Not Always A Bad Thing

Well that was that.
Kimui watched the black SUV pull away while she stood beneath the dim light in the parking garage. Though she’d gotten what she wanted, there was still a sense of foolishness and what now? Honestly, there had been a large part of her that had expected… a fight? Some sort of push back. For as difficult as it had been to actually get the meeting… He’d probably just shrug it off as he had all the others, right? And she’d have to crash another party.
That was it. He’d just dismissed her in the same way he had everything else.
That reasoning felt more sound than Rodeuskiss Kalerilosa just agreeing to meet with her family and that was that. Life wasn’t that simple.
Kimui frowned at the retreating lights of the vehicle before she turned toward the building. There was no point going back to the party. She’d slip down the alley that led to the parking garage and be on her way. Likely face whatever repercussions there might be after she told her cousin what she’d done.
“You don’t look happy,” her friend from the party remarked as he stepped out of the shadows of the parking garage. Kicking up her heartrate and startling her in the half-second it took her to process who it was. When had he followed her?
The question was dismissed as soon as she thought it, though, as she shrugged a shoulder and took slow steps in his direction. Nothing about the shorter vnou was threatening. “I was expecting… I’m not sure. A fight? I guess he doesn’t care one way or another.”
His head tilted just a little as he smiled. “You charge after a criminal boss and you’re upset it went well?” Now he was making fun of her. Admittedly, when he said it out loud…
Kimui let out a soft laugh that ended in a sigh. “You’re right. It was all sort of foolish from the start, right? Probably lucky all he did was shrug me off.” She was sure he wouldn’t do anything because of her family name – or at least, mostly sure.
Amier shared in her little laugh. “Something like that. Going back to the party?”
She waved away the question. “No. No reason to, now. I’ll call a ride and head back home.” He seemed disappointed by the answer, glancing back the way he’d come from like he didn’t want to go either. She spoke before considering the wisdom of the offer. “Did you want to come with me?” Neither did she think about any other way the offer might sound. Honestly, she was just… trying to extend an out to someone who had expressed as much distaste for the party as she had. It was what she would do for anyone she might consider a friend.
Amier didn’t seem to read any more into the offer either. His smile was a half-cocked grin – the amused thing he’d shared with her at the table when they’d been talking before. “You know, that’d be nice. I don’t really want to go back either.”
While Kimui wasn’t necessarily afraid to be wandering the streets at night alone, there was something heartening having the other vnou with her. Even if he was shorter and more slight than she was, having his conversation accompany her to the main street and even in the taxi back to her family’s building made the world less… lonely. Made the city seem less dark and ominous.
Kimui’s apartment was in one of the taller buildings in South Town, in a neat brick building owned by her family. It housed mostly those of relation or associated to their work. Company housing, in a way. It had been provided to her when she’d moved to Alqua. A way to give her some of her own space without estranging her from family. Sometimes it put her too close, like she was always under watch.
As she approached the main glass door to punch in the access code, Amier lingered back to give her privacy and peered up the front of the building. “Nice place,” he remarked. “When’d you move in?” Conversational question while he waited for her to open the door. He’d shrugged out of his jacket before they’d gotten in the car and now had it draped over his arm while his other hand was in his pocket. Something she noticed he did, like he wasn’t sure what else to do with his hands.
She pushed the door open and held it for him. “Couple months ago? Still learning the lay out of the city, really, and settling in at my job at the paper.”
Amier wandered into the building though waited for her to lead.
The apartment building was spartan but clean. Plain tiled floor and white walls gave way to a narrow silver elevator and a utilitarian door that led to the stairway. Another locked door led to the building manager’s office but it was late enough he’d be out. She tapped the button to call the elevator then leaned against the wall to pull off her heels. There hadn’t been much height to them but she was tired of wearing them. Though it killed some of her height, Kimui was still taller than Amier.
“Alqua is an acquired taste,” he remarked, leaning against the wall opposite her on the other side of the elevator.
“Trying to warn me about all the crime?” she teased.
He grinned. “Maybe.”
It only then occurred to her. “You didn’t come all this way because of that, did you?”
Amier shrugged a shoulder. “You just bothered a crime boss and you’re not expecting any trouble for it? I can’t tell if you’re that innocent or that confident.” She’d heard a similar sentiment from her family, though coming from them it’d sounded more like an insult than the actual question framed by Amier. Like he was really trying to figure her out.
Kimui laughed a little, a humorless sound as she stepped on the elevator. “Idealistic, really. My mom said the city would ruin that in a year.” She tapped the third floor and looked down at her bare feet. “Runs in the family, though. We do a lot of pro-bono work.”
Though she could feel him watching her, she didn’t feel the same weight of judgement like she had from her mother. No one could make her feel as foolish as that woman. “Well, if the world must have its monsters, I suppose it should have its heroes too.”
Kimui’s face actually flushed at the off handed acceptance. He had no idea how much that meant. She looked up at him to find Amier peering around the elevator like there was more to see than the plain stainless steel walls. Still standing there, casual and unconcerned. “Thanks…” Kimui would never think of herself as a hero, but there was a right and wrong, and that just because it wasn’t easy doing the right thing that didn’t mean it shouldn’t be done. That was one of the key tenets of her family – a legacy she wanted to uphold.
He glanced at her and shrugged a shoulder, offering her a smile. “It was still foolish but I helped you, didn’t I?”
As the doors slid open, she straightened with a frown. “Why did you help me? Really?”
They both walked down the hall lined by simple dark wood doors, each marked with a black number and a small number pad to grant access. Their pace was slow but matched, letting the conversation hold them in the hall.
He really considered his answer, watching his sleek shoes. He looked expensive in the barren hallway. Black clothes and silver accents that, now in the bright light of the apartment building, seemed like it might be real silver. The jewelry in his ears sparkled with red gems that were likely real, too. Kimui was then reminded that she was walking with someone who came from wealth, even if he’d not acted it. He wore it. The confidence he walked with radiated it, even at this slow pace.
When they finally came to a stop in front of her door, she didn’t automatically move to open it. Instead, she waited for his answer.
Amier looked up at her and shrugged a shoulder. “You were the only one in the room that seemed to be there for a real reason. Vnou go to those things to show off and fawn over one another. You stuck out.” At her frown, he grinned. “That’s not always a bad thing, Kimui. I mean, sometimes and probably at the party if anyone was actually paying attention… But I was and it made me curious. Not often you find someone as honest as you in Alqua.”
It felt like an honest response. Perhaps dosed with a little pity, like he thought her a naive deer let loose in a wolf den, but it didn’t feel like he was messing with her. It hadn’t felt like that the entire time they’d spoke and, really, she liked him. With an exaggerated huff, Kimui input her code and pushed the door open. Smiling, she waved him in. “I’ll take that all as a compliment, then.”
As he stepped through her door, he chuckled softly. “You should.”

Continuation of My Gift To You - Idealistic Kimui making friends with the not so idealistic rogue Drahinuaw. Amier doesn't make friends easily and Rodeuskiss isn't exactly happy that his Bya has taken a liking to a Thlach... Alas. :3

Characters

Dya'Shra-Zar Orasamier Zhu'Drahinuaw
Dya'Shra-Vna Kimuimo Zhu'Thlach