The Wrath of Zeus

by Mato_Kuroshira

Summary:

Crelly has a bit of a problem with the greek gods. Every Friday, her power mysteriously ends up being cut, but... this week, Zeus REALLY went all out!
And whats a cow to do, if she can't stream, has no AC, no computer, nothing?

Clearly, if Zeus is no good, she has to seek shelter and protection from one of the other gods in the pantheon.

Chapter 1: Cows instinctively know when thunder approaches... most of the time

Another day in the suburban shed dawned, and Crelly awoke in pitch black darkness.
With tired, blinking eyes, she fumbled the lightswitch, trying to invoke some brightness in her room- but nothing happened.
Several times she pressed the switch, several times it did nothing other than an audible click… confused, she reached for her phone right next to it…

“Oh GOD DAMN IT!!”
The moment the screen turned on and told her it was Friday, 3PM, she knew just what was going on. Angrily, she sat up, fresh ink stains spreading across her bedsheet as soon as she moved, and she tossed her blanket aside forcefully enough to make a cloud of mold spores rise from its fabric.
“GOD DAMN IT, ZEUS!! WHY DO YOU HATE ME?! What have I done? Hmm? What? What have I done? Tell me! Tell me now. Press one if you hate me, Zeus. Come on. I’m waiting. I’m literally waiting for you to-”

A growl of thunder could be heard outside, seconds after a bright flash. For a few moments, Crelly simply sat there, unblinking and staring off into nothing as she wondered if she really pissed-off the father of Olympus to this extent.

“...Okay… So I’m cursed, then. Like, actually. Cursed-cursed. By the god of gods.”
After letting it sink in for a minute, and twitching sharply at the next bolt of lightning, Crelly swung her legs out and set her bare feet on the floor, the carpet crunching quietly under her weight as she stood up. Ancient crumbs of rice cakes crumbled underneath her as she slowly walked to the window, pulling aside the curtains to see outside with quiet worry… but other than a severe rainstorm and dark, overcast clouds, she didn’t see a muscular, fully-bearded man wielding lightning bolts. For better or worse, because in Crelly’s mind that would’ve been kinda hot.

“Fuck, so now what do I do? Ughhhh… I can’t deal with this! KOKO HELP!”
Without even taking the time to put her glasses on, she quickly slid through the menu to press the personal phone number of Koko D. Nuts, but…

“The person you’re trying to call is currently not available. Please try again at a different time.”

“FUCK!!! ZEUS GOT TO HER TOO!!” Crelly almost dropped her phone, backing away several steps until her back hit the wall, the movement disturbing the spider webs of the hard-working arachnids trying to keep the insects at bay.
“Fuck… fuck fuck fuck what now? Aquwa? No, if Gogo can’t help, then I dunno who else could… I’m on my own, fuck!”
Panic rose inside the cow mutant’s body as she ran furrows through her long green hair, the grease of the unwashed strands sticking slightly to her digits. Thoughts rushed through her head, wondering just what she was to do in a situation like this…

One more glance out the window made her frown. The weather was horrid, but she’d take it over braving the humid darkness of her apartment without the AC. Just ten minutes of being awake already made her sweat like a pig, she couldn’t stand this much longer- Rain or no rain, she had to go outside.

 

---

“Okay… Okay okay okay, think, Crelly. Think. Let's just… go somewhere. Like a coffee shop, with decent WIFI and a charging port for my phone, and then I'll let the Mootants know that the stream is cancelled…. aaaand from there we’ll see!”
Crelly continued talking to herself as she put on a pair of socks she picked up off the ground and slipped into a pair of shoes.

Only to take them off again as she realized she only wore a shirt and socks, something which would certainly raise some eyebrows once she was out and about. It was time to stop panicking so much and to think rationally… at least a little bit!

“Okay… So, coffee shop. Starbucks, I don’t care. I got so many gifted subs I can eat McDonalds for the rest of my LIFE if I want to- god, how do other streamers do this?”
Sighing and shaking her head, the young cow finally covered her crunt with a pair of jeans, put the shoes back on and grabbed the thinnest, yet most rain-proof jacket she owned.
It wasn’t enough, of course, but every time she bought an umbrella, the mice ate it up, so she stopped trying.

 

---

 

"Ughhhh….”
Naturally, the moment she stepped foot out the door, she squinted from the rain blasting into her face. Another loud, booming thundercrack roared through the sky, briefly lighting up the area before it was plunged back into darkness. The street lamps were off, too, almost like the whole city was in a blackout.
Zeus was not doing any half measures, clearly… but Starbucks, Starbucks would be fine. Their logo was a siren of the sea, after all, surely they were under Poseidon's protection!
At times like these she wished she had a car, but… at the same time, as she started walking down the street, seeing the cars struggle with the ankle-deep puddles in the road made her re-think that once more.

“Ughhh… I should’ve asked my sister to drive meee….!”
Less than five minutes later the mood had shifted yet again. The nearest Starbucks was less than a mile away, maybe twenty minutes on foot in these conditions- but Crelly was soaked to the bone after just three. Several cars had simply pulled over, and more than once, her heart skipped a beat as she thought that maybe, just maybe, a gentleman or, better yet, a spicy lesbian woman pulled over to give her a lift, but no.
They were just pulling off the road to wait out the storm. Cowards. 

 

A sigh passed her lips, her tail just barely swept over the pavement. No one else was outside right now, no one without a car at least… She walked a lonely road, but it was the only road that she had ever known. No one knew where it went, but… a Starbucks was waiting for her at the end of it.
IF she got there before her body melted into nothingness. Suffice to say, her chat wouldn’t be able to complain about her lack of showers after this one… she was soaked to the bone, her socks squished in her shoes, she felt water gathering in her bra and her belly button for fucks sake…!
“ZEUS!! I GET IT! YOU HATE ME! CAN YOU STOP?!!”

A lightning bolt came down, with loud, deafening thunder following half a second later. A clear no, even if it impacted a lightning rod on a building down the street. 

 

Several more times, lightning cracked on the short walk to the Starbucks. By the time she saw its sign out in the street, the manhole covers of the sewer were starting to bubble and boil over, the sewer pipes unable to deal with the enormous amounts of water pouring into them.
Traffic had come to a standstill. Several cars were parked in front of the coffee shop, with their drivers visibly taking shelter inside- cowards, she thought. Cowards. The lot of them. Hmph.
Yet… with her hands and feet wrinkly from the soaking wetness and her nose sniffling, it was high time she got some shelter. Hopefully, Poseidon would protect her, because at this point, she was just about ready to admit defeat to Zeus otherwise…
Crelly wasn’t very good at greek mythology, otherwise she would know that with this amount of water, Zeus and Poseidon were clearly in cahoots with one another.

“Uwaaahhh….!”
Unabashedly moaning in relief, Crelly threw off her wet rain jacket and wiped the water out of her face. She was soaked from top to bottom, completely, entirely wet like she’d gone swimming with her clothes on… yet she had gone past the point of caring and simply took up a seat closest to the heater which still had an outlet for her phone.
Something which she was quickly reminded she should refrain from, given that her phone was partially soaked too.
At last, Crelly sat down. The warmth of the space heater caressed her cold and shivering body, the aroma of hot coffee comforted her further… and even the episode of Family Guy playing on the TV screen on the wall didn’t bother her at all.

Crelly relaxed, leaned back, and started to thaw up from the freezing cold of the rain… perhaps she relaxed a little too much.

“Uhm. Ma’am? Please don’t do that.”
A young Barista, a girl no older than twenty, frowned at her as she placed down the cup of cappuccino venti… the way Crelly had pulled off her shoes and her wet socks only to put her feet up on the chair opposite of her own was catching a few looks from the other patrons, although not all of them disapproved.
“I understand that you’re soaked, and that you’ve been through a lot, but could you not-”

BZZZZZT. BZZZZZZT. BZZZZZT.
A loud buzzing noise from Crelly’s phone, now finally on the charger, caught both of them off guard. In an instant, Crelly complied with her request- Not intentionally, but moreso because she instinctively sat up straight to grab the alarmingily noisy phone.

EXTREME WEATHER WARNING. It said on the screen, flashing angrily with every buzz. EXTREME WEATHER WARNING. STAY INDOORS. FLOODING POSSIBLE.

“Whaaaa…?! BUT I -JUST- GOT HERE! You’re not serious. No. You’re joking. This is a joke! Hahaha! Nice try, guys!”
Crelly put down her phone and stared at the young, blonde Barista with wide, empty eyes, a psychotic look like a woman who’d just freshly lost her mind… but she lost it long ago. Her heterochromic gaze was little different than it normally was, and although her cow ears were twitching angrily, it was simply to shake off some raindrops. “Where’s the hidden camera?! Come on, tell me! I know this is some kind of sick Big-Brother stunt where you force me to live in a Starbucks for a week and watch my societal norms slowly collapse around me! How did you do this?! Are you in on Zeus’ plan to ruin my career?”

“Wh-what?! What are you talking about?! Ma’am, I’m not gonna ask you to leave in this weather but please, PLEASE, keep it down and mind the others who’re taking shelter!”
The young blonde woman seemed to be struggling quite a bit- Probably already overworked and stressed out, unable to leave and having to work an extra shift while the storm was raging… never a good day for anyone in the restaurant business.

“BUT I’M CURSED! I’M LITERALLY CURSED, I SWEAR! Every Friday, I try to do my job, every Friday, the power goes out! Zeus hates me! He fucking hates me, and this time he hates me so much that I can’t even go out anymore! I’m just- Just-”
Crelly’s frustrations bubbled over- she stood up to grab the young barista by her shirt, her pleading grimace making her look even more deranged- Until a tap on the shoulder, strong and authoritative followed by a stiff pull on it to make her sit back down and let go, stopped Crelly in her tracks.

“That's enough of that. She’s just doing her job, she’s not here to listen to our shit. Sit down, drink your coffee, and take a chill pill, alright? We’re all on edge.”

