Un/Lucky Partners (TucanSam x Lenaara)

[TucanSam]

@Lenaara  (Fix yo shit girl)


Cool air ruffled the pages of the blue folder he held in his hands, the marker on the front of its cover spelling "Justin" out in sloppy handwriting he'd expect from a child, not an officer of the law. Despite that, the pages inside were typed methodically and uniformly, each i dotted and t crossed to ensure there could be no confusion over their meaning. His transfer papers. Ellenia was surely a lot of things, but Justin found himself doubting that influential was one of them. These pages were nothing short of a tantrum thrown by a stubborn child, a way to vent her anger and try as best she could to make sure everyone around her knew she was unhappy. A transfer was out of her control, out of his control, and he had once desired to stick around simply to shove the fact that he could not leave in Ellenias face. But now?


"You know that won't change anything," Alice gave voice to his inner thoughts as she stared at him from across the office, her feet propped up gently as she lounged on the couch. A small glass of brandy swirled slowly in her hands, though he had never seen her actually take a sip of the stuff. "Well, that's not entirely true. It will gain attention at least. Though you and I both know what that means."


Justin nodded back at her from behind his desk, his eyes never leaving the papers. Wanting to be here had never really been part of the equation. Hell, wanting to be anywhere he was sent was never really an option; he was simply told to go and was expected not to argue. And he hadn't, not for the several years he had been "employed" in their service. But this time was different. This time...


"If it must happen then let it," Justin broke the death stare he had pointed at the folder to look up at Alice, his face a canvas of wear and regret. "Whatever they decide will be fine, but I cannot stay here. Not after what happened earlier."


Concern colored Alice's face as she looked over her charge, but it quickly devolved into irritation. "Look, I cannot defend what she did, but.."


"She tried to let a man go. After he used magic on two officers!"


"Yes, but."


"After his friend assaulted two officers!"


"Yes.."


"With not only magic, but magic turned into a deadly weapon!"


Alice closed her eyes tightly, letting the room fill with silence as she tried to keep from yelling at him. Only when Justin had shown the ability to shut up for a couple seconds did she open them again, wrinkles at the corners of her eyes showing her frustration. "Both of you were stupid. You assaulted an unarmed man-" Her hand rose quickly to cut off his retort. "And not only did you crush the poor guys face in, you tried to kill another one. Yes, he was trying to kill you, but that doesn't matter as much. Not with you it doesn't." Her head shook gently before she took a long drink from her cup. "Central has given you more freedom than most anyone else to use your abilities, but this isn't central. Ellenia is technically "in charge" here", her hands rose to make air quotes, "And you have to play by her rules, no matter how stupid they are. That's what you signed up for. There is nowhere else to go after here. It's this, or..."


Justin turned his attention back to the folder as her voice trailed off. He knew all too well what the end of the line meant for him, and what would come next should his position here become terminated. Retirement wasn't really an option for him. But there was only so much he was willing to put up with, and Ellenia was quickly reaching those boundaries. "It's worth the risk," his chest heaved with a sigh as he signed his name to the papers. Alice only shrugged, placing her cup gently down on the coffee table.


"If that's your decision, then I'll follow where you go. As always." A tinge of worry colored her smile as she looked at him, but that's how it always was. When he had he never given her cause to worry?


A knock at the door interrupted their moment together though, and Justin slammed the folder to the desk in frustration. "Can I not be left alone in this place? What? Who is it? What do you want?"

 

[Lenaara]

@TucanSam


Previous post: 





Ellenia woke up to a soft smell of pine and faint purr of an engine somewhere in front of her.


Tick, tick, tick. Her body angled to the side as the vehicle turned and her head rolled back against the headrest. She opened her eyes slowly, considering to leave them closed to let the comfortable embrace of sleep take over. But her neck hurt and one of her legs had fallen asleep. It was getting uncomfortable sitting bundled up in her torn coat on the passenger’s seat of Arthur’s car.


“We’ve almost arrived,” the deep baritone cut through the silence. “How are you feeling?”


“Like hell,” Ellenia forced herself to say and reached for the bottle of water in the cup holder. It was still cool, a layer of perspiration icy-cold against her warm fingers. Unlike her car, Arthur’s had a working air conditioning. He’d turned it up when he picked her up some hours ago, to battle to heat of the mid-summer, and Ellenia found herself shivering in her seat soon after climbing in.


