Aberrant: Children of Quantum Fire - Comfort in Unexpected Places [Mature - Complete]

[Bombshell]

Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, 2022

Sitting next to her daughter on her bed, tucking her in the crook of her arm, Jason read Danica a bed-time story, exquisite, versatile voice regaling her with the tale of Puss-in-Boots. They were working their way through the Histoires ou contes du temps passé, in the original French, and old favourite of hers when she had been a little... toddler.

Not yet four, Danica still sensed something was bothering her mother, her easily smiling face subdued, a melancholy light in her indigo eyes. Danica squirmed, gazing up at her mother adoringly and her arms around her tiny waist in a tight hug. "Is mommy sad cuz mommy-Danielle is gone?" Danica whispered. "If it's cuz I wanna pet tiger, it's 'kay if you only get me a cat that wears boots."

"Oh, sweetie!" Jason chuckled softly, so melodious is would shame a choir of angels, hugging Danica tight to her full, soft yet firm bosom and kissing on top of her head. "Cats really don't like wearing boots." Jason leaned over, tickling the bottom of Danica's feet with her perfect nails, making the little girl squeal. "They like even less than you do, it seems. But yes, mommy will always miss mommy-Danielle."

Jason sighed. Just two days, they had been in Calgary, observing the fourth anniversary of Danielle 'Knockout' Bellefleur-Waters - her wife's - death. It had been tasteful and merry after a long moment of somber silence. The very well endowed couple had been very well loved and the people of Calgary didn't drag down the memory of their Municipal Defender with heavy solemnity, but rather celebrated her life. Jason knew Danielle would have preferred it that way, but was grateful all the same Calgary chose to celebrate it in that fashion without any direction from her.

Still, it was a trying time for her, this year more than most. She felt... lonely, despite many good friends and thousands of men - and nearly as many women - seeking her hand, or just a way into her bed. Her full lips tightened - those had started sniffing around less than a week after Danielle had died.

She had been in an intimate relationship since she was fifteen, first with Katya, then with Danielle. She hadn't gone longer than six months without sex in all that time, and that only once, following her bewildering and unexpected eruption. She was a fantasy of a woman and had a fantasy woman's sex drive. Following Danielle's death, her grieving had put a damper on it, but now, four years later, it was rearing its head once more.

Simply put, she missed sex. With no more than an arch of a brow, a lick of a lip, the beckoning of a finger, or an arch of her back, she could remedy the situation. But the thought of taking any woman to her bed made her feel like she was disgracing Danielle's memory.

Jason sighed again, and patted Danica's pillow. "Lay-down, baby. Two more pages, then it's bed-time."

"S'not tired," Danica protested, giving the lie away as she yawned hugely, a tiny fist rubbing her eye.

"Uh-huh," Jason smirked, watching Danica flop down on the pillow, curling up under her blankets.

Jason finished the chapter then closed the book, a flick of her wrist tossing it across the room to land neatly in its place on the shelf. She hummed the haunting refrain to 'When Yanluo Calls' until Danica relaxed into the ease of deep sleep, looking so innocent and carefree. She kissed on the forehead and tucked her in, before gliding to her feet and heading to her adjacent room.

Dani doesn't remember the first attempt on her life - for which I'm grateful - but how long can I keep her from having to worry about future ones? How long can I let her hold onto this precious innocence?

In her room, eyes flicking to the massive bed she had all to herself, alone, Jason stripped out of her simple jeans and t-shirt, as well as her underwear, tossing them into a hamper, and slipping into a gossamer-thin, silvery-blue robe, knotting the sash loosely. She pulled the hair-clip from her hair and tossed it aside, which collapsed into the blob of her eufiber on the bedside table, her silver mane falling in rippling waves to her ankles.

She checked on Danica one more time, her girl was clutching a pink, plushy dragon nearly as big as she was, then closed the adjoining door and picked up an elegantly curved saber leaning against a dresser, seemingly crafted of the clearest glass and with a monomolecularly fine edge. She sauntered onto the balcony, took a deep breath of the cool, mountain air, then casually flipped over the railing, landing in a soundless crouch in her well maintained yard.

