"Fuck you, I know what I said." Marissa snapped harshly
"And I'm telling you, you need to focus on your partner's actual needs more." Dr Michael said, frustrated
"My needs are to be squeezed and held and put in cozy pockets." I said "She does a great job at that."
"You really shouldn't be here at her therapy session, she can't speak openly if she's got you in her front pocket." he sighed
"No, see, I'm her accountability partner, I'm supposed to make sure she doesn't drink. If I wasn't here, she might be chugging grain liquor for all I know." I said "I'm just doing my job."
"She's not going to 'chug grain liquor' at therapy, Amber. You could have stayed with the receptionist"
"I might have chugged grain liquor, who knows?" Marissa said, shrugging "Anyway, fuck you, I'll bite her if I want."
"Uh huh, she can bite me if she wants, I'm hers, it's her right to bite me." I said, nodding
"You're not 'hers'. You're her responsibility, and her biting you crosses the line between caretaker and lover." he said, writing in his notebook
"I mean, she is my lover." Marissa said "As much as anyone can be at four inches tall at least."
"Yeah, I'm her lover, her biting me proves it, you said so yourself." I agreed
"You two aren't supposed to be lovers." he sighed "The power difference is too great. Amber, what if you want to break up with her and she doesn't let you?"
"That's kinda hot..." I said, thinking about it "Like, I like her owning me already, so it'd be like, even more of that?"
"If you ever break up with me, I'm stepping on you." Marissa said
"Hey, no!" I said "We agreed no feet, just squish me with your hand instead."
"She doesn't own you!" the therapist said, standing up partway out of his chair "She is caring for you, you need to re-frame your whole relationship!"
"Ok, but I do kinda own her?" Marissa said, crossing her legs. I suppressed an urge to jump out of her shirt pocket and nestle into the thigh-flesh where her legs met...
"Honestly though? I bought her, I do what I want with her, I keep her in a box in my room, I feed her, I clothe her, I own the little bitch."
"Yeah, she owns me, it's fine, I like her owning me." I said, smiling to him sweetly
He sighed and sat down, running his hand through his hair and shaking his head "This is... the most problematic relationship between a class B and their guardian I've ever seen, and I once did therapy for a pair who were doing adult videos without the class B's consent."
"Hey, I know him!" I said, perking up "We're friends, Paul, right?"
The therapist looks at me, his face lightly pained "...I... Just- Can I please talk to Amber one on one?"
Marissa cupped me in her hand "Why, so you can trick her into saying something that will get her taken away?"
"My job isn't to get class Bs taken away, it's to help you have better relationships with them." he said tiredly "I'll only try to get the class B removed if there's something illegal or potentially dangerous going on."
"Just to be clear, me being bitten isn't dangerous." I said "It's playing, we're totally safe about it and everything, we use the traffic lights to tell if I need to take a break."
"Traffic lights?" he asked
"Green is keep going, yellow is take it easy or not as hard, red is full on stop playing and re-group." Marissa said "Gods, it's like, basic shit, why don't you know this?"
"I'm... not in the habit of discussing kink play with my clients, I'm a class B relations therapist, why- I don't-" he pulled off his glasses "...Leave Amber on the desk, step outside. This isn't a request, I need to talk to her in private, or I'm not going to be your therapist anymore."
"Fine by me, I don't even want therapy." Marissa snarked
"Oh, uh, actually..." I said "we kinda probably should do what he's asking. Because of your mom?"
"That's right, if I kick you out of the program, how do you think your mother would feel?" Dr Michael asked
Marissa made a noise like a frog having its tongue scraped, and looked away.
"I'm sure it's just a chat like the one the doctor had with me a couple weeks ago." I told her "I'll just tell him what I'm telling him now, and it'll all be over in a flash."
"Ugh, fine, but like, I'm right outside, and if you try to do anything fucky to her, I'll-." Marissa narrowed her eyes, realizing that threatening her therapist was a bad idea "...I'll be angry..."
