#feeling kinda drained cause i had a breakdown just earlier uh

[wishchip106]

you know how everyone says while erik was in prison he would hallucinate charles or charles would visit him mentally accidentally

what if charles was the one hallucinating erik visting him while he was drunk and high on drugs

hallucination erik just being sweet to charles, offering to play chess and reassuring him he would never leave and he thinks charles is right

once charles sobers up he gets angry because he knows its not real yet it keeps happening

then one time charles would visit erik mentally and yell at him to stop showing up

and erik is just confused but he never gets to say anything before charles abruptly leaves

idk kinda angsty thought cause im feeling depressed rn not cool 😿

why do some of my posts give me deja vu am i just coping someones elses post or something 🤨

[rational-mastermind]

It Doesn’t Hurt

5/5, the finale. Yay! Now we can be done with this. XD;; To anyone who’s actually read all five chapters, thank you. I hope you liked it.

--

 We got in our cars and drove home and by the time I had reached my apartment, I felt drained. The events of the day had taken their toll on me and I was more than happy to just sit on my couch and try to not muster up any more emotion than necessary.

 “Long day, huh?” Siobhan asked.

 “It happens.”

 She sat down with me. I rubbed tiredly at my eyes.

 “You look exhausted.”

 “I have achieved a new metaphysical, dare I say, even spiritual level of exhaustion.”

 She chuckled, which made me smile a little. But it was weak and forced. I was honestly too groggy to put in that much effort.

 “I know those days.” she said, smiling back at me with sympathy.

 “No… No I don’t think you do.” I mumbled, looking up at the ceiling.

 “Well how bad is it?” she asked sympathetically.

 “I mean, I’m not just tired, like, physically. It’s not just physical exhaustion. I’m... Mentally exhausted. I’m spiritually exhausted.”

 “Maybe you just need to go to bed early?”

 “Sleep won’t help.” I replied, deadpanned. “Sleep never helps it just makes things worse.”

 “Trilby?”

 “Which is worse? The nightmares or the stress? The days or nights? The endless cycle of pain that is our existence..” I sat up more and rubbed at the headache that I had been fighting all day.

 “Trilby, what’s wrong?”

 “What’s wrong is that I am… broken.” I stated, starting to grow slightly irritated, and more depressed. “I’m just.. Broken. Down to my core. I can’t.. I shouldn’t..”

 “Trilby??” Siobhan was genuinely confused as I shook my head, trying to figure out how to phrase things.

 “I don’t know why you bother to stay so close to me.. I’m no good. I should’ve already died.”

 “..Trilby, please don’t say that.”

 “It’s true.. Siobhan, I did die. I died at that hotel. The thief was thrown down, Siobhan, and he knew the name of the King. I know I died.”

 “That’s… not funny, Trilby. You didn’t die... I brought you back. You didn’t die…” She started to sound scared.

 I found I couldn’t care at the time.

 I stared fixedly at the floor, a part of me fighting to make sure I saw the floor instead of my blood pooling on the stump.

 “I remember dying.” I finally said. “And I don’t think I’ve been right ever since. Everything was black. Everything was calm and peaceful. I thought I was finally free.”

“Free?”

“I thought I could finally escape the hell of existence only to find my time wasn’t finished. I don’t know why. I don’t know how.” I could feel myself growing angrier. “Lenkmann said I was a man who died on my terms, so why haven’t I died?!”

 Things became blurry. I could remember the stump. I remembered Lenkmann.

 I remembered The Prince standing over me.

 The Prince.

 “Is that why I hadn’t died?”

 “Why haven’t you killed me too, you skinny bastard?!” my past echoed out to me.

 “DAMMIT IS THAT WHY I’M NOT DEAD?!” I realized only dimly that I was screaming. I think I recall pulling at my hair. “Was this the Prince’s doing?!”

 “Trilby, what the hell are you on about?!”

 I could feel my mind spin and everything began to swam in my vision.

 “It’s because I challenged him, isn’t it? He didn’t kill me because he can’t kill me cause I’m the Guide! So if he can’t kill me, he’ll simply torture me! It’s an endless cycle of torture, just as the King would want. Now it all makes sense, this is all that’s left for me. I never left! I’m still there, stuck in endless pain. I’m nothing but a plaything for Chzo!”

 Suddenly I felt my body being shook violently and my mind was pulled back to the present.

I was back in my apartment and Siobhan was yelling at me.

Tears were freely spilling down my cheeks. Reality settled back into place.

I was shaking all over.

 “Trilby, what the hell?!”

