Chutes and Sheriffs
It was just going to be one of those lazy days. One where the last burst of warmth from summer lingered, before the crispness of fall hit. Where everyone was out and about, but doing nothing. Bex observed the front of her store and let her eyes close and head roll back, working out the kinks in her shoulders. Sometimes revenge was a stressful process. Ignoring her desire to close shop on a business day, she contemplated stretching out behind the counter. Hiro could manage the front for her. The boy was practically begging for someone to walk through the purple door, from the way he was going at the outside windows. He'd spent at least two hours cleaning the inside ones, and was looking to double that for the outside panes. She snorted. Her little shop was going to be a shining token in the slums of the city, a gem in the belly of grime. Ideal'nny
Hearing Hiro suddenly drop his array of sponges and dramatically drop into a conversation, her eyes twitched. Someone wasn't really going to come in and bother her rest. She would not hear that door creak, or the bell above it chime. No, not today...
Oy Ad.
"Hellooooo my beloved Bex," a melodic voice interrupted the poor fence's rest. "Do not tell me no one is out today and visiting you?" they gasped in mock horror.
Cracking an eye open, and slouching to rest her pointed chin on one of her hands, she gave her eccentrically dressed friend a glare that would have made a lesser being shiver in fear. In fact she thought she heard Hiro outside release an eep, and the sound of water spilling onto the pavement. Opening her other eye, Bex confirmed that her adorable, yet very clumsy, help had fallen off his step ladder and had managed to dump the contents of his cleaning bucket over himself.
Turning to look at what had caught Bex's attention, Brielle blanched slightly.
"Yare, that boy knows how to create chaos."
"You should see him around the glass delacables..." the fence muttered.
Brielle looked skeptically at her friend, and at the shelves of glass goodies stocked behind the counter.
"He cleans those?"
"When allowed, and only if there are no customers around."
"So...like right now?"
If Bex was being honest, Brielle had a point. There was positively no one, no souls, and more importantly, no coin purses perusing her shop. Dropping her face to her both of her hands, she let out a feral growl.
Her rosy stained lips twitching at her friend's antics, Brielle moved in to comfort the distraught woman with a few pats on the shoulder.
"There there, Bex. I'm sure he won't break too many.."
With each tap Bex's growls gained in volume, until the last of Brielle's words slipped out, and then she fell silent. Bex's hands fell and she fixed a devious, delightful face on Brielle's frozen form.
"Beeeex..." Brielle started, as she backed away slowly, while reaching into the scrappy fabric shoulder satchel she carried.
"Brielle, what if..." Bex started as she stalked slowly to the Doll's location.
"Nope, absolutely not, I refuse," Brielle exclaimed. "Dust makes my nose itch, and can you not see the outfit I am wearing?! I would hardly be able to be of any proper service in such. In fact to convince you that I cannot provide any such services, here is a little something." she finished while drawing out a carefully packaged piece of parchment.
The stalking stopped.
Breathing in a sigh of relief Brielle handed her friend over the parchment she had procured while on her last job. Opening the slip, Bex's trained eyes scanned the page, and a cheshire smiled immediately replaced her previously predatory expression.
"This is a wonderful development you have discovered droog."
"Thanks I..."Bex cut in,
"But I'm merely going to suggest that Kat would be better skilled in the cleaning task, especially when trying to get to the shelves lining the ceiling."
Brielle paused, took a deep breath, and glared at her friend.
"I'm sure that is exactly what you were planning on saying my dear," her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"And in that case, please consider that parchment a gift."
"GIIIIIFFFTSS? Brielle-sama has gifts?"
Both friends shared a knowing look.
"Ah, Hiro. Have you finished cleaning the windows?" Bex questioned, fully intending to distract the teen so Brielle could make a clean get away from her overzealous admirer.
"Of course Miss Rebecca! Each has been precisely wiped the correct amount of times, cleaned to counter the sun's path to ensure total clearness, and polished to the perfect reflective amount..."
Nodding to Brielle as the Doll casually made her escape to the front of the store, Brielle gave a slight wave in return.
"But now I see that the store is clear, I shall move on and continue the quest to cleanliness by ridding the glass delacables of the dust that has settled among them!"
"Yes, Hiro about that," Bex started. "You will not need to worry about that task, because I believe Kat will be designated to that particular chore."
...
"She needs to earn her keep."
...
"She needs to exercise her domestic abilities."
...
