flesh.
Super Edgy, Much Goth.
She flicked the pen between her fingers as we bumped along with the few bumps in the road, "That... sounds hard."
"Worthwhile things are never easy, you have to earn them," I replied, and she looked at me and Absol.
"Like your ability to speak to pokemon?"
"Hey, you meditate for years and years then study under a Lucario and learn how to mold and control your aura. It wasn't a cake-walk I can assure you of that- teaching my pokemon to read and write, maybe even type on an oversized keyboard would be easier than learning to use your aura," I shrugged, "But where there is a will, there is a way."
After a few moments, a small smirk climbed up my lips as I looked her over, "Who knows, maybe some meditation and self-reflection might cure you of your... Goth affliction?"
"I'm a Goth Trainer, don't try and convince me to be one of those flowery hippies; I don't conform to a mold," She scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Leave that cheery and happy stuff to other people."
"Said every Goth ever." I finished out, and that drew a wry smile from her that she desperately tried to hide by looking out the window.
"Whatever."
When the bus arrived in Castelia city the Thicc Goth and I parted ways amicably, the two of us exchanging jabs and jibes as if we'd been traveling together for a lot longer than just a few hours.
In the meanwhile, I grabbed a tourist pamphlet and wandered around to all of the shops that sold evolutionary stones and the like and came up with nothing, just like Nimbasa City.
Having nothing better to do I went to an outdoor pokemon cafe that was right next to the airport and everyone got a nice little snack that I paid cash for, and after stopping by an ATM to withdraw some more money we headed inside the airport terminal. Space was a premium in this Pokemon World, so most flights between Regions took place using 747-sized seaplanes that had prop engines versus jet engines; it meant that travel was low and slow compared to what most airlines could achieve in my previous life. I had a seven-hour flight from Castelia City to Slateport city, with a four-hour layover in Slateport for refueling and maintenance, and finally another five-hour flight from Slateport to my final destination in Vermillion City.
I had twelve hours to kill until my flight, and we lounged around the seating area with Duchess serving as my pillow; the feline lounged in the pokemon bed that I got for her while I sprawled out off in the corner with my feet resting up on my bag. The feline's belly was the best pillow you could ask for, and I fiddled around on my Pokedex as I charged it from one of the electrical sockets on the wall.
Roughly three hours into the wait I finally remembered that I still needed to get my City Riding License for Sparky, and I eyed the Castelia City police box next to the Immigration and Customs desk at the 'Arrivals' terminal. I perused the forums for trainers for about half an hour looking up what was needed, and I was a touch surprised to see that the process was relatively quick. "Hey, love, I need to go over to the Police Box and talk to the officers there real quick. Though I can't leave you or my bag unattended so you're going to have to come with."
She let out a loud sigh, the feline pokemon turning her head and fixing me with a displeased gaze before nodding. I stood up, returned her bed to my bag, and then returned her to my Luxury ball and strode over to the small desk with a bored-looking officer seated behind it.
"Afternoon, Officer," I peered at his name tag, "Woodsy, I would like to inquire about the process of getting a Street Riding certification added to my Trainer's License."
The officer sighed and shook his head, "I'm sorry kid, but we don't handle that here-"
"Of course, we handle that here, we are authorized to perform all League Functions here, not just Immigration and Customs," An authoritative voice interrupted him, and from behind the filing cabinets of another desk behind him, a woman with close-cropped pink hair stood up and gave Officer Woodsy a frown. I couldn't see her arms because of the cabinet in the way, but I could tell from her stance that her hands were on her hips, "It's a painless process, Officer Woodsy, and we don't have any flights coming in for the next few hours. Since you were complaining about being bored not fifteen minutes ago, I think that this will be the perfect cure for that ailment!"
Damnit, why did our Officer Jennies have to look so uncute!
