Page 27 of It Varies
“It’s true.My hormone load was extreme when it started.The pain keeps most of it at bay.”
“Not all?”
Vine was walking Jenn back to Xiroth.“Of course not all.”
Xiroth smiled, and Jenn settled on him again.Vine went to talk to Tuvel, and the murals developed to an astonishing degree.
Jenn looked at her and realized that Vine hadn’t given her a yes or no answer.
The men near her shifted, and the one Vine had been talking to sat next to her.“Miss, may I ask questions about your friend?”
“Sure.I will answer what I can.”
“She said her family had her kidnapped.”
“Yeah.There are news articles about it.She got herself emancipated and lives off the trust fund her grandparents and the Omega Centre left for her.”
“Articles?”
“There was a trial, and the Omega Centre charged them with blocking a very desirable omega.They weren’t going to make the same mistakes they made with her sister, and then she was snatched away right after being scouted.”She looked at his calm expression.“Her parents said they were trying to save her from her sister’s fate, but the guys they hired weren’t just going to disfigure her.It was her escape attempt that got one of them to do what he did with the vehicle.It was a heavy truck as well.Wide tires.They went over her legs a few times, and then the others came back and freaked out.”
“They kept her like that for weeks?”
“Yes.Her magic woke early.Most of us activate as adults, but her body was desperate, so she gained the ability to enchant, and she found the vines hanging from trees and asked them to help.She gritted her teeth as they wrapped around her limbs and pulled them into a usable shape, and then she just had to wait.She got her moment by creating a sleep grenade out of an empty soda can and enchanted sand.She staggered her way out to the truck and learned to drive in about thirty seconds.She drove straight to a police station and told them who she was and what had happened.”
He nodded.“That is what she mentioned.Was she assaulted in other ways?”
“Not that she has mentioned, but everyone who hears the story wonders.”
“Why did she come to escort you to the lavatory?”
“Oh, because I needed to go, and she watches micro expressions that I don’t even know I am doing.”
“So she’s your nanny.”
“She’s a friend.She is willing to take on the position of nanny.”
He chuckled.“It’s surreal to think there is a person in there.”
He let his hand rest on her, and she exhaled sharply as the headbutt was sudden.“Damn.He likes you better than me.”
“Why do you say that?”
“It’s like he’s trying to make sure you know you are wanted by beating the hell out of the inside of me, so you know he is there.”
He smiled and then frowned.“Does it hurt?”
“Not exactly comfortable.Vine is the only person who asks and waits to touch the belly.I hadn’t realized how rare that was until I started coming out at work to speak to the events with a visible bump.”
Xiroth stroked her belly, and the hard motions turned into fluttering.
“See?He does like you best.”
“I am asking him to greet me politely, with attention to the comfort of his mother.”
“If he listens, you are going to be handling parent-teacher issues.”
Xiroth nodded.“Deal.”
