Chapter 6
Dinner at Dante's
A couple nights later
"Hey, Sophie. Cou- Would you like to come for dinner?" I smiled.
"At Dante's? Sure." She nodded.
"Cool." I walked with her.
"There's so much I want to talk about with him!" She said, excited.
"Yeah…" I said slowly. I don't think we'll be talking a lot about the stuff she wants.
We went to Dante's house and she helped me homework until dinnertime. It was so boring, but I understood it, I guess. We were eating when there was a knock on the back door. Dante got it and let Cherit and his leader in. Sophie put her fork down.
"Hi, Sophie." Cherit waved.
"Hi, uh, Cherit?" She thought for a second.
"This is my clan leader. He wanted to meet you all." My white furred friend flew over and nuzzled me. I petted him back.
"Oh! Hello… Leader." Sophie waved.
"I don't think they're like the other human clans. Are you?" Cherit asked Dante.
"We're not related if that's what you mean. I took them to teach them to be heroes." Dante explained.
"Yeah, he's not our dad." I said.
"What's a dad?" Cherit asked.
"The male parent." Sophie said quickly.
"Ooh." He nodded.
"I'm their leader until they want to try to superhero-ing on their own. And if they need me, I'll come help them." The tall, blue eyed monster nodded.
"My brother wants to know if Lok has anymore… superhero sisters." Cherit told him.
"No, it's just us." I said.
"How many are in your clan?" Sophie asked.
"Um, fi- at least, fifteen. We haven't convinced some of the newer ones to join yet." Cherit explained.
"I see." Dante hummed.
"Why can you talk?" I scratched under his chin and he purred. His clan leader cocked his head in wonder.
"They made me different." He said simply.
"They made you fluffy." I ruffled the little floof on his chest. He purred again.
"So, are you just curious about superheroes?" Sophie asked.
Cherit's leader thought for a moment and shook his head.
"He wants to learn from you. How to fight… And be friends." Cherit said slowly.
"I'll have to meet the rest of your clan." Dante told him.
"Can I go, too?" I asked.
"No, Lok, you need to stay home and do your chores." He looked at me.
"But Dante!" I looked at him with sad eyes.
"Best do what he says, Lok." Cherit advised.
"Hmph!" I crossed my arms.
"I'm sure we can go visit when Dante knows it's safe." Sophie reassured. I smiled a little at her.
We finished our dinner and Dante went with Cherit and his leader. Sophie went home after I started my chores. Then I played on the Xbox.
Lok's POV End
Dante's POV
They were hiding in the park. The leader had calmed everyone down after they saw me. They didn't move for a minute.
"Cherit, what's happening?" I looked at him and he was still too.
"Uuuh- Oh, our leader is sharing his memory of dinner with us." He snapped out his trace.
Then the sword wielder told them something that made them curious and some of the monsters tugged at my coat and lifted my shirt up.
"Is your armor a part of you?" I asked.
"You mean the metal body stuff? Only our leader can't take off most of it. But he says he can feel like everyone else. Well, his hands can feel." Cherit said.
"Ok, ok. That's enough. That's a shoe. It protects my foot from the ground." I waved the monsters off when they almost knocked me off balance.
"They're sorry. It's just humans wear such colorful, neat things. And the shiny things the females wear. What do they do?" Cherit asked.
"Jewelry? It just looks pretty." I explained, not wanting to into the complexities of gemstone meanings and such.
"Oh. Why are some humans bigger than others? Like their bodies are bigger than yours." He asked. His clan watched and waited.
"Well, most of the time, they're overweight. Humans have a thing called fat. It keeps us warm and is used for energy. But since most people eat lots of junk food like cookies and don't exercise, um, the fat is more noticeable. Some people are just born with a stockier body. I'm tall. And some people are shorter and broader." I showed them with my hands. They nodded.
"Haa?" A pink haired monster asked with a sword pointed at me.
The leader got between us and explained what I was doing here, grunting here and there. The female (?) put her sword away and went to me. She looked at me and poked my chest, picked at my shirt, and felt my stomach. She was confused. Where was my armor? This couldn't be it.
"I don't wear this when I fight. I wear my super suit. I fight differently because I can't wear protective gear with my suit. It would make flying hard and I shoot flames so that probably wouldn't be good for the gear." I told the feminine being.
She nodded and suddenly turned to Cherit.
"Lok? He's at home. Dante told him to stay and clean the nest. Dante, can she come and see Lok?" Cherit asked.
"Not tonight. He's probably asleep by now." I checked my watch. 1:30.
"Ok. You should go sleep, too." Cherit told me.
"Yeah, I'll see you later. Cherit, do you want to come with me?" I asked.
"Um," He looked at his leader. He nodded, "Ok." The white animal thing landed on my shoulder and we went home.
Dante's POV End
Lok's POV
The same night
Dante opened the back door and let himself in, "Hey, Lok! Cherit's, uh, sister came to see you!"
Cherit and his leader had come back, too. There was a girl monster with him, too. They came into the living room. I yawned and sat up, the blanket I was under sliding off my body and onto the couch. I rubbed my eye as she looked at me and then she squished my cheeks, cooing.
"Uh…" I said through all the squishing.
"She thinks you're adorable." Dante smiled.
"Why?" I asked.
"Sleepy male cute." Cherit's brother told me.
"Ok." I said as she picked me up and cradled me.
"She wants baby soon. Getting close to season." He added.
"Why aren't you all fighty and terri- uh, territorial?" I remembered.
"Little one, Cherit, not a threat." He glared at my buddy. His ears flattened and he tried to look smaller.
"What's going on?" Dante asked.
"Oh, uh, I guess it's close to their mating season. She wants a baby." I yawned.
"I didn't think they would want to have their, uh, creatures to have babies." Dante scratched his head.
"They wanted to see how fast we grew if we were born from a mother. The newer ones don't seem want to have babies." Cherit explained.
The female hissed at the others and cooed at me. They went quiet. I was rocked, hushed, and sang to sleep.
Lok's POV End
