Morning had broken, like the first morning. Sister Andromeda groaned, cracked an eye open to check the time, then flumped back into her pillow. It had been four days since the Legion's anniversary party and she was still getting over her spacelag. Of course, she'd have to do it all over again when she went back to Durla.
She was alone. No warm arms cradled her and though the curious smell of musky green tea still clung to the sheets, they had long since cooled. The mattress had reclaimed its shape, giving no indication of the body that had lain spooned against her, chest to her back, hip to hip, thigh to thigh, as close as her skin. No breath ruffled her hair.
"Here is the code to my flat," he had told her, when she had finally tired enough to sleep, "There is no sense in taking one of the guest rooms while you are here. My flat should be quite sufficient and my bed is large enough to contain you comfortably."
"Do I get a teddy bear?" she'd said impishly and he'd replied, "I don't have one to give you. Will I suffice, instead?"
She hadn't been surprised that he'd extended the invitation so soon; she'd anticipated that. What'd happened when she woke, that had surprised her: She'd had no idea that he could cook and the breakfast he'd offered her had been delicious.
Still, they were on different time schedules and he always had been early to wake. She stretched then got up to have a shower. After completing her morning rituals, she left the flat and headed towards the Legion commissary in search of breakfast.
"Sister Andromeda, hello!!" "Sister!" "Hey, Laurel Gand! Good to see you!"
"Hi guys!" Laurel set her breakfast down, accepting the chair that Chameleon had kicked out for her, "What's new?" She dug into her meal, listening to the chorus of answers - cadet try-outs, another diplomatic assembly, another training mission...
She was seated with the people who made her feel the most uncomfortable, Andromeda observed. Her misplaced loyalty to her people had nearly gotten Triad killed. Violet had raided her possessions and exposed her as a White Triangle member. And M'Onel was... well, he was who he was. All her own guilts, however: She felt comfortable with the Durlan, Chameleon, and counted him as among her friends.
After Cham asked about the news from Durla, the conversation drifted to Sister Andromeda's work there. Cham had compared her favourably to himself, being a lone representative in a distrusting world, constantly under scrutiny. The outer worlds, Daxam and the Order were all judged by Sister Andromeda, just as all Durla was judged by Chameleon. By then, others had drifted over and the conversation moved onto the teachings of her Valorite order itself.
"I couldn't believe it when I heard you'd become a nun!" Violet said.
"Neither could Brainy," Triad giggled.
"Well, I didn't join for the religion, although their theology makes sense to me," Sister Andromeda shrugged, "But really, I joined for the penance and the reformation. They're called the 'soul shapers', you know, because of their unique techniques."
"So whaddya do, sit around praying to Valor all day?" That was Thom. M'Onel was looking for the nearest exit.
"Nope. There are orders that worship Valor, but mine doesn't; that's one of the reasons why I chose it. We see Valor as a role model and try to emulate him, and try to cultivate in ourselves the qualities that the Order believes Valor had developed in himself," Andromeda replied. She grinned at M'Onel, mindful that there were many Legionnaires present who weren't in on the secret. "We use the 'soul shaping' techniques to accomplish those goals."
"And they work?" Thom sounded skeptical.
Jo grinned, "She was raised White Triangle and now she's shacked up with Brainy, what do you think?" When the laughter died down, he asked, "Isn't that illegal or something? I mean, you got rules against that, right? Won't you get kicked out?"
Laurel smirked, "Ah, no, you have us confused with the Valorite Sisters of the Eternal Flame. We're the Valorite Sisters of the Eternal Cosmos."
"Oh... right. I can see where I got confused."
More laughter and Laurel smiled, "Seriously, though, although there are strict rules, we're not cloistered nor celibate like the Flames, nor consecrated like the Brides of the Last Son."
"Poor Conner, all those Brides and he can't do nuffin' with 'em," Thom and Jo sniggered. Conner threw a bun at them and missed. "So you're free to get with whomever you please?" Jo asked.
"No, I did say there are rules. But I can pursue a relationship with Brainiac 5," Laurel assured him.
"That'll be interesting," Conner sniggered, "The guy's totally got problems with women."
Laurel pretended innocence, "No he doesn't. Where'd you get that idea from?"
"Well, there was that time he freaked out on Spark..."
"Who had just walked up and molested him."
"It was just a backrub!"
Laurel rolled her eyes, "Grife, don't you guys know anything about Coluan physiology? The spine and scalp are secondary erogenous zones!" Jo shot coffee out his nose and Cham howled with laughter. Laurel glanced down at her breasts and added, "If someone grabbed me without so much as a by-your-leave, they'd be on their way to the moon without a transuit!" Triad and Violet were almost crying with laughter and M'Onel was facepalmed.
