Exodus: The Assassin's Path
/ Exodus: The Assassin's Path 97 The Three Ps
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Q opened his eyes, and slowly reached for the door. It opened with a *hiss* before he touched it.
A pair of clear blue eyes filled with concern, stared at him.
"I'll help you Q." Tal opened the door further and then locked it in it's upright position.
Q slid the neural netting off of his head as he swung his feet toward the door, "damn, my muscles are so stiff." He accepted the hand Tal offered and stood up.
Anna was sitting on his bed, staring at him. "It's nice to have you back."
"I need a shower, and something to eat. Not necessarily in that order. "
"Hey.." Anna stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him. She reached up and gave Quinn a quick peck that landed on the corner of his mouth. "I'll make some sandwiches, it's already lunch time."
'Damn.. technically that was on the lips. It's common knowledge, any lip is all lip.' "Sounds good, just need a few minutes." He slowly started making his way to the shower.
He felt an arm reach around him, "I'll help you Quinn, you're moving like Pops"
Quinn nodded, "I feel like an old man. I haven't moved my body in over a day."
They arrived in the bathroom, Q frowned at Tal.. "I'm a bit stinky, I can manage from here Tal."
The blonde shook her head, "arms up Little Q."
Q raised his arms, and Tal grabbed the bottom of his shirt, lifting it up and over his head.
Tal stared at Quinn.. her beautiful blue eyes glancing at his chest and shoulders. "You better not ever mention it."
"Hmm? What? That you helped me get undressed? "Q gave her a big smile. "Wouldn't dream of it."
"No.. not that." Tal stepped closer and softly pressed her lips to his. Lingering for a moment before she stepped back, her eyes red. "It's better when you're around, so be more careful." She turned abruptly and walked out of the bathroom.
Quinn stared at her as she walked away, he pushed the bathroom door closed and finished getting undressed. "What was that all about? He turned on the hot water and grabbed his toothbrush.
A few minutes later Quinn walked down the stairs, slowly for once, taking his time. Renri had put the wheel chair away, and was using a walker.
"A walker already? That's amazing, did you borrow it from Pops?"
"....." Ben.
"Right?" She moved closer to him. "Sorry I can't hug and hold myself up at the same time."
"Heh.. an opening!! Quinn took a big step and hugged her tight.. She giggled, her long hair falling against his face as he picked her off he ground.
"Quinn! Don't drop me!"
Carefully he sat her down, waiting until she had a grip on the walker again before he let go. "I surely won't!"
He held a chair for Ren as she sat , then he plopped down next to her. "There was an extra large bottle of water next to his plate."
"Make sure you drink that Quinn," Ben reached out his hand and grabbed the young mans hand as they all joined hands.
"Thank you for the meal."
"And God bless Quinn," Tal added, her face a bit redder then normal.
"I got you something in TAP Ren." He smiled at her, she loved surprises.
"Really? What is it?" Ren leaned forward, completely forgetting that she was eating her first sandwich in two years.
"Not saying!" Quinn polished off one sandwich and started on another. He chugged his water, "my body feels like a sponge."
Ben nodded, "number one cause of issues in VR are from dehydration."
Quinn nodded. "This is a great sandwich Anna. All Hail the sandwich Queen.!"
"HAIL" everyone joined in, causing Anna to laugh.
"It's great to have you back!" Ren was eating her sandwich with both hands.
"Why are you holding that like a chipmunk?" 'Damn, I got extra cheese on mine. Awesome!!'
Ren eyed him suspiciously, "there are known food snatchers lurking in the area."
"I will definitely help out if someone tries to snatch your food Ren." Quinn glanced up, frowning as he noticed that everyone was staring at him. "What?"
Tal had been silently watching until now. "Pizza and Pool party tonight?"
Quinn's eyes lit up.. "The three holy P's. I'll drink a ton of water and then take a nap."