 I blinked. A few times. Shook my head to remove the last of the fog in it and looked back at Siobhan.

 “...S...sorry..” I apologized. “I.. Oh Siobhan, I’m sorry.”

 I rubbed away the tears and tried to take a calming breath, albeit it shaky and stuttering.

 “I didn’t mean to… go off like that.. Siobhan, I’m sorry.” I apologized again.

 “Does this happen often??”

 “Sometimes.. Some days...are much worse than others..” I sighed and carefully took her hands off my shoulders. “I’m sorry.. This is usually why I like to stay away from people.” 

 “Trilby I think this is every reason why you NEED someone with you!” Siobhan argued, scared and concerned. I felt horrible looking back at her worried face. “Actually I think what you really need...is a break.. From everything.”

 I sighed.

 “I don’t get too many of those…”

 “Well then it sounds like now’s a good a time as any to start.”

 “How would that work?”

 “Well.. Like..” Siobhan thought for a moment and then took my hands and guided me to the couch. I didn’t even realize I had been standing, but sitting back down, only then did I realize my legs ached a little. I must’ve been pacing during my small breakdown. “Start with this. And.. Hang on.”

 She got back up and went to the kitchen. After a moment she came back and sat down beside me.

 “Okay, I’ve got water on for tea.”

 “Siobhan what-?”

 “Na na na na na.. No. You don’t ask questions. Let me ask the questions. You need a break from this. All that. Work, Chzo, the whole thing. You need a break.”

 “No, Siobhan, I think I just need-”

 “Trilby, you. Need. A. Break.” She said firmly, placing a hand on my shoulder. “You need to think about something else for a little while.”

 I looked at her a moment, a serious expression of determination on her face. I sighed and surrendered. I didn’t have it in me to argue anymore. Whatever was left in me was now spent and I simply sat back and did as she told.

 “Okay, let’s… Talk about something else.” Siobhan began. “Um… What’s… Your favorite color?”

 “My favorite-?”

 “Yeah.”

 “Ummm..” I searched my brain for an answer. I honestly don't give it much thought. I shrugged. “Uh, black? Blue’s... kinda nice.”

 Siobhan smiled and relaxed with me.

 “Cool. I like purple myself.” she grinned.

 “Siobhan, what the hell is the point of such a silly question?”

 “Just to get you thinking about something else.” she shrugged. “Abed… used to need help grounding too. He would get so forgetful and thoughtless. So just talking about things would help.”

 I decided to just go with it.

 “Well.. What else would you like to know?” “Hmm..” she thought for a moment and then snapped her fingers as the idea came to her. “Okay, what’s your favorite movie?” I couldn’t help a chuckle and shook my head.

 “Siobhan.. I’m sorry to inform you that I’m one of the most boring men you’ll ever meet.” was my answer. “I don’t watch a lot of movies.. I hardly watch any television, period.”

 “Oh my gosh, come on, really? Not even the classics?”

 “Like what?”

 “Like.. Like Robin Hood? Mask of Zorro?”

 “Well as far as Robin Hood goes, the book was admittedly better than the movie, and I never heard of Zorro.”

 “Holy shit, now I’ve gotta show you Zorro. You’d love it!”

 I chuckled more.

 “What? What’s so funny?” she asked.

 “I don’t know.. It’s just..all so silly. This is silly.”

 “That’s the point!” she playfully nudged me.

 We talked for a bit longer after that. She got us tea and after that she fixed dinner. She refused my help, so I was left to sit at the dining room table while she worked.

 “So you’ve always wanted to be a thief?”

 “Surprisingly, no. I used to be into engineering. It’s how I made my grolly.”

 “Ahh.. Weird. Wait, that’s really weird. You? Engineering? Isn’t that kinda nerdy?”

 We laughed and talked. Siobhan strayed away from any topic I was reluctant to answer. Silly things, serious things. It was nice. It felt nice to finally just share whatever’s been on my mind. We talked through dinner and well after. I was starting to feel better, as strange as it was.

 “And that’s how the newspaper coined my nickname, Trilby.” I was explaining at one point, showing her a small trinket I kept from the Valentine’s Day Heist. “So, as an  alias, it sufficed.”

 “So then what’s your real name?” “Nice try, but I’m going to have to be a lot more drunk to give that one away, and I don’t drink.”

 “Geez, you’re boring.” she teased.

 I didn’t pay close enough attention, but I ended up talking about things that bothered me as well.

 “Doesn’t everyone do that? Wear a mask?” she asked.

