Demetrious Kattakara was a tall, muscular man.  When he turned to look at Oswald, the electric-blue of his eyes was striking, as was his aura.  Oswald had very, very rarely, if ever, encountered such a contained aura of latent power in a human.  He blinked at Oswald, and said "Only if Megaira went to Greece without her mother and I.  I would be delighted to go see my little fury."

---

  Ozzy found that MOST of the kids had at least poorly spoken pidgin English, although sometimes it was worse than no English at all.  The boys were preparing to go down and hunt for mussels, and invited him to come along and help them gather the creatures to prepare for cooking.

Ozzy nodded, "Sounds awesome! We don't really have any beaches near Weston, so it'll be a lot of fun. Plus, it'll be cool to see some more of Greece."

He was kind of surprised how welcome he'd been made here. It was almost like he'd been absorbed into the family!

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Oswald nodded, and 'ported the both of them back to the Kattakara clan home once they had gotten to somewhere where a pair of disappearing gentlemen would not be missed.

  Meg grinned as her father and Oswald appeared, and gave her father a tremendous hug.  Making him go "Oof!!  Gods, you've been working out under higher gravities again, haven't you?"

  "Yes.  You know what I do for a living now."

  "Yes I do.  I haven't figured out how you managed to get a steady income to do it on, but yes."

 Then the rest of the Kattakaras descended, and Oswald got swept into the house with Demetrious and Megaira.  Oswald got soundly kissed by Demetrious' mother, and someone dug out some instruments to strike up a home-band.  It was turning into a real 'rousing' party.

  Lin came strolling in a few minutes later, and leaned against the wall beside her daughter.

---

  The young men offered Ozzy a pair of raggedly cut off shorts to swim in, and offered another pair to Chuck as they all changed into their own pairs, laughing and chattering and passing out buckets for the mussels.  Clearly, they did expect to bring some back, but did not necessarily expect it to be a truly serious trip.

Chuck changed self-consciously into the cutoffs and accepted a bucket. Then he noticed Ozzy, "What are you doing here? I mean, how did you find us?" He asked, then widened his eyes and countered, "Oh, wow, I screwed that up! I'm glad you're here, really." He tried to cover it up with a stream of babble, "See, everyone coupled up and left the party and it was just Iris and Meg and me. Iris was really torn up and I haven't got a clue how to explain being a third wheel to her, so when Meg said she'd take us to another party and she cheered up... Well, Iris is like the only friend I've had in ever and I didn't want her to be upset, you know?" He appeared to notice for the first time that Ozzy was wearing a pair of cut-offs as well, "Oh, are you coming with us? Do you know exactly what it is we're supposed to be doing? They said just swimming and I'm not great at that; I'm not sure how it's going to go with a bucket in my hand."

"Hey, bro. Grandpa took me here because I needed Meg to heal me. I got shot while I was working today, explaining why there are bullet holes in my shirt and jacket. Did you know Clarissa Clemmons, that girl who went missing from our school not long ago? Her parents went to Masks, Inc. for help finding her, and so I found her. Unfortunately, her 'friends' weren't happy to see her go, to say the least. Well, that, and I was going to turn them over to the cops, too. He was pretty fast, but I outfoxed him." said Ozzy, smiling as he changed. He wasn't nearly so bashful as Chuck was, clearly being a bit more used to such things from Gym class.

"Still, it's good that Iris is getting to experience Christmas like this. Especially this year, with all the strife going on at home, I'd have hated to have restricted Iris to a little party with just us and Grandpa."

  Demetrious chuckled, and said "I have, as you can see, a huge family.  Which is probably why they HAD to give me a unique name.  I have two cousins named Demetrious too,  but neither of them is also named Zeus."

  Meg grinned at Ozzy, and said "Welcome to the madhouse known as a family get together."

Mr. Gysbourne nodded, and replied in his rusty Greek, "Yes, I see that. Even if our whole family got together, I doubt it would be this large. Still, it is a blessing to have this many, is it not? I just worry for Oswald. This year is going to be hard on him, it will be the first Christmas away from his parents. He puts on his happy face, but surely he is missing them now. Still, I must thank you for letting my daughter experience a large family get-together like this, I'm afraid her upbringing has not been what would be considered 'normal', even now. I am somewhat old to be the father of a twelve year old, am I not?"

==================================================================

Ozzy, meanwhile, was enjoying talking with the other boys as best he could, before turning to Chuck.

"So, I'm guessing you've never been mussel hunting either, eh? Well, at least I won't be the only one out there looking clueless. 'cause that's what brothers are for, yeah?"

  Demetrious nodded, and said "Megaira is a good girl.  She tries very hard to help when she can.  I don't mind sharing my horde of relatives with someone who hasn't had their own.  They're a good bunch of people, even if they are noisy and very much a group who will sweep you off your feet and leave you wondering 'how the heck did I get into this position??!!' when they let you go.  It looks like my nephews and cousins are taking your boys mussel hunting.  Want to go with them, or shall I?"

  One of the other adults said something in a quick patter of Greek, and he laughed and waved a hand.  "Apparently Grigor and Vladislaus are going.  They're both almost 20, so the boys will be chaperoned.   You can still go, if you like?  But the boys will have competent eyes on them."

