Chapter 29 : It always starts with a training montage (The Toaster Incident)

 

The Thompsons’ home kitchen, the Thompsons’ home, Forest Hills, Queens, New York, 26th of January, 7:42

 

Harrison having left a few minutes ago, I’m waiting for the others to come down from upstairs, alone with my thoughts.

 

Although I’m never really alone, Iris is just silently letting me ponder about what he said while I’m drinking my coffee, having finished with my cooking.

 

The police officer in him obviously talked about legitimate usage of lethal force in self-defense, of course, but some of his counsel can still be applied to what troubles me, more than ever now that my emotions aren’t as dulled as before.

 

No matter.

 

I have me.

 

I have my blood-sister.

 

I have found a home and people who accept me.

 

It’s a good start. A good, delayed, start. And I’m going to focus on that and try not to dwell on dear Kevin too much.

 

I have so much to do and so little time, after all.

 

Like taking care of a handful of super powered teenagers.

 

“Good morning, Aria.” Quietly says Rosie as she enters the kitchen, surprising me out of my fugue.

 

Freaky how even with my telepathy I can still be blindsided when I’m focusing too much onto something.

 

“Good morning, Rosie.” I answer with a little smile.

 

She arches an eyebrow, eyes roaming on my figure for a moment.

 

“New fashion ?” She mildly asks.

 

“Courtesy of Iris, she tried something new.” I answer with a little bit of pride.

 

“Oh ? But that’s not her color ?” She asks, eyes narrowed.

 

My touch-TK disguise located on my clothes flicker on and off.

 

“I see.” She nods in understanding, “That’s the same trick you’re using to look ‘normal’, right ?”

 

“Indeed.” I genially answer.

 

“I’m sort of jealous now.” She admits, scrunching her nose as I chuckle good humoredly.

 

“Anyway, it suits you.” Rosie continues after a beat, “It’s also less daring than yesterday. It was a bit… Much.”

 

I school my look with the help of my best poker-face.

 

You wouldn’t say that if you could see my underwear.

 

Or simply knows how I really feel right now.

 

Iris chuckles on our mind-link, [Mirth, schadenfreude] flowing, and I feel my cheeks heat just a tiny little bit.

 

I can’t even get mad at her because, as far as a distraction from darker thoughts goes, it definitely works.

 

I would even argue that I’m lacking focus as a result, but, since Iris takes so much after me, she doesn’t budge in front of my heartfelt pleas to let it go.

 

“Why, thank you, Rosie.” I answer back with a polite smile.

 

“So, what did you leave me to do ?” Rosie carries on, oblivious of my internal dismay as she makes her way next to me.

 

“Nothing, I guess ?” I answer hesitantly, my eyes following her, “I had a rough night and woke up early, so I fixed breakfast to keep myself busy.”

 

She hmms at my admission, eyes roaming the counter top with the professionalism of a stay at home mother.

 

She blinks.

 

“Where is the toaster ?” She questions aloud, a note of bewilderment in her voice.

 

It’s my turn to look where her eyes are locked on, and the toaster is indeed missing.

 

“Uh.” I blurt out eloquently, “I didn’t notice.”

 

I knew that the telepathic landscape was quieter than before, but since when ?

 

Rosie shakes her head a bit.

 

“So, rough night ?” She asks offhandedly when it appears that the culprit responsible for the toaster's disappearance isn’t me, while pouring herself a mug.

 

“Yeah,” I answer, a little bit of gloom in my voice, “The realization that I’ll never see my wife again hit me pretty hard yesterday’s evening.”

 

I tried to downplay it, but the hurt in my voice can’t be hidden.

 

Without me saying anything, Iris oozes out of the high of my back and takes her favorite position, hugging me tight and nuzzling my neck wordlessly.

 

Rosie doesn’t even blink at my sister’s display, still mulling over what I admitted previously.

 

The fact that I’m choosing to open my heart to her doesn’t go unrewarded as she sits herself next to me to place a comforting hand on my own.

 

“Hence the black.” She mutters under her breath, before clearing her throat which makes me turn myself into her direction.

 

“I’m sorry for your loss.” She says with compassion and emotion, “I… I cannot properly imagine what you’re going through, but if you ever need to talk…”

 

A single tear pearl at the corner of my eye, and I grace her with a sad little smile as I dry it with my sleeve, [Love, care] soothing me on the mind-link in parallel.

 

I exhale slowly, eyes closed.

 

“It’s alright, she wouldn’t want for me to carry a torch forever,” I explain aloud, trying to convey yesterday’s decision into as few words as possible before my emotions chokes me, “But I feel like I need to grieve my loss for a bit, to say goodbye to her.”

 

We stay silent for a beat, Rosie squeezing my hand gently in support and Iris’ hug grounding me.

 

“Harrison got shot, once.” Rosie slowly starts, interrupting the quiet of the kitchen, “We were still young and didn’t have the kids at the time.”

 

It’s her turn to exhale as I focus my attention on her tale.

