Tuesday 8/12/25


    I awoke in a daze to the sound of my phone falling off the nightstand and vibrating on the floor, it had likely been going off for minutes, judging by the fact that it was on the fucking floor, but my sleep addled mind had been completely unwilling to acknowledge its disturbance to my respite. It continued to vibrate incessantly, and the sound had the effect of stirring Harley as well, so I caved to the object''s demands and reached down to rescue it. The display lit up, and my brain was immediately stunned into wakefulness by the flash bang that was the screen on maximum brightness. It took some time for my eyes to adjust enough to read and comprehend the text displayed.


    I had 17 notifications, it was 10:12 AM, and I had just missed a video call from work. Shit. I let out a barely audible groan as I pushed myself out of bed and made my way towards the bathroom, my dry mouth and bowels protesting the neglect as much as my phone. I sat on the toilet and began composing myself as I thumbed through the notifications. 12 of them were from work, I missed a meeting and had numerous Slack messages from coworkers regarding my absence and questioning me about a specific function in my code. The thirteenth was from the subsequent 1:1 I had scheduled with my boss and had just missed, and the remaining 4 were from my group chat with Chloe and Tommy.


    Chloe


    Hey babes, wanna come over for dinner tonight? James is making his "famous" pasta, and I miss y''all!


    7:23 AM


    Tommy


    Not sure, depends on work, but sounds fun! Famous?


    8:09 AM


    Chloe


    He insists it is, come if you can!


    8:11 AM


    Tommy


    Lol, ok. I''ll do my best to get out early!


    8:48 AM


    I tried to think of my plans for the week as I typed my response. Did I have anything planned for tonight? I could cancel my plans with Alton.


    I''ll be there! Miss you too!


    10:16 AM


    I allowed a sigh to escape as I mentally checked off one set of notification and turned my attention to the ones from work, sending quick apologies to my coworkers and rescheduling my 1:1 for later in the day. Last night I told my boss I''d be working from home this week, so at least I didn''t have to rush into the office late. I finished relieving myself and ordered some breakfast for delivery as I padded into the kitchen and brewed us a pot of coffee. I poured myself a large cup and carried it into the guest bedroom where my desk was located, preparing my brain to abandon its recent traumas and focus on the day before me.


    I spent the next few hours catching up on lost work and resolving trivial issues in an effort to feed my starving brain a bit of the dopamine it desperately craved, knowing deep down that it wouldn''t be satiated for long without meaningful progress towards addressing the real problems in my life. But it worked in the short term, and before long I had finished my 1:1, squashed a few minor bugs, and checked in with my teammates.


    The food had arrived about an hour ago, I had delivered Harley''s bacon egg and cheese to her in bed, and the crumbs of my cheese danish still littered my desk as I typed into my keyboard methodically. She woke to the food delivery and gratefully accepted her meal, finishing it in bed and continuing to her work in the other room. I envied her for her flexible schedule and comfortable job. I would love nothing more than to apply the few artistic talents I had, it seemed a hell of a lot better than having to be analytical all day, but maybe the grass was just greener in this case.


    ————


    The first half of the day went by quickly and with relative ease, it had just turned 5 o''clock, and Harley had come in without me noticing. She blessed me with a surprise hug that startled me slightly, and gently pulled my right headphone out to whisper into my ear.


    "I love you." She breathed while continuing to hug me deeper and deeper, sinking against my neck and taking a long minute to revel in my proximity. It was a feeling I had missed more gravely than my conscious brain even knew. I''d been taking our constant presence in each other''s lives for granted, and the break-in only served to cement my devotion to her. I don''t know what I would have done if she had gotten hurt, or worse.


    "I love you too, babe." I replied quietly, there was no need for any more words on that front. We both knew exactly what the other was thinking. "Do you wanna come out with me tonight? Meeting up with Chloe and James for dinner at her place." I had texted Alton to cancel on tonight a few hours ago, and he responded, assuring me that he would keep the experiment alive in my absence.


