rrrrmmm… rrrm… rm…
Thunk.
Step...step...step...
A house built from stone, wood and glass.
Concrete.
Clink, clink.
"...Seven whole days and it's still raining..."
creaaak…
"...I'm home..."
Her voice echoed through the house, bouncing off the walls.
The smell of food drifted through the air, warm and rich, cutting straight into her stomach. She braced herself against the wall while she slipped off her shoes before setting them neatly aside.
A pair of slippers waited just inside.
She picked them up and slid them on without a second thought.
At last, her feet were free from the wet outside. She had already changed into a fresh pair of socks long before arriving.
"I'm gonna shower, okay?!"
Her voice carried through both stories of the house as she stepped in. She turned and shut the front door behind her.
"Wait!"
A voice reached her first, then quick, light footfalls followed. Cecilia turned the corner just in time to see a young woman rush straight at her, long light-brown hair touched with wheat and white feline ears flicking with every step.
She wore a simple but cute sleeveless dress with a checked pattern, each little square smaller than Cecilia's pinky.
Her toe clipped the raised strip where the stone floor met the wood.
The young woman stumbled and hit the floor, stopping only a few feet from Cecilia.
Cecilia flinched, her mouth falling open before a reflexive curse slipped out.
"Oh shit!—Dude…you good? Hello?...Kae?"
She crouched and poked Ikade's cheek once, then again, gently pressing the soft flesh to make sure she was still conscious.
Ikade let out a faint groan.
Her chest rose and fell while her eyes blinked open with the flat look of someone reconsidering life itself.
"We're fixing that stupid thing tomorrow"
She muttered into the floor.
The words came out muffled, one cheek still pressed against the floor.
Cecilia snorted.
Before she could stop herself, a hand flew over her mouth and a giggle slipped through her exhaustion.
A few minutes later, Cecilia was still doubled over, wheezing. Ikade, on the other hand, looked ready to disappear from sheer embarrassment.
"Its not funny! Shaddup!"
Ikade hid her face in her arms, her cheeks pressed against her knees. Her fluffy ears twitched at every giggle that escaped Cecilia, her face burning red.
"Cough—! Heh—It's not funny, but it's funny—heh—hahhh—hahahaha…"
Cecilia clutched her stomach, coughing between fits of laughter while she slid down the wall.
"I'm gonna piss myself."
Ikade shot her a wide-eyed look.
"Eww! Hello?!? TMI!"
Cecilia slowly came down from it, dragging in deep breaths, her stomach still cramped from laughing too hard. She pushed herself upright with care, then made her way toward the stairs and climbed up.
She headed straight for her small bedroom, still exactly the way she had left it.
With a drop of her shoulders, she dropped her bag on the ground.
"I'm home...finally, after so long."
She stripped down until she was left in nothing but her underwear, then tossed a look toward her closet.
She walked up to it, opened it, pulled out a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom. Once inside, she shut the door behind her and set the clothes on the counter.
For a moment, she stared at her reflection.
Or maybe the persona staring back.
She reached for the shower knob and turned it.
Warm water poured from the showerhead a moment later.
Steam crept up the mirror and swallowed her reflection piece by piece. Droplets gathered along the glass, blurring her face until all that remained was a shape staring back through the haze.
"Do I need...new glasses already?"
"Hwah...."
The water worked through her hair and carried days of work down the drain. By the time Cecilia stepped out, the clean clothes were on her and the ones she had arrived in lay crumpled near the door.
fwhup~ fwhup~
Her damp hair hung loosely around her shoulders, its blue that started to grey from the years of work.
"Huhh..."
She blinked a few times at her reflection.
A tired face looked back at her, cool as ever. The pale strands drifted across her unfocused vision. Cecilia wiped the mirror once, bringing her unruly hair back into view.
She grabbed the hair dryer and pressed the power button.
WHRRRRR…
FWHHHHH…
She aimed it at her wrist first, then twisted the knob.
Her fingers moved to the bandages wrapped from her fingers upward. One by one, she peeled them away.
The little hard masses beneath caught the light at once, each one reflecting the bathroom around her. Both hands were covered in them, with one cluster stretching up her forearm.
Cecilia stared for a moment.
