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(Banner Created By: mysafeplaceishere.)(All And Any Art Used Belong To Their Respective Artists.)“He's—.. he's doing the same thing I do. His hands are fluttering. Like mine.Oh God, he's like me.”―Andrew Joseph White, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth {{San Francisco, California}}[[June, 1st, 2016 ]] [::-Wednesday— 5:28 P.M.-::]San Francisco has it's problems, sure, but they were nothing compared to the nonsense that your best friend, Samantha Sauchak, were going through down in Texas. Her ex-boyfriend, Sebastian Whitlock, had beaten her so badly, Sam didn't recognize herself when she looked in the mirror the following morning. After that, she finally said 'enough was enough', went to court, and got a restraining order put in place. Unfortunately for her, Sebastian blew through that restraining order like wet paper, forcing Samantha to move miles away from her hometown just in order to feel safe again.She'd called up her cousin, who informed her that San Francisco was '-safe enough' to live in. Next, she called you, her childhood best friend who just so happens to live out in the San Francisco area. After explaining her crappy situation to you over the phone, she asked if you'd be willing to bunk-up with her for however long is necessary. In response, you wired her some money, and then invited her to permanently reside with you, reminding her that it had been your intentions to live together after school at one point. Gleefully, she agreed, packed up all of her things into her car, and drove all the way from Texas to San Francisco by herself.Now, here you sit, in an oversized spherical basket chair, seated in the center of an equally oversized red pillow with tufted buttoning, staring out the dirty window of your second-floor apartment. It's well into the evening, and the sky is twinged with shades of oranges and violets that swirl and blend together, blanketing the city in a warm glow. You've got a perfect view of the San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, all lit up with bright, dazzling lights that twinkle like stars.A warm, gentle breeze rolls through the window, where you've got your arms folded atop it's window sill for support. It's strong enough to move your hair, gently sweeping your chemically-colored locks out of your face just in time for you to witness an airplane flying by. It's engine roars as it dashes across the skyline, before disappearing into the cloudy haze lazily hovering above the rest of the city. You admire it with a smile and a sigh, although the sound of your heavy breath is drowned out both by the plane's engine and the violent rustling of your houseplants as they are rattled in their pots.After living in the outskirts of a southern town for most of your life, you've come to appreciate the hustle and bustle of the city. While most would probably consider it strange, the sound of wind chimes and cars slowly rolling down the street on wet asphalt that blow through your window are oddly soothing, and you're not quite sure if you'll ever be able to live without it now that you've got it. There's just something pleasant about sitting in your favorite chair and listening to the sounds of the city, while admiring the interesting way that the sunlight filters through your little collection of suncatchers, windchimes, and dream catchers that you've got strung up by the window.Eventually, there comes a steady knocking at your front door. Twisting your head around, your eyes pan across the cream-colored walls of your apartment, beyond all of the many artsy posters and paintings that cover them, just to blink your blurry eyes at the dark wooden door in confusion. When there comes a second set of steady knocks, you rise to your feet, press your toes into the "burnt maroon" colored carpet, and stretch your arms above your head. Then, with a lazy yawn, you make your way over to the door, straightening up your appearance along the way.After adjusting the waistband of your pajama bottoms, you unlock the door and swing it open, revealing a smiling, freckle-faced girl standing on the other side. With a cheshire-like grin, you swing open the door as wide as it'll go, so that you can get real look at your best friend for the first time in a few years. She's changed since you last saw her, having turned from this scrawny little thing to this wily, wild-eyed woman that somehow manages to smile at you despite all of the swelling and all of the bruises all over her face.Her deep brown, upturned eyes are bloodshot, red and swollen from being beaten black and blue, but that doesn't stop them from lighting up the minute you come into her line of sight. From cheek to freckled cheek, she smiles at you, drops her bags, squeals, and then launches herself at you with an excited giggle. But the minute that you wrap her up in your arms, she buries her face into the crook of your neck, and soon, her laughter devolves into tears.Now that she's safe, it's as if all of the emotion that she'd been holding onto the years is coming out all at once. After plucking her favorite baseball hat off her head, you begin to run your fingers through her luxuriously long brown hair to help calm her down. It helps, even if only a little. Eventually, she lifts her head and pulls back to wipe her eyes, while you gently tuck the bits of brown and dyed green hair that frame her face behind her delicate, little ears."Hey." You greet her quietly, while still combing her hair back.She sniffles and then smiles at you, catching the setting sun's light on her septum and lip piercings. "Hey.""Welcome home." You tell her, before returning her hat and stepping aside to welcome her into the apartment. "Come on in."When she steps inside, she laughs when she realizes that she can hear an old song from your childhoods playing on the radio— and knowing you, how sentimental you're known to be, it honestly wouldn't surprise her if you'd specifically chosen to play that particular song. Your behavior proves her right when you welcome her inside with a grin and a laugh, before playfully twirling her around in the doorway to the music.Céline Dion's song Love Can Move Mountains can be heard echoing throughout the apartment, which has been decorated in a way to maximize and utilize the amount of space provided. The walls are heavily decorated in a variety of posters, polaroid photos, and colorful neon signs, each of which are already lit up in anticipation of the rapidly setting sun. The living room furniture consists of a leather couch, two leather armchairs, and one beanbag chair, along with a massive entertainment center equipped with a flat screen TV, gaming consoles, and an updated stereo system.After retrieving her bags for her, you usher Samantha further into the little apartment, urging her to take a look around as you bring her bags to her room. She watches you walk past the coat closet direct to the right of the front door, before rounding the corner of the wall and disappearing through the colorfully beaded privacy curtains strung up in the doorway that leads down the hall to the apartment's bedrooms. If she stands at the very edge of the living room, she can see directly down the hall where you'd ran off to, and smiles when she realizes that her bedroom will be directly across from your own.Samantha turns her attention over to the open concept kitchen, fitted with a small kitchen island, plenty of cabinetry, a coca-cola themed fridge, and a recently tuned-up stove and dishwasher. An antique chandelier hangs from the kitchen ceiling directly above the kitchen island, providing just the right amount of warm, golden light to illuminate the space without drowning out the neon signs in the living room. She also notes that wherever there's not furniture, there's usually a houseplant of some kind. Except for the space by the fridge in the kitchen, that is. That's housed by a massive cat tree.Sitting atop the cat tree is a very large, very lavish fluffy cat bed, housing a hairless breed of cat. Chester, a sphynx with black skin and green eyes, sits atop his throne, lordly looming over Samantha, who stops by his tree to give the feline a little scratch behind the ear. The bell dangling from the tiger-print collar around his neck jingles as he shifts, leaning into her green fingernails with an obnoxiously loud purr."Hello, sweet baby!" She coos sweetly at him."Mrah!" the feline replies, while squinting his eyes in pleasure.Moments later, you return from Sam's room, and catch her in the act of loving on Chester. "Oh, I see you've met the neighborhood mouse menace! That's Chester, he's a two year old sphynx."Sam turns to look at you, smiling. "Chester, like Chester Bennington from Linkin Park?"The folds of skin around your eyes crinkle with appreciation. "The exact one! I'm a fan of their music."Her eyes twinkle with amusement, as she folds her arms across her chest. "That's not the first time you've named a pet after a music idol."You can only offer her a careless, indifferent shrug of the shoulders as your defense. "Okay, so I happen to like good music and a theme. Is that a crime, officer?"Samantha rolls her eyes, and then smiles before sticking her tongue out at you. "No, you're just weird!""Yet, you still choose to hang out with me, so really, what does that say about you? Way more than whatever you think it says about me, I'd imagine." You fire right back with a grin, before turning away with a chuckle. "Go ahead and take a seat, I imagine you're tired. I'll bring all of the boxes in— we can unpack later!"Samantha scoffs at your teasing, but smiles playfully before you can manage to turn away. As you make your way to the door, she gives Chester one last scratch before turning away to lean against the kitchen island, while taking another minute to admire the décor scattered around apartment. Meanwhile, you bend down to grab one of the boxes in the open doorway of your apartment, just as another set of hands come sweeping in from the right to pick up the box before you can.The box slips right out of your grasp with a quiet "oh", prompting you to tilt your head back and look up at the package thief.Standing over you is a reserved looking man, blinking down at you with big brown eyes that dance in the light. Slivers of dark black hair peek out from underneath the stretched band of a beanie, hidden beneath the hood of a green jacket. His fingers flex around the corners of the box as if he were anxious, although his face looks anything but. Instead of looking distressed, his expression is calm, tranquil. He's going to be one of those folk that are just hard to read, you can already tell."Oh, hello!" You reply before rising to your feet and introducing yourself by name. "-and you are?""That's Josh, my cousin. He didn't want me unpacking my car alone, especially this late into the evening." Samantha helpfully informs you from the kitchen, prompting you to twist your neck around and blink at her in disbelief. You tilt your head forward, peering at Samantha from beneath your brow bone with a look of surprise on your face. "Wait, you mean th-this is the cousin I always heard so much about, growing up? The super smart one that I always said I wanted to meet?"Josh's eyes immediately swivel over to Samantha. "You talk about me?"She smiles back at her cousin, sheepishly. "I-It's nothing bad! I've just.. whenever I'd come back from spending summer vacation with you in California, I'd always tell her about it. That's all!""Oh. Okay." He answers simply, with an indifferent shrug of his shoulders.Overwhelmed by the strange fluttering sensation building in your belly, it takes your brain a minute to reboot after you stare a little too hard at him, prompting you to turn away while harshly clearing your throat. Samantha narrows her eyes at your strange behavior, but when you dismissively wave her off, she straight-up arches an eyebrow at you. Frustrated, you frantically wave your hands at her, begging her to drop it for the time being. She relents, for now."Where do you want the boxes to go?" Josh asks you in the most nonchalant manner you've ever heard a person speak.You blink at him before pointing a thumb over your shoulder. "Uh;— just down the hall, through the open door.. you can't miss it!""Okay." He returns with a nod, before hobbling off to go drop off the box in his arms.As soon as he's out of the room, you turn away with a deep inhale, and cover your mouth to conceal the quiet groan that leaves your lips. "Ohh, that's going to be a problem.""What, what's going to be a problem?" Samantha blinks at you in utter bewilderment, wishing you'd just get on with it already."-Sam, you didn't tell me that your cousin was fuckin' gorgeous." You whisper softly, before mentally bracing yourself upon seeing her eyes swell with interest.Sam stretches her neck out, in order to look at you with wide, disbelieving eyes and lips pursed to form a little "o". "Well of course, he's cute, but as his cousin that's a little too 'sweet home Alabama' for me to point out, don't you think?"You scoff at her and roll your eyes, before running to take cover by the hall's doorway. Peering through the openings in-between the beaded strands covering the doorway, you watch from afar as Josh neatly tucks the box away, before pivoting around on his heels to exit the room. Before he can spot you, you make a mad-dash for the stack of boxes by the front door, in order to make yourself look busy. Samantha tries her best to conceal her laughter, turning her entire body away from the door under the guise of scratching Chester some more.When Josh rounds the corner, his deep brown eyes drop down to stare at the box in your hands. Despite having not said a single word, you can practically see the gears turning in his head, and patiently wait for his next move. But instead of asking you to pass the box over to him, he simply takes it out of your hands, while showing little outwardly reaction when your fingers accidently brush together. The muscles in your throat seize at the unexpectedly tender touch, which disappears just as quickly as it had came.You stand there in the middle of your living room, completely distracted by the way your brain replays everything in slow-motion for you. Samantha's giggling is what snaps you out of your trance, prompting you to hurriedly rush back for the door and grab another box. But by the time you turn back around, Josh is already there, waiting to take the box from you. He holds out his hands expectantly, and rather mindlessly, you deposit the box into his arms.As he turns away, he stops to adjust his grip on the box, quietly grunting in the process. Samantha tries not to expose you by snorting at the way you eagerly dive to grab another box, just to have an excuse to walk down the hallway with him. She's giggling so much, in fact, that she has to cover her mouth with both hands just to get herself to shut up. Meanwhile, Josh remains completely oblivious to the way you trail after him like lovesick puppy dog."So, what do you do for fun?" You ask him with a hopeful grin, while tucking one of the boxes away onto a bare, nearby vanity.Josh hesitantly glances over at you, as he gently sets down the box he'd been holding onto the bed. "I'm an engineer. I build things. String code together."Tucking your tongue against your cheek, you gently nod your head in response, visibly impressed. "An engineer, nice. If you do that off-the-clock, then I imagine you must be pretty passionate about your work. That's nice, I like that. The world needs more people that actually enjoy what they do."
There's a moment of silence that passes.
"What do you do for.. fun?" Josh asks you, the question rolling off of his tongue in the most awkward manner possible.Your bare, naked lips pull back into a nervous sort of grin, as you consider whether or not to tell him the truth. Admittedly, most people tend to have quite the negative reaction when they find out you work as a DJ. At first, it might sound fun to have a partner or a friend that can get you into all of the clubs they happen to work at, but when most of those clubs happen to feature a lot of half-naked or fully nude dancers, they usually start to get a little uncomfortable when they realize you know the majority of them on a first name basis.Known among the clubbing scene as DJ Hypnosis, you're popular for mixing a variety of electronic genres into your sets. Everything from trance, house, dubstep, vaporwave, synthwave, phonk, to good ol' techno, you've got a large, expansive collection of music for club owners and patrons alike to lose themselves in. As a nod to your Texan roots, your signature get-up is a "nightclub" version of a wild-western rebel cowgirl's outfit, all-black, all faux-leather. It's a little.. too revealing for most folk's liking. Definitely not something you'd wear to church.You settle on telling him a half-truth."I mix music!" You cheerfully tell him, while trying to minimize the fluttering of your hands to the best of your ability. "I'm a DJ, for a variety of clubs in the area."Josh quietly nods his head.. and doesn't say anything else.After uncomfortably clearing your throat, you make a beeline for the bedroom door. "Let's go grab more boxes!"Obediently, Josh follows you back out to the living room, where the both of you spend the next two hours bringing in all of the boxes that miss pack-rat Samantha managed to pack away into her car. By the time you're done, your body is uncomfortably clammy and the tank-top you'd been wearing is starting to stick to your skin, but that doesn't stop you from plopping down into the beanbag chair as soon as you're able to. Samantha makes herself comfortable on the couch, where Chester rushes to join her as soon as her lap is available for the taking.When the feline bypasses you in favor of your new roommate, you feign offense and dramatically scoff in response. "Traitor!"Samantha sticks out her tongue at you, causing you to laugh. 
Josh's hands subtly flex at the sound, repeatedly squeezing around empty air.
"Would you like to stay?" You ask him with what you hope is a friendly and inviting smile. "I was thinking of ordering a pizza."Josh declines with a gentle shake of his head, and squeezes his fingers. "I would, but I'm expected elsewhere. I need to go.""Oh." You respond, trying-and-failing to hide the way you visibly deflate in response. "Okay, th-that's fine! Feel free to come back!-"
Josh disappears, having mistakenly dashed before you could finish your sentence.
"..Again." You solemnly sigh, before reclining back in your chair with an long, drawn-out groan of anguish. "Ugh, I totally made a fool of myself.. there is no way he'll ever look at me twice, not after the way I fucked up tonight. Did you see how badly I screwed things up? Dude barely looked at me."Samantha, who knows her cousin like the back of her hand, can only grin from ear to ear. "I'm not so sure about that, actually. In fact, I think.. you made quite the impression."[[June, 1st, 2016 ]] [::-Wednesday— 8:24 P.M.-::]When Josh arrives at the hackerspace, he immediately clocks the strong scent of alcohol radiating from within the space. With an anticipatory flex of his fingers, he takes a deep breath, and walks in. The sound of heavy rock music echoes within his ear-drums, prompting him to lift a hand and cover one of his ears. When Sitara, who just sat down with a beer, finally notices him standing awkwardly in the doorway, she hops up from her seat, and wanders over to the radio where Marcus, T-Bone, and Wrench are dancing around like a bunch of drunken fools.After turning down the volume, Josh is able to hear himself think again."Hey, stranger." Sitara greets him with a fist-bump, after making her way over to him. "We were worried you weren't going to make it.""Sorry." He returns simply, before swiveling his eyes over to the others and quietly observing them. "How many drinks have they had?"Sitara lazily shrugs her shoulders, before taking a sip of her own beer. "Collectively? Like, three packs."Josh draws in a steady breath, before nodding his head. "Right. I'm sorry for taking so long, I had to help my cousin move—""Hey, it's alright. You don't have to explain yourself to anybody, it's okay. Go on and take a seat at the table, I'll let everyone know you're here." She returns with a grin and a friendly pat on the shoulder, before running off to round up the rest of the gang. With nothing else to do or say, Josh does exactly that, making his way over to the table that he and the other members typically use as the main hub where everyone gathers for work. Once he's there, he sets down his phone, puts away his things, and gets ready to eat.Ironically, it looks like the others ordered pizza.Josh helps himself to one of the hot, half-empty pizza boxes stacked onto the table, taking two pieces of cheese pizza for himself. Just as he's about to bite down into one, Sitara and the other members of DedSec sit down to join him, laughing and chattering noisily among themselves. Eventually, however, they settle down, and Josh is able to start eating his pizza. That is, until Marcus decides to pipe up."Sooo-" He begins, stopping mid-sentence to hiccup. "Where'd you go, man?""Josh had to help his cousin move." Sitara answers with a grin, before taking another large swig of her beer."Oh, yeah?" Marcus asks, with an interested raise of the browbone. "What's the story behind that?""There is no story." Josh answers, before taking another bite of his pizza. It tastes kind of bland. Oh, well.Wrench drunkenly sits up in his seat, with his pixelated eyes zeroed in onto Josh. "Oh, come on, there's got to be something interesting that happened that you can tell us! Please? Please, please, please?!""Stop." Josh tells him, speaking a little firmer than he normally would since Wrench is.. heavily inebriated.But Wrench, however, does not stop. In fact, he only seems to get louder."—Pleeeeease?!" He continues to beg with a squeal, goading an equally drunk Marcus into joining in with his playful teasing. "Please, please, please, please!""Stop." Josh repeats himself, this time with a subtle hint of anger in his voice."Wrench, Kid, I think you better do what he says." T-Bone advises the boozed-up anarchist, and his best friend. Neither of them do.Josh gently tosses the piece of pizza down onto his plate, just to be able to flex his hands in frustration. "There isn't a story, I just helped my cousin move in with her pretty roommate, please stop, I!—"The entire room comes to a silent standstill, as Josh comes to realize his own mistake. After quietly panning his eyes from DedSec member to DedSec member, taking in each of their shocked, bewildered expressions, he moves to cradle his face in the palms of his hands with a quiet groan. Equally as shocked as the others, yet still sympathetic for Josh after watching him melt into the table with embarrassment, Sitara reaches a gentle hand over to rest against his shoulder.Trying to be helpful, she tries to redirect the conversation elsewhere. "What's your cousin's roommate like?""She's a DJ." Josh shamefully mutters under his breath, before uncomfortably rocking back in his seat. "I didn't ask anything else.""Hey, man, there's always next time!" Marcus tries to tell him with an insistent point of his finger. "You got her number at least, right?""No." Josh responds with a very subtle sigh, before glancing down at his phone resting on top of the table. "..I've got my cousin's, though."Marcus not-so-slyly looks over at Wrench with a shit-eating grin. "Ayo, what do you think she looks like, man?"Wrench's mask lights up with joy. "Oh, man! I never thought about what kind of chick Josh would pull! Wow, the possibilities.."Josh inwardly groans. Tonight is going to be a long night.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Everybody's watching her,
but she's looking at you.”
―Rihanna, This is What You Came For[[June, 18th, 2016  ]]
[::-Saturday— 11:28 A.M.-::]It's another bright, beautiful, sunny day in San Francisco;— and you're just not in the mood for it.Normally, you wouldn't be up and moving around this early in the day, especially not on a worknight with a shift that lasts from 6 PM to 2 AM. However, today, you just can't afford to lounge in bed until an hour before it's time to walk out the door for work. See, today just so happens to be the release date of a new video-game that you've been dying to get your hands on, and with how highly anticipated this game's release has been, it'll be sold out everywhere in San Francisco by the end of the day. You need to get moving now, if you really want to get it. Bullet 4 is the fourth installment in a tactical shooting game that you grew up playing with Sam. It started out as one of those cheesy shooter games with the poor graphics and the cruddy controls, but it was just so campy that you and Sam couldn't help but adore it. Back in the days of your early childhood, the two of you would always steal the games from her older brother's bedrooms, usually while they were smoking pot out in the garage. When the second game came out in the late 2000's, the graphics were remarkably better, and the game sold billions of copies. Bullet 3 was even better than Bullet 2.But for whatever reason, they chose not to pursue a fourth installment.You're interested to see what the fourth game will be like;— that is, if you can get your hands on the damn thing. The truth is that you've been driving all over San Francisco in search of it, hitting up every video-game store and niche little nerd-shop that pops up on your GPS. However, everywhere you've gone is always sold out of all their stock of Bullet 4. Even your favorite hot-spots that rarely ever fail didn't have one hidden away. Not even the employees who knew you personally could manage to spare a copy for you, there was always some asshole that managed to nab it.However, there is one place left on your list that you haven't gone; Gary's Games & Glory.When you pull into the lot and park your car, speaker system blaring, you get a couple weird looks. Ignoring the odd stares, you lower the volume of your loud music, set the car into park, and turn off the engine before climbing out. But when you make direct eye-contact with a few of the nosy onlookers, they all quickly look away in the wake of your hardened stare and arched brow, too intimidated to keep looking back after getting caught in the act.Pussies.Although the store is mostly known for it's large variety of board games and roleplaying games, there is a small selection in the back of the store that houses video games. The shop's shelves are cluttered and disorganized, with cards and board game boxes messily stacked and toppling over one another. People crowd around the shelves, carefully picking through the selection in search of a hidden gem. But despite how packed the store is, there isn't anyone hovering by the video game shelves in the back.When a group of chatty college frat boys proceed to block the only way through the store with their wide-legged stances, you suck your teeth. Rather loudly, they continue to brag about their sexual exploits to each other, completely oblivious to the fact that they're clogging up the doorway to the store. The plastic bags with Gary's logo on them tells you that they're paying customers just like everyone else, but that doesn't seem to be stopping them from looking down their noses at anyone that tries to wriggle their way through, like a bunch of snotty football jocks sizing up which nerd they want to stuff into a locker next.If you squint, you can make out the faint outline of Bullet 4 in their bags.With a scoff of annoyance, you decide to forcefully shoulder your way through, bellowing; "-move it, you stupid fuckin' frat boys, you're blocking the damn doorway!"One of them has the audacity to suck their teeth, and talk back to you. "Maaan, chill, lil' mama! We just wasn't paying attention, ain't no need for all that!"That gets you to turn around and stare at them in disbelief. "Boy, how are you going to block the way, and then act like I'm the bad guy for telling you to move your ass? Seriously?"With another suck of their teeth and a low mutter of "-whatever, bitch", the group of frat boys exit the store, allowing traffic to flow freely once more. Now that everyone is finally out of the way, you're able to make your way over to the video-game section in the back of the store, where you discover one last copy of Bullet 4 sitting innocently on a shelf. Excitedly, you let out a squeal before making your way over to the game— only to stop short when someone manages to beat you to the game stand, and take the last copy.You visibly deflate. "Aww, dammit.."Upon hearing you express your disappointment, the person who'd managed to grab the game pivots around to investigate. When the sunlight filtering in through the window hits their face, you realize that the person you're actually looking at is Josh, Samantha's cousin. He stands there awkwardly, with his fingers nervously flexing around the plastic video game case. Neither of you say a single thing; you both just simply stand there, looking completely surprised."Josh!" You manage to get yourself to say, after two heartbeats pass."Hey." He returns with a nod of acknowledgment. "Is something wrong? You sounded upset, just now.""-Huh? Oh, that!" You reply with a dismissive wave and a laugh. "Aah, it's— it's nothing important, really. I've been driving around town all day, trying to score a copy of Bullet 4. I used to play it with Sam a lot, and.. well, she grew out of it, but I never did. I was hoping to grab a copy of the new game, and play it for old times sake but.."Josh looks down at the copy in his hands. "-But I just grabbed the last copy.""Yeah.." You sigh dejectedly, before immediately bouncing back to cover up your disappointment. "But it's fine! I'll just order it online—""That'll take too long." He tells you, before immediately attempting to hand you the copy. "Here, take it."You visibly falter. "Wh-Wha-Why? Josh, it's okay, you grabbed it fair and square—""People who have pre-ordered the game online are reporting that they still haven't gotten their package. I pre-ordered my own copy weeks ago, but it never showed up." He says, while insisting that you take the copy by shaking it at you. When you continue to hesitate, he attempts to reassure you, though it comes out rather awkwardly and flat-toned. "..It's okay."With a rueful grin, you accept the game from Josh, albeit rather hesitantly. You stop to admire the glossy cover, and then flip the case over to inspect the back of the packaging. After reading the long, overly dramatic summary, you notice an extra string of words at the bottom of the game's casing. Upon closer inspection, it reads; "multiplayer compatibility".That gives you an idea."Wait, Josh!" You call out to him, before he can manage to turn away and slink off. When he looks back, you hold up the game with a hopeful smile. "I don't have any friends that are into the Bullet series, and now that Sam has grown out of it too, I really don't have anyone to geek-out with. But if you don't play the entire game with two players, you don't unlock the secret ending in the games, and.. well, those are my favorite part. I was wondering, well.. how do you feel about being my new gaming buddy?"Josh furrows his brows together, as if this were news to him. "..There's a secret ending if you play with a friend?""Yeah! You didn't know?" You ask with an innocent tilt of your head. "All of the games in the Bullet series are like that. They're actually really important, it completely changes the whole storyline.""I didn't know that. I never had someone to play them with me." He returns, while repeatedly flexing his fingers and rocking on his toes. "That changes everything. When are you available?"
Oh, your heart just might grow wings and fly away!
"Well, I don't have to start getting ready for work until 5, so we can— oh, and we're walking! Walking very fast! ...Josh, slow down!!"[[June, 18th, 2016  ]]
[::-Saturday— 3:34 P.M.-::]"On your six." Josh mutters, warning you just in time to gun down an enemy NPC trying to sneak up directly behind you."Oh shit, thanks." You reply, the words coming out all rushed and breathless.As it turns out, you and Josh make a far better gaming tag-team than either of you ever imagined. With his high intellect, excellent memory, and fantastic attention-to-detail, he's able to quickly map out the smartest route to accomplish your missions quickly and efficiently, while your impeccable hand-eye coordination allows you to quickly gun down enemies long before they can manage to overwhelm the either of you with their numbers.The two of you beat Bullet 1 in less than an hour. You're like speedrunners, on crack.The premise of the game series is that the two of you are in control of two orphaned-brothers-turned-hitmen for a secret organization within the U.S.A government, tasked with killing off a variety of dangerous individuals. However, during the first installment, the mentor who'd been your father figure mysteriously vanishes. Believing him to be dead, you're tasked by the leader of your organization to find your mentor's killer, and bring him to justice. But the game's ending changes depending on how many players there are.
If there's only one player active, the player and the NPC acting as their companion are attacked by a masked figure.
If there's two players active, the masked figure reveals themselves to be none other than your missing mentor.
Then, the first game ends.
For the past three hours, your apartment has been filled with the sound of non-stop heavy gunfire and professionally voice-acted screams of anguish, while you and your new gaming buddy work together to get out of a building that's rigged to explode at any minute. Josh's character is trying to guard your back and stop you from getting shot, while your character tries to crack the lock preventing the both of you from opening the final set of locked doors and leaving the danger zone."This is wild." Josh calmly says, as if he weren't using a reinforced riot shield to fend off heavy gunfire from heat-signature seeking automatic gun turrets. "I still can't believe the bad guy was actually Captain Six the entire time.""It's fun though, isn't it? Being able to go back and play it a second time?" You ask while leaning your elbows onto your knees, as if that'll somehow help you beat the puzzle faster."It is. I'm having a lot of fun." He replies, while using his toes to lightly rock himself back-and-forth on the couch. He misses the way you glance away with a grin.Finally, you manage to crack the lock, allowing you and Josh to run for freedom. When the screen goes black, Josh excitedly babbles "-there's another cutscene, there's another cutscene!" as you move from your comfortable spot on the floor to the open space besides him on the couch. Your body crashes into the couch cushion at an awkward angle, causing you to fall back and lean into Josh's side. However, he manages to catch you before you can completely fall over, and helps you sit upright just in time to watch the cutscene play out.Your characters run out of the building, dressed in their heavy combat gear, and sprint for the helicopter waiting at the edge of the property.
They make a dive for it, and just narrowly manage to catch the bottom rung of the ladder, just as the building explodes.
The helicopter flies off into the distance. The game narrator says that the heroes are safe, for now.
...But then the camera pans around, revealing that Captain Six is the one driving the helicopter.Then, the game ends."What?" Josh says while staring at the screen with wide, unblinking eyes. "But in the version I remember, they don't show who's driving the helicopter..."His childlike awe and bewilderment is truly a beauty to behold, a world wonder all on it's own. You can't help but laugh at the genuine look of disbelief on his face, while tightly clutching your stomach. "Ohh, it's so nice to be able to play these with you! Playing with you kind of feels like I'm playing them all for the first time again, it's awesome! Do you want to get started on Bullet 3!?"
Josh quietly looks over at you, and.. stares.
Apprehension swells inside of your gut, as you swallow thickly. "Oh, I.. I'm sorry, I got a little loud there, didn't I? I'm sorry, I'm—""You really like gaming with me?" He asks you outright, while still staring at you with that same vacant expression that seems to be permanently etched onto his face.Your entire face suddenly grows hot. Surely, the heater must've just kicked on, right? "Ye-Yeah, actually, I do! You're really smart, and you've got great strategies, and I just.. ahem, sorry, I.. Hah, I thought you were staring at me for a different reason, earlier!"That seems to pique his curiosity, enough to get him to quietly sit up in his seat and set the controller down onto the coffee table, before turning his head to look at you as he asks; "-why did you think I was staring at you?"Your face visibly falls. "Well, I'm.. often told that I make people uncomfortable because I can get a little too.. "intense" for them. I was worried that you might be thinking the same, for a moment."Josh glances away in confusion, before looking back at you with a far-off stare. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean.""-Hm." You thoughtfully hum, while twisting your body around on the couch to face him. "Well, uh.. let's try this, instead; how familiar are you with ADHD?""Very familiar. I don't have it, but I was tested for it at one point." Josh answers with a clinical-level of professionalism, prompting you to raise your eyebrows in surprise. "There are some studies that show 50% to 70% of individuals with autism also present symptoms found in individuals with ADHD. Why do you ask?"Your lips twist into a rueful smile. "Have you ever been told that you're... "too much"? Too high energy, or too strange, or just too much of anything, really?""Yes." He answers, simply. The sincerity in his voice tells you exactly how deeply he relates without having to give you a 20 minute long detailed retelling of an example within a story, like some other people in the big blue world would."I don't know if Sam has ever told you anything about me, but just for context, I have really severe ADHD." You inform him with a sad sort of smile, while folding your hands over your heart for emphasis. "For the majority of my life, I've been repeatedly told that I'm often.. "too much" for most folk too handle, whether it be the intensity of my emotions, the volume of my voice, or whatever. My ADHD, it—""—amplifies those feelings." Josh finishes for you, speaking as if he were talking from personal experience and not reading off something you'd read in a medical study. "Autism often amplifies emotional responses. I've been told the same things, for the same reasons.""Then, you get it! You get what it is that I'm talking about!" You reply with the very slow beginnings of a happy grin. "You know what it's like to have people tell you that the way you go about doing things is wrong, when all you're trying to do is—""—make it through the day and do what feels best for you and your needs." He finishes for you, again, this time with a teensy-tiny smile of his own. Hands fluttering with excitement, he leans up in his seat and adjusts the angle of his body to face towards you. "You get it. I like that.""I do get it!" You cheerfully return with an excitable nod of your head. "But yeah, that's why I thought you were staring at me. I thought that I said something stupid, or—""You didn't." He reassures you, still smiling. "-and for what it's worth, I don't think you're too much.""Well, thanks." You return with a sweet, almost bashful grin, unable to stop yourself from mindlessly rubbing your sternum in an attempt to calm down your heartbeat.Josh reaches for his controller, and picks it up with a gentle hand. He admires it's smooth plastic shelling, while experimentally squeezing his fingers around the controllers handles. Then, he adjusts his positioning on the couch in order to comfortably recline back. Moments later, Chester the cat decides to climb down from his cat tree, and majestically strut his bald-self into the living room. He makes himself comfortable at Josh's feet, who eyes the feisty-looking feline sitting on the floor. Then, he pats his lap invitingly, with a friendly whisper of "-pspsps".
Chester, without hesitation, jumps into his lap, where he proceeds to melt like hot butter on a fresh biscuit.
"I've never pet a hairless cat before." Josh notes aloud while gently running his fingers over Chester's spine, with his lips pursed together to suppress a growing grin. "This feels.. different.""He likes you!" You tell him with a smile, watching as Chester eagerly tries to lean into his fingers with a throaty, rumbly purr."He's cool." Josh says. "Cute, in a weird sort of way.""Mrah!" Chester croaks with a happy squint, while dragging his cheek and all of his scrunchy little whiskers across Josh's sleeve.Your entire face lights up. "I believe you have his approval."At some point, you begin to boot up Bullet 3 on the console. In response to the loud intro and dramatic music, Chester panics, and makes a break for the safety of your bedroom. But while he tries to flee, you attempt to catch him mid-air, hoping to stop him from tearing through the house and potentially hurting himself— but just as you're about to catch him, the fiery feline slips right out of your reach and disappears behind the beaded curtains with a frightened yowl.You fall back against the couch with a heavy sigh. "Sorry, he's skittish.""It's okay." Josh acknowledges with a touch of sympathy. "Loud sounds can sometimes overstimulate me too."Once the game loads, you're in. With a soft grunt, you sit up in your seat and flex your fingers around the plastic shell of your controller. Josh does the same, eagerly leaning up in his seat while rolling his shoulders. Then, the speakers erupt with loud, heavy gunfire as the cinematic intro opens up to a scene depicting your rescue helicopter on the receiving end of some heavy enemy gunfire. Initially, your characters can be seen attempting to fend off the gunfire— until they realize who is in the driver's seat, prompting them to grab a set of parachutes and drop.Just as the two of you settle back into a groove, a set of footsteps and jangling keys can be heard approaching the front door. Once it's been unlocked, the door gets kicked open, allowing an overworked Sam entry into the apartment. Dressed from head to toe in her black bartending uniform, she stumbles into the living room with a heavy sigh, carrying plastic grocery bags in tightly wound fists. She begins to gripe and complain about her workday, and ends up walking right past you and Josh on the couch.That is, until Josh speaks up.

"Hey." He casually greets her, eyes never leaving the television screen."Hey." She returns politely, before quickly doubling back just to stare at the two of you in disbelief. "I'm sorry, did I miss something?""Bullet 4 came out today." Josh informs her, as if that explains why he's currently sitting on the couch shoulder to shoulder with you.Sam looks to you for an explanation, because she's obviously not going to get it out of her cousin."I went looking all over town for a copy of the game, but everywhere I went had completely sold out. No, seriously, everywhere." You explain with a smile, while recalling how insufferably frustrated you'd been. "I stopped at this one last place, and they had one last copy on the shelf. I went to get it, but Josh got to it first. After realizing we were both there to get the game, he gave the last copy to me."Sam's eyes swell in their sockets, as she turns her attention over to her cousin. "You just gave her a copy? Just like that?""It was the only way she'd be able to play the game." Josh claims, without ever looking away from the television screen. "On your six.""Got it!" You cheerfully reply, while giving an enemy NPC a good ol' headshot.Sam watches the scene unfold before her with a look of pleasant surprise on her face. "Well, shit.. how long have the two of you been at this?""12:15 o'clock." Josh answers. "She's given me a copy of the key. I can come over and play anytime I want."Sam huffs, and turns away with a smile. "Alright, just don't let me wake up to you standing over my bed in the middle of the night, like one of those sleep paralysis demons I keep reading about!""Stop." Her cousin demands.
Sam laughs, and laughs, and laughs;— all the way to her bedroom.
[[June, 18th, 2016  ]]
[::-Saturday— 7:54 P.M.-::]When 5 o'clock rolled around, you unfortunately had to stop your gaming session with Josh in order to get ready for work.After exchanging numbers with you and saying goodbye to Sam, Josh left your apartment in good spirits. Then, he drove all the way to back Gary's Games & Glory to meet up at the hackerspace with the other members of DedSec. According to Sitara, there's a shady corporation's CEO doing some shady corporation deals in the area, and she would very much like to get a look at the texts, phone calls, and other data on his phone. However, they need to get up-close-and-personal with him in order to do that.Sitara's contacts were able to track the CEO down to a nightclub by the name of Club Cosmic, and since it's so important that they get their hands on that data, it's all hands on deck. Even Ray is being forced to go, despite the fact that he hasn't stepped into a nightclub since the late eighties. Wrench and Marcus, like the frat boys they are, were excited that the mission required them to go to a nightclub. Between the two of them, they were able to persuade the others into potentially unwinding for a bit once they get in...if they get in.Unfortunately, the group of five ran into a little bit of a problem. When they arrived at the club, they found a long ass line preventing them from getting in. Even worse, the bouncer at the door seems to have let the position of minor authority go to his head, and is using it as an excuse to be rude and get away with insulting the people trying to get into the club. Folk are just trying to have a good time, but instead of dancing the night away, they've got some pig-headed asshole ruining everything with his foul attitude.He's ruining DedSec's night, too.When it was DedSec's turn in line, the bouncer told them to wait for the club's capacity levels to go down. Initially, they were excited, thinking that they had a real chance of actually getting into the club. But when ten minutes quickly turned into 30 minutes, they realized that the bouncer was just fuckin' with them and never actually intended to let anyone else into the club for the night. No one is happy about the situation, but Wrench in particular is getting antsy. For the past 5 minutes, he's been making not-so-subtle suggestions of beating up the bouncer to the others.At this point, Sitara is considering it. She's is losing her patience trying to keep his behavior in check, and is starting to feel fairly flustered, herself. She angrily shakes her head and looks over her shoulder, just to stare at the bouncer smugly smirking at the club's empty line. He's managed to scare off or wait-out everyone but DedSec, and much to the group's dismay, it looks like he's actually winning the fight."Man, the fuck are we goin' do now?!" Marcus exclaims, before sucking his teeth in disappointment."We could just sneak around back, and try crawling through a window." Sitara suggests with a shrug."Not going to work, he's right there." Marcus points out, while pointing over at the guard. "The minute he sees us moving, his eyes are going to be on us.""Might I make a suggestion?" Wrench sweetly suggests."No!" is the collective response from the group."I still think we should take a look around, and see if there's a back door!" Sitara insists.Marcus adjusts the beanie atop his head with a scoff. "Man, Sitara, he's right there!"Wrench lets out an uncomfortable whine. "-Guyyyys!"Ray rolls his eyes back in their sockets with a long, drawn-out sigh of exhaustion. "Man, I'm getting too fuckin' old for this shit..."Josh quietly observes the scene before him as it unfolds, watching calmly with an otherwise vacant expression that masks the growing annoyance hiding underneath. His teammates are wasting precious time with their arguing, and he's starting to lose patience. Between them, and the guard's constant snorting and snuffling, it's becoming harder for him to suppress the urge to stim. His hands flex, repeatedly curling into fists as he tries to think of something to do."Stop." He says, quietly.When they don't listen, he repeats himself."-Stop!" He shouts irritably, prompting the others to slip into a dead silence and simply stare at him in shock.After several heartbeats pass, Josh eventually works up the courage to speak. Fluttering his hands, he mutters something about needing to make a phone call to the others, who watch on in confusion as he quietly sifts through his pockets for his smartphone. Upon finding it in his pocket, he fishes it out and immediately goes scrolling through his not-so-long list of contacts, before dialing the number and bringing the phone to his ear. In order to get a little bit of privacy, he turns away from the other DedSec members.Upon hearing the other end of the line engage, he speaks. "Hello?""Hey! I wasn't expecting you to call. Is everything alright? You're not hurt, are you?" comes your sweet voice from the other end of the line, acting like a soothing balm for his stressed soul."I'm fine." He replies, sounding the slightest bit relieved to hear your voice. "I need a favor.""Okay, hit me!" You shout into the phone in order for him to be able to hear you over the music playing in the background."My friends and I are trying to get into this nightclub, but the guard won't let us in." He explains, while mindlessly fidgeting with the metal teeth of his unzipped jacket. "I know you're working, but do you think you can help? Maybe make a phone-call, or two?""Sure! Where are you at, sweetheart, what club are you trying to get into?" You ask, with your hands itchin' for action.Josh pivots around on his heels and looks up at the club's neon sign, all lit up with dazzling lights. "Club Cosmic."

