A Wholesome Meal

## The Haunted House, September 24th 2020

A knife was floating behind Elena as she looked at the oven. She leaned down to pull the batch of cookies out and the knife plunged forward cutting into an apple. Elena said cheerfully “Thank you so much Remmy, you are a darling.”

 Maria came to the room in a tux and asked “Do we really need to be dressed up, I mean you always look good in a vintage dress but I am never fancy.”

 Elena teased in return “I literally share a brain with you, you were really excited to bust that out in the gala, you might as well wear it once.”

Maria sighed “But i’m going to be overdressed because this is a casual hang out meal.”

 Elena put a finger on Maria’s lips “No, this is a showing Astra what a home cooked earth meal hang out, which is gonna be their first, we want to look good right.”

 The demi-girl turned around and surrendered “I’ll set the table, I’ll just change clothes later or lie and say I just got back from a date.”

 The two get all the food served  and ready and Fearless reminds them internally “Alright but you all have to tag into me too because I’m the one with the crush.”

 Maria and Elena giggle said at the same time “Of course, Fearless.‘

Maria teased their headmate “but be warned I am pretty sure they are into that one kid on the team. Want me to ask questions about crushes and stuff?”

 Elena interjects “Or me if you rather have a bit more tack then” she switches sto maria impression making her voice a bit deeper “So, anyone you wanna bang or like hold hands with?”

Fearless groaned “You both can push the questions, if they aren’t into me, cool, no problem.”

 By the end of the conversation the meal of tacos, rice, beans, and much more were all set up, Elena maybe went a little over board but she hadn’t got to host for anyone that wasn’t considered family in a while. The trio awaited a knock on the door.

Meanwhile, Astra had been going through the wardrobe in their room in the Big Team base, looking for something to wear. It’s not like they haven’t been to dinners before, but that was back home, and fashion and customs on Earth are like super different. They had finally found a combo they liked: a pink tank top with a yellow wool cardigan that had lemon patterns all over it and a pair of ripped denim jeans, when they noticed they were running late.

After rushing over on their magical cloud Nebulim, probably breaking some kind of speed limit on the way, they were finally standing outside the Haunted House. “Oh gosh, hope I’m not underdressed for this,” they thought as they straightened their outfit and knocked on the door. “Eh, whatever. It’s not like I’m expected to follow Earth custom to a tee, especially not by this trio,” they joked to themselves.

Elena twirled to the door and said “They are here, I’m so excited.”

 She opened the door filled with joy that she was going to get to feed someone their first home cooked earth meal, or maybe it wasn’t their first but she would pretend it was, close enough. It be the best for sure. Elena grits with bubbly pride “Welcome to our haunted home.”

 Maria waved from behind Elena “Oh damn, you look good Astra. I love this whole look.”

They pointed to the table “This is where the food is” then gestured to a sword collection on display on the wall  “and that’s some of my favorite swords.”

Elena grabbed Maria and motions towards the dinner table “We’ll give you a grand tour after we eat, I got carried away and cooked early. ”

 She pulled up a chair “I’m sorry if I am a bit extra, I am still getting used to being in 2020 but I guess you're getting used to this earth so we can both be weird.”

“Heya, thanks for having me,” they said as they step through the door, “and yeah I know right? It took me ages to find something, cuz I had like no idea what to wear for an Earth dinner. You two look nice as well. Very fancy.”

Their eyes lit up as the food on the table is pointed out to them, and then similarly when they saw the collection of swords. They could hardly choose what to pay attention to, but when Elena interjected, they did realize that eating first would be the better idea.

“Ooh yeah, it does look really good,” they said as they took the seat, “I’m honestly starving, I haven’t had anything since breakfast. So what are we having? It kinda reminds me of some stuff back home, but it’s still very different.”

Elena gets totally flattered by the compliment and said “Well thank you, this is one of my best petticoats and dress combos.”

 Maria just gave a knowing smirk and said “Well we’re having a mixed selection of tacos, Elena wasn’t sure what kind you would like.”

 Elena chimed in not wanting Maria to explain for her “So we have beef Fajita, some street taco style, carne asada, veggy taco, and shrimp taco. ”

She smiled, proud of the selection of food she put together, learning how to prepare all of these was exciting. It felt like she was back with her mama before she got adopted.  She added after a second of being lost in thought “and then rice and beans and I made some Puerto Rican cookies and stuff for desert.”

“Oh gosh, this all sounds so delicious. I think I’ll start with these,” Astra said, reaching for a shrimp taco. “I love seafood so much. As you can imagine, not a lot of that on our sun, so we only had it when we went down to mingle with the humans of our world.”

