The Tali

Chapter 12 - Kitten?

Zeke picked me up and carried me up the stairs. Even if I could walk the pain radiating through every inch of my body was enough to cripple anyone. "Lailah, we did it. We accessed your powers."

I barely registered what he said so I replied with a weak "Yay." When we hit the top of the stairs he kicked the door shut behind him and walked over to the couch to lay me down. I couldn't help but catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror across from the couch.

My blonde hair was plastered to my face, a cut on my right cheek and my right eye was glowing bright blue like Zeke's. "W-what's wrong with my eye?" Zeke laid me down and sat at my head so I could use his lap as a pillow. "That's what happens when you access your powers before turning." I kept staring at it. "Will it go back to normal?" Zeke smoothed my hair out of my face. "I, uh, actually don't really know." I turned to stare at him. "Can I tell Andrian who I am?" He shook his head. "Then you need to find out." I winced and the pain shocked through my body again. It was getting more tolerable. Maybe even going away but I couldn't tell for sure. "Zeke, I want to go to bed."

He nodded and picked me up once again and carried me to the guest bedroom that I was currently calling mine. He laid me down on top of the covers, because I was still disgusting, and then sat on the edge. "I would bathe you and all but you're my best friend, not my girlfriend soo," he trailed off.  I couldn't help but chuckle weakly. "I'd kill you if you tried." He nodded and patted my arm before getting up. "Go to sleep, we'll worry about the eye when you wake up." 

He didn't have to tell me twice. I was out before he even left my room. I don't know how long I slept but when I woke up it was dark and Zeke was sitting at the desk across the room. "H-how long-" Zeke smiled. "Long enough for your blue eye to go away." I shot up to look at myself in the mirror and immediately regretted it. Every part of my body was sore. I'm sure not as sore as it would be if I didn't have access to my ability but it still slowed me down. Sure enough, my grey eyes stared back at me.

I opened my mouth to talk but before I could say anything Zeke spoke first. "I'm sorry about how hard I pushed you. I just really wanted you to access them so I wouldn't have to worry so much." I sat up, slower this time, and smiled at him. "I know. I'm not mad at you. But I will be mad if you don't get out so I can take a shower." He held up his hands and backed out of my room, leaving me to my thoughts. I stood carefully and shuffled to the bathroom. I was so looking forward to my bath, well, shower because I was sure I wouldn't be able to get out of the tub on my own.

An hour later I was clean, dressed, and sitting at the kitchen counter waiting for Zeke to finish cooking dinner. As it turns out, I slept for a day and a half and I was starving. "Now, that we've accessed your abilities," Zeke started as he set down the massive plate of spaghetti in front of me. "You're going to need to eat about twice as much as before." I looked up at him. "Uh, why?" 

He grinned. "You're still human silly, your improved body is going to burn through twice the calories as usual. So, better up the intake or you'll waste away." I glared at him and shoveled a forkful in my mouth. "Oh, and by the way, lover-boy is here. And remember, you can't tell him until we've cleared him as a threat." I kept eating not really listening to what he was saying, I was just focused on the delicious food and how my raging hunger was subsiding. 

"Jeez babe, you're eating like you haven't seen food in a week." I froze. Oh, God. So that's what Zeke was saying. I turned around in my chair licking the sauce off my lips as I faced Andrian. "Who said you could call me babe?" He froze. "Uh, well, you didn't reject me." 

I wiped off the rest of my mouth with a napkin and stood. "Correct, however, if you're going to call me a pet name it better be original and not something generic and as overused as 'babe'. I hate that." Andrian just looked at me, well, more like stared off into space in my direction. "How about Angel? After all, Lailah is the name of the Angel of Conception." I was actually surprised. "Wow, cool fact, but no, it's still overused."