branding lady, meet meek little lamb

"If his homophobia and transphobia don't prevent him from seeing me as a person I think I could be able to get him to like me."

"But I'm not sure if I'd be able to not provoke him."

thinkering

"The sort of person who it is unwise to treat as a person usually has trouble with the same skill."

Glam

mxglam

Loen's gone again.

"Wise words, o great master," she says, bowing slightly.

thinkering

"Why does Loen keep blinking in and out of existence?"

Glam

mxglam

"Sometimes he has stuff to say, in a way."

There he is again. "She's projected a sort of personality onto me, more as a conscience or a second inner voice, and it feels more natural to have me say things."

"Often as a counterpoint to something I've said, or an elaboration."

thinkering

"Okay, but in that case why do you disappear between comments?"

Glam

mxglam

"I disappear when I don't really have anything to say and don't foresee it for the rest of the current conversation or something."

thinkering

"Last time the copy stuck around and spent some time looking bored. I'm just wondering why the change."

Glam

mxglam

Both of them shrug.

"He had less personality then?" Glam tries.

"The skill was new and we were power testing?"

thinkering

"Fair enough."

Glam

mxglam

"He'll probably stay around after I've unmasked."

thinkering

"Do you want to borrow some robots to throw swordfish et al at once you know your patrol schedule?"

Glam

mxglam

"Yes, please!"

thinkering

One emerges via cat door to sit on Glam. "Dauntless should be getting ready to go out for the night. Catch him quick to ask about it."

Glam

mxglam

"Yeah, will do."

"Though since I'm probationary they might not trust me to go out alone."

thinkering

"Yeah, they'll pair you with people."

Glam

mxglam

"Mmm, I wonder who they'll pair me with."

"Wanna bet it'll be Boots just for the irony?"

thinkering

"You can request not-Boots, if you want, Dauntless is pretty decent about that."

Glam

mxglam

"Part of me is tempted to not ask for that, just to have the chance to tick him."

"The more sensible part is saying that is a very good idea and patrolling with him would cause way too much trouble."

thinkering

"I let Dauntless put me with him now and then but I don't, like, talk to him."

Glam

mxglam

"Well, I'll go ask."

thinkering

"Mm-hm."

Into her workshop Lorica goes.

Glam

mxglam

After Dauntless Glam and Loen go. He is pretty impressed by Loen's existence—thankfully most people don't doubt the existence of other people, so by the time Dauntless knows enough about Loen that disbelief would be warranted he already believes Loen exists—and, like Lorica said, is perfectly amenable to not-Boots requests. Given the versatility of Glam's show powers, Dauntless thinks she (Glam informs him of the gender decisions) will probably work well with all of them, though with Lorica she's mostly redundant. He'll slot her into others' patrols and tell her about it after he has.

Glam goes to bed cuddling with Loen, and since they aren't yet enrolled in Arcadia they go to their old school still. In the afternoon, most of the Wards are chilling in the Break Room when she and Loen arrive.

Here is Boots with a soda and a pile of social studies homework, and Windflower reading a book.

Glam

mxglam