Chapter 17: Musings

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After sipping on aura tea and watching Jackie and Misty be disgustingly cute with each other, V felt that it was finally time to get up and face the world again. When she stood, Jackie immediately looked over and perked up as if to stand with her. V didn't miss the flash in Misty's eyes when he did that.

V wasn't having it though. It took a few minutes of reassuring and badgering to get Jackie to stay behind. He pouted at her and planted his hands on his hips.

"C'mon chica; last couple'a days have been fuckin' dry. I need some action!"

V snorted. 

"Riiiggghhht. Well it ain't gonna be dry for too much longer," she said knowingly. Misty's eyes flickered between them. V suddenly felt a flush burn at the tips of her ears; that's not what she meant at all. V was referencing the big gig in a roundabout way in case Jackie hadn't talked to Misty about the full extent of what they would be doing for it yet. She didn't meant to insinuate...

She needed to stop. She was overthinking every little thing.

V cleared her throat and hurriedly followed with, "Y'know, I'm sure we could hit up the Padre, see what he's got cookin'. He always seems to have a spare gig for us."

Jackie sighed heavily, not seeming to pick up on the tension after V's comment. He waved her away with the air of a king dismissing a vassal.

"Very well, I'll allow it," he said regally, before turning and planting himself firmly next to Misty again. His large arm curled around her, pulling her into his chest as he grinned at V. "Chill out the rest of tha'night, chica. Tomorrow we got eddies to earn!"

V laughed in agreement, said her goodbyes, and quickly exited the shop.

She couldn't help but feel her shoulders slump a little as she wandered back to her Hela. The vibes between Misty and V were getting weird. Oh sure they were definitely friends, and Misty had done favors for V and vice versa all the time. They didn't really hang out unless Jackie was there, though; only other time V really saw Misty was when she happened to be in the area and came in to buy more incense or chat. They didn't do like, girl's night or anything like that. Maybe V should try that sometime though, try to become more friendly with Misty. V didn't have any girl friends (or any friends beyond T-Bug, Jackie, Misty, and Vik anyway). Maybe arranging coffee dates or dinner every once in awhile with Misty would help ease the tension that sat like a faint, dark shadow in their friendship; a shadow that had been there since the first day Jackie brought V to meet Misty.

It was about a year before Jackie and Misty started officially dating. What a shock Misty must've gotten when the guy she was in love with showed up on her doorstep with a dirty, ragged Nomad girl that was all lean muscle and haunted eyes. But Misty had been Misty; a friendly, sweet, and kind girl who gave V tea and talked about stars with her. And when the "incident" with V's eyes happened, Misty had been right there too, brushing V's hair back and whispering soothing words as V nearly had a literal heart attack with panic on Vik's ripper table. The friendliness and mutual support was still there, obviously...but as V and Jackie grew closer over the past two years, a dark edge had started to develop.

The thoughts slipped away as the Hela chirped in greeting at V's approach and she slid into the driver's seat. A short time later she was pulling into her apartment megabuilding's parking garage and winding up the floors to her favorite spot. As she did, V noted that the place felt emptier than usual. She knew the rent had gone up (again) recently, and she surmised that another round of tenants suddenly found themselves needing a new place to live. If she and Jackie didn't get gigs rolling again soon, V would be in the same boat. At least Jackie had that garage apartment in a building one of his distant cousins owned.

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