Chapter CLXXXVI: Dogs and Bitches

May 15, 2550 (UNSC Calendar)/three months later

Esztergom (Ezhtergom), Viery Territory, Reach, Epsilon Eridani System

"The more I see of men, the more I admire dogs."– Jean-Marie Roland

"Come on Frank, you knew just how this was going to turn out," Pavel told me. "There's no way that they're getting better than this. And this is pretty damn incredible."

I grunted.

"Listen Frank," he went on. "You've got the best of the best with you and you've got them following your orders and working like a finely-tuned Swiss clock. Things don't get much better than this. Unless, of course, you want Spartans."

At that I had to scoff. As an ODST I could never, would never, admit to actually wanting Spartans. I could admit to needing them, to their skill, and even to their… superiority over the rest of us humans, but I couldn't allow myself to admit that I wanted to be one. Being half a Spartan had sent me to the brink of madness and it only seemed to be getting worse with time.

"You enjoy being the voice of reason, don't you?" I asked him.

"Well, I have to be," he said. "Ever since you lost yours…"

"Ha-ha," I deadpanned, slapping his thigh.

"Hey!"

"Shut up," I said. "Now what was that you needed again?"

"Baby food," he said. "A lot of it. There's a Costco on the other side of the mall."

"Just drop me off here," I said. "And you can come pick me up when you've packed all of Lavvie's needs. She's six years old now Pavs. There's no way she still needs baby food."

"I didn't mean actual baby food," he grunted. "Amber's pretty pissed that we have to leave again. We've been here almost a year and she was getting used to having me here."

"So you're personally doing your shopping? You know, there are robots that can do that. In fact, they're free. You could just drive in circles and wait for your… stuff… Pavel, are you going to buy some adult stuff that you don't want me to see?"

I knew right there that I hit the right spot. Pavel and Amber's sex life was the stuff of legends. They loved each other so much that they couldn't even begin to consider an open relationship, let alone actually cheating. Because of that and many other reasons, almost every waking moment that they spent together was spent with his wee-wee inside her hoo-ha. I knew from several sessions as baby-sitter that they could go at it for a long time, especially the days before we deployed.

"Frank."

"Hey, don't worry about it," I told him. "I had to buy some stuff for myself as well."

Pavel nodded slightly and stopped the car right off one of the mall's entrances. "I'll be back here in… say, half an hour?"

"Half an hour it is," I agreed. "Maybe you can meet me inside?"

He sighed. "Sure."

"See you later. Hey, by the way, you might want to look into those balls that go in one by one. I've heard great things ab-"

Pavel drove off, leaving me talking to a parking lot. I smiled, satisfied with myself, and walked inside the gigantic shopping center. The city mall was one of the largest in Reach, it had stores from pretty much every system in UEG space and then some. You could find anything from candy huts to grocery stores to designer clothing brands to survival gear. It was five stories of nothing but shopping heaven for the average person.

Once upon a time I would've made it a point to see if any of the women in the vicinity looked at me in a way that showed interest. Back then I had been an arrogant fuck who was handsome and knew it damn well. Right now I was an arrogant fuck that was crazy and knew it damn well. To be fair to good-old me, I was still good enough to be Mr. June on any women's calendar in this side of the galaxy, but there was also something about me, something that drove people away.

I sighed inwardly and put on a smiling face. Not a big smile, mind you, but something that wouldn't make a pretty girl think that I was about to snap her neck.

"For a psychopath, you seem to care about what people think about too much," Schitzo said.

What can I say? Maybe I'm not a full-blown psycho.

"Good for you, Frank. Next thing you know you're going to be walking around with puppies and kittens."

"Not kittens," I murmured quietly enough that nobody would hear.

"What?" he asked. "What the hell does that even mean? Frank, you're not seriously… my God, you are…"

I let my fake smile become a genuine one and walked inside the largest pet store in the planet. The smell of pet food wasn't exactly a pleasant one, but even I have to admit that the sight of all those fish tanks and birdcages did make me feel childlike in a way that I hadn't felt in a very long time. I took my time walking through the store, looking at the exotic varieties of fish and the colorful parakeets. A few of them welcomed me to the store with funny voices.

"Hey there, welcome to Pet Smart, how can I help you?" a young high-school kid asked me.

"Hey," I said, once-overing the guy. He was skinny and not terribly tall. "I'm looking for a dog."

Now he once-overed me. For some reason I felt strangely exposed. "You look like the kind of man that would like a big dog. A mastiff, perhaps?"

I smiled at him. "I am partial to bigger dogs, but this one's not for me. It's for my niece."

"Ah, how old is she?"

"Six years old," I told him. "Her dad's not present all the time and I wanted to give her a gift to fill in the blanks, sort of."

"So are you looking for a small dog then?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't want her to grow up with a dog that she can kick farther than she can throw a baseball."

The employee smiled again. "Of course. Where does your niece live?"

"An apartment, but her mom goes for walks every morning, I figure that she can walk the dog if it's an active breed."

He shrugged. "I guess it would depend on what breed you choose. But hey, that means that we get to look at all different kinds of puppies!"

"Even the hardest men love puppies," I admitted. "Lead the way, kid."

"So, you're in the military?"

"How could you tell?" I asked.

"I can see your dogtags. Well, the chain."

I felt the chain going around my neck and nodded. "Yeah, I'm in the Marines."

"Cool, how is it there?"

"Why'd you ask?"