Wet gloves pressed Crelly down into her seat, and as she turned, the cow girl found herself looking up and staring at a stranger.
A woman like herself, a quite pretty… no, handsome one. The kind of cool, cuttish rogue she often found herself falling for in her smut stories.
She was definitely dressed for the weather, more so than Crelly. Tall boots that reached her knees, tight jeans and a black trench coat that looked like it had blocked quite a lot of water. Not quite enough, though, as her white shirt was sticking to her skin and smoothly hugged her large, bountiful breasts…
Crelly found herself staring there for a moment, only to draw her eyes further up towards the stranger’s face, who by now was raising a brow at her.
“Wasn’t an invitation to check me out, but okay. Noted.”
Her blue eyes weren’t hostile by the looks of it, just… annoyed, mildly concerned perhaps… and the way her black hair clung tightly to her ashen pale skin made it fairly clear that she’d gotten caught in the storm much like herself.

“A… Ah. I was just venting! Just blowing off some steam! It's been a harsh three months for me, heheh- Busy busy busy! Sorry. Am I being annoying? Please don’t say that. Press one if I'm annoying. I swear I’m not trying to, I’m trying my breast! My- My brea- My best. My best! I’m trying my breastest! My… Oh god damn it, I’m such a-”

“Calm. Down. Breathe. Fucking hell, just take a breather.”
The stranger sat down opposite of her, barely taking note of the wet puddle on the seat left there by her feet as her own soaking wet coat made things far worse in an instant. 

A sigh was uttered, then- A coffee was placed between the two, with an iced coffee latte handed off to the black haired woman, as the server gave an uneasy smile to Crelly, seemingly glad that she came to her senses. At least, from the looks of it.
“So…”

A loud, thunderous boom shook through the restaurant, loud enough to shake the windows and tremble across their gut. The lights briefly went out, then switched back on, a bit dimmer as if a backup powerplant was now in use.
The stranger winced, quickly taking a sip from her straw to try and ignore it, before she spoke up again. “So, you obviously have a story of how you got here, between the insane ramblings, the stuttering and the way you seemingly waded through this apocalyptic weather just to get an overpriced coffee.”

 

“Awww, you- You’re interested in me? You want to know more about me? Oh my gosh, that's so nice of you!”

“Well, I didn’t say tha-”

“Sooo, I’ve got a bit of a feud going on with the Greek father of the gods…” Crelly ignored her, and with a wiggle left and tight, the green cowgirl started to chatter. “Every Friday, he prevents me from streaming by cutting my electricity! It's been going on for months, but TODAY, he’s really gone and outdone himself. I mean, look at this shit! Hello? If he would’ve told me that he wants to watch, I dunno, re-recordings of Olympic events every Friday and I'm disturbing him, I would’ve adjusted my schedule? If he wanted to turn into a goat every Friday to fuck women and breed more demigods into this world, as he does, I wouldn’t mind! But no, he’s fucking with my subathon! Every Friday! And since I couldn't do my job today I decided to just go out. …To the only place that came to mind that's protected by Poseidon.”
Crelly simply said that, folding her hands and smiling rather smugly as if she figured it all out, as if it all made sense to her… whereas the stranger staring back at her, the black haired woman about the same age as her, just gawked, blinked, and tried to make ANY kind of sense of it.

“...Soo… A coffee shop? A fucking Starbucks? That's your idea of a safehouse from the wrath of Zeus?” She replied, taking another deep sip from her cup as if she really needed it after hearing that. She leaned back, exhaling and tried to make sense of it some more, before pausing briefly.
“I’ve heard stranger things happen before.”

“REALLY?!” Crelly’s face beamed in an instant, and she almost stood up, her tail sticking up straight, her hands pressed down on the table as her pink eye seemed to gleam with excitement. “Wow, you’re… you’re like, the first person who doesn’t call me crazy after telling a story like that! Can we be friends? Please? Pretty please? Pretty please with a cherry on top? I PROMISE I’m not usually this annoying. Only slightly! And I can behave myself if I really need to!”
Crelly’s desperation was unmistakeable, although quite why she acted like this was a mystery to the black haired stranger… A sigh came from her, and she was starting to think about it, wondering if saying yes would be a bad idea, or a terrible, terrible idea, but before she could come up with a response… Zeus answered, silencing all opposition.

BOOM!!

“UWAAAH!” Crelly’s body jolted so sharply that she accidentally flung herself backwards- her straightening legs kicking the chair back until she fell over. Even before she hit the ground, the entire restaurant was plunged into darkness and the smell of ozone spread about, a dense and acrid smell. The air was charged with bristling electricity, energy that one could feel just by breathing it in- for a moment, Crelly wondered if she had been struck by lightning, but as a gloved hand was reached out to her and those pale blue eyes looked back at her, she felt like that maybe she had died, and gone to heaven instead.
“U-Uuuuuh! Is this a shojo moment?! Is this the moment where we touch and our hands feel electric and we’re in love ever after but we deny it for several chapters before one of us starts to admit it, and then the other is denying it harder but is fighting it on the inside, and- KYAH!”
Crelly’s ramble was cut short, as the hand wrapped around her wrist and sharply pulled her to her feet, a visible annoyance suddenly prominent in those pale blue eyes.

“What, are you gonna make me hold out my hand for the next hour while you monolog about Yuri fanfiction? Come on!”

The stranger was clearly agitated by this- And who wouldn’t be? While the other patrons were busy running back out to their cars, and even the servers and baristas were shutting down what they could in hopes that the expensive machines hadn’t been ruined by the lightning strike, the black haired girl didn't run… rather, she seemed concerned for this green haired goblin and what would happen to her.
“No point in staying in here anymore- Take your coffee with you if you want, but we’re out of here!”

“U-Uhh…? I- O-Okay!”
Crelly wasn’t sure what to say anymore- she was used to people who were rather forward from the likes of Koko and Filian, but this was on a whole other level. Was she… getting asked out? Without a word? Goodness, this was making her heart thump like a drum beat! This handsome girl, this cuttish rogue… this woman who knew what she wanted, sweeping her off her feet and dragging her along!
Her cheeks flushed, and she barely even picked up her coffee before the stranger adjusted her trench coat and pulled her along towards the exit.
She never even had time to pick up her socks and shoes, which she had taken off earlier much to the barista's frustration, and instead followed the woman barefoot and stunlocked back into the bristling thunderstorm. Without her raincoat... although it hardly made a difference in the first place.

 

“Nnghh…. God, it's getting even worse!”
The stranger could hardly see five feet ahead of them, even with her sleeve put in front of her eyes as a rainguard. In seconds, their clothes were soaked all over again, and it didn’t matter that the rain was relatively warm… If they didn’t get to the car quickly, they’d start freezing from the wind alone.
Her coattails fluttered in the wind, and for a moment she wondered if Crelly would be able to see the holsters hidden underneath, but the woman likely had her own problems with the weather.

“KYAAAA! Don’t let go! Don’t let go! I swear, if your hand slips, I’m flying off like a kite!” Crelly screamed, unsure if her words would even reach the girl in front. She could just about see if she stood directly behind her, following in the wake of the other woman breaking the solid wall of water raining down from above- but rather than seeing that she was armed to the teeth, she was more so fighting with the coat muffling her mouth and flinging waterdrops directly into her eyes. 

 

One step at a time, the two of them waded through the rain- It was just fifty meters from the front of the Starbucks to the car parked out on the lot, but it felt like they were struggling with that for over an hour.
By the time they had finally reached the car- a white, unassuming Toyota Prius with a rental car company logo plastered all over the side, now barely visible thanks to the monsoon they were in.
Any other day, Crelly might have made fun of her new friend for this choice of vehicle, even if it wasn’t her choice to make… but right now, she was pulling on the doorhandle even before the doors were unlocked at all.

“Haahhh! Huuaaahh…AAhhh… Oh my god! Ohhhh, my god, I’ve had orgasms less pleasurable than just being out of this fucking rain, dude!”
Sinking into the seat with her soaking wet body, the other woman said nothing- She seemingly hesitated for a moment, probably trying to think of something to put down on the seats to prevent getting it absolutely soaking wet, but eventually just sighed and relented to sitting down as she was.

“I dunno about that. Must be some shitty sex if a bunch of rain can beat it… but I get the sentiment.” She muttered, briefly sitting there and letting her heartrate calm down with the doors closed, and the lighting of the car’s interior slowly shutting off.

“....Ooooo, romantic!” Crelly giggled, only for the other woman to stick her keys into the ignition, lighting up the dashboard again. “Aww. Less romantic. …Where are we going?”

“...Good question. I didn’t think that far ahead… I honestly just took a break here because the weather was getting horrible, and… well, that didn’t work out, did it?” She huffed, rolling up her sleeves and taking her gloves off as the water dripping from them was making quite a mess on the steering wheel. …In doing so, she not only exposed more of her ashen white skin, but a rather prominent tattoo on her left forearm, a chain wrapped around the limb that went from the elbow to the wrist in a tight binding. “I could try and just drop you off at your place, girl.” 

 

“That’s sweet, but-” Crelly frowned with her wet ears drooping, thinking back to her apartment. Without power, without AC, it was just a concrete sweatbox where the walls were talking to her. She couldn’t stream and talk to her friends, so what was the point of going back there? She shook her head.
“No. Given the situation… plus, one of my friends lives not far from here, if you could do that? I’d be super happy! And grateful! I’d give you a kiss! …On the cheek, if you’re not into that. But still!”

The girl on the driver seat snorted, rolling her eyes slightly. “I’m good. Not because I don't like kissing girls, but… yeah. I don’t even know your name. …Still, as good of an idea as any I suppose, if she lets you sleep on her couch for the night.”
With a light sigh, she started up the engine- and immediately, the windscreen wipers went into overdrive trying to let her see anything.

“Ah! You’re right! I’m Crelly~” The green haired woman giggled, wiggling in her seat with excitement as they slowly pulled out of the parking lot, and back deeply into the rainstorm…
“...ah.” It was about at that point that she finally noticed she’d forgotten her shoes and socks, but by now it was far, far too late to go back there… they were already back on the road, albeit at slightly faster than walking pace for safety.

“Well, nice to meet you Crelly, it’s certainly been a day, hasn’t it.” The girl sighed, switching on the foglights in hopes of seeing a bit more now that even the street lamps were without power, but it didn’t help much. Concentrated as she was, she didn’t notice at first, but as Crelly staring at her very intensely became more apparent, she realized that she hadn’t introduced herself in return. “Ah. Sorry, I was keeping my eyes on the road- I’m Mato. Just… I’m trying to steer a boat here with all this aquaplaning, don’t expect too much talking from me.”

