As luck would have it, Andrea Nedia was
off duty. Which, of course, meant an even quicker response than if she’d been actively working. Nothing to push aside, save for the golf highlights she was already half-ignoring for a journal about the latest in Blind Hemostatics, Andy received Leon’s call like a hungry animal who finally got the lid off the trash can. The hardest part for her was actually
getting to the Cannery, considering its location half-buried in St. Portwell’s historic Old Town. For those who lived there, navigating the maze of one-way streets via car became natural enough. But for the occasional visitor, it was a senseless Hell.
So senseless that, rather than be held back too long, Andy opted to park a quarter mile off in the area’s main visiting garage. At the top of its eight-story mass, few buildings nearby had enough clearance to watch as the woman shifted her body at will. Medical bag still in hand, bare feet against the concrete, Andy took a few running steps, then leapt off the side of the garage. In the instant, not only did she make a full transition into a massive harpy eagle, but her clothes followed suit by melding into her and becoming the feathers necessary for her flight. All organic material, after all, came under the purview of the Deer’s joy, and simply begged for her to put it to better use. The bag, however, was something she had to carry as a massive bird, given it was full of metallic implements.
Unsure of how she’d be arriving, Leon was half-comforting and half waiting for someone to tell him that she was there. He’d given her the apartment number, so there was always a chance she’d just show up in their-
WRAP, WRAP WRAP WRAP!Laying in the bed, Leon’s head shot up immediately to face the window that was being banged on. They were in the middle of the build-
Looking out at the giant eagle perched on the masonry outside Cass’ bedroom, he realized it was sitting on a leather bag, and had a terribly expectant look on its face.
”Damn, Babe… Eagle Express is here with your checkup. Watch this shit.-”He sauntered over to the window, popping it open and sticking his head half-out.
”-Uhhhhh… What’s the password?” he asked the bird, who was already trying to shuffle its massive body inside the apartment.
”The password is-” a smooth and velveteen tone escaped the bird’s beak, followed by the most ear piercing eagle screech that bounced around the apartment and wouldn’t let up until the noise of growing bones and sloughing flesh overtook it. The single most grotesque part of watching the change was watching the eagle body bloat to five times its size in what was practically an eye’s blink.
At least whatever viscera was produced seemed to evaporate at roughly the same speed, leaving the entire room smelling
vaguely of rotting meat.
”-Emergency. Good morning, you great lummox.”In place of the eagle now stood a short, dark haired woman of indeterminate age with olive skin and brown eyes. Her glasses clung to her nose and ears loosely, practically threatening to fall off if she tilted her head forward another few inches. Her attire looked relaxed; green scrub bottoms and non-stick slip-on shoes, and a band t-shirt from an obscure Italian punk band forty years ago.
”Morning, Doc. Thanks for coming. This is Cass, my girlfriend. Cass, this is Doctor Nedia: Another Green maestro, and the Temple’s de facto secretary of Paranormal Treatments.” he explained, talking Andy up enough that she actually smiled.
”Don’t butter me up. C’mon, you said there was a serious attack? You?-” she asked, pointing directly at Cass.
”-Tell me what happened, what’s wrong, what am I-”She didn’t bother waiting for Cass’ answer alone, however. Cass would be able to feel a massive swelling of Green Lux saturate her Emotional Field in a familiar magical sensation. Moving on her own, she moved toward Cass and began to examine the shoulder that had been torn apart while she expected Cass to actually explain the circumstance.
Cass did her best to lower her Emotional field, though her magic reactively pushed back against the Green Lux ‘intrusion’. The whole transformation had been equal parts grotesque and cool… but the grotesqueness didn't really bother Cass! She had agreed to having her stomach torn apart, after all…
She'd swung her legs around to sit on the edge of her bed but hadn't been able to stand before the Doctor descended on her shoulder.
"Hello! Uh, Wampus tried to eat me then got pissed when it couldn't! So it tore through my whole shoulder… which I healed, but I ain't ever healed myself before so I might've fucked it up! It also tore a bunch’ve flesh in my stomach but Leon had to go in there anyway, so I'm pretty sure the goop probably properly healed all've that… So mostly checking my shoulder isn't completely fucked!"”Ohhhhh, you had an extraction, and so the bastard wasn’t the one completing the extraction. Understood. Lay back a bit more, extend your arms above your head. Which shoulder? Never mind, this shoulder-”As Cass allowed her Emotional Field to fall, there was an immediate flooding of endorphins involved in feeling of joy. Green Lux’s intrinsic connection to it was a natural pain reliever, and thus all pain slowly washed away as Andy got to work.
”Fiiiirst time, eh? The patch job is good. But, it’s all for not if you keep doing it without a Channeler. You’re lucky I’m here to flush it, otherwise you’d be dealing with a glandular problem until you learned how to fix it yourself. Wildcasting has all sorts of unintended side effects from silly little hallucinations to full blown loss of Luxal control. Letting the magic run you is no way to live.” she explained aloud in a dreadfully doctor-like tone. The same tone that a parent uses to scold a child for not eating their veggies.
”Now, what about your memory? I’m no Pink Adept, but it doesn’t look like any part of your brain was fever-fried or anything. Have you-””We’ve been sitting and talking. She’s coherent, doesn’t seem like she’s missing anything.” Leon added firmly, secure that Cass was still perfectly Cass.
”Good, good. Then; my sweet treat should’ve taken care of the gut wound. I don’t detect any intramuscular ripping or tearing that’s notable…”She then paused, taking a deep breath with a furrowed brow upon her face. Her eyes closed tightly, and she reached for Cass’ hand.
”That… Being said… Sweetheart, have you noticed uh… Any kind of increased fatigue lately? Mood swings, chronic pain, any major behavior changing within, like, the last six weeks?” she finally asked, a look of sincerity crossing her face widely.
"Uhhh…" Cass felt a bit like she was getting whiplash. From good healing to scolding she didn't take particularly well, to more good news, to… whatever this was. Was she really dying?! Were those all symptoms of the cancer that Lelou had smelled on her breath?! Was it-
"Well my reactive thoughts are a bit more extreme, if that counts? I ain't normally the panicking type, heh- Uh, but I don't think so? I only get fatigue when it makes sense to! Like after an insane magical orgy last week where I used a lotta magic! I pretty much passed out the whole journey home, but that's cause of all the magic use even if it ain't really normal- and sure there was a bit of lingering pain, and my body always kinda aches a bit recently, but mostly cause've too much magic use. At least it's always worse after using a bunch. That seems pretty expected, right? I wouldn't call it chronic. I certainly ain't noticed any mood swings."Saying that, she looked at Leon for confirmation. He had been with her pretty consistently for the last few weeks, after all.
He gave a confirming shrug in response, trying to remember a time where, as she implied, it hadn’t made sense for her to be tired. If she’d been dealing with all the psychological issues, Leon presumed internally that
anytime would be a time that she’d be tired. It was more amazing that she
wasn’t.
”I had a feeling that was the case. Listen, it’s a little early to tell; well, it’s not. But I need to see a full blown flareup before I can diagnose you officially. I’m obviously not your physician, so feel free not to answer this question, but are you aware of your family’s ethnic background?” she asked very plainly.
A diagnosis? For what? It couldn't be anything great if it required a flare-up for diagnosis… but that was fine, because that probably meant Cass didn't have whatever it was!
"Oh, I don't have a physician anyway- and it ain't really sensitive information! My mum's side is all English. Dad's dad's too, and my Nan's family moved over from the Caribbean… don't remember where exactly! I do remember Nan saying that way way back they got brought over there from Africa, but I don't think she ever said exactly where. Maybe she didn't know! Maybe there was a big mix! Why? Is it like a white person only disease- or the opposite?!"”It’s magical. Ethnic origin just gives me an idea of where to throw a dart to find your symptoms. Funny enough, essentially you still have a glandular problem. Seems to me that your natural channels are constantly flooded, and buildup of excess Lux in your system can lead to some pretty serious issues. We’re talking something like a buildup of plaque on the heart: your whole body can seize up, cease to function. Chances are, it’s a very old bloodline curse, which means it probably has something to do with your Afro-caribbean ancestry.” Andy informed, her tone never leaving “mild interest”.
”Are you… Are you saying she’s got The Shame?” Leon asked coldly, his skin turning clammy.
Andy only nodded.
Stepping forward now, to sit next to Cass on the bed, Leon could only frown in grief. It made a lot of things make sense in context: Her constant energy, the ability to keep up with Adepts far beyond her own study, the insatiable hunger for life’s pleasures. He only knew
a couple people afflicted with the Shame of Clan N’gouba, and remembering as well as he could, they were
mild cases. He’d rarely met the Mother, who it supposedly affected the heaviest. Only when she was feeling okay…
Leon’s face turned to Cass.
”You remember when we were driving home from San Fran? And I told you we were gonna talk about magical sickness, but you were tired and fell asleep?”Cass stared back at Leon with wide eyes. That all sounded very bad! Excess Lux? Whole body seizing up?! The
Shame?! What the fuck! She wished she could turn around and say no way, but the Green Lux came from her Nan's side… the Afro-Caribbean side.
And her Nan had only been sixty when she died. Cass didn't have many memories of her being
not sick. She'd always assumed it was just an old person thing… But she hadn't actually been all that old, had she?!
"Uh, yeah, course I remember! I was pretty excited to hear about it but I literally couldn't keep my eyes open, which fucking sucked!" Cass diverted her attention to answering Leon, trying not to think about the possible deadly disease. It probably was just a mistake, right? It wasn't like she really felt sick or anything! Sure maybe it'd explain the lack of control but so would her being a Wild Witch with little training!
"Where you gonna talk about this one that I may or may not have?" She was doing her best to appear like she wasn't panicking about the whole thing. But of course, there were tells… Like the wolf ears that popped out from the top of her head without her wanting them to.
”It is one of the ones we actually have represented in the Temple here in St. Portwell… We actually know about it. So, yeah.” Leon admitted solemnly.
Andy winced at the lack of control as Cass’ body forced a bit of that clogged Lux up and into a form it was familiar with.
”Eh, stupido fessa!” she blurted in a thick Italian droll.
Cass would be able to feel the immediate suppression pinning the magical ears down and melding them back into her scalp.
”You’re gonna fuckin’ tank if you don’t pay attention! I said a flareup, not a full blown crashout. If it was your first time healing yourself, I presume you’re relatively new to this?”Cass grimaced, her excess of Lux not particularly happy with the suppression, leading to a tingling feeling across her skin. More than that, there was frustration about the circumstances. How was she supposed to pay attention to something she struggled to sense entirely?! From the day she had it, her magic had felt so natural to her. It felt just like moving her limbs, or breathing, a lot of the time.
"It's not on purpose- I really don't know how to control it! I'm trying!" A bit of that frustrating bubbled up externally, before she took a deep breath and pushed it back down. It all felt a bit unfair… but if it was something they knew about, it couldn't be that bad, right?
"Yeah… I kindled, uh…" She furrowed her brow as she tried to remember exactly when.
"Just over two years ago! A few months before I turned 23… But there wasn't much of it at the start. Magic, that is, I'd do small things then that'd be it. Only been the past few months its been like this. Well, really over the last year it went from pretty weak to stronger and all!"”Baby, uh… Fucking… Jesus Christ-”This was a certifiable nightmare of a day. Midnight to now, nothing but pain and sorrow. Blow after blow. Lynette could die today, and Leon found that he may not have enough fortitude to be shocked. He just put his arm around her completely, pulling her close.
”-Don’t be so dramatic, Leon. People live with Parkinsons, AIDS, fuckin’... ALS. Like, c’mon. She’s not a cripple.”Which, amazingly, was the kind of encouragement Leon needed. Andy was someone that Lelou
liked in spite of their personally contentious relationship, and it showed in the way she acted around him. As if she was the boss…
”If it is a positive diagnosis, there’s essentially no treatment besides constant and consistent usage of your Lux. You’ll need to find things to use excess energy on, and be prepared for periods in your life where you’ll simply be out. Constant usage like that, especially at the levels you may have to extend yourself to, guarantees bouts with Luxal fatigue ranging from an impaired range movement to outright exhaustion and inability to self-locomote. Temporary paralysis, even. But, it’s better than the alternative.” she added the little bit at the end to titulate.
"What's the alternative? That I don't use my Lux and die?!" Cass wasn't as easily calmed as Leon. After all, it was her body. Sure… she wasn't a cripple. She didn't have any of those things. But periods of being unable to move sounded awful! Literally one of her worst nightmares! And that was the better option?!
She was trying not to react too badly. It wasn't like her life was over. Sure, it'd be really badly affected if she really had this… But she hadn't really experienced any of that yet! Well, moving had been a bit difficult after the orgy, but that was to be expected.
"But I ain't necessarily gonna be a positive diagnosis, right? I gotta have one of those flareups first! So it could just be, like, my magic going extra wild in response to the cats and not actually some kinda chronic magic illness?! I could be totally fine?"”How about you spit for me?”Andy put her hand up immediately like a catcher’s mitt.
"Into your hand?!" Cass stared at Andy for a moment, before shrugging. She'd done weirder things! Not for a doctor, but it wasn't like she saw doctors that often anyway…
She leaned forward, easily gathering enough saliva to spit it into the waiting hand.
The projectile saliva hit her hand before turning bright green and rising back up into the air just over her palm. There, it began to do an incredibly tight dance of twists and curls that ultimately separated the strands of Cass’ DNA from the rest of the material. It was just like a prep school biology experiment, only when Andy was left with a gloopy little puddle of DNA, she could do cooler things with it than anyone in a teen’s science lab could.
Like isolating a single strand, or better yet, enlarging it to roughly the size of a book. Granted, seeing a
giant DNA strand maybe wasn’t cool, it certainly was useful in highlighting some things. Like, how certain chromosomes had branches, or otherwise presented some level of mutation suggesting disorder: What would’ve been disorder, were these not all the markers for Lux receptors. Visual queues, like little antennae that allowed the very fibre of Cass’ being to tap into the external force of Light… Little wifi receivers. And then she pointed out one in particular, whose health could easily be questioned in comparison to the others. It looked dainty, flaccid, and hardly connected to anything at all.