She ignored them and lifted the dryer to her head, her eyes shutting again.
Warm air rushed across her scalp. The pain in her hands faded beneath the noise.
A necklace rested against her neck, simple in every way. A thin brown cord held a small empty vial that swayed lightly with each movement.
She ran her fingers through her hair for several minutes, working through the tangles a little at a time.
She shut the dryer off and set it on the counter.
"Hah."
Cecilia dug through the small basket beneath the mirror, pushing past expired medicine and old receipts until her hand found what she needed most.
Painkillers.
She twisted the bottle open and dropped two—no, three pills into her palm before tossing the empty container aside.
She cupped her hands beneath the running tap and let the water pool.
"glup… glup…hahh."
She opened the bathroom door and padded back toward the bed. The dirty clothes she had left near the door lifted from the floor and followed her out.
A faint warmth spread across her face from the effort.
They landed on the mattress in a messy heap.
She moved her medicine bag off to the side, then reached for her jacket and rummaged through the front pockets, checking for anything still inside.
Once done, she gathered the clothes in one arm and glanced out the bedroom window, where the city glowed in the distance.
Her thoughts were numerous as the streetlights.
Downstairs, Cecilia crossed the living space and entered the laundry room. One washer was already hard at work, so she stopped beside the unused one next to it.
whff—
She raised the washer lid and stepped back, letting the dirty clothes toss themselves inside. A few detergent pods followed.
The lid slammed shut and the machine powered on.
She left the laundry room and followed the smell of food through the pantry and into the dining area.
The smell of food hit her at once—rich, savory, and warm, just like the person who made it.
Ikade sat at the dining table, eating with one hand and doom-scrolling through her phone with the other. The TV played somewhere deeper in the main living room, its light flickering across the concrete, stone, and wood walls.
Cecilia pulled out a chair and sat across from her.
Above them, the wooden squares in the ceiling gave the room a quiet sense of warmth. She clasped her hands for a moment, offering blessings and asking for others, then started eating without hesitation.
She dug into the spread before her. One hand took up the fork while the other reached for a few slices of homemade bread, dipping one into the sauce.
"Hic!"
Her utensils clattered against the plate. Her free hand closed around the glass of red wine.
Cecilia paused with the rim near her lips and stared into the dark red for a second.
Then she drank with gusto.
Beneath the chicken sat a bed of pasta, buried under a heavy sauce and finished with a touch of greens.
clink—clatter…
"Shff…mnch…crunch…" She swallowed. "...more, please."
Every now and then, Ikade glanced up at her, the smile on her face never fading.
"Hic!"
"Hic!"
Some time later, her head rested on Ikade's lap, eyes half-open and glossy from food, wine and exhaustion. Ikade watched the TV without much thought, her tail curled lazily against the couch.
On the screen, a drama was reaching its climax.
「You promised you'd come back!」
A woman cried, her voice cracking as rain hammered against a window.
The camera cut to a man standing under a sign, bleeding from his side and trying to smile.
「I did come back…just not the same way.」
"That line was terrible—" Ikade muttered, flicking a chip crumb from her cheek. "Who writes this stuff?"
"Hh-hic! Don't be mean…"
Cecilia slurred, reaching for the bowl beside her and missing by a few inches before finally grabbing a handful.
"He's…dying. Let him be dramatic."
"He's been dying for three episodes." Ikade adjusted her sitting position, lowering the volume a notch.
"If I ever take that long to die, just shoot me twice."
Cecilia did not respond.
A mouthful of chips had already stolen her voice, leaving her to chew while crumbs rolled down her chin and onto Ikade's thigh.
「Don't you see? You were my reason!」
The woman on the screen shouted, clinging to the wounded man.
"Agh, now she's crying again!" Ikade groaned, reaching for the remote.
"No—no—leave it!"
Cecilia flailed a hand weakly toward the screen, crumbs falling down to the floor.
"I wanna see if he actually dies this time."
"No."
The screen went black, and her hand dropped limply, hitting the sofa. Ikade stood and finished the remaining chips.
"I'm going to bed. I'm too tired to stay awake any longer."
She gave Cecilia a lazy wave and walked off, stepping up the two stairs leading into the dining area, her tail almost brushing the floor.
