Chapter 49: House Day

Over 1,000 Favorites and Follows. Nice.

Depressedcoper - I do too, but then that'd kinda be ripping off Nemesis 10.

Alkeniw Andilite - I love how stupid 'Vengeance for the Pan-Pan' sounds.

The Clowning Prince - Describing Amy as a grumpy cat with cinnamon roll tendencies is amazing. And I have to admit the 'Fireswarm' name sounds good for this ship. And that's another point for adding Amy.

BlazarKaiser - This is a sound plan.

TehStorm - Again, the reason Alexandria, and Cauldron by proxy, want to get rid of Pantheon is because of the way Phoenix blanks Thinkers. By joining The Guild, said organization gets some of the protection, not full mind you, but some. But with Dragon being blank, they can't Path her. Now imagine Phoenix does something that DIRECTLY impacts the PRT. Imagine Contessa not being able to Path the Protectorate, outright blinding Alexandria to her own organization. That's too big of a problem to ever let happen for them, so they have to get rid of Pantheon before Contessa ends up not being able to Path ANYTHING.

Barbaric Bob - ^

BlindAsABat95 - I agree with all of this.

Spectrum Search - Yup, and it'll come to roost eventually.

Kingh - I think 2 partners is more of a Polyamorous relationship instead of a harem. And still, I'm debating between Amy x Lisa, and Amy x Phoenix x Taylor.

Shadefyre - Now that gives me an idea.

Thorfaxdragonkin - That'll be in the Vicky Interlude.

I was awake.

I didn't consent to being awake, so I decided to just stay in bed, bringing the nice warmth closer to me to get more comfortable...

The nice warmth wasn't here. (Where go?) Even without being fully awake, I knew I had options.

I could either get up, and start the day by going to shower.

Stay in bed and go back to sleep, which was looking like what I'd go for.

Or wake up, stay in bed, and check in on my Other Half that way... The answer was a no brainer. (Sleep.) So, rolling over a bit, I wrapped the sheets over me, going half burrito as I did my best to get comfortable now that I was alone. It didn't take much to get comfortable, being cold and on my own in a nice bed made it easy.

My course of action set, I did my best impression of a bear and went back to sleep.

I wouldn't be needed for anything...

Well, I was pretty sure I wasn't... Though I could be forgetting something if the bursts of Amusement were anything to go by...

Nah.

[Taylor's POV]

Drying my hair, I had to do my best not to snort. I felt the moment my boyfriend woke up, and was idly keeping a mental eye on him. It was an instinctual thing at this point, so I was obviously privy to his early wake up thoughts. How he could go from 'Monkey man not like big words', to 'Logical thinking works', and back again, I didn't know.

It was hilarious though, and highly Amusing. (I'll need to go get a picture of that later.) Catching my boyfriend as a 'Burrito' would never get old, and would most likely be a source of Amusement for years to come. (Plus, it'll probably help Amy if she had something else to think about right now.) While the Bio-Striker wasn't awake yet, I knew she would wake up eventually. When she did she would most likely be disorientated, hungry, and would probably kill for a shower.

I doubted Amy was a morning person, I wasn't either but I was cheating by literally Shunting all my Exhaustion away, so I had to get something ready so she wouldn't end up Sad or anything. Sure, my Other Half would do his best to make sure she didn't stay Sad, but saving us all some time would go a long way.

Getting up, I shook my hair, making sure it was dry now, then looked over to the mirror. Since we were going to take a small break, I didn't bother putting on anything fancy or that would cover me up too much. So at the moment I had another one of my boyfriend's oversized shirts, a shoulder being exposed again because of the size, and some short shorts that were practically hidden under it. The green streak in my hair was becoming more prominent, but I doubted it was done yet. My necklace/choker was on, but invisible at the moment so my throat was perfectly visible. I had no issues with being seen like this by Amy, she was not only another girl, but my whole issue with nudity was being eroded due to my boyfriend's nonchalance to life in general not only rubbing off on me, but from the frequent amount of sex we had... I took a moment to process that, then snorted. (Sex makes me fine with little to no clothes. Who would've known?)

Shaking it off I left my room, making my way to the kitchen.

As I passed through the livingroom, I heard the TV flicker to life, and idly spoke. "Morning Melody, Tess."

