Dear Diary,

Sometimes I wonder how much of the really wacky shit that has happened to me is me inflicting my basic wacky shit nature on the world, how much is me noticing something weird and then making up a Kipling 'just so story' explaining why it's my fault, and how much is the Fates fucking with me, not to mention whether they're fucking with me to maintain the status quo or to, I dunno, draw my attention to places where the status is anything but appropriately quo.

Yes, I've read Kipling. The Eastside library had a compilation of his works in the 'new releases' section. On the one hand 'White Men have a Duty to Educate and Protect Brown People' is so hella racist that if you don't see it, I don't have the time nor crayons to explain it to you. On the other, 'Educate and Protect' is a whole fuckin damn sight better than 'Punish and Enslave'. So, like, A plus for Intent, D minus and In School Suspension for execution.

Here's the thing; I've seen Mimic in M-Space. At Yule I joked about my M-Space, unBlended ass being huge, but Mimic is straight up Lovecraftian existential horror levels of big. Must bend the Laws of Physics to Exist big. Butt large enough to send Sir Mixalot directly to Nirvana big. On top of all that... I was gonna say 'literal', but she's in M-Space, so... shit. On top of her enormity in M-Space, any time I start to get in tune with her I get the idea that somehow there's a deeper level of unreality, one where she and Domnu have permanent mailing addresses and government ID and shit, and the her there? Makes the one here and now in M-Space look like microscopic. Atomic. Subatomic. Quarks and shit.

Sorry. Totally not my point, but contemplating it is one of those things that just draw's the mind's eye like one of those Hidden Image pics. My point is that Mimic covers a good chunk of the Eastern Seaboard in M-Space now. M-Space is a reflection of the Mortal World, yeah, but I'm beginning to suspect that reflection thing isn't a one way street. No real justification for that, mind you, just a pure gut feeling. But if I'm right, how much of the dumb unlikely shit that's happening in the Mortal Realm, which I persistently think of as the 'Real World', is happening because Mimic wants it to? Or because somewhere inside I want it to?

What does it say about me that shit like what happened to Bonnie still happens?

Yeah, I get it. There's millions of people in the Mortal Realm, plus god only knows how many Demigods and Divine Avatars and whatever, who given any reasonable sense of scale still ought to count as 'people' compared to Mimic.

I find it ironic that I now treasure being placed in the same category you place Mortals, Daughter.

Yeah, well. Even if I could Co-Locate enough to put one of me next to each and every one of them, I'm pretty fuckin' sure each iteration of me would have just about enough brain cells to compete with Mimic herself in the Olympic 'stare and drool' competition. I literally cannot be everybody's guardian angel. Even if I kinda want to be.

But how much influence do I have over what happens on, y'know, a subconscious level?

So after my impromptu surgery I wound up spending a while just observing things from a Mimic's-eye-view. On top of yeeted normal shrimp, the evening's feast included not just the addition of Mega-Shrimp, but shadowy super-chibi sous chefs lining up to assist Marie and Saffron with their self-yeeting. Hell, they got in on the 'yeeted into Mimic's maw' themselves a bit too. I know I've gone on about mouth feel without describing it, but by now I've got enough variation to do so. The shrimp? Even the big chef sized ones? Definitely have that 'perfect shellfish' feel, slightly crispy skin with creamy interior meat that just melts like butter. Saffron? Absolute soup dumpling, but one with a skin so thin I'm surprised it survives being yeeted. Just that 'in mouth, pop, soup everywhere' you get from a really good soup dumpling. Marie is kinda the opposite, like a hard core of flavor that gradually melts, totally wrapped up in super thin rice noodles that act like itty bitty paint brushes slopping that good good flavor all over the place. The new sous chefs? Kinda like beans, in a good way. Individually more teasing than satisfying, but en masse had a nice mashed potato consistency.

Of course, when I got a mischievous hair up my ass and... didn't really 'think' do a flip, but kinda emoted it? Of course they all started pulling Circe de Soleil shit. Not much real change for the shrimp and beans, but Marie's hair flayed flavor into my face, and Saffron exploded with the kind of force that if Mimic had a face to go with her maw, she'd have been looking like some straight up soupkakke or some shit.

Which led to my whole pondering about 'how much does Mimic influence the world, and how much do I influence Mimic', which led to me waking up surrounded once more by my very favoritest kitties in the whole wild world. Saffron and Isnomi sprawled over top of me, with a Marie on either side of us, bracketing us with a white wall of warm watchfulness. I don't know how I knew she wasn't really sleeping, but when I whispered, "Marie? You awake?" she replied instantly, in quiet stereo.

"Yes."

That led me down a melancholy path. "Have... have you ever really slept with me? With us?"

Both sets of her eyes snapped open and she frowned down at me. "Yes."