    "Sure! Just dinner?" The answer came quickly and without hesitation, I''m sure we both needed a night out.


    "We may get some drinks after, you know how it is. Wear something cute." I punctuated my command with a lithe smile and a quick kiss. "Not that you''re not always looking cute."


    "Very well love I''ll go get dolled up, don''t take too long in here."


    "I''ll try, should be almost done." I didn''t let the jab get to me, I anticipated hearing it more often going forward, considering how much time I''d be spending at Alton''s in the upcoming months. I watched her leave the room, and returned to quickly button up my work for the day.


    ————


    Harley and I had opted for slightly matching outfits, a silent show of solidarity against a harsh world. She had selected a flowy black top which gently draped over her shoulders and accented the color of her short blue skirt and tights, the fit expertly showed off her generous legs and looked damned good on her. I had opted for a tight sapphire top and black jeans with combat boots, far too unwilling to submit to femininity on this occasion. At least my boobs looked good in the top. We dressed quickly and applied light layers of makeup, mostly eyeliner, before calling a cab to Chloe''s place. Tommy had replied to the group chat while we were getting ready, he was unfortunately stuck at work and wouldn''t be able to make it out tonight.


    We spent the ride in silence, each looking out through our respective windows. The city was remarkably quiet, even for a Tuesday night. Barely a honk was heard as we were driven down the typically nightmare-ish Canal st and over the Manhattan Bridge to my friend''s home in Bushwick. It almost seemed like the city knew better than to fuck with us.


    Chloe greeted us both eagerly at the door with big hugs, she wore a beautiful mid-length floral dress that perfectly hugged her curves, and I smelled James'' cooking from the entryway.


    "Hi babes! Thanks for coming on such short notice! It''s so nice to see you both! Come in!"


    I eagerly hugged her back and took in the scent of her equally floral perfume. She evidentially had a theme going, literally smelling like the gardenias on her dress. "Nice touch with the flower scent, by the way. I missed you so much, we come bearing tea."


    She pulled away and looked at me quizzically before escorting us both through the doorway. "Thank you, and it''d better be piping, we certainly are going to need it tonight."


    "Oh, you know it always is." Harley replied sassily, following Chloe into the house and taking her shoes off. I followed right after, and before long the three of us were at the kitchen bar, chatting away while James cooked. Chloe regularly got in and out of her seat, helping her man with meal prep, pouring wine, and tasting the food. The conversation flowed naturally around different trivialities in our lives.


    "So there I was, alone in the lab at midnight, trying to preserve my sanity, and I had 30 fucking mice running around on the floor, one literally tried to crawl up my damn pants." James spoke, animately recounting the time he accidentally let loose a bunch of lab mice. "I ended up having to bribe them back into their cages with food, no way was I going to catch them all. Those fuckers were fast as hell."


    "How long did that take?" Harley questioned while sipping on her glass of wine. She wore a genuine smile on her face, clearly more than happy to be out of the apartment.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "Three...goddamn...hours," James replied with an exhausted expression. "And even then, I didn''t get them all. Three of the females ended up lodging themselves behind some cabinets and wouldn''t leave without me scaring them out and into an improvised trap."


    We all laughed at his expense, and Chloe wrapped an arm around him in solidarity before turning to the two of us with a quizzical look. "So, what''s the tea guys? Don''t hold out on me."


    I took in a deep breath and sat up a bit straighter, the mirth quickly evacuating my body. "We...ermmm...had our apartment...broken into a few days ago...while we were home."


    Chloe''s face expression went from curious to shocked, to angry in a matter of milliseconds while I spoke, she genuinely looked like she was ready to fight someone. "VI, my love, THAT''S NOT FUCKING TEA, What the fuck happened? Are y''all okay?"


    I released a nervous chuckle at the line of questioning and prepared myself for the story. Fortunately, Harley responded before I could.


