A long sigh escaped the Watchdog as he rested in bed. The soft glow from the bedside lamps lit up the room, casting shadows on the walls, furniture, and on Ciel, himself, but the warm glow was cut by the sharp light of Jim's laptop screen as the silence was broken by the occasional tapping of keys. Still, ordinarily, this wouldn't be a bother to the Watchdog. He was content, laying on his stomach with his arms underneath his pillow and head. After a while, he turned over on his side so that he could see his spouse with his good eye and watched him as he worked.
Jim's brow was serious and his gaze was focused as he continued to toil away at his documents. Occasionally, he would stop to ponder what he would write next, placing his thumb to his lower lip. When his beau moved, however, he glanced over briefly to see if he was asleep or not, only to turn his head when he realised that the bluenette was wide awake.
"Sorry, am I keeping you up?"
The bluenette shook his head lightly, resting his cheek in his palm as he propped himself up. "No. You're alright. I do wonder how you can work tonight when we're going home tomorrow, though. Eager to get a head start?"
"I can't, really. I'm trying, but it's really hard to come up with something without knowing what kind of situation they have." Jim replied. "The basic stuff is still basic stuff, but without knowing if they have any kind of site to build a supernatural city in or if they're just going to keep tabs on people living amoung humans makes things kinda hard. I dunno if I can do it and I really hope they're not expecting anything right now."
"You can definitely do it. It always takes time, but you can do it. You've done it twice already." the bluenette insisted, holding his free arm out to his husband. "Come, now… Lay down with me. You have a long drive home ahead of you."
"I don't exactly need to sleep, you know..."
"Yes, but you should relax a bit."
That caused the blonde to laugh. "Since when are you a relaxation guru? You're as into working and getting work done as I am! Maybe even more! Who are you and what have you done with my husband?"
"Vacation time is for vacation. You're the one who insisted on it."
"True, but I guess I didn't think you'd get so needy when you're relaxed." The menace paused. "Actually, you've gotten a lot needier over time in general… Always crawling all over me and calling me 'Jimmy' like I don't remember when you were too nervous to hold my hand..."
Saying that was practically an invitation to Ciel, prompting him to take the menace by the hand. "Well, I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks." he said, offering the menace a wink. How dare he be so charming?! Forcing the blonde to blush like that! It simply wasn't fair! Furthermore, Jim was thoroughly interested in the gesture as he stared at the bluenette with eyes the size of dinnerplates.
"Is something the matter?" Ciel questioned, dropping his expression slightly.
"No… It's just… I don't think I've ever seen you wink successfully before..."
"That's because I always wear an eyepatch..."
"It's cute."
"Oh?"
"Really cute." Jim emphasised. "I've kind of liked seeing you without it for this long."
"Are you suggesting I not wear it, then?"
"Nah. I kind of like getting to be the only one who gets to see it this much. It makes me feel special."
"You are special. Only you get to see me like this."
Ciel had been so at ease lately that the thought of returning to civilisation somewhat irked him. While he would still have the same softness, the same warmth, and tenderness that he had with Jim while at the cabin, he would have to return to business and warmongering soon. He knew that he would inevitably wish to return at some point, given who he was. He was Lord Ciel Phantomhive of the Phantomhive Family. It was in his blood. The Earl needed the excitement in order to be fulfilled, but right then, he had a taste for sweetness and simply wanted to gorge himself on it.
The blankets and pillows were soft and inviting. The water of the lake outside was cool and refreshing under the warm sun. The air was fresh and the scenery was so serene, with only the sound of birds in the nearby Forrest and the sound of the water shifting to break the silence. Then, there was Jim. Ciel couldn't seem to get enough of him over the past few days. He didn't know if he was uneasy due to the tranquility of his surroundings, but he felt inexplicably drawn to the menace, craving him always.
