Chapter 16: Fusing
After an exhausting day with the three idiots.
Lanz was glued to the couch like melted cheese, wrapped in a blanket and curled in just the right position that made standing up physically impossible.
His legs still hated him from yesterday’s chaos, his back complained with every shift, and there was a laptop on his chest like a lazy cat. A bag of unopened snacks balanced dangerously on his stomach, as if daring gravity to ruin his night.
Somewhere nearby, Miko was snorting at her tablet. Hunter prank videos were on full blast — one particularly dumb clip showed a guy trying to show off an explosive skill inside a laundry room. He succeeded, then immediately set off a sprinkler system and broke a table.
"That’s what you get for naming your combo ’Blazing Justice,’ idiot," Miko laughed, her voice just as annoying as the auto-tuned voiceover reacting to the footage.
In the kitchen, their mom hummed quietly while grinding beans into the coffee machine, already halfway through her evening ritual.
The rich smell of brewing caffeine slowly filled the apartment, blending with the faint scent of rice from earlier and whatever oil their dad had used as cologne this earlier in the morning.
The door creaked open a few seconds later, and Kaz stepped in like he lived there, which, to be fair, he technically still did. Hair damp from a rinse, one glove already on, courier jacket halfway zipped. "Yo," he muttered in that too-cool-to-be-loud tone of his.
Lanz raised a hand in greeting without looking up. Kaz plopped down beside him, reached for the snack bag on Lanz’s chest like it was public property, and grabbed one without asking.
"You ever think about how insane Century Tuna is?" Kaz asked while chewing, expression weirdly thoughtful.
Lanz blinked. "Like... the canned kind?"
Kaz nodded. "It’s shelf-stable for years. Years, man. You pop the lid, and it’s still perfectly moist, salty, and delicious. That’s not food. That’s preserved alchemy."