 “Not like an emotional one. I’ve been doing that for so long. Every time you think of some composed gentleman thief named after a hat, that’s my facade. No, I mean literally.. This face… it doesn’t quite feel like mine.. This body doesn’t feel like mine.. I feel like I’m just looking through windows out someone else’s head.” I looked down at my hands.

 Siobhan gently took one and began to trace it with her fingers. The feeling brought a slight distraction, making it easier to talk without losing myself in my thoughts.

 “What do you think you should feel like then? What’s supposed to be different?”

 “I don’t know.. Some days I feel like everything’s normal. Others.. It’s like I look in the mirror and I feel like I was supposed to be older looking.”

 “Isn’t that a good thing that you’re not?”

“I’m sure it’s supposed to be. But it just feels like a disgusting lie. And then I feel worn and tired again. Not physical exhaustion. Like I’ve already lived two lifetimes but was cheated out of death both times.”

 “Cheated?”

“I’ll admit, I was pretty suicidal before we met.” I confessed. Siobhan looked worried and I couldn’t offer any consolation other than a shrug. “It’s not...so bad now. Sometimes I can ignore it. The depersonalization. But some days… It all piles up. The exhaustion. The suicide. The age. The stress. The trauma. And I can’t...”

 “Like earlier?”

 “...Yes.”

 It was late into the night and I wasn’t paying much attention to anything anymore. Siobhan and I were curled up on one end of the couch. Her head rested on my chest, I had an arm wrapped around her. A blanket I normally kept on the back of my couch was haphazardly wrapped around us. My body felt like lead. My eyelids were heavy.

 “Don’ lemme fall asleep.” Siobhan hummed, rubbing her face against me.

 “Mmm.. Maybe you should fall asleep.”

 “Noooo…” she whined and frowned. “I.. can’.. No’ till you do.”

 “Heh. Siobhan… You…” I had to pause to yawn. “Terribly sorry.. You underestimate my ability to… function without sleep.”

 “No.. Sleep…” she groggily demanded.

 I smiled and simply shook my head.

 She was already falling asleep quickly on me. I sighed and carefully slipped out from underneath her, leaving her to rest her head on the back of the couch, while I quietly turned out the lights in the apartment and got the bed ready for her.

 I came back and gently helped coaxed her awake.

 “Siobhan.. Come on.. Time for bed.”

 “Mmm.. No…” she groaned, curling up tighter on the couch.

 I smiled and gently pulled her arms away from her head.

 “Up.” I commanded quietly.

 She eventually gave in, sitting up. Her eyes barely open. I chuckled and helped her get to her feet. She blinked, looked up at me, gave me a quick kiss, and started stumbling to the bed. I gently lead her, helping her to keep her balance, until finally she sat on the bed.

 “Alright. Good night, Siobhan.”

 “Mm.” she whined and then, very much like a child, held out her arms to me.

 I looked at her confused and leaned down.

 “What?”

 Without warning she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down onto the bed with her.

 “Wh-?? Siobhan. I-” I tried to pull away gently.

 “You need sleep too.” was her only means of reasoning.

 “I’ll sleep on the couch.” I tried to reassure her.

 “Noooo.” she whined and hugged tighter. “Nightmares…”

 I was too tired to do more than chuckle at her reaction. Any more sane and I likely would’ve been annoyed. Instead I shook my head and gently pulled at her arms.

 “At least let me change into some pajamas?” “Fine..” she released me from her grasp. “Better come back though.”

 “Alright, alright.”

 I didn’t have it in me to argue. I simply changed my clothes and came back as promised. She still laid there, eyes barely managing to stay open. I slipped in beside her and was instantly greeted with arms around my middle and a face buried into my shoulder.

 “Satisfied?” I asked.

 “Yes.” she chuckled.

 I shook my head and turned out the light. We got comfortable together. I didn’t care if this didn’t seem proper or appropriate. It was nice, sleeping in my bed again. Even nicer that there was something soft and warm curled up next to me.

 I could see Siobhan’s face in the dim light of the room. It looked so peaceful and relaxed. I felt so grateful for talking with her, and was a little surprised to feel how much of a difference it really made. I leaned closer and gently kissed her. Her lips barely responded, in a sleepy attempt to kiss back. I pulled away and she was smiling.

 “Trilby?”

 “Yeah?”

 “I love you.”

 “...I love you too, Siobhan.”

 I quickly lost consciousness after that. And for the first time in so long, it was a deep and restful, peaceful sleep. It took me much longer to finally wake up enough to crack open my eyes. I instantly squeezed them shut again at the bright light of the new morning with a groan as sharp pain pierced my brain.

