The Lives We Lead | tmr/tw • tw/tmr |

(27) It's A Small World After All

(In case you clicked on this chapter from the notifications, know that this is a double update; I just publish Chapter 26 a moment ago. Read it if you haven't already!)

Rama appeared back in the bathroom of her father's house. It was the little things like teleportation that made visiting her Sunyatans so fun. The life of a protector wasn't always glamorous; her abilities had limits that prevented her from using teleportation when not on the clock. It meant she could teleport to Abbie across the country and then teleport back to her father's bathroom, but she couldn't teleport to her father in the case of an emergency, as he wasn't a Sunyatan.

The rules were finicky like that. She may be able to transport over to Oliver--or should she refer to him as Newt?--and Mari's home to sneak presents under their Christmas tree for adorable little Evie, but she still had to buy a plane ticket to go to Hero and Jessica's wedding. It was the painstakingly nitty-gritty details of identities and roles that drove her up the wall.

Adjusting her hair, she made her way toward her father's back patio where he focused exclusively on the steaks he grilled. The man treated his meats like a religion--especially when it came to steaks. He took the roll of Grill Dad to an entirely different level and she knew better than to deter him from his sacred endeavors.

"Do you need anything, Dad?" she leaned against the sliding glass door.

"No, hon, I'm all set here," his gaze never straying from the grill, eyes alight with the flames, making him look even more like a madman as he grinned.

She rolled her eyes with an amused smile before heading back for the kitchen. If Bobby Finstock could have his way, he wouldn't bother making anything to go with the tender sirloins. But Rama rarely let him have his way when she had the chance to monitor his diet, and so she prepared several vegetables with grilled potatoes. In no way was she a master chef--she didn't have that kind of time on her hands--but she learned early on what it took to get her father to eat even the slightest bit healthier. It took a lot of seasonings and plenty of garlic.

As she put the mixed vegetables and potatoes in a serving bowl, she heard the doorbell ring and sighed. She was thrown for a loop when her father decided to invite a student of his over--he hadn't done something like that for quite a while.

The first time he had done it, she was pissed. She was a sophomore in high school and he had invited a freshman from the high school's basketball team--Derek Hale. She only vaguely remembered him from preschool before her mother took Rama with her to England. Not only was the dinner incredibly awkward, but her father made it very clear that he wanted to play match-maker. It was obvious that neither were interested and Rama was even more horrified when she sensed that Derek was a werewolf. Her abilities were poor and loosely-managed back then and she was terrified of being discovered--especially since she knew her mother would never let her visit Beacon Hills over the summer again if she accidentally revealed her supernatural identity.

The last time her father had invited a student over, it was only a few years before when she was just starting to gain traction in her career. Overly stressed from work and not at all amused, she sat with her jaw clenched as some douche named Jackson bragged to the high heavens about lacrosse. She understood that he was talented and that her father admired that, but she also saw right through Jackson's schmoozing. He acted all nice and charming to her father, but she could see it in his eyes when her father talked that the boy had no real respect for his coach. It made her wish a little too emphatically in her head that he'd choke on his food.

To make things even worse, the boy had the nerve to try and ask her out at the end of the night when she walked him to the door. She was at least 6 years older than him and here he was trying to pull one over on her!