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SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: RELEASED TO PUBLIC | DATE OF REVIEW: 19.02.2098 ||
AUTHORITY: WIPO | AUTHOR: S RUSHDIE |
DOCUMENT STATUS: FINAL VERSION | VERSION: 1.0
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If you hold down one thing you hold down the adjoining.
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SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: RELEASED TO PUBLIC | DATE OF REVIEW: 19.02.2098 ||
AUTHORITY: NETWORK CLOSECASTING | AUTHOR: NETWORK CLOSECASTING |
DOCUMENT STATUS: FINAL EDITED VERSION | VERSION: 1.12
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A cooked slice of bacon parabolas over her left shoulder, which is steadfastly pretending Zolotisty's not right behind her. There's a scuffleshufflesnamp, then Z wheels to hook her chin over the cold shoulder, squirrel-cheeked. She jaws, looping her arms 'round Dex's chest. Splatterguard, she reckons without explaining.
“You unset by the cameras?” Z murmurs into her ear after she swallows.
“The usual. These're done, c'mon.”
“L'make it bigger f'you temme-” Dex whirls around to silence her with a wide-eyed kiss. She lets Z pull away slowly. “Thank you for making bacons.”
Dex tries a reassuring smile before turning back to pile all the slices onto Z's plate. “Not eating meat anymore.” Not since hearing Z's story. She nudges past Z's hips on her way to the fridge. Zolotisty looks scandalized.
“You already eat none of the things. Why no meats.”
“Fruit isn't cute'n fluffly like animals,” she explains, carrying a pineapple to the cutting board and quickly making short work of it with one of her oversharp throwing knives.
“Mrn,” Z says, folding herself crosslegged on the bed. She narrows her eyes suspiciously at the skylights, pressing satiny bacon fat to the roof of her mouth. “Kiwis are fluffly,” she says after a moment. “Are you not going to eat the kiwis. Al-so, what if an animal is ugly but also delicious, like a pigs. Or a lobster. Or a tuna-“
“What. Tuna are beautiful!”
“Not even at all, Spandex. Also or a, ahmn. ..Bewilderbeest. Or a delicious shark.”
“Also beautiful.” Dex joins her on the bed with stretched-v legs, bowl of pineapple and smaller bowl of almonds between them. “And as long as I don' swallow,” she teases, jutting her chin towards Z's lap, “I can still be a vegetarian.”
Z looks puzzled, peering down at herself. She glances up with narrow eyes. “The first day you bite me is the same day I bite you there, Spandex, and I have bigger teeths.”
“So. F'you make holes in mine, I'll fill 'em with rings,” Dex lobs back.
”..like for weddings?”
“Means married only if you have them too.” Her tongue catches a rivulet of pineapple juice on her wrist. A cock-browed look. “Wanna?”
“Wut. Wanna what.”
“Get married. Jus'said.”
“You just - biting. Is not.. I would marry you. I thought you didn't want to.”
Dex's cheek juts out rectangular from a large chunk of pineapple. She chews slowly. “No. Not 'til one of us asks romantically.”
Z reaches for a hunk of pineapple to make a pineapple-bacon wrap. “Romantically how. With air balloons?”
Two bowls and one plate almost dump their picnic as Dex stretches forward to kiss Z full on the lips. Leaning back, she tosses a handful of almonds into her mouth and crunches on them happily. Z's look of dopey contentment lasts only as long as the bite of pineapple juice on her lips. Then she looks alarmed. “If I eat things of blood, does that mean we cannot kiss.”
Dex taps her chin. “S'okay if no tongues.” A shrug. “Sorry.”
Z whiiiiines. Dex laughs.
“You make me the happiest I've been in the whole world, Zolotisty.”
The act drops and Z goes soft-eyed, rearranging the dinnerware so that they can sit skin to skin. “I'm glad. But that makes me sad, a bit.”
Dex lays her hands on Z's knees. “Why? We may be happier tomorrow.”
“Not yesterday or last Season, though. Or when you were smaller.”
“When we were. But don't. Don't turn your eyes backwards, twist.”
Zolotisty smiles. “S'at like being definitive.”
“Mmn. It's not squandering feelings on assho-things we can't change, yeh,” she says, believing she caught her hypocrisy. Her hands slide up Z legs to hip-join creases.
“Mm.” Her eyes turn downward. The color in Dex's knuckles is back. Then it's up to her eyes, where there's calm now. Enchanted, Dex loses track of the conversation, and lifts a slice of bacon to Z's mouth. She ducks her head to kiss the flat of Dex's wrist before straightening to steal the bacon with no romance novel elegance. She half-chews before abruptly demanding, “Is it because you do not like the taste?” And Dex knocks her over, to kiss with the tip of her tongue in her mouth. Z doesn't have the air to squawk so she squeaks instead, wrapping her arms.
