Their Pandemonium (4)

Well, they say close-combat ability can bloom through training picked up after the fact, so there was no need to sink into despair over it! More to the point, Hwayeon was the boss of the second-best raid team in Korea, and her mental state was this precarious...

"No. What good is it if I get strong all by myself? And in the world we live in now, the lone-hero act is impossible, isn't it? Even just thinking about protecting the people precious to me, I can't manage it alone. I can't do without you and Franc."

I wasn't sure comfort like that would land, but it seemed to work far better than I'd expected. Franc and Hwayeon looked up at me with wistful eyes, faces that all but asked, Really?

Cute!

"Really. And I have almost no talent for close combat. That's the conclusion Franc and I reached after talking it through in the second round. So I absolutely need both of you!"

The moment I pressed it — that I truly needed them — their faces finally brightened.

Seriously cute!!

Embarrassed, Hwayeon cleared her throat and got to her feet.

"Th-that remains to be seen. Even if you think yourself lacking, someone else might find you more than adequate. So when you have the time, you ought to be tested properly."

Franc clung to my back as she spoke.

"I do believe it would be best if you let Miss Hwayeon test you. She is a master of close-quarters combat, so she ought to be able to offer counsel that will aid you, Seoha!"

At the sight of Franc hanging off my back, Hwayeon's brow twitched. Jealous? ...But the one who was actually frightening was my sister beside me. The shadow deepening over her eyes made it look as if an asura might burst out of her at any moment!

"What is Miss Evans saying?"

"She says you seem to be a master of close combat, so I ought to let you test me yourself."

"I-is that so? Good. I'll test you thoroughly!"

"While you're at it, check what class my Physical Reinforcement comes out to. Roughly I seem to sit at H Class, and if I spend more TP I can push up to F-Class, but I'm not sure."

"Good. We've time to spare and we've finished eating, so let's test you at once — call it after-meal exercise!"

Once Franc acknowledged her and I asked for her help, the gloom of a moment ago vanished without a trace. She rolled her shoulders, brimming with motivation.

My sister glared at Franc with a look that said something about this did not please her. Franc, catching that expression a beat late, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hunched her shoulders and quietly detached herself from me.

While Franc fidgeted and watched my sister's mood, I followed Hwayeon's direction, left the living area for the training area, and took up a stance a reasonable distance away.

"I can start right away, but aren't you going to change? You're in a skirt."

"...Judging by your stance, I don't think I'll need to."

Ugh. I'd taken the same posture I used fighting the two-tailed fox, and in Hwayeon's eyes it still fell woefully short.

"Attack me once."

The way she crooked a finger, as if I were hardly worth the effort, stung my pride a little. Sure, I might look lacking, but a man has his pride. She'd be letting her guard down. This was the moment to land one on her.

For a split second Hwayeon's naked body filled my sight and I flinched — but I locked onto her eyes, kicked off, and cut in on her left to seize her arm—

"Aaaagh?!"

Air tore past me. I was flying, and then I hit with a thud, back-first.

"Ghk!"

A sharp pain spread across my entire back. I'd circled left to grab her left arm and wrench it, but before I knew it she'd seized my arm and my collar, and I was the one sent flying.

Tch. She moved too fast. I couldn't react.

I sprang up and this time drove for her right side... or so I feinted, going leeeeeft!

Thud—!

Once again I flew and landed back-first, and centrifugal force sent me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tumbling end over end until my insides sloshed and my stomach lurched.

"Why do you charge in such a straight line? I suppose that's meant to be a feint, but the motion is far too simple."

"Urgh, I'm coming again!"

This time, if she reached out, I'd snatch her!

I dropped low...

Bang!

I kicked off the floor and charged, and when the distance had halved—

BOOM!

I'd stacked the acceleration, but Hwayeon's eyes were still locked straight on me. Tch. This wasn't enough to slip her dynamic vision?

Still, maybe because my physical ability had doubled and my thoughts had accelerated with it, I could clearly see her hand coming. And there it was — her hand closing on the right arm I'd deliberately extended, like I was begging to be caught. The bait!

"Got y—!"

"I caught you too."

"Huh? Waaah—!"

