CHAPTER 17
Nick woke up hot. Perhaps the coziest he'd ever been, but hot. It took his new senses a moment to orient himself as to why he felt like he'd slept in an oven, but he slowly realized he'd fallen asleep on Gwyn's lap. The girl lay on her side now, one arm holding him tight under her breasts.
Holy shit, what did I do in a past life to deserve this?
Another furry, rumbling, mass below him told him that Salad had decided to snuggle up to Gwyn's belly for the night, locking Nick in on all sides with soft, cozy heat. He was honestly tempted to just go straight back to sleep, but a sensation on the tip of one of his tentacles jolted him fully awake.
He realized that, in the night, one of his appendages had snaked up Gwyn's shirt. It had made it between her breasts, and she now held it to her face like a plushie. Her breath tickled against his skin, and the smallest motion of her fingers as she absently stroked against it in her sleep sent shocks to his core.
GodDAMN that feels good. Maybe these aren't just hands?
Pulling himself out of it, he decided letting this continue seemed a little exploitative. Cait and Lira were right, Gwyn was clearly into him. She'd intercepted him right after Director Swan had swept Cait away, shyly asking him to dance. That hadn't been Nick's thing even before he didn't have legs, and five minutes of awkward shimmying proved it wasn't Gwyn's either.
BAD AT THIS
MOVIE?
Gwyn had accepted the proposal with great relief, and said she'd meet him in his room. 15 minutes later, she'd changed into those same pj's that did so little to hide her curves and they were sat on the couch in their living room. It honestly seemed to Nick that Gwyn was simply unaware of the effect her body would have on men when she wore that, but Cait and Lira had both laughed at him and assured him that was impossible.
Nick had quickly realized he couldn't 'see' the TV screen, but Gwyn had been excitedly talking about a classic horror movie she loved, so he didn't feel the need to remind her he wouldn't be able to enjoy it. He was wrong anyway, it turned out. The soundscape of a well produced movie was an absolute smorgasbord for his new senses. More than that, Gwyn's reactions had lit her up like a fireworks display. Especially once she'd grabbed him as a shield during a particularly grisly scene, and held him against her tummy the rest of the night.
He felt her every gasp, every change in pulse, hell, he could even taste her fear, a different brand than the noxious odor people let out when they were genuinely afraid. Instead, he'd gotten a safe sort of excitement from her, fear yes, but a certainty she wasn't actually in any danger.
They'd both laughed when Cait and Lira had stumbled in, and the movie had finished soon after. He didn't remember falling asleep, but that brought them back to the present.
He resumed pulling his errant tentacle out of her sleeping grasp, and nearly had it when she frowned, and muttered something as she grabbed tight right on the tip. The blast of pleasure from that took Nick completely off guard, and he shivered enough to wake up Salad. The cat grumbled and stretched, then the Chonk took off like a bolt when his feeder went off in what was quickly becoming Nick's alarm clock. That started Gwyn waking up, and Nick yanked his tentacle free.
Jesus CHRIST I hope she didn't notice that, or at least doesn't think that was in there on purpose.
He could still feel the echo of her full breasts as he'd slid out from between them, but tried his best to banish the stolen touch from his mind. Gwyn stretched as she woke, pulling her thin tank top tight against those magnificent boobs. Her short bobbed hair still looked pretty cute when she'd just woken up, too. She smiled at him as she got her bearings, then frowned in confusion as she reached out and took something off his hat. She held a post-it note he hadn't noticed had been stuck on him.
"So. Cute." Gwyn read, blushing a bit. "Little heart, signed L. All caps, too."
LOOKS LIKE LIRA WON'T BE LATE THIS MORNING
I'LL TELL CAIT TO STEP UP HER GAME
Gwyn laughed, and, speak of the devil, the door to Cait's room opened. The jacked dickgirl stood naked, scratching at her ass, having clearly just woken up. She scanned the room, smiling at Nick, then looking horrified at Gwyn and slamming the door.
"Fuck!" She called through the door over the sound of drawers opening and closing. "Sorry Gwyn! Forgot you were here!"
"It's fine!" Gwyn called back, although the heat Nick could feel radiating from her cheeks said she was more embarrassed than she let on. "Honestly, since you gave me that sample yesterday, we were doing things a little out of order anyway!"
