Milly impatiently tapped her foot while she waited out in the hallway in front of Stella and Terra’s dorm room.

15:31 in the afternoon, and five seconds.

She kept a sharp eye on her watch while she kept her other hand raised, poised to knock. Just one more second and she’d be back in normal time for an hour and fifteen minutes. Even if that sounded like a long time, it was practically a blip. The trick was how to spend it wisely.

After stumbling upon Terra, Milly spent a whole three minutes considering how she wanted to approach her. (That translated to about 12.5 Milly-Hours of agonizing indecision.) In the end, it made the most sense to talk to Terra immediately, while she was still in a private environment.

Classes officially ended at 15:00, but most of the after-school clubs went on for another hour. So Milly had about a half-hour window to talk to Terra and get out without any 4th-year students grilling her for being in their dorm.

Six seconds!

Milly rapped her knuckles on the door as she felt herself align with the world. The immediate knocking sound that echoed back confirmed she’d timed it right. Annoyingly, the muffled background din of the city also returned. After spending a week in near absolute silence, it would take her a while to get used to it again.

“Damnit.”

Milly heard Terra’s muffled voice all the way from the bathroom, followed by a growing sound that she had to listen to for a second before she recognized it as pouring sand.

“Buzz off, I’m busy,” Terra spoke as she struck the door from the inside. However, a slight metallic scraping sound betrayed that she’d opened up the peephole. “Milly? How rare to see you without Niki glued to your hip. Oh, right. Just leave the notebook by the door. I’ll sort it out.”

Oh great. Terra thought Milly was delivering the notebook like Stella asked her to. Of course, that made sense. What else was she gonna do? Break into their dorm and leave it, apparently.

“Niki’s doing rounds collecting homework in advance for missing the next week of classes.” Milly guiltily avoided looking at the peephole. “Actually, can I come in? It’s important.”

“I just showered and I’m not dressed,” Terra said, technically correct. “How important?”

Milly bit her lip. “Could you check Stella’s desk?”

While Terra didn’t say anything, she had to be looking at the notebook that Milly had left on her way out. By now, Terra’s thoughts were probably on trying to make sense of how it got there. It wouldn’t take a huge leap of logic to connect why Milly wanted to talk.

After a minute, the lock clicked, then the door creaked open.

Terra beckoned Milly in. She looked normal, ever-present scowl and all, except that she wore a bathrobe instead of her uniform. Well, that and the fact she had sand instead of skin, but that was ‘normal’ for Terra.

Milly followed Terra’s lead and before long they were both sitting on a wide couch by the television. Whether the extra space was a benefit of having an upperclassmen dorm, or a perk of being a superhero, Milly wasn’t sure. It looked more like a small apartment.

On the other hand, Milly was sure she wished the television had been on. The awkward silence between them was unbearable. Milly sat with her hands folded between her knees, just trying to pick the right words. “...I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you’d be home.”

Terra nodded, her face as difficult to read as ever. “So you came in to bring the notebook like Stella asked, and then… what exactly? You thought you might as well check out the bathroom?”

“No! I’m not weird!” Milly protested perhaps a little too much. “It’s just that I came in through the window as a shortcut. I’ve been practicing how to run up a wall.”

“We’re on the third floor. You ran up that high?” Terra sounded more surprised than she looked.

“Yep,” Milly held up one hand vertically then fingered-walked up it. “walls aren’t really an issue anymore for me.”

“Same.” Terra shifted her position to rest an elbow on the back of the couch. Some sand trickled down from her fingers along the seams where it hooked in like velcro. She turned to fully face Milly. “Anyway, what did you see?”

“Well, uhm, I didn’t recognize you at first,” Milly began. Just that fact alone already told Terra everything she really needed. “I saw a pile of sand by the mirror with a torso and the props. I left after I realized I was violating your privacy. Sorry.”

Terra should’ve looked the same as usual. However, now that Milly knew and was able to look at her from up close, she noticed small details that were off. Terra’s eyes were the same as Stella’s, but they lacked the wet sheen that came from blinking. She looked annoyed, but her expression hadn’t shifted at all while they talked, since she had no facial muscles that could get tired or move involuntarily.

“Why tell me?” Terra asked, taking Milly by surprise. “You’d have gotten away with it. It’s not like I could’ve seen you.”

That was true. Milly had taken that approach with most people so far, anyway. Heck, it was probably pure luck that she hadn’t spotted someone in their birthday suit yet with the way she casually walked along the windows in the city. While that was an embarrassing idea, Milly felt no compulsion to apologize to anyone there. Stuff like that just happened.

