Quick name reference: Zima=Sonya, Istina=Anna, Gummy=Lada, Leto=Rosalind, Rosa=Natalya
Gummy x USSG
Mission complete.
There was just a little issue about Gummy's report. The little cub had troubled Dr. Kal'tsit with the investigation of her parents' background. Not making use of it would be like disregarding her efforts, so the chef asked the Doctor and Amiya what the feline liked the most, so that she could prepare her favorite dish with an ursus touch.
Her goal when she left the landship was to find her missing parents, whose dangerous jobs usually kept them so busy they couldn't even worry about her daughter when the entire Chernobog-Lungmen conflict took place. Through that last year, Gummy had been recording logs about her usual activities, trying to express some of them as if she were showing it to her parents.
A mixture of longing and spite. The daughter had troubles believing her parents forgot about her when she went through the worst part of her life, but she also missed them dearly. They were her parents. Her family… Although it was not her only one.
In an undisclosed landship of the Ursus Empire, Gummy met with the contact who had managed to locate her parents. The operator had arranged things for a meeting, but on the fateful day, Gummy made a decision. Just knowing that her papa and mama were safe and well was enough. Meeting a person who had seen was proof enough to ease her worries. She had once longed to meet them, to embrace them in her arms and yell at them for forgetting about her. All she used to care about was being reunited with her family.
But… if she had to lose one family to recover another, it wasn't worth it.
As such, she that operator all the recordings she had been planning show her parents and asked him to hand them over when they next met. The time for their reunion wasn't nigh. Besides, Gummy felt… incomplete. Of course she could go on through her life without her friends constantly by her side, but when she was met with the darkness of the truck's backside and the loneliness of a single blanket… Gummy missed her nightlight. Not the one she kept next to her bed. The ones that always enjoyed the meals she prepared. The ones who made Gummy happy. She missed them so much… the only reason she managed to survive the trip back to Rhodes Island was because Gummy knew she would be meeting them real soon.
When she explained her resolution to the Doctor and Amiya, they were comprehensive and welcomed her back with wide smiles. Dr. Kal'tsit didn't hide her annoyance, mentioning how hard it would be to prepare something like that again. Gummy accepted the consequences to getting cold feet, but at least the scary medic could empathize with the feeling of missing a home and giving things up just to return to it.
Rhodes Island was such a place.
Each corridor, each room and each section had different memories tied to them. The training grounds was a hard place where she sometimes was forced to dispel her habits. The main deck was so high up that Gummy's knees shook just from imagining it. The Medical Department was full of nice ladies who taught her which ointments to use to remove her scars. The kitchen had been her second home for the chef… but the place Gummy loved the most had to be her room. The place where she used to share with Istina. The Classroom where the USSG held its meetings. The hideout where Zima sometimes skipped classes. The place where Rosa kept her second batch of exotic teabags. The room that Leto usually entered just to access the toilet in a pinch.
With the bags still hanging from her shoulders, the little cub paid a quick visit to the kitchen to prepare a fresh batch of honeyed cookies. She felt like giving her friends a surprise, even if it was relatively late at night. It hadn't been a full week since she left, so they were still enjoying their little vacation from the last mission.
Giggling her excitement, Gummy found a little zalak walking near the door to her old room. If only she wasn't so empty-handed she would have given that streamer a bear hug. Rather than her usual clothes, Click was wearing a long coat that gave her the feeling of being a spy. Since she also carried her control staff and her drone, she was probably plotting something for upcoming video.
"Hey, Click. Gummy is back!"
The mouse yelped and jumped, holding fast onto her coat as she turned around to look. "G-G-Gummy?! Weren't you out on a mission?"
"Hmh. Gummy completed it… more or less. It's so good to see you again! How have you been doing? Good, I hope."
"Hahah… hah… Well, it's been interesting, these few last days."
"You have to tell me more about it, okay? Right now, Gummy was thinking of giving the girls a surprise. I miss them so much I can practically recognize their scent from here. It smells like everyone is in our Classroom."
"You can tell?" The streamer was impressed, though her back continued to remain a bit hunched and her mouse tail move erratically.
"Are you okay? Gummy hopes she didn't interrupt you in the middle of anything."
