ABERRANT: WEIRDER STUFF - THE MOMENTS BETWEEN

[Sean Cassidy]

Sean sauntered into her home, slipping off her suit jacket and tossed it onto the coat rack with negligent grace. Gliding through the open design barn-come-bungalow towards the modest kitchen, she undid several buttons on her blouse and with deft motions, removed her bra and flicked it into the clothes hamper. Her buxom, majestic figure hardly seemed to notice the lack of support. She pulled a can of Pepsi from the fridge, cracked it open with a thumb and took a long pull.

It had been a hectic and trying several days since the confrontation in Canada. Preparations to recall their families from the off-world site, multiple debriefings, and an emergency session of the UN. Catching up on world events she had missed while dealing with the situation posed by Devin and his own investigation. Explaining to Laurie what Devin had done and why. The lie on Laurie's had been obvious to anyone when she had said she didn't give a fuck. She'd let Laurie have her tears in private and decided not to tell her about Devin and Lilly.

She wasn't physically tired, but she was emotionally and mentally exhausted. Devin had negated Pandora and Sara had given Apollo an ultimatum, while the rest of the Irregulars had done little more than slow him down and he was unlikely to face justice for his actions, especially since they still needed what he knew. The President had praised them again and given them accolades, but it felt empty to Sean. Sara was empowered once more, but Sean had had nothing to do with it, and she wasn't even sure Sara could be properly classified as a Key any longer. General Pryor had explained his and Devin's actions, but it felt no less a betrayal to her.

Devin. His and Pryor's actions had frayed the trust and faith she had in those that should have been their allies. Perhaps in her friends. With Devin gone, she couldn't congratulate him on the audacity of his place, apologize for thinking the worse of him - even if it had been his intention -  telling him he had been right, or thank him for his sacrifice. She wouldn't discount ever seeing him again, but... She could still smell him in her home, him and the girl Tawni, and Pryor in his armor. She wouldn't ever get to punch him in the face for the actions he'd taken and the words he'd said, telling him he'd been wrong.

They had won, yet it felt like she had lost.

She snorted with self-recrimination as she sprawled out onto the couch, prying off her shoes with her feet, crossing her long legs, and resting her heels on the far armrest. She'd called Devin friend, if sometimes reluctantly, but she couldn't seem to find any tears for his loss, and only a little bit of regret, and she didn't like what that suggested about herself. In acting the part of a megalomaniacal douche-canoe, Devin had reminded her days of her days being bullied as an underdeveloped boy with an overdeveloped mouth, despite how far she had come since then. Devin hadn't been her worse bully, but he had always had the uncanny ability to dig under her skin to get a rise out of her.

Sara had followed Sean in, noticing the frustrated tension in the set of her shoulders and the faint frown on her lips with everything weighing down on her.  The impossibly beautiful woman seemed like she shouldn't fit such a modest place as the converted barn, a mix of ultra-modern and rustic sensibilities, all AMP-glass and aged hardwood. The sky outside was nearly the same colour as Sean's hair, her tanned complexion hard under the fading light, but her turquoise eyes bright and penetrating.

Sean tilted her head to glance at Sara from the bed, who could see the plethora of questions in her gaze, the bracing for answers she may not like but determined to hear them all the same.

"So..." Sean took a sip of her can of Pepsi, "There's so much I need to know, babe, but let's start with this - when you are all powered up, is it still you, or does another set of... prerogatives take over?"

[Sara Hutchins]

“Heh.” Sara laughs and gets a diet Dr Pepper from the fridge, she starts toward the bed then veres off and grabs a chair from the night stand, spins it a round and straddles it resting her arms on the back her can of Dr Pepper dangling unopened in her hands. “Yes it is me but at the same time it's a little more complicated than that.” She pulls the tab on her canned drink and a fine mist sprays out as it pops open. “Did you see that? How the Dr Pepper misted out when the top opened? That's my powers now.

Our bodies were never designed to hold the energies we have once we are unlocked and keyed up. At a certain point our physical bodies will reach their limit and bad things will happen to you.