Nick hissed out a chuckle at that. Gwyn turned to him, skepticism written on her face.
"So, she apologized to me, but just assumes you're cool taking an eyeful of dick at 8 in the morning?" She asked, shooting for teasing but sounding genuinely confused.
Nick just shrugged. In retrospect, it should have been weird, but it just wasn't. Clearly he wasn't as sexless as he'd initially thought, but something like random nudity didn't shake him at all anymore.
TECHNICALLY I'M ALWAYS NAKED
"No!" She giggled, and tapped his hat. "You've always got this dapper lil' thing on!"
MEDCORPS SAID THAT'S ACTUALLY MY CLITORIS
Gwyn froze, stopping her hand where it was about to slap him on the bill.
"Really?" She said, genuine concern and curiosity in her voice.
LOL NO
FUCKIN GOT EM
She did slap him on the bill now, but she was laughing when she did it. She made her way to the door, and Nick gave her a full-body hug goodbye. It was still a little more intimate than he'd normally offer, but everything he got from Gwyn's body told him she loved it, and he had to admit, her luscious, comfortable curves felt amazing to squeeze.
Cait walked out, wearing her typical tank and jeans.
"Bye Gwyn!" She called. "I promise I won't flash you next time!"
"I don't believe you!" Gwyn's voice floated back down the hallway.
Cait did a little wiggle as she walked over to Nick, her face set in the same excited grin friends always got when they thought their friends were up to something juicy.
"Soooo?" She prompted, eyebrows dancing as she moved her eye between Nick and the door Gwyn had just left through. Nick felt himself start to blush.
NOTHING HAPPENED
I'M NOT A SLUT <3
"Hey man, us sluts don't appreciate being referred to as a negative." Cait gave him a mock glare. "That being said, you might not be, and, honestly, I'm not about to imply that nice girl is either, but she didn't stay over because she isn't horny."
She looked thoughtful for a moment.
"I didn't think you'd be able to watch movies." She said.
KIND OF
HEAR, FEEL
WATCHED HER
Cait's grin threatened to split her face at that, and Nick felt like his entire ballbody must be black he blushed so hard.
NOT LIKE THAT!!!
"Naaahhhh it was a little like that!" Cait teased, flicking him on the bill. "You little creep! But I think I get what you mean. The company is always more important. I, on the other hand, fucking love movies. We are definitely putting together a movie night."
Both Nick and Cait nearly jumped out of their skin when a third door opened. Dawn walked out, also fully nude and clearly thinking nothing of it as she walked gracefully over to greet her, apparently, new roommates.
"Good morning you two!" She said, her voice a little too cheery and warm for someone that had just woken up, but actually what you might expect from a beautiful deer woman who walked up to near-strangers naked.
Buck naked, heh.
"Good morning to you!" Nick could see a vein in Cait's temple ready to pop as she put all of her effort into not giving Dawn an appreciative once over. "I…. suddenly feel overdressed!"
Dawn's laugh was musical, and accompanied her typical beatific smile.
"I hope it does not bother you." She clearly took no offense at Cait's statement, and made no attempt to cover up. "I am accustomed to clothing to fit human sensibilities when in public, but I was not birthed as one of you and it still feels foreign. I prefer to remain as I was born when at home."
"Yes! Home! Speaking of that." Cait grabbed the conversational hook like a lifeline. "Have you… moved in?"
"Director Swan did not tell you?" Dawn looked genuinely surprised. "After last night I assumed the two of you to be mates!"
It was Cait's cheeks turn to color now.
"Heh, I, uh," she stammered, caught off guard. "I can see how you might think that, but no."
"Hmm. That is good. It did not sound like her that joined you in bed last night." She responded with a twitch of her big ears. "Elizabeth Swan is a dear friend, and I understand humans frown upon such spurious couplings."
"Boy howdy do they ever." Cait agreed, experience flavoring her words. "But back to 'home'?"
"Ah! Yes." Dawn snapped her slender fingers. "Director Swan wanted me to team with you both alongside Kennedy. She felt I would bring both an absent role with my magic, and a degree of experience to a rookie team."
"Kennedy did say Swan wanted her to move in with us…" Cait turned towards the remaining door, clearly expecting Kennedy to walk out and join them.
