Irritation instantly fries the circuits of amusement Salay’s sweet scolding is trying to provide leading me to point a stern finger near Garcia’s face.“Stop acting like I’m some endangered species of leopard thatcan’tfend for himself, that hasneverfended for himself or doesn’t knowhowto fend for himself.”There isn’t even time for his mouth to open before I’m biting his head off again.“And stop acting like you don’t get off on being wanted – orneededin other cases – to play the fucking hero because it givesyoupurpose in your otherwise bleak, tequila fused existence.”His mouth barely opens courtesy of me continuing, “Ichooseto let you in.Ichoosetolet youhelp.Ichooseto let you give a fuck, so stop mislabeling mychoiceto let you into my OS as anecessitydue to my own incompetence on how to navigate such a complex system.”Rather than let him rebut, I shift my stare to Salay.“How’s that for doing me?”
She kisses her pinched together fingers and lets them go in a “chef’s kiss” fashion.
Keeping it 100?
That feels good to hear.
Telling Garcia…anything…has never been easy for me.
But she definitely has helped.
Helps.
“Uncle Fester mentionedopenbar,” Salay impishly reminds, “and drinking on Prince Chad’s dime-”
“Thad,” we correct in tandem.
“-is the type of shit my beloved overlord Captain Jack Sparrow wouldinsistwe do, especially after he ripped us away from the first real meal of the day.”
“Does that mean we have to drink rum?”I practically whine, fingers hooking to hers.“To honor the pirate?”
“Yes.”Slightly being pulled towards the nearest bar precedes her adding, “We have to drink rum, dance in foam, and then you two,” her free hand wags a pointed finger between us, “can sword fight in front of me later.”
Warm laughs freely fall from me and against his best efforts, Garcia can’t help but chuckle too.
Another reason we need her around.
All the time.
Every day.
She manages to naturally debug a sitch with laughter.
And that’s so crazy.
Like first ever computer crazy.
Getting around the sea of bubbles and gyrating figures to order us a round of shots isn’t difficult; however, it is a bit awkward.
Partially due to the silence of the man, I’m still a bit in disbelief about putting in his place and partially because slightly familiar faces repeatedly attempt to drag me away for obvious fuck and forget purposes, an action that reminds the two people I’m with of my previous sexual habits.
By the time we get to an empty spot for ordering, I swear I can feel Garcia’s motherboards overheating, yet rather than give himself space, he invades mine.
Protectively traps me to his chest by bracing one arm on each side of me.
His face near my ear.
“I like being your hero, Zero.”
It’s impossible not to lean into his hold.
“And hers.”
“You wanna stare at my tits or earn some tips?”snaps Salay to the male behind the bar.
“Me gusta cuando me dejas.Odio cuando Salay no lo hace.”
I helplessly grin over him saying he likes that I let him but hates that she doesn’t.
