The Bonding Chronicles Ch. 14

"You're free to continue your journey," Wilcox stated, as he stepped to the side.

Caili stormed across the room, the two men watching with interest as she opened the ornate door and stepped through. The light was too intense for them to see through the passage, but they caught the warm scent of a tropical beach as the hot, dry air flooded through the doorway.

"You cheeky bastard," Daniel nearly yelled the moment the door closed, assuming that Caili's statement had been directed towards a wayward hand.

WIlcox retook his seat, pushing the plate away from himself as he shook his head, all hunger being lost by their most recent interruption. What he had seen projected from Caili's mind was disconcerting, and reaffirmed to him that something was not right.

"Can you watch the passage without me tonight?" Wilcox asked, as he leaned back in his chair, formalizing his plan.

"Shit, I never needed a babysitter in the first place."

Wilcox shook his head, "Grow up, man. Coincidences abound, and unless you want to end up like those poor fuckers in London, you better open your eyes and start taking everything more seriously." He stood and walked over to the bench, opening the large container, and finding his belongings resting within. He pulled out his jacket before saying, "Well, just send a beacon if anyone should try and enter."

Daniel rolled his eyes and took another bite of steak, asking between chews, "Where you headed?"

Wilcox crossed the room and pulled the hood of his jacket over his head before stating, "I need to talk to Desmond about what just happened, something doesn't feel right."

With that statement hanging above them, the humid street-scented air came rushing in from Seattle as the door opened, welcoming Wilcox as he vanished into the dark city night. The door closed, leaving Daniel to wonder what the hell was going on as he finished his steak and began on Wilcox's.

***** These Idled Moments *****

Karen's nerves had finally found rest as she caressed Andrew's back, the sight of him sketching out a new design for Tani'm's armor a comfort she welcomed with glee. His tongue darted from one end of his mouth to the other as he scanned the piece of paper, something about his design bothered him, but she was unsure what it was. There were several sizes of leather straps and shapes, all drawn side by side with overlapping intent. While everything appeared to be in order, Karen knew that Andrew was seeing the finished product within his mind, and was not pleased with what he saw.

"What do you mean, you're not sure when she'll be calling?" Karen asked, before looking around the nearly-empty diner, leaning in and lowering her voice as she continued, "I thought you shared her perspective, or heard her thoughts, or... I don't know, something."

Andrew looked up from his third design, sliding his latest failure across the table as he responded, "Well, her emotions are still coming through really strong, but ever since we left..." It was his turn to cast furtive glances at the vacant booths that surrounded them, before finishing his statement in a whisper, "Ever since we left the glade, her thoughts and experiences are hidden from me. It's really weird, her emotions are so clear, and I can feel the presence of those extra details sitting in the back of my mind, like an itch I just can't scratch."

He looked across the room, his mind trying to hone in on the source of the unfamiliar feeling, and after a moment with no success he shook his head and smiled at Karen. "Yeah, can't quite get to it."

Karen shook her head as Andrew pulled out a clean piece of paper from his school bag, his momentary frustration already forgotten as he bobbed his head and whistled while his hand made quick work of his new design. They were both content, Andrew savoring the feeling of Karen's fingers gliding across his back, the sensation adding to his enjoyment as he struggled to solve a new challenge. Karen was enjoying the lazy moment that they were able to share, finding it a pleasant change of pace after what they had just been through.

So much had happened that night, and while only five hours had passed for the rest of the world, Karen had spent the better part of five days caring for the love of her life, while fearful of losing the other half of her heart. The conflict of those two concerns had worn her down, and she needed the moment they were settling into more than she had realized. Sara was safe, and Andrew — while still suffering from the sacrifices he had made — was at least able to walk and move about on his own accord. She considered that a tremendous victory, and could not have been more relieved as she watched the waitress moving between the few patrons she was attending to.

