“Got it!” Frank announced from the other room right at the sound of snapping metal rang out. Within the room, Mary helped her father cover and treat the slashing head wound on Dagon’s head from the operation.
Chak had settled down next to the fireplace with her pistol resting in her lap. Her red eyes struggled to stay alert, only helped by the father’s announcement.
Zithra looked back at the approaching feline and elf.
“‘Mom’ took her car and left in a huff. Otherwise, I’ve not noticed anything else yet.” he relayed quietly.
Shida nodded, before moving over towards the people taking care of the injured Dagon. As she went, she relayed what she had found out,
“I informed the Sheriff of the imposters, and she’ll try to keep the town safe. However, it seems that Krampus helped Bell escape. We have no idea what he’s going to pull, so we have to stay ready for anything, especially if he gets regular magic support now.”
She stopped at the side of Dagon’s head, leaning over the sofa’s backrest to inspect him.
“You think he will be okay?” she asked Mary and her father while they bandaged up his head, that had sustained deep marks from the chain as well as a cut and a few small burns from their attempt at rescue.
“Ain’t gonna lie, a hospital would do him good. We can manage his wounds alright, but I donno if he has and any sort of brain injury. His breathing is fine and he’s not vomiting, so he might be alright but I ain’t no doctor.” Frank answered honestly.
Shida hissed through her teeth.
“Yes, I know. But I’m afraid if we can’t watch over him constantly, they’ll just go after him again. And we don’t have time to constantly sit around in the hospital…” she gave back worriedly. “I’ve seen humans in much worse shape be okay, but those were…how do I put this…enhanced? Modified? James has all sorts of stuff in his genes that make him tougher than most. And Simone usually has a stint in the medical wing after something like this.”
She glanced over at Chak, who seemed to be falling asleep in place, although she perked up a bit at the mention of her fiance.
“Dave would be very useful right now. Maybe we can call a doctor to us?” Chak posed.
Shida then felt a tug at her clothes from her side.
“I might be able to lend a hand, boss. It breaks a big rule, but if you’re a rule breaker so why can’t I be too right? Can I use the sack for a sec?” Doodle requested.
Shida opened her mouth to reply, but then turned suspicious for a moment.
“Do a backflip,” she ordered directly without any context or hesitation.
“By kringle’s burning chestnuts…” Doodle grumbled as he matched his Santa’s gaze with petty compliance. Lifting his foot onto the couch for leverage he kicked up into a tight backwards spin, slamming down in a belly flop on the floor.
“Forking tinsel up my-” he wheezed as the air escaped his lungs. Pushing himself back up with gritted teeth he grumbled, “Hold on, I’m stupid.”
With a snap of his fingers sparkles lifted him up and shakily rotated his form like a balloon in a much more graceful motion. After his feet touched the floor again he spread his arms apart in a ‘ta-da’ expression.
Shida was conflicted about the display and furrowed her brow.
Concentrating, she lifted her and with two curled fingers and loudly snapped them while concentrating on summoning the elf to her side, although she didn’t verbally elaborate on her intentions at all. She just observed.
The figure of the wheezing elf evaporated and reconstructed next to his Santa as commanded.
“That’s it… I’m forming a union…” he mumbled, “You can just say ‘no’ boss… I know I can be a little creep with an eye for smokn’ hot bods and a dirty-flirty mouth, but I know what ‘no’ means!” crossing his arms he leans against the couch in a pout,
Shida rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers again, summoning the sack to her side.
“I’m just making sure,” she defended herself with a hint of annoyance, but also had to wonder a bit. “I would’ve left it at the one test, but usually your magic makes you act first and bitch at me later, so I had to be entirely sure. Something’s off about you. But I’m satisfied. I don’t think the summoning can be faked, at least.”
She gently tossed the sack over so it landed next to Doodle.
“Do what you must.”
