Preemptive Author's Note: minor to moderate spoilers for The Glass Menagerie. If you haven't seen... go do that... do it right now. It's a better use of your time than this story. Which will still be here when you get back. Unless this website dies.
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Amelia, Ch 259- Theo
The play was actually really good, as promised. I tried to focus more on it, but that was hard to do under the circumstances. This was only the fifth of what could be called 'dates' with Riley, and flat out the first done as a trio. My own 'issues' with 'Clarice' meant I wouldn't go on a date with the doll as an intermediary. And Riley and I both did our best to not be 'too friendly' around our home, for all kinds of reasons ranging from respecting Amelia to respecting Missy. And, of course, Zach's injury. The only one more dedicated to helping fix him was Emma.
My flimsy secret identity didn't help matters much, either. I still didn't comprehend how no one's gone public with a suspicion that the metal summoning parahuman working for Pantheon might possibly be Kaiser's son. A teenager that just happens to live on Pantheon's property, and also spends much of his time hanging out with two Pantheon members that don't have secret identities.
Might have something to do with the backlash that happened when Taylor's identity went public. I was led to understand that cost a few people their careers. However, if I were seen on anything obviously date-like with someone other than Missy, that might give the right gossip rag their chance to break that story without it biting their asses.
I tried to focus on the play again. I never really had a chance to experience theater much, before... Leviathan's attack, actually. My father found the art, well, he wouldn't have used the word 'gay' as an insult, if only because he could come up with something both more insulting and less vulgar, but he had nothing but contempt for art in general. He'd go when it was expected of him, and he was certainly educated enough to at least fake appreciation, but there was still that contempt. Then again, for Maximilian Anders, that was the default condition for all things.
I smiled and glanced down at Missy, snuggled firmly around my arm, watching the story play out while idly fiddling with my fingers. I could guess what my father would say. She was 'white' enough for his approval, but she wasn't exactly from a 'quality' family by his standards. He'd probably threaten me, he'd almost certainly threaten to harm her. That would not end well for him. The only thing that could stop me from skinning him alive would be if Missy beat me to it.
Riley was on the other side of Missy, watching the play with absolutely rapt attention. As far as I knew, this is the first time she'd ever been to a theater, and she was loving every second of it. Whether by subconscious cues, or by deliberate decision, she made sure Missy would get as much of my attention as possible tonight. I couldn't even imagine what my father would say about her. I liked to imagine pants wetting terror would be involved. If he tried to hurt her? Well, I'd have to skin him alive just to save him from what she would do.
The both of them, together? Well, the ass did have his own pair of girlfriends. Still didn't like how this... thing... with Missy and Riley reminded me of Fenja and Menja, but there wasn't much I could do about that. Missy made it very clear that she wouldn't allow herself to get between me and Riley, figuratively speaking. This was her 'solution', as unorthodox as it was. Not just for Riley's feelings, and Missy's own sense of integrity, but my feelings toward Clarice.
The feelings Dream Girl exploited were so effective because they were real. Distorted by removing my rational mind from the equation, but real. I never felt as strongly for Clarice as I do for Missy, but Riley wasn't Clarice. Or she wasn't only Clarice, at least. Clarice was an act, an idealization, what Riley wanted to be known as. Riley herself was more thoughtful, introspective, like Missy and myself.
By the time the play was over, Missy and I had managed to steal a few kisses, and Riley had either pretended to ignore us, or was truly so engrossed in the play that she didn't even notice.
"That was so good!" she declared the moment the curtain closed.
Missy smiled. "I know," she agreed, though she looked more sedate than Riley. We made our way out of the theater fairly quietly. There were just too many people to have a meaningful conversation, so it waited until we were in the car, going to dinner.
"I think this is the best Tennessee William's work I've ever seen. Sure, A Streetcar Named Desire was a more intense story, but this one is... it hits deeper. The characters are so easy to relate to, and it makes me think about things."
"Yeah," Missy agreed. "I think you're going to pick Tom for this one," she looked up at me. We often liked to compare our own situations to characters in the shows, so the odd context wasn't so odd for us. "The conflict between heritage and dreams of the future."
