Ozzy grinned, "Yup. Im just glad I wasnt this way yesterday  afternoon. Some jerkass actually grabbed her, and implied she was a professional. I woulda torn his arms off and clubbed him with them. As I was, I broke his damn jaw."

Oswald chuckled and said, "All in good time, though. You two are young, enjoy it! Haaving a child is a big responsibility, and I think you two are wise to wait."

 Andy nodded, and said "That's because you love her.  An insult to your girl, when you love her, will enrage you more than any insult to you ever could.  Ask Vic sometime, I get scary when she's threatened."

  Clarissa nodded, and said "Don't worry, I want to graduate first, before I even consider chilren.  And I really need a handle on these claws!"  She held her hand up, the claws clear in the light, and frowned when she realized droplets of pink stuff sparkled on the tips.  "Ummm.  I think, Grandpa, I'm going to have to stick to hugs, no shakes, or I might mutate someone by accident.  These things are hypodermic!"

Ozzy nodded and said, "No woman should be talked to like that. But, yeah, anyone who does that to one whos taken, especially when their lover's literally RIGHT THERE, holding them? Yeah, he was an idiot."

Oswald chuckled,"Very wise of you, my dear. And you should certainly be careful! But there is, no doubt, a way to remedy that. Can you retract them? You ARE a cat girl, after all."

  Andy said "One of the traits that comes from my inhuman heritage, I'm hellishly protective, and downright vicious to those that hurt my chosen Lady.  She's my solace,  my comfort, my anchor and my guiding light.  Knowing I'm Damned is . . . hard.  Having someone who knows exactly WHAT I am, and loves me anyway."


  Clarissa looked thoughtful, and said "Let's find out.  Give me a moment."  She held her hand up, and stared intently at it.  The claws shifted, and she winced, admitting "They're retracting some, but it hurts.  Like they're supposed to, but they didn't finish changing to fuly retractile."  She curled her fingers, shaking her hand a little, and keeping when tiny spatters of blood and pink stuff spattered her front.  {{Okay, does this stuff do it all at once, or what?  Don't freak when you see the blood . . .}}

Ozzy nodded, "I can kinda sympathize. If Clarissa had freaked... I dunno what I woulda done. Nothing good, I can tell you that. With her, though, this form seems like more of a blessing than anything else. She likes it, and with her by my side, I actually managed to start to sort of fit in with normal people again. My 'dad' is gonna get an angry call from a couple of older ladies, matter of fact. Definitely wouldn't have been able to pull that off without her."

{{Blood? Why is there blood? And since when were you telepathic?}} he replied.

Oswald grimaced, "Hmm... that does not look good. Let's hope you can find a way to transform them into more normal claws, then."

  She made a face, and said "I think I just need to finish separating them from the nail beds.  The BONE structure to retract them seems to be fully formed . . . this is not going to be fun."  She knelt, then flattened her hands on the floor, closing her eyes.  This time he could SEE them move, and the blood well as they finished tearing free.  And the fangs that she hadn't mentioned that resembled feline canines instead of eye teeth like a normal girl would have.  She answered Ozzy to distract herself while she did it.  {{I don't know.  Seems to be from about the same time I turned into a mana-producer that can make your Grandpa go goggle eyed.  By the way, I get to call him Grandpa too now.  Umm, I don't know if I can touch anyone ELSE or not, but I can FEEL you all the time, love.}}

  Andy nodded, and shot a smile Vic's way before he said "Sometimes, it's the ladies in our lives that make them as close to normal as we can get.  Do you think Clarissa will still be able to make people relax, now that she's been mutated too?"

Ozzy looked worried and said, "Maybe. She's a cute li'l catgirl, not a nine foot two giant. So she's not NEARLY as threatening as I am. As long as they're not staunchly anti-para, she'll be fine. I hope."

{{You didn't answer me about the blood. And why not try to contact Grandpa? He'd be a willing test subject.}}

Oswald said, "Do you want an advil? That looks like it really hurt."

  Andy smiled, and said "You know you're going to have to beat off the anime and manga fans with a huge stick, right?  Gods forbid you ever dress up in MAID costumes!"

  {{Umm.  I can ask him.  My claws are hypodermic.  And, umm.  Sort of retractile.  Sort of.}}  She gave Oswald a smile, and said "I think that might be good.  But I'll want something to go with it, I hear those things don't do well on empty tummies.  We didn't get a chance to catch lunch before Maggie, umm, got me."  She checked her fingers as she straightened, and then said "I think they've stopped bleeding."  She sort of swiped at them, forgetting her shirt was made of paint, and got it smeared on her velour, which got another face.  "Ozzy says I should see if you can hear me in your head like he's hearing me in his.  Game to be subject to an experiment?"

Ozzy smirked and said, "Dude? I am one. And she's MINE. All mine. Just like I'm hers. Heh, you should've seen her when that girl started eyeing me like a piece of beefsteak. She was awesome. It was kind of weird, being fought over by girls. I just kind of backed Clarissa up on the whole 'he's not interested' point she was making."

{{Fun! I was wondering how you 'spread' it, since all of the rest of us 'mutants' have had ways to spread the mutagen. And sort of? Why do I think that that has something to do with the blood?}}

Oswald chuckled and said, "As if I would deny my own granddaughter something to eat. What would you like? I'm sure Ozzy wouldn't mind whipping you up something."

  Andy laughed, and said "So you know exactly what you'll have to fend off!  I can tell, you two are glued to each other.  It's sweet.  When did the two of you get  mindlink anyway?  I didn't think you were innately telepathic, and Clarissa was, before mutation, a non-para, wasn't she?"