Cecilia stretched out and stared at the ceiling after pulling her gaze away from Ikade.
"Hic!"
For a while, she just lay there, caught somewhere between rest and after-work.
After much deliberation, she pushed herself off the sofa and made her way through the dining room.
Her gaze lingered briefly on the wall of bushes and foliage running parallel to the stone wall. She passed through the pantry stocked with goods, then took the right that led toward the garage.
Her fingers moved across the garage keypad.
Beep—clak.
Cecilia pushed through the door and stepped into the dark garage. She stayed close to the wall, using the light spilling in from the house to keep from tripping over anything on her way to the smaller exterior door.
Thnk!
Her forehead knocked against the edge of a raised chassis. Cecilia jerked back and pressed her hand to her head.
"Ow—fuck..." (X)
The strip of light reaching in from the house caught the shape above her. It was her latest project sitting on the lift—low, sleek and black. The entire front end had been gutted, leaving nothing but wires hanging from the chassis.
Even the front suspension was gone. Beneath the car lay the missing assembly, or part of it at least. The steering rack rested on a pallet, the wheels next to the coilovers, still attached to the front sub frame.
Still rubbing her forehead, Cecilia ducked around it and found the smaller exterior door. The moment she pushed outside, cold brushed against her skin.
Rainwater trickled down the gate while the drizzle dampened her hair. She quickened her pace toward the car parked out front, opened the rear door and grabbed her backpack from the seat.
She hurried back into the garage with the backpack hanging from one hand, pulling the door shut behind her.
Her free hand felt along the wall until her fingers found the light switch.
Click.
The garage lights came on all at once. Cecilia squinted and lowered her gaze, giving her eyes a moment to adjust to the brightness.
Boxes covered the wall to her left.
"Hic!"
Her gaze shifted right and found her most recently completed project—a glossy lime-green beast on silver rims. Its rear tapered into the shape of a wagon, even though it wasn't one.
Wider than stock.
Then her eyes moved farther down.
In the soft glow sat Ikade's car—a bright orange machine missing its rear bumper, wide wheels jutting from its low stance, planted to the ground with impeccable fitment.
And in front of it, sat her shit box, a small truck parked parallel to the garage door with a rusted passenger door.
Against the far wall stood a large CNC machine, taking up the center of the space. Hoists, chains, stacked boxes, and a welding machine bolted to the wall filled out the rest, its cable running upward before hanging from the ceiling.
"Hic!"
She walked toward the middle of the garage and stopped at the mess piled against the wall. With a shove of her foot, she pushed most of it to the side and cleared enough room to stand in front of the wall.
A wooden partition.
Cecilia planted her palm against the wall and pressed with a bit of force, her bag heavy in her grasp.
Chk.
The side beneath her hand pushed inward. The opposite side pulled away and swung out toward the garage, leaving an edge for her to grab.
Cecilia curled her fingers around it and pulled until the opening was just wide enough before she turned sideways and squeezed through.
Inside, dismantled parts, half-finished work and the mess she had left covered the table. She grabbed the rolling chair near the entrance, spun it around, and dropped into it.
Her backpack slipped from her hand and landed beside the desk with a soft thud.
A push from her foot sent her gliding across the smooth concrete until she stopped in front of the laptop.
Cecilia grabbed it and placed it on her lap before—
"Hic!"
Thunk!
The laptop slid off almost immediately, clipping her knee before hitting the floor.
Cecilia stared down at it for a second, sighed through her nose and leaned forward to pick it up. Before her fingers reached the laptop, her gaze landed on something buried beneath the clutter on the steel work desk.
It landed on something buried beneath the clutter on the steel work desk.
An apparatus.
She scooted closer and pushed aside the mess before she reached for a thin cable hanging from the front of the desk, inside a half-broken container.
She leaned past the side of the laptop, plugged it in, and found the power button with her finger.
A second later, the screen came to life.
The sound of her button mashing echoed through the room once the laptop's background took center.
tap...tap tap tap...tap tap!
A paperclip icon blinked, and Cecilia pressed it twice.
While it loaded, she rose to her feet and pulled the cloth away from the apparatus. A carry rig and trauma kit came into view along its side, mounted together between several brackets and locking pins.
