Solace & Taproots

2.11

The following several days were about as idyllic as you could get while trying to blow fresh life into the dim coals of civilization. Bex got some range time in with Felicia under Ronnie's expert instruction. Seb would wave in passing between one debriefing or map review and another. Felicia stood her first watch with them, and it felt AMAZING.

Bex found multiple notes on her bunk, or in her pockets, or even tucked into Rufus' collar addressed to 'Bex(oxo)' or 'Rebecca' if they weren't to "Sparks" or 'Sparky', signed by 'Samantha Rose', 'S.R.', or a small lightning bolt symbol. (She wondered if there was a hint there, and made a mental note to try 'Rosie' on for size in some private moment.)

There was a nice sprinkling of those — private moments — too. Shared meals, Rufus durability testing the Seeker sphere-bot thing, elbow contact during group conversations, little nuzzles or stolen heart-speeding kisses. There was frequently a tingly undercurrent of desire, but they (with a lower-case 't') really were based on comfort, company, reminders of presence. Little happy moments to use as lighthouses throughout the day-to-day.

They were fairly low key about it all, until the day their schedules and activities simply didn't align. The next morning in the mess hall, Ronnie's eyes only gave her a moment's warning before Sam struck, turning to face Bex after a high-speed approach from behind, stood on tiptoes, placed her left hand on Bex's waist and her right firmly at the back of her neck, and pulled her lips to hers for several seconds in front of nearly a dozen people.

Ronnie told Bex later that the increase in cheering volume partway through was because Sam lifted a foot and pointed her toes behind her, but all Bex remembered was her burning cheeks and being left speechless when Sam said loud enough for only her to hear, "I get daily smooches or this is what happens", then backed away biting the corner of her lower lip with mischief dancing in her eyes.

Ronnie also informed Bex that afternoon she wholeheartedly approved and was happy to see her having a little fun and interactions that didn't involve gunfire or underground brawls. Fight Club references were made.

**

Conversation topics took a more serious note a few days after that. Serious, but not scary. Bex and Sam were getting some 'femme fatale' time in on the improvised range along one of the frontage roads parallel to the underpass. Felicia's better scope had a higher magnification and wider range of adjustable zoom, and Bex was still getting accustomed to it, along with the ability to place follow up shots on target so much faster with the semiautomatic feed instead of bolt action. In a pinch, she could even indulge in three-round bursts, but that's not really what the rifle had been built for.

Sam was getting acquainted with the new space-gun looking SMG. (Clearly, the Black Tusk armorers had a theme going.) It had an absurd rate of fire and could empty a 30 round magazine in seconds if Sam held the trigger down that long. It wasn't the most practical firearm in scarce times, but Bex was comforted by the thought of how withering a barrage Sam could lay down if a threat got close to her.

In general, it seemed to be meant for putting short bursts out before the recoil could be felt through the quirky dampening system that somehow directed the kick through a weighted buffer on a vertical track built into a chunky 'belly' in front of the main handgrip. It had a little holosight on top like Ronnie's P90, but it also had a bulkier than usual laser to the right of the muzzle. Ronnie had said it wasn't just a visual aim point, but was actually a target painter, usually seen on rifles to guide precision strikes.

Sam had figured out it worked with the unique 4-way thumb stick mounted on the left side of the gun, to send the seeker ball hurling at a target far quicker than it would move under manual control from the tablet. The drone could even path around obstacles as long as it could "see" the destination when it started moving. Sam experimented with setting it down on the table in front of her and lasing a tall target behind a crate, and it would dash off the table to ground level, zip around the crate, and then re-acquire the dot and thunk against the bottom of the target a moment later.