Aw, he’d missed her so much! Her poor baby. How had he been handling things here without her? Harley’s arms tightened around his neck as she squeezed. He’d never have that problem again, because she was here to stay.
“I was comin’, Mr. J,” she explained quickly, her speech pattern slipping into a less structured format. Ends of words were dropped, jargon was sprinkled liberally throughout, and her tone took on a cutesy sing-song that was reserved for him alone. “Soon as I ditched the fuzz, I was comin’ ta find ya. No girl has ever gotten a better love note from her guy, not ever. I was even gonna make some art, y’know, to say thank you. I swiped some of those tree-diggers and was gonna rearrange the park, just for you.”
Then she frowned as she recalled the next bit. “But some glorified chicken shot me. I mean, just zoomed past and shot me for no good reason! I didn’t do nuthin’ to them or anything! Next thing I knew, I was kissin’ a girl.” She hastened to add, “But it didn’t mean anything, Puddin’. I think she drugged me or something. Maybe she was working with the winged freak that shot me. Coulda been. He had wings and she had fangs, and you know how that sort sticks together.”
Her voice dropped to a shameful whisper. “I let her touch my gun.”
The scowl returned full force as she finished her explanation with, “So I blew ‘er up. Well not her, ‘cause she does this healing thing that’s so annoying, but she got all whiny about her clothes. So I set her shoes on fire, but she was still holdin’ on to me, so I got a bit… singed.”
That was putting it mildly.
She shrugged, going back to raining kisses all over his handsome face, no longer that concerned about Karen or the incident in the park. It didn’t matter at all, not now that she had her man back. Everything was going to go right now, she just knew it. They’d turn this City on it’s ear, and live happily ever after, just her and her Puddin’ and…
Harley blurted out, “Where are the babies?”
She’d missed their unusual pets, the completion of their warped little family in her fantasy mind. And if he didn’t have them, then she was marching right back to the zoo and getting some this time. Which reminded her that she’d seen a winged freak there, too. And he had his own fangs. What was it with wings and fangs in this place?