Another day another chapter let's goooo! Thanks as always for reading this far and or coming back to continue to read! I'm always happy to receive so much support. If there is anything I can do better let me know in a review.

Song Suggestion: Woman Like Me by Little Mix

Disclaimer: same as the last 3 chapters, I'm a fanfic writer and only that. Capcom owns their copyrights I'm just using the characters for fun.


After the door rattling incident, August went on without much fanfare, and it gave way to the first day of September. Sure enough, as Chris said, he was gone for a little over three weeks. Luckily this trip was easier than the last one, he thought as he walked up the stairs to the apartment. Upon making it to the second floor, he noticed that the vase outside of Emma's place had been replaced since he was last around.

That is hopefully a good sign that what happened isn't bothering her as much as it did before, Chris thought while he walked past and dug the keys out of his pockets, so he could unlock his apartment. He closed the door behind him as he dropped his bag and walked over to the fridge to find that, yep, everything was growing. Again. He closed the fridge with a sigh. These mid-length missions were always killers. With long-term missions, he'd at least have a place of his own rather than the barracks, and with short ones, he was usually home before his food spoiled.

He couldn't complain about this mission too much, though. It was more of a formality as he and the others helped Ethan and Mia Winters get settled into their new home in Romania for witness protection, monitoring, and military training. Ethan was a decent guy, so it was good to see that the two were adjusting to their new lives well enough. Mia seemed to be struggling the most with this, but hopefully, the meds would help her with time.

As he allowed his mind to meander, he looked through the cabinets and found a similar theme since he generally didn't keep junk food around the place. Some stale chips, an expired jar of salsa, and the usual box of protein bars. Chris gave a tired sigh as he tossed the chips and salsa into the trash with a frown and looked at his watch. 7:56 pm. It was late... All the same, he pocketed his keys, left his apartment to walk next door, and gave two sharp knocks against the wooden door.

"Hello? Oh! Chris, welcome back," Emma said with an initial tone of confusion before recognizing him. To be fair, it had been a minute since he shaved.

"Hey," he replied. "Do you mind if I take up your offer for food?" She did say she'd give him food for the lessons, so he might as well ask for it when he needed it.

Emma smiled at that. "Sure," she agreed and moved out of the way, so she could open the door further and let him in. This wasn't exactly what she meant when she made that offer, but, eh. "What are you in the mood for? Quick food or tasty food?" she asked as Chris walked over to what was becoming his usual seat.

"Quick," he replied, sitting down at the kitchen island.

Phew. "Can do. Let me think for a second." Emma closed the door and walked over to the fridge to see what she had before nodding. "Okay, got it," she said, taking out a container and heating up the toaster oven. She then retrieved the tiny oven's baking sheet and opened the container she grabbed to start setting what looked like homemade chicken nuggets on the sheet. "How was your trip?"

"It was work," he said once more with a shrug, causing Emma to chuckle.

"Is that the only answer I'll get to that question?" she asked with an amused tone as she put the tray of bites into the small toaster oven.

"Probably. How has practice been going?" he asked as a change of subject.

"Going well, I think," she responded before leaning against the counter to face Chris while waiting for the food to finish warming up.

"You think?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know enough to know if I'm doing it right or wrong, but I've been practicing," Emma explained, shaking her head slightly.

Upon hearing this, he leaned to check the toaster oven. That was probably going to take a few minutes. "We have a few minutes. Let's see if you made any progress," he suggested as he got out of his seat and walked over so he could move the dining table to the side. Emma took out her phone and set a timer, placed the device on the island, and then joined him. Once she made her way over, he held up his hand for her to try and punch.

"Aim here," he said, tapping the inside of his palm. Emma nodded before taking a wide swing at the target, only for Chris to move and put her into one of the practice holds from before, causing the woman to yelp in surprise. "Think, what do you do?"

"Right, um," Emma thought it over a second and went through the motions but to no avail. Chris eventually let her go.

"You're panicking," he pointed out. "What's causing you to freeze up?"

"You surprised me, is all," she said with a frown.

"If someone breaks in, they're not going to give you a warning," he countered, and as much as it annoyed her, he was right. "Right now, you're practicing to prevent that, so use as much force as you need."

"Okay," Emma said with a nod.

