Felix looked at each of them in turn. “Any other questions?”
Kit got her feet onto the ground and then flipped her sheets off. “Can I wander the house freely? You wouldn’t mind whatever room I went into? I’d like to explore a bit if I’m going to be cooped up here for a while.”
“Uhm, sure. You’re all allowed to wander the extent of the house without restraint. Just please don’t go outside, contact anyone, or even try to contact anyone.” Felix scratched at the back of his head. He had hoped to keep them locked up in the ward, but that had gone out the window.
“Thanks, thanks,” Kit said. “Oh! Slippers.”
Kit stuck her feet in the blue slippers and shuffled her way out the door into the living room.
Miu took a second but immediately did the same, following Kit out without a word.
Ioana stared at Felix with her one eye, watching him as if he would attack her at any moment now that they were alone.
Holding up his hands, Felix walked out of the ward to the kitchen. “I’ll make breakfast.”
His week of rebuilding heroines was coming to a close. For the last five days, it’d been nothing but updating them on events of the city, remaking their bodies, and generally hanging out around the house.
All in all, it was actually rather enjoyable after the first couple awkward hours. Miu and Ioana had started doing some limited training in his basement with his uncle’s weight set, and Kit had simply enjoyed herself.
Though the three of them really did infinitely more eating than him. Truth be told, they ate through his entire pantry. He’d already gone to the grocery store once to restock.
He’d heard supers could put away calories, but this was impressive for people who were in their condition.
They were taking a giant bite out of the small amount of money he had. With this trip, he’d be going into the negative on his credit cards.
A loan, debt on my cards… this is going to get worse.
Felix gave himself a small shake, breaking himself free of his thoughts. Turning the keys, he killed the engine and looked to his passenger.
Kit looked uncomfortable. She watched people going in and out of the grocery store like they’d attack her.
She was dressed in a sweater and a pair of jeans.
The ladies were able to face the public on a general basis. Mostly. He hadn’t fixed any of the flesh, muscle, and bone that was covered by clothes. They were still quite lacking of breasts and were all scar tissue.
The points involved for that were simply much higher, and progress was slowing down. For the most part, though, they were restored to normality.
Kit ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it to one side, and then looked to him.
Now that she didn’t look like a corpse, he’d call her cute. She had wavy dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a finely featured face. She wasn’t pretty, but she wasn’t unattractive either.
Then again, she didn’t look quite healthy yet. Or even put completely back together. He got the impression that might change his opinion of her not being “pretty.”
“I don’t think I can do this,” Kit said quietly.
“Sure you can. I guarantee you won’t hear them unless you want to.” Felix unclipped his seatbelt and pushed his keys into his pocket.
“Promise?” Kit asked, her hands balling into fists in front of her.
“I do. Come on, let’s go. I’ve noticed Ioana gets feisty if she isn’t fed regularly.” Felix wasn’t really kidding, either.
Pushing open his car door, he stepped out into the fall morning.
Adjusting his windbreaker, he looked across the top of his car. Kit finally opened her own door and stepped out. With a quick tap of the door control, he locked the car and shut it.
Felix stuck his hands in his pockets, looking around him as he walked to the front of the store.
“I was thinking. The way you described your power,” Kit said from beside him. “It’s… strange. One would think someone else planned it for you.”
Felix sighed and looked over to Kit, who met his eyes and then looked away.
“Yeah. I know. Same thought I’ve had about it. That or I’m crazy. It makes no sense, though, when you consider that I didn’t even have enough points to use my power.”
The doors slid open and Felix grabbed a shopping cart. Angling it towards to the left, they started off into the produce aisle.
“That makes me wonder. Have you tried visualizing other things? Like, a bank account listing how many points you had, and from what source?” Kit asked, picking up a bag of potatoes.
“Huh. No. Never thought about it. And I don’t talk to people about my power, so it’s not like I have a sounding board for it.” Felix adjusted where the potatoes sat in the cart and picked up a sack of oranges.
“Give it a try? I’m going to go get carrots and celery. Making soups and stews will stretch the pantry further.”
Felix shrugged and concentrated on what she’d suggested. A bank account-looking screen that showed all of his points—where they came from and how much he had for the day and where he’d spent them.
Much to his chagrin, the screen instantly appeared.
Received
Spent
Remaining
Daily Allotment
150
0
150
Miu Miki
400
0
400
Ioana Iliescu
800
0
800
Kit Carrington
1,500
0
1,500
DAILY TOTAL
2,850
0
2,850
“Shit,” Felix said, closing the window.
“Worked?” Kit asked, dropping both carrots and celery into their cart as she returned.
“Yeah. You’re worth twice as many points as Ioana. Miu isn’t even in the same league you’re in.” Felix reached into the cart and readjusted everything till it fit the way he wanted it to.
“Not surprising. Telepathy is kinda rare in comparison to battle senses or inhuman strength. Miu is more or less on the lowest end of the power spectrum and is more like an enhanced human.” Kit stopped talking and picked up a bottle of salad dressing and dumped it into the cart.
Felix frowned and moved the bottle. Not saying anything, they cleared the produce aisle and started working their way up and down each lane.
“How about this?” Kit said suddenly. She held up a skillet in front of her. Felix opened his mouth to tell her he had to own it first, but she kept going. “Let’s try to take it one step further. Focus on this and try to use your power on it. Except I want you to… envision it as a hypothetical. As in, what would be available to you if you owned it?”
Frowning, Felix did as she instructed, and the skillet’s window popped up immediately.
Tilting his head to the side a fraction, he closed the window and looked up to her.
“Worked, didn’t it?” Kit gave him a bright smile, going from cute to “attractive” in a heartbeat.
“Uh, yeah. It did.” Felix set the skillet back into its place on the rack. “This only makes me more nervous, though. Were these prepared in advance, are they reacting to my desires, or am I just… crazy?”
“Who cares?” Kit asked laughingly. She picked up a carton of toilet paper and slid it under the cart. “Your power works, and it’s truly unique.”
Felix couldn’t argue with her right now. Everything she’d made him do so far had worked. Results always spoke for themselves.
“Alright. Next test. Can you give me back my powers?” she asked, turning her fingers inwards to point at herself.
“I can. I… yeah. What percentage of it do you want back?” He scratched at his jaw and turned his head; it made him nervous when she stared at him.
“Oh! That’s perfect. I thought it’d just be an on/off switch. Let’s try… ten percent?” She grabbed the front of the cart and got them rolling again as she spoke.