Participants:
Scene Title | Superhero and Sidekick |
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Synopsis | Upstairs is the land of pranks. |
Date | October 20, 2019 |
Silvia’s always been a little apprehensive when approaching the Lanthorn. Mostly, she just feels like she’s invading someone else’s space, someone’s home, even if she’s not invading. There probably would be less hesitation on her part if she was more familiar with the building itself… or she hadn’t just decided to drop by unexpectedly.
The canvas bag slung over one shoulder betrayed brushes with dried paints on them sticking wildly out of one side, and she wears simple jeans and a t-shirt. She stands, for a moment, looking up at the building as she contemplates if she’s going to interrupt or simply walk off and feel silly for trying.
As usual, Lance is silent until he speaks. “You know, the door doesn’t bite,” he observes from where he’s… in a tree near the building, apparently. Legs curling around a branch, he lets himself hang down, dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt that droops down half-way because he’s upside down, “I mean, not that I know of. Maybe Joe put teeth on it, though.”
Aforementioned canvas bag slips off Silvia’s shoulder and she fumbles for it, righting it before standing up a bit straighter than before. At least she didn’t turn into sand this time. She puts her hands on her hips as she looks up towards the tree. “You… I…” She clearly wants to admonish him, but the words seem to fail her and she just points at the door.
“I was going to go in. I mean, I was planning on it, I wasn’t just standing here weirdly or anything.”
“Sorry.” Lance flashes a grin, and then he lets himself drop from the tree; doing a flip and landing on his feet, swaying just a bit for a moment before steadying himself and straightening up. “Didn’t mean to surprise you.”
He pads along over towards where she’s waiting, “I don’t think most’ve the others are around right now, what brings you by?”
“I brought some supplies that I thought Brynn might like,” Silvia shrugs the shoulder the bag is on. “I know she doesn’t need them but I know she likes being able to do it herself, something kind of satisfying in doing things one way when you’ve got a whole different way of doing things.” She jostles the bag slightly. “So there’s that.”
She looks towards the door. “I was also sort of hoping to come by because maybe Brynn at some point was like ‘hey come live here’ and I was like ‘okay cool that would be fun’ and I sort of thought maybe you guys had to have some kind of meeting for that sort of thing…” She looks sheepishly over at him. “I just don’t want to cause any problems for anyone or just jump in and show up at the door with all my stuff. Did… she say anything to anyone?”
“You’re one of us,” Lance replies with a shake of his head, hands spreading out to either side in an expansive gesture, “You’re totally welcome. Absolutely one-hundred percent, and there’s plenty of room. And a fire pole, and that’s pretty fun to slide down.”
His hands drop back down to his side, and he glances to the door and then her with a wry smile, “I know we might seem a little weird, I mean, just inviting people to live with us like that, but— we all grew up with everyone living together. It’s weird for us being too far from other people.”
“Nono, it’s not weird, that’s just the thing. That’s how I grew up, at least the important bits. I was in a safehouse, with plenty of other people. The whole communal living thing has been a serious thing to me. Being close to people, especially people I care about… that’s home,” Silvia has that sheepish grin again. “That’s why I jumped at it when Brynn suggested it. I love my family, but… they’ve got other kids to raise now. I think my place is out somewhere I can really fit in again.”
She turns to face him. “Besides, it’s a lot easier to watch the backs of a bunch of troublemakers when you’re right there to help.”
“I am absolutely not…” Lance can’t keep a straight face, and just grins, shaking his head again and admitting, “Okay, we’re all a bunch of troublemakers. But I’m a troublemaking secret agent. Well. Not an agent yet. And not secret. But hey, I’m a government intern— okay that doesn’t sound any better, I need to find a way to make my job sound cooler.”
He jerks his head to the door, eyebrows going up, “Wanna go in?”
“Agento secreto. So suave. If you get to be an agent, I expect you to help keep this lot out of trouble,” Silvia grins, then moves towards the door, looking at Lance over her shoulder. “How has that been going by the way? I feel like I’ve checked in with Joe and Brynn, but I never check in on you. Is government interning all it’s cut out to be?”
“It’s pretty cool,” Lance admits, arms folding behind his head as he walks after her, gaze lifting to the heavens briefly— dropping back down again when they near the building, his arms falling to his sides like a normal person, “Seeing a lot of what goes on, the people are really interesting— I don’t regret it at all, not one bit. Joe doesn’t approve, he’s still on the old anti-government shtick.”
