Chapter Text
Lauren Z. Weber hated her job.
Well… “hated” is a strong word. A more accurate statement would probably be that she “strongly disliked” her job, or maybe that she “wanted to burn down” her job. Now, there were parts that she enjoyed quite a bit. She loved bringing people to justice. She loved defending the public. She loved getting to be a hero. The only problem with that… was that she never got to do any of that.
The AfterLife Association was established as a way to protect the city, as well as to keep people with special abilities from falling into lives of crime. It was actually a great idea, and got rid of a lot of stigma surrounding people like that.Your barber could have talons and wings and your therapist could be made of slime, and no one would bat an eye anymore. Despite all the good the Association did, however, it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
Case in point: Lauren. She was a hero just like any other, and a very competent one at that. However, she was a wingless avian with a clumsy and loud manner of speaking. She wasn’t marketable. But at the very least she was useful for fighting crime. So she got the creative name of “Avian” and a chicken suit, and was put to work.
So here she was, being handed her assignment for the day: cleaning the streets. It was a code term of course. Lauren wouldn’t be picking up trash on the side of the street like she’d been sentenced to community service. No, she was to do a sweep of a few blocks downtown and deal with any dangerous criminals. Most criminals actually did turn up in these places, and that’s why expendable heroes like Lauren were sent to deal with them.
Good news this time: she had a partner. Jimmy Solidarity, codename: Feline. His face was printed above his general hero information on the form Lauren was given. She didn’t need to read it though. She’d been paired up with him enough to know what he could do.
“They really put Chicken and Scaredy Cat on the same team, huh. I wonder which one of you will run away first!”
Lauren could barely keep herself from groaning as she turned to face Jay Mythoc, or as some of his buds called him “Sausage”. (She didn’t know why the hell they called him that, and didn’t want to find out.) Jay had a stupid smug grin on his face that was met only with Lauren’s passive aggressive smile.
“I don’t know, Jay. Maybe both of us, once we complete the mission.” She felt her lips tighten as she spoke, as if they were trying to keep her from speaking. Joke’s on them, Lauren spoke anyway. Especially to Jay. She didn’t want him to feel too special.
The thing about Jay was that he was THE hero. He was the one who everyone wanted to be saved by. He was the marketable one. (Among others, but he had a way of stealing the spotlight). He was Elytra, the hotshot hero with perfect form and perfect hair. And he did not like having his own snark shot back at him.
Jay glared at Lauren for a second before smirking again, obviously deciding that she wasn't worth his time. “Yeah. Right.” He sounded bored and nonchalant, checking his talon-like nails lazily. But Lauren noticed some of the feathers on his large white wings were still sticking up in irritation. Clearly, not getting under her skin had gotten under his.
“Well… bye.” Jay abruptly walked away from the assignment desk to a doorway at the end of the hall, where Lauren watched him bump into another hero and immediately start talking to them non-stop, periodically glancing back at her in a manner that he probably thought was inconspicuous. Oh yeah, he was also a big gossip.
“Don’t let him getcha down.” Lauren turned back towards the assignment desk, where the assignment distributor, Bobby, sat at his usual spot behind the counter, most definitely not playing video games on his work computer. “You do more work than he ever does. I would know. He’s probably just jealous that your assignment was originally his before he got a photoshoot scheduled today.”
Lauren smiled. “Thanks.” It felt nice to know there were people on her side, even just as moral support. “Do you know where Jimmy is right now?”
Bobby looked up from his computer for a second to think. “He should be somewhere getting geared up. Maybe the bathroom?” He sounded unsure, rightfully so. Lauren sighed. “I’ll just meet him at the mission location. He always shows up.”
Bobby just shrugged and looked back at his computer. “Good luck, Avian.”
“Thanks. Again.”
Lauren sped off to go get geared up herself. She couldn’t help but think about Bobby’s comment as well.
Originally Elytra’s mission, huh?
She’d have to do extra good this time. That would annoy him even more.