Work Text:
Judy was standing on the rooftop of her apartment’s building, a bottle of tequila in one hand and a cigarette in another. She was looking at the wide view of Night City through the smoke of her cig. The raw and ruthless concrete mixed up with a delicate glow coming from the streetlamps, neons and holo ads created a perfect vivid metaphor of what this city was in reality. A place where your hopes for something more, better, new, usually vague, but incomprehensible exciting, are rising up high, but they fall down rather quickly and slam hard into the pavement. You feel the impact of this plummet inside, it’s that bitter taste in your mouth, lump in your throat and the void in your chest that’s getting bigger every time another of your silly fantasies hits the bottom.
However, during the night your sense of sight focuses only on that light, even if it’s just a short gleam, and your brain, once again, fools you that maybe this time it’ll be different. So you form new wishes based on your deep longing for something, anything different from what you already have, and let yourself wander down this artificially lit path of foolish expectations. Lately, Judy’s little flame of daydreaming was abruptly snuffed out, like someone cut all the oxygen off. It was about to happen, the fire was weak, slightly flickering, fighting pointlessly to survive.
In some twisted and bizarre way, she felt good about it – there was no more disappointment waiting on the horizon. But at the same time, she was scared that in the end there would be nothing on the horizon.
Is fat nothing better than skinny something?
She hated that at night, this cityscape was turning into a dreamscape. But no one, even she, couldn’t deny the view of Night City at those hours. Of not so complete darkness, not absolute silence and definitely not perfect peace.
Judy’s plan for that night was to get completely drunk to finally fall asleep at her flat and forget, even if only for a couple of hours, about everything that went down in such a short period of time. She was so tired of feeling this way – powerless, sad and frustrated. She was waking up like that every single day, and it used to stay like this until she tricked her brain, one way or another, to shut the fuck up and let her get through the day. It was exhausting.
That’s why Judy decided that tonight will be the last night of all of that. She wasn’t a religious person, never was, but she imagined how the Big Guy up there, somewhere, started laughing hearing her plans. Because it was kinda funny, ironically and wrenchingly funny. She felt like everything around her was a joke, and she was a damn punchline.
She sat on the sofa and reached into her pocket for a phone. She decided to inform V about Evelyn’s burial. Judy wasn’t entirely sure why she even thought about that. She wasn’t even properly drunk yet to enter the phase of her alcoholic intoxication where she texted people she shouldn’t have. She wasn’t even sure if V would care about it at all. Judy just assumed that she would.
And maybe she shouldn’t have.
Never take anything, and most especially anyone, for granted – that was a lesson she had learned through the years of practice. No expectations equal no disappointment. Easy enough.
But the merc replied. Almost instantly.
How do you feel?
Judy was used to hearing that question a lot lately, but only in a few cases she felt like it was asked with sincere care and that an actual fuck was given. She wasn’t sure why, but she got the impression that now it was one of these rare cases.
Or it was just a smoke from that snuffed hope.
I’m getting shitfaced tonight.
She thought that this one sentence should be self-explanatory.
Sounds wonderful. And very healthy.
The corner of Judy’s mouth twitched a little, and fingers mechanically started writing a response.
Well, thank you very much.
The three dots on V’s text bubble started moving, but after some time they disappeared. Maybe the merc was still working. Or not. Even though Judy didn't expect much, hell, she didn’t think merc would reply at all, not to mention exchanging pleasantries like how do you feel, it didn’t change the fact that she was a little disappointed. Just a teensy bit. And it was making her angry. Just a few moments ago she swore to herself that she won’t repeat a mistake of falling into the deep pit of any longing, faith or presumption. Judy grunted and took a sip of freshly opened tequila. The ping of the message distracted her from enjoying the awful but blissful taste of tequila.
Want some company?
These three words definitely took V too much time to type. Judy wasn’t prepared for that. She had friends, sure, but unfortunately, none of them asked her that. At the place she was right now, she was a bit too much for them. She didn’t blame them, though. Well, not really, she actually did blame them, very much so. However, even if someone would offer her a shoulder to lean on, she wasn’t so sure she’d accept it. It was hard to talk about, to vent to someone who had no idea what she was going through.
