“Okay fine, I get that. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for Codi or you. Anyone else is super questionable at best. Can’t you just… you know, up, up and away they go?”
“Am I some caped superhero now?”
“You know what I mean! How hard can it be to portal them to somewhere?”
“Somewhere like what? Down the street, or across the world?! It isn’t even like he has plans but not the means.”
“Maybe he would have plans if he knew about the means.”
“No! How many times have we been through this? I am not some taxi service! Also, then I would have to explain to a whole host of people about how I can make windows in the first place as a Fire Affinity.”
“Hmm, good point. You always remember shit like that. I totally forget. My heart goes out for this man. I can’t just leave him.”
“Fine. Then you help him. I’ll be minding my own business in the meantime.”
Anaar moves to get up, but Phavian stops him. “Who in the hell are you? The Anaar I know would never turn a blind eye to anyone in need, especially not someone so close to him. He would give everything he had, just so they could have a little. Why are you acting like this?”
“I am sick of being expected to clean up everyone else’s messes, when I have more than enough of my own. Also, news flash: No one can help me with my messes.”
“Wow… That’s fucked up. I’m going to help this kid no matter what. I have an idea. You can at least accompany your boyfriend for a date, can’t you? Or are you too busy with your messes?”
“Whatever, as long as I’m not expected to plan anything.”
Phavian crosses the room, kneeling down to place a hand on Peter’s leg as he is still slightly whimpering. Noticing the gesture, Peter responds to Phavian’s presence in a low murmur.
“You know it is terribly rude to whisper in the company of others.”
Phavian lightly pops Peter on the side of his head. “Hey, don’t be a little shit. Here is what we are going to do. I am going to take care of everything. The only thing you need to do is get Genny on board. I’ll get you all the details later. I still have to get it all together. We will do a double date. That way it will be less pressure on you to keep the conversation up, and it will give us an excuse to go out and be the transport. We never go on dates these days.”
Peter’s bloodshot eyes brighten as he hears Phavian’s words. “Really? You would do that for me?!”
“Sure thing bud, just do better in the future. How are you going to be a man who can protect the one you love if you can’t even put together a simple expression of that love?”
Peter stands, nodding his head with resolution. Phavian guides him out of the room toward the front door, Peter giving a smile and a wave to Anaar as he passes by. Anaar returns the gesture, but was only happy that Peter was finally leaving. When Phavian returned, he had a look of smug satisfaction on his face.
“Still got it. Best mentor ever.”
Anaar rolls his eyes at Phavian in disgust. “You literally only became my mentor because you wanted to have sex with me.”
Phavian looks at Anaar in shock. “Only at first!”
“Which is exactly the point.”
“We are not going to dwell on the past! We are looking toward the future right now! So… that portal is still a no?”
“These are your plans, not mine.”
“But you are included in them!”
“Still doesn’t take into consideration the explaining part.”
“Oh shit. I keep forgetting that… Ooh! I’ve got it. The Headmistress said you could play with her car collection, right? Borrow us some fancy wheels for the night!”
“Shouldn’t you be taking care of this?! Why do I have to go ask Ixnes for a car?! Can’t you just rent one or something?”
Phavian looks at Anaar with a sour expression. “Now you know I don’t have a driver’s license…”
“Oh yes, I forgot. You don’t have one of the most common and basic of qualifications.”
“Hey! I can drive! Sorta. I mean what do you expect? I’m the baby and I’m from New York. There was never a time it was necessary for me to be able to drive…”
“How in the hell do I get roped into these things…”
Before Phavian can answer, Anaar falls backward through a weird looking portal, disappearing. Phavian looks around surprised and confused at his boyfriend’s disappearance without even standing from his seat.
Scratching his head, “When the fuck could he do that?”