She slid me into her hand and gave me a squeeze and a little kiss, and then set me on the desk, watching me with her beautiful green eyes. She huffed, annoyed at the situation, but she stood up and stalked out of the room anyway, slamming the door behind her. I watched her go, and folded my arms. I'd been apart from her very little since she got back; Thursday she'd had practice so I was on the bench, this morning she was with her mom and I stayed hidden, bathroom trips and showers of course, but most of the time, even while we were sleeping, we were within a few inches of each other at the most. It was odd to be away from her, it felt like I should feel her warmth all the time, like she was an extension of me. Or I was an extension of her, more accurately.
I turned to Dr Michael and raised my chin "Well? You wanted to talk?"
He lowered his chair to be closer to my height and leveled a look at me "Amber, I need you to be honest with me."
"Yup, called it." I said, sitting down on the wooden surface
"There's nothing to 'call', Amber. You're in an abusive relationship."
"Nnnno, I'm in a sub/dom relationship that I consent to and enjoy."
"Who's idea was it to start the relationship?" he asked
"We- I don't know, we just compromised and found ourselves in the middle." I said "No one 'started it'. She said I love you first, but I called her my girlfriend first."
"Ok, but which of you initiated the... play sessions?" he asked
I shuffled "Uh, she wanted the first one, I asked her for the second one, I guess."
"So she used her position of power to play with you?" he asked
"I mean that's what a dom does." I said "That's just- it's normal."
"I don't think her being your dom is normal at all in the first place, she shouldn't be bullying you like that, you can't say no."
"I can say no, she'd respect it." I said coldly "I'm an adult, Michael. Just because my body isn't the same as yours doesn't change that. It's more dehumanizing for you to tell me I can't consent because my body is like this than it is for her to play with me. She loves me, she cares about me, she respects me. You're being an ass about it, and I'm fed up with it."
"I'm not being an 'ass', Amber, I'm concerned about your safety." he sighed and shook his head "I can't help you if you don't let me, you know."
"Good, I'm not letting you. Fuck off and let my cool, loving girlfriend do what she wants to me."
He looked at me for a few minutes and swallowed, his expression tight. After a few minutes of me not responding further, he pressed the button on his desk. "Kandra, send Marissa back in."
Almost at once, she strode in and grabbed me off the deck roughly. I clung to her fingers like a life preserver, snuggling into her palm. She glared down at me, her lip curling "What the fuck did he say?"
"Same old shit." I said, enjoying her "Claims I can't consent because you could force me to do stuff if you wanted."
"I just think that's a stupid fucking argument." she snapped, bringing me up to her face "If someone's like, a body builder and they date a... I don't know, basement dweller or something, is that a problematic relationship? The body builder could bully the basement dweller and stuff after all."
"Any imbalance of power can potentially be problematic, yes." Dr Michael said
"So you're gay, then, right?" Marissa asked
"I- what?" he looked confused
"Well, the patriarchy gives men an unfair power dynamic over women, so if you're dating women, you're flexing your power dynamic over them. Even if you're not using it, it's still there and you could abuse it." Marissa said, giving me a quick peck "If you're talking to us this way, you must be gay, because fucking other men is the only non-problematic way to date, in your worldview."
"I- no, that's not the same at all!" Dr Michael said angrily "Amber is incapable of consent!"
"Amber is a soon to be twenty one year old woman who can make her own choices, fucker, how many times do I have to say it?" Marissa growled, her voice low and throaty. I hummed and kissed next to her mouth
"...I think our session is over for the week." Dr Michael said, closing his notebook "Marissa, I- please, take it easy, try to focus on her as someone you need to take care of, ok?"
"Oh, I take care of her." Marissa said "I take care of alllll her needs..."
"Just get out, I need to talk to my colleagues about this..." he muttered
"Whatever." Marissa said, picking her purse off of the chair and dropping me in "See you next Friday."
