And Nobody Died Who Mattered (Patty & Raidou Kuzunoha | Afternoon)

Dumb fuckin' weather. Why the hell did it have to snow!?! Like this city wasn't miserable enough in normal weather now it was gettin' fuckin' cold. Who the FUCK built a city where it snows!?! Were they huffing paint!? Dude, you go to visit snow, you don't stay where snow is! Patty rubbed her gloved hands together to stay warm. She was bundled up from head to toe, gloves, down jacket, knit cap, sweater, as much fabric as she could get on her lanky body enough to stand out among other people. It was just cold enough to get a little bit of frost to stick around but that didn't mean she had to like it at all. At least it wasn't like this the other night. Patricia stuck around in the woods like she said she'd do, as long as she could until it got too dangerous or she thought she'd get caught. But she didn't see the monster crash out of the building so obviously Raidou won. But that meant she was up all damn night so she slept in late. The skinny chick wanted to talk to Raidou as soon as she could to find out where the truck went, if they could hit'em before they started distributing again then they'd be in a bad spot but she had some ideas on where to look next.

She was going to find them. She was going to find them and rip their jaws off and shove them in their eye sockets for what they did. Karma's a bitch, bitch. But as fucking pissed as she was Patty was more focused than outright angry about it. She didn't like it. Patty didn't wanna work or have to take care of these assholes, she wanted to go back to doing fun things like blowing up demons. Putting slugs in dealers was seriously cutting into her party time. The purple-headed druggie let herself into the detective's office, clomping her boots to get the small amount of slush off and trying to find a place to put her coat and hat and all this freakin' shit she didn't wanna wear.
"Knock knock!" she called out after it was way too late for that. "Yo you hear anything yet Rai?"

The Kuzunoha was just filing and signing away paperwork as usual. Her expression seemed a little haggard, considering what happened last night. Though she took another calm sip from her warm tea before gesturing her towards a seat. Though she was somewhat in a hurry to get everything finished, but it came at the cost of her motivation and energy. The detective gladly accepted her guest's arrival, of course. Anything to postpone the sheer monotony that was the mounds of paperwork and case files to be done. Though she seemed very tranquil. Too calm, considering the behavior of a certain woman with a witch-like hat...

Raidou was chill but she was never this... like... lifeless and shit. She didn't look like she got hurt and she wasn't acting like it but the twiggy hoodlum could instantly tell something was wrong, this didn't look like the usual prissiness of having to be up all freakin' night dealing with dumb shit you didn't wanna do. Patricia grimaced, double-taking to the coat rack behind her just to hang it up but she didn't break eye contact as she undid her boots. Pain in the ass winter.
"Hey, what's wrong...?"

The druggie chick stepped out of her boots and PUT HER SOCKS IN THE MOTHERFUCKING BOOT SLUSH but didn't react past a small fuckin' shit! as she waltzed over to the couch. She didn't take any tea though. Patty'd admit she was basic but not THAT basic. She leaned forward with her elbows in her knees as her leg bounced.
"...somethin' happened, didn't it...?" That was the look. She recognized that look. Like, it was the look of someone that was just... like tired but not like tired tired. Like sad and sick of it tired. Patty'd seen it before on a good amount of people already.

If she had to guess what was up, it was that Sylph didn't come back.

"I have good news... and bad news." She took a good long sip from her mug of tea, taking a mental note that her guest apparently refused to take her offer for the complimentary beverages. Before setting the mug aside, she gave a tired look towards the Psyche-Terrorist and gave a small faint smile, briefly amused at Patty forgetting about the slush for that moment. "Before we talk about that, do you mind lending me a hand with the papers again? Same as the last. We can talk while we're doing this."

The detective gestured towards the stack of papers near the couch, where Patty was conveniently sitting near by and coincidentally the black cat was also lying asleep on the couch opposite to hers. As usual, the humdrum of the case files were killing her and Patty would be the one to save the day. Whether or not she took the offer, Raidou took another sip from her coffee before leaning back to recount the events from last night. "I'm sure you remember about the Royal Guard from last night. As you can evidently see, we've made short work of that pile of rotten flesh. Unfortunately, Geirin and I had to explain ourselves to her about what was going on... No worries, I didn't tell her about any of you. But, we may have to expect Cadet activity as we continue our investigation..."