""# Morning Taylor/Good morning Taylor.-"" Despite them not physically being here, I liked hearing their voices. It really confirmed that this was our home. Sure I had my Dad and our house in the Bay, but the Warmth I felt here made this better then my house with Dad.

That aside, I stepped into the kitchen, and started making my way over to the fridge. I had no idea what I was going to make, my boyfriend would eat whatever was put in front of him as long as it was something he liked, but I didn't know what Amy liked... (I'll just go for a Full English. Can never go wrong with that. Plus, she could go with a little more meat on her bones.) If this was the me of 3 months ago, that would be ironic.

The me of now though, the one with a growing six pack, the outline was there, muscle definition, growing breasts and thighs, and with 40+lbs of happy weight, was free to call out my friend for having skinny arms and legs. Sure, Amy had a high C, maybe even solid D cup, but aside from that she didn't have much in the way of happy weight. (I could probably bench her without breaking a sweat.) The thought made me snort as I got my ingredients from the fridge. Amy was shorter then us, not by much but still shorter, was basically base human without her Powers, and was skinny. I was pretty sure I could do it.

I thought about the strange direction my thoughts went for a bit, then shrugged and went looking for the bowls. (His fault.) When in doubt, blame the boyfriend. It was most likely his fault anyway.

Thinking of him though, I paused, turning towards where I knew he was. Last night had been another instance of his mask falling, and while I didn't like seeing it, it was a reminder that my Other Half wasn't as put together as he pretended to be. The Apathy I'd felt months earlier had flickered through the Bond for a few moments, but thankfully it was not only lesser, going to show that I was influencing him, but easy to disperse by putting a hand on his shoulder.

Still, I didn't like to feel that chill.

To feel the detachment to my other emotions as they were smothered by the Apathy. It reaffirmed that I couldn't allow myself to Shunt all of my emotions into my Swarm, couldn't allow myself to turn into some kind of machine.

To hear the thought process my Other Half went through when it came to figuring out the most viable method of inflicting as much pain as possible while keeping Brandish alive until he decided to kill her.

He'd managed to get uncomfortably far down that one, and all it took was a few moments. The bleed over he got was sometimes not as good as we thought it was.

I knew my boyfriend, knew his big red button was to hurt people he chose to care about. I also knew he had no issues killing and or mutilating people if he was sure they deserved it. Despite that though, it didn't really change anything. I knew what I was getting into when it came to caring about him, so even if I didn't like some aspects of him, I wouldn't let those aspects sully how I felt about him. (I'll just have to make sure those tendencies don't come out unless they're needed.) I had no doubt that they eventually would be, there were still some sick fucks in this world that needed to be dragged to hell kicking and screaming, so I wasn't going to try and get rid of them whole sale...

Pausing, I took a second to realize that that wasn't exactly a normal thing, but then again, none of us were normal, so why should I care about that? (God, I'm too introspective right now.) Without turning, or even putting the ingredients down, I spoke. "Alexa," There was a beep from the built in speakers. "Open my playlist and shuffle it. Keep the sound at 70% too."

Another beep went off, and in moments the kitchen was being flooded with music. ~Where there's a will there's a way, kinda beautiful. And every night has its day, so magical. And if there's love in this life there's no obstacle. That can't be, defeated.~(Waiting for love - Avicii) I hummed at that, deciding to let this one play out as I started cooking. I wasn't entirely sure there was interference so this one in particular started playing, but I'd leave it be considering it was good and fit with what I just thought about.

That aside, I hummed along to the song and continued cooking. I had no idea when Amy or Phoenix would wake up, but having food ready for either or both of them would ensure they were both happy, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

It was while I was making the pancakes that Amy woke up.

[Amy's POV]

I was awake...

Fuck.

Like always, I mentally debated if I should get up or not. (Doesn't matter though.)

Also like always, I waited for that option to be taken from me when Vicky came in to... To... Despite not being fully awake, or probably because of it, I realized that something about that thought was wrong. Grumbling, I started to wake up a bit... Then the smell of the room hit me, and that process started up faster, a small burst of adrenaline coursing through my body and making me realize that this wasn't my room.

My room didn't smell like a library, I didn't have enough books in there for that, so for me to be smelling a library meant that this wasn't my room. That idea only grew when I felt the mattress and sheets, things that were infinitely smoother then the ones I was used too. The final thing that did it was when I heard the light thrum of an AC, an AC that I knew my room didn't have.

