More Meteor Showers Bring Even Stranger Powers. (O/A)

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Leo's hands fidgeted. He did not know how to approach what he really wanted to ask. As far as he knew kissing a girl was supposed to be a great thing. Yet the more time he spent in Valhalla, the more he began to think that maybe that was not the case for him. Theonis did not seem like the sort of person to beat around the bush, so he thought it might be best to just come out and ask.

"Okay, but...hypothetically, what if I thought I might be in the right mindset if I kissed a...guy?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Next Morning

Alec was in the deepest sleep he had ever experienced. It was a dreamless sleep, the type that might happen after days without a proper night's rest. For him, he could not remember the last time he slept so well. The closest would have been the first night he shared a bed with Kerana. Pillow wall or no, he felt safe and secure being within arms reach of her. A great weight had been lifted the night before, and so he slept soundly.

Still asleep, his hand and drifted upward until he hand rested between Kerana's head and shoulder, and his arm was across her chest. He took a sharp breath and let out a short, peaceful hum.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Freya groggily regained consciousness. Her head throbbed, her mouth was dry, and the room was blurry. A hangover. At least she remembered what happened the night before...mostly. Things started to get fuzzy after a few rounds of drunken Karaoke.

She grumbled and rolled over. Her vision was still blurry, but she could swear a shoujo protagonist was sleeping on the other side of her bed. She rubbed her eyes and took another look. She clamped her hand over her mouth as her eyes went wide. It was Liam. She looked down at him. He appeared to be dressed. She looked down at herself. She was also dressed. A feeling of hefty relief eased her mind.

She studied him for a moment. She realized that he was actually pretty attractive. When he was not talking. She also thought about how he was not so bad to be around when he was less uptight. Which, to her, was funny. She dreamt of what had to have been one of Fenris' memories. They were drinking, or rather, she had been drinking; then the night morning Fenris woke up naked in a wolf pen. He was a smug douche in that dream, but that was not the Legio, or rather Liam, that drank with her the night before.

She stealthily crawled out of bed and wobbled her way to the kitchenette. She started to prepare a hangover remedy that Adam had invented. Blue Gatorade, Coke, crushed flaming hot Cheetos, Dr. Pepper, chocolate milk, and sweet pickle juice. She did not look forward to taking the cursed concoction, but it was better than the alternative.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heather had gotten up early. Her cat, Mister Bojangles, had demanded food, even though his bowl still had a fair amount of dry food in there. It did not take her long to figure out that if the bottom of the bowl was visible, Mister Bojangles would not be pleased.

Once she was done, she slid back into bed and wrapped her arms around Liv's waist. Her lips made their way to her girlfriends neck, and she began pecking until Liv would wake up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There were no gym classes that day, so Dean Nixon decided to help with morning prep. In the mornings and afternoons, some people would come to the bar and take advantage of the menu. While the cafeteria was great, it still served food on a line. The bar was a nice alternative to the usual food by offering a nice variety of casual eats of things like tacos, sandwiches, pizza, and curry. The menu changed every month so that way no one got tired of what was on offer. That morning, he chopped shallots for fried rice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okami slept at the foot of Lokelonni's bed. She smelled like outdoors, but her mother did not care. The old queen did, however, go to bed fairly cross since her other daughter decided her time was better spent getting plastered than spending time with her mother.  

[PixelMuse]

Rikki Tikki Travi

There were no gym classes that day, so Dean Nixon decided to help with morning prep. In the mornings and afternoons, some people would come to the bar and take advantage of the menu. While the cafeteria was great, it still served food on a line. The bar was a nice alternative to the usual food by offering a nice variety of casual eats of things like tacos, sandwiches, pizza, and curry. The menu changed every month so that way no one got tired of what was on offer. That morning, he chopped shallots for fried rice.

Trinity did her normal routine and covered the usual run around the perimeter then took a shower. In that shower she thought it would be a good idea to fill in Chrystallion about what happened with her and Leo in the gym among other things.

She and Theo gave it another shot, last week, she thought what happened in the gym with Leo meant that enough time had passed that maybe Liv and Dawn weren’t an issue. She did tell him that she accidentally kissed someone else during a spar thinking it was him but decided to leave out that it was Leo. There wasn’t a big announcement it was mostly behind closed doors after work of course, it was mainly a test to see if she was truly over it but she couldn’t and had to break up again. She really hoped that was it, that that was all that was needed is time but there was more that was needed.

