Natsume Gyani
Get this, get that. Do this, do that. All these damned orders, and for what? Half the time he never knew, but he didn't question it. Heck, most of the time, he just wanted to get the order done and get on with his life… But this week, nonstop orders from day to night. A total of maybe sixteen hours of sleep throughout. What the hell… Shikyo was a real ass when he wanted to be, and there was no doubt that he didn't even have to try.Whatever… It was late, it was freaking hot, and he just wanted to go back home and sleep. He was tired of having to do this crap. So he camped outside, hidden away in just about anything he could hide in without getting spotted by the neighbourhood. And that just happened to be this woman's backyard. All the details that Kyo ever gave him was that the woman was a student, and an idiot gave her something that they shouldn't have. It was a mistake, but if things went south, he was probably going to get another job within the week to make sure that guy didn't talk. What a pain…
He was here to retrieve a contract. To make a long story short, a teaching assistant messed up, handing the contract to a student instead of her paper and that resulted in Natsume sitting in the bushes in their backyard… Stupid… If anyone caught him here, he'd look like a perv trying to creep on some law school stiff. Just had to get in and out. No one was supposed to even know that contract existed.
Why was he even out here? Couldn't the TA just tell the student that there had been a mix-up and switch them? That was assuming that the girl didn't already look at her paper again for feedback and whatever… Idiots, all of them… But it wasn't his job to question. Besides, if he did, he'd probably end up with one hell of a bruise at the back of his head from the big man himself. What made this worse was that this plan was concocted on the spot. Natsume had no background information, no idea how many people lived in the house, what the lay out was. He didn't even know if she had a stinking pet!
… But orders were orders, no matter how stupid. If this turned out to be a hoax, he was going to be so pissed…
Minutes in that bush turned to hours as he waited for the lights in the house to go off. Every. Single. Light… He wasn't going to risk getting pepper sprayed in the face, kicked, beaten, whatever this woman was capable of. Anything to reduce the risk of getting caught and arrested. This was a pretty decent neighbourhood. Hell of a lot better than the dump he called home.
Pulling the greying hood of his hoodie over his silvery locks, he sighed. Lights were out. Time to move in. Picking the lock to the back door was easy. No challenge there, letting himself inside. He looked more like some idiot teenager sneaking back home than he did a cat burglar. He was both, really, but the idea of just being here was sickening. Just had to find her book bag, swap her paper with the contract, and he'd be out of there. Looking down at the tan envelope under his arm, he suppressed the need to sigh again and took off his shoes and left them on the back porch -just outside of the window's sight- so he could creep through the house. No sense in leaving a dirt trail.
Though, before he could start creeping, he couldn't help but notice that this place was like a doll house. Nothing particularly looked real to him, since there was usually an odd bowl of something somewhere, maybe an appliance out for regular use, but it was like walking into a house that had yet to be lived in. And he thought that he was clean. Compared to this place, he may as well have been a hoarder of blankets and coffee mix tins.
He didn't settle on that, though. Not important. Just meant that he had to avoid… touching anything. Another methodical psycho. How refreshing. Oh how he had missed catering to the needs of something with a compulsive obsessive disorder… Yeah, that probably wasn't the case here, the lady could just be clean as hell or maybe germaphobic, but if he was going to get through this night, a little in his head criticism was crucial for his sanity.
Now… On to looking for that contract.
[title]Amariss D'allore[/title]
It was three in the morning when Amariss woke up. After a minute, after she realized she wasn't getting back to sleep that easily, she sighed, sat up, and extricated herself from the faintly lavender-scented sheets. She made her way out of her bedroom, past her desk, which was covered in neatly organized piles of various textbooks, electronics, and schoolwork. The latter consisted of thorough, highlighted, underlined, and color-coded notes and the like, as well as that one paper she hadn't had a chance to review yet--it was still in its cover, even. Yes, it was a bit lax of her, but it had been a busy week settling in, and it wasn't like she'd gotten a bad grade or anything.
Still, there was always room for improvement, and since it wasn't like she had anything better to do, Amariss resolved to at least do a preliminary skim of it before she tried to go back to sleep. It was too late--or early, rather, for contacts, so she plucked her silver-framed glasses from the desk as she passed by and slipped them on. Amariss was still in her pajamas (light green, silk, a gift from her sister--and wow, wasn't that a strange thought, even after all this time), but she'd deigned to put her long blonde hair into a bun, ensnaring the wavy strands with a hair tie as she walked quickly through the darkened hallways.
There wasn't much point in turning on a light; she did know her way around, after all, and the light pollution wasn't so bad in this part of town, so the nearly-full moon provided plenty of illumination.
She'd just get some tea and a snack from the kitchen first, and--"What are you doing in my house?" Amariss asked, with, under the circumstances, a remarkably calm tone. But then, perhaps she'd just spent too much time around people who seemed to attract danger like iron filings to a magnet, and nothing could surprise her anymore. She supposed it ran in the family. The light switch was right next to her; she flicked it up, bathing the room in nearly blinding light, which, she thought, would be rather more of a handicap for the intruder than for her, since she knew exactly where everything was.
She took a moment to observe the intruder, her blue eyes giving him a once-over even as she moved for the deceptively delicate-looking glass figure, which in actuality was rather heavy. Its strange geometries would probably break if she actually hit something with it, but it would still hurt a lot, and probably wouldn't shatter. It was also nearly as long as her arm and twice as wide, so it had the additional benefits of range and vaguely-threatening appearance.
The intruder was surprisingly young, and most likely male, with unusually colored hair. In fact, he looked rather like Catherine's ex-boyfriend, except for the fact that Sylvian had been nothing but polite and also had had better fashion sense. Was he a thief? Possible, given his general appearance and lack of shoes, but unlikely, since he was only carrying a brown envelope which didn't look like it contained anything of value and nothing appeared to have been disturbed.
A murderer, perhaps? Or an arsonist? Perhaps someone with a grudge against her parents' company, who had somehow found out her address? Amariss would have reached for her phone to call the police...or Eva, who might also have had an idea of what was going on, given the extremely vague nature (so much so that it was obviously suspicious, though to be fair, she rather doubted that her sister had been trying very had to deceive her) of her employment, but she'd left it in her room. Still, there was the landline in the living room and if she screamed, someone would definitely hear.
Admittedly, there was a slight (very slight) chance that he was not here for some nefarious purpose, but quite frankly, she rather doubted it. "Well then? I suppose you have some spectacularly good reason for breaking into my house in the middle of the night in the most suspicious manner imaginable?"
It was three in the morning when Amariss woke up. After a minute, after she realized she wasn't getting back to sleep that easily, she sighed, sat up, and extricated herself from the faintly lavender-scented sheets. She made her way out of her bedroom, past her desk, which was covered in neatly organized piles of various textbooks, electronics, and schoolwork. The latter consisted of thorough, highlighted, underlined, and color-coded notes and the like, as well as that one paper she hadn't had a chance to review yet--it was still in its cover, even. Yes, it was a bit lax of her, but it had been a busy week settling in, and it wasn't like she'd gotten a bad grade or anything.
Still, there was always room for improvement, and since it wasn't like she had anything better to do, Amariss resolved to at least do a preliminary skim of it before she tried to go back to sleep. It was too late--or early, rather, for contacts, so she plucked her silver-framed glasses from the desk as she passed by and slipped them on. Amariss was still in her pajamas (light green, silk, a gift from her sister--and wow, wasn't that a strange thought, even after all this time), but she'd deigned to put her long blonde hair into a bun, ensnaring the wavy strands with a hair tie as she walked quickly through the darkened hallways.
There wasn't much point in turning on a light; she did know her way around, after all, and the light pollution wasn't so bad in this part of town, so the nearly-full moon provided plenty of illumination.
She'd just get some tea and a snack from the kitchen first, and--"What are you doing in my house?" Amariss asked, with, under the circumstances, a remarkably calm tone. But then, perhaps she'd just spent too much time around people who seemed to attract danger like iron filings to a magnet, and nothing could surprise her anymore. She supposed it ran in the family. The light switch was right next to her; she flicked it up, bathing the room in nearly blinding light, which, she thought, would be rather more of a handicap for the intruder than for her, since she knew exactly where everything was.
She took a moment to observe the intruder, her blue eyes giving him a once-over even as she moved for the deceptively delicate-looking glass figure, which in actuality was rather heavy. Its strange geometries would probably break if she actually hit something with it, but it would still hurt a lot, and probably wouldn't shatter. It was also nearly as long as her arm and twice as wide, so it had the additional benefits of range and vaguely-threatening appearance.
The intruder was surprisingly young, and most likely male, with unusually colored hair. In fact, he looked rather like Catherine's ex-boyfriend, except for the fact that Sylvian had been nothing but polite and also had had better fashion sense. Was he a thief? Possible, given his general appearance and lack of shoes, but unlikely, since he was only carrying a brown envelope which didn't look like it contained anything of value and nothing appeared to have been disturbed.
A murderer, perhaps? Or an arsonist? Perhaps someone with a grudge against her parents' company, who had somehow found out her address? Amariss would have reached for her phone to call the police...or Eva, who might also have had an idea of what was going on, given the extremely vague nature (so much so that it was obviously suspicious, though to be fair, she rather doubted that her sister had been trying very had to deceive her) of her employment, but she'd left it in her room. Still, there was the landline in the living room and if she screamed, someone would definitely hear.
Admittedly, there was a slight (very slight) chance that he was not here for some nefarious purpose, but quite frankly, she rather doubted it. "Well then? I suppose you have some spectacularly good reason for breaking into my house in the middle of the night in the most suspicious manner imaginable?"
Natsume Gyani
He was supposed to be looking for a contract, but… After seeing this house, there was virtually no chance that she didn't look at the contract already. What was more, it was just as likely that her book bag would be in her room. "Ffff… Gah…" He did what he could not to start cursing and bashing his head against a wall, but he came this far. Natsume couldn't help the urge to press his face into one of his hands. Damn it. Maybe, just maybe. If he was lucky, maybe this woman left her bag downstairs or… something. With a frustrated sigh, he looked down at the envelope under his arm and pulled his hand away from his face, knowing that there was nothing he could do about it.All that he could do was check, but he was not going to creep into her bedroom. Not only was that just asking to get caught, that was just wrong. Sneaking up on a person who was sleeping? He may have been a low-life thug, but he had morals. Once he was done planning out something to give him some sort of grounding, he headed towards the doorway, but in the midst of his self-loathing and anger, there was a voice, followed swiftly by the blinding flash of light.