Taking a second to get the crap out of my eyes, I opened them. Now, while I knew I wasn't in my room, I did what any normal person should do, and checked myself over first. (My robe's gone.) That would've been a bad thing if I didn't have my necklace/pendant, my undershirt on under it, and my bra on under that... I groaned. (If I was going to be kidnapped couldn't they have taken off my bra?) Sleeping with a bra on was fucking horrible, and something only psychopaths did.

That aside, I checked my legs, noticing that I still had my pants on... So that was nice I guess.

With stock of myself taken, I looked around, taking in the room I was in as I did. (Okay, bunch of bookshelves, makes sense with the fresh book smell. Table with a laptop, a few more books, and a DS... Big DS... Anyway, brown walls, nice looking carpet, and there's the... Wait... There's a window and AC, how the fuck is the smell still here?) That was a good question, I knew it was, but at the same time I knew that it could be answered later. (So, books, window to a forest, AC, bro...- Wait a minute. Forest?) My eyes snapped back to the window, and just like I thought, there was a forest in the distance. I stared for a bit, because seriously, where the fuck was I?

It was only when I saw the snow that I had an idea of where I was. (But... Why would I..?) I blinked. (Oh.) What happened last night played through my head, the slaps, despite not really being hurt, Carol trying to dictate my life, when I aired out her dirty laundry, hurting Vicky, and Phoenix and Taylor coming to pick me up... Seeing the two of them in sleepwear before passing out.

I fought down the blush that tried to form, shaking my head to kill it. (Stupid attractive couple.) Putting both that, and the rest of what happened out of my mind, I could think about it all later, I looked at the other half of the room, and instantly spotted my weapons. Knowing that I was probably in 'The Roost' made me calm, but knowing that my guns were nearby made me even calmer.

Pushing the sheet away, I turned and dangled my legs off the side of the bed, the bottoms touching the nice carpet. (Holy shit that's soft!)

I would forever deny the fact that I spent few minutes just playing with the carpet. It was soft, felt nice, and made me feel like I was rich.

When I eventually got used to the floor, I got up, and reached for my guns... Well, for the Hawkmoon. I doubted I'd be able to actually use the Sentinel in the base... (Should I even bring them?) Phoenix wouldn't care, and I doubted Taylor would either... (Wait a minute.) Looking around the room, I tried to focus as much as I could with my post wake up mind, and searched for... Aha! Spotting the massive fucking hornet perched on a bookshelf, and taking a moment to realize there was a MASSIVE FUCKING HORNET ON THE BOOKSHELF, I cleared my throat. "Uh... Taylor?" The bug buzzed its wings a bit, which was good, it meant she was listening...

...

...

Which also meant she probably saw me playing with the carpet. "You saw nothing." Just to be sure. Unfortunately for me, the hornet just stared at me... Which made it hard to figure out if she was agreeing with me or not. (Fuck it.) Deciding to just pretend it didn't happen, I looked over to my guns, then back at the hornet. "Uh, buzz for yes, no buzz for no?" It buzzed, so that was a good sign. "Can I bring my stuff?"

The hornet made a show of turning to said 'Stuff', then back to me, letting out a buzz as it did. That was enough for me, so I grabbed my knife and pistol... Then stopped when a bunch of bugs started gathering outside the window. I watched them flow in, gather together, and form into a disembodied head... Because that was something I expected to deal with a few minutes after waking up. "Do you want to shower first, or just brush and come eat?"

Those... Were good questions. Giving myself a sniff, and wrinkling my nose a bit, I knew my answer. "I think I'm gonna shower." I preferred showering before going to bed, but considering the shit show that was last night, it was understandable that I didn't do it then... Though, there was an issue here. "Where's the bathroom?" The head turned into a giant hand, pointing towards one of the doors I'd noticed but hadn't thought about. "Thanks." And now I was getting a thumbs up from a construct made out of bugs. (Yeah, all that's left is a fucking rabbit with a watch and a fancy jacket.) Letting that thought be, I made my way to the bathroom, fully intent on taking a shower.

Opening the door, I walked into the bathroom... And fucking stared.

It was a bathroom, it should've just been a sink, mirror, cabinet for meds and stuff, a toilet, and bathtub. That's what all bathrooms were, even if some were unnecessarily fancy. (So why the fuck is there a goddamn hot springs in here?) Even if that wasn't the only thing off about this bathroom it would've still been weird, but nooo, having a personal hot springs wasn't enough for Taylor, she had to have a standing shower with a glass door/wall too. (Ughhh, lucky bitch.) Then I remembered that I was about to use the shower. (This works. This definitely works.)

