Parasite might have fucked up a bit more than usual.

It should’ve turned back as soon as they recognized the flamethrower. Should’ve ran, abandoned the mission. But what if that lead to them realizing they were scared of the fire, and starting to use more of it? Besides, it wasn’t like he was going to let the goddamn neonazi terrorists run free! They had standards, damnit! Also, he had been really hungry.

But now- limping as they dragged the half dead body of a HYDRA agent behind it, he was really starting to regret that decision. Their flesh (if it could be called that) sizzled and boiled, and the fresh air seemed to be pricking sharp needles into all of the tender spots.

He just wanted to go home. But he also didn’t want to drag a HYDRA agent into the house. Even if they were unconscious, Parasite wasn’t taking that risk.

So, that left them dragging a bloodied excuse of a human across the cracked paved road of NYC slums, just looking for a place where they could hopefully put the agent and stay for the night.

“Are you ok? Who are you? Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Wait is that guy hydra?” The disdain in the young woman’s voice was obvious.

“Here, follow me.”

Parasite jumped backwards, blinking rapidly. Before it could answer however, he heard the person tell him to follow.

After a moment of hesitation, the symbiote stepped forwards, mumbling a “thanks” as it did so. They didn’t seem to be HYDRA, and even the mention help was enough to get Parasite’s hope up.

“My name’s Damia. I have a safe house not too far from here. We can lock this asshole up. And see if any of my medicines can help you feel better.” Damia said

Maybe too trusting but he? Obviously didn’t like hydra so maybe they could be allies?

“Just no eating my cats!”

Parasite blinked a bit, surprised at how willing to help Damia seemed. “I… Got it. Won’t eat your cats.” The promise of a safe place where he could lock the HYDRA agent up was enough to stop him from questioning any of it.

“I’m… Parasite, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you.” Damia said. A few minutes later they reached a small farm near the lake.

“Oh, add the horses to the no eat list.”

“In here.” Here was a three room artist’s studio. Damia locked and warded the actual studio part, with the pottery wheel and kiln. And also the recording studio. But there was a small room with a pull out couch, small refrigerator and half bathroom.

“I’m a witch and the house and studio are semi sentient. The studio now won’t let him out until I drop the wards. Not even for you.” Damia warned Parasite.

“Now for humans, mutants and witches they feel a slight presence and pressure when they come into the house. She’s testing you to see if you mean me physical harm.” Damia explained.

“The house is alive?” Parasite seemed more curious rather than weirded out, looking around as if looking for any indications of it.

It shivered as they felt the pressure, but tried to ignore it to the best of their ability.

“Yes. In my world good witches and the KEEPERs tend to end up partnered with sentient houses. Probably because we can be so bad at taking care of ourselves.” Damia grinned seeing what he was doing.

“She might not show it just yet. But if you meant me harm you wouldn’t even been able to get through the door. If you don’t but ended up offending me or her she’ll start acting like a poltergeist.”

Parasite nodded slowly, trying to take in all of the information. “Understood.”

Very gingerly, the symbiote stepped into the house, ducking their head to get through the door

“Yeah, my life is a mess.”

“Anyway do you know if earth medicine helps, hurts or doesn’t affect you?”

“Uh… Probably just doesn’t affect.”

After a moment, they admitted, “I’ve never tried it though. But it should heal up quickly enough, I just need somewhere to stay for the night as it heals.”

“Ok, I’m a paramedic so have to ask. In that case is there anything else I can do to help you heal faster?”

“Not that I know of. It’s fine either way, it’s mostly just a bit of lingering pain.” Parasite shrugged it off, giving a small smile of reassurance (before remembering that it was hard to give a reassuring smile when your mouth was filled with sharp fangs).

“Good to know. What can I say, but I’m a paramedic more than a superhero.” Damia said.

She didn’t find him scary at all. She has dealt with much scarier.

Parasite blinked a couple of times, a bit surprised she didn’t react at all to them being… Them. But the surprise was quickly overtaken with exhaustion as soon as Parasite found the first comfortable and soft spot in what felt like days (even though they knew it had only been less than a day)- which just so happened to be the carpet- and exhaustion overtook them, and they promptly flopped over on their side.

Damia snickers and finds a blanket to throw over them.

She wasn’t really tired as of yet so went for a swim

Only then realizing she never told them her name. Which would be rectified when they woke up.

Parasite laid on the floor, eyes closed. They technically didn’t need to sleep, but it would sure as hell help the healing process. When was the last time they had slept out of need and not normalcy?

Dania had to chase the cats away from pouncing on them when she got done with her swim.

Yes they said they wouldn’t eat the cats but if the girls went a little bonkers could they be blamed for defending themselves?

Parasite let out a small grunt as one of the cats pounced on their tail, one eye opening to stare at it slightly judging. After a bit, they sighed, before letting the cat bat at their tail.

The cats in question are snow bengals. Ruffi, Tuffi and Tippi.

And way too friendly and fearless for their own safety.

Parasite watched the three cats in curiousity, eyes wide in interest.

