Kid

81

Neon remained up that night, he was fiddling with the book by a dim lamp light. He was determined to open Dominick's book and know what's inside.

He was trying to be as quiet as possible however, because Kid was at the end of his bed asleep. While he heard her tiny snores, he knew he was okay. The noise his lock picks gave off wouldn't have been loud enough to wake someone, but with her super hearing he was being extra cautious.

The lock was a lot more complex on the inside then the outside seemed to let off.

Right when Neon thought he was close and almost whooped with accomplishment, the lock would click stubbornly closed, telling him it was locked.

He whispered a curse as he tried some different lock picking techniques.

But after a while he decided to call it a night.

He looked to Kid, who had somehow wriggled closer to him so the top of her head was touching the leg. He slowly managed to get away from her and slip the book under his bed. He yawned as he looked around, the odd Fire-Folk lantern still floated around so Kid could sleep. She had almost caught him with the book when she suddenly walked in, saying she didn't want to be by herself at the moment.

She had done this a couple of times in the past week and Neon was convinced he may need to simply bring in another bed for Kid's purpose.

He was once or twice tempted to go and sleep in her room while she slept in his.

Neon stood up and rolled his shoulders as he walked to the window and sighed as he stretched his arms. He found himself missing the city, while the luxury of the Traveller base was comforting and warm, he did miss the rough streets of Delco City. The constant adrenaline that ran through you and the alertness that came along with that... the young thief felt like he was losing touch of that.

Alertness...

He missed it.

He didn't want it back, but he wanted the lifestyle back.

Living on the edge, proving he could outsmart people and win fights.

He liked the feeling of winning, of knowing he could survive on his own without the aid of anybody.

But now he wasn't so sure.

He didn't know if he could still win, outsmart people or survive on his own without people, without being tied down by feelings.

Ava...

Noah...

Gina...

And Mel...

He never wanted to feel that, never again.

He was beginning to doubt himself...

He was growing bored.

He sighed again as he rested his hands on the back of his head and rolled on his socked feet. He had no clue how he would solve this, but he felt like if he started thinking about it he could find some solution in his head. He was happy to realise his brain was still trying to be sharp, but nothing really challenged him anymore.

He let off an annoyed groan.

"Looks like someone is unhappy," someone said. Making Neon jump, gasp and freeze in one moment, sending his speeding train brain to a halt. "Life not spicy enough for you Neon," they asked. He felt them stand behind him.

"Bet I could make it real spicy," Live informed.

Neon shivered at her lips in his ear and stepped away from her and turned to her. She gave him a suggestive look, but didn't seem to act on it as she looked to the window, the moonlight highlighting all her beauty and all her practical perfections.