*SPLASH*

"Whoops."

"THAT'S IT! What's your fucking deal?"

I was currently sitting in a reclining chair deep in Misty's shop. Surrounding me were various incense giving off a calming array of scents. The lighting was a dim orange, with the only illumination sources coming from candles and salt lamps. Misty picked out and professionally oriented everything to maximize their soothing effects. But despite her efforts, the tension in the air was taut like a tightrope, threatening to snap at any moment.

Panam was in the middle of the store with both hands on a table, staring daggers into Yumi. Panam was only slightly shorter than me, so she loomed over the much more petite Japanese girl standing next to Panam's chair. Despite the height and build difference, Yumi seemed unperturbed, calmly returning Panam's gaze as if nothing of note happened.

In Yumi's hand was a teacup tilted forward, clearly empty. Some of the liquid was on the table, but by the large stain on Panam's shirt, most of the tea somehow got on her. With those context clues, I deduce that Panam believes Yumi purposely spilled the tea on her and is now confronting Yumi about it.

"An honest mistake. I'm sure you understand, neh?"

"An honest mistake my ass! You've been picking a fight ever since me and Basil came back. I barely even know you, so what's the deal?!"

I thought about the last day and a half and couldn't help but agree with Panam's observations. After the surgery, I've been floating between Vic's clinic, Misty's shop, and my place so I can do physical therapy, relaxation, and sleep, respectively. While at Misty's, Yumi, who is still working in the shop for a place to stay out of trouble, has been incredibly attentive, catering to my every need and making sure I wanted for nothing. Panam, on the other hand, did not receive the same treatment.

Yumi would keep bumping into her, acting as if she didn't hear her, rolling her eyes, yawning, and generally acting passive-aggressively toward Panam. I figured she was so lovely to me since I saved her life, or maybe because I offered to help her sort out her issues with the Tyger Claws. Even then, that didn't explain her actions against Panam. 

The day after Vic installed my new chrome was the first time they properly met. I've mentioned Yumi and her circumstances to Panam, and Yumi knows from passing comments that I have a mainline. Yumi didn't seem to mind. I mean, why would she? And neither did Panam, whose only concern was Yumi's muddy background.

I considered getting involved at first, but the incidents were small enough that it could have been an accident. Or an industrial bout of clumsiness. Besides, I didn't want to be one of those boyfriends that had to be involved with everything in his other's life and took offense at any slight. Besides, Panam has yet to raise it as an issue, so who am I to say it's a problem? If Yumi had a problem, it was only with Panam, so I'll let them handle their business and only weigh in if things get out of hand.

Yumi raised a finger to her chin and expressed fake contemplation.

"A problem? How could I possibly have a problem with the person who let the one I owe my giri ~*debt*~ lose a literal arm and a leg? No, you're just imagining things in that empty bimbo head of yours."

It took me a second to register that insult, and my eyes widened as the situation went from 0-60 in the blink of an eye. I looked at Yumi, shocked that the ordinarily subdued woman would come out swinging out of nowhere. Judging by Panam's expression, it wasn't exactly what she was expecting either.

Panam's mouth was wide open, stuck in the middle of a retort that died halfway up her throat. She was first surprised, then sad/guilty before the confidence and defiance Panam is known for returned.

"That's rich coming from the bitch whose medical treatment was covered by my input having to risk his life fighting a hexed-out, cybered-up dorphhead. Also, at least he knew the risks going in with me, and the clan will take good care of him. Unlike you, whose background is shady and just a leach siphoning off Basil and his friends' goodwill. Go fuck yourself."

Ok, maybe I should step in after all. Before the verbal spar could escalate further, I coughed to try to get the duo's attention.

"*AHEM*"

Both girls stopped staring each other down and snapped over to me. 

"What!?" "What!?"

Cool, stereo.

"Jinx, you both can't speak until I say so."

A trickle of soft giggles sounded from behind me, and I turned around to spy Misty covering her mouth, laughing at my absurd jump in tone. Panam and Yumi, on the other hand, did not take my attempt at de-escalating the situation as well. Before they could start lecturing me, I sat up and raised my hands for them to wait for me to finish.