 “Good morning...”

 “Hmmmm?”

 I tried opening my eyes again and sleepily blinked until I could see Siobhan’s gentle smiling face.

 “Good morning, Siobhan…” I replied, my voice groggy and slightly hoarse with sleep. I weakly smiled back. 

 “How you feeling?”

 “Better.”

 “Good.” she kissed my cheek.

 I grinned a bit more as she cuddled up closer and sighed lazily. I wanted to stay like this forever.

 That is, until I remembered we had work to do today. I sighed defeatedly and rubbed at my eyes.

 “We should get up.” I grumbled.

 “Ugh, do we have to?” she groaned and buried her face further into me. “It’s warm and cozy here.”

 “Siobhan, to be fair, this is a touch inappropriate, isn’t it?”

 “Nope.”

 Siobhan seemed content to stay there for the remainder of the day, until she finally started waking up more.

 “Wait.. When did I get into bed?”

 “I all but dragged you to bed after you fell asleep on me last night.” I chuckled.

 She looked up at me, utterly bewildered.

 “..Seriously? I don’t remember that..”

 I shook my head and Siobhan looked at the situation with a newly awoken perspective before looking back at me again. She paused, and then her grin became sly.

 “Well Mr. Trilby, this is rather ungentlemanly of you.” she said coyly, obviously teasing.

 I chuckled and seeing an opportunity, I played along.

 “It wasn’t my fault you couldn’t keep your hands off me.” I teased, earning a small laugh. My hand gently traced her jawline only to cup her chin and bring her face closer to mine. “You made such a scene, practically begging me to join you, it would’ve only been rude to ignore you.”

 “Holy crap, Trilby..” she chuckled, turning pink in the face. She was quickly becoming flustered and shy. It was adorable.

 I grinned more and my hand slowly roamed down her side, reaching her waist and gently pulling her closer to me.

 “But I swear, I didn’t take advantage of you last night...” I purred. “That is not what a gentleman does.”

 Siobhan’s blush darkened to a deep crimson red and she bit her lip. She squirmed slightly.

 “You.. could’ve.. I… w-wouldn’t have minded..” she stammered, meekly.

 “Oh but that would be horribly improper.” I gently scolded.

 “And now..?”

 She looked so hopeful. So eager.

 My cue to pull away entirely.

 “And now that I’m awake, time to get up and get to work.”

 The effect was perfect, leaving Siobhan in a flustered mess for once. She stammered and yelled at me. I grinned back.

 We laughed and finally got up, took turns getting dressed, and ate breakfast. Before leaving, I grabbed my grolly, hat, gloves, mask, momentarily reminding myself of old habits, and we headed for the shop. Naturally, morning traffic made it take a while, but for once, I didn’t mind wasting a little extra time.

 “Hey, Trilby?” Siobhan said during a small bout of silence. “I think… we should talk.. About...us?”

 I was puzzled, to say the least, at first, but remembering how we didn’t really address anything yesterday, despite my weak hesitation... I’m only surprised I didn’t bring it up myself.

 “...I agree.” I said, becoming more serious. “I did mean to ask you about that.”

 We sat in silence a bit longer, not really sure how to start. Siobhan sighed and, as usual, broke the silence.

 “Okay, lemme just put this out there.” she rolled her eyes. “Are we ever gonna see each other after this?”

 “Well I mean..” I knew my answer, but still, saying it aloud was… unusual. “...I’d like to.”

 “..I’d like that too.”

 “But..” I sighed. “Our schedules…”

 “Well how bad is yours?”

 “They usually have me running errands every other weekend..” I sighed with a tired and satirical smile before frowning in seriousness again. “And.. Well some missions can take days.. Weeks.. Months..”

 “I could wait for you…”

 “They’re kind of dangerous… I may come back more broken than before.”

 “If you’d let me… I’d like to help fix you..”

 “Is this really something you’d want?” I asked, a little nervous for the answer. “..I’ll be honest, Siobhan.. I would.. I do want… whatever we can make of this. I don’t want it to just be… another casual fling. I don’t want it to only be a fling.”

 “I don’t want that, either, Trilby. For the first time in my life… I actually want something a little more… serious.” Siobhan sighed a little. “I mean it.. You’re.. actually the only man I could ever want to wait for.. I know it’d be difficult, but.. I mean.. Whenever we get the time.. We could make room for each other.”

 “What about the shop?”

