I Fell For My Nemesis

Jocelyn was in an excellent mood for the next several days. She was feeling generous so when someone she saved gave her several different flavored bags of kettle corn from their small business in gratitude she decided to share with Delta when she saw him. After all, he had shared his pizza the other day. 

She didn't get gifts from people she helped often. Her reputation preceded her. People thought she was too cold and distant to accept such things though she never turned anyone down unless autographs were involved. She didn't want anyone to potentially recognize her handwriting and it seemed like a colossal waste of time. 

"Where did you get these?" Delta asked in disbelief. "There's so much!" 

"From somebody I saved from getting hit by a motorcycle with bad brakes. There is a lot. I was barely able to carry all of this here." 

Jocelyn had been laden with two shopping bags' worth and each one contained at least three flavors. She hadn't checked what they all were yet so she pulled them out. Strawberry cheesecake, cheddar cheese, dill pickle, cinnamon toast, banana bread, classic, smores, and caramel apple. 

Delta peered over her shoulder at them. "You gotta admire some people's creativity. Are some of these even good? I don't know about strawberry cheesecake flavored popcorn."

She shrugged. "A gift is a gift."

"Alright, I'll try a few pieces of each. If any are good I'll take them off your hands."

Jocelyn took her gloves off and used a bit of hand sanitizer from her hip pouch. She didn't want to eat finger food with gloves that touched who knows what throughout the city. She offered Delta some too and he did the same. 

She tried the strawberry cheesecake first. "It tastes good but is somehow jarring at the same time."

Delta grabbed a few pieces too and chewed thoughtfully. "I can see your point. It is good though. I guess there is something to strawberry cheesecake kettle corn after all. Let me have some of the dill pickle."

They worked their way through their sampling of all eight flavors making occasional commentary about which flavors were better than others. His favorite was the cheddar cheese and hers was between the banana bread and cinnamon toast. 

"You seemed to like the sweet flavors better," he noted. "I wouldn't have pegged you as having a sweet tooth."

Jocelyn shrugged. She didn't seek sweets out specifically most of the time but she did like having sugar to start her day with. That was usually enough for her. 

"I tend to eat sweet things for breakfast."

"Seriously? I would have pegged you as a bran flakes sort of person," Delta said in surprise. 

She blinked at him. "That's oddly specific. Any particular reason?"

"…not really. I have a question for you though! I meant to ask yesterday but didn't get the chance. What do you think I'm good at? I know it's random but it's a serious question so don't blow it off."

Jocelyn was confused by the abrupt subject change but she had no reason not to answer his somewhat strange question. She didn't know him outside of a heroic context so she could only tell him what she had seen that she thought made him a good hero. 

"You think quick on your feet, have good reflexes, and are good at making people feel comfortable with you," she told him. "Is that the sort of thing you're looking for?"

Delta sighed. "Not quite but thanks anyway."

"Why do you want to know?"

"It's kind of a personal thing. I'm thinking about what I should do when I retire and haven't found a career I think would suit me yet." 

Oh. Jocelyn hadn't realized he was thinking about retiring. Was this because of Mercury? Or had he simply decided it was time? She had no idea how old he was or anything about the man behind the mask. 

Delta's costume hid his identity rather effectively. His fish-scale-like suit had a mask attached to a hood so it was impossible to tell what color his hair was or if he even had any. All that was visible of his face were his blue eyes, his mouth, and his chin. 

"Are you thinking of retiring soon?"

"Not for a few more years at least but I want to be prepared for when that happens," he said before shoveling in another handful of cheddar kettle corn. 

Jocelyn was relieved that he wasn't planning on leaving the hero game just yet. Finding people to work with as reliable as him was incredibly difficult. She didn't want to lose her most useful colleague. 

Preparing for the future was always a good thing. Though it did raise the question of what he did now that didn't feel suitable to continue after he retired. He probably had some dead-end job somewhere that was barely enough to pay the bills. 

"What do you think you're good at? Since you seem to want to play to your strengths," she said wisely. 

Delta let out a bitter laugh. "Honestly? This. I'm good at being a hero but not much else. I can't do this forever though. It doesn't pay the bills and even if it did heroes don't last forever. Look at Mercury! He was one of the best and he nearly got killed before leaving to get married."

Jocelyn couldn't deny she had worried about Mercury and the situation with his former nemesis wife. She couldn't even bring that up now because it wasn't her secret to tell. 

"He was getting older," she said instead of what was truly on her mind. "It happens to all of us. We all lose our touch eventually." 

"He sure didn't seem old."

"I wouldn't define anyone in their early thirties as 'old' but think of professional athletes. They usually retire around that time too. Mercury did what he thought was best for him."

"How do you know how old Mercury is?" Delta asked suspiciously. 

Jocelyn sighed. Here she was trying not to reveal anything and ended up doing it anyway! "It was an educated guess. Most heroes retire by that time. I don't know how old Mercury is. I would have to know him for that."

She didn't like lying but it needed to be done in this situation. You would think she would be better at not letting things slip considering the whole client confidentiality thing. But when she was talking about a mutual acquaintance she just had to slip up. 

Technically, she didn't know Mercury. She just knew of him through Leah. She had never met the man in his civilian identity though she couldn't deny that she had looked him up on Facebook out of curiosity. 

He wore (most likely fake) glasses, was a patent attorney, and lived with his family in Queens. His cover photo was of him with his wife and daughter and he looked happier than she had ever seen him in person as he had his arms around both of them. 

His little girl was chubby-cheeked and adorable. She shared his brown hair and hazel eyes as opposed to her mother's much lighter coloring. Jocelyn had not expected Nox to be an albino. 

Social media painted a much prettier picture than real life so she hadn't been able to tell if Mercury's happiness was genuine or not. But it really wasn't her business despite her hoping for the best for her old colleague. 

"Right. None of us know each other," Delta said as he blew out a frustrated breath. "I can't even tell you about my career problems in detail because it would give too much away."

"Details do tend to help in such situations…but if you like being a hero so much why not do a job where you can still sort of be one? A police officer, a doctor, a firefighter. Something like that," Jocelyn suggested. 

"…is this your idea of a joke? Did you seriously tell the guy with water powers to be a firefighter?"

"Why not? You have plenty of experience with it. And it was only one of the options. I don't joke. At least not about things like this." 

"I don't think you joke period."

"That isn't true! I know I'm not the funniest person around but I have a friend who laughs at me. That…sounded better in my head. But you know what I mean. I'm not completely humorless," Jocelyn said more defensively than she thought she was capable of. 

She was fairly certain she just got his earlier reference to bran flakes and why he had changed the subject when she asked him to explain it. He thought she was boring. 

At this point she was used to people thinking that but she didn't want to hear it from the person she spent the most time with. Not when she actually did have someone as lively as Keith wanting to hang out with her. Delta was wrong! She couldn't be 100% boring even if she didn't have hobbies or favorites. 

Delta stared at her. "You actually got flustered! I didn't think that was possible."

"Everyone gets flustered, Delta! I'm not actually made of ice," Jocelyn snapped. "Keep the cheddar. I'm leaving."

"Hey, Frostine!" 

She gathered up the rest of the popcorn and slide down the roof of the building on a column of ice before making it vanish behind her.. She didn't need to deal with his negativity right now.