"Ah Verity, a change of plans for today," Miss Militia said as the snake woman entered the Rig's main building.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Verity asked, not having been expecting it.

"Well I will say it falls under good, as there isn't going to be a patrol for you along with a few of us, as we're going to be participating in some PRT training exercises outside of town," Miss Militia explained.

"Training exercise?" Verity asked, now rather intrigued. "Where at?"

"Just outside of town, we have some buildings we use to run various scenarios," She answered. "So you're going to be target practise for the young recruits."

"...We're going to be shot at with live ammunition by the Wards? That seems like a horrible idea."

"No by young PRT officers, and by containment foam and rubber bullets," Miss Militia said while trying to suppress a laugh. "You silly snake."

"Ah." Verity said, trying not to follow her instincts of sinking into the ground to hide her embarrassment. "Yeah that makes more sense. Are we going to be playing up the 'active threat' angle or just be moving targets?"

"Bits of both, you will be playing pretend villain, to get a job done, and they will have to try and stop you," Miss Militia answered.

"Aight, sounds cool. I'm in." Verity accepted with a nod, not seeing any reason to not do it.

"Good, we will be going in thirty minutes, so prep like usual," The flag wearing woman said as she moved past Verity.

"Yes, ma'am." Verity said with a casual salute.

Xxx

"Welcome to your first PRT exercise Medusa. I am Officer John, it's good to have you," A man dressed in the full body PRT uniform greeted Verity the second she exited the van that had driven her to the exercise location.

And she could see a bunch of others dressed in the same uniform standing in formation but looking a lot more nervous by how she could see their bodies fidgeting a bit, compared to some of the other officers present.

So that had to be the greenhorns.

"Happy to help, John." Verity replied with a smile. "So, how we doin' this?"

"Well first you're going to enter that there office building with a few cardboard cutouts, and pretend to hold hostages," Officer John explained to her as he pointed to one of the few buildings that were in the training area. "But first the trainees need to be introduced to you."

"Ah I see I see." Verity said with a smile, before walking over to address the group of newbs. "Hello everyone~!" She said with a smile and a wave, the entire platoon (was that the right word when they weren't fully military?) turned its attention towards her. "I'm Verity, better known as Medusa, and I'll be your target for today! Just so you all know, I really, really, really hate getting hit, so you're all going to have to try extra hard, okay~?"

"That is correct, Medusa here is going to be your test dummy in how to deal with Brutes, you maggots!" Officer John yelled at them. "The first exercise of the day is going to be you against her in a hostage situation. You will be separated into squads of ten and there will be no Protectorate support for this round. You will be on your own in trying to take her down. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir!" They all replied.

"Good, each group will have twenty minutes to try and complete their exercise, and it will start five minutes after Medusa has entered the building to get herself situated," Officer John finished explaining. "Any questions?... No?... Good, Medusa, your hostages are leaning against the wall."

Verity looked over to see said stock-photo-looking cardboard cutouts. "Roger that." She said, before leaning in and whispering to John. "Do you have more? These probably won't last very long unless these greenies are really, really good."

"There are more in storage in case these get broken," Officer John answered. "Also you take the Officers out by smacking them with this," He held out a foam sword she had not noticed before.

Verity snorted at the sight. "Aight," she said, accepting it before continuing over, picking up the cutouts, and heading into the building.

It was set up like an office building, so she decided to have a bit of fun with the set up as she began to set up the cut outs on the second-highest floor.

One placed near the main window.

One placed near the stairs.

And one that she would be keeping a firm grip on with her hair.

Foam sword held in hand as she remembered her training (as rusty as it may have been) and her years of 'hitting people with foam swords' (not rusty).

With that, she was set up, and as she was, she was suddenly overcome with the sheer ridiculousness of what she was doing, and began to laugh.

And laugh.

And laugh.

Transitioning partway through, somewhat on purpose, into her most maniacal laughter possible, which would best be compared to a witch's cackle if it were pitch shifted downwards, trailing off menacingly.

And that was when the exercise started.

And Verity knew as she heard the first group enter through the front door-

And what followed was a rather one-sided beatdown on the part of Verity as she struck with stealth and speed that they had not expected from her or even the use of the hostages as shields, and they had definitely not been prepared for her to just snap the neck of one of them after it had been foamed.