There was something cathartic about the old style diner they decided to wait for Sara's call in. The silence of the small establishment was broken by the periodic sounds of cars as they zoomed past on Interstate 101, and Karen realized that even those distractions served to accentuate the casual attitude of the restaurant. The deep thrum of the passing vehicles were a reminder that there was a world outside of those windows, and that while they would need to return to their lives, for now, they were free to relax.

The scent of stale coffee and caramelized potato hung heavy in the air, going unnoticed by the staff, but swaddling the customers in their welcoming embrace. Karen took comfort in those thoughts as she watched the waitress make her way to their table, the pleasant-looking woman's arms burdened with their food. Andrew was startled as the older woman came up beside their table, and secured his latest design in his bag, while eyeing his overflowing plate.

"Here you go, darlin'," the waitress said as she set down the food before them. "Let me just top off that cola, and is there anything else I can get you two?"

Andrew shook his head while he skewered a sausage on his fork, his attention being captivated by the large pancake combo that stood before him.

"No, thank you. We should be fine," Karen responded, as she chuckled at the speed with which Andrew was tackling his food.

The waitress's laughter could be heard as she made her way across the restaurant, and by the time she returned with Andrew's refilled beverage, he had already devoured nearly half of his platter.

"Damn, I remember when my boys could eat like that," she stated as she replaced his drink, the connotation of her statement not going unnoticed by Andrew or Karen.

Andrew was working on cutting the rounded edges off of his third and final pancake, turning the once-circular confection into a perfect square of fluffy, cakey goodness. Once the waitress left to tend to her other tables, Andrew turned his blue eyes on Karen, asking, "Does that bother you?"

She knew well what he was talking about, and was not surprised by the assumption that the woman had made. On the best of days, Andrew had the appearance of a young teenager, and in his present condition, he seemed even younger, his frail frame and thin limbs making him seem all the more miniscule.

With a lilting laugh and warm smile, she pulled him against her side and said, "Not even a little." Karen spared a moment to study the waitress, before passing her gaze across the few other diners and continuing, "Something funny happens as you go through life, or at least it did for me; you stop caring what people think about you."

Andrew swallowed a bite of pancake in time to respond, "I might have started to notice that a bit." He turned his head to the side as he considered that thought, blushed and then expanded on his initial statement, "Though, I think for me, it was probably the result of Sara and her 'fuck the world' attitude, than any kind of life experience."

They shared a laugh, their arousal spiking as they were reminded of their redhaired lover.

"I don't want it to bother me, but I have to admit, it kind of does. Things at school have gotten better, people are starting to realize that Sara and I belong together, but this..."

He rested his hand upon hers, the heat from his skin penetrating, which surprised Karen, who could feel his metabolism working overtime through her gift.

"I'm just worrie-" His explanation was cut short by Karen, who gave him a soft and tender kiss. The taste of maple syrup on his lips helped to distract from the worry she could feel from her mate.

"Self-doubt is a terrible cologne, my love. As our fiendish little feline would say, who cares what they think. Fuck'em." Karen caressed his cheek, and was reminded of his age, a fact she often forgot in light of his abnormal wisdom. Love, it seemed, was one aspect of life he was still struggling to figure out. While she tried to determine how much their situation bothered him, she watched as he again studied their surroundings, glad to confirm that no one was paying them any attention.

"I love you and Sara more than I knew possible — we are Bonded, truly and completely. But, when I see how that woman looks at us I... well, it just bothers me."

Karen was not surprised by Andrew's feelings, having shared those same sentiments many times in her distant past. But, as she looked upon her small mate, worry shadowing the handsome lines of his face, she could see just how new these feelings were for him. As if by magic, he could tell how much Karen wanted to comfort him, to put him at ease and assure him that everything would be all right. He knew — somehow — that it was her nature.

Andrew reached out and caressed her cheek, self-consciousness written in the way his eyes scanned towards the few patrons that sat across the diner, before he said, "You look amazing for your age," Andrew wanted to push through that statement, but was forced to pause and smile as Karen rolled her eyes and chuckled. "But as gorgeous as you are, the difference in our apparent age is going to be a problem, regardless of where we are."

