A 'Smashing' Lunch (Tag: Yang)

"Oh.  So, like a superhero?"  Those seemed to only exist in comic books these days, although with all the different powers people had in this city, some of them could probably pass off as one.  It would certainly make crime-fighting easy, with super speed and all.  This Kid Flash guy could probably catch a dozen of them within the night.  At Adrien's joke about getting him and Shadow to race against each other, she laughed.  "Might be a little difficult to organize that.  I don't know how well cops would favor a superhero."  In the comic books, they were always a little wary of superheros, claiming that they were taking justice into their own hands.  Heck, they already weren't big fans of Chat Noir, despite the good he did.  She wondered how long it would take for the public to become suspicious of Kid Flash.  Shadow would probably have no problem with the guy.  Others, not so much.  Not everyone was as understanding as Shadow was.

"Do you know what made him come to Bellerouge?" Yang asked.  Was news of the city so bad that Kid Flash felt the need to come here and help out?  Or was there some other reason he was here?  Yang felt like he couldn't have been here for very long, otherwise she would have heard some of her cop friends mention him.  She remembered Shadow and Sunshine bringing up Chat Noir almost as soon as Adrien started sneaking out as him.  Then again, Shadow and Sunshine were good at their job.  They tended to get information quickly.  "If you pull it off, you'll have to organize it.  I'm no good at big stuff like that," Yang said.  Organizing events and charity drives wasn't her area of specialty, mainly because for the longest time, she was more like those on the receiving end of those things rather than the giving end.  Stuff like that was organized to help people who used to be in her situation.  Yang still wasn't sure if they were doing a great job, since not everybody got off the streets like her and Moses, but at least people were trying.  People like Adrien actually gave a damn and wanted to help out as best they could.  That was something she had to give them credit for.

Yang just nodded.  It looked like whatever reason brought Kid Flash here, he was keeping it to himself.  At least he was doing some good though.  She had to appreciate that.  And if he and Adrien could work together, then even more people could be helped.  When Adrien said Shadow didn't really know him, she said "Oh, right."  She sometimes forgot that she was the only one who knew Adrien and Chat Noir were the same person.  "You ever think of telling anyone else?" she asked.  It was kind of special, being the only person who knew.  But if Adrien was going to tell anyone, Yang would want it to be someone like Shadow or Sunshine.  They wouldn't spill the beans, and it might make working with them easier.  But who knew if Adrien was ready for that.  Heck, he hadn't planned on Yang finding out.  It had just sort of happened by accident.

"Yeah, I guess.  Otherwise, we'd just have to eat take-out all the time or something," Yang joked.  Going out in public with a masked stranger wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do.  Even in the past, Yang and Chat had only met at her hideout at night, when there was less of a chance of someone spotting him.  As Adrien, they could do the normal stuff that couples did.  At least, most of them.  They weren't really together, so things like PDA were out of the question.  Even Yang had to admit though, it almost felt effortless, being out with him like this.  The only anxiety she really felt was trying to keep cool so she wouldn't ruin this.  She really wanted it to go well.  She felt like if it did, it meant that she was really getting better, and finally making some progress.  Before she could say more though, the waiter returned with her order, as well as Adrien's.  She had to admit, his phily cheese steak looked a lot more artery-clogging than hers.  Still, she was happy with her sandwich once she took a bite of it.  "Oh yeah.  That's what I call a sandwich," she said with a grin.  

"Maybe we'll just have to experiment sometime, get a Cooking for Dummies book or something," Yang said.  Most of her meals were the frozen variety, and if she made anything herself, it was usually simple, like frozen vegetables thrown in with spaghetti and alfredo sauce.  But learning how to do more complicated stuff couldn't be that hard for Adrien, right?  It didn't have to look pretty like the stuff on cooking shows.  It just had to taste good.  Yang couldn't really do much with one hand, but at least Adrien could learn.  That could be pretty enjoyable.  She gave nod when he asked if her food was good.  "It is a step up from fast food," she admitted.  "Not quite as greasy."  The same probably couldn't be said for Adrien's philly cheese steak, but still.  Both of them were treating themselves, in a way.  And that was the whole point of this. 

"Knowing me, Shadow or Sunshine probably have one on stand-by somewhere," Yang said.  She could get pretty explosive sometimes back in the day, when she was angry.  And when she got mad, her fire powers tended to react.  It was different from people like Sunshine, whose powers worked differently.  Her healing powers never acted up when she got angry or scared.  Even if they did, what was the worst that could happen?  Yang had seen the devastation her powers could cause, and she was determined never to lose control like that again.  "Maybe you could get more of your fangirls to let their diets go if they see you do it," she joked.  "I mean, they see a picture of you with some fried chicken and they'll all want to get their hands on some."  Fans could have a mentality like that.  Their favorite celebrity did something, they immediately copied them.  And Adrien's fans did seem to have that kind of mentality.   

"Some might also say it's my downfall," Yang said.  More than once, her hot-headedness had gotten her into trouble.  Several times when she was living on the streets, if somebody pissed her off or tried to hurt her kids, she'd never hold back.  Most of the time, the outcome was in her favor.  But there were those times when she acted too rashly and just got herself into more trouble than when she started, like when she had first met Pitch.  And, in her mind, acting too rashly was what had cost her her arm.  Thraz had goaded her, and she had fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker.  If she hadn't lost her temper so easily, things might have turned out different.  It was a question that still kept her up at night.  Sometimes, she just couldn't help but imagine the "what ifs," what might have happened if she had just done things differently.  She knew it was pointless to agonize over it, since she couldn't change the past, but her mind tended to do it anyway.  Logic wasn't important to it right now, especially when she was upset.  Her attention was brought back by Adrien's laugh, commenting about how everyone he knew would probably have a heart attack if he posed with some fast food.  She gave a sigh.  "Sheesh.  They need to loosen up and live a little," she muttered before biting into her sandwich.