Probably hoping she'll stick with the trend and come out au naturel too, Nick smirked internally. His own senses were keen enough to assure him that the room next to Cait's was empty, but he didn't feel it was necessary to let Cait know that.
"Yes," Dawn continued. "It is most common for AEGIS teams to room together during the beginning of their association, and often long after. I apologize for the fright I seem to have given both of you, I was under the impression this had all been decided in advance! Oh, and Cait Smith, Kennedy Swan has not moved in yet, you need not worry."
"Cait is fine…" she muttered, but still looked at the door with distrust and a little disappointment before returning her focus to Dawn. "Well, honestly I was going to float asking you to join up to Breastman anyway. Everything the Director said was true, we're green as hell and we have zero magic, or any kind of support abilities. If Kennedy links up with you though, we'll be double set. I don't see any downsides, I'm good with this if you are B-man."
That's 13 thumbs up from me. Nick made his thoughts reality, and Dawn clapped her hands together, declaring the matter settled.
"Hold up, one more question," Cait said, eyes wandering to Dawn's crotch.
"Yes?"
"Why do you have antlers?"
"Why do you have a penis?"
"Fair play," Cait admitted, dropping it.
"Now then! I believe each of us have training assignments this morning and an introductory patrol after. I'm off to find Director Swan." She turned a pitying look on Cait. "Good luck with Freeflow, Cait. Don't take it too hard."
With that she left. A second later she returned, grumbling to herself about clothes, then exited again once more, much more modestly.
"What the fuck am I in for?" Cait asked Nick, and for the first time he sensed a hint of the sour scent of fear creep from her.
Two hours later, Nick waited with Eyebite in a ready room. He hadn't specifically recognized the building it occupied, some kind of old-timey fire station, but the inside was, typically for AEGIS, completely different. There were racks of high tech equipment, and plenty of screens that seemed superfluous to planning a routine patrol were scattered around the room. The centerpiece was what Nick was confident would turn out to be a holo-table, but was dark for now. Eyebite fidgeted as they waited for the rest of the crew. He didn't seem to like looking at people in general, and Nick specifically, so conversation was not really an option for the pair.
Nick's morning training with Counterweight had been exhilarating. He'd put him on the midair agility course again, but this time had added obstacles, and threw the occasional projectile to try and trip Nick up. It had worked plenty of times, but by the time they'd switched modes he'd gotten pretty skilled at whacking the balls out of the air without stopping his own momentum.
Counterweight had joined him on the course then, and they took turns playing an extremely acrobatic game of tag. On paper, this shouldn't have been a contest. Nick had 13 tentacles, all with insane reach, but Counterweight had supernatural agility, able to stop on a dime or change his momentum midair. It was tough to stay oriented when he'd run along swinging bars upside down as easily as he'd run along a flat, empty race track. Nick had managed to get a tentacle on the nimble Guardian a few times, but never in a way where he would have been able to do damage if they were fighting, and even then he had the feeling Counterweight was going easy on him. After the session, he'd left sweaty and a little tired, but pumped for more.
The door to the ready room entered, and Nick could tell Cait's session hadn't been nearly as much fun. It was weird to say someone looked like hell when they were perfectly healthy and didn't have a mark on them, but Cait looked like hell. Her hair was a mess, which was bizarre since it had looked fine even after the shit monster, at least post sandblast. What's more, the way she carried herself was so alien to the woman Nick was coming to know it was like she was possessed. She was bunched up into herself, her shoulders tight around her neck, and her eyes scanned the room like she was braced for an attack. When Nick raised a tentacle in greeting she actually jumped a little.
She did manage to relatively quickly at least look like she pulled herself together, walking over with a big smile that, concerningly for Cait, didn't quite reach her eyes.
YOU GOOD?
"I thought I was alright," Cait's smile faltered a bit as she responded. "But Freeflow's better. I had no idea there were so many ways to get your ass beat without actually getting hurt."
Eyebite nodded sympathetically. "Swan likes to toss tough Altereds in with him to remind them there's a lot of ways you can lose a fight besides getting knocked out. Given that you're the single toughest Altered we've seen to date, I guess she wanted to expedite that lesson."
He smiled and patted a package on the bench next to him.
"Got something that might cheer you up though! Fresh from Fiberfix!"
