"Okay, here's a quick update for anyone who's just tuned in to the stream," Shakira said. The lamp between her and Otto's laptops flickered and went out, came back on for half a second, and cut out with a faint pop. Shakira sighed. "Shit!"

"I wouldn't exactly call our show that." Otto laughed and walked over to the floor lamp in the corner, switched it on and returned to his seat. He watched her ample boobs bounce as she laughed and brushed her long dreadlocks away from her face. He grinned for a moment before pulling his gaze reluctantly away from her breasts.

Down, boy. Keep those teenage hormones under control, for once. He sipped his coffee and tried to shift the direction of his thoughts before all the blood left his head.

"Heh." Shakira leaned over to the microphone and said, "Sorry about the distraction, folks. This lamp got knocked off the desk when I was moving stuff around last week, and has been wonky ever since." She flicked her finger against the lamp, but it didn't come back to life. "Well, it's a goner."

"At least it didn't start smoking or shooting sparks. I had a fan do that a couple weeks ago. I turned it on and the blades just twitched and there was a sound like a bug zapper, and then smoke farted out the back end."

Shakira laughed again, and Otto sipped his coffee while watching her boobs jiggle.

"Anyway," Shakira said, brushing her dreadlocks over her shoulder again, "for those who have just joined the stream, our favorite delivery guy and his roommates seem to have hit the big time."

"Yeah. For anybody out there who hasn't heard about this, Jack started off delivering pizzas, then quit the job so he could work with his girlfriend, who was sort of a hired gun. That lasted a couple days, then they got into a hell of a shootout in the Fly-by-Night Enterprises office. Jack, Corona and Taura got blamed for the whole thing, even though they were just caught in the middle of a huge mess that Fly-by-Night made, and our friends had to start working for a law-enforcement agency to avoid a prison sentence."

"And while they're still adjusting to that," Shakira added, "they helped the cops resolve a hostage situation earlier today, and on the way out, they were cornered by a bunch of reporters."

"We just saw some of the video." Otto laughed. "Jack sure was grouchy, and Taura just looked uncomfortable. Corona seemed to get a kick out of it, though."

"Right. Some of the reporters picked up on that, and on her and Jack's relationship as well. Then the interview shifted directions a bit."

Otto grinned. "I guess a hostage situation isn't all that interesting, but a human having sex with a dragon-chick -- that's hot!"

"I'm sure you'd think so." Shakira chuckled and shook her head.

"Sure, but I'm not the only one." Otto shrugged. "Y'know how people are. Thousands of 'em will be glued to their screens watching this stuff, running searches to find out more about our friends, gossiping about them on message boards, and then they'll bitch and moan about how disgusting it is and how Jack should stick with his own species."

"Not to mention the kinds of 'fan art' that'll flood the internet once enough pervs latch onto them."

"Oh, I hadn't even thought of that." Otto snickered. "Great. The thought of stumbling onto drawings of Taura with shitting dicknipples or Corona with an engorged cock the size of Florida …"

Shakira snort-laughed and slumped over the desk.

"There are some things even I don't want to see. Don't want my masturbatory fantasies ruined.'"

"I'm sure Jack will be happy to hear that you fantasize about his girlfriend," Shakira said after she'd caught her breath. She winked at him and he shrugged.

"Nah, I don't go there with women who are already in committed relationships." He fired off a shit-eating grin. "Taura, on the other hand, is available, and she's cute."

Shakira arched an eyebrow at him and shrugged. "Not sure she'd be interested, given recent events."

"That's okay. I can always take the problem into my own hands."

Shakira burst out laughing again, shook her head and let out a slow breath. "You know, sometimes I still have trouble believing you actually admit to, uh … "

"Punchin' my munchkin?" Otto shrugged again. "What's so surprising about it?"

"Well, when I was your age, none of the guys I knew would ever admit it. They were too busy pretending they were humping it out with half the girls in the school."

Otto snorted and took another sip of his coffee. "Well, I'm thirteen, the hormones are raging, and I gotta get rid of that excess energy somehow. Since I don't have a girlfriend, what else can I do? It's a physical need, same as breathing."

"I've known a few guys who never outgrew it."

"I hope I never do." Otto grinned.

Shakira shook her head. "I'm amazed that we have any sponsors left. Good thing we're doing this for laughs in our spare time instead of relying on it for a living." She brushed her dreadlocks away from her face again. "What the hell were we talking about a few minutes ago?"

"Jack and the girls and their newfound fame."

"Oh, right. So, shall we get on with business and play back one of the interviews?"

"Sure." Otto selected a clip. "Here's one we haven't seen yet. These are all linked on our website, and I'm sure they're all over the net, in fact, but what the hell. We might be pausing the playback now and then to offer our own observations. Anyway, here we go."

He tapped the play button and the clip started with Jack already in the middle of responding to someone's question.

"Well, I can't say much about what we do. The boss sent us here to take Givens down, so that's what we did. If you really want a scoop, maybe you can ask the cops why they held off for so long." He frowned. "Any other questions, or are you gonna let us get back to work?"

Otto paused it. "Looks like Jack's had enough."