Conner blushed and scratched the back of his head, "Oh.. uh.. I guess we just kinda think of him as a green human, sort of thing. I never thought of something like that."
"Apparently nobody else did, either," Laurel grinned then looked down at a chime from her comm. Her smile faded as she read the communication. "Sorry, guys, I gotta go talk to Brainiac. Thanks for the company." She got up and waved, then walked down the halls, headed for the Omnilab.
"Hmmm..." plink! "... oh no." BOOM! Brainiac 5 lowered his forcefield and scowled at the black patch on the ceiling, "Well, that could have gone better." He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned, "Oh. Laurel."
"Well, it's business as usual in here, I see," she said, picking bits of debris out of her hair.
Querl plucked a ceramic shard out of Laurel's cleavage, "Yes. Hm. Perhaps I should check to ensure these are undamaged. There might be more lodged in there somewhere." He drew a finger lightly along the neckline of her shirt, then looked up and smiled.
Laurel was grinning, then looked concerned, "How's the bruising?"
"It's gone," he replied, "I do have my own tissue regenerator, you know."
"I'm really sorry," she said for the umpteenth time in three days, "That hadn't occurred to me at all. I was so concerned about crushing you and it never even occurred to me that I could... crush you."
"I can assure you, I didn't even notice, at the time," Querl smirked, "I didn't think of it either. Yes, that is an admission of historical importance and you may note it for posterity, though I'd appreciate if you didn't mention the exact circumstances." She laughed. "Our experiments have produced results," he told her.
Laurel mock-pouted, "Awwww, does that mean we have to stop?"
"No. It does mean we may dispense with the pressure sensors and the electromagnetic frequency meters. It also means we may retire from the lab and thus not have to worry - as much - about the voyeur committee, or Apparition's habit of walking through the walls without knocking."
"Or forgetting to lock the door," Laurel grinned wickedly.
"I had my mind on other matters," he retorted, "Besides, it was Lyle and he's committed the same oversight. With Rond." Laurel doubled over laughing. "I have already programmed the appropriate EM setting into my flat's lighting. You may notice a difference tonight." He drew her close and reached up to kiss her. "Of course, we'll have to test the hypothesis," his voice became ever so slightly seductive.
Laurel giggled, "We know I've sufficient wetware and if your firmware is restored to operational capacity..." Querl rolled his eyes and blew a raspberry into her cleavage. Laurel shrieked with laughter and hugged him. "...Hey, where'd you go?"
"Mmoh, don'f mihnd me, juft making fure fere's no more defris in here..."
"That's a pretty deep chasm. You sure you can breathe?"
"Acfually, I fink I'm loft. You may haf to fring in sufflies."
Laurel hugged him and sighed. For once, she didn't want to do this. "Speaking of which... I just got notified. My leave's been cut short." Querl froze. "They need me for another blockade run. I have to ship out tonight."
He looked up at her, his mixed emotions flashing rapidly across his face as he tried to decide how to react. "How long will you be gone?" This time, his expression added.
"I don't know. It depends on how long they need me, whether I get reassigned right away... I don't always get blockade runs, it could be menial stuff like medical or counselling or outreach..."
Querl closed his eyes briefly, not wanting her to see the conflict in them. When he opened them, they were guarded. "I won't beg you to stay, not the least because I know it wouldn't do any good."
"A nun's life isn't very exciting... You'd be bored," she blurted.
He pulled away, looking slightly hurt, "Is that why you don't want me along. You're afraid I'll start whining about how dull it all is."
Laurel looked puzzled, "I didn't say I didn't want you along! I'd love for you to come along, I'm just worried that you'd be bored. There isn't enough room for a lab on my skiff and if you blew it up we'd have no place to sleep. I hate sleeping in open space, I always wake up a million kilometers off course, that's why I bought the skiff..." She stopped, aware that she was babbling in her nervousness. "And I know you're committed to the Legion. I just didn't want you to feel pressured one way or the other."
"If the Le--" A high-pitched squeal erupted from one of the comm speakers, making him wince. He scowled at it, almost glad of the interruption.
"You sprockhead, you hit the wrong button! He's gonna figure it out!" came Chuck's anxious whisper.
Brainiac gestured for Laurel to cover her ears, then sent a feedback pulse along the route, blasting out the speakers at the other end. "Oh yes, it'd be so difficult to leave all this behind."
"What was that all about?"
"That was the Legion of Super Testosterone-poisoning, engaged in another attempt at voyeurism."
"What?"