I curled up against the glasses cloth I'd landed on and looked up at her walking out of the office, head held high, not looking down at me once. Fuck therapy, I loved this...
~~~
The download finally finished and I clapped my hands. It'd been hours, the wi-fi on my new console was so, so slow... I plugged in the headphones and picked up the slightly too big controller, opening the game.
"Missy! It's done!" I yelled out the open wall of my house
A moment later, a pinging noise sounded out in my headphones and I tapped the button, connecting the call.
"Alright, let's play this nerd game of yours, how do we start?" Marissa asked
"You gotta make a character!" I said, putting in my log-in info "I'll make a new one too so we can play together right away."
"Ok, let me- Uh... What are these options?" she asked "I was thinking it'd be like, elves and dwarves, what the heck is a Loropie?"
"Those are little bunny characters, they're little and good at being sneaky." I said "I'm going to play whatever helps your character most, so pick whatever you like!"
"This one lady is cool" Marissa said "She's like, really tall, and she had horns, I wanna be her."
"Those are the dragons, that's a Drogernian, if you're one of those, you'll be playing a close range character, so I'll be..." I flipped through the options "...ah, shit."
"What, is something wrong with your game system?" Marissa asked, concerned
"No, it's-" I sighed "The best ranged support class is the Magi-Gauntleteers, and the best race for those is... The Muronites..."
"Muro... huh, oh, here they are." she murmured "Ahh, ok. Yeah, no, you gotta do it, Stress Toy, you said you would!"
"I know, I know." I said, reluctantly picking the little rodent-person "Just... keep it friendly, 'k?"
"Yeah, yeah, no name calling, I got it." she laughed "Ok, so it's asking me to like, pick stuff on a chart to make my character look like me, how accurate does it need to be?"
"No, just- just make any character you like." I said "It's supposed to be anything you want, really. Just make the person you'd like to be, it's fine, that's what I do!"
"Mm, fun, yeah." she said, and went quiet for a while
I finished setting up my character, and joined the starter world, watching the opening scene and loading in to the hub while I waited.
"Ok, ok, so, like, I pick a... you said close range?" she asked
"Yeah, do you like big swords or big hammers more?" I asked her
"Hammers." she said instantly "I wanna squash people"
"Not thinking about that too hard." I said "You'll want to be a Mountainsbane then."
"Ok, ok, and it's asking me about a world?"
The one that says 'starter world', that's where I am." I told her "I'm waiting for you to join, I'm at the spawn location."
"Alright, it's- oh, shit it's a movie?"
"Yeah, watch it, but it's not important to remember all of it, it sets up our world and mission, it's fine."
We waited on her to watch the opening cutscene, and I kicked my feet in excitement. Henri only had handheld consoles, so she'd never been able to play with me before, this would be my first time playing with a friend I didn't meet in-game. Finally, eventually, she popped in next to me, and I did a dance emote at her.
"Oh, fuck, my cool clothes went away, I'm wearing rags..." she said "How do I change back?"
"You gotta earn the cool clothes from the character maker." I said "It's late-game stuff, that's just is supposed to show you how badass you will be soon."
"Fuck that shit, I want to be badass now..." she muttered "How are you wiggling like that? Is there a button?"
"On keyboard it's... uhhh... spacebar, then type slash-dance, then enter."
"What the fuck?" she asked "Fuck, am I going to have to fucking type everything I want to do? I've played games like that, my dad showed me his favorites from when he was a kid, they aren't for me."
"No no no, sorry, there's a menu too, in the lower right, I- I just use the commands, you can click buttons, or set the dances to a number key or something."
"I have ten number buttons, will I need all of them?" she asked, walking around jerkily, apparently using the click-to-walk instead of wsad
"You'll need more than that." I said "If you hold shift you can swap between like, multiple sets of zero through one hotkeys."