It was difficult to admit, but Andrew was right. Karen's heart sank for a moment, before she was reminded of a single truth that she knew all too well.

"Time will solve all problems."

It was the first time that Andrew had heard Karen mention time in a positive light, the bitter edge missing from her voice, and he was forced to consider what she meant. The dutiful teacher that she was, she gave him time to ruminate on her intentionally vague statement, and Andrew realized right away that he was again being tested by the wise older woman.

He was able to tackle a few more bites of his late-night breakfast, his body eagerly taking the sustenance, while his mind tackled her statement from every conceivable angle. Karen took small bites of her frittata-style omelette — the bell peppers were surprisingly fresh, which almost made up for the burnt eggs.

Andrew laughed when he realized what she had meant, and felt foolish for all the complex solutions he had considered before landing on the obvious one that was sitting right before him.

"So... what... like five years, and no one will bat an eye at our visible age difference."

Karen smiled, glad that Andrew had caught on.

"Probably less, if you consider how much you've changed in the last two weeks."

"And we still don't know how much more you might change," Andrew added, pushing his empty plate to the edge of the table, before downing the last of his beverage.

That was something Karen had not considered, and as she thought about how much Sara had changed, she wondered if she too might go through the same kind of shift. Granted, Sara was a half-werecat when she had met Andrew, and Karen was already a fully-fledged healer. The one thing she was forced to concede, was that she didn't know what was going to happen, but the prospect of becoming even more in touch with her nature did nothing but excite her.

"You're right, we have no idea. How marvelous is that?" Karen's tone was infectious, her excitement at the unknown dripping from every hurried syllable, as the words rushed to flee her mouth.

Andrew laughed and rested his head against her side, his hands caressing his belly where his stomach grumbled and fought against the shocking amount of food he had sacrificed to his hunger. He considered many of the same things that had just gone through Karen's head — would she change as much as Sara had? How would her gifts change, if she did?

Unlike Karen, he knew one thing that informed his anticipation of the weeks to come: His gift wanted him to cast the spell that he had used to strengthen Sara on Karen. He had felt his desire swell up as he came within her earlier that night, and knew that if he was given the chance, he wanted nothing more than to see her swollen with his seed.

"What?" Karen asked, the wistful grin on Andrew's face and erotic desire coursing through their bond telling her that he was up to something.

"Just excited to have my women back together," Andrew said, as he sat back up and pulled his sketch out of his school bag.

Andrew knew he was on the right track, the segments of overlapping and interlocking leather seeming to make the most sense as he studied his latest design for Tani'm's chest piece.

"So, what are you working on, honey?"

After reaching into his pocket, Andrew handed Karen his phone. Once she turned on the screen, she watched as the password prompt filled with more asterisks than she could count, before the device unlocked itself. She was looking at a directory listing, and the folder she was looking at was called 'leather_armor.'

"I could see from what she was wearing that Tani'm needs to be agile, with unhindered movement. That's a challenge, considering what she's going to be fighting."

Karen clicked on the folder, and could see several different PDFs, each one labelled after different aspects of leather working and armor construction. She decided to click on 'hardening_techniques.pdf,' and was amazed at how detailed and well-organized everything was. Andrew had gathered meaningful bits of information from various websites and online resources, organising them all into logical groups.

"Did you gather all of this information since we left?"

Andrew turned the piece of paper, finalizing his design for the side-panelling, before looking at Karen and saying very matter of factly, "Well, yeah... I'm nerdy, but I don't just keep a stockpile of armor crafting techniques laying around."

He was grateful that the topic had been on armor, because his complete four-book set of "Bowyer's Bibles" on his bookshelf at home would have undercut his defense.

"That is remarkable, Andrew."

Andrew's gifts with technology still surprised Karen, who was struggling to understand how he had compiled and read all of the information she was looking at. There were a half-dozen documents, each with dozens of pages of information, diagrams, and best-practices. He was a remarkable student, she knew that, but if he had already consumed and retained all of the information from those files, then he was in a league of his own.