And rather quickly it had resulted in Verity lightly bonking them all on the head with her foam sword.

"Well that was a disappointment," Officer John said as Verity and the defeated officers exited the building.

"Honestly, I have to agree." Verity said. "I was just doing the basic shit I would expect out of a hostage situation. It's gonna sound ironic coming from me, but they were way too idealistic."

"Well they didn't expect you to start killing the hostages, which goes against the spirit of the exercise a bit Medusa. As most people don't start acting like a member of the S9 when threatened," Officer John responded.

"Sir, my motto is hope for the best, prepare for the worst. It makes sense to me to show them the kind of people they could be going up against." She said resolutely, before said resolution faded a bit to embarrassment. "...Also, no one told me the rules or a level to stick to?"

"Well keep to a more moderate level next time, and no killing the hostages, but that is a good lesson to learn Cadets, sometimes the situation will go FUBAR and you will be face to face with a monster that does not care for morals. But even so, Alpha Squad, that was some of the most atrocious teamwork that I've ever seen, I am pretty sure cats have more team coordination than that!" Officer John spoke.

"Sir you didn't mention that she was also basically a Mover and a minor Stranger," One of the cadets spoke.

"That ain't Stranger powers, that's just good old fashioned stealth." Verity corrected. "You have to be good at moving quietly when you're my size."

"To answer you first Cadet, sometimes intel can be wrong, think of it as a gang suddenly getting a new recruit that had not been encountered before, happens all the time, especially in Brocton Bay," Officer John answered. "And take note of Medusa's words, she might be a Parahuman but that doesn't mean she lost any natural skills she had before becoming one. So constant vigilance at all times."

"Yes, sir!" They replied.

"Now up next is Beta Squad, Medusa go pick up some new hostages, and be sure to change up tactics as you've probably realized there are cameras everywhere in the building and we are watching," Officer John said as he held up a tablet.

"Oh, I know." Verity said with a grin. "I do hope those weren't supposed to be hidden. They were all quite obvious."

"Of course not, it's an office building," He replied.

"Not a very secure one~." Verity noted as she went to get the new set of cut outs and set up again, this time not immediately stacking the deck in her favor, but keeping the same rough set up, deciding to be more 'fair' with the challenge.

But still willing to use the cutouts to block things.

This time however it was a sure fire victory for the PRT Cadets as Verity had gone a little bit too easy this time, but their teamwork had been much better than the previous one and had actually utilized the cameras to their advantage to keep an eye on her for the most part.

But it had resulted in all hostages being freed and Verity buried in a ton of containment foam.

She had managed to escape from the foam by cutting it with her fingers pretty easily, considering what it was for. Though what stuck to her outfit had to be removed with the disolvent.

The round with the third team had resulted in her win, but it had been a much closer match with them getting close to saving one of the cardboard hostages, but failing at the last minute, which she had congratulated them on as it had been a stray bullet that bounced off her scales that did them in, not really being their fault.

"So Medusa, how was your first exercise?" Miss Militia asked Verity at the table that contained refreshments for them, the officers and those in training.

"I know what containment foam tastes like now and I don't like it." Verity said before downing her third water bottle since they finished. "Did you know I have an enhanced sense of taste?"

"Nobody does, I did not, and people have asked Dragon if she could make it strawberry flavored," Miss Militia said.

"Yeah I don't think it fully registered before tod… strawberry flavored?" Verity asked.

"It's the most general agreed upon flavor besides vanilla," She answered. "But she keeps saying no as that would make the formula unstable."

"Well yeah that would make sense, the chemical reaction that most spray foams use is super specific and trying to change it or add other stuff just makes it into goo."

"Or a gelastic acid," Miss Militia commented.

"Ewgh." Verity shuddered at the idea of a human test of that going horrifically wrong.

"Yeah, other Tinkers have been trying to reproduce it with stolen samples, it always goes wrong," She explained.

"That sounds… not fun." Verity wildly understated. "Anyway, uh. How you been, Hannah? Haven't been able to talk much what with the Very Busy Week(s) lately."

