"Unless my dad knows something I don't about the recent dustup, why not."

Lucien isn't aware of anything her dad would know that she wouldn't - the news covered most of what happened, Tattletale made sure of that.

The next board game night has a similar crowd, albeit without Missy and with another girl who no one seems inclined to introduce to Lorica.

Also Tattletale has brought artisanal chocolates in lieu of cookies. She hopes this doesn't upset those with more plebian taste in dessert, she says without a trace of concern.

"Aww, you didn't have to, I'm a Hershey girl," says Lorica, mostly just to annoy her. She takes a blueberry lemon truffle out of the box. Extends it to the new girl. "I didn't catch your name?"

Tattletale rolls her eyes affably at the joke and looks slightly confused at who Lorica is asking the name of.

So does everyone else, except the girl who Lorica asked who just looks shocked.

"...hi?"

Tattletale barely to has time to transition to looking quite puzzled - 

- before the room is filled with swarms of flying bugs poised to strike. 

Taylor has been having a difficult fucking week. 

The girl eeps and suppresses her power (unnoticeable to Lorica), causing the Undersiders to relax.

"Oh. That's Aisha."

"Oh my god I do not appreciate the wasps! Put away the wasps!"

The wasps go away.

Taylor is not apologizing - she was ambushed at school a few days ago and she has stung ZERO people. Okay a few PRT guards got stung during the break-in. But not that many people. As far as she can tell situations in her city seem to need more wasps, not fewer.

Aisha is honestly still shocked that Lorica saw her! The wasps were pretty par for the course around the Undersiders this week.

"Aisha is our resident Stranger." Tattletale says, giving Aisha an annoyed look.

Aisha takes one of the chocolates.

"Oh. Yeah, I still have the same secondary power I did before, I can see those. Are there going to keep being surprise wasps if I talk to her like a normal person or should I pretend?"

"She can fucking stay visible."

Aisha smiles. 

(It has actually been well over a week since Aisha had a conversation with anyone who knew she was there. But she stills remembers how to smile annoyingly.)

... Probably it's good for Aisha for her to stay visible now. And Taylor really doesn't need anymore surprises. 

"So... Anyone for charades?" Tattletale says with a hopefully-distracting-from-the-tension grin.

"That's really pushing the definition of a board game night but I'd do a charade."

"Don't you cheat a charades?" Lucien asks Tattletale. 

What, would she be grinning like this if she were planning on cheating?

"Alternately, I brought a chess set. My Python course has me programming chess robots now so I've had it on the brain."

"I was honestly joking about the charades."

"Uh, there's a fast paced team based variant of the chess called Bug House I've been meaning to try?"

"Don't you need two sets for Bug House?"