Wow! Ah, somehow that little first chapter got a lot more attention than I'm used to and I don't even know what to do with that. Just, wow guys. Thank you! I will let you in on something - there will be lovely Tara/Ronin flashbacks at some point, since that's my hardcore OTP. So if you're craving some of that just know it will happen eventually. Again, thanks for following!
The next two days went relatively well, with Nod calming down about the things he saw around the house. Bomba had made a trip out to a thrift store and picked up some clothes he thought might fit Nod, so that he wouldn't stand out so badly. They were getting ready to leave when Mub gave them a call, asking why he hadn't seen them in a few days.
"Seriously, do you know how long it takes me to crawl up here? MK, baby, you should come and see me today. Nod seems to have disappeared so it could be just you and me." The slug wiggled his eyes seductively at the girl. "Sound good?"
"That's a terrible idea." Nod said, walking into the room and leering at the computer screen, "Why would she want to go hang out with a tiny little slug when I'm here?" He was wearing a slightly oversized shirt with a band on the front of it, and a pair of pants that miraculously fit. He had no idea what the band even was about, but they were some of the clothes that Bomba had picked up for him, since MK had refused to let him out of the house in his armor.
"Wha- Nod? How did you… You jerk!" Mub sputtered at the camera, obviously outraged. "I am going to get you for this! Fall asleep, I dare you! I'll crawl up your nose! You'll never get the slime out."
"Mub, Mub! Calm down." MK held her hands up to attempt to pacify the angry slug, "Dad and I are going back to the city for a month, and Nod is coming with us."
"Wait, you're leaving me for a whole month?" Mub looked heartbroken for a minute, then thought about something even more important, "And yet you're taking him? MK, how could you? I thought we had something special!"
MK grimaced slightly, but recovered quickly, "We, ah, do! But really Mub, you wouldn't like it in the city. You would get stepped on or something horrible like that. Or eaten by a dog."
Nod's eyes lit up at that thought, but he wisely kept his mouth shut for a change. "If the queen can make that loser big, she can do the same for me!" The slug argued, shaking what passed for a fist at the Jinn.
"Whoa there, Mub. We don't even know if that kind of magic would work on you, and do you really think that the stompers would take a giant slug well? They'd probably pour salt on you. And how would we get you into a… What are those things called, again?" Nod glanced at MK, trying to remember what she called the large wheeled things they rode around in.
She sighed, shaking her head at them both, "It's a car."
"Oh yeah. How would we get you into a car? Just not doable, buddy. But you can still call us. I'll make sure to take good care of MK for you while you're gone." Nod chuckled a bit more evilly than he might have intended, but how could he resist the urge to mess with the slug.
"Anyways, we were on our way out, sorry Mub!" MK stated, reaching forward to turn off the camera, "We'll leave you a message when we get to the city, all right?" The slug grumbled a bit, but he was unable to argue with MK, so he settled for glaring at Nod, "If I find out you've touched one hair on her head I'm gonna-" Nod reached out and poked his friends head, touching her hair with a grin. "Oops, you were saying?" With another sigh, she turned the camera off, cutting off sounds of rage from Mub, and stared unplugging monitors, "Dad won't go anywhere without this equipment, so can you take it to the car? Carefully?" She asked, handing him some of the equipment. "If you break it, dad will leave you here."
"I will guard it with my life." Nod replied cheerfully, obviously still thinking about his conversation with Mub, "You have soft hair." He commented over his shoulder as he walked out of the room, computer in hand. A faint blush crept onto her cheek, but she didn't say anything as she continued unplugging the network of cords that made up her dads work station.
Eventually they finished getting everything packed, MK choosing to ride in the back next to Nod to help keep him calm, not that she told him that. Despite his initial excitement it had taken her a couple of minutes to convince him to actually sit down and put on a seatbelt, "Doesn't it make you feel… I don't know, trapped?" He asked her, pushing the hair back from his face before gingerly poking at the roof of the car with a finger.
"I've been riding in them all my life, Nod. They're fine, usually. Except when they crash. Ever crashed a bird?" She asked, hoping to take his mind off of things as they started moving. "Yeah, once. Took her two months to regrow all her feathers." He said ruefully, thinking about the memory. "I was limping for a week, and Ronin made me clean the entire barracks alone, twice, as punishment."
She smirked a bit at that thought, imagining how angry the older man would have been, "And what did you do to crash it?" She pressed, knowing that the longer she had him distracted, the faster he'd calm down about them being in a large moving box.
"Oh, well…" He actually looked sheepish now, blushing just slightly, "I may or may not have been so busy making faces at some Boggans that I forgot I was supposed to be flying my bird. Crashed right into one of their birds, making the Boggan misfire an arrow… Right at Finn. You remember him? Ronin's sidekick and bearer of a rather cool beard? Well, that guy has some amazing reflexes, let me tell you. He jerked his head back and instead of digging into his throat the arrow literally just shaved off some of his beard. To this day, we are still confused as to how that happened. He had to shave it off and start all over again." By this point MK was shaking with silent laughter at the mental imagery, but she managed to ask, "And what about you?"
"Oh, well, I stabbed the Boggan on the way down, the crow hit first, and thankfully my bird landed on top of it otherwise neither of us would have survived. As it was, we were banged up, but yeah, everyone was pretty angry… And Finn wouldn't talk to me till his beard grew back." He grinned at her cheerfully, before looking out the window at the passing scenery, "This is so different from bird riding. Can't see the little details as well, maybe, but it's nice seeing the bigger picture."
"It is pretty nice, but sometimes the little details are nice too." She sat back in her seat and pulled out a little notebook, "We need to think of some things that you have to try while you're norma- sorry, stomper sized. Any special requests, either of you?" She directed part of her questioning to her dad, in case he somehow had any fun ideas.
"How about a movie? I… It's been so long since I've been to the theater that I've not actually seen anything in 3D. I bet Nod would love that too." Her dad suggested shyly from behind the wheel, "Oh! And an air and space museum!"
"Absolutely to the movie, dad." She laughed, still enthralled by the idea that they were really starting to get along these days, "I'll get back to you on the museum. Oh, could we go to the aquarium?" She asked excitedly, nearly bouncing in her seat like a kid, "I mean, Nod's probably never seen any kind of sea creatures, right?" She turned to him hopefully, "Besides, dolphins are so cute!"
"Dolphins are terrifying," Bomba interjected, making a face, "Do you know what they-"
"Dad! They are cute, end of story!" She argued back, albeit laughingly, not wanting to go into the dark side of dolphins in front of her friend, "Oh, and penguins! Even you can't say they are terrifying."
"Have you ever seen their tongues up close?" He countered warmly, laughing now himself, "If you want to go to the aquarium, we will, honey."
Nod smiled at their exchange, not really knowing what they were talking about, but enjoying MK bantering with her dad. It reminded him of how he had been with his dad, despite the fact that Bomba and his father had been completely different in personality. He caught her eye and mimed writing, as if he was taking notes, "Stay… Away… From penguins. Check. What are penguins? And honestly, you and I have different ideas of scary animals, or do I need to remind you of the mouse incident?"
"They are these adorable birds that live in the water." She started to explain, before he interrupted her. "Oh, you mean ducks." "No, I don't. Ducks live on the water, not in it." She started drawing one on the page of her notebook to show him, "See? Penguin. Not a duck."
They were now getting close to the city, so after another minute of arguing about birds, she stopped to point it out. "Are you ready?"
He glance at the giant buildings in the distance, noticing with a shock that the forest he'd grown up in was so far away he couldn't see it anymore. "I think so." He laughed a little nervously, "How scary can it be?"
