DEEPER THAN SKIN
CHAPTER 8: Pasts
Continuing from chapter 7…
"HA!" Fira nodded confidently, laughing in victory. "You have fun in frickin' JAIL, PAL!!" She shouted loudly after the two cop cars that took off slowly but surely off and down the dark gray road. She turned around and gave her fist a good, hard pump before jogging back into the library building. "I'd like to see YOU mess with MY ass again...steal a old fart's purse...my ass..."
The gun-wielding brunette clicked her pistols back into their place in their own holsters on her leather belt. She turned her head back upward from placing them, flicking her chocolate bangs out of her eyes. "HA!" She clapped loudly, "And now I'm done!! What a frickin' awesome way to end the day!!"
Laughing as if she was now on top of the world, she ran up the stairs to the EMPLOYEES ONLY room and entered grandly. "And now, for my favorite part of the day!" She dramatically whipped a dart out of a back pocket on her belt. She smiled with a flicker of her mischievous eyebrows as she looked down at her possession as if it were a thousand pounds of gold. Placing it just right in her palm and fingering it like a pencil, Fira lifted the weapon to eye-level and aimed it at the opposite wall.
With another evil smile and a cackle, the young agent tossed the dart across the room at lightning speed until it PIT! It hit the poster of Bob on the wall...meeting many of its kind also pinned in the wall...
"Take THAT, bastard!!" Fira hooted, thrusting her gloved fist in the air as a victor is triumphant after beating an opponent. She hummed to herself a song that was quite pervasive in language as she worked to finish up for the day. She unclipped the gun holsters off her belt and chucked it into the safe labeled "NOLAND"; along with several other of her work-only items on her at the moment.
She reached into the safe and pulled out her handy-dandy after-work outfit. She shut the office door and locked it tight. Within minutes she was completely transformed from an agent to a regular young woman...well...sort of normal. She wore a regular, gray long-sleeved shirt - with the sleeves either ripped or cut (it was hard to tell) to mid-arm length. It was loose and comfortable, just as her pants. She wore ghetto-like, over-sized camouflage cargo jeans that shredded at the very bottom hem.
And with a quick tighten of her ponytail and a chocolate bar stuffed in her mouth, Fira locked up and wrapped up anything else she needed to do before leaving the building.
She jogged through the halls, down the stairs but stopped at the children's section. "Yo, RAVEN!! I'm off work!! SEE YA IN HELL TOMORROW!!"
Laughing and shaking her head, Fira didn't wait for the response from her best friend. She walked the rest of the way out of the building, chewing contently on her now half chocolate bar. Continuing to hum the previous song from before, she walked casually out of the building.
But as Fira exited - it took her only approximately fifteen steps before a car pulled up beside her next to the sidewalk...with a very familiar driver sitting in the driver's seat.
Devin glanced up at her, tilting up his sunglasses as he smiled. "Hey there, agent." He said teasingly. "Lookin' spiffy. Ready to go get some ice cream?"
"Ready as hell." Fira replied with a chuckle as she reached forward and snatched the black handle and lifted it up. The door clicked open and she slid into the passenger seat casually, tossing her few belongings down next to her boots. She leaned out and grabbed the door, only to then slam it shut. "And we're OFF!!" She pointed dramatically at the windshield in front of her.
Devin laughed and stepped on the gas, driving the car off into the street and heading straight for their destination...one of the favorite ice cream places of the people in the city - and where he couldn't WAIT to spend some time with his newest acquaintance.
They soon arrived at the shop, and both raced each other inside and came at a dead tie to the front counter - where Devin slapped his hands down in front of the guy at the register, eyeing the menu victoriously.
"I want, two number threes, four number sixes, and three number sevens." He rattled off quickly, glancing back at Fira afterward. "Did I miss anything...?"
"HELL you did!" Fira glared savagely at him, shoving him out of her way playfully, "Now EXCUSE me..." She studied to the menu as if it was the only food she would ever have again. "I want THREE number ones and FOUR number nines." She grinned. "Plus his order." She turned and glared at Devin playfully again. "You CAN'T MISS THOSE!!"
"Okay. You win." Devin grinned, nodding to the very confused cashier. "Okay. Jab it in."
"Uh...yeah...coming right up..." The guy said, eyeing them as he typed in the order. "That'll be 35.49..."
"Got it." Devin put two twenty dollar bills on the counter.
The guy nodded, picking up the money and counting out the change. "That'll be up for you guys in a second..."
Fira laughed, "More like one HOUR!" She smiled and turned to Devin with a shrug. "Bastards can't work to save their non-existent lives."