Anaar arrives in an opulent corridor, landing from midair in a neat somersault. He looks around then enters the room before him. As he enters, a blinding fast stream of water races toward him. Completely unbothered, he continues walking forward as the stream makes its way back toward the vase it came from, gently refilling it. Ixnes looks up from where she is sitting, perturbed, but otherwise is in what appeared to be a good mood.
“Boy! What has gotten into you? Have you forgotten how to knock? I could have killed you!”
They stare at one another for a long moment before they both chuckle. Ixnes waves her arm toward a chair, Anaar responding to the gesture and taking a seat.
“So strange how normal logic and phrasing simply does not apply with you. What brings you here? Has a building been flash frozen again, causing many injuries and damages, or have you decided to leave more gaping chasms to be filled in Demolitionist’s Destination?”
“Hey! I filled at least one of them back up… No, I haven’t destroyed anything… by accident recently. I was hoping to borrow a car, hopefully a sedan.”
“How delightful! You are finally taking me up on my offer! There are a number of them available to choose from! Going for a joyride with the beau?”
Anaar sighs, “Something like that. Peter asked out Genevieve with absolutely no plan, and came to me crying for help. Phavian decided to baby him, and now we have some odd double date in the works. I have no idea where we are even going, but I can only surmise it is in Haxby.”
“Interesting, could you not simply… handle the transport on your own?”
“Not in the mood for explaining just for a little extra convenience. I also have no clue how far it will travel. Swearing them to secrecy doesn’t really do anything if there are no consequences. I can’t just kill them for telling someone, and even then, I’d have to kill the people they told. The chain would never end.”
Ixnes looks to the ceiling as if she was pondering for a moment. “How disturbing yet efficient! Well no matter, whatever vehicle you choose I will designate that as your personal vehicle moving forward.”
Anaar raises a hand whilst shaking his head. “Don’t bother. I don’t plan on having to deal with such troublesome matters for much longer.”
Ixnes raises a curious brow, but does not press the issue. “I see. Do at least inform me where you choose to go. I can assure you have the best accommodations.”
“Nope. This is on Phavian. Let him do the work he begged for. He is lucky I’m even driving.”
“Oh love, such a frenetic dance.”
“Yeah… right… I’m going to see Seles while I am here. Phavian needs time to come off his high of thinking he just saved the world.”
Anaar stands from his chair and exits the room without another word. Ixnes smirked at the door as he exited before returning to her work. She glanced at the vase where the water had been restored, her mind wandering for a moment about how easily her influence was overcome. In one night, he had far surpassed anything she could possibly fathom for herself.
The jet-black piece of art they were riding in handled much more like a fine-tuned sports car than a sedan. Anaar was thankful two of his passengers were very small, or the space in the backseat would have been extremely uncomfortable. Even if it were uncomfortable however, he would not care as he felt like a chaperone taking a group of children on a camping trip. Much to his dismay, Phavian only made the situation worse, rather than helping.
&n
bsp; “Oh I am so very excited for this! Aren’t you positively trembling Genny? Phavian will you still not tell us where we are going?”
Phavian turns in his seat to look back at Peter with a grin. “Not a chance. I can’t say I’m nearly as good as my better half here, but from what I understand about your powers, it will spoil all the surprise if you just look it up.”
Peter puffs out his cheeks in protest as Genevieve covers her mouth to stifle a tiny giggle. “Oh Pete, why would you want to spoil the fun?! I think it is very nice of our seniors to let us accompany them on their date. We should be thankful, sit back and enjoy the experience.”
Peter looks to Genevieve aghast. “But, but… this is our date! There would be no date if it were not for me!”
“Well then it makes it even nicer that they were willing to give up their time to help us.”
Peter found himself sinking lower and lower in Genevieve’s opinion, while Anaar focused on the road, whilst absently wondering how Peter thought this engagement would work out. He took note of the light snowfall on the ground, testament to how effective the dome around their school was at the regulation of weather conditions. Consumed with his navigation, Anaar had found himself lamenting how drastically his life had changed since he had become a Transporter, and that he was now stuck on a trip he did not want, taking the scenic route to their destination. Hobb appears in his vision, as usual, dressed for an occasion he was not technically attending.
