Maddened and guilt ridden by their self perceived failure of protecting Reiza, Faulkner and Karika had little choice to be stow their frustrations away to avoid causing more problems.
To bring her the closure she needs, Faulkner and Karika work together to bring Reiza back to her peppy self.
(Art by rlobado @Fiverr)
I don’t even get a chance to apologize as Perri’s right wing shot out and she delivers me the harpy equivalent of an open-handed slap.
Yeah- I definitely had that coming.
“You ass! What are you even doing!?” Perri hisses as I rub my cheek. Even though she doesn’t raise her voice, the harpy’s anger is still palpable.
Well, damn- that’s the million dollar question right there.
“Perri….I can explain….” I begin, but she cuts me off as her left wing shoots out and I’m on the receiving end of another harpy-slap.
Come on now- I can’t explain if she’s going to keep smacking me. Still, I should be extremely glad she hasn’t decided to use her talons or capoeira acumen on me.
“What’s wrong with you!?” she asked, never raising her voice, but making her agitation quite apparent.
Nope- not gonna dignify that question with a response. I keep quiet as I suddenly catch a whiff of formaldehyde.
“You’re making this too easy, Custer.” a voice familiar taunted.
God damn it- of course it had to be Zombina. FUCK! That smirking ginger zombie had to be enjoying every moment of this.
“Tell that chopper to move to the assembly area- I can’t fly five feet thanks to the rotor wash!” the cupid barked to somebody over the radio.
“Ma’am- this is a crime scene.” I can hear one of the other officers say. “I’m going to have to ask you to keep back.”
Only she wasn’t talking to Zombina.
“Hold up! Hold up!” another familiar voice called out.
The pushy raccoon-dog drew incredulous glares from the cupid and zombie as she made her way through the police cordon as though she was daring anybody to stop her.
“I’m sure you girls would get in really big trouble with the U.S. Attorney’s Office if their big case got thrown out because my client was roughed up while in your custody.” Akagane continued, looking around reproachfully at Bina, the cupid and other officers still in tactical gear.
“Why? So you can get drunk and make me sleep in the barn again?” she asks loud enough for everyone to hear.
That flying fucking bullshit artist. I can’t see from down here, but I’m sure she has that infuriating smirk right now.
I grit my teeth.
“That’s…..” I begin to say through the megaphone. This wasn’t a mistake or a misunderstanding on her part- she was straight-up lying about my treatment of her in front of pretty much the whole county. Instinctively I was going to say “That’s not true” but then inspiration struck me.
Why not fight her bullshit with more bullshit?
“That’s because you keep dive-bombing my schnauzer! The poor thing is terrified of you now!”
Oh the look on her face. She’s been getting used to goading and teasing me, but not being on the receiving end of such treatment. The surprise and indignation on Perri’s face was visible even from my lowly position on the ground, and it was sweeter than any gooey, caramel covered confectionary.
The gorgeous bartender’s surprise was a bit understandable, since it was safe to say this ski resort didn’t necessarily cater to the ‘dying northern Maine mill town’ demographic.
“Oh, ayuh.” I nod in the affirmative.
“Whereabouts?” she asks, as I put my ID back in my wallet. The little plastic rectangle still has a tangible chill.
Seems like a silly question, but it’s not unreasonable for her to assume that the address on my driver’s license isn’t current.
“Castle Rock.” I say with a straight face.
She pauses for a moment. Clearly this girl has read her some Steven King.
“C’mon…..really- where are you from?”
“Cabot Cove?”
She didn’t say anything right away, but her eyes lit up.
“Jessica Oba-san?” she finally asks me excitedly.
“I’m sorry- what?”
“Oh…I’m sorry….” she gushed enthusiastically. “It’s just that we used to get Murder She Wrote on TV when I was growing up. Except in Japanese, it was called The Case Files of Jessica Oba-san. I used to love watching that show.”
“Uhhh, yes.” I replied, curious, looking back at him momentarily. He stepped closely to me then, and laid a hand upon one of my arms. What he said then, caught me totally off guard.
“How is it that you, a Male Dragon, knew my daughter?” He asked me suddenly. I then fumbled at the pot of water that was just then starting to bubble, and spilled the contents all over the burner and stove top.
No Stockholm syndrome, honest.
Suddenly she backs away as though she just thought of something. A playful little grin plies the corner of her lips as she’s blushing lightly- it’s pretty clear that even though she backed off, she is by no means finished with you.
Naughty werepanda schoolgirl heads to the counter to inventory the trick-or-treat candy. She seems to be looking for something specific. Her face lights up a little before she grabs some strawberry licorice sticks from the leftover trick or treat candy.
You’re not sure what she has in mind until she slowly and deliberately walks back to where you’re sitting.
“I give you something sweet now, yes?”
“Don’t you know better than to go after a wolf’s prey?” she speaks up.