Jason sashayed up to a life-sized statue standing on a plinth, running a hand over the smooth, verdant marble with wistful longing. She might not have had Chang's artistic virtuosity, but she still possessed skill no baseline could match and she had crafted this one with nothing more than her bare hands, better than any manufactured tool. It was nothing more than Danielle dressed in a pair of baggy jeans hanging from her hips and a loose hoodie that did little to conceal a figure as voluptuous as her own, looking over her shoulder with wide eyes and an embarrassed little smile. It was simple, nothing high concept, but it captured the essence of the woman Jason loved.

Holding her grief inside and striving to work out some tension to relief another sort of longing, Jason began flowing through martial forms, a habit from studying with the Sifu so long ago, letting her mind float, focused and yet free, every movement coming without thought. Jason knew many styles and practiced no repetitive katas, instead blending them into an improvised whole. It was a sensual, heart-rendingly beautiful dance, elegant and dangerous, as she flowed around her entire yard with a deceptive speed, even skimming the surface of the pool with hardly a splash.

The vivid moon hanging over the mountains made her hair blaze like silver fire and clearly revealed the outline of her matchless figure through the thin shield of her robe, which gaped wide at the front, revealing more of the mesmerizing, shadowed depth between the heaving mounds of her breasts. The blade flickered like a sliver of starlight in her hand, barely seen, air passing through invisible piercings down its length creating a sibilant sigh of music that blended into the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves, the only sound in the night.

And with each step she took, falling into the rhythm of the movements, Jason relaxed further, her beauty and grace burgeoning to a ravishing degree, turning her into a beguiling, awe-inspiring goddess, the sight of which would haunt dreams, if eyes could catch the fleeting sight, less than a blur that disturbed not even the air.

And suddenly, like a finger running down her spine, Jason felt a pair of eyes on her, She came to a full stop facing those eyes, not abruptly, but rather as if it was simply at the moment, her ineffable dance came to an end, argent mane swirling behind her as if it possessed a life of its own. Under the moon, a tear's wet path glistened on the intoxicating curves of her cheek and jaw, and the owner of those eyes took an involuntary breath, though he hadn't been breathing since he had first arrived.

"Shen..." Jason's glorious soprano rippled through the air, more resonant than the most powerful waterfall, sweeter than the purest spring.

[Quantum Fire]

The nova known as Shen, as Traveler and by other titles as well remained still, the vision of beauty from watching Jason move was like watching a waterfall cascading down a mountain, filling the air with mist and rainbows from the light refracting though each of the water droplets, it was like watching the glory of a rising sunset after a storm that painted the skies in reds, oranges and blues, the kind of beauty that made one hold one's breath. Shen could hold his own against it, if he chose to, and at the moment, he had remain still to just watch and take in such majestic beauty, to let the full measure of it flow into him like the ocean, but the tear falling down her cheek touched him and his heart went out to his one time student.

Moving down the steps from where he was standing with a perfect grace that held a hit of a physical perfection that almost matched the other nova's, he walked to her side, where she remained still, and reached up to catch the tear falling from her eye on a fingertip, letting it roll off tip of his finger. Both of them understood body language in a way that no baseline human could fully understand, so the silent offer of comfort from him, expecting and demanding nothing from her, had her moving closer, into the circle of his arms which he closed around her. He knew quite well, without her saying it, how much she needed to be held right now, so many others wanted things from her, but Shen was not asking for anything, simply silently offering to be whatever she needed at the moment.

[Bombshell]

Jason read the mute offer in Shen's eyes and posture and accepted it, gliding into his embrace, his arms going around her slender waist, her hands slim, deceptively strong hands sliding across his back, as she rested her head on his shoulder. Shen could feel a shudder run the length of her body, the fullness of her immaculate breasts pressing against his chest, the strong, rapid beat of her heart, and the heat and two points of distinctive stiffness of desire Jason had long denied herself.

In that moment, Jason realized Shen was an answer to a prayer she had never voiced, never conceived of, yet needed all the same. She knew him, knew well, and just like nearly fifteen years ago, he was there in the time of her greatest need, though those needs were vastly different. It was fertile soil in which intimacy could grow. She had admitted to herself sometime ago that though it was against her will and the mental anguish had been unbearable, the physical sensation of laying with a man had been far from unpleasant. Though she knew Danielle would never fault her for finding love, intimacy, after she was gone, Jason still felt it would be a betrayal. But to find herself entangled with a man, of her own volition, that would be an entirely new experience, one that had nothing in common with her relationship with Danielle. One, perhaps, that would help her move pass the unwarranted burden of guilt.

