章節 6: Temporary Solution
"Why are you in my office, Kimle? Is there a problem with your duties?" The head of the hunter's division is an old, and very strict demon woman with long, slightly curved horns. There's always a sparkle in her eyes, but now it's stronger than usual. Great, she never noticed how this class is freaking everywhere until now that she has to avoid them. She makes sure she's not standing so close that she can get a whiff of her new perfume, halfling. Not moving away from the door, she swallows and says what she came to say.
"I want to apply for custody of the halfling that I brought in." The woman behind the desk puts down the file she's reading. Their eyes meet and the older one frowns, with a smile on her face. Standing up, she reveals that the women in that class are just as tall, and probably just as strong, as the males. She walks around the desk and ends up right in front of the much smaller hunter. Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath and smiles down at her.
"Fascinating."
"What is your response, ma'am?" Kimle asks with a shaky voice. Her boss, in all but title, places her hands on her hips and... laughs?
"Your mentor, miss Lerken, was in my office this morning as well. Do you know that she asked for the same thing? You just have to sign the form and go pick him up. I sent someone for you but I guess they'll come back empty-handed." Kimle's knees buckle, and she nearly sprints out of the room before she signs the file. She has to find the halfling and drag him out of there if he wants it or not. He's her partner now and she's already certain neither of them will like it. She follows the tall woman back to her desk and is handed a pen.
Her hand shakes as she writes down her names on the yellow paper. As soon as she's done, she's handed a collar and a bracelet that she's only ever heard rumors of. It's been used many times for correcting misbehavior in juveniles or torturing the human prisoners. Let's call it shock-therapy. Nice, exactly what she needs when she can't control her feelings between love and hate. This is a great, although temporary, solution. As long as she doesn't abuse it, she won't get in trouble. He will probably be fine, but it doesn't really matter.
"Thank you, Mrs. Alvers! I will make up for this, I promise. Maybe I can get more targets with his help." She performs a small, formal bow, and leaves the room as fast as she can. Before the door closes, she hears her boss express her doubt. Kimle grins, certain that she can prove her wrong. And, it feels like she has her mentor's faith in her as well. There's still two hours until her job starts and she's forced back out on the street.
Her feet take her to the cells, and a different prison guard takes her to the triangular room where he's still sitting, head bowed into his hands. The prison guard waits outside, and as soon as the door closes, Kimle knocks on the glass. His head rises and when he finds her there, he stands up to walk over to her. She's unfortunately not there to kill him, but the defeated look on his face is sweet. Putting in the code into the mechanism that slides down the glass, she takes a step closer and moves her eyes up and down his body. It's not all bad, really. He's paralyzed, not sure what to do. When his eyes finally flicker toward the outside door, she slips the collar around his neck.
She starts to close the hatches when she suffers a heavy blow to her abdomen, exactly where he stabbed her, and crumbles into his arms. Why did he catch her, and why is he so warm? He smells so familiar, and the touch of his skin against hers is like fireworks. The cool metal against her throat pulls her out of the daze, her eyes widening as she hears the click of the lock mechanism behind her ear. Then, he sighs and pulls her into a tight embrace. If she wasn't terrified, she'd probably be able to enjoy it, but now it just makes her struggle desperately against his arms.
He places the bracelet on his wrist and a shiver runs over her skin as if she's dipped in cold water. He releases her and she drops to her knees, feeling weaker than she ever remembers. A fever builds in her head when she tries to move, and a headache follows. He squats in front of her, and grabs her chin, turning her face to look at her from different angles. Then, he smiles, and as he leans in to place his lips against hers she jerks back, out of his reach, and a powerful electrical shock runs through her body.
"Fine, not on the first date then," he says, smiling. It's a friendly smile, with a hint of hurt in his eyes. No, he doesn't mean that, does he? "Give me your jacket, and find a way to cover the necklace. Then take me to wherever you live, and give me some damn food." His stomach growls absurdly loud when he stops talking, and despite the whole hostage situation, she almost can't keep herself from laughing. Terrorized by the thought of another shock, as well as the thought of what he could do to her, if she disobeys, she takes off her jacket and hands it over to him. The piece of clothing is two sizes too large, fits him like a glove and even hides the device on his wrist. She leans in and fishes a scarf out of one of the pockets. The way he looks at her makes her remember that she usually keeps her weapon in the same pocket. He looks scared, and she nearly regrets not having it available.
They leave the building without any trouble, and she leads him across the bridge to the apartment tower. He looks enough like any other demon that only a handful of people look twice at him, and as long as she's close enough, those seem satisfied with the safety. When the odd couple is in the elevator he tries to make a move again when the doors close. She places a hand firmly on his face, and he backs off laughing. The contact still makes her skin tingle, but she realizes that she was obsessing. She lets him rest a hand on her shoulder, though, as he must be kind of scared and confused by the whole situation. After all, his hands are shaking hard, and it makes sense with so many 'enemies' all around. If it wasn't for her, he'd be dead a long time ago. They reach her floor and walks at a brisk pace over to her door. In her room, he wrinkles his nose but sits down quietly on the only chair, looking around the tiny space.
"Is this where you live?" he seems surprised, for some reason.
"Yes. Why?" She opens the fridge and grabs eggs, butter, and milk. It'll be an omelet or scrambled.
"I just always thought that most of you guys would have better conditions than we do out there." He leans back and pulls the curtains away to let in some light. The sun is rising over the horizon, and she's reminded that there's not a lot of time until her shift starts. She's also reminded that she hasn't cleaned her apartment in a month or two. She hurriedly fixes the omelet and hands it to him on a dirty plate, listening to him as he eats while she changes into her uniform in the bathroom.
"You're coming with me on my hunt, alright?" She says when she steps out. His eyes weigh her.
"You know that I'll try to escape, right?" he replies without a moment's hesitation. She nods, with a complementary scoff. With that device around her neck, not his, it will be nearly impossible to stop it. To her dismay, he continues talking. "But first, I'd like your help with something. There's someone important you need to help me find."
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