"Shit, fuck Amber, I don't know if I'm up for this." she said "That's a lot to keep track of..."
"You play RTS games, you're not allowed to complain about complexity." I pointed out "This is easier, it's just different, it's ok."
"Is there a tutorial?" she asked "I don't have any powers and I can't figure out how to hit you with my hammer."
"There is, we can go get you a hammer. You don't have one yet. Also you can't use it in cities, we'll have to go out into the wastes for that."
"But I can hit you with it, right?"
"It'll go through me, but yeah. When we hit level thirty we can do PVP and fight, and you can hit me for real then though."
"Great, let's get to level thirty then, I guess." she said "Hey, just don't rush me on this, ok? I don't play a lot of games other than that one we play, and... this one is a lot."
"I understand." I told her "If you're ok with it I could take charge? Just while we play the game, I could be the... you?"
"...Just for the game?" she asked quietly
"Yeah, just to help you learn stuff, I'll be the one in charge, I'll guide you and walk you through it. You can still choose the quests, but I'll make sure you have support and know what to do."
"...Ok, I guess." she said "Just for the game, I'll let you be in charge. I still plan on squashing you when we get to level thirty though."
I smiled and danced at her again "I'm looking forward to it!"
~~~
I wrapped around Marissa's finger and bit it lightly. She bopped me on the head and squeezed. I laughed and dropped back into her hand, fixing my dress- a nice red one with lots of material in the skirt- and stuck my tongue out at her.
"So, think your dad can keep a secret?" I asked, glancing out the car window at the fancy house we'd just pulled up to
"Yeah, it's Raquel I'm worried about..." Marissa grumbled
"Does she talk to your mom?" I asked "I thought she'd hate her."
"They hate each other, yeah, but she's an asshole, she'd make a post about it and how much she supports it and tag mom just to cause drama." Marissa said, slipping me into her pocket
"Damn, so no pda, I guess." I grumbled
"Nope, just regular squeezes and stuff." she sighed.
She opened the door and slowly walked to to the door, knocking firmly. I kept my head poked up out of her pocket, it was a flannel over a plain grey shirt, and with the jeans she wore, she looked... so normal, so much less scary... She didn't have a lot of clothes with pockets up on the chest or close to the face, so she was having to dip deep into her wardrobe, outside of her usual style. She crossed her arms and I leaned back against her as we waited, wondering if this visit would go any better than the last...
The door finally opened, and John stood there, grinning widely, waving her in.
"Missy! Great to see you, and, ah, Amber was it? Good to see you too!" he said
"Good to see you too, Daddy!" Marissa said, and hugged him, not bothering to avoid smushing me between them
We all walked into the living room where Raquel is already sitting, looking smug and proud of herself. She was dressed like she was expecting to go to an opera tonight instead of seeing her step-daughter, and her white and blue dress was spread around her on the big sofa, marking her territory.
"Why hello Marissa! It's always so good to see you!" she said, her eyes flicking to my little form peeking at her
"Hello Raquel." Marissa said flatly, and took her seat in the cushioned chair Raquel had been in last time
"I'm going to go get us some lemonade and get some out to Drew, Missy, you want the usual?" John asked
"Ah, I'm not- I'm not drinking right now." Marissa said, and I felt her subtly glance at Raquel "I'm... taking a break for now."
"Oh, it's just one glass, I'll make it half as strong, sound good?" he said genially
"No thank you, just regular lemonade sounds perfect right now." Marissa said more firmly
John threw up his hands and grinned easily "Got, it, just regular lemonade, I'll be right back. I, uh, think your mom has something to show you!"
"Johhnnnn!" Raquel whined "Hush, go on, I'll tell her myself!"
He laughed and stepped away as Marissa reluctantly turned towards Raquel and sighed "Ok, what is it you wanted to show me?"
