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The truth is, none of us actually considered Becca a psycho. We understood perfectly that she just had an explosive personality and hated admitting her mistakes. Not that she couldn't, but that she simply hated it. And because of that, she often started an argument if she had the chance. And right now, she had that chance...
She never allowed herself to act like this when there was no opportunity... but in this specific case, there was an opportunity to stir up some trouble, and it seemed like she had a valid reason, too...
Anyway, when we finished talking, I went to my workshop and started to drown myself in work, because despite knowing that I was doing the right thing... Despite the fact that V, to me, was still just a good acquaintance, and Jackie was nothing more than a 'hi-bye' kind of guy...
Despite all that, I felt like shit knowing that I was leaving two people I knew to their deaths. Well, not two, but one, since V was supposed to survive... But that didn't really change anything...
But in that state, work just wouldn't get done...
Not at all...
"You're worried..."
Lucy was standing behind me.
"Yeah."
"Hmm... I can help you let go of the stress..."
"You decided?"
"Well..."
I turned to her, and she looked away.
"In any case, I don't think now is the time to be getting into that kind of debauchery. I'm not in the mood..."
"I'm not talking about sex... but..."
She came up to me and sat on my lap with her juicy ass.
"...we can just sit and hug. We can be quiet... maybe kiss a couple of times..."
"Well..."
I shrugged.
"...let's try it."
And we tried.
Surprisingly, being in close contact with another person, even though I knew she might not fully support my idea, made it easier to deal with the fact that I was an asshole...
After a couple of dozen minutes of silence, I gave a sad grin.
"What's wrong?"
Lucy turned to me a little, which made me have to pull away from the top of her head, where my nose had been resting.
"Oh, nothing... you know, since Gloria died, I've done so many things... zeroed so many people... I thought I didn't have any of these stupid feelings like sympathy and conscience left. But here they are... showing up at the worst possible moment."
"Well, if you didn't care about any of this, I think that would be a warning sign for us. So it's actually a good thing that you understand how... ambiguous your decision is."
I sighed.
"Yeah... a very tactful way of calling me a bastard who's abandoning his own to certain death..."
"How much longer are you going to be eating yourself up?"
Becca peeked into the room. She looked at Lucy, who was sitting on my lap, and then at me, with a hint of annoyance in her eyes.
"Too late again?"
"Well..."
Lucy shrugged.
"...we've already kissed a couple of times and sat for a bit, so I can give David's lap to you..."
"I..."
Becca was clearly very flustered by Lucy's words. The confusion didn't last long, though.
"...what the hell?!"
With those words, Becca quickly came up to us and sat on Lucy's lap. But while Lucy was facing away from me, Becca sat down facing me and, without a second thought, she leaned in to kiss me.
"Dha!"
After she pulled away from my lips, Becca was clearly in a much better mood. After sitting there with a pleased look on her face for a bit, she looked at Lucy and then kissed her. And I'm more than sure that Lucy was extremely shocked by her friend's move.
But she wasn't the only one...
"Hmm... no, I like David's lips more..."
And right after she pulled away from Lucy's lips and said those words, Becca leaned in for my lips again. I didn't refuse her, but this time, after the kiss broke, I slightly lifted the girls, putting my hands under Lucy's butt, and turned them so that it would be comfortable to kiss both of them.
And, of course, the next kiss went to Lucy...
For a while, we just kissed each other. Even Lucy and Becca kissed each other again from time to time, although I could clearly see they were only doing it because they knew I liked watching. But even so, I kissed them a lot more than they kissed each other...
At some point, the kissing stopped, and we just sat there, hugging and enjoying the silence...
Our peaceful moment was interrupted by Judy...
"David, Viktor's calling..."
My eyes widened in shock, and I looked at the fool with surprise and disapproval.
"Well, I couldn't just not add his number to the exceptions. He wouldn't set us up, so I..."
I sighed and, after nodding at her, I waited for Lucy and Becca to get off me. Then I got out of my chair and, after stretching a little, I went to get dressed. I had been in just my underwear the whole time.
"We're coming with you?"
"No..."
I shook my head.
"...you're staying home."
"David, you don't get it. Judy wasn't asking you. She was telling you. We're coming with you."
I sighed and, after looking at the stubborn faces of my girls, I could only agree. Because arguing would only waste time. And while that was desirable, it wasn't when it came to Viktor.
We got ready pretty quickly...
And the trip to Viktor's clinic didn't take long either.