“You could visit me after hours.. During hours. Any time, really.” she chuckled. “I’ll leave the second story window unlocked, if it helps. And you could come and sleep on the couch until I wake up.”

 “Well I’m sorry to say it wouldn’t be a first time I’m invited to break into someone’s house.” I chuckled, and she laughed in return. “But.. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad…”

 “We could make it work.” she encouraged.

 “... I would like to.” I confessed. “I’ll be honest, being around you… I don’t feel… as insane.”

 “Same.”

 “...It doesn’t hurt.”

 “...It doesn’t.”

 We smiled at each other and were happy. Within time we arrived at the shop. Claire arrived shortly after and she and I began working on the banishing ritual.

 “I thought it was just...normal chalk?” I asked as Claire offered me a colorful kit.

 “They were all out of the boring stuff so this was all I could find.”

 I rolled my eyes and picked out a blue and purple.

 Claire picked out a pink and orange.

 “Anything I can do?” Siobhan offered.

 “Do you have lots of salt?” Claire asked.

 “Yeah?”

 “We’re gonna need that circle made before we get started, so we know what to work around.

 Using my grolly I made quick work of the ceiling. While it was certainly enough effort to keep the blood from rushing to my head too much, I couldn’t help over hear the other two as well.

 “So… Does he….?” Siobhan asked.

 “If you’re gonna date him, get used to this.” Claire simply said.

 “...Have you dated him before?”

 “Oh hell no. He’s just… Like this. Sometimes.”

 “...I still think it’s cute.”

 “You two sound like a good pair.”

 After getting the circles etched out, I returned to the floor, swinging off the rafter with my grolly and managing to get a flip in before I land, feet perfectly held together. I give a sweeping bow.

 “And he sticks the landing.” I say, unable to help the grin.

 When I look up I see Claire sneering at me.

 “If you’re looking to show off, Siobhan’s in the other room.”

 I frowned and rolled my eyes.

 “What? I can’t have a bit of selfish fun on this job?” I looked around. “Claire, have you seen my hat? I thought I sat it on the counter.”

 Siobhan came back in just then, having put the salt away, wearing my hat. We looked at each other for a good minute before she simply grinned.

 “So….? Do I get to wear the hat?” She asked.

 “Absolutely not.” I smiled and took it off her head.

 “Aw, come on!”

 “No.” I sat it back in its proper place. “Besides, it’s not your style.”

 Claire chuckled. “Yeah.. I mean, to be fair, you’re more of a uh.. Straw hat type.”

 Siobhan shrugged.

 “Maybe a bowler hat?”

 “Ew, no.” I shook my head.

 “Ooh! How about he wears a trilby, and you wear a fedora?” Claire grinned.

 “Yes!” Siobhan smiled excitedly.

 “Siobhan..” I gave her a patient smile. “If you dare so much as pick one up, I’m breaking up with you.”

 Siobhan and Claire laughed. Siobhan started.

 “You going to be okay with this?” Claire asked.

 “Why wouldn’t I be? Ghosts can’t even make other things affect a salt ring.” I shrugged.

 “I know you’ll be safe, but to be fair, no one’s really done it like this before.” Claire said cautiously.

 “I seem to be the first to a lot of things, don’t I?” I returned. “Actually.. I should’ve probably brought a camera. Yarrow would’ve loved to see this.” “If the ghosts didn’t mess it up first.”

 “Granted.”

 “Look, it’s just.. I know it’s no secret how you feel about this job..” Claire sighed. “..Just wouldn’t want to file a report, y’know?”

 I smiled easily.

 “I’ll be fine.”

 “Kay.”

 “You ready?”

 I nodded and stepped over into the circle, mindful not to knock the salt over.

 “Oh yeah, feel free to lay it on kinda thick?” Claire offered. “I mean, from what you guys say, it seems like the worse the crime, the more ghosts there are.”

 “The worse the punishment.” I nodded. “There’s poetic justice for you.”

 “I… Um.. Don’t think he’d really have to exaggerate too much, y’know?” Siobhan chimed in.

 “Hm? What do you- Ohhhhh. Oh, yeah, actually, that’s true. I mean you’ve-”

 “OKAY.” I quickly clapped a hand over Claire’s mouth. “We get it… Claire.”

 It finally dawned on her what she was about to say and she bit her lip before carefully replying.

 “....I’m gonna head out now.”

 “You do that.”

 Claire quickly headed out. Siobhan looked back at me.

 “...you sure you’re gonna be okay?” she asked, nervously.

