Both Richelle and Jim sensed something was up as they entered Billie and Upuaut's office. For one thing, they looked happy and relaxed, something that never happened while they were training.
Upuaut nodded. "Mr. Cavanaugh, Miss Cummings, please, be seated."
Billie grinned and used a foot to shove a chair towards Jim. "Grab a sitting spot, son."
They both sat, wondering what was next. They didn't have long to wait.
Upuaut continued. "I must say, both of you have more than fulfilled expectations. You've been the talk of the whole complex, and we're all eagerly waiting to see what happens next." He paused.
"Thank you," Richelle said softly.
Upuat nodded acknowledgement and continued. "But before you actually begin your careers, we thought it best to give you a vacation. Two weeks of it, actually."
Jim perked up immediately, and Richelle's eyes widened as well. Jim was first to speak. "Where?"
"Earth. To be more precise, we will be dropping you off at the town you left, and you'll have two weeks to do whatever you want before returning to the dropoff point."
Richelle wondered if Jim would erupt with glee at being given a golden opportunity to 'escape'. She tried to forestall any outburst with a question of your own. "So... we can do anything?"
Billie cackled. "Anything at all, missy. Two weeks to kick back in the sun, or circle the globe, your option."
Jim nodded. "Fair enough. When do we start?"
Upuaut shrugged. "Immediately. As of now, you are officially off duty, and we will be providing transportation out as soon as you are packed."
"Cool." Jim stood and shook hands with both of their teachers. "Thanks for everything." He turned to Richelle. "Let's pack."
As they packed, Richelle tried to engage Jim in conversation, but he replied in monosyllables or carefully noncommital phrases. She wasn't sure what he intended, but it was plain that he was not over-joyed at what was being billed as a vacation.
When they returned, Upuaut handed Richelle a bag. She opened it and found the rest of the skunkette suit. "You may find this useful," Upuaut explained. "I doubt your current looks blend with the populace."
Richelle laughed and agreed, while privately thinking that Jim's looks might be an issue as well- and hard to hide. Still, dressed as he was in an old Brewer's t-shirt, knee length camouflage shorts, and a ball-cap to help hide his black and white hair, he didn't look particularly outre-- unless you happened to notice his hands, or he chose to smile and show those sharp canines.
A woman with the head of a skunkette would be a bit harder to pass off, and perhaps Upuaut was right about wearing the whole costume being a bit easier to explain. Taking her head off was just... totally out of the question.
It took surprisingly little time to enter the hovercraft, take off, fly through the gaps between worlds (a path that Richelle carefully noted and tried to see as much of as possible) and land in a vacant lot which Richelle recognized as being several blocks from her house.
They climbed out, waved goodbye to the strange duo that had become the largest factor in their lives, and watched the hovercraft disappear.
"Well. That's that."
Richelle turned to Jim and cocked her head, waiting for him to continue.
He looked at her. "What? You haven't figured it out?"
"Figured what out?"
"This is supposed to be a vacation, right? .... Right. So, where's the travel money?"
Richelle blinked.
"Uh-huh. I disappeared over ten years ago. You disappeared a couple of months ago. I'm probably legally dead, and I don't know what your resources look like now. But unless we turn up something, this isn't a vacation-- it's a survival test."
A chill crawled up Richelle's back as she realized that Jim might be right. Although she was confident that between his martial arts and special forces training, and her magical powers rivalling that of the gods, they could "take care" of themselves, she didn't care for an idea of two weeks spent on the run from the authorities.
It was time to decide what to do.
Wed May 30 23:35:47 2012