A quicker step brings him around her, and he reaches to open the door and sweep an arm towards it grandly, “After you.”
Silvia smiles broadly and takes the opportunity to step inside. “Joe just hasn’t found his place yet. He thinks everything’s still so black and white and there are clear-cut enemies he needs to be ready for. I think he needs a job where he can really help people but know he’s doing good at the same time. I doubt he’ll ever get over the anti-government thing unless he meets a few really cool governmental types.”
Here, she fingerguns at Lance once she’s stepped fully inside. “I just would like to see everyone finding somewhere that makes them happy. That’s what I want.”
“I don’t think even a few really cool governmental types will make him feel better about it,” admits Lance as he steps in after her, closing the door behind him, “You’re right, though, about him not finding his place yet. Honestly, in a couple of years he’d do great over with Wolfhound— I mean, his ability is tailor-made for it, and they’re not government-y enough to trigger his thing.”
A wry smile’s offered back to her, and he shrugs one shoulder, “I do too. We all had a shitty-ass childhood, we deserve something to make us happy now.”
“I just want to find him somewhere good. He reminds me of my older brother, before everything went wrong. He was happy until he wasn’t. So I’m hoping Joe just finds something to tide him over until he can find something he’s really good at,” Silvia sighs.
“I’ll do whatever I can to make sure everyone has at least something going for them, if I can help it,” she continues. “Because you’re right, we all deserve it. We deserve our bit of happiness in all of this.”
“We do,” says Lance firmly, stepping over to hop over the back of a couch set up in the ‘lobby’ area of the building and then sprawling himself down over half of it, “All of us do. Some of us are just having a harder time figuring out where to find it, is all.”
Pushing up onto an elbow, he looks to Silvia, “So what about you? What are you planning on doing, I mean, with your life and all? Any idea yet?”
“I really want to still do my comics,” Silvia moves to sink down on the other end of the couch. “I’m good at it, and they’re fun, but they don’t feel like anything big or grand. I don’t think I could get anything going with them, not for a while, not unless I get really lucky. But I like doing art and I thought I could do something to help people with it. I haven’t pitched the idea to my parents but I was thinking I could maybe do some kind of art therapy at the center… help people get out their feelings and things they’ve bottled up in art.”
She smiles a bit. “I think that’s my best bet since I’ve already got the connections there. I don’t happen to know any comic publishers offhand, so I’ll take what I can get.” She pauses. “But I mean the job thing isn’t all there is to life, it’s just kind of a direction. Everyone always focuses on the making money and less on a future being people. So if you’re asking what I’m planning on doing with my life, I’m planning on being here with people I care about making sure they’re happy for as long as I can do that.”
“That’s a good answer,” Lance admits with a grin, “I like that one. Ten points for the cute dustmorph at the end of the couch.” One finger reaches up and draws a line on the air, as if he were in fact keeping score.
That finger returns then to scratch at his chin, suggesting, “What about, like, Ghostnet? I mean, you could put your comics online and shit, that’s way easier than getting paper publishing done, I’m willing to bet. And probably easier to reach people, too.”
“You know, I’m kind of curious what I win if I get a lot of points,” Silvia grins wryly in response, cheeks slightly flushed before shifting on the couch to face him a bit more. “I hadn’t thought about doing something online. I’ve only been handing out paper copies at the market and stuff for so long I never even considered doing it some other way.”
She tilts her head to the side in thought. “Maybe I could do some sort of basic webcomic to get people interested and then have actual full-fledged stories once I had them hooked. If I’m doing web stuff I need to have a proper working scanner or something. I’ve not done anything but ink and paper for the most part. I suppose that’s another thing to add to my course load for next semester.”
“I don’t know, depends on what you want?” Lance’s brows go up, and maybe there’s a bit of a flush there as well. Maybe. Then he flashes her a grin, “We could probably work that out. I mean, a scanner can’t be that expensive, we could pick one up as a house expense for here— we’ve got a computer set up— and then you could scan them and all that. I don’t know anything about web pages or any of that, but it can’t be that hard, right?”
