Chapter Eighty One
...
"Victor, would you get the door, please?" Honey called a second before the doorbell rang.
"You'll look after Elijah and Elliot?" Victor asked Craig and Grant.
"Sure thing, Mr. Harland," Grant said with a nod, picking up Elliot's favourite elephant toy and making trumpeting sounds.
Victor grinned at the smitten expression on Craig's face and headed to the front door. "Hey, come on in. Oh, Connor. Uh, hi."
Connor had planned on being smooth and suave, but that went right out the window when Victor himself opened the door, baby spit on his shoulder, and wearing a pair of shorts that were covered in pineapples wearing sunglasses.
"Papa? Oh," Ry murmured, recognising the man from his father's description easily.
The way they were staring at each other like lovestruck idiots was another indicator, of course. Rolling his eyes, Ry held the giant bowl of potato salad and waited for them to get their act together.
"Honey says you're letting all the cold air out," Craig said, coming into the foyer with Elliot in his arms. He stopped and grinned at Victor and Connor's expressions, then saw Connor's son behind him. "Hey, come on in. Uh, Ryuu, right?" he said.
"Yeah. Thanks," Ry said, nudging past his father to get inside where the air conditioning was blissfully turned on the Arctic setting. "Coming, Papa?" he asked over his shoulder.
Realising that he'd been standing in the doorway for far too long, Connor cleared his throat and nodded. "Yeah, I'm coming," he said, stepping inside and closing the door behind him.
Victor made a soft sound that could have been a strangled gasp for air, and Craig bit back the urge to laugh. In his arms, Elliot saw the newcomer, decided that he wanted the silver-haired man's attention, and promptly launched himself out of Craig's arms. Connor's eyes widened and he practically dove across the foyer to catch the falling infant.
"Holy shit," Craig said, eyes wide. He'd planned on catching Elliot with another set of hands, but Connor was seriously fucking fast.
Victor felt like his heart had stopped. He forced his limbs to move to Connor and Elliot, taking his son from Connor and checking that he was all right. "You scared me, Elliot. Don't do that to me again. Thank you, Connor. Thank you so much," he said to Connor gratefully.
Stunned by those summer-blue ocean-bright eyes, Connor had to take a second to compose himself. "No problem. Is he okay?"
"Yes, thanks to you," Victor said, stroking Elliot's head and trying to ease his pounding heart.
Craig snickered into his fist, then grinned at Ry. "C'mon, I'll show you where the kitchen is so you can put that down. I think they'll be here a while," he added.
Ry couldn't help but agree and followed Craig through the house to the kitchen, only to find two teenagers making out eagerly, the tall blonde one pressed up against the pantry door.
"Hey, cut it out. You're a full three minutes early anyway," Craig said teasingly.
"We re-worked the schedule," Zach replied, opening his eyes reluctantly. "Oh. Eth, we've got company," he said, tugging at his boyfriend's shirt.
Ethan inhaled shakily, adjusted his glasses as he took a moment to control himself, and then turned around to greet their guest. "Hi. I'm Ethan, this is my boyfriend, Zach."
Zach still couldn't help but glow when Ethan introduced him as his boyfriend. He grinned and waved. "Hey."
Ry nodded and set the potato salad down. "I'm Ry. Nice to meet you," he said.
"You too," Ethan said with a broad smile.
"Dude, you brought potato salad? Aw, yes! I knew we were missing something. Thanks, man," Zach said, grinning again. He let out a laugh when he saw the kitchen lights turn on. "Heads up, Heids is coming."
Craig grinned back at him. "I thought you were a mermaid, lil sis," he said, signing to the young blonde girl who arrived, wrapped in a bright blue towel.
She laughed, the sound a little odd, but signed back quickly with a bright grin. Overhead, the kitchen light glowed that bit brighter.
"A shark? Well, that works too. Talk to Wendy, we could totally recreate Sharknado!"
The blonde girl rolled her eyes and shook her head. Then she noticed Ry and seemed to shrink in on herself, the kitchen light turning off abruptly.
"This is Ry; he's a friend. Remember how I told you about those clawed women at the Hive?" Craig prompted Heidi, who nodded. "Ry and his dad, Connor, helped us," he said, then added a quick signed explanation that he thought Victor and Connor liked each other.