"Well, I just got my notice. I was drafted into the Army."

I winced involuntarily. "I see. How do you feel about that, kid?"

"It's not what I would've chosen. At least not before college, but it's for a good cause, right?"

"The best cause there is," I agreed. "It's tough, I won't lie to you."

"Then I guess I'll have to toughen up. A couple of my friends are also coming with, so I guess it's not so bad. Any tips?"

"Well, boot camp is mostly every man for himself except when it isn't. The problem is figuring out which is which. Ummm… don't try sleeping with a squad mate, or even someone in your same company. Don't be a smartass with the drill sergeants, and give it your best."

The kid nodded thoughtfully as we turned down another aisle. "Thanks. I'm a little bit nervous about all this, you know… Well, I won't burden you with my problems anymore, so here's some puppies."

I looked at an endless row of transparent boxes filled with all kinds of puppies. There was barking and yelping and even some growling. I looked at the first couple of puppies and couldn't help but smile. They were just so fucking cute.

"Here we've got our standard Earth breeds," he said. "They're arranged by continent of origin. You can tap the console if you want any specifics about them, but I should be able to tell you most of the basics about these breeds."

"There are like a thousand different kinds of dogs here, you know something about all of them?"
He smiled. "There's a reason this place pays so well."

"Ok, this is a girl's dog, so I want a nice puppy that will remain cute even as it grows older. As I said, I don't want her to think toy dogs are real dogs, and I'm pretty sure her mom won't be very happy if I get her a dog big enough to smother her child with weight alone."

"So a medium-sized dog, then? You know, those usually weight about twenty or so kilos, so smothering wouldn't be a problem."

"Good, one less thing to worry about. I want a smart dog that can be affectionate, loyal, and all the good stuff."

"You know that most dogs were bred for those qualities?"

"I knew a couple of Martian Mastiffs that were pretty damn dumb."

He chuckled. "You know, those are actually lazier than they are stupid, but I can see how you got that impression."

I hummed slightly and walked past the rows of little dogs. It was hard not to fall in love with the puppies. Even an ugly dog was cute when it was a puppy. I think the effect was magnified when you put two or more of those together. There were your ever-typical Labradors and Golden Retrievers along with your less common Sand Hounds and Maned Terriers. I did my best, but I smiled a little bit at every new breed.

"See anything you like so far?"

"Not yet," I lied. "What's with this box here?"

"The Australian Shepherd?"

"Yeah, why is it in the America section?"

"Oh, it was developed in that continent."

"I know enough about Earth to know that Australia isn't in America."

He shrugged. "I wouldn't know, but that's a pretty big mistake to make. I'm sure the console has more information."

I asked the console in the box to tell me where the breed was developed in the United States.

"Huh, go figure," I said. "Guess you were right. Why is it empty?"

"Not sure, could be for vaccination or a shower. We can come back later. Oh wait, here they are."

And just like that I fell in love for the fourth time in my life.

With a dog.

Yes.

With a puppy dog.

"That's the one," I said immediately. "That's the one."

"You sure? You don't want to look at other breeds?"

"No," I said. "I want that dog right now."

The kid's smile became a grin. "Alright then! Well, this is your standard Australian Shepherd, or Aussie if you want. That color is called blue merle, as you can see, this little… uhhh, guy right here has blue eyes as well. The white chest doesn't go around the neck to form a full collar, some people don't like that, but apparently you do."

"Damn right I do," I said, picking up the dog and looking at it. "They need exercise?"

"A lot," he confirmed. "They're very active dogs and need to walk and run and play and all that."

"Ok, I'll be sure to tell them that. Food?"

"They eat your standard dog food," he said. "Like most other dogs do, but the occasional piece of beef or steak won't hurt them."

"I want every possible detail about this little guy," I said. "Can I take him right away?"

"Sure thing, there's some paperwork, but most of the information that we need should be in your card anyways."

"Good, and give me a bag of food while you're at it," I said.

"Yes, sir, I'll be right back."

Ten minutes later I was leaving the store with a puppy on one arm and a bag of dog food over my shoulder. I felt strangely satisfied with myself, as if having a dog was a good thing. Pavel still had some time left and hadn't called yet. I guess I would have to wait for a little while. I sat down on a bench and placed the dog food at my feet before letting the little puppy on the bench next to me. It walked around some before looking down and then decided that jumping down wouldn't be a very good idea, especially considering that the dog was about a foot long and half that high.

The puppy moved around some before deciding to settle down against my leg.

"It really is ridiculously cute," Schitzo admitted.

"Oh my gosh! Look at that puppy!"

I looked up to two very attractive young women ogling my new puppy. I was confused for a brief moment until I remembered what Dom had told me about taking his dog for walks right outside the sorority houses.

"Is it yours?" one of them asked. She was a little bit short, but she had a cute face and a kick-ass body that more than made up for it.

"He is," I confirmed, giving them a winning smile. It had been almost a year. "For now at least."

"Oh no, are you giving him up?" the other asked. This one was blonde and had a not-quite-perfect body, but nobody would've objected to seeing her without clothes.

"Yeah, he's a gift for my niece."

"What's his name?"

"Doesn't have one yet," I told them. "I'll let her name it."

"He is so cute."

"Can you believe that you used to date girls that sounded like this?" Schitzo asked.

I can, however, believe that I used to date girls that looked like that, I replied.

"Good point," he said, slapping one of the girls' asses violently.

