IncuBUST

About Niki

"Are you sure you have to leave?" Octavia asked following Taylor to the door. he let out a world-weary sigh and replied, "'Fraid so, babydoll. I got an early shoot tomorrow morning which I am totally gonna rock thanks to little Chasey here." I rolled my eyes and muttered, "As soon as you hook up with Sissy again, my enchantment will wear off. Work on yourself in the meantime."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Taylor retorted with a smile. He looked at Octavia and said, "It was a pleasure spending time with you, Octavia. I wish I had known sooner that I had such a big fan living in my building. We could have been hanging out this whole time." Octavia squeaked out a few stunted giggles and her cheeks flushed red. Taylor laughed and touched his mouth considering Octavia with glittering eyes.

"Gosh, you're adorable," he said, and I squinted at him. He shook his head and continued, "Give it a couple years and you'll be drop-dead gorgeous." Octavia giggled even more hysterically and tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear.

The air between them shimmered and Taylor sighed. I frowned and said, "Alright, that's enough." I pushed Taylor out the door, and he laughed uproariously. I closed the door and sighed before turning back to Octavia.

"Did you do your homework?" I asked and she made a face signing, "Yes, mom." I crossed my arms over my chest and glanced around the living room. I gestured at the mess we had made during dinner and said, "Help me clean this up then we'll talk about Charlotte." Octavia nodded and we quickly cleaned up the living room before sitting down at the kitchen counter.

Octavia opened the texts from Charlotte that she had received before blocking her aunt's number. They started out relatively friendly.

CHARLOTTE: Please, come home.

CHARLOTTE: Let's talk about this as a family.

CHARLOTTE: You're safe here, honey, I swear.

But they quickly devolved.

CHARLOTTE: You just want to move back in with that winged monster.

CHARLOTTE: He's put a spell on you! Can't you see that?

CHARLOTTE: He's a murderer!

CHARLOTTE: You'll never be safe with him.

It hurt to keep reading, but I did. She continued admonishing my character and degrading my species in general. What finally made me turn away were the words:

CHARLOTTE: Listen here you ungrateful little bitch--

I couldn't keep reading. My vision sharpened and shone sapphire around the edges. I felt my horns threatening to poke through my scalp, the boney tips of my wings straining against the skin stretched over my shoulder blades. I calmly slid the phone back over to Octavia and said, "Save them. Show them to Sýko tomorrow if you get the chance. It will strengthen your case."

Octavia nodded and tapped her way back to her home screen. Then she looked at me and signed, "I've been about what you said about Niki."

"Yeah?" I replied suddenly feeling nervous. She nodded and continued, "There's only one solution." She grinned and said, "He should move in with us." I frowned and she laughed.

"It's the only way to keep him safe, Chase," she insisted. I stared at her, and she continued her strange gasping giggles. She raised her hands and said, "He can take the couch and I can share your room." She pursed her lips and leaned across the counter somehow managing to salaciously sign, "Or maybe the other way around." She made a kissy face and I scowled.

"He lived on his own somewhere else just six months ago. He only moved back home because your aunt and uncle got divorced. He doesn't need to move in here, he just needs to move out of his mom's house," I said, and Octavia rolled her eyes signing, "Duh. Now how are we going to convince him he needs to get the hell out of Watermill and apply for some proper identification?"

She smacked herself in the forehead and said, "Duh, again. He's in love with you. Just say the word and he's out of there." I thought about it for a second before shaking my head and saying, "No, I couldn't do that. His mom wouldn't have asked him to move back in unless she needed him."

Octavia rolled her eyes and signed, "She's loaded, and her daughters are nearly grown. How much could she possibly need him?" I stared at her for a long moment before saying, "You're right. I'll talk to him. I'll tell him about the Iron Lance, and I'll try to convince him to move back to where he was before, but-" I held up my finger, "I won't use my powers on him, and I won't use his affection for me against him. It wouldn't be fair or right."

Octavia reached out to touch my hand and she smiled sadly before signing, "Sometimes people have to do things that aren't right or fair in order to protect the people they care about."