Summary: They meet at the Honeybee Inn. It's the first visit for most of them, and it doesn't disappoint.

An amazingly chatty chapter, but the surroundings are fun and the snacks are delicious.

Chapter 24: Meeting of Minds

Zack didn't care if he was staring. This was the freaking Honeybee Inn! It was a lot gaudier than he'd expected, but also kind of not. (No worse than the president's office anyway.)

He'd expected the red velvet and the gold all over everywhere. After all, the place was owned by Don Corneo, and the crime lord had a style. What Zack hadn't expected was the atmosphere. Like the people inside the Inn were doing you a favour by taking your money, and weren't you privileged to be allowed inside?

Which, okay. People – even those in Upper Midgar – bought tickets months in advance, so there might be some justification to the attitude.

Or, Zack thought, maybe the snoot was one of the reasons snooty people wanted to come?

The woman behind the reception desk – who was nearly as large as Zack – carefully looked over a list and checked each and every one of their names against it. Even Red's, who couldn't be mistaken for anybody else.

When she was satisfied that they weren't sneaking in, (To do what? Camp out on the stage until the evening show?) she looked up and gave them all a frankly terrifying smile. "Thank you all, and welcome to the Honeybee Inn. Mr Cloud–" (Mr Cloud. Sheesh!) "–has arranged for the Hydrangea Room to be made available for your party." She lifted her chin and one of the Honeygirls came up. "Zevas will show you to it."

They passed through a velvet curtain (gold, not red) and into a large circular lobby. Here there were rich brown accents to go with the red and gold. A couple people in more subdued (and practical) versions of the Honeybee outfit were cleaning and polishing everything that was in reach. (Kudos for sanitary practices, Zack thought.)

Zack wasn't the only one craning his neck. Both Aerith and Red were shifting and twisting, trying to catch all the details. Hard to miss the huge golden bee fountain in the middle of the room though.

"Are they kissing?" Aerith asked, peering up, hands clasped behind her back.

"Dancing, actually," Zevas, the Honeygirl, answered with a giggle. "But with Andy's shows, it's very nearly the same thing."

Ridiculous pointed stinger waggling dangerously, Zevas led the way to one of the carpeted stairs that swept up from the main floor, outlining and emphasizing the theatre entrance. The rich wood planking was covered by a thick carpet in an intricate weave of flowers and bees in red and yellow. It was so thick it even muffled the noise from Zack's heavy boots.

The handrail was the same rich wood, but the accents were covered in gold, of course.

Up the stairs and around the balcony, Zack gave the pointy bit on Zevas' bum a wide berth.

All around the gallery, very bright lights shone from the domed ceiling down on the not-quite-kissing bees. There was enough gold on them that the light was reflected out, practically blinding anyone trying to look across. In fact, he could see the shape of a person walking on the other side, but it was impossible to make out any details.

Zack admired the sneaky discretion.

Eventually, Zevas stopped at a door labeled "Hydrangea" in elaborate gold script. She knocked, waited, then opened the door and waved them in.

Cloud was already inside and Tifa, of course, but taking up a lot of real estate inside the room were Genesis (ugh) and Barret Wallace?

He looked at Cloud who crossed his arms defensively. "Tifa invited Wallace," Cloud said. "Genesis invited himself."

"Helloooo!" Genesis warbled and gave a little wave from his seat at the far end of the table.

The former Crimson SOLDIER was still wearing the green pants of a cadet, but he'd grabbed a shirt that Zack recognized as one of his. Zack looked at it. Looked at Genesis, then shrugged. It was a plain shirt he never wore. Bought when he was still figuring out where the best shops were, and just how far he was willing to push his new look. (Aerith's joyful giggles had encouraged him to push it pretty far. Today, he was wearing a shirt with huge fucking flowers and drunk-looking bees in honour of his first visit to the Honeybee Inn.)

On the other side of the table from Genesis, Barret was pacing the carpet. "'Bout damn time," he said, followed by "What the fuck is that?" and pointing his gun-arm at Red.

Tifa jumped up and put a hand on his gun, gently pushing it down. "That's Red. I told you about him."

"That's Red? That?"

Zack could see Cloud clenching his jaw against words that would have him and Barret arguing, (it didn't take much, honestly) and Red was baring his teeth in an unfriendly smile.

"Yes! That's Red," Tifa said, frowning at her friend. "You're being rude."

