I'm assigned for Oa duty. Heck, your parents, J'onn, Diana, they all get it too. It's perfectly normal to miss home."

"Then... Is there anything I can do to stop feeling so bad?"

"Sometimes you've just got to find comfort in the little things. When you feel like you're losing yourself because you're so far from home... It's the small traditions that really keep you grounded." Perching his chin on his fist, his eyes glazed over as he thought over the issue seriously. "Like maybe you could try speaking Thanagarian more with me or your parents? Your fluency in English is definitely good enough. I think Katar and Shayera will be more than willing to lift the rule about speaking the local language even while at home. Or maybe... I got it!"

Digging around in the pocket of his bomber jacket, he brandished his favorite pair of aviator sunglasses, the kind with lenses dark enough that they completely obscured the wearer's eyes. "Let me be clear, this is not a gift. It's... an indefinite loan."

Taking the sunglasses gingerly, she couldn't help but be thankful for his insistence. He was one of the only members of the League that consistently remembered the nuances about Thanagarian gift-giving. "This... still sounds like a present."

"Semantics," he waved away her concern. "Go ahead, put them on. Might be a bit big, but I'm sure you'll grow into them just fine."

Hesitating, she cautiously slipped the glasses onto the bridge of her nose. As he said, they were definitely too large for her face, but with some finagling she managed to hook the earpieces into her hair so they wouldn't fall off her face.

Hal slipped his phone out of his pocket, snapping a quick photo before she could protest. "I know it's not quite like the masks you're used to seeing on Thanagar, but it's about as close as you can get without drawing attention. Now you can use those whenever you leave the house."

Truthfully, the sunglasses were making her feel a little better. She had never worn a traditional mask herself, considering the standard age began at fourteen, but seeing so many uncovered faces in her day to day still made her uncomfortable.

Knowing that at least her face was obscured gave her a comfort she didn't know she needed. It was then she decided that on her next birthday, she would ask her parents for a real cloth mask that she could at least wear around their kast.

"Thank you, Hal." Her voice was a little meeker than she intended it to sound.

"Hey, don't thank me. It was just an uncle looking out for his niece's wellbeing. And one of his best friend's sanity. Just promise next time you'll talk to an adult you trust before resorting to psychological warfare?"

"No promises, but... I'll try."

"It's as much as I can ask for, I guess. Now eat up, your breakfast is getting cold. And if you eat all your eggs and drink all your orange juice, I'll give you some of my bacon."

H

SharpHarper is online

SH: you there yet?

SH: hello?

SH: did you forget?

WingedVictory is online

WV: Yes

SH: took you long enough

WV: I had to wait to use the computer. Ta'me needed it for work.

SH: who the hell is ta'me?

WV: My dad.

SH: oh

SH: so I hear you've been stirring up trouble. Oliver said something about you wanting to go to school?

WV: Not anymore. I've seen the error in my judgment.

SH: well that's… good for you? i wish i could be homeschooled like you sometimes. high schoolers are the worst. and i fight supervillains now, so i have high standards.

WV: That is very funny

SH: you don't have to say 'this is funny' you could just use an emote. like this. : )

WV: What does colon right parenthesis mean?

WV: … Never mind. Dad explained. And then he laughed at me.

SH: hahahahahahaha

SH: haha

SH: ha

SH : )

WV: : )

SH: maybe you'll get the hang of this human thing after all

SH: so, do anything cool today?

WV: Dad and I were doing wing stretches today. He says soon my muscles will be strong enough for real flight and not just low level gliding and banking.

SH: damn

SH: i am very jealous right now

SH: wish i could fly

SH: you know, not on a plane, because i've done that

WV: In a few years, I will increase in strength.

SH: … okay what does that mean.

WV: It means that I will be able to carry you. And I can take you flying if you wish.

SH: : )

SH: i'll hold you to that

SH: we'd make a good team you know.

SH: you flying, me shooting arrows

SH: like something out of Legend of Zelda

WV: What is Legend of Zelda?

SH: …

SH: …

SH: : o

SH: next time i come over, i'm bringing over my gamecube and we're playing ever LoZ game i have

WV: I look forward to it even though I have no idea what you are saying.

SH: your life will be changed forever

WV: : )