He wanted to keep the blonde's scent in his lungs and found his taste absolutely intoxicating. Ciel was always astounded at how perfect Jim's shape was and how his skin felt against his fingertips. He loved the way that their bodies fit together whenever they embraced and whenever his beau felt inclined to touch him in return, he wanted nothing more than to melt into the menace. Even whenever Jim caressed the Watchdog's face ever-so-slightly, Ciel wanted to become docile. The tension fled from his mind and body and his propensity to do evil vanished. As he cuddled up to his beau while Jim continued to work for a little while longer, wrapping his arm around the blonde's waist, Jim couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the content face the Watchdog made.
"What a dork..." the blonde thought to himself as his husband softly snored. "Irredeemable dweeb. What a loser. I can't not think he's cute."
Ciel always slept soundly when he was next to Jim, but the two of them still got up bright and early the next morning. They got dressed, brushed their teeth, packed everything back into the car and made sure that the cabin was more or less in the exact condition that they had found it in. They even went so far as to take out the trash. Thus, their trip started to come to a close, but they still had some time to spend together left on their way back. Both of them dreaded their return. It meant that they had to start working, just when they had become accustomed to doing absolutely nothing.
"You going to head back to work as soon as we get back?" Jim questioned, keeping his eyes trained on the road.
"No..." his beau shook. "To be perfectly honest, I fully intend to sit completely alone in a room and read the news."
"That's a great plan! I was hoping to lay in bed and read some trashy advice columns for a few hours!" The menace smiled brightly as he said this. He seemed to completely perk up at the idea.
"I'll take the office, then. You can have our room."
"I'll bring my laptop with me so I can work without bothering you."
"Thank you, Jimmy-darling."
While they very much enjoyed each other's company and really didn't want to stop being lovey-dovey, as they got closer to home, the fact that they hadn't been outside of each other's company for several days began to sink in. Refreshed as they were, they both loved each other enough to recognise that perhaps some space was necessary.
They had their joyous reunion with the rest of the family before retiring to different spaces. After a few hours, Ciel grew tired of reading the news and decided to take a nap on one of the office sofas, while the menace remembered that he had work to do. They met again at dinner and ate with the rest of the family, listening to various updates and goings on around the house and outside of it, before returning again to different rooms of the house until it was time for bed.
"Hello, I'm going to shower." the bluenette informed as he ducked into the bedroom breifly.
"'Kay." Not much else needed to be said. Jim was busy working, still, and continued until his beau returned, dressed in his night clothes while drying his hair. His return caused the blonde to look up, but the sight of him made his beau chuckle.
"Wow, I almost forgot what you looked like in pyjamas." Jim snickered, prompting the bluenette to blush.
"Oh, lay off it… I wore some last night, you oaf."
"'You oaf.'" mocked the menace. Closing his computer and setting it down on the floor, Jim stretched with a loud grunt before moving toward the bathroom, himself. "Any hot water left? I wanna take a bath."
"Should be." Ciel presented his cheek to the menace as the blonde moved to kiss it as he walked past. "Oh, and I'll head in before you tomorrow and pick up my sword so you won't have to wait on me."
"It's fine. I can get it for you on my way out."
"I'd like to have a look at it before it's taken home. You have a weapon there, too, so don't forget it."
"Ooh~! The anniversary gift I told you not to get?" the baronet teased, gathering his clothes before heading into the bathroom.
"So says the man who arranged an entire trip for us."
The very next day, they did as the bluenette suggested and ventured off toward HELLSING headquarters in different vehicles. They walked to the front door together, but they parted immediately upon entering the building. Jim had to talk to the Supernatural Relations Department about recent events and go over a few remaining documents before possibly meeting with the representatives from France. Ciel, on the other hand, simply went straight to the Research Department.
He found himself having surprisingly missed these halls and found himself eager to hold a weapon in his hand again. People passing by occasionally greeted him, wishing him a good morning as they came and went. Opening the doors to the laboratory, he found himself greeted further by the staff of the research department as well as a few representatives from the weapons department, all somewhat ominously standing on the other side of a large table. Miranda Ackerman looked thrilled as always whenever he arrived to pick up a new weapon, while Wink also looked surprisingly proud, herself. After all, she was the one who treated it with magic and furthermore, it was the first time she had ever made a weapon for the Phantomhive on a professional basis. She was eager to see how he liked it. Finally, it appeared that one of his former proteges, Private Ryan Braumfeld, had somehow sneaked himself onto the project, as a full-fledged employee of the Weapons Department. He, too, was both ecstatic and terrified about the situation.