"That it has been," Hannah answered. "To the point where I've had to go to sleep to actually get rested. And I don't like doing that."

"...Eh?" Verity asked. "Do. Do you not. Sleep? Normally?"

"Have I not mentioned that before?" Hannah asked in response.

"I don't… think so?" Verity asked as much as said, trying to remember. "I've been learning a lot of things in a very short time period, my brain may have prioritized the layout of the Rig or something." She frowned. "...Or it's just the memory issues kicking in again."

"Well if I have this is going to be a refresher, I am a Noctis Cape, meaning that I don't require sleep to function and can just stay awake, this also allows me to never forget any of my memories. And now that I am looking back I know I didn't tell you," Hannah explained.

"Ah." Verity said, pushing down the flash of jealousy at yet another power that would have fit her way better than what she got. "Does that… If you don't mind me asking, is it weird? Not needing sleep?"

"Well I've gotten used to it over the last two decades, so not really anymore, but I could go without the memory aspect of it," Hannah answered. "There are things I would love to forget."

"And there are things I would love to remember." Verity distinctly did not say. Instead, she said, "If you don't mind me asking...?"

"Ask what?"

"What are you happy you remember?" Verity said, abandoning her original question at the mental flip of a coin.

"My time as a member of the Inaugural Wards, I will treasure those memories forever," Hannah answered.

"You were part of the first Wards team?" Verity asked curiously, not having known that. "Like Brockton Bay's, or period?"

"Period, directly mentored by the Triumvirate back when they were known as the Founders, back when Hero was alive," She explained.

"So you actually know the Triumvirate?" Verity asked, some of Hannah's comments about them before now making a bit more sense.

"Yes, I do."

"Are they nice?"

"Legend is, Alexandria and Eidolon can be hard asses. But that is what happens when you've been at this for over two decades and lost so many people."

"I guess that makes sense." Verity admitted. "...Do you mind me asking about the things you'd want to forget?"

"You can Verity," Hannah said. "You're definitely trustworthy enough to tell a few things, and it would have come up eventually. My therapist tells me it's good for me to talk to people about it."

"O-oh, okay." Verity said, not only not expecting a positive response, but not expecting even that positive a response. "Uh, I guess… start where you wanna start?" She asked, not really having expected to have gotten this far.

"Well it is really just one thing, and it's how I Triggered," Hannah began to explain. "I used to live in a small Kurdish village, we were a small community, but a close one. But one day Turkish soldiers burnt it to the ground and I along with six other children were the only survivors." She took a deep breath. "We were then enslaved by them and used as human minesweepers, I Triggered and I killed all of them."

"...Judas fucking Priest, dude, that's… that's a… do you want a hug?" Verity asked, having not expected that in the slightest, before having thought she was a military brat or something.

"That, that would actually be nice," Hannah answered, her voice a bit shaky now after going through those memories.

"Bring it in." Verity said as she wrapped an arm around Hannah's shoulders a tad awkwardly, the best she could get with how their chairs were arranged, and then side-hugged her as best she could. "...Sorry if this is, uh, super fucking awkward, by the way."

"Yeah, it is, but… it's nice," Hannah responded.

"Happy to help."

And so a few hours later and after many more exercises done with the PRT Troops in training and her fellow heroes, which had resulted in some wins and some losses for all of them. Verity was now back on the Rig ready to end her day.

"Well today is a day the trainees won't forget anytime soon," Armsmaster spoke. "You did surprisingly good work today."

"Surprising because you didn't expect much of me or surprising because of my destructive tendencies?" Verity asked.

"The first as this was your first time participating in it, I did not do as well the first time I did it, and for the later I am more surprised you didn't break more stuff," Armsmaster said. "Your self control has come a long way in a very short amount of time."

"I-" Verity cut off her instinctual reaction to deny that. "...thank you, sir."

"But there is always room for improvement," He added. "But I am sincere when I say that despite your premature deployment, you have done a lot of good even if the universe seems to want to undo it."

"Aheh, yeah, that tends to happen with me." Verity said, mind drifting at the reminder of that, before she focused. "But I'm just happy to help."

"That is good, though what I mean when I say that is that while you've removed some villains from the board, new ones seem to have decided to move in for the moment to fill up the missing spots," Armsmaster informed her.

