"Hmmm... " Gypsy 'hmmms' and is thoughtful for a moment. "Was that in a 'really good' like a hug from your bubbe? Or 'really good, but I'm so going to regret it in the morning' kinda way? I ask because it could indicate how the pleasure sensation is created and the best way to defend against it."
”Like…what I imagine…well…you know…” Sierra replies. Gypsy was aware that Sierra had never been with anyone, so the hint wasn’t hard for her to understand.
"Like ... what?" Gypsy questions with a curious tilt of her head, but then the light comes on. "Oh. Oh. Like ... that." The girl's face turns crimson, but she pushes through with her thoughts. "Well then forget I mentioned your bubbe at all. Bubbes and ... and that ... shouldn't be mentioned in the same conversation."
She considers things for a moment before continuing.
"I know that there are spells that ... enhance ... those sorts of feelings, so I'm sure that with a little tinkering, I could reverse the effects so that it would nullify those sensations." She nods and gazes off. Distracted by the presented problem, she unconsciously traces a finger from the back of Sierra's hand down her forearm as if drawing glyphs in her mind. The nervousness generated by the amount of Sierra's skin in contact with hers has vanished entirely.
"Yes, I'm certain it could be done," she says finally.
”But…how would we know for sure?” Sierra asks? ”We really don’t have any way to test it against her, unless she attacks.”
Gypsy considers Sierra's question and while she does, her finger continues to trace symbols on the back of the girl's arm.
"I'll have to do some research, but I'm sure there would be a way to test it out in advance," she says finally. "In fact, I think I have a tome that talks about spells like that." She rises up from the water, the fire of curiosity spurring her onward. "I'm going to see what I can find."
And with that, she's gone.
Alien he may be, but Myth has absorbed enough of human culture to appreciate a certain number of the rules for behaviour. Thus, despite the rather delicious temptation on offer, he settles for rubbing a hefty dose of sun cream into Payload's back and then leaves her to enjoy her sunbathing (a pastime he well appreciates!).
Seeing Gypsy flee the hot-tub he walks, rather than flies up the stairs and reaches the hot-tub a minute or so later. Rather than join Sierra in the water he simply folds himself into a crosslegged position and sits on the warm stone next to the pool.
"You have done fine work here Solaria." He says with closed eyes. "I thought you might want some company, but if I am disturbing you then I can leave."
Solaria shifted a bit in the hot tub as Myth approached. ”Thanks,” she says in reply to his compliment.
”It’s fine. We should get to know one another if we are to be on the same team. My name is Sierra, by the way. Solaria is my super heroine alias. Do…do you have a non-super name?” she asked.
"No." Myth says, smiling. "I've never been given one. When I arrived here I did some research and found that one of your old civilisations worshipped a god called Mithras, the Unconquered Sun. I liked it so when I was asked I said that. Someone must have misunderstood but I have looked up Myth and it seems appropriate."
”Mithras…works I suppose,” Sierra replies. She slips up and out of the hot tub and sits on the side as well, her feet dangling down into the water. ”So, where are you from? And what brought you here to Earth?”
"This is my solar system." Myth says, still smiling although his eyes remain closed. "I came to help you as I would have done for Mars or Neptune. And the Darkstar Collective is a threat to all of us. If you could see what they have done in other systems... then you would not have to ask why I helped you."
He opens his eyes and lets the glowing lights in his palms disappear. "Earth was the easiest place to fight them though. You have a remarkably high incidence of powerful people. How did this come about? It is hard to keep up when you all change in the blink of an eye."
”I…don’t know about that. Bay City isn’t quite as amped up a Halcyon…and it seems that the percentage of supers matches across the population, so it makes sense cities have more in comparison to our in the country,” she replies. ”What…what would need help on Mars and Neptune?” she asks.
"You didn't think you were the only ones did you?" Myth asks, his white teeth showing in a teasing grin. "If you did then forget I said anything."
The silence lingers for a little while longer as Myth basks in the sunlight before he cracks an eye to look at Solaria.
"So, Sierra. What do superheroes do when they are not on duty? Am I meant to live here now? You have gone to great effort to construct this... base. Is that normal?" He stands and winks. "Do I get a tour?"
Sierra agrees to drop the topic for now.
”It would be best,” Sierra replies. ”We are a publicly known team now. And if you’d like a tour, I can show you around. As for when not in a superhero response, there is, unfortunately, a lot of PR work, merchandising, appearances, etcetera. A lot of what we do relies on a positive outlook from the public. If we save the world, but a building collapses by no fault of our own, all it takes sometimes is a few points in the ratings to make you look like tried everything you could to stop it rather than you caused it yourself.”
