DeD_RunnerZ (Minorikawa & IsabellaRose)

[Minorikawa]

The alleyway intersection surrounding The Grease Trap was wet and dripping. It hadn't even rained in three days, but the concrete ground was still shimmering, reflecting the neon lights of back alley dive bars and brothels, reflective puddles scattered upon every uneven square inch. The gutters dripped and drained, and droplets fell from precarious surfaces. Much of it was condensation, sure, but Vance could never quite figure out where the majority of the moisture materialized from. It was just part of city living that most Nueve Angeles residents no longer thought about. Yes, "Nine Angels", a city on the Southern tip of what used to be California but was now part of Mexico... sort of. Most of the residents remained United Coastal States citizens due to some legal mumbo jumbo, but that sort of knowledge was for children that actually finished school. Vance was just another drop-out, no clue why the city was even named Nine Angels, though at least he didn't mistake it for meaning New Angeles like so many had. Though, much like the remains of Los Angeles before it all burned down in the blaze of the Hollywood Boulevard Riots, the biggest show business here was in the pornography sector.

Which was the only way Vance had even kept up with his old friend "Big Show" Brad Lee the past few years. Once the old Punker group had disbanded, Brad had managed to make his way into pornography. It was odd, given he always had a penchant for broadcasting his "conquests" on the web. Without the ol' crew he did a heck of a lot more broadcasting until some seedy studio caught wind of his... greater than average size. He wasn't just tall, but he had big feet, and y'know what they say about a guy with big feet...

Vance was no such man. He wore a men's size nine and his stature matched. He was the "innocent" one of the group. He liked his friends, they were the only ones that treated him kindly, but he never had the stomach for the graffiti or breaking and entering that they had. Or, in a rare case the other guys were too pumped with testosterone (especially after injecting themselves with Test-EEZ), he was left to hold the camera and record the poor pummeling of some saps, typically low-rank scrubs from some no-name gang without the muscle to get proper vengeance. All of that ended with The Bust, the failed operation where Jimmy Stimz took the fall. He was in jail, now, and ever since Vance had kept in touch with none of the others in the crew. They were DeD_RunnerZ, the slang name given to former punkers that, for whatever reason, abandoned the lifestyle.

Though there was still one that Vance had kept in touch with. Erika. The kindest of them, really. She was the only one that wouldn't refer to Vance by his nickname, V-Card. His cowardice didn't just extend to his refraining from violence, theft, graffiti, and breaking in. No, he also refused to go into strip clubs, brothels, and was the only one in the group that seemed to abstain from promiscuous activities, especially within the group. The nickname was solidified one night when Vicki, a waitress at The Grease Trap, had slipped under the table to "get a look" at just how big of a show Brad Lee was. She spent quite a while down there, Brad looking pretty darn relaxed. Vance had been aroused, trying to ignore it, trying to join the others in conversation, but Vicki must have spotted the arousal as finger-nailed hands suddenly climbed up his thigh. Vance hadn't stuck around. He jumped up, squeezed out of the booth, only for Brad, Jimmy, and Yannie to have themselves a laugh while he awkwardly made his way out of the diner, arousal apparent to all present. He got the nickname V-Card, and they all referred to him as such from that day onward.

Except for Erika. She still called him Vance.

He always wondered if he harbored some kind of crush for the computer whiz. Why else would he agree to show up? Despite living a block away and working at some inner-city petting zoo around the corner, he hadn't stepped a single toe into this neon-lit alleyway since The Bust. But when Erika said she wanted to bring everyone back together, well... he hesitated, but, here he was. Wearing his generic, costume-store quality security outfit, he stepped forward. He had some time before he had to go to work, staring at computer monitors to make sure no rowdy teens snuck into the petting zoo late at night to bother the most boring livestock animals ever. Pushing the door open he heard that familiar electronic welcoming jingle, followed by the voice of a Spanish woman saying "Bienvenida!" over a crackling and popping speaker. The corner booth they had always occupied was empty. He sighed, wanting to sit on the edge, to have an easy escape route. But, just as usual, he was first to arrive, which meant he would probably be squeezed into the middle, trapped between everyone else.

Sighing, the five-foot-five twenty-two year-old and youngest of the crew resigned himself to his fate. Removing his cap and running his scrawny fingers through electric-blue-dyed hair, combed to the side but matted down by the cap, he fixed the covering back over his head, turning it backwards to at least look somewhat... "cool" ...before Brad and Yannie could get a look, brown asian eyes hidden behind glasses. He was a skinny kid, not much meat or hair to his body, though he'd at least developed more tone. In his free time he'd begun hitting the gym, doing a lot of cardio exercises, developing a runner's build. He looked like the same old clean-shaven kid when he looked in the mirror, but to the next person that walked through that door, he'd look... well, he'd certainly look a bit more masculine than when they'd last been together.

[IsabellaRose]

Kat stared out the window from the backseat of the cab. She never took cabs anymore, but all the typical services could be traced back to her through her comlink. An old fashioned cab in the neighborhood still took cash, so she wouldn't be tracked. She peered down the narrow street to the intersection where The Grease Trap hunkered like an ambush, laying in wait. If she stepped through that door, she'd spring the trap, and the memories would assault her like nostalgic, guilty adversaries she wouldn't be able to fend off. She'd been mentally preparing herself to walk in this the return here since Erika said she wanted to get everyone together.

She hadn't been back to the neighborhood since The Bust. Of course she'd think of that. It was the end of their crew, the end of some lives, but the beginning of her new life. Circumstances had definitely played out in her favor. She'd been arrested like so many of the others, but she had been given an opportunity and grasped it. As a witness for the state, she'd helped bring down a corrupt cop, or at least that was the story on the vids and in the official court documents. She knew that Pascal Prieto hadn't been a bad cop, but he'd been in the way of powerful people, and testifying against him got all her charges dismissed, even earned her a payday that bankrolled her new lifestyle. Her falsified testimony got him kicked off the force, tried, sentenced. She still tried to convince herself that when he died in prison four months into his sentence it wasn't her fault.

"We can sit here as long as you want, lady," said the driver, "But the meter's still running."

"What do I owe you?" she said, opening the tiny compact and checking her makeup.

It was unnecessary. The ruthenium polymer that had been woven into her eyelids responded to makeup styles she had painstakingly developed and programmed into the processor. She blinked in just the right way, contracting the muscles at the outside edges of her eyes slightly harder, and cycled through her preprogrammed settings - purple, pink, black, red, but settled back on the smokey look with metallic blue to match her dress.

She didn't even hear how much the driver said it cost, she just handed him a wad of paper and told him to keep the change. She stood for a moment on the wet pavement and took a couple deep breaths before starting down the alley. Her heels clicked loudly on the wet pavement and echoed back to her, the sound dulled by the damp air.

Her dress was somewhere between business and party, electric blue with short sleeves and a deep v-cut in front showing off her breasts. The waist was tight and the hem ended just below her knees, the fabric of the skirt flared so it wouldn't inhibit her movement. She might wear something like this to a social engagement in her new neighborhood, but here it painted a target on her back.

Luckily there was no one else in the alley, and she strode directly to the door of the Grease Trap and entered the establishment. The stupid welcome jingle played and she mouthed the word "Bienvenida!" along with the pre-recorded voice as she walked inside and let the door close behind her. She couldn't be the first one. Someone else had already come in. She thought maybe it had been V-Card, but that wasn't him at their usual corner booth. She looked around the place and saw him at another booth. It had to be him. 

She slid into the booth across from him but stayed at the end of the bench. Scooting across in a dress wasn't on her agenda. She looked at him across the table, electric blue hair sticking out from under his backwards cap, her expression flat. 

"V-Card, been a long time," she said, shaking her head back and forth, black bob cut swaying at either side of her face as a hint of electric blue ran down her fiber optic hair like a wave from her roots to the perfectly straight ends. "You still got that hat?"

She didn't wait for a reply. "What you been doing?"

[Minorikawa]

The second he heard the chime Vance looked up, electric exhilaration pumping through his veins filling him with adrenaline. For a brief second he had hoped for Erika, to see her face, to speak with her again face-to-face and not through text. The second he saw that black bob and heard that voice, however, his heart sank and so did his chin. He cast his eyes downwards, wanting to turn the hat frontwards once more, to pretend he was someone else. It was too late. She was too quick. And, naturally, the first words out of her mouth weren't even a greeting.

It was that stupid fucking nickname.

"Different hat," his lips pantomimed, but a thirsty breath was all that had emerged. It was almost like a mummy coughing up dust. If she heard the words she didn't even acknowledge it. His eyes glanced upwards, the first good look at her being the low cut of her dress, showcasing her breasts. He once yearned to know what they were like, what they seemed like in his hands, but at this moment he hated them. His eyes looked up into hers, and... and...

Vance looked out the window, at the nothing alley with meaningless neon signs, their blue and pink lights reflecting off the wet pavement. He could hate everything about her but her face. Dammit.