Astra partook of the various dishes, giving plenty of compliments along the way. “Have you always been so good at cooking, Elena?”

Maria mused “Oh really, I would have figured you at Sea Food all the time since you said there was a lot of ocean but  that makes sense.”

Elena blushed brightly, her whole face was covered in red, being complimented on her food filled her with joy. She took a bite letting herself take a moment before saying “Well, I mean I was kinda raised to cook, clean, stuff like that. But before I was adopted, I still loved cooking, my first mom taught me when I asked. ”

Maria complimented Elena “And her baking is even better, she is so good even when she messes up it’s better than most food I’ve eaten.”

 Elena gave Maria a playful smile, Maria did know how to flatter a girl. She turned her attention back to Astra “Alright enough about me, Astra, how’s it going living on earth, any crushes yet now that you’ve been in the team and high school for a while?”

 Astra nearly spat out some rice in surprise, but managed to compose themselves enough to swallow it properly. “Me, crushes, pfft, don’t know what you mean?” they said as a blush started to grow, the stellar light glowing brightly beneath their cheeks. Astra looked at Elena and Maria, who clearly weren’t buying it.

“Okayyy,” they admitted bashfully while playing with the rice on their plate, “I might have a crush on someone on Big Team. You know A-Vis, right? Tall, kinda awkward but also super sweet and really interesting? They’re just, so, ya know? But like, I don’t know, I have no idea what to do about it. I’ve never really had any actual serious relationship before. I talked with them a bit during club orientation at Big High, and I have also like tried to help them with finding out their origin, since they don’t really know where they are from, but, the only hint I got from my grandmother when I asked her was something named spear, and that only turned up some weird space program GAIA was with, and there not really any further leads on that. She also gave me like a past-seeing glove, my grandmother, not GAIA of course, but I haven’t had the chance to bring it up to Johnny and ask him if he wants to try it out yet. Cuz how do you even bring something like that up, like, hey Johnny want me to peer into your super personal and intimate past and potentially discover something that you have no idea on how to handle? I mean, I haven’t even gotten very close to him yet, I can’t just demand to be an audience to his secret past, right? Or maybe I am overthinking it. What do you two, or uh three if you’re also listening Fearless, what do you think?” Astra asked as they finally looked up, after having unleashed their stream of thoughts to the older trio.

Maria and Elena both smile, it was cute, first crushes, both of them got that feeling. Maria remembering her first crush that wasn’t on a fictional monster being her girlfriend on the cheer squad, swiftly followed by multiple other girls on the cheer squad. Elena’s first major one, she had minor crushes since her first year of middle school, was Mara.

 Maria giggled “Oh, I think i’ve seen them. None of us have got to work with them though. ”

 Elena winked at Maria and playfully teased “Personally, I think peering through someone’s hidden secrets can be romantic if they consent.”

 The demi-girl puts her hand on Elena’s and they fuse into Fearless.

 Fearless looked over Astra combined they started to realize why EliZe said she was busy once they said they were inviting over Astra. Fae wanted to actually be helpful, despite whatever crush Fearless might have on Astra clearly their focus was on A-vis. It wasn’t uncommon for faer mind to be split in three directions but it was odd for it to all come from herself. Fearless finally chimed in after a moment of thought “Being new to serious relationships is perfectly normal. A-vis probably is too.”

They mused  “you got that glove to help them you should offer to use it. The worst they will say is no. Plus helping them, if they let you totally make you a special part of their life, you would have done something no one else can do.”

 Fearless figures fae should at least try and help EliZe out here too, was it weird to try and get two of your crushes together? No, at least not for Maria, that was pretty normal, three is more fun than two they would say. Then again nothing about Maria was normal and Elena was so far in the past it was shocking she was as well adjusted as she was. Fearless complimented the star “I bet a lot of people are into you too, probably A-vis and other people too. You're super attractive, you have a great sense of style, you're a badass warrior, your kind and kick ass, I can’t see how someone wouldn’t like you. You could probably have any number of partners you wanted.”

 Astra nodded at Fearless’ advice. “You’re right, it can’t hurt to ask, can it? When I get the chance, I’ll ask him.”

As fae complimented them, Astra’s cheeks glowed even brighter, “gosh, oh, thanks. That’s really kind of you to say. But any number of partners? Hm, maybe, once I figure out how even to do relationships at all,” they joked. “I mean, my moms have also been with other people here and there, so I know it’s not super difficult, but it’s also not so simple either. I don’t know, I guess I just hope I won’t mess anything up.”

With a raised eyebrow and a cheeky grin however, they continued “guess I’ll just have to look out for these mysterious other people who are into me, and see what happens, huh?” They giggled, oblivious to the fact that one of them were sitting right in front of them.

