"Uhm yes, you know, those cute little people who live here with us...?" She glared at him and he whispered a quiet "... sure." She strode over, expelling a tired grunt. He worried that meant she was at the end of her patience, and kept quiet in case he ruined Whatever this was. Flipping his bangs back into their side parting and feeling his forehead again, Yus announced "Hm, bit clammy, but you don't have a fever. I think you'll be fine." He nodded marvelling at both her loveliness, and his currently crystal clear, binocular, vision. "... Thank you darlin'." Then she shoved him out the bedroom door. "Now. The car?" Only problem was, he had no idea of the layout of the house or how to exit. Let alone where the car keys were. "Uh huh." He wandered forward slowly, noncommittally. She shuffled him quicker. They exited the room into a spacious upper hallway which had a wood-railinged upper landing, and nice oversized thickly carpeted stairs. These descended in a large, wide, charming square spiral down to the entrance hallway which was also squarish and airy. This broad area seemed like the epicentre of the house. During the descent Cap cast his gaze about admiringly, the colours were all pleasant neutral tones - whites, pale beiges and so on. The lines were clean, crisp and homely. Nothing seemed out of place, the only mess was the very occasional scattered toy or odd abandoned item of clothing. Yus, he decided, liked things very tidy indeed. He must be a nightmare for her to live with. His mouth pulled into a half-smile at the thought. The beautiful one had started down the stairs already, nipping past him on the upper landing. The sound of children filtered into the space from a room off the lower hallway. Cap's stomach lurched with a peculiar feeling and it took him a moment to identify what it was. Damn, it was nerves. Sure he'd felt shock, surprise, dizziness, nausea, even, at the surprise of his reflection, but he wasn't generally prone to true anxiety. Now though he was about to meet his children for the first time, which was a bizarre feeling. He tried to steel himself for the meeting but had no time, as the herd came barrelling out of the kitchen into the hallway and streamed happily up the stairs "DADDDDDYYYYY!!!!!" How many!??? Cap, now half way down the stairs, stumbled backwards and fell onto his bottom. The kids cracked up, and Yus tutted. "Stop messing about, come on!" "I ah, I would" replied Cap with a soft chuckle. "But I seem to be covered in enthusiastic er... puppies." Over the rabble he saw Yus's sternly pulled face soften into an expression of unmistakable affection and pure, unselfish, love. The kids really were like wriggly puppies, all floppy hair instead of floppy ears, and big eyes and perfectly neat cute features. Freckles, wriggle-blurring mixtures of brown and red hair. Strangely he could actually sort of recall them now - even if was only as a kind of distant resonance. He just knew that somehow, something about this felt... right. He was aware of a pleasant soul-aching intensity. He supposed it was love for his... His family. He lifted a hand to shield himself from a particularly unruly little'un who was adorable, yet somewhat hyperactive, whirling and flailing around making helicopter noises. He was in danger of hitting himself, Cap, and the gathered small folk. As Cap made the protective gesture he noticed a simple gold wedding band on his own hand. Huh, well would you look at that... He'd never really been the settling down type. In a thunderous BOOM, and a feeling like a momentary pull of strong G force, he was back in the purple pool. All the injuries aches and pains returned in a nauseating instant, and his vision squirled down to one dim eye again. It wasn't a very nice feeling and he began to hyperventilate due to the shock of the sensation. His bad lung rasped and bubbled horribly through the purple liquid. Yus's presence next to him reassured him somewhat, but he felt suddenly empty. Horribly bereft of the enchanting love, the physical and mental comfort he'd just been experiencing. The lightness of being and the physical wellness he'd just felt brought the dingy reality of his current situation into sharp relief. What an unpleasant contrast. The thoughts he'd been pushing away - the accident, Jim, the loss of the ship, the crew and passengers - all hit him in a rush and his breathing hitched even more. "Cap, Cap what on Eryth is wrong?" As he grated an inhalation a concerned Yus pulled him towards her with surprising strength for her petite frame. Qaro's voice boomed "Do not panic, little... Man. For you are merely experiencing Extraction." Firmer than Cap had ever heard her, Yus snapped "Extraction? What are you talking about? What have you done to him?" Cap managed to splutter out "Tole you before. Not little." Yus shook her head at the fact he was still joking in even the midst of shock. Qaro rolled both eyes and tongue. "A turrrn of phrase simply, as to me you are but a child." "Qaro!!" pleaded Yus, almost shouting now, concerned at the way Cap was shivering and rasping in spite of the warm comforting liquid. "Please tell me, what did you do?" "Nothing my dear, simply--" and here the senior began chanting some more words which sounded like gobbledygook. Cap - finally catching his breath - saw Yus's eyes roll back into her head. "Oh right" he panted, "gonna play the same dirty trick on her now are you?" "Twas not a trick, it is a Possibility Thread, based on your true desires." Cap took a moment to digest this. "You're tellin' me... I want to be a daddy?" Qaro stared at cap with an air of regal interest and slight surprise. "Curious. If that is what you saw then... perhaps." "Moo-pat" was Cap's less-than-polite response to that. Then he turned his attention back to Yus. Shaking off the last of the post-Extraction shock he touched her shoulder. She felt stiff. Qaro was chanting something else now and, with a grimly calm demeanour, Cap interrupted "So she's seein' the same thing I did now?" A shake of the head from Qaro "No, not for definites. She could be experiencing something different indeeds. It all depends on the Possibilities she Truly Desires." Cap frowned at the emphasis given to the words. His natural inclination was to dismiss this whole thing as hooey, but he was space-seasoned enough to know that there was in fact more to life than the general population of the galaxy cared to think about. He'd seen magic before. --- Yus blinked in surprise, because she was no longer in the goo... And she could see. And what the hell was that!? To Be Continued... |
Imagining hilarious, beautiful
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