"Just work," he said softly. "Honest work." He didn't add anything more to that. He just wanted Erika to show up. He didn't want to be V-Card anymore. He wanted to be Vance, the honest security guard that works nights.

~~~

WhatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuckwhattheeverlovingFUCK!

Brad "Big Show" Lee had frosted tips spiking from his head, the sides shaved completely, a six-foot-six muscle-bound man with gold chains, a fur-trimmed leather coat, vinyl pants with big, stomping boots, and a simple white wife beater underneath. He was ready to party anywhere, anytime, and sniff, lick, and fuck all the pussy that was out there. Everywhere he went there were men high-fiving him, saying "my man!" and asking if they could hang out. Women hanging off the elbows of other men would stop, let their eyes linger, and give a teasing grin that let him know they were fans. Others gave him their online socials, hoping to be in one of his videos. On rare occasion, he had the time to drag one to the side and have a quick fucking right then and there.

And boy did he ever want to blow off this reunion and take that busty little slut to the back of the train and give her a good run up from behind. They didn't call him Big Show just for his height, and women got curious. Some changed their mind, either at the sight and reality of what it meant to get stuffed with such a heavy cudgel, while others quit out upon first penetration. But a lot of ladies liked the taste, especially the taller ones.

No, instead he had blown right past the station he was supposed to exit, getting off five stops later and taking the train back. If it wasn't for fucking Erika, the one gal that held out on him, the one gal that would never give in. She teased, she laughed, and it was never anything personal. She must have been a closet lesbian or something, but she turned Kat down as well. Maybe she was one of those... the fuck do you call 'em... asexuals? Whatever. But even though she never did let him fuck her, she was always... she was family.

"FUCK!" he shouted, kicking his foot at the subway train door before it opened. He got more than a few odd looks his way, but fuck it. Who cares if the big tall well hung pornstar is a crazy son of a bitch. They'll spank to his videos regardless.

Whatever. Maybe he'd be able to score with Kat again. Old times sake and all, right? He didn't really follow much of where her life went, just seen her photo on the net on occasion. She looked like she cleaned up, got her own slice of fame. Probably had a good number of boy toys. But nothin' like ol' Brad, right?

These kinds of thoughts permeated and plagued his mind as he walked the all-too-familiar walk from the subway station. Up the steps, down two blocks, hang a right, another three blocks, then a left and an immediate turn down the alley. There it was, as if nothing had ever changed. The Grease Trap.

He didn't pace, he didn't sit there and think, he had done enough of that already. Just a smack to his own face and an earnest march, feet clomping and echoing along the pavement of the alley as he stomped towards the entrance. Hyping himself in his mind, he kicked the door, causing it to slam back, the glass pane rattling loudly as everyone in the establishment looked up in shock.

"Bienvenida, mother fuckers!" he shouted, both hands up in the air as he walked in. Half the denizens, what few there were, raised their eyebrows in confusion and wondered if they'd need to call for a check... or duck under the table in the event of a robbery. When the fact, greasy, gray mustached face of Carmine Megallo poked out from the kitchen to see what the ruckus was about, all tension had fallen away.

"Heeeeeey, Big Show!" he said, waddling his jiggling rolls in too tight-fitting a shirt and apron out of the kitchen and from behind the counter. "Wha, ya think 'cuz ya fuck some plastic girls ya too good to come round here no mo'?" With a big smile the man wrapped his arms around Brad, the whole-foot taller man returning the embrace, each clapping the other on the back three times as men do.

"Ya know how it is when ya get big and popular, ya know?" Brad said with a smile. Carmine just shook his head.

"Muddah fuggah, if I got big and popular ya think I'd be running this shit hole?" He had a laugh and started to waddle back towards the kitchen. "I get ya yer special?" Brad nodded with a grin. "Two double-decker bacon cheese burgers dripping with pulled pork? You got it my man." Camine smiled and nodded, pulling his pale, grease stained pants up in the back to cover his plumber's crack, vanishing once more into the kitchen. For a moment Brad assumed he was the first to arrive, and even hoped no one else would show, but it didn't take long before he spotted Kat looking over the back of her booth at him, and... shit, was that some groupie of hers, burying his face in his arms? Well, whatever. He stomped forward, boots thudding against the tile, and immediately slid in beside Kat, his size practically shoving her down the booth as he wrapped one of his big, strong arms around her shoulders. The scent of his colon was palpable.

"Whaddya say, Kat?" he said with a grin, his fingers pantomiming a pair of legs creeping down the v-neck of her top, towards the curvature of her breasts. "If no one else shows, you and me go out back and relive some nostalgic memories?"

The head dipped in his arms emitted a groan of frustration, muffled. Something familiar about that hair...

"I mean, if yer little groupie cuck wants to come along and watch, I wouldn't mind."

[IsabellaRose]

Kat shook her head at Brad's offer and held her breath. She had forgotten about his cheap cologne. She lived uptown now, had a corp job with a salary and benefits. She was done with crews and gigs. She didn't need to slum with guys like Brad anymore. Guys took her out on dates now. They paid for her drinks and dinner at least a couple times before she had to put out, and some of them she could string along a lot longer. Some of those corp guys were super dorks. Hints at things she wished for had earned her gifts. She had new tech, jewelry, fancy decor for her apartment. She had an apartment now, one entire flat all to herself, not a crash pad she shared with six others. She'd made it. Guys were lined up waiting to take her out. But damned if she'd found anyone uptown as well endowed as Brad. Maybe just one more time. But she wouldn't make it easy on him. He had enough of that already.

"Sorry, Brad," she said, pushing his fingers away from her breasts and shrinking out from under his arm, sliding down the bench to get some distance between them. "I'm out of your price range now."

Her voice was haughty. She sounded like she thought she was better than the rest of them now. Maybe she should tone it down a bit. These were her friends after all.

-- -- -- --

Ruby remained where she'd been when V-Card and Kat had arrived. The tiny Infiltrix Xii spy drone was perched on a fire escape across the alley from the restaurant and gave her a wide-angle view of the intersection. She was around the corner, one alley over, crouched behind a dumpster, watching the feed on her wrist-mounted display. It looked like it was legit, everyone was actually arriving one by one. If it was a setup, someone had gone to the trouble of finding her old crew, which was further than she expected from the AB.

Of course she was just being paranoid, but that's how you survived. She'd had three different run-ins with the AB, the Aztec Blood, or Sangre Azteca as they said it in Spanish, which she thought was pretty dumb for a bunch of gangbangers who claimed to be proud of their indigenous blood but used the language of their conquerors. She'd never say it to their faces though. That was a good way to get a bullet in your brain like Johnny Spoons or Matcha Malachi, that tea-drinking dipshit wanna-be philosopher. She was surprised he'd survived as long as he had, spouting his bullshit opinions like they were fact. 

Well, this didn't look like a setup. There was no reason to setup the whole group of them, not anymore. They hadn't seen each other since Jimmy Stimz took the fall. She'd always liked Jimmy, despite all that bravado and macho bullshit. But that was then, this was now. She'd feared the Aztecs might have set her up by faking a meeting of her old friends. But that didn't seem to be the case. They weren't known for having data or running background checks, just violently enforcing their territorial claims. Their beef wasn't with her, it was with Max and the side business he ran out of the tattoo parlor. She'd just been caught in the middle. 

There was motion on the wrist display, and she checked it to see Brad saunter into The Grease Trap like he owned the place. Fucking Brad. If his cock were as big as his ego, he'd be a national treasure. Truth be told, it was a pretty good cock, and he really did know how to use it. Shit, Brad had been with all the girls in the crew. Well, everyone except Erika. Ruby had no idea why Erika wouldn't have availed herself of some USDA prime cut manmeat when she had the chance, but to each their own, she guessed. In Nueve Angeles you took what you could get, and used what fell in your lap. Brad's cock hadn't just fallen in her lap, he'd pushed it in her face, and she'd sucked him off right there in front of everybody. Who cared? It was just a blowjob. Not like they'd never seen one before.

That was when she'd got her nickname, and her reputation. They called her Deisel, which she didn't really like because she thought it sounded like Deisel Dyke, and she was feminine, dammit. But that's not what it stood for. It was how they pronounced the letters she'd had tattooed across her collarbones - D S L. It stood for "dick sucking lips", and not only did she have them, lucious, full lips that guys wanted to put their cock between, she used them. A lot. It was a matter of pride for her that guys talked about her blowjobs. She was the queen of sucking cock.

She'd had a brief stint in porn vids as Ruby Lipps, sucking lots of cocks, lots at a time, blowbangs, bukkake. She was into it and all, but the money wasn't as good as she wanted, and her other talent, that of tattoo artist supreme, seemed like something that would last longer than porn vids. So she'd retired from porn at the top of her game. Offers had come in to get her to come back. People wanted to see those dick sucking lips in action. But she focused on her tattoo work.

Max had taken her under his wing when she started at his tattoo parlor. He was protective of his staff, moreso than you usually saw down here where everyone just looked out for themselves. Of course a lot of the customers knew who she was from her porn vids, but Max had kept things from getting out of hand. She really liked Max; he was like the father she never knew. 

She shook herself out of her reverie. They'd all gone inside now, three of them anyways. That only left her and Erika to show up, unless Jimmy was out. She hadn't heard that he was, but anything was possible. Time to head it.

She recalled the drone back to the wrist unit and pulled her sleeve down over it. The hoodie was baggie, but she wore it unzipped down the front over a black leather bra to show off her tats. The sleeves were just to cover the tech. No need to advertise. She wore tight leather boyshorts that hugged her ass like a second skin and her legs were bare to the tops of her ankle boots, also to show off her tats. Her hair stuck out in neon pink spikes from under the hood, and her vibrant sky blue eyes, modded to look like they glowed when she contracted the right optic muscles, shone out from the shadows of her hood beneath that shock of pink hair.

She walked into The Grease Trap not too far behind Brad, heard him offering Kat a fuck for old times sake, and laughed out loud at the side of the table before sliding in next to V-Card.

"Jesus, Brad," she said. "You don't recognize V-Card?"

When he looked up, she blew him a kiss with her thick, pouty lips, then winked.

She nodded to Kat and only said her name by way of greeting. "Kat." Her voice was flat. There was no love lost between the two of them. Kat had gotten a payday, made it up and out, didn't need to suck cock to survive, and had left all of them in the dust. Ruby wasn't her biggest fan.

She turned to Vance. He looked lean, in shape. Shit, for the little guy, he looked pretty good. "What you been up to, V-Card?" She looked over his outfit. "Gone legit?"

[Minorikawa]

Brad's face felt hot for a moment. Out of her price range? Did this bitch not know how much he raked in just for fucking some bitches? As foolish as he was, though, part of Brad's charm -- to some, at least -- was his seemingly indomitable spirit. So, he simply allowed his thick fingers to reach for the strands of Kat's bob, brushing against her ear lobe, letting the strands cascade between his digits like water.

"Jesus, Brad. You don't recognize V-Card?"

The strong-jawed man turned in time to see Ruby slip in, feeling a sudden yet brief swelling response within his tight vinyl pants as he saw those lips, which led to the tattoo upon her collar bone, before glancing down to her breasts, breasts that he had coated with his seed. His face grew hot again, but rather than from anger it was from a nervousness, embarrassment, and that wink. He turned to the "cuck" she sat beside hoping to eliminate the blush, but instead she watched V-Card lift his head up, misery and disdain in his eyes.

Shit, dude, I'm sorry... he thought. Instead, before he could even answer Kat's question, his ass lifted off the seat and his hand snatched the hat from Vance's head.

"Hey!" the smaller man responded. His hand reached up, a surprising grip as he tried to snatch the hat back, but with a smirk Brad just needed to give a more firm yank and it slipped out of Vance's grip.

"No shit, it really is you!" he said with a chuckle. He looked over the cap, immediately recognizing it as different from the others... in fact... "You're working security now?" he said with a raised eyebrow, tossing the hat back. It was for Jyung Soo Securities, one of the many security staffing firms in the city. They were fine, middle-of-the-road. Had run security for him and other porn stars on occasion when having to pass through or shoot in a shitty neighborhood. He tossed the hat back non-chalantly, with Vance picking snatching it and putting it back over his head, covering his electric-blue hair.

"Is it any surprise that goody-little-two-shoes V-Card would go out and find himself actual honest work?" the smaller man spat out. For the first time that night Brad found himself speechless. He'd never heard the kid speak with such... disdain. Was he really the same old V-Card? Before he could properly respond, Vance turned to Ruby, though his eyes failed to meet her own. He tried looking at her face, but his gaze lowered unable to meet her own. This led to a quick glance at her breasts before instantly turning his eyes towards the table top, choosing to stare at nothing if he couldn't look her right in the eye.

"Which... yeah, working legit, though..." His eyes lifted to glimpse up at Brad and Kat before casting back down to the table. "I guess maybe we all are, now..."

"Some are more honest than others," came a sudden voice with more of an urban tinge. Brad and Vance were so preoccupied with one another they failed to register Yanni entering The Grease Trap. He was about six-foot in height, taller than Vance but shorter than Brad, a man of dark skin and mixed heritage, African and Cuban, wearing a leather jacket with a band's logo and emblem on the shirt underneath. He had jeans and a chain on, but with metallic gears and cylinders built into his right leg to help him walk. They still couldn't eliminate his limp, and each step with his right foot was heavier than the last. This little attachment was new to everyone else at the table, but Yanni had been living with it since the bust.

Yanni and Jimmy went back further than anyone there. They both grew up in the foster system, and both got rejected constantly by foster parents. They'd always see each other back at the orphanage, as if competing to see who could make their adoptive guardians break first. Jimmy was two years Yanni's senior, though, so when he turned eighteen and was booted out of the foster program, he made a promise that he'd have a home for Yanni ready... and he did. It was a crappy, run-down dump of an apartment, but it was a place for Jimmy, Yanni, and, it turned out, Kat. This was, of course, around the time that Jimmy had earned that name "Stimz". He had become a dealer of the popular drug, and it was, in fact, how they had met Brad. Erika and Ruby came in later, but it was Yanni that brought in V-Card... or, rather, Vance. The kid was alone and fresh out of the foster system himself, but unlike Jimmy and Yanni, he didn't try to age out of the system. No one had wanted him.

He thought he had done the kid a favor.

Too late Yanni realized that the only thing holding the others together was Jimmy, and he suspected Brad and Kat only because of the drugs Jimmy dealt. Nah, that night, though? Of the bust? Invasion of a rival dealer's territory, death of an undercover cop, and a bullet right through Yanni's leg... it was a disaster, but Jimmy was willing to lead the pursuers away. The second they were given the opportunity, Brad and Kat booked it. Fled for their lives, split up... Ruby and Vance needed some convincing, though the kid was stuck like a deer in headlights. Ruby managed to help take him away. Yanni wanted to stay, to go down with his sworn brother, but... well, if it weren't for Erika, he'd have died bleeding out. She made a promise to Jimmy that his little bro would survive.

Yanni never confirmed it, but he got the feeling if he hadn't been shot, he'd have had to be forcing her away. Maybe she loved Jimmy. Maybe she, at that moment, also realized that Jimmy was the only thing keeping them all together. Whatever it was, it was Yanni's injury that had left Jimmy alone in that dump. Yanni still sends Jimmy messages through the system. Jimmy stopped answering.

The dark-skinned man snatched a stool from the diner's counter, swinging and dropping it at the end of the table. He didn't have a stomach to sit beside anyone right now, so he dropped himself at the end of the booth, almost as if he were a judge sitting before the guilty. He propped one heel on a support bar of the stool, the other foot to the floor, crossing one arm over his knee while the other rested upon his hip. He had also gone legit, sort of. He always had a knack for music, learning on a busted ol' bass, the stolen guitar of a dead junkie two doors down the hall from the shitty old apartment, and drumming on whatever and wherever he could. He'd been a member of a few bands, finally landing a gig as a studio musician, but nothing too successful. As far as he was aware, only Erika seemed to follow his work.

"How's it feel, lying your way to success?" Yanni asked, eyes staring coldly at Kat. This earned a confused expression on Vance's face as he looked between Kat, Yanni, Brad, and Ruby. Brad quirked an eyebrow, tracing Yanni's gaze to Kat beside him, then looking back.

"The fuck are you on about, Yanni?" Brad asked. One thing that Kat didn't know about the cop she sold out -- the good cop -- was that Yanni and Jimmy both knew him. They all grew up in the same foster system together. Only Pascal was actually a good kid, unwanted for no good reason just like Vance. He behaved, had an honor code... and what had Yanni and Jimmy befriending him was his willingness to take a bloody nose if it meant defending someone weaker.

One of those weaker kids being Vance.

Yanni glanced back to the kid, and realized by his expression that he didn't know. He didn't know the reason Pascal was dead wasn't because he was corrupt. He looked back up at Kat with a vindictive sneer. Oh, please, Kat, please drag this out. Tonight, he was the feline playing with the mouse.