Against his shoulder, Shen felt Jason's lips curl in a self-deprecating smile. Jason had pondered taking a man to her bed before, but somehow, she had never pictured her first being Shen. Einherjar, possibly, though both of them bore the specters of lost loves. Jason raised her head, regarding Shen through long lashes with beguiling eyes that made his even his thoughts grow sluggish. Jason was a consummate actress, there was none able to convey more with just a widening of her eyes, a quirk to her lips, or an arch of her brow, and Shen saw all Jason wanted to say.

She lowered her head and kissed him. There was no hesitancy or restraint - she had made her choice and now, would follow it through the entire course. Her long silver tresses curled around them like a silken, wind-blown cloak. Shen had never tasted lips so sweet, firm and soft, not felt a tongue so deft, her unfathomable grace extending to every part of her being. And though his balance of Chi and Quantum sustained him, he still found his breath taken away.

But so did Jason. Feeling the release in the woman in his arms, Shen could help but respond. She was a long-time friend, a former student, yes, but with her in his arms, he couldn't forget she was an exquisite, sensual woman with no peer. The kiss was long, unhurried, languorous, playful. When one of Jason's hands slid teasingly to his buttocks, he responded in kind, making her shiver with a finger caressing the inside of an impossibly smooth thigh.

When the kiss ended, the moon had traveled a noticeable distance in the sky. Holding Shen's hands in her own, a sweet ache - much missed - radiated from her loins and breasts, and she could feel Shen's swollen hardness pressing against her thigh. A slight tilt of her head, coquettish, a faint smile and the tip of her tongue flicking into view, was all that was needed to make her desire, her need, known.

Both of them could slip through the bounds of space, Jason could move faster than the baseline eye could follow, and Shen could move nearly as swiftly. However it was done, the yard was suddenly empty and a man and a woman found themselves in a bedroom. Another kiss, this one fierce, but fleeting, then Shen found himself tossed onto the bed. Jason waved a finger at him, admonishing to stay where he was with a teasing grin.

He could see the infinite probabilities of the future, had achieved a balance between what it was to be human and more than human that few could comprehend - this woman being one of them - and yet, and with wonder, he felt a surging sense of anticipation. And it was more than just an intimate encounter with what most agreed was the most beautiful woman in the world. It was that the woman understood men in a way so few could.

In one fluid flourish, Jason slipped her soieleau robe from her shoulders, a sensual dance in a single movement that would shame the headliners of the hundred best gentleman's clubs in the world, revealing herself in all her naked glory. It was a sight the world had seen before, but there was added poignancy, sensuality when if was for one person in particular. With her poetic-grace, Jason slinked up to her bed, working her way up Shen's body as she made a production of stripping him nude with teasing fingers and taunting lips.

Words were not needed when flesh said so much...

[Quantum Fire]

It was a dream of just about every red-blooded male on the planet, not to mention many females, to have the woman known as Jason, or Bombshell, in just this degree of intimacy, but for the nova known to many as the Traveler, this was more about her then him. It was impossible to look at Jason without feeling some degree of desire, but Shen had always controlled that, with a perfect control that would have left anyone else shaking their heads in wonder, he'd kept it in even when he'd rescued her from her weeks of torment so long ago, something he knew she still felt intense gratitude for, and teaching her and Danielle Qi Meng so long ago, only had put her further in his debt, deepening her sense of gratitude toward him

Sense, he knew that he could make requests of her that she would almost always say yes too, especially now that Danielle was gone, but some things he would never ask of her, he offered himself with no strings and no limits tonight, and would continue to do so, though he regretted knowing already that nothing between them could be permanent, at this juncture in her life, Jason was unlikely to be ready for a permanent relationship for years yet, perhaps even decades, from his knowledge of the future. But then, who wouldn't want to have a permanent relationship with the lovely and compassionate woman Jason had become, he would take this moment and this week, providing what she needed. She was his strongest, and in some ways most talented student, though she had yet to master every nuance of Qi Meng, she was well on her way, and some day would be called a grand master herself.

All of this went though his mind as she joined him on the bed, and then thought passed from his mind, there was nothing but sensation and enjoyment of one another that would go on for hours, as neither of them truly needed sleep..