That thought, I made my way to the standing shower, getting rid of my clothes and pendent as I did. Before getting in I grabbed a thing of toothpaste because brushing in the shower saved time, a spare toothbrush, I was hoping it was a spare atleast, then opened the door.

It didn't take long to get settled in the shower, and when the water started pouring at just the right temperature, I moaned like some cheap whore. (Lucky biiitch.) Safe to say, I respected and envied Taylor in equal measure.

[Taylor's POV]

Hearing the shower start, I hummed. (Thank fuck I changed my mind with the letter thing. That aside, towels are there, so that's fine... She'll need clothes though, and I doubt my bras will work for her.) I'd only started thinking about that when she started the shower, so now I was running a train of thought about how to get her clothes that would fit while I was listening to music, making breakfast, and keeping watch on both of the inhabitants of my home.

Multitasking was a blessing, it really was. And thanks to some bleed over from 'The Big Brains', and XLR8, I came to an easy and highly Amusing solution. My Other Half really was rubbing off on me. So, creating a pair of Swarm Clones, one in my room and the other Swarm Clone in my boyfriend's room, he grumbled something that sounded like 'Stupid buzz', but came out as 'S'pi' b'z', which was adorable in my opinion, I directed them to the closets. Despite being a construct made of bugs, my clones were capable enough to not only open the closets, but grab and hold the specific clothes I was looking for.

After making sure they were the ones I wanted, I directed my clones to go put them on my bed. It took some time for the both of them to do that, the one in my boyfriend's room had to go from there to my room, but it eventually got there. When they were done I made them disperse and fly out the window, no longer needing them. (That's done. Breakfast is almost done,) Prodding the edges of the egg, I made sure it wasn't sticking to the pan. (Yeah, almost done. So I sh...-) The music changed, and I blinked.

I knew what was playing, it was one of my top 5 after all. ~Shadows fall over my heart. I black out the moon. I wait for you to come around.~(Everything Black - Unlike Pluto) I liked jazz, it was calming. And when it wasn't, it made for easy dance material...

Granted, neither of us could really dance, so the majority of our sessions ended up with sore toes and busy mouths. Nothing said 'I'm sorry for fucking up your toes/feet' like a nice make out session. I felt my lips curl up at that, and idly started to scramble the eggs with my spatula. Introverts were highly susceptible to acts of intimacy, some of which entailed fellatio and or cunnilingus. What a discovery. My cheeks warmed at that, but I set the horny thoughts aside. (We can have fun later. Preferably when Amy isn't here... Well...) I blinked at the thought I had... (Maybe... No.) I shook my head, he really was rubbing off on me.

I was straight, I knew that. Though everyone had those 'But what if?' Thoughts. It didn't help that not only was I Bonded to my boyfriend and privy to his sexual thoughts, but my hormones were thriving with the healthy amount of sex I was having, so teenage sex fantasies were bound to happen, especially since I decided to give Amy one of my boyfriend's shirts. They would pass in time, and when I got used to the idea of Amy becoming a guest here... (Wait, why am I justifying myself to myself? There's no one but me here.) Shooing it off I went b...- I blinked, the other side of The Bond becoming more active. From the feed I was keeping open, I saw my boyfriend roll onto his stomach, then start grumbling into the pillow. I watched that for a bit, then decided to ask. |Staying awake?|

He audibly grumbled a bit more, then rolled onto his back, sitting up as he rubbed his eyes. [I smell food.]

Ah Wildmutt and Blitzwolfer bleed over. |I'm making a Full English.| It was hilarious to watch him freeze, then whip his head towards where I was, his nose twitching like a dog all the while. |Clean yourself first you mutt.|

My boyfriend blinked, looked towards the bathroom, then back to where I was. I rolled my eyes at the mental debate he was having, and sent an image of what I had so far, which was a bunch of pancakes, scrambled eggs, toast, and unopened jugs of juice. The bacon would come last. Given the Hunger I was feeling, not a sexual kind, and the frown on his face, I knew he knew what I was doing. [Fine. Just a short one though.]

