Living with Spirit Girl: Cp5

Living with Spirit Girl
Chapter Five

The only conclusion I felt fit the evidence was that I did have the upper hand. Stealth was a major advantage. Did not like my spectral existence, but for the moment it provided a benefit that I would employ. I also had gained information from the situation at the school while my adversaries were left with their questions unanswered and objectives not gained. While I had to admit that I was winning, I moved my thoughts to what I could do to remain with the upper hand.

That was what put me in S4. I usually pushed myself until I could go no further. Even when physically down my mind stayed racing to have the course laid out when my body again felt able to run. Others that gained or took on the rank of S4 usually had a reason, a motivation, to have them operate at such a level. I however just naturally thought and acted in such a manner. While others gained their objective, so lost the drive to keep them S4, I stayed due to being in my element at that physical and mental level.

I found myself thinking it cute that Blake realized that I was an adult. He put me in this young body so that he could relate to me, and I felt it showed the lad as growing up to realize that there was more to age than the physical form. I had no knowledge of humans, so had no idea how to act toward him. Honestly, I was not one to date either. Relationships took time, and I just could not slow myself down enough to treat men properly in a social situation. My situation with Blake actually had me where I needed to spend time with him, but I found myself agreeing that there were great differences that would have us realize that we would never fit romantically.

How time passed in my ethereal existence I could not say. Not having an actual physical body, I had no idea about any real stress. Some of the elapsed time might have simply been my essence needing to restore some strength and not my inactive status in not having the brooch in contact with Blake. I found myself not waking up, but only realizing that I was active. Looking around I saw several groups of youngsters, so assumed time had passed until a free period during school.

“Arraelly?” Dorothy asked with her head moving as if it was hard to see me in bright daylight.

I replied, “I do not believe it would be wise for me to go physical, as I would be noticed.”

“Yes. We probably need to get you a school uniform. I can do that. Anyway, Arraelly, I was wondering if you just wanted to talk.” Her voice dropped and change tones as she added, “Yes. I know Blake probably needs to be here, but still you should be able to whisper.”

It took me a moment to realize what she was saying. If the conversation did not involve direct physical action, and I did not consider whispering to fall into that category, I usually did not involve myself. It suddenly hit me however that she was talking about her and me speaking on female topics. I did not want to be rude, so I considered what to say.

“I am hoping this situation does not prolong my presence. There are some things I might need to know, but right now I am simply trying to learn about my situation and removing the threat of Lorither. I believe that my only option is to do that with Blake.”

Tim interjected, “Ooh, you’re not getting naked with him?”

I waited for other exclamations before replying, “No. I took on this form clothes and all. I don’t know if I can take off these clothes.”

Dorothy asked, “Do your people wear clothes?”

“Well, not as much as you do. As you saw, my body is mostly shelled.”

“Yes, but, I still thought of you as female.”

“I am sure that biology has forced some similar traits between us. This is not a situation where we can compare things however. There are criminals that must be caught, and we need to focus on that.”

Justus asked, “You are not scared, Arraelly?”

“No, I am not scared. From what I heard yesterday it is the criminals that are scared, and it is best if we can keep it that way.”

“Well, how are you going to do that?”

Actually, I had an answer to that. “Blake, when we come home this evening, I need you to show me what a superhero is. You mentioned the word, and I believe it might give me the advantage.”

His friends spoke of agreeing while Blake spoke of definitely being able to show me some things about superheroes. What I heard earlier matched what comments I heard, which had me believe that I could use the concept to my advantage. That was about all the time the youngsters had, and with the sounding of the tone Blake put away my brooch and I returned to my non-existence.

Dorothy was with Blake when I again became alert to the physical world. I did not recognize the house we were on the side of. I was puzzled, but Dorothy was quick to help.

“We are going inside my house, Arraelly. My mother wants to meet all visitors. I thus will need you to be visible.”

Honestly, that made sense to me. I thus worked with Blake to assure that I was as opaque as possible. Walking beside the pair, I advanced to the front door to Dorothy’s house.

Everything was different about her home than Blake’s. I would not say that it was nice, but the artwork was more like that of my home. We tended to design large statements of personal beliefs. Some people liked them highly decorated, but others just put a lot of effort into a wonderful calligraphy job. Getting my own place after leaving the military, I bought a long cloth and wrote on it ‘If you are not reading this with my permission, either I am dead or you will soon be.’ I have touched up the letters while adding photos of me having certain criminals bound in front of me or headlines proclaiming my success. I had no way of knowing what many of the symbols were in the surrounding artwork, but the simplicity of the designs had me appreciate the home more than that of Blake.