Since she planned to head over to Crystalion with some uncomfortable news about her son she thought bringing someone or perhaps mojitos considering the time of day. Perhaps the bartender may have a recommendation for the occasion. She walks into the bar, pretty much quiet for the most part. “Dean? What are you doing here thought you would have PE classes this morning.”  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

The scent of sizzling bacon caught Alec's olfactory senses. It was not long before it roused him from his deep sleep. He sat up, inhaled sharply, and stretched his arms. He scratched his chest, paused for a moment, and then blushed. Only then did Alec realize he had forgotten to put his shirt back on. So he had spent the night, holding Kerana, with his shirt off. He knew what she went through when he ascended. He could only imagine what went through her mind that morning.

He looked over his side of the bed and saw his night shirt laying in a heap. He quickly snatched it off the floor and pulled it over his head. He untucked his hair and took a few deep breaths to compose himself. He walked to the kitchenette and saw Kerana hard at work to make breakfast. Part of him wanted to walk up behind her, wrap his arms around her waist, and kiss her cheek...or maybe even her neck. He stopped himself when he considered that she may not be comfortable with something so, provocative. He opted for a safer option.

He walked up behind her, loud enough so her ears would pick it up, and gave her a gentle squeezing hug from behind. "Morning, Kay." he said pleasantly. He looked down and saw that she'd done what she does best and made food in the shape of a heart.

"Oh wow. How'd you get the yolks to do that?" he asked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean peeked up at her and chuckled, "Heh, today's Saturday. There's no gym when there's no school, beautiful. Something must be taking up a lot space in that pretty head of yours for you to lose track of what day it is."

He put the chefs knife down so he could speak to Trinity without distraction. "What about you? You weren't here last night so you didn't have one of those days, and the bar doesn't open until later. So, you must be here to pick something up. What's the occasion? Got something to celebrate?" he asked with equal parts genuine concern and curiosity.  

[PixelMuse]

Trinity blushed a little when he called her beautiful. She wondered briefly if he has feelings for her or if he was just that gorgeous and charming that any girl would think that. “Eh, it can happen if you don’t have the weekends off to keep Valhalla safe. I tend to do a wine glass a day after I clock off which may have been earlier than your shift started. Don’t get drunk too often y’know?"

He stopped chopping and posed his question. "Well, I needed to share something with a mom regarding her son. It may be kind of awkward and maybe concerning? I dunno was thinking about picking up a bottle of wine to make it a little easier for me to tell her and for her to settle her nerves. I'm open to suggestions handsome."  

[Nova Blancke]

There was an unfamiliar smell. No, that was not entirely true. It was sort of familiar. He rolled over. That smell was still there. This hasn't happened in the weeks before. Slowly he opened his eyes. Vision was still blurry, movement sluggish. His head hurt. Groaning he clasped his head with one hand. Being a shapeshifter granted him certain perks. Being able to pinpoint and analyze his own body. Dehydration due to high levels of alcohol consumption. A....hangover as they called it. It wasn't something he had experienced before but it was highly unpleasant.

With a deep sigh and got up.The sheets felt different and he was still wearing his clothes, the same ones that got torn the day before. This wasn't his bed. Playing back the last night in his head, he remembered where he was. After the Karaoke, it was hard to even stand and the fatigue from the day became too much. Recalling that he mentioned that he should leave because of all of that. He also recalled Freya being Freya saying that it's bullshit. That there was a good bed here. He would have fought her on it but in that state he couldn't. They stumbled towards the bed and one of them tripped caused them both to fall onto it. He remembered a moment where she landed ontop of him, looking down. That was all it was, a moment as they started into each other's eyes, before she crawled towards her side.

Liam got off the bed, head pounding, he made his way out of the bedroom. The robes he wore, now hung tied around his waist. Due to the damage of the battle, the night before and the sleeping it seemed to have torn completely, He was met with Freya who was in the kitchen.

"Good morning Freya." He spoke with a raspy morning voice.Lower than normal.

"Oh....Ooooh! Okay." Theo responded the night before.