“Okay, Mato~” Crelly giggled, her knees wiggling with excitement. “Then I’ll ask you LATER about your tattoos~ I like a bad girl who’s got some ink on her stink- I mean- I mean i- INK ON HER SKIN!... Is that a gun?”
Freaking out about her fumbling attempt to flirt, Crelly started to panic and threw her hands up, only just enough to shift Mato’s coat off to the side- far enough to expose a rather large weapon hidden underneath, on her right hip.
“That's a gun isn’t it? Oh my goodness, you are a BAD girl, a bad, bad girl! Ohohoho, I’m getting excited~ Am I getting kidnapped? Are you gonna put me in your basement and cuff me to the ceiling dressed in nothing but my skin covered in whip marks? Are you gonna-”

“CRELLY!” Mato raised her voice into a shout, briefly glancing over to her. “We’re gonna drop into a ditch if you keep distracting me! Fucking hell. …No, putting you in a BDSM dungeon wasn’t on my list. But I'll consider the offer, if we make it all the way to your friend… by this point I feel like I need another coffee. Or maybe a whiskey.”

Granted, with that last one she wasn’t going to be driving anywhere anymore… but if the weather was anything to go by, it was better to call it a night than to try and find a hotel. Maybe they'd have a heart and let her stay, too.

Based on Crelly’s directions, they steered over to an apartment building six blocks down the road- almost in another county by that point, they finally pulled over into a parking lot directly in front, only to be forced to run through the rain a second time.
Thunder glistened up in the sky, and with less than a second of delay between the spark and the noise, it was clear that it was right above them. Still, there seemed to be some sparse light here and there in the building ahead of them, so clearly the outage had not gone quite this far.

“Fucking christ.” Mato found herself shaking like a wet dog as they made their way past the front door, tempted to just toss her coat on the first hook she found just to get rid of it. “I really hope your friend is home, because I’ll be honest, I think i’d rather sleep on the floor here than go through that again.”

“No no no, Koko’s here! She’s a shut-in like me, only ever leaving the house to take her dog for a walk, so she’d have no reason at all to go out in this weather! Even Peanut wouldn’t stick a paw out with this much rain.”
For a moment, Crelly’s mind flashed back to Macie, the xDx vertical dog that she left alone at home… but she was fairly sure she fed her that morning, so there was probably still some food in the bowl. Probably. If not, she knew how to open the fridge…

“...You left your shoes behind?” Mato finally pointed out as she saw Crelly jogging up the stairs barefoot, something she’d been unable to see in the pouring rain before. “Jesus, Crelly, you’re lucky I found you when I did. What the hell were you gonna do?”

Crelly stared blankly back at her as she peeked over her shoulder, briefly stopping halfway up the stairs.
“Uhhhh. Probably call an Uber… or wave someone down to ask for a lift? Uhm. I dunno. Listen, if I had a plan during all this, I would’ve brought an umbrella!”

 

Mato rolled her eyes. “Well if you’d done THAT, you would’ve gone the way of Mary Poppins with those winds. So for once, I think you made the right choice.”

However, as they were getting close to the fifth floor and Koko’s apartment, another, much more pressing question came into Mato’s mind that she really should have asked much sooner. “...So, did you… tell her at any point that we were coming? That you were gonna bunk in with her?”

“No, buuuut me and Koko go way back! Waaaaay back! Our bond is a special one, and she’ll never turn me back without a really good reason!”
Crelly beamed a smile, only to come to a halt and rather enthusiastically started knocking on the door that had the name “D. Nuts” next to it… but, after nothing happened, her smile started to disappear.
“...Ohh, come on, Koko, don’t be shy! It's me! Koko! It's meee! Your favorite cow! Crelly!”
More knocking.
Mato started to raise an eyebrow, her bare arms crossing over and squishing some residue water out of her soaked clothes, already seeing another trip through the rain in her future.
“Kokoooo! Kokoooo! Heyyyy! Koko, if you open up, I’ll give you my sister's number! …No i wont, don’t tell her I said that.”

“FUCK OFF!” It finally came from the other side of the door, muffled but certainly quite audible, even to Mato. “I’M GOONING!”

“...Wha- KOKO!! HOW DARE YOU!! LET ME HELP! I KNOW WHAT TO DO! I- I’M A MASTER GOONER TOO!! I KNOW ALL THE RIGHT WAYS TO-”
As she started to frantically, hysterically start knocking on the door, her eyes growing wide, desperate and fearful, Mato simply sighed deeply and turned on her heel- Briefly considering to just walk away and let them sort it out, but something about the way Crelly was pathetically crying, knocking and clawing on the door of the other woman was getting to her.
So instead, she stopped herself and grabbed her by the back of her shirt to pull her along, back down the stairs.

“Well that was a bust.” She muttered, not entirely surprised considering Crelly didn’t even ask if she was home or busy with anything. “Any other ideas? …That sister you mentioned, is she anywhere close? When friends fail you, family is often a solid second best option.”

Rich, coming from Mato. The irony was not lost on the woman who never had a family to begin with, apart from some wayward memory and the quirky old man who mentored her to this day. But Crelly didn’t need to know any of that- Nor would it help, as the cow already looked like she was about to cry.

“I… I can try, see if she’s home… She might be with my mom, I’m not sure, she’s… independent.” Crelly said in between disappointed sniffles as they went down the stairs again… much slower, much more deliberate, as neither of them was looking forward to face the rain once more. On the windows that decorated each floor of the staircase, they could see that it was still pouring as much as it had been when they left the Starbucks, and the blackened sky saw no reason of stopping anytime soon.

Mato sighed, nodding slowly. Whatever out of pity or guilt, she saw herself responsible for Crelly, just a little bit… and frankly, she just wanted to find a dry place to crash for the night, too. She might not have family, but the next best thing was on her mind.
“I can phone some friends, if all else fails. Some colleagues, some well meaning people… the works. I don’t think any of them are as close as this place was, and believe me, part of me is thinking about just kicking the door down…”

“No no no, don’t! She’d never forgive me for that one! Kokos goon sessions are of almost religious importance to her!” Crelly exclaimed, only to frown and pull out her phone as they had nearly reached the ground floor again. “Alright, well… here goes noth- HUH?!!”
No sooner did she pick up her phone to make a call did Crelly see a new message popping up on its screen, together with a soft vibration. That much was not too uncommon, she was glad she still had some means of communication with her- With so much of the power out, she wouldn’t have been surprised if the network was down, too.

But it was a message from Koko.

“wait hold on”
“I’m zooted”
“are you gonna give me her number if i let you in”
“also whats with the other girl, is she single”

“...Fuck you, Koko.” Crelly frowned, pouting and tapping on the phone icon instead… to call her sister. To her surprise, a hand patted her shoulder seconds after, as Mato gave her a smirk and a nod, having seen the screen just briefly.

“We’ll be fine without her.” She remarked, ever so slightly impressed by Crelly's spine now that it came down to it. 

 

“...Yeah.” Crelly smiled back, nodding and pressing the call button… only to spend several seconds with anxiety as it rang, and rang, and rang, without anyone picking up. 

Almost a minute passed, where Crelly was getting increasingly worried, and Mato for her part was busy sending some text messages to Kylee, Raphael, Vicky… and whoever else she knew that had a phone.
“SISTER!!” But she blinked, looking up from her screen as Crelly suddenly jolted, squealing at the top of her lungs. “Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god- I’m so glad I could reach you! I uh- The storm- The storm caught me off guard and I was outside, and uh… Koko- Koko can’t help. You really shouldn’t talk to her anymore, she’s heartless and a useless stoner and and and- and i don’t like you talking to her. Buh- Where was I? OH, RIGHT!” Looking at Mato’s face just briefly, and seeing the woman dripping from head to toe with an increasingly annoyed expression finally brought her mind back around. “Sis, is it okay if I crash at your place for the night? And…” An even more annoyed, insistent look from Mato,  who leaned in and stared directly into her heterochromic eyes with ice blue ones. “And if I bring a friend of mine? Please! We’re wet and cold and miserable and wet and cold and- Yes?! OHMYGOD, YOU’RE THE BEST! Sh-should we bring like Papa Johns on the way or should we just- Okay. Okay! Love you! See you in a bit!” 

Crelly hung up. Relieved, her shoulders sank, and her face beamed with joy back at Mato, her faith restored. Clearly, Poseidon was of no use to her. But perhaps Venus kept her favorite cow under some measure of protection, at least.
“She said yes.” Crelly finally said, visibly and audibly relieved. “You can come too! I don’t know if Crelice has enough beds for the three of us, but I don’t mind sleeping on the couch! … So… So long as you don’t… Sleep with my sister in her bed.”
All of a sudden, it seemed like she was getting anxious again, weary of this hot, attractive, cuttish rogue, this scoundrel that took her in and lured her with her seductive looks and attractive personality and her-

“Chill. Out.” Mato scoffed, her arms crossing over once more. “I don’t even know what your sister is like. I’ll pinkie promise to not do anything you wouldn’t want me to. I just wanna get a good nights rest, some dry clothes- And fuck, maybe a bath. Ironic, I know, after that much water dropping on my head.”

“...Sorry. I… I get protective of my sister a lot. Crelice is just… dangerously attractive to men and women of all ages.” Crelly hung her head just slightly, feeling bad for suspecting her new friend to be a deviant so soon, but- Koko had proven her just how horny and predictable she could be. For better or worse, though, Mato gave her another pat on the shoulder, and guided her off towards the car…

“GAAAAH!! FOR FUCKS SAKE, I FORGOT HOW BAD THIS WAS!!”
Only to start screaming with frustration as her hair, which had just started to dry out, was soaked from the tips to the roots once again. “I’M SO GONNA HAVE TO PAY EXTRA FOR THIS STUPID RENTAL!”

“Ah, relax, Mato! We’ll wrapped in dry towels and sipping warm chocolate milk in no time~”
Crelly, beaming with a smile despite getting drenched all the same, pushed the seat back and reclined it all the way to put her feet up on the passenger side of the dashboard, hands folded as if she had already won… only for a rather annoyed Mato to grab her ankles and put them down again, flashing a glare at her through the rearview mirror.”

“We ain’t there yet. Buckle up, I don’t know for how long I can steer this boat before we do end up in a ditch or hydrolock the engine.”
She sighed, her door snapping shut the same moment she put on the ventilation, as their wet, warm bodies were fogging up the windshield.

