Chương 151: B3 Chapter 7 - Veyra In New York

The bustling traffic of airports, the noise, the overpriced foods—this place had a long list of things I disliked, yet despite that, airports were quickly becoming some of my favorite places in the world. Planes were one of the most overpowered inventions right next to VR. The ability to see Veyra after just a twenty hour wait for her to get here from the other side of the world was truly a modern blessing. She wasn't anywhere to be seen, though. The arrivals said that her plane was delayed.

Not canceled, thank fuck, but it looked like I'd need to wait here for an hour longer. I spent the time on the forums. USA Masters had turned into the next big thing the community was excited about after the arrival of a bunch of top players. Memes and discussion threads spread, along with an early prediction poll for who would win. The votes were currently divided like this: Zenith Protocol: 38. 60% Solo Mage (If they bring a full team): 29. 04% Eon Covenant: 16. 56% Suburi (Dragrath): 15.

12% Solo Mage (If they come duo): 1. 04% Other: 0. 68% By EnkindlersStillGood, 1, 509, 491 upvotes: " So who do yall think Solo Mage will be bringing as allies?" Reply By NenUser, 2, 540, 885: " They gonna bring Veyra and Assassin." Reply By ZionXC, 948, 129 upvotes: " Nah, they'd be brainless if they came as a duo. The 2v3 at Worlds was a good publicity stunt, but there's no benefit to attempting it again. The gig is up when they lose. And no, they won't win as a duo. They were already struggling at Worlds.

They'll have to bring allies. I'm guessing they're just waiting until the last second for the reveal so that their opponents can't prepare." Reply By OPLamp, 1, 931, 742 upvotes: " I'd root for them if they come as a duo. It'll be hype af if they can win a round even if they lose. Such a gigachad move to show up as just a romantic duo." Reply By ZionXC, 23, 456 upvotes: " wtf, it's not a 'gigachad move' it's just fucking dumb.

They'll lose the moment they go against any of the decent teams, and they might drop even against the noob teams. Like it just isn't it." Reply By Waugrey, 1, 691, 239 upvotes: " He's just jealous of the A and V romance arc guys: D" Reply By ZionXC: [Comment deleted by moderator] Forum drama aside, I had to agree with the one percent estimate for us to take the tournament as a duo. Unless some magic Joe appeared in our team through coincidence, we were going as a duo. I didn't want to invite strangers.

As for Patrick and Anna—I wasn't sure what level Patrick's main account was, but Anna was certainly too low level to even meet the minimum requirements to do damage to top players let alone join the competition. If Patrick was playing on a second account, he probably wasn't taking the end-game grind seriously either. I kept scrolling, until another post grabbed my attention, as I recognized the image of a phone case with my signature. The post was titled, " I just got Assassin A's signature!!!"

By Maura3, 27, 592 upvotes: " Wait, he goes outside? Where did you meet him?" Reply By FluffMuffin (Original Poster), 45, 625 upvotes: " I'm a delivery person! I was just doing the last delivery of the day, and it was his apartment!! I swear I'm not this awkward, but I just froze on the doorstep and stared at him omgggg someone kill me DX" Reply By Maura3, 10, 426 upvotes: " Well you got the signature haha, how was he like irl?"

Reply By FullMuffin (Original Poster), 44, 984 upvotes: " Well, I can see why Veyra likes him. Also he gave me a big tip. I really hope he orders again >_>" If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Reply By Eveveeee, 34, 637 upvotes: " What did he order?: o" Reply By Blighttown, 39, 287 upvotes: " OP's post history shows she runs a chibi plushie store lmao. Aint no way Assassin A is buying fkin chibi plushies." Oh for fuck's sake, I thought, rolling my eyes at my phone.

These goddamned internet detectives. What was Eve doing there anyway, stalking every post about me? Maybe this was enough internet for the day. I waited, watching traffic pass, hoping I was at the correct place to meet her. Her plane had supposedly landed by now, and she'd be arriving any minute. No texts had come yet. I scanned the crowds regardless. A person in a wheelchair passed, making my head perk up, until I saw it was a tall guy pushing himself with two hands. I was looking for a white sweater.

