They had barely left the parking lot before several police cars rushed past them and into the Walmart parking lot. Their lights weren't on, but there were five separate cars. Harmony was pretty sure they didn't drive in packs like that unless they were on the hunt for someone.
"Looks like they've got someone at their department watching social media," her mother commented with a frown. "I suppose we left just in time."
"I'm surprised they didn't recognize our car," Harmony said in surprise. "They must have a record of it by now."
"Yeah, that's true," her mother agreed, glancing back at Rhapsody in the rearview mirror. "Or maybe we're just invisible."
Harmony gave her mother a level look. "You say the oddest things sometimes."
Her mother nodded agreeably. Harmony looked at her more closely as she drove. Unless her eyes were playing tricks on her, the gaunt cheeks and haggard appearance Harmony had grown used to seeing on her mother was absent. She actually looked healthy.
"How are you feeling," Harmony asked curiously. "You seem better than I've seen you in years."
Her mother sighed happily, a pleased smile on her face. "I feel better than I've felt in years. It makes the world a whole lot more beautiful when pain's not coloring everything a dull grey."
"Oh, that's wonderful, Mom!" Harmony exclaimed with a radiant smile as relief flooded her system. "I've been so worried about you, especially without your medication."
"There aren't words to describe how grateful I am to feel so wonderful," her mother marveled, staring into the rearview mirror with tears in her eyes and gratitude in her smile.
Harmony glanced back in time to see Rhapsody wink at her mother. Aurora had taken one of her hands in both of hers, while Serenity had claimed the other. Rhapsody smiled at her, expressive lips quirking to one side as she shrugged her shoulders. Harmony felt her lips smiling back at the arrested woman before her brain had a chance to give the command.
Rhapsody had been the most wonderful thing that happened in her nieces' lives since their mother died; maybe ever. Harmony felt warmth spread out from her center as she watched the three of them. Rhapsody seemed to have a natural affinity for children, showing a patience and gentleness that warmed Harmony's heart to witness.
The hour-long drive back to their house was peaceful. Harmony couldn't help thinking it was like the calm before the storm. She felt a sense of guilt at the trouble she was causing Rhapsody. The beautiful woman had been defending Harmony when all of this nonsense started. She couldn't help feeling responsible for embroiling the other woman in her troubles. She should have been more adamant about leaving David to them. Of course, she would be dead if Rhapsody had left them to fend for themselves. She knew that, intellectually, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling like she had failed Rhapsody in some manner.
She wished she could have spent some time learning things like self-defense and gotten serious with martial arts. The problem was that when push came to shove, she just couldn't bring herself to actually harm someone, even in a controlled setting. She had tried a martial arts class once and realized she couldn't stand to see someone get hurt, let alone be the one who hurt them. She was cursed with an overpowered sense of empathy and couldn't stop herself from feeling the pain of others. Places like hospitals were her worst nightmare. She had a defective imagination and couldn't stop herself from imagining what the pain must feel like, so much so that she felt the pain herself. She had visited an ER years ago so that she could better describe the atmosphere in one of her novels. It had been a mistake. There had been a child with a broken wrist who was rushed in while she wandered the waiting area. The bone had been sticking out of his wrist, along with part of the muscle. The child had been screaming so loud that she thought her ears would bleed. As she stared in horror at the bone and muscle jutting out, her mind immediately decided to imagine what it must feel like. She still flinched at the remembered pain the experience had triggered. It had been an embarrassing twenty minutes as she tried to reassure a nurse that she wasn't actually hurt. Tears had streamed down her face as she cradled her arm, making it hard for the nurse to believe that she was unharmed. He had looked at her like she had two heads when she explained what had happened.
Seeing her mother in constant pain was a draining experience. Her mother was well aware of her defective brain and went to great lengths to hide her pain. She had eventually convinced Harmony to see a neurologist. After some testing, she was diagnosed with mirror-touch synesthesia and told that she should avoid places where people experienced pain, such as ERs and violent contact sports.
So, she was stuck being a liability, helpless to protect the ones she loved from the villains of the world, like David. The only time she hadn't experienced the pain of another was when Rhapsody had wrecked David. Was that because of her hatred of the man? Had she lost all sense of empathy for him due to her dislike, thereby overriding her brain's twisted way of looking at the world?