I made some small talk with the two ladies for a while, letting them rub the puppy's belly and carry it. At least they didn't ask to take any pictures with it. They seemed nice enough, I don't really know why I judged them so quickly.

"Frank?"

I turned my neck around one way and then the other and saw none other than Marina Bogdanovic walking past. "Marina?"

"Well, yes. Obviously," she said.

The two girls picked up on the vibes and took a half step backwards. Very awkwardly.

"Oh, she's an old friend," I explained.

"Oh," they said.

"Hey, it was nice meeting you," I said apologetically. "I'll see you around."

"Bye…" There was just enough flirtation in their voices that I felt like my ten minutes with them hadn't been a total waste of time. Maybe I would see them around before I left for deployment.

"I'll see you around?" Marina asked, sitting next to me. "Really?"

"Hey, maybe I will," I said defensively. "When was the last time I saw you?"

"Ummm, the same time you found out that I go both ways."

"Oh, right, that time."

"Yup."

"How's Claire by the way?"

Marina sighed and I immediately knew that I had said the bad thing. "We had a falling out," she explained. "I asked her to try and retire. She had all the points for it too, but she just didn't want to leave her unit."

"I'm sorry," I said. "But you've got to understand."

"I do," she said, "but if she thinks her unit is more important than me then there really is no future there."

I nodded in agreement.

"What's with the puppy?" she asked, picking it up from the bench and placing it on her lap. "Cute little one."

"It's for Pavel's daughter."

"Oh, how is he anyways?"

"Good," I replied. "He should come around later."

"Huh, I haven't seen him in ages."

"You'll get to catch up then," I said. "How's your life been?"

"Pretty decent," she said. "Now that I know I like girls too I can get pretty crazy."

"Really?"

She scoffed. "Of course not, I enjoy good sex, but even I would be a little bit out of my scene in an orgy."

I coughed. "That's not what I meant."

"Yes it was."

"Yes it was," I admitted.

"How's Hanna?"

I looked away. "She, uh, she was killed in action."

"Shit, I'm so sorry Frank. She was a great gal, you know. When did this happen?"

"Almost a year ago," I said. "But it's still fresh."

"Was it bad?"

"I was right there when it happened."

"And now you feel guilty?"

"You know, it's hard to believe I didn't miss your amateur psychology."

"Not amateur anymore," she said. "I got my degree."

"Wow! Congrats, that's good for you!"

She nodded and rubbed my puppy's ears. "Love it so far, it almost makes me laugh how trivial normal people's problems are when compared to ours."

"You mean mine?"

She smiled and nodded. "How's that going by the way?"

"Yeah, how's it going?" Schitzo added.

"Manageable," I replied. "Hey, why don't you come over for lunch or something? Catch up."

"It's a little bit late for lunch, don't you think?"

"Well, how about dinner then?" I amended. "Pavel can come too, you'll love his wife."

"Sure. When do you deploy?"

"Uh, soon."

"So maybe Pavel will want to spend some time with his wife then?"

"Good point," I said. "It'll be just like old times then."

"Just like old times," she said, rubbing the puppy's belly and giggling when it tried to bite her, twisting itself in order to reach her hands.

"Frank?"

That voice sounded familiar… oh.

"Katie?"

"So she's alive!" Schitzo exclaimed triumphantly. "Which you could've found out almost a year ago if you had bothered to check."

And yes indeed, it was none other than Katie Ayers standing right in front of Marina and me. She was beautiful as always. Everything from her feet to her head was absolutely perfect. Even that slightly annoyed frown on her face. It wouldn't be the first time I didn't call for a ridiculously long amount of time.

And her equally beautiful cousin was with her as well.

"Hi Liz," I said.

"Frank good to see you."

"I'm Marina," Marina said.

The dog barked.

Things were awkward.

"Um, Marina, this is Katie, and her cousin Eliza, I call her Liz."

"He's the only one that does that," Liz said, smiling.

"Katie, Liz, this is Marina."

"You didn't call," Katie said. "Again."

"Should I leave?" Marina asked, sounding incredibly pissed.

I shook my head. "No, of course not."

"I see she's not your girlfriend either," Katie said angrily.

"Hanna died," I explained.

"I'm sorry."

"What does she mean either?" Marina asked.

"Hey Frank! Good to see you?"

"Dom?" I asked, leaning sideways to see the former commander of Platoon Four walking towards me. He looked good, smile on his face and everything. His hair was a little bit longer than regulation allowed for, so maybe he was just getting home from a deployment.

"Girls, this is Dom," I introduced them.

"Hey," he said. "I'm Dom."

"What does she mean either?" Marina asked, barely sparing a glance for Dom. "And who is she?"

"Who is she?" Katie asked me, pointing at Marina.

"Bad time?" Dom asked, the smile falling from his face.

"Bad time," Liz said. "Hi, I'm Liz."

"Nice to meet you," he replied shaking his hand.

I grabbed the puppy and pressed it to my chest. "How the hell are all of you here at the same time?" I asked. It was too much of a coincidence. "Did you plan this?" I asked Dom. "Did you plan this?" I asked Marina.

"No!" she said, there was a little something in her voice that told me she was offended.

Great.

"Why the hell are all of you here?"

"This is a conversation long overdue," Katie said.

"She does have a point, you know?" Liz agreed. "The faster she gets over you then faster I can jump your bones."

