Meg explained "Iris is a speedster.  She moves insanely fast, with a proportional metabolism.  She's literally fast enough that most people see a streak where she moved through."

"That's... pretty fast. Um... proportional metabolism? So she has to eat a whole lot if she's been using that power?"

  Meg nodded, and said "Correct.  I've seen her eat a dozen happy meals by herself.  Life gets interesting around us."

"I bet, heh." Fiona chuckled a bit awkwardly. "Who cooks around here?"

   Meg shrugged, and said "Most of the time, it's me or Ozzy.  Candy handles desserts though, she has a way with the sweets.  You'll find I cook a lot of casseroles, since a lot of us eat on the fly at times.  When I don't do casseroles, I tend to cook Greek or Chinese.  Occasionally a little heavy Italian creeps in though."

"Well, if you ever want some German cuisine, or just pizza, just ask me. I've never cooked for such a huge crowd before, though, or people who eat for ten..."

  Meg grinned, and said "Anyone who wants a turn in the kitchen is welcome to take it.  Iris actually lives with Ozzy's grandfather, so she doesn't eat here all the time, and Andy lives over with Vic in Sutras.  And yes, Andy really IS a Demon.  But he's a nice one.  He's Bound to Vic, and he likes it just fine that way.  His mother is a very nice lady, but she lives with her parents, and her father despises Andy because his father died before Andy was born."

In reply to Clarissa Gysbourne (msg # 926):

Ozzy wrapped her in his wings as well, cuddling her against him as they kissed. He twitched slightly as her feathers gently tickled him, though he still held on to her.

{{Hee! That tickles a bit. Enhanced touch can be interesting, at times. Mmm... I do hope the others don't mind the PDAs too much.}}

  She kissed him back with pleasure, and said {{Oh, they will get used to it.  We DID just get married!}}

"Right..." Fiona wasn't sure she was going to remember all that, especially with everything that had already happened today that had yet to sink in. "So... what did you tell the others about the rally? And what did they say?"

  Meg said quietly "We're all hoping that they don't try to disrupt the funeral, but odds are good they might.  Ozzy says he may yel back, but he told Clarissa to keep a good hold on his leash."

Fiona nodded softly. "I hope he'll manage to control himself." It hardly needed to be said that if things turned violent, that would only add more fuel to the fire.

  Meg nodded, and said "That's why I'm going to make her a titanium leash for him, in case she really needs to yank on him."

Fiona nodded a little. Then, after a moment, she perked up. "Hey, um... you wanna help me go flying now?" Things had quieted down a little after the barbecue and the dancing; at least that's what Fiona told herself. But really, she just couldn't wait any longer.

  Meg nodded, and said playfully "Then let's fly."

Fiona's smile widened, and her wings once again began sprouting almost immediately, sending a shiver down her spine. They looked the same as before: like the wings of a raven, with deep black feathers. "Do you have a place for that?" she asked, spreading them a little while twisting her neck to make sure she didn't bump them into anything. "I'll probably need a lot of room..."

  Meg smiled as she waved her hand at the sky.  "We have the whole sky to soar in, Fiona.  Let's see how far you can soar!"

With a wide smile, and her twin tails coiled around each other, Fiona looked around herself to make sure once more that nothing and nobody was in the way, then began flapping her wings hard. At first, she was creating a lot of wind and not a lot of lift for herself, until she tried out different ways of motion. When she finally got her feet off the ground, however, she got so excited that she quickly lost balance and crashed to the ground rather gracelessly.

  Or, almost into the ground.  Meg caught her about an inch off the floor.  She reoriented Fiona, and said "Let's try that again."

In reply to Clarissa Gysbourne (msg # 936):

Ozzy slowly pulled back as he grinned and said, "True. We do have an excuse."

He then smiled down at Jeff and Candy, asking, "So, any plans for you two yet? Hehe."

  Candy chuckled, and said "He's got to get through graduation and such first, then we shall see what happens next."

Ozzy grinned and said, "True. We didn't wait because, well, we didn't want to. And even if stuff goes wrong somehow, I'm in a unique position to be prepared to handle it. I mean, I could actually afford an accidental kid, ya know?"

  Clarissa giggled, and kissed his throat, then said "You're going to find that it's a wonderful thing to be married, if you go that way, Candy.  I'm so happy, I feel like I'm floating!"

  A pleasant enough time, two nice kids getting together for the intended long haul.  Sure, the events preceding the wedding and those coming with the next day were more of a downer.  Instincts told him he couldn't have prevented it if he had been there despite what logic had to say about it.  A flimsy reason to evade guilt, but there it was.

  With a safe place to stay came a loss of whatever had been keeping him moving.  But as we just narrated about, there were worse problems to have.  For now, Matt just enjoyed the simple sight of a girl learning to fly from his own little corner of the Estate's roof, headtail swaying behind him.

  'Watching people learn to fly has become something common feeling.  Can't say I'm not adjusting to the lifestyle at all, at least.' he thought to himself.

With a slightly embarrassed look on her face, Fiona got back to her feet. This time, she tried starting from a crouching position and jumping straight up before flapping her wings to gain altitude, but once again, she couldn't keep herself airborne for more than a couple of seconds. A slightly frustrated "Oof!" escaped her as she fell to the ground.