Whoosh! Thud!

"Guhk!"

As I rolled across the floor yet again, Hwayeon's sighing voice slipped into my ear.

"Why are you so fixated on grabbing me? I am B-Class. Unless you fire an Elemental round, you have no means of injuring me. So attack freely."

Guh. Had I gotten too cocky about mana rounds? She was right — even with Mana Mode Acceleration, my physical ability was only around F-Class, by my estimate. This was no time to be thoughtfully holding back on her!

After that I triggered Mana Mode — Acceleration without mercy. I aimed kicks at her legs — my shin felt like it would split, as if I'd kicked steel rebar — tackled her midsection — my shoulder felt like it would shatter, as if I'd rammed a concrete wall — tried to catch her arm and wrench it, even threw a flying kick, and still I couldn't deal her a shred of damage.

And once Hwayeon decided to show what she could really do and began to move in earnest, every hand I reached out was slipped, every leg I swung was caught and shoved aside, and every tackle died the moment she seized my shoulder and pressed me down. She sealed off every attack I had.

Whoosh, thud!

"Ugh!"

Down I went again. The pain in my back was nothing next to how winded I was. I couldn't move.

Grrr — my pride would not let me end it like this!

Stubbornness flared. I shot to my feet, released Mana Mode, and spun the Mana Sieve to its extreme in a Physical Reinforcement configuration!

"Hm?"

"Yaaaaah!"

The efficiency was garbage, but in exchange my physical specs spiked — up to seven times! I was going to land at least one hit!!

The sudden surge was enough to make me flail, but thanks to Spatial Perception and my earlier practice I could control it somewhat, and I poured fists and kicks down on Hwayeon like a rainstorm.

...Insane! She didn't so much as budge, deflecting every attack with nothing but her two hands!

H-how did that make any sense?! It felt like I was only striking the exact spots where her hands were already waiting!

I kept the barrage up for a dozen seconds or so, and my muscles started screaming, my breath coming in ragged gasps! My TP plunged just as fast, and in the end it zeroed out — the Mana Sieve holding my Physical Reinforcement came undone, and— huh?

"Move."

"Wai— aaaaah?!"

Same as the first time — arm and collar caught, and I was flung into the air. With my muscles locked stiff and not even Mana Mode on me, I was flying on a bare body, and the scream tore out of me on its own.

In the instant I saw Franc, Hwayeon, and my sister staring wide-eyed in shock—

WHAM!

I couldn't even break my fall. I was slammed mercilessly into the floor.

Pain lanced through my lungs. My breath caught, and my consciousness dimmed.

Ghk... a mistake like this...

Through the fading awareness I saw my sister and Hwayeon running toward me, calling my name... and I let go of the thread of my mind.

When my blurred senses began to return, Sophia's angry voice drifted into my ears.

"Throwing a boy who doesn't even know how to break a fall up into the air — what were you going to do if he landed wrong and cracked his head?!"

"I-I adjusted it so he'd land on his back and not get hur—"

"You call that an excuse?! Then why is Seoha out cold like this?! And Siha, you're no better! If you're his sister, you should have stopped it — and you just stood there watching? You fail as a sister!"

...So that's what it was. My sister and Hwayeon were getting scolded by Sophia.

Something soft was under the back of my head, and the angle — looking up at Sophia from below — told me enough. I was lying with my head in her lap. Thighs with hardly any muscle to them, soft and yielding. A different feeling entirely from Hwayeon's or my sister's.

Had they called Sophia because I passed out?

I quietly rolled just my eyes, and there they were: my sister and Hwayeon kneeling in front of Sophia, taking their scolding. I'd thought Sophia was just the airheaded prankster type, but she could play the strict older sister too.

Unexpected.

"W-well, you were downstairs, Unni, so there was a part of me that felt reassured."

"Then you should have called me in advance and had me standing by! He's a Detection-type with a body only a little better than an ordinary person's, isn't he? What were you planning to do if he was hurt so badly there was nothing to be done?!"

"Ugh."

Sophia cut off Siha's weak protest with surgical precision and kept right on scolding.