[IsabellaRose]

Ruby loved fucking with Brad. She had no idea she'd have that effect on him, but she liked it. Imagine that. Brad, blushing. Once Vance had his hat back, she decided to push Brad a little more. She slid one foot out of her boot, then reached her leg across the booth under the table, toes sliding up the inside of Brad's thigh, up to spot where his bulge pressed against the inside of his pants. He really was well-endowed, and as soon as her toes touched it, she wiggled her eyebrows at him, then turned away to completely ignore him, catching Vance's comment about "goody two shoes V-Card", but more importantly, his tone.

"Hey, Vance," she said, touching his arm while her toes slid along Brad's pants. "Hey." She put fingertips under his chin, wanting to guide his face up to look in her eyes as long as he didn't put up too much resistance. When she spoke again, her voice was low, almost a whisper, meant for his ears only.

"Hey, man. You were always the best of us. You know that, right?" She smiled at him, a genuine, heartfelt smile, the kind she hadn't aimed at anyone but Max for years now. It was true. He and Erika had been like a moral compass for the crew, the heart and soul that kept them together, kept them from going too dark.

All during her moment with Vance, her toes were working Brad toward arousal with everything she had. She'd always been able to multitask. It's why she was so good at blowbangs. 

Yanni dragged his stool over and stared down at them like he were presiding over their reunion and his mood made Ruby's leg drop back down. She slid her foot back into her boot. He was like a thunderstorm about to break at the other end of the table, and she wanted to be able to run if shit went south.

When Yanni said "How's it feel, lying your way to success?" Ruby knew the reunion was over. That cold stare he leveled at Kat made Ruby shiver. She didn't touch it, but got ready to pull her taser out of its concealed holster on her other forearm. It wasn't much of a weapon, but it was enough to slow most men down and allow her a clean getaway without being lethal. Paranoia was how she'd been surviving the past three weeks.

Meanwhile, Kat was pinned by Yanni's stare, the accusation in his tone. She had no idea if anyone else knew what she'd done, but she'd always had to act like they all did. It was why she stayed away. They'd had Jimmy dead to rights. Nothing she did would have saved him. But the cop. She knew he wasn't dirty, but she said the words they told her to say and ruined that guy's life. How would any of them really know, though? It's not like they had friends on the force or could afford to pay anyone off.

Still, she'd dreaded this moment. Sooner or later the truth would come out, and they'd see her as... what? A liar? They were all liars. Dishonest? Shit, when it came right down to it, she wasn't different from any of the rest of them. She'd just been given a shot. She wasn't wrong, and they didn't know what had happened in that interrogation room. They didn't know.

"Fuck you, Yanni," she said dismissively. She knew she shouldn't have come, even for Erika. "You don't know shit. Like you wouldn't have done the same to get out of this shit hole."

The looks from the others told her they didn't know. Fuck. She'd have to spill it all quick before Yanni could give his version, whatever that was, and make it harder for her. She'd learned in the corporate world that when things couldn't be contained anymore, you spilled your own mistakes first so you could put the right spin on them. It was all about the spin.

She nodded as she looked around the table, the electric blue wave sliding down her fiberoptic hair a little faster. "Yeah, I lied. That cop I testified against? He was just some cop. They gave me a story and a payday and I cashed in."

She looked around, knew there would be comments, and quickly followed up with, "like none of you would have cashed in? C'mon. Who wouldn't have taken a chance to get out? You guys want to slum it forever? Making porn vids? Tattooing assholes who just want to fuck your face? Playing in some shitty studio and never making your own music? Working what... security?" She made it all sound derisive, beneath her. She had gotten out. 

She wondered if it would hurt, cutting them like that, but it was better to cut someone else than be cut. "It wasn't like it was one of us. It was some nobody cop who would have put a bullet in you as soon as look at you. Any one of you would have done what I did if you had the chance. Any one of you." Her eyes stared daggers around the table, daring them to contradict her, finally landing on Yanni. Her eyes dared him to say something.

She'd been there before him. She'd been the one to help Jimmy fund that apartment so Yanni could have a shitty little home instead of being on the streets. She'd been the one to help Jimmy keep it together when his tough guy exterior cracked. Nobody ever saw Jimmy down because she was there for him. She bolstered him up, gave him a place to be vulnerable, in her arms, between her thighs, holding each other on the cold nights when it was just the two of them. She'd been Jimmy's girl before the crew piled into the apartment. Before Yanni invaded their privacy.

But she hadn't held a grudge. She'd let it go. She always knew it was just temporary. She knew Jimmy couldn't be just hers, he had to be there all of theirs. She'd given that up for the crew, for Yanni.

But now he was trying to fuck her over with the crew? Turn them against her? After she gave up Jimmy for him? The only person she'd ever loved? This was the thanks she got? What did he care about some no-name badge? Fuck Yanni. She knew she shouldn't have come back.

[Minorikawa]

Ruby's foot certainly had the intended impact. It had been a while since they'd fooled around together, but he was no stranger to her toes giving him a bit of a tease. You'd think working in pornography would make it hard to get erect with such simple stimulation, and were this on set it might. He'd had to take pills a few times, not gonna lie. But perhaps it was the atmosphere, hearing her speak such tender words to V-Card while she was conducting such a lewd massage unseen, well, her toes certainly got to feel his more rigid swelling through the vinyl, at least for a bit. He did his best to keep his composure, but the big stupid grin on his face was probably enough to communicate something was going on with him to any that dared pay attention.

Vance, on the other hand, hated himself for blushing at her words. He allowed her fingers to steer his gaze, but he swiftly turned away once she finished her kind sing-song phrase to uplift him. Her flirtations, her blown kisses, everything about her was for other men. She never gave him anything like that, though... he didn't know if he.... well of course he wanted it, but just...

The clang of the stool was a welcome interruption to his confused thoughts, though for Brad it was an unfortunate conclusion to Ruby's footplay. The smile was immediately wiped from his face as Yanni leveled an accusation directly at Kat beside him. His eyes went to Vance, whose brow was simply furrowed in confusion. Then he looked to Ruby, and immediately he recognized the fight-or-flight response in her face. Eyes widened, jaw set, hands ready to move if need be, and her foot probably was now, too.

"Look, why don't we just-" Brad began, but immediately Kat was speaking. Yanni's eyebrows rose and he sat back the second Kat accused him of doing the same. However, Kat wasn't done. Brad looked to her, the flickering of electric blue running through the strip of hair, adding a glow to her face and the environment almost like a visible heart beat. Brad was, honestly, confused. He kept looking to Vance and Ruby, especially as Kat's own accusations were flung back at each of them. Did she really feel this way about them? What the fuck was wrong with porno? With tattooing? Fuck, V-Card got a job!

Shit, V-Card... Brad had never felt broken hearted for another guy, but something in Vance's expression looked wounded, confused. The kid's eyes glistened as if ready to well up with tears. But Kat was finally finished, and her eyes were on Yanni, daring him to do something. Brad turned and looked, Yanni's expression contorted and twisted in rage. His hands clasped the seat of the stool between his legs, knuckles going pale, his body trembling. Brad glanced to Ruby, fearful she was gonna bolt or try something.

"Yanni," Brad said, hand reaching for the other man's arm, his ass lifting out of the seat. Yanni flinched, burning gaze shifting to Brad's own. He could feel the flexing and tensing muscles of Yanni's arms indicating he was ready to throw some hands, but, fortunately, Yanni's muscles relaxed, some of the rage subsided.

"What was his name?" came a quiet, trembling voice from the corner of the booth. Vance's eyes were locked on Kat, but not in rage. There was silence a moment as no one replied. "What was his name, Yanni?" Vance asked louder, but his eyes remained locked on Kat.

Yanni sighed, his own heart sinking. He didn't actually want to reveal this much information. He wanted to make Kat sweat. He wanted to drag this out, to play. But she just confessed it all, and now... now Yanni had to be the one to break the news. Well, if he was going to do so, he was going to make sure Kat knew just how deep the wound got.

"Pascal Pietro," Yanni said with conviction, his sorrowful gaze turning from V-Card back to Kat. "One of our homeboys from back in the orphanage. You, me, Jimmy, and Pascal... only Pascal got to live a good life... for a while."

There was silence. Brad's hand remained on Yanni's arm, though it trembled. He kept his eyes on Yanni because he didn't know what else to do. Any arousal Ruby had provided was gone, done. Yanni looked down at the hand on his arm, then back up to Brad.

"You gonna stay like this all night?"

With a sigh Brad released Yanni's arm, but he pressed his hands to the table and prepared to stand. He didn't know what the best decision was, but given Yanni's behavior it would be better if he left, rather than taking over Erika's reunion. Before he could use his height for intimidation, though, there was a sudden motion in the corner of his eye, the table and booth shaking. V-Card had lowered his hat, flattened his own hands to the table, leaning forward and slipping his legs up, planting them on the seat. He stood, climbing over the back of the booth to the bench behind, walking over the seat and dropping onto the floor.

"I got work," he said with a raw, disdainful voice, walking behind Yanni and stepping towards the exit. Uncertain what else to do, Brad stood up, looking directly at Yanni.

"I think maybe you should go, too," he said in a deep voice. Yanni just smirked, a huff flaring from his nostrils. "Nah, I'm gonna stick around, see what Erika's up to, getting us all together. Besides," his gaze returned to Kat. "She's the one ought to leave."

[IsabellaRose]

Kat hadn't known. How could she have known? They'd never mentioned Pascal, not once.

And that night, the cops had been so insistent. They showed her security footage, the whole thing. Yanni getting shot. Her and Brad running as soon as they had a chance. Ruby practically dragging Vance away. Erika helping Yanni, hopping out on one good leg, pain on his face. The cops had everyone dead to rights. They knew all their names, listed them off to her, first and last name, aliases, previous addresses, known associates. They told her that one of them had to fall, but they'd let the rest go. She insisted it be her. She'd go down to save the crew. But then they let her talk to Jimmy. It was like they had it planned, like they knew what was going to happen. He told her to let him take the fall, to do anything to keep the rest of the crew safe. "Do anything they say," he said. "Don't let anyone else go down."

And that's what she'd done. Jimmy took the fall. The cops said he pled guilty to the whole thing, and she let him fall. She hated herself for it, but she had promised him to look out for the rest them. And they had heard that, they used it. They told her the rest of the crew were going to be rounded up unless she did this one thing. There was a cop, one that caused trouble. He had to go so her friends could walk. She didn't know this cop from Adam, but she didn't want to sell an innocent man down the river. But the cops told her, it was him or her friends. It was the only way to save them, and she'd promised Jimmy. She'd promised. But she couldn't do it. She cried over it, so they sweetened the pot. Her friends walked and she got a payday. Enough to get out of the slums, set herself up legit. So she took it. What else was she supposed to do? She'd promised Jimmy.

Her face was red. She took a deep shaky breath, seething with anger. "You. Fucking. Asshole." She stared at Yanni, her face emotionless. "You have no fucking idea what happened, you stupid motherfucker."

She looked around the table. She was never going to tell them. But then, she was never going to see them either, and she had no idea they knew the cop.

"Vance," she said. "Hold up. If we're gonna do this, everyone needs to hear."

She looked at Ruby, then at Brad. She shook her head. She looked at Yanni again, and her expression changed. There was still so much anger, but also guilt, sorrow, regret. "I'm sorry about your friend," she said. It was almost emotionless, but her voice trembled. When Yanni looked like he was about to speak she cut off his chance.

"Don't." She held up a hand. "You really don't know shit, man. They had all of us. Everyone. On video. They were going to get us all as accessories for the undercover cop. Everyone up the river. You know kids like us don't get plea deals or probation. It was going to be hard time for all of us."

She looked around, let that sink in. 

"They let me talk to Jimmy. You know what he told me? Take a fucking guess." She poked her finger at Yanni. "You know what he said. Everyone here knows. I don't even have to say it, but I will. He said, 'do whatever they tell you to do to save the crew. Sell me down the river. Just keep them safe.'"

She stood up, her jaw quivering. "And some cop none of us knew was the price. The price for all of you, all of us. How the fuck was I supposed to know you knew him? How was I supposed to know?"

She pushed past Yanni, stormed past Vance where he had stopped halfway to the door. "You think I don't know he got shanked? You think I didn't see that? You think that shit doesn't weigh on me?" God, did it weigh on her. She cried herself to sleep most nights, the shit she'd done. That kind of guilt doesn't wash off.

Tears were running down her face now, and her voice was loud. "Fuck you, Yanni. Fuck you. I've had to live with it this whole time, and you fuckers just skated free like nothing ever happened. Not so much as an interrogation room. None of you were there. None of you had to do it. It was ME. I made the call to save all of us. And you know why. Because I fucking promised Jimmy I'd do anything. Every single one of you would have done the same thing."

She stormed to do the door, hearing the tinny voice say, "vuelve pronto" as it opened in front of her. She turned to look back into the restaurant, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her mascara would have been running it weren't ruthenium polymer.

"I really am sorry that was your friend." Her voice was level, her shoulders shook with her sobs. "But we were supposed to be family. You were supposed to have my back, too. Fuck you for doing this, Yanni. Just fuck all of you."

She dashed out of the door and up the alley. It had been so much worse than she'd expected. So much worse. She was never coming back again.

[Minorikawa]

There was a maelstrom of emotions within everyone's hearts, but most importantly, in the rest of the diner dweller's minds. Everyone was trying to keep their heads down, eat their dinner, hearing some drama that evidently involved crime and the cops. This is stuff you try not to do anything about, just hope it blows over, and fortunately it shortly did. The woman who looked a bit too wealthy to be here left, and things got quiet again.

Vance stood there, not knowing why he stopped, why he was willing to give Kat the time of day. She had betrayed someone that meant just as much as Jimmy, only this was worse. It was so much worse. At least their crew deserved prison. Pascal didn't deserve death. When he heard her, though, he... he... dammit, he wanted to hate her. He wanted to hate all of them. These past few years he just wanted to be able to wish they all died but he couldn't. For some reason he still had an attachment to all these pricks, and now, because of them, Pascal was dead. His fingers balling into a fist, he stormed out of the diner, the "vuelve pronto" crackling on the speaker above, and made a mad dash to catch up with Kat.

Which left Yanni, Brad, and Ruby, alone. For a moment they were just quiet, all staring out the door, Kat and Vance now gone. Then Brad suddenly swung, his fist striking Yanni right in the arm, the force of the blow shoving Yanni off balance on the stool and forcing him to shift to the side and onto his feet, clutching at his struck bicep.

"The fuck is wrong with you?!" Brad said. He was always so jovial, so fun, so down to party, but when that all slipped away you knew he was pissed. "I'm dumb as a brick and I know there were better ways to deal with all that!"

"Hey, fuck you!" Yanni spat back, stepping towards the table's edge. "You're just another fucking remora, latching on to Jimmy to swim in his current. You weren't his family like we were!"

"HEY!" The big booming voice came from the kitchen doorway. Carmine was carrying a tray with Brad's order, two big ass burgers and a load of fries. He waddled and jiggled his way between Brad and Yanni, dropping the tray unceremoniously onto the table, some fries bouncing from their basket onto the tabletop and the top buns of the burgers bouncing and sliding to the side. One fist grabbed Brad's collar, the other Yanni's, and he pulled them close to 'im.

"Now I'm busy back there, didn't even know how many of ya had come back an' returned, but I sure as shit heard some real loud shoutin' in my establishment." Carmine's eyes darted between Yanni's and Brad's. "I'd love havin' you kids back, but not if you're gonna be actin' like a bunch of rival junkers. Get yer shit straight or I'm gonna sock both of ya in the jaw and kick yer asses straight on outta here." He released their collars, pushing Brad back into his seat and Yanni further from the table. Carmine's eyes shifted to Ruby, his scowl becoming a warm, grandfatherly smile.

"What can I get'cha, songbird?" he asked. "Want somethin' to munch on, or just gonna chow down on Brad's fries as usual?"

"Sorry, sir," Brad nodded quietly, brushing himself off, settling back into the booth. Yanni's nostrils just flared, though. This wasn't how it was supposed to go down. Everyone was turning on him instead of Kat. Why? She was the liar! Fuck, they didn't even know if she actually talked to Jimmy! If she lied once, she could be lying again! Who knows how many lies she told!

"Fuck this," he said, straightening his leather jacket. "I'm outta here." He turned, but instead of heading out the same front door as the others, he snuck through the back. All the crew knew the pathway through to the kitchen and storage, and out the back door to where the garbage was collected. Yanni didn't want to chance any more time with Vance or Kat, and so stomped his way down a separate alley, hands in his pockets. He had given up trying to meet with Jimmy a year ago. He had stopped responding to his messages not long after Pascal's death in prison. But he needed to know if Kat was telling the truth. He needed to know if Jimmy really had, knowingly or not, given Kat permission to do whatever they said, signing Pascal's death warrant.

