Electra
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"Ah, well, nothing very organized," Stesha admitted, a little uncomfortably. "I do most of my worship during my work, and out in nature. We were never really big on going to church in my family, we were more about looking for god and truth in our everyday lives. Not that I think there's anything wrong about church and singing and praying and such, it's just not something I really do very much of. Hmm, now how many arrangements were you looking for?"
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Up until this moment, Stesha'd had her night all planned out. With a Gilmore Girls marathon on television, her pedicure set, and a bowl of popcorn on the table, and her favorite ratty sweatsuit on, she was all set to make a virtue of the necessity of Derrick's trip to some distant galaxy for a rescue mission. He couldn't be home all the time, and they'd been in Chicago for so much of last week, he had catching up to do. She'd been just about to apply the paint to her first toe when the phone rang, playing the Toy Story theme that indicated an unknown number. "Dead Head?" she asked the air, wondering what the odd-looking hero would need to be calling her for. But it had to be important, didn't it? Mentally writing off a chunk of her planned relaxing evening, she said "Yes, I'll accept the charges."
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"Just give me the frequencies and I'll take care of everything," Persephone promised. "I can link up your communications devices to the ship's systems so that any calls to you come straight up here as well as to your personal comm, and so that you and any of your teammates can call up here if necessary. That's always been a useful trick, like when Kid Midnight got me to use my orbital signaling lights to... but you don't remember that, do you," she trailed off. An eyeblink later, she was bright again, and talking again. "That's all right though, there are always new adventures to be had! If you'd like to give me your clothes and equipment, I'll have them cleaned and synched by the time you finish your bath."
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"So you have a giant spaceship, a sentient computer to run it, and a menagerie up there?" Erin asked, caught between amusement and astonishment. "That's... well, I guess it explains what's been keeping you so busy, for sure. But what are you going to do with it? I mean, do you actually need a giant spaceship full of animals, now that the world isn't a crazy figment of Mark's dad's imagination?"
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"I don't think high contact is a bad thing when you're dancing with your boyfriend," Erin decided. "And at least he probably doesn't step on your feet, what with the able to fly and all that. Do you really think a prom would work out here, though? I mean, it's already the end of the year, we're going to be down to just the full-timers soon. It would be a pretty small group of us, and, well, mostly guys."
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"A week is cutting it pretty close," Stesha told him, "but luckily you've got an inside connection, and I know how to get my hands on some hyacinths real quick," she added with a grin and a wink. Then, as his words sunk into her brain, she added. "So, ah... you mean to say that you actually knew St. Stephen, the one who got, what was it, stoned to death or something, back in the Bible? Or is this a different St. Stephen?"
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Erin's eyes were wide as she looked around, it was like something out of a movie, but much bigger and infinitely more real. She could smell the flowers and the expensive perfume in the air, plus an appetizing aroma that suggested Trevor was probably right in his optimism about dinner. Her dress did stand out amongst the largely muted colors of this serious gathering, but people didn't stare at her any more than the kids at school did, at least. She decided that was good enough. "So you make the rounds and talk to people, and then food, and then dancing?" she asked Trevor quietly.
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"Well, it's not quite that simple here," Stesha admitted with a chuckle. "If you want a churchful of takeaway flowers for today, you're going to have to go to Murphy's down the street. What we do here is mainly events, where you tell us what you want ahead of time and we make it for you. Is there a special occasion you need flowers for, a wedding or a funeral?"
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Stesha was in the back, hand-tying crystals into a toss bouquet, when Patty came racing into the production room. "Oh my god, you guys! There's a man with WINGS out in the front room. Like honest to go wings!" Patty was very excitable, but that was enough to get everyone's attention. "He looks like an angel or something!" "Wings?" Stesha blinked, then laughed. "I think I know who it is. Don't worry about it, I can take it." Ever since the aftermath of the Grue invasion, when she'd accidentally returned to the shop in costume, not realizing some of her coworkers were hiding there, they'd been in on the secret of her identity. She was grateful to have kept her job, and to be able to use her unique skills more openly. It also made her the obvious choice to deal with any... unusual customers. Setting aside her bouquet, she took off her apron and walked into the front, smiling. "Hello Heyzel," she told him cordially. "I didn't expect to see you here today."
