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

[BeaMichelle]

Ravan clapped and laughed with child like delight as the dolphins passed by the DSV. She could not remember the last time she had been so happy. It had to have been when she travelled with Reyhan that she felt so at ease and joyful. That all ended when she was crushed beneath the rubble of the parking structure. She had found her joy again. No, that was not quite accurate. Sara had brought her that joy by indulging in Ravan's strange quirks.

Ravan began to focus on how the happiness Sara brought her differed from the safety and comfort of Reyhan. Reyhan was more like a big sister, whereas Sara felt like a very good friend. It felt familiar. It was almost like how she felt around Leo before she-

Her thoughts were broken by the strange marine life that began to appear around them. She had never seen such things in the books and videos they watched. Something about them felt...off.

"Sara?" she asked with a hint of fright. "Are these fishies supposed to look like that?"  

[Nova Blancke]

As Freya spoke, he wiped his tears. He blinked a few times. Freya was clear in his sight. Some of his tension left as he focused on her. It still hurt but like she said, letting it out...did help. His heart rate was up, breathing unsteady. But it was easier to get his control back over his body, over his emotions. His chest still felt tight but it was more manageable.

His eyes followed her every movement, Every minute little detail. He often did without knowing. As she continued to talk about her history, about her loss of her father. Kotetsu. He had heard Lokelonni talk about him before.

This all felt so strange. It still hurt, the loss of his friend but now was focused on Freya. Emotions are such illogical things to have. He just gave her a soft smile, she couldn't see as she turned her head away.

Then he felt her touch, her hand on his. Warm and surprisingly smooth. Was this something to get his mind off of Lokelonni's passing? No, that can't be it. Regardless of the purpose, he felt tension leave his body. And a feeling opposite to what he experienced just before. Now it felt like a warmth inside of his chest. No longer a painful grip on his chest. How did she manage to calm him down so easily?

In an action, he couldn't quite understand nor control, he turned his hand. Freya's hand no longer resting ontop of his hand but in his own palm. His hand closed gently. Holding her hand. She could easily remove her hand if she liked.

"Thank you....Freya."  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Freya inhaled sharply through her nostrils. She took one glance at the situation her hand was in and snatched it back. She cleared her throat and crossed her arms. "Yeah, well you'd better not forget because seeing you all blubbery and s**t is depressing, and that's the last thing I need!"

She could feel her nerves build up with the stretching silence. She exhaled and asked, "Are you hungry? There's a really great soba place down in the village."  

[Nova Blancke]

Despite a part of himself wanting Freya to stay he knew that it would not be Freya if she meekly stayed in that situation. She was still a woman with fire and he loved that. Still..it would have been nice to hold her hand a bit longer. There was still a sadness in his chest. His friend has just died but Freya did manage to distract him. Filled his chest with a newfound...warmth?

His eyes were still wet despite it all. But he couldn't help but smile at her through it all.

"I think I would like that a lot, Freya." He responded." A nice filler until dinner. Heh...that rhymed. I don't know why that made me chuckle" Liam responded.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Freya rolled her eyes at his silly joke. Yet when she turned away she could not help but grin. It was a decent thirty minute hike to the village. On the way there, Freya shared what her early childhood was like. Her family had not moved to the states until a little after she had turned five. During that time, Lokelonni served the neighboring areas as a healer while Kotetsumaru tried his best to lay low and lead an ernest life as a farmer.

The people referred to Freya as yokai called an Okuri-Okami. To them, Okami and Freya were one and the same. She also explained that Okami was not even the name Lokelonni chose for Freya's sister. It was Tsukiko. But everyone would scream Okami when they saw her, so she had insisted that was her name. It just stuck.

It took a few years for everyone to realize that the wolf girl(s) posed no threat. Lokelonni allowed them to believe Freya and Okami were the same person because telling the truth would have been too complicated.

As they entered the village, it was quickly apparent that modern technology had barely touched the place. There were certainly things like televisions, radios, or cars. Yet few of the homes had so much as an AC window unit. They led a simple, peaceful life outside of the hustle and bustle of the big cities.