Seeing her point he nodded,
“Yeahhh… okay. I’m still filing the Union paperwork though.” he said as she scooped up the bag, “Glad to know I can satisfy ya, boss!” He winked before hoping up into the couch over Dagon. Despite standing on him, the elf seemed to be near-weightless.
“Alright… let’s see… old forbidden magic from ages long past yada-yada…” he mumbled as he opened the sack at his feet atop Dagon’s body. A rainbow like light illuminated forth, “Screw the rules… screw the rules… consequences are for nerds…” he whispered as he tossed the remains of his cookie and dipped both of his arms deep down into the sack, “WOW THAT BURNS SO GOOD!”
The elf’s visage began to alter slightly as a weaving network of artistic old runes ignited along his exposed skin. The ends of his ears began to extend and deform like wooden twigs, his facial features refined away from youthful to an ancient ethereal being of myth and legend.
From him the sounds of nature echo out like memories. Tweeting of birds, scampering of paws, the rustle of wind, the babbling of water.
By his expression it was hard to tell if he was in great pain or pure euphoria, Either way he looked borderline drunk on the pure essence flowing into him. But with his mission unforgotten he raised his arms up and out of the sack. Glowing as though constructed of hard light his arms extended out bringing the strong smell of an autumn breeze with them. Stepping forward he pressed his palm down upon the heavily graffitied chest of the man.
The floor itself vibrated in a human heartbeat. Decorations shook and a few toppled over as another heartbeat reverberated.
With every following beat, the demonic carvings started to seal away.
“WELL SLEIGH MY BELLS SIDEWAYS… THEY ALMOST TURNED THIS DUDE INTO A MONSTER BEYOND MORTAL COMPREHENSION!” Doodle’s amplified voice thundered, he seeming to not notice the volume in the slightest.
After the seventh heartbeat, the light swiftly faded from Doodle’s arms and his visage returned to the far more marketable self.
“Aww… I don’t keep it? Figures...” Doodle looked up at the ceiling, “I’m still an elf darn it! A cheap budget one but come on!”
Leaving the sack for Shida to retrieve he hops off the man with a purposeful magical force. Dagon lurched up gripping at his impacted groin.
“What… the fuck!?” he groaned out as if rudely awoken from a deep sleep.
“Whoops… uhhh… all part of the magic! Yep! Pain is a part of nature, a part of life, just how it works… yep!” the elf rattled on as he slinked to hide behind Shida.
“Good to see you’re up, Dagon,” Shida said, ignoring the elf. “I would ask how you’re feeling, but I think I can safe the breath. I’m just glad we managed to thwart…whatever they were planning for you there. The big question is: Do we catch you up to speed now or do you take a well deserved rest first? I certainly wouldn’t blame you if you just wanted to crash for a bit. Or walked out on this thing entirely.”
While she leaned over the backrest again to talk to the man, she very briefly glanced over at Mary, gauging her shocked and awed expression at what had just transpired.
Breathing out the pain Dagon looked around trying to get his bearings.
“Uhm… I’m going to assume that those two are not going to drag me into the shed again?” he indicated to both Zithra and Chak.
“That wasn’t actually us, they have been dealt with.” Chak assured, having recovered a bit of energy from that display.
“Okay…” Dagon nodded, “Well I uh…” he started to say before he finally noticed Mary’s presence. They share an awkward stare, neither really knowing what to say to the other.
“You… feeling alright?” Mary managed to let out.
“I uh… I guess. You know, the torture stuff wasn’t pleasant… but I think I’ll be okay.” he replied, clearly wanting to say more but seeing that her father was right next to her he held off for now, “I might need a bit… but I don’t think walking away is really an option at this point, even if I wanted to. What did I miss?” He addressed Shida as he rested himself back down, still clearly experiencing southern discomfort.
