UnMasked Nomad

23

She chuckled and nodded, setting her glass down.

"Anywho, I spent the next eight years in prison, studying martial arts and physics in equal parts, to fill the time. Apparently, my skills in tracking people down impressed the Feds; once I was 16, I was allowed to consult as a CSI, on cases for cyber and physical terrorists alike. Also, I gained two of my three PH.D's while in that prison. After my release, I returned to the college, worked both jobs until I gained both tenure and a retirement in just two years, twenty years before most do, and threw all thoughts of children and love from my mind, preferring to be alone, and do my work in silence." I hummed, stirring the peas and carrots. "Do you think I cooked too much? There's only four of you..." I sighed.

"We eat a lot, don't worry about it." She smiled softly.

"Mm... where was I... ah; just after receiving Tenure, basically seven years ago, I realized I'd ignored and repressed my libido for so long that it had entirely gone unnoticed to me, that my body had developed sexually, then subsequently gained physical needs. I found it out rather suddenly: a coworker, a woman named Brenda Michaelis, groped my ass; she had apparently mistaken me for her lover, and the act aroused me intensely, ultimately leading to the second time I'd ever had sex, and the first time I'd ever enjoyed it. She's almost entirely blind in one eye and very farsighted in the other, by the way, which is how she made the mistake." I explained.

"Ahhh." She nodded, grinning.

"After that, my physical needs came to the forefront, so I found a somewhat-unhealthy measure of peace, and I no longer buried myself in work, (not 24/7, at least,) instead preferring to bury myself in people. A specific group of women, all of whom needed what I needed, and were happy to give and receive. And David, my beautiful Beard, -the Twinkiest Twink to ever Twink, but also, happily, Bi,-... He liked me, despite everything I wouldn't let him do with me, so I paraded him around to my family, as my family was concerned I was Gay; no matter how right they were, my parents were devout Greek Orthodox, in Dallas Texas, so I needed someone to convince them I was straight." I nodded seriously.

She hummed, eying me suspiciously.

"And, Yes, while I had a dozen lovers, I only ever developed romantic feelings for him and Brenda; blegh." I grumbled.

She chuckled softly, and stood next to me, stirring the sautéing onions.

"Mm... and, Now, as I am stranded from them, I will bury myself in neither work nor people, and instead I will live my life with goals in mind; that I would move forward, and no longer stare at my own shadow in an endless staring contest that anyone is destined to lose, even me... that came out a little corny, but such as it is." I shrugged.

She chuckled and kissed my cheek. "Well, I'm happy you got to talk about it, and that you did so with me. I was raised by human parents, you see, adopted and raised in Ireland. I'm well aware of the role of 'StepMum', especially now that you're here with no one to spank you when you do something stupid." She slapped my hip gently, in jest.

I grinned. "I have Vera for that, actually. Now call your minions, I have the food ready." I tossed everything into the same pot, then poured in a carton of chicken stock, creating my grandma's take on chicken-noodle soup, using little lamb-filled dumplings instead of regular noodles.

She nodded and whistled sharply, leaning out of the room, and the children sprinted in, sitting where she directed them.

Ethan glanced between us, and hummed, speaking Atlantean. "You had a good talk?"