As soon as the lights came on, he could feel the pain in the back of his head. His free hand raised to his sore eyes to shield his them while the other threatened to crush the envelope under his arm. "… Fucking hell!… Geez…" He grumbled and wretched, forced to pause so he could adjust. He always did hate having to deal with bright lights. Disturbing whatever sense of peace he had… At least she wasn't screaming or hitting him already. That did a lot to keep him from completely losing his mind with the rage.
"… Sure… Spectacularly good…" He hissed as he slowly pulled his hand from his face. Breathe… Calm down… Okay. Better now. With a deep sigh, Natsume lifted his head to look at the person he was forced to deal with today. First thing he noticed, the glasses. A hard worker for sure with what he gathered just by looking. But… maybe not particularly smart… Or rather, just not paranoid. If he saw someone in his kitchen in the middle of the night, he knew that he wouldn't just be asking questions, that was for sure. For all she knew, he was here to murder her, and yet here she was, just standing around in her silk PJs, looking tired.
Well, if she was tired, maybe he could just make the swap while she was still tired. And if he was really lucky, she'd forget about it once she fully woke up. "Look, your teacher made a mistake. This is your paper. I need the other thing you got earlier back." He said, softening his voice but keeping his hood over his head as he gestured towards the envelope, the crown of his hood falling just far enough in front of his face to help his fringe hide the frustration already imbedded in his piercing green eyes. The more of his face he could hide, the better. He wasn't going to be as stupid as to expect that she'd pass him for a dream. If she had any sense, she'd have called the police as soon as she noticed that someone was in her house, but he got a little lucky tonight. Why not hope for just a little more of that good luck?
Amariss D'allore
Amariss was not impressed, and she was sure it showed in her expression. On a scale from one (Adrian's monotone "Oh, yes, I'm absolutely delighted to have you here. In my lab. Interrupting my work." to ten (Kenneth at his best), that ranked about a three. Maybe a four, if she were feeling generous. Amariss wasn't very incline to be generous at the moment. The man's obvious discomfort at the sudden brightness also aroused little sympathy. You broke into my house, idiot. What did you expect?
"Uh-huh," she said, not lowering her weapon. "That's it? What kind of pathetic response is that?" She paused. "I could write a doctoral thesis about all the things that are wrong with that explanation, and still have enough material for a thirty-volume encyclopedia, but leaving that aside for now, just what is so important about this thing?" Even if she hadn't been studying to be a lawyer, it would have taken a complete moron to miss the fact that there was clearly something going on here. A simple mixup wouldn't have been enough to require this kind of intrusion.
"Anyway, I don't see any reason to help you. After all, you haven't exactly given me any reason to trust that you," she pointed out. Her voice gaining considerable sarcasm, she said, "For all I know--" here she cast her mind towards one of the more implausible movies she'd been dragged into watching last month "--You're some agent of a sinister group hell-bent on controlling the world from the shadows and this document you say I have is the key element to some nefarious plan it's cooking up."
"You don't even know for sure that I actually have what you're looking for. For all you know, I set it on fire, shredded it, or used it to fertilize my plants." Amariss raised an eyebrow. "This nefarious group of yours can't seem to do anything right."
She'd been just about to say something else when the phone (the one in the living room) started ringing. Amariss couldn't go and answer it without getting closer and eventually turning back to the intruder, so it rang and rang until it went to voicemail. Who would be calling at this time of night--morning--anyway?
"Heya, Ammy, it's your amazing, brilliant, and beautiful sister here--" Ah. Of course. "--Sorry about calling so late; and I know you hate the landline's ringtone--" Eva definitely wasn't. "--But you weren't answering my texts or calls to your cell. Meanie. Anyway, you'd better not forget--or "forget"--that we're getting lunch at that cafe tomorrow. See ya at one~" There was a click as Eva hung up. Amariss fought the desire to sigh in exasperation despite the circumstances.
Now, what to do about her present situation? They could hardly stay at this impasse forever. Amariss had a weapon, the home field advantage, little compunction about using "underhanded" methods to get the upper hand, and over a decade of martial arts lessons, self-defense classes, and was near the cabinet where she kept the paprika. If he tried to attack, or even if he didn't, she could throw it in his eyes or hit him with the figure and make a dash for the phone in the living room or the one back upstairs and call the police.
Amariss was not impressed, and she was sure it showed in her expression. On a scale from one (Adrian's monotone "Oh, yes, I'm absolutely delighted to have you here. In my lab. Interrupting my work." to ten (Kenneth at his best), that ranked about a three. Maybe a four, if she were feeling generous. Amariss wasn't very incline to be generous at the moment. The man's obvious discomfort at the sudden brightness also aroused little sympathy. You broke into my house, idiot. What did you expect?
"Uh-huh," she said, not lowering her weapon. "That's it? What kind of pathetic response is that?" She paused. "I could write a doctoral thesis about all the things that are wrong with that explanation, and still have enough material for a thirty-volume encyclopedia, but leaving that aside for now, just what is so important about this thing?" Even if she hadn't been studying to be a lawyer, it would have taken a complete moron to miss the fact that there was clearly something going on here. A simple mixup wouldn't have been enough to require this kind of intrusion.
"Anyway, I don't see any reason to help you. After all, you haven't exactly given me any reason to trust that you," she pointed out. Her voice gaining considerable sarcasm, she said, "For all I know--" here she cast her mind towards one of the more implausible movies she'd been dragged into watching last month "--You're some agent of a sinister group hell-bent on controlling the world from the shadows and this document you say I have is the key element to some nefarious plan it's cooking up."
"You don't even know for sure that I actually have what you're looking for. For all you know, I set it on fire, shredded it, or used it to fertilize my plants." Amariss raised an eyebrow. "This nefarious group of yours can't seem to do anything right."
She'd been just about to say something else when the phone (the one in the living room) started ringing. Amariss couldn't go and answer it without getting closer and eventually turning back to the intruder, so it rang and rang until it went to voicemail. Who would be calling at this time of night--morning--anyway?
"Heya, Ammy, it's your amazing, brilliant, and beautiful sister here--" Ah. Of course. "--Sorry about calling so late; and I know you hate the landline's ringtone--" Eva definitely wasn't. "--But you weren't answering my texts or calls to your cell. Meanie. Anyway, you'd better not forget--or "forget"--that we're getting lunch at that cafe tomorrow. See ya at one~" There was a click as Eva hung up. Amariss fought the desire to sigh in exasperation despite the circumstances.
Now, what to do about her present situation? They could hardly stay at this impasse forever. Amariss had a weapon, the home field advantage, little compunction about using "underhanded" methods to get the upper hand, and over a decade of martial arts lessons, self-defense classes, and was near the cabinet where she kept the paprika. If he tried to attack, or even if he didn't, she could throw it in his eyes or hit him with the figure and make a dash for the phone in the living room or the one back upstairs and call the police.
Natsume Gyani
The sting of the sudden flash of light in his eyes finally died off while he waited for something to happen. Most likely for the girl to toss that figurine thing at him. He had taken enough beatings to know that just about anything could leave a pretty good bruise when used right, so he wasn’t going to lie. He was pretty damned scared of the glass statue in the blonde lady’s hand. That thing looked like it was going to hurt. And hurt a lot.However, no matter how imposing she was, every word that came out of her mouth only fuelled his urge to just knock her the hell out and just grab the contract. It had been a long ass week and her pretentious blathering was only pissing him off further. He told her the truth, so couldn’t he just catch a fucking break? He just wanted to go back home and go to sleep already, a thing that he was desperately missing judging from the dark circles under his eyes loosely disguised by shadows and make-up.
She just kept on talking… He was so tempted to groan in her face and tell her to shut the hell up, but that wouldn’t be very profitable. And killing her would only make all this shit worse. But then again, Shikyo did send him over here without so much of a plan so maybe he could get away with it. He was past being angry, and just settled in a state of boredom and general fatigue, imagining just taking out his pistol and shooting the girl in the face just to cool the frustration that built up over the week when his imagination let the sound of a phone ringing drift in.
… Seriously… Natsume’s tired demeanour melted into pure disgust hearing the voice over the phone. He went from hating this girl to sympathizing with her. That amazing, brilliant, and beautiful sister of hers sounded obnoxious and preppy in a way that Natsume just couldn’t stand. And he had a brother who was just like that. Such a goody goody that had always been so perfect. Even after Natsume left home, that jackass tried so hard to keep in touch. No doubt just for their folks to keep tabs on him.
And now he felt sick… There were remnants of that look of disgust still on his face even after the blonde’s sister hung up and a long pause of silence between them as he just stared in the direction of the phone, but he had to get back to business, shaking his head to himself and putting the envelope on the table.
“You know what? Here. Just look at the damned thing and give me the other envelope.” He sighed, sliding the envelope across the table before raising his hands, palms forward to show that he didn’t intend to hurt her —despite having wanted to just a few seconds ago— then placing his hands atop his head. “It’s like you said. My nefarious group is fucking stupid, sending me over here in the first place. I’m tired, and you have enough on your plate, so can we just not make this any harder than it’s gotta be?”
Life was tough. Sometimes you just had to hang your head. Besides, if he didn’t get that contract, he probably wasn’t going to be getting any sleep for the next few weeks either.
Amariss D'allore
Amariss did notice the intruder's expression turning into one of disgust at the sound of Eva's voice, and while it wasn't like she couldn't sympathize, she also felt vaguely offended on her sister's behalf. Then she remembered the time and reconsidered. Then she remembered the circumstances that had caused his presence here in the first place, and reconsidered again. Between her sister and some creep, her sister still won out, no matter how annoying she could be.
The man's tone seemed to change, and Amariss found herself looking at a tan envelope. Keeping an eye on the trespasser, she tilted the envelope with one hand (the one not holding the statue) such that the contents slid out. Oh. Huh. She opened to a random page and immediately recognized her own prose, interspersed with occasional notes from the grader. Well then. Amariss didn't put the statue down.
"...You know, I was joking about the sinister organization thing," was the first thing that slipped out of her mouth. To be fair, he could have been joking too, but honestly? At this point, nothing was really going to shock her. She'd been about to continue arguing, but then she took a moment to consider. Quite frankly, it was three in the morning, she had to deal with Eva tomorrow, and she hadn't even gotten her tea. His new offer was awfully tempting. She gave it a seven.
Why not, anyway? Amariss had never signed up for this. Eva was the one who had an exciting life. If Amariss had wanted drama, she'd have taken over the company like her parents had wanted. No, the best solution here was clearly to simply give the document to him and forget this had ever happened. Amariss took a deep breath. "Fine. Okay. I'll go get it."