“Clones. The Krampus. The Light’s are getting divorced and your boyfriend in law is running wild after being freed by magic,” Shida summarized in short terms, relatively sure that the man was in no condition to fully absorb any actual explanation of the situation she could give him, which is why she was keeping it brief. “Also your assistant is pissed off beyond belief since she has to do all the work solo, but I think she’ll forgive you if you tell her you’ve been tortured. Not so sure about Mary, though.”
She looked around for a moment with a ‘anything I missed?’ expression.
“-And Doodle healed you, what a hero, he’s so hot and cool! Man guys did you notice how chisled he is, dude must have a killer squat routine!” the elf mimicked Shida without actually using his ability to replicate her voice, fearing the consequences if he did so.
“Aw, it was nothin’ boss!” Doodle sighed humbly as he rubbed his nails into his shirt before checking them.
“I think that’s a good explanation for now. What should we do next? Are we bunkering somewhere for the night or are we hunting while it’s dark out?” Chak said as she pushed herself up into a standing position.
“I think Dagon’s not the only one who needs to lie down.” Zithra commented Chak’s way, “I can pull an all-nighter to keep watch while the rest of ya rest. Nothing I’m not used to when hiding out.” he offered, “Question is, do we stay or find a new place? We know that it knows we’re here.”
Shida stretched extensively.
“To be honest, so far it has always known where we are, and I don’t think we’re going to change that any time soon,” she mused before looking over at the local residents. “The better question is if we will be tolerated around here or just head back to Dagon’s place. I don’t think either is safe, but we need to stay alert. And contrary to popular belief, staying constantly awake is actually quite counterproductive towards that.”
“You can stay here if you’d like but… I’m sure my wif-ex wife will be coming back. And I don’t think that’ll be good for Mary right now. I can loan you my SUV too, it’s gassed up and should fit all of you no problem. It’s insured too.” Frank said as he pointed at the rung of vehicle keys by the front door. Regardless, I think I’m going to stay and… start packing.”
“I can drive us.” Zithra shrugged, “This place is more defensible, but there’s nowhere to really run to if things go extra south. Except the forest and basement I guess.” he added.
“Alright… my place it is…” Dagon grunted as he sat himself back up.
“Lemme get that for you,” Shida said, swinging herself over the couch in a jump and beginning to support the man while he hesitantly stood up, bearing most of his weight in the process. Looking over at Chak, she added, “Can you still walk?”
“Oh course. Just don’t ask me to fly.” the Princess jested as she pushed herself off the wall, “Or run…” she added as she felt her legs being akin to jello.
Zithra nodded and moved to grab the keys.
-
The town was still very much alive as the SUV drove down the street towards Dagon’s temporary residence. Shops and cafes were bustling with humans enjoying their late night holiday-related business.
Stopping at a light Zithra peeked in the rearview mirror to not only take stock of everyone, but to make sure they weren't being obviously followed. Thankfully the only thing of note was a laughing couple crossing the street, not caring about the nearby crosswalk.
Despite her persistent effort to remain conscious, Chak was now deep in sleep as she leaned on Shida. Her Terran form gently whistled through her nose as she breathed peacefully. In the far back, Dagon dazily watched the town pass by through a window while Doodle rested his back on the seat, trying to make his arms glow with his own power. He wasn’t successful.
Mary sat in the passenger seat, helping keep an eye out for any potentially suspicious individuals.
Disturbingly undisturbed for the whole car ride, after Zithra pulled into the driveway he slowly opened his door.
“I’ll make sure the place is clear.” he said as he shut down the vehicle -leaving the keys, just in case- and stepped out.
The noise of the closing door slightly jostled the Princess. While still in a slumbering haze rubbed the side of her face against Shida’s shoulder mumbling something indistinguishable from pleasant nonsense.
“I’ll be his backup!” Doodle volunteered as he wormed himself out as well to follow the Manarian.
Shida sighed, deciding not to wait for the two to be done. Gently, she moved Chak slightly so that the sleeping princess wouldn’t fall over without her support. Then, she got out of her side of the car, walking all the way around to also free Chak from her seat belt, before gently lifting the slumbering Cali out of her seat, ironically carrying her in the princess-hold.