~~~

Unlike Kat, Vance was not wearing heels. Also unlike Kat, he had been specializing in running on the treadmill. He was a much faster sprinter now than he was back then, too. The only thing that didn't occur to him is if she might be equipped with mace or a taser, or worse. Nonetheless, he caught up, his hand grasping her arm firmly, stopping her and forcefully spinning her around to face him. Evidently he was unaware of his own strength, as the second she was spun his hand snatched away, his expression immediately apologetic. However, seeing the mascara running, the tears running down her face, it wrenched his heart.

Fuck, why did he have to be such a weak-hearted fool? He looked to the side, his heel tapping on the ground, fingers balling into fists, uncurling, and then asynchronously curling back in, fidgeting.

"Let's set things straight between you and me," he started, his own voice shaking. He'd actually rehearsed a lot of speeches in front of a mirror the past year, just in case he had run into the others. Sure, he was working some cheap, mid-level security firm, but they had standards and training themselves. He needed to be in shape, and he needed to sound like an authority figure if he had to address someone in person. At least, that's how you get ahead in the company. He was stuck on security cameras for a reason. This was so much more different than his rehearsals, but he did his best to speak like a man, strong and confident, despite his inability to look into those glistening, tear-filled eyes while doing so.

"Only Jimmy knew I met with Pascal for lunch every Sunday," Vance began. "Always after he finished going to Church with his family. He'd meet me, one-on-one, and we'd just chat. He meant a lot to me. He protected me. And he still wanted to protect me. He loved Jimmy and Yanni, knew why they stayed away, but he also knew that they would only meet trouble one day. He didn't want that for me. He tried to convince me to come live with him, get my life in order."

His eyes finally turned to meet with Kat's, and though tears were running down his own cheeks, his voice was no longer trembling. "I never felt good enough for Pascal's life. I felt like I'd just drag him down, so I stuck with Jimmy and Yanni. But if going to prison is all it would take for me to save my friend, then I'd gladly do it, because Pascal didn't deserve that."

There was a moment of silence as Vance's mind was suddenly filled with the visual of Ruby, her fingers tucked under his chin, expression soft, telling him that he was the best of them. With a sardonic smirk, Vance gripped the end of his cap, tugging it down as his gaze shifted towards Kat's feet and heels, covering his face. "Or maybe that's just what good guys get in Nueve Angeles. You're right, I'm just some nobody security guard. I wake up alone, I go to work alone, and I go to bed alone, and I do it all over again. Pascal gets murdered by a bunch of crooked cops manipulating desperate punkers hoping to survive. That's what it means to be the best of us, huh?"

At this last statement his voice choked up, his face contorting beneath the brim of his hat, his fingers holding onto it gripping tightly, turning pale around his nails as the tears suddenly burst like from a dam. His breathing hitched.

Fuck this city, fuck these people, and fuck this life.

[IsabellaRose]

All the anger that had driven Kat, the courage she had mustered to say her piece, all the false bravado that had kept her marching down the street melted away at Vance's words. She crumpled emotionally, anything in her that had been strong fell apart, and her body followed suit. She stumbled to the side, hand reaching for balance against the wall. But her legs gave out too, and she collapsed onto a dirty old crate in her expensive dress. He shoulders heaved with silent sobs and she buried her face in her hands.

"I'm so fucking sorry," she said in a sobbing voice, maybe to Vance, maybe to herself. She cried audibly now, any composure she'd had gone.

When she looked back up at Vance she was a mess, eyes already puffy, face red. "I wish I could go back. I wish I could change it. I didn't even know him and after I saw on the news he'd been killed, I knew. I knew it was what they wanted all along. I'd sent a man to die. A stranger. His life for all of ours."

"And do you know how I dealt with that? Me, little miss never touch a dose?" She reached into the small purse she carried and started pulling out prescription pill bottles. "They took that, too. Buproprion and Mirtazapine for depression. Xanax for anxiety and insomnia. They don't help, but Bliss does. Haze is rough, but it works too. So I end up dosing. I'm a fucking Blisshead now, and I still wake up seeing his face.

"Every morning. Pascal Prieto. And not that mug shot they showed of him angry and hostile. Not the courtroom pics of him emotionless, knowing what was coming. No, afterwards I looked up his socials. I see him smiling. I see his wife and kid. I know that kid has no father now because I lied. Every morning I see that smiling, innocent man who died for my sins."

"I didn't want to do it," she said, looking up at Vance now, the pill bottles clattering to the ground, her purse sliding off her lap, spilling its contents onto the wet pavement. Her coms, stimsticks, a few packets of Bliss.. "You won't believe me, but I didn't. I just... They said."

The next thing she said was a whisper, almost an attempt a defense, but one she knew carried no weight anymore. "I promised Jimmy."

She sat awkwardly on the crate, legs sticking out in different directions, and her head fell back into her hands, fingers raking up into her smooth black hair. "I try to tell myself I made it, that you're all still free, that something good came of it. But there was nothing good. I'm still just whoring myself out for the man. Nobody gives a shit about me up there. They use each other worse than we ever did. You guys, the crew, we actually gave a shit about each other. It's the only reason I came back when Erika called.

"But now it turns out he was your best fucking friend." She looked back up at Vance. "I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I'm more sorry than you'll ever know. I can't even... God, Vance. I'm so sorry."

She saw the way his fists were balled up, clenching and unclenching. "Hit me if you want. You hate me. I deserve it. Go ahead if it will help. It doesn't matter anymore."

~~~

Inside The Grease Trap, Ruby looked across the table at Brad. She'd opted to eat some of his fries rather than order anything of her own, but had only picked at a couple. Food wasn't high on her list of priorities right now. She hadn't known any of that, and only about half of it made sense to her, but... these guys had been her family once. Sure she'd fucked all of them, well, all of them except Vance. But Vance was special. She could tell just from that one day that Vicki tried something and he ran out. It wasn't just sex to him. It meant something. She didn't deserve to be his first, didn't deserve a guy like him at all. She'd hoped for a while, dreamed about it, the way he'd hold her, gentle but firm, tender kisses. She'd dreamed of his kisses.

But Vance was too good for her, and now that she'd done all those vids... there was no way he'd want to kiss lips that had sucked all those cocks. She was... hey, she was okay with who she was. She liked her life now, aside from the Aztecs that might burn down the shop, kill her boss, and catch her in the crossfire. But she was an artist, had a bit of a reputation, was wanted for her work. Guys still wanted to be with her. She didn't need Vance. But she still wondered what it would have been like. And seeing him again, it made her wonder what it could be like. What if...?

But he was gone. Brad was here. She came back from her reverie and looked across the table. Brad. He was an ass, but he was also a giant teddy bear. He was also a fuck machine the likes of which she'd never been with since. She'd always liked messing with Brad. He was fun, sexy, overprotective and overbearing, but... she always expected they'd end up together. They came in at the same time. They both started out as zapheads, dosing on too many stims, but Jimmy had helped them kick. They'd done it together, leaned on each other, helped each other through the rough times. Brad was like a big brother, but a big brother you wanted to fuck. So maybe not like a big brother. But still.

"Hey," she said across the table. "You wanna...?" She wasn't working her sexy angle, just asking. She wanted Brad. Shit, she always wanted Brad. But she needed someone safe, someone she trusted, and she trusted Brad. She knew even if he wasn't one for cuddling, she'd be safe sleeping beside him after they had their fun, and right now those were two things she needed. Release and safety. 

"Even if you don't," she said. "Can we just... hang? I don't want to be alone right now."

~~~

Erika stood beside the row of dumpsters in the alley behind The Grease Trap, legs wide, fists on hips. Her black cargo pants were covered in bulging pockets and her feet were planted firmly in her big, black combat boots. Her jacket was army surplus, black as her pants, bulky but hanging open, revealing a tight crop top and bare stomach.  Belts crisscrossed her waist, gear strapped to it like she were on her way out for a mission. . She blocked Yanni's way out of the alley.

When he saw her, she shook her head as if disappointed, natural brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, curly wisps escaping around her face. Her face belonged on the the vids. She was gorgeous, prettier than Kat or Ruby, but in a natural way. She didn't need all the makeup, the crazy hair styles, the tattoos. Her beauty was what they used to call "girl next door", a plain, unadorned allure. Like the rest of them, she was an orphan, and had no idea who her parents were, no idea about her heritage. Her skin tone was vaguely Hispanic or Mediterranean, the shape of her eyes said she was Asian, but the ice blue color said Scandinavian heritage. Truth be told, it was all too diluted to really tell anything about where she came from, but it added up to an alluring loveliness that everyone noticed instantly. 

