Something Dangerous: Part 3

“MICHAEL, ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US KILLED?!” Titus screamed into the electronic contraption in his hand. The idea of exchanging words without seeing the other party’s face was new to Titus, and rather rude in his opinion. But he doubted even Ra could help him if he lost it and that girl would need him, so he would have to get used to it in any case.

“Jesus, you’re late for that seminar, you’d better hurry.” Michael’s voice was muffled for a moment. “I see you two have met Deceit and Miss Sin,” He didn’t even sound worried.

“THEY TRIED TO KILL US.”

“You don’t need to scream,” Michael sighed. Crypt took away Titus’s phone with a glare and hit the speaker button.

“You could have told us that her sister was not only a biochemist, but makes plants that move and lawns that eat people.” Crypt was way too calm for Titus’s liking.

“WE WERE EATEN BY A LAWN, OKAY, HOW IN RA’S NAME ARE YOU CALM ABOUT THIS?!” Crypt leveled his brother with a glare.

“Calm down before you hyperventilate.”

“Now, you two wouldn’t be having this problem if you’d just read their files.” Michael assured them, sounding rather amused.

“I did read the damned things. Twice,” Crypt assured him. “They were generic for both of them, and there was a great deal of missing information.”

“Then perhaps you should fill in the blanks,” Michael suggested before proceeding to hang up on him.

“Damn that Michael,” He muttered, watching Titus trying to sit down without freaking out. How was he related to that, exactly?

“So what now?” Titus asked, after taking almost a half hour to calm down. This case would be the end of his perfect career if he didn’t get a hold of himself.

“We go back, check in with St. Gabriel, and complete this case.” Crypt said simply with a flat tone and a grave face.

“And if we die?”

“It will be doing what our creator asked us to.”

“You know, that’s the same reason a lot of suicide bombers use.” Titus almost laughed at the mental image his mind conjured.

“Suicide bombers don’t get a second chance in life, we did.” Crypt stood up and banged on a nearby door, which was opened by a lavender-haired angel with neatly trimmed wings.

“Are you two done freaking out?” She asked, throwing a pullover at Crypt and a cloak at Titus. “I had to guess your sizes, so hopefully those fit.”

“Yes, Miss-”

“Miss nothing, it’s just Lou,” She corrected quickly. “You two managed to stumble into an overlap of the physical planes, so flying back is out of the question, you won’t be able to find the Inn if you try.”

“Inn?” Titus was confused. They were going back to Miss Deceit's, weren’t they? That place had looked like a fortress.

“Deceit's,” Lou elaborated with an air of patience. “It’s nicknamed the Inn because that’s what it initially was before the past two generations of additions and updates.”

“That thing’s a fortress, okay. How long did that take, exactly?”

“Deceit gets into fits, but most of it was already there. From what I’ve picked up, her parents worked on it for something around fifty years.”

“Damn. Sounds like they the same sort of deal as that Winchester lady.” Lou leveled Crypt for his comment.

“Don’t be an idiot.” She turned and opened the door. “Let’s go before Etna locks the doors for the night. You’ll run out of oxygen before morning if the lawn eats you again.” That seemed to get the boys moving, as they were out the door in nearly an instant.

“Ra, you gave those two more than they can handle. I pray you guide them through it.” She muttered her prayer and silently wondered how much of cars they’d seen before. “On second thought, give me the patience not to strangle them or worse.”

♠

Deceit pushed open the door, exhausted. It didn’t matter what civilization she dealt with, nor the time period or culture. Politics were worse than small children trying to explain something they didn’t know the mechanics or the name of with a limited vocabulary and stick figure drawings. Waiting for her inside was Etna, looking particularly nervous.

“What now?” Deceit all but whispered, her voice nearly failing her from the last several hours of aggravation. Her patience was running particularly thin as well, but she didn’t have the energy, much less the will, to lash out at her already overworked housekeeper.

“You have a visitor waiting for you in the study. He’s been there for two hours now, and instructed me to give you this when you arrived.” She replied quietly, handing Deceit a flat object wrapped in cloth.

“You’re taking orders from strangers now?” Etna assumed her niece was being rhetorical, and offered up a water bottle instead of an answer before withdrawing to the kitchen.