 

“He spent twelve hours between life and death in the hospital that day. I can still see myself pacing like a trapped beast in the hallway, wondering if he would survive, if I was going to lose my world, because that’s how he felt like to me.” She continues down memory lane.

 

“I… I always felt special when I was with him. He had a rough childhood and I was aware of it. But despite all of it, he still showed me love, care and attention.”

 

She quiets for a beat, and it’s her turn to go teary-eyed.

“That incident and finding that I was pregnant with Eugene shortly after changed him.” Rosie carries on softly, “I don’t know why because he doesn’t speak a lot about his feelings. And no matter what I tried, he never really opened up.”

 

She shivers, pausing for a beat.

 

“Until three months ago.” Rosie admits.

 

“After your disagreement,” A poor choice of word, but I’m letting it slide for her benefits, “And the holidays he took, the man I fell in love with started showing back.”

 

She squeezes my hand again in a grateful gesture.

 

“I know that we haven’t necessarily started on the best terms yesterday, you and I, but, after sleeping on it, I’m grateful for what you’ve done.” Rosie decisively says, “Thank you for saving my son, and probably also my husband from himself.”

 

Her eyes lock into mine once more.

 

“I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now, not really.” Rosie explains, “But I can at least be a supportive presence for someone who has lost her world, in more ways than one.”

 

“Thank you, Rosie.” I answer with a little smile, “It means a lot to me.”

 

She nods vigorously once, letting go of my hand.

 

The silence stretches a bit more comfortably than usual around us as I calmly sip my coffee.

 

Rosie brows furrow after a while, turning back to look toward the counter top.

 

“Now, what could have happened to that toaster ?” She mutters to herself.

 

Her reflection is interrupted by the sounds of two different footsteps going down the stairs at the same time.

 

Mechanically drying my eyes once more just in case, I raise my head toward Jessie and Flashy as they step through the kitchen threshold, plastering a smile that is almost legitimate after Rosie’s talk.

 

A little peck on my neck from Iris’ part and her squeezing my ‘corset’ a little tighter, an act with obvious consequences, shift my mood further from its gloominess.

 

No matter, I’m grateful she let me have my talks with the two other adults of the house unmolested.

 

My symbiotic half knows very well that I needed to have some outside perspective on my situation.

 

She still remains a tease though.

 

“Hello you two.” I peppily tell the two newcomers.

 

Jessie, still in her PJs, wordlessly comes toward Rosie and I’s position while Flashy gives us a lazy wave of greeting, sitting himself across the table.

 

“Here,” he says, sliding a little pendant toward me on the table, “I finished your dampener. Tried it myself, and it works like a charm.”

 

True, it should also work on his cyberpathy, I didn’t think about that.

 

Rosie, still hugging a sleepy Jessie, arches an eyebrow at the display.

 

“Thank you,” I exhale with heartfelt gratitude, noticing the little on/off button on the back of the triangle shaped device, “Falling asleep was hard yesterday.”

 

“Tell me about it,” He grumbles, “Couldn’t sleep to save my life either, so I had to cobble it together or go zany. I made a spare for myself.”

 

Flashy looks toward his mother with a sheepish expression, one hand coming to scratch the back of his head.

 

“I may have… Repurposed the toaster in order to do so ?” He admits, wincing slightly.

 

One of my hands immediately comes to hide my mouth, while Jessie, whose hug with her mom has ended, plops herself on my lap to side-hug me.

 

I flush a little as her torso makes my corset shift just a tiny bit, whispering a little ‘hello munchkin’ in her ear while keeping my eyes on Rosie.

 

Her mouth alternates between several expressions, ranging from bewilderment, disbelief, annoyance, to finally settle on disapproving anger.

 

“Eugene Thompson,” she grouses with that particular chastising tone mothers all around the world take when they start to berate their child, “What did you do to my toaster ?”

 

“Nothing he didn’t deserve, the guy was mindbogingly annoying.” Flashy tries to justificate, as my hand hiding my mouth proves its utility when I start to chuckle softly.

 

In the crook of my neck, Iris, whose hand had started patting Jessie's head, a motion that is luring back the younger girl to sleep with a certain efficiency, snickers, hiding her mirthful expression behind my curtain of white curliness.

 

“You !” Rosie exclaims, jolting Jessie awake, which coincidentally incites her to peck my cheek in greetings and tightens her hug.

 

Pointing the fabled index-of-disagreement toward her son, Rosie declares with steel in her voice.

 

“That’s the last time you’re using your powers on my kitchen implements, young man, or I swear I’ll make you regret it.” She clips, “And you owe me a new toaster.”

 

“Fine !” Flashy answers, arms spread apart in a grand gesture and his eyebrow twitching “But I’m choosing it myself, because if the next one also cannot shut his trap, god help me…”

 

“Language !” Rosie barks back.

 

That’s when I start to laugh openly because that conversation was the last thing I expected to witness this morning.