Quickly, before she could change her mind, she grabbed her paper and slipped back into the darkness, still holding the glass statue. Up the stairs, into her room (which she locked behind her)--a moment to toss her essay on the desk and grab her cellphone (over a dozen missed texts and calls, all but one from Eva), which she shoved into the pocket of her pajamas and then the thing the guy wanted...which she should probably at least take a cursory look at, just in case.
Knowing she didn't have a lot of time before the intruder became suspicious (which might compel him to search for her), she quickly flipped through, taking a picture of each page with her phone without reading them and sending the lot to Eva with a hurried "what do you make of this?" Then she turned the phone to silent (she didn't want to make her actions obvious if Eva texted back while the man was still here), and hesitated again. She should call the police. She should really call the police. This was literally the perfect opportunity to call the police.
Appropriately, it started to rain, going from nothing to torrential thunderstorm in moments, a development completely unpredicted by the local weather forecast. Then the hail started falling. Well, that would be his problem to deal with. Price of crime and all that. Then the power went out. All the power. Including, apparently, the power at the cell towers. Well. There went that plan. Her landline was actually a wireless one, so that wouldn't work either. On the bright side, her text had already gone through, so at least someone had some idea of what was going on. Unless the storm had also knocked out the power near Eva too.
On the downside, she was now stuck in a house with a criminal and no way to get help. She could leave the house through the window, but she wouldn't get very far in this weather without a car...and her car keys were downstairs, so she'd have to get past the intruder anyway. It would be an option of last resort; it was a long way down and there were no trees or bushes there to cushion her fall--only a stone path and flowers and mulch.
Honestly, the best option was probably to just stay locked in her room. She had water, and there was a box of crackers and a tin of mixed nuts on the desk, and she could barricade the door. ...Except for the fact that the intruder could probably find a way in anyway, and if Eva showed up unaware of the danger, she could get hurt. No, there was really only one option here.
She shoved her phone back in her pocket, picked up the glass figure that she'd placed on the bed and the documents, and headed back downstairs. She brought a flashlight, one of the bright LED ones people usually put on keychains, but since she knew the house better than he did, she kept it off so she could avoid loss of night vision she'd gained in the past few minutes and have another card up her (literal) sleeve for distraction value in case he did decide to try something.
Back in the kitchen, Amariss slid the documents (still in the cover she'd prepared--and the TA had misplaced it in) across the table. "Well, here it is." She shifted her grip on the figurine. "Now you can leave and we can pretend this never happened." Another crash of thunder. If anything, the storm only seemed to grow stronger. "Bye." It was summer, if rather early in the season and still a bit chilly at night. Well, it wasn't like he was going to die of hypothermia or anything.
Amariss did notice the intruder's expression turning into one of disgust at the sound of Eva's voice, and while it wasn't like she couldn't sympathize, she also felt vaguely offended on her sister's behalf. Then she remembered the time and reconsidered. Then she remembered the circumstances that had caused his presence here in the first place, and reconsidered again. Between her sister and some creep, her sister still won out, no matter how annoying she could be.
The man's tone seemed to change, and Amariss found herself looking at a tan envelope. Keeping an eye on the trespasser, she tilted the envelope with one hand (the one not holding the statue) such that the contents slid out. Oh. Huh. She opened to a random page and immediately recognized her own prose, interspersed with occasional notes from the grader. Well then. Amariss didn't put the statue down.
"...You know, I was joking about the sinister organization thing," was the first thing that slipped out of her mouth. To be fair, he could have been joking too, but honestly? At this point, nothing was really going to shock her. She'd been about to continue arguing, but then she took a moment to consider. Quite frankly, it was three in the morning, she had to deal with Eva tomorrow, and she hadn't even gotten her tea. His new offer was awfully tempting. She gave it a seven.
Why not, anyway? Amariss had never signed up for this. Eva was the one who had an exciting life. If Amariss had wanted drama, she'd have taken over the company like her parents had wanted. No, the best solution here was clearly to simply give the document to him and forget this had ever happened. Amariss took a deep breath. "Fine. Okay. I'll go get it."
Quickly, before she could change her mind, she grabbed her paper and slipped back into the darkness, still holding the glass statue. Up the stairs, into her room (which she locked behind her)--a moment to toss her essay on the desk and grab her cellphone (over a dozen missed texts and calls, all but one from Eva), which she shoved into the pocket of her pajamas and then the thing the guy wanted...which she should probably at least take a cursory look at, just in case.
Knowing she didn't have a lot of time before the intruder became suspicious (which might compel him to search for her), she quickly flipped through, taking a picture of each page with her phone without reading them and sending the lot to Eva with a hurried "what do you make of this?" Then she turned the phone to silent (she didn't want to make her actions obvious if Eva texted back while the man was still here), and hesitated again. She should call the police. She should really call the police. This was literally the perfect opportunity to call the police.
Appropriately, it started to rain, going from nothing to torrential thunderstorm in moments, a development completely unpredicted by the local weather forecast. Then the hail started falling. Well, that would be his problem to deal with. Price of crime and all that. Then the power went out. All the power. Including, apparently, the power at the cell towers. Well. There went that plan. Her landline was actually a wireless one, so that wouldn't work either. On the bright side, her text had already gone through, so at least someone had some idea of what was going on. Unless the storm had also knocked out the power near Eva too.
On the downside, she was now stuck in a house with a criminal and no way to get help. She could leave the house through the window, but she wouldn't get very far in this weather without a car...and her car keys were downstairs, so she'd have to get past the intruder anyway. It would be an option of last resort; it was a long way down and there were no trees or bushes there to cushion her fall--only a stone path and flowers and mulch.
Honestly, the best option was probably to just stay locked in her room. She had water, and there was a box of crackers and a tin of mixed nuts on the desk, and she could barricade the door. ...Except for the fact that the intruder could probably find a way in anyway, and if Eva showed up unaware of the danger, she could get hurt. No, there was really only one option here.
She shoved her phone back in her pocket, picked up the glass figure that she'd placed on the bed and the documents, and headed back downstairs. She brought a flashlight, one of the bright LED ones people usually put on keychains, but since she knew the house better than he did, she kept it off so she could avoid loss of night vision she'd gained in the past few minutes and have another card up her (literal) sleeve for distraction value in case he did decide to try something.
Back in the kitchen, Amariss slid the documents (still in the cover she'd prepared--and the TA had misplaced it in) across the table. "Well, here it is." She shifted her grip on the figurine. "Now you can leave and we can pretend this never happened." Another crash of thunder. If anything, the storm only seemed to grow stronger. "Bye." It was summer, if rather early in the season and still a bit chilly at night. Well, it wasn't like he was going to die of hypothermia or anything.
Natsume Gyani
She agreed…In his head, Natsume was cheering. Basically this meant that he could hand it off to Kyo and finally go the fuck to sleep. He didn’t have anything to do tomorrow, so he could spend the day the way he wanted to. Finally, this shit would be over for another day and he had half a mind to plead his thanks, but while this tired, he couldn’t do much more with smirk a bit with the joy he felt. Much too happy to be suspicious, he nodded, sighing as he took a step back and leaned against the wall by the door.
She sank into the darkness, and he glanced off to the side to see the yard, then the sky with some ugly looking clouds rolling in… He didn’t think much about it at the time, back to waiting, nodding off, head bobbing over crossed arms, when he was rudely awakened by the loud pattering of a harsh rain. He blinked, raising his head, unable to register what was happening for a moment, but then he realized that there was a storm unleashing its wrath on the city. He hissed out a low curse before opening the door and picking up his shoes out of the rain. They were already drenched, and a second in the rain got him pretty wet too. He was going to ruin this lady’s floor…
Why was that the first thing he worried about? Man, was he tired. Standing, dripping in front of the glass door, he stared up at the sky. The lights inside had already crashed, and he was left in the dark. Any other time, he’d be fine with this. But he was in a stranger’s house, with someone he was sure would probably smash his face in if he fell asleep here, and he was on a deadline. Legitimately. If he didn’t get that contract in tonight, he was definitely going to be dead… Or at least he’d wish he would’ve been.
And the contract… Paper and water didn’t mix well. Shit… He was fucked, wasn’t he. Tired, pissed off, rain so bad that it looked like it was going to flood the street in seconds, and not just that... Hail. Not like he hadn’t had to do this shit before, but it was always going to be a pain. “You bastard… If only you could deal with your own bullshit.” He grumbled to himself to let off a little steam, sighing to himself and leaning himself against the table in the middle of the room, that angry expression of his melting into a vacant look of contempt. He just wanted to go home.
She sure was taking her time… He didn’t really realize that until just before she came back. He turned to see the outline of the envelope that he heard sliding across the table and nodded tiredly, picking it up and taking out his phone to turn on a light so he could see. Holding the phone under his chin, he opened up the envelope and gave the contract a quick glossing over, just checking for the names that were important.
To the extent of his knowledge, this contract was about the importing of products from some foreign country into some pharmaceutical company and Kyo getting partial control of whatever and blah, blah, executive bullshit. Things looked in order, and given that the last things he had to deal with tonight were getting home, he took a breath and slid the contents back in.
“Thanks. This shit would’ve just caused you unnecessary trouble, trust me…” He said quietly, glad that it was over for her at least. She was unsavoury and kind of dumb, but she was uninvolved with this crap. She didn’t need to be drawn into it. Civilians should just remain that way. She had a life. Didn’t matter who she was. This was her world. And the things in this envelope, people like him, they just didn’t belong here anymore.
And now… The weather.
He had to think. His phone had no bars. He couldn’t let Kyo know that things were okay. And knowing him, that would mean that Natsume broke a rule. Didn’t matter if the power was out Geez… He’d have to make that three hour trek just to find the guy, didn’t he… And Natsume didn’t have a car. He had a motorcycle stashed a block away from here, but riding that thing would mean death in this weather. He grimaced, shutting off the light of his phone while he rubbed a hand through his hair. “Ah, fuck it…”
He took the contract and slid it under his hoodie, holding it against him to protect it. There was no way around it. Not like this woman was going to be giving him a plastic bag, and being pleasant here wouldn’t get him anywhere. He’d just need to take the chance, opening the door just enough to slide out and shutting it before the hail could smash against her tiled floors. He put on his squishy wet shoes and growled to himself as he pushed against the harsh winds just to get off the porch and around the house. Three hours walking normally was going to double if he had to push against this wind, so best thing for him to do, try to get home and deal with the consequences then.
