Fantasy FTK: Black Rose Detective Agency

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz gasped in pain, watching as the glass slid out, slick with blood. "D-do we have any bandages or anything?," she groaned, clutching her arm.
She studied the woman in front of her, who stared back with unblinking eyes.
"Um...to answer your question. You're a free woman now. He's not anyone's master," she hissed again when another piece of glass was removed.
"Heya...Boss? Are we gonna call Detective Waters for backup or somethin'?"

 

[Jodyguru]

Dog’s inner eyes blinked and she cocked her head. “Free? I don’t understand. Master Lautrec! Rheitz is bleeding.”
Lautrec turned a corner and spotted the goons getting into a car, passing by, Barber pulled out a gun and shot it at them, hitting the corner of the back window.
“Ugh, do you see a phone or medkit anywhere?” He asked angrily.
Dog smiled. “Oh, I know.” She grabbed Rheitz by the top of her shirt and yanked down hard, ripping a piece of cloth off of her and using it to wrap around the wound. “That should hold it for now.”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

"Wh-ah!" Rheitz stared wide-eyed at her ripped shirt, mouth opening and closing like a fish as the woman wrapped it around her arm.
She turned quickly at the sound of metal against glass, spotting the goons behind them.
"They're gaining on us fast Boss! What're we gonna do?!"
Rheitz propelled herself back to face Lautrec, looking for something to throw. Spotting a shoebox, she opened it to see a pair of clean leather dress shoes sitting inside.
She pulled a shoe out, rolling down the window of the car and chucked it. It hit the windshield of the car behind and she dodged a bullet, pulling herself back into the car.

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec growled. “Just keep your damn head down! You’ve done enough already.”
The tone he used was not something he used with her. It was more like how he talked to Delilah. Even that time she spilled coffee all over his desk with files on it did he not get as mad as he sounded now.
Dog gasped, “You’re in trouble. Master is going to punish us.” Rheitz couldn’t tell if she was worried or excited. The lizard woman did not express emotion like a human face would.
More gunshots let out as Lautrec skidded over the sidewalk and drove down another street.
Nearby police heard the shots and the squealing tires and turned on the siren. The cops were following the jalopy that was chasing Lautrec.
“A thousand blasted suns... how did today go like this?” Lautrec shook his head.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz bit the inside of her cheek, looking down meekly at her knees.
The tone in his voice had taken her by surprise and honestly it really....really hurt. Her hands fisted, moving to wipe away the tears that had begun to pour down her cheeks.
She had just wanted to help! But she had just made a mess of things. Now she had put all of them in trouble.
She sniffed, wiping away more tears.
"I-I'm sorry Boss."

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec didn’t see her crying. He was busy keeping the car from running off the road as he was going way too fast for these streets.
“I said play it cool, didn’t I? It was supposed to be a simple meet and greet. What do you do? Bust through a window. Gods, you’re just like her” he referred to Waters.
“I- I told her it was a bad idea!” Dog chirped up, trying to curry favor with Lautrec. “I called her stupid too!”

The sirens grew louder. A cop took a shot at the jalopy, hitting their rear tire and sending them into the wall.
“Hah, got them!” Lautrec beamed hopefully. He looked ahead of him and let out a yelp as their car smashed into a parked car.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah yawned, turning over in her small bed, eyes scrunching when a sunbeam fell on her face.
The paws of a cat kneaded into her hair and she let out a cross between a chuckle and a groan.

"Queenie, stop it. I'm tryin' to sleep here." She sighed when her cat continued to press her paws into her hair and sat up, running her hand over Queenie's back.
The tabby let out a small purr, slinking into her owner's lap and placing her paws on her chest. Delilah smiled softly, petting her head.
"You're hungry aren't you?" She picked the cat off of her lap, placing her on the floor next to her bed, moving the covers to slide out herself.

She slipped out and lifted her arms in a stretch, dropping them when she heard a knock at the door.
Delilah frowned, confused, but made her way over to the door. "Wonder who's knockin' at this time of day?"

She opened it to find a red-faced dwarf, holding a bouquet of flowers. A small card nestled in between a few of the stems, the gold accent glinting.
"Are you Ms. Delilah Waters?," the Dwarf said quickly.
"I-yes? Who is this fr-" the flowers were shoved into her arms, the dwarf rushing down the hall to the stairs.
"Sorry miss got no time! Have a nice day," he called back to her, disappearing.