She walked up to Yanni, an empathetic smile crossing her face. "That didn't go the way you expected, did it?"

She leaned in and hugged him, firm and loving. She was the one that always patched everything up, every time. No one had ever tried to escape an Erika hug.

Edited November 19, 2023 by IsabellaRose

[Minorikawa]

Vance's own rage began to subside as he watched Kat crumble, drop upon a crate, spilling her heart just as much as her purse. He cursed himself for being so soft, for being such a carpet, a pussy, a coward. He wanted to stay angry, to tell her she earned the misery and deserved it. This should have been a reward for putting up with everyone's bullshit for so long, for all the hands disheveling his hair, for all the times he was called V-Card, for how often he was made fun of for being too scared to try anything, for every time he felt emasculated by Kat or Ruby.

But maybe he just had too soft a spot for women. He could never be that mad at Kat or Ruby, not like he could be at Jimmy, Yanni, or Brad. He always gave them a pass. Perhaps they were all just manipulative of him, knowing they could keep him wrapped around their finger. Or maybe it was something else. Maybe he recognized real hurt, and maybe, just maybe, he was scared to see that Kat, of all of the other crew, was driven to such depression and loneliness and guilt that she was on Bliss. Vance never touched drugs, either, but it was almost as if everyone was protective of him, preventing him from even being curious or trying it. He squatted down without thinking, picking one of the packets up between his fingers, looking at it, flipping the packet over to examine the green gel capsule, immediately recognizing the branding of the Aztecs.

Ironically, Vance learned more about all the rival gangs in his time working security than he had being with the others. He doubted Kat went to a dealer directly since the Aztec Bloods didn't operate that far outside the slums. No, she had someone that collected from them and distributed to corpos and the like. He glanced up, checking to see if she were observing, and as her body shook from heavy sobs he slipped the Bliss into his pocket. He didn't know why, but perhaps he could do... something. Some kind of investigation, or... fuck, he'd probably just throw it away later when he realized how delusional he was being. Still, while he was down there he helped collect her things, trying not to touch any personal feminine products too much as he placed everything back into her purse. He zipped it up, moved himself closer to Kat, and slid the purse on her lap.

He then stretched out his left arm, wrapping it around her shoulders and pulling her in. The other girls had hugged him before, of course, friendly, light hugs with a time limit, nothing too close or intimate, so immediately this one felt different. He didn't just get a whiff of Kat's perfume, the scent lingered and filled his nostrils. Her face pressed against his shoulder, her breath hot as she continued to weep, her tears soaking into his uniform. Her body shook within his arms, and for the first time in his life Vance felt like he could protect someone.

Even though he was part of the reason she was crying.

Vance's mouth opened several times, but no words could come out. He felt like anything he could say would just make things worse. So instead, he held her in silence, let her tears just run, provide her this comfort, the comfort he'd yearned for on so many painful nights. Then, as her tears began to subside, he said the only thing he could even think of saying:

"Wanna see where I work?"

Ugh, Vance, you really deserve to be called V-Card, he thought to himself.

~~~

It was a rare moment when Brad was unable to muster his jovial energy, sincere or fake. But this time? This time it was all too fucked up. He didn't know what to do or say. He could tell Ruby herself was feeling awful, confused, unable to process everything that just happened. Or maybe that's how he was feeling? Fuck, he wasn't the thinker. He knew he wasn't the thinker. He knew he was the idiot of the bunch, but he was the loveable idiot, the muscle, the roller coaster between a woman's thighs. For a brief moment, sitting beside Kat, having his dick felt up by Ruby's foot while she multi-tasked to V-Card, it was just so close to old times.

He desperately wanted those old times, to bring his friends with him, to be out of crime and to all be enjoying the porno life. Fuck, there was a whole sub-genre of porn he knew V-Card would be perfect for, be it the cougar praying on their son's best friend (or their own son, as it were) or being the perfect boyfriend for all those chicks that wanted a romantic illusion. Kat and Ruby were naturals in the sack. Fuck, Diesel was in the industry for a while! How much more fun would it be fucking on and off set for the next ten years, collecting fat paychecks until they could all retire early and just live in a comfy, middle-class house together in a safe but affordable part of the city.

It was a fantasy, and as Brad sat there, reflecting on that evening's events, it sounded like a fantasy that would only have been afforded by Kat's own sacrifice. Jimmy made one, but Kat's was... different. It was a self-inflicting wound. Jimmy could always stand with pride, saving the others by sacrificing himself. Brad understood that, which is one of the reasons he ran. He'd have done the same... no, he should have done the same. The thing is, Brad was also afraid. He never once thought of changing places. He just trusted Jimmy would be okay. Instead, Kat got snatched, and they manipulated her into sacrificing a cop and sacrificing her own conscience.

This shit wasn't right, man.

"Hey."

Brad looked up. He hadn't even realized he'd been plucking the sesame seeds from the burger buns one by one. He hadn't taken a single bite of anything. He just couldn't chow down like she usually did.

"You wanna...?"

For a moment he waited for her to finish, but only a moment. He was familiar enough with her to know what she was asking. He was most familiar with two of her moods: horny and looking to have some fun, and the need to focus on something other than the sadness weighing down her heart. He looked around the diner, over his shoulder at the other booths, noticing that the other guests seemed to be minding their own business, the staff leaving the table alone for now. Carmine had waddled off and returned to his kitchen, relaxed now that it was just Ruby and Brad.

"Even if you don't, can we just... hang? I don't want to be alone right now."

He turned back to her, looking into her eyes. He understood. He didn't want to be, either, and while he wasn't exactly in the most aroused state, he certainly could use a distraction. More than that, he could use a taste of the good old days. He slid out of the booth and began to walk past her, resting his hand on her shoulder. The soft grip of her flesh indicated for her to wait a few minutes, then follow him into the restroom. He passed the last two booths, empty, and into the alcove that a unisex bathroom. It was small, with a men's urinal positioned beside the sink and a toilet stall just passed, equipped with a handicapped bar. He walked into the stall, keeping its door open so that he could check on its status.

There were three reasons you signaled to your partner to wait a few minutes: the first was to make sure no one noticed a man and woman stepping in there at the same time. That made it too obvious what would be happening. The second was to make sure there was no awful mess that would ruin the mood inside. If your partner came back, you knew it was the least sexy time possible, even as far as restrooms go. The third was to make sure your partner had time to "prepare".

With the stall clear and clean, Brad unzipped his vinyl pants, reaching into the fly to fish his cock free. Even flaccid and limp it was a bit of a beast, a fight to slip free. Women always seemed to want access to the balls as well, but fitting both his dick and his balls through the fly was too much. Nah, he'd see how far they'd go before dropping his pants further down, because if his balls were gonna be free it was going to be so they could swing freely while he was pounding some pussy.

He leaned back against the wall opposite of the toilet, allowing Ruby space to step in and sit herself on the toilet and showcase why she tattoo'ed D-S-L upon her collar above her breasts. His fingers gently pumped and stroked his length, closing his eyes, thinking of past experiences with her, doing his best to shut out the night's events and focus instead on the pleasure they were about to experience. It was... difficult. By time Ruby walked in he'd only be partially plump, still relatively soft.

~~~

Yanni and Erika will be continued at a later time.

[IsabellaRose]

Ruby

Ruby grinned. Fucking Brad. You could always count on him for a quickie in the bathroom, or the back seat of the bus, or... well, anywhere, really. She felt warmth flower between her legs. Just thinking about it was getting her excited. She pulled out her lipstick and applied a thick neon pink layer over her lips. She was going to leave a mark on Brad. He'd remember her mouth when he looked down at his cock. 

She dropped some cash on the table to make sure Carmine didn't think they decided to chew and screw and walked nonchalantly toward the unisex. A guy in a full booth she passed tried to hide the gesture he made toward her and she heard him say "Ruby Lipps," as she entered the bathroom. Great. Fans. She locked the door behind her. Saw Brad's shadow in the stall, and ducked inside. He was stroking it, just starting to firm up. She slid past him and sat on the toilet seat. It was cleaner than she'd expected.

Gently she took his cock from him, swapping her slender, long-nailed fingers for his meaty ones. Her touch was that of a professional, the skilled movements of someone who had worked countless cocks to erection. She looked up at him as she worked him and smiled, his cock squeezed firm but gentle in her small hand. She locked eyes with him and immediately wished she hadn't. Her hand worked automatically, but she knew he'd see her vulnerability, and she didn't want that right this second. She wanted to suck, to fuck, to forget her troubles in wanton sexuality. Even thinking about it was being too self-aware for her right now.

She looked down at his cock, closed her eyes, and took his tip between her lips, still stroking him. Every stroke, ever movement of her lips, she took him deeper, the ring of neon pink moving down the length of his shaft. Soon he was hard and she was working him between her plump lips, head bobbing up and down on his length. She made little "mmm" sounds as she worked his length, knowing it would send tiny vibrations through him. Partway through though, her pace changed. The casual professional giving an expert blowjob faded, and in her place was someone hungry, desperate. 

She sucked with fervor, her hands moving around to hold his ass, pull him into her, get him to push deep, her lips forming a suction around his cock, tongue circling around his shaft. But it was need that drove her, not skill. She needed this, needed his cock, needed this moment, needed what only he could give her. She sucked like a broken machine, rapid, insistent, almost frightening in her intensity. When she looked up at him again he would be able to see it in her watering eyes. She begged him to own her. To use her. To give her what she wanted more than anything.

She slid his massive cock out of her mouth and gasped for air, hand moving back to his cock, stroking him insistently as she stood from the toilet and looked up at him. She felt small beside him, vulnerable. He could lift her with one strong hand, toss her around. She wanted him to do that so badly right now. She pulled at her boyshorts, tugging them down, exposing herself in the small bathroom.