[Bombshell]

The morning sun crept over the mountains, rose and golden light flowing through the bedroom window, across the rug-covered floor, and over bounteous swells of feminine flesh, caressing Jason's nude beauty with luminous fingers, making her argent hair glimmer radiantly. It was a scene that would have been all but impossible to capture in its intensity in any sort of tangible media, and Shen felt blessed - and fortunate - to have witnessed it, the ease in Jason's contented grin. A divine angel descended from the heavens, yet with an innate sensuality that made her undeniably a part of the mortal world.

Humming a lively, playful tune, Jason reclined on her bed in languid satiation, one hand behind her head, the other sliding across her hip and down her thigh, glancing at Shen from the corner of her eye. It had been... different spending the night with a man in her bed - with Shen in her bed. So different from Danielle, and it was more than just the lack of another pair of breasts to play with or what Shen had between his legs.

He wasn't as nearly as strong as her, let alone Danielle, didn't know her body as well as Danielle had through ten years of intimate experience. Despite her initial sensual bravado, Jason had been slightly hesitant, her heart beating like a thunderous drum. But under the touch of Shen's graceful fingers, his deft lips and tongue - a monk, perhaps, but no chaste ascetic was Shen - she had grown bolder and her passion had bloomed. Shen had taught her balance, moderation in all things, and she had denied herself too long in memory of Danielle.

Now, the floodgates of sexual desire had swung open in release and relief and she didn't regret it in the least. She remembered what she had liked when she had been a man, she recalled all the things Lady Envy had forced her body to do to all those, and she had simulated many sexual encounters in her acting career. Though there were still things Jason wasn't comfortable doing with anyone other than Danielle, there were things she couldn't do with Danielle. Almost anyone besides Shen would have been shocked and surprised by what Jason was willing to do and did last night - and what she had embraced having done to her - perhaps most of all, Jason herself.

"Thanks, Shen," Jason said, the first words they had exchanged, rolling over on her side to face Shen directly, a teasing grin on those intoxicating lips. "I really needed that."

She placed two long fingers under his chin, tilting Shen's head up and giving him an ardent kiss. She had only ever been in two long-term relationships - Katya, then Danielle - and though she preferred them, even now, a part of her knew she wasn't ready for another, and not with Shen. She loved him, but not like that, just as good friends, really good friends. With benefits, it seems... Still, that didn't mean she wanted her time with Shen to end. Not yet, not after nearly four long years of self-imposed abstinence. "Spend another day with me and Danica, then another night with me?"

The answer was never in doubt. Despite all his discipline, his intentions and promises, Shen was still a man and Jason was still a woman, a woman like no other. "Jason, It would be my pleasure."

Jason giggled unselfconsciously, rolling out of bed and getting dressed in a sexy set of underwear under a pair of worn jeans and a tight, white shirt with 'These Get Me In Trouble' written across the front in red, distorted letters. Shen mused wonderingly how Jason could make put on clothes every bit as sensual as another woman taking them off. Jason pulled her ass-length silver hair back in a wild pony-tail, glancing at Shen over her shoulder with a twinkle in her indigo eyes. "Yes, yes it was, wasn't it? Mine too."

Both of them heard Danica begin to stir in her room, Jason smiling fondly hearing the sound of her waking yawn. "Okay, I gotta get Dani dressed, then call the studio and Katya. Make yourself at home, the shower is right over there." She pointed as she sashayed towards Danica's adjoining bedroom door - despite their energetic encounter, Jason looked as fresh and clean as if she had just stepped out of a salon. "Then how 'bout I cook us a delicious breakfast, and after I was thinking... the beach."

Left to his own devices for the moment, Shen could clearly hear every movement and word Jason and Danica made. He couldn't help but smile at their interaction. Jason was a good mother, easy-going, and Danica was simply adorable and precious - Danica squealed at the news Uncle Shen was spending the day with them. Shen heard the sounds of Danica watching a children's TV program while Jason started breakfast and made her calls.

The call to the studio was to cancel shooting for the week - personal reasons - but since they shot the episodes well in advance just in case of unforeseen circumstances, it wasn't much of an issue. The call to Katya was to shuffle some finances and review some up-coming events people wished Bombshell to attend, interspersed with some playful and teasing banter between long-time friends and former lovers, but it was quickly derailed by something else.

"... I knew it! You got laid, Jase! That is totally a woman's 'I got plowed right and proper last night' grin. You gotta tell me who," came Katya's smoky voice.