"Well, 'scuse the hells outta me," Barret said, turning to Tifa with a hand on his hip. "When you said, 'kinda cat-like' I was expecting something cat sized, not something the size of a fuckin' Shinra guard fang." He turned to face Red. "Hiya. I'm Barret. People tell me I'm an asshole with the social skills of a rabid cactuar–"

Cloud put his hand up. Tifa pushed that down as well.

Barret ignored them both and waved his left hand. "Nice to meetcha!"

Red paused. Then he sat, curling his tail around his feet. "I've never encountered a cactuar, but they sound… unpleasant."

"They are at that," Zack snickered. "Fast buggers, too. Is that food?" He'd just seen a small table on the other wall. It looked like a coffee urn and pastries. He wandered over. There was a small card between the plates. "Good luck – A," he read. "Nice! Want anything, Red?"

He put together a couple plates based on his companions' murmured preferences, cutting up Red's choices to make it easier for someone without opposable thumbs to handle. Then he sat in the nearest empty seat and took a bite of a fruit danish. He hummed his approval.

Aerith echoed his enjoyment while Red licked his with a delicate tongue.

"Can we say no to the offer?" Cloud asked while Zack was still savouring the fruity goodness.

Zack held up a finger – he was still chewing.

Genesis snorted. "We could," he said. "But Shinra doesn't like being told no."

"Why are you saying 'we'?" Barret demanded.

"I've as much right as you do," Genesis replied with a sniff. "More, since I actually helped kill the creature."

Barret stepped closer to the redhead. "I was rescuing people and diggin' out Sector 7!"

"Yes, well, I did that as well." Genesis glared at Cloud. Cloud ignored them.

"You had the night to think about it," he said to Zack. "So can we?"

Zack wiped sugar from his mouth. "Unfortunately, Genesis is right: Shinra doesn't like being turned down. Just look at what they did to Wutai."

There were lots of knowing nods. It was an open secret that Shinra had only invaded Wutai because Lord Godo had refused them permission to build a mako reactor.

"How many of us have to say yes?" Cloud asked next.

Zack shot him a surprised look, but Barret stepped forward, lifting his gun arm threateningly. "Are you chickening out, Strife? Don' wanna save the planet. Don' wanna stand by your friends?"

Cloud hooked an arm over the back of his chair. "Not Red's fight. Not Aerith's, not yours" he shot back. "If Tseng didn't mention names, do they have to go?"

Red flicked his tail. "I have no desire to chase across the continents after rumours of a dead man," he said at the same time Barret took another step forward. "Whadya mean 'it's not my fight?'," he shouted. "I gotta stake in the planet, don' I?"

"Also have a kid," Cloud pointed out. "Already lost two parents. Want her to lose another?"

For a moment, Barret froze. It was enough for Zack to keep talking. "I actually have a different plan for you, Barret," he said. "If you're willing, that is. You want to save the planet by getting rid of mako reactors?"

Barret narrowed his eyes at him. "You know I do."

Zack nodded. "Remember I talked about how Cosmo Canyon doesn't use mako for its power?"

"Uhhh." Barret shuffled his feet and rubbed his head. "Kinda?"

Zack tipped his head. "Red here is from Cosmo Canyon and can introduce you to the people who set up and maintain their power system."

Tifa perked up. "Really? Are they willing to share?"

"I believe I can convince them." Red followed the sentence by licking the remnants of a pastry from his very sharp teeth.

"I told you, I don't know anything 'bout … engineering," Barret said.

"Jessie does," Tifa said back. "And Biggs is pretty good. They made a water filtration system lots of house use in Sector 7," she said to the rest of them.

Cloud was nodding. "They're smart."

"Yeah. Yeah." Barret sounded surprised that he was agreeing with Cloud. "They can go."

Zack shook his head. "They're smart, but they may need help getting there."

Red licked up another piece of muffin. "One of the many factors that have kept our communities safe from Shinra is the density of aggressive creatures along the routes of ingress."

"They're surrounded by monsters," Aerith translated.

Barret pointed at Red. "You made it out."

There was a beat of silence.

"I was taken by Shinra," Red finally said. "They used a helicopter."

Tifa broke the silence. "This is a great opportunity, Barret. If we can present people with a safer, healthier option for power–"

"That costs about the same as what they charge now," Zack added.