"Oh shit!" Cait immediately perked up, tearing into the package and holding its contents in front of her. It was clearly a supersuit, but noooot much of one. Nick didn't think it'd fare favorably with a lot of swimsuits in terms of volume of fabric used. Cait beamed though, turning away and immediately starting to strip. Eyebite gulped and coughed, quickly looking away, but Nick was used to it. When she turned around, Nick had to admit she looked like a superhero, or at least someone you'd hire to play one at a bachelor party.
The metallic dark purple fabric hugged her neck and breasts, bearing white highlights forming the arch of a stylized A that ran down her sides, leaving her abs exposed. The white bled back into purple around her crotch, which in that magic way of all supersuits, lacked the confrontational bulge Nick knew should be there. She gave a spin, revealing that the cut around her ass was not modest. All in all, it could hardly be more exactly what Nick had come to expect from his new friend. For the second time that morning he gave a 13 thumb salute.
VILLAINS AND PROSTITUTES BEWARE
AMARANTHINE IS COMING FOR YOUR ASSES OR JOBS, RESPECTIVELY
Cait wiggled her eyebrows at him "I did tell Isaac not to be shy to go slutty."
NO WORRIES THERE
"Ha! Ass!" She responded, then Nick noticed her flinch again. Dawn and Kennedy had walked in, and Kennedy gave a slow clap and a whistle, running her eyes hungrily over Cait.
"If you're gonna make a joke about sex workers, know that Breastman has already beat you to it." Cait said, her wide grin finally reaching her eyes now that Kennedy had arrived.
"Whatever," Kennedy scoffed, playing it off but clearly slightly miffed she'd been sniffed out. "Fix your hair slut."
She stuck her tongue out through her black painted lips at Cait, who responded with a dramatic hair toss. A couple seconds later, her hair was perfect again, after nothing more than a few run throughs of her hands. Kennedy looked put out for real this time, squinting as she scowled at Cait.
"How the fuck did you do that?"
"Genetics!"
I'VE SEEN A PICTURE OF HER PARENTS
HER DAD IS BALD
Nick drew attention to himself by waving his tentacles, and Kennedy snickered when she read his hat.
"For real though, that outfit…" she trailed off for a second, blatantly eye-fucking Cait. "Nice."
True to form, Cait seemed perfectly happy to be objectified, at least by Kennedy
"Can't help but notice this was the only package Eyebite had. No fashion show from either of you?" She looked between Kennedy and Dawn.
"Nope!" Kennedy smirked. "Also fuck you, I'm a walking fashion show, and costumes are for nerds."
Kennedy did look great, calf length combat boots over tight black jeans and a classic fishnet over crop top combo accentuating her hourglass figure. Dawn could have been said to be in costume, but the leather top and skirt, while a different pair than she'd worn yesterday, just seemed to be what she wore.
"As for me," Dawn answered, "the general consensus is that my overall appearance will make great enough of an impression, and Kennedy Swan is correct."
Her cervine face split into a surprisingly devilish grin before she continued; "costumes are for nerds."
"Hey!" Interjected Eyebite. "Make fun of Amaranthine all you want, but some of us like our costumes!"
The rest of the group looked at each other awkwardly. No one was quite sure whether Eyebite's eyeball patterned spandex was supposed to be a joke or not, and he didn't seem keen on clarifying that.
His glowing yellow eyes didn't have pupils, but it was still somehow clear when he rolled them.
"Alright," he said, gesturing the group over to a screen. He turned it on to show a map of the area under the Tortoiseshell. He zoomed in on the east side, near the Des Moines river. "You all will be joining me on a routine patrol in this area. Normally, this would be low risk and done either in a duo or solo, mostly just to deter street level unrest and use our powers to help out where we can on people's day to day. It does wonders for our public goodwill. However, a couple days after a wave like this, it's unlikely we've uncovered the last of the effects, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy to have you all as backup, rookies or not."
He tapped on the river, indicating a worn pathway alongside it.
"We'll end on the riverwalk, and if we see trouble this is where I'd expect it. The river is a hotbed for gigacarp, and they're almost always worse after a wave. When we get there, keep your eyes up. Other than that, follow my lead as we check in on people and businesses around the area."
He turned to them then.