"Oh, great." Verity grumbled. "Are they new-new or out of towners?"

"Out of towners, a Villain group by the name of the Travellers, they are a nomadic band that goes from place to place and causes havoc under the employment of various villains," Armsmaster exposited. "They were last seen in Boston under Accord's hand. But now they seem to have left."

"Well that's not good." Verity said. "Also, who's Accord?" She asked, her mind having thought he was saying 'Accordion Man' for a moment and having gotten excited that there might actually be some goofy villains in this universe instead of just mass murderers, gangbangers, human traffickers, psychopaths, Neo-Nazis, and abused children.

"Annoying is what it is, and he is a villainous Thinker in Boston whose power allows him to create 'perfect plans' as it were," Armsmaster explained.

"All according to plan, huh." Verity guessed.

"That is correct, though his plans are not as perfect as he likes to say they are, as they all operate under the assumption that people will act 100 percent logically and are so overly complicated that no normal person can parse them," Armsmaster said. "I've read one of them that was his way to end world hunger, and it took me five days to understand what page one of 150 actually said."

"I'll have to look into that myself then." Verity said. "And I'm assuming we have files on the Traveling Circus as well?"

"Yes, I can email you the files in a few minutes," The Bossman replied.

"Awesome." Verity said. "Uh, is there anything else you need me for Bossman?"

"I do not Medusa, enjoy your evening," He answered as he turned around.

"You too boss, take it easy." Verity said.

He just huffed in reply.

"Honey, I'm home~!" Verity announced as she entered her-no, their house after getting home, taking off her shoes as had been ingrained in her mind from decades of life.

"Isn't that one reserved for married couples?" Sabah responded.

"I dunno, is it?" Verity asked back before shrugging. "Not like I care, I have a tendency of breaking traditions anyway." That joke immediately filled her with a strange sense of… sadness, that she quickly pushed away as she washed her hands at the bathroom sink

"Well I like it so you can continue to do that," Sabah said back.

"Good, because I will be~." Verity said as she headed towards Sabah's voice and thus the living room, where she was sitting at her computer like usual conducting business.

"Now speaking of doing something," Sabah said. "Have you ever been to a charity… ball? I think it is called a ball? Well at the very least it's a party."

"I've never been to a ball before, or even a party fancier than a college party, no." Verity said as she walked over, planting a quick kiss on Sabah's cheek as she passed, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach from doing so. "Why, are you planning on going?" She asked as she quickly moved past and into the kitchen to get a drink.

"Got invited to the one my old well… fashion teacher is hosting to help out the people hit by the ABB attacks, bunch of snooty rich folks, and I want you to be my plus one, and not part of security with the rest of your co-workers."

"Uh, I mean, yeah sure, I'd love to do that if I can." Verity said before taking a sip of her water, a thought occurring to her as she did. "Ooh, ooh, is it the kind of ball with ballgowns and stuff? Or is it more of a gala?"

"Gala, yeah Gala is the right word… Ugh… my brain," Sabah said. "Sorry, it is just like her to send the invite to me like ten days before it happens."

"No no, it's fine Sabs, I forget words all the time, nothing to be sorry for." Verity said as she went back over to her girlfriend and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Is it really stressing you that much though?" She asked worriedly.

"A little, because I am now going over dress designs that can impress her, for both of us," Sabah said as she pulled at her hair. "She is like the person I admire the most in the world, she is the only reason I made it so far. And also one of the few people outside of my family that knows I am a Parahuman."

"Ah, and who is our mystery woman?" Verity asked curiously, able to easily pick up the admiration Sabah held for her.

"Well she is only one of the greatest fashion designers in the world," Sabah said. "Her company makes clothes for people of all ages, genders and statuses. From high fashion to simple t-shirts."

"...Sabs, you are literally the only person in the fashion industry I know." Verity said flatly. "You're gonna have to actually say a name."

"Oh right I forgot you're not local," Sabah said with a chuckle. "Her name is Ragyo Kiryuin and she is my Sensei as it were, as she is Japanese."

"...Sabs I swear to god if your fucking with me right now you are going to regret it." Verity threatened half-jokingly, her heart having stopped beating for a moment as she heard that name.