"Ever since Chuck and Gear stole my holosnap collection, the less mentally-developed of my collegues have been attempting to catch me out at Metron only knows what and I don't care to speculate, by means of rigging up spy cameras, microphones and similar devices in the lab and occasionally in my quarters."
"Hence the plasma field around the door which you can survive with your forcefield on and I can survive by virtue of being Daxamite."
"And sundry other traps primarily aimed at Ultra Boy and Superboy. If they get through the plasma field, something else will get them."
"Why'd Chuck and Gear steal your holosnaps? Which holosnaps?"
"That lovely collection that Lyle made for my birthday some time ago."
"What?! You mean those pics of me and Ayla and Imra and Nura? And Lyle? I took the one of Lyle."
"It was well done. Yes, all charming images of the people I consider to be most important to me. For some reason, possibly due to the civilian garments and their associated display of physical assets, they mistook them for- " his lip curled into a derisive sneer, "Cheesecake."
"Where were they that they could steal them?"
"In an unlocked drawer in the lab."
"Oh yeah, that's where I'd keep my smut. Are they still walking?"
He gave her a Look and a smirk, "Please. They tried to blackmail me with them because they also stole my experimental nanobots and endangered the whole Legion. I was very fond of that image of you, so it didn't take much to tip me from merely annoyed to 'not getting mad, getting even.' I deposited Chuck in a mall in the 20th Century at the height of the Furby craze, with a mint-in-package Furby."
"No idea what that is, but having seen the frenzy when the Teletrons came out..."
"A mere hundredth of the insanity of a 20th-Century Furby riot, I assure you. I did give him medical attention when I brought him back."
"I'd say 'poor guy' but I spent an hour choosing just the right outfit. What'd you do to Gear?"
"Ah! I was slightly more lenient with Gear since it was Chuck who put him up to it," Querl touched a button, "This is the 'leekspin' song. I uploaded a virus into the Legion computer so that the next time Gear accessed it, it would, at random intervals, cause him to sing this while doing a Russian dance." Laurel nearly fell over laughing. "I got him to 'fess up as my condition for, I quote, making it stop. Whereupon I switched it to 'Badgerbadgerbadger.'"
Laurel wiped her eyes, "Oh grife, you are evil! Does anybody know you're capable of this kind of cruelty?"
Querl smirked and rolled his eyes, "Laurel, please - you do know who the original Brainiac was? Brainiac 2 was Vril Dox, founder of L.E.G.I.O.N, yes, but also a master manipulator who made Machiavelli's Prince look like an amateur. Josef Mengele was a Lyrl Dox wannabe. And of course, my own dear mother, Brainiac 4, was leader of the Dark Circle. So this comes as a surprise, why?"
"It's just that you're so nice about it," she laughed, "Okay, I retract my concern, although now I'm wondering why you haven't quit."
"It's the lab, I promise you. I can blow it up without the walls caving in."
"Doesn't that take all the fun out of it?"
"Not really. I don't have to wait for Chuck to rebuild it before I blow it up again," Querl smirked, then rested his head against Laurel's shoulder, "That's another reason to go with you. Chuck once asserted that I was, I quote, 'Save the world smart, not clean up afterwards smart.' I simply can't let a slur against my intellect go unchallenged."
Laurel grinned then hugged him and stroked his hair. "You gotta stop shutting me out and assuming I've changed my mind about you, every time we hit an obstacle." she said softly.
Querl's head jerked back and he stared at her, then blushed and looked away. Laurel pulled him back onto her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he sighed, "I'm still not very good at this."
"It's okay. It's just something we'll have to work on together."
Querl sighed and closed his eyes, "I like that 'together' part. I want to be with you, but I won't try to make you rescind a decision that you've already made. I won't try to make you do something you don't want to do."
"Neither will I," she said, snugging him, "I'm not sure how we'll make this work... I'm based on Durla but I move around a lot."
"Already thinking about that problem. A variant of the thresholds will work, I'll just have to work out the specifics." He leaned up to kiss her cheek, "If you'll accompany me back to our flat, I'll retrieve my luggage and you can ship out on your mission to pwn the Khunds."
Laurel grinned and looped her arm around his waist as they walked out. "'Pwn?'"
"Early 21st-Century slang, comes from their illogical keyboard arrangement..."
"Hey Brainy!! There you are! We've been looking all over for you!"
Brainiac 5 shouldered his carrying case and winced. "I think I'll mail in my notice of leave," he muttered as he locked his flat's door.
"Come see what we brought you from Borneo!!" "Koko?"
Querl's eyes went wide. "Oh no... RUN!!!" Laurel seized his hand and, laughing, they ran.