"Amaranthine, Sonder, given your limited offensive capabilities, take side arms from the rack. Also, link up if you can, being tough is pretty general use, Sonder can always switch to one of the rest of us if we need something specific. Oh, Sonder, you have your staff?" She nodded, flipping out a small baton that snapped out into a quarterstaff at the click of a button, then retracted before stowing it again. As she did, Nick watched her physique fill out, her fishnet top growing tighter over her biceps and shoulders, exposed abs gaining definition. She also grabbed a handgun from one of the wall racks, slamming home a magazine and chambering a round before placing it in a hip holster. She beckoned Cait over.
"Okay big guy," she said, holding out an identical sidearm towards Cait, grip first. "You know your way around a gun?"
"Enough to know I don't know my way around every gun, give me a rundown." Cait responded, and Sonder went through the safeties, releases, and ammo associated with the gun. She grinned during the last part. "I hear you're already pretty well acquainted with PlazLoad rounds. Remember, most things won't be able to deepthroat them like you, this thing is Altered Beast only."
Cait nodded, and accepted the gun. She realized she had no place to stow it and looked around, before something slapped her in the ass. She looked up to see Kennedy smirking, holding a strap of metallic purple fabric that matched Cait's outfit, threaded through a thigh holster.
"Might need help putting that on." Cait said, and Kennedy's tough girl facade cracked into a blush. It was a low blow, Cait knew Kennedy wasn't great with touch, but she had just spanked her with tactical equipment. Kennedy tossed the holster at Cait's face and she strapped it on, stowing the weapon.
"Sonder, impressive safety rundown." Eyebite said, looking nonplussed. "Amaranthine, less impressive flirting. You're also going to need a melee weapon, since Metric has you as strong for a human, but not really moving the needle on the altered scale. Any combat training besides getting dunked on by Freeflow this morning?"
Cait shook her head, eyes taking a thousand yard stare.
"Grab a warhammer and butt holster then, best choice for someone strong but untrained. Try to remember it won't be as durable as you are." Eyebite instructed, and Cait complied, jogging over to another rack and giving a few weapons test swings. Eyebite finally focused on Nick.
"BREAST MAN….. I'm not 100% sure what to do with you to be honest." He admitted, tapping his chin. "You could conceivably hold 13 weapons, but Metric says you can already whip them around at range and with force, and I assume holding things would interfere with the impressive agility that got you a spot on the leaderboard."
He was right. In the fight on Grand, Nick had been down a tentacle just holding the communicator. Fortunately, Gwyn had been able to patch in the nano-coating on his hat to the comms network, solving that issue. In the end, he held up two tentacles like an old timey boxer.
TENTICUFFS FOR ME
Eyebite just shrugged. "Not gonna argue with that! Wilds Witch, you outfit yourself, right?"
Dawn nodded, conjuring a staff of intertwined willow branches from thin air. The head of it branched out in a mirroring of her antlers, and motes of yellow-green light danced between its tines.
"Huh. That wouldn't have been in the arsenal anyway." He nodded in appreciation of the magic show. "I think that about covers it. Let's head to the motor pool, I'll field any questions on the way downtown."
A few minutes later, they were bundled into a black SUV. Dawn was situated in the center so her antlers could stick out the skylight, and the wind made for a noisy ride. It was fortunate then, that the few questions they had were answered before they made it onto the highway. Eyebite parked them in an ARMOR station parking lot, greeted the guards, and shuffled them off East.
Nick realized they were pretty near the site of their fight with the sewage elemental, and examined the buildings around him. All over them were patches of discolored or oddly textured material, where Altered abilities had been used to repair or replace destroyed sections. He couldn't be sure any of it was due to his fight, it was rare a day went by in the city without some kind of Wave related brawl breaking out.
Plenty of the buildings in downtown DSM were actually pre-wave, but effectively none had survived the intervening years unscathed. Just as many were new, the odd architectural styles betraying their origins as being built by Altered hands.
Fortunately, like Bill had said in his speech last night, the Waves both taketh and… gaveth? No sooner had Nick been reminded of the bubble man than his sonorous voice crackled over their comm channels.
"Gooood morning Eastside crew!" He greeted them. "This is Bubb-Bill, I'll be your dispatcher for this patrol. With any luck you won't be hearing much from me. It's a beautiful Saturday morning and we don't have any fires for you to put out, literal or figurative. Have a good patrol, and I'm just a call away if you need intel."
