Shades of Gray

Maggi

Maggi's heart was racing as she walked into her lair. She had been followed and hadn't seen him. She nearly led her enemy's boyfriend to her lair! What would she have said if he had asked what she was doing? She couldn't say the truth. Oh don't mind me, Dan! I'm just going to the lair of your boyfriend's archenemy! He would throw her in jail before she could actually get any lie in. If she had actually gone in and he try to follow, how would she explain to Henry why his boyfriend didn't return home? She hated that her head raced with the what ifs. She hated that she had been so preoccupied that she had nearly led Dan to her lair. Her best kept secret, other than her power. She could wipe the location from his mind next time she saw him. She nodded to herself. That's what she would do. She was so lost in thought that she didn't see the person before her. She let out a small yelp as she ran into a hard body. As she took in the face of the intruder, her heart raced. Norma caught her effortlessly. Her hands wrapped around Maggi's hips. 
"I think you just fell for me." Maggi scowled and pushed away. She could feel the heat on her face. 
"How did you get in here?" Norma shrugged at the question. 
"I just," she waved her hands, "Shadowed in?" She inhaled like she realized how ridiculous that sounded. "I'm sorry, am I not supposed to be in here?" Maggi shook her head. 
"That's why me and Captain Night set the trap at the door." She walked over to where she kept her notebook and flipped to an empty page, making note to fix that point of entry. "I don't remember if I already asked this, but can you take other people with you when you shadow travel?" Norma shrugged. 
"I don't know. I have never tried. I had never told anyone about my power, except one friend." She glanced suspiciously at Maggi. "Which is how I assume you found out about it?" Maggi shrugged. 
"I was trying to find out about every superpowered individual in Koral City, I hacked everyone's account." Norma's face was a mix of fear and awe. 
"I didn't know you could hack. Could you teach me sometime?" Maggi looked at the ground. 
"I suppose, if I had the time." She felt her face flush again. What was it about Norma that makes me so nervous?
"If I attempt to take you through my shadows, will you go with me to my schools prom not this Saturday but the next?" Maggi jolted up. 
"Go with you? To prom? I-I-I don't know about that.." She stammered. "I don't even know how to dance..I don't even have a nice dress!" Norma shrugged. 
"We could go shopping together. Please, Maggi. I don't want to go, but if it was with you, maybe I would." Maggi's eyes were flitting everywhere but Norma's. It's not that she didn't want to go, it's that it is the night she was planning to launch her first attack on Exodus. She wasn't about to tell Norma that though. 
"Ok. I'll take you up on the dress offer, though. I'm going to need it." Norma's smile brightened the whole room. Literally, the shadows dimmed and it made the room look odd. Maggi smiled along with her. It was small and awkward, but it was nice all the same. 
"Alright then." Norma offered Maggi her hand. "Shall we then?" Maggi's heart caught in her throat and she shakily took Norma's hand. Her hand was slightly cold, but it made Maggi feel like she was heated by a thousand fires. Norma moved towards the corner, never breaking eye contact. Maggi thought that eventually they would run into the corner, but when she looked around, she saw every corner, closet, and dark place in Koral City all at once. Her face contorted with awe and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Norma smile. Maggi gazed in wonder as they slowly fazed into a small bedroom. The walls were a dark gray and the furniture was dark oak. It took Maggi a moment to realize it was Norma's room. She had seen it on her cameras, but it was different now that Norma was showing her by choice. It felt oddly intimate. She searched the room until she found the perspective her camera rested at. She, of course, couldn't see it, she had bought the smaller-than-the-eye-can-see size. The room was darker than the camera had made it out to be. It made sense that a girl with the ability to use and move through shadows would have a dark room. It had always struck Maggi as cliche, though, to have a dark room or house and be a villain. Movies always painted the villain as someone who wore black and was the obvious choice of a villain. She was happy when Captain Night had turned out to be Sabrina and she wasn't this dark and lurking character in real life. However, Norma's room didn't seem cliche. It was nice and calming. It reminded Maggi of sitting in the middle of a dark forest. She hadn't realized she had been scrutinizing until Norma rubbed her arm in a self-conscious way. Maggi whipped around and tried to appear to be appraising it. 
"Your room is very nice. It seems very comfortable." Norma nodded and sat down on her bed. 
"I was a little nervous to be showing you it. You styled the lair in a way I assume to not be a super villain-esque. I was worried I would come across as basic. For a villain to have a dark and ominous room is so overused, yet I like it." She chuckled dryly. Her face vulnerable and hopeful. Maggi was not good in those situations. 
"I like it too. I do think the dark villain is overused, though. It suits you. The dark villain, not the overused part." Maggi internally cringed at how awkward she was. To her relief, Norma smiled. 
"My thoughts exactly." Maggi sat down tentatively on the edge of her bed before Norma pulled her fully on and into her arms. Maggi was sure her face was one of shock and awe. It wasn't like she had ever tried to hide the fact she thought Norma was super attractive. Her dark hair and light skin made her look like a vampire in the lighting. A super attractive vampire. Her eyes, also dark, were searching Maggi's, for what she didn't know. When she realized that Norma wasn't going to push her away, she sank into the embrace. It calmed her to hear the other's heartbeat. It was fluttering like hers. Which was surprisingly comforting. Maggi smiled and closed her eyes. She heard Norma mutter something but didn't catch it, as she was drifting off. She wondered how someone could make her let her guard down so easily. That was her last thought as she fell asleep.

I AM SOO SORRY FOR NOT POSTING YESTERDAY! I fell asleep early and though I really needed it, I felt super bad and am posting today instead! As always I hope you enjoyed and continue reading!