"Nope, no speaking yet. I'm not done." 

I pointed my finger at Yumi.

"First, Panam's right. I knew the risks associated with helping the Aldecaldos sort out their problem with the Wraiths, so if anyone's to blame for what happened, it's me for not being careful." 

The risk I took was calculated, but damn, am I bad at math. Given the circumstances, I came out of the whole ordeal pretty well off. A relatively cheap price to pay for a lesson well learned.

"Second, Please do not insult my girlfriend's intelligence and call her anything unnecessary. Panam's a total bombshell, but calling her a 'dumb bimbo' is too much. She means a lot to me, so I'd appreciate you showing her a modicum of respect."

Yumi kept her mouth shut and slowly nodded, but I could see on her face that the message didn't entirely go through her. Baby steps. On the other hand, Panam had a smug grin and arms folded under her chest, pushing her sweater puppies up. I pivoted my index finger at her before I could get too distracted by those magnificent orbs.

"And you, don't make that face. Yumi is a valuable ally. I plan to help her get the Tygers under control, which you know perfectly well how valuable that can be. And Yumi's past might be shady, but she's trying, right? Yumi's cleaning her act up, and her record has been spotless for a while. It's not exactly like we're the most upstanding citizens as well. Give her a chance, for me? And you two can talk again."

Panam stewed on how to respond, looking back and forth between me and Yumi before finally sighing.

"Fine, for you, I'll let this all go."

Panam then turned to Yumi and put her hand out.

"Truce?"

Yumi looked at it briefly before reaching out and grasping it in a tight handshake.

"Truce."

Happy that the situation seemed to have settled down, I clapped my hands and got off the reclining seat.

"Alright. It's getting late, and we should be getting back to get in a good night's sleep. Thanks for the tea and medicine, Misty."

The small goth girl emerged behind her counter and handed me a small bag. Looking inside, I found a few pieces of incense and a bottle of pills.

"My pleasure. There are some calming scents for when you go to bed, and the pills are some Eastern herbal anti-inflammatories medicine."

"Thanks, Misty. You're a real sweetheart."

I waved Yumi and Misty goodnight before walking out with Panam and back into my shop. Once we got back inside, I put a few of the incense sticks in a pot and lit them. When I was sure the embers wouldn't get snuffed out, I left them alone to do their job and release their calming aroma.

Panam had taken off her clothes and made a beeline for the bed. Once she was cozy with where she was, she turned on the TV I had in the corner and started flipping through the channels. After taking my pills and setting the AC, I followed suit and took off my clothes to get in bed with her.

Panam snuggled up to me, laying her head across my chest. I gently brushed her hair while she was half-watching some documentary about the history of agriculture and half-listening to my heartbeat. Right as I was beginning to get lulled into sleep from the lavender-like scent the incense generated, Panam asked me a question and pulled me away from the dreamworld's gates.

"Can I ask you something?"

I couldn't be bothered to respond fully since I was still hovering between the zones of sleep and consciousness, so I hummed, acknowledging Panam and asking her to go on.

"What do you have on Yumi's life? And don't BS me and say you haven't looked into her. If you know about the highest level of information in Arasaka and all kinds of other crap, you know about this."

I wanted to tell her that just because I know things about Arasaka doesn't mean I have intel on some random ex-criminal. My knowledge is based on what happened in a game, and as far as I know, Yumi wasn't a character. Still, I can't exactly say that to Panam, at least not yet. And I guess that would go against the image I've been building of someone who got connections and are 'in the know,' so to speak.

But she was also correct; I did look into Yumi. Yumi wasn't comfortable telling me why she turned on her former gang, and she didn't feel dangerous, but I still wanted to be sure. It didn't take much effort. A phone call to Rivers, who I helped to solve the Peter Pan kidnapping cases, and I knew everything the NCPD had on one Tabata Yumi.

"I'll keep it short since I feel bad for the girl, and the information I have allows me to draw only conclusions. Yumi had a relationship with a Tyger in her teens. They climbed the ladder together until one night, they were invited to a party for her boyfriend's promotion. My source doesn't know what happened, but they have records of a badly beaten Yumi being dragged out of the place a day later."