Her fingers found a pin beneath it before she yanked hard.
Clnkk!
She set it aside, reached in again, and pulled another toward her, only for her knuckles to bash against the metal bracket holding it.
"Hija de—!"
She repeated the motion six more times, removing each locking pin in turn. Once the last pin came free, the carry rig and trauma kit lifted away with their mounting brackets still attached. Cecilia hung the entire assembly on a nearby hanger.
Hooking a finger through a hoop, she pulled hard to the left. A panel lifted slightly from the apparatus's chassis.
Cecilia grabbed hold of it and shoved it farther left until it came free. She ignored the wrinkled sky-blue cloth beneath it and focused instead on the three dots blinking near the right corner.
Two held a steady green glow.
The third flashed red.
A quiet hum left her as she leaned over the laptop, clicked the music icon twice, and brought up her playlist.
One song sat paused halfway through while she scrolled up and pressed play.
It started with silence.
Then the room filled with sound.
Let me wake up in your arms, you say it's not alright~♪
After glancing at the open panel, Cecilia grabbed the loose end of the cable and plugged it into a port beneath the three glowing lights.
Cecilia sat back down and scrolled past a handful of programs and useless files until she found the one she wanted.
It offered a few options.
She checked several boxes, scrolled back up, and hit run.
The screen blacked out for a moment before a loading bar took center stage.
Cecilia gripped the stock and dragged the apparatus toward herself. Its weight fought her the whole way, scraping across the workstation and leaving another dent before its stock finally cleared the edge.
An opaque arrow appeared on the laptop screen, its tail curled into a glowing red circle.
PSHHHH—! CLUNK!
Pseudo cap.
A faded-yellow hilt wrapped in black lines pushed out from the end of the apparatus. Cecilia grabbed it and pulled. The crumpled white cloth packed around its base slowly expanded, rough and stiff while it came loose.
Once it was removed, a thin trail of brownish-black liquid dripped from the exposed end.
She snapped her fingers.
Rrr—Rrt—Rrk!
Plastic wheels rattled across the floor, and a cart rolled in hard enough to slam against her leg.
Cecilia set the pseudo cap on the cart. By then, the song was already two minutes in. A faint gurgle came from inside the apparatus, trapped air working its way through the lubricant.
Her eyes drifted to the container hanging from the workstation. She rummaged through the bundle of cables until her fingers found a small box.
She opened it and found a single chip resting inside.
A second later, it was seated in the laptop.
A faint sweetness drifted into her nose, her tired mind barely catching the warning scent of coolant.
She pulled up another program just as a green drop hit the table. A prompt blinked into view, and she accepted the terms without hesitation.
A few lines of code flickered across half her sight, then compressed into a single line and slid off to the side.
Her laptop screen began filling with lines of information, only for another window to override it and pull her eyes in.
Those two should be fine. I only replaced them a few weeks ago, that's fine too I guess...
But it keeps losing...
Drip—drip drip drip.
Cecilia looked toward the half-dismantled apparatus.
Green coolant seeped from a fitting.
"—Ghk?! Cough—cough!"
She hurriedly rolled closer to the cart, snatched a handful of shop towels from below, wiped down the workstation, and stuffed a few beneath the leaking tube.
"Auuh! I literally changed you before I left! C'mon...Hahhh..."
Another drip hit the towel.
Then another.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me...I already fixed this. I already fixed this once! Don't start this shit again..."
Her eyes swept over the workstation, searching for something that would pass for a cheater bar.
The moment she found it, she dragged it over and slipped on a fresh pair of latex gloves. By then, the next song was already blasting through the garage.
She stuffed a few more towels under the fitting, grabbed a wrench, and held the hose carefully in place.
She dragged the cheater bar over, fitted it onto the wrench and pulled.
The fitting loosened all at once.
Her knuckles bashed against the edge of the desk.
"Ah—!"
She pulled her hand back and stared at the bruise already starting to form across her knuckle, and the small line of blood.
She flexed her fingers once, then rubbed over the spot with her thumb.
"Dammit."
She leaned forward and dug a few O-rings from a small white box on the desk.
"...You're actually joking. Tell me you're joking right now."
