Ryan and I ended up coming home at the same time. I made a pan of lasagna last night, so I asked him if he wanted to join me for dinner. I figured it would be a nice break from the take-out food I see him carrying most nights.
He looked at me for a moment, nodded, and said, "Okay."
I invited him to sit on the couch while I warmed up the food. I offered him a drink and he said "Just a glass of water would be great, thanks." He glanced at the TV. "Mind if I turn on the news?"
I peeked around the corner from the kitchen. "Go ahead. Remote should be on the coffee table in front of you."
"Thanks."
I pulled the pan of lasagna out of the refrigerator and heard the six o'clock newscaster. She was talking about a bank robbery. I put the lasagna in the oven and turned it on to 350 degrees. I poured Ryan's glass of water and took it out to him.
"What's going on?" I asked him as I handed him the water.
"Thanks," he muttered and then nodded to the TV. "Live cam on a robbery downtown. Looks like Pillar and Falcon are handling it."
Just as he said it, I saw Falcon's brown and white form hovering above the bank. Pillar wasn't on screen, so maybe he was inside the bank. I had a passing thought that Ryan was going to stand up and say "I'm sorry, but I have to go." I'd say, "Oh, is everything okay?" And he'd say, "Yeah, I just forgot about something I have to take care of." He'd excuse himself and five minutes later I'd see Streak on the six o'clock news.
But Ryan didn't do any of that. He kept watching the news.
"Pillar is exiting the bank now. It looks like he has apprehended the thief," the newscaster said. "Police are moving in to arrest him now."
"I wonder why Pillar and Falcon were the ones to take care of that," I thought aloud. "Doesn't look like it was something the police couldn't handle on their own."
Ryan shrugged. "Maybe they were on patrol in the area."
I don't intend to trip up Ryan and get him to say something he's not supposed to reveal. I know who he is. I don't have to have him accidentally validate that he's Streak. But sometimes I'm still hyper-aware of everything he says, as if I'm going to analyze every word looking for clues.
But this sort of hypothesizing about superheroes is common. Most people in Primacity wonder about the Super Seven and they'll talk about why superheroes do the things they do. Now, if Ryan said something that implied he knew Pillar and Falcon personally, that would be different. But he won't do that. Besides, I said I'm not waiting around for that kind of thing.
I'm rambling again, sorry.
After the lasagna was hot, I set the table and Ryan and I had dinner. It was nice, just two neighbors sharing a meal. He said it was "delicious" and thanked me again for dinner before he left.
Must be lonely, being a superhero and not being able to tell people about it. It doesn't have to be that way for him or for any of them. But they'll tell you it's safe that way.