I shrugged. "Honestly, I think I'm more like Laura," I admitted. "Tom had an adventurous spirit to make his own way. Me, I just sorta... let things happen to me, y'know? I don't really go out and try to find my own place. That and there's no conflict for me. Tom felt guilty leaving behind his family and their traditions. With exception to Aster and Kayden, my heritage can go climb into the ovens they're so fond of."
"Honestly, I kinda wanted to slap Laura," Missy replied. "Not as much as her mother, though. God, what a bitch."
"She was scared," Riley replied. "Caught up in the past, full of ideas and rules that couldn't work anymore, and she didn't know how to adapt to a changing world. It's kinda like how society handles parahumans today. Or homosexuals a few years ago. When people are scared for a long time, they can use that to justify all kinds of horrible things."
She'd gotten quieter with each passing sentence. The last few words were barely a whisper. She knows better than almost anyone what horror truly is, in ways most people couldn't begin to imagine.
Missy put a hand on her arm, a show of comfort. Riley's smile was forced, but the look of gratitude was very real.
"It was still an ultimately positive story," I offered. "Laura came out of her shell, at least a little. I can picture her having a good life for herself, with some confidence that a lot of her fears were unfounded. Tom broke free and found his own way. His mistake was in trying to forget the past and escape his responsibilities, instead of accepting and moving forward. It's a good lesson for all of us to learn, right?"
"Yeah," Missy replied. "I think that's the problem I had with the story. Everyone was running away from everything, instead of actually dealing with the problem. Step one would have been to punch their mother in the head until the stupid stopped."
"Could you have done that, if it were your mother?" I asked. In the months I'd been dating Missy, I still had yet to actually meet her family. She avoided them, herself, for whatever reason as well.
"I probably should," she muttered. "But no, you're right, I don't think I could have."
"Maybe I should have picked a play with a happier lesson?" I suggested. "That was pretty stupid of me. I knew it was a good play, but this was my first time actually seeing it. Definitely not the most cheerful pick."
"No," Missy replied. "But I think it's better this way. There are no perfect answers, and pretending otherwise just makes for shit storytelling. Sometimes you just have to accept that. Embrace it, even. If The Glass Menagerie had a happy ending, I don't think it would have been nearly as good a story."
"It's nice to have happy endings, though," Riley argued. "I know it's not realistic, but it's nice to think about everything working out. Maybe not always, but sometimes at least?"
"Maybe not perfect endings, then, but at least positive ones," I suggested. "Striving to make things better than they were. Even if we have to do it in really strange ways, sometimes. I think that's something we can all agree on as reasonable and fulfilling."
"Yeah," Missy agreed. "Making things better."
"That sounds really good," Riley agreed. "Thanks for bringing me with."
"Any time," Missy insisted. "You're my best friend, you shouldn't have to thank me spend time with me. In fact, you should be doing it more often. It feels like you've been avoiding both of us a little."
"Maybe a little," Riley admitted. "I just. You've been so nice to me, and it feels wrong to take advantage of that."
"I'll tell you if you're taking advantage," Missy offered. "I know this whole thing is a little weird, but it's what makes sense for us. Maybe it's a 'powers' thing, that I'm used to seeing things in a different way than most people. When you can take ten places and make them exist in one thing at one time, well, you get used to the idea that rules are just basic guidelines to ignore whenever convenient."
"Yeah," I agreed, looking at both girls. Riley was smiling broadly, with an almost manic gleam in her eyes
"Missy," she started. "You are the smartest person ever."
"I know that look," Missy sighed. "I just gave you an Idea, capital 'I', right?"
Riley nodded energetically.
"And it means the dinner part of this date is canceled, but we're not going to complain in the slightest because it's that awesome?"
She nodded again.
Missy looked at me sheepishly. "Don't worry," I replied. "Wasn't anywhere too fancy. It was, after all, planned for the three of us."
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A/N- *Now is torn between the next chapter will reveal the sudden brilliant idea... or it'll be a Sophia interlude like Slayer Anderson asked. So, y'know, blame him if you want to know what Riley just dreamt up.