Somehow.. I was not surprised that she had a superior. Or a master. She was - she was submissive. I'd seen that. Felt that. Wanted to use that. But like hell I would. She'd likely only come on to me at all last night because of the firewhiskey, and because it had been so long since her last time. She sure as hell wouldn't be kissing me again - there was no damn reason for her to do that.
“So. Find some way of getting messages to me, and then you shall be on your way to your base?” I tilted my head at her. She was squinting her eyes in the sunlight - she had consumed more whiskey than I had. I slipped my sunglasses out of my coat and flicked them open, handing them to her without a word as we walked through the streets.
She stared at them then took them and put them on. “Stop hiding your eyes. They look fine.” She muttered. I shook my head slightly - I'd worn those for years. I only refrained from them now because she, my current employer, was against them.
“Don't shake your head at me. I'm fucking right. Your eyes look good.” She glanced sidewards up at me. “Or what, you allergic to compliments? Don't get used to them midnight man.” I chuckled, once.
“About my eyes, I am rather unused to compliments yes. Otherwise, I have no real concern for them.” She had called me that several times now - midnight man. If I had to assign a name to her based on similar criteria - she was like the dawn, or sunset. Black eyes, faintly rimmed with gold, under a burning head of hair like the sun over the horizon. You know, I think I would call her that in my head. Dawn. Fit better than Scarlet to me. Not that I would ever say it out loud - I had a feeling I knew exactly who her ‘master’ was.
“Hmph. Well. Don't worry, you probably won't get any more from me for a while. Now where the hell is this damn thing.” Did a small town like this have an actual magic shop? Were they that common? I started looking around. I hadn't been paying attention - hold on where the hell was she going? She paused and looked over her shoulder at me. “The fuck you standing around for? Nobody is gonna be selling what we need out here. Come on, I know someone who should have one. Fuckin’ magic is pretty much outright banned here, unless you're one of the damn Empowered Priests.”
I followed after her. The priests - ah. I had forgotten. We were in Salvar, where those Ethereal Sway fellows came from. We tended to ignore them for the most part - we didn't mind their general message of magic being bad, but then again, they preached religious magic at the same time, which we didn't tend to care about in Alerar. She ducked down an alley - then paused and cursed. “Fuck. Shit, okay. You, come here.” She grabbed me and pulled me around, backing up against the wall and dragging me along so that I shielded her. Her fingers curled into collar and dragged me down. “I can't let these fuckers see me. There's a price on my head. So shut the fuck up and enjoy.” And then she buried her hands in the hair on the back of my head, and kissed me before I could react.
This
Fucking
Bitch.
I felt a mild burning on the back of my head - a warning not to pull away. But at the same time, she was doing her best to make sure I did enjoy this fucking kiss. Her tongue slid into my mouth, bloody from another bite, and wrapped, tugged, played and toyed with my tongue. It was working only slightly - because I was far angrier than I was turned on, even by the thought of her hurting herself to arouse me.
This damn bitch was kissing me again. You didn't fucking kiss people you didn't love. Who cared about sex, that was just functional stress relief. Kisses were actual, true intimacy, meant for couples, for those who were invested in each other emotionally. And while I did want this bitch to stay alive and not become a damn beast, I wasn't emotionally attached to her. I paused as her tongue wrestled with mine - oh hell, I was kissing back. Fuck.
She pushed me away with a hard shove. “They're gone.” Her eyes were on the street. “I swear I am fucking going to take down that fucking church.”
She sighed and turned back to me she must have noticed the anger on my face. “what? Don't like kissing?” She tilted her head. “abstinence? I mean- sure that's fine.”
“No. I do not care about sex. But that intimacy is for true lovers. This is the second time you have done that - desist.” I snorted and wiped away her blood from my lips - ignoring the addictive copper tang.
“Second?” She furrowed her brow. “I don't recall a first. Still. If that's how you feel that's fine by me. It’s not like I plan on doing it again. I think it’d piss Master off.” I couldn't quite read the look on her face as she turned away from me with a small sigh. “Look...I am…sorry.” Her voice was strained and clearly the apology was forced. I wasn’t sure she meant it. Still she had tried.
“I -... Thank you. It was not unpleasant, but for myself, I - even now, I feel that is for actual couples. And I am far from desirous of one of those right now.” My voice was soft. Another person might have reached out to her here, to reassure her - but not me. Down that route lay developing personal relationships, and those were not safe for an active hunter. I cleared my throat.
“We should move on before they return.” Her damn lips were too addictive. The kind of thing that would make a man fall.
“I do not do relationships on any scale. They're pointless. Friends, lovers, trusted accomplices? No use for that noise.” Her voice was quiet. I don't know if she was telling herself that, or me. Or both.
“For now, I agree.” And for the moment, I did. A relationship would come when I was ready to settle down from Hunting. And unless something happened, that wouldn't come any time soon.
She led the way through the alley, down to what looked like a decrepit store at a dead end turn. Red hair bounced, before she slipped inside, gesturing sharply for me to follow. I moved inside, to find her haggling with what looked like a literal hag. I paused, and tilted my head.
No, that really was a literal hag. Not just a woman who was a ‘hag’ but actually one of the demi-human race. Her teeth were pointed and stained red, and her lips never quite closed properly. Her eyes were solid milky orbs, focused on Scarlet as the two argued on price.
Then with a snarl, the hag handed over what looked like a small, solid gemstone. Scarlet turned it over in her hands she concentrated, and the gemstone glowed in her hands. She tossed it over to me as she took another from the hag. Her brow furrowed, and I felt the stone in my hand warm up. Scarlet gestured to my ear, and I lifted it up.
“Is this damn thing working right, midnight man?” My eyebrows rose. Well. I certainly heard that, warm velvet softly sliding into my ears. Odd. And - that was her nickname for me, so it seemed like it was appropriate. I nodded. She grunted and tossed some money at the hag.
“They’re linked. If I call you got the choice to ignore it. If not…” her hand splayed out, “Poof. You’ll be there, it only works if we’re both holding it at the time.” She paused and turned the black coloured crystal over and over in her hand as though she were contemplating something. We had left the hags shop and were now standing in the alley.
“I doubt I shall ever need to ignore it, but thank you for the consideration.”
“I’m not sure if Master will appreciate this but…” she shrugged off the shoulders of my jacket and tugged down on her dress revealing her broken skin. In the sunlight, or what little sunlight managed to streak though the Salvaran clouds I noticed that it had a gray tinge. That was an unusual hue for humans, from what I knew -
She drew a finger down her skin to create a large gash that opened, then with a pained hiss she shoved the fucking thing in - what the fuck was she doing!? Her bloodied palm pressed it into her skin and a golden shimmer formed before she pulled it away. She had… she had healed her skin with it inside?
I frowned. That was - well. She would always have the means to summon me on hand. Hmm. I could probably do the same, but not where she would see. My thigh, perhaps. And later.
She didn’t seem too phased as she pulled the jacket back on. “What? It’d be encumbersome otherwise. Besides. They are a pair. If I left it sitting around anyone could summon you, and vise versa. It’s not like anyone will see it.” She stared at me my face still thoughtful as I watched her. “Oh…” She glanced down at my jacket, now stained in her blood. “It’ll wash out. Probably.”
I snorted, and reached out and grasped the edged of my coat. I popped it, and the blood that was collecting on it fell off and away. “I get blood on it often enough that I have had it treated to be repellant.”