She wasn't sure if the same disorder was responsible for her pleasure centers, but it seemed likely. Reading a steamy romance novel was usually enough to send her over the edge all by itself. She had learned to avoid watching movies that had any kind of action and romance. Between the pain from the frequent violence and the pleasure from the intimate scenes, non-animated movies were one of the more embarrassing experiences she avoided at all costs. She didn't experience the same level of empathy for animated movies. Apparently, her brain didn't identify as well with animations.
"I'm a little worried about the girls when they return to school," Harmony told her mother worriedly. "If we're about to get thrust into some kind of social media spotlight, I'm concerned about how the other kids might interact with them."
"I don't know about that," her mother answered with a reassuring smile. "They might just be the center of attention for a while and experience a little popularity. Having a mysterious famous aunt and even more mysterious powerhouse of a friend could be a good thing for them."
Harmony stared out the window doubtfully as trees flashed by the side of the road. From what she remembered of high school, popularity turned people into self-absorbed asshats who were willing to do whatever the rest of the cool crowd suggested to maintain their status.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the chirping of her phone. She glanced at the callerID, almost sending it to voicemail before she saw her agent's name. She groaned, wondering what new surprises awaited.
"Hello?" Harmony answered the phone cautiously. She felt a moment of paranoia. What if someone had spoofed the phone number and it wasn't really her agent?
"Hi, Harmony," Jason greeted her in a cheerful tone. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"
"We're currently in-between bad times right now," Harmony replied dryly. "What's up?"
"Well, I was just curious about all the hype on social media," he said carefully. "I hate to be the one to have to tell you, but your anonymity has been compromised. I just saw a viral video of you in a Walmart telling your niece that you use a pen name so that people won't know who you really are. I'm not sure it would have gone viral enough to matter if you hadn't been with this Rhapsody character as well. I'm not really sure what to believe with all of the claims on social media, so I thought I would just call and get the story straight from the horse's mouth. Not that you have a horse's mouth, of course."
"If you saw the videos, you should know everything that I know," Harmony sighed in frustration. "Damn those cops."
"Well, for a start, who is this Rhapsody person that beat up your brother-in-law?" Jason asked curiously. "All we see in the video is that she's at what I assume is your house, and that she has god-tier fighting skills."
"She's just my neighbor, Jason," Harmony told him simply. "She was doing what any good neighbor would do, lending a helping hand for a neighbor in trouble."
"What about the human trafficking incident earlier today?" Jason asked skeptically. "Were you just being good neighbors again?"
"Yes, actually," Harmony confirmed firmly. "We were going to town to do some shopping when we received that amber alert. We decided to go to the beach while we were at the coast and just happened to pass the house where that girl was taken. Rhapsody saw her as we were passing by and decided to try and help. You know how quickly an abduction can turn into a homicide. She didn't want to risk somebody getting killed before the cops arrived, so she took action."
"And therein lies the mystery that has made these videos so viral," Jason told her expectantly. "Taking your brother-in-law apart was mind-blowing, but still plausible. Storming a house with over twenty armed gunmen and killing all of them without a weapon, then bringing a girl back to life-- those are things that go beyond the realm of good neighbors and into the realm of supernatural."
Harmony laughed in delight. "Are you really falling for all of the hype, Jason? You're an agent for fiction authors. Surely you recognize the line between reality and fantasy when you hear it, don't you? I haven't seen the videos, but I can assure you that there is a totally logical reason why a girl might have appeared dead and then appeared to come back to life later. And as far as twenty gunmen, I don't see how the numbers change very much since they were in a house. It's not like they were in a big open courtyard with all of them training their guns on her."
"When you explain it like that, it does seem a little more prosaic," Jason admitted slowly. "I don't know, maybe you're right, and this is all just the normal hysteria that the internet excretes like a slug."
"Thanks for that visual, Jason," Harmony said weakly.
"On the bright side, you had a massive spike in book sales due to all of the publicity," Jason told her with obvious enthusiasm. "I got a call from Brian at the publisher. He was trying to get me to enlist your help in capitalizing off all the publicity. I told him you had already done the hard work by getting him those viral videos, so to speak."
"I'm still freaking out inside at the loss of my anonymity," Harmony admitted in a quiet voice.