“There is something about a leisurely stroll from time to time. Even if in questionable company!”
Questionable indeed. From what I have seen thus far, all couples seem to have one wild element, and one balancing element. That is not to say they are opposites though. Genevieve will have her work cut out for her. I have my suspicions she will be doing as much work as Pryshka trying to keep Codi in line.
“Which she is doing an outstanding job, might I add. Hospitalization due to electric shock has gone down by 63% in the past year. Efren Chang’s hospitalization rate has skyrocketed more than 280% however. All data indicates the populace considers this a net positive gain, which leads me to laud Ms. Aprendu’s efforts.”
I don’t know which one I am more surprised by, Codi actually attacking people less, or Efren Chang still being alive.
“There is evidence that he enjoys the assault. As such, he dives headlong into opportunities for his battery.”
That dude is beyond weird…
Anaar found himself nearing his destination, which prompted him to end his conversation with Hobb. He found it a welcome distraction for the awkward exchanges from the backseat between Peter and Genevieve. The only thing that made them slightly more bearable was that both of them seemed to be in a competition for who could be more awkward.
The valet took Genevieve’s hand to assist her as she alighted from the vehicle. Her puffy dress and heels gave her the look of going to prom rather than a simple night out. Her garish makeup was riddled with heavy eye shadow of differing colors, no doubt by Shonte’s hand. Once everyone had exited the car, the valet took in the odd assembly of two large men of darker shades, and the two exceedingly small, pale individuals that seemed to accompany them. He took the keys with reverence after leading them to the entrance.
Upon finding out the name of the restaurant, it was not long before Peter was buzzing with excitement. “Oh my, this is going to be perfectly splendid! I wonder which courses we will be-”
Phavian grabs Peter by the collar, hiking him up slightly as he releases an embarrassing squeal. “Hey, quiet down you. Your big mouth will ruin everything. This is why I didn’t want to tell you sooner. I should have blindfolded you or something.”
Genevieve giggled once again, and Anaar noticed she seemed to be having a much better experience in heels than Maggie. He had never seen her as made up as Shonte or Stefani, but it seemed she knew her way around such things. They were brought to their table, and once they had taken their seats, they were presented with a problem. As the chairs were extremely deep, and Peter’s legs were exceptionally long for someone with his condition, he found himself barely able to look over the table.
In a dizzying display of theatrics, Peter rampaged to every person he could about the restaurant being inconsiderate in accommodating the needs of their clientele. Even the passing busboy was not spared a thorough tongue lashing. Finding they were getting nowhere, Anaar left the table, saying he had something he thought would help. When he returned, he had a metal booster seat perfectly molded to fit Peter and the seat. He also placed two air cushions on the seat to make it more comfortable. Since they were invisible to the eye, Peter immediately began to complain.
“What is this Anaar?! I appreciate the effort, but I am going to end up with a hemorrhoid if I sit upon this all night! Where did you even acquire this? It looks strangely customized…”
Not in the mood for Peter’s inquisition, he crossed to where the small man was sitting, pulled him out of the chair, dangling him above his head like a piece of string, all while placing the seat in the chair. Once he had replaced Peter in the seat, he pushed it in, effectively locking him in place.
“Take it or leave it.”
Peter was about to complain about the comfort of the seat, but no words for such could be found. Quite the contrary, he found the metal contraption he was now seated in far superior in comfort to the chair itself. Shocked by the turn of events, he decided to focus his complaints elsewhere.
“I must admit this is rather comfortable. I appreciate your effort.” There is a pause and then he continues in a snarling voice. “Even if something this simple should have been afforded at the outset!”
Phavian pipes in after all the commotion. “I don’t think this is the type of place you take your kids. Like ever. Even if the babysitter cancels. You just leave them in the car until you are done or something. It isn’t too surprising they don’t have booster seats.”
