[Wingardia] No. 921

[Misao]

Rachel turned up her nose at Graymalk's remarks, almost losing her composure completely at the mention of the head of the cheerleading squad. Her thoughts turned briefly to the encounter with Seiya the other day, but she quickly pushed the encounter from her mind. That was a problem for another day.

"Any normal guy who acts like that would just get laughed at," Rachel said, shaking her head. "But Joey is different. He's got super-charisma. He quite literally makes people like him and pay attention to him." She paused for a moment, sighing again. "The impressive part is that you don't realize that's what's happening, either. It just feels like this is the most charming and interesting person you've ever met whenever he's talking to you. Naturally, he uses this to his advantage in a big way when he's talking to girls."

She began thinking about Nobara and Seiya once again. Joseph getting hold of either of them would be a total disaster. He and Seiya were far too similar, which would just lead to terrible things, and she didn't even want to think about what would happen if he managed to worm his way into Nobara's good graces. The thought of the two of them ending up dating was almost enough to make her want to scream out loud a second time.  

[Stephen Pact]

Graymalk listened attentively. "So, your brother is basically using the equivalent of mind-influencing magic to seduce young women. That's a very serious charge, you know. We cats are different, of course, but among human mages the use of love potions and charms of greater than a certain potency is considered tantimount to rape. I don't like to speak ill of anyone's family, but your brother seems like a dangerous and selfish creature to me. He'll need to be stopped for his own sake, before he does something he may not live to regret. May I assume from your attitude toward him that you're immune to this effect, or is it just that your brother doesn't find you attractive?" This last was said with only a slight hint of humor.  

[Misao]

Rachel shuddered visibly at Graymalk's joke. "I wouldn't know about that, and I don't care to find out," she said, the tone of her voice quite serious despite having noticed he was speaking in jest. "And yes, I happen to be immune to this. It's a trait I inherited from my mother, just like Joey's powers came from dad."

She waved her hand at Graymalk's insinuation. "Don't worry about rape or anything like that - Joey's pretty full of himself, but he's never done anything that serious before," she said. "He just likes to have a good time. Take a girl out, steal a few kisses, then move to the next one. He's not a monster."

Why exactly am I defending him, though? Rachel thought to herself momentarily. Well, I guess he is my brother, after all...

Focusing her thoughts on the matter at hand, though, she turned back to Graymalk. "He'll get his someday, I'm sure," she said simply. "Nobody does what he's doing without it coming back to bite them in the a** later, superpowers or not."  

[Stephen Pact]

Graymalk gave the feline equivalent of a grunt. "I suppose you're right about that, but I still don't like it. People can get hurt by that kind of carelessness, and it looks like in some ways you already have. I don't know what can be done to deal with this situation, but I'll give it some thought. In the meantime, if you have any suggestions on this or can find the time to start on our little shopping list, please let me know; I really want to help you, but I still need your help too.

"Anyway," said Graymalk, walking a circle on the carpeted floor "I'll be busy comforting Jill for the next few hours, but don't hesitate to use the card if you need me. She's been... fading a bit, and I'm worried, but it's more important to get the work done here than to comfort her there at this point. We need you, Rachel. Thanks."  

[Misao]

Rachel nodded silently at Graymalk. She knew she needed to get cracking on that shopping list, and felt bad that she hadn't started yet, but life just kept throwing one thing after another at her. As Graymalk began to fade off into his mental link with Jill, Rachel flopped back onto her back, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about everything that she'd be dealing with over the next week or so. Eventually, she nodded off to sleep from mental fatigue.  

[Misao]

The next morning, Rachel was awakened by a rhythmic pounding on her door. It took her a few moments to wake up from her relative haze to realize what the noise was, but once she managed to bring herself around, she knew immediately - Joseph had arrived.

"Boom boom boom boom, let me in your room!" an all-too-cheerful voice called out from the other side of the door. Rachel gave an instinctive shudder. Her brother always did have the stupidest lines ready. He'd probably spent all morning thinking of that one.

Rolling her eyes, she picked up the few things she'd thrown around the room the previous night when she'd read his e-mail. "Yeah, right, hang on..." she called out loud, any sort of enthusiasm utterly absent from her voice. After she'd tidied up some, she went to the door, bracing herself before undoing the lock and turning the doorknob slowly.

She was greeted with the smiling figure of her older brother Joseph. He was an inch or two taller than she was (barring any appearance alteration mucking about on her part), with sunshine blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He was dressed in what could only be described as the height of metrosexual fashion - a pair of expensive white designer jeans, a collared white button down shirt to match, and a pair of black dress shoes. His hair was combed and gelled to perfection, and his casual smile flashed like diamonds. For being the sibling without the mega-appearance powers, he certainly made sure he always looked good.

"Little sis..." Joseph said fondly and with an irritating air of arrogance, shaking his head and smiling his annoying smile. "It's been too long." He held his arms out for a hug.

Rachel, sneering, batted him away from her, retreating back to her computer chair. Leaning back in the chair, she folded both her arms and legs, glaring a little at her older brother. "Don't give me that," she said icily. "I know you're just here to ******** with me. I'm surprised mom and dad even let you come..." She thought this over for a moment. "Well, I'm surprised mom let you."

This was met with a light chuckle from Joseph as he let himself into the room, closing the door behind him. "Oh, you know mom..." he said, rolling his eyes a bit with the same confident smile. "Always the optimist about us getting along. Don't get me wrong, it took some convincing, but she agreed with me when I suggested that she and dad needed a romantic vacation. Some time to themselves."

Rachel winced. Her one weakness. Sighing, defeated, she sunk back into her chair, still with the same sort of sour expression on her face. Waving an arm at the bed, she signaled for Joseph to sit down, which he had already done anyway. "All right, fine," she said, her usual air of general irritation and sarcasm fully back into her voice now. "I'll show you around for a few days, but then you have to leave, okay?"

Joseph laughed again, reclining on his sister's bed. "Why, I'm hurt, sis..." he said somewhat mockingly, placing a hand over his heart and bowing his head deeply. "I come to visit my one and only little sister, and this is the reception I get?" Without saying anything else, he shook his head sadly.

"Right, right, whatever..." Rachel sneered, waving a hand and turning back to her computer. "We both know why you're here. Let's just get it over with."

She didn't see the amused smile from her brother, but then, she knew it was there without looking.