My ability to Absorb energy, was, enhanced isn't the right term, it was more like evolved by what Apollo was doing. As a key I was never meant to hold that sort of power, but the ability that I had to absorb and redistribute both kinetic and non kinetic energies allowed me to do the same with the energy Apollo was channeling to create his Mega Fauna. But it was still too much so I, or rather my Id, created someplace for that energy to go. Kind of like how Kia created a space to store her extra mass. But the Id being the root of instinct didn't know how to stop it was gratifying to take all that energy in and horde it. Then when I encountered Kyle, the little boy Lilly rescued, well his ability as a quantum Reactor was too much for my Id to resist. Our powers are a reflection of who and what we are and so much more. We are our Power. And Apollo's dicking around with the fundamentals caused me to jump in evolution. Suffice it to say that Apollo created the very thing Pandora and her kin feared.

However it is still too much power for this flesh and blood body so I had to make a body to contain the power. Plus switching bodies is kina cool and all comic booky.”

She lifted the can to her lips and drank half in one long swallow.

[Sean Cassidy]

"I'll admit, it certainly offers some intriguing possibilities," Sean said with amused wistfulness. It was her turn to glance at the bed with a faint grin. She had manifested as a fantasy woman, though she had grown from that initial, oh so very brief, spurious desire, and had a fantasy woman's libido. She had missed the intimacy they had shared when Sara had been depowered - it hadn't been the same between then with Sara depowered and rendering her own quantum expression quiescent. "Possibilities we should definitely explore."

Sara had changed, in a way. Had become more herself. There was a new ease to her, a self-assurance and self-possession she hadn't had since before being hit by Apollo's shenanigans. No, she hadn't had it even before both of them had been empowered. Sara was sharing the room with Sean as her fully enhanced self, and while there was fondness and desire in her eyes, Sara seemed completely comfortable with herself, powered down, and the dynamic between them. There was no shame, guilt, or sense of unworthiness from her. It helped ease the guilt Sean had felt when she had been with Sara before, one empowered, the other not and made Sara all the more attractive and endearing to her.

She flashed Sara a warm smile, then looked down at her hands, the breasts tenting her unbuttoned blouse, the long legs stretched before her. She studied their sublime perfection of form and function, then deeper, at the tissues, tendons, and bones forming them, the activity and division of cells. Cells that divided in flawless replication. She had studied it before and conjectured barring outside influence, her lifespan was indefinite. Her grin turned into a musing moue.

If their powers truly were a reflection of who and what they were, Sean wondered what that said about herself, not for the first time.

"I suppose we'll all have to find our own personal way to handle the growing energies within us when that limit approaches us," she murmured, then pursed her lips in though, considering Kia and her planar displacement of mass. "Some, like you, and possibly Kia may have already found their way."

Sean swung her legs around from the end of the couch and stood up, then walked over to the bedroom area. In passing, she shot Sara an amused smile, an eyebrow arched as she tied back her hair - hair that was longer than Sara's now - in a ponytail. "And since when did you develop such Nerd-cred, that your id made you a comic-book alternate body to hold all the power?" Sean snorted in a light giggle. "It wasn't as impressive a transformation sequence as Sailor Moon, but it was your first time. I'm sure you'll get better at it. Speaking of which, I presume your other powers have also been enhanced, or evolved. Anything change in more drastic or unexpected ways? What about the voice of the noosphere, the collective consciousness of the Earth you hear?"

By the bed, turned halfway away from Sara, Sean changed from her dress clothes into something casual to bum around the house, yoga pants and a red t-shirt adorned with the lightning bolt of the Flash. Then she wondered over to the kitchen area to prepare supper. She finished her Pepsi, crushed the can between her fingers and tossed it into the reclamation unit.

"Anything in particular you'd like, babe?" Sean asked, rooting through the fridge and pulling things out and setting them on the isle.

[Sara Hutchins]

Sara sauntered into the kitchen admiring Sean's backside as she bent over rummaging through the fridge. "Anything is fine babe, whatever you feel like making is fine." Resisting the urge to move up behind her sexy girlfriend she instead sat at the table.

"And to answer your question yes  all of my abilities, powers, what have you were evolved. I guess the defensive ability of absorbing energy is the most changed from it's original function. And yes, my sensing as well. I am aware now not just of the world but of everything. It's like your awareness but instead of being centered on me as an individual it is a true cosmic awareness. That's how I knew about Devin and Pandora, and her siblings, what they are, what we are.

It's really given me a new perspective. and it let's me be me when I put the power away. I kind of like being me."

[Sean Cassidy]

Feeling Sara's eyes on her behind, Sean gave it a bit of extra wiggle as she rooted around the fridge. The Cornucopia processors were convenient and efficient, making food vastly more accessible to all, but that didn't mean people won't stop using fresh ingredients and making meals for themselves. There was something very satisfying in making a good meal with your own hands for you and others to enjoy.