"A-Ah, nah! I was just going for a late stroll around! Do not worry your cute blond head about it!" Click smiled, getting closer to the bear and touching her shoulders from behind. The streamer went for a hug after some hesitation. "I'm glad you're back. I bet everyone will be thrilled."
"Thanks… Gummy made the right decision after all."
After the streamer released her, she regained the hold of her cloak and turned around. "I'll see you around! Mind if I tell Zoya and Mikhail of your return?"
Gummy shook her head. "Please, do."
It was about time. Her heart beat a little faster in anticipation to her hand approaching the button to open the door. Gummy was a bit scared. She promised to come back after completing her mission, but she cheated her way back to Rhodes. Did she really deserve to come back?
"Will you stop dawdling out there? How long are you going to make us wait?" A rude voice protested from the other side.
"Don't rush her." A quieter voice nagged.
"But she's taking so long."
"Just be grateful we heard her coming."
"…right."
Gummy giggled, even if she didn't understand why they were grateful about that. The surprise was ruined, but that didn't really matter. The door slid open and Gummy was reunited with her best friends. Even though it had been her plan all along, the little cub regretted making cookies. The tray was in the way.
"Tadaa! Gummy made cookies for everyone!" She smiled regardless, bottling up the little frustrations.
Istina, in her bedwear, took the tray in her hands while Zima, unexpectedly lacking her bottom pajamas, grabbed the returnee's hand to pull her into the Classroom. While the braided bluehead dropped the sweets on a table, Zima squeezed her friend in her arms. It surprised the cook a little. When they saw her off, it was Gummy who had to embrace Zima for their goodbye hug. The shy vanguard was not usually so honest with her feelings, but the little defender wasn't complaining.
"Get over here, ladies." Istina called. "Let's eat while Gummy tells us how her mission went."
The nerves Zima's rare hug dispelled returned to her mind. Gummy removed her bags and left them by the entrance. She took off her oversized school coat, dropped her door shield, her frying pan and her thermic box. Her dark blue uniform dress outlined her petite frame. Her orange leggings doing the same for her small stature. Her short blond hair had a spirally fringe and a pair of caramel-like adornments tying the twin pigtails below her bear ears. The ursus girl of such a description felt a cold sweat running down her neck. What if they hated her? What if… they were disappointed Gummy rushed her mission to return back to their side as fast as possible.
The vanguard's hand rubbed her head, shooing away whatever thoughts were making her friend make such an expression. Gummy gathered her courage and made another smile. Suddenly, some sort of noise in the closet caught their attention.
"Is someone in there?" Gummy asked.
"H-How could that be?" The detective panicked.
"Aaaah, thaaaat… I, er, I put some stuff in there a while ago. You know me. I'm careless about order or tidying things up, so I bet something fell, hahah…"
Gummy's smiled turned earnest and she snuggled next to her friend. Zima would never learn how to lie convincingly. But then, that was one of the reasons she liked her so much. Whatever it was they were trying to hide, Gummy trusted them. If they hid what that yelp-like sound was, there was probably a good reason for it. Besides, if it was something Istina also knew about, it couldn't possibly be something bad!
Eating snacks with her friends healed her lonely soul. Gummy knew that she couldn't keep relying on them so much, that she had to become a strong independent bear… but she also wondered if it was that wrong that she liked spending all her time with them.
Istina grabbed Zima's hand and licked a finger. There was honey on it. The small gesture surprised Gummy quite a lot. Thinking about it, she realized that she had never seen her intellectual friend taking the amber nectar. Zima noticed the blonde's expression and bonked the bluehead.
"Anna gets a bit funky when she eats honey, haha. Don't mind her…" Zima tried to salvage after coughing a little. "So! Did you meet them? Your parents."
Gummy nibbled onto the honeyed cookie and lowered her eyes. "Gummy didn't."
"Why? Did something go wrong?" Istina worried.
The returnee shook her little head. "No. Nothing bad happened. I just… got cold feet."
"Were you too nervous about meeting them?"
"…Gummy doesn't really know. She wants to reach out to them. I thought I would be ready once I got over my habits, but… there's one habit I will never give up on."
