Chapter Sixty-Eight – Late, Locked, and Loaded

Chapter Sixty-Eight – Late, Locked, and Loaded

“Fear isn’t the mind killer.

Stress is.”

–A Corporate’s Guide to the Modern World, second ed. 2035

***

“Is it possible to be bored and stressed at the same time?” I asked the ceiling.

Lucy shifted next to me. Her nose pressed up against my arm, it was cold on the end. She pulled herself a little closer, as if she wanted to steal my warmth. “At the same time?” she asked. Her voice was husky and rough from having just woken up.

“Yeah,” I said. “Is there a word for that?”

“I don’t know,” Lucy said. She yawned. “Make one up?”

“Hmm. Bored and stressed… Bressed?”

Lucy sniffed. “Nevermind. Don’t make up a new word.”

“Did I fail to imbress you?” I asked.

Lucy laughed, and that laughter clearly woke her up some. She poked me in the short-ribs. “You are so… you.”

“Don’t make it sound like an insult,” I said.

“I’m not,” she said before stretching up. She pressed a kiss against my cheek. “I love you… you.”

I flushed a little, then returned the kiss. “I’m not so bored anymore,” I murmured.

“Oh-hoh? Horny and stressed… Hressed? Horssed?”

“Let’s not,” I said with a laugh. I snaked an arm around so that I was holding Lucy closer, even if I knew that would lead to the entire arm falling asleep sooner rather than later. “I have to go in a bit.”

“In a bit isn’t right now, though,” Lucy said.

“That’s true,” I said. I cuddled in a little closer. “Later, then.”

“When do you have to go?” Lucy asked. “We still have some time, right?”

“Eh, I guess about one, maybe two or so?” I said.

“Cat.”

“Yeah?” I asked.

“It’s two thirty.”

I blinked, then checked the time in my augs. “Ah… fuck me.”

“Well, we hardly have time for that, now do we?” Lucy said. She wriggled about for a moment, then pushed me up and off with a shove. “Up up! Get dressed and all that, I’ll run and prep some breakfast.”

“Oh, fine.” I said as I allowed myself to be rolled off the bed. There wouldn’t be time for a shower, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t spray myself down with deodorant and find some moderately clean clothes from the floor heap to wear.

Lucy darted out of the room, and I soon heard her banging things together in the kitchen. I took that moment to open up my messaging apps, only to discover a few hundred pings aimed my way. Gomorrah wasn’t amused, but she was also not my mom and if I was a little late, then… no one would die, probably? Not if it was only a little late.

Putting my armour on was a bit of a chore, but I wasn’t about to leave the house without it, not today. Then I shrugged on my coat and made sure to sling on a few guns and grenades. I had a bandoleer full of explosive fun, my Laser Pointer, and my old Trenchmaker in a thigh holster. Basically, I was armed for war, which was just about what I expected to encounter.