Those Halcyon Days II -- All New, All Different (Inactive)

Game Master Stalwart

60th floor.

50th…

Femtite catches Horizon halfway down the 80-story drop!

30th floor…

20th?!

10
9
8…

But Femtite is not known for brute strength!

She could barely princess-carry Connie!!

”DARN YOU, EARTH, AND YOUR WILD GRAVITY!!”

She manages to slow the fall but—

5th floor!
4th!

3rd.

…2nd.

—there’s no point in flying back up.

Femtite fire-pixite carries Horizon into the lobby and plops him onto a sofa in the waiting area. She heads to the receptionist’s desk to call 9-1-1.

The talk ended when Shin insulted Femtite’s mother. Prior to that, she was trying to warn him the Grace was bad for him.

And there was the implication that all was so perfect with Connie and herself.

She hovers in place. Whippoorwill has already been notified of Shin’s whereabouts, and she’ll be sure to let Shin know. She’ll also let him know where his comm and phone are—after they’re done talking.

When Shin wakes up, he takes a moment to assess his condition. The pain is there, but manageable. Taking a bunch of blades to the armor while also still technically recovering from his last hospital visit...yeah, he needed some real time to recuperate.

And he opened his eyes and got the sense of deja vu from seeing Femtite there in her candy-striper outfit again. "...You know you don't have to wear that every time you're in a hospital, right?"

Femtite smiles at the joke. She doesn’t laugh, but appreciates the humor.

”I was thinking of our last conversation… and it’s my only thematic outfit. They’re preprogrammed…” How her outfits work is best left unexplained.

”You remember our conversation, right? Is it okay if we… talk a bit more about that?” That what? C’mon, Femtite! This is your problem—always dancing around uncomfortable topics. Just say it! That what? ”—that topic?”

"Sorry, I've probably lost a few brain cells and blood. I think we'll find them up there-" Shin looks suddenly worried. "I know this conversation's important, but what happened? Is the team okay?"

Femtite replies, ”Of course they are. But I dove off the building to save you.

“You should let… Connie…” Fem pauses at the mention of her ex’s name. But with a forced smile, she goes on, ”I mean, it was her big moment. I don’t want to spoil her fun by telling you all the details.”

"That's good. Okay," He relaxes, and tries not to start micromanaging how she should have gone straight back to the fight after making sure he'd survive. His head hurts a little too much to start on that. "So...again, it's been a rough few days. If you want to talk, we can talk though. This to do with what happened on the Nanometeor?"

Femtite is hesitant.

”Kind of yes.”

She apparently had a lot to say. A lot planned. A lot rehearsed in her head.

And now she’s frozen. Maybe she’ll start with… nope. Nothing. She’s trying to come up with something to fill the silence.

Not-crying is a good start. She keeps not doing that.

Shin waits expectantly, but as the moment wears on he realizes that she's still trying to form words. The last time that he'd tried to start the conversation that someone else wanted to have, it didn't go well.

So he waited. Folding his hands up in front of him.

Seeing that she has to just spit it out, Femtite composes herself and starts, ”So yes… things could have gone a lot better on my world. It may be for the best things went exactly as they did.

“Do you have a guess as to why I wanted to do as my Mom suggested—get Connie’s pixite body to the Bug?”

She follows with, ”It’s okay if you don’t know. But I’m interested in hearing what you think my reason was.”

"Well, she's your mom. You wouldn't think that she'd do anything wrong. It's not a unique trait to your people. I think I wouldn't question what my own parents would tell me to do...at least until I started to chafe a bit on certain expectations of me," Shin says.

She shakes her head. ”My Mom was trying to redeem herself. Connie’s soul didn’t need to be in the pixite body. But I wasn’t going to preserve it without her consent.

“I was hoping we could all teleport over, and Connie could have pulled that magical ripcord by the Bug.”

She takes Shin’s hand and says, ”It no longer matters. My Mother has no reason to change her to a pixite anymore. I made sure of that.

“Girlfriend or not, Connie always went to see you when she needed to talk. So you think you can be there for her tonight?—or here—assuming she’ll come visit you?”
Best of C&S = 10

"Shouldn't you talk to her?" Shin asks. Trying not to over analyze or criticize or any of the things that he might want to do. "Look, I honestly don't know what happened between you two on the Nanometeor. It was obviously pretty bad. Connie didn't get into the fine details with me. If it was bad enough that you feel you need space, I get it. Just, remember that I'm here to listen to everyone's problems. Yours included."

”I already talked to her when I ended our relationship.”

Femtite already has one hand in Shin’s. She places her other hand on top of her own.

Leaning in close, she says, ”I’m no longer in your way.”

With that, she becomes a speck, then nothing! Something falls into Shin’s palm—his phone, comm and a pink sticky note with bubbly cursive writing:

Dear Shin,

♥️,
Femtite

"...Where the hell is my comm and phone?" Shin finally asks to an empty room after reading the note. "...Damn it, Fem."

♥️,
Femmes

• Tuesday: time for virtual school! Femtite is a bit quiet, but forces herself to participate.

• Wednesday: she attends the LGBTQ+ meeting virtually. She mentions the break-up, but her only elaboration is, ”Connie’s as much a part of our community as I am, so I don’t want you to think she wronged me. She didn’t.” Femtite gets the feeling it is best she stop attending the club, for the fear its members will ‘take sides.’ (That, and all she ever shared was how wonderful things were with her and Connie.)

• Thursday: Femtite participates with enthusiasm. Then after school, she and Mom add a feature to Love Bug Too: Electric Bugaloo.

• Friday: it’s Fem’s last virtual day, and she’s very excited about her last period class—her Anatomy elective…

”Greetings Earthlings! Pause for uncomfortable silence. I am Femtite of the Lavender Spire!”

She alters her size, moving closer to the camera as she shrinks so her whole wasp-like body can be seen.

”This is what I look like when not converting energy into matter to appear human-ish…”

She goes on to explain Subatomic Unstructures. She holds up a Sweet-Spotted Fungi. She explains the pixite ovulation cycle, though without mentioning her own barren womb.

”I understand that these concepts are foreign to you, and to be honest, I was always afraid to show you my true form… to explain how an all-female race can be.

“But our two planets coexist, and I think it’s better we know each other so we won’t fear each other.”

She grows back to a full picometer tall! ”Any questions?”

"Remember to be respectful," the teacher warns the class, eyeing certain individuals before the questions begin.

That creates a pause before one of the students asks, "so, if you live among atoms, do you have to be careful about, like, splitting them on accident?"

Femtite replies, ”The diameter of a hydrogen atom is one tenth of a nanometer, which is one hundred times my current height. Like humans, we possess a technological means to split an atom, but to do so would be a deliberate and heinous act. I hope this answer alleviates any concern you may have; our people cannot cause a nuclear explosion accidentally.

“As for how our dwellings are formed, we do not break atoms. The subatomic unstructures you see around me are akin to play-dough: safe and malleable.”

She seems quite pleased with this question and hopes the students don’t mind her lengthy answer. Eagerly, she says, ”Next question, please!“

There's not as long of a pause this time. "Are you like an ant hive then? One queen who has all the babies, and they're all the workers?"

Femtite actually has a subatomic-unstructural model of the Nanometeor’s amethyst surface, prepared for such a question. The camera pans to follow her to it.

She points to the center of the model. ”The Lavender Spire is located here. My Mother who birthed me is Queen Millie. I am her only daughter, and she is one of five queens. The other four rule these areas…” She points to the north end. ”The Mauve Mountains…” She continues clockwise to name the East and South queendoms, ”The Fuchsia Fields, Ultraviolet Valley…” She then pauses a moment before mentioning the Wild West: ”The Amethyst Spike.

“Fortunately, I am able to convert my words to sounds, so you hear me talking as I always do on Earth. My mother, Mel, who impregnated my queen-mother, invented this technology. It appears to be working!”

Femtite can feel tingles across her cheeks. This is really going well… I don’t know what I was so uptight about. Maybe I made myself too much of a stranger.

Earth has so much to teach me, and I can teach people of Earth!

With a smile that both emphasizes and understates her enthusiasm, she asks politely, ”Who is next?”

One girl raises her hand. "Do you have pets? Or are there any other animals... or, like, you know what I mean. We have like, cats and dogs, and horses, birds... do you have anything like that?"

”Nope.”

Femtite doesn’t have anything to add to that answer.

"Isn't that lonely?" another girl blurts out.

”Lonely..?”

Femtite thinks of the break-up, and before that, the lack of sisters, and her Mom pining over her Mother, and am I gonna end up with a harem instead of—???

”…well, umm.. I don’t really have a frame of reference. What kind of pet do you have?”

"Two cats," says the first girl.

"We've always had dogs. I miss them, here in the dorms," another student speaks up.

Another says proudly, "three dogs, a cat, and an iguana."

"I've just got an aquarium at home. Oh! Do you have water? Oceans?"

”Oh, can you show me pictures on Monday? And I love water! We don’t have that here either.

“That might better explain the lack of animals. We survived on sweet-spotted fungi, though my mother and I, as well as some of our guards, find Earth bacteria delicious!”

One of the students asks, "Do you have a creation myth? How your world was first created? Sort of like how the Christians think the world was made in seven days?"

The first girl snaps, "It's not a myth. And it was six days, not seven." When the other student rolls his eyes, she straightens her shoulders and looks straight at the monitor to Femtite. "Do you know God?"

Femtite doesn’t know how her world was created, but she says, ”There are many scientific and faith-based explanations of how the universe was created. It is a fascinating mystery!”

To the girl, she will reply, but carefully. Her mothers warned her not to speak of life spans. The nanites may have resented seeing the evolved females remaining eternally young while they aged and passed on as all mortals do.

”I don’t know any Earth religions, but I do believe the soul passes on. That’s not really my area of expertise, except that my—” ex-girl- ”—friend and I have both had out-of-body experiences.”

Not that soul projection and becoming a single particle are the same thing, but Femtite chooses not to over-explain (this time).

”Perhaps witnessing and acknowledgement of the soul’s existence can be taken as a scientific evidence of—“ some of ”—your belief system.”

She smiles awkwardly. She wants to respect everyone’s beliefs, even if they conflict with others. She hopes her reply was smartly diplomatic. She fears she blew it with the word ‘system.’

"So do you believe in the flying spaghetti monster?" one of the students remarks to the snickers of a couple others in the class. The first girl scowls darkly at him.

"Remember, I said be respectful, and that includes of others in the class," the teacher warns.

"Most of Earth's religions were written thousands of years ago, probably as a result of people with super powers proclaiming themselves as gods," another student says condescendingly.

"Or aliens," another adds.

"Or aliens, right."

"Shut up! You don't know! There's a demon in this school, so how can you say there's no God?" the first girl shouts.

"All right! That's enough! This is science class; we're not continuing this discussion! I'm going to get calls from upset parents enough as it is. Femtite, how about you close us out with something else about your world or culture?"

Femtite assures the teacher, ”You will not get any complaints from my family.

“I can give you a tour of my world, albeit virtual for you. And if any of you wants to introduce me to your pet, I am interested!”

She politely bows to the class.

”Thank you for this opportunity to present. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.” She does not add, in spite of the disagreement, thinking it better to stay focused on the positive. ”I look forward to seeing all of you on Monday!

“Thank you!”

Femtite hovers, positioned demurely as if sitting one leg crossed over the other.

"Thank you, Femtite. Let's give her a round of applause," the teacher says, and a smattering of clapping is heard from the class.

• • • • •

A few hours later, Femtite gets an email from a girl named Chastity, containing an attachment of a picture of two cats -- one an orange tabby and the other with white-and-black fur. Hi Femtite. I was the one who asked you about God and got attacked for it. I know religion's a touchy subject for a lot of people. I'm glad you were respectful of my beliefs. Here's a picture of my two cats. Orange one is Copper and the black and white one is Oreo.

Femtite is giddier than ever as she reads the email.

She recalls Chastity mentioned a demon at school. Maybe she can help Chastity understand that DD is not a bad person… though not now over email.

Hi Chastity! What beautiful animals! I find Copper’s color very appealing—especially those eyes! And Oreo is like a little cow!

I actually have made a minimal effort, if that, to make friends outside of my super team. I hope you don’t think I’m a snob! I was shy… and I’m trying to change that.

She presses SEND, then wishes she had thought about it first… then realizes if she had stopped to think, she would have edited out everything after ‘your cats are cute.’

Not gonna make friends outside the team if I don’t try.

After a few minutes, another email comes back. That might be on us too. We may be in Halcyon City, but it's still strange to go to school with an alien princess.

That might not be something you can understand. I guess... think of a regular Pixite going to school with Prince George or something. (Prince George is British royalty -- it's a whole big thing.)

Anyway, unless you can look all the way human, I don't think I can have you over to meet my cats. My parents are strict about who I can have over.

Femtite does not care for the conditional nature of the invite. She does some research on Chastity’s religion, wondering if that might explain the xenophobia. An image of a man on a torture rack disturbs her. But then she reads a quote. Forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.

Realizing it’s the parents barring an alien from the house, not Chastity, Femtite chances this friendship is worth a shot.

It’s not the lack of pets that makes me lonely!

Rain check on the cats, then. A human guise is in the works! It won’t be ready tomorrow, so how about you and I meet at the museum?

SEND.

Femtite sits by the holodisplay. Waiting… waiting…

It's more than an hour before Femtite receives a reply. Okay, I cleared it. I can visit the museum tomorrow at 11. I guess I should just look for you around the meteor?

Femtite only needs a minute to reply.

Yes! Come to the Nanometeor, and join the virtual meeting once you are standing by it. This will signal to me that you have arrived!

About thirty seconds later, Chastity gets a meeting link: Elevensies Museum Tour.

The next day, Romita Museum of Natural History

The 11:00 tour group moves through the various exhibits of the museum. It's a mix of obvious tourists and a few locals, ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the amazing features of the natural (and slightly un-natural) world.

Looking slightly out of place is a high-school-aged girl dressed in a long skirt and chestnut hair tied in a tight braid. She is wringing her hands looking around like some exhibit might try to startle her like a haunted house instead of a science museum.

Femtite starts the virtual meeting. She hopes this will ping Chastity’s phone or smartwatch.

She watches Chastity through the security camera’s feed (having easily hacked into that) to see if she has a device that responds to the ping-attempt. Maybe she silenced her phone because the tour guide asked her to or something…?

Chastity starts when her phone buzzes in her purse. She pulls it out and starts the virtual meeting. She types a quick Hello? in the chat.

Femtite is hovering above the Lavender Spire. The camera (her Electric Bugaloo) is aimed at the pinnacle of the subatomic-unstructural palace!

She has Subtitle Mode on in case Chastity’s phone is silent, but she speaks as well.

”Good to see you, Chastity! Shall we do the virtual tour, or do you have another preference? I could join you in the actual tour, if you’re enjoying it.”

But noting the girl’s nervousness, she offers a third option:

”Or, if museums aren’t really your cup of tea, we can take my new car out for its first ride on Earth!”

Pierce the Mask = 10
• what do you want me to do?
• how could I gain Influence over you?

Chastity drifts along with the tour group, hanging toward the back. She types into the chat, The tours ok. It doesn't matter to me. Maybe we see the museum and then go 4 a ride?

She doesn't seem to know what she wants Femtite to do. Femtite can gain influence if she doesn't overwhelm her with alien-ness all at once.

Femtite replies, ”The tour group’s about to move by a ladies’ room. I’m going to come out of there so I don’t scare anyone suddenly appearing.

“I’ll end the virtual meeting and step out in about one minute.”

• • • • •

Femtite stands before the bathroom mirror, clad in an amethyst-toned maxi dress (with gold designs along the waist and skirt) that she thinks Chastity will like.

She’s normal… don’t weird her out. Don’t overdo the big smiles. Be calm… not a date, not a date, not a your-Mother-will-turn-her-into-a-pixite-bride situation, not a date…

Femtite opens the door, and hopes the group doesn’t freak too much at the sight of her. ”Thank you for coming, Chastity,” she says with a sweet smile.

She resists the urge to hug her new friend. *Friend.* Not a date.

Chastity is waiting by the water fountains when Femtite steps out. She smiles at her flowy attire. "HI! Ooh, I like your dress!" She stands in a moment of awkward silence, then says, "Well, the Antarctic display is around the corner. You want to watch the penguins?"

”Yes,” Femtite replies. ”It will be my first time.”

She doesn’t say that the lower temperature was her reason for steering clear of the Antarctic Exhibit. This get-together is about trying new things.

She rounds the corner, and makes sure she’s closely at Chastity’s side as she moves toward a rail where the two can watch the flightless birds together.

Chastity watches the penguins for a few minutes, then turns to Femtite. "Our world must seem so crowded to you. Everywhere on Earth there's life... even in deserts and on icebergs. Does that seem weird to you?"

Femtite turns to her. ”I find the variety of life forms truly fascinating.

“It is confusing to me why people eat chicken but not penguins, but I would not dismiss your world as ‘weird’ because I don’t fully understand it.”

‘Crowded’ is an interesting word choice. Being able to become subatomic solves the ‘crowded’ problem for Femtite… but she did notice how Chastity avoided the others in the tour group.

”Does the world feel crowded to you sometimes, Chastity?”

She looks around at the other people watching the antics of the penguins. "No, not really. I'm just trying to imagine what your world must be like. I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm making assumptions! Why don't you pick the next exhibit?"

Oh, Femi, have you learned nothing from Connie?

”I think I’m the one guilty of making assumptions. But y’know, if you really want to imagine my world, I can show it to you anytime.

“Even in the car… I recorded my rehears—ooh! Sharks!”

Femtite looks ahead to the flickering blue of refracted light from the shark tank!

”Chastity, would you like to see the shark exhibit next?”

"Sure!" Chastity follows Femtite to the shark aquarium, a winding underwater tunnel that lets the museum guests look up as the ocean predators swimming above them. "Even just seeing it on a screen isn't the same as being there. Unless you've got some VR tech, but that's not going to tell me what the air smells like -- do you even have air?" She stares upward as a hammerhead shark glides by. "Like this: we get an idea what it must be like underwater, but we're warm, dry, not holding our breath. So... it's not the same. If that makes sense. So that's why I'm asking you what it feels like."

Femtite thinks about what Chastity is saying.

”You’re right… unless you can be there, it’s hard to explain. So… how we register sounds and smells at the subatomic level is more like a feeling through our antennas. We project thoughts—which oddly now come as human words since the five queens agreed to adopt the language of Halcyon City!

“As for being there, imagine modeling a world of purple clay. Feel my hand.” If Chastity does, she’ll feel Femtite’s warmth. ”Imagine modeling clay with hands that are warm enough to soften it, or hot enough to melt it—“ (Femtite’s temperature does NOT increase.) ”—or fiery if you want to bake it. Our dwellings are made in this way.

“The gift is your magnificent Sun. Its rays send particles to us. The skylight. The southern window. Depending on the time of year, we have hours in which the electrons dance with more vigor—our fires burn brighter—we are fire, not blood.”

Femtite can’t talk about how grand the Sun truly is to her people, but how can she explain the feeling, as Chastity wants?

”Do you like to lay on a hot beach sand and feel the sun on your skin?” Or given her attire, ”Have you sat by a fireplace, letting the heat soak into your sweater, sipping a hot beverage? That may be the feeling my people have from your Sun!”

Femtite’s glow becomes brighter. Warmth radiates from her. She never thought she could explain this to a human—and she didn’t break The Rule. She wants to cry, to hug… but remains composed. If Chastity likes my explanation, this is better than a virtual tour.

"Wow," she says. "That's, wow." She studies Femtite for a little while, holding her hand and looking into her glowing eyes.

She clears her throat. "Yeah, the sun's great. We've taken some trips to the beach and I like that. Do you... do that? Lay out in the sun on a beach? Or is it just something you've heard that humans do?"

She shrugs and looks away. "Not that it matters if you haven't, I guess. You can do it whenever you want, being an alien princess superhero who can fly."

Femtite replies, ”I’ve never been to the beach before. I think I would like it very much.”

When Chastity looks away, Femtite tries to cheer her up. ”Oh, Chastity. Do you realize you were the only one to reach out to me after class? And you’re the first person who got me to stop, look around, and appreciate this museum that I basically lived in for the past sixteen years. And the way you challenged me to explain the feeling of being a pixite! You’re so insightful, you have a very beautiful mind.

“I’m having a good time and feel very fortunate to see you as a friend. You don’t need a tiara or a cape to impress me. Just being you does the trick.”

Best Of Them C&S = 7

The hue of Femtite’s aura gradually shifts from yellow to gold to peach…

Chastity flushes at the compliments. She looks a little uncomfortable, letting go of Femtite's hand so she can smooth out her skirt. She shakes her head. "You're being too nice. I'm not that special. I'll bet lots of people would be excited to learn about your home and what it's like."

She tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "But I'm glad it's me that you want to be friends with."

After a moment, she looks down the tunnel. "The coral reef exhibit is next. You want to keep going through the museum? Or, we could go get something to eat that's not spotted fungi? There’s a pretty good smoothie place across from the museum."

”A smoothie would be delectable.”

She thinks of the time she went for ice cream with Connie, DD and Caio. At first, she fluffs off her unease at the silent admission: it was not one, but *two* doomed couples.

Then she remembers the spoon!

On the way, Femtite warns, ”Uhh, there’s something you should know. My hand is warm, but my lips are hot. As in… I melted a metal spoon the time I tried ice cream.

“As long as my smoothie is not served in a plastic container, I should be able to drink it without incident.”

Chastity frowns. "Paper cups wouldn't be much better then, would it? At least it's not styrofoam."

At the smoothie place, she picks up a banana-kiwi yogurt shake for herself and lets Femtite order whatever she wants (though recommends the chocolate-peanut butter oat milk blend if she's not worried about her waistline). Smoothies in hand, Chastity walks with Femtite on the busy streets, watching as the glowing alien draws gawkers and people hoping for selfies.

Paper…??

Femtite orders the same flavor, noting that ”bananas are rich in two types of enzymes, making this flavor both nutritious and delicious!”

When Femtite sips her smoothie, there is a thick steam rising from the cup.

People hoping for selfies give Femtite an idea. She pulls the heart-shaped clip from her hair. A tap of her finger transforms it into a cell phone.

”May I ask a stranger to photograph the two of us?”

Chastity's eyes go wide at the transforming hair clip. "Sure!" She smiles brightly when a passerby takes their picture. "You'll have to send that to me!" she says, giving Femtite her cell number.

She checks her phone when Femtite sends it to her. "Nice! I'll have to send this to my boyfriend. He won't believe I'm friends with a superhero!"

Boyfriend…!

Not that Femtite had any reason to think this could lead to something more, but she looks a little crushed by the B-word. She tries to act nonchalant, but her golden glow pales.