“I reckon you’re right,” Milly admitted. “If it was a stranger, I wouldn’t trouble them with it, but it seems to me like that’s no way to treat a friend.”

Maybe that was a little presumptuous. Milly had seen Terra around enough that she felt familiar, but that was very one-sided thanks to Milly-time. They’d only spoken once and while that had gone well it was mostly about hero stuff. The inequality made this confession extra nerve-racking. If Terra reacted badly, they might not ever talk again.

“Heh. You’re a good egg.” Terra sounded amused and a little relieved as her expression finally shifted to a smile. With a tussle of Milly’s hair, she stood up and made her way over to the fridge. “As penance for your crime, I’ll have you do me a favor. How’s that sound?”

“What kind of favor?” Milly shook the sand out of her hair. A mild annoyance she’d happily put up with. “Since we’re in this mess because I did Stella one.”

“Don’t try to shift the blame,” Terra said sternly while she rummaged through the fridge and pulled out a box of Chinese takeout. “You’re the one that decided to do something weird. I’m being lenient because I thought you understood that you made a mistake. Don’t break into people’s homes.”

“Hey, I was just kidding,” Milly grumbled at being scolded unfairly. “I got it. So, what are you asking for?”

“It’s been about an hour since you had that lunch meeting with TRACE, right? Can you still eat this?” Terra dropped the takeout box in Milly’s lap and then plopped back down on the couch beside her. “You can spit it out if not, I don’t care.”

Puzzled, Milly opened the box up to discover it was about half full. The contents weren’t anything special, some rice with sauce, egg, chicken, and veggies. “It was kind of a light lunch anyway. Sure.” Without further reservation about the odd request, Milly dug in.

Terra watched her, resting her head in her hands.

Milly noticed that the smile plastered on Terra’s face was just as unwavering as the scowl had been, but somehow that felt much more unsettling. As though it wasn’t quite human to be that still, more like a smiling mask. Was that because Milly wasn’t used to seeing Terra that way, or was it the other way around?

Terra caught Milly staring but didn’t do anything about it. “What’s the food like?”

“Cold?” Milly suddenly wondered if there was anything wrong with it. Terra gave off a serial killer puppet vibe and this was supposedly a punishment.

“That’s a fair start, I suppose.” Terra made the most obvious eye roll in history while keeping the smile. “Be a little more descriptive.”

“Okay, you are creeping me the heck out.” Milly stuck the chopsticks back in the box. “I’m sorry for breaking in. It won’t happen again. That’s all I came to say. I’m leaving.”

Terra held up her hands in a surrendering gesture while the smile faded. She actually looked sorry. “Wait. I was making a point. You’ve only had your power for a day, and nobody seems to have given you ‘the talk’.”

Milly glanced at the door, but settled down to give Terra a chance. “It’s been like a month for me already. I’ve learned a lot about controlling it.”

Except for the really important bit. How to turn it off.

“Cool. You learned about the mechanics of your power. That’s very important.” Terra conceded but her concern was written on her face. It nearly made Milly forget she wasn’t looking at a regular person if it weren’t for the sand. “But you clearly aren’t thinking about how your power affects people around you. If you thought watching me be stone-faced for a couple of minutes was unsettling, how do you think people feel knowing there’s an invisible girl that might be watching them shower for giggles?”

“Probably pretty creepy too.” Milly was catching on that this wasn’t hypothetical. Her power rendered her practically invisible. “But I’m not that desperate for entertainment.”

She wanted to add ‘yet’ at the end of that statement but thought better of it. Terra clearly wasn’t in a joking mood.

“Great, but keep in mind that people don’t know that. If you get caught doing something that looks bad once or twice, that’ll be what people assume you’re doing all the time. It’ll make them wary. Your reputation and image are important.” Terra poked Milly in the chest. “Think about whether you make people feel safe.”

“That’s rich coming from the scowl queen herself.” Milly scoffed. She was about to point out Ruth as her next example, but the unmistakable look of hurt on Terra’s face gave her pause. She’d never seen Terra as expressive as she had been for the past minute. “...This is taking you a lot of effort, isn’t it?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” Terra smirked but then reverted to her usual annoyed look while she motioned toward Theodore the backpack. “I saw a sketchbook in there. You’re an artist, right? Imagine drawing an animation by hand in real-time. It takes all my focus to sculpt each expression. To tell you the honest truth, I wasn’t even that upset by your comment, I was too busy acting the part.”