"It would…" She ran out of words, so she hopped a bit. "That would be huge."

For a moment, it looked like the big man would be convinced, but then he shook his head. "Tifa can look after Marlene, start rebuilding the bar, while I go with you."

Zack was shaking his head. "I want Tifa with us."

Tifa straightened suddenly, and both her and Barret said "What?" though in slightly different tones.

"You want Tifa?" Barret repeated angrily, and Zack noticed she slouched back down.

"Tifa is one of the best fighters I've ever worked with," he said.

"Tifa?" This time Barret sounded baffled, which was hardly complimentary.

"Yes, Tifa," Zack repeated with emphasis. "In the fight with that … thing yesterday, she showed the best battlefield awareness I've seen in someone who wasn't military, and the power… Maaan!

"Tifa doesn't know how to fight."

Zack could only stare at the guy, but Genesis laughed. Loudly.

Barret awkwardly backtracked, "I mean, basic self-defence, sure, but…"

Zack looked at Tifa, Cloud's childhood friend, bartender and would-be-eco-terrorist. "Did you not train with this guy? Or any of your team? How can they not know what you're capable of?"

She squirmed and wouldn't look up.

Barret stilled, finally focusing on how Tifa looked rather than what was in his head. All the tension left him. He knelt in front of her, one hand on her knee. "Tifa," he said softly. "You didn't think we'd like you less, did ya? Or that we'd make fun of you?"

The blatant hurt in the big man's voice was enough to shake Tifa from her funk. She leaned forward and took his hand. "No, No! Wasn't that at all! It was just…." She sighed. "Habit, I suppose. Left over from … Nibelheim."

Cloud made a sound of enlightenment. Barret flicked him a glance but quickly returned his gaze to his friend. "What happened? In Nibelheim," he asked. "Did they make funna you there? For wantin' to learn howta fight?"

Tifa was quiet for a long time. Long enough for Zack to want to break the silence with a joke or something. Aerith laid a firm hand on his arm, keeping him still.

Tifa gave another deep sigh. "Nobody made fun of me, because nobody knew. They were already whispering that I wasn't engaged – that maybe there was something wrong with me–" she breathed in "–because my dad raised me alone. They talked to him about it." She gave a sad laugh. "I was sixteen, and they wanted me married! Or at least engaged."

They were all from small towns where teen marriages were common, so none of them were shocked.

Sympathetic, yes. Surprised, no.

Tifa didn't see it though. She kept her gaze on her hands – tough and scarred under the gloves. "When this old monk moved to town, I begged my dad to let me train. He tried to say no, but I pleaded – told him it would make me happy. So he said yes – because it would make me happy. But I couldn't let anyone know, he said. Daddy was already on shaky ground with the town – politically, I mean – so he made me promise. And I did. I promised him I'd be a good girl – his good girl." Her voice was practically a wail, even though the words were whispered.

"You were keeping your promise," Barret finished. "Not letting anyone know."

Tifa nodded, silently.

"Your daddy would be proud." His voice was the gentlest Zack had ever heard from the big man.

Then Tifa sobbed. A hand came up to hide her face, but she didn't need it. Barret gathered her in and let her hide against him.

His arms were nearly as big as her head, so it was easy.

Aerith gave a little cough. "We should get some more treats."

"They're mostly all gone," Zack replied.

"Then we should get coffee," she said firmly. She stood up and glared at the rest of the people around the table until they'd all got up from their chairs, (Genesis with an extra put-upon grumble or three).

"You know," Genesis said softly as he stirred cream into his coffee. "If that man can back up his muscles…."

"He has a kid," Cloud said with a frown.

The redhead waved that away. "Yes, so you said, but going up against Sephiroth isn't going to be easy."

"We need him here," Zack repeated, firmly and with finality.

"Why?"

"Because Sephiroth isn't the only thing we're going up against," Zack replied.

"Shinra," Red said, delicately pawing a gingerbread cookie off the plate.

Zack nodded. "People listen to Barret. They follow him and they protect him," he explained in a low voice. "If he says we've come up with a power source that's better than mako, they'll believe him."

"Shinra doesn't pay attention to the world under the plate," Genesis said dismissively.

Zack nearly flicked a glance at Aerith. "They watch more than you think."

"Don Corneo," Cloud said.

"He's one conduit," Zack agreed.