I mean, there is definitely an appeal in a tomboy, but Unova's Jennies took that look one step too far; if it wasn't for the tan uniform's pencil skirt that they all wore it would be hard to tell that they were women at all. They were better muscled than what I remember seeing from the anime, and I couldn't complain too much because that athleticism made them far better at their demanding jobs, but I honestly couldn't wait to get to Kanto to see the ubiquitous Jenny that capture my heart in my childhood.
"Damn Jennies, always giving me more work," The man grumbled under his breath so lowly that I wouldn't have been able to make it out if the annoyance in his weak aura didn't carry the intent behind his words to me. He then fixed me with a customer service smile, "Alright! Well, seeing as I don't have anything better to do, why don't I help you out?"
Rather than commenting on his rather lackluster attitude I pulled out my Pokedex and connected it to the terminal with the cable and pulled out Sparky's Luxury ball and sat it on the counter. "My mother's Arcanine, Sparky, already has the complete certifications, and I have an approved harness and saddle for him, so that should ease the process quite a bit."
He lowered his head as he began typing away at the computer, but I was able to catch him rolling his eyes as he wordlessly mouthed some complaints. "Well, that does make this a lot easier. Let me see here... he's up to date and... all we'll need to do is inspect the harness and saddle, have you show us that you can properly put it on by yourself, and take a short written test."
He started rifling through the drawers at his desk until he found an accordion-style folder and flipped through it before he handed me a thin tan booklet. It was practically brand new, with no visible signs of wear and tear, and on the front, it read in bold letters 'PWL City Riding Exam' with a pokeball logo in the background and the PWL's logo in the bottom right-hand corner. "Take an hour to read through that, pay close attention to the sample test in the back of the book, and when you're finished come back to me and we'll have you take the written portion first. If you can't pass it then there is no need to do the inspection; you can probably study it on the plane and take the test again when you land wherever you're headed."
"Right, thank you, Officer. I'll be through this soon enough," I gave him a nod and walked over to the nearest set of chairs and sat my pack down before flipping through the book with a casual eye. Interestingly enough there was a lot of carry-over from the motorcycle examination that I took in my previous life, right down to the hand signs to note when I was switching lanes. Considering Sparky was already certified I skimmed through the portion that talked about controlling the pokemon that was being ridden; I wouldn't need to take the cone course, though the thought of forcing the lazy officer to set up a small track with traffic cones in the parking lot made me smile a little bit- no doubt Jenny would jump his ass to get it done, but being a dick like that just took too much energy.
I took the sample test in the back, breezing through the thirty multiple choice questions, and I was back at the Police Box in just under half an hour. "I'm ready, Officer."
He arched an eyebrow as he checked the time and nodded, "Well, if you don't want to study anymore then that's fine by me. Here, kid. The clipboard has the test sheet and a pencil, fill it out, and you have twenty minutes to complete the test. When I call out to you, put the pencil down and return the sheet to me."
I slipped the booklet back to him on the counter and slid a few paces to the side and rested the clipboard on the top of the desk. With the pencil in hand, I gave him a nod, and after looking at me for a few moments he shrugged and tapped a stopwatch app on his Xtransciever. "Alright, suit yourself. Time starts... now."
I flipped over the paper, noting that I had Version C of the exam, and began checking through the multiple choice questions, reading through them all quickly and making note of the questions that I could answer right away and the ones that I would have to guess on; I read the book, but it wasn't like I read it thoroughly. With multiple choice, I had a 25% chance of getting it right even if I guessed at it, and with some critical thinking and process of elimination, I could raise that to a 50% chance pretty easily.
Considering I only needed a 75% to pass the exam, that meant I could flub seven questions in total.
It was pretty damn easy, I guess that Version C was close to the sample test in the back of the booklet, and within ten minutes I had placed my pencil down and slid the test over to the Officer who stopped playing 'Poke'Tetris' on his Xtransciever and ran through the answer sheet real quick. He sniffed and slid the test sheet into the scanner next to his computer, and after a few moments I felt a 'ping' come from my Pokedex, and I opened it up to see that my status on the License had been updated; with the inspection being the final block that needed to be checked. "You got one wrong- you only need to wear safety gear if you're traveling above 60 miles per hour, and considering most highways barely go above 55 miles per hour due to road conditions you don't need to have a set of riding gear on your person at all times. Though it was a good guess. Anyways, let's get this inspection over with."