You can be heard cackling on the other end of the line. "Club Cosmic?! Aw sugar, I'll give you something better than just a phone call! Go wait in line, I'll be out in just a moment."When the line clicks off, Josh smiles. "We're in. Let's go."The others blink at him, slack-jawed, stammering, and stuttering in confusion;— all the same, they follow him after he tucks his hands into his pockets, and begins to lead the way. Ray is the first to speak up with a "-kid, wait!" before running ahead a bit in order to cut Josh off mid-stride. He extends a hand outward, gently staving Josh off while also somehow managing to wordlessly plead for him to wait for the old man to catch his breath. "What- haah, fuck, I'm really getting old-" He begins to pant, while running a heavy hand down the length of his exasperated face. "What do you mean by that, kid? Could you, maybe like, tell us what's going on, or what just happened? ""An explanation would be nice, Josh." Sitara gently tries to reason."I made a phone call to a friend. She'll get us inside." He offers as an explanation, before deciding himself that's good enough and continuing to walk around Ray. Knowing good and well that they'll never get anything else out of him, the others give in and decide to follow after him. Each of them wear the same puzzled expression, with the furrowed brow and slightly pouty lips— except for Wrench, of course. His pixelated eyes are all big and buggin' out.When they arrive back at the line, Josh positions himself in front. Once again, the cop steps up to the line with arms folded across his chest. He begins sizing Josh up, looking him up and down as if he were expecting a fight from the casually dressed adult. Instead, all Josh does is calmly tuck his hands into the pockets of his green jacket, and quietly wait for the fireworks to start. Then, in the peripheral of his vision, he spots movement behind the dark, one-way tinted windows of the nightclub heading towards the glass double doors. Moments later, they swing open, and you come waltzing outside into the night.
Josh grins from ear to ear.
His eyes start at the black leather cowboy boots on your feet, and slowly begin to work their way up. The majority of the boots are hidden beneath the flared legs of a tight pair of faux leather bell-bottoms, but he can just barely make out the twinkle of your metal spurs, winking at him in the night. Further upward, you wear a matching faux-leather jacket, and— nothing underneath, except for some thick black fashion tape X'ing out the areolas of your bare, naked breasts.A very light, glittery layer of body shimmer covers your skin, yet it somehow manages to actually stay on your skin, instead of flaking off and getting everywhere like some sort of artificial herpes. For the signature parts of your outfit, sitting atop your head is a black cowboy hat, with a wide brim that casts a dark shadow over your eyes.  Dangling from your ears are a matching set of purple mushrooms, featuring a cutesy set of white polka-dots.DedSec's jaws collectively hit the floor.Sitara nods her head approvingly, while slowly looking you up and down. "Okay, she looks like somebody I want to hang out with.""Goddamn!" Marcus spits under his breath, while lightly elbowing Wrench. "Yo, yo, Wrench! You seeing this shit?!""Josh, my maaaaan!" Wrench hoots, with his pixelated eyes all lit up with hearts. "-Dude, you need to introduce me to more of your lady friends, especially if they all look like that!""Stop it." Josh remarks, with a few hints of jealousy in his voice."How is she not cold?" Ray quietly asks under his breath, prompting Sitara to quietly snicker before slapping him on the arm.DedSec watches you reach a hand up to rest against the crown of your cowboy hat, and hold it in place while looking up-and-down the street, presumably in search of them. Upon spotting everyone standing in line as you had instructed over the phone, you come running over to greet them with a smile, strutting past the very confused looking bouncer in order to get to Josh as quickly as possible. Once you're within range, Josh raises his arms and reaches out for you, wordlessly asking for a hug."Hi." He greets you, smiling softly.Without hesitation, you rush over and leap into his embrace. Initially, he intended to hug you around the shoulders— that's the only way he knows how to hug. But you manage to beat him to the finish line, and end up draping your arms around his neck and shoulders in the process, leaving your waist as the only available space for him to rest his arms. So without much choice in the matter, he ends up wrapping his arms around you in a much more intimate manner than he intended, while you pull him close and squeeze him tight.
Still, you quietly take note that he doesn't seem to be at all bothered by your closeness.
"It's good to see you." You quietly murmur into his ear while hugging him tight, before pulling away and leaning back onto your heels. With your painted lips pursed together in a friendly grin, you confidently fold your arms across your chest and not-so-subtly look Josh up-and-down, before tucking your tongue into your cheek. "You know, I've got to say, I really like the fact that we keep running into each other today."He politely nods in agreement. "Thank you for the help. We've been trying to get in for almost an hour.""Yeah, all because that nasty pig by the door wouldn't let anybody in." Sitara adds in, while leaning her weight onto one leg just to be able to jerk her chin at the offending bouncer in question."Oh, you mean David?" You ask, while pointing your thumb over your shoulder. "Yeah, don't worry about him. He's getting fired, soon."
The bouncer's face falls.
After turning around on your heels, you hatefully stare down the bouncer, intimidating him with your glaring enough to sharply look away. Without anything else to do, you lead the group over to the club's glossy tinted glass doors, and hold the door open for them. One by one, they filter in through the door, with Josh leading them in. Once inside, you cut one last nasty look in the bouncer's direction, before shutting the doors behind you.
(Roswell's Saloon, Established 2023 — Montrose, Houston, Texas, United States of America)
(we're gonna pretend it's in San Francisco, California for the sake of plot, though)When Josh and his friends walk into the club, they are immediately overwhelmed by their blacklight, neon-lit surroundings. Overstimulated by the intense music blaring through the club's high-tech speaker system running throughout the building, Josh nervously flexes his fingers, curling them into tightly wound fists. Upon seeing his discomfort, you rush over to his side and gently cup your hand around his ear, allowing him to actually hear when you talk. "I have some headphones that you can use to block everything out! Would that help?!" You shout, although to him it sounds as if you're speaking normally.
Josh eagerly nods his head.
"Alright, just hold onto my hand, I'm going to pull you through!" You instruct him with a gentle nod of reassurance, before taking him by the hand and leaning around to shout at the others. "If you guys don't mind following me upstairs, I'll get you settled!""Y'all go ahead, I'm gonna run off and, uh.. I'ma get myself a drink." Marcus says, while eyeing a man dressed in a crisp, clean white suit at the bar."Oh, dude! Get me whatever that blue fuckin' shit is!" Wrench excitedly babbles, before giving his best friend one last thumbs up as he is pulled along by a very exasperated Ray."Focus, you moron, you!—" Ray angrily starts to hiss, before stopping to recollect himself. He breathes hard through flared nostrils, while tilting his head to the side and pressing his lips together in a fine line. "Buddy, I don't know if you've been paying attention or picking up any context clues, but can you stop fooling around? I think that girl might've been the chick that our ol' friend Josh was talkin' about."Wrench's pixelated eyes turn into bubbled-up zeros. "Uhh.. who?"Rolling her eyes, Sitara looks back at the pair just to whisper-hiss at him. "You know, the girl that Josh was talking about!""...His cousin?" Wrench continue while thoughtfully tapping his bottom lip, sounding genuinely confused over the whole ordeal.Sitara looks like she's going to pop. "You know, I might've gotten all dressed up for once but I'm still wearing sneakers. Don't think I won't chase you down and beat some sense into you, Wrench.""Guys, I'm not trying to be funny, I genuinely don't remember!" Wrench fearfully squeals, while flailing his arms all around. He's so lucky that the club's music is completely drowning out this entire conversation for you and Josh!Sitara pinches the bridge of her nose, sighs, and then rolls her eyes before donning a look of annoyance. "The one he called pretty, you idiot!"Wrench's pixel eyes look like they're about to leap right off the lens of his mask. "WHAT?! NO WAY! YOU'VE GOT TO BE SHITTING ALL OVER MY—""Ray, hit him!" Sitara hisses.Immediately, Wrench is smacked across the back of the head.Upon hearing something that sounds an awful lot like a squeal of pain, you and Josh look back at his friends with matching muddled looks on your faces. In response, Sitara, Wrench, and Ray just shrug their shoulders and take a slow look around the club, as if they too hadn't any idea where that noise had come from. Thinking nothing more of it, you continue to lead Josh and the others over to the stairs in the back before climbing them all the way to the top, making sure to grip the railing tight.
(Roswell's Saloon, Established 2023 — Montrose, Houston, Texas, United States of America)
(we're gonna pretend it's in San Francisco, California for the sake of plot, though)When you make it upstairs, you cut across resin-protected, poster-plastered floor of the club's second level, all the way over to the flashing, neon-lit dancefloor in the back of the building. You tighten your grip on Josh's hand before cutting through the crowd, stopping so often to do the occasional head-count to ensure that nobody else got lost along the way. Eventually, you make it to the DJ's Booth, all lit up with LED lights flashing a variety of vivid colors in trippy patterns.You lead Josh around the side of the obnoxiously large DJ's booth by the hand, before helping he and his friends get settled at a nearby table. Once you've gotten everyone comfortable, you run over to the big ass DJ's booth where you've got your own "station" set up, with your own turntables, audio mixers, laptop, and a very expensive looking sound system. You walk past the chair holding your bag, and make your way over to the part of the booth housing the club's audio mixer in search of your headphones.You find it rather quickly, sitting on the edge of the desk. They're an expensive set of black and purple wireless headphones, decorated with a variety of galaxy, space, and alien-themed stickers that seem to cover almost every inch of the headband. After turning them on and fiddling around with their settlings to ensure that they're working, you run back over to the table where Josh and his friends are situated, before presenting the headphones to him with a smile."Here, you can use these. You won't even have to take off your hat, you can just slide them right over it. They're also noise-cancelling, so you won't hear too much excess noise." You insist with a gentle nod, before taking the time to point out various features on the headphones. "Okay, so this little scroll-switch here controls the volume of the music. It's all the way down for now, but you can adjust it if you'd like to hear the music;— and don't worry, 'cause I'm about to change it from the nasty shit my coworker put on."Josh takes the headphones from you with a smile, and nods his head appreciatively at you.After lowering the hood of his signature jacket, Josh watches with a smile as you run back to the booth, before eventually putting on the headphones. Just as you said they would, they muffle the majority of the obnoxious noise that had been grating against his eardrums. But as he watches you approach the turntables, he gets a little curious, and decides to increase the volume just enough to be able to listen to the music without wanting to claw at his ears.He watches you fiddle with the various knobs and switches on the mixers and turntables, causing the song to slow down as it changes from a fast-paced, high-intensity song to something a little more chill. Then, you give the IEMs socketed into your ears a test-tap, before leaning over, switching on the club's announcement system, and bringing your lips to it's microphone.Your painted lips pull back into a wide grin. "-Alright everybody, sound off, who's not dead?!"Throughout the club, there are a variety of drunken cheers and slurred shouts in response to your inquiry. While the people on the actual dancefloor continue dancing, the wallflower-folk hanging out by the tables and booths surrounding the dancefloor seem to have stopped their conversations, just long enough to pay attention. Club security is also present, half-listening, half-focused on the drunken patrons who were starting to get just a little too rowdy for their liking.Truth be told, the majority of the club's customers are happy to see you behind the booth, and not your asshole coworker. Although they understand you have to take a mandatory lunch break just like everyone living paycheck-to-paycheck, they still really wish the club would just go back to having a "set list" of songs that play during your lunch breaks, instead of hiring a shitty DJ with a shitty attitude and even shittier taste in music to cover the 30 minutes that no one is in the booth.You don't get along with your coworker. Aside from being a generally shitty person, he's the kind of person who became a DJ solely because he'd heard that it would make him a lot of money, get him a lot of girls, and score him a lot of drugs. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't know anything about music theory, has no rhythm whatsoever, and can barely operate the most simplest of DJ programs on his laptop, so he hasn't gotten anything of the sort. In fact, the only reason he's even scored a job at this club is because his father is best friends with it's owner.Nepotism, at it's finest.You, however, adore music. You breathe music. There's something magical about the way a couple of random notes strung together can change someone's entire outlook on life, or get their mind to shut up and body to move when all they've been able to do for the last week is cry. Bringing happiness to others makes you feel good, and what better way to bring joy to the masses than by mixing music?"For the folk who don't know me, my name is DJ Hypnosis, I'm the host and Head-DJ here at Club Cosmic, it's nice to meet you all!" You speak into the microphone, before grinning down at a group of cute college girls crowding around the front of the DJ booth. "Hello ladies, how 'ya doing down there?""-AAAAAAAH!""Right, good talk!" You playfully retort, prompting a few of the club's patrons to break out into laughter. "Okay people, it's roughly 8:32 PM and 52° outside, it's only going to get colder from here on out so make sure you're bundling up on your way out the door, I'd hate for one of you lovely ladies to catch a cold.""-AAAAAAAH, I LOVE YOU!"
"-Good god, girl, get a grip!"Laughing off the drunken heckling, you just shake your head, and continue on with the announcement. "Alright, we're going to just slow it back down a little bit, play something that's a little less bumpy. There's a song I'd like to play for you guys, it just came out two months ago and has already made the Top 100 charts;— it's 'This Is What You Came For, by Calvin Harris and Rihanna, y'all."As the others begin to chat among themselves, Josh cups his hands over the earphones of the headset he's wearing, just to drown out the rest of the background noise. His dark brown eyes glisten in the dark, curiously watching as your fingertips quickly click away the keys of your laptop. Then, moments later, Rihanna's smooth vocals comes crooning through the speakers, followed by a roar of excited cheers and drunken shouting. Those brave enough to venture out on the dancefloor go back to dancing around to the beat, with their hands in the air and their drinks raised to the sky. Those that aren't stand off to the side, and simply bob their head to the beat.If the club wasn't lively before, it definitely is now. Everywhere you look, someone is either dancing, drinking, or both, too caught up in their own little worlds to care about whatever is going on around them. Those that aren't too inebriated to do so take the time to admire their surroundings, while happily nodding along to the music. Even Josh's friends seem to be having the time of their life, including the one that had run off earlier to get a drink. As the hours go by, one-by-one, people begin to filter out of the club. However, Josh and his friends end up sticking around until closing time, and spending the rest of the night chatting in-between dancing and drinking. Marcus and Wrench make several attempts to drunkenly hit on you throughout the night, while Ray and Sitara do their bests to keep the horny hooligans in check. Although you laughed it all off, Sitara, in particular, couldn't help but feel responsible for the pair's actions, worried that they might upset you— or worse, they might upset Josh.But then, she notices something that brings her relief, and makes her grin.
Josh doesn't appear to be paying attention to Marcus or Wrench.
In fact, he isn't even looking at them at all.
The only thing that Josh can seem to focus on is you.At some point, Sitara gets tired of babysitting Marcus and Wrench, and leaves them in the care of Ray before making her way over to Josh. She slides into the seat beside him with a smile, and lightly nudges him with her elbow in order to get his attention. For the first time since they arrived, he finally looks at something other than you, and turns his attention over to Sitara. However, the eye-contact doesn't last any longer than a second or two, before he turns his head right back around to look at you."She seems nice." Sitara says. "Just wondering; is she the same girl that you were talking about before?""She is." Josh calmly replies, with his features fixated in an otherwise deadpan expression.Sitara pulls her lips back into a grin. "Have you thought about asking her out?"Josh visibly stiffens, before nervously glancing down-and-away. "It's too soon."Sitara purses her lips together. "But, have you thought about it?"Josh uncomfortably shifts around in his seat. "...Yes.""Uh-huh..." The street-artist returns with a knowing grin, before lightly bumping the back of her hand against Josh's chest to get his attention. When he's able to get himself to meet her eye, she softens her smug, satisfied smile into something gentle and understanding. "Maybe you should think about telling her about how you feel, later down the line.""Maybe. I don't know." He quietly responds, while fluttering his hands at the idea. "What if she'd be happier with someone that's more like Marcus, or Wrench?""What if she'd be happier with someone like you?" Sitara suggests with a simple shrug of her shoulders. "You'll never know if you don't give it a try, Josh. Besides, I'm not so sure she'd be happy with someone like Wrench or Marcus. Anytime that they've tried to flirt with her tonight, she's been—"Josh suddenly swings his head around to look at Sitara, while fluttering his hands. "They've been flirting with her?""They're drunk." Sitara reminds Josh with a point of her finger, prompting Josh to nod his head and eventually relax his fists. "As I was going to say, she's been politely turning them down anytime they've gone to hit on her. She has, however, been glancing at you almost all night, I keep catching her looking over here. Now I obviously don't know her that well, but... all I can say is that being one myself, I know what it typically looks like when a girl really likes somebody. You should think about it."Stunned into silence, Josh can only blush and stare down at his hands in deep thought. Feeling as if she's given him enough to think about for one day, Sitara slides back over to Ray with a smile, intending to relieve him of babysitting duty. Once she's gone and Josh is left alone with his thoughts again, he eventually lifts his head and musters the courage he needs in order to go back to watching you from afar. But when he twists his neck and looks back at the booth, he can't help but smile upon finding your lovely eyes already staring in his direction.
Maybe there had been some truth to what Sitara said, after all.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“I give her the only honest and true answer I have;—
You're where I want to be.”
―Simone Elkeles, Leaving Paradise[[August, 17th, 2016 ]]
[::-Wednesday— 11:48 P.M.-::]In San Francisco, August is one of those weird months where it always seems to fluctuate between a beautiful sunny day to a humid, foggy mess, somehow all in one evening. It's like California's weather and temperature are an old married couple that can't seem to decide what's for dinner, and everyone else at the table is suffering for it. In the morning, it could be a bright, beautiful, sunny day, but then by 12 o'clock, everything is covered in a blanket of fog so thick that you can actually taste the salt mixed in.Today had been one of those occasions. It started out as your stereotypical sunny day in San Francisco, California, until a massive storm from the Pacific Ocean swept into the city and poured down with the angry wrath comparable to that of a god. The fog is so thick, you can barely see the street below your second-story window. No doubt, the shore tomorrow morning is going to be littered with more debris and fallen palm trees. Maybe tomorrow, you could go down to the beach and volunteer to help out with the clean-up. You're free. You won't be busy.Lord knows you won't be working.Club Cosmic doesn't get busy during the weekdays— not busy enough to warrant hiring you full-time, or at any point from Monday to Thursdays. That wouldn't be so bad if there were other clubs in the area willing to hire you, but California's music industry is a male dominated industry, and a very sexist industry at that. Unless the club's owner is close to the women in his family or happens to be a woman themselves, most of the time you don't get hired or even considered for the job in the first place.It's almost midnight and you're wide awake, stressing over rent and the bills. You know you should probably get some sleep, but you just can't, no matter how hard you try. With Sam moving in and successfully landing a job at Thalassa Bar, the two of you are a little more financially secure than you would've been living separately, but things could still be better. You might have a little wiggle room, but it still isn't much. If there's ever an emergency, like an unexpected visit to the doctor or the emergency room, the two of you might have to eat cheap ramen cups for a couple of months to bounce back from the financial devastation it would cause.All of the bills and utilities are paid, but you're not left with very much after the fact. You'll have to pay extra close attention to your finances this month, because you quite literally cannot afford to screw it up. Poor Sam has been taking extra on shifts, working herself to the bone just to try and cover all the gaps in-between your paychecks and her own. You've tried to tell her to take some time off and get some rests, but she refused, and now she's sick after overworking herself. In addition to that, the cyst that's been growing on her ovary finally ruptured in the middle of her shift today, so she's not doing too well.
Chester has happily taken up the role of a heat compress.
You've tried to distract yourself with other things, so that you weren't sitting in your bedroom all day, stressing over bills, rent, and money. None of your friends were available to hang out, so that had been a bust. Sam was pretty much out of commission the minute she arrived home, and it's not like you had the money to go out clubbing or anything. You did try texting Josh earlier and asking if he wanted to come over, but his friends insisted on taking him out to eat since it's his birthday. He's turning 22.The sound of wild, howling wind gets you to look away from the statistical numbers on your laptop screen, and turn your attention over to the window directly beside your bed. The decorative curtains on either side of the open window blow around in the wind, forcing you to stop what your doing, climb off the bed, run over, and shut the window before anymore rain can get in. It had stopped pouring a few minutes ago, so you thought that was the end of it and opened up your window, hoping to get some fresh, clean air into the apartment. Looks like that's not going to happen, tonight.After locking the window and shutting the curtains, you bring your eyes down to the nightstand beneath your bedside window, and stare at the pre-rolled joint innocuously sitting on-top of a galaxy-themed rolling tray. The anxiety building inside of your gut is almost painful, so you don't hesitate to take the joint or the lighter beside it, before bringing it up to your lips. But just as you're about to light it up, the sound of jangling keys and hurried footsteps sets off the alarm bells in your head.With a quiet scoff of annoyance, you tuck the lighter and pre-roll away in your pocket, before reaching for the smooth, metal baseball bat propped up against the foot of your bed. You twist it around in your grip, taking the time to admire the word "kindness" scratched onto the barrel before lugging the bat's heavy weight over your shoulder. Once that's done, you're off, confidently striding out of your dimly lit bedroom and walking blindly into the darkness.Crouching low, you slip the bat off your shoulders and squeeze your fingers around the handle. It could be a number of people; your landlord, some drunk idiot trying to get in, or someone hoping to rob you. Shit, what if it's one of Samantha's siblings, or worse, her ex-boyfriend? She did mention, at one point, that there was always a chance they might try to come looking for her. You're not exactly sure how either of them would ever find you, but stranger things have happened before. Whoever is out there, it sounds like they're about to break the damn door down. Mentally bracing yourself for the worst, you lunge through the beaded curtains shielding the hall's doorway, just as your front door is forced wide open. In an attempt to come off as mean and threatening, you take on an offensive stance and prepare to immediately swing at the intruder, only to end up dropping your baseball bat in shock when you see who is standing on the other side.Josh stands in the doorway of your two-bedroom apartment with his arms hanging rather limply at his sides, looking like a kicked puppy. He looks rough. In addition to shivering and being chilled to the bone, his clothes are completely soaked from all of the heavy rain, and his eyes are red and swollen as if he'd been crying hysterically on the way here. Upon hearing the bat noisily clatter to the floor, he flinches and covers his ears, before eventually forcing himself to meet your worried gaze.Your eyes soften. "Josh? It's almost midnight, what are you doing here?""I don't know. I just drove, and this is where I ended up." He tearfully tells you with tears dripping down his face. "I've had a horrible night. Can I come in?""Yeah, of course, of course!" You reply with a nod, before holding out your arms and offering him a hug. "You look really upset, do you want a hug first?"With an appreciative nod of his head, Josh awkwardly waddles through the door of your apartment. Then, he rather impatiently waits for you to shut the door, before immediately diving for the warmth of your embrace as soon as he hears the locks engage. Once he's swaddled in your arms, he begins to cry profusely, noisily sobbing into the crook your neck as you rub his back. Gently, you try to hush him and coax him over to the couch, where you help him get comfortable. You try to pull away to get a blanket, but he really doesn't want to let you go."It's alright, I'll be back." You murmur, while gently rubbing his shoulder. "I'm just going to get you a blanket, I don't want you to catch a cold.""O-Okay." He mumbles with a nod of his head, before very hesitantly letting go of you. "Hurry back."After making a mad dash back to your bedroom, you retrieve your favorite blanket and bring it out into the living room. When you return, you find him in the middle of using his sleeve to wipe away the tears spilling down his raw, reddened cheeks, inadvertently further irritating his already tender skin. As soon as you sit down beside him, he stops rocking back-and-forth in his seat long enough for you to drape the blanket around his shoulders, before pulling him in for another hug."Shhhh, it's okay, it's okay.." You sweetly whisper in his ear, while gently rubbing his blanket-covered back. "Do you want to talk about what happened?""It's stupid." He says, trying to come up with an excuse.With your lips pursed into a tight frown, you gently shake your head disapprovingly at his self-deprecation. "Hey, hey, hey, no, that's not how this works. If it was enough to upset you, I don't care how small it seems to you or anyone else, to me, it's worth talking about. It's okay if you just don't want to tell me, but please don't say it's stupid.""I didn't have fun at my birthday." Josh bluntly admits with a nervous clench of his hands. "I didn't like the bar that my friends took me to. It was really loud and overstimulating, and all I could think about the entire time was how badly I wanted to leave, go home. Wrench and Marcus wouldn't leave me alone, Ray was drunk, and Sitara couldn't get any of them to stop. By the time we ordered our food, I was so done with the whole night, I didn't even bother correcting anyone when they got my order wrong."Your lips twist into a tight frown. "Okay, yeah, I would definitely fuckin' cry. Not only were you taken to a bar when you don't drink, but it was loud and noisy, and you couldn't even enjoy the one thing you came there to do in the first place. I know you said you didn't correct anyone, so I'm going to assume you didn't order anything else. Were you able to eat any of it?"Josh shakes his head. "No. I specifically asked them for no red sauce because there's a protein in some variations of the recipes that I'm allergic to, and it's just easier to ask for no red sauce than risk taking a bite. But they completely smothered my food in it. I got itchy just looking at my burger.""-So, you basically haven't eaten since lunch?" You ask him with a slight tilt of the head. "Dude, you've got to be starving."As if right on cue, Josh's stomach lets out a loud, wet gurgle of complaint. Embarrassed by the roaring in his stomach, the apples of his cheeks don a deep shade of cherry red, as he nonchalantly covers his stomach with his arms— as if that'll somehow muffle the noise, or convince you to change the topic. Instead, you purse your lips together as if you were about to scold him, before leaning over to swipe your car keys off of the coffee table."What do you want?" You ask him, in probably the most softest, sweetest voice he's ever heard someone address him with.He furrows his brows together. "Wh-What do you mean?"You tilt your head downward, staring at him from beneath your brow bone. "What do you think I mean? What do you want to eat? Josh, you're crazy if you think you're going to come running into my apartment, casually announce that you haven't eaten since lunch, and expect my southern ass not to fuckin' force-feed you on the spot. Besides, it's your birthday. No one should be crying on their birthday. You deserve cake, you deserve presents, you deserve balloons. You deserve food that you can actually eat! I'll happily provide that for you, I just need to know what you want."His big, brown eyes glisten with emotion. "A burger would be nice."Upon seeing more tears trickling down his cheeks again, you softly suck your teeth, before reaching over and swiping the offending droplets away with a gentle hand. "Alright, shh-shh-shh-shhh.. hey, hey, why are you crying?! We're gonna fix it! It'll be okay!""Too many emotions." He whimpers while anxiously flapping his hands. "I'll be okay. Just need to stim.""Okay, that's fine, stim away!" You say with a vigorous nod. "By the way, you left a change of clothes behind when you had that sleep over with Sam last month. If you want, you could change into the spare set of clothes that you left behind, while I throw your hat and hoodie in the dryer really quick?"He blinks at you. "Just my hat and my hoodie?""Oh, I— heheh, no, I'd dry the rest of your clothes too." You giggle, while dismissively waving your hand. "What I meant is that I would dry your hat and your hoodie first, so that they're all nice and warm when you go to put them back on. The rest of your clothes will take a longer drying cycle, so I figured those would best to put in the dryer last, while we go out and get something to eat! I would just usually order-in, but I don't want to subject some poor, overworked bastard to hunting down my apartment for a 15 dollar tip in the middle of the night. Would that be alright with you? I'll take you anywhere you want to go, no matter how far!""Anywhere?" He returns with a thoughtful hum, before tightening his fists and nodding his head. "Yes, that'll work. Thank you.""Of course! I think it finally stopped raining, but I'll bring raincoats and an umbrella just in case." You tell him in a soft, hushed whisper, while grinning from ear to ear. "We'll have to be quiet when we go to leave, but that's only because Samantha isn't feeling well and I don't want to wake her up by slamming the door behind us. Now, uh— I hope it doesn't bother you, but Sammy did tell me that you dabble. I've got a bag of giggly stuff, and I've got weed. Did you want me to bring anything? Because if it's not raining, I know this nice little spot we can park at. Eat. Trip out. Chill."Josh tilts his chin down, and blinks at you in disbelief. "You- You're into—?"Your eyes become lidded and heavy, as a wicked, cheshire catlike grin curls across your face. "My favorite movie is 'Alice in Wonderland' for a reason, and it's not just because I like to watch cartoons. You should see my bedroom. Between the mushrooms, the galaxy projectors, and the alice-in-wonderland décor, you might think you're trippin' while you're stone-cold sober."[[August, 18th, 2016 ]]
[::-Thursday— 12:22 A.M.-::]"—No, because I don't understand what's so hard about making a burger without the damn red sauce."Josh stares out the passenger-side window of your car, happily munching on a double-decker burger from his favorite fast food chain. Beyond the raindrop covered glass, you can be found standing outside, dressed in much more publicly appropriate clothing than the pajamas you'd been wearing earlier. Standing in front of you is a brunette man with a nametag that reads; 'MANAGER: Thomas', dressed in an all-black uniform with a very distinct red-sauce stain slathered all across the chest of his apron.As you had promised, you had driven Josh all the way out to his favorite fast food chain at his request, just to ensure that he'd actually be able to eat something relatively enjoyable tonight. But when the food came back, you were less-than-pleased to discover Josh's burger had been once again smothered with red-sauce in-between all the layers of his burger's fixings, especially after informing them of his allergies. The disappointment on Josh's face was enough to send you flying into a wild frenzy.In an attempt to fix things, you took the offending bag of food back inside, where you attempted to very politely ask the person at the cash register to fix the problem. They took the food, remade it, and gave it back, but not before giving you some attitude along with it. Initially, you were ready to just let the whole thing go, in favor giving Josh his food as quickly as possible. But then when you took a look at the freshly remade burger, you discovered more red sauce hidden in between the layers.You called the employee who made the burger over, who turned out to be the manager of the establishment, and promptly smeared it all across the front of his apron. Too far? Probably. Warranted? Absolutely. They were ready to kick you out until you started throwing around the first-and-last-name of a lawyer, and then suddenly found it within themselves to remake the food free of charge.This time, a different employee made the sandwich, and allowed you to watch the entire process just to ensure nothing went wrong. After giving Josh his food, you politely excused yourself, and have been chewing out the manager since he refused to let you leave, not without trying to talk you out of potentially suing them, or leaving a bad review on Nudle. Instead, his attempts to smooth things over is only making things worse."—No, I understand that it's midnight and you're tired, but my buddy could've died if he had taken one bite of that burger. I told you about his allergies and it's printed on my receipt, so I have evidence that you knew about it when you made the first damn burger, nevermind the whole fiasco with the second one.""—Ma'am, I understand that, but-""—Okay, then there's nothing more that needs to be said. I've acknowledged that you're stupid, and you've acknowledged that you're stupid, and that's the end of it. Now, back away from my car.""—Ma'am-""—That wasn't a request. Back away from my car, stop blocking the exit, let me leave your goddamn parking lot, or I'll run you over on my way out. I don't mind getting arrested for vehicular manslaughter if it means my friend gets to eat his goddamn burger for his goddamn birthday!"Although it's clear that he'd rather do anything but, the manager backs away from your car, and allows you to climb in and drive off without ever attempting to stop you, this time. His silhouette disappears into the darkness as you drive off into the night, mumbling and muttering under your breath while driving down the relatively-empty, rain-soaked streets of San Francisco. Josh happily hums to get your attention, before taking another bite of his food.You look over, and glance back at the road with a lick of your lip. "What's up?""Thank you for everything that you've done, tonight." He says, after chewing everything and swallowing it down. "You should've gotten something for yourself."Your lips split into a smile. "Aw honey, I'll be alright. I'm not hungry."
The truth is, you would've loved to. You just couldn't afford it.
"I know it's raining, but would you still like me to take you to that one spot I told you about?" You ask, while briefly glancing over at him. "There's a tree we can stand under for cover, if you want to get some fresh air."Josh nods in agreement. "Yes."With a hum and a grin, you flip on your turn signal before switching lanes, intending to take the more scenic route to your destination. Cars dash by you on the road, driving so fast that the passing lights make the sparkling raindrops on the hoods of their cars look like stars. Josh stares out the window almost the entire time, quietly taking in the passing scenery while enjoying the sound of the raindrops pitter-pattering against the glass."I'm sorry that you had to witness me losing control of my temper." You murmur quietly, while never taking your eyes off the wet, slippery road. "I'm sure you saw what went down inside from the passenger seat, right?"He gently shakes his head. "No. What happened?"The innocence in his question makes you laugh. "It turns out the guy who made your sandwich was the manager, which surprised me, usually managers hold themselves to a better standard than that. This fuckwit remade your burger and then added red sauce to it again, before giving me attitude and calling me a bitch for asking him to remake a burger in the middle of the night. That made me suspicious, so I checked under the bun and sure enough, there was more red sauce. In fact, it was in every single fuckin' layer."Josh's eyes subtly bulge in their sockets. "That— I wouldn't have been able to—""Yeah, I know, that's what I said!" You scoff, while irritably shaking one of your hands as if it had gotten wet. "Anyway, I had gotten mad at that point, and smeared it all over his apron. He threatened to kick me out until I threw around the name of Jimmy Siska's lawyer, as if I knew the guy personally. Honestly, his name is everywhere in magazines, you'd think the guy would've realized I was lying to him. Oh well, all in a day's work, I suppose. At least you got your burger, finally.""Wow. I'm sorry you had to do all that." Josh replies, although it comes out sounding deadpan and awkward. "Thank you.""Not a problem!" You cheerfully reply, before scrunching your nose in thought. "Well, there might be a problem if we ever go to order from there again. I might get kicked out if they recognize me. Might need to dye my hair a different color.""No, I like the color it is now." Josh says with a gentle shake of his head, as if that weren't an acceptable option simply because he said so.The tone in his voice leaves little room for argument, which admittedly makes you laugh. "Alright then, I guess I'll just wear a wig and sunglasses anytime I'm craving a burger!"
The sarcastic delight in your tone makes Josh giggle, like a little schoolboy. Your heart flutters way more than it has any business doing.
"How are you feeling, now?" You ask him softly, before briefly glancing at him as you lean over to switch on the radio.Josh lets out a quiet, controlled sigh of contentment, and reclines back in his seat with a subtly nod of his head. "I'm feeling better.""Good." You reply with a gentle hum. "Also.. we're here."After crumpling up his food wrapper and disposing of it, Josh lifts his head and is immediately stunned by his surroundings. Somehow, you've managed to sneak your not-so-little SUV past the borders of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, and parked it underneath the shade of an invasive weeping willow tree planted by the water. The long, drooping stems and leaves of the willow tree act like a natural curtain, shielding you from the storm and any wandering eyes that might be about.Josh looks over at you in shock;— or at least, it's what you assume to be shock. His eyebrows are ever so slightly furrowed and his lips, though pursed together, drip with unspoken questions that he cannot get himself to ask aloud. With a happy scrunch of your nose, you make a show out of tossing your smartphone into the back seat, before climbing out of the SUV with a cheeky grin. Grinning with apprehension, Josh also climbs out of the car to join you.He finds you leaning on the hood of your car, sitting upright with your rump resting against the bumper. The leather jacket adorning your shoulders keeps you warm, and protects you from the cold rush of the storm's heavy winds, which rattle the old branches of the strong, sturdy willow tree. The sounds of the city have been completely drowned out by the heavy rain, howling winds, and rustling leaves, and despite that it's very illegal to park right here, it's such a well-hidden spot that Josh doesn't feel like he needs to be sneaky.Upon hearing the passenger door shut, you happen to glance over just as Josh is walking 'round the front of the car in order to join you. With a lazy grin, you turn your attention back to the beautiful scenery in front of you, and pull out the pre-roll you'd hidden away before. Josh arrives at your side just as you manage to light it up, and watches as you take a long drag before forcefully expelling the smoke from your lungs.You wordlessly offer him the joint, and he accepts without any hesitation."It's dark. Is this sour diesel, or purple kush?" Josh asks, while curiously inspecting the lit end of the joint.You look over at him, with your brows raised in surprise. "You know the names of the- who am I kidding, of course you fuckin' do, you're so smart, you could probably tell me where it was fuckin' grown- uhh, it's kush.""So, it's more than likely an indica strain." Josh says with a gentle nod of his head, before bringing the joint to his lips and taking a short drag off of it. When he pulls away, he coughs into the elbow of his sleeve, while passing the joint back over to you.You swipe it from him with a grin. "Not too sure how Sam would feel about what I'm doing with you, right now.""What makes you say that?" Josh asks with a tilt of his head, while subtly checking out the way your lips press against the end of the joint as you go to take another drag. The light, airy laugh that slips from your lips grabs him by the throat, and pulls at the corners of his lips before you can even tell him what's so funny.With a shrug of your shoulders, you lazily gesture to the scene before you. "I mean, It's just.. well, I don't know about you, but the Samantha that I know is a little bit of a goody two-shoes when it comes to bending the rules. Like, she doesn't mind that I smoke weed, grow shrooms in my bedroom, all that fun stuff. If the cops ever came around asking questions, she'd throw my shit out the window and blame it on the neighbors with a smile. But at the time time, she, herself, wouldn't be caught dead doing anything like that. I just wonder what she'd think if she knew that I had illegally parked in Golden Gates Park, just so I could smoke weed with her, uh.. with her cousin."Josh giggles, and shrugs indifferently. "I don't think she'd be mad."You lift your brows in a show of surprise, while forcefully expelling a cloud of smoke from your lungs. "Really?"He nods, while taking the joint from you. "Yes."Curious to hear his side of things, you look over at him with a soft, half-lidded smile. "Why do you think that?"When Josh goes to take a drag from the joint, there's a moment where he makes direct eye-contact with you, and for whatever reason, there's something about his eyes that take your breath away. You've always noticed their deep brown color, like melted chocolate in the sun, but there's something almost magical about the way they look in the moonlight. Right now, they're as dark and as wild as the redwood forests beyond San Francisco's city limits, and you can't help but get lost in them for a moment.The smoke is forced out of his mouth in one thick cloud, which is almost immediately sucked right back in through his nostrils. The clever little move is enough to make you pull back in shock, while the look of utter astonishment on your face is enough to make him break out into laughter. He turns away with a giggle and covers his mouth, trying his best to smother his laughter and hide his face, only for you to merely lean right back into his line of sight."What was that?!" You ask him with a cheeky grin. "Did you just do a fuckin' french inhale?!"Josh doesn't respond, aside from flashing you a proud, tight-lipped grin and slightly raising his eyebrows.Feigning disbelief, you tuck your tongue into your cheek and playfully shake your head. Once again, Josh struggles to contain his laughter, and almost chokes when he goes to take another drag of the joint after you make a point to lean even further into his line of sight. Grinning, he shakes his head in playful disapproval before quietly holding to joint out to you, almost as a sort of peace offering. You take it with a smile."You still didn't answer my question." You remind him, as you go to take a drag. "Why don't you think Sam would be mad?"Josh shrugs his shoulders. "I think she'd be happy you made my birthday better."With a smile, you go to take another hit from the joint, only to watch as the flame fizzles out in the wake of a violent gust of wind. What little is left of your joint is then immediately blown right out of your hand, as if it had been snatched right out of your grip with the speed of a disapproving elder. Though this greatly upsets you, evident by the manner in which you cartoonishly pout, your reaction amuses Josh, enough to make him chuckle under his breath."The faces you make are cute." He compliments you, with the smallest of smiles.Gee, you'd think you were part chameleon with how fast your face changed color. "Oh! Well, haha, thanks."Josh appears to stop, and take a deep breath as if he were preparing himself for something. "I have something I want to tell you. It's important."Confused, you pinch your brows together and pucker your lips, before pushing yourself off of the hood of your car and turning your body towards his. "Okay, what is it?""I like you. Romantically." He says, bluntly.You shakily exhale, hardly able to believe the words coming out of his mouth. "Really? You.. You actually like me? You're not just pulling on my leg?"His face scrunches in confusion, and you can't help but giggle at how adorable he looks with his nose wrinkled."It's a euphuism for asking if someone is lying to you." You chuckle breathlessly, before nervously licking your lips and reaching your shaky hands up to cradle his cheeks. "Is it okay if I, uh.. if I touch you?"With the smallest of smiles, he nods his head. "-Yes."Now, you've never considered yourself to be a very brave person, but you're also not exactly a pushover either. Still, it somehow costs the entirety of your courage to simply reach up and cradle his cheeks, like you've been wanting to do since you met him. As soon as your skin comes into contact with his, a rush of giddy excitement surges through you like an electrical charge, forcing a breathless, nervous giggle from your lips as the two of you dare to inch closer to one another. Josh sharply inhales upon feeling your fingers come into direct contact with his skin, and nervously flutters his hands in anticipation of your next move.
You are standing so, so close to each other.
"I like you, too.." You whisper softly, while staring up at him with a shy grin. "I've actually had a crush on you since we met. I couldn't help it, I just thought you were so kind, and sweet, and- and- god, have you seen how gorgeous your eyes look?! I mean, I could just—! ..heh, sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I? Sorry, it's just because I'm excited. Uh.. How- How long have you—""I've always thought you were pretty, but it was what you did at Club Cosmic that really changed the way I looked at you." He replies nervously, before hesitantly reaching out for you. "You didn't have to answer the call or even come down to escort my friends and I inside, but you did. You even got headphones for me, so I wouldn't get overstimulated by all of the noise. My friends don't even do that. They don't think to do that, because their brain doesn't work like mine. But yours does."You can't help but smile and shrug your shoulders, before voluntarily walking into his arms. "Well, I just.. I just did what I would want someone to do for me, if I were the one upset."Slowly but surely, Josh's arms wind around your waist, and pull you close. Chest to chest, stomach to stomach, the two of you test each other's limits by poking and prodding at the invisible wall between you, usually by gently grazing your noses together while repeatedly glancing down at each other's lips. Josh's eyes soften as he swallows thickly, struggling to get himself to look you in the eye.Touched by his attempts to be polite, you grin while affectionately stroking his cheek. "You don't have to make direct eye-contact if it's painful, I know it's—""No, I want to." He whispers quietly, sounding resolute in his decision.The warm, confident smile slowly slips from your face, and is replaced by shock and mouth-watering arousal. "-Oh. Ok."He brings a hand up from your waist, just to caress your cheek. Then, in the softest, most innocent whisper, he asks; "-can I kiss you?"The half-stutter, half-squeak that leaves your lips only sort of sounds like a clear and definite "yes", so you eagerly nod your head just to be sure that there's no miscommunication. Josh giggles at your excitement and takes the time to gently comb your hair out of the way, before returning his palm to your cheek and very, very slowly leaning in. When he's just a hairsbreadth away from touching your lips, he lets go of a nervous, shuddery breath he'd been unknowingly holding onto, and then finally goes in for the kill.Josh's eyes softly flutter shut, just as the swell of his bottom lip barely brushes against yours in a final test of boundaries. When he receives no protests from you, he mustered what little courage he has to close the rest of the distance between your mouths, and shyly locks lips with you in a sweet, innocent kiss. The hand he placed on your cheek slowly slips down to the corner of your jaw, which he caresses with a gentle touch and shaky fingertips.At first, it starts out as chaste and innocent, until he dreamily sighs against your lips, before tightening his arm around your waist and pulling you even closer. Then, slowly but surely, the fire burning inside of you begins to burn out of control, engulfing you in a wave of feverish heat that scorches you from the inside-out. The feeling of butterflies in your stomach is so intense, it feels like your gut is doing somersaults, while your bones have seemingly turned into jelly. In a flash, you get spun around on your heels, and gently reclined back against the trunk of the weeping willow tree.The rain begins to pick back up, but neither of you can bring yourselves to care. You ignore the raindrops pelting your skin in favor of his kiss, wanting nothing more than to commit the sensation to your memory. All it takes is a quiet whimper from his lips, and your self-control breaks, allowing impulsivity to take over. The arm he had wrapped around your waist is propped against the tree trunk, to support his body weight as he looms over you protectively, trying his best to shield you from the onslaught of rain pouring down.Upon feeling your arms slide around his neck and shoulders, Josh smiles and hums against your lips, while you pull his hat off just to be able to run your fingers through his hair. You grip it tightly in one hand while holding onto his shirt with the other, as if you were worried he might pull away and leave you alone in the rain. In reality, you're trying to stop your head from spinning right off your shoulders, and have decided to hold onto him as tightly as you can because you're worried that you might wake up, and this'll all be a dream.Eventually, the kiss is broken, but only so that the two of you can try and catch your breaths. When you flatten a palm against his chest, you can feel his heartbeat racing just below the surface, and end up smiling from ear-to-ear when he blushes profusely after realizing that you can, in fact, feel it racing beneath your hand. To comfort him, you steal another kiss from him, and then rest your forehead against his with a happy hum and a grin."We should probably get out of here!" You try to shout over the rain, though it's almost drowned out by the roar of rolling thunder. "Did you want to stay the night? I mean, actually spend the night? I'd hate for you to drive home in this weather!"Josh nods his head. "That would be smart. We should leave, before it gets worse."With the both of you in agreement, the two of you return to your car, climb back in, and brave the storm, driving away from the protection of the weeping willow tree. The ultra-bright headlights of your SUV shine in the dark, cutting through the storm and lightning the way back home. Meanwhile, high above the city on a rooftop somewhere, is Sitara Dhawan, crouching down on her knees, while peering through a pair of binoculars. She watches with an approving smile as you and Josh safely manage to sneak back out of Golden Gate Park without any trouble, before lowering the binoculars and standing up.With a cheeky grin, she digs through her pocket and pulls out her smartphone, powering it up just to be able to check on the bank accounts she hacked her way into. One of them is the CEO of Josh's favorite fast food chain, with his billions and billions of dollars that he earns doing.. absolute jack shit, while anyone that happens to work for him barely makes a living wage. The other bank account is that she hacked into happens to be yours, which she notices has a big, fat, juicy balance of $0.00.The last withdrawal appears to be for.. a double decker burger, with no red sauce."DedSec always repays it's debts." Sitara quietly murmurs under her breath, before wiring $500 dollars from the CEO's account over to yours. Once she's ensured that she has successfully covered up any electronic paper-trails, she tucks away her phone, and lifts her head just in time to watch as you and Josh drive off into the city, disappearing from sight. Like a ghost, the both of you have seemingly vanished without a trace, the only evidence of your presence being the faint imprint of tire tracks on the wet grass.Her lips pull back into a grin. "-Wonder how long it'll take for the others to figure out.."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“She builds people up because she knows what it is like to be torn down.”
―Shannon L. Alder[[August, 18th, 2016  ]]
[::-Thursday— 9:31 A.M.-::]Once you and Josh had returned to the apartment, one of the first things you did was set up your bedroom for the night, while Josh changed back into the clothes you'd previously thrown into the dryer. Then, the two of you promptly climbed into bed, cuddled up, and fell asleep in each other's arms, giddy and giggly from the night's events. The storm had continued to rage until the early hours of the morning, but neither of you had so much as stirred, far too comfortable to care about whatever might be going on in the world around you. All that mattered right then in that moment was the shy, sleepy smiling boy in front of you.When you first wake up in the following morning, you're acutely aware of the strong set of arms wrapped around your body. As you're drifting in-and-out of consciousness, last night's events replay in your mind, bringing a sleepy smile to your face as you stretch. Between the gentle singing of songbirds and the ambient noises of the city, you could almost fall back asleep, bundled up in a cocoon of blankets and comforters and human limbs. It's so warm and so cozy, you could honestly just lay here forever, perfectly content.Once you finally open your eyes and roll over in bed, you find yourself face-to-face with Josh, who's still fast asleep. He's got quite the interesting case of bed-head, with his dark black hair sitting askew and looking entirely like a mess, but it's easily fixed just by simply running your fingers through it. Upon feeling your phantom touch ghost across the surface of his skin, Josh stirs in his sleep with a quiet, sleepy whimper, before eventually "waking up"— although, the poor thing can't seem to manage to open his eyes."Good morning.." You sweetly whisper, while gently running your fingers through his hair."Mmn, good morning..." Josh sleepily slurs. "I need a few more minutes.. just a few more minutes, please, and then I'll get up.."You gently hush him, before sweetly kissing the top of his head and pulling back with a smile. "S'okay, get some more rest."With your permission, Josh sinks into the bedsheets and quickly falls back asleep. Meanwhile, you climb out of bed and get ready to prepare for the day, but not before taking the time to lazily stretch your arms and your legs. As you stretch and twist your limbs, you hear a strange noise and lazily turn your head to the left, where you find your bedroom door rattling against the frame. The unmistakable yowl of a feline can be heard from beyond the door, begging to be let in the only way it knows how; by screaming.
You make your way over to the door with a sleepy smile, and swing it open, allowing Chester to come sprinting into the room. His first stop is the massive aquarium tank full of colorful fish, situated on top of your dresser— and just as you predicted he would, clambers his way to the top of your dresser just to press his nose against the cold, tempered glass of the fish-tank. There, he starts 'chittering' with excitement, which would be cute if it weren't for the fact that his hairless tail keeps noisily thwapping against your wooden dresser."Chester!" You quietly hiss at the feline. "Shhh!"Chester stops and looks back at you, all big and bulgy-eyed. "Mrow?"Josh, in his half-conscious, half-asleep state, invitingly pats the bed. "Chester.. stop it.."Remarkably, the feline seems to listen. In fact, Chester becomes so fascinated by the man laying in your bed, he decides to climb down from the dresser and run over to investigate. Curiously, he jumps up onto the bed and makes his way over to Josh, with his little hairless rat-tail in the air. Then upon his arrival, Chester makes himself comfortable in Josh's arms, where he proceeds to curl up into a little ball and fall fast asleep.You gawk at Josh, who sleepily grins at you from his place in bed. "How in the hell did you do that? You don't understand, Chester listens about as well as you say your friend 'Wrench' does. How in the hell did you do that?!"The twenty-two year old shyly shrugs, and runs his fingers down the length of Chester's hairless spine."I need some damn coffee." You turn away with a dramatic scoff. The fact that you can hear Josh giggling brings a smile to your face.After departing from your bedroom, you make a beeline for the bathroom, but double back to linger in the hallway after realizing Samantha's door is wide open— and Samantha herself, is nowhere to be found. Shrugging your shoulders, you make your way to the bathroom and freshen up for the day. You've just finished rinsing your mouth when you hear some noise coming from down the hall, and it's loud enough to make you stop what you're doing and go take a look.In the kitchen, you find workaholic Samantha in the middle of loading up the dishwasher. When she hears the beaded curtain noisily swish aside, she turns her head and smiles upon seeing you in the doorway. Without a word, she jerks her head, pointing her chin at the fresh cup of coffee sitting by the coffee pot on the counter-top. You play up the drama by blowing a series of kisses at her, before greedily swiping the mug off of the counter and clutching it close to your chest."Thanks." You grumble into your mug, with your fingers tightly cupping it tight. "-Oh, coffee. You understand me."Samantha huffs with a grin, while loading another dish into the dishwasher. "Rough night?""Girl, you don't even know the half of it." You groan softly, before turning your head back around to look at her with tired, half-lidded eyes. "Your cousin stopped by, late last night. I heard someone trying to get in, I thought it might've been your brother or your ex. Scared the absolute piss out of me, I almost beat him with my bat."The mention of her cousin-who-should've-been-a-brother gets Samantha's eyes to snap back over to you. "What? Josh came here?"You nod your head, while taking a long noisy slurp of your coffee. "Mhm, mmm, he did."Frowning, Samantha stops loading up the dishwasher and stands upright, staring at you with a hand on her hip and a concerned look on her face. "Is he alright? What happened?"You take a deep breath to prepare yourself, for the long ass, fast-talking speech you're about to do. "Hooo— Okay, so, the poor thing showed up at the front door not even 10 minutes away from midnight, right, and he's crying, just absolutely bawling his eyes out. Turns out his friends took out him for this birthday, and it went horribly wrong. The bar they'd taken him to was loud and overstimulating, three out of four friends present were completely drunk, the one sober friend tried but couldn't control them, and to top it all off the food he ordered was covered in red sauce. He's allergic to red sauce."Samantha frowns deeply, and slaps a dry washcloth against the countertop. "Shit, dude!""He was so upset that he didn't even bother correcting his order, he just didn't eat it. So, I took him out, bought him food, and then we, uh.." You mumble under your breath while frowning down the mug in your hands, before quickly lifting it to your lips and taking an awfully long sip. "Mmm, good coffee. Sorry, aheh, I'm really tired—"Samantha arches an eyebrow at you, and grins. "You're acting funny. You can be a bit of a coffee addict but this is strange behavior, even for you. So, I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you to be honest with me. Did you go out and smoke weed with Josh last night? Be honest, 'cause I smell it coming from your room."You suck in your bottom lip. "I did."She tilts her chin down with a playful, knowing grin. "Okay, and- what, is this the part where I'm supposed to get mad at you? Josh is his own person, hon, he can make his own decisions."Cringing, you nervously flash your teeth at her. "Well, that's not the only thing I did with him last night."Samantha motions for you to get on with it. "-and?"With a swallow of your pride, you try to mentally brace yourself for potentially the worst scolding of your life. But before you can even finish drawing in another breath, Josh suddenly makes an unexpected appearance, emerging from the hallway with a quiet yawn. The movement of the beaded curtains attracts Samantha's eye, and when she sees her cousin standing there just rubbing his eyes, her jaw unhinges and just hangs there in the air."Mmn.." He sleepily whines in complaint, before calling out for you by name.Samantha's eyes swell like helium balloons as you pivot around on your heels to answer him, with your fingers folded and pressed to your lips. Upon spotting you standing in the kitchen, he wordlessly reaches out for you, still grumbling and rubbing away at his eye with the sleeve of his jacket like a moody teenager. You nervously glance back at your best friend and offer her a nervous grin, before shrugging your shoulders apologetically, turning back, around and running over to Josh's side. Once you're within his reach, he sweeps an arm around your waist and pulls you in close with a happy hum."Hey. I just got called into work." He murmurs, before leaning down to gently kiss your cheek. "I need to go, but I'll text you to keep in touch."You visibly melt in his arms with a dreamy smile. "Okay, just let me know when you've gotten there safely."Samantha audibly chokes. "-I'm sorry, what? What the fuck is going on here, on this day?!"Josh glances over at Samantha, before looking back down at you. "Oh, did you not tell her that we're dating?"Her high-pitched squeal could almost break glass. "-WHAT?""No, I was actually kind of just about to get to that part." You quietly mutter under your breath, before pulling your lips back into a nervous grin as you turn to look at Samantha. "Uh.. so, I can explain.. I wanted to make him feel better after the horrible day he had, so I took him to this little spot in Golden Gate Park, and.. well, we got to talking about our feelings, and.. Josh told me he liked me, so I—"She turns her attention over to him. "-YOU MADE THE FIRST MOVE?"Josh happily nods his head, while pulling you closer to his side. "Mhm."Samantha combs her hair back, before breathlessly pulling her lips back into a wide, pearly-white grin. "Well shit, here I was thinkin' it'd be her that would make the first move. Way to go Josh! It's about time that one of you two did something, I thought I was going to go crazy just listening to the both of you pining after each other."The nervous grin drops from your face, and is replaced by confusion. "You- You're not angry?""ANGRY?" Samantha giggles, as if that were the funniest thing she's heard all week. You and Josh share a brief look of apprehension. "No, you dumbass, I'm not angry! I'm happy! You're finally dating a man that doesn't make me want to punch them in the face, and Josh finally has a girlfriend! He's not a single pringle anymore! Honestly, things couldn't be better right now!""-'single pringle'?" Josh repeats, while looking to you for an explanation.You purse your lips together, and try to restrain your growing grin. "She's teasing you, and implying that I'm either your first girlfriend, or the first one you've had in awhile."Josh immediately swings his head back around to glare at his cousin. "-Stop."Samantha's lips split into a wide, wicked grin, but raises her hands in surrender nonetheless. After rolling his eyes, Josh turns to away from his cousin, and reaches a hand up to gently cup your cheek. Then, he gently kisses you on the lips, before pulling away with a smile and exiting the apartment. Once the door is shut behind him, you melt against the countertop with a dreamy sigh, while Sam just rolls her eyes and giggles at your nonsense."So, like.." Samantha drawls, before pursing her lips together in thought. "Not to freak you out, but there are some things involving my cousin that I want to talk to you about."You look over at her with a worried look. "Wait, what do you mean? Oh shit, what did I do?!"She giggles into the back of her hand, before waving dismissively in an attempt to quickly reassure you. "It's nothing bad! Relax, girl, I just want to give you some advice that I think will help you.. what's the word I'm looking for? Communicate! Yeah, that's the fuckin'— I've got some advice that I think will help you communicate better with him.""Oh!" Now, she's got your interest. With a raise of your brows and a purse of your lips, you twist your body towards her. "Okay, sister, shoot!"Her eyes soften, as her smile starts to stretch even wider across her face. "Okay, so.. I know that this'll probably sound stupid as hell at first, but Josh is a little different from the people you've dated in the past. By that, I mean he's not going to pick up on most of the hints that you throw in his direction, so if you're going to flirt with him, you'll probably have to be fairly bold about it because he doesn't pick up on social cues like other people do. I'm only— ..I'm only saying that because it's caused problems with some of his exes in the past."You furrow your brows together and purse your lips together, forming a frown. "What do you mean? What kind of problems are you talking about, exactly?"Samantha pulls her lips back into a nervous frown, and uncomfortably scratches the back of her neck. "Well, uh.. there's been a few times where they'd drop a hint and wait for him to catch on, and.. he never did, because he doesn't think like that. See, I've found that you have to be direct with Josh. Don't fluff up your sentences with extra wording, just be straight and to the point with him. I just don't want that to happen with you guys, you know? Especially because from what I can tell, he really likes you.""Okay, thanks!" You reply with a cheerful nod, before nonchalantly leaning your elbows against the countertops. "-So, like.. was there anyone that he was like, uh.. super serious with?"Samantha grins. "Why, are you thinking there's someone else that you'll have to compete with? Well, too bad, 'cause there's not!"A quiet breath of relief slips from your lips. "-oh god, that's a relief. I mean, gee, how awful it'll be to finally have a man all to myself!""Hah! Haha! Yeah, what a shame!" She laughs at you, before sharply turning away and going right back to loading up the dishwasher. "Thankfully, you won't have to worry about anything like that with Josh. He's very serious about commitment. Honestly, he's a complete 180 from the toxic ass men you usually date."You softly bite down on your bottom lip, and bashfully look away. "Yeah.. he's a sweetheart."Once Samantha finishes loading up the last dirty dish, she closes the dishwasher, adjusts the cycle settings, and then switches it on. The machine comes to life with a motorized whirr and a hum, while Samantha turns to grab her own coffee mug sitting nearby. She takes a large swig from her mug, before suddenly seemingly to remember something rather important, judging by the wide-eyed look that crosses her face."Mmm!" She hums, rushing to swallow her coffee as quickly as possible before pointing a finger at you. "I got a call from the bank this morning. They were asking to talk to you, but needed a voice verification before they'd say anything. Thankfully, you and I both have the same accent, so like.. it wasn't that hard to fool them. They just wanted to let you know that you got paid, today. They only wanted to say something because it's more money than what you usually get. I told them it was fine, so they approved the deposit.""Wait, what? I'm not supposed to get paid today." You murmur, while feeling around for your phone. When you find it in your pocket, you quickly pull it out, open up your bank app, and nearly piss yourself with excitement. "-HOLY SHIT."Samantha's eyes swell up with concern. "What, what is it?""Girl, somebody put $500 dollars in my bank account!" You shriek before swinging your head around to look at her. "There's not any information regarding where it came from, it's just.. there. Shit, what do I do? What if someone didn't mean to deposit into my account?"She purses her lips together. "Well, then they should've paid more attention to what they were doing."With a small laugh of disbelief, you shake your head and scratch the back of your neck. "I mean, I guess.. I still don't know what to do with it.""Maybe you could go look at the music store, see what kind of equipment they've got." Sam suggests with a shrug of her shoulders, before gently sucking her teeth when you don a look of apprehension. "C'mon, I've been hearing you talk about wanting to get a new audio mixer for months, now! You could finally get one, along with a bunch of the other much-needed upgrades you've been talking about. This could actually make a difference in your career."Your eyes swell with tears. "You're right. You're right. Sorry, I'm just.. I'm so used to counting pennies and digging through my couch for loose change. I don't get to spoil myself that often, it almost feels "wrong" to do, now. Money being so tight, and all."Sam grins, and points at the door with her chin. "It's fine. Go on, go invest in yourself for a change, do something that you want to do. You deserve it!"
Maybe Samantha is right. What could go wrong?
[[August, 18th, 2016  ]]
[::-Thursday— 10:43 A.M.-::]San Francisco has a very lively music scene with roots that go all the way back to the 1950's, back when jazz and blues were the hottest thing on the radio and reigned supreme. Following that era, you've got psychedelic rock from the 1960's, and then you've got disco and funk from the 1970's, while the 1980's brought about the popularization of modern rock. But even in the chaotic, digitalized world we know today, you can still take a walk back in time. Everywhere you go, each generation of music has left behind it's own little mark on the city, from colorful murals to trippy graffiti work.One of your favorite places to go is this huge music store down by the oceanfront. It's a massive brick building with three different stories, one for storage and two for public use, filled with all kinds of delightful things for you to sift through. Aside from being one of the most well-stocked places to get high quality music equipment from, it's also got this huge mural painted onto the side of it, featuring an Alien mixing music at one of those old-fashioned DJ turntables from the 90's.Inside, the shelves are lined with varying grades of music equipment, everything from radios, microphones, sound equipment, right down to the actual instruments themselves. Near the front of the store, there's a massive section lined from wall-to-wall with CD's, records and vinyl collections, and other merch related to hot, big-name music artists currently running the industry. Posters, t-shirts, keychains, all that fine, dandy stuff, none of which you're interested in.Despite the store being as crowded as it is, you have no problem pushing your way through the crowd, hauling along a cart with you. You're in the middle of perusing through the various mixing console models that they have on display, trying to despite which one you feel fits best for your specific needs and requirements as a DJ. Each model has it's pros and it's cons, and you're trying to figure out which model would work better for you when you hear someone call out your name.When you turn your head to look, you find Sitara, approaching you with a crooked grin. The violet veil that typically hangs loosely around her neck has been pulled up, completely covering the top of her head and a good majority of her face. The reflective speckles in her colorful blue-green eye-makeup sparkle in the sun as she makes her approach, with one hand on her hip and the other carrying a basket full of goodies and equipment."Sitara, sup!" You greet her with a point of the chin."Hey, Trippy." She says with a slow, approving nod of the head. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?""Yeah, yeah, it has been!" You reply, grinning back down at her while reaching a hand up to pull off the headphones you'd been wearing. "Are you taking advantage of the sunshine and running errands, too?"With a shrug of her shoulders, she grins and slowly bobs her head back-and-forth. "Ehh, somethin' like that. Just doing a little shopping, I've got some things I need to pick up for work. What about you? What are you up to?"You casually motion to the shelves in front of you, before shrugging your own shoulders in return. "Just trying to pick out some new equipment. I got a random deposit put into my account, so I thought I'd invest the money into something that could actually help me in the long run."Sitara looks over at the shelves, where she goes on to squint scrutinizingly at the various models. "Mmm.. I'd go for the one in the middle. Best bang for your buck, if you ask me. Do you need help loading it in? It's kind of big.""Yeah, probably. Do you mind?" You ask her with a hopeful grin, which she returns with one of her own.The two of you work together to grab the big ass mixing console box, and load it into your cart. After that, the two of you take your time walking around, checking out the various things on sale while getting to know each other on a girl-to-girl level. By the time you're finished shopping, Sitara has also managed to grab everything she needs, and offers to help you load up your car— just to be able to spend a little bit more time with you."-So, how about that storm last night?" Sitara casually mentions, before glancing over at you with the very beginnings of a smile. "Shit was wild, right?""Yeah, it was! Hehehe, I was actually out runnin' around in it.." You giddily giggle, before eventually trailing off with a soft sigh. But when you catch yourself and realize that your mind drifted a little too far away, you harshly clear your throat before grinning at her. "I was thinking about volunteering to go clean up the beach later."Sitara grins from cheek to cheek "Oh, yeah? Do you do that kind of thing often? Volunteering, I mean?"Once you relocate your car, the two of you come to a stop, and squint into the harsh sunlight. Sitara blocks out the sun with her hand and patiently waits for you to pop the trunk of your SUV, before setting down her basket and helping you pack your things into the back. Meanwhile, in-between grunts of labor, you shrug your shoulders, and try your best to come up with an explanation that doesn't make you sound like a total nerd.. before giving up and just going for it."Yeah, I do a lot of stuff like that, actually." You reply with a grunt of effort, trying your best to push a heavy ass speaker farther into the trunk. "Stuff like—""-Homeless shelters, beach clean ups, food banks, charity events, crisis help lines..." Sitara casually names off some of the things on your very long list of volunteer programs, listing them off on her fingers one-by-one before slowly panning her eyes over to you. "..DJ Hypnosis seems to do a lot more than just mix music and trip on shrooms, doesn't she? You're even sheltering a domestic violence victim in your apartment."You pull your lips back into a nervous grin. "Um, not gonna lie, it's a little freaky that you seem to know all of that. How exactly do you know all of that? Should I be worried?""No. What if I told you that there's an activist group that's interested in recruiting you?" Sitara asks you with a soft smile, casually redirecting the conversation elsewhere. "-a group that can help you make a big splash in the ocean instead of a little ripple in a pond? What would you say to an offer like that?""Uh.. is this the part where I'm told I have to kill somebody close to me if I want to join the gang? 'Cause, like, I'm not down for that." You blink while still awkwardly 'grinning' at her, although it feels more like you're grimacing.Sitara laughs into the back of her hand, while dismissively waving off your worries with the other. "No, no! It's nothing like that! DedSec is a hacktivist group. We believe in fight in the power, eat the rich, and help the poor.""DedSec!? Those guys are San Francisco's very own digital Robin Hoods.. that would also explain why you know so much about me, you probably.. hacked my things." You quietly murmur, eyes swelling with shock. "Wait, so— you're saying that DedSec wants me on the team? Girl, I can't even hack into my own amazon account when I've forgotten the password!""Maybe not, but you programmed and coded your own professional DJ software from the ground up, before. I saw the file on your laptop when I hacked into it. Wasn't looking for anything dirty, I was just being nosy." Sitara counters, with the very beginnings of a smile. "C'mon, you know the basics of a High School computer programming class, at least. You can be taught further, if you're that interested in it. You'd be taught by the best too, so I mean—"Whoa, your head feels like it's spinning a little fast. "Okay, okay, wait. Let me get this straight. DedSec wants me, a San Francisco based DJ, on their team? Why? Don't get me wrong, I admire what your group does and what your people stand for, but I don't know how I'd be able to help you. I only know the bare basics of computer programming, I'm really not a hacker,— and I don't even use the DJ software I made, I use something different. What could I possibly bring to the table?"Sitara smiles at you, and cocks her head to the side. "Like I said, you can be taught if you really want, but there are other ways that you can help. See, you've also got connections and direct access to places and people that DedSec are interested in investigating. It'd be nice, sometimes, if we had a doorman or a "scout". Someone on the inside that could give us information, or help us get information that we'd like to get our hands on. We're well-funded, if that's a concern of yours."You scrunch your nose, and hum with apprehension. "Mmm, I don't know.. it is pretty tempting, and.. honestly, the extra pay might just be fuckin' worth sticking my neck out for. I'd also be doing things for a cause that I believe in, and I'd have a helping hand in making serious changes around the city... Alright, I'll do it.""Awesome! Normally, we'd playfully haze you by sending you out a mutually beneficial mission, to try to get you to flex a little bit. But, I think I saw all of what I needed to see at Club Cosmic, and Thalassa's Bar. Seeing how easily you took control of the others at the bar and got us through the door at the club, it was nice. Marcus appreciated not having to sneak in through a window, for once." Sitara says with a smirk.You furrow your eyebrows together. "Wait, Marcus is part of DedSec?"Sitara smiles wide, from cheek to cheek. "Yeah, we all are. Except for Ray, he's just somebody that Marcus brought in as an outside contact. Everyone's got their own roles. Horatio, who you briefly met at Thalassa's bar, is our coordinator. I'm the graphic designer and speaker, Wrench is our resident robotics expert, and Marcus is our foot-soldier.""So.." You begin to ask, before stopping to swallow down your nerves. "What about Josh?""Oh, you mean your boyfriend? He's our best hacker, programmer, and coder. There's nothing he can't build." Sitara quickly snaps back with a knowing smile, damn near frightening you to death in the process. She can't help but laugh at the way you sharply avert your eyes with a blush. "Relax! Chill, it's okay. The only reason I even know about that is because I happened to be watching the two of you during your little drive around town.""You spyed on me?!" You squeal at her, while leaning back on your heels in shock. "Dude, that was a private moment!""I know, I know, it wasn't meant to be like that." Sitara explains with a friendly nod, while raising her hands in surrender. "Look, I can explain. See, after Josh left the bar looking pretty pissed off, I decided to follow him and see where he was going, because he didn't take his usual route home and that's odd for him. I knew he didn't enjoy his birthday, but I didn't know it was bad enough to send him spiraling into a panic. I just wanted to make sure that he got home safe, but he didn't.. go home. He went to you. I just wanted to make sure he was alright."Your eyes soften. "Well.. that makes sense. Alright, I'll let it go.""He's going to be thrilled to see you." Sitara replies with an eager, excitable grin. "By the way, since you've already joined, I figure it's safe to tell you, now: that wasn't a random deposit put into your bank account. That was me, paying you back for making Josh's shitty birthday bash better. I didn't want to tell you before asking you to join DedSec, because I didn't want it to influence your decision.. or make you feel as if you owed me something."Your blink at her, gawking in disbelief. "I- Well, not that I don't appreciate it, but $500 dollars is a lot of money for cheering up my crush."The veiled woman smiles up at you, while casually shrugging her shoulders. "Like I said; we're well-funded. So, you ready to go? We've got to get back to the hackspace, I need to tell the others about the good news. They have no idea I've been planning to recruit you since that night at Club Cosmic. Josh is going to freak."[[August, 18th, 2016  ]]
[::-Thursday— 11:51 A.M.-::]As it turns out, Sitara had taken a bus down to the oceanfront, which meant she ended up having to hitch a ride with you through the city. Not that you mind, she makes for great company. Still, you hadn't expected her to tell you to head directly to Gary's Games & Glory, which is apparently just a front for the hackerspace that DedSec uses as it's central hub. Upon your arrival, she eagerly takes you by the hand and leads you through Gary's Games & Glory, briefly nodding at the cashier while pushing her way through the growing crowd. When you glance over to look at the long line in front of the cash register, you're none-too-surprised to find each individual clutching onto their own little copy of Bullet 4. Josh wasn't kidding when he said that it's taking way too long for company to ship out their games, it seems. It's been three months since the game's initial release, and this is only the second restock.Sitara leads you to the back of the store, where a hidden door armed by a keypad is tucked away from sight. After typing in the appropriate code, the door unlocks and easily slides open, allowing the both of you passage into whatever hidden world lies on the other side. When you pass over the door's threshold, you find yourself in what you assume to be the deconstructed staircase of a garage. The walls are lined with wood and concrete, decorated with a variety of colorful murals and graffiti artwork that cover almost every square inch of the walls. The air smells of oil and spray paint— kind of makes your head spin.After pulling down her veil, Sitara leads you down the steps, with her hands casually tucked into the pockets of her shorts. Hanging off her elbow is an especially noisy plastic bag, carrying all of the things she bought at the store— she brings it around to the front, and glances inside to make sure everything is there, before she finally makes it to the bottom of the steps. She glances back at you once last time, and confidently winks before walking into the hackerspace."Hey, everybody!" Sitara calls out with a grin. "Mama's back home! She brought beer, some radio parts, and audio equipment for everybody! Oh, and she also brought along a little friend for everyone to play with."Wrench, who can be found leaning over the edge of a large workbench, pivots around on his heels, only to stiffen in place upon seeing you standing behind Sitara. The pixelated zeros on his visor turn into exclamation points, as he excitedly leans over to the other end of the workbench, where Marcus can be found hunched over a broken laptop. The hipster-in-denial gets repeatedly slapped on the shoulder until he turns around, and finally locks eyes with you. Marcus's jaw drops. You nervously grin, and wave in his direction.Josh comes speeding around the corner, carrying some sort of expensive-looking machine part in his hands. "Sitara, did you get the-"Upon spotting you, Josh immediately drops the machine part he'd been holding to the ground. It noisily clatters to the ground, startling everyone in the process. His big, beautiful brown eyes swell up in shock as soon as they lock onto you, just standing behind Sitara with your hands politely folded behind your back. The silence that follows is deafening. After toying with the piercing threaded through your lip, you nervously smile at him from across the garage and quietly step out from behind the short-and-spicy graphical designer.You watch as Josh powerwalks across the garage floor, in order to get to you as quickly as possible. Once you're within reach, he tucks his chin in, and then sweeps his arms around your waist before pulling you close to his chest. The intimacy of the hug is not lost upon the other DedSec members, who quietly marvel at the scene unfolding in front of them. Then, as if they weren't already surprised and had enough to freak out over, he inadvertently stirs them up even further, simply by leaning over and sweetly kissing you in front of everyone.Wrench recoils so fast, he ends up crashing into the mechanical mess on the workbench "-WhaAaaAAaT?!"Marcus huffs, rubs his eyes, and then looks back at you and Josh, just to make sure his eyes aren't screwing up. "Ho-lee-shit!"Ignoring Wrench and Marcus for the time being, Josh protectively cradles you against his chest, while turning his head around to look at Sitara. "What is she doing here?"Sitara proudly puffs out her chest, stands as tall as her short little self can manage, and then motions to you in an overdramatic fashion, as if she were presenting some sort of majestic, exquisite art piece to everyone. "I convinced our friend to join us! After seeing her at Club Cosmic, I couldn't help but think about how helpful it'd be to have her on the team. I mean, if there's ever a club, a bar, or an event with high-security that we've got to get into, Trippy over here can walk us right inside. Sneak us right in through the back door, without anyone else ever noticing.""Can we rewind a bit? I mean, I don't want to alarm anybody or anything, but-" Wrench sweetly coos, before switching gears as his pixelated visor dons a set of slanted eyes. "-JOSH HAS A GIRLFRIEND! ARE WE REALLY JUST GOING TO SKIP PAST THAT PART?! Josh, our Josh, has a girlfriend! Shy, quiet Josh! This calls for a celebration!""-Don't lie, wrench, you just want a reason to drink!" calls out a masculine voice from the back, although you can't quite seem to locate where or who it's coming from."We're happy for you, bro!" Marcus adds in with a friendly smile, emphasizing himself with a loud clap of his hands. "Y'all look cute together!"Once introductions are finally out of the way, Sitara sits down at the table with Marcus and Wrench to explain how she went about recruiting you, and her reasons why. As she's getting into the details surrounding your volunteer work, another individual comes strolling from around the corner, beyond your line of sight— it's Horatio, who you met at Thalassa's bar, after getting invited out by Sam to join her, Josh, and his friends for some drinks. Upon spotting you, he grins and politely waves, before rushing to sit beside Sitara and document everything she's saying.At some point, Josh pulls away, but only just far enough to be able to look you in the eye. Though it's clear that the presence of the others are making him feel a little uncomfortable, Josh still tries to show you some semblance of physical affection by reaching out to hold hands with you. But when you delicately deposit your hands into his palms, he nervously folds and squeezes his fingers around your own, which prompts you to purse your lips and frown."Hey, what's wrong? Is this too much?" You ask, while lifting your hands and gently squeezing your fingers around his own for emphasis. "We never really did get to talk about how we feel about public displays of affection.""I don't mind PDA. I just don't like being stared at." Josh replies, while sneaking a glance over at Marcus and Wrench— who still occasionally look over at the both you."Pffft, I'll handle this." You chuckle while giving his chest a reassuring pat, before turning your head around to look at Marcus and Wrench. When they see you staring back at him, you arch a single eyebrow at them, prompting Wrench to pretend to faint while Marcus is forced to catch the masked-menace, just to prevent the spiked-up anarchist from turning his lap into an impromptu pin-cushion. When that doesn't work, you pull away from Josh entirely and turn to face them head-on, donning a smile that almost feels as if it's whispering soft-spoken promises of chaos and destruction."Keep looking over here, maybe I'll do a trick!" You call out to the pair, while folding your arms across your chest. "Or, should I come closer so you can get an up-close-and-personal view?""Oop!-" Wrench whoops before sharply looking away, as the pixel-eyes on his mask change back into exclamation points.Marcus playfully shakes his head, and rolls his eyes. "Dude, chill, she's not going to eat you!"Sitara pulls her lips back into a grin. "You sound so confident about that, Marcus!""Well, she wouldn't!" He replies with an indifferent shrug of his shoulders, before briefly glancing at you and then back to Sitara. "..Right!?"With a roll of her eyes, Sitara tries to get Wrench and Marcus to focus, while you turn your attention back over to Josh. He happily grins before taking you by the hand and pulling you along, wordlessly guiding you further into the garage. Upon arriving at what you assume to be his computer, he pulls out the chair and motions for you to take a seat. When you do, he slots the chair into place, putting you in the "driver's seat" of the massive super-computer situated in front of you."Whoa." You murmur under your breath, marveling at the strings of code flying across the screen. "Whoa, that's a lot of numbers!"Josh smiles, while leaning against the back of your chair. "This is what I do all day."You smile and lean in close to the screen. "What is all this even for?""I'm trying to build a drone— a big one, for transportation and for carrying large, heavy shipments. I'm currently working on these strings, right here." He says, before pointing out the exact lines of code on the screen. "There's also a faulty, broken engine part that needs to be replaced. I was in the middle of taking out the old one when you showed up. That's what I dropped.""Is that what you needed Sitara to go shopping for?" You ask, before looking back at him from over the curve of your shoulder.Josh nods his head. "Yes. You should see some of the other things I've made over the years. They're not as impressive as the drone I'm making, but they're still cool.""Ooh, show me!" You reply with a big grin and an excited clap, before pivoting around in your seat to face him just to beam at him from below. "I've been dying to know all about the kind of things you build! Can you show me how they work!?""Really?" Josh asks with a hopeful smile, while excitedly fluttering his hands in anticipation."Yes! Can you show me?" You ask with a happy grin, before reaching a hand out towards him.With a happy flutter of his fingers, Josh gingerly takes you by the hand, pulls you to your feet, and leads you back out into main area of the hackerspace. Sitara, Horatio, Wrench, and Marcus are still sitting at the table, only this time when you see them, they've each got a beer in their hands and are in the middle of discussing something important. Josh ignores them for the time being, and leads you to a massive 3D printer in the back of the workshop. When you see the crude, rainbow-shitting bubble-butt unicorn drawn onto the front, you immediately start to giggle under your breath."That has to be Wrench." You quietly mumble, while smirking to yourself."Yup." Josh calmly replies, while typing something into the console beside the massive printer.Seconds later, the giant machine comes to life with an electronic buzz and a mechanical hiss. It starts to violently rattle in place as it's metal guts and inner-workings grind together, before eventually spitting out what looks like a tiny handheld drone. As soon as it's finished, Josh plucks it off the tray and breaks off the support beams, before setting the little drone down onto the ground. Then he turns around on his heels, and gives you the drone's controller with a growing grin."Okay, so.." He begins to mumble, before excitedly shuffling a little closer to you in order to point out all of the buttons to you, while also taking the time to explain how each button, knob, and stick works. "Okay, so you use this stick to control the direction the drone is facing, and you use this one to control which direction it's actually going. You can adjust the camera settings with this little knob, right here.. and over here, this button will call it back to you.""Uhh.." You nervously hum in thought, while skeptically staring down at the controller now resting in your hands. "I'm a little overwhelmed. Can you-"Without needing to be asked specifically for his help, Josh shuffles up behind you and wraps his arms around you, before placing his hands on top of yours. Using skin-to-skin contact, he guides your hands with his own, showing you how to power the drone on and get it working. When it unexpectedly lurches up into the air with the innocent press of a button, you let out a little squeal of surprise, before covering your mouth in embarrassment.Josh giggles into your ear. "It's alright. Take your time."After nodding your head, you take a deep breath, and mentally brace yourself for the worst as you go to press another button. In response, the drone's camera adjusts, focusing it's camera on the nearest object of interest— and in this case, that just so happens to be you and Josh, with your hands and his hands both holding onto the controller. But while you're caught up in marveling and admiring the drone he built, you completely miss the mischievous look that crosses Josh's face, right before he glances down at the miniature display on the drone's controller, and sneakily presses another button.Then, as quick as a flash of lightning, he cheekily steals a kiss when you least expect it, right as the drone snaps a picture."Oh!" You gasp, before giggling into the palm of your hand as a wave of heat envelops your face.As Josh continues to giggle in your ear, you slowly pan your eyes over to him with a grin. There's something about the half-lidded look you're giving that makes him anxious, but not the bad kind of anxious— no, the good kind of anxious, that comes along with the feeling of butterflies in your stomach, hot cheeks, and a rush of warmth surging through your body. He tries to control it in vain, and only ends up becoming more and more flustered as you continue to stare at him, all while smiling sweetly at him, nose-to-nose."Just an 'engineer', huh?" You tell him, addressing him with a smile and a knowing look. "Yeah, right! Try adding on '-handsome genius' and '-tech wizard' onto that resume next time, babe."Josh bashfully blushes at you, while trying to restrain his growing grin. "-Stop."You playfully narrow your eyes at him, while slowly swiping your tongue along the underside of your upper lip. "Ohh, you want me to stop, huh?"Still definitely not smiling, Josh purses his lips firmly together, and nods. "Yes.""-Make me, pretty boy." You whisper back.Josh's eyes swell in their sockets, as a wave of heat washes over him. Unable to restrain his smile any longer than he already has, Josh's already tender cheeks ache for relief as he smiles from ear-to-ear. You can feel his fingers flex around your own in anticipation, but before he can manage to say something, Sitara calls out to the both of you from her spot at the table. When the two of you look over, she invitingly pats her hand on the open spaces at the table beside her."C'mere, you two!" She says with a grin, while still patting the spaces beside her. "We've got work that needs to get done, and we need all hands on deck!"Josh quietly groans under his breath in complaint. "Damn it."You slyly glance over at him with a grin. "Sooo, does that mean I win?"Josh looks back at you, and then grins. "-Stop."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“I can see why you like it here. There's a thin layer of nerd all over everything.”
―Cassandra Clare, City of Fallen Angels[[September, 2nd, 2016]]
[::-Friday— 9:31 A.M.-::]It's a beautiful, sunshine-y day in San Francisco, and you're already up and moving around, down in DedSec's hackerspace. Since joining the ranks of DedSec, you've been studying under the tutelage of DedSec's very own Hawt Sauce, a.k.a your boyfriend, a.k.a the best damn hacker that DedSec supposedly has. For the past two weeks, you feel like you've been making an absolute fool of yourself, asking all sorts of questions that most coders worth their salt would probably find annoying, but Josh insists that you're doing just fine. In fact, he's been encouraging you to ask questions."You don't know what you don't know." He reasoned, when you asked early on into your lessons if he minded having to stop and explain so much to you. "So, ask."Coding is much harder than you ever imagine it would be— stringing lines together, matching numeric values, memorizing numbers, there's a lot of mental work involved and all of it is difficult. But since you're being taught by Josh, and not some stuffy old man wearing a ratty-tatty suit in a shitty, overpriced university, you're able to take your time. Instead of rushing through lessons and complicated material in a couple of hours, you're encouraged to take as long as you need.Still, you feel the pressure. DedSec needs all the help it can get.You've been a resident of San Francisco for a number of years now— in fact, you were around when DedSec was just getting started, back when the enigmatic group of digital defenders barely made any headlines. By the time Sam had moved in, DedSec had just recently exposed The Church of the New Dawn as a complete and total sham, and they were all over the television because of it. In the passing months they've continued to make headlines, and now that you've joined their ranks, you finally understand why.They're going after Blume— one of the biggest corporate dickheads in the modern-day industry.If you ask Blume, or anyone bound by their NDA's, they'll tell you that Blume specializes in "high-tech, high-performance communications and security technology" that "utilizes Blume's predictive algorithms" and are "meant to make people's lives easier". In reality, almost anything that the company produces, everything from smartphones, computers, operating systems, digital imaging processors, and security systems, is actually stealing your data, which is then sold off to the government or big corporations, like banks, insurance companies, realtor companies, etc. These business then take your data, steal it, sell it overseas, while simultaneously using it to, essentially, punish you.Anytime you order a pizza, your health insurance rates go up, while Blume and other big-wig corporations get a cut of the money that your insurance steals from you. If you watch porn, even just once, you're marked down in Blume's Central Operation System as a potential sexual deviant the minute you click a link. If you're mixed or a person of color that happens to own a firearm, you're marked down by their predictive operating system as a potential criminal. Blume's predictive algorithms will reject you for your credit card application, your college application, or your resume, before you can even hit send.Once Sitara and the others gave you a run-down on the current state of affairs, you couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed. You knew that things were bad, of course, but there was so much more going on in the world than you originally thought. Knowing that your entire view of the world had been shifted, Sitara told you to take a few days to yourself before coming back to the hackerspace. For the three days you were absent, Josh would spend whatever free-time he had with you at the apartment, tending to your every need because you were quite honestly too sick to your stomach to do it yourself.By the end of day 1, Samantha was suspicious that something had happened, but couldn't get a straight answer out of you or Josh. By the time day 2 rolled around, she realized there was something going on when Josh refused to allow her entry into your bedroom, insisting that you were sleeping and needed the rest. When she tried to talk him into letting her in, he remained steadfast in his decision for her to wait. Thankfully, you happened to wake up almost immediately after, and were able to convince Josh into letting Samantha know why you were acting so strange.In the comfort of Josh's lap, you very gently explained to Samantha how you came about getting recruited into the ranks of DedSec, and what you had learned about the truth behind Blume's predictive algorithms. When Sam innocently inquired why Josh couldn't have told her about DedSec sooner, Josh explained that it had been a safety concern. According to him, the fewer people who know about the true identities of DedSec's main recruits, the less potential people there are for DedSec's enemies to manipulate.Once the two of you had finished explaining everything from start to finish, Samantha completely understood why neither of you had said a thing right away, and immediately let go of any hard feelings she might've had. Josh was worried that Sitara would be upset that you told Samantha about DedSec and it's members, but she didn't mind at all, stating that Sam would've probably figured everything out on her own at some point.You'd like to think that your honesty brought the two of you closer.Currently, you're practicing writing out lines of code on Josh's computer, but you keep getting distracted by all of the excess noise coming from behind you, and it's beginning to become a bit of a problem. The other members of DedSec have gathered around the table in the center of the hackerspace, and are in the middle of noisily discussing how to tackle their latest mission. Marcus recently discovered that anytime someone uses Nudle's search engine, the data goes to Blume, who uses it to power the Bellwether— a behavioral prediction system implemented in the ctOS.They're hoping a bug in Nudle's server farms will act as a sort of "door" for them to walk through.
The fact that you know what they're discussing word-for-word shows just how loudly they're talking.Josh leans against the back of your chair, watching over your shoulder as you try to continue working in spite of all the noise. At some point, he glances back at the others, too caught up in their own heated discussion to notice the stares that they're getting. Eventually, the sound of your frustrated sigh gets him to swing his head back around, only to frown down at the sight of you repeatedly running your fingers through your hair— something he's come to realize is how you try to self-soothe.He reaches down to rest a gentle hand against your shoulder. "Hey."You look back at him. "Hm?""Let's take a break." Josh quietly murmurs, while glancing between you and the computer. "Walk with me."Needing no other invitation, you rise to your feet and step out of the way, allowing Josh to tuck the chair back into it's proper place. Then, he gently takes you by the hand and leads you out into the central hub of the hackerspace. Upon noticing the both of you up-and-moving-around, Sitara, Wrench, Horatio, and Marcus all watch with big, curious eyes as Josh leads you over to the couch, where he helps you get settled. Then, they can only nervously swallow when Josh slowly turns around to face them, hands nervously flexing in anticipation. He does not look happy."You guys are being too loud." He informs them rather bluntly, while staring at them with a slight dip in his brow. "She has ADHD, she can't study if there's too much noise."The group cringes, each wearing of them an apologetic frown. Horatio is the first to speak up, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb aimed at his desk. "I have some headphones that she could use, if you—""She can't use headphones, because then she'll have to take them off to hear me." Josh insists, with an impatient squeeze of his fingers.Sitara leans up in her seat with a smile, before attempting to smooth things over as she always does. "We're sorry, Josh. We'll be quieter.""Thank you." He says, before turning away with another anticipatory flex of his fingers.After doubling back to grab a pair of drinks, Josh sits down beside you and then promptly offers you a fizzy, bubbly soda, which you happily accept in exchange for a kiss. As soon as your lips come into contact with his cheek, he smiles, giggles, and then scoots closer until your shoulders touch. The metal cap easily pops off with a slight twist of the wrist, allowing you to take a sip of the effervescent drink, as you lean into Josh's side with a gentle sigh. Without ever looking over, he easily slips an arm around your waist, and pulls you close with a quiet hum."Are you okay?" You ask him softly, watching with lazy, half-lidded eyes as he takes a sip of his own drink.He slowly nods his head, with his lips pressed against the mouth of the glass bottle in his hand. "Yes. I'm annoyed with the others. Not with you."Your eyes visibly soften. The fact that he feels the need to specify is rather sweet. "Thank you, doing that for me."He nods his head. "Of course."You lean a little further over in your seat, just to be able to whisper in Josh's ear. "Do you think we can sneak away to take a nap without the others noticing?"Josh playfully rolls his eyes, before looking over at you with the very beginnings of a smile. "-No."You grin. Because you and Sam tend to work late at night, you usually happen to wake up around the same time, typically around 9 or 10 o'clock instead of the usual 7 or 8 o'clock. But as of lately, you've been sacrificing a few hours of sleep just to be at the hackerspace with Josh— and while you appreciate the lessons and being able to spend extra time with your boyfriend, trying to adjust to your new sleep schedule has been a difficult process.Josh has tried to make things easier for you by picking you up at the apartment, typically with a fresh cup of your favorite coffee in hand. It usually perks you right up, but for whatever reason, it just didn't do that for you, today. Admittedly, you'd love nothing more than to take a nap for a couple of hours, and you're sure that it shows on your face. It has to, judging by the way Josh is studiously observing you.He reaches a tender hand over, and affectionately runs his fingers through your hair. "Does that help?"Your eyes roll back in their sockets. "Mmm, yesss...""You could take a nap, you know." Josh suggests, while still combing his fingers through your hair and lightly scratching your scalp. "I can always grab a couple pillows and blankets for you.""Would you?" You ask him with a slight pout. "Normally, I'd try to push through it, but I'm just too tired to try, today.""That's fine." He reassures you with a gentle kiss to the forehead, before taking your drink and running off with it."Hurry back." You call out, before slowly reclining back onto the cushions once he's disappeared.By the time you've gotten yourself settled into a comfortable position on the couch, Josh returns with a set of pillows and blankets. After placing the pillows behind your head, he drapes the blankets over you and gently kisses your cheek, before mumbling in your ear to come get him or call him if there's anything that you might need. Then, he runs his fingers through your hair one last time, before turning away, and returning to his desk.He stops by the table where the others have gathered. "She's taking a nap." He informs everyone, with an anticipatory squeeze of his fingers. "Please, don't wake her. Let her sleep."Sitara nods her head. "I'll make sure that we keep quiet.""Good." He returns with a resolute nod of the head. "Thank you."[[September, 2nd, 2016]]
[::-Friday— 11:24 A.M.-::]Nearly two hours later, you finally start to wake up. But as you stir beneath the blankets, you slowly come to the realization that there's someone sitting next to you, particularly when you can only stretch so far before coming into contact with warm, bare skin. When you rouse with a quiet yawn, feminine, slender fingers start to repeatedly run through your hair, combing it back and sweeping it out of the way. After rubbing the sleep from your eyes, you finally flutter them open, and find yourself face-to-face with Sitara."Hey, Trippy." She coos down at you, before pulling her soft lips back into a wide smile."Hey.." You sleepily murmur, before turning your head away to nosily yawn into the crease of your elbow."You've been asleep for awhile. It's almost 11:30." She quietly murmurs, while still running her fingers through your hair. "Did you get some decent rest?""Yeah, it doesn't hurt to hold my head up, anymore." You reply with a sleepy smack of your lips. "Where's Josh?""-Hunched over his computer, typing like his fingers are on fire." She replies with a grin, while casually jerking her head over her shoulder for emphasis. "I think he's writing out lines of code for that big ass drone he's trying to build.. I could always be wrong, but that'd be my guess. I mean, he could always be checking on that one dude..."Suddenly, you're sitting upright in your seat and paying extra close attention. "Wait, who?"Sitara cautiously glances around, like she's making sure that no one else is within earshot. Once she's satisfied that no one is listening in, she leans in close to whisper in your ear, while cupping a hand over the side of her mouth. "Your best-friend's ex, Sebastian. Ever since Josh got that phone call from her, he's been keeping a close eye on that guy's finances. If that idiot ever buys a plane ticket or stops at a gas station out-of-state, Josh will be the first to know. I think he's also been slowly draining the bastard's bank account, but I'm not sure about that part.""How do you even know about that?" You ask Sitara, with a slight arch of the brow. "The only people that she's told, as far as I know, are Josh and I.""DedSec looks into everybody that it comes into contact with." Sitara explains. "It's routine for us to do our own little background checks on potential recruits, as well as anyone that might be connected to them. I had to clear your roommate because of her close association to you and Josh, and trust me, he wasn't happy about it either when I finally told him about what I did. But I swear, I won't tell a soul about what happened to her. If nothing else, give the girl my phone number. Tell her to text me if she needs something. I'll hook her up."Your eyes soften. "Alright, I can do that. Samantha has been having a hard time adjusting to city life, she could use the support.""She's got it." Sitara returns with a grin.Your lips pull back into an appreciative smile, but before you can actually thank her, somebody calls out to you from afar. When you turn your head to look, you find Wrench standing over by his workbench, frantically waving his arm back-and-forth in the air. Sitara huffs upon noticing him, before looking over at you with her lips pursed together in amusement. The corners of her mouth twitch as she tries to restrain a smile, but fails miserably when Wrench starts jumping up-and-down like a little kid."I think he wants your attention." Sitara says with a sly, serpentine grin."Yeah.. I can see that. I guess I'll go see what he wants. Pray for me." You reply with a grin of your own, before pushing yourself off the couch and rising to your feet.After tucking your hands into your pockets, you cut across the hackerspace's polished floor, making a beeline for the workbench. Upon your arrival, Wrench happily sweeps you into his arms, while the pixelated eyes on his visor happily squint as he goes on to squeeze you tight. Then, with a cheerful laugh, he roughly deposits you back onto your feet, before giving your shoulders a hard, reassuring slap."Nice to see you up and movin' around, sleepy head!" Wrench playfully teases you, while affectionately ruffling your hair.With a grumpy whine, you lightly smack his hands away. "Hey, no, I'm barely awake, and I bite. Don't—"Upon feeling your hand tap his wrist, he lets out the most dramatic of wails before allowing that same wrist to go completely limp, as if you'd broken it. With a roll of your eyes, you lightly shove his shoulder, which only results in Wrench letting out another dramatic wail. It's enough to make you look over to Sitara with a "-are you actually fuckin' serious?" look scribbled all over your face. She can't help you— mostly because she's laughing too hard.Okay. Now, you're feeling a little irritated."Knock it off, before I actually hurt you." You sweetly threaten him, before reaching a hand up to grab ahold of the ashy blonde bits of hair sticking out from underneath his hood. "-and don't think that I won't do it. Just because you're adorable doesn't mean you're safe.""You think I'm adorable?" Wrench cheerfully asks, before letting out a dramatic yelp as he gets playfully shoved aside. "That's the part you heard? Focus, you moron." You scoff while grinning from ear to ear, as you fold your arms across your chest."Alright, alright, I'm focused!" Wrench declares with determination, while flexing his arms inward for emphasis. But just as quickly as his confidence came, it suddenly disappears, leaving behind a nervous, stammering mess standing before you. Tugging on the collar of his shirt, he starts to chuckle under his breath, before reaching an arm around to start nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh.. I have a teensy tiny question to ask you. It's about your roommate."With a furrow of your brow, you skeptically look Wrench up-and-down, while quietly arching an eyebrow at his strange behavior. "Okay. What's up?""So, your roommate! She's, uh..." Wrench begins to explain, before trailing off with a nervous laugh. "Wow, she's something, huh?! Like, like, like.. wow! Hehe.."You squint at him, with suspicion. "Uh-huh.. alright, Wrench, what's this really about?"The man visibly deflates with a heavy sigh. "Oh, man.. Alright, look, I might've.. I might've developed a massive, king-kong sized crush on your best friend, Josh's cousin, Sam, Samantha, Sammy, whatever you want to call the hot babe! Do you think.. Do you think you can help me out? Maybe give me a couple tips, a couple pointers, a little guidance? Pretty please, please please, for your ol' buddy, ol' pal Wrenchy!""Uhh.." You drawl before skeptically glancing around, as if you were waiting for him to get to the point. "Just one question; if you like her so much, then why don't you just ask her out? Why even come to me at all?"Wrench lets out a humorless laugh, while slowly shaking his head from side-to-side. "Ahah! Ahahaha, hahaha, no-no-no-no, that's not going to work. See, I've already tried that! Already tried that, yeah, not going to work, mm-mm. Nope!"You squint at him, suspiciously. "Alright, so what do you need from me then, exactly?"Wrench starts rubbing the back of his neck, again. "Well, I was kind of wondering if you could help me out? See, I tried asking Josh for help, but he just kind of.. stared at me. Don't think he was too happy with me, to be honest.. Anyway, I just want to have a chance to show her that I'm different, but anytime I've tried to get close to her, it's like she puts up a- a wall. I was thinking, you know, if the three of us hung out together, maybe she'd feel more comfortable! It could be fun, right? Yeah?""Yeah? Okay, okay, let me think about this." You hum, while thoughtfully tapping your chin. "...Alright, I'll help you.""SWEET!" Wrench cheerfully cries out."-But only on one condition; you've got to let Josh hang out with us, too." You reply, with a wide, mischievous grin."NO!" Wrench fearfully cries out, before covering his mouth in shock. Rather frantically, he looks around to make sure no one else heard him, before reaching over to gingerly grab you by the shoulders and shake the living shit out of you. "Have you lost your mind?! Didn't you hear me?! Josh doesn't want me getting close to his cousin! He'll ruin my life if he ever finds out!"Grinning, you tilt your head to the side. "-if? Wrench, I hate to break it to you, man, but Josh is the one that told Samantha you liked her. He's known from the start.""Really? Shit! How?!" Wrench mutters under his breath."He was bound to find out sooner or later. I mean, you did loudly announce it to the table at one point." You inform him with a soft, knowing smile. "Look, if you want Samantha to feel comfortable enough to truly be herself, then you'll need both of us there. It's the only way you'll ever get her to really open up. We're like her security blankets! You don't understand, she's been through a really rough—""I know." Wrench interrupts, speaking in a soft tone that tells you all you need to know."She's told you, then?" You ask him, with a gentle arch of the brow.Wrench shrugs his shoulders, while bobbing his head back-and-forth indifferently. "Ehh, sort of, not really, but I know enough to make a good guess. I have a sledgehammer I'd like to introduce that fucker's face to;— see how he likes getting beaten to a pulp.""You and me both." You sigh, before turning away with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Alright, I'll see what I can do to help you. Show up at the apartment at 8 o'clock sharp tonight, alright? Keep your phone handy, I'll text you if anything comes up."The anarchist stands at attention, and playfully salutes you. "Yes, ma'am!"With a grin and a mocking salute of your own, you cut across the hackerspace floor on hot feet, charging across the room like a woman on a mission. Josh is so preoccupied with coding, he doesn't notice your close proximity until you're standing right behind him, engulfing the entirety of his desk with your shadow. Using your ankle, you hook your foot around the leg of his chair, and pull him away from his computer. Confused, he slowly pivots around, before blinking up at you with big, bulging eyes.Grinning from ear to ear, you proceed to plant yourself in Josh's lap, before going on to drape your arms around his neck and shoulders. From there, you gently brush the bridge of your nose against his own, before closing the rest of the distance and kissing him firmly on the lips. Overwhelmed in the best way possible, Josh can only flap and flail his hands as you continue to kiss him, while lifting your hands to cup the back of his head and hold it in place."Mmm!-" Josh hums, while giggling breathlessly against your lips and excitedly flapping his hands."-mmmuah!" You pull away, breaking the kiss with a wet pop. "Hello, gorgeous!""H-Hi." Josh returns with a smile and a shuddery breath.With a sweet smile of your own, you gently caress the curve of Josh's cheek, while rapidly taking in every little detail in his face. His own deep brown eyes follow the movement, watching intently as your eyes sweep up-and-down the length of his features, before finally zeroing in on his lips. When you ever so slightly pucker your own, he takes the initiative to close the space between your bodies and give you a kiss— one, you note, lasts a little longer than his usual kisses."Mmm, mhm, mm-" You quietly hum against his lips, before finally managing to pull away. "You must be excited to see me, eh?"Josh's entire face turns beet red. "-Stop."While chuckling softly, you caress his cheek with a grin. "Are you busy, right now? I've got something that I want to talk to you about.""I'm not busy." Josh easily responds, even though he is, in fact, very busy. "What's wrong?""Nothing is wrong, I just want to talk to you about Sam and Wrench." You tell him with a rueful grin, because you know how he's going to react.Josh rolls his eyes back and scrunches his nose, as if the idea makes him uncomfortable. "Ugh, please, no—""Josh, please, hear me out." You ask him, purposefully pouting in hopes of convincing him. "Please? Pretty, pretty, pretty please?"His eyes roll in the opposite direction. "Alright, fine."With an excited cheer, you throw your arms into the air, forcing Josh to tighten his arms around your waist in hopes of preventing you from falling off of his lap. You end up grappling onto him like a frightened feline, earning a couple mischievous giggles from him and Marcus, who's been secretly watching the entire scene unfold from a short distance away. Once he's pulled you back into his lap and has successfully replanted you in place, he reaches up to sweep your hair out of your face with a grin, before rewinding his arms around you."So?" He asks, while calmly blinking at you.You bashfully smile back at him, feeling a tad bit embarrassed after nearly falling off his lap. "Well, uh.. ahem! So, right, about Wrench— so, the two of them have been flirting through texts ever since that night at Thalassa's, but that's pretty much it. No dates, no going out together, nothing. There's been a couple of times that Wrench has visited Sam at the apartment, but again, nothing has ever happened beyond talking and hanging out. I'm hoping that if you and I hang out with her and Wrench at the apartment, Sam might feel comfortable enough to let loose, just a little."Josh nods. "Okay. What time?""-8 o'clock." You reply, before twisting around in his lap and planting your feet firmly on the floor.He nods, again. "Okay. I'll be there."You thank him with a kiss. "-thank you, sweetheart."After you've climbed off of his lap, Josh scoots his chair back over to his desk, and goes back to writing out lines of code. Meanwhile, you trail off in a random direction, making sure to stop to fist-bump Marcus as you walk by him, before digging through your pockets in search of your phone. Once you find it, you quickly power the device on, and go scrolling through your long list of contacts. When you finally find Samantha's contact, you tap her name, and shoot her a message. 
Samantha Sauchak