As she did so, she looked to the front seat.
“Do you think you can help Dagon up, or should we wait for Zithra?” she asked Mary, who seemed to be staring at the house in a bit of a trance, until she was directly addressed.
Chak shifted slightly as she as lifted out into the cold air, and Shida tried to hold her close so the icy winds wouldn’t bother her too much.
“Uhm, yeah I can do that.” Mary agreed.
“We’ll be a bit. I think this is a good time for us to have an important talk.” Dagon notified as he straightened himself up in his seat, “Give us ten or so minutes?”
Mary looked down nervously but nodded in agreement with him.
Shida groaned and shook her head.
“Look. I get it,” she said, although her tone was far from understanding. “I really do. But can’t you do that inside? I mean, after everything that’s happened today, I’m really not keen on splitting up again. So far, it hasn’t worked out. You can have your privacy, I promise, but for goodness’ sake please just don’t hang out all alone here.”
Dagon hummed in self reflective amusement before rubbing the space between his eyes.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Right. Let’s go in then.” he said with a shake of his head.
Mary stepped out and maneuvered to the back and reached in to support Dagon’s arm over her shoulders.
Following the people of the stars, they near the front door as Zithra helped keep the door wide open.
“All’s clear from what I can tell.” he reported before helping Mary with Dagon as Shida passed by. Splitting up, Dagon and company are brought to his room while Shida goes to their usual place.
Doodle then peeked out of the kitchen with a cup of half-eaten pink frosting.
“Hey boss, there’s some frozen junk food in the freezer I can microwave for ya? Got spicy enchiladas or mac’n’cheese!” he offered, pointing a pink glob covered spoon behind him.
“Too tired,” Shida replied with a headshake and yawned, showing off her long fangs. Her eyes shifted onto Zithra. “If I remember babysitting this one’s brat correctly,” she mumbled and lifted Chak a bit higher for a moment to indicate who she was talking about, “Manarians need basically no sleep. At least in comparison. Still, wake me up anyway if you start feeling like your concentration dips, alright?”
Without really waiting for an answer, she moved over to the couch.
Sitting down first, she half- laid Chak down against her while she laboriously maneuvered herself onto her back in a way that would allow her to lift her friend on top of herself. Since they had a full house tonight, she figured that she’d skip any undressing today and just sleep in her full outfit, at least until further notice. Chak still quietly mumbled to herself, a bit of Shida’s hoody becoming stuck in her mouth in the process as she pressed her face into it, causing her to frown and stir as her subconscious tried to spit the fabric out again.
“Nnn’right nnow… tomrrow…” she slurred as her arms found themselves wrapping around Shida in a whole embrace, “Y…smell niceee tttho… ye…ah… godit…”
Shida felt a pop and release as Chak’s hands achieved the same feat as the night prior through the hoodie.
“Theerrrr y’go… G-nnnnnight… Shhhhhida…” the Princess uttered as her head lazily fought with the hoodie to get a more comfortable position. She ended up scooting up a bit so her head rested higher on her friend’s shoulder.
Shida rolled her eyes again, but also earnestly giggled.
“I don’t usually use this term, but you absolute horndog,” she said, briefly ruffling through the Cali’s hair a bit, before allowing her head to drop down with her eyes closed. Her eyes remaining closed, she then spoke into the room, “Alright, you all can stop gawking now, you got your own shit to do. Doodle, if you touch me, no immortality in the universe will be able to save you, got it?”
“No world-rock’n? Drat. Well I forgot the camera so I guess it’s for the best…” his voice spoke out in sarcasm. “We all can’t have a lady-blanket, but I wish you a goodnight boss!”
With that, the nearby light is flicked off.
-
Chak opened her eyes. It must have been very early in the morning, because it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. The Cali influence helped a great deal.