"Right here is fine?" I asked, eyeing the large space in front of the box, and he shrugged as he grabbed another clipboard and walked around the desk.
"Sure, why not? Nobody here to bother and there ain't a need to go through the parking lot."
I grabbed Sparky's ball from the Qwik-Strip and let him out before I scrolled through my Pokedex and pulled the harness out of storage with the wand. "Alright Unc, let's saddle you up."
"I thought we were getting on a plane? Did plans change?" He asked, a happy grin on his face as he stood patiently in place.
"Nope, just needed to get the street cert out of the way while I was thinking about it," I replied as I unhooked the saddle from the harness and moved around his body to clip everything in place, making sure that the thick cloth pads were between his fur and the thick carabiners; though considering he was an Arcanine he was more likely to damage the D-clips than he was to be hurt by them.
I moved around his body, screwing the retainers on the carabiners up nice and tight, and then I gave the harness a few tugs to ensure that it was nice and snug. I hefted up the saddle and slid it over his back as he crouched down, and I attached the carabiners into the D-rings in place before cinching down on the straps to secure it; with one final check to make sure that it was on the center-line with his spine I hopped up into the saddle and began leaning in the four cardinal directions before circling my torso clockwise and counter-clockwise to check for any slippage.
After that, I slipped off and presented Sparky and his harness to the officer, and he walked around with his checklist in hand. The man moved around the Arcanine with a bored expression on his face as he tugged on the saddle, tried to thumb the clips to make sure that I hadn't forgotten to screw the retaining barrels on the carabiners up, and then he hopped into the saddle and did the same leans that I did to check for slippage.
He threw his leg over the saddle and slipped down to his feet, "Alright, everything checks out. You are good to go. You should have your Trainer License updated with the Street Riding Certificate in the next business day, which should be tomorrow."
As I stripped the saddle and harness off of Sparky, Officer Jenny walked past her fellow officer, giving him a small scowl once his back was turned before she looked at us with a smile. "That was pretty quick, probably one of the fastest testings I've seen to date."
I gave her a grin of my own as I sucked the saddle and harness back into my bag and patted the Arcanine on his cheek, the big lug almost knocking me over as he slipped his head over my shoulder and wuffed. "Well, not having to do the cone course the booklet described saved us some time, but I've ridden Sparky practically all my life. The only difference between now and a year ago is the fact that I've got a saddled sized for me now."
"Besides," I scritched under his chin, "Sparky is a competitive battler, with plenty of experience himself in maneuvering around, so trotting around some cones wouldn't be a challenge for him. He's had his full Cert since before I was even born."
Officer Jenny stepped forward and raised her gloved hands up before looking at me, "May I?"
"Sparky?" I asked even though I knew the answer.
He stepped around me and circled the officer before leaning his humongous head over her shoulder and rubbing his cheek against her's, "I love my partner, but I'll admit that there is a small part of me that is jealous of all of the other Jennies who have Growlithe partners- they're the cutest and Arcanines are just simply breathtaking!"
It was adorable to see the firm Officer of the Law gushing over Sparky, and you'd have to be blind to see that the Arcanine was just soaking up all of the Jenny's adoration and love like a big stripy sponge.
After a few more minutes of hugging the officer returned to her desk with a smile on her face and a spring in her step, the woman disappearing behind her filing cabinets humming a jaunty tune.
Officer Woodsy gave me a look of annoyance.
I guess that a happy Jenny was more bothersome than a cranky Jenny?
I just gave him a grin as I returned Sparky and grabbed my bag to return to my corner to wait.
Tough titties, dude.
