Chapter 50 – Meet the Parents

  “Travel between realms can happen a number of ways. The most reliable is traveling by anchored portals set up by any number of agencies and companies, but they are also the most expensive. The next and less predictable option is to go via the intermittent bridges, as they are called.” Travel Between Realms. An informational booklet provided by U.S. Department of State.

  Kurt awoke with a start, followed by a groan. He reached over and silenced his arm, cursing the sound for going off before he had a chance to silence it. He began to sit up, but his ever-present cuddle buddy moaned and tried to pull him back to bed.

  “Kuuuurrrt. It’s too early.” Val said while gring at him through one partly open eye.

  “Sorry hon, I gotta get up and get moving.” He deeply regretted having to leave the warmth of his bed especially as his feet touched the cold floor and he felt a chill run up his spine. He regretted it even more when Val huffed and rolled over, fshing parts of her naked body as she did.

  The previous night had been… a lot. After the shower and sit in the sauna, they had made dinner before calling it a night and watching movies on the couch. Both Val and Kristi were especially snuggly, making a Kurt sandwich as they watched one of Kristi’s favorites, Ace Ventura.

  After watching the double feature, Kristi made her excuses and left. Kurt thought she was hesitant to leave and was about to talk to her, but she ended up blushing then swiftly climbing the stairs. She was hardly around the corner when Val mounted him and started kissing. She had apparently been pent up since the shower and had been waiting to jump his bones.

  After going at it a couple of times back-to-back, they finally drifted off to sleep, a tangle of sweaty, messy bodies. At some point they had woken and went to bed but not before Val took another ride, rounding it out to four times for the night.

  Kurt got the coffee going and checked his messages as he sat down on the couch with a cup. He was halfway through reading a couple messages from his parents when Kristi wandered in. They shared a gnce then she hurriedly looked away and poured her own cup.

  “Sorry but I don’t think sitting on the porch will be a good call today.” Kurt said. The rain was still going but it had turned to an on and off misting rather than the continuous downpour of the previous afternoon. “Actually, I better get this started sooner than ter.” It was going to stay cold for a while, so he thought it best to get the firepce going.

  He stood and walked over to the wood stove in the corner. The little firepce was a wide, gss fronted affair that had a stylized border around the panes of heat resistant gss. Kurt pulled out some kindling and split logs from the stack near the door and quickly had a fire lit. After adjusting the vents, he turned on the fans to move some of the air around the house.

  He returned to his seat and saw Kristi just standing there, holding the bnket the girls liked to snuggle up in when sitting in the living room. She was staring at him, gncing from the spot next to him to his face.

  Kurt opened his arm out to the side, the universal gesture to come here. Kristi’s face rapidly changed from nervous to happy, to… He wasn’t sure what. Still, she stepped up and they arranged the bnket to go over their ps as they snuggled and watched the fire.

  Several minutes ter Kirsti finally spoke. “I think I like this better than the porch.” She said and hummed deeply, a sound he was beginning to associate with happy or maybe pleasure.”

  “They both have their charms. I will say a real fire in the dead of winter is very cozy.” Kurt said and they psed back into silence.

  “I, um…” Kristi began after another long pause. “About yesterday… I…” She was starting to blush heavily and stutter a little.

  “Did I do something?” Kurt asked, genuinely concerned.

  “No, not at all.” Kristi shook her head.

  “Did you enjoy it? The experience, not just the touching part, but doing that with us?”

  Kristi looked at the cup in her hands and answered in a small, low voice. “Yeah, yeah I really did.”

  “Then that’s all we need. I know Val pushed both of us a little far but… I mean, I enjoyed it too.” He blushed a little as he admitted it. “It was like when we have movie night just a lot… a lot more…”

  “A lot more intimate?” She offered.

  “Yeah, let’s go with that.” Kurt said and smiled at her. She finally gave him a full smile in return, rather than the little half ones from the night before. Kurt was feeling much more open with both of the girls tely. Val made sense, but he felt like him and Kristi were really getting along well.

  After a few more minutes, Kristi set her empty cup on the table and id her head on his shoulder. “Kurt?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re the best.”

  He ughed a little. “Well, thanks. You’re pretty amazing yourself.”

  She sat back up and stared at him. “No, really. I…” She stopped and sat up as Val came walking in, this time wearing pajama pants and her own hoodie. Kristi stopped, frowning a moment before leaning back against him though not as much as before.