For several minutes, Karen asked Andrew questions about his design, being reminded of the early years of her life, of watching young men fight real battles with blades of a dangerous make, and lethal intent. A time when armor was a necessity, and armorsmiths were valued for the quality of their trade. She tried to understand what his goals were and how he was working to achieve them. He had not only retained all of the information from his research, but she could tell that he was trying to figure out how best to merge the various concepts together.

"The one thing I really need to figure out, is how the leather will behave when it's magically reinforc-"

Karen jumped as Andrew's phone came to life, the screen reading "Unknown Caller" as it vibrated in her hand. Both of their hearts swelled when Andrew heard Sara's voice, the power of his excitement bleeding through his bond with Karen. He had done a good job of hiding his concern, but as he answered, Karen could tell that he missed his visions of what Sara had been up to. The mystery of how her night had progressed had burrowed into his subconscious, and he could not help but worry that some new threat had found her before they could meet back up.

His mouth struggled to keep pace with his thoughts as he tried to explain everything that had happened on their side of the evening, but Sara did a remarkable job of calming him down and getting him focused on the task at hand. Within a few moments, Karen had settled their tab with the diner, and they were back in Andrew's parents' SUV, Sara's location locked into their GPS navigation.

Never before had the speed limit felt as limiting as it did in that moment, and despite the eager couple's attempts, they were unable to will themselves where they wanted to be. As the miles ticked by, their expectation of what they might find became all the more real: How different might Sara be, now that her nature had been exposed? They both smiled, eager to find out.

***** Fleeting Reunion *****

Mercedes sat on her crate, shoulders slumped and heart heavy with indecision. Her eyes traced the cracks that spidered their way across the concrete, while her mind raced. Her body shifted forward, pushed from behind by a large paw, and her head shook while her eyes rolled.

"Seriously, Sara. Not now."

The regal-looking ocelot sat behind her, a pleading look in its eyes as it slowly lifted its paw and patted at Mercedes' back once more. The deep guttural yowl that escaped the large cat's mouth moved in pace with its swooping tail, which seemed to declare the feline's eagerness for interaction.

Mercedes took a deep breath, and released it with a loud huff as she turned her attention to Sara. Never before had she appreciated the hell she had put her mothers through, as she did in that moment. The younger woman's eyes were radiant with excitement, and she realized how easy it had been to forget what it was like, first coming into her powers, and the overwhelming amount of playful energy that demanded an outlet.

"Andrew should be here soon," she stated, the man's name refreshing her doubts and reinforcing her indecision. "Go run around the forest for a bit... or... I don't know, just give me a bit to think."

Her eyes turned back towards the floor, and for several moments, she could hear the loud purr of the massive cat that waited behind her. As a couple of seconds passed, the pitch of the rumbling noise changed, until it was interrupted by Sara's voice.

"He isn't going to be mad at you, if that's what you're worried about."

Mercedes had a hard time believing that, but knew Sara well enough to take her at her word. The concrete was dusty and cold, the once-even surface chipped and broken from years of abuse and neglect, which spoke to something deep within Mercedes. She sighed and turned her eyes back behind her, finding Sara standing there, looking perfect.

"Well, even if he does decide to forgive me, that doesn't change what I did."

There was a depth of despair in the woman's voice that Sara could almost feel. She was about to ask Mercedes what was going on, when they both turned their heads towards the sound of a vehicle traveling down the gravel road that led to the warehouse. Sara grinned at Mercedes, and then took off at a sprint across the vast room, vanishing through the door in record time.

Andrew and Karen were startled by Sara, who seemed to appear out of nowhere before them, the statuesque woman looked amazing in the bright headlights as the car slid to a sudden stop. She looked much the same as she had earlier that night, her athletic body still possessing the soft padding that only hinted at the muscles that rested within, though they had a hard time taking their attention from her almond eyes, which seemed to be reflecting the light from their car back at them. Karen pulled the lever, turning off the high beams, and the dimmed light did little to hide the majesty that stood before them.