I was shaken out of my nap with a nudge from Duchess' muzzle against my face, and when I opened my eyes up I caught sight of a bunch of people with their baggage being ushered through one of the outbound terminal gates. The sun had set while I was out, the large windows showing the night sky across the dark waters of the ocean while the city lights and other piers for ships off in the distance offered a soft yellow glow.
"This is the final boarding call for Flight UVN17 for Castelia to Lumiose at Terminal Two. This is the final boarding call for Flight UVN17 for Castelia to Lumiose at Terminal Two."
I stood up and let out a big stretch as I watched the last few passengers make their way to the ticket checker and hummed under my breath. Weren't Ameli and Françoise supposed to be here by now?
"Wait! We're here!" I heard a Kalosian accented voice call out across the terminal, and I caught sight of Françoise walking through the security checkpoint with her bag slung over her shoulder waving a plane ticket above her head; Ameli and Lucian followed right after her.
Ah, there they are.
The airport worker looked from her to the clock on the wall and shrugged his shoulders and beckoned her over. I moved to intercept them at the ticket gate and smiled, "Cutting it a little close, you two."
Ameli rolled her eyes while Françoise blushed, "Our bus got held up on the way down! Two pokemon decided to have a battle right in the middle of the road!"
The airport worker groaned softly and gestured toward the sliding glass doors, "If you two would please make your way down the pier to your flight?"
"A shame we couldn't chat more, but have a safe flight you two," I smiled and gave Françoise and Ameli a quick hug before offering Lucian a very shallow bow which the Lucario returned with a pleased nod.
The Kalosian looked like she wanted to say something, but the Diamond Clan member grabbed onto her messenger bag and dragged her through the doors, the cool woman offering me a casual wave over the shoulder.
I waited by the window and waved to them as the large seaplane was tugged away from the pier by a tugboat, and once they took off- the blinking wing and tail lights fading off into the night sky- I returned to Duchess and buried my face into her belly; the pokemon giving me a purring chuckle as her paw stroked the top of my head.
Two hours passed in the blink of an eye, and soon I found myself sitting on the upper floor of Flight UVN23, the Castelia to Vermillion flight. Considering the length of the flight I opted for the First Class seating, which was on the upper deck, and had plenty of space for me and a pokemon to lounge around in comfort. Sure it was $60,000 Poke' compared to $20,000 Poke' in the economy seating, but like hell I was going to spend the next 15 hours packed shoulder to shoulder like Goldeens in a can!
Besides, this was a business trip just as much as it was a trip for my Pokemon Journey; as long as I did something business related the whole flight was a tax write-off.
While the first level had enough seating for two hundred people, the second level, which had business and first-class seating, only had fifty-five seats, with twenty of those being first class. I had a nice little cubby with a floor-to-ceiling partition that had a door that I could lock, and the seat itself was an overstuffed leather recliner that I could lean all the way back and turn into a bed. The pillow provided was sort of garbage, but the blanket was surprisingly fluffy and thanks to my teenage size the chair was more than big enough for one of my medium-sized pokemon to lay out with me.
I laid out the pokemon beds for Eevee and Red Claw in the gap to the left between the chair and the partition, and the two beds for Angel and Duchess between the chair and the wall. I'd purchased a new bed for Mirage and her's was at the foot; it was a little tight inside, but the Zoroark assured me that she was used to sleeping in a den she dug out from underneath the roots of an old oak tree, so sleeping curled up on a comfortable bed was no problem.
Poor Sparky was too big to fit even with the extra space, so he decided to sleep in his Luxury ball, and I would digitize his in-flight meal into my bag for him to enjoy once we touched down in Slateport city.
The doors were shut and the in-flight instructional video began playing, informing us of all of the safety procedures of the aircraft, how to evacuate it from our current seat in First Class in the even of an accident, and everything else.
All pokemon were returned to their balls during the takeoff, and once we got to altitude I was allowed to shut the door and lock it.
