Energy: 8
Current Training: Inner Peace (7/10) Currently 3 to Complete
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
Hebert Household, Brockton Bay
You'd like to say you took Taylor home that night, but the fact remained that she was so much faster than you that such an endeavor would be impractical at best and stupid at worst. Taylor's mood as she dances across the sky to arrive at home is only further worsened when Victoria eventually calls to let her know that some of the Undersiders escaped. Specifically, Regent and 'That Bitch' who you presume to be Tattletale.
You are also treated to the unpleasant truth that Greg both had powers, and was apparently at least nominally being considered an Undersider.
Your Master doesn't even seem phased by this information. Just... tired. Tired and sad.
You're still trying to parse alot of what happened while you were being interfered with, but you get the impression that the only thing saving your current relationship with her is the fact that you didn't outright attack her while you were malfunctioning. You suspect things would have been much worse had that been the case. For the surrounding area if not the entire city.
Still, the two of you manage to make it home, to a half awake Danny who took one look at his daughter as she walked through the door and promptly blacked out where he was sitting. You feel for the guy. You know he's been doing as much work as possible from home in order to reduce the time he spends travelling to and from work, and on top of that has been practically drowning in books on Cape law and Cape psychology in a desperate attempt to do anything to help his daughter. Unfortunately, there's only so much he can do. He isn't exactly a young guy, and weeks of minimal sleep haven't been kind to him.
"I'm going to sleep." Taylor says neutrally as she kicks her shoes off and climbs the stairs.
You hesitate for a second, then, in an act that you hadn't bothered to attempt since your first night of existence, you trundled up the stairs after her. Usually, you wouldn't have bothered. Your Master isn't generally comfortable sleeping with other people nearby. Or being touched by people much at all honestly. But the sensation of despair and acceptance coming from her is so... so... loud for lack of a better word, that you can't help it.
Case in point, despite clearly being able to tell you are following her, she makes no overt attempt to stop you, merely ignoring you as she shuffles into her room, pulls off her socks, and drops into her bed with a soft thump.
"Shove over." You say quietly, lifting the tired girl up and shimmying onto the bed behind her.
"Mm." She grunts back at you, dangling limply as you shift her about.
"Hey, I'm still here right? She can't mess me up if I'm dead." You say, settling into the bed with a creak and settling your Master next to you so she can use your furry body as a pillow.
"I don't want that." She says in annoyance.
"It'll be quick. Just bite my tongue off. Works for most humanoids." You say with a shrug. It might sound morbid, but you absolutely mean it. Your current Emulation is about as peaceful as it gets and even he was feeling mildly murderous after that ordeal.
"I said don't." Taylor demands, her voice growing heated.
"...We'll cross that bridge when we get there." You say instead of fully acknowledging the order.
"Good. Now shut up I'm...tired..." She trails off drowsily, yawning and then falling asleep.
You give it a few hours, making sure your Master is sleeping peacefully before you enter your Spirit Form and slip from the bed and down the stairs. You were out late with her so it's already edging close enough to morning that you think it should be okay to start working on breakfast. Which is where you find yourself when something extremely strange happens. And not just strange by human standards, you mean strange even by the dubious rules of reality you find yourself currently operating under - which is quite strange given you are a humanoid panda that knows kung fu.
Because standing suddenly next to you is a tiny Taylor. Sort of.
It's about half your Masters size - closer to the rough size of an early middle school child than a teenager - and has the same long silky hair that your Master prides herself on.
This is about where the similarities end. Because that hair is bubblegum pink and it's smiling at you with the kind of beatific lack of worry you're reasonably certain your Master is unlikely to ever truly obtain.
You quickly scan through your knowledge of all the powers you Master currently possesses and finally come down on the only one that could reasonably explain Mini-Taylor. Her sword, as far as you can recall, is supposed to obtain a degree of sentience at some point. You just wish you could remember literally anything else about it. Without Emulating someone from that world your knowledge of it's rules is surface level at best. Still, having come up with the most likely solution to the problem, you turn towards Mini-Taylor and smile.
"Woah, wha- oh, it's you!" You call out to her ecstatically.
"I was wondering when you were going to show up, and you're so cute!" You continue, sweeping her up into a hug and shifting her back and forth while she limply relaxes into your grasp. You faintly note that she is wearing a tiny version of the black clothes your previous Emulation favoured, and wonder where they came from.
"Oh, Master is going to be so excited!" You say instead of voicing any of your thoughts, mentally revising the amount of food you'll have to cook in order to make sure you have enough leftovers to be satisfied.
"Yeah, I can't wait to help her out more!" Mini-Taylor says with a bright smile that nearly blinds you. She sounds like Taylor inhaled an entire helium balloon and you love it.