She didn't know my abilities, which was why she was acting like this, and since we were keeping them secret, Hwayeon and my sister could only take the lecture in silence.

I blinked, decided that lying here — not even on Franc's lap, or Hwayeon's — was rude, and tried to sit up... only for Sophia's hand to press my forehead and pin me down.

"Um, Sophia? I'm awake."

"I suspect a concussion, Seoha, so please stay down a little longer."

She showed me a slightly angry face too, speaking sternly, and she really did give off the air of a proper eldest sister!

But that was that, and this was this.

"Didn't you already treat me with your Recovery ability?"

"..."

"I'm completely fine, though?"

"......"

Sophia quietly shut her mouth and looked away.

This woman! She'd been trying to indulge herself while she had the chance!

I forcibly moved the hand pressing on my forehead and sat up.

"Aing~! Y-you really ought to rest a little more."

"Really?"

"...Tch."

Watching her click her tongue under her breath, I felt a sigh coming on. A minute ago it was the easygoing-sister concept or whatever, and now it was the strict-sister concept?

"An easygoing sister is nice, but a sister who's like a friend is nice too."

"Really?"

"Nope."

"Ugh!"

Once I was up and trading jokes with Sophia, looking perfectly fine, my sister and Hwayeon let out sighs of relief. Hwayeon especially couldn't tear her pale face away from me.

She must have assumed I'd be all right and hadn't even moved to catch me — then I fell and passed out, and she startled hard enough to call Sophia.

Uuugh. Of all moments to get grabbed and thrown, it had to be the instant my TP ran out and Mana Mode dropped.

With Physical Reinforcement on, falling was about like rolling around on a slightly firm blanket. Falling with it off, the way my breath just stopped — that was no joke. I suppose I'd learned all over again just how incredible Physical Reinforcement was.

"Thanks for treating me, Sophia."

"If you're grateful, then drop the formal speech and let's be comfortable with each oth—"

"I'll pass."

Speaking casually to an older woman — Franc and Hwayeon were already plenty.

When I refused her flat, Sophia pouted. She wasn't even a child, and she stuck her lip out and put on a sulk.

"Hmph! Next time you get hurt, I won't fix you~!"

Do it or don't. I put Sophia out of my mind and looked at Hwayeon.

"So? I really don't have the aptitude for close combat, do I?"

"Y-yes. N-no! A-are, are you, your b-body all r-right?"

"Huh? I'm fine now. Maybe because I got treated, I feel light."

"Th-that's, that's a r-relief."

Why was she like that? She was stammering terribly.

...Ah.

I caught on to why, and smiled bitterly to myself. Her old trauma must have flared up.

"It's all right. My TP just happened to bottom out then, so I couldn't protect my body. I failed to control how much I spent. That's on me, so don't worry about it."

"E-even s-so, it was because of m-me."

The stammering wasn't getting any better. She was shaking so hard her chest trembled.

This wouldn't do. I stepped in and held her tight. Maybe because I'd grabbed her so suddenly, her body went rigid, and my sister and Franc beside us opened their eyes wide in surprise — but soothing Hwayeon came first.

"It's okay, it's okay. Sophia treated me, didn't she? Nothing hurts, and my memory's fine. Nothing like that time is going to happen, all right?"

"R-right."

I patted her back and stroked it, and the trembling subsided, her uneven breathing slowly settling.

Hmm... this posture was a little awkward. I let go, sat down beside her, took her by the waist, settled her on my lap, and wrapped my arms around her again.

Oh. This was better. The closeness was no joke.

When I sat Hwayeon on my lap, Sophia wore a mischievous smile that didn't suit her pretty face and giggled. Then she tilted her head, crawled closer on hands and knees, and looked up at her.

Under that scrutiny Hwayeon flushed and turned her face away. Sophia blinked and asked me,

"Hwayeon's acting strange. I thought her heart had dropped because her beloved darling got hurt, but that doesn't seem to be it? Do you know why she's like this, Seoha?"

I took a moment, through Spatial Perception, to admire the way Hwayeon hid her reddened face against the nape of my neck, then slowly opened my mouth.

"You know Hwayeon and I are childhood friends, right?"

