“My mother can fuck off! You promised me a vacation!”
“I looked at your schedule and talked to your assistant, she’s already re-scheduled and said it wouldn’t be a problem. Something I did after messaging you!.”
She growls at me, “That doesn’t fix the problem that I am now stranded on Earth of all places while my mother is touching a naked back that belongs to me!” I see flame come out of her mouth this time and a few screams can be heard through the hologram.
I understand that she’s in dragon mode, but I am also not a piece of her hoard. “Zia, I know your dragon is possessive but cool down on the owning me vibes. We’re getting dangerously close to my triggers love.”
“You are my mate, we belong to each other.”
“hmmm, your connotation with ownership still bothers me. We can talk about what ‘Mate’ means to you later Zia, but right now, I’m trying to hold still. I would like it if you could figure out how to love me as Zia and not hang it on the whims of your transformations. I’ll see you in a few days.” My tone is sad as I realize that I’ve been inadvertently creating space for this behavior instead of checking it because I’ve been too busy to want to deal with it. Which in the end means that I was feeling too busy to be a good fiancée. Which sucks.
I understand in my head how that would lead to Zia trying to grasp at me tighter, to try and pull me closer, a sentiment which I see in her pout and disbelief as I hang up on her. It also doesn’t help that I’m here with her mom, which she is super insecure about.
“That could have been kinder, Kimber.”
“Yeah, I know. But the feeling that I’m courting two different women that want different things is wearing on me, Penny. I thought that my tolerance of the two forms of Zia would be supportive and unifying, but so far, they are becoming more separate than before and I don’t know what to do.”
“I’m not going to wade into that quagmire, kid. What I do want is the religious iconography that you need in this central hole in the spell.”
I groan, knowing Penny’s not going to like it. “So you know how I was experimenting with divine aether last week and yesterday?” She nods. “Well I figured out that you’re basically my Divine Patron.”
“Kimber, you know how I feel about being an object of worship.” She scolds with a slap to the painful work-in-progress on my back, making me hiss.
“And you know how I feel about Marcella?” I turn my head and see her nod. “Well, you fostering my potential has let me be Marcella for thousands. You have enabled my very nature, Penny, with almost no questions asked. With such confidence in me, how could I have anything but the utmost faith in you?” He face slackens in thought before groaning into a gloved hand.
“My notifications make more sense, but I don’t have to like them. But what’s that got to do with this center space on your tattoo?” I send her an icon I created with Tova’s help. “Is that a shark mouth crown?”
“It is! Pixie wings and a shark mouth crown is basically you, but with an artistic take on your nightmare-ass mouth.”
“It’s not that bad! I get kisses from girls and everything.”
“Penny, those women deserve medals, you have jagged, replaceable teeth that reside in a bloodthirsty trickster of a Pixie.”
“Kimber,” her voice is soft and even as she leans close to my ear. “Lets go back to the part where you’re respectful and thank me for my time before I leave this masterpiece half finished.”
Oh fuck! I really hurt her feelings. Gods damned it, Kimber. Keep your blabber mouth reigned in! “I’m sorry my Empress. Should I dedicate my next judgement to you?” I see my skin flash gold and watch the energy flow into Penny. She shudders and takes a deep breath.
“You’re such an ass. Fine, but only because you tricked my brain into accepting that bargain.”
We’d already been at this for four hours. Penny swears that we’re on the home stretch, but as soon as the center iconography is finished, she begins touching up other sections to be more attuned to the different meanings in the parts of the graphic.
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//The God-Empress of Humanity has been Christened.//
My mouth drops in shock for a moment before realizing that the God-Empress herself is pawing my back because I asked her to and laughter just erupts from me.
“What did you DO!?” Penny shouts, groans, then blows up a chair in the corner while I cackle. “The Valkyries of Calamity will be insufferable now.”
“How did a cult of warrior women not already cause this?” I try to turn and look at her, but she pushes me back into the table.
She gets back to stabbing me in controlled motions, “They’re not an imaginative lot, and their bleeding crown is not a unique icon.”
“Hehe, now when I generically swear to the Gods, you’ll be included. Heh.” She slaps the back of my head, causing me to chuckle more. “Does this mean I can call you God-mom?”
She grabs me by the nostrils and fuck do I pay attention.
“You may call me mother, Penny, or on the odd occasion of frustration, asshole, but do not imply that I don’t love you like a daughter, you here me?”
My eyes go wide as her aura leaks out, “Uh, yeah. Mom, Penny? I’m super intimidated right now. I, uhm, I’m sorry. I was just being an ass, I didn’t mean to offend.” I quiver a little as the aura seeps into my skin.