That was good enough for me. |That'll do.| And with a nod, he got up and went over to his closet, grabbed a towel, then went to the bathroom. I watched him undress, appreciating his toned form, then turned the feed off before I got too engaged in that. I could drink in my boyfriend's form when I wasn't busy. (... Another peek won't hurt though.) So I did just that.

Eye candy was a nice motivator, and as my boyfriend it was his job to keep me happy and motivated. In return I graced him with my presence and affection.

That's how these things worked.

Eventually my boyfriend finished his shower, he stuck to a short one like he said he would and went back to his room to dry off/get dressed. I idly watched as he did, I was pretty much done with breakfast anyway so nothing would happen if I got the tiniest bit distracted. Watching through a feed wasn't as good as being there in person though. (Maybe I should've waited.) Granted, if I did wait, there'd be no doubt in my mind that we would've gotten distracted and done something, and since Amy had woken up, she might've walked in on that... (Okay, you know what, I'm just gonna stop before I do something my horny brain thinks is a good idea.)

That said, I finished setting the food, and placed them in their storage spaces. Grey Matter was a genius for making something like this, and I felt like we didn't really take advantage of it enough. (Though that's probably since we both like cooking.) I was pretty sure that was it, but I'd probably find out a reason to make use of the food stores. They managed to keep food warm and perfect enough to eat for a week before they would start to go bad, which was awesome. (Note to self, find excuses to make big meals and stuff em in storage.)

My vow aside I stretched, popping my back as I did. I wasn't sore per se, but stretching was always a good thing to do. A sudden pulse of Curiosity got my attention, and I idly looked towards my Other Half. [Amy's actually here, right? Or did I just imagine that?]

My lips twitched at that, and instead of answering, I decided to have fun with that. |Hmm? Are you having thoughts about a certain freckled brunette?|

His Surprise was nice, but it didn't last. [Taylor, I'm a straight teenage male, while you and Amy are attractive women. What do you think?] I snorted. Of course he'd answer a question with a question. Why wouldn't he?

Still, I was a little Curious about that. |I'm assuming the answer is yes?|

[Mhm. Though to be fair, the vast majority, if not all teenage males have 30-50% of our brain dedicated to sexual thoughts at this age.] I paused at that, tilting my head at him as I let my Confusion seep through the Bond. [I'm pulling the numbers outta my ass, but I'm still right.]

I had no idea how that worked, but decided not to comment on it. |Anyway, Amy is here. She's just taking a shower.|

Even without checking my feed I could tell his nose scrunched at that. Despite how I'd managed to convert him to showering in the morning, he still preferred to shower at night when he felt like it, and had a small dislike for it because it woke him up faster then he liked. [Ugh. Of course the philistine is a morning showerer.]

|That's not a word.|

[It is now.] I rolled my eyes at that. [Anywaaay,] I saw the door open from my feed, and heard it open in the distance. [We waitin for her?] I mentally nodded at hm, getting a hum in reply. [Food's all done?]

|Yeah. Just waiting on Amy now.| I saw my boyfriend nod as soon as he walked into the kitchen, idly taking in the fact he was again in a pair 'Comfy pants' and a plain white shirt, more focused on the fact his hair seemed to be getting darker while the pimples from yesterday were reduced to small bumps, then smile at me. I smiled back, and we walked towards the other, meeting in the middle as our arms wrapped around each other. With practiced ease we slipped into place, my arms around his neck, his on my waist, and kissed. The feeling of being whole was there, and we let it envelop us for a bit.

After who knows how long, Probably a minute or something, we separated, his usual grin on his face as he looked at me. A grin I knew was mirrored on my own face, It is. "Morning love."

That just made my grin grow. "Morning goof."

We separated after that, and he looked around, humming along to the song as he did. "It's a good song. Can't dance in the kitchen though." I rolled my eyes at that, we'd probably break something by trying to dance in here. He snorted at that, fingers tapping the closest table as Mischievous Amusement pulsed from him, his grin growing wider as he gave me a look I knew well. "I don't think us dancing will break stuff. Though some other physical activity though..."

I knew what he was insinuating, She'd have to be daft not too, I ignored that and swatted his shoulder. "Bad! No sex near the food!" He just grinned, making me swat his shoulder again. Letting out a scoff, I turned to the entrance, intent on making my way out... And any sway in my posture was purely accidental. He snorted at that thought, settling on humming afterwords. Then the image of us sitting on the livingroom couch watching TV flashed through my mind, and I mentally nodded as I looked at him over my shoulder. "I don't know how long Amy will take, so it's the best alternative." We both knew what the other alternative was, but again, I wasn't about to do anything near the food.