Chastity focuses on her phone for a moment, then puts it away in her purse. "He doesn't go to Halcyon Prep. He's home schooled. We met at the youth group in my church. His name's Jonathan," she explains. "We'll have been together three weeks this Sunday."

”Oh? A budding romance. I just… nipped mine.”

The last thing Femtite wants is to mess up this friendship.

”But my problem is irrelevant. If you and Jonathan are happy, then I am happy for you.”

Her glow is back to its usual yellow, leaning gold, as she feels no pressure in regard to where this friendship is going. She can simply enjoy a friendship.

"Oh. Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. You're not... and it was with a g--? Oh, nevermind." Chastity bites a nail. "And it's just like Jonathan and I -- we're not happy happy. I mean, we're good! But we're not... I mean we see each other at youth on Sundays. And, um, yeah. And I don't have to talk about him if that makes you sad. I'd rather us, like, talk about..." she looks around, searching for a topic. "Birds! What do you think of these flying things?"

Femtite tosses her phone into the empty street. Before it hits the ground, it transforms into the Bugaloo.

”I like flying things,” she says with a grin.

The magenta dome opens. Femtite offers Chastity her hand.

She takes Femtite's hand tentatively and gets in. She looks around at the shrinking and growing car's interior. "How... Is there a view screen? Where are the windows?!?"

Femtite says, ”Magenta is transparent to us pixites. Like ultraviolet to you humans—which pixites can see.

“But for your benefit, we can ride open-top or with a view screen.”

She presses the kick buttons for vertical thrusters, punch for forward, and uses the stick to tilt.

Once high up, she answers Chastity’s questions: ”No, I’m not in a relationship anymore. Yes, it was with a girl.”

As she settles the craft into a hover, she looks at Chastity.

”Chastity, you don’t have to change the topic because you’re afraid I’ll be sad. You can talk about Jonathan, or my break-up, or anything you want to talk about.” She adds, teasingly but gently, ”Which is definitely not birds.”

She stares out of the open top as the Bugaloo rises into the air, then desperately looks for seatbelts. Once she settles down and the vehicle is hovering, Chastity returns the look. "It's also common decency to not talk about your relationship when a friend is just going through a breakup. Or, it's human decency."

Femtite shows Chastity how to operate the seatbelt. ”I told my Mom all the Earth cars have seatbelts, and so we must.”

As for common decency, Femtite says, ”Maybe it is human decency, but I don’t want to start our friendship making you feel like you have to walk on eggshells.

“It’s how I was with my ex, always worrying I’d say the wrong thing and offend her.”

She smiles at Chastity. ”I’m gonna drive. And you have two options. One – you pick a topic and we talk. Two – you pay very close attention to how I control this thing, because if you have nothing profound to say, you’re getting a driving lesson!

”There’s also three – both.”

Chastity gets quiet as she thinks a moment. "I don't know if I'm ready for a driving lesson for a flying car right now. This is a lot... you've told me a bunch about your world, and your, um, species? If that's the right word. And, I'm glad you see me as a friend and all, but, I don't feel like you know enough about me to like give me driving lessons!

"I mean, unless you have some sort of mind reading or soul-searching powers and you've scanned me already and determined that I'm worthy?"

Not wanting to intimidate her, Femtite says assuringly, ”You’re worthy because you’re humble, honest and considerate.

“But you don’t have to… I want you to have fun, not be overwhelmed.”

PtM = 11
• what do you want me to do?
• how could I get your character to open up?

Chastity settles in her seat. "It's a little overwhelming, I'll admit. But it's been fun! I just... need a moment to catch my breath."
She wants you to pace yourself with the friendship. She could open up if you give her some time to think.

Assuming Femtite does...

She stares out the window for a while. "Listen, this might be a Pixite thing, or maybe it's a princess thing... but you don't have to try to impress me to be my friend. And the eggshells comment... sounds like your breakup affected you more than you're letting on." She puts her hand over Femtite's. "You're a child of God, you have a soul, so I love you already. Okay? I don't need to be wowed by all your cool alien tech. You wouldn't want a friend who only likes you for that anyway, right?" She gives Femtite a reassuring smile.

At Chastity’s touch, Femtite slowly slides her right hand off of the thruster buttons. Her left hand releases the stick. She enters the Hover command, then sinks back, taking in the words.

Thoughts race through her mind. It’s been five days; I’m over—You said “flying things,” so to be funny I—child of—love?

Her mother’s words echo: "…find someone who you love and loves you back…"

—as do Chastity’s: ”…boyfriend… not *happy* happy… I love you… child of God.”

Femtite doesn’t know what to say, or what to do, or why tears like molten gold are streaming down her cheeks.

”…your breakup affected you more than you're letting on.”

Chastity doesn't try to fill the silence. She squeezes Femtite's hand and holds it, giving her time.

Once able to compose herself, Femtite takes Chastity’s hand in both of hers.

”The way you called me ‘a child of God.’ You see our souls as common ground, right? It’s our bodies and cultures that are different, but beyond that, we’re alike.

“That is truly beautiful, Chastity.”

Chastity leans over to give a hug as much as her seat restraint will allow. "It's beautiful because it's true," she says, her own eyes misting up.

She sits back in her seat. "Could you try something for me? Just relax. The best friendships don't need to be forced. We'll just have fun for a while."

Cue friendship montage with Queen playing?

After a nice, relaxing flight, Femtite lowers the ship and converts it to SmartCar Mode, so she can drive Chastity home without her parents seeing anything alien.

As the car pulls to the destination, Femtite tells Chastity, ”You’ve given me hope. I had resigned myself to marrying my own kind—“ or… a harem, ”—but I will not give up on the possibility of a foreign bride.

“I hope tomorrow, when you see Jonathan, you will both work toward happy happy. You are too wonderful a person to settle for less.”

This is only easy to say to Chastity because she is straight.

”If you tell Jonathan we are friends, tell him I said he is a very lucky boy. Call me tomorrow after you see him at Youth Group, if you want. Else, see you in class on Monday!”

She removes her seatbelt to properly hug.

"Sure. I'll be there soon," Max replies. Sure enough, she arrives within a reasonable amount of time, wearing comfortable, casual clothes.

Femtite pulls up in a purplish-pink imitation VW Bug, license plate reading, L4DY•BUG. (That someone already claimed LADY•BUG may or may not be a sensitive topic.)

AWOOGA, says Fem’s horn.

”F#~& you!” says a passing driver, who drives off, hairy forearm and middle finger extended from his truck window.

Femtite’s opaque magenta passenger side window scrolls down. Giggling, she says, ”Isn’t this great? I can disguise my car to blend in with ordinary human cars!”

"Yeah. Great," Max says, somewhat dubiously. "So I guess that means you'll be sticking around for a while yet? After everything that went down a few days ago, I wasn't sure if you would."

”Oh, haha, yeah well…”

Femtite starts driving. The Ladybug is a stick shift, and it does not handle like a VW Bug. It is, after all, a size-changing ship in disguise.

”Look at how you and Caio turned out! Connie and I will get through this. Not as a couple, mind you. But I’m not mad at her or anything.

“Connie was hurt. I should’ve clarified a lot of things with her and with my Mother. A lot of things.”

Max grimaces slightly at the mention of her and Caio, remembering exactly how awkward things had been for a while.

"Well, the team is lucky to have you still. With all the threats that have been mounting up over the past few months, we're going to need all the firepower we can get."

Fem waits until she’s on an on-ramp, and checks her mirror. With no witnesses in sight, she transforms her Bug into the familiar ship with the Street-Fighter control console.

Max may notice the buttons have a slightly different function, though Punch is still forward and Kick still results in an upward thrust.

”It’s that bad, isn’t it? I’m firepower. Between breaking up with Connie, and not really spending time with anyone else, I’ve isolated myself.

“I deserve it,” she admits.

Max shakes her head. "I didn't mean it like that. Sorry. I know you have a lot going on right now. We all do."

Fem looks at DD, smiling despite her words. ”I didn’t take it as an insult. Just facing some facts.

“I admitted this to my classmates on Friday, and one girl reached out after class.”

She taps a few buttons, and an image appears on the right side of the magenta dome. Femtite is wearing an amethyst-toned maxi dress with bright gold designs lining the waist, hem, and along the skirt. She’s with another girl with brown braided hair, a sweater and a long skirt. Both are outside with smoothies in hand.

Max smiles. "Oh, is that Chastity? It looks like you two were having fun."

”Oh! Do you have classes with her too?” Remembering what Chastity said of ‘a demon at school,’ Fem asks, ”Or… do you know her because of those protests?”

Femtite looks concerned as she asks this.

”The second one. But it’s okay. No hard feelings.”

Femtite cancels the image and gives DD’s hand a light touch.

”How about I talk to her? I could tell her how you vanquished the shadow demon with the sword of light I made.

“Uhh… assuming that actually worked.”

Max shrugs. "If you want. But I've already made my peace. Not everybody is going to like me, and that's okay. As long as I like myself, right?"

”Yeah, but I really reached this girl by openly respecting her beliefs. She isn’t nearly as judgmental as the kids who poked fun at her faith.

“I can’t stop the protest, but I can get her to see it’s not right to judge when you don’t know the whole situation.”

Grinning at DD, she says, ”You have a healthy attitude. But there’s a difference between a hostile crowd and a hostile friend. If any friend of mine has a problem with you, I’ll gently correct her.”

She not-really-jokes, ”Or mess up another friendship. But at least this is a straight girl, so we could only go so far anyway.”

Max chuckles. ”Thanks. I appreciate it, Femms.”

”I appreciate you, DD. You’ve never lashed out at me, so the least I can do is talk someone off the picket line.”

C&S Best of = 8

Max gives Femtite's hand a squeeze. "I appreciate you too, Femtite. I've been to some dark places lately, but your friendship has always helped guide me back to the light. I know that whatever happens in the days to come, we'll face it, side-by-side. And with all of us together, there's no challenge we can't overcome."

On a whim, she leans closer and places a warm kiss on the pixite's cheek.
Clearing Guilty.

Femtite blushes. ”If you distract me, I might crash into a cloud,” she jokes (inaccurately, as the craft is in hover mode and well below the cloudline).

She offers, ”Want another driving lesson? I worked with my Mom and reconfigured the buttons. I think you’ll find it intuitive.”

"Sure," Max says, sliding over into the driver's seat. She carefully takes the controls and begins tapping out a combo on the buttons.

Femtite giggles as DD has the craft lift upward suddenly.

”Haha! That’s the Dragon Punch!” Rapid tapping of buttons triggers the Lightning Kick and Lightning Barrier! ”Careful! Spinning Bird Kick might make you dizzy.”

She then explains the basics. ”Punch controls rear thrusters, Kick controls the front for an upward tilt.

“The stick still tilts, or rotates if you hover. Tapping the middle Punch and Kick at once is Hover Mode.”

As DD gets the hang of things, Fem offers encouragement. Still, she’s glad the new Bug has seatbelts!

"Alright, let's goooo!" Max says, activating the thrusters and sending the Bug zipping into the sky!

From within her now-bug-sized Bug, Femtite sends a text to her new friend.

Can we talk? You are right that demons are real, but this protest is taking DD’s situation out of context.

I know we just met, but can you trust me to tell you the truth about DD—at least what I’m permitted to tell?

Femtite does not want to mention that two souls struggle to control that purple body… just who Max is will do, she hopes. Don’t lead with Sword of Light, she tells herself.

The classes have started and it's not until third period before Femtite gets a response from Chastity. I don't know.

Femtite writes back, If that’s too heavy a topic, let’s just talk. Like you said, just relax.

How about we meet at lunch? I can’t sit at my usual table anyway. (But I’ll understand if you sit with a tight-knit group.)

It doesn't take much time before she gets a response. We're not that tight. You can sit w us

Femtite isn’t sure she should mention DD just yet. But if they like me, maybe I can make a real difference…!

See you then!

• • • • •

At lunchtime, Femtite spots Chastity with a pair of other girls and one boy. They all scoot to make room for the Pixite, and the way the boy and one of the two girls stay close to each other indicate a relationship between them. "Hi! Femtite, this is Raquel, and that's Gina and Ngon. Thanks for joining us!"

Femtite greets Raquel, Gina and Ngon by name, so she’ll remember. ”What a pleasure to meet you all! How do you all know each other?”

"Oh, just around school," Gina replies.

"It was actually from the a capella group last year," Raquel adds. "That's when me, Gina and Chastity started hanging out. Who knows why Ngon is here," she giggles.

"I know, right?" Gina continues with the joke. "Why are you here?" she challenges him.

Grinning, the lone boy grabs a french fry off her plate. "'Cause you never finish your food and I hate to see it go to waste."

"Ah. There you go. Ngon is our garbage disposal," Raquel concludes.

"But a cute one," Gina says, giving him a peck on the nose.

Shifting topics, Ngon turns to Femtite. "I was in your alien anatomy lecture. Wild, that you have a whole civilization inside a tiny meteor. Maybe our universe is inside crystal of an even larger universe?"

"Wasn't that from an old Will Smith movie?" Raquel asks.

Femtite recognizes the actor’s name. He slapped another actor, and that topic is probably controversial.

”I hope you enjoyed that. I was so afraid to tell others that my family and my kind exist in your museum. But it’s better that I speak out. I’m the only one who can pass for human.”

She tosses her glowing hair.

”I mean, I can increase my volume by approximately four undecillion, making it possible for me to partake in your society.

“The notion that there are creatures like titans to you humans does not seem so strange to me.”

Femtite catches herself oversharing. She is too intrigued by Ngon’s idea, but reminds herself to keep her answers short. Next time.

"Well, you can pass for almost human," Raquel says, gesturing to Femtite's illuminated features. "Most humans don't glow like that."

"It's very pretty, though," Chastity says.

"Oh yeah! Don't get me wrong, it's cool, but you don't exactly blend in."

"Why would she want to?" Gina asks.

Raquel shrugs and turns to Femtite. "Maybe to get the full human experience? Or are you more like an ambassador?"

Femtite acknowledges her glow is never going to fool anyone.

”Radical shapeshifting does have its limits. It’s hard to explain, but to form my body, I change surrounding energy into matter.” She does not demonstrate since she is wearing her school uniform. ”I can’t make a non-glowing yellow. I’m still learning.”

She wonders, ”Would looking human really be enough to blend in, though?

“Sometimes I feel like it’s nice to be noticed, but considering my Mother’s fame, I’m just used to that. Suppose I was able to desaturate my hair to Human Blonde. Any tips on how I might blend in? It could be fun to try!”

When you share a vulnerability or weakness with someone, they tell you what you should do to fit in more. Take +1 forward to do it, and mark potential if you do.

The students all share a look with each other. Chastity suddenly looks excited. "So like, if you manage to look all the way human and you enroll yourself as a regular student -- I'm sure the school has rules about alter egos; we're in Halcyon after all -- then you could come in as, like, an exchange student. We could be, like, your first group of friends, who secretly know you're Femtite and can cover for you. But you could get to experience how humans act around others."

Gina smirks. "Come on, you don't want her to decide humans need to be exterminated" Ngon barks out a laugh.

Chastity will not be denied. She remains excited. "It's not that bad. Usually. But it'd be great! You could join after school clubs, we could have sleepovers, shopping trips, and fun human stuff like that!"

Femtite asks, ”You really think I should? It would mean leaving as Femtite and returning as someone else.

“I mean… my Mother is prepping me for the throne, which is unexpected.“ She giggles, kinda sharing Chastity’s excitement. ”And I’ve been homeschooled most of my life anyway, so the cover story is easy enough.”

✴️✴️✴️▶️▶️
Gonna do it! As soon as I gain two more potential, taking Adopt a Human Life and following Chastity’s advice!

Playing off the word homeschooled, Fem says to Chastity, ”Speaking of, we’re past the human decency statute of limitations. So did you end up showing Jonathan our picture?”

Femtite is enjoying the couple in front of her. Maybe this is happy-happy.

"I did. He liked it," she answers, her enthusiasm fading a bit. "He couldn't really believe I was hanging out with a super hero, and said wh-- you know? Never mind. It's not that important. I'd rather talk about planning your first week incognito as a regular girl." She reaches out and takes hold of Femtite's hand. "I'm not rushing you into something, am I? You sounded interested, but I don't want you pretending to be something you’re not out of peer pressure."

Femtite’s aura pinkens visibly.

It’s not the fact she noticed, not for the first time, Chastity’s lack of enthusiasm about Jonathan. It’s not the hand. It’s not the fact that Femtite is well aware she’s taking the phrase ‘rushing into something’ out of context. It’s the combination plus wishful thinking.

”Rushing people into something is the pixite way, haha…”

Femtite’s hand is pleasantly warm to a human, she hopes, so Chastity will linger a little.

”But how about I drive you home today? We can talk in the car, and by then I’ll have had all of gym class to think about it.”

PtM = 10
• how could I get your character to have a real talk about relationships?
• what are you really planning?

Femtite takes control of her powers to fade her telltale pinkness before the whole cafeteria notices. But the return to her naturally golden glow isn’t exactly subtle.
Unleash Goddesslike Beauty = 12
• extend senses (specifically to notice how Chastity is reacting to the heat of her hand, the shift in her aura, and/or her words)

Maybe it’s the warm smile, the way a loose strand of hair falls in front of her eyes as they flicker to Chastity’s hand, then rise up to meet the human girl’s eyes.

Chestnut. Her eyes match her hair, as do mine.

Or maybe it’s that Femtite was nannied by Mother’s harem girls, who taught the princess how to please and allure.

Chastity nods, not removing her hand. "That sounds great. See you after class, then." She stares at Femtite for a moment longer as the alien's aura shifts colors. Suddenly, she clears her throat and pulls her hand back, dropping it into her lap as she finds the remains of her lunch very interesting.

Ngon starts talking before the pause becomes too awkward. "So, if you're going to join us as a new student, we probably should not interact much in your glowing form. Right? Otherwise, it'll just be too obvious. Like Behind the Mask. There's no way they can keep their secret identities when they're always hanging out as friends at school."

"Well, that's just a dumb show," Raquel says. "And they have to keep a limited cast; it's gotta be expensive enough hiring actors with real super powers."

"That's my point," Ngon says, "you give that show a pass. But in real life, people are going to figure out that when Femtite leaves school, the new girl who shows up and slots in to her friend group might be the same person."

Gina rolls her eyes. "Well, it's a good thing that she's only sat with us this one time."

Chastity, recovered, looks at them. "It's Femtite's choice, and she can do what she wants. If she wants to have a secret identity, we'll do our best to give her human side a great friend group." She turns to Fems as she stands up. "I'll see you after class."

Femtite will probably need to make sure Chastity feels comfortable before they can have a real talk. That will require building more trust which could take some time. She's planning to be a friend, including helping her with her secret identity.

Femtite replies to Ngon, ”I was thinking the same thing—and if I don’t sit with you tomorrow, it means the plan is in motion!

“I will say my goodbyes to others I have become acquainted with, such as the cheerleading squad.“ Not wanting to make Chastity even more uncomfortable, she says, ”Yes, my choice. But I appreciate the help. Thank you.” Addressing the group, she adds, ”Thank you all!”

• • • • •

Fem texts a meeting place. Her Bug pulls up in SmartCar Mode. (License Plate: T1NY•BUG, spelled with a one because TINY•BUG was already taken.)

The magenta tinted windows make it impossible to see the glowing alien at the wheel.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

• Tuesday: she wishes the cheerleading squad well, and says even though she’ll continue being educated in her own world, ”I’ll still be cheering you on!”

• Wednesday: she attends a final LGBTQ+ club meeting. ”Thanks for providing a place where differences are not tolerated, but celebrated!”

• Thursday: she spends lunch with the school psychologist. ”Sorry I missed the appointment on Monday…”

• Friday: she sits alone.

After a Sunday joy ride, Femtite pulls her craft to a hover and texts Horizon.

You said you wanted to mediate a conversation. I am not truly ready for that, and I don’t know if Connie would rather talk in private.

I would like to at least start with the three of us, today, or whenever both of you are available.

A second text pops up after a while: And comfortable with this arrangement.

Shin
Shin replies after a short time with a group text that also contains Conflux. Femtite asked for a conversation between the three of us. I think that text will be useful to start off and avoid any miscommunication.

Connie
Connie: Mediation more than implies conflicting wants. What do you want, Femtite, and why don't I want it for you?

Femtite
Femtite is a little hesitant to answer this question directly, but doesn’t want to delay this conversation further than she already has.

I don’t know what you want for me, but as far as conflicting wants go, I’m sure you don’t want to spend eternity as a pixite on the Nanometeor. Not that I blame you. If I was given a human body, then learned after the fact, the change is irreversible, “sorry, forgot to tell you, but have fun” would come off as condescending, not apologetic.

The … graphic keeps appearing for several minutes.

Then finally, the text pops up. Its second paragraph asks, We’re doing this over text, or in person?

Connie
Connie: If that's your analogy? We're not doing this.

Femtite
Femtite sends a text to Horizon only. Please advise.

She adds nothing to the group chat.

Shin
Shin replies to the group chat. Text to start. Please respond to questions directly. Conflux has asked what you want, Femtite. So what do you want?

In private to Femtite: Be honest but not circumspect. This is about building trust. If you succeed here, we can move on to in person meetings. Don't deflect, don't assign blame, and don't assume you know what Conflux is feeling right now.

Connie
(No reply from Connie yet)

Femtite
Long-term plan: be queen, she replies.

On the private chat to Shin, she asks, Direct without details, right? I mean, there is really a lot of subtext I’m leaving out.

Please believe I’m trying not to make things worse, and end this if you think it should stop.

Shin
On the group chat: What does it mean to be queen?

Femtite
The … comes and goes several times.

Accepting my responsibilities to my world.

I don’t know if you want details or not, but the short versions are: (1) my Mother did not inherit the Spire, she earned it, and (2) there is turmoil, and I can’t just hop off my world forever and pretend it’s not my problem.

Realizing that in all her editing, she left something out, she adds, Sorry. In the first part, I meant that even though I will take my Mother’s place, I want to deserve to.

Connie
Read.

Femtite
Femtite notices Connie is no longer in the group chat. She texts Shin privately, Sorry, Shin. I shouldn’t have initiated this.

Shin
To Conflux in private: It's fine if you don't want to reply, but I'm trying to engage her critical thinking and it works better if she has stakes to he responses. Your opinion still matters to her.

On a private chat between Connie and Shin:

Connie: Shin
Connie: she makes me feel like I'm taking crazy pills
Connie: did what she described sound like what happened at all?!?!
Connie: and how the f@&@ is 'I'm going to follow in my explicitly villain-ass mom's footsteps' something that needs mediation?!
Connie: she doesn't want mediation
Connie: she wants absolution without any of hte steps

Shin: And for all her life before leaving the Nanosphere, this stuff she's saying has been the truth to her. We can't just pull her out of the cave and expect her to understand. She's got to start asking questions first, and that means asking her with no judgment. Shin texts to Connie privately.