"She needs to get out of the basement and see some sunshine."
Freezing in her attempt at leaving the store, Brielle cautiously turned around at the sudden silence encompassing the front showroom. Her wrist bangles clanged together as she brought her hands to her chest. Hiro had gone completely still. The normally energetic teen had fallen completely silent, and his eyes had gone dangerously blank.
"Hiro-chan...?" Brielle pondered, "Are you well?"
"Hai. Hai Brielle-sama! Hai hai hai hai! Never better!"
The look of concern exchanged between the two women did not go unnoticed by the teen.
"No no really! Miss Rebecca is right! Kitty-chan needs to see the sunshine!" Shaking his head and looking over at Brielle, "She only comes out to play at night, it is time for the sunshine to see her face and for her to experience Miss Rebecca's showroom. In fact I'll go get her. Right now." Hiro's voice trailed off as he booked it towards the bookcase.
"This ought to be good..." Brielle predicted
"If he gets his Kitty-chan out of the dark basement before sun set, he deserves to do some more cleaning," Rebecca responded as they heard the secret door close.
"Cleaning? Nani? Not a pay raise?" Brielle asked.
"Hmph. That boy would work for free if I let him. Cleaning is a reward."
Both women shared a laugh and made their way to plush chairs that Bex kept in the showroom for the gentleman of her customers for some conversation to pass the slow afternoon time. Just as they had sat down and started getting into an interesting conversation about the recent spike in copper wares, they heard a blood curdling scream.
"Chert.. that can't be go-"
Rebecca's statement was cut off from the world when the back bookcase swung wide open and crashed into the wall behind it. An orange clad visage rushed through the opening and began to dash wildly around the store. Realizing the dasher was Hiro, Rebecca demanded just what he was doing.
"Yosh! Miss Rebecca, I am introducing Kitty-chan to the sun! She needed some motivation, I have thusly provided it!" he informed the women a little maniacally.
"Hiro...what did you do?" His boss asked while standing.
Before the boy had a chance to respond, an eerie silence ghosted out of the back by the bookcase. It seeped into the store and the three of them tensed.
"Hiro-chan...I think you should run," Brielle cut through the silence.
"Yes, Yes. Run little pip squeak. Because when I catch you, you'll die," Kat stated bluntly.
Gasping, all three turned to look at their nocturnal basement troll, and all were shocked. Brielle turned away to hide her laughter, Bex immediately looked to Hiro with a completely stunned and awed look, and Hiro...
"Run," Kat growled.
"YOSH!"
The two started a game of Kat and mouse through the store. Hiro using his lithe body and teenage coordination to outrun Kat's wits and assassin agility, though in her new outfit she was hindered. While those two were busy, Brielle and Bex started guessing how on earth Hiro got Kat into that ensemble.
"Maybe he lured her..."
"More like bribed her."
"Maybe even threatened her?"
A laugh was again shared between the women, all the while Hiro had managed to make it back to where the counter and register were located. Jumping the counter, he almost cleared it, except he caught his sandaled feet on the edge, forcing him to seemingly fly straight into the wall. Having trapped her prey, Kat jumped atop the counter and stood proudly with her hands on her hips, showing off Hiro's brilliant ensemble perfectly. Ruffles and ruffles of white lace taffeta poised perfectly for rosy silk flowers to settle in.
It was all Rebecca and Brielle could do to not completely lose it at the sight of their typically midnight clad friend to be trussed up in such an innocent look. One really had to find out how Hiro had managed that without dying a preterm death.
Speaking of the teen, he realized he had but moments to find a way out, and spent them looking behind the counter for any way to dodge around the angry assassin. A quick glimpse behind him and he saw his ticket out, or more literally his chute out.
Kat saw what Hiro was planning as soon as he did.
"Don't you dare, you little..."
Hiro never determined what he was because he opened up the trash chute and disappeared through it before Kat could finish. Not one to waste any time, or spend any thinking about how else she could corner the runt, she dove head first after him.
By this time Brielle and Rebecca had managed to gather themselves and moved in front of the counter so they could lean over it and see the chute where they heard a distinct " Well shit..." from inside. Seconds later they heard a distinct eeep.
"Was that...?" Brielle started
"Yup." Bex answered. "Kat.. how ya doin' down there little one?"
...
"I have encountered a slight problem."
"I figured that," the fence said while rolling her eyes and slipping behind the glass counter and heading to where the chute was located in the wall.
"What is wrong?"
