I stared out the window as Marco navigated morning traffic, watching Century City blur past in glass and steel. My body hummed with residual energy from Laurana's Essentia, still cycling warm beneath my skin. The pathways I'd kissed glowed in my memory like afterimages burned into my retinas.
My phone buzzed again.
Cheon: ETA?
Rome: twenty minutes
Cheon: I made breakfast
Mera: she made a SPREADSHEET about breakfast
Mera: theres literally color coding
Cheon: organization is not a character flaw
Rome: it's absolutely a character flaw
Cheon: you're both insufferable
Mera: but u love us anyway
I watched the three dots appear and disappear twice before Cheon's response came through.
Cheon: unfortunately
The corner of my mouth twitched. Yeah. Unfortunately.
