Chapter Thirteen - "Love, MetaHuman Style" Everybody always wants to know how Nova and I got together. Not sure why it is so interesting but I am willing to tell the story.
She has explained her power and how hard it is for her to keep it in check. I have to do the same but it comes easier for me. I can get mad. I can yell. For me it is just a matter of not losing control beyond a certain point. Sex was never a problem in fact I can do some tricks... but I digress.
Nova has never gained that level of control. She might never do so.
I am the only person who is perfectly safe with her. She might be able to hurt me if she really tried but certainly not by accident. There are other Metas who are reasonable safe around her but only to varying degrees. So I guess it is natural that we might spend a lot of time together when we were not working. At first we did not. Some but it was always as part of other groups.
We did not come together easily in fact Psyche made me. It was not that I did not like Nova but being around her made me worry about myself. Would I end up like her? Sure I had perfect control then but I also knew my power was slowly growing. I was being selfish, I admit that. But I was responsible for a whole planet cut me some slack. Psyche sure as hell did not.
Psyche knows me far too well and she would not let it go. At first the time Nova and I spent was awkward but once I learned to fly things got easier. She and I would fly together every night.
Technically she taught me how to fly but mostly it was me studying how she did it and replicating it with my own powers. I did try to use heat as the driving force a couple of times but aside from destroying a bunch of trees not much happened. Gravity was the obvious choice.
What she contributed was her knowledge of all the body contortions you have to learn to maneuver well. Those days were fun and always too short. Eventually my control over gravity would allow me to simply power my way in any direction I wished. But sometimes I fly the old way. It is still a rush.
I had accepted that she needed me and I was doing my duty. I did grow to enjoy her company especially since it was often the only downtime I had available. She loved ancient languages, Greek, Latin that sort of thing, why I cannot to this day tell you. So I had people who could speak Latin brought in to chat with her and bought her a library of books I will never be able to read. She obtained a never ending supply of gadgets and movies for me. I have to laugh at how hard she tried not to fall asleep during my beloved WWII movies.
Have I ever mentioned that little passion of mine? Except for that series with MSNBC I have rarely done any sort of interview so probably not. WWII was a clean War if such a thing could possibly exist. Good guys, bad guys and lines in the sand. I know a fair bit about the reality of the conflict -- trust me. But the movie versions I enjoy. It was close enough to my life to work and yet far enough away to relax me.
Psyche, tricky little mindwitch that she is, had told Nova that I needed help. Psyche said that I was too deep into the job and was going to burn out before it was all over. When Psyche later told me about this I thought she was manipulating both Nova and I but for Nova's benefit.
“You would think that but what I said to her was every bit as true as what I said to you.” was her reply.
“Besides she is a whole lot better for you than all those bimbos you sleep with.”
Do all women call other women bimbos? One of those bimbos was a Nobel prize winner for physics I will have you know. She was also hotter than hell. I was her subject and the things I told her about energy made her into a superstar. She does deserve the award. Using my senses and powers to answer fundamental questions in ways never before possible she learned amazing things. She advanced human knowledge by a number of great bounds.
I knew about Nova's worst restriction, no sex. We did not talk about it, but she had to know I knew. I blew up at Psyche when she suggested it would be safe for Nova and I to sleep together.
“So is that the new command requirement? It is not enough that I am risking my life and taking responsibility for 1,000 power-mad little gods now you want this too? That is too much to ask of me and you f------ know it!”
Psyche smiled and walked away.
Sometimes I really, really, hate her.
I tried to bring up the subject more than once over the following weeks. But I just did not know how to say it. When I did? Well I thought things had been awkward with Nova at first guess what they were like after I suggested that I would be willing to have sex with her if she wanted that.
For one second she looked at me with hope. Could we really? And was that...?
Then my actual words registered. I, uh, pissed her off.
It cost me my house which was vaporized in an explosion of fire before I could even twitch. Thousands of degrees of heat rippled off her body in huge waves as she screamed at me. I projected a 100' force bubble around us when I did finally react.
She raged at me, “Willing? W I L L I N G! Am I some charity case? Or is this just part of your job Mr. Commander Sir! Should I say thank you sir and spread my legs for service? Who the HELL do you think you are?!”
I wanted to respond, to say something, but it was all I could do to contain the heat flowing from her. She could have leveled Olympus. I had just unleashed a nuclear bomb in my living room and I was fighting to contain it. 'Psyche if I live through this I am going to kill you.' went through my mind as I fought for control.
I managed.
Then I looked at her.
If only you could see her as I do. Every living person is a beautiful spiral of energy to me. But she was radiating power in my eyes she is more beautiful than any woman who has ever lived. A Goddess of power and light. I am energy and so is she, why did I not get that until now?
"NOVA!" I shouted.
This was pointless. I could see the waves of heat break up the sound waves.
A step towards her.
"N O V A !" I pushed my voice with my powers.
Nothing.
Ever have your life completely change in a few steps? I walked towards her as she huffed and ranted at me. I am not going to tell you all of it just insert every vile word you can think of and you will be pretty close. I do think the things she said about my mother were out of line though.
Another step.
I was really stupid. I realized this. My entire life had become Olympus. My task. I never expected to live to see the end of this War. For any of the other sides to win they had to kill me and when I was really honest with myself I bet on them. You can only defy the odds for so long.
Never looked at her as anything other than an asset. A person with feelings yes but a tool that I needed for my work first. Not a woman, never that. Damn I was Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel. No scratch that he had a mate.
I forgave Psyche.
Another step. Within touching distance now.
She had wound down and was just glaring at me. Daggers of fire shot from her eyes and spattered harmlessly against my shield. Pretty sure I did not notice at the time.
Very quietly I said, “stop.”
The energy around her started to contract. The heat began to drop. I intensified the shield I had around what had been my house. Fool me once.
I kissed her.
Energy flared but it did not matter anymore.
Not sure I can, or want to, describe what happened next. We rolled around in what remained of my house for quite a while.
I am sure you want a blow by blow and you ain't going to get it. Buy a magazine.
We made love for the first time in the ruins of my home. Protected by my opaque shield we spent a long time letting a lot of demons out of both of us. And damn she really could shoot fire from any part of her body. When it was over and we were dressed, I dropped the barrier.
Psyche was standing there along with a dozen other people mostly Metas.
In keeping the energy of our passion contained I had blocked everything even Psyche. They had been afraid I had been attacked. Olympus was on full alert.
Awkward.
Cheers, hoots and assorted catcalls burst from the assembled group.
I flew over and swept Psyche up in my arms. I took her 20' up into the air in a slow spiral and kissed her.
To clear the crowd I said, “The show is over, anybody within my sight in five minutes gets fried and I will let her do it. Clear out people. ” Nova had joined me as I finished and I nodded to her with a smile.
Love among the MetaHumans of Olympus.
Pulsar & Nova
MetaWar Chapter Fourteen MetaWar Chapter Twelve