The mood was pretty low after the doctor ushered the gang out of Dawn’s room.

  MIMOSAS?

  “God yes,” Kennedy agreed, a sentiment echoed by all present.

  She laid her head on Cait’s rock solid shoulder as she downed her second glass. In some regards, her birth family rearing its ugly incestuous head had set her back years. In others, she found herself fighting harder to remember there were kinds of touch other than ‘bad’.

  The big blonde cocked an eyebrow when she looked down at her, but she was wearing a broad smile when she did. Kennedy scrunched up her eyes, returning a big cartoonish grin that got a chuckle from Cait. It was fake-it-til-u-make-it hours for all of them.

  Breastman was putting on a show of being a little scamp, and the group kept reaching for their glasses to find them empty, while the little purple terror ball letting out a burp with excellent comedic timing. It was a simple gag, but it hadn’t gotten old yet.

  “How are you not blitzed?” Lira asked him, glaring at her empty glass.

  NOT A FUCKING LIGHTWEIGHT

  “I make my mimosas with 95% champagne, the OJ is really just a garnish.”

  THE FRENCH HAVE PRODUCED NOTHING

  THAT CAN FAZE THIS BODY

  “I’m French, actually, heritage wise,” Gwyn volunteered. Their tentacle monster was sitting in her lap per usual, common enough no one ever grabbed an extra chair for him.

  THE FRENCH HAVE PRODUCED

  ONE THING

  That got everyone giggling, and they made a game of slapping at his tentacles as he reached for their glasses. There were a lot to keep track of, and even when they were paying attention, soon all were empty as he let out one more satisfied burp.

  Cait wiped a tear of mirth for her eye, before sitting up straighter.

  “Alright guys, time to be serious for a second,” she started, garnering either eye rolls or attention based on the observers personalities. “Fuck all of you who just rolled your eyes at me. Dawn’s out for the season, and we’re down a heavy hitter. To be honest, normal circumstances, I’d say we just go as a trio, don’t want her to feel replaced. I think we can all agree these aren’t normal circumstances though.”

  Cait actually being serious made everyone else take notice, and she was answered with solemn nods.

  “Yeah,” she continued, “so, we need another team member. Preferably someone who acts as a force multiplier for Kennedy, because we’re losing her main role on the team as well.”

  Kennedy looked at Cait, clearly nonplussed.

  “Not to say you can’t do other things as well! Just that magic badass has been what you’ve fallen into in our tactics so far. Anyway, I wanted to open the floor to ideas.”

  Kennedy could feel that Cait already had someone in mind, and had a pretty good guess who. That said, the girl had remarkable emotional intelligence sometimes, and clearly knew it’d be better if the obvious solution came from the team.

  WHAT ABOUT SAWSCALE

  “Actually hadn’t thought about him,” Cait responded, and Kennedy felt her genuine surprise. Gwyn was already shaking her head though.

  “Probably not unless you guys want to pick up Harambe as well,” she said. “He’s back to 100%, probably more. Bullrush isn’t the only mecha-beast on campus anymore.”

  “Those two should hook up with Warhawk and Bullrush, with Fingerguns down they’re down to two as well.”

  “They aren’t, actually,” interjected Lira. “I’ve been checking in with Bri, and Clyde’s actually already back on his feet. She’s going to join up with them to round the team back out. Which means Qi….”

  She let that trail off, gesturing towards Cait. Per usual, the redhead had read Cait like a book, and tossed her the opening Kennedy knew Cait had been waiting for. She felt a pulse of excitement in her chest, and watched Cait’s face for any sign of the triumph she felt wash from her. Instead, the big girl screwed her face up in thought.

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “I dunno, might make things a little complicated….”

  Uh oh, pret-ty good liar, huh?

  Lira just smirked at her though.

  “Please, Cait, I don’t give a shit if you have fuck-buddies, especially when they’re also my fuck-buddies. And Kennedy’s such an irredeemable cuck I bet she’d love it.”

  Kennedy thought her cheeks might literally burn off they heated up so fast, the embarrassed blush mirrored by everyone at the table besides Cait and Lira. Those two just shared an infuriatingly mischevious smile. Worse, that pulse of excitement earlier…. Well, Kennedy didn’t raise her voice in protest.

  “Anyway,” Lira continued, “Qi’s a fucking badass, so move fast if you want her. Plenty of teams with slots to fill now. I know she’s not the same role as Dawn, and is a downgrade in terms of mindset and experience, but I’ve seen the footage of what Kennedy can do with those dragon powers.”

  Lira flashed her an appreciative smile, but Kennedy returned a glare. You didn’t just call your best friend-kind-of-with-benefits a cuck. It was rude. She linked to the redhead to send a reprimand, but found the scintillating joy she felt from teasing her to be fully impenetrable. Her scowl deepened.