”You see that weeny ass receptor? That’s your Maker’s Tongue; one of the receptor forms that every Adept has regardless of color. It’s responsible for, if you can believe it, the regulation of Lux through the Adept’s system. It also determines the rate at which you metabolize excess Lux… Ergo, you uncontrollably cast spells utilizing way-too-little energy, and your body rewards you by slowly killing you by toxifying your Luxal receptors, instead of outright searing them to a crisp like meat on a grill.”Putting the rapidly shrinking Jacob’s Ladder-structure onto the floor, Andy took a deep breath.
”That’s your alternative, by the way. Run yourself into the ground and occasionally deal with being immobile until eventually you can’t do it anymore, or don’t, and eventually melt. The Lux will toxify in your channels so badly, it’ll catalyze and harden just like the pearl that Wampus Cats make. Except, instead of a little drop of pain, we’ll have a Cass-shaped Lux Crystal we’ll get to carve out of your body and grind up for a rare material we call ‘Dust of Atonement.’” Moving to her bag, she pulled out a small instrument and took Cass’ hand in order to stuff the tip of it under her fingernail.
”And as far as the diagnosis: Waiting for the first flare up is just a formality. A little experiment, frankly, to see just how serious your case is. There’s a low chance that it’s a mild case, and that your recent usage of Lux is just irritating your channels because they’re used to being used more sparingly. But, I say low: Lower than the chance that you and Leon are relatives.” she finished, clearing her throat as she took the instrument and deposited the scraping into a little glass vial.
Cass' expression got worse and worse, because as far as she was aware there was practically zero chance that she and Leon were related. Which meant… that it probably wasn't a mild case…
So what was she meant to do? Both options sounded shit. Dealing with frequent immobility would destroy her mentally. But she didn't want to have hardened Lux inside that had to be ripped out. Sure, she'd survived the Wampus crystal removal, but she wasn't exactly gunning to go through it again. Also if it was Cass shaped- well she assumed she'd be so much crystal that she'd be dead by that point!
"So I've got it cause you can see it in my DNA… and it's at least moderate? What're the chances that it's, like, severe?" Cass asked in a much more flat tone than she'd been talking with up until this point. On one hand, she didn't really want to know… on the other, it was better to. Hopefully the answer was low too. But she couldn't really deny the whole thing now. Not when she'd seen the sickly looking receptor.
She pointed to the glass vial.
"What're you checking with that? And is that really all that can be done?! There's not- well, Lelou mentioned some kind of bean?"”You suffered a near-complete removal of the right shoulder from the socket outward. You were almost an amputee. Not only did you naturally improve your own healing factor without direct usage of a Channeler to cast a spell, you did so accurately and with a level of understanding so robust that you actually improved the overall functionality of the joint. The Shame of N’gouba, you see, is that they were the Deer’s chosen. So, when they tried to take more, the Deer gave them their fill. And when they took more still, the deer packed them tight to the lungs, and they choked on their own magic. Mild cases of the shame are the rare instances. In your case, I’d say your condition is archetype A… Which, I mean, congratulations? It guarantees that you come from an ancient and royal lineage.”It was the nature of a doctor of Andy’s caliber to take little to no personal emotion into the delivery of a diagnosis. It was above and beyond important for the patient to be
informed before they be comforted.
”As far as… Fucking beans… Yes, there are pills that we synthesize which can offset your problem. But they’re rare, so you’d need to be satisfied with only using them occasionally. Otherwise, I can prescribe you something we call Glass. It’s a combat stimulant, but just like using Adderall for ADHD, if we give you a little magical speed on the days that you can’t move, chances are you’ll get a little pep back in your step.”So, there weren't really many options… Cass wasn't so sure about the whole magical speed thing. Was it the same as Adderall for ADHD? That was because stimulants affect people with ADHD differently- but she'd just be getting high to push a bit through a shit situation!
And the other pill clearly wasn't an option. Not when everyone was so sure the Temple would collapse soon enough, she didn't want to become even slightly dependent on something that she wouldn't have access to in not too long.
"I'm… I'll have to think about it. It's a lot to take in! I don't know how I'll react when that happens!" She was pretty confident she wasn't going to react well, but maybe she'd surprise herself.
"Maybe I'll really want magical speed, or maybe I'll be fine to suffer through… I don't know. It all sounds really shit right now! Coming from a royal lineage doesn't exactly help, it ain't like I suddenly getta ton of money from it!"Cass' hands scrunched into fists in her lap, taking a deep breath. More than anything, she was doing her best to not let her magic flare out reactively. She could feel it buzzing under her skin, making all of her senses more sensitive. And she had no idea what to channel it towards!
"Sorry… It's a lot to take in. I thought my magic was just a little wilder. I didn't realise the injury earlier was that bad! Sure, it hurt like hell, and healing hurt like hell, but I didn't even really think about it. It just… happened… fuck… I really do have shitty too much lux disease, don't I? I guess, at least I still have my arm…"”Absolutely; that’s really the silver lining here. Uh, Leon? Introduce her to Andre and his family, please?’Leon was holding Cass tight, taking deep breaths with her as she came to terms with the situation. It wasn’t his, at least, but… Well, if it was hers, then of course it was his.
”I had already planned on introducing her to Naomi… Wow. This is crazy. Well, Babe, you’re definitely gonna get in touch with your roots now. This is an even bigger reason we need to get you working with her.””Naomi’s the best, Cass. She’ll be able to teach you, rather than just telling you what you need to do. She’s dealt with the same issue her whole life practically.” Andy asserted, leaning forward finally to take Cass’ hand in her own. Finally, it seemed
tender rather than scrutinizing.
”And listen to me… This situation isn’t the end of the world. We live in blessed times, where we can operate with understanding, and attempt to treat the condition as best as we’re able in our modern age. Believe it or not, but Blind medicine has been just as pivotal in advancements in Paranormal medicine as its own. Technology moves, so too does our understanding of DNA as a biomechanical structure. The slow march to progress, as they say.”She patted Cass’ hand again before pulling back and standing up.
”I am going to have a script for Sunderbean tablets made up for you. What I want you to do this week, is go crazy with your magic. Do shit you didn’t think you could do. Burn yourself out until you can’t move, then have Leon drag you into my office. We’ll do another stress test there after you’ve had a dose to see how you react. Can you commit to that?” Cass didn't really want to get to the point where she couldn't move at all. She looked pretty deflated, leaning against Leon with a glum frown. Sure, it wasn't the end of the world, it wouldn't kill her if she made sure to use her magic, there was someone else dealing with it who could help… But it still felt pretty devastating to her. It would require pretty major changes to her life. She wasn't the kind of person who could easily dealt with being physically restricted. Trapped. Being stuck in a bed because her body wouldn't let her do anything was basically as bad as being locked in a room.
But she was going to end up burning herself out magically at some point. At least if she did it purposefully this time, they could do whatever tests they needed to so it could be managed as best as possible.
"Yeah, I can. It'd be harder for me not to use magic than go crazy with it… I don't wanna not be able to move, but I'll do it for that stress test! Anything to help managing it…" She furrowed her brow, thinking of something else. It was genetic. She had some knowledge of genetic illnesses, and she assumed that Paranormal ones were the same- not everyone got it. At least, that's what she hoped.
"How likely is it that any of my brothers have this too? I don't think any of em have the same kinda control problems as I do, but one only kindled a year ago."Andy looked thoughtful for a moment while she considered the markers and the overall advancement of the condition.
”Unlikely? If you’re this bad, the chance is that you’re simply the carrier for your current line. It’s a shit job, but someone’s gotta do it.” she explained with an odd humor.
Cass let out a heavy sigh of relief. Sure, it sucked ass for her… but she'd rather it was her than any of them. Jack, for one, already dealt with enough medical shit from taking a bullet to the spine! And she'd never wish anything like that on her younger brothers, as much as they needed a good beating every now and then.
"Oh, thank God. I was a little worried we were gonna end up lined up on beds in a care home together in a couple've years…" Cass laughed drily. It didn't exactly make her feel better about having it, but at least she didn't have to worry about anyone else beyond herself.
"There ain't enough money in the world to pay someone to look after all've us… Thank fuck Leon's already pretty good at carrying me around the place…" Not that she particularly enjoyed being carried. Climbing him like a tree and sitting on his shoulders like he was a noble steed was one thing, the lack of control with being cradled and carried around another…
The lack of control for all of it! Even her own fucking body! She felt an intense frustration over it all that she couldn't just get over.
”I’m sure we’d find a way to make it work. At that point, your care’s more of a communal benefit than it is, like, some kind of burden.” Leon explained.
”Very true! Situations like this, there’s no possible way to prevent or reverse the effects. It’s our moral imperative as a community to, y’know, take care of people with shit like that in their lives! It makes us stronger as a family, as a coven, all around.” Andy spoke of the concept fondly, and had nothing but good memories of her own missions abroad to help people.
”But, it’s just you… So, we’re gonna do everything we can to keep you up and about just how you want to be. Like, we can start by talking to Casey! I’m sure he’d be able to make you some clothes that basically do all the walking and stuff for you.”As Leon started to explain, his expression brightened. Instinctively, he was reaching out to provide Cass with as much comfort as he could. Meanwhile, Andy’s solemn smile warmed to something more tender, and she slowly began to put her few tools away. She then produced a business card with her name and number.
”In the off chance that Leon winds up out of town when you crash, this is my number. Please call as soon as you get confirmation, okay? And, otherwise, if you don’t have a physician? I’ll take you in for now. We’ll do your physical later, get you fully tested for anything else wrong. There are other issues typically linked to The Shame, blah blah, I’ll stop yapping for now… Feel worse, okay? So we can get you better quicker.” she smiled.
Cass nodded, reaching out to take the card. She didn't have anywhere to put it on her right now, so she just set it on the bedside table before replying.
"Alright. I ain't really looking forward to the feeling worse bit! But I get it. And it ain't like I ain't gotta physician by choice… the system's so odd over here, and I ain't ever been that sick. Till now, I guess."Rambling a bit she let out a sigh, leaning into Leon and turning her head to look up at him.
"Thanks for your support, Babe… but I don't wanna talk to Casey about it yet. I gotta figure out how I'm gonna tell Trisha first. Cause she'll freak at him if he already knows… It ain't like we know it's gonna be so bad I can't walk anyway!"”That’s… Fair…” Leon admitted, nodding his head solemnly.
Andy only chuckled and waved her hand.
”Well, Cass… As far as what you guys called me here for? You’re clear. Leon’s extraction was expertly done, as usual, and any damage you sustained from the subsequent mauling seems to have been patched back together nicely. You have my number: Call or text, I respond to both twenty-four seven if you have any questions or concerns. Now, I’m off… Literally, it was my day off technically. But, I love house calls. Especially for The DOOOOOOOOOG!” She exclaimed, emoting by pointing both fingers at Leon before she began to make the dreadful transition back into
eagle. Out the same window she came in, Doctor Nedia flew off into the St. Portwell chill to leave the two in relative silence. Leon grimaced for a moment, then let his gaze turn to Cass. Looking at her, he couldn’t help but smile.
”Well… You get to pick breakfast, I think. Only fair.”Cass just nodded at first. For once, everything else was so overwhelming that it was difficult to think about food. What did she want for dinner? She wasn't sure. Probably…
"Some kinda junk food. I dunno." When it was just the two of them again, the feelings of frustration bubbled right back up. She knew it was healthy to process it. She was probably going to go through a lot of emotions! But it was just so fucking… frustrating…
Her hands came up to rub her face, before covering it. She felt like crying. She hated crying… Did it so rarely. But it really felt like she'd been pushed into a deep hole. Sure, the world wasn't ending. It could be worse! But it was still pretty fucking bad, especially for someone like her. She remembered all the times she'd been sick, how much she'd hated being unable to do anything. Unable to be active like she wanted. And at least then, her mind had been foggy from the sickness.
Even when she broke her leg during the Blitz… it only took a few days for her to figure out how to properly get around in crutches.
"Fuck." Cass let her hands drop, only to curl forward into Leon. Until she was a tight, slightly trembling ball half hiding against him.
"Fuck. Fuck! What the fuck?! This is so fucking… ugh… Unfair! Fuck! Couldn't even be something treatable?! Fuck… What the fuck am I supposed to do… This fucking sucks!"Leon pulled Cass backwards onto the bed properly, letting her tuck up next to him for a long while. What the Hell could he say, after all? What words were there to encompass the irony and the pain therein? That he loved her, and that he’d be there forever? Sounded like Casey. He could probably tell her he’d be there for her with confidence, sure. But in ten years? What if it did so much to her, took so much in the end, that she wasn’t who she was today?
What if
he wasn’t who he was today? Neither of them should be, after all… His therapist had said that progress was a river. Sometimes lazy, sometimes raging. Some people’s floods made the land fertile. Others’ destroy entire cities. Who you are, what you do, how you handle it, are both determined by and determinate of one’s entire life. There could be no separation between what feeds one’s perception, and what one’s perceptions feed in turn. Thus, he’d long begun to feel like it was the people he surrounded himself with which were his real choices.
So he had to do for her, because she chose to be around him now. No more worrying about feeling bad there’s not more that can be done. Especially if this was a long friendship. If it was
ever going to be anything more than a great time in their lives. He wasn’t going to worry about not being able to take care of things. He’d just do what he thought was right, and the implication of that behavior would lead to those around him understanding that he was, in fact, able and ready to
be there.It took him long enough to get to the conclusion that the sun was fully out now, beaming through the windows surrounding Cass’ bed.