Raquel preened "Wellll.... I can't say I liked the idea of having the rat in my pocket-"
"Amber, not 'the rat'." Marissa said coldly
"-fine, I didn't want her in my pocket, but I was thinking, what about a little man? I could so get a little guy that was just a little man to love on and to play with, and... well, I did it!" she said proudly
Marissa raised an eyebrow "You took a twelve hour class?"
"I found a private testing facility with less strict rules and took the class-thingy there." she said "Then I had the little guy shipped from a place up north!"
"Shipped?!" I asked in alarm
"He had a little water sponge, it was fine." Raquel said. She pulled out her phone and tapped a couple times. A ringing sounded out somewhere deeper in the house, and she smiled "Yes, Joss? Please bring in my little guy!"
As she hung up, the sound of something rolling across hard floors sounded out, and soon a well-dressed woman in a black skirt and a tuxedo style top walked out of the far hallway pushing a cart with a beige box on top. She wheeled it over between Marissa and Raquel and gave a light bow before walking quickly out of the room again. The box was roughly two and a half feet square, and it looked... sad.
There was a little bed, a bowl of water, a pile of those horrible pellets for class Bs, a blanket, a hamster wheel, and in the center, a man in a white t-shirt and black pants, about my height. He was standing with his arms crossed and a glare on his face, and Raquel clapped when she saw him.
"Look, look!" she said "He's so small and fun! I call him Munchkin!"
"What's his real name?" Marissa asked
"I don't know, it's Munchkin now." Raquel said, shrugging.
The man met my gaze, and his eyes widened, his arms uncrossing for a moment before his glare hardened again and he huffed. Raquel reached down and picked him up by his shirt and he instantly started struggling, his arms flailing and legs kicking as she brought him up to her face and gave him a kiss and laughed.
"He's so much fun! I love getting to watch him run around and play..." she crooned
"You're not allowed to kiss him like that unless he gives you permission you know." Marissa said coldly
"Well if I let him decide he'd just hide in his blankets all day." Raquel sighed "Besides, he doesn't mind."
I watched the man with a blue lipstick stain on his face and shirt struggling and I shivered, it looked like he minded a lot, actually.
Raquel put him back in the box and pointed at me "I thought our pets could play!" she said "We could see how they get along!"
Marissa slowly pulled me out of her pocket and her fingers danced across my body "I don't know... I don't know this guy."
"I see you've met Munchkin!" John said, taking a seat next to Marissa in his chair "He's not as cute as Amber, but he sure is fun to watch!"
"Fun?" Marissa asked, gently rubbing my tummy with her thumb
"Yeah, watching him climb your mom is crazy, she'll put a pellet on her shoulder and he'll have to climb up her dress all the way there, or we'll put him on the floor in a little ball, and he'll just go, bouncing off stuff, running everywhere he can!"
"I'm so glad you gave me the idea to get him." Raquel grinned "I've been waiting to show him off for a week!"
"Yeah..." Marissa said, holding me with both hands "He's- you should really get him an actual house or something, this thing is jank."
"I'm ordering a custom one, it'll have a lock on it so he can't get out," she said "All the ones on the market don't lock for some reason, how did you fix that issue?"
"I just... actually want to be with her?" I piped up "I don't need a lock, I like being with Marissa."
"I guess our little guy will come around in time then!" John smiled, drinking a swig of his lemonade
"Maybe..." Marissa said, eyeing him.
"Here, put Amber in there too!" Raquel said "I want them to play!"
Marissa looked at me, and I looked at the box. It looked... not fun, and the guy was still angry, but if talking to him could help me guide him into having a better life somehow, it was worth putting up with it for a little while. I nodded to Marissa, and she made a face. She carefully set me in front of him, and pulled her hand away slowly. I looked at the guy, he was just a regular guy. Angry, messy looking, balding brown hair and a five o'clock shadow, just... a guy. I stepped forward and put out my hand.
"Hi, I'm Amber. What's your name?" I said
"...Munchkin, apparently." he snapped, but he took my hand "...It's Jasper."
