Chapter 36 - Chapter Thirty Six

Kevin walked beside Angela through one of the open-air markets that had sprung up on the edges of Heywood, not an official date because neither of them had called it that, but it felt close enough with the way she had insisted he carry the basket while she picked out fruit and bread from the stalls, her synthetic eyes narrowing whenever a vendor tried to upsell her and her calm voice cutting right through their pitch until she got the price she wanted, and Kevin let her take the lead because sometimes it was nice to pretend they were just two people shopping instead of a man hiding an empire of secrets and a Gen 3 synth designed to be smarter than most Corpo boardrooms; the crowd was thick enough that he almost missed the familiar face until he saw David standing with Maine and the rest of his crew near a vegetable stall, Rebecca stuffing carrots into her mouth like it was a challenge, Pilar complaining loudly that the oranges were overpriced, Dorio shaking her head while Maine kept an eye on everyone, and Lucy hanging back as usual with a small smile that didn't reach her eyes, and Kevin stopped long enough to nod at them and say, "David, right? Been a while," which made David blink before recognizing him, the memory of that night flashing back when Kevin had shown him to a room while his mother was rushed into emergency, and David managed a quick smile, "Yeah, I remember, thanks for that," and Kevin shrugged like it hadn't mattered, asking casually, "How's everything going, you holding up?" David gave the kind of answer you give in public with your crew watching, just a quick, "Getting by," and Kevin didn't press, just pointed at their basket and said, "You want to know a neat trick with that stuff?" Maine raised an eyebrow like he wasn't sure if this kid in a plain jacket was about to waste their time, but Rebecca said, "Sure, long as you don't take any," and Kevin chuckled, explaining simply, "Take your citrus, blend it into juice, pour it into an airtight container with more chopped citrus, keep the skins on, leave it for a few days, then drain it into a bottle you can seal—boom, soda. Or if you don't have fruit to spare, honey, sugar, water, even pine needles, that'll give you a cheap natural soda too, tastes better than half the vending junk you get in Night City." The crew blinked at him like he had just told them how to print eddies, Rebecca muttering, "No way that works," Pilar saying, "Bet it tastes like garbage," Dorio smirking but clearly curious, and Lucy's eyes flicking over Kevin with just a little more interest, while David nodded like he was filing the idea away for later, and Kevin clapped his shoulder once before saying, "Don't knock it until you try it," then turning back to Angela as if nothing more needed to be said, the whole interaction only lasting a handful of seconds before he walked on with her, Angela looking at him sideways with a faint smile like she was enjoying the game of him pretending not to notice how strange it was to run into David like that in the middle of the market, and Kevin pretending he really was just a guy out with someone he liked on a quiet day.