"Whaaat?! No way! A childhood-friend lover?! You people are living tropes!"

...What was she even saying. Don't tell me Sophia was a true devotee of the Western-otaku faith?

"If you interrupt, I won't tell you the story."

"Ah, I'll be quiet. Please, continue!"

Sophia covered her mouth with both hands and waved at me to go on.

"...When I was ten, I made Hwayeon angry once. Over a pretty ridiculous reason. She was so mad she shoved me without thinking, and I fell and cracked my head on a rock — bad enough that it had to be stitched. I even lost part of my memory."

"Aha. That memory overlapped onto what just happened!"

Quick on the uptake, as expected.

Still unable to lift her face, Hwayeon kept it buried in my shoulder. I stroked her back and asked Sophia,

"This isn't trauma, is it?"

"No waaay~. If that incident were trauma, she wouldn't have been able to spar with you just now. A mental shock has risen to the surface of the memory, that's all, so if you hold her and pat her like this, I think she'll calm down soon."

"I don't need to use Recovery on her, right?"

"Wounds that can heal are best left to the body's own recovery — it's good for immunity, too. And for a mental shock like this, a beloved darling's embrace is the sovereign rem—"

"Sophia!"

Whoa?! Good grief, that startled me.

Hwayeon had shrieked at her, but Sophia didn't care. With a wicked little smile, she grabbed my sister's hand and started dragging her out.

"Ah? S-Sophia Unni?"

"Come, come. It's best to leave wounded lovers alone together for a little while! You're coming with me!"

"Ah, w-wait, no! Let go! Unni?! Unni!!"

...Sophia was a Recovery type, so her strength shouldn't have been anything special — and yet where was that monstrous power coming from? She hoisted my sister up by the waist and shot off like an arrow, out the open door and straight for the elevator.

I listened to my sister's scream shrinking into the distance, then turned to look at Hwayeon.

...Unexpectedly, our eye levels weren't that different. And she was sitting on my lap...

Well. If it was good, it was good.

"Calmed down now?"

"...Yes. I've calmed down."

She answered and tried to get up, so I put strength into the arms around her waist!

"You're not going anywhere!"

"?! Wh-what are you saying! Let go!"

With her waist caught in my arms, Hwayeon was visibly flustered and tried to pry them off. I laced my fingers and held on by force, and I could see plain as day that she was fretting, unable to use her strength for fear of hurting me.

Hehe. I'd have to use this often.

"Sophia said so. Wounded lovers are supposed to stay together!"

"Wh-what are you talking about! We are together right n—"

"Do you hate sitting on my lap?"

At that, Hwayeon flinched and stopped resisting.

I glanced at Franc, who was watching us with a fascinated face, gave her a small smile, then raised both hands and gently tugged Hwayeon's flushed cheeks.

"I like us like this, though."

"Nn..."

I released the cheeks I'd been lightly pinching — soft as rice cakes — and stroked them slowly, and she squirmed as if she were sitting on a cushion of thorns, dodging my gaze this way and that. I took those cheeks in both hands and slowly brought my face closer.

The nearer I came, the more Hwayeon's eyes lost their bearings and wavered.

"Hwayeon."

When I called her name from right in front of her, those pretty obsidian eyes were veiled by her lids. She looked as if she'd given up resisting, shy, and without hesitation I stole her plum-scented lips.

A soft peck.

"Nn..."

Once more. And once more.

Following what I'd seen in the romance novels my sister collected, I gave her a few light kisses, then parted her lips with mine and slipped my tongue in. Hwayeon opened the neat teeth she'd been holding firmly shut and welcomed it.

A peck, then a wet pull.

"Nn, nnh..."

A passionate kiss, tongue against tongue. Tasting that plum-flavored kiss for the second time, I got a little excited. When I lightly caught her soft tongue between my front teeth, the backside seated on my thigh twitched.

I stirred through her mouth as if digging a well, sweeping her gums, teasing the tongue that resisted only weakly, and kept the sweet kiss going.

...B-but when was I supposed to stop? I was starting to run out of breath.

No! I couldn't break the kiss here! I'd endure it even if I had to spin the Mana Sieve!

