"Rose. I can explain. This isn't what it looks like." He said while the other two hims were looking back and forth between us.
"Really? Because it looks like you are Spirited." I asked raising an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest, silently challenging him. The one to his right mimicked my position, Cheeky Comrade.
"Okay, well, it's exactly what it looks like. But it's not what you think." He held his hands out defensively. The one on his left also began to justify himself, but I held up my hand – stopping him, Cherubic Comrade.
"I think that you've infiltrated the Guardians to keep a very special Project safe and away from those who want to do her harm." I said after filtering through his mind. "I also think that you were put up to the task by one of the Projects that you told me escaped, probably Project Z."
"Umm…okay, then…it is exactly what you think." He eyed me cautiously. "Are you mad?"
"Not in the slightest, Comrade. I'm actually kind of relieved."
"You are? Why?"
"It means that I'm not crazy." All three of them eyed me suspiciously.
"Why would you have thought you were crazy?" His eyebrows furrowed together. Cheeky Comrade looked bored and Cherubic Comrade looked sympathetic.
"The Buzz." I simply stated.
"What Buzz?"
"The Buzz when I touch you. Well, you and any other Spirited." I answered, the two Comrades shared a knowing look and looked pointedly at Dimitri. Neither of them had said a word yet, and I would guess that Cheeky Comrade would be the first to add some sarcastic comment.
"I told you this girl would figure it out." Cheeky Comrade told Dimitri while examining his fingernails, looking unperturbed and relaxed. Cherubic Comrade looked a little annoyed at Cheeky Comrade's statement and a little uncomfortable with the entire situation.
"And I told you that I had more time. She shouldn't have been able to control my abilities like that. She showed no signs of potentikinesis. I would have known." Dimitri argued with himself. It appears that they have had these kinds of sessions before.
"Don't get upset with him, it isn't his fault, nor is it yours. She is extraordinary, isn't she?" Cherubic Comrade looked at me with adoration. I gave him a dazzling smile and he blushed. "Perfection."
Dimitri pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration at the two alter-egos.
"Could you two please leave?"
"We're not going anywhere." They both replied. Dimitri groaned.
"Here, let me try something." I concentrated and split myself into my alter-egos: Rosemarie and Rosie – good and evil. They both looked at each other and then at me. I gave them a pointed look and glanced at the two Dimitris. They looked back at each other and then took in the multiple Dimitris in front of us.
Rosie smirked at Cherubic Comrade, placed a hand on her hip, pointed her index finger at him and beckoned him forward with said finger. Cherubic Comrade gave a loud gulp but followed her wordlessly. I raised an eyebrow in Dimitri's direction, but he was watching Rosie and Cherubic Comrade with a hint of jealousy.
Rosemarie gave her best glare to Cheeky Comrade as he silently appraised her, letting his gaze run all over her body.
"Don't even think about it, mister." Her glare faltered as he took a step toward her. She started backing away, shaking her head. With each step that she took back, he took two forward. Soon she was running from him but didn't get very far before he picked her up and went in search of a quiet corner.
"Yeah, umm…sorry about them. They can be a handful sometimes." Dimitri nervously rubbed the back of his neck not making eye contact, as I laughed at the other us's. "So, how did you control my power? Or do you have potentikinesis? How did I not notice?"
"Not that I know of, but when I was using thiriokinesis, I found your power and made you use it." I told him. "You already possessed the ability to use it, I just made you. I didn't manipulate the power, I just manipulated you."
Dimitri stared at the floor in quiet contemplation as he thought through the information I provided him.
"I hope Cheeky Comrade doesn't corrupt Rosemarie." I stated absentmindedly, watching Rosemarie looking very uncomfortable with Cheeky Comrade's blatant flirting. "Who knew you could be such a player, Comrade. I also hope for your sake, that Rosie doesn't break Cherubic Comrade." I glanced back at where Rosie was using her natural charms in a provocative manner. Cherubic Comrade was in a world of novelty and I don't think he was going to come out of this encounter with very clean thoughts.
Dimitri chuckled.
"So, you name your alter-egos, too?" I nodded. "Dimka went with…Rosie, was it? And Big D took, quite literally, Rosemarie, he's a cocky SOB, but he shouldn't do too much damage. As for Rosie and Dimka…I don't think she can do that much damage, can she?"
"If you think that, Dimitri, you've never met Rosie. She's very gifted in her own sense, if you know what I mean." I said winking at him. When he paled and turned concerned to the pair, I laughed. "What's wrong, Comrade? Never had a girl hit on your alter-ego before?"
"Not one like you." He answered, then hastily questioned, "Do you think you could control my powers again, but without using me?" He asked, diverting the conversation.
"I can try? How does potentikinesis work? What does it feel like?" I straightened myself and focused on his chest as if I could see his abilities just below the surface.
"It's pretty much the same thing you did just now, except instead of making me use the power, you use it yourself. It'll feel a little different because it's a borrowed power, so it won't be as strong, but someone with your power should be able to use it almost as well as the Spirited you're loaning it from." I nodded along.
I decided to stick with the duplication since I already knew what that felt like. Dimitri had been using it longer than I had so his should've been more powerful than mine. The power I feel when I use his ability should feel more powerful than when I use my own ability. I closed my eyes and searched for Dimitri's presence.
