"MEOWMEOWMEOWMEOWMEOWMEOW"

"NYANYANYANYANYANYANYANYANYA"

-- The dramatic orchestra of two cat girl samurai meeting.

Walking into Cierra’s office, I realise that I haven't been here before. It has large floor to ceiling windows on one side, and a big fancy desk in the middle. Behind it, Cierra sits in this big oversized office chair with Magenta standing beside her. All in all, it is giving ‘final boss of the corporate lair’ vibe.

“Why does it feel like I'm being called into the principal’s office?” I ask, looking between the girls.

Cierra cracks a small smile. "Don’t worry, you are not in trouble, so make yourself comfortable.”

Comfortable, huh, I can do that. I try my best surprise smile as I walk over and around the desk. I spin Cierra's big chair slightly and sit myself down on her lap. I give her my best smile. “This is better.”

Cierra smiles, putting one of her arms on the small of my back. “It’s not what I had in mind, but if you feel better like this, I'm not complaining.”

“Do the two of you need to flirt right this moment?” Magenta asks.

Cierra's face turns bright red. “Yes, sorry, back on topic. Jason informed us you wanted to help with the new merchandise and marketing.”

“Want is a strong word. It's more the need to take part in some of the company's dealings, and make some money for the orphanage.” I say with a smile.

“Be that as it may, you want to help, right?” Cierra asks, looking a bit more concerned.

I nod “Yeah, so what do I need to do?”

Magenta takes a step closer and sits down on the desk in front of us. “It’s simple, really. We are bringing out some Samurai merchandise. Think figurines, hoodies, enamelled pins, and other stuff. Our goal is to do some promotion, and to do so, we are showing off all the PsyCo members, including you. So you are going to need a bit of a change in image.”

I frown “Doesn’t basically everyone already know who I am though, or, like, who Maniac is?”

“They know the crazy one in edits, yeah, but giving people an opportunity to ask you questions, and allow them to bond with you some, would increase your appeal.” Magenta explains, while I just nod along.

I try my best to not point out who made most of those edits and continue on. “So I just have to answer some questions? That’s it?”

Magenta smiles “Well normally I would tell you to smile, but you’d probably be wearing the mask so none of that really matters. So just be yourself.”

“Which version of myself?” I ask, just to be sure.

Magenta seems to consider the question for a minute before shrugging. “Which ever version you are comfortable with people seeing”

I nod. That makes sense. “So, when do we start?”

Magenta seems to open a few screens. “Let’s do Sunday. That gives us some time to advertise and all that, to make sure we have a big audience.”

I take a quick look at my calendar. That is in three days, so it gives me time to do some other stuff in between, at least. “Okay, cool, I can do that. Anything else.”

“No, you're dismissed, soldier.” Cierra says in a mock commander tone.

I do a mock salute, but instead of getting off, I switch my position around so that I can straddle her hips. We make out for a bit, only to be interrupted by a cough from Magenta.

“I am still here, you know,” she points out.

I nod. “I don’t mind, you can watch,” I say with a smirk.

Cierra slaps my butt, then turns completely red, so i guess she was aiming for my thigh instead of my butt, making me grin with mischief.

I smile, leaning over to her and giving her one last kiss. “I am going to the Waste for a bit, going to need some points to fix my teleportation. Should be back before dinner.” I whisper in her ear.

“And you tell me like this, why?” she says, while putting her head against my shoulder

“I could also shout it out while leaving the room, but this seems more personal,” I say, playing with her hair.

She smiles. “Okay, go kill some aliens, but please take Claire or someone else with you. I don’t like you going out alone.”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll ask some people to come along,” I say with a smile, as I get off her lap. "See you all later.”

Back in our living room. Wow, that feels nice to say, also nice to live in, having some space for everything and not just a small cramped apartment.

I find Claire petting the little fox's belly. I walk up behind her and sling my arms around her.

“Hey love, wanna come to the dead zone with me and shoot some plants?” I whisper in her ears.

She laughs. "You always take me on the most romantic dates.”

“Uhm, well, I am free tomorrow. We can do something romantic then?” I suggest.

“Oh, and what are we going to do tomorrow, then?” she asks, leaning back into me.

My mind goes blank trying its best to come up with date ideas. “Uhm, I can take you to a restaurant.” I hedge.

Claire chuckles. “You want me to find something?”

“No, that's fine. I am perfectly capable of asking Sam for advice.” I say.

“Fair, she is good at picking out date spots.” Claire says, sounding relieved.

I frown. “How do you know that?”

“Ooh, I ran into her on her last date with her girlfriend.” she explains.

I freeze, snapping my attention to her. "You know who she's dating?”

“Yep.” Claire says in a chipper voice.

“Who?”

“Not telling.” Claire turns around and kisses me. “Now be a good girl and don’t ask more questions.”

I nod slowly and stand up, picking Claire up in the process. Super human skeletons are great, and definitely handy when you want to comfortably relocate a girlfriend. “Well, let's hurry then. I have seen what's in the fridge, so I kind of want to be back home for dinner.”