They’d seen street cats before, blacks and grays and tabbys, but they never realized they could be that patterned.

“Where did you get them?” Parasite blurted, occasionally flicking their tail as the cats played with it.

“From a breeder who specializes in Bengals. For cats who match the standard and personality. These ladies are all pet quality and not show quality.” Damia said.

“There are a lot of different breeds of cats. While these girls have always been my dream cats, I grew up with Siamese cats.”

The cats were gentle and not using their claws as they played.

“I’m Damia Salvatore.”

Parasite looked up at them, before giving them a small smile. “It’s good to meet you, Damia.”

“It’s Good meeting you. Though wish it was under better circumstances.” Damia said.

“What’s your favorite meal?”

“Uh… Do you have fish or anything chocolate-y? I like seafood and sweet things.”

“Yes! Do you like salmon? I make an excellent salmon with blackberry sauce. And I just made brownies.” Damia said.

Parasite gave a small nod. “I like salmon, yeah. Brownies sound really good too.”

Damia grinned. “Ok I need to pick up more salmon but I’ll make it later today. Right now I only have enough for myself since I wasn’t expecting company. Oh should probably pick up something for the prisoner. Ge doesn’t get any.”

[I am. So sorry I haven’t replied until now] Parasite gave a small nod, before nodding. “That’s fine.” They hesitated, before adding, “Tomorrow I’ll leave to get somebody. I think they’d be interested in whatever the one guy has to say. You mind if I leave them here when I go? Don’t wanna leave you alone with a high ranking HYDRA agent unless you’re alright with it.”

“Works for me.”

Damia cocked her head.

“Before you leave I’d like to feed him again. I would feel a bit safer with you there when i do that. Otherwise I have no issues with you leaving him here while you get your coworker? Who is it if you don’t mind me asking?”

(((OOC Don’t even worry about it. Life gets in the crazy sometimes.”

It nodded. “Understood.” After a moment, they added, “My coworker is, uh… They’re not really a coworker, I just figured they might want to hear about this. Their name is Bucky? Bucky Barnes.”

Damia’s mouth opened slightly. She still has quite a crush on him.

“I have no issues.” She finally managed to squeak out.

“Are… You alright?” They tilted their head to the side. “You did a weird thing with your mouth there.”

“I’m fine. It’s nothing serious.” Damia had no desire for her crush to be known. “It’s not a problem.”

Parasite paused, before deciding to ignore it. “Once he wakes up and gets fed, I’ll go make sure my family knows I’m not dead and get Bucky.”

“We can check if he’s awake right now.” Damia said.

“I should probably check his wounds as well.”

Damia touched a mirror nearby and it started showing what was happening in the bedroom of the studio.

Parasite winced, knowing taking care of the wounds would be a doozy with how rough it had been with him. “Right. Sorry.”

They watched the mirror with slight curiosity as it showed the prisoner, still in the same place as before.

“Hey, shit happens and sometimes you have no choice but to fight.” Damia replied. “What did happen? It would be easier for me to know what to expect if I know what happened.”

And know if she could actually deal with the injuries. Or needed to pull in her older sisters. One a Dr and the other a nurse.

“Ah… Well…” Parasite considered the best way to phrase it. As much as they trusted this person, it was best not to let them know how vulnerable they were to fire.

“I got desperate. I wasn’t expecting them to have a counter for me, and… Well… I might have lashed out. He probably has a concussion and a couple of shallow gashes.”

“Ok, those are easy enough for me to deal with.” Damia said.

She felt like they weren’t telling her everything but that’s ok. They were allies at best not friends, yet anyway.

They gave her the information she needed.

So she gathered up supplies. “We can do this now, while he’s still out of it and off balance.”

They let out a small sigh of relief, partially at the fact that it should be easy to deal with, and partially because they didn’t have to share their weakness.

“Alright.”

Walking back out to the studio quickly. She wanted to get this over with and him locked back up.

She felt off. Weird. She didn’t get sick easily.

Parasite glanced at Damia with a slightly concerned look. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. Let’s just get this taken care of as quickly as possible. Then I’ll avoid this guy until you get back. And maybe by then I’ll be back to normal.”

Damia undid the wards letting them into the studio.

He was still asleep.

Parasite hesitated for a long moment, before sighing. This was not something worth starting a fight over.

They gave a small nod, before following them into the studio, standing a bit in between the two of them, almost subconsciously. While he had disarmed him of any obvious weapons, it didn’t doubt that they could still be hiding a pocket knife or a pistol, and they’d rather not have have them end up shooting their friend.

Damia checked him over as quickly but thoroughly as possible. She wasn’t quite a gentle as she normally would be.

For one Hydra

Two she just wasn’t feeling well at all.

But she was trying to keep the other’s from noticing.

Parasite didn’t pay Damia much attention, too focused on the person she was treating.

She didn’t realize when he woke up.

And barely managed to avoid the punch he threw at her.

As soon as he threw the punch, Parasite reacted almost instinctively, trying to shove Damia to the side, away from the guy, before pouncing on him. “HEY!”

