Marcus was waiting on the hospital rooftop, with the camera in hand. It was a nice spot with some seats and potted plants that were used as some kind of rest area for the doctors — what he learned from flirting with a nurse. But, right now, he was there to wait for Vicky.

She appeared soon, carrying Amy with her to bring her to the hospital. A good way to beat the traffic. He raised his camera to take a quick photo as they approached, which made Vicky pose even as she floated down, once again activating the emotional connection.

Vicky was wearing her usual costume and looked fascinating. Amy, not so much. Her costume was even less attractive than a burlap sack, hiding her every beautiful feature and making her look like a boring, shapeless blob.

"Hello, beautiful," Marcus called even as he took another picture, with Amy in her arms. At the same time, he had been hit by their combined emotions. A burning yet playful desire from Vicky … and the usual confusing mess from Amy. "What a fun way to beat the traffic. Maybe I should ask for a ride as well?"

"Don't be a jerk —" she said as she put Amy down, which was all he let her say before he kissed her. "Stop," she said as she pulled back, but her giggle showed that she wasn't serious. "Let me introduce you to my incredible sister, Amy," Vicky said.

"Marcus. A pleasure to meet you," Marcus replied, only to receive a curt, frustrated nod before she walked away, grumbling.

"Don't worry about her. She's always grumpy, but inside, she's a sweetheart," Vicky defended her.

"Don't worry. I bet that I can make her like me," he said, deliberately saying bet part loudly, which caused another flash of hope in Amy. The tracking part of his ability once again proved useful as Amy stood behind the door of the roof to listen to them.

"So, why are you here?" Vicky asked, but only after an extended kissing session.

"I was about to visit a studio for a possible rental agreement, and the hospital is near, so I decided to surprise my favorite cape," he said even as he slipped his hands under her skirt.

Another jealous spike from Amy hit him. "Not here," she moaned, but once again, her words conflicted with her actions as she smashed her body against his. "I have a patrol to catch."

"Fine," he said as he squeezed her ass once more. "But I want you to visit my studio before picking Amy up. You can talk on the phone while flying, right?"

"Yes, call me," she said as she kissed him once more, and flew away. He had to admit, he preferred the costume she wore the night before.

Marcus raised his phone as he drifted closer to the door, making sure Amy could hear him easily. However, he didn't actually call Vicky. "Hey, beautiful, so are you ready for that naked photoshoot…" he started, followed by a very descriptive list of everything he would do to her in his new studio, making sure Amy was baited properly.

She stuck, listening to his long story, slowly getting in the mood. Though he had to admit, he was surprised when she started playing with herself. It was time for the delivery of the real bait. "Oh, yes. The bet is still on. No, I don't plan to target her tonight. She seems to be dedicated to her work, and I don't want to pull her from it."

Amy tensed, and he decided to change the nature of the bait slightly. "Of course, I agree. She shouldn't force herself to deal with anything that could be fixed by the doctors. However, I can't drag her to my studio for a sexy photoshoot. And no, it's not an admission of defeat. I still plan to have both of you naked in front of me."

He paused, acting like he was listening to Vicky's counter-argument. "You know that, feel free to talk with her and convince her for an early visit to the studio, and I guarantee that she'll be naked when you arrive. No, that's a guarantee," he said. "Yes, the new studio is on the third floor of the Luna building. Right across the hospital. Have fun in your patrol, and I can't wait for it to end."

As he finished the imaginary call, he couldn't help but feel proud of his solution. Amy knew that he would be in his studio and waiting for her, with enough ambiguity mixed in the situation to give Amy the initiative to approach without expecting him to be surprised by his presence.

All that remained was to see if she took the bait. Though, considering the intensity of arousal she was feeling from her, he was very hopeful.

He took the stairs, acting like he didn't notice her hiding behind the door. He would have liked to have a chance to interact with her, but with her hiding, he chose not to force one. Instead, he quickly moved to his new target.

He needed to rent the studio.

Renting the studio went easier than he expected. The owner had been hesitant to rent him at first when he saw just how young Marcus was, afraid he would steal the lights, but when Marcus accepted to drop ten thousand as a security deposit in addition to his relatively high rent request, everything was alright.

