l
-26-
Friday morning came at the ass-crack of dawn with a crick in Keiichi's neck and the smell of breakfast food items that simultaneously made him nauseas and his stomach growl. Here we go again. He thought to himself, prying his eyes open as he stared up at the ceiling. Dim light danced upon its surface from the kitchen, and he could hear cabinets gently thumping closed as the person in question tried not to wake him. The last time I was this excited to go to work, things were falling apart with Deb.
Grunting, the man rolled off the Ugly Beast. He massaged his neck, then rolled his head in slow circles to try and stretch the muscles out. A pile of clothes sat on top of the small coffee table he'd purchased in another furniture trip with Belldandy and Urd, and he stared at it, trying to remember if he'd brought the clothes down with him last night or not. Most of the night preceding the argument between Belldandy and Peorth was a blur to him for some reason.
In the end Keiichi decided he must have brought them down with him. Them and the extra blanket both, probably to make sure he didn't accidently wake Belldandy while creeping back into his room and grabbing a fresh blouse from the closet and other items from the drawers. The Navy SEAL may have had all the stealth of a tiger in a bush during training or missions, but when it came to regular, ordinary days at home, that tiger transformed into a cat wearing bubble wrap socks.
Grabbing the stack of clothes, the man crept off into the hallway bathroom to freshen up and change, only stopping to stare at his reflection in shock. His upper lip was crusted with dried blood, and there was evidence of more blood on the sleeves of the blouse he'd slept in the night prior. "Jesus fuck," he swore, discarding his uniform and checking himself out for any other signs of injury. More blood crusted his ear canals, but otherwise he could see no damage. A gentle examination revealed nothing out of the ordinary, and the man's brows furrowed together, confused. "What the hell? Did I get punched in the face or something?"
Maybe that explained the blur from last night.
The man massaged his hands, a little nervous about the blood before shrugging it off. He didn't feel any worse for wear: no obvious pains, no strange aches, no twitching or loss of feeling, not even any loss of balance or an overwhelming sense of drowsiness. His pupils, after careful observation, still expanded and contracted to the light, and there was nothing that might signify a blow to the head. He didn't feel ill or fatigued either. He felt... fine.
Sighing to himself, the man hopped in the shower, making doubly sure the door was locked before drying himself off and dressing in his fresh DCUs. Gathering his old garments into a bundle beneath his arms, the SEAL crept upstairs and deposited them in a hamper before tiptoeing back down again and debating with himself on whether to spare himself the drama and sneak out now without food or risk Peorth and Belldandy getting into another argument.
Nothing would be open this early in the morning though, and Keiichi still had an hour before he was on call. The man pursed his lips, thoughtful, and then sighed and moved towards the kitchen. He'd take a quick peek before making a judgement call, and hopefully Peorth wouldn't notice him if he decided the risk wasn't worth the reward. But if he could just grab a granola bar or something to help tide him over for later, he'd be fine.
The man peeked into the kitchen and sagged with relief. "Oh thank god." Peorth was nowhere in sight. Instead, Belldandy was hustling about the kitchen, pulling ingredients and seasonings left and right as she tended to the stove. He looked around, and taking it as a sign from above that the other goddess was not present, the SEAL headed into the dining room. "Morning Bell."
The goddess looked over her shoulder. "Good morning Keiichi." There were bags under her eyes.
"Rough night?"
"Yes."
He walked over to her and hugged her from behind. For a moment he felt Belldandy tense-still she tensed up, still she fought Aoshima-and then she relaxed and pressed into him, still tending to the pans of eggs and vegetables. "You didn't have to get up and make me breakfast."
"Wanted to," she muttered. "Especially after yesterday."
"You should go back to sleep."
"No."
Keiichi raised an eyebrow. It was the first time the goddess had outright refused to listen to his guidance. Usually it was more of a neutral agreement, an 'okay' that allowed her to dance around and do what she wanted when his back was turned. It was never anything serious-little things like, 'don't wait up for me, I'll be late' or 'don't worry about laundry, I've got it'. She'd say okay and nod her head, and when Keiichi returned home or had some free time to attend whatever chore needed attention, Belldandy would be waiting for him or the laundry would be cleaned, folded, and resting on his bed. Part of him suspected some of that was Urd's influence; trying to help Belldandy break out of the mold and do what she wanted to do and not what Keiichi suggested she do. He wondered if this new occurrence was due to her own strong feelings on the matters at hand or if Belldandy was just too exhausted to bother with the little game they normally played.
"Will you at least take a nap later?" he asked. "You look pretty tired."
"Depends," Belldandy replied. "Got to watch Peorth."
The man sighed and rolled of his eyes. Of course. Peorth. The thorn in the side of everyone recently. "Will you at least try not to gut her, today?"
This time he earned a snort from the Norn. "No promises." Yet the tone was light and he could hear a smile in her voice. He grinned.
The two of them ended up dining in peace that morning. Neither Peorth nor Urd came down to join them, and Keiichi was happy about that. Just a peaceful morning between him and Belldandy, tired and taciturn though she was. He was amazed when no one bothered them as he tied his boots and was escorted out the door by Belldandy, and astonished further when the goddess kissed him on the cheek in farewell. It left him feeling warm with a silly, beaming smile on his face as he straddled the Harley and headed out for work.
And as Belldandy returned inside to clean up after their shared meal together, putting away the leftovers she normally made extra on the occasion that Urd came to join them, not once did Peorth appear. Belldandy, exhausted from the shoddy hours of sleep she got, never paid it much mind, too tired to care. In less than two hours she'd fallen asleep on the Ugly Beast, where Urd found her, gathered her up, and took her upstairs to Keiichi's room to sleep.
And still Peorth did not appear.
Not once.
XXX
"Listen up!" McGuinness's voice boomed in the late morning sky. "We are practicing recovery procedures in an asymmetric environment today. Our scenario is this: An HVI, callsign ROSE, has taken up residence within a local village. We have GRGs of the surrounding location and know he's buckling down in building seven zero three. Jackson! What's our no-hit list?"
"There's a mosque about fifty meters to the west, building seven zero one," he said. "Two klicks north is a medical facility, and about one klick south by southeast is a school."
McGuinness nodded. "Braxton, based off that information, what direction would be our best entry and exit?"
"To the northeast, Sir," Braxton replied. "Coming in more east-bound before sweeping in closer to the north once we clear the school."
"What of animals? Guards? People wandering around?"
"We'll be going in under the cover of darkness where most people won't be out. There are three guards on point to the west, where the front of the house is located, and towards the east where there's a back entrance. A stone wall covers the house perimeter, but isn't very high-maybe only four feet or so, something to discourage people from coming to close. No other guards around the north or south side, and the animals in this area are primarily dogs and goats. The dogs are known for barking at odd hours of the night, so it won't be suspicious if they start barking during infil."
