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Freya smiled softly to herself as she allowed herself to be led to the kitchen. Nothing wrong with that. She loved the kitchen. It's where the food is.

She made an ooo sound in response to the mention of chicken wings. She and Heather had recently bonded over their mutual love of the tasty delights. Them she realized what Liam had said. "We."

She unhooked her pinky and raised her hands. "Whoa now. Wait just a minute. I don't cook. I've told you this. Everything I touch beyond the microwave becomes an absolute s**t show. Why don't I just let you do what you do and I can be on the couch, watching anime, and try to swallow my sadness for the time being? Then you bring me the chicken, and I'll probably make that face and sound you like so much. Eh, eeh?"

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The estate of Vera Claiborne was large and well guarded from intruders by a digital alarm system. Inside, it was just her. She paced nervously around what looked to be an at home office. She periodically looked at her phone, as though there were a possibility that she had just missed a notification.

An impossible choice! Freya grinned in spite of herself. "Why not both? It can't be that hard to cook two different meats in the same oven, right?"

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Vera nearly jumped out of her skin when a disheveled Heather appeared in front of her from seemingly out of nowhere.

"Jesus!" she exclaimed. She immediately turned to leave only to be disappointed. A woman she had never seen before blocked her path. She turned back to Heather.

"Heather, what-?" she started.

Heather interrupted Vera mid syllable with just a raise of her finger. "Shut. The ********. Up." she said with barely contained fury. "Did you know?"

Vera did not have to think too hard to figure out what Heather was asking. "No. Not at first. Roland told me that you'd be the first to die today. When I didn't like what he said, he left. It wasn't until I saw the news that I realized that he had tricked me."

As Vera spoke, she pointed her eyes in the direction of a large bookshelf. Heather wondered if the woman was having a stroke, but then she realized that someone like her would probably have a panic room. Vera's was most likely behind the bookshelf. She started to look that way when she mentioned Roland leaving. Was he still there?

She turned her gaze toward Liv and inconspicuously motioned toward the bookshelf with her tail.

"What did he mean by 'the first.' What's he doing?" Heather asked.

"I don't know." Vera replied. "But I think he's involved with the Prometheus Watch."

Freya was downright insulted by the mention of a vegetarian meal. Her face tightened and turned red. When he revealed that it was just a joke she huffed and crossed her arms. "That s**t isn't funny."

She took the apron he mentioned and put it on. As she tied the strings behind her back she warned, "Alright, but don't get mad at me if I ******** this up."

She reached her hand out and took the bowl from him. Her mouth began to salivate as soon as the scents from the herbs and spices hit her nostrils. "Nice. So...what do I do now? Just put my hands in there and get to mixing?"

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As Heather and Vera continued their conversation, the infinite eyes revealed much to Liv. The room had not been used since it was installed. There was the occasional maintenance person to make sure it would work when needed to, but there was little interesting about it until earlier that day. Roland had ushered four men wearing civilian grad battle rattle into the room. Each of them was armed with an AR-15, grenade pouch, and a KA-BAR knife. The room was dark, which was why Liv could not see into it from the light realm earlier.

Theresa kept herself busy by dancing around the alley where Trinity had asked her to stay. She had recently taken up the art after Freya suggested that Theresa give it a whirl. Something about improving her footwork. To her delight she not only liked dance, but Freya had been right about it helping with footwork.

She stopped when she felt her phone buzz. She looked down at the screen and smiled. She could not wait to be a good helper. She then put her hand against the wall of the warehouse and made it warp on the inside. What the "employees" saw was a poster sized tongue out emoji lifting out of the wall.

Radios squawked, orders were barked, and a small team made their way outside to see who or what caused the wall to change shape. When they made their way to the alley they found nothing. Theresa had already skipped away; very much pleased with herself.

Liv looked back at Heather. Hands close to her chest, pointed to the bookshelf, raised her hand with four fingers to indicate four people.

With her Beast Master power she could send messages to Heather due to the dragon nature of her but it would be a bit broken as it was originally meant to command beasts.