Few people paid any mind to Freya and Liam. There were physically altered metahumans among the people, so a woman with wolf ears and a man with color changed hair was nothing new.

Freya led Liam to a small building that had an open entryway leading directly to a bar top with a row of seats. There was no one lese there save for the elderly couple in the back who owned the place and had to be at least in their sixties. Freya took a seat and called out, "Sumimasen "

(In Japanese)

"Welcome! I will be right with you!" called back the woman. She shuffled her way to the front and politely asked, "What can we serve you today?"

"Two yakisoba, please." Freya responded politely.

"Very good. Please wait just a few minutes."

Freya sighed and smiled with a bittersweet nostalgia. The moment abruptly ended when she saw the paintings hung on the back wall. One depicted a wild child with golden eyes and the ears of a wolf playing with other children. The other was a depiction of a small, black wolf that guided travelers on nights without a moon.

Mortified, Freya turned in her chair and hid her face with her hand. She quietly swore in English, "What the ********?! Those look like Okami and me!"  

[Nova Blancke]

During their, too short hike for his tastes, They made their way to the village, The air was crisp, clean. Walking with his hands behind his back, he listened to Freya tell stories of her childhood here. She seemed to enjoy herself. Despite the difficult childhood she seemed to have had here. Good.

They entered the village and he looked around. It looked rural with hints of modernity. AC's for the houses, cars here and there. A few meta-humans moving about. His own hair and eyes stopped shifting colors as he listened to Freya. Liam seemed to have this perpetual soft smile as he walked with her. She truly had shifted his sorrow and grief into something else. Just by being around her, lifted his spirits. Following her into the small local building, he took a seat and Freya ordered their food.

Looking around it seemed, small, modest but..comfortable. As Freya pointed it out and seemed to hide her face, he looked at the paintings.

"It seems you two have made quite an impact in this village. But don't worry. Unless that woman is a childhood friend, I don't think anybody would recognize you, Freya. You're eyes are different and you no longer have a tail"  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

"I didn't have one back then, either. It grew it when puberty hit."

The wife came to the front and placed two plates of Yakisoba down. "There you are. Please enjoy."

Freya thanked the woman and looked down at her plate. Her eyes widened when she saw how her plate was arranged. The beni shoga had been arranged into a smile with a pair of narutomaki serving as eyes. Narutomaki was not normally servied with yakisoba, except when she was a little girl. She looked up and saw the husband stood against the back wall with a smile on his face.

"Just the way you like it right, Fureiya-chan?"

Freya tilted her head at him curiously and studied his features. It was not until her eyes settled on a distinctive burn mark on the left side of his neck that she recognized an old childhood friend.

"Toshiro-kun?! You're-"

"Old?" he said with a throaty chuckle. "We can't all be yokai. Fureiya."

He looked to Liam and then asked Freya, "Aren't you going to introduce us to your husband?"

Freya turned beet red and then shook her head and arms in protest. "He's NOT my husband! He's-"

She looked over to Liam and paused for a moment. She struggled to find the right words. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence she settled on, "a good friend. This is Riamu Eiden. Riamu, this is Higachi Toshiro."

Toshiro bowed slightly and motioned to his partner. "It is an honor to meet you. This is my wife, Akina."

Akina also bowed.

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

Alec's breathing became heavy as he took in the sight before him. He seemed lost, like he did not know what to do next. He ad been reading so much on erogenous zones, pacing, foreplay, and such but he felt completely unprepared for this.

Alec looked from her chest to her playful grin. He smiled and decided not to go directly for her breasts. Instead he started by kissing her softly on the lips twice. His lips them began a slow and steady downward path to her neck, down to her trapezius, and then to her collarbone.

When Alec found himself fumbling with Kerana's dress, she made things much easier for him with a bit of quid pro quo. Once they laid themselves bare to one another, there was nothing that could have possibly stopped them. Their passion was so great that they, more than once, found themselves communicating through their mental link. Though nervous, they were eager to explore and experiment with each other.

After a momentary break for Alec to freshen up, they wasted little time with carrying onto, as Kerana called it, "The main event."