Anaar sighs as he takes a sip of the water on the table. “Yet… you brought us here…”
Genevieve was far more upset about the situation than anyone expected her to be. “This is absolutely an outrage! I believe our dinner should be free after such utter lack of consideration! Where is the manager?!”
Phavian and Anaar immediately lock eyes, with Phavian leaning over to him, his hand in front of his mouth as he whispered. “Oh god. She is one of them… Did you know about this shit?”
“Had no idea, but I can’t say I’m exactly surprised.”
The waiter appeared to be quite experienced in the industry, because as soon as he reappeared, he immediately apologized. “I would like to express my deepest regrets for not being properly accommodating. I will personally see to it that this is rectified in the future.”
Phavian interjects before either Peter or Genevieve could begin talking. “Thank you, we appreciate the concern. We are interested in the full international flight please.”
The waiter nods, clearly impressed. “Excellent choice. We are world renowned for it. Are there any allergies that I should be made aware of? We can properly account for these.”
Phavian and Anaar shake their heads, with Peter grumbling something about them finally wanting to be accommodating. Anaar fixes his eyes on him with a searing parental glare, which causes him to wither and immediately shake his head. Genevieve meekly raises her hand and begins to squeak in response.
“Umm, I can’t have shellfish, peanuts, dairy, mango, wheatgrass, certain types of honey so best to avoid all of them-”
What in the hell is she subsisting off of?! Charged particles in the air?!
“Seaweed, sea moss, habanero pepper, ginger-”
How is she still going?!
“And parsley. There might be some more, but those are the ones I know off the top of my head. If any take me by surprise, I do have my epipen! That’s it, not too much.”
The waiter pales at the list, the expression on his face indicating he clearly should have been prepared to write it down. Before he can
muster the courage to ask them to hold while he retrieved a pen and paper, Anaar steps in with a confused look at Genevieve.
“Allergies are simply the immune system incorrectly attacking something it thought was a threat. Considering your body would identify these as toxins of some sort, couldn’t you just use your powers to get rid of whatever in those foods is triggering the response? Wouldn’t your life be considerably easier that way?”
Genevieve looks at Anaar with a conflicted expression. “My powers can do that? I never thought about it that way. What would I focus on getting rid of?”
Anaar sits gape-mouthed for a moment in disbelief before snapping to and continuing. “I don’t know, whatever best resonates with that intent for you. How do you get rid of other things? Surely you can’t know exactly what substance is plaguing a person all the time. Even still, the intent we put into our abilities are not literal. Instead, they are a basis for communication, but not all that exists. As long as you have a decent understanding of what you are trying to accomplish, your powers will react accordingly. Eventually.”
The waiter found himself in an even deeper state of confusion than he was before as he tried to make sense of the conversation. “Apologies, should I cancel the flight or-”
Anaar waves his hand dismissively. “No, prepare it as normal, this will be a good experiment.” If nothing else, I can just modify her genetic code to stop seeing the entire universe as a damn threat.
Genevieve looks around nervously as Peter puffs out his chest and places his hand on Genevieve’s. “Don’t worry, if you were going to believe anyone about this type of thing, Anaar would be your best bet.” Looking to the waiter and raising his hand, “I will have a bottle of wine please.”
“Absolutely sir, I will get you a wine menu. May I see some identification?”
Peter blushes and shrinks in his seat. “I… must have left it at home. No worries then.”
Anaar sees Phavian beginning to open his mouth and kicks him under the table with a smile. Receiving the message loud and clear, he dismisses the waiter with no further requests. Left alone with one another, the table sits in silence as if everyone were waiting for the other to start a conversation. Unbothered by the situation, Anaar begins completing some of his school assignments to no one’s knowledge. Finally, Genevieve gets up the courage to speak.
Revelations (Song of Sophangence Book 4) Page 21
