Chapter 63 : Dawn of a new era (Totally not-a-date)

 

The Thompson’s bathroom, the Thompson’s house, Forest Hills, Queens, 5th of May, 7:00

 

I’m critically eyeing the clothes Iris made me for today in the bathroom’s full length mirror.

 

I can’t help being slightly exasperated.

 

“Iris, Gwen and I are not having a date.” I tell her flatly for the nth time.

 

“But you look so handsome and dashing!” My blood-sister gushes at me, her arms snaking around mine as her torso jut out of my hips.

 

She’s also giving me her best puppy-eyes full force.

 

The message is clear, I apparently have no choice but to wear those or she’ll be sad.

 

I pinch the bridge of my nose in exasperation.

 

“At least give me a handbag to make it less sharp looking.” I concede after a long suffering sigh.

 

“Of course!" She beams at me, “I have just the thing!”

 

The purse blossoms out of my crooked elbow.

 

I look at her archly through the mirror as she eyes her creation while nodding to herself.

 

“Really?” I ask, showing a bit of amusement.

 

“Yes,” She answers seriously, gesturing toward it, “It’s quirky enough to break the stereotype!”

 

“If you say so.” I answer rather blandly.

 

“She’ll love it.” She assures me.

 

Hopefully, not too much.

 

“Flash is going to tease me to no end.” I bemoan.

 

Iris tilts her head as she looks at my figure in the mirror.

 

“And you’re supposed to swing by Gwen’s house at eleven to pick her up.” She reminds me.

 

Which is rather useless since I haven’t forgotten a thing once my mind has expanded rather drastically, but it’s how we live.

 

I’m running seven accelerated thought streams full time these days, with two extra reserved for talking with people whose brains aren’t wired for fast-paced combat and attenuate Iris’ hive-mind withdrawal syndrome.

 

Iris herself has already started to build her own mind architecture and is currently running five iterations, three accelerated, one for the social stuff and the last to fuse with mine.

 

From the short tests we had after she successfully completed her imprint, our potential has risen to the roof.

 

Learning to show some measure of restraints hadn’t been that easy.

 

“Yes and he needs the car later.” I answer while making a pose, frowning a little.

 

“This is going to be a long morning.” Iris comments unabashedly.

 

My eyebrow twitch.

 

“Yes, and I’m going to put the blame on your narrow shoulders very skillfully.” I drily answer while giving her the stink eye.

 

“Totally worth the hassle.” She answers off-handedly.

 

I ‘tsk’ at her in annoyance.

 

She’s right though.

 

I look really dashing.

 

***

The Thompson’s house kitchen, the Thompson’s house, Forest Hills, Queens, New York, the same day, 7:42

 

Iris and I are standing by the countertop while handling my breakfast preparations with my TK for extra training as I heard footsteps coming down the staircase.

 

Harrison crosses the threshold while stifling a yawn as I turn myself to greet him.

 

“Good morning.” I say with a little wave, Iris echoing me over my shoulder.

 

“Good morning Aria.” He sleepily answers as he makes his way toward a chair.

 

I levitate a mug of fresh coffee to him as he seats, which he takes with a grateful nod before immediately starting to sip it.

 

Three mouthfuls of black coffee and a long sigh later, Harrison does a little double-take as his brain finally computes what he’s seeing.

 

He slowly blinks.

 

“Alright, who’s the lucky one?” He asks archly as he gives me a little side smile.

 

I trade an annoyed look with my symbiotic half who’s chuckling softly in my neck.

 

“See?” I exclaim, “Even he can tell that I’m overdressed! And he’s as cis as one can!”

 

“I’m not blind.” He points out with a little shrug, clearly amused, “If it isn’t your goal to make some girl swoon then you clearly missed the mark.”

 

“But she’s so dashing like that!” Iris protests with her star-filled voice, her look positively offended.

 

“Is that really her goal though?” He asks my symbiotic half archly.

 

The two stare at each other for a beat to my growing amusement.

 

“It is, she just doesn’t want to admit it yet.” Iris answers sulkily while tightening her hug in a possessive way.