 

I laugh, laugh and laugh, so much that Jessie starts to snicker in turns, without really knowing why, which makes me double down, mentally sharing my mirth with Iris all the while.

 

I finally settle down from my hilarity after a while, drying up the tears of laughter that I’ve spilled.

 

“Sorry guys,” I start a bit sheepishly in front of Flashy’s annoyed expression and the slightly peeved one Rosie is now sporting, “But you had to admit that it was pretty funny.”

 

“I guess so.” Rosie grumbles, eyes returning to lock into her son’s.

 

“Yeah.” Flashy answers noncommittally, too taken in his staring contest to give a proper answer.

 

That’s when Jessie, finally calmed down, ends up looking toward the counter top with a puzzled expression.

 

“Hey,” She asks, the last dregs of sleep finally vanishing from her mind, “What happened to the toaster ?”

 

Iris and I start laughing again.

 

***

Above the clouds, somewhere above New York City, US airspace, 26th of January, 9:05

 

In the aftermath of the Toaster Incident, the breakfast had been a little tense for the Thompsons’ household.

 

It didn’t really help that Jessie reacted the same way I did when she was brought up to speed, even if the major reason why I laughed my ass off about it was because, deep down, I totally approved of Flashy’s decision.

 

That particular toaster had, in fact, really been insufferable.

 

I had hung around a bit with Jessie and Flashy in the living room before the former gathered enough motivation to go take a shower, and I decided that it was time for my mandatory sunbath.

 

I encountered an issue with that particular plan.

 

It was still winter, and the sky was gray as all hell.

 

I grumbled for a bit, cursing the weather and worrying for my blood-sister health since I needed the sunlight to catalyze the reaction occuring in my appendix, then I belatedly realized that, since I had powers and could fly, I could just go high enough and stay there for a while to solve the issue.

 

Which I promptly did, teleporting myself in a straight line upwards a few successive times, and was now enjoying the morning sun, isolated from the chilly air by a solid layer of telekinesis and globally appreciating that the atmosphere, while rarefied, was actually pure.

 

A luxury I relished after a few months spent breathing the Queens’ smog.

 

I wanted to enjoy my sunbath in the nude, because it would have been more efficient, but Iris found very little traction in the idea and just vanished the dress, leaving me in what I considered an even more shameful state, clad in provocative black undies, with a garter belt and stocking combo, and (lovely and awesome) leather-like high boots.

 

To make things even worse, the little vixen, because today she definitely acted like one, was dozing off on my chest like a lazy cat, hugging me all the while with her head between the topmost side of my breasts, visibly enjoying the sun and the nutrients she was gorging herself on while I was trying to meditate to center my mind, attempting to cram some extra training for myself.

 

The girls were coming at 2 PM. I needed to do my homework before, but I didn’t think it would take me that long, because I fully expected to get engrossed in the events that would follow.

 

Firstly, we had our appointment with the Ancient One so she could take a look at our two totemites and introduce the teenagers to Mr. Drumm, the one who will provide us with an access to the Mirror Dimension so we could let loose in total discretion.

 

Then, we were going to need to establish a training schedule for all of us, because I wouldn’t go back in the field without extensively testing my limits and improving on them, and I fully intended to condition the others to do so.

 

Even Cindy, despite her reluctance. If she decided to live a normal life, so be it, but she definitely will be able to defend herself before I let her go.

 

I fully expected her Fate to interfere with her choices, though.

 

Even myself was still lacking in a lot of departments. I was just a random girl who had some knowledge of how things were supposed to work and happen, and it wouldn’t be enough in the future.

 

Absentmindedly petting the head of my lazy cat of a symbiotic half, I now realize that I’d been sloppy and rushed yesterday.

 

I could’ve fucked up a lot of things on a lot of occasions, and I cannot stop myself from cringing while remembering how Iris pulled me out of the Oscorp Tower.

 

There will be a lot of eyebrows raised once they found out about the rooftop, if what she told me wasn’t exaggerated.

 

Even worse if it was downplayed.

 

I need to do better, or at least, not to pass out from exhaustion in the middle of an operation.

 

I have the potential aplenty, but I have to prepare and plan ahead for when I step into the spotlight.

 

“Whatcha thinkin’ at ?” Iris slurring pulls me from my musing.

 

I chuckle, amused by her slightly ‘drunken’ state.

 

“I’m thinking about the future, sister.” I kindly answer, playing with her tentacly hair, a little smile curling up the corners of my lips.

 

Her hug tightens, and the motion makes her arms squeeze my breasts a little against her head, which prompts my face to flush.

 

I knew the fact that she liked that particular spot when we are alone would be trouble once I had a proper body back.

 

“S’long yur innit’, don’t care.” Iris answers lovingly, pecking at my collarbone.

 

“So do I, sister, so do I.” I answer simply, abandoning my attempt at meditation to hug her back, enjoying the [Love, love, love, love] flowing through her side of the mind-link while it lasts, floating above the clouds and removed from any troubles.

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