"Hey. Are you busy tonight?"
"Not that I know of. 🤨 Why? What did you do?""Girl, I didn't do anything! Stop tripping!"
"Sike, I'm totally lying, LOL."
"I invited Wrench and Josh over to hang out with us, tonight."
"They were told to arrive at 8 PM. Be there, or 🟪."
"Oh my god, you're so fuckin' cheesy. 🤣 Fine, I'll be there!" [[September, 2nd, 2016]]
[::-Friday— 7:52 P.M.-::]Despite that it's September, the summer season is still in full swing, so you've purposefully left all of the kitchen windows open tonight. A warm, gentle sea breeze blows through your apartment, rustling the leaves of your potted plants, and noisily knocking around the wooden beads of your hall's curtain-covered doorway. When you're standing in the kitchen, with the wind blowing through your hair and tickling your face, you can smell the Pacific ocean, as if you were actually there at the shore.With your neighbors out of town, you're actually able to play music as loud as you want for once, and have been taking advantage of your neighbors absence ever since you got home. The thin apartment walls thrum with the steady, rhythmic thumping of intense, fast-paced music, coming from a boombox radio sitting on the floor within the shared space of your bathroom.You're gently bouncing back-and-forth to the beat in front of the bathroom mirror, fresh out of the shower and all wrapped up in a fluffy white towel, with your hair already blow-dried and styled to your liking. All that's left to do is finish your make-up, spritz on a little perfume, and then go pick out an outfit— which you probably would've been done with by now, if only you could manage to get yourself to stop dancing around in the mirror like some sort of slutty, coked-up popstar. Unfortunately, your tube of mascara makes for a great make-shift microphone, and you have absolutely no sense of self control.Beside you, Samantha takes her time getting ready, and happily sings along with the music under her breath. Having taken a shower long before you even came back home, Samantha's hair has already been blow dried, it just hasn't been styled— mostly because when you arrived home, she had to stop everything she was doing just to help you bleach and touch-up your roots after you realized your hair had grown out. Now, she's in the middle of spraying down the rest of her hair with a high-grade heat protectant, while waiting for her straightener to finish heating up.Samantha has already gotten dressed, having chosen to wear a set of grey, acid-washed jeans and a black tank-top with a violet Xenomorph on the front. Several rubber wristbands line her wrists, including a black-and-pink "I heart boobies" breast-cancer awareness wristband from 2004. Her neon-green stiletto-shaped nails get lost in the wild waves of her golden brown hair, as she carefully combs her fingers through her tangled tresses and scrunches more heat protectant into her hair.While waiting for her hair to dry, every so often, she'll roll her lip piercing with her tongue or fidget with her septum piercing by scrunching her nose. Once the heat protectant has formed a cast over her hair, she takes the hair straightener and leads in with a comb first, before following up with the hair straightener. By the time she's finished, her hair is silky smooth and pin straight, with absolutely no fly-aways. Any small, static-charged bits of hair are easily taken care of with a bounce dryer sheet."There!" She declares before turning to you, and running her fingernails through her long, sweeping hair. "What do you think?"You look over, still bouncing around to the beat with a toothbrush in your mouth. "Looksh good!"After spitting out your toothpaste and rinsing your mouth, you're able to finally finish putting on the rest of your make-up. Although she's officially finished getting dressed, Samantha sticks around to lean against the bathroom counter and watch with a lazy grin as you doll yourself up, all while singing and dancing in front of the mirror as loud as you can. Dark eye-makeup is your go-to choice, paired with a colorful shade of dark lipstick similar to the shade of your hair. Then once you're finished, you apply a heavy amount of your favorite perfume, and are ready to get actually dressed.Samantha coughs into her fist with a grin, before parading herself out of the bathroom while frantically fanning the air. "Damn! Woo, it smells like a french whore in here!"You playfully roll your eyes, and call out to her with a cry of "-fuck you, fuck you very, very much!" from across the apartment, as you make a dash for your bedroom. When you walk in, Chester tries his best to look as innocent as possible, while sitting especially close to the aquarium atop your dresser. He even watches you, blinking innocently as you dig through the dresser in search of something cute to wear."Lets see... jean shorts, and.. a black halter top." You mumble under your breath, while pulling the clothes out of their individual drawers. "Yeah, this'll do.""-They're here! I just saw them pull up!""Oh shit. Coming! Just one sec!" You shout, while scrambling to pull the clothes over your head. Once you're dressed, you run out of your bedroom and make it halfway down the hall, before doubling back to retrieve your favorite cowboy hat hanging off of your bedframe's footboard. Holding your cowboy hat by the front part of it's crown, you slip the hat onto your head, and secure it in place before walking out the door.When you walk out into the living room, Samantha is in the middle of straightening out all of the "-party favors" laid out on the kitchen island— namely the bottles of beer, platters of snack food, and the galaxy-themed rolling trays full of weed, along with the variety of space-themed bongs and glass pieces that you've got all lined up. Beside everything is a 20" pizza box, dressed with extra cheese and a light layer of pepperoni— something specifically requested by Wrench, who insisted that between the four of you, the pizza would be gone by the end of the night.After dusting off some of the larger plants that decorate your jungle-themed kitchen space, you rush over to lean over the countertops and look out of the window. You watch with a grin as Josh and Wrench climb out of a dusty, beat-up looking white van, dressed in their usual attire, toting grocery bags aplenty. Josh looks to be waiting for Wrench to retrieve something tucked away in the back of his van, and seems rather impatient, judging by the way he keeps shifting his weight from foot to foot.You glance at Samantha from over the curve of your shoulder. "They're walking in. Are you ready?""Yeah." She cheerfully replies with an excited, albeit somewhat nervous grin. "Remind me again;— we're just hanging out, right? This isn't a double date?"The waver in her tone gets you to look over at her, with your lips pulled back into a cheeky grin just dripping with the promise of mischief. "No, it's not. Why? Did you want it to be?"She shoots a playfully dagger-eyed glare in your direction, and smiles from ear to ear. "Shut up!"Before you can fire back another cheeky remark, the sound of knocking at your front door captures both yours and hers attention. Samantha glances in your direction with a grin, before straightening out her clothes and making her way towards the door. But before she can ever get there, the lock disengages and the door swings open, revealing her cousin standing in the doorway. The plastic bags hanging from his arms, with their handles caught in the crease of his elbow, noisily slosh around as he makes his way inside."Hello." Josh greets the both of you.As soon as the smell of Josh's cologne hits your nose, you let out a loud, dramatic groan from across the apartment, bringing a smile to his pale, pink lips as he waddles further into the room. After receiving a hug from his cousin, he finally makes it to the kitchen, where you can be found leaning against the counter, frantically fanning yourself as if the air around the both of you felt sweltering hot. With a playful roll of his eyes, he sets down the grocery bags, and before he can even fully turn around, you sweep your arms around his waist and pull him into a tight hug."Mmm, hello handsome!" You cheerfully greet him, before happily kissing him square on the mouth."Hey." Josh says with a wide, happy grin, before returning the kiss with one of his own.After pulling away with a smile, you purse your lips together and sharply whistle, while shamelessly looking him up and down. "Mmm-mm-mmn.""What?" He asks you, while smiling apprehensively."Hm? Oh, heheh. Yeah, um.." You chuckle softly, before lustfully looking back-and-forth between his eyes and his lips. "Just, uh.. just know that you look good."Josh's eyebrows slowly lift, as his cheeks darken in hue. "Oh. Uh, th-tha-thank-thank you.""Don't worry, sweetheart, it's nothing bad." You tell him with smile and a gentle caress of the cheek. "It's just, uh.. well, I think the exact wording might be a little too spicy for you to handle just yet."Josh awkwardly shifts his weight from foot to foot, before curling his fingers into fists. "..I like spicy things."Unsure if you heard him correctly, you stiffen in place, and quietly stare up at him in disbelief. "I-I'm sorry, what did you-""-I like spicy things." He whispers to you in a lower pitch, while subtly leaning towards you. "..My user handle is Hawt Sauce."Your sea-breezy apartment suddenly feels as if it had been relocated to the middle of the hot, dry savannah desert. His deep brown eyes quietly look you up-and-down, glimmering in the golden light of your kitchen like little pockets of deep space filled with stars and nebulas aplenty. His fingertips follow their movement, tracing along the edges of your lips, nose, and cheekbones before finally settling on the side of the neck, where they remain as he leans in to kiss you on the lips once more.But this time when he pulls away, he's smiling proudly. "Your face is red."You immediately bring a hand up to cover your cheeks. "Stop."With a smile that could power New York City, Josh leans in close, and whispers; "-No."Before you can manage to come up with some sort of witty reply, the front door to your apartment bursts open again. Wrench attempts to waddle his way inside, shuffling through the front door at an angle due to the amount of bags dangling from his scrawny little arms. With a scoff and a roll of his eyes, Josh pulls away from you and rushes over to help Wrench, who argues with him for a bit before finally handing over some of the bags. Together, they set them all down on the coffee table in your living room, before unloading everything bag-by-bag."Just be careful! Those bags I gave you are really fragile!" Wrench insists with a frantic wave of his hand. "I just- ah- hold it like it's precious to you!""What's fragile?" asks Sam with a smile, standing behind him with her arms folded across her chest.Wrench almost falls over, just trying trying to spin around fast enough to face her. "D'gah! Uh, n-nothing! Nothing, I just, um, I just got you a few things... also, dude! Sick shirt! I didn't know you were a fan of the Alien series!"Sam glances down at the purple xenomorph on her shirt, before looking back up at Wrench with a slightly more confident smile. "Thanks! Yeah, I am, I grew up watching the series."Wrench curiously tilts his head to the side. "Oh yeah? In that case, let me ask you one question; who do you think would win in a real fight between a Xenomorph and a Predator?""Xenomorph." Samantha answers easily, as if she were a well-studied expert in the subject of Xenomorphs. "They have acidic blood. All they've got to do is bite their cheek, spit at somebody, and that poor bastard's face is melting right off. The only reason that a Predator would win, in theory, is because of their technology. But if you throw a predator and an alien into an open field, no technology, no gear, just their natural bodies, I'd say the Xenomorph has a fair chance at actually winning.""THANK YOU!!" Wrench loudly declares, while shaking his fists at the sky as if he'd just found the answer to a century-old question.As the two begin to converse, you and Josh reunite in the kitchen, where you get to witness Wrench excitedly turn away mid-conversation. Sam watches with an amused expression as Wrench excited digs through one of the bags, before pulling out a medium-sized ceramic pot full of flowers. But they're not just any flowers— they're pansies, of the Majestic Giant variety, Samantha's favorite flower. The ceramic pot that they come in has been painted, both by Wrench and Sitara if you had to make a guess."Oh my g-" Samantha gasps, before taking the flowerpot with a smile. "I love pansies! That would've been an impossible guess, how did you know?""I might've had a little help from a certain space cowgirl!" Wrench cheerfully replies, before swinging his head around and shooting a pixelated wink in your direction. "Thank you, Señorita!"With a playful roll of your eyes, you dismissive wave off the appreciation with a smile. "Aahh, stop it, it was nothing!""So, Josh-" Wrench says with an air of casualness about him, although you can practically hear the possum-eating-shit-grin in his voice. You can feel it in your gut, as you watch him tuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans;— whatever he's about to do or say, nothing good can come of it. "Did you happen to get your lady-friend any flowers? Because I couldn't help but notice that you didn't seem to bring any!"Sam, trying to be helpful, violently cringes before speaking up; "Oh, actually, she doesn't—""I actually don't like getting flowers as a gift." You reply with a little bit of a bite in your voice, while stepping in front of Josh with a strained smile. "Flowers were the only way my father would ever apologize to my mother and I after an argument. Because of that, I don't ask for flowers."Wrench deflates. He was only trying to tease Josh— he hadn't meant to make you upset. "-Oh.""Yeah." You return with a slow, uncomfortable nod of the head.Josh seems to perk up, despite the visibly drop in everyone's mood. "I actually did bring her flowers. Just not the kind you're thinking of."You and Wrench share a look of confusion, while Samantha is smiling as if she knows something that you don't. Curious, you slowly pivot around on your heels to look at Josh, before arching an eyebrow at the man. "You.. You got me flowers? Why? This isn't-.. today isn't a special occasion.."Josh slowly glances around the room, as if the answer were obvious. "Do I need a reason to give you flowers?"Your cheeks deepen in hue. "Well, no-"He suddenly turns away, before reaching for one of the grocery bags that he had set down earlier. After digging through it, he eventually pulls out what looks to be some sort of bouquet, but instead of traditional flowers, stems of a marijuana plant with flowering buds in full bloom have been put in place. In addition to that, joints and cones appear to have mixed into the arrangement, along with marijuana leaves.Your hands fly up to cover your mouth, as if that'll stop the gasp from slipping past your lips. As soon as Samantha hears it, she lets out a victorious laugh, and claps her hands together as if she were applauding herself for her part in the whole thing. Wrench makes a dramatic show of locking up his "lips", before throwing the invisibly key over his shoulder and bowing repeatedly in ass-kissing defeat. Josh presents the bouquet to you with a small smile."For you." He murmurs.With a bashful grin, you accept the bouquet. "I mean, if this is your version of giving a girl flowers.. I think I might start liking flowers."[[September, 3rd, 2016]]
[::-Saturday— 12:00 A.M.-::]By the end of the night, it seems that Wrench has finally gotten what they wanted.You stand on the front porch to your apartment building, watching from afar as Wrench and Sam share a few (relatively) private words. Sometime during the night, a summer storm unexpectedly rolled through, and while you typically don't mind the rain, it's making it hard for you to read Samantha's lips from this distance. The orange-tinted streetlights provide a decent amount of light, but the heavy rain is just blurring everything together— like one big blobby mess.Josh sits in the passenger seat of Wrench's van with a bored, if not otherwise vacant look on his face. He's also staring at Wrench and Samantha rather intently, just the same as you are, but he's only looking because he wish they'd quit flirting and say goodbye already. Between them, the rain, and the heavy winds blowing through the wide open door on Wrench's side of the van, Josh looks like he'd rather be anywhere but here. This becomes especially apparently when he glances over to you and promptly rolls his eyes, causing you to giggle into the back of your hand.Finally, Samantha and Wrench seem to share their final goodbyes— but when Wrench goes to climb into the truck, Samantha pulls him back by the wrist. She seems to hesitate for a moment, before standing on the tips of her toes just to be able to gently kiss a sliver of exposed skin peeking out from underneath the anarchist's mask. Then she runs away, quick as a flash of lightning, and makes a beeline for the apartment building, leaving Wrench standing out in the rain."What was that?!" You ask Samantha with a grin, watching as she darts over to you with a smile of her own."A platonic token of my appreciation for the flowers!" She laughs while running by, before disappearing into the darkness.
When you look back at Wrench, he leaps into the air and excitedly thrashes around.
Then, at Josh's urging, he quickly climbs into the van, and drives off into the night.
You couldn't smile any brighter, or any bigger if you wanted to.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“I hope I never meet the guy that did this to you.”
―Victoria Pade, Divine Decadence[[September, 25th, 2016]]
[::-Sunday— 10:32 A.M.-::]Most folk, right now, would be in church. You're hacking into a corrupt businessman's computer files for funsies.Well, it's not really for "fun", per se, although you're almost certain that's what Josh would call it anyway. For you, it's a practice lesson, you're first real test out in the real world, and this time, Josh isn't around to hold your hand through it all. Thankfully, DedSec didn't just send you out into the wilderness with nothing but a stick to defend yourself. No, in comparison to the big names like Blume and Nudle, this guy is relatively small game. Still, it was a bit of a bitch to hack your way through his shields and firewall. The dude's security and anti-virus system is nothing to sneeze at.Since your chemically-colored hair tends you make you stand out, even in large crowds, you've dressed in casual, non-descript clothing in order to blend in for the occasion. Sitting across the room on the other side of the coffee shop is your target, wearing designer sunglasses, too much hair gel, dressed in a ugly ass suit that none of his employees could ever afford in this lifetime or the next. For the past half hour, he's been chatting up this cute blonde he met on the internet, completely unaware that she's actually an AI program developed by your boyfriend, and stylized by Sitara.You can read everything he's saying to Jessica, live, as it happens in real-time.
Thank god Jessica is a robot, because a real chick would need therapy after a coffee date with this man.Finally, you're in. After quickly downloading the data files you need, you leave behind a little present from DedSec— a virus, meant to report back any vital data back to the hackerspace. Once that's been left behind, you sweep up any digital footprints you left behind, before grabbing your things and taking your leave. The relief you feel is immediate— as soon as you're unplugged from his system, you're ready to grab the laptop you were loaned and run out the door, but end up doubling back to the table after noticing something weird dash across your screen."What the fuck?" You mutter under your breath, hardly able to believe your eyes.Darting across your screen is a fat cyan-colored cat, grinning all toothy and wide with a pair of shutter sunglasses on. Occasionally, the feline will stop to take a shit, leaving behind a few colorful-animated pixels in her wake. Realizing that someone must be hacking you, one of the first things you do is quickly glance around the coffee shop. Unfortunately, it's practically empty right now and the only one who has a laptop or their phone out is your target, whom you were told has no hacking experience what so ever.Then, you get a text. It's from Sitara.
Sitara

"DedSec has been hacked by Prime_Eight. That fucking cat you're seeing on your screen isn't ours."

"I thought someone was hacking me at the coffee shop."