There was the sound of a hand slapping a forehead and a long-suffering sigh. "Why do I bother with the video-phone when I talk with you again, Kat? I'm not tellin' you."

"It's Ragnarockette, isn't it? I saw the way you two were eye-fucking at that QNA dinner a month. Kinda looks like Danielle and nearly as strong, but no as stacked. No? Oh, oh! No, it was Lydia Divine, you've had that hate-love thing going on since the first movie you girls did together. Or did you finally give into one of Caramel Bath's propositions? Good choice, I said yes, once, twice - that woman knows how to fuck."

"Kat! Dani's right here..." Jason didn't sound too affronted however, and not precisely embarrassed either. "It wasn't any of them."

"Oh. My. God! It was a guy!"

"No..."

"It totally was! You bitch! Why didn't you tell me? Do you have any idea what the odds in Vegas are that you'd spread your legs for a cock? Like, for real, not the hundreds of men the tabloids claim you bang already? Whowasit-whowasit-whowasit? Tell me!" Shen can almost hear Katya's eyes narrow in suspicion through the videoscreen. "You and Einherjar finally did it, haven't you? He's a huge manslut - I love that about him, huge indeed! The Einherjar and the Valkyrie! That's perfect! Just friends! Pfft! Riiight!"

"Katya... sigh... It wasn't Ein, 'kay? Look, I have to-"

There was a burst of husky chuckles. "This is even better! He's still there, isn't he? Don't go anywhere! I'm popping right over to see this scion of masculinity who's made Bombshell exchange her dyke-card for a bi-card. No way is it one of those androgynous pretty-boys you model with sometimes -" Katya's voice broke off with the sound of a dialtone as she hung up.

"Shen? We gotta go," Jason said, a tone of near-panic in her voice. "C'mon, Dani, leave it. I'll make another breakfast at the Island House."

[Quantum Fire]

Shen didn't spend every minute looking into the future, though he usually gave the field of potential and possibilities a momentary glance each day, reducing the degree of surprises he encountered, though often there were to many possibilities to be sure which way things would play out, he would simply consider the most likely, but this morning he'd been very distracted, otherwise he would have warned Jason, and they would be either on his mountain or her island. At the moment, he gave the futures a glance, and all of them showed the same thing, they would either leave of deal with Jason's overly enthusiastic friend, who Jason wasn't ready to deal with at all.

Picking up Danica from the table, setting her on his shoulders as she squealed in delight, he gave Jason a nod, and both of them vanished, whoever arrived later would find it abandoned in the midst of activity, and they would be on Jason's private island in the pacific, where they would be able to avoid attention for a while longer. Setting Danica down, he set to work on making breakfast for the three of them as he looked at Jason and let her think about what she wanted to do about this, if anything.

[Bombshell]

Looking over at Jason, Shen found her succulent lips curved into a content smile - her anxiety had been more for appearance's sake than any genuine embarrassment on her part. She had made her choice - and if it was one she would never have considered just a few years ago - she still didn't regret it. She had rather enjoyed it in fact, quite a good deal in fact.

She tilted her head down at gave Shen a kiss on the lips, then bent over and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "Dani-honey, how 'bout you help Uncle Shen with breakfast?"

"Yes! I can do that. I'm almost four!" Danica beamed and tottered over to one of the drawers, pulling out a toy, plastic dish and cutlery set from a drawer, then clambered up a step stool so she could stand at the island in the kitchen. Shen handed her a block of cheese, which she happily began 'cutting' into slices, which was really more of crushing the cheese into slices with the dull, plastic knife.

Jason smiled, so pleased and happy it made the sun seem pale in comparison. She gave Shen a smirk as she began to glide out of the kitchen to open the house. "You might as well make enough for four, Shen. Katya will show up soon enough."

The house on her private island on the far reaches of the Great Barrier Reef was a sleek, ultra-modern affair, yet still designed to be to complement the tropical island instead of detracting from it. She opened windows, breathing it the fresh, salt air and the scent of the lush vegetation and set out the deck chairs on the deck. She hadn't been here for nearly two weeks, but Dale Vallen, her caretaker here, had kept everything in order and nothing seemed out of place or disturbed.

