Star Harbor Nights

D.J. hadn't been kidding when she said that she'd get Perfect in the door. The nightclub had no sign or visibly lighted windows, but there was already a line of fashionably dressed people stretching back around the corner. Though D.J. walked right past it to the signature velvet rope--purple, not red--they were stopped by a beef-looking bouncer, who took D.J.'s ID, a numbered ticket, and checked both against a list on his clipboard. Even after looking at both several times, he hesitated to let them in. He looked back and forth between Perfect and Adonis.

"What's the problem?" Adonis asked.

"Look, I talked to Lydia this afternoon," D.J. said. "He said I could bring two."

The big man looked at her skeptically, but said nothing. Perfect wondered if he was mute.

Adonis started to step forward, but D.J. stopped him with her hand.

"Do you want me to call him?" D.J. said, pulling out her phone. Without a word, the bouncer unhooked the purple rope and waved them through. Adonis muttered something, which the bouncer pretended not to hear.

"John Lydia?" Perfect asked as they headed towards the dark glass doors. "As in, Senator John Lydia?"

"That's the one," D.J. said. "This is his club. It's not officially open yet... this is kind of a pre-premiere test run. The tickets are the hottest item in town at the moment. Nobody gets in without one... those people standing outside? That's the standby line."

"I guess they'll put the sign up when it opens for real," Perfect said.

"Places like this don't need signs," D.J. said. "If you have to ask where it is, you'll never get let in."

"Does it have a name?"

"You said it, girl: IT. Capital I, capital T."

"What kind of a name is that for..." Perfect started, but they had reached the doors. As D.J. opened them, a palpable wall of sound slammed into them. D.J. waved her in with a rueful smile. Perfect found herself regretting being the only one in the group who couldn't dial down her hearing.

The inside was dark and smoky, though some of the smoke was probably machine-generated fog from the dance floor... Perfect hoped. The bar was not far from the entrance, but there was another one near the back that looked like it was behind soundproofed glass. Perfect pointed at it and told D.J. she was heading for it. Though she couldn't hear her own words, D.J. nodded and followed.

Adonis had headed straight for the dance floor. The edges of it were crowded, but few people were actually dancing. He attracted attention instantly.

The lounge-like area on the other side of the glass was too smoky and noisy for Perfect's tastes, with the bass beat from the dance floor thudding through the wall, but it was still a big improvement. She could see more than five feet, and could hear herself talking.

"I've been talking to Mr. B... I mean, I've been thinking," she said to D.J. "About this whole hero thing."

"If you want to give it up, I'll totally support you," D.J. said. When Perfect responded with a withering look, she added, "Not that I'm trying to talk you out of it... but, I honestly wouldn't mind it if you said you were going to stay home and cure the common cold or invent a bigger and better doodad. I mean, I dug a robot hand out of your back last night."

"The market actually favors smaller doodads," Perfect said. "Anyway, I got better."

"Because I was there, and because we got you to a healer," D.J. said. "But Perfect, I can't always be here... and that crazy elf lady sure as hell won't heal you a second time."

"I know," Perfect said. "That's what I was thinking about, actually. I would've been in serious trouble if I'd been out on the streets by myself."

"So you gonna try to join a team?"

"No, I'm going to start one," Perfect said.

"Perfect, babe, you know I love you, but..."

"But...?"

"Don't you think your reach might be exceeding your grasp there?" D.J. said. "I don't want to say something mean like, 'Who's going to follow you?'... but... well... who is going to follow you?"

"Look at that thing out in California," Perfect said. "A week ago, nobody'd ever heard the name 'Mindfyre'... but then she pops up on the news with a bunch of nationally known heroes at her back. She's clearly not the most powerful or experienced one there... and it's not that those things don't matter, but in real life, they aren't the only things a person can have going on."

"In other words, you've got the cool fort so you get to be the leader?" D.J. teased.

"I've got the drive to make it happen," Perfect said. "If I can get up the guts to do it."

"You know, there's something to be said for making life decisions that are not inspired by televised superheroines," D.J. said.

"Well, I'm not going to go all out and idolize her based on her fifteen minutes in the limelight," Perfect said. "I'm sure in real life, she cheats on her taxes, or she's like a total porn addict, or something like that... though I don't buy into the whole media speculation about her 'real relationship' with Amphitrite. Nothing against lesbians... much... but I just can't buy the idea that we're the only straight female crimefighters in the world."

"I hope you're not letting one experience color your opinion," D.J. said.

"More like two, actually," Perfect said. "But anyway, I'm trying not to. It's more like my growing perception that most superheroes are sex-crazed maniacs than anything against lesbians in particular. With guys, I guess I can see it coming."