Genesis just blinked. "I don't know who that is."

It was Zack's turn to wave away a question. "Not important. What is important, is that if we're taking on Shinra, then we'll need someone to keep pushing ahead with it despite resistance or threats…."

"Barret's stubborn," Cloud said.

"And angry at Shinra," Zack agreed. "Angry enough to build a competing power company out of scraps and hope."

"I am that angry," said the man himself, suddenly looming behind them. They all politely ignored the wet spot on his vest. "After the shit they put everybody through – begging for life while they poison our future! You really think this could take down Shinra?"

Zack wanted to say 'yeah, absolutely', but he hated lying to people who needed to trust him. "Destroy? Maybe not. But definitely take down a peg. Put a chink in their image of invulnerability."

"You'd think a reactor explosion in their basement following the assassination of their president would be enough to accomplish that," Genesis sneered quietly, stirring his tea.

Aerith leaned forward into the conversation. (She had to look up a lot. It made her face look like a heart.) "If you, and your friends, can figure out a way to do it cheaply, then we could give away the designs and every town and area could make their own power."

Barret frowned down at her. "You don't want to start a power company of your own?"

"Gods no," Zack said. "Think of the paperwork!"

Genesis started laughing. "By the Goddess, it would be delicious irony. 'There is no hate, only joy; For you are beloved by the goddess; Hero of the dawn, Healer of worlds'."

Barret glared at Genesis, then turned to Zack. "What the fuck is he on about?"

"People forget that it's Shinra Electric Power Company," Zack replied. "If they have competition – especially in the form of knowledge – they're going to have a much harder time shutting it down."

It took Barret a moment, but then a smile slowly grew. "Yeah. Yeah, I like it!" He tipped back and shouted, "I like it! Let's take the floor out from under those bastards!"

"One problem," Tifa said quietly. "The Turks are watching us. They offered us those blueprints, remember?"

It took Zack a moment, but then he remembered how he'd met Barret and the offer of a job as escort on a job to sabotage a reactor.

"Take Marlene," Cloud said. He turned to Barret. "You're concerned with her safety after the quake."

"That'll work!" Zack snapped his fingers and grinned. "Jessie and Biggs decide to go with you."

"– and Wedge," Tifa added.

"Sure," Zack said easily. "All the people you care about. You take them with you to someplace safer. At least until you know the plate's not going to collapse."

Barret frowned. "Is that a real possibility?" he demanded.

"Hells if I know," Zack admitted. "I know about as much as you about engineering."

"We can ask Tseng," Aerith suggested. She had a touch of whipped cream on her top lip from whatever pastry she'd devoured. It was adorable.

Zack reached out a finger and wiped it off. Slowly, deliberately, he lifted the finger to his mouth. He let the cream dissolve on his tongue. Enjoying the slight hint of the pastry she'd eaten, and the way she watched his lips curl around his finger.

By the time he was finished, Aerith wasn't the only one blushing. (Genesis just looked like he wanted popcorn.)

"Interesting," Red commented calmly. "I was unaware that licking to show affection was a human practice."

Zack smirked. "I like being licked. Makes me feel like someone's favourite lollipop." He waggled his eyebrows at Aerith as he said it, reminding her of promises kept. Her face got impossibly brighter.

"I see," Red said slowly. "It's a sexual thing."

Zack couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. Unhelpfully, Aerith gave his arm a swat.

Barret cleared his throat. "As happy as I am to know you two are gettin' some, I'd liketa get backta the plan to ruin Shinra!"

Zack bent down, silently asking Aerith's permission, and grabbed a quick kiss before grabbing some more snacks and settling down at the table. They really did need to figure out what they were going to do.

.o0|0o.

Half an hour later they had a plan. He wasn't happy with the plan, but he was kind of tired of the arguments.

Publicly, they'd all go to Junon, but in separate groups: Barret to get Marlene out from under the plate, and Zack on the trail of Sephiroth by way of Junon's reactor.

"But we don't know Sephiroth is targeting reactors," Tifa pointed out and Zack rubbed his aching head.

"And you don' even know if any of those cloaked men have been seen there," Barret added.

"Isn't Rufus in Junon?" Genesis asked. "If he is, wouldn't the Turks hunt down any of those men. In case they're a threat to the heir?"