”I know what we should do.”It had all been a lot for Cass to process, resulting in a rare state- silent and relatively still, cuddling into Leon without wriggling or chatting away. It felt… incredibly unfair. But that was what these things were, weren't they? No one deserved a genetic illness. And she still had magic. Even if it was what was causing it… It wasn't going to kill her. She wouldn't let it, at least.
She just didn't know how she was gonna deal with it. All those feelings of pity she'd had for Jack when he came back, thinking about how awful it'd be for her to experience the same… it wasn't quite the same. But there might be times when it basically was. Unable to move her legs, unable to move anything, maybe. It was the unknown. She wouldn't know until it happened… She could just project. But there was no point feeling frustrated about it before it even happened!
Maybe she'd find she could deal with it. Maybe she couldn't at all. She didn't want to spiral thinking about it… Leon speaking came at the right time as she started to unfurl, pulling her head back a bit to look up at him.
"Huh? What?!"”Probably not coop ourselves up in here. I don’t think that’s how you wanna spend your free time, is it? What would you rather first; breakfast, gym, or… Carnal pleasures, which replaces the gym…”He stood, still holding onto her and sliding her to the edge of the bed while bent over.
”Not that I’m forcing you… But, the Cass I know doesn’t mope. We’ll get your mind off it fast as Hell, and doing that will help me get my mind off what I had to do last night.” he smiled down at her, planting a kiss on her cheek.
As if hearing the suggestion of breakfast, and protesting being ignored for so long, Cass' stomach let out a loud growl. She dropped her head down to stare at it, before laughing.
"Fucking hell, well that answers the question, don't it? Breakfast first, obviously! I gotta refuel… specially since I got a whole bunch more magic to burn."She grinned back, managing to put the whole thing to the back of her mind for the moment. Like Leon said, she wasn't a moper! She'd take things as they hit her, even if it was incredibly shit. Especially right now when she was feeling pretty alright!
"But why can't we go to the gym then fuck?! You worried you ain't gonna have the energy, huh? Or are you worried about me?! I got it all back cause of that brown sludge shit!" She stretched out her arms to sling them over Leon's shoulders, using him to swing herself off the bed and onto her feet.
"Also, if you got any crazy fetishes I can fulfill with Green Lux I ain't managed yet, now's the time to ask… Since I gotta go crazy on the Doc's orders."Leon took a long look at Cass, then pressed both hands against her face to plant a big kiss on her lips.
”It was a test, and you passed. Never change, Babe.” he said, playfully ruffling her hair.
”I’ll think about it on the way.” his eyebrows waggled, playfully leaning against the door before sliding out to find some proper clothing.
Wednesday Nov 22nd
The rest of that day was spent enjoying each other’s company, and forgetting about all of the shit that had happened. By the later evening they both felt good enough to start looking for somewhere to put the cats that
wasn’t an apartment block filled with people.
Over the next few days, Cass discovered that her magical limits really were her imagination. At least when it came to manipulating and enhancing her own body. Going crazy with it really meant not worrying and just trying out whatever the fuck seemed fun. Loads of new animal parts- getting better at shifting whole parts of her body without the others. There
were a lot of accidents too- at least, accidentally used Lux. At least she made sure to keep her channeler on her at all times.
Part of the crazy magic use was basically not sleeping. Sure, she got naps here and there. But she was someone who could survive days of very little sleep normally, nevermind when fueling herself with magic.
After four days, she was still going strong, somehow. Strong enough to be sparring with Leon outside… It was way less risky than the gym when it came to her magic use! Not that she’d accidentally broken one of the machines the day before or anything…
Her legs had changed to imitate those of a large cat, giving her some extra height where she had to lengthen them to get a proper balance on digitigrade legs. Somehow she was even
bouncier like this, the enhanced strength and different shape giving her extra power to jump or kick- not that she was kicking much, trying to avoid clawing through Leon’s stomach again. Her curled up fists had been coated in a layer of shiny keratin, like one big lizard scale with hairline cracks here and there to allow her to still move her fingers.
The hard outer shell was extended across her whole body more subtly, with normal strength enhancement giving her skin an almost green glow. She was getting better at using all of the magic she had at her disposal, channeling it properly rather than letting it pop out. She was strong enough that she could at least go toe to toe with Leon now in his base state.
It was pretty fucking awesome. She’d been practicing and learning before, sure, but now she knew just how much Lux she had- too much. So for her, learning to tap into it was what she’d had to concentrate on over traditionally learning spells.
”If- If I punch your face too much, it ain’t gonna heal all funny, is it?!” Cass asked through light pants, aiming a punch at Leon’s chest. At the same time her other fist came up to try knock at his chin.
”How’s it so fucking perfect when you get it battered so often?!”Cass had probably put a little bit too much into the last swing, or maybe like usual he was just messing around too much. Either way, he felt teeth clench right through the base of his tongue, snipping it off and causing his eyes to roll backward into his head. His usual reaction to this kind of thing happening was to roll left and drive the fuck out of whoever was in front of him, but he also wasn’t usually fighting with so much of himself unleashed.
He’d scheduled time for Casey to unlock him at a steady thirty percent for two hours a day, designated as training time both for himself, and for Mia. She’d always been a better fit, without being able to ask their mother of course.
So she’d be doing it for the time being. Just until they didn’t need anything so optimized. Until St. Portwell was safe, which meant everyone needed to get used to doing these sorts of things.. That was
also perfect cover for high intensity training. Though, it was something to behold that she just
kept going. He may’ve tried to keep up with her when he was solely in charge of the seals, but days without sleep would’ve weakened him enough for Lelou to come through on her own.
She could just march on it seemed, and did day after day. He started to realize that, as she utilized the processes of her magic more and more, that concept was brought to reality rather than formulae that could be found in other Adept’s books.
She was truly a natural. It was all thanks to that curse, it seemed… Since the diagnosis, he’d done as much research as he could without visiting the source. Naomi was set to be arriving with the Temple delegation from Africa, but that was still a week off meaning he couldn’t actually ask anyone with the same
level of the condition. Not like how Doctor Andy made it sound.
Rather than drop a nuclear bomb from his fist and cave Cass’ side in, his elongated hand, pale and pallid, gripped at Cass’ next strike with a full hand, holding her there with tremendous power as the other arm tried its best to wave a time out.
As he backed up, he opened his mouth and spat the copperish blood out onto the ground before letting the stump of his tongue stick out in the air. Within a few moments, a new tongue replaced the old one, and he waggled it around for a moment before nodding.
”I can do shit like that. I couldn’t before, so I’d go to someone like you to do it for me.” he blew her a kiss, his transformed figure somewhat angelic in its strangeness. Long limbs, digitigrade buckling his knees slightly with feet half-splayed and cocked up to support the strange stance.
He was somewhere so far between man, dog, bat, kangaroo and nightmare that it was hard to imagine either he, nor Lelou, would ever take such a form willingly. Truly, it was just an efficient middlepoint where Leon found thirty percent overall power sat comfortably. It was an odd place to sit, and therefore it was an odd thing to be.
”That was my bad… I was lookin’ at your ass.-”He let her fist go, stepping back and waiting a moment before putting his hands back up into a stance.
”-Throw that again. But, always remember the rule of three. If you can get some kind of third limb in, they’re essentially locked out of natural options.” he said, bracing himself.
"Make sure to keep your eyes up here, not down there!" Cass shot back with a grin, waving her fists and then wiggling her ass. She shifted back to a proper stance rather than comedically pushing against Leon's hand like they were in a looney toons film. There’d been some worry when he bit his tongue off, but it grew back just as easily… And he was telling her to do it again! She couldn’t exactly not, could she?!
Another limb was easy. She didn't make one immediately, though. One thing she realised she was very good at was making things like that on the fly, or swapping shit out. The extra magic it burned was nothing to her.
She twisted her whole body to throw the punch at his chest, before switching her momentum upwards with one going for his chin again. At the same time, a skin coloured tendril shot out from her shoulder. It aimed for his left cheek, trying to predict how he'd move to avoid the punch and catch him.
Except it was a pretty pathetic slap. The point where the tendril had come out of
hurt, and the pain radiated up her neck and down her left arm. Her head jerked to the side slightly. She could feel her magic fluctuating, pushing towards too much as the scales on her body hardened and became more obvious, before sputtering out with a momentary loss of strength. Odd, like there was a clog up that it then burst its way through- but there shouldn't be!
"I still don't wanna hit your face hard! I gotta have something hot there to stop me from staring at your ass and gettin' distracted!" She shouted out an excuse, already ready to go again.
This far along a transformation, Leon could tell where Cass was starting to struggle. At baseline, she seemed to be able to maintain the level that she'd been outputting for the last hour. However, that last burst seemed to throw her equilibrium off entirely. Like a ceiling fan missing a blade, or an unbalanced engine, her Lux seemed to only connect eighty percent of the time now.
The spells keeping her afloat were starting to collapse. Either she was getting tired, or it was coming… But he wasn't going to worry her. No, she'd get herself naturally. It was mostly about what
he felt comfortable exposing her to, now that she had such a margin for error. All it would take was a swipe while her defenses were down, and he'd cave her whole body in.
Blocking her weakened shots as best he could without making it seem like things were bad, he grinned at her.
”You know the rules! Hundred percent effort until you collapse! No weak shit: Show me how mad you're gonna be getting stuck in bed before you can't.” he goaded her, letting his fingers waggle to usher her toward him.
”Don’t fucking remind me! Fine- but you asked for it!” Cass shot back, bouncing from foot to foot. The tendril wriggled around a bit before she fully got it under control. It was annoying her how she could feel her Lux sputtering in and out. It had been fine until now… She’d begun to hope the whole curse thing was a mistake.
Maybe if she just pushed through, it’d be fine!
The scales on her hands hardened further, arms growing stronger as the veins underneath her skin grew visibly green. Giving it a hundred percent… No, more than a hundred percent!
The third limb wrapped around Leon’s wrist to force one of his hands to the side, one hand catching and batting his other away to give her a clear blow with the final fist. Right for the face, with enough power that it would cave in a normal head.
As her fist connected with explosive power, the keratin hardening it
shattered. It travelled down her arm in a visible explosion of Green Lux, scales shattering off and leaving raw skin underneath.
”Fuck!” With a loud, painful crack Cass’ legs forcefully shifted back to normal, before buckling underneath her. She managed to catch herself with her hands before she face planted the ground, pushing to fall onto her side rather than her stomach.
”Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”She could still move her arms, but they felt incredibly weak. Like all of her muscles had been torn out… But she could barely feel her legs. All she could feel was the intense pain that came from an uncontrolled de-transformation. She couldn’t move them. She could barely move anything! What little Lux was left pulled the third limb back into her skin, before completely sputtering out.
”Ugh- I better have gotten your face good! This- This so ain’t worth it!”Leon gave zero hesitation in action. He’d prepared all week for this very moment, presuming that they’d be in the middle of something like this. It was, scarily enough, perfect. The moment he had faculties post-head trauma, he was both signalling the Leashholder to seal the connection and fumbling around in his neatly sidebarred clothing for his phone. Inhuman fingers had a hard time gripping the thin piece of glass, but their rapid changing meant he had a handle on it within a few seconds. Doctor Andy’s number was near the top of his speed dial, and he put it on speaker while he moved to Cass’ side.
”It was a great one, Babe. Would’ve knocked anyone’s head clean off! What a sight too, the way the Lux just kinda-”He made the motion of everything on her arm exploding off.
”-was really fucking cool… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, does it hurt? Is it like she said, can you stand?”Cass’ face scrunched up like she was exerting a lot of effort, but there was very little to show for it. She was trying her best to move her legs… In the end she just about managed to roll onto her back.
”No! I can’t feel my legs- apart from the pain, it really fucking hurts! And my arms feel like noodles… Like I could hold a phone but not much else… Ugh, this sucks!” Cass huffed, giving up on trying to prop herself up in favour of weakly waving her hands in front of her. Her head turned to look at Leon, eyes lighting up just a little bit.
”Was it really that cool?! Hell yeah! At least if this shit happens in the field I’ll blow someone’s head of first, heh.””Ciao bella! Sing to me, big Fella.” Andy’s voice filled the phone as Leon was moving to his pack for some Temple combat rations. He wasn’t sure if anything would work to counteract her symptoms, so he’d been carrying around a full compendium of magically enhanced puddings, custards and fillings.
”Andy!? Yeah, it just happened. She’s conscious, but she’s in a lot of pain. Are any of the tincture-treats qualified to-”[color=CAFFB0][i]”-Oh, don’t give her anything, Leon. No, no. Where are you?”[/color] she asked, shuffling noises brushing up against the microphone telling them that she was in motion of some kind.
”Close! Close, we’re outside the walls across the street! Maybe a quarter mile back?” Leon intoned, referring to the gate being the entrance to Temple grounds. They were within the property line still, but they’d not been granted the city ordinance to cut the main road off or redirect it off the property…
”Alright… Cass? Honey? Would you rather have your big strapping man carry you back to us? Or should I send for you?” she asked courteously, her voice growing soft and sweet toward Cass.
”Leon carrying me is fine- I don’t wanna cause more hassle, y’know! Assuming he ain’t gotta problem with it.” Cass assumed not, at least. He’d been pretty good about things so far… And she had a feeling he’d carry her around a lot more if she wasn’t so insistent about getting around the place on her own legs.
”I think it’s getting better- fuck, nevermind-!” For a moment the pain in her legs seemed to alleviate, before coming back in full force. Her left leg clenched up and spasmed, and she tilted her head to glare at it.
”Oh now you want to move, huh?!”Leon wanted to protest, not for the fact he had to carry her almost a half a mile, but because there was a half a mile between them and potential alleviation. There was no guarantee that there’d be anything actually able to help on the other side, but-
”Is Clarissa in!?” Leon asked sharply, praying for any Purple Adept at this point.
”She’s not working like that anymore, Leon. Remember, Casey’s-””Then any Pur-””-You get Brandon and Leah, or… Maybe Mazie?”Leon didn’t wait another second in dipping down and scooping Cass up. He’d already slung his backpack and put
most of his clothes back on.