The lanky girl held her breath at good news and bad news, still thrumming her leg as she waited. Having good news and bad news was never good 'cause the good never outdid the bad and the bad always sucked ass. Before that Raidou asked her if she could help her sort papers again. Patty put on a large and pretty convincing fake smile.
"Sure! Yeah I can help again."
Goddamnit last thing I wanted to freakin' do fuck papers this sucks why is there so much crap?
The junkie stewed to herself in her mind but didn't show it other than her typical absentminded smile when she was focused on something was replaced with a concentrated frown of indifference. Just like before right? Just put them in number order and keep the numbers the same... or something. .......fuck okay now she had to think. But Patty didn't ask, she just did her best to sort them to how she remembered how they should go and she did a pretty distracted job at that. It was like being an intern or something.

So the cops were gonna get in their shit, huh? Well wasn't that freakin' awesome. Whatever, Patty wasn't scared of them, she could fight or run from anything and make it out. She put that angel bitch down and she was supposed to be tough or something, even if she was half asleep at the time. Stupid sleep music.
"Hahaha ooookaaaaay! No problem, I thought you were gonna tell me that Sylph didn't come back or something!" Patty paused and her easygoing expression dropped.
"...like she did come back though right Raidou?" Whatever, she'd tell her, and if she was gone then she'd go find her. It was simple as that.
"Yeah I know you came back okay, I was hangin' out in the woods like I said I'd do in case you got into shit. But Cadets don't scare me, like I wouldn't be out doing this stuff if they did y'know? I can take'em I think. Or run. But like you probably mean we should be like... one step ahead and quieter and smarter and stuff right?" It got Patty thinking which was pretty damn hard to do but it came at a cost. She was hardly paying attention to the files anymore.
"Hey why are we doing this without'em anyway? Like isn't this their job? We could- OOOOH! Oh, oh they would of just ganked Bugbear right? Like they're just gonna glass the place right, that's why we're doin' it? .....I still think we can use'em if we're slick heha, like if someone called in a tip we probably could of got that truck stopped and- ...lost our lead. ...Huh. ...Okaaaaaay..." This time the twiggy girl completely stopped what she was doing to put her fist to her face and think. It really wasn't her strong suit, like all this stuff was stuff you did when it was time to do it, it wouldn't matter when they actually got to doing whatever they were gonna do 'cause it'd be different. But she was thinking and thinking needed all her attention instead of, like, a quarter of it like it usually got.

Raidou cracked a smile towards Patty as she accepted the job. Thankful, but she knew well that even the Psyche-Terrorist didn't want any part of the slog, not that she could ever blame her. Maybe they could have another helping of Chinese later, but that was for another time. "She returned, as to be expected. Fortunately, she found them at a spot in the Backlight District, a building usually held for expositions and conventions. Makes sense, if they're going to have such a large operation and it's an excellent business front for what it is. But I have a feeling Giddy is only a part of it... I'll have to find old blueprints of the building and look into who owns the building."

It made her wonder if those old crusty archives even had such things after that hell. She frowned at the empty mug and set that aside while quietly deliberating her next moves. However, she noticed Patty trying to connect the dots. A small grin graced her tired features, slightly amused by the attempt, not so much in a mocking way either. In fact, the detective seemed pleased. "You're getting there. And you're right, we could weaponize the Cadets to our advantage. I haven't quite reported my findings on the building just yet... So we'll need to plan out and work fast. We can trust them to handle humans, that's what they're there for. But the demons... We need to get them out of there before they get to them. This entire thing is going to require some insurance I plan on getting soon."

Raidou heaved a sigh. There was a lot going on and she began to miss her older cases where it was less complicated and so nerve-wracking. But this was what the Kuzunoha's had to deal with on a constant basis and as the saying goes, "No rest for the wicked."