The sheer insanity of the claim boggled Milly’s mind. Hopefully, Terra didn’t know how much work actually went into animation and was only using it to illustrate her point. Still, with the most generous interpretation, manually blinking was enough to drive someone up a wall, let alone emoting.

“So, you pick a default expression to stick to.” Milly nodded. “I get that. Why a scowl instead of just neutral? That doesn’t really go with the whole making people feel safe.”

“Neutral is right out. It makes me look like an unfeeling golem. I’d rather people think I’m a bitch than that.” Terra didn’t show it, but from the bitterness in her voice, it was clear she was speaking from experience.

Milly understood after having seen Terra’s inhuman form by the mirror. She put in so much effort to look human, it must’ve hurt when people still didn’t see her that way. “I’m sorry.” If Terra had been superpowered for a few years already, then this ‘talk’ was her trying to pass on lessons she’d learned in that time.

“Nevermind. Why this face? Various reasons. For one thing, it makes people less inclined to hold eye contact. Which means they are less likely to notice something off. There are very few high-pressure situations where a bit of a scowl is not a natural expression either. Imagine if I was pulling someone bleeding from a car wreck with a goofy smile, how psycho would I look?” Terra sounded pretty proud of the middle ground she’d found there. “That, and it’s close to how I feel more often than not. You try hanging around Stella all day.”

“Fair enough.” Milly liked Stella, but she only ever had to deal with her unique energy in small doses. “I think I get what you’re saying here about powers affecting people. It’s being mindful of their feelings, but also their attitude will affect me too, right? That’s an aspect I hadn’t thought about. I’ll think about what I can do. You control how you appear, and I guess Stella makes sure to call ahead so people don’t worry that she could pop in any second. What about Ruth?”

While Terra’s face didn’t change, her body language made it clear she was uncomfortable with the question. “I mean, look, I think we both know she’s a negative example here. Do you want her reputation? Because if not, my point still stands. Be mindful of how you use your power.”

Milly felt an eerie sense of similarity. Ruth was flippant about using her power in ways that she perceived as harmless. Even if she was completely sincere, Niki certainly wouldn’t have felt any different about being manipulated, even though no consequences came from it.

Was that really so different from how she treated her superspeed? It felt harmless enough to borrow someone’s wallet to look through their pictures, but it was almost as big an invasion of privacy as what Ruth did. Just because Milly felt she wasn’t hurting anyone, didn’t mean she wasn’t having an unintended effect.

Being terribly bored probably wasn’t the best excuse to end up like Ruth.

“Right… Hey, about Ruth. Why do you hang out with her, anyway?” Milly tried to sound as neutral as she could about this. “Aren’t you constantly on edge about what she might be doing to your mind?”

“...I understand your concern,” Terra admitted as she shook her head. “I can’t speak for anyone else, but as far as I know, she hasn’t done anything to me or my sister. Ruth has always been fine around us. Maybe that’s what she wants me to think. I could be suspicious of her just in case, but as a wise girl once said: seems to me like that’s no way to treat a friend.”

Milly couldn’t argue with that, which left just one question unanswered. “So, what was the point of the food?”

“Ah, I don’t need food anymore. Plus, ya know, it all tastes like sand. Stella sometimes describes what hers tastes like for me. Just so I can still experience it a little bit.” Terra broke eye contact while she rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed. “I just thought maybe it would be fun to get a fresh perspective. Seemed harmless enough, but I guess it was pretty weird.”

“A-are you serious?” Milly stammered. Going without food sounded horrific. No wonder Terra mentioned her scowl was usually accurate. “How long has it been since you had a pizza? Or chocolate? I, gosh, I’m so sorry.”

“I was twelve at the time so, I guess five years since I had a taste.” Terra shrugged as though she wanted Milly to believe it wasn’t a big deal to her, but it obviously was if she’d asked for a description. She was just trying to play it off. “I guess we both got some lousy drawbacks, huh? I think you still have me beat, though. On that note, you can forget about it and go hang out with your girlfriend now. You only have like an hour, right?”

“An hour, fourteen minutes, and fifty-four seconds, to be exact.” Milly sighed as she got up and carried the takeout container back to the kitchen. “I planned it all out when Milly-time was nearly over. I’ve got a tight schedule to keep.”

“I’m surprised you made time for this then.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure how much time this was gonna take so I penciled in ten minutes.” Milly said while she popped the takeout into the microwave and hit ‘reheat’. “So, I’ve got a few minutes left. Might as well have a snack.”

Terra looked at the humming microwave, then back to Milly.

They shared a smile.

