Rafferty limped up the stairs toward J Hall. She paused as Jonah scampered down towards her. When Jonah stopped and asked how things were going, Rafferty smiled and assured her that everything had gone just great with the Bluftons. She didn't risk moving again until Jonah was a good distance down the staircase, not wanting to explain exactly how she had managed to twist her knee. The F Hall Hunter was super nice, but nosey as anything.

She had hung around long enough to wave at Bentley from the ground, take a little bow, and make sure he turned and stumbled back inside. Now, Rafferty considered her job finished, and had no intention of going back to the gathering.

Instead she was going to go home, and tell her friends all about it. Rafferty knew they must be angry at her for going on the mission with B Hall, without really saying anything, and then ignoring them last night and most of the day. She thought a few good stories about the dinner would patch things up, especially if they got to laugh at all of her mistakes.

Which she had to admit, were sort of funny.

She knocked on Blaspheme's door. A few seconds later it opened.

"Look who it is," said Blaspheme.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Hey, I—" Rafferty tried to reply.

"I can't tell. Is it the newest member of B Hall, or is it Little Miss Better Than the Rest of Us whose new job is wining and dining all the donors? Oh wait, it's both," said Blaspheme.

Ok, this isn't going well.

"No, Blaspheme, it was aw—"

"Did you tell the Zeros story? That's why they wanted you right, because you've just had so many personal successes, right?" Blaspheme asked.

"Um, yeah," Rafferty said.

"Oh yeah? Which part did they like best? I bet it wasn't the part where I had to save you from getting pumped full of toxins," Blaspheme asked.

"Actually, Katrin had to tell most of it," Rafferty mumbled.

That did not improve matters.

"Oh, then I'm sure it was perfect, like everything else she does," Blaspheme said.

"I never said that," Rafferty snapped back.

"No, you just proclaim it by following her around like a motherless puppy. You know what she's doing, right?" Blaspheme asked.

I don't think I'm actually supposed to answer that.

"She's number 1, right? Everyone says so. Well, ever since she saw you drag that big ass God skull back, she's worried you might take her place. So if she takes you under her wing, and bribes you with late night hunting trips, or God-chopping competitions, or whatever the hell kind of booze-filled orgy DeCarlo stumbled into this morning, then she can keep you from ever rising higher than number 2. That's all she wants," said Blaspheme.

"You know it wasn't an orgy," Rafferty growled softly, but she was looking at the ground.

"Well, now I feel better," said Blaspheme.

"I just wanted to tell you about—" Rafferty tried to start.

"I have one question, Rafferty. When you got back from a mission, with another Hall, that we found out you were on from freakin' Holden, did you even have the decency to come and tell us you were all right?" Blaspheme asked.

Blaspheme stood there with her arms folded. Rafferty couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I guess not," she said.

This isn't right at all.

This was supposed to make things better.

We were supposed to laugh.