”Nah. We’ll be there soon.””That’s what I thought, Mr. Knight in shining armor…”He hung up the phone without a second thought, having rested it on Cass’ belly when he started picking her up and having to use his nose to do so. He curled her slightly to get his face closer, but it worked. Then, his gaze trailed up to her strained face. He wanted to be worried, and to be frantic about it. But why? Calm action, just like in the ring, prevented most mistakes and time spent compensating for them in turn.
Smoothly, his hands shifted across her body to get her small frame as stable as possible. In doing so, he brought her face up and kissed her on the forehead for a long moment. Affection, tender care, probably only fleeting comforts for the pain that was now rolling through her. He couldn’t expect a return at the moment… But the return was her health.
And then, he was off like a racehorse. They’d come pretty far into this piece of undeveloped land, a quarter-mile of raw and uncut woodland stretching between them and the road. It was easy to get in on your own two feet, even if the fallen leaves were sometimes knee-deep. Step carefully, you don’t roll your ankle on a protruding root. But Leon wasn’t stepping carefully. He was taking long, striding sprints like he was wading through the ocean at the beach.
Bringing each foot up as high as possible was easy when his natural strength allowed him to bound out like a fucking deer. The hangtime was actually calculable, and all the more impressive when one realized he wasn’t calculating his momentum moment to moment.
Rather, he was following the scent trail he’d left behind earlier, each little marker a mental tick telling him where he took a step previously. A deep-seated hunter’s sense with open access thanks to Lelou’s obsessive tendencies and her inability to prevent hyperfixation on…
Tracking. Scent, footprint, whatever she could follow, she wanted to.
The only thing he couldn’t actively do, thanks to the significant forward momentum he was building, was adjust mid-air. Every miscalculation that sent him hurtling into a tree could be potentially dangerous for Cass, as her inability to bolster her physicality meant a thirty-mile an hour collision could do
actual damage.
”I can’t go… much… faster, Cass! You o-kay!?” Leon grunted between moments where his legs had to shove back up off the ground.
”Oh yeah, absolutely sound, what’s not to love ‘bout being carried in a hunk’s arms in the woods?” For all of her pain, she still had the energy to joke. It helped a little… sort of. Sure, she’d never been in pain this bad in her life. Not even when she broke her leg during the Blitz. It was like agony clutched every limb… Like her veins were seizing up. And each time she reactively tried to cast, it fizzled into prickling pain.
Her skin was cold and clammy, obvious where it touched his. She was dressed, but not in much - a sports bra and sports skirt being her favoured transformation workout gear now. Enough to cover her up a bit while not really hindering her shifting. It wasn’t because she was a prude, just that they knew this was coming… And being carried naked, or Leon having to dress her, would be way more embarrassing!
Her hands clenched in her skirt, what little strength she had used to bundle up the fabric in an attempt to alleviate the pain. The helplessness frustrated her more. That she couldn’t move herself, couldn’t just fight through it like she normally would.
”Fuck, I really hope it ain’t this bad everytime. Or that the Doc has real good painkillers!””It just can’t be anything that uses Lux!-” Leon explained, narrowly avoiding a fallen tree taking him out.
If the greatest of humanity could push thirty miles an hour in a dead sprint, Leon was confident to hold near twenty as he kicked and shoved his body ever-forward. Blood rushed to his ears, and as he kept pace, he started to get into the runner’s zone.
”-I’m pretty sure, it’ll fuck you up if you introduce Lux from the outside. Uhh… There may be some traditional treatments? Your condition has been around thousands of years: I’m sure someone came up with something!””Or they just threw them to the wolves.” Cass intoned drily, attempting a wry grin that came off much more as pained.
”I ain’t letting anyone put needles in my body if that kinda acupuncture shit is one of em- I’d rather fucking suffer!”Her head tilted slightly, slightly pain addled brain processing what he’d said a little bit more. She was still surprisingly lucid… Which almost made things worse. At least if her brain was addled she’d be able to ignore the suffering.
”So no magical healing right now either? I suppose I ain’t gonna- ugh, fuck-” She winced as her leg seized again, eyes narrowing into pained slits.
”Fuck! -Ain’t gonna be getting outta bed!”Leon winced with her. He could feel every little spasm, every twitch of pain and instinctive reaction thereto. Pain was universal, at least. One could always expect the same reaction beneath the skin. Undesired spasming, and some shaking that came from the rest of the musculature tensing up. Often, pain caused a looping feeling where the body felt, then reacted, only exacerbating the problem overall.
At least He could move fast enough that the distance wasn’t far. A minute, maybe two… He’d already blown past the densest part of the forest, and was now headed for the road. A couple bounding leaps, he’d be at the gate. That was the only thing on his mind now, as he could see the tarmac ahead.
Just get her back.But he was absent of that second brain. The one always attuned to his extrasensory capacity. The dog within, who could smell and hear everything going on, but more importantly could parse that information out independently. With the leash active, he had to observe his own senses in a very manual, on-call way.
Which was terrible when the only thing on his mind was Cass’ safety, and he was about to run out into a road that formed something of a hairpin just before it opened up in front of the temple property…
He didn’t hear it. Just the brakes. The squealing tires. Everything managed to slow down, at least enough that he had the wherewithal to tuck Cass’ body off to the left in order to take the brunt of the impact on his shoulder. They weren’t going incredibly fast because of the turn; a virtue in a sense. But, forty miles an hour was still forty. At hip level, he felt the grill shatter his right thigh bone with little effort. Because of the angle, and him still being partially mid-air on impact, the rest of the crash went as smooth as one could hope.
As much as he could, he allowed the momentum to bleed off. The whole shattered thigh thing was going to make this much more difficult unless Mimi was actually
attending the leash. If she was, he didn’t envy the psychic backlash from him taking damage like this if she wasn’t ready. She’d need a minute to adjust, to return, and to instinctively unlock the seals necessary to repair the damage. Thankfully, smashing off the pavement behind the car was the least painful part. Still half-stunned, Leon knew he’d probably squeezed Cass way too tightly to keep her from flying out of his arms. But he could feel her still, and knew she had probably been spared the worst from the actual impact.
He did have Keylime in his pack… As he found his breath vaguely, he started to speak.
”Ca-a-ss…? B-bab-be?” he half-grunted. Trying to roll slightly revealed that he’d broken more than the leg. Is shoulder felt absolutely dead from hitting the ground, and his vision was incredibly blurry.
”Fuck!” Even though her head had been well protected by Leon, Cass was still initially dazed too- curses spilling from her lips over anything coherent. She couldn’t entirely tell what had happened, or what was new pain or old. After all, she’d already been in so much pain and struggling to feel anything… If anything, this was better! She could barely feel her lower legs!
It probably wasn’t a good thing she could barely feel her lower legs…
”Holy fuck, Leon- Oh fuck.” As she sucked in a deep breath, it felt like something was stabbing her in the chest. Her breathing had been fine up until then… She couldn’t even feel her body properly to figure it out.
But a quick look down showed bruising already blooming across her right side, and a right arm that looked far limper than it should. Broken ribs and arm, maybe? She couldn’t move the arm anymore, just her shoulder.
At least she was left handed…
”You- you ok? I can’t- fuck- there ain’t anything I can do, is there?” Keeping her voice low and her breathing shallow, she was at least able to get around the more intense chest pain. No less lucid than she was before. Just already intense pain made even more intense…
”Lemme- Just put me down… Call someone… Maybe an ambulance. Totally should call an ambulance.”Or maybe a bit less lucid. The pain was making it hard to think logically, at least when it came to solutions.
”B-bag! P-i-e!”It was odd. He had plenty of time to perceive the situation, and even react. He could tune in enough to hear the couple inside the SUV arguing about whether or not they should get out or drive off. Which, after both came to the conclusion that this place was that cult’s property, decided to cut their losses and speed off into the afternoon with a massive dent in the front of their vehicle.
Leon was already shifting to try and reach his bag with the arm that wasn’t fucked up. But, he didn’t have a lot of time before he could feel the Water seal unfurling within him. Bolstering healing flooded into his body in a torrent as he realized that Mia had, in fact, still been attending. It’d only been a few minutes since he put in the stoppage order through their connection, and even less time for her to recover than he’d expected.
Maybe it wasn’t so bad? But Daisy used to complain up and down…
”O-ohhhhh! Oh, fuck, nevermind…” he grunted before letting out a prolonged moan of agony.
Simultaneously, his thigh bone was both reforming itself, while rejecting all the splintered pieces of the old model through direct pathways opening in his flesh. Now, he had time to feel like an idiot. But, was it better to prostrate himself now, or-
”Fuck… Fuck! Cass, I’m such a fucking moron… God, can… Is anything super numb!? Anything you can’t feel!?” he snapped back to reality, not wanting to fuck her spine over any more if she’d broken it.
"My lower legs! My right arm’s broken too but… it ain't my neck or spine, I don't think!" Cass responded after just a momentary delay. She was trying to figure out if anything else was more numb than before. Her legs had already been hard to feel aside from the pain… but she still felt agony above the knees. Maybe something was disconnected there. She couldn't tell. Didn't really want to look!
"Hard to tell. Everythin' fucking hurts!"He was still growling in his own fit of pain as his shoulder came back together in a slightly more intricate way. Lots more moving parts than a femur. But, since his leg finished up first, he was already pushing back up. He could hear his cellphone ringing in his bag, and knew there'd be more issues if he didn't answer it…
”Fuck, fuck fuck! Answer that, please, if you think you can, its probably fucking Mia, or its someone in security worried about me. Fuck! Fuck, Babe, this is gonna hurt a little more, I'm so fucking sorry!”But they definitely couldn't waste time now. At least she'd be able to eat the goo and fix most of the major injuries…
”Get… the green packet too. Eat it. It won't help with your condition, but it will tell us whether or not your spine got hurt.” he told her, forcing his pack to the front where she'd be able to rifle through it as he carried her.
Which he wasted no time on, scooping her and causing presumable pain in the process.
Cass gritted her teeth, but wasn’t able to stop the pain groan as Leon moved her. She didn’t want him feeling worse, after all… But it was so much it was hard not to react.
”I’m working with one hand- fuck-” She grimaced, managed to open the bag and flip his phone over.
”Who the fuck is Chucklenuts- Whatever!”She hit the answer button then speaker just before the call went to voicemail, lifting it from the bag onto her stomach with a pained grunt. That allowed her to reach further in to pull out the green packet, shoving it right into her mouth and slurping on it.
”Ih ih-int gonna may ih woh?” She asked around the nozzle in her mouth, making her words practically indecipherable to Leon - nevermind whoever was on the other end of the line. It trailed off into an agonised groan as her broken bones started to heal, and feeling flared back into her lower legs- pure agony, that was.
”No, it won’t make it worse, there’s no Lux in it! Hello!?” Leon instantly translated her mouth full of food, a talent earned at the dinner table beside the likes of Maxwell and Lynette Richoux. Neither had table manners, after all…
”It has- What!? Leon!?” Ed asked through the phone, expression somewhat peeved.
”What!? Oh, n-nothing! Nothing, we’re okay!” he replied, breaking out into a hobbling sprint that quickly fixed itself and allowed him to start making pace like he had before.
”We? Tell me why Mia screamed like death!”The tone wasn’t
peeved. For Ed, this was boiling. He heard her incredibly protective growl, and all the fury that came with it.
”I got hit by a fucking car, Ed! I was rushing across the street, I got hit by a fucking car. They sped off.””Where did you get hit by a fucking car at, the highway!?”The bend! The fucking bend, across the street from the-””On the undeveloped side!? So, what, you didn’t think to look both ways?””Listen, Cass is hurt bad! I’m trying to get to Nedia, please let me call you back!?”A lie, of course. But he really didn’t have time to sit and think about the backlash that Mia had suffered because of it. She’d never die, no matter how badly it may’ve hurt all at once. He’d seen Daisy tank his hits and still remain combat effective, after all… It was a matter of adjustment.
”What, did she get hit by the-””-Yes, Ettienette! Can you please hang up now? It’s not actually a question, hang up the fucking phone!””We’re coming over there right fucking now!”Leon gritted his teeth, shaking his head as he maintained speed. The next car that he saw was at least driving down toward the exit, and while they stopped to try and start a conversation, Leon’s condition was rather clear. Ed had hung up, thankfully, so they were at least alone for a while. A short while, at least long enough for the key lime pie to have taken effect.
”The gels and shit are made with Ghosts… Just like the special food. They’re processed differently, they’re made to minimize Oblivium so they can be used frequently… But Apparitions don’t have Lux. You should be fine.” he finally replied, looking down at her with a morbidly fearful look on his face.
Cass had only been able to half pay attention to Leon and Ed talking, the pain of the Key Lime healing pushing her over the edge of being able to think about anything else. The strain was clear on her face, her good hand clutching Leon's bag as hard as she could. Nowhere near as hard as normal, even when she wasn't using magic…
But finally the agonising process finished, and the pain she was in dropped just a little. Enough that she could respond, at least.
"That's… good. I'd rather eat ghost than be stuck in bed with a broken arm!" She grunted.
"Fuck, I can feel my feet again- they feel real bad! Kinda preferred the numbness!"She grimaced, head curling down towards her chest as another spasm of pain hit her. The newly fixed arm, ribs and lower legs were all more tender now. It felt worse… especially her legs, like any repaired nerves were extra fresh. But she could think through it. Just about. Everything was definitely heightened along with the pain.
"Wait. Wait! If that was Ed, and Ed's coming over- how the fuck am I supposed to keep it from Casey to stop Trisha exploding at him?! I ain't figured out how to tell her yet!" ”Dude… Have you been able to talk to Trisha without hearing something about Thanksgiving recently? I definitely haven’t been able to talk to Casey about anything other than that. They’ll miss it! Trust me!” Leon was fairly confident in that. Enough that he’d make a bet, anyway. Casey… Knew everything. As close to omniscient as he was, the family rarely kept secrets. If Leon could tell when the girls were using again, Casey probably knew who they were buying from. It hadn’t been that way before, but he was less and less scared to whip it out every day. It was only good because he was also completely and utterly transparent to those whom he trusted.