Delilah stared open mouth down the empty hallway before muttering something and closing the door.
She placed the flowers on her counter, bending to open a cupboard.
"Here it is. Damn, I need to go to the store soon," she pulled out a can of cat food, opening it and scraping the contents into a dish with a spoon.
Queenie rushed forward, consuming the food quickly. Delilah patted her head, before standing to inspect the bundle of flowers.

"Let's see....," she pulled the card out from between the flower stems. Upon seeing the script, her face went rigid, eyes wide with surprise.
"H-him?! Why...is he trying to get something from me?" She placed the card quickly on the table, a blush coloring her cheeks.

Queenie gave her a look.
"What? It's not like he's sweet on me. He hates me! I-I hate him!" She glared at Queenie who gave her another look.

"I do! I don't like him AT ALL!" She turned from Queenie, glaring at nothing in particular.

 

[Jodyguru]

The rest of her day was pretty swell. She picked up a few things at the store, stopped by Chappie’s to look at that bronzed pistol she had pined over for months, and on her way home found a silver piece on the road.
When she got home, her phone was ringing. Somehow before picking up she had a feeling that something wasn’t right.
“Hey there detective.” It was the Chief’s voice. “I’ve got your friends here at Central with me... no no, this is a new one. You’re gonna love hearing it. Bring a car around to Central, will you?”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah gave him an affirmative answer putting the phone back in its holder.
"Damn. It was gonna be such a perfect day too," she muttered, sliding on her heels.
She scratched Queenie's chin before heading out the door, the keys to her car jingling in her pocket.

 

[Jodyguru]

When she got to the police station, she expected to find Lautrec behind bars. Instead, she found him sitting on a bench in the lobby with a splint on his nose and two black eyes from hitting his face on the steering wheel. Rheitz had minor cuts and bruises and had her left arm in a sling. They were joined by a strange lizard woman who was leaning against Lautrec like she was infatuated with him.
“I’ve missed you, Detective.” Lautrec said to Delilah once their eyes met.
“Ooh is she another one? My master has many good slaves” the lizard woman said. She was wearing some plain clothes the station provided.
“I don’t know where to start...” Lautrec said, rubbing his aching head.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah's expression remained impassive, ensuring that it didn't betray the war of emotions roaring underneath her skin.
She tightened her grip on her crossed arms, studying the injuries that peppered her co-workers.
How had they even managed to do this? The extent of destruction that normally occurred was a couple of scrapes and that was pretty much it.
The lizard lady was creeping her out and was strangely annoying her at the same time with the way she was clinging to Lautrec's arm, resting her head on his shoulder. He didn't even make a move to remove it, which was strange for someone who normally disliked people invading his personal space.
"What happened, Chief?," she said cooly, glancing back to catch sight of Hyatt Matte as to ensure she didn't make eye contact with her partner again.

 

[Jodyguru]

“Reckless driving, grand theft auto, and possession of an undocumented slave” Mattey said. “The latter will be removed as we’ve had at least one suspect attempt to claim her... the story goes they found her in suspect Charles “Barber” Steckle’s apartment and attempted to flee with her in tow. In doing so caused a fair amount of damage to property and themselves. I had one man pressing charges for the destruction of his automobile.”
“A-and I told them I would pay for it.” Lautrec said.
“Yes, so that matter will be settled. They’re free to go, just make sure that slave gets documented, Leore.”
Lautrec gave the Chief a fake smile and waved the “okay” sign at him.
“Need I say more?” Mattey asked.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

"No. You don't," Delilah said coldly, clenching her teeth.
Rheitz sniffed, her cheeks stained with the tears she had wept in the car.
Ignoring Lautrec, Delilah crouched in front of Rheitz, bringing a hand to rest on her leg.
"You okay there doll? Leore didn't put you through too much, did he?"
Rheitz shook her head, an onslaught of fresh tears making their way to the surface. She sobbed, free hand coming up to wipe the tears from her eyes.
"I didn't mean to Detective Waters. I really didn't. It would have gone so well if I didn't make a stupid mistake. Please don't get too mad at us, especially at Detective Leore," she blubbered, voice choked.
Delilah gave her a sad smile, wiping some tears from her face.
"It's okay doll. I'm not mad at you," she gave Lautrec a quick glare before standing up, " Come on now. Let's get you back to the office, alright?"
Rheitz nodded, standing and following the detective out the door.

