Housewarming [IC]

[alderwitch]

"Wow," Taylor opinioned, shading her eyes with one hand as she tried to get a sense for the creatures. "Well, this is a good place for them, and they'll provide you some protection on the off chance any thing nasty ever does come out to bother you. That's a good thing to have. I'm a big fan of security even if the place is entirely off the grid. Or in this case, off the dimension. Beekeeper's gone big time, then. Ah, no pun intended."

[Electra]

"He escaped from prison and got a significantly upgraded suit, not to mention the bees," Stesha said, pursing her lips. "I think this all happened while you were busy elsewhere, but he tried to hold the city hostage until he got me. Which is creepy as hell, and doesn't really work the way he seems to think it does. You should've seen it, though," she allowed, cracking a smile. "Ace disguised himself as me and hit the Beekeeper with some knockout lipstick. You can guess what he did to apply it." Stesha laughed. "Anyway, it knocked him out long enough for us to take him down and get him out of that suit."

"You know," Stesha added idly after a moment's pause, "The funny thing is that when he's not in that stupid battlesuit, he's not bad-looking. If he'd just, you know, met me and asked me out to dinner like a normal person, back before I met Derrick, I might have said yes. Weird to think how it could've gone." She laughed and shook her head. "I don't want the bees to scare JJ or vice versa, so maybe we'll meet them on another day. How have things been for you since you've been home?"

[alderwitch]

"Oh, Ace." Taylor said with a fond smile and shook her head, her dimples flashing in quick amusement. She glanced down at serious faced baby and nodded her agreement, "He does alright with most odd things but, you never know. Ghosts, he's used to, but I take him around a clown and he starts hissing and glaring and when that fails, he cries. It's alright. Jack usually chases off whatever upsets him. I think, sometimes, his vampire instincts and his paternal instincts cross bizarrely. Oh, well."

Taylor shrugged after delivering that little understatement of the year, "It's going better. I think we're still working through my absence but things are a lot better now, at least. Much less tense. I don't really know how to make it up to Jack but I'm working on it. That's really all I can do."

[Electra]

"Aw, clowns aren't so scary," Stesha told JJ with a laugh. "They just make a lot of noise and excitement. You'll like them when you get older!" She teleported them all to the ridge they'd visited the first time Stesha and Taylor had come here, one tall enough to let them see all around the region. It looked different, with Stesha's large green patch spreading like a verdant lawn over part of the map, but around and beyond that was the sere reminder of what this world had done to itself.

"I'm sure you'll work it out," she told Taylor, looking out over her own handiwork. "After all, he's done so many stupid, rotten nasty things that you've had to suffer the fallout for, he owes you already. It's not as though you left him on purpose. He's lucky to have you, and I think he's smart enough to realize that, too."

[alderwitch]

JJ eyed Stesha dubiously and Taylor made a mental note to ask his older counterpart if he really ever had gotten over his vague mistrust or if that was just one of those natural enemies. Vampires vs. Clowns? Nah. She followed Stesha's gaze and her gaze flickered over it, her senses expanding automatically to search for absent threat before relaxing. "I hope so."

She cuddled JJ up closer, burying her nose in the soft baby-powder scent of his hair and closing her eyes. "But, it does make me realize I can't just take these things for granted, you know? If I don't take time to put the work into it, it really could fall apart and that's so scary. I mean, you think the hard part is over once Dracula fails to destroy your wedding and steal your first born but really, it's all just beginning at that point. Still, we're good at conflict, at least."

[Electra]

"That's true," Stesha allowed. "Both of you work well in crisis situations. And you're good together in crisis situations." That acknowledgement was harder to spit out, but she did it anyway. "I don't think I could stand to live under the kind of pressure that gets you thriving. That's what I love about this place, it's so peaceful. I love Freedom City and the work I do there, but being in the city and on call all the time would wear me right down to a nubbin."

She was quiet for a minute, looking over the peaceful and blasted dual landscape. "What would you have done," she asked, "if you hadn't been able to marry Jack when you did?"

[alderwitch]

"Eloped," Taylor said after a moment's thought, tugging the Eye from JJ's chubby hands while she considered it, "Really, that's basically what we did. Jack and I held the ceremony in the early morning and invited basically no one because of everything we thought could have gone wrong. As it was, the reception was still interrupted. Still, if it had ruined the ceremony, I think I would have found some way to get married, if not that day then eventually. Stubborn persistence is one of my few virtues but it had to be, really, or we'd never have made it to the alter. Every step of the way, something came up. Not just what he was and the fact that he'd lied to me, but when we started going out, when we got engaged... it was always a fight. I think it's always going to be a fight but, like you said, we thrive on conflict."

[Electra]

"No, I mean... what if he was gone?" Stesha asked softly. "What if it came time to marry him, and he wasn't there, and you didn't know if he was even alive or not? Not even something you could fight or argue out. You had a baby coming, and all those responsibilities, and your entire family waiting for it all to unfold. What do you think you would've done?" She tugged on the end of her long green braid, twisting it a few times around her hand while she looked out over the landscape and little flowers grew at her feet.

[alderwitch]

"I'd go find him, I think, if only to throw furniture and ask him what the hell was wrong with him." Taylor said after another moment's pause to think that out. She shrugged slightly, "I mean, if it was Jack, he'd probably have been kidnapped by some crazy vampire ex who'd decided he was their ticket to the big leagues. Honestly, I'm a little surprised that hasn't happened yet. If I didn't think I could find him on my own, I'd start looking for who could find him and then once I found out that he was alive, I'd probably start planning his death."

[Electra]

"Yes, you'd have to know, wouldn't you," Stesha said meditatively. "I mean, it can't just be a mystery forever. That's a good way to go crazy. Even if it's something you don't want to know, it's better than never getting any answers at all." She took a deep breath. "Who do we know who can travel to the edge of the galaxy and back in a reasonable amount of time?" she asked Taylor. "I know I can't get there on my own. I only go between Earths."

[alderwitch]

"Scan the galaxy or actually cross it?" Taylor mused, rocking a little in place as she thought, "My range isn't that good but Scarab's might be. She's faster than I am. There's that other telepath - the teenager - but I have no idea how far she can reach mentally. There's a few trans-galactic. I'll ask Jack, he's always better informed about the up and comers than I am and we'll put together a list for you. There's also Doc if all else fails. I'm sure he has some device that could manage it."

[Electra]

"I guess... I guess just looking would be enough for a start. Maybe I will ask Doc about it, next time I see him. I've been meaning to talk to him anyway," Stesha mused. "I would rather not ask Scarab, at least not as a first resort. But you're right. You're right," she said again, resolve firming her tone. "It's stupid to just stand here and wait and wonder and feel bad, when I could be doing something proactive." She took a deep breath, tried a brave smile. "Thanks, Taylor."

[alderwitch]

"Sage advice is sort of my thing," Taylor teased and tucked the baby against her shoulder as he started to drowse. "And, I should probably get this little guy home before he starts towards meltdown mode. It's been a busy day and the sun wears him out quickly. But, if you do need help, call me. In the meanwhile, Jack and I will think of who we can suggest for aid. I'll toss a bit of scrying out there just on the off chance I luck out but I don't think he's going to be anywhere in my range."