>>5688764“Deez nuts! Lolololololololololololol!” the robotic voice continues, throwing your head back and nearly falling off your stack of plates as you're no longer able to keep suppressing your laughter. You can <span class="mu-i">feel</span> Tanya's helpless frustration as she sighs out, not saying anything and simply leaving without another word.
“Hey GoldenHairAbFan4042, that was a good one!” you say to your chatter as the door closes behind Tanya. “She never saw it coming! Thank you Thighman6969 for the seven, guys thank him for those subscriptions if you received them. But wow, that's some news. Be honest, how many of you saw that coming?”
And as you converse back and forth with your chat, talking about a promising-seeming upcoming gladiator with her mechanical drones as well as that breaking news, you can't help but feel a little sad. Despite everything, you'd been kind of looking forward to fighting her again someday. Maybe she'll agree to fight sometime off camera, for old times' sake?
-Meanwhile, outside the Champion's Suite-
“Well, how did it go General?” your longtime second, Major Viktoriya Serebryakov asks with a mildly worried expression.
“It went pleasantly, all things considered.” you reply, allowing yourself a genuine smile in her presence. “And I'm not a general, not anymore. Just call me Tanya.”
“Yes Gene-ehh, T-Tanya!” she replies, saluting despite stumbling over her words. She seems a bit uncomfortable using first names with you, as you've been identified by your rank over her for so long. So you sigh out, and breaking from military tradition step forward, putting a hand on her shoulder and address her more casually.
“Listen, Viktoriya. If you want to go back home, back to the military, I'd understand.” you tell her, laying on the emotions. “After all, I've been a part of the military since I was nine years old. Adjusting to a more... Civilian lifestyle could prove difficult. And I won't order you to go through that.”
“No, I-I'll stay here with you!” she says, almost shouting. “Being here with you is great, I don't want to go home if you're not there too.”
“Hmm, very well. Then let us go, Viktoriya.” you tell her, taking off your military-styled hat as you start walking down the hallway, further distancing yourself from that old life. And as you take off your military jacket, Viktoriya taking it from you as you stretch, you can feel your mentally shifting as you prepare for an even older lifestyle you lived long, long ago. “It's time for us to go to work.”
-Saiyan Conqueror Quest 198 Intermission End-