Heidi giggled and the light turned on again. Ry was grateful that the new medication didn't make him queasy, as the on and off thing with the lights probably would've made him puke.
"You want to go round everyone up, lil sis? We've got hungry shark stomachs to fill," Craig said with a grin.
Heidi grinned and chomped her teeth, then left to gather up the adults so they could finally eat.
"I'll introduce you to everyone, if you want? There's a tonne of people and names, so don't worry if you forget them. Eth, you'll have to make us name tags for the next gathering," Craig called over his shoulder.
He led Ry back through the house to the lounge room where it seemed like the entire neighbourhood was seated. Ry swallowed past the lump in his throat, nervous at meeting so many people. What if they didn't like him? What if they mis-gendered him? Maybe he should go back to the foyer and wait for his father to finish flirting instead?
"Hey, it's all good. Just breathe, yeah? If you don't want me to make a big deal out of it, I won't. No one's here to give you a hard time, 'kay? They're all freeloaders who've come for the air conditioner, pool, and the food. I'm totally including myself in that, dude," Craig added with a broad grin.
Weirdly enough, that made Ry feel better. "Uh. Just a quick intro?"
"Sure thing, my man," Craig said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Everyone, this is my friend Ry. He brought the potato salad," he added.
"Oh, good choice. I wasn't sure if you'd go with the potato salad or the chicken," Honey said, smiling over at him.
Relieved that he recognised someone in the large crowd, Ry let out the breath he'd been holding. A few people waved or greeted him, but it wasn't an onslaught of people, and Ry felt something loosen in his chest. He noticed the blonde girl he'd met before signing to a small group of people, a wide grin on her face before she moved to another group.
He looked around the room, trying to find a spare seat, and was pleasantly surprised to see people intermingling. The last time he'd gone to a work picnic with his father, the families had kept to their own groups, glaring at anyone who tried to approach or join in the conversation. Here, it felt far more welcoming. Besides, if he didn't want to talk, he could just watch the movie that was playing on the TV with subtitles on the screen.
"C'mon, there's a seat over here. I'll introduce you to my boyfriend and girlfriend," Craig said, grinning.
He led Ry over to where a beanbag was currently seating two entwined people, so close that they almost looked like one person. Ry was surprised at Craig's easy admission of his relationship with two people and the lack of response from the adults gathered. One of his schoolmates had been disowned by her family just because she was a lesbian; he could only imagine their response if she'd been in a polyamorous relationship.
"Grant, Jewel, this is Ry. Ry, Grant and Jewel," Craig introduced, smiling as the blonde and brunette stopped making out to greet Ry.
Jewel stood up, straightened her skirt, and held out a gloved hand to shake. Ry shook it cautiously; he'd left his own gloves at home.
"Don't worry, they're hella insulated. Nothing's getting in or out without my say so," Jewel said, winking.
"Insulated gloves are too hot for summer," a blonde teenager called from the lounge where she was curled up with a brunette, both of them watching Tangled.
"Don't have much of a choice, do I, Wendy?" Jewel said, rolling her eyes.
Ry frowned at her response; she seemed normal. As Jewel and Wendy's discussion continued, the brunette girl walked over to her friend, and Ry saw that she definitely wasn't normal as her skin took on a shining quality.
"You might know Jewel as Gemstone," Craig said, sounding so very proud of his girlfriend.
Ry actually did know of Gemstone. "She was protesting the UN's treatment of supers."
"Hey, yeah. Nice. So I'm guessing you'll want to meet Babs too?"
"Babs?" Ry said with a frown, not recognising the name.
"Ah, my bad. Babel," Craig said.
"Babel's here?" Ry asked, his voice squeaking.
"Yep. Well, she would be down here if Heids managed to get her out of the pool," Craig added with a grin. "Hey, Mr. Bowie; Ry recognised your mum's name," he said, grinning at Jared.
"We're not in school, Craig. You can just call me Jared," he replied, the argument sounding well worn.
"Nah, this is more fun. So how'd you know about Babs?" Craig asked Ry.
"Uh. She stopped the government from kicking trans soldiers out of the Defence Forces," he said. "I actually wrote to her to thank her," Ry admitted.
"I hope you received a reply? I do try to answer every letter and email I receive," Babs said, frowning slightly beneath her towel.
