"Attention, citizens!" The man calls out to the crowd of around thirty people who have gathered around him. "The time to act is now! We must petition the leaders of this city for change! For those who don't, we must petition for them to step down, have them replaced with people who are more interested in the true betterment of our city!"

He's dressed in a fine suit, his hands covered in warm gloves, a black scarf around his neck and a black woolen cap atop his head, keeping his ears warm as he speaks. He has two people accompanying him, a woman in her early twenties, and a man in his late forties, both bundled up just as well.

Theo and I stop to watch and listen. The guardians and vigilantes dealt with the group I'd encountered before, back when Isaac handled the situation. Is this remnants of it? A revival? Something different?

"You see," the speaker says. "They are reliant on the Patron. They trust in the Patron and believe that in the end, all things will work out for us. Because of that, they have grown lax. But! Does the Patron stop the plague that kills our people? Does he stop mass murderers from continuing their jobs? How safe are our streets truly?"

I look at Theo, questioning, and he shakes his head. He doesn't know who this guy is or what group he's from.

"Most of you dislike power users," the speaker says. "Or don't believe they exist. I assure you, power users do exist, and those vigilantes you hear of truly do possess powers. They take to the streets in an effort to make things safer, and it's easy to tell who sold their souls to the Patron by how much media coverage they receive and how positively they're portrayed.

"But there are many who don't," the speaker says. "Many vigilantes who take to the streets to protect people, and they are punished by the law for doing so. Why? Why do only some suffer from the laws while others do not? We must change this!

"I am part of an organization," the speaker says. "Who is pushing for this change. Remove those who follow the Patron from authority and implement new rules. Create an enforcement force of power users. Let them roam more freely and enforce the law, truly making the streets safer for us.

"For now," he continues. "We have claimed a district all our own. There, we are recognized as our own authority, police the streets on our own. Crime rate is lower than anywhere else, and we are expanding our domain. Right now, we are accepting entry to anyone who can meet certain qualifications, regardless of which district they come from, regardless of their income. We have jobs, food, and warmth. We will protect you against the cold, and if you hold powers but hide them in fear, you will have no reason to do so in our territory."

"Come on," Theo tugs on my hand, leading me away from the crowd.

"At least he's not trying to cause a riot," I say. "Just a change, but no anarchy. That's at least a change."

"He works for Norman Whitehall," Theo tells me. "The Patron has tentatively allowed them to use that district without issue. They're actually gathering power users in an attempt to overthrow the government and the guardians, but disguising it as just attempting to create a new society within our city."

"And the Patron's letting it go?" I ask.

"There are a few reasons for it," Theo says. "Two main ones, though. First, let it build up until they're going to actually do it, then wipe out everyone at once. That way, we quickly reduce the population of those who would try it or revive it and send a message stating that we could have done it at any point."

Brutal, but efficient. Some groups will probably try to use that as a reason to challenge the Patron and overthrow the guardians, but others will see it as a statement of power. Theo's right – if the group has fully gathered up and is put down rather fast when they go to act, then it's a show of might. A statement that it could have happened at any time and the Patron let it get to that point.

"Second," Theo hesitates on this one. "Norman Whitehall would probably survive the fighting."

"He's a power user?" I ask.

"No," he answers. "But he has a powerful bodyguard. We never received external confirmation, but the Patron says the guy's power is super strength, super speed, and nigh-invulnerability to the point that even Isaac wouldn't manage to take him down. The guy could take an attack from the most powerful power user in the city as a shield. He's proven himself able to stop bullets – some idiot tried assassinating Whitehall from a distance and the bodyguard caught the bullet."

Did… did Theo just say the bodyguard caught a bullet?

"So the Patron is looking for someone who can counter him," I say.

"Someone who can counter him and would make for a good Sivalshi Guardian," Theo corrects. "The Patron said right now, he has his eye on one particular person, but won't say who it is. Judging by his comments the last few years, the power user is too young for the cut."

"And unlike with me," I say. "I guess there's not a need for that particular power right away, since Whitehall isn't acting on his secret plans yet."

"Correct," Theo says. "So we'll probably have to wait until he or she is twenty-one, whenever that will be."

"Okay," I say. "We're here."

"Neat," he says. "I'll walk you in."

True to his word, Theo walks me in to the restaurant, which is empty save for Danny at the register right now.

"Hey, Kier!" Danny greets me, looking at Theo. "This the stud?"

"I didn't call him a stud," I roll my eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Danny," Theo says. "Kieran's mentioned you a fair bit in our chats."

"Everything bad and nothing good, right?" Danny grins.

"He said you're a major fan of vigilantes and the guardians," Theo says. "Who's your favorite?"

As they chat, I head to the back and remove my jacket and hoodie, then pull on the apron and hat and get to work checking on the stock of food already prepared for customers. Theo leaves after a few minutes, telling me he'll see me after my shift ends, then Danny gives me a knowing look.

