chapter word count: 636
noir heart: one hundred and nineteen
Jack collapses into his chair and leans his head back as he wipes both hands down his face, lamenting the speed at which his day has gone from normal to batshit crazy. First Hans, then a surprise visit from Merida Dunbroch, and now a freaking coffee date with a murderess - the same damn murderess that just pulled him out of the fire with a legal shield of sky blue eyes and scarlet hair.
Sighing through his nose, he pulls himself up in his chair whilst his left hand dives into the pocket of his slacks, to retrieve the small piece of paper with Elsa's number on, given to him by Merida shortly after he finished using her phone. "We dinnae want anyone ta snoop around yer call logs, do we?"
He stares at it for a few moments, before grunting his irritation and shoving it back into his pocket. Hire the best defense attorney in the city so he's free for a coffee date. Sure. Makes total sense. Elsa Black hasn't got an ulterior motive at all. Why would she have gone to the trouble of finding his old boss and learning of Arnulf if she wasn't going to use it against him? That's what sociopaths do; find a weakness, an emotional vulnerability and mercilessly exploit it, right?
There's a thought that crosses his mind - what if she's not actually a sociopath?
He huffs loudly, and pulls his chair up to his desk - it's high time he got back to business. Too much time has been lost to ride on the crazy train.
'Scopolamine' still sits patiently in the address bar, so with far more gusto than is necessary, his finger whacks the enter key hard enough for the brief flash of concern that he might have broken it. The screen obediently fills with result upon result, so he goes for the unoriginal route and clicks the first, sticking his chin in the crook of his left hand while he reads.
It isn't long before a familiar chill works its way down his spine, and another piece of the puzzle clicks into place - this substance can't be just for practical use, it has to be part of Cupid's signature.
Movement from near the unit's door catches his eye, briefly distracting him from the unease in the pit of his stomach. Clutching two takeout cups of 'Starsucks' coffee, Aster walks in looking the same as Jack's stomach feels.
"Where you been?" Jack asks almost as soon as Aster pulls up to the desk, and passes one of them toward him.
Aster shrugs like it's no big thing. "Hans was pissing me off, so I went to get us some proper coffee."
"And it took you this long… why?" Jack asks as he takes the cup from him and puts it on the desk.
Aster shrugs again. "Long line, mate."
Jack narrows his eyes just a micron - something feels off. Aster is unusually cavalier; normally there's an aura of I-take-this-seriously around him, but it's like he's reaching Hiccup levels of 'chilled'. Factor in his odd behaviour around Aurora's parents and in her room…
Then again, this entire day has been one big clusterfuck, so Jack wonders if his senses are merely on the fritz. "How'd the interrogation go?"
Jack snorts as he returns his attention to the screen, one hand sliding open the drawer for a notepad and pen, and begins to hastily jot down the important words. Things like 'open to suggestion', 'amnesia', 'zombie-like state'.
"Usual Hans. Presents himself as a friend, but just wants to stab you in the back."
He glances up just as Aster almost chokes on a sip of coffee.
chest infection + insomnia + 5:00am + a certain reader's addiction = why am I still awake updating this. It's probably trash.
special thanks to: katara0301, hugs and puppies all around, oninoko, rainbowcolorw0w, snowfire12345, strike faster than starlight, hornedgoddess, sara99, waguneru, jpbake, trapid, guest 413, aniza and isawaliciaarrow for the reviews!