Collab Nova, Annelise & Dragon @Days
Nova held onto her steaming mug with two hands, letting it warm her hands as she looked out of the floor-to-wall windows. It was still early, but Nova and her husband were early birds and hard workers, in any case. She stood in Kai's shirt, which was quite oversized on her, and pajama shorts. Her long hair was up in a messy bun, round glasses on her nose. Usually, Luna circled around her legs around this time, nudging her head against her shins and purring for attention. Since she wasn't, Nova figured the cat was likely off pestering Kai or cuddling with Annelise. It wasn't just Nova that Luna could demand attention from, now, and the cat eagerly made use of the bigger living space and eager hands for behind-the-ear scratches.
However, the lead researcher wasn't complaining about her living arrangements, either. It was almost immediately that Kai asked her to move in after everything last year had transpired. Where the adrenaline of the battle led to a passionate kiss and more, life could be over in the blink of an eye, they had decided. Not long after, Kai proposed. It was almost too good to believe, and she'd find herself sometimes having it dawn on her. How someone loved her, now. Cared about her, and her wellbeing. He was even swift in accommodating the penthouse to her deafness. For example, when the doorbell rang, lights flashed, and appliances got connected to her augmentation.
The woman's fingers wiggled, her wedding ring making a clinking sound against the porcelain mug. She couldn't get over this view any day soon. Sure, there was the smog, but from Kai's-no,
their penthouse, Nova overlooked a large part of New York. The lights covering buildings, moving and glittering were stunning from this point of view. Her old apartment barely had a decent balcony. Safe to say that the conversation of who moves in and where was over in record time. There was so much space here, too. Nova got her own office and a massive walk-in closet.
It had been a little embarrassing to only fill it with one suitcase, as she didn't own that many clothes, or anything, in any case. At the very least, the move was easy. Their home had enough rooms, enough for Annelise to get her own bedroom. One that Nova immediately tidied up and readied without question when Kai asked her if Nova would be alright with her living with them for a bit.
Behind her, the oven beeped and an alert showed in her retina. It took Nova from being deep in her thoughts, staring at the outside world. Blinking, Nova turned and walked back into the kitchen, putting her mug of coffee on the island before checking the oven. The breakfast muffins were ready.
"Kai? Anne? Breakfast is ready!"
Kai was finishing up getting ready for the day, tucking in the white long-sleeve button-up shirt into his black suit pants. He was securing the cuffs with gold cuff links and padded out of the master bedroom and then down the hall. He paused as the scent of fresh blueberry-chocolate chip-sugar crumble muffins filled the air. Kai smirked as it was a combination of all their favorites that turned out delicious. He knocked on the door he was standing in front of.
"Annalise, are you up yet? You need to get going as it will be time for you and Nova to head out soon," Kai said as the door opened and a petite young woman opened her bedroom door. Annalise's stature reminded the Voidlight President of Cosette de Villers when they first found her in the submarine. Easily mistaken for a child. Her collar-length, multi-hued hair was a bit aery as the fur ball known as Luna emerged first. Kai sighed and rolled his eyes as the cat demanded affection from him too. Anna was dressed appropriately for one going on an expedition. Good, supportive hiking boots, full-legged tan cargo pants, and a gray cotton t-shirt with a yellow sweatshirt tied around her waist.
"No, I don't need fur glitter on my work clothes, you get enough of it on the rest of the house," Kai replied to the cat's meow at him. Annalise smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Whatever, Kai, Nova keeps this place spotless. I've never seen one cat hair anywhere," Anna quipped as she grabbed her backpack of clothes and essentials out with her. She bent down and picked Luna up, snuggling with the cat.
"She's just the cuddliest thing! How could you not like her?""I'm a dog person, Anne, that's how," Kai shook his head as they heard Nova calling for them in the kitchen.
Kai smirked as he saw Nova's attire while Annalise went to drop Luna off in the living room. He strode over, and gently cupped Nova's chin with his right hand while his left wrapped around her waist.
"Good morning, Mrs. Stoick. Everything looks absolutely delicious, you included," he practically purred before giving Nova a brief, sweet kiss. He reluctantly let go of his beautiful wife and poured himself a cup of coffee.
Nova smiled as she pulled out the muffins from the oven and let the baking paper slide easily onto the waiting tray. She baked when she was nervous, with no complaints from her husband or Annelise. They had jokingly challenged her to create a fusion of their favorite muffins, yet Nova accepted the challenge.
According to the smell and sight of these beautiful muffins, it seemed she had succeeded. She took off her glasses as the heat from the oven and its steam fogged her vision. As she looked up, her duo-coloured eyes sparkled.
Her husband strolled into the kitchen, with that lopsided smirk of his that got her heart racing. He looked stunning, too, even though he wore an outfit like this most days. She knew that they hadn't been married for long, or even together for long, and everyone always said the feeling would fade over time. But Nova was more than comfortable in her bubble, and that fade was never going to happen according to her. It was the whole drive behind them getting married in the first place. To live life to the fullest. Grinning back, she stood on her toes to receive his kiss, closing her eyes to the short kiss. [color=peachpuff]"Why thank you, Mr. Stoick." Mrs Stoick. Was she going to get used to it? Perhaps she already was. The happiness of this moment almost,
almost made her forget where she and Annelise would be off to shortly.