The spiel was oddly comforting. Not only did it feel like this was all routine, but it made Nick feel like he was part of that routine, and supposed to be here. That reassurance was necessary, since the streets were crowded with people running errands that had been delayed hunkering down during the wave.
Overall people were elated to see the group of Guardians walking down the street. Most smiled and waved at Eyebite, a few even calling out 'Hey Pete!', greeting the hero by his real name. The man had clearly done an excellent job integrating himself into the community. Dawn received primarily looks of interest and awe, since she was circulating her magic to produce the glowing motes of light around her that she'd used to excellent effect during her introduction. Cait and Kennedy, especially Cait, were receiving anything from moderately respectful appreciation to barely concealed lust, based upon the respective citizens' tastes and level of self control.
Nick, as ever, was getting disgust and fear. He did catch the occasional laugh as someone managed to read his hat, but he was pretty sure his presence would have caused a panicked stampede were he not surrounded by the beautiful and impressive Guardians. Cait, somehow, picked up on his discomfort, and yoinked him up by a tentacle to set him on her shoulder.
"Don't worry bud," she whispered as she smiled and waved at a surprised group of people who had just seen the beautiful woman put a monster on her shoulder. "I'm hot enough for both of us, it bleeds over a little."
He wasn't certain that was entirely true, but there definitely were more smiles in his direction now. Even if they were aimed at Cait, he was taking some positivity friendly-fire that absolutely boosted his mood. Eventually, he tried waving, which scared people, then the ol' thumbs up, which seemed to put them at ease.
Eyebite led them into a bustling coffee shop and told the barista he'd get drinks for all of them, which clearly delighted Cait and Kennedy. Cait excitedly ordered something that sounded complicated but was really just a caffeinated milkshake with extra whipped cream. She then quickly ordered a second one, handing it to Nick.
She jumped when he stuck out a long red tongue to lap at it.
"Holyfuckingshit!" she nearly jostled both of them enough to drop their drinks. "Sorry, I just, uh, I didn't realize you had a tongue."
Nick wiggled and waggled the appendage as he guided it slowly towards her ear.
"No! Nope!" Cait laughed with a little panic in her eyes, slapping at his tongue. "I might be invincible, but a wet willy will never not feel fucking terrible!"
He chortled a sound he was getting much better at making sound like laughter, and went back to slurping at the sugar-caffeine monstrosity. After they left, Nick noticed that he finally seemed to be getting some genuine smiles thrown directly at him. The combo of Cait, cap, and coffee was at last enough to tip his appearance from scary to silly. He even noticed some kids pointing and giggling at the funny monster slurping the whipped cream off a Frappuccino.
He felt like a celebrity for the rest of the walk. People loved to see the Guardians out and about, ready for, but not asking, trouble. He did notice that Cait didn't seem quite as carefree as usual, though. She kept pulling out her comm from…. somewhere, then frowning at it before she disappeared again. He wanted to question it, but didn't have a great way to do so, and honestly Cait didn't keep much inside. If she wasn't airing her dirty laundry, there was probably a good reason.
Instead of lingering on it, he enjoyed the ride. As they walked, the idea that he would be a public figure now started to form in his head. He'd been fixated on the people comfortable enough to get close, but once he was comfortable enough himself he started to pay more attention to the people that stayed farther back. These folks weren't ignoring the group of Guardians, but instead seemed to be in awe of them. He could hardly blame them. Eyebite was obviously Altered, but Dawn might as well be a nature goddess. Not to mention Cait, who in her Amaranthine outfit looked exactly like she'd jumped straight out of the pages of a particularly thirsty comic book.
Their patrol was mostly checking in on businesses and talkative citizens, gauging the general vibe of the neighborhood. With the exception of the monster last night, the area had made it through the wave largely without issue. They ended up doing more cat-in-a-tree style heroism, doing heavy lifting or helping old ladies cross the street.
Nick got his moment in the sun when a delivery man with a comically large stack of boxes inevitably tripped, and Nick deftly caught each of them, and the man himself. He'd been on his way into a busy store, and the modest heroism was met with applause.
Man, even if it's never more impactful than that, I could get used to this.