div class="userstuff module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 1088.64px; float: none; word-wrap: break-word; color: #2a2a2a;"
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"No one was aware of exactly when Lito and Hernando's luxurious apartment in Mexico City had become their official hangout. Perhaps it was the nearly perpetual sunshine and vibrant energy of the city. More than likely it had something to do with Hernando's incredible hospitality and god-like abilities in the kitchen. Hernando suspected some of it was just to support him. Ever since Lito had officially come out, both he and his boyfriend had been receiving both physical and virtual hatred from men and women all around the world. Not all of the reactions were bad, but there was enough venom to keep Hernando, used to staying out of the spotlight, somewhat more somber than he had been in earlier days./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lito continued working on the films he had in progress and his agent remained hopeful that his career might actually end up getting a boost from the news, or at least weather the storm mostly intact. However, this meant that there were many nights when Hernando came home to empty rooms, and the cluster was immensely helpful at filling the void. Nomi and Amanita, already eager to be out of the country, had ended up taking a Mexican "vacation" of unspecified duration (Amanita liked to call it their "vague-cation")./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"In an attempt to get all the help she could from the cluster, Riley had flown the unconscious Will to Mexico as well, staying in a small hotel at a discreet distance from the others as Will drifted in and out of consciousness, exercising the mind tricks Jonas and Angelica were gradually teaching him to protect his mind from Whispers. As he grew stronger, he was more able to join the others at the dinners that started sporadic but soon became quite regular./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Capheus had been hugely helpful in Will's rehabilitation. Will's first vision of Angelica happened while he was unconscious, and he woke up shouting for a drug she had apparently used to shield her own mind from Whispers before birthing them. Capheus, flush with cash and new connections, was able to supply the suppressant, as well as medicine for his mother and plane tickets which brought him to Mexico every other week, at first to check on Will, and then to revel in his ability to stand side by side with the members of his cluster./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Sun was a difficulty. At the moment, she was still only able to visit mentally, but she spent long hours relaxing in Lito's apartment, speaking softly to whoever was available to "host" her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Kala eventually joined them as well. After the murder of her potential father-in-law, no one in her family was particularly surprised to hear of her broken engagement. Many whispered that the union was clearly disapproved of by the gods after the death and after Kala's own unaccountable passing out on the day of her wedding. But to her own beloved family, Kala told the truth, or a version of it. Wolfgang she did not mention, but she explained that she had not been in love with her groom and had only been following family wishes. Her family bore it well, far too well, she often thought. If they had shouted with frustration, blamed her, or even shed disappointed tears in front of her she would have felt more at ease, but as it was they just looked hurt and largely left her alone. She found a work excuse, a few weeks later, to end up in Mexico City, and her heart began healing much more quickly in time spent with her cluster family./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Except for the one night he had felt her pain and visited her, Wolfgang did not allow himself to be alone with Kala. He too had needed to leave the country for a while, leaving Felix in the hands of a good doctor and flying to join his cluster. No one asked where he had obtained the funds for this. Capheus and Lito had both privately offered to assist him, but he had casually refused. Now that many in his city began to guess that he was both the true breaker of the SD safe and the killer of his remaining family, it was unlikely that he should ever want for work among the German criminal underground. His reputation surged, and even in Mexico, he spent a lot of time muttering covertly into various burner cell phones./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"But he did not speak to Kala. If she ever approached him during a gathering, he quietly removed himself from the group and moved on. If she continued to pursue, he made his farewells and left. She did not try this after the first time, but her warm eyes rested on him many times during every evening that they spent together, and his eyes followed her far more subtly when they could./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Will was the first to get fed up with their circling. He spoke about it with Lito one night, since Lito had quickly become the one Wolfgang was closest to. The quiet, intense German and the dramatic Mexican spent a lot of time together, Wolfgang often joining the movie star for drinks even on nights when the rest of the cluster did not./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Seriously, what is his deal?" Will exclaimed to Lito at the first "cluster night" when Wolfgang attended. The cop and the movie star stood slightly apart out on the balcony, sipping Hernando's incredible mint margaritas and listening to the hum of traffic below. "I guess I thought if he came back, he would be coming to talk to her, but he just avoids her."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lito puckered his mouth and looked inside to where Wolfgang huddled carefully in the kitchen, watching Hernando cut up sprigs of mint to drape over the rims of the glasses. "Our German is very proud, Will," he pointed out with a slight shrug. "He made his decision weeks ago when he entered his uncle's house and brought her with him. For him a decision made is final."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Well he needs to get over it," Will said with determination. "He can tell just as much as the rest of us how hurt and embarrassed she is by this. He needs to talk to her, and soon."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lito smiled and looked with affection at the fierce look in Will's eyes. "It is very simple for you, isn't it? Right and wrong. Black and white. For Wolfgang, in this moment," he spread his expressive hands wide, "these things are very unclear. He is hurting Kala, but he thinks he is protecting her too. Maybe he is. Who are we to say?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Will growled into his glass. "We are the people who can read their minds, that's who we are. He doesn't have the right to decide how safe her world will be. That is her decision."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"A few days later, Wolfgang and Kala had their conversation. Much as Wolfgang had assumed it would, the moment got slightly out of his control, ending with his hands pressed to the wall and his mouth on hers. "All you have to do is ask. Always, at any point. If you want my lips, come and ask for them./p