"Okay good!" Patty knocked herself out of her thinking mode, "Means we don't gotta go find her, I can still go blow shit up tonight. Oh, yeah we're runnin' around tonight fighting demons again. Just if you wanna know." Back to something she actually wanted to do: flex her power with no consequences. The twiggy chick wasn't getting tired of the running around at night even if she was getting tired of dealing with stupid jackasses that like wanted to run the city. The delinquent smirked, putting down her folder and crossing one leg over the other with both her arms splayed out on the couch.
"Huh. Well... I guess if you can't find them I could probably get something a little more up to date. It's just a convention center, right?" It was pretty obvious what she was implying, walking in and scoping the place out herself. If anything Patty was cocky, but if there was one ability she thought she was best at and probably wasn't wrong about it was the ability to lie herself out of any situation. It'd be a cakewalk! And she'd get to wear something slutty and make friends. Patty didn't see any downside. But she pursed her lips in thought. Insurance. Yeeeeeaaaaaah Patty didn't have any of that, like she always figured something out and never needed it but this wasn't just her anymore. People probably wanted a safety net. Her foot bobbed up and down over her leg.
"...yeah I got nothin'. Like I didn't think we'd get any kind of backup or anything. Is it Geren or Koji again or like a new demon or something? I can't think of-" Patty briefly thought of other Psyche Terrorists, 'specially ones in the Playhouse, but she quickly dismissed that thought. They kinda had a bad track record of anyone outside of themselves, anyone who showed up would have something to gain. Someone almost sold them out once and the Playhouse would, like, sensationalize it and try to grow their rebel army from it and crap.

"...yeah I can't think of anything. Sorry Rai, like if it comes down to it I'm pretty sure we can wing it. Oh! Hey, right before we hit this place let's order rooms and stuff and get them from inside aheeheehahaaaaa...!" Patty stuck her tongue out through her teeth with a sharp look in her eye, leaning forward expectantly. They'd fuckin' jump the bitches and it'd be RAW chaos, hell yeah! It took her a moment but she calmed down when Raidou sighed, just going back to sorting shit and... trying... to... numbers... Jesus freakin' Christ screw the guy that made numbers so hard. The delinquent rolled her neck. She was getting tired of the subject too, all this planning and thinking and not actually doing anything about it yet made her antsy and Faust pissed her off. Better to switch topics.
"Tell me about it, like I just wanted to fight monsters with superpowers and stuff. Oh yeah. You did training and stuff to do this. Like, you did the kung-fu stuff right? Like um... I dunno like the monks in those movies? We talked about it before, did you do like the sit under the waterfall stuff and like master your Chi young apprentice hoowaaaaaaaaaaa or was it like bootcamp with swords? Did you have to do a lot?"

"Good to know you have a very healthy way of letting off some steam." Raidou remarked wryly as she dropped another file of paper to the stack. It seemed just like her, to exercise her powers without any restraint. At first, she had to admit that Patty didn't seem like the type of person who was very subtle. True, she was a person who let her own passions get ahead of her, but she had her screws on straight when it came to what really counted. Her expressions grimaced as she corrected her. "A convention center with people in it. We really want to be careful this time around... if any of these people are unrelated to the Night. We don't want to cause civilian casualties."

It was always a mess when the uninitiated and the unawakened eventually get involved. The look of terror on people's faces when the Divide began and when demons ran wild that one night caused her to shudder. All that mayhem and destruction was a result she hoped wouldn't repeat itself ever again. Patty certainly wasn't going to like that detail. Which was why the detective began to smile as she began to muse on the Psyche-Terrorist's idea. "You're thinking. Good. It's not a bad idea. If this "Devil's Auction" is anything what its name suggests, we could pose as potential buyers... In the meanwhile, I'll look into this on my end. As for my insurance, I will indeed need your assistance in finding another demon. But we will have another joining us, or at least attempt to convince him. Unfortunately Geirin is stationed at the Outer Rim with no concern what happens inside the City and the Royal Guard won't do anything that the Cadets can handle. This "one" though, he's reliable. But... He maybe a handful."

This time her face winced at the word "one" despite attempting to remain composed. She just wasn't looking forward to meeting him. Yet, their options were stupidly limited when it came having support. Not that she had anything to complain about how well the current team was working. But, perhaps this time, they'll need some back up for such a potentially overwhelming venture.

"Snrk... Y-yes. Yeah, something like that. F-forgive me. It's not that I'm laughing at you. Rather, it is ridiculously apt in a way." Raidou stifled her laughter with a tight-lipped grin while shaking her head in mirth at the wooden surface of her desk. When the nostalgia finally began to creep in through her barely restrained amusement, she cracked a toothy grin. One that was reminiscing the good old times... and one that was regretful. She seemed wistful. "Training had to be hellish if you had to fight demons on a daily basis. Even humans who had supernatural abilities aside from summoning demons. So... Yes, I had to do it a lot. Day and night. I can still remember the bruises and broken bones... and how I had to continue training despite it."

