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The setting sun lit the Nuova Volsinii side streets with an orange hue. Only a few months after the separation, the young nomadic city still had entire sections that hadn’t yet been populated. With the peoples’ doubts, the separation being sudden and unannounced, and the sheer amount of money and effort it takes to uproot one’s life and move to a whole new plate, the growth of the city hadn’t been quite what many were hoping. Lavinia and Leontuzzo were doing good work, but these things still took time.
With little experience in politics, Texas was finding the slow progress somewhat frustrating. Going from years of firefights and gang wars in Lungmen, followed by the mess with the famiglie, to this was taking some getting used to. Still, the others had their roles, and she had hers: keep the famiglie out of Nuova Volsinii.
She walked down a mostly empty street looking closely at every alley. Signs she spotted over the past few days told her that some wise guys were in the city trying to establish a famiglia presence. She wasn’t sure if they were bold, desperate, stupid, or just gullible enough to buy what the ending of La Morte di Texas said about her. She supposed that it didn’t really matter, she would get rid of them regardless.
After searching several streets, she found the sign she was looking for. In the entrance to an alleyway a couple empty crates sat on a broken pallet. She recognized the faded company logo on the crates as belonging to a front for one of Volsinii’s lesser famiglie. It was so unsubtle that Texas prepared herself in case she was walking into a trap.
She made her way through several alleys and streets following the signs, becoming more and more cautious of an ambush with each one. When she neared another alley entrance with a broken crate on the ground, she heard sounds of a fight. She started running towards the noise with Blueberry and Dark Chocolate, the swords whose stupid names were starting to grow on her, drawn in each hand.
When she turned the corner the sight in the alley caught her off guard. The ground was littered with the bodies of mafiosos, their freshly drawn blood still pooling on the ground. A door that should have led to an unused building on one side of the alley was ajar, its doorstop a sliced-up corpse. She threw open the door.
Texas was just in time to watch the last of the wise guys get stabbed through the chest by a familiar blade. The body crumpled to the ground. Across the room from her, Lappland stepped on the mafioso and pulled her sword free.
“Ah, Texas! You’re a bit early, I didn’t get the chance to clean up yet.” She said, a sharp-toothed grin showing on her blood-splattered face.
“What the hell did you do?”
Lappland looked down at the body on the floor, then back at Texas. “I thought it was obvious, I did you a favor.”
“I don’t recall asking.”
“Silly Texas, friends don’t need permission to give each other a hand.”
Texas sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “And what, exactly, about this is helpful to me?”
“You wanted your city famiglia-free, no?” Her smile gave away how much she was enjoying this.
“No famiglie and no bloodshed. This city has laws and a judge to prosecute those who break them.”
Lappland laughed hard in response, then said. “Che adorabile. You expect me to believe you were going to arrest those guys?”
Texas didn’t respond. She had no authority nor equipment to restrain and bring that many people. So why exactly was she here?
“Texas, you and I both know you didn’t come here to play cop.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah? Then why do you think I’m here?”
“You want me to come out and say it? Alright.” Lappland’s smile got even wider. “The politics, the city, the slow progress, everything about this place frustrates you. Not to mention your logistics friends have been out of town for a few weeks now. Everything for you right now is unfamiliar and lonely. But this,” she gestured to the body, then to her swords, “this you know. You came here to let off some steam.”
“You think I spent my Friday evening tracking down mafiosos for stress relief? ”
“No. I know you did. That’s why I convinced them to try and take Nuova Volsinii for themselves.”
Texas was struggling to keep her usual cool. Lappland always was the one who knew best how to get under her skin. “If you did all that so I could take my frustrations out on them, then why did you kill them before I could even get here?”
“È ovvio, no? I want you to take it all out on me instead.”
Texas immediately turned around and started walking towards the door. She did not have the time or patience for any of this. She reached for the door, but a streak of white light cut her off. Turning back, she saw Lappland advancing on her, both of her swords glowing with arts. She raised her weapons just in time to meet Lappland’s strikes.
“I thought you were done with this whole thing?” said Texas. She swung her blades, forcing her opponent to step back.
“It’s just like you said! I’m your friend,"she slashed in an arc, emitting a wave of arts, “and I’m your enemy!”
Texas dodged to the side. Knowing there was no talking her out of it, she rushed towards her assailant. Her own arts-empowered blades crashed against Lappland’s. They both struck again and again, sparks flying each time their blades collided.