  “Okay, so yeah, good case for Qi,” Cait agreed, like it hadn’t been exactly what she wanted. “But, we should still go over other options. Anybody else unattached with access to magic?”

  “No,” Kennedy sighed in defeat. “They get snatched up pretty goddamn quick. Qi is the best choice.”

  “See?” said Lira, voice bright and cheery. Kennedy beamed a breakfast sausage into her forehead.

  “Oh its fucking on!” Lira exclaimed, reaching down to her plate, then looking at it confused.

  Breastman burped.

  WHILE EVERYONE IS LOOKING AT ME

  WE SHOULD

  RENAME THE TEAM

  AFTER DAWN

  I SUGGEST

  THE DAWN POSSE

  Gwyn blushed as he spoke, “Babe, no, I told you that was stupid.”

  I SUGGEST

  THE DAWN POSSE

  Repeated his hat, with bigger font. He didn’t have a jaw, but if he did it would clearly have been set.

  “Oh my god,” Gwyn said, covering her face with a hand.

  IT’S A GOOD IDEA

  SHES NOT ACTUALLY BEING REPLACED

  BUT ITS GONNA FEEL LIKE IT

  IF HER NAMES ON THE TEAM

  SHOULD HELP A BIT

  RIGHT?

  “Buddy,” Cait said, “I don’t think that’s what Gwyn’s embarrassed about. That said, The Dawn Posse kicks ass, although I’m not sure if it inspires the kind of confidence a Guardian team is supposed to.”

  “Actually,” Kennedy volunteered, “AEGIS as a whole has been doing a ton to soften Breastman’s image. This kinda fits into that vein. Idk if you guys are keeping up with our numbers, but we are quickly becoming the most popular group in DSM, which my mom won’t let me forget.”

  She sighed, and laid her head back on Cait’s shoulder, wrapping her arm around a bicep.

  “It makes sense though. We’ve got sex appeal coming out our asses, we publically executed multiple Kaiju that were actually inside the ‘Shell, and with Dawn we even had the furry community and as such the entire IT infrastructure of Des Moines on our side.”

  “Why don’t we ask Isaac?” Cait suggested. “I think it’s a dope idea to name ourselves after Dawn, but also seems like kinda a big deal. Might as well workshop it with a professional.”

  “That’s the move,” agreed Gwyn, seeming surprised that ‘The Dawn Posse’ hadn’t been D.O.A. “PR helps us Meta-Brains any time we make something fit for public consumption. Isaac in particular is the reason the cure for rectal cancer is called Rectify instead of Rectum? Damn near killed ‘em!, which won the office pool when the inventor couldn’t be bothered to name it himself.”

  “I actually retract my suggestion,” said Cait, looking horrified. “I don’t know if I can forgive Isaac for taking that from us.”

  Gwyn glared at her.

  “Not everything can be a joke Cait,” she scolded. Breastman raised two tentacles, using them to make the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture from Gwyn’s eyes to Cait’s. Gwyn slapped them away and scolded him while he chortled.

  “I’d be the smartest person in the room in any university, but I surrounded myself with idiots,” she muttered under her breath.

  CUTE IDIOTS

  KIND OF

  She scowled at him, but there wasn’t any heat in it. Well, not the bad kind of heat. Kennedy looked up at Cait, and felt a burst of that same heat.

  Do I want what those two have? The pairing might not exactly be traditional, but the relationship seems wholesome as fuck.

  Her mind drifted to the nights she’d spent riding along with Lira as the Amazon she clung to blew both of their minds, and found her lower lip between her teeth.

  Maybe it makes sense that I’m not that traditional.

  Cait noticed the lust stirring within her, and looked down, eyebrow cocked and wearing a smirk that made Kennedy want to kiss and then kill her. She held her deep green eyes for a second before she looked away. Kennedy felt Cait’s own desire, specifically to put a hand to her chin, and pull her face up to meet her own. But she didn’t. Whatever Kennedy was feeling right now, she wasn’t there yet.

  “Oh, shit, guys check your comms,” Lira announced, waving her own. “Schedules posted. Damn, looks like they’re replacing y’all with ARMOR for guard duty, nothing but patrols for a while.”

  “When are we up?” Kennedy asked, shaking herself out of her haze to summon her own comm.

  “This afternoon, perimeter circuit. Shit, she put you guys outside the dome. As far as she knows you guys don’t even have a full team!” Lira exclaimed.

  “No, but for me, that clinches it,” Cait said, her face suddenly serious. “If we’re outside the dome, extra tough is the way to go. I’ll call Qi.”

  When Cait woke her phone up, Kennedy saw a very racy picture of the draconic beauty, time stamped from last night, before Cait flicked to her contact and called.

  Damn. If I’ve gotta think about Cait with someone else, could do worse.

  She didn’t allow herself to acknowledge the flutter her heart gave as that thought played around in her head.

  THE DAWN POSSE GROWS

  “Nooooooooo!” Gwyn groaned.