CHAPTER 14

A/N – Hello my dear readers! Yes, it is still me, but I've changed my penname. This year something wonderful happened in terms of self-improvement and I'm a new person, I feel different and I needed to make some changes. Don't worry thought, I still write the same twisted shit as always and I'm so grateful to you guys for all the support! That being said, enjoy the new chap!

There was a scowl on the Dane's face as he sat on a corner of one of the shabby living-room couches, scrolling through his phone. Jones and his contractor had returned and he could feel a curious (if not suspicious) vibe from the other Grim, something he was rather willing to avoid. Bondevik wasn't up yet, but he anticipated a newly-occurred awkwardness between them that would make the American figure out that something had transpired the night before, namely some juicy gossip material. But that was just some shit he'd eventually have to put up with, because as much as he would have wanted, this stuff never stayed under wraps for too long. He'd made a stupid mistake breaking his own rules and bedding his contractor and now he'd face the consequences.

"So Kohler, what have you been up to yesterday? Didn't see you around here," Alfred said casually and apparently without hidden intent as he came and plopped on the opposite couch. "I thought you were planning to stick with your contractor from now on?"

Mathias sighed. "I do plan it. But yesterday I went to Majerus to pay him the remaining amount due and get this shit out of the way once and for all."

"Huh. I guess he was happy about it, no?"

"I don't know if he was happy, he still had that face like he'd swallowed a toad," the Dane shrugged. "And of course, he had to point out that he hadn't thought I'd be able to pay after all and then went and suggested the money was ill gotten. Frankly he kinda pissed me off, but whatever…"

"Oh man, that kid's a fucking troll," Alfred stated, spreading his arms along the backrest. "Like, what the fuck is his problem? I mean, he has everything!"

Mathias offered a disgusted grimace in reply. "Yeah…. His wife is cheating on him though," he added, deciding to give the other something to chew on and distract his attention. "First time I was there she kinda hit on me." At least that was true.

"Really?" Sure enough, the other Grim perked up. "And… you did what?"

"Nothing, what do you think! I wouldn't fucking mess with his wife, would I? Besides, she's fine but she's not my type."

Alfred snorted. "What type is that?"

"The desperate type. So, how did you fare with debt settlement?"

The American rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "Man, I thought red coat here," he said, motioning with his head towards the kitchenette where Arthur was making tea. "Was the worst thing ever. And then I met his brothers. Like, there's more of them, Jesus Christ… But I think we've appeased the vultures for now."

Right in that moment, as Lukas finally woke up in his bedroom across the corridor, Mathias became painfully aware of his second mistake. Namely that the night before it had completely slipped his mind that the temporary runes were just that, temporary, and he'd gotten a bit carried away… As a result, now his contractor (and Mathias himself, obviously) felt like he'd been run over by a truck, or at least the lower half of his body. Fuck, what if he couldn't even get out of bed?

Oh, fuck me! the Dane thought, hand inadvertently flying up to cover his mouth as he wracked his brain for a solution and found none. He simply couldn't do anything under Alfred's nose and, to make things worse, the Englishman walked in next, holding two mugs of black tea.

"Where's Lukas?" he asked. Obviously.

"Um…"

"Has he been mixing Vodka with fairy dust again?" Arthur inquired, throwing the Viking a quizzical glance.

"Uh… maybe?" Mathias shrugged, trying to look indifferent despite the fact that beads of sweat were gathering on his hair line and the discomfort in his lower back was making it hard not to squirm at this point. Still, it was not the pain itself – for he was quite resilient – as the mixture of pain and fear of discovery that was truly dreadful.

"Oh, what the hell!" the green-eyed sorcerer grumbled. "We have work to do!" He set the mugs down and plopped on the couch, irritably pushing the American aside to make room.

"Oh, by the way, guess what," Alfred said, "We finally have a plan. There's some real action coming up, aside from getting seriously annoyed with random characters from the local magic underworld."

Mathias blinked, pulled from his dark thoughts. "…yeah?"

"Yes," Arthur confirmed, with a grave air. "My superiors have given us clearance to kill the master of the automatons, this Pellemargaroth fellow. It's not like we can arrest him – even if we did manage to do so, it would be unlikely that he can be safely contained as it is - and bodies of innocent young people have been piling up thanks to his accursed pub. So I'm afraid there's no other way, however uncomfortable I am at the thought of hunting someone down in this fashion."