Jason was back in the gleaming white and grey kitchen helping Shen - and Danica - with breakfast, the scent of frying bacon, eggs, and fish, and more permeating the air when she caught a flicker of jade and obsidian light. She hadn't been wrong, she mused with a wry grin, as the two-tone light swelled into a spinning vortex and out stepped perhaps a stunning woman wearing a pale grey dress and high-heeled sandals, her hair coiled in a stylish updo, the midnight locks contrasting with her pale skin and vivid, green eyes. Katya, her oldest friend, the woman who had been her first girlfriend, back when she had still been a baseline... and a man.

"Kat, curiosity, killed and all that?" Jason teased, setting down a plate for Katya at the table. Katya snorted, nonplussed by Jason's seeming equanimity. She had been hoping to tease Jason mercilessly about succumbing to a man - all the raunchy jokes were right there for the telling- but the ridiculously hot woman was looking far too pleased and satisfied with herself for any of it to stick. "Pull up a chair, breakfast is ready. Shen, the disappointed, lovely lady is Katya Skovskaya, an old and very dear friend - though Gods know why. Kat, Shen... " There was a hint of old pain in her glorious, indigo eyes, but it was quickly gone. "Well, you know the story and what he means to me." Her smile widened with saucy smoothness. "Then and now."

Katya eyed Shen with frank and undisguised directness. Smooth, well defined and coiled muscles, he carried himself and moved with an absolute control - surely capable of all sorts of fun things in bed. And there was an incredible sense of knowing in his eyes, his serene expression with just a hint of mischievousness to the faint curve of his lips. He was no Einherjar - in her opinion - but her impish grin made a pair of dimples bloom in her cheeks.

"Good call, Jase. And Shen, from the bottom of my heart, thank-you, from saving the hottest babe on the planet from early spinster-hood," Katya said with overly dramatic gratitude. "It would have been a tragic waste."

Jason rolled her eyes, but grinned, all the same. "I might be fine with you knowing, Kat, and most of my friends, but please, don't go spreading all around, just yet. I want to enjoy this before the tabloids get at it, eh?"

Jason was polite about it, but there was an underlying tone to her enchanting voice that warned Katya that she was laying down the law on this issue and from a woman of her devastating presence, it was like a law written into the bone. Katya nodded. "Of course, Jase." She smirked. "Took over twenty years, but you've finally took a stab at what you've been missing, being a woman. You should enjoy it, It's fun."

Jason could only agree - different, but fun all the same. She still missing having another pair of boobs to play with though.

"Look! Look, Katty! I made brefast too!" Danica exclaimed, slapping down a sandwich on Katya's plate, which seemed to consist solely of mangled cheese and poorly spread butter on two pieces of bread. "Itza cheese san'wich! Try it! It's good! Try it!"

Jason beamed, her eyes gleaming with teasing mirth.

[Quantum Fire]

He looked at Katya a moment, and he considered the replies he could make, and instead of saying anything he moved to Jason's side and put a hand on her shoulder. "Our lovely Jason is very dear to all of us, I am here to provide whatever she needs." He noted the smirk from Katya at his choice of words, and he winked at her, to let her know he knew exactly what he was saying, and that he was inviting her to make whatever jokes she might chose to out of it. He also glanced at Danica and smiled slightly at the little girl, then back at Katya and raised an eyebrow slightly, in question to see what she would do with Danica's offering.

With nova's at this level, it was impossible to hide much from each other, and there was no real need to in this case, both Jason and Shen were silently aware of each other's emotions, and somehow both of them knew that the relationship was temporary, though neither was ready to say anything about it, Shen was willing to talk if she wanted too, but also didn't need a discussion of things, especially when Danica and Katya were here. Despite his name, as the Traveler, and being well known to some, Shen was actually a rather private individual, keeping a lot of things to himself.

[Bombshell]

"Yes you are," Katya replied to Shen in a suggestive tone and a sly smile. Her green eyes were dancing as she grinned down at Danica, ruffling her silver and gold hair playfully, then picking up the 'sandwich' in her seductive fingers, fingers that could do so much. With exaggerated chewing motions, which in actuality, hiding bites in a napkin, Katya pretended to gobble down the sandwich, then patted her trim waistline. "Mmmm... That was good, Dani. But maybe a little too much butter."

"Lemme make 'nother one, Katty! I can do better!" Dani promised, scampering back up the step-stool.