"Welcome back, Lord Phantomhive!" greeted Miranda. "Did you enjoy your trip?"
"Indeed, I did, thank you." the demon politely returned in kind. "I hope you'll forgive my husband's momentary absence. He's just gotten back and he's already jumping headfirst into this ORSAP business. He'll be along in a few hours to retrieve his own instrument."
"Oh, that's unfortunate. I bet you wanted to see him look at the weapon you commissioned for him!"
"It's alright. He'll let me know what he thinks about it when he gets home." Ciel said, holding up a hand. "Now, I understand you have a little something for me as well?"
"Yes!" the woman replied before turning to Mister Braumfeld. "Ryan, can you get the cases?"
"They're right here." the private bent down, crouching behind the table that separated the two parties and dissappearing momentarily. When he stood up, he placed a metal, rectangular case on top of the table before placing a smaller, square one beside it. Ciel knew what one was, but not the other. Thus, he opened the unfamiliar square case first.
"What's this?" the demon questioned as he somewhat skeptically unlatched and opened it. After removing the lid, inside of the case sat a massive pistol- far bigger than what the Phantomhive normally used, and perhaps even slightly bigger than the guns his spouse used.
"This was designed mostly by the Weapons Department, with the research done by Miranda." Private Braumfeld explained. "It 's a Kaspar-model gun similar to Jim's, with a sword-like guard around the handle and the ambidextrous safety control removed. We call it the 'Hellhound' version." He paused, gauging Ciel's level of approval as the demon picked up the weapon and held it in his hand.
"Impressive… Does the guard hold up against bladed weapons?"
"Most. It'll start to bend under a certain amount of pressure. It fires 50 AE Magnum Antifreak bullets. It's meant to be held one-handed." the younger man explained. "Right now, the six-inch barrel is attached. We debated on whether or not you would find the eleven-inch cumbersome to use or not, but we've provided it in the case as an optional attachment, just in case."
"Very nice… I imagine the recoil is similar to Jim's?"
"It should be the same."
"It may take some getting used to, then. It's nice, though. I'll take it out to the testing range before I leave and report on how it handles." Loading the magazine into the weapon, he wove both it and the attachment into his demonic garb, causing it to disappear into thin air. Next, he moved on to what he really came here for and placed his hands on the latches of the rectangular container.
"This one was a collaborative effort." Miranda stated. "It doesn't have a name yet. We figured that you would give it one."
The case opened, revealing a sword and scabbard lovingly placed inside. Each stitch in the leather of of the sheath was sewn by hand and every detail on both it and the weapon was designed with the utmost attention to detail, containing motifs of the Phantomhive family crest, with the stray HELLSING reference here and there. The blade was black as pitch without a blemish on it to speak of. There were no runes like on the previous sword, but it was still a powerful weapon, treated by one of the most talented witches in Gehenna. Ciel could sense the sacred nature of the weapon radiating off of it, making him somewhat cautious in picking it up. He was almost afraid that it would burn him if he touched it with his diabolical hands as it purged the evil from him, too, but no, that wasn't what happened at all. Delicately, the Watchdog picked up the weapon and marveled at it, holding it firmly in his fist as he inspected it.
"I perfected the technique I used on the yew sword and scabbard that killed Abhartach to make it." Wink chimed in. "The metal is a mixture, consisting of fragments from your previous sword and scraps of the also shattered Jarnglofar Mk I. It was in storage and it seemed fitting. We melted them down and treated the blade, while the handle is made of yew from a large branch of the Abhartach Tree. I carved a few runes into it and wrapped it in leather before attaching the metal pieces. The guard is coated in silver and has a pyramid-shaped spike on the end of it. It's subtle, but you can probably off somebody by bashing them in the head with it."
"That's nice, but if the leather comes off, won't I be unable to hold it because of the runes?"