That was Natsume’s mentality, sure… But he didn’t make it too far. With his level of fatigue, he was pretty damn weak. He made it maybe halfway up the street and was knocked down by the mixture of wind, rain, and ice, still holding the contract to his stomach. He soon realized that he didn’t have the strength this time to tough out the weather on foot, so he took refuge under the closest thing he could reach, which turned out to be a tree by the road. Not great, but it was better than nothing. If the power weren’t out, someone in this swanky neighbourhood would surely call the cops. He looked like a homeless guy who was drunk on the side of their road. And knowing the poshness of those pricks, there was no way that they’d tolerate that. He placed his shivering hand against his face and let out a long sigh. This week had been one of the shittiest, that was for sure, and right now he was so tired that he had half a mind to actually sleep here just because he literally could not do anything else right now until the storm blew over.
Amariss D'allore
Well, at least that was over and done with and she'd never have to deal with it again. Amariss suddenly felt very tired. Of course, just as she was thinking about going back to bed, she got a text. Had the cell tower gone back up? The electricity in her house hadn't, but it was possible. It was from Catherine. Strange. Not that Catherine wasn't usually awake at the strangest hours, but she usually had enough tact to avoid communicating with people who generally weren't. Unlike a certain other person she could name.
saw ur txt on evas phone. everything ok??? sent the doc to a friend o/mine. should get back to me in a few min.
Huh. Nope, she still had zero bars. Weird. Amariss, after decoding the jumbled words, typed her reply.
Everything's fine now, thanks. Amariss quickly summarized what had happened. How are you texting me? I don't have service. And why didn't Eva?
ehh...super secret magical electron magic? evas busy w/a thing for work. suuuuuuuper secret stuff. also thats v creepy. v v creepy. The message was followed by a little ghost emoticon. nyway, coming over w/my amazing hot chocolate yo. friends gotta keep friends safe + w/delicious sugar. on my way eta 15minish.
That...explained very little. However, Amariss was too tired to try perusing that line of questioning any further; it would be futile anyway. She considered telling Catherine not to bother coming; the roads wouldn't be safe and there really wasn't anything to worry about at this point, but if she was already almost here, there really wasn't any point. Also, Catherine's hot chocolate mix was really, really incredible. So, she simply washed out two mugs and filled the teakettle with water, putting it on her (thankfully gas-powered) stove.
Catherine Tellaros
Catherine had been poking through the latest code for her newest...project...on her laptop while working on programming something else that Adrian wanted for modeling his experiments. She'd been lying on Eva's couch while keeping an eye on Eva's phone while Eva herself was busy working on her own...project. When she saw that the message was from Amariss, Catherine had quickly unlocked the phone and read it. It had been...well, she hadn't known what it had been, but that was why she'd sent it to Xavier, so he could run it through his databases and cross-reference it with other things.
She might have broken a few traffic laws on the way to Amariss' house. Maybe. Bent, really. Stretched a bit? Anyway, it wasn't like there were any police out in this weather at this time of night (or morning, really), and if there had been, she could bribe them with the thermos of hot chocolate she'd made before she came--she'd brought her mix too, of course (there were seven or so jars of it in Eva's kitchen because Eva kept stealing it from her apartment), but she'd wanted to be prepared just in case Amariss forgot to put the kettle on before she got there or couldn't because of the blackout.
The storm was pretty bad, but it wasn't too difficult for Catherine to find and turn into the swanky neighborhood where Amariss lived. She could spot the overly-fertilized grass and absurdly large houses from a mile away. Also, her car had GPS. As she made her way through the streets, she spotted a lone figure standing under a tree, looking drenched and probably getting more so by the minute.
Despite what many thought of her (Adrian, though he'd certainly said as much many, many times, did not, Catherine thought, actually believe it as much as he claimed to...probably), she wasn't a complete moron, and so she didn't invite him into her car. She also carried around a taser and pepper spray in addition to the more high-tech stuff that would cause Kenneth to be annoyed with her if she used it carelessly, though it might be worth it just to see the look on his face.
Instead, she lowered her window. "Hey! Here!" Catherine shoved the thermos into his hands. Even if he didn't drink it (and what a waste that would be, seriously--she'd even put marshmallows and whipped cream in already), it was at least warm. "You should probably find a better place to get out of the rain. I'm sure someone would let you--" Well, actually, given the kind of neighborhood they were in-- "I don't think anyone would mind too much if you took shelter in their shed or something." It would be better than getting pneumonia. Or drowning, given the downpour that was only increasing.
At any rate, she'd delayed long enough. Also, the inside of her car was getting wet, and though it wasn't going to matter since it wasn't like she had leather seats or anything, she was also getting rained on. Giving a last wave to the man, she drove on a short distance before pulling into the oversized driveway of Amariss' oversized house. Then she grabbed her stuff and made a mad dash for the door.
By the time Amariss opened the door (on the fifth ring of the doorbell, which she'd admittedly pressed rather rapidly), Catherine's raincoat was already dripping, as was her hair, because she'd forgotten to put the hood up. Oops. She stepped inside and hung the raincoat on the rack near the door.
Fortunately, the water had already heated up, so within a few minutes, they were both sitting on the couch with mugs of delicious hot chocolate.
Amariss D'allore
"I cannot believe you gave hot chocolate to the man who broke into my house."
Catherine at least had the decency to look embarrassed. "Aha, oops? In my defense, I didn't know it was that guy at the time."
Amariss sighed. Catherine. "Well, whatever. I just hope he doesn't end up in some other poor person's shed. Say, how--" Amariss was cut off by Catherine's phone going off.
"Sorry. Oh, it's from Xavier, about that thing you sent Eva. Apparently it's a contract about the pharmaceutical trade...jeez, your TA must have been one sketchy person. Looks like this thing's tied to all sorts of other stuff, probably because you could--uh..." Catherine trailed off, then rallied. Sort of. "Do...various ambiguously shady things with it. Anyway, it's a good thing you found this, since that means those ambiguously shady things won't be being done." Which was obviously not what she had been originally going to say, but at this point Amariss would rather just put the incident out of her mind, so she let it pass, changing the subject.
"Riight. So, Xavier? New boyfriend?" Catherine went through relationships like some people went through socks, although most people didn't remain friends with their socks afterwards.
"Not really? We work at the same place--he works in the technology department, though."
"Don't you do that too?" In fact...that might explain how she'd gotten a connection in the middle of a storm when the towers were down.
Catherine shook her head. "Nah, that's more of a hobby. I do cryptanalysis...among other things."
Amariss laughed. "You know, this really isn't helping your whole 'perfectly ordinary person' case."
"A-anyway, we're not dating, but we are going out for coffee later in the week and let me get you more hot chocolate." While it would have been funny to keep pressing, Amariss knew that going too much further would result in Catherine's patented 'throw incomprehensible jargon at it until it goes away' tactic being applied. Instead, they spent the next few minutes making random small talk until they went to bed, Catherine taking one of the guest rooms.
Just in case, early the next morning (a little after Catherine had left, and right before she intended to head into town for a bit of shopping before meeting with Eva) Amariss made her way to her shed after putting everything she needed into her car. Fortunately, Since there was nothing in the shed, there was no lock, though it did latch and she had considered buying a lock if only to keep animals out.
Fortunately, the power had come back on sometime before she'd woken up, so everything was back to normal. Amariss had sent a quick text to Eva (using her actual phone company, not...electron magic) confirming that she would be there (Catherine had no doubt already told her sister of the events of last night, so she could look forward to an interrogation later). Her hair and makeup were perfectly in place, she was wearing contacts, and she was looking forward to a normal day out after she indulged in this small bit of paranoia. She threw the door open, letting bright sunlight flood the shed. "Oh, for fuck's sake."
Well, at least that was over and done with and she'd never have to deal with it again. Amariss suddenly felt very tired. Of course, just as she was thinking about going back to bed, she got a text. Had the cell tower gone back up? The electricity in her house hadn't, but it was possible. It was from Catherine. Strange. Not that Catherine wasn't usually awake at the strangest hours, but she usually had enough tact to avoid communicating with people who generally weren't. Unlike a certain other person she could name.
saw ur txt on evas phone. everything ok??? sent the doc to a friend o/mine. should get back to me in a few min.
Huh. Nope, she still had zero bars. Weird. Amariss, after decoding the jumbled words, typed her reply.
Everything's fine now, thanks. Amariss quickly summarized what had happened. How are you texting me? I don't have service. And why didn't Eva?
ehh...super secret magical electron magic? evas busy w/a thing for work. suuuuuuuper secret stuff. also thats v creepy. v v creepy. The message was followed by a little ghost emoticon. nyway, coming over w/my amazing hot chocolate yo. friends gotta keep friends safe + w/delicious sugar. on my way eta 15minish.
That...explained very little. However, Amariss was too tired to try perusing that line of questioning any further; it would be futile anyway. She considered telling Catherine not to bother coming; the roads wouldn't be safe and there really wasn't anything to worry about at this point, but if she was already almost here, there really wasn't any point. Also, Catherine's hot chocolate mix was really, really incredible. So, she simply washed out two mugs and filled the teakettle with water, putting it on her (thankfully gas-powered) stove.
Catherine Tellaros
Catherine had been poking through the latest code for her newest...project...on her laptop while working on programming something else that Adrian wanted for modeling his experiments. She'd been lying on Eva's couch while keeping an eye on Eva's phone while Eva herself was busy working on her own...project. When she saw that the message was from Amariss, Catherine had quickly unlocked the phone and read it. It had been...well, she hadn't known what it had been, but that was why she'd sent it to Xavier, so he could run it through his databases and cross-reference it with other things.
She might have broken a few traffic laws on the way to Amariss' house. Maybe. Bent, really. Stretched a bit? Anyway, it wasn't like there were any police out in this weather at this time of night (or morning, really), and if there had been, she could bribe them with the thermos of hot chocolate she'd made before she came--she'd brought her mix too, of course (there were seven or so jars of it in Eva's kitchen because Eva kept stealing it from her apartment), but she'd wanted to be prepared just in case Amariss forgot to put the kettle on before she got there or couldn't because of the blackout.
The storm was pretty bad, but it wasn't too difficult for Catherine to find and turn into the swanky neighborhood where Amariss lived. She could spot the overly-fertilized grass and absurdly large houses from a mile away. Also, her car had GPS. As she made her way through the streets, she spotted a lone figure standing under a tree, looking drenched and probably getting more so by the minute.