"Eliza!" Katie exclaimed.

I just blushed.

"Kidding," she apologized, but not before winking at me.

Marina scoffed.

"You have the coolest problems," Dom said. "You have my number, I'll call you for drinks later today."

"We have a date," Marina said.

"Tomorrow then," Dom said, spreading his hands and leaving.

"You have a date?" Katie asked, crossing her arms.

"People are beginning to stare," I whispered. "Can we do this outside?"

"No we can't do this outside!" Katie exclaimed.

"There's a door like literally thirty feet away," Liz said, pointing.

"Thanks," I told her. "You know what, you can't keep me here. I'm a grown man and I am my own boss. If you want to talk, let's do this outside."
With those words I picked up my recently bought bad of dog food and shoved it over my shoulder. It made me feel like I regained some of my manhood.

"You coming?" I asked.

Katie and Marine both scoffed at the same time and followed me, with a smiling Liz following close behind.

Once outside there were a lot less people coming through and I stopped feeling like I was a spectacle for the people walking by me.

"You never told me what she meant by either!" Marina asked. "Francisco!"

"Why does she get to call you by your full name?" Katie asked me. "You told me to never do that!"

"Your full name is Francisco?" Liz asked. "Can I call you Pancho?"

"No!" I exclaimed. "Marina, you can't call me by my full name either. Ok?"

"You don't tell me what to do. And who the hell is she?"

"She's–"

"Tell her!" Katie exclaimed. "Tell her!"

"Now I don't know what to say," I complained. "The hell?"

"You know what Frank," Marina said. "I'm tired, I'll just go home."

"Why are you so angry?"

"Because you won't tell me who she is?"

"And who is she?" Katie asked, repeating her question.

I took a deep breath. "Katie, this is Marina, she's my ex girlfriend and we've been good friends for a while now. Marina, this is Katie, I cheated on Hanna with her and I think I might be in love with her but I thought she might be dead so I didn't call her because I didn't want to find out."

"What?" Katie asked me. "That's the reason you didn't call?"

"Yes," I admitted.

"You love her?" Marina asked, sounding heartbroken.

"I need some time," Katie said, walking away. "I– uh, call me."

Liz gave me a peck on the cheek before shrugging apologetically. "Nice meeting you Marina."

As soon as they were out of earshot I turned towards Marina.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You think that was funny?"

She lost it, she started roaring with laughter. In fact, she laughed so hard that my puppy yelped in surprised and tried to squirm its way free.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "It's just that when you saw her you got the weirdest face. Like someone that was tied to the rails and a train was coming. I just had to do it."

"And her? You had to play with her feelings as well?"

"Oh come on, Frank. Really?"

I growled.

"I'm kidding. But believe me when I say that this will actually improve your chances with her. Plus, it was very fun. For me."

"How will your bullshit help me?" I asked skeptically.

"Hey I'm a girl, I don't want to explain myself to you."

"Yes you do."

"Fine. If she thinks you gave this up for her she'll appreciate it." She ran her hands along her body as she said that. "Look, I can tell she loves you, for whatever reason…"

"Thanks."

"And you love her. I'm pretty sure that there's something to her other than bitchyness. No offense, but right now it was hard to make anything of her personality. Her cousin, however, she looks like my kind of girl."

Marina and Liz together in bed, with me sandwiched in between. Now that was a picture worth fantasizing about.

"I know what you're thinking," Marina said. "And the only reason I'd consider having a threesome with you is if the person I was dating asked me for one."

"Can you read minds or something?"

"Frank, we dated for a pretty long time," she explained. "And we were friends for even longer."

"And you're a shrink."

"That too," she agreed, smiling. "But truth be told, the moment I saw you sitting there with this little puppy, I thought that having a quick fling with you would do wonders for my body."

"Huh?"

Marina smiled and placed her hand on my shoulder. "Are we still on for tonight?"

"Yeah, but–"

"Hey Pavel!"

"Marina! Good to see you!"

"You too, hey, I'm in kind of a rush, but we're meeting for drinks tomorrow with Dom, want to come?"

"Sure," he said.

"You could've told me that after we had dinner!" I complained. Like most men, I wouldn't be able to focus properly all throughout dinner with Marina. "Bitch!"

"You know me," she said. "I'll see you later."

Pavel frowned slightly and then shrugged it all off."

"What the hell is that all about?" he asked. "Is that a puppy? Frank. No."

I smiled. "Yes."

"Amber is going to kill me…"

"I hate you," Amber growled. She looked over her shoulder at her daughter playing with her new puppy and then back to me. "I hate you."

"Come on Amber," I said quickly. "It's not that bad, I mean, I know you like your morning walks and all, you can take the dog with you, play frisbee in the park on the weekends. Besides, look at it, Lavvie loves the thing already."

"Of course she loves him, it's a puppy!"

"Told you," Pavel said, opening a beer. "This is your mess to fix."

I groaned. "I wanted to do something nice for her Amber. I know she's old enough to go to kindergarten now, but she'll still be alone for a little while until you get home from work, she can have fun with the dog."

Amber sighed and rubbed her temples. "Meanwhile, I'm going to be the one that cleans all the poop and wipes all the pee."

Lavvie laughed at hearing her mother say those words. "You said poop."

I smiled. "I'll pay for all the dog's needs," I said. "Really."

Before Amber could say anything else Lavvie picked up the dog (rather awkwardly, I might add) and brought it to her mom. "Look mom," she said, gesturing for Amber to pick it up. "Look!"

