Radiance Ch. 52

"Join us, Timothy, it's our turn now, win or lose it's time for fear to fucking loose in this room, it's time for you to find the strength that lives inside you and to give it voice, sit with us and we'll show you, you just saw a fear-filled woman give her soul a voice she never knew she had, now you can do the same, all you have to do is believe and let us help you, its that simple," Ven said reaching out a hand to him.

Timothy was actually shaking as he took a step forwards and took the offered clawed hand which made both Ven and Gregory smile, he couldn't believe this was happening, he had known these people all about a day and he had been through a true rainbow of feelings and emotions in that time, could these people really give him the strength that he had sought his entire life?

The big Claw guided him to sit down next to Shauna and just the proximity alone made him feel nervous for a whole host of reasons, she was so close to him he could actually feel her incredibly powerful thigh pressing against his, it felt like he was pressing up against a tree trunk the muscles were so solid and powerful.

"Good man, alright well done, that in itself is the first step, accepting help where it is offered, now let's see what's hidden in that heart of yours shall we?" Gregory said and Timothy's heart felt like it was trying to escape from his chest by smashing through his ribs.

"Hey, just relax ok? There will be no judgement here no matter what words your heart speaks alright? No one has that right and that's not what it's about even if it isn't what people want to hear it is your truth and that's absolutely fine, that's the first part" Gregory said and Timothy nodded, he'd never believed in what he'd always believed was spiritual nonsense, he'd always believed it was simply a clever mixture of narcotics to lower inhibitions and hypnosis to make people say something that sounded profound on the surface but was in essence bullshit, but having just seen it with his own eyes and having seen the shock of the one affected he couldn't help but be impressed.

Over the next twenty minutes Gregory gave him a series of exercises designed to relax him until he felt he was in a kind of dream state like he'd locked him tonto a kind of mixture between REM sleep and lucid dreaming, it was like his consciousness had taken leave and he was simply wandering freely around his subconscious mind like a giant library that was filled with all his memories and his darkest secrets.

"Ok Timothy I want you to visualize something, I want you to think of the most beautiful thing you can, I want you to form it from golden light, like an orb made of glowing clay, take your hands and shape it into the thing you think is most beautiful, ok?" Gregory's voice swam into his mind like it was coming to him from all sides at once.

Before him a ball of glowing sunlight that looked as malleable as clay appeared and he reached out and took hold of it in his hands, before he even knew what he was doing his hands were kneading it and shaping it the sunlight spilling out from between his fingers, to his amazement it not only took a shape but gre in size and mass as he worked until he was able to step back and admire the finished product, there stood before him in all her naked glory was Shauna.

He simply couldn't believe it, after only one single day this super mutant woman had smashed her way into his heart and had taken up residence, his eyes roamed all over his mind's interpretation of what he believed Shauna looked like naked and he couldn't believe just how incredibly beautiful she was.

"Ok, Timothy do you see the image the clay has made?" Gregory's voice floated into his mind.

"Yes," he replied.

"Ok now tell me what you see and why it's beautiful to you," Gregory said.

"It's Shauna and she's naked, she's truly radiant, she looks like a vengeful green muscled goddess, every limb looks like she could snap me clean in two, but every part of her is still feminine, she looks like a super mutant but she's still beautiful, she's kept everything that makes her a real woman, then there's her mind which is a true wonder, a thinking woman should be protected and enriched and nourished so that she can help solve the problems of this world with that divine intellect, she's so incredibly exotic like she had perfectly melded two worlds together into one perfect being, she's radiant," Timothy said before any kind of fear could stop him.

"Ok good now we know what you see, tell me how you feel about that, how you feel about her?" Gregory asked.

