Chasing NicoleA

She came slyly to Omega, offering supposed information of an Omegan traitor, a leak. But her parting words? “Tell Lyra I know where she can find her tail, if she wants it.” The murdering bitch.

NicoleA. I swore I’d find her. I took the Messenger, Faye’Li, with me and headed to Kindred headquarters. A tall, red-haired vampire woman watched as we entered. “May we help you ladies?”

“We're looking for one of your sisters, NicoleA,” I replied. “She has something that belongs to a friend of mine.”

The woman nodded solemnly. “She is no longer of this family. I am afraid to disappoint you, but if I may inquire, what does she have of yours that you seek at this moment?”

Faye'Li glanced between us and the vampires with an unreadable expression. “She took something…very personal…belonging to an Omegan under my charge,” I began.

“I have seen her in the Haven as of late, but I am afraid I can not be of further assistance,” the vampire shrugged.

“If I may ask, how is it that she came to leave your family?”

The vampire shook her head calmly. "That is not something I am privileged to reveal.”

“I see.” I could feel my temper rising. “It seems we both have information we're . . . not privileged to reveal, then. I will tell you this: NicoleA did not act alone.”
“I don’t believe you would have revealed any information in any case...or is this an offer for an exchange perhaps?” the vampire chuckled.

I spoke softly. “The only exchange I'm interested is NicoleA’s and her sisters' heads on a plate. My name is Joah. I will keep looking.”

The vampire nodded. “I am Cordelia...to my left is my brother Rees and behind me is my brother Gage...wait...please. You mention another sister...of whom do you speak?”

Gage met my eyes. “Do you mean a member of our family…or a blood relation?”

“At present...I don't know,” I frowned. “But I will find out.”

Cordelia furrowed her brows. “And...these two have done your family wrong you say?”

“Three,” I said plainly.

A small gasp escaped Cordelia, then a look of remembrance crossed her face, quickly replaced by an expression of false concern. “Oh, I see...and this object you seek...it was important to your family. Well, I certainly hope you find what you seek ladies, but we can offer you no further assistance here I'm afraid.”

Rees spoke up. He behaved as if we’d never met. “A few weeks ago I promised the Lady Omega my full support. I would be happy to help in this instance.”

“And yes, NicoleA is no longer a member of this family. I assure you,” Gage said in an even voice.

Cordelia Cuttita nodded toward Rees. “We have no ill feelings toward your family, as far as we are aware.”

“Nor, I am sure, does the Lady Omega have any toward yours,” I replied. “She is most gracious. More so than I.”

A slow grin crossed Cordelia’s face. “Perhaps, then, your information is incorrect.”

“I think not. But…since NicoleA is…no longer of your family, perhaps I should search elsewhere.” Faye’Li and I turned to head for the door.

Cordelia said politely, “Yes...I am afraid we can not assist you in that respect.”

I turned. “Cannot. Not will not, I suppose. Well, thank you for your time. Please excuse me and my companion, Faye'Li.”

Rees raised a brow then looked across to his brother and sister, as his sister said, “We bid you both well.”

“Yes...be well,” Gage murmured.

“Hmm,” Faye’Li whispered as we walked away. “Definitely 'iding someting.”

The plant gathering expedition

I sat by the fire in the Library, picking brambles from my stockings while Lyra waited impatiently by the stairs. Rellis strolled in greeting us and asked, “Anything of interest happening?"

“We’ve been out collecting plants,” Lyra replied. She tapped her foot with impatience, “Joah, can you help me unload these? I need to get them out of the sack and ready to press. There are some samples for Rellis to analyze, too.”

"I'm just taking a bit of a rest," I replied, plucking a bit of grass from the lacings in my boot. "Hold on a second, Lyra. I want to pull this off."

“I can't believe you even wore that to collect plants.” Lyra rolled her eyes at my black silk dress, my torn stockings, and my heeled boots. “Not very practical.”

I continued plucking grass and weeds from my stockings and the top of my boots. "I know . . . rather foolish of me, I think."

