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"What Happens Now?"
"In all those movies, all you ever see is the hero riding off into the sunset with the girl he just saved. No one ever mentions what happens the day after. Let me tell you something; It sucks."
- Goddess Second Class Urd.
-7-
Sitting at the end of a cul-de-sac, framed on either side by Virginia pine and black oak trees, was an unassuming house. It sat quite far back on the property, which bordered on a large, wooded, undeveloped forest where a plethora of wildlife thrived. The residence itself was brown, with tan trim. Multiple windows decorated the exterior, with two garage doors at the end of a long, concrete driveway.
Inside, the home was laid out in a split-ranch design, with a set of stairs that connected the upper bedrooms to the lower living room and kitchen. Unlike most houses in the area, this one also sported a basement. Another set of stairs that led to the basement and garage rested next to those leading up.
The house was sparsely furnished and decorated, with only a single chair with a TV tray table next to it facing a wall-mounted flat screen television. There were a couple of light areas on the walls where pictures might once have hung. The kitchen was completely bereft of any furnishings, save for a grey card table and single chair that acted as the dining set.
An annoying, high-pitched beeping drifted down from the upper area. Inside the master bedroom, a hand reached out from a full-sized bed and turned off the offending alarm clock, which sat on one of the mates of the TV tray table in the living room that had been repurposed as a nightstand. Keiichi Morisato grumbled to himself as he sat up on the edge of the bed. Still half-asleep he glanced over at the formerly annoying device, where it read six thirty. For the Navy SEAL, this was sleeping in on Sunday.
Stretching to get his blood moving, Keiichi stood and yawned. The morning routine had begun for him; first up was a jog around the neighborhood. He slipped into a blue pair of shorts and a white shirt with an anchor on the back. The shirt was lined with reflective tape to make him more visible to motorists that come up behind him on the road.
When he stepped onto his front porch, he smiled and took in a breath of the cool fresh air. As usual, there was a mild pine scent that emanated from the trees around him. This was one of the few things he missed whenever he was on deployment. Nothing quite beat the crisp, sharp smell of evergreens when the desert smelled of nothing but heat and, depending on the location, sewage. Nodding to himself, he stretched his legs out and jogged in place for a moment to get his legs warmed up for his morning run. When he was satisfied that he was ready, he set out alone, as none of the other members of SEAL Team 12 lived in the surrounding area.
Just under an hour and a little over seven miles later, he arrived back at his home. Sweat dripping from his brow in spite of the cool spring morning, he entered his home and headed up the stairs to his bathroom where he started a shower. When he was done, he wrapped the towel he used to dry himself around his waist and started to brush his teeth.
A grumble from his stomach told him he needed to get some sustenance in him after his morning jog. He knew that there was some milk in the refrigerator, and some protein powder in the cupboard. Thinking nothing of it, he exited his bathroom, crossed his bedroom to the hall, and headed down to the lower level. Toothbrush still in his mouth, he reached the bottom of the stairs and started towards the kitchen.
And froze in his tracks.
Standing at the counter that came out of the wall and separated the dining area from the kitchen was a familiar, silver haired goddess. In front of her was Keiichi's portable griddle, and it had bacon sizzling away on one side and several eggs frying on the other. The deity, who was wearing a blue and white cutoff shirt that showed a generous portion of her midriff, looked up at the Navy SEAL and smiled.
"Breakfast AND a show? I think I'm going to like it here!"
Keiichi turned and ran so fast back up the stairs behind him that he was gone before the towel he had around him hit the ground.
XXX
The slamming of a door caused Belldandy to wake with a start. She scrunched her eyes and sobbed lightly as the nightmare she was having, one where she was reliving a particularly brutal beating at the hands of her 'husband', faded into the background. Reaching up, she covered her face with her hands as she swallowed the whimper at the edge of her throat, desperate to hold back the additional tears that were threatening to gush forth.
Before the nightmare, she'd had such a pleasant dream. In it, a knight in black shining armor had come to her rescue along with her two sisters and a trio of valkyries. They had whisked her away from the opulent almost-castle that she had helped her 'husband' erect. It was tall and gaudy, and was definitely an attempt by him to compensate for something, although what that was she would never say.
They had taken her to a small cottage in another land, where she had to reprogram herself in order to speak the local language. There, they had a small party, just herself, her sisters, and her knight in shining armor.
But no dream could ever last, and now she was back in her nightmare.
Or was she? There was something different, something not right. She opened her eyes as she realized what that something was. Gone were the red satin sheets that her husband so preferred over silk or cotton. So slippery were they that when he fucked her (she refused to ever acknowledge that they made love), they slid around the bed as if on an ice skating rink.