"That's why you need to meet people outside of 'work'," D.J. said. "And on that note.. bye!"

"Wait, what do you mean, bye?" Perfect yelped, grabbing D.J. by the arm as she tried to stroll away. "You can't leave me alone. I don't know anybody here!"

"All the guys who watched us come in are going to keep watching as long as we're standing together," D.J. said. "Only the most obnoxious will work up the nerve to approach two beautiful women. Anyway, I'll be nearby... I've just got to find the little D.J.'s room."

"Um, don't answer this if you don't want to, but why?" Perfect asked.

"I've got to do something with that latte I drank earlier," she said. "Don't worry, I'll be back."

Almost as soon as she'd left, she was indeed approached by a guy wearing white pants and a black silk shirt. He was good looking, she thought... but not as tall or deeply tanned as Ray. She hated to use Ray as a benchmark for everything, but as her first and only, it seemed like he was firmly embedded in her mind.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," she said.

"I saw you come in with somebody," he said.

"Uh, yeah," Perfect said. "That's my friend, D.J.... D.J. Harmony, actually. The... uh... D.... J."

"Uh, sorry... never heard of her," he said.

"That's okay, I really haven't, either," Perfect said.

"Cool. Can I get you a beer?"

"No, thank you," Perfect said with a smile and a slight shake of the head. "I don't drink."

"That's cool," the man said. "I used to do the straight edge thing, but I just couldn't get out of bed in the morning without caffeine."

"It's not really a lifestyle thing," Perfect said. "I've just never had a good experience drinking."

"Well, yeah, it sucks throwing up, and waking up the next morning with a pounding headache... but sometimes the parts you black out and forget about are pretty fun. How about I get you a soda?"

"Okay," Perfect said, laughing. "Um, anything diet... and caffeine is fine."

"I'll be right back," he said, scurrying towards the bar. He turned around when he was only a few feet away, adding, "Don't go anywhere!"

"I promise!" Perfect said. I'm talking to a guy, she thought. It was surprisingly easy. She made a mental note to tell Mr. Buttons about it as soon as she got home. She could already almost hear the conversation in her head...

"Hey, got your drink," the man said, seemingly only a moment after he'd left. "You looked like you were miles away for a minute."

"Just, uh, thinking about a friend," Perfect said.

"You're not with somebody?" the guy said. "I mean, it's cool if you are... I just don't want to do anything, you know, inappropriate. I'm Evan, by the way."

"Would you believe me if I said my name was Marie?" Perfect said.

"Uh, any reason I shouldn't?"

"Because my name's actually Perfect."

"Well, Perfect, I'm very glad to meet you," Evan said, handing her the plastic cup.

Before she could take it, a big hand reached out and grabbed hold of it. Adonis stepped between them.

"Excuse me, but that's for the lady," the young man said, drawing himself up as tall as he could. He looked downright shrimpy next to Adonis, but it was an impressive effort.

"Why don't you drink it yourself?" Adonis said, shoving the cup back at the man.

"What...?"

"Adonis!" Perfect yelled, whacking him on the shoulder with considerable force... that he ignored.

"You heard me," Adonis said. "Drink it yourself."

"Hey, fuck this," Evan said, slapping the cup away and spilling it before turning on his heel and storming away.

"What the hell was that about?" Perfect demanded. "It's just soda. I asked him for it."

"He put something in it," Adonis said. "I watched him."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. You never let a guy you don't know alone with your drink," Adonis said. "Not even for a minute. Don't you know anything?"

"Well, I've heard about that, and not leaving a drink unattended," Perfect said. "But... he was nice."

"You don't think a guy who wants you to trust him's gonna come on like a jerk?" Adonis said. "These dicks know what they're doing. That's how they keep pulling it off. If he was a real man... well, he wouldn't need that shit."

"Can I make a personal observation?" Perfect asked.

"Yeah, sure."

"Do you think maybe the reason you care so much about being seen as a 'real man' and about what 'real men' do might stem from insecurity over your body?"

"Why would I be insecure about my body?" Adonis asked, sounding shocked and slightly angry at the idea. "It's... it's perfect."

"Well, yeah... but... being 'perfect' can create a hard expectation to be live up to," Perfect said. "As well I know. I mean, D.J.'s body is great, I guess... but it's mostly a copy of her own, so she can probably feel pretty secure in it. You, on the other hand... I don't know what you looked like before the transfer, but I don't imagine it was quite the same as you do now. Do you sometimes feel like you have to prove you've earned it?"

"Well, maybe this isn't the body I was born with, but that doesn't mean I don't deserve it," Adonis said. "Unlike that dickhead who tried to drug and rape you. He didn't have to do anything to get his body. He was just born that way."

