Tag: chapter 14.1

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“Siberian,” Bitch finished.

“That’s crazy,” I said.  How long has it been since we had a chance to talk and touch base like this?  “She’s crazy powerful.  Majorly scary.  And she just, what?  Handed you the wolf cub and told you that she’s picking you to be a member of her team… how?”

Well, sort of, yes!

And yeah, it’s certainly been a while. Since Arc 7 or so, I’d say, although some of it probably happened off-screen.

“She told me with words.”

Oh right, the others wouldn’t expect that.

“She doesn’t talk,” Brian spoke up.

“She told me,” Bitch repeated.  “She showed up, I tried to fight her, didn’t work.  She explained, she left.  Left the cub at my place.”

“I tried to fight her” – Taylor and Brian probably aren’t going to be too pleased with that.

Also I feel like she’s leaving out some relevant details here, but if you consider Siberian’s way of communication normal – better than most, even – I suppose it makes sense to put it like this.

The detail that your power works better on wolves might be worth mentioning, though.

I saw Lisa glancing between Bitch and me with a curious look on her face.  When I raised an eyebrow at her, she shook her head a little and then turned to Bitch,

Hm. Maybe Lisa has noticed that Rachel and Taylor are on better speaking terms than usual.

“That’s potentially a problem.  What’s to say Bonesaw or Mannequin didn’t put some sort of tracking device in him?”

…that’s actually a really good point.

I don’t think they’ve done it, especially since they had Cherish at the time, but it’s a good point nonetheless.

But yeah, good luck getting Rachel to leave him behind or something like that.

Also, would a tracking device survive him getting powered up?

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We arranged ourselves on the ground floor, Alec and Aisha sitting on the stairs, Lisa and I sitting on the couch, and Brian in the corner by the window, looking distracted.  Bitch seated herself on the floor, her back to the wall, her dogs at her side.

It’s a bit haphazard, but it works.

While we waited for the Travelers to get settled, I asked, “I’ve been meaning to ask.  What is Bastard?”

Oh hey, we’re getting some development on this now. 🙂

“You mean what breed is he?” Aisha asked.

“No,” I said.  I left it at that.

Looks like Taylor has definitely figured out that he’s not a regular dog.

I wonder how much Rachel will be willing to say about how she got him.

“He’s a wolf.”  Bitch scratched the skin at his shoulders, digging deep.

“No shit?” Alec said.

No shit!

“Where do you even find a wolf?” I asked.

Bitch didn’t venture an answer, so Lisa spoke, “She didn’t find him.  He was a gift.  And since it didn’t come from Coil, that means-”

Lisa, you’re being a little bit rude.

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“Cool.”

I returned to the stove and started preparing breakfasts.  I served Brian first, then prepared some toast and bacon for Bitch and some scrambled egg for Lisa.  It was almost a relief, having something concrete to do, a way to help, when I didn’t know how to act around Brian.

Very understandable. Keeps you from just standing around awkwardly.

By the time I had Bitch and Lisa served, the Travelers had been roused by the smell of breakfast.

This chapter can just stay true to the synopsis of “the Undersiders and Travelers have a nice breakfast together” until the end. I like this. It’s low-key in a good, relaxing way.

Of course it’s the calm before the storm – that almost goes without saying – but it’s a very nice calm.

I offered them some breakfast, and Ballistic took over at the stove to cook for his team.

So the mental image of Ballistic accidentally launching breakfast through a wall entered my head, and my train of thought drove on down to Ballistic’s trigger event. Not so much what it would be as what would happen after it: He’d probably activate his power by accident and have trouble turning it off, so anything he touched would go flying off immediately. He must’ve made such a mess. 😛

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“Morn,” Lisa replied.  “We were out making sure there wasn’t trouble.  Very, very quiet, after the last couple of days.”

But is that very, very quiet in the sense that there’s no trouble, or in the sense that everybody’s dead, Dave?

Rachel glanced at me but didn’t say a word.

…alright?

“Want food?”  I offered.  “I’ve got some stuff on the stove.  There’s some bacon if you want to give some to the dogs, Rachel.”

Is feeding them that healthy?

“It’s bad for them.  And I don’t give my dogs human food.”

Yeah, figured that might be the case.

And I guess not feeding them human food is in part to prevent them from learning the habit of begging for it?

“Right.  Thought they might want a treat, sorry.”

“But I’ll have some,” she said.

Well, that’s something. 🙂

Honestly, that’s one of the friendlier bits we’ve seen from Rachel, even if it were just the bacon she craved and not the social stimulus of eating breakfast with the team.

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Much of the water in the kettle had been heated, already, and it didn’t take long to boil as we got our individual breakfasts together.  I took it off the stove and began preparing Brian’s coffee and my tea.  After a moment’s consideration, I began preparing bacon and eggs, and rummaging around for toast, bagels or english muffins.  I’d use whatever I found first.

Or you could combine them!

…I doubt that’d be much good.

Tattletale, Bitch and three of the dogs came in through the front door.

Oh hey! I was just wondering where you were.

I didn’t miss how Brian turned to face the door, tendrils of darkness creeping through the gaps between his fingers and crawling up his arm.

At ease, soldier. They’re friendly.