"Huh? What do you mean? Why would I be fucking with you Verity?" Sabah asked in confusion.

"Is she the head of the REVOCS Corporation?" Verity asked, blood pressure beginning to spike as she could detect no hint of Sabah not telling the truth, which was bad.

"Oh so you have heard of it?" Sabah asked.

"Sabah." Verity said, putting her other hand on Sabah's other shoulder and looking her directly in the eyes. "What I am about to ask you is a question that will determine whether we are severely fucked or not, and that question is simple. What is her marital status?"

"Huh?" Sabah asked in pure confusion

"Another way of phrasing it," Verity said, feeling like she was about to pop a blood vessel. "Does she have children?"

"Oh yeah she has three children, Nui is adopted though."

Verity's brain began to malfunction at hearing this. "Do the words 'Life Fibers' mean anything to you when put together, Sabah?"

"No… should they?"

"I don't know!" Verity said as she let go of her girlfriend and began to pace. "Because this, this this this this this, this this this this this this this, this means, this could mean, this does mean, this, this this this this this this this this this, I, I need to test, I need to check, I need to know, I need, this can't, this can't-"

It couldn't be happening, could it?

Was this really just some weird AU version of Kill la Kill all along, and that's why the world sucked?

Was this just normal Kill la Kill and it was never shown?

Was it just a cosmic coincidence?

Verity did not know.

And that terrified her, something that should have comforted her, that she knew an element of her current reality, should have been comforting, but the uncertainty now was causing her to panic instead.

"Verity, what's wrong?" Sabah asked. "You look distressed, did Miss Ragyo exist on your Earth as well?"

"She, she she she, she, Life Fibers." Verity stammered, unable to properly organize her thoughts at the moment, let alone her words. "Alien clothing, invasion, earth almost destroyed, get naked to draw power, clothes that drink blood, stop the Life Fibers, Nudist Beach, killed husband, daughters, oh god-"

"Calm down Verity, calm down, you're talking nonsense." Sabah said and Verity felt a pair of arms wrap around her body.

" I…" Verity tried to speak, but her mind was going into overdrive and shutting down simultaneously trying to comprehend what the fuck was happening at the moment. "I don't- I don't know- I don't- what is- what is happ, what is happening?" She asked, gasping for breath.

"Sssh, breathe in and out in and out dear, in and out my beloved snake," She heard Sabah say as she moved her hand in a circle on her back.

Verity stopped trying to speak and just nodded and did so, trying to breathe, to focus on her breathing, and not on this potentially world-shattering revelation.

"In and out, in and out, that's it, you're doing good, you're doing fine," Sabah spoke in a comforting tone.

Verity took in a shuddering breath and let it out, letting her body work on Sabah's instructions as her mind almost entirely shut down.

"There, there, now let's move over to the sofa and let's sit okay?" Sabah said as she began to guided her very gently towards the couch.

Verity nodded absentmindedly and did so, her brain working on fixing itself after what she was pretty sure was a spontaneous aneurysm, or at least with the way her head was pounding that was what it felt like.

All the while Sabah just gently rubbed circles on her back with her hand to keep the feeling of calm going.

After a long moment, probably a few minutes but it could have been hours as far as Verity could tell, she had some measure of cognitive function back. "I… I… Honnouji Academy, that school, does that mean anything to you?"

"That sounds like a Japanese school, is it important?"

"I don't- I don't know?" Verity asked as much as said. "It's… she… she…"

"Verity," Sabah said. "What did the Ragyo Kiryuin you know do?"

"There- there were these alien lifeforms." Verity began.

"Aliens?" Sabah asked in disbelief.

Verity nodded.

"Okay there were aliens, and what did she do with them then? I assume something bad, going by your… panic."

"She, she, she, the clothes, the aliens were parasitic clothes that, that, that, shaped human evolution, and she, she, she was working with them, going to become them, and she almost, she almost won." Verity explained, her thoughts beginning to flow again (somewhat) as she began to postulate about what this actually meant for her. "She almost, she almost covered the planet forever."

"That… that sounds… like complete nonsense, did that actually happen on your Earth?" Sabah asked.