"Earlier morning. Roland, 4 men. Armed. Military. Room.Dark."

"Yes, all you need to do use your hands to mix it all together. There is no need for force. Just be sure everything is covered."

Freya enthusiastically mixed the meat and seasonings. After a few seconds she frowned and reached for one of the seasoning containers.

Liam was working on the other dish occasionally glancing at Freya. It didn't seem like she was actually ba-..

With his mind he moved the containers of seasoning.

"Freya, just mix for me please. The seasoning is right."

"You said to make sure everything is covered. I see blank spots! Besides, what harm could more flavor do?"

"It's covered plenty. A few small blank spots don't matter. And to answer your question...A...lot actually. There is currently a balance. Adding more of one would completely ruin it."

"I was gonna put a little bit of everything, but whatever you say. It's all mixed. You want me to heat the oven or something?"

"Oh, it actually just needs the air fryer over here. If you could cut the pork into small cubes of...about 2 inches then place them into the air fryer, that would help. Ill turn it on after"

"All I have to do is cut? I think I can handle that. Think this knife will be able to get through bones?"

Liam grabbed a different knife and said, "This one should be more capable. But, it all depends on your own strength. I doubt someone like you would have any problems with it. You'd want the bone to remain in the middle." Liam explained as he made the batter for his chicken pieces.

"Sick."

*Chop chop snap*

"I broke the knife."

As Liam was thoroughly covering the bits of chicken in the batter he raised an eyebrow and look at Freya a bit concerned.

"I am almost afraid to ask. But ...how?"

"Don't look at me like that! It got stuck in the cutting board, and when I tried to pull it out it snapped! Speaking of which, I also broke the cutting board."

Liam stood there for a second or two. No thoughts ran through his mind, just...surprised and amazed at how Freya managed this before he managed a chuckle.

"You are, never lacking in surprises, I must admit. Should I take over from here to make sure that you will have both dishes?"

"No! I can still split these ribs without a knife. Check this s**t out!"

Freya picked up a rib, bent it, and snapped the bone with her raw strength, sending flecks of seasoning, bone, and raw pork flying. The splatter did not deter her from a second snap as she stuck out her tongue in concentration and snapped the same rib two inches away from the first snap.

"See! I can break bones like a mother ******** style="color: green">Liam quickly pressed her hands down on the kitchen table.
"Yes, no need to prove anything. I know you are quite strong but....I'd rather not waste food and have you continue to ....scatter the ingredients."

Freya scrunched her nose at him and huffed. "I knew you'd kick me out! Fine. I'll just go over there and watch anime. Like I said I should've."

She rubbed her hand aggressively against the apron. She tried to take it off, but she'd forgotten to undo the bow on the back. Once she realized her mistake, she reached behind herself and pulled the string. Unfortunately, the bow had managed to move in on itself and when she pulled the string it tightened into a knot. She tugged and struggled until it finaly snapped. She balled it up and spiked it into the table.

In a vain attempt to recover some dignity, Freya glared at Liam and lifted her nose up at him like a spoiled Princess. She then haughtily marched to the couch and plopped down.

Liam cocked his head a little in confusion. That was not what he meant at all.

"Freya wait, I-" He managed to say before she fought off the apron. After she had ripped it off and...lifted her nose in a way he had not seen her do before, he continued preparing the meat. Pouring oil into the big wok pan to fry the chicken after dipping each piece in batter that he managed to prepare before this. "I was not going to kick you out Freya." With that he begun to fry the batter coated chicken pieces. He always did enjoy the sounds of it and perhaps she would too. Using his telekinesis he continued Freya's work of chopping up the pork.

Freya sat with her arms crossed as she mulled over what had just happened. It had been pointed out to her, by multiple people, that she had a bad habit of flying off the handle. This she knew. What she was unaware of was that she did it as a defense mechanism. She threw herself out before he could.

She started to calm down as soon as the smell hit her nose. With a exhausted sigh she got up, walked back into the kitchen, and put her forehead against Liam's back.

