Whoa! Calm down, Granny! Relax! Iīm OK! Sure, patch him in! Hoi, Vermin!
Yeah, I saw this edited rerun from Waldo when I got around to opening my eyes for more than five minutes at a time. Looked good, didnīt we? At least up until that part where Ghostwalker showed up, after that we mostly looked retarded and then I looked quite dead for a while... Hurts, but Iīm kinda used to it these days...
Cassie helped me get a look at my own back. Looks like you picture the surface of the moon, all covered in these little bullet-craters from both the ZDF-people and from the guys Ibanes sent on us last month. And another one, bigger and jagged around the edges, where Yin shot me.
Nah, we settled that one. Apologies all around. I think he was just as afraid as me, only for different reasons. Yeah, weīre friends again. What do you mean, too quick to forgive? Oh, slot it, Verm, sometimes you canīt afford to make people your enemies. Especially not your friends. I know it looked bad, him threatening me and then me doing this fast-drop shish-kebab stunt, but in the end everything worked out just fine. Kinda. Good thing I still kept that spirit around, eh? I should get around to binding more often.
And I just loved the way Cassie kept on my side in this. She trusts me more than I had realized. Feels good, for real! Maybe I should give her more cred, get over all the differences between us.
I even got Isolde around to go with me on this one. Stunning, ainīt it?
Of course I never doubted Cujo. Itīs been a year weīve known each other, now. A year of working, living and getting almost-killed next to each other. I guess we have the same idea of most of the people who gave us a call that night. And outside Isoldes apartment, after I got the others around to go with Reese on the transaction, we were just leaning on each other, laughing and grinning and mostly just acting crazy. The face Waldo was making never got on screen, wow, he really thought we had lost it...
I mean, one minute he sees us bowing to Ghostwalker through the īlinks, and the next weīre giggling maniacs who apparantly have decided to fuck the most powerful being in Denver over just because we donīt want comfy government jobs. Yeah, I thought weīd lost it, too. But seriously, can you guys picture me or Cujo in a swivel chair of our own, in some office in middle-of-nowhere? Thought so. And working with Ghostwalker would just have been pure wrong! I mean, there are reasons You Donīt Make Deals With Dragons. For one: no one in Denver would ever have dared do business with us again.
But to get a little serious... I wonīt be back for a while. I guess the streets of Denver will be a big game of Hot Lava for my team the next couple of months, so weīll be heading out. Moving as soon as we all feel a little better. Iīm getting used to the constant nagging pain from all the old wounds, but I rather the new ones not breaking open on me when we leave this place.
Where to? Heh, seriously, I have no clue. Iīll let Cujo do the plans for this one, follow his lead instead of him following mine. I donīt know if weīll be running with the others any more. Sure, Cassie is a good one, but we donīt have much in common. Me and Isolde, we have the magic but almost nothing else, and since weīre not on the same path that is not a strong enough connection. And Yin. Well. I know his apology was heartfelt, but I wouldnīt bet heīd not make the same choice again. He doesnīt trust me at all.
Anyway, Iīll let you know where weīre going once weīve decided.
Iīll miss you too, donīt make me cry here.
Be safe, both of you. No, seriously, no oneīs gonna move against me and the team. Weīre the ones who fucked over a Dragon and lived to brag about it, right? Things are looking bright...