MHA #6, Saturday Morning

[firstofitskind]

So last night had not exactly gone the way either Verity or Liam had been expecting it to go, to be honest. Which was not to say it was bad, exactly. A little awkward, possibly. Maybe a bit frustrating. But not bad.

But while Verity had been - well, 'startled' would be putting it gently - regarding what had happened instead of actual sex, she'd still asked Liam to stay over. They'd fallen asleep together, content with the idea that they'd talk about things tomorrow. As well as do some things that weren't talking.

Liam being Liam, he'd woken up after a couple hours and slipped out to the living room to do a bit of reading without disturbing Verity's sleep. The mice, naturally, had taken his appearance to mean that the Invocation of the Sacred Law of Food For Privacy had drawn to a close, until he pointed out that he didn't really have the authority to make such decisions.

... Have you ever seen a disappointed mouse face? Because that's what Liam had to deal with, several times over. He'd ended up placating them by ordering a delivery of a couple Mooby Burgers (the only place open at that absurd hour).

Eventually, he headed back to bed, because waking up with Verity was something he'd come to enjoy on the handful of occassions they'd managed it so far. What he wasn't expecting was to be woken up by small, insistent voices.

"Hey," he muttered. "Thought we had a deal, guys."

Yeah, this wasn't the mice, Liam.

[ooc: for the girlfriend, some small children, and the talking mice.]

Comments

[nextoftheirkind]

In fact, it was almost like they expected it.

"Hey, mom," Tyrus said with a sigh, having resigned himself to the fact that this was, in fact, happening. "Hey, dad. We would've called ahead, but," he shrugged. Kind of hard to do that when your sister impulsively jumped into a portal to who-knows-where and you followed out of a need to make sure she didn't get into too much trouble.

[arboreal_priestess]

"There is a child in my house that just called me mom," Verity said to Liam, voice calm. "And you dad. Liam, is there something you need to tell me?"

Look, Liam had been conceived and born, grew up in three hours, and his mother's memories erased. And last night there had been a big purple glow and Verity was just a little concerned right now.

In a minute, she might remember listening to the radio last year, but at this moment, she was using all of her self-control not to freak out

[firstofitskind]

Liam's eyes went wide as he, too, considered that very real possibility. Thanks, alien biology!

Except Beckett's memories being erased hadn't been a part of the whole... process... that had been a conscious decision on the part of the Resistance. And he was pretty sure he'd remember Verity having kids at some point during the night. Right?

"I don't think- I mean, I wasn't trying to-" he was pretty sure that intent was critical when it came to how reproduction worked for the Kimera. Of course, as he'd said last night, he really had no idea what he was doing. And he was two-thirds human, after all. Who knew how these things worked??

[nextoftheirkind]

"I think you broke Mommy," Hayley stage-whispered to her brother. "Way to go, Tyrant!"

"Don't call me Tyrant!" Tyrus said, screwing his face up. "You know I hate that." But, uhh, Hayley had a point. "Mom? Are you okay?"

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity shook herself and put the gun down on the counter. And then looked at the kids, picked it up, and handed it over to Liam after making sure the safety was fully engaged.

"Highest cupboard," she said, since there was no way she'd be able to put it there.

"Okay," she said to the kids. In her house. Calling her mom. "So we're going to have to, uhh, start from the very beginning here. Mom?! How did that happen?"

[nextoftheirkind]

"So you and Daddy love each other very much," Hayley dutifully recited. "So one night, you took off all your--"

[arboreal_priestess]

"NOT THAT FAR BACK!" Verity yelped.

[nextoftheirkind]

"We weren't born last night, don't worry," Tyrus clarified, looking slightly pained as he spoke. Look, talking about your parents' sex life was... ugh. "We're from the future." Because that made it better!

[arboreal_priestess]

"Okay," Verity said slowly. "So...you're not unexpected children who were aged quickly by alien technology or something?"

Okay, that was something of a relief.

[nextoftheirkind]

"..."

The children were awkwardly silent, Hayley giving Tyrus frantic looks out of the corner of her eyes.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity was suddenly much less relieved.

She looked at the little girl, who was doing a bad job of pretending to not know anything, to the slightly older boy who was refusing to look at anyone, over to Liam. "Tagging you in," she decided, leaning over to tap his shoulder. "I'm making coffee."