I devoted myself to caressing her tongue, dropped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a hand to knead her plump backside, and slipped the other through the slit in her skirt to stroke a smooth thigh — and Hwayeon's breathing grew rougher and rougher. Through Spatial Perception I looked at the triangle between her legs and saw honey slowly seeping from her petals.

My cock was fully roused too, prodding at her backside without pause, and that seemed to be why she was leaking.

Ugh. I'd only meant a light kiss, and I'd gotten far too absorbed without realizing it.

My heart was pounding so hard my chest hurt. My face was hot, and so was my cock... The urge kept surging — to strip off her skirt and panties right here, bury my face in that snow-white sex, and lick her petals. What would it feel like? What would they taste like? How would she react? The thought wouldn't stop: I wanted to feel, in reality, the squeezing pressure of her that I'd only known in the dream.

"Huu, haaah. Hnn."

...I should stop. Hwayeon's moans felt dangerous. I couldn't hold out past this either.

"Hnn, S-Seoha. Don't... th-that's enough..."

Ghk!

At that moist, wet voice, my reason nearly flew off for an instant, but somehow I managed not to lose the thread. Dangerous. Truly dangerous.

"Nnh."

Hwayeon's face was genuinely as red as a boiled tomato. The face reflected in her black eyes was the same.

"Huuu..."

I hugged her waist tight and buried my face in the valley of her full breasts.

I drew a deep breath, and a soft, cozy scent of skin filled my lungs to the brim. The thrill struck from my nose to my brain, ran down my spine, and stimulated my balls — I nearly came...

Hwayeon closed her eyes, face flushed, and gently stroked the back of my head where it rested in the valley of her chest.

We both lingered in the afterglow for a moment, then stood together.

Her soaked panties tried to seize my eyes, but I deliberately cut off Spatial Perception and tried not to look. If I looked any longer, I really wouldn't be able to hold back.

Franc had been watching our deep kiss from the side the whole time, and it seemed she'd gotten worked up too — her face was red, and she was squirming, twisting where she stood.

...When we got home, I'd have to take Franc's lips too.

While Hwayeon was looking elsewhere, I adjusted the swollen front of my pants, and the two of us went to sit on the sofa.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The awkward air dragged on, but Hwayeon didn't seem to have any intention of letting go of the hand she held. At some point Franc had taken my free hand as well.

I felt like a sacred relic might crystallize inside me from the sheer sweetness of it, but happy was still happy, so I opened my mouth with a dopey grin.

"Ahem. From where you're standing, how do I look? Do I seem to have any aptitude?"

"Before that, I have one thing to ask... to ask... hmm. You seem to know a few techniques. Have you had an interest in fighting?"

Her face was still red, but her voice had returned to normal. If it hadn't, I would have struggled too. Thank goodness.

"No. It's all just stuff I saw in this manga and that novel. Using the shock from stomping the ground to attack, or how the impact concentrates if your fist meets the target at the exact moment it's fully extended, or how rotating your fist as you strike multiplies the shock, or how the heel is the hardest part of the body so you should use that when you kick."

"...Seoha."

"Yeah?"

"I'll protect you."

Uuugh. Confirmed kill.

Just as I'd half-expected and fully confirmed, I sighed and scratched the back of my head, and Hwayeon looked at me with an apologetic face.

"Is it that much of a mess?"

"Your sense, at least, seems good. From the middle of the test you started reacting a little — to the direction my arm was about to move, and when I moved to snatch yours."

"Ah. That's because I was watching through the combo of Spatial Perception and the thought acceleration from Mana Mode — Acceleration."

"...And the sudden speed and strength at the end — was that also an effect of Mana Mode?"

"No, that was me configuring the Mana Sieve as a Physical Reinforcement type and spinning it to the extreme. Even fully prepared, I can't hold that state for thirty seconds."

"......"

She suddenly shut her mouth and avoided my eyes. It looked so much like a declaration of Don't even think about close combat that I got sad.

"Is it that much of a mess...?"

"...When I briefly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠crossed to China to learn Sihwa Yuseon, I picked up a little of how a martial arts master reads aptitude."

The preamble was ominous.

"It is certain that you have no talent for close combat."

