----
I stared down at the creature scurrying along the ground. If you took a penguin, mixed it with a bear and added antlers, that's pretty much what it looked like. I crept closer, stay low in the grass and narrowed my eyes at it. "You're awfully cute, but unfortunately for you, you're made of meat." I quoted softly. The pen-bear-elk didn't notice me as it continued waddling around in search of food. Unfortunately for it, I was hungrier.
I struck, snapping down on its neck with my teeth and crushing it's jugular. It struggled for only a few seconds before going limp. Quick kill, minimal pain and suffering. I proudly stood up from my kill and grinned at Rince. "And THAT is how you hunt for food!" I told her.
She scowled at me. Entirely unimpressed.
I sighed. I was in Xin's form today, wondering if she just hated triangles but she didn't like me like this either. Whatever. At least she hasn't bitten me yet. I wiped the blood off my mouth and slung my kill over my shoulder. "Come on Rince. Let's get you home. I think your mommy and daddy should be back from the doctor's by now."
Despite taking birth control medication, Flora was pregnant again. I apologized over and over but at the very least my daughter in law didn't blame me. I think I'm going to have to personally make condoms for them to use. Ugh. "Well, chances are, you're gonna be a big sister soon. Isn't that exciting?" I asked Rince. She hissed at me.
"Right." I sighed as I made my way back to the house. Flora had been breathing out cold mist these past few days so I'm guessing it's a boy this time. I hoped a condom would be able to counteract my unintended Blessing.
On the up side, Flora's farm was doing great. The crops were healthy and thriving. She was already sending some back to her family for inspection and they're all quite proud of her. I shook myself out of my thoughts.
Once I drop Rince off, I was going to head to my farming planets to check on my worshipers. I have to test out my Blessings some more.
---
The worship I fed off from my farming planets was quite potent. That was good. I can gain a lot of power here. I sighed blissfully as I let myself absorb their Awe. The great harvests have made the Federation take an interest in my planets but they didn't want to anger the dragon god protecting them and were forced to negotiate trade as opposed to taking over the planet and imposing their rule over it. Hah!
Also, they saw what I did to other ships that tried to invade the planet. Also, also, they can't even kill me because destroying the god that makes the crops grow was counterproductive.
I stretched lazily on top of one of my shrines and sighed. I felt full. It was starting to get uncomfortable. I sent out my power to move some clouds around to make rain over the dryer areas before I Blinked away.
---
I've been feeling cramped again as my power grew larger than my body could contain. As 8-Ball said, Will wouldn't like me hurting myself from trying too hard to gain power quickly. Besides, slow and steady has always been the better way to keep myself from exploding. With that in mind, I focused more on meditation and getting Deals. I scratched at my bricks and groaned. Damn, itchy feeling. I should make another Deal. That would help alleviate a bit of this tension. Or I could host another Jan-Jan concert. It's been a while.
I shifted into his form and contacted Ivanlock. He asked if I was really up for it. Geez, my little fainting incident seemed to have convinced him I really WAS of frail health. "I'm fine Ivan. I've gotten plenty of rest." I rolled my eyes over the video chat. Ivan squinted at me. "Well...you LOOK ok...this would be easier if we knew what the baseline for you species was."
"I can assure you I will be resting properly right up until it's time to perform. Aside from some rehearsals." I told him. "Also. There's this band I discovered and I want them to open for me."
Ivan sighed. "I'd say you should have told me this a few months in advanced but you do have an eye, or should I say, EAR for talent. Alright, tell me about them." I launched into a discussion about these blue skinned humanoids that made some really popping tunes. We set the concert for a few months down the line so the Crescendolls could get in some rehearsal time.
"Oh right...I'm going to need to absorb all the Lust from this concert…" I groaned to myself as I messed with my clothing in front of the mirror. Ok, I can just keep it contained until after the concert. Maybe I should just go for a less revealing outfit this time. And forgo the pole I danced around. Wow. No wonder Time Baby wanted me dead...
----
"Bill, can we get tickets to your next concert?" Keyhole bounced as soon as he heard Jan was going to have another performance soon. I nodded. "Sure kid, how many of you are coming?"
Or better yet…
"Wait, I'm just gonna buy a bunch of tickets and pass 'em out to people!" I Blinked away to do so. I felt people staring as I floated in front of the ticket booth. The lady selling the tickets stared at me. "Hello! I would like to purchase 15 tickets to Jan-Jan's upcoming concert please." I informed them.
The woman cowered and looked like she wanted to find some polite way to refuse. "We-we're out of tickets…" I scoffed and leaned onto the counter. "Listen ma'am. I'm not trying to start trouble. I'm not even going to be at the concert, I'm gonna buy some tickets for my friends and watching the show streamed online." I tried my best to sound as non threatening as possible. "Please. They're really looking forward to this."
She looked around, flustered, and finally said "T-that will be 2250 Credits s-sir…" I slid my card over and she rang me up. "Thank you kindly ma'am." I tipped my hat to her and Blinked away.
I handed out tickets to Keyhole and the others before popping over to visit Pynelope. I appeared to see her typing away at her laptop. "Hey my little ThermalPack~" I coo'ed.
She jumped. "Void! Bill! At least knock on the door or something!" she glared at me without any real venom. I laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, I kinda forget about that sometimes. I'm so used to teleporting where I need to go." She rolled her eye at me before saving her work and giving me her attention. "So, what's with the visit?"
"Well, I heard Jan-Jan's got a concert in a few months and I scored tickets~" I held one up. She laughed. "Well, since you've gone through the trouble to get me one, how can I say no?" She took the clear plastic strip with the microchips woven into it. The door to her office burst open and a Tentafiloo came in, waving his Com-Screen. "Py! Jan-Jan's just announced another concert in a few months! We need to submit applications for an interview STAT!"
They paused and froze at the sight of me. Pynelope sighed. "Hey Jion. Come in. I promise he's not gonna hurt you." She turned to glare at me. "Right?" There was a warning edge in her tone. I coughed and floated back to hover near a wall. Jion came in while giving me some worried looks.
"I just got a ticket to Jan's concert. And, I'm pretty sure I can score an interview." Pynelope replied with a smug grin. Her co-worker stared at me. "Oh no. Please tell me you're not gonna make a deal with Bill Cipher for an interview with Jan…"
Pynelope scoffed. "Naw. I'm gonna send in an application like everyone else does. But I actually MET Jan once." The Tentafiloo gasped. "Seriously? When?" Pynelope laughed. "When I was in high school, he performed at our Dance. I'm still surprised my school managed to hire him."
