Scene 15 - October 31st

Interior Townhouse, Late Morning

Quinn Kaufman

I accidentally slept in too late on Halloween morning and had to rush to get into my costume, which I had finished late the previous night. It was rough, but when combined with the wig and the right mannerisms, I felt that I had more than a passing resemblance to Anima. And whether or not I won the costume contest for the fourth year running, I had certainly done enough to not embarrass myself.

I took a few moments to set up how my impression would go - I cocked one hip to the side, put my hands on my hips, and twisted my upper body slightly to accentuate what few curves I had. I was happy with the slim, androgynous build that I had, but it was very different from Anima’s generous curves. Maybe I should have added some padding?

No, it wasn’t all looks, I reminded myself. “Quinn, right? I’m Anima. It’s...” I trailed off, frowning. The voice wasn’t quite right. I had gotten it yesterday, how had I done it? I pitched up slightly and tried again. “Quinn, right? I’m Anima.” No, not quite right either. What was I missing?

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Oh yeah. I quirked the corners of my mouth enough to put a smile in my voice. “Quinn, right? I’m Anima. It’s nice to meet you properly.” Yes, there it was!

The costume and the impression weren’t the only things I had figured out yesterday, either. After a lot of thought, I had made up my mind about registering as a hero.

I wasn’t going to do it.

I had gotten a lot of advice about it. Devon had suggested taking it slowly and asking those who already had the job about it. Hypnos said that I shouldn’t join, as I had no need of what it offered me - Holly said that I should join, because it was fun. Canaveral had said that I should only join if I wanted to do it, and Anima had said it was the right thing to do - at least for her, since she had healing powers.

Ultimately, though, it was Professor Marigold’s lecture in the fabric store that had helped me make up my mind. I had come to agree with her that Tonare and Abelard were both wrong - as was Sterling, but that was obvious. As she had said, there was no reason I should use my powers if I didn’t want to.

I didn’t intend to set my powers aside, they were too useful in everyday life for that - even as I was musing, I had called my backpack and a water bottle to me - but I didn’t think I was going to use them in my career. I couldn’t be a superhero. Whatever anyone thought, I knew that I would never be as good as real heroes like Canaveral, Anima, or even my new friend Loki. But I believed that I could be a good doctor, and that, I thought, would be enough.

Besides, my father would support me no matter what I chose, and that’s all that really mattered to me.