she was met with the small beep of a call terminated & theria glowered down a the glowing screen of her phone , as though it were somehow its fault. she could call back repeatedly & interrupt his drive to make a fuss … but fights & phones were how accidents happened. shoving hers back into her pocket with a sigh , theria entertained the idea of being anywhere else by the time he showed up & , if she could guarantee finding her way back to civilization without encountering the seedy folk that seemed to linger in the shadows of the industrial & shipping graveyard & preyed on those obviously out of place , she would.
but even she , with all of her combat & weapons training , had to privately admit that this part of the city set her on edge , more so with the knowledge that all of her recent snooping probably hadn’t endeared her to the locals in any way. as her father loved to caution , ‘ knowing how to throw a punch won’t save you from a bullet if you’re stupid. ‘
so she stayed put & waited for him under the pool of the lone , dimmed & flickering streetlight , huddled against the wind with a cigarette in hand , which she inhaled to soothe her frayed nerves. gaze roving the empty , run - down alley , theria spotted his car immediately & stubbed out the almost finished cigarette end , not even bothering to save it as she usually did. relieved to get away from there she might’ve been , but once in the car all theria did was glare.
❝ i don’t need you to come swooping in every time i’m in a marginally bad area , you know — I’ve been doing this job a long time & found myself in far worse places than this. A simple ‘ three blocks & there’s a bus stop ‘ would’ve been fine. ❞
@asomniari // different ways to say ‘ i love you ‘ meme ( SELECTIVELY ACCEPTING ! )
Felassan was marginally surprised when he pulled up to her location to see she was still there. He half expected her to be somewhere else, and he hid his relief when she jump into the passenger’s seat.
He didn’t answer, instead turning down the radio and pulling away. “Do you even know how to navigate this area? The last bus left the station twenty minutes ago, the closest is three miles east.” For all his irritation, he was doing a remarkably good job at keeping himself composed. But even he couldn’t keep the scolding bite out of his tongue. “The first stop in the morning is at seven, you’d be waiting oh,” He glanced at the car’s clock, obscured by darkness so he picked a time. “Ten hours.”
Theria was an accomplished investigator, especially during the time he knew her. She could handle herself well enough in a fight, but not if someone had a weapon.
Felassan knew the streets well enough from his own wanderings, his knowledge clear in his navigation despite never mentioning he’d spent time in the impoverished areas.
She smelled heavily of smoke and nicotine, and he remembered the stale pack of cigarettes in his glovebox. He hadn’t touched those in years. The lingering smell reminded him of old habits. Felassan made an idle note to himself to throw those out later.
“Why are you even out so late?”
