I nodded. “That’s fine. Just let me know.”
“Will do,” Rune stated with a grin. He then turned to Myshtal. “And if I didn’t say so before, Princess, please accept my apologies for startling you with my appearance. I sincerely hope it won’t prevent you from enjoying the rest of the party.”
“It won’t,” Myshtal assured him, smiling. “And please accept my apologies as well. My reaction was more juvenile than I would ever have expected.”
Rune laughed. “No worries. It’s not the first time someone has responded in that fashion, and probably won’t be last.”
“That may happen sooner than you expect,” Myshtal stated. “I’m not the only Caelesian here.”
Rune seemed to ponder that for a moment before responding. “Well, I wouldn’t want my appearance to shock anyone else tonight, so I suppose I could make myself less conspicuous.”
“That would be great,” Myshtal said.
“Done,” Rune declared a moment later. As he spoke, his entire body seemed to go fuzzy for a second, as if I was seeing him through the lens of a camera that was out of focus. The effect only lasted for the blink of an eye, but when he came back into focus (for lack of a better term), he was no longer wearing the outlandish pink-and-purple outfit. Instead, he was dressed in the time-honored, traditional tuxedo colors of black and white.
“Better?” Rune asked, holding his arms out and turning in a slow circle.
“Uh…” I droned. “I think the princess was referring more to your symbols.” I made a twirling motion in front of my face.
“Oh, that,” Rune said in a casual tone. “How about now?”
I blinked. I hadn’t noticed anything happen, but all of the mobile characters previously on Rune’s face (and presumably the rest of him) had vanished. They had disappeared, literally, before my eyes.
“That’s excellent,” Myshtal replied, while I merely mumbled something.
In truth, it could probably be said that the cat had my tongue. I had never seen Rune without his namesake symbols on his body. Seeing him without them came as a bit of a shock, because I suddenly realized that I hadn’t really known what he looked like. The characters covering his skin had always been so visually distracting that I’d never taken note of his actual features until now.
He had what would probably be described as roguish good looks, which went well with the devil-may-care attitude he often seemed to exhibit. Coupled with the cocksure grin he was now giving us, the overall effect was the addition of a rakish quality to his appearance.
“You two should probably get back to the ballroom,” Rune said, interrupting my thoughts. “I’d hate for you to miss anything.”
There was a percipient tone to his voice, as if he knew something we didn’t – which, with respect to Rune, could very well be the case.
“Come on,” I said to Myshtal. “Let’s head back.”
With that, we said goodbye to Rune and began making our way to the ballroom.
Chapter 20
When we returned to the ballroom, I was almost disappointed to find that nothing of particular note seemed to be happening. The place was full of people and the air was alive with chatter, but I didn’t notice anything that had been worth hustling back for. Glancing around, I saw my mother and grandparents still greeting guests, with Mom currently in the process of hugging a couple of dark-haired young women who had come through the receiving line – and then I almost did a double-take when I realized who the two women were. Smiling, I shot a quick telepathic message to one of them.
<Hey, Avis,> I said casually. <Glad you could make it.>
The woman in question quickly jerked her head around, scanning the crowd as she excitedly responded, <Cuz! Where are you?>
I sent her a mental ping to indicate where I was in the ballroom, then gave a quick wave as her gaze turned in my direction. A broad grin broke out on her face, indicating that she’d spotted me. Then she grabbed her companion by the hand and began dragging her towards me. A moment later, they were both in front of us.
“Jim!” Avis exclaimed as she gave me a fierce hug (albeit with only one arm, since I now noticed she had a drink in her other hand). “It’s so good to see you again!”
“Yeah,” said the other woman, giving me a quick but forceful embrace as well. “We heard you took a little sabbatical, so it’s wonderful that you’re back.”
“I’m happy to be back, Vela,” I announced, grateful that she’d been circumspect in her description of my off-planet escapades. I didn’t think anyone was listening to us, but it didn’t hurt to be discreet.
“Well, the time away obviously didn’t hurt you,” chimed in Avis. “You look great.”
“As do the two of you,” I replied, “although I have to admit that I almost didn’t recognize you at first.”
The two of them laughed, with Vela noting, “Yeah, it’s a different look for us.”
Her comment (as well as my own) alluded to the fact she and Avis were wearing formal dresses rather than superhero costumes. In truth, the two women were actually my cousins – the daughters of my father’s brother, Megaton – and supers in their own right. Avis (who was formally known as Rara Avis) was typically considered to be one of the most powerful supers on the planet, but was known just as much for a social life in which she partied like a rock star. Vela was formidable as well, but as a member of a mid-level superhero team based in the Midwest, she didn’t receive as much press as her sibling.
“Where’s Monique?” I asked, referring to my other cousin – Avis and Vela’s sister. “Will she be here? And what about your father?”
“Monique can’t make it,” Vela replied. “But she sends her love.”
“Little Miss Homemaker has a conflict,” Avis almost sneered. “Some event she needs to attend