"Oh, no, I couldn't eat another, Dani. I only have a small belly, see?" Katya stood up, pointing at her waist and slipping around behind Danica.

Danica's fine brows crinkled in confusion. "Mommy's belly is even smaller than yours, Katty, an' she eats all the time."

Katya tickled Danica in the ribs, making her squeal, than picked up a real knife and placed it in Danica's hand, placing her own hand over the child's to guide her. She flashed Jason an impish grin. "Well, you see, your mommy has two extra bellies, and they aren't small, at all. Here, let me help you make another sandwich for your mother, something more than just cheese. Two big sandwiches, to fill her two extra bellies, okay?"

"'Kay!" Danica chirped happily, eyes on the shiny knife in her hand, that Katya used to help her cut up slices of cheese and fish.

Breakfast preceded with light-hearted banter, Jason feeling a weight off her shoulders she had hardly been aware of until it was gone. Even with her sexual reawakening, she was well aware what was between her and Shen was ephemeral, and that suited her fine. She wasn't sure if she could ever love a man as much as she loved a woman, as much as she loved Danielle, but she could admit making love to one had its own kind of appeal. It wasn't as appealing as being with a woman, but thanks to Shen, she now felt she could be with another one someday.

Funny how things could work out.

With three graceful novas in the kitchen and one spritely child, once breakfast was done, the dishes were swiftly cleaned and the kitchen was straightened. They walked out onto the deck, taking in the view and the fresh, salty air, Danica trying to yank Jason and Katya to the beach by their hands. Jason picked up her daughter, giving her a kiss on the nose, then helped her take off her shoes and rolled up her pants to the knee and set her back down again, so she could go run and play in the surf, though she kept a sharp eye on her.

Listening to her daughter's giggles, Jason slid a falsely demure glance Katya's way. "So, Kat, you think you can handle Dani for a night or two?"

Katya flashed her, and Shen, a wicked grin, well aware of what Jason had in mind. And the truth was, while she was in no rush to have any children of her own, she very much enjoyed playing the fun aunt to Danica. She was the sweetest girl ever despite losing one of her mothers before she was even born, and having her and her mother's lives threatened more than once.

"Oh, I think I can manage that. You two have some nasty, naughty fun, I'll take care of the tyke." Katya chortled and tensed for a moment, then lifted off the ground and flew up next to Danica, grabbing her around the waist. "Come on, little one, you'll be staying with me for a little while and we'll practice your flying, since everyone knows your mommy can't fly, though gravity does ignore certain obvious aspects of her."

Danica looked puzzled for a moment, then focused on the flying part and squealed, clapping her hands. "Goody! Goody!"

Another of Katya's green and black warps appeared above them, and holding hands, side-by-side, she and Danica flew through it. Jason chuckled, shaking her head and watching them until the portal winked out. Even after twenty years, her friends still teased her about not having to capacity to fly under her own power.

She turned back to Shen, a hand on his chest guiding him down into a wrought-iron framed deck-chair with insistent strength, then followed him on top, straddling him across his waist, and leaned over, kissing him, her breasts flattening across his chest, a hand reaching under his shirt. Her long hair fell around them like a silver curtain glinting with the golds and oranges and reds of the setting sun.

"I know this isn't going to last between us, Shen," Jason murmured, her husky soprano enough to bring any man's or woman's blood to a boil. "It just has to last for now." Shen could feel her lips curl into an impish grin reminiscent of Katya's, and her voice held the heat of rising, healthy and physical, desire. She peeled his shirt off, pinning his hands above his hand with one of hers. "I was thinking we could begin our earlier, silent conversation right here, then spend the night in the ocean, exploring its depths... and ours."

[Quantum Fire]

Shen let Jason see to the matter at hand, obtaining a few days worth of privacy for the both of them, and then he walked toward her in answer to her suggestion, and he smiled then put his arms around her and kissed her. "A week, Jason, that's what we have, to heal and to enjoy being a woman, in a manner that you haven't really been before." At the somewhat lascivious grin she gave him he chuckled and and continued. "As least, until last night.. I'd say you were entirely and enjoyably female last night. In any case during this week your mine, agreed?" She nodded again and he laughed, it was an easy going manner from Shen that almost no one saw, letting his hair down quite a bit. "Good, then get your cloths off, and let's see to that silent conversation you were talking about." He kissed her and things proceeded from there, to their mutual enjoyment.