She closed her eyes, pausing from the paperwork for a single moment to look back at what she remembered. By the time they were open again to the office, she solemnly continued in a soft whisper to herself. It was as if she forgot Patty was here with her right now. "Many people before me died to earn the right to be "Raidou Kuzunoha"... And yet, here I am. Becoming one just because Sensei..."

It was only when the grandfather clock began to ring its daily announcement of the next hour that the Kuzunoha realized she spoke too much. She sheepishly smiled at Patty and replied after making a quick glance at the clock.

Green eyes snapped to the pile as Raidou plopped down another filed case. She winced.
"*haaaaaa...* Yeah yeah..." she grumbled as she went back to actually doing the work she said she would. Homegirl must've picked up on how she'd completely stopped, but it wasn't Patty's fault she just got distracted, like there was more important stuff going on so this didn't matter as much or whatever. The thin girl chewed on her tongue as Raidou got all up on her ass about being wreckless. Patty stopped, scowled, and folded her arms hard in a show of defiance.


The delinquent huffed and turned her head, tapping her fingers on her arm for a second before going back to... whatever she was doing before without much care or urgency. Like for fuck's sake yeah she liked to blow shit up and she could be a bit of a scary bitch but like she wasn't like some freak psycho that'd drop a building on people... that weren't involved in this stuff anyway. Like she knew better than to hurt people that weren't involved, she was reckless not a freakin' monster. But even if what Raidou implied hurt her feeling she'd segregate from her bad attitude just as quickly as she picked it up. She didn't feel like being mad right now, she had enough to be mad about and this was supposed to be a break from that. The lanky chick would still pout for a while though. At least until Raidou said she needed another demon, when she'd smirk and snap her fingers.
"Ha! I totally knew we were gonna go get one, ahah. Hmmm..." The thuggish chick flopped her head into her hand and drummed her fingers on her face. Maaaaan, this meant more thinking. Like she was done thinking, she knew about all she needed to do something right now, like she could just go do it. Anything else she'd figure out on the way.

"Mmmm......... so like I'm gonna need money, huh? To make bids?" Patty quizzed, more thinking aloud than asking Raidou. "And like a cover but I can figure that out like, day of. So like...... Geirin's like... state trooper and Kyouji's like, I'unno, like the National Guard or some shit so like... Hmmmmm... Okay so like, if they're there for the Devil's Auction then they're like really not supposed to be there, so like it's the Cadet's problem, right? So like we can just slip in and get out the back door with the demons and then call the freakin' pigs on'em and like you can front while we get out in the chaos, can't we? Like, I'm pretty sure all those guys'd be assholes and like we can't deal with a crowd of people just us but the cops can. Huh." A plan was forming in her head, she could imagine how it would go. Maybe bid on some while whoever goes to where they're locked up and sneaks out with'em. Like it'd rely on a lot of stuff like not gettin' freakin' caught but they could do it. In any case she only sounded half-confident in her idea but was really just not confident, like not until it happened anyway. Patty perked her head up.
"This guy's cool, right? Like if he's not cool you can tell me, I wanna know if I have to keep my eyes open."

Raidou's laughing was accompanied by Patty relaxing herself and grinning with her, chuckling silently. Okay good, she thought it was funny too. The grin would stay absentmindedly as Patty listened to her training stories. Crap dude that sounded like it suuuuuuucked. Like she'd do basically whatever she had to and she thought she could fight demons day and night too but like after a while she'd probably snap and NOT be happy AT ALL and that wouldn't be good for ANYONE in the same zip code. Her smile fell when she started to talk about the other ones. Patty already kinda knew what happened or at least had an idea about it but like, this was pretty heavy. She got it though. Like having stuff forced on you wasn't ever fun, she hadn't liked any of the Giddy shit but they had to be stopped or it was her ass. Do it or else. Yeah that was a good time. She opened her mouth to say something but got literally saved by the bell.

At the word "lunch" Patty quickly stretched out over the couch as if that was the magic command "stop working". Because, like, it was. She needed to focus to not be all depressed and upset and shit anyway.