Damia automatically tries to use her water powers too separating the two. But they sputtered out only drenching the two rather than forming the shield she intended to create.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?”

Parasite yelped, a bit startled by the water, and jumping back a bit.

As soon as they did, the other person started to stand up, only for Parasite to pounce on them and pin them down again.

“Enough!” Damia snapped heading towards the door as she spoke. “I’ve done what I needed to do. Your food is on the table and in the refrigerator.”

“Let’s go.” That was directed to Parasite. She flinched as her phone buzzed but wouldn’t answer it around the hydra agent.

Parasite nodded their head once, realizing they probably caused more trouble than they fixed. “Right, sorry.”

They followed her out, making sure to pause and check that the ward was up again. “Thanks for helping. Sorry I overreacted there.”

“Thank you. It wasn’t actually necessary but it is appreciated.” Damia said. She tried to call water to her hand but it sputtered out again. “Ok, what the fuck?”

“Up until now I could control water. And I’m sorry about splashing you. I meant to create a shield.”

She jumped as her phone buzzed once more.

They were out of earshot for the studio so she hit play.

“My nieces and nephews, if you received this I’ve succeeded but lost at the same time. I was forced to change your powers before we were sent to Earth. But now you’ve lost your false powers and will receive the power you should have had all along. Power over Time. Your memory should return when you next sleep. But it will still take a week to recover your true ability. I love you, my nieces and nephews.” Amara looked scared.

“I…” Parasite looked startled and confused. “What just-? What?”

Parasite stared at the phone, eyes narrowed as if they were waiting for it to do more.

Damia couldn’t speak for a minute.

“I know I first lived on a world called Kaldria. I know I was reborn here on Earth to experience a more normal life! But the rest of this is all new to me.” Damia half wailed.

“That may be why I’ve been feeling awful the last couple of days though.”

“You…” Parasite’s mind flickered through a couple hundred questions, before their brain landed on the first thing that came to their mind. “You’re an alien too?”

“Yes. Human seeming alien. And my doppelgänger Dania is actually human but shares my family’s powers.” Damia said.

“Your… Doppleganger?” Parasite stared at them for a bit, before another realization came to them.

“Hang on. The recording said you’d regain your memories next time you sleep…” Parasite trailed off, not exactly sure where they were going with this.

“Yes. She doesn’t live here but in Chicago.”

“And yeah, now I’m kinda terrified of going to sleep. Maybe I should stay up until you get back with Bucky? I don’t have a lover, currently. And I feel it might be better to have others around me when it happens?” Damia was speaking quickly and trying not to start hyperventilating.

[IM SO SORRY I ACCIDENTALLY REBLOGGED FROM THE WRONG ACC] “Is there… Anything else you know about your past?” They tilted their head to the side. “Like… Any indicators?”

(((It happens. No worries)))

“Just that I was always a protector but still protected. And that my powers were tied to Kaldria somehow. And we won but no details.” Damia was still a little frantic. She hated not knowing but was scared to find out.

Parasite mulled over what Damia had said for a moment, turning this information over in their head.

It knew what the ‘right’ thing to say in this conversation would be. “Don’t worry about it, the past can’t hurt you”, or something similar.

But they knew better than to give her a false promise, especially one that seemed to be so important and personal. A war was unpredictable. Had she been in the battle fighting for right or wrong? Was the war she had been in even black and white enough to call one side right and wrong? Or was it dark, filled with shades of gray and littered with confusing tangles of politics and reasons?

“I…” He didn’t know what to say.

Damia was lost in thought and trying not to panic. She did freak out easily at times.

She was trembling badly.

“And of course I get this information at a bad time.”

“I’m…” Parasite hesitated again. “Do you want me to stay here with you when you go to sleep, in case something happens?”

“That might be a good idea. I’ve always been somewhat prone to nightmares under normal circumstances. But getting memories back in dreams seems like a disaster waiting to happen.” Damia admits.

“I’ve been told that I have had night terrors when I was a child and if anything could bring them back, this could be it.”

“Alright. If that happens, do you want me to wake you up?”

“Nightmare it would be easy to wake me up. A night terror not as much. Just keep me from hurting myself or anyone else.” Damia said.

“I’m a pretty tactical person most of the time.

[back from hiatus ayyy]

Parasite gave a small nod of understanding. “Right. Do you want me to go find Bucky first, or wait here until you go to sleep so we can get it over with?”

Damia frowned.

“Honestly I’d prefer get Bucky first and get this ass out of my house. I don’t want this vulnerability known to most. I have a few enemies of my own.”

“Plus I’m too scared right now to even consider being able to sleep!”

(((And I didn’t see this for a while)))

[it’s alright!]

Parasite gave a small nod. “Alright. Stay here and watch the guy, and I’ll go run and get him. Got it?”

“Yep, will do. I won’t be going in again until you get back. Buddy system is a must.” Damia replied.