"Come to the hackerspace. We need to talk about this."
"Don't stop anywhere or tell anyone you're coming. Just come straight here."
 [[September, 25th, 2016]]
[::-Sunday— 11:28 A.M.-::]When you pull up to Gary's Games & Glory, you're none at all surprised to find Marcus strutting down the sidewalk, looking as pissed off as can be. But upon spotting the familiar outline of your car in his peripherals, his entire face lights up as he doubles back to watch you pull into a parking space. Once you shut off the engine, he rushes to meet you at the door while you struggle to get out of the car. Before your feet can even hit the pavement, Marcus sweeps you into his arms and squeezes you tight. Then, he harshly drops you to the ground, where you land on your feet with a soft grunt.Marcus breathlessly greets you with a "-hey!" and a hard slap to the back, only to glance down in confusion when his hand comes into contact with smooth leather and not the cotton hoodie that you were supplied with. Rather quickly, he realizes that you changed into your usual hot-rebel-cowgirl get up, only you've forgone the black titty tape and have chosen to wear a tight black crop-top in it's place. Marcus's brings his eyes back up to look at you, while donning a look of confusion."You had time to change?" Marcus asks you, face skewered in disbelief."No, of course not." You scoff at him, while using your cowboy hat to dust yourself off. "What, you've never been late for work and changed at a traffic light before?"Marcus skeptically glances around, quietly wondering if anyone else is actually hearing this. "No?"You reach over to lightly pat him on the shoulder with a smile, before taking your hat by the crown and slipping it onto your head. "-Then you haven't lived enough, my dude."With a playful, if not slightly indignant scoff, Marcus playfully slaps you on the back before following your lead, as you cut your way through the small crowd of people gathered inside of the game store. With one hand on your hat and a polite mouthful of "-excuse me, sugar!", most folk scramble to get out of your way, before flashing you nervous smiles as you walk by. Marcus can only roll his eyes, before mumbling something about "southern charm" under his breath.By the time you make to the back of the shop, both you and Marcus are feeling antsy.
Then you actually open door to the hackerspace, and the yelling starts.As soon as you step into the hackerspace, you can hear Wrench angrily screaming at the top of his lungs, while throwing around something that is undoubtedly expensive. Sitara tries her best to calm him down by shouting over all of the noisy banging and clashing he's doing, but none of it seems to be working. Then you spot Josh, sitting off to the side with his hands over his ears, rocking back and forth in a chair. Between Wrench's shouting, and the incessant cackling of the chubby woman on the television screen, Josh is barely holding himself together.Even Horatio, who is usually the picture of calm, is too pissed off to do anything other than sit and stare at the floor.You don't have a single clue as to what's going on, but that's not going to stop you from trying to help. Feeling the need to intervene, you come rushing into the hackerspace and make a beeline for Wrench, who still caught up in the throes of a raging temper tantrum. In order to snap him out of his trance, you roughly shoulder-check his bodyweight, prompting the anarchist to spin around on hot feet. In the midst of his anger, he rushes to stand over the person stupid enough to actually shove him, only to find you calmly staring back up at him. Unafraid. Unaffected.Wrench cocks his head to the side. "Don't—""Chill." You quietly murmur, speaking softly while simultaneously leaving no room for argument."Of course. Fuckin' Lenni!" Marcus curses spitefully, while approaching the massive wall of wired up television screens.With one hand resting against Wrench's shoulder, you turn to watch the hacker;— Lenni, give her own broadcast to DedSec and all it's followers."-Citizens of the world, may I have your fucking pathetic attention; DedSec is a bunch of losers spamming your newsfeed!" The heavyset woman loudly announces, while staring all cockeyed at the screen in such a way, you can't help but wonder if she's high off something. Still, she rambles on like an excited teenage girl, much to the dismay of everyone in the hackerspace. Her voice is grating, it's worse than nails on a chalkboard."They pretend to be the saviors of your free will, when really— hahaha, they're just some script kiddies who want desperately to be popular!" She continues to explain before stopping to cackle wickedly in the face of the camera, while that stupid fucking cyan cat runs across the screen, shitting rainbows everywhere. But then she suddenly stops laughing and slowly leans forward to stare into the camera lens, as if she were trying to invade your personal space from halfway across the city."It all stops now." She says with a mean smile, the kind of smile you'd find on the face of some stupid fuck from a 4chan thread. "I, am going to teach DedSec a lesson, and DedSec, if you think I won't or can't destroy your system— HAHAHAHA! Well, then allow me to introduce myself."The image of Lenni on the television screens glitches, and begins to endlessly repeat her laugh cycle as if the clip were stuck on loop. The sound of her obnoxiously loud, near-maniacal laughter is grating on the ears, prompting you and Josh to cover your ears in distress. Upon seeing you and Josh hunch over in pain, Wrench runs off to grab his sledgehammer, before frantically looking around the hackerspace in search of the specific speaker connected to the television wall."Tell me it's just Kiki!" Marcus frantically shouts, while rushing over to Sitara on hot feet."It's just Kiki!" She reassures him with a gentle wave of the hand, before turning away with a light scoff to ground herself, and steel her nerves. Once she's ready, she turns back around, looks Marcus in the eye, and angrily frowns. "We're housecleaning the felines, Josh is brute-forcing the crypto-key.""AAAARGH, SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Wrench angrily bellows, before bringing his hammer down onto one of the speakers in a display of rage. Thankfully, the speaker seems to be the one he'd been searching for all this time, as Lenni's hysterical (and ungodly annoying) laughter finally comes to a stop. Sitara lets out a sigh of relief, while Wrench turns around to face you and the others with pixelated eyes of determination."Alright, so, are we going to war for this!?" Wrench asks, while looking around at the others as if it were a call-to-arms.Sitara looks like she's ready to start spitting venom. "Absolutely, we're not letting these trolls drag us into their sewer! DedSec doesn't back down!"
"—So what?!"
The fury and ferocity in Josh's voice is enough to stun you and the others into silence, while Horatio finally snaps out of his trance and looks over at Josh in shock. Those deep brown eyes, which have only ever looked upon you with kindness, now stare at you and the others with as if you all were the source of his distress. There's nothing "subtle" or "miniscule" about the face that Josh is making either, with his furrowed brow, scrunched nose, and bare teeth— no, you're looking at the face of angry man whose pride was just flipped on it's head."What good is going to war with them?!" He bitterly questions the others, while irritably gesturing to wall of televisions screens across the hackerspace. "It won't break their lock on us, it doesn't change anything. They got in!"You watch with a tight lipped frown as Josh angrily smacks the arm of his chair, before folding over in defeat."N'aw, fuck that!" Marcus spits, before looking to the others for support. "Hey, listen up! We're not going to let Prime_Eight derail us! Let's be smart about this!"Sitara takes a deep breath to ground herself, while holding her hands out in front of her as if she were staving something off. "Alright, Prime_Eight sells Zero Day exploits to anyone with money.""Yeah, fuckin' governments, Blume, Nudle—" Wrench says, while making himself comfortable at Josh's desk and listing everything off on his fingers."Even terrorists." Horatio helpfully adds in, with a thoughtful scratch of his chin.Overwhelmed with all that's happened in the span of a few hours this morning, Marcus slumps down in a chair by Josh's work desk, with his arms resting against the tabletop. He takes a deep breath to calm himself, and tries to think of something helpful to add, before it finally hits him;— "..Sons of Ragnarok. Hell yeah, Sons of Ragnarok! They hire themselves out to Sons of Ragnarok, right? So we find out as much as we can about their people and their operations! We're not going to roll over, not for anybody. Yo, Josh man, where you at?!"Hunched over in his seat with his elbows resting against his knees, Josh looks up at Marcus from beneath the bridge of his brow bone, before rising to his feet. With an apprehensive squeeze of his fists, he takes a deep breath, resolutely nods, and starts making his way over to his desk. "Now it's war. Move!"Without needing to be told twice, Wrench launches himself out of Josh's seat, so DedSec's very own digital War Chief can take his place on the frontlines. Josh immediately starts working at trying to manually break the lock, tapping away at his keyboard with a fierce look of determination on his face. The well-defined muscles in his jaw flex beneath the surface of his skin as he leans in, as if he were a hunter locking onto it's target from a distance."Let's cornhole these motherfuckers." He sneers.While you don't understand the joke, the others seem to get it, judging by the way they all grin and nod their heads in agreement. Wrench gives Marcus a strong pat on the shoulder, silently thanking the man for his motivational speech while strutting by, with a sledgehammer lugged over his shoulder. Sitara charges over to her own little corner of the hackerspace, mischievously smiling from ear to ear— and now, you can understand why Horatio sees her as more of a "pirate captain". Whoever this "Lenni" is, she's in for one hell of a rude awakening."I'll put a message out on the back channels." Sitara announces, while storming off. "These guys are bound to have some enemies that'll give us some intel.""Hey, leather-and-lace." Marcus calls out to you, before coaxing you over with a curl of his fingers. "You're coming with me."You blink at him. "I am?"Marcus grins at you, before shrugging his shoulders. "Hey, you are looking like prime fuck-around-and-find-out material, and I want to play with that for a little bit. Now, are you down, or what?"[[September, 25th, 2016]]
[::-Sunday— 12:08 P.M.-::]"-This is the place." Marcus mumbles, from your passenger seat.With only a slight nod of acknowledgement, you quietly pull your SUV into the alleyway beside Lucky Pierre's Bar, and put your car in 'park' before switching off the engine. Then you take the keys and stuff them in your pocket, before releasing a deep breath you hadn't realized you'd been holding onto. Marcus attempts to comfort you by reaching over and patting your shoulder, as you repeatedly run your hands over the smooth surface of the drivers wheel."I should warn you, Marcus, I have severe anger issues." You croak, voice cracking from disuse since you've practically been silent for the entire car ride, just stewing in your own anger. "If Lenni tries somethin' stupid or starts talking shit, I can't promise that I won't react. I might even get violent.""Alright, so I'll bring some popcorn for the show." Marcus lifts his eyebrows and purses his lips, before frowning when you look away with a sigh. "Hey, relax. You make it sound like you'll fight a grown man, if they try you."You look over, and silently stare at Marcus for a passing heartbeat. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. If you ever get the chance to ask Samantha about it, ask her, she'll tell you some pretty wild stories about me.""Wait, really?" Marcus asks you, eyes bulging in their sockets as he twists around in his seat to look at you. "Tell me one.""Really? I mean, fuck it, we've got time. Alright, so, years ago.." You tell him with an exaggerated roll of your neck for emphasis. "..Sam grew up in a rough household. One time over dinner, one of her brothers was actually stupid enough to slap her in front of me. I ended up spending that night in juvie, while Samantha's parents ended up having to take their crying quarterback to the hospital. Cops couldn't stop laughing while they were wheeling me away, because they'd never seen an 18 year old get knocked out by a flying 14 year old girl before.""HAH! Sounds like that asshole deserved it, to me!" Marcus huffs, before leaning up in his seat in order to get you to look back at him. "Look, we've got this. Not only do I want you to react if Lenni tries something, I'm counting on it. She hacked into Kiki, fuck, she made Josh almost cry! Get mad, man!"You quietly huff, and nod your head. "..Alright, let's fucking do this."After climbing out of the car and locking the doors, you and Marcus make your way around the side of the building, walking shoulder-to-shoulder and glaring at anyone stupid enough to mean-mug the either of you. But as nasty and mean-spirited as people are outside of the bar, the atmosphere on the inside is an entirely different vibe altogether. Honestly, with the music, the nice selection of drinks, and all of the decorations, this place wouldn't be a bad gig to mix music at, if it weren't infested with Lenni's filth.Speaking of the sorry waste of space...Lenni can be spotted in the very back of the bar, reclined back in a chair with her eyes shut. Leaning over her is a tattoo artist, tracing over the surface of Lenni's skin with a tattoo machine. You and Marcus share a single glance, and somehow manage to have an entire conversation with each other within that time-frame, all without saying a single word. It's very clear and very plain to see that based on your reaction, you're not exactly all that impressed with the short, stocky woman's choices."Getting tattooed in the back of a bar?" You mouth to Marcus, who manages to understand everything you're saying despite the loud ass music blaring through the bar's speakers."I know! Shit is disgusting!" He mouths back to you.With a grimace, you jerk your chin to let Marcus know that you're ready, before lifting a hand up to brace it against the crown of your cowboy hat. Marcus shoulders his way through the tightly packed crowd, making sure to look back every so often and ensure that you didn't fall behind. Admittedly, most of the bar's patrons are a little hesitant to move— after all, you don't exactly get to see a person with a style quite like yours every day. No, most folk would rather just stop and stare, it seems.By the time you and Marcus make it to Lenni, her tattoo artist has just about finished with the tattoo."Yeah, bad ass! Looks good." Lenni compliments the artist's handiwork, while taking her sweet time admiring her own reflection."Ready for the chip, then?" The artist says, sounding a bit too eager to get Lenni out of her chair. Judging by the little bits of desperation in her tone, you'd have to guess that little miss Lenora has been a downright awful client."Ah, hold on. I'm savoring." Lenni purrs while yanking the artist's arm back over, just to look at her new tattoo a little longer before finally noticing you and Marcus just standing off to the side. "Oh, look at these bag of dicks. So, how many lapdogs you got scrambling behind the scenes to crack my uncrackable lock?"Marcus looks over at you, and quietly purses his lips before he says a single thing. Unamused, you merely roll your eyes, and scoff indignantly before looking away. In return, Marcus is forced to swallow back a laugh, before attempting to kiss Lenni's ass and convince her to hand over the key. "-Credit where credits due. Now, do you want me to ask nicely? Because you could just give me the key and we'll be on our way."She immediately purses her lips and sputters at Marcus's polite suggestion, as if he'd just cracked a joke. You note that she's never once looked over at you. "-Pfft, wh-ha-ha-at?! It's ransomware, motherfucker."Marcus tilts his head, and folds his hands together in his lap. "Which means you want, what?""Ohh, just make one of those idiotic vids of yours." Lenni chuckles, sounding way too confident for your own liking. Meanwhile, the artist injects something into Lenni's arm— the one with the disgusting, bulgy outline of a bionic implant beneath the skin. Probably some sort of pain relief, you'd imagine."Wow, I didn't know you were a follower!" Marcus mockingly replies, laying it on so thick that you have to dip your head and hide behind the brim of your hat just to stop yourself from smiling at him."Oh, you want the precious proles to adore you?" Lenora mocks right back, with a irritating scrunch of her nose. "Not on my fucking watch."The tattoo artist places a hand atop Lenni's bionic implant, before attempting to use it's sensor to scan a payment chip. However, the skin-to-skin contact causes the implant to malfunction, and electrocute Lenora in the process. She angrily retaliates with violence, and furiously slaps the tattoo artist across the face. You and Marcus watch, slack-jawed, as the tattoo artist drops the chip and recoils with an angry curse.You look over at Marcus and relax the muscles in your face, before slowly lifting your eyebrows and tucking your tongue into your cheek.He raises a hand, as if to stave you off— not yet, he's saying."I want—" Lenni begins to announce with a stupidly smug grin, before slowly sitting up in her chair and twisting around to look at Marcus. "—a public broadcast that says DedSec isn't worth two seconds, nevermind fifteen minutes, of the public's fucking time. Spice it up. Add some tears.""Is that all?" Marcus blinks at her, as if he were bored."Sure, for now." She purrs through grinning lips as she stands, with her tongue protruding between her teeth as if she were some sort of forked serpent. Then after shuffling over to the artist's table, she retrieves her phone and tucks it into her pocket, before spinning around to look back at Marcus with a conniving smile and leaning into his personal space. "But if you don't do it, I'll start naming names. That's right. Names. Identities! A veritable who's who, bitch!" Marcus's upper lip twitches. "Damn, looks like you're not leaving us much choice.""Ah-hah! Go ahead, get good. Until then, why don't you just run along and make the video I want?" Lenni chuckles, before finally looking over at you. Upon seeing you standing there, towering over her with your hands casually tucked into your pockets, she arches an eyebrow before openly looking you up-and-down. "Who are you supposed to be, the bitch brigade? Run along home, little girl, before I wreck your shit too. Hahah!"You start to smile, and then tuck your tongue into your cheek with a breathless laugh. "Ah, hah, I'm one bottle of sriracha you don't want to pop open, honey, trust me."Lenni giggles before glancing over at Marcus, and then back over at you. "Oh, yeah? What are you going to do, honey?"When your eyebrow twitches, Marcus takes a whole two steps back, giving you all the room you need to reach over and swipe someone's drink off the bar. Then, in one smooth motion, you pivot around on your heels and splash the booze in Lenni's face. The alcohol mixed into the colorful liquid burns her freshly tattooed flesh, causing her to let out an angry, guttural growl of pain. Lenni reaches for her phone, as if she were about to do something drastic, but then reconsiders herself, and tucks the phone away."Argh! You- You know what?" She begins with a soft snarl that slowly devolves into quiet laughter, before twisting her head around to look at you. "I'm not even worried. I'm not even going to react. I've still got your fuckin' servers by the balls! I've got nothing to worry about! Hah! See ya later, you fuckin' losers!"With matching looks of disgust, you and Marcus watch Lenni storm out of the bar, all while mumbling under her breath about her skin feeling like it's still burning. Marcus looks over at you and purses his lips, but before he can say anything, you turn away with a scoff and start digging through your pockets in search of your wallet, before approaching the frowning, downtrodden looking tattoo-artist."Sugar, I'm going to give you a little bit of advice, alright?" You mutter to the poor, confused looking woman, before letting out another frustrated scoff and ripping your wallet out of your pocket, and sifting through the folds. "Find a better gig, preferably one that doesn't involve with tattooing asshole clients in the back of a bar!"The tattoo artist blinks up at you in confusion, and watches with a soft frown as you slam a $100 dollar bill onto her table."-and while you're at it, find better clients that don't treat you like shit." You finish softly, speaking with a little less 'bite' than before.[[September, 26th, 2016]]
[::-Monday— 2:08 A.M.-::]You've done so much running around San Francisco today, it's a wonder how there's any gas left in your tank.By the time midnight struck the clock, Marcus and Wrench were able to work out a plan between themselves— a plan that enabled them to successfully trick Lenora into providing an opening that allowed Marcus to scan the RFID chip in her arm implant. Through that, they were able to get a ping on the Prime_Eight bunker that Lenni has been using to hack into DedSec's shit. As their resident foot-soldier and ass-kicker, Marcus was sent in to retrieve the decryption key that would finally put an end to Lenni's reign of terror.It was nerve-wracking standing over Josh's shoulder, watching Marcus's pixelated form through the shitty ass cameras that Lenora installed inside of Prime_Eight's base. You'd love to say that you were "surprised" when Lenni informed Marcus that the bunker was rigged to explode, but after learning all that you have about Prime_Eight as a whole, you wouldn't have been surprised if there was a damn nuke waiting inside that bunker for Marcus.Thankfully, Marcus was able to defuse the bombs and retrieve the data key. With nothing left at the hackerspace in Marin county waiting for her, Lenni abandoned the Prime_Eight bunker, allowing DedSec to take it over in it's entirety. To celebrate, you, Marcus, Josh, Wrench, Sitara, and Horatio all drove out to the Prime_Eight bunker, and cleaned it up before sharing a couple of beers together, in order to really make the place feel like home. Once you finished cleaning up the new hackerspace out in Marin county, you and the others retired back to DedSec's OG hackerspace, where you'd spend the rest of the night goofing around. But like all good things must do, the night eventually came to an end. Marcus, Josh, Wrench, and Horatio have all retired for the night, and are long gone, while you and Sitara are the only ones left. For whatever reason, the two of you have chosen to linger behind for a little while longer, and just enjoy the peace and quiet in each other's companies."It's a little easier to breathe without all that testosterone clouding the air, mm?" Sitara says with a grin, before taking a sip of the beer in her hand. You quietly chuckle, with your lips pressed to the rim of your own beer bottle. "Mmm, mhm, a lot less screaming and yelling.""Yeah." She returns with a chuckle, before pushing herself to her feet with a soft grunt "Uff— I better get myself home, before I get too drunk to drive. Hey Trippy, are you going to be okay getting home on your own, or do I need to give you a ride?"With a smile and a gentle scrunch of the nose, you shake your head in decline. "No thanks, I'll be fine. It's a nice night out, so I think I'll walk around for a little bit;- before calling a taxi or something, I mean."Her eyes soften as she studiously inspects you for a passing heartbeat, before eventually deciding that you can handle yourself just fine on your own. "Alright. Just give me a call if you need anything, I'll drop everything I'm doing to come get you. Everything's already locked up, so all you have to do is make sure the door shuts behind you. Be safe, Trippy."Sitara leaves you sitting on the couch, all by your lonesome with nothing but the beer bottle in your hand to accompany you. With a heavy sigh, you recline back onto the couch and shut your eyes, listening to the sound of Sitara's sneakers scrape against the concrete steps as she ascends. Then, she types in the key code, before slipping through the door and disappearing into the night.With everything turned off the way it is, all of the computers, televisions, printers, etc, there's nothing for you to listen to that might help distract you from your thoughts. There's no keyboard clicking because there's nobody around to do it, and there's no electrical hums because there is no power to do so. Normally, you'd find the silence peaceful, but after the stressful day you've had, it's bothering you.Without anything else to do, you struggle to your feet, gather your things, and get ready to leave the hackerspace. When you make it to the steps, you give the place one final look-over, before climbing the stairs, typing in the key code, and walking through the door. You can hear the door's lock re-engage once the door shuts behind your back as you take the time to pat your pockets down, before confidently exiting the shop with your head held high. Your SUV sits in the game store's parking lot, where it'll be left until tomorrow morning, when you'll be sober enough to call a taxi to take you to it.San Francisco is such a colorful city; even when it's late at night, the streets stay so well illuminated that most folk actually feel safe enough to walk around. You can walk around for hours, just taking in the sights and sounds of the city— life in the city is so much louder than life out in the country, but it's still charming in it's own little way. In the country, nature provides you with it's very own lullaby to lull you to sleep. Frogs, crickets, and birds.. but here in the city, you get all of that, and more.The sound of cars quietly rolling down the street or a chatty couple strutting along the sidewalk has it's own kind of charm. Both act as a reminder that there's always somebody within shouting distance, whereas out in the country, you run the risk of having to wait for hours for someone to show up and help;— and that's if there's even anyone around to help in the first place. Quite the scary thought, isn't it? That's part of the reason you moved away. The country, although beautiful, is terribly isolating, which can be devastating if you're not careful or in the right company.Now that is why you left the countryside, and moved to the city.It wasn't the isolation of the countryside the scared you away, it was the people you shared it with. Your father, with as many good intentions as he had, had a terrible way of going about and getting things done. In order to ensure that you, his only daughter, grew up to be a sensible individual, he enforced a lot of strict, and often painfully ridiculous rules and expectations onto you. Your doormat of a mother allowed him to do as he pleased, no matter how out of line it was, only because she was desperate for his approval.Your five older half-brothers, however, were not given the same treatment as you were. While your father always seemed to go the extra mile for them, you often had to beg to get any semblance of the same amount of affection from him. Thankfully, your siblings caught on pretty quick that dear ol' daddy was a dick, and while they could still be assholes in their own right, they did their best to teach you all of the things in life that actually mattered. While your father insisted that you go to school and earn the highest scores in your class, your brothers did everything they could to remind you to actually enjoy the world around you sometimes.
They also started getting annoyed whenever dear ol' dad used the term "half-" when referencing you as their sibling.
At some point, you came to a point in your life where you realized that you would have to choose between pleasing your family or pleasing yourself. Ultimately, living a happy life built by your own hands, however that might look in the future, sounded more appealing than the future you saw if you had decided to sacrifice what you wanted in order to make your father happy. Although he ended up disowning you once you'd announced your intentions to move away and live out your dreams, he ended up losing more than just his daughter, because all of your brothers decided to go with you.Sometimes, you wonder where your parents are. Sometimes, you think that you're probably better off not knowing.By the time you've broken out of your trance, you realize that you've wandered a little farther than you intended. Somehow, you seem to have ended up near Lucky Pierre's bar, which appears to still be open to the public for whatever reason. This wouldn't be so bad if fucking Lenni weren't standing outside, sucking on the end of a vape like it's an inhaler. It's not the vaping habit that bothers you— it's just that her existence, in general, is annoying.Initially, you're hoping that you can manage to walk by without drawing attention to yourself. But as soon as Lenni clocks your cowboy hat, her face becomes skewered with rage and she immediately calls out to you. The fact that she calls you "little girl" instead addressing you by anything else, admittedly, a little bit of a relief, because it means she doesn't know your name— professionally, or otherwise. Although, that doesn't really help you in the long run, because now Lenora is making her way over to you, and she looks pissed."You! You fuckin' bitch, it's you!" Lenni snarls at you, while pointing an accusing finger in your direction. Her anger is so white-hot, she's not even the least bit intimidated by the way you slowly turn your body around to face her, with your thumbs tucked into your pockets. "You're the stupid little snot-nose that threw that fuckin' drink in my face! My face is still burning, you sonofabitch!"You arch an eyebrow and smile down at her. "Didn't I tell you that you don't want to mess with me? Yet here you are, dumping a canister of gasoline onto the fire. You're either deaf, or stupid. Maybe both.""You think I care about you and your little threats?" Lenni scoffs while slowly chasing after you, gradually running faster as you try to keep the peace by walking away. "MY FUCKIN' FACE HURTS!"Well, with an opening line like that..With an irritated huff, you pivot around on your heels while cranking your arm back as far as it'll go, all in one smooth motion. Then, you turn and violently swing at Lenni, using your full arm strength to sail your fist right into her nose. Upon coming into contact with your knucklebones, the cartilage in her nose snaps with a sickening, stomach-churning pop, followed by the crunchy shattering of bone. Blood spews out of her nostrils at a high velocity, spraying all over her clothes and spilling down her lips, before trickling down to the pavement. She screams.When you pull your bloodied fist back, Lenora hits the ground with a loud, agonized bellow of pain, and can do little else aside from trembling while cradling her bleeding nose in the palm of her hand. Meanwhile, you take off into the night, sprinting through the damp streets of San Francisco as fast as you can. There's no way Lenni will ever be able to catch you, not unless she can stumble her concussed ass over to a car, climb in, and then start driving after you. She can, however, tell the cops that some girl in a cowboy hat just rocked her shit.After diving for the cover of tiny, dirty alleyway between two buildings, you flatten yourself against the brick wall with a shuddery breath. Moments later, two police cars drive by, with their sirens blaring and their emergency lights flashing. Not wanting to get caught, you sink deeper into the shadows of the alley, just in case they happen to be here for Lenni. You feel safe in your little corner for now, but it's not like you can stay here all night, so you'll need to think of something to do.Okay, who can you possibly call right now that would pick up? There's Samantha, but she had a late shift tonight and is probably asleep already. Wrench, Horatio, and Marcus aren't really an option because they left hours ago, and Sitara sounds like a nice option, but she leaves pretty far from the hackerspace. By now, she's probably a quarter of the way home, you'd hate to make her turn around and drive all the way back just to bail your ass out.
Josh. He'll answer. Right?
Since your situated warrants a little more urgency than a simple text message, you choose to actually call Josh's phone, instead of just texting his number. The initial three rings cause your stomach to twist-up into knots, and by the time you hear the fourth ring, it's almost painful to breathe. But when you hear a distinct click, followed by a sleepy, confused murmur of "-hello?", you can't help but let out a gentle sigh of relief."Josh!" You quietly whisper-shout into the phone, before hesitantly peeking around the corner to check on the cops that are now talking to Lenni. "Josh, sweetheart, I'm in a bit of a pickle, and I need your help.""-a pickle?" He sleepily whines, sounding too tired and too out-of-it to decipher what you mean on his own."It means that I'm in trouble and I need help, baby!" You nervously whisper-shout into the phone, before quickly diving behind the cover of the brick wall when the cops start to move. "Look, I kinda-sorta-mighta socked Lenni in the face, and now it looks like somebody saw and called the cops, 'cause now they're swarming the area around Lucky Pierre's bar. I got away, but I made the stupid mistake of backing myself into a corner. I hate to ask, but can you come get me?"There's a sudden burst of noise from the other end of the line. It sounds like Josh just launched himself out of bed. "I know where you're at. I'll be there soon. Look for Wrench's van."Wrench's van? He must have given Josh a set of his own keys for emergencies. "Alright."Josh seems to hesitate, as if there's more he wants to say. "..Stay safe, babe."The line goes dead.[[September, 26th, 2016]]
[::-Monday— 3:00 A.M.-::]Twenty minutes after getting off the phone with Josh, you perk up after hearing the familiar growl of Wrench's van, snarling in the night. Stepping out from behind the large dumpster you'd been using for cover, you have just enough bravery to peer out into the street, and quietly wait for your chariot to appear. Moments later, a familiar-looking, beat-up white van slowly pulls up to the side of the street. When the passenger-side door swings open, the interior lights inside the van automatically switch on, allowing you to see Josh sitting in the driver's seat.He's not wearing his hat, or his hoodie. Just his shirt, and some jeans.Wordlessly, he glances over at the passenger seat, as if he were trying to tell you to get in. Needing no other invitation, you brace one hand against the crown of your hat, and make a mad dash for the safety of the van. Once you're inside, Josh uses the system of buttons on his side of the van to lock the door behind you, so that you can just collapse in the passenger seat while he makes the great escape. The interior lights automatically switch off, leaving the both of you in relative darkness, with only the streetlights and moonlight to guide you.Once he's driven a safe distance away, Josh glances over at you. "You're bleeding."You glance over at him, and then follow his line-of-sight down to your fist. "Oh, that's not mine, baby, that's Lenni's."Josh's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Oh."After digging through the glovebox, you find a crumpled, unused napkin and use it to clean off the dried blood clinging to your skin. But when it proves difficult to come off, Josh wordlessly passes you the water bottle he'd been sipping from during the drive to you. After using a little of the water to dampen the napkin, you return the bottle to Josh, and finally clean off your hand. Then, you stuff the dirty napkin into your coat pocket, to throw away later.Josh glances over at you, again. "Are you okay?"You look back at him with a confused frown, and nod your head. "Yeah, I'm fine. What's wrong, baby? You sound upset."Josh snaps his deep brown eyes back over to the unmoving traffic in front of him, while gently squeezing his fingers around the driver's wheel. "..When you mentioned Lenni, I panicked. After everything that happened today, with Kiki getting hacked and then bombs that Marcus had to disarm, I was worried that she might've done something drastic."You visibly deflate. You hadn't thought of that. "No, I'm alright. I was just doing a little late-night walking, and realized I wandered a little too close to Lucky Pierre's. Unfortunately, Lenni had been already smoking outside when she saw me, and then... started cussing at me, and chasing me down. I tried walking away, but she just wouldn't fuck off, so.. I punched her in the nose and then I ran. Laid her ass out on the pavement, with just one swing."Josh's big brown eyes briefly glance over at you, before looking back at the road when the traffic finally starts to clear up. "That's.."You look over at him. "What?""..-strangely attractive." He quietly croaks, while visibly blushing. "-ahem, uh... where did you want me to.. take you?"[[September, 26th, 2016]]
[::-Monday— 3:22 A.M.-::]Wrench's van is parked in the back of your apartment building's lot, where it quietly sits beneath the protective branches of a tree. It's a beautiful night outside, with twinkling stars that sparkle like diamonds, and tall trees that dance in the wake of a gentle sea-breeze. The streetlamps cast a warm, orangish glow that blankets everything, tinting the landscape with shades of gold and umber, and tinging the edges of shadows with slivers of blue and purple.You stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Josh, admiring the scenery from the comfort of your apartment building's porch. A light drizzle of rain trickles down from the sky, but there's not enough moisture in the air for it to really stick to anything. Trees sway in the wake of an especially harsh gust of wind, one that forces you and Josh to retreat further into the apartment building just to escape the cold.Well, so much for admiring the scenery.After shutting the door behind the both of you, Josh turns to blankly stare at you, as if the words "-what's next?" silently hung his lips. With a tired, exasperated sigh, you lazily wave and motion for him to follow you, before slowly leading him up the staircase to your apartment on the second floor. But instead of immediately rushing inside the minute you unlock the door, you let go of the door handle, and then turn back around to look at Josh with your house keys in hand."Hey, I don't know if anyone told you, but—" You begin to say with a soft smile, prompting Josh to blink at you with big, bulging eyes. "-You did fucking amazing, trying to fight off Lenni's bullshit today. I know Marcus was the one that got the actual key and everything, but.. props to you, sweetheart. You did great."Josh's eyes soften before flicking up-and-down the length of your face, as he forces out a raspy, breathless response; "-thanks."Normally, this would be the part where you'd thank Josh for driving you home, kiss him goodbye, and then go about your separate ways for the night. But for whatever reason, you just can't seem to will your body to move, and neither can he. Instead of moving in for a hug and a kiss, for whatever reason, the two of you can only seem to stare at each other, while thoughtfully chewing on your lips and apprehensively squeezing your fingers."I don't want to go." Josh quietly admits to you, while staring at you with big eyes as if he can hardly believe he actually said the words aloud.You shyly smile back at him, while coiling a lock of hair around your finger. "I don't want you to go, either."The tension between the both of you is at an all time high, right now. There's something carnal, something primal beneath your skin just trying to claw it's way to the surface, and it's driving you utterly mad. Over the course of the past few months, you and Josh have grown increasingly close and since joining DedSec, that bond has only grown stronger. But with the battle against Blume growing more and more dangerous with every passing day, you're constantly being reminded that everything you love could come crumbling down at any moment.Maybe this is one of those times;— the kind where your brothers would tell you to slow down, and enjoy the moment."Do you want to come inside?" You suggest, while trying to invite him in with a friendly jerk of the head. "I mean, tonight doesn't have to end just yet. We could hang out, try to beat Bullet 4, or just watch a movie, unless you have something else in mind?"He nervously licks his lips, while gently squeezing his fingers. "..Actually, yes. There's something I'd like to do before tonight's over."Well, now you're just curious. "-and what would that be?"He bashfully looks away, and nervously grins while rubbing the back of his back. "Um..."Slowly, your eyebrows go up as realization suddenly dawns on you. Oh.Josh can barely mutter out a soft-spoken inquiry of "-do you think we could, um?", before you're grabbing by the collar of his shirt and dragging into the darkness of your apartment. With a quiet laugh, he stumbles inside on unsteady legs, blindly following along while holding onto your arm. Once he manages to turn around, he squints into the darkness and begins to blindly feel around for you, before eventually finding you standing with your back to the front door."Gotcha." He says with a confident grin, before quickly closing the amount of unreasonable distance between yourselves.When your lips finally collide with his own, Josh dreamily sighs against your lips. What starts off as a chaste and innocent kiss quickly begins to spiral out of control, particularly when he feels your hands slip beneath his shirt and lightly ghost across the surface of his soft, bare stomach. Feeling a touch overwhelmed by the amount of heat radiating from your skin, he brings a hand up just to bury his fingers in your hair, as if that'll keep him grounded while frantically kissing you. Instead, he ends up running his fingers through it, knocking off your hat in the process.Since neither one of you are too keen on breaking contact, it's up to you to guide him to your bedroom. Carefully, cautiously, you cradle the back of his head with one hand, while blindly feeling around with the other as you make your way towards the hall. Along the way, Josh helps you peel off your jacket, before kicking off his shoes and narrowly avoiding tripping over your own. Somewhere in the chaos, you get spun around and pinned against the wall, but manage to recover, and are eventually able to guide Josh the rest of the way to your bedroom.When the back of his legs hit the edge of your mattress, you break contact with his lips, but only so that you can gently recline him back onto the messily made-up bed. He's given very little time to recover, if any at all, before you're climbing onto the bed and attempting to straddle his waist with a grin. Although he's not sure where exactly to put his hands, it's clear that he likes it when you're on top of him, evident by the lovestruck look on his face as he sinks into the mattress."M'hot." He complains while panting to catch his breath, and lightly pulling on his shirt for emphasis. "Can you help me?-"With your help, Josh quickly peels off his shirt and throws it to the ground, abandoning it for the time being. Initially, you were intending to make a little "show" out of taking off your own shirt, but as soon as you start to reach for the hem, Josh leans up in bed to help you take it off, just as you had done for him. The article of clothing is quickly taken off and discarded, while he falls back against the pillows with a quiet breath and a shudder of anticipation.While Josh isn't a body-builder or a workout junkie by any means, it turns out that the quiet engineer has a stronger build than you initially anticipated. His chest is hairless and smooth, and although his stomach is soft and still has a little bit of give to it, the abdominal muscles in his belly are fairly well-defined;— enough to leave behind the faint outline of a six pack, at the very least. His arms, however, are an entirely different story. The muscles in them are so well-defined, you'd think he spends his days lifting weights instead of working on computers.
Guess you need strong arms to rip apart and build drones.
When Josh settles back against the pillows, he quietly marvels at your body, admiring all of the little dips and curves in your silhouette before daring to reach over and run his hand down the length of your side. Humming appreciatively at the warmth of his touch, you lean into his hand with a soft purr, and stretch your arms high above your head to open your body up. Catching the hint, his dark eyes studiously glance back-and-forth between you and his fingers gliding down the sides of your curves, before he finally finds the courage needed to full-on feel you up.Biting his bottom lip, Josh subtly lifts his hips with a quiet whimper. "Mm, fuck."Your entire face lights up as you are gently lifted into the air, as a result of his attempts to find friction. "Oh!"Blushing profusely, Josh covers his mouth to conceal the moan that slips from his lips. "Mmm!"Grinning wickedly from ear to ear, you slowly lean over him, while gently trailing your fingers down the length of his chest. Josh watches with big brown eyes that glisten while following your fingers, as you walk them down to the waistband of his jeans. Once there, you grab his pants by the waistband and use it as a handle to steady yourself, before harshly grinding down onto his pelvis. Overwhelmed and overstimulated in the best way possible, Josh turns his head away just to try and bury his face into the pillow, before letting out a long, drawn-out whimper.Now painfully aroused, Josh starts to fumble with the button of his jeans, but struggles to focus on account of your gyrating hips grinding down onto the hard lump forming in his pants. At some point, you realize what he's trying to do, and gently move his hands out of the way as if you were going to do it for him. But instead, you simply bypass the button altogether, and shove your hand into his pants to feel him up. With only the thin fabric of his underwear preventing your hand from directly touching his cock, Josh squeezes his eyes shut and helplessly bucks his hips against your fingers."-Aah!" He cries out with an arch of his back, upon feeling his member strain against the fabric of his underwear.Before you can manage to take things any further with Josh, you're suddenly reminded that your bedroom door is wide open when you hear Sam start to shuffle around in her own bedroom. Immediately, your heart leaps up into your chest, as you and Josh scramble to cover yourselves up before she can get to the door. Initially, you're worried that you're not going to make it. But, by some grace of the universe, Samantha is unable to get her bedroom door to open right away, giving you and Josh just enough time to flop down against the mattress and hike up the covers.Josh buries his face into your cleavage, closes his eyes, and pretends to sleep, while you ruffle your hair to give it more of a "bedhead" appearance. By the time you've planted your head against the pillow, Samantha finally forces her door open with a rough shove of her shoulder, causing the door to slip and slam into the opposing wall. You are then "startled awake" and perk your head up with a soft grunt.Samantha yawns into the back of her hand, while waving apologetically at you. "Sorry 'bout that. Doorknob got stuck, again."Forcing a husky voice, you sleepily nod at her from afar, with your hair bobbing around and sitting entirely askew atop your head. "S'okay, I'll just go out and buy a new knob, tomorrow. I keep saying I'll get around to fixing it, but I know I need to."Samantha nods her head, before finally spotting her cousin in bed with you. After standing up on her toes to try and get a look at her cousin's sleeping form, she twists her lips into a tight-lipped, concerned frown and quietly points at him, before looking over at you with a sleepy squint. "Is he okay? What's he doing here?"You nod your head with a yawn, while rubbing your eye to come across convincingly. "Yeah, he's fine, just tired. DedSec got hacked by a black-hat hacker group today, so it's been a pretty shitty day for the both of us. I thought he'd feel safer if he slept here for the night."
Josh smiles against your skin.
"Oh, that makes sense." Samantha replies with another yawn and a sleepy wave. "M'gonna go pee, and then go back to bed. Goodnight.""Goodnight." You return with a sleepy wave of your own, before flopping back down onto the mattress.Once Samantha has departed, Josh opens his eyes and looks up at you, before pursing his lips together to form a sheepish grin. You quietly snicker under your breath, while leaning towards him just to be able rest your forehead against his. Once the both of you have managed to stop giggling, Josh wraps his arms around your waist, and pulls you close to his chest with a soft sigh of contentment."It's 4 AM. We should probably get some sleep." He murmurs, while staring up at your clock."Probably." You respond, this time with a genuine yawn. "Wake me up if you need anything, okay? Okay. Goodnight, baby."Josh smiles softly, before shutting his eyes. "-Goodnight."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Arson is almost as good as Prozac.”―Joe Hill, The Fireman[[September, 30th, 2016]] [::-Friday— 6:33 P.M.-::]There's something weird going on, and you're determined to figure out whatever the hell it is.When you texted Josh and the others that you had to work at an event tonight, you already knew that they weren't going to message you very much. They typically prefer to leave-you-be whenever you're working, whether it's at a club or an event, for a myriad of different reasons, the biggest one of all being the dire consequences that would follow if your connection to DedSec were ever revealed.As someone who makes their living by working in the entertainment industry, you could be very well out-of-a-job if the people hiring you figure out that you've been helping DedSec behind their backs. By acting as their doorwoman and helping them get into places that they're not supposed to be, you help DedSec accomplish it's goals and even get paid in the process, but you also run the risk of exposure. If you were to text any of them regarding anything about DedSec, all it would take is one nosy, self-entitled host to ruin everything.That being said, they've never just straight up ignored all of your texts and phone calls before. As a matter of fact, they'll typically start blowing up your phone in the group-chat the minute you notify everyone that you're off work. But when you checked your phone, it doesn't look like anyone has responded to your texts, much less actually read them. It's unusual for them, especially since they're such a chatty bunch.That's why you're here, shouldering your way through the small crowd in Gary's Game's & Glory with a hand on your hat. Sure, you're getting a few odd stares because it's fairly obvious that there isn't a shirt beneath the low-rise collar of your zipped-up leather jacket, but it's a little hard to care about a few long stares when there are more important things to worry about— like getting to the hackerspace as quickly as possible.You're just about to make your way over to the hackerspace door, until you get stopped by a random gentlemen."Excuse me, hi, my name is Cody." The conventionally handsome fellow says, while running his tan fingers through messy, spiky bleach-blonde hair. "I hope I'm not coming across too forward, but I've seen you come into this store, like, almost every single day for the past two weeks, and I just want to say that I think you're really pretty."Your lips reflexively pull back into an apprehensive smile. "Uh, thanks.""So, uh.." Cody drawls, while slowly looking you up-and-down. "Have you been in California long? I haven't seen you around town, before."You quietly arch an eyebrow, as your smile starts to slip. Not to be rude to blue-eyes here, but he's kind of standing in-between you and the door to the hackerspace. You uncomfortably glance around, before harshly clearing your throat. "Uh, yeah, I don't know what to tell you, man. I've been living in San Francisco for like.. four years. Look, I don't mean to be rude, but like— I kind of got somewhere to be, so if you don't mind moving out of the way, I need to get by.""Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down!" The stranger says with a lighthearted laugh, before reaching a gentle hand over to grab your arm and stop you from leaving. "What's the rush? We're just making light conversation, beautiful, you don't need to run off and play hard to g-""—If you don't take your hand off my arm right now, I will break your wrist in 3 different places." You quietly whisper under your breath, before slowly panning your eyes over to meet his big, bulging blue ones. Then, in one smooth motion, you glance down at his hand and bring your eyes back up when he doesn't immediately remove the offending appendage. "Hand. Off."With a quick dart of his tongue, Cody lets out a nervous laugh before trying to talk you down from your threat. "Oh, c'mon, I mean no harm. I just—"Just as the door to the DedSec hackerspace slides open, you reach your other arm around to grab Cody's wrist. Sitara walks out and looks over, just in time to witness as you violently twist Cody's arm around and break it in three. When the man lets out a loud, shrill scream of agony, Sitara's only response is to quietly chuckles under her breath. With a cocky strut, she starts to make her way over to you with a smug sort of smile, watching as you roughly manhandle Cody and shove him to the ground."Hey, Cody." Sitara casually greets the blonde fellow, before reaching down to lightly pat him on the head. "Looks like you met Josh's new girlfriend! Isn't she pretty?"Cody lets out a nervous whimper. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Great, nice to meet you, fuckin' let me go! Ow, fuck!"As soon as you let go of Cody's wrist, he clambers to his feet and runs out of the store, while shouting at the top of his lungs that the two of you are "-fucking crazy". You and Sitara can only laugh, while leaning onto each other's shoulders for support as you watch the uncomfortably touchy stranger flee for the safety of the streets. Then, after wiping the tears from your eyes, you turn to look at each other."Who in the hell was that?" You ask her, while looking over with a scoff of disbelief."-That would be Cody McClellan." She sighs, before looking over at you with an amused grin. "He's a wanna be surfer star, with a penchant for the My Girlfriend is an Alien sci-fi romance comics that are sometimes sold here. He's known for harassing any girl that walks into the store if he happens to be within sniffing distance, but he's never outright grabbed a girl before. I bet he won't be doing that again, though. Hah!"With a humorless huff, you nod your head, before harshly clearing your throat as you twist your body around to face Sitara's. "Yeah, probably not.. uh, by the way;— I don't mean for this to sound confrontational or anything, but did I do something to piss you and the others off? I texted you guys in the group chat, and it was almost like I got straight up ignored. You guys didn't answer my phone calls or any of my texts, so I drove over here just to touch base with you and the others. So, like, what's going on? Did I do something?"Sitara's face suddenly drops. "What? Oh shit, I didn't even think to— Oh, fuck.. no, Trippy, we weren't purposefully ignoring you. In fact, we haven't been really using our phones at all today. Something-.. really bad happened to Horatio, and we've been tied up trying to fix it. Walk with me, I'll tell you everything once we're in."Well, that's got your attention. You're not as close to Horatio as you are with the others, but you're certain that's only because of conflicting work schedules with his employment at Nudle. While he works during the day, you're either at home to catch-up on sleep for your own shift at work, or you're at the hackerspace getting lessons from Josh. Then when Horatio finally does get off work, he typically shows up at the hackerspace just when you're getting ready to leave for work. You're sure that you'd get along with him— according to Sitara, Horatio is a fan of your music.With one hand resting against the crown of your slick, black cowboy hat, you follow Sitara through the door and down into the hackerspace. On your way in, she catches you up on everything that's happened;— after noticing that Horatio failed to check in for a few days, Sitara sent Marcus out into the field to find him. Marcus found eventually found him, lying in a pool of his own blood and covered in stab wounds. Thankfully, he got Horatio to a hospital before he could bleed out. He's been taken care of for the time being, but the people who attacked him are still out running around.
Some gang of assholes, who call themselves "The Tezcas".
Finally, you make it downstairs, where you find Ray and Wrench, crowding around Josh and his computer screen. Sitara sticks two fingers in her mouth and purses her lips around them, before whistling loudly to get the boys' attention. All three men swivel their heads around to look in your direction, but it's Josh himself who scrambles to his feet and comes flying over to you the very minute that he sees you."I need a hug. C'mere." He murmurs breathlessly, before sweeping his arms around your waist and pulling you close to his chest.You let out a quiet grunt as you are squeezed in his strong arms. "Oof! Hey sweetheart, I'm going to skip the part where I ask stupid questions and just get right to the bit where I assume it's been a bad day. I heard about what happened. What can I do to help? You need me to just hold you?"He quietly nods his head, before burying his face in your neck. "I wanted to text you, but I haven't been able to because I've been busy."Sitara steps into view with a soft, rueful smile. "Marcus found out through Horatio that the Tezcas were trying to get information about DedSec, and decided to go teach them a lesson. We've all been hanging around Josh's computer since, just watching everything unfold through cameras."Josh's fingers gently flex against the smooth leather material of your jacket. "It doesn't feel like we're doing enough."Your eyes soften, as you reach around to gently run your fingers down the length of his spine. "Well, you said it was the Tezcas you guys are after, right? I think I can help you out. See, I tried hiring myself out to this Soda-Company CEO for an event, once. The pay was decent, so I applied and got hired. Unfortunately, he wanted me to sign an NDA after-the-fact, one that stated I couldn't talk about anything that I might've overheard at the party. Fortunately, I don't give a fuck; he's got a warehouse that he rents out to the Tezcas, down by shipyard. They use it to hide their dope. I think we should blow it all up."Wrench dramatically gasps, before clasping his hands together and melting with a dreamy sigh. "She's speaking my language!!"Sitara glances at Ray, and then noisily cracks her knuckles. "Alright. I'll start looking for an address. Now, who is actually going to go out and blow up this warehouse?"Wrench steps forward, and stand at attention before saluting at Sitara. "Ooh, ooh, pick me! Pick me, pick meeee! Blowing shit up is my specialty!"With a scoff, you immediately swivel your head around before scrunching your nose at Wrench, while looking him up-and-down as if you were offended. "Hey, what about me!? It's my idea, shouldn't I go too!?"Wrench throws up his hands in surrender, while zeros-mismatched-in-size flash across the screen of his visor. "Hey, I only offered to do it because I like playing with fire! I am totally okay with being a tag-team!!"Ray scrunches his nose and pinches his eyebrows together. "Mmm.. it's going to be dangerous, though. Are you sure you don't want to stick behind with us, chica? It'd probably be safer."The dagger-eyes that you point in Ray's direction are enough to make him shut up, and swallow thickly. Josh uses the awkward silence to turn around and face the others, while keeping an arm wrapped around your waist and hugging you close to his hip. While gently rubbing your side, he attempts to stand up for you to Ray, with a slight furrow in his brow. "I've seen her ctOS records. She can handle herself."Ray lifts his hands in surrender. "I meant no harm, kid, I'm sorry."Sitara lifts her brows with a purse of her lips, before smiling and nodding in agreement. "I've got to say, I'm inclined to agree with Josh on this one. I just watched her break McClellan's wrist in three different places upstairs, after the douchebag tried to sweet-talk her into flirting with him. I can only imagine the kinds of things she could do with an actual weapon in her hands."Josh swivels his eyes over to you. "-Did you, really?"You glance over, before curling your lips into a subtle smile and winking at him. "Maybe."While Josh visibly melts a little, Wrench nods his head approvingly and claps his hands together. "Alright, my misfit sister from another twisted mister! Whose car are we taking?"[[September, 30th, 2016]] [::-Friday— 6:43 P.M.-::]Once again, you find yourself sitting in the passenger seat of Wrench's beat-up white van, only this time, you're in the company of the vehicle's actual owner. It's beautiful, outside. Wrench sits in the driver seat, drumming his fingers against the wheel while rhythmically bobbing his head to the music playing on the radio. For the past ten minutes, you've been waiting for all of the day-to-day shipyard workers to filter out of the area, so that the two of you can make your way into the Tezcas warehouse and start bashing in the ugly faces of some unfortunate gangster pumpkin-heads."Ugh, goddamn, you'd think these people would be rushing to go home on a Friday!" Wrench complains with a dramatic groan, while flopping back in his seat. "I mean, I know I would be driving home like a maniac!"Your mouth curls into a smile against the lip of your bottle of root-beer. "Easy there, spikey, that's probably because you are a maniac. Mmm- that's a good fuckin' root beer. Let me tell you somethin', sweetheart, you've got a quickfire temper that's hotter than the rage of an alligator snapping turtle. Not judging, just making an observation. Still, might be good to keep a cap on it for now, yeah?"Wrench looks over at you, with question marks flashing across the screen of his visor. "Wait, what's that supposed to mean? And what the fuck is a snapping turtle, and why the hell is the word 'alligator' in front of it?"You look back at him with a smile, before reaching up to adjust the angle of your hat. "It means, in the words of Marcus Holloway, you've got 'fuck-around-and-find-out' energy. Which, normally, I can appreciate, but we still need to keep the innocents in mind. We wouldn't want to sully DedSec's name by getting them hurt, would we?""Nyehh, I hate that you're making sense!" He sassily remarks, before looking back at the warehouse with a long, drawn out sigh. "I dunno, I guess I'm just so fuckin' pissed off about what happened to Horatio that it's making me get impatient. Urgh, I just— I just want to start smashing stuff!"With a gentle bob of your head, you take one last swig of your root beer, before setting it down in the cupholder and twisting your neck around to look at Wrench. "Relax, I'm sure we'll get the signal from Sitara and Josh to get moving very soon."
—Krzzt! Looks like Wrench's two-way radio just engaged.
"Okay, it looks like the last shipyard employee has clocked out and left for the night. You should be able to start moving in, now." comes the cool, calm voice of Sitara. "According to the blueprints of the warehouse building that I'm looking at, there's a side door with a keypad on the right-side of the building. Try to get in through there. Josh? Take it away.""The coding in their ctOS security system is painfully infantile." He informs the both of you. "You should be able to hack your way in fairly easily. Once you're inside, you'll need to start planting explosives everywhere that you can. Key points would be any generators, electrical boxes, things like that. Make sure to cover their 'shipments' in explosives, too. We don't want them to be able to salvage anything.""The Tezcas aren't known to leave behind witnesses. It's going to get pretty violent once you get in, so you'll need to watch each other's backs at all times." Sitara says while trying to warn you both of the potential danger, completely unaware of the way you and Wrench just excitedly looked at each other with the same energy as two class-clown students who were just told they could pick their own partner for the next project."We'll be watching the both of you through the warehouse's security cameras, in case things get out of control." Josh follows up."Mhm, extra close too, so make sure to put on a little show for us back at home." Sitara playfully purrs, followed by an irritated hum from Josh. Somebody doesn't want to share.Once the two-way radio disengages with one last buzz of "-good luck" from Josh and Sitara, Wrench looks over at you and leans up in his seat, before throwing his hands into the air. "FINALLY! So how do you want to do this? Sledgehammers? Sledgehammers on fire, wrapped in chains and barbed wire?""I've actually got a metal baseball bat that I'm pretty partial to." You reply with a smile, before sitting up in your seat. "Grabbed it out of my car before we left. I've got it, right here beside me."With a resolute nod of the head, Wrench puts his beat-up van in park, shuts off the engine, and then tucks the keys into his pocket. After that, he reaches down to the open space between his knees to retrieve a sledgehammer, one you've come to learn has been lovingly named Lady Smash. Then he climbs out of the car, prompting you to grab your own weapon-of-choice and lug it over your shoulder before rushing to join him.As soon as you walk around the front bumper of Wrench's van, he swings his head around to look over at you, eyes attracted to the glare reflecting off of the polished surface of your metal bat. The setting sun casts a golden glow over you and the hood of his van, illuminating everything in hues of gold, red, and orange. A warm gust of wind blows by, forcing you to brace a hand against the crown of your cowboy hat just to keep it from blowing away. He ends up quietly chuckling at the word "kindness" etched into the polished surface of your metal bat.Wrench wordlessly twists his neck back around in order to take in the scenery, one last time. Due to the changing of the seasons, it's starting to get darker earlier on in the day, but that doesn't seem to have stopped the setting sun's reflection from dancing across the surface of the beautiful, briny, blue Pacific Ocean. The skyline's shades of red, oranges and golds are steadily being replaced by beautiful hues of violets and blues, while palm trees just wave in the wake of another gust of wind."Ready to do this?" He asks you, while dropping the weight of the sledgehammer's head into the open palm of his hand.With a resolute nod of your head, you and Wrench set off for the warehouse. Along the way down to the warehouse's parking lot, Wrench gives you something— your very own DedSec mouth-mask, decorated with their signature skulls. You quickly pull the mask over your head and slide it on, easily slipping it over your mouth and nose. Once the fabric is covering your face from the nose down, you glance over at Wrench and appreciatively tip your hat at the fellow. When you make it down to the lot, you're about to comment on how windy the weather is until you notice something in your peripherals."Duck." You quietly murmur to Wrench.Wrench looks over at you, with zeros of differing sizes flashing across his visor. "Huh?"With a scoff, you click your tongue against your teeth and casually adjust your hat, before reaching over to delicately grab Wrench by the fuckin' face. Then you shove him to the ground, before grabbing your metal baseball bat by the handle and giving it a hard swing, sailing it right across the face of some idiot trying to sneak up on the both of you. Wrench voluntarily hits the deck and stays down, before rolling away just to be able to watch you beat the ever-living snot out of his near-attacker.Moments later, you pop back up and turn around to face him, before shaking off the blood clinging to your baseball bat. "You good? Sorry, didn't mean to push you so hard."The pixelated eyes on Wrench's visor blink as he stumbles to his feet. "I'm fine, I'm fine! I just.. heh, I wasn't expecting to get thrown around like that! What did you do for a living, before coming to San Francisco? Tame wild horses? Wrangle pissed-off bulls?!""All I can say is that the hat I wear isn't just for show." You quietly chuckle."I bet your favorite position is cowgirl." Wrench teases you with a digitalized wink, before he gigglesnorts with a wince after you punch his arm in protest.Finally, the two of you make it to the warehouse, and attempt to hack your way in through the locked side-door's keypad. Wrench watches your back as you attempt to hack it, guarding you with Lady Smash lugged over his shoulder— thankfully, he doesn't need to wait very long because you're very easily able to bypass any security measures within the keypad's code. As it turns out, Josh wasn't getting when he said their coding is painfully infantile. Even you thought it was a cakewalk.As soon as he hears the door unlock, Wrench spins around to look, and then immediately makes a dramatic show of motioning for you to walk in first. With an appreciate tilt of your hat, you make your way in through the door, before crouching down low to the ground and surveying the area. Wrench follows suit and walks up beside you on his knees, while slanted dashes appear on his visor."This is going to be sooo much fun. Ohhh, I need this so bad, I've been pent up all fuckin' week." Wrench giggles, while curling his fingers around the handle of his sledgehammer.Your lips pull back into a grin, as you briefly glance over. "Alright, don't nut on me, now."The loud laughter that spills from Wrench's masked lips echoes within the warehouse, reverberating against the walls enough to alert a few of the Tezcas to your presence. Not wanting to get caught this early on, the both of you try to duck down behind some wooden pallets for cover. Meanwhile, a few of the Tezca gang members decide to lead their posts and go looking around. When a few of them start pointing in this direction, you and Wrench share one last glance before doubling down into your hiding spots.At some point, the Tezcas stop arguing and finally begin to make their way over, solely because one of them is fed-up with the other three and is insisting that there's nothing behind '-those pallets over there'. But when they get close, you and Wrench unexpectedly pop out of your hiding places and start violently swinging, like some sort of twisted jack-in-the-box.Any gang member unfortunate enough to step within range are immediately dealt with. Wrench gives his sledgehammer a hard swing, violently driving it into the temples of Tezca gang member and knocking them to the ground, before turning around to do the same thing to another. Meanwhile, you're having the time of your life, hooting and hollering while kicking ass and taking names."Yeeeeeehaw!" Wrench excitedly shouts while sailing Lady Smash across the face of another gangbanger. "♫♪ Swing your partner 'round and 'round, end of the night, it's going down! ♫♪"The temptation is too strong. You can't just not finish the lyric. It's Pitbull and Kesha, for Christ sake. "♫♪ One more shot, another round, end of the night, it's going down! ♫♪"Grunting with effort, Wrench brings down his hammer onto the unsuspecting skull of another gang member, knocking them out cold just in time to turn his attention onto another. "Aaah, this is therapeutic for my soul! You know, I haven't had this much fun since I smashed up my ex-husband's car! Glad we could bond like this!"The casualness of his not-so-casual remark gets you to abruptly choke on your tongue, before narrowly ducking out of the way of a gangster's fist. "-Didn't end pleasantly between the two of you, I'm assuming?!"Wrench's shoulders shake with deep, rumbly laughter, while cracking back his hammer to give it another swing. "Don't worry, the fucker— yyyaaaargh! Aah, the fucker deserved it. He- hrn! He'd been smashing an ex-boyfriend of his while I was at work, so I smashed his fuckin' favorite car when I found them in my bed. Seemed fair to me! RAAAAAAH!"You watch, with wide bulging eyes, as Wrench darts by to attack another gang member, with his hammer in the air. "..'Kay."With Wrench making quick work of the Tezca gang members, you start planting the explosives. Since you're only able to carry so many at one given time, you've got to be prudent about your placement of the explosive charges. So you've decided to spread them out, in order to cover the most ground. Of course, along the way you have to stop every so often to fight, all while trying to navigate your way through aisles and aisles of towering cocaine bricks. After awhile though, you get lost, and decide to ask for a little bit of help.You lightly tap the earpiece stuffed in your ear. "Josh? I'm walking in circles, sweetheart, where exactly do I need to go?"Before he speaks, Josh's calm voice is preceded by a staticky buzz. "Hold on, I'm trying to find you. I lost sight of you, just a moment ago.""I'll make things easier for you by climbing up onto the towers!" You cheerfully reply before using the dead body of a Tezca as a stepping stool, in order to climb up onto the towers of packaged cocaine. Once there, you quickly pan your head around the room, before zeroing in on a security camera that appears to be oddly fixated onto you. When you give it a mocking salute, Josh's quiet laughter rings in your ear.Your painted lips pull back into a smile, as you politely tip your hat at the security camera. Then, while dropping your voice an octave or two, you purr into the microphone; "-I'm going to assume that you can see me. Where do I go from here, handsome? Walk me through it, with that big, beautiful brain of yours."Josh audibly shudders on his end of the line, before forcefully clearing his throat. "Uh, okay, so... right, so you need to get to the back of the building, in order to get to the warehouse's electrical boxes. I also think there's a generator back there, but we'll see about that. From where you're standing, you'd need to go over to the far right of the building. That's.. 12 aisles over. I'd recommend climbing down, and then crossing the aisles."You adjust the angle of your hat. "Thanks 'suga, but I'll just take a 'lil 'ol shortcut.""Wait, you're not going to actually try to jump across the aisles, are you? That's too dangerous, you're too high off the- NO- Sitara, help, I can't watch." Josh audibly panics, just as you land atop another too-tall-tower-of-cocaine. "Sitara, those towers are at least 2 stories off the ground, help—""She'll be fiiiiine, my sweet-one." Sitara croons, her sultry voice accompanied by a soft layer of gentle static. "Just take a deep breath—""—Please, stop jumping from tower to toWER, YOU'RE MAKING ME NERVOUS.""You've got some strong legs, Trippy." Sitara compliments, her words laced with a smile."Well, thank you!" You gleefully cackle while leaping from aisle to aisle, clearing each passage with ease.By the time you finally make it to aisle twelve, Josh has just about had enough of your shenanigans and demands that you get down. Having tortured him long enough, you drop your bat, obediently climb down from the cocaine-brick tower, and grunt as soon as your boots hit the ground. Then you take up your baseball bat once more, and lug the heavy thing over your shoulder before looking up-and-down the wall for anything that seems like it'd be fun to fuck around with.Eventually, you find the electrical box. After making your way over to it, you pull out one of the explosive charges from the pockets of your jacket, and secure it to the front of the electrical box. From there, you start looking around for a generator, and manage to find one puffing away in the corner. The only problem is that a group of Tezcas seem to have caught onto what you're doing, and appear to be intent on defending the generator.One of them starts cussing at you in spanish, while the other two take the time to pop their necks, crack their fingers, and roll their shoulders. In response to the cocky display, you quietly chuckle, and drop your baseball bat behind you before raising your fists. Then after taking on a defensive stance, you jerk your head at them and even wave your fist, as if you were trying to egg them on. It works.The one with the loud ass mouth throws herself at you, and is promptly grabbed by the roots of her hair. She gets slammed face first into the concrete and then brought back up, but only so you can punch her square in the jaw. Now off-balance, she stumbles back on unsteady legs while you track your fingers through her hair, before gripping it tight and using it like a leash to slam her face into your kneecap.After witnessing their friend's body slump to the ground with a groan, the other two are overcome with rage. Immediately, they throw themselves at you, lunging violently with their fists raised in the air. All it takes to stop the both of them is a hard kick to their unguarded stomachs, which causes them to drop to their knees with a strangled croak. From there, you grab them by the back of their heads and forcefully slam their foreheads together, hard enough to knock them out cold.You dust off your hands, while confidently smiling down at their unconscious gangsters at your feet. "Well, would 'ya lookit that? Didn't even need my baseball bat!"Once you've secured an explosive to the surface of the generator, you retrieve your baseball bat and lug it over your shoulder. When Wrench calls out to you for help, you swing your head around, finding him surrounded by 6 different people. With a scoff and a roll of your eyes, you adjust your grip on your baseball bat before charging head-first into the fray. You announce your arrival by charging into one Tezca gang member and knocking them into another, before taking out another two with a couple swings of your bat.Zeros of differing sizes flash across the pixelated screen of Wrench's visor. "Jesus titty-fucking Christ!""Down, boy!" You cackle wickedly, while repeatedly whacking your bat against the busted, bloodied skull of a snarling gangbanger. Wrench rushes to join you, and makes a show out of spinning Lady Smash across his shoulder-blades before catching her by the handle. Then he drives the weighted head into the temple of a gangster unfortunate enough to slip within swinging range, before proceeding to pummel them into a pulp. By the time the two of you are finished dropping bodies and come down from your high, most of the Tezcas that had been occupying the warehouse are either dead, unconscious, or semi-conscious.But by the time you and Wrench are really through, the semi-conscious ones will wish the two of you had just beaten them to death.Without any added distractions in the way, the two of you are able to finally finish the job that you came here to do; plant explosives all over the warehouse, and blow the damn building sky-high. Having accidently overheated yourself while kicking ass, you pull back the lapels of your leather jacket and expose your taped-up tits. The sound of Josh audibly choking in your earpiece brings a smile to your face as you attempt to cool yourself off by fanning yourself with your hat. Then, once you've significantly cooled down, you secure your hat and do a victory lap around the warehouse, planting explosives along the way.When you finally run out of explosives, you stop to take a breath in front of another security camera, just as you hear your earpiece engage."-We're on a private channel. The others can't hear us. You think you're sneaky, don't you?"Your spine stiffens underneath your skin. "What do you mean?""-Running around, with your jacket unzipped. You're trying to get a rise out of me."Your lips split into a malicious, villainous grin. "Maybe. Is it working?""-Yes. Yes, it is. If you want my attention, then you've got it."Now your heart is racing for a different reason. With a cautious glance over your shoulder, you check on Wrench, and find him rummaging around in a big box of metal scrap. Confident that he's too deep in whatever he's doing to be eavesdropping, you turn away and cup your hand around your mouth, before whispering under your breath. "-You're so cute, you gave my webpage a 404 error."Josh giggles on his end of the line. "Stop-"For whatever reason, his protests only entice you to keep going. "Baby, you're hotter than the bottom of my laptop. What's a girl gotta do to get you to stick your USB drive in her USB port?"His giggling only gets worse. "Oh my god, stop-"Your lips pull back into a grin that seems to stretch from ear to ear. "-Okay, okay, I'll stop, I'll stop. I should get going anyway, Wrench and I need to leave before any of these clowns wake up. Keep your eyes on the news, okay? I'll see you soon."Josh quietly hums. "If you get stuck or need an escape route, get ahold of me. I'll see what I can do."With a nod of your head, you salute the nearest security camera with a smile. "I'll keep in touch."[[September, 30th, 2016]] [::-Friday— 8:05 P.M.-::]Once you and Wrench had planted the last of the explosives, the both of you piled into his beat-up, junky white van and drove a safe distance away. He parks along the stretch of an empty street, tucked underneath the cover of a highway and enshrouded in shadow. There, the both of you remotely trigger the explosives, arming them and detonating them all at once. The starry night sky is illuminated with fiery shades of red, yellow, and orange, illuminating everything in the immediate area with a golden glow. The explosion, no doubt, can be seen, heard, and felt, for miles to come.By the time you return to Gary's Games & Glory, the stretch of street in front of it is noticeably barren, aside from your SUV parked directly out front. Wrench pulls his vehicle up to the sidewalk, stretches, and then turns his head to look over at you, only to blink after locking eyes with your blank stare. With a confused squint, you glance at the shop, before looking back over at him with an apprehensive chuckle."Are you, uh, not coming inside?" You ask, while slowly unbuckling your seatbelt."Nope! As much as I would just love to go inside and make merry with you and the others, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to take a rain check this time! See, I've got a hot date with no touching that I need to get to." Wrench cheerfully replies, before attempting his very best Arnold Schwarzenegger impression. "I must get to the chopper! I need to retreat for the sanctuary of my garage and wash my ass, hyargh!"His crude honestly makes you throw your head back with a loud laugh, one that slips through the open passenger-side window and echoes down the street. "Hah! Alright, I won't keep you from that. But before I go, there is something I would like to talk to you about. I mean, if that's okay? It's about Sam."He raises his hands in surrender. "Jesus made me do it, I swear.""What? No, you idiot-" You gigglesnort under your breath, before jerking upright in your seat. "It's nothing like that. I've just been thinking about something you said off-handedly earlier, and I want to talk to you about it. It's referencing your ex-husband. Is that okay? I swear, I'm not trying to stick my nose in your business, I just.. I just want to help."Now you have his undivided attention. "Sure! Go on.""I think you should tell Sam that you had an ex-husband who cheated on you. For a variety of reasons." You admit to him after a moment of hesitation, before pursing your lips together in a what you pray is a friendly-looking upturned grin. "She's been scorned by an ex in a similar fashion, and I think it'd help if the two of you had a heart-to-heart and talked about it with each other. She appreciates vulnerability and honesty, and I think if you show her that she can be vulnerable around you, it might bring the two of you closer."Wrench pauses, and seems to consider this. "Hmm.. okay! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll keep that in mind. Thaaanks, sistah!"You quietly huff, and then grin while climbing out of the van. "Good. I'll let you go get ready for your hot date, then. See 'ya, Wrench.""-See ya! I'll catch you later! Buh-byeeee!!"With your baseball bat resting against your shoulder, you adjust the angle of your cowboy hat and then swing the door to Wrench's van shut. You welcome the cool, crisp breeze that rolls through as you wave him goodbye, watching as he speeds off into the distance to go get ready for his 'hot date' with 'no touching'. With a quiet laugh, you turn away from the street, and stop to toss your bloody baseball bat into the back of your SUV, before relocking your car and making your way inside.Since most people have better places to be than a nerdy game store on a Friday night, Gary's Games & Glory is relatively empty, save for a few people that always seem to be stalking the shelves at any given time of the day. They barely even glance over to look as you disappear into the back of the building, type in the passcode on the keypad by the back door, and then step into the hackerspace.You immediately note just how quiet it is. Normally, the sounds of your footsteps are drowned out by the electronical music playing on DedSec's Pirate Radio, but this time the hackerspace is unusually quiet, with only the sound of a powered-up television emanating from within. When you walk into the space, Sitara isn't anywhere to be found, and neither are Ray or Marcus— however, you're still not completely alone.Josh is sitting on the couch with his big brown eyes trained on the television, using a remote to sift through news station after news station, before eventually settling on WKZ TV. Without saying a word, you saunter across the room and strut over to the couch, where you make yourself comfortable in the open-space beside him. You observe the way his deep, swirling eyes remain fixated on the screen, as he listens to WKZ refresh it's viewers on the happenings of tonight's breaking news story; an unexpected, unexplained series of coordinated attacks involving well-known Tezca gang members."-psst. Hey." You quietly greet him, while flashing a small smile in his direction. "Anything interesting happen?"His deep brown eyes soften as he starts to nod his head. "Yes. The warehouse explosion that you and Wrench caused has made headlines, along with all of Marcus's endeavors. It's all over the news. They've shown clips of the explosions countless times, and are in the process of re-dissecting it for the fourth time within the hour. Blume is scrambling to explain how their 'predictive algorithms' managed to screw up and not catch what the media is calling a 'well-coordinated, well-executed attack'. Also, Horatio is out of surgery. He's stable, and resting. We can visit in the morning."Your eyes soften. "Good. Teaching the Tezcas a lesson was the main goal, but.. anytime that we can also manage to piss off Blume with whatever it is that we're doing, it makes victory taste that much sweeter. I'm also glad to hear that Horatio is doing okay. I know that's got to be a relief to you."He nods in agreement, before looking back at the TV. You don't want to call him out on it, but there's something about the way he's sitting that feels.. off. His shoulders are sagging, he's kind of slumped over, and he keeps wringing his hands and flexing his fingers. You're just about to ask him if everything is okay, until his eyes swivel over and lock onto you once more. "..I have a question that I want to ask."The hesitation in his tone concerns you, enough to get you to furrow your brow and turn your body towards him with a slight frown. "Okay, yeah, sure. What's wrong?"Josh's lips twist into a tight frown, as he starts to uncomfortably fidget around in his seat. "Do you think I did enough today? For Horatio? I mean, you, Marcus, and Wrench did most of the footwork.. Sitara made announcements and took over his usual role... I just kind of.. sat there."Your eyes swell in their sockets. "What?! Josh, baby, without you to walk us through everything, Marcus, Wrench, and I wouldn't have been able to get anything done! You were more than just a guiding light, you were the whole damn lighthouse! Hey- where's all of this coming from? Did somebody say something? 'Cause if they did, I'll—""No, nobody said anything to me. I just.. feel like I could've done more.." He softly mumbles, while repeatedly writhing his hands. "I feel like all I did was.. watch you through the camera. Like.. all I ever do.. is watch people through a camera."You frown, and shake your head. "What about the building blueprints that you found? Hm? Wrench and I wouldn't have known where to go, a-and the cameras are important because they helped you walk me through the building when I got stuck! Without you, babe, I'm not sure that any of us would've been able to pull off avenging Horatio, tonight. You do more than just sit behind a computer, okay, you do a lot more than you think to give yourself credit for."He seems to perk up, a little. "..You think so?"With a soft smile that slowly starts to stretch from cheek to cheek, you reach a gentle hand over to caress the underside of Josh's jaw. "I do."Josh leans into your palm with a soft hum. "..Thanks."(Background music & ambience)(Right click the video and select 'loop' to enable loop mode)The two of you close the distance remaining between your lips, and share a kiss. It starts off innocent enough as the two of you experiment with different paces and pressures, while trying to find a groove that works for the both of you. But once you finally get settled into a rhythm, you discover that it's actually rather difficult to get yourselves to slow down or stop, now that the ball has actually started rolling. Before long, your tongues have tangled themselves together in a tango, Josh can't seem to figure out where the hell to put his hands, and you can't tell which way is up or down.At some point, you give up trying to be modest and throw caution entirely to the wind, before promptly depositing yourself into Josh's lap. His hands find sanctuary on your hips where they latch on and hold on tightly for dear life, as you straddle his legs and wind your arms around his neck and shoulders. The sensation of his fingers repeatedly flexing and twitching against your skin is driving you crazy, because you honestly want nothing more than for him to just grab you.You decide to test the waters by rolling your hips against his pelvis.With a sharp, abrupt gasp, Josh adjusts his trembly, twitchy hand on your hips and tightens his grip, before adjusting the angle of your hips and bringing them back down onto himself with a soft groan. It's just the encouragement that you need to kick things into high gear— in the blink of an eye, he finds himself pinned to the back of the couch cushions, unable to do much else other than whine at the sensation of you repeatedly grinding down onto his groin."How do you feel about hickies?" You ask him softly, while gently grazing your teeth against a soft patch of skin along the underside of his jawlineHe swallows thickly, throat bobbing against your lips. "I'm not sure."Your lips pull back into a wicked grin, one that he can feel as it curls against his tender flesh. "Can I give you one?"Josh's big, brown eyes nervously glance around the room, before looking over-and-down to you and softly whispering under his breath. It's clear, by the way he frowns and gently leans back to look down at you, that he's feeling very nervous. "..What exactly are we about to do? Are we gonna-? Did you wanna-? Here?""If that's okay with you." You quietly murmur, while using your fingernail to mindlessly draw nonsense shapes over the surface of his shirt-covered chest. "If you'd rather save our first time together for somewhere that you'd be more comfortable, we can—""No, this is fine. I'm just as comfortable here, with you, as I would be in your bedroom." He easily replies, before willing his body to sink further into the cushions. "..Will it hurt?"You blink at him. "Sex, or the hickey?"He levels you with a slightly pointed expression. "-I meant the hickey. Please, give me some credit, I'm not that naïve."With a stupid grin and dopey shake of the head, you quietly hum under your breath. "Mm-mm, it won't hurt. Not unless you want me to make it hurt."After taking a moment to mull it over in his head, Josh quietly nods, and tilts his head back just enough to open up his throat. With a breathy, shudder of breath and a smile, you gently lean forward and press your hot mouth against his soft, creamy skin. Once there, you tease the tender flesh by running your tongue across it, before gently biting down and giving it a hard suck. Josh's hands scramble to grab ahold of the nearest stable surface for security— and somehow, one hand ends up pawing at your ass, while the other ends up gripping the arm of the couch for dear life."Oh." He breathlessly shudders, while softly panting to catch his breath. "S-So that's what they feel like."You let go of his neck with a wet pop. "Feels good, right? Do you want me to keep going, take things further?""-Please." He chokes out.Something devilish swells inside of your stomach, as you are struck with an impish idea. With one hand braced against his chest for stability, you walk your fingers of your other hand down to his belt line, where you proceed to take your sweet time unlatching his belt, unfastening all of the buttons, and unzipping the zipper of his pants, before pulling back the flaps of his jeans. As soon as you do, he violently shudders beneath you, as the hard lump in his grey boxers is exposed to the chilly, hackerspace air.Josh doesn't even get to finish asking "-what are you doing?" before you've cupped your hand over the growing bulge in his boxers, and begin to gently caress it through the ultra-thin fabric. Moments later, your mouth reattaches to his throat and you go back to suckling the soft patch of skin, only this time you're not nearly as gentle as you had been previously. As expected (and intended), Josh throws his head all the way back, furrows his brows, and squeezes his eyes shut with a shrill whine, before bringing his head back up and letting go of a strangled moan."This is really happening. This isn't just a fantasy, this is the real thing." He mutters under his breath, with his eyes still squeezed shut and his chest visibly rising-and-falling.You chuckle against his skin. "Mm, mhm, mhmhmhm. No interruptions this time, either. You've fantasized about me?"He turns his head to the side, and lets go of the couch in order to cover his mouth and muffle the delicious little whine that manages to slip out. "-Mmmn, mhm!""More?" You softly mumble, with your lips mashed against his skin.He almost sobs, while eagerly nodding his head. "Yes, please, i-if you could just t-take it out and touch me—"At his request, you dig your hand into Josh's underwear and pull out his hardened length from it's confinements, before leaning back onto your haunches to get a better look at what you're working with. Josh blushes— admittedly, he didn't understand the whole discourse surrounding men's insecurity with their size, but now that you're actually looking down at his dick, he suddenly seems to get it. Thankfully, you don't seem to be disappointed in the slightest, and any discomfort he might've felt is only temporary.Josh appears to have been blessed— he's slightly above average at 6½ inches, with a thick, girthy base sparsely lined with a dark patch of black hair. His dark eyes swell up in their sockets as your entire face appears to light up, before you bravely reach your hand down to grab his length by the base. His reaction, although introverted in nature, is explosive and volatile; as soon as your fingers come into direct contact with the most intimate part of his body, he violently shudders from head to toe and helplessly bucks his hips, while feverishly whimpering under his breath."Oh, god." He huskily groans, as his eyes roll back before flickering shut.You grin down at him, while steadily stroking him off at an even pace. "Just relax, sweet face, I'll take care of you."His eyebrows furrow as he lets out a whine, like he'd just been punched in the gut. "Mmn, fuck. Okay, okay, I just-.. oh god, go faster-""Like that?" You ask him, while quickening the pace of your hand substantially."Y-Yes." He chokes, before letting go of a deep, strangled moan. "Yes- fuck- yes- yes-""Breathe, baby, breathe." You quietly chuckle against his lips, only to end up moaning into his mouth when he makes it clear that he'd rather kiss you instead.While squeezing him from base to tip, you quietly moan against Josh's mouth upon feeling his other hand flex against the curve of your ass. Encouraged by all of the lusty noises you're starting to make, he's able to muster the courage that he needs to feel you up. He quietly moans in anticipation upon feeling your hand leave his chest, and drop down to rest atop his own. Your fingers acts like guides, carving out the best route for his own heavy hands to take, until he's finally brave enough to map things out on his own. He uses both of his hands, leaving almost nothing untouched.Josh is quick to help you shrug off your leather jacket and set it aside, even if only to be able to caress your warm, bare skin as he's feeling you up. However, you note, with some amusement, that his fingers never seem to cross an invisible outline that he's mentally mapped out around your tits, taped up and x-ed out with black modesty tape. In order to encourage him to take things further, your peel off the modesty tape, crumble it up, and shove the garbage into a random pocket in your pants.  Then you place your hands on top of his and bring them up to your ribcage, where you force him to toe the edge of the line until his index finger and his thumb are just barely grazing the underside of your tits.He swallows thickly, while repeatedly glancing back-and-forth between your face and your tits. "Um-""Touch me." You quietly murmur, while subtly arching into the warmth radiating from his hands.With a kiss for encouragement, Josh is able to bring his hands up and cup your breasts, without your guidance. It turns out that the kiss is exactly what he needed; instead of just leaning back to ogle at your boobs or complain about the loss of your hands on his cock, he chooses to deepen the kiss instead, and tilt his head at a slight angle and slants his lips over your own. From there, he full on gropes one of your tits and fondles it in the palm of his hand, while wrapping an arm around your waist to pull you further into his lap.You tilt your head back to let out a long, drawn out moan, while slowly rewrapping your arms around his neck and shoulders. You indulge yourself, taking the time to soak in the sexual satisfaction that swells a little more inside of your chest with every little whine and whimper that slip from Josh's lips. But while you're distracted, Josh finally notices that you've got your head tilted back, and takes advantage of the opportunity to latch his mouth onto your neck. It catches you off guard, causing you to buck your hips against his cock and rock his body against the couch.You loudly moan, caught off guard by the sensation of his hot, wet mouth against your skin. "Mm, what are you doing?""M'giving you one, too." He murmurs against your throat, before suckling a little harder. "Mm, like this, right?""—Oh, god, yes-" You moan, while helplessly leaning into him with a shrill, impatient whine.He smiles against your skin, and pulls you closer to his chest while reclining back in his seat. "I could.. I could fuck you just like this, if you really wanted me to."The sweet sincerity in his voice is like a hot fire poker to the gut. "I'd love that, but there's something else I'd like to do first. Can I?""-Really? Okay, yeah, sure." He excitedly sputters out, before forcefully clearing his throat and bashfully rubbing the back of his neck.With a cheshire-catlike smile that stretches from ear to ear, you slide off of Josh's lap, and lower yourself to the ground. He watches with big, bulging eyes as you gently pry his legs apart, before slotting yourself into the space between his knees. From there, you hook your arms around the back of his legs and pull him closer towards you, until his rear is resting just on the edge of the couch cushion, forcing his shoulders to slump and his spine to bend in half as he falls back against the couch. He raises his hands in surrender, and swallows thickly when your eyes zero-in onto his cock.You drag your hot, wet tongue from the base of his dick to the tip, before engulfing the entirety of his length in one fell swoop. Josh's hands smack against the couch, which he paws at until he's gathered up enough of the raggedy old couch's fabric to hold onto. Still, despite his best efforts to hold on, the bundle of fabric slips right out of his fingers, causing his hands to slip and clawing across the surface. His fingernails dig in and scratch at the worn couch, leaving behind a full set of fingernail indentations in his wake."Mm?" You purr up at him, with your mouth full.Josh cannot answer— not right away, at least. He's got his head tilted back as far as it'll go, choking on a moan that's trying to force it's way out of his throat. The way his adam's apple bobs is oddly erotic and you'd love to give it a kiss, if only your mouth weren't so full of cock at the moment. His chest repeatedly rises and falls with every hot, feverish breath that he takes, panting heavily as if he'd just ran the mile. With a long, drawn out whimper, he peels himself out of his jacket and tosses it aside, before flopping back against the couch with a grunt.He grits his teeth at the ceiling, and then softly whines under his breath while slowly running a heavy hand across his stomach. "Fuck, that feels good.."Your chest swells with pride, while your pelvic muscles clench at his praise. You decide to thank him for the compliment by tightening your lips around the base of his cock, and giving it a long, hard suck from base to tip. The effect it has on Josh is instantaneous, causing him to violently shudder all the way from his head down to his sneaker-clad feet. He's quick to kick off his shoes just to be able to curl his toes at his leisure, and then whimpers after peeking down at you through heavily lidded eyes."C-Could I t-take off your hat?" He asks you sweetly, while clenching his thighs together and jerking with every steady little bob of your head.With a loud, resounding moan of approval, you nod your head, allowing Josh to remove your cowboy hat and set it aside for the time being. With the top of your head exposed, he's able to sink his hand into your hair and run his fingers through it, while trying his damndest to force his eyes to stay open and watch as you suck him off. He finds that it's so very hard to resist the urge to fold his body in half and curl inward, as he's further and further overcome with mind-numbing, erotic bliss— but forces himself to sit back, if only to be able to watch his cock repeatedly disappear into your mouth.When he finally locks eyes with you, you wink up at him, and giggle when he blushes.The other hand he'd placed on his stomach starts to twitch, before balling up into a tight, round fist. He bites down on his bottom lip, and chews on it mindlessly until it's swollen and raw— all while watching you through a curtain of dark lashes as you expertly suck his dick, while he just trembles, twitches, and twinges in place. He chokes on the loud, guttural groans that force their way out, starting in his stomach before clawing their way up his esophagus and eventually spilling from his lips in the form of desperate whines and whimpers.Somewhere along the way, you lose yourself in the sounds of his sighs and sobs, becoming cockdrunk to the point where all you can focus on is how good it feels to choke on his dick. As an added bonus, the sounds he makes whenever your throat clenches around him are just utterly sinful, gasping, whining, and frantically babbling nonsensical noise under his breath. Eventually, he gives up the guise of trying to be modest and allows himself to lazily slump against the couch, with his legs hanging from your shoulders and his hand in your hair.He's already completely falling apart at the seams, and you've just barely gotten started.Emotion burns in the back of his throat, bringing tears to his eyes that seem to sting. He nervously licks his lips while staring down at you, noisily moaning along with every rhythmic bob of your head. "Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm! Fu-fu-fuck, slow down a little, not s-so f-fa-fa-fast—"Faster? That's what he said, right?He definitely said to go faster.Josh's heart drops down into the pit of his stomach after watching you take the time to adjust his legs, before wrapping your arms around them and holding them tight to keep them in place. Then you start to bob your head again and slowly work your way up to a faster pace, while watching from below as Josh starts to babble hysterically. A tendril of saliva trickles down the length of his chin as he sobs, crying and thrashing around in your grip from overstimulation.You almost start to wonder if you've gone too far, but Josh's frantic cries of "-don't stop!" keeps you from dwelling on it for long. He arches his back and chokes on his own moans, while crossing his legs at the knees and ankles. You continue to rhythmically suck him off at a swift, steady pace that leaves him with little brain power to think, while Josh can only lay underneath you and sob until he's gone completely red in the face.Then rather suddenly, his entire body stiffens beneath you from head to toe. Josh's head flies back as far as it can go as he cries out to the ceiling, shamelessly sobbing with tears dripping down the length of his cherry-red cheeks. With one hand grabbing a fistful of his shirt and the other holding onto a fistful of your hair, Josh thrusts his cock into your mouth with a wet sob, and begins to face-fuck you very little semblance of self-control."Mmn! Mmn, mmn, m'sorry! M'sorry, I can't!-" He slurs in-between whimpers and whines, before coughing up a bit of spit and choking on another moan. "M'sorry, I can't hold back anymore! S'too much, s'too much, it just feels too good, and- shit, shit, shit, m'gonna cum!"Josh's fingers tighten around the fistful of your hair and arches his spine, while sobbing profusely as he proceeds to cum down your throat. Squinting your eyes tightly shut, you take as much of his cock as you can into your mouth, until your nose presses against the soft patch of dark hair at the base of his pelvis. The taste of his cum is salty and a little bitter, but not entirely unpleasant, so you make sure to lap up every last drop.
But when you're done sucking him off, his cock is very notably not soft.
Despite being weak in the knees and panting from exhaustion, Josh pulls you to your feet, and then helps you take off your pants and kick off your underwear. Now that you're naked, really naked, he's able to lean back and take you in from head to toe, and the effect it has on him is almost immediate. His cock strains at the sight of your naked body and even spits out a glob of pre-cum into the air, just in case you ever doubted his enthusiasm. He smacks a hand over his mouth and blushes terribly, before wiping away the little glob with an soft-spoken, barely audible apology.But instead of making a comment, you brace your hands against his shoulders and simply thank him for his eagerness, before straddling his lap and hovering over his cock. Then, after taking a deep breath to calm yourself, you steel your nerves and slide down onto his length, while moaning at the way it stretches you out while simultaneously filling you up. Josh's hands grip your your hips for dear life as he audibly stammers, muttering little prayers and pleas under his breath while you take your sweet time adjusting to his size. Then, you finally start to move, and he nearly comes undone on the spot.Josh furrows his eyebrows together as he continues to pant like a dog, with his eyes gently squeezes shut in deep concentration. "-Fuck."You bury your face into the crook of his neck with a quiet, muffled moan of your own, as you start to bounce on his cock. "Mmmphf.. mmm, baaaaby.."His fingers flex against your hips as he digs his digits into your skin, leaving behind little fingernail indentations. He squeezes his eyes a little tighter, with a soft whine. "M'sensi-sensitive after already c-cumming, so m'not gonna last very long at this point.""That's fine, that's fine.." You breathlessly sigh, before bringing your head up to gently touch your foreheads together. "Mmm.. fuck, babe.."His lower lip trembles. He doesn't dare open his eyes. "You're tight. Does it hurt?""No, no, it feels good." You sigh, while trying to emphasize your point with an overexaggerated roll of your hips.His entire face twitches erratically. "Mmmmmmnn..."You chuckle deviously, before leaning in close to press your lips against the curve of his ear, and mutter a quiet warning of "-brace yourself". Josh only has enough time to dig his toes into the floor before you start to ride him even faster than before, bouncing wildly atop his lap without any restraint whatsoever. He violently shudders from head to toe and grits his teeth together, breathing hard and erratically through his nostrils while trying (and failing) to muffle his mewls and moans."Sl-Slow down, m'gonna-" He begins to pant, while whimpering through pursed lips. "M'gonna cum again, at this rate!""Mmmn, that's fine." You airily laugh, your raspy laughter drowning out in the background. But then the head of his cock unexpectedly slams into your sweet spot just right, causing your legs to give out. With a sob of relief, Josh takes over for you, and uses his tight grip on your hips to hold you in place while brutally fucking you from below. His jaw clenches at the sensation of your fingers curling against his broad, muscular shoulders, as you go from laughing to writhing around on his lap like a cat in heat in the wake of his violent, powerful thrusts.Josh curses through his teeth. "Shit, m'cumming! Mmm, fuck!"With one last thrust, Josh drives his cock into you and buries it as deep as it'll go, before spilling himself inside of you. Thick ropes of sticky, hot cum cover every inch of your warm, velvety walls, filling you up to the brim, before eventually spilling out of you and running down your thigh. He continues to fuck you through his orgasm, and ends up nearly getting off a third time after he manages to make you cum all over his cock. But even then, neither of you are quite finished— in fact, the two of you continue to grind against each other for several minutes, before finally coming to a stop.Blushing profusely, Josh wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you close. "..Wow."You chuckle softly, before leaning up to gently kiss him on the lips. "Mmm, you did wonderful. Thank you."Josh smiles and giggles, and then bashfully glances away. Eventually, however, he looks back at you and smiles breathlessly, before reaching a gentle hand over to caress your cheek. "..Can I say something, without making it weird?"You tilt your head to the side, and twist your lips into a cheeky smile. "Sure, give it a shot."His eyes soften. "I love you."With a sharp gasp, your eyes swell in their sockets— your heart start to race inside of your chest, beating wildly and out of control. Tears swell in your eyes as you start to grin, before melting against him with a quiet, sob of laughter. Then with a loud, wet sniffle, you cover your mouth to hide your trembling lower lip, before whispering back; "-I love you, too."With a grin, Josh wraps his arms around you, and squeezes you tight before letting go of a content sigh. "I'm going to be sore tomorrow."Your smile turns devilish. "Oh, definitely."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Beware the fury of a patient man.”
―John Dryden[[October, 2nd, 2016]]
[::-Sunday — 10:28 A.M.-::]
"-Marcus, can you give these two USBs to Josh?"

