Chapter 206
"This may be one of the most dumbass things he's ever done," Valkyrie said with an unintentionally twisted smile. "Like, how far does he actually think he'll get just asking people about a hut with a tree? We're in the middle of literally nowhere. There aren't even any trees, how far back would we have to go to find it?"
"To be fair, I've never heard of a Lemon Flowered Gum tree," Militsa said, hands behind her back and bouncing up and down on her tiptoes. "Maybe it's rare and rememberable."
Valkyrie raised an eyebrow at her. "And you know a lot of tree names?"
She cracked a smile. "No, not really."
"That's what I thought. I really doubt he's going to find much like this. We're better off just going straight to the Faceless Church and making sure we're not late. Maybe scope the area a bit before it gets dark and all the demons come out."
Militsa just shrugged, looked around the almost deserted, dusty street as if something more exciting might come along. "What are we going to do then?"
"I don't know. There isn't much to do other than question people and Skulduggery said he had that covered, so…"
"Right."
"Sorry. I'm sure you were hoping to see a bit more action than this."
"What? No way, I'd rather leave the detecting to the detectives. I wouldn't want to mess it all up or get in the way," Militsa laughed. "We could, I don't know, get a drink and sit around until he calls? Maybe gossip or something?"
"You don't get to do much outside of the Sanctuary and Temple, do you?" She teased. "Let's get something to eat, we have no idea when there'll be time next."
"I'd like that," Militsa said with a sweet smile.
Valkyrie smiled back but felt as if Militsa might have been reading into the idea more than Valkyrie felt comfortable with. She tried to think of something to say about it as they began walking leisurely down the street but failed to think up anything that she could casually fit into conversation. She didn't want to simply state that it wasn't a date, as it was very clearly not a date and she felt she'd only sound horrible if she did that. So she chose to ignore it in hopes she was the one looking into it too much. Which she likely was, as she wasn't entirely sure how to navigate being friends with someone she previous kissed while broken up with her now fiancée. This was just something they would have done while they were not-dating. They could still do the same as friends.
"You alright?" Militsa asked. "You're nodding to yourself."
"Yeah, I was just thinking. I doubt we're going to have much luck finding a restaurant. This place is so tiny. It's smaller than the village I grew up in."
The young women walked in companionable silence, only muttering about where they might find something until they came upon a small café they gratefully took a seat at. They were told the selection of food and they were both quick to choose and order. Out of respect of their different places in life, Valkyrie made sure to pay for them both. If Skulduggery had taught her anything, it was to not allow a friend she knew perfectly well had less money than her to pay for their meal. Once in a while for it to not seem like charity, but certainly enough to not create a financial problem. Dexter had chimed in when he'd told her that and said it was called "not being a dick to a bro." Anton had rolled his eyes so hard she had laughed herself into crying.
"Do you and Nadia get to go out often?" Militsa asked with a small smile.
Valkyrie looking down at her drink. "Not really. We'd love to go out every week but, my job gets in the way a lot. We still find time when we can though."
"Yeah."
"We had a date a few months ago that was really nice but then Nadia got arrested." Militsa choked on her drink and coughed loudly, demanding Valkyrie tell her what happened. Through a grin, Valkyrie did. "Well, do you remember me telling you that I was once attacked at a swim competition? So we went on this really nice date…"
Valkyrie told her the story, finding herself laughing along with Militsa like they were long-time friends. Militsa was still giggling to herself when their food was served.
"I think me and Nadia would get on really well," she said, gently touching her toasty to see how hot it was. They'd both chosen the same basic cheese and tomato with salad on the side. "She seems really funny."
"Yeah, I'm not sure she really intended to do that," Valkyrie smiled fondly. "But I'm not mad about it. I'm just glad the girls didn't press charges or we'd have been in a bit more trouble. I think she'd like you too. She liked the idea of us going out to the movies one day with some friends."
"That would be fun. I can't say I've had much of a chance to make friends yet, but once I'm a teacher I'll have a lot more time to do that."
"Have you been to a cinema?" Valkyrie questioned around a mouthful of food.
"No, I haven't had the chance. Walking into town is a bit of a trek so I try not to do it on my days off," she said. "I don't mind too much, I have loads of time in the future to do something like that. So, can I ask why the lady didn't feel your, you know, earlier?"
Valkyrie looked down at her plate without meaning to, knowing immediately that she'd given herself away. "You're codewords really aren't as good as you think they are. But to answer your question, I'm not allowed to talk about it."
"Dead Man secret?"
"In a way. It could get people in a lot of trouble even though I did it for protection. I get the impression it'll get out eventually, but I would just like a bit more distance between what happened and now first. I'm sorry if it doesn't make sense, but I don't want someone to get in trouble for trying to protect me."
"It's fine, we don't have to talk about it. I mean, you have that fancy new discipline anyway, I'm sure whatever it is can just be blamed away on that," Militsa suggested without skipping a beat. "I'll change the subject. What's your prediction for who's responsible for the, err, case we're on?"
Valkyrie laughed slightly over the phrasing of the question. "Oh my god. I honestly don't know. It sounds as if there's at least three people based on the description of the shadows, but that could mean anything really. I'm predicting a couple of people are involved, maybe even splitting up to cover the most ground, but considering they've gotten some fairly well versed fighters so far, I expect they're working in a larger group to overrun their victims. I can't help but think the Faceless Church being involved is suspect, but I have been consistently told how bad they are so who knows? Maybe they're innocent victims?"
