And an even later update! For a story!

Okay, I just felt like I had to do one. Here ya’ll go.

Status Update: feeling lucky to be single 🙂

Response:

“You’re doing it wrong.”

He wiped some of the dust out of his eyes, probably a bit of the bank that used to be a few meters to the left. He *thought* that a city block or more had just been leveled, but stranger things have happened before when he was in this state.

“What do you mean?”

“You just have to scream it in desperation a bit louder, and it’ll be true”, throwing off the last phrase with a flash of a smile.

He still couldn’t believe that she had survived, or that she was real; pulverized concrete was swirling around their bare ankles, settling onto the now-deserted street. Even stubborn chunks of rebar were still dropping from the sky, which meant that he hadn’t blacked out for more than a few seconds, if that.

“I wasn’t screaming; if anything, it was a hoarse whisper.”

He was pretty sure he hadn’t actually said anything, but who knew? He couldn’t honestly remember his exact actions, barely a minute into the past.

“Oh, no, your intentions were quite clear, and your efforts at suppression were pretty elementary. Ya’know, you’re pretty easy to read.” Again, a smile, accompanying a bashful sway.

“What of it?”, grating the words as they came out.

“Oh, nothing, nothing.” He wondered why she was so damn cheerful. “Just, you know, it’s the oldest story in the world. Separation follows a join, most of the time.” Cocking her head to the side, she seemed to enumerate the violations of her on-the-spot made-up rule.

“You know, I’m okay with being single. I really am.”

“Come on, say it louder.”

“YOU KNOW,I’MOKAYWITHBEINGSINGLEIREALLYAM” Perhaps bellowing with all the dust in the air wasn’t such a good idea: when he straighted again, he notic

“Well, the city block that you just destroyed says otherwise.” Her eyes snapped into focus and it dawned on him that her summer dress actually overlaid body armor. For the first time, he felt a note of disquiet crawl into his throat. “We’ve decided that we need to reign in your psychic powers, and you have a decision: death or loss of your psychic abilities. Which is it? Quick, the default, death, comes.”

He stared at her blankly. What? Was there no othe