She turned over onto her back and rose up into a sitting position. Not only were the sheets not satin, but they were also white. As she looked around, she realized she was also no longer in the enormous king sized bed she had grown accustomed to. Instead the mattress she was on was barely large enough to accommodate herself, let alone two (or more). A quick glance around the room confirmed that she was also not in 'their' bedroom anymore.
It actually happened! Belldandy nearly whooped with joy at the revelation that it had all not been a dream. The rescue, the fight with the demon, coming to Keiichi's...
To Keiichi's house, she thought to herself as a feeling of warmth overtook her. She brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them then in joy, then threw her hands up and fell back into the bed. She reached around and grabbed one of the pillows and pulled it into a hug. It smelled stale and dusty and she loved it for that reason alone. None of it was Aoshima's. It was His bed. His pillow. His sheets. His room. His house. Belldandy delighted in the sensation of the lumpy bed, the hard pillow, and the scratchy sheets.
"Worthless."
The word rang in her mind like a church bell. It rattled to and fro until nearly all of the good feelings that had come to her were gone. She recognized it as that vague voice that sounded almost like her now ex-husband. It had been silent since they had come to Keiichi's home. She had hoped that it would leave her in peace.
Apparently not.
"What did you think would happen? That he would bring you home and take you into his bed?"
Belldandy tightened her grip on the pillow she was hugging. "No, I had no such expectation," she whispered to herself.
"But that's what you want, isn't it. Because that's what you did before. Admit it; you enjoyed every..."
"Single..."
"Minute of it!"
"No!" The goddess thought she had saw something, some glimmer that looked like her ex-husband. She turned and hurled her pillow at it, only for nothing to be there when it impacted on the wall and fell to the floor with a plop. "I am the Goddess Belldandy!" she announced to the room. "And I will no longer suffer the likes of you, Toshiyuki Aoshima, for our contract and sham of a marriage is null and void!"
"Whore."
Belldandy seethed in anger. "I will show you," she said as she got up out of bed. Summoning a light blue and white kimono as her dress, she strode to the door, almost tripping over Skuld, who was completely passed out on a futon on the floor. She paused as her hand grasped the doorknob. "I will make him love me for who I am and what I can do, not for whatever prowess in bed you may think I have." That said, she jerked the door open and turned right, heading down into the lower level.
She saw Urd in the kitchen using a spatula to remove a fried egg from a griddle she was using. Even from where she was standing, the almond haired goddess could tell the eggs were overcooked. Oh no. This would not do. This would not do at all.
As Belldandy approached, her older sister looked up. "Oh, good morning Bell... WOW! What's the occasion?" she asked, referring to the blue kimono.
The almond haired goddess ignored the comment. She stopped on the opposite side of the counter from Urd and stared down at what she was fixing. "What is this?"
"Umm, breakfast?" asked Urd rhetorically.
Belldandy shook her head. "No no no, this cannot be," she said as she rounded the corner of the counter. She immediately went to the fridge, opened it, and began rifling through the contents. In truth, there was not much there. But she was able to find a few leftover eggs that Urd had not ruined (in her opinion) along with some ham that was sliced thin, probably for sandwiches. If she could find some lemon juice and possibly some English muffins or, in a pinch, bread she could toast, she could make a much more fitting breakfast for Keiichi. "My new master needs a proper breakfast," she said as she turned away from the fridge with the ingredients in hand.
"Master!?" exclaimed Urd, who followed it up with a bark of laughter. She stared at her younger sister in disbelief. "Oh honey, you don't know him very well yet, do you?"
"No," Belldandy admitted. "But with this meal I plan to remedy that." She placed her ingredients on the counter and went to the stove. However, when she tried to turn the heating elements on, nothing happened. Curse my luck, she thought as she turned back to Urd. Now she knew why the electric griddle was being used. No matter. "Sister, I would ask that you please step aside."
Urd, reached out to Belldandy and tried to put a hand on her shoulder. The goddess shied away from her sister and instead tried to muscle past. The silver haired goddess held her ground. "There's no need, Bell. Keiichi is not your master, and I am making breakfast this morning. Go sit down and relax."
"But this is my job," pleaded Belldandy. "You don't understand. I must be the one to do this for him. I need to do this."
Urd's eyes flashed with anger. Anger towards her or anger towards Aoshima? "Maybe in that hellhole you were living in, but not here."
"Urd, step aside," said Belldandy, her own level of frustration rising. Why can't she understand what's at stake here? Doesn't she realize what will happen if I don't—
"No."
"Now!" demanded the blue eyed goddess. There was a red haze forming in the periphery of her vision.
Urd scoffed. "And what will you do if I don-"
"Holy Wind Press!"