It was Lappland who found an opening first. She moved her sword so that the tip of one of Texas’s got caught in the large gap in her crossguard. Just as she planned, Lappland twisted her blade and Texas lost her grip, both of the swords went flying.
Texas was down to just Blueberry, but her opponent was down a sword as well. Being partially disarmed didn’t bother her, it was the expression on Lappland’s face that was concerning.
Now two-handing her remaining weapon, Lappland struck at her with more force. She swung again and again with all her strength. Something since they last fought had made her more powerful and reckless, and now all Texas could do was block each attack and step backwards.
Texas soon found herself with her back against the wall. Right beside her was a staircase to the upper floor of the building. In a duel between equally matched opponents, the positioning was the most important advantage, Texas was well aware of that. With no more room behind her, she deflected a swing and then leapt up the stairs. She ran through the empty rooms of that upper floor with Lappland on her tail.
Running down a straight hallway, she heard the unmistakable sound of Lappland’s arts behind her. She dove into an adjacent room to dodge. Her rival reached the doorway by the time she got back on her feet.
Lappland laughed as she closed the distance and brought her sword down with all her might. The swords collided. Locked together in a clash of arts and steel, the Lupo women looked each other in the eye as they fought to overpower the other. For a moment they remained blade against blade. Then Lappland winked.
She stopped fighting Texas’s swing, choosing to instead direct both of their blades downward. Then, without hesitating, Lappland let go of her sword and pounced on Texas. Caught off guard, Texas was tackled to the ground. Her head hit the hard floor beneath her, and her sword clattered out of her hands.
Lappland was on top of her, holding her arms down with her own, pinning her to the ground. With their bodies pressed together, Texas became aware of Lappand’s erection and, even more concerning, her own.
“And here I was almost afraid you weren’t having a good time.”
“Shut up.”
Lappland moved her hips to grind their bulges against each other. Through several layers of fabric, she felt Texas getting harder, so she kept going. The woman beneath her shuddered, and Lappland couldn’t help but lick her lips.
“Wow. You really are pent up, and in more ways than one, hmm?” Texas squirmed underneath her, but she couldn’t break free. “Don’t worry, Texas. I’ll let you take out all your frustrations on me.”
Texas opened her mouth to say something in response, but Lappland cut her off with a kiss. Texas didn’t turn away; she gave in and kissed her back. Then the other Lupo’s tongue was in her mouth. Lappland was ravenous, pushing deeper and fighting Texas for dominance even here. She let her go as far as she wanted, then she opened her jaws wider.
Texas bit down on the woman’s tongue as hard as she could. Her large canines drew blood, the metallic taste filling her mouth. She opened her eyes to see Lappland pulling away from the pain, but her expression showed that she felt bliss. Texas took her chance, she threw Lappland off of her, rolled to the side, and scrambled to get to her feet.
Across from her, Lappland looked at her with a crazed look in her eyes. Her wide smile showed off her sharp teeth, blood spilling from the gaps between them. Texas looked at the oripathy lesions across Lappland’s scarred body. She spat her blood on the ground, and Lappland looked almost offended.
“Aww, am I not to your taste?” she said, her mocking tone somewhat muffled by her injured tongue. Texas didn’t respond. She was sick of this whole situation, and she knew that saying anything would just give Lappland what she wanted; an opportunity to get even deeper under her skin.
The last rays of the setting sun that filtered in through the large central window were the only thing illuminating the two of them. Texas scanned the room to see that Lappland was between her and their swords. They locked eyes. Texas could tell that the other woman had her just where she wanted.
Closing the distance, Texas swung her fist. Lappland ducked, then brought her palm up into the underside of Texas’s chin. She stumbled back. Lappland grabbed her collar and slammed her up against the wall. She hit back at the woman restraining her hard enough to leave bruises, but Lappland held her grip. Before Texas could try anything, she leaned in and sunk her teeth into her neck. The pain caught her off guard; she couldn’t stop herself from letting out a whimper.
Lappland moved in close to her lower ear. “Enjoying yourself?”
“Shut the fuck up.” Texas struggled against her, kneeing her with what force she could muster. But this seemed to only encourage her more.
Lappland’s gaze flicked to one side of the room and then back to her. Her eyes lit up and her grin widened. She shoved her back again, knocking Texas’s head against the wall.
Dazed, she was pulled by her collar closer to the center of the wall. The dimming orange light fell across the side Lappland’s face. One hand let go of her collar and found its way onto her hip, the other yanked on her tie, bringing her closer. Lappland’s lips pressed against hers.