Deceit made her way through the nearly silent halls with ease not bothering to look at her newest possession or fumble around in the dark for light switches. She had grown up within the confines of this estate- and ran from it a half dozen times over the course of her childhood, refusing to return for months at a time. Over the past year, it had become a home and her base of operations- out from under the watchful eyes of the High Council she was a part of. They were idiots afraid of what they didn’t understand, and Deceit would be damned if they were going to gang up on her over her personal affairs.

By then, she had made it as far as the White Room, one of many circular rooms across the house, but the only one in such a dreaded color. Her mother had decided on it, of course, citing something about innocence and modernization. Deceit sighed and dropped her bag on the staircase. Damon had fallen asleep watching old war cartoons again. She draped a throw over the sleeping werewolf and shut the television off before collecting her bag and continuing her trek to the library. She’d have to get a system for his room, she decided. He was in the White Room far more than anywhere else, and that could prove troublesome later on.

“Welcome back, Miss Deceit.” Athena welcomed with a battered tome in hand. The supposed visitor that had been waiting for her was nowhere to be seen. “Is there anything you need?”

“No thank you, Athena; you may have the rest of the night to yourself.” Athena bowed in response, which irked Deceit. She was going to have to correct the gargoyle yet again; this whole overly polite and formal thing was starting to get to her. Sure, Athena had once been in charge of Heaven’s library, but this was getting out of hand. She would save it for another time, however, as there was a visitor that had somehow bypassed her security spells and Deceit was determined to rip him to shreds over it.

After dumping her bag on her pristine desk, she wandered down the rows of books, shelving any volumes left in the walkway. She was rewarded upon reaching the other end of the library, where her mysterious guest sat in a corner (her favorite one, to be precise) with a copy of the human writer Aristophanes’ Lysistrata in hand. She had half a mind to push him out the open balcony for the way he bent the already battered pages. Instead, she kept her temper in check and began shutting up the balcony for the night, all the while ignoring the existence of such an infuriating man. The stranger, however, seemed to know of her internal struggle to avoid killing him on the spot, and closed the book with a small smile that Deceit would deny ever seeing.

“Welcome home, Deceit.”

“Who are you and what are you doing in my house.” Deceit was tired and most certainly not in the mood for this guy’s smug tone.

“Your housekeeper let me in.” It looked like she was going to have to have a conversation with Etna as well. What in the world was that chaos demon thinking anyway, letting such a shady individual into her house. Wait, no. That was to be expected.

“You didn’t answer the first part of my question,” Deceit sighed.

“It wasn’t a question, was it?”

“Look, I’m not playing games with you right now. It’s going to be dawn soon and I have things to do. Leave your card and get out” She stifled a yawn as the silence between the two extended.

“Very well. I will come calling tomorrow, mind you. Try not to make me wait so long.” He gave her a smile before vanishing. Deceit didn’t move for a few moments.

“That son of a bitch, he took my book with him,” She growled. “Fuck it, I’ll deal with it in the morning.” Deceit could not, however, shake the feeling that she knew him. Perhaps she met him somewhere, a very long time ago? Pushing those thoughts aside, she shuffled up a hidden staircase and ditched her business attire for more comfortable sleepwear. After popping a couple sleep aids, she drifted off to sleep.

♣

“Little girls should be learning how to raise a family or support their future husbands. They most certainly should not be learning their way around a blacksmith’s shop.”

“Chahayo, let her be. As long as she’s not causing any trouble, she’s welcome here.”

“Pramana, this goes against-”

“Ayah! Paman! Mama says that coffee’s ready.”

“Alright Merci, we’ll be there in a moment.”

“We’ll finish this conversation at another time.”

“Deceit, it’s time to go inside.”

“Okay, Ayah, I’ll clean up.”

“Mark my words, Pramana. She’s going to be trouble.”

“Over a bit of ironwork? Hardly.”

♣

Deceit rolled around in her sleep uncomfortably, the feeling of foreboding not enough to wake her from her much needed rest. Instead, it was buried as she lapsed back into an unconscious state.

♣

She was gasping for air, clawing at the smoke that blurred her vision. Something was wrong, very wrong. There shouldn’t be so much smoke in the house. Perhaps, she thought, Merci forgot to open up the chimney vents before stoking the hearth. She’d done that once while they were in Dublin, Deceit recalled.

She forced herself farther into the inky darkness, the taste of smoke coating her airways, almost making the child choke. It seemed like an eternity before she finally made it to the source of the air pollution in the western wing- the drawing room.

