[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/01988e79-d71e-71f9-b7ed-23a54799e379.webp[/img][/center]

In her lab in Los Angeles, Dr. Dominika Novikova’s life was in shambles. She’d been sleeping here for the past few weeks, avoiding the haunted ruins of her home. Her wife - soon to be ex-wife - could remain there. Dominika had no interest. Both of her children were out of the house, and they’d find out soon enough - perhaps sooner than she had hoped. Diana was in crisis, and so was Percy. She’d spent the last few hours making phone calls and strategies for her daughter, and in the back of her mind, working the problem that her son was facing. Dominika had sent Max some reading recommendations, and now that she’d had a chance to look through her own personal Zotero library, she was ready….

… with absolutely fucking nothing. 

She couldn’t fix this with a snap of her fingers. And she wasn’t sure the wizard could either. 

Dominika pulled out her phone and shot off a text to Max, letting him know she was ready to portal over - whenever he was.  

Max's phone vibrated, as he pulled it out of his pocket he saw the message from Dominika. A long exhausted sigh leaving him. Fuck. He threw his head back onto his pillow that he'd reclaimed for the couch. The day had been exhausting already. He was glad to have his kids back home, but to have 6 others on top of them and already have a telepathic incident within the home, all the cursed things that happened at the exams, on top of an actual curse placed on a friend…the last thing he needed was to add Quantum Entanglement into that mix with his son. He'd tried reading the book Dom had suggested, but it wasn't exactly a subject you can learn in an afternoon. 

With another sigh he sat up on the couch, placing the book to his side, and opened a portal for Dom to enter through.

Dominika stepped through a moment later, pausing for a moment as she took in Max. He looked like she felt - like absolute shit. [color=add3ff]“I’d offer you something strong, but I’m not sure it would help,”[/color] she said dryly. Drowning herself in a bottle at the end of the night sounded like a good plan, even if she doubted the alcohol would dull the thoughts racing through her mind. [color=add3ff]“Where are the kids?”[/color]

[Color=aba400]”Its a dry house I'm afraid.”[/color] Max replied as he closed the portal behind her. Standing up from the couch and nodding towards the outside. [Color=aba400]” Full house I'm afraid. The others are upstairs but I had Ben and the boys wait out back for us so we could have a bit of privacy. Don't need their business being told to every kid at Margaret Carter now.”[/color] 

She grimaced in sympathy. A full house and a dry house? She wouldn’t have been able to stand it. Although today she found herself accepting things as part of her reality that were otherwise unimaginable. Before she moved towards the outside, though, she hesitated for a moment. [color=add3ff]“I don’t have a solve for this - not yet,”[/color] she then admitted, shame flooding her. [color=add3ff]“But I will find one,”[/color] she promised.

Max gave her a tired smile. A look of understanding deep within his eyes. He could bend reality to his whim, but even he wasn't able to “fix” this. And what parent wouldn’t do anything for their kids? [Color=aba400]”We can't solve all of our kids' problems for them. But…we can give them the tools needed to fix their own mistakes, learn, and be better. I actually took inspiration on how to solve this little matter from you and another kid who's here tonight. We may not be able to solve this entanglement, but we can dampen it. Suppress it. Maybe further down the road you and I can find a way to single out the entanglement so that is the only piece being suppressed.”[/color]

Dominika raised an eyebrow. [color=add3ff]“You want to put collars on our children,”[/color] she surmised. It was… an extreme measure. And there were certain safeguards that would need to be put in place. But it would be hypocritical of her to not see the merit - she had a power herself that could not be controlled, forcing her to wear quartz glasses to avoid directly gazing on another living soul. 