"There are only four or five Turks left on active duty," Zack said, dropping his hand. (The massage wasn't helping.) "They're going to be far more concerned with keeping Rufus safe from the other directors."

Genesis hummed, eyes narrowing. "Yes. Heidegger and Scarlet would see this as an opportunity to take over, wouldn't they?"

"Probably, the only thing stopping them is the Turks," Zack agreed.

"Think they'll buy the reactor angle?" Aerith asked.

"Why shouldn't they?" Tifa demanded. "He already destroyed one!"

Zack wobbled his head. "We don't know that for sure," he said. "But it's feasible. All SOLDIERs, Sephiroth especially, get their power from mako– "

"And other things," Genesis muttered bitterly.

Zack nodded. "And other things." He didn't want to think about those other things right now. "Deepground was a special reactor – unique from the eight others around Midgar. Junon is also different from most– "

"Because it's underwater," Tifa stated as if this were a school lesson she needed to pass.

"Yeah," Zack agreed. "And the mako is different, too, but I'm not sure how."

"Shinra didn't exactly share knowledge with us SOLDIERs," Genesis said with a bitter quirk of the lips.

"Or anyone," Zack said. "It's quite possible that only a handful people in Shinra know why Junon's mako is special."

"Tseng might be one," Aerith pointed out.

"If he is, then our plan will make even more sense." He sat back. "It'll be interesting to see if he brings it up when we tell him our first stop." Genesis snorted, and Zack grinned at him. He didn't think so either.

"So once in Junon, we meet up – accidentally," Barret emphasized, "And Red offers us a place in Cosmo Canyon, where it's safe."

"A decent Turk will see through it," Genesis sniffed.

"A decent Turk who actually has time to look at it," Zack countered.

"Does it matter?" Cloud asked. He looked at each of them, and his voice was firm. "We know each other. They know we know each other. Can't hide it, so use it. Red doesn't want to chase Sephiroth –" Red mumbled agreement. "So he heads home. Barret doesn't want to be in Midgar, so he goes along and takes Marlene with him. Takes Biggs, Wedge and Jessie because he wants his people safe, too."

It was silent for moment as they all wrapped their head around the simplicity of Cloud's idea.

"You couldn't've suggested this half hour ago?" Zack said softly. Cloud shrugged.

"Why wouldn't he take me, too?" Tifa asked.

"He wanted to," Zack turned back to her. "But I asked you to come with us instead. Exactly as I did do."

"So if the Turks dig…" Genesis was smirking.

Zack grinned back. "All they'll find is the truth." He turned to Barret. "Go back to Sector 7 after this meeting. Go back and tell everyone about the hole under the central pillar and how the tower's tilting and how the whole thing might collapse. We all know Shinra's not going to warn anybody."

"Cloud was doing that last night," Barret said.

"Do it more, do it louder," Zack replied. "Then Shinra will think today's meeting was more about organizing the ground floor's response to the tower's possible collapse."

Genesis smirked. "And definitely not setting up competing power sources."

Barret looked enlightened. He smiled. "I can do that. Get Wymer and Kenagi and Marle together."

Aerith clapped her hands under her chin. "I'll talk to the people in Sector 5."

"I know people here," Cloud said. "But they'll tell Corneo we're revealing secrets."

Zack pointed his finger at his friend. "And like I said, that's what Shinra will concentrate on. They won't have the resources to worry about what a bunch of wannabe eco-terrorists are doing a continent away as they try to damage control a half a million people worried about their homes."

"Plus, we'll be saving ground floor people," Tifa added. "The ones Shinra doesn't care about."

"It sounds like we have a plan," Genesis said with a smile like a satisfied cat.

He had reason to feel that way. Nothing Zack or anyone had said had convinced the Crimson SOLDIER to stay behind or go into hiding or any other sensible idea that a person who'd escaped from an evil secret lab should do.

"Great," Zack said. "Next we need to figure out what supplies we need. Do we hit up Shinra for stuff or try to get it ourselves?"

"Can we really raid Shinra's supplies?" Tifa asked.

Genesis leaned forward eagerly. "I need a sword."

Aerith clapped her hands beneath her chin. "This is exciting! I love shopping!"

Oh yeah, Zack thought. Time to call Tseng back and let him know what the real cost of hiring them would be.

.o0|0o.

It wasn't a long call. Tseng had mostly just sighed in that silent, long-suffering way he had, and caved.