Oddly enough, Leon was there. What Casey knew, at least about what was relevant to him, Leon also knew. Nedia charging to a house call was something Ed knew, but Casey knew who it was to. If an expense report went out, he
had to approve. Leon would never admit this to Cass, this strange pipeline that essentially stripped them of all private movement. Because eventually, they’d all be out from under it. On their own again, and he’d no longer feel as though he needed to use his immense talent for such minute hovering. They’d all be safe and sound.
And then it’d be okay. But, until then, he had to live with the fact that Casey knew. The saving grace was how wretchedly frail Trisha seemed. At least in his mind. Casey always talked about her being so tough, and how impressive it was that she’d gotten through life practically on her own. But he really didn’t see it. He didn’t see it when she was a teenager, though as he thought more about her these days, he realized how unfair that was. To think about her in terms of those days…
But he’d seen her kill! She was a
tiny bitchy hornet girl. And he felt general contempt toward her for far longer than was necessary. It was
because of Casey’s insistence that he was reconsidering these days. But, ultimately, she still seemed
frail. Like some kind of doll made of wool. Sturdy enough you could throw it on the ground, but get anything sharp near it and that was pretty much the end.
He had Cass to consider now. He hadn’t realized how much more that would focus his life around this
other woman. But he knew Casey knew, which meant that they were both on the same page. It hadn’t even been a long discussion. A quick agreement to make both of their lives as easy as possible. It wasn’t by chance that they’d already
done research. Already talked to Andy and to Naomi by scrying in order to keep it off the phone records.
There were already clothes waiting for her. A whole set Casey had spent an entire night hand enchanting. Knowing that there were good solutions and there were hard solutions, and that she’d struggle with all of them. But, the clothes could help in all the good ways. Detection of the toxic buildup, and immediate reaction with heat and pressure. There was a copper layer at the joints that kept them tight, and Leon knew she wasn’t going to feel great about how restrictive it all was… But, thaumaturgically, it was the most likely candidate for ease of pain.
And if she felt alright enough to move, it’d help her. Support her, just like one of Casey’s own battle uniforms. The same spell that allowed him to carry three times the amount of gear a normal soldier could would be her muscles when hers were so weak.
Casey loved Trisha. Ergo, he loved Cass. Leon couldn’t help but wonder if…
”We’re almost there… God, I’m… That fuckin’ hurt! Is that your first time getting hit by a car!?” he grinned, trying to joke and finally breaking himself out of the mental torpor he found himself in.
”Lemme think…” Cass managed to move her lips away from a pained grimace enough to look jokingly thoughtful. It was a good distraction for it all. When she was left to think, that’s all there was. Concentrating on the feeling… but jokes were good. Talking was good.
”Yup! Got hit by a bike as a kid, it’s basically an upgraded bike, ain’t it? And I’ma upgrade Cass now too.” Her smile was pained, but she still managed to grin up at him. She was pretty sure she’d broken an arm when the bike hit her too… Funny, that. How old had she been? Eleven? Not that it really mattered…
”How bout you? Get hit by cars often? I s’pose they get distracted by your- ugh, fuck- hotness and slam right into you?””Last time was a couple months ago. When I manifest my powers, Blinds kind of have a hard time seeing me. Only, it… Wasn’t a Blind who hit me. Remember that chick you rescued from the warehouse a few weeks ago? Her. I think she just wasn’t paying attention, nor was I. Kinda like what just happened. I’m not very attentive when-” someone’s life is on the line…He cleared his throat, trying to think of a better way to phrase this.
”-there’s a goal in front of me. I’m pretty focused, like how I get in the ring, right!?” he practically nodded to himself in confirmation, a grin forming on his face.
”I get it- I’d get hit by a car too if shit was reversed!” Cass said, before starting to giggle. It wasn’t good for her, the movements it caused in her upper body making more muscles seize that had been more calm. Compared to her lower body, at least, which seemed to be taking the biggest hit.
It all hurt… Just, she could move her arms and torso.
But it was just too funny of an image! Her carrying Leon and running like that… Probably possible with her magic! But incredibly unwieldy with how big he was. It’d look ridiculous. Fuck, she had to stop thinking about it, her chest hurt-
”I’m- I’m surprised she didn’t try kill you. Seemed pretty fiery- not that I blamed her with how bobblehead prick was acting!” She managed to get the image of her princess carrying Leon out of her head trying to focus on something else, just about.
”She did! She was venomous! I had to get her a new car and the Bobblehead got her one too! She needed two cars before her vengeance was satisfied!” he laughed again, hoping she’d see he was being sarcastic.
They were coming into the cul-de-sac now, and the trees opened up around them in the cold November morning. There was a group of people hanging around the front of the dorms, who gave Leon various greetings between enthusiasm and sarcasm. But he made it pretty clear he didn’t have time, and bounded across the lawn further toward the rear basement entrance. For the first time, Cass was being brought into the Inner Sanctum: The network of underground tunnels that ran throughout the property and sprawled out like a spiderweb to every edge and beyond.
He couldn’t move as fast down here, hence they didn’t end up at the tunnel entrance nearer to their location. He may have if she’d been able to walk… It would’ve prevented getting hit by a car, which is what that specific tunnel was for…
No sense in hanging on that. This entrance was much closer to the infirmary anyway. Two of Andy’s nurses were already waiting with a gurney, which Leon was quick to get Cass onto.
”Alright! Holy shit, we made it!”The bed was already enchanted similarly to the clothes. Another orange adept outside the family had a chance to study Casey’s spell, and recreated it to the best of his abilities. The mattress beneath her started to push up against the spots that it presumed hurt the most. It wasn’t warm, but
hot. The massive copper plate beneath the surface conveyed the heat and remained malleable enough but firm enough to massage into her skin.
Leon also felt it start to work immediately, and was rather surprised.
”Woah! How’s that feel, Babe?””What the fuck- Please warn me next time a bed’s gonna just move?!” Cass’ initial reaction was shock. She was getting better at adjusting to magic being such a big part of her life- better than Trisha, at least- but there were still a lot of times it shocked her. Namely when furniture started moving when she didn’t expect it to!
But the feeling didn’t live that long, especially when the heat was helping. Enough that she wasn’t so gripped with agony. It was alleviated a little, and she relaxed into it- not that she had much choice, with how little strength she had right now.
”Good! I don’t feel a step away from death now!” She turned her head to look up at Leon, wry grin a bit less creased by pain now. Her whole face was. She was grateful for it, but it still felt like shit. Great, but she was still unable to move much. Everything still hurt, just less…
No, no, gotta stay positive! At least something was helping! Even if it didn’t just get rid of it!
”There ain’t gonna be any big, magical needles are there, Leon? I ain’t gotta problem with normal needles, but I ain’t a fan as they get longer. More not a fan of shit intruding on my body, really…””No needles, Sweetiepie!” Doctor Andy’s voice rang out from down the hall.
The nurses had already started rolling Cass toward her by the time she’d popped out of the doorframe. Enthusiastically, she was waving them in. She had a big smile on.
”We’ve got some little guys we’ve gotta poke you with to test you for allergies, but once we know what we can and can’t give you, we’ll be all set. Uh, Casey’s instituted a pretty broad policy in regards to treating outsiders, so we’ll need your permission before we can pull the records from your last doctor? It’ll make things easier, but we’re doing our best to… Well, obviously not intrude.” she said pretty bluntly, despite her big grin.
Cass weakly raised one hand into what was an entertainingly shoddy thumbs up. Respecting medical privacy
was a good thing, after all! It was pretty stringent back home, which was why she’d never bothered getting a doctor here. Absolute pain in the ass getting stuff transferred… One told her she had to bring her own physical medical records! Far too much hassle for someone who rarely got sick.
”Oh, sure, you can do that- assuming you can get ‘em from a doctor in England? I ain’t really been to one here apart from like, one A&E trip- which cost an arm and leg- and they ain’t got much on me. Either way, all good! I can even sign for permission if I gotta! Well, maybe not right now…” She clenched her fist to demonstrate, not quite able to close it fully before it hurt.
But with the heat taking the edge off, she was back to
rambling coherently at least. There was a certain level of pain she was already used to thanks to childhood injuries and Green Lux use. Just not the consistency of it…
”Uh, I gotta ask, is it gonna be this bad every time?””Well, in line with transparency policies-” she started, shooting a sharp look up at Leon who could only grin in response.
”-we’d need to wait a while to get it all through legitimate means. Supernatural methods would give us the information now. Either way, I’ll get it for you so that you have it here in the states, but only one option helps us figure out an answer to that much scarier question.”Cass was rolled into a rather comfortable room with cool colored tiles that made it feel like the floor was made of ocean. The walls were warm wood, with slats in between each board where light leaked out to provide indirect but ultimately room filling illumination. It was clearly designed to keep a patient comforted in their surroundings.
”Which… Scale of one to ten? Certainly not looking at a six, right?” she asked as they rolled Cass into place and began setting up monitors.
”Uhhh… for pain?” Cass furrowed her brow, trying to think of all the other pain she’d felt. Better or worse? Breaking her leg had certainly hurt more at the time, but that was brief. But it really could always get worse, couldn’t it? It had been worse when they were hit by the car.
If she’d been hit by the car it would’ve been
way worse. She’d probably be dead, to be fair…
”Eight? Consistently eight! Sometimes it’s going up and down… The heat’s making it more like a seven or seven point five I think… Sometimes it goes up to a nine. It wasn’t quite a ten but almost earlier when-” She cut herself off, glancing up at Leon with a deer caught in the headlights look. Oops.
”When my legs were properly seizing! And when it first happened, cause all my magic exploded… But mostly an eight. It’s bad. I ain’t enjoying it.”Leon wasn’t going to let her defend him like that.
”Check her fucking arm, please. Her whole right side; I got hit by a fucking car crossing the road and-”Andy held her hand up to stop him from going on about it, rather bumping him playfully out of the way.
”And that is why I’ll be sad to see all this go. Here, we’ve got the resources to help people. You got hit by a car? He probably fed you some of the Formula Two. Fucking incredible product. Stupid easy to synthesize once you know the methodology behind it.” she intoned to Cass, coming along her right side and running a stethoscope along the affected area.
”It does its job nearly every time. I’d say ninety five percent success rate. And we’ve only reduced the overall severity of the negatives since we started making it… Now, it's shit we can go and correct manually later rather than random horrifying mutations. Comforting, ain’t it?” she joked with Cass. She’d clocked who she was the last time they met, and was coming at the situation with a whole new attitude.
She got real close.
”Damn boys… Never look both ways before anything.” she grinned.
”It’s alright, cause that’s how I crashed into his life!” Cass let out a little cackle, which turned into a cough and pained grimace. The muscles along her side tightened in protest to her ‘movement’. It was frustrating as much as it was painful. But she assumed it’d get more manageable, or alleviated. She wouldn’t be stuck like this for days or anything…
”The Ghost juice worked pretty well, I think. Wouldn’t have needed it if I had my magic… I wouldn’t have been so hurt either! Y’know, he only still has a head cause’ve his magic, I would’ve punched it off earlier… Then my magic went out… God, I didn’t realise how reliant I’ve gotten with it till now!””You’re gonna notice a lot of things feeling out of sorts. It’s natural, your body is literally its own channeler. Sure, you’ve got one, you can direct it. But, apparently, along the lines of my research, your entire bone structure has been enchanted with a real old curse. Which, eventually allows the buildup to become possible since there’s natural residue that resides in the cavities. Casting with a channeler is usually all the body needs to excrete stuff like that, but because of how your setup is, you retain it no matter what.”She always sounded so knowledgeable. She never made it sound like she didn’t at least have control. If she didn’t know, she still maintained the air, and was confident about one thing: She’d find out.
”So, why’s it only happening now?” Leon asked with concern in his voice.
”Well, think about a bone. It’s porous. The residue seeps out of the bones like a channeler usually bleeds off Lux. First, it’s gotta fill up the cavities. After that, it’s got to work its way into the muscles and blood. We know of methods of flushing it out from there, but we can’t get it out of the bones without serious consistent surgeries. I’m talking once every few months, you come in here and we basically open you up and scrape all your bones. It’ll technically treat you: It’s the best option we have of keeping this condition out of your life. But it's not practical for you, or me, or anyone. Not right now, maybe not ever. Hence, we need to know what you’re allergic to from our world so we can figure out what you may be allergic to from other worlds. So we can start treating what we can, and I can tell you with some certainty that no, it won’t always be just like this.” she finally explained as one of the nurses came in with a clipboard and an ink pad.
”Your fingerprint is a signature. You ever try changing your fingerprints? When you feel better, try it. See how far you get.” she giggled to herself, holding the ink pad up to Cass to get her permission on paper.
”You telling me my plan to be a master criminal ain’t gonna work?” Cass managed to joke as she reached out to press a fingertip into the inkpad, wriggling it before the clipboard was brought close enough she could press it onto the paper.
”I ain’t got any allergies I’m aware of, but there might be some funky shit I’ve never touched that I’m allergic to.”It was relieving to hear it wouldn’t always be like this. Because if it was always this bad, even she’d really struggle to keep going. Then, the eventual clogging up seemed like the better option. But she could manage it not being so bad. Even if it was sometimes. Just not always.
”It being in the bones sounds real bad but I suppose… it ain’t getting outta there now. I ain’t down for near monthly surgeries! I assume I can’t scrape it out with my own magic either, cause then nobody’d be dealing with this shit?” She dropped her hand back onto her stomach, not really caring about smearing ink onto her skin. It’d wash off.
”If… My skeleton’s a channeler, does using my external one help at all? Or is it basically useless?”Doctor Andy laughed at the last question specifically, her head tilting as she looked for the computer pad she could steal Cass’ old medical records from. Junior’s strings were immensely helpful in these situations; he had set them up in pretty much every hospital he could find in Western Europe after the war. Whatever records were left had to have been consolidated therein.
