"Y'know, it's pretty irresponsible for HQ to just leave all this psitanium unattended," Franke said, the joint dangling from her lips.

With a flick of her wrist, the papery residue lingering on the tip of Kitty's cigarette fell. She took a quick puff and blew out a thin, cloudy stream of light gray smog. The scent of marijuana and smoke filled the otherwise dank mines, overpowering the naturally musty odor. "Abandoned means abandoned, babe. The Psychonauts aren't going to give a damn about this place unless it's under attack," she said, sticking her lighter into her skirt pocket.

Leaning on an overturned wheelbarrow, Franke shrugged. "Oh, I know, but you'd think since the Motherlobe was located a quarter mile away, the Psychonauts would stick a couple interns here as guard dogs."

Kitty snorted, her lip curling. "Better for us. I don't want to deal with a dopey teen acting like they're holier-than-thou if they see us on our smoke break."

She slipped her joint between her fingers and cleared her throat. Pinching her nostrils shut, Franke sneered, "'You two can't smoke at all. It's against Psychonauts regulations even if, like, we're so far away from HQ.'"

Kitty rasped out a cackle. It scrapped the back of her throat, filling her mouth with a dry, dehydrated aftermath. She shook her head, jeering, "God, it's almost scary how well you can do Cassandra's voice. You got her nasal down, girl."

Franke raised her joint like a trophy and grinned from ear to ear. "It's all because of this little beauty."

Kitty nodded and watched Franke take another drag. She focused on the pout Franke's lips formed as she inhaled. When they parted, they became a wide oval as she blew out wispy, white fumes.

"But seriously, why wouldn't they wanna harvest all this psitanium?" Franke wondered, reaching behind her. Her hand clanked into the metal interior of the wheelbarrow, her tongue poking out in concentration as she searched for something. Her eyes lit up when she grasped it, sparking with life. She retrieved a stray silver of psitanium no larger than a stick of gum. "There's tons of it here. Why don't the higher-ups just take it all before some, I dunno, psychic bad dudes steal it?"

"Well, they wouldn't be able to swipe all of it without being watched. They do have security cameras in here," Kitty replied, lifting her chin.

She grinned as Franke gasped, her joint nearly falling from her fingers. Franke fumbled to keep it steady by stuffing it back in her mouth, bits of smoky debris falling on her sweater. Kitty had noticed the security cameras in the corners of the mine's entrance the moment they arrived, but Franke had been too engrossed in regaling Kitty with a story about one of her high school classmates trying to involve her with a pyramid scheme.

Spotting the cameras twisting back and forth by them, Franke dragged her hand down her cheek. "Aw, man, who's watching us? I don't wanna deal with getting yelled at when I'm high," she moaned, her brows knitting together.

"Oh, don't worry, hun. It's probably a bored agent at the Nerve Center. No biggie." Kitty leaned into Franke and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. She massaged Franke's arm and rubbed her fingers through the thick, wool material of her girlfriend's sweater. "If they haven't said anything to us now, then they won't be bothered when we get back." She twiddled her cigarette between her fingers, her nails painted a pretty polished fuchsia to match her hair. "If anyone like Cassandra tries to say anything, I'll hit her with a harassment lawsuit."

It took a moment for Franke's smoke-addled mind to understand what Kitty said. When she did, her mouth split her cheeks with a lopsided grin, and her shoulders slumped, losing their tenseness. "Your go-to threat has never lost its luster, huh?" she asked, slipping her hand down the small of Kitty's back.

Kitty grinned, nestling into her taller girlfriend and sitting on the rusted edge of the wheelbarrow. "Not at all, babe. It works even better on teens who don't know any better. Their faces get all scrunched up, and they just squeal, 'Oh, nooo, Kitty, please don't sue me. I can't even afford designer shoooes.'"

As Franke burst into laughter, her entire body quaking, Kitty closed her eyes and smoked without a single care in the world.