Connie: F!&% that
Connie: She knew it was wrong until she decided I wasn't gonna be with her anyways

Shin: Can I pass that along, filtered for non‐judgment?

Connie: do you
Connie: but this hurts too f#+%ing much
Connie: I guess tell me if she actually answers the f!%@ing questions
...
Connie: But don't say that whatever softened down s!*@ you end up telling her is from me!

Shin
To Femtite: Connie is interested in your answers. But she's feeling too raw to even be in the group chat for this.

Femtite
Femtite replies, I doubt this. I think this conversation is bringing nothing but pain, and I’m sorry for that. I don’t have a planet I can go to to hide from my problems though, so I’ll answer.

The westerners are calling me the Harbinger of Doom, so my responsibility to my world is to not doom it.

Shin
I'm sorry to hear that. They've called you the Harbinger to your face?

Femtite
No.

There are some …s. Then there aren’t. Then there are. Then there aren’t.

”It’s something I need to look into. There are Seers from the Amethyst Spike.

But the Seers tend to be right. I need to understand what they think I’ve done, or will do.

Shin
It sounds like that the Nanosphere is divided a lot like Earth, with different nations. Have you attended any history classes?

I think that those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it...this is coming from a time displaced person so I know. There's probably similar situations that have occurred in Earth history that might point you in the right direction.

Femtite
Yes! And I have read historical documentation for lower grade levels as well. For example, Neanderthals and Early Man coexisted until 39,000 years ago. This is similar to the era in which Nanites and Pixites coexisted!—long before our worlds collided!

Shin
So Nanites are an entirely different species? How would I recognize one over a Pixite?

Femtite
The difference in scale is immense. There are males and females, and they have a preference for colder temperatures.

Femtite sends an image. A human might see Pixites as wasp-like women. Nanites would be more comparable to humanoid scorpions. Instead of a Pixite’s fiery golden glow, the Nanites have an electric blue hue.

Not that you’ll ever see one. They’ve been extinct for a very long time.

Shin
Now I'm confused. You say that they've been extinct for a very long time. But one of your mother's titles is Slayer of the Nanite King?

Femtite
There are dots. Then no dots. Dots. No dots…

Shin
After a few minutes, Shin does actually call Femtite seeing that she hasn't posted anything in a good while. He also texts Connie. I might have caught her in a mental paradox and it seems to have sprung up some doubts for her.

Femtite
Femtite doesn’t pick up. She instead appears in Room 419 (clad in her candy striper outfit).

Tears are streaming down her face. ”Oh Shin! I wasn’t supposed to say!”

She’s shaken, but goes on, ”Maybe Connie knew. She doesn’t miss stuff. Tyg, at the fairy ball, blurted it right in front of her.

“So maybe she knows, right? I mean… it’s obvious now!”

Shin
Shin jumps, standing at the window of his room and looking out at the scenery. He wasn't expecting her to suddenly pop up here. "Connie is only human. We miss things all the time. I was just looking carefully. It helps that it was written down for me to scan back in the chat," He tells her.

"But I'm afraid I don't understand the context. Does her title mean that she's lying about slaying a Nanite because they're long extinct, or that their extinction is a lie?"

Femtite
”No, Shin! Don’t you get it? Don’t you understand why my Mother wanted a pixite body for Connie?

“The fey said it,” she whimpers, recalling her entry into the fey ball.

"Hold fast!" one of the guards demands. "State thine business and why thou hast brought mortals into the Palace of Night?"

Tyg inclines her head and passes an ivory letter with gilt calligraphy. "One mortal only, the other is my guest. Both be bound, here on my behest. The queen has granted me leave to do as I may; now step aside you two! It's Tyg's time to play."

”Tyg said ‘one mortal only,’ meaning Connie. I was wondering how the fey knew I was immortal. Then my Mother was there with the fairy queen.

”I don’t want her to know, Shin. It’s better she open her heart to another and never know this.”

Shin
Shin listens, but definitely feels out of the loop with the fey being involved. He shakes his head and tries to focus on the important bits. "Okay. Pixites are immortal. Does that mean nothing can kill you, or that your bodies don't age after reaching maturity?" Shin asks. "Are you saying you're older than you present yourself to us?"

Femtite
”I’m sixteen. Like the fey, we stop aging at maturity.

“Sorry. TMI.” Femtite sits on the bed, head lowered.

Shin
"Okay, so not immortal, just ageless," Shin confirms. "I take it that you've never seen a dead Pixite before Connie's body?"

Femtite
Femtite crosses her arms. ”My people survived the planet breaking open.”

Pushing aside wounded pride, she responds, ”No. Never.”

Shin
"I'm sorry. That's obviously more traumatic than most of us realized." Shin says sympathetically. "So, I guess my next question is why you felt you needed to hide this part of Pixite biology from us. Did you think we would react badly?"

Femtite
Femtite calms a little. ”I suppose mostly because it seems rude. The Nanites were envious, and… you are Titans to the Pixites, so as far as bad reactions go, it would only take one.

“Over 99% of my people could be wiped out by a single human, if he were so inclined to kill us all, and knew how.”

She stands as proudly and regally as one can in a candy-striper outfit. ”I don’t mind answering these questions, Shin, but what are you hoping to accomplish?”

(There’s nothing confrontational about her tone. She’s sincerely asking.)

Shin
"I'm hoping to gain perspective on my teammate and help the rest of the team learn more about her as well. If it helps to resolve your friction with Conflux all the better." He explains.

"So, that said, do your people spend a lot of time contemplating what humans might do to them?" He asks since she brought it up.

Femtite
Femtite’s posture relaxes. She moves over by the window, standing close to Horizon.

Gazing out the window, she asks, ”Can you imagine if, beyond the horizon, there was a creature so colossal, you cannot perceive it? But at any time, if it wishes to, it could carry the Earth with a hand whose palm covers the continental United States and whose fingers spread across Canada.

“I had these fears as a child, but not until I grew enough that I was able to perceive you titans. Most are unconcerned, to my knowledge. There are Pixites who doubt your existence.”

Shin
"Do you still have these fears after having walked with us?" Shin asks.

Femtite
Femtite thinks this answer through. ”A little. I don’t think it’s irrational.

“Does the team fear my Mother?” She turns to Shin, and looks as if about to elaborate, but she stops herself. She trusts him to answer directly, not judge her for asking.

Shin
"No. I don't at least. I don't think anyone else does," Shin confirms. "Like how some of your people don't believe in or think about titans, I think that because your world is isolated and unlikely to actually effect our own means that we don't think about them either. Hard to think of people you never interact with at all."

Femtite
Femtite seems to take comfort in this, but she’s saddened as well.

”You said you were time-displaced. I never asked you about that.

“Is being in a different century like being in a different world?”

Shin
"I would say it's more like...I recognize things that were new in my time that are old now. Music, fashion, all the culture is so different that my first months were in a moderate state of shock. But the language is the same. The world is older but still similar enough for me to relate. I used to have Psyche whispering translations for newer idioms I didn't understand which helped. Really, without the people around me to help support this transition I would still be lost."

"It's definitely not like ending up on a fully different world, like you did. Or Connie did. And she didn't have the benefit of consuming Pixite to ease her transition."

Femtite
Femtite’s aura pales a little at these words. ”Yes… I failed her more than my Mother did.”

Shin
"How so?"

Femtite
”Lots of ways. For example, I gave a presentation to my Anatomy class on Friday, and I actually recorded a virtual tour of my planet. I was going to show a classmate who was at the museum yesterday, but I ended seeing the exhibits with her instead. There were so many ways I could have introduced her to my world without her becoming a pixite. So I failed her like that.

“I just… we just… I mean…” Femtite fumbles a bit, then blurts, ”Not asking Mother if the change was irreversible. That’s a question I could‘ve asked—and should’ve asked. And… and…”

She sits on the bed again. ”Lots of ways.”

Shin
"It's important to ask questions instead of taking things at face value. Hindsight shows us our mistakes. I'm lucky in that I have about seventy years worth of hindsight to look through in my past. You just have only several days to dissect what's gone so far," Shin says, sitting down next to her.

"I've had to rewire my whole way of thinking on the world because so much has changed that while is objectively better still seems a bit shocking to me. So, what have you experienced on this upper level that's challenged you like that?"

Femtite
”Swearing is weird,” she starts. ”Pixites transmit thought, so vulgarities don’t make sense. The words have meaning, but also intend shock value. So I don’t find them shocking or offensive, just ineffective tools of communication because they try to communicate two ideas at once, neither of which contribute to the intended meaning of the intended message.

“And blurted by itself, they translate as a command. So how do I respond to that? ‘I’m not in the mood,’ or ‘I don’t have to go.’”

But swearing doesn’t really challenge her, so she tries another.

”Music is beautiful. I don’t care if it’s your era, contemporary, from centuries ago. It’s new and different.

“And bathing in water instead of fire—I think I used a tea cup for baths more often than Love Bug, The’s!incinerator!”

She thinks of the times with Connie.

”Connie… she’s outspoken, very funny, brilliant, doesn’t fit in with what’s normal for Earth, but knows how to work with Normal Earth. Don’t let the break up fool you. I haven’t stopped admiring her.”

Femtite’s glow becomes golden as she speaks of Connie.

Shin
"Do you find yourself challenged by any physical limitations on Earth?" Shin asks. "Something you don't think about on the Nanometeor you are more aware of here?"

Femtite
Femtite waits a moment before answering, thinking on this…

”I’m at the low end of temperature ranges I can tolerate. Absence of light and heat is bad—that shadow demon was able to suppress my Heliokinesis. And I’ve had other foes who suppressed my ability to… well, you may think of it as changing size.

“But that’s not exactly what this is.” Her hands trace her body. ”This is energy turned to matter. So there’s a limitation that comes with it:

“I can’t become this girl-shaped bag of fire and have daughters.”

There’s so much more to this. Femtite isn’t sure what a boy would care to hear, so she gives the short version:

”I didn’t think I could anyway. I can become human-sized or a single particle on the femtometric scale. My range exceeds that of my Queen Mother, who also was unable to reproduce for the same reason. I wasn’t aware she was barren as I am because she had me.

“My Mom revealed this to me, both problem and solution, after you had left my world. After I was calm enough to talk. Thank you for understanding how traumatic..”

Femtite gets to the point: ”Motherhood is a possibility for me. I know how the solution works… I’ll spare you details.

“But I can’t go back and forth between worlds once this solution is applied. I need to keep my form within the picometric scale. And if I wish to remain faithful to my bride, this solution can only be applied once ever.”

She’s not sure if her words make any sense at all to a human boy. (For that matter, she’s not sure how many females, Human or Pixite, could follow the science.)

Shin
"Okay. I have three questions now. One: why do you have to be the one to actually carry the child instead of your partner? I thought that your kind was monogendered.

Three, if your people have the ability to clone Pixite bodies like Connie's, why can't you just use that process to make your daughter?"

Femtite
Femtite grimaces awkwardly. ”Short answer to all three, I want to carry a child.

“The more complex answer to number one would require an explanation of the solution and the pixite ovulation cycle. Sparing you that, by the time I am ready to conceive, my bride will be ready to impregnate me. After approximately two weeks, it would be possible for me to impregnate a different Pixite, depending on her cycle.

“Regarding adoption, I don’t think a queen should ask this of her people.”

As she contemplates the third question, an image of Pixite Connie’s body in her arms flashes through Femtite’s mind. She pales at this memory, but replies with little hesitation:

”The pixite vessel for Connie is unique. We don’t clone, and the vessel is lifeless without Connie’s soul.”

Realizing Shin has incomplete information on Pixite reproduction, Femtite(‘s aura blushes a pale pink, and she) quickly adds, ”By ‘barren,’ I mean I can neither conceive nor impregnate.”

Shin
"The body was identical enough to Pixites that it could apparently reproduce if I understand correctly," Shin points out, before moving on.

"I do understand that it is apparently important that you become queen. That having a daughter is something that you need as a queen." Shin reiterates. "...but if Pixites are ageless, why does your mother need a bloodline of succession? Why does she need a successor if she will never die?"

Femtite
”She believes a stable royal family is best for the Nanometeor.”

Femtite rises from the bed. She looks Shin in the eyes.

”Shin, you and I both know Connie does not want to be part of a ‘stable royal family.’

“I hope you understand, Shin. There’s no happily-ever-after for Connie and I. If one of us didn’t break it off, all we were going to do is prolong the pain.”

PtM = 10
• what are you really planning?
• how could I get your character to accept he deserves to be happy?

Shin

Shin is planning at this moment to get Femtite to take a more critical look at her society by having her answer questions about it. She could get him to accept that he deserves happiness by showing him proof that his future is uncertain.

"I never said anything about getting both of you back together. That's not what this is about," Shin tells her. "I want to understand what led to what happened on the Nanometeor."

He sighs, rubbing his temple. "I respect that you want a daughter of your own. I even respect that you want to succeed your mother and be queen to your people. But can you help me understand why Connie agreed to a Pixite body to become a mother in the first place?"

Femtite
”She and my Mother danced together at the fey ball, and my Mother asked Connie if she was devoted to me. They were both a few inches tall, same as the fairies. But we both assumed the pixite body was a means to visit my world, not thrust us into marriage!

“I’m not justifying my Mother’s actions, or pretending she wasn’t being purposely vague and manipulative. We both anticipated that, and thought if something went wrong, Connie’s magic could snap her back to human form, and the Bug could get her to a safe distance from the Nanometeor.”

She gives Shin a stern look, but it’s tough love.

”Shin, my Mother and Connie are both flawed people. Both treat others like dirt at times, but mostly they’re smart, they’re planners, and I highly respect them both. Please don’t mistake loving my mother for naïveté.

“Can I ask you a question now? I just… that one doesn’t count.”

Shin
"All right. I suppose that I've hit my quota of questions for you today," Shin tells her. He's calm on the surface. He's very practiced on hiding his anger.

Femtite
Femtite takes both of his hands. ”Now that I believe you understand I’m moving on, yet I am still proud to say Connie was my first girlfriend, can you do yourself a favor?

“You deserve happiness, Shin.”

C&S Best of Shin = 8

Shin
"...I'm glad you feel that let go of Connie. That you're thinking of my well-being." Shin states. "But you realize I just ended a different relationship on bad terms. Happiness is not something that requires a person to be in a relationship. Why do you think a person needs to be coupled to another to be happy, Fem?"

Femtite
”You say you ended a relationship on bad terms, but I look at it a different way: you made a good choice to end a relationship.”

Femtite’s read on Shin is that she could get him to accept that he deserves happiness by showing him proof that his future is uncertain. The proof is that he controls it.

”As a time-displaced boy, you must know the future is not a written destiny. Even the seers from my world see multiple possibilities. They connect events to impactful choices.

“Ask yourself what will make you happy, and expect that whatever answer you come up with now is only partially correct.”

Shin
"My future doesn't define me at my present. My future doesn't dictate the choices I make now either," Shin agrees.

"Right now, what makes me happy is taking time to not worry that my team is going to fall apart again."

The Next Day:
The passenger side of Femtite’s magenta windshield displays the image of a human face. It’s clearly Femtite, but the hair and the eyes aren’t so glowy. ”My Mom and I are gonna start tonight!”

Another Day:
Her reflection in the rear view mirror puts Femtite in tears. She is back to her normal self by the time Chastity is in the car, but still teary-eyed. ”It’s not ready yet, Chastity… please take my word for it.”

A Better Day:
Femtite’s hair is bright lemon yellow. ”Okay, the color only looks natural on fruit, flowers and school buses, but feel the texture.”

The hair feels fine, and it doesn’t glow. But there is something wrong with Femtite’s freckles. They’re symmetrical!

A Sunday:
The shade of blonde is natural. The freckles are beautiful. Only the eyes give her away. The eyes are the color of amethyst.

Chastity is at church with her boyfriend.

So, clad in her school uniform—the only outfit she owns (sans underwear!)—Femtite places an order for clothing and heads to customer service on her own. The Alliance has already put the credit card under the name Maeve Gallagher of Kildare, Ireland.

Name Meanings:
• Maeve - she who rules
• Gallagher - lover of foreigners

After the clothes are delivered to her in the parking lot, she makes another purchase. For this one, ‘Maeve’ steps out of the car in her new outfit.

She heads over to the local theater and…

”The nosebleed section? Is it dangerous?”

• • • • •

After texting Chastity to make sure she’s at home and available (as in ‘not with Jonathan’), Femtite heads over.

Not Femtite… Maeve!

Fe-- er, Maeve cannot find a parking space within several blocks of Chastity's high-rise apartment building. Thankfully, that's not an issue for her craft. When she buzzes to signal the Robertson's, she doesn't get Chastity immediately, instead speaking to her father, James. Eventually she is able to get allowed into the building and is met outside the apartment by Chastity and a stern-looking man with a wide belly and a curly beard.

Chastity is in an ankle-length dress with long sleeves, nervously working her hands. "Um, Father, this is, um, my new assigned exchange student friend. Isn't that right --?" she looks to the "alien" girl.

Maeve curtsies (using her long coat, not her skirt) to the man. ”Maeve Gallagher, from Kildare. That’s northeast Ireland, known for our equestrians, and ladies’ fashion.” She’s not sure about the fashion, but definitely does not want to talk about horses. ”Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Robertson,” she says for diplomatic purposes and definitely not because she derives any pleasure from his stern look.

"Mmm," Mr. Robertson says, looking her over. "James Robertson, Chastity's father. I'm in the middle of a parishioners' meeting right now, so I'm afraid I can't invite you in at the moment. Chastity, why don't you take her to the park? Prayer circle's in an hour and a half, so don't lose track of time."

"Yes, sir," she nods.

Mr. Robertson turns back to Maeve. "I'm sorry I'm being a bad host at the moment but I hope you'll understand how important church business is. Chastity'll take good care of you. You're welcome to join us for prayer and supper afterwards?"

Fe— er, Maeve lights up at this revelation. ”How kind of you. I apologize for the interruption. I’ll set my timer for forty minutes so Chastity and I know when to make the return trip from our walk.”

She uses her smartwatch which is actually her SmartCar that she didn’t bother to park at all.

Smiling pleasantly at Chastity, she says, ”Shall we?”

• • • • •

As the girls stroll toward the park, Maeve keeps silent until out of earshot of the Robertson’s high rise, and out of sight.

”It seems my appearance has made a good impression with your father. How has your day been today?” Femtite is concerned by Chastity’s nervous gestures, and wonders if she’ll say what’s on her mind.

Femtite reminds herself not to pry.

Chastity seems distracted while they walk. After a few attempts at conversation, finally she seems to respond. "Oh, sorry. I think so? Yes? I don't know if you need to stick around for supper though. We don't serve the spotted sweet fungi like you're used to. And the evening prayers can get kind of... intense."

She falls silent again for a few minutes, then asks, "How was your day?"

Maeve sees there’s something terribly wrong with Chastity, and now she wants to pry.

”Oh no, Chastity! I think my day was better than yours. I went shopping!” Maeve reaches into her purse. In it is a small box the size of a cell phone, neatly wrapped in red and white striped wrapping paper and a frilly red ribbon.

”I got you a Christmas present… sort of. You have to open it now, or it will be worthless. Not monetarily. I could only afford this because I’m on a strict hunter-gatherer diet.”

The gift (2 tickets to The Nutcracker, row X, seats 124 & 125) is convenient as Maeve noticed how Chastity always creates a distraction to avoid talking about serious stuff.

But what if a distraction is provided? Would she rather I address the difficult topic like a real friend?

PTM = 10
• what do you want me to do?
• how could I get your character to talk about what’s bothering her?

Chastity protests the gift, but ultimately relents and starts to open it. "Fe-- um, Maeve, you didn't have to get me anything! It's very sweet that you did, but you really shouldn't... Oh! The Nutcracker! I love! this! How did you know I love ballet?" She gives Maeve a tight hug, but steps out of it almost as abruptly. She fusses with her hair briefly as she makes a show of studying the tickets closely.

"I'll need to ask my parents... oh, wait. 'Maeve' just arrived. It would be weird that you showed up with tickets just now. But if we say we talked about ballet... then that could work. How about you give them to me officially tomorrow?"

She passes the tickets back to Maeve. "And so we're being honest... hey? Do you like ballet? I do. My favorite is Peter Pan. I saw a great show last year... have you even heard of Peter Pan? Being from... Ireland... maybe you've still heard about it? The story about the boy who wouldn't grow up? (Though, in most stage and ballet productions, Peter is played by a girl)"

Maeve lights up (but not literally!) at the mention of Peter Pan. ”I have seen the animation of Peter Pan! I loved it!” She doesn’t make an ex-girlfriend story of this, because if she did, she’d want to tell the best part where Tyg interrupted the film. ”I do believe in fairies,” she jokes.

Maeve is fine with the arrangement. She places the tickets in her purse.

”And honesty as well. Your hug won’t make my aura glow attention-getting pink,” she says with a pleasant smile.

Maeve doesn’t want to overwhelm Chastity, as she’s just starting to relax. Keep it light and fun for now.

"Okay, that's good to know," she says. "You've really got your... Maeve-ness working, I guess. That's exciting, right?"

The weather is blustery and cool, forcing Chastity to pull her jacket close around her. Her long skirt whips around her legs whenever the wind gusts. "There's a nice coffee shop right over there. You want to go in there and sit?"

Chastity's mood is lifted thanks to the gift, so she seems more comfortable at the moment, but whatever's bothering her might still be looming over her. It might be too soon to ask her to talk, but if done gently enough she may open up.

Maeve is more than happy to sit in the coffee shop. She is aware that she can’t drink Irish coffee for another five years, but ”Pumpkin Spice sounds as American as Apple Pie.” After careful contemplation, Maeve decides she’ll try the Apple Pie flavored coffee another time, and settles on Pumpkin Spice for now.

Taking out her Bug (currently in Credit Card form), she asks Chastity what she’ll be having, and pays for both.

Once seated, Maeve speaks softly to Chastity. “I’ve got to give your due credit—you’re the best! I couldn’t have found my Maeve-ness without you.”

C&S Best of = 8

“It’s nice to be able to…”

Pausing to glance at her own outfit, she admits, “‘Blend in’ is a strong phrase, but at the very least, I attract considerably less attention. I suppose we’ll need to take a selfie rather than ask a fan.

“But let’s just enjoy our coffee and talk a bit.”

Femtite has her Maeve-ness on, and Maeve is not a pushy friend.

Chastity gets a peppermint mocha and sits down in an oversized couch. Cupping her hands around the mug to warm them, she nods in agreement.

"Don't feel that you have to join us tonight. You can say you have unpacking, or you're jet lagged -- oh, jet lagged means being tired early because of the time zones. Ireland would be... ahead? Yeah, ahead of us by several hours, so that's a thing."

Maeve sits close to Chastity on the sofa. ”Hey… I think your faith is beautiful. You said we’re being honest, so if you want to talk about the intensity you’re sparing me from… I want to be a real friend to you.”