@official-buckybarnes

[slight tw for gagging]

Parasite winced, before hesitantly excusing themselves. They paused outside, before making a hacking noise like a cat with a hairball, and spit out a phone. Slowly picking it up, they dialed Bucky’s number and let the phone ring.

Damia was really glad she had a strong stomach. But did turn away to give him privacy.

And not like she was a part of SHEILD anyway.

-Some time later…

Parasite let out a small sigh of relief after Bucky left with the HYDRA agent. He’d take care of it.

It turned to Damia. “So now that the HYDRA guy is gone…”

Damia was still scared.

“I Know I should sleep but am way too anxious to be able to sleep anytime soon. How about I make us that salmon now and just talk until I calm down.”

“I don’t have any sleep aids because normally I don’t need them. And would that affect the memories and powers coming back?”

She was racking her hands through her hair nervously.

“I… Sure?” Parasite spoke. He felt like the right response would probably be to say something about how it would be best to ‘confront your fears head on’, but, in all reality, he had no idea how to do that.

“I don’t think not having sleeping aids would affect it. I’m not too sure, though, so…”

“Yeah, this is a first for both of us I guess.” Damia scooped up Tippi as they got back inside. Burying her face in the cat’s fur.

“If I remember correctly Kaldria had nine moons. And I was one of the KEEPERs who could travel freely.”

“What was your world like?”

Parasite blanched at that question. His old planet… His home.

“It was beautiful. Not like the cluttered places here, filled with no too many senses. But it wasn’t quiet, no. It had color, texture, but it was linear. Put together in a way that balanced between nothing and everything. A balance between too much and too little variation. And there was this understanding. It wasn’t a perfect harmony, but there was this clear, anarchical system. There was violence, but it wasn’t like the violence here.”

Damia smiled.

“It sounds beautiful. I wish I could have seen it. Now that I can travel even more I love it. I get it. Kaldria had violence also but again not as much as here.”

Parasite gave a small nod. “Klyntar had a lot of violence, I’ll admit. But it was easy to spot and was of clear origin, unlike here, where fights and hate breaks out of nowhere. There was violence, but there was no singular force to hurt us. No systematic government of tyrants. I guess it was somewhat of an anarchy- though, sometimes people did take the calling to make choices by vote, so… Somewhat democratic too?”

“I’m going off on a bit of a rant though, aren’t I?” It chuckled.

“I like hearing other people’s stories.” Damia said. “I always have. Another thing I remember about Kaldria is how important the Arts are compared to here. And story telling is considered one. I know I couldn’t work on Kaldria because of having to use my magic to keep it from shattering. The specifics are still a blur. That may be one of the things I’ll get back when I do sleep?”

“Maybe!” Oh, that’s a good idea! Try to convince them that this is a net positive, that they’ll get good information back. “Maybe you’ll get more information about your powers or other people here. Like, good things? Stuff to control your powers, or maybe other people here with powers like yours!”

“Could be. I mean I know I have seventeen doppelgängers and we all have six siblings. But we don’t know who else is from Kaldria or if it’s only us as the KEEPERs who remember Kaldria even somewhat.” Damia said.

“Changing the subject somewhat, how much salmon would you eat? Might be better just to gave the food delivered.” Damia frowned. “Just had the thought what if this just forces me to pass out. And don’t really want to end up in the hospital. Could getting my other powers cause me to hurt someone?”

“I don’t care too much,” Parasite replied.

It thought about that statement for a moment. “I don’t see why it would. I mean, the person who changed your powers so they would activate eventually on earth, I don’t think they’d have any reason to make it hurt people.”

Damia nodded. Making a list of what she needed to order.

“Well maybe not purposely. But when I first got my water abilities I nearly drowned mom when I had a nightmare. And who knows what these time abilities will entail? For all I know I would be able to age or deage people to far!”

“Then… How do you suppose we go about this? Do you have a safe house or a safe area you can go that isn’t in too much danger of stuff getting destroyed?”

“Well, Goldie, this house is tougher than some people would think. Her full name is Golden Oak Dimension horse farm.”

Damia closed her eyes and cocked her head to the side, like she was listening to something.

Then nodded.

“She’ll create a safe room that we could use for this. In about two hours.”

“That’s… Hm.” Parasite still wasn’t entirely sure how they felt about a living house that had a first and last name, but they weren’t going to question it if it was providing protection.

“So, that means your powers won’t cause too much harm then, hopefully.”

“Hopefully. There are times I panic too easily.” Damia said. Hugging the cat closer.

She quickly made the call for the grocery delivery.

Parasite sat down next to her.

“It’ll probably be alright. Just keep the cats out of the room when you go to sleep.”

“Probably but I can’t help jumping to the worst conclusion. Well I’m just glad I don’t have any close neighbors.”

They were out of the city and near a private lake.

“Still not tired but maybe I should swim laps to help calm down. Do you swim? I have both an indoor and outdoor pool and the lake is clean enough to swim in.”

Parasite gave a small sigh. “I know. Honestly, it’s fair to worry.”

It seemed almost relieved at the change of topics. “Oh, yeah! I swim a bunch. Hudson River is where I used to lurk around before I met my host. Think I caused a couple of ghost sightings from it, actually.”