Deceit clutched the door knob, willing it not to stick. She coughed on the soot her fingers pushed into the air. The knob was so hot, it scorched her small hands. Still, Deceit fought with it, though her hazy mind could not conjure a reason as to why it was so important. Finally the knob gave way as a lone screw fell to the floor, hot enough to leave a single mark on her favorite socks. She gave it no notice as she pushed the door open with all her might.

♣

There was a loud cry beside her window. Deceit awoke instantly in a cold sweat, her heart fluttering from something she could not quite recall in her sleepy state. She lay back down, breathing deeply and drifted off not a minute later.

♣

“I never understood how you could take the deaths of Virtue and Wisdom so easily.” Raven confessed, pulling her thin coat tighter around her. Deceit shed her fur coat and placed it around her cousin’s thin shoulders as they passed through yet another stone courtyard in the Peleş Palace grounds.

“There really wasn’t much to miss,” Deceit replied after a moment of silence. “It had gotten to the point where I was more used to coming home to an empty house rather than a home. They were always away on official Guardian business or pointless council summons. Merci hadn’t, but I was already to the point of addressing them by their proper names. That was months before the incident.”

“It always seemed as if they were home more often than that.”

“The fact still stands; they were home when I wasn’t, and then they were gone.”

“Merci doesn’t recall anything?”

“Not at all, and I’d like to keep it that way, Rav. You know how that sort of thing goes over.”

“Of course,” Raven assured her mentor with a small smile. “Sometimes it’s better not to know.”

♣

In the hours following Deceit's not exactly restful night, she wouldn’t be able to recall exactly what she dreamt of. The closest she could discern was the caw of a lone raven, and the inability to feel warmth. She shook off the feeling as the mid-morning wore on, the effects of so little rest quickly taking a toll on her. She never really cared for work in the daylight, a habit she took from her mother, but unfortunately her profession was no nine-to-five deal. Deceit was almost constantly on call, and she enjoyed the freedom.

“Hey Case, we gotta problem down at the stables.” There was more static in the receiver, but Deceit didn’t think anything of it. She was too busy trying to remember which mythical creatures were currently housed in the stables, awaiting the nocturnal transport for one reason or another.

“On my way, Spade.” She didn’t waste time, slipping into her favorite pair of knee high boots. Fashion be damned, they were comfortable and could withstand being a werewolf’s chew toy. They weren’t allowed in the office, however. Spade seemed to have an issue with the whole shoe thing, though Deceit could not fathom why.

“It took you long enough,” Spade shot at her with a grin when she arrived. “What took you so long?”

“Your desk was in my way.” He frowned, pushing her in the direction of a rampaging pegasus.

“Rayln noticed the disturbance before she left. It’s your problem now.”

“You know,” Deceit caught the coil of rope Spade sent her way. “You should really get over your fear of pegasi.”

“I don’t fear them, okay.” Spade gave Deceit an exasperated look, but took several steps back when one of the pegasus’s wings came within a few feet of him.

“Right, I’m sure you’re just dying to come over here and help me with him.” Deciet took careful steps toward the winged horse. “Do you know what set her off?”

“Not a clue. “

“That’s strange,” She managed to get a hold of the reins, and quickly tied one end of the rope to them before throwing the other back toward Spade. Deceit guessed that she’d hit him with it, just by the way he sighed. Oh well, he should’ve just gotten out of her way to begin with. “Keep a good grip on that, she’ll bolt if the door opens and we’ll be fucked when she hits the sky.”

“Sweetheart, I’m pure Native, grip is one of our strong points.” The eloquence in his voice was nearly palpable. Deceit just suppressed a smile and the urge to push him into the pegasus’s stall for calling her sweetheart.

“I’m sure-” The rest of her retort died in her throat. There was a person in the pegasus’ stall. He was definitely human, and passed out in the corner.

“Spade, I have good news and bad news for you.”

“Why does that sound like I’m getting the short end of the stick?”

“Because you are.”

“Well, fuck. Gimme the good news first, at the very least.”

“The good news is I figured out why...” Deceit struggled to remember the name. She could remember that the winged horse was afraid of humans, but not its name. Then it hit her, hard. “…Rolanda is having a fit.”

“Okay, and the bad news?”

“You’re going to have to get over your fear of pegasi.”