"I-I-I don't know, I feel like I love her like she is definitely someone that I could very easily fall head over heels in love with because just talking to her feels like she enriches my soul and my mind, she challenges me to think harder than I ever have before, she meets me on an intulectual level and pushes me to find facts among the mess of puzzle pieces, to take those pieces and to make them into facts, no one has ever done that for me before, but then, on the other hand, she scares me, I-I-I saw her temper and it scared me and I don't want to love someone who scares me, that I am scared will hurt me if I say something she doesn't like and all my life she is something I have been taught to hate, that they would kill me as soon as look at me and when I first met her I was beggining to believe it was all a lie until I saw her temper first hand and I realized it could be true," Timothy said.

"Perfect Timothy, ok come back to me now, come back and join us here in the room, leave that clay image there in your heart and mind and come back and join us," Gregory said and like he was being pulled out from underwater Timothy gasped loudly and he felt like his mind got twanged like an elastic band.

He looked around in shock and the first thing his eyes locked onto was Shauna and instantly he saw two things a mixture of joy and pure grief in her beautiful eyes that made his own heart pulse with grief as he realised his words had hurt her.

"And there it is, the truth pure and simple, you both feel the same thing, you are both attracted to one another, but you are both scared to take the next step and with good reason, in this case, Shauna you very nearly hurt Timothy for nothing and you need to own that, you need to address it and work on it, you need a venting mechanism to be able to expel that anger when it builds up inside you, you need to show this beautiful man right here that you are worthy of him, of his time, of his love of his vulnerability, you need to show him in no uncertain terms that not only will you never ever hurt him but that you will be the first in the row to defend him," Ven said placing a large hand Shauna's shoulder and the big super mutant woman nodded.

"I don't ever want to scare him ever again, I want to make him happy and to show him that I am a good person, someone who is both worthy of him and his heart," Shauna said honestly which startled Timothy but also made him feel deeply flattered, no one had ever stepped up and said that not only was he really worthy of them but that they were willing to work on themselves in order to not only appeal to him but to attract him.

"And you we need to toughen you up, to show you how strong you really can be, you might not be as physically strong as the non-humans here and that's just a biological fact, but does that mean that we are not their equals?" Gregory said facing Timothy.

"Toughen me up? I'm not a fighter" he said softly and Gregory shook his head.

"Nor was I until I found someone worth fighting for, now I understand the importance of it, now I know how to deal with my fear, how to handle it and to use it to keep me alive, but I can tell you now when these guys first met me I was a gibbering wreck who was scared of his own shadow, but now if someone even looked at my beautiful man wrong they would be dealing with me, I found my strength, I found how I can fight and what I can do and I used it and now look at me, I stand side by side with all of these incredible people as an equal I might not be able to go toe to toe with hardly any of them but I would sure as hell try, if this amazing group has taught me anything it is how to stand up and to fight for what I believe and who I love, regardless of the outcome, I don't let fear rule me anymore, now it answers to me," Gregory said.

Those words filled Timothy with an odd kind of hope, because to look at him Greggory really didn't look like much, he was no different than Timothy himself really, he was a slender slight man who really didn't look like he had much, but now as Timothy looked into his eyes he saw his inner strength, it shone brightly like an inner fire that was only made bright as well as mirrored in the eyes of the Claw boy next to him, it was a strength they shared and that's when it clicked inside Timothy's mind, it was because they had each other, they complemented one another.

Ven gave Gregory the physical strength that he lacked and Gregory gave Ven complex knowledge as the smarter of the pair, they mashed together into a powerful partnership, they took hold of each other weaknesses and sure them up making them stronger, they gave each other the confidence they needed.

"Shauna you've seen the strength of this group, you've seen first-hand how we pull together and fight together, we're all pieces in one big puzzle each with its perfect place to fit, but you have to believe in it, let go of your doubts and let us help you and the same goes for you Timothy, I not saying for a moment you have to go jumping into someone's arms to be a stronger and better version of yourself, but what I am saying is you need to let go of your doubts and fears, so here take my hands both of you and together let's take that first step shall we?' Gregory said and before he could stop himself Timothy reach out and took one hand as Shauna took the other and before he had time to even blink Gregory put Timothy's hand right into Shauna's and held them together.