As Belldandy waved her arms, a blast of wind slammed into Urd, picking her up and smashing her through the sliding glass doors that led to the backyard before she even had time to react. Glass shards flew everywhere, covering the floor. The silver haired goddess did not stop there though; she crashed through the railing on Keiichi's back porch and into the forest beyond.
With a grimace the elder goddess picked herself up, more surprised than hurt, and from within the house a cry of, "What the fuck was that?"
Panting, Belldandy glared at the new hole, her expression torn between anger and terror over what she'd done. A pair of feet came thundering down the stairs, and from the kitchen's threshold Keiichi emerged, dressed in little aside from a pair of blue jeans. He gaped at the hole in his kitchen, "The hell?" He then looked at Belldandy with wide, disbelieving eyes.
All at once Belldandy was afraid. He's angry now, look what you did he's going to strike you for that you shouldn't have done that why did you do it why didn't you just let Urd—Her mind was racing a mile a minute, and the goddess flinched under the man's gaze. "I was trying to make breakfast." She whispered, her eyes wide with acute horror. "I was just- I wanted to make- and she was trying- she doesn't understand what will-" The goddess began hyperventilating, the onset of a panic attack grabbing hold of her as the Norn clutched her head, fingers digging into her hair and scraping against her scalp. The goddess grit her teeth, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'll fix it, it won't happen again, please—"
Recognizing what was happening, Keiichi reached for her, his own eyes wide with worry. Belldandy flinched at his touch, crying out as though he'd injured her, and just as quickly Keiichi pulled away, recognizing the sheer terror that his touch brought. "I'm sorry!" she cried, and in it the SEAL heard the despair of a woman well-versed in abuse. "I didn't mean-it was an accident!"
"Belldandy." Keiichi kept his voice low and calm. "Belldandy, look at me, look at me please." Frantic blue eyes met his, and he nodded at her, smiled at her encouragingly. "It's okay, you're okay." He glanced outside the shattered doorway Belldandy had produced with Urd, finding the woman in questions approaching slowly, not angry but perturbed. She paused when he shook his head and motioned her back.
"Look, even Urd is okay." He pointed to the woman, and Belldandy followed his finger, her face wide with open confusion and terror. "See?" Belldandy looked back at him, and Keiichi nodded, trying to coax a similar motion out of the Norn. "Everything is good, everything is fine. No one is hurt. No one is going to be hurt." He kept his voice low and calm, continuing to nod until Belldandy began to mimic him, granting him a small head bob of her own.
He smiled, knowing he was getting through to her now. "Good. See? You're fine too. Now I want you to do something for me." A fresh wave of fear spread across Belldandy face, and Keiichi did his best to ignore it. "Don't worry, it's nothing bad. I just want you to focus on what's around you. Find something and focus on it—not me, not the hole in the wall, not Urd, but something else. Can you do that for me?"
Another uncertain nod came from Belldandy, and he smiled, not touching her but gesturing around them. Belldandy followed the direction of his hand, her expression still anxious, and then focused on a cheap battery-operated clock head bought from the NEX on base after Debra had moved on. "Good, what are you focusing on?" He kept his voice positive and gentle, watching as Belldandy's eyes roved the clock face.
"The clock," she said.
"Good. Now describe it to me in as much detail as possible," Keiichi said. "Tell me its color, describe the hands and the surface and what you think their textures might feel like. Look at the numbers and the lines—are they black or are they blue? Take your time and tell me everything you can about it, okay?"
Belldandy glanced back at him, and again he could see the confusion on her face—you want me to what?—Yet he continued to nod encouragingly at her, and biting her lip the goddess returned her attention to the clock face. "It's plastic," she started, and again sent him a quick look. He nodded once more in encouragement.
"Think of it like a game," he suggested. "The game is simple: You describe everything about the object in question, no matter how insignificant the detail may seem. You win when you can't think of any other way to describe the object. You lose if your mind starts to drift away from it, okay?"
Belldandy stared at him for a moment longer, and then her mouth dropped into a determined frown. The Norn turned her attention back to the clock. "It's circular in shape. There's a small scruff mark on the black plastic rim from where it might have rubbed against the wall. The numbers are twelve, three, six, and nine, with larger lines acting as place markers for the additional numbers on the clock." She pursed her lips, this time turning to fully face the clock. "There are secondary lines fifty percent smaller than the hour lines that make up the minutes. All the markings on the clock are painted on, and the one in the twelve has a mark where the paint didn't fully apply. It's near the very base of it, which makes it hard to notice."
"Good, good, what else?" Keiichi asked, bobbing his head in approval. He risked a glance back outside the hole, and Urd sent him an imploring gaze. The man jerked his head, his eyes darting to Belldandy, and catching his meaning the goddess slowly approached, picking her way through the debris and back into the house. She slipped past the two of them unnoticed, moving to stand near a cabinet where she wasn't immediately visible thanks to the counter's position in the kitchen.