“Uhm, waitta second, Deciet, can’t we discuss this over-” Spade tried to reason, but Deceit had other plans. She gave a slight tug on the reins. Not hard enough to harm the poor creature, but just enough to signal Rolanda to move toward Spade. Sure enough, the closer Rolanda came to Spade, the calmer she became… and the more Spade froze. She didn’t have time to dwell on that, however; she had bigger problems to handle.

Climbing onto the wall of a nearby stall, she jumped into the back of Rolanda’s temporary one- only roughly two feet from the human. Deceit barely took in his ragged appearance or his bright red hair, instead opting to poke him with her boot once, twice, and finally a third time until he began to stir. She could not fathom why this human had thought a pegasus- a creature he should have only ever seen in mythology books- was even remotely safe to approach, let alone sleep near. To be fair, pegasi were generally very gentle creatures, but there’s no way in hell that he’d have known that. He didn’t seem to have any sense of self preservation- even for a human.

“What’s your name?” Deceit wanted answers, and she lifted him up from his resting place by his elbow to speed up the process. She preferred using wrists but his height required her to take a different route to attain the whole feet off the ground thing, which in her experience, made answers more forthcoming and generally more truthful.

“W-what?” He stumbled over the word in his half conscious state, not recognizing the woman before him or his surroundings.

“What. Is. Your. Name.” She bit the words out, for Deceit absolutely despised repeating herself, among other things.

“S-sean.” He stuttered, Deceit's particularly violent look putting him on edge. Just who in the hell was she, anyway? He’d also have to get around to asking what on earth she was; he’d never known a girl to be able to hold him off the ground for any amount of time, much less one who didn’t so much as break a sweat at the feat.

“’Ciet, you alright over there?” Fuck, Deceit growled. She hadn’t expected Spade to regain his voice so quickly, and she was kind of busy breaking one of the fundamental laws of her kind by interacting with a human. The second basic law to shatter was when she decided not to kill him, at least for now.

“Alright, Human, this is what you’re going to do.” She spoke with a quiet, dangerous tone and he had strained to hear her words. “You are going to stay where I put you and wait until I return. Then you’re going to come with me.”

“Why should I trust you?” She was a stranger with blue hair in an even stranger environment. He must have been dreaming. He had to be dreaming. It was the only logical explanation that Sean could coax to life, but he couldn’t force himself to believe it. This mess or whatever he had gotten himself mixed in this time felt way too real for fantasy.

“You’re a little short on options that don’t include dying.” Sean had to admit that she was right… and nodded in response, partly in fear of the lady before him who could hold him off the ground via his elbow without it breaking a sweat. “Good.” She tossed him into the neighboring stall behind her without another word, absently hoping that there was hay or something to catch him. Broken bones were such a nuisance.

“What set her off?” Spade asked after she coaxed Rolanda away from him and back into her unoccupied stall with the promise of fresh radishes.

“I dunno.”

“But you said you had figured it out.”

“I thought I saw something but I was mistaken.” It wasn’t a complete lie; Deceit had seen something besides the Human. She just couldn’t put a name to it at that moment. She locked Rolanda’s stall and whatever retort Spade had was interrupted by the singing from her back pocket. Or rather, the godly artifact turned cell phone and PDA that was in it. After a few moments of digging one of Osiris’s mirrors out of her back pocket, she answered the call, finding it strange that an unlisted number was calling her phone. The same one that no one unimportant to her had the number to and she had all the corresponding digits.

“Hm. You answered on the third ring.” It just had to be the arrogant stranger from yesterday. She grit her teeth.

“What do you want?” Spade, sensing the hostility, silently excusing himself under the pretense of paperwork. He did not want to be around her when her temper flared, much less within arm’s reach.

“Such hostility, Deceit. It’s rather hurtful, you know.” He feigned a hurt tone, and she was willing to put money on the possibility of theatrics on the other end.

“At least tell me your name,”

“When you see me again, you’ll know. I’ll be waiting at the same place in a half hour.” The line went dead. Such drama and Deciet had no choice but to be a part of it. Today was shaping up to be such an amazing day, and it was a Monday no less.

“Well, fuck,” Deceit groaned. She was supposed to have a lunch meeting with St. Raph in forty-five minutes, but this guy was not going away… and she kind of had an illegal human to hide. Deceit postponed her lunch with Raph via text and hurried back inside to get her bag.

“You’re leaving already?” Spade asked as Deceit removed her bag from its newest victim- his leg. She was really going to have to get something else for Merci to practice her destructive reanimation magic on. Her bag already growled and moved on its own, on top of biting ankles and chewing on antique furniture. It couldn’t be healthy for the already worn canvas.