"Let's actually go ahead and practice your punches for . No surprises for now," he instructed, and Emma complied. It took a few minutes, but after a while, she was distracted by the timer going off. Once more, Chris used the opportunity to put Emma into a hold.

"Chris, the food is going to burn," Emma warned with a frown.

"Then get out of the hold," he suggested, with little to no sympathy. He'd eaten worse than burnt chicken nuggets.

Emma tried again. It took about four tries and Chris loosening his grip slightly, but she managed to get out eventually. The woman seemed surprised at first when she noticed that she could move her arms. Then her surprised expression was replaced with a smile, which didn't stay long as she remembered the alarm still going off.

"Oh shoot, the chicken," she said as she hurried over to turn off the alarm, get the nuggets out from the toaster oven, turn it off, and put them on a plate, which she moved to the island. "That's better," she said as peace and quiet were restored to the apartment. Chris walked over and looked at the food as he took a seat.

"What is this anyway? Leftover Chick-fil-A?" he asked with a hint of curiosity. He did say fast, so he wouldn't complain, but it didn't hurt to know what to expect.

"Frito chicken," she answered with a short laugh. "It's an old recipe I made up during my college years when I was out of breading." Chris looked at her bewilderedly, which caused Emma to chuckle. "Hey, don't knock it until you try it. Besides, that's one of the better recipes from those days."

He shook his head and tried a bite. The breading was crunchy and somewhat salty, but it tasted pretty decent. "Why does that work?"

Emma shrugged in response. That was a good enough answer for Chris, who continued to munch on the meal. Emma placed a glass of water next to his plate, which was also accepted. Once he finished the meal, Emma moved the plate and glass into the sink. The two continued to practice for another hour before Chris went back to his apartment for the night.

'*'*'*'*'

Chris and Emma's new routine went on for the next few weeks. Each Thursday, Chris would stop by around eight and go over different holds and breaks with Emma for about an hour. On Sundays, Emma would drop off a small stack of Tupperware meals for him to eat throughout the week. This did not go completely unnoticed.

Lobo was enjoying his lunch as he watched an increasingly familiar yet odd sight that he had caught a few times now. Chris had recently walked into the cafeteria to warm up lunch, and before Lobo could say much, Chris went back to his office to eat. Lobo quietly hummed to himself before getting up and tossing his take-out container, so he could head out early to meet up with the rest of the team. Sure enough, Umber Eye, Canine, Night Howl, and Tundra were already there and warming up.

"Hey you guys," Lobo called as he walked over. "Have any of you noticed something weird going on with Alpha?" he asked to see if anyone else noticed other sudden changes in the leader's routine.

"Not really," Tundra replied as she adjusted her hand wraps.

"You're not trying to start trouble, are you?" Canine asked, shaking his head.

"He looks like he's finally getting some of his weight back. The New York mission he was on a few years ago really knocked him down," Umber Eye chimed in with a shrug.

"Yeah, he started taking his lunch breaks again out of nowhere," Lobo said, which caused Night Howl to laugh.

"So, he's finally eating again. That's a good thing. Or are you worried that means he's going to kick your ass harder?" Night Howl suggested, causing the others to chuckle.

"Hey, I won that last sparring match fair and square," Lobo retorted.

"Then you won't have a problem with him getting back to his old muscle mass. The dude looks like a skeleton," Umber Eye remarked.

"A skeleton compared to someone that literally punched a boulder into the air," Lobo said in return.

"Sounds like you're worried to me," Tundra pointed out, earning a few more snickers from the others.

"She's not wrong," Canine agreed. "Anyway, are you still good for drinks tonight, or are you too busy patrolling the cafeteria."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm still good to go. Who else is going?" Lobo answered, dropping the subject.

"We're all confirmed except Alpha. I haven't had the time to ask him yet," Night Howl admitted.

"Hound Wolf Squad, roundup," Chris shouted as he walked into the gym. With his words, the five immediately got into formation.

"Sir, yes sir," they all replied.

The day went on with business as usual before starting their workout regimen to stay mission-ready. When they had finished their assigned routines, Umber Eye was the first to head over to Chris.

"Hey Alpha, we're heading out for drinks after work. Are you in?" he asked, though he clearly seemed to be expecting a yes.

Chris checked his watch, which read Thursday, September 21st, 6:48 pm. Upon seeing the day, he shook his head. "Nah, can't make it this time. I have plans."