“Blarg. I hate that. It’s just, Alphea has expressed her wanderlust and yet another of my babies wants to leave. I swear I stink or something. But with you and Zia wanting to actually stay around, I feel . . . I hate the idea that you’d feel more distant from me than family.” She idly pets my head as she thinks, and it’s enjoyable. “Is that pathetic?”
“Eh, I feel it too. Hearing that Phea wants to leave us hurts.”
“No no, she wants to go to Earth with Zia and you. My kid likes you better than me.” I snort at that.
“Nah, she loves me like an aunt, sure. But all of your kids respect you and want to live up to your standard. Phea just wants to adventure and prove herself.” I reach back to pat her thigh in comfort, forgetting she’s short AF and I end up cupping her butt. I regret nothing, but I do cough as I blush furiously. “Don’t worry about that lady. Just support their choices to try and live up to your greatness. That’s all they seem to want.”
She coughs, “Yes, well, in exchange for that feel-copping, I’ll be straddling your back to get this symbol correct.” She flies up and settles on my butt. My whole body blushes. Her chuckle at my embarrassment doesn’t help.
I hope to all that is holy that Zizi doesn’t see this. It’s all for a tattoo that will help my track, relax. Bitch fucking wiggles her hips as she settles on me and starts stabbing me with the tattoo gun. I have to hold in my aether to reign in my big bitch Taser energy.
***
“So when and how can I energize this ‘tattoo’?”
Penny’s got her deer onsie on, horns and everything, as she sips coffee at the table. I feel underdressed with shorts and a compression top on. I catch the lout gazing and my midriff though. Things must be rough with Mik and the cat lady, but the nod at my fitness feels good.
“At least a week. Your increased regen should be able to assimilate it by then. Otherwise, try to interface with the magitec to get it initiated. The runes I have planned for the next session, should be activatable by surging your skin with aether. You might have to meditate to get in touch with the Magitech, but you’ve met us in those shard meetings so you should be able to meditate well enough.”
I ping Tova at the thought and she pings me back in affirmation that she’ll help me do it. I try to get up and Penny pushes me down again.
“There’s aftercare stuff to do. I know it’s been most of a day, but this is important.” She rubs some sort of wax/jelly on my back, has me sit up after putting a dressing on my back and wraps me with a soft cloth around my top. “Now, this should be fine with your regen, as the aether content is high enough not to heal over, but if you take a tier 2 med, or any med that’s not a multiplier of your natural processes, it will fuck with this. You absolutely do not want to restart this. I have low-key fucked with your body’s reset image that your symbiotes and nanite suite hold, and if you have a medical emergency some odd things might happen.”
“Fuck, Penny, give me the good news.”
“Your tier 2 ascension will likely integrate all of this.”
Holy fuck.
“That was out loud.” She chuckles.
“Well shit, Pixie diety-mom, that’s crazy? And fantastic?!” How am I supposed to feel about my spell wings becoming permanent, maybe, sorta? “Not like I know what my tier-up is going to look like with all of the garbage that I’ve been up to lately. Could be contract specialist to Avenger.”
“Pfft, you’re not going to randomly become a super-hero. You have a little too much villain in you for that. Or should I get Zia in here to get the straps and the whips out?”
“Penny, do not threaten me with a good time. Just because I’m a top, doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good dip now and then.” Enjoy that mental image, tarty-pants.
She makes gagging noises and I smile at her comeuppance. Tart-at-thee! My mental rapier slashes out in a heart-strike.
“Enough of that. I, as always, have ulterior motives. Meet with some of my Government’s candidates for the other Justicars and let me know what you think. You have the most law-enforcement experience, save one, but also have that crazy truth sight.”
I sigh, “This meeting better be tomorrow. I’m spent for today.”
“Zero nine hundred tomorrow, Astoria time.”
I sigh, knowing I owe her, “Sure, where, and what do you want them to learn?”
She sends me a schedule as she walks out the door. I’m sitting here, on a massage table, half naked in a wrap, and she just fucking leaves. Granted, she was laughing, but still.
Aria sends me my schedule and it shows the new meeting at 9am Astoria time. Ugh, hard to refuse that level of consideration for meeting scheduling. I wonder for a few minutes in the silence of this random room thinking about what I could possibly teach new people about being a justicar—a role I have never used.
You have the Track. You are somehow the embodiment of what Penny wanted a Justicar to be, so just be you. Zia would be calling you a doofus right now.
Yeah, she would, if I hadn’t just told her to go away while I talked to her mom. Ugh, that is going to be a mess. “Alright, let’s get some workout time in on the antigrav playground and retire early.” Penny set up a training ground out here last year and it’s still here, creating the premier space simulation zone on the planet on a whim. I train here every day I’m staying in the Garden Palace.