"Really? No, wait, I know you wouldn't bother to say it if it wasn't. But... do you need to sleep?"

"No."

"You don't need to, but you do? With us?"

Both of her smiled at me. "Yes."

"That's so sweet. Adorable." She just looked at me, smiling. "Thank you."

"Welcome." she whispered.

I froze, bits of my brain chasing a million different disaster scenarios. Thankfully, my lady bits took over. "You mean that?"

"Yes."

"Any and all of you, any time, I'm welcome to it?"

She snuggled in closer on both sides, eliciting little irked sleepy kitten noises from atop me. "Yes." I wriggled my arms around both of her and pulled her in, careful not to get either of the two atop me in between us, and then squeezed her to me. She oofed, squeaked, and then a wave of purring crashed over me from both sides. She kinda melted over either side of me; not even in an outright sex way, just the way someone would do knowing someone is there to look out for them, so they could just relax utterly and completely. "Strong."

Maybe that should have surprised me, but with a wall of comforting purr on either side of me vibrating any bad juju away, I couldn't bring myself to do anything but snuggle her and whisper, "I wish we could go to sleep just like this."

"Okay." She scooched down and snuggled into my shoulders. It really says something about something that I got weird squish feels rather than weird lady boner having her nuzzling both of my ears at once.

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"Too bad I can't wake up like this too."

"Will."

My brain puzzled at that for a moment. "I wanted you to really sleep though. Like, all of us sleeping, including both of you, because I am the greediest bitch in the world, apparently."

"Will."

More puzzling. "How can you sleep and stay Co-Located?"

She sighed, cracked one eye on each side of me, and whispered, "Demigoddess." Then, in the most eloquent 'shut the fuck up and go the fuck to sleep' I've ever personally been a part of, she caressed my face with one hand each, sliding my eyes closed and laying fingers across my lips. I may be a dumbass, but when her purring ratcheted up to the point where the pair atop me melted just a little, I took the hint and went to sleep.

Saffron and the Sous Chefs weren't in evidence, but Marie made up for their absence by accompanying body pillow sized shrimp into Mimic's Maw. Weird as fuck, especially when she got pleasantly stubborn about the whole 'dissolving' part of 'dissolving flavor packet'. No less flavorful, mind, but way more time spent savoring the flavoring.

She nudged me awake just in time to watch Menace and Kitten go through their morning wake up routine. We just watched them go through the whole thing, content to be the bed they woke up in. When she saw two Maries, Isnomi's eyes got wide and she kinda sat there vibrating, like she wanted to do a million different 'two adult toddler games' with Marie as both adults, but couldn't decide where to start. Meanwhile Saffron just smiled and said, "feeling better, dear?"

"Yeah. Hey, Menace, you up for going to see Sigyn today?" In response, she just nodded, but grabbed one of each Marie's hands, wordlessly demanding to take both of them along. "Kitten, do you mind if we do casual dress today? I'm just not feeling up to The Dress or my uniform today."

"As my Goddess wishes, so shall it be." I must admit, though, to some disappointment at you not wanting to drop the little one with Sigyn and spend the day in the Library.

One quadruple Co-Location later, the four of us, sans Isnomi, lay in our Love Shack. "I think I'm not even feeling up to casual wear here."

She chuckled down at me, "not even our new armor?"

I rolled my eyes, "how would that even work without the dresses underneath?"

"With that attitude, we'll never find out," she replied primly. I laughed and rolled both Maries onto their backs, then flopped Saffron face down on one of them. "Nah, think what you were doing when I got here the other day looked fun."

The others of us got up, helped each other get dressed, because dressing someone I love is way less of a chore than dressing myself for some reason, then stepped over to Drivers'. With our late start, we didn't get to Loki's until around noon, but if he felt some kinda way he forgave all when we delivered Drivers' gyros to Sigyn and him. We spent the day chatting, playing with Isnomi and Mister Slither, who'd become much more of a member of the fam and friendly snek boi since Odin's banishment from the cave, and just chatting about inconsequential shit. I'd half expected and looked forward to therapy, physical or otherwise, but Saffron nixxed the idea with a simple, "it would interfere with our plans tonight, Goof."

I had no idea what those plans were, but I am also not stupid enough to argue with my Kitten when she Has Plans. Worst case, we had some kind of non-violent diplomancy to handle. Best case, shenanigantics might be at hand.

Marie kept both of her around, and Isnomi got one of her Twin Marie wishes granted when they took up positions on opposite sides of the cave and played 'yeet the toddler' to one another, with Sigyn and Mister Slither in the middle trying to catch the flying, shrieking Menace. Weird, but neither Saffron nor I did more than shake our heads and smile, because we could not think of a single less likely thing than our child coming to any kind of harm with not one but two Maries in the room.

