a/n: I'm trying Inktober, but with super short stories. I wrote it in ink first, photo on request. #1 - Swift.

All the good stuff belongs to the geniuses of Monolith Soft. Case the Swift is mine.

"Come on, Gwin. Race you to the Barista area." The red head had come dancing in front of him as he passed the Interceptor's hangout on Division Drive. Her green eyes were sparkling with mischief.

"Case, you in a rush or something?"

"Come on, come on." She darted towards him, then away, like a dog ready for a run.

"Why?"

"I need to practice dodging. Best way I know." At his confused look she settled flat on her feet. "Getting there without hitting a car or barricade or pedestrian."

"Flattening a pedestrian, more like it. You look like you're gonna run right over them."

"Not a Prone. Those big blue boys are big. Come on!"

"If you'd just train like a normal person…."

"Not. Normal. You know that." She was skipping in place again, grinning at him.

"Fine. On your marks, get set, … hey!"

She was already off and away, down the long corridor of armored personnel and oversized robot suits. Gwin followed, already smiling at his inevitable loss. He watched her dance around a cluster of waist-high Nopon, duck under a swerving excavation skell, then fling herself off the balcony, arms windmilling until she landed with a roll on the roadway below. He'd bounced off two fellow BLADEs before he could make the same leap. He was two blocks behind when she turned towards the Commercial District. Shoot, he'd have to buy her both coffee and a pastry.

As he skidded around the sharp left, he saw that she'd stopped. She was chatting with a blond Mediator whose patrol was focused at the fountain. Case patted her friend's shoulder as Gwin approached, then shot off down the street, swift as any Evello.

Gwin snorted. What a show off. He stopped to chat as well (and maybe catch his breath). "Huh. I should have known she wasn't going to give me a real chance."

"Hello, Gwin," the other man greeted him cheerfully. "It does my heart good, to see my fellow BLADEs training to be their best."

"Hello, Justin. I guess." Gwin shrugged, then started moving away from the fountain area. "Gotta go. If she gets too big a lead, I'll need to buy her a full breakfast."

"You do that!" Justin shouted at Gwin's retreating back. "Case deserves a very special treat!" His eyes followed the racers, although he never moved from his spot.

a/n: My real challenge may be keeping everything T. Or K+ if I can swing it.

I'm not ignoring Duna and Wolf. No. Really. This piece will connect to other stuff, as it turns out. And Duna is yelling at me from behind my eyes, so we may get movement this month. Next up (in theory): Divided.