I hung back to watch her interact with this person. He seemed nice. I had some worries about my Thermiepack working here but it seems she's made friends properly. I sudden suddenly hoped I didn't ruin that with my presence here. With the friendly banter, I felt hopeful that I didn't.
Finally he left. I looked at Pynelope. "So...friend?" I asked hopefully. She nodded. "He's nice. Works at finding out new things that have happened so he can get us all sent out to try and get the scoop." oh right. Pynelope had that interview with me. I guess her coworkers are a little less scared of me.
They already knew she had contact with me. So, at least they weren't as terrified of me. Still don't know why the multiverse was so scared of me. There were much more horrifying demons out there. I think there's a lich running around in a certain dimension. Unkillable, without mercy and murderous. Or that god of Curses who goes around mutating people into horrifying monsters? Why aren't THEY the topic of fear?
Who am I kidding? I know why. It's propaganda. Get the people focused on me so the government can pretend they've got things under control. Why scare the masses with news about the hundreds upon thousands of real threats when they've got the perfect scapegoat to push all the attention on? That way the people won't panic and they can point to the times I've left people alone as signs of the Federation's ability to keep me in check.
Actually, I know for a FACT that three of the council members knew I was...well, not harmless, but 'safe' and yet they allow the soldiers to think I really am the problem. My life would be easier if the damn soldiers didn't point their guns at me in public but hey, that's just something I had to deal with. Because the Federation wanted a scapegoat. I was just the distraction. Funny enough, I know Time Baby, dick though he was, wasn't behind this. He would also prefer that we left each other alone unless he needed me for something.
What kind of brother only cares to get in touch with me when he needs something? He's never even appreciated the shit I do for him. Ok, I suppose my penchant for taking out my frustrations on his underlings is quite petty…
Well I'm a petty person. Hmph!
"So~any chance I'll get to interview Jan-Jan?" Pynelope grinned. I giggled. "Maybe~" I spent some time chatting with her to catch up on how she's doing.
"So you two broke up?" I sat in one of her other chairs, a pot of tea floating beside me. Pynelope rolled her eye. "He was boring. I was thinking about it and...I guess I want to date a boy for more than just the whole sex thing. I mean, he was just getting kinda of insufferable. Always asked if I was going to finally eat him." She huffed. "Well I'm just not ready for children!"
I nodded in understanding. "Of course. So, are you gonna take a break from dating or?" She looked down at her mug of tea. "I was thinking that I could try dating someone that I want to STAY with. Like...not just a fuck buddy." she frowned. "I know mom had me and my brother the traditional way but...Pyrone's already broken tradition and...the whole 'eating your mate' thing is just...old fashioned?"
She looked apologetic. "I mean, don't get me wrong. I would still totally eat a guy, but...maybe it would be ok to start a life together with someone who WANTS to stay with me...long term…"
I reached my hands out to cup hers. "It's fine. Whatever you choose, as long as you're happy and safe, that's all I want." She looked up at me with an expression of relief. "So, you're not disappointed that I want to break tradition?" I let out some incredulous laughter. "Thermie, things change. Society changes. Sometimes it's worse, sometimes it's better. But you're here at a time where birth control pills exist. And if you want to buck tradition and find a guy who wants to stay alive and be with you, that's fine."
"You're not disappointed in me?" She sniffled. Geez, how long had this been weighing on her mind? I floated forward to hug her closely. "Of course not. All I've ever wanted for you and Icepack was to be happy. And if this is what you want to do, then just know that you have my full support." She hugged me back, enclosing me in her arms, which did make me tense up a little but she made sure not to hug too tightly, I could break free if I wanted.
"Thanks dad."
"You're welcome my little Thermal Pack."
---
I stood in my dressing room, fixing my hair in front of the mirror. Jan's reflection grinned back at me as I smiled. It's been too long since my last concert. I've been busy. I opened my senses to the emotions in the air. Anticipation. Eagerness. Excitement. Some mild worry. I sighed. I'll be fine. I've done pretty much a Deal a week for the past few months. My storage capacity should be good. And even minor Deals granted some boost to my power. I didn't do anything too intense, some information here and there, one guy wanted to be cured of his cancer, there was another escort mission with some Jirion royal who wanted transport to a different planet without being killed by his brothers vying for the throne…
Simple things.
I placed a hand to my chest and breathed slowly. Ok, the plan was to suck up all the Lust that ended up being generated during a concert, keeping it stored inside me until after the concert, then popping the Lust bubble and letting all that emotion hit me at once. This wasn't a good plan but it was better than keeping the bubble forever (adding to it every time I have a concert) or releasing all that emotional energy into the Nightmare Realm. That would spawn some pretty messed up things. All I had to do was ride out the Lust until I converted it into pure energy. Simple.
I could hear the rumbling outside my dressing room. This place is soundproofed but vibrations could still be felt. The other band was going to be up soon to open for me. I want to go watch their performance. One last check to make sure I looked perfect...ok. I winked at myself and swooned.
I might be narcissistic???
Whatever. I went to go hang out backstage and watched the band perform from the side. Seriously their music was fantastic. I clapped along with everyone else when they finished their performance. Looks like I'm up. I emerged on stage with a wide smile and music bubbles forming around me.
I waved enthusiastically and my fans cheered. A steady beat began as I started my first song for the evening. I do catch some worry from the audience and loudly declared "Don't worry! I'm doing great! Come on everyone, let's have a good time!" Brightly colored flames fanned over the audience in a wave. Fast and cool enough to not harm anyone but creating a spectacular light show.
They cheered. I couldn't keep the smile off my face. Hearing them all enjoying themselves just...made me happy.
"A drop of rain falling quietly disappears along with the storm~" the beat rang out as I made my flames trickle down from above, like the sparks from fireworks drifting down. "Plug into sight so seamlessly take a look at this world and more~"
I danced to the music and flung my fire everywhere. It was fun, it felt nice and I could feel everyone's feelings all around me. They were having fun, I was having fun. We were all here to enjoy ourselves and I loved every minute of it.
"Disarray disarray~How much heat can I take?~All I had has been melted away~"
I wondered briefly if Time Baby was watching my concert? I know I had a live stream of it and there ARE plenty of both Federation workers and Time Police that enjoyed my shows. I laughed.