"I'm really sorry it worked out like this, Harmony," Jason sighed regretfully. "I don't know what your expenses look like, but I would suggest a fenced in property with lots of surveillance and alarm systems. Some nice big dogs wouldn't hurt either. That should take care of anyone tenacious enough to get past the fences."
"They'd have to get past Rhapsody first," Aurora called out from the back seat with a confident grin. "And that's never going to happen."
"I believe it," Jason laughed easily. "Well, I better let you go. I just wanted to get a bead on what was going on. I'm kind of embarrassed that I actually fell for internet hype like this."
"Anytime you want a nice, cold splash of skepticism, you know who to call," Harmony told him dryly. "Goodbye, Brian."
"You know, if you ever get tired of authoring, the government will probably hire you to provide explanations to things like UFOs and other unexplained phenomena they don't want the public to believe in," her mother commented with an amused smile. "You could have had him doubting that the sun rises in the east with a little more time."
"Nonsense," Harmony retorted with a frown. "I'm just reminding him to stay grounded and look for simple explanations instead of fantastical explanations. Occam's Razor."
"I think it's going to graduate to Harmony's Razor in the near future," her mother predicted dryly.
"Or she'll reverse direction, and it will be called Harmony's Epiphany," Rhapsody suggested, a mysterious smile on her lips.
They were almost home when Harmony remembered they would need to drive to Rhapsody's house to deliver the equipment they had purchased for her.
"Rhapsody, where do you live?" Harmony asked curiously, excited to hopefully see her mysterious neighbor's house.
"I'll drop her stuff off when she leaves," Harmony's mother offered quickly, not looking over at Harmony. "I have to go back to my house tomorrow morning anyway. You should spend the time until then getting her set up on the computer and trying it out."
Harmony frowned as she stared at her mother. Why didn't she want Harmony to see her house? Had Rhapsody told Harmony's mother something that she thought would disturb Harmony? She turned in her seat to look back at Rhapsody questioningly. Rhapsody stared back at her blandly, her face giving nothing away.
"Is there a reason you don't want me to see her house?" Harmony asked her mother pointedly, narrowing her eyes as she waited for an excuse.
"Did you want to go drop Rhapsody off right now?" her mother returned with an amused expression. "I just thought you might want to spend a little more time together."
Harmony's face flushed at the thought of more time with her goddess. Her imagination went on a joyride as it imagined the possibilities. She started seeing strange spots in her vision before her mother finally reminded her to breathe.
"I guess that answered my question," her mother chuckled wryly. "We need to get you something akin to a pacemaker that reminds you to breathe when it detects you going too long without a breath."
"I eventually remember," Harmony muttered in embarrassment, not daring to look back at what she was sure would be a smirking Rhapsody. "I just have to start seeing spots for a minute."
They pulled into the long driveway that led to her house and Harmony felt another thrill of excitement. She could finally be closer to Rhapsody than a car-length away.
As soon as they were out of the car, Rhapsody walked over and jumped into her arms, grinning mischievously. Harmony felt a flood of passion explode in all the right places as she stared into Rhapsody's tinted glasses, then down at her luscious lips. They looked so soft and red, and so kissable.
"Remember the new rule," Rhapsody told her playfully. "Hugs any time of day or night, anywhere."
"I'm a slow learner," Harmony gasped in a breathy voice. "So it might take me a long time to get this physical contact thing down."
"I'm a patient teacher," Rhapsody assured her, lips curving up slightly. "And we have more time than you could possibly imagine."
"Oh, you're going all mysterious on me now, huh?" Harmony stared at the tinted glasses, wishing she could see the beautiful eyes behind them.
"The real mystery is right in front of me," Rhapsody told her softly, her lips moving so enticingly. "You really are a puzzle to me, Harmony Fay Conifer."
"Me?" Harmony blinked in surprise, then laughed ruefully. "There's no mysteries here. I'm about as boring and plain as it's possible to get."
"Is that so?" Rhapsody murmured quietly. She brought a hand up to her own cheek and slowly drew a pattern on it with slow, sensual strokes. Harmony felt her synesthesia react to the other woman. The sensation of soft fingers drawing on her cheek sent a shiver down her spine. Her lips parted and her heartbeat increased as the mirrored sensation woke up the sleeping beast within her.