Cecilia unscrewed the fitting the rest of the way. And with one hard yank, it came free before she picked the old ring out, both gloves slick with coolant.
She slid the new one on and reset the fitting, screwing it by hand until it bottomed out. She tightened it down with the wrench and checked the other end, just shy of where the cable plugged in.
She removed a glove and used her bare hand to pull the cable free.
Her eyes flicked to the two blinking yellow chip icons in the corner of her laptop.
Ahh, whatever.
Back in the chair, she grabbed the flashlight from the cart and shone it into the empty space at the rear of the apparatus.
"Mmhh...looks fine, I guess...not like I can just walk into a store and buy a pseudocap."
She stood and grabbed the nozzle hanging from the hose reel on the back wall. The hose uncoiled while she pulled it toward the apparatus, lining the nozzle up with a port near where a scope would have sat.
She worked the nozzle in despite the awkward angle.
It began to whirl with every passing second.
Both the oil and coolant pumps stirred to life. Cecilia held the lever down, listening to the overhead pump force coolant through the apparatus.
The hose jerked when the coupling locked with a sharp metallic click. Cecilia glanced toward the laptop. A diagnostic window had opened across the screen, lines of information flickering into place.
Pressure climbed in both systems.
She kept the nozzle in place until enough coolant had run through, then pulled it free.
Her eyes stayed fixed on the fitting, watching for any sign of a fresh leak. Once she let go, the hose lifted back up on its own.
"Mmhaa...what time is it now?...Ah, just past midnight."
Cecilia grabbed the rig and trauma kit still hanging from their brackets and gave them a firm yank, locking them back onto the apparatus.
Farther to the left, another container was attached—metal, matte black, slimmer than a briefcase.
A slim handle sat near the bottom, tracing the gunmetal frame within.
The back of her head thumped once, and the apparatus lifted on its own, flipped to the other side, then slammed onto the desk with a thunk.
A worn, battered crossbow sat locked inside the modified storage case. Its stock barely fit, forcing the case to jut out from the side of the apparatus.
She grabbed the case's handle and pulled it out a few times, checking the slide and lock.
"Hwah…"
Cecilia looked to the side, to a slim metal crate.
Her gaze flicked to the two slim fire extinguishers angled forward on the apparatus, their dull-red bodies flattened beneath matte-black handles.
"Extinguishers are okay too."
"Hahhh..."
Cecilia leaned back in the chair and draped one arm over her face.
Her mind drifted nowhere useful, exhaustion creeping in by the second. She gave herself a lazy spin in the chair, her hair catching the air before the motion slowed on its own.
She reached over and closed the laptop.
The music cut off with it.
"I'll do the rest tomorrow...mmnh...not doing this anymore...need sleep..."
Cecilia pushed herself to her feet, already done with the day, and dragged herself out the door.
With one last finger snap, the garage returned to normal, swallowed by darkness piece by piece.
She passed through the secondary living room, more a game room than anything now, and headed straight for the hallway across from the stairs. One by one, the lights went out behind her, each switch drowning another part of the house.
Step...step...step
Her hair bounced with every shuffle, her sight blurring from sleep.
After a long minute, she was where she wanted to be.
The room was split in two, joined by a bathroom in the middle, though Cecilia had never cared much for the layout. At this point, she moved on repetition alone, brushing her teeth half-asleep.
Her eyes drooped shut before she even rinsed. When she lifted her head, her reflection stared back with those same cool eyes.
She held it for a breath, then shut the lights off.
Her feet carried her straight to Ikade's side.
She slipped off her slippers and crawled beneath the covers, wrapping both arms around Ikade's waist. Her face buried itself against those soft ears, breathing in the faint scent of warmth and home.
The tension in her finally loosened.
Her shoulders dropped. Her joints still ached, stiff and familiar, but with Ikade there, the pain felt farther away than it had all night.
Who needed painkillers when Ikadium existed.
"Chiyade..." She mumbled.
Her lips brushed against one ear, and the next words slurred together.
"You're... way too good t'me..."
"fhh—hh..."
Sleep.
More sleep.
Hours of sleep.
"Mmhh..."
Her eyes fluttered open, her pupils slowly adjusting to the light. (X)
Auhh...everything's getting more and more blurry every day...I haven't done anything too intense, though...