I was about to let everyone out so that we could enjoy a nice rest when Angel and Duchess popped out of their balls. The feline kneaded the plush leather with a smile on her catty face while Angel sat at the edge of my seat-turned-bed with her mouth open and tongue lolling out; a small, lusty '-Sol' escaping her lips as her tail swished back and forth.
My eyes darted around the cabin quickly and I walked around looking for any sort of hidden camera before I looked back at the pair and sighed. "You two are just incorrigible."
"Mhmmm, don't say such things, dear," Duchess murred as she stretched herself out, one paw hanging over the edge of the bed.
"Yes, don't think that we couldn't smell your arousal while we were waiting," Angel retorted, her nostrils flaring, "You were waiting for this moment just as much as we were."
She wasn't wrong. I had a half-chub the entire time, and while I was entertaining the thought of fucking my two lovely ladies and joining the 25,000 Feet Club, it wasn't exactly something I was keen on doing.
I say that and yet my fly was undone and I was slipping my rock-hard cock into my lovely Absol's waiting mouth in just under a few seconds. As the white-furred pokemon suckled eagerly around my length- her soft, hot, wet, smooth tongue slipping along the underside of my erection and lapping at the small patch of my scrotum that was peeking out from my boxer briefs.
As my hands slide across the sides of her short, dark muzzle I begin to thrust my hips slowly forward before pulling back, "You two are such a terrible influence on me. Next thing I know we'll be fucking in a public park in the bushes or on a park bench in the middle of the night like a trio of degenerates."
I unzipped my vest and hung it up on the coat hanger on the outside wall and pulled the pokeball belt off and hung it up right next to it, a small hiss escaping my lips as I felt the Absol's cold nose press against my pubic bone as the tip of my cock reached into the muscular ring that was Angel's throat. Huh, I don't remember being able to reach that deep before- I guess it was proof positive that I was getting bigger.
Duchess' paw reached up and grabbed onto the back of Angel's head and she shoved the Absol forward, a beautiful, husky hiss leaving her muzzle as she began to control the pace of the muzzlejob. "That's it, Angel. Swallow it, swallow your Master's cock. Good girl, you've been learning your place wonderfully. Open up that muzzle, take his length, all of it."
"Absol~," Angel's eyes fluttered demurely as she crooned around my cock, and as instructed she tilted her head sideways a touch and opened up her mouth wider, allowing the tip of my cock to sink into her throat just a little bit more. She gagged a little bit, her eyes tearing up, but other than a dribble of saliva dripping onto the leather the Absol gave no indication of discomfort.
"Yes, good, good. Such a good girl," Duchess purred in response, and she leaned over to press her nose against Angel's neck as her ruby red eyes looked up at me with a lusty, lidded gaze, "It's she a good girl, Corbin? To think that she was once so adamant about not having a human... and yet here she is just a scant few months later, a slobbering slave to you and your human cock."
Duchess had seemingly gained a domination fetish since Angel joined our family, and while it bothered me a touch at first, the Absol seemed to enjoy the play just as much as the Persian did; she didn't feel degraded and she knew that her place by my side was one of mutual respect and one day love.
My stomach fluttered as the sensations of my Absol lover's tongue playing across my length made me reach out and place my hand on the wall behind me, and Duchess' tongue lapped at the saliva escaping Angel's muzzle. Fuck, that was so damn hot. When Angel adjusted her angle I felt the spongey head of my penis slip along the pink ribs on the roof of her mouth, and I shuddered as I grabbed onto her horn. I squeezed it gently, my fingers stroking up and down the velvety length, something that she appreciated as another low moan left her mouth.
Considering we hadn't had sex in a week by this point, and I was standing up- my pelvic muscles applying tension onto my prostate- my endurance for this first round wasn't going to be spectacular, especially not with the display right in front of me. "I'm going to cum, Angel. Get r-ready!"