Panam was smart enough to not need me to spell what I thought happened to Yumi.

"Is that why you keep her around?"

"I'm not going to lie, feeling bad for her is part of the reason. The other reason is that revenge is a strong motivator. Taking over the Tyger Claws will be hard work. I think I can do it, but I need someone who won't quit on me halfway. It's kinda similar to helping you with the Shivs. Things could and probably did get dirty, but I could trust you and your family to see things through. Y'all were too invested to quit."

I could feel Panam taking in the new information and contemplating something while drawing small circles with her finger on my chest. Eventually, she asked me another question.

"What is Yumi to you?"

Hmm. That's a good question. A friend? We haven't interacted enough for me to say that. If I could elevate her to the top of the Tygers, it would make Watson and Westbrook more peaceful, so at least an ally, like I said before. It feels too harsh to say that's all I see in her, but harsh or not, it's the truth.

"Someone whose goal aligns with mine and can make my and a whole bunch of others' life much easier in the future. Why do you ask?"

"Ughh! I fucking hate feeling like this, but I'm just going to say it. Don't you dare laugh at me. I think Yumi has the hots for you."

My sleepiness was temporarily blasted away, and I stared at Panam wide-eyed, not believing what she just said.

"Don't look at me like that. And before you ask, I don't know how I know. Just call it a woman's intuition."

Panam then covered her face in embarrassment.

"Listen to me. Acting insecure like a hormonal teenager. Forget it."

If you are reading this, it means that you are reading a novel stolen from the original author. If you want to support me, the original author, and read ahead for free, you can find me on scribblehub under SPS4.

I wonder why Panam would come to such a conclusion. It's not like Yumi has been sending any signals. She was friendly but never flirted or made any moves on me. And Panam's only been interacting with Yumi firsthand for a few days, which I don't think is long enough to get a good feel like that. 

Regardless, I guess the right thing to do here is to reassure Panam that there's nothing to worry about and not belittle her feelings. Gently, I pulled Panam's face closer to mine by lifting her chin. When she peeked out from behind her hands, I sneaked in a quickly gave her a little peck on the lips.

"I promise nothing is going on between us, and I only have eyes for you. I struggle to even see Yumi as a friend, much less anything else. I help her get revenge, and she helps me by being an agreeable leader for the Tygers. That's it. This guy's the one-gal type of dude."

"Thanks, Basil. And it's not even the monogamy thing. You know how us Aldecaldos are, we could make it work if it's the right people. She just doesn't feel like the right fit since we got off on the wrong foot."

"That's fair, I gue- Wait. Rewind. What do you mean 'you know how us Aldecaldos are'? What are you talking about?"

It was Panam's time to look at me like I was talking nonsense. When she realized that I was being serious, she laughed and affectionately slapped me a few times.

"I can't believe you were dating me without knowing that Nomads are generally ok with being poly. I think it started because many of us died before we could have kids, especially the men. Multiple partners increase the chances of pregnancy, and the baby would have many people to look after them, which is useful for roaming the dangerous roads between cities. Eventually, that developed into us just don't have that cultural stigma. Not like you city slickers are known for sexual decency."

My mind drifted back to the party right after we got the Basilisk, remembering the secluded section where people ran off for canoodling.

"Wait, so that big party we had before raiding the Wraiths, those groups of people making out, was poly relationships and not just young people being raunchy?"

"I wasn't really paying attention, so I can't say for sure, but it was probably a healthy share of both."

"Huh."

Before I could think about the situation any further, Panam grabbed ahold of my left ear and yanked it lightly to force me to face her.

"Hey, don't you go thinkin' that's a license to go out there and collect hoozies. You said you're only interested in me, and I'm holding you to that."

A combination of the strange topics of conversation and having my ears pulled dispelled any remaining sleepiness I had. All the better since I have the perfect distraction in front of me. I quickly grabbed Panam's right shoulder in place and playfully bit the finger tugging my ear. I then pushed her off my chest and onto her back before letting her finger go.

"You are the only woman for me, and I know just the way to show you."

Panam lightly mewled and stared back at me in response to my gruff voice.

"Oh yeah, Tiger? Prove it."

I did just that by keeping her moaning for the next few hours.