The splitting headache had subsided. The café staff had offered her painkillers but Ellenia refused, and regretted it later. She thought the pain would go away once the tendrils of old preacher’s magic disappeared entirely. Instead, the pain only increased and she felt how a hungover student might feel at an early morning class. For one terrifying moment, Ellenia thought she’d gotten a heat stroke but there was no fever or nausea. It was only the after effects of her mind recovering from being groped and prodded and thoroughly examined by the preacher’s magic.


She was not alone in her suffering.


After Justin left, Ellenia had to go to the café staff for assistance. They’d called the ambulance and helped carry the preacher to a vacant couch at the back of the café where his presence couldn’t disturb anyone. He was still faint when Ellenia left, alarms blaring in the distance from the ambulance car. The other preacher, whose nose Justin broke, ran off.


When she came back, the golden medallion in the form of a sun cupped tightly in her hand, the preacher was gone. The ambulance had arrived shortly after Ellenia left and went to check on the injured man only to find the couch empty and one waitress in tears.


“He woke up when you left, Miss,” the waitress said as she twisted her hand nervously in front of her stomach. Her dark eyes were down, tears slid down her flushed cheeks and her bottom lip was trembling. “We talked and— Well, I told him of some family problems and how the job isn’t the best to pay for rent. He was nice, you know? He listened. And then, I don’t know what came over me, but I wanted to let him leave. So, I showed him the back door and— I’m sorry.”


The waitress sounded defeated, her apology silent and honest and she was afraid of what Ellenia was going to do. The entire café staff looked at Ellenia with fearful eyes and exchanged whispers when she wasn’t looking and her attention was occupied with the ambulance staff. Maybe they thought her angry. Truth was, Ellenia didn’t have the energy to be angry. She’d just returned from scouting the area for Kevin and was too tired to care about the old preacher that would’ve gotten away from the ambulance anyway.


There was blood on the pavement that led to the alleyways and then to a nearby sewer entrance. It was a few drops of blood here and there, small ones and barely noticeable against the dark from shadows concrete. It was Kevin’s. So Ellenia did injure the man. She wasn’t quite sure how to feel about the thought that Kevin was probably dying somewhere in the sewers, exhausted from his encounter with Justin and the bullet wound. An uncomfortable thought, that. So, she felt restless coming back to the café and talking to the irritated ambulance about the false call.


Exhausted, irritated, with a headache that didn’t want to go away no matter how much she massaged her temples, Ellenia wanted to sink into the couch cushions and hide from the real world. It was no wonder that she felt a pang of happiness when one of the waitresses brought her a cup of hot coffee and a tuna sandwich. It was a nice gesture of kindness that erased her irritation instantly and she was too taken aback to even say thank you at first.


The waitress got a headache shortly after, proving Ellenia’s suspicion that the preacher had used magic on the woman.


Without her car, the only way back to the office was calling someone to pick her up. She’d called Stephen, who hung up on her after quickly apologizing and saying that he couldn’t talk; she heard faint clinking of wine glasses in the background and raised an eyebrow at her phone as it beeped back at her with the hung-up call. It wasn’t like Stephen to go to such sophisticated places so early in the day. Sidonis was the next one on her list to call but Ellenia decided against it – the man’s mini-van was cramped with all sorts of technology and she didn’t want to disturb him from the task she’d given him that morning.


The one to pick up the call next and promise to get her in a few hours’ time was Arthur Lake.


He sat in the driver’s seat, a hand on the wheel and the other resting against his lap. The dark grey suit he wore was wrinkle-free and the white button-up was open at the collar. He was a good foot taller than Ellenia and his suit accentuated his broad and strong physique. The dying sunlight painted his features in soft shadows, making his high cheekbones, refined jawline and straight nose more handsome. A lit cigarette was pressed between his lips and he chewed on the end in thought. The smoke escaped the car through the narrowly opened window on Arthur’s side.


Noticing her look, Arthur glanced at Ellenia and reached for the cigarette. He flicked it out the window. His dark blue eyes looked black in the evening light.


“Sorry,” he said. “Habit.”


Ellenia shook her head. “It’s fine.”


He’d arrived as he promised, a few hours after Ellenia’s call, and waited for her inside his dark silver car so clean it was like a mirror where Ellenia could see her distorted reflection. Dark spots marred her jeans and hands. She’d just climbed out of the sewers, where she had to pry open the sewer grate manually and scout the tunnels for Kevin. She didn’t find him – whether that was a good or a bad thing Ellenia hadn’t decided – and had to find her way out after Arthur called her to say he’d arrived.