    "We''re fine Clo, they had guns, but Vi took one out and got the other to leave, we weren''t hurt." She spoke calmly and monotonously, as if those events were without emotion.


    "THEY HAD GUNS? What do you mean, Vi took one out?" She looked at me with a bewildered expression.


    "Oh...yeah, you know that prop battleaxe we keep in the bedroom? The one I used to scare your ex away a few years ago? I grabbed it when I heard them break in and used it to incapacitate one of the guys. Then I grabbed his gun and yelled at the other guy with my dead voice."


    Chloe and James looked on the verge of going into shock at the news, they took a long moment to process the news before forming any more questions. James spoke first.


    ''So let me get this straight V, you used a fucking battleaxe to take down a home invader in the middle of the night, killed him, grabbed his gun, and just yelled a-"


    "I didn''t kill him," I cut in. " I just swung it at him a few times until he passed out from the pain. There was a lot of blood, but the cops said he lived."


    "You did shoot the gun to scare the other guy away too, your dead voice wasn''t that scary babe." Harley quipped.


    "Okay...you two are being way too fucking casual about this. Y''all could have died, you damn near killed someone," She pointed her glass at me. "And you''re acting like this isn''t insane?"


    Harley shrugged and looked at me for a second before turning back to our accusers. "Blame the trauma, we''ve spent the past few days fucked up about it. There''s only so many breakdowns you can have in a week."


    "Plus," I added. "Nobod...we didn''t get hurt, and nothing was taken, so everything is okay. The other guy is still on the run for now, but I think they''ll catch him soon."


    "This is insane," James replied while plating our food. "I''m just glad you two are okay. You got so lucky."


    "Honestly," Harley responded, caressing my arm under the table. "Now that we''re not in danger, it felt like a scene out of Home Alone. Worst burglars ever. Imagine getting taken down and disarmed by this bitch? I''d rather lose a fight to a pelican." She finished, waving at me broadly, with a warm teasing smile on her face.


    So rude! One would think their lover would stick up for them, I''ll definitely get her back for that jab. "Hey, I''m strong, I''ve worked out a few times this year!"


    Harley responded in between chuckles, "You did yoga like three times babe, and you passed out in shavasana the last time. You''re hardly a warrior, but you did handle that axe well so I''ll give you that."


    My cheeks flushed at the insult, mild embarrassment washing over me at the memory of that incident. The instructor let me nap and woke me after the entire class left. "Yeah, well, at least I wasn''t about to defend myself with a vase." I stuck my tongue at my traitorous partner and continued. "Plus, yo-"


    "Okay, okay you two, don''t have a cat fight. You''re both big and strong." Chloe interrupted with a giggle. "Any idea what they wanted?"


    I let the teasing insults leave my mind and thought for a second about her question. "Honestly, no clue, but we''re both pretty convinced it wasn''t happenstance. There''s no way that it was random chance, we were targeted for some reason."


    James brought out the food and refilled all our glasses before we all settled down to eat. The pasta looked amazing, with a generous helping of parm on top and little cherry tomatoes in the sauce. We all ate our first few bites in relative silence, letting out the occasional complimentary moan and sipping our wine.


    "Great job baby, I''m sorry for doubting you." Chloe said genuinely to her boyfriend, before turning to us and continuing. "This is our first real dinner party as a couple, and he insisted on doing all the cooking, don''t get me wrong, he cooks for me sometimes, and it''s pretty good, but I was still worried cuz you know men. " She spoke that last word in a whisper, with a flat hand blocking her lips from his sight.


    We both chuckled softly at that and Harley responded. "You killed it James, it''s really good!"


    "Yeah, great job, love the sauce." I joined.


    "So what happens now? The cops are going to investigate and let you know?" James asked between forkfuls.


    "Essentially, they gotta find the other guy, and then they''ll let us know when they finish the investigation and try them." Harley replied.