I hissed as she sped up her pace, the beautiful white-furred cocksucker of mine artfully sucking and slurping as she bobbed on my penis, and when my hand squeezed her horn the Absol ceased her movement and instead clamped down on my entire length. Her tongue applied great pressure onto my cock as the lips of her muzzle sealed around the base, and she undulated her tongue like a wave as she gently suckled; the back of her tongue scrubbing at the base of my cockhead and drawing me to completion.
My toes curled in my boots and my asscheeks clenched as my cock jolted in her eager little muzzle, her eyes fluttering in delight as the first burst of pleasure spurted a hefty amount of my seed into her mouth; the force behind it coated the back of her throat, but the Absol was old hand to this now, the female gulping down the cum just as quickly as I gave it to her. My teeth clenched as sparks shot up and down my spine, and my arms ached to pull her further down my length, but that would be impossible until I grew and gained a few more inches; as it sat I was fully sheathed in her slutty little mouth and that wouldn't change for a few more years.
When my powerful orgasm finally tapered off I let out a shakey breath and stroked her head as her muzzle drew the last few spurts out of me, and then when it was done her tongue slid from the base all of the way to the tip, leaving the last pearly bead of semen for Duchess to lap off with a satisfied expression on her face.
I sighed and leaned down and kissed the side of Angel's muzzle before kissing Duchess.
It took me a moment to find the vent fan that was used to draw away fumes from poison or fire-type pokemon and I also cranked up the fan that would blow air into the cabin because it was going to get a little toasty in here with the action that was about to be had.
I had just spun Angel around and grabbed her hips, the tip of my cock pressing against the puffy, leaky diamond of her sex when I heard a knock on the door.
"Hello, I am Salley your Flight Attendant for this flight. Can I interest you in something to drink and some snacks? The first in-flight meal won't be for two hours, so if you're feeling peckish now would be the time to ask."
I put my cock away back into my pants and settled onto the bed, pulling the blanket over the entirety of the bed, and Duchess curled up in my lap as I grabbed the remote for the wall television. When we were situated Angel reached up and unlocked the door with her teeth and pulled the door open; the brunette attendant stuck her head in as I nonchalantly flicked through the menus and the Absol sat on her haunches at the foot of the bed.
I smiled at her, "Yes, please. Some bottled water and some snacks would be great- I haven't eaten since breakfast, and I am feeling quite peckish."
"Of course!" Her smile was brilliant as she grabbed a little bit of everything and laid them on the sliding table next to the chair.
As she finished up I was stroking Duchess' hindquarters, and when the door shut Angel locked it and within a moment I was stuffing two fingers into my naughty Persian's sopping wet pussy while my other hand was taking my cock out of my pants again; the Absol spinning around and sitting on my length in a nice reverse cowgirl position.
As her juicy sex slipped down my length, surrounding my penis in a hot, wet, velvety vice, I vaguely thought about pulling my pants down so that I wouldn't have to scrub the girlcum from the font of my clothing, but the hypnotic fashion in which my lover rocked and rolled her hips simply stole all thoughts from my brain.
As we descended into an hour of debauchery all I could hear was Duchess' lusty whisperings in my ear as the Absol speared herself on my length, again and again, the poor dear working herself to so many climaxes that she was hardly aware of what she was doing until I blew my load deep into her pussy; the powerful sympathetic orgasm as my cock shot my hot, sticky seed against her cervix more than enough to wake her up.
In the back of my mind, I wished that all of the long airplane flights of my previous life had been as wonderful as this.
123123
Regardless, I was going to wait until I had finished growing before I began installing more invasive cyberware; just replacing the singular Kiroshi optic and Neural Link as I grew older was a very costly affair. Yes, better to not waste my money on such things until I could actually make full use of the product for its lifespan versus replacing whatever chrome I installed every six months; honestly, such an expenditure made me question why parents of Night City were so dead set on getting their children chipped early.
[Argent Silver: Supr3m3, I found the 'surprise' you left me and removed it.
