Chapter Text
“Hey!” I cried in excitement at Owen as he approached me. When I hugged him he smelled like dirt and trees and a little like oil. Very Earthy.
“Hey, Nicun.” His smile made my heart shake a little. “How have you been?”
“Good, Good. And you?” I smiled fully, mentally calling Nilla and Indie over.
“Getting along fine. Let’s sit.” So we did. We didn't drink anything because the restaurant was closed. Maybe later. I felt a predatory mind connecting with mine. Watery and deep. When I told Owen he laughed. “That's M. The Mosasaur.” I nodded and we kept on chatting. We shot questions back and forth and he was particularly good at deflecting questions but I was equally as good at redirecting. So we talked about our childhood, animals, dogs, everyday life. He asked if there was anything I missed from my life before this. He laughed when I said real Mexican food. Indie bellowed a few yards from us causing Nilla to bay right back. When I asked him what he missed he said snow. We laughed some more.
Owen asked about the law firm. I gave him the answer of “Not as many fat cats as you would think.” That was funny to him apparently. He asked me if I wanted to walk around the botanicals. I got up and teased him while he held out his arm. Nilla trotted after us. Thomas complained when Owen put his carrier so it was on his chest. He is doing it wrong. He better not drop me because of this. I smiled as he complained. My precious grumpy baby.
The botanicals were a short walk from where we were sitting. It was quite beautiful in there with the low blue lights illuminating the waxy leaves and pretty white petals of the large lilies floating in the small pools of water underneath the bridge we were standing on. I slowly edged around the solid blockade around his mind with my own The raptors truly had a hold on him unlike i've ever seen. A low curious rumbling came from a thicket of bushes a few yards off that sent a jolt of fear through Owen.
Mama? Indie stomped through the thickets into the shallow pool. She looked curiously up at us and blinked slowly before opening her gaping maw in a large yawn. Want to sleep sleep, mama. When Owen looked at me in confusion I relayed what she said to him. I was also getting a similar vibe from the others even though it was only 11:30.
“You forget that this one is a baby, the other one is a cat, and the other one is older than all of us combined.” He chuckled as Indie pulled herself from the pool and rolled onto the ground to dry off. “Lets hope they don't send you the bill for that.”
“Who wouldn't want an authentic dinosaur footprint and authentic crushed plants in their display?” I laughed. “Better than people crushed plants and footprints at any rate.”
“So do you want to drive back? I can always meet up with you another time.” Owen offered good-naturedly. I sat on it a second before deciding to answer.
Think before you speak and all that. Thomas snickered at me. “Uh yeah. Why don't you drive back with me? We can continue amongst real plants over there. Not this prehistoric show.”
He laughed and agreed and we all headed back to the car that we had came in. Indie lied down in the back and the rest piled on top of everyone in the front.
The drive back was hectic. Indie was talking up a storm, causing the others to bark and complain the whole way. He is on my ear. I'm tired. Are we there yet?! Punctuated my mind. Wasn't there something else they could do? I tried talking to them and Owen but I thought splitting myself on five branches of thought was too much for me. I almost swerved off the road few times. Sometimes prioritizing was not my strong suit.
When we finally got there the animals were in a ruckus. Indie was howling and rolling from side to side and generally being a mess. I am surprised her tail wasn’t breaking any windows. She could be so rough sometimes. It took a quick twenty minutes for them to pile and slide out onto the long grass. As I was helping Nilla up from the place he had deposited himself, Owen made a smart aleck remark about how I needed to cut the grass or else I am going to get lost in it.
“At least my flower beds are nice,” I snarked right back at him. “Better to have long grass then live on the xeriscaping disaster that is your yard.” I laughed at him as he picked up Thomas in his little carrier and we all trampled minside. It was nice and cool in my house. Not too humid either, thankfully. Not everyone appreciated breathing in water all the time.
“Have you talked to Nancy lately? Owen opened a cabinet and grabbed two cups. “She might be able to tell you a thing or two about owning something aquatic.