  “Ahh, morning.” Val said with a yawn. She grabbed a coffee and walked over to the couch. “Come on, Open up.” She bumped Kristi with her furry foot.

  Kurt shuffled down and Kirsti was about to move aside when Val bumped her from the other side, taking the far end of the couch. After stealing a rge portion of the bnket, she took a sip of coffee and sighed while staring at the fire.

  “Hmm, this is nice. I think I like it better than the porch.” Val said and both Kurt and Kristi ughed at the repeat of their earlier conversation.

  “They each have their charms…” Kristi said while shooting a grin at Kurt.

  *****

  Val:

  A couple hours after the morning coffee cuddle, Kurt and the girls were putzing around the living room and kitchen. Kurt’s parents were due in at any time, and they had everything pretty much cleaned up. While Kurt was doing some research into wind generators to pass the time, Val was sitting on the couch next to Kristi.

  “So, what do you know about them?” Kristi asked.

  “Nothing much.” Val answered. “I know his mom is human and his dad is a full blood elf. Apparently, his mom knows John and Mark from way back and…. That’s about it.” She hadn’t pried too much, just like he hadn’t pried into her past.

  Val liked that about him. He would let her share what she was comfortable with. While she had told him more about her own history, she also knew there was a lot of sore subjects in his, especially after the veil broke.

  “I just wish I knew more about them.” Kristi continued. “Like I know a lot about yours, well at least stories about them…” Kristi was fidgeting with her shirt while they sat, constantly tugging at the hem to straighten it.

  “Are you nervous?”

  Kristi looked at Val with an expression the seemed more flustered than incredulous. “You’re not?”

  “Well, kinda.” Val admitted. “But if we want them to like us all we have to do is be ourselves and show that we care for their son.”

  “That’s it?”

  Val huffed a ugh. “Well yeah, there isn’t much we can do, other than that. If we try to put on an act, then it will eventually fall apart. If we try to act too subservient, then they might think poorly of him. Really just be yourself and show them why he loves us.”

  “L-love-s us?” Kristi was once more turning very red.

  Thinking quickly, Val smoothed out the situation the best way she knew, distraction. “He loves me. WE said it to each other the other night.” She whispered to her.

  “Oh, my gods, really?” Kristi immediately fell for the distraction. “When? What happened? That’s like super-fast, right?”

  Val began telling her how she had confronted him about the raid and how they had shared a rather emotional exchange about everything. Kristi asked a ton of follow up questions like how she felt about it and when she knew. There were also some odd questions about how she felt Kurt reacted to the confession.

  While Kristi might be the big, strong dragoness, she was a bit of a romantic. Val just knew her romantic ideals were much simpler than some others. Kristi just wanted to be accepted and loved. She also had never been this close with anyone before, with both Kurt and Val taking things farther than anyone else.

  The crunch of gravel announced the arrival of their awaited guests. Kurt shut his ptop and walked out the door to greet his parents while the girls watched through the window. He walked out and his mom ran out to hug him, holding on for a while and wiping a tear when she let go. His dad reached out and gave him a firm handshake before pulling him in for a hug too.

  Val’s ears picked up some of the conversation as they chatted briefly about the property and the look of the house. There were many rounds of, ‘you built all this?’ like they never expected him to be able to do it. That irked her, more than it likely should.

  While he might have changed since they left and accomplished many things, they should know the character of their son. She knew how amazing he was, how honest, hardworking, loving and…and, oh, right. She took a deep breath while she calmed her nerves, they had been away for years and this was their moment, not hers.

  Several minutes ter, the door opened after they had talked and gestured on the driveway for far too long. Kurt’s dad was first through the door, stepping in and out of the way as his mother followed right on his heels.

  “Wow, this is something. Wow.” His father said while looking around. He paid a lot of attention to the open rafter ceiling and the kitchen. His voice had a slight rasp to it, not unpleasant but defiantly distinct.

  “Absolutely beautiful.” His mother said, her eyes flicking to Val.

  “Mom, dad. I would like you to meet my girlfriend Val and our friend Kristi.” Kurt said, rolling his eyes as he gestured to them. They had been standing near by the entire time, just watching.

  His mother smirked. “Who do you think I was talking about Kurt, hmm?” She flicked her husband on his ear and addressed the room as a whole. “While the architecture and trim are nice, these two are absolutely lovely.”

