"I almost, almost made itching powder appear in his underwear. I would've done it too if it weren't so easy to trace to me."

"Mm-hm."

They sigh and put their face on their hands. They're not crying anymore, but still quite very upset.

"You okay?"

"Nnnnoooo. I am not okay. I am, like, the opposite of okay. If okay were a number I would be the negative of that number. And that seems to happen too often and now my brain is being stupid about how I'm—oh god this is so ridiculously childish, my brain is going all 'you are ruining her image of you,' Jesus Christ stop being so fucking self-centered Glam."

"I should probably go. Wait for Piggot to scream at me or Boots to hit me a few more times or something."

"Boots hit you?"

"Slammed me against a wall a couple of times, no big deal."

"Getting slammed into a wall a couple times by a Brute is kind of a big deal. Why, though?"

"...cause I brought the Youth Guard here? He said something about breathing down our necks for a week or something. I did add some armor padding to my back before he hit me, though, I didn't want to be broken in two."

"I don't know why Boots in particular would be mad about it, though. If anything this gives him freer rein. Reduces how much he can be disciplined for being himself all the time. They could cut his hours, but he's never seemed to like patrolling, and if they levy a fine and it comes out of his budget it's not like he uses it for anything."

Shrug. "I can't claim to understand him, he won't let me."

"Yeah, me either, not that I've put a ton of effort into it. You're sure you're okay? Physically I mean."

"Yeah. I mean, I have a few bruises that I'm going to feel in the morning—well, it's the morning, but you know what I mean. I've had worse. I'm pretty sure I didn't crack a rib."

"You could go to the doctor about it..."

"Don't wanna get him in more trouble, I'll know by tomorrow if I've cracked a rib."

"You don't have to tell the doctor what happened," Lorica points out.

"Unless it's not a Protectorate doctor, I'm pretty sure they can guess."

"I was thinking not a Protectorate doctor, whoever you'd go to out of costume."

"...I'd mostly not go. If I really had to I'd go to a free clinic."

"I've had any decent degree of control over my powers for one year."

"If I offer to loan you enough to pay out of pocket to go to a regular doctor whose line doesn't wrap around the block, will you think it's worth going?"

"No, not really. Like I said, at worst I have a cracked rib, and I'll find that out by tomorrow, and I've had worse. I can deal."