She stands up out of the hot tub and adds ”But if you’d like, I can go ahead and give you a tour,” as she passes him to head over to get her towel. When she gets closer, she can see Peyton is now stretched out wholly on the chair she vacated, her top undone and thankfully laying on her stomach. ”Oh…I guess I’ll come back for my towel,” she says to Myth as she turns towards the house instead.
Roused from her torpor, Peyton rolls over to look up at Myth and Sierra, inadvertently exposing her bare breasts. ”Hmm? Oh, you can have the towel back.”
She stands and stretches languidly, then finally reaches for her top and ties it back on. ”A tour sounds great! I’ll tag along!” she says with a grin.
Myth simply follows, giving Peyton an appreciative look as he does so.
"I'm afraid you used a lot of words I do not understand Sierra." He says as the group heads inside. "PR? Merchandising? And what are these ratings? How popular we are?"
Sierra blushes at Peyton’s brazen confidence and lack of modesty. Her eyes inadvertently wander the toned body before remembering the towel and leans down to take it. ”Okay, tour…” she says.
She proceeds to lead the two through the building, showcasing each room in as much detail as they’d like. She eventually pauses at her own room just long enough to go in and slip on some denim shorts over her bikini bottoms before continuing on.
Eventually the trio circle back to the common living area, and Sierra has a seat on one of the couches there. ”So, what do you two think? Pretty great, huh?” she asked.
Sierra makes her way down from her suite, wearing a pair of grey shorts and a matching crop top, towel drying her hair. ”So,” she says as she hops over the back of a couch to flip roughly into the seat before folding her bare feet under her, ”What do you all wanna do? We have all the streaming services. Or, we could play a game. Though, I’d probably have to run out and get one. Doubt they supplied us with any here…” Sierra offers.
"It is an excellent place." Myth says, wanting to be obliging. "I like the windows. It is important to me to have a lot of light. The solar panels seem like a very sensible choice here. I could charge them for you if it would be helpful? In case of an emergency or something similar."
He glances over to Payload. "Have you chosen a room yet Peyton?"
-------------------------------------------------
"I am not familiar with your games." Myth says. "And I find your 'television'... odd. There is a lot of kissing, but the families always seem very complicated. It is normal for a woman to lose her memory and fall in love with a man who was married to her daughter, but killed her for an inheritance? Still..."
His eyes slide briefly to Gypsy. "I would like to learn more about my team-mates. Is that an acceptable activity?"
Sierra let’s out a single scoff of a laugh. ”Sounds like the alien way of asking to play Truth or Dare,” she comments absentmindedly.
Seeing his look of confusion, she explains ”Game teens and kids play usually. Challenge someone to either ‘Truth or Dare,’ and that person has to choose one. Then the person who challenged has to either come up with a question the person has to answer truthfully, or a dare to make them do. And if you didn’t do it, there is some sort of punishment. Usually ends up with people embarrassed or hurt or some other combination of the two.”
Gypsy, who's sitting on the nearby large sectional couch, scrolling through her phone, looks up at Sierra's suggestion. "Uh, is that really a good idea?" she asks, twirling a wet strand of hair around one finger nervously. "I mean, Myth doesn't really understand a lot of our social mores, so he could end up doing something really embarrassing."
Sierra’s eyes widen and she stammers ”I…I wasn’t suggesting! I was just explaining!”
"This place is b~@*%in'" Peyton says once the tour completes. She grins at Myth. "I haven't picked a room yet. Want to share?"
***
"Yes! Let's do it! Truth or dare!" Peyton cheers.
Sierra places a hand on her forehead.
”Fine. But let’s…try not to go too overboard with it, okay? And what will be the punishment for not following through?” Sierra asks, already regretting the whole thing.
”You gotta lose an article of clothing as a forfeit,” Peyton says, eyes sparkling.
"If you would like to share then I would be delighted." The alien replies, somehow keeping a straight face.
----------------------------------------------
"I do not wear much clothing." Myth points out. "What happens if I run out?" He doesn't seem overly concerned though.
Gypsy fumbles her phone as the stakes are immediately raised to such a high level. "Uh, I ... uh ... I've got some stuff I'm currently researching," she stammers. "So I'll have to pass on the game. Have fun."
Rising from the couch, she moves to head back to her private quarters.
Sierra holds up a hand. ”Come on, Peyton. Let’s not jump to THAT level of crazy,” she says, hoping to keep things light and fun and not run Gypsy off.
Peyton laughs. ”Worth it for that reaction! Okay, okay, how about you gotta put a dollar into the pot for each forfeit, and at the end we use that money for something fun?”
Sierra smiles. ”That sounds better! Gypsy?” she looks to her friend hopefully.
Gypsy looks from Peyton to Sierra and seems to consider for a moment. "Um ... ok," she says finally. "One moment." She dashes out of the room and is gone for a good five minutes. Upon returning, she is carrying a carved wooden bowl and her shoulder bag.
