Chapter 125 - The Beta & His Bossy Friend

"Powers aren't all cool, they're responsibilities too," Madeline reasoned.

And she was right. 

Powers weren't just cool. Heck, some people found them to be burdens at times. 

Sometimes, they wanted to be regular people who got to enjoy a regular life that didn't include having the ability to, say, blast through things, or finish a book in a matter of seconds, or crush a car with their bare hands. 

Some people that were given powers never wanted them. Madeline was unsure why the first thing she thought when she got powers was how they could become burdens in the future and might turn into responsibilities.

Frankly, she thought she would have thought them cool and showed them off to everyone else. Not slowly revealing herself to have powers to Briar this way.

"I'll tell Indiana once she wakes up," Madeline decided. 

Briar nodded, "Alright."

"And what does Xavier think about this?"

"Err, I don't know about that. First, he seemed a bit reluctant when I told him not to tell anyone, Adrian included, but… I don't know. Oh, and also,  I'll tell Emilio tomorrow since he's probably asleep already," she decided. 

"Right, you should probably do that," Briar agreed. 

"Oh god, it's really late now, huh. We should probably get to sleeping."

Briar scoffed, "Wow, I never expected you to say that."

Madeline laughed, "Me neither, actually."

She added, "But really, you have plans with Adrian, right? I wouldn't want you to be late because you stayed up late talking to me. I'm not that bad of an influence."

"Oh alright."

"But, before we hit the hay," Madeline said to Briar.

"What is it?"

Madeline hugged Briar. 

"Here's a hug."

Briar looked confused, but hugged her friend in return. One could never have enough hugs, as someone once said. 

Yeah, no.

"Thank you for being here, even when I had no one else at first, and being here even after everything. Even when I wasn't at my best."

"Hey, where's this all coming from?" Briar asked. 

Madeline shook her head, letting Briar go.

"Just something I've been wanting to tell you."

"Hmm, sure. Goodnight, Maddie," Briar said, grinning at her friend. 

"Goodnight, Briar," Madeline said, laying down on the mattress she and Indiana had brought to Briar's room.

It wasn't so spacious, but it was big enough to fit the mattress. No other sound in the room was heard other than Indiana's snores. She slept peacefully, and Briar followed, falling asleep quickly afterwards. 

Madeline looked up at the ceiling of Briar's room, unable to sleep. 

Her powers hadn't been all she had been hiding. 

She had lied. There was another reason she had been nervous. Not because of her powers. 

Inhaling, she closed her eyes.

'Enough of that, I should sleep now,' she told herself, reasoning that whatever she could do now she could always do tomorrow. 

And soon after, sleep washed over her like a wave washing over a beach's golden sand. Madeline had given into the temptation of sleep.

__

The next day, Briar walked to the place she was supposed to meet Adrian, dressed in the clothes Indiana and Madeline had helped her pick out.

"I see someone went all out for what's just supposed to be lunch," Adrian pointed out.

Briar rolled her eyes at him, "For your information, it was Indiana and Madeline who did most of the work when it came to choosing this outfit."

"And why would they put in so much effort in choosing an outfit for lunch?" Adrian asked, trapping her in a corner.

Snap, he had a point. 

Briar's cheeks turned from its usual shade to a deep rosy red. She didn't even try hiding it, she knew Adrian had noticed it. 

"It's lunch, I should have the decency to at least make an effort to dress up, no?"

"Hmm, sure," Adrian said, not seemingly falling for Briar's answer. 

"Moving on, let's get to lunch."

"I couldn't agree more," Briar said, ready to eat. 

Adrian had extended his elbow for Briar to hold. Briar was startled, but accepted it. It was a sweet gesture after all, she couldn't just push him away. 

Together, they made their way to a patio. 

"Woah, I thought we were supposed to eat at the dining room."

"Would you rather eat at a regular dining room, or this place? You choose, I'll go with whatever you end up deciding."

"Alright, you've made your point, I was just pointing something out," Briar said.

Adrian pulled out a chair for her.

She sat down, and watched as Adrian took his seat. 

Briar was beginning to wonder if this was a date and not just lunch. 

"So, I heard Xavier invited you to breakfast yesterday."

"He did, it was great. And you? How did girl's night go?" 

"Indiana fell asleep before it ended," Briar told him.

Adrian took a spare spoon and placed a serving of food on Briar's plate.

"Wha—"

He answered, "You said you liked this food in particular, if I remember correctly."

"A gentleman with great memory, consider me surprised."

Adrian chucked, "What can I say? I can be very, very surprising."

Briar threw her head back and laughed. 

She noticed he hadn't placed anything on his plate and questioned, "Do you usually eat nothing when eating with others?"

Adrian looked down on his plate, just realizing he hadn't eaten anything either. 

"Well, usually, when I get too engaged in a conversation, I forget everything else that's happening. Even if that 'everything else' is eating."

Briar took the spoon on his side and got a spoonful of what he had once told her was his favourite dish.

"Open wide, don't make me force you to eat."

"You can be so bossy, you know that?" Adrian asked her. 

Was Briar aware of it? 

"I'm not bossy, I'm just asking you to eat," she reasoned, crinkling her nose. 

"Same thing," he responded with.

"Eat," she insisted, holding the spoon. 

"Fine.. Since it's you telling me to eat it," he said.