“Four… was it? Four days till Christmas?” she thought, having expected it to come naturally to her like last time. Sighing softly, she’s at least glad that her mind is still hers upon waking. Perhaps Shida writing her name on her list indeed helped in some way. Meaning it was the krampus’s influence that sourced the corrupting nature. Though with everything else going on with what the demon’s capabilities are, Chak would need to remain on her mental guard. With every moment that ‘Chistmas’ approached, who knew what their enemy was willing to do.
She then focused on Shida’s close face as she presumably still slept.
“Thank you.” she uttered with little more than a light breeze of air from her lungs, she herself could hardly hear it, “I don’t know if you were serious… but it certainly made me feel amazing. Still does, and I’ll forever treasure it.” she confessed with no raise in volume before closing her eyes again, unsure if her mind will allow sleep again. Though the warmth of her trusted friend in silence for a little longer was worth it regardless.
It took some more time before the sun began to rise, and Chak wasn’t quite sure if she had drifted off again momentarily or not, when she was fully shaken to attention as Shida seemingly started to struggle slightly under her weight, her subconscious most likely wondering why she couldn’t move as well as she was used to while she was waking up.
Although, as she tried to get out of the way to give the feline move to breath, strong arms suddenly wrapped around her with lighting speed and pulled her back in.
Shida’s eyes opened eventually as Chak found herself tightly pressed to her friend, who seemed to only be semi-aware of how tightly she was holding the princess as she yawned and blinked in the gradually emerging light of the sun peeking in from outside.
Her teeth then snapped shut again with a loud clack, and she started to look around, her eyes eventually stopping on Chak, looking as if she wondered what exactly she was doing there, even though it was Shida herself who held the princess in place like that.
After a few more seconds, Shida finally let go of her, and Chak immediately breathed a bit lighter with the pressure removed from her.
“I had the weirdest dream,” Shida mused, and she lifted a hand to first rub some sleep out of her eye and then rub along the place on her head where her ear would usually have been, had she not been wearing the human disguise. “There was this restaurant that was serving people, but for some reason everyone was totally cool with that…”
“Oh?” Chak giggled in odd relief, “Thank goodness you’re not an active sleeper then. Like Simone can be. I survive another night.” she joked, “Certainly sounds weird though.”
Initially stretching in a pushup over Shida, Chak leaned up and backwards. Her spine then suddenly crackled loudly in a chorus of pops. She froze in place, her mouth agape.
“Oh ffffffudge-” a mysterious force censored her, “That’s why she does it…” she realized in a gasp, almost too afraid to move. Though the surging sting in her shoulder and soreness of overused muscles do cause her to fully sit down on Shida’s thighs for a moment.
“And… now everything hurts…” she pouted as she carefully rubbed at her shoulder and rotated the socket like she oftenly watched her redhead do.
“Welcome to having bones,” Shida informed her laughingly and pushed herself up on her elbows. “You’ll feel better once you get it all ouüppt, but you can’t hesitate. Gotta do it with a bit of force.”
Saying that, she started to stretch herself, easily bending her back upwards more than would be possible for a normal human, even while laying down, and her own spine released a number of crackles, which she pushed to the absolute limit, before sinking back down with a satisfied sigh.
“Thaaaaat’s the stuff,” she said in an exhale, before glancing up at Chak again. “I can help you if you’d like.”
“That would be lovely if you could… I’m still terrified of breaking something…” Chak admitted with a sheepish wince, “The sounds are just so gruesome.”
Shida nodded and indicated for Chak to get up. Once they both stood, she positioned herself behind the princess and reached around her to grab her hands.
“Now cross your arms like this,” she said, leading both hands onto the shoulder opposite of them, indicating for Chak to hold them like that while she wrapped her own arms around the place where Chak’s crossed. “And then relaaaaaax.”