"The way you're walking says you had fun last night," he tells me.

"Not last night," I snort. "It was this morning, and it was a fair bit awkward to do it completely under the blankets. I think I'm taking the guys up on their offers and once the three shifts here this week are done, spending the night in a warm apartment."

"Neat," Danny says. "Oh! Good news! Not for you, I guess, but for the restaurant! We finally replaced those two idiots, the new guys are getting trained Friday and Saturday, so we won't be calling in and asking for you again. Bad news for you, since you won't have those three shifts, but you probably know why that makes me happy."

"Yeah," I snort. "And it's all good, Danny. It's good you guys are getting actual employees to cover these shifts again. I'm sure Melody will have at least one job for me during that time. Though if I get the job I'm going for, I might not need to work through the agency anymore."

Which will be a shame, really. I finally get a good job placement agent, and I'll be saying goodbye to her after only a month. If I do end up not needing the extra jobs, I'll make sure to send Melody a gift basket. Hell, I might send her one anyway just for being great.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Danny and I start chatting, working when there are customers and work to do, and he reveals that he's begun playing the game that Zane's been sending out invites to. Mostly because he got curious after the eighteenth one Zane sent and gave it a try, then found himself addicted.

"Have a good day," Danny tells me once my shift ends and I've gotten ready to go. "See you tomorrow!"

"See you, Danny," I wave to him, then leave the building, meeting Theo on the street. He gives me a soft kiss. "Hey, Theo."

"Let's go get something to eat," he tells me. "You're probably hungry."

"Are you going to do this every day?" I ask.

"If you're good with it," he tells me. "I don't have any missions right now, so I can spend the time with you."

"What about as a vigilante?"

"We mostly make our own shifts," he tells me as he takes my hand, then begins walking. "I'm taking a break between parts of it right now."

"So you were doing stuff before you came here?" I ask.

"Broke up three fights and stopped a robbery already," he chuckles. "I'm hoping the rest of the shift isn't as eventful."

"Good luck," I tell him.

"Thanks," he responds. "So I was wondering, Kier, what you thought about my offer? To come stay with me once your shifts at Lenny's finish."

"I'll take you up on it," I tell him. "It would be nice, and the sex would be a fair bit less awkward."

"Yeah, this morning was a fun one," he chuckles, then turns more serious for a moment. "Would you mind if I spent the night again tonight? And tomorrow night, too? Then after your shift on Tuesday, we can move your clothes to my apartment, and anything else you want to bring."

"Sure," I say. "Having you keeping me warm in that freezing apartment would be amazing. I did have a question, though, and it's okay if you say no."

Having someone with me at night really works wonders for keeping me from getting depressed and feeling alone as I try to sleep.

"What's up?" He asks.

"On Wednesday mornings," I say. "I go to the movies with Lucas. I know part of it was him wanting to try to romance me, but part of it's because he's grumpy when he wakes up if he's not getting some, and he likes to go to the movies. So I act as his voice so that he doesn't blow up on the people at the theater or the restaurant he goes to after. It's a recent thing, but-"

"You're wondering if I'm fine with that," he shrugs. "They're not dates, so it's not a problem."

"Actually," I say. "I was going to say that I tend to fall asleep snuggled against him in the theater. He really likes horror movies, and I really hate them, so I put in earplugs and sleep to avoid being subjected to it, but still give him that presence and help he needs to not snap at anyone and everyone."

"Oh," he says. "Is it comfy?"

"Yeah."

"Go ahead," he says. "He seems like the kind of guy who'd respect you're in a relationship and won't try to make it more than that."

"Thanks," I say. "And something else I just thought of, but would you have an issue with me spending the night at his place or Zane's the night before hanging out with them?"

"You mean Tuesdays and Wednesdays?" He asks.

"Yeah."

"Not at all," he answers. "They're friends who were taking care of you already, and it's not like I own you. I trust you enough to be confident that it will be just hanging out and sleeping, with nothing more than that happening."

"Awesome," I say. "Because Zane will probably want to now that I've done it once, even if that was for work, and Lucas will want to compete with him over that even though they both know I'm dating now. But they'd both be hesitant to ask because I'm dating now."

"During dinner yesterday," Theo says. "Zane mentioned celebrating him getting the job and you possibly getting the job?"

"Erm, yeah," I say. "He was given a similar offer as the Patron made for me, but his was just 'we'll give you a month to think about if you want to be a security guard for us', since they know he's happy with his job right now. That way, he can also train someone to replace him if needed, too. He's supposed to find out… Thursday? That's the thirty-day mark, but it might be Friday, since that's the one-month mark for him. Hey – what's mine?"

"Friday," Theo answers. "The day after the thirty-day mark. That's the standard. You get thirty days to prove yourself, and then the next day is when you find out if you get it or not."