"We go this afternoon," Zack announced as he folded up his PHS. "There'll be a security card at the ground floor reception desk that'll get us up to the SOLDIER floor."

"It'll be like old times," Genesis said with a smile. " 'Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return!' " His voice was so over-the-top that Zack knew it was self-mockery. Maybe even a bit of self-hate.

Zack tried to feel sympathy for the former First.

He failed.

Red cleared his throat. "As I have no desire to re-enter any Shinra building, I will return to Ms Gainsborough's abode and further partake of her delightful garden."

"A garden?" Barret turned to face her. "You have a garden, with actual plants? "

Aerith widened her eyes and hummed an affirmative.

"Can you teach someone else to do that?" Barret asked, leaning forward anxiously.

Aerith's bright smile broke through. "I can try, but it took me a long time to build up the soil."

The big man was already nodding agreement. "You just tell us what we gotta do, and we'll do it. If we're gonna be free of Shinra power, we need to not rely on food trucked in from the plains."

That got Aerith excited, and she immediately cornered Barret to talk about light and compost and acid levels, and other stuff that sounded scientific but that completely side-stepped "last ancient" as an explanation for her plant-growing prowess.

While that was happening, Zack moseyed over to the side table. There were still some muffins on the plate, so he helped himself to one with an icing carrot on it because why not? They were delicious.

Cloud was also helping himself to the leftovers. It was something Zack had noticed of his friend: he never turned down food when it was offered, and he never left any on any plate set in front of him. Recognizing the effects of a history of chronic food shortage, Zack decided to talk about something else.

"So I've been thinking," Zack said into the air. "Don't ask if it hurt. That one's old." Cloud smiled, one eyebrow raised, and Zack knew his friend had considered saying it.

"I need my own curses. Like Aerith," he said and made Cloud looked confused and off-balance. Win! "Dragons and wolves – those are mountain things. Suitable for mountain goats and Nibelheimers to quote." He dodged the elbow to his ribs. "I'm from the jungle and I need curses that reflect my heritage."

"Swamp rot is a heritage?" Cloud ducked the swat Zack aimed at his head.

"I've already got 'frog balls', but I'm trying to think of what else from Gongaga I can use."

"Gongaga," Cloud snorted. Zack gave him a push towards the table. Cloud hopped a couple times but avoided hitting anything.

Everyone was staring.

Both he and Cloud gave awkward 'everything's fine' waves.

"Why can't you use goat balls?" Cloud asked coming back to the table and picking up some of the remaining fruit.

Zack sighed. "Hard to keep goats alive in Gongaga. Everything eats them and they eat everything, half of which is poisonous." He signed again. "Lot of pigs though."

"Pig titties," Cloud suggested.

Zack burst out laughing.

Cloud shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. "Rolls off the tongue."

"Sounds a lot like Aerith's," Zack pointed out. "Nah. Something different."

"What else has Gongaga got?'

"Heat," Zack answered instantly. "It's, like, really hot, and it's got stupidly high humidity. I once sweat so much, it created a puddle under my ass." Not quite, but it had felt like it should have been a puddle.

"Sweat's good in curses," Cloud said. "Sweaty balls. Sweaty ass. Add a demi-god to it." He shrugged.

"Titan's sweaty ass?" Zack wrinkled his nose. He'd have to think about it.

Genesis came up to pour himself more tea and make bitter jokes about how much the Shinra building would have changed since he was last invited inside, and Zack decided to let the topic drop.

It was silly anyway. He'd used the basic four-letter swear words long before he joined SOLDIER (not that his mother knew that) and he was unlikely to stop just because his girlfriend thought it was cute.

"Pixie tits," he chuckled softly.

At least it shut Genesis up.

End note: If you don't recognize one of the Loveless quotes there might be a good reason for this: I made it up. Considering the mystique that's built up around this poem, I figure it has to be at least the length of Beowulf or the Norse eddas. So a few thousand lines. Obviously, we didn't get to hear them all in game.

Also, I am sorry for how long it took to get this next chapter out. I say that a lot, enough that I should be embarrassed. However, i am writing much slower than I should. (Why does adulting have to be so hard?) I can't promise I'll speed up any, but I will keep plugging away at it.

That aside, I hope you are all staying safe and healthy. I'd like to say this can't last much longer, but historically pandemics last two years so… Anyway, take care everyone.