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"That sounds cool, dancing up in the sky," Erin decided thoughtfully. "And the lessons." Ballroom dancing certainly wasn't in Claremont's oeuvre of classes, but she had no doubt about Alex's ability to find a way to learn anything she liked. "How do you deal with the, ah, height thing?" Despite their obvious compatibility, physically it was a little hard to envision Alex dancing with Mike without the aid of some stilts.
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Stesha had been giving Jack the coldest of shoulders for a long time now, but she just had to relax her principles a bit to get another good look at the baby. "He's so sweet, and look how alert. I wonder if he's going to keep those blue eyes. Oh, just a second, be right back!" She dropped one of the ragged flowers in her hair onto the floor, then touched another one and teleported away. She was back thirty seconds later with a stack of tiny clothes and a vase of white roses. "I know," she told Taylor, "I went baby shopping again. But I couldn't resist! I already washed these, so you can put them on him whenever you'd like. And these are for you." She set the roses onto the tray by the bed. "Congratulations, mama, you did great."
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Stesha laughed. "I hope you're not buying the kind filled with water, what a mess." She didn't ask if the baby actually needed more than milk, given the fangs. She didn't want to know. Ever! "And in this kind of weather, I'm pretty sure you're fine to have him out, long as he doesn't get overheated. When my mom has a client, she always tells them to go out with the baby, even when the baby is very small, unless it's super cold out. It doesn't hurt anything, and it keeps the mom from going stir crazy." She grinned. "And this way you can get him used to sunshine and outdoors early."
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"Good to hear," Erin said, grinning. "I'd hate to have to break in a new roommate at this late date. You've pretty much seen all the worst I have to offer. And I don't think I could get by without your fashion advice," she teased. "Once I get this dress, I'm going to have to accessorize it and all that. I can at least do that much on my own, even with Tubbo here's massive appetite." She patted the cat's head. "Have you and Mike ever gone out someplace really fancy? I don't know if it's going to be cool or kind of uncomfortable and weird to be so dressed up."
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"Weird," Erin said. "I guess maybe it's like me, it stays the same when everything else changes, or remembers when everyone else forgets, something like that. But it came after you, like on its own initiative?" she asked , hopping up to sit on the pommel horse. "Or is there a crew on there that came along too? That would be really weird," she mused. "Probably worse than going from our world to theirs, coming from that world to here."
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Erin quickly activated the base teleporter to send herself and Mark out to where the beam was about to hit. Even as she began to move, she called to Mark, "You remember that ham sandwich? Can you make something huge and really strong... can you make a mirror? If you make it, I'll try and divert the beam with it!" While she let him work on that, she began moving people out of the way with every bit of speed her superhuman abilities allowed her. There was so little time, but everyone they moved was one more who would live.
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That got a surprised look out of Erin. "Wait a second, that huge spaceship with all the monitors and the flashy lights? It followed you home? How is that even possible? Everything else changed back like it was supposed to. All of us, our stuff, all the people." She looked up towards the ceiling as though she'd magically catch a glimpse of a ship in orbit. "Do you think it means that things might not be changed back as much as we thought they were?"
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Persephone listened carefully to the entire explanation with a look that verged from slight confusion to comical dismay as she realized the extent of the memories he had lost, and what they had been replaced with. She did brighten somewhat at his invitation. "All right... James," she said with a shy smile. "If you really want to continue groundside expeditions on Terra, I can put us into a higher and more stable orbit, one that will let me remain parked indefinitely with minimal fuel expenditure. We can be very useful to you!" she assured him. "All of the ships functions are accessible through my remote linkups. All you need to do is call and I'll be there for you, always!"
