Chapter 8

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Jesselaroux

Lily walked the familiar path to her father's apartment. The city was as crowded as always, but she paid no attention to people rushing by her. Her face was buried in the book Miss Blizzard bought, her eyes trained on the abilities her father supposedly had.

The abilities she might have inherited.

Before discovering her psychic abilities, he never would have dared to dream of such power, but now it was a real possibility. Maybe, one day, she too would be able to save the world from astronomical threats.

Although, some of the feats described in the book were...a little ridiculous. She had a hard time imagining the soft spoken introvert she called her father doing some of the things attributed to him. She knew the Engine drove them both to seek out opponents of increasing strength, but it couldn't be powerful enough to make someone go against their nature like that, could it?

Apprehension ate at her heart as she hurried into her father's apartment building. Questions burned in her mind, but she didn't have much hope for answers.

King was a private man, after all. Even she couldn't cross all his boundaries. No matter how hard she tried.

King opened his door and smiled down at his daughter. The days when she came over to play were the best part of his week. It was so liberating to be able to just exist as himself instead of putting up a front for the world to see. Being Lily's dad was much more fulfilling than being the World's Strongest Man.

"How have you been?" He asked as he closed the door behind her. "Anything new and interesting happening with the Blizzard Group?"

He asked more as a courtesy than anything else. He wasn't actually all that interested in the goings on of the Heroics community, but his daughter took her role as a Hero very seriously. Much more seriously than he did his. That was probably because she'd actually earned her place and rank. He, on the other hand...

She returned his smile easily. "I'm great, Dad, how about you?"

He had to look away as a large, goofy smile spread across his face. She very rarely called him Dad, preferring to use his name. He understood that. Not only had he never been a part of her life before she tracked him down, but he was a public figure, as much as he wished he wasn't. She knew his face as King, not Dad, so it was always nice when she called him that. Butterflies fluttered in his chest and he felt like a little boy again.

"I'm alright," he managed to say without making a fool of himself. "Better now that you're here."

She blushed and looked away, the smile on her face a perfect pair for his own. Ah. Parenthood was wonderful.

"Um," she said quietly as he led the way into his home. "I had a few questions for you, if that's ok?"

More questions. His giddy mood came back down, but it didn't crash like it might have earlier in their relationship. Since Lily entered his life, he started researching parenting tips and child milestones. From what online forums told him, if a teenager asked their parents questions, that meant they trusted them. So, having his teenager ask him questions, even ones as uncomfortable as hers tended to be, was a strange source of pride.

"Of course, it is," he said honestly. "You know you can always come to me if you need something."

Nailed it! He was the best at this parenting thing.

Her grateful smile proved it, too.

They took a seat at his kitchen table, cool glasses of lemonade set out and waiting. She took a sip of hers and her expression brightened. He added another point to his imaginary parenting quota.

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