He kept humming, but still stepped towards me. Knowing he was fine with this, we left the kitchen, and made our way over to the livingroom, the music cutting out as we did.

We got to the couch, and after sitting besides each other, turned on the TV. I took the remote first since this was my idea, and opened up our Netflix. "Ideas?" He scratched his chin at that, and I listened to his train of thought for a bit. Don't wanna start something that we'll need to stop halfway. Also something that Amy won't hate so we can keep watching while we eat... Sooo gotta be something... I felt the pause, and processed the various images that went through my mind, noting that most of them were anime, and a few were actual shows.

When he settled on one though, I had to tilt my head a bit. We hadn't started that yet, so I didn't know much about it. Knowing my thoughts, my Other Half just smiled. "You'll love it. It's basically Brockton Bay, just without the super powers."

I blinked. "What?" He snorted, but didn't say much else as he started searching for the show. When the title popped up, I blinked, tilting my head the other way as I read it. "'Black Lagoon?'" I didn't know why he was Amused, but I was probably about to find out.

[Amy's POV a few minutes later]

Getting out of the shower was easy. Though that didn't mean I wanted to do it, this was a rich person's shower and I wanted to stay in it for a while. Unfortunately for me, I was getting hungry, so I had to get out. Grabbing the nearest towel, and drying myself off, I went back to Taylor's room, instantly spotting the pile of clothes on the bed. (When did..?) I had no idea, so to save myself the time of wondering, I just went over and grabbed what I was given.

When I did I noticed one important thing... (No underwear...) Which made sense. Taylor was... Looking down, my lips twitched, 'Smaller', then me... So obviously her bras wouldn't fit me. Though the 'No panties' thing was kind of throwing me for a loop. (I mean... It's not that surprising...) I bit my lip as I looked at the clothes, not entirely sure if I could settle for just a white shirt and pink short shorts. (It'd be real ungrateful of me to ask for anything else though.) That made me sigh and just give up. (Fuck it.)

And so I put them on.

The shorts were comfortable... Like really comfortable. They hugged my legs and showed off a good bit of thigh and leg. Looking at the nearest mirror, I had to admit that they looked nice on me. Putting the shirt on, and blinking at the fact it went to an inch or two above my knees, I checked the mirror again... (Oh shit.) I looked like a stereotypical girlfriend wearing her boyfriend's clothes after sex... It didn't help that my hair was still a bit wet from the early morning shower, making me look like I was glowing a little. (No one can ev...-) I blinked again, looked at myself again, then twitched. The shirt was sticking to my chest, and I could tell it was turning a little transparent. Not fully, just a little bit. (We're gonna have some words.)

Because the AC was off, I had no idea when that happened, I managed to hear a feminine sneeze off in the distance. Normally I wouldn't believe in superstitious shit, but I was 100% willing to bet that was a sign from God and or Satan that I was on the right track.

So, with the idea that this was Taylor's fault, I grabbed and put on my pendent, idly noticing that the cool metal felt nice against my bare skin, and made my way out of the room, practically stomping over to the livingroom.

It took me a few moments to get to the livingroom, but when I did I saw two heads of green/black hair, sitting besides each other as t hey watched something on the TV. I didn't care about that though, more focused on Taylor. "You did this on purpose, didn't you?!"

The both of them reacted to that, turning their heads to peer over their shoulders at the same time, as well as mirroring each other so their noses nearly touched. The both of them trailed their eyes over me, making me pause. I recognized the looks, they were appreciating what they were seeing... They were looking at me and liking what they were seeing... I forced the giddy feeling away, trying to keep myself focused on being annoyed at Taylor.

"8/10. The bags under your eyes are minor but still there, and there's no free shoulder. Sad, but still a nice domestic look overall." I glared at Phoenix for that, the green asshole had balls of steel to say that to my face. The glare seemed to do nothing though, and he just smirked. "You'd need to make your eyes flash ominously for that to even phase me Amy."

My brow twitched, and I could feel my hand inch towards a gun that wasn't there. (Show this fucker who's an 8/10!) Granted, I wasn't against the rating, that was probably one of the best compliments I'd been given in... Who knows how long, but I wasn't going to show it and give him something to hold over me.