Shida felt Chak hesitate for a second, but then the disguised Cali exhaled, releasing some tension from her body. At that moment, Shida instantly reacted, pressing the princess tightly while forcefully whipping her body from side to side with strong but well controlled movement. With a left and a right, the princess’ back cracked much louder than before, and from that combined with the sudden and slightly painful feeling of releasing stress, Chak was convinced for a second that the feline had broken her back. However, as Shida let go again, she could still stand on her own. She also still had feeling in her feet. And a lot of the pain, though still echoing through her mind, was gone now.
Still, the Cali part of her brain was in utter horror at what it identified as an action simply having to cause some serious injury.
“Better?” Shida asked, putting her chin onto Chak’s shoulder and impishly looking over at her face.
“I don’t know if I like having bones… but yes!” Chak breathed heavily, her hands reflexively pressed to her sides and back as if to inspect her integrity in case her nerves were lying.
Riding the high of this completely new form of release, the Princess bounced on her toes a few times to expel a small surge of energy.
“Uhm… admittedly I may not know what to do exactly, but if there’s something simple you need from me for you, I’d be happy to return the favor.” she offered before her mind flashed to the many, many times she watched Simone prep and end her workout routines.
Actually excited to try, she put her feet together and leaned down in a stretch to touch them. Involuntarily letting out groans as she felt her Terran muscles stretch out some of the stiffness away. Managing to get the tips of her fingers to make contact she held that position for roughly ten standard seconds before slowly standing upright.
“Why are pain and pleasure the same!?” she laughed in a strained voice.
Shida laughed back at her and used the opportunity of Chak bending forth onto her knees to catch her breath to give the princess’ rear another firm pat.
“They aren’t,” she informed with an upbeat voice. “I guess deathworlders have just more levels of discomfort than others. There’s a big range between strain and pain, and pleasure is somewhere in there as well.”
Then she paused for a moment and sniffed the air, before pulling on her sweater and lifting it slightly to give it a subtle smell test, pulling her face away quickly.
“And thank you, but the only thing I need is a shower,” she mumbled, and quickly started to already free herself from the thick outer layer, kind of forgetting in the process that Chak had opened everything under there the previous night. Not that she cared all too much as long as she was in disguise, however fully being aware how much she revealed before she did it would still have been nice.
“Whoops,” she mumbled in a mixture of surprise, amusement and irritation, as she noticed that her entire torso was getting fresh air all of a sudden, not just parts of it.
Chak was guilty of staring for a moment longer than necessary before her brain clicked to the rudeness of it, causing her to look away embarrassed.
“Oh! Sorry!” she squeaked out, “I’ll uhmm… wait and shower after. Maybe start something to eat if someone else hasn’t yet. No that I’m really good at cooking anything outside of the simple pre-made things, but Doodle did say there was something like that in the freezer. Enchiladas? Is that a human breakfast food? It might be though honestly I have no idea what it is so maybe I should check on the phonecell net first right? O-or maybe not, food is food right it’s not like we have to go by what’s traditional-” she prattled on becoming more and more horrified that her mouth would not stop talking in panic over something so trivial. What was this Terran brain doing!? “-so yeah that should be plenty of time for your shower. Again I apologize, I know it’s not a huge deal but it’s still rude to stare and I’m trying really hard not to look at you in the window reflection because I just realized that’s something I could do, but that would be rude so now I’m staring at the couch and nothing else I swear.”
Shida laughed and released Chak from her torment by covering up with a crossed arm.
“Oh, come on, missy, not only did you stare a lot yesterday, but you also grabbed my tail once, so I really don’t think that you get to act all modest now or, well, ever anymore,” she informed her friend in no uncertain terms, and her lighthearted demeanor also made it clear that she absolutely did not care. Or even consider it rude for that matter. At least not any ruder than she usually perceived staring to be. “That was a waaaaaaaaay more serious offense than this. But, fine, if you’re not feeling it, I’ll let you off easy. See you when I’m done.”
