Spinning Fate's Threads

Tazzy: Of course I think he'd look gorgeous between them. I'm glad you liked the little Weiss/Yami no Matsuei story. I was trying to come up with pairings of very similar people.

Miss Murder: Stop being so hard on yourself, dear. We all have those times in life. You'll find out if Cain has any chance later on. Hope I got the science somewhat right. If I didn't my sister will kill me because she has degrees in chemistry and biological engineering. Whatever the hell that is.


Er, would anyone actually read something if I put it in the Original category? Just wondering.
To those reading, I hope you enjoy.



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Watari sat at his computer in the lab rereading the printout for the hundredth time. He had run the data through at least eight times and it always came up with the same results. The fact remained that what he was seeing on the paper just couldn’t be possible. Not without defying the laws of physics, biology, mechanical structure and a whole host of other sciences in the process. He was still staring blankly at the paper when a realization struck him. He’d been looking at the science but not the magick combined with it.



He ran the data again with a slightly different angle in mind and wandered over to the microscope to look at Tres’ outer casing samples again. He took his glasses off and looked through the lens.



“Unbelievable,” he muttered under his breath. “Epidermal cells.”



He heard the lab door open and knew who it was before his husband even spoke. “Well?”



Watari kept staring through the microscope at the sample. “I’m at a loss to really explain any of this, Sei. It really shouldn’t be happening.”



“What shouldn’t be happening?”



“This is an outer casing sample from Tres,” Watari said, finally lifting his head to look at his husband. He gestured toward the slide on the microscope’s base. “Just a standard minor scraping that in a living person would have taken off the dead skin cells people shed every day. In an android like Tres, what I should have here are flakes of the fine net meshing used to give tactile sensation to certain robotics. It’s generally used in the companion bots. But this is unreal. I had to recheck the samples I have from him to make absolutely sure than none had been contaminated and came up with the same thing every time.”



“Love, you’re babbling.”



“Sorry. This is just so stunning I can’t quite believe what I’m seeing is real. These samples contain keratinocytes, which comprise most of the epidermis. It’s characterized by numerous desmosomes and reinforced by intracytoplasmic tonofilaments that . . .”



“Yutaka, science speak. Not tracking,” Tatsumi said, feeling mildly like an idiot for not understanding a word his husband was saying.



“Sorry. Now you know how I usually feel when you and Crawford are discussing stock options.”



Tatsumi rolled his eyes. “What does it mean in layman terms?”



“It isn’t an outer casing mesh. It’s skin. Real, living, human skin.”



“How . . . Is that even possible?”



“I don’t know how exactly. I do have a few theories though.”



“Care to share?”



“Not until I know something definite and that won’t be for at least a couple more days.”



“So, what do we tell Taka and Tres about this?”



“Nothing yet. I don’t have any concrete evidence of what’s happening. All I have for the moment are theories. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing without the backing proof.”







The fire blazed higher in the small clearing at the edge of the property. Circe had decided not to venture away from the protected lands even for a dance. At this point in time it was far too dangerous to go wandering off alone. She sighed heavily and watched the flames for a moment.



She knew she was the weakest link in a great many ways. She was a powerful witch, most didn’t get point and shoot magick like she had and she had never taken that for granted. But among those who were second only to the divine or were directly descended from those realms, she felt somewhat insignificant. She could defend herself but she wasn’t a fighter, never had been. She didn’t possess the incredible abilities of her brothers or even her fathers, who weren’t as physically strong but still had stunning mental gifts, had. She would never let it slip to her family how she felt she wasn’t worthy of the markings on her skin. Her fingers drifted almost unconsciously to the tattoos, one of an ouroboros that matched Oracle’s and an arc of flames. She sighed and focused on the music that was to be had in the realms of the universe and started to dance, ignoring everything else her senses told her. There was no threat that could enter the grounds and she was safe to let consciousness fly away in the midst of the dance.



Underneath a harvest moon

Come and hear a wytches rune

Air and water, earth and fire

Give to me my heart's desire





“You’re light years out of your league, Priest,” a voice from behind Hugue said.



“I thought Takara had locked you in your room with your pet vampire while she was gone,” Hugue sneered at Dietrich.



Dietrich snorted and levered himself away from the tree he’d been leaning on. “You wish. You lie to yourself so easily I think you almost believe your own falsehoods.”



“And what am I lying to myself about?” Hugue said, his hand clenching and unclenching on the sword at his side.



Dietrich smiled a little and blatantly invaded Hugue’s personal space by stepping so close that barely a few inches separated them. “You think she’ll turn to you eventually. I don’t think that’s happening and I think you know it as well but aren’t willing to admit to it,” Dietrich said, smiling and reaching out to toy with a lock of Hugue’s hair. He grinned even wider when his hand was slapped away. “Pretty as you are, you’re human, she isn’t. She’ll outlive you by several centuries at very least. Added to that, she’s smart and she won’t risk getting her heart broken when you finally succeed in getting yourself killed in you quest for revenge.”



Hugue shoved Dietrich roughly out of the way and started back toward the house. Dietrich resumed his spot against the tree, watching the other man pick his way back through the wild tangle of vegetation and shaking his head. “The delusional are so much fun to play with.”





*******Author’s Notes**********



The song used in this chapter is Rune by Inkubus/Sukkubus