3.05 – Interlude to an interview
Leona thought things over as she flew, wondering how things would go. She angled towards her home and instead of landing in the copse by the house, she’d developed a new technique to avoid notice. She’d become a bit of an expert since, somewhat. She dimmed her field as low as she could so she wouldn’t give off as much light. She changed forms before she touched down, and her parkour training in strengthening her legs took over and nullified the momentum. She rolled and came to a silent stop. Doing it this way allowed her to get far closer to her Condo. She landed on her roof and dashed over to where her window was. She always left it slightly ajar when she went on her patrol. It might be a little insecure, but it worked out fairly well. She grabbed the eaves and slung herself through her window, twisting her body to safely nudge the window open without doing any damage.
She rolled on her bedroom floor and stood, turning to close the window and fasten it. Stretching and yawning, she walked out her bedroom door and up the hallway to go downstairs for a meal and to spend time with her Goonie.
Down in the living room, Leona first saw Goonie sitting on the sofa watching an old soap opera show. She tilted her head and headed over with a laugh. “I’m back.”
Goonie jumped a little and laughed, throwing her arms around Leona, hugging her tightly. “I saw what you did this morning on the news! That was incredible. I was a little nervous watching the shaky footage of it. It probably made it seem more dramatic. Was it an alien or some kind of an ancient monster?”
Leona giggled. “No, it was just some guy who put on some kind of a cursed necklace. Hopefully it taught him a lesson about stealing.” She rolled her eyes and Goonie nodded, tousling her hair. “It was great how much he trusted me, though. Even though he was a crook, he knew all about me and instinctively trusted me. He knew I’d do my best to help him. I could do without how he hit on me after he was back to normal at least.”
“People trust you because you give them every reason to, no matter what kind of person they are,” Goonie said affectionately with a smile. She sniffled suddenly. “I’m so proud of you Leona … I’m proud that you’ve become at least part of what you always wanted to be. Come on! I prepared dinner as usual. It’s in the microwave. I’ll zap it and we’ll eat.” Her mom waited to have dinner most nights until she returned.
Leona followed into the kitchens and spoke more about her adventure that morning, “It was funny but not funny. He had a heck of a hotfoot.” She giggled. “Like if Cthulhu had a sense of humor.”
“I sincerely doubt it would.” Goonie started the microwave and leaned against the counter. “So why did you come home so late tonight? More superheroing, I gather.”
“Eh… nothing major happened, but Detective Kirby texted me and said he wanted to see me. There’s a new ARISE Agent in town… or maybe the first one in a while, but I couldn’t be able to say that honestly. He said I’d be working with him from time to time. It was about going to meet him. He’s an interesting guy. It was more interesting when Kirby invited me to stay for some Chinese.”
Her aunt laughed. “Quinn would’ve teased you about a guy texting you to meet another guy.” Goonie seemed to want to fill in the gap for her wise-cracking daughter a bit. She felt the absence still, too. “Anyway, I don’t have Chinese for you, but I do have some delicious Veggie pasta with fresh-baked garlic bread.” The microwave dinged and she turned to open it. “First plate’s yours, hon.”
Leona got utensils from the nearby drawer and Goonie handed her her platter. The pasta looked tasty. The sauce was made from fresh roma tomatoes. She roasted the garlic and tomatoes and added fresh herbs like basil and oregano. Leona didn’t know all that much beyond that, but even though it had no meat in it, it still was fragrant and mouthwatering. Goonie opened the oven where the bread had been waiting. She removed the loaf and set it on the counter and popped her own plate into the microwave. After she cut off a lovely slab of the garlic bread. It was stuffed with butter, garlic, and more herbs.
Leona happily took her food to the table, and soon enough Goonie joined her and they chatted idly while they dined.
“How was school today? Anything special happened?” Goonie winked.
Leona smiled and focused mostly on eating. Around bites of the tasty noodles, she responded. “Oh, same as always. Derrick went on about Aurora, and Maria tried to pretend she didn’t care, though she laughed faintly when Derrick went into his nerdgasms. I can’t really do it all that much where Aurora’s concerned, because I’m not vain or anything… but when he talks about other heroes… well you know, it’s pretty much the same.”
“How about your classes? Got your homework ready to go?” Goonie asked.
“Hahaha… yeah… the thing about that is, they don’t assign that anymore. I think you forget that times have changed.” Leona giggled.
“Oh, that’s right. Quinn had a problem with it. She wouldn’t do hers… but I guess they abolished that. I don’t see why… well the kids are probably happier.”
Leona nodded and took another bite before speaking again, “They wouldn’t know the difference maybe. If kids get bad grades they get study hall instead of recess time, and then they take the late bus that day. If you’re asking how my grades are doing, they haven’t made me do study hall lately.”