“Lunch with Raph,” She lied. “I’ve got meetings all afternoon; I trust you can handle everything here?”

“Will you be back in time for the night transport?”

“If I’m not, I’ll make sure Rayln is,” She assured him. “I’ll double check the stables before I go.” He nodded and dug a deck of cards out of the desk as she shut the door. She slipped across the compound to the stables and silently thanked her better judgment for parking in the back.

♣

Sean rolled onto his back, wincing as he accidentally put pressure on his wrist. Damn that… whatever in the hell her name was. She could have given her a warning, at the very least. Or, you know, throwing him into the bale of hay, which he missed by a good four feet. He was amazing at compartmentalizing, yes, but even Sean had a breaking point and he knew that today’s events were going to push him dangerously close.

In all honesty, Sean had the worst of luck. He’d been violently kicked out of a moving car by his psychotic now-ex girlfriend’s older brother for God only knows what reason. The best place they thought to do it? In the middle of the goddamned desert. Sean had walked for days before collapsing in an unforgivable heap in the sand. He’d been cared for by people with strange reptilian qualities, and stranger names. One of them, Sean thought he’d said his name was Mai, had pointed in the direction of “someone that could help” and sent him on his way. He followed Mai’s map to the letter, bypassing various villages and even cities. The rest of his journey was a bit hazy, but judging from his current state, the last hundred or so miles were absolute murder. Maybe he should just leave, perhaps continue walking until the next town and then start over. Sean was so tired, though, and doubted that he could make it another mile or two without food, or water.

That was the worst thing to think of, as an iron grip on his stomach became apparent. When was the last time he’d eaten anything sustaining? Sean couldn’t remember. The more he thought, the hazier everything became. He was battered, bruised, and in one hell of a mess.

“This is going to be nothing but trouble…” He muttered to himself, poking at his wrist curiously. Yep, still pain. Sean couldn’t see any other way out of this stable of poor sanitation, aside from a girl with blue eyes.

“Yeah, I’m so fucked.”

♣

“Alright, Human, let’s go.” She was running out of patience and trying to figure out exactly how to sneak into her own home. Her secure home with more security functions than really needed. Sneaking out had always been her stronger point. Well, she sighed, there was always a first for everything. Sean cautiously stepped out from where she had left him, cradling his wrist.

“You never told me your name.”

“Deceit,” She answered, sighing. He just had to get himself even more hurt. Damn this human, she thought as she removed a leather glove. “Give me your wrist.” She held out her hand impatiently. He was reluctant, and she sighed. “I don’t bite.” She assured him, and he slowly extended his arm. It wasn’t a good idea, but she killed all voices of reason and touched his wrist lightly. Her mind became filled with images- his memories; that she was vaguely aware of. A blond throwing belongings out of a second story window at him, roach motel signs in three different languages, and was that Mai of the Naga tribe in the Sinia Peninsula? This is none of my business, she thought as she pushed them away and tried to focus on the status of his wrist at the same time. But Deceit had never been very good at multitasking in this kind of situation.

He was in shock for several minutes after she pulled away, her hand clenched. She ignored the growing pain in her head as she quickly pulled back on her glove. Telepathy and the ability to heal others was probably the worst combination in the history of bad ideas, but that seemed to be a pattern in her life. Or a sick goal of others, because that was always a possibility. Maybe she’d have an insanity demon kick around the Inn to deal with all the mental traffic, as starting the day with the worst headache ever couldn’t be healthy with this sort of situation becoming a scarily usual ordeal.

“You- you just…” The shock hadn’t worn off, but Sean’s voice had returned. He tested his wrist only to find that all the previous damage had been repaired. “How-“

“Magic,” She said simply, not wanting to explain the finer points of elemental affinities. The near death experience that had left her with the ability to heal was hazy at best, and the pain in her head reminded her of how short on time she was. “We need to leave, now. If you’re found here you will be executed.” Sean was oddly quiet, and Deceit didn’t have time to read into it. Instead, she opened the back door and waited for him to follow before pushing it shut again. There was silence, all the way to Deceit's red Saleen S7 she’d inherited from her father. Sean stood and stared.

“That’s… a limited edition-“

“My family has a thing for cars.” Along with weapons, time travel, hazardous material and all sorts of potentially dangerous things, but she decided all of that was better left unsaid. “Get in.” Sean compiled surprisingly quickly and without complaint.