But V knew. Sort of. She was there with her after Evelyn… The merc was the first person she thought about at that moment, and she still didn’t understand why. Was it because V was used to the view of corpses and blood through her line of work, and Judy knew the merc could hold her shit together when she herself couldn’t? Deep inside, though, she had her suspicions, but she didn’t want to acknowledge this matter. Not yet anyway.
It wasn’t the best timing. Or the best idea in general.
Judy probably took way too long to answer, because two other pings cut through the city’s muffled noise.
If you need some alone time, I totally get it. Seriously.
That was just a suggestion.
Sorry. Sure, it’d be great. :)
Preem. So see ya in a bit.
Judy wanted to take another chance to get drunk, but this time some higher power decided to fuck with her. The rain started pouring with huge droplets, so she quickly got her stuff and ran back to her apartment. Even though it was a very short distance, she was drenched. She dried her hair with a towel and jumped into some old oversized shirt and shorts. She looked at herself in the mirror and shook her head with disappointment.
The moment she reminded herself that there were no expectations, or more like there should be none, the outfit started to look more than useful.
The buzz at the door startled her. She took one last glance at the mirror along with a deep breath and left the bathroom.
Judy opened the door. V was standing in front of her, with her trademark leather jacket, black T-shirt with Samurai logo, tight synth-leather pants and cherry red Martens. Judy was a sucker for women in leather, which wasn’t helpful in driving away disturbing thoughts.
'Whoa, curb your enthusiasm for seeing me. I can still withdraw the self-invitation.'
'No! I mean, no. Sorry. Just… thinking too much,' V nodded understandingly. ‘Good to see you,' she tried to smile reassuringly, but the muscles declined to cooperate. V narrowed her eyes and studied her face.
‘Yeah… I'm still not buying it.’ The merc was still looking at her closely, amused but concerned. ‘You sure you want me here?’
‘Yes, I do.’ She cursed herself that this sentence came out way too soft. She cleared her throat. ‘Come in.’
Judy opened the door more widely and gestured with her hand to invite V inside. The merc stopped in the kitchen and planted the food that Judy just noticed on the counter. V looked over to her bedroom. There was a mattress standing at the threshold that Judy bought a couple of days ago, but she couldn’t make herself go inside and change it. In fact, she wasn’t even in the bedroom since NCPD’s coroner took Evie’s body.
The merc’s questioning gaze met her eyes.
‘I can’t do it. I’m pathetic, I know.’
‘Hey, hey. Don’t say that. I can help you,’ as V said that she took off her wet jacket.
‘It’s okay, seriously.’
It was sweet of V to propose that, she couldn’t deny it. But merc already did enough for her. Besides, she should probably do it by herself.
‘Shit, I’m a terrible host. Do you want something to change or dry your hair…?’
‘Nah, I drove, it’s not as bad as it looks.’
‘It doesn’t-’ Judy had to bite her tongue at the automatic response that wanted to come out from her mouth.
V shot her a quick glance and cleared her throat. Then her eyes went onto the bottle Judy had left on the table.
‘So this is what we’re drinking tonight?’
‘We? That’s just for me.’
V smiled, and Judy’s eyes stayed way too long on that sight.
‘Wow, you’re ambitious. But to be honest, I’m not sure if you’re joking, and it’s kinda disturbing.’
Judy rolled her eyes and crossed arms on her chest.
‘You don’t have a high opinion of me, do you?’
V started unpacking the food, which made Judy realize that she hadn’t eaten since yesterday.
‘Quite the contrary. Besides, I've just told you that you’re ambitious.’
‘Am I? I edit porn every single day.’
V shrugged.
‘Maybe. But it’s the best porn in Night City.’
Judy's narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
‘Oh yeah? And how the hell do you know that?’
V raised her head and looked at Judy with a mischievous smile.
‘I've heard.’
‘Oh, you've heard? Okay, V, sure.’
V laughed and at that sound, the corners of Judy’s mouth raised and formed a sincere smile. For the first time in days.
They sat down on the sofa with food in their hands.
‘So I assume that is not what you want for yourself?’ V asked with her mouth full and no remorse because of that.
’Not really, no.’
'So where Judy Alvarez sees herself in five years?'
Judy frowned as she took the first pierogi on her fork.
'Were you a job recruiter before all those merc shenanigans?'
'Har har, you're deflecting.'
'Ah, a shrink, gotcha.' V huffed and rolled her eyes.
'Judy, come on.’