"You were able to pick up the last yew sword just fine, so it should be alright." the witch stated.
"It's far too nice for a demon..." Ciel lamented. "It's beautiful. Good weight, too."
"You need to try it out too before you leave." Wink stated. "We'll clean it off for you before you go. Now..." she paused, bending down before picking up yet another case. This one was much smaller than either of the ones presented to Ciel previously. "Do you want to have a look at what we made for Jim?"
"Oh, absolutely." the demon replied. "Just let me put this away first."
He picked up the scabbard and slid the blade inside, finding satisfaction in how perfectly the weapon fit. The craftsmanship was absolutely impeccable—Ciel simply couldn't praise them enough about it. Everything was perfect and even the way that it fit in the Phantomhive's hand gave him a rush. The black fire started from his hands and swallowed it up, hiding the gorgeous blade from public view completely.
His beau was not so lucky in the sort of thing he had to view at that particular moment, however. Instead of playing with toys, he was running around the Supernatural Relations Department offices, giving instruction, taking in intel, and working out what else was left for him to hand over to the French. Once he had his underlings able to do the running for him, he hopped on the phones and started calling businesses in Gehenna to see if they were alright with having him bring the minsters running ORSAP there on a tour of the town.
Slowly, he was feeling better about it, since they were mostly asking for documentation and photographs of what supernatural cities could look like, but he also needed to prepare some material so that he could further emphasise why they should respect supernaturals and how they can do that. Luckily, he had time, as they were still making their own rounds through the organisation and making their own phonecalls home to get their people sorted.
Hours passed by the time he reached a satisfactory stopping point, leaving him feeling ragged and run down. Ciel had long since gone back home, leaving Jim to pack up his things and make the drive back on his own. Yet, before he could go, he still had one last errand to do. By this point, he sort of wished that Ciel had gone ahead and picked his weapon up for him. It made sense, since the Watchdog claimed he commissioned it as an anniversary gift. It was a shame that he couldn't look at… whatever it was—with the bluenette present. While he acted all calm, cool, and collected, Ciel very much enjoyed seeing his beloved's reactions, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Neither of them knew how long it would take for Jim to reach a stopping point in his work, and he knew that he ought to give the weapon a test-run before he went.
Thus, he made the trek to the research department, moving down the hallway rather slowly. He wanted to go home, but didn't feel enthusiastic enough to walk briskly. Yet, as luck or misfortune would have it, had he walked a bit faster, he might have been able to avoid the encounter that he was about to experience. As he trudged on, he heard footsteps behind him quicken, prompting him to glance over his shoulder to see what it was. Then, he heard it.
"Mister Phantomhive! Hello!" called out a woman with a noticable accent. Mademoiselle Renee Lapointe came trotting up with him, having recognised him from afar. Never before had Jim ever felt the need to correct someone when it came to his title, but here, the compulsion hit him like a ton of bricks despite how pompous he felt it was.
"It's 'Sir Phantomhive,' actually." the demon replied, stopping his movement anyway, as it was the polite thing to do. "Hello to you too, though."
"Oh! Of course! My apologies. You are a baronet." she stated, offering him a curtsy. "I knew you were not a 'lord,' but could not remember the appropriate title."
"It's alright. What brings you here?"
"I have a medical appointment with a Miss Ackerman, and then I have an appointment with the Supernatural Relations Department. I'm going to be interviewed about the state of supernatural affairs in Paris. It's very frightening."
"I bet it is! You were chased out by Iscariot! How are things, though? Are you doing better?"
"Mostly I'm afraid of seeing the doctor, right now. I can't remember the last time I had an actual checkup… I may have been human at the time!" the woman replied with a somewhat worried look on her face, but she was still all smiles. "I'm doing better in general after taking yours and Ciel's advice. I've been going and doing things around Gehenna and trying to make friends. I've met some very nice people in the process! I've even mostly decorated my apartment, now, but it's still not quite done. Luckily there are so many wonderful artists in Gehenna. So many of them actually paint portraits of you!"