“So, what was with the cat ears?”

“If you mention that to anyone I will bury you below the sandbox.”

Fifteen minutes later, in the campus Student Center.

“And then I told her the ice cream tasted like getting decked in the face during a snowball fight as a kid by your crush. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have eaten it so fast.” Milly laughed while she lugged a big box up the stairs.

She hadn’t mentioned exactly what state she had found Terra in earlier, just that she had walked in on her.

“That does qualify as a ‘fresh perspective’, as she requested.” Niki huffed with a grin as she pushed the box from the bottom end. Every little bit helped. She also carried a key and clipboard as the universal signifier of someone in charge of something. “Almost there! Watch the final step.”

Together, they pushed the box out into the hallway where the faint murmurs and giggles of students resounded through the walls. It was club hour and most of the rooms on this floor were dedicated spaces for indoor activities.

Milly wiped the sweat off her brow. “Phew, this was easier when it was still Milly-time.”

“Yes. That would be why I asked you to do it then. It is not my fault you forgot one.” Niki herself remained suspiciously well put together for someone allegedly helping, but at least she took out a handkerchief to dab Milly’s face.

“I might’ve been a teensy bit preoccupied trying to figure out what I was going to say to Terra.” Milly admitted as she leaned lightly into Niki’s touch, it almost made up for her doing nearly nothing. “Are you sure you gave that your all?”

“We cannot all be athletes. Maybe I am saving my strength for something more important.” Niki flashed a grin as she stepped in closer. “I hear my girlfriend is thinking about other girls, so I better remedy that.”

“Oh, really?” Milly wrapped her arms around Niki’s waist, pulling her closer.

A door creaked and Niki quickly stepped away, snapping her hands behind her back in the most cartoonish attempt to appear innocent.

A group of four girls stepped out, chatting among themselves about carrying on outside. One carried a stack of chess boards and two of the others held small wooden chests with pieces.

They were just passing by the pair of them with a friendly wave. Funny enough, Niki looked more worked up and red-faced after that than she had with carrying the box.

What had Niki so rattled? It wasn’t as though they had to hide. Unless this was one area that Niki was surprisingly shy about? Oh~ that was a gift.

“I’ll catch up, sorry!” A fourth-year girl with long dark blonde hair suddenly stopped and called to the rest who carried on to the elevator. “Hey there, Niki! Hi, Milly! I just wanted to say thanks.”

Milly was too busy flashing a devilish grin at a very flustered Niki to pay much attention to the group, but now that one of them was calling her by name she was confused. She was pretty sure she didn’t know this girl. “Uhm, sure thing? You’re welcome… you…”

“Hey there, Penelope!” Niki stepped forward and kicked Milly’s shin in passing. “We have not seen you since last Thursday. I heard Hilda finally gave up on attacking Ruth for making you ‘quit’ the theater club. Are you in the chess club now?”

“Gah! I mean, yes! Hi Penelope.” Milly flinched and rubbed the sting away while Niki gave her a rapid reminder of who this was. It felt like so long ago already that Milly had entirely forgotten her. Ironically, the event itself was still clear in her mind as her first real encounter with Ruth’s true nature.

“Isn’t it wonderful? No more big crowds watching my every move. Hilda even played a few games with me to help me practice before trying for the club. We’re actually on our way to play by the track so we can play and cheer for the team.” Penelope looked down at the chessboard in her hands and gave it a squeeze. “Oh! Shouldn’t you be at practice, Milly? Hilda didn’t suspend you or anything, did she? ”

Right. Hilda was the track team star. It was slowly coming back to Milly. Principal Arkwright had made it clear Milly couldn’t be on the track team if she had superspeed, but Milly could hardly tell Penelope that.

“Nah, it’s not Hilda’s fault.” Milly grinned as she slinked an arm around Niki’s waist again and pulled her into a tight side hug. “I found something better to do.”

Niki squeaked and her face turned bright red while she tried to look nonchalant about it. “S-she means W-we decided to help out ACE officially along with a few of the other girls that joined up this year. That is what this equipment is for. We are setting up the super support clubroom.” She squirmed in Milly’s grip.

“Yeah, that too.” Milly agreed while she briefly tilted her head closer to Niki just enough to breathe on her ear as she spoke. Niki was so close that Milly could feel her heart rate spike. What a joy to tease Niki like this. Seemed like Penelope and Niki had something in common, they both got stage fright.

“ACE already has a room. Couldn’t you use that one?” Penelope asked.

