Rocky Road ~ House of Brisa, Dave, Koa, and Owen

[Namohysip]

"Hey," Owen greeted back with a little laugh, setting the food down on the table before looking between all the seats. He settled on the largest one and carefully, gingerly scooted himself into a proper position, folding his wings down meticulously, and then reached into the bag to set out all the food, letting Brisa take her pick.

"Got some of your favorites," he said. "Figured you'd be home, uh. Just got back from... some training and stuff. You know how it goes!" He cheerily kicked his legs just off his seat, eyes wandering the house.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Well ain't you in a good fuckin' mood," she drawled, reaching for whatever was nearest to her. Something with a good tang to it. Oh, yes. Filo pastry, berry and cream filling. Perfect.

"What constitutes 'some trainin' an' stuff', partner?" she asked, between licking her lips, a hunter's grin stalking onto her face.

 

[Namohysip]

"Aren't I always in a good mood?" Owen asked, tilting his head to the point where his horn got caught in the wall. "Gah!" He quickly pulled back, reversing, and thankfully didn't break anything. "Guess I'm still getting used to, uh, the size. Oh, training. Well, you know. Heading to the Colosseum, mostly the training rooms, taking on the dummies they have to spare and things like that!" He sighed, leaning back, stars in his eyes. "I'm gonna miss that."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa chuckled, and decided not to be a downer.

"Yeah, me too, fella. Nice work with the Colada fight, by the way. Trainin' always pays off, as I like to tell my students."

A glint may have been visible for a moment in her eye as she imagined a grand finale event in the Colo before they went home, with all her strongest allies working together to kick the daylights outta some seriously impressive opponent.

 

[Namohysip]

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Thanks!" Owen grinned. "I was really nervous about it, but I guess all that training really paid off." His flame crackled a little and he reached for one of the extra large burgers that he had bought, looking almost surprised by the weightiness of it in his hands.

"To think we can go toe to toe against the heroes that had saved this world before us... I don't think there's anybody like that back home. I mean, you know, aside from, uh, everyone I worked with, but that's kinda different. We don't really have 'past heroes' in our history in the way here does. I hope I can meet them one day... or, hey, maybe I'll be one myself! That'd be even more cool..."

A real chatterbox today.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Well that's sure a positive turnaround from all that doom an' gloom 'bout not havin' a way to solve yer stalemate."

Brisa shifted on the sofa to get a better angle of Owen, munching thoughtfully on something sweet and nutty.

"Did you eat somethin' peculiar, pal? Yer demeanour ain't ever this bright since months back."

 

[Namohysip]

"Something peculiar?" Owen asked, tilting his head. "No, I, uh, I didn't eat anything! Except for this burger! Well, I didn't eat it yet, actually, but mmmmnnfffffmnfmnf. Smme?" He took a bite out of it mid-sentence and grinned at Brisa as if to prove himself.

Swallowing, he added, "What, was I not that bright before? I'm, like, always trying to keep up team morale, though! Like you!"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa eyed Owen's tailflame. It wasn't really sporting, but a lazy day was a lazy day.

"You hidin' somethin' from me, big guy?" she drawled. "Actually, I'm callin' it. Y'ain't my big guy at all, are ya?"

 

[Namohysip]

"E-eh? Hiding? Please, you know I can't hide things." Owen waved dismissively with a free hand before taking another big bite. "Maybe I'm just excited, huh? The whole world is behind us this time, yeah?! I guess... I'm confident. Yeah! That's the way to phrase it. Confident!" He wasn't looking at Brisa.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

The thought occurred to Brisa to play a prank in kind, but she didn't like her odds of beating Owen's Perceive and it wasn't like he could've expected her to fall for his shtick anyway. Still, his reaction could be entertaining.

"Feelin' pretty confident myself, partner! But if'n yer that excited, are ya maybe gettin' a li'l 'wound up'? You know I'm always happy to help you let off some steam, Owen..."

It wasn't that difficult to insinuate what she wanted to, in the end. Owen was the closest a fella had ever been to genuinely attractive, after all, and besides, she was only telling a white lie.

 

[Namohysip]

Owen tilted his head again, pausing between bites. Owen had a lot of brain cells, but unfortunately only fifteen of them were dedicated to these kinds of encounters. "Maybe I am more excited than usual," he said, taking another bite. The burger was about three quarters gone, now. "I guess I could do some winding down. We could sleep together, maybe? Kind of like what Zena and I do."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa blinked at the casual reply, spent a moment calculating, and realised he wasn't being euphemistic. An artefact of Diyem's translation, Owen's naivety, or another layer to the pranking? Well, she'd rather power through all that.

"Actually, I thought you might wanna fuck me," she drawled, pulling on every ounce of her emotional reserve to keep a straight face. Truly, one of the greatest challenges of her time on Cibus.

 

[Namohysip]

The brain cells appeared to have ceased.

And for a moment, the only sound was a stray tomato landing on Owen's chest.

"I, uh--"

He hastily picked it up and shoved it in his mouth. "Uhmm, I d-don't remember doing that before!" he said. "I, uh, I mean, I have, I mean, it's not like it's my, I mean, um..."

He glanced at himself, then at Brisa.

"Wouldn't it hurt?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Didn't hurt last time," said Brisa, evenly. (Technically true.) "Whaddaya mean y'don't remember?"

Gods, this was easy. She just had to lean into her incredulity at his wording and let how flustered he was do the rest of the work.

 

[Namohysip]

There was a look of panic in Owen's eyes as he tried to weigh his options and precisely what Brisa was implying. It was too unambiguous.

"I... uh, memory problems, remember? And stuff." The ones that Owen had long since gone past. "...I mean. It's. Post-battle rushing. So my brain's a little broken and things." The table was on fire.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa nodded at the table. "Can't have sex 'til you put out that goddamn fire," she stated, deadpan. "Y'know, I'm perplexed at the idea that you'd just forget what it was like t'fuck someone. I thought the DV therapists sorted that shit out fer you anyway?"

 

[Namohysip]

Owen made a quick wave of his hand and the fire went out, like it was a thing he was always able to do. Maybe it was. His Fire manipulation was unparalleled at times. "...Wait!" Owen suddenly said, gasping, as he pointed ahead. "What's that?!"

Owen bolted in the opposite direction, going for the window, immediately getting caught by the shoulders, stuck.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

This was better, or perhaps worse, than anything Brisa could possibly have imagined. She almost cautioned him not to detroy the wall trying to get away, but honestly, who gave a shit? They were leaving this planet in mere days, anyway.

"Don't recall seein' you in that position before," she remarked, smirking. "What's wrong, Owen? I thought you'd be excited."

She strolled up alongside him and patted his flank affectionately.

"It's okay if you're nervous," she whispered. "I can help with that."

 

[Namohysip]

"W-w-waaiiiit, wait, hang on!" Owen said from the other side of the wall, legs kicking nothing while he tried to carefully pull himself back into the house. His horns got caught on something and they fell off on his way in, clattering somewhere on the couch, lost forever probably.

"Y-you win! I give! I don't think you want to, um, do things with me that you'd do with him." He still believed her, poor fool. "We just, um... h-he talked me into it." This was a lie. "And I guess he convinced me." Despite not being the Owen she knew, he read the same. "For, um... levity, and some fun..." That part seemed true.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I'm a fuckin' lesbian, you moron," drawled Brisa, barely suppressing a cackle. "Didja really think you'd fool me? Y'ain't slick."