"Sorry."

Liam took a deep breath as Freya rested her head against his back.

"It's been an exhausting day for the both of us." He responded fighting the urge to embrace her again. Using a pair of chopsticks he took out one of the fried chicken pieces. Blowing on it a bit he took a bite to taste test. Yes, this would do. Turning around he offered the rest to her

"Shall I wait until both are done or would you like to eat these, watch something and then go for the pork?"

Freya took the chicken off of the chopsticks and thought about it.

"Finish 'em both."

She took a bite of the chicken and hummed with delight.

"Come sit with me on the couch when you're done."

Liam gave a brief nod and turned his back to her again, continuing coating the chicken in batter and deep frying them as the cut chunks of marinated pork placed themselves neatly into the air fryer. It was good to know she liked the chicken. Even if he expected her to.

"Will do. How else will the food come to you?" He said as with a little joke.

Freya fidgeted in place for a moment as Liam continued to cook. She did not want to sit down just yet. There was something she had wanted to do, but it was difficult when he was looked at her.

"Keep your back to me, and don't freak out." She directed.

Freya quietly counted to three. She then threw her arms around his waist as though she could fly away at any second. She put her forehead against his back again and sighed.

"How else will I cook?" Liam responded focused on the process in front of him. He could fry multiple pieces of chicken but he prefered to give each piece 100% of his attention so the taste would be to his standards. Perfect. He could not serve Freya anything less.

Her next action did throw him off. A lot. Tensing up in surprise, it took a few seconds before registering fully what she did. Exhaling he forced himself to focus on the frying of the chicken. Trying to get the feeling of her hugging him from behind out of his mind. With a deep breath, he relaxed and continued the cooking.

"You always know how to throw me off."

Freya did not say anything in response. She just held on to him. She felt the tension in her body ease in spite of the lump in her throat and the knot in her stomach.

"How much longer?" She asked.

"Roughly..." Liam looked over at the Air Fryer. "Ten minutes or so." Continuing with frying the chicken was the only way to ignore the warmth of her hug on his back.

Freya huffed, "That's too long."

A few beats of silence passed. She then asked, "You good? This isn't too much, is it?"

"Yes, it does not impede my cooking." He said as he focused on his task but then realized that is not what she meant.

"I...do not mind it. It's nice. But if I am being honest, I wish to do the same. But I can't." He repsonded over the sizzling sounds of frying chicken

Freya mulled over his response for a few seconds.

"You said it'd take ten minutes. You could...turn around, if you'd like. Just don't expect more than this. It's taking everything I have to not have a panic attack right now."

Liam was in conflict with himself as she said this. He wanted to prepare the best meal he could for her but now she offered for him to return the hug. Taking a deep breath he turned around but also moved back a little so he could still keep an eye on the cooking process. Wiping his hands off on his apron, he returned the hug. Strangely enough his muscles tensed up a lot while doing this before he could finally exhaled and release the tension. Like before he had one hand on her hand and another on her back. His heart was certainly beating a lot faster now with his hand through her hair, gently caressing it.

"Sorry I am...still unaccustomed to this. I won't ask for more"

Freya put her ear eagainst his chest and was surprised to hear how fast his heart was beating. Funny, she thought, how it was almost kept pace with hers.

"You're not the only one. This is new for me too. It's exciting, but it's also really ******** scary. You're nothing like him, but I can't help thinking about it. He never held me like this. This feeling, I want more of it. But I don't want to use you the way he did to me. I have to be better, and that scares me."

She squeezed him a little tighter. "So, for now, this is the best I can do."

At no point during her little speech did she look up at him.

Unconciously he had been gentle stroking her head. He also wanted more but at the same time didnt know that entailed despite all of his memories of other people. He didn't call upon those during these moments.

"You wouldn't try to do what he did. Your best is enough....you are enough, Freya." Liam responded. Eyes closed, fully in the moment.

"Besides, I do not mind spoiling you."

Freya chuckled and smiled. "Still not used to liking that, but I think I could learn."