V was already on her third piece of pierogies while Judy just started her serving.
'Fine, alright.' Judy swallowed her food and took a sip of tequila because she knew she couldn't handle that kind of question without any chemical stimulation. No one ever gave a shit about what she had in mind anyway. Except for Evie… 'Editing BDs that actually help people, not just in jerking off. Making art. And do both of these things far away from here. But before that, I need to do something good in this cesspit.'
The merc frowned.
'You sound like you haven’t done it already.'
Judy escaped V’s gaze and looked down at her food, with which she was playing now with the fork.
'Well, Evie’s dead, so…'
V put down her already empty box.
'No, no, no. I won't let you do that. It’ll make you crazy.'
'Well, some people say I'm already crazy, so the damage is done, I guess.'
'Who? Say the word, and I’ll deal with them.’
Judy smiled weakly, and V’s eyes went there and back from her box to Judy’s.
’Sorry, I was hungry. And eat, I won’t leave this place until you shove all of this.’
Judy had to scold herself once again for thinking how tempting was that little threat.
‘I can’t compete with you, you’re like a little dinosaur.’
‘Hey! Watch out, Alvarez, I won’t put up with that kind of behaviour for too long.’
V took a sip from the bottle. They didn’t bother with cups, who cared anyway.
‘Who did you want to be as a kid?’ Judy asked all of a sudden.
V almost choked.
‘Is this like a confession hour?’
‘You have to talk, so I can eat, right? Plus, you started it.’
V sighed loudly and took another, bigger sip.
‘Fair.’ The merc pinched the tip of her nose and went silent for a longer while. ‘Maybe it’s kinda depressing, weird or whatever, but I had never had a vision or some grand idea for myself. I was more focused on the here and now aspect, surviving from day to day. What about you?’
‘Oh, there’s too much of it. Though I remember a phase when I was considering very seriously devoting myself to music.’
’Wow, that’s nova. But like starting a band or going solo?’
‘Solo. I’m not a team player when it comes to creating art. It has to be done my way or not at all.’
‘And it only applies to creating art? You sure?’ V asked with a smirk on her face.
Judy wanted to brush off this smirk one way or another, but she decided on a playful nudge on merc’s shoulder.
‘Screw you. But, yeah, I made a lot of music back in the day. I think I might still have some of it somewhere.’
‘I have to listen to that.’
‘Yeah, no. Not gonna happen.’
A nervous chuckle escaped Judy’s mouth.
‘Hey, come on. You can’t tease me like this.’
‘It’s too embarrassing, no fucking way.’
V sat sideways, one leg crossed on the sofa, while another was still on the floor, now facing Judy.
‘Okay, so I have a proposal. You could ask me anything, and I’ll have to answer that, no matter how awkward or personal the question would be.’
‘Only one question? Not worth it.’
Judy was aware she was pushing her luck, but that amount of embarrassment had to be traded fair and square.
‘Two then?’
‘Three and you got yourself a deal.’
V looked at the ceiling and grunted.
‘Ugh, fine.’
‘So deal?’
‘Deal.’
They shook hands and Judy got the feeling the gesture went on for too long. But maybe that was just her mind fucking with her again.
‘So… the first one.’
‘Oh, we’re doing this now?’
‘Well, yeah. I have to make sure you’ll complete your part of the biz.’
‘Your words cut like a knife, I’m a well-respected mercenary in the city,’ V placed her hand on her heart dramatically.
Judy leaned on her elbow to make herself a better view of V to judge if she’d be lying or not.
‘Now, the first question is—what are you most afraid of?’
‘Wow. If you start with something like that, what will be next?’
‘V…’
‘Okay, okay. Don’t laugh, but I’m afraid of ladybugs.’
‘What? They’re harmless.’
‘But they’re disgusting. With these creepy eyes, hideous black wings under real ones. And the smell when you kill one of them and spread them on the surface. It’s like a bug abomination. Shit, I think I’m gonna be sick…’
Judy was watching her closely during this weird monologue, trying really hard not to laugh because V seemed really agitated and actually distressed. She even started gesticulating. It was kinda cute. Weird but cute. Although Judy knew it was only a humorous facade behind which V used to hide when the matter of the subject got too serious or painful.
‘This is… um… peculiar, I think this is the best word I could use here. But you still have to answer the question.’