"What about the goats?" McGuinness pressed. "Could they make any noise?"
For a moment Braxton stared at his CO in confusion, then glanced at Keiichi. Keiichi gestured to his neck, and Braxton's eyes lit up. "Yes Sir," he said, looking back at McGuinness. "They keep bells around their goats to help keep track of them."
"That and they're always noisy as fuck." Sanchez muttered under his breath.
"That they are, Sanchez," McGuinness agreed. "Are there any goats along the route Braxton proposed?"
"Nah, not on this side. Off further south yeah, past the school, but not here. They don't keep any goats within one hundred meters of the living quarters 'cause in Make Believe Land, they see it as a sign of poverty-no one wants to look like a poor farmer, but they all poor farmers, so they keep the goats further south by a watering hole."
"Good." McGuinness praised. "Morisato, how should we infiltrate the building?"
"From the south," Keiichi said. "There aren't any windows on the north side of the building, and we need to get in and out ASAP. There are only a couple of guards out on shift, and they can be taken out pretty easily since for the most part, these guys are farmers hired by the HVI. Intel says they aren't trained and are more likely to run than fight."
"What about inside?"
"The HVI is staying with his nephew and the nephew's family, which is made of one wife and two children. The culture here have females and children sleeping together in one large family bedroom, with the adult males having their own separate bedrooms. The HVI was sighted by a TALON in the second floor west-corner window, so he's probably staying in the corner bedroom. The children are young-one's a baby and the other's a pre-teen, so we need to be careful to avoid injuring non-combatants. Females in Make Believe Land carry knives to discourage rapes and burglaries, and are known to keep them close by in the event that they're attacked in their sleep after a history of occupation by Red Forces."
"Good." McGuinness nodded in approval. "Good, all of you. Now, moving away from Make Believe Land and back into the real world, we do have some additional players with us. I managed to get a call in for some 'volunteers' who wanted the opportunity to play Baddie for us, so there will be live folks in the field." He sent them all a look. "Please don't hurt them," he said. "I had to fight leadership to acquire live volunteers after one Seaman dislocated his arm trying to wiggle out of an arm bar one of you asshats put him in."
"Idiot," Sanchez muttered.
"You referring to the Seaman or yourself?" Jackson asked. "I seem to remember you being the asshat holding the arm bar." He earned a couple of chuckles from the rest of the team.
"Bring it back, bring it back," McGuinness said, and as the laughter died down he continued. "They've been instructed not to fight you if put in an arm lock or any other position, so when you say 'bang bang' they're supposed to lie down and 'die'.
"We're getting rubbers?" Keiichi raised an eyebrow.
"Ah, come on, man," Braxton muttered.
"Suck it up, Men," McGuinness replied. "Morisato, I seem to recall you breaking a Seaman's tooth after you slammed your buttstock into his face."
"It was an accident!" Keiichi cried. "I was moving on reflex!"
"Mmmhmm," Jackson hummed. "Just like Sanchez." Keiichi shot him a glare.
"No excuses," McGuinness continued. "This is for infil/exfil training only, not combatives. If I hear that any one of the volunteers was injured today because of a mishap or accident that is directly related back to any one of you, I will smoke all of you so hard you'll be lucky if you can crawl back to your vehicles when I finally release you."
There was a collective groan from Team 12.
"Now stock up and get your gear. I want you all back here by ten fifteen armed and ready, is that clear?"
"Yes Sir!" Came Team 12's response.
Team 12 was dropped off by an AH-60 Blackhawk about five klicks from the target. They quickly closed the distance and around noon, Team 12 was rushing through Make Believe Land. It was a mock-up village composed of a collection of old storage containers that had been retrofitted to look like a small town. Paint was peeling off the sides and rust was taking its place, and someone had cut large, rectangular holes that took the place of doors and windows into their sides. Wild Kudzu was slowly trying to claim the village for itself, along with all the creepy critters and snakes that came with it, so MBL was regularly cut and treated for safety purposes. It didn't stop the assortment of snakes from taking shelter in the many containers scattered about, but at least it kept the local rat population down. A large, ten foot stone wall surrounded the 'village' to ward off vandals, with Cadre towers on each corner to monitor the training within.
Now, under the watchful eye of non-players, Team 12 ducked from one wall to another, where the occasional recording of a barking German Shepard went off near their ear. An occasional 'villager' would interrupt their travel as they progressed to building 703, forcing McGuinness to call the group to a halt and duck down under cover and concealment to avoid alerting the locals. Smoke bombs took the place of shock grenades, where the guard's outside the HVI's residence simulated being stunned and allowing Team 12 to 'gently' take them out. There was a collective sigh when Braxton, still learning, accidently let one such grenade bounce off a wall when he was aiming for a window where it exploded at their feet.
One of the 'dead' guards laughed.
"Press," McGuinness grumbled. "Braxton, on point. Go."
The Team burst into the house, where a steel staircase-perhaps the only thing in the village that saw regular maintenance and upkeep-lead up to a second storage container acting as the second floor. Braxton raced up it, Keiichi dogging him from behind, and passed a room with several straw scarecrows acting as the wife and children. McGuinness called for a pause in the scenario there. "Okay," he started. "Braxton, this is your Eval-you have two options right here. The HVI is in one room and the nephew is in the other. Both were alerted to our presence by the dogs in the village and the commotion downstairs, and are getting ready to act. You don't know what weapons they might be armed with and you can only storm one room. Whichever room you pick may leave you vulnerable depending on your choice of action. How do you proceed?"
Braxton frowned in thought. "Do we have intel on how likely they are to run or fight?"
"No," McGuinness replied. "Talon says that reinforcements have been alerted and are due to arrive in ten mike though, so time is of the essence."
The younger man frowned and pursed his lips in thought. "Am I allowed to divide the team?"
"You're the CO once we call game on," McGuinness replied. "We're yours to command."
"Okay," the man licked his lips and bobbed his head. "Okay, got it. So then I'm gonna want to divide the team with a larger focus on the HVI. We don't want the nephew to catch us with our pants down, but since we don't know if he'll run or fight, he needs to get taken out too." He looked at McGuinness, then over his shoulder at Keiichi and the rest of Team 12. "Right...okay, I think I got it," he stated. "I'll have...Sanchez, Jackson you're on the nephew. McGuinness, Morisato, on me for the HVI. We grab and bag HVI Rose and then Sanchez and Jackson cover our six on exfil."
"Sounds solid enough." Keiichi, an acting NCO in training, nodded as well. "You remember how to kick in a door? That's been one of your weak points for a while now."
"I'm good," Braxton replied. "Kick near the doorknob to splinter the wood around the lock, then get out of the way to avoid possible retaliation fire before proceeding inside."
