Why the hell are you so nervous? Eliana Morello sighed to herself, shook her head, grabbed her purse from the bed and slid the strap over her shoulder. She slipped her feet into her black flats, pulling at the bottom of her red and white blouse. Because you haven’t had a night of fun in a while, take a deep breath. You’re allowed to have fun. Besides, when’s the next time you’ll get a chance to go out again?
“El? Are you ready?” The voice that called her name was chipper, and without even looking in her direction she could tell that her roommate was bouncing on her feet.
“Yes, Candace, I’m coming.” She took a deep breath and exhaled, not forgetting to check her reflection in the mirror first. She looked fine. No problems there. She walked out of her bedroom entering the living room, and her eyes saw her curly haired, tan-skinned roommate and two young men sitting on her couch. The first looked up at her, brown eyes met green, and a small smile appeared on his handsome face. He was broad shouldered, nearly two of her could’ve fit between his shoulders, long, but not shaggy or unkempt, with dark hair but a gentle face.
The other was plainer by comparison, though Eliana doubted that he could help it much. From her roommate’s expression, Candace hadn’t noticed anyone else. He was just as tall, though much scrawnier; it looked as though if he bent the wrong way, he would break into pieces. He did have nice arms, Eliana noted; his baby blue short-sleeved shirt exposed the muscles on his pale skin.
Candace cleared her throat, straightening up slightly, her curves accentuated by the red cocktail dress she wore. “Eliana, this is Marcus, he lives down the hall in 303. He’s going to be pursuing a business major, right?” With a nod from the blonde, she continued, “And this is Caderyn?” Another nod. “He lives with Marcus.” A pause, a fumbling hand gesture. “I’m sorry, Marc hasn’t told me what you might be studying? Do you know?”
“Biochem,” was the short reply, with a shrug of the shoulders. Candace grinned and continued.
“Ellie here is a communications major with a focus in science. You two can talk about that.” Right, nothing like some science talk when at a club. “Marcus and El already knows this but I’m a English Lit major with a focus in ancient texts, mainly Norse or Greek and Roman mythology.” Caderyn’s eyebrows rose slightly, but quickly relaxed.
“Fascinating.” Not a man of many words, is he?
Eliana shifted, “Are we ready to go?” Candace nodded, grabbing her own purse off the kitchen table and her keys.
“Let’s rock ‘n’ roll, gentlemen… and El.”
It was funny, really, because what was supposed to be a night out with her roommate turned into a night out with the new neighbor down the hall while her roommate giggled, danced, and spoke to the other new neighbor. Eliana soon found out that it wasn’t that Caderyn was a man of few words, but that he was just as uncomfortable as she was with the situation. They had ended up third wheels to their own roommates, stuck awkwardly sitting together in the corner, barely speaking. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to him, but it was that she didn’t know what to talk about. It was loud, music was blaring, and she had gone through two Shirley Temples thus far and he had only drunk half of his coke.
It was either be miserable with the situation while Candace and Marcus had fun, or make the best of the night. After what seemed to be at least fifteen minutes of sitting in silence and fiddling with her strawberry blonde hair between her fingers, she turned towards Caderyn. “Hey,” she said softly, “Do you wanna bail? It’s so loud in here I can’t hear myself think.” He looked at her, blinked a few times, before offering her a sheepish smile.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Have you gotten to explore the city much since you’ve moved here? Outside of campus?”
“No… I’ve been busy preparing for school.” That was that then, she decided. She took a final sip of the delicious cherry drink and stood.
“C’mon then, we’ll walk around.” Caderyn looked in the direction of where their roommates had last been seen. She knew what he was thinking, “Don’t worry, they’ll be fine.” She smiled, “I think it’s what they really wanted anyway. They just didn’t want to exclude us. Besides, I was born and raised in this city. I know it like the back of my hand.” She dramatically held out her arm, examining the back of her hand. “Oh, what’s that new mark?” She shot Caderyn a grin and was met with a concerned look. Well that joke fell flat. “You’re supposed to laugh y’know. Humor me a little. A smile. No? Fine, let’s go broody mcbroodster.”
“I’m not broody.”
“You’re quiet.”
“You just talk a lot.”
“We just sat in silence for fifteen minutes, I beg to differ.”
“Once the ball starts rolling you can’t stop talking.” She squinted her eyes up at him, now that he was standing. He wasn’t actually much taller than her, only about four inches above her own 5’10, but his mere massive shoulders made him seem like a towering figure.
“You’re no fun.”
“I am fun. I’m agreeing to go with a strange girl I’ve known maybe an hour around the city I just moved to a few weeks ago. I am the definition of fun and adventurous.”