---

  The boys all grinned at Ozzy and Chuck, and one of them said "Swim first.  Then hunt.  On rocks.  Little shells.  Watch for sharp.  Use knife to pry loose.  Need knives?"

Ozzy shook his head, before forming a paint-knife in his hand. Given that he was wearing swimming gear, the scars on his wrists would likely be somewhat visible as well.

"Nah, I'm good. I'm... different, kind of like Megaira. But not the same way."

=================================================================================

Oswald chuckled, "Let them go and have fun without one of us tagging along. If you trust them, it will be fine. Besides, I know Ozzy, he won't do anything *too* stupid. Not without any safety gear on, at least. Chuck is also fairly smart, though it's more common sense than book smarts. You'd think the boy is allergic to books, the way he acts sometimes."

  Demetrious chuckled, and wrapped his arm around the diminutive figure of his wife as she came up, smiling.  He told Oswald "And here's the sorceress who captured my heart.  I'm sure you've met Lin before, haven't you?"

"Ah, yes, the incomparable Lin Kattakara. It is nice to see you again, Lin. I am glad that this meeting is not under the same dire circumstances as our last. Dreadful business, that was." said Oswald, smiling as he bowed a little to Lin.

  Lin smiled, and said "Hello Oswald.  You get to meet the mundane side of things now."  She looked at home in the midst of the mass of people, and she gave Meg a kiss on the temple when she came ghosting up.  She gently shooed both Meg and Demetrious off, and her husband swung one of his sisters up into a dance as Lin said quietly "His family has no idea he's an Incarnate.  Or that I'm immortal.  They know Meg is 'weird' though.  Her other abilities could not be hidden.  She's been a para since she was born."

Oswald nodded sagely, "Yes, so I've been told. That is never easy for a person. Fortunately, she has become a wonderful young woman, much like her mother. Still, it is a burden sometimes, being 'weird'. But it is also wonderful at times. We can only hope that this new generation of 'weird' people can find a balance between the two."

  Lin nodded, and said "A great deal of that lies in the fact that she has an incredibly sweet personality.  I don't know how she managed that, given who her parents are.  Goodness knows my father wasn't such a sweet person!  My mother was a very biddable woman, being a concubine in the court.  Everyone knows the myths of the God Zeus, and his amazing exploits."

"It is somewhat amazing, yes. A girl with her humble, sweet spirit coming from such a background with a demeanor as soft as silk. Oswald, unfortunately, is more like steel. He inherited his bullheadedness from his father, and I'm afraid that the years have only tempered him, which is more than partially my fault. He's a handful sometimes, thankfully all this para business has kept him busy enough that I haven't had to keep him from going out yet. That supply backpack he keeps in his room for his 'urban artwork' hasn't moved since he moved in with me," said Oswald the Elder, sighing.

  She laughed, and said "I can think of far worse hobbies than 'urban artwork'!  Meg's picked up a couple that worry me.  Did you know she was almost to MARS the other day??"

"Oh? Space exploration is a noble endeavor, though I doubt that she went into it with any more preparation or forethought than Oswald gives to his 'painting' runs. At the very least, your daughter is not in the habit of commiting acts of vandalism, however aesthetically pleasing they may be. Still, I understand why you would be worried, as we know so little of the Void that surrounds this giant mudball we all call Home." said Oswald with a smile.

  Lin said dryly "She was in a sweatsuit.  Didn't pack any provisions.  Said when I asked about it, they'd have been turned to mush anyway!  Apparently an emergency came up, and she liquefied her bones with the gravitational forces she hit herself with to get back fast enough."

"Oh, yes, Oswald told me about that, the incident with the radioactive man at the mall. I believe she rushed so quickly in order to save the life of a mall worker. Still, I agree that it was not wise for her to be heading into outer space with nothing but a sweat suit and a smile. Perhaps we should send some less immortal travelers with her next time, to make sure she does not do something so reckless again." said Oswald, chuckling.

  Her answer was desert dry.  "I'd prefer she take a space vessel of some kind or other."

Oswald chuckled, "Indeed. Hopefully one that is actually safe enough for people, and not simply 'designed for her'. I understand that she is tougher than most people, but that is no reason to disregard your own safety. After all, what you don't know can very easily prove fatal."

  Lin nodded, and said softly "She regularly terrifies me.  Although I manage to hide it well.  And right now, she can't hear us, I have a silence field around us."

"I felt it. You wouldn't want her hearing us talking like this, or else she would think you don't trust her at all. Still, I don't think that any parent is never scared for their child. Even when they are not visiting Mars, or going off to fight crime and the forces of evil." replied Oswald, nodding.

  "If I weren't immortal, I'd say my daughter had terrified ten years off of my life.  Or more.  But she makes me incredibly proud too."

"Hah! Oswald has no doubt scared his parents plenty of times, and I myself find myself worrying more now that I am his direct guardian. Still, he has done admirably for himself. Did you know that he got hired by Masks, Inc. for his work in the LeCarde incident? He had his first assignment from them today, and did very well. I've helped him, of course, but my help will become less and less as his experience broadens. He's certainly grown to become a fine young man, even if he is something of an irreverent little punk," said Oswald, calling his grandson an 'irreverent little punk' in that affectionately angry way that only a grumpy old man could possibly master.