Rellis’s ears began twitching at the word “plant.” “Any I can look at now?” he asked.

Lyra opened her pack and started to show Rellis what we had found. But when I finished tossing the weeds in my hand into the fire, I looked up and saw a new woman in the Library. She had wandered over to the desk with a large pile of books and appeared to be asleep. “Just a moment, Lyra,” I said as I walked toward the woman.

Lyra continued showing plants to Rellis. “We will have to use a few references to identify some of these I think. I'll leave it to you to study them and determine their properties, if any.”

Rellis furrowed his brow in concentration. "I already have my note book. I’ve never seen some of these before.” He began pulling out a few rather more cautiously than usual.

“Hopefully, none of them are poisonous,” Lyra grinned. “I guess we'll find out.”

Thinking of some of Rellis’s earlier mishaps in the lab, I glanced back at him and Lyra. "Let's not take anything out until we get to the lab, please." Both nodded a silent yes and began putting plants back into the pack. Lyra pulled out the extra bottle of water she’d brought for me and laughed about my being unused to hiking around, while Rellis murmured an apology about being a bit to eager to delve in.

I then turned my attention to the woman, who indeed was sleeping face down in a handwritten book. I tapped her on the shoulder and she raised her head groggily, ink stains on her cheeks. Her name was Ares Mizin and she was looking for books on protective magicks. I pointed her to the far right corner of the stacks, then returned to Rellis and Lyra and headed upstairs.

Lyra walked straight to the crates at the back of the lab, asking Rellis if he’d found an identification guide yet. She slipped off her pack and muttered something about needing a few more tables upstairs, as she lifted two plant presses from one of the boxes and hauled out a drying oven from another. She set everything the floor. “Would you like to do the honors, Joah?” she asked.

I nodded and pulled the plastic bag out of Lyra’s backpack as she arranged the presses. "Perhaps we should have used individual bags," I said, looking and the snarled mass of greenery within. Meanwhile, Rellis wandered over to the stacks upstairs and began combing the shelves for plant references.

Lyra shrugged, “This is the way I've always done it. Let’s get these pressed and into the drying oven before they mold.” Lyra took off her backpack and laid it next to the wall. “Ready, Joah?”

I nodded. We certainly didn’t want the plants to mold in the Toxian air; we wouldn’t be able to preserve their morphological integrity if they did. I opened the bag and pulled out a dark green vine with small clusters of individual purplish-black berries. I laid the vine upon the table and glanced at the presses, “How many plants do we have room for, Lyra?”

“We can stack several plants in each press, I think," she replied. As I reached in the bag to grab another plant, an odd thing happened: a puff of what appeared to be tiny pink achenes attached to tufts of fine hairs wafted from it. Then Lyra reached in the bag and pulled out a tangle of samples all at once. Pink flew everywhere. “What’s that?” I coughed. We hadn’t collected anything with pink buds or flowers or clocks.

Lyra choked a little, waving the floating particles away. “I’m not sure, probably pollen,” she said. "Have you ever done this before Joah?”

“I have,” I replied, “But the traditional way: either bundling and hanging the plants upside down to dry or using blotter paper and books.” I glanced at wooden frames of the plant pressed, wondering how to tighten their woven straps. “Well, let’s separate the samples and give some of each to Rellis.”

Rellis had begun sneezing as the pink cloud drifted through the room. "What is that?" he muttered, trying to clear his nose of pink particles.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Lyra said as she ran over to get a stack of newspapers from the small desk in the corner. She began untangling and placing plants between two sheets of newsprint, then laying the package between two blotters.

Rellis sneezed again as he started grabbing books from the shelves and setting them down on the lab table. He took a small glass phial and stirring rod from the lab table drawer, knelt down on the floor and began to push the pink particles into it.

Lyra continued placing plants, while I assisted. “We’ll stack them all, put the press on either side of the stack and tighten it,” she explained. “Then they’ll need to go into the drying oven.”

I wondered aloud whether we should use the drying oven or let the plants dry more slowly, when Lyra suddenly dropped an entire assemblage to the floor. “What *is* this pink stuff?” she mused, tracing her fingers in the air, then catching a tiny achene and rolling it between her thumb and index finger.