The world spun around her as Lappland swung Texas around. Before she could tell what was happening, Lappland let go. Texas flew into the window and the glass shattered around her, sending her falling to the alley below.
Lappland stood in the frame of the large broken window. Her laughter rang throughout the alley as she watched Texas struggle to get up on the ground below her. Cuts covered her entire body. Glass shards had sliced through her clothes and skin, and now the blood spilling from her wounds was stained her crimson. Texas forced herself to her hands and knees, cutting them up even more on broken glass in the process.
Lappland leapt from the window and landed on her feet unharmed. She took off her coat and tossed it aside. Humming a tune from La Morte Di Texas , she sauntered on over, stopping right in front of Texas. She raised her boot up to Texas’s chin, then lifted it higher, forcing her to meet her gaze.
Time seemed to stop as they stared into each other’s eyes. Lappland knew that she had pushed her to her breaking point. Not knowing what Texas would do next made her heart race and gave her butterflies the way only Texas could. Seeing the burning anger in Texas’s amber eyes, Lappland decided to give her one last shove.
Lappland’s bloody spit hit Texas right on the bridge of her nose. For a moment she sat there, unmoving, letting it drip down her face. Then, in the blink of an eye, Texas was on her feet, crashing into Lappland.
Texas’s knee hit her hard, sending her reeling back. A hand grabbed her throat and slammed her into the wall behind her. The firm chokehold held her in place. Her hands were free but she knew she couldn’t break out of it. She didn’t want to.
She felt the texture of Texas’s leather fingerless gloves against her windpipe, and the warmth of the fingers around her neck. They could start strangling her at any second, and yet she had never felt more thrilled to have Texas hold her. Even pushed up against the bricks behind her, her tail tried furiously to wag.
Texas’s fist hit her hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Lappland looked back at the woman who had her in a chokehold and smiled.
Texas punched her again, in the face this time. Her nose started bleeding but her smile returned. She rammed her knee into Lappland’s thigh. Lappland winced before breaking out into laughter. She could see Texas’s expression get even angrier at that, she kept laughing.
The grip around her throat tightened. Her laughter stopped. She couldn’t breathe. She stared into Texas’s eyes and drank in the way they burned with rage for her. The look aroused an overwhelming passion inside her.
Lappland couldn’t tell how much time had passed, but soon her lungs began to scream for air. Her vision blurred. Knowing she wouldn’t last much longer, she reached out with her hands and groped Texas’s bulge.
Texas hit her again, the impact sent blood flying from her mouth. She let out a muffled whimpering sound, her body shuddered, and her eyes rolled back as she came.
Lappland was thrown to the ground. She gasped and struggled to catch her breath, but before she could, Texas kicked her. The white-haired Lupo coughed and moaned as Texas’s boot hit her over and over. She realized Texas didn’t care if the moans were from pleasure or pain, she just wanted to hurt her.
Writhing on the ground, she heard the sound of one of her ribs cracking. She reached out to grab Texas’s boot. Texas shook her foot free of her grip and stomped on her hand. She yelped, then pulled her hand back. A boot slammed down on one of her ankles, then again on her tail.
Lappland knew that she could easily kill her right then and there. In their younger days she’d personally witnessed Texas end the lives of more mafiosos than she cared to count. Back then, the old Texas would easily get carried away, perhaps Lappland had finally succeeded in bringing her back. An unfamiliar feeling welled up inside her that she figured must be fear, and yet this close to death it only made her feel alive.
Another kick hit her in the side where the cracking had come from. Her pained howl rang through the empty streets. Lappland braced for the next hit. It never came. In the brief pause that followed, she heard Texas breathing hard above her.
She had gotten to her hands and knees when the other woman’s boot pushed her face down on the concrete. After a moment, she felt Texas grab her collar from behind and pull her to her feet. She made Lappland face the wall, pressing her up against it. With one hand Texas held Lappland’s arms above her head on the wall keeping her restrained. Her mind ran wild with the possibilities of what the other woman might do to her. Then Texas’s hot breath brushed against her lower ear.
“What you said earlier. Did you mean it?” She sounded conflicted, like she was fighting against her better judgment just asking. And yet Texas couldn’t hide the hunger in her voice that gave away just how badly she wanted it.
Lappland’s throat was strained but still managed to sound as smug as ever, “Oh, Texas,” she pushed lower body back until she felt Texas’s erection pressing into her, “do you even have to ask?”
