THE MOMENT
"It was necessary...," Glory reminded Hero One. She set a bottle of amber liquor down in front of the greying, distinguished hero. Then, she quietly whisked away his untouched coffee without making a sound. Aside from the two of them, the Diner was empty. As popular as Glory's restaurant was among the Super community, the Heroes let him have Glory's all to himself for the night. Even the villains respected him enough to stay away after the event. Plenty of the civilians were still at ground zero; but, those that weren't didn't come anywhere near Glory's. The sun had set; but, the visible city outside the Diner window was dark and empty. Glory could still see the aftermath glowing in the distance. "...we all know that. Sometimes people need to be reminded that consequences exist. We have rules for a reason."
"Why does it always have to be me reminding them...?" Hero One sighed. "This wasn't what I wanted when I created the Hero's League. I never thought I'd have to do this. Not at all... not again. And AGAIN. AND AGAIN." He raised his voice and balled his fist. Glory didn't hesitate. She quickly placed her hand on his red-stained knuckles.
"Hey now," she gave him a soft squeeze. She didn't need to say more and he relaxed his hands.
"I know... I know...," he nodded. "It's just frustrating how much they take for granted. I hide my strength so much; we all hold back what we're capable of because we know we're dangerous. Why don't they know?" Hero One gestured out the window at the dark city block. "Why do they forget so easily...?" he added with a notable whine in his voice. "It's always the worst when I have to remind the people of that fact."
"Relax...," Glory patted his dirty hand. "It's over now; it'll be a while before you have to do it again. Maybe you won't," she smiled.
"Wouldn't that be nice...," Hero One chuckled. "It's just.. all the planning takes a lot out of me. Every time I look at the polls it's hard not to get annoyed. The general public doesn't have any real clue about how we work. And looking at that every day for a few days before the event just kind of gets under my skin."
"Then don't do it at the last minute you dummy," Glory giggled. "You wait all year dreading the event, then do it with a chip on your shoulder. You could be more proactive. Get quarterly polls or get ONE of the dozens of tech geniuses in the League to put up a community-focused website." Hero One looked up at her with wide eyes.
"Glory you're amazing! Why didn't I come to you sooner?"
"You did," she giggled. "But, not with that problem. You asked me how you could improve it this year," she gestured at the warm orange glow in the distance. "This was a new issue," she smirked. "One we really need to address. If nothing else, I can tell you your current approach needs work; people don't like being lectured."
"Fair enough," Hero One chuckled. He glanced at the liquor, then he looked around out the windows.
"I feel bad for keeping you. You should at least get to see the festival you helped bring together for us," He stood from the stool and waved at her to join him.
"Well, I am curious...," she smiled and walked around the counter. "...to see how many people came back after your half-hour PowerPoint lecture on Super Safety."