Chương 181: Day One Hundred And Seventy-Nine

Dear Diary, Y'know, I've never really thought about it, but back in Camden, while we had a lot of 'found family?' We didn't have much in the way of 'non-friend trust'. There were people who forced 'respect', meaning fear and obedience, like cops and some gangs. There were people you knew were nominally ambiguously neutral, like teachers and 'in-laws' like the siblings of your sibling's baby daddies. People were either 'your people', 'furniture', or 'enemies'.

Still kinda weird that a year ago I'd have slotted cops into 'enemies' pretty fuckin' quick, and here? I'm a cop in all but name. Shit, I'm pretty much a fuckin' Fed. At least there's no 'war on drugs' here and now, so I don't have to worry about being a narc. So, the psychedelic tadpoles are slowly sliding back into 'soothe' mode after a frenzy of 'titillate' yesterday. Not an on-off switch like last time, though. Weird.

Then again, Saffron didn't make it home until late last night, and she looked way too tired to get our private party on, even if Marie and the menace weren't snoozing on the floor. We just snuggled up and slept. She murmured something about 'soft and warm' right before she went to sleep. No idea what she was on about; after all the training since I got here, I've got exactly two vaguely soft points. Then again, she did kinda have the back of her head right up against them.

I woke to her pulling on the boots of the dress of Glowing Midnight. Marie and the menace were nowhere to be seen. I pushed myself up on one elbow and asked, "you really have to leave this early?" She shook her head, but with as much annoyance as negation.

"Technically the meeting won't start until well after breakfast, since Ophelia refuses to eat 'field rations', as she calls them." She snorted.

"We've had hot meals delivered from Newark daily since the quarantine began, but they're not good enough for her." I sighed.

"Damn. Did I miss breakfast again?" She got a bit of a faraway look, then shook her head, her cheeks a little red.

"The Maids are still setting things up."

"Did you just Co-Locate to the Dining Hall?"

"Maybe."

"With nothing but your boots on?"

"I was Blended and way back in a corner." I rolled over and rested my chin on my hands. I had to look up to meet her gaze, but given the overall view I had zero complaints.

"Maids noticed you anyway?" Now she blushed, and given that she was still re-adjusting her garters to be just so after pulling her boots on, I got to see exactly how far that blush went.

"It's unnerving that they noticed me with Blend up. It's frightening the way they all swiveled their heads to look at me." I sensed something beyond that by the way she paused.

"What else?"

"They started purring." If I'd been one whit less intent on the view from bed height, I might have lost it laughing at that point. Instead, I just said, "can't blame them, really." Then reached out, grabbed the tops of her boots, and yoinked her back onto the bed, juggling her a little until she landed with her knees on the bed, her ankles on my shoulders.

"Tabitha! I've got to get to the Council meeting, and you've got to get breakfast!"

"I'm an invalid and stuff. We get dessert first." Her complaints got a lot more incoherent long before she stopped making them. Okay, they might have stopped being complaints. Couldn't hear her all that well with leather pressed to my ears. Afterward, I lay there grinning like the cat that stole the cream. Such an appropriate simile. Anyhow, she got back up and reached for her corsetry.

"Why don't you just, y'know," I made a finger-gun gesture with my right hand, made a 'pew' noise, and dressed her up. Loki's tricks come in handy in the most pedestrian of situations. I was a god of simple households long before I became a trickster, you know. She turned and looked down at me, trying to frown but losing the battle to an amused grin.

"While it's certainly quicker, I've come to realize that it can leave certain garments, ah, less than optimally placed." I looked her up and down, blatantly enjoying the view. She blushed a little, and preened a little more.

"Everything looks good from here." She rolled her eyes at me.

"You'd say that even if it were half off, or on backwards or something."

"Have you seen how far the back plunges? Virgin killer shit right there."

"Like you'd know anything about virgins."

"Point." She smirked at me, "Besides, it mostly comes up with certain garments you never wear combined with sitting still for long periods of time, which you never do."

"Garments I don't... Oh, yeah. Right." when her meaning hit me I blushed a little my own self.

"Can't you, y'know, adjust stuff?" Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Of course I can, but usually we do that when we're pressed for time." She grinned at my blush, then set about adjusting things.

"Besides, I find dressing a sort of preparatory ritual. Like putting on armor before a battle." I frowned, rolling half over to lean on my side.

"Y'know, it bothers me a little; we put our Volunteers in that leather crap, which I kinda get, since that much plate would be a huge investment for people who might not wear it ever again, but other than the helmets, our Heroes don't get any." She shrugged, which she'd been doing anyway to get her corsetry settled, and replied, "some Heroes buy fine chain to wear under their Jackets, and I've heard some have plastrons, greaves, even vambraces.

But the Jackets themselves are more protection than you'd expect, what with all the layering, and most of our training goes to avoiding being hit in the first place."

"Huh. I didn't think of that."

"Extended pondering doesn't seem to be your forte, love. Flashes of intuition, leaps of faith, sudden moments of enlightenment certainly. I expect thinking too much about any one thing bores you." I laughed hard enough my eyes slipped closed.

"Ain't that the fuckin' truth." Before my eyes opened, the sheets shifted beneath me and I flopped onto my back. Her palms pressed my shoulders down, and my eyes popped open to see her upside down, leaning over the foot of the bed, her face hovering above mine.