By the time lunch was over, Quinn was starting to feel like his old self, Tal had given him a second water bottle after the first, and then forced electrolytes on him.
After cleaning up lunch with Pops, Quinn walked up the stairs, stopping at Tal's doorway. She was sitting at her desk, drawing up some plans on a sketch pad. "What ya doing Tal?"
She had taken her prosthetic off and was rubbing the scarred stump absent mindedly. "We should finish the surveying in two days, after that we can start building Aqueducts."
Quinn grabbed a bottle of lotion from the shelf near her desk and sat down. "Let's go.. bring it up." He patted his leg.
"Hey.. you don't have to do that."
Q shrugged and scooted his chair closer. "Isn't it fine?"
"Quinn.." she sighed softly and placed her stump on his leg.
Quinn squirted some lotion on his hands and massaged it gently into the area around the knee. "Tell me about that BMFG."
Tal grinned and turned the page on her sketch book, showing him a drawing of it. "I actually gained 15 levels the first time I fired it."
"Damn, so many? What level are you now? " Quinn knew that Ben, Tan and Ren all had been given Deviant Abilities by the system. Tal's was a combat engineer.
"That hit on Ba'Avriel was worth 3 levels, brought me up to 35." Tal leaned back in her chair, she had put her pencil behind her ear.
"You're going to catch me!" Que finished rubbing the lotion in and continued massaging the muscles.
"Picked up a skill, Cannoneer." Tal laughed when she said it.
"It makes sense I guess." Quinn nodded, a deviant ability would have skills associated with it.
Tal continued to page through her sketch book until she found a hand drawn map of Fora with all the Aqueducts, Roads and City sites added. She held it up to show Quinn.
"You drew that?" He finished up and then wiped the excess lotion onto his arms.
Tal nodded. "We can do it all too,build everything. It won't really take that long.
Q stifled a yawn, and stood up. "Hey.. think you could design a mid-range rifle?"
Tal smiled, "it's way easier to do something like that in TAP, then in the real world."
"Think you could make two of them? One for each of us?" Quinn started walking toward the door. Tal's room smelled like cinnamon. It was making him want more food.
Tal nodded. "I could, you want some long range damage?"
Quinn thought about it for a moment. "Mid-range, 50-400 meters. Something I can throw up to my shoulder and fire quickly."
Tal pursed her lips and took the pencil off of her ear. "So definitely open sights, the barrel needs to be shorter if it's a quick aim type of gun."
Quinn watched her sketch on the pad. "You should have some type of weapon if you are hanging out in the countryside. If engineering and firing that cannon gave you the cannoneer skill, maybe it works the same with the rifle. "
"That makes sense, is that why you are asking?" Tal paused her sketch.
"Nope I want to have a shooting contest with you and kick your behind!" Quinn called back over his shoulder as he left the room.
"In your dreams Q-bear!"
Quinn froze in the doorway for a moment, before continuing to his room.
Tal's laughter followed him.
Quinn slept the rest of the afternoon, he woke up a few times to use the bathroom, every time he did there would be a full bottle of water next to his bed. He looked at his bed.. 'where is my other pillow?'
Tal's door was open so he peeked in, 'no Tal and no pillow. The mystery continues.'
"Quinn!" Ren called his name from downstairs.
He slid down the railing, managing to keep his footing. 'Yes I'm back!'
He glanced up, to see Anna, Tal and Ren sitting on the couch.
"Small deduction for the step on the dismount." Anna looked at Tal.
Tal nodded, "I concur, no higher then 9.5."
Quinn frowned at them both. "Damn judges," he muttered under his breathe.
"I thought you showed great energy.." Ren scratched her chin.. then raised her arms over her head. "It's a 10!!
"Hmph... that's why Ren's the best..!" Quinn walked in the kitchen and grabbed a orange from the basket.
"She only gave you a ten because you said you got her a present in TAP!" Anna narrowed her eyes. "I stand by my score!
"Same here," they fist bumped each other.
"I got the two of you something also."