"Fuck me," she said looking up into his eyes. "Anywhere. Everywhere."

~~~

[IsabellaRose]

Kat

Kat clung to Vance like a drowning woman to a life preserver. She buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed, soaking his uniform. She felt so small. So terribly trivial. Long moments passed as she held Vance and he held her. There was a time when she would have thought she would be the one comforting him, the big sister to his little brother, there to protect him from the big bad world. But here they were in exactly the opposite position. Eventually, her tears died down. She still held him, wasn't sure when to let go. She didn't want to face him, to let him see her this disheveled, to see that look in his eyes, pity mixed with sort of compassionate disdain. Then he spoke.

"Wanna see where I work?" 

It was out of left field, the last thing she'd have expected him to say. She pulled back, sniffed, wiped her eyes, her cheeks. This had gone so wrong. 

"You don't have to be nice to me," she said. "I don't deserve it."

She wanted to step away, but didn't trust her legs to keep her upright, so instead she reached out to touch him. Her hand rested on his shoulder and then slid downward, stopping with her palm pressed to his chest. 

"You don't..." she looked at him, the youngest of them, but somehow the most normal. They were all just searching for something.

"I would love to see where you work," she said at last, her smile quick. "Or you could come see my high end digs. I'd love to just... make it up to you... fix ... just..." 

She sobbed again. "I'll do anything to make amends, Vance. I know I can't make up for what I did, but... anything."

[Minorikawa]

Brad

He almost didn't hear her sneak in, so distracted was he in his reverie of past pleasures. Yet when the stall door creaked and she slipped past to settle onto the toilet seat, he grinned, stepping forward, closing the distance as she took charge of engorging his monster cock. He let out a sigh of satisfaction as her fingers expertly caressed him, the touch of a woman that doesn't just love sex, but loves the human body and all of its erogenous zones. That's what made Ruby different from others. He called her Diesel, too, sure, mostly when they were having a laugh about her promiscuous mouth, but in the moment like this, he didn't just feel a typical slutty cock sucker. Hell, her lips hadn't even made contact yet. When she looked up, that smile on his face, it warmed his whole body, every muscle in his body relaxing. Ruby knew how to make him feel like a man in ways no one else could.

But her gaze faltered, his brow furrowing in confusion. There was something in the way she looked away, focusing on his cock instead. He was dumb enough to consider asking what was wrong, but before he could her mouth met his member. His eyes closed as well, letting out a sigh as moist lips slid along the sensitive crown, leaving glossy pink markings. His big, strong hands ran themselves down past her shoulders, caressing her back as her head began to slowly dip down further and further, taking that monster cock like few of his coworkers even could. Oh, if only he wasn't so stupid that one time he had an offer to do a scene with her, just before she retired, but he didn't know if he could face her. Maybe... maybe... too many maybes...

He stopped thinking, his hands rising up as her tongue whirled and swirled his length, the bathroom filled with the soft sounds of swallows and saliva coating against thick flesh, fingers taking the hoodie and peeling it back to reveal those shocking pink locks of hair, matching her lips perfectly. His hands slid beneath the material to slip the hoodie down past her shoulders, partway down her arms, allowing him to see her tattoos ripple and shift with every slight movement of muscle as she continued to bob on him.

But then things changed. She was no longer working him in her usual manner, the sort that wanted to pleasure him yet draw things out as long as possible. No, she began to pick up the pace, to dive down further than most could conceive to, her hands wrapping around to grip on his vinyl-covered ass. He tensed his muscles, hardening his cheeks in her grip as his hand ran through her hair, large fingers wrapping around the back of her head. Almost as if in response she looked up, seeing her eyes water, though he couldn't tell if it was from his cock or the evening's events. Regardless, the look was a challenge, as if to show her what he had. She wanted it deep and hard? He obliged. Fingers gripping her head, he met her, pushing forward, feeling her spit drip over his length as he pumped back, panting heavily, hearing his cock squelch in her throat, feeling the gulping caress of each swallow. "Ahh fuck," he softly grunted, looking down, almost unable to see his own cock as she kept swallowing most of it down. No one could take his cock like Ruby.

When she pulled off he had thought she needed a break, time to catch her breath. Which, he supposed, she did. But she stood up, her hand a blur as she jerked his cock still, keeping the pleasure going, her palm smearing her lipstick and spit together as she begged him to own her, fingers working to tug her boyshorts down. With those still wrapped around her legs he didn't have a lot of options to work with, but he still knew what to do in this mood. Immediately his hand lifted to her throat, grasping it, a grip intense enough to show his capability to crush her windpipe, yet allowing her to still breath. Normally the first thing he'd do is shove a woman against the wall, but looking into her eyes, in that moment, seeing that need...

Brad did what he never did.

Hand on her throat, he pulled her forward, leaned down, and planted his lips right on her own. It was something Brad just didn't do. He didn't kiss. Kissing was for love, and sex wasn't love. Sex was fun. But in this moment, reunited after so many years, in this bathroom stall, Brad forgot just how much he loved Ruby's company. So he locked his lips to hers, tongue penetrating her mouth and swirling around her tongue, uncaring he could taste his own cock still, before pulling off. He released her throat and roughly shoved her shoulder, turning her towards the back wall of the bathroom, her ass jiggling with the sudden steps as it was bare for him to see. He hooked one arm through both of hers, sliding them beneath her elbows, keeping her hands and arms behind her back as he undid the button of his vinyl pants with the other. He pushed them down at the waist, his own bare ass now out for anyone to see, heavy shaven balls hanging freely in the open air. He grasped his cock, stepped behind Ruby, and steered the crown between her thighs, seeking her sex, feeling the damp heat as she was already wet. Inhaling deeply he slipped the crown past her folds, spreading her far apart, feeling her inner walls struggle and even resist to accept his girth. He knew it'd be a bit painful, but he also knew, for Ruby, it would be a good pain.

Once situated in her pussy, he released his cock and gripped her hair instead. He began to thrust, fast and hard, giving her no real time to adjust. However, he was also cautious. He knew never to push his whole length into a woman, not until he knew they were ready to take it. Still, what he had filled her with was above average in girth and length, and so he knew it'd take quite a bit for her to adjust back to his familiar fit. Yet for him, she felt so tight, gripping and squeezing hard onto him. At this size he didn't even have to try to aim for her G-Spot, his bulbous tip caressing right into the wall behind her clitoris, hitting that bundle of nerves as his fingers gripped her pink hair and yanked her head back. He leaned down, licking against her temple, leaning down to nip at her lobe with his teeth, each grunt pulsing directly into her ear as his hips clapped loudly into her ass cheeks, balls swinging underneath.

Someone knocked on the bathroom door. "Occupied!" he almost roared back over his shoulder. He almost snarled at the interruption, leaning back down, fingers tight on Ruby's hair as he kissed her temple, cock ravaging her wet, tight, pussy.

~~~

VANCE

There was a soft sigh from Vance as Kat pleaded with him not to be nice to her. He hated that. It always felt like a misunderstanding of motivations. He had his own selfish reasons for asking, too. He was broken, too. Why did Kat think she was so special that he'd feel he had to be nice to her? When she placed her hand on his shoulder he expected her to stand up using him as support, but instead she slid her hand down, resting her palm to his chest, which would feel far more toned than it ever had before.

She agreed to see where he worked, and he offered a light smile of his own.

Then she offered for him to see her place, and... the suggestion was something that he didn't like. His smile faltered and he lowered his gaze. Was she really offering sex to "make up" for the pain? He wished he understood why that rekindled some of his rage inside, his fingers balling into fists again as he fought to suppress it. How was taking away his V-Card gonna make up for it? How was anything going to make up for it?

When he looked back up, however, any indication of rage was gone. He took her hand in his and stood up, offering to help her to her own feet.

"Then come with me to my job," he said to her plea of doing anything. "Let's forget about what happened in the diner for a moment and pretend you came all the way down here to see what your ol' buddy Va-" he paused, and with a visible grimace he corrected himself. "What your ol' buddy V-Card does for a living."

Once she was on her feet he turned his back, waiting for her to make any corrections to her make-up she might need. After all, even if they were in a crappy neighborhood, he knew women didn't like to look a mess while wandering around.

More to the point, Vance was surprised at the giddy butterflies in his stomach. For the first time, he'd get to show his friends the place he worked. The place that he chose to work.

[IsabellaRose]

Kat

Kat touched up her makeup, not really much to it with the implants and embedded polymer. It was a stupid feature to implant the polymer under the skin of her cheeks so it would look like her mascara ran if she cried. But uptown a crying woman sometimes got what she wanted, and she'd learned to use any edge you had, so she'd paid extra to let her mascara run. But a few mental commands and squeezes of eye muscles and the tint faded, her cheeks instantly clean. She didn't know why it had run. She thought the auto feature was off, and she hadn't triggered it consciously. But now, just turning it off seemed so fake. She couldn't let Vance think she was trying to play him, so she used the little compact mirror, touched a tissue to her cheeks to make it look like she was actually cleaning up. God if he thought that wasn't real, he probably would kill her. And she probably deserved it. Maybe that would be best for all of them, if he just slit her throat and left her body in some dumpster. 

She was getting morbid again, thinking of ending it. As if she could take the easy way out. A man had died because of her lies. His life for her to keep living. Even if every moment was torture, she wouldn't allow herself the coward's way out. She would suffer through every excruciating moment of the rest of her life, because she had it and he didn't. And that had been her mindset for over a year now, since her therapist had helped her work out some things. Of course they were all lies, and his treatment was probably off since she didn't tell him the truth, but... well, if anything it got her the Xanax. Sometimes that was good enough to not need Bliss. Sometimes.

She turned back to face Vance, slid her sunglasses on. She didn't need them, but they covered the puffiness in her eyes. 

"Hey," she said. "Thank you. Thanks for treating me like... like a person." She glanced back over her shoulder and wondered if anyone else would right now. Definitely not Yanni.

"Let's go see where you work." It was such a normal thing to do after all that. A thing normal people did. A thing friends did. Was Vance still her friend? She didn't know if any of them were now, but she'd take whatever kindness he decided to toss her way, like a hungry dog chasing scraps. 

[IsabellaRose]

Ruby

She'd slurped down Brad's cock, taking the hammering, the face fucking she'd wanted so badly. It was easy to lose herself in the role of cocksucker, be just a mouth meant for pleasuring a man. When he'd grabbed her head and forcibly fucked her mouth, his cock sliding into her throat, she was in heaven. This was what she was made for, and his cock was so perfect. So fucking big, so thick. If she'd had a gag reflex she'd have been choking by now, but instead she just drooled saliva, saw it fling from her lips onto his hands, felt it run down her chin, drip onto her chest. She was a fucking mess, and she loved it. When she pulled back for a gasping breath, she told him what she wanted. She was Ruby Lipps, the dick sucking queen, but she wanted him inside of her.

And then he kissed her and everything changed.

She'd only ever been kissed three times before. Once by that cute kid Manuel behind the playground at the orphanage before he'd been adopted. It had been her fist kiss. Once by Skeevy Joe before he'd been skeevy, back when he was still kind of cute and wanted to be her boyfriend. And once by Charlie, a sweet kid that everybody knew was never going to make it out of the system and didn't. She'd seen his dead body when the cops took it away, that poor pale kid who never hurt anyone, chewed up and spit out by the world they lived in. Well, and that one time with Kat, but that didn't count. They were just fooling around, trying to get the boys excited. She'd dreamed of kissing Brad, and more often of kissing Vance, but she'd never admitted that to anyone.

No that he was kissing her, his hand on her throat like a killer, like a lover, like an owner, now that it was happening a thousand thoughts ran through her head in an instant. Oh my God, Brad's kissing me! Why is Brad kissing me? It's so good. What does it mean? You only kiss people you love... does Brad love me? I love his kiss, so passionate, so deep. Do I love Brad? Oh my God, I do. I love Brad. I want Brad to keep kissing me, over and over, feel him inside me while he kisses me, I've never done that, never been emotionally intimate with anyone, like... ever. Does this mean Brad wants more? 

She imagined being with Brad, waking beside him, good morning kisses, morning sex, heading off to work, meeting him on lunch break for a quickie in the back room or behind the dumpsters, seeing him again at home, jumping him as soon as he came in, kneeling for him while he held a leash attached to a collar around her neck, being his little sex toy lover, but mostly, his lover, his love, his woman. She imagined getting pregnant, raising Brad's child, the two of them in a shitty little apartment, so in love, watching their toddler run around the house, looking at him beside her on the couch and knowing he'd always be hers, seeing him older, his hair grey, body flabby, still looking at her with love, still kissing her like this, grandkids running around, a whole life, a normal life, the life they'd never have even if he did love her...

All of that in an instant, in the brief seconds between the time his lips pressed against hers and the moment she felt his tongue. When she felt his tongue, she melted into that kiss, felt herself surrender to him entirely, knew she was his in so many more ways than just physically. Oh god, she thought as she kissed him back, Oh, Brad. 

And then he flipped her around, smacked her ass, pressed her face to the cold tiles, and slid inside of her. 

She was the blowjob queen, not the fuck queen, and he was too big for her, but her body stretched to accommodate him. She moaned far too loudly as he entered her, that monster cock so thick, his head already pressing against her gspot, sending quivering shockwaves through her body. Her legs trembled, arms jittery as he held them pinned behind her back. His hand in her hair pulled her head back toward him, and she felt his cock drive in deeper even though she was certain he'd already completely filled her. Her eyes strained to look back at him as he licked her temple and grunted in her ear. She was helpless, utterly at his mercy, and loving every moment of it.

Her pussy convulsed and clenched around him. She had no conscious control over it like she did when she sucked cock. This was pure reaction, his body making her body do things whether she liked it or not, and she loved it. She felt so powerless under his control like this, and that feeling aroused her even more. His hips slapped against her ass over and over in rapid succession as he fucked her tight little pussy like a power tool, each time her pussy gripping his cock tighter, almost as if it didn't want to let him slide out. Their bodies were pressed tight together, his hand and head to hers, his hips to her ass, but she wanted more. She needed this, but also needed so much more

"Don't stop," she managed to squeak out between breaths and jackhammer thrusts. Her nipples stood out hard and firm on her tiny breasts, trying to poke through the leather bra. Her body was covered in a thin sheen of sweat as he slammed into her from behind.

"I want..." she couldn't speak with him fucking her like that, but she didn't want it to end. "Cum inside me," she finally managed to get out.

"Just once," she said as she stood pinned by his superior strength.

"Fill me," she begged, his cock making her whimper in pleasure, an orgasm building.

"Own me." her pussy clenched around him, hungry, her body wanting his seed.

"Make me yours."

It was all she wanted, to be his, forever and always. She thought they were just going to fuck, but it had become so much more in her mind. She hadn't realized until he kissed her that she loved him. She might have always loved him. 

[Minorikawa]

Brad

He'd fucked a lot of women, gotten sucked by a lot of women, handjobs, titty fucks, thrust between thighs, all kinds of dirty and lewd things because he was the big, giant, well-hung party animal that had no qualms sharing his conquests online enough to earn him a job in the actual porn industry. But he didn't remember the faces, let alone the names, of most of the girls he had cum inside of or cum all over. He'd browse through old videos from just months ago and it felt like he was watching some stranger getting sucked off by some random woman. Even his job felt like a job sometimes, just so not interested in what the woman or women on their knees thought they were doing, putting on a moanful show but their mouths and tongues unable to deliver anything exciting. The first time Brad asked for a pill, he was embarrassed. Now, he was used to it. So many women doing porn thought they were hot stuff, but he'd always had better.

