To say Deity was in shock felt like an understatement. The last thing she'd been expecting when she went to sleep the previous night was to be awoken by Felix during the early hours. She'd mumbled and groaned like any teenager would, hating the idea of being among the first to wake up. Then when she'd realised it was Felix waking her and she figured something must have been wrong. Even when he told her his reason for waking her she had still thought it was something urgent. He was probably just opening with a joke to lighten the mood. But no, he had been serious.
He'd pulled Deity from the hotel room, the Hybrids had all chipped in for. It was on the expensive side, at least for them, so they all had to share the room which only had two beds. Queen sized beds. But still a squeeze for the six of them to share. Deity and Shea being the youngest, had shared one while Ruby forced her way onto the other along with Felix. There was nothing between them, they just wanted to sleep on the bed. Kem had been fine with it, more than happy to sleep in the arm chair. Sim had been a bit disappointed but took the couch without a second thought.
So Deity had followed Felix from the room, noting that all the others were still sleeping as they crept out. She had been looking forwards to lying in the nice cosy bed but her curiosity won out and she tagged along with Felix, mostly to see if he was genuine about what he had said. As it turned out, he was.
"Will you stop staring at me," Felix grumbled, more like his old self compared to the quiet secretive guy who'd woken her up this morning. He didn't look at her when he spoke. Just kept walking down the street with Deity at his side. Her jaw slightly lowered in confusion and her wide eyes locked on to Felix as her brain tried to process the truth of the situation.
"Sorry," Deity apologised once she broke the stare and turned back to the street ahead of them. It was quiet, hardly surprising since it was early morning. There was the odd couple here and there with a few early rises that were out for their morning walk or run.
"It's just… You understand how this comes as a bit of a shock, right?" Deity pointed out as she looked back up at Felix, her brow screwing up into a frown. Felix glanced down at her, his brown eyes glancing over her before he gave a brief understanding nod.
"It's just something that seems to help me relax," Felix explained as a short man with a pig like nose jumped out in front of them. Upon further inspection Deity saw his feet were very similar to that of a pig's and his ears a tad more pointy than her Kryptonian ears. Other than that and the extra finger on both his hands he was like another humanoid species.
"Ah, come friend!" Pig Nose cried, like some type of stereotype that Deity couldn't place. She did know these kinds of people though. She'd ran into loads of them at National City's mall back when she used to go there with her friends, Casey and Sam. People trying to sell you something or get you to sign up to something or to get as much of your money as possible for some 'amazing!' cause. Hardly surprising considering they were in a market place, the stall owners all eager to sell the merchandise off so that they could retire for the day. Just because it was early morning didn't seem to matter to these guys.
"I have the best Tailnoid hind this side of the galaxy! I give you special offer, two for price of one," he said encouragingly as if they were saving money. Truth was they probably weren't. But Deity was no fool and neither was Felix who pushed the man off before he could lead him over to his stall.
"Not interested," Felix growled before turning to walk away but Pig Nose grabbed his arm and swung him back around.
"Alright. Three for price of one! Special deal, just for you my friend." Obvious desperation and enough to prove to Deity this guy was looking to try and rip them off. This only told her them they would have lost more money if they had bought 'two for the price of one'. What would they even do with Tailnoid hind? When Deity glanced over at the stall she saw 'what' and it made her feel a little sick inside.
"I said no," Felix snapped pulling away again as he turned. Deity grimaced when she saw the anger flash through his eyes only to then grimaced even more when she saw Pig Nose reaching to pull him back around.
"You win friend! I give you-"
"What part of No don't you get you pig nosed idiot!" Felix snapped as he swung around when he felt the stall owner's hand on his arm. Pig Nose stumbled backwards, hitting the edge of his stall, looking like he'd just been stabbed. Not that hard to imagine considering Felix was probably staring daggers at him. Spotting Felix's benched fists, Deity stepped in before anything messy happened.
"We just bought some Tailnoid yesterday," Deity lied as she stepped in between Felix and Pig Nose, gently pushing Felix away from the stall owner. "Sorry about my friend here." Deity could have sworn she saw Felix's eyes turn heat vision blue at the mention of the word 'friend' for the umpteenth time during this conversation. "He's not a morning person. Thank you for your time." With that said, Deity turned away and pushed Felix on at a brisk pace. She figured normally the shop owner would have pestered them some more but Felix's outburst had clearly been enough to silence him.