When morning came for him he found that he hadn't slept a lot. Not that he required much nor that he got a lot in the last few weeks. Between training, Trinity giving him false hope, singing and his normal activities, there wasn't a lot of free time. At least his parents had made up so that was a plus. The air between Leo and....Leo was still a bit strange but the younger one had learned that it wasn't the same person. Took a while but managed. Clara seemed to really get along with Dawn and Leo. Even Crystalion. They'd have....the mom talk every now and then. His mom even said that she'd probably wouldn't even be able doing half of what Crystalion did if the tables were turned.

Liv was already awake but enjoyed staying in. Cracking open one eye as Heather walked away. It was always a nice sight. Hate to see her leave but loved watching her go.Thank you, Mr. Bojangles. She was quite good at faking her sleep. She thought so anyway. It wasn't until Heather came back and started kissing her neck that she 'stirred' to wake up.

"Hmmmm...morning."  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Dean mulled for a moment. "Mmm, as much as I'd like to help, I'm afraid I wont be. Never been much for choosing wine, just drinking it. But you know that already. Just a sec."

Dean leaned his head back turned it to the side. He shouted toward the kitchen, "Hey Dan!"

"Yeah?!" responded a voice from the kitchen.

"What wine's good for breaking bad news?!"

"This early?! Make it a dry white, like a Prosecco! If you're gonna wait until tonight, make it a red merlot!"

"It's not for me!"

"Well who's it for?!"

"Thank you, Dan!"

"If it's the wolf tell her she's not allowed here without supervision!"

Dean shook his head and turned to the large selection of wines. "Looks like you're in luck. This Prosecco hasn't been opened yet."

He grabbed the bottle by the neck, placed it in a plastic bag, and handed it to Trinity. "Anything else I can get you? Glasses, a cork screw, dinner tonight?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Like the dead...so to speak. It was probably the best night's sleep I've ever had. I didn't even dream last night." he said confidently.

He sat down and did not waste time digging into the food prepared for him. Once again, he made sure to save the heart for last. His meal was interrupted by a chime on his wrist. He looked down at his personal smart watch and smiled. "I've got something to show you."

Alec produced his Death Tablet and followed the new and improved interface to a streaming video feed. "I had my assistants prepare a special paradise just for the shadow stalker souls that were cursed by Crosis. One of them has a message for you."

He set up the tablet so it would sit on it's own and turned it to face Kerana. Dozens of wolves, all the size as Okami, came into focus. They laughed, played, ate, ran, and conversed like long lost friends. A shaggy, black wolf with grey fur around it's face approached the camera and sniffed at it. A voice from off screen prompted the wolf to speak. "Greetings. Kerana. I Cressida. I thank you. You, understood. Heard me. Gave peace. Showed...compassion. I thank you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Freya shushed him, "Shush. Not so loud."

She looked him over, poured a glass of Adam's "wake up juice" into a separate glass, and placed it on the counter as an offer to Liam.

"Drink that. Something my brother-in-law came up with. I don't know how, but it helps."

She lifted her own glass, pinch her nose with her free hand, and tossed back the black sludge as quickly as she could. Her face contorted as she powered through the overwhelming taste. She then shuddered and croaked, "Holy s**t!"

A few seconds later, her vision came into focus, her mouth was no longer dry, and her headache had lessened. "Gah! There we go."

She went to the freezer and pulled out a pair of breakfast pockets. She unwrapped them, placed them in their sleeves, popped them into the microwave, and set them to cook.

She looked to Liam and asked, "You want one? Least I can do after last night. Haven't had a time like that since Trinity's twenty first birthday. s**t, I don't even know how I got into bed."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heather smiled and replied suggestively, "Morning to you. You planning on having some breakfast, or would you rather get up and make some waffles with me?"

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Clara Richards rapped on Theonis' door firmly, but not so hard as to startle him.  

[Nova Blancke]

"I was not..." Liam stopped himself from finished the sentence.

Seeing her reaction made him weary of this concoction. All he really needed was water to hydrate.

But it seemed to work for her which was really strange. Taking the drink he took a quick sniff. It...smelled wrong. But she took it so it would be safe for him to consume as well. This was an experience he did not desire. Removing his tastebuds he downed the drink. There was no shiver And like Freya, his headache did become less. Very unusual.

Bringing back his taste buds, he did taste some that was left over and even that was not pleasant.

"We both made our way to bed after you told me it was bullshit for me to go home when I mentioned it. One of us tripped."