Amber sighed and knelt down to pick up the dog. Like most women she had been programmed to have a desire to cuddle and protect anything that she considered even remotely quite. The dog barked and Amber squealed in delight. I knew right there that the little mutt would definitely stay here.

"What are you going to call it?" I asked her.

Amber sighed, this time it was one of reluctance. "It's Lavanya's dog, she gets to name it."

"So Lavvie," I said, looking at the five-year-old, "what are you going to call it?"

"Frank!" she said immediately.

I shook my head. "Nope, that's my name. You need to find something else to call it."

Lavvie sat back down on the floor and crossed her arms thoughtfully. She even tilted her head slightly to the side and adopted a pondering expression. She sat like that for a few moments until a flash of inspiration crossed her face.

"I know!" she exclaimed. "Daddy's friends sometimes call him Gunny, and because that's not his real name I can call my dog Gunny."

"Pavs?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure."

"Are you tearing up?" I asked.

"I am not!" he snapped, turning away from me. "It's a good name."

"Yes," I agreed, "it's a good name. Amber, thanks for agreeing to this."

"I hardly had a choice," she said.

I raised an eyebrow. She seemed to be enthralled by the puppy's cuteness factor.

"Pavel, your allergies are acting up again, you're tearing up," I told him.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" he asked, lifting his daughter from the floor and placing her on his shoulder. "Like. Now."

"Oh, right. Marina." I didn't move.

"Frank, I'm kicking you out," Pavel said. "Go."

I smiled and said my goodbyes before leaving his place. The drive to the restaurant was a short one and soon enough I was sitting in a nice table across from Marina. Like most women, she had put on some make up and done up her hair. I knew better than to read into it and just pegged it as a girl wanting to look good in public. She did look good, having been blessed with her parents' good genes and then some. No wonder I had immediately been attracted to her.

"You look good," I said as I sat down.

"And you didn't shave," she replied.

I scratched the stubble on my face and shrugged. "If I had known it bothered you…"

"It doesn't," she replied. "I've just gotten used to smooth cheeks."

"Enough with the lesbian comments," I told her. "Seriously."

"Why? Do they make you feel… emasculated?"

"More like uncomfortable," I told her, taking in her mocking expression. "But then again, it's also something of a turn on."

For a moment I felt guilty when saying that. I had been feeling guilty about looking at any women for a long time now. It always felt like Hanna was watching. She had never found out I had been unfaithful to her, but I couldn't stand even imagining what her reaction would've been. Anger and disappointment for certain.

"Are you ok?" Marina asked. "You look…torn."

"I'm just… I know we're friends, but it's been almost a year since I had anything close to a date."

"I see. I didn't peg you for the grieving type, you know. But everyone deals with loss at their own pace."

"I know," I said. "I just never thought it would be this bad."

"You'll get over it," she assured me. "Not completely, of course, not if you loved her as much as I think you did. But you'll be able to live with it eventually."

"How can you say that so easily?" I asked her. "I mean, that's an awkward position for an ex-girlfriend."

She shrugged and smiled brightly. "You know me, Frank."

"If you say so," I sighed. "Am I buying?"

"Of course," Marina said. "You are, after all, a gentleman."

"If you say so," I repeated. "But like every self-respecting gentleman expects sex at the end."

"Sex was actually on the table before your friend showed up. Unless… I did mention how some jealousy could spice up a relationship."

I took a sip from my drink while I searched for a suitable answer. I did want to have sex with Marina. She was attractive and good old Manola wasn't doing it for me anymore. Pro tip: Manola is a Spanish play on words. Particularly the word hand.

Yes, I am talking about masturbating. A whole lot of it.

Now it boiled down to ethics or some such bullshit. I loved Katie. At least I think I did, but a man has needs. Would it be ok for me to sleep with Marina just because my blood was rushing down to my groin?

"Boy, you really haven't had sex in a while, have you?" Marina asked with a smile. "Well, I'm game if you are."

"We'll see," I told her. "We'll see."

"Ah shit," I muttered, sitting up on my bed.

Marina giggled and stood up, letting the covers fall down. "Come on you weren't that bad. In fact, you were pretty good considering that you haven't really fucked anyone in quite some time."

Despite my misgivings about the act, I couldn't help but feel a certain degree of satisfaction with myself.

"Come on man," Schitzo said. "The only reason you didn't completely suck at this is because you remember how to push her buttons. Had this been any other girl you would've been a complete flop.

Thanks…

"I gotta go," I said. "I don't think this was a good idea. For me."

"Guilty?"

"Yeah," I admitted. Not only did I feel guilty because of Hanna's death, I also felt guilty because I had somehow betrayed Katie. What the hell was wrong with me, normally I would've just high-fived myself for my accomplishments and then gone on to sleep with Katie and maybe Liz if possible.

When I say it like that it doesn't sound quite so bad, but apparently there's a certain degree of emotional maturity that comes with aging. Maybe I was just subconsciously trying to overcompensate for my growing insanity with what I perceived to be 'the right thing' to do.

"You should write a book Francisco," Schitzo said, laughing.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay?" she asked. "It's still early. And I'm sure that Katie wouldn't like it if your new first time was anything short of spectacular."

"When you say it like that… Besides, I already feel guilty about this."

Marina smiled. "I'm glad you haven't changed that much."