Rhapsody stopped drawing on her cheek and the sensation on Harmony's cheek vanished. "You don't seem boring to me, Ms. Conifer," Rhapsody spoke in a voice full of fascination as she studied Harmony. "I've never seen anyone like you. And you are absolutely not plain." She finished with a derisive snort, investing the word with disdain.
Harmony stared at Rhapsody in shock. Had Rhapsody figured out that she had a broken brain? Panic filled her thoughts as she began imagining the inevitable disgust Rhapsody would feel when she discovered just how broken her brain was. She had been falling under the beautiful woman's spell as the idea of being with someone special overruled her reason. She had just wanted to experience something wonderful; something impossible. Now, as she remembered the reason she had never been able to experience relationships before, she realized that she had been deluding herself over the last few days. She felt like she had swallowed a glass full of mercury as a heavy weight settled into her stomach. She blinked rapidly as her eyes grew watery, and she hurriedly attempted to release Rhapsody and make a run for it. The other woman's legs held her captive, however.
The smile was gone from Rhapsody's face, replaced by a look of concern. She grabbed the sides of Harmony's face with both hands, forcing her to look into her glasses. She could see the small woman's large eyes faintly through the tinted glasses, as if the tint had somehow lessened. Those large eyes stared into her own intently as Rhapsody held her face firmly.
"I'm not letting you get away that easily," Rhapsody told her in a firm but gentle voice. "Don't give up on something wonderful before it has a chance to happen out of fear. I'm not exactly normal either, you know? Give two misfits a chance to find happiness, okay?"
Harmony stared into those impossibly large eyes, mesmerized. The tinted glasses made her irises look violet and vibrant. Even as faint as they appeared, Harmony was entranced with how beautiful they were. More beautiful than she had imagined. They stared into her soul, begging to be given a chance. Harmony felt her heart rate increase again as she dared to imagine opening her heart all of the way up and giving it a chance. The thought terrified her so much that her knees began to shake. She didn't think she could survive the pain of a broken heart, not with the way her heart worked. She stared into Rhapsody's gorgeous eyes fearfully, unable to commit but unwilling to walk away from what she knew would be her only chance for love in life.
"I love you, Harmony," Rhapsody whispered, her eyes showing a vulnerability that twisted a knife in Harmony's soul. "I've spent so much time getting to know you through your books, but it couldn't prepare me for just how amazing you are in person. Please, Harmony. Please give me a chance."
Harmony shivered as the naked hope in Rhapsody's voice and pleading eyes held her soul captive. She could see how much walking away would hurt the small woman. She realized that she would risk anything to keep the beautiful woman free of that kind of pain, even her own heart.
She slowly nodded as tears leaked down her cheeks. She would try, for Rhapsody. Her heart fluttered with sudden excitement as she finally stepped over the edge of the metaphorical cliff and began her freefall into unknown skies.
Rhapsody's sudden smile was radiant, flooding Harmony with happiness. She felt a wave of dizziness from the whiplash of emotions. She had almost run away from this divine creature. She would have withered like a dying plant and faded away if she had given up this chance, knowing it was only going to come once.
Rhapsody stared into Harmony's eyes as she slowly leaned forward until her lips were touching Harmony's. She felt a lightning bolt of passion explode within her heart as she closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss. Rhapsody's lips were even more pleasant than she had imagined. So soft and sensual, still expressing so many emotions even as they explored her own lips. She let out a low moan but didn't even notice as the passion shut everything else down. She felt the synesthesia flood her mind with sensations as she experienced the kiss from both sides. She whimpered as the overload of sensations pushed her closer to the edge.
Rhapsody pulled back before she got too close. The feather-light woman leaned back and smiled with an expression of euphoric joy, staring into Harmony's eyes delightedly.
"I must have done something right in my last life to end up with you," Rhapsody murmured silkily. She looked down at Harmony's lips and then back up to her eyes. She looked around and a wry smile appeared on her face.
Harmony had been seeing in tunnel vision for the last few minutes, unaware of the world around them. She finally returned to reality and noticed her mother and nieces watching them. Her mother had tears in her eyes and a look of joy on her face. Her nieces just looked like they were there for the show, watching with interest.
"Maybe we should continue this in a more… private setting," Rhapsody murmured quietly, a dimpled smile suddenly on her face. "In the meantime, I want to play with the stuff you purchased today. Let's go set it up and have some fun!"