Belldandy never noticed her older sister's entrance because her concentration was too heavily centered on the clock. That was good, it was what Keiichi wanted, because if her mind was occupied with the clock and everything about it then it couldn't break into a panic, couldn't jump to conclusions, and could safely wind itself down to a more logical level. "The clock hands are plastic as well, black like the numbers and letters. They look a bit like popsicle sticks…black, plastic popsicle sticks."
"Do they make a sound when they minute hand moves?"
Belldandy fell silent for a moment, observing the clock with a patience that had been absent earlier, and when the minute hand ticked down, Belldandy nodded. "They make a small tick, but that's all. Everything looks smooth to the touch, except for the scruff mark, which might have a noticeable indent."
"What do you think it smells like?"
"Plastic," Belldandy said. "Plastic and…possibly cardboard, from the box it came in?" She inquired. "Despite the scruff, it still looks new."
"And why is that?" Keiichi continued, drawing out the exercise as long as he could.
"There's no dust on it. It's still shiny-it's not dull with age yet." She glanced at him with a small frown, no longer on the edge of a nervous breakdown but calm once more. "That's all I can think to tell you." She said. "Unless you want me to tell you what it tastes like, too."
Keiichi chuckled. "You don't have to go that far." He said. "Save that for food. How do you feel?"
Belldandy opened her mouth to reply, and there she left it hanging open, her eyes widening in surprise as she looked from first Keiichi, then to the hole in the wall, and finally searching the kitchen until she spotted Urd, who lifted a hand in an easy greeting. She closed her mouth, where it once more fell into a frown, her brows scrunched together in confusion when it became apparent that the world was not ending, Keiichi was not attacking her, and Urd was not attempting to prolong their fight as they would have in their earlier childhood. "I…" She paused and looked back at Keiichi with newfound appreciation. "How did you do that?"
The dark haired man shrugged. "It's something I learned from mental health," he said. "There was a time…" He trailed off, chewing over how to speak of his own PTSD with the goddess. "There was a time not too long ago I suffered from some pretty bad panic attacks myself. They were pretty debilitating. I couldn't think, couldn't move, and I'd get wound up over the smallest slight against me." He shook his head, recalling that dark time in his life with a small frown. "It was bad. Then some folks showed me some exercises to help keep myself under control—they showed me how to get ahold of my emotions and how to calm myself down."
"And you saw the same thing in me," Belldandy surmised, and Keiichi nodded.
"Well…you did kind of destroy the porch door." He tried to pass it off as a joke, and knew it failed when Belldandy flinched.
"I can fix that!" she said hurriedly, and Keiichi raised his hands.
"Hey, easy now. We can worry about that later," he said, his tone no different from before; still the same soft, easy, gentle voice he'd used since coming upon the goddess. "Now, how about you go sit down and relax a bit?" he said. "Let Urd and me take care of things here. How about you go and get cleaned up?"
"But—" Belldandy looked between Keiichi and Urd, her eyes questioning. "I need to make you breakfast!"
Yet already Keiichi was shaking his head. "You don't need to do anything for me," he replied with a reassuring voice. "I'm not Aoshima, Belldandy. I'm not some slave driver that expects breakfast hot and ready with a clean pair of white slippers every morning. I don't want that, okay? Do you remember what I told you the other night?"
"I'm free to do as I may," she recalled immediately. "I-but-" She looked at Urd for help, her eyes begging, yet Urd just shrugged and stared, content to watch what was unfolding before her.
At length Belldandy sighed and bowed her head. "I—thank you." She began a deep, formal bow to Keiichi, and then paused when she realized what she was doing and straightened abruptly. "Thank you." This time she inclined her head instead, and Keiichi nodded as well.
"Whenever you're starting to feel out of control, stop and focus on something that isn't connected with whatever's scaring you, okay?"
Belldandy nodded again, then bit her lip, looking over at Urd. With some reluctance, she approached the woman, stopping a short distance away from her. "I apologize," she said. "I jumped to conclusions rather than listening to you, and…" She pursed her lips, but didn't find the courage to meet her sister's gaze.
Urd sighed, and then pulled Belldandy into a tight hug. "You're safe now," she said, and to Belldandy it sounded like the fifth time the goddess had made that statement. "Yggdrasil's roots Bell, I love you but some time your head is thicker than a melon. No one here is going to hurt you, okay?"
"You're not mad?" Belldandy squeaked, angered that her voice would so betray her.
"Silly girl, when have I ever stayed mad at you for longer than five minutes?" Urd asked, and then kissed the top of Belldandy's forehead before releasing her. "Go wake up Skuld." She offered. "Or better yet, go take a bath. I will see what I can scavenge off the griddle."
