Hearts of Delmar 2... ( 2 many Nicoles)

Chapter 16: Menace.

"I'm so excited" Nicole grinned.

"Me too." Said Nicole.

"Don't get too carried away, she might be easy to frighten." Vinn reminded. "It's a HUGE honor just to get invited to one of Gizzy's private homes, very few people get to meet Menace. She's VERY protective. The security here is just insane. Everything you do and say will be recorded carefully from multiple locations, she probably has a force field collar, alarms. Hell, we may have to strip down in a clean room and put on THEIR sterilized clothing. I mean, not that we haven't all seen everyone here naked kind of a lot at this point, so who cares?"

"Oh, it can't be that bad." Nicole whispered as they reached the gate.

"Nicoles, so nice to see you, come on in." Gizzy said on the screen, buzzing the gate open as a pair of Vulcan machine gun turrets rotated out of the way. They walked a way through a nice garden path to an outside gazebo where Gizzy and her wife were enjoying some beverages and snacks, passing several scanners on their journey.

"Nicole, Vinn... Nicole. Been a while seen I've seen some of you. This is the wife, Leena."

"Oh wow, you are stunning." Nicole said, looking impressed, up at a 6 foot 6 woman with curves for days and legs for a week. Her skin almost literally glistened gold.

"Oh, thank you so much, I've heard so much about you two. Gizzy tells me good things. And Vinn, charmed to finally meet you." She said shaking his hand as he cracked a flattered smile.

"So..." Gizzy said. "Everyone having a decent day?"

"I'm still not convinced you're not plotting against my boyfriend." Said evil Nicole., crossing her arms.

"Enjoying the money?" Gizzy smiled.

"Point taken. But I'm just here to meet the...family?" she half said and half asked.

"Oh highly unlikely. There could be millions of them under the ice of some watery moon we haven't found yet. But I'm glad you both agreed to come and meet the Menace."

"Well, you find out you're part alien, some insanely rare species with zero historical records or public information...can't pass the chance to meet a full blooded one. See where I get my fancy bits." Evil Nicole said.

"Here she is right now." Leena smiled calmly. For being the wife of Gizzy she seemed oddly...not evil. Downright bubbly, princessy even, motherly as she hunkered down and lit up with a grin. Nicole turned to see, expecting a greeting or something, and instead there was nothing.

"Menace?!" Leena called. A little greed head poked out from behind the planter. "It's okay, they're friendly. One of you try giving her a treat." Leena said, digging out a few candies. They looked close and realized they were just glass marbles. They did a quick paper rock scissors and after both picking the same thing twice, Vinn just grabbed his Nicole and let the other one do it.

"Seriously?" she asked Leena. "Marbles?"

"I know it's weird but harmless. She eats them all the time, silicate glass is part of her diet, as well as eggshells and crab shells. Just crouch down and say the word T-A-C-O." Leena encouraged.

"Taco?" Nicole said softly.

"oO00oo." Said Menace, scuttering on all fours in very rapid, almost alarmingly fast series of bursts. Very gecko-like movement. She hopped to her back feet right in front of Nicole, staring at her. Menace hunkered a little inquisitively, dressed in khaki shorts and a t shirt, no shoes or socks, big almond shaped black eyes laser focused on the marbles.

"Taco?" Menace asked in a childlike voice.

"It's glass." Nicole assured. Menace squinted her massive almond eyes suspiciously and bobbed side to side, sniffing the air and looking very confused. For a good ten seconds they just stared at each other, the same exact height, perfectly level. Her tiny gold pupils zipped from one Nicole to the other, like she was rapidly trying to process something.