[Color=aba400]”They won't be collars, nothing so obvious as to mark them. But measures must be taken to ensure this entanglement doesn't develop further. They can look like friendship bracelets if anything. No one would question or suspect a thing. Danni's already made some for his friends this year so it's not out of the ordinary.”[/color] 

She was silent for a moment. She had her suspicions as to exactly how her son and his boyfriend had become entangled, but the school hadn’t called them with an explanation - just the disclosure. Did she trust Max Gray to put a device on her only son? [color=add3ff]“They have to be able to remove them by themselves - nothing that locks,”[/color] she stipulated. [color=add3ff]“And I need to be able to look you in the eye to know if I can trust you to put that on my son.”[/color]

Max smiled. He knew she was just being protective over her son. He'd do the same thing if the positions were reversed. [Color=aba400]”Dom, you're more than welcome to use your powers on me. I have no intention of harming your son, neither does my son. The bracelets will be like your usual ones we'd have made as kids. An elastic banding underneath to allow for easy removal with colorized beads to match their personal aesthetics. It'll even have each others names on them so it appears to others they simply gifted them to each other tonight as a step in their relationship. I may not be an expert in Quantum Physics, but I know my way around how kids think.”[/color]

[color=add3ff]“Thank you,”[/color] Dominika then paused. When she was younger, she would have to ask for someone to help her put the glasses back on - the images would be so overwhelming, staring into infinite possibility. Now that she was older, with kids of her own, she had a higher success rate at forcing herself to close her eyes - roughly 48%. She took a breath, before removed her glasses, and [i]she saw Max.[/i]

A minute later, she staggered backwards, forcing the lenses back over her eyes. She panted slightly, catching her breath. “Alright. Let’s talk to the little Romeos.”

[Color=aba400]”Guess I cant be that bad then.”[/color] He asked playfully before nodding to the direction they needed to go. 

[color=add3ff]“No worse than Wanda,”[/color] she smirked slightly. [color=add3ff]“Although some interesting fashion choices…”[/color]

Max lead Dominika through the hallways of the house, exiting past a checkered tile floor that was the patio and past the stained glass door into their backyard. A firepit was off to their right, chairs encircled it as the light from the fire colored the faces of those already present with a warm glow. Dorian appeared nervous, despite knowing this wasn't something they could've possibly known about. Max made his way over and took the seat across from the boys.

Percy sat there stiffly, the only signs that he was still alive being the slow ride and fall of his chest, and the shredded mess the bed of his left thumb had become as he attempted to self soothe. He hadn’t seen his mothers since Thanksgiving. And it shouldn’t have terrified him for them to come, given that the entanglement didn’t concern him. But… his moms could be intense. And he didn’t have a framework as to how they’d react to this beyond one word: [i]extreme[/i]. 

His mother Maria wasn’t there though. That made things harder. Both his mothers were difficult to read, but one was better at reading him than the other - better at reading [i]anyone[/i]. And secretly the one that he preferred. He couldn’t bear Dominika being disappointed in him - or angry with Dorian.

[color=add3ff]“You must be Dorian,”[/color] Dominika said, as she took a seat next to Max. And then, having almost forgotten, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small photograph. [color=add3ff]“I’ve never met one of my children’s boyfriends before, so I thought I would start off on the right foot and give you this.”[/color]

Percy’s eyes flared.

His mother handed Dorian a baby photo.

What was she playing at?

[color=ed1c24]“Mother, that isn’t why you came all this way,”[/color] Percy scoffed. [color=ed1c24]“Not with Diana hospitalized.”[/color]

[Color=CC99FF]”But Perce you look so cuuuuute!”[/color] Dorian cooed as he examined the photo. Though why she gave him it he wasn't exactly sure. [Color=CC99FF]”I uh…I dont ‘ave a gift for you t'ough… to be ‘onest I wasn't expectin’ to meet you until t'e ‘olidays.”[/color] He said sheepishly. 

Max cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow at Dom. [Color=aba400]”Now that pleasantries have been had, I think it may be best we move on to why we are all here. Especially since the boys should be sleeping soon. They have a big contest tomorrow.”[/color]

Dominika knew what she was doing. She knew she struggled with people. And she knew that Percy’s boyfriend probably would not like her very much after this conversation. She was blunt, direct, and harsh - qualities that were not generally prized. A little bribe would hopefully offset that. [color=add3ff]“You two have entangled on a quantum level. I cannot reverse it yet, but I will. I have my theories as to how it happened. And it is important that it does not continue to happen, so… The fix,”[/color] Dominika paused. [color=add3ff]“Is of your father’s design. We will suppress it by suppressing its origin - the mixing of your abilities.”[/color]