I'd seen Veyra's wardrobe, and it was mostly sweatpants and old shirts, but she had a few pairs of good jeans and two white sweaters that she loved, and still hadn't expanded. The sweater really was the best outfit to wear for nice soft hugs. People continued to pass with a group of kids pestering their mom to my left. My head flinched to another person in a wheelchair, but she was wearing a black hoodie, way oversized, one that I'd never seen on Veyra. It had cat ears, and— Wait. That was my hoodie.

The person looked around herself from under the hood, as if trying to find someone. Her eyes passed me, then snapped right back, and the look under the cat ears stared at me. My face lit up. Aree pushed the wheelchair to me.

"Meow," Veyra said through a tired but comforting smile. For a while, I just grinned at her, overwhelmed by happiness.

"Welcome," I said. She didn't know what to say either and shared the reaction.

"Are you feeling good right now?" I asked.

"Yeah. I've never felt that good on a flight." With that confirmation, I knelt down and lifted her, grabbing her to a hug. She smelled a bit like tired plane seats. Oh my god, I'd missed her so much.

"We're being recorded, by the way," Veyra said with an awkward laugh.

"Oh shit," I said, and carefully placed her down. We still smiled at each other for a bit. I turned to Aree.

"Thanks for helping her." Aree had bags under her eyes, looking like she could yawn herself to sleep.

"She pays well. Have a nice holiday, you two."

"Thank you so much, Aree," Veyra said. She smiled.

"I've got a flight home in three hours. I'll hibernate after this."

"I'll give you a tip if you need one," Veyra said.

"You already paid three months' salary!"

"Well, a hug?" That made Aree chuckle a bit. She hugged Veyra. I glanced at the kid recording us and made a gesture to put his phone down. To my surprise, he actually did. We wished Aree goodbye, thanking her once again. She refused to let me tip her, but accepted a smoothie I bought for her from a nearby store. She stayed to wait for her next flight home, leaving Veyra to me. Talking from behind the wheelchair was difficult as I took her to the parking garage. I could only admire how well the cat hoodie fit her.

I was so mesmerized I almost bumped into a person. That snapped me right back to paying attention. Finally, in the parking garage, the noise calmed down enough that she could talk again.

"You brought your car, right?"

"Yeah, let's hope your chair fits in there." She hummed a satisfied, "Mhm." We turned the corner to the spot I'd parked my car, and I saw a grin from the side of her eye.

"Wow. Funny how you earned something like this by hitting a dragon a couple of times."

"You like it?"

"Eh," Veyra said.

"It's cute. It's pretty much a supercar, right?"

"Fast enough to get stuck at the next red light at optimal speeds." She laughed at that. I lifted her to the passenger's seat, then folded her wheelchair. I'd been afraid that the R35 wouldn't fit her wheelchair, since it had next to no trunk space, but the back seats had plenty of space for a wheelchair, letting her luggage take the trunk. I booted the car and drove to the city.

"The beautiful GTA server of New York, huh?" she said, making us laugh, but not a minute later, her head was leaning to the side, eyes closed. I drove slowly without sudden movements. We made it all the way to the apartment with Veyra sleepily trying to keep herself awake. I lifted her back to the chair, then up the elevator to my apartment. My heart began beating a little bit in anticipation of her reaction. I opened the door and took her in. Her sleepiness was alleviated as she looked around.

"Wow," she said.

"An accessible table as well?"

"How does it look?" She wasn't appalled, at least. I wasn't sure if she was impressed.

"Did you make this in Home Maker?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"I arranged everything myself though. No AI."

"Good," she said.

"The AI's style is so generic. This is way better." Finally, her eyes panned to the little black cat, and she gasped.

"Oh my god, it's Luna!" She moved to it and picked it up, grinning at me.

"I didn't know you watched Sailor Moon!"

"Oh, yeah I, uh… I've watched that?" She gave me a suspicious look.

"I just thought the cat was cute," I admitted, rubbing the back of my head.

"So you like black cats?"

"Yeah? I think they're cool." She stared at me, and the look in her eyes became increasingly suggestive. She smirked, and put the cat-eared hood up.

"Meow." I flushed, very obviously so, before asking, "You want to see the bedroom?"