"I'm sorry, I'm honestly not trying to insult you here," Perfect said. "I just mean to say... maybe... you try too hard?"

"Or maybe most guys don't try hard enough," Adonis said. "Like that dicklick, Vallenzio."

"Not that I'm his biggest fan, but what is it with you and him?"

"It's the same thing as that other loser," Adonis said. "He doesn't know how to be a man. He doesn't deserve what he was born with. We've fucked a lot of the same girls, and you know what they tell me? He doesn't know how to treat a woman... doesn't know how to touch a woman."

"Well, Ray's got a wealth of faults, but I can't honestly say I have any complaints in that area," Perfect said. "Not that I have much to compare it to..."

"Exactly. That's why he likes the inexperienced chicks," Adonis said. "He can go in and just pound away, really rip them open... no class, no style, no foreplay, and if you've never been with a real man you think he's rocked your world. The only reason the chicks he bangs even get off is because he can keep going until they do."

"This is getting really personal," Perfect said, her cheeks burning.

"But I'm not wrong, am I?" Adonis said. "I mean, when you play with yourself..."

"Whoa, stop right there," Perfect said. "I don't... do that."

"That's bullshit. Everybody masturbates."

"Well, I don't," Perfect said. "And we can stop this conversation right there."

"Okay, I believe you," Adonis said. "I was just going to say, I know how to touch a woman. Vallenzio doesn't care enough to learn."

"Don't just say 'I believe you,'" Perfect said. "I really don't!"

"Why do you care if I think you do?"

"I just do," Perfect said. "Anyway, so maybe you know a lot about sex... but... do you really treat women any better? When you talk to me... or at least, that time in the bar... it wasn't like you were talking to me as a person."

"I was talking to you as a man to a woman... or I was trying to, but the only way I've ever learned that stuff is from watching movies and shit. The thing is, life isn't like TV," Adonis said. He gave a short, bitter laugh. "Do you know how long it took me to figure that out? It sounds stupid, but... it sure looks like TV, when you get out into the world. Like, that thing with that guy earlier? That would've happened exactly the same on TV, except, you'd end up going home with me because I saved you. You don't... I know you're not going to," he said, cutting her off before she could interject. "I know it. I just don't know what I'm supposed to do when you turn me down."

"Well, I don't really watch TV, but I know what you mean," Perfect said to Adonis. "I wouldn't have slept with Ray, except I had this stupid idea that we were in love and it was, you know, meant to be... because of how we met, and everything that happened, and then he told me about his past... it all happened, just like a story in a book."

"Right up until the end, huh?"

"Hey!" D.J. said cheerily, breaking the silence that followed this comment. "Sorry, the lines were horrible... anyway, uh, Donny... Perfect's really here to meet new people, and so are you, so why don't..."

"No, it's okay," Perfect said. "We're kind of actually having a conversation."

"Oh," D.J. said. "Okay. You want me to stick around?"

"I'll go," Adonis said.

"No, stay," Perfect said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him back. "This is interesting. Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything stupid," she said to D.J.

"Alright," D.J. said. "But... don't think you're getting out of here without hitting the dance floor."

"I'm not much of a dancer," Perfect said.

"Don't you lie to me," D.J. said. "I've seen you move."

"Look, I really should go," Adonis said. "I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have said..."

"You didn't say anything wrong," Perfect said.

"No, look, if we see each other again, let's just pretend we never had this conversation?"

"Okay, but..."

"Night, D.J.," Adonis said.

"You know... I want him," Perfect said, watching him walk away.

"Honey, you what?!?"

"For my team," Perfect clarified. "I know you can't stick around forever, but what's he got going on? He's strong and tough... at least as tough as you, and even if he is kind of an idiot, he's at least decent. Plus, he's just like me: he doesn't really know what the hell he's doing."

"I thought the idea behind a team was to surround yourself with peoples whose strengths complemented your weaknesses," D.J. said.

"I'm not saying it makes any kind of tactical sense," Perfect said. "But maybe we can learn from each other. Anyway, it'll be hard enough for me to attract members as an unknown with no powers... if I've already got my first recruit and he's a relative powerhouse, it might just up my credibility."

"Okay, that does make sense."

"Also, if I can talk Ray into joining, they can keep an eye on each other."

'Okay, that does not," D.J. said.

"Because he's a good fighter, and a good hero, and he's already involved in my main case," Perfect said. "If we aren't working together, we're going to be tripping over each other all the time. Anyway, what happened between us only happened because I didn't keep my business and personal life separated. Moving forward, sleeping with Ray was personal... so I won't let it affect our business relationship."

"It's your life, so I am not gonna lecture," D.J. said. "But I hope you know what you're doing."