Some fifteen minutes later, during which various suspicious noises reached the Dane's ears, Lukas finally showed up in the living-room, a sour expression plastered on his face. Actually, 'sour' was an understatement.

"The washing machine is fucked," he stated through gritted teeth, not looking at his Grim as he sauntered slowly towards the couch and sat down gingerly next to him, proceeding to clutch his head in his hands. Mathias noticed that his usual skinny jeans and dress shirt had been replaced by soft baggy sweat pants and a cotton t-shirt and his damp hair was cutely ruffled. He also smelled nicely of soap and the Dane was suddenly reminded how-… No, seriously fucking stop it right now!

"Hey… are you okay?" Arthur asked his subordinate, pushing one of the black tea mugs towards him.

"Yeah, just… my head is pounding," the Norwegian lied, still clutching at his head as he grabbed the tea and fought back a grimace. Great fucking day to be out of coffee. "It really hurts like hell…" And it did.

"Maybe you should stop drinking," Alfred pointed, raising his eyebrows, while Arthur nodded in agreement.

"Maybe you should get a fucking Facebook account and troll there to your heart's content," Lukas snapped, throwing him a glare as he took a sip of the tea. "And this is spiked, thank you very much!" he added, pointing to the mug a moment later with a scowl directed at his boss.

Mathias leaned over, took the mug from his hand and sniffed it. There was whiskey in it alright.

Arthur cleared his throat, fidgeting and looking uncomfortable. "Anyway, as I was saying, in this moment we have our work cut out for us. We're going after the master of the automatons. We're going back at the pub, since that's where he lives, we take out his bloody toys and we kill him."

Lukas turned his head brusquely and stared at his Grim with an expression of sheer, absolute horror. His already pale face had gone white as a sheet and it almost looked like he couldn't breathe. It only lasted for a few moments though, after which he seemed to gather himself and let out a deep breath.

"…when?"

"Tonight," the Englishman replied, biting his bottom lip and looking quite uneasy about it as well. "Yeah, mate?"

Lukas nodded slowly. "O-Okay." In the next second he sprung from his place and made a beeline for the bathroom, where he proceeded to slam the door and kneel over the toilet.

"Oh, wow…" the American Grim remarked sarcastically.

"He got slashed at with a meat cleaver last time, you asshat! Fuck, am I eager to see you in action with that shitty musket of yours!"

"It's a very good musket! It was my grandfather's, you stupid red coat!"

"That's my point exactly! Why the fuck do you have a mobile with internet if you're fighting with a musket?! PEOPLE DON'T USE BLOODY MUSKETS ANYMORE!"

Mathias stood in turn and walked away from the bickering pair, already feeling a headache brewing and deciding to deal with his own contractor for the present time. He met the Norwegian just as he was getting out of the bathroom, his face wet but still awfully pale.

"We need to talk," the Dane said.

"No, we really don't," the pale blond murmured, trying to brush past him without even meeting his gaze, but the Grim caught his wrist and held him in place.

"Yes, we do. Arthur told me what happened to you the other time, but I want to say there's nothing to be scared of this time. I will protect you, okay? That's why I'm here. You can trust my fighting abilities, if nothing else."

Lukas sighed, leaning against the wall and running a hand through his hair. "I don't know… You've never seen those-.. those things! But you've seen the scar on my back! How can I be sure they won't just hack you to pieces with their blades?! Hack both of us in fact!"

"Well, because others have tried it before and it doesn't work. It can't work, since my body isn't actually real. Technically there's nothing to hack to pieces."

"Your body isn't real. That's a good one." Lukas deadpanned, rolling his eyes. "I had a very different impression…"

Mathias sighed. "Yeah… look, about that-"

"Just don't. I know what you're going to say and anyway now you think I'm a slut and-" Fuck, he still wasn't wearing his protection charms…

"Well, you did break the Viking law – a Viking never bottoms," the Dane pointed. "However, seeing how I'm the service provider in this contract, I guess that makes me a slut too." One just has to be the ultimate slut to go to bed with the Virgin King of Trolls! "But I don't have a problem with anyone being a slut, really! It's okay!"

