“There’s bullet holes in the front door,” Brian spoke from the other side of the chain link fence, raising his voice to be heard over the torrent of barks.

Yes. Yes there are.

He was wearing his costume and helmet, but had the visor flipped up and he wasn’t shrouded in his darkness.  From a distance, he’d look like some guy in motorcycle gear.

That’s… actually very handy. Most capes with secret identities and a power that doesn’t transform them need a place to change clothes, but Grue’s costume can pass for regular clothes if he just turns off his power.

“Quiet,” Bitch ordered, and the dogs fell silent.  Seeing what the other dogs were doing, the few who hadn’t learned the command stopped after one or two more barks as well.

Showing how “they’ll learn from the pack” works in practice, nice.

“Yeah, they fired off their guns a few times,” I told him.

“And you’re still here,” he said, in mild disbelief.

“My call,” Bitch told him.

Gonna take a little more than just some guns to get Rachel packing.

“It’s a bad call,” he admonished her.

“I’m not leaving.”

I agree with both sides on some level. Not leaving stands a good chance of provoking larger scale harrassment or even full-scale attacks by the E88, but on the other hand, I completely understand not wanting to let them bully her around and get their way.

Hm. “Bully her around”, huh? I wonder what Taylor’s stance on this is going to be. She’s spent a long time avoiding her own bullies and not standing up to them, because that’s what she felt worked best to minimize her own trouble and she had no effective way to stand up for herself. But a) this time she actually does – there’s no moral issue with using her power against the E88, especially E88 capes, b) this isn’t about protecting herself, but rather a friend, and c) Taylor has changed over the last few weeks. She’s gotten a lot more willing to stand up for herself, both in general and against the Harpies.

Then again, she’s also rather cautious and wants a minimal amount of bloodshed, even if it’s E88 blood.

This could go either way. I think my bet is that Taylor will be somewhat conflicted, but ultimately side with Rachel on this.

Brian arrived as Bitch and I were trudging through the field with shovels and trash bags in hand.  Not the image I wanted him to get of me, but I was glad to see him nonetheless.

Feel free to elaborate on what image you do want him to get of you any time, Taylor :3

(I for one think Brian would be the type to appreciate that his potential mate is willing to get her hands dirty to help a friend.)

I’d rinsed off using the tap at the dog’s water trough, but I was still covered in dirty paw prints, grass stains, and my skin still itched with the feeling of bugs crawling on me.

Yeeah, I can see that not being a particularly comfortable state to be in as your crush arrives.

I had little doubt that with my wet hair and the state of my clothes, that I looked pretty damn grungy.

Ahaha

“pretty damn grungy” is almost as funny to me as “mucho cred”. :p