At the end of the day we did our hugs and kisses good bye, then Saffron took charge and stepped us all Not Home. We stood in the fourth floor common area of Lancaster House, with Isnomi's posse spread around Larry and Bonnie. "Good Evening, Commander!"

Before I could reply, Isnomi charged into and through the horde hoard, with the whole thing eventually taking off for the stairs in a great whooping mass, one grinning Marie in hot pursuit.

"Hey, Larry!" I stepped up and pulled him into a hug. If he objected, he hid it pretty well, although his response came back one handed, with his other hand firmly clamped in Bonnie's. Of course, she filled in, stepping up and giving me a quick squeeze before I stepped back to look at both of them. Well, mostly at her, because reasons. First of all, Saffron had clearly been at work, because both Bonnie and Larry had denim jeans on; Larry beneath a nice collared shirt with simple ties on the front, but Bonnie had a top that matched our Thunderstruck outfits. Only she'd been at it with a scissor or something and hacked it off halfway between her nipples and her bellybutton, leaving her belly showing.

Anybody not a veteran of duBois PT could be excused for just drooling and staring, but those of us in the know immediately recognized her soft, slightly rounded belly for exactly what it was. I couldn't help but feel warm and fuzzy that she'd hit a point where she wanted to advertise her condition in the most blatant way possible.

Of course, the fact that her belly had a fuckin' awning did that pretty well too for anybody who'd known her before. I've heard that women getting really good bedroom time got a little bouncier in the boob department, and it might have been a little early for her mammaries to mammary, but some combination had flipped that switch, and she'd gone from 'pleasantly athletic girl-curvy' to 'emergency flotation devices deployed'. "Lookin' good, Bonnie! You're what, about thirteen weeks in now?"

She nodded. "I mean, I think so? Larry and I aren't exactly sure when it happened,"

"So many possibilities," muttered Saffron, but in a voice that said she approved wholeheartedly, and everybody chuckled at that, even Blushing Baby Baker Bonnie.

"Yeah. So at least twelve weeks, no more than thirteen " I opened my mouth to say something, and for a fraction of a second her eyes hardened, just flat black orbs glaring at me. "No more than thirteen."

"Oh, hey yeah, I get it, couldn't possibly be any more than that." I really wasn't sure exactly why she'd be that vehement. I mean, I had a clue, which was all lonely in my skull, wandering around like a maiden in a gothic castle, desperately hoping to find a shaggy dude and a library, low key terrified that she'd enjoy it more if she found two hot chicks and a walking corpse. But I couldn't quite make the connection on why, and she and Larry seemed to be doing well, so I wasn't gonna rock that boat. Instead I turned to Saffron and Marie, only to find them both also dressed in their jeans and tank tops. I raised an eyebrow at Saffron's outfit, and she just nodded to Marie, who ran her hands over Saffron's shoulders possessively, incidentally teasing some indecent exposure by making Saffron's shoulder straps into off the shoulder straps for a moment. "So, what are we doing tonight?"

Larry put his arm around Bonnie's waist and pulled her close; she giggled and took up her habitual shoulder-devil positioning. "I'm not sure, Commander. Your wife and mine arranged this."

Saffron took me by the hand, and the moment she did my skirt and shirt combo got replaced by my schoolboy uniform. After long enough to let the Obol-Lancasters get a good look, she replaced that with a set of jeans and blue tank top of my very own. I smiled at her. "I'd have worn the other one for you, Kitten."

She raised an eyebrow as she took my hand, and Marie reached out to lay a hand on Larry's shoulder. "And have that jacket soak up all the sweat instead of letting it soak your shirt the way it ought? I think not." A moment later all five of us stood on South Street, the gathering dusk only partially held at bay by street lights.

Larry and Bonnie looked around, gawking just a little at the sights and sounds of South Street being South Street on a nice night. "And you will be sweating, my Goof, because tonight we will be sampling the finest dancing halls of South Street to see which one fits us best."

Before I could reply to that, a big figure charged out of an alleyway. I moved to intercept, but recognized D just before he reached me. As I banished my Blades, he grabbed me by the shoulders and I realized he looked more than a little frantic, not to mention maybe a little skinnier than normal and, strangest of all, sober.

"Tabitha Diaz, why have you done this thing to me!" A moment later we had not one but four Maries with us; our original, who stood with her hands on Saffron's shoulders, one clinging to each of D's shoulders in ways that made their tank tops twist enticingly, and one stalking in behind him from the alley he'd come out of, a low growl emanating from her. Unlike her other selves, this one wore nothing to cover her fuzzy butt at all, and her tail swished back and forth as she stalked up behind him. Just about then I noticed something his panicked approach had made me miss; D himself wore nothing but what looked like a big bath house towel wrapped around his waist.

Right about then he looked at me, and whimpered, "help me."