Mortal Terror

[Arlina Rhys]

(Just a bit of collaborative fiction me and Case are working on. Have fun. ))

Sunday, July 26, 2009, 5:15 pM

Arly sighed once again as she drove into town with her mother, having spent most of the day before helping get the house ready for today, but the pit in her stomach was still there no matter what thought exercise she did to calm it.

Samantha Rhys smirked as she watched her daughter squirm in the backseat of the vehicle, giggling just a little. "Geez Arly hon, you'd think you were on the way to a crematorium or a funeral"

"Mother! I..its not like that. I'm fine!" Arly huffed, not doing any better at concealing her frazzled nerves as they neared the agreed upon pickup point in Kings Row near the Freedom Corps plaza she had visited many a time.

"Relax Arly, Its not like you haven't met this guy before." Mrs Rhys smirked as she watched her daughter squirm, turning the corner off the freeway and into the Row area of town "Whats the worst I could possibly do to him?"

Arly sighed, watching the roadway "I know, I know..I just"

Arly's mom smiled reassuringly "Arly, there's no need to worry. from all you've told me about him he sounds perfectly wonderful, and if Dad wants to have any sort of cross-examination of your relationship with him, I'll be sure to run interference, okay? Don't stress out so much"

All Arly could do was nod quietly and return to her thoughts as the car pulled up and waited for Casey's arrival.

---

“Quit being such a doofus.” Casey’s sister Cassie was the most supportive sibling, which didn’t say much. “Weren’t you fine about this the past couple days? What’s wrong with you, anyway?”

Casey, who had been pacing and trying to figure out what he’d wear, stopped and thought about it for a moment. “I think… all the nervousness I might have had up until now just caught up with me.” He pulled on a dark blue button-up shirt, then started buttoning them up unevenly.

Cassie smirked. “You’re doing it wrong.” Casey looked down, blinked, and then started over. “And you really shouldn’t worry about this kind of thing so much. Besides, what happens if they can smell fear? They’ll see a weakness, and pounce!” She held out her hands like claws and snarled mockingly.

Casey scowled at her. “You are so not helping.”

She grinned. “If you think about it, it’s not like they’re actually going to do that, you know. Or anything else. Which means you have nothing to worry about. Right?”

Casey paused. “Maybe. I wonder if I should wear my armor, just in case.” A pillow hit him in the back. “Okay, fine, no armor. But the emergency teleporter-” Another pillow. “Right, I’ll just go in there totally unprepared.” He finished buttoning up the shirt, then half-ran to the bathroom. He was almost certainly running late. He whipped his comb through his hair a few times, then stopped back in his room to try to remember the things he knew he’d forget until he needed them later.

Cassie handed him his glasses, then reached up to take his sunglasses. “Good impression doesn’t mean not being able to make eye contact. Right?”

Casey sighed as his sister became blurry and took the offered glasses, putting them on. He ignored the momentary disorientation as his vision came back into focus. “Right.”

“Good luck tonight.”

Casey took a deep breath and smiled, trying desperately to bolster his confidence. “No worries.” Cassie smirked at him. He went back into the living room, offering a brief wave to his older brother, who held up a hand in acknowledgment, and eyed the door out to the hallway. “No worries,” he mumbled, and walked out, making his way quickly down the stairs and outside before he lost his nerve. Once he was picked up, his only escape would be through finishing the evening or teleporting away, which would probably make them less likely to want him over again.

He pushed open the door to the lobby, then crossed the poorly-maintained tile floor toward what was ostensibly a security door, though it had been kicked in during a raid a few months back and never been replaced. The tap of his feet reminded him uneasily of those movies where someone is being led to an execution chamber. He pulled the security door open, then glanced around. A car was just pulling up.

And… they saw him. It was time to go. He put on a grin and walked outside, trying to keep his hands from shaking.

[Arlina Rhys]

Arly seized up a bit mentally as she saw Case walking down to the car, turning at least 3 shades of red as she looked and her mom casually remarked “He's cute.”

“M..Mother!”

Arly's mother giggled again, waving to the young boy as he headed around and into the car.

“Hi, I'm Arly's mom, Samantha, you're Casey I presume?”

The boy nodded, grinning nervously

“Well, sit down and get your seatbelt on,” Samantha smiled as Casey nervously got in and did so, before she turned back into traffic and headed away towards the suburbs, with Casey being mostly quiet and Arly glancing nervously at him from the backseat

“Oh come on you two, at least say hello.” Samantha sighed and shook her head.

“Uh..hey Casey” Arly went red as she said it.

“Uh..hey Arlina” Casey replied.

“There, isnt that better? Now, while we're on the way there I had just a couple questions for you.” Arlina's mom grinned as she pulled out a large sheet of paper covered in text as Arly went bright red

“MOM!”