“These were so expensive though.”

“My father bought it from a junkyard. It was totaled, and took a long time to restore. I only just painted it recently.” Deciet took a left, heading farther and farther into uninhabited land. There was nothing to be seen out the windows, the land was devoid of life that wasn’t trees. Sean became more and more uncomfortable as the silence wore on, but Deceit broke it before he could. “I don’t know how you managed to get across the barrier into those stables, but humans are forbidden in our plane. It’s too risky having you around mythical beings when your kind does nothing but sap the earth of everything and fill it full of filth all in the name of wealth. If you’d been caught by anyone else, your livelihood would probably have been vaporized on the spot.” Okay, so maybe a ray of sunshine wasn’t on her list of things to be, but that was a lot of words at once. Deciet’s throat began to complain, and she silently cursed.

“So why didn’t you?” Sean asked quietly, the question hanging thickly in the air between them. She didn’t look at him, and took a right into a denser wooded area. The asphalt ceased to exist, and she slowed to avoid slinging rocks.

“I’m forbidden to harm someone that hasn’t done anything wrong.” She took a breath. “While trespassing is against our laws, there is no way you could have known where you were. The barrier you broke through would have already had done a number on you. It’s surprising that you’re still alive. Normally the barrier rips trespassers apart from the inside out.” She shrugged.

“Forbidden?”

“We, as a civilization as a whole, must uphold certain laws,” She didn’t go into any more detail. The trees went from being everywhere to few and far between, as grasslands covered most of the area. The S7 came to a stop and Deciet got out. He watched as she approached an old rusted gate that didn’t seem to go with anything at all, and open it. She drove through, got back out and closed it again. He was speechless at the sudden appearance of an estate; though he was given no time to take in the details as his world suddenly went black.

♣

“You brought a human here?” Etna whispered furiously as Sean regained consciousness. “Don’t you know that’s against the laws even I am required to follow to the letter?”

“I’ll handle it, don’t worry,” Deceit assured her green haired companion. “I just need you to tend to him while I go deal with whatever asshole is currently holed up in my library.” Etna sighed in defeat, knowing she had lost. Her nieces were the only real family she had left- aside from another demon- and she was big on helping any family in need. Even if it meant breaking the ancient laws that had withstood the test of time and remained unbroken and unchanged.

“Where do you want me to hide him? Damon ventures through nearly the entire house on most days.” Deceit thought on it for a moment. The only real choices she had were the West Wing, which she’d closed off to everyone years prior, and the subterranean levels that were restricted to maybe a handful of people. She saw Sean stir, and rushed her decision.

“Subterranean level three, and make sure Merci stays far from him.” Etna nodded, and hoisted the human to his feet.

“Let’s go, Human, you need to be cleaned up.” Etna dragged him away as he struggled fruitlessly against the pale green hands that held him. What in the world were these people?!

Deceit sighed, ignoring her headache; one mess down, too many more to go. She pulled out her mirror. “Call Newt,” she commanded, and it began to dial a few moments later.

“Hello?” A female’s voice picked up on the other line. “Who’s this?”

“Mary, it’s Deceit. Pack Newt’s household, you’re going to join mine again.”

“Finally? Yes!” The line disconnected as Newt’s familiar squealed with uncontrollable happiness. Having another telepath like Newt around would make a lot of things easier this time around. Now if only Deceit could keep him and his asexual tendencies from flirting (horribly) with her housekeeper. She sighed, that would be a problem to tackle another day. After taking a few moments to get her thoughts collected, Deceit headed for the mess that awaited her in the second floor library.

♣

She passed Merci on her way up the stairs, and was almost concerned at the look of sheer mischief on her sister’s face. Brushing it off as her imagination, Deceit pushed the door to her library open and slipped in without a word. The stranger from the night before, however, noticed right away, though he pretended not to. Deceit saw right through his act, and noticed the newest addition to her library: a small potted plant with large, rush like leaves.

“You kept me waiting.”

“You gave me such short notice.” She countered, leaning up against her desk. The stranger took a few moments to take in her corset over dress shirt and tight jean, deciding it was simple and yet not so much. Deceit, however, was preoccupied at the fact there was absolute silence where he stood. No thoughts at all, from what she could tell. That was certainly out of the ordinary for her. Silence between the two only thickened, but she paid it no mind.

“Aren’t you curious… or something?”