She crosses one leg over the other, glancing down at her bare, non-glowing knees before gazing into Chastity’s eyes.

Chastity meets Maeve's eyes briefly, then stares down at the little foam design in her mocha. "I appreciate that. I'm just afraid you... won't understand the traditions. They can be... something an outsider would find, um, traditional."

Maeve offers, ”Everything about Ear…merica.. is new and different to me. Traditional, nonconformist, average? They are indistinguishable to a Pi—Kildare girl.”

"Yeah, but someone who was raised in a... household of only women might not understand how the men run things. Or like it all that much."

”Probably not,” Maeve agrees, ”but do you want to know what I would dislike even more?”

She places a hand over Chastity’s.

“Leaving you to deal with this manly ‘tradition’ knowing the alternative is to be at your side.”

Chastity's cheeks redden as she alternates between staring at her mug and looking at Maeve. She does this for a few minutes until she finally giggles to deflate the intensity of the moment. "And it's not all bad, you know. I guess, just try not to judge, okay?"

* * *

The hour and a half elapses as they drink their coffees and chat about light and unimportant things until it's time to return to Chastity's family's apartment.

It's spacious for a Halcyon apartment, and occupied with fewer people than when Maeve first arrived. The two Halcyon Prep students are welcomed back with a surprise. A tall, lanky youth wearing a white dress shirt and black tie is waiting by the door when they enter.

"Oh! Jonathan! Hi! What are you doing here?" Chastity exclaims, completely taken off-guard.

"I talked my Mom into bringing me here for the prayer circle. I wanted to see you." He somewhat awkwardly moves in for a hug.

Chastity returns the hug, but no less awkwardly. "Okay. Umm, oh!" She breaks the embrace and turns to Maeve. "This is... um, my, um... I mean, this is an exchange student from Scot-- no! I mean Ireland. Mauve. I mean Maeve!" She gestures back and forth. "And this is Jonathan. Jonathan Racer."

Though Pixites are immortal, Maeve dies a little inside. ”Pleased to meet you, Jonathan,” she lies. ”I came to pray with my new American friend, but will apologize in advance if I stand, sit or kneel at the wrong time. Kildare is in the Catholic part of Ireland,” she explains.

"Don't worry," Chastity hastily answers before anyone else can. "You can just follow along. Prayer circle's led by my Dad anyway. You don't need to say anything."

A few short pleasantries are made as Maeve is introduced to the other guests at the Robertson's apartment. She gets to briefly meet Chastity's mother before she's offered a chair that's one of several lined against the wall. All the women in the apartment including Chastity sit down while the men including Jonathan stand in a circle in the center of the main room.

Chastity's father begins the lengthy invocation, starting with various words of praise to a God with three personas -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Then he requests blessings upon the gathering and the people assembled, followed by blessings for the congregation, church, and community. It's all pleasant and uplifting for a while, but then it takes a sharp turn. He starts calling for the destruction of enemies, of intercession into various factions of the country and people of differing belief systems.

It goes on.

Villains, both real and those who simply don't follow the tenets of the faith, are called out. He prays for Halcyon Preparatory Academy, begging that demonic influences within the school be rooted out and destroyed. Then others in the circle follow James Robertson's lead after he finishes, with similar prayers beseeching the wicked be cast down into hellfire.

If Maeve looks over to Chastity, she is bent over like the other women, hands clasped and eyes squeezed shut while murmuring silent prayers.

Maeve considers the only prayer she knows. It was the one she looked up when trying to understand Chastity’s faith—a prayer from the Son to the Father when he was being tortured to death.

Maeve whispers this prayer as softly as she can, for Chastity’s ear: ”Forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Jonathan doesn't voice a prayer, though he shares in the communal "amens."

When the men's prayers finish, the women retreat to the kitchen where they stand in a circle and offer their own quiet prayers briefly. Then they start bringing out large serving bowls of different kinds of food -- casseroles, mostly. Chastity is up and helping serve the men.

Maeve is certainly welcome to help the ladies in the kitchen and receives simple directions from the older women if she does so, but if she stays in her seat she is served immediately after the men. Once Maeve has a plate full of food, Chastity sits next to her, giving her a smile. Jonathan then gets up from where he was sitting and takes the spot on the other side of Chastity.

He leans forward to look at Maeve. "So, you're from Ireland, right? Welcome to Halcyon. I know youre probably expecting there to be a super hero around every corner, but they're not everywhere like you've probably heard. But keep looking up when you're outside, you might spot one of them flying by." He smiles at Chastity. "Or you might be able to take a selfie with one! Isn't that right?"

With a mouth full of food, Chastity neatly chokes. She recovers quickly. "Oh, right! The, uh, alien. But there's other heroes that go to my school too. I'll introduce you." She glances over to her father, who seems to be listening in. "And point out the ones you should avoid," she adds.

It pains Maeve to admit Jonathan is not a bad guy. The go-to-Hell prayers from the older men disgust her, as does the subservience, but she endures this for her friend.

She replies to Jonathan, ”I may need to ask one to swoop down and assist me with my luggage. I was hoping to ask Chastity’s help. But that was before we knew you would be here.”

Maeve makes eye-contact with Chastity.

PtM = 7
• how can I get your character to head out with my character? (preferably after meeting the cats; probably after washing dishes because female)

"I could help with your luggage," Jonathan offers while Chastity squirms.

"That's sweet," she says, "but I'm sure the two of us can handle it."

It's probably unlikely she'll be allowed out after dinner (and good call on the dishes).

Maeve makes an awkward grimace at Jonathan’s offer. ”I don’t think it’s appropriate to bring a boy to the girls’ dorm. In fact…”

She turns to Chastity. Then her parents. Then says, ”Forgive me. Almost spoke out of turn. It’s just… well, this is America. You might find my family’s ways too traditional for your tastes.”

She does not explain herself at all, and makes no push for anyone to jump at the bait.

There's a brief pause as everyone exchanges looks. Chastity grabs Maeve's arm, smiling. "Good point! I'm sure we can both manage it. We can recruit a few girls that can handle some of the big bags if we need!"

She stands up and takes Maeve's plate. "You want to help dry?"

Maeve takes the hint and leaves the seed of curiosity planted for now.

“Oh, I will absolutely help my generous hosts,” she replies. Then she addresses the adults: “Mrs. Robertson, Mrs. Racer, ladies, the meal was delicious. And Mr. Robertson, thank you for inviting me despite my unexpected presence.”

She smiles pleasantly, collects empty plates, and follows Chastity to the kitchen sink.

While drying off the dishes that are steadily being handed to them from the other ladies, Chastity leans over and says under her breath, "Thanks for being a good sport about all this."

“Anything for a good friend,” Maeve replies.

C&S Best of = 8

“I just hope your parents will be cool with you heading out with me for some post-chores girl-talk!”

"We can probably do that. I do need to show you my cats anyway! We've got them locked into their room while guests are here. Let's finish up and I'll introduce you."

With the dishes dried, Chastity hurries Maeve into a bedroom down the short hall from the living room. It's half the size of a dorm, but cozy and full of the trappings of a teenaged girl. A few stuffed animals lounge on her bed, and there's a small desk with a few pictures of her family and Chastity with a gaggle of youth working on some underprivileged houses.

She pulls one black-and-white cat out from under her bed. "This is Oreo. Keep in mind I was only nine when I named her. I know it's not a very clever name."

“So… beautiful.”

Maeve isn’t even looking at the cat. Her eyes are fixed on the photo.

“I like the name Oreo,” she finally says before turning to look the cat in the eyes. “Greetings, Oreo. Um… what do I do with a cat?”

"Oh. Um, you pet them, listen to them purr, cuddle them (if they allow it), and just enjoy their company. Cats are like, a reminder that you can't make something love you. With them, you have to sit back and let the cat decide to come to you."

“Like people, then, right?”

Maeve kneels on the floor, and pats her knees, and waits.

She really wants to talk about Jonathan, but then, that can wait too. What is there to say? Chastity is completely ignoring him.

Oreo slowly approaches Maeve, sniffing her proffered hand. Chastity, meanwhile, manages to locate Copper and scoop him up. She introduces the orange tabby to her new friend, then there's a knock at the door.

"Jonathan's mom is here. Why don't you say goodbye?" comes the muffled voice on the other side.

"I'll be right there!" she shouts, then passes the cat into the arms of Maeve. "I'll just be a moment," she says before she slips out of her room.

Maeve holds the cat. “So, you’ve lived among the humans for seven years now? What have you learned?

“Do you know any human girls my age who dream of ruling a planet?” She strokes the cat. “I take your purring as a yes.”

Maeve only talks enough to show the cats she is giving attention. Mostly, she listens to the purring.

After about ten minutes, Chastity comes back into her room. "Well, it's probably time for me to walk you out." She swings her arms back and forth. "Thanks for coming, Maeve."

Something is wrong.

Maeve gently lowers the cat and slowly rises. “Will you walk me to the car?”

"Uh, you mean your Infini-lift? I'd be surprised if you had a car here in Halcyon already. Just getting here and all." She holds the door open, which is an opportunity that Oreo takes and dashes out into the hall.

Maeve gives Chastity a sad look. How can I be a superhero and feel this powerless?

“Do you at least get to walk me out the door?”

Maeve follows Oreo, but not as quickly.

Chastity maneuvers Maeve through her apartment as the remaining guests say goodbye, as does Chastity's parents. Once out the door, she walks her to the elevators.

"Sorry. I'll walk you to your car. I was just thinking about your secret identity and how you supposedly just arrived," she explains once the elevator doors shut.

“If asked, I have a rental, and I parked two blocks away? I really just need to transform the car without being seen.”

She grows the T1NY•BUG in a parking space between a Ram and a Pilot. She offers, “Let me drive you back to your door.

“Chastity, I’m a little worried. Your goodbye to Jonathan ran long and… well, you don’t have to tell me now if you’d rather not. Just know that if you need a friend to listen, I’m ready when you are.”

Maeve fastens her seatbelt and gives Chastity a quiet moment to respond.

Chastity pitches her head back and groans. "I'm sorry about that! Jonathan's mother came, and then my mom and her was talking and they wouldn't shut up... it was awkward because Jonathan and I were just standing there. They probably would still be chatting away if I hadn't finally reminded them I still had you in my room."

She looks away. "I don't know who's happier I agreed to date him, Jonathan or our parents."

She blinks and turns back to look at Maeve. "Well, I better let you go or I'll be doing the same thing as Mom. See you at school!"

Maeve pulls up to the high rise, but places a hand on Chastity’s to signal she has more to say.

“Wait… please hear me. If Jonathan doesn’t have his heart set on you, this is a blessing. Because he is a very nice boy, but you very clearly have no spark for him.

“I know what the spark feels like, Chastity. And maybe you felt it too… but not for him.”

Maeve gives Chastity’s hand a gentle squeeze and says, “Just sleep on these words.”

She lets go of Chastity’s hand—

”Hey, mind if I join you?” Femtite is clad in the Halcyon Prep uniform, as opposed to wearing magical-girled outfits. She’s been alternating between her uniform combinations all week. Today it’s the plaid skirt and white blazer.

”Do you still sit with many athletes?” she asks, almost as if explaining why she never sat with him before—though secret ID was the actual reason.
_

Shin looks like he's on the mend but still sore. He's eating his food cautiously and looks up in some surprise to see Femtite approach.

"They're cool, just some of them are still miffed I never told them I have powers. Plus, you know, the whole breakup causes additional tensions in the common friends group."

He looks at her uniform curiously but declines to comment. "So what's going on? I still haven't heard back from Indarius, Wolf or Diva," He mentions while trying the potato cubes.
_

Femtite shrugs. “When have I ever been in the loop when somebody else wasn’t?

“DD seemed okay on Sunday. I took her for a joyride before visiting you, and showed her the new button configuration for Love Bug 2. Caio and Indy… I haven’t heard from them since I jumped off the roof to catch you.”
_

"I'd prefer you didn't. I want to heal up as naturally as possible," Shin tells Femtite. "It's a good reminder to myself to stop putting myself in reckless danger if I know how long I'll be out of action. I can't imagine someone like Captain Stalwart having a day off for convalescence."
_

Femtite is glad she asked before destroying school property.

“Okay, but let me know if you change your mind, especially with today being my last day of school.”
_

"Does that mean you're quitting the team?" Shin asks her, seriously and probing. "This is very sudden."
_

Femtite shakes her head. “I’ll still go to Superhero 101 sessions. I just have… huh, yeah, wow.”

She has a guilty look on her face.

“Oh, this is gonna be really hard.”
_

"Let's just back up two steps. Starting with why you're withdrawing from regular classes. Have you discussed this with the principal at all?" Shin asks.
_

“Yes.

“And the Alliance, and my moms.”

She looks a little frustrated (at herself), then says, “Okay, you won’t believe until you see it, but a secret identity is in the works. I just gotta get the not-glowing hair to look not-banana yellow.

“Banana would be an improvement. It’s more like mango now.”

She says ‘now,’ but now Femtite looks as not-human as she always does. Her hair is neither banana nor mango. Its sun-yellow.
_

"It's more of a sunny yellow," Shin tells her. "And if you feel that you'd be more comfortable with a cover identity in school, I understand. I am a little shocked that you didn't think to discuss this with the team first. I'm sure that we could have helped with the details of your new alter ego to make sure it sticks."
_

Femtite thinks about that, for a moment.

“I guess I didn’t want to say anything while the guise—not this one!—is in prog… ohhhh, I’ll just show you.”

Femtite takes out her cell phone (which is really Love Bug Too in disguise!) and shows Shin an image.

It sort of looks like Femtite, but the skin and eyes don’t glow, and the hair isn’t banana, mango or sunshine. It’s blonde.

“That color is harder to make than it looks! And Mom’s giving up on human eye colors. Blues, greens and browns just… it can’t be done!”
_

"Gray is also a choice. It's more uncommon but won't stand out as much," Shin says.

"...I can't help but notice you're not saying why you want a secret identity."
_

“It was always the plan. We just… lacked information. My Anatomy class has been very helpful, though.”

She proudly prattles on about how, rather than why:

“My Divine Armor and Goddesslike Beauty upgrades can combine with my Radical Shapeshifting ability to form a shell that will suppress my Heliokinesis. We can’t quite reach the ideal temperature of 98.6, but a nice round hundred is close enough.

“To blend in. Know the world my world is tied to. We can’t just remain in a museum display forever. Have you seen the penguin exhibit? A purple rock cannot compete with that.”
_

"That makes sense. Blending in, not being a museum display. Though I prefer live penguins at the aquarium." Shin tells her.

"Here's a question for you. Have you spoken to the museum director about releasing the Nanometeor to your care?" Shin asks. "If you know it's in a safer place, would that be helpful to you?"
_

“No,” Femtite admits, “but I guess she or he could be in on it. I’m going to line up a job there, and I might miss work doing superhero stuff.”
_

"A job, school, social life - that's a lot of obligations on your plate. What do you think you'll need from the team to help manage that?" Shin asks.
_

Femtite grins. “Okay, so for the social life, I actually befriended a classmate. She introduced to some friends, and they are in on it.”

Thinking a bit more, she says, “School is easy. I mean… the knowledge is very easy to obtain and regurgitate on tests.

“But… fitting in… that’s going to be tricky.”
_

"And you want to fit in with normal people, not just others who have unique abilities," Shin infers. "I can respect that."

"Do I know any of these friends you've made?"
_

Femtite names them. “Chastity, Raquel, Gina and Ngon.”

She wonders if any of the names ring a bell.
_

"I know of them, but I don't think I've made more than their acquaintance," Shin admits. "Well, as long as you keep the team in the loop I don't see a problem with this. Just don't be a total stranger even in your new guise, all right?"
_

Femtite admits, “I want to work on that too. I mean, I’ve been a stranger, except to Connie. Before we… I… the royal we?” Not wanting to revisit that topic, she interjects, “Oh, and there was Conway, too, the boy who made doll clothes for me and left the school because of me.”

Femtite stares at the table, where her food would be if she bothered to eat.
_

"Okay. So how about this. You make sure that your new persona is in classes with at least one other teammate so we can help introduce you to our social circles and fit in. If that's all right with you?" Shin asks.

He mulls something over as well. "How would you feel about having meetings with a professional who knows how to help you navigate your feelings?"
_

“I’m in all of Chastity’s classes. I mean… I’m already different enough. If Femtite leaves the school and a not-glowing blonde is following superheroes, it will be very apparent.

“It may be better if only you and DD know, but I’ll respect your call if you prefer I share this with the whole team.”

She explains, “I need to tell DD because she knows I’m friends with Chastity.”

Femtite prefers not to discuss her friendship, especially since she’d rather talk about “navigating my feelings?

“I think this is a good idea. Who do you have in mind?”
_

"I've been seeing a therapist to sort of help me get through some of the issues I've been having. I know that I've offered my ear to everyone's problems, but I've come to realize I can't really help solve anything." Shin admits. "So I'm going to recommend to the team to see her, at least on a trial basis to figure out if that works for them."
_

“I am interested in seeing her as Femtite.”

After some thought, she says, “Connie wrote a letter in reply to mine.” She says nothing of its content. She just asks, “Do you think it would be appropriate to bring that to a session?”
_

"You can tell your therapist anything and it'll stay between you and them," Shin said. "It's honestly great to get off some emotional loads."

After a post-lunch mass text . . .

Femtite replies to Shin,
☀️: I already made my first appointment!
☀️: See you next week, Shin!
☀️: Not that you’ll recognize me when I do!

• • • • •

Femtite’s dorm lacks the charm and mountain of plushies she had seen in Chastity’s bedroom. But decorating tips can wait.

She texts DD.

Hey. Are you at your dorm, free, and hungry? If yes on all three, please specify your preferred Earth Food!

Femtite adds several emojis of pizza, coffee, ice cream, sushi and chocolate.
_

Sure. Can't go wrong with pizza, comes the reply.
_

Don’t underestimate my ability to go wrong with pizza.
I normally eat by swimming inside bacteria in my fiery form.
And plus, I actually LIKE mushrooms.

She gets to the point:
What flavor(s) shall I order?
_

Mushrooms are good. With green peppers and onions.
_

Vegetarian! How interesting!
See you in about half an hour!

29 minutes and 37 seconds later . . .
Femtite knocks on the door. She is carrying a pizza that is extremely warm, thanks to her Heliokinesis!
_

Max opens the door and smiles. ”Hey Femms. Come on in.”
_

“HI-hiiiiiii!”

Femtite glides in (happy to fly rather than walk). She puts down the pizza and says, “So… I’m actually really horrible at secrets, so I think it’s better I just tell you.

“Femtite no longer goes to Halcyon Prep, but there just happens to be an Irish exchange student starting school tomorrow!”
_

"Irish? Well, that's... certainly a choice," Max says, laughing. "Well, I guess I'll be pleased to meet this new student when I see her tomorrow."
_

“Hopefully pleased, yes.

“I still need to work on Chastity. She’s in on the secret, so it won’t be a mystery to her why I’m undeterred by her father’s disapproval.”

She then tries to recall DD’s exact words about him. “I was there, actually. Out giving my human guise a test run—two stores, a theater, and the Robertsons.

“I remembered that name, James Robertson, the moment Chastity’s father introduced himself. You said he was a patsy.”
_

Max frowns at the mention of the name. "He's working for Reverend Reibold. He's helping with whatever plot they have to undermine me."
_

“I think you are right about the ‘patsy’ part. I was in Chastity’s bedroom—to meet her cats,” she interjects maybe a little too quickly, her aura pinkening. “And, I saw an old photo of Chastity and other kids fixing houses.

“I get the feeling something has changed in their church, particularly affecting the men. Have we looked into this Reibold? Is he new to Halcyon City?”
_

Max shrugs. "I haven't had much time to do a whole lot of digging. There have been too many other...distractions. But maybe it's time we went on the offensive."
_

“I think so. Just, umm… we’ll look into the reverend, right?

“Because if I treat Chastity’s father like an irredeemable villain…” Femtite trails off.
_

"Yes, just Reibold."
_

Femtite looks relieved.

“Okay. Good. Because… well… I’m being stupid, maybe.

Max smiles knowingly. [b]"Ah. Yeah, I remember how she reacted the first day I came to school after my pheromones activated. I'm pretty sure she plays for the other team, even if she isn't ready to admit it to herself yet."
_

“Wait—what team?—the… Ladies’ League???”

She daintily slices an eighth of a pizza in not-evenly-half, and slides the smaller onto a plate.

“I’m on that team.”
_

Max nods. As they eat the pizza, she fills Femtite in on everything that went down at the Halloween dance...
_

“Wow… and you saved Chastity from an imp, which…… was summoned by church men? This is all very confusing, DD, but I think I need to make sure Chastity knows what you did for her.

“And… her being forced to date a boy because…… wow.”

Femtite embraces DD. “Thank you so much! Um… I better leave you the leftovers.” (Femtite’s belly has a little bump, despite having eaten only a twentieth of a pizza.)
_

”Sure thing. Take care of yourself,” Max replies.

Caio knocks on the door and waits, checking his phone to see if it was too late into the night. He opened his mouth wide in order to pop his ears, just to realise they were fine... the world as sooo much quieter now, and darker and bland in terms of the scents he was used to pick.

The door opens after a few minutes of hearing some muffled sound of movement within.

"Hey," she begins. Skyler is wearing a set of dark brown flannel pj's that are probably sized for a boy. "I saw on the news your group teamed up with the Alliance. You really should think of a name for your--" She stops abruptly, tilting her head as her expression suddenly becomes one of confusion. "Wait. What happened?"

"Hey... yeah, short answer, the Wolf is gone and I'm normal guy now..." He says, a bit anxious. "Would you like to hear the long version?"

Skyler's eyebrows furrow and she takes a step closer. "You're not joking." She pauses for a moment more, then steps into his arms if he'll take her.

"Yes. Eventually. If you need time, I'll wait."

Caio takes Skyler into his arms and hugs her tight, kissing her neck. He then enters her room and gives her a small kiss on her lips, letting her guide him around. "What have you heard from the news? It will be easier for me to explain what happened once I know what you already know."

She returns the embrace, staying still as he kisses her. Once he's inside, Skyler closes the door and gestures to her open laptop on her desk. "Just the usual cape news explaining the light show with canned statements. Just that a building lost its top from a new villain, and no lives were lost thanks to Captain S and the Alliance, and your team. You know they never tell us how close we came to total annihilation. I was just thinking, 'cool, I don't know if you'd ever met Captain Stalwart yet.' So, I don't know much. Are you all right?"

Caio tales a look on the news while he answers her. "We are ok, but it was a tough one. The new baddie was Connie's father... which we should keep as a secret for now, I think, and he was also Doctor Infinity's former assistant. He captured Indarius and Max, and was trying to make a ritual to 'being back magic into the world', but in truth the only ones who would have got the magic was he and his children. Doctor Infinity was the one who locked magic away, mostly because people are a!@!@~!s who can't properly use powers without f+!%ing up everything."