Fearless smiled, oh their moms were also polyam, that is rad, the only adult women fae knew were polyam were Jill and Rin. Fearless said “Your moms sound cool but ya it’s complicated and it needs the right people, and right amount of knowing what you want.”

 Fae rubbed her head, oh gosh, they said that they will have to look out for people that like them? What should she do? Oh gosh? Fearless went internal for a moment to get help from Maria and Elena. The three sitting as a chibi trio at a round table Maria with little devil horns and Elena with little angel wings.

 Before Fearless can even speak Maria said “Just tell them how you feel”

 Elena shruged  “I’m on Maria’s side, telling people how you feel doesn’t mean you need to advance a relationship.”

 Fearless rubbed faer tiny little forehead “It’s not like you all are telling everyone your into about your crushes. Hana, Atlanta.”

 Elena giggled “You know Atlanta is like super taken and super monogamous right? I’m really not even that into her, it was more of a fangirl over her skill crush and wondering if we’re the same person crush.”

 Maria shrugged “I don’t think I’ve been subtle with Hana, I flirt a lot but I am also not going to try to date a friend when they clearly go a lot of complicated romantic shit going on with an indentured government agent. ”

 Fearless glared at the two “Alright, I’ll say something if you two have a counter for this. What about if EliZe actually has a crush on Astra. Do we want to potentially hurt our relationship with her?”

 Maria put their hands up “You got me, conceal the feels, at least until we can talk to EliZe about Astra.”

Elena said defeated “It’s not my crush so it’s really up to you if you think it’s worth it.”

 Fearless snapped back to reality, it had only taken a few seconds in real time and said playfully  “Most people are really bad at telling when someone likes them and think it’s obvious when others are into them. People really should stop being subtle about that stuff. Good luck.”

Astra giggled, “yeah, I don’t think I can pretend I am good at picking up signals, especially if it’s true when you say I have a bunch of secret admirers. Fun to think about who they might be though,” they mused. “Thanks a lot for the advice, Fearless. You’re really awesome. Oh, and Elena said something about dessert, right?”

Fearless giggled, gosh Astra was adorable but fae would be fine as long as Astra is happy. For the three of them, friendship was perfectly great with people they cared for. Fearless smiled saying “Ya let me get her.“

 They remain fused but the ends of the trios hair turns orange as a sign of Elena taking control of the body. She smiles “Okay, we’ll these are really swell, I’ve totally perfected them. Maria said it’s just like her mom used to make and that cooking at the only good thing she ever did for her.”

 She laughed a bit to herself and grabbed a tray of polvorones, a Puerto Rican cookie that she caked in sprinkles for extra fun. They were little stars since they were baked for Astra coming over. Elena placed the cookies on the table and said “Enjoy and you can take as much as you want back to the base too. ”

“Ooh, thank you, they look super good.” Astra gratefully took one of the polvorones, and grabbed a bite. Their eyes lit up, both with joy and literally, as they chewed and tasted it. “Oh my gosh, Elena! They don’t just look super good. I’ll definitely take some back to the base. They might even rival Atlanta’s cupcakes,” they said munching on a couple more polvorones. “I really like the stars as well. Cute touch.”

“So there was still the tour of those swords on the wall, right? They look hella cool, I’m excited to hear about them. Do y’all need some help cleaning up first though?” Astra asked as the meal had come to a close.

Elena smirked with pride, she didn’t see herself as a rival to Atlanta but hearing they stacked up made her happy, after all she wanted people to not think of her as a second rate Atlanta. She might be her after all? But that is unlikely, like 2% at most, that she is her from some 50s dimension. Elena beamed with pride “I am very glad you enjoyed, take as many as you like. I can give you some leftovers from this as well.”

 Maria took over the ends of the hair turning light blue “Oh you want to see my babies, of course.”

They looked over to a spot where it seemed like nothing was there and asked “Remmy can you handle the dishes?”

A pair of dishes floated up and Maria said “Thank you so much you funky little pirate.“

 Maria stood up and took Astra back over to the sword wall pulling out a long Katana  with a purple hilt and sheath  “This is a cursed sword I got back when I was barely starting my work. It’s said that the whielder will die within a year, I’m still here.”

 She spun it a bit and said cheerfully “Ask me about any of these beauties and I’ll tell you their story or anything you want to know.”

“Oh, thanks Remmy!” Astra said, taking it in stride that of course there was some kind of invisible pirate spirit in the haunted house.