Her stomach made a gurgling sound. She blushed and said, "Maaaybe I'll have a few of those ribs after all."

"Chicken it is. The ribs are what we are waiting for." Liam responded as he continued to gentle stroked her head. "It would be difficult to eat like this though."

"Says you! I'm sad, and I'm not ready to stop being doted on."

Freya reached toward the plate of chicken and said, "Gimme gimme!"

Liam raised an eyebrow and chuckled a bit.

"Very well. If that is what you want." Moving a small bowl of sauce onto the plate with fried chicken, he had it levitate over to Freya. Meanwhile he continued to work on the rest of the deep fried chicken.

Freya nabbed a drummet and rolled it in the sauce. She then stuck the piece in her mouth and raked all of the meat off the bone in one go.

"Yeah. I could definitely get used to this." She said between chews.

Liam looked down at her as she made due with what she had. The chicken pieces. Glad she liked it. He smiled to himself. "You should. I plan to do this for a long time."

Freya was about to reply when her phone pinged. She sighed and answered it without looking at the caller ID. "What?! I'm very busy right now!"

"'We both know that's not true." Gidget replied from the other end. "I'm sorry to interrupt, especially today, but I thought you might like to vent your pent up emotions on some militia assholes."

"Hmmmph...that actually does sound like fun. Where?"

"A little less than a mile out on the main road. They should reach the surface just before they get here. Knowing you, it should take less than five minutes."

Freya bobbed her head side to side as she considered. "Yeah, okay. Just make sure no one else is out there. I want to cut loose."

"Oh right, try not to kill them. We need to set an example."

"Ugh, fine! I'll hurt 'em just enough for the ER, not the ICU."

Freya terminated the call and looked up at Liam. "Looks like Gidget needs a favor. Imma go take care of it while you finish the meat, 'kay?"

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Heather nodded and walked toward the bookshelf. "You know, Vera, I'm no stranger to killing people. Don't worry, I'm not gonna torch you. I'm just going to hot box the guys in your panic room until they decide to either drop their weapons or stay inside and be cooked alive."

With an effortless push, she broke the bookshelf off of it's track and topped it over to reveal the steel door. She placed her palm on the steel and began to heat it up. It did not take long for it to start glowing. Heather had had enough of those people, and she wanted to let them know how angry she was.

"I'd say you boys have less than three minutes before you start to bake. You can open the door armed and let my girlfriend kill you, stay inside and day, or you can drop your weapons and come out sweaty. Your choice."

Vera looked from Liv to Heather in a panic. She turned to Liv and insisted, "Please, you can't just kill those men! How can you be alright with this! Please talk some sense into her!"

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The kraken was confused at first. It's prey had suddenly vanished. It searched until Sara's outburst gave away her position. It immediately resumed the chase.

The crabs and lobsters had abandoned the area shortly after they felt massive movements coming toward them. There were, however, a small herd of sea snails before Sara. In a twist that managed to work out in her favor, the effects of the meteor radiation had caused them to expand to the size of moose. They were much to slow to scamper off.

The kraken easily maneuvered between the columns and spotted the massive snails. It instinctively went for the larger, slower food and ravenously tore into the closest one to it.

Ravan finally caught up and floated over to Sara. She was so worked up that she did not know how to handle it. "Holy s**t, are you okay! What were you thinking?! How long will those snails keep it fed?! It needs to die before it hurts someone!"

The expression on Ravan's face was one of trauma. She had seen to many people die to similar monstrosities. She could not comprehend Sara's mercy. It was nearly a foreign concept to the young woman who had spent her whole life struggling to survive.

Phew, it…worked? Heh heh, it worked! Maybe I can handle this hero thing. Though got to admit huge snails, did not see that coming. She thinking to herself as she watched the kraken devouring its food.