Tal's blue eyes lit up, "you got me something too?"
"After carefully thinking it over, I realized that I was using the incorrect criteria and have therefore changed your score to a 9.8" Anna smiled, she was a shameless, shameless woman.
Tal gave her a menacing look. "I too seemed to have used last years criteria, and have changed your score to 9.85.
Ren gave Quinn the thumbs up.. "can I have their presents too?"
Quinn nodded. "Yep."
"...." Tal.
"Q-Bear!!"
Pops walked in, he was wearing a blue blue tank top with matching knee length trunks and flip flops. "I ordered the pizzas... 30 minutes tops." He walked out the kitchen door to the backyard.
"Damn, I've never been in my back yard." Quinn skipped toward the door.
It was a large back yard, Roses lined the far fence, but besides those it was pretty bare. "I think I'll put aside more afternoon time to go outside.. "
Quinn was about to jump in the pool, when he put on the brakes. "Damn, what am I thinking?" He walked back in the house, straight to Ren's room.
Ren was sitting on the bed in her swimsuit. It was a conservative blue tankini . "Whoa.. That's super cute Ren!"
Ren nodded. "I picked it out! Mom and I went shopping after therapy yesterday."
"Well... I'm your ride." Quinn turned around and backed up slowly toward the bed. "Di Di Di Di."
Ren smiled and shook her head. "I'm not ten.. Do something better!"
Quinn breathed a heavy sigh, "sadly the old stuff is all I have."
Ren hugged his neck tight as she clung to his back. "Hey Q.. I wanted to say that I saw a video feed of the night you woke me up."
Quinn looked over his shoulder at her as he used his foot to open the back door. "I was pretty awesome right?"
"Everything else aside, you played remarkably well."
"I knew you'd hear me if I could play it perfectly." He pause near the pool.. "Want to sit first or go in the water?"
"Mom said I could have some pizza, so of course I'll wait. "
A while later Anna walked in carrying Chicago's Pizza boxes.
'Oh god... she's wearing the dreaded swim shirt. What fool invented those? To make matters worse, it was long sleeve.'
"Pizza's here!" Anna sat it on the patio table and started grabbing napkins.
"Wheres Tal?" He looked around, everyone seemed to be shrugging.
"I'll go check."
Up the stair two at a time, he paused in Tal's doorway. She was sitting on her bed, wearing a bright orange bikini, with a wrap around her waist. She looked up when she heard Quinn in the doorway.
"Hey.. pizzas here Tal.." He could sense her somber mood so he walked in. "What's up Talia?"
"Sh.. Should a woman like me even wear a swimsuit like this?"
She had taken her prosthetic off, earlier she had been looking forward to swimming but now she was hesitating.
"A woman like you?" Quinn rubbed his chin, "So a sweet, smart and beautiful woman? Yep, I think it's okay."
"Quinn.. be serious."
"I am.. and I've come to give you a ride!" Quinn turned around and took a knee in front of her.
"Don't you dare drop me!" Tal smiled against the back of his neck as she hugged him.
"When have I ever dropped anyone?" He stood up and headed downstairs.
Quinn walked through the kitchen carrying Tal.."They better not have started eating without us!"
Half an hour later, only a few slices remained.
"Damn Quinn, you're going to blow up if you eat any more!" Anna shook her head in dismay, 5 pieces of deep dish. Simply astounding.
Quinn walked toward the poolside rubbing his distended belly. "So good!"
Ren was sitting on the pools edge with her feet in the water. Quinn slowly waded toward her and held out his hand, "wanna come in?"
Ren and Quinn splashed around in about three feet of water. It was the ideal depth for Ren who was still building her strength. Quinn was chasing her around the pool as the bubble shark.
"That's not even scary anymore goof."
"Oh?" Quinn swam toward her, one hand on his head as a fin, while blowing bubbles in the water. Right before he caught her he submerged and grabbed her leg.