Damia burst into laughter at that.

“Fun. Yeah, swimming is the best. Always had a pool. Another thing I remember is Kaldria always emphasized how important all the elements are even if you don’t have any powers. Houses and apartments all were required to have pools both indoor and outdoor, gardens, fireplaces or pits and lots of windows.”

“Should fire really count as its own element though?” Parasite couldn’t help itself from asking. “I mean, it’s pretty much gas. It survives on air. Shouldn’t it just be earth, air, and water?”

“I don’t know. I know fire elementalists were very common on Kaldria. Granted I thought my whole family had water/ice abilities all along.” Damia said.

“Maybe I’m remembering things wrong though.”

“I mean, I know it’s like- they categorize the two as two different things- but shouldn’t people who manipulate fire be a subtype of people who manipulate the air? Like how the idea of bloodbenders would come from waterbenders as a subtype of waterbending, but it’s not its own element.”

“Hmmm. But blood abilities are considered part of the healing abilities on Kaldria. It’s confusing.” Damia said.

They were interrupted by the doorbell.

“That must be the grocery delivery.” Damia darted to the door.

Parasite gave a short nod. “Probably.”

They looked around the room, before giving a small yawn and sitting back down next to one of the cats.

Tuffi the cat in question started nuzzling up against him.

Damia darted back in with the food quickly. She had given a big tip.

“Ok, maybe swimming first and then food? I know I’m still too stressed out to eat yet. And the cats may join us. Bengals like to swim.”

Parasite made a small noise of surprise of excitement, their spikes pricking up in excitement. “They do?”

“Yes, early generations were crossed with a small wild cat known as the Asian leopard cat who are skilled swimmers and hunts near water.” Damia said.

“So it’s in the blood for them. These ladies are of a later generation but still share that love of water. It’s their own choice to join in swimming of course.”

Parasite gave a shiver at that. In their blood… It made sense on its own, an innocent statement, but there was something about that statement that they hated.

“Yeah. Sure.”

Damia cocked her head.

“Is everything okay? Did I say something wrong?” Damia wasn’t always the best at seeing others moods but she didn’t want to hurt anyone.

“No, no, it’s fine. Just a bad memory.”

A simple saying wasn’t a reason for it to be a dick to Damia, especially when they were in a bad place at the moment.

“Fair enough.” Damia was curious but tried not to venture into flat out nosyness.

“Would you rather swim in the lake or outdoor pool? Also neither pools use chemicals. I had them converted to natural pools.”

“The lake,” It responded within an instant with no hesitation. “Pools feel… Weird to me, to say the least.”

“Huh, works for me.” Damia said darting off to get into her swimsuit.

Running back quickly, now in a blue one piece swimsuit. 🩱

“It’s 5ft by the dock at the buoys it drops to 10 ft. Not near the house but at the deepest it’s around a 100ft.” Damia said leading him to the back door.

“Alright. The cats won’t try to follow me if I go in too deep, right? Like, if I go out to the center of the lake, they aren’t gonna try to follow me all the way out there?”

“No, they tend to stay near the dock and the floating mats. They will listen to certain commands. So if they follow far enough to make you worry, use, go home.” Damia said.

She was putting life jackets on the cats just to be on the safe side.

“If we were in the pool they don’t have to wear them. But anytime they are allowed lakeside they always wear them.”

Parasite couldn’t help but give a small chuckle at the life jackets. “Good idea.”

They started to slowly walk down the dock. “Are there any fish in the lake? I’m assuming nothing big like sturgeons, if you’re letting the cats swim. Do you own the fish- like, the same way people own a koi pond?”

“There are fish and fishing is allowed. And the lake and fish are healthy enough for people to eat. I’ve just never been interested in fishing.” Damia explains.

“While it’s a rather large lake there aren’t that many people living here yet.”

“I probably could if I had to but don’t have the experience to make it quick and painless.”

“Plus one of the drawbacks of being KEEPERs is we can’t kill.”

“Understood. I probably won’t go fishing, but sometimes I can’t help but try to chase the fish down. Catch and release. It just feels right, you know?”

“You can’t kill?” Parasite blinked at that. “Hm.” It made sense, but they weren’t sure why it surprised them.

“It does! And I have no issues with hunting for food even if that wouldn’t be an option for me. I do have issues with trophy hunters.” Damia said.

She cannonballed into the lake when they got there.

The cats jumping in as well.

Parasite slowly slid into the water from the dock with an almost inaudible “plink!” as they did so. Their spikes puffed out a bit like fins as they swam, their body moving like a crocodiles.

The cats had been swimming around the dock and hunting some of the tinier fish.

Damia had been swimming laps between the dock and the ten feet deep buoys for about fifteen minutes.

It was about the same length as an Olympic sized pool.

As she made it back to the dock again a wave of exhaustion and dizziness swept over her blurring her vision.

She was able to get on the dock and tried to call out to Parasite.

Parasite came back up to the surface after a minute, head popping up above the water.