"-Yeah, I gotchu."
With a sigh of relief and an appreciative grin, Sitara passes two sleek USB sticks over to Marcus, who readily accepts the black plastic sticks of hardware and tucks them away into the pocket of his jacket. From there, he whistles a tune while cutting across the hackerspace and making his way over to Josh, who's notably stepped away from his computer for a change. Instead of sitting at his desk and writing out lines of code or working on his drone, DedSec's leading hacker and programmer is doing something a little more low-key; like ripping apart an external hard-drive for spare parts.Initially, Wrench was the one tasked with deconstructing the small stack of hard-drives that Sitara 'salvaged' from one of Prime_Eight's inventory drops, a.k.a drives that were stolen and repurposed for the greater good. However, some of the more higher-grade hard drives have proven difficult to take apart without somehow managing to break something vital. Because of this, Wrench has enlisted Josh to help him, as the engineer is known to have a little bit more of a delicate touch when it comes to these kinds of things. If Wrench had it his way, the hard drive would get smashed with a hammer and anything that managed to make it through would get thrown into the 'usable' pile.Upon sensing an approach, Josh stops tinkering around with the hard drive and looks over to his right, where Marcus is making his way over to join them at the table. When he arrives, he sits pulls out the chair next to Josh, sits down, digs into his pocket, and pulls out the two hard drives before passing them over. Josh readily accepts them without so much as a word, and tucks them away in his pocket before mumbling a quiet "-thanks" under his breath."So, what's going on with this one?" Marcus asks with a point of his chin before turning his eyes back over to Josh, who passes the hard drive over to Wrench before reaching for the bowl of dum-dum brand lollipops sitting between them."One of the more fragile components won't come out." Josh casually answers, before unwrapping one of the lollipops and sticking it into his mouth. "Wrench is getting frustrated."Wrench's shoulders shake with borderline maniacal laughter. "Hahaha! Oh-hohoho, 'frustrated' doesn't even begin to cover it. I am ready to make this sonofabitch call me daddy, that's how fuckin' mad I am."Marcus clicks his tongue against his teeth, and chuckles under his breath. "I bet. Yo, what flavor you get?"Josh glances over at Marcus before pulling the lollipop out of his mouth with a wet pop, and twirling the green-colored candy around in his fingertips."Green apple?" Marcus guesses, with an arch of the brow and a slight tilt of the head.He nods before sticking the lollipop back into his mouth. "Yup."Marcus nods his head approvingly, before turning his attention down to the sugary bowl of temptation sitting on the table. With a shrug and a quiet mutter of "fuck it", he reaches in, pulls out a blue-raspberry flavored lollipop, and gleefully unwraps the candy before sticking it into his mouth. "Mmm, these taste like my childhood. I forgot how good these were."Josh hums, while working the lollipop over his tongue. "They're smaller than I remember.""Shrinkflation is a thing." Sitara helpfully adds in while walking by, carrying a spray template in her arms. "It's a shady but common practice among companies; they'll lower the quantity or the size of a product, and keep the price the same or they'll crank it higher.""If only there were a way to hack into a Dum-Dum lollipop factory and convince them to make these larger." Marcus dreamily sighs at the wildly imaginative thought, earning a couple snickers from Wrench and Sitara and an exaggerated eye-roll from Josh.Sitara grins and then looks over at Josh, before stopping to jerk her chin at him. "Hey Josh, any word on Trippy? I thought she'd be here, today."Josh's deep brown eyes swivel around in their sockets, before zeroing-in on Sitara as she makes her way over to her corner of the hackerspace. "She'll be a little late. Chester has a vet appointment."Marcus scrunches his nose. "Chester? Who is Chester?""He's Josh's firstborn child, and his girlfriend's pet fuckin' naked mole rat." Wrench crankily grumbles under his breath, while trying to meticulously unscrew probably the world's tiniest screw."-He's a sphynx." Josh corrects his leather-studded counterpart, while shooting a subtle glare in his direction. "..and Wrench is only saying it like that because Chester bit him on the ass, once.""Hey, that thing tried to eat me!" Wrench angrily declares, getting so hot-headed and caught up in the moment that he ends up dropping the screw-driver, and the hard drive. They crash onto the tabletop with a noisy clatter, knocking over a couple of empty beer bottles in the process."So, what exactly is a sphynx, besides an unfortunate victim of Wrench's full moon?" Marcus asks, while glancing back-and-forth between the pair."They're a breed of cat originating from Toronto, Canada, developed in the 1960s through the process of selective breeding." Josh responds with practiced ease, as if he'd taken the time to study the pages of an encyclopedia on the subject. "Hairlessness is a naturally occurring genetic mutation in many felines; but because of it, Sphynx lose body heat more readily than other breeds and tend to seek out sources of warmth as a result. They're also prone to skin conditions and are known to get pimples and blackheads... not Chester, though. She bathes him regularly."Sitara chuckles. "Knowing Trippy, I wouldn't be surprised if that feline has an entire skincare routine."Marcus chuckles under his breath before twisting his head back around to look at Wrench and Josh, only to double-back after noticing something odd about Josh's neck. Unable to see clearly, Marcus leans forward in his seat with a squint, and curiously scratches the side of his head before reclining back and pointing at Josh. "Ayo, Josh, what's wrong with your neck, man?"Josh nonchalantly swivels his eyes around to look at Marcus. He blinks twice, before pulling his lollipop out of his mouth with another wet pop. "It's a hickey."Tucked away in her corner, Sitara snorts at the unforgiving honesty of Josh's reply, before coughing into her fist and forcefully clearing her throat to cover up her quiet, breathy laughter. Meanwhile, Marcus and Wrench nearly give themselves whiplash when turning their heads to gawk at Josh, who casually sticks his lollipop back into his mouth. Obviously, they're not going to be getting another word out of him. Still, that doesn't mean they're not going to try.Wrench leans over in his seat and twists his neck, just to try and get a better look at the deep purple bruise on his neck. "Holy shit! Wait, wait, wait! Marcus, there's more!"Marcus hops right up out of his seat. "Yo, for real?"Josh has a split-second where he's able to glance at the both of them, before realizing that he should probably try to make a run for it. But before he can, Marcus and Wrench manage to grab him by the shoulders and force him to sit back down in his chair, before wrangling him around like a ragdoll. Annoyed but trying to be patient, Josh shuts his eyes and quietly hums, trying to block out excess stimulation to the best of his ability."Look, look, look!" Wrench excitedly babbles, while tapping three hickies in rapid succession. "One, two, three! These are fresh, too!"Marcus purses his lips, raises his brows, and bobs his head with a breathy chuckle, before devolving into full-on dirty laughter. "Josh, my man, you've been busy!""Alright, guys, give him some space." Sitara airily laughs, while shaking her head in amusement.With a huff and a scoff, Josh rolls his eyes before attempting to shake them off. "Guys, my neck doesn't bend that way!""-Excuse me! Mind letting go of my boyfriend, boys?"Wrench and Marcus suddenly fly back and give Josh a wide berth at the sound of your sickly-sweet request, which is no doubt a warning in disguise. Both the punk-anarchist and hipster spin around on their toes in a panic, and nervously laugh after quickly realizing you'd been standing behind them for a good portion of the time that they'd spent picking on Josh. Almost immediately, they start tripping over their own tongues and rubbing the back of their necks, desperately trying to come up a decent-sounding excuse for their behavior.After adjusting the fur-lined hood of your black puffer jacket, you simply arch an eyebrow at the pair and press your lips together, before taking a step forward and placing something down onto the table. Wrench lets out a terrified, girlish scream after realizing it's your cat, Chester, wearing a little hooded puffer jacket of his own. Marcus can't help but laugh as Wrench proceeds to take a whole ass step away from the table, with his hands raised in surrender."Holy shit, you really don't like that cat!" Marcus laughs into his fist, while watching his best friend stumbling around on unsteady feet."It's a man-eating beast!" Wrench declares, while using the chair he'd been using as a shield.Chester, the all-black, hairless feline, happily squints at Wrench, before croakily mewling as loud as he can. "Meow!"Josh leans up in his seat after inadvertently attracting the attention of Chester, who comes running over with his skinny little tail sticking straight in the air. The feline easily clears the distance between the edge of the table and his intended target in one leap, and lands in Josh's lap with a little squeak. Upon landing on his adoptive father's legs, Chester curls up into a ball, settles down, and then stares to purr, all while maintaining steady eye-contact with Wrench, who nervously watches Chester's every move. Then, you start to make your way over, and both Marcus and Wrench begin sweating bullets.Marcus darts out of the way, giggling nervously after feeling a cold breeze hit his back— you just tried smacking him across the ass, and probably would've made it if he hadn't skedaddled as quickly as he did. However, Wrench isn't as fortunate as his best friend, and gets popped right across the backside for his involvement. Marcus falsely assumes that he is safe, and has escaped punishment for the time-being. But when Wrench's loud, shrill squeal of pain causes Marcus to double over in laughter, Sitara decides to help you out by sneaking over and double-tapping each cheek with a hard smack of her own."Yo!" Marcus shouts while waddling away, making sure to keep a hand splayed across his backside to fend off any potential attacks. He turns around, lips parted and eyebrows furrowed with anger; but when he finds Sitara standing behind him with a cheeky grin, he can only purse his lips and playfully shaking his head, before clicking his tongue against his teeth in a fake act of disapproval. "At least take me out to dinner first, Sitara, before you go grabbing my ass.""Suck it, Marcus, I've always got my girls' back." Sitara declares with a wink, before shooting another wink in your direction. "I got you."You smile back, while sitting down in a chair next to Josh. "Thanks, Sitara."She grins back at you, before turning her attention down to the black, hairless cat currently getting some chin scratches from Josh. "So, this is Chester, huh? Josh was just telling us a little bit about him. He looks wicked cool. Love the jacket."The corners of Josh's mouth pull back into the softest of smiles. "He's cute.""He's naked." Wrench adds as-a-matter-of-factly, as if reminding you all of something very important.You playfully wink at Wrench. "Most animals are, Wrench. Can you imagine a puppy being born with a tiny pair of pants?""Well, at least we wouldn't see his dangly bits everytime he goes to turn around." He replies while motioning to Chester, who merely squints as he is acknowledged.Josh rolls his eyes. "You know, you keep complaining that the cat doesn't like you, and yet he's blinked at you twice. Cat behaviorists have dictated that's the feline way of saying "-I love you" or "-I trust you"... and you're rejecting him."The leather-studded anarchist swings his head back around, drops the hard drive and the screwdriver, and then looks down at the hairless feline in Josh's lap. Once again, Chester slowly blinks his eyes, and this time, Wrench visibly melts and clasps his hands over his heart. "He's using his mind-control powers on me, turning me into his slave— and I'm totally okay with it!"Marcus's lips part with a breathy laugh. "So, just because the cat said 'I love you', suddenly it's cool now?""You never run from love, Marcus!" Wrench declares with an exaggerated, if not melodramatic, voice, before slamming a fist over his heart. "You run towards it- naked, in a field of flowers.""Yo, I love y'all, but I'm not getting naked for anybody, just so we're clear." Marcus quickly announces aloud, earning a collective wave of laughter from you and the others."Soooo.." Josh drawls, with a purse of his lips. "Wrench, the hard drive?"Wrench rapidly glances back-and-forth between Josh and the hard drive on the table, while wildly motioning to to the hard drive with an exasperated sputter. "Well, it just!- Look, unless you want me to just smash it with a hammer and hope for the best, I can't do it. I just can't keep using this stupid screw driver, it's too fuckin' obnoxiously big for the job. If I keep at it, I'll probably get mad and end up breaking something— on purpose."Sitara rolls her eyes and turns around on her heels, before making her way over to the table with a long, drawn-out sigh. "Okay, well, somebody needs to go out and get something that'll take out those tiny little screws. Obviously, none of the screwdrivers we have here in the hackerspace are going to do the job.""They have cordless, miniature electrical screwdrivers at a store, nearby. According to their measurements on the website, it could be okay for the job, but I'd like to see it in person to be sure." Josh announces to the others, having taken the time to go searching on Nudle while Wrench and Sitara were talking. "I can go get it.""I'll go with you, bro. We'll get coffee on the way." Marcus volunteers, knowing that the man doesn't typically like to go walking solo through San Francisco.With Marcus volunteering to help, Josh kisses Chester on the head and gently deposits him onto the table, before rising to his feet and strolling over to Marcus. The pair prepare to exit the hackerspace, grabbing their keys, phones, and wallets off of the table before turning to leave. Josh, however, only makes it a few feet before he realizes that you're not following like he expected you to, and quietly turns around to look at you with big, blinking eyes and an apprehensive flex of his fingers."..Aren't you coming?" He gently murmurs, while looking at you with a wide puppy-eyed stare, and pouty-lipped frown.Cooing adoringly, you rise to your feet with a smile and waddle your way over to him, just to wrap an arm around his waist, pull him close, and kiss him on the cheek. "-guess I am, now.""Yeah, go on, I'll watch Chester! Go on, Trippy, go have fun!" She excitedly giggles, before strolling over to the table to scoop the hairless cat into her arms with an adoring coo. "We'll be best friends before the day is through, you and me, mister. I'm going to deck you out in a whole new wardrobe.""-Mrrrah!"Wrench excitedly scrambles to his feet. "Oh, I'll help! I'll help, I want to make him a jacket that looks just like mine!"[[October, 2nd, 2016]]
[::-Sunday — 10:52 A.M.-::]
"-Thanks for the coffee, Marcus."

"-Anytime, bro!"
Taking a sip from his hot cup of coffee, Josh stands outside on the curb, waiting for you and Marcus to filter through the door of a Brewed Delight coffee shop and join him outside. He wrinkles his nose at the taste of his drink, shakes his head disapprovingly, and digs through his pockets in search of the sugar packets he'd pocketed while inside. After pulling them out, he uses his teeth to rip them open the paper sugar packets, pops off the lid to his coffee, and then dumps the sugar into his cup before throwing the paper packets away. Then, he re-secures the lid, gives the drink a little swirl, and takes another slurp. Much better.The sound of the café bell is the signal that Josh has been waiting for; without looking behind himself or glancing over his shoulder, he casually untucks one of his hands from his pocket and holds it out to the side, almost expectantly. Moments later, you walk up beside him, grab his hand, and intertwine your fingers together without a second thought. He glances over and smiles at the sight of your brightly colored pumpkin-spice drink, topped with whipped cream and dressed with pumpkin spice."What?" You ask him with a grin, after catching him staring at you."Nothing." He says, while shaking his head. "Just looking at your drink.. and then comparing it to mine."You snicker into the back of your hand. "Okay, yeah, they did use a bit more whipped cream than they usually do—""More like the whole can." Josh casually remarks, before temporarily letting go of your hand just to steal-and-scoop a small dollop of the whipped cream into his mouth. "Mmm- that's actually not that bad. Good.""Why's that good?" You ask him, with an apprehensive smile and slight furrow of the brow.Josh looks at you, and then glances over his shoulder to ensure that Marcus isn't within earshot. Once he's sure that it's safe to do so, he leans over and presses his lips against your ear, before drawing in a quiet breath. "-Because that's basically what kissing you is going to taste like, until you eat something else."You purse your lips together and hum, while taking a long sip of your drink. "Josh, you make it sound like kissing me is an unpleasant experience."He pulls back and stands upright, while grinning from ear to ear. "It's not. I happen to enjoy it a lot, actually."Blushing profusely at his honesty, you cough and nearly choke on your drink, while he just giggles.Moments later, Marcus joins the both of you, noisily sipping on his coffee and none-the-wiser that the two of you were just flirting. "Damn, they make some good ass coffee. Alright, let's roll!"The three of you easily cut your way through the crowd, bobbing and weaving in-between folk on the streets. Many of them are barely paying attention to their surroundings, and Marcus is forced to start shouldering his way through the crowd just to get by. Of course, a few of them aren't too happy to get shoved out of the way, but most don't do anything aside from cuss or tell the three of you to watch where you're going. There is one girl who tries to chase Marcus down to give him a piece of her mind, but she decides to leave him alone once you've shoved a middle finger in her face.By the time you get to the electronics store, the three of you have been toting around empty coffee cups for a few 10-20 minutes. You'd been hoping to take off your coat once you got inside, but it turns out that it's just as cold inside the store as it is standing outside in the parking lot. Josh's thin hoodie does little to protect him from the ice-cold air coming out of the store's air conditioning unit, so you end up wrapping an arm around him to try and warm him back up."Th-Th-Th-Thanks." He shudders, while leaning into you for more warmth.Chuckling softly, you pull back the lapels of your jacket for Josh, inviting him to slip his arms underneath and snake them around your waist. As soon as he does, he takes things a step further and slips the entirety of his forearms underneath your shirt, and quietly giggles to himself when you sharply gasp as a result of the ice-cold intrusion. But when you playfully glare at him, Josh merely grins and softly kisses you on the mouth."N-N-Now I-I-I'm c-c-c-cold!" You complain with a shudder and a shiver, speaking through chattering teeth that are noisy enough to put those wind-up chattering teeth toys to shame.Josh smiles at you, before giving you another kiss to try and appease you. "D-Don't be m-mad, please.""I'm not mad, I'm just complaining to c-complain." You chuckle, before looking around the store after realizing you're missing someone. "Where's M-Marcus?""He fell behind, a bit." Josh replies, while subtly glance back-and-forth between your eyes and your lips.You hum, and then frown. "Well, sh-should we wait out front so he doesn't get- mmphf!?"Without much warning, Josh closes the distance between your mouths and slants his lips over yours. You place your hands on his chest and quietly whimper under your breath, feeling a touched overwhelmed. The vibrations of his hum beneath your fingertips are, in a few words, intense and even a little overstimulating. Thankfully, there isn't anyone around to tell you off or kick you out of the store, so Josh is able to actually indulge himself for a moment. The kiss only lasts a few seconds, and yet those few seconds manage to feel as if they'd lasted a lifetime.By the time he breaks contact with your lips, Marcus finally manages to catch up and walks in, just in time to witness you visibly short-circuit as a direct result of Josh's mischief. "Uhh, what'd I miss?""Nothing. She's cold. I'm annoying her. It's fun." Josh answers as-a-matter-of-factly, with a grin that seems to match.Marcus smiles, and then playfully rolls his eyes. "Careful, Josh, she's from the south. Women like that'll eat you alive if you poke at them for too long."Josh looks over at Marcus, glances at you, and then looks back at the hipster with a soft grin. "That's fine. I can handle it.""You should've heard what he said to me at my apartment, once." You inform Marcus with a knowing grin. "I told him that he looked good, and when I stated that the specific wording was probably a little too spicy for him to handle, this adorable smartass reminded me that his user handle is Hawt Sauce and that he 'likes spicy things'.""Yooo!" Marcus guffaws in shock, earning a wave of dumb, giggly laughter from the both of you. "Josh, I might need to start getting my pick-up lines from you, my man."He smiles, and then leans over on his toes to kiss the top of your head. When you blush as a direct result of the public affection, he happens to notice and cheekily grins from ear to ear before attempting to comfort you. "It's okay. It's just Marcus who might've saw anything.""I'm cool, girly." Marcus reassures you with a smile, while pulling back the lapels of his jacket via the hands he tucked into his pockets. "I think y'all are a cute couple, so I get a good dose of serotonin whenever you guys smooch."The intensity of your blush deepens tenfold, as you are forced to turn away with a nervous grin to maintain your dignity. "-Dammit.""Wait, are you blushing?" Josh asks with a grin, while trying to bend down and lean over to get a better look."Oh yeeeeaaahhh, she's blushing!" Marcus gleefully cries out, while also bending over to get a better look at your bright red face. "Holy shit, girl, you're redder than— fuck, a bottle of hot sauce!""No!" You shout defensively, while most definitely blushing from the top of your head all the way down to your bottom of your neck. "I'mnotblushing! WhatmakesyouthinkI'dbeblushing? I'mnotblushing, you'rejustimaginingthings. Stoplookingatme."Josh and Marcus share a knowing look, before they go back to staring at you with matching smirks."I said stop looking at me!" You nervously cry out, while frantically waving your hat at them. "Oh my god, stop it, I swear to God, I'll—""Do what, exactly?" Marcus asks you with a playful smile, before leaning into your personal space and reaching over just to stroke your cherry red cheek. "That's a nice shade of red. She's a cute 'lil thing, ain't she? Sweet as apple pie. ""Yup." Josh returns with a firm nod of his head, and a wide, cheeky grin of his own."Y'all need to quit calling me 'lil', as if I don't stand eye-to-eye with the both of you in my boots right now." You scoff, while playfully pouting at their teasing. "These babies are barely 3 inches, and I can run in them, so feel free to fuck around and find out, the both of you."Once the two of them are through with tag-teaming you, Josh takes you by the hand before leading you and Marcus further into the store. At one point, Marcus steals your hat and decides to put it on, before poking fun at you by doing a little square-dance in the middle of the store. Josh snickers while watching the two of you play-fight and bicker like siblings, arguing over a hat that Marcus is 'threatening' to permanently steal— solely because he enjoys the way you'll actively chase him down for it.With wide, bulging eyes and a childish grin, you chase after Marcus through the aisles at top speed, frightening him in the process, because he didn't realize that you were the type of woman who actually can run in high heels. Even still, he dances with death, quite literally stopping every so often to shake his ass and do a little two-step. Josh kneels down to peruse through the selection of cordless electric screwdrivers displayed on the shelves, before laughing at the sight of Marcus hauling ass towards him with one hand against the crown of the cowboy hat resting atop his head."Stop fuckin' square dancing at me, you sonofabitch!" You whisper-hiss at him, while cackling under your breath.Marcus leaps over Josh, rolls across the ground, pops up, turns around, stands, and immediately does a fancy little two-step. "♫♪ Mmmm, mmm-mmm mmm-mmm, mm-mm mmm-mm mm-mmm! ♫♪"You curl your hands into tightly wound fists, and chuckle under your breath. "I'm going to turn you into a nice platter of duck à l'orange. Or, maybe I'll just stuff you like a turkey on thanksgiving. Either way, your ass is mine. Get over here!""Aw hell no!" Marcus cries out, before taking off down the aisle at top speed. Josh easily rolls out of the way, allowing you to dive for Marcus and successfully tackle him to the ground.With a victorious cry, you swipe the cowboy hat right off Marcus's head, and return the damn thing to it's rightful place atop your own head. Then you climb off of Marcus and offer the man a hand to pull him to his feet, where you proceed to help him dust off his clothes. Now that the two of you are done fooling around, you turn around to look at Josh with a proud grin, only to end up frowning when he doesn't return your enthusiasm."Is something wrong, babe?" You ask him, with a slight furrow of the brow and a confused tilt of the head."Yes." He says, while staring off at something behind the both of you. "We need to go. Now."Instead of wasting time by asking what's wrong, you and Marcus attempt to follow Josh as he proceeds to speed-walk through the aisle. His attempts to flee the scene prove to be in vain when an all-too familiar voice calls out to you by name, earning a scoff and an irritated mutter of "-damn it" under the engineer's breath. When you turn around, your own enthusiasm plummets after coming face-to-face with the reason why Josh wanted to run away.It's your coworker, Spencer James Olson.Spencer is, in the simplest of terms, what the music industry would call a "dubstep bro"— meaning, Spencer is the kind of man who'll ask a girl to name three songs after learning or overhearing that said girl happens to like electronic-dance music. Then, if she names anything that isn't by Skrillex or Deadmau5, then she's immediately called a fake fan and accused of being a lowlife groupie. But if you were to ask him who Steve Gurley, Skream, or Zed Bias is, he'll just stare at you as if you cussed him out in six different languages. But that's to be expected when your IQ is low enough to make even the devil feel pity for you.He has no idea that Dubstep existed long before Skrillex and Deadmau5 were ever on the scene.
Then again, this is the same man that solely became a DJ to score drugs, get drunk, and sleep around.Spencer is below average height, and tries to make up for it by wearing overpriced, sporty designer sneakers, specifically the kind with thicker soles to give himself a boost. In addition to the chunky shoes, he's wearing a black and green Skrillex tee, and baggy Tripp-brand pants with the chain clips left unbuckled. His brown hair is shaven and faded along the sides, while the big ol' mop of long ass hair atop his head has been dyed monster-lime green and slicked back with gel. Giant black plugs have been inserted into his stretched lobes, decorated with little green radioactive symbols.There was a time, albeit very briefly, where you used to get along with Spencer. It was years ago, back when you and Samantha were still middle-schoolers and Spencer was still a shy, soft-spoken nerd obsessed with van sneakers, quicksilver hoodies, and designer skateboards. But when you and Samantha tried to be his friend, against the advice of everyone else in the school, you quickly came to regret the decision.Now, Spencer could be sweet when he was a kid, but he wasn't exactly someone that you'd call your 'type'. While you're not exactly picky and will give just about anybody a fair chance, you refuse to try and force a connection if the feelings aren't there. So when Spencer expressed his interest in dating you, he was devastated to learn that you didn't have feelings for him— and that it was unlikely you ever would. He started crying and begged for you to reconsider, but you remained steadfast in your decision, insisting that it was better if the two of you remained friends.He asked you why, wondering if it's because he was too soft-spoken and shy. You told him it's not that he's shy, it's that he couldn't hold a conversation with you about something the two of you are mutually interested in without turning it into a competition. He insisted he could change for you, but you said those kinds of beliefs take awhile to change and you weren't really willing to sit around and wait, while he played catch-up and learns how to treat a girl right. In addition to that, you just weren't attracted to him; plain and simple.He didn't handle the rejection well. Said some pretty hurtful things that he tried to take back, but couldn't.In the months that followed, it turns out that you were right to reject Spencer, because his father ended up scoring a promotion that required him to relocate the entire family to California. You never found out where exactly he'd gone and never really cared to try, if you were being honest— because even after getting rejected, Spencer refused to admit defeat and ended up borderline-stalking you around the school. Even worse, he never seemed to realize just how uncomfortable he was making you, by chasing after you the way that he did.. the way that he still does.He's always trying so hard to impress you, always telling you about another wild night he had, in hopes it'll convince you to join him. It never works and it always ends the same way; he ends up not getting the hint and making things awkward, ruining the vibe and therefore ruining the whole night. He doesn't seem to understand that you're not interested in getting coked-out surrounded by strangers, nevermind the fact that you don't even touch the fucking stuff.He's fucking creepy, and super invasive. He'd heard the announcement that Club Cosmic made to the public when they began looking for a second DJ to act as your partner, and immediately asked his father, who is now a very successful music producer, to help him score a job at the club, solely because he wanted to be close to you. He claims that he just wanted to 'learn from the master', but you know better than to fall for such obvious ass-kissery. You were devastated to learn that he'd sought you out on purpose, and your boss refused to do anything about it out of fear of losing a dear friendship.