  Val extended her hand to his mom. “Hi, Misses Rosk, I’m Val.”

  “Just call me Beth, dear.” She said and pulled her in for a hug, skipping the handshake. Beth was a little taller than Val but not by much, she just wore her dark hair up in a bun that made it seem like she was taller. As Val drew closer, she could faintly see the wrinkles at the corner of her eyes but overall, it looked like she wasn’t a day past forty, for a human anyway. She was also where Kurt got most of his looks, the dark hair and eye color were nearly identical.

  “Oh, umm a hugger. Ok.” Val was surprised but reciprocated none the less.

  Then Beth turned to the st person. “And that makes you, Kristi.” She said and stepped in for a hug. Kristi returned it and also promised to call her Beth.

  When Val turned to greet Kurt’s father, she noticed that he had dropped his gmor and was now just a normal looking elf with traditionally pointed ears and a head of moderately long, light brown hair. His gmor had him looking like he had a short cut but without it could be seen that his hair was likely shoulder length if not for the hair tie.

  “It’s nice to meet you too Mist…” Val began but his dad just waved her off.

  “Call me Al.” he said in his raspy tone, showing the gmor was only for changing his looks. He held out a hand for her and she took it. “It is really nice to finally meet you too, Val. Our Kurt sparked our interest when he said he found another girlfriend. I wasn’t expecting someone quite like you however.” He gave her a wink.

  That was when Val noticed the ring. It was very simir to the ones that Kurt had made for his friends that identified paranormal beings. She immediately wondered why he wasn’t as adversely affected by her nature as other were. Before she could comment on it, Al stepped away and greeted Kristi.

  Beth was the first so say anything after they finished their greetings. “Well, do we get to see the rest of the house or only the front yard?”

  “Oh, right.” Kurt ughed a little and began to show them around. Giving a tour like he was trying to sell the pce. “So, living room there and Kitchen here. That door in the corner leads to the basement.”

  They continued down the hall as a group, Val and Kristi following along for some reason. “Guest bath here and we have the washing and mechanical across from it on this side.”

  “Oh, stand alone units, those are so much better than the stackable ones, I don’t care how much space they save.” Beth commented.

  “They really do a good job.” Val said. She had used them and found that, while the machines were simple looking, they performed very well compared to the ones she had in the order.

  “Bet they really take care of all the stains.” Al ughed and smirked at Kurt.

  “Oh, yes, the blood hardly has a chance against these.” Kristi said, being perfectly sincere in her tone. She then noticed everyone staring at her.

  Beth froze mid turn and had a shocked look on her face, but it was Al that spoke up. “Why would there be blood?”

  Val was about to come to her rescue when Kurt cleared his throat. “It’s part of what we do for the order. There are parts of it that are more dangerous than others. Thankfully, Kristi and Val are there to back me up and we keep each other safe.”

  Al and Beth shared a concerned gnce but dropped the topic and Al quickly changed it to how the sor was working out. Kurt began telling him about his recent research into wind generators but was so far more than happy with how things were going.

  “And this is the main bathroom and the bedrooms.” Kurt said while popping open the doors at the end of the hall.

  “That is a hell of a bath.” Al said and poked his head inside. “Really nicely done, Kurt.”

  “Yeah, it’s a crowd pleaser. Seems that the shower is a favorite for a lot of people.” Kurt said and gnced at the girls.

  “I thought you didn’t have a guest room.” Beth said while looking at Kristi’s room.

  “Umm, tha-that’s my… I mean the room Kurt lets me use.” Kristi said, stumbling over how she wanted to phrase the words.

  Beth looked at her, a confused look on her face. “Oh, I thou… Never mind, I see that now, dear.” She smiled kindly at her. “I love the little chunk of copper ore you have!” She gestured to the only thing dispyed in the room.

  “Oh! Thanks, Kurt got that for me when we went over to TC for the day.” Kristi said, immediately forgetting the awkwardness of the situation.

  “I can see it means a lot to you.” Beth smiled in a very motherly way. “I always appreciated how the raw ore looks and this one is dispyed so nicely.”

  Val smiled and stepped into Kurt’s bedroom. She wanted to move the tour along from the probing line of questioning but didn’t actually want to voice her opinion. Naturally everyone followed after with Kurt staying mostly in the doorway.