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SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: RESTRICTED | DATE OF REVIEW: 19.02.2098 | |
AUTHORITY: NETWORK COMPLIANCE COMMISSION | AUTHOR: NETWORK COMPLIANCE COMMISSION |
DOCUMENT STATUS: FINAL VERSION | VERSION: 1.0
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“Bloody wonder she's not choked yet,” Simpert says as he gathers his things, leaving Cooper to the screens.
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SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: RELEASED TO PUBLIC | DATE OF REVIEW: 19.02.2098 ||
AUTHORITY: NETWORK CLOSECASTING | AUTHOR: NETWORK CLOSECASTING |
DOCUMENT STATUS: FINAL EDITED VERSION | VERSION: 1.12
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Dex chews on Z's neck, careless of the mouthful giggling before abruptly demanding, “You kissed others before him 'n me, yeh?” Z's pupils trace a guilty 9 while she chews and swallows.
“Ehmn..” She thinks.
Dex covers Z's mouth with her hand before she answers. “Wait. Don'say now,” her pupils indicating one of the cameras. “Don't tell'em nothin',” she whispers again. Z studies Dex for a moment, mouthless, before she slathers her palm. It's smeared in retaliation across her breastbone.
“Give it back, give it back, ll'be nice now. Give it back.”
Dex re-covers Z's mouth, only for her to squirm free enough to catch each fingertip one by one between fang and lip to clean them of grease. Dex watches closely, tonguejealous, before leaning up to whisper, “An'no sex for 'em anymore.” Looking dubious for only a moment, Z answers by leaning to catch Dex's bottom lip. “Aoww,” Dex yelps, pulling away too suddenly and ripping her lip on Z's fangs. Bleeding lip, again.
Framing Dex's cheekbones with her palms to keep her still, Z inspects the gash with foldback ears. “Sorry,” she says, kissing the underside of her chin. “C'n make me bleed too if you want.” This receives a bloody kiss on the cheek while Dex curves her hands under her ears to encourage them forward.
Inspiration doesn't judge the value of ideas, foresight does, and Dex is long in one, short in th'other. “Can I have sharp fangs too? Please.”
“Can try. Ionno where I've left my viola.”
Dex is up and bent over one of her crates full of half-folded clothes, whirling her DEBASER tshirt and a pair of ripped black jeans at Z's head and then pulling on some clothes for herself. Z whufhs, fly-zip rattling. “S'in Halls, come on. Tear those for your tail, I don'care. Can it be my Christmas present?” She raises her voice for the last as Z sorts the shirt right-side out, worming into it. Her ears pop loose and she looks guilty.
“Aye, ahmn. ..Spandex, I am not a very good girlfriend.”
Dex not-this-now sighs at her as she zips her trousers. “Are so.”
“Not.” Z rolls the hem of the t-shirt down, sliding slinkish off the bed to hunch with the trousers, picking at a likely tear with her claws. “'cos i did not really even get you a present cos i forgot 'til you were paintings.”
“S'okay you gave me ..threefivesix.. eight today and soon fangs and it'll be the best Christmas. Ever.”
“Mnhhhh.” Fabric tears rough, a bit longer than it needs to, and Z straightens to leg into the jeans. “Would've been,” she says to the top button before looking up all crooked 'i am for the doghouse' smile. “Need other things to make up for it.”
“Ffft.” Dex circles her girl once to admire her in her own clothes, before draping herself. “Sharp fangs, and strong and real not like Sic's illusions, hurry.”
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SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: RESTRICTED | DATE OF REVIEW: 19.02.2098 ||
AUTHORITY: NETWORK COMPLIANCE COMMISSION | AUTHOR: NETWORK COMPLIANCE COMMISSION |
DOCUMENT STATUS: FINAL VERSION | VERSION: 1.0
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Cooper rubs his tired eyes, looks over his shoulder to the stack of highlighted Enquirers where he's keeping his colour coordinated tiffin boxes of lunch, then back to the screens. Clan hall's been queued up. He's learning quickly from Simpert. He's managed a lot even though he only had as much time as they gave him while they were dressing. Camera DICH-87 is focused on the viola. Cameras DICH-35, DICH-36, DICH-43 and DICH-47 are standing by for what he's hoping will be a nice, long, continuous pan, assuming Zolotisty comes in where Simpert's noted she usually does. For a Joker, he explained, she can be quite predictable. Consistent.
They arrive and he smiles with satisfaction as he gets his pan, then they start searching. Strange to see Zolotisty in Spandex's gear. He's pleased to see Spandex looking happy.
He swivels to grab his lunch, unlocking the top as he turns back with a ducked head, focused on getting it quickly. He slides free the top box full of edamame, then flicks his eyes back to the screens and.. there's nothing. “Come on girls, stay with me,” he coos, leaving aside lunch to toggle switches, queue feeds, replay the beginning of his shift.