Somehow, Percy became even stiffer. His heart rate accelerated. Were they about to be forbidden from seeing each other? That was unacceptable. Were they going to be instructed to abide by abstinence? Also unacceptable. His eyebrows furrowed as his face settled into a glare. [color=ed1c24]“Absolutely not,”[/color] he huffed. [color=ed1c24]“You will not keep me from him.”[/color]

Dorian's hand went to Percy's in an instant. Squeezing it tightly. There was no way his father would suggest such a thing right? Right? They couldn't keep them apart, how would they? Dorian wouldn't leave the school and he doubted Percy would either. Even if he did his powers were teleportation, so they could meet up. Or he could steal a sling ring from the Academy down the road!

Max shook his head. In all these years he'd have thought Dom would've moved past her almost emotionless tact when handling situations. [Color=aba400]”No one is forbidding anyone from seeing each other. What your mother is attempting to allude to is that in order for your powers to not further entangle each other. They'll need to be dampened. An extra layer of protection if you will.”[/color]

[color=add3ff]“Yes, an [i]extra[/i] layer,”[/color] Dominika emphasized. [color=add3ff]“Not the [i]sole[/i] layer.”[/color] She hadn’t had this conversation with Percy. She mentally added it to the agenda - after solving the entanglement and seeing her daughter through treatment.

The anger in Percy’s body went straight to his face as heat. [color=ed1c24]”Non fecimus… fecimus… Quidnam accurate significatis per "protectionem"? Quoddam genus chirothecae quanticae?”[/color]

Ah. He was flustered, and by the sounds of it Dom hadn't had the talk yet. Luckily they had Casper, his diagrams, and untold amounts of stories. [Color=aba400]”Attenuator potentiae. Facultatem tuam utendi viribus tuis supprimere poterit. Aliquid discretum quod alii non in dubium vocabunt si id in te viderint. Nunc curabo ut unumquodque tibi clavem imponam. Itaque cum simul esse cupitis, simpliciter attenuatores permutate et accendentur. Simile est commutationi armillarum Taylor Swift. Kandi, si recte memini.”[/color]

Percy couldn’t get any redder. Max knew?? No one knew about that. He felt the subtle weight of the bracelet Danni had made for him under his sleeve. Had Danni figured it out and told Max? He breathed in quickly, his brain glitching. [color=ed1c24]“Quomodo scivisti me Taylor Swift amare?”[/color] he whispered, horrified. 

[Color=aba400]”Secreto meo respondebo. Oculum Odinis possideo, viribus magni Agamotti fabricatum. Itaque veritatem prorsus video. Nihil ab oculis meis se celat, nihil nimis parvum praetermittitur. Praesertim Swiftie.”[/color]



[hider=Latin translations]
We didn’t… we did… What exactly do you mean by protection? Some sort of quantum glove? = Non fecimus… fecimus… Quidnam accurate significatis per "protectionem"? Quoddam genus chirothecae quanticae?

Attenuator potentiae. Facultatem tuam utendi viribus tuis supprimere poterit. Aliquid discretum quod alii non in dubium vocabunt si id in te viderint. Nunc curabo ut unumquodque tibi clavem imponam. Itaque cum simul esse cupitis, simpliciter attenuatores permutate et accendentur. Simile est commutationi armillarum Taylor Swift. Kandi, si recte memini. = A power dampener. It'll suppress your ability to use your powers. Something discreet that others won't question if they see it on you. Now I'll make sure to key each one to you. So when you wish to…be together, simply exchange the dampeners and they'll turn on. A lot like trading Taylor Swift bracelets. Kandi if I recall

Quomodo scivisti me Taylor Swift amare? = How did you know I like Taylor Swift?

Secreto meo respondebo. Oculum Odinis possideo, viribus magni Agamotti fabricatum. Itaque veritatem prorsus video. Nihil ab oculis meis se celat, nihil nimis parvum praetermittitur. Praesertim Swiftie = I'll answer with a secret of my own. I posses upon me the Eye of Odin, one forged with the powers of the great Agamotto. So I quite literally see truth. There is no hiding from my sight, nothing too small gets missed. Especially a Swiftie[/hider]