Belldandy turned to eye the offending item with one accusing blue eye. By now the eggs Urd had been attempting to remove were black and burnt and unappealing, the bacon tiny black slivers of something that was once edible. "You'll kill us all," she muttered. "This is how you get revenge on me, isn't it?"
"Maybe." Urd replied, then smiled. "But at least you got to see Keiichi in his boxers!" She motioned her head at the mortal in question, and Belldandy's cheeks burned red when she realized his state of undress. As if realizing it himself, Keiichi again quickly exited the room. Urd let out a bark of laughter.
"Now get moving. We got a long day ahead of us."
XXX
Keiichi sighed as he returned to his bedroom yet again, listening to the footsteps downstairs with half an ear. Twice now he had appeared in front of the goddesses with nearly nothing on, the first time to Urd, and the second time to Belldnady. Now the man was alone once more, his thoughts disquiet and his nerves spent. "Fucking hell," he muttered, plopping down on the edge of the bed that replaced the one that he and Debra had. The man leaned forward, propping both his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hands. He sucked in a deep breath before releasing it in a shuddering sigh. Was this a taste of things to come? Him with a goddess suffering her own sort of posttraumatic stress from her extended time with a mortal? He squeezed his eyes shut, and despite his greatest efforts the events of last night returned to him: the videos, the mind traps, Aoshima and his demon bitch. The man frowned. Aiko and Belldandy…Aiko…
The SEAL leaned forward and snagged his jeans from the floor and dug into the pocket, withdrawing his cellphone from where he automatically stuffed it per habit. He stared at the smartphones black screen, then turned it on, taking a moment to note the three missed calls in his notifications. They were all from McGuiness, and the man made a mental note to call his OIC later that day. For the moment he had other concerns, and digging through his list of contacts Keiichi pulled up one number in particular, dialed it, and pressed the phone to his ear.
The phone on the other end rang three times, and then a sleepy voice met his ear. "Morning, Aiko. How you doing?"
He listened the half-slurred response on the other end, allowing a smile to spread across his features as his baby sister proceeded to curse him out. "You sound hung over," he said. "And here I thought you were busy studying for another test!" The man closed his eyes and laid back in the bed, sucking in a deep, reassuring breath as his sister's tired voice drowned out the world around him. As he'd instructed Belldandy not five minutes prior, the man focused on Aiko and Aiko only, ignoring everything in the immediate vicinity with such success that he never noticed Skuld appear in his bedroom doorway, fury in her eyes.
"Good, glad to know you're succeeding at juggling college schoolwork with college parties. You being a good wingman for your buddies down there?" He nodded slowly at Aiko's response. "And you ain't taking shit from no one, right? Just like I told you?" Another positive response, and Keiichi sighed in open relief.
"What's wrong, Kei?"
Keiichi opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling. "Nothing's wrong," he assured her, although it was somewhat of a lie. "I just…just been thinking is all. Had some nightmare that, well, you know how it goes. Just needed to hear a friendly voice." He snorted as he listened to Aiko's deadpan response. "As if I'd open up to any a' these assholes down here," he growled half-heartedly, and then fell silent, drumming his fingers on the bed.
"I love you Aiko," he said suddenly. "You're the best damn sister I have, you hear me?" He heard the confusion in his sister's voice, heard the sudden worry that accompanied it and was quick to reassure her. "No, no. It's not that-just…I'm proud of you. You know that, right? You've come a long way from the little girl I knew when I left for Basic." He snorted and smirked, and behind him Skuld watched him a moment longer before slipping away without a word, leaving the man in peace.
"Yeah, of course you can….yeah, I'm better. I'll talk to you later, okay? Love you too. Bye."
XXX
Urd, so it seemed, was not the same incompetent cook Belldandy had last seen some ten years ago. Somewhere during that time, the Elder Norn had taken a basic cooking class, and the remaining eggs and bacon, while not perfect, we're edible. By the time Belldandy came down from the shower, this time dressed in a long, conservative brown dress that fell to her ankles, Skuld was up and Keiichi had put on a black polo shirt and jeans. The glass doors and wooden railing that had been collateral during the brief skirmish with Urd were repaired, and Belldandy saw not a single shard of glass that might hint at their quick fight.
Skuld was leaning against the countertop, a paper plate with two eggs and a slice of bacon in hand. "Okay, seriously, what the hell?" she griped. "The bathroom I can understand to an extent, what with you being the only person actually living here, but where the hell is all your furniture? I've seen dingy hotel rooms that are less spartan that this place!" She jabbed her plastic fork at Keiichi, sending an accusing look to the SEAL, who'd forgone the eggs and bacon in favor or a protein shake to ensure there were enough food for the Norns. The woman lifted her paper plate as an example. "See this?" she demanded. "This is for parties. This isn't supposed to be your standard for living. And there's no food in the house!"