    "Well in that case here''s to violence and justice." Chloe spoke, lifting her glass in a toast.


    "To violence and justice!" We all responded, our glasses clinking in the air.


    ————


    Dinner didn''t last much longer, and we elected to head to a local karaoke bar afterward. The alcohol and plentiful food had the lot of us in a great mood. The bar wasn''t packed, considering the fact that it was only Tuesday, but we, along with the rest of the patrons were all being rowdy and having a good time. Harley and I had put in tickets to sing a few songs each, even putting in a ticket to duet the song "Jackson" by Johnny Cash. The gang was unconvinced that my dead voice was deep enough to scare away that intruder, so I intended to prove it, by singing Johnny''s part as well as I could.


    The drinks had been flowing for about an hour or so, and we were all properly feeling it, we each had our songs and Chloe absolutely killed it with her cover of "Juno". We had all gone absolutely feral over her dancing. James also did pretty well singing "Welcome to the Jungle", hyping up the patrons with a surprisingly good Axl Rose impression! Harley and I were called up next for our duet, and our friends cheered us on eagerly as we approached the stage. We both sat in our stools and looked up to the screen, microphones in hand, as the music started. The two of us sang our hearts out, and I was solidly impressed with Harley''s June Carter voice as we left the stage with the crowd cheering.


    "Ok, ok, I''ll give you that, Vivi," Chloe started, leaning against the bar with her drink in hand. "You still have that voice down, it''s not as deep as it was years ago, but not bad!"


    "Thanks babe!" I replied, leaning in and giving her a big hug. "Harley killed it too!"


    "Thank you, thank you," She said, giving us an elaborate bow. "Y''all wanna go out for a cigarette?"


    We all nodded in agreement and followed out the front door, making ourselves comfortable on a stoop next door. A couple of drunk guys followed us out and camped out with their own cigarettes by the parked cars. One of them turned to look at us as we lit up, and sneered at me before turning back to his friend in conversation. The other quickly followed suit, and they started making their way towards us.


    "Shit, I think we''ve got trouble," I said to my friends, while nodding over to the guys. "Be cool."


    They got up next to us, and just started awkwardly for a minute before Harley spoke. "Can...we... help you guys?


    "Yea," the shorter one replied, "y-you two just sang right?" He gestured vaguely towards Harley and I.


    "We did," I answered cheerily. "Want an autograph?"


    The other one scowled in response. "No, I don''t want a fucking autograph. I want you trannies to get out of our fucking bar."


    The sound of that word had the four of us immediately standing and James was face to face with the asshole in a matter of seconds. "What the fuck did you call my friends you piece of shit?" They stood inches from each other, chests puffed, and time seemed to slow.


    "You heard me bro, fuck off back to stonewall. Those things shouldn''t be allowed in public." The man pushed James, and I went fucking feral.


    I was not going to let my friends get harassed like that, not after Sunday, and certainly not after I''d spend the last countless years dealing with the same shit. I saw red, immediately stumbling off the steps and storming over to defend James. I walked up to the asshole and swung at him before he could question my involvement. The punch went a bit wide, but still connected easily with his fat fucking head. The piece of shit bellowed in pain.


    Harley followed quickly after, hopping off the stairs and kicking the other guy square in the nuts. Chloe was stunned, but James followed our lead and threw a hook into the face of my aggressor, hitting him solidly and making the bastard stumble slightly. The dick regained his composure and threw a wild swing back at James, but I stopped him dead in his tracks, tackling his drunk ass to the floor. "YOU FUCKING FA-". I refused to let him land a hit on my friend, he hit the ground hard, too fucked up to properly hold his balance. James finished him off with a kick to his kidneys, his boots crunching satisfyingly as the man bellowed in pain.


    "Stay the fuck down you dumb sack of shit, don''t make me send you to the goddamn hospital." James yelled in his face as I lifted myself off the smelly asshole, regaining my balance and looking over to check on Harley.