"Who has plans on a Thursday?" Tundra asked with a mixture of disbelief and curiosity, causing Chris to give a short chuckle.

"There was an attempted break-in at the apartment over a month ago. It scared the neighbors pretty bad. I've been giving some self-defense pointers to the newest one," he explained as he packed up.

"The bacon mac neighbor?" Lobo asked, overhearing the conversation.

Chris nodded. "Yeah, that's the one. It freaked her out, so she asked for a few lessons and insisted on paying. I got her to drop it by accepting lunches as collateral."

The answer seemed to surprise the others. When they looked at Lobo, he had an 'I told you so' expression plastered across his face.

"Oh, sorry to hear about the break-in. Good luck with that," Night Howl said with some sympathy.

"All right, but you're hosting poker night next week since you're ditching this week," Lobo said with a smile, which Chris waved off.

"Sure, whatever. Just don't expect much," he agreed as he slung his bag over his shoulder. "See you guys tomorrow," he added before giving a war shout, which the others responded to in-kind like clockwork.

Once Chris was out the door, Canine looked to Lobo.

"Okay, what are you planning," Canine asked.

"You can't tell me you're not a little bit curious," Lobo said, defending himself right out of the gate. "This chick shows up out of nowhere a few months ago, and suddenly, they're buddy-buddy enough for her to make the guy lunch multiple times a week?"

"I'll admit you kind of have a point. It is a little strange when you put it that way," Tundra reluctantly agreed.

"I'm staying out of this," Umber Eye said, holding up his hands as he walked away.

"Same," said Night Howl as he packed up as well.

'*'*'*'*'

Another week passed, and before long, the workday of September 29th was drawing to a close, and it was time to welcome the widely anticipated evening of poker night. Lobo was just starting his afternoon workouts in the BSAA gym when Night Howl walked over to use the machine next to him. "... Okay, I'm in. what's the plan."

"My man, I knew you'd come around," Lobo said with a chuckle, causing Night Howl to shake his head.

"Don't make me regret it. Umber Eye is still pretty against this," the man said in return.

"Not to worry, it's easy. You get to reap the rewards of my curiosity. I promise." He smirked. "Just make sure you're at the meeting point on time and be ready to back me up."

"Right," Night Howl said, although he wasn't sure if that made him feel any better or not.

All the same, he did as he was told and made sure he was on time. To his annoyance, he ended up waiting outside the apartment building for the others. Tundra and Lobo showed up next, followed by Umber Eye, then Canine. Each of them had a pack of beer with them. The group of five walked into the building and up the stairs to the second floor. Once Lobo noticed the vase with flowers, he smiled. Bingo. That was not there last time he visited. He took a hard turn to break off from the group and knocked on the door, only for Umber Eye to hook his neck and start pulling him away while the other three remained at the door.

"Seriously?" Umber Eye said quietly as Lobo chuckled at his victory upon seeing the door open.

"Hello? Can I help you?" she asked through the partially opened door, clearly confused.

"Sorry to bother you, I think we got the wrong door," Canine said with a sheepish smile.

"Oh. Who are you looking for?" she asked, relaxing enough to open the door further.

"Alpha. Is he on this floor?" Night Howl asked, only to see Emma's expression to shift back to confusion.

"Chris Redfield," Tundra clarified, which relieved the uncertainty.

"Oh, you almost had it then. Chris' door is—" she started, only for Chris' door to open and show a less than thrilled team captain.

"The hell are you guys doing?" Chris asked, perplexed.

"Sorry Cap," Lobo squeaked out from Umber Eye's chokehold. "Forgot which door was yours." Chris didn't buy this lie for a second.

"Get in here before I kick your ass," he said as he got out of the way so the five could go inside. At this point, Umber finally let go of Lobo and went to enter Chris' apartment. Similarly, Night Howl and Tundra started to walk over.

"Hey, you should join us for poker. Do you play?" Lobo asked, which caused the group to pause once more.

"Um. Well, that's very kind of you. I don't want to impose, though," Emma replied with a nervous smile. This is weird, she thought.

"It ain't trouble to have one more, right guys?" Lobo asked before looking to the others for backup.

"It would be nice to not be the only lady at the table," Tundra added with a slight smirk.