"It's nice to meet you Jasper." I said, trying twice to take my hand back before he glanced down and let go "I, uh, this is your home?"
"It's where I live, I guess." he said, crossing his arms again.
"Yeah, I gathered." I said, trying to think of a conversation topic "Uh, do you have anything you like to do?"
"Look around, do you see anything?" he waved one hand around the box
I looked around and pointed at the hamster wheel "There's that, do you like to run? I do a lot of cardio myself, when I have the chance. I like the rush!"
He shook his head "I can't say I'm a fan. You can give it a go, though."
I waved down at my clothes "Yeah, I'm... not really dressed for running right now. My dress would get caught in the spokes."
He shrugged "Ok, so take it off, problem solved."
I frowned at him "I'm- I don't want-" I glanced up at Marissa, but she'd sat back in her seat and we were out of sight of each other. Raquel wasn't looking either, and I bit my tongue "...Maybe we just chat?"
If nothing else this was a chance to pick his brain about how he was being treated.
"How are you enjoying your living situation?" I asked
He sneered at me "How the fuck do you think?"
I sighed "Is she really that bad? If she's hurting you, I can-"
"It's not about getting hurt, I'm not a pussy, it's about respect." he said, his voice dripping with hate "She doesn't fucking respect me, I'm like a fucking dog to her. She doesn't even see me as a fucking man."
"It can be hard for new guardians to see their new wards as-" I tried
"It's not just that, she sees me as fucking impotent or something." he said "She'll put me in her top to carry me, no shame, because to her I'm not fucking big enough to be a man. I have to spend all day around a hot chick, and she doesn't even see fucking me as a possibility. Do you know how fucking much I want to kill her?"
"K-kill?" I said, thinking of Henri "She's a lot bigger than you, I- that's a tall order..."
"Really? You're making jokes about it?" he shook his head "Fucking bitches, all of you, I can't even get respect from a chick my size, what the fuck."
"It wasn't a joke!" I said, waving my hands "No, I was just- I'm kinda stupid, I didn't think about it."
"'Kinda' stupid?" he asked, stepping closer to me, and I noticed we weren't the same size, he was almost half a head taller and I flinched
He huffed and reached for me "Whatever. Look, I've got nothing to lose here, so why don't you just shut up and take off that dress already?"
I felt disgust, then fear, and I started to step back and scream, but his hand snapped forward and closed over my mouth. I felt a spike of panic set into me and I thrashed, his other hand finding all the same places Marissa's fingers did, but in a way that made my chest hurt and my brain feel sluggish and gross. I twisted and fell, him on top of me, his knee on my stomach, and his hand slipped off my mouth and slammed into the floor next to me. I screamed as loud as I could, and his hand found my face again and I tasted blood as my teeth hit my lips. I blotted out where his body was touching mine, and I tried to look away from his intense, focused, angry glare, but my survival instincts told me not to look away, to keep fighting. I wriggled, and I felt him grab me hard, and I choked, my legs kicking, kneeing him in the ass.
I pushed him up with all my might, and lifted him all of a handbreadth off of me. I steeled myself and tried to get his hand off my, if I could scream, if I could get Missy's attention-
Something large and fast snapped into my line of sight with a crunch and suddenly I wasn't looking at his face anymore, but the side and back of his head. His body spasmed and went limp, falling onto me. His mouth was at my ear, and a stream of gurgles and hisses came out. His hand was off my mouth and I screamed long and loud and hard as I rolled him off me, his head flopping at an unnatural angle. I gasped for air and looked up wildly to see Marissa staring down at me, her horrified face frozen, her hand still poised over us from where she'd flicked him. Jasper let out one last noise, a strangled cough, and then there was silence.
The quiet lasted for moments that felt like years, my eyes spilling tears, Marissa's threatening to, my chest screaming at me that I needed to lie down, my insides threatening to empty themselves, and after an eternity of nothing, the air was finally broken with the sound of Raquel letting out a horrible, keening wail, and reality came back to where it was supposed to be.