"No, this is the truth. I love you, Tabitha Diaz." Her lips met mine, and I forgot about anything but the taste of her mouth until I felt the bed shift, her hands slipped down to my breasts, and from the foot of the bed I heard her say, "and, since both of us are going to be late for breakfast anyway, this is fucking." I kinda lost all track of anything coherent for a while after that. Afterward, when the her down twixt my nethers disappeared, she knelt next to the bed, leaning over to hold me quietly.

Eventually she sighed and said, "you really do need to get to breakfast, though." A moment later, I was dressed in my civvies, and the next my ass dropped into my seat in the Dining Hall, with her hands once more holding my shoulders as she stood behind me.

"Sorry I can't stay, everyone, but duty calls."

"Don't you need breakfast too?" I asked. Oh, beloved Goof, I've been eating breakfast since I finished dessert. Uh, I hope you, uh... won't they notice? A throaty chuckle rolled through my head. Oh, Goof. They already think you're sharing me with Mimic. Let them wonder who. I would say I don't give a fuck, but that would obviously be a lie. That left a smile on my face all the way through breakfast.

It stayed there through me cleaning up the leftovers, and even when I swapped into my uniform and stepped up to the Practice Yard to run a few laps. A few of the scars on my legs complained a little, so I didn't push really hard. Maybe halfway to lunch those complaints intensified, so I stepped back to my cell, winced a little at the 'shouldn't have done that' sting that came with my second Translocation of the day, stripped and dropped back into bed.

I woke to a dream of a tinier than normal Saffron yeeting somethings into my mouth as I lay there chilling in the sun by the lakeside. I woke to her saying, "It's lunchtime, shouldn't you be in the Dining Hall?" I blinked and looked around the silent, dark room. Did you just say something to me? Yes. It's lunchtime, you should be getting to the Dining Hall. Because I suspected you'd gone back to sleep. Weird. Dreamt you were here and said that out loud. Get dressed and down to the Dining Hall.

You need three solid meals a day to get you healed up as quickly as possible. I stood, willed my civvies on, and when that didn't hurt, stepped down to the Dining Hall. My whatever-I-used-to-Translocate grumbled a little at that, but it was a grumble, not a pain, so I got my ass in a chair and, with a nod to the others as they came in, started eating. More Salisbury Steak today. No vegetable stew, but the gravy had crunchy little pearl onions in it. Surprisingly good.

Why do I get the idea that 'as quickly as possible' was prompted by something less nice than wanting to fully explore the infinite intimate possibilities of Co-Location and Mimickry? You, my lovable Goof, are very bad for George's peace of mind. Huh? Just Happening to him might only be fair after this. I tend to look at him when you distract me, because he's the least likely to take offense, get the wrong idea, or act on those wrong ideas. I snickered. You, me, Marie, or some combination thereof?

Weren't you the one just extolling the virtues of limitlessness? I got the impression of a rueful headshake. Potential assignations aside, your presence has been specifically requested. That took me more than a little by surprise. Somebody actually wants me at a Inter-City Council meeting? No, Ophelia hasn't gotten that bad yet, and frankly Lancaster can deal with her. Thoughts of Big Poppa Lancaster brought a frown to my face. He isn't bullying George and the Drivers, is he? That brought a smile from her.

Surprisingly, no. He's been nothing but polite to both of them, and while Mr. Driver has returned to running Drivers' full time, Mrs. Driver is surprisingly resistant to intimidation. No, love, Lancaster is the one who requested you. That got my hackles up. I shoveled in more hamburger in gravy and thought, please tell me he's not wanting what you're planning for George? Me? Planning such a thing? Never.

That came with the image of a wicked smile, followed by, no, he wants you with the group that will be going to check in on Lachlan and Lancaster House. Almost inhaled a pearl onion at that. What? With Phileo and Camden leaving local lockdown, we're moving three quarters of the Heroes and Clerical Healers here to New Amsterdam. I'd never quite realized how much bigger New Amsterdam is than Phileo.

In any case, we're keeping some Heroes and Clerical Healers in Phileo and the Yards, as well as sending the remainder to the outlying communities with enough Volunteers and Cadets to lock down any infected communities if needed, as well as enforcing the quarantine between Cured and Uncured villages until this is all over. I thought about that for a second. Where does that put me? In charge of a few dozen units of Volunteers, with your choice of Freshman Cadets to lead them.

Plus Laurence Lancaster, since if Lachlan is ill or Goddess forbid dead, he can take command of Lancaster House with little to no resistance. I bought a little time by slicing a loaf of dark bread in half longways to make a long, skinny bun for a couple gravy burgers. No real complaints from my Mana on that one, which I took as a good sign. Why the hell am I leading this group? Because you're a Cadet now, leaving you the highest ranked, and odd though this sounds, both Lancasters apparently trust you.

I froze with my sandwich halfway to my mouth, the whole 'does not compute' of the situation causing my brain to go on the fritz. Wha? I thought they both hated me. Oh, don't misunderstand. Lancaster hates you, although it seems more like an obligatory hatred because of your High Priestessness than anything personal, but both he and Leonard respect you. They trust that you'll do whatever's best for the Lancasters' people. I grumped a bit, gnawed at my burger, and thought, I have no idea why they think that.

Saffron's mental voice caressed me gently. You Cured Laurence Lancaster before anyone else, love. Even before your own family. Y'know, I've got to find a way to time travel. Because last week me needs her ass kicked. Just sayin'.