"Yeah… They do that for some reason, but I'm glad to hear that you're having a better time, now." Jim was still courteous and he was genuinely glad that Renee was doing better than she was when they first met, but at the same time, he couldn't help but think that she was trying to ally herself with him because he was "important." It was definitely judgmental of him and he realised that, but he also knew that it was common with posh people.
"Oh! But how was your trip? I tried to come visit you at home, but your brother told me you were celebrating your anniversary with Ciel! Congratulations!"
"It was good! We had fun. We rented a small cabin in the middle of nowhere. Y'know, just getting away from everything for a bit. It's nice, sometimes."
"Indeed. I remember often going on trips with family and friends as well when I was younger!"
Despite seemingly having things to talk about, the conversation was visibly dying. Neither of them particularly knew how to interact with each other. Jim wasn't quite responding in the way that Renee was perhaps expecting him to, and Jim really didn't know where to begin with Renee.
"So…" the menace began, darting his eyes around in hopes of spotting something—anything to talk about, only for his gaze to land on a particular warlock as he approached. The demon's eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to figure out if he was indeed seeing what he was seeing or not. "What in blazes happened to Dafydd's head?"
"Who?" questioned the woman, turning her head in order to take a look at whoever it was that Jim was talking about. She saw nothing wrong with the man approaching them, but Jim was deeply disturbed by Mister Blake's conspicuous lack of mullet. Without it, the man almost looked presentable! Yet, knowing it was Dafydd, he knew that him approaching was yet another conversation that he desperately wished to avoid, but with the warlock's new appearance, Jim got a bit of an idea.
"Uh, Dafydd. Dafydd Blake. He went to school with Ciel and I at Warwick Academy." the menace explained while trying to sound like a posh person like the ones he'd seen in movies in order to test the waters a bit. "It's the most prestigious school in the country, you see. He is a very talented warlock from a very good family."
"Oh!" Renee raised her brows and seemed somewhat pleased by this news.
"Shall I introduce you?"
"Yes, if you'd like." the woman said casually, although her face said she was more eager than her words conveyed. It was always important to know as many nobles and other important people of wealth as possible and to be in their good graces, as one never knows when they may prove useful to you. That, and she wasn't quite sure how to be friends with most common folk—especially those who were uninterested in her pedigree. Thus, it was perfectly understandable for her to hope she could make a friend out of the warlock.
Dafydd's eyes fixated on the menace as the Phantomhive approached him with the vampiress in tow, causing a smile to form on his face. It was incredibly rare for Jim to approach Dafydd instead of the other way around, so it was somewhat of an event worth getting excited over. The boost of confidence he gained prompted the warlock to walk with his head a little higher as he now swaggered forward toward the menace.
"Hey, there, Spitfire!" Dafydd greeted with superb coordination. "Are you here to pick up your little present?"
"The present commissioned by my husband for our anniversary, yes." Jim replied. "I wanted to introduce you to an old friend of Ciel's first, though. This is Mademoiselle Renee Lapointe, from France. She's one of the people who has made her way to our little island recently, and I was hoping to introduce her to a few important supernaturals that a woman of her stature may find comfort in knowing."
While the warlock was skeptical for a moment, Jim's flattery worked wonders, prompting Dafydd to give the woman a good look. Her hair was blonde—a golden hue in comparison to the Phantomhive's paler locks, with bold, blue eyes and a pretty face. In other words: She was exactly Dafydd's type. He wasn't picky when it came to gender, so he felt more than comfortable with that. Although Dafydd certainly carried a torch for Sir Phantomhive, he wasn't so stupid as to believe that he had a very high chance with him, and thus felt as though he shouldn't let the opportunity the the menace was blatantly presenting to him slip away.
"Of course." he smiled warmly at the woman.
With that, Jim turned his attention to Renee. "Mademoiselle Lapointe, this is Mister Dafydd Blake."
"How do you do?" Mister Blake inquired, holding out a hand to the woman. When she accepted his offer, he bowed his head and took her hand in his before kissing the back of it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mademoiselle."
