*Episode 17*
Belldandy was cooking another wonderful-looking dinner for Keiichi and her sisters when I
'blinked' in behind her.
"Hello, Belldandy," I greeted.
"Hello," she responded cheerfully.
"I'm primarilly here to talk to Skuld. Need help with that?"
"If you'd like," she said, beaming.
Dinner that night was extremely good, exceeding even Belldandy's usual standards. I must
say that the Venusian Wombat Teriyaki turned out better than I expected, as well, and after a
quick suggestion, we introduced Skuld to ice-cream tempura. Needless to say, *that* was an
instant hit. I did get a few odd looks from Urd when she saw that I was helping prepare dinner,
but Keiichi and Skuld took it in stride (Keiichi more so than Skuld). After dinner, however, I
took Skuld aside.
"Skuld, we need to talk."
"Oh? What is it?"
"Okay, first, please put down that hammer."
"Okay...."
"Now, why do you object to Keiichi and Belldandy's relationship?"
"He's not good enough for her!"
"I disagree."
Skuld made a swinging motion with her hands, as if to hit me with a hammer, but suddenly
realized that she had put it down at my request.
"Skuld, Skuld, Skuld. Why do you say that he's not good enough for her?"
"Well, for one thing, he's a mortal."
"Not anymore, he isn't."
"What?"
"He hasn't noticed yet, but his aging has already started to slow, and he shows considerable
talent in precognition and colocation. Given that you're the Goddess of the Future, I'd think
that you'd appreciate that."
"What?!?! That jerk's invading my domain?!? NEO SKULD BOMB... What? Why didn't it explode?"
"Reallu, Skuld. Throwing a bomb at me won't solve anything, and my powers are more than
enough to keep one from detonating."
"Oh," she replied, sheepishly.
"Skuld, I've neven seen a couple more deeply in love than those two are, and that really
says a lot."
"What do you mean?"
"How old am I?"
"Oh. That."
"Exactly."
"But..."
"Skuld, Keiichi would never take advantage of Belldandy, even if he could. You really
should stop trying to get between them. Besides, they're linked."
"WHAT do you mean?"
I sighed. "Skuld, look closely at them. Here, I'll lend you my eyesight for a bit."
"What?"
"Skuld, look through my eyes. No, not THAT set. The eyes of my projection in the kitchen."
"Oh... What's THAT?" she said, mentally pointing to a white, smoky cord leading away from
Belldandy, who was cleaning the dishes.
"That's what I wanted you to see. Follow it."
"How?"
"*Sigh*. Here. I'll show you how," I said, guiding her through the process telepathically.
"Hmm... from the kitchen... through the hallway... into... KEIICHI'S ROOM?!?"
"Yes. He's in there, doing homework for one of his classes."
"And that... thing... leads to him?"
"Yes. Actually, that's not the only thing I see when I look at them that you don't, but I
didn't want to overload your senses with extra information."
"Oh."
"Skuld, those two were practically *made* for each other. Do you know what they see when
they look in each other's eyes?"
"No! I don't believe it!"
"Skuld, whem Keiichi looks at Belldandy, he sees everything he's ever wanted in a
girlfriend, and more. He sees a woman that he can trust totally, someone he can look up to and
respect, someone who he loves from the bottom of his heart. He would never hurt her. I mean, if
you want proof, just look at what he went through when you and Urd were away in heaven that
time just after the ninja incident."
"You mean when he started swollowing Urd's potions?"
"Yep. That's what I mean. Really, I suspect that he'd rather die than try one of those
things, but when Belldandy was ill and you two weren't here, he tested them on himself, damn
the danger and effects."
"Yeah, but that baka didn't accomplish anything like that."
"Does it matter? When he realized that nothing he tried would work, he panicked. It's a
good thing he has his powers, or he wouldn't have been able to reach Urd in Heaven to ask for
help."
"What do you mean?"
"What are the odds of someone dialing Heaven by accident, without divine inspiration?"
"Roughly 1.6783 times ten to the 9th power."
"See what I mean?"
"No."
"Look, Skuld. We distort chance around us. Without that, he could have been dialing until
he was eighty years old and still not reached you."
"What do you mean, distort chance?"
"Just what I said. Haven't you noticed? Wierd things tend to happen around him, and I'm
*not* talking about system bugs."
"Oh," she said, frowning, "But he's still not good enough for my sister!"
"*Sigh* Skuld, the important thing is that she loves him and he loves her. Hell, he
practically *worships* her. That, by itself, makes him 'good enough'. Think about it," I said
as I 'blinked' out.
