"Thirty minutes," I said to no one in particular. "Plenty of time to have a complete mental breakdown."
"You don't have mental breakdowns." Natalia adjusted my collar with the sort of possessive attention that made my stomach do things unrelated to competition anxiety. "You have tactical recalibrations."
"That's the nicest way anyone's ever described my poor life choices."
Maki jumped from my shoulder to Natalia's, a move that surprised everyone including me. Natalia stiffened for half a second before her hand came up automatically to scratch behind Maki's ears. The cat purred loud enough to vibrate through Natalia's combat suit.
"Your familiar is defecting," Skylar observed.
"My familiar does whatever causes me maximum psychological damage."
"Smart cat."
"Dangerously so."