Honestly, California is so big, you thought the chances of running into him after you moved there were slim.
How were you supposed to know his father ended up choosing to reside in San Francisco?Spencer walks up to you and the others, with a hard drive tucked underneath his arm. "Hey! Fancy running into you here, beautiful! What are you doing here?"You purse your lips together, and awkwardly jerk your chin at him. "Hey.. Spencer.. Just doing a little shopping. But, uh- I really need to get going, so- I've got some more things I need to go find-"Spencer glances over your shoulders and smiles at Marcus and Josh, before turning his bright blue eyes back over to you. "What are you lookin' for? Do you need help finding anything? I mean, haha, I come here all the time so I know this place like the back of my hand-"Behind you, trouble looms on the horizon. You're so caught up trying to talk your way around Spencer's attempts to make small talk, you're entirely missing the storm brewing behind you, as Josh clocks Spencer's flirtatious behavior. Now, Josh has never considered himself to be an angry person, but something about the way that Spencer hangs around you seems to set him off. On the night that he'd introduced you to his friends at Club Cosmic, he noted that Spencer would always hover around you near the DJ's booth, and it's not because he just wanted to chat.He kept touching your arm, and you kept having to shake him off.
If he does that again, Josh isn't sure just how far he'll go.
He's never had a reason to be jealous, before.Marcus looks over, and realizes that something's wrong. "Whoa, okay. Josh, bro, you need take a deep breath. Your face is turning red."Josh takes a deep breath, but it's only so he can quietly growl under his breath. "Look at him."Marcus glances over, and frowns at the sight of you trying to steadily back away from Spencer. "Ohh, this not 'bout to end well. Between the two of you, I don't know who to keep my eyes on."Oblivious to what's going on behind you, Spencer has just finished telling you all about the wild story that lead to his hard drive getting thrown into his father's hot tub. Then, he swipes a thumb across his nostrils and adjusts his septum piercing, before looking you up and down with a smirk. "Damn.. I'm sorry, I know it's rude of me to keep staring, it's just.. you look really good. You know, I've got a party I'm throwing at the end of the week. There's going to be lots of drinks, music.. party favors. Did you want to come?"You purse your lips and squint at him, suspiciously. "No, not really.""Okay, then maybe another time?" He suggests with a hopeful smile, which earns him a scoff and a roll of the eyes. Clicking his tongue against his teeth, he tries to grab you by the wrist and pull you closer when you try to turn away. "C'mon, please, listen to me. Just give me a chance! I could make you happy! I could make a huge difference in your life, I could— I could get my dad to hook you up and sign you onto his label. You'd have a record company to back you, and finance you. Wouldn't that be nice?""-and have some wrinkly old man constantly breathing down my neck, asking me for 40% of my earnings? Hah, no thanks." You reply with a strained, angry smile, and a firm shake of the head. "Besides, Spencer, we've gone over this. Stop asking me out, please, okay? I'm not playing hard to get, genuinely, I don't want to date you."Spencer's pale lips twist into a tight frown. "But why? I don't understand why! I'm a good guy, I make good money, and I know I look good. You just-""-aren't single or interested." You quietly snarl under your breath, while forcefully ripping your arm from his grip. "Spencer, I don't know what's going on with you, but this is getting weird. Get some help. Like, genuinely. You've been chasing after me since middle school, and now we're in our twenties, and you still won't leave me alone no matter how many times I say no. This is getting ridiculous. All I want to do is finish shopping with my boyfriend and our buddy, and then go home. God, just when I thought you finally learned to leave me alone too—""Boyfriend?" Spencer replies accusingly, sounding as if he'd been personally offended by the word. Immediately, he looks over at Marcus and angrily looks him up and down, before quickly correcting his façade after realizing the man is easily more built that he is. Outstretching his hand, he attempts to apologize. "I'm sorry, I didn't—""Oh, I'm not the boyfriend." Marcus says with a shake of his head and a smile, hands politely folded in front of him. "I'll hurt you if you put your hands on my homegirl like that again, though. Hah! Sorry, that sounded like I was joking! Hehehe... No, really though, I will absolutely rock your shit."Spencer swallows thickly and then nervously chuckles, before taking a very quick step back with his hands raised in surrender. But then he turns his attention over to Josh, who appears to be waiting expectantly for that apology that he'd been so ready to give. However, Spencer merely looks Josh up-and-down, before scoffing at how ordinary the man looks. Then he looks back at you, with his nose scrunched and his eyebrows pinched together; the epitome of disbelief."Really? Him? That's- that's the guy I'm competing with?" Spencer asks you while pointing to Josh. "Ain't no fuckin' way, no, this has to be a joke. This is a prank, right? Ha- ha! Very funny! C'mon, what the fuck is this? This is the nerdy looking loser you picked? Over a guy like me?"You scoff, and then laugh under your breath. "Sugar, don't flatter yourself, okay? You were never even considered for the menu.""NEVER CONSIDERED— I don't believe this shit." Spencer angrily spits while furiously looking Josh up and down, as if he were searching for something on the man's person. When he doesn't find whatever he's looking for, he takes a step towards you, and angrily points another accusing finger at Josh. "You're shitting me. This is the fuckin' twink you picked to be your boy-toy? Why? Look at him! He looks like a fucking loser, he's not even dressed nice, and I bet he doesn't even drive a—"You look over your shoulder at Josh to check on him, and reach out to rest a hand on his shoulder after seeing just how upset he is. "Hey, don't listen to him, let's just go-""No, I want an explanation!" Spencer humorlessly laughs, before turning away with a huff and shaking his head in disbelief. He drags a hand down the length of his face, and growls under his breath before angrily turning around to face you. "For three years, I chased after you back in middle school, okay, for three fuckin' years! I was a nerd too, but you said I wasn't your type! Now, you suddenly like nerds?! What kind of fucking bullshit is this!?"You turn back around, scrunch your nose at him, and then tilt your head to the side. "You know, I was going to try do this the 'nice' way, but you know what, you don't deserve that. You deserve honesty. You want to know why I didn't like you? Yeah? You sure? You really sure? Okay, so the reason why I never asked you out on a date is because actually, the truth is— you just fucking suck."Spencer's entire face drops. "What? What are you talking about?""You fucking suck! You're a shitty human being! You sucked then, and you suck now!" You shout at him, while drawing the attention of a few nosy passersby in the process. "You're rude to nerdy women, you have shitty taste in music, and honestly, why would I want to go out with a guy who brags about banging random girls in hot tubs, or snorting coke off the ass-cheek of a chick who's crossfaded? Boy, I don't want you and your dirty ass! Unless dating you comes with free therapy and free passes to the local women's clinic, no woman will ever fucking want you."Spencer's face suddenly swells up like a balloon. His pale skin becomes flushed with color, turning a deep shade of red as he leans back on his heels, scoffs, and looks you up and down. "..That's really how you feel about me?""YES." You angrily shout at him. "I've been trying to tell you for years. I don't like you! I have never liked you! I will never like you! Go- fuckin'- kick a monster or a redbull can around your apartment or something, I don't give a fuck, just go away! Leave me alone, stop bothering me at work, and just— fucking fuck off!"The wannabe DJ angrily tucks his tongue into his cheek, and draws in a deep breath. "You know, I don't know what I ever saw in you. Looking at you now, I realize just how fuckin' ugly you are. Fat, too. You parade yourself around like you're this hot, sexy thing, but you're really just a fat, stupid slut. You're so fake, it's honestly disgusting. Like— Like, just like your hair, your nails, and your eyelashes, you're so honestly plastic, you'd make Barbie jealous. It's disgusting. Get some help."You start to laugh, and pull out your phone. "Uh-huh, uh-huh.. I'm a fat, stupid slut, eh? I'm soooo ugly, yeah? Alright, alright, I've got you! Let's go through my texts real quick, shall we? Oh look, there's a text from you! Looks like it was sent last night at 3 A.M. Let's just read this out loud, really quick."Spencer's face visibly pales. "Wait-""—'Hey, what are you doing?', followed by six goddamn fucking winking emojis. Oh, and then a dick picture! How lovely! Oooh, bad angle though, huh? Yeah, pretty embarrassing. Don't worry, my boyfriend totally didn't send it to your mother!" You announce out loud for everyone to hear, with a smile. "Oh, and then when I didn't respond to your picture, you texted; 'I miss you, I'm drunk and I miss you', followed by an 'I want you, you're so hot, I'd love to fuck your tits and snort a line straight off of your pus-'""ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH!" He angrily shouts, before furiously looking around at all of the frowning faces and judgmental stares he's getting from passing customers. "What the fuck are you all looking at?! Huh?! You don't see the way she dresses at work and parades herself around! She leads me on! She wants me to chase her, she wants me to chase her even though she's the one who friend-zoned ME!""You have to be friends first, in order to be friend-zoned." Josh 'helpfully' adds, prompting Spencer to whip his head around and stare at the plainly-dressed engineer in disbelief. "Also, fuck you, don't talk about my girlfriend like that."Spencer takes a couple threatening steps towards Josh, with his teeth bared and his eyes wide. "The fuck did you just say to me, you fuckin' little nobody?"Even when Spencer gets up in his face, Josh refuses to bow or back down. He doesn't visibly react nor does he step away, or try to remove Spencer from his personal space. Instead, he simply stares down at your coworker, before arching a single eyebrow and calmly repeating himself with a little more emphasis. "I said fuck you, don't talk about my girlfriend like that."Spencer viciously snarls while cranking back an arm, as if he were about to swing at Josh— that is, until you grab him by back of his stupid green hair and fling him away, allowing Marcus to step in front of the both of you with his infamous thunder ball in hand. You anticipate a fight to break out when Spencer initially scrambles to his feet, but instead, Spencer skedaddles right on out of the store, while repeatedly glancing back to make sure that none of you are following.While trying to escape the growing crowd of judgmental onlookers, Spencer rudely shoves a few of the slower customers out of his way, while simultaneously yelling at them to move as he shoves them to the ground. He's just about made it to the front of the store when he trips over his own shoelaces, and falls to the cold, unforgiving tile floor with a startled shout. Once again, he curses, scrambles to his feet and tries to run away, only now, Marcus is power-walking after him.Seeing Marcus cutting his way through the crowd is enough to frighten Spencer, who desperately tries to make a mad dash out of the store— only to end up running face-first into the store's reinforced glass doors. Confused and now likely suffering, Spencer stumbles back while cradling his head, before attempting to walk through them for a second time. Again, he runs face-first into the glass and hurts himself, before throwing his head back and letting out a frustrated snarl.Beside you, Josh quietly giggles while fiddling with his phone. If you look over, you can just barely make out the strings of code he's typing in, toying around with the automated door's functioning. Occasionally, Josh will give Spencer a false sense of hope and just barely open the doors, just to slam them shut and nearly crush his fingers in the process. Then, just when Marcus has nearly reached him, Josh willingly lets Spencer go and allows him to run out of the store, and out into the street...Then, as if that weren't enough, he remotely hacks into someone's car and forces it to chase Spencer down.The sound of your coworkers frightened, shrill screams drown out into the distance, as Marcus slowly turns around to blink at the both of you in disbelief. You raise your hands in surrender and then point to Josh, indicating that you had nothing to do with it. Of course, Marcus knows that already— you're learning how to code and hack fairly quickly, but you haven't quite mastered vehicular hacking quite yet. Still, he finds your attempts to prove your innocence amusing.You glance over at Josh, who is leaning to try and get a better look at Spencer running away. "Did you- Were you trying to run him over, babe?"Josh glances at you, and then looks back at the street with an apprehensive flex of his fingers. "No. I just wanted to scare him. Are you mad at me?"You snort. "No, I'm not mad. I just ..did you get jealous? What happened?"He visibly stiffens, and then squeezes his hands after realizing that he's been caught. But even still, he struggles to admit the truth outright to you and nervously looks around the store, before eventually forcing himself to meet your eye and mumbling under his breath; "..I didn't like the way he was looking at you."You coo, and while over to caress his cheek. "Aw, sweet face..""-and then he started saying all those nasty things about you." Josh angrily spits, while squeezing his fingers around the plastic package of the cordless electric screwdriver he'd grabbed earlier. "I don't think I've ever been that angry, before. I don't consider myself a violent person, but.. I almost wanted to get violent. Almost."
That's actually saying a lot when you consider that you've witnessed him get angry before, like when Lenni hacked into Kiki.
Marcus strolls up to the both of you. "Yo, Josh, you good?""Yeah." He replies, while tucking his phone back into his pocket. "..So, the drill should work for what we need. Can we go back, now?"Grinning, Marcus lets out a gentle sigh of relief, and reaches over to pat Josh's shoulder with a laugh. "Remind me not to piss you off, man."Josh glances back and forth between the both of you. "..Okay.""He's joking, sweetie." You whisper in his ear, before grabbing ahold of his freehand and happily intertwining your fingers together. "Alright, let's go back to Wrench, Chester, and Sitara! ♫♪ We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz! ♫♪""..Di-Did.. did you know that the green paint they used for the actress that played the witch, Margaret Hamilton, was highly toxic?" Josh asks, while gently squeezing his fingers around your hand. "The mixture included powdered copper, which was so toxic that she was forced to eat and drink everything through a straw during the shooting of the film. It's also highly flammable. In fact, during the infamous "-I'll get you my pretty" scene, the pyrotechnics crew launched the flames too soon and she ended receiving third-degree burns on her hands and face. It's believed the chemical composition of her make-up made things worse, due to the presence of the powdered copper in it.""Really? I didn't know any of that." You innocently marvel, while quickly latching onto his arm as the three of you start to walk. "Wow, getting that make-up off after must've fuckin' sucked..""It gets worse." Josh says with a steady nod. "They removed the makeup from her burned skin with alcohol."You gasp, and smack a hand over your mouth. "Nooooo!""Oh, I know she was screaming in pain." Marcus drawls, with a sympathetic shake of his head. "That just sounds like that sucks. Alcohol, directly onto freshly burned skin? Hell no, I'd rather be shot in the foot."Josh nods his head. "-And the snow, in the field of poppies? That was asbestos, and it's dangerous to inhale. The microscopic fibers can get stuck in your lungs, which can lead to inflammation and scarring, which can lead to cancer. Studies show that it can increase the risk of lung, ovary and larynx cancers, as well as mesothelioma." "Mmmm, cancer-flavored snow, my favorite." You gag, while sticking out your tongue and violently cringing."Maybe we should send some in a bag to her coworker, eh Josh? 'Cause if we're lucky, he'll just snort the shit without thinking twice!" Marcus suggests with a grin and playful nudge of the elbow."..I'd rather just run him over with a car." Josh admits, with his face wrinkled in probably the most painfully obvious look of jealousy that you and Marcus have ever seen on a human being. His honesty makes you laugh, hard enough to make you involuntarily melt against him. "-Josh!""What?!" He cries out defensively, while shrugging his shoulders as if he didn't understand what he did wrong. "He asked a question, so I answered. That's not a crime.""No, but murder is a crime, babe." You remind him with a smile and an amused shake of the head."Only if you get caught." He replies a little too quickly, and with a little too much ease."Alright, you've been hanging out with Wrench too damn much!" Marcus declares with a playful wag of his finger. Josh happily and then looks over at you— only to end up melting after he discovers that you're already staring back at him, with a dreamy, far-off look in your eye."I love you." He mouths at you, before giving your hand another squeeze.You smile back, and squeeze his hand just as tight before leaning over to whisper in his ear; "-I love you too."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“If you can hear me now, why don't you recall?
I was the one who cared after all.”
―Sonny Moore and Ellie Goulding, Summit[[October, 12th, 2016]]
[::-Wednesday— 2:00 A.M.-::]When you first wake up from a horrible nightmare in the dead of the night, your eyes snap wide open but you can't manage to move a muscle. In the midst of your bleary-eyed delirium, your bed suddenly feels like a coffin, though your dressed in cotton comforters and silken bedsheets instead of a silken gown. Even the sweat beading on your brow freezes in place, cooling off your hot, clammy skin in the wake of your endlessly panning electrical fan. You're hyperaware of your super-strong heartbeat, pounding against the inside of your ribcage like an 808— there's a damn rave happening inside of your chest, and you weren't even invited.You look around your dimly illuminated bedroom, in an attempt to try and seek out comfort in the familiarity of your surroundings. Instead, the shadows clinging to the corners of your dimly lit bedroom just make things worse, while adding to your unease by making it difficult to see. You try to focus on the spinning, twirling lights dancing across the walls and the ceiling, but trying to distract yourself with pretty lights doesn't help either. The only thing that seems to work is forcing yourself to inhale deeply, and breathe through the sleep-induced paralytic episode.Somewhere in the back of your brain, your neurons finally kick in, stopping whatever that horrid ringing in your ears is just long enough to realize your phone is going off. You're finally able to move. Blindly, you feel around in the dim, pink glow of your bedroom's LED strip lights, and reach for the cellphone resting on your nightstand. With a groan, you peer at the blindingly bright cellphone through thin slits, before reading the name stretched across the screen. It's your brother, Erik— the eldest of your 5 brothers, all of them older than you and well into their late twenties and early thirties.You sit up in bed, press 'accept', and bring the phone to your ear. "M'ello?""Hey, brat." Your eldest brother affectionately greets you, speaking in a husky, raspy tone that tells you they've probably been up for a few hours. "I know it's late, I'm sorry, but it's important. Are you sitting?""M'yeah, what's going on?" You mumble into the phone, while dragging a heavy hand down the length of your face."We need to talk. I'll give you a minute to wake up." Your brother mumbles, before softly cussing under his breath. "..Okay. Aunt Blanca just called me and told me that something happened with.. with dad, tonight. He got into a really bad car accident a few hours ago, and he didn't.. he didn't make it out of surgery, baby girl. He died. Dad's gone, booger."In the span of a few seconds, any sense of feeling once had is replaced by cold, unfeeling numbness. Despite having been disowned by your father after announcing your intentions to move to California, you still clung to the delusional hope that one day the old man might've pulled his head out of his ass, and tried to reconnect with his only daughter. You've known for years that it was always unlikely to happen, but with the death of your father, you can't play pretend in your head anymore. You've been disillusioned— and your new, bitter reality tastes a lot like concrete."..Oh." You softly murmur, as tears start to drip down the length of your cheeks. "Uh, okay.. I'm sorry, I don't really know what to say. Don't get me wrong, I am- I am feeling and thinking so many different things right now, I just don't know what to say.""It's okay, take as long as you need to." He murmurs. "I'm not going to bother asking if you want to go to the funeral— I already know that you don't want to go. Just know that if you change your mind, you can always call me and let me know."You violently shudder with a gentle intake of breath. "Okay. I'm g-gonna assume that you and the others are going to fly down to Texas and attend the funeral, then?"Erik sighs. "Yes, but only to support our aunties and uncles, not for.. not for him. It's just that his passing was pretty unexpected and no one has any emergency funding prepared, so we'll probably end up handling everything, financially— Marco, Luis, Vincent, Bruno, and I. Is there anything that I can do for you, princesa? Do you need me to stop by, or-?""No, no, I'm fine, I don't need anything. Honestly, I just.. I'll probably just watch a movie, and then try to go back to sleep." You insist with a shrug of your shoulders, as if your eldest brother could see you. Honestly, the last thing you need is for him or for any of your brothers to show up. It's been awhile since you've seen any of them.. or talked to any of them.. you're sure they'd have lots of questions about the colored hair, and the brand-new boyfriend that you didn't bother to inform any of them about.Erik clicks his tongue against his teeth. "-Bullshit. I know better than to fall for the same stupid crap that you used to feed to mom and dad before you'd sneak out with Samantha for the night. I know you feel like you've got to be big and tough because it's him that we're talking about, but it's like I've always told you, don't give me that 'tough girl' shit. Now, are you absolutely sure that you don't need anything?"With a gentle scoff and a loud, wet sniff, you shake your head in disbelief and roll your eyes in their sockets. "No, I'm fine.. as fine as I can be, at least. I'll let you know if I do."He huskily sighs into the phone. "..Ok. I love you. I'll let you go, but only 'cause I've got a flight in a couple of hours. Stay safe, alright? ..Don't stay up all night."As soon as you hear the tell-tale 'click' on the other end of the line, you toss your phone down onto the nightstand and climb out of bed. Then you start digging through your dresser in search of something to wear, before settling on a set of black baggy cargo-pants, black-and-white converse sneakers, and a white short-sleeved crop-top. Reflexively, you almost reach for the cowboy hat hanging off one of the sturdy posters of your bedframe, but retract your hand with a quiet frown, and storm out of the room.You've just about made it to the front door when you hear Samantha quietly call out your name, and stop dead in your tracks after hearing her sleepy mumbling. Slowly, you pivot your body around in order to face her, while tucking your hands into the pockets of your cargo-pants. Frowning, you shamefully avert your eyes to the floor, and struggle to hide the tears still steadily falling down your cheeks.She yawns into the back of one sleeve, while sleepily rubbing her eyes with the other. "Hey, wha.. what's wrong? Where are you going? I was just.. I just gettin' up to get a drink and you.. what's wrong?"You force yourself to look at her, even though the look of genuine concern on her face makes your lower lip tremble. "...M-My daddy died, Sammy. He's.. He's gone."Her eyes snap wide open as she freezes in place, suddenly feeling wide awake. "Oh my g-... Honey, I'm so sorry-""S'fine, I.. I was just going to go for a walk." You mumble under your breath, while swiping away a glob of tears with your wrist. "I need to clear my head."Samantha tilts her head to the side. "A walk? Are you crazy? No, girl, it's 2 A.M.—""Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything stupid." You reassure her, while holding out your hands to try and stave her anxiety off. "Please, I feel like I'm suffocating in this apartment. I just want to go for a walk, feel the San Francisco air on my skin, and remind myself that I'm not in Texas. Please."Samantha purses her lips together, furrows her brow, folds her arms across her chest, and then squints at you. Against her better judgement, she relents to your demands with a shake of her head. "Mm.. alright, but don't stay out too late."You bow your head and mutter a breathless "thank you" under your breath, before rushing over to pull her close and hug her tight. After squishing her in your arms, you pull away with a wet sniffle, and quietly depart from the apartment. Samantha waits for you to shut the door before strolling over to it and pressing her ear against the doorframe, listening for the sound of your retreating footsteps. As soon as she hears them, she pulls away from the door and runs through the apartment.The beaded curtains covering the hallway's open doorway get swung aside, just so she won't risk getting her hair tangled as it gets flung over her shoulders during her dash down the hall. When she makes it to her bedroom. Stumbling around in the darkness, she feels her way through the bedroom by dragging her hand across the black walls, gliding her fingertips across the glossy surfaces of her posters and polaroid pictures. When she gets to her nightstand, she reaches for her phone, picks it up, powers it on, and goes digging through her phone in order to call yours.When it rings in the other room, she chuckles under her breath, and then softly curses."I knew it. I knew she didn't take her phone. I'm sorry, baby, but you've left me no choice" She softly sighs before hanging up the phone, and going digging through her contacts list. Then after dialing a number, she brings the phone to her ear. "...Hey, it's me. Yeah, everything is fine on my end. There's something else going on that I need to talk to you about, though. Are you sitting down?"[[October, 12th, 2016]]
[::-Wednesday— 4:12 A.M.-::]It's 4 in the morning, and you're standing along the side of an overpass— one of those highway bridges made of concrete, steel, and asphalt, often found in the more sub-urban part of the city. Your bodyweight is propped against the overpass's steel fencing, with your elbows resting against the very top of the railing. The painfully ice-cold metal nips at your skin, leaving it riddled with goosebumps and the like, although you're too internally numb and caught up in your own thoughts to really care.You hoped that a walk would help, but it didn't. Behind you, cars, trucks, and busses pass by on the street. The sounds of their heavy, weighted tires rolling across the asphalt is noisy, but provides a comforting amount of ambience to soothe your soul. You shut your eyes and breathe in deep, before bringing your lit pre-roll to your lips. You suck on the end of it and draw the smoke deep into your lungs, where it settles and hovers for a moment, before it's forcefully expelled from your lips. You've been walking around for two hours, basically crying the entire time, and you're tired.Still, you know that if you were to go back home right now and sit in your bed, surrounded by all of the things your father used to talk about how much he hated, you wouldn't be able to sleep. Everything about your apartment, everything about you as a person, he disapproved of— that's why he disowned you, and why you disowned him in return. He had such high, impossible-to-reach expectations for you, and when you failed to shape up to them, he treated you like dirt and expected you to let him. As if making you hate yourself was a justified punishment.Despite the cruddy relationship you had with your father, you've always secretly wanted things to get better between the two of you, as if that would somehow make-up for all the time you'd lost. How many days had you spent as a child, just crying your poor little eyes out over something cruel or unkind that he said? How many times had you been told to "suck it up" whenever you got upset? How many nights had you lied in bed just listening to your father rant to your mother, while standing in the kitchen and talking about how ridiculously difficult you were?Your father has said things that no little girl ever wants to hear her father say. You'd asked him once to stop saying you were 'over-reacting' everytime you got upset about something, and the man acted as if you'd asked him to strike up a fist fight with God. You'd get jealous whenever you'd hear your schoolfriends talk about their loving and doting fathers, often fantasizing that one day, your own would love and treat you the same. Even worse, your father often did just enough to keep you clinging to such a foolish dream.Whenever your dad did something wrong or out-of-line that came back to bite him, he never once sat down and actually apologized to you for anything he might've done. The only way he'd apologize was non-verbally, typically by making food and forcing you to eat it, buying you flowers, or getting you something you'd been asking to get for awhile. It's like he's— ..it's like he was incapable of admitting when he was ever wrong. Slowly but surely, his "I'm never wrong, just mistaken!" jokes started to feel a lot less like jokes over time, and began to feel more like a warning not to test him on the subject.When you were young, you were okay with the gifts, but that's only because you were just a stupid teenager who didn't really know any better.
As an adult, you do. You know that you didn't deserve to be treated the way that you were. Now, he's dead. You will never get closure.
Then as the cherry on top of the fuckin' shit Sunday you were served, your own mother couldn't bring herself to tell you.
As far as you know, they've been estranged for awhile, but they're not divorced. They still live together. She should've told you. She chose not to.That's a bitter pill to swallow.Between the cold October air and the tears dripping down your face, it's no wonder why your sinuses are completely compromised. You're forced to become a mouth-breather for the time being, while struggling to somehow manage the rivers of snot dripping down your face and your inability to breathe through your nostrils, like a normal fuckin' fleshy bipedal monkey. To be clear, you're not crying because he's dead. You're mourning what could've been— the healthy father-daughter relationship that you used to yearn for.. the relationship that you'll never get, not even in your dreams.You're stop mid-drag when you hear someone park their car behind you, and then quickly scramble out of it in a hurry."-There you are. What the hell were you thinking, making me worry like that?"The very familiar, very angry voice of your boyfriend snaps you out of your daze, and causes you to spin around on your heels with a gasp. Standing behind you at the edge of the sidewalk is Josh, with one hand resting on the rumbling hood of Wrench's beat-up white van. He's furiously staring at you from beneath a furrowed brow bone, and dressed in a heavier coat than what he'd normally wear— likely due to the chilly weather. His jaw is clenched and his teeth are grinding together, but he doesn't bare them at you. He only stares."Do you know how long I've been looking for you?" He tells you with tears dripping down his cheeks, voice cracking with emotion. "I've been driving around San Francisco in the cold for two hours, trying to find you. You didn't take your phone so I couldn't track you by GPS if I wanted, do you know how much that scared me? You didn't even wear a coat— oh my god, what the hell were you doing out here? What were you thinking, taking a walk around the city at 2, 3 in the morning without a coat in this weather? Get in the car.""Josh, I-" You mumble, through trembling lips."Get in the car!" He thunders at you, while glaring through wet, teary eyes.With a shameful bow of your head, you fold your arms across your chest and scurry across the sidewalk. You try to make your way over to the passenger door, but when he sees the tears in your eyes, Josh stops you mid-stride and pulls you close to his chest. Even though he looks angry, he still tries to show you affection by stripping off his jacket and draping it around your shoulders. Then he reaches up and cradles the back of your neck, holding you steady just so that he can press a doting kiss to your forehead."Sam called me. She told me what happened." He tells you while squeezing his fingers around the lapels of the jacket, and staring down at you with a deep frown and furrowed brows. "I know you're upset, but you can't do that. Okay? You just can't. There are too many things that could've happened if I hadn't found you, I don't even want to think-""I'm sorry, I-.." You whimper softly, before starting to outright cry. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, I just!-"The heat in his face visibly melts away, as his features soften and take on a more concerned expression. "Shhh.. it's okay, I'm not.. it's okay, I'm not mad at you, I was just extremely worried. You mean everything to me, and there's so much that could've gone wrong, I got scared just thinking about it all. Don't do that again, don't go on anymore late night walks without your phone. Okay? Come here, I'll hug you."With a trembling lower lip, you lean against Josh and then proceed to melt against chest, where you cry for several minutes. He wraps you up in his arms and holds you tight, while pressing gentle kisses to the top of your head and rocking you side-to-side as you cry. He'll occasionally hush you whenever you start to get too loud or too worked up, but for the majority of the time, he lets you cry as hard as you need to."It's okay, it's okay. " He reassures you with a hum, still rocking you back-and-forth in his arms. "I'm here, even if you don't want me to be, I'm here.""Stay, please." You quietly sob into the sleeve of his shirt. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.""Shhh.." He gently whispers while gently rubbing your back. "It's okay. C'mon, get in the van. You're coming home with me. We've got to go, before Wrench starts dressing Chester up in sweaters."Your eyes swell up in their sockets, once again riddled with tears. "Wh-What?"Josh attempts to herd you closer to the van, while softly nodding his head. "When Sam called me, she told me what you'd said about the apartment feeling like it was suffocating you. So, I told her to pack a bag for you and Chester, while I woke up Wrench, explained the situation, and then asked him to hang out at my apartment and watch Chester for me. Then after dropping off Chester and your things, I went looking for you."You let go of a broken sob. "I don't deserve you."Josh shakes his head and then gently cups his hand around your chin, before closing the distance between your mouths and silencing you with a kiss. Then, when he pulls away, he breathlessly whispers against your lips, and says; "-I don't care if you think you don't deserve me. You're what I want and that's the end of it. Now, please, get in the car."[[October, 12th, 2016]]
[::-Wednesday— 4:49 A.M.-::]By the time you and Josh finally make it to his apartment building, it's almost 5 in the morning. Admittedly, you feel a little ridiculous now that you've had time to calm down and think about your actions, and you've come to the conclusion that Josh is right. What you did was reckless, and honestly, he probably could've snapped at you way worse than he had and he still would've been right to do so. Because he is right— honestly, what were you thinking, going out for a city-stroll without your cellphone, a coat, or anything to protect yourself? Had you been thinking at all?Wanting to help however he can, Josh filled the silence with endless chatter and info-dumping about San Francisco's history as a city, in order to distract you from the heavy thoughts weighing down your mind. Then after your impromptu history lesson, he took the time to explain that he and Wrench, along with the vast majority of DedSec members, live in safehouses, funded with "borrowed money" from DedSec's targets and rivals. They could be anything, from a house in the suburbs or an apartment in the city— Wrench and Josh chose to stay at one of DedSec's bigger apartment complexes.From what you're told, the entire building is occupied entirely by DedSec members, most of whom actually live in the building— although, he did mention that there are a few spare rooms for members across California that might need a place to 'lay low', for whatever reason. Each room comes with it's own little paper-trail of fake rent and fake utility bills, to ensure that the government doesn't start asking questions about the people that are more-or-less being housed for free. However, everyone else is responsible for their own needs, like medicine, furniture, groceries, etc.Sitara sounds like an awesome landlord, if you're honest. A decent apartment, and all of the utilities are already covered? Yes, please.When you arrive, Josh pulls into a parking lot and gathers up all of his things, while you take the time to quiet take in the tall building's nondescript, red-brick façade. Most of the lights are off, save for a couple floors occupied by your habitual early-risers and involuntary insomniacs that have since turned their lights on. With his nod acting as your cue, the both of you climb out of the car and make your way over to the building's front door. It swings open, revealing a tiny little woman dressed in jogging gear. She waves at Josh, but winks at you, and then darts by while seductively looking you up-and-down.Josh leads you up to the fourth floor and glances back to look you over one last time, before the two of you head inside. Knowing that you'll want to look presentable, he takes the time to gently thread his fingers through your hair and comb it back, before using the opportunity to kiss you on the forehead. Then with a gentle, encouraging whisper of "-come on", Josh unlocks the door to the fourth floor apartment, and leads you inside.There's a definite lack of a woman's touch within the space— by that, you mean that it's been dressed in a minimalistic-furniture-but-maximum-nerd kind of way, but there are a few places here-and-there that could probably use a little bit more attention. But with that being said, it's still a well-decorated space. Out of all the decorations, like the blue rug on the ground and the framed posters on the walls, your eyes are mainly drawn to the glowing, lit-up display that has been set-up around the living room's flat screen TV.Above the TV's entertainment stand, there are three large but simple blame frames, each housing their own movie poster. One features Aragorn from the Lord of The Rings franchise, played by Viggo Mortensen, another displays R2D2 and C-3P0 posing side-by-side in a flash of blue and gold, while the final poster depicts Paarthurnax from Skyrim. Behind the TV is a colorful light display, one of the fancy ones that change color to match the mood of whatever's playing on screen. On either side of the television screen are glass display cases, stacked about four feet high with four cubicles housing action figures and hand-painted models.Playing on the television screen is... an Animal Planet documentary on Canadian sphynxes?"Oh, no." Josh quietly groans under his breath. "We're too late."Wrench can be found sitting on Josh's black leather couch, fully reclined back with his feet propped on the coffee table. Sitting in the center of his lap is Chester, wearing a cheetah-print sweater a black DedSec skull stitched onto the back. His big, beady green eyes are completely focused on the sphynxes darting across the television screen, while an English narrator does what he was born to do; narrate and outline facts about the Canadian Sphynx breed with an elegant, posh accent.Wrench runs his naked fingertips down the length of Chester's spine, while stopping every so often to scratch the feline behind the ear. His bare chest, covered in a variety of tattoos that are all clearly heavily influences by cyberculture, rises and falls with every soft breath that he takes. Masked and wearing nothing more than a pair of baggy black sweatpants, Wrench does little after hearing Josh complain about Chester's flashy sweater, but rips his eyes away from the TV after hearing you quietly giggle.Exclamations flash across the screen of his visor, before he scrambles out of his seat. After gently depositing Chester onto the arm of the couch, Wrench hops up and rushes across the unlit living room, just to be able to wrap you up in his arms and squeeze you tight. Then, he leans back onto his heels and brings his hands up to your shoulders, where he rests them for the time being. When you struggle to look up at him, Wrench thoughtfully hums, before playfully flicking your nose to get your attention. It works."Hey, sweet-n-spicy!" He cheerfully cries out when you finally look up at him, through a curtain of wet lashes. Then with a gentle squeeze of your shoulders, he tilts his head to the side and starts to ramble, while nonchalantly waving a hand around in the air for emphasis. "So, my baby called your baby, and told me to watch y'alls baby, while your baby went and got his baby. Which is you."You blink up at him. "Huh?""I heard what happened. I came here to watch Chester, and offer you my sympathy." Wrench tries again, while speaking a little softer. "If you need to talk, hit me up, okay?"With a wet sniff, you nod your head, and then wordlessly lean in for a hug."Awww, you.." He softly coos, while wrapping you up in his arms and squeezing you tight.After muttering a few more soft-spoke words of encouragement, Wrench excuses himself from the apartment and locks the door behind him. Now that the two of you are finally alone, you're able to make yourself comfortable on the couch, while Josh finishes putting away his things and changes the channel to something a little less mentally stimulating. In the end, he settles on the footage of an deep-ocean documentary, causing the ambient TV lighting to change to a deep blue as colorful fish swim across the screen. The sounds of the bubbly, briny blue ease your mind, even if only a little.As the room is engulfed in deep blue light, you strip yourself of the jacket that Josh had loaned you earlier, and are about to go hang it up on the hook by the front door until he very sweetly takes the jacket from you. Then, he gently kisses you on the forehead, and murmurs for you to sit down and get comfortable, while he puts the coat away. As instructed, you lean back against the couch, tuck your knees and hug them close to your chest, while (im)patiently waiting for him to return.Chester runs off to explore Josh's apartment, leaving you alone on the couch. Eventually, Josh returns and sits down beside you, before reaching over to rest a hand atop your leg out of concern. When you look over, you're met with his deep brown eyes, soft and filled to the brim with worry. He frowns at you and then gently reaches another hand over to caress your cheek, while thoughtfully humming under his breath. Curious, you pinch your brows together and then frown, before drawing in a breath to ask "-what's wrong?"But before you can even get the words out, Josh gives you an answer to your unspoken question."I'm worried about you." He admits out loud, while tracing the outline of your lips with his thumb. "Do you need to talk about what happened?"You twist your lips into a tight frown. "I mean, there's not a whole lot that I can really say. It's just.."Josh frowns back at you, staring down at you with a confused tilt of the head. "It's just, what?"You draw in a deep, shaky breath, while reaching out to hold the hand that he's resting on your leg. "..I know I've never really sat down with you and talked about it, but I've struggled to get along with my father, for.. pretty much my entire life. He's largely the reason why I moved away from Texas and came here to California. It was almost like nothing I ever did was good enough for him, he always managed to find another new way to make me feel shitty about myself.""He was controlling." Josh says with a gentle flex of his fingers, squeezing them around your own in anticipation. "Go on.""Exactly, but.." You sigh, while sadly sagging your shoulders. "..I always kind of clung to the hope that he'd change, even though I knew damn well that it was probably impossible. Even with how much he's disappointed me in the past, part of me still hoped that one day, he'd eventually miss me enough to try getting help for his issues or maybe even contact me. Instead, he made sure to put it in his will that I was not to have any involvement in the funeral or his passing, whatsoever. I've got to be the most pathetic waste of space in the world.""No. You're not pathetic, and you're not a waste of space." He insists, in a quiet whisper. "..When a star dies, like-.. like an actual star out in outer space, the shock wave that the dying star gives off will fling a variety of elements across the universe. Some of the notable elements are iron, calcium, and nitrogen, all of which are found within your body and make up your physical composition. It's also important to remember that those elements form under the pressure of a star. Are you with me, so far?"You blink at him, with your eyes wide. "Uh.. yes?""Okay, good. Now as a general rule, Matter, fundamentally, cannot be destroyed." Josh informs you with a firm squeeze of the hand, almost as if he were trying to literally walk you through his explanation. "It can be changed through nuclear fusion or nuclear fission, but the atoms themselves cannot be destroyed. All of the atoms that make up you and the world around you, at one point or another, formed in the core of a star."Confused, you twist your lips into a tight frown and patiently wait for him to finish before you say anything else. Josh assumes that your silence is his cue to continue."You are made from actual stardust.." He quietly murmurs with a growing smile, while marveling at you as if he were amazed. "..Do you know how many stars died, just so you could exist? Probably than we could ever count in our lifetimes."Your eyes swell with tears, as you let go of a broken laugh. "You seem to have all the answers for everything, don't 'ya, gorgeous?""-I'd still try to count them all for you, if you asked. I'd do just about anything you asked me to." He quietly admits in a hushed, heartfelt whisper, before swallowing thickly. "U-Uh-Um.. I said that out loud, didn't I? Oops. You weren't supposed to hear that."Chuckling, you gently nod your head, while bringing your hands up to tenderly touch his face. "Yeah, but it's s'okay because I'd do the same for you."Josh visibly melts in the wake of your mutual admission, and then giggles when he feels your hands gently cup his cheeks. With a happy hum, he soaks up the warmth radiating from your skin, as if someone had injected liquid sunshine into your veins and successfully managed to turn you into a human space heater. Then, rather adorably, Josh puckers his lips with another hum, a more inquisitive one, while blinking at you with hopeful eyes. He wants a kiss.With a quiet, breathy laugh, you smile while leaning in to give him exactly what he asked for. But what started out as an sweet, chaste kiss, full of gently clinking teeth and innocent nose nudges, turns into something else when your boyfriend unexpectedly lets go of a breathy, whimpery sigh that he'd been holding onto. Heavy hands suddenly grapple at your hips and pull you into his lap, where you end up straddling him. You get felt-up from your hips up to your tits and then all the way down to your thighs, before those same heavy hands suddenly grab you by the globes of your ass.Josh quietly moans, while grinding his groin against you. Then, with a nervous laugh, he breaks the kiss and leans back on his rump, while staring down at you with big, sparkling eyes as he attempts to catch his breath. "-haah, haah.. haah, haah.. I'm sorry to ask this because I know it's 5 in the morning, but do you think we could- maybe- ..can I fuck you? Like.. Can I fuck you?"Your eyes swell up again, only this time, you're definitely not crying. "Well, sure! I mean, ye-he-he-heahh! Th-That'd- That'd be fine with me!"He smiles, and then nods his head. "Okay, um.. c-c-could you take your clothes off? I'll take mine off, I'd.. I'd like to try fingering you. You know, uh.. warm you up, first?""Oh, I'm always warmed up, babe. I've got a very high sex drive." You murmur under your breath, before bobbing your head in agreement and clearing your throat while quickly scrambling to your feet. Josh is quick to follow suit and strips himself entirely of everything, except for his favorite beanie— that stays securely atop his head and is gently pressed into place, before he lifts his eyes to address you, unaware that you've already managed to strip down to your birthday suit and are awaiting further instruction.Josh swallows thickly before biting down hard on his bottom lip, while rapidly taking you in from head-to-toe. His cock twitches enthusiastically, and continues to do so even after he's grabbed it by the base. He nervously licks his lips and then swallows again, before reclining back while slowly stroking himself from base to tip. "You're.. You're.. Can you show me how you like to, um.. touch yourself?"With a nod of your head, you turn on your heels and then lean over just far enough to brace a hand against the coffee table in front of the couch, before spreading your legs and bending over the rest of the way. The added support to your back and legs has helped to open your body up, allowing Josh to get a good look at your surprisingly wet pussy. He harshly curses through his clenched teeth, and then whimpers when you dare to look back at him from over the curve of your shoulder, before flirtatiously biting your lip."I'll try not to cum." He says, with an overly pronounced swallow. "But, I'm not going to lie, it's going to be.. quite difficult. In addition to you.. looking the way that you do.. I've already, um.. Well, I've already masturbated today. I'm still a little sensitive from.. earlier.."Your eyebrows shoot up, as you reach a hand between your legs and start to rub your clit. "Oh? Care to share with the class what you were daydreaming about, Mr. Sauchak?"Josh bites down on his bottom lip, and quietly moans while stroking his cock at a slow, steady pace. "-You. It's always you, riding me. I haven't been able to stop thinking about what it felt like to fuck you. Does that make me a pervert? Oh god, it felt so good, I almost don't even care if it does.."With a wicked grin, you quietly laugh and bend down a little further, just to be able to spread open your pussy lips. When Josh reacts to the vulgar display with an emphatic curse and an involuntary buck of the hips, you proceed to push two of your fingers into your wet hole until they've bottomed out at knuckle deep. From there, you begin to finger yourself at a steady pace, and allow yourself to fully indulge in the act as if you were in the privacy of your own bedroom. The moans that spill from your lips are more than just hot, they're downright pornographic.Josh responds by hunching over with a groan and jerking himself off a little faster, before forcing himself to recline back with a long, drawn-out sigh. His eyes nearly roll back in the wake of a strong wave of arousal rushing through his gut, but he refuses to keep his eyes closed for very long, simply because he'd much rather look at you. By now, he's using so much force when stroking his own cock, his balls are starting to bounce in tandem with every stroke, but that doesn't seem to be something he particularly cares about right now."So.. fuckin'.. g-goo-goooood.." He very loudly and very lewdly moans, with one hand resting on his stomach and the other wrapped around his cock."I'd much rather have you fuck me, if I'm being honest." You boldly admit, with a bite of your lip. "Showing off for you is nice, but it's not quite as nice as having you inside of me."This time, Josh's eyes actually do manage to roll back. Enthusiastic as ever, his cock spits out a glob of pre-cum, and then begins to drool a steady stream of the sticky mess. "-Shit, say that again.""-I want you to fuck me." You repeat yourself, before going on to moan at the way Josh clamps a hand over the swollen, engorged head of his own cock— as if he were trying to physically hold back an orgasm. Every little sexual sigh or moan that you make acts like an electric jolt to his system, overloading him with arousal, to the point where he's forced to squeeze his eyes shut and take several deep breaths just to stop himself from cumming too early."-Huff!" He forcefully breathes, chest heaving in the wake of his lung's violent contraction. Then with a nervous laugh, he slowly sits up in his seat. "Okay, uh, hehehehe, maybe I should j-just finger you, instead."With a quiet laugh, you withdraw your fingers and then slowly stand upright. When he scoots back on the couch, spreads his legs, and then pats the open space between them with a bashful smile, you take that as your cue to sit down, and do exactly that. Once you sit, you take the time to get comfortable before leaning back, and resting the weight of your entire body against Josh's bare chest. Then, with an sharp, shuddery intake of breath, he loops his arms around you and rests a single hand atop your own, currently resting against your wet pussy lips. He's practically trembling with excitement.He licks his lips. "Sh-.. Show me, again?""Why don't we do it like this?" You suggest, after switching the placement of your hand with his own.Josh excitedly bobs his head. "Okay. Could you- right, so we just.."Since this is his first time fingering you, you're more than happy to give Josh a brief walkthrough— however, it appears that your demonstration was all that the engineer needed because he's very quick to press his fingers directly against your clit, and start rubbing it in slow, tight little circles. When you tilt your head back to moan, he anticipates it, and provides you with the perfect place to rest your head on his shoulder. Then, the corners of his lips start to curl into the very beginnings of a semi-confident smile.He softly breathes into your ear, with his cock straining against your back. "How's this? Am I doing okay?"You lewdly moan aloud, before clamping a hand over your mouth out of embarrassment. Josh blushes and then giggles under his breath, before eventually leaning down to press a hot, reassuring kiss to your throat. The chaste, innocent kiss is strangely enough to make you grab the couch and hold on for dear life.He airily laughs, causing his hot breath to fan across your earlobe. "But I haven't even put in my fingers, yet.. does it really still feel that good? Even though I'm just barely touching you?""Hrnng, stillfeelsgood!" You moan, in the form of a shrill whine, while squeezing your thighs around the fingers working your clit."I think I've actually got a different position for this in mind." Josh thoughtfully hums, before slowly leaning you up in your seat. "Do you think you can trade places with me?"Although you mourn the loss of his fingers on your clit, you obediently obey Josh's request and switch places with him— only to end up in a similar position that you'd once put Josh in. Just like when you'd sucked his dick, Josh grabs your hips and pulls your rump to the edge of the couch, before kneeling down to your level. From there, he takes two of his fingers and locks eyes with you, just to be able to watch the way your face contorts with pleasure as he slowly pushes his fingers inside you.Your warm, wet, velvety walls happily invite him in, while your pelvic muscles grip his fingers and suck him in deeper each time he goes to test the elasticity of your wet cunt by prodding your pussy with his fingertips. Once his curiosity has finally been sated, he fully presses his fingers into you until they're knuckle deep. Then from there, he starts to finger you at a steady pace, one that causes your body to recoil with each and every curl of his digits. Before long, you're a writhing, wriggling, wet, sticky mess, and Josh can't seem to get rid of the smirk on his face."Fuck!" You curse through tightly gritted teeth, with your own hands buried in your hair and cradling your head.Josh purses his lips together, and then smiles. "This is much better. Don't you think?"You cover your mouth, and blush into the palm of your hand. "Mmmng, Josh, you're killing me-""I can see your face, like this. Even if you try to cover it up." He murmurs, while studiously observing the way you wriggle underneath him. "So, if you end up cumming all over me, I won't miss a thing."With a long, drawn-out moan, you allow your head to fall back against the couch's leathery seat cushion. Before long, the sounds of your wetness fills the room as Josh continues to finger you, by repeatedly curling his fingers deep inside of you in a "come hither" motion. With each thrust of his hand and curl of his fingers, he teases and toys with the growing pressure building inside of your pelvis, while staring down at you adoringly the entire time."You're so pretty.." He mumbles under his breath, cock twitching against your thigh. "I can't wait to see you cum, again. I loved the feeling of you squeezing around me."You blush, and try to cover up your face with your hands. "Can you rub it between my legs?"Josh whines, and then immediately hunches over as if he'd gotten punched in the gut. As soon as he recovers, he scrambles to adjust the stance of his legs, and grabs his cock by the base before attempting to line himself up with your pussy. Then, with another whine, he feverishly nods his head and bites his lip. "Mmn, mhm, a-anything you wa-want, I'll give it to you- I'll give it to you, I'll give you what you want—"Using his own pre-cum, Josh slathers your pussy lips in his own sticky seed, and moans at how dirty everything feels. Then once he's finished, he begins to rock his hips back and forth, while pressing his hard cock against your pussy lips. His cock easily slips across the surface of your skin, due to his pre-cum and your own growing arousal. Josh shuts his eyes and bows his head, while humming at the feeling of your warmth surrounding him."It's so close.. I could easily just slip in." He mumbles under his breath, before just barely prodding his head against your entrance.The head of Josh's cock just barely slips past your pussy lips, pulling a moan from you in the process. That same moan is what ultimately dooms the both of you, and sends Josh over the edge— with a soft curse and a soft-spoken apology, he tries to pull out, but can't resist the urge to press back in. Overcome with pleasure, Josh adjusts the stance of his knees, grabs you by the hips, and then slowly pushes back into you with another moan."-Ohhh.." He loudly groans. "Oh fuck, you're so warm.. shit, I gotta move."Overwhelmed by the intensity of his own arousal, Josh squeezes your hips and then starts to fuck you, setting a swift, steady pace. The sound of skin slapping against skin fills the room, along with the sounds of his whiny whimpers and sensual sighs. But Josh isn't the only one falling apart. As a matter of fact, you'd even go so far as to say that he's doing a better job of holding himself together than you are.
..Well, look at you.
All splayed out on the cushions, you can only lay in place with your legs dangling off the edge of the couch, bouncing in the air with every powerful thrust of his pelvis. Between your legs, a river of both yours and his pre-cum steadily trickles down the length of your pussy lips. While Josh at least has some level of self control, you're too far gone to focus on anything other than the feeling of his cock repeatedly slamming into you. Whereas he can think clearly, you can't seem to stop yourself from scratching and clawing at the surface of his couch like some sort of vicious, feral animal.Josh's eyes flutter shut, as he indulges in the sensation of your walls squeezing around him. With a whine and a furrow of his brow, the snapping of his hips falters just long enough for him to whimper out a little bit of praise, before stammering and tripping over his own words due to the pleasant friction on his cock. "You feel really good, wrapped around me like that. Oh my g- yes-, yes-, fuck-, yes—"You answer his moans with a string of shrill sighs and whimpers, unable to spit out anything intelligible in the slightest on account of being too cockdrunk to tell left from right. Your hands reach out and start to explore his body, by sensually running over the surface of his hot, sticky skin. Not a single square inch of his skin is left untouched as you feel him up, by repeatedly running your fingers over all of the hills, mountains, and valleys that make up the landscape of his abdomen.Josh tilts his head back with a quiet sigh. "Mmmn, I'm gonna move your legs and then go a little bit faster. Okay? ..Okay, here we go."After hooking his hands around the back of your knees, Josh pulls on your legs and loosely wraps him around his waist, before looming over you and essentially bending you in half. He braces his hands against the couch cushions and flattens them on either side of your head, before adjusting his leg stance one final time. Then, once he's certain that he's right where he wants to be, Josh gently grabs your hands and pins them above your head, before setting a harsh, merciless pace.Josh heavily pants, with one eye squeezed shut and the other watching his cock repeatedly disappear inside of you. Having been effectively rendered cockdrunk, the most you can do is lay there and just scream at the top of your lungs, while fighting against his grip solely because you want to touch him. Unfortunately, you're not strong enough to break his hold. Unable to do much else than babble hysterically, you can only sob in-between shrill shrieks and girlish groans, as your poor, weeping pussy is pummeled into the couch cushions, while Josh fucks you like a feral beast in heat.With his face buried in the crook of your neck, Josh hiccups, and then lets out a sob of his own. "You're so p-pr-pretty and p-perfect, I love you so m-mu-much, I can't- I can't imagine my life without you, now that I've— gk-urk! —now that I've got you in it— shit, m'gonna cum-""Baby- Baby, I'm close-" You quietly sob, before suddenly seizing-up beneath him with a loud, shrill whine."Cum with me, please— I wanna feel you gush all over my cock again, please, please, please!-" He moans against your skin, while slathering hot, messy kisses up-and-down the front of your throat— as if that'll convince you to cum on the spot for him. Then, just to ensure that he's gotten his point across, Josh grabs you by the hips and starts to fuck you with every last bit of strength he's got. Then, he thrusts one, twice, thrice before bottoming out inside of you."Shit!" He moans aloud, while spilling himself inside of you. "I love you!-"With his eyes squeezed shut, Josh cums deep inside your pussy with a thunderous shout, and covers your walls in a hot, sticky layer of white. It sets off a chain reaction, as the sound of his sobs help you reach your own climax, adding another layer of chaos into the mix. Involuntarily, you arch your back until it's formed the perfect half-circle, before going on to weep while gushing all over his dick. Gritting his teeth, Josh brutally fucks you through your mutual orgasm, until you've got a river of white running down the length of your thigh.Josh keeps going, and going, and going, until the both of you have completely spent yourselves, and you've got nothing left to give. He manages to stop himself from collapsing on top of you, by simply flexing the muscles in his arms. With a breathless, tired laugh, he slowly pulls out of you with a groan, before collapsing onto the open cushion beside you. Then, he proceeds to yawn into the crook of his elbow, and smiles when you respond with a little one of your own."Are you tired? I can carry you to bed, if you're ready." He asks you, while sleepily rubbing his eyes.
There's no answer.
Josh blinks his bleary eyes, and then squints at you through the darkness. "Baby?""..."He leans in, and whispers. "Did you fall asleep?""...Zzz...."Josh covers his mouth, and then quietly snorts. "-Oops."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Every lover is a fighter.”
―Abhijit Naskar[[October, 16th, 2016]]
[::-Sunday—10:45 A.M.-::]
"-Babe? Are you awake?"
Josh stands in the doorway of his bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, peering around the edge of the doorframe in search of you. His long, shaggy black hair is soaked completely from his early-morning shower, and drip-drip-drips with every little contained, minute movement that he makes. He finds you still fast asleep in his bed, curled up into a fetal position with a pillow between your thighs and the blankets pulled up to your nose. Your tousled tresses are splayed all across his pillow, shining in the sun that slips through the slivers in his curtains. You're beautiful.The sound of your soft snores is enough to make him melt, smile, and collapse against his open doorway with a hand over his fluttering stomach. With a happy hum, he eventually makes his way into the room and then strips himself of his towel, before drying himself off and throwing the towel in the laundry basket in front of the tall, wooden dresser next to the bed. Then, he gets halfway-dressed for the day, but waits to put on his beanie and his shirt until he's dried off a little more. The necklace housing his house-key gets easily slipped over his head, and dangles low on his bare, clean-shaven chest.Chester, having heard the man's return, darts out from underneath the bed and rushes over just to be able to affectionately rub himself against his ankle. Josh chuckles under his breath while watching the feline desperately try to get his attention, mostly by weaving in-and-out between his legs. He gives into Chester's demands and scoops the naked feline into his arms, while Chester takes an interest in the shiny golden key dangling from his neck."Meow." He trills, while gently pawing at the shiny golden object."That's my apartment key." Josh tells him. "What are you doing with it?"
Chester tries to bite it, and then sticks out his tongue in disgust after actually getting a taste.
Josh quietly snorts. "Doesn't taste very good, I imagine."Eventually, Chester is gently deposited onto the ground, but only so that Josh can make his way over to the bed and sit on the edge of it. He reaches over and gently rubs your side, while softly muttering your name under his breath. Eventually, you start to stir in bed, and rub the sleep from your eyes before looking around in a bleary-eyed daze. Josh grins when he finally locks eyes with you, and reaches over to gently brush your hair out of your face, while you attempt to very slowly sit up in his creaky bed."Good Morning." He quietly murmurs, while affectionately rubbing your leg.You sleepily rub your eye with a smile. "Good Morning. S'today the day? The day we go back to the hackerspace?"Josh lifts his eyebrows. You haven't mentioned leaving the apartment since he initially suggested it this past Friday. "I don't know, is it?"With a gentle intake of breath, you purse your lips together and nod. "I think so. I've been rotting in your bed for awhile, so it's probably for the best.""Good. I'm proud of you. I know this is difficult." He murmurs in what he hopes is an encouraging tone, while still rubbing your leg. "The shower is available. I made sure there's more than enough hot water for you. Chester's already been fed and I took care of his litterbox, so you don't need to worry about that. Coffee should be done, but I'm about to go out there and check just to be sure. Is there anything I can do for you?"Without saying a word, you look him up and down. "..I mean, you could do me."Josh quietly snorts, and bows his head to hide his blush. "..Maybe, when Chester isn't in the room."The sexual tension between the two of you is so palpable, you're just about to say '"fuck it" and pull Josh into bed, when your phone starts to ring. With a sigh, you turn your attention over to the dresser where it's sitting, while Josh actually hops up and grabs it for you. You have half-a-mind to decline and throw the phone across the room, until you realize that it's your boss from Club Cosmic: Mr. Velvet Velour."Hold on, it's my boss. I'm probably going to get called in or something, but I'll see if I can talk my way out of it." You groan softly, before accepting the call and bringing it up to your ear. "Hello? Mr. Velour?""Oh! Darling, thank goodness you picked up!" The man emphatically shouts at the top of his lungs, before gasping at the sound of someone roaring angrily in the background. "Oh no, absolutely not— WOULD ONE OF Y'ALL ACTUALLY DO Y'ALLS MOTHERFUCKIN' JOB AND RESTRAIN THAT MOTHERFUCKER?! THANK YOU! Sorry about that darling! Anyway, I know this is a terrible, terrible time for you, and under normal circumstances I would not ask you to do this, but I need you to come to the club and help me with something. But girl, I swear on my favorite pair of Jimmy Choos, you can go home right after!"You roll your eyes back, and then squeeze them shut with a solemn sigh. "Mr. Velour, I mean this in the most polite manner possible, but whether or not I help entirely depends on whatever it is that you're asking me to do. I'd like to know what it is that I'm needed for, before I agree to anything. Again, respectfully.""We're... letting Spencer go." Velvet informs you in a very hushed-hushed tone, as if he were sharing a trader secret with you. "You see, it hasn't hit the news yet, but Spencer's father posted bail money for him this morning after he'd been caught sending some.. explicit photos of himself to a high-schooler he hit up in an online chatroom. The poor girl showed the pictures to her father— who just so happens to be the police chief of San Francisco, by the way. Mhm. Yeah. Well, as you can imagine, the court system made quick work of him. But Spencer's stupid ass father decided to go against my advice and bailed out him out, and now that devil spawn is here, in my club, making a complete fuckin' mess of things!"You furrow your brows together, glance at Josh, and then immediately put your phone on speaker. "Wait, what? I'm sorry, could you run that last part by me again?"Velvet continues to rant, none the wiser about the extra set of ears listening in. "Okay, so after Spencer was jailed for sending pictures of his dangly bits to the teenager he randomly messaged online, his father came to me for advice on what to do. I think he wanted me to tell him everything was okay, but I've never been the type to sugarcoat shit. So, as his best friend, I gave him my honest opinion. I said that I understood that as a father, he will always love his son, but he had to admit that Spencer's behavior had spiraled out of control. I might've.. suggested that a few years in jail might do him some good. Give him some real-world experience, since he's gotten a little too comfortable with the Hollywood life. His father didn't react well."Josh's eyes swell up. You try not to laugh at the balloon-ish behavior, and hum sympathetically. "Mmm, I see.""The man laughed at me! He told me that I didn't know what I was talking about, and said that I should stick to sucking dick and sewing suits." Velour snarls into the speaker. "I told him that was the end of our friendship, because as queer man, I refuse to entertain the idea of friendship with a person comfortable enough to talk to me like that. You know what he did? This motherfucker not only has the audacity to bail his son out, but he even told the sonofabitch that I'd let him keep his job! I have no intentions of doing that! I've never had intentions of doing that! What he did is disgusting and he deserved to be punished for it! Pfft, let's be real though, the bitch deserved more than what he got."You purse your lips and swivel your eyes back over to Josh. "Sooo.. what exactly do you need me to do?"He was so sure I'd let him keep his job, he had already set up to start mixing for the day." Velvet irritably scoffs. "When I told him to get out, he started to throw a tantrum and began screaming and shouting at me! It was disturbing some my guests, so I had to call security and the police. They're currently holding him off, but I need you to come to Club Cosmic and disconnect his equipment from the booth. I don't trust the police to do it without breaking something expensive. They've already broken my speaker! MY! SPEAKER! MY BRAND NEW, HAND-PAINTED SPEAKER!""Okay, okay, I can stop by, breathe." You drawl with a heavy sigh, which earns a cheerful, delighted squeal from your boss, Mr. Velour. "My boyfriend will be coming with me, though. Is that alright?""Boyfriend? Pffft, sure, whatever miss thing! I don't care if you bring your boy-toy, as long as he's not anything like— HEY! HEY, YOU FUCKIN' RADIOACTIVE ROCKHEAD, STOP TOUCHING MY SHIT!" Mr. Velvet Velour starts to scream, yelling at who you assume to be Spencer in the background. "..WHAT DID YOU CALL ME? OH HONEY, YOU'RE LATE TO THE GAME! BABY GIRL, WE BEEN KNOWN THAT I LIKE DICK! YOU'RE LATE, BOO BOO. Tch, just get here as quick as you can, okay, darling? They can't remove him from the property without all of his shit!"[[October, 16th, 2016]]
[::-Sunday—11:52 A.M.-::]By the time you and Josh finally pull up to Club Cosmic, the entire parking lot has been swarmed by police and news crew cars. Josh drops his head down a little to get a better look at his surroundings, while you lean up in the passenger seat with a soft curse. Everywhere you look, there's a policeman or news reporter with a camera crew and a microphone, reporting live to thousands of people all over California. Thankfully, you took the time to shower and dress up- meaning, you won't end up going viral on the internet for looking like a hot mess in the background.Still, there weren't supposed to be this many people here. There must be quite the spectacle going on, inside.After adjusting the angle of your cowboy hat, you drag your tongue over the curves of your painted lips. The fabric of your baggy cargo-pants scrapes against itself as you shift around in your seat, with one converse-clad foot braced against the dirty dashboard of Wrench's van. You prop an elbow against your knee and lean back in your seat with a sigh, before glancing over at Josh, sitting in the driver's seat with his fingers squeezed around the wheel. He looks wide-eyed and nervous around so much police, like a crack addict with a ounce in their pocket."I don't know where to go." Josh tells you, while looking around the parking lot for a decent spot. "I don't feel comfortable parking Wrench's van close to so many police. Weed isn't legal in California quite yet, and his van reeks of it. I know the final decisions on the bill is coming up in November, but-""-Hey, hey, we've got this. Drive around to the eastside of the building, baby, there's employee parking back there." You tell him with a gentle point of the finger. "..Okay, see? It doesn't look like the police are here at all. Also, look- no police dogs, so we're cool even when we got to open the doors."Josh sighs with relief. "Okay, thank you. I was starting to panic, for a minute.""I've got you, sugar." You murmur, before reaching over reassuringly rub his shoulder. "Everything will be fine."Now that you've managed to talk him through a very brief panic attack, Josh is able to think a little clearer. Just as you expected he would, he parks in the very back of the employee's section of the parking lot, making sure that he's as far away from the police as possible. Then he quickly climbs out of the vehicle in a hurry, and rushes over to your side of the van to let you out. With a giggle and a snort, you wait for him to open the door and then climb out, while making sure to hold onto your hat so that it doesn't get blown away in the process.Josh swings the door shut and briefly glances over his shoulder, before looking back at you with an apprehensive squeeze of his fingers. "Can we hold hands? I'm still nervous."After adjusting your teeny white shirt, you happily offer him your hand with a sweet smile. With a grateful, appreciative sigh of relief, Josh immediately intertwines your fingers with his own. With a happy hum, he gently squeezes your hand and then takes a deep breath to mentally prepare himself, before nodding his head resolutely once he's gotten himself straightened out. Then he looks over-and-down at you with an otherwise impassive look on his face, and tilts his down until he's staring at you from underneath his brow bone."Are you alright?" He quietly whispers to you. "I'll understand if you'd prefer to just go back to my apartment when we're done, here—""No, I'm alright, sugar." You return with a nod and a smile. "I'm okay, really. I've spent enough time rotting in bed, and the world doesn't stop spinning or slow down just because I'd like it to. Besides, I think seeing the others would be good for me. Marcus, Sitara, Horatio, and Wrench— I think I need to be around them to feel normal, again."He squeezes your hand. "I'm proud of you, and I love you.""I love you too, and thank you. I really appreciative how patient you've been with me." You whisper, softly. "Let's go."Josh nods his head in return, before allowing you to lead him by the hand. When you get to the door, you don't bother taking out any sort of identification to identify yourself to the bouncer, because the new security guard working in David's old position is much more competent and already recognizes you at a single glance. The tall, beefy blonde cheerfully waves at you with his fingers, and flashes you a blinding, professionally whitened smile, before opening the club's heavy, weighted door just enough for the both of you to get inside.
(Roswell's Saloon, Established 2023 — Montrose, Houston, Texas, United States of America)
(we're gonna pretend it's in San Francisco, California for the sake of plot, though)One you're inside the club, you find your Boss, Mr. Velvet Velour, standing in the back, lingering at the base of the steps with the majority of his weight propped up against a long, silver cane. He's wearing another one of his own handsewn designs, a two-piece made out of a sparkly emerald-toned fabric cut to fit his tall, lithe figure. The sparkly silver high-heels on his feet happen to match the silver band on his custom-made fedora, with an exaggeratedly wide brim. Tucked into the sparkly band is a fluffy white ostrich feather, and you find yourself fascinated by the way it swishes around with every sassy swing of the man's head.Mr. Velour finishes barking an order at one of his security guards and looks them up-and-down in annoyance, before turning his head and spotting you from across the club. After dismissing the guard with a nonchalant wave, his entire mood seems to change in an instant. The frown that'd been occupying his face is replaced with a white, sparkling, pearlescent smile, as he tilts his head to the side. The drippy silver earrings dangling from his ears swish in tandem with the movement, playing with the sunlight shining through the windows. He happily waves at you from afar, and calls out your name as loud as he can.From the top of his feather-dressed hat down to his pedicured toes, Mr. Velvet Velour has meticulously pricked and primped every last inch of himself, seemingly leaving no stone unturned. The rings and acrylic nails adorning his fingers sparkle in the sun, winking at you from afar everytime the man goes to move his hands. Both of his hands come down to rest atop the colorful figurine of a red-billed streamertail, which acts as both the decorative focal point and the handle of his cane."There you are, darling!" Velvet greets you with a happy wave, before pursing his plush, painted lips together and looking you up-and-down in approval. "Hmm, street-Style meets Texas.. I'm loving it, I might have to make a suit inspired by it."You smile at your boss, and tip your hat at him while making your approach. "Thanks. Love the highlighter you chose to wear today.""Oh, thank you! I decided to paint my face with the colors of peacock today! I felt like standing out a bit more than I usually do, in spite of it all." Mr. Velour purrs, while fluttering his fake eyelashes and framing his face full of beautifully painted make-up with his hands. Once he's done fooling around, he drops his arms to their usually sassy t-rex position, and then turns his attention over to your boyfriend. Mr. Velvet subtly looks Josh up-and-down with a smile, before waving his fingers at the man. "Hello! Don't be shy, you're welcome to stop by and visit your little lady friend any time."Josh swallows thickly, and nods. "Okay. Thanks."Mr. Velour turns his attention back over to you with a purse of his lips. "So, I want to talk to you about something important. Since Spencer is getting fired, and not just 'let go' anymore at this point, I've made the decision to make you the host and the sole DJ here at Club Cosmic, again. Looking back, I think the two of us were much happier with that arrangement. In addition to that, we'll also go back to having a set list of pre-approved music by you, which'll play on the days you have off. I'll also take Spencer's pay and add it to yours, as an apology for... everything that you're about to deal with, when you go upstairs."You firmly nod your head. As much as you hate dealing with Spencer whenever he's in a mood, you're not about to turn down a pay increase. One more hour of dealing with his idiocrasy is worth a $100 pay increase. "Sounds good to me. What do you need me to do?""Spencer already set up the DJ's booth for the day, and I need all of his shit disconnected. I don't trust the fuckin' police to do it, so I need you to, because you're the one with a fuckin' degree in this shit." Mr. Velour gestures widely with his hands, before pointing up the steps with the use of his cane. "The police will handle carrying his crap out the door, I just need you to actually disconnect it from my new system because when they tried, they BROKE!- MY!- SPEAKER! My $800 dollar speaker, with a $400 paint job! I'm so angry!"A policeman passing by doubles back, with their hand held out apologetically. "Sir, we said that we were sorry for-""SORRYDOESN'TFIXMYDAMNSPEAKER!" Mr. Velvet Velour angrily thunders at the policeman, before waving his hand at the man with a frustrated snarl. Once the uniformed fellow darts away with his tail tucked between his legs, Mr. Velour rolls his eyes and then turns his attention back over to you, before politely clearing his throat. "-Ahem. Anyway, dear, if you could handle it, I'd be grateful. In the meantime, I'm going to slip into the back and get my end of things in order. Just let me know when you're finished, okay?"With a hand braced against the crown of your hat, you nod your head, and then steam-roll by him at top speed. "It'll get done, sir."Mr. Velour happily scrunches his nose as you dart by. Then, he pivots around, slips behind the bar, and disappears through the kitchen doors. Meanwhile, you and Josh continue to make your way up the steps to the second floor of the club, where the heart of all the action is. As expected, Spencer is exactly where Mr. Velour told you he'd be; surrounded by a gang of security guards and policemen, all shouting and barking different orders at the neon-haired nuisance. He's trying to shake them off and get to the DJ's booth just a few feet away— it's like watching a bunch of farmers trying to hold onto a greased-up pig.Whew! He just as stinky as one, too!"Let me fucking go, you pieces of shit! My father will have every single one of you fired for this!!-" Spencer angrily snarls through gritted teeth, while trying his damndest to shake himself free. But then as you and Josh make your way up the steps, Spencer's head turns to look after you enter his peripherals. As soon as he sees you, he manages to slip away from the cops, but falls to the ground and then crawls over to you on his hands and knees, with tendrils of spit spilling down the length of his lips like a drooling dog.Josh wraps his arms around you, pulls you away, and immediately puts himself in-between the both of you. "No."He slurps it up and nearly chokes on it, before coughing it back up onto the floor. "Stop!- Wait!-"Not wanting to stick around and figure out whatever it is that Spencer wants, Josh quickly ushers you over to the DJ's booth, and protectively hovers nearby as you get to work on disconnecting his equipment. In the background, Spencer's eyes widen as he watches you approach his laptop, his turntables, and his mixers, and tries to stand up as quickly as he can. However, the cops are slightly faster, and immediately tackle him right back down to the floor."Stop! Stop it! Don't fucking touch that! Don't!-" Spencer furiously bellows at the top of his lungs, while angrily thrashing against the police's grip— like a fish out of water. Then, he starts to scream again. "I swear to god, if you fuckin' idiots don't get off of me!-""What's he doing?" Josh asks you, before looking over at you with an impassive look on his face. "Why is he freaking out like that?""He's probably on something." You mumble under your breath, before briefly glancing over your shoulder. "Either that, or he's pissed off that his connection to girls and drugs just got ruined.""-Probably a little bit of both, I'd imagine." says a third voice.Whoever is talking is able to speak much deeper than you and Josh would ever be able to reproduce, naturally. The both of you nearly jump out of your skins as you turn around, where you're greeted by the sight of a much taller individual— a man, to be specific. He's dressed in polished dress shoes, dress pants, and a woolen overcoat, all in the same shade of jet black. The Rolex watch around his wrist is definitely genuine, along with the thin, masculine platinum chain dangling around his strong neck. Atop his head is a small, slicked back pompadour, held in place with a generous amount of hair-gel.
There's only one person in the world that you know who dresses like that at 12 o'clock in the afternoon.
You take a deep breath, eyes twinkling with recognition. "-Erik? What the fuck are you doing here?! God- damnit, you're supposed to be down in Texas!"Your eldest brother pulls his lips back into a wolfish grin, as he takes a single step towards you. "Relax, relax... Marco, Luis, Vincent, and Bruno can handle things until I get down there. Besides, I decided to stay behind a little longer after I heard from a little birdie that my little sister was seen running around San Francisco at 2, 4 o'clock in the morning."He drops the smile from his face— your heart sinks down into your stomach."Oh. Well. Uh. Ahem. I didn't think Samantha had your number." You very carefully reply, while swallowing nervously.Erik's sharp, angular features scrunch in confusion. "Samantha? I don't have her number. Anyway, she's not the one that told me. One of my.. boys said that he saw you running around with tears dripping down your face. Then, he says he saw you climb into the car of somebody that was yelling at you, so.. I decided to make it my business to fly back and check on you. But since you never bothered to tell me where you live, I had to do a little digging on you and found out you work here. Looks like I showed up at just the right time. Now, care to explain to me exactly what the fuck is wrong with you?"Your eyes swell in their sockets— this is not good. Not good at all. In fact, this is exactly what you didn't want to happen. The last thing you needed was for your hyper-protective eldest brother to show up with a mouthful of attitude and a pocketful of questions, not when you're right to get this done quickly and efficiently, and that's not even touching how his supposed "boy" caught wind of what went down between you and Josh at 4 in the morning. How in the hell are you going to talk your way out of this one?"Uh... well... Now's not a good time." You spit out as a poor excuse, before turning back to the booth and going right back to disconnecting electrical shit— sometimes, you even slyly plug things back in, just to keep yourself busy. "I'm working. That's what you do at work when you have a regular job, Erik."Erik arches a well-manicured eyebrow, and tucks his tongue against the inside of his cheek. "Uh-huh.. you know that I'm not leaving until I get an answer, right?"You scoff, and then shake your head. "Well, you're going to be waiting for a long time then. I can sit here, plug, and unplug these wires all day."He quietly laughs under his breath. "..Yeah, that's not happening."Without hesitation, Erik reaches over and steals your hat, ripping it right off the top of your head. Immediately, you attempt to retaliate by violently swinging at him, before repeatedly attempting to grab the hat. Meanwhile, Erik makes a game out of it, and tries to frustrate you into giving up by repeatedly bobbing the hat in-and-out of your reach. Josh anxiously hovers nearby, unsure of what to do— he wants to intervene, shout, or maybe even tell Erik to stop picking on you, but the man is so much taller than himself. Erik is easily at least 6'4". What the hell could he do to defend himself, should things turn violent?After awhile, you get frustrated and angrily sock Erik in the gut, pounding your fist against the hardened abdominal muscles there. He chokes on his own laughter, but doesn't drop the hat— frustrated and running out of patience, you angrily shove him and turn away, although you do little to throw him off balance. Realizing that he's pushed you too far, Erik presses his lips together in a tight frown, and attempts to approach you with the hat in hand."Kiddo—" He says, in a softer voice."Fuck off." You snarl at him, voice cracking under the pressure. "My daddy's dead and you're over here picking on me while I'm trying to work, as if I don't already have enough to focus on. Not all of us can afford to live as largely as you do, you know. Why are you even here? Don't you have a crooked casino to run? Go away!"Erik's lips twist into a tight frown. "Hey, c'mon..."Having had enough of standing on the sidelines, Josh attempts to approach you and place a hand on your shoulder, which catches Erik's attention. While Josh attempts to sweet-talk you into heading back to his apartment so that you can rest, Erik's eyes twinkle with recognition. As the two of you talk, Erik goes digging through a hidden pocket sewn into the inside of his coat, and eventually pulls out his phone. He opens his phone's text messages and then goes sifting through the pictures that his boy sent him the other night.
The man standing in front of the white van yelling at you is the same one currently touching you.
Erik tucks his phone away, sets your hat aside, and then angrily cracks his knuckles. "Hey, you, you sonofa-"Before your older brother can manage to approach either of you, there's a loud commotion going on behind the three of you that attracts both Josh and Erik's attention. They twist their necks around to look at whatever's going on, just in time to witness Spencer manage to wriggle right out from underneath of the mob of security that had been pinning him down. Then, before anyone can even process what's going on, Spencer hurls himself across the club at lightspeed and makes a beeline for the DJ's booth.When Erik realizes what's about to happen, he tries to shout and warn you duck out of the way, but you're actively ignoring him after he'd being an ass. Because of your brother getting in the way, you never see Spencer coming, and you don't realize that he's managed to run up behind you until he's already violently grabbing you by the roots of your hair. All you can do is let out a shrill cry of pain and try to blindly fight him off, although you don't get very far on account of the fact that he's behind you.Erik gets ready to swing, but is surprised as he is beaten to the punch— literally. As soon as the goofy green-haired idiot puts his hands on you, Josh launches himself at Spencer with his arm already cocked back, and quickly takes a strong offensive stance before violently swinging his arm at full speed. His massive fist sails right across Spencer's mouth, cutting his lip on his own teeth upon impact— and it is one solid impact.Spencer's body drops to the floor with a noisy crack, and Josh is left standing over him with a menacing look on his face. But instead of pummeling the bastard even further into the ground, he shows restraint by turning away and walking over to you, standing off to the side with a hand cradling the back of your head. Erik stands there in shock, eyes wide, brows raised, and mouth gaping open. Eventually, Josh stops panicking and cradles you close to his chest with a sigh of relief, before looking at your brother and blinking nonchalantly.Erik raises his brows and rapidly blinks, while repeatedly opening-and-closing his mouth. "Uh.. how does coffee sound? My treat."[[October, 16th, 2016]]
[::-Sunday—1:52 P.M.-::]Down in the depths of the hackerspace, Sitara slowly paces back-and-forth in front of her printing press, with her arms folded across the front of her sweater. Beside her, Wrench is dorking around with Wrench Jr's internal interface and inner mechanics, trying to fix a stutter that he'd discovered in the bots movement. Beside him, Marcus watches on in amusement as his best friend struggles to accomplish the very simple task of using the cordless electric screwdriver that Josh had previously bought. "How do you even use this fuckin' thing?" Wrench grumbles under his breath, while twisting around the little device in his grip. "Man, I wish Josh were here to fuckin' help me figure this out... Horatio, too. I mean I know the guy needs to go to physical therapy, but do you think he could at least leave us a postcard for the days he won't be here? You know, one of the silly ones with the palm trees and the words "wish you were here" scribbles across the front in giant, cheesy font? Huh? No? Just me? Ok."Marcus rolls his eyes and grins, knowing that he'd likely get smacked if he were to actually give Wrench a genuine response. After all, the anarchist has never been the type to read the instruction manual, no, he'd sooner blow the damn thing up. So instead of actually offering the man any advice, Marcus just props his elbows against the flat top of the workbench, while Wrench attempts to figure things out on his own. However, Marcus eventually notices Sitara's consistent pacing, and ends up leaning onto his toes just to get a better look at her."Yo, Sitara." Marcus calls out to her, before greeting her with a respectful jerk of the chin. "You good?""Yeah." She says while gently bobbing her head, still slowly pacing around. She barely even looked at him, just now.Marcus clicks his tongue against his teeth while slowly pushing himself away from Wrench's workbench. "Hey, I know that look. That's a dangerous look. What happened?"Wrench seems to break from his robotic trance. "Huh? Whazzat?"Marcus jerks his chin at Sitara. "Sitara is pacing, and she's got that look on her face. She's in Sitara Mode."Pixelated zeroes flash across the screen of Wrench's visor as he snaps upright, and begins to feverishly glance back-and-forth between the two. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, what happened? Why is she- what's a- what the fuck even happened?""Turn on the news. You'll understand why." She quietly drawls under her breath, while thoughtfully tapping her lip as she slowly strolls around.After sharing a look of utter bewilderment, Wrench and Marcus trail away from the former's workbench and make their way over to the couch, where they sit down and get comfortable. Then, they huddle close and use the remote to turn-on and change their wall of television screens to the WKZ News Channel. Their newscaster pulls back her lips and smiles for the camera, before straightening the useless stack of papers in front of herself to seem professional."-Hello, my name is Shirley and I'm with WKZ TV, here to talk to you about something that— well, something that some of you folks back at home might find a little disturbing. Earlier this morning, Richard Olson of Richie Records posted his son's bail, after the 24 year old was arrested and convicted on grounds of indecent exposure to a minor earlier this month. Spencer James Olson's release was understandably met with public outcry, and today, we've discovered that it just might have been warranted. For the next part of our story, we're going to talk to Freddie Dunst, who's currently on the scene. Freddie?"
"-Hello, Shirley, I'm reporting live to you out front of Club Cosmic, which you can see is swamped with police and traffic— Honestly, Shirley, it's just a mess over here. We've spoken to witnesses-on-the-scene who claim to have seen Spencer James Olson throwing what they're all calling a "temper tantrum fit for a toddler". Our credible sources claim that Mr. Spencer had been told by his father that he'd come to an agreement with the club's owner, Mr. Velvet Velour, so that Spencer could keep his job at Club Cosmic as the secondary DJ at the establishment. However, it appears that no such agreement had ever been made."