Harmony laughed indulgently at the excitement in Rhapsody's voice. She felt like Operation Reciprocation was a success. More than that, she felt like her life might move into a chapter she had marked off-limits. Her fear was still present, fear that the other woman would lose interest when she came to know the real Harmony.
She had found a place of happiness in life before she had met Rhapsody, living through the characters of her novels. She had thought it would be enough. It would have been enough, before she had a taste of what could be, if only she dared to step over that proverbial ledge. Now that she had that taste, a return to living through her characters would be hollow and unfulfilling. She craved contact with Rhapsody like a preacher craved meaning.
Harmony followed Rhapsody over to the car to start unloading equipment, feeling rippling waves of tingles course through her body as she finally unlocked the part of herself that she had hidden away deep in her soul.
Rhapsody picked up the keyboard and amplifier like they weighed nothing. It was a full sized keyboard with weighted keys and wasn't light. Harmony marveled at how someone so small of stature could be so damn strong. She found it extremely attractive.
"Did you try to do a runner, Aunt Harmony?" Serenity asked her quietly as she helped Harmony gather the cords, mixer, and laptop box.
Harmony couldn't look at Serenity when she answered, feeling a growing sense of embarrassment at having put such an emotional show on in front of her nieces and mother. "Yeah, I did," she admitted guiltily.
"Why would you run from Rhapsody?" Serenity asked with a puzzled frown. "Isn't she perfect?"
Harmony sighed, not wanting to have this conversation, but unwilling to shut her niece down. "She's too perfect for me," she finally murmured as they started walking toward the house. "I'm terrified that when she gets to know the real me, she'll leave in disgust. I'm kind of weird, Serenity. A lot weirder than you could imagine."
"I'm pretty sure you're overanalyzing things," Serenity told her critically. "I've known you my whole life, and aside from being sarcastic, you seem pretty normal."
"So do serial killers," Harmony noted dryly. "There are parts of ourselves we keep hidden from everyone else. Everyone does. Those hidden parts don't stay hidden when you open your heart to someone. I'm just scared of what she'll do when those hidden parts come to light. I had accepted the life of a single person and made my peace with it. I put up a lot of walls, and it's scary to take them back down. I hate being vulnerable more than just about anything else."
"Is that why you're such a skeptic about everything?" Serenity asked in sudden realization. "Because deep down you don't trust anyone or anything?"
"Are you sure you're eleven?" Harmony asked Serenity suspiciously. "This conversation is way above your paygrade."
"I'll take that as a yes," Serenity smirked up at her. Her face lost its humor as she looked at Harmony in a new light, her eyes showing pity. "What was it that made you stop trusting people? Or is that secret?"
"You're pretty darn smart, Serenity," Harmony answered with an affectionate smile. "I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually."
Serenity opened her mouth to continue but looked into Harmony's eyes again and closed her mouth. "Okay, have your secrets."
They went back to the studio and found Rhapsody plugging the amplifier in to a power strip. Harmony put the keyboard stand up and glanced over where Serenity was just leaving, having delivered her load of cables and a piano bench
"Hey, Serenity," Harmony called out with a grin. "Let's see if your muscles have grown as much as your intellect. Can you help me get the keyboard onto the stand?"
"Is it really that heavy?" she asked doubtfully, eyeing it with a frown as she joined Harmony.
"It is to me," Harmony answered defensively.
Harmony lifted one end while Serenity lifted the other. Serenity grunted in surprise when she felt how heavy it was. She backed up to get a better grip and her foot got caught in a cable. She tried to free it, but her other foot got stuck as well. With a startle yelp, the keyboard slipped and landed on her knee. She let out a pained shout and quickly lowered it back to the ground before hobbling over to a chair, hissing in pain.
Harmony cursed as she felt the radiating pain in her own knee. She quickly sat down on the ground and stretched her leg out. She began telling herself that it wasn't really her leg that was hurt over and over. It never helped, but she was convinced that she could brainwash herself eventually.
Rhapsody swiftly moved over to Serenity and crouched down to inspect her knee. Her niece had tears in her eyes as she groaned in pain.
"I learned a trick for how to fix knee pain once," Rhapsody told Serenity soothingly. "Are you ready?"
Serenity looked at her hopefully, nodding as she winced. Rhapsody put both of her hands over Serenity's knee and pushed sharply. Serenity gave out a startled gasp, but almost immediately smiled in wonder as she moved it up and down without any pain.