  “Who made the furniture? Or where did you get it?” Al asked as he ran his hand over one of the dressers.

  “All of it is actually from the Amish furniture pce off of thirty-one.” Kurt said. “Val and I tried to get some stuff from one of the big box stores but neither of us could tolerate the smell of it. Almost like it was sprayed in chemicals.”

  Holding her breath, Val listened carefully for the response. It had been the first time he and touched on his lycanthropy around his parents. It was also a not-so-subtle way of saying they made decisions together.

  “Oh, well, you two have great taste.” Al said. “I don’t fancy the styling myself, but I do admire the quality.” He ran a hand over the dresser. “Yes, very well done.”

  Kurt ended the upstairs tour there, ushering them back to the living room before anyone had a chance to snoop. Kurt led them down the stairs and showed the basement. He had mounted the television to the wall and found a cover for the wiring that would hold until he could run it behind the drywall.

  “Ah, there is a change here.” Al said after taking in the room. “Yeah, this couch is not Kurt’s style and I know he doesn’t care enough about television to have this up so soon after moving in.” He looked at the girls and pointed a finger between them. “Hmmm, Val. Yeah you picked this out and got it finished, didn’t you?”

  “Literally the day after we met.” Val answered with a little smirk.

  “Ha!” Al ughed. “I knew it. You did good, kid.”

  Val was having a hard time adjusting to Al and his demeanor. He seemed like he was young but also knew that wasn’t the case, given elven maturation ages. He seemed like he was a happy prankster like Don but also a wizened grandfather figure with how he carried himself. She would ask Kurt about it ter, assuming that she didn’t figure it out herself.

  “Over here is where another bedroom will go.” Kurt said and opened the door to the unfinished room. “It will have a bathroom, but I am thinking of maybe making the bathroom accessible to the living space and the bedroom. Hard to tell at the moment.”

  Al stuck his head through the door and looked around. “Looks like you can have a decent storage room too if you just wall off that bit near the… what is that?” He pointed to the apparatus in the corner.

  “This is water softener and that’s the pump and pressure tank for the well.” Kurt said while touching the tank that stood waist high on him. He then reached behind himself and tapped a metal box on the wall. “This is the water heater.”

  “That’s a lot of stuff that can break and go wrong way out here.” Beth said.

  “Mom, everything in this house has had a little influence from me. Almost everything has some sort of small enchantment with the appliances having ones that make them more durable and efficient, that’s how I run all this off sor.”

  “Good to see all those summers at the family estate paid off.” Al said. “Although my cousin wont stop pestering me about you not going the enchanter’s guild after he trained you.”

  The Val shared a look with Kurt and Kristi. “Oh, don’t worry, I am sure he will get around to dealing with them eventually.” She said. Her tone was enough to make it seem like it was of no consequence, and they moved on to his workroom.

  Val watched as Kurt stood proudly in the middle of the room. “This is where all my money went and where I made even more.” He said.

  “All I see is lockers and a work bench.” Beth said while looking around. “The cabinets are lovely though.”

  “What can you do to make a living down here? Is this where you enchant?” Al asked.

  Kurt nodded while expining how he had been working on some things. He walked over to the locker that he used for completed enchantments. While he was opening it up, Beth commented on the locks, both physical and magical.

  “This is a lot of security. What are you worried about?” She looked at the lockers full of guns and other equipment. “Seems like paranoia to me.”

  Val recognized the box that Kurt was holding since she watched him put the two objects inside. “This, this is what I made money from.” He opened the box and showed the two storage rings. His dad asked what they were for, and Val stepped up, opening her hand and summoning her phone.

  “This is what they do.” Val said then stored the phone and summoned a bottle of water, then a knife, then a shirt. “It’s a spatial storage ring.”

  Beth looked from the rings in the box to Kurt and back. “Are these for us?” Kurt nodded and she took one, sliding it on her finger, opposite her wedding ring. Al followed suit and put his on the same hand.

  “I actually sold the first one I ever made to my boss.” Kurt said.

  Al looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Oh? How much did he buy it for?”

  Kurt tried to brush it off and say it was a decent sum, but Val leaned forward to interject. “Ten million dolrs, cash.” She said and could barely hold back a ugh at the shocked look on their faces. She was having a lot of fun with this visit and greatly enjoyed showing Kurt off and singing his praises.

  Kay_Ship