Ry swallowed at the sight of one of his idols and nodded. "Yeah, I did. Uh, thank you again. I really appreciate it."
"It was my absolute pleasure, dear boy. Not only did I stop a large group of people from being persecuted, I also got to rub it in Ambassador Perez's face for a straight week. You take the highs where and when you can," she said, giving him a grin and wink.
Ry grinned back at her.
"Ah, there you are, son. Everything good?" Connor asked, resting a hand on Ry's shoulder and rubbing gently with his thumb.
"Yeah, Papa. Everything's good. Craig's introduced me to his girlfriend and boyfriend, and this is Babel," he said, trying to stress the importance of just who she was and what she'd done.
Connor's eyebrows rose at the name; Ry had talked about Babel non-stop for weeks. "The Babel? Wow. It's such a pleasure to meet you, Babel. Thank you so much for all you've done, and may I say that your TV interviews don't convey how lovely you are in person?" he said charmingly, kissing her hand.
Babel laughed, warm and bright. "Oh, my. If only I was twenty years younger," she said, laughing. "It's my absolute pleasure to meet both you and your son, Mr..."
"Kemp, but you can call me Connor."
She laughed again. "Thank you, Connor. Now, I was rushed downstairs by a very hungry shark, and I've yet to see the food. Heidi, be a dear and get these silly adults into line, will you?" Babs said, winking.
Heidi grinned and clapped her hands loudly to draw everyone's attention. She signed 'eat' several times to make sure they really got the message.
"Well, we've all been told. Come, daughter of mine, let us see what foods we can find," Richard said solemnly, then picked Heidi up, grinning as she giggled over his shoulder.
"Don't you drop her, Richard," Anita called after him sternly.
"Never, Annie."
"I'll give you a quick tour of the house, if you like? Don't worry, there'll be plenty of food left by the time we're done. The potato salad will be the first bowl emptied," Honey added with a smile.
"Uh. Sure," Connor said, if only because he needed the bathroom.
"Will the potato salad really be gone first?" Ry asked curiously.
Honey nodded. "Yep. Pigs in a blanket will be next, but that's because Craig will take the plate. Next door down for the bathroom, Tilda," she called down the corridor as they entered the foyer.
"Thank you!" Tilda called over her shoulder, going to the next door.
"There's another bathroom across from it. Go on, we'll wait," Honey added to Connor.
Nodding his thanks, he hurried down the corridor to the bathroom, which he swore was bigger than his new double-size bedroom. Closing the door and doing his business, Connor couldn't help but relive his conversation with Victor.
They'd hardly noticed when Craig and Ry had left, Victor still concentrating on Elliot and Connor concentrating on Victor.
"I'm sorry," Victor said suddenly, surprising Connor.
"What for?"
"Oh, uh, at the store. I just... Something reminded me of my wife. Ex-wife," Victor corrected quickly. "It was a recent thing and I'm still getting over it. Hell, you probably saw her on the news," he added with a short and humourless laugh.
The laugh had been nothing like the joyous and bright laugh he'd made at the grocery store, and Connor had to clench his hands so he wouldn't reach out and pull Victor in for a hug. He didn't want to make presumptions, and besides, some people didn't like to be touched. He sure as fuck didn't want to do something that would make Victor repulsed by him. Connor hoped for the opposite, in fact.
Connor shook his head. "I don't tend to watch the news. I get my headlines through Twitter. Independent sources, for the most part, so sometimes I miss the local gossip," he added with a quick grin.
"Oh. That's... Surprising?" Victor said, frowning as though it wasn't quite the word he had been looking for.
"I'll take that as a compliment," Connor said teasingly.
Victor laughed warmly this time and in his arms, Elliot babbled happily at the noise. Connor inhaled and exhaled for four seconds, hoping the small gesture would calm his response. He was being ridiculous over the man's laugh, for fuck's sakes.
"Well, if you ever want to talk, I've been told I'm a good listener," Connor offered. "And who is this little one? I haven't been introduced yet," he added, hoping to smooth over any bad memories he might've brought up with Victor.
God knew, he had enough experience with those himself.
Victor smiled, and turned Elliot around in his arms to face Connor, making sure to hold him tight as he squirmed again. "This is Elliot. His brother, Elijah, is watching Tangled. He's utterly fascinated by Rapunzel's glowing hair."