"Fly away fly away~To a desolate place~To where this hologram may be saved~"
If he was watching, he's probably one of the very few people who understood my lyrics. Actually, there are probably some Time Police who might know. If they were from the future. I knew Blendin was. Did he know the meaning behind my songs? The English ones at least?
"But they're just messing with my head now ~They're all just messing with my head now~Watching from far away What do you think you see?"
Should I pay him another visit? Nah. I shouldn't. It was difficult enough to track him down. I have a LOT of trouble going into the 'future' and I didn't want to waste my energy.
"It's so loo~ooo~ooo~ud just can't focus with this latent buzzing sound!" My flames briefly became a buzzing static lightning.
"What's the word again? They call it love, oh yes, that a human feels so deep~" I sang into the mic and listened to the glorious sounds of Niki's music. I should sing more of his songs at my concerts. Briefly I wondered once again if I was breaking all sorts of copyright by performing other people's music, without their knowledge or permission?
"So if this is love then why are we born alone bringing all love to existence~With these tears you swear to not be afraid when all I wanted was…"
Over an hour later I gave a bow before waving at my fans as I walked off the stage. I used up a lot of my power with my light show but it was quickly replenished by the intense feelings of my audience. Speaking of intense feelings…
I held up the bubble I had filtered all the Lust into. Oh this was gonna suck. But I couldn't just...leave this thing lying around. I briefly considered tossing it onto the Penis Planet and seeing what happened but that...might not be a good idea. Which only left consuming it myself.
Well, it was too dangerous to pop this while I'm still here in the concert hall, even if my changing room had security I was more worried about accidentally letting my powers run wild if I was too addled by lust to think properly.
With this in mind, I told Ivan I was heading home early to rest and he nodded quickly. "Go and get some bed rest!"
I bid my opening band a farewell as well. "I love your work. I'm looking forward to hearing more of your music in the future." I grinned at them. The blue skinned humanoids smiled back.
I Blinked away to the Nightmare Realm and sighed.
Well. Time to get this over with…
I slipped the bubble into my mouth and bit down to pop it.
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((NSFW segment))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
For a second I thought nothing happened. I felt the energy flow into me, which made me feel kinda bloated. I was so full I had to start spewing fire from every pore in Jan's body just to keep from exploding.
And then the Lust hit me.
"!!!" I couldn't even form words as I fell to my knees, my skin tingled from more than just the fire dancing along it. I immediately reached a hand inside my pants to palm my dick. It was hardening even before I touched it. I quickly stroked it as I shuddered.
Fuck. Fuck. I kneeled there on the ground jerking off as fire continued to pour out of me, oozing from my every pore as I felt it raging inside me. I whined as I moved my hand faster. This feeling was nearly unbearable. I let out a choked moan when I came. The relief only lasted until I finished cumming the shimmery fluid.
"Fuck!!! Why am I still hard?!" I whined. I stroked myself furiously, this fucking SUCKED! I felt a painfully tight feeling in my crotch and looked down in (aroused) horror as the skin around my crotch began to push out as something moved around underneath. I screamed as a 2nd dick burst out from beneath my flesh, spraying blood across the green rocks of the area I was kneeling on.
I cried out as my new dick stiffened and stood straight up too. I reached a hand down to grip it and shuddered. It was incredibly sensitive. I panted, tears in my eyes from the mix of pain and arousal I was in. Please...I just...I just needed to cum! I stroked my two dicks at different speeds, forced to go slower on my new one since it was still tender. I felt like I was going to slip, lose control.
I doubled over as I came again. My mind blanked for a few seconds before I felt more painful sensations under my skin. No. Please no more. I don't want more dicks!
Good news. It wasn't another dick. Bad(?) news. It was extra arms. I groaned at the new arms coming out of my sides. Fuck I was losing control quickly. I was burning up all over (both literally and figuratively) and while two of my hands continued to stroke at my dicks, the others were roaming around my body touching everything.
Two hands were squeezing at my pecs and twisting my nipples, making me gasp and whine. One hand was squeezing my thigh and the other was rubbing my balls. "Ahh….ah! Ah!" I moaned as I came again, still painfully hard and showing no signs of stopping. The shimmering fluid I produced splattered onto my chest as my dicks shot them up onto myself. Like the other times, cumming seemed to trigger another unwanted bodily mutation.
I collapsed onto my side in pain as my skin stretched and bulged outward. My sides were already covered in blood from when the new arms burst out. "AHHHH!!!" I screamed as yet another set of arms ripped their way out from beneath my skin. I sobbed quietly, wishing that this wasn't still so arousing. I wasn't supposed to jerk off while in pain. But I was so horny. I knew that cumming again would make another transformation happen but as if they had a mind of their own, my hands continued stroking my dicks.
"Gah! Ah! Ah!" I bucked into my hands, my hips just wanted to move. My hands curled into a tight grip, a tight hole for me to fuck. I was on my knees, my face pressed against the ground as I fucked my hands. One hand was running through my hair, gripping and pulling. Another was still pulling at my balls, stretching them and letting go so they bounced back in place even as my hips continued rocking forward. Two of my hands grabbed large handfuls of my butt and squeezed, pulling my cheeks apart.
I moaned when a hand slipped a few fingers between my buttcheeks and rubbed at my asshole. Not going in, just...pressing at my entrance firmly. "Nnngh…" I twitched as more fingers began pressing down on my asshole, rubbing up and down. The hands pulled my legs apart so I was spread wide. I closed my eyes and gave into the sensations.
I came again while my fingers were pressed as hard as they could against my entrance without going in. "G-aah!!!" I didn't even try to fight my body as I felt something move under my skin again. Just do it. I don't care anymore. I just want to feel good. The third dick wasn't even an issue. I moved a hand to palm this newest mutation and stroked it just like the others.
A few of my Nightmares HAD gotten curious enough to venture near me but my fire kept them away. That or my guttural growl when they tried to come closer. I was still so horny. I wanted to cum forever if that would mean I'd be freed from this all consuming heat. A few fingers slipped into my mouth to rub against my tongue and teeth.
Speaking of tongue, it seemed like that was the next target of my mutations. As I came for the fifth time, I gagged as my tongue grew out longer and longer. I made a confused sound as I wiggled it around, slowly getting used to moving it. Struck with inspiration, I sat down and braced myself against the ground with two hands while I looked down at my three dicks. They were still swollen and hard despite how many times I forced them to cum.