With that, she turned towards the bathroom and waved with the back of her hand as she sauntered away, dropping her covering arm again as soon as she had turned her back to her friend.
“The tail was payback!” Chak justified, “And the problem is that I’m ‘feeling it’ too hard right now. I like staring at pretty things but this-” She ran her hands through her head fur as she found herself looking into the reflection, “The reason for staring is what makes it rude! So I’m sorry.” she stammered righteously, her face now experiencing a general burning sensation, for once wishing that she wasn’t so dang honest all the time.
“Tell that to the judge!” Shida gave back, before pulling the door to the bathroom shut. Shortly after, the sound of running water began to come out.
Feeling like she was about to explode, Chak practically stomped over to the couch, picked up a pillow, tightly planted her face in it, and let out a muffled energetic yell that carried no words.
Coming down from the attic with steaming hot cocoa in hand, Doodle passed by and peeked in to see the disguised Cali wildly kicking and punching the poor couch while yelling face down into one of its pillows.
“Me too space-babe… me too…” he mumbled in a snicker before continuing on into the kitchen to give the Cali experiencing Terran-grade hormones some space.
Forgetting to even check for the food, Chak laid on the couch in misery after she burned off the energy.
Lifting up a hand, she glared at it. Even experiencing this much of what it’s like to be a Terran was exhausting. If this disguise was truly accurate, she honestly started to understand Simone even more. To be in this form for every waking and sleeping moment… it was certainly a lot compared to what she was used to.
But then another followup thought came to her; what if she had to actually live like this forever? Could she do it? Should she?
What if… the opportunity arose to be this way permanently, even after she and Shida went back home? Not only might Simone like it a lot, but the Princess could be of more use to everyone. She would no longer be hunted by anyone because she wouldn’t qualify to be the queen of her people anymore, she could eat and drink all the Terran things, and best yet… she and Simone would most likely share a similar lifespan…
They could grow old together… genuinely share all of their time with one another.
Grabbing her formerly abused pillow, she brought it to her chest and hugged it. Although there was no clear path of it becoming a reality, the possibility of it in this wacky world stuck with her. Maybe… she could actively try to make it happen? Make this whole experience beneficial in the end?
Chak remained pondering this until she heard the shower water turned off.
It took a bit of time, presumably used for drying and covering up, before the door opened and Shida stepped out again, now fresh and relatively ready for the day, although she still needed to really get dressed, as she had only wrapped up in a towel for the moment.
“Honestly I’ve never showered this cold,” she mumbled while spotting Chak on the couch and Doodle in the kitchen as she walked around. “Could almost get used to this human thing. Then again, I’d miss my tail and ears. And my claws. Especially my claws. These nails are so wimpy. Then again, they are good for scratching. No risk of cutting anything open accidentally.”
As if she needed to prove that, she scratched along her exposed shoulder, the nails leaving red streaks along the slightly reddened skin, although they immediately disappeared again after a fraction of a second.
“Although, thinking of it, human girls get the bane once a month…yeah count me out,” she then added amusedly and shook out her hair. Looking down at Chak, she pointed towards the shower. “You wanna go next? It sounded like you could use some ‘cooling down’ again.” she winked briefly before continuing, “Who would’ve thought that your base level of vapor actually wasn’t all that intense in the end? Honestly, I would’ve expected human attraction to be a downgrade after your constant flirting, but looks like I was wrong. I’ll stop teasing you now. Seems like it’s starting to go a bit far, sorry.”
Chak looked up in a half-pout as her friend spoke. By the end she inhaled deeply, knowing her honesty might be her downfall one day.