Well, Lisa is, anyway.

It took him a second to relax.  Tattletale threw me a package.  I opened it and found a pair of glasses.  I slid them on.

I like how she just throws the glasses. I mean, to be fair, they might’ve been well protected in the package, but still. 😛

Leaving the food cooking on the stove, I brought Brian his coffee.  Maybe some normalcy would help.

“Morning,” I said.

Honestly, I too quite appreciate it.

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Was that Alec trying to be supportive?  I glanced at Aisha, and she gave me something of a dirty look.

Yes, I think that is Alec trying to be supportive. It certainly got a lot more heartwarming and a lot less mocking than his initial bet line seemed.

I was awkward, screwed up and feeling guilty on a lot of levels, from Brian to Dinah to the people in my territory that I hadn’t seen to.

Skitter, on a therapist couch: “I’m taking time to work on my mental health instead of being out there, taking care of my territory and saving Dinah…”
Therapist: “And how does that make you feel?”
Skitter:

image

Brian was traumatized, and that was layered on what he’d described to me as an unfamiliarity with social situations and emotions.  Alec was fucked up in a way I couldn’t even label.  Aisha wanted to protect her brother but didn’t know how, lashing out at me instead.  Damaged people.

Yeah, but at least you’re not alone about it. You have each other.

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“He’s nice enough that he wouldn’t want to disturb me, even feeling like he does right now.  He must have gone out of his way to stay still.”  I didn’t look at either of them as I filled the kettle the rest of the way and put it on the stove. 

Yeah, that’s Brian alright.

“Sure,” Alec drawled.  In a more normal voice, he said, “But what I’m saying is he wouldn’t mind.  Now, it’s been a little while, but there was a time when I had someone in my bed every night.”

Sometimes yourself.

“When you were with Heartbreaker,” I said.  From the look of disgust on Aisha’s face, and what I imagined was a similar expression on my own, I suspected we were on the same page.  At least on this one thing.

Yeeah, fuck that guy.

Actually, don’t, unless you can’t give birth. He has enough victims.

“Sure.  Cape groupies, my dad’s girls, people I used my powers on toward the end.”

Cape groupies? Like, people who would flock to you because you and your dad were capes?

There wasn’t even a trace of guilt or shame on his expression, no regret in his tone.  He just looked bored.

Classic Alec.

Honestly, I suspect talking about this stuff is prone to making him look even more bored than usual, the lack of emotion being partially a coping mechanism.

He went on, “What I’m saying is that I’m speaking from experience.  Having someone cuddled up beside you, even if it’s a little bit of a pain in the ass, having that body contact isn’t so bad.  Especially when you’ve had a bad day.”

He’s got a point.

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To clarify, “It gives me the sense that she doesn’t have anything to get embarrassed or defensive over” was not meant to imply that I thought she did. My point was that her composure is good for convincing others she’s telling the truth (which she is).

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I joined Aisha and Alec in the kitchen.  “Morning.”

“Sup,” Aisha said, curt.  She’d found some frosted cereal and was pouring herself a bowl.  She gave me a sidelong glance that wasn’t so flattering.

Oh boy, does she not approve?

I suppose Taylor leaning up against Brian right when Brian’s at his most vulnerable (or rather, recovering from that) could give Aisha the wrong idea.

“How is the man?”  Alec asked.

“Stressed, anxious, not sleeping.  Can’t blame him.”

“And you’re using all that to get closer to him?”  Aisha asked.

Huh. I seriously didn’t expect her to make it explicit that quickly.

I suppose she always was a blunt one.

I blinked.  “No.”

“Looked awfully cozy,” she replied.

It’s still unlikely that Alec didn’t tease Brian, but I suppose Aisha probably didn’t given that this is how she looks at it.

I glanced back in Brian’s direction.  He was standing at the window at the other side of the building, peering outside, his back to us.

“I drifted off.  An accident.  Trust me when I say I feel bad enough about doing anything to make him feel less than a hundred percent comfortable when he needed rest.”

I kind of like how matter-of-factly Taylor is denying this. It gives me the sense that she doesn’t have anything to get embarrassed or defensive over.

“Bet you a thousand bucks he didn’t mind,” Alec said.  Aisha gave him a dirty look.

Hehe.

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No.  That last one was probably okay.  “You want anything?  Breakfast?  Coffee?”

Just as long as you don’t patronize him it’s probably fine.

So far so good.

“Coffee, please.”

I nodded, stood and rolled my shoulders.  Outside of the fact that none of the sleep I’d picked up over the previous night had been in a bed, I felt recharged.

When was the last time she got proper restful sleep? At the end of Arc 11 proper?

Scrapes and bruises I’d only been dimly aware of were gone, as were the more obvious, attention-grabbing injuries.

Oh yeah, I suppose they went when Brian healed her.

That, in turn, made me think of the circumstances that had led to my good night’s sleep and healing job.  It was bittersweet.  Like a young child that was being forced to stand in a corner, feeling as low as she ever had, her stomach full with the entire birthday cake she’d just devoured.

This simile is further proof that Agatha Trunchbull should never have children of her own.

Okay.  Still a little out of it.

Maybe you should go for a morning run to clear your head.