She turned to Ravan then swam up to her so that both were at eye level. I’m okay. It will be okay. Her dark spheres noticed the trauma on her face. She hugged her close in a warm embrace. This isn’t your world. Kerana has shared with me, ‘a small act of kindness can make a big difference’. she let go of her. Let’s give it a chance, it may have forgotten about us by now. If that’s not the case, then we will do what we must to defend ourselves. Now let’s go find Rydia and see if she has had any luck opening the door. Sara lead the way ensuring Ravan was not far behind.

Freya smirked and took off like a bat out of Hell. An a** kicking followed by fried goodies. It was just the thing she needed to cheer her up after Lokelonni's passing.

Gidget was right, she had arrived at the main entrance just as the U-Haul's pulled up. three dozen men quickly filed out of the trucks and leveled their weapons at Freya. The biggest one shouted, "We've got you surrounded b***h. Give up and we'll kill you quick."

Frey could feel her blood stir. It had been a while since she'd had an opportunity to uppercut a punkass.

"All I am surrounded by is fear, and 36 ER visits."

They opened fire, and Freya went to work.

Gidget had heard of Freya's ferocity, but she had never seen it in full display. She was glad that the ninja held back, because just the imagery of broken bones and bloody noses was enough to make her stomach churn. It was all done in less than a minute.

Gidget put in a call to 911 so that they could clear up the unconscious and crying men, but she was shocked to see that there was no one available to come and take them. Apparently, emergency services were completely tasked out with addressing hundreds of calls from around Knoxburg.

She felt there was no choice. She called Valhalla's medical staff to tend to the people who would have just as soon killed everyone in the building. She hated it, but Gidget knew that there was no better moral option.

Freya entered Liam's dorm and sighed with satisfaction. "Got off work early. I got covered in blood and bone fragments. Plus, it turns out the silver aura doesn't protect my clothing from bullets."

She stood confidently with her hands on her hips. She was indeed peppered with bone fragments and stained with blood spatter. Her clothes also looked like they had come under fire by hundreds of moths.

"Hope you don't mind, but I'm gonna use your shower."

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Vera looked nervously from Liv to Heather. She had seen hints of Heather's temper during meetings, but to experience it was terrifying. She was about to plead on the men's behalf with three heavy bangs reverberated from the other side of the steel door.

Heather grit her teeth and removed her hand from the door. It slid open, and three very overheated men stumbled over each other to get out. Their arms were on the floor of the panic room. Yet there was one straggler that had hidden himself from view. He was still armed.

Heather audibly growled and reached around the doorframe to take hold of the man's LBV. She spun around and threw him across the room. He screamed and dropped his rifle as he slid across the floor until he stopped Liv's feet. He turned over and looked up at the blonde. There was a mix of fear and hatred in his eyes.

Heather puffed smoke out of her nostrils and commanded, "You three, run off and tell Roland that I'm coming for him."

Vera asked Heather in regards to the fourth man, "What are you going to do with him?"

Heather knew what she wanted to do, but she was still cool enough to know that someone who was not at their boiling point would be the better person to decide.

"What do you think, Liv? He held out, even knowing that meant you'd kill him."

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Ravan froze in place when Sara hugged her. Normally, she would immediately push anyone her tried to hold her in that state off, but it was different with Sara. She was almost sad when the mer-meta let go. She surprisingly felt much better; reassured, even. When Sara led her away from the Kraken, she did not argue.

Ravan had just gotten he side airlock open when Sara and Ravan returned. She turned the outer lights on and waved to them. "Where did you two run off?! I got inside pressurized while you two were messing around!"

Ravan was about to reply when a person sized moray eel slithered out of a nearby crevice and snapped it's jaws around her arm. Ravan screamed and crushed the eel's skull with her power, but the damage had been done.

Water began to seep into her suit, and the HUD of her helmet flashed warnings of impending implosion. She looked to Sara and opened her mouth to beg for help, but she couldn't get any sound out. The increased pressure had already robbed her of breath. She knew what an implosion was, and she did not want to die that way.

Rydia shouted, "Sara, bring her in before she's crushed!"

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They both shuffled over to block Trinity. The shorter of the two said, "Torch."

After a beat of the silence, the taller one explained, "The countersign, Newbie. What is it?"