Texas growled in her ear. She let go of her hands and stepped back. Lappland heard a belt buckle loosen, followed by a zipper. Then hands were on her waist. Desperate, impatient, needy hands. They practically tore her shorts off of her as they yanked them down over her tail. The cute panties she wore to surprise Texas were ripped off of her immediately after. Finally, the hands grabbed the base of the well-lubricated plug she wore and pulled it out.
Wasting no time, Texas guided the tip of her cock to Lappland’s asshole. Her fingers brushed over the crystal dotted skin of her thighs before settling on her hips. Lappland braced herself against the wall. Texas let out a moan as she pushed all the way in.
The two of them were already breathing heavily. There was only a short pause before Texas started moving. She didn’t hold back, building up to a fast pace as quickly as she could. Each thrust forced Lappland to lurch forward. Her injured body cried out in agony and she relished the sensation. She couldn’t help it, it made her tail thrash around until it collided with Texas’s side and reignited the pain of being stomped on.
Texas showed no sign of stopping. Grunts and moans of pain and pleasure came from the both of them as Texas rammed into her. Blood and sweat fell to the concrete. Neither of them knew how much time was passing as they pushed their bodies closer to their limits.
The fast steady rhythm Texas had been keeping grew more erratic. Just barely louder than the sound of her own moaning, Lappland heard Texas say, “Lapp… land... I’m… close.” All she could manage was a nod in response. Texas gripped her hips tight enough to dig her nails into the skin. Lappland’s body shuddered while Texas’s last desperate thrusts pushed full-force inside her. They both moaned loudly. Lappland felt the warmth spilling inside her and the sensation of being stretched further as Texas’s knot expanded.
Their strength gave out and the two of them collapsed. Lappland was on the ground breathing heavily with Texas on top of her panting in her ear. Texas’s arms were wrapped around her waist. When she finally caught her breath, Lappland reached up, patted Texas’s head, and said, “There we go. That’s a good girl.”
“I already regret not killing you.”
“I love you too, Texas.”
“...shut up.”
A moment passed as they lay there. Lappland became keenly aware that her cock was pressed against the cement. Remembering what had happened to her underwear she spoke, “Texas… about those panties.”
“Huh? After what you did to my outfit I think you came out ahead.”
“No, no. What I meant was, did you not recognize them?”
“I barely looked at them, what does it matter?”
“Don’t worry, it doesn’t. Just promise me you’ll buy Sora a new pair to make up for it.”
Texas paused for a second. “You didn’t-”
“I will say, the way you ripped them off was sexy , Texas. Buy her a few extras and show her someti- Hey!” She was interrupted by Texas yanking on her tail.
“Would it kill you to just stop talking?” Her voice was as cold as ever.
“Temo di no.” said Lappland, “But if killing me is what you want, it’s not too late! The night is still young, after all.” She wiggled her hips, trying to tease the cock still inside her. Texas didn’t bite.
Their heavy breathing was the only sound in the dark alley. The sun had all but set, and the street lights had flickered to life. She felt the warm blood from Texas’s many cuts dripping on her and staining her clothes. Pain from wounds across her own body intensified as the adrenaline faded away, and her nosebleed continued to pour onto the concrete.
“When’s the last time you ate?” Texas asked her. She was confused by the question but she answered honestly.
“About a day or two ago. Why does that matter?”
Lappland hadn’t noticed til then, but at some point Texas’s hands had wrapped around her waist. She felt them under her shirt feeling up her stomach. She was unsure what Texas was looking for until one hand settled on a larger originium crystal on her right side.
“When’s the last time you were at Rhodes Island?” Texas barked.
Lappland hesitated, “Umm, that would be when I left to follow you to Volsinii. Is this going somewhe-”
“You haven’t gone back since? Please tell me you’ve at least visited other branches for treatment since then.”
“Oh please, since when did you care about my health?”
Texas sighed. She took a deep breath and spoke, “Have you ever considered that maybe the reason no one ‘cares about you’ is because you can’t even care about yourself?”
“Wha-”
“Someday you’re going to die alone somewhere and leave nothing behind in this world but dust and the scars you’ve carved on me.”
“Tex-”
“You might as well forget about destroying Siracusa, you’ll destroy yourself way before that.” Texas’s hands returned Lappland’s hips and pulled her cock out. She shoved Lappland into the concrete and got to her feet.
Lappland heard the sounds of a zipper and a belt buckle up above her, followed by Texas’s boots storming off down the alley.
“Texas!” She tried calling after her, but a lump in her throat made it come out quieter than she meant to. Her body hurt too much, she didn’t think she could get up and chase after her. The footsteps didn’t stop, and soon she was alone.