Connor had no idea what that meant, but simply nodded. He couldn't blame the kid for being fascinated by someone's hair, glancing at Victor's short hair and wondering if it was as soft as it looked.
God, he needed to stop this. The poor guy had just gone through a messy divorce by the sounds of it, and he probably didn't want people staring at his hair.
"Uh, so... it's a pool party as well as a pot luck?" Connor asked, nodding to Victor's pineapple shorts and looking up quickly when he saw the line of Victor's cock against the damp shorts.
He probably didn't want people staring at his cock either. Fuck.
Thankfully, Victor hadn't noticed, but he had looked at Connor curiously, like he was trying to read his thoughts. Which could've been so very bad or so very good, depending what his response would be to Connor's mental image of Victor naked and splayed under him.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Stop it, Kemp.
"Yeah. Mother said it's too hot to leave the pool sitting there unused. Last I saw, she was racing Babs. I've got spare shorts if you want to swim?" Victor added, glancing down. "They might not fit well."
"I'm sure anything you have will fit just fine," Connor said, his voice dropping to a lustful purr.
Victor had looked at him with wide blue eyes, and when Connor just couldn't help himself and licked his lips, Victor's gaze had dropped to his mouth like a magnet. Connor wondered if Victor's mouth tasted as sweet as it looked.
There was a knock at the door, and Elliot squealed excitedly and waved his arms, obviously wanting attention from whoever had arrived. Connor had cursed his luck and tried to control himself rather than being an idiot and fighting the newcomer for interrupting them.
"Hey, Victor. Hey, Elliot. Hey, strange man in Edith's house."
"Adam, this is Connor. He's just moved to town, he's working for Honey," Victor introduced. "Connor, this is Adam, Craig's best friend."
Adam grinned at the introduction and shook Connor's hand. "Hey, Connor. You're the one with the kid our age, yeah?"
Thinking of Ry had made Connor realise he should probably check on his son. He'd done that, Honey had offered the tour, and here he was, thinking about Victor while he was in the bathroom. That even sounded creepy in his head.
Flushing the toilet and washing his hands, Connor tried not to let his thoughts drift back to Victor or Victor's hair or Victor's grateful and breathless 'thank you' or Victor's cock in those ridiculous pineapple board shorts.
Leaving the bathroom, Connor forced himself to concentrate on Honey's tour. He certainly didn't hope that Victor would be in the next room, or the next, or the next.
Ry took Connor's hand at the sight of a full bookcase of Swarovski ornaments, each one more delicate and fragile and expensive than the last. "I can never come in this room," Ry muttered to Connor.
"You and me both, son."
"Oh, I think we'd better get back to the food. Edith will want to know everything about you, just so you know," Honey warned as she led them through the house and to the kitchen.
"Victor said something similar," Connor said with a grin.
Honey didn't get a chance to reply, as they entered the kitchen and Edith was by Connor's side in a split second.
"Hello, dear. I'm Edith. Would you like something to eat? Why don't you grab a plate and come sit by me?" she offered, patting his forearm.
Connor saw that Ry had already escaped and left him to his fate. Honey stood by, looking like she was about to start laughing, and Connor sighed before turning his attention to Edith. "I'd love to, Edith. Thank you for allowing me and my son into your lovely home."
Edith lit up at the compliment. "Oh, you're both welcome any time, dear."
Connor filled a plate under Edith's watchful eye - the potato salad was almost empty - and followed her back to the dining room that held the largest table he'd ever seen. It looked like it had been carved from a giant tree and the room had been built around the monstrosity. Edith made Connor sit next to Victor, so he supposed the evening ahead wasn't going to be as bad as he expected.
"Now, where are you from? Are you married? Do you have a partner? Or partners? What sort of work do you do? Honey's mentioned something, but as per usual, not enough to satisfy an old woman's need for knowledge. How old's your son? Where's his mother?"
Connor inhaled sharply at the barrage of questions, wondering if Edith had ever been trained in interrogation techniques. Reminding himself that he was safe, that he was no longer in that life, Connor had to force himself to unclench his hands and focused on his breathing.
"Mother, you're scaring Connor. Tone it down, would you?" Victor said, seeing Connor's white knuckled fists.