The smaller blond just buried his face in his hands.

"Anyway, that's not what I wanted to say. I know we had a problem to solve but, um… I did break my own rule and I did go about it the wrong way, kind of. I enjoyed myself a tad too much, got carried away and disregarded the fact that it was your first time. I hurt you and I'm sorry, okay? Allow me to fix this right away." Mathias grabbed the Norwegian's shoulders and turned him around against the wall, lifting his shirt to quickly draw some more runes on the small of his back. "Not that you didn't have it coming though," he added.

"Yes daddy… Hashtag noforeplay," Lukas grumbled under his breath.

The Grim scowled, but pretended he hadn't heard that. Someone was looking for trouble. "Okay, now let's get you something to eat, you'll get sick if you don't eat more after I've fed on you. Come on!" He dragged Lukas along the dark corridor and into the kitchenette, which was currently empty and sat him down on one of the bar stools. Arthur and Alfred were still arguing in the living-room. "Just stay here, okay?"

The Norwegian chewed on his bottom lip, resting his elbows on the countertop as he watched the taller blond vanishing into thin air. He scrubbed a hand over his face, sighing – right, better to focus on the upcoming mission than on… anything else, really. He'd study for the rest of the day and blatantly ignore the fact that he'd basically reached a new all time low in terms of self esteem as well as the nagging detail of having actually enjoyed sleeping with Kohler. At least the Dane didn't know he had the blood of a necromancer, there was nothing worse than a necromancer in the magic world – the witch who had created the Grims had been a necromancer herself and aside from cursing Kohler's soul for all eternity, Hell knew what she'd done with his body after killing him.

"There! Dig in."

Before he knew it, the Dane was back with a box of takeout food which happened to smell just deliciously. He also pushed a steaming paper cup of latte from Starbucks under the sorcerer's nose. Lukas blinked, staring wide-eyed at the offerings and his hands reaching automatically for the coffee. He peeled off the lid and took a large gulp of the sweet, rich, creamy liquid – ohhhh, it was Heaven! A smile broke on his face instantly as he licked the cream 'moustache' off his upper lip.

"Thank you," he murmured, a bit shyly. "But… you went to Starbucks for me?"

"To Starbucks no," Mathias replied and grinned widely. "Jones did," he clarified with a shrug.

"Wha-.. You took his coffee?!"

"I'm a Viking. That's what Vikings do, we take other people's stuff."

Oh well, Lukas couldn't say he had a problem with that. He smiled again, a bit wider this time.

To be continued

Okay, so this chapter really wasn't much aside from everyone arguing, but drama will hit the 'screen' in the next one, so brace yourselves ;)

Reviews and comments are LOVE ;)

Note: In the light of recent developments, I will most likely not be posting any more of my works on this site as soon as my current on-going stories are completed. It is a sad conclusion I have arrived to and I'm really sorry.

This is not because I'm ungrateful to all the wonderful support I've been getting from you guys for the past nine years or I'm in any way unhappy with the way my stories have been received. Also, I never had a problem with negative feedback, or flames, or being called a demon-loving whore, none of these things have ever bothered me in the least.

It is however because of the numerous restrictions of this site and the gratuitously aggressive and rude approach of 'guests' who have made it their absolute purpose to see them respected, without respecting authors in turn or allowing any possibility of civilized dialogue, which I have always been open to.

Basically, the thing is that my stories can be reported and deleted at any given moment without me being able to do anything to prevent this, just because some random person decides it. E.g. I write mostly M-rated stories and even though I am never in favor of making things overly explicit, may it be love or fighting scenes, so I don't consider them to be MA-rated, someone might decide that they are and threaten to report them without even bothering to actually read anything (as it has happened once already).

In these circumstances, what's the point in going on here?

Also, I have never been disrespectful to anyone here and it's a matter of self-respect not to subject myself anymore to the sort of discussions one can get dragged into on this topic. The 'conversations' I've been having with some self-righteous, self-entitled individuals who have made it clear that I am in their hands have upset and disappointed me and frankly I don't have the time and energy for this kind of drama and I don't want to argue with anyone either.

Please visit my profile – you'll find the link to my AO3 page there and feel welcome to PM me if you have any insights on this you'd like to share. Thank you for your understanding!