Merc frowned and gave Judy a quick glance.
‘I just did!’
‘V, come on.’
V huffed and now was leaning her back against the sofa. She reached for the tequila and took a sip.
‘This music you created better be good.’ She weakly smiled at Judy and focused back on the bottle, on which she started peeling off the label with her thumbs. She cleared her throat and Judy got the impression she blushed. But it could be from the alcohol. Probably. ‘I’m scared of being all alone. Of ending up just by myself.’
This confession shocked Judy and at the same time, she had never felt closer to the merc. She couldn’t keep people close for a long time. She had some kind of superpower that pushed them away from her. It was Judy herself who pushed them away, she knew that perfectly. By hurtful words, a cold approach, always assuming the worst from them and not giving them a second chance. It was a self-preservation instinct, actions taken to save her from the pain, disappointment, and self-contempt that she was stupid enough to believe someone who fooled her.
‘Judging by the silence, I kinda overdid it, didn’t I?’
A nervous chuckle escaped V’s mouth.
‘No, no. That’s not it. It’s just… I would never suspect that you, of all people would say something like that. I got the impression you like being alone.’
‘Oh, I do. I value my solitude now more than ever. The thing is, I hate being lonely. It’s stupid. And probably doesn't make any sense. Maybe I should slow down with the booze.’
‘It’s not… So what, you want someone who’ll hold your hand on a deathbed?’
A sad smile showed up on merc’s face and quickly disappeared while V stared for a longer moment somewhere in front of her
‘Yeah, something like that.’
‘How do you do that?’
V gulped the tequila and put it down on the table.
‘Do what?’
‘You are so level-headed, calm, have your emotions on a leash, suppress them somehow, not letting them take over you. I’d love to learn that.’
A nervous chuckle escaped V’s mouth once again.
‘I am not like that, believe me.’
‘Yes, you are. I’ve watched you in that hideout, and when Evie-’
V looked at Judy and fell silent for a moment.
‘Well, when I’m working I have to be like this, it’s the matter of life and death. But with Evelyn… Um…’ V pinched her nose and rested her head on the wall, looking at the ceiling. ‘To be honest, I was completely terrified, Judy. But you needed me, so I kinda shut it down. It doesn’t mean that things like that don’t hit me later. They do, and I have similar ways to process this.’ She took the bottle and shook it, eyes peeled from the ceiling and now locked back on Judy's. ‘That’s why I texted you.’
Guilt made Judy escape her gaze.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.’
‘I know, Jude, it’s okay.’
The last person who called Judy like that was Evelyn. And she should be pissed right now. But she wasn’t, not in the slightest. She just wasn’t sure if that was okay or fair to Evelyn.
‘I don’t want to teach you that because it’s not healthy. I’d say you do great.’
Judy snorted.
‘What? I’m a mess.’
‘Nah. You’re just sad. It’ll pass. It’s a long and bumpy road, but someday it’ll pass.’
‘You’re talking from experience, or you just hope so?’
V looked at the side, zoned out for a second, and just gave her a weak smile.
‘Kinda from experience.’
‘I want to believe you, V, I really do. I am sad, but mostly I’m furious. I want to turn this anger into something productive, but more and more I get the impression that there is not much I can do.’
‘Do you have something specific in mind?’
‘Well, kinda? I was thinking about Clouds, how to make it a relatively better place, but I’m not sure if any change is possible here.’
‘Well, you won’t know for sure unless you try, right? I’m on board for whatever, if you ever need my help. Anyway, I have to excuse you, from all this serious talk, I need to pee.’
Asking for help was never Judy’s strongest suit, even if the person to whom her request was addressed was her friend. A phrase that’s what friends are for was kinda long forgotten in Night City, although Judy stuck to that principle, but she was not used to be on the receiving part of it. This is something Evelyn suggested her to work on, because everyone sometimes need a hand, and it’s stupid not to ask for it. Those were her words. And Judy did that, but only when she ran out of options, the time was not on her side or things got too dicey that there was simply no other way. And all of those exceptions to the rule were put into effect only when someone, anyone else was in need, not Judy herself. She would stop the Earth to move the Sun, go behind Suzie's back or try to get along even with a merc if that meant helping someone she cared about or simply someone who clearly wasn’t able to cope on their own.
But as it turned out in the end, Evelyn’s words were just a bunch of stinky hypocrisy and bullshit.