“That’s good.” Goonie laughed. “Do your best. Anyway, how about your superheroing? You told me about the guy with that cursed necklace. Did anything else happen?”
“Nothing else dangerous happened except maybe when Chet tried to test an inhibitor collar on me.” Leona frowned.
“Really? One of those dangerous devices to suppress powers?” Her aunt asked, looking worried. She was well informed too.
“Yeah… but he didn’t insist. I said no. I know how dangerous those things are. Maybe I’ll have to lodge a protest against using them.”
They chatted idly for the remainder of the meal and when they were finished, Goonie surprised her. “I’ll take care of doing the dishes, so you go relax. You’ve earned it, Leona.” She winked at Leona who was already yawning a bit.
Even though she said that, Leona asked, “Are you sure, Mom? You work all day. I’m nothing special, but I am a superhero and I have something like boundless energy. I can take it.” Leona grinned impishly.
“Nah! I insist!” Goonie snapped a towel playfully at her daughter. “You saved more people today than I did, and that gives you relaxation rights, so go relax honey.” She beamed.
Leona laughed softly. “Alright, let me get a glass of juice and I’ll vege out.” Leona raised her eyebrows and winked at her Auntie. She got herself the glass and headed upstairs. Now was a good time to look around on the internet. She muttered to herself as she sipped her juice. “I’m going to try to set up an interview or two… but I wonder how easy it’ll be to get a hold of one of them. Most of the people around me are telling me I need to put in more PR time.” She scratched her head wryly.
She sat down to her rig and started typing. Faster than expected she narrowed her search down to a few major local newspapers and local TV stations, two of them were particularly popular. The newspapers had a bit more of a developed online presence than the TV stations did, however. There was a ‘Post-IT Notes’ for the San Isidro Register-Post and the Seaside City Chronicle Online. Leona recognized two of the people she saw there. One was Valerie North, who she'd met previously. She was currently doing a series on the influence of Asian culture on America.
She looked at her portrait on the page. Her black short cut hair was lovely and she had an amazing complexion. Honestly, she was made for television or films. On the other hand there was Elton John Thompson. He had an interesting name. Obviously he was named after the famous singer, although he looked not a thing like that guy. Elton was an African-American man with a serious expression. He was a new up-and-coming political blogger who also spotlighted unusual people in particular.
She thought it over and looked at Valerie again. Biased she was. The hot reporter was a bit more interesting to her, and she could not lie. There were other reasons why she caught her eye more. She had a bigger readership at this point and she was more likely to ask questions for a fluff piece, while Elton would ask some hard questions she’d struggle with. She really didn’t want to have to discuss politics, at least unless she wanted to slam the city for the anti-meta gear from the media side of things, but that really wasn’t her primary goal.
There was nothing wrong with going to them both over time, but it’d be best to do it over time, probably and all she could do was give them an account of various incidents she’d settled. Val already had approached her, so that implied an interest she already had. This reporter hadn’t written much on her yet, since what she’d given her wasn’t enough to stand out enough. The story she wrote after they met was about the kids themselves who were affected by the Padua Xevolve incident, not that she knew anything about that part at the moment.
Leona decided to send her an email from her communicator to mask her identity.
This is your friendly Guardian Angel, Aurora. I’ve decided to offer an
opportunity to you for an interview, if you’d like.
She stretched and finished her juice as she started browsing casually for silly things. She considered starting a game for a change instead, but then her card buzzed on her desk.
Leona tilted her head and blinked, lifting it to examine the message.
YES! Give me a time and place pls
She giggled and thought about it. It’d be a good idea to consult with Goonie since it went far faster than she expected. Most normal people would have gotten back to someone who emailed them at night the next day, but she was pretty eager.
Leona slipped the communicator into her pocket and headed downstairs again. She glanced slightly regretfully at the game she left running. She’d really just gotten started with the new MMO Final Star Online 2 that she’d logged into. “Ah well.”
She took her empty glass down with her and gave it a quick wash in the kitchen. Afterwards, she found Goonie back in her favorite position on the couch. “There she is!” Goonie smiled as she spotted her again. “Want to watch something with me?” She had a blanket wrapped around her. She lifted it and patted the spot beside her.
Leona smiled at her. “Maybe, but I really want to ask your opinion on something right now, mom.” She scooted next to Goonie and she wrapped the blanket around them, waiting for Leona to continue. “I’m setting up an interview with Valerie North. She wants a place and time for it. What do you think would be a good place to meet her?” Leona lifted her legs and wrapped her arms around them under the blanket. “Some place private, maybe.”
“Maybe you should come to the cafe,” She was talking about her own cafe, and that was probably a very bad idea. That drew a very clear connection between herself and the cafe if they dug more. “Maybe you could meet her at one of those raves that Quinn used to play at, if there’s one this week … but those were usually on the weekends, weren’t they? Maybe not … hmmmmm … wait, isn’t she in Seaside? Maybe you should find a place there?”