/div
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"No one was aware of exactly when Lito and Hernando's luxurious apartment in Mexico City had become their official hangout. Perhaps it was the nearly perpetual sunshine and vibrant energy of the city. More than likely it had something to do with Hernando's incredible hospitality and god-like abilities in the kitchen. Hernando suspected some of it was just to support him. Ever since Lito had officially come out, both he and his boyfriend had been receiving both physical and virtual hatred from men and women all around the world. Not all of the reactions were bad, but there was enough venom to keep Hernando, used to staying out of the spotlight, somewhat more somber than he had been in earlier days./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lito continued working on the films he had in progress and his agent remained hopeful that his career might actually end up getting a boost from the news, or at least weather the storm mostly intact. However, this meant that there were many nights when Hernando came home to empty rooms, and the cluster was immensely helpful at filling the void. Nomi and Amanita, already eager to be out of the country, had ended up taking a Mexican "vacation" of unspecified duration (Amanita liked to call it their "vague-cation")./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"In an attempt to get all the help she could from the cluster, Riley had flown the unconscious Will to Mexico as well, staying in a small hotel at a discreet distance from the others as Will drifted in and out of consciousness, exercising the mind tricks Jonas and Angelica were gradually teaching him to protect his mind from Whispers. As he grew stronger, he was more able to join the others at the dinners that started sporadic but soon became quite regular./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Capheus had been hugely helpful in Will's rehabilitation. Will's first vision of Angelica happened while he was unconscious, and he woke up shouting for a drug she had apparently used to shield her own mind from Whispers before birthing them. Capheus, flush with cash and new connections, was able to supply the suppressant, as well as medicine for his mother and plane tickets which brought him to Mexico every other week, at first to check on Will, and then to revel in his ability to stand side by side with the members of his cluster./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Sun was a difficulty. At the moment, she was still only able to visit mentally, but she spent long hours relaxing in Lito's apartment, speaking softly to whoever was available to "host" her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Kala eventually joined them as well. After the murder of her potential father-in-law, no one in her family was particularly surprised to hear of her broken engagement. Many whispered that the union was clearly disapproved of by the gods after the death and after Kala's own unaccountable passing out on the day of her wedding. But to her own beloved family, Kala told the truth, or a version of it. Wolfgang she did not mention, but she explained that she had not been in love with her groom and had only been following family wishes. Her family bore it well, far too well, she often thought. If they had shouted with frustration, blamed her, or even shed disappointed tears in front of her she would have felt more at ease, but as it was they just looked hurt and largely left her alone. She found a work excuse, a few weeks later, to end up in Mexico City, and her heart began healing much more quickly in time spent with her cluster family./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Except for the one night he had felt her pain and visited her, Wolfgang did not allow himself to be alone with Kala. He too had needed to leave the country for a while, leaving Felix in the hands of a good doctor and flying to join his cluster. No one asked where he had obtained the funds for this. Capheus and Lito had both privately offered to assist him, but he had casually refused. Now that many in his city began to guess that he was both the true breaker of the SD safe and the killer of his remaining family, it was unlikely that he should ever want for work among the German criminal underground. His reputation surged, and even in Mexico, he spent a lot of time muttering covertly into various burner cell phones./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"But he did not speak to Kala. If she ever approached him during a gathering, he quietly removed himself from the group and moved on. If she continued to pursue, he made his farewells and left. She did not try this after the first time, but her warm eyes rested on him many times during every evening that they spent together, and his eyes followed her far more subtly when they could./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Will was the first to get fed up with their circling. He spoke about it with Lito one night, since Lito had quickly become the one Wolfgang was closest to. The quiet, intense German and the dramatic Mexican spent a lot of time together, Wolfgang often joining the movie star for drinks even on nights when the rest of the cluster did not./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Seriously, what is his deal?" Will exclaimed to Lito at the first "cluster night" when Wolfgang attended. The cop and the movie star stood slightly apart out on the balcony, sipping Hernando's incredible mint margaritas and listening to the hum of traffic below. "I guess I thought if he came back, he would be coming to talk to her, but he just avoids her."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lito puckered his mouth and looked inside to where Wolfgang huddled carefully in the kitchen, watching Hernando cut up sprigs of mint to drape over the rims of the glasses. "Our German is very proud, Will," he pointed out with a slight shrug. "He made his decision weeks ago when he entered his uncle's house and brought her with him. For him a decision made is final."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Well he needs to get over it," Will said with determination. "He can tell just as much as the rest of us how hurt and embarrassed she is by this. He needs to talk to her, and soon."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lito smiled and looked with affection at the fierce look in Will's eyes. "It is very simple for you, isn't it? Right and wrong. Black and white. For Wolfgang, in this moment," he spread his expressive hands wide, "these things are very unclear. He is hurting Kala, but he thinks he is protecting her too. Maybe he is. Who are we to say?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Will growled into his glass. "We are the people who can read their minds, that's who we are. He doesn't have the right to decide how safe her world will be. That is her decision."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"-/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"A few days later, Wolfgang and Kala had their conversation. Much as Wolfgang had assumed it would, the moment got slightly out of his control, ending with his hands pressed to the wall and his mouth on hers. "All you have to do is ask. Always, at any point. If you want my lips, come and ask for them./p
/div