[Deleted]

As much as she hated beaurocracy, Alex felt she was obliged to pop up at the local headquarters of the Hero Program whenever they needed her for a briefing or some administrative stuff like filing reports on her recent superhero activities. Afterall, they were her employers and they had to know what she was up to. Hence, when they asked her to come by for some sort of briefing at the HQ, she told them she'd be there at the appointed time. She still had like hundreds of pages to read for her next exam, but hero business comes first.

Arriving to the parking area near the main entrance, Alex got out of the car, and also let out Buddy, her loveable American Bulldog, who occupied the rear passenger seat behind her. The Hero Program HQ had a lush garden area surrounding the vast business buildings, perfect for her dog to get out for a change, and have a pleasant afternoon of playing and running around all those green parkland. "Come on, Buddy, come on boy...", she called her dog, as she put a leash on him and headed for the entrance.

It was still only half past noon, she realized when she looked at her phone. She got here quite early. The meeting won't start almost until an hour from now. So, after she checked in at the reception (the guy behind the desk already knew her identity, the perks of being a well-known superhero, she thought with a smile), Alex headed out to the garden to have some lunch and play with Buddy. As she expected, her dog was more than excited by seeing all those trees and bushes everywhere. Letting him loose from the leash, she sat down to a small bench and unpacked the sandwiches she bought with her, while watching the dog running all over the place and having fun. Meanwhile, she heard footsteps coming from behind her. So, someone else has also decided to take a breath of fresh air.

[Sunny Slater]

"I am, like, so totally super dark...."

So Dark and Edgy

Sunny hated her office visits at the best of times, but this particular meeting had been even worse than she had thought. Ever since her defeat by the mysterious assassin who had stabbed her and broken her arm, Sunny's profile had been hotter than ever. Tens of thousands of fans, if not millions, had out poured support for her heroics and sent sympathy cards and flowers for her injuries, but sadly the Hero Program didn't share their enthusiasm. Regardless of the attempt to stop the assailant Sunny had been seen to put in, it didn't change the fact that she was defeated, and soundly defeated at that, by a powerless human. Which was always a possibility, of course, but for somebody with Sunny's powers, it had come as a shock. She should have been, theoretically at least, always protected by her gravity field. It was why she was an active hero despite scoring poorly in all of her training.

Now the intense discussion was about sending her back to basic training and that she wasn't capable to be a hero, but the challenges in doing that given her current popularity and public profile. Sunny, who had decided to wear her new black costume (despite the fact her arm was still in a sling) to the discussion had expected this sign of how seriously she was taking the affair to win the directors over, but it seemed 'but I'm wearing black, not pink!' didn't quite have the impact she wanted. Even her begging that her perfume was lavender scented (which was clearly dark and gothic and serious) didn't impress them. In fact, it somehow made things worse.

Not that Sunny understood how ever discussing perfume made things worse.

Eventually they agreed that she should spend her recovery time studying techniques and protocol (since she was in no shape to train) before returning to active duty, which she agreed to. But she was sulking about it because she had thought instead she could use her recovery time doing plenty of shopping and interviews on the talk show circuit...

She decided to clear her head in the garden, which is when the tell tale sound of her ridiculously high stiletto boots (now black, of course) clicking on the path, or the flood of said lavender perfume, so strong it smelled like she had bathed in it, would alert the other woman currently in the garden. She spotted the other woman, who she recognised simply because of course Sunny knew her rival rather famous superheroines (although she didn't have anywhere near the social media presence of Sunny, of COURSE). She decided this was a good chance to try out her new, edgy, 'dark' attitude.

And then she saw the dog.

"OH EM GEE! Your doggy is, like, so totally cute!" She squealed in excitement, rushing over to get a closer look, although unsurprisingly, the dog kept its distance. Oddly enough, Sunny's insane levels of perfume could do that with animals. She then paused, and tried to look a little more casual. "Uh, I mean, like, uh, it's... okay." She said in her best attempt to act moody and edgy. It was pretty terrible because it was obvious Sunny was just exploding with excitement and joy at seeing the dog and just wanted to squeal and cheer with joy....

@heyho

"I'm bad at this..."

ulla

[Deleted]

Alexandra turned around to look at the newcomer, and saw a young, blonde woman in a dark superhero costume walking in. She looked familiar, and Alex quickly recognized her. Of course! She's that girl who's all around the internet, always posting about herself on facebook and instagram and whatever. She was a true 'celebrity superhero', if that's a valid term. What's her name...? Hmm... Sunny... Probably that's the one. Sunny! However, her blonde 'colleague' seemed kinda weird in this black attire - as much as Alex recalled, she always wore pink.

Before she could even greet her, the woman immediately turned her attention towards Alex's dog, who was happily exploring the park. However, the bulldog seemed a bit untrustworthy of the newcomer, for whatever reason. "Come on, Buddy! Come here! Come here!", she stood up from the bench and shouted in the direction of her pet with a friendly smile, and whistled to him. "Good boy! Come here!"

Buddy quickly made his way to her owner, and Alex bent down to gently pet him, stroking his fur with a laugh, then turned to the other hero. "You don't need to be afraid of her. Look, she's totally friendly.", she told the dog with an assuring smile, then released him, so he could take a few cowardly steps towards the woman.

As she stood up to finally greet the newcomer face-to-face, she was suddenly surprised on how tiny the other hero looked, despite wearing large heels compared to her flat sneakers. She tried to cover up her surprise, as she turned to the woman with a cordial smile. "Hello there. I'm Alexandra. Alexandra Williams.", she extended her hand towards Sunny, wondering if she knows who she is. Well, Sunny was quite a popular hero, who probably kept track of her 'colleagues', so that might not be unexpected.

[Sunny Slater]

"I am, like, so totally super dark...."

So Dark and Edgy

Sunny watched as the dog approached her, and despite her best efforts, she couldn't help but squeal and offer a smile that really lived up to the name 'Sunny'. It was no good. Sunny would never be any good at being 'dark and moody'. She was just too excited by the presence of the dog. Buddy, she'd said his name was. So cute!

"Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? You are! Yes you are! Yes you are!" Sunny beamed at the dog, reaching out to give it a cautious pet, even as it kept its distance. She winced slightly as she stood back up, her arm in the sling sending a twinge of pain as she did so. She was healing, definitely, but it was a slow process. Especially for somebody who was, physically at least, as fragile as Sunny, who had no strong muscles or experience with injury to help it heal.

"Sunny Slater." She smiled back, performing a little bob of a curtsy as way of greeting. Something which suited her more when she was in pink. She really was bad at this 'dark' thing. She had to crane her neck a little to look up at the girl. Even in her heels, Alex towered over her. Then again most people did. Sunny had to resist the urge to float up and hover alongside her height. "Sorry if my make-up's not quite on point, I've only got one arm to use at the moment." This might of seemed like a weird thing to apologise for to anybody else, but for Sunny, it was THE most important thing. There was very little she valued more than her make-up.

Not that it was anything but flawless anyway.

"You're Skyscraper, right? The girl who can grow and shrink?" Sunny asked. Yes, she knew her fellow heroes. For somebody who seemed so self absorbed, Sunny was actually pretty good with people. "That must be cool! I mean, I can like, fly n' stuff, but I'm still super short. Even in my heels!" She posed in them to show them off. Not that being tall would ever make Sunny trade her heels for anything, but y'know, the sentiment was there.

@heyho

"I'm bad at this..."

ulla