At the sight of Damia, they swam back to the docks, pulling themself onto the shore and sliding up the sand. “What is it? You alright?”

“I-I guess the way the spell was set up won’t let me avoid it for too long.” Damia managed to force herself to her feet.

“I think I can make it back to the house but…” trailing off as she started trying to get back to the house.

Parasite gave a small nod. They stood upright and paced over to Damia, nudging their shoulder. “Then let’s go inside. Come on.”

Damia nodded.

Terrified once again but unable to fight the sleepiness washing over her. The new room was small and sturdy but cozy. The floor seemed more a mattress than an actual floor.

Covered in blankets and pillows.

Oddly there was a mirror as one of the walls.

Damia flopped down giving Parasite a plaintive look. “I…”

But ended up falling asleep before she could even finish her sentence.

Parasite blinked in surprise. “Damia? Damia?” They almost started to reach for her shoulder, before remembering that it was probably from the spell. Right.

They took a step back, tail swishing nervously, instead deciding to stand guard over them.

Normally a quiet sleeper but this threw her in the deep end immediately.

Squirming fitfully as she dreamed.

Her past was much darker than she had remembered before now.

She was mumbling as she slept.

Parasite just watched nervously. Just make sure she wakes up in the end. That’s all he had to do. That’s it. That was it.

Yet he still found himself pacing the room with an anxious fervor in his steps, watching Damia. What if something went wrong? What if he missed something? What if…

Damia was still shifting around in sleep but smiling faintly.

Suddenly images started appearing in the mirror.

Damia dancing and flirting with two men. They seemed to be a thruple.

Riding a pitch black horse through the waves of a purple sea.

Having dinner with a bunch of people

Letting two eagles land on her with them changing back to human form and sharing a hug

But then the images got darker.

Parasite wasn’t sure whether to watch or not. It knew they should, it would help them understand Damia’s situation, and they hadn’t had seemed to mind, but as they watched more and more… The darker the images got the more intently they watched, as if they were watching a train derailing in real time.

The worst was yet to come!

The Shadowraith tried to rip Damia’s heart out. She somehow managed yank herself away before it could grab her heart, falling to her knees.

Trying not to let the pain overwhelm her. Trembling badly unable to regain her feet.

While in the memory she was only trembling back in the room her body was convulsing.

His attention had now turned back to Damia. He just had to make sure she was alright, just make sure she’s alright… They watched her. God, please say violently convulsing at getting your memories back was normal…

Her body was glowing a warm pink. Flashing bright and then everything went back to normal.

“Ow fuck!”

And she burst into tears.

Parasite ran over to their side. “Damia? Damia! Are you alright? What happened?”

Their frills were standing on end in alarm as their tail swayed like a snake.

Damia couldn’t answer she was crying to hard.

The cats tried to join them, chirping in alarm.

Ten minutes later

“Sorry. Fuck! Way too much.” Damia finally looks up to Parasite.

“I think so. It’s just a lot. And I apparently still have my water abilities but just the time abilities were forced into dormancy until now.”

“I- Time powers?” Parasite was completely and utterly lost. “Oh, wow. That’s… Jesus. I can imagine how overwhelming that probably is, I just… Damn.”

Damia let out a long sigh.

“That sums it up. Thank you for staying. I think I’d be in worse shape if I was alone.”

She opened the door letting the cats in and flopping back down.

“I always do better when I have someone to talk to.”

“No problem. Besides, you helped me out before.”

Parasite sat there, letting the cat play with their frills. “Most humans- or, well, humanoids seem to do better when they got somebody to talk to, it seems.”

“True. And I also have a very large family even excluding our doppelgängers. It’s just I’m the only one here right now.” Damia decided to see if she was able to get up.

She normally was a little on the hyper side.

“If you ever meet a Kai Halstead and Eli Alddery send them my way. We were soulmates on Kaldria and why wouldn’t that be the case here?”

“I… Will.” They didn’t include the fact that they could barely recognize facial features. “I’ve had both big and small families before. Right now, I’m apart of a… Well… It’s complicated. Doesn’t matter. Not sure if I prefer large families or smaller groups.”

“Fair enough. On Kaldria big families were encouraged. Ow, why am I so sore? Sleeping doesn’t usually hurt.”

Damia slowly found her feet and wobbled slightly as she got up.

Her stomach growled loudly.

“Ok guess it’s time to eat as we figure out what I can do now.”

“I mean, you were thrashing around a lot in your sleep- oh, shit! I forgot! You had this really weird thing when you were sleeping. I’ve seen night terrors before, but I’ve never seen convulsions like that before. You were shaking really violently.”

Blinks

“What? I’ve never had a seizure before in my life! Any of my lives!” Damia yelped. Leaning against the wall. The cats swarmed around her feet nuzzling her.

“But then again I hadn’t known until now that a shadowgeist tried to rip my heart out of my body.” Wrapping her arms around herself.

“We were the guardians and KEEPERs to prevent a World Eater from shattering Kaldria and then destroy the rest of the Galaxy.”