“Whatever,” Eliana sighed. “As long as you’re willing.” She fished her cell phone out of her purse after about ninety straight seconds of searching for it. “I’m texting Candace so she knows where we went,” she said after a moment of feeling Caderyn’s eyes on her. “That’s the polite thing to do.”
“You’re the one who wants to bail, I’m just going along.” He said and his eyes went elsewhere after she looked up from her phone to glare at him.
Going to the park with Caderyn. He’s not been around the city much. Wanted to leave you two alone. :o) text when you get back home, I’ll do the same. See ya later.
She put her phone back into her purse, looked at him, and nodded her head. After some navigating through the dancing, standing, or otherwise just in the way crowd, they reached the front door of the club. It was barely dark and if Eliana stared at the sky hard enough there was the faint dark purple of the recently set sun. She realized with a slight smile that she was getting too impatient, and possibly too old to be out much passed dark on a Sunday evening. It was more fun to stay in and read a nice good book, or at least do something where it wasn’t blaring the Top 10 Hits over and over and over.
They walked in almost complete silence in the direction of the park. It was nice, she thought, that she could hear herself think again. There was the sound of the city surrounding her, so it wasn’t complete silence, but as complete as she was going to get in Esmarina. It was comforting, at least.
“How do you know Marcus?”
“Hm?” He looked at her, snapping back out of whatever he had been thinking.
“How’d you and Marcus meet?”
“Oh. Well we’ve known each other since high school. He’s my best friend. He’s always had dreams of a big city like this. I just wanted to get away from the same old thing every day.”
“Well there are plenty of cities you could’ve chosen besides Esmarina.”
“Yeah,” he replied, shoving his hands into his pocket. “But, you were born and raised here. You have to admit there’s some kind of wonder involved with this city.”
“I mean there’s only one city in the world with superheroes, that I’m aware of,” she added, gesturing to the city around her, “And you’re standing in it. So yeah, I can see the wonder involved.”
“What’s their story?” She raised her eyebrows at the question.
“Their story? I mean there’s not like a documentary on either of them. They haven’t been around long. One is thought to be our age, well more like your age, a kid. He’s a smartass at the best of times, according to those that have actually seen him. He’s got this glider thing that allows him to fly above everyone and his suit looks like something out of a cheap science fiction film.” She shrugged, ran her hand through her hair. “The other is in an armored suit, slightly less cheesy than the other one. Though there are some similarities in the design of them. A few think they’re in cohorts with one another, like father and son or something. They’ve worked together a few times, mainly on the bigger threats… It’s rare they come out though, and I’ve never seen either of them in person. Just on the news. It’s like bad computer generated graphics on their suits. I bet they look cooler in person.”
Silence went between them again as they walked. “Why do you ask? Did you come here for them?”
“Come here for them? No, I came here for school. I just find it fascinating.”
“Don’t we all? I just hope you didn’t think you’d actually get lucky enough to see them in person. They’re like a shooting star, or a falling meteor, I suppose. I don’t generally think you want to see them. If you do, it’s likely you’re not doing the right thing. Planning on robbing any banks?” She grinned at him and he stared back at her, deadpan. She tried not to grumble at him, instead adding, “That’s probably the only way you’re going to see them in person. In handcuffs, probably with a black eye.”
He laughed, and she was taken aback by the genuine amusement there was from the laugh. “If I were to rob a bank, I think there would be a little more fight than you think, Eliana.”
“One is known to have super strength and the other has incredible technological advancements that are above what even our military has. I think you’re underestimating their abilities.”
“I am not a weakling.”
Instead of arguing, and not entirely sure what to say in response, Eliana just muttered an ‘okay’ and continued with her walk. Macho macho strong man, huh? She tried not to laugh at her own thoughts, shaking her head and letting the teenager beside her think whatever he thought about his abilities compared to two superheroes. Yeah, I’m sure you’re not a weakling, Caderyn. I am standing next to you and can see your shoulders. You’re built like an ox but you don’t have powers. Well, not that you’re bragging about it. When she looked at him again she noticed there was a difference in his stride. Confidence.
As he walked something felt off about the air, thick with something that she couldn’t put her finger on. There was a tingling feeling that went down to her toes and her hair stood up from her arms to her neck. She shivered and continued walking in silence.
Esmarina’s Central Park was gorgeous, even at night. The trees were large and luscious; the garden lights illuminated the flowers and her favorite part was the walking path. There was an aura about the park that made it feel so peaceful, it made Eliana feel peaceful. Safe.
They were still silent as they walked, no need or reason to speak. The confidence in Caderyn’s stride was still there, relaxed though, not on edge or defensive of his own abilities. His hands were by his side instead of shoved in his pockets; he almost looked like there was a curve to his lips. Relaxation, she realized, he was just as at peace here as she was.