Judy was used to being on her own, she knew how to take care of herself. Not that she didn’t want or didn’t like being a part of the community. The longing for that kind of codependency and belonging was always there, that's why she joined Moxes. Not being capable of overcoming the obstacles on your way was a weakness, though, obvious evidence of not being enough. And admitting it aloud by actually asking for help was, to put it mildly, unwise in Night City. It was a death-wish. Do you have suicidal tendencies? Then wave a white flag, hang it by your window. The vultures and locusts in human form will be there faster than the Trauma Team for the platinum members. Judy learned the hard way that showing deficiency is like willingly handing your head on a silver plate for the starving predators sitting at the table, cutlery already in their hands, impatiently waiting for the main course to be served.
That was how this world worked, so after too many kicks in the ass, Judy finally learned from her mistakes and started wearing armour that nothing and no one could pierce. It had scratches, of course, it had, but none of them was serious enough to become a dangerous flaw facilitating a lethal strike. Her inventory also included weapons like intelligence, BD expertise, manual skills, and a sharp tongue. Judy knew her value as an expert in her field, she was the best god-damn braindance editor in the city, Lizzie’s Bar was still in the business mostly thanks to her magnificent work. But that’s where that self-admiration ended. She felt like she was not enough as a human being, as a woman, as a friend, ergo she was not in a position to ask for any help for herself, even if she desperately needed it. She was just not worth the trouble. The fact she was sent to juvie after fixing that damn firetruck, her past relationships, what happened to Evie – those were proof more than enough she was right.
‘You drew it by yourself?’ V’s question brought her back to reality. She stood up and came closer to V who was looking at the octopus on her wall.
‘Yup. Hour after my grandparents left NC. Couldn’t let them see how I vandalized those walls they were saving eddies to.’
‘Judy the Merciful.’ Judy nudged her with an elbow. ‘So you like water?’
‘Understatement of the century.’
‘You’re really talented, Judy. Seriously, it’s getting annoying. Is there anything you can’t do?’
Judy blushed a little. Sure, she heard a lot of nice things when people wanted to get into her pants, but this time it felt different. More sincere. Or she just wanted it to fell like this.
She was looking closely at V who was deeply focused on the paintings with a crease between her eyebrows.
She was feeling the heat from V’s shoulder on her own. They weren’t touching, but they were dangerously close. The sensation was bringing her pain. Judy got the impression it was almost burning a mark on her shoulder.
Even though, she couldn’t force herself to drawback.
It was probably mostly because of the overwhelming sadness, crushing loneliness and warm dizziness from the alcohol that Judy wanted V, right here, right now, although deep inside she knew perfectly well that she needed V more. That’s why Judy didn’t act on it.
Having a good friend in this cesspit was a privilege, luck, and was nearly impossible. Almost a miracle in the XXI century.
'Well, I can’t cook, for example.'
Judy wanted desperately to fill this deafening silence with any words, but she didn’t want to shift and change position. It was almost agonizing, but her inner masochist won the battle of her common sense.
'Same here. I don’t even have a kitchen.'
'What? How is that even possible?'
'Well, the rent is pretty low.'
V hadn’t moved an inch, either. The idea that Judy’s feelings might be reciprocated terrified her all of a sudden. This thought made her quickly brake the no-contact and change the subject.
‘Hey, I’m gonna grab a smoke. Want to join?’
The question was a clear show of politeness. She needed to be alone. Just for a second.
V spaced out again, but denied. Judy left her apartment and went upstairs. It almost stopped raining.
She wanted to cry. She was so painfully lonely and hurt, full of contradictory emotions, she had no idea where she could put them. It was hard to find a solid deposit for your feelings. Who would want all of them, the full inventory – good and bad, highs and lows, ecstasy and agony? Especially when the latter was in the vast majority.
Judy put out a cigarette with her shoe, rubbed her eyes and sniffed as she was walking down the fire escape stairs. She was angry at herself that lately, it was so easy for her to fall apart like this.
She looked at the threshold to her bedroom. There was no mattress. She came inside and found it already lying on the bed. Judy, once again, felt warm inside and a lump in the throat. She was not used to that amount of kindness.
But she still wasn’t able to figure out if that was just pity, pure goodwill, or maybe merc wanted something in return. But what? She had nothing to offer. Apart from herself.
