ic Everybody Knows (IC)

[Ari]

"Mother always wanted another psychic, but none of us were. On the one hand, I am envious that both of you have that link to your predecessors, when the only person I resemble is my blood-father Lavernius. But the way it has marked you both, closing as many doors as it has opened...perhaps we were lucky." 

 

"Would you like me to help you discover more about these 'Stellarians', Judy?" Leroy looked entirely serious. "Mia, would you object to my delving into the origin of this crystalline substance with you? Even if the answers are not dramatic, they could still reveal much."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Sure," said Judy before Ashley could object. "Ah mean, they're not the best people from what Ah hear," her face tightened, ever so slightly, "but nobody knows much about them." 

 

"What happened to your father, Leroy?" asked Ashley. 

[Ari]

"Happened...?" Leroy clapped a hand over his mouth as his scars flushed red "Oh! I made it sound as if he was deceased! No no, Lavernius is alive and teaching music at Freedom College. He and mother can barely stand each other, however. Theirs was a marriage of inconstant passions."

 

"Customarily they would simply move to different Skies for a time. Lavernius would while his away with music and song among the arrivals, Mother would use hers to enforce order among the armies. Eventually, their hearts would yearn for one another and they would make much of their reunion. Until, years ago, they quarreled so fiercely that Lavernius left New Atlantis and Earth-2, swearing never to return." Leroy shrugged at that, as if it were nothing unusual or noteworthy.

 

"They still speak, but rarely. Father Nova and Father Night bless her waking and resting hours, and she is content. Although..." Propping his chin up on one fist, the tattooed boy scowled at nothing "...my little sister, Oloroo,  also calls Lavernius blood-father, and mother has never sought to have another since..."

 

He looked up, visibly realizing he'd been rambling. "That is of no account! I beg your pardons! If I might also beg a strand of your hair, Mustafic-Markov? Dee," his warm golden eyes sparkled as he looked back at his girlfriend, "if you would shine for me once more? With these gifts, I swear that I shall bridge this gap and return with the unaltered truths of your being."