This “Crelice” better be what Crelly was making her out to be. Or, fuck, she might go back on her word and have her way with her, just to get something good out of this horrible night.

Chapter 2: A night at Crister's

Summary:

Mato and Crelly managed to arrive at Crelice's place, but despite her delusions of divine protection from Venus, it quickly becomes clear that her sister's place is no more safe than her own home was.

------IMPORTANT NOTICE-------

Due to recent events (Chatters posting my story on Filian's stream) I need to start this off with a disclaimer.
DO NOT POST THIS ON CRELLY'S STREAM UNLESS SHE SPECIFICALLY ASKS FOR IT.
I write these stories as light-hearted entertainment for everyone to enjoy and I do not want them to be used for bullying the real-life people behind them!

Please, use common sense.

 

The windscreen wipers could not keep up. The headlights barely did anything, but cast blurry images among the trillions of raindrops. The lighting strikes were far more effective at clearing up the coming night.
Mato fought to keep the wheel still, but every gust of wind made them veer off to the left, onto the other side of the road- it was their luck that most other motorists had chosen to stop for the night, and seek shelter.
They were not so smart.

“How much further?” She asked, unable to take her eyes off the road, unable to even look at the GPS right next to her.

“Two and a half miles. We’ll be there in a breeze, even if we walk!”
Crelly clearly was still in a good mood, despite being scared, wet, and getting tired… She’d woken up late, but so much had happened that her body felt the desperate need to take a rest, to just have a few minutes where nothing raised her pulse through the roof. The young cow didn’t catch a break, though… The Prius felt like a boat on the ocean, and every so often, the sloshing noises of the radiator fan sucking in water made it sound like their boat had been beached.
Any deeper, and their engine might hydrolock. 

“Two and a half miles… would be half an hour with a brisk walk, any other day. We’re going slower than a brisk walk in this car, Crelly…” Mato grimaced, unable to take her eyes away from the road. Even just looking down to the speedometer might risk a crash, but she could see all sorts of warning lights coming on.
Electrical faults, she figured. Perhaps debris from the slowly rising waters knocked something loose. Either way, the bill for this rental vehicle was rising by the minute, and it was before she was even-

PSSSSSHTT!!
“WOAH!!” Crelly gasped, finding a gushing plume of steam coming out of the air vents. She was too shocked to speak, too stunned to even move, and so a rather annoyed Mato had to snap them shut, one by one, lest they’d turn their car into a sauna.

“So much for the heater. Water must’ve gotten in the heating coil… or worse, the engine.” The black haired girl scoffed angrily, now struggling even more to see anything. The steam was burning in her eyes- It wasn’t just water, it was probably coolant, or refrigerant from the climate controls that had evaporated. But regardless of what it was, it reduced her visibility down to zero, so much so that she considered stopping and waiting for the smoke to clear, but… That thought came too late to change what was already happening.

 

“Mato? MATO?!! IS THE CAR SUPPOSED TO BE LEANING OVER?!!”

“HOLD ONTO SOMETHING!!”

A moment’s mistake was all it took. Coming off the road, sliding down into a ditch, and into an uncertain fate, Mato let go of the wheel, and Crelly held onto her instead of one of the handholds at the roof, right before the car began to tumble, eventually turning end over end, and landing in a deep, muddy puddle, high enough to cover all of the windows in water.

All of the CRACKED windows… which were now leaking into the cabin.

“Urghh.. Shit- Shit! Crelly, you okay? Get your seatbelt off, we have to climb out!”
Mato quickly began to struggle with hers, but hanging upside down from the nylon restraints was not something she was ever used to- Or wanted to become used to. A grunt soon followed as they loosened, leaving her head to bonk against the dented roof, but before long she felt water pouring around her hair, quickly rising.
“We’re gonna drown if we stay in this thing, Crelly- Crelly?”

“Uhhhh~” The cow wasn’t doing too well. While unhurt, she seemed rather disoriented and even sickly, like a bad rollercoaster ride- it wasn’t until a large, black blade came across her vision that her eyes began to focus, but it was there for a mere moment before the straps holding her in were cut, and her body fell to roof of the car with a similar thud as Mato’s own. “Ow! H-hey… what was that?”

“Nevermind that.” Mato grumbled, sheathing the sword in her hand once more- its black blade disappearing into an equally black scabbard, but the steel pommel at the other end soon smashed into the passenger side window. “Be ready to hold your breath… Once the cabin fills up enough,  we open the doors and climb out, understood? On three. One… Two…”

CRASH! The sword’s pommel smashed through the cracked window, and murky water rushed in like a sinking ship. Within seconds, they could no longer see- Crelly’s arms flailed about trying to hold onto something, as a scream was cut short by gurgling in rushing water… A hand grabbed her wrist and started pulling, just as Mato pushed open the door to climb out.

“....Buwaaah…!”
The water was waist deep, yet they could stand on the muddy, soggy ground below. Mato’s hair became a black, second skin, and the sword she left the car with was nowhere to be seen again… instead, she pulled what at first looked like a green puddle of hair up out of the water, as Crelly was limp like a potato sack. 

 

“...Are you alive? ….Fucks sake.” Mato groaned, thrusting a fist into Crelly’s limp body until the cow’s eyes sprang open and a bit of water spewed from her mouth.

“UGGHH!! Sh-shiiit, no need to go all Ryona on me! Just- Just let me come to my-”
Crelly coughed in between sentences, but Mato pulled on one of her horns to bring her eye to eye… and not in a good way, as a sharp glare was found in those blue eyes.

“What the FUCK are we gonna do without a car now, Crelly?”

“Wh-wha?! I don’t know! How is that MY fault? You’re the one driving!”

“YES!! I would’ve stopped at the nearest hotel, or a McDonalds, or fuck, just spent the night in the car! I would’ve kicked the door of that Koko chick down had you told me to! But no, your sister will be taking us in! Your sister! ON THE OTHER END OF TOWN!!”

“W-WHA?! FINE! YOU COULD LEAVE!! AND LET ME BE ALONE WITH HER!!”

“SAYS THE ONE SUPPOSEDLY BEING HAUNTED BY ZEUS, AND LOOKING FOR DIVINE PROTECTION!!”

“AND?! WHAT IF I AM?! THAT'S NOT SO UNUSUAL, HE MESSES WITH LOTS OF PEOPLE! MAYBE I DIE, WHAT OF IT!?”

“WHO THE FUCK GOES AROUND ASKING FOR PROTECTION AND THEN TELLS THEIR PROTECTION TO FUCK OFF?!”

Another bolt of thunder, striking a tree not too far from them, lit up the area- and both, not just Crelly, twitched sharply at it. The way the cold water from the puddle had caused their bodies to shiver made them unaware of the rain still falling on their heads, but as Crelly’s heterochromic eyes met Mato’s blue eyes once again, their tightly clenched fists started to uncurl.

“Let… Let's discuss this another time.” Crelly finally said, pouting. “It’s not much further now. We can… retrieve the car in the morning…”

“So… Do you still want divine protection, then?” Mato replied a bit more quietly, her voice barely passing over the storm.

“Oh, shut up. I tell lots of people to fuck off, because i’m a bad bitch like that! I didn’t MEAN for you to get lost, I’m just… playing hard to get!” The cow exclaimed, as she started to climb out of the ditch- easier said than done, as the walls were made of slippery mud. To her surprise, though, her companion simply jumped up onto the concrete above and then reached out a hand to her.
A hand she took, and smiled weakly at.
“I didn’t know you were a guardian angel, Mato. You’re my divine protection now?”

“...Tch, shut up. I just said that in the heat of the moment.” She replied, pulling Crelly up to her feet before staring one last time at the upturned Prius. “...That's gonna be expensive. I’m gonna have to ask my employer for a loan… Fuck, whatever. Let’s just take a hike, my boots are full of mud.”

 

Crelly frowned, looking back at Mato a bit like a kicked puppy… only to smile, and to quickly reach around her waist to walk alongside her. She was rather quickly stopped from doing that, pushed way by an arm stronger than hers, but- Mato kept that arm on her shoulder, giving it a firm little grip.
They were friends. But not THAT kinda friends.

---

“Goodness. How long does it take her…”
Crelice the Cow was pacing around her livingroom rather worriedly, peeking at the clock at the wall every so often while she did laps around her couch. Every so often, she heard another thunderous boom, and twice now, her lights had flickered… The electrical grid was clearly under a heavy strain now that multiple power stations had failed, but for now, her lights were still on… barely.
This was not the sort of weather to take a leisurely walk. Crelly mentioned that she was with a friend, and she distinctly hoped that they brought a car of some sort- a rolling faraday cage to protect from lightning strikes would go a long way to ease Crelice’s worried mind.
Taking care of the heavily ADHD and autism stricken cow was not easy sometimes. She often just… did things without thinking, not realizing the consequences of her actions until it was far too late, and she imagined today would not be any different. But she hoped, in her heart of hearts, that she at least found someone reliable and trustworthy enough to-

Ding dong.
Crelice’s hair stood up as her body stiffened to a statue. The doorbell!
In an instant, she turned on her fishnet-wearing heels and bolted to the door, pressing the button to let them into the staircase… and a soft sigh escaped her lips as she cracked her door open just slightly to hear Crelly’s voice mumbling something as she walked up the stairs, together with another voice she was unfamiliar with. 

 

Her friend, she presumed. But if they got her safe and sound back here, then they would be welcome too… Crelice briefly shifted her weight against the doorframe, her slender hand pushing it open wider. She didn’t change clothes yet- knowing that Crelly was out there in this horrific storm made her unable to focus on anything else, and it didn’t really matter to her… why not greet a new guest while dressed in a loose, oversized T-shirt, a black skirt and a pair of fishnet stockings?
But as the steps got louder and finally began to peak, what she saw was… not what she expected at all.
Even in her current state, she was far, FAR overdressed.

“H-Hiiiii Sis…”
Crelly smiled back at her with a weak grimace, waving ever so slightly- and even just doing that, her wrinkled, soaked-through hand was dripping onto the floor. Her clothes were stained brown from mud, she was barefoot, dripping from top to bottom and had some scuffs on her arms and legs from the car crash that she hadn’t even noticed… because she was shivering from the cold, cold air rushing by.
But as much as Crelice wanted to SCREAM and ask just what the hell happened to her, the woman next to her was… equally shocking.

“Hello. Pleased to meet you, I… I don’t even know what to say. Don’t ask me how I got involved in this.” 

A tall girl… No, actually, she wasn’t that tall, she was wearing platform boots with quite tall heels. How the hell she managed to walk through the mud and the water all the way here was beyond Crelice, who knew all too well what it was like to wear boots like those… but… but then the woman wore a trench coat, a tight shirt- No, it wasn’t actually tight, just soaked through to the bone and sticking to her body. All of it colored brown, much like Crelly’s clothes.
And up there in her face… was an expression that was somehow even more tired and done with life than her own. Crelice almost found herself jealous- being a tired, mature woman was HER thing, how dare this young upstart take this away from her…?!
But apart from being absolutely covered in mud, she saw a likeminded spirit. A goth, or variant of that, given the black hair and black clothing… Quite how Crelly found the guts to talk to someone that devilishly handsome though was another question she couldn’t answer.

“W-Well.” Crelice stammered, bewildered by the appearance of the two, only to immediately stop Crelly at the door as she was about to waltz into the house. “Let me stop you right there! I’m getting a towel. Maybe two, or three actually… and THEN you step on another towel before you ruin my floor! And you-”
She pointed at Mato, somewhat suspiciously. “Take those boots off. I bet they’re full of-”

“Mud.” Mato remarked, with a sigh. “Mud I'm probably never getting out of the inner lining again. Trust me I’d be glad to take them off, as soon as I’m allowed to.”

“....Wait there.” Crelice replied with a faint frown, before rushing off to fetch the towels… and Mato had to give off a light chuckle.

“Didn’t know what to expect. But she really just looks like a mature version of you, doesn’t she?”

“Ggrrrhh..” Crelly’s face darkened, and with visible annoyance as well as worry, she gazed back at Mato, frowning. “PLEASE don’t. PLEASE don’t join the crowd trying to hit on my sister. I BEG you. It felt like it took years for me to get Koko to back off from my sister!”
To say she was on edge, agitated and even scared was to put it mindly- She was practically vibrating, shivering in fear on top of the shivering she was doing due to the cold.
Mato rolled her eyes in return and gave her a pat on the back, but that didn’t seem to do much.

“Listen. She’s a bit too old for me.” Mato muttered quietly- Lying through her teeth, and yet trying not to make Crelice hear it. It was a fine line to walk to reassure Crelly, but at the same time not get on the bad side of her would-be landlord.
“Right now I just wanna- Ah!”
The taller cow was coming back from the bathroom, her hands full of towels, and wordlessly she pushed one into Mato’s hands… then another into Crelly’s, and a third was spread out on the floor in front of them.

“Get on that. Hopefully it soaks up the worst of it.” Crelice muttered, pointing down on it as if telling a dog what to do… only to glare at Mato with a sharp gaze. “And boots off!”

The black haired girl nodded- and as soon as her hands were no longer dripping, she started unlashing the muddy shoelaces.
“Yes Ma’am.”

“Sis…” Crelly mumbled, looking like a wet poodle in more ways than one, and unable to look her in the eye. “I’m sorry for all this! It’s… Been a day. I don’t wanna be a burden, okay? I’ll help cook and-”

“NO! No, I- Listen, Crelly, I’m just glad you’re safe. I mean, my goodness, did you WALK all the way here? Wh-where are YOUR shoes? Does your friend not own a car?”

“Not anymore.” Mato grumbled, stepping on the towel after getting her socks off, only to start drying out her hair. “It’s upside down in a ditch about two miles from he-”

“WH-WHAAAAT?!” Crelice’s tired, exhausted eyes suddenly snapped open, and grabbed Crelly by her shoulders in a split second. “Crelly! Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere? My god, what the hell were you guys doing?! Wh-what have you DONE to my sister?!”
And just as quickly, an even sharper glare was thrown back at Mato.
The look of a sister who was clearly blaming her for everything that had happened, and was making the worst assumptions possible- Even Crelly pulling on her arms to try and get her to listen to reason ultimately failed.

“Sis! She’s innocent! I- It was my fault! I was distracting her while driving and then the car came off the roa-”

“Pothole, probably.” Mato shrugged, thoroughly unimpressed by Crelice’s glare, while her long black strands were starting to stick up straight from being dried out and ruffled through with a towel. “There’s also hurricane level winds outside and a visibility near zero, so you do the math. Sure, I yelled at her for it, but I don’t think it would have ended any other way regardless of what happened.”

 

“Ma… Mato…” Crelly blinked, dumbstruck for a moment to see this relative stranger stick her head out for her- and even as Crelice didn’t exactly seem to buy it, chuffing and crossing her arms over before rubbing Crelly down, she continued to stare for a few moments longer.

“....God, you two are a mess. The rain is one thing, but the mud? If you ask me, you should head straight back to the bath, as soon as possible.” The older cow grumbled, her tail flicking anxiously as she avoided touching Crelly’s filthier areas- a principle she had learned years ago already, but had rarely been so literal.

Mato nodded, stripping out of her coat to hang it up to dry.
“I wasn’t gonna ask that of you. But a bath does sound heavenly right about now. …Maybe a whiskey too if you have it. And then pizza for dinner.”
Seeing a glare from Crelice, though, she started to chuckle and grin, waving off. “Just kidding. I don’t want to be a burden, Miss.”

“...No, you’re fine. I’ll see what I can do.” The older sister remarked, mustering Mato for a moment, before giving off another sigh. “I regret asking already, but is this your… girlfriend, Crelly?”

“She wishes.” Mato replied before Crelly could even open her mouth. “We literally met today.”

Naturally, Crelly didn’t take it well, and immediately shifted to puppy dog eyes and an emotional rollercoaster right out of the book.

“Whaaaa?! But Matoooo! The bond we share together! The adventure we had! The fun! The excitement! You love me! Press one if you think I'm great and fun to be around.” 

 

“No denying that.” Mato replied with a side-eye, leaving the damp towel around her shoulders like she’d just done a workout. “But calling me your girlfriend is rich, when I don't even know your last name and we’ve literally spent like… what, four hours together?”

“I’ve heard of crazier head-over-heels stories.” Crelly smirked back at her, wiggling ever so slightly side to side… and spraying muddy water across as she was still not fully dried off, much to her sister’s disgust and dismay.

“Ugh-! Stop that! You’re spreading it around! …Miss Mato, please- Go ahead and use the bath. I’ll find something for you to wear as soon as I'm done with… this creature.” Crelice glared back at her younger sister… who suddenly seemed very perturbed and anxious, hastily looking back to Mato like a puppy about to be left by its owner.

 

“What the fu-” The black haired woman, now on Crelice’s own height without her heels, was quickly grabbed and pulled into a messy, muddy hug by Crelly as she tried to pass her on the way to the bathroom- and with surprising amounts of strength, the cow had latched on, refusing to let go or even wiggle herself loose. Even the cow’s tail was wrapping around Mato’s thigh, far more prehensile than she first thought… but with a deep, annoyed sigh, the japanese-american relented and gave Crelly a pat on the back and a ruffle of her hair.
“Jesus. Fine. Get yourself dried off and you can join me in the bath, okay? …Gonna be pretty cramped in the bathtub with two people, but…” She peeked over to Crelice, as if asking for permission or perhaps some sort of second opinion, but she only earned a blank stare as if the older cow didn’t believe what she was hearing. “...Okay then.”

“REALLYYyyyy?! ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!!! Matooooo! You’re the best! The bestest! I’m gonna behave! I’ll wash your back, and clean your hair, and and and and-”

“And you can CALM THE FUCK DOWN, for starters!”

 

---

“Ahhh…. fucks sake.”
Ten minutes later, Mato finally sank into a hot, steamy bath, her soaked and muddy clothes discarded- and, to her honest surprise, a bottle of Jack Daniels and a glass provided to her by Crelice, with the mention that “you sound like you need it after dealing with Crelly for so long”. It seemed clear to her that the mood of the older girl had shifted already, no longer blaming her for what happened to her sister but being thankful that she kept her from worse things… she’d briefly seen the way Crelice’s face bleached pale the moment she heard about Crelly’s delusions of heading to Starbucks for protection in the middle of a hurricane…
For better or worse, she seemed to have a chip on her shoulder for picking Crelly up from that adventure now. 

Mato sank deeply into the warm, incandescent water that was covered with a layer of purple foam- a lavender scent filled the air from the bath bomb Crelice had left her, only slightly overshadowed by the rich aroma of her drink.
With water nearly up to her clavicles and her arms spread out to rest on both sides of the bathtub, life was feeling okay again for the woman… any hardship could be overcome with enough peace, quiet, and a good drink.

“H-h-heyyyy, Matoooo~”
Emphasis on the quiet. The black haired girl groaned quietly into her drink as her eyes darted over towards Crelly, who was approaching her… slowly, very slowly inching forward, clearly flustering deeply and blushing up a storm as a beach towel covered her body to much the same degree that Mato’s was covered by the foam.
Her hair was still a wet, dirty mess, and her arms were visibly trembling- but one only had to look into her face to see just how nervous and insecure the mature cow really was. 

Almost cute, Mato thought, as the damp feet pitter-pattered closer.

“Hey. Come on in. Water’s warm.” She muttered, leaning back a bit for a moment, before realizing that Crelly would have no way to do so, stretched out as she was. So, with a sigh that almost sounded like regret, she pulled her legs back in and sat up until her knees- and breasts, emerged from the water.
The latter of which caused a rather strange squealing noise to emerge from Crelly’s mouth. 

 

“Uwaaaawawawawaaaaa!? Ohmygodohmygodohmygod- B-boobers? Tits? Breasts? Bouncies? A..A.a.a.a.are those P-ppppiercingsss?!!”
Crelly was staring, unabashedly staring, so much so that she didn’t notice Mato’s increasingly irritated glare- only to quickly and sharply jerk her hands up to cover her mouth, immensely red.