"Thanks, Rhapsody!" Serenity exclaimed effusively, throwing her arms around her and squeezing her tightly. "You are the best!"
"Any time, Serenity," Rhapsody smiled briefly.
She turned to look at Harmony, concern on her face. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Harmony assured them confidently, forcing the wince out of her voice. "I'm just hanging out, being awesome."
Rhapsody frowned and moved over to kneel beside her. "What can I do to help?"
"Did you get hurt too?" Serenity asked in surprise. "What happened?"
"No, I'm fine," she lied, smiling reassuringly. "I didn't get hurt at all."
"Why are you sitting on the floor then?" Serenity asked suspiciously. She walked closer and crouched down in front of Harmony, next to Rhapsody. "Are you making use of artistic license again?"
"No, not at all," Harmony insisted, her expression earnest. "I'm totally fine."
"Okay, do you want to help me get the keyboard back up then?" Serenity asked with a raised eyebrow.
She knew she would be hobbling if she stood up and tried to move the keyboard, so she gestured at Rhapsody. "Let's see if we can talk the graceful one into putting it up there."
"I don't feel insulted by that comment at all," Serenity declared with a glower.
Rhapsody hesitantly stood up, her eyes still on Harmony. It was strange how she could see the other woman's eyes through her tinted glasses now. They used to be opaque, completely blocking any view of her eyes. It was probably just different lighting.
Rhapsody's lips quirked as she stood up and stepped over to the keyboard, easily lifting it as if it weighed nothing. Serenity grinned as she watched the great feat of strength, expecting nothing less of the small woman.
Serenity moved closer to Harmony, inspecting her for injuries. Harmony stared back at her innocently, which was a mistake.
"Why are you playing the innocent act?" Serenity demanded suspiciously. "The real Aunt Harmony would say something sarcastic if she wasn't hurt."
"I was being sarcastic about being innocent," Harmony explained with a wink. She just needed to buy another five minutes for her mind to realize that it was running on bad code. She cast about for something to distract Serenity with and nearly asked her to show off how much she had learned on the drums. Just as she opened her mouth, she remembered it was supposed to be a secret.
"What?" Serenity asked, eyeing her distrustfully. "You just started to say something and changed your mind. What were you going to say?"
Harmony started laughing, a helpless laugh that she couldn't turn off as her bossy niece tried to order her around.
"What are you laughing at?" she demanded, scowling down at her.
"I'm sorry, Serenity," Harmony gasped as tears formed in the corner of her eyes. "It's just one of those silly laughs that you can't stop, no matter how hard you try."
Serenity squinted at her in a manner that was probably meant to be intimidating, but it just made Harmony laugh harder. She rolled onto her side giggling. Her laughter cut off immediately as she gasped in pain where her knee touched the floor. Serenity was kneeling next to her in an instant, inspecting her knee for damage while giving her a look that promised retribution later.
"Where does it hurt?" Serenity asked, her hard gaze at odds with her gentle probing fingers as she felt around Harmony's knee. "Did you hurt your knee too?"
"No, I just bonked it on the ground kind of hard while I was laughing," Harmony lied, wincing as she realized how transparent she sounded. "Okay, I know that was pretty bad. Give me a minute to think of something more reasonable."
Rhapsody walked over and knelt down behind Harmony. She pulled Harmony back so that she was leaning back against Rhapsody's chest. Her thoughts went out the window as she felt the soft but firm breasts pressing into her back. Serenity saw her expression and rolled her eyes.
"Breathe, Aunt Harmony," Serenity ordered in exasperation. "And get a good lung full of air so you can tell me first, what you hurt, and second, why you are trying to hide it so much."
"I think it is safe to say that your nieces aren't going to think less of you for this," Rhapsody whispered into her ear. "You're safe here, Harmony. I'll always keep you safe."
Harmony felt warmth flood her at the haunting words. She was almost positive that she had heard those words in a dream. She relaxed, sinking further back into Rhapsody as she stared at Serenity warily.
"Do you remember how I said everyone has their secrets?" Harmony asked Serenity carefully. "Well, this is one of those uncomfortable and deeply embarrassing secrets."
"Oh," Serenity frowned looking down at Harmony's unblemished knee. "Being clumsy is that embarrassing to you?"