I was stopped from thinking about how to get him back when another sound reached my ears. "Hmm," I turned towards Taylor when she started humming, and saw the jade eyed woman scrutinizing me even more then her boyfriend did. I fidgeted under her stare for some reason, I didn't know why. "You didn't use the conditioner." It wasn't a question, so I just shook my head. She narrowed her eyes a bit more at that, making me fidget some more. "Next time you shower, use it. It works miracles."

I blinked. "Next time?" I didn't even recognize that I said that until a moment later.

Taylor nodded, her gaze turning normal as she did. "It's not like you're going to be going back to New Wave anytime soon." I flinched, and saw that they noticed but didn't say anything. "With Brandish being exposed, New Wave is going to be in a bad place for a while." Another flinch. I knew they both noticed that one too, though Taylor decided to address it. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I was silent at that, not entirely sure about whether I should or not... But then I remembered I'd literally just woken up, and hadn't eaten yet. The thought about food made my stomach rumble, making me turn away as the green asshole himself snickered at me. "Fatass." I flipped him off for that, only earning myself more snickers.

Thankfully for me, Taylor was here, since her standing up captured both of our attention. Pausing the show, and tossing the remote to the couch, the only other woman here stood straight and hummed at us. "Breakfast is ready, so let's eat first." There was no other option, though given the quick look the asshole and I shared, neither of us would go for the hypothetical other option anyway.

Still, it was amusing to know that Taylor had the pants in the relationshi...- A soft whack hit me in the back of my head, and I turned to glare at the grinning fucker next to me. "Fuck was that for?" It didn't even hurt, I was just annoyed at him for doing it in the first place.

He raised a brow at me, giving me a look that said 'You know why' or something. "You were thinking something I didn't like." What the fuck? How did he know?! "As an introvert that's dating another introvert, I know what to look for when it comes to shit like this."

I wanted to call bullshit on that. "Bullshit." So I did, because it didn't work like that!

He just snorted, turning away as he walked towards the kitchen faster. "Whatever helps you sleep at night Amy."

"You in excruciating agony and kissing my goddamn feet." Excessive, and I only meant half of it.

Unfortunately I wasn't quiet enough since the bastard just barked out a laugh, and without even looking at me, responded. "Didn't know you were into foot play." I fucking choked.

Before I could say anything, Taylor's voice sounded out. "STOP FLIRTING AND COME GET YOUR FOOD!" My upcoming remark was silenced by that, and I decided to just settle for glaring at him. Hopefully I'd develop laser eyes and melt a hole in the back of his skull.

Taylor too actually for insinuating that I'd want to flirt with him.

I didn't! Really, I didn't.

Now if only I could figure out why some part of me disagreed with that.

Breakfast was... Breakfast was great. The food was delicious, basic, but delicious all the same.

It was also different.

Back home I just made a passing effort to be involved in the conversations that went on around me. Unless I was called on, or it was worth mentioning, I didn't get involved. Sure, Vicky tried to get me to speak up, but her urging only made me dislike talking up more.

But here, with these two, I felt wanted.

It was the small things that did it, things like Phoenix trying to be a fat son of a bitch when he reached for my toast, requiring me to fend off his fork with mine. He didn't even want it, well I was pretty sure he didn't, and was only doing it to keep me from hiding myself.

When Taylor asked me about my opinion on something that I was actually interested in, and actually wanting it instead of just asking for the sake of asking. We both liked books so we talked about books, a few old movies, things like that.

There were even times one of my green eyed friends and I, or the both of them together, ganged up on the other about something stupid, or 'Argued' for the sake of arguing.

Like now. "I'm just saying, showering at night, right before you're going to go to bed is the better way." I nodded along at that, because as unfortunate as it was, he was right. "See," And of course he saw me agree with him. "Amy gets it!" I rolled my eyes at that, shoving the last bit of toast in my mouth to keep myself from responding.

Taylor also rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, waving the argument off. "You're entitled to your wrong opinion."

I snorted, getting the both of them to look at me with mirrored raised brows. It was sort of freaky in my opinion, that was twin shit, but I would just blame it on them being perfect for each other. Swallowing the last of my toast, I jumped into this conversation. "Unfortunately for you, it's 2 to 1, so your opinion has been noted, but outvoted." I mentally paused. (Wait, no, I didn't mean for that to rhyme.)