Rellis sneezed again and growled, "Joah, please get this stuff out of the air. It’s really starting to bother me for some reason."

“This wasn't there before was it?” Lyra drifted her hand upward, pointing at something behind her that didn’t appear to be there. She breathed deeply and sighed, as though her sense of smell had just grown keener.

I coughed again, trying to clear my throat. Lyra walked toward me, a sleepy smile on her face, plants forgotten on the floor. Stopping just inches away, she began caressing my arm, “That is such a pretty dress, Joah.”

I looked down at my dress and brushed a few of the pink achenes away. "That stuff's all over me," I sighed, but the particles felt silky and I found I was longing to smell their scent.

Lyra touched my face and ran the back of her hand down my cheek, “Yes, it is all over you,” she murmured, stroking softly. I tilted my cheek towards Lyra’s hand as she began twirling the fingers of her other hand around my hair, purring. Her tail swished back and forth.

I began to feel very warm. I’d quite forgotten about the plants, breathing in the wonderful aroma. My lips brushed Lyra’s, "Thank you for the compliment,” I said in a low voice as I began stroking the soft fur on her face.

Still playing with my hair, Lyra glanced over at Rellis, whose eyes had begun to widen as he muttered something about a releaser pheromone. “Have you found that book, handsome?" she said dreamily.

Rellis appeared to be trying to gain some composure "Please try to control yourself, Lyra." Clearly, he was trying hard to do the same.

“Control myself?” Lyra asked with a sparkly laugh. “What is there to control? I feel . . . good.”

I stretched and ran my hands down my sides, "Mmm . . . I do, too," I sighed contentedly.

“Maybe we can just press these plants later,” Lyra purred as she began running her fingers through her own hair, enjoying the sensation. I nodded, thinking of tail snugs by the fire.

“Try to keep sane here, Lyra,” Rellis interjected. "It’s something about the plants . . . making you. . . . “ He stopped suddenly and grinned. “Umm . . . you don't look bad," he said, making an odd grunting noise.

Lyra laughed again. “I don't know what you are talking about, Rellis. You fuddy dud!” Lyra walked over to the chairs in the seating area, plopped down in one and began running her hands over the fabric. “Mmm, this chair is soft,” she murmured.

I walked over to Rellis, put my arms around him and began stroking his ruff. "Must find," he began, and then almost purring to himself he relaxed. "Well . . . maybe later," he trailed off.

Lyra rested her head against the chair rubbing her face against it. I smiled warmly at Rellis. “Calm down. Everything is just fine." I leaned over and kissed him on the snout. "See, I told you so."

Rellis chuckled as he nodded. "Guess so—I don't even remember what I was stressing about. Let’s head down."

And we did.

Baby blessings

The balloons swayed in the gentle May breeze. The brightly wrapped presents seemed full of promise, paper and ribbons glistening in the late afternoon sun. The smell of hot chocolate, fresh date bread, cupcakes and cake filled the air mixed with the almond scent of oleander, and the sweet fragrance of yellow jasmine.

It was to be a small gathering of friends, a celebration of new life, a gifting to Larissa for the birth of her little one. I was making a few final arrangements, lighting the candles on the cake, straightening the tablecloths when Larissa arrived. She looked around in amazement, taking in the waterfalls and the tropical greenery, her eyes moving to the tables with their adornments.

Blushing and grinning, she greeted me as she looked around. “The waterfalls are beautiful. The balloons!” Larissa poured herself a mug of hot chocolate, plopping in several marshmallows. “I have a cake!” she laughed. “A Warm Welcome to Toxia’s Newest Little Hellion,” it read amidst whirls of icing.

I gave Larissa a hug, as Lyra arrived with a bottle of wine and a square box, wrapped in blue. She kissed Larissa, sat the box on the gift table, put the bottle in the grass by a log, kicked off her shoes and sat down. Uncharacteristically for the scientist, she wore a party dress. She looked rather more sweet than stern. “I didn’t know if we had to dress girly,” she grinned. Hopping up to grab a mug of hot chocolate, she asked, “Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”

“Definitely a girl,” Larissa replied. “Abigail.”