"The pleasure is all mine." Renee replied with a light blush in her cheeks. She offered the man a curtsy while Jim's brow furrowed in confusion as to what he had done. This wasn't at all what he had intended, but the demon decided to roll with it.
"Mister Blake works in the Research Department and is an expert when it comes to magic." the baronet continued. "He has helped my husband and I when it comes to our weapons many times and has even engaged in a few acts of heroism himself alongside us! In fact, Dafydd, you should tell her all about the time you helped me rescue Ciel from the Castle of Krampus several years ago! I'm afraid I really must take my leave, but it would be a shame to leave the lady in a place like this on her own while she waits for her appointment."
"Huh?" Dafydd questioned before the realisation of what the demon was doing smacked him upside the head. "Oh! Right! You're absolutely right. I will be more than happy to escort the Mademoiselle to her appointment."
"Ciel needed rescued?" the woman inquired. "Do tell! I simply cannot believe that he would ever need it, with the way he is, so do grant me the particulars."
"Yes! It was a very serious situation with a few details that are… admittedly classified..." Of course the warlock had to hesitate, as Jim would undoubtedly be the first to report him should Dafydd reveal the location of certain magical artifacts to a random outsider, but he continued. "But! I am more than happy to regale you with the important parts!"
Suddenly, Jim felt horrible for leaving this poor woman at the mercy of this self-important creep. She seemed happy enough with the situation, laughing and smiling along with whatever Dafydd said, but it was hard to say how long that would last. Jim knew that the warlock got irritating fast and wondered if he shouldn't have ditched Renee in such a way. It was selfish of him, he knew, and wondered if it was worth getting out of having to uncomfortably chat with them for a few minutes. Renee was on her own, now, unaware of what uncouth displays of arrogance awaited her.
Thoughts such as these were on Jim's mind even as he opened the door to the office. Unsurprisingly, he found everyone hard at work, documenting their various findings on their own, respective experiments, but a few took notice as he arrived. A few of them got up from their seats. One went off to one of the other labs while another, Wink, stood up to greet him.
"Hey, Jim." the woman casually said, sticking her hands in her pocket. "Here for the goods?"
"You make it sound like it's something shady. Like it's a weapons deal or something." the menace replied, earning a small smile.
"It's not shady if the government does it." sarcastically answered the witch before turning and starting to wander off. "C'mon. We've got it in one of the smaller rooms. Cheryl over there's gone off to get the boss, but I can get it out for you."
"Thanks, Wink." Jim followed her with similar levels of urgency.
They walked through a small sea of desks that eventually thinned out into a hallway with many doors on either side of the channel. Wink led the demon to one and put in a code into the keypad on it in order to disarm the lock. Once inside, they found themselves in the same small room that Ciel was inside of before, with the table, but only one case remaining on top of it.
"Miranda will want to be the one to show it to you, but it's right here." Wink informed, tapping the metal case with her finger.
"It's surprisingly small." the menace observed. "I'm thinking a small knife or a silencer or something."
"Good guess, but also not even close."
"Huh?! Not a knife or silencer… hmm..." Rubbing his chin, the Phantomhive thought. "Brass knuckles?"
"Nope."
"Billy club?"
"Nope."
"Mace?"
"In what situation would you of all people need mace?"
"Dunno. Now that I'm thinking about it, though, I kinda wanna use a billy club sometime. Not a fancy one or anything, but a homemade one. When I was in school, I used to fill a sock with change, so it feels kind of nostalgic somehow."
"Again, a person like you would not need mace under any circumstances, so why bother?"
"Brass knuckles are also more subtle than my gauntlets. I should get a pair for myself sometime..."
"You're being awfully ungrateful to your husband and more importantly, me..."
Their conversation, however, was cut right there. "Sorry I'm late!" declared Miss Ackerman as she flung the door open. "My subordinate had a hard time prying me from my work..."
"It's alright. I'm awfully excited, though!" Jim grinned in response, prompting a bit of a skeptical look from the witch at the table with him. "I'm having trouble guessing what it could be!"