“I’m sure I could think of something. I’ll just have to hold onto these points until the right idea comes around,” Silvia grins again, but quickly brushes it off as she focuses on her immediate needs. “Oh, that would be great, a scanner could work for everyone, I bet Brynn could use it too. I’m not the most skilled when it comes to computers, but I could probably fiddle around with one of those build-your-own-websites where you just plug information in, I think. I’m not sure I know anyone very computer savvy to ask for help.”
She laughs. “Maybe I’ll get popular and someone will just volunteer to make a good site for me. Wishful thinking, but sometimes wishing doesn’t hurt, right?”
“I’m sure we can find somebody,” Lance muses, “Geneva’s interning over at Raytech, isn’t she? I’m sure they’ve got computer people, maybe she knows somebody who can make a site or something. Then your comics will go world-wide— “ He raises his hands, spreading them towards the ceiling, “And all will see your amazing talent!”
“Maybe we’ll find someone. I don’t think I need anything complicated anyway.” The comment about amazing talent brings forth a chuckle from Silvia. “I don’t know about amazing talent. I just work a lot on it because I enjoy it. Anyone could do what I do, if they put their mind to it. It just looks amazing because people don’t put in the effort to figure out how. I’m an okay artist, just one with a lot of drive. I like it, and I like seeing people enjoy what I’ve done.” She grins. “But going world-wide would be pretty primal.”
“I mean, outside of abilities,” observes Lance, “Anyone can do almost anything if they put their mind to it. You did. Which makes you stand out from everyone who didn’t put their mind to it. And only you have your creativity and ideas, so, there. Drive’s important.”
He shifts to actually sit up more, one leg tucking under the other, “Drive can get you everywhere. Maybe that’s what Joe’s missing, he needs something to be— passionate about.”
“I guess drive will get you somewhere. I’ve certainly accomplished a lot in spite of all I’ve gone through in life,” Silvia agrees, though she straightens up too as it appears he’s on to a new train of thought. “I think Joe’s got a lot of drive, just not a lot of direction. The car’s ready to speed away but if he’s got no roadmap he’s gonna spin in circles and no one wants to see that.”
She taps her chin, musing. “I’ve tried to come up with different ideas of something that might fit him, but nothing quite fits. I don’t think it has to use his ability but I think something he could might be something he likes. I think he just needs the opportunity to be a hero in some way, a job where he’s actively making a difference. He’s a Superman, not a Batman.”
“Yeah, you’re right. He’s not good at, uh— at subtle,” admits Lance, one hand rubbing against the curve of his jaw, “He’s definitely not a Batman, and he likes the spotlight, even if he ignores it. Well— sooner or later he’ll find his calling.”
He grins, then, “Although it is funny watching him spin in circles, sometimes.”
“It really is, so long as he’s having fun. He reminds me of a children’s book… I’m trying to remember what it’s called, but it’s about a large red dog who gets excited and forgets how large he is,” Silvia grins. “And I mean that in the kindest, most caring of ways. He just throws everything he’s got into what he does and that’s a special thing that doesn’t happen every day.”
She leans over to give him a small nudge. “But we all know you’re the Batman.”
“Oh yeah, I remember that one,” Lance laughs, and then at the nudge he ducks his head, scratching at the back of it with one hand, “Yeah, well, kinda. I’m definitely the Batman out’ve the two of us, that’s true.”
A playful grin’s offered over, “Does that mean I need to get a bunch’ve gadgets and botswarf?”
“You’ve got the stealth down. Almost scared me for a minute there when I was looking like a fool outside. Now you just need some gadgets and you can go stop muggings and be tough on crime. Consider it government agent practice. Everyone needs a little field training, right?”
Silvia returns the playful grin. “Besides, you’ve got to keep up with Joe. I caught him rescuing a kitten from a tree the other day.”
“A kitten from a tree? Shit, maybe he should be a firefighter,” considers Lance, “He’s not completely fireproof, but he’s resistant to it… it’s super heroic, too, he’d love that. But, more importantly…”
One hand rubs at his chin, “What gadgets should I get?”
“I suggested that to him, actually. He did seem to think the smoke was a problem too, so he didn’t think it’d be a great idea. I thought he’d be perfect at that. Maybe some kind of non-flammable rescue. Earthquakes and construction accidents and that lot…”
Silvia grins, however, leaning in closer as she ponders gadgets. “Well, I think the most important one that would actually be useful would be a smoke bomb. It’d be a good distraction if nothing else. Maybe some kind of grappling hook… that’s really a good idea for any crime fighter. You don’t have to be rich to have all the cool gadgets… you can be Budget Batman.”