The bag she drops on the couch where she was sitting. The bowl she places in the middle of the small round table between the seats. Circling her hand over it and muttering a few arcane words, the bowl is illuminated for just a moment with a golden glow. Gypsy nods in satisfaction and takes her seat again.
"None of the dares can be illegal, ok?" she declares with an eye on Peyton. "Who's first?"
As Gypsy works her magic, Sierra can feel her heart start beating faster, but doesn’t say or do anything besides shift around into a more comfortable position. She asks ”What was that magic?”
Gypsy waves her hand dismissively. "That was just a simple blessing on whatever money is placed in there. 'Go forth and do good', that sort of thing."
Myth sits quite cheerfully across the bowl from Gypsy.
"Excellent! May I go first?" He asks. When he isn't gainsaid he turns to Sierra on his left.
"Sierra, who is the most difficult person you have ever fought?"
Gypsy seems surprised at Myth's 'Truth' question. "Oh, are we not ... ?" she begins, but then makes a show of buttoning her lips and relief is evident on her face.
Sierra grows a little pale. She looks sheepishly to the floor and mutters a name none of you have ever heard before. ”Omega.”
Without any other elaboration, she says ”And typically you give the person a choice. Like this. Peyton, Truth or Dare?”
"Oh. I am sorry." Myth says, sounding slightly sheepish. He arranges his robe and turns his focus to Peyton, clearly paying close attention to the rules of the game.
"Dare!" Peyton says enthusiastically.
Sierra smirks. ”I dare you…to…” she pauses as she thinks. ”do a backbuster off the top rock into the pool!”
”Sure! Be right back!” Sierra pauses only to strip out of her pajamas before streaking to the pool! She climbs up on the top rock before leaping down, back first, into the water! She hits with a loud splash, laughing and wincing a bit from the hard impact. ”Ouch,” she says, wrapping a towel around herself.
”Okay, Myth’s turn. Truth or dare?”
Gypsy follows as Peyton races outside, her phone at the ready to record the wince-inducing dive into the water.
As the girl is wrapping herself in a towel, Gypsy nods her head in satisfaction. "You've already got six views and 5 Likes," she says as they walk back inside.
Sierra’s eyes stray along Peyton’s extremely fit form briefly, a blush forming on her cheeks, as she watches her dash outside. She winces at the loud smack against the water. Then she notices Gypsy on her phone and when she makes her comment, Sierra gasps and says ”Gypsy!” in shock.
"What?" Gypsy replies. "She's got a lot of fans on her channel and you can't see anything important at this distance."
"You can't? Well, let me give my fans a closer look then," Peyton replies. She holds her towel open and flashes Gypsy's phone for several seconds, sticking her tongue out.
Gypsy blushes and mutters to herself as she taps away at the device. "That one's certainly not going on YouTube."
"Dare." Myth replies, openly grinning at the byplay between his team-mates.
"Alright. I dare you to give Gypsy a lap dance," Peyton says to Myth. She leans closer to him. "She likes girls, so maybe you could do something to put her more at ease?"
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"What is a 'lap-dance'?" Myth asks curiously. Payload, who else, pulls out her phone and pulls up two or three videos, casting them onto the big screen and shifting through them until she finds 'a good one'. It takes less time than one might expect...
Myth watches closely and then finally nods. "I think I understand." He says with a smile. "But I will require music."
Peyton starts up a song with a heavy beat and Myth turns his back to his audience and begins to sway slowly. His hair starts to lengthen, falling in a long, black sheet down his back until he looks over one shoulder at Gypsy and gives a flirtatious wink.
Myth looks different. His face is more delicate, with wider lips and large dark eyes. The passion as he looks at Gypsy is noticeable and as he shimmies around to face her fully something becomes clear. Myth is not a man any more.
There's not much change to her height, but beneath the usual loose robe the firmly muscled chest is now dominated by soft curves, only partially hidden, so that when Myth slides one toned leg across Gypsy's and slides into her lap with gyrating movements of her pelvis the Nova finds herself with a face-full of dark, smooth skin, practically begging to be touched.
At the moment the three girls realize that Myth is no longer a man, there's a dull thud as Gypsy's phone drops from her hand to land on the floor, forgotten. Her mouth drops open and stays that way as Myth presses against her.
As Myth's movements continue, Gypsy's breathing accelerates, her freckled skin grows flush and her hands grasp at the couch cushions with whitened knuckles. Her eyes move across the curved form that presses so close, yet is so out of reach. A nervous tongue darts out to wet lips dried by ragged breathing. Her muscles are tense, but frozen as Myth continues her sensual movements.
Peyton nudges Sierra, grinning. Her phone is out and recording the whole show.
Sierra is also thoroughly blushed, and subconsciously bites her lower lip as Myth performs…her…dance. When Peyton nudges her, she looks over and at her phone before chuckling slightly, her eyes drifting back to the routine…