"Yes!" Verity said immediately, before her hands quickly covered her mouth. "...No, no, they didn't… or they did? Did they? They didn't, they did, they didn't, they did…" She muttered, head swimming as her already quite fuzzy memories began to bleed into each other.

"Sssh," Sabah said as she moved her hand again. "Breathe, breathe."

Verity did her best to do so, but her mind was moving too fast, too hard now- she would crash before she slowed down. "She, she, she, picture? What, she, looks?" Her words were jumbled as she tried to think of something, anything she could do to check if she was being a spaz or having a slightly-more-reasonable breakdown.

"I've got a picture of us here," Sabah said as she took out her phone and after a few seconds of searching held it up for Verity to see.

Verity scrutinized it closely, and as she did one fact quickly stood out to her, followed by another.

Namely, that she lacked the rainbow hair.

And by extension, that… sparkliness the Ragyo she knew had.

At that, Verity let out a long sigh/groan. "Oh thank god it's just a cosmic coincidenceeeeee…" She said as she slumped bonelessly into the couch.

"Well that is good, wouldn't want my mentor to actually be an evil villain that works with aliens to destroy the Earth, that would not be very cash money," Sabah said injecting a little bit of humor in to lighten the mood.

"Hehe, yeah, yeah." Verity agreed as she tried to breathe and get her blood pressure back down, before grinding her palms into her eyes. "...Oh god, hopefully this doesn't happen too much…"

"Hopefully not," Sabah replied.

"Yeah…" Verity said, pausing for a long moment. "...Sorry."

"Don't apologize for that, not your fault… I just felt so helpless, you were hurting and I didn't really know what to do besides just… that," Sabah said as she leaned into Verity's body.

"Sorry." Verity apologized again, now feeling horrible for putting that on Sabah. "It, it really helped, you know."

"Thank you for saying that… wanna just order something tonight? I don't feel like cooking right now."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Verity agreed, putting an arm around Sabah and bringing her into a sorta-hug. "...I just want to relax with you for a while, after that. If, if you'll let me."

"Relax all you want you big huggable snek… and I want your tail wrapped around me as well."

"Uhh, ok-kay?" Verity asked, not having expected that, as she carefully began to shift her position to do so while remaining on the couch.

"Mhm, so warm and soft," Sabah hummed in response.

"So are you feeling better today?" Sabah asked after they woke up.

"Uh… yeah, yeah." Verity said, having been awake for about 20 minutes and unable to move, what with how Sabah was practically intertwined with her, considering her super strength and the lingering(/very real) fears attached to it. "Sorry about that whole… that."

"You shouldn't apologize for that, Verity," Sabah replied. "Now let me go and make some breakfast for the two of us."

"Yeah, uh… how?" Verity asked, unsure how to undo the position they'd been in other than 'very carefully'.

"Well that is a good question," She sheepishly said back.

"Uhhhhh, maybe just…" Verity could feel her face heating up. "Uh, you try and get up, and I'll try to work with ya?"

"Sure we can try that," Sabah said as she tried to move her body.

"Mm!"

"Sorry! Uh! How about this?"

"...That is my tit."

"...It's a very nice one…"

"Yeah, and you can get a better look at it. Later. When we aren't doing the world's most awkward game of Twister."

"I would like that."

"...Alright, so I'm gonna try switching out my legs, that should get you disentangled from my tail and make this a million times easier. You good with trying that?"

"Yeah I am good with that," She answered.

"Alright, then on three." Verity said. "One...two...three!"

And with that they were finally unentangled with Sabah now laying flatly on the lamia.

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you look when you're like this?" Sabah asked as one of her hands touched the place where her lower and upper body connected.

"Uh...I don't think so." Verity said, a bit flustered as she was still unused to those kinds of compliments. "Is it?"

"It is, you're the prettiest being I have ever seen, everytime I look at you, love, my heart does flip flops in my chest," Sabah responded with a wide smile on her face.

"Snrk, your heart does what?" Verity asked with a laugh.

"...Shush you, I am trying to be romantic, don't point out my bad choices of words, I took a degree in fashion not poetry," She shot back.

"Yeah, but when you say stuff like that, I feel like if I don't focus on something silly like that I might explode." Verity admitted.