"Who?"
Misty's voice, as we had decided to go through her shop, was teary.
"Misty, it's us..."
"Huh?"
Misty looked at our procession in surprise.
"Viktor called us... what happened?"
"David... he died..."
"Viktor?"
I blinked in surprise, and my question made Misty freeze. Only a couple of seconds later did she shake her head and sob.
"No... Jackie... he's dead..."
I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
"Is the body at Vik's?"
"No..."
I raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"...some suits from Arasaka came and took the body. We don't even have anyone to bury!"
Misty just burst into tears. I sighed and, after mentally counting to five, I went up to her and hugged her. The girl hugged me back, literally clinging to me. I moved my hands lower, under her butt, and lifted her a little. She didn't say anything, but she wrapped her legs around me, like a koala...
I sighed to myself and slowly, so she wouldn't realize what was happening, I went out of her shop and headed toward Viktor's clinic.
"Ah..."
Vik, seeing me, was about to say something, but noticing Misty in my arms, he immediately grew sad and nodded in understanding. He hadn't looked happy before I arrived, either. But I hadn't come here with Misty for no reason, and after I got to Vik, who was sitting in his chair, I carefully lowered Misty onto his lap. I just as carefully unpeeled the human koala from me, and she immediately clung to Vik.
"Ah..."
I put my finger to my lips and called Vik, who instinctively hugged Misty and held her close. She pressed her face into his neck and continued to cry.
"So?"
A call when you're right next to the person... but considering Misty's state, I didn't want to bother her with a conversation.
"Jackie's dead..."
"I already figured that out..."
"V... I don't know what happened to her..."
"Me neither..."
I closed my eyes.
"Did you deliberately cut off communication?"
I opened my eyes and looked at Vik.
"Yeah."
"Why?"
Displeasure and disapproval were in his voice.
"What could I have done?"
My gaze became much colder.
"I woke up to the whole city buzzing, and all the TV channels screaming about an attack on Kompeki Plaza... What do you think I should have done? I already did everything I could for V and Jackie. I nagged them to get them to not work for Dex... I advised them to get new chrome. What else was I supposed to do? Get involved in a fight with Arasaka?"
"They're your friends..."
Vik's voice was full of disapproval.
"Friends? More like acquaintances... But even so, if I were only responsible for myself, I would have helped, but I'm responsible for my entire crew and the Aldecaldos, and to put them at risk of Arasaka's wrath..."
I shook my head.
"I understand..."
Vik closed his eyes, and his hands instinctively started to rub Misty's back.
"So why did you call?"
"I wanted your girls to calm Misty down a little..."
"Well..."
I shrugged.
"...in my opinion, you're doing a pretty good job of that yourself."
"That..."
A little embarrassment was in Viktor's voice.
"...well, I guess..."
"Should we go?"
"Well..."
Vik looked at Misty, unsure, and nodded.
"Alright, if you need anything... call..."
I ended the call with Viktor and, with a sad smile, I left his clinic, quietly closing the gate behind me, and then the door.
"So what happened?"
"Well... I put Misty in Vik's lap..."
"Hoping they'll finally get together?"
"Why shouldn't they?"
"No, I mean... we'd be happy about it... Where to now?"
"Where to, where to..."
I sighed.
"Home."
The girls exchanged glances.
"Oh, no!"
Panam decided to voice the shared thought.
"Hmm?"
"At home, you'll just get depressed again. So let's get some meat and go to our little house by the lake. You can make us some tasty barbecue there, and you can relax a little yourself..."
"I'll relax by cooking for you?"
"Are you against it?"
Judy joined the conversation. She was looking at me like a pro prosecutor looks at a defendant.
"No... it's just... maybe for a change, you guys can cook something for once?"
"You really want to eat something that's been burned on a fire?"
Kiwi raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"No..."
I sighed.
"...I get it... this crew is just keeping me around as their cook..."
"Girls, I think he's figured something out!"
Panam whispered this very loudly.
"Quiet! He's right here! He can hear you!"
Judy joined the game with a slight smile on her lips. She was whispering even louder than Panam, though.
"Oh, come on..."
Kiwi decided not to lower her voice at all.
"...he'll find out anyway. Yeah, we only need you so we can eat good food, and that's the only reason we're giving you access to our bodies. It's just a way to tie you to us more tightly..."
The short silence was broken by light chuckles. My mood, while not elated, was definitely getting better... guess I'm alive...
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