"So… what's your Semblance?"

Taiyang blinked, suddenly realizing that he had been staring. His eyes widened at the revelation, partially as he came to terms with the fact that he had been staring at Cerise's chest as she sat on the couch across from him. The woman was swirling the can of beer she had received from Kali as she looked him over with a raised brow, stopping only to take another sip while she awaited an answer.

"I-I… what?" Taiyang asked as he redirected his eyes to Cerise's mismatched pair, hoping she somehow hadn't noticed his awkward transgression.

"Well, you've been staring at my tits like you've never seen a pair for the past thirty seconds or so," Cerise commented as she went back to swirling her can. "Either you're picturing me in a much more interesting position, or you're doing something with your aura. Which is it?"

The truth, of course, was the latter- Taiyang had been staring at her core rather than her chest. He had always found that a person's aura was most directly concentrated around their heart, making it easier to read accurately… but there was nothing easy to read about Cerise. Her intentions and emotions were closely guarded, as though she was either somehow aware of what he was doing or she didn't intend to give anyone an inch when it came to what she was thinking. No matter which it was, Taiyang couldn't let her know exactly what he was doing- not after what she'd overheard, and not if his mental probing could undermine her trust in the group.

"Uh… w-well, you know, you…" Taiyang stammered, already feeling awful as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "…I'm a guy. I guess I kinda just got, um… distracted? Sorry, I didn't mean to stare. You're just… yeah. You're a really attractive lady…"

Cerise offered Taiyang a smile as she rolled her eyes and tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear. With a practiced motion, she lowered her drink while straightening her arms to push her breasts together, accentuating their curves and giving them a little boost as she added a husky quality to her voice.

"Well, Taiyang. You're not so bad yourself. That being said… I thought I was picking up on something between you and the red-eyed girl. Raven, was it? Don't tell me you're being naughty behind her back."

"Once again- guy here," Taiyang said, trying his best to sell the lie with a gesture of surrender. "I mean, I can still look, right?"

"Your secret's safe with me," Cerise reassured with a wink as she relaxed her arms and took another sip. A second later, her expression shifted from flirty to malicious, and Taiyang couldn't help but feel as though she was looking through him while her tone of voice shifted to match. "Assuming you share it, that is. You're a terrible liar. I could straddle you right now and you'd feel nothing, couldn't I? This has nothing to do with my boobs. What are you really looking at?"

"I…" Taiyang started, only to begin panicking. He briefly turned around to look out the glass wall, finding the rest of the team heatedly discussing something or other and showing no signs of approaching the door. "I-I… listen, Cerise, I'm sorry, but I can't…"

"Can't what?" Cerise probed as she leaned forward a bit, eyes narrowed. "Trust me? Explain yourself? Make a decision on your own? I could just leave, you know. Based on the way they're arguing outside, it seems obvious you were sent to watch me. They must be talking about something important that I'm not supposed to hear."

"Wait!" Taiyang pleaded as Cerise stood up from the couch. He mirrored her motions, putting a hand out in desperation. "Don't leave! We… I-I just… please, don't leave! We're just dealing with a really sensitive situation, and I…"

"Explain yourself, or I'll show you what my Semblance can do," Cerise threatened. "You won't stop me from leaving if I want to leave. You can't."

"I can read your aura!" Taiyang said in a panic. "Like… all of it. I can read peoples' emotions and feelings, feel their intent… I-I was trying to work out what you're feeling right now to see if we can trust you, but you're… you're guarded. One of the most guarded people I've ever seen."

Taiyang had a feeling he could see how the remainder of the conversation would play out in his head. Cerise would say something like "See, was that so hard?" in a flirtatious tone, and he would feel rather stupid, likely stumbling over his words as she approached. The conversation would redirect as she said something about him being hard and put a hand on his chest, only for Raven to walk in. It would be yet another misunderstanding that they could all look back on and laugh about later, and things would smooth over within minutes. All of his trepidation and worry about bungling his responsibility of keeping Cerise in the dark and on their side would be for naught, and he would have to remind himself not to worry so much.

Except it didn't go that way at all.

"Don't," Cerise warned, her posture stiffening up as she folded her arms. "My mind isn't your playground."

"It's not like that!" Taiyang reassured. "I'm not reading thoughts, just… feelings, a-"

"And you have no right to know how I feel," Cerise interrupted with a glare. "Just… stay out of my head."

"It's passive," Taiyang warned as he lowered his hand. "I mean… I always just kinda know if we're one-on-one and close enough to each other. I have to focus on someone in order to get any detail or feel their emotions myself, but I can't really help it. Raven… had this same problem with me, back when we first met. I'm sorry. Truly. If I could control it, I would."

Cerise closed her eyes and drew in a long, dramatic breath through her nose before letting it back out with a frustrated noise. When she spoke again, Taiyang didn't need to use his Semblance to feel out her emotions- she sounded positively livid, as though she was barely holding back from tackling him.

"…if you really can't control it… then fine. I'm not about to leave or cast you out over it. We've all got things about ourselves that we can't help. Parts of our nature that just… refuse to cooperate with who we want to be. But don't you dare dig. If I catch you, there will be hell to pay, Taiyang."