“Abigail? That means ‘father’s joy,” Lar.” Thinking of Lorne’s seeming indifference to the birth of his child I said, “Interesting choice.”

Larissa frowned a bit at this, but patting her tummy gently she replied, “I still love the name.”

I breathed in the clean, warm air. “Living in the city makes one forget that the sun still does shine.”

Lyra nodded. “My partner and I live on the beach. We have a little dojo. Our living quarters are above it.”

“Dojo?” I asked as Merma arrived, giving greetings to all and a hug to Larissa. I grinned at Merma. “Apparently, Lyra is skilled in the martial arts.”

“Eh . . . a lot of good that does me,” Lyra laughed. “I’m much better with a book than a katana.”

“Anything can be a weapon if you use it right,” Merma said with mock seriousness as Larissa helped herself to a second slice of cake. Merma joined her. “That cake is sweet!” they echoed in unison.

After relaxing and chatting a bit more, we got down to the serious business of gift opening. Lyra went first, handing the blue box to Larissa while winking and teasing about a gift to help her get started on the next baby. Larissa tore off the gift’s wrappings, then begin to blush furiously: SexGen T.B.C. Toybox, it read. As she began to examine the contents, she burst out laughing.

“Oh my God,” Merma giggled. “Dear Lord, who gave you that?”

Larissa cleared her throat, “Umm, thank you, Lyra.” She rewrapped the package carefully.

My notions of Lyra’s scientific aloofness had been completely revised in the past few days due to her recent conversations about the habits of incubi with Severus, and her gifting to Larissa. Clearly, behind the lab coat there lurked a minx. “I have something for you too, Lar. Perhaps a little less risqué.” I handed Larissa a box wrapped in red paper, tied with a gold bow.

Larissa unwrapped the box and began grinning. “She will love this Joah.” I know that rollerblades aren’t usually considered a baby gift, but, given how fast the baby had been growing inside Larissa, I thought little Abigail might be playing with them sooner rather than later.

Merma’s gift was large, wrapped loosely with pink paper and a silver bow. Larissa pulled off the wrappings to reveal a beautiful crib made of burnished oak. “I didn’t know what else to get,” she said softly.

“It’s lovely,” sighed Larissa. “Beautiful,” I agreed as Lyra popped the cork on her wine and poured a glass, lifting it in toast to Larissa.

Tracing her hand along the crib railing, Larissa turned to Merma. “The gift of your blessings would be great, Merma.”

Merma smiled with great affection. “You know you have those, Lar. They’ll put a little good into that demon child.”

Lyra sipped her wine. “Why does everyone keep calling it a demon child? That’s not very nice.”

Merma began, “Because she’s half demon . . .”

“Lorne is the father,” I said.

Larissa interrupted. “She is still half me.”

“And that part of her will be sweet and strong, Larissa,” I replied.

Larissa patted her tummy again, “Ah, she is gonna be a rascal.” Lyra began muttering something about not knowing about having kittens.

I sighed, hoping for blessings. “That reminds me, I suppose I’d best give you the last gift. It’s a message from Nareth.” I walked over to the table and picked up a small parchment envelope, sealed with red wax, and handed it to Larissa.

“Speaking of Nareth,” Lyra began, “I haven’t seen her in forever. Where has she disappeared to?”

Larissa looked thoughtful. “She is . . . distant,” she murmured, gazing at the note she had removed from it’s envelope.

“Would your read the message to us, Larissa?” I asked.

Talking softly, Larissa read: “Nareth gives to Larissa a promise: I will do my best to insure that no action of mine hand, and no omission of action by mine hand, brings your daughter to harm. And I shall watch over her, when I may.”

We listened quietly, till I finally asked, “What do you make of it, Lar?”

Larissa smiled. “That she loves me,” she whispered.

We sat in silence a few moments, the rose to explore the caverns.