"Good," Keiichi said. He looked back at McGuinness and gave him a thumbs up. "On your call, Sir."
"Ready Bravo?"
"Yes Sir."
"Game on." The exercise resumed, and Braxton took lead, dividing the teams out to the two rooms. As Jackson and Sanchez took on the nephew cardboard cutout that was used for training, Braxton placed a solid kick into the already beaten and abused wooden door leading to the HVI's room, then slid back against the wall for immediate cover. He pointed to Keiichi and mimed for a shock grenade, and the SEAL tossed in a smoke bomb, sending thick, white smoke billowing through the room. Braxton proceeded inside as the plume spread and thickened, with Keiichi on his tail and McGuinness holding up the rear.
The smoke began to clear as if by magic, and in its place was the room of HVI Rose: something that was once a steel shack of a shipping container divided by a wooden wall between rooms had been transformed into a lavish display of clean white walls and plush carpet. An elegant antique table rested in the room's center, with four matching chairs on each side. An array of food items ranging from pasta to roasted duck littered the table's surface, hot and steaming with enticing scents that made the mouth drool.
And at the head of the table, sitting with her hands steepled in front of her was Peorth, watching them with a large smile.
"Peorth?!"
Two voices rose in a mixture of confusion, horror, and recognition. "What are you doing here?!" Those two voices went silent as the words left the mouths of those who uttered them. Keiichi stared at Braxton. Braxton stared at Keiichi. Their mouths dropped. "Wait," they chorused, "you know her?"
"Mon Dieu, Monsieur Morisato and Monsieur Braxton?" A familiar voice exclaimed from within the thick smoke. "To what do I owe the honor?" Peorth cried.
"What the fuck is going on?!" McGuinness boomed, and all three looked behind them, where two sets of eyes widened in growing horror. "Who the fuck is she and what the fuck is she doing here?!"
Jackson and Sanchez, literally next door, popped their heads in at the sound of their commander's oaths. "Wait, HVI ROSE is a chick?" Sanchez voiced.
"She's supposed to be a mannequin," Jackson replied. "One in more clothes than...that." Peorth was wearing the same scantily-clad outfit she'd first introduced herself to Keiichi in.
"Morisato, Braxton, you have to the count of five to explain yourselves before I rip out your small intestines and make you shit down your throat," McGuinness growled. "Who the fuck is she and what is she doing here?!"
Peorth tittered. "Quel homme horrible! Cela ne suffira pas." Her hands whipped up in front of her in a strange gesture.
"Wait!" Braxton cried.
"Stop!" Keiichi screamed.
Yet it was too late. Sanchez and Jackson dropped without a word, and McGuinness stumbled back. "What the..." He clutched his head, blinking furiously, then looked back at Peorth. "Who the hell..."
Peorth frowned, staring at the man in confusion. "Vous avez résisté à mon appel?" she inquired. Her thumb twitched.
"Stop it!" Keiichi cried.
McGuinness's nose began to bleed, and the man took a knee before collapsing like the others, leaving Keiichi and Braxton to stare at their fallen teammates in horror.
"Ahh...bien mieux maintenant," Peorth murmured. "Such a loud, rude man," she sniffed. "No wonder Americans have such a horrible reputation affixed to themselves," she sighed. "Now that we have such an obnoxious crowd out of the way, would you like to join me for lunch, Monsieur Keiichi? And Monsieur Braxton! What a pleasant surprise to see you again! Would you like to join us on our cordial date?"
Braxton kneeled beside McGuinness and put two fingers to his throat, feeling for a pulse. He sighed in relief when he found one. "Thank God," he breathed. "They're just unconscious."
"What the fuck, Peorth." Keiichi's voice was quiet and low with thinly veiled rage. "You just-you just fucking waltz in here and fucking take out my team like they're a bunch of flies to you and then ask me to join you for lunch?"
The goddess waved her hand in a flippant gesture. "They are unharmed," she said. "And best yet, they shall remember none of this; just a small little ache in the head and a strange little dream for their troubles."
"McGuinness's nose is still bleeding," Braxton said. He looked up at Peorth with accusation burning in his eyes. "You should have stopped after that first time. That shit might have given him brain cancer or something."
The goddess shrugged. "Tel est la vie ma chère," she said. "Now come and sit. Monsieur Braxton, you must tell me how life is treating you! It seems your wish has been fulfilled!" The goddess laughed. "And to think, that you would fall in league with another client!"
Keiichi and Braxton shared a look, then looked back to Peorth. "We're good," Keiichi said through tight lips. He took a long breath, though his face was still set in an angry grimace. "What I would like to know," he said instead, "Is how you," he looked at Braxton, "know her." He pointed to Peorth.
Braxton frowned, then rose to his feet. "My guess is the same way you do," he confessed. "She came to give me a wish."
"Oui!" Peorth chirped. "A wish to become a Navy SEAL!" She cried.
Both Keiichi and Braxton stared at Peorth with boggled eyes. "Peorth, you ditz!" Braxton cried. "Don't tell that to Morisato! He's my fucking supervisor!"
"You...you whatl?!" Keiichi wheeled to face Braxton in disbelief, his face torn between his unspent rage and shock. "You fucking cheated?!"
The man raised his hands in defense. "I was sixteen at the time!" he cried. "And I worked my ass off just like you and the rest of Team 12 to get here!"
"Bullshit!" Keiichi proclaimed. "You had it handed to you on a silver platter!"
"The fuck I did!" Braxton replied. "I forgot about that fucking wish until I joined the Navy at eighteen. I did everything I could to hit the books and keep myself in peak condition for tryouts. I wasn't even in the top ten percent of folks graduating, and what's your excuse?!" he demanded. "You're shacking up with at least two goddesses, three if you include that hot Skuld-chick, and now you've got Peorth as well?!" He looked between Keiichi and Peorth in disbelief. "What the fuck did you wish for, a goddamned harem? You should know that multiple wives aren't recognized outside of Utah!"
"You crack one more joke about either of those women being my wives and I'm going to shove my fist up your ass to the elbow, and then I'm going to abort your intestines, you cuntwaffle," Keiichi said. "I never wished for anything other than the wish meant for me to be transferred off to Belldandy. And when did you-" He froze, recalling Easter's barbeque. "You fucking knew all along!" the man yelped. "You weren't hitting on Belldandy, you were asking her a fucking question!"
"Well no fucking shit!" Braxton replied. "Jesus, man, I know I'm a bit of an assclown when it comes to women, but I try and take your words into consideration when meeting some chick whose gone seen some shit! But she's a fucking goddess! And that Urd-chick who was with you at the bar that one night! What the fuck!"
"Mademoiselle Belldandy was given the wish in Monsieur Keiichi's stead," Peorth replied, watching the two SEALs argue in amusement. "Which is one reason I am here, as his case file is still open." She shook her head. "And Monsieur Morisato, please do not view Monsieur Braxton in such a negative light. The System Force works in as natural a manner as possible per the laws of the world its will is enacted upon. He did earn his title. Perhaps the System Force improved his memory, perhaps it made him more tenacious or improved his strength and endurance. But it was not merely, ah, how did you put it? 'Handed to him on a silver platter', I believe it was. Such would be against the laws of this land."
Braxton's eyes widened. "Wait, so you're telling me Morisato hasn't even made his wish yet?" He looked at Keiichi. "What the fuck?"
Peorth sighed and shook her head. "So many obscenities," she muttered. Her expression darkened. "At least I can understand these though."
"No I haven't made my wish yet." Keiichi didn't hear Peorth's comments. "I keep telling her I don't want a wish, but she won't fucking leave!"
"That is because he does have a wish, but he does not wish to see it fulfilled!" Peorth's response was louder this time. "He wishes to sleep with a goddess, but does not wish to commit!"
"God damn it, Peorth!" Keiichi snarled.
Braxton crossed his arms across his chest and glared at Keiichi. "Oh, so I'm Johnny Bravo?" he snapped. "Where the fuck you get off on giving me that call sign when you want to go and have a shag with a divine goddess?"
"I don't!" Keiichi roared. "What I really want is Peorth out of my house and out of my business and I want you to shut the fuck up about all of this bullshit!"
"So then you don't want to sleep with Belldandy," said Braxton, a knowing smirk forming on his face.
"No! I mean yes! I mean… GOD DAMMIT!" He wheeled on Peorth, eyes raging. "Fine! If this is what it will take to get you the fuck out of my life, then fine!"
"I wish Belldandy would sleep with me!"
It was a stupid comment. One said in anger. One said in frustration. Perhaps one even said in futility and desperation. Keiichi froze, eyes wide, and beside him Braxton's jaw fell open. Peorth's eyebrows raised in surprise, like a woman baiting a dog with food and then startled when it bit her.
Nothing happened.
Braxton looked at Keiichi with wide eyes. "Morisato, are you fucking serious right now?" he snapped. "You're just gonna use a wish to sleep with someone without consent? That's called rape, you know!"
"No!" Keiichi cried. "Because that's not what I want! See?" He gestured to the goddess who was staring at him wide-eyed. "Nothing is fucking happening!" He waved his arm around the room, still filled with its plush carpet and expensive furniture. "What I want is-"
"To sleep with me, it seems." Peorth snapped out of her shock, derailing Keiichi's comments before the man had a chance to respond.
Keiichi went red in the face. "The fuck I do!" he roared. "You fucking touch me and I will break your fucking hands!"
"Yet you are still here..." Peorth leaned back in her chair, not at all riled by Keiichi's display of temper. "Then perhaps...well there is no one else, clearly your heart lies with Urd!"
"The Frog Hog?" Braxton muttered.
"No!" Keciichi howled. "All of you just shut the fuck-"
"So then there is only one other option then." Though not once did Peorth raise her voice, somehow she still managed to speak over Keiichi's cries. "The only conclusion left is that you want to sleep with all of us!" She laughed. "My, it's been quite a long time since I've enjoyed that kind of fun."
Keiichi jerked back as though he'd been slapped, eyes wide. "NO!" He exclaimed. "I want nothing to do with you, I don't want to have a fucking orgy, and I don't want to sleep with Bell or Urd! Now would you ever so kindly fuck off to the house where we can discuss your upcoming eviction when I get home tonight?" He wheeled to Braxton. "You. You will not say a fucking word to McGuinness or the others, or so help me you will wake up one day with a Colombian Neck Tie. We'll talk more on this in private. Now help me drag McGuinness out of this cesspool of shit and rouse the others. We need to let the Cadre know we're at ENDEX."
Braxton grunted, mean mugging the man as Keiichi stormed past him and glancing back at Peorth. The goddess was wearing a strange, thoughtful look on her face, yet when she caught his eye it vanished behind a smile. "It was a pleasure seeing you again, Monsieur."
Braxton didn't respond, instead rushing off after Keiichi and helping the man drag McGuinness's almost three hundred pounds of muscled body out of the room. The door slammed shut behind the SEALs, bounced, and flew back open, and with it Peorth was gone. There was nothing but a dusty makeshift room with a mannequin dressed in rags in her place. Both the conscious SEALs could hear Peorth's parting words leave the mannequin's sealed lips. "I'll figure this out, Monsieur..."
Keiichi scrunched his face up in irritation, then kneeled down to check on his teammates. Braxton mimed him, helping him prop the three unconscious men up against the wall. He looked over at Keiichi with a sidelong glance. "So...does this mean I have to redo my eval?" He asked.
"Shut up, Braxton."
XXX
"So you're telling me that somehow, someway, Magilla scored a second wish?" Skuld looked between her two sisters in disbelief, then looked over at Peorth. The goddess in question was sitting a deliberate distance away from the three sisters in one of the dining room chairs that had been dragged to the living room, with Belldandy and Urd on the couch and Skuld on the recliner. "Okay...seriously guys. What the fuck."
The younger woman was mildly surprised when instead of scolding her for her choice in language, instead Belldandy shrugged. "I have come to wonder this as well," she grumbled.
The black haired Norn release a sharp bark of laughter. "So what's Magilla going to wish for? A gold plated toilet seat?"
Belldandy chortled, and Peorth stared at Skuld in alarm. "How did you know that?!" she demanded.
"Know what?"
Peorth eyed Skuld for a moment, then shook her head. "Nevermind."
"Seriously though, can't he just wish for you to go home, Peorth?" Skuld continued. "No offense, but from what I'm hearing it sounds like that's what he wants you to do, along with everyone else in the house. Even you."
"Vous parlez de ce que nous voyons tous," Peorth muttered. "Unfortunate as it is though, I can do nothing. My departure is not what his heart desires, or I would have left at the drop of a hat. What's more, he refuses to acknowledge what his heart so desires," she cast a look to Belldandy, "and until he does acknowledge that and accept it as truth, I cannot leave."
"What's he want?"
Belldandy spoke up. "Peorth, if you say a word, I will come to you in the middle of the night, throttle you, bind you, and leave you outside for that puma to feast on." The woman said in as pleasant a way as possible. Her tone would have been more in place if she had asked someone to do the dishes or walk a dog if they had one.
Peorth eyed the goddess warily and scooted her chair a little closer to Skuld.
"Wow," Skuld said, looking between the two women with a raised brow. "It must be real bad if Belldandy is throwing threats. Normally that's Urd's job."
"Hey," Urd said sharply. "Watch it."
"See?" Skuld said, gesturing with an open palm to Urd. "Still, I wonder what it is...I mean, it's not like he wants to sleep with Belldandy, right?"
Two of the four goddesses winced.
"Wait." Skuld's eyes widened as they darted between Belldandy and Urd. "You can't be-for real?" The youngest Norn leaned forwards in the chair, her jaw dropping in surprise. "Are you-are you fucking serious?! His heart's desire is to sleep with Belldandy?!"
"To sleep with someone," Peorth grumbled, eyeing the two Norns on the couch. "Yet he refuses to act on that call, to even consider it may exist. He cannot make a wish that will be acknowledged by the System Force without at least understanding that."
"Oh Yggdrasil." Skuld ran her hands through her hair in a gesture Belldandy had seen from Urd many times growing up. "This is...for fucks sake, guys. Can't he just wish really, really hard on that gold-plated toilet seat? 'I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish to shit on a gold-plated toilet seat tonight?'"
She was not encouraged when all three of her older companions groaned.
"Where is that overgrown gorilla anyways?" Skuld asked, deciding it would be a good time to change topics. "Isn't he normally back by now?"
"Exercise," Urd replied. "He'll be back in maybe...one, closer to two hours with changeover and traffic."
"Thank Yggdrasil for small blessings," Skuld muttered under her breath. In a louder voice she said, "Oh, by the way, I was able to look into that thing you asked about, Belldandy. Think we can talk about it offline?"
"Thing?" Peorth eyed the two sisters in interest.
Skuld waved her off. "Nothing big-Bell just wanted to see if I could get something from home is all."
"Don't pry Peorth," Urd warned, then rose to her feet and stretched. "You guys might as well talk about your thing now. If I'm to judge on trends, shit's gonna hit the fan anyway when Keiichi comes back, and I'm going to need your help to keep these two from killing each other, Skuld."
"My help?" The Norn scoffed. "As in, me help Magilla? Screw that, I'm getting a bowl of popcorn and watching this shit like it's the newest season of Jerry Springer."
"What's 'Jerry Springer?" Belldandy and Peorth chorused, then shot each other a glare.
Urd stared at Skuld in annoyance, her left eye twitching. "You know, I could have lived a long and happy life never having learned that my family life was being compared to Jerry Springer, Skuld."
"Anything to help, Urd."
XXX
"So you had some luck in locating a TIC for me?" Belldandy double-checked the lock on her door and satisfied, turned back to Skuld.
"Yep." Skuld's smile was large. "Turns out Papa was working on getting a TIC for you as soon as word reached home. Problem is that most of the TICs had never come across a case like yours before and ended up throwing a pissing match on who was most qualified to help you out."
Belldandy looked at her sister in surprise, then grimaced. "I should have known," she grumbled. "The joys of being the Daitenkaicho's daughter."
Skuld shrugged, unconcerned. "Hey, better for them to be fighting over you as the best of the best rather than never knowing you existed."
"So who is the TIC?"
"Some old woman who's been in the business for a long time," Skuld said. "And...okay, so I know I'm going to fuck up the name, but bear with me. I've heard it flung around a grand total of three times, and each time it's a different name. It's..." She pursed her lips. "It's either Sus-is-ta-nako, Na-ash-jay Asd-za, or Kok-yang-wuti." She sounded out each name carefully, then looked at Belldandy with a helpless shrug. "She's one of those people. Everyone's got a different name for her and she wasn't originally from Asgard."
"Did you have a chance to meet her?" Belldandy asked.
"Yeah." Skuld nodded. "Made me feel real bad 'cause I couldn't say her name right, but she's pretty cool. She just laughed and offered me a smoke-that's the one thing I'm not much of a fan about, she's a freaking chain smoker-but otherwise she doesn't seem that bad. She couldn't come down with me immediately, and now I'm kind of grateful for it; given the general madness that seems to be going around here, I feel like she'd have a heart attack with all the excitement. She's pretty old Belldandy."
"A chain-smoking old woman, you say?" Belldandy raised an eyebrow.
Skuld flushed. "Yeah, when you put it that way. In layman's terms, yes."
"Did you notice anything resembling an hourglass on her person?" Belldandy asked. "A tattoo perhaps, or the shape of her sigil?"
The younger woman shook her head. "No, sorry. I was pretty nervous talking to her, actually. She's got...she's got some weird energy going for her. It made the hair on my arms stand up just talking to her, like there were spiders crawling on my arms or something. Why?"
"No reason," Belldandy said. "Did she have an estimated time she'd be able to descend?"
"Probably around Sunday or so," Skuld said. "I know it's still a couple of days away, but she needed to make sure she didn't jump the gun or anything."
"No, no, this is fine," Belldandy assured. "I still must deal with Peorth, and this should give us time to be done with this absurdity and return things to normal." She pursed her lips. "In the meantime, I have another favor I want to ask you, Skuld."
"What's up?" Skuld leaned forward in interest.
"Well..."
XXX
Keiichi was fit to be tied when he came home that night. McGuinness, Jackson, and Sanchez were both okay when they'd finally roused, though the explanation on what had happen to lead them to their new state of unconsciousness had been a hairy situation. Between Keiichi and Braxton, they'd somehow managed to pull an excuse out of their asses where all five of them had been knocked out, though Keiichi could tell by the look on McGuinness's face that the man hadn't believed a word of it.
The man had been quick to call an ENDEX to the exercise and cancelled Braxton's eval, just as the younger man had feared. Then McGuinness had taken it a step further by condemning the building before gathering all the volunteers and cadre and debriefing all of them on what had happened. Keiichi had sat in a room being questioned on what he remembered for three hours before they'd finally given up and blamed it on possible chemical exposure. Following that had come a second debrief between McGuinness, Braxton, and himself that had left both of the enlisted members grasping for believable straws that would throw McGuinness off their scent. There'd been cameras in the room. Cameras. Cameras meant to record the team's reactions and to point out improvements that could have been made during training and instead showed strange, ghostly footage that no one could make rhyme or reason of.
Braxton had tried to blow it off as a ghost in the machine. Keiichi had followed him in stating the cameras were old.
McGuinness had replied that they'd just spent close to five grand refitting all the grainy, pre-eighties cameras with newer, HD models not even a year ago.
"Gremlins, Sir."
"Those green skinned fuckers from that movie?" McGuinness had demanded. "No. I wasn't born yesterday and I'd appreciate it if you stopped acting like I was. Now what the hell happened?"
Keiichi had shared a look with Braxton. The man had returned it with a wide, confused one of his own that made him look eighteen all over again. They had both looked back at McGuinness and shrugged. "Gremlins."
"The two of you asshats are gremlins." McGuinness groused, but he'd relented after that. Without further details or footage that could hint at what might have happened, the man was empty-handed. Keiichi and Braxton had wisely stayed out of his way after that.
Yet the anger of that early afternoon had never left Keiichi, and after a long and exhausting day dwelling on the incident, he raced up the driveway, parked the Harley in front of the garage, and stormed inside through the front door. "PEORTH!" he roared. "PACK YOUR SHIT! YOU'RE LEAVING!" The door slammed shut behind him with enough force to make the walls rattle. "I want you out of this house NOW!"
The man stormed down the hallway and into the living room. Urd and Skuld stared at him with matching startled expressions, taken aback by the man's rage. Keiichi's eyes didn't even see Skuld, and seeing no sign of the woman he hunted, the man continued on his path of destruction.
"Damn," Skuld whispered. A bowl of popcorn manifested in her lap. "Wasn't expecting the show to start so soon." She threw a kernel in her mouth and looked at Urd, who was staring at her in disbelief. She offered her older sister the bowl. "Want some?"
Keiichi stormed into the kitchen, looking every bit the scary Navy SEAL that so often came with his profession. Belldandy and Peorth sat in the dining room. It looked like for once, they'd been having a moment's grace of peace prior to Keiichi's arrival, and now both women stared at him in shocked silence. "You!" Keiichi pointed to Peorth. "Out. Now."
Neither goddess moved. In the hallway, Urd and Skuld peered out from the living room.
"Monsieur?" Peorth asked. "Perhaps you should calm-"
"No." Keiichi cut her off. "No. You had your chance. Fuck with me. Fine. I can deal with that. I can deal with anything you throw at me. So long as it's me." The man pounded his chest while clenching and unclenching his other hand, still adorned in his thick leather motorcycle gloves. "But I draw the line with my team. That was the last straw, Peorth. You don't fuck with my team."
"Monsieur, I-" Peorth tried to speak and once again was interrupted.
"The last person to fuck with my team like that was Urd." Keiichi's voice rose to drown out her protest, and again Peorth fell silent. "Do you know what I almost did after that? I almost filled her head with a fucking magazine of lead." He held up his hand, displaying his index and thumb. "I came this close," There was only a tiny gap between the index and thumb, they were so close to touching. "This fucking close to pulling the trigger on her."
Behind him Urd winced. Skuld, still shoveling handfuls of popcorn into her mouth, patted her shoulder with little sympathy.
"Is this how you fucking represent yourself down here?" Keiichi went on. "By giving fuck-all's worth about the people around you? Do you even fucking care about what you pulled back there? Urd at least had the fucking decency to make sure none of them were hurt by her magic, but you?" He tugged at his hair, exasperated beyond all measures. "Hey look, interlopers! Whoops, not anymore! Oh look, one of them is still standing, better increase the animal tranquilizer and knock him out, ha! What's an overdose? Oh, one of them has a bloody nose from possible brain damage? Sucks to be him, 'casue I ain't checking to make sure he's okay."
Peorth leaned back, "I'm sure the man was fine-"
"Oh yeah, sure, McGuinness was fine!" Keiichi snapped. "Fine as far as any of the docs could tell, and let me let you in on a little secret, Peorth, military doctors ain't the class A act they should be. And if he happens to have a seizure later on down the road? If a fucking tumor grows in his brain because a fucking god decided he needed to go 'nighty night' without looking at what light switch she switched off? Well too bad, so sad, he was an old man anyways. Those things happen to folks up there in age and the god responsible is long gone. Fuck you. Fuck your wish. Get the fuck out of my house before I drag you out myself."
"Monsieur, I can't-" Peorth was growing more and more distressed as the attacks were raised against her.
"No!" Keiichi yelled, once again cutting her off. "I'm not done yet. Your opportunity to explain yourself passed when your last fuck flied out the window by claiming I wanted an orgy with everyone in the fucking house."
"Oh shit," Skuld, ever helpful, whispered.
"Do you know who these men fucking are, Peorth?" Keiichi was ranting now but showed no signs of slowing, no signs of caring. Peorth was going to sit and listen until either she left the fucking house or ripped his fucking throat out. "Angel has saved my life more times than I can count. He was the motherfucker who dug a six inch piece of steel out of my leg after I almost got blown up by an IED. If not for him, they'd have amputated my fucking leg-I might not even have survived that deploymentif not for him. Brian? He's my best friend. He is my fucking mentor. He taught me everything I fucking know, straight down to the fucking value of human life! 'Roll with the punches', 'don't judge on first impressions', 'everyone's got a story to tell if you take the time to listen'. I wouldn't be half the man I am right now if not for his guidance. And McGuinness! Christian himself! I'd be dead ten times over if not for him!" The man's face was deepening from red to purple and veins were starting to bulge and pulse in his forehead. "This was the motherfucker who shoved his own fingers down my throat when I tried to eat a fucking bottle of pills going through my divorce with Deb! He's the one that got me to Mental Health after I killed a five year old boy!"
Peorth pushed her chair out and away from Keiichi. Keiichi dogged her on. "And you? Does the thought that maybe, maybe these people might mean something to me ever cross your mind? That they might have lives, that they might have families, ever enter your thick skull? Or is it too filled with the idea of me fucking a god in the ass to ever register in your head?"
He stopped there, panting, staring at her with a black expression. "No," he said. "Maybe they aren't 'people' to you. Hell, maybe I'm not a person to you-maybe I'm just a fucking case number, but god damn it they're people to me, they matter to me, and for their sake I want you out of my fucking life." He breathed heavily, deeply, and then stomped past her into the kitchen and towards the door leading to the back porch. Belldandy, standing frozen near the kitchen bar, stumbled away from him as though he was on fire. Keiichi didn't notice.
Instead Keiichi grabbed the handle to the back door and pushed it down, intent on forcing Peorth out of the house one way or another. The door didn't budge as he tried to yank it open, and growling, he twisted the small lock located in the handle. Perhaps in his frustration he hadn't noticed the door was locked. Again he pushed down and out, and again the door didn't move, leaving the raging man to swear violently. "Fucking door chooses now of all fucking times to fucking jam-" He took a step back, raised his right leg and thrust his foot forward, smashing it hard against the wooden door. It impacted right next to the handle, close to where the lock was next to the wood. The door rattled loudly yet made no other indication that he'd damaged the door enough to force it open.
"The fuck!?" Keiichi roared, and everyone present winced. The man's voice was growing shrill. The SEAL stepped back and tried again, gaining the same result. He wheeled to the women in the room. "What the hell is going on?" he demanded. "You guys magicked the fucking door?"
"Keiichi, nobody here's used any magic to-" Belldandy started, yet the man was already off, abandoning the back door and heading towards the front door. He was walking with a noticeable limp.
Skuld took one look at Keiichi's face and backpeddled. "Fuck this, I'm out," she said, retreating into the living room as Urd moved forward, blocking his way.