The orange-eyed girl glanced at her friends and blushed a little. It was too embarrassing to admit that they were the habit she talked about. It wasn't as if she wasn't aware that life would move on regardless of what Gummy wanted, but she found a treasure she never wanted to part ways with. The hope to reunite with her parents competed with her ambition to remain by her friends' side… and when Gummy was put to the test, that was her answer. One day, she would meet her dad and mom. On that day, she would tell them all the sorts of things she did at Rhodes Island and the great time she had with her friends… and also the bad times she endured by their side…
The chef finished her cookie and gave up holding back. "I guess Gummy loves you too much, haha. She's such a needy girl. But now that she's back, I will make sure to make the most out of it. Cause Gummy loves her friends!"
Istina and Zima exchanged glances, an undecipherable blush taking over their cheeks. Just as she suspected, Gummy knew there was something odd at work, so she gulped down and prepared herself for whatever that was.
"Lada, let's talk about romance." The lip-loosened supporter operator proposed.
"Romance? Gummy thought you didn't like that genre in your books, haha."
"I mean real romance. Like, dating and stuff."
"Oh! That came out of nowhere. Why? Have any of you girls found someone you like? Is spring finally coming to your lives?"
Zima chuckled, starting to tap her foot nervously. They set the tray of cookies aside and faced their friend with straight faces, plotting not-so-straight questions.
"How do you feel, Gummy?" The brunette asked, blushing harder. "Do you like boys?"
The question the cook was expecting was more concrete, like 'do you like this certain person?'. The blonde pressed her lip and thought hard about it. She liked Mikhail a lot, but not like that. As for the other male friends Gummy had… respect and admiration were the feelings that crossed her mind, but not the love her friends were asking about.
"Mmm… Gummy doesn't have any boy she's interested in. What about you? Have you made peace with Mikhail yet?"
"She's one percent of the way there." Istina grinned, teasing her partner's side with a pinch.
"I'd never fall for that guy!" Zima complained. "Besides, I pity whoever even tries laying a hand on him."
"Zoya didn't hesitate to punch you during the last operation." Istina agreed. "Click must be the only girl she's not wary about."
Gummy giggled again. "Not that she has anything to worry about. Click is not the kind of girl who would get in the way of their relationship. She likes her ship too much!"
"A ship, huh?" Zima mumbled. "Then I guess we must be a cruise or something like that… Ow!"
Istina kept a poker face and took over the conversation before Gummy could even think of making questions. "Those three are certainly quite tight. I'm glad Mikhail made friends of his own in Rhodes Island. We always had each other, but he was alone."
"That bully would have found some prey to torment and end up befriending, regardless!" Zima grunted. "When I cut his fingers off, I felt so mad… After everything he did, he was capable of protecting others all along? Blyat…"
The brunette buried her face in her arms and the bluehead patted her back. "Returning to the topic at hand, what do you think about girls?"
"About girls?"
"Yeah. Do you think you could see girls as romantic partners?"
Istina would never make such a direct question. Honeyed Istina, on the other hand, was a different matter entirely. The drunkenness already made her cheeks bright red, her monocle getting hotter from the proximity.
Out of everyone at the USSG, Gummy was the one the least affected by the sweet goop in the biscuits. To her, the question she was just made was so out of place that it spooked her. However, when she glanced at Zima to look for help, she found her blue eye peeking at her, curious about her answer.
The blonde held her head in place and squeezed it to active her brain power. As weird as the question was, her friends were interested in knowing the answer. Even if it was a bit scary to think about, for her friends, Gummy would go much further.
"Gummy doesn't know. She's never really thought about that. She has her friends! That's enough for her!"
As heartwarming as the conclusion was, both girls weren't satisfied. In fact, the faces they made shocked Gummy even harder than the question did. They turned pale, a worried look taking over their similarly icy eyes.
"W-What's wrong? Did Gummy say something bad?"
Istina pressed her own chest to calm down. "Are we safe to assume that you have no interest in romance whatsoever? None at all?"
"Damn… This is a disaster…" Zima grumbled under her breath, enduring the clenching of her throat and the threat of incoming tears.
"G-Gummy is scared… What is going on?"
The detective kept staring, scrutinizing her insistently. "Calm down, Gummy. Nothing is wrong. It's just that we want to know how you feel about us."
"Ah! What a relief!" The cook sighed, a smile returning to her lips. "Of course Gummy loves you! You're her best friends!"
Zima grumbled something again, earning a bonk from the detective. Istina prepared herself to enter uncharted territory. "As I was saying, it's not that kind of 'love' that we want to know about…"
The bluehead picked another cookie. She didn't have enough honey in her system to take that step yet. After fueling up with liquid bravery, Istina blushed harder.
