Blessed by Night

"I'm still going to say that hand traps were the worst thing to happen to the game. They completely take all of the fun out of it."

"Speak for yourself. Watching you get mad when you can't just do whatever you want is very satisfying."

"You're such a dick… thank god I'm full of fried dough and sugar right now, or you would be a dead man."

"You're adorable with your little booter belly though. You look like your niece after dinner."

"We're both insulted by that."

On the other side of the country, Malachi and Aisha were visiting the Grand Canyon.

They'd stopped to pig out on beignets somewhere they wouldn't be judged and were now laying on the hood of the car as they wrestled with the consequences.

Serosh was lying on the ground somewhere, still reeling from eating his portion and simultaneously disappointed that the rest were being saved for the family.

Malachi and Aisha were watching the sun slowly go down as they discussed nonsensical topics dear to their hearts.

After all of the serious discussions they'd been forced to have, it was nice to just sit together and talk about nothing.

But Malachi could tell that Aisha had something to ask him about for the last several minutes. Her responses were becoming shorter and less well thought out as the minutes went on.

"Alright… out with it." He finally said.

Aisha knew Malachi like the back of her hand. She sighed, but she didn't need any further incentive to speak.

"Do you think… I'll be a good mom?"

Malachi was honestly floored.

"Yea, of course. Why wouldn't you be?"

"I dunno, I'm just... worried. What if I forget to feed it?"

"Have you ever been around a baby..? They don't really let you forget to feed them."

"Okay, but what about when thy cry for no reason?"

"Walk around with them, i guess?"

"You guess!?"

"My daughter isn't like normal babies! Cami doesn't just cry for no reason- hardly at all actually."

Aisha had forgotten that her niece was a very 'special' case. Once she actually learned how to go to the potty by herself, Cami would practically be self-sufficient. Much to the horror of her parents...

A mischievous child who can teleport at will to any place she's been before is obviously the nightmare of any responsible adult.

There was no telling what kind of hellish ride her parents would be in for when they finally hit that dreadful rebellious phase.

Mal actually shuddered at the thought.

"Why are you so worried about all of this anyway?" Mal asked. "You've talked about wanting to be a mom for as long as I've known you."

Aisha wormed about uncomfortably. "Yea, but I just... now that the moment's almost here I'm realizing just how much could go wrong. And what are we even going to get anyway? A baby who's 1/5th dragon, another part goddess and-"

"I thought Thea was a mix of a whole bunch of powerful creatures because of her folks? So shouldn't you be getting more than that?" Malachi rubbed his jaw.

He noticed the silence that had descended onto their conversation and turned to find Aisha giving him a rather fierce glare.

"Ah... That probably wasn't-"

"No, it wasn't fucking helpful, you twat-waffle!"

Malachi would have laughed if it didn't feel like she were truly on the verge of tears.

"Alright, no bullshit…" he sat up on the hood of the car and faced her while she did the same.

"I'm glad you're taking this all seriously because it means you care, but at a certain point you just have to trust that you…"
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"!"

Malachi, Aisha, and Serosh all had the exact same reaction at the same time.

Their heads snapped in one singular direction as they felt something staring at them from a faraway distance.

There wasn't much they could get from this distance, but whoever it was had no talent for masking their hostility.

Before he knew it, Mal's skin was turning gray and striped fur was bristling out of his pores.

Serosh's fur also changed colors, matching Malachi's red and gray fur while his body grew larger.

The trio noticed when the presence disappeared. It was fleeing.

But the feeling of that hateful gaze persisted. That was no accident and they couldn't just let things go as they were.

"Keep up."

"As if I needed you to tell me that."

A sonic boom ripped through the air as the three individuals took off- each of them moving at Mach speed.

Malachi ran along the walls of the canyon without a loss in his footing.

The shoes he was wearing couldn't withstand the first three steps and blew apart.

It was probably for the best if he were being honest. He couldn't exactly afford to slow his pace down for any reason.

Because whoever they were pursuing was quick too.

Malachi and Aisha both could sense that he was getting farther away from them with every stride he took.

It was certainly a perplexing thing to witness. They weren't aware there were Evolved who moved like that in this corner of the U.S. but then again, they were moving around all the time with Morgan's government practices widening their potential for work.

Malachi and Serosh seemingly had the same idea at once.

Dark storm clouds rolled in overhead and a drizzle of rain fell from the clouds overhead.

Cyan lightning dropped onto their bodies and their reflexes saw a noticeable supercharge.

Aisha watched the pair of furry friends turn into a blur and leave her behind.

"...Show off."

Aisha wouldn't allow him to leave her behind. Not again.

As she ran, she unbuttoned her shirt and discarded it casually in the wind behind her.

Her sportsbra helped retain her modesty as the tattoo along her back glowed.

Bold, vibrant red colored wings spread out of her back.

She leapt into the sky and her glorious wings carried her forth on fleshy membranes.

When a shadow passed overhead, Malachi's face contorted in awe as he saw his best friend flying overhead.

"What the f-"