He was having it now.

For a brief moment he was scared he was having a heart attack. He could feel his heart pounding unnaturally fast, pumping the blood throughout his body, pounding into his temple. Her words dug deep inside. Is this what they called love? Brad always thought love was lame. Who wanted to love when you could fuck as many people as you want. He was never loved and he got on fine. Sure, the crew were his family, but that wasn't love.

So why did her words, her moaning, desperate words, begging for him to release within her, to fill her, to own her, why did it make his cock tingle like it was smothered in electric static, sending little bits and pings of pleasure throughout his body? He released her arms he had held behind her back, all so his big, strong hand could reach down, grasping her thigh, lifting it upwards. There was resistance at first, her boyshorts not pulled down completely, but once the waist band peeled around her knee it was easy. Half her shorts wrapped around her ankle, stretched across to still be around her other lower thigh, all while he held her leg up at an angle, opening her more to him, fitting just a little bit more of his cock into her depths, even if it only meant millimeters, as he continued his relentless pounding into her. He released her hair, fingers curling around her cheek, down her jaw, wrapping around to tilt her head back fully, his height so much greater he was able to lean down and press his lips to hers again. Softer, this time, his lips closed though her glossy pink lips were open with moans and pleas. But after the kisses his fingers reached again for her throat, his eyes clenching shut, mouth gaping open as his own deep grunts and moans echoed in the bathroom.

He couldn't hold it any longer. Big Show Brad Lee, whose best time without ejaculating was an hour and twenty-seven minutes unassisted by a pill, was already feeling his cock swell and balls quiver. His hand gripped strong, almost too strong, threatening real damage as his body trembled. He thrust hard, pushing her body not just into the wall, but upwards onto her one set of toes on the ground. Immediately he burst inside of her, filling her with his thick white cream. He gave another hard thrust, and another, as if trying to pump each shot manually into her. With one more tremor his digging grip on her thigh and throat relaxed, palm cupping her leg and simply holding it while his other released her throat and caressed her cheek softly. He opened his eyes, feeling the rest of his seed drip inside of her, as well as the excess flowing from her down his shaft, over his balls and dripping onto the tile floor. He looked into those eyes, looked at her face, both of them panting, his body wrapped almost entirely around hers as he pinned her to the wall.

"I missed you," he sighed, leaning down to kiss her again. This wasn't a passionate kiss of lovers fucking, it was a kiss of... of... fuck, he wasn't gonna give a name to it. He was too stupid to think about philosophical shit like what love meant. But he knew he missed this, missed Ruby, because in this moment, he wanted nothing more than to lift her up in his arms, carry her to his home, and keep her there.

His gut twisted knowing that he couldn't, that she wouldn't allow it, that he shouldn't. But it didn't stop the want as he placed soft, affectionate kisses onto her lips. Kisses that communicated the sincerity of his words.

~~~

Vance

He removed his hat, ran his fingers through the smooth strands of electric blue hair that was starting to get matted down by the cap, and placed it back where it had been as he waited, minding his own business. When Kat had finished he could tell there was something to her smile, something practiced, yes, but also something genuine. He simply nodded, offering little, meaningless statements as he guided her out of the alley and down the sidewalk. He was armed, of course, but not with anything serious tonight. A taser and some syringes in case he ran into trouble. He never thought much of it, but now that he was escorting a woman like Kat, dressed as nicely as she was, he wondered for the first time if it would be enough.

He didn't wonder for long, however. His job wasn't far away, and it was the largest building on the corner. In fact, it couldn't be missed. Two old, wooden pictures of elephants standing on their hindlegs with trunks raised in salute surrounded a garishly decorated sign: Mr. Peddlepopper's Petting Zoo Paradise. It was a newer establishment, part of a chain from the more fancy parts of the city, opened after the crew had split up. Vance didn't know why he was assigned to it other than living locally, but it was some odd kind of fate.

Vance led Kat around the back, but hid her around a corner, near the alcove containing a fire escape. There was a faint hint of what he'd describe as "the farm" if he knew what a farm smelled like back there, a scent that was not replicated anywhere in the city but the zoo. Y'know, that place the better off kids went with their biological parents, the sort he didn't have, or at least know. He vanished inside for a few moments before the door opened once more, Kat out of sight, the other security guard waving to Vance.

"Yup, I'll make sure the time sheets are all good," Vance said, nodding. "I got the next few days off, so see ya Tuesday." Once the other guard had gone, glad to jet a couple hours earlier than his shift was supposed to end, Vance whistled, signaling to Kat that it was all clear to follow him in. The hallway in the back was nothing fancy, just leading to a restroom, a storage closet filled with janitorial equipment, and then opening up into a larger security room filled with monitors and several boxes full of tiny drone units equipped with cameras, microphones, speakers, and tasers. "Gimme one sec..." he said softly, stepping to a keyboard and pressing a few keys. One of the monitors pulled up a command line window. "I'm no techy like Erika, or even Yanni or Ruby," he began, fingers tapping and keys clacking as he punched in some strings of text, "but I've learned a few tricks." He struck the enter key and the monitors flickered. He smirked and turned to Kat.

"In thirty minutes the system will realize it's looking at false footage," he said, "so that means we should only take about twenty." With a nod and feeling resolute, he approached Kat, taking her hand in his, and leading her out the security door and into the establishment proper. He flicked some switches and it lit up.

Technically, it was nothing to sneeze out. A bunch of fenced in pens of varying sizes with different kinds of simple, basic, once-upon-a-time every day animals. One cage had hares. Another was an elevated platform, home to groundhogs, a window against the subterranean dirt that showcased some of their tunnels like an old-fashioned ant farm. The largest pen belonged to the sheep, though. It was against this more fortified fence that Vance leaned, chuckling.

"The worst we usually get around here are drunk or stoned teens trying to ride the sheep," he said, watching the fluffy livestock herd towards him, expecting some sort of food. Vance pointed to a rather large one in the middle, far more fierce looking, its nostrils snorting. "That one's a ram, though. His name's Brewster, but I call him Brad because he's one big dick." He laughed to himself, turning back to Kat, though the smile slowly began to fade.

"There aren't a lot of farms anymore, and there's almost no animals save for stray dogs, cats, and pigeons in this city," he said, turning back to look at the sheep. He stretched a hand out to pet one. "I never... there was nothing in my life so valuable I felt like I had to protect it. Not until I got this job." He blushed a bit. Fuck. He couldn't get the words out. They sounded stupid, sappy, childish. They sounded so V-Card. With a swallow, looking into those weird eyes sheep have, he sighed. "I don't know what forgiveness is, so I don't know if there's a matter of forgiving you or not. It's... just not the sort of thing people like us understand, right? But... I understand wanting to protect something." He turned to face her once more. "I won't hate you, Kat. You don't have to worry about that."

[IsabellaRose]

Ruby

He kissed her again. Her neck bent back, looking almost straight up, he'd bent over and kissed her, so soft, unlike anything she'd experienced. She'd been fucked. She'd been kissed. But being kissed so gently while being fucked so deeply by a man she was afraid she loved, a man who could crush the life out of her with barely a thought, but who kissed her so gently and elicited reactions from her body she'd never before experienced. Her pussy was clenching around his cock like it was having it's own epileptic attack. She'd never before been so aroused, so fucking turned on, and so... what? Loved? Complete? Those things were bullshit, stupid romantic ideas for the vids. Reality was you used each other and moved on. But... no. This was reality, and it was somehow more.

When his hand closed around her throat again, she felt that helplessness again, that knowledge that in this moment, she was here for his pleasure. That thought alone gave her a weird sense of arousal of her own, being taken completely, being used so thoroughly, but being used by someone who kissed her like that, who somehow connected with her on another level while still treating her body like an object. It was the best of both worlds for her, being objectified had been ingrained into her since puberty, something she had blocked out but was a part of her, and being wanted and cared for was something she consciously desired, although she'd never admit it. But now, here, in his hands, impaled on his cock, one leg up as he drove so deep into her, gasping for breath as his grip tightened around her throat, face turning red, she knew. This. This was it.

The realization of everything drove her over the edge. Her orgasm was a powerful wave of pleasure and uncontrollable spasms throughout her body. She gasped, she cried out, a wordless wail of gluttonous euphoria as her body convulsed. Her pussy squeezed his cock, draining it. Her legs shook, barely able to hold herself up on tippy toes of one foot, her fingernails clawed at the dirty tile of the restroom wall, oh God, oh God, Brad!

He shot his load into her, one, two, three final, aggressive pumps of his hips, driving his cock and seed deep inside of her, and she felt herself continue to contract and convulse around him as he held her close, engulfed her with his massive form. He looked into her eyes and she looked back and saw... what? Something?

When he said, "I missed you," and started kissing her again, it confirmed everything for her. It wasn't just her. He felt it, too.

She slid off of his cock, put her foot down, and turned awkwardly with her shorts around her ankles until she faced him. She looked up into his eyes, saw... some kind of conflict. Maybe he didn't feel it like she did. It didn't matter. If this moment was all they had, she was going to make the most of it. She took his face in both of her hands and kissed him like she'd never kissed anyone.

Her velvety lips brushed his softly, delicately, a pillowy silk against his own. The tenderness was slowly replaced by something more, a need, an insistence, but not a sexual one. She put everything she felt for him into that kiss, arms snaking around his neck, standing on tippy toes as he hunched over her, wishing he would just pick her up, carry her to his place, and hold her forever.

When she finally broke the kiss, she looked into his eyes and hoped against hope that he would indulge her, even just for one night, please let her pretend that she was loved.

"Can we..." she was scared to ask. The chance of being rejected in that moment was a devastating possibility. Could she ask what she wanted? Dared she? She stared into his eyes, felt tears well in her own.

"Don't laugh at me," she said, defenses rising, "but can we just..."

Why couldn't she ask him? She knew what she wanted, but she knew just as well that it wasn't his style. Brad wasn't the kind of guy who fell in love, and if he did, it wouldn't be with a cocksucker like her.

Fuck it. She may never see him again, especially after the way this reunion had gone. What did she have to lose.

"Would you take me back to your place tonight?" she asked. "I'm not asking for anything, just... just one night. One night to pretend we could mean more to each other than..." she trailed off. She was an idiot. 

Her shoulders slumped. "It's okay if you say no."

[IsabellaRose]

Kat

Kat giggled like a little girl when she looked at the animals. Real, actual animals. She'd never seen them before. None of them had. She'd heard of them, seen pictures. 

"I've never seen animals like this," she said quietly, staring at the sheep, eyes wide in awe. "They're so..." 

She stood back from the fence, obviously uncertain how to proceed. Her purse strap was crossed over her body, and she rotated it around behind her as she stepped closer and crouched down to peer through the fence at the sheep. She squinted a little as one came closer. She hadn't expected the smell, and it took her aback. 

The sheep that had come closer turned its head sideways, snout poking between the rails in the fence. It knew what happened when someone crouched down. Food. It's tongue licked toward Kat's outreached hand, making her pull back. More sheep came to the fence. When little kids came here, there was food enough for everyone to steal. They began pushing and shoving against each other, trying to get Kat's attention.

She reached out and touched one head. The fur was coarse but soft, and she ran her fingers along it gently, uncertainly. As she did, a smile slowly crept over her face. She had never pet an animal. the only animals they'd ever seen were either guard dogs that were scary, or stray dogs and cats, and everyone knew to stay away from those. These were... cute. Innocent. 

Vance spoke as she looked at the sheep. It was good to have something else to focus on. He talked about working here, about the ram. Then he said ne had nothing valuable enough to protect. Didn't he realize that she had felt that way about the crew? That she had lied to protect them? Was this some kind of underhanded attack? No, she knew better. This was Vance. He wasn't one of her corporate doublespeak assholes. He was Vance. The kid they'd all tried to protect, now a man. 

He said he didn't know what forgiveness was, how people like them didn't understand it, but she disagreed with him again. She knew what it was, and she desperately needed it, from someone. She'd wronged someone, she'd wronged a man terribly, fatally. She had to find a way to at least balance the scales, even if it didn't earn her forgiveness. She wasn't like the corporate types uptown. She felt things. Guilt, mostly. She didn't expect Vance to understand. He'd been protected from the worst by Jimmy. Even Yanni and her had sheltered him some.

But now he was here, and he wasn't a kid anymore. He was a man, with his own life, his own need, and it sounded like protecting these animals was filling his void. She wished something could fill the void inside her. He said he wouldn't hate her, but she also knew he wouldn't trust her. how could he? 

"Thanks, Vance," she said, then looked up at him. "I'm sorry. Should I call you V-Card? I don't want to insult you. I know you guys like your nicknames, but it always felt silly calling you that, or calling Jimmy 'Jimmy Stimz'. But yours always seemed like the guys were picking on you, like Lazy Eye, or Daryl Plug Nose. Poor kid had a nose looked like an electrical outlet. I don't think you ever met him, but that name stuck, and he hated it.

"But yours, you got it when they were playing with you. But you wore it like a badge. Truth be told, I was always kind of jealous. I wish I still had my v-card. Us girls usually gave that up early in the system, and usually not by choice. Anyways, if you still want me to call you that, I will. I just...

"I'm Katherine, now, when I'm uptown. Not Kat anymore, not til I came back here." 

The sheep were pushing and shoving each other to get to her hands expecting food. She smiled as she pet another with her other hand. They really were cute, but their eyes... wait a minute.

 Their eyes are... square?" She looked up at Vance, suspicious. "Are these some kind of animatronics?"

[Minorikawa]

Brad

The passion in Brad's heart was clearly being outdone by the burn of Ruby's. The typical tactic was for her to turn, kneel, and "clean" him off with her mouth even as he softened, his crown tingling with ever increasing sensitivity. Instead, she surprised him, reaching up to his face, the stubble of five o' clock shadow scratching against her fingers and palms, pulling him down to lock lips. Any name he could have put to his kiss would have felt insufficient to her own. Jeez, to think he began this evening thinking he'd maybe score with Kat again. What was he thinking? As her arms wrapped around the back of his neck his hands reached down, grasping onto Ruby's ass, fingers digging in and threatening to lift her off her feet, unaware that was precisely what she wanted in this moment. His tongue intertwined and wrestled with hers, soft grunts vibrating into her mouth as a desperate need was communicated between the two of them.

How did he never realize just how unmatched Ruby was? Perhaps it was guilt. He was given an opportunity, once, to be in a scene with her. She hadn't even been informed of it. He made sure of it. The producer approached him, said he was preparing to call her, and a panic switch flipped in Brad. He couldn't. He couldn't see her again. They couldn't be together again. No, it couldn't be done. He made up some excuse, said he wasn't going to be available that week, and so the scene went to another man. He watched the vid later, saw Ruby's performance, but there was a vacancy in her eyes, a vacancy she never had with him before... and he couldn't help but think she'd have that same vacancy had they done the scene together. Or worse, would she feel disdain? In the end he thought he made the right choice, convinced himself, especially as Ruby dropped out of the business not long after. He wanted to believe he did the right thing.

Now, for the first time since, he regretted it. He wished they'd reunited, done the scene, done more scenes, done all their scenes together. Fuck, how does that even work? He didn't know, but the more his mind raced the more his lips and tongue furiously pressed to Ruby's, the deeper his digits dug into her ass, the louder he groaned. He didn't even realize he hadn't gone soft. He was still hard, cum smothered cock pressing to her abdomen, making a slick mess of her tummy as they embraced. He was only brought back into the present when she pulled her lips away.

Damn, those eyes, those sad, mournful eyes. She began to ask him a question, a question he already knew, but dammit, she just couldn't believe his answer would be yes. He saw the pain in her eyes, in her voice, and it crushed his heart. He shook his head, but not in rejection of her desire, but in rejection to her self doubt. His hand pinched her chin, tilted her head back up, and pressed his lips back to hers. When they parted, he kept his forehead to her own.

"I've got your favorite ice cream back at my pad," he said, "double chocolate decadence. Let's go back there. Let's eat ice cream. Let's just sit on the couch together, watching dumb holovids until we just fall asleep there. And not just tonight." His eyes looked into her own, so close, so close it was all she could see. "Not just tonight, Ruby..." He pressed one more kiss, his eyes remaining open, to her lips as he stared into her own gaze.

He finally parted the kiss, and the embrace, the both of them looking like a mess, his slick and shining cock still bouncing and swaying with each slight movement. His eyes looked to the floor where their cum mixture had dripped.

"First, though, I think I'll clean this up for poor ol' Carmine," he sighed. "Why don't you get yourself cleaned up, and then we'll pack my food to go? I wasn't that hungry anyway."