"Aw well, don't be mean and count out Lobo," Canine said and laughed, causing Lobo to glare at him.

"He only counts as a lady when he's bitchin'," Tundra said with a snicker.

"So, 90% of the time," Umber Eye pointed out as he joined in on the ribbing.

Holy hell, who are these people, Emma thought. She tried not to smile at that, but she pretty clearly had a bad poker face.

"Okay, yeah. She'd be fun to play with. She can't keep a straight face to save her life," Night Howl noted with a chuckle.

"I resent that. I'm not that bad," Emma said with an embarrassed laugh.

"Those are fighting words. Come on Cap, just give the thumbs up already," Lobo said with a grin that said, Please let this work.

"Fine," Chris relented while making a mental note to put the team through the wringer first thing on Monday. "Everyone, get inside before I change my mind."

Emma gave a sympathetic smile since it seemed like he had been pressured into letting her join in, but at the same time, it was kind of funny to her since this reminded her of how she had a hard time telling her nieces no. It must be a family thing, found family or otherwise. She locked up her apartment and cautiously walked over to join the group in Chris' apartment before he closed the door.

"Who brought the deck?" Umber asked as the others all looked between each other. "You're kidding," he asked in disbelief as everyone started to chuckle.

"We all brought beer," Canine offered as consolation with an amused smile.

"Just messing with you guys. I got them here." Lobo grinned as he put a stack of three decks on the table, and there was an audible group sigh of relief.

"Who did the least reps today?" Chris asked as he moved to take a seat at the head of the table.

Twenty, fourteen, sixteen, twenty-four, eighteen, they each listed off before looking at Emma.

"... What's a rep?" she asked with a sheepish grin, causing the others to laugh. This was a mistake.

"It's the number of times you do a set of exercises like crunches or pull-ups," Night Howl explained out of sympathy. "I think we have our dealer for the first round," he added with a chuckle before grabbing a beer from one of the packs and taking a seat. The others followed suit and picked a beer from the collection before sitting down, while Emma simply sat without one.

"Ye ain't gonna drink?" Lobo asked curiously. "By the way, don't worry about keeping the decks separate. They're the same three we use each month, so they're already mixed up."

She gave a nod of understanding at the explanation before speaking. "Well, it just doesn't seem right for me to take a drink when I didn't bring any to share," Emma admitted as she shuffled the three decks into a stack.

Tundra was the first to shake her head after hearing Emma's answer. "Which one do you want? You're fine to have a few. We brought way too much as it is," she offered, which helped Emma relax . It was nice that there was another lady around.

Well. If they're going to insist, one won't hurt. "Do you have stout?" Emma asked.

"Good taste. I brought a few," Night Howl said with a smile as Tundra picked one up from the pile and handed it down to the guest.

As the others took care of handing out drinks, Emma started dealing out two cards to each player before noticing an issue. "Do you guys usually play with chips?" she asked since she wasn't sure how they would do this without them.

"Shit, I knew I forgot something," Lobo admitted, causing the others to grumble and complain. "Sorry guys, it happens sometimes."

"One moment," Emma said, getting up and heading back to the door. A few minutes later, she returned with a few unopened packages of cookies. Oreos and two types of Chips Ahoy, regular and M&M. "Maybe these will work instead," she suggested with a laugh as she closed the door behind her.

"Cookies?" Umber Eye asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, my grandpa would play poker with us using hard candies, so I figured maybe cookies would work... they're at least round like chips," the brunette explained as she walked over and put the packages down on the table.

"I'm down for that," Canine agreed as Emma took a seat and started divvying out the treats. "Adds an extra level of difficulty since you can end up eating your money," he said with a laugh. The others nodded in agreement, and Lobo smiled.

"Hey, while we're making adjustments. I brought these," he said as he put an extra stack of cards on the table. "If you tap out first, then you have to pull a punishment card?"

The others laughed at that and nodded once more.

"You could remember that, but you forgot the chips?" Umber Eye pointed out, causing Lobo to wince. Whoops.

"Well, since you forgot the chips, you should take two already," Chris said, smirking. That got Lobo's attention.

"Hey now, that was an honest mistake," he rebutted, which got the others to laugh.

"What happened to all that confidence from earlier?" Canine countered with a snarky grin. "Are you scared of your own idea?"