Guess I was wrong, I did feel more guilty and Marina just seemed amused by the whole situation even as I left.

I did fell good and thoroughly fucked, but I'm not sure that physical satisfaction went hand-in-hand with psychological satisfaction. At least we agreed that this wouldn't happen again so long as either one of us were seeing anybody. Apparently we were still up for drinks later tonight with Pavel and Dom. Pavel would probably notice that we had slept together, but he wouldn't say anything. Dom, well, it would be good to see him after almost a year. Maybe he could call Jen too and Yas as well. At least we would have fun while getting drunk.

"What the hell do we do now?" Schitzo asked. "It's still pretty early. It just wouldn't do for us to get drunk this early on. I know, we could watch a movie, there's this now one about the… uhhh… about the you know."

"Right," I muttered, climbing into my car. "And what the hell is this we thing? There's just me here."

"Not really, and you know that. You want me to bring some of my friends?"

"No," I said. "Please. Don't."

The last thing I wanted was to see the faces of the dead while I was awake. They came to me often enough during my sleep, I couldn't bear seeing them day in and day out, at least not for a very long time.

"We'll go watch a movie," I said. "Then we begin packing. And then we call Kaite."

"No," he said. "You call Katie, you're not dragging me into that."

Four hours later I had done everything that could be done. I watched the movie, got some burgers, packed the stuff I could dispense with and cleaned the apartment. Hanna's apartment.

Well. That was an issue. I loved this place, I had many good memories of it, some fights, some make up sex, and a lot of regular sex. But I also remembered the five years of loving Hanna, and this place wouldn't do much to help me forget. I had taken down most of our pictures together. I couldn't bear looking at them for the first couple of months after she died. But now the whole apartment reminded me of her. The place where we used to have breakfast, the table where she used to jump on whenever she decided to be funny, or the couch that we used to watch old movies on.

I didn't know whether I should sell the place and metaphorically get over her or just learn to live with it. There were movie situations that I could apply to both possibilities. In most movies the guy let go whatever kept him attached to the dead loved one. So far fiction wasn't helping me much and people in real life didn't really talk about these things. It's not like there were tons of people whose situation I could relate to and were willing to help me out.

"Mmmta madre."

I picked up my phone and contacted the city AI. "Ayers, Katie. Refugee from Paris IV."

"Please hold… Done. Would you like me to patch you through?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"You're welcome," the AI said. "Have a good day."

The phone rang.

Why the hell do phones still ring?

The phone rang again.

We should make holographic communication standard.

It rang for a third time.

But that could be somewhat invasive.

Then it rang a fourth time.

This is taking way too long.

"Hello?"

"Uh, hello?" I asked. "Katie? Ayers?"

"Oh, hey Frank, this is Eliza," Liz said. "I'm surprised you called. I was expecting anything between a year and five."

"Ha. Ha," I said. "Very funny. I decided to become what you would call a responsible adult and face my mistakes." I paused. "That came out wrong, Katie wasn't a mistake."

"Cheating on your girlfriend wasn't a mistake?"

"Liz, I will personally beat the wit out of you."

She laughed. The sound was melodic almost. It was similar to the way her older cousin laughed, only less... well, magical.

"She just finished showering," Liz explained. "I'll hand you over in a minute. Meanwhile we can talk."

"What do you want to talk about."

"I dunno, stuff I guess."

"Liz, just how old are you?"

"Twenty three," she said.

"Wow, so you were just old enough to drink alcohol when all shit went to hell?"

"You mean when my planet was invaded?"

"Yes Liz, that's exactly what I mean."

"I'm not that young," she said. "How old are you?"

"Thirty five," I told her. "I'm like… way older."

"You did not just say that?"

"What? I did not just state a fact?"

"No, it was the way you said it. Like we're still in the thirties."

"I'm a thirties kid," I said with a shrug. "Is your cousin there yet?"

"Hey, all in due time," she stopped. "Now tell me all about that blonde. Marina was it?"

"Yeah, and she's none of your business."

"Fine, Katie will just tell me later."

"That's her business," I said. "Now please give the phone to Katie."

"Nah."

I heard something on the other end of the line.

"Is that her?"

"No," she lied after a pause.

"Liz, just hand over the phone. I'll buy you a stuffed animal or take you to Six Flags."

"I'm not a kid, you know."

"Fine, I'll let you have your first beer with me."

"Frank," she growled.

The moment I got her to say my name I knew that Katie would want to talk to me. There was some sort of conversation that I couldn't quite make out followed by what could only be a scuffle and then the phone was dropped.

"Get off me!" one of them complained.

"No!"

"Girls?" I asked. "Girls!"

"Hello?"

"Katie?"

"Nope, still Liz," she said. "Katie is somewhat indisposed at the time."

"Get off me!"

"Liz, please just hand her the phone."

"And you promise to take me to Six Flags?"

"I'll even buy you a subscription to Playgirl."

"Now that's something a girl my age could enjoy."

I smiled. "If this thing with Katie works out you can tell her that I let you see the naked pics I send."

Her squeal was too loud to be real, but it did make me smile. "You have a deal," she said. "Katie, there's someone on the phone for you."

"Well no shit!"

"Katie?"

"Frank?"

"Yeah," I said. "Hi."

"I remembered you being better with words."

"Must be the accent," I shrugged.

"You've got no distinguishable accent," she said.

I adopted an extremely over-the-top Mexican accent that was typically seen only in movies. "Well you know that can change."