“Kidding, kidding” Samantha giggled again as she headed through the war walls and out of the row. “So, how did you meet my daughter anyhow?”

Casey glanced up at the somewhat unexpected question, blinking a moment in thought before managing to formulate some sort of response "We... met at school, and then... not a ton of us really do the patrolling thing, so we kinda got to know each other goin' out doing stuff.

Samantha nodded, smiling at him cheerfully, “ And..got any plans for the future?”

Another quiet moment or two passed as Casey mulled the question over, "I'm probably gonna go into the heroing thing... dunno what to do on the side, but I definitely wanna do that, I think."

Arly frowned a bit “Mom, can we NOT give Casey the 20 questions treatment?”

Her mom simply laughed and turned out onto the road heading out of the city. Arly got the feeling it was gonna be a long evening.

[Arlina Rhys]

The car pulled up eventually to a small, but cozy looking green house on the corner of the street. There was a small vegetable garden out by the front door, and as the three nervously stepped out of the vehicle, a small, blonde headed blur came dashing down the walk with a crayon in one hand and a piece of paper in the other.

"Big sisteeeeeeer!", the speedy blob yelled as it ran up and hugged Arly

Arly snickered, blushing slightly as she glanced sidelong at Casey "Uh..this would be my little sister Hannah..and I think she got into the cookies again judging by her level of activity"

"I only had two!" Hannah pouted as she looked up and examined Casey, the little 3 year old seemingly studying the poor boy for any and all imperfections before grinning and running back off to the house.

Arly's mom shook her head and sighed "She's just like Arly at that age"

Arly of course, quickly went beet red before tromping off into the house, with her mom beckoning Casey to follow along. "Now for the fun part, dear, lets get you inside and give you a tour before my husband gets home."

---

Casey nodded, obediently following Arlina’s mother into the house. The first thing that struck him as he came in was the feel of the place. It felt comfortable and inviting. For the first time since he caught sight of the car, he started to relax a little. There were some odds and ends sitting out, and a floral painting over the couch, which he looked at before realizing he was being left behind.

Arlina’s mother led the way on a brief tour of the home, pointing out bedrooms, making a point of singling out Arlina’s bedroom. Casey looked briefly, curiosity giving him something to focus on other than his own nervousness.

There was a lot of stuff there. Posters on the walls, bookshelves filled with books, a few old theatre props, and a laptop on the desk. Casey was a bit startled by all of it first, then chuckled inwardly. His family were used to moving around a lot. Their place only had what they needed, and nothing they couldn’t leave behind if it came down to it. And nothing at all sentimental, just in case. Arlina’s family was normal. He was hit with a sudden pang of regret, wondering how much better his life would have been if he’d been born to a family like this instead.

Arlina was obviously uncomfortable. Her mother was already down the hall, poking into the sister’s bedroom. Casey wandered over, giving her an apologetic shrug. “It’s nice,” he said quietly, moving to the next door.

Hannah looked up at him as he glanced around the room. The girl liked pink. Her bed, as well as a couple of nets set up near the ceiling, were packed full of stuffed animals, most of which Casey couldn’t reconcile with any animals he knew of. She was drawing something. He offered a smile, but she’d already looked back at her paper.

“Over here is the bathroom. If you get too nervous, you can hide out in here, but not for too long or we’ll get suspicious.” Arlina’s mother pointed into another room, flicking the light on. Casey chuckled self-consciously and moved over to see. It was very much a bathroom. Floral wallpaper, pastel towels, and the faint scent of herbs in the air. The light turned off, and the last door along the hallway was pushed open. “And finally, my husband’s and my bedroom.”

It looked relatively normal, with a few spots of color that seemed rather out of place, mostly pillows. Casey nodded. The tour returned to the living room, then pushed on into the kitchen. It was brightly lit, had a table and chairs set up at one end, and he could smell turmeric and a hint of cinnamon in the air.

A sudden soft hum almost made Casey jump, until he recognized it as the garage door. Arlina’s mother seemed pleased by the timing. “Oh, and here comes my husband! You two go ahead and take a seat. Dinner should be ready in a few minutes.”

Casey took a slow breath as Arlina’s mother turned toward the stove, then took a seat, bracing himself for whatever came next.

[Arlina Rhys]

It was only a few minutes between the sound of the garage door and her father's entry, but to Arly, it felt like days were passing, this was the big moment, either Casey and her would get a pass from dad as well, or their relationship could become very awkward to continue.

In he came, still clad in work attire, simple jeans and a red flannel shirt offsetting his strong frame and fiery red hair, he nodded in recognition to his family , then glanced at Casey and studied him for a few moments before nodding a greeting to him as well. "Casey I take it? Nice to meetcha. Hope you've been taking good care of my little girl?"