Despite what many thought of her (Adrian, though he'd certainly said as much many, many times, did not, Catherine thought, actually believe it as much as he claimed to...probably), she wasn't a complete moron, and so she didn't invite him into her car. She also carried around a taser and pepper spray in addition to the more high-tech stuff that would cause Kenneth to be annoyed with her if she used it carelessly, though it might be worth it just to see the look on his face.
Instead, she lowered her window. "Hey! Here!" Catherine shoved the thermos into his hands. Even if he didn't drink it (and what a waste that would be, seriously--she'd even put marshmallows and whipped cream in already), it was at least warm. "You should probably find a better place to get out of the rain. I'm sure someone would let you--" Well, actually, given the kind of neighborhood they were in-- "I don't think anyone would mind too much if you took shelter in their shed or something." It would be better than getting pneumonia. Or drowning, given the downpour that was only increasing.
At any rate, she'd delayed long enough. Also, the inside of her car was getting wet, and though it wasn't going to matter since it wasn't like she had leather seats or anything, she was also getting rained on. Giving a last wave to the man, she drove on a short distance before pulling into the oversized driveway of Amariss' oversized house. Then she grabbed her stuff and made a mad dash for the door.
By the time Amariss opened the door (on the fifth ring of the doorbell, which she'd admittedly pressed rather rapidly), Catherine's raincoat was already dripping, as was her hair, because she'd forgotten to put the hood up. Oops. She stepped inside and hung the raincoat on the rack near the door.
Fortunately, the water had already heated up, so within a few minutes, they were both sitting on the couch with mugs of delicious hot chocolate.
Amariss D'allore
"I cannot believe you gave hot chocolate to the man who broke into my house."
Catherine at least had the decency to look embarrassed. "Aha, oops? In my defense, I didn't know it was that guy at the time."
Amariss sighed. Catherine. "Well, whatever. I just hope he doesn't end up in some other poor person's shed. Say, how--" Amariss was cut off by Catherine's phone going off.
"Sorry. Oh, it's from Xavier, about that thing you sent Eva. Apparently it's a contract about the pharmaceutical trade...jeez, your TA must have been one sketchy person. Looks like this thing's tied to all sorts of other stuff, probably because you could--uh..." Catherine trailed off, then rallied. Sort of. "Do...various ambiguously shady things with it. Anyway, it's a good thing you found this, since that means those ambiguously shady things won't be being done." Which was obviously not what she had been originally going to say, but at this point Amariss would rather just put the incident out of her mind, so she let it pass, changing the subject.
"Riight. So, Xavier? New boyfriend?" Catherine went through relationships like some people went through socks, although most people didn't remain friends with their socks afterwards.
"Not really? We work at the same place--he works in the technology department, though."
"Don't you do that too?" In fact...that might explain how she'd gotten a connection in the middle of a storm when the towers were down.
Catherine shook her head. "Nah, that's more of a hobby. I do cryptanalysis...among other things."
Amariss laughed. "You know, this really isn't helping your whole 'perfectly ordinary person' case."
"A-anyway, we're not dating, but we are going out for coffee later in the week and let me get you more hot chocolate." While it would have been funny to keep pressing, Amariss knew that going too much further would result in Catherine's patented 'throw incomprehensible jargon at it until it goes away' tactic being applied. Instead, they spent the next few minutes making random small talk until they went to bed, Catherine taking one of the guest rooms.
Just in case, early the next morning (a little after Catherine had left, and right before she intended to head into town for a bit of shopping before meeting with Eva) Amariss made her way to her shed after putting everything she needed into her car. Fortunately, Since there was nothing in the shed, there was no lock, though it did latch and she had considered buying a lock if only to keep animals out.
Fortunately, the power had come back on sometime before she'd woken up, so everything was back to normal. Amariss had sent a quick text to Eva (using her actual phone company, not...electron magic) confirming that she would be there (Catherine had no doubt already told her sister of the events of last night, so she could look forward to an interrogation later). Her hair and makeup were perfectly in place, she was wearing contacts, and she was looking forward to a normal day out after she indulged in this small bit of paranoia. She threw the door open, letting bright sunlight flood the shed. "Oh, for fuck's sake."
Natsume Gyani
Don’t sleep… The rain’ll let up… I can deal with hail…Natsume had to keep up his thoughts in order to stay awake. If he slept out here, he was sure to get attacked, arrested, or something. But man was he tired, and now he was freezing despite the time of year. As the night drew on, he had lifted himself up again to try and fight the storm again, but as soon as he was on his feet, his vision swayed…
His head was swimming and his face felt hot despite his body being cold. He wasn’t going to kid himself. He was fucking sick now. Great… And even if he did get home and sleep, he was bound to wake up snotty and disgusting. Fucking perfect. He braced himself against the tree, still cradling the contract. He was soaked to the bone, and he was sure that by now the contract was screwed. His phone was probably fucked too.
In the midst of his bad mood, someone was driving up the road. If anything, someone was on their way home. He wouldn’t think that anyone would’ve called the cops on him just yet. He didn’t plan on stopping, but as the car drew nearer, it slowed down, and the window rolled down…
What the hell?… He was stunned, and what was more, before he could run or say anything, the woman in the car pushed a thermos on him. It was a flash of warmth in his hands, his eyes wide as he looked down at his hands then up at the woman. Well… This was different. She was showing concern, sure, but with the circumstances… this was shocking. His mouth even hung open. In a neighbourhood like this, and the way that he looked, hoodied and drenched, he didn’t expect kindness from these people. Especially not like this.
“I, uh… T-Thanks?…” He said, but with the rain, it was likely that she didn’t hear him before she shut her window and drove away. His eyes instinctively went to her license plate. He’d need to thank her later… but he was kind of scared of dragging her down. At the very least, with her license plate, he could return the thermos.
Then there was the issue of shelter. There was no way he was going to be able to walk home… He had one option then… Find himself some shelter and sleep. He didn’t care at this point. He’d sleep in the fucking mud, but being out in the open was not exactly comforting. He was a paranoid person. Hell, even at home, he didn’t sleep in his bed. He had made a nook in his closet for him to sleep in instead. The first thought he had was that blonde woman’s place. There was no way in hell she’d let him into her home again. Especially not in the state he was in, drenched and ill. But he did remember that she had a shed without a padlock on it. Seemed like the best option, rather than walking around to other people’s houses and trying their sheds and possibly getting attacked for trespassing.
So he took refuge in the blonde woman’s shed, panting from both the freezing cold and the exhaustion from being up for so damn long. That license plate… The woman that gave him the thermos was in that house. But if he left the thermos there now, they’d find him. Why was it so hard to keep civilians uninvolved with his shit?…
… Now wasn’t the time for that… Taking out the contract and leaning it against the wall beside him, tucked away in the far corner behind a lawnmower in the pitch black darkness of the shed, he tugged off his hoodie and hung it up on a stray nail or whatever was on the wall. He was even colder without it on, but it was better not to be covered up in wet clothes… He took out his phone, glad that it was still working, but it didn’t seem like he was getting reception… He needed to contact his boss. He knew he’d be in a shitload of trouble already…
His eyes went down to the thermos… The woman had been kind enough to give it to him. It’d be a shame to let it go to waste. He didn’t bother pouring it into the lid to drink it easier. It was some seriously good stuff. Better than he’d ever had before. It helped warm him up a bit, but as soon as the thermos parted from his lips, he could feel the cold in his bones again. He didn’t drink much of the hot chocolate, sealing up the thermos again and listening to the weather outside. The bottle was warm, let it sit in his lap as he checked his phone while waiting for his reception to come back. Surely, Kyo would find a way to contact him… Any minute…
Before he knew it, Natsume fell asleep… phone shut off and on his lap with the thermos, fever high and face red as he leaned against the wall. Even while sleeping, he could feel his head pounding, his breath shaking from the chill even as the pitter pattering of rain and hail soon faded away. His hoodie wasn’t dry, and he certainly wasn’t either, but that didn’t seem to stop him from having a less than restful sleep.
What did end up waking him was light hitting his face, his silvery hair letting the light filter through into his eyes. Without his hoodie on he looked a bit smaller, his slimness easier to see, especially with his black T-shirt clinging to his chest. He groaned… His head was killing him, and as soon as he took in a breath, he started coughing. Yup, sick. Ugh, and he had to face some hell today. He couldn’t help but look down at his phone, even with someone standing in the door, looking at him. 27 text messages and 8 missed calls. Well fuck…
“... Mornin' Blondie....” He grumbled, lifting his trembling hand to his head to push his hair away from his face only for it to flop back down over his eyes. Ugh… He felt like throwing up…
Amariss D'allore
Amariss looked at the man. Skinny, silver-haired, looked generally like shit. She blinked. Pinched herself just to be sure. Strangely enough, out of all the possible responses she could have given, the first thing out of her mouth was "Don't call me blondie." The second thing was "You know, I thought we agreed that I wasn't going to see you again. What, did you want my German homework too, or are you more of a calculus guy?"
On closer inspection, last night's invader really did look terrible, and not just in his fashion--and life--choices. Not that Amariss felt sorry for him, since he had tried to break into her house, but still. "Shouldn't you be in a hospital or something? Does your job at the nefarious organization not come with a medical plan?" Catherine's sketchy job came with a medical plan. So did Eva's. Amariss supposed their sketchy jobs were slightly less sketchy than this guy's sketchy job.
Speaking of Catherine...yep, there it was. Catherine's thermos, in all its colorful, bedazzled glory. To be fair, it had already been pretty bad before she'd glued rhinestones all over it, what with the rainbow butterflies and frolicking kittens, not to mention the heart-shaped stickers, but now it was truly monstrous. It made Amariss' eyes hurt to look at it and her brain hurt to imagine what train of thought could possibly have lead to its creation. It made for an incongruous sight with the bedraggled, possibly-diseased criminal.
No, no, she didn't have time for this. She was supposed to be heading into the city, checking out the boutiques, and having lunch with Eva, who would whine and poke at Amariss until she submitted to the interrogation and the drag her out for more shopping. She would come home with a disturbing number of heels and slinky dresses that she didn't remember picking out, and not look or think about them until the next time Eva tried to drag her out for a 'night on the town' at which point Amariss would curse the fact that she hadn't absorbed her twin in the womb, or at least chosen to live much, much further away. Like on another continent. France was nice. Or Switzerland, perhaps.
Nope, she definitely didn't have time for this. Eva might have been a pain in her ass, but Amariss still preferred her over this guy. She'd just do what she should have done yesterday, and tell Catherine "I told you so" later.
Amariss took her phone out of her pocket and started dialing for the police.