"That is kind of sexy," she noted. "Frank, there's a lot of things that we need to talk about."

"Yeah," I agreed. "The phone seems a little…"

"Impersonal," Katie finished. "I've got work tonight."

"Waitressing?" I asked.

She chuckled. "Yeah, I'm a little bit old for Hooters, but it's hard finding a decent job with nobody to reference you."

"Yeah, sucks," I told her, wondering is it was just a joke. "How about we meet tomorrow for lunch?"

"I know this great place," she said.

"You do realize that I probably know a better place?" I asked. "After all, I've been a resident of Esztergom for some time now."

She laughed. "Well, we're going wherever I want. You owe me at least that."

"I owe you a lot of things," I said. "And I promise I'll try to make up for them."

"That's a good start," Katie muttered. "I'll send you the address and time later, ok?"

"Ok," I said. "See you tomorrow."

I hung up and smiled.

"That went well."

Surprisingly enough, we met for drinks at the Grenadier. Pavel was there already, chatting with Montgomery and Lys. I walked up to them and joined the conversation. Before long Dom arrived with Yas trailing him closely. I greeted my former roommate and sat down to talk with him. Yas was one of my best friends, but I hadn't been able to talk or meet with him for the past year. He was still serving in the same unit that Captain Weller was, as were Dom and Jen.

"Does she talk about me?" I asked jokingly.

"No," he replied. "But I don't know is she's glad to be rid of you or just angry that she didn't get to see you die."

"You can't always get what you want," I said. "So what have you been up to?"

"Nothing much, really," he said. "We had a short deployment on Cheest. A few jackal ships were trying to cut a piece of the moon for themselves. Simple really, the birds are fierce, but they don't have the shock factor that brutes and elites do."

"Agreed," I said, taking a sip from my beer. "How's the new team?"

"It's coming together," he said. "Most of the old guys were still coping with the fact that all their friends are dead when we got our replacements. It didn't make for good beginnings."

I shrugged.

Pavel sat down with us, pointing behind his shoulder to let us know that Dom and Jen had just arrived. Dom was his usual smiling self and Jen was her usual gloomy self. I did notice that she had let her hair grow longer. While the buzz cut did give her a fierce appearance, the longer hair actually made her look attractive. The moment she sat down I started joking about it and wouldn't stop until Marina got here.

Marina got well with the lieutenants, it probably helped that she was easy on the eyes and wouldn't take shit from anybody. She had always been somewhat of a tomboy, but years of war had hardened her some more. She would still pretend to be the fancy lady/princess when it suited her, but most of the time she would be her regular veteran pilot self.

We drank and we talked, and for a while there we all forgot about the trouble out there. We exchanged some stories and then drank some more. It was the standard Marine outing. Several other groups of jarheads were doing the exact same thing that we were and it wasn't long before we started mingling with them, trying to establish who was the meanest Devil Dog in the room. There was some arm wrestling and some trash talk, but it was all good-natured.

"You ok?" Pavel asked me.

"Yeah, I'm having trouble getting drunk," I explained.

"You've been drinking too much," he said. "Your body gets used to it."

"I think it has to do with… you know," I muttered, referencing my secret augments. "Faster metabolism or something."

"I don't see you peeing much," he replied. "But I guess it's good, eh?"

"My alcohol expenses are through the roof Pavel," I told him. "I think–"

"What?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"Is that… is that Grass?"

Pavel turned around and looked for the supermodel blonde with the prosthetic arm. Sure enough, a person like her wasn't exactly hard to fine. If her looks didn't draw your attention, then her carbon-black arm certainly would. Or her majestic behind. Take your pick.

"Cam!" Pavel called out. "Camilla Seppa!"

Cam turned around and found us. She smiled and all but jogged over towards us. I could tell that she was more than a little tipsy from the way she hugged Pavel and then me.

"Cam, it's good to see you," I said. "How have you been?"

"Good, good," she replied, sitting down. "Very busy. I've been working on some secret stuff, but they have me working as a spokeswoman more often than not. Apparently people pay more attention when I say things."

"I don't think it works that way," Pavel said.

"They pay more attention to you, not to what you say," I explained.

Cam drunkenly giggled. "Oh Sarge."

"Lieutenant," I corrected. "You were at my party, remember?"

"Of course, of course," she apologized. "Habit, I guess."

"Or alcohol," Pavel muttered under his breath, prompting me to stifle a laugh.

"Why are you here?" I asked her. "Celebrating something."

"Kind of," she admitted. "Well you see, I'm finally going to put my skills to use again."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. "Back to the field?"

She nodded, letting her head fall down more than was strictly necessary. She really was drunk. "Not in full combat duties, of course. But at least I won't be sitting on a desk being ogled by every man that comes in."

"Sounds horrible," I noted. "Must be terrible on your ass."

"No, the chairs are actually quite comfortable," she giggled. "Sarge, sorry, Sir, what about you?"

"All very hush-hush," I said, leaning in closely. In fact, by this point we were so close to one another that the casual observer would've thought we were a couple. It made me feel slightly guilty. "Ever heard of the AAG?"

She leaned back and nodded, looking confused. It didn't take long for her drunken self to realize just exactly what I was alluding to and smile. "My, my, you keep going places," Cam said. "If anything of what I've heard is true then those guys are the very first ones to get new equipment."

I shrugged. "Just finished training," I said. "But we'll see about it soon enough."