She burrowed deeper into the bed. With Ikade no longer at her side, her heart turned a little blue.
I can sleep in right? I'm...too...
A pillow landed softly on her face, its padding offering a brief bit of relief.
She pushed it away with her head, her tufts turning even more unruly when Ikade perched herself over her.
There she was in the flesh, half-lidded eyes carrying a soft smile. She wore a simple long-sleeved knitted sweater, cream-colored, with a light brown skirt that fell to her calves.
Ikade stepped back a little and tucked a bit of hair behind her ear.
"So?" Ikade asked, her voice light with mild amusement. "What's the verdict?"
Ikade leaned forward a little, one hand clasped over the other, the gentle curve of her charm on full display.
Part of her hair fell across one eye.
Cecilia's voice came out muffled beneath the blanket weighing her down.
"Thanks...for the treat."
She stretched her legs, and the blanket slid down her body while sunlight spilled across her face. By then, Ikade had already wandered off to the restroom, rummaging through drawers for something.
Pushing herself up, Cecilia rubbed at her wrist before getting out of bed.
She swung her feet over the edge and slipped them into her slippers. Once both were in, she stood and walked to the closet, pulling the doors open wide.
She tugged out a big, fluffy blue jacket, wrestling one side free from where it had barely fit. Then she rummaged around for a pair of pants and found them soon enough.
They were straight-fit, worn, and faded from use.
She crouched to open another drawer and fished out a crop top the same color as her eyes, only duller, the fabric rough to the touch.
Cecilia noticed Ikade's eyes flick downward for a moment, catching the faint curve of skin beneath her jacket before looking away again.
The clothes landed on the bed in a soft pile.
She dressed quickly, tugged her jacket straight, and gave herself a once-over. The crop top stopped just above her belly button. Her necklace still rested against her chest, the vial catching the light with a faint glint.
Ikade appeared behind her and walked closer, brushing her hair with lazy intent. Without shoes, the height difference between them stood out more—Cecilia had a good three inches on Ikade.
They sat down on the bed together, the mattress dipping under their weight. Ikade hummed softly and brushed the tufts above Cecilia's head back into place.
Cecilia lifted her wrist and tapped the screen.
The date appeared.
'January 14, 1635 CE'
It did not take long before Cecilia found herself brushing her teeth, rinsing out the toothpaste, through her daily routine and sticking fresh band-aids over her wrists and left forearm.
She dragged herself to the dining room and grabbed a slice of bread.
The two of them talked about nothing in particular on the way to the garage. Ikade already had the keys in hand by then, and passed them over without making a show of it.
They stepped through the door, and Cecilia's eyes settled on the small dot in the middle of her vision, opaque like every other marker.
When she focused on it, a car silhouette appeared at its center.
Not even a second later, the garage door began to push outward.
"Let's take mine."
Cecilia said it while walking ahead.
"She hasn't gotten enough attention lately."
They climbed in and buckled themselves into the lime-green car, its tan interior almost teasing to the eyes. The rearview mirror gave Cecilia nothing but the wooden wall behind them.
She pressed the clutch, dropped the handbrake, and turned the key. The engine cranked to life, all six hundred and ninety-two horsepower of it.
It idled for twenty seconds before she let it creep forward, blipped the throttle, and lifted the nose slightly.
Once outside, light bounced off the concrete below while she rolled past her Alfi, parked at an angle near the front door. The garage shut behind them after they cleared the gate.
The car coasted forward, her foot pressing down bit by bit.
The tachometer climbed.
The engine's growl swelled through the cabin until the exhaust screamed back at the world. Ikade's ears flattened, and she covered them with both hands.
The stutter in the setup tickled Cecilia's ear with its distinct tone.
The moment she found an opening, the car rolled out onto the street, pissing off everyone around them while a few people pulled out their phones to record.
Flames spat from the rear, nearly licking the front bumper of the car behind them.
What should have taken forty minutes ended up taking twice that long by the time they were done driving around, messing around, and getting carried away.
Ikade sipped through her straw while music played inside the car, the two of them waiting for traffic to budge. They were barely five minutes from their destination, so Cecilia made the executive decision to pull into the parking lot on the left.