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Erin nodded. "Alex and I talked to him when he finally came back to school, but I'm sure talking to a guy would help too. You might have to start it, though. It's kind of weird, but I think he thinks we're going to be bored or mad or something if he tries to tell us about his problems. I guess because he's not used to having them." She tossed the towel aside and took a drink of water, watching him. "How are you doing since we got back? Besides being busy, I mean. You got a weird doubled-life too."
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"Carnivores?" Erin asked, sotto voce. "Like all carnivores, do you think? I'm having a hard time reconciling a group of tree hugging vegetarians who go out and shoot wolves for fun." She grinned. "I guess we can always go out for burgers later if the food here is really bad." She walked with him up to the large entrance doors, gaining confidence in the whole dress and heels ensemble again as she went. She had superhuman athletic ability, she reminded herself, that wasn't going to be undermined by wearing shoes that were pointy on the bottom. "Do you think there'll be a lot of people you know here?"
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"I'm doing okay," Erin told him with a shrug, wiping her face and neck. She'd been at it for more than an hour, which was enough for even her to break a healthy sweat. "Maybe better than some, I mean, I didn't get any extra memories of a second life or weird stuff like that. I think Eve's had kind of a tough time, but she's getting better." Erin frowned, leaning against a pommel horse. "Mark's taking it really hard, of course. I've never seen him like this before. He's never really had anything bad happen to him, I guess, and now this."
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"It's worth a lot," Erin told her, her smile becoming a little less rueful and more genuine. "I care more about what you think than all the rest of them put together. And I'm not going to just spill my guts to everybody who stares at me, make them feel sorry for me or worse, just so they stop thinking I'm nuts. It doesn't matter that much. Heck, it probably wouldn't even stop them from staring, they'd just do it for different reasons." She sighed. "You're still going to stay on campus, aren't you? With your company starting up and everything? I know you're not taking many actual Claremont classes anymore..."
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"Already on it, Hell-Ion!" Persephone reported proudly. "We're hidden from all forms of earthbound tracking, they'd have to get a superhero up her to actually look at us if they wanted so much as a glimpse. And we'd see them coming from miles away. We can go wherever you want, whenever you'd like to leave, just say the word and it's off to Adventure!" She looked terribly pleased about the idea, little sparkly lights appearing along the edges of her images.
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Erin stood up instantly, looking at the beam as it sliced down from the heavens, impossibly large and deadly. "Zephyr, you need to start with the evacuation. You're the only one fast enough to get there right now, before anybody dies. Edge and I will follow with the teleporter and help when we get there. Alex, can you get us a line on exactly where that beam's going to go, so you can direct what we need to clear out?" She knew Mike could catch the plane, that was, oddly enough, the least of her worries at this point. "Hellion, can you get up to your ship and see if you can tell what the hell it is that's up there? We don't even know what we're dealing with right now."
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Erin was working on agility tonight, as was quickly apparent, High above the gym floor, she swung from the trapeze bars and caught onto the thick pipes running just below the ceiling, swinging and flipping as though engaged in a chase with an imaginary enemy. There was a ropes course up there that she made incidental use of as well, grabbing onto anything that came to hand as she maneuvered her way around the room with great speed and grace. It wasn't until she stopped for a quick breather that she spotted James at all. Grinning, she let go of the rope she was holding and dropped the thirty feet to the ground, landing neatly with an echoing slap of shoe rubber. "Hey, long time no see," she told him, heading to the warm up benches for a clean towel. "They must be keeping you busy."
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"We'd love to help," Stesha said loyally. "Every new mom needs some time off now and then, and I'd love some time to coo over him." She grinned, taking another drink of her tea and watching for the waitress so they could order some lunch while the baby slept. "Have you thought about getting some other babysitters lined up, too? You never know when something's going to happen that needs all of our attention, after all, and it never hurts to have redundancy."