And possibly putting alcohol into it.

[firstofitskind]

Okay, the awkward silence was... concerning. But Liam decided not to press that for now.

"We can come back to that," he said. "What're your names?" Because that would also be useful information to have.

[nextoftheirkind]

"Tyrus," the boy introduced himself. "And that's-"

"I can say it myself," the girl hissed. "Just 'cause you're bigger doesn't mean you always get to-" she trailed off, because oh yeah, there were things that she wasn't really supposed to talk about. "I'm Hayley!" she concluded brightly. "We were gonna make breakfast."

They hadn't gotten very far. Mostly because of the lack of anything breakfast-y (beyond that possibly spiked coffee) in Verity's kitchen.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity's kitchen barely had anything suitable for adults, never mind children.

...And make that probably-spiked. Verity was clinging to her mug like she was waiting for someone to take it away from her and the coffee wasn't even done percolating yet.

"Hayley?" Verity asked, brows furrowed. "And Tyrus?"

[nextoftheirkind]

"Hayley Sarah," Tyrus explained. "And Tyrus Alexander. Kincaid-Price. So we have an official last name the Covenant doesn't know about when we're not using Price."

[arboreal_priestess]

"They really are my kids," said Verity, like the possibility hadn't actually occurred to her until right that moment. "Son of a--" She stopped herself, since there were little ears right there.

And took another sip of her Irish coffee which had yet to have any coffee in it.

[nextoftheirkind]

"Mommy was gonna say a bad word," Hayley informed Tyrus and Liam. You know. In case they'd missed that.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Who said Mommy was going to stop at one?" Verity murmured, finally pouring some coffee into her mug.

...And one for Liam, because she wasn't the literal worst.

[firstofitskind]

Liam did his best to hide a smile at that, accepting the cup of coffee gratefully.

It was then that he noticed Glimmerbug and Aurelius, still patiently waiting on the table.

Liam had made a point to get reasonably familiar with Verity's colony, and he was fairly certain these two didn't belong to it. "I see you didn't come alone," he observed.

[arboreal_priestess]

Glimmerbug and Aurelius looked at each other in obvious delight.

"The God of Distant Stars is wise and observant," Glimmerbug said, giving him a little bow. "I am the first initiate in the worship of the Flamebright Priestess."

"And I for the God of Missing Time!" Aurelius added.

[firstofitskind]

Not gonna lie, that... raised more questions than it answered, actually.

"How does everyone feel about breakfast?" Liam asked the room at large. Again, not that there was anything suitable for a meal in the apartment, but they had an island full of restaurants to choose from.

Part of him was certain he should be freaking out, more than he already had, at the idea of having children of his own; especially the kind who showed up so suddenly. But it was also... nice. Not just the idea of no longer being the last of the Kimera, but to imagine possibly building a future with Verity. He hadn't given the idea too much thought until now, since they'd only been dating for a few months, but... yeah. Nice. Definitely.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I...should go put pants on," Verity muttered, realizing that she was wearing last night's underwear and Liam's shirt. "Hold that thought?"

And, you know, maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe have a very tiny freakout in her bedroom. NBD.

[firstofitskind]

Liam hesitated for a moment; pants seemed like a good idea, and he did need to reclaim his shirt, but should he be leaving the children alone in the kitchen?

The same kitchen they'd been alone in before he and Verity had woken up. Clearly they'd be fine. So that decision made, he followed Verity into her room and closed the door behind them.

"Hey," he said quietly as the door clicked shut. "You okay?"

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity was pacing wildly in her room when he came in, several mice watching avidly from various perches, no doubt viewing all of this in fascination. Whole catechisms were probably being born from this moment.

She rounded on him, her whole posture screaming FIGHT! and took one, two, three determined steps towards him--

And as soon as she was in arms reach, all the hostility bled from her posture and she just kind of slumped over, clinging to him for dear life. "I'm freaking out pretty bad," she confessed.

[firstofitskind]

Liam wrapped his arms around her and held back just as tight.

"Understandably," he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Understandable, even if he was... not freaking out perhaps as much as he should. "It's not every day kids just show up and claim to be yours. Ours."