The owner was shady enough to make sure that the security deposit would disappear, but Marcus was more than happy to let the situation collapse for the moment, happily enjoying the benefits of the situation.

Marcus had a feeling that he wouldn't see most of that security deposit — especially since the owner conveniently forgot to add it to the contract — but he was not bothered by the permanent disappearance of ten thousand dollars.

It was amusing how his perspective on money could change in one afternoon. But, his growing collection of powers meant that getting some spending cash wouldn't be too difficult. Frankly, he expected that actually spending that cash would be harder.

It was why he had been glad for the discounted tinker power he received. Buying a car would have been his first priority, which would have inevitably got some attention. Avoiding that was surprisingly beneficial.

An hour later, Amy arrived. Luckily, not before he was able to stop by a nearby clothing store and pick up a number of clothes. He wanted to be prepared. He turned toward the door when he heard the knock, and saw Amy standing in front of the door with a shy expression. She was holding a large coat, which implied that she had hidden her arrival.

"Hi, Amy," he greeted her. "What a nice surprise. Anything I can do to help?"

"N-no," she said, trying to look calm, but even without his emotion link, her distressed excitement was obvious. "My work at the hospital had ended early, and I thought that maybe … Vicky mentioned that you might need some help."

"So, you're here to help me lift some furniture," he asked. The speed her expression had fallen surprised him. She must have been even more enthusiastic about what was about to happen. "Just joking. I won't use a pretty girl like you to lift stuff. But, I need a stand-in while I set the lights. It'll be boring, but it'll help me immensely."

"So, I just need to stand and let you take some photos, easy," she said.

"Excellent," he said. "Stand at the center and let me work. You don't have to do anything," he said as he snapped a few quick photos. Once again establishing a connection with them gave him a sense of safety.

Amy was too fragile to play around without some safety net, even when he had an inferior copy of her power to defend himself if necessary. No, he much rather preferred not to fight with the secret bio-kinetic, thank you very much.

"So, I just need to stand here?" she asked.

"A bit more to the center," he said, ignoring the temptation to ask something more interesting.

She was very tense, which was why he didn't say anything unnecessary as he worked, moving lights around constantly between taking photos to make sure he was playing the role. At the same time, he was doing his best to focus on her emotional flux. Slowly, her tenseness started to disappear, replaced by impatience.

Yet, he didn't make any move until her impatience started to show. He wanted her to take the initiative. But, he had pulled a small trick. He started to use the same ability he had received from her on her. He just dealt with his stress and exhaustion, but that had been enough. "Do I have to stand still," she finally asked.

He smiled, doing his best to look kind and understanding. "Of course not. I just didn't want to challenge you. I can treat this as a professional session if you want."

"That would be interesting," she admitted, her voice already sounding lighter. Her emotions were still a jumbled mess, but the difference from some physical relaxation was already noticeable. Just how hard she pushed herself constantly, he questioned.

"Excellent," he said with a smirk. "Have you ever worked as a model?"

"I have been to a lot of press conferences," she said.

"No, that doesn't count," he said, dismissing it. "I have seen your pictures on the paper, and frankly, they were horrible," he said, which she didn't appreciate. So, he was quick to absolve her of the crime. "the journalists are simply terrible artists, ruining a beautiful model like you," he said, quick to throw them under the bus.

That earned a dark scoff from her. "Now I know you're exaggerating. I'm not beautiful."

"Of course you are," he said. "You just do your absolute best to ruin your natural beauty with that terrible frown and even more terrible posture," he added and waved his hand dismissively. "Not to mention your horrible costume."

"It's not horrible."

"It is when it comes to showing your beauty," he answered. However, he did his best to sound professionally affronted than actually flirting, knowing that she wasn't ready to respond that well. "Why don't you put something I pick for you so I can show you."

"Deal," she growled. "And, when they turn out to be horrible, I'm going to brag that I told you so."

"Excellent," he said as he pointed at the door. "You have a lot of choices there. Pick something interesting, and I'll show you," he said, sending her to the room that held the newly purchased items of clothing.

And, if he had just sent a weak jolt of adrenaline that would have made her more daring than usual … he was sure that it would have had no effect on her ultimate choice.

Certainly not.