…dropping her towel in the process, causing an even louder squeak.
“IEEEEK?! Fuck, Fuck fuck fuck! I didn’t mean to flash you, I was just- Just gonna carefully lower myself into the water and-”

“Crelly.” Mato began, calmly, despite her twitching eyebrow. “What the fuck is the point of bathing together if you DIDN’T want to stare at me? I get that you’re a pervert. You don’t need to apologize for that… Just try to act your age, yeah?”
Granted, Mato didn’t know how old she really was- or she would’ve been quite shocked that this thirty year old woman was acting like she was twelve, but to each their own. Filian, for instance, had her own strange behaviors she’d come to know.
Peeking over to her, though… she couldn’t help but return the stare for a little bit.

All alleged issues of bodily hygiene aside, she wasn’t a bad looking woman either. Similarly busty, perhaps a bit less so than Mato but with a more chubby belly and hips- fitting for a cow, but not to the point where she was fat. It was more so a cute, soft appearance, with thick thighs, rich hips and ever so slight love handles rounding off her feminine curves, nevermind the oddity of her cow tail swishing nervously around as she slowly stepped into the water to lower herself down…
Mato tried to look away in time, but before she could find a tile on the wall far more interesting than this she learned that yes, the carpet matched the drapes. 

 

“A…Aahh…”
Crelly tried her best not to moan as she entered the warm water, but an xDc noise still escaped her lips as she sat down, her legs folded up tightly to try and remain decent next to her new friend- it was cramped, for sure, but after a day like this she didn’t exactly complain about it so long as the comfort of the warm water, the company, and a roof over her head persisted.
“Ah.. Ahem! Th-thank you.”

“...For what?” Mato raised an eyebrow, taking another sip of her drink as the light blush from the flashing earlier began to fade a little. “I didn’t do anything. This isn’t even my bathtub, so- I don’t get to decide who bathes with me.”

“No, no. For… being my friend.” Crelly smiled, her lips trembling a little bit as she hugged her knees, seemingly trying to make herself smaller to give Mato more room. “I don’t… have many, outside the Internet. I don’t go out much, so- Its- It's mostly just Koko and my Sister that keep me company…”

“Well, for better or worse, I’m not in town for long. …Well, for as long as it takes to get another rental car, and for the storm to pass so I can actually leave, I guess.” Mato sighed, leaning back a bit as she thought back to Filian, Kylee and Vedal. They’d be able to take care of themselves while she was gone, she was sure of that, but she couldn’t deny that she was a little worried. She didn’t have time to phone either one of them and ask, so…
…She paused, for a moment, before chugging her glass.
“Do you mind if I just get my phone real quick? Not to be a zoomer or anything, but I kinda need to check up on a couple people to see if they’re in trouble with this weather.”

 

“A-ahh… of course.” Crelly muttered, feeling a bit heartbroken- and instantly hugged her knees tighter, as it didn’t feel like a coincidence that Mato was getting up so quickly to leave. It was probably her, her mold, her crust, her Crilk even… but as there was a faint splash from Mato’s legs stretching out to get her phone, a couple of words caught her attention at just the right moment.

“Stay right there, babe. I’ll be right back.”
Mato didn’t think anything of it, it wasn’t the first time she jokingly called one of her friends “babe”, but- It had such a profound effect on the shy, demotivated and demoralized Crelly who suddenly looked up with shock, confusion, and a newly found self worth that not in a million years she could have ever imagined.

That, and getting up out of the tub gave Crelly a prime view of the body that had been mostly concealed by the bath bomb earlier, causing the green cow to get very, very red in an instant.
“U-Uwaahh?! Sh–shs–sh-shaaaved…!” She stammered, pink and green eye staring wide open for a brief moment.

Mato stopped halfway out of the tub, a dumbstruck expression thrown back at the cow, before she understood- and scoffed.
“...Oh for FUCKS SAKE, Crelly! Focus on washing off the mud, your hair is a mess!”

She left rather quickly, stomping out of the room still dripping to gather her phone from the coat hung up on the rack outside… Well aware that Crelly was probably staring at her ass or her tattooed back, but by this point she was past caring about that.
She might be staying here for days, if things didn’t drastically improve. She’d seen the damage the storm had caused outside through the dim headlights of the car, thanks to the street lamps going out, and so could only imagine what it was actually like during the daytime… she had to know, for one, if Vedal and Kylee were okay (Filian was NOT okay, but that seemed to be the default state for that mentally deranged woman) and also if the storm cell was at their place too, or if it was something more local.

She was not the conspiratorial type, nor did she ever believe in the greek gods, but man, there was something weird about that cow. If anyone would be cursed by the Father of Olympus, she’d be hard pressed to come up with anyone else but her.
Soon, she’d retrieved her phone, wiping it off and rubbing it on a towel as she walked back into the bathroom…

“Eheheh… Y-you’re really shameless, huh? Like, what if my Sister was outside the door, and saw you like this, and fell in love with you, and stole you away from me, and-”
Crelly sank a bit deeper into the water as she caught a glimpse of Mato who suddenly took her eyes off the phone screen and gave her a VERY weird look, to the point where she almost did want to cover herself up in front of that thirsty, thirsty cow. 

“S-Sorry…”

“It’s okay.” Mato muttered, peeking back at her phone. “I met you four hours ago, for fucks sake. Normally I don’t end up naked with someone until at least a day or two, so make your own assumptions I guess… But as far as I’m concerned, we’re not together, Crelly!”

“...So this is like a one-night-stand, then? An adventure?” The green cow wiggled smugly, pulling up her legs as Mato came back into the bathtub, her eyes focussed on the screen… only briefly rolling them.

“...So it seems like most of the rest of the states are unaffected by this, just the midwest.” She muttered, slowly sitting back down with a little bit of a wave splashing over the sides. “I’ll still make a phone call, just to be safe. My friends didn’t send me any messages- And fuck knows for how long the cellphone signal is gonna be good for, or when the power will be out and I can’t call anymore.”

Crelly nodded, her smile persisting. “Just make sure you don’t accidentally press the camera button~”

Mato shrugged. “They already saw me naked- Plus, I’m calling the landline, just to be sure.”
Giving her a glance as she pressed the call button, she paused- Waiting for someone to pick up.

“Awww, so it's a regular occurrence people get to see your titties? Damn it. I thought I was special.”

Crelly received no answer, only a look. Mato was far too preoccupied with the phone, listening to every doot, every pause… until finally, her eyes flicked, and she spoke a name Crelly would never have imagined coming across her lips.

“...Vedal? Ah, good- I wasn’t sure I’d be able to reach any of you guys. Are you safe where you are? I’m… not coming back anytime soon. Dunno if its on the news or whatever, but I’m in the middle of a-”

“HANG ON!!!” Crelly shouted, practically at the top of her lungs, and reached to grab Mato’s arm with disbelief. “You and Vedal know each other?! Fucking Vedal? Neuro’s dad? The fucking turtle i can’t escape and always shows up when I’m in the middle of embarrassing myself to the point where I wanna die and be reborn as an insignificant bug?!”

Mato stared back at her with a blank, motionless gaze, but the quiet voice on the other end of the phone’s speaker was clearly understood in the sudden, pin-drop silence of the bathroom.

“...Oh.” Vedal said with all the deflated dismay he could muster, recognizing the voice that had suddenly joined the phone call. 

He left it there, saying nothing more, until a slightly bewildered, and frankly curious Mato spoke again.

“...Should I just put the call on loudspeaker? Sounds like there’s some unresolved tension between you two, and I'm in the middle of something I have no idea of.” She muttered, glancing back at Crelly as she was the only one she could muster directly. “What I was gonna say, is that I’m not just in the middle of a fucking apocalyptic hurricane, but my rental car was wrecked, too… I knew I should’ve used my bike but that's not really practical when I was supposed to deliver something so large.”

 

“That was the right call- at the time.” Vedal replied, now louder and coming from the phone’s speaker rather than just being a whisper, though he sounded concerned. “The weather’s fine here- Cloudy and overcast, but I don’t plan on going anywhere anyway. Kylee’s been aching to go and get alcohol from the store, but she still can’t go across a whole room without stumbling, now that she refuses her crutches…”

“...And Filian can’t walk at all, I presume.” Mato muttered, earning another shocked glance from Crelly.

“FUCKING WHAAAAAAAATTT?!! You know BOTH Vedal AND Filian?! Am I just out of the loop here?! That FURBALL that dragged me in front of her entire audience to expose me as some sort of PERVERTED FREAK for looking at Vedal’s BACK?! Ohhh my god, I’m crashing out. I’m ACTUALLY Crashing out!!”

Crelly’s agitation manifested by her arms flailing about, her tail splashing out of the water, and her long green mane swishing about- all contributing to an increasingly large wet, soapy mess in the bathroom, which made Mato grimace.

“You… probably want to tone that down, or your sister is gonna-”

BOOM.
From one moment to the next, the bathroom was cast into darkness, and a familiar scent of ozone was in the air…

“Vedal? …Vedal?!”
Mato stared at the phone screen. Connection lost.
“....Fuck. There goes the signal… Crelly? We better get out of the bath before my phone loses power, too…”

 

Without hesitation, she started climbing out of the tub and using the phone, reached for the Towel as some quiet “Fucks sake” and “It was inevitable” mutters came from beyond the door. Crelice seemed to start scrambling for something, but it wasn’t clear what… Frankly, Mato didn’t care, so long as she could rub herself dry without stubbing her toe or falling over something.
After a few seconds though, she noticed Crelly wasn’t coming out of the bath.

“...Hey, you coming or not? The water isn’t gonna get any warmer. And fuck, we had enough water today for at least a week.” Mato asked, reaching a towel out to her, but Crelly didn’t move much- Instead, she pulled her legs up and hugged her knees, making herself smaller in the tub. 

 

“...My curse is spreading.” Crelly said soberly, half muffled by her own knees. The water was slowly going down and into the drain, but she didn’t move an inch, simply remaining there with a sniffle.
“I thought I'd be safe at my sister’s place, but instead I just brought my curse to her! I should’ve known better, but I only thought of myself, my own benefit, my own safety, my own wellness, my own… shit!”
A louder, wetter sniffle made Mato sigh silently.

“Come on, Crelly. It's not so bad- Lots of people have a blackout right about now, it's not just wherever you go! Its a stormfront, its bound to-”

“A stormfront conveniently focussed directly on where I am, have you noticed that?!”
They couldn’t quite see each other, but Crelly’s snot-nosed, wet and sniffling face looked back at Mato, the glistening in her teary eyes enough to let her see where she was.
“This isn’t just hyperbole! I’m not imagining it, Mato! Zeus himself has it out for me, and there’s nothing I can do about it! Everywhere I go! Everyone I talk to! People I love and care about are getting in trouble because of me, and I hate it! Mato, I just… ugh… I- I can’t deal with this! I don’t wanna be cursed anymore! I’d rather BuhFlipExplode!”