I pressed the three close together and wrapped my tongue around them. If I could speak, I would have been swearing up a storm at the sensation. "Fffuugg!" I said instead. My tongue was hot and so incredibly wet. I tightened around my dicks, squeezing against each other as I gave myself a tongue job. It was clumsy at first, I had never done something like this before, but I quickly got better at it and was soon bucking my hips and slurping loudly as I stroked myself into another orgasm.
I'm not quite sure how to describe my taste. The shimmery cum I produced was clearly not human. It was transparent and almost looked like liquid glitter. Thankfully it wasn't actually glitter. With my tongue wrapped around three dicks as they came, there was no way to avoid tasting them. It was faintly sweet-spicy and left a tingling feeling along my tongue. Like pop rocks exploding against it. I wasn't sure if I liked it but it wasn't bad.
I groaned as I finished cumming, bracing myself for what happened next. I felt my balls pinch painfully before they grew larger. The hand that was squeezing them was forced away as my sack doubled in size. I bent over to look at myself. Two hands went down to feel my newest change. They were soft and a slightly cooler temperature than the rest of my body. I squeezed one and jerked my hips at the feeling. They had gotten more sensitive.
I hefted one up and felt how heavy it was. Unnaturally so. I frowned as I wondered why that was. Were they denser? Maybe. Even so, I continued to fondle them and let out pleased sighs. My dicks were still eager to cum again and I didn't even care anymore what would happen to my body. I'm just going to enjoy myself until I finished this Lust high.
My tongue moved to focus its attention on one dick as my hands took care of the others. My balls were slapped together a few times, my hands gripped them and bounced them around. Despite the heat still burning along my skin, my head felt...clearer. I was still horny as fuck but it was like I could think in proper sentences now. Perhaps because I had gotten used to the feel of this Lust and had adapted to it?
Either way, I stroked and slurped myself leisurely into another orgasm and shuddered as I found out what my last change had done. I cummed and cummed. My dicks continued to pump out more and more of the slick fluid. My orgasms normally lasted for around 20 seconds so I almost blanked out as this orgasm lasted for nearly a full minute.
I laid on the ground, panting and drooling as I tried to recover from that. My dicks were still dribbling cum and as hard as ever. I wondered what my next change would be. I felt one of my dicks twist painfully before it grew larger. The hand wrapped around it was forced open as the dick it was holding doubled in both length and girth.
I blinked down at it. The fuck? This foot long monstrosity stood proudly among his siblings, dwarfing them in size. I groaned. As hot as it was to watch this thing grow, I liked giant dicks on other people, not me. I was getting flashbacks to unintentionally growing a giant dick back when Pyronica was fucking her mate. Still, back then I was just growing a copy of his dick. This one...was my own.
I found that I could retract my tongue and pulled it back into a normal size so it wasn't in the way of me inspecting my new endowment. I squeezed it and let out an incredulous snort. Still hard. Ooh~and sensitive. I needed several hands to stroke it. I quickly got back into the rhythm of it. My tongue came out to wrap tightly around my largest dick like a snake.
I continued on like this for a while, fucking myself until I came and feeling my body twist after each orgasm. I grew more arms, larger dicks, my balls increased again to make my orgasms last longer and at one point I even grew an extra set. I was a horrifying mass of flesh and limbs but I didn't care anymore. All I wanted was to cum and cum until I couldn't anymore.
I finally came to who the fuck knows how much time later to find myself absolutely drenched in semen and using one of my dicks as a bed. I grimaced at the damn thing, it was as wide as I was tall and stretched out into the distance. I don't even know how long this monster was. My other dicks weren't as big but they were all different sizes and I counted at least 8 of them. Damn. Can't move. But it looked like I was finally finished filtering out the Lust. I groaned tiredly and slumped back down on my now flaccid dick with a wet sound.
Fuck. This was so gross.
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Ok we done here))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Not wanting to deal with the clean up, I left this vessel and built a new one in my lovely, non-gross triangle form and incinerated the discarded vessel.
As I watched myself burn I wondered if I was going to have to do this every time I had a concert. Fuck that. No way. I'm gonna find a better way to deal with the Lust being generated at my damn shows.
I blinked away, not wanting to stay with the charred remains of my old vessel. It dispersed back into particles after a few seconds anyway.
----
Thank Ax for different time flows. No one noticed how long I was gone. I tried to put that whole...losing control of my physical form due to lust thing behind me. I wasn't going to do that again.
My friends were chatting about how nice the concert was. I also sent a call to Ivan asking about the interview requests. He seemed surprised I was willing to do one and worried if I was healthy enough. I assured him I was fine for a quiet one on one interview. The live show was simply too stressful.
He accepted that response and sent through the requests for me to look through. I easily found Pynelope's but then realized this was technically unfair to all the other people. Since my daughter got preferential treatment for being my kid, it wasn't proper, professional journalism.
Feeling a little guilty, I accepted them all, and told them that they could all interview me together but they would have to decide as a group what questions to ask. I thought that seemed more fair...but I don't know if that was the proper way to do things.
Still, they all agreed and the interview would be in a week, they would spend that time arguing and agreeing on what questions were going to be used.
----
I fixed my clothes in front of a mirror, going for a more casual outfit for this interview. A thin jacket over a t-shirt and long pants. I carefully clicked in a cute little hair-clip and decided that was good enough. It didn't need to be anything fancy.
The interview would be in a fully rented out restaurant so we could get some privacy and I could get some food. I've always wanted to try Dgynph cuisine. I sat neatly on my chair at the head of the table, Ivan on my right. There were 8 other people here, excluding Ivan and I. I spotted Pynelope and made sure to keep my expression polite. Can't show familiarity. It's been years since the school dance and I can't show preferential treatment.
I greeted everyone politely. A few expressed their worries for my health but I assured them that as long as I wasn't stressed out, I would be fine. One asked if that meant I had been stressed during the live interview.
"Well, people were blaming me for the actions of others. Isn't that something to be upset about?" I asked. They nodded in understanding. I took that time to clarify. "When I set fires, I make sure they're just for show, they're bright and colorful. A little hot but no one gets seriously injured. I make sure of that. It's not about setting fires, it's about setting responsible fires."
They were jotting stuff down.
"What made you decide to invite all of us to interview you?" A tall Gifferaffe (like a giraffe but with a catfish head and human-like arms with fingers like millipede legs) asked.
"I knew people were kinda worried about me after the last interview I was at. I wanted to assure them I was alright." I glanced at the menu and felt my mouth water. Thinly sliced Unagu meat with cosmic spice seasoning? Yes please. "It's also nice to go out to eat with people. The more the merrier."