Keiichi sent her a look, then moved to a pantry. "I have food." He grumbled, then opened the wooden cabinet, displaying a small mountain of canned fruit, three large containers of protein powder, and rectangular, brown plastic bags.
Urd sauntered over in curiosity. "Keiichi, those are MREs." She sent the man a disbelieving look. "Don't tell me you've been living off these bricks since Debra left."
Keiichi winced and looked away. "Well…no-they're for emergency rations, but—"
Urd sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Skuld gestured to the man with a scowl. "See!?"
Belldandy stared at them both in curiosity. "What are MREs?"
"Shit," Urd replied off-handedly. Keiichi glared at her as the woman stepped past him and grabbed a can of creamed corn out of the cupboard. "Keiichi, do you even eat this stuff?" She examined the can, flipping it upside down to find the expiration date. "…This expired in January."
"It's still good!" Keiichi insisted. "And yes I eat that stuff!"
"January of last year." Urd stared at him in disbelief. "And name one time you've ever touched a spoon full of creamed corn."
Keiichi fell silent, and Skuld released an exaggerated moan. "Oh Yggdrasil, Keiichi get your shit together."
Urd tossed the can into the trashcan next to the fridge. "How long has it been since you and Deb split?"
Belldandy looked at the two with renewed interest. "Deb?" she asked. "Who's that?"
"Okay, okay, I get it!" Keiichi cried. "We'll go shopping today, alright?" He ran a hand through his hair. "Christ, you guys are worse than my parents." He stomped past Urd and towards the kitchen sink, turning on the water and proceeding to busy himself cleaning his shake bottle. Urd followed him back to the griddle, and when she passed Skuld the two sisters fist-bumped.
"Who's Deb?" Belldandy repeated, taking the offered plate of eggs and bacon with a pointed glance towards Urd.
"Debra Johansson," Urd replied. "Debra Morisato now, right? She's Keiichi's ex-wife."
"Debra Johansson?" Belldandy parroted. The name sounded somewhat familiar, but she couldn't place where she'd heard it before. "Wait, Keiichi was married? When was this?"
"Oh, I'd say about…what was it Keiichi, six years ago?"
"We were married seven years ago and split over a year ago," Keiichi corrected. "She got the furniture and let me keep the house. I've been deployed and TDY so much that new furniture never really became a priority."
Urd looked at Belldandy and gestured to the man in a 'see what I deal with?' manner.
"Up yours too, Urd," Keiichi said without looking up. Urd snickered before preparing her own plate.
"When are we going shopping?" Skuld persisted.
"How about after everyone's done eating," Keiichi growled, and Skuld relented, an amused smile on her face that she sent to Belldandy.
While the Middle Norn disapproved of her sister's behavior, she understood the message Skuld was trying to get across easily enough. He's not going to explode over something insignificant, that look said. He doesn't mind being teased. She nodded, though did not return the smile, and proceeded to finish the eggs and bacon on her plate. The Norn grimaced at the taste. Keiichi, it seemed, didn't even bother with such basic concepts as seasonings most days, and so the resulting breakfast was bland and unappealing on top of being made by Urd.
Making a mental note to herself to grab seasonings during their outing, Belldandy quickly consumed what was left of her meal. It was only when she was finished that the realization hit her: I ate a meal that wasn't prepared by a maid or my own hand. And it wasn't even that good. For too long she'd eaten meals designed to appeal to the pallet; five star meals prepared by international chefs designed to illuminate the wealth and power of the one paying for the meal. The goddess stared down at her paper plate and plastic fork, then moved to dispose of it in the trash bin she'd seen Skuld use a moment prior. The food is bland. I sleep on a lumpy bed. The soaps are cheap and designed for men on a budget and there's no furniture in the house. I make mistakes, yet no one yells at me. Her heart fluttered in her chest, and an unexpected wave of joy filled her person. Is this what freedom is?
She watched Keiichi stuff his shake bottle into a drying rack, noting the soap suds that still covered the rim. He was bickering over something inane with Skuld, and Urd was watching the exchange in amusement as she all but devoured her own meal. If someone had told her yesterday that Freedom would be defined by bland food and a lack of furniture, she'd have laughed in their face. Yet the proof was all around her, and some of the disbelief that even now haunted her began to ease, began to fade, and the possibility that there was no going back, that Aoshima was a finished chapter in her book, became just a mite bit more probable.
I think I could grow to love this freedom. She thought to herself.