"Okay," I say. "So I can expect to find out Friday sometime."

"Probably the morning," he tells me. "That's when it normally happens."

"I'll make sure to let Melody know I won't be available, then," I tell him. "I didn't think about it when Isaac was telling me about the stuff at the halfway point."

"He was supposed to mention that," Theo snorts. "I guess his nerves over finally speaking with you again got to him and he forgot about it."

"Maybe," I shrug. "Anyway, as I was saying, Zane said he's accepting for sure once they ask him if he wants to. So he wants to celebrate that on Saturday. If I get the offer, then we'll celebrate that, too. If I don't, then we'll just celebrate his new job."

"Okay," Theo says. "Let's try a restaurant in this building here, I've heard good things about a few of them from local vigilantes."

"Alright," I say.

Theo leads me into the building, then takes me up to the seventh floor, where we're seated quickly, only a few other customers here at this time in the afternoon. We wait until after we've placed our orders to continue our conversation.

"Zane invited me to the celebration," Theo tells me. "I was thinking, why not invite everyone back to my apartment? We aren't banned from having normies and civilians there, and it might give those two a reassurance after spending the night once."

"If you want to," I say. "It's your apartment, and Zane might go nuts in excitement."

"Probably," he chuckles. "I'll do that, then. Will your other friends be there?"

"Danny's already accepted the invitation," I say. "Zane asked me to text Todd, who said he'd have to see if he can take off that evening or work an earlier shift."

"They can come, too," Theo tells me.

"Alright," I say. "I'll tell Lucas, Zane, and Todd at the center tonight, since I'll see them then, and let Danny know at work tomorrow."

"Thanks," he says. "What are you training today? Martial arts?"

"I do those on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays," I tell him. "Today is power training. Sundays, I run around the blocks room, trying to collect tennis balls of specific colors. It's to work on my memory, agility, jumps, and my shadow-walking, though it'll be awhile before most of it is done through my powers. I have quite a ways to go before that."

"Do you think I could watch some of it toward the end?" He asks. "Or would that be too much?"

"I wouldn't have an issue with it," I say. "I'll ask them at the front desk. Speaking of my training, Theo – you don't have an issue with the fact that I'm naked all through it, do you?"

"It's just training," he says. "You couldn't wear clothes during it if you wanted to, anyway. Why would I have an issue with it?"

Because some people would take issue with that just because someone else is seeing their man naked. I'm so glad that my boyfriend isn't that type of person and understands the situation. Theo is amazing, and I have no intention of betraying his trust.

"You also won't get to see me too much," I tell him. "I'll be hidden by the blocks for most of it."

"I'll ogle when I can," he says with a wink just as our waiter returns with our drinks.

"Oookay!" The waiter says, causing us to laugh.

"Thanks for the drinks," Theo tells him. "And perfect timing for that, too!"

"Yeah," the waiter chuckles. "Your food will be about twelve more minutes. Do you want an appetizer in that time? We do have a few that we can get out in three to five minutes."

"Sure," Theo says. "Can we get an order of onion rings?"

"Sure thing," the waiter says. "I'll go get those down for you."

The waiter leaves, then Theo grins at me.

"If we're still together next Monday," he tells me. "And I really hope we are because you seem like an awesome guy, Kier, then I'm probably going to get a membership there just so I can watch you train without having to pay and fill out paperwork every time. If you don't mind that."

"I don't," I say. "Though expect Lucas to figure out some way to include you as part of my training. He's threatened to have me hunt down Zane and pelt him with tennis balls while Zane's in stone form if Zane doesn't stop asking if he can watch me train."

"That would actually be pretty fun to see," Theo says.

"Which is why I'm disappointed Zane turned down that offer," I say. "So enough about my training, Sparky. What do you do for yours? How often do you train? What sort of stuff can you do for training your powers, considering what they are?"

"I train daily," he tells me. "Some martial arts, some with my powers. Some of it's just sparring with a friend, some of it's training on my own. It really depends on what I'm doing. For my lightning-charged form, I spar with someone who has enhanced speed or run an obstacle course."

I think it's a good thing the Patron prevents people from overhearing and noticing conversations like this, because it would make casually talking about such things much more difficult.

"What about for your other persona?" I ask.

"That one?" He laughs. "It depends on who's free. Sometimes, I just throw lightning at Isaac. Other times, I stop attacks with my bursts. Something more basic? I charge my phone."

"You do what?" I ask.

"I charge my phone," he grins. "It doesn't take much effort on my part, though I usually only do about five minutes at a time. That's a decent charge, though, and doing that a few times a day ensures it's good for the next day or two."

"That's pretty neat," I say.

That's also an extremely mundane use of his power. Will I ever have any powers that can be used in such a simple way for something so plain and mundane?

"What else can you do that's so boringly mundane?" I ask, and Theo grins.

There's a lot, isn't there?