--If Natsume doesn't stop her (or, what happens next in case he stops her midway)--
"911, please state your emergency," said a clear, professional voice from the other side.
"Hello, there's a man in my shed; I think he's either trying to break into my house or in dire need of medical attention--how soon can you get someone here?"
The woman on the line asked for her name, address, and phone number, which Amariss gave.
Amariss looked at the man. Skinny, silver-haired, looked generally like shit. She blinked. Pinched herself just to be sure. Strangely enough, out of all the possible responses she could have given, the first thing out of her mouth was "Don't call me blondie." The second thing was "You know, I thought we agreed that I wasn't going to see you again. What, did you want my German homework too, or are you more of a calculus guy?"
On closer inspection, last night's invader really did look terrible, and not just in his fashion--and life--choices. Not that Amariss felt sorry for him, since he had tried to break into her house, but still. "Shouldn't you be in a hospital or something? Does your job at the nefarious organization not come with a medical plan?" Catherine's sketchy job came with a medical plan. So did Eva's. Amariss supposed their sketchy jobs were slightly less sketchy than this guy's sketchy job.
Speaking of Catherine...yep, there it was. Catherine's thermos, in all its colorful, bedazzled glory. To be fair, it had already been pretty bad before she'd glued rhinestones all over it, what with the rainbow butterflies and frolicking kittens, not to mention the heart-shaped stickers, but now it was truly monstrous. It made Amariss' eyes hurt to look at it and her brain hurt to imagine what train of thought could possibly have lead to its creation. It made for an incongruous sight with the bedraggled, possibly-diseased criminal.
No, no, she didn't have time for this. She was supposed to be heading into the city, checking out the boutiques, and having lunch with Eva, who would whine and poke at Amariss until she submitted to the interrogation and the drag her out for more shopping. She would come home with a disturbing number of heels and slinky dresses that she didn't remember picking out, and not look or think about them until the next time Eva tried to drag her out for a 'night on the town' at which point Amariss would curse the fact that she hadn't absorbed her twin in the womb, or at least chosen to live much, much further away. Like on another continent. France was nice. Or Switzerland, perhaps.
Nope, she definitely didn't have time for this. Eva might have been a pain in her ass, but Amariss still preferred her over this guy. She'd just do what she should have done yesterday, and tell Catherine "I told you so" later.
Amariss took her phone out of her pocket and started dialing for the police.
--If Natsume doesn't stop her (or, what happens next in case he stops her midway)--
"911, please state your emergency," said a clear, professional voice from the other side.
"Hello, there's a man in my shed; I think he's either trying to break into my house or in dire need of medical attention--how soon can you get someone here?"
The woman on the line asked for her name, address, and phone number, which Amariss gave.
Natsume Gyani
Everything was swimming in his eyes… That blonde sounded really far away, and he could feel his consciousness slipping away from him again. He didn’t realize it immediately, but he was sure that he had hypothermia… and a really bad case of it. Still, he couldn’t stay here.“S’not like… I…” He started, but he was finding it hard to speak, and the more breaths he took, the more tired he seemed. It was obvious that she wouldn’t be able to hear him at the volume he was speaking at, so he forced himself to get up. He gathered up what he brought with him and forced himself to stand, slowly dragging himself towards the woman as she spoke down to him. As soon as he was at his full height, he could feel his muscles try to fail him.
Coughing violently into a fist, he scowled. Was she mocking him? She was mocking him, wasn’t she… He didn’t expect anything less, but her standing in the way made this harder and he didn’t even have the will to get angry at her for it. He was like a zombie, shuffling over to her so he wouldn’t have to raise his already hoarse voice. “I just got stranded…” He spoke softly, and it seemed much easier, so that was one barrier passed, but then arose another. While like this, he was slow both in mind and body. He didn’t notice the phone until he got closer, just barely hearing the blonde talk into it.
His mind started to race at that but he didn’t really think it through when he reached out a hand to take hers just as the word shed passed through her lips. Natsume had pulled her closer to put her phone to his ear and for just a moment, he strengthened his tone. “I’m leaving.” He said, both to her and whoever was on the phone before hanging up. He lost his composure, and the panic he felt showed transparently in his expression. His hand was trembling and ice cold to the touch, she was so close... so as soon as he did as he needed, he let go of her and turned away to cough again. He needed to get home and out of theses wet clothes already. He wasn’t in critical condition yet, but he was getting close… If he didn’t start to take care of himself as soon as possible, he just might die from this, and he wasn’t going to let that happen while he still had things to do… Besides, he'd rather take care of himself rather than let Kyo do it. He knew that he'd wish he were dead if that happened.
“Just get on with your day.” He sighed dejectedly, trying to maintain a threatening expression at least, but with his state, that didn’t seem to be possible. So instead, he pushed the thermos into the woman’s hands. “And give this back to your friend… Tell her thanks for me… It… It was good. Oh... And sorry that I didn't finish it.” He didn’t really notice it until now, but that thermos was very… colourful. Like a child had a bit too much fun rolling it in glitter and gems. He smiled at it, finding the idea to be cute. He would have liked to thank her in person for the kindness she showed him, but it would be more of a service to her if he didn’t stick around.
But… he didn’t want to push the blonde around just to get out of here. Plus he couldn’t walk home like this. Not only would he just not make it, but in this neighbourhood, someone was sure to call the authorities and he couldn’t afford getting trapped in a hospital right now. “… Listen… I’m not gonna die in your shed. I’ll be gone by the time you get back. Just… don’t tell anyone about all this and you’ll be okay… I got what I came for, so you won’t see me again.” He said, more out of worry than anything. He couldn’t think straight. There was no reason for him to say any of that, but even now, he wanted to make sure that these people would be okay. Knowing Kyo, he’d find a way ruin their lives and force them into working with him…
Amariss D'allore
The man reached towards her; Amariss hadn't thought he could move fast enough, and, distracted, hadn't noticed him get up. She flinched away, but not enough to avoid getting pulled closer to him or to stop him from speaking into her phone. It only took an instant before she recovered and jerked back, until she had her back to the shed wall--a mistake, she'd meant to head out; she must have gotten turned around when he'd grabbed her.
This wasn't a situation Amariss had prepared for. She didn't know--no, she had to stay calm. Being grabbed had thrown her off-balance, but there were simple actions to take before she had to think about anything complicated. First, the facts "I-" Ew. Stuttering? No. She tried again, her voice more level. "I'm not sure you can leave on your own." Even if he managed to get wherever he was going on foot, which was pretty unlikely, he'd probably be stopped by someone be in concerned citizen, police officer, or neighborhood watch.
"Secondly, you just hung up on an emergency call responder, after talking to them. On my cellphone." Which she'd let go of; in the dim lighting (the shed doors had swung back to mostly closed), it was hard to tell if it had fallen or if he was still holding it, she'd been too startled before to hear its impact with the dirt or lack thereof. "My cellphone which has GPS. Someone's definitely going to come and investigate now." How stupid could you get? Well, she supposed he was sick, so she supposed she could give him the benefit of the doubt.
But...what should she do? If she called back (if she could get the phone back), she could say it was a misunderstanding, and the police would probably drop it, especially given her location; the neighborhood she lived in was leery of intruders, to say the least. Even the police weren't allowed to patrol here and couldn't come unless they were called. That was, of course, if she called back soon; delay long enough, and they'd show up anyway.
Which wasn't to say that that was the right course of action, necessarily. The man in her shed had trespassed on her property, twice, committed a crime, broken the law. There was no reason not to let the police handle it. Eva would probably say something about how if he wasn't caught, he'd just go on to do the same thing again. But...it wasn't as if Amariss actually ca--when had she listened to her sister, anyway? Catherine might say that the law wasn't always in the right, blah, blah, blah, extenuating circumstances, but she was also the person who'd given this guy hot chocolate (really?) in the first place. Adri--no. He'd probably just say something like "if it doesn't matter to you, just leave him to die. It's not your problem, and he'll probably get to someone else's property before he kicks it," anyway. (Although Amariss didn't think that was quite right. Criminal negligence was a crime too, so it would become her problem). Ironically, it was Adrian's probable advice that--but no.
Amariss blinked, startled, as Catherine's thermos was pushed into her hands. "You didn't finish it?" Was the first thing that came to mind, because, really, that was just weird. Strangely enough, it was also that which decided her. Catherine...she might have been really weird and possibly insane, but she usually had good ideas...as for her character judgement, Amariss didn't really know about that, but Catherine had helped her with. With the thing. So. Yeah, she was probably going to regret this, but anyone who didn't finish all of anything Catherine made was clearly not in their right mind and needed help. "Look. Just. Just give me my phone and get in the car. I'll drive you to the hospital or your house or whatever," she ground out. At least she'd have a good excuse for being late with Eva.
The man reached towards her; Amariss hadn't thought he could move fast enough, and, distracted, hadn't noticed him get up. She flinched away, but not enough to avoid getting pulled closer to him or to stop him from speaking into her phone. It only took an instant before she recovered and jerked back, until she had her back to the shed wall--a mistake, she'd meant to head out; she must have gotten turned around when he'd grabbed her.
This wasn't a situation Amariss had prepared for. She didn't know--no, she had to stay calm. Being grabbed had thrown her off-balance, but there were simple actions to take before she had to think about anything complicated. First, the facts "I-" Ew. Stuttering? No. She tried again, her voice more level. "I'm not sure you can leave on your own." Even if he managed to get wherever he was going on foot, which was pretty unlikely, he'd probably be stopped by someone be in concerned citizen, police officer, or neighborhood watch.
"Secondly, you just hung up on an emergency call responder, after talking to them. On my cellphone." Which she'd let go of; in the dim lighting (the shed doors had swung back to mostly closed), it was hard to tell if it had fallen or if he was still holding it, she'd been too startled before to hear its impact with the dirt or lack thereof. "My cellphone which has GPS. Someone's definitely going to come and investigate now." How stupid could you get? Well, she supposed he was sick, so she supposed she could give him the benefit of the doubt.
But...what should she do? If she called back (if she could get the phone back), she could say it was a misunderstanding, and the police would probably drop it, especially given her location; the neighborhood she lived in was leery of intruders, to say the least. Even the police weren't allowed to patrol here and couldn't come unless they were called. That was, of course, if she called back soon; delay long enough, and they'd show up anyway.