 

I chuckle.

 

“Give it up, Harrison, I’ve argued against it for the better part of half an hour to no avail.” I say while slowly shaking my head.

 

He takes another sip of coffee.

 

“You never said who was the lucky one.” He points out, his tone dripping with mirth.

 

“Will you react with that much positivity when it’ll be Jessie’s turn to dress up for someone?” I shot back.

 

Harrison’s face instantly becomes blank.

 

“I guess not.” I answer with a little smirk, Iris chuckling under my curls.

 

“That was a low blow.” He complains as he puts his mug back on the table, “But you’re all grown up so this is just me being curious.”

 

“Is your job that boring lately for you to show a sudden interest in romance?” I ask with a grin.

 

Harrison scowls briefly before shaking his head.

 

“Same ol’, same ol’.” He answers while propping up his head with one hand, “Catch an underage drug dealer, do the paperwork, watch impotently as he walks out of the precinct because we can’t do shit about gang members skittering smartly around the law.”

 

He rubs his eyes with his hand as he exhales slowly.

 

“This must be frustrating.” I articulate slowly.

 

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” He drily answers, “That must be what, the tenth we picked up in patrol since the start of the year? And since they’re too young and have enough brain cells not to carry enough drugs on them to get prosecuted, they’re just back at it in a different bloc the next day. Let’s just say it’ll do me good to have the week-end free after my rather depressing week and leave it at that.”

 

The ‘ting’ of the timer brings an end to his rant and I focus my TK back on my cooking.

 

Another pair of footsteps walking down the stairs gets heard as I start to pile up food in Harrison’s plate.

 

A slow whistle makes me turn around once again.

 

“Rude.” I comment, mock-frowning at Flash as he leans on the threshold with his arms crossed and sporting the widest grin he can manage.

 

“Gwen is going to be on cloud nine if you pick her up looking like that.” He comments lazily, “I thought it wasn’t supposed to be a date though?”

 

It’s my turn to scowl as Harrison’s brows rise a fraction.

 

“It’s totally not a date.” I answer frostily, levitating Harrison’s plate in front of him, “We’re just going to do some shopping and grab a bite at lunch.”

 

“I hate to break it to you but what you just described sounds suspiciously like Liz’ and I last date.” Flash answers back.

 

We stare at each other for a beat.

 

My shoulder sag as my expression goes defeated.

 

“I know.” I bemoan, “But I couldn’t let the poor girl go alone after everyone else let her down when asked if they wanted to come with us.”

 

He snickers.

 

“So, I’m going to go on a limb here,” Harrison starts as he picks his fork, “But I'm guessing you’re bothered about something other than the not-a-date thing.”

 

“Gwen has had the hots for Aria since January.” Flash explains as he takes a seat, “And Aria doesn’t want to do anything with her before she’s of age and really sure about her own decision.”

 

“Understandable,” Harrison answers as he slowly nods, “And actually praise worthy. I’d wager there are a lot of people that would have a very different and less respectful way of thinking if they happened to be in your position.”

 

I sigh as I finally take a seat myself, two plates levitating in Flash and I’s direction at my side.

 

“Does Gwendolyn Stacy know your own stance about the subject?” Harrison asks while arching an eyebrow.

 

“That’s literally the first thing I told her when she realized that she was still drawn toward me despite me suddenly being able to go to the same bathroom as she.” I drawl, picking slowly at my food.

 

Harrison lets a little snort escape him while Flash guffaws.

 

“Then what’s the problem?” He answers with a shrug.

 

“I’m sorry?” I blurt out.

 

“Unless dating individuals decades older than you, you’re always going to be in a situation where you’re the older one, yes?” He points out and I can only slowly nod my assent, “You’ve made your stance clear and still abide by it, and I’m fairly confident that you won’t suddenly do anything untoward just because the two of you are alone.”

 

“Plus, Gwen and Cindy have a particular relationship with time.” Flash adds to his father's benefits, “They experience it more slowly than a normal human being, so they grow ‘faster’ than anyone else.”

 

His father looks at him, slowly blinking.

