Umbel (Terminal Trilogy #3)

10: Wasting time

"What's next?" I asked Micky. He shrugged.

"Dunno. You chose. Not much to do but wander and chitchat right now anyway."

"I'd like to yell at the kids then." I said, after a second of thought.

"Geez, you're really into yelling at people all of a sudden. Getting a bit aggressive, huh?"

"Micky, I just got stabbed."

"Yeah. You should have tried being in the army back in war times though! Those were the days... for getting stabbed, at least. Terrible times those were. Terrible, fun times." We had got on the elevator and changed floors, but at random. I didn't have a clue where anyone was.

I spotted Amy in one of the conference rooms that adorned this building, and went inside. She was surrounded by her friends, and she waved cheerfully at me.

I walked up to her, as cold faced as I could manage. "Hey. Fuck you."

Her smile fell instantly. "Come on. If you're in a bad mood, I'd rather not deal with you."

"Drop the whole high road persona. Back in the tunnels? I got stabbed because you were running around where you weren't supposed to go."

"Oh, that's barely my fault." Amy waved off my words. "You're fine."

"What? Why is getting stabbed such a minor thing to everyone?"

"I mean... It's not like, losing a limb or something. You're a hellhound- you probably won't be left with a scar."

I decided to try and yell. "I got stabbed!"

"Yeah. Chill out about it. Look, everyone else is just glad I'm fine. That angel-killing guy spared my life, hooray, et cetera."

"I got roped into a pointless venture to find you. And I got attacked."

"He spared you too." Amy shrugged. The girl brushing her hair made a sound like 'yeah'. "If I hadn't been down there, all those angels would have still died. You wouldn't have gotten stabbed, but whatever. This probably won't be the last time you get shanked by some wandering idiot."

"Who says that to someone. Who tells someone they're going to get stabbed."

"God, it wasn't a threat. It was a factual observation."

"Ug. Just- I got stabbed." I pointed at Amy for emphasis. "It's your fault."

"Sorry." She said. "Also? Don't you think it's a little creepy for a twenty two year old man to be screaming at a young girl like this? Or even to be in a room with all these other minors." She gestured to her friends.

"Micky's like forty."

"He's not yelling at me though. He's benevolent, like an armchair."

Micky beamed at the comparison.

"Fine. I'm leaving." I said, turning around.

"Oh, since you didn't ask-" Amy said. "Our concert went well, thanks, and yes, it is impressive we were so well received for a bunch of high schoolers! Why yes, we did win a city-wide battle of the bands- oh, that's your favorite song? I like that one too!" She said in a high, fake voice. Then her voice fell back down to its normal sound. "Oh, and thanks for all your help with rounding up the special guests of the night. It took a lot of legwork for me to find them on my own."

I was mostly out the door by the time she finished talking, and Micky was laughing in short bursts. Before closing the door, he yelled "By the way, your daddy says he loves you!"