"It wasn't our best teamwork operation also... Connie went ahead of us, and we were already down by two members. Femms was a bit unhinged and to be honest I think she was hampering us more than helping. When Max was released, she was under Connie's father's control... If the Alliance wasn't there, we'd have failed for sure!" He says sitting on her bed and inviting her to join him.

"I've managed to keep the Wolf at bay the whole time, even if there was a summoned shadow demon there. In the end, Connie and Indarius managed to make a spell to bind the magic back, but there was a cost... My talent, which is the thing we need to cast magic. The magic was locked inside Indarius, but as he was doing the spell, the Wolf was also sucked away for some reason." He says, licking at her, trying to figure out her emotions about the whole thing. "So, now, I'm not cursed anymore, but I also have no magic as well. I'm a completely normal person... Which is good?"

Skyler starts to frown. "Connie and Indarius took your talent and the Wolf? Did they even ask?"

"I offered my talent, willingly, before they could even ask." He explains. "Someone needed to do it, otherwise the spell would not work. Like, at the moment, I figured that I only really needed my talent to keep my wards, and even if it would make things more difficult for me, Connie or Percy could help me keep them... also we needed one of them to make the spell, since it was way out of my league."

"I had not expected to lose the Wolf as well, and I think they had not anticipated it would happen... if they did, they did not ask." He says, shrugging. "I'd have agreed in any case, because without my wards, the risks would be greater for me to keep it at bay and it was always the goal, right? Get rid of it, live a normal life..."

Skyler looks relieved that Caio wasn't forced to give everything up without his consent. She sits down on her bed and invites him to sit with her.

"This is your life; don't ask me if that was your goal. If you're asking me if it matters to me, it does. But only how it affects you, if that makes sense."

She pauses as she orders her thoughts. "I mean, if you're worried that I might not feel the same about you now that you're 'normal,' come on." she gives him a look daring him to think that she'd be like that.

"But if what you're saying is right, that the Wolf's gone, you have no magical talent, and you have no powers whatsoever... well." She takes his hands, squeezing them tight, and looks him in the eyes. "You need to do two things: you need to mourn that part of you. And you need to celebrate this new chapter of your life. You're free.

"I don't care what order you do those two things."

"I know this doesn't change what you feel about me, but that thing we've talked about doing is impossible now... perhaps it was for the best. Hot but really dangerous." He says, joking to gain some time to put his thoughts in order.

"I basically left my family and came here to the US to be safe and gain some time until there was a solution for the wolf problem, but in truth, even if I had hoped for a solution, I think I never really believed I'd find one... I dreamed about how my life would be without the curse in the same way that someone answers what they'd do if they suddenly gain a million dollars."

"And now that I'm free, I feel a bit lost... the idea of studying, getting a job, having a family, kids eventually, all of that seems pretty nice and something I never thought I'd have a chance to have." He adds, looking at her reactions in the meantime. "How many heroes can actually retire and have a normal life?"

"And yet... why it seems as if I'm abandoning the team? There are plenty of heroes with no powers around. Am I being selfish, Sky? People do need help."

She looks at him flatly. "Who are you trying to convince? Yeah, we didn't get to have werewolf sexy times. Sucks, but it's not like we can't try something close to it. As for everything else, that's what I'm trying to say, you know? You can grieve. It's fine to be sad that you can't do the kind of things you used to. No one on the team's going to blame you for walking away. It sounds like you did a great thing."

"Me for sure." He laughs, before stopping and sighing again. "I think... I think I've already done enough. I guess it is time for me to actually live my life. I do have a future now." As he says the last part, Caio realises that Sky was dating him besides his uncertain future, their uncertain future. "Thanks by the way... for everything and for being around."

Skyler rests her head on his shoulder. "... you're welcome. I know I tend to seek solitude when there's something I need to process. If you need me gone for a while, or if you need to talk it out, or maybe just pretend nothing's changed... I'm here."

"Nothing really changed between us, so there is no pretending." Caio answers, turning to give Skyler a kiss. "We've had too much in our way lately, but now... it is just you and me. Nothing in between and I think I like it this way."

Skyler puts both hands on either side of Caio's cheeks. Her expression is sad, but openly devoted. "Keep telling yourself that. Maybe one of these days you'll believe it."

"It didn't changed here." He says putting a hand on his chest, where his heart would be. "And here." He adds, putting a hand on hers. "That is what matter the most at this moment."

Imagining that with the wolf gone, the more physical part of their relationship had become much safer, Caio's hand slides beneath Skyler's pajamas, feeling the temperature of her belly and back. He doesn't takes his eyes from hers.

Her skin is cool and soft, with tiny goosebumps raising as Caio runs his hands along Skyler's belly. She yields into a kiss, parting her lips and letting his tongue explore. She moans quietly, just enough he can sense the soft vibration in her throat.

She grabs his wrist when he starts to work her panties down. "Uh-uh," she says as she breaks the kiss. "Not in my dorm. And I just showered, I don't want to get all sweaty."

While Caio thinks about trying to convince her to keep going, he moves his hand back to her back. "We can just kiss, no problems. We'll only do it when you are ok with it."

"I need to invite you more to the base, though." Her jokes.

She smiles as she caresses his cheek. Her brow furrows a moment when he mentions the base. "You should move out, and get your own place that's not underground, with chains on the walls." She giggles a little. "I guess having chains on the walls is still an option, if you're still interested in getting tied up."

She suddenly pulls back, looking worried. "Sorry. Am I making it weird?"

Caio smiles. "Nothing about this is weird. We are young and if there is something we should do is discover ourselves and what we like." He says, looking at her in a reassuring way. "No judgements and no prejudice, I promise."

"We are not in a hurry also, and I believe there are a couple simpler things we could try before going for being tied up." Caio gives Skyler another kiss before continuing. "I haven't tried much different things... you?"

"No," Skyler says with a sigh. "Just, what we've done that one time, and what we almost did..." She snuggles back in close with him.

She gets quiet for a while. Finally she sits up and looks at him in the eyes seriously. "Okay, I have to ask. With the Wolf gone, how do you feel about me? Really? 'Cause you said that it saw me as his. Like, it owned me. And there was that time when I... like, I was... I sort of became yours."

Her eyes are wide and deep, vulnerable as she looks up at Caio. "Do you still feel that way?"

"Hey, this means we'll discover a couple things together." He says, trying to make sure she understands he is completely fine with her being inexperienced... in fact, he wasn't really experienced either.

Caio doesn't answer straight away her more important question, thinking for a bit to choose his words properly. "I'm sure I still feel the same way about you as I did before... but it is not the same as how the Wolf saw you."

"A regular wolf, the animal, is actually monogamous and faithful and a pack is on the most cases formed by a couple and their offspring. They only mate when the female is on heat." He explains. "Animals are not like humans that see sex as something pleasurable and somewhat divorced from having babies, and they do not have our natural barriers of what we should and could respectfully do to each other."

"The Wolf, on the other hand, is a mixture of both animal and man... while it saw you as its partner and it would protect you from anything, he'd also rape you whenever it wanted, because it would have the desire of man and the instincts of an animal, disregarding any of the moral implications." He says, clearly disgusted by the thought.

"So... I can't see you as it did, not really. With a lot of care, we can try to role play it, if you want to emulate what we have both felt at that time... but with safe words and possibly other insurances as well." Caio only adds the last bit because Skyler had mentioned tying him up before.

Skyler listens while her eyes stay glued to him. She swallows hard a couple times during his explanation. "I mean, I get it. The Wolf was evil. There were so many red flags, but... it was so, so primal that I couldn't help..." She looks down and away.

"I still want to be yours."

"If you were mine, like that, I'd not have stopped when you've said 'not in my dorm' earlier... heck, I would not have stopped the other day in my room." He says, thinking about what she is asking. "How do you feel about this?"

"How do I feel? Safe!" She lifts her head back up. "Don't you see? And... maybe you can't. It doesn't make logical sense. But you stopping when I ask you to, it makes me feel like-- like--" She grabs his face and kisses him. "-- like I can give myself over to you and know I'll be taken care of. You won't... take advantage."

"That is true..." He has to admit, even if still trying to wrap his head around the whole thing. "I can't and won't take advantage of you and I'll only go as far as you allow me. This is who I am, Sky... I had to be the opposite of the Wolf, because it was the only way to keep it from taking control."

"I do know how it would have acted, though, and I kind of understand how that could have felt primal... I'm going to be honest that this is completely uncharted territory for me."

Skyler sits back and her eyes close as she takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I wanted... Never mind. It's nothing."

"Hey, Sky, it is certainly not nothing..." Caio starts as Skyler shuts down again while he tries to remember about the ball. He suddenly realizes that he has not changed from that night, Wolf or not inside him, he had tried really hard to keep it at bay that night and he was acting much like he was doing right now. She had changed that night, and upon realizing this he smiles, knowing what she wants.

"I know what you want. Here, trust me." He says, more confident now, guiding her back to his side. "Keep your eyes closed for now and try to remember as much as you can about the ball... I'll help you." He says, moving her hands above her head and holding them with one hand, while giving her a kiss, the same kiss he gave her on the ball, teasing her with his tongue, slightly biting her lower lips. His other hand travels from her nape to her chest and belly.

"That night, you gave yourself to me..." He says between kisses as he moves to kiss her neck. "You entered my aura and we've become one. I could smell your arousal and it was feeding me, causing me to respond to it... but I kept the Wolf in check, but you changed Sky." He adds, moving his hand back to her nape to pull her hair just a bit in order for him to fully access her neck.

"The Wolf aura might have guided you, but it was your powers that changed you... turned you more into an animal, kept you from overthinking..." He adds, now slowly kissing her shoulder and chest. "You were not afraid of anything, you were not worried about anything... you took of your top in the middle of the park and if I had not left with you, I'm pretty sure you'd have done so in the middle of the ball."

"There was only one thing in your mind that night: us being together, how hot we were, how good we were making each other feel." He adds, lowering his hand to her waist. "You were not second guessing yourself, or worried if someone on the other room would hear us, or that you had already bathed..."

"The Wolf isn't here anymore, but it guided you once to the place where you almost become an animal, with no worries, just desire... and I'm certain you can get there again, on your own. Don't worry about the 'hows', just go with your instinct... enter my aura and lets become one... I'll stop anytime you ask me, but please only ask me to stop if you really want me to stop."

Skyler complies, leaning back and letting him take her back to the night of the Halloween dance. Her eyes stay closed as her breathing starts to pick up. One of her hands reaches up and grabs a fist full of Caio's hair, the other runs her short nails along his back.

His words seem to heighten her arousal, causing her to writhe gently in Caio's embrace. She whimpers softly, on the cusp of yielding fully. Then she groans in frustration and taps his shoulder. "We can't. Not tonight.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok. I've told you I'd stop if you asked." He says, his emotions mixed. "Don't be sorry if you are not ready."

"Was I somewhat right, though?" Caio asks, trying to at least know if he understood Skyler.

"Yeah," she says, though there's a note in her voice that something's being left unsaid.

Caio takes her hands into his. "Look, I know you like to figure some things on your own, and I respect that... but will you tell me the rest of what is in your mind when you figure it out?"

"Like, the more I know about you, the easier it is for me to make it right."

She shakes her head and touches his cheek. "There's nothing to make right. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm not-- we're not doing anything tonight because... we just can't. It's a bad time for that."

She turns to lay on her side. "And just never mind about the other thing. It's corny. Something stupid. And it doesn't count if I ask you, so... it's all right."

"Oh, that... yeah, if I still had the Wolf's scent I'd have know." He says, laughing a bit.

He then frowns slightly. "The other thing... is perhaps me forgetting to say how you are really hot, beautiful, or kind?" He asks. "Because you are and I usually forget to tell you that. However, if it is something you've done that I haven't noticed, then there is no helping, because I'm really terrible about nothing things that is not on the the level of you suddenly dying your hair blue."

She squirms under the flattery. She balls her hands into fists and presses them over her eyes. "No! I wasn't asking for anything like that." She groans in the back of her throat.

Caio is lost, his mind trying to go back into everything they've talked about and find out what he has missed. Like a charade, it was excruciating to not know the answer, when he felt that he should know, with the additional stakes that every wrong answer seemed to make the situation worse.

"S+#&... I really suck at this, what have I missed? I wish I could somehow translate better how I feel about people, since when I use words it is really a gamble... isn't you knowing that I love you enough for now?" He asks, desperate.

Skyler rolls over and pushes her face into her pillow, muffling her sounds of frustration. "Ugghhh! I said never mind!" She sits up with her head pitched back, her pink hair completely mussed.

She looks at him, and his bewildered expression causes her to relent. "I just wanted to know... with the Wolf gone... if you still, it's stupid, I know, if you still saw me as yours."

She hangs her head, looking down at her lap. "'Cause I liked that."

Caio considers how to answer. His first impulse was to say "no", because he was raised with the belief that people weren't things to be owned and the fact that the Wolf did saw her as its, was some sort of red flag. His second instinct was to lie, just to make her happy, something that felt both right and wrong at the same time... He disliked lying and was sure Skyler would be able to see through it instantly. There should be a third answer somewhere, hopefully, if he followed his heart.

"Then I do." He ends up saying, and while it felt right, it also felt like a feeble answer. "Look, let me try to explain how I feel... People like different things. To me, companionship and loyalty are how I feel loved. I don't care for presents, or public demonstrations. Sky, I really want for you to feel how I like you, so if you liked when you were mine, then this is how I'll see you."

She shakes her head. "You don't have to force it, if it's not there anymore. And... probably healthier all things considered."

She gets up from the bed and goes to the middle of her dorm room. "I'm sorry. I'm screwing it all up. I'm messed up for even liking that in the first place. It was just like you were taking this f&%$ed up situation and finding the good and making me be this thing keeping you in control... All of it was so... so... ugghhh! I never even thought I liked that, until I was living it! It was dangerous. And it was so f~$+ing hot."

A tear starts to fall. "And now you're free and I should be celebrating with you but I'm just screwing it all up. You can hate me."

"Forcing and trying are two very different things." He says, looking at her, but keeping on the bed for now. "Look... I don't hate you, and you are here with me and for me this is what matters the most. You are not screwing it all up and I can't agree that you are messed up for liking it and to be honest..." He doesn't finish his sentence and instead lowers his head, taking a deep breath.

"Ok, I'll tell you something that has been in my head for a long while and that I could never tell anyone... from all my research about lycanthropy, I could never find anything conclusive about the wolf part. I mean what is was." He says, troubled. "Some sources treat it as an invading spirit of wilderness, while others suggest that the curse gives shape to the animal inside each men."

"I've always treated it as the first case, since I could divorce myself from it... but there is no indication that it is not the second case and that the Wolf and I were the same being." He says, looking at her tear. "What if all that the Wolf wanted, was also what I would want, but would not admit because it was wrong?" He swallows, knowing that the Wolf wanted to do some horrible things... Like raping Terrier.

"What I'm trying to say is that I'm in no place to judge what is messed up or not, since I could like it as well, even if I try to deny it."

"You are right, it probably isn't healthy to build up a relationship where one belongs to the other, like a property... it doesn't mean it can't also be hot." He says, still confused. "I'm certainly not a wild animal, and I'll never hurt you, so what I'm trying to say is that we could try this thing when we are alone... and we might like it. If we don't, we stop... if it is dangerous, we stop... if it is messed up... but if we can keep it just hot, perhaps it is worth the try."

Caio then gets up and comes closer to Skyler. "People do like dangerous things, like guns or doing radical sports, while others do like to dominate their partner in bed and many others like to be dominated... It is a thing and I believe it is ok as long as respect is involved."

Skyler hangs her head, her cheeks nearly glowing red. "I know. I know you don't, like, really see me that way. But I like the feeling."

She leans back against her desk, looking up at him. "You'll have to, you know, take me out on a date. And we can talk about what's next."

Caio smiles, giving her a small kiss. "Sure thing... so, do you want to watch something, or are you too tired?"

"How about we just listen to music and snuggle?" she suggests.

"We can do that, but have you watched Arcane yet?" He says, dragging her to her bed.

He does hear some muffled voices just out of view, however. "Go, look to see if he's there."

"I'm not looking! What if he's indecent?"

"Then it's better if you look than me."

"How is it better if I--? >sigh< Hey! Wolf-guy! Wolf... Teen! Mind if we come in?" The last voice is distinctly feminine. Lola Rosser.

Caio looks around, just to check if there wasn't anything embarrassing lying around. He was sitting on his bed, cross-legged, checking the curve of his most recent Sefris deck. "Sure, come in."

The scraggly, crisscrossed visage of Scar, aka William Britannica, steps into view. "Sorry for the intrusion, son. We're not used to opening portals into teenagers' rooms. But we wanted to check in on you."

The ravishingly beautiful vision of Lola appears next. "It's more than that, actually. We've been looking into the attack on the school from the netherrealms. Then there was the whole thing with you and the Alliance. It's been a strange couple of weeks."

Scar nods in agreement as the alien being Alan Nostein, or Xeno, also steps into view. "And we're strange enough. If you don't mind us asking, that confluence of magical energies didn't supercharge your werewolf self, did it?"

"Yeah, it has been crazy... to be honest I did not pay much attention to everything weird that happened when I was a kid, but it seems the pace of madness has increased recently." He says, grouping his cards and storing them in a box, just to make his bed free if anyone wanted somewhere to sit.

"The energy did nothing to the wolf." He tells Xeno. "Actually, since my wards were what kept the Wolf locked, it was easier for me to keep it away... not that I have to worry about it anymore, since it is gone."

"I don't know what happened, but part of the spell to fix that magical leak, I had to sacrifice my talent and somehow the Wolf got sucked away as well." He explains.

"That's... unusual," Lola says. Alan keeps silent but brings up a strange device that looks like it's half made out of partially cooked pasta.

Scar gives the two of them a look, shrugs, then turns back to Caio. "Huh. Anyway, we were hoping we could ask you for a favor. You see--"

"We can't," Xeno interrupts.

"Huh?" Scar asks.

The alien gestures to the device like its results were obvious. "The kid's not kidding. He's not got the wolf with him. One-hundred percent normal. Asking him to help would be... reckless of us."

The scarred man grimaces. "Oh. Sorry," he says to Caio.

Caio shrugs. "It is ok... actually, it was my goal the whole time, to get rid of it before it could overcome me, take control and then going on a killing frenzy." He says, getting up and going towards his wardrobe, from where he pulls the familiar bundle that contains the angelic sword he loaned from the Corps, offering it back to the large man.

"As it happens, it wasn't needed, as I got rid of the Wolf before I could prove myself to the sword. Thanks anyway." After a pause, he adds. "What is this favor you were talking about? You helped me a couple times and I'd like to repay you if possible."

Scar takes the sword reverently and looks at Caio, appraising the youth. He glances at Lola and Alan out of the corner of his eye briefly. Then he shrugs. "Well, we need someone to do some surveillance here in this high school. We're a few years--"

"--Decades--" Lola interjects.

"--Years away from being able to pass as teenagers. So it was suggested that we ask if you could... investigate..."

"He's not a werewolf anymore. It's too dangerous," Alan says.

The demonic woman shakes her head. "Without the wolf, he'll be vulnerable but he won't be... susceptible."

"Surveillance doesn't look bad... But what is the catch, since there is obviously one?"[/i] He asks, looking between the two.

Xeno speaks up. [B]"We have evidence that more attacks on the school like the Halloween incident are impending. We need some eyes and ears in the school, someone who would know what to look for."

Scar nods. "You've had some training with those sigils. This kind is different -- the really forbidden kind. But, that means they're dangerous. Without the powers being a werewolf gave you... if you decide to help you'd need to stay well clear of what you find. Observe and report only. No one wants to see you turned inside-out."

Caio nods, understanding how dangerous the sigils could be. "Right, yeah, I'm on top of the list of people that do not want to see me inside-out. Uhm... I'll ask Conflux if she can make me a protective talisman, just in case, but I'll stay away from it."

"So, if I find anything, do I call you, or do you have an easier way for me to contact you?"

Xeno looks around the room and spots a set of earbuds. "Yeah. Mind if I modify these?" He takes them and plugs them into one of his devices.

While Alan works, Lola steps forward and puts a hand on Caio's shoulder. "We appreciate this, but don't feel obligated. You have a chance to walk away and be free. No curse, no chance of losing yourself... you'll get no judgment from us if you want to try a normal life. Not everyone gets that."

Caio nods to Xeno and then turns to address Lola. "I get that, but I think I can do this one last thing. You've helped me twice and me doing this for you just feels the right thing to do." He says. "When I leave all of this life behind, I don't intend to return."

"Oh, another question, can I talk about this to the others in the team?"

Scar smiles approvingly when Caio still agrees as Lola steps back. About sharing with the team, he looks uncertain. "If you think they can keep this kind of stuff quiet. We deal with a lot of things that get their power from belief. Other entities can become aware of you once you become aware of them. So, it's not something you want to put on your Infini-space page."

Lola rolls her eyes at Scar's reference to the antiquated social media platform. "Best judgment, is what we're saying."

"Here you go!" Alan holds up the earbuds. They look the same, but the wires now have the feeling of cooked pasta when Caio touches them. They're still sturdy, though. Maybe even sturdier. "Consider yourself an honorary member of the Corps."

"And you didn't have to die to join!" Scar smirks.

"Yekes, Bill, please don't jinx it..." He says, as he inspects the earbuds and tries them, noticing that now they feel as if he had spit on them before inserting on his ear. "Wonderful."

"Right, I'll tell only what they strictly need to know and since I don't use social media, I'm good." He then remembers something and opens the largest door of his wardrobe. "Ah, and, next time you need to visit me, can you create the portal inside my wardrobe?" He asks. "Like, I have a girlfriend and a lot of energy so... this way you can knock."

"Relax,"Scar says as Alan applies some Nuvoan tech squiggles to the interior of the closet, "we've made other people honorary members. Whippoorwill, Captain Stalwart, Lieutenant Sean O'Brien--"

"-- He died," Lola interjects.

"--and came back," Scar continues undeterred. "So, yeah. We'll get out of your space, and provide you with the specifics about what you'd be looking for in a day or so."

"We'll be discrete," Lola adds as she starts to head back through the portal. "And we're a bigger organization than the few of us you've met. If you've got time, let's get you introduced to the scope of our operation." She reaches out her hand, offering Caio a chance to step through.

"Very reassuring..." He jokes, but in fact it did help knowing that both Whip and Stalwart worked with them in the past. "Sure, and thanks again about the sword." He says as he puts on some shoes to follow the corps through the portal.

Superhero Examiner Daily: Thank you for speaking with us. There's been a lot of speculation about the Bendis Tower incident.

FF: Thank you.