~~~
I lay in Marissa's hand as she sat against the wall of the living room. The cops and social workers clustered around the roll-around table, discussing... something, I couldn't imagine what they could possibly have to talk about still. I'd finished crying long ago and I was just holding on to Marissa's hand, drinking in and absorbing as much of her as I could before we were-
I didn't want to think about what was going to happen to me next. I kissed her palm and tried not to remember the crunching noise the man- Jasper's neck had made when she flicked him. She could do that to me... She could make me make those same sounds he had, twist my neck around like his did. Usually when I thought about her power, it made me feel safe, like I was special, but now there was a cold spike in my chest where I couldn't feel anything, that I had to ignore if I wanted to be ok touching her. I needed her, as much of her as I could get, but I was so, so scared. Seeing her do that in an instant, a heartbeat, it didn't matter how much she loved me, I understood the power difference so much more now, I didn't know if I could handle it.
I'd have to, I knew that much. Whoever I ended up with, I'd still have to put up with the power, the threat. I wanted it to be her. Even though she was the one who made me aware of the cold, terrifying void between me and the rest of humanity in the first place, she was the only person I could imagine even feeling slightly safe right now. She'd opened that void for me after all, to help me. I kissed her palm again, and she still didn't respond.
A shadow fell over us, and I flinched, Raquel back to scream at us more? John hadn't been able to calm her down, and had practically had to drag her to the kitchen, but I knew she was still furious at Marissa. I carefully looked up to see a man in a green uniform- the same kind the man who'd taken me from my family had worn- stood over us, notepad in hand.
This was it, this was when I got taken away and put back into the system. I lunged for Marissa's fingers, wrapping them around me and willing her to squeeze me, one last time. She blinked, her eyes focusing, and her hand closed on me, sealing me in her flesh. She glanced up at the man and her grip got stronger, forcing the air out of me.
"I'm not giving her up, you'll have to fight me for her." she said without emotion
"Miss Lund, we just need to ask a few questions." he said "We've gotten statements from Mr and Mrs Lund already, we just need you and Amber's statements."
"I saw him... on her, pinning her down, and I flicked him to make him stop hurting her." Marissa said "She was screaming, he was trying to pull at her dress."
"That's the whole statement you want to make?" he asked, frowning
"That's what happed, as far as I know." Marissa mumbled, loosening her grip
I took a deep, steady breath, and went back to hugging her fingers, the ice feeling in my chest still there.
"And Miss Park?" the man asked "Would you like to give a statement?"
I shivered, and sat up, using Marissa's thumb as a handhold "Y-yeah, I would."
I told the whole visit, as best as I could, trying to remember Jasper's exact wording and how he acted, and pushed through the descriptions of him attacking me. I ended with Marissa picking me up out of the box and holding me to her neck, shaking. I watched him write, and he nodded slowly and put the pen back on the notepad.
"Thank you for your cooperation." he said, and walked back over to the other group
I felt my eyes fill up with tears, I didn't want to lose her, I couldn't, I needed her at this point. I needed to be touching her, I just wanted to feel safe again, and all these giant people here were doing the opposite of that for me. I shuddered at the thought of any of the people milling around the living room just walking up and flicking me in the head, and I tried not to imagine Marissa doing the same. She'd bruised me a lot on our first day with a flick. What would have happened if she'd aimed for my face instead? Flicked just a little bit harder?
...If we were still going to be together, I'd have had to make a rule about no more flicking during playtime...
The man in green walked back over and crouched down in front of us again "At this time, we've determined that-"
"You're not taking her." Marissa said firmly
"Please listen closely to what I'm about to say, you may need to remember it in the future if it gets contested." The man said, slightly annoyed "We've determined that in this situation what you did was in service of the protection of your class B, and due to the circumstances, it was purely self-defense."