He wasn't hard to find, easy, in fact. It was like I was drawn to him. I noticed Dimitri's energy was different from any of the other times I felt him, this time there was more power.
"Did you do something just now? I can feel you easier and you feel more powerful."
"I'm no longer masking my abilities from you, so it should be easier for you to find my specific energy, no matter where I am."
That being said, I focused more on his energy. Some parts of it were familiar to me, that was just his life force I'd grown accustomed to over the past two years. The other parts were foreign. I assumed most of the foreign energy were his abilities, at least the ones I didn't know about. I sifted through the familiar energy until I found an energy that was akin to my own.
I opened my eyes and found Dimitri studying me intently.
"What would you like me to do? I've found the power, but I don't know which one it is. It's familiar to me, but we have a few abilities that we share."
"Bring it to the surface, but don't do anything with it until I can tell you which one it is." He instructed me and I complied. "That's thiriokinesis." I guess I wasn't going to be using duplication, it shouldn't matter either way. His power was stronger than my own, he's had more practice.
I looked around at the other two couples. Rosie was seated in Dimka's lap, and he looked entranced by her. Rosemarie was backed into a wall where Big D's palms were place on either side of her head. I rolled my eyes at him and turned back to Dimitri, he was still studying me, but I chose to ignore him.
I took a deep breath and grabbed hold of his power, again. I focused the power on Big D right as his head was starting to bend further toward Rosemarie, she looked shocked at what was about to happen.
'There is no way that you, Rosemarie, are kissing Dimitri before I get the chance.'
I took the power out of Dimitri and channeled it through myself. His power was much more powerful than my own and it caused Big D to stumble back a couple steps, instead of my intended pulling away. He looked around stunned. He looked up at Rosemarie, but she shook her head at him and pointed over at Dimitri and me.
"Really, Dimitri?" He yelled. "I was an inch away. You couldn't wait just one minute?"
"Dude, it wasn't me. Blame her." He said pointing to me. Big D's eyes narrowed at me and I glared at him. "So, you do have potentikinesis." Dimitri said, addressing me again. "And it appears that there isn't much power lost in the transition. That's good to know. I think it's time that we put ourselves back together. We're probably going to be done for today, though we will have to redo the running because I know you could've gone for longer."
As I turned back to Dimitri I heard Big D huff and start shuffling over to us. I looked over at Rosie and Dimka. He looked at Dimitri with a pleading look in his eyes and his arms tightened around Rosie. She gave me a victorious look in response to his actions.
"Come on, girls. Dimitri's right." Rosemarie quickly ran back to me, grateful to have an excuse to leave Big D, but Rosie lingered a little longer and leaned in to whisper something to Dimka. His eyes grew wide. She winked at him as she got off his lap and sauntered over to the rest of us. Dimka stared at her, mesmerized, as she walked away. Rosie laughed at the way he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"What did you do to him?" I hissed in her ear.
"I said 'Maybe next time we can go somewhere more…private,'" She smirked at me. "Then I may have 'accidentally' brushed my hand over his crotch."
"You're unbelievable," I muttered under my breath. Without another word, I combined myself. I looked back at Dimka who was still sitting there, shell-shocked.
"What did she do to him?" Dimitri asked.
"What did she do? Really? You can't tell from the way he's sitting what she did to him? Really, dude? When's the last time you got laid?" Big D quipped then held a hand out to silence the response. "Wait, I already know the answer to that question. It's been a while."
"I can't wait for you to be back inside me." Dimitri grumbled.
"That's what she said…" Big D chuckled as he walked over to Dimka and started pulling him back to us. Dimitri's face looked pained and he groaned.
"Are you alright, Comrade?" I asked, concerned.
"I'm fine, just wanting these two to stop bothering me."
"You do realize that they are you, right?" I chuckled.
"Sadly." He grumbled in response just as Dimka and Big D reached us, Dimka looked much more responsive. I gave Dimka a sensual smile and he gulped, frozen mid-step as his eyes travelled my body. "Could you stop that? Can't you see he's still getting over the last you he encountered? You're going to break him!"
"It's not my fault you haven't prepared him for a female's advances." I defended myself. I gave Dimitri the same sensual smile and he, too, gulped and I laughed. "So, it's not just Dimka that hasn't been prepared. You should know something about us females, Comrades: when we want something, we don't hold back, at least, I don't."
"I can tell." Dimitri combined himself and it was finally back down to just the two of us, no other us's to contend with. "Can I walk you back to your room?"
"If you wouldn't mind. I don't want them to think I'm trying to escape."
"I don't mind at all, Roza." He stepped aside and motioned me toward the door. All in all, I think this training thing was going to be a lot more fun than I first thought, especially if Dimitri allowed Dimka and Big D to come out and play. This could be good for the both of us.
"Do you think that now, since I know your big secret and all, we might be able to practice our abilities together? I'd like to know how much I can do." I asked shyly. "They don't really give us a lot of chances to improve, you know?"
"I think that would be a wise idea. I'd love to see what else you've been keeping from me, and I suppose I could return the favor and show you what I can do."
"Deal."
"Then training starts bright and early in the morning." Dimitri stated as we approached my room and he opened the door for me. He smiled down at me. "Goodnight, Roza."
"Goodnight, Comrade." I said as he closed the door, locking me inside. I sighed as I got ready for bed, a lot more hopeful about this training than I was twenty-four hours ago. Tomorrow was going to be interesting.