“...What? …Crelly, listen to me- Once we had a good night’s rest-”

“No! It's not just gonna go away, Mato, it's a CURSE! It's been going on for MONTHS!!”
What started out as erratic, incoherent ramblings of a crazy person had taken on a bit of a life of its own. Crelly HONESTLY believed what she was screaming about- an evil curse, an evil spell placed on her, something she had no control over but was endangering her and other people around her.
Mato sighed again, hanging up the towel and coming over to her to place her dry hands on Crelly’s wet shoulders, forcing her to look at her.

“Crelly. If it really is an evil curse- If there’s really a vengeful god out there trying to smite you- Then I promise I’ll lift that curse from you. I’ll find that god and bring him to undo this spell.”
She did her best to sound sincere and totally convinced of her own words- even as Mato was quietly wondering just how she was supposed to go about doing this, when the very notion of Crelly’s evil curse seemed to only exist in her head, plastered onto whatever evidence she could find.
…But there was a part of her that was quite honestly worried, given her own occupation and her run-ins with the occasional divinity. She’d never heard of any of the greek gods being real, but at this point, even she found it difficult to rule out their existence.

“But… But you think I'm crazy! You think this is all in my head and none of it is real and I’m just losing it!” Crelly stammered back at her, her tears wallowing up in her eyes as she struggled to contain herself. “Why would you help me?!”

“I’m sceptical, Crelly. That doesn’t mean it can’t be true.” Mato muttered, running a hand through the long green hair of the cow as she gave her a light smile. “You said it yourself! Way too many coincidences lining up one after the other. I might not believe that it's Zeus, but there’s something out there- Something that doesn’t like you. I’ll get to the bottom of it, with you.”

 

Crelly’s eyes started to lighten up a bit, and her body, by now shivering from being wet and cold, started to soften.
“Mato you- You’d help me based on a hunch?”

“Well, it’s not like I got much else to do while I wait for the roads to be cleared and whatnot…” She sighed, giving a light shrug that Crelly couldn’t actually see. “Vedal knows i’ll be late now, so-”

“Th-THANK YOU SO MUUUUCH!!”
From sitting to standing up in a split second, Crelly almost fell on the soapy wet tub but immediately threw herself at Mato, as if expecting her to catch the cow mid-fall.

“UWAGH…!” Naturally, the black haired woman stumbled and nearly fell as well as a hundred and twenty pounds of cow suddenly lunged at her- only saved by the carpet under her feet and the wall behind her back, which she hit rather harshly. “GGhnnh… y-you’re welcome! I’ve got some experience with angry gods, so be-bear with me…! Besides, we haven’t heard much from Zeus in a whi-”

KRABOOOM!!

 

Crelly fell out of the tub this time, dragging Mato down to her knees as her chest nearly touched the floor- hanging halfway over the edge with her legs dangling in the air, the scene was downright comical for Mato if it wasn’t so deeply uncomfortable.
Mato had the quick reflexes to press her hand against Crelly’s lower back, saving herself from being flung forward and getting a faceful of the cow’s ass, but she still had Crelly’s whole body weight hanging off of her shoulders.

“...That one’s on me. I jinxed it.” Mato grunted with a deep grimace, one hand trying to push them back up while Crelly’s legs kicked and squirmed wildly about.

“Koko help.” The cow simply uttered, quickly, fluidly, without any thought behind it, as her forehead touched against the floor tiles.

 

“...Crelly, Koko isn’t here. …And for what it's worth, I’m starting to actually believe you.” 

 

---

With the oven cold, the pizza was cancelled and cold snacks were served instead, but clad in warm, clean clothing that loosely fit, Mato was beginning to warm up and Crelly… just barely fit into the much tighter clothes her sister liked to wear. The difference in exercise between the two cow sisters could not be any more obvious…

For a while longer, the three women remained up- Adrenaline was running high in Crelly and Mato after the sudden lightning strike and blackout, and Crelice was busy preparing a guest bed… but as that was set up and power had still not returned, there was only one thing to do.

“Rolling initiative- 18.” Mato squinted at her dice in the flickering candlelight, only to smugly look back at Crelice with satisfaction. “That Ogre better watch out, cuz I’ve got fireballs charged and ready…”

“Roll your attack then…” Crelice muttered, glancing back at the girl, only to give her sister a little shake as Crelly was falling asleep on the table, drooling onto her character sheet. “Hey. Hey, that's not a very Paladin-like behavior of you!”

Crelly blinked.
“Wuh..? Oh, right-! Magic missile!”
She flung her dice without thinking, nearly knocking over a candle in the process, and this, if nothing else, was the final straw for an already clearly agitated Crelice.

“Alright, you’ve been up for long enough. Its bedtime, Crelly!” She said rather insistantly, slapping her hand down on the table and getting up from the game board. “Sorry, Mato, but-”

“Nah, all good. I should probably call it a night too.” The black haired one yawned, stretching her limbs and giving off a soft sigh as they lowered again. “So, about that couch…”
Crelice shook her head rather firmly, grabbing Crelly by her arm and pulling the tired cow into a stand.
“Let me stop you right there- I’m absolutely not making my guest sleep on the couch! Crelly is used to worse, so I’ll put a blanket down for her and you can sleep on the guest bed, Mato. I’ll-”

“Hang on, what?”
While Crelly seemingly already fell asleep despite standing up, Mato was quite irritated about this, even as she reached over to grab the cow from the other side. Challenging Crelice’s authority for the first time, she gave her a stern glance.
“Now hang on a minute! She had a rough day too- A rougher one than me, I’d wager- She absolutely needs a good night’s rest! I’m fine with the couch, let the girl sleep properly!”

“You’re not sleeping on the couch, Mato, forget it!”

“Then what, huh? Crelly is sleeping on the guest bed, that's final!”

“And you’re not sleeping on the couch! THAT is final!”

“WELL I GUESS IT'S GONNA BE A TIGHT SQUEEZE THEN! YOU REALLY WANNA DO THAT TO YOUR GUEST?!”

“ABSOLUTELY I WILL, BECAUSE WITHIN FIVE MINUTES YOU’LL PUSH HER ONTO THE GROUND ANYWAY!!”

Louder and louder the shouting match got, as the two women stared fiercely at each other, dragging the practically comatose cow along towards the guest bedroom- something that seemed to be an office of sorts with a hastily thrown up folding bed.
Barely enough for one person, Mato could see the problem immediately. While she’d fit somewhat uncomfortably, it would be a tight squeeze for Crelly’s thicker body, and yet…

“So what, you wanna both sleep on THAT?!” Crelice pointed at the tiny bedstead, as a final trump card to make Mato see it her way… However, she didn’t count on the woman being nothing if not spiteful.

 

“...Yes.” Mato said rather firmly, giving Crelice a glance, and finally tossing the near comatose cow onto the bed. “Goodnight. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“...Your funeral, not mine.” The older cow rolled her eyes and finally just shrugged, giving up on convincing her and instead, she simply headed out of the room to give them some privacy, closing the door behind herself.
…for a few seconds, the room was silent, as Mato sighed- Finally, some peace and quiet, or so she thought.

“...You reaaaaaally wanna sleep with me? That's kinda lewd. Press one if sleeping with me is hot. Press two if you’d rather sleep with my STINKY SISTER. Press three for a delicious Burger King Whop- UWAH!”
Crelly fell silent, more or less- the air was forced out of her lungs as Mato practically just fell on top of her, lying flat on top of the cow with her clothes left on and a tired groan coming from her lips.

“Spare me the polling, Crells. I’m tired as fuck. But I'd rather sleep on top of you rather than the semen-encrusted sofa of that cow succubus.”
She moaned, clearly tired and at the end of her wit. 

“It’s been a long fucking day. And tomorrow’s gonna be… much the same, I’m guessing. This shit ain’t over yet.”

“At least we have a roof over our head, right?” Crelly giggled, strangely happy about having Mato’s whole body weight on top of her. The desperate, thirsting cow soaked up every opportunity to be close to a woman. “But man… I really thought this place would be protected by Venus. Crelice is such a lewd woman, such a fertile breeding ground, surely the goddess of love and fertility would-”

“Lemme stop you there.” Mato scoffed, her eyes opening once more after she’d just been trying to fall asleep. “Venus is a ROMAN god, you dingus. Zeus and Poseidon are GREEK gods.”

“But they’re all the same! The Romans just gave them different names!”

“No they’re fucking not, they’re Made In Italy bootlegs! Why else would they have a literal goddess called Rome in their pantheon- And several emperors? If Nero is coming after your ass next, I think I'm gonna leave you to him.”

“Dante is a far better character than Nero.”

“...Okay you’re just fucking with me now.”

“GOD I WISH I WAS FUCKING YO- MMMggh!”
A hand finally pressed onto Crelly’s mouth to silence her before Mato would regret her decision after all.

For a few precious moments, the guest room was silent and pitch black, dark enough that Mato could not see the hand she pressed onto Crelly’s struggling, mumbling mouth, and she relaxed, sighing, lowering her head slightly… contemplating.
“I can’t entirely rule it out, Crelly. You probably meant Aphrodite, but given the two of you are cows, I'd probably sooner see you being under the guard of Hera, goddess of women, childbirth and family… whose symbol is also that of a cow.”
She chuckled slightly, feeling Crelly stiffen up a bit, and tilted her head slightly. “Is Crelice a divine agent of Hera, hmm? …Fuck, I can’t rule it out. I’m deeply intertwined with the divine myself, so I shouldn’t scoff at your worries.”

“Mmgm…BWaah!” Crelly finally managed to push her arm away, freeing her mouth and letting her take a deep breath at last, but not for long. “Hold on! What do you mean by that, Mato?! …Come to think of it, what's with the gun? I saw you with a gun while we were in the car! … A-And that big stick, that thing that looked a bit like a sword you used to push the window out, where’d THAT go?! Matoooo! Tell me! Tell metellmetellmetellme! What's going on with you?!”