"It would be rude to decline. I could make breakfast if you would like. I do enjoy cooking."

Theo put on his clothes, combed his hair and was about to go to the cafeteria to get something to eat before he heard a knock on his door. This early?

Making his way over he opened the door. He did not expect to see his mother.

"Morning, you're up early."

Both were breakfast though? Liv turned around her Heather's arms.

"I mean...both sound good."  

[PixelMuse]

Rikki Tikki Travi

"If it's the wolf tell her she's not allowed here without supervision!"

Dean shook his head and turned to the large selection of wines. "Looks like you're in luck. This Prosecco hasn't been opened yet."

He grabbed the bottle by the neck, placed it in a plastic bag, and handed it to Trinity. "Anything else I can get you? Glasses, a cork screw, dinner tonight?"

Trinity smiled as she received the bottle Perfect. She was going to answer that she was covered in those departments until he slipped in dinner. She looked up into his dreamy blue eyes that were hidden behind his ashy blond bangs, they waited for an answer. I guess I did hear him right… but this is a friends catching up kind of dinner right? Not a date dinner, right? Why am I avoiding anything beyond that? Is it too soon? She put that thought and answered the man. Trinity gave the look ‘I see what you did there’ “Sure, how does 8 sound to you? I can go into a little more detail regarding why Dan doesn’t have to worry about that wolf anymore.”

Meanwhile, the socials were going wild with speculation as a photo of Trinity with rose in her cheeks holding a bottle of wine and Dean waiting for an answer. Some of the responses were ‘not this again’ others were like ‘something is happening it’s finally happening’.

After they agreed to a time this evening, she asked him to wish her luck and headed out. She texted ahead to Crystalion indicating that she had some things she needed to share with her about Leo.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Freya slowly turned her head to face Liam. The microwave dinged as she realized that, in her drunken state, she had invited Liam to sleep over...in the same bed. Her cheeks turned red, and she inhaled sharply through her nose. She then took the breakfast pockets out of the microwave and shoved one into Liam's hands. "Just eat the damn pocket."

Freya went to the table, which was a clutter with two drained sake carafe's and several empty beef jerky bags. She took a bite out of her breakfast pocket and powered through the heat that almost always burnt the roof of her mouth. Once her taste buds caught up, she could taste the combination of sausage, eggs, cheese, and flaky bread that made up the product. She knew it was crap, but she was terrible at cooking.

"Sorry about the hangover. I should've warned you to drink a glass of water every thirty minutes. Heh, it's a good think my mother isn't here to see...me..."

She shot out of her chair and nearly crushed her breakfast. "Oh s**t! I forgot to see her last night! I'm never going to hear the end of this!"

She went to her nightstand and dug through the drawers to find her phone. <******** ******** ********! Where is it?! Ah-ha! ********, it's dead!"

How the Hell would she apologize to her mother if she didn't know where she was. Then it occurred to her. Liam had mentioned speaking to Lokelonni. Freya huffed and grumbled. She left the bedroom and approached Liam with an awkward smile and her best attempt at sounding like she wasn't in deep s**t.

"Hey there, Liam. You wouldn't happen to know where my mother's dorm is, would you?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This is early? Theonis I'm up when the sun peeks over the horizon to do my morning exercises. Then again, that's gotten gotten more difficult when I can't see the sun. Anyway, Theresa wants the four of us to have a meal with the four of us. As a family. I thought it was a lovely idea and decided to see if you were free this morning."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heather paused for a moment. Was Liv teasing her, or had she failed at innuendo? She decided to give it one more shot.

"So you'd like some breakfast in bed, then? I've got, something-"

Heather noticed that Mr. Bojangles was watching at something up high on the wall. His tail swished from side to side, as though he was waiting for something to come down. Then Heather's phone pinged to let her know about a new post to the Valhalla rumor mill. She was going to ignore it, but something in her head suggested she needed to see what was posted.

She sighed, "Hold that thought, and that pose." She then climbed over Liv so she could look at her phone. She swiped to unlock it, clicked the app, turned beet red, and screamed, "What the ******** she saw was a picture of herself and Liv a few seconds ago when Heather was kissing her girlfriend's neck. The photo was taken from the place Mr. Bojangles was staring at.