Kerana was quick to encourage Alec as he struggled to live up to the standards he had set for himself at that moment. When they finally became one in carnal love the entire world around them fell away. The emotional feedback loop they had discovered after a sparring session heightened their pleasure and desire for one another. They did not know how long it took, but their simultaneous release brought with it a near cosmic euphoria.

Alec lay on top of Kerana, who was quick to compliment her normally dour boyfriend. He raised himself up and looked down at her with tears of joy welling in his eyes. Before they could fall, he brought his lips to hers and said those three words that he could never say to her enough times.

"I love you."

When the breath that carried those words passed his lips, the darkness of his eyes began to fade away. two seconds later, his sclera were as white as they had been before Kerana brought him back from the dead.  

[PixelMuse]

Rikki Tikki Travi

[…]"Okay, let's see here. Restaurant reservations, clothing receipts, confirmations for major purchases, OnlyFans. Oh wow, lots of only fans, and not all to the same person. Okay, here we go. There are regularly 25,000 dollar transfers made every two weeks to a party supply store with an address that goes to a single warehouse in the outskirts of Knoxburg. Either he really likes balloons, or that's a front for Prometheus Watch. Trinity, I'm texting you the address now. I'd ask you to wait for backup, but I have a feeling you're going to ignore that."

Gidget sent a text to another party with the address. "Just in case, I'm sending in the big gun to watch your back."

Nova Blancke

Theo nodded. If it was online...then it would be even easier for Gidget to trace everything. Which...she easily did.

"Yeah that's not suspicious. Alright, Go see what's up. You've got Carte Blanche, Trinity. I'm authorizing this as an official mission. If anything goes FUBAR, it's on me."

Trinity nodded when she saw the details arrive on her phone then smiled as Theonis mentioned she had ‘Carte Blanche’. “Copy that.” Once the vehicle arrived to the underground facility. Trinity waved then rocked back into her seat and left through her shadow.

Using her phone she found the ‘party supply’ warehouse. Confirming with her phone, “Looks like this is the place.” She decided to take a shadow reconnaissance.  

[Nova Blancke]

Liam nodded at both Freya's comment about her tail, something he failed to recognize when he remembered what Lokelonni's memories shown him, and when the proprietress offered them their food. He had put his hands together and was about to say something before Freya did so in surprise.

Her reaction was...adorable. Her hesitation and struggle to find the right words were not lost on him.

Liam bowed as they did.

"A pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

"Show what it's like being afraid of their own shadows. Good luck." Theo responded before hanging up. This was a bit of a problem. Private terrorist groups funded by the upper echolon could really bite them in the a** if they weren't careful. But he trusted Trinity to do what she does best.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Freya did not know where to start. "I have so many questions right now."

Toshiro chuckled and moved away from the wall toward Freya and Liam. "I figured as much. I'll start by saying that these paintings were a gift from my son. When he was a boy, I told him about when there used to be a little Okuri-Okami that lived in a house with her human family in a house not too far from here. I told him about how she took human form and became my best friend. How, as a wolf, she would guide travelers on nights of the new moon. He was so enamored by my story that, when he became a teenager, he painted these to put up in the restaurant."

Freya found herself speechless. She was incredibly flattered by the gesture. "I don't get it. Your mother told me that you never wanted to see me again after...well, you know."

The old man pat the scar on his neck. "This old thing? It would have been a lot worse if you hadn't pulled me away at the last moment. My mother was so set in her ways, she couldn't accept that the troublesome little yokai had saved her son's life. I'd hoped to thank you myself, but then your family moved to America."

"Speaking of which, how is your family?"

Freya's smile faded and she looked down at her barely touched yakisoba. The sadness she had hoped to squash down with food welled back up.

Toshiro and Akina also became solemn. "Ah, I see. That was you we heard earlier. I am very sorry for your loss."

Akina asked, "Toshiro has told me so much about you and your family. Your eyes tell a sad tale. Who-"

"My mother...today. My father died when I was a teenager. Teshoumaru is as good as dead. Kayuronni died fighting beside her husband. It's just my niece and me, now. We're all that's left."

A heavy silence fell upon the room as Freya's tears silently plopped onto her food.