The night had gone more or less how she hoped it would, but as she lay there on the pavement, Lappland felt the urge to curl up and cry. She repressed it. Pulling her shorts back up, she picked the torn panties with the wet spot on them off the ground and put them in her pocket. On her hands and knees she crawled all the way to where she had dropped her coat. Once her coat was back on she started thinking about what she would do next.
She knew that she would have to drag her injured body someplace she could spend the night. Maybe she could sift through those mobsters’ wallets and find enough for a motel and some dinner if she was lucky. All the plans she’d made for the night were to get her here, as for what came after, she had left that up to herself to figure out later. It was now later, and her choices were less than ideal. She sat up with her back against the wall, pondering her options. Lappland had been in worse situations in the past, but this time she was struggling to fight the feelings that Texas’s words and her departure had given her. And so she sat on the cement, fighting the tears she couldn’t let herself shed.
Some time later she heard footsteps down the sidewalk. Lappland mentally prepared to fight tooth and nail if they came after her. Instead she watched a dark-haired Lupo woman round the corner with two swords sheathed on her back and a pair of Higashi-style blades in her arms.
“Came back to finish the job?” Lappland asked.
Without a word Texas leaned her swords against the wall next to her, then reached out a hand to Lappland. She took it and was lifted to her feet. Lappland winced when she put weight on the ankle Texas had stomped on. She sheathed her swords at her side. Texas offered her shoulder as support, Lappland was happy to accept.
“You smell like smoke.”
“Trying to find out if my bad habits can kill me faster than yours.” came Texas’s deadpan reply.
Lappland yelped as her wagging tail smacked into Texas’s. The two of them hobbled out of the alley onto the sidewalk. Texas gestured in a direction, she nodded in response. Without a word between them, they walked side by side into the night.
When Lappland got out of the shower, she collapsed to the bathroom floor. Her whole body ached, and yet she found herself eagerly awaiting to see how colorful her many bruises would be tomorrow. Her injuries were still fresh, but she knew they were only temporary. She would enjoy them while they lasted, until the constant agony of crystallization took the spotlight again.
Forcing herself to stand up, she noticed the clothes Texas set out for her. The gesture was so kind that she started to feel like something was wrong. Ignoring the bottoms, she limped out of the bathroom wearing just the t-shirt and boyshorts. She went down the hall to the dining room where Texas sat.
The Penguin Logistics “safe house”, as Texas called it, was a building Emperor bought to serve as their base of operations and place to stay when in Nuova Volsinii. Texas didn’t exactly give her a tour of the place and she wasn’t that interested herself. It wasn’t a huge building, but considering it was designed for the whole Penguin Logistics entourage, Lappland wondered how lonely it must get for Texas when the others are away, and if that loneliness was the reason she brought her here tonight.
Texas ignored her when she entered the room. She was sitting at the messy dining table which had first aid supplies strewn about it. Texas was in the process of dressing her wounds. She was topless, with bandages covering large portions of her arms and chest. From the waist down she was wearing only a pair of shorts, but her legs too had been heavily bandaged.
Seeing Texas like that filled Lappland with desires. Her bare chest with its scars and bandages, made Lappland take pleasure in knowing that marks she had made, both old and new, adorned the body of her lifelong rival. She swore to herself that if she wasn’t exhausted and hurting all over, she would’ve pounced on Texas without a moment’s hesitation. Instead she made her way to the seat across from her.
Without looking up, Texas said, “You know, if you just wanted me to fuck you, you could’ve just asked.” She sounded tired and annoyed. Gesturing to her bandaged body she continued, “I don’t have the time to waste with all this.”
“But what if I want the full experience?” Lappland pouted. “It’s not nearly as fun without us spilling each other’s blood.”
Texas sighed. Finishing with her last bandage, she looked up at Lappland. She grabbed a box from the messy table and pushed it in front of her.
“Once you do those you’re free to leave.”
Lappland looked at the box, it had a familiar symbol of a chess piece on it. “What, you’re going to force me to stay if I don’t?”
“Yes.”
“Seriously? Why do you even have these?”
Texas sighed. “We’re partners with Rhodes Island. They don’t have a branch in the city yet, so they wanted us to have some in case of emergencies.” She paused before adding, “And yes, seriously.”
Lappland had no reason to turn it down, other than her personal commitment to being difficult. She opened the box. Inside was an auto-injector device, several cartridges of unidentifiable liquid, sterilizing wipes, small bandages, a small instruction pamphlet, a bottle of pills, and a second bottle of painkillers. She hadn’t administered oripathy meds to herself before, but it was pretty self explanatory. Swallowing a handful of the pills dry, she loaded one of the cartridges into the device and pushed it against her thigh.
