Page 225 of Light Leech

“He looked at me.”

“Boyband!”

“Mom!”

Kuni shocked him and he cursed.

Naoma smiled. “Thank you, Kuni.”

“I didn’t like it, like I said. I won’t try it again, I promise.”

“You’re not in trouble.” She winked at him.

A new voice. One I had missed since she lost consciousness in Arabasia. “Can I shock you too?”

“Ral.” I ran to embrace her.

Boyband’s glare was quick to expire. “You’re joking, right?”

She waved him in. “Come and find out.”

He shook his head, but gave in.

She blew a kiss to Naoma, then cocked her head at Abbas.

“Good to see you too,” Akna said, just behind her.

I pulled her in, forcing her to stand by Boyband.

Boyband glared at me, but struggled to hide a grin. “Hihow, Aknie.”

“Babyband.”

“Ralia, are you calling me that again behind my back?”

She let go and stepped back to take us all in with a sigh. “Zeg, you’re all so beautiful. Now say it back.”

While the rest of her body appeared normal, despite the lines of tech enhancement, she had forgone a psuedo-skin covering for the half of her face that she had lost in the battle against Nichley. Half of her face was done up with the typical light-enhanced makeup, while the other was a chromatic shimmer that caused the color to shift depending on the angle of observance. Her nose was intact, bearing a scar across the bridge, and her lips looked fine under a coat of red lipstick. Her hair on one side remained the same curly silver with hair-thin green tendrils coming out from the robotic side. They twisted with the other hair implanted into the metallic portion of her skull. Knowing Ralia, they had a purpose to serve beyond fashion.

“It looks beautiful,” Kuni said, though it came out as a direct response to her command.

“Wow,” Naoma said. “I actually love it.”

“Ass kissers,” Boyband scoffed. “Why the zeg did you give yourself an extra eye on your new chrome?”

“To see Naoma’s beauty twice as well, though looking at you, maybe I should have gone blind.”

He flipped her off.

She blew a kiss. “Time for a haircut, du. Your shag is losing its bowl-shape.”

“You good?” I asked Akna while they continued to bicker.

She smiled and nodded. “The break was nice, but I’m ready to get back to work.”

“Ralia keeping you too cooped up?”

“No, she’s preoccupied with her new mods. Without the risk of techbone, I feel like she’s trying to push herself too far into the tech side of life. She does know that techbone isn’t the only risk, right?”