Belldandy was cooking another wonderful-looking dinner for Keiichi and her sisters when I
'blinked' in behind her.
"Hello, Belldandy," I greeted.
"Hello," she responded cheerfully.
"I'm primarilly here to talk to Skuld. Need help with that?"
"If you'd like," she said, beaming.
Dinner that night was extremely good, exceeding even Belldandy's usual standards. I must
say that the Venusian Wombat Teriyaki turned out better than I expected, as well, and after a
quick suggestion, we introduced Skuld to ice-cream tempura. Needless to say, *that* was an
instant hit. I did get a few odd looks from Urd when she saw that I was helping prepare dinner,
but Keiichi and Skuld took it in stride (Keiichi more so than Skuld). After dinner, however, I
took Skuld aside.
"Skuld, we need to talk."
"Oh? What is it?"
"Okay, first, please put down that hammer."
"Okay...."
"Now, why do you object to Keiichi and Belldandy's relationship?"
"He's not good enough for her!"
"I disagree."
Skuld made a swinging motion with her hands, as if to hit me with a hammer, but suddenly
realized that she had put it down at my request.
"Skuld, Skuld, Skuld. Why do you say that he's not good enough for her?"
"Well, for one thing, he's a mortal."
"Not anymore, he isn't."
"What?"
"He hasn't noticed yet, but his aging has already started to slow, and he shows considerable
talent in precognition and colocation. Given that you're the Goddess of the Future, I'd think
that you'd appreciate that."
"What?!?! That jerk's invading my domain?!? NEO SKULD BOMB... What? Why didn't it explode?"
"Reallu, Skuld. Throwing a bomb at me won't solve anything, and my powers are more than
enough to keep one from detonating."
"Oh," she replied, sheepishly.
"Skuld, I've neven seen a couple more deeply in love than those two are, and that really
says a lot."
"What do you mean?"
"How old am I?"
"Oh. That."
"Exactly."
"But..."
"Skuld, Keiichi would never take advantage of Belldandy, even if he could. You really
should stop trying to get between them. Besides, they're linked."
"WHAT do you mean?"
I sighed. "Skuld, look closely at them. Here, I'll lend you my eyesight for a bit."
"What?"
"Skuld, look through my eyes. No, not THAT set. The eyes of my projection in the kitchen."
"Oh... What's THAT?" she said, mentally pointing to a white, smoky cord leading away from
Belldandy, who was cleaning the dishes.
"That's what I wanted you to see. Follow it."
"How?"
"*Sigh*. Here. I'll show you how," I said, guiding her through the process telepathically.
"Hmm... from the kitchen... through the hallway... into... KEIICHI'S ROOM?!?"
"Yes. He's in there, doing homework for one of his classes."
"And that... thing... leads to him?"
"Yes. Actually, that's not the only thing I see when I look at them that you don't, but I
didn't want to overload your senses with extra information."
"Oh."
"Skuld, those two were practically *made* for each other. Do you know what they see when
they look in each other's eyes?"
"No! I don't believe it!"
"Skuld, whem Keiichi looks at Belldandy, he sees everything he's ever wanted in a
girlfriend, and more. He sees a woman that he can trust totally, someone he can look up to and
respect, someone who he loves from the bottom of his heart. He would never hurt her. I mean, if
you want proof, just look at what he went through when you and Urd were away in heaven that
time just after the ninja incident."
"You mean when he started swollowing Urd's potions?"
"Yep. That's what I mean. Really, I suspect that he'd rather die than try one of those
things, but when Belldandy was ill and you two weren't here, he tested them on himself, damn
the danger and effects."
"Yeah, but that baka didn't accomplish anything like that."
"Does it matter? When he realized that nothing he tried would work, he panicked. It's a
good thing he has his powers, or he wouldn't have been able to reach Urd in Heaven to ask for
help."
"What do you mean?"
"What are the odds of someone dialing Heaven by accident, without divine inspiration?"
"Roughly 1.6783 times ten to the 9th power."
"See what I mean?"
"No."
"Look, Skuld. We distort chance around us. Without that, he could have been dialing until
he was eighty years old and still not reached you."
"What do you mean, distort chance?"
"Just what I said. Haven't you noticed? Wierd things tend to happen around him, and I'm
*not* talking about system bugs."
"Oh," she said, frowning, "But he's still not good enough for my sister!"
"*Sigh* Skuld, the important thing is that she loves him and he loves her. Hell, he
practically *worships* her. That, by itself, makes him 'good enough'. Think about it," I said
as I 'blinked' out.