[Bombshell]

Rich, dulcet laughter rippled across the entirety of the island as with a flicker of movement imperceptible to the unaugmented human eye, Jason acceded to Shen's demand, stripped down to her flawless flesh. Another impossibly swift and graceful motion and Shen found himself as naked as the woman in his arms, his strong hands overflowing with the abundance of Jason's perfect breasts, her succulent lips pressed against his.

So few could really understand without experiencing it themselves and despite his wisdom and experience - in one way, she knew Shen better than he knew himself - it was wryly amusing that Shen was no exception. Though in her head, she didn't really think of herself purely as a woman, Jason had been entirely and enjoyably female for a long time. To be fair, he was entirely right that she hadn't let herself freely indulge in her femininity in one respect, she amended as her lips broke free of his mouth and trailed down his neck, and across his chest, then lower... There were things she could teach him as well...

Then sun set on two people entwined in sublime desire and companionship - their genders and novahood had no bearing in that moment, only that they were together - as the reds and oranges deepened into blues and lavenders, and the moon rose, turning the ocean to silver and obsidian.

*****************************

It was a thoroughly enjoyable week, one of the best of Jason's life, one that neither passed too fast, nor dragged on, despite it being the longest time she hadn't been with her daughter. They connected on multiple levels, friends, student and teacher, lovers, and it was a release Jason hadn't realized how desperately she needed.

Trading stories and anecdotes, mostly about her daughter and his wards, she realized Shen had needed that week almost as much as she had. He was the quintessential zen master, who couldn't help but see innumerable probabilities - possibilities - in his mind's eye, yet he rarely let himself relax and take time for himself. It was good to see him smile and laugh, setting aside his burdens for a time.

The woman known to the world as Bombshell was one of his oldest students, one few would suspect, and unlike most, she hadn't been searching for a way to deal with the dilemma of taint. It had been in a state of emotional and mental trauma that he had found her. Though his training and teaching, she had found a psychic balance, and through them, a physical and quantum equilibrium that permeated her entire being. Through the years since, she had mastered his discipline, if not near his breadth of skills.

With this latest plateau Jason had reached, she was ideally suited to learning a greater sense of balance, and to learn the techniques to impart a clean quantum template on any students she may eventually take. Their lessons were languid, interspersed with lively debate, for Jason had her own ideas on how to teach and interpretations of his lessons, and enticing distractions. The fluid elegance of their katas would have made the Bolshoi theatre weep to witness.

*******************************

Back at her home in Whistler, Jason gave her daughter a tight hug, whirling her and tossing her a hundred feet in the air before effortlessly catching her, Danica giggling so hard she was snorting. Holding Danica with one arm, she reached out and gave Shen a hug and a brief kiss. One week engaged with something she would never had imagined herself contemplating and now, she felt more like herself than ever. It was odd... and wondrous.

"Visit any time, Shen. And not just for me and my little imp, but for you as well," Jason offered warmly, a suggestive quirk to her brow, but her expression was otherwise bland. "And thank you."

Shen grinned boyishly, giving Jason a chivalrous bow. She may have been his student and his friend of many years, but Jason had made it hard for even him to see her as anything other than the ineffably beautiful and sensual woman she was. Despite everything else he was, he was also a man, after all.

"I think it should be me thanking you, Jason. Of course I'll visit, whenever I can, and the same to you." A faint shimmering aura bloomed around him, then he was gone, carried away on the Tao. "Good-bye."

"Later, Shen." Jason set her daughter back down on her feet, glancing down at her as she led her inside. "So what did you and Kat do while Shen and I were... on vacation, kiddo?"

Jason listened to Danica's exuberant account, her lips pursed with rueful musing. After the last week, she thought she'd be seeing Einherjar in a new light when they met for their next chess match. And the next QNA event she attended might end up being interesting for an entirely different reason - Ragnorockette was a good friend and had never hid her attraction, and Jason had little doubt she'd notice the change in her as easily as Katya had.

The tabloids would catch on soon enough, but Jason hardly cared. They had been inferring the intimate details of her life since she erupted, rarely with any validity. And though she was moving on, Danielle's place in her heart wasn't lessened in anyway. Rather, what she felt she could encompass had expanded.

All by seeking comfort in a most unexpected place.

[Quantum Fire]

End of Thread

XP: 2 Baseline, 2 Nova