The Roommates
Hakuryuu was starting to question his decision to trust Bellatrix. Of course, she still seemed mostly trustworthy, that was still true…but after a good half an hour of clinging for dear life to his seat as the car sped and swerved through the streets, he wasn't so sure. Well, they occasionally slowed to a reasonable pace whenever Neela mumbled "cop car coming up", and then screeched back into furious action as soon as the coast was clear.
["You know one of these days you are going to get in an accident. Either that or your license is gonna be revoked."]
"Just tell me where the next turn is, bitch!" Bellatrix snapped, causing the girl on the other line to let out a soft sigh.
["Go right onto River St in half a mile…oh, hold on, I got another call."]
"Don't you fucking dare," Bellatrix growled.
["…you know that stuff called food that you like? Well, this job is how I pay for it. Just turn right on River and go straight until the next stoplight, I'll be right back."]
"Neela, don't—" but before the woman could get out another word, the line had clicked and gone dead, causing her to let out an angry howl as she swerved right onto a new street. "I'm gonna murder her. I'm going to beat her to death with her bloody computer and then I'm gonna find the sorry bastard that needs tech support at this hour of all fucking times and beat him to death with his fucking computer!"
"Sounds like fun, can I help?" Judal laughed, his annoyance with Bellatrix having nearly faded as soon as the car sped into action.
"Sure," Bellatrix muttered absently, "you hold her down and I'll do the beating."
Judal laughed again, and Hakuryuu attempted to sink further into his seat for stability as Bellatrix hit the brakes on the car hard enough to make it screech. As the vehicle finally came to a halt, Hakuryuu tried to catch his breath while he looked to figure out why they'd stopped. It seemed that the light overhanging the street had turned red, and Bellatrix was leaning on the wheel of the car while staring up at the light and tapping the wheel impatiently with one finger.
"By all means, take your time changing green, it's not like curfew starts in three fucking minutes and I'm in a hurry, take your damn time."
["You really need to work on containing your road rage."]
"Like you have any right to talk bitch! You can't even drive!"
["Why should I learn to drive when I rarely leave the house? And I have a lifetime supply of bus tokens that aren't expiring anytime within the next century, so I'm set. You're gonna wanna turn left here. Then left again on the second intersection."]
"I swear I'm going to beat you into next week when I get home," Bellatrix muttered as the car sprung back to life and swerved to the left, and within seconds Hakuryuu was back to hyperventilating.
["If you do that then I'm eating your slice of cake."]
Bellatrix let out another low growl as she spun the wheel towards the left and the car followed suit. "God I hate you right now."
["Love you too, Bell. Alright, continue straight for a mile and our street should be on your right. Oh, and before I forget, you did get me that pack of butterscotch beer that I wanted, right?"]
There was a pause. Hakuryuu's brow knit together as Bellatrix suddenly swore under her breath.
["…Do not…tell me…that you forgot my butter beer."]
"I might have spent the money on lun—"
["ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"]
"Sorry…?"
["Do you have any idea how much money you owe me at this point?! I'm gonna kill you when you get home!"]
"I got hungry…"
["I don't fucking give a shit!"]
Bellatrix winced as the line clicked and went dead again but this time, instead of letting out an angry howl, the woman let out something akin to a whimper. "Knew that Big Mac discount wasn't worth it…"
"So what if she's upset?" Judal said, "she's the one that trusted you with the money."
"You don't understand," Bellatrix whined, "Neela doesn't get angry, she gets vengeance."
"…Okay then…"
oooOOOooo
The rest of the car ride had gone in silence. Neela didn't come back even once, and by the time they'd pulled into the driveway, Hakuryuu could have sworn that Bellatrix had gone several shades paler and even looked a little sick. They even sat there, for a good minute, as the woman stared off, seeming almost consumed by a nightmare. Neela must have been pretty terrifying if she had Bellatrix this scared.
"Are you gonna let us out?" Judal finally asked impatiently, causing Bellatrix to snap back to reality and open up her own door.
"Yeah, let's get this over with…" she mumbled as she climbed out and opened their door. "Come on, before the patrol realizes we aren't inside." Bellatrix turned back and shut her own door before walking out of Hakuryuu's line of vision. The young king let out a short huff as he struggled against his seat belt and crawling out of the car after Judal. The house that Bellatrix was leading them towards seemed fairly normal; it only rose to about two stories, with a slanted roof, two unassuming windows on the right of the front door and a wooden platform wide enough to hold three metal chairs and a table jutting out from the entrance. It was too small to be a noble's home, yet sturdier than he'd imagine a commoner's residence.
Hakuryuu stared at the building only a few moments more before following Judal up to the entrance where Bellatrix was fiddling with her key ring in an attempt to find the right key again. After a while, she found it and unlocked the door, hesitating only a moment before opening it and stepping into the house.
"I'm hom—"
"Useless!"
Suddenly Bellatrix's head swung back as what appeared to be a throw pillow connected with her face, and she let out a slight groan as it fell before holding her arms up in defense against the assailant that had apparently been waiting for her. "I said I was so—"
"Stupid! Unreliable! Piece! Of! Shit!" With every word a new item was pelted in Bellatrix's general direction, though all but one didn't manage to find their target. As he caught the salt shaker that had flown his way, Hakuryuu took a moment to study the girl standing in the middle of the hallway, and found that the person, whom he could only assume was "Neela", was not quite what he'd pictured. During the car ride she'd sounded mildly sophisticated—albeit young, but at the least he'd expected an adult. But Neela…by all rights, looked like she couldn't have been older than twelve at a first glance.