"Do you not go out often?" Another alien asked. I shrugged. "I tend to get assaulted when I'm out in public." I said honestly while dodging the actual question. They nodded in understanding. Ivanlock was watching the interview closely, ready to step in at any time.
"How do you feel about the fact that notorious demon god Bill Cipher is a fan of your music?" I paused at that question. How had this been allowed in the interview? I glanced quickly at Pynelope and she shrugged guilty. I sighed. "I have no problem with that. Music can be enjoyed by anyone. And if he likes it, that's fine." I couldn't believe people were still on about that.
There were some questions about my personal life, which I politely declined to answer and I ate my way through 5 different dishes as the interview went on. "For the last time, I'm not dating anyone and I have no desire to find anyone." I sighed while chewing on this dark purple vegetable that tasted like hamburger. The texture was rather interesting, the skin had some resistance when I bit down but once I managed to break through the firm skin it would ooze out the juices. The flesh of the vegetable was crunchy, lots of large veins that the juices leaked out of. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. The taste was nice but the juices made it hard to eat neatly. "Mm…" I sucked on the open end of the vegetable softly.
I was slurping the juices up, licking at it to try and make sure none of them dripped down my chin when I noticed the silence around the table. I looked up, my tongue out and licking around my face to see everyone staring at me. It took me a few seconds to realize the problem. I blushed as I pulled my tongue back in, the organ had stretched to nearly a half foot in length to lick around and I quickly averted my eyes. I placed the vegetable down and wiped my face neatly with a napkin. "I...ah...should probably just um…" I looked away awkwardly.
One of them hit a fist against the table. "Why is everything you do sexy?!" He complained. I flushed darker and hid my face behind my hands. What the hell? They thought that weird tongue was sexy?! Inwardly I was worried about that mutation from my lust filled episode showing up on my 'normal' Jan form. My obvious embarrassment seemed to confuse them.
"Are you...not doing this on purpose?" One lady asked. I shrugged. "Not that I'm aware of?" No one reacted like this when I ate food as Bill. Does physical appearance really count for that much? Once more I found myself wondering if making my male forms purposely sexy was a mistake.
"Jan-Jan is actually quite innocent, huh?" One of them commented. I shook my head "T-that's not true at all!" I protested "I'm actually...uh…" I snapped my mouth shut. Probably shouldn't go telling people how much of a deviant freak I am. "I know what sex appeal is! I wear pretty clothes just for that purpose during a show!" I said instead. "B-but I swear I'm not…" I blushed again and whined in embarrassment.
Pynelope, the traitor, looked like she was gonna start laughing any minute now. Ivanlock was covering his mouth and hiding a smile. "What Jan is trying to say, is that he is a virgin." My manager said with a wide grin. I gasped and poked his arm "Ivaaaan~" I whined. "Don't tell them that!"
Everyone was immediately writing this down. "Too pure!" One Anglopith gasped. I groaned. Great. This'll be all over the internet by the end of the day. "Ivan!" I hissed. He gave me a smug look. "It's good. You're a beautiful contradiction. It sells. It interests people." he leaned back in his chair. "Lovely, graceful and so very...tempting. And yet, you are untainted. People LOVE that kind of stuff."
I groaned. "Look, this is personal, can you please...not?" I let my eyes widen and my bottom lip wobbled. For extra cute, I picked up a roasted turtleduck and bit down onto its neck. No one can resist a puppersnup face.
As I thought, they caved. "A-alright, we won't print that information." I let go of the bird and grinned. "Thanks." Ivan was giving me an exasperated look.
I bid them goodbye after the interview and Blinked home the Death Star with a worried frown. Despite crafting this vessel anew, it kept one of my mutations. That was worrisome. I rushed up to my penthouse room and stood in front of the full length mirror anxiously. I had to check if anything else was weird about my vessel.
I opened my mouth and stuck my tongue out. My heart sank as it unraveled to about a foot in length. I sucked it back in and groaned. No. Why?!
Suddenly panicked, I pulled down my pants to check if my other mutations had carried over…
Oh thank Ax.
I sighed in relief. Looks like only my tongue got weirdified. I poked it back out and sighed. Well. It could be worse. It wasn't too bad. I wasn't sure why my Template for my Jan-Jan form seemed to have been altered. I normally can't change a template once it's saved. I can alter the body afterward but transforming into one of my usual forms will always go to the template I made and saved.
I hadn't realized my templates could be edited. I could change them and save the new form as a new template, that's what I did with my Yun form. Speaking of my Yun form, I'm still surprised I managed to pass as a teenager. Jan was designed to be 27 in human terms, meaning Yun was as well. But to all the aliens I met, they appeared young to them. I dunno why. I'm gonna make an older version of Yun at some point, that would make her look less like Jan, hopefully.
Well anyway. Interesting to learn, it WAS possible to change a template. I will need to experiment with this more in the future.
---
Recently I've had an odd nagging feeling that I've forgotten something. I was doing my daily check on my Exit door to make sure nothing had gotten in. I was getting dejavu (I've just been in this place before~higher on the streets and I know it's my time to go~) about it and I didn't know why.
I floated closer to the door, curiosity drawing me close despite my apprehension. I really wanted to go out. Find Blue. Find Seb. I haven't heard from Blue in so long. I was worried about how Seb was doing, whether his idiot brothers made it home. Ugh…
I held my head, my bricks pulsing. Why did this feel so familiar? Geez, was I getting so old I was developing memory problems? Impossible. I didn't suffer from cellular degeneration. My memories were made of pure energy within the Mindscape. I couldn't lose memories over time. They were all here and permanent unless I chose to delete them.
So it was impossible for me to just forget things.
I shook my head. Maybe I erased my memories for some reason? I didn't think I would ever do that but this was the only explanation I had. Did something happen? Did I go behind my door and find something that I didn't want to remember? I reached out to my door, slow, hesitant. I wanted to. But…
Ugh. My head was pounding as my Mindscape shuddered as if an earthquake were happening. I went to go lay down on my bed. Eventually the shaking stopped as I groaned with discomfort. There was something missing. Some memories were just...gone. I hugged my teddy bear close to myself and sighed. I WOULD be more worried but what could I even do? I don't know what memories I've lost, or why. Stressing about it wouldn't help so I simply decided not to.
It was simple. I just took the worry and stress inside me and...let it disperse. I sighed, feeling much better. Just don't think about it. If I really DID erase my memories, I'm sure I must have had a good reason. Still, I glanced at the door again. I kept wanting to check it again. Explore all the other worlds there were to see. But in the end I decided not to. Maybe some other time.