 

[Jodyguru]

Before she made it out the door, Lautrec placed his hand on top of the sobbing girl’s head.
“Rheitz, you didn’t do anything wrong. You were very brave today. Very courageous. Barber will stand trial for what he did. You brought justice to the world today. Stand tall, Inspector.” He said and walked out the door.

The lizard woman meekly followed them to the car. She watched Delilah closely, and approached to sniff her by sticking out her forked tongue.
“You smell nice” Dog said.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah made no move to thank Dog, instead of opening up the door of her car to slide into the front seat.
Gods, was she furious. She was on the tipping point of yelling at her partner but she didn't want to ruin the first good day in a while that she'd had.
She cursed under her breath, taking the wheel.
What the hell was he thinking to take Rheitz, hyper, curious, naive, Rheitz with him to a place like that?!
Hell, the man had been with her longer than she had and even she wouldn't have pulled that.
She honked at a car that was moving slowly, letting out another stream of curses.
"Hey! Move it buster or I'll knock up that nice paint job you got!"

 

[Jodyguru]

Dog screeched. “Ahh! No more crashes!” She gripped her head out of worry. This made Lautrec giggle a little bit. Soon he was laughing, just laughing at nothing in particular. The day had worn on him, and this goofy lizard lady just brightened the day a little.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah seethed with anger.
He had the audacity to laugh. Right now. When he had done something so foolish, he decided to act as if he was having the best day in his life?!
She clutched the steering wheel tightly, biting the inside of her cheek to hold down the assault of curses she had formulated in her brain.
"Um...Detective Waters? Are you okay?" Rheitz stared at the woman's rigid posture, the pained yet furious expression on her face.
"Why wouldn't I be alright, Rheitz?" Delilah hissed through clenched teeth, eyes staring out into the road ahead.

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec chuckled. “I mean we’re all okay. I busted my face on the steering wheel. I bet you would’ve loved to see that. I owe like five grand to some old guy I knocked over.” He was wheezing. “If you ignore the parts where we almost died, it’s a little funny.”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz snickered, face erupting into a grin. Soon she was a giggling mess, laughing uncontrollably in the backseat.
Delilah, though, was having none of it.
"Dammit, you could have all died! It's not funny! Stop laughing!"
She was struggling to hold on to her own anger, a feeling of worry and shock beginning to take over.

 

[Jodyguru]

The lizard girl named Dog wasn't a fan of laughter. She started looking at Delilah like she was the Master to follow.
"Yeah, shut up ass wipes" she pointed at Lautrec's nose."Garbage face man. Front-ender."

Lautrec's laughter ended. it hurt to move his face muscles, so he ignored her taunting.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz let out a sigh, sliding down in her seat.
"I am sorry Boss. I know what I did was stupid," she murmured, slowly falling asleep.
"I'm gonna burn those damn flowers. What was I thinking, keeping them?," Delilah muttered, reaching the next stop light.
"And you," she pointed her words at the lizard woman, "Shut up. They saved your damn life."

 

[Jodyguru]

She hissed. “I didn’t need saving.”

Lautrec cast his eyes in Rheitz’s direction. He had made a grave error. He encouraged her to try acting like she was near immortal.

“I love flowers.” Lautrec said “Please don’t break them. It’s a shame. Beauty is so fleeting.”

His mind was lost, remembering some old time when he was sipping wine on the banks of a sandy beach at night basked in a cool crescent moon.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

"Even better. I'll burn them and then send you the ashes of those damn flowers you sent in an envelope," Delilah growled, coming into the parking lot in front of the agency.
She got out of the car, slamming the door shut and made her way to the door of the office.

 

[Jodyguru]

The old man sat there, dozing off to sleep. He couldn’t tell who was talking. He imagined it was that stupid lizard again.
The lizard got out of the car and meekly followed Delilah from a few meters away.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Noticing that Rheitz and Lautrec still hadn't gotten out of the car, she let out a groan, sliding a hand down her face.
Pacing back to the car, she popped open the door to the passenger seat.
"Hey. Wake up. I ain't got all night," she banged on the door, startling Rheitz from sleep.
The goat girl let out a yawn, sliding out from the car and making her way over to the office.
When Lautrec didn't stir, she bent down, sticking her head into the confined space.
"Hey," she shook his shoulder, "get up. We gotta go inside."