Patty didn't really feel like Chinese, but Raidou drank tea and did kung-fu and ate Chinese and stuff so she probably was so Patty wanted her to get what she wanted if she was upset thinking about her dead sensei. But like... she was also kinda selfish so......
"They got Zapitio Burrito like 6 blocks away too, they deliver. Dude like they have these bomb as fuck burritos, like you can get about a pound of burrito for like 7 bucks and it's like street taco good, like you can get the Mexican Cokes in the glass bottles and stuff but they charge out the ass for them and like I'm pretty sure they just pour regular Coke into glass bottles 'cause they're always flat so I don't get those it's kinda sad. But you don't have to get that I just get the carnitas with guac and like I can eat all day off it."

Yeah so she also wanted to change the topic from all the heavy shit. So like, burritos and stuff. Yeah.

"...I'm aware. I meant to say this time around it will require much more tact and subtlety than last time considering the new factors. If it came off as judgemental, I'm sorry." Raidou sighed after getting an earful from the Psyche-Terrorist about her own self-control. It was easy to notice how that perception unnerved her. Understandable, no one didn't want to be seen as the unreasonable nutcase. While it was a subject the detective was not going to broach further, the conversation shifted elsewhere as her brows knit together into a frown. "Right, money maybe an issue. But... we could find an in elsewhere without having to be a buyer and being an attendee. Assuming we get an invitation somehow, if we still want to infiltrate it that way. But as far as having the Cadets involved... We really don't want to set them on the Auction without giving them time to prepare. Otherwise we're looking as some would call a... 'clusterfuck', especially when civilians are involved. The more you add factors into the scenario, the potential for chaos is there and we want to minimize that so no one innocent gets hurt."


"Oh he's 'cool'. He's just a bit of an eccentric, which may get on some people's nerves. He certainly is reliable. But the eccentricity might be the issue, though I suppose given our previous rosters before last night, we'll probably be fine... Assuming you and everyone else don't mind cowboy shenanigans." Raidou admitted grudgingly. She remembered that last incident in the forest and how this newcomer almost blew the entire case in the water. Obviously there was a real chance of some wacko joining her little investigation, but when you needed muscle, sometimes the work itself serves as a screening process on its own. At least this time, the team was reliable even a bit unpolished. Yet time was a teacher, erratic as it can be sometimes. "I swear as long as I live, if he makes another 'Yeehaw!' during another covert mission..."

As Patty assented to Chinese, Raidou didn't mind either. But in truth, she did want to try something new. All of the novelty of American excess and Chinese were getting rather redundant and repetitive. But that was only because she was more or less cramped into this boring prison and shackled down by the obligations of work. When an opportunity for something new arose, the composed Raidou seemed to shine with expectation as her mouth began to water from the descriptions Patty so graciously lent to her.


It was only with this heightened resolve, that the detective was given renewed motivation eating through the sizable stack of files and papers. It would seem that she would get through all of this in no time as her desire for new tastes drove her with such intensity. All the while as the cat woke up and gave a tired growl towards Raidou.

Note:

"I can be subtle, Raidou. I got the Giddy lead all by myself WITHOUT blowing my cover, I know what I'm doing," the troublemaker pouted. She shook her head and uncrossed her arms with a frown. "Psssh, it's whatever. Let's just drop it." Despite what she said it wasn't whatever. It wasn't whatever at all. Patty just didn't want to talk about it anymore so she wouldn't. She could do whatever she wanted to do, subtle or not as long as she wanted to do it and like, people needed to start respecting that. Her mood improved as they continued to talk but all the thinking was starting to make her head hurt. Go undercover but not as a buyer, have money but don't, get an invite or not and what were they going to do with the people? There were too many details and it was starting to get complicated. Yeah the twiggy girl didn't really like that. She just wanted to do the things and save the demons, all of that smart people crap could be figured out along the way.

"Oh. Okaaaaay..." she responded non-commitally. Patty liked the chaos, she liked the clusterfuck. It was so much easier to get things done when you worked on instinct and everyone else's plans were ruined. It was like swimming in fireworks or something but she was a good swimmer, she could take some real advantage of all the chaos, maybe get some crossfire going. And would anyone at the Devil's Auction really be innocent? Like, maybe some people staying in the convention center but like they should book all those rooms up before they hold the auction otherwise like you get people walking downstairs or where they shouldn't go and then you got a mess to take care of and THAT would make people ask questions.
"Why would anyone innocent even be there? Like I don't see why the dudes at the Devil's Auction would let anyone that's like not a buyer or seller anywhere near that place, it doesn't make any sense. And like the cops don't get the chance to prepare for shit like this anyway unless they like, surround the building. I don't know how else to do this without these guys getting away." But the more she voiced it out the more it did kind of make sense and she could see the other side of it. So like... who said that everyone there was an asshole? It was just the guys running it, right? At least for sure for sure.