---
I spent more time with my family. I didn't leave for hundreds of years in other dimensions like I usually did, I stayed here. I stayed with them. Because I wanted to have uninterrupted time with them. Because I wanted to be there for my children as they got older.
Quackers eventually found a partner. She happily told me about her partner's lovely feathers and how she laughed at Quacker's little displays of magic. The two met at the hospital Quackers got a job at. She was a Pladibear with well groomed feathers and apparently came from a rich family.
She was also Quacker's sister.
How do I break this to her gently…
"You're dating your sister." I said bluntly.
Quackers dropped her teacup. I managed to catch it before it hit the ground and placed it neatly back on the table. Quackers was staring at me with a horrified expression. I coughed into my hand. "Sorry." I shrugged. "So...uh...you should break up with her…"
"WHAT?!" She honked loudly. I coughed. "Sorry." I apologized again. She groaned. "Well, I guess this means that woman really is my birth mother, since she's my partner's mother." Quackers seemed distressed. I gave her a hug. "Are you alright."
"Just a little grossed out that my first partner's my sister. Ugh. I'm gonna have to break up with her." She leaned against me for the hug. I wrapped my arms around her feeling guilty. "Sorry you have no memories of your original family. I couldn't recreate those for you."
"It's alright. All I know is that they existed, and my birth mother sold me to you for money….well, it worked. They got rich." She sighed. "My siblings got to love a better life and I got to be with you and everyone else. So…" she pulled away from the hug to look at me "I guess it all worked out in the end?"
I nodded. "I will confess, your birth mother once tried to ask for you back...or...at least, she wanted contact with you. And...I refused. Was that cruel of me? Was that unfair?"
Quackers sighed. "I admit it would have been nice to keep in contact with my siblings at least but I can see why you felt the way you did." She picked me up to put in her lap. "It's a little mean but I don't think you're in the wrong." I settled against her soft fur and feathers. "Well, if you want to reconnect with your birth family...I won't get in the way." I curled a hand around her flipper.
"I'm gonna talk to them. See how they've been doing. They're still my family, even if I don't remember them." Quackers nuzzled my back. "You can come too if you want. I would like to introduce them to my mom."
"I would like that." I tried to hide how relieved I was that she still considered me her mother. I couldn't help but apologize again "So, sorry for making you break up with your first partner." she honked "Now I know why her mom seemed so uncomfortable with us dating, here I thought she just didn't approve."
Luckily, the break up wasn't as bad as I feared and the newly reunited sisters actually remained friends afterward. Quackers introduced me as her adopted mother and her partner, Squeakers, marveled over me.
"I didn't really understand what happened. None of us did. Mother never really spoke about it. All we knew was that Bill Cipher came and stole one of us." Squeakers said. "Of course, we also became rich after that and as we got older, we all figured out what had happened." She frowned. "Mother had sold one of us to the demon in exchange for wealth."
She glanced at me. "So, how did you end up with my big sister? I thought she had been taken as the demon's pet."
"Eh...well, he dumped her off on me. So I'm technically pet sitting her but Bill's actually pretty nice about it." I not exactly lied. Squeakers accept my response and gave me her condolences for having met Bill Cipher and relief that Quackers and I made it out unscathed.
It was a pleasant time all around. Squeakers and Quackers decided to go out girl hunting together. It was...decent family bonding? Once more I didn't really get the appeal of going out for the purpose of trying to find a partner but somehow I got dragged along.
So there we were. Three women at a bar in the nicer side of town. To be fair, I was more interested in the drinks menu than people watching. Wow. I feel old. I'm in a bar with my daughter. My daughter is old enough to go drinking. I'm so oooooold!
"Mom?" Quackers twitched as I sobbed quietly. "Mom, you've barely finished one drink! Please don't tell me you're already drunk!" I hugged her tightly. "You're growing up so faaaaast!" I wailed. She sighed and patted my back soothingly. "It's fine mom."
"B-but...you were just a little cub when I got you….and...and…" I hiccuped as I sobbed into her fur. The table we were sitting at wobbled. Quackers rolled her eyes. "Mom, you need to lay down. I think you're drunk."
"I'm not drunk! I'm sad! The-there's a difference…" I slumped against her. "Right. Well. I think we're done for tonight." I felt Quackers pick me up and sling me over her shoulder. "See you again some other time Squeakers."
"Bye~"
I was crying and pointing at random people to tell them off for staring at me. "Mi-mind your own Bu-bus...QUIT STARING!" I wailed. Quackers stroked my hair gently. "Shh...it's ok mom."
I fell asleep not long after that. Damn alcohol! Damn light weight!
---
Time passed too quickly for me.
They were all growing up. Getting older. It's like I blinked and suddenly Rince is starting school and her siblings are already old enough to run around and help on the farm.
As much as I loved seeing my family grow, it meant everyone was aging. Quackers especially was of a species that aged faster than the twins. She'd finally found a mate, not her sister this time, and was a well established Healer. I visit often but watching her fur turn gray was...distressing.
"Are you SURE you don't want to be immortal?" I asked her again as we hung out at her house baking cookies. She honked. "I'm sure. Nothing against you mom. I would just get tired of living forever."
"...can I at LEAST heal your aging pains? You'll...still d-die when your time comes but at least you won't hurt…"
She enveloped me in a soft hug. "Of course." I could feel her fondness. It was a light tasting emotion. "You're always so thoughtful mom." She nuzzled me and I clung to her fur, wishing I could do more.
I gave the same offer to the twins. They agreed and told me they loved me. I knew they loved me. I could feel it. Fondness. Caring. Affection. I loved feeling them. Even if they made me a little nauseous. Pynelope dated often, going from boy to girl to other as she tried to find 'the one'. I ended up trying to help.
"How is it that none of these people sincerely love me?" Pynelope asked. I sighed. "Well for starters, you're picking out people at a bar. They can't love you if they don't even know you."
"But I tried dating them. Nothing clicks. It never seems to work out." She incinerated a napkin. I was with her in my Cyclopian form. "You know, your mother used to take me out boy hunting just like this." How nostalgic.
Actually…
"Hang on a second. I'll be right back…" I got up from the table and walked off to the deserted side of the building. "Can believe I didn't think of this…" it wasn't hard to See what I needed. A little summoning circle was drawn and I felt the space twist as a deity was summoned.