He could hear Connie from the hall. It wasn't a wolf thing. Everyone in the hall could hear her, sobs rising above the swells of Olivia Rodrigo played much louder than she needed to be.

A bright pink post-it was on the ground near her and Femtite's door, reading simply You've got Mail!

Picking the post-it note from the floor, he knocks on the door, strong enough for it to be heard above the loud music.

"WHAT?!"

"YOU TELL ME..." He answers back, slipping the post-it note back beneath the door.

"Oh f!@$ing s+$+ I didn't put the wards back up after-"

The door opens. Connie's whole face is flushed with red, her tears shining from behind the atypically dark brown of her hair.

"Oh just come in."

As Caio enters she walks over to a nearby talisman to rotely make her room safe and private again.

Caio enters and sits on a chair. He has never seen Connie in this state, so it was obviously pretty bad. He picks up the note again.

"So... bad mail?" He asks, prodding just a bit and testing the waters.

"Couldn't it be tears of joy?!" she snaps. "Couldn't I just be f%~&ing relieved that my piece of- That Dear Old Dad got what's f**!ing coming to him?! That's the big thing that happened today, right?! Not- not-" She clenched her fist, crumpling the letter she still hadn't let go of, but after a second all her jagged anger seemed to vanish and she sank back down to her bed.

"Why did I ever let her do this to me?"

"You don't seem like the 'tears of joy' kind of person, Connie... more like the yelling, laughing, and cursing type."
"Shows what you know..." Purposefully he doesn't look at the letter after he confirmed Fems had written it. "How bad is it?"

Connie pressed Femms's letter into Caio's chest, a bit firmer than necessary. As she waited for Caio to finish reading she seemed to shrink in on herself, tucking her arms and legs tightly against herself. Before he could quite finish she blurted out, "Three times in one day. Do I at least get a f*+#ing prize?!"

"Yeah... this... is awful." He says, frowning and holding the letter as if it was a dirty thing. "This is awful. Jesus." He adds, before putting the letter on the nightstand.

"I might be missing a lot, but what it looks like is that you went through a traumatic experience and Fems is making it all about her? For real?"

"Did she try to talk to you afterwards, check if you were ok, apologise in person? You know, the basic? Or just dropped this and called it a day?" He asks, clearly surprised.

Connie looked up at him, the focus of Accurate recall helping to still the sobs that wracked her body, even if tears still dripped down her face.

"After you got me out of there I called her. I don't think she knows it, but she's not safe there. She can't be safe there while Millie's in charge. I wasn't ready to talk to her, but I just needed to make sure she at least felt safe, and to tell her I'd check in if she didn't.

"She came up to our dorm instead, Very princess-y dress, you know how much she thinks about her different looks. And then she started talking about how it was good that we'd mutually decided to break up And I think kind of backhandedly implied I'd cheated on her with Shin? I was so off my ass I didn't really hone in on that."

She took a deep, shuddering breath. "And then I started yelling. I said it wasn't mutual because I hadn't decided s*%@, hadn't had time or space or f@~*ing anything I needed to decide s!#$! And that besides, the moment she'd picked her s@$#ty mom over me, that was when she'd made that decision. And then she-"

Connie stops, hands flying to the side of her head, to her hair, to her mouth trying to almost physically hold herself together as she shakes and cries.

"She... she blamed me for how I left Nanometeor. Said that letting my pixite body die was when I'd made my decision. She said I didn't take her seriously, that I lashed out at her for being kind or helpful or naive, that I treated her like a doormat that I could smear mud across..

"So then I told her the cruelest thing I could think of, and you know me, not much for lying."

She reached over to her bedside table and started reading the crumpled letter again.

"And then after all that she still did this."

Caio scratches his head and close his eyes, just to put his thoughts together in a hopefully logical way. "Well... I don't see the whole thing as you do, Connie."

"Back in the Nanometeor, you were literally killed and trapped inside another body and planet... I don't think it is remotely fair for Fems to hold anything you said back there against you. I can't even imagine how horrifying that was." He says, really trying to put himself in her shoes. "On the other side of the coin, Fems was somewhat forced to choose between you and her mother, so I can understand that she tried to find a way that would not hurt either of the sides..."

"You were put in an impossible situation and that was f+%+ed up." He sighs, before continuing. "Your conversation after that is more strange in my opinion... like, I kind of understand that Fems might have thought you were done and that it was mutual, but then when you said to her that it wasn't, it is strange to me that she did not try to fix it... unless she had already decided it was done on her own, no matter how you felt."

He then points to the letter. "Now that, no matter how harsh your words were, that she wrote for her to feel better. Her, not you as a couple, not you Connie." He says to her, serious. "She painted herself as this superior, loving and kind girl who still cares for you... but you had done something that caused her to rethink everything."

"This is... just wrong, Connie... you don't break up with a text or letter, you don't force someone you care to swallow all you have to say without giving them the courtesy of letting them speak. You two might have screwed up at one point or another, but Fems is the one giving up and leaving you hanging."

"It all just makes me feel so unhinged. I feel like I can't have read this right, or that I can't trust what I remember. Cause it's either that or I just... I just fell in love with someone who didn't exist. And I never got to tell her that. She broke my heart three times in the same f~!+ing day, Caio. How f~%~ing stupid does that make me?!

"'Cause if I'd just been a little more careful this never would've happened. I knew I couldn't trust Millie, but I thought I could trust Mel, so I let my f*!%ing guard down. And even earlier! When we were first getting together! She was supposed to be a nice safe crush to have, cause there was another gal who obviously Jollied her Rancher, but then suddenly the team was bereft of any taffy-flavored members and things just got so f&@*ing real. And it's not like I'm unfamiliar with the concept of choosing between family and the people they're kidnapping, you know? Even if you're being offered something you didn't think it was safe to want anymore??F!$#!

"We are all stupid when we are in love, Connie... it is the only way we can stand each other's presence for a long time." He states, gloomier than usual. "Maybe Fems changed, maybe you just now got to know her, maybe you both were hiding yourselves from each other. Who knows? Honestly, I don't believe it is healthy to even try to figure it out."

"Connie, if you were more careful, what would have changed? You'd have dodged the bullet for now, but what about a month or a year from now? If Fems isn't the one you thought she was, what is the difference?"

"This whole thing sucks. A lot. It is a horrible feeling... specially when we can't do s*&& about it." Caio adds, swallowing hard, as if remembering something. "I...Was Fems the first one you've been in love with?"

"Yeah."

"So, you are feeling alone, as if someone close to you have died... lost as if you no longer knew how to make simple things you usually do automatically... hopeless and dull as if you can't ever be happy again... your mind keeps showing you how you were happy then and how you are miserable now... it is a horrible feeling, Connie, but you'll heal eventually." He says, speaking in a way that suggests he is sharing his own feelings. "This sadly happens to most of us. For me it was with my first girlfriend as well, Anne." He shrugs.

Caio gets up and sits beside Connie, offering his shoulder to her. "While now there is only pain, anger, and sadness, with time you'll heal... just don't beat yourself into overthinking the 'ifs and buts' of what could have happened."

14 on Comfort

"That sounds really awful, Caio, but I don't feel alone. Or not differently alone at least. I just... I know there are a lot of ways for the world to make sense. A big part of how I'm able to find the channels for magic to run through is because I'm good at seeing things from all kinds of different angles until I find some that add up. And all I've got is that either I profoundly misunderstood who Femms is, or that who Femms is changed. Those have two really different paths to follow, but the problem is that if I can't trust what I see and think about her, then I can't do anything with that s#&~ except just stay in this moment until everything makes sense, and...

"And I can't do that. I'm still so f!$!ing stupid, head-over-heels in f%##ing love with her, but I can't trust it. And I can't trust her."

"Well, in either case, you've got figure out who Femms actually is. You might like what you discover or not... but there is also the problem that she broke up with you, Connie, so you've got to win her back at some point." He says, looking into her eyes. "And you can't do that as you are right now."

He leans in closer. "Do you know that thing when you are so close to something that you can't see the whole picture? I think this is one of those cases... I think you've got to step back. Let her go for now and rediscover yourself, because living in this moment is not an option."

Connie screwed up her face in disgust. "I'm not trying to win her back! I barely even want her back!

"And I know. I know I can't be like this. Though, c'mon, an on the fly Infinity-caliber seal in between heartbreaks two and three? Don't ever let me get to the top of my game"

She drew her legs up to her chest and just breathed for a moment. "But no matter what, she's in a dangerous place, and I don't think she knows it. And I can't watch her back when I can't f@+*ing look at her.

"So, this is not complicated at all... but perhaps you could ask Max to keep an eye on Femms for now." He says, a bit frustrated, not knowing if Connie wants Femms back or not, but he figures out she doesn't know either.

"And yeah, that seal was amazing, though you'll need to ask someone else to stop you anyways..." Getting up and turning around, he sighs. "I'm done Connie... retired at 17. I'm 100% normal now. No Wolf, no Talent."

"Wait, and that means you're done?! What the hell?!"

Connie pauses and resets her shock. "Wait s~&+. Sorry. Do you want to be done?"

"I honestly don't know... for most of my life I've struggled with keeping the Wolf at bay and fearing for what would happen when it would get loose. Like, I did not have a choice to begin with, right?

"Now I'm free and without powers or other meaningful skills, I'm not better than a cop I guess. We've fought a fair amount of enemies that I'd probably be dead if it was not for the Wolf.

"I could have a normal life... but since I've met you guys, I'm not sure if that will fit anymore."

"Yeah, I figured the only people who'd be sad about the big bad wolf going away would be me and maybe Sky cause, y'know, hot, but you've got a lot of skills and experience already...

"Okay," she sits up straight, her face still blotchy and puffed, but her eyes bright and focused. "Taking it as a given that you still want to cape up, there are three main paths that I see. Mega-training: We get you to go all Musashi with your new sword. Sure she's got wings, but that's basically what someone like Whippoorwill uses as her go-to, being better than everyone else, and you're on a team so that has less catastrophic fail-states. You could gear up. You've got the sword and I bet we could figure out some ways to keep it happy and awakened that don't rely on your own magic juice thanks again for that by the way. I could also figure out some additional charms and things that don't require constant modulation - if you asked I'd even be willing to give up my golem-to-be - or we could go to Shin's bag of tricks. Last option: Weird Experiments!! Cause I bet we could give you powers if we tried, but it might get weird."

She pops up to grab a sharpie and take wrist-notes on his ideas. "Now obviously we can mix and match those to some extent, or we can figure out a role off the front lines, though I admit, if you go Guy In The Chair, I do fear for sedentariness wreaking havoc on your Adonis belt."

"Hey, slow down a bit!" He says, smiling. "So, when I figure out if I'm up to continue with this life, experiments are certainly out... I'm just now free from the Wolf, and I'm not really keen on risking becoming a monster again. Gears and training is probably the way to go.

"I think I've already enough ink on my skin and any more I'd look like graffiti wall, so no more tattoo as well. Also, I'm not sure about the sword being 'mine'... I loaned it from the Corps to help me fight the Wolf and with him gone I think I should return it. There is the whole thing about me having to prove myself to it and I don't know if I'm worthy enough."

Rolling her eyes, Connie gives Caio a small smile. "That's why you thought you'd have to quit? You are just the sweetest, dumbest boy I know, and if the Corps or the sword don't see that? You just leave me alone in a room with them and no witnesses. Me and them'll come to an understanding."

"I mean you're not really gonna make me take care of these people alone, are you Caio?"

"Probably not?" He jokes, scratching his head, blushing a bit. "I'll have to think about it. Properly... Like, I have an out and I need to figure the why's you know?

"I'm not Captain Stalwart... I wasn't doing it to help people mostly. I was doing it because I could and because I figured that it would be good for me to point the Wolf to people he could harm. It was a win win situation where I had nothing to lose until Lua came here and took Sky. Do you get what I mean? I can't just go back because I think I'll miss being part of the band. There is much more on the line."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah compulsory hero service is obviously a terrible plan and you shouldn't yada yada unless you yada yada... I do really want you to stay though. Just, y'know, if my vote helps you make your choice. Even if the yada yada parts are true and important. Also, Sky's a Power living in Halcyon. Her boyfriend staying in fighting-trim is of more than aesthetic benefit. But it's your choice. Obviously."

"You know that even if I'm gone from the team, I'll still be around, right? Not saying that I'm thinking either way." He says, smiling. "We are going to be alright." Knowing Connie is in a better place, Caio walks up to her and gives her an unasked hug, lingering for as long as she wants before walking to the door. "You are my favourite goblin, you know?"

"Yeah yeah, you too big guy." Connie gives Caio a big squeeze right back. "Oh, and thanks for not doing a whole 'Hey Baby, what's wroong?' routine. 'Cause I'm not saying it wouldnt've worked, but I would've been mad at you for cheating later."

Caio chuckles. "Yeah, I'm at fault for not being an ass."

"That's what I'm always saying!
"...Thanks."

It wasn't that he didn't know how to do it. It's that he was just so bad at it. His fingers couldn't make those tight folds like his little sister could. But he had heard about this strange tradition and figured that he should at least give it a shot.

He was on his twentieth paper crane and already he was pondering if he should chuck it into the wastebasket instead of the box.

"Wow. You're really still in here?!" Connie poked her head around the corner before sauntering in and plopping herself down at the foot of his hospital bed. "I guess it's confirmation that healing rays really are that hard with earth science, but I'm still kinda surprised."

She gave him a devilish grin. "So: are you more bored, in-pain, or high enough that you can't be sure if I'm here or a waking fantasy?"

Shin smiles weakly. "I could leave if I want to, but this is my second stay in as many weeks and I don't want to rush it like before," Shin tells her, before handing over a stack of colorful paper squares. "Since you're here, could you please help me with this? I promised fifty cranes and I have more than half to go. I'd like them to not all be misshapen. You probably can do a better job than me."

"Fine." She started quickly folding the cranes, at first watching her hands to make sure she remembered the folds, but then looking away as she turned it all over to autopilot. "And because you're weak and sickly-like I'll take your accurate flattery in the spirit it's intended."

She set the first crane aside. "So, what's your wish? Or is this a pro bono deal?"

"I overheard that some people were doing this as a charity for the cancer ward and asked if I could help. It makes me feel better to help others." Shin explains to her. His next crane is barely any better than his last, the folds crumpled. At least it was recognizable "...So, you beat your dad. How do you feel now?" Shin asks, checking in on her.

"I feel pretty f$%%ing great about it, not gonna lie. Could've been a lot cleaner, and not all my schemes played out like I hoped, but... Yeah, pretty f!~*ing great. Just hope Feya doesn't play softball with containment."

"Okay. I just want to make sure there's nothing else that doesn't sit right with you about everything. I'm sorry I couldn't be there at the end though. I hope that the team were able to give you the support you needed."

"Nothing I'm gonna bring up at least."

Shin nods. "...I kind of wish that you'd let me know more acutely where you were heading. I understand if you thought that your Dad was somehow spying on us though. I was...really worried you'd gotten nabbed like Percy." He scowls at the misshapen paper. "I've lost too many people I care about already. I don't know if I could handle losing someone else like that."

Connie nods along, her face the picture of bland agreement. "Yep. And hey you know me. I'm not always an open book, but I love to talk about plans and things unless I can't cause they're a big secret for some reason."She pauses. "And there were definitely enough clues for me to guess that it was Dear Old Dad who'd made the moves. I can't say- sh!t!" She quickly busied herself in correcting a misfold. "On that topic: I was really trying. I'm sure it's not the first time I've been really trying to work with. For you and the team."

"You know far more than I do about magic. Hell, I think I know less about magic than everyone else on the team except for Fem," Shin says. "So I put my trust in you and Percy and everyone else when it comes to this because I don't know the rules. Can we just establish some kind of code or something so I at least know that you're not vanishing off the face of the earth? Something simple, like 'gizmo'."

He watches her technique, looking a little envious. "Yours definitely look better than mine."

"You've just gotta think ahead, really consider the details, and not make any folds you didn't mean to. So would gizmo mean: 'I can't talk freely about this'?

"Or just that I'm safe or whatever. 'Cause I was walking into danger, really, really hoping that y'all would think something wasn't right and that you should find me."

She mused for a moment, seeming more and more dissatisfied with the new plan until she had to expound further.

"I dunno, sometimes there's more to communicate, and 'gizmo' might not cut it if it's just supposed to mean one specific thing. Especially if that specific thing is that everything's okay, which is usually a lot easier to communicate than 'Everything's Not Okay, Please Help,' which is a much more likely thing to have to secretly and subtly communicate to someone... Just a thought."

She shifted in her seat. "I really do wish I hadn't left you in the dark though. Do you believe that it was the best way I could think of?"

"I think that we all floundered a bit trying to find you. Femtite had some trouble with the dowsing rod. I was off balance. Caio really stepped up though. I think we wouldn't have gotten there as fast without him." Shin admits. "And you know, just some keywords for 'hold position', 'I'm safe', 'danger', and 'strike' might be what we need for subversive stuff. But I'm mostly working on old detective pulp for sneaky ideas like that," He tells Conflux. "But I think you worked with what you felt you could. It's something we'll have to work on as a team. We don't have a psychic on board we can safely pass thoughts around with anymore."

Shin looks a little sad as he mentions that - and flinches as he snags his finger on the edge of his fold, slicing into it. Blood beads from the cut. "Just my luck..."

"Jesus. I was just trying to make a point with the origami, but we should maybe somehow find you a safer art? Gimme that." She took his finger and started carefully laying out her first aid gear. "...So you're still kinda f@*@ed up about Psyche, huh?"

"I still love her." Shin admits. "And I hate not knowing what's happened to her." He bowed his head. "I think about her every night. Even when I was with Grace." He looks guilty talking about this. "Kylie wouldn't have thought it was a betrayal. But it still feels weird, like thinking of how my parents would think of me loving more than one person like that."

"Yeesh. Well yeah, unless Grace was specifically on your Do Not Fly list, it doesn't sound like that'd be any kind of betrayal with Kylie around, but of course it feels different with her gone. That's not stupid, that's just feelings.

"Do you want to talk about her?"

Shin looks a bit torn, but seeing as she's asking out of concern, he opens up to her. "I was scared of her, first time we met. Course I'd just spent my first day with superpowers losing my first fight and ending up in a different century so everything was scary. I wasn't sure what to feel about someone who could poke her head into mine anytime she wanted to do so.

"But, I figured out that what I thought made her scary actually made her so empathetic. To the point I felt like I needed to remind to remember to care for herself too. She and I would have long conversations in our heads. It was awful when I got my first concussion and it was too painful to do that for a while. And we could be...extremely close mentally. She saw how hard I was struggling, felt it, and still kept me close. I even have some small shard of her leftover in my head. I hope she's still there though..."

He looks at his bandaged finger. "I traveled through different dimensions to recover her lost body when she got swapped with a robotic one. Things felt a little like they'd changed then. She was more distant, like she felt it was burdensome to focus on just being in her body. I didn't know how to help her. And then... well. The team broke up. I was comatose for three days. And she was just gone."

He touches behind his ear, rubbing there for a moment. "...I think that she would like you. At the very least, Kylie would know I like you and that would be a vote of confidence on you for her." He looks up at Conflux. "...Though I'm not sure you'd want anyone poking around your head. Not that she'd do that without permission."

"Ahha, so the whole 'A New Body for Connie' thing has you worried I'm gonna spiral? I'm a problem solver, my dude. I can't lie and say that I'm 100% happy with my body, but it's certainly no worse than my old digs.

"I get how hard that can be though."

She sat for a little bit, still except for the relentless folding of cranes.

"So can splinter-Kylie help you find the OG? If she's still in there I mean?"

"I see you're still problem solving." Shin says as he resumes folding. "I don't know. Her shards are her, but lesser. They can't interact outside of the mind they're in as I understand it. They can protect them from outer influence...which is probably the only reason I survived facing that future version of her with Dusk."

He finishes a crane, looking slightly better than the last one. "And I understand not being totally happy with your new body. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Nah, I've got Time Wraith confirmation that I'll grow up fine. Just gotta be patient... I wonder why the shard didn't protect you from the whole memory bomb thing if it was ready to face off against a full grown Psyche for you... Probably Psyche-classic is either sneakier or more convincing. Shard-she didn't show up until Alt-Psyche attacked, right?"

Shin looks thoughtful. "Well, considering that at the time I was also knocked into a coma, it probably happened too fast. Or Psyche installed the shard as part of whatever memory bomb muddled my mind of the night of the breakup. And seeing as I hadn't had any encounters with psychics who wanted to hurt me before then, she was dormant until needed."

"Yeah... maybe..." Connie doesn't look convinced, but doesn't press.

"So...not to dance around it, but Femtite paid me a visit. Or at least she was here when I woke up. Left me a letter even though we were face to face. Not sure what she's thinking," Shin informs Conflux, shifting the conversation. "Feels like she was trying to run away from a difficult talk."

"Yeah. It's a pattern."

"...You want to talk about it or you want me to leave it alone?" Shin asks her.

"I'm all talked out for my part, but you brought it up for a reason. Go ahead."

"She seemed convinced that she was breaking things up with you selflessly because..." He clears his throat, looking awkwardly off to the side, "Fem thinks that she was in my way. Her words. Her parting, 'shrink away before I could rebut' words."

Connie rolls her eyes to the ceiling. "F!#@ing typical..."

"Yeah. So that's been on my mind. Wanted to clear the air on that and avoid any misinformation." Shin is suddenly pink at the ears and cheeks and can't quite meet Connie's eyes. "Also want to ask if you're still comfortable with her on the team," Shin says to her. "I still want to believe that she's got good intentions, but I think she needs some serious education. And I'd rather try to keep the team together."

Connie's eyes flash back to briefly meet Shin's. "Well then, to be clear: No, I did not want her to break up with me so I could date you. She should definitely stay on the team though. Either she needs help, or she needs watching, and since I'm already internally committed to both of those, it will be a lot easier/healthier for me if I can tag out to someone else on the team when needed."

Shin nods. "I plan to help her if I can. Though first I have to finish actually recovering." He looks a little more relieved by her response. "I'll tag you out as much as I can. And...well, I didn't want you guys to break up either. To be clear."

"Yeah thanks for that. It's actually been really f@!#ing horrible, so I'm glad you weren't rooting for it to happen."

"Let me know when you need my help there." Shin says, as he finishes the last crane. "Can you do me a favor and bring this box over to the nurse's station? They'll know what to do with it."

"Take a quick look and ask me to make the next fifty?" she teased, before shrugging off the more serious question. "Could be a good plan. More than anything else with Femtite, I need her to just stop kicking my legs out from under me..."

Lightning Thief: We need to talk about what happened, meet me at the base.
Lightning Thief: Try not to mind the weird scale piles I've been shedding or molting it's weird.
Connie: :thumbs_up:

***

Connie arrives just a little early for the meetup, clearly loaded up with implements and options to tinker with some of her at-base-experiments. Shedding may have been an understatement as Connie approaches Percy's assigned room. Only to find him vigorously rubbing his back against one of the support pillars. There's even a bit of blood on one of the other pillars.