“A grappling hook would’ve made it easier to break into that party that one time,” Lance admits, offering her a conspiratorial grin and leaning in, an arm resting against his knee, “Smoke bombs aren’t too hard. I made some of those when I was a kid. Some zip ties for tying up criminals would work, hm… “
“See, it’s not so hard to be Batman. Dart in, take the guy down, dart out once the police are on the way. I bet people would feel a lot safer with a Batman in the city. I know I would,” Silvia laughs. “Much less direct approach than Joe might take, but very effective. Also you wouldn’t likely get caught. You’re the perfect person to be Batman.”
“I don’t know if I’d look good with the cowl, though,” says Lance, hands raising up to make ears with his fingers at the sides of his temples, looking at her playfully, “What do you think?”
Silvia reaches over to “adjust” the ears with a sly grin. “Maybe the bat thing isn’t you. I think it’s more cute than scary. I don’t think that animals work so great as superhero themes.” She observes him for a moment. “But you know, it’s kind of growing on me.”
“Well,” Lance replies with a crooked smile, eyebrows lifting a bit, “Bats are pretty cute animals, really, when you look at them up close. You’d be a -super- cute Batgirl, you know. You could sneak up on enemies with your amazing sand powers.”
“I mean, yeah, I can be pretty stealthy given the right conditions…” Silvia laughs again. “And bats really are pretty cute. I’ve always wanted to pet one and feed it something. Life goals.” She taps her chin as if thinking hard over the idea. “Maybe I would make a good Batgirl. I’ve been training my abilities a bit, so I could be a pretty awesome crime fighter. You know, if you need a sidekick. Way more fun to be a dynamic duo than two lone vigilantes.”
“I could teach you some tricks,” is Lance’s grinning offer, “Like, how to shoot, or how to fight hand-to-hand, anything like that. We picked up a lot from our training— uh, maybe Cash could help you with your ability? She’s a bodymorph too, not, uh, like you are, she turns to rock, but… maybe she might have some tips?” Cash isn’t the name of any of the Lighthouse Kids, though.
“I tried a little bit of stuff with that weird guy that Joe’s talked about before, Magnes? He’s… very intense. But he did know a lot and I practiced a bit with him. He was good at making me really think about what I was doing with my body and find creative ways to use it. He’s a little weird though,” Silvia rubs the back of her neck, then chuckles. “But Cash sounds cool. I kind of could see how she might be able to help.” She looks back at him. “But some extra practice with some hand-to-hand might be useful. Mostly I’ve just practiced getting the hell out of places. I’m pretty good at that now.”
“She could use some talking to people,” Lance admits wryly, “She spends half her time being a statue and the rest of it taking care of a garden. And Magnes…” He wrinkles his nose, “He was a great guy to us when we were kids, but— yeah, he’s been weird since he got back, from what I hear. I can absolutely teach you how to fight, though.”
He brings his hands up in an exaggerated kung-fu style, “I’m a ninja, after all.”
“Oooh, she sounds very zen. Is she a monk or something? That would be pretty cool,” Silvia’s still grinning. The smile really hasn’t left her face since they walked in. “Magnes was smart, I just… I kinda feel like he was expecting the world to end at any moment, so he was training me like it was life or death. We did some sparring and stuff but like I said, really intimidating.” She reaches over to boop him on the nose.
“But I’d happily learn from you, ninja Batman. Somehow I think it’d be a lot of fun.”
“No, she’s…” A moment’s hesitation, and Lance shakes his head, “Cash is complicated. It’s a long story with time travel and stuff, because y’know, nothing in our life is ever simple.”
The nose boop brings a grin, and he spreads his hands a little, “I’ll happily teach you. And I’m not intimidating. Usually.”
“My life’s never been simple or easy. So when people tell me odd things I try to take it in stride. You don’t gotta explain, just saying ‘time travel stuff’ is all the explanation needed. I mean, my parents pretty much are the definition of weird,” Silvia wrinkles her nose at that, but smiles fondly at the thought of them before she looks at him again. “I don’t find you intimidating at all.” There’s a pause. “Mostly. But I figure I could intimidate you just as much. I’m pretty intimidating. That’s what I’m known for.” Big words, but by the way she’s grinning it’s clear she’s just playing at it.