Ren squealed loudly trying to get away. Quinn resurfaced with her foot in hand. "Caught.. by the dreaded bubble shark."
Ren started giggling as Quinn wiggled her toes.. "Don't tickle okay? Don't!"
Quinn nodded and let go. "Of course I won't." 'Damn it... I have to be merciful because she's recovering.'
Finally the rest of the house joined them, even pops. They spend the next half an hour relaxing and unwinding.
"Hmm.. next please?" Quinn was treading water in the deep end. Anna and Tal were holding on the side of the pool, they were both out of breathe.
They'd been holding various contests, the two women had ganged up on him after they discovered that they couldn't beat him in anything water related.
"You guys should just give up." Pop was sitting in the lounge chair drinking a beer.
"Quinn's part fish, its' an uphill battle. " Ren always rooted for Quinn, even against her mom.
"I've got it.. breathe holding." Anna smiled pleasantly. "In the interest of fairness, we'll go two against one."
"Certain doom,' Ren called out from the side.
"Yep," Pop agreed. "Destined for failure."
Anna smiled sweetly at Quinn.. "Tal will go first, she'll pull on my foot when she's had enough and I"ll come down for the kill!"
Quinn shot her an unconcerned look and pulled his goggles down.
Tal approached him, her orange goggles matched her bikini.. "ready little Q-Bear?"
Quinn nodded, "your attempt to take me off my game by using the 'hated' nickname has been documented and put away for later use."
"What's that even mean ?" Tal grinned at him.. "Ready?"
Quinn nodded, "Go." They both submerged at the same time, using there arms to go to the bottom.
They stared at each other from a few feet away, trying to make each other laugh. Quinn noted that Tal's best features were even more impressive underwater. After about a minute, Tal was starting to struggle, Quinn gave her a sympathetic shrug and waved bye-bye as she pulled Anna's ankle and went to the surface.
Quinn watched Anna paddle down until she was sitting on the pool floor across from him. She was an island girl, and a corporate lawyer. Quinn decided that was capable of just about anything. About a minute later she also started showing signs of struggling.
Quinn mouthed an underwater yawn. Anna's eyes narrowed and she grabbed the bottom of her shirt and lifted it up to her chin.
Quinn's eyes widened as he swallowed some pool water.. 'that's it? That's all she's got? The infamous 'underwater flash' and you think I'd cave? Denied!'
Quinn made a square with his hands and mimicked taking a picture, then shot her a thumbs up. 'Very nice, thanks for the show.' Anna lowered her shirt and surfaced.
Quinn watched her go up, waited for another few seconds and then nonchalantly surfaced.
Ren was clapping off to one side, Quinn bubble sharked over to her.
Anna clung to the side of the pool gasping for air while Tal gave her some sympathy.
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"Little fish bastard! My secret strategy didn't work." Anna sighed heavily.
Tal turned to watch Quinn as he started chasing Ren again. "You showed him the girls?"
"Yep... didn't even phase him." They looked at each other and both started laughing.
"Hey I watched a replay of the live OP feed while Quinn was sleeping."
"It turned out great right? 20 million Live views, its crazy." Anna had turned off her hud for the day, it was something that Quinn insisted on.
Tal smiled at Anna. "It's nice having you here."
Half an hour later everyone had finally had enough and started cleaning things up around the pool area.
"Pops how's things going at the warehouse?" Quinn hadn't been able to check things out .
"The faction building are all instbuilds, so we have a barracks and forge next to the warehouse." Pops answered.
"There is an Eyrie to be built now also." Quinn secretly hoped that they'd wait until he got there so he'd be able to see it in action. "I'll get us a blacksmith for the forge"
Finally a few minutes later, the lights in the house started to shut off.
"Night Tal." Her room was right next to his, so Quinn knew that she could hear him.
"Night little Q." Tal smiled into her pillow.
After a moment.. "Love you Tal."
"Love you too."
"Log On Tap."
Chapter end
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