XXX
Keiichi owned two vehicles. One was a 2013 Chevy Silverado, and the other, more precious item in his possession was a junker of a motorcycle that might have been a Harley at some point in its long life. The Harley was unfit for three goddesses to ride in for obvious reasons, and so instead the group of four climbed into the Silverado, Keiichi and Belldandy up front with Urd and Skuld playing a game of rock paper scissor for who got the seat with the most leg space behind Belldandy. Skuld won that round, and grumbling, Urd climbed in behind Keiichi, who had a bad habit of leaning his seat back and taking up more room the necessary.
Together, the group headed into town. The base was a good hour or so away, and the Commissary there tended to open later on Sundays anyway, so the small team instead headed to one of the local Safeways in town. Keiichi, living in one of the more remote areas of Virginia, lived fifteen minutes away from even that, and so the trip was spent with Urd and Skuld bickering in the back seat and Keiichi and Belldandy ignoring them. "What kind of food do you like?" Keiichi asked, broaching the subject as Belldandy stared out the window, admiring the various scenery that was so like, and yet so unlike Japan.
She jumped at his question, then stared at him in confusion as though wondering if perhaps he'd asked one of her sisters. When it became apparent he was indeed talking to Belldandy, the Norn shrugged. "I have no preference." She said, and turned back to the window, ending the conversation as quickly as it'd started. Keiichi eyed her from the corner of his eye, and even Urd's and Skuld's bickering died down a bit, yet Belldandy said nothing more.
There was a bit more success in the market. "Keiichi, we're going to go and grab some lady items for the bathroom." Urd grabbed a red shopping basket as Keiichi grabbed a larger cart. "For the love of whatever you deem holy, please grab something from the produce section." She sent him a threatening look. "If I come back and find nothing but canned items in that cart, Skuld's going to be your battle buddy."
"Hey!" Skuld yelped. "Why am I being punished?"
"Because you get shit done, Skuld," Urd replied affectionately. "Now let's get going."
"It better not be a bunch of makeup and shit!" Keiichi called as the Norns retreated. "I ain't paying for none of that crap!"
Urd laughed and flipped him off, and Belldandy cast a worried glance over her shoulder as her two sisters dragged her off. Keiichi smiled to let her know he was joking.
Belldandy didn't return the smile.
XXX
"Finally, I can get something that isn't Bear glove Fist or Autumn Irish Coffee or something equally stupid," Skuld grumbled with a huff, looking down the rows of bathing products in interest.
"You don't want to smell like a lumberjack, Skuld?" Urd teased, and Belldandy stiffened before looking at the two women.
"I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay," Belldandy said without thought, and Urd looked back at her with a grin.
"I sleep all night and I work all day," Urd sang. "I didn't know you were a fan of Monty Python, Bell." The goddess raised a silver brow. "You'll get along just fine with Keiichi. He loves that stuff."
Who? Belldandy sent a questioning look to her sister, but Urd missed it. She shrugged it off for another time. "What does Keiichi use again?"
Urd shrugged. "Standard Head and Shoulders and Irish Spring, last I checked." She looked at Belldandy in question. "What's up?"
The goddess shook her head. "Nothing," she replied. "But…I think I'll just use whatever he's using," she said, eyeing the various beauty products with a doubtful eye. "It…Aoshima had a love for perfumes…perfumes and colognes and anything that smelled like flowers." She said nothing more on the subject, but the trepidation on her face did not vanish.
Skuld and Urd shared a look. Urd raised an eyebrow. Skuld frowned, then sighed. "Fine," she grumbled. "I'll go around smelling like pine needles and wood chips if it makes her happy."
Urd grinned.
Later Keiichi was very confused.
XXX
They were returning home when Keiichi got a phone call from his OIC. The truck bed was loaded with enough groceries to last him three weeks if he was still living alone. Other materials included separate towels and washclothes, a strange amount of male-based soaps and shampoos, and a cheap dinnerware set to finally, finally, replace the porcelain and silverware that Debra had taken with her.
Keiichi grabbed his phone from where it rested in a cup holder. "Morisato speaking." He announced, and Belldandy glanced towards him with wide eyes. He sent her a half-smile to let her know everything was okay, inwardly wincing. The tone he used when he was all business tended to be a little more serious than his normal tone. To anyone who didn't know him, it could come across as a bit intimidating.
"Morisato you fuckwagon, why the hell haven't you been answering your goddamned phone?!" Lieutenant Commander McGuiness roared on the other end. Keiichi felt a small piece of him die, and on the other end his boss continued his rant. "Ah been tryin' tah contact you for the past twenty-seven hours ye lowly piece a' cow shite." Oh shit. Oh, he was in so much shit. The only time McGuiness let his accent shine was when he was seriously pissed off. "Ah choo ahlright?" He demanded. "Where the bloody hell are you, ye cunt?"