“Nah, this is more for folks who aren’t powered but still wanna help: TRACE. Tomorrow we’ll get the rest to help out, but they are busy. For now, it’ll be just the two of us. Which is great because we’re…” Milly briefly debated whether to reveal they were dating now while Niki squeezed her hand like a vice. They really should discuss that one first. “...kinda picky about what goes where.”

“That’s nice. If you ever need a reference, uhm... Actually, I don’t think I’ll be much help. Since it was a secret. Sorry.” Penelope trailed off as she looked between the two of them a couple of times. The cogs were clearly turning as she suddenly gripped her board a little tighter. “Oh, oh! I should get going! Have, uhm, a good time you two.”

Niki looked as though she wanted to sink through the ground but just managed a goodbye as Penelope rushed past her and got into the elevator with the rest of her group.

“Say hi to Hilda!!” Milly called after her just as the elevator doors closed. “She seems happier now, right? I only vaguely recall her, but she wasn’t this talkative. Good for her.”

It had always been a little unclear whether Penelope really wanted to quit the theater club or not. If she was doing this well though, mystery solved.

“Were you trying to kill me? I cannot beli—Did they just use the elevator?” Niki switched gears mid-rant as her eyes locked onto the little sign above the door that showed the floors were changing.

“Uh, yeah?” Milly tilted her head. “Why?”

“Then why did we lug this thing up the stairs?!” Niki gestured toward the staircase like she was trying to karate chop the stupidity of it.

“Ohhh! That didn’t even occur to me as an option.” Milly chuckled embarrassed. “Milly-time and elevators don’t mix after all.”

“Ugh! You are not allowed to be adorable right now. It is not fair.” Niki stomped off over to room 313 and unlocked the door while Milly dragged the box over. As soon as they passed the threshold Niki regained some of her composure. “Say, did you know this room was actually repurposed? It was originally designed as another recording studio, but they had one already.”

“That’s cool,” Milly said while she looked around the room. She’d been there before to drag boxes inside but she hadn’t actually taken the time to really look around. It was mostly just an empty classroom with a couple of desks and some closets by the walls. A stack of boxes was in the middle, waiting to be unpacked. “Maybe it’ll be a fun question if we ever do a trivia night with TRACE.”

“Mhm, it would be. It also means that..." Niki closed and locked the door behind them. The murmuring sounds of students suddenly vanished. “Nobody will hear you scream.”

“Good call. We wouldn’t want anyone to come investigate. You might freeze like a fainting goat again.” Milly grinned and pushed the box next to the others, then spun around and took a seat on her new cardboard throne. “What was with that anyway? Ashamed to be seen with me?”

“No. I apologize if I made you feel that way, even just a little.” Even though Milly had obviously been joking, Niki still looked guilty. She sat down beside Milly and took her hand. “We agreed to be a couple just moments before Milly-time started. Waiting to see you again has been the longest hour of my life. I knew we were only a couple steps away from this room, but you looked so fired up and sweaty I, well, I had a moment of weakness. We got caught because I could not maintain control. That’s the only embarrassment.”

Milly entwined her fingers with Niki’s while she listened. If there was anything more thrilling than hearing her girlfriend admit she couldn’t wait another second, Milly couldn’t imagine what. Her heart thundered like a herd of mustangs across a fresh field. “Oh my gosh! If I’d known that I wouldn’t have spent as much time teasing you in front of Penelope.”

While it felt a little funny to hear Niki complain about an hour when it had been ten days for Milly, that didn’t make Niki’s feelings any less valid. Heck, Milly at least had the option to see Niki as much as she wanted. To Niki, Milly was just gone.

“Mhm, actually there was a certain sense of…” Niki squirmed and looked away with a deep blush, fighting some internal battle as to whether or not to give up her terrible secret. In a soft voice, she continued, “stirring validation that came from having you publicly claim me this time. A declaration I was loved. My only complaint is that you stopped short and did not tell her we are together now.”

This time?

“I wasn’t sure if you’d want that, but now I am,” Milly hastily clarified. She lifted Niki’s hand and kissed it, drawing Niki’s gaze her way. Flashing a playful smile, Milly made an obvious display of glancing down at her ring finger. “Should I pick you up a fancy wedding ring next time I walk past the jewelry store, mhm?”

“Hush!” Niki laughed and gave Milly a shove that barely budged her. With a twirl, she climbed into Milly’s lap, straddling her while she brushed Milly’s hair back. “I have a better idea.”

“Maybe just for a little bit.” Milly giggled as Niki went in for the kiss.

No progress was made on the TRACE club room that period.