    "Mmmm.  Do you think french toast and sausages sounds good?  It does to me."  Her smile was clear, and she gave Oswald a careful hug, the simple acceptance of her into his family, as Ozzy's chosen, clearly making her day.  She then delicately tried (and couldn't seem to find him, only Ozzy 'registered' on her mental radar) and failed to find Oswald.  She told Ozzy {{Only mind I feel is yours, love.  And I'm part of the family now, officially!!}}

Ozzy grinned and said, "Yeah, I do. But I'll fight off every otaku in Japan if I have to. And I think her mind-link was part of the mutation package, though we've been mana-linked for a couple of days now. And technically, no, she wasn't. We discovered her powers... almost by accident, really. Orthos showed me some meditation techniques, and she tried them with me, and, well... turns out she's a mage. Specifically, a substantizer. She can shape mana into crystals which then can be used as mana 'batteries'. And now, she's a generator. Which was part of the package, I think."

{{So we're linked, then? Cool. And good!}}

Oswald chuckled, and hugged her back as he said, "Sounds delightful."

Victoria smiled back at Andy as he continued his "guy talk" with Ozzy, still noting the extraordinary magical presence that was now Clarissa.

  Andy grinned, and waved Vic over, telling Ozzy "You're going to have a field day with them.  I wish you lots of luck!"

{{Now we have a job for you, love.  It's not too hard, I don't think.  Could you cook breakfast, pleeeeaaaaaaaase??}}  She grinned at Oswald as she said "I seem to be singly telepathic, only with Ozzy.  So I asked him if he'd cook us breakfast."

Victoria came over to Andy and Ozzy after he waved her over.

"Well....did you get all of the male testosterone out of your systems?" she asked with a grin.

Ozzy grinned devilishly as he said, "I'll have to write them down for you sometime, my friend. You'll love trying them with Vic, I guarantee it. And we better head in. Clarissa wants me to cook breakfast for her, since she hasn't eaten yet."

{{Sure, babe. I'll cook for you. I'll have to just use paint-arms, 'cause my regular ones will probably break everything, but I can do it.}}

Oswald chuckled and said, "You two really are stuck with each other, then. Though I doubt he'll complain!"

  Andy grinned, and gave her a fierce kiss, then said "Who said anything about testosterone?  I'm the least destructible person around, and the only other one with winged aerial combat experience, love.:

  {{Thank you love.  I'm going to have an advil with my breakfast, and since you'll be using paint arms, I'll occupy your lap!}}  To Oswald, she said "Oh, it's not stuck if both parties are pleased as can be with it.  In that case, it's happily linked!!  Which is awesome."  She offered Oswald her elbow, planning to meet Ozzy in the kitchen.

Victoria was only briefly surprised by the kiss, now enjoying it in spite of the onlooking Ozzy.

"Well....we'll have to have you do more aerial combat lessons if they put you in THIS kind of mood," she said grinning.

Ozzy chuckled, "Yeah. Testosterone-based fighting would've involved a lot more grunting, chest thumping, and more smashing stuff."

He then headed in to the kitchen, Ozzy ducking down as he entered the house. He parked himself on the floor near the stove, and began grabbing everything with paint-hands that sprouted from his arms and chest. He kept his real hands in his lap, so that he wouldn't break anything.

Oswald did indeed take her arm as he lead them towards the kitchen, saying, "True, true. And it seems I can hear him in the kitchen already."

  Andy laughed, and said "I don't need displays of testosterone to impress you, love.  I already have your shackles precisely where I want them!"

   Clarissa grinned, and said happily "My lap is ready and waiting for me!!"  That long, silky, fluffy tail flirted, brushing against Oswald's hand.  It felt absolutely lovely.  She gave him another hug, once they got to the kitchen, and bounced over to Ozzy to perch in his lap, cuddling.  Moving one of his arms so that she was cradled against his chest as she grinned, looking up at him with a fanged grin.

Victoria chuckled at Andy's comment and told him "Never were there more true words spoken.."

Ozzy grinned and hugged Clarissa as she bounced into his lap, saying, "D'aww. You're so cute! C'mere you!"

He then bent down to give her a hot kiss as his hands expertly prepared breakfast, using Tats as a pair of eyes while he was kissing Clarissa.

Oswald just chuckled as he saw the young couples, both of them. It made him glad to see them happy, especially his grandson and his chosen woman. There lay the future of the Gysbourne clan, in those two kids...

  Andy grinned, and picked Vic up to carry her inside, grinning as he carried her, then parking her on his lap at the table.

  She returned that kiss with interest, and when it broke, she said "Sexy beast.  You might blush bright red if you go downstairs.  But I shouldn't have to worry about stretching my reserves yet MORE for a couple hours.  I hope."  She snuggled close, her tail wrapping around his wrist in a silky fluff (it was extremely soft and sensual feeling) before she grinned at Oswald, and asked "Given my prior mage education to Ozzy was 'fiction and fantasy novels, myths and legends', any recommendations on how to get me up to par so I can start casting to burn it off in more than JUST crystals galore?"

Ozzy blushed and said, "You didn't do a 'David' style statue of me or anything, did you? That would be kinda embarassing. Not to mention what would happen when Iris saw."

Oswald chuckled, "Nothing of the sort, lad. And I'll lend you what you'll need, Clarissa. You'll have Ozzy to tutor you, after all, and I could assign homework if you like."