This was stupid freakin' hard, dude. Buuuuuuut... what Raidou said about chaos... hmmmmmmmMMMMM...! ...........okay that's it! Patty's eyes lit up with a grin as she thought up another idea.
"Haha we can just rob'em blind! Sneak in the back and take the demons while they're doing the auction, then they got no weapons! The fuck're they gonna do hahaha, call the cops on someone burglarizing their demon ring? Shyeah right trick, whatcha think?!" The violent chick thought it was a good idea. Then again she thought all her ideas were good ideas until bad stuff happened. That being said, cowboys sounded fun. Patty was perfectly fine with eccentrics a.k.a. fuckin' weirdos. The weird ones were always totally fun! Or creepy. But usually fun!


Completely unserious and and with a terrible accent the skinny girl devolved into a giggle fit and thrashing on the couch. She settled down long enough to suggest burritos but Raidou's own enthusiasm spun itself into a feedback loop that energized Patty becoming just as excited as she was.
"Heeheeheehaha ya! Bitch YOU been missin' out! I'm'a hook you up with El Carne Asada Monstruo hahaha! ...Churros! Churros, I want them! I want churros and fajitas Diablo!" Little Miss ADHD followed suit with Raidou in getting back to sorting things so they could go, working MUCH slower than she did but still quicker than normal since, like, she had to concentrate on it. They would finish fairly quickly with the two of them hyped up over taquitos and the thin one would waste zero time in trying to escape out the door in pursuit of anything that isn't paperwork.

"Okay soooooo... RACE YA!" Patty giggled and started to take off with her unfair headstart. Which backfired when she stepped in the GODDAMN FUCKING SNOW IN HER GODDAMN SOCKS AGAIN.
"Nonononono wait time out I need to get shoes time out TIME OUT!" Frantically would she fall over herself, writhing on the ground as she tried to shove her legs in her boots as quickly as physically possible.

"It's a good point, Patricia. It's easy to see that anyone participating in such horrid... activities should know what's happening. That would indeed require a lot of organization and thus increases the chances of detection." Raidou admitted very easily, seemingly pleased to know that the girl pointed the issue out. True, there seriously wasn't any way no one couldn't be so ignorant of such horrors in the same building. But the grim grin floating on the detective's face suggested what would come next. In the same breath, she continued didactically for Patty. "But if there's anything what my experience tells me, things won't be that simple especially with the supernatural involved. I have faith in the Cadet's meticulousness. If they managed to continue such an operation for God knows how long... I believe they would have had the means of hiding it, which may require the use of unknowing attendees in an actual convention underneath their auction to help camouflage them to speak. Most especially if anyone in that operation is capable of using a Domain."

The harrowing nature of her smile disappeared before shifting back to approval when she was beginning to take into account of the mess it would take place. It was slow, but Patty was beginning to take into account all of these things and being very mindful. Perhaps she was right, she can be subtle. And that would teach Raidou from questioning her again... for now. "Could be worth a shot. First we need to stake out the building and learn what we can before we go in. I'll send Sylph for another go around... We can worry about the eccentricities of this acquaintance of mine later. But now, let's finish this off before we find ourselves as desiccated corpses in this office."



As furious as both women worked on the slog, it still didn't mean the entire thing was anything less of such and it was such a goddamn pain to go through. But, that meant nothing in light of the tasty reward guaranteed in the near future. The moment the clock struck again and the last file was set aside, it was off the races on Patty's abrupt prompting. Raidou would only take her time, watching Patty once again forget the dark slurry on the floor and telling the black cat to watch the shop. Quietly and with poise, the detective made it to the entrance into a few steps before slipping on her shoes without any trouble. She was just about to leave as Patty was still struggling on putting her footwear on. Though not without taking a glance at her with a satisfied smile dancing on her features and a tip of her hat.


And with that, she was gone. All that would be left in the office would be the lonesome cat who rolled his eyes and went back to grooming himself for the inevitable future of hairballs.

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SQ Gained: