Chapter 12: Family Meditation

Melody wasn't surprised to see her mom waiting for her outside of the Marvel. They were supposed to be heading out, so Melody had made it a point to spend the last several hours with E'tann. And she was sure her mom wasn't thrilled about the implications.

But the thing was, she and E'tann hadn't been fooling around. She knew that was what everyone thought, but they hadn't wanted to do anything but sit together and talk and cuddle.

You would make an excellent empress one day, E'tann had thought — and she still wasn't a hundred percent sure if he had meant for her to hear that or not.

Jubilee had her arms crossed as she waited for Melody to meet her there, and then, she looked her daughter up and down and smirked. "You're in deep."

Melody blushed. "Mom, we weren't—"

"I know," Jubilee said before she could finish the thought. "And that's how I know you're in deep."

Melody shifted underneath her mother's gaze, kicking one ankle against the other. "Yeah. I know."

"Okay, as long as you know that."

Melody swallowed and nodded again, but she was trying so hard at that point not to think about what she'd caught E'tann thinking that Jubilee couldn't possibly miss it.

Are you ready for something like that? Jubilee asked.

I don't actually know, Melody admitted.

Okay, training with Wolvie for a refresher on what to do with pushy Kree it is!

Mom! I didn't say he was being pushy.

They always are. Besides, it's fun.

Mom…

Jubilee grinned delightedly and tucked Melody under her arm. "C'mon. Let's go check on your dad. I think he's having an existential crisis."

"Oh, he definitely is," Melody said, giggling now that she had something to focus on that wasn't her and E'tann.


Ariel was playing with Ael, so Krissy knew she had a few minutes to try to track down her husband, who had, understandably, wanted some time to himself. But now, she wanted to make sure he really was okay.

Even though Sying had been looking for some quiet and privacy, the Marvel was a romantic, especially in her old age, so Krissy had no problem following the not-so-subtly lit sensors on the floor until she found Sying sitting cross-legged on a mat in a hidden-away room with his eyes closed, meditating and breathing deeply.

Krissy rearranged herself to sit beside him, even slipping into relaxation herself as she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. But she kept an ear out for Sying, waiting until she heard him start to stir before she looked his way expectantly.

"Hey, gorgeous," he said with a quiet smirk.

"Right back at you," Krissy said, shifting so that they were no longer sitting apart but together, with her tail around his ankle and her head in his lap as soon as he stretched out. "The twins warned me it was a rough telepathic battle or whatever, so I'm not sure what I can do to help. But whatever it is, I'll do it."

Sying smirked and started to play with her hair between his fingers. "Honestly, I'm actually okay. More than okay."

Krissy wrinkled her nose at him. "Seems a little weird to be so 'okay' after all that, but…"

Sying held both of his hands out to the sides and then resumed combing her hair. "I'm probably not explaining it right, but…" He took a deep breath. "I think I'm finally ready to be okay. Does that make more sense?"

"Possibly, but walk me through it just to be sure."

He traced her jaw with the hand that wasn't in her hair. "I just … I've spent almost my whole life pretending to be okay. Since I was thirteen. And I got okay enough to get by, but I think…" He took a deep breath and let it out. "I can't defend myself if I don't acknowledge my own weaknesses. So I think I'm ready to do that. I think I want to do some serious work with my mom and my dad, because I think the biggest problem I have is that…" His hands stopped moving in her hair. "I like having orders, Kris. And having been enslaved twice, that messes with a person, you know? That there's a part of me that fully embraced being someone's blunt instrument?"

Krissy sat up so that they were almost nose to nose, meeting his gaze steadily. "Hey, it is a little messed up, sure—" She raised her eyebrows when Sying let out a noise from the back of his throat. "It is. But I think everyone we know is a little messed up, you know?"

"Yeah, we've always known that part," he agreed and then leaned forward to kiss her deeply. When they broke apart again, they were both smiling. "My point," he whispered, "is that I think I'm going to ask Mom if we can just, like, quarantine that part of my mind or something. Because I love being Kree—"

"You really do," Krissy laughed, though that response only seemed to make Sying's expression darker.

"Yeah, that's the problem."

"Hey, I think you're cute when you get all space alien, explorer of the cosmos — you know. All that."

Sying smiled and kissed her. "I'm not trying to, like, renounce the Kree or anything overly dramatic like that."

"Lord knows you aren't dramatic," Krissy couldn't help but tease.

"Thought that was what you loved about me," he shot right back.

"One of many things."

Sying smirked and stole a kiss, leaving his forehead resting against hers for a long time before he took a deep breath. "The point is," he said slowly, "I've kind of always secretly thought I was superior. Kree pride and all that. And I think I kind of just… had to maintain that image, so I slapped some Scotch tape on the parts of me that were broken and said I was fine, but I can't keep doing that forever, you know?"

Krissy nodded slowly and tightened her grip on his ankle with her tail. "And you know I'll always be here to catch you if you need it, right?"

Sying nodded and took her chin in his hand to pull her into a kiss. "Love you too," he whispered and kissed her again.


Noh paused outside of the room where he knew he would find Dak- no, Akihiro. The man hadn't said a word to anyone since he had killed the Supremor — not even to try to antagonize them as they loaded up to go home — because, of course, Billy hadn't given Akihiro a return-trip spell, likely anticipating this very thing.

Noh sighed and drummed his fingers against his arm. He loved Billy, but it could be hard, sometimes, to be friends with an omniscient god who felt the need to meddle in all his friends' affairs.

He still wasn't sure approaching Akihiro was the right call. They always clashed, and Noh doubted that his presence would do anything to uplift Akihiro in the mood he was in. But that was itself telling, wasn't it? Had any of the other ferals been doing what Akihiro was doing, Noh knew he would have been sitting with them, trying to offer his support where he could. He had seen multiple members of his adopted family in the aftermath of a feral break and knew how it could weigh on them.

And then, again, he thought of Billy and the fact that he hadn't sent Akihiro home when he was done.

Noh bit his lip. Billy, you've got to learn better ways to get your message across, he thought before he steeled himself, raised his fist, and knocked on the door, which opened to admit him when the Marvel decided that Akihiro's lack of an answer wasn't good enough.

Noh paused, his hand still raised, when he saw Akihiro turn to glare toward the opened door. "My ship seems to think we need to talk," he said — which was absolutely the wrong thing to say, because it put the blame on the Marvel. But it was what he said all the same.

And as Noh could have guessed, Akihiro closed his eyes and turned away from Noh. He wasn't sure what exactly had to be said or done to just … forget all of this, but he was ready to do whatever it took. There was little that Noh could do that was more disturbing than to simply be so awkward when Akihiro knew that wasn't generally the case with him. And this … just … was not helpful. "I don't want your pity chat. Or whatever this is. You can go back to pretending to do whatever it was to keep yourself busy."

Noh sighed but stepped into the room. "I don't mean to offer pity but an apology," he said. "I have continued to see you as the Dark Avenger you were when we met, and in the intervening decades, you have more than changed, while I have only entrenched myself in my pride and refused to see it."

"What are you talking about?"

Noh readjusted the way he was standing in the doorway to lean against the wall. "I would like to start again, with regards to our … relationship, as it stands," he explained.

Akihiro watched him for a moment with an appraising frown. "Why?"

"Because I was wrong in my assessment of you. You are no hero, but you are no villain, either. And I see no point in continuing on as antagonists."

Akihiro's expression shifted to one that looked far more bored and worn. "I'm not reporting back on you. And no one cares anyhow."

"This is not about appearances," Noh said. He paused and then sat down beside him. As frustrating as it was to try to swallow his pride, he also recognized the look on Akihiro's face as one he'd seen on James's and tried to keep that in mind. "Thank you," he said, "for helping my family today."

"I didn't really have much of a choice, did I?"

"No, but I appreciate it all the same," Noh said. He took a deep breath and let it out. "You are under no obligation to change your own behavior. I'm asking nothing of you except that you allow me to stop treating you as an enemy."

"That was always your call, Noh."

"Yes, I know." Noh looked up and gave Akihiro a tight smile. "And I think you know why that was difficult for me, too."

"Nope." He shifted so that he slipped out of the lotus pose he'd been in and loosely wrapped his arms around his knees.

"Right. Well." Noh cleared his throat awkwardly. He didn't want to admit aloud that the biggest problem had been Daken's constant flirting when he had, in fact, been highly attracted to him. And he had pushed away from Daken with everything he had because of it. But he was sure Daken had been able to smell it. For Plex's sake, Akihiro could probably smell it now; the attraction had faded over time but had never fully disappeared. "I should like to be acquaintances, rather than enemies. That's what I came to say."

"You should, but you don't. I'm used to it, don't strain yourself."

"Oh, for Plex's sake." Noh pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's a turn of phrase."

"And an accurate assessment all the same," Akihiro pointed out.

Noh shook his head. "Then let me rephrase. We are no longer enemies, and I would like very much to become acquaintances again, at the very least. And I will endeavor not to allow my personal failings to inform so much of our relationship again."

Akihiro seemed to curl in on himself a little tighter. "You'll probably be much happier not putting in the effort," he said. "And I won't wait for the embossed announcement explaining what the hell you're thinking."

Noh opened his mouth, but the twins broke into his thoughts before he could say anything else:

Dad, the people who raised him forced him into watching the people he got close to die. He's not at all used to this. Cut him some slack, huh?

Noh frowned and sighed, getting to his feet. "Well," he said. "I suppose that's decided, then. You will continue to be maddeningly attractive, and I will do my utmost to learn how to pursue a more positive relationship in spite of that, yes?" He nodded to himself.

Akihiro stared at him in disbelief for a long moment. "You've actually cracked."

"Oh, don't pretend you didn't know that was in large part my frustration with your continued flirting beyond the boundaries of my marriage."

"I haven't flirted with you in quite some time," Akihiro said. "Teased, sure, but that's not the same." He scrubbed a hand over his face. "God, you have awful taste."

Noh chuckled despite himself. "That may be true," he agreed. He smiled and sat down again. "Still, I apologize. You're right; it's been some time. And it was my own pride that precluded me from admitting the issue."

"You'll never get over that," Akihiro said.

Noh laughed again. "Yes, I know — but I am trying."

"And I'm not used to trying outside of certain circumstances," Akihiro admitted after a few moments had passed.

"Then we are both out of our comfort zones." Noh stared at his hands for a minute longer.

"I don't suppose you have the means to fix my phone, do you?" Akihiro said when it was clear Noh was still trying and grasping for a shift in subject. "Somehow, I've managed to break it."

Noh let out a sound that was almost a laugh but was more like relief to have something else to do. He held his hand out. "I can not only fix it but upgrade it," he promised.

"We'll see how far," Akihiro said before he reached in his pocket to hand over a very battered phone … that James had obviously played with at some point.

Noh smiled and got to his feet with the phone. "I'll be back," he promised — though he wasn't even all the way to the end of the hallway when he glanced down at the phone and, upon looking at it, broke into a smile, seeing the lock screen: a picture of all of his siblings, from the last holiday.

Akihiro had been changing for some time, and Noh found he was glad to see it.


A/N: Thanks for sticking it out with us! Sorry it's been slow-going, but we promise we have plenty of story to tell. Watch canucklehead cowgirl's profile for the next volume: "Throw a Stark in the Works"