"Gummy, we all love you. We want to do lots of naughty things with you. We need you by our side."
Zima was so scared of it all… and yet, she cared so much about everything that was going on that she still forced herself to look at the little cub.
"Do you understand now?" Anna resumed. "We want to know if you could ever see us as your lovers."
"We won't force you." Sonya continued. "I know how crazy all this sounds like, but I want you to understand that we would never do anything that could harm you, Lada. No matter what your answer is… we won't stop caring about you."
That's what used to frighten the vanguard the most: losing everything. Since there was no way Zima would reject any of her friends, she broke through the shell of her fears to let Gummy know that everything was alright.
There was a very long silence. Even inside the closet.
"… … …l-lovers? But… isn't that something only happens between two people?" Her almost imperceptible voice asked.
"That's common sense. We're not common, nor do our feelings make any sense."
Such a crazy answer was so unbecoming of the detective that said it that Gummy was amused, the chaos in her mind welcoming the funny answer.
"… …what about you? Would you… love Gummy?"
"Isn't that obvious? We've been pouring our hearts out in this conversation and you still haven't noticed?" Zima grumbled, pained that her feelings weren't as obvious as usual. "Then I'll be the first to say it. I love you, Lada. I want you to be our girlfriend."
"B-But that sounds so weird… Gummy has never thought about any of this prior to this day… and you want her to be your and Anna's lover? And what about you? How do you feel about each other?"
Gummy wasn't usually so silent, but the tension in her body was so great that it was that hard to even talk. Istina and Zima glanced at each other. They revealed the hands they had been holding during all that time. Then, they reached their free hands towards Gummy, nervously waiting her to make her decision.
The lovers hoped Gummy would accept. Of course they did. But they couldn't bring themselves to beg for it. Lada was such a good girl that they feared she would agree out of the kindness of her heart. If she did it without any personal interest in it, if Gummy forced herself, then it would mean nothing. The girls talked about it… and they were all ready to call things off if Gummy didn't accept. Their goal was such an ambitious project that even if a single link failed, the entire machine would break down. However, regardless of the conclusion, things would remain the same.
After all, romantic or not, the bond between the members of the Ursus Self-Government Group was not one so easily broken. It had been forged by tragedy, tempered by companionship and sharpened by trust. Even if it was never dressed with the honey of romance, their bond remained stronger than diamond.
How much time passed since the proposal was made? Gummy didn't trust her heartbeats. They were going so fast that they were an unreliable way of keeping track of time. No matter how long it took, Istina and Zima would wait. The little cub closed her eyes, submerging herself into the darkness.
What was her answer? Gummy didn't know, but it seemed as if time would never resume its course until she did. As with most complex things, she could just follow the advice Istina once gave her and simplify things. Did she hate them? Obviously not! Did she like them? Obviously yes! Did she want to do lovey-dovey things with them? That wasn't as easy to clarify. The young cook knew nothing about the things lovers did… All she knew was that her best friends wanted to change their current relationship into something Gummy knew nothing about and it terrified her!
But then… it had been by their side when Gummy's life took its greatest turns. The first person she killed… it was to protect them. The tastiest dish she ever prepared… it was to see their smiles. The postponement of her meeting with her parents… it was to return to the place she belonged.
Gummy started trembling. The Ursus Self-Government Student Group was her home. If she lost it, Gummy would no longer be herself. If all it took to protect her place in the world was surrendering her body, she would do it.
When Lada opened her eyes to express such a sentiment, she saw her friends again. Something had changed. Or rather, nothing had changed at all. Zima had that annoyed look on her mug to hide how happy she was to be with them and Istina kept that confident look about herself, as if she could see through everyone and everything. Her friends still waited for her to take her hands.
Why had she been so afraid? Gummy didn't understand, so she took their hands.
"Lada doesn't know how it will work, but she wants to be with you. She knows that… if it's with Anna and Sonya, there's nothing to worry about."
Zima slammed her head against the table, letting out a huge sigh of relief. Istina grinned and teased her about it. "I'm sorry to question you again, Lada, but I must. Are you absolutely sure?"
"A lover is the person you care about the most in the world, right? Then you've been Lada's lovers all along!"