"I didn't get hurt," Harmony sighed tiredly. "You did."
"Clearly, you did as well," Serenity said pointedly. She lightly tapped Harmony's knee, eliciting a gasp of pain. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do it that hard!" she apologized contritely. "But my point stands."
"That's what I'm trying to tell you," Harmony said reluctantly. "I got hurt because you got hurt. It's imaginary."
Serenity looked at her skeptically before looking up at Rhapsody. She felt the small woman nod and Serenity's expression changed from disbelieving to excited. "Are you telling me that you can feel my pain? Like a psychic?"
Harmony's shoulders started shaking again as she laughed at Serenity's immediate leap to a conclusion that was fictional. The jiggling sensation against her back as she laughed short-circuited her mirth as she felt an immediate surge of pleasure from her own sensitive regions. She quickly stopped moving before she made a complete fool of herself.
"My brain is just broken," Harmony told her reluctantly. "It's all in my head. I just imagine I'm feeling it, but I can't stop myself from imagining it. That's why we can't watch non-animated movies."
Serenity stared at her silently for several painful seconds. She wondered if it was a mistake to tell her niece. She was their guardian, and they had already dealt with two parents who were sick in the head. One with crippling depression while the other had severe anger issues. Now she was going to have to worry about an aunt with even crazier mental issues.
"So, you feel pain if you see an injury or someone get hurt?" Serenity asked curiously. Her eyes grew distant for a moment before sharpening on Rhapsody. "Or it's any feeling, isn't it? That's why Rhapsody was doodling on her cheek before you smooched."
"Serenity, you are way to freaking clever for my own good," Harmony declared weakly. "Don't you miss anything?"
"We got good at reading people's micro expressions, since Dad would fly off the handle at the drop of a hat," Serenity explained with a shrug. "We learned to keep an eye on body language."
Harmony felt another pang of guilt at not spiriting her nieces away from her sister's house when she had started taking care of her Grandma Dotty. Those were things no child should have to learn.
"It's not your fault," Serenity interrupted her guilt trip. She was watching Harmony with concern in her eyes. "It wasn't your job to take care of us, it was theirs. Just because Dad was a failure at his job doesn't make you responsible for his shortcomings."
Harmony was startled again at how intelligent Serenity was. She worried it was a result of the tense environment she and her sister had to endure, forcing them to miss out on much of their childhood.
"So… can you feel when I do this?" Serenity asked, her eyes fascinated.
She began drawing on the back of her hand. Harmony shivered as she felt ghostly fingers drawing on her own hand and wrist. She nodded reluctantly, feeling a sense of shame at revealing her mental disability instead of keeping it a secret. Her nieces needed a sense of security and stability right now, not uncertainty and questions about the mental competency of their guardian.
"Why would you be embarrassed about something like that?" Serenity demanded indignantly. "This is seriously one of the coolest things I've ever seen in my life! Seriously! I can't believe you didn't tell us about this before!"
Harmony blinked, taken aback. She squinted at Serenity suspiciously. "Did you not just hear the part about my brain having a major malfunction? Mirror-touch synesthesia is not cool, it's borderline insane. I can't go to the hospital, watch action or romance movies, learn or watch martial arts, or any of the other things normal people can do. I don't think you understand how serious this is. I don't just have a mild case either. They said it was the most extreme case they had ever seen."
She was babbling and she knew it. She hadn't been able to talk about it without anyone but her mother, and it had obviously been building up in her mind for a while now.
"It might not seem cool to you," Serenity retorted with a scowl that was struggling not to turn into a grin. "But to me, it's like being told I have a super hero for an Aunt. If you think it's something terrible, you're looking at it in the wrong light, Aunt Harmony. You have a freaking super power!"
Harmony sighed in defeat. If Serenity had to live with this kind of a mental handicap, she would discover just how not cool it was. But on a brighter note, she wasn't freaking out in a bad way. Not yet, anyway. Harmony smiled faintly as she thought of what Serenity had said. Maybe she would try to look at it in a different light. If nothing else, it would make life less anxious for the girls if they didn't have to worry about her dreading the effects of her curse all of the time.
"So, why can't you watch romance movies?" Serenity asked tentatively.