Militsa shared a smiled with her. "Yeah, they're not really known for being that great. I'm sure some people are, but as a general… they're kind of known or being insane. No offence to any Faceless Worshipers or anything."
"I wouldn't apologise. Well actually, maybe it's better for you since you're not much of a fighter. In case someone ever overheard and attacked you."
"That feels like a generalisation."
"I think it might be. I'm not that concerned about calling all Faceless Worshipers dickheads though," Valkyrie smirked. "I don't mind if I go to hell for it."
Militsa quietly agreed into her mouthful of bread and cheese and they were quiet for a moment. Valkyrie felt her phone begin to buzz.
She checked it, thinking it may be Skulduggery, but it wasn't. "It's Nadia."
"You can take it," Militsa said quickly, taking another barely graceful mouthful of toastie.
"Are you sure? I don't want to be rude." Militsa waved her concerns away with a wave of her hand. Valkyrie answered the call where she was. "Hey honey, everything alright?"
"Yeah I'm fine," Nadia's voice said. She sounded small and lonely. "Are you busy?"
"No, no, just having a sandwich break while Skulduggery asks about a tip," she said. "Are you sure you're alright, you don't sound it?"
"I just had a nightmare," she said despondently. "I'll be alright. I think Erskine gets home soon so I might ask him for a hug."
"I'm sure he'd be happy to talk," Valkyrie said. "Is there anything I can do? You can tell me about it."
"I dreamt something awful happened and you died. It was stupid, I know it wasn't real. It had an octopus involved, it was really weird. It doesn't really matter, I know it didn't happen and you're alright, it just wasn't very nice. Tell me how your case's going. Is Militsa alright?"
"Well, you don't need to worry about me, nothing bad's going to happen to be any time soon. The case is fine so far, nothing to report really. Nadia asks how you are."
"I'm good, thank you," Militsa said with a smile.
"She says she's good," Valkyrie told Nadia. "What time is it with you?"
"Eight-thirty in the morning."
"Do you have the baby today?"
"No, she's with Tanith all day I think. I get the impression she's rethinking the whole going to war thing. She was holding Laila like they hadn't seen each other in weeks when I went to check on her."
"It has to be hard to choose what to do," Valkyrie said. "Um, I don't want to be rude, but I'm sort of in the middle of a café."
Nadia ended the call shortly after, leaving Valkyrie and Militsa to talk quietly and enjoy the last of their meal. Valkyrie texted Skulduggery a sarcastic message asking if he was any closer to finding their location as it would take them almost an hour to get to the Faceless Church, and he told her he had not so she suggested they order another drink and desserts.
"I heard some things happened. With Skulduggery," Militsa said quietly, looking at the table.
Valkyrie sighed into her menu. "I assume you know everything."
"I don't know. I don't hear much from my position at the Sanctuary. I heard about Cleric Wreath being kidnapped and Skulduggery not long after. I know he was made to blow up the Sanctuary. Things were a bit iffy on if he was actually forced or not but I'm assuming he didn't since he's free. And then I heard he did something the Sanctuary didn't like and ran away and I didn't really hear anything else for a long time until people started saying he was back."
"Yeah well. That's about everything," she said darkly. "Did you hear about my injury?"
"Yeah, a little."
"Yeah."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Valkyrie glanced at her and only saw sincerity in the gaze. It made Valkyrie sigh. "Not really. I'm alright now. I'm just being a little funny about it because me and Skulduggery are just trying to get back in the groove of things. I was really angry and bitter about how things went, and I had a lot of questions he wasn't able to give me answers to that I liked. I punched one of his teeth out when we saw each other when he got back not long ago. Like, we're not angry with each other or not talking. I'm actually really happy for him. For getting therapy I mean, and trying to better himself in more positive ways rather than holding onto his past anger so much. I guess it's kind of awkward at the moment."
"I can understand that."
"It doesn't help that there's a lot of expectations and unknowns and we don't really know each other's boundaries properly anymore. We used to be really open and close but it's harder now. And we're both working so much on our own cases we can't talk very much. We'll get the hang of it and get through it, and we'll fight together, and when this is over, and it will be over soon, he'll go back to therapy for a while."
"That'll be good for him."
"Yeah, three hundred years of trauma from when his wife and kid died. That can't be healthy. It's no wonder he had a breakdown and did what he did. It must have been horrible for him but sometimes I find it hard to find sympathy. A part of it feels like he brought it on himself. The current stuff that is not the… not the stuff with his family. The breakdown."
"I can understand that," nodded Militsa. "What are you going to get?"
"Lemon cake, I think. Feels apt."
Militsa gave her a smile. "I was thinking the same. But the banana bread sounds good too. We don't have that at the Temple."
"How's it been there? You didn't really get on with anyone in Ireland."
"It's better than before but not what I want. I love my discipline but I don't like the culture," she said with a shrug. "But it's not too bad. I'm older now and I have an outside job and it's a smaller Temple so people aren't as selective with their friends as with other Temple's. I'll be alright."
"Okay. Well, you know I'm only a phone call away," she said with a little concern.
"Thanks Val. You're a good friend," Militsa replied, giving her a small smile before putting her menu down. "I'm getting the banana bread. I think it has chocolate chips on top and I need chocolate."
Valkyrie laughed. "Sure, of course. I'll stick with the lemon. I hope Skulduggery doesn't take too long though. I think he might just be being stubborn to prove a point and it's a little annoying."
"Yeah, but at least he's not dragging us with him," Militsa winked.
Cute.
ValkyrieP: The name Kes means nothing, I did it to purposefully trigger people 3
Remus Crux: :o