"Move Urd." Keiichi growled. "I'm fixing this problem right here and now. Peorth is leaving even if I have to tear this house apart board by board.
"No," Urd said firmly. "Peorth isn't going anywhere." Keiichi's face lit anew with fresh rage, and the man snarled at her. It looked barbaric. Urd stood her ground however, as unphased with his anger as she was standing with Belldandy and facing down the cougar.
Behind him Belldandy's voice rose. "Keiichi, she can't leave." Her voice was quiet. "The reason she's been pressing us so hard is because she physically cannot leave Midgard until you've made your wish. She wants to leave but she can't until she fulfills her purpose here."
"Gold plated toilet seat!" Skuld cried from where she was hiding in the living room.
"Are. You. Serious," Keiichi ground out. A corner of his lips quivered.
"Keiichi," Urd slowly reached out, keeping her hands visible, and rested her hands on Keiichi's shoulders. "I never thought I'd say this, but you're scaring us." She met his eyes and held them. "You need to calm down, and you're not going to do that trying to smash doors open. The System Force won't let you kick Peorth out until it acknowledges your wish as fulfilled."
"You're hurting yourself." Belldandy's voice was quiet and somber behind him. "You need to calm down. Please."
Something in her voice made Keiichi pause. He tore his gaze from Urd, though the imprint of her eyes still remained in his mind's eye. He looked to Belldandy and for the first time that night saw how drawn and pale she was. She was gripping the countertop with one hand. The knuckles were white, the porcelain around it, cracking. She watched him with a guarded expression, her body angled towards him in a slim profile, as though presenting a smaller target to strike from some invisible opponent. For one brief and horrible moment Keiichi saw how Belldandy had witnessed Aoshima; a predator of unfiltered rage and lust.
A sick lump filled his gut, and unable to hold Belldandy's quiet, observing eyes he looked instead to Peorth, who'd risen from her chair and had moved to the far wall, keeping the table and chairs between herself and him, alarm and yes, fear, splayed open and naked across her face.
"Keiichi, look at me." He found his gaze drawn back to Urd. "You and I are going into the garage. I'm transfiguring us some mats. We're going to have a throwdown until you get this out of your system, alright?"
"I don't want-" He started to argue, then stopped himself, gritting his teeth and growling. He glanced back over his shoulder at Belldandy. The woman's expression hadn't changed. For whatever reason it made him angry all over again. "Fine!" He snapped, and Urd released him, stepping out of his way and allowing him to pass by.
The man stopped near the living room's corridor, staring at Skuld, who watched him partially hidden by the Ugly Beast's broad back as though noticing her for the first time. "And the Poodle's here as well!" He cried. "Fantastic!" Storming past the living room, he headed to the door leading down to the garage. He tugged at it experimentally, and as it gave in to his demands the SEAL stomped down the stairs, leaving the many goddesses to breath a sigh of relief.
"We need to do something about this wish, Peorth," Belldandy said, glancing towards the woman in question. "A wish is supposed to fulfill the heart's desire of the client, not cause them needless distress."
"I'm aware of that," Peorth said, her voice soft and humbled after the display of anger. "I am not trying to cause him distress, but the sooner he succumbs and acknowledges what his heart desires, the faster I can be away from this place." In a softer voice she added, "I did not mean to anger him so."
"He wasn't angry," Belldandy said.
Peorth looked at the goddess in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"He wasn't angry," Belldandy repeated. "At least, not originally. He was frightened. Frightened for his team." The goddess looked at her, and Peorth bit her lip and looked down to the floor. "Everything he said was about his team." The Norn paused before speaking again. "I don't know what you did, Peorth, but it sounded careless."
"I was expecting Keiichi to be alone," Peorth admitted. "The men who were with him caught me off guard. It was not my intent to harm any of them. I just wanted to ensure they did not draw unnecessary attention to us." She looked up at Urd. "Was it true, what he said? Did he almost come so close to..."
Urd rolled her shoulders in a brusque shrug. "Doesn't matter now," she said. "He didn't, and he's angrier right now than any other time I've known him in five years." She pursed her lips. "You guys need to figure out how to get this wish problem resolved. It'll kill him before he ever admits to what's in his heart, especially after what you went through, Bell. He's letting you lead this dance so that you come to him when you're ready, not the other way around."
Belldandy sighed. She looked tired. "I know," she admitted. "And I fear I will not be ready until it's too late." She rubbed her temples before letting her hand flop uselessly to her side. "What are you planning to do with him, Urd? He needs to calm down."
"Going to spar with him a little bit," Urd revealed. "Give him time to vent and wear himself out. Then I think I'll go and make some calls and check in on the rest of Team 12."
"Is that a wise decision?" Peorth asked.
The Norn shrugged. "Been sparring him and the others for over five years now," she confessed. "I know him well enough to read his moves so he won't catch me off guard and I know how much strength is too much for a mortal." She looked back to Belldandy. "I won't let him hurt himself, Bell."
The goddess sighed in relief. "Thank you."
Urd headed for the garage door, and as she passed Skuld peeked up once again. She looked over at Peorth. "So...as I was saying..."
Peorth sighed in aggravated annoyance. "Enough with the gold plated toilet seats!"
XXX
It took Keiichi close to two hours to calm down. Two hours of katas and combinations, of punches and kicks, of throws and pins on the blue mats Urd and created out of thin air. The shelves and boxes that more often littered the walls vanished in place of punching bags and training equipment, and it was only under Urd's assurance that his possessions were still accessible that the man didn't loose his temper all over again.
"I feel trapped, Urd." Keiichi confessed as he threw a series of punches at her. "This fucking wish has me locked with a woman who I can't stand, and now this stupid System Force of you won't even allow me to open the goddamned doors outside."
"Smashing Pumpkins said it best." Urd was holding a pair of punching mits up for him, and the punches hit the blue padding with loud, solid smacks. "Despite all my rage I'm still just a rat in a cage."
Keiichi grunted. "What the hell am I supposed to do?!" he demanded, more to himself than to Urd. Urd let him vent. "I don't give a shit what Peorth claims is in my heart. Do I want to sleep with Belldandy? Okay, yeah, maybe on some level I do, but I want to do it when she's whole. When she's healed. When she's over this goddamned bullshit and we're both in a stable enough frame of mind where that's a goal worth looking at." He threw an elbow into the mits, and listening to Urd's soft call for numbers, followed through with a left upper cut and a right hook. "But Peorth is acting like I need to rush into the relationship when Bell's not ready. I don't want that! It could hurt us both, so fuck her and fuck this goddamned wish."
"Knee," Urd murmured, bringing the mits together and lowering them from her face to her chest. Keiichi, still growling, followed her instruction and launched a sharp knee into the padding. Urd grunted.