"Hello Love God." I greeted politely. The god stared at me in confusion for a while before recognition hit. "You!" He looked taken aback. "Now this is interesting. What do you want?"
"My daughter wants to find someone to love her. She's not just after a meal." I told him. The human looking creature chuckled. "Yeah. I've been seeing that more and more nowadays. Man, Cyclopians mating for love and not food? What's happening with the world?"
"Yes, well...why is she having so much trouble?"
He frowned at me. "Shouldn't you be able to tell? Generally, if a Cyclopian can't seem to like someone, both for food or otherwise, it's because the potential partners aren't strong enough." I slap a hand to my face and groaned. Of course. Damn. "Can...you help her find someone?" I asked. "Not with your love potions, like...actually help her find someone?"
"What do I look like?! A...a...service that works with people individually to find a match?!" He scoffed, offended at the thought. "I'm a god. I'm too busy to sit down and talk people into dating. That's just not how that works."
"What if I could offer something in return?" I asked. He paused for a second. "I doubt you could have anything I'd want…" he did look me up and down. It was a little uncomfortable. "I'm not gonna do any FAVORS for you." I scowled at him. He quickly shook his head. "It's not like that! I can tell from here that you're asexual...which is super weird. Never met an asexual Cyclopian before...didn't think it was even possible…" he muttered. "AND you're a pervert. Like...super pervert. How is that combination even possible?"
I blushed so hard I caught fire (more than I already was). "Y-you can see that?!" I squeaked.
He actually blushed. "You...have a very dirty set of...oh...geez…" he looked away. "Well. I don't know why I even bothered. But anyway, look lady, I don't work for anyone. I'm a free god." he sighed. "I do play matchmaker but I just push people towards who might be compatible of the people they are currently looking around at. If they both have issues afterward or just don't work out...then they don't work out."
"So you can't help?" I wilted. He scoffed. "Sure I can. I'm the LOVE GOD! But if she doesn't see anyone who can match with her, I can't do anything. You can look into a crowd of a thousand people and none of them would be your right match. That's just how it is." He sighed. "Look, if she DOES come across someone that matches with her, I'll already be there. So...you don't need to ask me to do my job."
With that, he vanished. I sighed. Well. I tried. Still, this got me a little more insight into how his powers worked. He can't make soul mates meet. They have to run into each other on their own and then he simply doused them in love potion so they would get together. I suppose that made sense.
I returned inside with a sigh. "Hey ThermalPack, you ever think you should just...make friends first before jumping straight to lovers?"
Pynelope groaned. "But I want a partner noooow~" I rolled my eye. "Love doesn't work like that. At least I don't think so? A real connection CAN happen quickly, but real love takes time and investment."
I didn't want to think badly of my baby but Pynelope is...impatient.
"You stayed with that Aquerian guy for...3 days before you broke up with him." I pointed out. "And he actually seemed nice."
"If by nice you mean boring." Pynelope deadpanned. I nodded. "Sometimes that might be the case, or he's still too new around you to express himself. My point is that you barely give your partners any time to really get to know you or open up."
"I don't want to hear that from a guy who bound my mom to his side for eternity." She groaned. I scoffed, incredibly offended. "I'll have you know Pyronica and I had been hanging out for several weeks before she got arrested and I had to bail her out! And...she was the one who suggested a Deal to be my friend!"
"Which YOU didn't tell her was going to last forever!" She shot back. I shuffled uncomfortably. I still felt bad that I sort of, not really tricked her into it. "Not forever...just until the end of time…" I looked down, hunched into myself. Pynelope growled "And that's the problem. You think everything can happen slowly, that we can all just take our sweet time slowly getting to know people, slowly waiting for the government to change, slowly waiting for the world to be less SHIT!"
She slammed her hands on the table and stood over me. "And while YOU can afford to just WAIT until politics change and the Federation finally gets some GOOD people in power, the rest of us don't have that luxury!"
I blinked at her slowly. "This...isn't about getting a boyfriend, is it?" She snarled. "No. It isn't." She slumped back down in her chair. "Dad, I love you but you need to understand that for the rest of us, we can't afford to just wait until the Federation isn't an oppressive shit anymore." She folded her hands together. "Us mortals need to do things. Enact changes. Start revolutions!" She glanced up at me "I've learned a lot of things since I started being an investigative journalist. And one of those things, is just how bad the Federation has been running things."
She proceeded to tell me about all the dirty deals, enslaved planets and oppressed people. The crime organizations that profit off the desperate people...all things I already knew. She looked so desperate. How long had she been holding this in?
"Thermie, the Federation has been doing all that since before I met your mother." I told her calmly. "Things now are actually BETTER than they were back then."
"But it's not good enough! Billions of people are still suffering under their tyranny!" She insisted. I closed my eye and sighed. "What do you want me to do? Go to war against the Federation?"
"Yes!"
I slammed my fist against the table. "Overthrowing a corrupt government solves NOTHING if there isn't another group ready to take over."
"But YOU can take over-"
"I will NOT take control of the multiverse!" I got up from my chair "I can't govern the multiverse! Do you even have ANY idea how fucking HUGE the Federation's reach is? The planets they take over to convert into farms to keep the stores stocked with food? The planets they mine for resources so that any and all products could be made?! There are so many branches with so many jobs and there's no way I can run this shit show!"
"You just don't want to!" She argued. "You just want to ignore how much the people are suffering because you think they're not your problem!" she accused.
"THEY AREN'T!" I screeched. "My responsibility is keeping you and our family safe! Starting a fucking war with the Federation OUTRIGHT would result in so much catastrophic damage and death of innocents and I have no one to put in power afterwards!"
"WELL THEN WHY DON'T YOU AND MOM AND EVERYONE ELSE TAKE OVER?!"
"HAVE YOU MET YOUR MOM?! SHE EATS PEOPLE!!!"
We were both standing now, panting with the stress of our argument and getting scared looks from the other patrons at the bar. My breath hitched. I was sobbing openly before I could stop myself. "I...I c-can't be part of another re-revolution! I c-can't af-ford to...to lose any of you again…" I tried to wipe my tears but they just kept flowing out, streaming past my hands and sizzling along my flames.
"I-if I start...start a real direct attack on the Federation...th-they won't go after ME in retaliation...they know they can't kill me...but they know how to hurt me...t-they'll go after all of you. They'll go after my worshipers, my outer ring of friends, anyone who's ever been associated with me...and even if I keep you all safe, they'll go after other innocent people, execute them publicly JUST to h-hurt me…"
I feel Pynelope pull me into a hug. I buried my face into her shoulder and sobbed. "I thought you said you didn't care what happened to other people." She commented. I let out a sob/laugh hybrid. "I ne-never said I didn't care...but between them and you, you're more important."