“Your parents are cool, though,” Lance grins, “Weird is normal for us, you’re right. And is that so, huh? Alright…” He shifts to sit up straighter, eyebrows raising as he play-challenges, “Give me your most intimidating. C’mon, scare me, I wanna see it.”
Silvia straightens her posture in response, staring at him intently. “Alright, are you ready?” She draws it out, her face calm but serious, waiting a few moments before suddenly… she’s got an expression on like one used use to scare a kid on Halloween. Only way she could have topped it would have been to say “boo” at the same time. She holds it there for moment or two before she abandons the effort and just laughs.
Lance fakes a frightened face, leaning back slightly and raising both hands palm-forward as if to ward her off. Then she collapses into laughter and so does he, doubling forward in hilarity and clapping his hands down to his leg, “Okay, okay— “ He holds up a hand again, “No more, I— haha— can’t take it.”
“I think you can tell I was bluffing when I said I was intimidating. I don’t think I could intimidate someone if I tried. I mean, maybe if my life depended on it…” Silvia looks back over at him. “I’m pretty sure you’re the intimidating one, Batman.” She grins again, still in the midst of laughing.
“I knew,” replies Lance with a grin, looking back up, “Just wanted to see you try. And eh, I’m not intimidating. What am I gonna do, be silent at you? The silent treatment’s not very scary. I mean I guess I could sneak up and stuff.”
“You let me make a fool of myself for the second time today,” Silvia laughs, throwing a fake punch for his arm. “Oh and don’t play dumb, you know very well you’re already intimdating. Walking around with such an air of mystery… who knows what’s going on in that head of yours. One could be intimidated just by that alone. I’m just lucky that I kinda know you so you’re slightly less intimidating. But, to be fair, it’s hard to be intimidating on command.”
“An air of mystery? Pft, I’m the clown of the bunch,” Lance laughs, mock-flinching from the fake punch, hands coming up, “Ack, no, I’m fragile.” A roll back leans him against the far arm of the couch, his eyebrows going up, “You’re way more intimidating, though, just being there all cute and botswarf.”
“I always thought you were mysterious. Joe, he was easy to get right away, Brynn’s such a sweetheart, but you… you’re the tricky one, Lance,” Silvia laughs. “And you say I’m cute like that’s some superpower. I’ve never found it did me any bit of good. My ability’s way more useful.”
“Eh, I’m not hard to understand,” Lance chuckles, one shoulder lifting up in a shrug, “I just want everyone to be happy, y’know? Making people laugh, playing pranks, all of that. Nothing complicated here.”
“That sounds like we’ve got that in common, at least. I’m not great at pranks, but I certainly do my best to keep everyone happy.” Silvia chuckles lightly. “I kind of wish I was less complicated, but that makes me who I am, right? So I’ve got to live with all my complicated bits.”
“I don’t think you’re that complicated,” Lance observes with a bemused brow’s lift, then playfully teases, “Do you have some hidden, deep, dark secret? Are you actually a spy sent from the Aliens of Saturn? Do your comics include code that leads to an ancient conspiracy?”
“I’m no spy, but I think adding a secret code to my comics is a brilliant idea. I’ll be sure to credit you for it,” Silvia winks, but she her demeanor does shift just slightly. “Maybe not so much complicated as scarred. Some things you never get over and just learn how to make them a part of you, as painful as they are. But then again, we’ve all had stuff happen to us, so I guess we’re all on even footing, huh?”
Just as with her, Lance’s smile fades just a little. “Yeah,” he admits, reaching over to give her shoulder a nudge, “We all gotta live with— that kind of stuff. But that’s why we have each other, ‘cause we all understand. We’ve all been through bad times, and had— bad things happen.” An encouraging tone, “But like Brynn told me once, we were— trying to live in the Then. It’s Now, now. So we get to decide what that means.”
“I’ve had some good stuff happen to me. I have two really great parents that made me feel like I was worth something. That heals a lot, just feeling worthwhile.” Silvia offers him a smile. “And Brynn’s right, we get to decide what happens now. I don’t try to dwell in the past but it… it colors some things. There are some reflexes that don’t change over the years. Some things mean more to me than others and some scars are still there, no matter how much they heal. So maybe I’m easy to understand until you get to the rough bits.”