~~~

Vance

Vance was genuinely happy to see Kat's excitement at the animals. There were always adults or teens that saw them and wondered what the big deal was. No appreciation for anything that didn't somehow get them ahead. No idea how much of what they ate was grown in a lab with stem cells. Vance had always wondered what real meat would taste like, from an actual animal, but these animals were too precious to process like that. Hell, even the wool was a high-priced commodity. Whatever Kat was earning, even she didn't have enough for what the wool from these buggers cost. Which is one of the reasons it was so surprising that they even had a franchise like this located in this sort of neighborhood, but the owner was a philanthropist. Believed kids in a ghetto would appreciate this far, far more than the wealthy kids that could afford the zoo. He was right, and the parents were just as appreciative of the affordable ticket prices. They had a surprising number of repeat customers, and almost every kid chose to give the sheep different names.

Not that Vance got to see that often. He barely had daytime shift. No, he was night duty, but night duty with one of the highest rated security firms... for the ghetto.

"Should I call you V-Card?" she asked. She went into a sudden digression about how the guys all like theirs, and that he even wore it like a badge. He shook his head firmly. "I hate that nickname. Just never wanted to be a mood killer. I think I said something with Brad and Yanni about it once, and Brad just ruffled my hair." Vance's posture shifted, his expression trying to wear the sort commonly worn by Brad, deepening his voice. "'Hey man, don't fridge on it! Ya know we just say it outta love!'" He couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head. Before the discussion could continue, though, Kat was shook out of the moment by a close look at the sheep's eyes. To this he couldn't help but laugh, but only because it was all too common. Resuming his position leaning on the fence, he looked closely at the sheep himself.

"Nah, they're all natural," he said, "they just got these weird eyes. Evidently gives them incredible peripheral vision, though, able to see all around-" He had just lifted his hands to indicate the degrees of sight the sheep had, when he suddenly lunged down and to the side, arms wrapping around Kat, and with a surprising strength he lifted her up and back just as the sheep parted and the fence rattled loudly. It snorted, nostrils flaring, shaking its head as it stomped its hoof to the ground. Vance just stood there, still holding Kat, a little surprised as he watched to make sure the Ram wasn't going to try and break the fence.

"As I said," he sighed, finally slipping his arms from around Kat's waist, blushing slightly as he'd never felt her body pressed against his like that before, "a big dick." He cleared his throat, looking back to Kat, eyes briefly on the low cut of her dress, slightly disheveled and threatening a bit of a slip. His face burned hot again as he lowered his gaze, hoping the brim of his hat would hide the blush on his face. "Let's get back to the security station," he said, starting to walk away from the sheep compound.

[IsabellaRose]

Kat

Kat had actually enjoyed that little interlude. She loved animals, and never thought she'd see any of these live and up close. But what stuck with her was Vance's arms around her, his strength, the way he lifted her with such ease, held her so tight. An imaged flashed through her mind of the two of them naked, what it might be like to have him hold her like that, lift her with ease, slide her down onto his... she blushed. She hadn't ever thought of Vance like that before, but now that she had, she couldn't get the image out of her mind.

She glanced down to the floor, then back up but only as high as his waist, the front of his pants, wondering. She straightened her dress, smoothed the skirt over her thighs. She was being an idiot. Vance was being nice because he was that kind of person, the most innocent and probably the kindest of them all. But kindness didn't translate into stupidity or forgetfulness. She had been responsible for his friends' death. He wouldn't want her. None of them would. If only she could find some way to prove to them that she only did what she did out of love for them all, love for... it didn't matter.

The warring emotions played across her face... brief excitement, then guilt, fear, a flicker of hope, and finally resignation. She nodded when he told her they needed to get back and followed him quietly.

By the time they arrived back at the security station, she had made up her mind. She wasn't going to be stupid and ask for anything from him. His time was more than she deserved. She was going to let him know she enjoyed herself and leave the door open for him to contact her. It would be up to him if they ever saw each other again. If she came crawling around she would just look as desperate as she actually was, and that would just be embarrassing.

"Vance, I can't thank you enough." She put a hand on his forearm, softly, barely touching, worried he'd pull away. "This was... this was actually kind of amazing." 

She smiled then, and was surprised that it was a genuine smile, from her heart.

"I really enjoyed seeing the animals, seeing you with them, hearing why you took this job, why it means something to you." She was going to get choked up again if she wasn't careful. She needed to say what she wanted to say and leave before she said something stupid.

"I'd love to spend more time with you," she said and thought it sounded stupid. "Catch up. Just... just be friends. If that's okay with you."

Before he could answer, she hurried on. "And I know a lot of stuff came up today, and it will take time to process it, and.. just. Here." She handed him her card, a rectangle of thin plastic that contained all of her contact information and projected a holographic image of her smiling face when you held it at the right angle.

"When you feel like it, look me up." She touched her thumb to the red dot on the card and it turned green. "This will get you into my building now that it's green. Stop by any time. I'll cook you dinner, we can watch a vid, play some games, whatever you want. I'd just... I'd really like to keep in touch. No strings, no expectations. Just... you know. Just us."

She nodded to him or maybe to herself, then took a hesitant step back and smiled. "Okay, you've got work. I should probably get out of here. I don't want to get you fired."

[Minorikawa]

Vance

Vance was also trying to clear out his own mind as he leaned down to the terminal in the security room, typing the commands that would shut the lights off and then seamlessly reset the security cameras... well, save for the sheep. That was the tough one. He might need to play some technical craftsmanship in order to blend their current wakeful state with a past wakeful state, unless they went back to sleep all on their own. Though his mind wasn't filled with the same detailed visions of Kat, he'd always found her attractive, and having her in his arms, his eyes able to look so closely on her features that the dress hardly hid, it had him thinking about such possibilities.

But he hated how easy a carpet he was for women to walk on. Was he truly being kind? Or was he being unfair in his idea of fairness to Kat? Did he really understand that desire to protect something? Or did he, deep down, just want to get laid? To lose his V-Card? Had he forgiven her? Or did he miss his friends so much that forgiveness didn't even factor in? Vance was the opposite of Brad, who refused to dwell on his emotions and just accept the impulses as they came. No, Vance had to think on and torture himself over every little thing, especially his own motivations.

He was pulled out of his self-induced trance by Kat's gentle touch to his arm, turning to her and then facing her as she spoke. Regardless of what he thought of his own motivations, he could read the expressions of others well enough, and he knew Kat was being sincere. His heart warmed and chest swelled in pride as he saw the positive impact his little adventure to a children's petting zoo had on her, but he also felt his heart being choked by her trembling voice and visible effort not to burst into tears again. He looked at the card, at her punch the button that changed its color, and carefully took it from her fingers as if it were precious diamond... or a volatile explosive.

There was a part of him that just wanted to hug her, to reassure her, but he held back for the time being. They had a lot of raw emotions tonight, and perhaps time to truly reflect and think on it would do the both of them good. Still, he placed the card in his pocket and made two decisions: the first was that he wanted his friends back. He was going to reach out to Brad and Ruby and try and hang out with them again. He felt certain that he'd make contact with Kat, especially to see if she even could cook now that she sparked his curiosity, but as he slipped the card in his pocket his fingers had touched the Bliss that he'd picked up earlier.

In that moment, Vance didn't know what he thought. A protective instinct kicking in? A desire to distance himself? He didn't know. Perhaps both. But he'd definitely need to think about it.

The second decision was perhaps a stupid one, especially in light of earlier that night. He had been angered when Kat offered to take him back to her place, insinuating (or, perhaps, he'd just assumed?) that she'd make things up in a sexual manner. Yet he wanted it. Even now his eyes occasionally glanced down her body, ignoring her conflicting emotions and just seeing a nice set of breasts or her flaring hips teasing her thigh out from the slit in her dress. He wanted to lose his V-Card, and until he did it was possible he'd always be compromised by a pretty face and sexy body. So, V-Card was going to stop being V-Card, and... how? And would it really fix anything? He didn't know. He was just sick of being a virgin, and he was going to remove the status even if it meant finding an escort or prostitute to do so.

Hell, maybe one of Brad's pornstar co-workers would... um... y'know what? The less Brad is involved in this venture, the better.

Vance's own emotions were far more subtle, ripples across his body as opposed to the tsunami that's been wracking Kat all night. So he nodded to her, and walked to a cabinet to grab a drone. "At this point I gotta stick around here," he said, "but I'll have a drone escort you to your transport. That way I can make sure you're safe on your way." He sat down at the terminal, punched some keys, and a dim screen lit up. He activated the drone, controlling it remotely, and floated it around Kat almost like a fairy pestering her for attention. He took a deep breath and turned back to her, looking into her eyes.

"Regardless of everything else," he said, "I'm glad I got to see you tonight, Kat."