She paid ahead for an hour and let the car roll into a corner spot. Once it settled, she shut the engine off, slipped it into reverse and pulled the handbrake.
They got out and started walking toward the familiar building, conveniently just five minutes away.
Cecilia looked to the side, and the city handed her Ikade's profile like a reward.
Daylight and the shadows of the buildings played across her face in turns, like night and day. A breeze slipped between them, enough to stir the strands near Ikade's cheek and make her lashes flutter.
"See something you like?"
"Yeah."
Ikade's smile grew.
"The concha that lady has."
Across the sidewalk, a woman walked with a small paper bag tucked against her chest, the sugared top of a concha peeking out from inside.
Ikade stared at the woman for only a second.
"..."
As they turned the corner.
Cruisers lined the curb, and a few guards stood beneath the building's overhang, their uniforms dark against the pale fronts.
"Huh...is it just me or are there more guards this time huh?"
Ikade took the last sip of her drink before tossing it in a nearby bin while her eyes floated over the cruisers and the others posted nearby.
"Looks like they're not taking chances this time."
The building looked normal from the outside, and somehow even more normal once they stepped in. A few bored people lounged around like any other building.
At the receptionist desk, an older man sat with a newspaper open in both hands, barely looking over the top of it.
"Sup."
"Mmh."
Cecilia gave him a lazy wave and kept walking.
A chime rang out when the doors slid open. She stepped inside and Ikade pressed the button for the fifth floor.
"Can't you just take us up there?"
Cecilia stared at the numbers above the door, her voice flat with boredom.
"Nope!" Ikade said, drawing the pause out on purpose. "I'm not that good, and also, that's literally impossible."
"You're actually...kind of...useless, y'know that?"
Ikade smacked her on the arm.
The elevator opened onto a floor that looked normal at first glance, maybe even better than some hotels, all while they whispered to one another.
People loitered around the lobby.
Most wore regular clothes—hoodies, jackets, loose shirts, everyday attire. A few dressed sharper than the rest.
Cecilia's eyes flicked toward the glass wall on the far right, catching the broken-down firearms on display for only a second.
Hung in neat sections, each firearm was stripped apart to show the pieces inside. Barrels, receivers, stocks, bolts, and trigger groups rested apart from one another. A few blades rested beneath them, dull under the lights, with small cards placed under each one.
At the end of the room, she slipped through a door and into a small bar where food sizzled on top of the counter.
Oil, salt, grilled meat and something sweet underneath wafted toward her.
The air was warmer here, carrying the low conversation from the patrons and the occasional scrape of a chair.
A man behind the counter lifted his chin when he saw her.
"Cecilia."
She answered with a lazy flick of her hand while she followed the curve of the building.
They passed a table where two men argued under their breath, then another where a woman ate with passion.
The next set of doors waited ahead, heavier than the last.
Step step step.
A young man in a neat suit stood beside them, with a much larger man at his side, black-haired and broad.
Their tails moved with slow, easy sways.
Her eyes caught on the taller man's beard for a moment, thick enough to swallow half his face. A firearm rested under one arm, held close against the chest piece he wore.
The first one had a shield resting against his leg, its faded surface scarred by old dents and deep marks.
Cecilia gave it one glance and kept moving.
She knocked once, then pushed the doors open without waiting for an answer.
Ikade, at least, had the decency to announce herself.
"Yo!"
"Hello."
Ikade waved with both hands like a polite student trying to make up for her partner's lack of manners. Cecilia gave a lazy wave, planted both hands on Ikade's shoulders and turned her right back around.
She started pushing Ikade back outside.
"Hey—! I can walk, you know!"
"Then walk."
"You're so rude for someone who needed me here."
Cecilia gave her one last push through the doorway. Ikade twisted around, and glared through the narrowing gap.
"I'll be right outside!"
The doors met between them with a heavy thud.
"Y'know...one of these days, you could wait for me to say come in."
His voice was slightly hoarse. His once navy-blue hair had already begun to gray, and his ears had gone white with it.
"And maybe stop bullying your friend while you're at it."
"Why would I do either of those things?"
Cecilia tilted her head slightly.