Camilla suddenly leaned back, as if realizing that she was flirting with her ex-superior officer. I simply chuckled at her realization and crossed my arms. "Do you want some water?"

"Yes, please," she said carefully, doing her best to sound completely sober. "Thank you."

"No problem," I said. "Marina is here as well."

"Please wait," she pleaded. "Last time I saw her in these conditions she almost seduced me."

"You know that only adds to the temptation of bringing her here?" I asked.

"Sir, please…"

By the end of the night I had snapped several pictures of Marina making out with Camilla and the men in the bar went home with a lot of images to fuel their fantasies for a long time to come. Cam would probably be regretful in the morning and in all likelihood would blame me for it, but Marina had found her without my intervention and she did seem to be enjoying herself.

"Frank, there's still some of you in here," Schitzo said proudly.

I woke up the next day feeling pretty good. Last night had been pretty fun and the lesbian antics had only added to it. Not to mention that I still had pleasant memories of the night I had spent with Marina and for once I didn't feel as if I had betrayed Hanna and broken her heart. It was a good morning, the sun shined brightly and the sky was bluer than usual.

Perhaps this meeting with Katie would go well. Or at least better than expected. Somewhere deep inside I wanted to end up in bed with her by the time this was over, there was nothing quite like a farewell fuck before going on deployment.

A few hours later I had gone through all the faces. I had felt confident, nervous, cold feet, and more. Eventually I did what every self respecting man would and went into the bathroom to put some of that Marina/Cam fuel to use. By the time I was done it was already time to leave for lunch.

The place that Katie had picked was a decent little restaurant that served most kinds of food but leaned towards the Italian side. I walked in and asked whether there was a reservation to her name or mine. When I was told no I decided to sit down in a booth and wait. Being a woman, Katie decided to assert her authority by arriving precisely eight minutes after she had told me she would. I paid it no heed, simply swallowing it as part of my deserved punishment.

"Hey," I said awkwardly. "You look good."

"Thanks," she said, sitting down. She was all business, from that point on.

Katie asked me several rather blunt questions that I answered to the best of my ability, she went on to explain just precisely why it was wrong for me not to even bother calling to check if she was alive in a lot of detail before finally winding down some.

"Do you love me?" she asked calmly.

I very gently put my fork down and looked up to her. I didn't know the answer to that question, but looking at her, seeing her face and her eyes, I realized that I did. I did love her despite having been a bastard to her and to Hanna, despite realizing that loving her meant that I had betrayed Hanna.

"You sound like a soap opera," Schitzo chided.

"Yes," I replied, ignoring him. "I'm pretty sure I do."

"Well pretty sure doesn't cut it," she snapped. "You've yanked me around for a long time and I need an answer Frank. When are you deploying?"

"Tomorrow," I said cheekily.

"Tomorrow… great. So even if this works out I won't see you for at least a couple of months."

I nodded and decided that it had been enough of her having all the control in this so-called date. I leaned forward and grabbed her hands gently. "Katie, I've been through a lot recently, but for some reason seeing you… it just makes me feel like there's something to fight for, you know?"

"Go on, go on," Schitzo urged.

"And I do want this to work out," I told her, meaning every word of it. "But starting a relationship like this isn't exactly a good idea. I'd just like to leave with a clean slate. When I come back we can start over."

Katie smiled. Every word of what I had just said was true, but I had made it a point to say those words in a way that would make Katie's inner teenage girl feel butterflies in her stomach. She might've been my weakness, but that didn't mean that I was completely defenseless against her charms.

"Ok," she said, nodding. "That sounds like a good idea to me."

"I'll write," I assured her. "I promise. This time is going to be different."

She looked at me closely, meeting my gaze. "Ok."

Thanks for reading this chapter.

Now, is that emotional maturity? Or is it just Frank pretending to have some emotional maturity? Well, in any case, this was a lighter chapter. Pretty long for a filler chapter, but it does have some development and a puppy, so what's not to like? Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed it. At least I hope that you had a laugh or two. Not real laughter, but the internal laughing that you do whenever you're on the internet. If you did that, then my goal was made.

Frank's still got some game, Marina is still into chicks, and I decided that I enjoy blonde-on-blonde lesbian imagery more than your average guy. But then again, you can never have too much blonde, can you? Since you guys wanted Grass I gave you Grass, even if only for a little while, but trust me, she'll be back with a vengeance.

Well SpartaLazor, Luckiswithyouall, RobbieLexington and KodeV all get points! Congratulations! You get points! Other than that, D-sama (thanks for reviewing) brought up a very good point. While normally this wouldn't be terribly important, it is a detail that does concern me. The Navy, unlike other branches, has both rank and occupational specialty. This means that you can be a Petty Officer Third Class and a Special Warfare Operator. This in turn means that you have to condense those two into a single rank. That way you get Special Warfare Operator Third Class John Smith or SWO-3 John Smith. If you didn't condense those you would have to call the guy by full rank and occupational specialty.

Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer Third Class John Smith doesn't quite have the brevity one would like, does it?

Thanks toD-sama once again for that one. I did the research in wikipedia, but I only ended up confused and decided to call them by their rank.

Next chapter is going to be shits and giggles. Well, not really, but it's a little bit different than usual. Be warned. Other than that I just have to thank you all for taking your time to leave reviews (which I value a lot) and reading this (which I also value a lot).

Stay strong.

-casquis