“Oh, so that’s what it’s called.”

“World eater- Ohh.” Parasite choked back a yelp or a shout of panic, instead choosing to make a couple vague noises of discomfort. “That’s… Hah… That’s. I don’t like that thought…”

“I don’t either. And it was able to spin off Shadowgeists and Whispiriers to force people to succeed to despair to try to get free.” Damia was shivering slightly.

“Apparently we have all died several times but don’t stay dead.”

“But if it captured enough of all of us KEEPERs it could use our power to release itself.”

“I don’t understand most of those words, but the general gist seems to be ‘this is a really bad world ending monster who wants your power’.”

Noticing their shivering, they looked around for a blanket. Humans shiver when cold…

Parasite had about two seconds to register it before, yeah, they suddenly fainted right up infront of him.

“What the-?”

It ran over to Antimony and grabbed them by the shoulder. “Oh, shit…” He rolled them over onto their back, looking them over to try and see if there was a visible reason for the ‘suddenly fainting.’

Parasite frankly had no idea what to do.

They stood above them, just watching. Should they bring them a new host? Cats. Cats are easy enough to bond to, right? No, no, wait first.

“Antimony? Are you alright?” They held a hand out to Antimony as they unbonded to their host, before their eye caught the fact that the limbs were hollow. “What..?”

“What..!?”

Oh. Oh. Shit.

They sat down on the ground, completely stunned. A child. A child. A child. Holy shit. Holy. Shit. They didn’t know much about human children, but they definitely didn’t look healthy.

They pinned their fins back, kneeling in-front of them. “Hey, hey. It’s alright. Trying to bond with them now might hurt them. We’re both here to protect them.”

Parasite sat down next to them, panicking a bit as they struggled to separate Antimony and their host. “Just stay apart right now. Bonding could make it worse. Uh, whatever it is.”

Alright, okay. They could handle this. Hopefully.

It held their talon out to the kid. “What’s your name, kid? What’s wrong?”

“Alright. Okay.” They relaxed. They had just panicked, that was it. Hopefully. “Antimony, try to rebound in a minute or two. First let the kid breathe.”

Parasite froze, before grabbing Antimony in their jaws like they were picking up a cat by the scruff. “Finn, are you able to run in this state?!”

Parasite ran behind them, spikes up straight. Flying, might divebomb, but also is likely to use bow. If they divebomb though, we can try to use our spikes as a cover. Don’t know what to do with the bow though, maybe just zigzag?

“Who the hell is chasing us?!” They decided to shout, but didn’t give them enough time to answer before they suddenly banked left, grabbing Finn and pulling them with them. Be unpredictable with somebody who needs to aim to shoot.

Parasite might have fucked up a bit more than usual.

It should’ve turned back as soon as they recognized the flamethrower. Should’ve ran, abandoned the mission. But what if that lead to them realizing they were scared of the fire, and starting to use more of it? Besides, it wasn’t like he was going to let the goddamn neonazi terrorists run free! They had standards, damnit! Also, he had been really hungry.

But now- limping as they dragged the half dead body of a HYDRA agent behind it, he was really starting to regret that decision. Their flesh (if it could be called that) sizzled and boiled, and the fresh air seemed to be pricking sharp needles into all of the tender spots.

He just wanted to go home. But he also didn’t want to drag a HYDRA agent into the house. Even if they were unconscious, Parasite wasn’t taking that risk.

So, that left them dragging a bloodied excuse of a human across the cracked paved road of NYC slums, just looking for a place where they could hopefully put the agent and stay for the night.

“Are you ok? Who are you? Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Wait is that guy hydra?” The disdain in the young woman’s voice was obvious.

“Here, follow me.”

Parasite jumped backwards, blinking rapidly. Before it could answer however, he heard the person tell him to follow.

After a moment of hesitation, the symbiote stepped forwards, mumbling a “thanks” as it did so. They didn’t seem to be HYDRA, and even the mention help was enough to get Parasite’s hope up.

“My name’s Damia. I have a safe house not too far from here. We can lock this asshole up. And see if any of my medicines can help you feel better.” Damia said

Maybe too trusting but he? Obviously didn’t like hydra so maybe they could be allies?

“Just no eating my cats!”

Parasite blinked a bit, surprised at how willing to help Damia seemed. “I… Got it. Won’t eat your cats.” The promise of a safe place where he could lock the HYDRA agent up was enough to stop him from questioning any of it.

“I’m… Parasite, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you.” Damia said. A few minutes later they reached a small farm near the lake.

“Oh, add the horses to the no eat list.”

“In here.” Here was a three room artist’s studio. Damia locked and warded the actual studio part, with the pottery wheel and kiln. And also the recording studio. But there was a small room with a pull out couch, small refrigerator and half bathroom.

“I’m a witch and the house and studio are semi sentient. The studio now won’t let him out until I drop the wards. Not even for you.” Damia warned Parasite.

“Now for humans, mutants and witches they feel a slight presence and pressure when they come into the house. She’s testing you to see if you mean me physical harm.” Damia explained.

