A Lewd Cultivator in Brockton Bay 6: Testing (Patreon)

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A Lewd Cultivator in Brockton Bay
Chapter 6: Testing

-VB-

If a couple of women showed up at my door with no warning, then I would have looked at them and then shut the door on them immediately if I didn’t like the first sentence out of their mouths. This applied doubly so for men.

Especially the well dressed men with suitcases or books or whatever. 

Unfortunately for me, the two women who’d shown up with Amy at my door were anything but strangers for the sole fact that they were Amy’s family. They had also arrived at such a timing that made me a little nervous.

It hadn’t been long since Amy and I decided to be a couple, after all. 

“Hello,” I greeted them. “Ms. Dallon and Mrs. Dallon. Would you like to come inside?”

“We would,” Carol Dallon said imperiously. I stepped aside and the three women walked into my house, where I told them to take their shoes off. They did, and they entered my living room. All four of us sat down on the couches and chairs in my living room. 

“Hello, I am Alan Marris. You two must be Carol and Victoria, yes?”

“Yup!” Victoria said while Carol merely nodded. Rude bitch.

While Carol focused on the furniture, house, and decorations, Victoria focused on me. 

“So you’re the parahuman that Amy is trying to convince to go out,” Victoria Dallon huffed while looking at me up and down.

Out? Like a date out? 

I glanced at Amy, who rolled her eyes.

“I’m trying to convince him to get out there and be a hero. He’s a Brute 4 at the very least.”

“Brute 3,” I objected.

Carol focused on me. Just like Victoria, she looked at me up and down before settling on meeting my eyes. 

“Amy told us that you weren’t sure of your ability to fight by yourself against the villains. Why not join the Protectorate then?”

That one was easy to answer. “The Protectorate isn’t concerned about the city, only the upkeep of parahumans for the coming Endbringer battles.”

That caught Victoria off guard while Carol seemed to be … approving? Huh.

“What? They’re heroes!” the blond Dallon retorted. “Of course, they are trying to help the city!”

“Individuals might, but an organization as a whole has a different goal,” I replied as I leaned back into the couch. “And Endbringers are the Protectorate’s reason for existence.”

“But they’re heroes,” she stressed the world.

“There is no such thing as a hero, only those who use their power for directly selfish or indirectly selfish reasons.”

Victoria looked at me with a quirked eyebrow before turning to her sister. “You haven’t corrupted him, have you? That sounds a lot like what you tell me once in a while.”

This time, it was my turn to be surprised. “Oh? You’ve been telling others about how I feel about the world, Amy?”

Amy grunted nad didn’t meet my eyes, which only caused me to grin mischievously. 

“How did you two meet?” Carol asked succinctly. 

I looked at her and saw the paranoia in her eyes. Mistrust. Was it odd that I didn’t feel nervous with such emotion laid against me, only annoyed?

Maybe it was because I knew Carol Dallon’s true issue.

“I’d like to say that I met her at the hospital, but that would be a lie,” I replied. “I met her on the streets when she was heading towards the hospital for her volunteer shift. I hadn’t recognized her then, so I asked her what was wrong.” I grinned. “She realized I didn’t recognize her and decided that it wouldn’t hurt to rant to a stranger.”

Amy blushed. “Alan…!” she hissed in warning.

Victoria giggled.

Carol - the soccer mom of all soccer moms, the Karen of all Karens, a cape with an issue bigger than Gilgamesh’s ego - rolled her eyes. 

Huh.

“Hey, so what’s your power?”

I quirked an eyebrow. “Now, I might not be well versed in cape culture, but isn’t the very fact that the two of you decided to visit me in my civilian identity not a breach of those rules?”

Carol looked unrepentant. “I’m only doing this to look out for my daughter. New Wave already had a similar issue that led to the death of one of our members.” She tilted her head. “So when we heard that she’s been in contact with an unknown cape…”

The words unsaid were accusations so much as explanations. 

Are you a Master? 

Shrugging, I stood up. “Alright, let’s have a light spar then. Should show you what exactly I can do, right?” 

Earn your proof.

Carol stood up with a clear desire to pummel me in her eyes. 

“Very well.”

I will make you stay away from Amy.

I snorted as I opened the door to the basement and led the ladies down there. 

-VB-

Victoria Dallon
Glory Girl

Vicky was a little surprised by her mom’s blunt approach to this guy.

‘I mean sure, he looks like a drunk, but that’s no reason to go for a beatdown right off the bat!’ she thought in alarm.

The three of them were more than enough for most cape, and Amy told them that he wasn’t a Master or Tinker, so there wouldn’t be a workshop down here. 

Right?

… Anyways, Amy did tell them that this guy was a Brute, so whatever was below had to be some sort of training ground.

And what she found at the bottomost basement floor was exactly that: a tall and wide training ground.

Mom summoned a pair of spears.

And this guy, Alan, decided to face her with just his fists. 

De faq?

“Amy, is your friend an Alexandria package?” she whispered to her sister. 

Honestly, it was a little awkward to learn that her sister had a crush on her, but they worked over it. Right?

