All characters Β©Copyright Stephen Shumaker 2022
Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is a coincidence.
All characters are 18+ and consenting adults.
I don't do non consent/reluctance, though there might be light BDSM or role playing in my dirty scenes.
Spider-Man, Deadpool, What If...?, Elseworlds and other comic book characters mentioned here are property of Marvel Comics and DC Comics, all rights belong to them please don't sue me I'm a nice person.
CHAPTER 6
"Well, that could have gone worse," Aria stepped into my bedroom and looked at Cally as she pulled my tattered pants off. I had woken up just as they were putting me into bed. Cally had used her telekinesis to lift me off the floor and held me about six inches above the bed.
"Let me guess," I groaned. "She doesn't want to see me again."
"Actually, she wants you to call her ASAP. She's worried about you. Which is pretty much the best outcome we could have hoped for, after the unmitigated disaster that was those damn warlocks." Aria stepped in just as Cally pushed me onto my back on the bed.
"Ow," I said.
"Well, next time, don't let those guys hit you with so many fireballs," Cally scolded.
"
Let
them?" I raised an eyebrow. "I didn't
let them
do a damn thing to me. They weren't exactly asking for permission to attack us."
"Well next time, take them out before they hurl you across the street. Be easier for me to treat your wounds instead of figuring out where the burns begin and the road rash ends."
"You know, for being so concerned for me just a little bit ago, this turned really accusatory really quickly. Next time they show up I'll just snap all their necks bing bang boom and not worry so much when everyone around me freaks out because I've just randomly murdered three guys. How was I supposed to know they were warlocks? They could have been anybody. They could have been going to see a showing of Rocky Horror or a Matrix marathon for all I fucking knew!"
"Well next time you see assholes like that, you figure out who you kill first as fast as you can and don't wait." Cally rubbed another scoop full of aloe vera on my chest. There was more in the mixture, but Cally told me that it was mostly aloe and a couple of other ingredients, all mixed together with a spell designed to accelerate healing. There was a towel underneath me to soak up the blood from the patches of skin that had been ripped off of my back.
Aria put a mug of something on my bedside table and smiled down at me. "Drink this when she lets you sit up. It'll help with the pain." She sat down on the edge of the bed near my head and leaned over me, gently kissing me as Cally nursed my wounds.
"She's okay though?" I asked as she sat up slightly.
Cally nodded. "Riley is fine. She was impressive. That girl is tough as fuck. Most people wouldn't do more than freeze once they realized that the warlocks were slinging magic at you. She didn't even piss her pants! Definitely coven material."
"That thought
had
crossed my mind," I agreed. "Of course, not likely going to be a second date after this shit."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Cally said. "The looks she was giving you were more 'concern for your well-being' than, 'she's never going to talk to you again.' "
"While that's nice of you to say, I'm a little less worried about supposition and more concerned that we're not going to get our third lady member of this coven."
"And that you're not going to get to sleep with her?" Cally said teasingly.
"Well, yeah, that's definitely a perk but I won't worry about that until after I find out if she's interested in a second date." I still had several strong doubts on that score, despite Aria's reassurances.
"She's interested," said Aria.
"She is? How do you know?"
"Well, in no small part that when she left? She kissed your sleepy face."
"On the lips," Cally smiled down at me.
"Wait, you two already talked to her?" I closed my eyes; I didn't need confirmation on that part, because of course they did. "How long was I out?"
"About two hours," Aria said. "Riley decided she had to go get some sleep about an hour ago. She's a good kisser. I have a really good feeling about her."
"So you guys told her everything?"
Aria shrugged. "I don't know about
everything
, but she's definitely open to the lifestyle. I haven't been kissed like
that
since my seventh-grade science teacher."
I blinked up at her, not quite sure where to go from there. I looked over at Cally and even she was giving Aria a strange look.
"What?" Aria asked. "Oh, like you guys didn't make out with your teachers."
"I didn't," Cally and I said at the same time.
"Wait, seriously?" Aria frowned, then her face cleared as understanding dawned. "Oh, that was one of those inappropriate things that normal kids didn't do, isn't it?"