“The house is alive?” Parasite seemed more curious rather than weirded out, looking around as if looking for any indications of it.

It shivered as they felt the pressure, but tried to ignore it to the best of their ability.

“Yes. In my world good witches and the KEEPERs tend to end up partnered with sentient houses. Probably because we can be so bad at taking care of ourselves.” Damia grinned seeing what he was doing.

“She might not show it just yet. But if you meant me harm you wouldn’t even been able to get through the door. If you don’t but ended up offending me or her she’ll start acting like a poltergeist.”

Parasite nodded slowly, trying to take in all of the information. “Understood.”

Very gingerly, the symbiote stepped into the house, ducking their head to get through the door

“Yeah, my life is a mess.”

“Anyway do you know if earth medicine helps, hurts or doesn’t affect you?”

“Uh… Probably just doesn’t affect.”

After a moment, they admitted, “I’ve never tried it though. But it should heal up quickly enough, I just need somewhere to stay for the night as it heals.”

“Ok, I’m a paramedic so have to ask. In that case is there anything else I can do to help you heal faster?”

“Not that I know of. It’s fine either way, it’s mostly just a bit of lingering pain.” Parasite shrugged it off, giving a small smile of reassurance (before remembering that it was hard to give a reassuring smile when your mouth was filled with sharp fangs).

“Good to know. What can I say, but I’m a paramedic more than a superhero.” Damia said.

She didn’t find him scary at all. She has dealt with much scarier.

Parasite blinked a couple of times, a bit surprised she didn’t react at all to them being… Them. But the surprise was quickly overtaken with exhaustion as soon as Parasite found the first comfortable and soft spot in what felt like days (even though they knew it had only been less than a day)- which just so happened to be the carpet- and exhaustion overtook them, and they promptly flopped over on their side.

Damia snickers and finds a blanket to throw over them.

She wasn’t really tired as of yet so went for a swim

Only then realizing she never told them her name. Which would be rectified when they woke up.

Parasite laid on the floor, eyes closed. They technically didn’t need to sleep, but it would sure as hell help the healing process. When was the last time they had slept out of need and not normalcy?

Dania had to chase the cats away from pouncing on them when she got done with her swim.

Yes they said they wouldn’t eat the cats but if the girls went a little bonkers could they be blamed for defending themselves?

Parasite let out a small grunt as one of the cats pounced on their tail, one eye opening to stare at it slightly judging. After a bit, they sighed, before letting the cat bat at their tail.

The cats in question are snow bengals. Ruffi, Tuffi and Tippi.

And way too friendly and fearless for their own safety.

Parasite watched the three cats in curiousity, eyes wide in interest.

They’d seen street cats before, blacks and grays and tabbys, but they never realized they could be that patterned.

“Where did you get them?” Parasite blurted, occasionally flicking their tail as the cats played with it.

“From a breeder who specializes in Bengals. For cats who match the standard and personality. These ladies are all pet quality and not show quality.” Damia said.

“There are a lot of different breeds of cats. While these girls have always been my dream cats, I grew up with Siamese cats.”

The cats were gentle and not using their claws as they played.

“I’m Damia Salvatore.”

Parasite looked up at them, before giving them a small smile. “It’s good to meet you, Damia.”

“It’s Good meeting you. Though wish it was under better circumstances.” Damia said.

“What’s your favorite meal?”

“Uh… Do you have fish or anything chocolate-y? I like seafood and sweet things.”

“Yes! Do you like salmon? I make an excellent salmon with blackberry sauce. And I just made brownies.” Damia said.

Parasite gave a small nod. “I like salmon, yeah. Brownies sound really good too.”

Damia grinned. “Ok I need to pick up more salmon but I’ll make it later today. Right now I only have enough for myself since I wasn’t expecting company. Oh should probably pick up something for the prisoner. Ge doesn’t get any.”

[I am. So sorry I haven’t replied until now] Parasite gave a small nod, before nodding. “That’s fine.” They hesitated, before adding, “Tomorrow I’ll leave to get somebody. I think they’d be interested in whatever the one guy has to say. You mind if I leave them here when I go? Don’t wanna leave you alone with a high ranking HYDRA agent unless you’re alright with it.”

“Works for me.”

Damia cocked her head.

“Before you leave I’d like to feed him again. I would feel a bit safer with you there when i do that. Otherwise I have no issues with you leaving him here while you get your coworker? Who is it if you don’t mind me asking?”

(((OOC Don’t even worry about it. Life gets in the crazy sometimes.”

It nodded. “Understood.” After a moment, they added, “My coworker is, uh… They’re not really a coworker, I just figured they might want to hear about this. Their name is Bucky? Bucky Barnes.”

Damia’s mouth opened slightly. She still has quite a crush on him.

“I have no issues.” She finally managed to squeak out.

“Are… You alright?” They tilted their head to the side. “You did a weird thing with your mouth there.”

“I’m fine. It’s nothing serious.” Damia had no desire for her crush to be known. “It’s not a problem.”