    She had also managed to get her guy to the floor, and he was damn near crying with his arms up in terror as she straddled him, throwing vicious punches into his skull one after the other while screaming into his face. "IF...I EVER...SEE YOU...AGAIN...YOU''RE...GOING...TO WISH...I KILLED...YOU!" The man had called unconscious as she spoke, and her swings continued, nevertheless, blood was spewing from his busted lip and nose, but she didn''t let that stop her. Her face was absolutely feral with rage as Chloe stepped in and gently touched her shoulder.


    "Hey, hey, he''s down babe, don''t make this worse." Chloe spoke calmingly, encouraging Harley up by her arm. "The last thing you need is his blood on you, he''s down."


    It took Harley a minute to snap out of her violent reverie, she looked down over her aggressor, frowned, and turned to us. I had huddled next to Chloe by this point, and James stood calmly with his boot on the other guy''s neck in a clear threat to stay down. "Right, sorry, I got a bit carried away." She spoke as she made her way off the body of the man she''d knocked unconscious. "What now?"


    "Fuck em, let''s leave them here to rot and go pay our tab off." I replied, looking to my friends for confirmation.


    "This jackass is still awake, what should we do with him?" James called calmly.


    "I got it, give me a second." Chloe answered as she walked casually inside the bar. She emerged a minute later with the bouncer in tow. "These are the assholes."


    He was a wall of a man, 6''5", with a dark complexion, buzzed hair, and muscles threatening to burst from his black t-shirt. "Jesus Christ, these guys? I got this, go close your tabs, you''re done for the night". He waved us inside, and I turned my head as we complied to watch him lift the still conscious man up by his hair and slam him into the wall of the bar.


    ————


    We paid the tab quickly and turned to walk the 10 minutes to a different bar nearby, all laughing heartily as we recounted the events that just transpired.


    "What got into you two? We could have just talked them down, didn''t need to go all superwoman on the poor bastards." James asked while taking a sip from his beer. We had grabbed our drinks to-go, not willing to let our money go to waste.


    "They had it coming!" I chuckled. "We needed to let go of some stress, and they had punch-able faces, it''s a win-win!"


    "I don''t think they won anythi-" Chloe replied before she was cut off by Harley.


    "They won a fucking lesson, you can''t just walk around here thinking you own the place, those Jersey bastards are fucked in the head!"


    "What makes you think they''re from Jersey?" James asked.


    Harley looked at him mirthfully and took a long sip of her drink. " I mean, who else would come to a bar in Bushwick, proclaim it theirs, and shout transphobic slurs at a group of people? That''s dumb as shit!"


    "Fair, but you did go a bit overboard there, babe." I replied. "Not that the bloodlust wasn''t sexy, but you wouldn''t do well in jail."


    "I know, I know..." She replied sadly "I got a bit too into it, you were right when you mentioned that thing the other day about enjoying it. Fucker had it coming. I won''t apologize."


    "Enjoying what?" Chloe cut in to the conversation.


    "I...uhh... got really into it the other day when those guys broke in, It felt good smashing him with the axe, and I was telling her that I kinda felt bad about how much I liked the feeling. I guess she understands now."


    Chloe turned stopped the two of us with a hand and took turns looking us in the eyes gravely. "Don''t let this shit get to you, you''re not those kinds of people, and that''s a dark path to go down."


    "I know... I know." Harley replied seriously. "It just feels good to be able to take control in life sometimes."


    "Good, don''t let me catch you two letting those feelings take over, I love you both too much."


    "Yes ma''am" We replied in unison.


    ————


    The night ended wonderfully a few hours later, with the four of us in drunken stupors as we left the second bar hugging and exchanging goodbyes, and Harley and I passed out in the car as the Uber deposited us back at our apartment. The driver begrudgingly woke us, and we stumbled our ways upstairs and into bed.