A/N: I was asked to do a BlackCage prompt on Tumblr with the theme being 'time'. The quote from Raiders of the Lost Ark inspired this oneshot and I considered it decent enough to post here on FF.
It's brief, but hopefully you enjoy. :)
Indiana Jones: It's not the years honey, it's the mileage.
(Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Mileage
Which each snap of her gum, Black's patience popped away little by little. Still, he was not one to comment or throw ire for something so minuscule - usually, his guns did the talking before he did. That type of behavior he only kept to annoying strangers that were too brazen. Cage, unfortunately, was off limits; she was assisting with Special Forces with another proposed treaty after the Reiko Accords. Like himself, he was stationed outside of the door, along with the Sergeant as Kotal Kahn and those appointed to Earthrealm delegated the possibility.
Every now and then, Cage and himself would look up to hear a muffled strident tone through the wooden barricade, they could paint a picture clear enough.
It wasn't going very well.
It reminded him of Abraham when his (surrogate) father would always tell him to 'run off and bother himself with kid's play instead of adult disputes.' He was never given an insight to what was happening, all he knew was that he was missing the more tantalizing information. No doubt they would get the brief version that wouldn't satiate their curiosity - not that Erron was being paid to know more than he should. Still, it irked him. By the sore expression that creased her face, Black could tell she was just as displeased. They were here to assist - outside the door - but they weren't happy about being excluded.
The gunslinger didn't take it as sourly as she did, and the expression she wore as she glared down at her phone, was childish. Black continued to pace, his arms crossed over his chest as his boots echoed like a ball being thrown down the hall. As he turned, he caught her blue eyes immediately shooting down back to her phone, her eyebrows flickering up with a pique, silent remark. Erron understood: she didn't like his pacing loudly just as much as he hated hearing her crunch her bubblegum with her teeth. He didn't care. Pacing was his way of killing time, just as acting like an impatient infant was her way.
Once again, the marksman pivoted and turned to see her looking at him and trying to hide it by glancing down at her phone quickly. The side of his mouth tugged up before it pressed back into a hard line behind his bandana. "What?"
The Earthrealmer's eyes flashed to him with a disinterested gaze before returning to her phone. "What yourself?"
Black's eyebrow's narrowed as he uncrossed his arms. "What's with the side eye? Somethin' you're itching to get off your chest, Cage?"
Her eyes remained on her phone as her fingers danced over the touchscreen. "It's really not important. Not something that's going to keep me up at night."
A small 'hmm' escaped almost inaudibly from behind his closed lips. With his hands on his hips, he walked over and placed himself in front of her. Looking up from her phone, she stared at him with a dubious and miffed demeanor; silently asking him what he wanted.
"And what is it that you wanna ask about me that's planning on keepin' you up at night?" he questioned with a placid interest. Still he rose an eyebrow at her, half-expecting her to retort with something sour and demeaning.
She scoffed and replied. "I was actually trying to figure out how old you are. Like I said, nothing that would keep me up at night. You're no clown sitting across my bed in a rocking chair, Sheriff Woody."
Her insult rolled off him despite that he rolled his eyes at the comment. Instead, most of his thoughts went towards the question she posted. To be honest, it was something he had thought of himself, whenever his brain drifted to obscure disinteresting thoughts to pass the time with. The Kahn's guard never paid much attention to keeping track of his of Earthrealm counted his age, because simply, he didn't think it applied anymore. Plus besides him, who gave a shit? He was in his mid 20's when he made the deal with Shang Tsung and if he was correct, that was 150 years or so ago.
He raised an eyebrow at her. What was it to her? His brain picked apart her words, trying to find the reason for it. The only thing the mercenary could come up with it was that it was a typical, childish nosiness. Like when toddlers asked why the sky was blue. In the end, it was just a question and nothing more.
"Can't you remember?" Cassie asked with a passive scoff.
"Why so curious?" Black inquired, his eyebrows narrowed suspiciously.
"Ahh, forget it," was her grumbled response, her shoulder's lifting in a shrug as her eyes remained on her phone.
"Spit it out," he growled.
Her face crinkled with a defensive glower as she looked up at him, unafraid of his tone. "I was just wondering if you have to have your face covered because of the age, or because you're actually fugly and trying to hide it."
Erron's eyes narrowed minutely, the only evidence conveying that he took offense to her comment. It wasn't the first time he got that question, but the majority came from men who wanted to jab him with a remark as he hauled them in for their execution or questioning. Never did it get a rise out of him, but this was the first time a woman asked him.
He chalked it up to ignorance on her part, or maybe it because she was a replica of the terrible actor's personality, but regardless of the reason, he didn't like it. Nobody asked him in Earthrealm because they knew he was a bounty hunter trying to keep his anonymity, and Outworlder's didn't care enough to ask except in hushed whispers to each other from tavern tables and bar stools.
Black's answer had never been given in response to the inquiry from others, but for some odd reason, her words dug into his skin like a splinter. Cage popped her gum at him, as if gloating that she had him speechless, before the corner of her mouth tugged up briefly.
Before the ex-Earthrealmer could give his answer, the door pulled open and spilled out the members of the meeting. General Blade, Raiden and Takahashi Kenshi stormed out with annoyed expressions of enmity, indicating that the negotiations would continue when Earthrealm had something better to offer Kotal Kahn.
"Let's go, Sergeant," barked the older blonde.
Cassie gave a small sigh of exasperation at her mother, before pocketing her phone and following behind the other adults. His eyes followed her until they landed on her back. With her strides quickening to catch up, Black called out to her by name.
Cage swiveled her head over her shoulder and halted in the middle of the hallway as he tugged the edge of his rust-colored bandana down.
As soon as the cloth bunched around his neck, her eyes widened in surprise - causing him to let a small triumphant smile. Erron knew the scorching desert damaged some of his appeal, but knew he wasn't being egotistical when he told himself he was handsome – her slack jawed look only confirmed he still was. Black still wore the resemblance of his youth, albeit with a scar over his nose and a few dashes across his square jaw, but relatively he looked the same as he did when he made the deal with the sorcerer.
Cassie gave a small shrug, placed her hand on her hip and humbly admitted: "Ok. I take it back. You're not that fugly and old after all - well minus the guy-liner and the lack of Banana Boat."
The bounty hunter smile faded into a stoic look, despite internally he was still prideful hearing her admission. The gunslinger could tell that she felt guilty for asking, even if he could tell her ego reprimanded her more for the simple fact of being wrong. It was almost maliciously satisfying in a way; a small pointless victory, but one he won nonetheless.
Down the hall, Kenshi cleared his throat with his fist in front of his mouth; awkwardly signaling her as if he accidently stumbled on a private affair. Cassie looked back at swordsman, nodded her head and turned back to Black. He cocked a grin when he saw the small tint of red rise on her cheeks before dissipating.
"Still, you got a lot of years under your belt - way too much," she disclosed with a mock pitying tone.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the towering teal wall of muscle that was his employer walk out of the room along with Reptile at his heels. They passed him and he turned on his heels to join them. Before he did, however, he titled his Stetson down by pinching his thumb and forefinger, smirked, winked and replied: "It ain't age - it's just mileage."
Cassie rolled her eyes and walked away... the ghost of a smile threatening to creep its way on her face before she gave him her back again.
As he walked to catch up to Kotal Kahn and Reptile, Erron pulled the bandana back up over his mouth to cover the arrogant smirk still present underneath.