She dropped the phone, shuffled out of bed, and searched the wall where her cat had been staring with her dragon's eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alec watched Kerana as she poured her heart out. He could feel his chest pound and his face get hot. He did not move. He just listened to her. When she was done, and she looked down and fidgeted, the bit of egg he had on the end of his fork slid off and landed back on the plate with a soft plop.

"Mate?" Cressida asked.

Alec grabbed the tablet, fumbled with it, and then finally managed to turn it off. He dismissed it and cleared his throat. "Aherm, ah. Right! Um..."

His negative feedback loop began to pressure him to stop acting like a gibbering idiot and say something, but that somehow made it worse. He held his hands out over his lap, closed his eyes, and took a few deep breaths. Once he was calm, he opened his eyes and said, "Sorry, it's just that I was asking Fenris for advice about the same thing last night. I just didn't think we'd talk so soon about it. Er, not that I don't want to talk about it. I want to do it, I mean talk about...whew, let me start over."

He scooched his chair around the table so he could be within hand holding position with Kerana. He ducked his head down until he caught her eyes with his. "I've been kinda wanting the same thing too, but I was afraid that you wouldn't be ready. We've only been together for two months...Earth time, but I've never been more sure of anything that I want my first time to be with you. That is, if you're comfortable with it. There's no pressure, of course. If you're not ready for, that, then maybe we could start with something else? Another way to take our relationship to the next level? I don't know what that would be, since I've never thought about this kind of thing before I met you, but we can figure it out together, right?"  

[Nova Blancke]

He remembered her blush from the night before and now again. She looked....cute? He took a bite out of his breakfast. It was hot but it's not like he could get burned. It was...edible. Perhaps his own standard was too high due to his own cooking skills.

"I will keep that in mind next time." He responded.

Observing her antics and she panicked her continued eating.

"I do. Would you like me to take you there?"

"Yeah that is a bit more difficult unless you live on the top floor"

Checking his schedule on his phone. "Yeah sure, Got nothing urgent in the moment. Finally got that daughter you wanted huh"

"I think I would like that." Liv remained where she was until she heard the scream. Instantly turning around. Unable to surprise a surprise scream of herself. It startled her. Glancing over the phone she saw what made her scream.

"What the...." She got angry, someone was in their room. Taking pictures of them. That angle....

She fired up her Infinity Eyes and scanned the room. If someone was invisible she would find them and she would make sure they'd never even THINK of doing that again.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Freya sighed and nodded. "Yes. I just hope she's not quiet angry, or she tells me that she's not mad just disappointed. That last one's the worst."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I suppose so." Clara sighed. "Though, as you'd imagine, I wanted the circumstances to be different of that daughter's birth to be different. My personal life becoming a science fiction soap opera was not something I had ever anticipated...or wanted. But, C'est la vie. She is a sweet girl, though. I just wish she weren't so ignorant of social norms."

"Now, I refuse to have a family breakfast in this place. Not that it isn't...quaint. I would just prefer to eat at an establishment with windows. You've lived here for a while. Where do you think would be best for our little outing."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heather's eyes darted in every direction. Then she saw them. A tiny invisible person. They were about the size of a Lego figure and held stock still. Heather realized that if someone with normal eyes look at them, there would be no way to tell someone was there.

Heather narrowed her eyes dangerously and growled. "There you are." Her words were accompanied by a puff of flames from the corners of her mouth.

The little person scurried on the wall like a cockroach toward a vent.

"Liv! They're going for the vent!" she shouted.  

[Nova Blancke]

Liv leaped towards the vents and expanded her cancelation bubble to the maximum size to trap whoever is running away. She saw where they were headed to with her eyes. To cancel their power and cause em to grow again. After that....oh they were in a lot of trouble.

"Honestly, I haven't been out much for that. Wouldn't be able to tell ya. These days I usually have it brought to my office. Lunch and Dinner mostly anyway."

"But.there is a place in here that doesn't get a lot of visitors. Mostly because the cafeteria draws in like...90% of the crowd. But on the upper levels there's this cozy little eatery WITH windows. Kinda rustic vibes, wood, etc. It's...a nice place to unwind."

"Very well." He took a few bites of his pocket to finish it. Holding up his finger to stop her from saying anything. "Are you decent enough to present yourself to her? I suppose I should change into something that is not destroyed hanging from the waist" Legio commented at his own attire.