 

“Riiiiight.” He drawls, “Magical bs aside, I don’t really see the problem in indulging the girl for a day as long as any pair of hands don’t go too adventurous. And I’m the cop here as far as I know.”

 

“You seem extremely laid back about the situation.” I point out, my tone filled with disbelief.

 

Harrison throws me a flat look while taking another sip of his coffee.

 

“My son is a walking warmachine that can talk to the microwave, my daughter a magical prodigy who’s learning to speak sanskrit so she can apparently invoke lightning bolts and I’m sheltering a soul from another multiverse who’s bonded with an alien symbiotic life form, both of them even paying rent and babysitting my youngest when nobody’s else is at home.” He answers very flatly, “My tolerance for improbable and nonsensical bullshit has drastically improved since the year has begun. As long as you don’t hurt nor take advantage of the girl, I can’t be arsed to give a shit about the morality of the situation.”

 

I laugh a bit awkwardly at his dry retort.

 

“Is it too late to say I’m sorry?” I ask a bit weakly.

 

“Don’t.” He answers, taking another sip of his coffee, “I’m sober and my son is back home because of what you did. Some craziness around the house in exchange is a fair deal in my book. At least it makes coming back home each night an entertaining prospect since I get to hear about your increasingly nonsensical days in excruciating detail.”

 

Flash snickers as I smile while Harrison attempts to take another sip before realizing his mug is empty.

 

“Though I wasn’t really expecting to hear you complain about romance drama when I woke up today.” He ends thoughtfully as he puts down his mug.

 

I sputter as I feel my cheeks going rose gold while Iris badly muffles her laugh in the crook of my neck.

 

Harrison slowly blinks.

 

“Wait a minute.” He asks, suddenly realizing something, “Was it Gwen that tagged the building three roads from there?”

 

Flash laughs openly at that as my cheeks get hot enough to cook some eggs.

 

“It was her.” Harrison answers his own question as his eyes shift between the two of us, “That actually makes so much sense now!”

 

My head lands on the table with a soft ‘thump’.

 

“You want to know what’s even better?” Flash asks his dad with a grin while pointing a finger in my direction, “She’s the one that got her the spray paints as a gift for her birthday.”

 

“I thought it was a fun idea, Gwen hasn’t done anything for herself since January and she likes painting.” I grumble under my breath.

 

“And she liked it enough to draw a giant portrait of you on a nearby building?” Harrison comments, his brows crinkling in amusement, “I’m sorry to break it to you girl but you won’t escape her web that easily if that’s the case.”

 

I thump my head on the table as the two men laugh at my expense.

 

“That pun was awful.” Flash points out.

 

“I’m working with what I have here.” His dad answers with a shrug.

 

“This isn’t funny.” I answer sulkily, still half-sprawled on the table, “I’m running out of ideas to keep her at arms length here.”

 

“You won’t succeed.” Flash answers decisively, “She keeps looking at you like you’re the seventh wonder of the world when you’re not looking. She’s just more discreet and mature about it now.”

 

“I know that.” I grumble petulantly.

 

“And you’re not really better yourself, if what Liz’ told me is true.” He teases.

 

“That traitor!” I exclaim as Iris chuckles, “I’m going to have words with her!”

 

Harrison laughs softly as he pushes back his plate while rising.

 

“Alright kiddos, I’m going to sit back on the couch while I wait for my wife to come down.” He says, “I’ll leave you two to discuss Aria’s not-a-date thing.”

 

I groan audibly as he makes his exit.

 

“This isn’t supposed to be a date.” I argue weakly to Flash.

 

Iris starts to gently pat my back.

 

He shrugs helplessly.

 

“You made your own bed there, you’ll have to lie in it like it or not.” He answers, clearly nonplussed, “Now it’s just what the two of you make out of it. It’s not because there’s something lingering between you that you can’t just have some fun and spend a nice day together.”

 

I look at him with narrowed eyes.

 

“And when did you become so wise exactly?” I ask him drily.

 

“My older twin’s fault, I guess?” He answers jokingly.

 

His answer lifts both my spirit and ego masterfully.

 

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