Nova was fully packed, the only thing left to do was breakfast with her husband and Annelise before he took them to Voidlight, to put them aboard a private plane. That and, she would have to get out of Kai's shirt to get dressed in her own clothes, waiting for her on the bed. He'd be a fool if he thought she wasn't going to steal this shirt and shove it in her bag in a moment.
"Nova! I fed Luna, just FYI!" the young woman shouted from the living room as she walked into the kitchen and placed her bag by Nova's. Her hazel eyes bright with excitement as she sat at the kitchen island.
"Maybe there will be clues there do you think?" She asked as Kai glanced at Nova, smiles from the couple faded a bit.
"Annalise, we've talked about this. I don't want you to get your hopes up on this expedition," Kai warned as he noticed the rigidity in his wife's form. The last encounter with dark matter energy was frightening and took days and nights of recovering in the Voidlight hospital for the two to decide that life was too short and they were hitched within two weeks at town hall.
Anne's smile slowly faded as she twirled her thumbs.
"I-I know, and I love living here with the two of you, but...but I-," she paused as tears began to well into her eyes.
"...I just miss my mom and dad," she murmured as she quickly rubbed her eyes to prevent any tears from escaping.
With a lingering smile on her face, Nova poured a glass of freshly pressed orange juice for Annelise as she entered the kitchen with an announcement about feeding Luna. While the married couple tried everything to make Annelise feel at home, including overhauling the guest room into an actual personalized bedroom, it was Luna who took the crown in making the lost girl feel comfortable and safe.
"Thank you, Anna." As the girl sat at the kitchen island, Nova shoved forward the glass to her as she witnessed a look in the woman's eyes that could only be described as hope. And while hope was a good thing, it could end up being incredibly disappointing. The wife caught her husband's glance before looking back at Annelise, watching the girl crawl into herself once more. While Kai was right, it was still devastating for the girl, undoubtedly. Nova wasn't entirely looking forward to a new CDE expedition but knew Annelise held such hopes for it, once she learned about it, and that Nova was asked to go lent her expertise.
Seeing her eyes mist over, Nova's heart thumped. She couldn't stand to watch her cry and wished there were more things she could do, while in reality, she knew they were already going above and beyond. Her eyes raised to Kai for a moment, lips pressed together in a look that told him Nova felt sympathy. Gingerly, she rounded the island and stood by Anne's side, her hand comforting over her back, her voice soft.
"I know, Anne, I know. It's okay. Don't think we take it personally at all. We love living with you, too, but of course, you miss your mom and dad. We'll try everything we can, okay?"Kai smiled softly as Annalise accepted Nova's comfort and nodded in agreement with the kind woman. Anna reached for her glass of juice, taking sips of the orange liquid before nibbling at her muffin. Technically, Annalise was joining Nova under the guise of a field lab assistant. Anyone was better than Brenda was what she heard between the husband and wife.
"Well, the most important thing is to be safe and listen to Nova. She's had experience with these expeditions and has an idea of what to expect, and that is...?" Kai began to speak after setting down his cup of coffee on the kitchen island.
"The unexpected," Anna parroted back as if that hadn't been drilled into her head since she was a little kid. Her parents always told her that there was more than what meets the eye when it came to dark matter energy.
"Come on, now and finish up while Nova gets ready and I'll drive both of you to the airport," Kai encouraged before continuing to drink his coffee.
Annalise couldn't help chewing her bottom lip softly as Nova drove the Jeep to the expedition site. It had almost been a year since Anna last saw her father, even before that her mother had disappeared to make sure they could escape during the last few months of Hivemind as a functioning entity. She just hoped that her...abilities wouldn't activate. Being so close to raw dark energy, Anna's abilities were a bit more unpredictable.
Anna smiled softly as Nova offered comfort once again before they bound the corner and the site came into view. She helped Nova get the equipment and their bags out of the Jeep before approaching the group. Her hazel eyes widened slightly as she recognized people from photos as Nova greeted them. Annalise smiled bashfully and offered a slight still-basically-teenager wave before tucking in some stray hair that wouldn't stay in her ponytail.
"Hi, I'm Annalise, you can call me Anne or Anna though," she introduced herself with a tenderly soft tone after Nova.
Annalise glanced nervously at the ruins and gripped the bags tighter, feeling the familiar tingling sensations in her palms. She paled slightly hearing Nova mention the word 'sacrifice'.
"Caana? Right? Isn't 'caana' in Spanish 'snail'? Snails are generally slow and white or tan," Anna offered some help, still squeezing her hands into fists even though the bags and equipment had magically disappeared. She cursed under her breath, realizing that she had 'transported' them elsewhere in her distraction of the moment.
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