"Yeah, as opposed to
your
childhood...?" I said, leaving the sentence hanging.
"I was raised in a commune," Aria said with a shrug. "Lots of people, not a lot of rules. There was a lot of sex."
"Oh," I said, for the second time in less than five minutes I wasn't sure where to take the conversation. "That must have been...weird?"
Aria shrugged. "I just thought it was normal. It wasn't until I got to go to junior high that I noticed I wasn't like the other kids. I pretty much had to stick to my own path, but by then I had already sorted out a lot about me and wasn't going to let anyone tell me how I should or shouldn't act."
"And then I transferred over to your high school and life was never the same," Cally said, turning to me. "Sit up," she commanded. I sat up. She turned me around so that she could put some kind of goop on my back that was different from what she had put on my chest.
"What, uh, what is that?" I asked. She pushed it onto my back where the skin had been ripped away and I winced, flinching at the contact. It was cold at first, but as she rubbed it on me it warmed up quickly. Soon she pulled her hand away for another scoop and started rubbing it into another patch that needed healing under my shoulder blade.
Whatever it was, it started to tingle where she was applying it.
"Is this, uh, what is this?" I looked over my shoulder at Cally. "It tingles. Is it supposed to tingle?"
"Burn cream. Well, a healing salve. But for our purposes, burn cream works. It'll speed up your healing process. You should be much better tomorrow."
"...Okay, sounds good. Where's my phone? I need to call Riley."
"We told you..." Aria started.
"Yeah, I know, but
I
need to call her.
I
need to check on her."
"She might be asleep by now," Cally said. She reached over to the bedside table and plucked the phone off the charger and handed it to me.
"Thank you. I'll risk it." I swiped open the phone and found Riley's phone number. I hit the send button and held it to my ear. It rang. Twice, three times.
Click. "Mmhello?"
I breathed out a sigh of relief. "Are you okay?" Then, before she could answer, "I'm so sorry about tonight. I had no idea those assholes were going to do something stupid like that."
"Dan? No, it's fine. I'm fine. Didn't the girls tell you?" She yawned.
"Yeah, yeah they did, but I still--had to check on you anyway. I just...I feel shitty that this happened--"
She laughed. "You don't have to feel guilty because a bunch of assholes got a bee up their britches and tried to come after us. Besides, Aria and Cally swooped in and saved our butts. You looked pretty torn up, not going to lie. Are you sure you're okay?"
Cally grabbed a large roll of gauze from the bedside table and started wrapping me up in it, starting just above my belly button. She moved around and under my arms, wrapping me in a clockwise direction.
"Yeah--oof. I'm being bandaged up like a mummy. Cally made this paste--"
"
I
made it," Aria corrected.
"Sorry,
Aria
made this paste that's supposed to help me heal faster."
"Good, because we have some serious things to discuss. And I wanted to wait until you were feeling better."
I paused at that, not sure what to say. "Okay..." I tried to think of something else to say, but my brain wasn't working very well just then. I felt my heart sink down into my stomach. Serious discussion? That never ended well. "Is this a good conversation, or a bad one? Not that I would blame you if you never wanted to see me again. I mean,
I
thought things were going well but when some weird psycho cult comes after me during a date, I mean, that's clearly a situation that you would not want to be involved in."
"...I didn't say that," Riley said after a moment. "I think, I
think
it'll be a good conversation. I mean, I
want
it to be a good conversation. I want to see you again. I want to do more than just see you."
"You could have died tonight, though. It's dangerous to see me."
"So? I could have died anytime during that date. I could have tripped and broken my neck. I could have been hit by a car the four times we crossed the street. I could die at any time. But you're right."
"I am?"
"About the date. I
did
have a really good time tonight. And no, I wasn't expecting to get jumped by a bunch of asshole warlocks. I swear, I thought I was going to die when I faced off against that asshole.
You
almost died protecting me. That earned you some brownie points. Though you calling to check on me
was
really sweet. Next date, though, I'm definitely wearing something more maneuverable than a pencil skirt.
"Of course, that's only