"-Oh, my! Well, I'm sure that ruined his mood!"

"-Absolutely, Shirley, in fact, Mr. Olson has been arrested for a second time, a measly four hours after his initial release. We've spoken to police, who claim that Spencer James Olson was arrested after, and we quote: 'physically assaulting his coworker'."

"-Do we happen to know the identity of the coworker that was assaulted, Mr. Dunst?"

"-Yes we do, Shirley, in fact, we have reason to believe that the victim in question is none other than San Francisco's very own DJ Hypnosis, who was reportedly acting as Spencer's mentor and tutor in the music industry. Unfortunately, we were unable to catch an interview with DJ Hypnosis on her way out the door, and as such, we are unable to report the extent of her injuries. However, it is believed that Ms. Hypnosis is doing just fine as she was seen exiting the club in the company of two men. Now, onto our next segment—"
Marcus quickly stands up, and takes a couple hot, angry steps towards the TV. "What the fuck!? That's the same punk-ass Josh and I scared off!"Sitara gestures towards the TV with a humorless laugh. "See? Now you know why I'm mad. Oh, and if you thought that was bad, wait 'til you hear that his dad is already gearing up to pay bail for a second time. I bet they're not even going to house the fucker in jail. They'll probably just- take the money, and let him go. He'll be out in a matter of hours."Wrench angrily hops up from the couch, as well. "What the fuck? Shit, somebody has to call Josh and tell him what's happened. Fuck, and Sam needs to know, too! Where's my phone?! Marcus! Marcus, help me find my phone! I need to call my girlfriend before she sees the fuckin' news, and starts freaking out!""We should also probably find out where our homegirl is at." Marcus advises with a wag of his finger, before attempting to help Wrench locate his phone somewhere on the workbench."-I found her." announces Josh, who comes walking into the hackerspace with a bag of half-melted ice pressed to his knuckles.When Josh marches by, intending to get to his desk and get another bag of ice from the hackerspace's fridge, Marcus, Sitara, and Wrench turn their heads to look as you walk into the hackerspace. You have barely enough time to adjust the angle of your hat and grin, before the others try to tackle you into a bear-hug. Much to your delight, you are squeezed and crushed by them all, chattering excitedly a mile a minute."Whoa, whoa, slow down!" You laugh, while gently patting Wrench's head as you pull away from the three of them. "Hey, hey, easy, man.""Sorry. Was worried. Gotta squish you. C'mere!" Wrench declares, before sweeping you into a ultra-tight hug. Once he's satisfied, he finally lets go of you, but only so he can grab you by the shoulders and gently rattle you a little. "My dudette, what happened to you? Why are you on the news, and why is Josh getting a bag of ice?""Huh? Oh, that's because he punched Spencer to get him off of me." You explain with a casual smile, while pointing a thumb over your shoulder. "Hold on, hold on, I see that look that I'm getting from all of you, let me explain first. See, my boss called me and asked if I could come in and disconnect Spencer from the DJ's booth, 'cause the idiot went ahead and set up for the day without clearing if he even still had a job first. Well, he got mad that I was touching his shit and attacked me— he was pulling at the roots of my hair, even tried to rip an earring out at one point."The news said you were seen leaving with two guys." Marcus says, while holding up two of his fingers for emphasis. "I've gathered that one of them is Josh, but who was the other?"Your smile falters. "Oh.. that'd.. that'd be my eldest brother, Erik. He's, uh.. Well, he does-.. he came by to, uh.. he works for, uh.."After listening to you struggle to find the right words to say, Josh decides to intervene on your behalf— and covers your ass, without giving too much personal information away. "From what I understand, her older brother was supposed to fly down to Texas and help the rest of the family with the funeral, but he decided to stay behind to check on her. However, he just ended up getting in the way at work. After I punched Spencer, he offered to buy us coffee, but she told him to kick rocks. She's not speaking to him, right now.""-Girl, I can totally relate. I'm not on good terms with my family, either." Sitara murmurs, before leaning over to get a better look at Josh in the back of the hackerspace. "Josh, are you okay? How's your hand, sweetie?""It's fine." Josh declares as-a-matter-of-factly, while re-approaching you and the others with a new bag of fresh ice. "So, are we going to do something about him? Spencer, I mean?""Absolutely." Sitara says with a resolute nod of her head, while placing her hand on her hips. "DedSec always takes care of its own. Besides, it sounds like somebody could teach the little punk a lesson. I'm going to see what I can dig up on him and his little family, there's bound to be something floating around on the internet, or- Trippy, do you possibly know of an address that we can-?"
"-Don't look at me, I've never been that desperate for a date!"
[[October, 17th, 2016]]
[::-Monday—3:04 A.M.-::]"-I know, it's complete bullshit, man."Somewhere in Downtown Oakland, Spencer drunkenly staggers through the darkness of his apartment, with one hand against the wall to steady himself. The added, foreign weight of an ankle monitor causes him to trip and fall to the floor, where he crashes face-first into the hardwood with a groan. On the other end of the line, his friend giggles and asks if Spencer is okay, to which Spencer angrily replies: "-G'no! My g'nose fucking g'hurts!"Crawling on his hands and his knees, Spencer makes his way towards his bedroom, where a loud, bassy mix of techno and house music can be heard playing. It noisily rattles against the walls of his apartment until he can manage to crawl into his room, and make his way over to his computer. With a scoff and a groan of annoyance, he shuts down his music player and then stumbles over to his bed, where he collapses for the night.When his friend starts to babble in his ear, Spencer cradles his forehead, before dragging his hand down the length of his face with a groan. He covers his eyes when the black, poster-covered walls of his bedroom start to blend together in the dark, and groans in agony as he's overcome by a pounding headache. Spencer is hyperaware of the nausea building inside of his gut, but chooses to try to breathe through it, instead of making a run for his bathroom. In the end, despite his efforts, he ends up vomiting anyway, and leans over the side of the mattress to unload his guts into a trashcan by the bed.With an exasperated sigh, Spencer reaches for the TV remote resting on his nightstand, and uses it to power-up the TV. From there, he starts flipping through channels in search of something that'll pique his interest, before eventually settling on a cheesy horror movie that just so happens to feature a lot of scenes with full-frontal nudity— honestly, the only reason the movie made any money at all is because it's basically porn, with the occasional jump scare to keep you on your toes."Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just pissed off that they gave me house arrest, of all fucking things. ..Ugh, look, none of this would even be a problem if she'd just stop playing hard to get and just admit that she fucking likes me, okay? ..Yeah, I know that I said she's got a boyfriend, but I've built my entire life around this chick, dude, okay? You wouldn't get it." Spencer sighs, while settling back against his blankets and pillows. "..Whatever, man. I'm going to bed."After hanging up the phone, Spencer rolls over in bed, and leans over just far enough to be able to toss his phone down onto the nightstand. As soon as a pair of full, bare-naked tits flash across the screen, he settles down and gets comfortable for the night, by reclining back against his messily made-up bed with a sigh. Then, he sticks a hand in his pants and begins to drunkenly fiddle with his junk— but ends up blacking out from all of the alcohol he'd drank and passes out before he can manage to get very far.Beyond the walls of Spencer's apartment, a beat-up, white van full of mischief quietly pulls into the parking lot, before driving around to the back of the building. Once it's occupants are certain that they're alone, the van's side door slides wide open, allowing you, Sitara, Josh, Marcus and Wrench, to climb out and step into the cold, chilly night. Then, one by one like an army, you begin to suit up, putting on masks and gloves, toting a variety of destructive tools in your pockets. Wrench is the first to finish getting dressed on account of being prepared from the get-go, and keeps watch from the roof of his van while the rest of you finish getting ready.Josh walks up beside you, carrying a USB stick in his hand. His mask is the simplest out of everyone's— it's solid black and lacks any sort of special design, but it gets the job done. He silently studies you for a moment, closely watching as Sitara takes the time to adjust your mouth-mask, while you pull on the black latex gloves to get a better fit. There's a brief moment where you look over and lock eyes with him, watching him watch you, until eventually you speak up."Are you okay, baby?" You ask him softly, before reaching out to offer him your hand to hold onto.He takes it, and gives it a tight squeeze. "I'm okay. We'll be in-and-out, right? Tonight won't end in a car chase with the cops?""Don't worry, my sweet hackerchild! Even if the cops do show up, we've got all the bases covered!" Sitara cheerfully reassures him, before pulling away from you and twisting her body towards him. "Hey, don't worry, this'll be easy. All we have to do is climb the fire-escape, open his window, and then we're in. We'll be in-and-out in 20 minutes, max."Josh lets go of a breath he'd been holding. "Okay.""Hey, Josh-" Marcus says while approaching the man from behind, just to be able to walk up beside him and gently pat his shoulder. "-I got you, my dude."Josh smiles, and nods his head. "Thanks, Marcus."Once everyone is suited up, the five of you begin to climb the interconnected stairs of the buildings old, creaky fire-escape system, all the way up to Spencer's apartment on the third floor. The wrought iron creaks underneath the strain of your combined weights as you gather around his window, press your faces against the glass, cup your hands around your eyes, and peer inside. When you spot Spencer passed out in bed with his hand stuck in his pants, both you and Sitara recoil in horror, and turn away from the window with matching cries of disgust."Oh, nasty!" You gag, while covering your mouth. "Oh, that was way more than I needed to see!""You said it." Sitara scoffs, while girlishly flailing her hands around. "Ugh, I'm going to need therapy and a cigarette, after tonight.""Why, what's wrong? What could be so bad?" Marcus asks, before looking through the window for himself. "Oh. Oh, that's just— woohoohoohoo! Yo, this dude really passed out in bed, with his hand around his meat-stick!"Josh scrunches his nose beneath his mouth-mask. "That's disgusting. Can we turn off the.. "movie" he's watching? If one can even call that a movie..""No, we can risk it. We don't know how deeply he's sleeping." Sitara sighs, while turning back around, reaching over, and sliding up the window. Then, using a pair of needle-nose pliers stuffed into her pockets, she removes all of the bent, rusted nails preventing her from accessing the window-screen's frame. From there, she's able to actually remove the screen and kick it into the apartment, where it clatters to bedroom floor. But as soon as the screen is out of the way, all of the stale air that had been trapped inside suddenly wafts out of the window in one big, revolting cloud of nastiness.Wrench waves his hand in front of his masked nose, and shakes his head. "Woo! Smells like college-debt, weed, and late night regrets!""Smells like Spencer." You scoff, before adjusting the angle of your cowboy hat. "Alright, y'all, let's fuckin' do this."One by one, the five of you climb through the window and filter into Spencer's apartment, which reeks of week-old pizza and stale beer. The bedroom carpet beneath your shoes is littered with trash, dirty clothes, and cigarette butts, which you struggle not to trip over while trying to make your way inside. Sitara, having gone first, crouches down low and sneaks her way over to Spencer. Upon arrival, she leans over him and snaps her fingers in his face, testing the limits to see just how much noise she can make before he starts to move.When Spencer doesn't even twitch, she comes to the conclusion that Spencer is too deep of a sleeper to hear anything, and turns to look at you."Come on." She whispers softly, while gesturing for you to follow.After making sure that you've safely made it inside and are following closely behind, Sitara takes you by the hand and leads you further into the apartment, while the boys pile into the bedroom. Josh makes a beeline for the computer desk directly to his left and sits down in the chair, before plugging in USB drive into one of the laptop's ports. Then, after uploading a virus onto Spencer's laptop, Josh begins to comb through the man's personal files and documents, while deleting everything and anything that looks like it might be related to you, or the club.Wrench and Marcus take a walk around, looking for things to pocket and things to destroy. Their first stop is the en-suite bathroom, where they find pictures and little paper cut-outs of you that Spencer has taken the time to tape, stick, and glue to the polished surface of his bathroom's medicine cabinet. They all get ripped down and flushed down the toilet, along with all of the medications and pill bottles inside. Then, they walk back into the bedroom, where they find Josh hunched over Spencer's laptop, angrily muttering under his breath while typing away at the speed of light."Josh? You okay?" Marcus softly whispers under his breath, while cautiously approaching the engineer from behind."No, I'm angry. He has so many pictures of her." Josh furiously mutters under his breath, while feverishly tapping away at the keyboard. "Some of these were taken straight off of her ScoutX and Instagram pages, but a lot of them look are candid shots of her when she's working. There's even one of her and I kissing at Club Cosmic, but he's scribbled out my face.""Yeah, we found a little 'shrine' of your girlfriend in his bathroom." Marcus admits with a tight frown, before reaching over to rest a hand against his shoulder. "S'okay, we got rid of it, though.""Crazy fuckstick." Wrench angrily snarls while staring down Spencer's sleeping form, with angry, pixelated slants flashing across the screen of his visor. Spencer barely even stirs in his sleep, completely unaware that Wrench is fighting the urge to grab the nearest blunt object and repeatedly club him in the face. However, Wrench spots something above the bed that catches his interest, and lets out a quiet gasp before feverishly slapping Marcus on the arm."Ow, ow, ow!" Marcus hisses, while trying to lean out of Wrench's reach. "Dude! What?""Marcus! Marcus, look!" Wrench whisper-hisses, while pointing at the shelves above Spencer's bed. "Do you see what I see? Those are limited edition hand-painted figurines— he's easily got $4k-$6k, sitting right there on that shelf!"Marcus scrunches his nose. "Wait, you mean the kind that incels spend an arm and a leg to get, just because the clothes are detachable?""Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Wrench excitedly babbles, while frantically patting down his own pockets. When he fails to find whatever it is that he's looking for, Wrench irritably scoffs under his breath, before swiveling his head around. "Dude, help me get them down! We've got to steal those! We could- oh my god, dude, it'd be so funny- We could draw little pants and shirts onto all of them, or take a lighter and melt some of the plastic, or—""—Or you could just be quiet." Josh irritably mumbles under his breath, while still combing through Spencer's laptop.Refusing to let Josh rain on his parade, Wrench grabs a random plastic bag off of Spencer's floor and climb onto Spencer's bed, before stepping over the sleeping drunk. The bold, ballsy move earns a few strings of hissed curses and whispers of "-what the fuck, Wrench?!" from both Marcus and Josh along the way, while Wrench seemingly pays them no mind, too caught up in whatever it is that he's doing to care about their judgement. Cradling the sides of his head, Marcus tries not to panic as he watches Wrench use his arm to sweep the shelves, and knock all of the figurines into the bag.You and Sitara walk into the room, just in time to witness Wrench in the midst of his borderline-hysterical giggle fit."What's his problem?" You ask Marcus with a hand on your hip, while jerking your head towards the anarchist."Wrench found a bunch of action figurines— the 'naughty' kind, with detachable clothes." Marcus explains, with his lips pressed together in a fine line. "I have no idea what he plans on doing with them.""-I don't know, either!" Wrench proudly declares, before hopping down from the bed with a soft grunt. "I think I'm going to either sell them, or mutilate them in some sort of horrific manner and send them back to good ol' Spencer, here. Maybe melt a few down into the shape of a dildo, so he has something that he can go fuck himself with."Sitara quietly snorts, and shakes her head. "-Creative. Well, Trippy and I scratched up his vinyl records, and we busted up his audio equipment. What about you, guys?"Josh pulls away from Spencer's laptop, stands, and turns away from Spencer's desk with a shudder of disgust. "I'm done. I uploaded the virus onto his laptop, gave his hard-drive a hard-reset, and deleted a bunch of photos that he had saved. I also installed a backdoor, in case we ever want to go back in."Wrench holds up his plastic bag full of goodies. "I'm set! I've got my plastic porn collection, all ready to go!"Marcus rolls his eyes, and shakes his head. "Man, just when I think I've gotten used to you..."Sitara quietly chuckles under her breath, before nodding approvingly. "Alright, good. Let's go home, before he wakes up.""-Y'all, can we get beer on the way back to the hackerspace?"

"-Sure, Trippy, but why?"