Casey blinked, nodding quietly with just a hint of terror in his eyes, not that Arly looked much better.

"Um, Hiya Daddy" Arly managed to say, smiling a bit

He smiled a bit, going to help his wife serve the food "Hey darlin...No need to be so nervous, its a family meeting, not an interrogation"

"R..Right" Arly managed to say, glancing at Casey a bit worriedly to make sure he was doing okay.

Within a few minutes time, Hannah had joined them at the table, bouncing up and down in her seat as she waited impatiently for the food, soon after Arly's parents arrived with the food, which included everything from freshly baked bread, to rice , beans and a homemade chicken curry. Her mother looked at Casey and smirked a bit "Hope you like the curry, Arly spent most of yesterday finding the right ingredients since she said you liked spicy foods and insisted on it"

Arly went beet red with embarrassment, but managed a little bit of her usual mischevious grin

Her dad chuckled, sitting down "Well, everyone dig in"

---

Eating was good. It was a point where everyone was more or less quiet, which gave Casey time to think. His first thought was that it was amazingly tasty. He wasn’t sure if that was helped by the fact that it was a distraction from Arlina’s parents asking him questions, or if maybe part of it came from his worry that this might be his last meal alive.

There was a momentary distraction as the burn set in. Pain, as always, was an excellent distraction from being afraid. He felt his face heat up from something other than embarrassment, which was comforting, since he now had an excellent excuse for being red in the face. “This is really good!” he managed after a couple of mouthfuls had settled.

Arlina’s mother beamed at the praise. “That’s sweet of you to say so, Casey,” she said happily. Her husband nodded agreement, then followed up with a rain of praise that again pulled the focus away from Casey.

He wasn’t sure exactly when, but he started to relax. By the time the questions resumed, his stomach was filled with enough spice to overwhelm the butterflies. There were a few questions about his family, which he answered honestly while leaving out most of the facts about where he came from or what his situation was like growing up. A couple more questions about what he wanted to do with his life, where he admitted he wanted to grow up to be a hero, and didn’t know much past that.

Then Arlina’s father blindsided the both of them. “I hear you and my daughter spend a lot of time in detention together.” It was the first time anything he’d asked was even slightly indicative of disapproval, and Casey blanched.

“Well, actually, uh… that’s kinda a tricky situation, sir. I mean, it’s not like we’re really doing anything bad to anybody, but poking a little fun at people here and there doesn’t seem like it’s that bad. I mean, the last person I got put in detention over pretty much said she wanted me to pull something over on her.”

Arlina’s father chuckled, defusing the sudden spike in nervousness. “Oh, I understand that. I had my fun when I was your age. And it doesn’t seem like either of your grades are suffering for it.” He wasn’t about to approve of them getting into trouble, but to Casey it felt like he was at least satisfied they weren’t up to real trouble.

The conversation turned into more mundane topics, like school and how Casey was settling in. It felt more and more like Arlina’s family had accepted him, which felt simultaneously pleasant and very, very strange. He barely knew Arlina’s parents, hadn’t known them at all until an hour ago, but here he was, talking and laughing with them, and it felt strangely comfortable.

---

Arly was slowly relaxing as well..she was starting to wonder just what she had been terrified about. Sure, the detention question had scared the crap out of her..but some part of her had known from the start that her Dad wouldn't be too hard on him. It probably also helped that Casey seemed to be enjoying the food, and having fun just talking with her family.

A thought occurred to her though, she knew Casey's family was sort of secretive, but she just had to wonder if he had ever had a family dinner like this before given his life experiences.

Hannah shifted in her chair a bit, grinning up at her big sister and leaning up to whisper into Arly's ear "I think he's got cooties"

Arly could barely stop from snickering at her sister's words, earning the confused looks of the rest of the table, and speaking up with a reddened face "er....N..Nothing at all to see here. Hi!"

The response to this was a few laughs from her parents as well as Casey, Arly sighing and returning to her food before she further embarrassed herself at Hannah's devious schemes.

Arly's mom smiled reassuringly at Arly while her dad continued to talk and joke with Casey, then headed to serve dessert. her dad turned his attention to Arlina again for a moment, then glancing at Case and smirking "Y'now, up until a few months ago we were worried Arly'd never smile like she used to, I suppose we have you and the rest of her friends to thank for that."

"D..Dad!. That's well..Um..Okay..It may be true. Maybe. But you don't have to say such sappy stuff!"

Another round of laughter..and after a moment Arly couldn't help but join in as well, the situation was pretty silly after all..and she certainly had more than a few things to laugh about.