"Y'know, it's not that bad to shed weird scales as long as you've got skin underneath and I can see about an unguent if you need one..."

"Yeah, scales still weird, itches like you wouldn't believe. I don't actually know if there's skin though just feels like I'm covered in... ants."

He manages to tear himself away from the support for a bit, but he keeps his hands busy scratching at his arms

"The claws help though. Weirdly sensitive and desensitized."

"Yyyeah. Uh... Not to pry, but how much of this happened in the last week?!"

"I don't know I just... I've just been doing it. My mind is on fire about everything that happened with your dad yesterday."

"Three days ago."

"I can barely sleep, I don't actually remember when I last ate, it's just been non-stop.."

He raises his hand and peels off a layer of dull gray scales to reveal shinier silvery ones underneath, before discarding the shed molt to the side to finish the point "This." he whines.

"Oookay bud. It sounds like you've been losing some time, and that the whole mindfire thing might not be wholly metaphorical. I want to give you an exam, and maybe sedate you a bit so you can get some rest. That all sound okay?"

"Of course I'm not okay Connie! I'm growing scales and saw a literal dragon fly out of my spell book. And your dad-he...he."

He shouts and then recoils realizing what he'd done

"Sorry I..." He breaths out slowly and forces himself to set his arms down flat on the table
"It's been a lot, for everyone. So, yeah let's do your thing. Got any like I dunno ointment to make the itching stop?"

"Yeah, nowhere in there did I waste time asking you if you were okay." She fishes out a jar and pops the cork. "So normally this gets absorbed by the skin... Hopefully it'll still help some."

As she stepped behind him to reach some of the harder to goop spots on his back, Connie slipped a jeweler's loupe over her eye and took advantage of her proximity to get a closer look.

There isn't skin underneath the scales anymore. It's scale matrix all the way down, likely a permanent or at the very least semi-permanent situation. '4th dimensional dragons' indeed. She couldn't have just said family history? The sudden spontaneity of the transformations were reminiscent of a sudden change in hormones, like a magically induced puberty, so she can surmise that this isn't the end of the changes. His head was the only thing yet to change in any meaningful degree, but the juvenile scales won't stay malleable for long. They might even make great reagents or foci for spells in the future...

Percy squirms a bit mostly from the sensation of the stuff. "Eeeasy, shoulders are especially bad right now."

He waits while she does her look over. "How are the others doing? Might have gotten a bit rough with Caio. I didn't really get eyes on Max afterwards or Shin and Fems.. he recovering well or still trying to break himself?"

"Caio's Wolf is gone along with his talent. Hopefully gone-gone and not just somewhere or someone else. Shin is recovering okay... Max is physically fine...

She purses her lips for a moment.

"So lemme ask, uh on a scale sorry from 1-10 how crazy would you want to get in undoing all this? Cause this looks at least D&D style Permanent" (edited)

"That's... yeah the Wolf is uh.. somewhere. What you mean like we're gonna have to find a genie and wish it back to normal? Yeah like those exist." He runs a hand through his hair catching and pulling a few hairs out with the scales. "Ah... damn. I don't know I've always been weird maybe there's an illusion I can throw over myself long term. For now? Or maybe recapturing all the magic things that escaped will get everything back to normal. I've uh actually went through a few ideas in my head. I should probably sleep on it though."

When she's done applying the ointment he turns to look at her
"How are you holding up? I mean that was all pretty awesome, your set up I mean. But I'm a little weirded out you just handed the whole ritual over to me though."

"Oookay. So that rating sounded like a... 2? Maybe a 3 if you're being all Brave and Macho? Which is fine! Live your truth. But I'll definitely focus on comfort over reversion for now then."

Not thinking of any easy ways to stall, she continues carefully, "I guess I thought it was the simplest thing to do. What weirds you out about me handing the ritual over? Why do you think I did it?"

"Oh right sorry you asked for a number uh.. yeah 4 i think."

He shrugs. "Just... your dad said stuff. And you showing up alone just... be honest with me did you know about this whole thing? About him trying to steal the book, me, and unleashing magic into the world again?Did you plan for me to bind myself to the new lock"

A ripple of pure frustration passes across Connie's face, but she smooths it away before replying, "The whole thing? Of course not. When's even the last time I spoke with Dear Old Dad? I did warn Shin who Asked by the way that Dear Old Dad's interest in the book was out of proportion to what he was trying to offer you all for it. And I- Hmm."

Connie sticks her tongue to her front teeth and stares up that the ceiling for a moment. "I tried to warn you not to trust that deal. Did you notice that the diary was all smudged and weird in spots? Like it was a bad copy? Or had maybe been altered in some way? Like it might have been if it was coming from a Profoundly Untrustworthy Source?!" She tries to let her voice level back out, but keeps pushing before she calms. "As for stealing you and more importantly, your power? I couldn't make it any clearer that only an absolute saint wouldn't at least think about it. And then his ritual... Coming from my family, I've learned to have a lot of potential contingencies. I've learned to try to plan for all kinds of things that might not ever happen. I didn't make any plans with the goal that you would bind yourself to the lock. But I did already know it would work. Within reasonable tolerances of knowledge."

Percy searches Connie's face silently for a time. "You did make it clear. I don't mean to accuse you either, he just got into my head, and with everything seeming so hopeless at the moment you were the only link I could go too without blaming myself more." Drooping at the shoulders Percy gently rubs at his eyes with his palms. "I should have been better, less focused, less greedy. Set up dozens of wards like you do, something. And well you got a taste of it, the power. I won't have to worry about you trying to tear me open to get another taste right?" He smiles weakly, he didn't actually worry about her doing such a thing.

Connie clenches her jaw shut tight. She picks up the pot of unguent and throws it at Percy's chest, hard enough that it's leaking by the time it hits the floor.

"Okay," she breathes, fists clenched at her sides. "If you're trying to be careful and attentive now, try again."

Reflexively he covers his face looking down to the pot on the floor. He contemplates just shutting up for now.

"I want to be better Connie." he lowers his hands. "DoD got me all paranoid, and that's... unfair to you."

Leaning down to pick up the unguent, he continues. "I've never felt so damn useless it was terrifying." He knew that wasn't exactly true, there was one other time. "Thank you for saving me. Halcyon, heck the world."

Her eyes tightly closed, Connie pinches the bridge of her nose hard. "Thank you Percy. I know you're trying. I'll try to keep keeping you safe. Like I did when I altered that diary that appeared inside your warded room?"

Percy raised an eyebrow at that. "Altered the diary? What do you mean? I thought he'd sent both of those to me."

"Yep!" Connie piped. "Because when a diary appeared inside your room without you knowing quite how it got there, you didn't worry about what it might mean that that could happen! It didn't work, but I was trying!"

"I... well.. why didn't you just tell me openly?"

"Which part, Perce?! Tell you what?!"

His brows knit. "Why didn't you tell me you were testing my defenses, that he was? I mean it's late now but if I'd known that's what the second journal was about. Then I'd have been prepared, none of 'this' would have happened." He shook his head, "I was so focused on them thinking maybe they held some secret to freeing Caio and Max. Then your ritual does one anyway. You could have said, 'Hey I've got an idea that might work but I need some extra juice.' Or something."

Connie gnaws on her lip, blinking quickly. Finally she carefully says. "Damn. That would have been simpler."

"Yeah, but none of us do simple, do we?" He offered the jar back to Connie, "Could you get my lower back? Maybe we talk about Max's situation? Or if you're up for it the escaped magical beasts? Or... the Nanometeor thing, it's okay if not I don't want to pry but after you got out I missed everything else that day."

Connie sighs as she dabs up some unguent from the leaking jar "Fine... We can solve those problems at least. I was kinda focused on the less corporeal strands of everything once I got the ritual going, so go ahead and tell me what you think is on the loose."

Percy relaxes at the ointment's placement; who knew growing body armor would have downsides? "For now the Wolf is wrapped up as the secondary guardian of the new weave. Anything gets through me, they've still gotta deal with it. Which is good cause, well not so much from your ritual, but I saw several creatures escape when the book came unbound. I did get a pretty good look at some of them..."

Max eyes Connie dubiously. "I don't know. Getting a tattoo, a permanent mark on my body? I don't want to end up regretting it."

Connie shrugged amiably "Permanent's just another word for kinda hard to remove. After all, I'm literally here to redo some tattoos that didn't make it when the Queen of the Laser Bugs ordered my body destroyed. And if it comes to it and you want a change, there are much easier laser-ways to get tattoos off. " Nodding her head from side to side she added, "Maybe with your current skintone, we'd try something different.

Connie tugged on Max's shoulder so she could look her full in the eyes. "Tattoos, good tattoos, are beautiful, they're empowering, they're a whole way of taking ownership of your body and yourself. Like... look. I know you've found the upsides of the new you. But I also know it wasn't your choice to begin with. Why not make your mark? Are there any tattoos you've seen that you've thought were cute before? Not fishing for a compliment here."

Max looks into Connie's eyes, blushing a bit at the intensity of her gaze. She looks down at herself, her tail swishing gently behind her. "Well, yeah. I guess there have been a few tattoos that I thought would be cool to have. Before everything, that is. I don't really know what would look good on this body. I'm, uh, open to suggestions."

Connie lightly scoffs. "Okay, first off: Everything looks good on your body. Literally your blessing and curse. Second, I can't tell you what designs are gonna be meaningful for you. It's just... not really my place. I can say that since you have an atypical skintone, you might want to go more with linework and things like that until you and your artist get a better sense of how more colorful tattoos work for you. But past that... if you want to start small, the space behind your ears is a super cute place to get a tattoo I'm getting that redone next time, and it's oddly discreet. Wrist is a classic for a reason, but I don't think it adds as much to a simple tattoo. Ankle is very cute, but doesn't pop as much without color..."

Connie sucked her lips in in thought. "Hmm. I also really like the adjacency places. Where it's kinda just peeking out unless you're getting Personal? Like, I've got underboob not flawlessly located, but hey, around the navel, and one I've gotta redo uh, a few inches lower. That one's actually squarely in Personal territory. Collarbone can kinda do that? I like using that as a place a really long tattoo can curve to, but like, a scattering of stars or something on you? Damn. Daaaamn.

"But anyways, you've gotta spill. What are the 'cool tattoos' you always wanted? 'Cause I bet they still work..."

Max blushes even more when Connie starts talking about the tattoos in her "personal areas." She gently touches each part of her own body where Connie suggests getting ink done, imagining what the finished products might look like. "I don't know. There were always those 'cool person' clichés, like a skull or a flaming eagle or whatever. I thought something more nerdy would be more up my alley, though, like a stormtrooper helmet or a Rebel Alliance logo or something. But the stars idea you had is a cool one. Or maybe a little butterfly somewhere, symbolizing my metamorphosis, you know?"

"Rebel Logo!?! Oh that's good!! Damn, that's great for your shoulder, but it's actually fun enough to justify as a tramp stamp. Oh s@!* - caption it with REBEL SCUM?! In Aurebesh if you want to be That Gal.

"Okay, you have to do that one, but I've actually been thinking about adding a butterfly to the canvas one of these days. Teammate matching butterflies?"

Max grins. "Sure, let's do it!"

***

Forever Yours was tucked away at the edge of Rustside, where the rents were cheap, but the curb outside was carefully kept and swept.

Connie led Max past the shuttered front door and knocked at the alleyside entrance instead.

The door opens almost immediately after she knocks, and she's swept off her feet in a big hug by a tall dark skinned person with smooth cheeks and bushy grey eyebrows.

"CW! Every time you call, I say a prayer of thanks that no one has strangled you, but I never believe it till I can feel the weight of you in my arms.

"Uhh, no. This is Devil Diva, or Deedee. She's a very good friend of mine though."

Max gives the person a friendly smile and wave. "Hello. Nice to meet you!"

"S%&@, sorry. Deedee this is Juniper, they've done a bunch of my ink, and are far and away my favorite artist."

"It is a Pleasure to meet you, Devil-Diva." They turned back to Connie, "You're not getting 'experimental' again this visit, are you honey? I'm hoping we can get through all this without a defibrillator."

"June, I'm trying not to scare her."

"Sorrrrrry. Don't worry about it, shug. Long as you're not another CW, this'll be a breeze." Turning to Connie they added, Underboob need a touch up though?"

"Yeah."

Max looks nervously between Connie and Juniper. "Nothing too fancy for me. Just a little butterfly, on my, uh, wrist, I think."

Connie beams. "That sounds great! Are you thinking it'll be in motion? Like if it's flying around your arm, or a little more static. Oh, and do you want the cocoon on there too?"

"Didn't you just say not to scare her?" Juniper tsks. "Come on shug, take a quick look through our tablet and see if there are any designs that make good starting points. CW... let's see how far we can get today. It's gonna take more than one session to put everything back, and when we made this appointment it was just for a small tattoo on your neck."

"Yeah, but we were gonna do a lot more talking during the whole thing too... But yeah. I know it can't all be done at once."

Juniper gave her shoulder a quick squeeze. "Okay, well first thing's first, off with the top, I need to see what's going on with our special project."

Connie doesn't bother waiting for Max to turn around before baring her chest (sans a pair of pre-planned pasties). Juniper leans in to carefully study the tattoo beneath Connie's left breast, flowing script reading C. Westcott Mathers over slightly discolored skin.

"Huh, it's sharper than normal. Did you have someone else redo this?"
"I would never betray you like that! But a bit, yeah. It wasn't planned."

Meanwhile, Max looks through the tablet for ideas. "I think just something simple for now. Like this one?"

"Aww that's so pretty! You don't mind if my version has a splash of color though, right? And it probably won't be on my wrist since I've got the straight-edge X on this wrist, and still want my tree-sleeve on the other arm... Oh! I'll have it flying over my right shoulder! Blue Pink and White too on the nose? Asking the room."

"Yeah, that sounds like a cute idea," Max says encouragingly, giving Connie a smile.

"Cool..."

She fidgets for a bit as Juniper begins prepping
"Hey Deedee? I'm umm... I'm bad at sharing. Especially unprompted. But... I would like to be more open, even though I'm out of practice. I figure... I feel like I didn't do enough to warn you about what happened with Dear Old Dad. So umm... I'm sorry about that."

Max shakes her head. "Don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault. I'm just glad we were able to resolve it without too much collateral damage..."

"It's just... If I'd known how familiar he was with Violet, I would've taken different steps along the way, to redirect him, or to protect you better..."

"It's cool, Connie. It's over and done with now. Let's focus on bigger and brighter things."

Connie looks up at the ceiling, hissing as Juniper begins their work. "Yeah fine. Everything's gonna probably turn out great..."

***

A few hours later, Max and Connie emerge from the tattoo parlor. Max holds her arm up to admire the new design adorning her wrist. "I think it came out pretty good," she says with a smile.

"Are you kidding? It looks great! Just don't skimp on the aftercare, k? And that clear stuff stays on for three days."

Max nods. "Of course. This was fun, Connie. Thanks for inviting me. I feel like we haven't really hung out enough, one-on-one. I wouldn't mind doing stuff like this more often."

"I'm in!" Connie delights. Even if I wasn't, anything to keep moving... "No beach days for a few weeks without, uh, special preparation at least , but otherwise I'm a happy camper! If you don't mind proxies, I could even whup you at magic," she teases.

"Oh, you're on!" Max laughs.

Connie's eyes dance in amused challenge. "Fair warning: I mostly build 'no fun allowed' style decks." She raises her eyes to the heavens and mutters, "and an Alesha Commander deck because I'm a sap..." Her smile fades for a second as she looks at Max. "Thanks so much for coming with me. When I made this appointment it... It was supposed to be a whole step forward, instead of getting only part way back to where I was a week ago. It would've been really hard to do alone."

Max wraps Connie into a warm hug. "Any time, Connie. Any time."

"Yeah yeah yeah..."

Shin: - Femtite wants a child. She does not think you want a child. It was unclear if she ever asked you if you would want children.
-There are some obvious contradictions in the behavior of the Queen. I don't think she could clone a Pixite body perfectly 'with no soul' as she claimed.

"S@%~. Really?! Good to know my unaging hypothesis was correct though..." Connie looks down at her phone in bemused disbelief. "I've gotta work on my PR if my behavior is getting compared to Her Royal Highness Sex Trafficker the VIII without that getting laughed out of the room..."

Connie: ngl Shin, that is very disappointing s$&# to read.
...
Connie: I think I need to actually try talking to her again.
Connie: Lemme run this past you - can you give this a close look? Like what would you think if I sent this to you out of the blue?
...
Connie: I... .
Connie: Could we -try- de-tangling
Connie: Again...
Connie: Not that the last time was a colossal waste of time
Connie: 'Ts not what im trying to say.
Connie: Truly
Connie: Anyways
Connie: Look its not like i dont know i have some maladaptive behaviors
Connie: Keep your friends close keep your enemies closer.
Connie: For finding and exploiting weaknesses its great advice
Connie: Regardless of whose weaknesses youre trying to uncover
Connie: Either way its not a great way to live your life
Connie: Escaping that kind of mindset can be hard
Connie: Like really hard
Connie: You get it?
...
Connie: Well?!
Connie: (I'll give you anthropology notes later if you're good)
Shin: I'm being discharged soon if you want to come pick me up. We can talk on the way back to campus.
Shin: And Femtite's still got that Imperial mindset so it's been hard to get her to start questioning her society.
Shin: She was really traumatized to see her first dead Pixite, regardless of context. I'm not trained to deal with that
Shin: I think I'm going to ask Whippoorwill to schedule individual therapy sessions for the whole team
Connie: Yyyyyyeah if I can avoid humaning that would be great
Connie: Huh. No accidents, violence or disease? Odd.
Connie: I don't care if she questions the monarchy as an institution though (short term)
Connie: she's either an amazing liar or she knew that what her moms did was wrong
Connie: I'll hold onto that about the body though. I didn't assume it would be that heightened an experience for her.
Connie: No thoughts on that message though?
Shin: It's kind of a hot mess
Shin: I would be just straightforward
Shin: Though are you angry at her or her mother? Or both?
Connie: One mom's just a ducking monster. Anger is kinda irrelevant
Connie: Femtite and her other mom carrying water for her and outright helping her is where anger might actually change things
Shin: ...I didn't want to mention this bit
Shin: But while talking about her mother, she did compare her to you
Shin: That you both treat others badly at times but are planners and she respects you both
Shin: I bit my tongue with her on that seeing that her mother kidnapped you as a sex slave
Connie: As someone who has gotten some really vivid lessons on the virtues of holding her tongue sometimes, you shouldn't have done it then.
Connie: Cause I'm mean, and I'm manipulative. I'll own that all day. I couldn't ever do anything close to this.
Connie: You shouldn't have let Femtite think you thought I could.
Connie: Noted on the hot mess of the other message though. Definitely wish it was easier to be straightforward. I should probably just focus on communicating one important thing at a time.
Connie: Woof. Yeah I just reread it and that whole thing is just a Cry for Help. I'm not even trying to win Femtite back, but it still oozes desperate
Shin: I'm sorry I didn't defend you
Shin: You deserved better than my complicity
Shin: Ice cream apology?
Connie: No worries. I get it. You're trying to preserve neutrality, which is often a good thing
Connie: Ice cream's fine, but only if you bring it to my room, and don't mind sitting here quietly enough for me to write
Shin: So long as you don't mind me hanging out and taking in your sunny disposition
Shin: :D
Connie: If you can find it, feel free to bask

***

When Shin arrives, he's actually brought several different pints of ice cream. "It's honestly still amazing how many unique flavors they've made for ice cream these days. Do you want Stalwart Scotch Pie, Yeoman's Banana Boat, Cotton Candy Imagerie, or Dark Gothic Chocolate?"

Connie was hunched in on herself on a pile of blankets, a growing heap of crumpled paper beside her. Even so deep in her reverie, she instinctively looks up to make certain that it's Shin she'd let through her wards. "I don't care. Any of them. Not the banana. F@#@!" She crumples up her second to last piece of paper and tosses it to the pile.

"I can't f&+$ing write this thing! I'm just not f!#*ing ready. to- Just another f#@$ing 'mediation' where there's not actually a g~%%%%n ask... F*$+! Not cotton candy either."

Shin hands her the Dark Gothic Chocolate. "This seems like it'll help more. I'll have the cotton candy."

He seats himself at the foot of her bed and hands over a spoon before using his own to try the ice cream. "That's crazy sweet...and, do you want help writing?" He asks.

"God no. What I want is something to actually empty my head or at least give me something to focus on that would be a f&$$ing break from all this. But until we find out that Dear Old Dad's plan isn't as thwarted as we thought, vengeance is off the table. I don't drink or do drugs, and I can't think of anyone I want to f!&& me into a coma who wouldn't be an obviously bad idea. And before you suggest it, I am freshly out of batteries, and it was just making me feel more lonely anyways"

"So basically you want a distraction to clear your head and not get all introspective and contemplative," Shin confirms as he checks his phone. "Something physical, heated, work up a good sweat where afterwards you feel content."

He glances up at her. "I got some suggestions. First being the batting cages. There's a lot of catharsis in hitting balls as hard as you can. Or, we can go out on a patrol and find trouble to clean up. Always something in this city."

Connie glanced balefully up at Shin. "Careful what you suggest for catharsis there, bud. Anyways, not going out."

Shin genuinely looks confused for a moment before turning red. "Not what I meant...and if we're not going out, maybe a game of chess or something else? Not as physical but you don't have to change."

"Not really the right direction there, Shin. Seems almost guaranteed to require less than full attention, while also not allowing me to be completely brainless." She resumes scribbling on her last piece of paper. "I mean, lemme guess. e4 c5, you cover your next move with Nf3, I prepare with d6, you take the center with d4, cause it's right there, we trade on d4, I threaten with my own knight to f6, you withdraw to c3, I continue developing to g6 yada yada, in a couple more moves I castle, it's still too risky for you to do it because my bishops are more threatening... That sound about right? I'm assuming you at least give me a game though."

"Well then, since I'm out of good ideas..." Shin says, treading carefully. "Are there any bad ideas on your mind?" He asks, running his fingers through his hair.

"Yeah but I think the collar would actually kill him this time. And he's taken. And he's demonstrably bad at a f*~! buddies thing anyways"

"...And if I wanted to be a bad idea?"

Connie freezes for a second. She gently puts her pen and letter aside, steeples her fingers beneath her chin and gives Shin a careful look. "Hmm. Give me a second."

"I'm not attracted to you enough to forget that you're also unquestionably a bad idea..." She taps her index finger against her upper lip.

"You are cute though, the blushing helps. I'm sure you didn't date a psychic without receiving constructive criticism and how-to guides, so you probably know what you're doing..."

"Tsk." She let out a short exhalation of disappointment. "I don't want anything long term or serious though. And after the first time you would be Begging me for more..."