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

From outside there was nothing unusual about was going on. A single security guard sat at a booth and checked the ID's of anyone who entered. The loading and unloading area was just as unassuming with conveyor belt moving large boxes of product from one end of the building to another.

Inside, there was nothing to suggest that anything was out of sorts. There were several small offices, a break room with vending machines, and a supply room with gloves, vests, safety helmets, and the like.

What did stand out, however, was a basement that was shrouded in complete darkness. From its walls emanated an almost static buzz. Each of the employees carried a an unmarked satchel on there person. On the catwalks were several armed security guards that patrolled between large fixtures that were covered with opaque tarps.  

[BeaMichelle]

While Trinity executed her reconnaissance, Theresa stealthily landed just outside of the warehouses property lines. She was adorned in her own suit of Valkyrie armour that kept her hidden with a cloaking device. She disengaged the cloaking and had the armour recall itself into the bracelets that she wore.

She appeared as her teenage self in a catsuit made from Gidget's ANT tech. She was very good at learning and following directions, so she felt confident that she could apply Freya's stealth training to the situation. What she was not so confident about was if she could find Trinity.

She approached the nearest shadow and whispered into it. "Pst. Hey, Trinity. Are you there? It's me Theresa."

She repeated the process with every shadow she came across until she got a reply from the person she was asked to provide support for.  

[PixelMuse]

BeaMichelle

Ravan clapped and laughed with child like delight as the dolphins passed by the DSV. She could not remember the last time she had been so happy. […]

Rikki Tikki Travi

As the DSV made it's steady journey to their goal, Rydia began to notice some peculiarities with the local ecosystem. At first she thought it was remnants of the island's surface, but she quickly realized that she did not recognize any of the flora. There were strange hybrids of tree and coral. It did not take long for strange fauna to appear as well. Fish with compound eyes, and giant squid with a visible electric current around them gave her everything she needed to deduce what had happened.

BeaMichelle

[Ravan’s] thoughts were broken by the strange marine life that began to appear around them. She had never seen such things in the books and videos they watched. Something about them felt...off.

"Sara?" she asked with a hint of fright. "Are these fishies supposed to look like that?"

I don’t know Ravan I can recognize what some of them were others don’t make any sense, unrecognizable. She started to wonder if it had something to do with the presence of Rydia’s island. She was also noticing the plant the plant life also was looking unusual. Sara bit her lip then Rydia chimed in.

Rikki Tikki Travi

She projected her thoughts toward Sara. "Sara, I don't want to alarm you, but I'm afraid the mithril, moon stone, whatever you want to call it has begun to alter the area. I don't know exactly how it happened, but the life here has begun to change in ways similar to metahumans. Keep your eyes open. I don't know how it may affect the temperament of the local marine life."

Almost as it one cue, a voice began to reverberate to any who could hear thoughts.

"It hurts. I hunger. More. Need more."

A proximity light alerted the pilot that they were nearing their destination. He informed Rydia and Ravan verbally.

Sara listened to Rydia carefully. Just as she wondered if this was going to affect her as well she heard a voice. She sent a mental message to the pilot and Rydia, Careful there’s something here that’s hangry… it might be the giant squid. She didn’t share this with Ravan yet because she didn’t want to worry her. But she did fill her in that the sea life was affected by something on the island. After sharing that she mentally messaged Rydia, Will this stone change me as well?  

[Nova Blancke]

Liam pulled his chopsticks apart and started eating as Freya talked to her old friends. It was rude to listen into other people's conversations after all. The first taste alone was worth it. A sweet, savoury, tangy flavour packed with umami. It tasted good. Authentic.

He did not have time to fully enjoy it before he heard where the conversation went to. Liam didn't need to use his powers to feel what she was feeling, for he felt it too. When she started crying, he wanted to hold her. Comfort her. But he knew, that she did not want that. When she pulled her hand back earlier, that's when he was reminded of it. But he had to do something. Because she did reach out to him when he needed it.

Liam extended his arm and placed his hand on her upper back, just gently and slowly rubbing it. One other small thing that he did was move the bowl of Yakisoba a few inches forward so her tears wouldn't fall in.