"Alright, alright," Taiyang conceded. "I won't dig… just… stick with us? Please? Can we sit back down and just talk about normal things?"

"…you sit. I need another beer…"

Taiyang did as instructed to avoid invoking more of Cerise's wrath. He watched as the woman retrieved another can, only to look over her shoulder while bent over.

"…want one?"

Taiyang mulled the proposition over. While he wasn't the biggest fan of alcohol and only really got involved when the others were drinking, it had a chance of easing a bit of the tension between them.

"Yeah, sure. I go Blue Wave over Orange Coast, though."

"You would," Cerise said in an accusatory tone.

Taiyang couldn't help but chuckle as Cerise closed the refrigerator door and made her way back to the couches. Though he wasn't sure what the implication was, he also didn't particularly want to know. Letting her rag on him also seemed to be working to get her to drop her guard a bit- the passive tangle of emotions radiating from Cerise no longer had the unmistakable bitter twinge of anger within it. He made a mental note that the woman's mood could change at the drop of a hat.

"Thanks," Taiyang offered as he was given his chosen poison. "So… what's your Semblance? If you feel like sharing, I mean."

Cerise didn't answer, instead choosing to stand in front of the couch for a moment. She remained still, squinting her eyes as she looked out the window across from her at the assembled teens. Taiyang assumed that their conversation was over and the others were coming back in… until a shimmering light appeared around Cerise's feet and began to creep upward. A curtain of shimmering pink and red triangular tessellations rose up around Cerise, briefly obscuring her body. By the time the ripple effect had vanished, a seemingly different woman stood before the couch.

Raven was where Cerise had been, holding a beer can and looking Taiyang over with a neutral expression.

"…holy shit," Taiyang said quietly as his eyes darted over Raven's form. He couldn't find an inconsistency or flaw as he searched the body he had become so familiar with… and something about that notion scared him. "That's… I-I mean I saw you just kinda fade in against Sienna, but… you can make yourself look like anything?"

In lieu of a direct answer, more ephemeral triangular patterns rose up from the floor on either side of 'Raven', manifesting two more copies of the woman. It was only then, as the trio spoke in perfect sync, that Taiyang found a flaw- the illusions still had Cerise's voice.

"I can, yeah," Cerise replied. "It's just projections and cloaking, so I can't actually really change anything about my appearance on a permanent basis. If you ran your hands through all this hair she's got, half of it would feel like nothing at all, for example. That being said, I can also just turn myself invisible and project another Cerise somewhere else in the room. If my real body is close enough, you might not even notice until it's too late."

"That sounds… useful," Taiyang praised as he watched all three Ravens sit next to each other and take a drink from their beer cans. "Especially in combat."

"It is."

Taiyang jumped as the voice came from directly to his right. He looked over to find Cerise sharing the couch with him, back in her normal body and holding her Orange Coast. A quick flick of his eyes revealed to Taiyang that the Raven clones were gone, and she had effectively snuck up on him from merely feet away.

"You just scared the shit out of me," Taiyang admitted with a nervous laugh as he put his free hand to his chest.

"Could be worse," Cerise said with a shrug. "I could've stabbed you."

Taiyang watched as she popped the tab on the can and took a drink, entirely unconcerned about the veiled threat.

"Yeah… I guess you could've…"

"Mm. Keep that in mind, if you piss me off again," Cerise said playfully. "And now, after pulling all that… my aura's blown for a bit and you can't read shit, can you? One point to me."

Before he could stop himself, Taiyang decided to probe with his Semblance. Cerise was right- her aura had fizzled entirely, and he couldn't pick up anything about how she was feeling at all.

"Clever… but you've got nothing to worry about if we're in a group," Taiyang explained. "Everyone's emotions get jumbled, and unless there's a really strong one that sticks out among the crowd, it's hard to tell who's who. Your Semblance, though… we've actually got a friend who has something kinda similar. He can actually alter his appearance at will- clothing and voice, too- but it only affects him. Guess that makes you two polar opposites."

"Huh," Cerise considers. "Honestly… I think I'd make that trade if it was somehow offered."

"…really?" Taiyang asked. "But… why? Your Semblance seems like it has way more useful applications. You could do just about anything, or at least, pretend to."

"Yeah, maybe, but… in the end, none of it matters," Cerise said, sounding almost sullen. "There are parts of myself I wish I could change permanently. I can only pretend for so long."

The sound of the door to the beach house opening interrupted Taiyang before he could open his mouth to ask a follow-up question. Raven was the first inside, followed by Kali, and then Roman… and that's when it happened.

Cerise's aura came back up only a moment before she locked eyes with Roman. Her shoulder was practically touching Taiyang, and the others were too far away for him to really pick up on any emotion from them. Suddenly he was hit with a one-two punch of incredibly strong feelings.

First came a smoldering lust tinged with genuine, affectionate longing emanating from Cerise. Second was a sinking dread from deep within his own chest.


Author's Note:

Uh-oh…

-RD