”Well… Yes and no. It does what it’s supposed to, and does bleed off Lux residue. But, Lux follows the path of least resistance. More like a liquid than a particle; it flows. And, given how these sorts of things work, bigger means better. Like uh… A heat sync. More surface area means the heat bleeds off better, right?” she asked playfully.
”Right…” Cass nodded, understanding easily. She knew more than enough Biology and other science to follow along, but the comparison just made it easier. Bigger meant better, huh. Of course her puny little guitar pick was nothing on her whole body.
”So… if I got a real big rock and managed to get emotionally attached to it, the Lux may flow through that instead of me?””Never as easily as it will through your skeleton. It’s proximity and surface area. You get the double whammy: Whoever the guy was that caused your ancestors to get cursed like this in the first place was a real piece of work.” she laughed again.
”Sure seems like it! This fucker knew every play!” Leon interjected, clearly frustrated on Cass’ behalf.
”We’re lucky we got the only kind Blue Lux user in the entire plane.” Andy laughed in return.
By then she’d already pulled up old allergy records. They were incomplete, but that was better than nothing. She knew that there were a few things they could get started on right now, and a few others that still needed testing, all within a few seconds of looking at the chart.
”Okay… So, the record isn’t as full as I’d like it to be, but it’s pretty much how you remember. Problem is, you were… Sixteen? So, you could have developed something since then. We’re gonna give you a couple little jabs; maybe six? You’ll not feel them compared to your… Whole situation. And, then… Well, do you want the fun treatment first? I’ve got three in mind. One sucks, one’s boring, and one’s fun.” she offered, standing up from her rolling stool.
”Can I hear what they are before I decide? I ain’t sure I trust a doctor’s idea of fun- no offence!” Cass replied, trying to figure out what a fun treatment could even be. Oh, maybe it was something that gave her a magical high. Or like treatment shrooms that’d make her hallucinate fun shit.
She did look a bit awkward about the whole not having any records since she was sixteen thing. It wasn’t
entirely her fault.
”Also, uh, there’s maybe a couple more back home I can get my brother to send? They didn’t have the systems during the war, y’know- shit kept going down. If you were lucky they’d write it down and give it to you, but only when shit wasn’t crazy. Otherwise, there just weren’t any records. Or doctors, really.””Ah, you ain’t partied with me sister. How do you prefer your shrooms? We’ve got a world class chef begging to use dumb ingredients.” Andy grinned, leaning slightly and squeezing Cass’ arm.
She could tell from the way the bed was moving that the buildup was particularly strong in that area. It was actually feelable beneath the skin, how it was pushing out and leaking into everything. It wasn’t going to kill her… That was
kind of the point of the curse. It was sick, in a way. But, privately, rather beautiful in her eyes. A medical marvel of Green and Blue Lux coming together in perfect harmony.
Andy blushed in that moment, but cleared her throat and spoke through the tender thoughts running through her head about a certain Chef.
”F-fun option is… Right, psychoactive mushrooms. The most potent version we have is harvested from- You don’t care. Fun is you get to do drugs and trip. But it’ll also be the longest test and if it doesn’t work, you’re probably gonna have a bad twenty-four hours ahead of you. Boring would be; we go through a rapid cycling of various compounds of herbs that we’ve researched and usually use to treat Lux toxin in the blood of people who accidentally wildcast.” She cleared her throat. The last one was never fun.
”Third, we run a kind of dialysis system for you. Essentially drain and filter all your blood. For a few days. You’re… You’re gonna be stuck doing things here. We’ll have Leon head home once you’re settled, and get what you think you might want if you start feeling better. But you’re gonna need to be here. We can’t necessarily-””-Yes you can. You can absolutely get all of this stuff back to the Cannery.” Leon said with an incredibly sudden conviction in his voice.
It was jarring enough to stop Andy in her tracks.
”Aaahh… Uhhhmm…-”She stopped for a few more moments, clearing her throat and looking down at Cass for her opinion.
Cass hadn’t really expected there to be options in the first place, so she had to really think about it. It was a balance, wasn’t it? They had to find something that worked, and worked consistently. God, the shrooms sounded great, but could she really risk it not working and making everything worse? Fuck! Tripping would be awesome right now, but coming down off it and having just as bad pain? She’d probably go crazy.
”Can we try all of ‘em? Well not at once, obviously! But, like… Boring one first, cause if it works that kinda sounds like the best option- much as I like tripping, it’s more fun when it ain’t a medical necessity. Then… I dunno. The dialysis shit seems like the most guaranteed solution? But I definitely ain’t comfy being trapped here. Be bad enough in my apartment- or Leon’s! But I’ve been psyching myself up for that… So only if it can be done in the Cannery. Well. I guess if the others don’t work, I ain’t really gotta choice.” She grimaced.
”Man, shrooms seem real- fuck-” Her eyes squeezed shut, biting down on her lip as a fresh wave of agony seized her hips and abdomen. The bed adjusted to it, but it didn’t stop the cramp like feeling immediately.
”- Real fucking great right now! But I don’t wanna end up stuck for a whole day in agony if it doesn’t do shit! I dunno, it and the dialysis are hard to pick between!”Leon was staring at Andy now with a little more intensity than she wanted to deal with. But, she was still an elder. Had been slated for Crone, even, had the prodigal daughter not returned
just in time. ”It… Makes the most sense to do the suite treatment here overnight and see how they pan out. Updates can be made when your allergen results are in, and we can take our time getting the machine set up at your place. And, succeed or fail, we can all dose some high potency shrooms and go on a trip in our favorite rocket ship at the end. Where you’re comfortable… Because magic makes miracles. The literal definition of Thaumaturgy.” she proudly stated, gaining confidence by the end and finding her smile again to shine back down at Cass.
One Green Adept to another. The smile was joyous, warm, and redirected toward
treating and not worrying about pushing the logistics of a dying empire. After all… Lynette hurt her too. Passed her up again and again. Why should she care when it all falls out? There were warm prospects in warmer climates.
”Let’s… do that then.” Cass said after a moment of thought, heaving out a sigh before smiling back at Andy. It made sense to do things here for the first treatment, as much as she didn’t
really want to be stuck in the Temple for any length of time. So long as she could do it from home afterwards… And forevermore…
”If it works out, is the machine the kinda thing I can work myself? Or I guess someone close to me like Leon- or Mia or Casey if it needs Orange! Just, y’know… For the future and all.” She tilted her head away from Andy towards Leon, one hand vaguely reaching out towards him.
”You ain’t gonna miss me too much, are you? It’s only one night… I can suffer through one night for the science of finding the right treatment. And shrooms at the end.” At least, she assumed he wouldn’t be staying if she got treatment here overnight. Didn’t exactly seem comfortable when he had a very nice, massive bed back in a very nice apartment.
There was a
long stare between Leon and Andy that stretched out to an uncomfortable length before finally breaking with Leon’s voice.
”The farthest I’ll be from you tonight is a couple of rooms over. Doctor Andy and I have a lot to talk about, I think. Logistics. Plans. Getting things to the Cannery.”The tension was clear the moment the stare had sucked the joy away from Andy’s face again. It left her wholly uncanny before him, and while she’d felt threatened by Lady Lelou before, she’d
never felt threatened by Leon. But, his behavior wasn’t normal. This… Was Leon in a new way. There was only one man who had treated her like this over someone and gotten away with it before.
”Leon Hunter… I have known you since you were a little boy…-”She cleared her throat. The change back to customer face was instant now, and very sharp.
”-Cass, honey, I’m gonna leave you with Chenzo, my head nurse. He’s gonna give you the allergy test, and he’s gonna start with the first compound. It’ll take about a half an hour to run through your system. Please, try to relax as much as possible, and… And be thankful you have such a sincere person in your corner. Leon’s in rare form.” she said with confidence and one last smile.
Before the lights turned out. Leon felt a cold beam of fear pass across him. There was a red dot shimmering on his pantleg beneath the bed where Cass couldn’t see. Andy’s face was cold and dead, staring at him with an unflinching rage as a
tiny smirk curled up at one end of her mouth.
”Step into my office? Please?”She
almost whispered it. Her voice was strained, like there was a dam blocking an ocean and struggling to fulfill the task. Leon was at a great disadvantage, but it was probably good to have time to cool off. Maybe he was acting with a bit too much deference, that truly zealous part of himself surfacing again. Like it had when he’d ‘protected’ Layla from the other Sycamites. A bit too much like he
used to be.So he cleared his own throat and looked down at Cass.
”Maybe, like, an hour? Girls should be here by then. Ed may not come down, uh… Her and Andy ain’t exactly friends.””A terrible fact. All three?” she asked crassly, interrupting him.
”I don’t know. Two guaranteed, Ed and Mia.” Leon spoke in a much softer tone now.
”Right… You heard that Chenzo?”“Yep!” came from the other room, and Leon saw the beam disappear. He leaned down to kiss Cass again, squeezing her hand gently.
”An hour… Don’t miss me too much.””No promises… I’ma miss your ass at least, real good distraction.” Cass managed a smile, though she could still feel the tension under the surface. Not so extreme… They probably weren’t going to kill each other.
She turned her head back to look at the ceiling, before half closing her eyes. She wasn’t sure how much she’d be relaxing, but she was too drained from all the pain to worry about whatever was going on there too much.
”See you in an hour.”After the allergy tests, which Cass really didn’t feel through all the other pain, she was given some strange drink- tonic, or whatever- to ingest. She was really hoping the first compound would
just work. That would be ideal.
Not that it was going to work right away. The first twenty minutes were spent in hopeful pain. When she asked, Chenzo got her phone from Leon’s bag… And she was at least able to prop it up on her chest and watch something stupid with no sound and subtitles. When that got uncomfortable, which it did very quickly, she moved it to beside her and turned her head to look.
It offered a tiny distraction, but very little when the pain flared up or something seized.
As it got to almost thirty minutes since she’d taken this one, the hope began to fade away. Sure, it’d take that long to get into her system, but surely she’d feel it by now! Fuck… It was going to be a long night, wasn’t it? She turned her head away from her phone with a pained grimace, hands shifting to rest on her stomach. It was, unfortunately, the most comfortable position. On her back, perfectly straight…
The whole thing just fucking sucked!
”Chenzo!? Is she awake?”The door to the main nursing area outside her room was open, so she’d be able to hear and talk to Chenzo easily. But, it made hearing friendly voices a lot easier too.
“Yeah! Number two, go ahead. Actually, I’ve gotta-”
There was a little bit of shuffling outside, but Ed was the first to appear around the corner. She looked a little like death, but when she saw that Cass wasn’t covered in bandages, she was thrilled.
”Shit, dude, what the fuck happened!?” she asked bluntly, making an immediate headway for the rolling stool so she could get real close to Cass.
”Leon said something about a fucking car!?””Heyyyy Ed, Mia.” Cass’ almost closed eyes fully opened, and she tilted her head to look at them both with a sort of smile. Right, the car crash. They thought it was just being hit by a car… She’d have to explain the disease thing at some point, cause they had shit to fix car damage. She had magic to fix it!
But the car did need explanation, cause that was why the girls even knew. It had hurt Mia, after all.
”Hit by a car, yeah… Really not fun. Don’t recommend… Well, actually, it wasn’t the car! Leon was holding me real tight, squeezed and broke a bunch of bones and shit! He took most’ve the hit… Actually went flying, like a baseball! Maybe not as far as a baseball… Either way, yup, we got hit by a car.””Oh, my fucking God!” Mia said, coming in after Ed had already sat down.
”Well… Like… They got you to eat something in time, right? So, you should be okay?” she asked, grave worry in her voice.
Ed wasn’t sure whether or not Mia would be ready for any answer regarding why Cass was
still laid up. If it was just a few broken bones.
“Excuse me, Ed… Gotta give our African Princess her medicine.” Chenzo joked, moving to Ed’s side and gently bumping her to roll the chair out of the way.
”Medicine!?” Ed perked up.
”Uhhh…” Cass had been hoping to have a moment to lighten the mood up. Throw out some jokes. Help Mia calm down a little. Pretend she totally wasn’t lying on the bed unable to move most of her body, in agony, and was totally just a little tired. Then break the news slowly.
”This is really… Shameful…” She said, before moving a hand to cover her face.
”That was a bad one, even for me! I, uh, ain’t really here cause’ve the car. Well, if the green shit worked had to be checked, but… I’m… Sick. Not like, dying sick! Just, chronically!””Whaaaaat!? What, did something happen when, like, you went to get healed or something?”But Ed held her hand up, furrowing her brow.
”Uhhh… No… Babe, I think… What’s that, that thing that Andre’s son has?” she asked, snapping her fingers.
It took a second for her to recall it, but then she snapped her fingers too.
”Fuck the, uh… Shame of… Something with an N? Something African sounding, I think, I mean obvi-”“The Shame of Clan N’gouba, girls. Cass has Lux-Blood Toxicity, in medical terms. Painful stuff, supposed to be like a million little aches all at once.” Chenzo explained from a medical standpoint.
”Yo, fuuuuuuuck… His kid ain’t got it that bad, even! I hear his case is like, pretty mild!” Ed exclaimed, shocked by the moment.
“Cass has an
acute reaction. Tell ‘em about it after you drink.” he said holding the straw in the tincture up to her lips
“As quick as you can, I made this one taste like eating a pineapple on a hot summer day
specifically.”
”Why?” Cass stared at Chenzo… Pineapples were nice and all, but wouldn’t it burn? She pursed her lips before taking the straw, sucking it all in with a couple of gulps. It… really did taste exactly like eating a pineapple on a hot summer day. What the fuck.
”Shit, it’s even got the burning aftertaste- not bad!” She scrunched up her nose a bit, before turning her head back to look at the girls. She tried her best not to look too disheartened by the whole thing.