“Kind of,” Amy grumbled as she sat down on a bench that was conveniently there. Vicky decided to sit down next to her. 

“So when were you going to tell us about this guy? How long have you known him?” 

“I’m not telling you that.”

“So what are the rules?” Alan asked.

“Non-lethal, but nonstop until someone’s on the knees or on the back.”

Wow, mom. Hardcore, much?

Alan shrugged. “Sure,” he said and then pulled his shirt off.

And oh boy oh boy oh mama. Those were some chiseled muscles.

“Amy~! Why did you keep this guy a secret?!” she whispered with wide eyes. “He’s a beef cake!”

Amy grunted again, which was … odd. Her sister was normally very responsive to her.

There was a few moments of pause as the two of them stared at each other before mom moved first. She thrusted quickly with her spears, and Alan…

He parried them with his hands.

Mom jumped back before switching her weapons to a pair of axes. Then she got back in, expertly swinging to injure but not maim Alan.

This … was getting a little bit serious.

Alan stepped away from each strike effortlessly while his arms and hands deflected and parried what he couldn't dodge with ripples of muscles. 

Victoria sighed. She wished Dean had muscles like those.

“Don’t you dare use your Aura on him,” Amy mumbled.

She looked at her sister in shock. She would never!

Mom sped up.

Alan kept up.

Mom got a little vicious with her attacks.

Alan counterattacked with a single palm thrust to mom’s stomach, sending her flying across the basement. She hit the floor with her back, and that was the end of the spar.

“Whew. You’re vicious, Mrs. Dallon,” Alan said with a grin and a light sheen of sweat which only served to glisten his body. “Are you satisfied that I can keep Amy safe when she’s around?”

Mom dismissed her weapons and got up, dusting herself. She glared at Alan for a moment before nodding. “Yes.”

“Cool.”

“I will allow you and Amy to date each other on one condition.”

Victoria choked. Wait, what?!

“Oh, so you found out?”

“It wasn’t too hard to see from how Amy shifted when she talked to me. I am a lawyer, and a part of that has to do with reading the body language of all of my clients and others.”

Vicky gawked and looked at Amy, who was blushing and covering her face.

“What is that condition?”

-VB-

Carol Dallon
Brandish

She didn’t trust this man. He was too experienced. Too strong. She was fighting at her max capacity - or as max capacity as movement restricting civilian clothes could be - and yet he put her down with a single attack.

He reminded her of Marquis if not for one thing.

He drank. She could faintly smell it on him. He also drank a lot. The trash can in the kitchen had been filled to the brim with beer cans, and all of them were of the same brand and same package. 

He wasn’t the cool and collected villain like Marquis or her kidnappers. He was a loose cannon. 

She doubted that Vicky - now that her daughter knew about this man - or Amelia would stay away from him even if she told them to. That’s just how teenagers worked. 

No, she had to force a situation to keep this man in sight at all times, but the fact that he was already dating Amy without having been notified?

That irked her.

She was just going to make it seem like she knew about it. 

“You will join New Wave.”

She could hear Vicky shout in shock from the corner of the basement, but her eyes were on this man.

“Sure.”

Utterly dismissive. 

She gritted her teeth but didn't say anything else. “Then Victoria and I will be leaving. Let’s go, Victoria!” 

“Mom, w-wait!” Victoria chased after her as she made her way out of this man’s house.

-VB-

Amy and I remained down in the basement, a little embarrassed and uncertain. Seeing her discomfort, I decided to do my job as her boyfriend. 

I walked over to the bench and sat down next to her. She looked at me, trying to figure out what I was trying to do. That quickly changed into indignant shout when I held her by her sides, lifted her up, and set her down on my lap sideways. 

Then I wrapped my arms around her, keeping her tightly in a warm embrace.

“Well, your mom’s okay with us.”

She mumbled a bit before quieting down. A moment later, she leaned into me and closed her eyes.

“Yeah.”

We sat there like that. 

“... You’re not going to try anything right?”

Confused, I pulled back a little to look at her.

“What?”

“Now that we’re officially boyfriend and girlfriend, you aren’t going to try anything that I don’t want under that pretense, right?”

What could she be thinking of…? 

“You mean something lewd?” I stressed the word and Amy blushed a little.

“Y-Yeah, that.”

“Nothing that you don’t want.”

“Then … if I say that I-I want to kiss you?”

I leaned forward and met her forehead with mine. “Then I’ll kiss you.”

“I-If I want to go a step further?”

“I’m certain there are videos out there that we get us all hot and bothered. Why? Do you want to try something new now that we are officially a couple?”

“... Yes.”

“Then let’s start with a date. We can go out for a dinner, movies, hold hands, and -”

She slapped me on the shoulder as she grew more and more embarrassed, but she certainly looked happy at the thought of a date. 

“I want to go to Makovichi’s.”

I paused. Makovichi’s was a rather expensive restaurant in Boardwalk. 

But it was going to be our first date, too. 

“Sure,” I said with a smile even as I felt my wallet burn metaphorically in my mind. 

Whatever. Anything for Amy, right?