He looked back at her with dull green eyes worn down by experience. His frame had thinned with age, but he still looked healthy enough.
"Because your friend has manners and I was hoping she'd rub off on you."
Cecilia's grin faltered.
Her teeth pressed together for a second before she flattened her expression again.
"How's your day been, Esteban?"
"Fine. Maria's out shopping, so she won't be back until later."
"I'm your daughter, you know. You could pretend to care a little harder."
She turned her head aside with a tired little protest, raising a hand to her chest. Her eyes stayed on him.
"I'm sorry—which one are you again? There are so many of you. I stopped trying after the fifth."
Cecilia clicked her tongue before she yanked open her bag, and pulled out a sealed packet.
She tossed it onto his desk and paced in a small circle.
"They didn't get it." Her voice flattened, dropping lower with each word. "Got damn close, too. I don't even know how they managed to mess it up that spectacularly, but they did. So I called it off."
Her gaze dropped to the packet.
"It was supposed to be easy, even by today's standards. And I still had to go in and pick the damn thing up myself."
She threw her hands up, leaned to one side, and stretched her arms toward him. Her fingers spread around Esteban's distant head in her line of sight, framing it between her palms.
"They were so damn—close!"
Her hands snapped shut with a clap, crushing the tiny version of his head caught between them.
"If this is the best coming up, what the hell are they supposed to do once we're gone?"
Esteban gave her a look and exhaled softly through his noise, making Cecilia's mouth pull to one side.
"There's barely any need for people like us anymore. You're already trying to turn this place into a consulting agency."
He reached behind one of the stacks on his desk then dragged out a thicker folder and dropped it in front of her.
"Speaking of change..."
Esteban gave her a long look before reaching behind one of the stacks on his desk. He dragged out a thicker folder and dropped it in front of her.
Thmp.
"Your offboarding packet."
Cecilia looked down at it as her hands fell to her sides.
"Oh...thanks."
She dragged a chair from the side with her foot and dropped into it without another word. She started working through the papers, her eyes moving across each line with less and less focus.
A yawn slipped out a few pages in.
skrriitch…scratch…scratch...skk…
The scratching continued for another page. Esteban stopped typing somewhere near the bottom of it, leaving only Cecilia's pen to disturb the room.
"So..." He finally looked back up at her. "Are you okay?"
Cecilia blinked and lifted her gaze over the spread of papers and the wooden desk between them.
For a second, something felt off.
His face softened at the edges, his body seeming to fade with it. The lines around his mouth blurred. The gray in his hair bled faintly into the worn colors of the office.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, for one, you look exhausted..." He paused, then waved the thought away with his pen. "Though, to be fair, that's kind of your face."
Her stare flattened.
"And before you say anything," He added, gesturing vaguely toward her head. "Your hair's still graying."
Cecilia recoiled and pushed herself a little farther back in the chair.
"Ew, please don't say that."
Esteban leaned back in his chair, wearing that tired old-man look she had known for most of her life.
He stared at her for a long second.
"...Are you really done?"
She stared into his eyes, but whatever she was looking for, she did not seem to find it.
Then she exhaled through her nose and looked down at her own hands.
"...I think so."
Her fingers were covered in fresh band-aids, some done cleanly, others slightly crooked from being done in a hurry. Her hands trembled faintly at first, barely enough to notice.
Then, after a few seconds, the trembling got worse.
"I'm sure there's some brat out there who'll come around and be stronger than me." Her mouth twitched. "That's how it always goes, right? Somebody younger. Faster. They show up and everyone starts acting like you never even existed."
"Cecilia."
"I'm exhausted. It's not as bad as it used to be, but I'm damn near sleepwalking."
She lifted her hands and opened her palms toward him.
"Look at me."
Esteban's expression shifted.
Just a little.
The tremor worsened, jumping through her fingers in uneven little steps. The longer she watched, the more disgust twisted across her face.
His mouth opened a little, then closed again. The pen between his fingers rested against the paper, its tip leaving a single dark dot where the ink kept bleeding beneath it.
Cecilia lowered her hands.
"...Forget it."
She pushed herself up from the chair.
"I'll see you some other time. It's not like we have much to talk about these days."
Step.
Step.
Step.
"Oh and say hi to the kids for me."