She stood only a few inches taller than Aladdin had last time he'd seen the boy, and by the look of her scrawny features she probably didn't weigh much more. Her black hair was held back in two messily styled buns, and her honey colored skin was mostly covered by a pair of snug fitting black pants and a loose, dress-like blue tunic*. Neela growled in anger as she lobbed the last object in her arms at Bell, hitting the woman square on the elbow.
"Ow! Neela, that was my funny bone!" Bellatrix whined, causing her friend's face to contort further with anger.
"Oh trust me, you're gonna hurt in more places than just your funny bone by the time I'm done with you!"
"I'll pay you back, okay?!"
"When?! Is it going to be sometime during this century?! Or should I have myself cryogenically frozen so that when your ancestors finally finish paying me back, they can revive me?!"
"Well, I haven't worked out the logistics quite yet—"
"Oh swear I'm gonna…" Neela turned to her left and swung open a compartment in the wall, causing Bellatrix to let out a soft whine.
"Oh come on, not the shoe closet, I just organized that today…"
"Get a fucking job already!" Neela howled as she began throwing shoes in Bell's general direction.
"I do have a job!"
"You know I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Bell, but former soldier for hire is not a fucking job! You could use your skills to be a bodyguard, for example!"
"Like hell I'm gonna babysit some snot nosed rich kid."
Police force!"
"That includes desk work though…"
"Who gives a flying fuck, it's still better than nothing!"
"I'm home."
Hakuryuu jolted a bit as another voice sprung up from behind him, and he turned to see a somewhat short man with strawberry blonde hair and pale skin standing in the doorway.
"Max!" Bellatrix gasped. "Thank god! Could you please tell Neela that I'll pay her back? She won't listen to me!"
"Sorry, Bell, but I don't lie," Max said bluntly as he squeezed past Hakuryuu, "Also, you owe me four bucks."
"What do I owe you four bucks for?!"
"For this," Max replied as he held out a pack of what appeared to be glass bottles to Neela.
The girl lit up almost instantly upon seeing them, taking it as the shoes she'd previously been holding dropped to the floor. "You are a saint," she murmured as she looked up at the man.
"And you owe me five rounds on Smite," the man continued, causing Neela's smile to immediately vanish.
"Nevermind, I hate you," she replied as she turned and stomped down the hall to the right.
"That's more like it…" Max smirked before turning back to Bellatrix. "So do crazy 1 and crazy 2 over here have names?"
"Who do you think you're calling crazy, asshole?" Judal spat while the woman in front of them pointed back at him with her thumb.
"Judal and Hakuryuu," Bellatrix answered before turning back to the young king. "You guys mind following us to the kitchen? We have some stuff we need to talk about, and I'm sure you two are hungry by now."
Hakuryuu hesitated briefly before managing a short nod. Despite being all too bewildered by the chaotic scenes he'd just witnessed, some food would definitely be appreciated. "Very well," he spoke softly and followed the woman down the hall that Neela had disappeared into.
"So exactly how much has Bell explained to you two already?"
Hakuryuu glanced over at Neela as they entered the kitchen. They held eye contact a moment before Neela turned back to the strange humming closet in front of her and placed the bottles Max had given her inside. "She told us that you three were willing to offer us a place to stay for the night…"
"I said I was going to help with your predicament," Bellatrix corrected as she pulled herself up onto the counter.
"Is there a difference?" Judal asked, winning little more than a smirk from the woman.
"So you explained the exact bare minimum of our offer, is what you're saying," Max spoke up from the chair he was lounging in.
"Hey, I couldn't chance sounding insane, and I didn't know if they'd figured it out yet," Bellatrix said defensively.
"Figured out what yet?" Hakuryuu inquired as his gaze narrowed on the woman, his suspicion regarding her help returning in a heartbeat.
"Uh…Neela? Can you explain?"
"He asked you," the girl replied as she walked past Bell and sat down at the table across from Max.
"Way to throw me under the bus…okay, this is gonna sound weird…" Bellatrix paused a moment and raised a hand to scratch the back of her head, looking somewhat lost in thought while Hakuryuu's glare hardened on her. "Well…we uh…we know you two aren't from around these parts, and we figured we'd help out. Blackcastle can be sorta rough when it isn't familiar territory."
"So you're helping us because you were smart enough to realize that we're foreigners?" Judal asked.
"Ieeeeee…I should've explained that better…" Bellatrix mumbled.
"You think?" Neela interjected snidely before Bell continued.
"What I'm trying to say is…" Bellatrix sighed and repositioned herself on the counter before looking back at Hakuryuu and Judal solemnly. "We know that you're from a different dimension."
oooOOOooo
And so the trash of this story rears its head…Bell's road rage was far too much fun to write…sorry about the lacking presence of Ju and Ryuu in this one, they'll get more dialogue next chapter…
p.s.—I know I should be working on Still Dreaming but shhhhhh.
p.p.s—just for the sake of clearing up any confusion, Neela is not a child, she simply looks like one at a first glance.