“Yeah, it does…” Lance turns his head a bit, looking across the room, “I mean, there’s a reason we have like— three exits, six contingency plans, and I can reach two different guns from where I’m sitting right now.” A rueful look over, “We know it’s not— normal— as much as we act like it is.”
Silvia smiles wryly. “Some things aren’t as straightforward as charging in the front of the building. Sometimes your own worst enemy is yourself.” This time, she smiles more genuinely. “I guess what’s most important to me, besides all of you being happy, is that you understand that no one’s alone. I want people to be able to talk to me… if things get bad, you know? That’s not the kind of thing you can escape by running out the back.”
“Same.” Lance flashes a smile back over, one hand coming up to rest on the back of the couch, “If you ever need to talk, I’m around. I mean, usually, unless I’m at work or something, anyway you know what I mean.” He tips his head, “If you really wanna move in here, that’s— well, that’s what this is all about. To show each other we’re not alone.”
“I do better when I can be around people,” Silvia gives him a nod. “So this is a good place for me. Communal style living has been something that’s worked well for me in life, so again… this works for me.” She smiles. “But I’m glad. It’s nice to not be alone.”
“If you ever get sick of us, just lock your door,” Lance suggests, then pauses, “Unless Paul shows back up. But he’s usually pretty good about walking through walls. I haven’t seen him in a few years, though.”
He grins, “It’ll be good to have you around. Everyone else is wise to my pranks.”
The grin is quickly back. “If you do pranks on me, Lance, I can’t promise there won’t be terrible repercussions,” Silvia warns. “It would be a shame if you ended up with no matching socks when you had to go into that ‘government intern’ job of yours. And that’s only a sampling of the horror that awaits you.”
“Oh,” Lance grins, leaning over a bit, “That sounds like a challenge. It’s accepted.”
Silvia laughs, shaking her head as she looks intently back at him. “Nonono, that’s not a challenge. Not at all. I was just warning of things that you most certainly would not want to happen and therefore you won’t dream of pranking me.” She leans in. “Got it?”
Lance’s eyebrows go up a little, a playful glint in his eyes. “Oh, that sounds like an even bigger challenge,” he teases, “But of course I wouldn’t dream of pranking you. Nope. Not in a million years. So you don’t need to be careful or anything.”
“But I’m Batgirl! You can’t prank Batgirl. You can’t betray the sacred bond of superhero and sidekick,” Silvia’s bright smile is back. “Surely that’s more important than a silly prank you’ll regret later.”
“What, you don’t think that Batman ever…” Lance pauses, “Okay, you have a point. Maybe Robin did, though. Shoot.” He grins, “Fine. But no promises.”
“You don’t pull a prank on me and… if anyone else ever asks to help play a prank on you, I’ll pretend to go along with it and slip you the information,” Silvia offers, grinning. “I don’t think you’ll find a fairer deal than that. We both certainly win. Better as a team, right?”
“Oh, now you’re not playing fair,” laughs Lance, one hand coming up to rub at his chin thoughtfully, “Okay. Okay. Deal. But don’t tell anyone, it’ll be our secret.” He sticks a hand out, “Partners.”
“I think you’ll find that for whomever’s on my side, I always play fair,” Silvia reaches out to take his hand. “Deal. And don’t worry, this secret is safe with me. I look forward to the day when they try to prank you and fail because of this secret pact.” She shakes his hand gently, then grins. “I can already picture Joe’s face.”
A warm clasp of her hand, and Lance grins, “So can I. He deserves it for eating all of my peanut butter anyway.” Drawing his hand back, his eyebrows shoot up, “So! You want to see the free rooms so you can pick one?”
Silvia squeezes his hand briefly before their hands part, and she nods at him. “Yeah, I’d love to pick a room. I don’t really know how many people can fit in here, but Brynn mentioned that there was plenty of room for people, even if we needed to house someone temporarily or something.”
“Oh, yeah. The upstairs rooms are taken but there’s a bunch down here,” Lance admits, moving to bounce off the couch to his feet and offering her both hands up with a grin, “Let’s go explore and you can figure out where you want to claim.”
Accepting both hands and using them to pull herself to her feet, Silvia grins and nods towards the upstairs. “The upstairs is the land of pranks then. Down here will be the neutral zone.” She chuckles at the thought. “But the important thing to remember is… I’ve got your back. Promise.”