She shifts inside her oversized bathrobe for a moment while she re-settles herself on the bed.

"Thank you, Shin. It's a very flattering offer, but no. That's not what I need right now."

Shin doesn't respond right away, as he places his face in his hands to try and control his embarrassment and total humiliation as Conflux politely rejects him. After a few more moments to gather himself and actually retort back to her cold analysis of his prowess, he forces himself to look at her directly.

"Well, seeing as I've made a total fool out of myself already, I'll point out that I don't give up on hopeless causes. Someone once told me that was something they liked about me." He says, as he straightens his posture. And 'not right now' doesn't mean 'never'.

Connie grins impishly, her cold aloofness melting away in an instant. "Heard that, huh? You should close-read me more often. I pick my words pretty carefully. Don't be annoying about it though, okay? 'Not what I need right now' meaningfully different from 'not right now' also doesn't mean I've done more than decide you're potentially worth future consideration. Now shoo. That was distracting, but I've gotta get back in the zone."

"All right. But my door is open whenever you need me," Shin suggests with a smile, still blushing but looking pleased. "And if you still want to shut off your brain, try watching some films. I've got a list that I've been told I need to watch if you're ever interested."

He gets up and heads out, glancing back at her briefly in a pause before stepping over the threshold.

The door shuts silently as Connie's wards settle back into place. Just as easily as her icy consideration had fallen from her face, the impish grin vanishes too; she huddles up tighter in her bathrobe, arms wrapped around her knees.

"The plan was never supposed to get this complicated..."

She sits for a while, breathing and looking askance at the letter she still needs to complete.

"F$~$ it. One more test, and then you can't do anything else till the letter's done."

With the energy born from procrastination, Connie darts around the room, carefully sealing away all of her active magical tools. Once that's done she takes off her robe and PJs, using the last implement she had out to seal her tattoos. The tattoos she'd gotten with Max, the gender symbol, the butterfly, the tree on which her existing red-eyed magpies would sit, were all already shrouded and protected by mundane and mystical means; she still had to seal off those birds, the roses on her back, the Chinese symbol at the nape of her neck, the ribbon twining up her thigh, the black X on the inside of her wrist, the white circles surrounding her navel, the name C. Westcott Mathers written on discolored tissue beneath her breast.

"Okay. No other factors."

She puts the wand away in a warded chest, and stands in the center of the room, staring at her clenched fist. She flicks her thumb and a bright flame springs up at its tip until she wills it to extinguish.

"S*&$."

-Connie.'

((Establishing shot of video of the Bendis Tower fight))
((Voiceover)) "Halcyon City residents were awakened from their beds to an early-morning lightshow. The Alliance and their young protégés were locked in battle against the one responsible for this incredible display -- as well as the destruction of the upper floors of Bendis Tower."

((Scene change, showing a well-dressed reporter standing in front of the top of Bendis Tower now resting in the middle of Logan Park.)) "But who is this person that the Alliance is saying caused the destruction? What was he after? Does Halcyon City have to concern itself with yet another villain? I'm Gary Grumman with Halcyon Today, seeking answers to those questions."

((Slow zoom-in on several photographs of Mathers))
((Voiceover)) "William Westscott Mathers, 67, is a United States citizen who has flown under the radar for most of his life. A business as a dealer in antiquities had him hopping the globe and rubbing shoulders with the elite and wealthy. He has not married and records show he never settled in one place foe long, but he was still a family man. Court records show he has adopted several children across the globe by the time of this report, at least four children were raised by this man, including three who reside here in Halcyon City. William Westscott Mathers the Second, is a prominent businessman. Another son, Quincy Mathers, works for a local restaurant, while he has one daughter living here locally, a minor and who will not be named.

"Interestingly but perhaps not surprising, all declined comment for this report."

((Grumman standing in the middle of the wrecked apartment, yellow tape and heavy plastic draped everywhere))
"I'm standing on what is now the top floor of the Bendis Tower. This is the site where the Alliance and other young heroes fought who they claim was William Westscott Mathers. It's hardly a villain lair, a formerly posh high-rise apartment. But that night, it was the scene of a dazzling and potentially deadly battle."

((Slow zoom-in on a publicity photo of the Alliance))
((Voiceover)) "The official statement on the incident, as usual, gives us fee details. According to the notable team of heroes, Mathers attempted to release a globe-changing surge of magical energy into the world, which would have caused unknown upheavals and ripple effects across all of humanity. Specifically, Mathers sought to harness and keep this magical energy for himself, which would have made him one of the most powerful beings on Earth."

((Grumman walking through a cramped curio shop, full of dusty knickknacks))
"So it's the classic villainous power-grab, if the Alliance is to be believed. But that still leaves the question of how? How did Mathers manage to attempt such a feat? And if we're talking about magic, why here in Halcyon City, and not in some medieval castle in Europe?"

((Grumman sitting down across from an older fellow in tweed))
((Voiceover)) "To learn more, I reached out to Professor Doyet Brownwood of the Halcyon State University who teaches occult studies."

"Is what the Alliance says about what Mathers tried to achieve possible?"

"Perhaps, but unlikely. Magic is a fickle force of nature. It obeys its own laws, many of which allow a skilled practioner to circumvent the laws of physics. But its practical use is severely limited. There just isn't enough of it to go around. And most people have zero ability to control it at all -- at least not without magical devices or specific formulas."

"So this display of energy that night, was it magic or something else?"

"Certainly it could have been something else. If it was magic, then what the Alliance said may very well be true. There is some thought that magic has been purposefully locked away. If that is true, then it's possible that Mathers was indeed trying to unlock it."

((Grumman walking on a street in Halcyon toward the camera))
"So what does all this mean? Is Mathers just one more power-hungry villain who failed in a bid for ultimate power? If so, will he try again? What does all his children think of this bid for magical power? Or is magic just a convenient excuse for something else that we're not privy to? We'll explore these questions right after this."

((Commercial break))

“Okay, so… I want you to hear about the break-up because you did bring it up, and you should feel free to. I don’t want you to feel bad for mentioning it. You really didn’t do anything wrong. And neither did Connie, my ex. She did something that hurt me, but she was hurt worse because my Mother got too involved in our relationship.”

Femtite admits, “I’m glad you said I can leave out details. I’m leaving out a lot. But I want you to understand, I didn’t break up in anger. If there was anger, I would have waited. I would have tried. I would have said to myself, just get over it, because my family hurt her worse than she hurt me.

“But when I told my mom ‘she’s not the one,’ it was a fact. Like… remember how you said you didn’t want a virtual tour of my world because it’s not the same as being there?”

Femtite starts to second guess herself.

She just leaves the question hanging, fearing that Chastity will keep trying with Jonathan, and you’ll be like Shin, just watching jealously. And by the time she leaves him, it’ll be too late.

• • • • •

Femtite relaxes herself… and not just physically. It is too soon to get Chastity to admit the truth about herself. I don’t want to push so hard I push her away.

Managing a small smile, Femtite continues, “My parents gave Connie the means to physically be on the Nanometeor as a pixite. And in my Bug, there’s still a code to restore her to human… long story.

“I hoped Connie would keep the means to return to my world—permit me to store it for later use. She would never have to actually return to my world.”

Femtite’s eyes are downcast. She tries not to tear up.

“I just wanted the possibility. Or a beautiful lie to string me along? No commitment, because who can commit to anything at sixteen?

“And maybe there isn’t an Earth girl who would want this. I mean—Connie even figured out that we Pixites are immortal. Ageless.—She knowingly refused eternal youth.”

She looks up at Chastity. Her friend. Maybe never more than that, but Jonathan’s future wife? Fem can’t see that.

“So as I said, I didn’t end it because Connie did anything wrong. She did the right thing. It broke my heart, but she knew what she definitely didn’t want and was honest about it.”

Femtite wonders if Chastity, though not ready to face her own homosexuality, can at least see the error in wasting a boy’s time.

“I broke heart too, but I also set her free. And I’m free now, too, to sort out what I want, and whether there’s anyone on Earth who would want the same thing.”

PtM: 2d6 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (5, 6) + 1 - 1 = 11
• how can I get Chastity to consider that she should not date a boy if she does not desire him?
• what does Chastity intend to do?

After a few beats of silence as she finally sighs and shakes her head. "This is so weird. For me, I mean. I hope you don't hate me, but... on Earth, same sex relationships are a sin. I guess since you're not human it's all right. But I can't help feeling weird about hearing about a whole race of all-female aliens. Who are, like, all... you know."

She (probably unconsciously) scoots a couple inches away from Femtite. "But... from everything you're telling me, that sounds very mature. You both wanted something -- or didn't want something -- out of the relationship. So, rather than prolonging the misery, you broke it off. That sounds sensible."

Pushing her directly isn't probably the best route. Using analogies that mirror her own situation might be the best tactic to ease her into self-reflection.

She seems still intent on being your friend, despite the internal conflicts it seems to raise in her. That's something, at least.

“I was so afraid I’d disappoint them, but you know? Parents are not so different on my world.”

Enough analogies. It’s up to Chastity to self-reflect on Jonathan, and not worry about how her strict parents will react. I just hope she hurries up!

As for hating Chastity? While not crazy about the it’s-a-sin-for-humans, that’s a step up from the cheerleader who wouldn’t even give pixites a you-need-lesbianism-to-procreate pass.

Femtite reassures her, “You know I don’t hate you, but while we’re acknowledging that I’m not human, how about I broaden your horizon a little more?—with a shift away from relationship stuff?”

Femtite reaches into a cubby and produces a small bag tied with a silver thread.

She hands over the bag to Chastity, with a friendly warning. “Whatever you do, don’t open it.” Femtite has a good-natured (but mischievous) expression, and she hopes Chastity sees the topic-change as something light.

PtM: 2d6 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (1, 6) - 1 + 1 = 7
• how can I get Chastity to relax and enjoy this broadening of the mind?

• • • • •

She passes you a tablet with a schedule. "Photo shoots with Halcyon Haute Teen, then an interview with Good Morning, Halcyon! Next we've got you a guest stint on Behind the Mask (it's initially a villainous role, but it totally has recurring guest potential with an eventual heel-face turn for a great antihero thing going!). How's your pipes? Your sisters have been floating the idea of a musical career! Triple threat, bay-bee!!!"

Max smiles and returns the hug. The smile changes into a grimace, though, when Harper mentions her sisters. "Ah. Well, I'm glad they're taking to this new line of work with, er, such enthusiasm..."

She looks at the schedule for the day. "I've never been much of a singer. But I guess I can give it a try? Where are my sisters, anyway?"

Harper waves her hand towards the elevators. "They're meeting with some producers about a reality show pitch. Sort of a cross between 'The Bachelorette' and 'America's Next Superhero.'"

She moves over to some plush chairs and motions for Max to have a seat. "Congrats on the team-up with the Alliance! Big lightshow, no casualties, and an exciting new villain! Go on, spill the deets! These are the kind of battles we need to play up to build your brand!" Harper pulls out her own phone and starts recording Max's answer.

Max sits down and crosses her legs. "Well, I missed the first half of the fight since I was stuck in a magical prison. But once I escaped, it was on!"

She proceeds to recount the battle, doing her best to make it sound as exciting as possible while painting herself and her teammates in a flattering light.

Harper listens attentively, keeping the camera trained on Max the whole time. When the story is done, she taps her phone a few times. "We'll get that to our editors, then post it to your social media pages," she explains.

She takes up the tablet and pulls up some images. "Now, let's talk fashion. I get that this is probably foreign territory for you, but we've managed to get some interest already with some smaller clothing designers." She starts swiping through the images on the screen. "These are designs by Fiona Tate. Up-and-comer in the fashion world. What do you think?" Clearly designs for young women, the images show both flowing skits and dresses as well as colorful pants that would hug her form.

Max smiles as she looks at the outfits. A few months ago, just the thought of wearing such feminine clothes would have made her squirm. Now, though, she is looking forward to seeing how the designs would look on her.

"I like them. Very flattering," she murmurs.

Harper spends some time explaining the different terminology for the various styles of clothing, going over the different selections, and helping guide Max into developing a signature style for her. There's almost limitless styles that she could pull off, though Fiona Tate's line favors classic looks. She scans Max with the tablet's camera and uses its abilities to virtually experiment with all manner of clothing styles.

Before she realizes it, several hours have passed. The fashion show is finally interrupted by the elevator doors opening, revealing Scarlet and Cyan in impeccable yet sexy business suits. They click on their stiletto heels toward Harper and Max smiling sultrily. "Maximilian!! So good to see you, sister! How have you been?" the azure demoness coos while the crimson one tries to coax Max to stand up and give them both a hug.

Max sighs, but she obligingly stands and embraces the other two succubi. "Scarlet, Cyan. I've been well. And you? It seems you've been rather busy..."

"Oh, yes! This is far different from our old methods. Now we're actually building an empire rather than watching them come crashing down. It's all so exciting!" Cyan says. She turns to Harper. "And how is our wholesome sister doing? Are her 'likes' going up?"

The social media promoter nods, consulting her tablet. "Her brand's growing. She had a team-up with the Alliance the other night; we're going to leverage that into several cape watch appearances."

Scarlet licks her lips as she regards Max. "Mmm, the Alliance? So, have you managed to make the acquaintance of that Captain Stalwart? You'll have to introduce us!"

"I'll think about it," Max says. "But you've got to earn it. I'm still not convinced that the two of you have truly changed your ways. I'm keeping an eye on you."

The pair's eyes flash at the prospect, and their sultry smiles grow wider. "All right, Maxie. Keep looking over our shoulders. Does this mean you'll be joining us on our new television show?" Cyan asks.

"Infini-cast loved our pitch!" Scarlet announces, causing Harper to clap excitedly.

"That's right! We're going to be reality stars!"

"That depends. What exactly is the show about?" Max asks.

"We're going to be the twist in a new superhero competition show! There's the usual contests of strength, agility, fighting, escaping deathtraps... that sort of thing. But then the contestants also have to resist... us."

"They'll win even if they lose," Scarlet purrs.

"Ah. Figured it would be something along those lines. Seduction isn't really, uh, my thing." Not intentionally at any rate, Max thinks.

The pair give a disbelieving look at Max almost as if they'd read her mind. Cyan sighs. "You're right; some of us have to actually work at it, rather than just..." She closes her eyes and inhales through her nose.

Scarlet turns to Harper. "Max is being modest. She could turn a convent into a brothel just by strolling around its grounds. Or turn a group of pacifist monks into berserkers." Her eyes go wide as she looks at Max.

Max quirks an eyebrow. "Sorry? Did I hit a nerve?"

Whoa. Could these demons actually be... insecure?

"Just reminiscing, Maxie," Cyan says. "It's such a shame you don't remember when you were Violet. We had such fun together, the three of us."

"It simply wasn't the same without you, dear sister," Scarlet adds.

The blue demon flaps her wings excitedly as she gets an idea. "We should go out tonight, the three of us! Raise a little Hell. Figuratively... and maybe literally. We could tell you some of our best times, see if that shakes any memories loose! What do you say?"

"We do have reason to celebrate. We're going to be household names soon," the crimson demon encourages.

Max taps her chin. "Well... Alright. I did blow you off last time. But only if you swear to be on your best behavior! Cross the line, and I'm out. "

The pair of demons give each other a look, then turn to Max while grinning deviously...

***

Consciousness slowly returns to Max. She blinks her eyes and groggily gets her wits about her. Ugh. What did I do last night?

Harper sits up, her LBD torn in just the right places. She groans. "OMG, I am so fired! I gotta go!"

She starts to pick her way past the passed-out bodies of the Halcyon Missiles semi-pro hockey team and half the ensemble cast of Stalwart! the Musical.

”Wait...” Max starts to protest, but Harper is already gone. The demoness stands and stumbles to the next room. ”Scarlet? Cyan?” she calls.

Cyan is very naked in the next room, sprawled out among a couple buff athletes. She lifts her head up dreamily. "Yes, Violet?"

Max quickly averts her eyes. "Gah! You... You promised you would behave!" she whines.
She looks around the room innocently. "I don't see any blood on the walls." She lifts one of the arms draped across her belly then lets it drop back down. "Still attached."

Cyan stretches. "I don't suppose you remember Rome, do you Violet? When you took sweet Lucrezia under your wing? Good times..."

Max shakes her head. "I keep telling you, I'm not Violet." She walks away to try to find Scarlet to ensure she isn't in a worse position.

Max finally takes in her environment, realizing that they're in a ultra-posh hotel room. A light giggling is heard coming from the adjoining suite. Peeking in, Max sees Scarlet's nude form being tickled by the soft white feathers of Angel Taylor -- in a similar state of undress!

Max can't help but stare with an open mouth at the antics. She finds her own desires growing unbidden. As she looks down, she belatedly realizes she's only wearing the cursed red dress, which has taken the form of panties and nothing more...

Swallowing nervously, she backs away...

She finds Cyan standing immediately behind her, having somehow slipped silently out of bed. Walking her finger tips up Max's arm to her shoulder, the blue demon looks over it into the room. "Mmm. Want to join them?" she purrs into her ear, her hot breath tickling her lobe and jawline.

Max swallows audibly. ”N-no,” she lies. ”I, uh, I really shouldn’t be here right now. I need to go...”

"Go where? You're not dressed for anything outside these walls," Cyan says, brazenly looking Max up and down. She takes her hand and brings it up into view, their purple and azure fingers laced together.

Cyan tugs Max in the direction of the hot tub set up in a lower corner of the room. "Let's get that going nice and hot and I'll give you a massage. It'll soothe you. You're just sooo tense."

Max's yellow eyes are wide, her pupils dilated. She looks at her fingers laced with Cyan's and she feels something give inside of her. "Okay," she says quietly, allowing the succubus to lead her to the hot tub...

***

Cyan cranks the heat past the danger zone and starts the roiling bubbles. She slips into the water behind Max, her naked body pressing up against her as she starts kneading the muscles in her shoulders.

Cyan is talented. Her fingers expertly find knots of tension and worry, which drain away under her ministrations. Her hands move up and down, from Max's neck all the way down to the clump of muscles above her tail. The pleasure is exquisite.

In the haze of euphoria and relaxation, Max starts to realize Cyan is whispering into her ear.

Max lets out small gasps and moans as Cyan works out the tension in her body. And there's a lot of tension to work out. She closes her eyes and relaxes as the succubus's hands and the warm water do their work.

When she hears Cyan whispering, Max turns her head to try to hear her better. "Hmm?"

Cyan doesn't stop the massage, bringing her hands up to lightly knead the places just behind Max's horns. "Oh, just mentioning that I've never felt you this tense. It's probably all that human angst that's built up. Honestly, I don't know why you bother holding on to all that. Humans heap so much misery upon themselves that we hardly have to do anything! They're constantly finding new ways to be unhappy, or giving new words to better define their misery -- languor, malaise, anxiety, depression... Why do you want to cling to that existence?"

Her hands go back to Max's body, resuming the full-body massage and intensifying the pleasure of the experience. Her voice drops to a whisper. "Think about how free you'd be if you stopped caring about being human. There are no inhibitions for us. Embrace it."

”It sounds good. To be free from all the pain and strife... Really, it does,” Max admits. She pauses it to let out a long moan as Cyan finds a particularly large knot to work on. ”But I haven’t fought so hard to hold onto my humanity just to give it up now. Once I cross that threshold, there’s no going back. I value my sense of self to much to just completely subsume it.”

"Max, Max, Max," Cyan chides gently. "You'll still be you. You'll just have perspective. Think about it. In fifty years, every human you know is going to be old and grey -- if not dead. In a hundred years, I guarantee you they'll be dead and gone. And you will still be a smokin' hot demon babe." She reaches down and pinches her derriere.

Max yelps from the pinch. ”Hey! Watch it!” she chides. ”I never asked to live forever. I never asked for any of this!” Her anger is starting to rise, slowly breaking her out from the haze she’s been in.

Cyan runs a finger up and down Max's neck. "And that matters how? What's done is done. You're a demon now, no matter how much you try to deny it," she says softly, actually sounding sympathetic.

She puts a hand on the top of Max's head. "Let's imagine, then. Let's say I dunk you under the water, and when you come up, you're the old you. Maximilian. The human boy.

"You'll remember all this. What it felt like to be strong. Sensual. Beautiful. Agile. Resilient. And all the pleasure you've experienced this way. But all of this will be just a memory. Lost and fading but weighed against a drab and mundane existence. Your short life will always pale in comparison to what you have now."

Cyan puts pressure on her head, driving the idea home that she could go under the water. "Let's try it. Maybe if you wish hard enough, it'll work? If there's truly nothing that you like now, perhaps the Powers that Be will have mercy on you?"

Max considers Cyan's words. As the other succubus puts pressure on her, she pushes back, not wanting to go under the water. "No. I know I can't go back, even if I wanted to. And I don't want to.

"I've accepted what happened to me. Embraced it, even. I like who I am right now. The beauty, the power. But I'm scared of what I might become. I want to help people, not hurt them."

The blue demoness takes her hand off her head and gives Max a fierce hug that includes both arms and legs wrapping around tightly. "I'm so glad to hear!" she exclaims excitedly. "That means you're on the right path!"

Her embrace slackens slightly as she smirks. "And seriously, doesn't sometimes helping someone look like hurting? 'Tough love', they call it these days? How many people can you think of that can only be helped with a little -- or big -- slap? Or punch? Or having their sanctimonious self-righteousness exposed for the hypocrisy that it really is?" Cyan shrugs. "That's what we demons do in the long run. Help people."

"Hmm. That remains to be seen," Max says. She is painfully aware of Cyan's body pressed against hers, and she tries to deicately extricate herself from her embrace.

Max is able to slip from Cyan's embrace. The blue demoness gives her a pouting expression as she leans back in the bubbling water, promising further pleasure if she remains in the hot tub. "See you around, sister," she says with a hungry look, but she makes no move to stop her from getting out of the water.

Max hesitates. ”...my back is still a little sore,” she says.

Cyan is far more brazen once Max returns to her loving embrace. She works Max's shoulders with an exquisite touch, but also nuzzles her neck and her tail draws languidly up and down her thigh. "Sshhhsshh, dear sister. Don't fret. You're with family. We love you; never forget that."

”Mmm,” is all Max can manage. Her own tail caresses Cyan.

A hand finds its way to Max's chin, which turns it toward Cyan's face. She gently probes for a sensuous kiss, snaking her tongue through Max's lips and inviting her own into an intimate dance.

Max's resolve wavers as their lips meet. She returns the kiss and pulls Cyan closer...

Chastity takes the bag and pinches the thread but stops when she's told not to open it. "Okay... you're giving me a bag but I'm not supposed to open it." She hefts it in her hand a little to test its weight and the shape of whatever is inside -- whether there is one thing or lots of little things. "Am I supposed to guess? Is it, like, pixie dust?" she says with a smirk like she's joking.