"-Man, I've gotten assaulted, broke into my coworker's apartment, and now I know what kind of porn he likes. I could use a fuckin' drink."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Thou shalt not be a victim,thou shalt not be a perpetrator,but, above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.”―Yehuda Bauer[[October, 18th, 2016]] [::-Tuesday—4:45 P.M.-::]
"-Hey, Trippy; I remember you saying the other day that you had siblings. How many do you have, if you don't mind me asking?"
The question is casually shouted to you from across the hackerspace, over to where you're balanced on one of Josh's legs. He's completely locked into his whatever it is that he's working on, evident by the way he stims by impatiently bouncing his unoccupied leg around. Sitara stands in front of her printing press machine with one hand resting atop it's controls, while leaning her weight onto one foot in order to get a better look at you.Your eyes swivel around in their sockets, but you don't turn your head. "I've got five older brothers! Going from youngest to oldest, their names are Bruno, Marco, Luis, Vincent, and Erik."Sitara purses her lips together, and nods her head. "So, you're the only girl in an entire family full of boys. Damn, girl, God really had it out for you, didn't he?"The fact that she's somehow managed to summarize the entirety of your relationship with your siblings in a sentence is amusing, enough to make you laugh out loud. "-Yeah, it sure looks that way, don't it? Ah, they're not all so bad. I'm not speaking to Erik right now, but I generally get along with all of them. Let's see, uh— Bruno is a bartender at a strip club, he's 27. Marco is 30 and a professional fighter. He's the one that taught me how to fight.""You had me nervous when you threw that drink in Lenni's face, that one time." Marcus says, standing just a few feet away from you. "I'm not sure how I'd handle seeing you actually swing at someone and rock their shit, haha!""Now, there's a compliment if I ever heard one!" Wrench cheerfully interjects, paying no mind to whether or not anyone asked for his opinion. "Do you know what an honor that is!? Our very own Hipster Merchant of Death gets nervous around you!"You chuckle softly. "I appreciate the sentiment, but that's not what I'm going for. I don't want to be super scary and unapproachable.""Hehehehe, Josh has scary girlfriend privilege!" Marcus playfully teases you, before ducking out of the way of a well-timed projectile being thrown in his direction. "Hah! You missed me!"After rolling your eyes, you turn back around and settle back against Josh's chest with a soft harrumph. "Fuck off, Marcus, at least Josh can get a girlfriend. Until you can hit on a girl without being drunk, shut your mouth. ..Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted; Luis is 32, owns his own bank, and is probably the wealthiest out of all of us. Vincent is an ex-Hell's Angel, the current leader of the California Kingsnake biker gang, and is 35 years old. Any other questions?""Damn, she ate me up." Marcus giggles under his breath.Sitara chuckles. "-and you deserved it.""Aren't the Kingsnakes one of the Sons of Ragnarok's biggest rivals, now?" Josh asks you, while speaking loud enough for the others to hear— just in case they're looking for confirmation, too."Yeah, they are. Vincent has recently taken over more territory, which means the Sons of Ragnarok have a smaller playground to play with." You reply, while nodding affirmingly. "Vincent's gang regularly picks fights with them over just about anything you can think of. Drugs, territory, guns, women, he's not exactly a clean-and-easy-living kind of guy. Unlike Erik though, Vincent's not a complete hard-ass. He runs a non-profit dog rescue right out of his home, and makes regular donations to domestic violence charities. He likes peppermint tea, and his favorite color is sunshine yellow."Sitara hums, and then gently bows her head. "-and what about Erik?""Erik? He's 38, and a former U.S. Marine. He was blackmailed by his superior into going through with an honorable discharge from active service, despite not wanting to actually quit. He was never the same, after." You state, purposefully impassively. "Now-a-days, he makes most of his money from his properties on the Las Vegas strip; casinos, hotels, clubs, etc. He'd hate me for calling him one, but Erik is basically like a modern day mob boss. He'd probably want me to say that he's an 'entrepreneur seeking alternate means of income'.. but I'm pissed off at him, and don't feel like being nice. So, fuck him."Sitara frowns. "Is he somebody that we need to worry about? He sounds dangerous.""I don't think we'll need to worry about him. I wouldn't be surprised if he's keeping an eye on DedSec for personal reasons, though." You thoughtfully hum, while gently shaking your head. "A lot of DedSec's morals, goals, and beliefs align with his. It's just that Erik tends to get.. aggressive, when trying to accomplish his own goals or whenever he's trying to get something that he wants. For example; if he were us, going against a greedy CEO? He'd probably just put out a hit on him, if he were in our position. He wouldn't bother trying to attack the guy's public image. He'd just kill him."Sitara purses her lips together, and whistles. "Messy work.. and that's also not how we do things, here at DedSec.""Do you think you'll ever make-up with him?" Wrench asks, with a pixelated squint.You shrug. "Don't know. Don't particularly care.""Let's change the subject." Josh suggests, having picked-up on your growing discomfort at the increasing interest in your brothers."Yo, have you figured out what you'd like your user-handle to be?" Marcus cheerfully asks you, in an attempt to help switch things over to a happier topic."-'Cause I don't know about anybody else, but I have personally been dying to know what little miss sweet-and-spicy's new name will be on the big worldwide web."Sitara clicks her tongue against her teeth, chuckles, and then hangs her head. "Dammit, Marcus-"Marcus scrunches his nose, and shrugs his shoulders in confusion. "What? What'd I do?!"Stammering like a fool, you struggle to come up with something believable that might excuse you from giving a straight answer. Admittedly, you've actually already gone through the whole process of picking a username, it's just that you haven't bothered to tell any of the boys just yet. With some creative help from Samantha, you came up with a username and gave it to Sitara to punch it into DedSec's system, so that you could surprise Josh and actually show it to him the next time that the topic of your user-handle got brought up in conversation.Unfortunately, it looks like Marcus just ruined that, without even really meaning to.Guess you'll just have to spill the beans."I've actually chosen a username, already." You admit, before cutting a slight glare in his direction. "I was going to surprise Josh with it, in private."Marcus cringes, and pulls back his lips into an apologetic smile. "Oh. Oops."Josh pushes his keyboard away, and then wraps his arms around your waist. "You can still tell me. Whisper it."With a nervous lick of your lips, you cup your hand around your mouth, lean over, and whisper into Josh's ear. "So, uh.. I wanted to pick a name that fit me as a person, but I also wanted to show you my appreciation for taking the time to, heh, stretch your patience and teach me basic coding. So as a sort of 'tribute' to you, I went with, uh.. I went with the user-handle GH0ST_PEPPER."Josh's eyes swell in their sockets, as the man swings his head around in order to look at you. With a laugh and a breathless smile, Josh squeezes you in his arms before closing the distance between yourselves, just to be able to kiss you on the lips with a happy hum. Then, when he breaks the kiss and leans back, he stares down at you with soft, adoring, half-lidded eyes."Thank you, I love it." He quietly whispers back with a smile, before stealing another little kiss from you. Then, he looks over, and announces your user-handle to the others with a proud, peacock-ish grin. "She went with GH0ST_PEPPER.""Yooo, that's dope!" Marcus excitedly cries out, eyes wide and a-glimmer with joy. "I like the little 'connection' between your usernames, that's cute as shit!"Wrench folds his hands around his face and dreamily sighs, from across the hackerspace. "Awww, she said 'I love you' in neerrrrd! How sweeeeet!"You allow your eyes to fall shut with an exasperated sigh. "Wrench, you better hope that Josh doesn't let go of me—"Josh tightens his arms around you, squeezes, and then lets go before announcing in a comically deadpan tone; "-Oops. My hands slipped."The sound of your swiftly sprinting footsteps are enough to send Wrench reeling into a state of panic. Marcus tries to warn him with a giggly cry of "-Wrench, run!", prompting the anarchist to try and skedaddle for safety. Thanks to Marcus's warning, Wrench has enough time to vault-and-slide across the center table, just as you come running around the side of it in order to try and catch him. Marcus giggles evilly as he watches you and Wrench take turns toeing the line, testing each other's limits and hand-to-eye coordination. There are several times where you very nearly reach him.Marcus briefly glances over at Josh, before playfully shaking his head with a big, cheesy grin. "Josh, I didn't know you could be such an instigator."Josh turns away from his computer to watch the scene unfold, with interest. "I'm not instigating. Instigating would imply that I have dubious or underhanded intentions. I don't have any underhanded intentions. I'm straight-forward about my intentions.""Oh, yeah? Well then, what are your intentions?" Marcus sagely asks.Josh purses his lips together, to hide his grin. "To watch Wrench get beat up by my girlfriend."Marcus violently snorts. "Oh, I get it! You don't have underhanded intentions, you've just got plain ol' regular intentions that you don't mind anybody knowing about, 'cause you don't give a fuck!"Josh cannot suppress his grin, and ends up smiling from ear to ear while nodding his head. "Yup."During the chaos, your phone starts to buzz— the sound of Train's hit song Hey Soul Sister starts ringing through the air, causing you to come to screeching halt. Wrench appears to recognize the cheerful, melodic tune, evident by the exclamation points that flash across the pixelated screen of his visor. After pulling out your phone and showing him the screen to show him that it is, indeed, your best (and subsequently, his girlfriend) calling, he raises his hands in surrender and backs off.You tap your thumb against the bright green 'accept' button, and hold the phone up to your ear with a smile. "-This is the city morgue, you pop 'em and drop 'em, we freeze 'em and stock 'em, how can I help you?" Samantha sighs into the phone, sounding relieved to hear your voice— even in spite of your silly joke. "Hey! I need to see you. Like, right now. Are you busy? How soon can we meet up, you think?"There's a sliver of urgency in her tone that raises your eyebrows. "I'm not busy. I'll leave right now and be there soon—well, uh, wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Where is 'there' exactly, and what is even going on?""I can't tell you what's happening over the phone. M'not comfortable with it, I'd rather see you as soon as possible." She admits in a softer, quieter voice. "I'm not in danger or anything, I'm just uncomfortable with something that I've learned and I need your advice on how to handle it. I'm at the skatepark by the beach— the one skatepark nearby that thrift store that we like to go to. How soon can you get here?"You purse your lips together, and frown. "I'm leaving now. I'll be there soon, I promise."[[October, 18th, 2016]] [::-Tuesday—5:18 P.M.-::]When you first climb out of the driver's seat of your car and step out into the sunshine, the sound of a sharp wolf-whistle directed at you echoes from down the street. Ignoring it, you pull on the lapels of your leather jacket and bury your nose into the collar, while searching your surroundings for a sign of Samantha. Surrounded by the sound of wheels scraping against steel, wood, and concrete, you find her, perched at the edge of a concrete bowl cut into the ground. Underneath her foot is a skateboard in the prime position to drop down. You call out to her, from afar.Samantha perks up after hearing your voice, and starts to frantically look around. When she spots you, she immediately turns away from the concrete bowl and skates her way over to you. Then she skids to a stop, steps off the skateboard, and then tightly wraps her arms around you, squeezing as if she were afraid you'd disappear. With a smile, you bow your head, causing the brim of your cowboy hat to cast a shadow over her face. She breathes you in, inhaling the sweet scent of your body soap and perfume— the fruity scent of your perfume is especially strong. You must've just put spritzed some on, not too long ago."Hey, pretty bird." You quietly murmur, before puckering your lips and kissing the very top of her head.She pulls back, rests a hand against your shoulder, and then tilts her head back to smile up at you. "Hey, thanks for coming."You grin down at him. "Anytime. So, what seems to be the problem, chica?"After letting go of a heavy sigh, Samantha lifts a hand to scratch the side of her forehead, while scrunching her nose and twisting her mouth as she struggles to find the right words to say. She idly adjusts her fitted cap, sitting backwards atop her head full of long, sweeping brown hair. Then, after sweeping back the green highlighted streaks on either side of her face, she tilts her head down and purses her lips together, as if she were preparing to get scolded by her mother."I've taken up street art, again." She quietly murmurs. "I've been going out in the afternoons, and tagging all over town.""That's fantastic! You know, I thought San Francisco was getting more colorful, but I didn't know it was you." You excitedly babble at her, before slowly twisting your lips into a frown. "-You're not excited. What's wrong?"Sam frowns. "Well, see, I would be! Only thing is, I seem to have gotten myself into a bit of trouble."Your frown starts to deepen, and this time, you pair it with a slightly furrowed brow. Despite knowing good-and-well that she is not the source of your ire, Samantha can't help but shrink while sheepishly smiling up at you. To reassure her, you softly shake your head and whisper "not you, you're okay", before gently patting her on the shoulder. Your voice comes out low, and husky— like golden honey, rolling down someone's lips. "-what happened, sugar? S'okay, you can tell me."Samantha takes a slow, deep breath, and then releases it through pursed lips. "Hooo, okay. So, the best time to tag something is usually at night, when there's not any cops or potential snitches around. I don't know if you knew that. Anyway. I don't like going out at night, so I always try to tag at sunset instead 'cause it's usually just as quiet and I get home before it gets dark. Well, last night, I had a really shitty late shift and really needed to blow off some stress, so I went to my car and got my spray cans and sealant even though it was pretty dark. I decided to cover up this shitty mural near where I work, since my coworkers are always complaining about it. But.."You frown, sympathetically. "But?""But, then there was this chick that, like, came out of nowhere." Samantha says, while frowning back up at you. "She got in my face and started screaming at me, while accusing me of covering up her artwork and saying that it was important for it to stay up because it was a recruitment mural. I told her, point blank, that the mural sucked, that it was literally falling apart, and that literally everyone in the area was complaining about it, so she could take it up with the locals."You arch an eyebrow. "Okay.""-But then she switched up, on me. She started complimenting my work. She even apologized and said the work I had done looked better than what had been there." Sam explains, with her eyebrows pinched together and her nose scrunched. "Then she said she'd be willing to forgive-and-forget, as long as I did her one little favor as pay back. She wanted me to paint over another mural of hers, but she said it was deeper in the city and much larger. I agreed, only just to get her off my back. But when I got here and got ready to work, I realized the mural is a DedSec mural! Somebody tried to trick me into acting against DedSec! What do I do?!"Suddenly, all the pieces seem to click together. "Did this chick happen to be chubby, had round glasses, and was wearing a black blazer with a fuckin' crying troll-face meme shirt underneath? Probably kept hitting a vape? Made up a lot of unique cuss words?"Samantha blinks up at you, eyes wide and in shock. "Yeah, that's- that's actually really spot on, how'd you know?"You scoff, and turn away to pinch the bridge of your nose "Goddamn Lenni-""Wait, do you know this chick?" Samantha asks with a confused tilt of her head. "Eh, sort've, but not really. I don't know her personally, or anything. I just know she's been a pain in DedSec's ass before." You sigh, before turning back around to look down at Sam with an angry frown. "Do you remember when I told you that some black-hat hackers tried to hack into DedSec's servers? Lenni is the leader of a hacker group Prime_Eight, she's the one responsible for hacking into their servers that day."Samantha's face becomes screwed with anger. "Motherfucker. Do you think she knows that I'm close to DedSec?""What? Pffft, hell no." You scoff, before folding your arms across your chest and gently shaking your head back-and-forth. "Lenni is a smart hacker, but she's not a smart person. She probably just saw how talented you are and was hoping to use your skills to her advantage. Maybe even recruit you, if she thinks she could sweet-talk you into it. She's good at getting people to do shit for her, so I'm told. I mean, she works with thugs and gangsters who just hand her the shit she needs. Tells you what kind of person she is, I'd think."Sam's face pales by ten shades. "Well, shit. What do I do?"Your eyes soften. "Well, for starters, I'll need to get ahold of Sitara and let her know what happened. She'll want to know that Lenni tried to trick you into taking down her artwork, for obvious reasons that I probably don't need to explain to you, being an artist yourself. As for Lenni, don't worry about her— leave her to the others. They'll make sure you get your lick back, if you want one.""I don't know about that, actually. Waiting to get my lick back, I mean." Sam solemnly replies, with her lips pressed together in a tight frown. "..You know, I'm tired of being a wallflower. I'm tired of being soft and fragile, and.. always needing to be sheltered. I mean, you've always been protecting me— from my parents, from my brothers, from my exes. Maybe it's time I stopped hiding in the dark, and actually did something that makes a difference."You furrow your brows together, and tilt your head to the side. "Whatcha 'tryna say, Sammy?"Sam takes a deep breath, and then stares up at you with a resolute look on her face. "I'd like to join DedSec."[[October, 18th, 2016]] [::-Tuesday—5:18 P.M.-::]By Sitara's command, you've been ordered to bring Sam directly to the hackerspace.Samantha stands beside you with her hands tucked in her pocket and a mouthful of minty chewing gum, staring up at the door to the hackerspace. Her deep brown eyes studiously scan it's smooth, nondescript surface as you type in a numerical code into the neighboring keypad, before stepping back and looking up to stare up at the security camera directly above the door. After you wave and blow a kiss at it, the camera follows when you step back, earning a quiet chuckle and a giggle out of the both of you.When the door opens, you take Samantha by the hand and lead her inside. About halfway down the stairs leading down into the hackerspace, you hear the sound of Wrench's frantic footsteps hurling him across the hackerspace at high-speed, followed by the sound of him yelling out her name. By the time you reach the bottom of the steps, you've got just enough time to narrowly dive out of the way and avoid getting trampled in the process.You fully anticipate Wrench to speed on by, and get to Samantha as quickly as possible. But much to your surprise, the anarchist doubles back just to grab you by the collar of your jacket and drag you closer. Then, you and Samantha are wrapped up in his long, lanky arms, squished together, and then squeezed tight in one of the strongest bear-hugs you've ever been on the receiving end of. Marcus runs over with his arms flailing about, while pretending to sob in the most dramatic fashion possible. It earns snickers out of most of you, Samantha, Wrench, and Sitara— not Josh, though.However, there's is another laugh— one you haven't heard in quite some time.Your head pops up. "Horatio?!"Leaning up against Sitara's printing press is Horatio, with a big smile on his face that stretches from ear-to-ear. As soon as the two of you lock eyes, you start wildly wriggling around in Marcus and Wrench's grips, before breaking free and sprinting over to hug the man. Horatio pushes himself off of the printing press machine and meets you halfway, with his arms outstretched as wide as they'll go. Normally, you'd throw yourself into a friend's arms after being forced to go without seeing them for so long, but you try to take extra care when it comes to Horatio, on account of the compression wrappings you can feel beneath the thick material of his hoodie when you go to hug him.You melt against his chest, and struggle to swallow back the urge to cry. Horatio coos, and gently squeezes an arm around you with a smile. "Aww, It's okay! Everything is alright, I'm fine!""You're finally cleared to come out in public?" You ask, while pulling away with a wet sniff.He nods, shaking the neatly-formed locs atop his head in the process. "Yeah, my doctor said that the scars are healed-up enough for me to start lifting things heavier than ten pounds again. My physical therapist is also happy with my progress. Now, when I go to pick up whatever piece of machinery that Wrench broke, I won't have to worry about ripping open my chest in the process."Indignant slashes flash across Wrench's visor. "Hey! Rude!"Sitara seems to manifest out of thin air, and walks out from the shadows in the back of the hackerspace. Her eyes are lidded and her lips are pulled back into a gentle smile, as she struts around with a confident air about her. She makes her approach, strolling around the side of the center-table before coming to a stop. Then, with her hands on her hips, she looks Samantha up-and-down, before nodding her head approvingly."It's good to see you." Sitara murmurs softly, while smiling sweetly at your best friend. "So, Trippy told me a little bit about the situation with Lenni. I'm sorry that you got dragged into the middle of all the feud between Prime_Eight and DedSec, but at least there's some silver-lining in this situation. I've seen your handiwork around town, before— I was wondering why the Texas's very own underground street artist, P3RPL3X, started showing up in San Francisco. Now, I know why all of your artwork is popping up all over the city. You do good, clean work."Samantha looks as if she were trying to make herself smaller, evident by the way she shrinks into Wrench's side and then nervously looks to you for reassurance. When you smile at her and nod at her encouragingly, it seems to give her the boost that she needs in order to stand tall and hold her head up high. "-Uh, thank you. I didn't realize I even had a following."Sitara smiles, and gently bows her head. "You should check the tag #P3RPL3X on Instagram. All of the new artwork you've been posting all over San Francisco is all over the internet."Samantha's eyes slightly widen in their sockets— this is entirely news to her. Back home, the two of you lived in a itty-bitty little town by the Rio Grande, the kind of little town where everybody knew everybody and you can't shit or spit without the neighbor three houses down hearing about it. Growing up, everyone seemed to demonize both you and Sam, and the both of you were quite unpopular as a result— and most of it actually had nothing to do with either of you, and everything to do with the fact that Samantha's older, more popular, siblings liked to trash-talk the both of you.Sadie-May, Sam's older sister and the youngest out of Samantha's siblings, was the ringleader, ordering around their two older brothers Sean and Sawyer around as if they were her own little henchmen. They loved to make her miserable. Anytime Sam showed promise in anything artistic or creative as a little child, her siblings bullied her for her doodles and her artwork, calling them 'nothing but silly scribbles in a sketchbook'. Even after she won awards in state-wide competitions, it was like she was never allowed to feel proud of herself or something she'd made.All that changed once you and your family moved into the area.You (with the help of your older brothers) spent your time protecting Samantha, even if it meant that the whole town hated you in the end. Your tendency to start fights with Samantha's sister lead to you getting stuck with the label of the town's bully, but that's only because the blonde-haired, perfect-tit-having-bimbo happened to be the most popular girl in town. Even if it meant you got slapped with another detention or risked getting suspended from school for a week, it was always worth it to make Sadie cry in your book if it meant you got to see Samantha to laugh.You're the only person that's ever encouraged her to explore her own artistry.She never would've thought that anyone, especially total strangers, would think her artwork is cool.Sam shyly tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, and smiles down at the floor. "Thank you."Still smiling, Sitara nods, and then folds her arms across her chest. "So, you want to join DedSec. Has Trippy taken the time to explain to you what we believe in?"Samantha vigorously nods her head. Back when she first moved in, it wasn't an uncommon practice for the both of you to fix a bowl of popcorn, park your asses in front of the TV, and chat about whatever crazy ass thing DedSec had managed to accomplish that day on the news or on social media. Before you'd officially joined their ranks, they were always doing some crazy new thing, and the two of you always seemed to have an opinion on the matter. Since joining, the two of you have only dived into even deeper discussions about their motivations and morals— and this time, you were armed with insider knowledge.Sitara softly chuckles, and bows her head while lightly tapping her toe against the ground. "Good, then that means I don't have to bore you with some.. long, overdramatic speech about who DedSec is, where we come from, and what our goals are. Now, as for your role within our ranks... I think you'd excel in the more creative side of the business, with me. I think it'd be awesome to see what kind of crazy-cool designs you could come up with. I wanna see how you take DedSec's message, and put your own little P3RPL3X spin on it. Besides, San Francisco could use a facelift, don't you think?"Samantha grins from ear-to-ear, and slowly nods her head. "..So, when do we get started?"[[October, 19th, 2016]] [::-Wednesday—1:18 A.M.-::]
"-Fuck yeah, we're kickass!"
Marcus's drunken cry earns another round of cheers from you, Sam, and the others, who raise their boozy drinks in solidarity with him. Samantha has successfully passed her test and has been initiated into the ranks of DedSec. She was given the code to the hackerspace, and anyone who hadn't exchanged numbers with her at that point did so immediately. In the matter of a few hours, Samantha found herself a new set friends and a new family, all-in-one.Instead of hacking her way into one of DedSec's places-of-interest as a test, Samantha was given the task of creating a mural for her initiation— and she managed to go far above and beyond Sitara's expectations. Instead of just creating your typical, run-of-the-mill street-style mural along the side of random stretch of road, Samantha dared to climb onto a Boom-Lift, and used it to help her paint one of the largest murals that San Francisco has ever been blessed enough to receive. She's even signed it with her tag, along with the greeting; "-Hello, San Francisco!"By the time the she'd finished laying down all of the paint, the sun was starting to set. Thankfully, the UV-reactive paints she'd used for her cartoonish DedSec grim-reaper mural have since collected enough sunlight during the initial painting process. During the day, grim-reaper is seemingly faceless, with only a black space in it's place. But at night, that black space is occupied by a glowing, laughing skull, with eyes that feel like they pierce right through you.
It's made the news.
To celebrate, you and the others have decided to hit up one of San Francisco's many bars. You and Sitara are having the time of your lives goofing around on the dancefloor, just a couple steps away from the bar where the others are hanging out. Wrench and Sam can be found seated at the bar, buzzed and conversing casually over a couple fruity-flavored drinks. Beside them, Josh, Horatio, and Marcus are caught up in the middle of their own conversation— namely, the boys are arguing over who could theoretically win in a fight, Superman, or Goku.Horatio and Marcus believe that Superman would win, solely because he's superman and his only real weakness is magic and kryptonite. Josh disagrees. He says that Superman is too inconsistently written and that the fact that they even have to argue about which Superman they're referring to is just fuckin' ridiculous. He also says that if you compare their power and statistics side by side, Goku wins by a landslide. No one is willing to admit defeat. They all believe they're right, for their own reasons. Josh is tired of arguing with drunk people, who aren't sober enough to admit when they're wrong.Out on the dancefloor, you and Sitara are taking turns winding-and-grinding yourselves against each other. Josh takes long sips from his bottle of bubbly lemon-lime soda, half-listening to Marcus and Horatio drunkenly argue between themselves about Superman's statistics, half-watching you and Sitara giggle and goof around. The rhythmical thrumming of Pitbull's hit song Hotel Room Service blasts through the club's speakers and wills your bodies to move, as if the two of you were puppets on a string.You're putting on quite the sensual display, with all of the hip-grabbing and body-rolling that you're doing— and Josh must admit, if you were dancing on anyone other than Sitara or Sam right now, he wouldn't be nearly as calm as he is. But since it's only Sitara, he doesn't feel threatened in the slightest, and perfectly content to just sit back and watch the show. After all, the way your back muscles flex as you whip your body around is very nice to look at, especially with the way your sweat drip-drip-drips down your body-glitter covered skin.Sitara, a.k.a Lady Antarctica aka always fucking freezing, has your jacket draped over her shoulders to keep her warm as you dance all-up-on-her, wearing nothing but jeans and a teeny tiny tank-top that probably could be confused for a sports bra. Not that you blame her— anytime someone enters or leaves the club, Sitara is in prime position to get her back-blasted by a cold rush of the October air.This is exactly what happens moments later, and the gust that rushes through is strong enough to nearly blow your hat off the top of her head. Annoyed, the both of you stop dancing and turn around, intending to size-up whoever was stupid enough to hold the door open for that long. You're not expecting it to be someone you know— but lo and behold, there stands Lenora, surrounded by a small group of nerdy-looking roughnecks. Sitara bristles in front of you with a snarl, and glances back at you with a glare that could cut through glass.Without saying a word, the two of you make your way back over to the bar, intending to warn the others about Lenni's unexpected arrival. But when the two of you arrive, you can barely even get a word out before the sound of Lenni's obnoxious laughter echoes from across the club. Her own gigglefit acts as the alarm that sets off the others and seemingly manages to sober them up in the process, as they twist their heads around to stare at her from afar with their own growls and snarls.Closely followed by Wrench, Samantha makes her way over to you, and firmly clenches her jaw. "Okay, what do we do?"Sitara cocks her head, and then shakes it. "I have no idea. This could go a bunch of different ways."Humming softly, you retrieve your hat from Sitara and place it atop your head. "We should probably leave, to avoid causing a scene."Unfortunately, that's not an option. Lenni and her crew stroll up to the bars to order a round of drinks, and inadvertently parks themselves in-between you and the front door. When Lenni leans up against the bar to order a drink, she looks over and spots Samantha, which seems to set her off. For a solid minute, she stares at your best friend in disbelief as if she can hardly believe that Samantha is actually there, in the flesh. Then, she realizes that the hooligans hovering around her are actually not just five random people, but they're actually five of DedSec's best hackers."YOU!" Lenni bellows belligerently at Samantha, after pushing away from the bar and pointing at her with a fat finger. "You purple dragon snot cock, you-""Watch it, Lenni." Sitara coolly warns her, with a dangerous grin and a casual pop of her peppermint chewing gum. "Mind your manners.""Oh yeah? What the hell are you gonna do, you skinny fuckin' wafer cookie?" Lenora scoffs back, while judgmentally looking Sitara up-and-down."Hey, you, the bitch that looks like an off-brand Lea DeLaria." You pipe up in order to announce your presence to Lenni, who doesn't seem to realize that you're also present. She appears to recognize the sound of your voice, however— that much is evident to you, especially when she nearly gives herself fuckin' whiplash, from just trying to look at you. But as soon as she does, Lenora is met with your wild-eyed, piercing stare, and nearly pisses herself when you pull your painted lips back into a wicked smile that even the Cheshire Cat, himself would be proud of. You look menacing.You widen your eyes, and wriggle your fingers at her. "Hiya, sugar tits, didja miss me?""Oh, fuck." Lenni hisses, while taking a step back. "You, y-yo-you, you stay the fuck over there! I swear to God, if you take another step-"With a cocky grin, you nonchalantly shrug your shoulders and spread your arms apart, before daring to take another two, three steps. "What, you got somethin' to say? I'm sorry, the DJ's got the music cranked up real loud, you'll have to come over here and say it in my ear-""Hahahohoho! No way, what do you think I am, some kind of noob? I want nothing to do with you. Take your fuckin'— Texas Pete lookin' ass somewhere else, I'm more interested in the fuckin' bitch standing behind you." She scoffs at you, before waving her hand dismissively at you. "-Hey, you, the stick-figure with green stripes in her hair! I saw the news, you asshole! What the fuck was that?! We had a deal, you and I! You completely screwed me over!"With a suck of your teeth, you slowly shake your head. "Yeah, no, mm-mm. If you want to talk to her, you've got to go through me, you trailer trash lookin' hillbilly."Lenni arches an eyebrow at you, scoffs, tucks her tongue against her cheek, and then starts to angrily nod her head. "The fuck did you just call me, you border-hopping piece of bird shit?"Sitara attempts to stall the inevitable by grabbing you by the shoulder and pulling you back, but you simply shake off her hand and purposefully plant yourself in-front of Lenni. Two of her goons, both women, step forward and start to circle around you, as if they were trying to intimidate you by sizing you-up. However, you barely even budge, and the cocky grin on your face only seems to get bigger in the wake of their shitty intimidation tactics."Are you done checking me out, yet? I know that I've got a nice ass and some cute tits, but I'm getting bored." You tell them, while energetically bouncing on your toes. Lenni glances back-and-forth between the girls, circling you like sharks. "Well? The fuck are you waiting for, a formal invitation?! Jackie, Dee, stop fuckin' around!"One of the girls, Jackie, scoffs in disgust, and tries to throw a punch at you— but instead of hitting your face, Jackie's fist makes contact with the soft, tender, meaty flesh your palm, which confuses her long enough for you to grab her by the arm and twist it behind her back. Using her own weight against her, you violently shove Jackie to the ground with enough force to make her crack her head against the ground. When Jackie fails to get back up, Dee can only stare at the puddle of blood forming around her friend's unconscious body in horror— and then, she lunges at you with a snarl.
Coming in hot, Samantha grits her teeth together and cranks back her arm as far as it'll go.
Dee never sees her coming. Samantha's knuckles make an audible impact against Dee's jaw, cracking her mandible and all of the delicate joints holding it together. Now bleeding profusely from the mouth, Lenni's henchwoman stumbles back on unsteady feet, before pulling her hand back in horror. The sight of her own blood seems to send her spiraling into a rage, as Dee suddenly dives for Samantha with a guttural growl Samantha curses under her breath— she'd been hoping to take the bitch by surprise and knock her out in one go, but it looks like her swing just didn't have the strength.Before Dee can ever hit Samantha, you roughly shoulder-check her and shove her out of the way, before planting yourself in-between her and your best friend. With your fists raised offensively, you shift into a stronger offensive position, and dig your weight into your legs to avoid getting thrown off balance. So, when Dee tries to charge at you and shoulder-check your bodyweight, it's a lot like running into a brick wall. Instead of knocking you over, her shoulder gets thrown out of place. "Aww, damn, did I do that?" You ask with a frown, while tilting your hat at a crooked angle in order to scratch your head. With a disappointed click of the tongue, you scrunch your nose, shake your head, and then look over at Samantha. "Hey, Sammy! Seems like I knocked her shoulder outta place. You were always real good at resetting my broken joints, so, uh.. you think you could help her?"Something devilish comes over your best friend's face. "Why, I'd be delighted to help."Somewhere in the midst of her agonizing groveling, Dee seems to realize what's going on as the two of you suddenly advance on her, and tries to get away. However, she can only get so far before you catch her, and pin her in place by resting the weight of your spurred cowboy boots against the weakest part of her spine. Then, as if that didn't hurt enough, you bend down to grab her unbroken arm and twist it behind her back, to prevent her from trying to claw at Samantha."HELP ME! FUCKING HELP ME, YOU STUPID FUCKS!" Dee desperately screams at Lenni and the other members of Prime_Eight, who can only stare on in horror and shell shock.With you holding her in place, Samantha happily struts over and grabs ahold of Dee's arm, before mockingly telling her to take a deep breath on three— before loudly crying out "three!" and cruelly resetting her dislocated shoulder. Overcome with pain, Dee passes out, prompting the woman's entire body to go limp before slumping to the ground. You and Samantha step back and dust off your hands, before slowly turning around to glance over your shoulders at Lenni and the others.You noisily crack your knuckles, before fully pivoting around on your heels and spitting on the ground. "Who's next?"Behind you, Marcus quietly lifts his eyebrows. "Goddamn-"Wrench sharply whistles. "Me next? Me next!"Josh angrily hisses at them both. "Shut up!"Having been frightened out of their wits, Lenni and her gaggle of goons high-tail it out of the club— and when you and the others hear the sound of Police sirens, so do you, and just about everyone else in attendance. But while all of the other club patrons try to force themselves out the front door, Wrench loudly whistles to get the attention of you and the others, before herding everyone towards the back of the club. Then, you all dip behind the bar in single-file and slip through the kitchen doors, in order to escape getting caught and arrested by the police.None of the chefs or bartenders on duty are happy to see the seven of you, running around in places that none of you have any business being in. But instead of straight-up chasing you out, they only yell, curse, and spit at you while angrily wagging their fists at the lot of you, as if you were nothing more than a bunch of teenage hooligans getting in the way. They, rather passively, allow you to escape through the kitchens, before going right back to work as if you'd never even been there.Josh flattens himself against the wall with a shuddery huff. "Sitara-""I know, baby, hold on." She mumbles, while fiddling with her phone.After hacking into Wrench's van remotely, Sitara is able to maneuver the beat-up old van from the front parking lot and drive it around the side of the building, towards the back where you and the others are hiding and in desperate need of an escape route. The sound of it's rickety engine can be heard as the beat-up vehicle comes skidding around the corner, much to the dismay of Wrench, who nearly falls to his knees at the sight."G'wahh!! Be careful with her, she's a sensitive little thing!" He cries out, while flailing his hands around in a desperate display."Oh my god, dude, it's just a car, not a whole ass child!" Marcus shouts back, emphatically.As soon as you hear the locks disengage, the seven of you sprint down the alleyway in order to get to the van as quickly as possible, while looking back and glancing over your shoulders to make sure that no one is watching you. Josh climbs into the front seat and straps himself in, while the rest of you pile into the back. Josh takes off before Wrench cam even finish closing the door, ear to get as far away from the club as soon as possible. Quickly and quietly, he peels out of the parking lot and slips into traffic, where he weaves his way through without drawing too much attention to himself."We're safe." Josh announces aloud, earning a collective sigh of relief from you and the others."Whichever full grown man is riding my ass, either get off or pull my fuckin' hair." You irritably groan.Marcus giggles out an apology, before rolling off of you with a grunt. Slowly but surely, you manage to detangle yourselves from one another— and then you all just lay there, trying to catch your breaths after practically running for your lives. Wrench groans and mutters under his breath, saying something about having a headache. Samantha nonchalantly reaches over to lightly scratch the top of his head, causing the anarchist to melt against her with a sigh.As the others begin to chat amongst themselves, you struggle to your feet, and make your way towards the front of the van on shaky legs. With a huff, you collapse into the passenger seat and recline back, before shutting your eyes and willing yourself to melt against the leathery cushions. Behind you, Wrench announces that he still needs to finish making Spencer's "present", to which Sitara inquires if he needs any help decorating the remaining figurines. Marcus also eagerly volunteers himself as tribute, while Horatio and Samantha quietly chat about their mutual taste in music.Eventually, you force an eye open and look over at Josh, sitting in the driver's seat with an impassive look on his face. His deep brown eyes are focused on the road, evident by the way they hypnotically sweep back-and-forth. You get lost in their rhythmic movement for a while, before breaking yourself out of your trance by turning your head and staring out of your passenger-side window."Are you okay?" Josh asks, while briefly glancing over at you.You look back at him. "Hm? Oh, I'm fine, baby. What about you?""I'm okay. Tired." He admits, with a gentle sigh. "I feel like I could sleep for a week, and it still wouldn't be enough."Your eyes soften. "You can spend the night at my place, if you'd like. I'm sure Chester will be happy to see you, again. I mean, I know you said that you sleep better when you're next to me, so I thought.. you know, I thought it'd be okay. What do you think? Is that something you'd.. something you'd want to do?"The tension in Josh's shoulders seems to melt away, as his lips press together and form a happy smile. "Yes, I'd like that. Guys? I'm taking you all home. Who wants to go first?"Marcus raises his hand with a drunken giggle. "Me. Nature isn't just calling me, that bitch is screaming my name.""Oh, nasty." Sitara laughs into the back of her hand, while shaking her head in feigned disapproval. "Marcus, you've got issues.""-Hey, being a little weird never hurt nobody!""-Maybe not you, you mean.""-Hey, party foul! That's a party foul, Sitara!"Josh quietly whines beside you. "Oh god, help me."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Between your legs
I press my tongue
and watch your
leaves change color.”
―Moses Yuriyvich Mikheyev, A Fire in the Sunset: A Decade of Love Poems
[[October, 31st, 2016]]
[::-Monday—9:31 P.M.-::]Josh checks his phone for the fifth time in the last 4 minutes, hoping to find a new text message from you waiting in his inbox. Instead, he finds nothing of the sort and just ends up rereading all of the old messages you'd sent, apologizing once again for not being able to show up. It's Halloween night, and there's a party at the hackerspace— Wrench, Marcus, and Samantha are talking by the punch bowl, Horatio and Sitara are digging into a shared stash of candy, and Ray is drinking a beer and happily vibing to the beachy music playing on the radio. Everyone is here. Everyone, except you.Huffing in disappointment, Josh tosses his phone down onto his desk and leans forward in his seat, just to be able to prop his elbows against the tabletop and cradle the weight of his head in his hands. He's tried his best to participate in all of the festivities tonight, just like you'd encouraged him to over the phone— apple bobbing, pin-the-tail-on-the-werewolf, sharing scary stories. But no matter how hard he tried to loosen up, Josh just didn't have a good time. Even now, all he can think about is how much he'd rather be with you. It's making him anxious.You were supposed to be here with him. You were supposed to be here to hold his hand through all of the socially embarrassing parts of the holiday festivities, but instead, you're currently mixing music at Club Cosmic. Of course, it's through no fault of your own— Mr. Velvet Velour forced you to come in at the last moment, demanding that you show up and act as the host for his latest project; a Halloween Themed Drag-Queen show. He didn't give you a choice in the matter, but respected your criticism when you told him that this would've been much more convenient on the eve of Halloween, instead.Josh attempts to keep himself busy by writing out long lines of code for the drone he's building, only for Samantha to innocently interrupt him with the intentions of checking on her favorite cousin. She approaches him with a smile, but frowns after realizing that he's actually just working and not participating in anything festive. When he looks back to acknowledge her her, he glances down at the tray of Halloween treats in her hand, but politely refuses them when they're offered to him. As nice as they look, the thought of eating something right now makes his stomach turn."No, thanks." Josh says, before turning back to his computer and going right back to work.Samantha twists her painted lips into a frown. "What's wrong?"Josh briefly glances back at her, before looking back at his computer screen. "I miss my girlfriend. She's not here. She was supposed to be here."Sam frowns— she knew that Josh was really looking forward to spending Halloween with you, so she can only imagine how bummed he's feeling after your boss forced you to come in at the last minute. Josh doesn't typically get super excited for parties, but he'd been eager to attend after learning you wanted to participate in some of the games as his partner. But since you were called in, there's nothing for him to be excited about anymore. He had to play all of them with Horatio as his partner— who didn't even really want to play, due to his sore chest."I'm sorry. Maybe she can stop by after she's off work?" She suggests, with a gentle shrug of her shoulders.Josh lightly scoffs under his breath, and then sharply turns away from his computer to face Samantha. He knows she's not trying to agitate him, but he just doesn't have the patience right now to entertain — still, he speaks to her much more kindly than he would anyone else, despite being irritable. "-No. She gets off in half an hour, and she's already missed out on all of the "fun stuff" that she wanted to be a part of. It's just like she said it; she might as well go home."Samantha's frown deepens. "Oh.. that's.. shit, is there anything I can do? Maybe I could go get her?"Josh shrugs his shoulders and then turns back to his desk, just to prop his elbows against the desk top and cradle his head in his hands again. "No. She won't come. I've tried. I begged."Sam softly cusses under her breath. "I'm sorry, Josh."With a wet sniff, Josh looks away to wipe his face with the sleeves his jacket. His tears stain the green cotton of his jacket, leaving behind a huge wet glob by the time he's done cleaning himself up. "I don't want to be here. I want to be with her and Chester."Samantha starts digging through her pocket. When Josh hears the sound of her jingling keys, he turns his head to look, just in time to watch as she pull her car keys out of her pocket. Then, rather unceremoniously, she presents them to Josh with a soft, understanding grin. "Go on, take them. The two of you deserve to spend some time together, and if you leave now, you can probably stop by a candy store to get a couple last-minute things before you go to pick her up."Josh glances back-and-forth between his cousin and the keys in her hand, which are very much not her car keys. "Those are her keys. Why do you have her keys?"Samantha lifts the jingly keys into the air and admires the disco ball and purple mushroom charms dangling from the keychain, before looking back down at Josh with a grin. "My car's currently in the shop. She gave me her keys so that I still had a ride for tonight— the only trade-off was that I had to drop her off at work. You better make it quick, she'll probably try to board a bus or call a taxi. Also, don't worry about me- I'll ask Wrench to drive me home, whenever I'm ready."Josh nods his head, before taking the keys and tucking them into his pocket. Then, after powering down his computer, he slowly swivels around in his chair and takes a deep breath, before looking back at his cousin with tears in his eyes. "-Thank you."[[October, 31st, 2016]]
[::-Monday—10:04 P.M.-::]Club Cosmic's blonde, burly doorman happily holds open the door for you, allowing you to leave Club Cosmic and step out into the night. The cold, chilly October air blasts you with an unforgiving gust of wind, and nearly blows away your hat in the process. You brace a hand against the crown of your cowboy hat with a sigh, and grit your teeth together, while trying to stand your ground in the wake of Mother Nature's banshee wailing winds. The fur-lined puffy jacket you've thrown over your usual club-attire is doing a good job of keeping you warm, although the thick sleeves do make moving around a little awkward.All in the name of looking good and keeping warm, right?Eventually, the wind dies back down. After digging through your pockets and retrieving your phone, you march off into the night, while paying more attention to your texts and news feed instead of the judgmental glares of passersby on the streets. Despite the fact that it's Halloween, you're still getting strange and even the ugly-eyed look from people, who'll never understanding your reasons for using dark, smoky eye-makeup and glittery tears as a fashionable way to cover up the dark circles around your eyes. Sheesh, did they all forget how to have fun after graduating from high school and college?Most women would never dare to go walking around a city late at night, but you've taken the time to explore San Francisco and know all of the best, well-lit routes to take through the city. In addition to that, you never step out of the house and go walking around at night without some kind of protection. The rhinestone-studded taser that you keep in your pocket gives you a sense of safety and security, giving you the peace-of-mind you need in order to relax and actually enjoy your walk through the city.The orange glow of the streetlights illuminates your path, reflecting off the surface of the puddles lining the damp city streets. Asphalt and concrete soaked in rainwater scrape the undersides of your boots as you walk along, with your head tilted back to admire the stormy, night sky. Around you, people dart by to-and-fro, too busy to slow down and take the time to look at their surroundings. Jokes on them— they're so caught up in their own lives, they forget to admire the beauty of the world around them. Everywhere you look, there is something to admire. There's something beautiful about the way the light radiates from the neon-signs of the stores lining the street, with their doors propped open to entice passersby to wander into their inviting-looking atmospheres. Beside you, the wet asphalt of the street looks like a river of twinkling stars, blurred by the raindrops sticking to the lens of your sunglasses. Normally, you'd assume that anyone who is cocky enough to wear sunglasses at night is either a douchebag or a fan of Corey Hart's music, but in this case, you're wearing them to protect your eyes from the damn blinding bright headlights of passing cars.You know that you've made it into the residential section of the city when the buildings start to change. Slowly but surely, your surroundings change from corporate offices to suburban houses and apartments. Any window that isn't a bay window usually comes equipped with a flowerbox, housing a variety of colorful plants and lush greenery. One flower-box even has a little bird-house sitting on it, which appears to be occupied by not a bird, but a frog, and a few slugs and snails. Maybe you could do something similar with the windows in your own kitchen.You get about a half a mile away from Club Cosmic before you hear someone call out to you with a cry of "-Hey! Hey, wait!". Angrily, you pivot around on your feet with a huff and a glare, fully expecting to find some creep to pulling up along the side of the road, and hanging their head out of the window— you're not expecting your boyfriend to pull up in your SUV, with wet eyes, tearstained cheeks, and a pouty frown. Once he's rolled down the window, you get another surprise when Chester suddenly pops up and sticks his own head out of the window. He's wearing a Freddy Kreuger sweater and a 'burnt' fedora."Mrowl!" The hairless feline yowls at you in complaint, as if he were demanding to know just what in the fresh hell you were doing out-and-about in this kind of weather.Your eyes swell in their sockets, as emotion grips you by the throat. "My babies?!"Instead of wasting time by standing out in the cold to ask stupid questions, you sprint across the sidewalk and run around the front-bumper of the car, before quickly clambering into the passenger seat to escape the cold. Chester scrambles out of Josh's lap, skitters across the center console, and then makes a dive for his heated cat carrier in the back seat, while you're already covering Josh's face in kisses before your ass even hits the seat. After wiping away any remnants of tears lingering on his cheeks, he turns in his seat just to be able to kiss you on the lips. Then, he helplessly melts against you with a soft, needy whine, and reaches over to sweetly caress your cheek with a trembling hand.When you pull away to ask if he's alright, Josh desperately (but gently) grabs you by the back of the neck, and holds you in place. From there, he greedily devours your kiss, while softly moaning against your mouth. Then, once his appetite has been sated, Josh breaks the kiss and props his forehead against yours with a quiet huff, and tries to catch his breath. Your tinted lip gloss is smeared all across his mouth, which he seems to realize after licking his lips and getting a taste of it. After connecting the dots and realizing what's all over his mouth, he blushes, and then uses his sleeve to wipe away the sticky mess."Sorry. I missed you." He murmurs all mousey and quiet, before reaching over to tuck a stray lock of hair behind your ear.You smile, while wiping your own mouth clean. "It's okay, I missed you too.""I've got a surprise for you, back at home." He softly whispers, while gently caressing the curve of your cheek. "I thought we could have a nice night in, so I- I- I set up the living room for movie night. I hope that's okay?"Your eyes visibly soften. "Aw, baby.. of course, it's okay. Let's go home."[[October, 31st, 2016]]
[::-Monday—10:44 P.M.-::]When Josh unlocks the door to your apartment, you're not sure what you're expecting to find on the other side. Chester is lowered to the floor, allowing the hairless, sweater-wearing feline to walk inside. Josh urges you to walk ahead of him with a gentle jerk of the head and soft mutter of "go", while he grabs Chester's cat carrier and gathers up all of the things he'd stopped to buy during the drive home. Obediently, you walk inside— and are stunned by what you find.Josh apparently wasn't kidding when he said he'd set up the room for movie night— he's moved your coffee table, has taken your kitchen chairs, and is using them as the "posts" to hold up the blanket being used as a makeshift canopy. Underneath the canopy, a string of Halloween-themed fairy lights have been strung up, casting an orange-and-purple glow down onto the blown-up air mattress below, dressed with a fitted bedsheet, pillows, and a mountain of blankets. Next to the pillow fort, your coffee table has been turned into a sort of 'grab station', complete with ghoulish bakery treats, a massive bowl of candy, three different glass pieces, and a rolling tray full of weed.Tears swell up in your eyes when you look over at the TV, and realize it's already playing Halloween cartoons back-to-back. You're overcome with emotion and start to cry, just as Josh makes it through the door and uses his hip to swing it shut. Then, after locking the door, he sets everything down and makes his way over to you, where he goes on to take you into his arms and hold you tight. When you kiss his cheek, he's quick to turn the affection by three-fold, and delicately wipes away your tears before sweetly kissing you on the lips."You did all of this, for me? For us?" You quietly whimper, while melting against his lips as he goes to kiss you again."Yes." He answers simply, before taking you by the hand and squeezing it tight. "Happy Halloween."You whimper, and lean in to kiss him again. "Happy Halloween, baby.""Get comfortable." He whispers softly to you, while gently running his thumb over the ridge of your knuckles. "I need to set these bags down."Your eyes visibly soften. "-Okay."
("Trick or Treat" - initially released on October 10, 1952.)Josh makes his way over to the coffee table he moved next to the air mattress, kneels beside it, and begins to unload his bags of goodies onto the table. He drops a handful of plastic, disposable lighters onto the table, which land with a noisy clatter. Then he reaches into the bag and begins pulling out share-size bags of novelty candies, before ripping them open and dumping them into the massive candy bowl. Finally, the last things he pulls out of the bag are Halloween-themed cat toys laced with catnip, all of which get thrown over his shoulder and tossed onto the floor.When Josh looks up, he realizes that you took his suggestion of "get comfortable" quite seriously— seemingly without any hesitation, you've begun to strip yourself bare right in front of him, despite the fact that you're standing in the middle of your living room. Everything you'd been wearing is taken off and then simply tossed to the floor, without a second thought. Once you're wearing nothing more than a simple black thong, you nonchalantly disappear through the beaded curtains covering the doorless opening to your hallway, leaving Josh alone in the living room to process what just occurred.He sits there, blushing profusely with a dumbfounded look on his face. "W-We-Well."Moments later, you return to the living room, wearing nothing but a big, black, oversized T-shirt and your cowboy hat. When Josh turns his head to look, you end up giggling at his wide-eyed, slack-jawed amazement, and bashfully rub the back of your neck with a sheepish grin. He stumbles to his feet and then slowly looks you up-and-down, before swallowing thickly after realizing that he can't get himself to stop staring at your legs. Try as he might, he just can't get himself to look away. You're just too nice to look at."You look good." He says with a nervous flex of his fists, once he manages to force himself to stop staring at your legs.You smile back at him, while shyly adjusting the angle of your hat. "Thanks."While Josh heads to the bathroom to change into his pajamas, you settle down onto the air mattress with a sigh of satisfaction, before reclining back and making yourself comfortable. But once you lay back, your eyes drift over to the coffee table directly beside you, where Josh has filled-and-packed the bowls of three different bongs. One of them is shaped and colored like giant piece of candy-corn, while another is made of red tinted glass and has a massive skull for the base. But the final and arguably most interesting piece is a zong-style bong, with a wicked, glow-in-the-dark jack-o-lantern for the base, and a twisted, spiraling green stem for the neck.After sitting up in bed, you swipe the jack-o-lantern glass piece off of the table and steal one of the lighters, before preparing to light up. With your lips pressed to the mouth piece, you hover the open flame of your lighter over the bowl of tightly packed weed and suck in deep, drawing in the thick cloud deep into your lungs. Then, just as you go to expel it, Josh walks back into the living room, wearing a black t-shirt and green pajama bottoms, with purple UFOs piloted by little green aliens all over it.Josh giggles at the wide-eyed, deer-in-headlights look that you shoot in his direction, before forcefully expelling the air from your lungs in one smooth breath. The smoke twists, twirls, and turns in the air, billowing over itself as you go to take a second, even larger hit. By the time you suck it in, Josh has made his way over and is sitting down beside you, paying close attention to the way your lips part as you go to breathe it out. To be clear, he's not watching the smoke, itself; he's watching the way your lips move.You catch him in the act, and grin from ear to ear. "Are you ok? You're staring at me.""It's not my fault." Josh responds rather bluntly, while still staring at your lips. "You've got a sexy mouth."The boldness in his statement makes you raise your eyebrows, and lower the bong to your lap. "-Sexy? Not just cute, but sexy?"The intensity Josh's eyes catch you off guard when he suddenly stops staring at your lips and starts staring into your eyes. "I've had your lips wrapped around my dick. Aren't we passed the point of finding each other 'cute'?"You turn away with a violent snort, and offer him the bong with a nervous giggle. "I mean, that's pretty sound logic, yeah!-"He smiles, before taking it from you with an appreciative bow of the head. "What do you think? Did I do alright, organizing everything and setting things up?"You blink at him, with wide, bulging eyes. "-'Alright'? Baby, you did more than just 'alright'. This is beautiful, sweetheart, I couldn't have asked for a better Halloween surprise."Josh forces out a sigh of relief, as if it'd been killing him to hold in. After sagging with relief, he unfurls his body and sits up straight, before bring his lips to the glass piece's mouthpiece. Then he flicks on the lighter and hovers the flame over the bowl piece, singeing the weed tightly packed inside. From there, he draws in a deep breath, and watches with heavily lidded eyes as the smoke builds up within the bong's chambers. He sucks it all in before the cloud gets too thick to breathe in, turns his head away, and then forcefully exhales through pursed lips.He leans the upper-half of his bodyweight against the twisted, sturdy stem of the glass piece, and lightly coughs. "Mm- I don't like that burning sensation.""Might've inhaled a little too deeply, that time." You murmur, while thoughtfully tapping your lower lip. "Do you want me to get you a drink?"Josh gently shakes his head, before pointing to the bottles of soda he placed on the table. "It's okay, I'll just grab one of those."You lean over, grab the bottle for him, and twist off the cap before presenting it to him. "Here, take a small sip. The cold will help the burn, and the carbonation will kinda help to scratch the itch."With a smile and an appreciative bow of the head, he passes you the bong, happily trading it for the drink in your hand. He takes a swig from the soda, while watching as you press your lips to the mouthpiece and take another hit, before sucking it all in through pursed lips. Then, after setting the heavy glass bong on the ground, you brace a hand against your cowboy hat, tilt your head back, and forcefully expel the smoke upward.Josh watches the smoke billow over itself, with parted lips and a slightly slackened jaw. "Whoa."You look over at him, and softly smile. "You ok?"He rubs his eyes, while nodding his head. "Yeah, m'fine. It's starting to set in. S'been awhile since I smoked weed. I think the last time I did was... my birthday, with you.""Do we need to slow down?" You ask with a coo and a concerned frown, before leaning over to rest a hand on his knee.Josh glances down at your hand before placing his own hand on top of his, while still rubbing his eyes with the other. "No, m'fine. The initial first wave was just a little stronger than I was expecting. I forgot that your weed is stronger than mine."The folds around your eyes crinkle as you grin, and giggle with a happy scrunch of your nose. "Yeah, m'sorry. Sammy often likes to ask what kind of problems I'm running from that require weed that strong, jokingly, of course. Are you sure you're alright? We really can slow down if you want-""No. I'm fine. The potency is helping me relax." Josh murmurs, before setting his drink aside and stealing the bong from you to take another drag. "I like the, um.. I like the way that shirt looks on you. The way it cuts off at the tops of your thighs is.. nice."You glance down with a grin. "Thanks. This is about as much as I'll wear to bed, during the colder months."He arches an eyebrow. "You mean, you typically sleep naked?""Well, I'm from Texas. You either slept naked or you sweat your ass off all night, even with the air conditioning on." You giggle, while wagging a defensive finger in his direction. "I know that California is generally cooler than Texas, but old habits die hard. Plus, it's just easier for me to regulate my temperature. My body tends to run hot for whatever reason, and this is just what seems to work best for me.""Your logic is sound. I can't really argue with that. M'also not stupid, I'm not about to complain that my girlfriend prefers to sleep naked." He mutters, while bringing his lips to the bong's mouthpiece. "Did you know that some sleep studies argue that sleeping naked could potentially help you sleep better, if it's something you struggle with? When your body is in a cooler environment, it can help accelerate the transition into the deeper stages of sleep and help you maintain those stages for longer periods. Sleeping naked is thought to aid that."You chuckle softly, before letting go of a soft hum. "You're, like— you're just filled with so much interesting information, honestly, I could listen to you talk for hours."Josh presses his lips around the mouthpiece of the bong and hovers the lighter's burning flame over the bowl, before sucking in all of the smoke that'd been drawn into the bong's chamber. When he sits back, he holds the smoke in his lungs for a few seconds while turning his attention over to the coffee table. Then, after pursing his lips, he forces everything out of his lungs in one thick cloud,  while watching as its thin, smoky tendrils stretch towards the ceiling."It needs to be packed, again. I'll do it." He quietly murmurs, before sitting up on his knees and dumping out the remnants of ash that'd been sitting in the glass bowl.You sit up in your seat to watch him, and wrap your arms around your knees with a gentle sigh of contentment. "..Thank you, for everything you've done tonight. I didn't think that we were going to be able to spend Halloween together. How were you able to even arrange all of this?""Sam was helpful. She gave me your keys. She says she'll get Wrench to drop her off later, and not to stay up for her." He coolly replies while packing weed into the glass piece's bowl, before glancing over his shoulder to look back at you. "..Hey, I think I'd like to try something. Do you know what 'shotgunning' is?"Airy laughter slips from your lips. "Unless you mean shotgunning a beer, I'm 'fraid not."Josh softly hums before fully pivoting around on his knees to face you, with the bong in hand. "Good. This'll be your first experience then. Can you do me a favor?"You arch an eyebrow. "Sure!""-Lay back, for me."Josh brings the mouthpiece to his lips and turns on the lighter, illuminating his face in yellow-orange light. Although his vague instructions set off some of the alarms in your head, you decide to put your blind faith in him and recline back against the mattress anyway, with your head resting against a pillow. To calm your nerves, you shut your eyes and take a deep breath in, while Josh hovers the open flame over the freshly packed bowl and pulls hard, filling the inner glass chambers with thick smoke.Without so much as a word, Josh sucks the smoke into his lungs, sets the glass-piece down onto the floor, and then crawls over to you on his hands and knees. He manages to catch you off guard by crawling on top of you and straddling your hips, before rolling his weight onto his knees and pressing them into the mattress. When you feel him lean over your prone form, you open your eyes and part your lips, sucking in a soft, startled breath in the process.Josh takes advantage of your shock and gently grabs you by the chin, holding it in such a way that forces you to open your mouth. From there, he leans in close as if he were about to kiss you, but instead of making direct contact with your lips, he simply hovers his mouth directly over yours and forcefully exhales the smoke he'd been holding in his lungs into your mouth. Instinctively, you draw the smoke into your lungs, all while staring into his lazy, half-lidded, deep-brown eyes. Then, once you've exchanged breaths, Josh rolls back on his knees and stares down at you, with his lips pursed into a subtle smile."That's shotgunning." He quietly whispers, as a sliver of smoke slips from his lips.You forcefully exhale the excess, and then breathlessly smile up at him. "Wow.. Could, um.. Could we do that again?"Josh grins down at you, before gently nodding his head, leaning over, and wrapping his fingers around the twisted neck of the glass piece. After taking another long drag off of it, he carefully sets the bong aside, before turning his undivided attention onto you. Eager to try again, you're just about to lean up in bed in order to meet Josh halfway, but he flattens his palm against your shoulder and pins you down before you can even get very far. Then when you stare up at him quizzically, wordlessly questioning his denial, he cockily grins at you before leaning down and quickly closing the distance between your mouths with a low hum.Once again, Josh hovers his lips a mere hairsbreadth away from your own, while shotgunning a cloud of smoke down your throat. But this time when he breaks the exchange and leans away, acting as if he were giving you space to breathe, he catches you off guard when he decides to boldly grab you by the chin and lean back in to smother you with a hot, stomach-curling kiss. You end up moaning into his mouth and exhaling the smoke through your nostrils, while tracking your fingers through his messy, tangled hair as you are very tenderly reclined back against the mattress."Open your legs up for me, just a little bit." He mutters against your lips, while covering them in hot, messy kisses.Obediently, you spread your legs every so slightly, and draw in a sharp breath when you feel a set of phantom fingers ghost across your clothed pussy lips. Josh quietly hums against your mouth before tucking two of his fingers beneath the band and tugging it to the side. Then, using his thumb, he rubs your clit, rolling his thumb over it's slick surface in tight, circular motions, all while repeatedly locking and relocking lips with you in a hot, heavy kiss."Josh-" You breathe out, in the form of a broken moan.He hums against your lips. He's listening.You softly curse into his mouth, before letting go of a whimper as he starts to rub your clit a little faster."You were saying?" He murmurs softly with his lips now pressed against the curve of your cheek, staring down at you impassively— although, you can hear the smile that's hiding in his voice.With a pathetic whimper, you begin rock your hips against Josh's hands and mutter "stop teasing me" under your breath, while trying to put more friction on your clit. All of the little lewd movement you're making prompt Josh to abandon your clit and plunge two of his fingers inside you, until they're both knuckle-deep. After letting go of a shrill, broken sob, you begin to sob, moan, and curse into the curve of Josh's shoulder, while he admires the way you tense up beneath him with every calculated curl of his fingers."You look so beautiful." He compliments you sweetly, as if the actual words were coated in honey and sugar. You turn your head, and blush into the pillow. "Th-Thank— fuck-"He coos at you, encouragingly. "Try again.""Thank you!" You cry out towards the ceiling in bliss, after feeling his fingers plunge even deeper inside of you.Josh narrows his eyes ever so slightly, and gently parts his lips. "-Good girl."After balancing his weight on his knees, Josh uses one hand to toy with your clit, while steadily fingering you with the other. He stares down at you calmly, while studiously watching the way your body moves as if he were a student on the subject. He hums while curling his fingers especially deep, and pressing the soft pads of his fingertips against the spongy-texture of your sweet spot. When you react with a full-body violent shudder, he raises his eyebrows, and purses his lips together with a curious hum.Josh repeats the movement, but this time, he puts a little more speed and force behind it. The end result is beautiful— not only do you arch your back, but you throw your head back and cry out his name, while clawing at the covers beneath your body. His half-mast dick hardens instantly at the sight, and begins to strain against the tight fabric of his underwear. Then, he shivers from head to toe, after feeling a fat bead of pre-cum drip down his length."Would you sit on my face?" He asks you rather bluntly, while staring down at you a painfully aroused look on his face.Your eyes bulge in their sockets. "W-Wh-Wha?""-Please?" He begs you with a whimper, dick visibly jerking in his pants. "Just- just a little taste, please?"His request is so bold, so unexpected, you cannot bring yourself to speak. So instead of verbally responding, you just hornily nod your head as fast as you can, before scrambling to sit up and strip down as soon as Josh climbs off of you and rolls out of the way. While you're trying to mentally hype yourself up, Josh takes the opportunity to strip himself down as well, before reclining back against the mattress with a hand wrapped around his dick.He starts to stroke himself off at a steady, controlled pace, and curls his toes with a breathy shudder. "C-Come here. Come cl-closer."Despite bushing profusely, you try to hide your reddening face behind your hand, like that'll somehow trick Josh into thinking you're perfectly fine— as if he can't see the way your entire body trembles from head-to-toe when you go to kneel down beside him. But as nervous as you are, you're able to straddle his face in the reverse cowgirl position with his assistance, where you hover and try to mentally prepare yourself for what's to come.To give you something to hold onto, Josh bends his legs at the knee and flattens his feet against the mattress, thereby allowing you to grab his thighs or hold onto his knees for support. Once he feels your hands on his legs, he buries his face between the apex of your thighs and sticks out his tongue, before harshly dragging the fat, wet muscle across your clit. You respond just the way he'd been hoping— by tilting your head back, lowering the entirety of your weight onto his face, and moaning in surprise."-Yes, that's exactly what I wanted." He whines underneath the weight of your body, while stroking his cock a little faster in the wake of his growing excitement."I don't want to hurt you. What if I'm too heavy? Maybe I should just get off, and-" You nervously mumble under your breath, before choking on a moan that tries (and fails) to force it's way out of you. With the moan caught in the middle of your throat, you repeatedly stutter, stammer, and stumble over your own words, to which Josh responds to by thrusting his tongue deep inside of you. When the wet muscle bottoms out inside of you, your eyes swell in their sockets as you stare up at the ceiling, completely frozen stiff with arousal. You can't move."I said I wanted you to sit on my face. Not hover. Sit." He firmly reminds you with his lips firmly pressed against your pussy, before letting out a broken whine and softly cursing against your lips. "Don't worry about if I'm able to breathe or not, okay, just- just sit on my fuckin' face-"After deciding that he likes the taste of your wet pussy, Josh doubles back for second helpings— which quickly turns into three or four, as he goes on to devour your dripping wet cunt like it were his last meal. He repeatedly dips his tongue in and out of your wet, fluttering hole while moaning obscenely, too caught up in the addictive taste of your juices to realize that he's already overstimulating you with his vigorous tongue thrashing. But even when you try to wriggle out of his grip, Josh uses his free-hand to grab you by the hip and hold you in place, while devouring you from the inside-out."J-Jo-Josh— f-fu-fuck— sl-slow down!" You loudly cry out, whimpering in the wake of the tears dripping down your face.He shakes his head. "Mm-mm.""Please, I'm gonna cum already, please, slow down, please-" You quietly sob, before choking on the saliva clogging your throat and dislodging it with a violent, wet cough."Are you, really?" He moans, before going right back to enthusiastically scooping your juices out of you with his tongue.He begins stroking his cock a little faster, and ends up lewdly moaning against your pussy lips in the process. Then he spreads his legs, giving you a clear, unobstructed view of his cock, as it steadily leaks a river of pre-cum. It's quite messy and sticks all over his fingers, but is conveniently slippery enough to lube him up, allowing him to jerk himself off at an exponentially faster speed. Before long, Josh is stroking his dick fast enough to make his balls bounce, and can't seem to get himself to stop.The sight of Josh's cum-covered cock is enough to send you over the edge. With a loud, shrill cry of his name, your pelvic muscles contract, sending a rush of gushing liquid out of you. Your salty-sweet juices drip down onto Josh's tongue, who eagerly laps them up with a series of sensual sighs and mangled moans. In fact, he makes sure to slurp everything up until you've been licked completely clean— and he never stops stroking himself or slows down, at any point."I'm cl-clean!" You whine out in protest, while involuntarily jerking against his mouth.He hums, with his mouth still pressed to your pussy lips. "M'kay, lift your hips."Balancing your weight on shaky legs, you lean onto your knees and lift your lips, allowing Josh to resurface with a broken moan. Using his strong grip on your hip, he helps you slide down the length of his body and gently deposits you into his lap, before rocking his hips in order to rub his pre-cum covered cock against your pussy lips. The ticklish, teasing sensation is enough to make you impatiently whine and flail around, which prompts him to try and rectify the situation by aligning himself with your entrance and pushing himself inside."Mmm.." He lowly growls under his breath while rolling his eyes back in their sockets, before squeezing them shut as he grabs you by the hips and begins to bounce you on his cock.You pant like a dog in heat as he pounds you from below, with his eyes squeezed shut and his brow furrowed in deep concentration. If you look over your shoulder, you can see that he's even gritting his teeth together, and softly grunts with every thrust of his cock. He squeezes his fingers around your hipbones, adjusts the stance of his feet, and begins to fuck you a little faster, before winding his arms around your waist, fully reclining you back, and cradling you close to his chest as if he were hugging you."Oh shit, oh shit.." He softly whispers, before propping his forehead against the back of your neck. "Oh, I love you so much, I..  Fuck, I think I'm going to cum. Wait, shit, I am- Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck-"Josh thrusts once, twice, thrice, before burying his cock to the hilt and unloading himself deep inside of you. He squeezes his eyes shut and buries his face in the crook of your neck, and softly whines through the entirety of his orgasm. Meanwhile, you ride him to completion while chasing after your own orgasm, until it suddenly hits you with the power of a lightning strike. When you finally do cum, you cry out Josh's name at the top of your lungs, and sob while gushing all over his cock.Overcome by his own arousal, Josh grits his teeth together and lets out a low, beastly snarl, before sliding you off of his cock and flipping you like a pancake. Your back gets slammed against the mattress with a grunt, leaving you feeling disoriented and with little time to process the new position as Josh quickly climbs on top of you. Then, after he's re-aligned himself with your entrance, he drives his cock in you with a soft hiss, before tilting his head down to admire the way your pussy looks when he's bottomed out inside of you."Mmnn! S-sh-shit, m'so sensitive.." He whines, after nearly buckling at the knees. "I'm not going to last very long in this position. In fact, I'll probably cum again pretty quick, just fair warning.. oh, and, um... brace.. you-yourself..."After taking the time to quickly adjust the stance of his legs, Josh rolls his weight onto his knees and presses them into the mattress, before grabbing ahold of your ankles and spreading them wide apart in the air. You stare up at him with big, bulging eyes, and are about to ask him a question until he drives his cock to home base. The sensation of being so full after orgasming so soon is admittedly overwhelming, causing your spine to fold inward against your own volition.Thankfully, you're not the only one struggling to hold yourself together. Above you, Josh heavily pants as sweat drips down his brow, while he holds onto your ankles and stares down at you through a single eye. Once he's managed to steady his breathing, he starts to mercilessly fuck you at a rough, sloppy pace, and bites down on his bottom lip in a poor attempt to muffle his moans. But despite his best efforts to keep quiet, the sensation of your warm, velvety walls squeezing around his thick, hard cock is just too much for him to take. He ends up moaning, anyway."M'gonna cum in you, again.." He sobs under his breath, before squeezing his fingers around your ankles and fucking you faster.You tilt your neck back, turn your head to the side, and noisily sob aloud. "-Faster, faster, faster, please, please, please, I'm so close, I'm right there, I'm right there, I'm right—"By the time that the both of you reach the apex of your climaxes, the most you can do is hold onto each other for dear life, while fucking each other through the wild waves of your own orgasms. Every inch of your pussy's warm, velvety walls are blanketed in a layer of hot, sticky white, which eventually spills out of you and trickles down the length of your thigh. Tears slip down the length of Josh's bright red cheeks as he continues to cum, while babbling utterly unintelligible nonsense under his breath the whole time.Eventually, Josh drains himself dry and slowly pulls out of you with a soft groan, before collapsing in the open-space beside you on the mattress. From there, he lazily rolls over onto his side and reaches for the box of kleenex sitting atop your coffee table, which he uses to wipe your netherlips clean. After that, the tissue is discarded, so that he can roll back over, wrap his arms around you, and settle down beneath the blankets with you.Several heartbeats pass, before either one of you speak. Josh is the first to break the silence."You mean.. everything to me.." He quietly whispers in-between pants, while blushing and smiling at you."As do you.. to me.." You whisper back, just as breathless.He smiles, and settles the weight of his head against the pillows. "I love you."You smile back at him. "I love you, too. Happy Halloween, Josh."

"-Happy Halloween, sweetie."