I continued crying. "I make a...show of not caring about anyone in public because it's easier if they think I don't care...they'll leave people alone...but even if I can fool the idiot soldiers and mooks it doesn't stop the people in charge from knowing what's up. They're not entirely stupid. They made their way onto a seat of power for a reason." I tried to stop my shaking. I was failing badly. "They can read between the lines and put two and two together. Pretty amazing for a bunch of selfish idiots who have underlings do math for them…"
Pynelope didn't laugh at my attempt for humor. "Dad?"
"And what if I DO just...kill them all? Murder each and every corrupted member of the governmental body? What then? I don't have anyone to replace them with. The government would fall apart into chaos, which would only be fun until you realized the power has stopped because no one's paying the workers at the power plants, the hospitals aren't getting anymore supplies they need, resources dry up because the mining operations aren't being sent out. There aren't enough supplies to keep people alive and fed and PAID…"
"Wouldn't people just learn to live with less? Be self sustaining?" Pynelope asked. I scoffed. "But they wouldn't want to. Sure, some planets can take care of themselves, but so many people are used to the convenience...they won't be able to live without it."
Why did I take over multiple planets to make into blessed farmlands? To produce food. Why am I masquerading as their god? To make them listen to me. So that if the worst happened, I had several planets devoted to producing more food than they needed and a loyalty to their god making them willing to simply donate the excess to anyone in need. I already have supply runs that ship out excess harvests to the more impoverished planets that couldn't afford to purchase food and have an environment so ravaged by the mining efforts they could no longer grow their own.
But it was slow work. It took months, years, decades of hard work to get any of this. Time that I could afford because I can't die. But for Pynelope...it wasn't soon enough, wasn't good enough. Even if her potential future children or children's children could live in a better world, it didn't change her present. I understood why she was so upset. Why she wanted change NOW. And she's RIGHT.
Slow and steady may be more stable but it didn't stop the people from suffering NOW.
I understood her worry. But attacking the government and overthrowing it wasn't going to fix the problem. I COULD kill off people in power and replace them but with who? I knew plenty of good people, but can they run a multidimensional organization? Hell no.
And I sure as hell can't do it. I can't manage politics. I took over a planet and became its dictator once, as an experiment. It worked...sort of? But even there it was a long term thing. I controlled them through fear for years and years, forcing them to follow my orders to make their planet better. But didn't that make me a hypocrite? Invading a planet and ruling it by force was what the Federation did. Even if I was trying to make things better for them, that's what the Federation did too, their definition of 'better' is just different from mine.
Maybe a lot of this was just me justifying to myself because I was too afraid. Maybe I'm just a selfish coward who wants to ignore the problems because it made me feel better. But what am I supposed to do?
I remember how...as a child living in Flatland, I told myself to do nothing because I had no power. But here I am now, with power to spare and yet I still did nothing. What would the younger me have thought of this? Would she be disgusted by me? Would she understand why I chose to do what I do?
I want to talk to Will.
Hauntfest has come and gone multiple times. I still can't stay awake for it. But my time between blacking out and waking up was getting shorter. I was getting stronger. I don't know what I was trying to do with this. It wouldn't be the real Will. I guess I just wanted to see him again. Even if it was just a shade.
What would he think of me? The last he ever saw me, I was a deranged mess about to murder a Circle. He was horrified to see that. Will was a sensitive soul. He'd probably be afraid of what I am now. But even so...I just wanted to see him again…
I sighed, wiping my tears and pulled away from Pynelope. "I don't know what to do." I admitted. "What should I do? What's the right path here?"
I didn't want to start a fight with the Federation. Time Baby's been almost pleasant to interact with. Heck, he's still trying to help me perform the ritual for Hauntfest. I didn't want to ruin that. Is that selfish?
"I don't know what to do either." Pynelope sighed. "I'm just...angry and frustrated and I don't know what I can do to make things better. But dad, you CAN do something!"
"What can I do?" I asked. She shrugged. "I don't know. Can't you...threaten the bad guys until they stop being bad guys? Or just...make them become good?" she asked. I don't know what the heck she thinks my powers are for...
"I don't mess with free will if I can help it." I sighed. Pynelope nodded. "I can understand that." she sat back down and watched me calm down. "So everything sucks." She concluded.
"Naw. There's still plenty of stuff you can do." I shrugged. "Thing's suck for the poor and lower class citizens. But charities DO exist. You can bring their horrible living situations to light and pressure the Federation into making reforms with the bad publicity enraging the people. You can try and start petitions, get people together to form a union…"
I groaned. "Which will still take time. But that's how things work. True, permanent changes take time. People need to adjust, laws need to be made or gotten rid of. I...am too much of a public enemy to do anything without making the Feds panic and think I'm trying to start a fight, but you can do this. You can get more people to do this."
I couldn't take down the Federation. But...maybe I could try doing more for people in another way? "I wonder if I can start up a soup kitchen? Or create a protected planet for refugees?" That wouldn't cause the Federation to retaliate right?
"I feel dumb...for not helping more…" I muttered. Pynelope sighed. "Well, I'm sorry I tried to demand that you start a war...I just...think its stupid you have to be so complacent…" she growled. "Seriously, you're an all powerful being of pure energy. Why do you back down from them?"
"Because the alternative is all out war, anarchy and the death of trillions." I sighed. If I didn't care about the collateral damage...would I have been willing to try and take out the Federation? "And besides, I'm not indestructible you know? I can still be destroyed and it'd take 1000 years for me to reform myself."
She shuddered. "What...would be able to hurt you?" She asked in worry. "Some kinda Quantum Destabilizer or something. Anything that can cause my consciousness to scatter." I wasn't too worried. Even if it happened, it's not like I would die. "Getting destroyed would suck though. I'd rather avoid it if I could." I looked at her with a small smile. "But you're right that I have been...complacent. Maybe it's time I took a more active role in helping. I won't go around taking down Federation buildings, no more than my usual pranks at least, but I can try setting up soup kitchens and building shelters." In disguise of course.
Pynelope hugged me again. "This is going to take a long time...isn't it?"
"All things do. Unfortunately. Blame Time Baby for that. Asshole."
She snorted and we just held each other for a bit. It was time for me to get off my lazy ass and do something.
----