Texas glared at her. She rolled her eyes, removed the device, and opened the wipes. After wiping her skin she pressed it back against her thigh and pressed the button, staring back at Texas as it injected the drug.
“So, you gonna make me do this every month?”
“I’m not dumb enough to think you’ll be around that often. But if I do see you, then yes.”
“Why do you care anyway?”
“Because...” She paused briefly, seemingly thinking through her answer, “you’re my friend.”
When the autoinjector finished she placed it back in the box. Then she said, “What now? Are you going to kick me out?”
“Ha.” She laughed dryly. “As if I could get rid of you if I wanted.”
Considering how hard Texas tried to avoid her back before the events in Volsinii, and what she had done to her about an hour or two ago, Lappland wasn’t sure what to make of the way Texas was treating her now. She decided it couldn’t hurt to ask. “Texas, shouldn’t you be angry at me?”
Texas shrugged, “Probably.”
The doorbell rang. Texas, without bothering to put on a shirt, got up and left the room to answer the door. Lappland was left alone to process how she felt about that response. Just this evening that woman beat her within an inch of her life, then fucked her just as hard, and now she seemed like she didn’t even care. As bizarre as that was, Lappland was forced to admit to herself that she was simply being Texas. Where she wanted the passion between them to remain ever-burning, Texas was already over it.
Lappland opened one of the small injection bandages and laughed when she saw it had a cartoony drawing of Amiya smiling and giving her a thumbs up on it. She briefly wondered whose idea that was.
Texas reentered the room carrying two pizza boxes of varying sizes. She set them on the kitchen counter, then got out plates. Lappland was starving, her stomach rumbled from the smell alone. The brand on the boxes wasn’t one she recognized, but considering they were back in Siracusa, she figured it had to be at least decent.
The smaller box had cheesy breadsticks and dipping sauce, which was fine by her. It was the contents of the larger box that shocked her. Inside was a large pizza topped with ham and pineapple.
“Cazzo! Texas, why?!”
Texas just laughed in response.
“Please. Please tell me you only did this to get back at me or something.”
“Y’know, for someone whose goal is to ‘destroy Siracusa’, you’re quite attached to its way of doing things.” There was a smile on her face, Lappland couldn’t remember the last time she had seen that.
“Food is the one thing this place got right. It’s not the target of my wrath.”
Texas picked up a slice and took a bite. “I’m afraid it’s all I got. Try it, you might be surprised.” Lappland grumbled and grabbed a plate. She picked up a single slice of the vile pizza.
“Fucking Columbians.” She muttered under her breath. She took a bite. As she chewed she had a horrible realization: it wasn’t terrible. Another bite. She was forced to admit to herself that it was not the worst pizza she’d eaten, as low of a bar as that was.
“Well?”
“...at least it won’t kill me.”
“That’s the spirit.”
They loaded up their plates. Texas grabbed two beers, then led the limping Lappland to the living room. In a few minutes they were sitting next to each other on a couch trying to decide between the new Columbian film adaptation of La Ragazza Siciliana, and the Lungmen flick Ancient Forge 4: Re4ged . Both were terrible, both were worth a good laugh.
When the movie started, it hit Lappland again how strange this all was. It was casual, it was nice, it was almost like they were regular people. Inside, it felt deeply wrong. Her mind told her that this shouldn’t be happening, that she doesn’t deserve it, and she knew it was true. It wasn’t real and it couldn’t last. But if Texas felt the same, she didn’t show it. Lappland pushed the thoughts from her mind. If Texas was willing to pretend, then so was she. Even if it was just for one night.
They ate more pizza and drank more beer. The movie played on. Lappland found herself leaning against Texas, Texas didn't stop her. By the time it got to the 3rd gratuitous sex scene between the protagonist and the Nian, they were cuddling, too tired to do anything else even if they wanted to.
It couldn’t be real, it couldn’t last. But as Lappland lay with her head against Texas’s chest, she couldn't help but think, if things had been different, if they hadn’t been born into the families they were, could things have ended up this way?
With her pain dulled by pills and alcohol, and her eyelids growing heavy, she felt the hand of the Lupo below her, petting her ears. Would she have wanted things to be this way forever? She didn’t know and it didn’t matter, things could never change. But what Lappland did know, was that at least for tonight, despite it all, she could enjoy it for what it was.