Both ursus felt their hearts clenching, overwhelmed by the raw purity of their friend. It still looked like the blonde didn't understand the kind of things lovers did, but they would find out.
Together.
Like, immediately.
The more experienced girls moved over and stood next to Gummy, sandwiching her in a hug. Their heads pressed against each other. The earliest recruit felt at peace… even if her chest drummed like that ALIVE percussionist. She didn't think much of it when she entered, but her friends' light clothing gained a new meaning. Istina's camisole had one string misplaced, while Zima's pants were resting next to the bed.
"Can I touch you?" The detective asked into her ear.
"Y-You're already doing that?"
Zima and Istina laughed and decided to teach that rookie what they really meant. Still sitting on that same chair, Lada was touched places that made her belly flutter with a weird numbness. Zima slithered a hand beneath her dress, crawling up to the chest and exposing the girl's panties. Istina kept breathing onto her friend's ear, giving it some licks that tickled, making the blonde giggle.
The chair squeaked again, protesting that there was too much weight onto its frail legs. The girls stood up from Gummy's legs and picked her up, bringing her to the bed.
It wasn't the first time the defender shared a bed with her friends… but it was the first time she was about to have sex with her lovers. Zima pulled her dress up while Istina pulled the leggings down, teaming up to leave their partner completely naked in a matter of seconds. The petite girl felt vulnerable in her exposure, but also excited. The other girls stripped as well to join Gummy in her embarrassing nakedness.
Zima was so eager to get the first kiss in that Istina allowed her to go forward, even if she was the better kisser. Besides, kisses could be given at many places, not just the mouth. Gummy moaned when she felt the warmth on her mouth and her neck, a foreign hand touching her plain chest and another caressing her belly.
It smelled like honey. Such a sweet fragrance. As she made love with her best friends, Gummy realized she would probably never look at a jar of honey the same way.
Suddenly, someone's moans grew stronger, but it wasn't any of theirs.
The closet opened wide and a completely naked Rosalind crawled out, trying to get away from a frenzied Natalya who gave chase. The brawler rose an arm and asked for help, but her request got cut as another squeal was forced out of her. The sniper was just as naked, her body rubbing onto Leto's as she kept working her hands on her victim's pussy, her mouth nibbling at her nipples mercilessly.
"Ah. I had the feeling we were forgetting about something." Istina realized.
Zima paled a bit, worry nesting in her mind once again. "Crap. Lada, we can explain."
The little cub pushed the girls aside and moved next to the horny pair of big-breasted bears. "Don't do that on the floor. Come to the bed with us."
Rosa regained the self-control she had lost to lust and was astonished. Leto held her savior's hand.
"Be careful, Lada! Natalya is crazy pervert!"
"Heehehe… Is that right, Natalya?"
"U-Um! Well, I, er…"
Gummy grabbed her hand as well and made them stand up. Istina and Zima watched in disbelief. When they met eyes with the small girl, she relaxed her grin.
"Why the surprised faces? We all came out of the closet together, so let's keep going… together. I love all of you."
The girl did not realize what she just did. With the freshly painted target on her, Gummy became the epicenter of a machine that should have never worked. Love was a concept usually reserved to the person closest to you. Of course, if the lovers were forced to give an answer, they would be able to pick one particular girl over the rest. Zima felt the strongest about Istina, whereas the detective had developed a weakspot for Leto's unstoppable stupidity. The brawler was both afraid and attracted towards the sniper, but the aristocrat throbbed the hardest for the shy punk. Gummy had not been anyone's favorite, but rankings were subject to inevitable change. When the cute cook declared her love for them, she stole their hearts just as easily, jumping straight to the top.
As long as that impossible experiment continued, their favorites would keep changing. As lonely as losing someone's undivided attention was, it encouraged competitiveness. Love was war… but in their private battlefield, foul plays were unnecessary. After all, why would they harm the girl that might become their next favorite person?
Their ranking was quite competitive, but the reason it could even work was simple. Each girl had, first and foremost, themselves at the top of their own ranking. With that as the basis, whoever occupied second place could keep changing endlessly. However, given their special relationship, they had a clear picture of who would be occupying second, third, fourth and fifth place. Those spots were practically rented for life.
And so… a new lesson took place in the Classroom. Lesbian harem: postures, combinations and methodology of sex between girls.