"That's too harsh!"

I'd guessed as much, but hearing it said so bluntly, I felt like I might cry!

"If you'd had talent for close combat as well, I would have been purely glad. But honestly, I'm gladder that there is a part of you that lacks. Because I can fill in what you lack."

"Uh, hmm. If you put it that way... I'm glad too."

When I answered in a mumble, Hwayeon smiled softly.

"You asked me to confirm your Physical Reinforcement grade, didn't you? At the start you were about H Class. Strength, burst, and stamina were all at the H Class average. From the middle you were around F-Class, and at the end you nearly approached C-Class. As for your trait, I'd judge you a balanced type."

Same result Franc and I had come up with? The balanced type, the classes.

"You said you were an agility type, right? Then would it be better if I tuned myself into an agility or stamina type and specialized in evasion and defense?"

"No. Calling it an agility trait is just something people say to make it sound nice. Compared to balanced, it means your strength and stamina are lower. Balanced is the best."

"Ghk, is that how it is? Hmm. Then I should keep training the Mana Sieve as I am. Thanks to you, I can even imitate the Recovery type now."

"Yes. You worked hard today. ...? Where did Miss Evans go?"

Franc was holding my arm on the other side, though? Ah. The buff must have run out.

"Buff — yeah, buff seems like exactly the right word. The buff time must have ended. I applied it to her eyelids after we finished talking and before the meal, so the duration is about four hours?"

"Is that so. How much TP did you use?"

"It was 4 TP."

"About one hour per TP, then. I should verify that as well."

Hwayeon nodded and asked me to apply just 1 TP. I did so on her eyelids without comment, and after blinking a few times she went and sat beside Franc.

Franc looked at her, suddenly sitting there, with puzzled eyes.

"Miss Evans, I will be in your care from now on. Please watch carefully so that bad women do not attach themselves to Seoha, and if such a woman appears, tell me. I will deal with her."

"Huh?!"

Franc popped two exclamation marks over her head and nodded for all she was worth!

For a moment I was a little hurt, thinking she didn't trust me — then I shifted perspective and realized there was nothing to feel bad about. She wasn't trying to stop me from going after other women. She meant she'd stop the women who came after me.

Going to them, and them coming to me. A single turn of phrase, and the meaning was nothing alike.

I came home with my sister, whose cheeks were puffed up like a contrary little frog's, and Mom — pacing the living room in her pajamas — grabbed her by the arm and dragged her straight into the master bedroom.

...I scratched my head at the voices spilling out of the master bedroom and looked around the living room. Was Dad in the study?

I went back to my room and checked the clock. Already eleven. Maybe because I'd seen and heard so much today, and had such stimulating experiences, my head felt a little heavy, and I was tired.

I showered while Mom and my sister bickered in the master bedroom, and when I came out they were still at it. It was late — how long did they plan to keep this up...

Dad must have come out to the living room while I was in the shower. He was on the sofa, reading an academic book, and I spoke to him.

"Dad. I'm turning in first."

"Right. Sleep well."

"Yeah."

I had to go back to school starting tomorrow, so I ought to get straight to bed.

I returned to my room, lay down with Franc, and the day's events kept circling in my head.

The preparations were finished. I'd obtained the four great abilities — Physical Reinforcement, Elemental, Recovery, and Detection — so all that remained was growing them. A few questions lingered, but I'd learn those as I lived. Things like the Supergiant Turtle, or a way for Franc to have a body.

I'd wrapped up the second-round Phase World cleanly, and they'd said the review would end favorably, so nothing ought to be a problem now.

Feeling strangely refreshed, I buried my face in Franc's cozy breasts.

"Fufu."

When she curled in as if it tickled, breasts — laying it on thick — the size of my head rubbed against my face.

Franc wore a gentle expression and slowly stroked my head, and sleep came pouring in. I was about to give myself over to it... when it occurred to me that I still hadn't taken Franc's lips.

"Franc, good night."

A peck.

I'd meant to go for a French kiss, but a little bird-kiss wasn't so bad either...

I looked at Franc's face, eyes gone round, grinned, and closed my own.

I had a feeling I'd sleep well tonight.