It wasn’t surprising to see him narrow his eyes at her and move further in his seat and into the shadows that made his olive skin darker than it was.


“Maybe you should ask Sidonis to pick you up instead,” he said with slight disgust in his voice but a ghost of a smile did play on his lips. He snorted when Ellenia glared at him, climbed inside the passenger’s seat, pulled her knees to her chest and rested against the door.


“Don’t you want to know why I’m like this?” She asked and closed her eyes. The seat was hard against her back but it was comfortable.


“Not really. Everything’s a shit hole here, anyway.” The engine purred and the music was turned down to a soft murmur of melodies.


Ellenia sat like that for a little while before she fell asleep. The golden sun-shaped pendant was still held tightly in her hand, the sun’s rays entwined with her fingers. She found it near the sewer entrance; it was probably Kevin’s. The last thought Ellenia had before she fell asleep in Arthur’s car was that Justin, or anyone from her office, needed not to know that she let the old preacher into her mind willingly and it wasn’t magic, not at first, that made her listen to him and want to find out more about his movement.


“I’ve been to Silver’s,” Arthur said after a moment of silence. The division’s building was coming into sight in the horizon.


“I guessed. How is the bitch doing?” Ellenia grumped and pulled her coat closer to herself. She wouldn’t be able to turn down the air-conditioning off even if she knew how. Everything in Arthur’s car was tuned to his magic only.


“Still the same snake. Had to do a job for her. She cashed in the favour I owed.” Arthur spoke through gritted teeth and when Ellenia looked at him, his eyes were narrowed and his brows were furrowed.


“What was it?” Ellenia asked. When Arthur didn’t reply, she asked again, each word a sentence. “What. Was. It.”


“A weapon shipment. She asked for official signatures and I had to forge some papers. They couldn’t pass the border control without them. She made me tag along in case there were any questions with the paperwork,” Arthur finally said and glanced at Ellenia from his peripheral. It a moment he added, “Silver’s asking if you like your new partner.”


Ellenia rubbed her face with her hands and brushed her hair back with her fingers. “Why am I not surprised it was through her influence that he ended up here?”


Arthur shrugged. “Will he be like Anne?”


“You mean will he stab us in the back for a promotion? Nah.” Ellenia waved a dismissive hand at Arthur and looked out the window. They were passing by a strip of closing shops. The clerks were pushing the clothing racks back into the store and rolled down the windows. Some were waving their hands as they put up wards. “Doesn’t mean she won’t try to use him as her personal fucking assassin. She knows I won’t kill. But she doesn’t ask me for those favours. Justin? He almost killed a man today, Arthur. If word gets back to her that he’s rash and violent…” Ellenia sighed and rubbed her eyes. “I’ve given him office duty. He can play secretary for now. If his shrink, Alice, stays in the office, Silver has no leverage to use on him.”


“Alice?” Arthur raised a brow as he glanced at Ellenia.


“Justin’s live-in shrink. I don’t know if they are romantically involved, or if it’s even possible for him, but they’re close. Not sure if Silver knows of their relationship yet. But I can’t ban them from going out on romantic dinners and sleeping together without explaining why. Hell, even if I explain, they will fuck in public just to spite me.”


“I take it they don’t like you,” Arthur snorted.


“That’s putting it lightly. Don’t think I care,” Ellenia shrugged and the coat slipped off her shoulders. She adjusted it before continuing. “As long as they stay out of the way, I don’t care how many death glares I have to endure. It is not their opinion of me that worries me.”


The car veered into the parking lot. Ellenia’s car was there, as was Sidonis’s. Windows were narrow yellow slits in the building, the light glowing warmly on the first floor.


“Alice, that shrink, wanted my personal files. I don’t know how far her curiosity can get her but she looks smart enough to put two and two together and understand that it’s not law enforcement we’re working on here. Not fully. Doesn’t help that half my desk is littered with forged paperwork that can put all our asses behind bars if Silver withdraws her support.”


“You don’t want to fill them in?” Arthur asked as he turned off the engine and with the wave of his hand opened both his door and the one on the passenger’s side. The doors opened upwards.


It was still warm outside. The evening air was mild, the cool breeze playing with loose strands of Ellenia’s hair that escaped from the bun at the back of her head. She shrugged on the torn coat and brushed her hair back, her eyes closed for a moment to enjoy the evening silence.