That night's lesson was given by Istina, who recently requested yuri comics from her secret comic dealer, and supported by Rosa, who was a natural lust machine. While Zima and Leto had a bottom standoff by touching each other's pussies and trying to wring the most embarrassing noises from the other, Rosa helped Gummy getting into the naughtiest posture practiced yet. The cook's legs moved past the detective's, their nether entrances creeping closer still. The humidity was so amazing that their breathing became hastier. The lewd aristocrat pressed them closer together, completing the scissor.
The pair of girls felt each other's thumping through their genitals. Istina felt confident about kissing, but that was when she used her upper mouth. Gummy followed her whitehaired teacher's instructions and took a hold of her partner's leg, stretching Istina's hips a bit wider. When the rubbing begun, the violent ursus duo took notice of what the others were doing and became entranced while watching. Gummy was fucking Istina with increasing vigor, rubbing their pussies together in the practice of lesbian sex. Sonya and Rosalind exchanged glances and gulped down. Without the need of words, they agreed to join the scissoring pair, finding something lewd to do themselves. Zima went ahead and tried getting herself comfortable with Gummy's delicate chest. Meanwhile, Leto laid down next to Istina and tried mimicking the kinky nipple-squeezing and boob-fondling Rosa had been practicing on her during the entire time they stayed inside the closet. Noticing the opening of new spots, Rosa licked her lips and stuck her tongue out as far as it could go, reaching toward Leto's pussy. They had an unfinished business to take care of, after all.
Gummy's grinding hips moved harder, stimulated by Zima's intervention and their new kiss. Something took over the blond bear and she sped up. Istina could not resist it anymore and reached her limit, suffocating her mouths with a hand to avoid waking everyone in Rhodes Island up. While the detective climaxed, the chef kept going at it and, shortly after, came as well, her moans mixing in with the panting and the fatigue of the sexual exercise. It was exhausting, but even if they were done, the orgy was far from over. When someone peaked into the carnal pleasures, the pairings would switch and the process would start once again… continuing until they all dropped asleep.
Even though everyone was naked and it was a chilly night, no one in the Ursus Self-Government Student Group felt cold that night. A fire within was kindled by the friction and the warmth. At the end of the day, they were still Rhodes Island operators. As fictional as their new relationship looked like, they still lived in a real world. When their short vacation concluded, they would be sent to a new battledfield, where they would fight for a just cause. However, unlike before, the girls now had an even stronger reason to keep struggling in their survival: returning to their Classroom, their soul's home.
For that home, though, they would be needing a bigger bed.
And that's it. They lived happily ever after. I thought about it, gave it shape in my mind and then put words to it all. And now, another essay, haha!
Maybe not the best fap-material around. Too many words to describe feelings, too few sex scenes. While other smut works are more focused on quality and quantity of lewd moments, I prefer working on the foundation. With this proposal on how a harem in the USSG would be born, rather than showing you the scenes that could take place afterwards, I'll let you fantasize about it yourselves.
In real life, I really doubt such a relationship could ever happen. There's this little thing in the back of our minds that whisper conspiracies to feed our insecurities. It's our instinct. Open love will always hurt because humans are not designed with that goal. The only way to not be harmed by it is lowering the relationship's magnitude. If it's superficial enough, it won't hurt too much. My approach on this particular story is that these girls don't really see each other as "that fated other who I shall make mine and mine alone", but rather "the people closest to me that make me the happiest". As such, rather than feeling a possessive desire for the others, they feel surrounded by the favorite people. Not really lovers, certainly much more than friends.
Regardless, real life is usually bested by fiction, so I'd rather not talk too much about it.
I enjoyed writing this. Exploring their feelings as they reach out for each other… Ah! The drama! The raw emotions! The conflicting fear and the fateful contact! Now, I'm not here to ruin anyone's perception on these characters. I'm going to do a Matrix and offer to you a choice:
The blue pill: you close this story and embrace their special happily ever after.
The red pill: you click next chapter.
If this entire smut fanfic bothered or upset you (in which case, why did you put yourself through that, my dear?), I recommend you take the red pill. It won't erase it all, but it will provide some closure, helping you to move on and eventually forgetting about all this. The choice is yours.
(It sucks to be me. I want the blue pill, yet I have to write about the red pill. I cry. Not that it will change too much for us, blue-enjoyers. We're free to pick our favorite ending.)
