I woke up the next day, with a dull pain in my shoulder. Idly touching the source of the pain, I felt a small tender spot that caused me to flinch with every touch.
Hissing in pain, I sat up in my bed and put on my glasses before looking at my shoulder, to see a small bruise where I'd been grazed by a bullet just yesterday.
Looking at my alarm clock, I saw that it was only 4:43 AM, meaning that I got up pretty damn early. The sun hadn't even come up yet.
Slowly but surely, I got up and out of my bed before grabbing a shirt that I hadn't put away last night and putting it on, along with a pair of pants. I also clipped Rush in its Walkman form to my hip.
"Good morning, Taylor," Rush said happily, as I felt his small tail wagging against my thigh.
"Morning Rush," I said with a small smile, as I stumbled through my bedroom until I got to my door.
Walking out of my room, I went to the toilet really quickly, taking a couple of minutes to just… relieve myself before washing my hands and leaving.
Walking out of the bathroom, I went straight into the kitchen. I was feeling pretty hungry, and Dad should hopefully have some leftovers from the dinner that I didn't have the chance to eat last night.
I turned on the kitchen light, before opening the fridge, which is where I saw a somewhat greasy box with the Fugly Bobs branding on it on the middle shelf, with a small note on it saying 'For Taylor' in Dad's handwriting.
Opening the box, I found that there was a medium burger and some fries, which had gotten somewhat stale due to the refrigeration. But it was still good to eat… God knows I've probably eaten worse.
Putting the food into the microwave, I turned it on and listened to the dull hum as I went over to the sink and poured myself a glass of water. Thankfully Dad made sure to pay for a water purifier, because I wouldn't be caught dead drinking Brockton Bay's unfiltered tap water. That stuff was practically green.
Taking a small sip of the water, I let out a sigh of relief, my throat had gotten pretty dry while I was sleeping. I didn't even notice how dry it was until I took that first sip.
Quickly gulping down the rest of the water in a dehydration-induced fervor, I nearly dropped the glass in shock when the microwave beeped, the sound of it resounding through the house.
"Crap, crap, crap!" I muttered to myself, as I quickly put the empty glass down and pressed the 'stop' button a few times in a panic.
Thankfully the microwave stopped beeping, and I grabbed the reheated food within. Which was a classic mistake, as I hadn't used anything to insulate the heat.
"Fuck!" I whisper-shouted as I hesitated for a moment, expecting a burning sensation to come… but strangely? The pain didn't come.
This was when I quickly remembered that my powers made my arms a lot more resistant to heat, so with a small laugh I put the food onto a nearby clean plate.
So, with the food on a plate, I went over to the dining room, which was adjacent to the kitchen, and sat at the table, there was a small creak from somewhere in the house but I just ignored it, as I focused on the food in front of me.
The food that my stomach was practically demanding me to eat right now, if its growling was any indication.
I grabbed the burger between both of my hands, it was a greasy burger filled to the brim with beef and cheese, with onions and lettuce placed throughout alongside just a bunch of ketchup and the 'Fugly Bob's Patented Sauce'...
Looking at the burger, I let out a small sigh before taking a decently large bite out of it, tearing a chunk of the beef and cheese-filled burger with a single motion.
Having finished that first bite, I continued to devour the burger with progressively smaller and smaller bites, before moving onto the fries. They were somewhat stale and absolutely covered in salt. Which really didn't help with the taste… they were just too cold and mushy to properly enjoy.
After around ten minutes, and a few glasses of water to rehydrate myself from the salt-filled fries, I had finished my dinner… or breakfast, I guessed?
With that, I then put the now somewhat greasy plate into the sink and started to wash it. It only took around a minute to do so, and once it was completely clean, I put it with the rest of the clean dishes in a small cabinet next to the sink.
Once that was done, I cracked my fingers slightly before turning around to go back to my bedroom.
But as I turned around, I stopped at the sight that I saw before me, which nearly caused me to shout in surprise…
Dad had somehow managed to sneak up on me, as he was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, dressed in a simple green shirt and brown cargo shorts, a tired look in his eyes.
"Morning Taylor" Dad groaned, as he quickly made his way over to the coffee pot, walking past me.
He poured in some coffee beans along with some water, and turned the machine on, causing the bitter beans to begin boiling.
"Oh, uh. Good morning Dad" I said somewhat awkwardly, not really having expected to speak to him this early in the morning after all.
"...What are you doing up so early?" Dad asked, as he leaned against the kitchen bench ever so slightly, he'd been doing that quite a bit lately. Leaning against objects in order to support his weight, as if he was injured or something...
"Not much. Just went to bed- uh, early so I woke up early" I replied, giving him a slight shrug to accentuate my point.
"Alright. Makes sense… where'd you get that walkman from?" Dad asked, looking at the Rush Walkman that was resting on my hip.
"I- uh, well… I've been going to thrift stores lately, and managed to find it at one of them… I've been getting into cassette players" I said after a few moments of internal panic.
I could almost swear that Dad rolled his eyes at my response, before the coffee pot came to a boil, and he focused on that instead, grabbing a mug out of the cabinet, one that I'd given to him years ago that said World's Number #1 Dad… before pouring himself a cup of the brown liquid.
He then took a long sip of his coffee, his eyes widening ever so slightly, becoming more alert as he finished his sip and gave a sigh of relief, visibly relaxing after having his first cup of coffee of the day.
"...Fair enough. I've got some old cassette tapes in the attic, if you want any to listen to. Your mom really enjoyed the classic rock" Dad said with a small, sad smile as he looked down into the mug.
"Alright, I'll… check that out later," I said after a moment, before Dad perked up slightly, before looking back at me.
"Good. They'll be in a little box labeled 'Tunes'... do not touch any of the other boxes up there" Dad said with a stern look, one that I hadn't seen in years… not since mom passed, at least.
"Got it, uh… is there anything else you need to tell me?" I asked, causing Dad to hum slightly before taking a sip of his coffee and looking at me.
"There's this new Cape going around, been seen nearby… I think his name's Machine or Rock Man, it's something like that, at least that's what the guys at the Docks have been saying… if you see him, steer clear alright? Don't know if they're a hero or not" Dad said, as he looked at me with a surprisingly knowing look in his eyes.
Oh fuck oh fuck, he knows… how does he know!?
"G-got it, Dad," I said with a forced smile, fighting with my instinctual reaction to ask him how he knew about my secret identity.
"Good… oh and you have school in the morning, so you should probably go back to bed, I hope you have a good day, my little owl," Dad said with a small subtle smile, before taking another sip of his coffee and leaving back to his bedroom.
…School. Right, I have… to go back to Winslow today… and Dad somehow knows or at least seems to know that I'm Machina…
Fuck.
____
Nearly 800 words spent on Taylor getting out of bed, grabbing leftovers, and eating a burger. I really need to learn what I should prioritize with my writing…
Also sorry for this chapter being a bit later than usual, I was almost finished with it before going to bed, and just quickly finished it up now.
But other than that? Danny seems to know something about Taylor being Machina, and next chapter, we're going to Winslow, baby! I can't see anything going wrong there, no siree!