They continued one a little further, until Deity was sure they were beyond a point where anyone would have heard Felix's snap at the stall owner. After that they returned to their leisurely stroll, glancing over the stalls as they walked by. Deity spotted a few things that would make good souvenirs, unfortunately as she'd quickly realised holding onto those souvenirs was slightly harder when you had nothing to carry them in. She'd already lost most of the things she'd thought would make good presents for her friends and family back on Earth. The only thing she still had was a piece of red tree bark and a pink leaf that changed colours depending on the light. Both she'd picked up from a forest Kem had taken her too. She was glad she'd managed to hold onto those items as a personal reference to that beautify forest. But she really did need to consider buying a bag to keep all this stuff in.
After around fifty stalls or so that passed by like cars on a street side, they left what appeared to be the cloths area of the market and reached what they had come here for. The food market. It actually spooked Deity a little to see the change in Felix when the smell of fresh food hit them. For starters, he smiled. Like actually smiled. Big wide teethy one. Deity had to blink to make sure it was real and not a mask or something he'd printed out.
It was strange to see him genially happy for once. She'd seen hims smile before, even laugh since they started their little adventure. But this was the first time she'd seen the joy in his eyes as if the smell alone connected with something deep down inside him.
He started dashing from stall to stall, sniffing the products lying out before him. It was like he was critic in a restaurant, judging the food by smell alone. His super powered sense of smell probably helped with that.
Deity began to smile as she trailed after him, watching him zig zag back and forth in front of her. They went on for a bit, Felix continuing to bounce from side to side like a pinball while Deity glanced over the stalls as she walked on. Some of the alien food looked tasty, some looked even Earthly. Odd bits sparked memories of Krypton, nothing huge, just a meal she might have had or a treat she earned at some point or other. No doubt some of the food she'd had on Krypton had been passed around the galaxies. Kryptonians had been excellent traders with basically everyone in their galaxy, so when growing up there must have been millions of things for Deity to try. She just wished she could remember.
She closed her eyes for a brief moment and sniffed, letting the smell take her back. Some kind of party flashed in her head, laughter sounding around her before they dug into something that was both delicious and beautiful. It kind of reminded Deity of a birthday cake but much taller and way fancier than anything she'd seen on Earth.
She opened her eyes and panicked a little when she saw that Felix was gone. She swung around to look for him and then froze when she spotted. He was ideal talking to one of the stall owners, holding what Deity presumed to be a native fruit of the planet. Or perhaps it was foreign, this planet seemed to be very good at trading with it's neighbours. Either way it didn't really matter. Deity was just amazed that Felix seemed to be having a civilised conversation with the man on the other side of the stall. At one point he laughed, a really belly shaking laugh. Deity smiled as she made her way over.
She arrived just as Felix handed over some money to pay for what he was holding. The stall owner than produced a bag and handed it over, Felix thanked him before putting the fruit inside the bag.
He turned to leave, waving by to the owner before stopping when he realised Deity was already back at his side. A wide and confused smile on her face.
"What?" Felix asked with a shrug of the shoulders and a grin. Another thing he never did. Smiles were more common than grins, maybe he just didn't grin because of Kem who seemed to have trademarked the simple feature since it was the only thing he ever did.
"You're grinning," Deity said pointedly as she leaned forwards slightly, folding her arms as she did.
"So?" Felix replied with another shrug.
"You never grin. And don't get me started on that laugh before I got here. That was a real laugh, proper hysterical laughter. Which you also never do."
Another shrug. "Guess I'm just in a good mood is all," Felix said before he started to walk, Deity falling into step beside him.
"Another thing you never do. You're moods last I checked were, grumpy, moody, annoyed and angry," Deity listed before grinding to a halt along side Felix who turned to face her. He had an irritated look in his eye but continued to smile happily as if he was just trying to shut her up and keep up the good mood.
"If I'm never in a good mood, then why are you trying to ruining it by annoying me?" Felix asked lightheartedly.
"I'm not. I'm just…curious," Deity said as she looked into Felix's eyes. The annoyance now turning to consideration and then onto hesitance.
"Come on," Deity said gently slapping Felix on the chest with the back of her hand. "We've been traveling together for almost a month. I'm pretty sure you can trust me."
Felix raised his brow. "Only pretty sure?" he said and Deity mocked gasped. The impossible had happened now. Felix had made a joke and for the first time ever it wasn't an insult, or at least not an offensive one.
"Alright, if you're starting to make jokes then you're definitely past opening up to a friend. So come on. You dragged me out of a comfy bed and brought me down here, you might as well tell me why," Deity pointed out with a friendly smile. She watched as Felix transpired from hesitant, to consideration, to wavering and finally on to a full on breakdown.
"Okay, fine, you want to know why I brought you down her? Why I'm happy? Why I'm almost a completely different person?" Felix asked, holding out his arms as he spoke. His voice wasn't angry, sarcastic or really another negative emotion. It was hesitant, unsure if Deity really did care and worried that she might not. But she did and she knew the others would too. True they might react different, particularly Ruby who butted heads with Felix on a regular bases and was looking for something to use against him. But even then she'd talk to him about her problems and what she was thinking, even if he wouldn't talk back.