"Well see, this kuso dress and this narrow chute do not seem to get along very well. I'd like to stay out of their disagreement, but some things can't be helped."
Growling at her friends antics, Bex demanded a straightforward response. Hearing shuffling and muffled swearing in return, Brielle finally got closer to the chute, looked down and burst into an uncommon guffaw of laughter. The struggling stopped, and Bex asked again what was wrong.
"They are still not compatible my leise, and I may require assistance."
"What?" the woman in black asked, while placing both hands on the ledge of the opening to the trash chute that lead to the alleyway.
"I implore of you, my longest friend, that you help me."
"Dammit Kat what is wrong?!"
Pausing in her fit, Brielle could barely get her sentence out.
"Oh this...should be good! ... Do continue my... kowaii friendship!"
"Brielle..." Bex warned,
"Oh no, this is too good of an opportunity to waste! All those jokes about my hips and their actions, payback is a reward I need to devour (savor?)."
Giving up on any attempt at rectifying the situation covertly, Kat gave in.
"I. Am. Stuck."
Both the fence and the courtesan froze.
And promptly burst into another round of laughter.
Bex recovered first, and heard from in the tunnel,
"Yes. Yes, It is all fun and games when the assassin is stuck. When she is not however, is when the fun really begins."
The dark tone reminded Bex that the typically nocturnal assassin was not only stuck in her trash chute, but stuck there in a frilly white dress. Completely at their mercy. Hilarious. Too bad she did not have one of those new photograph machines, because this would have been the photo of a lifetime.
Deciding to finally provide her assistance to her friend, only after hearing a few more of Kat's dark deranged threats, Bex crouched into the chute to see what she could do.
Normally light on her feet, and quick thinking, Bex was not prepared for the darkness or the slickness of the metal sides. To say both her and Kat were shocked to find both of themselves packed into the narrow exit would have been a vast understatement.
They both took a moment before speaking.
"Nice weather is it not?"
"Kat, you don't even know if it's sunny out, you never leave the basement."
"Well now that I have had so much fun doing so, I'll be very sure to do so in the near future. Perhaps even give Hiro a thank you..."
Bex snorted, her breath catching on Kat's leg.
"Knowing your thank you's, I am sure he'd rather not clean for a week."
"Just don't get any ideas there my fence, I am quite exposed here, I'd hate for you to take advantage of me." Rolling her eyes at the assassins implications, Bex kicked out at the metal side, creating a muffled clang up to the opening.
"Oy! Dollface! You want to pull yourself together and offer your assistance?"
In fact Brielle would need at least five more minutes to recover, for she had fallen onto the floor and was dry heaving because of her laughter. Her fit would have continued but she heard the door chime.
Controlling her breathing, the popular courtesan peaked over the counter and tried to hide her shock.
He could not be in the store. She was absolutely dreaming. Why would the Stoic sheriff ever find himself down in the dregs of society? Ducking back down and leaning against the counter, she thought more about it. The only reason why he would be down here would be if he was following a trail that led to Bex's shop, and there was no way in hell she'd let him find the connection between her and her favorite fence.
Weighing her options, the few she had, she sighed, and muttered an old Theodosian curse about friends and the things they'd do for each other, and sent herself to meet up with the trapped duo.
Captain Uricha heard promising tales of the perfect copper pieces sold at this certain store, and found himself meandering through the dregs of this district in search of some of the fine jewelry. His mother was in need of a few new baubles, and wanting to please her, he made the voyage on such a nice day and on his free hour. No one would ever know, but the powerful young man was a mama's boy through and through. He would do anything to please the Uricha matriarch.
Upon entering the store though, he realized the front room was empty. Dark eyes scanned the counter and found that to be vacant as well. Everything was in place, the only thing odd was that the trash chute was left open. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he let out a sigh through his nose.
His mother would have to wait. How unfortunate.
Turning to leave, he gave one last glance to the open chute, shook off the odd feeling he had about it, and walked back out the front door.
Meanwhile three trapped girls were having a ball inside a trash chute.
"I cannot believe this."
"Well I can't believe you came down willingly."
"Hmph! And I cannot believe that you are in a dress!"
Praying to all that was good and holy, and that Hiro would eventually return and help them Bex sarcastically murmured her own thoughts on the afternoon's events,
"Yet I'm shocked that on the list of things to go wrong today, being trapped in a trash chute was not on it. Because that would be the obvious one."