"No," Lobo replied, and begrudgingly took two of the cards before giving a quiet sigh. "Talk in a British accent for the next three rounds," he read out loud in a very poor British accent, which caused Night Howl to laugh and shake his head no. Lobo looked over the other card to read that next. "And each player pours a shot worth of their drink into a glass. Drink the whole concoction before you can play aga—Ah, come on," he muttered with a frown as the others howled with laughter. Tundra got up to look for a clean glass, and when she got back, each person poured in some of their drink. Lobo somehow managed to down the whole mixture by the time Emma was done sorting out the cookies.

"All right, with that, I think we're ready to go for the first round," she said with a chuckle. "Who's in and who's out?"

The group played for about an hour and a half or so. Surprisingly, Emma was actually keeping up with the others and managed to avoid punishment so far. That was about to change, though.

"Three of a kind," Canine said with a smile.

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?" she asked, looking at the cards in confusion.

"Yeah, they're right there." He gestured to the cards he had put down on the table. A queen of hearts, clubs, and diamonds. Emma put her own hand down, showing two pairs, two aces and two queens, a queen of hearts and a queen of diamonds.

"Okay, so which of us is cheating then because that's the fourth queen of hearts, and there were only three decks," she pointed out.

"Really?" Night Howl asked with a perplexed expression. Chris held up a hand to get everyone to pause as he picked up the discard pile. Sure enough, he stopped, plucked out two more queen of heart cards, and put them on the table.

"What the hell..." Tundra sighed in frustration. The decks weren't balanced the whole time.

"Hold up. I think we're missing something obvious here," Lobo said, looking at Emma. "You were counting cards," he pointed out, which caused Emma's expression to drop as the others stared at her with a mixture of shock and surprise.

"Holy shit, you're right," Canine said with a laugh. "What the hell was your grandpa teaching you?"

"Wait, is that against the rules?" Emma asked nervously.

"YES," everyone replied in unison.

"Well, how am I supposed to know if others are cheating if I don't keep track of what has already been used?" she pointed out.

"Emma, THAT is cheating because you know the odds of the deck, which isn't something everyone knows." Chris held his face and trying not to laugh.

"I'm just impressed she was able to keep up with three decks worth of cards even after two beers," Tundra said while trying to tone down her chuckling. "Not bad."

"Hey, if I had to take two cards for forgetting the chips, I think cheating gets two cards as well," Lobo pointed out with a wolfish smile.

"Yep."

"Agreed."

"Seems fair."

"I'll second that."

They all agreed before looking at Chris.

"Pack rules," he said with a shrug as Emma's shoulders dropped. That hardly seemed fair to her. She didn't know.

"You do that while I sort the cards to get the extras out," Tundra said, sorting the cards in the meantime.

Emma nodded and picked up two of the punishment cards. "Share an embarrassing fact," she read with a frown, thinking it over. "Gracious, that's a difficult one. Um."

The others snickered and sipped their drinks as they waited. She bounced a few facts around her mind, weighing which would be the least embarrassing to share. She had only just met these people, and one was her neighbor, so she didn't really want to share anything that would make her look bad. "Okay, I got it. I have an irrational fear of overnight trips. Particularly if it's with a large group."

"What?" Umber asked, amused but mostly confused.

"Why?" Night Howl asked with a laugh.

"That is more information than anyone here needs, and I am not drunk enough to talk about it," Emma rebutted as she swallowed the last of her drink.

"Well shit, someone get the woman another drink because I'm curious," Lobo said with a snicker, then got up to do just that. He handed Emma a third beer, which she accepted while shaking her head.

"Now you're just blowing it out of proportion," she protested as her face turned red.

"They're going to ask all night. Might as well spit it out," Tundra said with a gentle smile while continuing her sorting.

"She has a point. Besides, that's hardly embarrassing. Unusual, sure, but not embarrassing," Canine pointed out, causing the others to nod in agreement.

Emma massaged her temples. "Fine, fine. So, when I was in my early twenties, I used to fall asleep in my day clothes. It was a bad habit that started in college because I wouldn't get enough sleep. It wasn't exactly comfortable, though, and evolved into an even worse habit of stripping in my sleep, so now I don't like going on overnight trips in a group because I worry that habit will rear its head when I least expect it since I'm not conscious of it," she explained before opening her drink and downing a good swallow of it as the others start cracking up. "So yeah, now you know way more about me than you need to."

