✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

145. Anticipation

"Oh..." Tess answered. She was curious about that, but she was sure from Gabby's expression that she'd seen something pretty traumatic. "Well, we could give it a try. But will Ffrances be around? It wouldn't be fair to exclude her."

"Early shift," Gabby pointed out. "I sent her a message suggesting it. Didn't tell her what we're watching, just asked if she wants to come here and watch a movie with us when she finishes at work. Probably around lunch time."

"That sounds great," Tess said, surprised to find just how excited she was getting about watching a low-quality first draft of a movie. Was that because she was so excited about this particular story? Because the thrill of breaking the rules made it seem like more of a big deal? Or perhaps because it was more proof of how far Gabby would go to give her family a special treat?

In any case, Tess could look forward to an afternoon to remember.

Gabby went up to the office in the attic to catch up on some paperwork. She made a point of saying that it was just work stuff, and nothing important. But Tess couldn't help noticing that she had a couple of letters on her bank's stationery, including one that had come in the post this morning, and seemed a little more nervous than usual. There was something going on here; something serious enough that she wanted to protect the "baby" from it. But Tess knew she had no right to ask; she probably couldn't help with any money troubles that were serious enough to bother Gabby. But she still felt frustrated that she was being left out, like she was still a child.

"We're watching a movie?" Spike asked. "Another surprise for Ffrances?"

"What?" Tess responded, and then managed to pull her attention away from whatever Gabby was dealing with upstairs. "Oh, yeah. Gabby wanted to surprise her, and... Well, I think we'll all enjoy it. I'm sure you'll be impressed."

"Want to surprise me too?" he asked. "Are you going to propose to me in the big romantic scene or something? Heh... But I think Gabby's trusting too much in the big romantic gestures. I mean, Ffrances likes her just for being herself, not just because of the gifts she can give. And besides, there's no way she can do something else that even comes close to that proposal. Unless she's got like, the first copy of Tags 2 or something, then she'd..."

He stared in surprise. Everything in that speech had been a joke, that was clear. But he'd seen Tess's reaction, and immediately known that he hit the bullseye.

"Oh, wow! Seriously?"

"Yeah. Her company's doing all the logistics for the show, you know? That first time you came here for the afternoon, she was organising a conference for all the creatives. She met Kernigan, you know that. And since then, she's mentioned barging into Tyler Walthamstone's trailer and dragging him in front of the directors so he didn't miss his audition... So I guess there's a lot of people on the team who see her as a person who gets things done."

"Yeah, but the movie hasn't even been announced yet. I wouldn't even expect it to exist, let alone be available to anyone."

Tess explained what Gabby had told her, about the editors putting together a daily compilation showing the best version so far of every scene, so that the actors could have some idea of how their performances fitted into the whole. But she admitted that she had no idea how Gabby had gotten her hands on one of those DVDs, save a guess that it was probably not something she was actually allowed to have.

"I bet it was MK," Spike said. "I mean, talking to Frank and Jasmine about the time he went to Malarkey & Sons, they got the impression he had some kind of crush on Ffrances. Like he's fascinated by the effort she puts into understanding every last detail. He could have let Gabby have it, because he wants to make her happy even if they've got no excuse to meet in person."

"I think he was more asking about Ffrances because he wanted to hear from her friends," Tess answered, after a little time to think. "But yeah, I was thinking about him. I mean, Ffrances has a lot of respect on the forums. If there's anybody who's going to notice a continuity glitch with some low-circulation comic from the early days, it's her. And he knows that she won't leak everything to the public, because he already knows Isaac and Gabby knew there was a Canon Flash connection in the new movie."

"There is?"

"What, did you miss that? Gabby found out from some documents she saw at work. She's seen the original of the faded photo on Shark's office wall in Tags. She told me, Ffrances, and Isaac what was on it, and they figured that the new movie must be a reboot of Canon Flash. Isaac bought a bunch of copies and put them on display in the shop, recommending them to his regulars who might have missed it first time around, but none of them posted it on the Overnet forums. Not leaking information, you see."

"Did MK know that?"

"Good point. I actually have no idea. But this is all guesswork anyway. What's important is that she's got this DVD, and we get to see it. Maybe it's not as polished as the final release, but the story will all be there. Think you'd like to watch it?"

"Yeah!" he said with a smile. "Oh, but... will Gabby be okay if I'm not in a dress? I mean, I'd rather have my adult mind for watching a complex plot like that. But she's always been uncomfortable with me in boymode."

"Yeah..." Tess mumbled, and bit her lip gently as she thought about it. She didn't want Gabby to be nervous about being around a boy the whole time they were watching, but she also didn't want to push Spike into a little mindset where he wouldn't be able to enjoy the movie properly. "She'll have to get used to it. You can't be regressed all the time. Unless you would prefer that, of course. If you want to be a baby girl, you don't need to look for any justification. Just say you'd like to."

"No, it's not that," he babbled. "I mean... If I had the choice, I'd be regressed a bit more often, I think. I really enjoy it. But this is something I'd rather have my full intellect for. But I know Gabby's more polite to me as a girl, I mean... it's like she tried to separate us before, tried to put me off seeing you–"

"What?" Tess gasped. "When?"

"It's not a big deal. She was just trying to protect you, I think. But it feels to me like she's got pretty severe androphobia. Like she's actually terrified of boys, thinks they can't be trusted at all. And if that means... Well, I wish there was some kind of compromise."

"Yeah. Well... if you don't want to be a baby, but she's nervous if you're not dressed like a girl, I could lend you a dress. Think that'd be enough to placate her?" Tess forced a laugh to show that it was a joke, but it didn't seem as funny as she might have hoped. But Spike seemed to actually be thinking about the idea.

"You know what?" he said. "It's a bit of a wild idea. But if it makes her feel better... why not? I mean... I'm secure enough in my identity that I can have fun whatever I'm wearing. So maybe we should ask if that would make her more comfortable."