“Mosasaur and Indominus are very different animals.” I pulled a bottle of whiskey from another cabinet. “I don't even think their behavioral patterns are the same.”
He chuckled and poured us each two fingers of the amber drink. “Not like there is any precedent or anything.”
A deep groan called to our attention. Nilla was asking to be coddled into his bed on the floor. “Oy vey. One sec.” Coddling this pup was a very serious matter. Pillow under the head, blanket in a nest. Very serious matter. Indie just loved to slump wherever she chose so that was easy. I didn't know what her habits were going to be like when she was moved to her enclosure. I could sense Owen watching from the door frame. Thomas was out hunting. It was nighttime.
“Why do you pamper them?” He asked when I was done and on my second glass. A shot then sipp. That's how I paced myself. I laughed a little. Owen was on his third.
“Well, Mr. Grady. Wouldn’t you pamper your own pack members?” I asked coyly. “If I remember you and Blue were quite the pair before she got big. And besides,” A sip and then a two finger shot. “Nilla is old as heck.”
“You have a point. How long have you known you were a preternatural, Miss. Revillagigedo?” The teasing tone in his voice was back and he sounded almost southern. Must be the drink. He was on his fifth.
“All my life. At first I thought it was normal. Then someone told me it was God. After that someone tried to convince me it was satan. Now we know it's some kind of science. I don't really care anymore.” The drink swirled around the chilled glass, sticking to the walls. “What about you?” I tipped the glass toward him.
“Eh. Found out when I was real little. Gramps told me about it. Apparently his sister was like me.” He shrugged and then took a shot. “After that I kinda stopped noticing it.” I nodded and sipped on my whiskey. I swished it around.
“Do you want something to eat? Its pretty late. 1:18.” I pointed at the clock and moved towards the fridge where I swung it open. “I got some spaghetti, cheese stuffed mushrooms, salad stuff, hot pockets, stuff.” I moved to the pantry right next to it. “Popcorn, cup ramen, rice.” I turned to him. “What do you want?”
“Lets share some of that spaghetti.” He grabbed a large bowl and some forks. “One bowl fine with you? I am starting to think that you are not going to want to do dishes in the morning.” He held the empty bottle up.
I shrugged my shoulders and we drunkenly prepared the spaghetti. Almost dropping it twice and burning our fingers once. We dug in shortly after it came off the stove. We tried talking before Owen slurped a noodle and it flicked him in the face. Then we just dissolved into a fit of giggles. We were having fun. Until of course, he suggested dancing. I mean, Jesus H. Christ. We were so messed up. We had cracked out a bottle of red wine for the spaghetti which we failed to even grab out glasses from earlier. I laughed. Of course I would dance with him!
I put on some playlist and a fun song came floating out as we moved to the roomy living room and he took my hand. That's why I love the moon. It's always here for yo-u. WE swung each other around, stumbling here and there. Laughing punctuated the songs. We danced like the one music video Drake came out with a few years ago. Hotline bling I think it was called. We kept laughing and dancing until we fell on the floor as the fifteenth song swaggered onto the scene. Trumpets jazzed up the atmosphere as the artist began to rap in a blues like manner.
We rolled to face each other and began to laugh and stutter. It took us a few minutes to sit up and then like clockwork a new song was playing. It sounded like a heavy jazz. We were still smiling but not as hard. My brain wasn't working right. It felt like I was holding on too tight to Owen’s mind like I was trying to form a mental bond. Lou Lou, for a minute had me believing in you. Lou Lou, for a minute i'd do anything you'd ever say. Whoa, nelly. I leaned on him some, our foreheads, touching. Sleeping on the pavement, not making a single payment. I'd do anything you wanted to do, Lou Lou. I held my breath and moved in some as he did, our lips slightly touching. oh but I’m still wasting here with you, Lou Lou. The chords of that guitar made it easier to hold still as he closed the barely there gap. After that it was nothing but bliss.
So at this point, Nicun has known Owen and Claire for nearly two years. Indie is about 5 almost 6 months old. Still a baby.