I didn't even get a moment to think about that when Phoenix cut in. "Aye!" Looking at his raised hand, I turned to stare into his eager eyes, then looked over to Taylor. The jade eyed girl and I rolled our eyes together, a show of female unity that the lesser sex could never replicate. Our combined eye roll just made him scoff and put his hand down and spear some eggs. "You both suck."

"Swallow too." Taylor's completely nonchalant reply made me choke, "Ah, looks like you need to work on your gag reflex Amy." The thump I got from Phoenix made it difficult for me to figure out who to glare at.

I decided to settle on Taylor since Phoenix helped me not ch...- I wasn't even going to finish that thought. "Hate. All of my hate." They both just laughed at that, making my brow twitch. (Note to self, get Taylor back for this.) Still, despite swearing vengeance on The Master, I was sort of amused. Whenever the topic of sex came up with Vicky or her friends they would brag about certain things, whose boyfriend had the bigger dick, who could take it the deepest without choking, that kind of shit. I wasn't used to the nonchalant way Taylor admitted to swallowing. It wasn't even a brag or leading into one, just a fact she used for a joke.

That aside, Phoenix angled for some of my bacon, and I reflexively smacked his hand away with my fork. "Aww."

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up you big baby."

"If I'm a baby that makes you a child abuser." Pausing, I looked at him like he was stupid, because the fact that was his instant response was fucking crazy. He just met my look with a grin, so I decided to extract an early revenge on him for being a dumbass...

So I kicked him.

Unfortunately for me he only grinned wider, and I had a moment to recognize I might've made a mistake.

So of course that was when I got kicked back, yelping a bit since I wasn't prepared for it. I glared at him, he just kept that stupid grin of his on his face. My foot shot out, hitting his leg again. I started this, and I wasn't about to back out now.

And that was how breakfast went. For the most part I was pretty sure Phoenix was just enjoying the opportunity to fuck with me, which only made me more eager to get him to pay for his insolence. Though, at some point, I wasn't sure when, one of kicked Taylor.

I'd never been involved in a three way footsie war before, and I wasn't sure I ever wanted to be again.

My legs were sore dammit!

After breakfast was done, and we were in the livingroom, I dropped onto a beanbag chair, and decided to just go for it. "So... What now?"

Phoenix and Taylor sat on the couch, the latter sitting on the former's lap while he wrapped his arms around her waist. Hearing the question though they turned to me, shared a look, and had a small conversation without saying anything. I watched it happen, then met Taylor's eyes when she turned to me. "Now, we're going to relax. We've all earned it, and you need it. So we'll take the day off," I opened my mouth, I didn't need t...- "Amy, if you say you don't need a break I'll drop a spider onto your tits." I closed my mouth. "Good." That just wasn't fair.

Phoenix snorted. "Yesss, suffer as I've suffered!" Taylor and I deadpanned at him, for two completely different reasons. Though that apparently did nothing to him since he shrugged at us. "What? I'm still right."

Another shared eye roll later and it was back to Taylor looking at me. "Anyway, we're taking a break. While you're here we'll make sure you're safe, have time to decompress, and get to be yourself. You don't have to be Panacea here, you won't have expectations to live up too, you're free to just be Amy." I stared at her for that, idly noticing that some part of me relaxed at that.

"Plus, while you're here we can teach you how to use your guns, and get you to have some fun while doing it." Given the look Taylor was giving him, I wasn't sure whatever he had planned would be as 'Fun' as he was saying it would be.

Still... ('Just Amy' huh...) I wasn't 100% sure what it meant to be 'Just Amy', Panacea had been a massive part of my life for the last 2 years, so spending an extended time being 'Just Amy' would be something entirely new to me... And I couldn't help but look forward to it.

For once, I would get to be myself.

No Carol breathing down my neck.

No random people bugging me to fix their fucking bruises or bad backs.

I felt a little guilty at that though, but then I remembered nearly being trampled to death by people I'd spent hours healing, and had that guilt washed away.

It was going to be just me, my friends, and whatever we got up to doing. I wanted that, god I wanted that so much. Fuck everyone else, I wanted to be selfish for once, to be Just Amy for a day, even if it was only just that.

And with it being so blatantly offered to me I'd have to be fucking retarded to not take the chance.

So I did.

I was tempted to combine this, and the next chapter together, but decided to have it separate.

Anyway this, and the next 2 chapters are going to be some Slice of Life for them to relax.