"That is amazing," Tundra said with a chuckle.

"I have several questions," Lobo said, earning a glare from Umber Eye. "Which I will respectfully keep to myself."

"Thank you," Emma replied as she looked at the last card with a perplexed expression. "Hm. I don't know if I can do this one," she admitted and showed the card, which read, 'Do an unflattering impression of the person to your left/right.' "I don't really know either of you guys well enough to do an impression." She glanced between Umber Eye and Canine.

"That's a fair point. Maybe draw again?" Night Howl suggested as a potential solution.

"Well, you're Chris' neighbor. Maybe do an impression of him instead," Canine counters with a snicker.

"That could work," Lobo agreed, and Chris made a vague gesture of 'do what you want,' though his expression said, choose carefully.

"Okay, uh." Emma thought about it before attempting to mimic Chris' voice. "Aim here. Hit like you mean it... uhm. Get in here before I kick your ass," she said, which caused the others to openly laugh while Chris frowned.

"Oh my fawkin' god, that was beautiful," Lobo said, clearing his throat after almost choking on his drink.

"All right ladies, the deck is all fixed up. There were three floaters," Tundra said while tossing the floater cards over to the kitchen island. She then shuffled the decks again. "I'll deal this time. Let's get back to the game," she suggested with a smile.

The game continued for another two hours as the group whooped and hollered between rounds at the various punishments until a knock was heard at the door. Chris got up and opened it to find Mr. Russo.

"I'm glad you guys are having a good time, but some of us are trying to sleep," he said with a scowl, which caused Chris to look over to the clock that read 11 pm.

"Sorry about that. We're just wrapping up," he responded, followed by a few disappointed grumbles behind him.

"Good," Mr. Russo said with a nod. "And good night," he added before heading back to his apartment. Chris closed the door and looked at the others.

"Hound Wolf Squad, pack it up," he instructed, and everyone pushed their cookie chips into the centers. Roughly a third remained as they were munched on throughout the game.

"Hound Wolf Squad?" Emma asked as she put the remaining cookies in one of the leftover packages while making a mental note to throw them away once she got home.

"Wait, did we seriously not introduce ourselves?" Tundra asked as she looked at the others before frowning. "Well, shit. Sorry about that. I'm Emily Berkoff. I go by Tundra in our squad. I'm the Recon specialist of the team. I tend to go in first and set up supply points, but I keep a low-profile combat-wise," she explained.

"Dion Wilson, also known as Canine, I'm the K-9 handler for the squad, but I'll offer ground support as well," he said with a smile. Dion appeared to be the youngest of the group.

"I usually go by Night Howl in this group, but my name is Charlie Graham. No relation to the past president of this fine country. I'm the communication specialist, so I usually team up with Tundra for setting up safe points," he explained, and Emma nodded once more.

"Lobo's the name, heavy weapons the game. Though, at this point, I'm about to outdo Alpha here for his wings," he said with a laugh.

"Don't get cocky," Chris replied and crossed his arms. "You still got a long way to go before you can outmaneuver me."

"Yeah, yeah sure. Anyway, you can call me John," he said with a wink, only to get nudged away by Umber Eye.

"Suppose that leaves me for last. My name is Ronaldo Elva. I'm the sharpshooter and second in command for the squad. Friends call me Umber Eye," he explained, and Emma smiled again.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you all. I'm Emma Swanson. I'm the Junior Marketing Director for a local record company," she said while mentally wincing. Yeah, that was not even close to being as impressive as the rest of them. "Thank you all for your service to help keep civilians like me safe. If there is ever anything I can do for you guys, just ask."

"You're sweet," Tundra said with a chuckle. "See you around sometime, Emma," she added before putting on her coat. "You guys ready?" the woman asked while looking at the other four. She received a chorus of yeahs and yeps in response.

"Hound Wolf Squad, out," Umber Eye said with a salute to Chris, and the group headed out, followed by Emma.

"That was fun. Thanks for letting me crash your get-together," Emma said as she walked past Chris. "Have a good night," she added, then headed back to her apartment.


Phew, this was a long one hopefully it was as fun for you guys to read as it was for me to write :) I think this is a new record, 9k words in a single day between two chapters. if you have any ideas you'd like for me to try and include, let me know in a review.