"Well, wait no longer!" Miranda declared, pacing around the table before finally setting her hands on the latches of the case. "In this box is a unique weapon that will not only prove to be versatile, but also strike fear in the hearts of your opponents in combat! Behold!"
Undoing the latches on the box, Miranda opened it and gestured to its contents, inviting Jim to peer inside. He was just as unsure as to what it could be as he was before he saw it, however. He hadn't the slightest idea as to what he was looking at. Ten, small, oddly-shaped, triangles sat in the box, pressed into their nice little foam pockets to keep them from knocking about. Jim wanted to say something nice, but he simply didn't know what!
"Call out your jarnglofar." the woman instructed, reaching into the case to pull out one of the triangles. Doing as he was told, the menace called upon the black flames that came from unweaving his demonic garb, specifically calling upon the jarnglofar. As he did so, gold gauntlets decorated with runes and lions appeared on his hands, with a guard crawling part of the way up his forearms.
"Give me your right hand." she continued, taking the menace's hand in her own before only taking hold of just his index finger. Then, she attached the triangle to the tip of his gauntlet, causing a flash of realisation and excitement over his face.
"Claws!" the menace declared, his eyes practically sparkling as Miranda went through and carefully attached each claw to each finger.
"Yes, and since they can be attached and detached, I was wondering if you could summon the gloves both with and without them in case you'd like to keep it as a surprise to your enemies."
Once the menace had one hand done, he did just that, making the claws themselves vanish with black flames at his fingertips before making them reappear again with a flex of his hand. The demon was grinning like a lunatic as he watched it happen, doing it again and again to amuse himself while Miranda was still working.
"I'm glad that works." she said. "I was worried it might interfere with your ability to punch if it didn't!"
"They're amazing!" the menace said, flexing his fingers with the claws attached. "What can they cut through?"
"Well, we tested them on pig cadavers using a hydraulic arm that swung the weapon, but we couldn't accurately get a reading with the amount of force that you can actually deliver without knocking over the machine!" Miranda stated. "The claws can do a great deal of damage with a smaller amount of power, though. They can slash and dig into flesh just fine."
"That's all I need to know, I suppose."
"Do you want to try them out?"
"I'd love to!" the menace enthusiastically replied before stopping himself. "Oh, but, I probably shouldn't in one of my nicer suits..."
"We can offer you a temp uniform and a shower afterwards."
The blonde hesitated for a moment, knowing that he should probably go home soon and that he had a pressing need to do so up until he walked into the office. That desire vanished immediately upon seeing his new weapon, however, and he was desperate to try it out. He did have things he needed to do. Important things. Internationally important things. Yet, the lion ultimately wanted to try out his new claws.
"Alright. You got me. I'll do it." he said. "Bring on the pigs."
Enthusiastically clapping her hands together with a wide grin, Miranda rushed out of the room in order to get things ready for him, leaving Jim and Wink alone in the lab without any real explanation. Luckily, they knew her well enough to wage a guess.
"You can wait at one of the empty desks." Wink offered, opening the door for the demon. "She's really excited."
"I bet." the menace nodded. "It's not every day you get to test new weapons out on demons."
A/N: Greetings, n'er-do-wells. Here's a random chapter about weapons because reasons...
I wanted to do a whole other bit with Johnathan at the end of this, but this is already like, 10 pages and I want to update sort of on time maybe? I'll just put it in the next chapter, so remember this one probably?
Maybe?
Depends on what I end up doing with it.
I go back to school on the 13th and I am not thrilled about it... I have all of the terrible classes I don't want to do basically. I've put them all off for way too long.
At the same time, though, I've reached that point in my vacation where it's like: "What is there even to do? I'm bored!" I mean, I could be writing DLTD, but that's so haaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrd lmao
Nah, I'm kidding. I've just discovered the joys of dicking around on youtube and watching... whatever it is I watch on TV? Cop shows? Yeah, It's cop shows, probably... Specifically, British cop shows? Also Ghibli movies and spoopy ghost sighting videos. I'm starting to run out of good ones of the latter, though...
Anyway, I should probably like, sleep sometime tonight...
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!