Which wasn't to say that that was the right course of action, necessarily. The man in her shed had trespassed on her property, twice, committed a crime, broken the law. There was no reason not to let the police handle it. Eva would probably say something about how if he wasn't caught, he'd just go on to do the same thing again. But...it wasn't as if Amariss actually ca--when had she listened to her sister, anyway? Catherine might say that the law wasn't always in the right, blah, blah, blah, extenuating circumstances, but she was also the person who'd given this guy hot chocolate (really?) in the first place. Adri--no. He'd probably just say something like "if it doesn't matter to you, just leave him to die. It's not your problem, and he'll probably get to someone else's property before he kicks it," anyway. (Although Amariss didn't think that was quite right. Criminal negligence was a crime too, so it would become her problem). Ironically, it was Adrian's probable advice that--but no.
Amariss blinked, startled, as Catherine's thermos was pushed into her hands. "You didn't finish it?" Was the first thing that came to mind, because, really, that was just weird. Strangely enough, it was also that which decided her. Catherine...she might have been really weird and possibly insane, but she usually had good ideas...as for her character judgement, Amariss didn't really know about that, but Catherine had helped her with. With the thing. So. Yeah, she was probably going to regret this, but anyone who didn't finish all of anything Catherine made was clearly not in their right mind and needed help. "Look. Just. Just give me my phone and get in the car. I'll drive you to the hospital or your house or whatever," she ground out. At least she'd have a good excuse for being late with Eva.
Natsume Gyani
He had to get out of here… He couldn’t stay… Death is coming. It will pull her under with him. Natsume’s head was a mess. He couldn’t stop shivering, and it was getting harder to hold onto his things. He wasn’t doing well, but he would’ve been worse if it weren’t for that thermos. The warm drink gave him a bit of extra time, and holding it all night as it slowly lost its radiating heat made sure he wasn’t dead already. Heh… Now he really needed to thank that woman from last night. Right now, he couldn’t even remember her face, only her license plate number popping in and out of his head.Looking down at the blonde woman, he blinked cluelessly. Listening to her was getting harder, more because he couldn’t focus very well. He stared at her lips in the poorly lit room, but almost every word she said went in one ear and out the other. There were… gaps… Like he was fading in and out while she was talking, her back to a wall. He leaned in just to hear her better, but it didn’t help much. He caught bits and pieces. Cellphone, GPS, investigation…
The tone of her voice made her seem a bit angry. Maybe? Probably just annoyed… Who knows. “Sorry…” He mumbled under his breath, not sure what he was apologizing for, but it felt right. What else was he supposed to do? He just wanted to sleep… Lay in a warm nook to repel the cold. Maybe even let him feel his limbs.
He heard her keep talking… How much was she going to say? All she had to do was leave. He needed to call in a favour. There was no way he was walking out of here… It took most of his strength just to keep standing here.
“Huh?… Oh, right. Couldn’t… Was tired… and…” He was starting to slur, his jaw feeling like it was trying to clench shut, quivering to try and warm up. “Shit…” He could hear his teeth chattering. He really needed to get out of these wet clothes.
Before that… He needed to make sure he was out of the public eye. No police. No hospital. Solution to that? The phone. “It… should be…”
Nat took a look at his hands just to make sure he wasn’t holding it. Only his stuff, and that contract… He took a step back to look at the floor and before he put his foot down, he felt something under his foot. Natsume, not wanting to break what he stepped on, stumbled. He tried to regain his balance, but instead ended up flat on his back, an arm still hugging his hoodie and that contract to his stomach. He didn’t even feel the fall at first, a second of delay before he felt all the aching rise through him. “Ah… Fuck…”
What did he step on?… He groaned deeply and struggled to sit, one arm pushing himself up, the other hand to his head to suppress the pounding headache. Blondie’s phone. It didn’t look broken, but it did have a nice smudge of mud on it now. Picking it up off the ground he sighed, rubbing it off on his shirt before tossing it up at her, his muscles still feeling weak and making the toss a little clumsy.
“I’ll call someone. You can’t-” He winced, curling up as he felt the strain rise into his shoulders. “D-Damn… Screw it…” He cursed and wretched. Moving was getting harder, and trying to talk made it worse. His breath felt hot, but his throat was cold. Like every breath drew out a little more warmth. He couldn’t take it anymore. These wet clothes were going to kill him.
Peeling off his shirt, he breathed, throwing it to the floor and taking off his socks and shoes as well. Let his frozen feet breath. “Unless you feel like carrying me, you should go. I’ll call someone. I’m not dying in your shed…” He coughed, the chill without his shirt horrible, but it was better than continuing to wear the stupid thing while it was still sopping wet. He should’ve taken them off earlier last night, but he thought he’d be able to stay up long enough to call for a ride. All those sleepless nights were taking their toll on him, punishing him for neglecting his health by making those chills run deeper.
His sweater wasn’t completely dry… Wasn’t so sure if it would be dry enough to start warming him… But he didn’t have many options. He pulled his sweater over his head slowly, struggling with it, but with it now covering him, he started feeling a little better. Now, all he needed was some privacy to make his call. He pulled out his phone onto his lap, an arm curled against his stomach as if that would stop him from shivering so uncontrollably. Can’t call anyone with Blondie in the room. She already proved that she couldn’t keep her nose out of his business, and he didn’t want her getting in too deep. So he had to wait, trying to keep a firm grip on his phone.
Amariss D'allore
Was the man even listening to her? It didn't seem like it. Amariss couldn't catch what he mumbled, but judging from his general appearance, yeah. Amariss was getting...worried. This guy did not look well. He was shaking, incoherent, and it very much looked like he would die in her shed, no matter what he said.
He did toss her phone back, which was...well, she wasn't sure that helped her evaluation of his health, but Amariss had already decided her course of action, so she called back (at the non-emergency number), and explained that everything was fine now and no one needed to come. She thought the man on the line might have been a little too eager to agree with her, but he probably just didn't want to deal with the trouble of getting into her neighborhood.
And then the strange man in her shed started stripping. Fortunately, it seemed that he just wanted to change into his other clothing, but the incongruity of the situation still struck her enough that she didn't immediately process his words. When Amariss did...well, at first, she wanted to just take his advice and leave, since he clearly had a solution to his problem and she had better things to do.
But. He also looked like he would pass out any minute, and Amariss was sure that if he did, she would come back home and still have to deal with him, and it probably wouldn't be any better after waiting. Her eyes narrowed. She'd already wasted enough time. "Fine. Okay. I'll carry you." One last attempt, then she'd just leave him there. Amariss doubted she could actually carry him, but she could support some of his weight and get him to the car, at least. As for the clothes he'd left on the ground...she'd probably just toss them in the trash when she got back.
Amariss stepped forward, considering how best to spread the weight, ideally without getting anything gross on her clothing.
If Natsume lets Amariss help him to the car:
She ended up mostly supporting his weight on one shoulder, with her other hand keeping him from falling, and awkwardly levering them up and out of the shed in a slow, ungainly walk. It wasn't that hard, but he was cold, kind of damp, and still weighed more than most things she'd had to carry in a while. Amariss managed to make it to the car and get the back door open, though it took some creative thinking and she almost dropped the man twice, and let him fall into the backseat.
Amariss gave her outfit a critical glance before slipping into the driver's seat and asking, "Well? Where to?"
If Natsume resists:
This was...definitely not worth the trouble. If he thought he could get out of here on his own, he was welcome to try. In any case, Amariss was washing her hands of the situation. "Alright. Suit yourself." She spun around, left the shed, got into her car, and drove away. Hopefully he'd be gone when she got back.
Was the man even listening to her? It didn't seem like it. Amariss couldn't catch what he mumbled, but judging from his general appearance, yeah. Amariss was getting...worried. This guy did not look well. He was shaking, incoherent, and it very much looked like he would die in her shed, no matter what he said.
He did toss her phone back, which was...well, she wasn't sure that helped her evaluation of his health, but Amariss had already decided her course of action, so she called back (at the non-emergency number), and explained that everything was fine now and no one needed to come. She thought the man on the line might have been a little too eager to agree with her, but he probably just didn't want to deal with the trouble of getting into her neighborhood.
And then the strange man in her shed started stripping. Fortunately, it seemed that he just wanted to change into his other clothing, but the incongruity of the situation still struck her enough that she didn't immediately process his words. When Amariss did...well, at first, she wanted to just take his advice and leave, since he clearly had a solution to his problem and she had better things to do.
But. He also looked like he would pass out any minute, and Amariss was sure that if he did, she would come back home and still have to deal with him, and it probably wouldn't be any better after waiting. Her eyes narrowed. She'd already wasted enough time. "Fine. Okay. I'll carry you." One last attempt, then she'd just leave him there. Amariss doubted she could actually carry him, but she could support some of his weight and get him to the car, at least. As for the clothes he'd left on the ground...she'd probably just toss them in the trash when she got back.
Amariss stepped forward, considering how best to spread the weight, ideally without getting anything gross on her clothing.
If Natsume lets Amariss help him to the car:
She ended up mostly supporting his weight on one shoulder, with her other hand keeping him from falling, and awkwardly levering them up and out of the shed in a slow, ungainly walk. It wasn't that hard, but he was cold, kind of damp, and still weighed more than most things she'd had to carry in a while. Amariss managed to make it to the car and get the back door open, though it took some creative thinking and she almost dropped the man twice, and let him fall into the backseat.
Amariss gave her outfit a critical glance before slipping into the driver's seat and asking, "Well? Where to?"
If Natsume resists:
This was...definitely not worth the trouble. If he thought he could get out of here on his own, he was welcome to try. In any case, Amariss was washing her hands of the situation. "Alright. Suit yourself." She spun around, left the shed, got into her car, and drove away. Hopefully he'd be gone when she got back.
Natsume Gyani
Okay… She was calling the authorities back… Then he didn’t have to worry about being arrested and she’d leave. Man, he hoped that Butch wasn’t busy. To interrupt his business for this kind of thing? Nat sure as hell wasn’t going to let anyone else see him like this. Everyone he could trust has better things to do. Like work. And frankly… of all the people he could contact, he trusted that big lug the most. He could actually carry him if he passed out before he got here, and he knew how to keep his mouth shut. The guy was too nice for his own good, and for that… Natsume knew he could trust his life with him.The idea of telling Butch his new assignment made him feel like shit, though. Better to just focus on getting warm while Blondie helped- Wait… What?
“You… Huh?”