"Sorry, dear. I'm just so excited, I can't help myself. Take your time, dear," Edith said. She looked as though she was going to pat his arm, but saw how tense he was and refrained.
Connor swallowed forcibly and picked up his knife and fork. "Ryuu and I moved here from Mississippi. I've never been married; I don't have a partner or partners. I have an MBA and will be working in Honey's pharmaceutical company to ensure best practice and safety regulations are met. Ry's seventeen; as far as we know, his mother's in Japan, as she has been for the last seventeen years." He ate his food calmly, though it took a moment to swallow past the lump in his throat.
A chatter of Japanese came from the end of the table, and Connor looked over to see Ry speaking with Babel and Jared, grinning broadly for what felt like the first time in years. He felt relieved that his son was so easily accepted and finding it so easy to talk to others. Ry could be unbearably shy, even before his transition, and it had been weeks before Ry had talked in school. Connor had even been asked by Ry's teacher whether he was mute.
Craig shifted to Ms. Stretch, reaching halfway down the monstrous table to grab the salt and pepper. Connor blinked in surprise at the easy display of superpowers, and he noticed that a few people were reprimanding Craig and looking over warily.
"Can you pass the pepper back when you're done?" Connor asked, a sigh of relief coming almost unanimously from the concerned adults and teens.
Ry stopped talking when Craig shifted, his eyes wide. Mississippi wasn't quite Montana with their anti-super views, but it definitely wasn't Maxville either. Unless they were active supers, people just didn't power up, especially not in front of strangers at a pot luck. His father's easy acceptance made the air almost palatable with relief, and Ry realised why he hadn't said or done anything at the display of powers. Licking his dry lips, Ry returned to his conversation with Jared and Babs.
"Subtle, dude," Adam said, rolling his eyes at his friend.
Craig just grinned and stretched to place the pepper in front of Connor.
...
Layla didn't know whether to laugh or groan at Craig's display. Beside her, Warren was muttering under his breath. She took his hand so he wouldn't accidentally power up too.
"It wasn't an accident," Donny said, sitting on Layla's other side with Wendy.
"He did it on purpose?" Warren asked, his voice practically a growl of disbelief.
"Yeah. He knew he'd be safe with you two and the others if Connor or Ry tried anything. Besides, it's an easy test to see what their response to supers would be."
"Unfortunately, I can see the sense in it," Wendy said, sipping at her drink. "You wouldn't let anyone hurt Craig, would you?" she added when neither Warren nor Layla seemed appeased.
"Of course not."
"Exactly, and he knows that. Hell, Grant and Jewel would probably kill them before you if they did try anything," Wendy said, looking between them as though trying to work out who would get there first.
Honey laughed as she sat down. "I suppose it's lucky that I've just bought a paddock so you have a place to bury the bodies, right?"
"How many paddocks are you buying, Honey? Seriously?" Donny asked as he caught her answer.
She shrugged. "They'll be needed. Oh, here's Mum. Someone needs to catch her, this isn't going to be good," Honey said, looking around for someone suitable. Then she relaxed, knowing that her mother would be all right without her interference.
Edith waved Frieda over so she could introduce her to Connor. She wondered what would happen if she introduced the man as her future son-in-law. Neither Connor nor Victor were exactly subtle in their heated glances when they thought no one was looking. If Edith wasn't so worried about Victor's mental health after everything that horrid bitch had done to her son, she might've locked them in a room together already.
Babs excused herself to refill her plate. She was hungry after racing Edith and Hyacinth, her muscles aching after going so long without swimming. She'd watched them race each other, planning on sitting out, but then Heidi had challenged her. Babs lost by a small stretch, much to the bright-eyed happiness of the young girl, and she couldn't bring herself to regret the final race, despite her hunger and aching limbs.
"Frieda, come meet Connor. He's just moved to town with his son, Ryuu," Edith said with a smile. "He's going to work for Honey at her pharmaceutical company."
Frieda nodded, bracing herself as she always did when meeting new people. Sometimes there were things hidden in the most innocent-looking people that made her want to scream. Other times, there were things in fierce-looking people that made her want to protect them from the world. She wondered which response Connor would provoke from her.
"Connor, this is one of my dearest friends, Frieda," Edith introduced with a warm smile.
Frieda met his gaze head-on and was immediately swallowed by darkness, by screams, by bullets and bombs, the damp scent of dirt surrounding her, by pain in her body, and a drip-drip-drip that she knew instinctively was her own blood.