She’d been through a lot of thinking about it over the last few days, as they pushed her Lux to the limits. A mix of thrill and joy over how much she could do, to fear and sadness in the quiet moments when it was just her. But the pain overwhelmed all of that now, along with her frustration. She really was stuck with this.
”It’s… Well, all my Lux goes through my body instead of my Channeler. Eventually it gets into my blood and muscles and shit like… Right now. My first flareup! Cause my blood is full of it and I’ve run outta actual Lux to use… Luxal fatigue, that’s what it’s called!” She explained as best as she could.
”I ain’t got any magic right now. That’s why Leon had to properly protect me when we got hit by the car… But I gotta use it all like this, otherwise it’ll clog up. Either way, it still seeps into my blood from my bones!”Mia looked absolutely mortified. Unable to fathom the depth of frustration that she felt hearing something like that. She’d only heard it described vaguely by a person who hadn’t seemed particularly bothered by it. But, knowing what it was going to do to her? To Cass?
”B-but… You’re… Cass, the Mobile Ass! We’ve discussed this!” she tried to make a joke come out, but it came out with tears as she moved and slid up next to Ed and the bedside.
Her head came to rest on Cass’ thigh, and she could feel the warmth of the bed. Her senses automatically reached across it, feeling the influence of her family’s magic within. It was only slightly more comforting that she was apparently being held up by the fundamental pattern they called the Lumond Lattice.
”I’ma just have to be Cass, the Immobile Ass every now and then.” Cass managed another smile, hand reaching out towards Mia but not quite being able to reach her. She could sit up if she really strained herself, but she knew causing herself more pain wouldn’t make anyone happy.
”I dunno how regular it’ll be yet… But normally I’ll be fine! Better than fine! Magic’s super natural to me… Leon said I’ve been doing stuff that some people struggle with even after a decade of practice. It’s just got some really shitty side effects. But that’s why I’m here! To see if we can find something to help… The Doc’s convinced it won’t be this bad every time, at least.” She tried her best to comfort Mia - but she was trying to convince and comfort herself too.
Because she did love the feeling of using her magic. Of the Lux flowing through her veins… But was it worth the pain? She wouldn’t give up her magic… But she did wish she was a normal adept.
”I ain’t gonna lie and say it doesn’t suck. It’s fucking shit… Honestly, can’t even move that leg you're lying on… But I’ma learn to manage and live with it, y’know. Ain’t gotta choice, anyway.”One of Ed’s hands moved to rub Mia’s head while the other stretched out to hold Cass’ hand.
”Well… Bad Bitch? We’re here for you. Anything you can think of, you just ask. We love you like our own, right Mimi?”Mia had just about forgotten all her own sorrow, everything pouring out from her incredible empathetic capacity into a sensation of shame of her own. The Richoux family curse, maybe. Maybe just their generation. The feeling that she’d been such a moron having even worried about how she’d felt. It was all temporary anyway. The guilt would last much longer. She didn’t agree verbally, as her face was buried in her arm, but she did nod wildly against Cass’ leg.
”Right… She… That don’t hurt, Cass? Does it? Should I move her?”"Nah, it don't. The pressure's kinda nice. Honestly, you'd have to start punching me for shit to hurt more, I think!" She very pathetically waved her free hand, grimacing as she let it drop back to her stomach.
It really wasn't that kind of pain… Hard to push about it, especially when it spiked. Leon breaking a bunch of bones had, but otherwise…
"But I really appreciate it. I ain't sure what I'll need yet… company's good! Especially when Leon's… occupied. It won't be so bad when I'm home, or can do more… but right now I ain't sure I can even use my phone much. I've been watching shit but the pain keeps- Oh!" She interrupted herself, looking down at Mia.
"You okay, Mia?! The blast back from Leon's hit must've been real bad!"Mia wasn’t sure that she heard Cass correctly. If she had, she couldn’t answer. How could she? The panic was pretty open on her face, and the lack of an answer prompted Ed to turn in her seat to check what the holdup was. It was Mia’s eyes welling up with tears. She reached into the bag she was clutching, hand gripping onto the only thing it could’ve been before pulling it out.
The first time Cass would’ve seen this artifact; an ancient rope of half-cracked leather as black as night. At the end, was a collar of the same material, whose buckle held a tag in place at the front. It was small, gold, and whatever writing was on it would be illegible from that distance without magic.
”D-do… you really have to ask? Lets fo-focus on you. An-and mmmmaking you feel better…” she did her absolute best not to make it too obvious that her clutch on the artifact may be having some kind of effect.
In truth, she was relaying with the spirit herself.
She had the line to Lelou now, though in a strikingly detached fashion. Rather than
asking for advice, Mia had quickly realized she too could simply take. Four hands and two minds focused on keeping the being suppressed meant that they had the advantage in the situation. A carrier, or handler, made everything easier without regarding the actual being known as Lelou Faim with any more concern than one would give to a useful machine. Handle with care, but use as necessary.
There was a quick shift that was impossible to not notice. While Leon pulled from all the physicality of Lelou’s supernatural abilities, Mia easily pulled from the new source of brazen confidence and animalistic passion. It was a new drug, and she’d been
using lately.
”I mean… Unless you really would rather hear about me dealing with this thing? It’s a blessing and a fuckin’ curse if I’m being honest.-” she spoke with a slight growl in her voice.
”-I mean yeah, great. I get some wisps of what being a Queen must be like. But, your boy got creamed by a fucking crossover! Like, fuck, I know you felt it, and I get that what you’re feeling right now is anything but-”She had done it without even thinking, and smacked the damnable artifact back into her bag now that she was sure she wouldn’t break out into tears.
”-Leon gets limbs lopped off. Holes punched clean through him. You realize that he can fuckin’ take it, right? But that I’m on the other side? Like, shit, Lelou likes you. When you feel better next, ask him why he can’t let her train with you instead, because you fucking hurt!” Rather than an equally frustrated flourish of leaving or shouting, Mia confidently bent down and planted her lips on Cass’ forehead, her hand moving down to hold Cass’ tenderly. When she pulled away, her eyes looked down with love and concern at her new friend.
”I’m sorry. You asked. I’m scared. Real scared of what I may have to deal with in the near future. And, if I’ve got the fucking thing? I’m a bigger target than I ever have been. And nowhere’s really safe except home, since Casey’s there.” she cleared her throat, not even considering the idea of Leon being a protector.
He wasn’t one if she’d be tanking the hits too.
Cass wasn't blind, or stupid. Even taken out by pain like she was, she could still see Mia clutching the artifact and growing noticeably more confident. At least, the tears stopped. But Cass didn't say anything. Maybe it was something she'd bring up with Leon later, but it wasn't her place. Especially not right now.
"It's alright, I did ask! I ain't upset or anything. I understand being scared. There’s a lotta uncertainty in the future too! But that insecurity ain’t gonna be forever… and Leon ain’t gonna be fighting alone in the future. I’ll do what I can to make sure he ain’t getting limbs cut off." She said with as much certainty as she could muster. It wasn’t guaranteed.
And it was true Leon could take it, but that was just because he was used to the pain. Not that she thought Mia should have to get used to it…
”And we ain’t gonna be training like that for a while now. It was mostly to… Push my magic. Cause I had to use it as much as possible to burn out. That’s why I was going so strong! I’ll try hold back more- or, y’know, see if he’ll take off the collar before I punch so hard!” She managed to smile at Mia, before it turned into a pained grimace. Her hand clenched into a fist to fight through the wave of renewed pain. But her other held Mia’s a little tighter and squeezed it gently.
”He got hit by the car cause he was tryna get me here. He ain’t gonna be that inattentive most’ve the time, I promise.”Mia nodded her head, expression mostly neutral until a little smile crossed her lips.
”You sure you ain’t lookin’ for three girlfriends and a daughter?” Ed immediately laughed, reaching up and snagging Mia to pull her down on her lap.
”Geeze! This girl, she gets all teary, then she wants to be an animal.”Mia was laughing too now, hand still half holding onto Cass’. Ed slid the chair just a little closer so they could all be close together.
”Only half joking.” Mia giggled, planting a kiss on Ed’s cheek.
”Riiiiight… Listen, we’ll be alright, Cass. You’re gonna… Have to live with this forever, right? It ain’t somethin’ they cure, like a cold. You said your fuckin’ bones cast magic? That’s actually crazy, Andre’s kid ain’t said anything about that.” Ed said with a measure of conspiracy in her voice.
”Sorry, Cutie, but I ain’t available.” Cass laughed along, though it was more muted, smiling at Mia. Then she turned to Ed’s question.
”Yeah, unfortunately it ain’t going anywhere.”She hadn’t met this other person who also had it… But Ed had said something about it being mild, right? And mild were the rarer cases. And then…
”Well, the Doc mentioned something about research… so maybe it ain’t something they knew before? There’s also different types… I dunno, it ain’t really the kinda thing you just talk about, is it? Or maybe it is when everyone has magic! It was news to me today.”Her brow furrowed further, thoughtfulness adding to pain.
”You said his was mild, right? Maybe it ain’t so much of a problem for him and he can use his channeler to deal with it? But for me unless I literally eat a rock I’m really attached to, my Lux ain’t going through anything else! It’s fucking wild, right? I didn’t know till now… But I ain’t ever felt that pain I was told I should from wildcasting. I did it a lot. Like… with the fucking Cat last week! It ripped my shoulder out, but it looked great when you saw me, didn’t it, Mia? I cast that with no Channeler… First healing spell too!””Which is pretty intense. Andy was incredibly impressed; you definitely earned her respect and-”Mia bristled. There was a sensation at the back of her neck, but no time for her to react to it before it was too late.
”Chenziiiiii… My meds?””Of course! Here, Ma’am. Go with Grace.””Ahhhh, is that my lovely daughter? And my… Niece daughter? Daughter Niece? Eddy?””Yes Momma… Hi.”In stepped the goth of the century in a rather immodest set of workout clothing. They were designer brand, all black, and almost certainly a size too small. She had her mass of raven black hair tied up in a long tail draped down around one side of her head, and was absolutely
covered in bruises.
”Hey Auntie Lyn…”Lynette stared with deep blue eyes toward Cass, smiling only after she felt satisfied.
”You the Wild Witch I heard about? Never even thought to watch for you. Not that I’m complainin’.”She stepped forward, getting closer to the two girls and wrapping one hand around each of their shoulders.
”Sounds like everyone likes you. Shame about the Shame, but there’s worse curses in the world. I’d say God tests us, but what the fuck do I know… Is there anything I can get you, Cass?” she finally asked.
It was Cass’ first time seeing Lynette Richoux in the flesh, and not exactly how she’d expected it to go. She certainly hadn’t expected to be bed bound, and it to be post violent workout for Lynette. She looked like the pictures Cass had seen. Very gothic and attractive… No wonder Leon was plagued by Mommy issues.
”Nope! I got everything I need here, thanks for letting me get treatment in the, uh, sacred grounds?” It was relatively easy for Cass to put aside her growing personal issues with the woman and be chirpy in response. At least as chirpy as someone lying in agony could be…
”I’m guessing you’re Lynette… Well it ain’t really a guess, cause’ve what the girls called you- and I can see the resemblance! For all of ‘em.” She moved a limp hand up and vaguely towards Lynette, offering a vague handshake. She couldn’t really do much else right now.
”These ain’t the circumstances I expected to meet my boyfriend’s mum under! Like you said, Shame about the Shame… but hey, at least I only turn into a crystal if I don’t use up all my magic all the time. So it ain’t gonna kill me! Either way, nice to meetcha.”Lynette smiled warmly, and freely gave a hand back to shake gently. She knew the girl was in obvious pain, and didn’t want to prolong it.
Shame about the Shame. ”Well, better than a worse time, right? You ain’t gotta worry about me much, anyway. Uhhh… I hope you make it through the near future, and into the far future. But, I’ve literally got nothing on you. With everything you’ve probably heard, maybe that’s a relief. You’re in good hands.”Solemnly, she patted Ed and Mia again, then wordlessly turned to exit from the same place she entered. The two waited for far longer than probably seemed necessary before speaking again.
”Jeeeeeesus… What fuckin’ drug is she on!?” Ed exclaimed with great confusion.
”Fuck if I know, but Chenzo ain’t gonna tell. Uh… Sorry, Cass.” Mia intoned, half frustrated and half elated that it’d only been
that bad.
”It’s alright, it wasn’t that bad! I’m guessing that was her in pretty good form?” Cass asked, looking at Ed and Mia with a half smile. She really wasn’t bothered at all. Maybe in a couple of years she’d care about Leon’s mom’s approval- not that she seemed to disapprove- but that was never going to be, if things worked how they were looking too.
And she’d done plenty of work to get over her own Mum issues that she was quite chill when it came to anyone else’s. Or anyone, really- she didn’t let external people get to her like that, as much as she could!
”I ain’t gonna get upset over any kinda meeting. She could call me all kinds of shit and I might just tell her to fuck off, but I wouldn’t get too upset. Either way, ain’t a problem… As ominous as I hope you make it sounds. I ain’t worried!””That was… Honestly how she treats most people. I kind of assumed that she’d have anything to say at all.” Mia intoned conspiratorially.
”Whatever it is, Babe, let’s just be thankful. It’s way better than-””-Oh, don’t get me wrong. Way better. I guess it means she was telling the truth, which is more than the people who are immediately in her life are privy to.”The two nodded in agreement, a clear sign of relaxation washing across them.
”Oh yeah, I’ve heard a lil from Trisha- not that she tells me much! I’m more than happy for her to just not give a fuck about me! Way easier. And I got the approval of the family that matters most, don’t I?” Cass managed to grin at them both.
It was how she felt, at least, especially with Lynette’s limited time. Even if it wasn’t… If Lynette didn’t want to know her, then Cass would never push it. Not that she and Leon were really at the meet the parents stage… Things just moved differently when all your family lived nearby and was part of a massive cult! She sure wasn’t planning to introduce him to hers for a long while.
