That day, Malachi learned that if you ever wanted to see the head of the US national treasury turn green and faint, then all you had to do was propose an initiative that would require 80-90% of all buildings in Arica to be retrofitted with the latest in defensive technology.
Malachi was pretty sure that if he included the need for offensive tech in his proposal, the treasurer would have fallen over and died.
Instead, he was just irate.
"Young man…. I know you may not know how things work around here, but you don't just get to waltz in and start dropping astronomically improbable proposals with absolutely nothing that could even begin to constitute as evidence of an incoming catastro-"
The lights in the room suddenly began to flicker intensely.
Malachi spoke in a asured, tense manner so that he wouldn't accidentally let sothing slip past his lips that hed end up regretting.
"I think there's so sort of misunderstanding here. I really don't care if you do it or not. I just made a suggestion that I believe would keep the Arican people safe.
Whether you do it or you don't, it doesn't make any difference to . They're your lives and your money. Just make sure whatever decision you can make is sothing you can live with."
Malachi's ear suddenly twitched unconsciously.
"...Ti's up." He sighed.
Gradually, Malachi began to sink into the shadows on the floor.
"Secretary Simmons. I'll be in touch."
Before anyone in the room could stop him, Malachi disappeared from the room, leaving a bad taste in everyone's mouth.
-
Joanne's eyes gradually fluttered open, then imdiately shut.
The blinding, white light of the hospital room seared into her retina and made her wince.
She started to pull the blanket over her head when she heard the sound of a light switch flicker.
When she opened her eyes again, she found the handso face of her young husband looming above her.
"Morning, love. How're you feeling?"
Joanne looked down at her arm.
IV fluids were being administered due to her dehydration and malnutrition.
"…Like I have a hangover. Which is concerning in a number of ways…"
There was an audible rumbling underneath the covers.
Joanne's ears reddened with embarrassnt as her husband snickered.
"You really must have been burning the oil there…"
Joanne nodded as she wrapped her arms around her stomach.
"When we get ho, I need you to lock inside the kitchen and leave in there alone. Whatever happens inside that pantry is between and god."
Malachi laughed. Joanne's face was as stiff as a board.
"…I'm not joking. You might as well kiss your pineapple fruit cups goodbye."
Malachi would have been more upset about that if their daughters didn't already pilfer from his stash every ti they got the chance.
"Shit, the eting..." Joanne brought a hand to her head.
"Don't worry about that right now." Mal insisted. "Why don't you tell what exactly happened to you out there instead?"
"....I was fast as fuck."
"Yeah, I noticed. Even I couldn't keep up with you."
Those words filled Joanne with just the tiniest bit of pride. Even if her new threshold for speed had scared her quite a bit.
"...How's Opal?"
"She's..."
Suddenly, the door to Joanne's room swung open, and Opal barged in, so mad that she could spit.
That was, until her eyes landed on Joanne. Her expression then softened trendously.
"Oh, honey..."
"I know, I know, I look like a bulimic teenager." Joanne held up her hand.
"...I was going to say big hero."
"No, you weren't. Cute hospital gown by the way."
Opal rolled her eyes. as she closed the door behind her. "Yeah, well, if my ass falls out of this thing, just thank for the show and keep it moving."
She crossed the room and sat on the empty sofa with a huff.
"You didn't need to bring here, you know?" She said to Malachi pointedly. "You already had that green-haired girl patch up... who is that, by the way? She ca out of nowhere."
""....In-law."" Joanne and Malachi replied instantly.
Opal tilted her head. "Where'd Aisha and Aubrey find soone like her?"
""Tinder."" They lied.
"...Yeah, right." She rolled her eyes.
"A-Anyway, it was better to bring you here and let you get checked out just in case you had any shards left behind inside of you." Mal reasoned.
Opal huffed as she turned her head. "And now I'm on sabbatical until so shrink decides that I'm ntally stable… I might as well start my own clan and call it a fucking day."
"That's a bit overdramatic, don't you think..?"
"Did they offer you my job already?"
Malachi faltered, sothing that made Joanne realize the eting must have taken place without her.
"…I didn't accept, and I'm not going to. The only reason they even offered the position in the first place is because they're trying to keep a better track of where I'm going and what I'm doing."
Opal turned back to Malachi with a small smile. "You're going to sit and tell they aren't holding sothing over your head to make you accept...? Even telling you it's temporary?"
Mal wanted to say that it didn't matter. That he was going to refuse anyway because Opal was his friend and he didn't want to take from her. Not even temporarily.
But he rembered just how hard Anna had worked to research and get support to build the place. He rembered how their daughters were being alienated at school by their classmates because of the way they looked.
Malachi was imnsely loyal to Opal, and he always would be. But there was nothing he was going to put above his daughters' needs.
He hated that he even had to choose between the two to begin with.
"You must be more than a little sweet on if you're this upset about it." Opal said confidently. "Don't trip, I'll still like you at the end of the -"
"Gods, don't be so full of yourself." Joanne yawned. "He's just trying to figure out a way to tell you that he doesn't have to take your job… because our family is going to start a clan of our own."
Both Malachi and Opal turned to stare at Joanne with the sa disbelieving expression.
""….What?""
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