“That sounds good but what exactly should I do? I guess we don’t have many ideas for places across the bay. Leona reached into her pocket and freed her communicator and started opening up maps, looking for likely places on the holographic map.
“Well, how do you want your meeting to go, exactly? Something informal over, say … coffee or something formal and ritzy?” Goonie asked with a smile. “I still know a few places, just not as many over there.”
Leona looked up at her mom with a broad smile. “Well, y’know, ritzy is a bit outside of my range. I’m inviting her in a way… and it’d probably be in bad taste to let her pick up the tab.” She giggled. “So informal is probably for the best. Coffee, I can handle.” Plus she had to think about Mistral. She didn’t want anything getting out that she was ‘dating’ someone in some ritzy restaurant, even if that was an option.
Val was unmistakably an attractive woman. Any picture would look really bad, and she’d be going as Aurora, of course.
“Well, if coffee is what you’re looking for, there’s a nice shop you can go to.” Goonie said. “If you want something fancier, I can pull a favor or two and get you an invitation to the Oceana Ballroom. It’s up in one of the glass skyscrapers with an amazing view of the bay. Moreover, if you want to do it during the day, I’ll write a note for you.”
Leona blinked and smiled. “Thank you mom.” She laughed nervously. “Sounds like fun … magical, really … but it’s not like we’re made of money or anything,” she gently reminded her mom. “I wonder if she’d think I was putting on airs.” Pondering over it, she wondered if she’d conduct herself well enough for a place like that.
Goonie probed her again, or rather prodded, “You want into the Oceana? You have a wonderful balcony that will be great to go in on. Tell you what, I’ll put you in touch with them, and let them work out the details with you, OK? Ask your friend if she’ll be free tomorrow after dinner and I’ll write the note for Wednesday, OK?”
Leona laughed. She was practically insisting she go there. Maybe she’d had a really special time there once upon a time. Not wanting to ask her about why she was so fixated on it, she responded, “I guess we’ll give it a shot, but honestly… if they’re going to charge us like two hundred dollars, I’m skeptical.”
Goonie smiled. “I can’t promise anything, but we can try it. No matter what happens, I’ll foot the bill, since this is for your first article. First impressions are the most important thing. I’ll contact them and see what I can do. Go ahead and ask her to go. Say …. hmmm … well, around 8:30 or 9:00 PM.”
Leona tilted her head and nodded, and emailed Val.
How about the Oceana tomorrow evening? It seems like an interesting place to meet and talk. After dinner … say about 8:30 or 9:00 that night?
Leona sighed, taking a deep breath but before she’d finished exhaling, her communicator buzzed. Her eyes boggled as she read.
Wow, short notice, but I’ll be there with recording devices! See you there.
Moments later, she checked her page, saw a tweet blurb on it. Leona giggled and nearly fell over. Val North sure didn’t hold back at all.
Guess who’s got an interview with the new heroine? Too slow LT!#SendMeAnAngel
Leona nearly died laughing. “That’s so funny.” She showed it to her mom, giggling.
Goonie scanned the page and laughed softly. “Cute. I’ll give you the number for the ballroom.” She reached over to a side table, dimly illuminated by the lamp on it. After fiddling with her phone, she showed her the number. “You think I’m crazy for insisting you go this route, right?”
Leona smiled and gave her a quizzical look. “A bit.”
“Y’know, your Goonie’s got her reasons. I’d be willing to bet they’ll host you for the prestige of it. You’re pretty much a celebrity in your own right. You’re thinking too small and underselling yourself, kid.” She winked as she stroked Leona’s hair. “Hah, I had to wait for my prom to get there.”
“I thought so. You have some memories there. Maybe you should come too. We could go in separately. You could relive some old memories and I could do the interview with Val.”
“I thought you didn’t want any clues to your secret ID left around carelessly.” Her mom smiled. “No, thank you. They wouldn’t treat me unless you revealed your identity. Make sure you make yourself a nice dress for the occasion, though. You can look through my catalogs for some ideas, if you’d like.”
Leona nodded. “Do you have any ideas for what would go over the best? The style, I mean. What should I look for? I want to look my best, but I’ll probably be hiding my wings so I don’t draw too much attention.”
After a moment of consideration, she added, “Then again, maybe I have to show off a little if I’m going to be there as a celebrity.”
“Plus, you really should just float down to the balcony dramatically,” Goonie suggested. “It’ll make a good impression.” She pulled the blanket aside and stood, taking Leona’s hands, tugging her up. She led her upstairs, showing her her formal dresses instead of showing her the catalogs. Leona studied them. They were a little old-fashioned, but not so much that they wouldn’t be elegant. She examined them all in detail, picking things she liked the most about them and committed them to her memory. Afterwards, they returned to the TV and watched a movie.