"In fact, I think I can start right now!" She continues, wiggling out your grasp and drawing what you are surprised to realize is a tiny sword. Your so surprised to see the thing that you completely fail to defend yourself in any way shape or form when she starts to march towards you with it.
"Woah woah, easy now, how about-" You try to placate, lifting your hands up and trying to gently fend her off. Unfortunately, you don't really get to finish the request. With a cry of "Go to Sleep!" Mini-Taylor cleaves your head from your shoulders, and suddenly your perspective shifts to a sleeping Taylor.
Several seconds later, Mini-Taylor quietly creeps into the room, looks around the room once, and then wiggles into the bed next to your Master, pulling Taylor's arms around herself like a blanket. With the metaphysical equivalent of a shrug, you decide to go into what passes for a rest mode for you, until your body reconstitutes.
Which happens an hour later, and is interrupted by Mini-Taylor, who kills you before you even finish appearing.
You get the message after that.
No one in the Hebert household wakes up until noon, precluding the chance of Taylor actually going to school. Your Master, in her infinite wisdom, chooses the auspicious time of 12:34 pm to bolt out of her bed and roll away from Mini-Taylor, one finger pointed at her in obvious confusion.
"What the hell!?" She screeches, as Mini-Taylor drowsily sits up and blinks the sleep out of her eyes. Then her eyes alight on Taylor, and she springs awake, launching herself at your Master.
You take this as a sign that you are safe to reconstitute yourself behind her in the center of the room.
"Taylor!" Mini-Taylor yells happily, colliding with your Masters mid-section and grabbing on like a monkey.
"Emmy! Why! This!" Taylor asks loudly, panic and confusion written so loudly on her face that it's nearly comedic.
"Okay so-" You start trying to explain, but are interrupted when Danny bursts through the door, his glasses hanging from one ear and a baseball bat firmly grasped in both of his hands.
"Taylor?! What's going on, is it the Empire?!" He bellows as he enters.
"Grandpa!" Mini-Taylor yells, sprinting across the room to envelop him in a similar tiny hug to the one your Master was just in.
Danny Hebert, you suspect, might actually be the scariest person you've ever met. You can't quite put your finger on why, but something about the absolutely expressionless face her turns towards you is absolutely terrifying.
"...I have questions." He says with nearly no inflection.
Fifteen minutes later, you, Danny, Taylor, and Mini-Taylor are in the kitchen having a family meeting.
"So... she's a sword." Danny says with the air of someone who is slowly realizing their life is falling apart.
"Zanpakuto! Waaaay better than 'a sword'!" Mini-Taylor calls to him while stuffing most of your leftovers down her gullet. You have genuinely no idea where any of the food is going.
"But..." Taylor says in confusion, grasping the air in front of her and suddenly holding her sword. Somehow, between one blink and the next the Mini-Taylor was gone. As soon as you realized that, Taylors sword had once more vanished into the ether, and Mini-Taylor was once more eating your breakfast.
"How... do you have a name...?" Taylor asks hesitantly, uncertainty in her voice.
"Yes!" Mini-Taylor says, clapping happily but failing to elaborate.
"...What is it?" Taylor asks, her face cramping as her limited patience is tried to its limit.
"I've been trying to tell you but you aren't listening! You need to sleep more!" Mini-Taylor chastises your Master, one cheek puffing up in child like outrage.
"I've been sleeping more every day!" Taylor retorts.
"Yeah but stupid over there hasn't!" Mini-Taylor answers, sticking her tongue out at you.
"I- don't- what?" Taylor blurts out. It looks like she might be digging in to ask again, but once more Mini-Taylor vanishes. Taylor blinks once. Then twice. Then turns towards you, a question in her eyes.
"Okay so. Hear me out. You might, have been missing REM sleep because I wasn't sleeping." You admit, having figured this out sometime in the middle of the night.
"...is that why I've been so tired? I thought it was the training but..." Taylor muses then trails off. Your glad she isn't mad at you at least.
"I'm still not over the fact that your sword called me Grandpa. Kiddo, you aren't actually dating anyone... right?" Danny asks in despair. Taylor, in her infinite wisdom, chooses to copy her swords conversational technique, and turn towards you as if he hadn't spoken.
"So schools out. Training I guess?" She questions you, absolutely straight faced.
"If you want. Didn't you want to talk to Greg? The PRT might-" You offer carefully.
"No. Gregs a villain. He got arrested. I did my best. Training?" Taylor declares savagely. Obviously she doesn't want to think about the PRT or Greg right now.
Maybe you'll bring it up again later.