 “I’ve done salt rings a few times now.. It’s perfectly safe.” I reassured her. “Go on. You should wait outside with Claire until this is over.”

 Siobhan nodded and headed out. I sighed and looked around the empty shop. It’s funny. Without all the merchandise, it felt so large and empty, you wouldn’t have been able to tell if there was some paranormal threat.

 But now it was time to summon them regardless.

 I took a deep breath and braced myself.

 “I’m a thief.”

 The shop began to shake. Ghosts began to swarm as semi-translucent masses. A few of them came to try to attack, but were kept at bay by the salt.

 “I am held responsible for the death of Dr. Abed Chahal.”

 The room quickly began to fill with the wailing of ghosts. Many others have begun circling around me, as they did the other day, looking to kill me.

 “I am a suspect for the death of Simone Taylor.”

 The wailing of the ghosts became louder, and I had to start yelling to be heard among them. I could see Brutus’ strong and darker, more distinguished, ethereal form stand above the others. He began making his way toward me, obviously unhappy with a man with two murders to his name so far.

 “I murdered Philp Harty!”

 I was surprised to find myself tense. As if I needed to work to keep myself standing there, confessing what I’ve done as Brutus’ large form stood over me, banging on the barrier between us, but unable to break it. Despite Siobhan’s better effort, the circle still felt almost too small.

 “I KILLED AGENT ANDREW JARVIS, A MEMBER OF THE MINISTRY OF OCCULTISM.”

 Of all the screams and wails, Brutus’ roar deafened the others and possibly shook the store to its very foundations.

 “YOU SHALL PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES, MURDERER!”

 “IT WASN’T MY FAULT!” I screamed back.

 The store quaked and the roaring winds whipped around me. I held my ground and began to holler the incantation at the top of my lungs.

 The ghosts began to scream at ear-piercing volumes as the runes began to glow, all around the store. They wavered and writhed and contorted into inhuman forms as they were being torn away from this plane. Brutus’ bellow of anguish caused the store to shake more and I was nearly knocked to my feet.

 I managed to catch myself in time, but realized I was now closer to the edge of the circle. I looked up at the swirling madness and mash of colors, shrieks, and death.

 And I realized how close to death I really was.

 It would’ve been easy. All I would’ve had to do was… stick my neck out a little further.

 It would be quick.

 I would finally be done.

 I would finally be free.

 It wouldn’t have to hurt.

 “You still have work to do.” said something far back in my mind.

 ‘I’m tired of work..’

 “You’re not done yet.”

 But rather than wanting to argue, or get angry at being denied, I knew it was right. I’m not done yet. I still had reason to live.

 I pulled back.

 And stood up.

 “I’m not done yet.” I told myself. “I still have reason to live.”

 I donned my mask to protect my skin, and a pair of specially made glasses and pulled my hat over my eyes for good measure as the shop was suddenly lit up to blinding proportions.

 A bright flash and a puff of pinks and purples and that was it.

 I pulled off my mask and heard the shop door open. I looked up to see Claire and Siobhan walking in.

 “Yeah you’re gonna wanna let this air out.” Claire was saying.

 “Trilby!” Siobhan hurried over and hugged me. “Are you alright? Did they hurt you? Why are you wearing shades??”

 “I’m fine, Siobhan.” I smiled reassuringly and took off the glasses. “Everything’s alright.”

 She smiled and leaned up to kiss me. I could hear Claire chuckling behind her, but didn’t care.

 After that it was a matter of cleaning up the shop. It was annoying, honestly, how the most time spent on these missions were just driving, cleaning, or preparing something. Necessary, for obvious reasons, but annoying.

 “Claire, thank you again so much for your help with this.” I said as we moved a few of the shelves back upstairs..

 “Aw, it’s nothing.” she shrugged off.

 “Really, I mean it. Let me make it up to you. Tea? Coffee?”

 Claire paused and smiled back at me.

 “...I’d like that. Thanks.”

 When everything was said and done, Claire left for home. Siobhan and I were left standing in the shop, taking a minute to ourselves.

 “...So I guess I’ll see you...whenever?” Siobhan asked.

 There was a pause for thought, and something occurred to me.

 “You know.. Your backpack is still at my apartment.” I lied.

 Siobhan looked at me surprised. But then smiled in understanding.

 “...Well I guess I better come back and get it, huh?”

 “But it’s a while away… It’d be horribly late by the time we get there.” I smiled back.

 “Then.. Perhaps you’d let me stay one more night?”

 I kissed her gently before answering, “I would love it if you would.”

The End