"Self-defense?" I asked "But she wasn't-" I caught myself before I accidentally talked him out of it
"Yes, in this case, Marissa counts as an intervenor. Usually you'd be looking at manslaughter in the case of self-defense ending in death, but because the attacker was a class B, there's no legal form of 'manslaughter' on the books. Since you were protecting your class B and acting in a role as guardian, we've decided you're allowed to keep your license and custody of Miss Park."
"Ohhhh thank the fucking gods." Marissa said, finally relaxing into a pile against the wall "Fuck, just fucking say that."
"I take it you have no objections to staying with Miss Lund, Miss Park?" he asked, looking at me
I shook my head furiously "No, none!"
He nodded and stood to leave, making another mark on his notepad, and Marissa tugged at his pants leg
"Hey, uh," she said "what about Raquel? She was pretty mad, is she..?"
The man made a face "Her license has been fully revoked and her access to class Bs restricted. She was found to have a fraudulently earned test result, and she adopted her class B from a government facility that should not have been adopting out the inmates. I'm sorry, but I'd recommend keeping Amber away from her, she's legally not allowed to be alone with her, or have a class B living in the house."
"Well. Fuck." Marissa said "That's fine, I don't care about her anyway, I was just hoping she wasn't going to be allowed to get a new one, I'm glad to hear that."
"Marissa?" a masculine voice called out, causing Marissa to let go of the man's leg and look around
I glanced over and saw John walking up to us, a slightly guilty look on his face. I flinched as he looked down at me in her hand with an odd expression "Your, uh, mom is here I had Drew go pick her up from the office. I know women are a lot better at dealing with this kind of emotional stuff, and-"
He looked over his shoulder at the kitchen where Raquel was and his shoulders dropped "...I'm a little busy with your other mom right now. If you're done here, it might be better for Raquel if you stepped out, maybe went home and took a nap."
Marissa looked at the man in green and he nodded, so she stood up "Yeah, I'll get out of your hair." she said quietly
"It's not like that, I just- she won't come out of the kitchen because she doesn't want to see you..." John said "She'll be fine soon."
"Yeah, I bet."
"I love you Missy, goodbye hug?" he asked
"...I gotta go." she muttered, and pushed past him, down the hall and out the front door
Miss Lund was standing next to the car, dressed in her business suit, and she nodded to us as we walked up.
"Hello, Marissa, I heard there was an accident?" she asked calmly
"Um, I..." Marissa said, her hand locking up. She looked down at me and back up to her mom "I- I think- I mean I know- I... I killed a guy."
Her hands started shaking and I had to brace myself to stop myself from falling over
"Mm, you killed something alright." Miss Lund said, still just as calm "Why did you do it?"
"He was- he- Amber, he was- I know you don't like me to have her, but he was on her, and she was screaming, and-"
"Tell me, do you value Amber?" Miss Lund said, cutting her off
"Mhhm, I really do." Marissa said, her voice cool and hollow
"You know what I think?" Miss Lund said, her finger finding my chin and gently tilting my face up to look at her
It was the first time she'd ever touched me. Her hands were warm, far too warm for someone with a heart as cold as hers
"I think..." she continued, her fingers dancing around my head "...that you did what you needed to in order to protect one of your assets."
"Asset?" Marissa asked, pulling me away from her mother's hand slightly
"Investment, asset, however you'd like to think of it." she said, stepping closer
Miss Lund had a smile on her face, it looked alien and wrong, broken in a way that clashed with how genuinely happy she looked.
"You did what you had to do to protect what's yours, what you value, even if it cost a life, even if others had to fall in front of you or lose the things they valued, you did it for you." she said softly, reaching her hand behind Marissa's head this time, brushing her hair out of her face "You're finally acting like my daughter again."
She embraced Marissa, and I was sealed between them as she held her daughter tightly and whispered to her, just loud enough for me to hear.
"I'm proud of you, Missy."
~~~