"Well. First time showing up to one of these events. I mean, like, we've done a con circuit, but not... this one." Starlight Gleam drops her hips, her skirt ruffling as she flops softly onto the edge of the concrete planter outside the hotel. "So... let me get this straight. The way the magic works is, the Starlight Mirror reveals your heart's greatest desire? And that manifests as... what? You become your 'inner truth' or whatever?"
Starlight Flash nods, folding her arms over her chest and looking across the street, expression calculatedly neutral. "Yep."
"And for you and me, that means just... a more idealized version of basically us?" Gleam asks, tilting her head curiously as she observes her newest team member in the distance. There's a soft rumble as a monster, all teeth and eyes and snapping limbs, gets slammed through the front face of a building.
"Yep," Flash replies, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, short-cropped hair bouncing slightly as she tucks in to protect the match from the wind. There's a slow intake of breath, and a plume of spiraling smoke floats up into the air shortly after.
"...okay for real, Flash, are you gonna say something other than 'yep'?" Gleam asks, running a palm through her blonde locks.
"Nope," Flash says, smirking lightly.
"...anyway," Gleam starts, rolling her eyes in irritation. She tilts her head as a chunk of concrete gets flung from the across the street by the force of another impact, embedding itself in the wall behind her. "So you and me. We turned into cute girls in frilly outfits because that's what we always really wanted to be. That was our inner truth?"
Flash nods, taking another drag. Another blow from the new hire sends a monster flying across the street, screeching and hissing in fear and anger as its body contorts into a mass of tumbling, snarling teeth. Flash's free hand snaps up, grabs it around its middle, and squeezes hard, bursting it into a cloud of wispy, acrid tendrils of vapor before exhaling. "Yep."
"So she..." Gleam says, her face tightening into a slight moue.
"She or they," Flash notes, stubbing out her cigarette.
"Right, right, she/they, turns into... that," she finishes, observing in confused fascination. "THAT can be your inner truth? Like, I've never seen a squirrel do anything like that. I'm pretty sure I would have noticed if squirrels were capable of... stretching... like that. And they certainly don't usually have... um, fangs. Or... wait, was that a fireball?!" Gleam shouts, leaning forward in her seat. A muffled, distant whumph and a sudden, grotesque snapping and writhing sound reaches her ears and she blanches, wincing. "...nope, it was way worse. Oh, god, where are all those tendrils coming from? That HAS to violate conservation of mass, right?"
"Yep," Flash shoots back, snort-laughing faintly, as she rocks back in her seat.
Gleam reaches into her vest pocket, pulling out the dropped convention badge and examining it carefully. "So how much do you wanna bet that if I look up their handle online, I'm gonna find a whole bunch of exactly this in a gallery somewhere? Just reams of content about a squirrel-shaped goo-hive?"
"No bet," Flash replies, shaking her head and waving Shimmer off.
Gleam sighs loudly, rubbing her face. "So, what are we even gonna call them? Starlight... Squelch? Starlight Squirm?" She quirks her brow, shrugging. "...Maybe just Starlight Squirrel to start and let people make their own assumptions."
The pair observe their new counterpart for a few long moments, leaning to the side to follow her movements as she surges across the pavement, an enormous, black-coated fist hammering another monster into pulp, as a peal of deranged laughter echoes through tight alleyways and off of towering buildings. Gleam purses her lips, looking down at her now rather tame-feeling frilly dress, and seems to consider something. "...they look really strong."
"Yep," Flash agrees, pulling out another cigarette.
Gleam opens her mouth, carefully considering what she's about to say. "...hey, uh, Flash?"
"Yep?"
"...should we get fursonas?"
Flash looks across the street one last time, sparking against her palm as she takes another long, slow puff. "...yep."