He didn’t actually expect her to agree to that. By the time he actually processed the sentence, Blondie was already hoisting him up. He opened his mouth to argue, but he was getting to the point where breathing was starting to hurt and… the shock was making his face turn red. He was filthy, he was freezing, she was smaller than him. There was no way that she’d be able to lift his weight, and he was sure that she wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long even if she did manage to get him up. And despite all his doubts, she somehow was able to get him over to her car and help him inside without causing too much more pain. Just being outside for a little while helped a lot, the warm summer sun thawing the chill just a bit, but not enough to stop him from shivering.
… He should’ve just tried to struggle. But if he did, he’d probably knock her over. Besides, while she was helping him waddle to her car, he couldn’t take the blush off his face. He had to put all his energy into not falling over and holding onto the contract, and… his brain was caught between being uncomfortable and terrified. Plus his bare feet picking up plenty of grass and dirt and dew that was going to mess up her interior. Geez. What was it with him and being around strong-headed women? Whatever. He was scared for a reason. Best not make her even angrier.
With a defeated grunt, curled up in the back seat, laying down with his knees pulled up to his chest and one of his arms tucked into his sweater. There was no way he’d let her anywhere near his home. And he wasn’t leading her to Death’s place either. Butch’s place was a ways off from here, but it was the best place to go where Blondie wouldn’t run into people even worse than him. “Angel Cake Bakery.” He forced from his throat, settling his weary bones into the seat, coughing into his sweater and just trying to get warm. This week had been a nightmare… A nightmare in the waking world.
But maybe he could salvage what was left of the week. He called Butch, just to make sure he wasn’t interrupting anything. Natsume still shivered like a newborn fawn. His muscles were sore and he felt like his fingers could fall off. Nothing was clear, but focusing got easier as he got a little warmer, curled up in a ball.
“Butch. You busy?”
”You sound sniffly. Coming for a visit?”
“Yeah… You could call it that.” Natsume croaked, pulling his hood over his head and trying to curl up even more. “L-Listen… I’m sick. Can I stay with you today?”
”Yeah, okie.”
“… And if you don’t mind, I could use some extra clothes.”
”But yer too tiny for my clothes.”
“I know, I know. Just if you can. There in a few.” Still felt like throwing up. Still wanted to crash. But as soon as he hung up, he felt much better knowing that he’d have somewhere safe to recover. The light from the windows and not being in a dark shed was much better for his health, but he still needed to dry off, sleep. Take some medicine. His nose was dripping still, and he didn’t like the idea of having to rub his runny nose on his favourite sweater. But, when times were tough…
From Blondie’s place to the bakery, it only took about half an hour. Natsume certainly wasn’t dry by the time they got there, but his condition improved greatly. The shivering was almost gone and his temperature was getting back to a level where he didn’t have to worry about dying from it. Still couldn’t really feel his fingers, though, and his feet were even worse. He had Blondie park behind the building. Couldn’t go in through the front and scare off business.
”Natsume!” Butch was already back there, waving like an old timey wife in a bad sitcom, waiting for her husband to come home — which wasn’t uncommon but never ceased to look strange. Butch was a brick house, almost seven feet tall and looked like he would be more suited to pit fighting in Sparta than he did working a bakery that was so frilly and nice looking. Tanned like a farmer, short brown hair, muscles that looked like they could pop heads between them. And even so, he had a heartwarming smile albeit, not the best conversationalist.
Butch came up to the car, waiting for Natsume to open it up, but it was still a little hard to use his hands… Butch gave it a minute before pulling open the door, and just as he did, Natsume practically fell out. Thankfully, the big lug was there to catch him before he could totally collapse on the floor.
”It’s summer, Nat. Why you so cold?”
“Later… After I get some sleep…” Natsume breathed as Butch hoisted him up, easily picking him up like a little kid. “Thanks, Blondie.”
“Thank you, Miss!” Oh no… ”Please! Come, come! I have much good food. For proper thank you!” Ah, Butch. It’s not like this was unexpected, but now wasn’t the best time.
“She’s meeting her sister soon.”
”Then come take some for her too! Very good. Sweet ones and very fluffy!”
Amariss D'allore
Angel Cake Bakery...ugh, that name. Reminded Amariss of way too many Altiria Corp slogans. Altiria. Let us be your wings. Altiria. Because you belong on top of the world. Altiria. Soaring above the competition. Altiria. We'll take you higher. And so on. It was like every other commercial ended with that stupid wings-and-castle insignia and three-note jingle. Anyway, she supposed it was a reasonable enough name for a bakery. Though, that was a weird place, for a guy like him to go. Well, maybe it was a front for money laundering or something--that seemed more up his alley.
Amariss put the bakery into her gps and headed off--she didn't try to make conversation; the whole situation was weird enough, and the reminder of her parents' company hadn't exactly improved her mood. In the rearview mirror, Amariss could see the silver-haired man curling up into a ball and making a phone call. She'd probably have to have the interior cleaned. She couldn't get much from just hearing the one side of the call, and it was rather muffled even so, but the conversation sounded fairly innocuous. She was probably not being led into some sort of strange criminal meeting-place.
When she pulled up to--well, behind, as per the man's instructions--the bakery, Amariss was thus caught somewhat off-guard by how cutesy everything was. It really looked like a legitimate bakery. The man who came out of the bakery was also surprising, in that he looked very much like how she'd expect an associate of her weird burglar to look, but was also wearing a big smile and, well, worked in this frilly bakery. "Er, hello," she said, startled. She'd gotten out of the car in case she needed to help the burglar out, but instead Amariss watched as the new man--Butch, had that been the name she'd heard?--lifted him with ease.
"Ah--you're welcome?" Despite her best efforts, nearly two decades of etiquette lessons and nitpicking from her mother kicked in when the baker asked her to come in for food. "I couldn't possibly impose; I'm sure you have lots to do--and plenty of paying customers lining up for your food--so I couldn't possibly accept, you see." More unfortunately, all of those lessons tried to leap up at once. "And--" --the shady burglar--the sick-looking silver-haired guy--"your friend is right; I do have to meet my sister soon. In fact, I'm already running a bit late, so I'd better get going so I don't keep her waiting too long." Amariss made to get back in the car.
Heh… Poor girl didn’t stand a chance when Butch was involved. The guy just didn’t know how to say no or take no for an answer. It was one of those things that made him one of the most loveable teddy bears out there.
Propped up against this tree of a man, listening to Blondie as she tried to weasel her away out of his generosity, he was very tempted to laugh. It was almost like he didn’t just try to break into her house last night. A thought that pushed him over the edge, snickering into his sleeve.
“Come, come~ Food makes sister forgive late running! Come in!” Without any hesitation, Butch started walking towards the backdoor, clearly not giving Blondie a choice in the matter.
All the while, Natsume was able to take comfort that his worries, for a time, were over. Before anything else, Butch took him into the break room and laid him on one of the couches. The room was more like a college dorm’s common room. A TV, two couches around a coffee table, an arm chair in the corner, and the walls lined with trunks and shelves filled with plenty of miscellaneous items.
“You take a rest.” Butch grinned, pulling a blanket out of one of the boxes.
“Thanks, man… I owe you.”
Shaking his head, the big guy tossed him the blanket and was on his way back out into the hall. “Get well, and everything is repaid. Miss, wait here. I only take a minute.”
Natsume could hear as Butch scurried around the bakery, grabbing a plastic bag, greeting a few customers with that boisterously happy smile, then no doubt packing up a whole box of baked goods to hand off to Blondie.
At this point, it wasn’t like Butch needed the money. As long as he broke even on his bills, he didn’t have a problem giving away what was left over. With the way business went, he could make this little bakery into a franchise if he wanted to, but he didn’t really aspire to run a business. As far as Nat could tell, he was happy like this. Baking every day, and taking care of the locals. That was just… who he was. What made him feel fulfilled.
With a sigh, Natsume pulled that blanket further around him and relaxed. He’d cough, and shiver some, but the calming atmosphere helped.
“Here Miss! You and sister eat and be happy.” Butch came bumbling back into the room, holding an almost sickeningly cute box, soft blue and purple patterns decorated with little white wings and hearts. Cupcakes, sponge cakes, layered cakes, tortes, brownies. And what the store was named for, his very own special angel cake. Butch tended to go a bit overboard when expressing his gratitude, but if that’s what made the guy happy, who was Nat to try and stop him. Not like it would work.
“Just take it. You’ll just make him sad if you don’t.” Nat called from under the blanket, lowering his head further into his cocoon and relishing in the warmth he regained.
…
Not that Nat would ever say that out lout, of course.
Not that Nat would ever say that out lout, of course.
Propped up against this tree of a man, listening to Blondie as she tried to weasel her away out of his generosity, he was very tempted to laugh. It was almost like he didn’t just try to break into her house last night. A thought that pushed him over the edge, snickering into his sleeve.
“Come, come~ Food makes sister forgive late running! Come in!” Without any hesitation, Butch started walking towards the backdoor, clearly not giving Blondie a choice in the matter.
All the while, Natsume was able to take comfort that his worries, for a time, were over. Before anything else, Butch took him into the break room and laid him on one of the couches. The room was more like a college dorm’s common room. A TV, two couches around a coffee table, an arm chair in the corner, and the walls lined with trunks and shelves filled with plenty of miscellaneous items.
“You take a rest.” Butch grinned, pulling a blanket out of one of the boxes.
“Thanks, man… I owe you.”
Shaking his head, the big guy tossed him the blanket and was on his way back out into the hall. “Get well, and everything is repaid. Miss, wait here. I only take a minute.”
Natsume could hear as Butch scurried around the bakery, grabbing a plastic bag, greeting a few customers with that boisterously happy smile, then no doubt packing up a whole box of baked goods to hand off to Blondie.
At this point, it wasn’t like Butch needed the money. As long as he broke even on his bills, he didn’t have a problem giving away what was left over. With the way business went, he could make this little bakery into a franchise if he wanted to, but he didn’t really aspire to run a business. As far as Nat could tell, he was happy like this. Baking every day, and taking care of the locals. That was just… who he was. What made him feel fulfilled.
With a sigh, Natsume pulled that blanket further around him and relaxed. He’d cough, and shiver some, but the calming atmosphere helped.
“Here Miss! You and sister eat and be happy.” Butch came bumbling back into the room, holding an almost sickeningly cute box, soft blue and purple patterns decorated with little white wings and hearts. Cupcakes, sponge cakes, layered cakes, tortes, brownies. And what the store was named for, his very own special angel cake. Butch tended to go a bit overboard when expressing his gratitude, but if that’s what made the guy happy, who was Nat to try and stop him. Not like it would work.
“Just take it. You’ll just make him sad if you don’t.” Nat called from under the blanket, lowering his head further into his cocoon and relishing in the warmth he regained.