“No,” she finally answered and opened her eyes. Arthur was waiting for her by the car and they walked side by side to the division’s entrance. “Justin is on a tight leash. Alice holds too much influence over him, I think. It’s best to keep them in the dark, at least until I get a better feel of them. I don’t know where their priorities lie. If it’s to serve the government and the country, you can bet your ass they will report us all before we can start explaining what the fuck is happening.”


They stopped in front of the entrance and Arthur pressed his hand flat against the metal surface of the door. Locks whirled inside, responding to his touch. Ellenia waited patiently beside him, hands in the pockets of her coat.


“Here’s hoping they transfer Justin before Silver gets him around her overpriced claw—“ The sudden gust of cold air cut off Ellenia mid-sentence. It wasn’t cold air that she expected. In summer, the division’s building was always a sauna. The air-conditioning was broken more than half the time. She looked up, scanning the ceiling for the vents and the main frame of the air-conditioner. It was different, new. A new model.


“Did you fix it?” Arthur asked, thumb pointing at the ceiling.


“Nope,” Ellenia answered, still looking up. Unless it was Sidonis or Stephen, she couldn’t imagine Justin ordering the thing fixed. He didn’t look like he cared about anything, let alone the working status of air-conditioning in Ellenia’s division.


They entered the office as the door slid back into place and the locks clicked into position. It was quiet inside. She went straight for the stairs to take a shower and change. The sewer stench that soaked her clothes was either gone or Ellenia got so used to it that she stopped noticing it. Either way, she felt disgusting. Arthur didn’t follow her – he was the only one who didn’t live in the division as much as the rest did – and went down the corridor. Before Ellenia entered the second floor she spotted Arthur pause in front of Justin’s office, hand raised to softly knock on his door.


“May I come in?” He asked, a smile tugging on the corner of his lips.  


New post: 


Through the door, Arthur could hear the faint thump, papers rustling from the roughness of someone’s hands. That thump alone had given Arthur the hint that whoever was on the other side of the door wasn’t in the best of moods. Words that followed, spoken in an irritated tone, only confirmed his guess. He inwardly flinched.


“Sorry,” Arthur said. He spoke softly, friendly. His voice was warm, unlike Ellenia’s. He always thought it interesting how the two of them were such opposites. Much like his sister and him. Maybe that’s why he always enjoyed Ellenia’s company, even when she had to vent her frustration. It happened rarely, but when it did, he didn’t mind it.


Arthur flicked his hand at the door and it slid to the side silently. He took up the entire doorway, one hand in the pocket of his pants, the other at his side. The way he stood, the relaxed stance, didn’t suit his physique at all. Indeed, his body didn’t suit him. With his warm smile and voice and easy confidence, he could’ve been considered a politician or a businessman. Instead, he had the body of a spec-ops soldier.


“It would’ve been appropriate to welcome you to the Division at your arrival, but special circumstances had me away from the office.” Arthur walked inside the room, looking around. It was still dusty and had the air of an abandoned space. It’s been a while since anyone occupied this cubicle. “Lieutenant Arthur Lake,” he added as he stopped in front of Justin’s desk and extended a hand towards him. “Ellenia’s second in command, though she prefers it the other way around.” He thrusted a thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of the big office at the far back of the building. The glass doors there had Arthur’s name printed out in simple but elegant block letters.


His eyes slid over Justin quickly, taking in his clothing. He’d noticed the gloves when he came in. He’d also noticed the woman lounging on the couch, a glass of – he glanced her way – brandy or whiskey. His nostrils flared slightly as he breathed in. Brandy. The smell was faint and stirred unpleasant memories.


So, that was Alice. Strangely enough, Arthur imagined the woman to be less attractive and stricter. Neither did he think her to be so relaxed around Justin.


“Don’t worry about drinking,” Arthur said as he looked at her. “Ellenia doesn’t approve of drinking in the office, but she doesn’t have to know, does she?” He offered her a genuine smile.


The blue folder at the desk caught his attention and Arthur reached for it, tracing a finger over the ridges. He’d recognize Ellenia’s handwriting anywhere – sloppy, written in a hurry. It had changed so much since her arrival. With a finger, he opened the cover and skimmed over the tittle. It was a transfer form. Faint wrinkles fanned at the corners of Arthur’s eyes and his lips flattened, the easy smile fading for a moment.


“I will send this to central for you,” he said, closed the folder and slid it across the table towards himself. “How do you find the Division so far?” He looked up at Justin and then at Alice, meeting their eyes in turn.

