The Mutatio Disease

Sector Fourteen

- - - - Sector Fourteen - - - -
- - - - Part One - - - -
Ow.

    Once the fries arrived, both of us dug in happily. I set down a few dollars in cash as we ate. The fries were good enough to warrant a decent tip. I'd missed actual take-out food since I moved to Montana over nine months ago.

    "So what does Felix want from us?"

    I hummed, swallowing my mouthful. "To know if there's any Mortems around, rational or not. Also the temperature of this area."

   Penelope's eyebrows went up. "Temperature?"

   "If they're leaning toward ARMMS or the Angels."

   "Ah. How do we figure that out?"

    I sighed, munching on a fry. "I have no idea. Felix has always been a smooth talker. He can get anything out of anyone. I usually just hang around in the back." She thought about it for a minute. Her eyes traveled across the room before landing on a table. A grin split her face.

    "Wanna have some fun with it?"

   I raised my eyebrows. "Depends on the fun. What are you thinking?"

    She jerked her head over at the two boys sitting at the table. "They look like players, if you know what I mean." Her eyebrows wiggled.

   My scowl was instantaneous. "No. Definitely not."

   She snickered. "Oh, come on. We can weasel any information out of those guys if we bat our eyelashes. You just need to play the shy-girl and it's in the bag."

    "You mean seducing information out of them?"

    Penelope smirked. "Why not? It'll work, won't it?"

     I groaned, rubbing my head. "I'm starting to regret allowing you to help us."

    "Oh, come on, it'll be fun." She grabbed my arm and pulled me up. I squeaked in protest, but she was already dragging the two of us over to the boys. I was wondering how the hell she was going to keep from touching the boys and yet look like she was interested. How can I escape this?

    They looked up as we got closer. I could see why Penelope was excited – both were pretty damn cute. And obviously brothers. Though they still blanched at the sight of Penelope's face, and my jaw tightened. Both had blonde hair and one was slimmer than the other.

    "Can we help you?" One boy asked cautiously. Penelope put on a winning smile, flashing her straight teeth.

    "We were just wondering if you had room." Penelope, to her damn word, batted her eyelashes. I groaned and buried my head in my hands. She elbowed me. "Don't mind her. I'm trying to break her into being outgoing, if you know what I mean." I almost gagged as she winked. Oh my gosh, I'm going to kill her.

    "We can make room, eh Silvester?" The first brother grinned, and the other willingly scooched over.

    "Just don't touch quite yet, boys," Penelope winked again. "Want to make sure there isn't any virus in here, eh?"

    "Awe, come on," The first brother tried. "I'm sure you're clean."

    "It's not me I'm worried about," I muttered as Penelope shoved me into the booth. She sat opposite me, beside the first brother. The second did obey my wishes and moved over, making sure not to touch my skin. I sent him a grateful smile.

    "I'm Silas," the first brother started. "That's Silvester. And you two lovely ladies are?"

    I did notice how Penelope started for a minute, as if surprised that they weren't curious about her birthmarks, but put on a smile. "I'm Penny. This is my good friend, Fiona."