“Sure, so it is just the two of us going?” Claire asks, as Daisy trails behind us.

“Uhm well, Daisy seems to want to go as well, and I asked Apocalypse if she wanted to come. We can go see her sister as well.” I say as I walk into the elevator and tell it to go to the parking garage with some eye flicks.

Claire nods, and with some shuffling around, (someone blocked in the fire truck, *cough* Luna),.we set off. With Claire and Apocalypse in the front and Daisy and I in the back. While listening to some upbeat tech songs.

“How does earning points work for you?” I ask Apocalypse genially, feeling curious.

“It doesn’t, really. I don’t earn points for myself and I don’t think my mother gets any points from me killing antithesis, either.” She explains.

“That, I guess, makes sense, so do you get any points to spend? Like an allowance?”

Apocalypse nods. "Some, but I have many siblings who need it more than me. Why are you so interested?”

I scratch my neck. “I was curious about you. I mean, you are an interesting person, but also we are thinking of getting a child at some point, so was wondering as a child raised by a Samurai if you had any knowledge.”

Apocalypse laughs. This hollow laugh sounds pure mirth with no joy. “You can call it that. You know I should be dead. I was dead. I died about fourteen times before I was a one-year-old, but mother kept fixing me, kept upgrading me, trying to keep me alive. My entire life I felt more like a project than an actual person. I mean, have you tried going to school with demon horns and red skin?”

“No, I have not.” I admit.

“Children were scared of me. I had no friends to play with. I was isolated, and on top of all that I had to be careful because if I got angry, things would break.” She says, her voice going tiny.

“I am sorry.” I get out, not exactly sure what to say.

Apocalypse turns around in her seat and looks at me. “You did nothing wrong, I just... Be careful. Allow them to be kids and have friends, if possible let no one know they are a child of a Samurai. Let them grow up, and, by the Protectors, no changes, be it biological or cybernetic. If you mess with a kid I will personally come over and beat you up.”

I smile. “Thank you, I will remember that,” I say, patting her on her head.

She blows a raspberry. “I don’t like it when people are nice, makes it hard to judge their intent.”

“You think I am nice?” I say with a smile.

Apocalypse frowns, turning back to face the front. "You are simple. You do what you think is right without caring for the consequences. I respect you and wish you were my mom instead of the one I got.”

“Well, I mean, our age gap is quite small, but you are more than welcome to come and hang out at our place whenever you feel lonely. I kind of want to be home and relax more.” I say, leaning forward to rub her shoulder.

I give Claire a smile and a wink as she watches the interaction. She lets out a deep sigh. “We should talk.”

I instantly perk up, alarm bells ringing. “Yeah, sure, what's wrong?”

“It’s just, I am not sure if I am ready for kids.” She says as she slumps down, looking scared.

I feel like somebody just punched me in the gut. Not because she might not want kids, but because we have never asked her if she was okay with it. “I am sorry,” I start and Claire flinches, “We should have asked you your option.”

Clarie slowly sits up and looks at me. “You’re not mad?”

“I am mad at myself,” I say with a self-deprecating smile. “But I am curious. Is it like, I don’t want kids ever, kind of not ready, or the be ready to have kids in ten plus years type?”

“The ten years thing. I want to finish school and uni, and that would be hard with a kid around.” She explains.

I nod. "Then I guess we have no issues.”

“Really, just like that?” Claire burst out.

“Well, yeah, your comfort is important, so it is definitely something I consider. And it's not like we are going to die of old age, so we have more than enough time, even if we decide to have kids when we’re fifty.” I explain. “The real issue would be if you didn't want any at all, since I feel like Cierra is pretty set on it.”

Claire nods, while staring ahead, holding the steering wheel. “That's good, then.”

I shove up behind her, throwing my arms around her. “Hey this isn't a big deal. Do you want me to talk with Cierra about it?”

Clare kind of freezes. “Evelin, I am driving”

I kiss her cheek. “No, your AI is, you're just here looking cool.” I give her another kiss. “I will talk with Cierra, so don’t worry.”

“Does it really matter?” Apocalypse speaks up.

“What do you mean?” I ask, with a bit of a frown.

“I mean, you are with like four adults at your place. Most kids have just one adult taking care of them. The lucky ones have two, so you can just have a child with each other and Miss Liquid Catalyst doesn't have to worry about it.” Apocalypse explains.

“You would be right but you missed one crucial detail.” I say with a smile, "Babies are little biological terrorists with a megaphone and no time schedule. It’s not like you can ignore it, even if you aren't taking care of it.”

“Right. Babies do cry a lot.” she admits. "Why the fuck do you want one again?”

I just shrug. “It’s kind of hard to explain. It’s just something I thought about, and felt like I wanted it. To be fair, Maniac wants kids more than me, but that isn't really the point.” I try, and fail, to explain.

“Sounds complicated,” Apocalypse says.

I nod. "Feelings are hard indeed. So let’s kill some aliens to blow off some steam instead.”

“This is why you need therapy,” Claire remarks