“Arraelly,” Dorothy’s mother said, “I was told that you looked a lot like Melanie Morlock. Where did you have the outfit made.”

I knew better than to say that the reason had been on purpose, so made what I hoped was a reasonable reply. “She is famous, and I had the physique for it. There really is not much to the outfit.”

“Yes, but why do you go around in that stage outfit? Surely you have other clothes?”

Blake said for me, “Well, she is still trying to make an impression. We however convinced her that she needs to dress for school and our usual activities. What Dorothy said she wanted to provide were outfits that would fit around us.”

Hearing her daughter agree, Dorothy’s mother said, “I can understand that. I however do not believe that we have bras for you. Both my daughters share my trait of not being the best endowed.”

I had no idea what she spoke about. The words however seemed to embarrass both Blake and Dorothy. Their odd actions helped get a smile from me, which I assumed was the proper response from the actions of the elder.

She smiled as well while saying, “I went off what I saw of Melanie Morlock on some videos.”

Completely confused, I had to admit that what I heard sounded like the right thing to do. “I probably would have attempted that as well.”

Dorothy quickly said, “I told you, Mother, that Arraelly had a recent growth spurt. Anything is better than nothing. Thank you.”

Blake asked about the comic book collection of Dorothy’s younger brother. The elder had been informed about a desire to show me superheroes, so informed Blake about where to look. As he went to select the material, Dorothy took me into her room.

I did recognize the outfit for Blake’s school. Some of the other things set for me were not as recognizable. Dorothy explained that some were for regular wear with a couple for a more formal social.

“Don’t attend those,” I said, “and I don’t play either. Still, by play you mean being active?” Seeing her nod, I said, “That would make more sense than this outfit.” I then reached for a strange strap with two bulbous layers of cloth and asked, “What is this?”

“Your bra.” Seeing me simply look at her, she replied, “Can you take your clothes off?”

That was a good question. I thus began to see what was covering and actually a part of my body. I was wearing clothes when I arrived, so assumed that I would be able to remove the garments. In the end I found it simple to recognize my clothes from my skin. I thus tried on the various garments.

I learned things of the human anatomy. In return for the lessons, I told her things about my body. It actually became a pleasant experience speaking with the young lady. We did have things in common, although I was mostly amazed at what she said. She giggled when I asked her about gorillas, but knowing why I would ask such a question she tried to supply information about the anatomy of apes as well.

Blake was finally called in, and I found some pleasure in seeing his expression. He asked about difficulties in making the changes, and I showed him the clothes I had been wearing. He agreed with Dorothy that the material was very unusual, in spite of its appearance. I had to state my conclusion that I would also probably be found unusual if someone like a doctor looked past the appearance of a young lady. Blake again spoke of his pleasure in what he saw of me, and I called his attention to what he had brought with him.

We spent time speaking of superheroes. This was a means of entertainment that my world did not have. We had our legendary heroes with our culture producing more stories of them. To endow a fictional person with wondrous abilities and have them fight powerful villains seemed like something that youngsters on our world would appreciate as well. I thus found myself enjoying the time.

Blake finally asked, “Do you now understand why I was calling you a superhero?”

“Yes, and I believe that I am a superhero. That is what S4 is. To claim S4 status is to claim that you are above the normal people. Usually it is necessary, as a criminal might be crossing district territories or otherwise working in ways that go beyond the usual police procedures. Why a person gains S4 status are many. I gained the status when the criminal I was chasing was bribing police and government figures, so my superior told me that he was promoting me to S4 so I could claim the authority to bypass the usual protocols. I did discover the criminal, then found other serious cases being brought to me. I have been S4 now for four years. Not only am I committed, but I guess that I do now have a superpower. I guess that I am a superhero.”

“All right!”

I quickly replied to Blake, “But you are not.”

“You need me, Arraelly.”

Dorothy looked at me while saying, “At the moment, Arraelly, you do.”

“Lorither is very dangerous, and Honidder being present only assures that the danger is great. Listen, I kept Blake safe previously, and will continue to keep him safe. Leave being a superhero to me.”

Blake said, “Still, we are sidekicks.”

Now understanding the terminology, I had to say, “I guess so.”