 

[TucanSam]

Air hissed asthe door slid open, and almost immediately Alice's eyes narrowed into slits. "Arthur" was a well built man who had clearly been trained or taken pains to build his own physique. The clothes he wore were borderline expensive, his face was normal and, unlike the others in the department so far, he seemed like the sort of person you would expect to be a part of a peacekeeping, law enforcing group of people. Suspicious. Anyone who had heard of this district knew that it was the place where people went to let their careers die. Misfits, trouble makers. Peopled who had made enemies of the wrong people or had spoken up when they should have been quiet. At first she had been skeptical of the places reputation, nowhere could be truly all bad right? But nothing so far had proven her wrong, and this man simply did not fit. Not at first glance. 


"I appreciate the sentiment," Justin watched her take a long drink from her glass before gingerly placing it back down. "Unfortunately the rules here do not entirely apply to me. If Ellenia has a problem with the things I do, she is welcome to bring them up. I will... spiritedly disagree with her." The smile that grew across her lips was only half genuine, and had Justin owned a knife he may have been able to cut the tension in the air with it. If she was anything though, Alice was tactful, and he knew she wasn't going to create yet another enemy they did not need. Still, the way she got up, reached across the desk for the folder and quickly pulled it to herself was a far greater reaction than he could have expected from her.


"Nor do our superiors align the same. I appreciate your willingness to send in a report, but were you to do so it would only serve to make things take longer. My bosses would have to go through yours to obtain the article, and if there is anything they hate it's doing more work than necessary." The folder disappeared into the side of the couch as she tucked it gently into the cushions before sitting back down. Her eyes had lost the cold glare they'd had when he first entered, but it was clear that she had no intention of being friendly with yet another member of the division. Whether they were to be transferred or not was irrelevant; they were not among friends, and Alice had long ago given up on the idea of pretending like they were. Pleasantries were wasted on these people.


"I would not call this a division," Justin broke the uncomfortable silence. "More like a neighborhood watch. Limited authority, limited power. an unwillingness to enforce the law an an incapability of doing so when you are forced to try." His voice was low, and exhaustion colored each of his words, but they were nonetheless the truth. "I'm sure Ellenia told you the "facts" about what happened. But at least here at my desk I'll be allowed to do my job. Is there anything else you wanted?"

 

[Lenaara]

@TucanSam


Arthur smiled at Alice’s response. While there wasn’t any obvious hatred towards Ellenia, he’d be stupid to think that her and Alice got along. He didn’t care, really. He’d lose count going through the list of names that belonged to those who didn’t see eye to eye with his Captain. So he offered Alice a tired but genuine smile and it didn’t falter when Alice snatched the folder away from him.





“It is only a transfer order,” Arthur offered, a rand raising palm up. “It will take a long time to process it no matter who gets it first. Our bosses will meet up somewhere along the way.”





Bosses. Arthur found himself thinking of Silver rather than his official superior. Not a good sign. Neither was finding the tension amusing. Arthur would’ve laughed at it if he could. He was used to far worse situations and a stare-down with a young woman who was overprotective of her patient (or friend, or boyfriend) wasn’t anywhere close to one.


You’re in some deep shit if you laugh at these sorts of things. Maybe you need a day off. Maybe you should retire already.









“Don’t forget it, then.” Arthur jerked his chin towards the cushions. He watched Alice tuck the folder away, hiding it in the cushions like a child hiding a toy they stole from a sibling, and crossed his arms over his chest; he’d pulled his hand back after Justin didn’t shake it in greeting. The suit’s fabric stretched over his broad back.


The silence stretched on and Arthur took a breath, ready to end what was becoming a waste of his time. What had happened since these two arrived that they were so hostile? Or were they always so? Not a cheery thought. Justin he could understand, a man of his magic wouldn’t have a rainbow and sunshine personality, but Alice didn’t seem the brooding and glaring type.


You did leave them with Ellenia.









Once, it wouldn’t have been a problem talking and working with his Captain. It used to be efficient and almost…fun. She had a spark in her eye when she’d just arrived, an adventurer’s sol and a law enforcer’s iron will. She was determined to make the District better. But it changed her faster than she could make much of a difference.


Ellenia was never friendly but whatever positive qualities she had had disappeared over the following months. If she didn’t get along with people on a personal level before, now she pushed them away without trying to. Not the best person to send out to greet new team members into an office known for its lack of professionalism. Arthur should’ve been the one. He would’ve been the one had Silver not rang her damn bell and demanded his presence. Snake of a woman.