"I'm fine!" Keiichi cried. "Seriously, I'm fine, I swear I am." Skuld and Urd were watching him now too, and he could feel Urd straining against the car seat to try and eavesdrop on whatever McGuiness was saying. "I'm heading home right now. I was shopping."
"Oh, ye're fine," McGuiness continued to rant. "Ye're so fine yah Dinnah notice the messages I left? What were ye doing Dipshit, shagging Sheila all night? How the fook did ye' even get home?"
"No!" Keiichi protested. "I wasn't doing any of that, I swear!"
"Ah, so ye cannah even spend a night 'en heaven, is 'Dat so?" McGuiness demanded. "An I am to suppose next ye'll say 'you are fine' and that 'everything is fine' and that I need not worry, is 'dat so?" Keiichi felt the hair along his arms raise in gooseflesh, a smile that was more a grimace stuck spread across his face. "Well I will be 'dey one to decide 'dat, you crankscrew. I'll see ye at ye're residence."
The man hung up before Keiichi could speak another word, and for a moment the SEAL held the phone to his ear, paralyzed with the new reality that his OIC was about to meet his new…fuck, how was he even supposed to introduce Belldandy? Urd was easy, but Belldandy and the Poodle… "Fuck." He snapped, and tossed the phone onto his dashboard, where it skated before coming to rest near Belldandy. "Urd, we need a cover story, ASAP."
"Belldandy's in the witness protection program and needs a place to stay while I help her adjust to her new life," Urd replied.
"I'm what?" Belldandy squeaked.
Keiichi shook his head. "Won't work," he said. "Deb is an agent in that program, remember? Plus, it kind of defeats the purpose of her being in the witness protection program when you go straight up to my boss and explain that exact thing to him."
"Fuck," Urd growled, baring her teeth and looking out the window in thought.
"So say she's a rescue from an international human trafficking incident instead," Skuld offered with a shrug. "Urd and I are part of a foreign government agency and are working with the local government here in the States until we can get the paperwork written for her new identity."
Belldandy cranked her head back to look at Skuld in shock. "You're what?"
"Oh come on!" Urd cried. She kicked Keiichi s seat without realizing it, then turned to glare at Skuld. "That's basically the same thing!"
"Yeah, but it gives you and me cover stories too," Skuld retorted. "Unless you already have a 'job' down here." She sniffed. "Plus, there's an element of truth to it, which will make it easier on Belldandy. Don't forget her own position in all this."
Urd winced. "Yeah, forgot about that," she grumbled.
"So then who's the government?" Keiichi persisted. "Australia?" He looked back at Skuld in his rear view mirror.
The goddess met his gaze and shrugged. "Doesn't matter," she said. "Keep it vague to help sell it, put pressure on whoever you were talking to about the necessity of keeping quiet, and leave it from there." The goddess leaned back in her seat, and by now she had the entire vehicles attention. "You said you go on deployments and TDY's a lot, right? That means you aren't in your own house that often, right?"
"Well, yeah but…"
Skuld was on a roll. "So then Urd befriended you however long ago and for whatever reason, and now she's coming to you for a big favor because your place is normally unoccupied, but is still owned and lived in by you. The favor is to let Bell stay in one of your extra rooms for a little while until our government can work out the paperwork necessary for her to start a life here in the States."
She looked at Urd for help, and the goddess pursed her lips with a slow, even nod. "And of course it's a bureaucracy, and so during our rescue some ass hat didn't do his job properly and signed the wrong dotted line," she said. "Because of that there's a delay in funds, leading all the way back 'home', which means no money for Belldandy and no support for us, thus me calling in this huge favor from Keiichi."
Skuld grinned. It was vicious. "And since Keiichi Morisato is such a standup guy, he agrees to it, because fuck it, you and he are such great buddies and he can't say no to a sweet gal like Belldandy."
"This is stupid," Keiichi grumbled.
"Well then if you have a better idea, by all means speak up," Skuld snapped. "Otherwise shut up and color and let the adults talk."
Keiichi muttered something under his breath but otherwise said nothing. Belldandy looked between the three with increasing worry. "Then what do I do?" She asked.
"Nothing," Skuld replied. "Just smile and say hello; act like you normally would when meeting someone new. It's none of this guy's business who you are or what your story is anyway, and it's our job to make sure he understands that.
"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this…" Belldandy murmured.
Next to her, Keiichi grunted. "That makes two of us."
"It doesn't matter," Skuld persisted. "The best thing to do would be avoiding the whole situation as much as possible, but that isn't going to work, so we have to make this work instead."
"It will work." Urd said. "We'll make it work."
A/N: Surprisingly we got this done.