Sean turned back to the island with six bell peppers, two each of yellow, green, and red, and some chicken breasts in hand, along with some mushrooms and a few other vegetables. She danced about the kitchen, gathering up spices, a bag of orzo, and getting out a pot and pan. She had always enjoyed cooking, even moreso now with an expanded perception for tastes and flavours. Chicken and orzo stuffed peppers, making enough there'd be leftovers for another meal.

"I more than kind of like you being you," Sean replied, playfully waggling her brows at Sara. Her hands flowed over the ingredients with a pianist's grace, preparing the meal with casual, eye-catching artistry. "Perspectives change, they should, as someone grows, matures, experiences... more. I know mine have, and it's not just being because I'm 35.5 centimeters taller and wear a bra now."

She shrugged, raising her arms from cutting the chicken and looking down at herself. "But I still feel like me. This is me. I don't feel more like myself when I damp down the power. Perhaps it's because I don't go back to the boy I used to be, but remain a woman. Just as tall, for that matter." She sighed, lips curved in a small smile as she went back to preparing supper. "It's another balancing act, I suppose, where we each have to find our individual equilibrium. I might feel different if my powers and capabilities took the drastic jump yours did, or develop to that level."

She pursed her lips, considering how her own powers and capabilities might expand and evolve. What she possessed now were largely just remarkable enhancements over natural human attributes and capabilities. At the minimum, her awareness would likely grow more fully realized in a manner like Sara's.

"And while I know what you mean, don't start thinking of yourself when you 'power-up' as something other. It's still you in there, even if it's more complicated. I want to know you that way too."

[Sara Hutchins]

"Oh babe,"Sara got up and moved up behind Sean while she prepared the food wrapped her arm slightly around her lovers waist hand resting clasped on Sean's taught tummy. "I know i'm not two different people, least not the way your saying. We are all what we are. All that we have always been." She nuzzles the back of Sean's neck breathing in the scent of her skin brushing her neck with lips that want more.

"We are infinite, but our power is finite." Her voice is barely a whisper hot breath causing the tiny hairs on Sean's neck to stand on end. Sara presses her body close to Sean melding herself to Sean's shape. "I will take you places even your intellect hasn't imagined. Show you things that will change the way you see the universe while at the same time reinforcing what you already know.

I love you Sean, and nothing will ever change that or come between us. No matter what I am yours until the end."

[Sean Cassidy]

"I love you, too, Sara," Sean murmured huskily as she reached down to clasp Sara's hand on her abdomen, tracing the length of her fingers with the tip of one of her own. "I love you, too. And there are no endings, but I'll be with you as long as you'll have me."

She could feel Sara's breasts pressing against her back, the heat of her body, the beat of her heart. Sara's silken breath on her neck made her nipples tighten. She wanted more. She wanted to say more, wanted to promise more.

But she couldn't. She closed her eyes and breathed deep, taking in Sara's natural musk. They were teenagers still, yet they had witnessed more, experienced more, lived more, than people thrice their age. Love was not a simple word, even if it was thrown around freely. When she spoken it, she had meant it fully, it was no simple platitude. But she couldn't promise it wouldn't change, and wouldn't give Sara empty words.

Another sixty, eighty years was one thing. They potentially had centuries, millennia. Aeons, possibly, going by Pandora and her ilk, barring outside circumstances. Things didn't end, true but they changed, changed states, changed phases, adapted, evolved. There was simply too much time to claim nothing would ever change or come between them. Sean was looking to the future, planning for it, trying to shape it, not just for her and her family and friends, and Sara, but for everyone. But she lived for now.

With a flick of her wrist, she stuck the knife into the cutting board, then twisted adroitly around in Sara's arms so they were standing face to face. She nudged her thigh between Sara's legs. With a long-fingered hand, she traced the line of Sara's cheek and cupped her chin, tilting her face up. She tilted her face down and caressed Sara's lips with her own with sublime delicacy.

"Being with you has already changed the way I see the Universe, changed me, in ways I hadn't imagined," Sean breathed, pressing her forehead against hers. "I just hope I can return the favour."

[Sara Hutchins]

"You have" Sara whispered breathlessly as she pressed her mouth to Sean's her hand tightening on the Beautiful Creatures waist pulling her close.

Lunch was forgotten already.

[WS ST]

Spoiler

Thats a wrap for this thread Thank you  Sean