They followed Maria with excitement looking over the various swords, and listening attentively to her talk about the cursed katana. “Hmm, ooh, what can you tell me about that one?” Astra asked, pointing to a long and wicked sword, made of a strange metal with a reddish tint, with some kind of predator-animal’s teeth hanging in strings from the guard. “It almost looks like something auntie Esang would have,” Astra joked.

Maria looked at that sword staring at it for a moment as if the memories of it were being played back in her head. They smiled and said “Oh Auntie Esang? They sound cool.”

 Grabbing the wicked sword and petting it on it’s side like a dog “This one’s dangerous but amazing.”

 The short Demi-girl stood on a little box to give themself some height as they spoke. “I was with Lia, a contract demon friend of mine, and Laura who I was in a Villain duo with. We were going to steal a god like being power. He had created a creature and it was a strange one but more than a fun fight. When it was defeated we crafted it’s essence into this sword since it had chosen us over it’s creator. Then I used her to destroy the source of power and free the people under his thumb. She’ll only let you wield her if you’re a true warrior.”

 “Oh wow, that’s super cool. Also yeah, def something Esang would have. Oh yeah, she’s the Goddess of Violence back in my world. She’s pretty cool, except for the whole thirst for unnecessary violence thing. On some level, I think you would like her though.” Astra said. “But hey, enough about her, tell more about these cool swords.”

Maria grinned hearing about Esang, she sounded like exactly the type of person she would want to beat up which was very fun. She held up a rapier with purple and orange stones embedded in it. The demi-girl swung it in the air and said “This was Morgan’s first present to me.  An enchanted rapier, said to be able to pierce through anything but only if you have the true desire to piece through it. So I couldn’t hurt you at all with it.”

 They poked it with their finger to show it doesn’t do anything and placed it back asking “So your a demi-god, have you had any big adventures or is showing up here your first adventure?”

 “That rapier sounds like it would be good for training with, huh?” Astra pondered.

“Any big adventures? Nah, not really. I mean, adventures for sure, but that was like travelling the world far and wide, nothing dangerous really happened. I was the guest of honor at a winter festival once on this island that was famous for smoked fish. That was a delicious adventure for sure,” they giggled. “But yeah, no adventures like yours. Biggest thing I’ve thought before coming here was like a really big crab. It was pretty big though. But it was also just a big crab.”

Maria smiled resting their arms behind their back "that's not bad either you know. Honestly, I've probably had too much adventure."

They grabbed a sword with a mark engraved in it's handle. Holding it up Maria admitted "this is the sword I have Hana from the team her scar. Well the one across her eye."

She put it back and said "don't be afraid to just spend time enjoying life. Everyone deserves that."

Astra nodded. “Yeah, makes sense. I used to think my mama was weird for giving up a life of continuous adventure just to mostly hang out on the sun with me and mommy, not that she was weird for wanting to be with us or anything, I thought that you could do both or something. But yeah, you’re right, doing adventure and heroics all the time gets to be too much at some point, right?”

Astra looked at the wall of swords, and spotted one with a glistening starry motif on the hilt. “I mean, I will eventually have to go back home at some point. Not like, now or anything, I still got plenty in me!” they say as they do a little flex, “and I will like come back and visit and stuff, but when I go home and this journey is fully over, that’ll be the end of my adventures here. Unless something comes up and you all need my help, but that would be the one last hurrah or whatever. I just hope I get plenty of fun and action while I’m here.”

Internally Fearless felt a bit sad at the thought of faer friend leaving back to their home world but it made sense, people come and go. Plus if it’s anything like Rainbow Revolution they can just back and forward visit each other.

Elena took over and smiled at Astra “I think a balance is possible, my mom was an activist, she never stopped but she always took time to take care of me. At least until she was arrested.”

 There was a small sigh and she walked towards the living room, wearing her smile again and saying “Well we’re all still super young here, I don’t think any of us need to decide what we’re going to do with our lives in the far future. ”

 She asked “Have you played video games Astra? We got this new one about princexes racing and this other one about beating a bunch of people up with your friends or the one you fight each other as hot buff girls.”

“Mhm, yeah I can probably strike a balance, but if I get to be a full god someday, I’ll likely also be busy with like my world stuff.” Astra mused.

“Ohh, video games! Yeah, I’ve tried a few but not a lot, I’d love to play some with you all. With all this talk of fighting, maybe we should do the princex racing one? As a palette cleanser? It sounds pretty cool.”

Fearless took the reins and said “Alright, I’m up first then I’ll split up and we can do three player.”

 Fae put in the game and handed Astra a remote. The four enjoyed an evening of games together until the time had come and Astra could leave with as many leftovers as their heart desired and memories of a home cooked meal.