Juvenile pranks aside, I am pleased that you're happy with the service received, and I look forward to seeing your positive review on my screampage. Your temporary code is 1289383FNS28-9911-BS. It will remain active for the next sixty seconds; please login and deposit your review and I will have it adjudicated.
And please, this time, do not give it out so that my page can be review bombed; your stunt last time cost me quite a lot of business until I could get the faulty review removed.]
[E1iteSpr3m3: Glad you caught it, choom, good job!
And man, don't get your wires crossed, it was just a little harmless fun!
Good for your infosec practice, yanno? I remember when my uncle taught me a valuable lesson on that: Old Bastardo leaked my search history to the family, and I couldn't look my madre in the eye for weeks!
I've been imparting my knowledge every time I get a chance, so what does it matter if I get a few laughs out of it, yanno?]
[Argent Silver: Thank you for being so considerate, Supr3m3.
You can send me the rest of my payment now.]
[E1iteSpr3m3: Hah! Alright, alright. Here you go, take your eddies. I'll hit you up if I need something else looked over. Take it easy and remember to always watch your back!]
I accepted the payment transfer request, ran it through my scanning software, and then deposited the remaining half of the 850 eddie payment onto a cred chit that was attached to my network upstairs. I'd have to log it into my Night City FinBook software and pre-pay the 30% tax so that I didn't have to deal with it when it came time for my quarterly taxes; it was copied over onto a separate drive so that when I sat down with my accounting firm I'd be covered in case the City 'misplaced' my tax records.
"So... Tanya... another successful gig?"
I leaned forward and looked down the table to see Malcolm, a nascent script kiddy a few years younger than me, scratching at the beanie on his head. He didn't have any chrome to his name given he was a poor orphan, but he liked to look through some of my coding textbooks and practice on my old laptop.
"Yes, just got the other half, Mal. Here," My eye flashed as I transferred a hundred eddies to his Agent, "Why don't you take you and the rest of the tweens down to Mama Rosalia's and get some ice cream, hmm?"
He smiled, his two front teeth missing, before he yanked his old Agent out of his pocket and checked the money I just transferred, "Nova! Thanks, Tanya, you're the best!"
My eyes crinkled a little bit as I made a note to mark off that hundred eddies as a charitable donation to the orphanage, sending the paperwork to the Matron before CC'ing myself. I might only get thirty of those eddies back when it came time to handle my taxes, but it got to brighten some of the children's day and it got some of my money back from the City.
"Not a problem, Mal. But... make sure that you do a good job cleaning the dishes and doing the laundry tonight, okay?"
He clicked his tongue, "Fine. Okay. We'll take care of it."
That would handle the evening's chores for Stacy and the rest of the girls in my room, which should get them out of the orphanage and allow me to get to bed early so that I can get up early in the morning for work.
It took only a few more minutes for everyone to finish with the evening meal, and while my roommates were quickly scampering out of the orphanage to practice delinquincy or kiss boys, the tweens of the orphanage were gathering up everyone's tableware and taking them to the kitchen to wash so they could go get some overpriced ice cream from the store just down the street.
As I stood up and made my way toward the stairwell to return to my room, Matron Del Vera easily intercepted me and pulled me into a tight hug.
"You're a blessing from God, Tanya. Never forget that, okay?" She pulled back and patted me on the cheek, "It's not quite going to be the same when you're no longer around..."
It took some effort to suppress my twitch at her words, but I did manage to give her a small smile, "I'll stop by from time to time, Miss Del Vera, if only to make sure that my future donations to the orphanage are being wisely spent."
The smile she gave me in return was tinged with exasperation as she shook her head, "I am grateful for every ennie, Tanya, and I know the kids are too... but don't think that your visitation needs to be contingent on donations; money is important, yes, but you're family, hija, and that means something."
"Thank you... I'll keep that in mind. Goodnight."
I went up to my room after another tight hug and got my bunk prepped to go to bed- my curtains were drawn shut, my sleep mask was on, my alarm was set, and my active noise-cancelling earbuds were charged.
I had work in the morning.