"All the more reason for us to go find a spot." Devin said, motioning toward the eating area of the shop. "Pick anywhere!"
Fira looked around casually, before gesturing to a booth by the window. "I wanna window seat so I can toss the waiter out the window later." She began to walk toward it. "Whatta you think?"
Devin laughed, following her easily. "Sounds great, Fi." He said, letting the nickname slip out without even meaning it. "Even if we might get sued for it."
"Personally, I don't give a shit." The other brunette flopped down casually down on the comfy booth seats. "Now THIS is service, D." She patted the seats around her. "Uncomfortable seating..." She wiped a finger across the table, "...dirty tables..." She looked up at the ceiling, "...and so many goddamn spiders that they could decide to take over the human race in seconds."
Devin snorted, sitting down beside her and leaning back casually. "Yeah, well, at least they'd meet their match in about one second, huh?" He looked over at her, winking slightly. "Or less?"
"Ch'yeah." Fira laughed lightly, completely and utterly charmed - even as impossible as that might seem. She leaned forward on the table, turning on her elbow to look at the other boy. "So...what the hell do you do for a living?"
"Firefighter." Devin responded easily, grinning and leaning an elbow on the edge of the booth seat. "Burning buildings, screaming people, dalmations, all that jazz."
Fira's eyes widened, her face seemingly slightly terrified. "Really...?"
Devin nodded, clearly not noticing. "Yeah, I uh...got into a while back and I really enjoy it." He smiled over at her. "And you like what you do, I'm guessing...?"
"Uh, yeah..." She cleared her throat, leaning back again, seeming a little uneasy. She turned to him in concerned curiosity. "Isn't bein' a frickin' firefighter kinda...freaky as hell?"
"Nah. I like it." Devin grinned, feeling proud of his job. "It's really exciting, and you gotta love a little danger." He smiled. "'Specially when you get to save people. It's totally worth it."
"I s'pose..." Fira shrugged. Sometimes she forgot that no everyone was so scared of firey flames... "Well, anyway!" She whipped her dark-chocolate bangs out of her eyes, "But who doesn't enjoy helping the shit-asses of the world, eh?"
"Some people. That's why they become street urchans." Devin grinned, stretching lazily. "Speaking of streets, where'd you grow up? You a Jump City'ite through and through?"
"Pfft. Hell no." Fira shook her head, finally beginning to relax, and shoved the other boy in disbelief. "Do I look like someone who grew up only in this goddamn shit-hole of a place?" She laughed. "Hell, no. I grew up in the back streets of Diagon City, D."
Devin's eyes went wide. "Seriously?" He said, blinking. "That's where I was born. My parents moved out after a year, though, 'cause the place was so bad." He shook his head. "Wow... that's...how'd you make it?!"
The other brunette smiled proudly, "I just did." She chuckled and folded her arms, "My parents wanted to move to some other place in hell, but we only got to the outskirts of the goddamn city before we were ambushed by a whole slew of shit-ass murdering bastards. Someone apparently really hated my old man. Shot both my parents." She shrugged. "So I just grabbed my dad's pistols and took 'em all out." After a second of a very proud smile, she flopped back on the seats again, "Yeah, but it took a half hour for me to kill 'em all...I was shot twice...survived...and then took off to take care of myself in the city. That's my freaking story."
Devin stared, his eyes huge on his face. "Whoa...seriously...?" He scratched the back of his neck. "That's some tough shit. An' I thought my kidhood was bad." He gave a mirthless chuckle. "But...you okay now? I mean, no lasting traumatic effects or anything, right..?"
Fira shook her head with a laugh, "Hell no. I was no older than shit when it happened; don't remember either parent. However, my dad was goddamn frickin' awesome, and my mom was a downright goddamn bitch." Several strands of her mud-brown hair slid off her shoulders as she shrugged, "Neither way, I don't give a shit about it any more. I'm alive and in Jump frickin' City." She blew her bangs out of her face again, "What 'bout your ass' story?"
"Oh, it's uh...it doesn't matter." Devin gave her a hesitant smile, neither noticing when their ice cream was actually delivered to the table at the moment. "Just...kinda' started out rough and ended up even rougher. That's about the story of my life there."
"Know how ya feel." Fira shrugged. "But you can share hell with me. God knows I've probably been through somethin' similar." She, also, had not noticed the luscious banquet of delicious frozen treats on their table currently.
Devin chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck again. "...yeah...well...I s'pose it couldn't hurt..."
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