Harmony felt her skin flushing as heat rose up from below and spread out on her neck and face. "Cause it's embarrassing," Harmony muttered uncomfortably. "And most romances are about a dude and a chick. I don't want to feel some guys hands and lips all over me."
Serenity erupted into delighted laughter, staring at Harmony in fascination. She felt her back pillows shaking as Rhapsody tried to stifle a laugh. Harmony unconsciously folder her arms over her breasts to hide the effects of the mirrored stimulation.
"Can I tell Aurora about it?" Serenity asked in her most wheedling tone. "Please?"
"I knew that telling you meant telling her," Harmony responded with a shrug. "I have a feeling I'm going to get tickled a lot in the near future."
Serenity's answering grin was huge. She immediately reached under her armpits and began trying to tickle herself.
"That doesn't work," Harmony informed her, rubbing her armpits with a wince. "Cause you can't tickle yourself and my brain seems to know that. It just feels sore."
"It does feel sore!" Serenity agreed in wonder. "I think there's more to this psychic angle than you know. What if you really are feeling the sensations going on in my brain?"
"I'm not," Harmony assured her with a wry smile. "If I close my eyes so that I can't see you, it doesn't work."
"Oh," Serenity frowned for a moment before a determined smile lit up her face. "I'm not giving up on the psychic thing yet though. Just because you have to see it doesn't mean there isn't something else going on too."
"Okay, you do the psychic thing," Harmony snorted a laugh, watching Serenity fondly. She was taking this a lot better than she had expected.
Harmony frowned as she felt someone drawing on her knee. Except, she wasn't looking at anybody that was drawing on their knee. She felt a moment of blind panic. Was she going to start having random tactile hallucinations how too?
"Did you feel that?" Serenity asked hopefully. She had turned around to gather up the cords that had dropped when the keyboard fell. But her back had been to Harmony, obstructing her view.
"What did you do?" Harmony exclaimed, feeling her panic settle slightly. Maybe it had been a peripheral vision thing.
"Oh nothing much," Serenity answered around a grin. "Just proved that you are psychic. What did you feel?"
"I don't think you drawing on your knee proves that I'm psychic," Harmony disagreed dryly. "I'm sure I saw you with my peripheral vision or something."
She felt fingers draw lines across her stomach and to her navel. She gasped at the unexpected sensation, staring at Serenity's back in shock.
"So, do you have another super power that lets you see around corners too?" Serenity asked smugly. "Because I was definitely not visible just now."
"That doesn't make any sense," Harmony objected weakly. "If I felt what people did when I couldn't see them, I would never stop feeling sensations."
"Yeah, but I wasn't just drawing on my tummy," Serenity revealed with the same smug grin. "I was thinking of you watching me draw on my tummy."
Harmony gasped, her mind racing to find the logic that could allow such an obvious violation of the laws of physics. Maybe she was just subconsciously guessing what Serenity was about to do. Maybe she could hear enough of the motion for her subconscious to reconstruct the scene so that it was like seeing it. The fact that she was currently thinking of Harmony watching her do it would just be a coincidence. Coincidences happened all of the time. They were coincidentally breathing the same air, after all.
She felt fingers drawing on the underside of her breasts and jerked her head up to stare reprovingly at Serenity. Her niece, however, was facing her, and her hands were not being used. The ghost fingers slowly moved higher up her breasts, triggering an immediate blush.
"Rhapsody?" Harmony asked in a breathless voice.
"Yes, Harmony?" Rhapsody asked innocently, her musical voice sending tingles down her spine.
"Um, are you, um," Harmony's mouth opened to ask her if she was fondling her breasts, but just the thought of asking shut her lungs down. The sensation stopped and she felt Rhapsody's hands on her back. At least, she hoped they really were on her back.
"Breathe, Harmony," Rhapsody commanded her in a sensual whisper.
Harmony let out a breath, her heart hammering wildly in her chest at both the erotic teasing and the sudden implications that what she felt wasn't limited to what she could see. There had to be a logical explanation. Maybe… maybe… shit, what the hell is going on? I can't even fudge a half-assed explanation!
Rhapsody's chest bounced against her back as the other woman laughed, violating the laws of non-fiction again.
"Knock knock," Aurora called out as she entered the studio slowly. "Is it safe to come in?"
Harmony couldn't stop a hysterical giggle from escaping her throat as she imagined a world where her nieces would have to ask that question. She never thought it would exist.