"Well that would be bad, I like you not to explode, I am not sure how I would be able to handle that."

"To be fair, going off recent experience with explosions, I'd be good in about five minutes." Verity joked.

"Don't joke about that," She said back.

Verity winced. "Sorry. Forgot about… Sorry."

Sabah just sighed. "I am going to go and make breakfast now, and for that comment I am no longer on the menu." She said as she rolled off Verity's body.

"?"

Sabah said nothing as she went into the kitchen.

"...Wait, what did she mean by…?" Verity asked herself under her breath, before shaking her head and getting up off the couch. "Hey, wait, do you want to make something together? Food always tastes better if you make it with someone else." And she had started to feel weird about how Sabah kept making food for her but she hadn't really been doing that in return much, but she didn't say that out loud.

"Sure, why not… that would actually be nice," Sabah responded.

Verity smiled. "Great! Ooh, maybe I can teach you my family's pancake recipe!"

"Ah now I get to learn how they are made," Sabah said. "They tasted great the last time I had them, so now they will be even better."

"Yeah, but just so you know, I normally make them more like regular pancakes." Verity said as she got out two containers, one being a new bottle of honey, and the other being…

"Why are you taking out that much salt? Shouldn't a few shakes be enough?" Sabah asked as Verity brought out the main salt container instead of the shaker.

"Well, for one, you shouldn't use your table's shakers when you're baking if you think they may not be clean, and I haven't gotten shakers specifically for cooking yet." Verity said, quite reasonably. "And for two, no, no it is not. Not for these." She said, getting out a teaspoon and waving at her before placing it on top of the container.

Sabah just looked at it with wide eyes.

For a teaspoon was a lot when it came to this kind of stuff.

"As for why, well," Verity said as she got out the other ingredients and tools, all significantly more standard for pancakes. "This is my Family Recipe, as in my whole household, me, my mom, my dad, and my little siblings figured it out together from our individual recipes and preferences. The salt thing was my little brother's idea." She chuckled as she grabbed the measuring cups. "Except in the first batch, he added way too much salt, even more than what we'll be doing for way less batter, and basically ruined the whole batch. And because I didn't want him to feel bad, I ate the whole thing." She chuckled again. "Turns out, that much salt, in one sitting? Not good for you."

"Yeah, everybody who knows food knows that, the only thing that needs a lot of salt are salted meats," Sabah replied.

Verity chuckled again. "Well, we were young and dumb and he'd figured it out in his Home-Ec class, and it was only after I'd eaten all of them, and they were kind of good, that he mentioned he put in like 4 full teaspoons of salt instead of the right amount."

Sabah just looked like somebody had killed a puppy in front of her.

"Were you okay?"

"Well, turns out that much salt is not good for your insides, considering I ended up coughing up a lot of blood." Verity said nonchalantly with a shrug. "But, eh, I made it through."

Sabah's face got even more horrified. "Tell me at least you went to see a doctor?"

"What's a doctor?" Verity asked distractedly as she stood on her tip toes to reach into the very back of her top cabinet, the things being deep enough that even she had to stretch to reach all the way back (but not enough to justify rising on her tail), and somehow her preferred mixing bowl ended up pushed to the back. Which was another downside of cooking less, her kitchen was getting reorganized without her.

"I don't find that kind of humor funny, Verity," Sabah replied.

"What kind of humor?" Verity asked as she finally got the bowl and turned to look at her in confusion.

"The kind of humor that implies you don't care about your own wellbeing."

"...Oh, no, that was, I wasn't really, I was going for a linguistics joke." Verity said. "In my head, it was supposed to be something where the punchline was 'Doctor Who?' I, I don't, uh… listen, I just woke up, okay, brain's not working yet."

"I know, you scatterbrained snek," Sabah said.

"...Sh-Shut up." Verity said petulantly, having no good response to that, as she finished setting things up for making her pancakes.

"Hehehehehe," Sabah laughed like a gremlin.

"Okay, so, the way you make the - Family Pancakes, you start by…"

Xxx

A/N: If you like this or any other of my stories, you can donate to my Sub scribe Star . Adult (slash) StreamingViking and read commissioned stories and chapters before they are released here. Along with voting for which stories will be updated next via Polls.