"Basically," Deity teased with a lighthearted smile. Felix's arms dropped to his side and he sighed tiredly, as if keeping this in had been the biggest burden of his life.
"It reminds me of my life. Before Earth, before all this Hybrid stuff before the forgotten memories. Everything. It seems to take me back to a time before all of that. A time I can't remember," Felix explained. "It's like, the smell of food and cooking just takes me there. At first I figured it was another one of those memory flashes trying to break through. But it's more like, an emotion breaking through."
"Happiness," Deity said with a smile as Felix nodded, smiling back.
"Yeah. Recently…I smell the right thing, or taste it, or even spot a specific food on a stall," he held up the bag he was carrying as evidence. "Then it completely changes my mood. I'm just happy," he said like there was nothing else to be said.
"Have you had any memory flashes?" Deity asked.
"Just the same ones I've had before," Felix answered with a shrug, like it didn't matter.
"Tell me about them," Deity said, nudging him playfully to continue. She was pretty sure she hadn't heard about Felix's memories. The rest had shared everything they remembered but when they asked Felix originally he'd calmed what he'd remembered had already been said.
"Well, there's the one in the lab-"
"No that one," Deity cut in before the happy friendly atmosphere could turn to dull dread. "I mean the ones that make you smile."
Felix tilted her head slightly, looking up as he spoke. Trying to remember some far off memory. "I'm stood on a stool. I think. In what I remember being a Kryptonian kitchen." His smile broadened as the memory became more clear. "I'm holding a bowl and spoon. Mixing something, I don't know what…" Felix said, trailing off as he tried to remember.
"It's fine. Just keep going," Deity said quietly, trying not to throw him from the memory. He relaxed a little before continuing, closing his eyes so that he could picture the scene more easily.
"There's someone there with me. Looking over my shoulder to make sure I'm doing it right while she does the more important work. I think I know her. She's older than me, a lot older. I think I'm just a kid." Felix said, a serine smile forming on his lips making Deity's smile broaden. But at the sometime she couldn't help but feel sad, knowing that, like the rest of them, Felix couldn't remember his past. And even worse was that he couldn't remember this woman, who was obviously important to him by the way he spoke. A voice that Deity had never heard Felix use before. It almost made her want to cry.
"Thanks for teaching me to cook," Felix said. His lips moving as if under someone else's control. That had done it for Deity. His voice in that moment had taken on a younger more innocent form. Like Shea's usually did.
Felix's eyes snapped open, knowing full well he hadn't meant to say that. It must have been his subconscious, replying the memory because he couldn't do it himself. It was so sad to watch. To see Felix try so hard to remember this one happy moment in amongst all the bad and come up with nothing but a few words. Then he smiled again. Proud that he'd unlocked another piece of his past, sniffing in the mixture of scents and smells in the air in hope that it might bring something else out.
Then he stopped and a line of concern passed over his brow. He leaned forward, resting his free hand on Deity's shoulder as he lowered himself down slight to her eye level.
"Deity, are you alright?" Felix asked in worry.
"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be," Deity said, forcing a brave smile, despite what she'd just see.
"Because your crying," Felix pointed out. Deity ran her hand over her cheek and felt it dampen a little. She moved her hand back to examine it, practically tasting the salt as she stared at her hand. She ran her hands back over her cheeks but felt nothing. Just a single sad tear that showed how she was really feeling. She smiled bravely at him and he smiled sincerely back, thankful for her support.
"I guess, I'm just happy I'm finally getting to know you," Deity said as Felix stood back up straight, still smiling.
"I guess I'm happy about that too," Felix agreed before offering his hand for Deity to take. She did and they continued on with their morning shopping. Felix using up all the money he had on him to buy all sorts of things he could use to make a meal for the Hybrids. His good mood lasted until they returned to the hotel room where Sim and Ruby instantly began pestering him. He was in the door all of ten seconds before he threw the food at the two and fell back into his old pattern.
Deity just watched from the side, shaking her head along with Kem while occasionally laughing with Shea as the other three Hybrids fought over the most pointless things. But Deity now knew there was something deeper inside Felix, she knew there was a person with a genuine feels beneath his armour of snarky comments and moody masks. She'd seen it that morning and she was certain the others would see it too. She was starting to see the best in him, just like Kara had taught her.
However, that clarity only lasted until something resembling a fish whacked Deity in the face and she dove at Sim who screamed like a girl as Deity, Ruby and Felix began to chase him around the room.