"Unity and forgiveness mixed with acceptance dedication to doing better, both determined to do better and to grow stronger," Gregory said holding their hands together.

Timothy's heart beat faster and faster like someone was pressing a gas pedal in his skull and before he even knew what in the name of fuck he was doing his body was moving, while his one hand stayed clamped inside her one hand his other came up and touched her face feeling the warms and smoothness of her green skin, that was exactly one second before his lips crashed into her much larger ones and he felt her tusk-like teeth click against his.

Suddenly as the fireworks in his head and soul cleared he pulled back and looked at her in shock, "I-I-I'm sorry I should have....." he began but Shauna didn't want to hear the end of that apology instead she grabbed his head with her other hand and dragged him back into another kiss, this one much deeper than the last feeling her massive tongue filling his mouth and deep richness of her saliva filling senses.

"Jesus Christ Gregory I think you just became the new Seven, even I didn't see that fucking coming, I thought it was going to take a hell of a lot longer than that because of what had happened," Ven said and Gregory just smiled warmly.

"So this is how Seven feels, fuck me I like it, now I understand why he does it," the young human said with a grin.

"Not sure about the feeling part but I'll take you up on the offer of fucking you if it's still standing?" Ven said playfully before Gregory punched his arm gently while roaring with laughter.

"Maybe later if you're a good boy," he said huskily and playfully.

When they broke Timothy stared at Shauna and she at him both searching the other's eyes for reasoning and understanding for what had just happened, "I can't take it any more Shauna, I'm sick and fucking tired of being fucking scared of everything and everyone, I can't take it any more, I don't bloody care any more, they only thing i know that's real is how I feel and if thats wrong then I'm fucked and i'm ok with that, so here it is, I forgive you, I know you didn't mean to do what you did, I embaressed you and you didn't know what to do and for that I'm sorry but I am not a punching bag for you or anyone fucking else any more so if you ever lift your hands to me in anger ever again then I'll fight fucking back and fucking make you kill me and live with what you've done because i can't take being scared of you or anyone else, I want to be fucking stong like Gregory told me i can be, so this is it, this is me taking a step into the unknown, I want you, you are beautiful regardless of what you think, you are amazing and I want to stand at your side, with my engineering skills and your brainpower together we could achive incredible things, we could take this group to heights they never dreamed possible, we could make them a true fucking force to be reckoned with, we could bring humans and non-humans flocking to them from every we make our message be heard, we'll make it so no one has to fear the Brotherhood, the Enclave or any of those bastards ever again, instead those fuckers will fear us and what we represent, together we'll give them something to be fucking scared of, so what do you say Shauna am I good enough for you?" Timothy said in rapid-fire as the words came out like a barrage of machine gunfire.

Shuan'a face lit up and tears began to fall from her eyes before she threw her huge arms around the core of his body and she dragged him forwards into her lap, "I swear this to you on my heart before these witnesses, I will never hurt you ever again as long as I draw breath, it will always be my greatest regret and i swear it will never happen again, ever, if I ever do I give Ven my permission to strike me down because at that point I will be irredeemable and totally unworthy of you and therefore life, thank you Timothy, thank you for showing me what true forgiveness and strength looks like and yes, you are worthy and now I am going to fucking prove to you every single fucking day of my life that I am worthy of you and this chance you are giving me, i will stand tall and proud at your side and together will show this world and every fucker in it who we are and what we can do when we put our hearts and minds to it, now kiss me like you mean it you beautiful man because right now you are forfilling a promise i made to someone very special, so kiss me like you are kissing two of us" she said confusing Timothy somewhat but he still did so.

Finally, the group got to their feet with their emotions still fired on full but now with vigour and a passion flowing through them, "Now what do you say we free some claws gorgeous?" Timothy said and Shauna grinned from ear to ear.

"You say the sweetest things, I fucking love to, let's show those fuckers what real fucking science can fucking do, it's time to take the fight to them" she growled and they headed for the workbenches with Ven and a very smug Gregory in tow.