“I’d say it has always been this intense… but it’s expressing in very different ways. It’s just this form has more… impact. I suppose. Or maybe there’s just some mental translation error that the disguise isn’t doing right, I’m clearly no expert on it.” Sitting up while still hugging the pillow, Chak’s face flushes once more to her irritation, “But I do know that Terrans express these feelings differently too, from individual to individual. So maybe this is who I’d be if I wasn’t so-” she didn’t know how to finish that sentence, “Stars! Shida, if we went home and I remained like this, would it be better? Be honest and don’t spare possibly insulting the Cali species. I love my people, and I was- am fine about being a non-deathworlder. Sure I’d miss not having my lower arms if this was made permanent, but it’s not like I can’t lose them someday anyway because of how fragile I am compared to you guys. You must admit that things would be easier if I was a Terran, right?”
Shida tilted her head at the princess, and it was clear from her expression that she wasn’t even really thinking about the question as she shrugged her shoulders.
“What are you asking me for?” she just returned kind of nonchalantly and started to walk over to the couch. “I have no idea how I’m supposed to answer that. On a purely physical level? I mean it’s hard to argue that terrans outpace Cali in most matters. But, like, does that mean you should want to become one? How would I know?”
She dropped down into the couch with a light ‘oomph’.
“I mean, I’m new to this whole ‘modifying’ business anyway. I literally never even thought about changing my body apart from, like, getting a haircut. A year ago I was about to throw up if someone just mentioned cybernetics a little too much. So if you’re asking me if I would do it, the answer’s hell no. It would wreck me mentally. No idea if it would do the same for you though,” she explained with a shrug. “Curi radically altered their body and they seem happy with it. But if they had asked me if they should do it before, I would’ve said no. But if they asked me if it was a good decision now, I’d say as long as they’re happy with it, despite everything it caused, then sure. I, quite literally, have no concept of how good or bad of a decision that would be. I have no desire to change in that regard and that is the only perspective I have on it. Even if you explain to me all day what you’re thinking on the topic, that’ll give me context, but I doubt I’ll understand it. So…I don’t know, go with what makes you happy, I guess? I’m not going to influence you on the matter.”
With that, she leaned back against the backrest of the couch, folding her hands behind her head.
“If I was this, then maybe I won’t outlive Simone for so long, that I won't be a burden in a fight without my suit, or need constant protection from people who want my head… I… don’t want to give up being a Cali. In my mind that’s who I am. I’m just thinking, maybe if I had the chance to be something else that would be better for others I could learn to live… with… it…” Chak trailed off, covering her face with her hands. At first it looked like she was crying, but as she brushed her head fur back she had a small sad smile, “It’s not about what other people could want from me. I only owe myself to be me.” she reiterated from her conversation with Mary, “Can’t even practice what I preach. I’m being such a fool.”
Shida wrapped an arm around Chak’s shoulders and pulled her in, copying James for a second and she pressed a brief smooch on the princess’ head.
“That’s my girl,” she mumbled for a moment and held Chak for just a moment longer before releasing her again, muttering, “And, Terran or Cali, I’ll still wreck you once we’re off planet, so you better have your story straight for when you get back to Simone.”
Chak feels that same rush from earlier as her brain scrambled.
“Oh…. oh… huuummm… right, yep, okay. Understood.” she yammered, “Y-you might want to then educate yourself of Cali anatomy beforehand… then… it’s… different…”
“Eh, I’m good at improvising,” Shida said with another shrug and leaned back again. “Now go get yourself cleaned up, you slept in your clothes all night, too.”
“Stars, this brain wants to fork you so bad!” the Princess let out in a frustrated Terran-growl before getting up in a rush, “You smell lovely by the way!” she shouted in an accusatory tone before practically slamming the bathroom door closed.
“If you think this is bad, try being in heat!” Shida yelled after her amusedly. “This is basically a vacation for me!”
Apparently, their shouting had effectively woken up the rest of the house, and Shida could hear steps walking up from adjacent rooms.
“Sorry, I’ll get dressed in a minute,” she announced to whoever was coming there, not bothering to rush it just to be presentable.
“Listening to all that without context is better than network television!” Zithra’s voice called back in a laugh.
“Tell me about it…” Doodle added from the kitchen.