Kibbles

"So, how is it?" Cat asks as Ori picks at his food.

"It's... Good..." he forces out, trying not to grimace with each bite. His sister had made burritos, which would have been great were it not for the ingredients. While she was a great cook, there was only so much one could do...

Synth-Food was the bane of Ori's existence, none of it was 'real', and a good amount of it had been repurposed from the shit people in the past would use to feed their livestock. She'd tried to use Kibble as the protein in the meal, a staple in Night City but dog food to anyone with any money at all, even after bathing it in spices he could pick out the aftertaste of it...

He honestly doubled if the Tortillas were even real, let alone whatever she'd used to create the salsa and sour cream... His sister had cooked an actual, fresh steak once, after that everything tasted like dirt...

Cat sighs, "You don't have to lie, I can see it on your face."

Ori wets his lips, "Sorry... I don't want to be ungrateful but..."

"You need to eat more," she leans over and pokes his almost-gaunt cheek, "You can't starve yourself just because you don't like the food..." she mutters.

"We all get it Ori, we ate better on the road, as mad as that sounds." his Dad remarks.

"Yeah, we might be eating better now if we weren't looking after so many people too..." Ori grumbles out.

Emmanuel shakes his head, "Maybe, or maybe we'd be in the same situation with honest and innocent people starving to death right outside our doors."

"If only all of them were 'honest and innocent'-"

"Can you two drop it for today? I've had it hearing about this every time we're together!" Cat interjects, forcing the father and son to go back to eating.

"So... Anything interesting happen?" Cat asks after a moment of silence.

Emmanuel shrugs, "Not much, some Scav's tried to sneak inside but we had 'em runnin'. I swear they're either getting dumber or just more desperate."

"Anything on Maelstrom?" Ori questions, while everyone knew they were out and about, they'd not actually found them in the tunnels yet...

"Nothin', occasionally see 'em walking around outside the DTR Factory, but I doubt they're gonna try anything." Emmanuel lays down his fork and stands, "Speaking of which, I think it's better you two get some shooting practice in."

Cat quirks a brow, "Why? I thought you said nothing was happening?" she asks, wanting to stay back and continue writing the recipe book she'd been working on.

Their Dad's face twitches slightly but keeps his face neutral otherwise, he gives them a slight smile, "Just want you two to be ready, should the worst happen."

Ori shakes his head and shovels the rest of his meal into his mouth before standing, "I'm good, I've got some shit to do anyway, no point wasting the bullets on me."

"You sure? Last time we tried you couldn't even hit the ceiling, and we live in a tunnel..." Emmanuel remarks.

"You're headed to the junkyard again, aren't you?" Cat questions.

"Again? You're turning into a real junk rat, aren't you? What're you even looking for?" Emmanuel prompts.

Ori shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know... Anything really, the Corps have to dump something valuable occasionally,"

"Yeah, if you can beat the other junk rats who live out there... You two've been saving up your Eddies for a while now..." Emmanuel looks to Cat, "This for that idea of yours?"

She nods shyly, "Is it weird? It feels like I'm trying to abandon the clan..."

Ori scoffs, "By opening a restaurant outside of the slums? Don't be stupid. Besides, with how things are going the Clan won't last much longer. We need this."

"Eh, don't say things like that." Emmanuel protests. "Thing's aren't as bad as you're making them out to be."

"Dad, Cat can't even leave the house without a dozen layers of clothes and enough makeup for ten people. She even had to cut her hair because of those creeps you let in." Ori angrily says. "We're supposed to be in charge of this place yet people act like we're easy prey. Have you even done anything about those assholes who slapped her ass last time!?"

"Yeah, we threw 'em out on the street for a couple days... Only half of 'em came back, said Maelstrom were responsible."

"Hmph, looks like Maelstrom's the only one dealing with the trash then. Whatever I'm going." he says, waving over his shoulder as he picks up his bag and leaves, not letting his Dad get another word in.

"That boy..." Emmanuel sighs.

--------------------------------

"Oh hey, Ori." a voice greets, immediately bringing a smile to his face. He turns around and spots her, 'the sole shining light of cleanliness and beauty in Casinha', or at least that's what he calls her in his mind.

Christy D'Clert, a Braindance celebrity that occasionally visited to help out with the homeless, donating Eddies and working in the soup kitchen. She had tanned skin, pink hair and eyes, and shiny Cyberware around her neck and temples.

Did he have a crush on her? Of course, But what teenage boy his age wouldn't? A famous musician who dared to venture into the slums to perform charity? It was like she was too kind for this world.

"H-ey, Christy, whatchu doing?" he asks while shuffling his bag on his shoulder, the crude tools inside jabbing him slightly in the side.

"Oh, youknow, the usual. Had some time so I thought I'd visit..." she glances around, "I swear, this place gets bigger every time I come back." she refocuses on him, "You and your family are so amazing to keep it running! I've never seen a group so selfless before!"

Ori rubs the back of his head, "Ah, yeah. You know us, just trying to help out the 'Little-man'. Someone's gotta do it after all."

She beams at him, "I wish there were more people like you around Ori, the world would be a much better place." she says, rubbing him on the shoulder before beginning to leave, "I've got to go live in an hour so I need to rush off, you be safe now!"

He waves her off, "Ah, sure... You too." he smiles dumbly, watching her depart.

"Your fly's down." a voice states, causing Ori's head to shoot down and look at his pants... Only to sigh in relief at that not being the case. "Fuck you Bats."

The Quadrano Ripperdoc just cackles in response, "You stare any harder at that girl and your eyes'll fall out, kid." he pauses with a playful look on his face, "Youknow, I've just gotten some new optics in, let's you see through clothes." he wiggles his brows.

Ori blushes at that, "W-what!? That's a thing!?"

"Hah! Of course not! Not nowadays at least! I see I caught your interest though you little creep! Maybe you'd take some chrome if I offered some porn with it?"

"Again, fuck you Bats." Ori grouses and quickly exits the tunnels, heading for the trains to reach the junkyard East of Santo Domingo.