Babs' eyes widened when Frieda cried out, the sound a pure note of complete and utter fear. Ignoring her aching body, she darted forward to catch Frieda as her legs gave out beneath her. Breathing heavily at the exertion, she felt relief in her chest as she looked down at Frieda, safe and unharmed. Unless you counted potato salad as an attack, Babs mused.
"Are you all right, dear?" Babs asked, helping her to stand and letting Frieda hold onto her for support, her hands and legs trembling.
"Are you okay?" Connor asked, eyes wide with concern.
"I... I think it's the heat getting to me," Frieda lied. "I just need to sit down. Excuse me," she murmured, not meeting anyone's gaze as she left the dining room and headed to the lounge room to sit and compose herself.
Babs looked from the door her friend had just left through to the silver-haired man. Seeing the tattoos on his arms, Babs recognised the language, the words, and the symbols. All of it screamed military and war. She could see that a significant number of the tattoos covered his scars, though others might not have known that without her power.
Super Jesus, just what had Connor been through? It was no wonder that Frieda had been terrified, Babs thought. She looked over to Donny, who was pale and shivering at the images that Frieda had caught.
"Donny? Donny, look at me," Wendy said urgently, shocked at the pallor of his skin.
"What just happened?" Ry asked, looking between Donny, his father, and Babs.
"Uh, we... we'll be right back," Wendy said after Donny squeezed her hand in a certain sequence that signified he needed to get out right then and there.
Following after her friend, Babs sat beside Frieda when she saw her crying on the lounge. She didn't say anything, even though she could understand the distraught and terrified emotion beneath the tears. Seeing a tissue box nearby, Babs offered it to Frieda. She took a few, blowing her nose noisily.
"I'm sorry, dear. I don't... I'm fine," Frieda said, patting her hand.
"You know the weird thing about understanding every language?" Babs asked in a conversational tone. She continued when Frieda frowned in confusion at her question, "You can tell when someone's lying. Come here, dear. I don't know what you saw, but... I'm sorry you saw it. You're here and you're safe now," she added, curling an arm around Frieda's shoulders and letting the other woman cry against her chest.
In one of the guest rooms, as far away from the dining room as they could get without leaving the house itself, Donny screamed into a pillow. Wendy stroked his hair and slowly calmed him down, her words and thoughts washing over him like a salve, blocking out the rest of the world. After a long few minutes, her thoughts were all that remained, and Donny hugged her as tight as he possibly could without hurting either of them.
Connor wondered what on earth had just happened and looked at a few people for an explanation, though they all seemed preoccupied with their friends and family.
"Donny's a mind reader. Frieda's... lucky," a redheaded girl said from halfway down the table, an excessive amount of bracelets and bangles clinking around her wrist as she reached for her drink. "It's not your fault," she added firmly, and Connor wondered what sort of emotion was showing on his face to have her respond with such conviction.
'Lucky' was the type of term that powered people used when wars were being waged and people were conscripted and dragged away in the middle of the night rather than recruited. Just a lucky guess, being good at something, beginner's luck, it all spoke of people who were terrified that if the truth were known, they'd never see daylight or their loved ones again.
Connor knew both of those feelings far too well, and he had no doubt that Frieda had just experienced them as well. His stomach churned at the realisation. The redheaded girl was wrong: this was definitely his fault.
"Stay, Connor. They'll be fine," Honey promised. "Layla, I'd love an apple, if you wouldn't mind?"
Connor and Ry both stared as the table changed in front of the redheaded girl to grow into a large tree, branches spread over their heads and blocking the light for a moment. Several apples dropped into her waiting hands and Layla passed one to Honey, throwing another two across the table to Craig and Grant with a knowing smile. Beside them, Terry was talking with Adam about a new console and the latest game release, too caught up in their conversation to even notice the shift in light.
"Fanks, Lay," Craig said through his mouthful.
"Swallow first," Robin said, wrinkling their nose.
Zach snickered. "That's what she said," he said, getting a high-five from Craig and an eye roll from Ethan.
Ry laughed again, bright and incredulous. Even with Edith's interrogation, Connor couldn't help but love this group of people for his son's laugh alone.
...
End of the eighty-first chapter.