 

“...You don’t wanna know.” Mato sighed, realizing she hadn’t exactly been subtle, but at the same time worrying that someone as mentally unstable and, frankly, unfit as Crelly was, would jeopardize Crelly’s own safety and expose herself to threats she couldn’t possibly face off against… or in other words, she’d become a permanent problem for Mato, much like Vedal had. The difference was that Vedal was mature and competent about it, and did everything he could to stay out of trouble, even help her with certain things on occasion… She couldn’t see the same from Crelly.

“No no no, I DO wanna know! What's with the tattoos? The Piercings? The guns? What's with the whole mysterious ‘I’m tied up with the divine’ thing? I wanna know more about you! I wanna know who’s pushing her boobs against mine!”
Crelly was far too excited to stop now- Mato’s response was confirming her suspicion, the thought that there was something special about this black haired handsome devil she picked up at a Starbucks by complete accident. 

 

“...I don’t know. Can I trust you? I feel like I can trust you, but at the same time- you’re a very, very excitable girl and you might just start babbling out secrets you really shouldn’t be talking about, Crelly.” Mato said with a sigh, giving her hair a bit of a rub. “Everyone who knows about what I am, what I do, and where can be in danger.”

“I can keep a secret. I’ve kept my sister’s looks and identity a secret from Koko, and I will take that to my grave.”
Crelly puffed her cheeks with determination, only to soften her voice a bit.
“Please. You can trust me, but can I trust YOU if you don’t tell me who I’m heading into this mess with? I took you into my sister’s home, and yet I don't know anything about you.”
She giggled. “Apart from seeing that shaved, smooth lil-

“FINE! Fine.” Mato cut in, rolling her eyes a second time, only to sigh yet again. “But you gotta promise me to make that another secret you take with you to the grave. I’m not kidding, you’ve got no idea who might come after you.”

“Okay! I can do that!” The cow was finally chipper and excited, her tail trying to wag- but it never even mentioned a wiggle with the weight of two adult women on it. “So tell me! Who are you? Wh-whats your thing, like why are you hanging out with gods and stuff?”

 

Mato sighed, only to snuggle up closer, as if she wanted to whisper in Crelly’s big floppy ear fearing someone else might hear it.
“I’m… how do I even explain this- I’m an agent of Retribution, otherwise known as the Horseman of War. Don’t be scared about that- my whole mission on this earth is to make sure that he doesn’t come here. He and his brothers should only be here when things have gone monumentally wrong and we’re in the end times because everything I, and my… colleagues, tried to do has failed to stop whatever flavor of the apocalypse happens this time of the month.”
She paused, letting that sink in for a moment, but after Crelly seemingly just gave her a blank stare, she continued.
“I’ve been created by him to keep you, Vedal, Filian… everyone I can as safe as possible from beings and events beyond your control. Now believe me, I’ve never heard of Zeus actually existing outside of myth and folklore, but if there’s any chance of him being out there…”

“Y-y-you’ll be my GUARDIAN ANGEL?!!” Crelly squealed with childish delight and tightly squeezed the black haired girl, who in turn was quickly having some regrets and second thoughts about her decision to open up like this.

“NO! I mean- I’m not an angel! I’m literally not! I’m just a girl with some… well- I was gonna say powers, but even that is overselling it… I’m more like Batman, I guess?”

“Batman is hot too.” Crelly added with a smug undertone to her voice. “I like that. You can be my Batman, bad girl.” 

 

“Crelly- CRELLY!” Mato exclaimed, finding all four limbs of the cow as well as her tail wrapping around her body for a tight cuddling hug, but after resisting for a few moments long, she finally just sighed, and gave up. She was too tired to fight her at this point, and if it gave her some comfort to think like this, then maybe it was fine to leave her to those delusions for the time being.
…However, what worried her a lot more was the idea that there might be something to this curse she kept mentioning. Mentally, she took note to ask around… maybe her colleagues might know something about this. She didn’t exactly feel like she should ask the old man about something that had nothing to do with her mission and was little more than a distraction, but… at the same time, if it was true and Zeus cursed this woman for some reason, then she had to take this seriously.
And do everything in her power to keep her safe.

At least she wouldn’t have to play-pretend around her anymore. 

 

---

“Ughhhn….”
Mato sat at the breakfast table with her third coffee in hand, slowly blinking as the dawn broke. The power was still gone, but Crelice had managed to get coffee going with a small gas-powered stove. Unfortunately, this also meant that her phone, now out of battery, was unable to be charged… while Crelly’s somehow still ran, although just barely.

“Oh my GOD this woman…! Koko sent me a message. Koko! Sent me a message! She apologizes and asks what I wanted. Grrrrrrrr….!! Nevermind. It's no longer important, Koko.”
Crelly grumbled, pressing the send button, only to frown and look at the measly signal reception she got. Clearly, the few cell towers currently working were trying their hardest, but…

BOOM!!

The hurricane had anything but passed. It was still rattling the windows occasionally, it was still raining heavily-although now, with a little bit of light, a look out the window showed the amount of flooding and devastation the storm had caused so far.
They wouldn’t have come much further with a car. 

A car… that they had to leave behind in a ditch.

“Mmhh.. Fuck. I just realized I was supposed to return my rental today.” Mato grumbled, half of the words being directed at her coffee rather than the room. “I can’t even call them and tell them that thats not happening- Huh?”

Crelly, without hesitation, thrust her phone at her, a smile on her lips and a phone app open.
“Use mine! Agh, just- Use it for the time being, really! I don’t mind! It's the least I can do! Tee-hee~ I still can’t believe I’ve got a guardian angel~!”

“...Please be quiet about that, Crelly…” Mato sighed, but accepted the phone with a nod and a forced smile. “I’ll ask around and see who can help, too.”
Before she could dial the first number though, another cup of coffee appeared on the table- courtesy of Crelice, who gave her a wry smile and a roll of her heterochromic eyes.

“I told you it was a bad idea to cram yourself into that tiny bed. She didn’t let you sleep, did she? …Was it a good time, at least?”
A dark chuckle and a devious grin appeared on the older cow’s features, but Mato glared back at her and flipped her middle finger up at her, inciting a full-fledged laugh from Crelice moments later.

“She doesn’t even consider me fuckable. But that's okay! I don’t mind, so long as YOU aren’t fuckable in her book either! Hmph!” Crelly puffed her cheeks and shook her head, determined to look defiant and happy about the way things ended up being- while Mato was already typing in the first number.
Seeing how she would be busy for a while though, Crelly started to head over the livingroom window to look outside, and… frowned.
Crelice followed her closely, and placed a hand on her shoulder, seeing the visible dismay on Crelly’s face.

“The basement is flooded, but I made sure to move everything important up and out of the way first.” She said quietly, trying to give Mato some privacy to make calls. “The front door is also locked shut- Not sure if it's some debris holding it shut, if it's the flooding water or if the storm damaged it, but you two aren’t getting out that way I’m afraid. And there’s more.”
She took Crelly over to the kitchen, only to point to the fridge- with a frown.
“You know what happens to refrigerated goods when the fridge no longer works? Yeah. Dinner will be a feast for sure, and after that… We’re down to cans, if the power doesnt come back soon.”

“...I understand.” Crelly muttered, her head hanging with despair as her green hair covered her face. “I’m leaving after breakfast, and- try to take this curse elsewhere. You’ve suffered enough, Sis, I-”

Crelice stared at her, grabbing her cheeks and forcing her to look her in the eyes.
“What the fuck are you talking about? I was asking you to go shopping if you can find a store that isn't flooded!”
Slowly, the big sister saw that the little sister began to understand, and to calm down- So much so that she gave her a pat on the head.
“You don’t need to leave or run away, Crelly. Stay as long as you need to… You’re family. And even if your friend is a bit rude to me, she’s earned the right to stay here too if she kept you safe this long.”

“Oh! Oh, so we’re just gonna go grocery shopping! Gotcha! …But uh, how?”

“OH SURE LETS JUST GO SHOPPING IN THE MIDDLE OF A FUCKING HURRICANE.”
Mato had hung up the phone and joined the two women, slurching across the floor barefoot and in an oversized T-shirt, glaring with frustration and agitation. “So let’s see, how do we do that?”

Crelice already winced and moved away, mumbling something about “Making the beds” before rushing out of the room, but Mato was just getting started, grabbing Crelly by the shoulders to vent her frustration.
“We could climb out of the window and wade through knee-deep water and continuing rainfall! I loved doing that yesterday, let's do it again! …Or, better yet, I’ll ask my partner Vicky to bring me a pickup truck that can handle this rainfall- I’m sure she’ll be here by tomorrow in these conditions! Or I could move through my sanctuary to get home, grab my bike and come back here- I’m sure its gonna LOVE eating fucking muddy water through the air intake!”

 

“Whaa…?! …What? Sanctuary? What sanctuary? Mato?” Crelly babbled, deeply confused and shaken- quite literally, as Mato shook the cow back and forth as she unloaded her frustration rapid-fire like this- but this suddenly stopped, as Crelly spoke those words and seemingly nudged something loose in Mato’s mind.

“...You’re right. Fuck, why didn’t I think of that? It's… Not exactly subtle and I might have to fill Crelice in on what I’m gonna do, but…”
It was as if a cloud was lifted off of her mind. Being tired and sleep deprived had made her unable to see the forest among the trees, but with newfound confidence, she let go of the cow and gave her a big, determined grin.
“Crelly… I’m gonna take you to my sanctuary. My pocket dimension- My home away from home. And from there we’ll pay Ved and Filly a visit, I suppose… I really don’t suppose we’ll have any luck finding groceries in this state anymore.”

“Ooooooooh I’d love to visit Filian! I have a few… bones to pick with that woman.”
Crelly’s initial excitement turned into a deep glare- clearly, she had not taken the prank calls and unnecessary exposure well.

“...Okay, the girl’s literally in a wheelchair right now, so… Be nice.” Mato muttered, only to grab Crelly by the shoulder and pull her along. “CRELICE! ME AND CRELLY ARE GOING OUT! BE BACK LATER!!”

That got the older cow’s attention- The whole time she had been trying to lay low and let Mato vent off steam, but… Going out? In a long T-shirt and nothing else?
“...Wait, what?! MATO!? H-how are you going to…?!”

Crelice turned the corner, following what she figured would be a rush to the door, but…

Both Crelly and Mato were gone, vanished into thin air.