"And now this crazy bitch is getting my team involved!" Keiichi cried. "McGuinness must be one tough son of a bitch, because the first hit didn't take him out. But I tell Peorth to stop, because fuck, after the past months with you I know what that shit can do to a guy's mind, but does she? Fuck no, she cranks that shit up to eleven and brings him to his fucking knees!" The man stepped back, and as Urd readied herself and called out a command, he launched a sharp low kick towards the mits with an inarticulate roar. The force behind the blow was enough to make Urd stumble back.
Keiichi stopped there, panting heavily, and Urd took the moment to recover and shake her hands. "I'll check in with McGuinness and the others and make sure none of them were harmed," Urd said.
The man wiped his brow with a rag. It came away dark with sweat. "And if they are?" Keiichi demanded. "If McGuinness has a fucking clot in his brain because Peorth's little stunt snipped a cluster of nerves? What then? You're not a brain surgeon, Urd."
"No, but I am a goddess," she reminded him. "And I know a bit more about human anatomy than you might know. If there's any damage done to him, I'll find it, and I'll fix it." She pursed her lips. "I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you guys. Not if it was within my power to stop. That goes for off the battlefield as well, and hold's especially true for gods or demons who try and pull shit on you in my neck of the woods. I know I don't show it often, and things have gotten a little...weird with Belldandy around now, but I still care about the team." She took the mits off and wiped her hands on her shorts. "You want to move into some pins?" she asked.
"I fucking hate getting on my back," Keiichi grumbled.
"Which means you need to practice," Urd replied. "And so do I."
"Fine," Keiichi growled.
They'd been going at it close to half an hour before either of them noticed who had come to watch them. Neither of them noticed Belldandy's appearance until probably around the point Keiichi had thrown Urd over his shoulder, given the man was pretty sure the goddess hadn't been there prior. The middle Norn stood pressed in a corner near the door, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible as she watched in open curiosity.
"You want to join us?" Keiichi asked. Urd was pinned beneath him and trying to maneuver herself into a position where she could free herself. He released her and let the woman recover. Both of them were panting solidly now, and the edge of Keiichi's anger had faded. It was still there, but more manageable now. Workable. Something he could maneuver into something productive.
"I feel I would be interrupting," Belldandy said. "I just wanted to watch."
"Nonsense," Urd breathed. "I need someone else who can wind Keiichi before I take a shot at him. I'm tired of smelling his stinky pits."
"You don't smell like flowers either," Keiichi grumbled, shooting the goddess a glare before waving Belldandy over. "Come on. We'll show you some stuff. It'll be fun."
Belldandy still looked reluctant.
"It's good stuff," Urd said. "I used it to take Lind out."
The goddess bit her lip. "But I might hurt Keiichi," she said. "I'm not sure-"
"You practice on me then," Urd interrupted. "You know me-tough as nails, gets kicked by Sleipnir and brushes it off like it was nothing. It'll be fine."
"Sleipnir?" Keiichi looked between the two sisters with a raised brow.
"Grandfather's horse," Urd said. "Eight legs of foul tempter, speed, and utter loathing. Mean bastard. Only three people can approach him without getting mauled. Grandfather, Father, and one of our uncles."
"Four," Belldandy said. "That horse adores you, Urd."
"If you call almost getting trampled to death 'affection'," Urd grumbled. "Now get over here, I don't want to think about that monster unless I want to dream about him, and I'm not ready for a mad run around Asgard again. Once was enough, thank you very much."
Keiichi raised an eyebrow, his curiosity peaked, yet the sisters let the topic drop, and sensing now wasn't the time to ask, he returned to the matter at hand. "Urd's got a point though," he said. "It never hurts to have new tools in your arsenal to defend yourself, and if you practice on Urd, then there's less of a risk of injury. Let us teach you a couple of moves, and if you still don't like it after this one session we will let it drop."
Belldandy still looked uncertain, but in the end, under the combined coaxing of both Keiichi and Urd, allowed the duo to show her some beginning techniques. By then Keiichi's anger had almost faded completely. After so many years in the service, one thing he'd found a love for was instruction and teaching. Showing Belldandy how to properly fall and grab placed him in a frame of mind far from the events of the day, and by the time all three of them called it quits Keiichi was in a significantly better mood.
"Let's call it for the night," Keiichi said, watching as Belldandy dragged Urd to the ground for the fifth time that night. The brunette goddess was sprite eyed and smiling, though it was hard to say if she realized it or not. Her cheeks were flushed in her face, and at Keiich's call she offered a hand to Urd, pulling the older woman to her feet. "What do you think?" the man asked. "Want to learn some more moves?"
"It'd give you something to keep you busy with everything that's going on." Urd sided with him. "Help clear your mind, and I need a sparring buddy who I don't need to worry about hurting too badly. Skuld's only here for a little while, and I can only get so many sessions in with her."
"You spar with Skuld?" Belldandy looked at her sister in surprise as they wiped off the mats and cleaned up the garage.
"Yep," Urd muttered a spell under her breath, and the mats vanished in place of the standard shelves and boxes Keiichi was more familiar with. "Everything I learned down here I started teaching her once I went back to Midgard. Afghanistan was an eye opener for me. After the situation that led to my meeting with Team 12, I wanted to make sure Skuld knew how to defend herself. She still hasn't mastered magic yet, so I wanted to make sure she had a fall back in case things got hairy." She smirked. "She's a natural with it. We spar and I'm the one who always ends up tapping somehow, no matter how much I practice. She doesn't like talking about it though since no one in Asgard can relate to her. But you get her on the mats with you, she turns into a completely different person. It's crazy."
"I'll have to keep that in mind," Belldandy said, then looked to Keiichi with a small, shy smile. "And yes," She admitted, "I believe I would enjoy further lessons."
Keiichi returned it with a broad, toothy one of his own. The anger was gone, passed overhead likes a summer storm, and his smile beamed to Belldandy like a warm ray of sunlight. "Wonderful." He replied. "Now let's head upstairs and see if I can look Peorth in the eye without wanting to throw her outside."
"Don't' jinx it." Urd warned.
"Now let's see if I can look the Poodle in the eye without wanting to throw her outside." Keiichi replied.
"Better." Urd said.
Belldandy, a growing smile of her own on her face, found herself in agreement. "Much better."
A/N: Peorth, will you please stop! And Skuld is being her usual, helpful self. Fun times in the Morisato household. Wonder what Bell and Peorth were talking about so calmly when Keiichi got home?
Comments of a Madwoman: It's amazing how, when looked for a more serious perspective, just how serious a situation can become. What can seem whimsical and harmless to one person could be seen as damaging and terrifying to another, and it can destroy their credibility and the relationship they are trying so hard to create.