Could it be that all of this evening was just to get into her pants? That thought disgusted her, and she wasn’t sure if she was more outraged by the fact that she actually considered that V wasn’t that selfless at all or that it could actually be true? Did she just fall for that act of affection? Again?
The dizziness already left her and the fast train of thoughts stopped at the station to pick her up and now, with Judy on board, it was driving towards the abyss.
‘I’m sorry. I invaded your space and probably abused your hospitality, but you said before about this room and Evelyn, so I thought-‘
‘Where’s the catch, V?’
The crease formed between merc’s eyebrows.
‘What do you mean?’
Judy crossed her arms on her chest and turned around.
‘Why are you doing all of this? Why are you nice to me? Why are you here tonight?’
V looked lost and confused. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
‘Is it a pity? You’re trying to find a balance between doing good deeds like a fucking Samaritan and your merc job because you feel some kind of remorse?’
‘What? Why would-?’
Seeing V’s expression, Judy already felt a pang of guilt. The merc was standing at the threshold, shocked and hurt.
‘Nah-ah, I’m not finished. Maybe it’s more mundane – you want to get into my pants? You thought – Judy is sad, it’ll be easier that way. You already put the mattress in here, so let’s do it and get this over with.’
Judy was waiting for V to turn around and storm out of the apartment. It always ended up like this when she got defensive. But merc just narrowed her eyes and stood there, leaning against the wall. And now she was looking more amused than hurt, which flummoxed Judy.
‘You’re done?’
‘Yes, I’m done. And you’re still here.’
‘Oh, sorry. Did you want me out? I didn’t get that.’
A cocky smile painted on V’s face, and Judy wasn’t sure if she wanted to slap her for that insolence and sarcasm or kiss her. Or both.
‘Listen, Jude, I know you’re in a bad place right now, so I’m just gonna ignore all of what you just said. But if you really want me out, I’ll go, no problem, no hard feelings. I just want to say something. May I?’
‘If you have to.’
V wanted to smile again, but she held back.
‘I’ve also met a lot of people in my life who wanted to fuck me one way or another. And I know there is no way I could convince you right now that I am not that person for you. Words mean nothing, and you know that. But if you want to find out if I’m full of shit, just holler on the holo when you need to. I’d like to help you with Clouds, I really do. So if you won’t find a better replacement, just call me. No strings attached.’
V took a few steps forward and reached out her hand.
‘Deal?’
Judy hesitated. She wanted to believe her, she really did. She wanted so much to be wrong this time.
‘Deal.’
While they were shaking their hands, Judy felt a merc’s eyes on her face, but she was too embarrassed by her eruption to respond with a gaze or even a glance.
‘Can I ask for a hug? It’s not for you, it’s for me. I could use one.’
‘You’re so full of shit, V.’
‘And yet we’re hugging.’
‘Don’t push your luck.’
V laughed and Judy’s body relaxed thanks to this sound, warmth and smell. She was so close to crying, again, but this time from relief. She felt like this giant weight was lifted from her shoulders. Not all of it, but most of it. Fortunately, V’s phone prevented the breakdown. That would be embarrassing.
The merc still did not let go. Judy was grateful, but she decided to let go.
‘Pick up.’
V looked at her closely, with that stupid, worried crease between her eyebrows. Judy adored and hated that.
‘I don’t have to, I can stay and-‘
’Seriously, V. You’ve done more than enough. Go.’
‘And do my merc shenanigans?’
Judy smiled and lowered her head.
‘Thanks. For being here. Tonight. With me.’
’Don’t thank me for spending time with you.’
‘Well, I was not in my best form, so I think this is very appropriate.’
‘It’s not. You give yourself too little credit. And, hey, that’s what friends are for, right?’
'Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard.'
She finally looked at the merc and gave her a weak smile. V squeezed Judy’s shoulder and just as she was passing through the bedroom's threshold, she added, ‘Don’t you think I forgot about your musical misadventure. I’m going to hear that if you want it or not.’
Judy chuckled and walked out of the room the moment she heard the hiss of the apartment’s door. She leaned at the window, looking at V who got into her car, already talking on the phone with someone. It was still pretty dark, the cityscape didn’t change much, yet Judy felt the familiar and, as she was convinced, buried hope for something new and better.
God damn it, V. Not this again.