Or ever. She wasn’t too fond of her parents being in her life much.
”If she didn’t see me in any of those visions or shit, I guess that means I’m a real sexy surprise, huh?” Her eyebrows waggled a bit.
”I suppose the fates just assumed the other Wolf in his head would always cockblock him emotionally, huh?”The two of them gave one another a happy glance as Cass mentioned the family that matters. It felt good to have that kind of feeling behind them, and from such an awesome person in her own right.
”I’m not sure. You’re… Uhhhh…”And then the realization hit. Mia pressed her hand to her forehead.
”I think that really seals the deal for poor Trisha…” Ed scrunched her nose up slightly, then cleared her throat.
”Yeah, Cass, I’m… Thinking it’s just the fact that Trisha’s such a big figure. We’ll figure it out. Probably has to do with all that Stygian Snake stuff.” the quick deflection came easily, especially when it was still partly true overall.
Cass nodded, though the movement was quite small. That was the one thing that made her wish she had more of Lynette’s attention. To take some of it away from Trisha so she could rest… While Trisha didn’t really
talk to Cass about things, she could tell she’d been extra stressed the past couple of days just from her texts and refusal to actually see her. It would be nice if she could take a bit of that burden away.
She had Casey now, at least.
”Yeah, it makes sense she’d be more important in all’ve the shit! But you’re right, we’ll figure it out… Cause she’ll have all of us behind her, right? I certainly ain’t gonna let anyone hurt her… and I can really pack a punch. Leon said I would’ve punched his head clean off earlier if it wasn’t him- Uh, sorry for that Mia, probably hurt like hell for you!” Her constant positivity didn’t seem dampened even with the situation she was in right now.
It wasn’t getting any better, she was just getting a little better at ignoring it. Or distraction via having the two of them there.
”I gotta say, I’m so happy you guys can see through that prickly exterior and like her. I know it ain’t easy… Lee still ain’t there yet. But she needs people around her more than I do… Not that she’s great at accepting the help!””Well, thankfully she doesn’t punch as hard as you do.” Mia shook her head and smiled.
”It does hurt. Apparently there’s something I can do to mitigate it but I’ve yet to figure that shit out.”Ed laughed again, rubbing Mia’s shoulder.
”Trust me, whenever she’s off duty, she gets plenty of tender love and care. Today, tomorrow, whenever she wants because she’s such a good, responsible little sister.” she tickled Mia, causing her to laugh in kind as Leon’s figure slipped into view.
”Alright, it’s all set up… Hey girls! Heyyyy…”He slipped down, holding both of them tightly together.
”They keeping you safe?” he looked down at Cass, a tender smile crossing his face.
”Oh yeah, so safe. From myself, mostly- I probably woulda tried to roll outta the bed if they arrived any later!” She smiled back at him. Her face wasn’t much less lined with pain than when he’d left, but the heat underneath her was at least keeping it under control even if the tonics hadn’t yet.
Her gaze couldn’t help but slip down from his face to his chest, letting out a slight sigh.
”Fuck, I missed this view… Nothing quite so distracting, Babe… Not that these two ain’t great company. Just need the eye candy to go along with it, y’know. Helps me prepare for what’s probably gonna be a long night.” She was half joking, of course- it was Leon himself being there that helped, not specifically his sexiest parts…
As if being cursed for thirsting over him from her sick bed, there was another round of more painful muscles spasms which she gritted her teeth through. But it didn’t stop her mind from shifting elsewhere, even if her voice was more strained.
”Oh! I met Lynette.”Without any bit of tact, Leon grinned at Cass and immediately pulled his tanktop off completely, moving around to the other side of the bed she was in and slipping into the open chair at her side.
”Augh, the straight male’s pride. Great.” Mia scoffed.
”Hardly for you… Let Cass get what she wants.” Leon chided back, causing Ed to giggle.
”I think that’s fair.”Mia didn’t protest further. It was all cute anyway. Leon smiled and cleared his throat.
”I… was told. Mum stopped Andy and I. Said she needed the good doctor for something, I wasn’t interested in pressing.” he explained.
”Funny she was training just like we were. I wonder if she thinks she’s getting out of this.” Leon grinned a sickly grin.
”Well she certainly didn’t sound like a woman who thought she was gonna live long… Said a bunch of stuff about not being a problem and hoping I’d survive! She ain’t seeing me in any of those funky visions, so I suppose that’s a good thing?” Cass responded rather bluntly. She was having a hard time keeping her eyes anywhere but Leon’s chest. It was just right there. Perfect eye level with him sitting down. So fucking hot.
Too hot.
”Ugh, Babe, as much as I hate to say this, you gotta put your shirt back on! This is literal torture when I’m stuck in bed! Any longer and I’ma self combust. Like, sure, great view, I am really enjoying it but it’s also making me want way more- sorry girls, I won’t say anymore!” ”Well, actually, Andy said-””-Orgasms have pain relieving properties? Absolutely. Should we leave?” Ed cackled immediately after finishing, not even stopping to notice Mia’s absolute embarrassment.
”Eddyyyyyyyyy!!!!!” she groaned, turning in Ed’s lap and playfully thumping at her chest.
Leon laughed as well, grinning mostly at Cass.
”I’m sure you two have heard it. If she’s right, she’s right. That lady’s a medical professional. So, I’m on duty if you wanna try, Babe.” Leon winked.
”Now, as for tomorrow? All the stuff will be set up in a different apartment. But, it’ll be private just like yours. It’ll just be easier to move it all into a fresh room than try to get it all into yours. That make sense?” he asked Cass gently.
"Huh?- Oh, yeah, of course!" Cass had been thinking quite seriously about his offer. It sounded pretty fucking awesome if that actually helped with pain relief… but then she got caught up in the logistics. She could barely move right now! That'd make things pretty boring… she liked moving a lot… Then the whole medication every thirty minutes thing, the risk of the pain being too overwhelming in the first place-
Fuck, she'd think about it more later!
"So long as it's a private apartment rather than… this, y'know? A medical room under the Temple… I ain't bothered even if Andy or whoever else makes sense has a key, to make things easier! For safety and all that, in case shit happens. I just ain't coming here every time. And I imagine it'll be pretty frequent…"She smiled up at him, eyebrows raising a couple of times. Eyes going right back to his chest… she really couldn't help herself now that stuff was back on the table, even if she really wasn't sure if it was something she'd be into when so immobile.
"Hopefully by tomorrow I won't be so crippled that I ain't feeling down for much of anything… then we can baptise another flat! Anyway- it'll be easier for visitors too… Really, I'm fine with that. Doesn't have to be my place. My place'll probably be an absolute pain for me to move round anyway- if I can walk- cause I got so much shit. I bet I'll trip over a cable and end up stuck on the ground or some shit."”Hell yeah… It’s one of the studios, so it’s not much to christen. Practically a hospital room with space for a couch. Or, in this case, a bunch of machines and a fancy filter.” Leon smiled, shrugging his shoulders.
”Though, I’ll admit: She was being stubborn because she feels like that’s actually the least likely treatment.””Yeah, uh… Sorry, I was listening. Fucking dialasys? I’m sorry, but she’s honestly right. If Lucien and Naomi aren’t using it as treatment-” Mia piped up, clearing her throat in admission, only for Ed to smack her arm half-agitated.
”Mia!!!” she snapped, clearly annoyed that she’d been listening to someone’s private conversations.
”You fucking try when you can hear him from three different angles in your head! I’m sorry!” Mia whined back, balling her hands up in vague frustration.
”If you were listening at all, you should be well aware of how much different Cass’ situation is. Ahhh… Naomi’s not exactly a fair case.” Leon scratched his head, stupidly grinning at Cass.
”Turns out, the big rule can work. We need to get you attached to a river, or some rapidly flowing body of water. But, it’s also still pretty dumb? Naomi’s got no problem living on a boat for a month at a time with no pain. I don’t imagine you being cool cooped up anywhere, right?” he asked genuinely, moving his hand to reach for hers.
"Absolutely not!" Cass' replied immediately. Her hand wriggled over towards Leon's, weakly grasping at it. It was pretty comforting to have him there- to have them all there. At least she wasn't dealing with this shit alone. Like fuck, if she hadn't visited Trisha and hooked up with Leon then… she didn't know what she'd do! It wasn't like she had any kinda magical community before. Maybe Reyna would help figure it out, but then what?
No point thinking about those negative hypotheticals, though.
"It's bad enough being trapped in bed for a bit, but a whole month on a boat? No way… I get sea sick! Well maybe not anymore cause magic, but y'know!" Cass declared, head shifting from side to side to be able to look at them all.
"If it's gotta be dialysis, it's gotta be dialysis. Maybe I won't need it every time? I sure hope so- hopefully it ain't gonna be so bad every time. But if there's, like, months or I dunno a year worth of Lux in my blood… That's a lot, right?!"She let out a little groan of frustration. Just the thought of a few days stuck as some machine cycled through her blood… but it was better than it never getting better. And at least…
"I can put up some of my best posters where I can see ‘em from the bed! I wouldn't be able to do that on a boat…"”Not sure how clear Leon’s made it, but you’re surrounded by some of the most learned and educated wizards in the current century. We may not be able to cleanse some hundred thousand year old curse, but we can sure as shit make a boat.” she grinned widely.
Leon smirked.
”She’s not wrong. You see that fuckin’ greenhouse they built Trisha?”Ed raised her free hand.
”And in six months?”The playful lipbite of a reply was all Ed needed to know he wasn’t
actually being serious. Though, with both her
and Mia giving him an annoyed side-eye, he couldn’t help but break up.
”Alriiiiight, it’s bad enough we’ve gotta find her a fucking doctor to do the procedure somewhere. Andy says she’ll do her best to find one before shit gets too crazy, but she’s not sticking around either. I’m… Buying the equipment. That way we don’t lose that. The only problem there will be the filter. But, if we stick together as a family after this, then hopefully the person we need most can get it done.” he sighed, hating to resign things over to his technically inclined middle brother.
At least Casey’d be noble about it. Probably. He seemed like that kind of guy lately.
Mia frowned slightly.
”You don’t think that’s asking a lot out of him?” ”Not if it’s not for Cass.” he tilted his head to one side in consideration, a sly grin passing to Cass.
Cass let out a quiet laugh, shooting a playful smile back.
"Hey now, that's pretty evil. But you're right… Trisha'll be pretty upset over it all. It's why I haven't managed to tell her yet! She'll probably get upset she can't do more about it… I ain't so fond of using stuff like that, but it ain't like we're doing anything! Only way to stop it is not telling her ever."She tilted her head to the side, shoulder coming up a tiny amount in an attempted shrug motion.
"I feel a bit bad about it but… Andy said my cares a community thing. It ain't like we're asking without giving back. Trisha- and Casey- could ask me to do almost anything and I'd do it! I'd take a literal bullet for ‘em! Sure, I'd almost definitely survive it, but it's still a big gesture, right?"The only downside was it might mean Trisha seeing her when she was in this much pain. She knew her friend was strong thanks to fighting the Stygian Snake, but she'd also seen her freak out when Diyah fainted once in their apartment. But… necessary evil…
She tilted her head towards Mia with a smile.
"Just cause there ain't gonna be the big organisation by the end don't mean there won't be some kinda community… Even if it's just you siblings and whoever's attached to you. And that kinda group helps each other!"Mia shifted uncomfortably, looking a little pensive.
”That’s not something we’ve talked much about yet…””You shouldn’t be worried about it. The three of you will always have a place with me.” Leon asserted calmly.
”And you do what you can. You don’t have to jump or anything. It ain’t gonna be a coven, or a cult; we’re just gonna be siblings living together. And it’ll be good.”Mia closed her eyes and sighed.
”C’mon, Meem… It’ll be good! It’ll be like last time, but way better. Genuine!” Ed prodded, poking Mia and making her reactively giggle with a tickle.
”I guess we’ll have to be here. Maybe… Maybe I can… Go into nursing? Like I imagined as a little kid. Just, y’know, so you maybe don’t need a doctor the whole time, right?” she asked, eyes turning warmly back to Cass.
”Hell yeah! I think you’d make an awesome nurse, Mimi. I’d certainly feel like I was in safe hands!” Cass’ smile in return was radiant. Strong, unrestrained joy even though the pain.
”Leon may have to worry, though… Y’know she asked me earlier if I wanted three girlfriends and a daughter?! A hard offer to resist, ya know!”She laughed, eyebrows moving up and down teasingly.
”But seriously, he’s right. Do what you can, and what you wanna. Pursue the dreams you ain’t got a chance to before! I’ll support you just as much as he does! Freedom means just that, don’t it?”Not that she knew what she wanted to do, even now. She’d moved to St Portwell, she was spending most of her time with Leon, it was all good but she didn’t really have any
goals. Did she get another job? She’d have to eventually, at least until her littlest brother was out of uni and settled. Or to replenish the savings she was using to help him. Then there was this fucking illness… What workplace would accept that?!
She wasn’t able to hide her frustration, but the pained wince that went with it probably made it seem like it was just the physical shit she was dealing with. Hopefully.
”Whatever happens, you’re all stuck with my ass anyway- mobile or not!””Yoooo, the Immobile Ass!” Ed threw her fist out, probably knocking Cass’ way too hard. She winced.
”Ooooh, shit… Sorry bro.”Mia tucked her face into her open hand, embarrassed.
”It means a lot Cass. Believe me, we’ll make it up to you just like you’ll do for us. Cyclical love and effort!” she shook her head and finally smiled at Cass directly.
For the first time in a long time, Leon wasn’t worried. This was
nice.”See? We’ll work it all out, Babe. I can’t wait to see how everything goes. Who knows, maybe you’ll take some fuckin’ magic shrooms and go to sleep, then wake up a few days from now like you blinked. Maybe the time’ll pass, but you won’t remember sittin’ around!” he poked at her verbally, grinning while his thumb gently rubbed against her hand.