At least she had had one good idea today.
“’Ey lovebirds!” A raspy, cracking voice came from behind them. They turned in unison, though Eliana noted Caderyn’s expression was as confused as her own. Her eyes widened as they focused on what was in the hand of the man walking towards them. A small revolver, six shots if she knew anything about guns (she didn’t, but she could count), it felt like she had been transported to about 1890 in the west, not 2016 in the midwest.
“Get behind me,” Caderyn muttered. The tingling feeling was back, her hairs were standing up again. As much as she wished it was the fear pulsing through her veins, she didn’t think that’s what it was. She glanced at Caderyn, tip of the tongue twitching with a comeback about chivalry being dead, but complied stepping half behind him. “I would really put the gun down,” Caderyn said, voice dead serious, and he reached towards the man. “What are you going to do? Gun down two college kids in a park for a couple bucks? Not worth it, man.”
The man’s skinny hand shook with what could only be anxiety. His gaunt face was dimly lit by the park lights, his eyes were like none other Eliana had ever seen, near lifeless. At the very least he was hopeless. Whatever had happened to him it had brought him to this point. He was starving by the looks of it, homeless by the smell, and guilt built up into of Eliana. Her wondrous city was also filled with not so many wonders. Perhaps that’s why there were heroes.
Caderyn was stepping closer to the shaking man, arm still reached out for him. If not to grab him, then at least to disarm him. Eliana had a feeling that Caderyn was right, he wasn’t a weakling, but whether he was out of his mind for doing something like this was to be determined. “Stay back,” the man said, voice shaking nearly as much as he was. “Just gimme ‘ya wallet and the lady’s purse and I’ll leave ‘ya alone.”
“Not happening, sorry.”
Time slowed. The gunshot was loud; Caderyn ricocheted back with the hit. The tingling returned, and what Eliana could only guess was static electricity surrounding the air with a dim white light. Before anyone else could move, there was a loud roaring sound of something mechanical, and the sound of something hard and metal-like hitting the man and knocking him to the ground.
“You know, buddy, it’s not nice to rob people. This place is a bit too beautiful for someone like you.” Eliana looked up and saw the hero she had spoke of only half an hour ago. His voice did indeed sound young, like friends she had around her in classes both in college and in high school. From what she could tell he wasn’t built like Caderyn, skinnier around the shoulders, but he was definitely athletic from the way he landed from his glider. Ease, like a bird landing on the ground, he practically floated down to the ground. His suit was black with lines of pulsing colors. It wasn’t any less science fiction in person than on the news, Eliana realized.
“You two okay?” The superhero called Amori asked as he looked at them through his helmet. Eliana could only think about how un-human he looked up close, with nothing resembling a face on his face. It was someone her age under there, saving them from this desperate man…
With shock that she could get so star-struck by a superhero she looked at Caderyn. “Are you okay? The bullet hit you.” She moved towards the front of Caderyn, examining his ripped shirt to find no sign of a bullet wound.
“He missed me hit my shirt fabric instead.” That’s not how bullets work, Eliana thought running her hand over his shoulder. No wetness, no blood, no open wound and need for a hospital visit. She stared at him skeptically. Even if he had only just been grazed, there would be a mark. There was no proof pointing in the direction of logic, but she was standing in the middle of Central Park with a superhero about five feet away from her.
“We’re fine, I guess,” she said breathlessly, mind reeling what just happened and dropped her hands from Caderyn’s shoulder. “Thank you uhm… Amori right?”
“That’s what the papers say!” She imagined that he was grinning. “You can call me whatever – I mean I guess you shouldn’t call me ‘whatever’ because that’s not my name.” He sighed. “You can call me Amori. That’s fine. It’s what everyone else calls me.” He shrugged and looked towards the man that was unconscious on the ground. “Okay if you two don’t need me anymore, I need to take that guy to the Police.” He leaned and grabbed the man, lifted him over his shoulder with ease. The glider lowered to the ground and Amori stepped on it, the colors of his suit pulsating various colors as it lifted back off the ground. White. Blue. Red. Purple. Green. He was like a pilot, and Eliana didn’t know the science behind it all, but she felt the connection between Amori and his glider, as though he could speak to it.
Wonder. There was wonder in this city. But there was also danger, hopelessness, sorrow, tragedy, and people living when they had nothing left to live for. They, Amori, and the other, Velar, the protectors of Esmarina, were the wonders. Eliana’s eyes left the shadow of glider and looked towards Caderyn. There was mystery, too.
“Let’s go home.”