Justin spoke first and Arthur let out a long breath, turning his face to regard the new addition to the team. He offered him a slight shrug and reached for a pack of cigarettes in the inner pocket of his suit.


“Neighbourhood watch is giving us more credit than we deserve,” he said, his voice muffled by the cigarette pressed between his lips. He lit it with a small flame hovering above his thumb.


An uncomfortable memory flashed in Arthur’s mind that made him choke on smoke. He’d lit a cigarette before like this in front of Silver the first day they met. He didn’t know better, didn’t think she’d mind or even if she did, what did he care? Later that evening Silver made him juggle fireballs in front of her. The snake found it amusing – the irony, she said, to be named Lake and have affinity to fire.


“You’ve just arrived,” Arthur said after he cleared his throat and blew out smoke through his nose. It coloured his suit bright grey for an instant. “You will get used to how things work around here. Or you won’t.” He jerked a thumb in the direction of the snuggly hidden transfer paperwork. “Ellenia will give you work to do either way. You can go out of your way looking for trouble but that won’t win you any favours or overtime pay. With your magic?” A shrug. “People will likely want you dead or working for them. Deny them the opportunity to get either,” he snorted with a ghost of a smile.


With the tip of his shoe Arthur pushed a trashcan from beside the desk towards him and tapped the ash into it.


“I’m out of the office on most days. Sometimes nights. Technically, Ellenia’s in charge. Do what she says and it’ll save you both headaches. That applies to Justin, but you,” he looked at Alice, “are a different story. I was told you’re a live-in psychologist. Do you stay here or nearby? I can prepare suitable accommodation in a safe part of the District if you need help.”


 

 

[TucanSam]

The smell of burning tar filled the small room quickly as the ancient, out dated ventilation system struggled to keep up with it. In a modern building there would have been special devices in place to handle the smoke, whisking it away through cleverly disguised air intake valves to protect the room from the smell. Despite the upgrades Alice had requested from headquarters though, there was only so much that could be done to salvage an old building before it needed to be gutted and rebuilt. Wrinkles appeared on her nose as she gently swatted the smoke away from herself. If people wanted to damage their bodies, she had no objections to it. Gods knew she had done things that were far from good for herself, everyone had. But there were better ways than to smell like a chimney.


"I don't know if you can go as far to say that it will save you a headache," She glanced between Justin and Arthur. "Seems like everything here is designed to make your job as difficult as possible." A long sigh left her mouth, doubling to show frustration and push some of the smoke away from her face. "Live-in psychologist is a bit of a simplification, though not inaccurate." Alice paused, glancing at Justin for a moment, trying to decide how best to word her role in all of this. At first she had been just that, a psychologist assigned to observe his mental state and report back on it. But certain circumstances had required a far more hands-on approach than had originally been in the plans, and her role had grown exponentially as the stability of his mind and powers had weakened, as had her clearance and ability to do just about whatever she wanted to. 


"The government sees Justin as property. I shouldn't have to explain to you or Ellenia why if you've done even the most cursory of background checks. He is valuable, a toy they do not want to see broken. My role is more of.... a mechanic to perform maintenance and ensure that he does not break on them. This does involve psychology work from time to time. For him," She glanced at the door quickly, exaggerating her point. "And those around him. I've already requested personal files for each of the people here regarding their mental profiles. Since you were not around, I waited on you. I'd prefer to receive them with as little hassle as possible. Though, if you refuse to hand them over yourself, i can procure them elsewhere. As for where I live,"


Her porcelain shoulders shrugged lightly. "I doubt any part of this district would be any safer than this building. From what we saw coming in its farm land surrounding slums surrounding more slums. Not to mention my job requires me to be within ten minutes of his living location at all times. I haven't taken much time to search around the area, but If you can procure suitable living that fits all that criteria, and doesn't have bars on the windows, be my guest. I'd be more than happy to leave this... facility and live somewhere actually civilized. Seriously, how had none of you fixed the air conditioning before I came along?"


"I don't go looking for trouble," Justin broke their conversation, pulling them back to something he had mentioned earlier on. "It tends to find me. The list of people who want to use me or kill me is already very long. Adding a few more won't hurt. But," his eyes locked with Arthur. Whether it was rational or not, Justin had already begun to lean towards not liking this man. Perhaps it was his laid back style, the fact that he was a sane man in an asylum. Maybe it was just his being on edge from the days before. It didn't really matter. No one in this office was worth getting along with it seemed. "I already have a boss. I don't need another. That includes Ellenia, and anyone else in this district."