The days seemed to blur into a vast, endless vacuum of darkness, paperwork and solitude...
That was until someone came bursting in her office, shattering her nightmare and forcing the ominous and looming darkness into retreat, back into the shadowy crevices where they belonged. Shock gripped Veronica as her saviour, the black haired female, Nerni, shoved one of the guard through the office door, stepping over the guard and promptly turning to Mildred, who had briskly walked up to the intruder, shoving a small stack of papers in her hands.
"You are no longer needed lap dog, you're free to scuttle off and disappear back under the rock you crawled out from..." the female stated dismissively, shooing her with a flourish of her hand.
Brushing off the insult, Mildred did what she does best, stating the facts as plainly as possible "I have been given a assignment, and I refuse to leave until I accomplish it to it's utmost completion"
"Honestly, I don't give a shit about your agenda, or you for a matter a fact, I'm transferring her out from under the councils beady eyes and into my company, hence forth she is no longer your concern, so go suck the fun out of someone else's environment" the younger female retorted pointedly, placing a hand on her hip.
"Who gives you the right to order me around?"
"Senior management, when they promoted me to head of the tracking department, the proper documents are in your hands, now shoo you cantankerous old bat"
Mildred huffed irritated before begrudgingly leaving the room...
The female watched her go, a satisfied smile creeping on her lips before turning her attention to Veronica "pack up your shit, kid, you're coming with me"
Veronica nodded, removing what was left of her things in the desk draws, shoving them into the pockets of her coat, and raise to her feet, letting the woman lead her out of the office.
Now that her eyes had finally readjusted fully to the light, she took in the other woman's appearance in as they walked... it was a good thing that she wasn't a easy envious person, for the woman was quite intimidating to walk beside.
Veronica's attention was pulled away the moment they existed the building complex, the rays of steady dimming light caressing her skin like a long awaited lover's touch, her eyes slipping closed as it warmed her skin, eased her soul and slowly started to counteract the damage however long of complete darkness had inflicted upon her.
"The name's Nerni Nycroni by the way" Nerni introduced herself abruptly, knocking Veronica out of her daze, as they walked across the courtyard, Nerni leading her across to the other side of the reaper realm and into another building beside the housing blocks. Through three lots of double doors, up a floor of steps and into what looked like a smaller version of the office block they had just left, passing through the middle of six desk areas, only one of which was occupied, with was partially separated with 5 foot high board, and into the office at the end.
Looking around the office, Veronica found it to be much like her own but slightly bigger, with mild shade blue walls, dark stained wood furniture and flooring, a large section of the walls covered in note boards, notices and large maps. Off to the side was a secondary desk, and a large seating area in the left hand corner where the boards seemed to congregate with a few stand alone tripods with collections of paper pined to the tilted board.
"The desk over there is yours, you will remain under my watch until I know for certain I can trust you, you will start in the morning, I expect you to be by 9 with a large peppermint tea, and whatever prefer beverage you like in hand. I will brief you on what your job will be in the morning, so I suggest you get some rest, tiredness isn't something I will tolerate, I want you at your best, am I making myself clear" Nerni reeled off sternly, watching Veronica... not feeling all that optimistic about her new team members mentality, not helped by the lack of verbal communication...
"Perfectly clear" Veronica replied, her voice creaking slightly from not being used for god knows how long for...
Nerni nodded curtly, before pulling a set of keys out of her pocket, holding them up and jangling "one more thing, the key to the boxes Mildred locked your stuff up in" she explained throwing them at her.
Veronica caught the keys easily "Thanks" she bid before pocket the keys "Can I go?" she asked politely
"You may" Nerni replied, sitting behind her desk and starting to address the left over dregs of the days paperwork, still watching the female out of the corner of her eye. The moment Veronica left, Nerni sent Theo a message, via a trusted subordinate, telling him that his little sweetheart was out of the council's clutches, that things didn't look overly all that good and to come in early tomorrow with the pastries.
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The first thing Veronica attended to was redressing her room, replacing her drawings on the walls, unpacking her personal things, and getting changed into a loose light blue kimono, throwing out all the boring uniforms and everything else Mildred brought in her.
Teleporting out, to the memorial ground, letting the forest take her deep into it's roots so she could start recuperating from the damage the witless reapers inflicted upon her, the first signs of sickness creeping across her usually flawless complexion.
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Theo arrived the next morning, bakery goods in hand and a apprehensive look gracing his usually jovial features, there was something niggling uncomfortable at his insides... it couldn't just be worry or concern for someone he had know for frankly no time at all, it had to be something much deeper, well hidden from his calculation conscious mind.
The only thing that kept it from becoming unbearable was the silver rose, wrapped with white ribbon tied round it's stem, he found on waiting for him on his desk this morning, which was now carefully tucked inside his robes.
Entering Nerni's office, he found the owner sat relaxing on the sofa, he joined her, sliding the box of food goods on the table and taking a seat in one of the chairs beside the seeming napping woman.
"I smell breakfast" Nerni mumbled, opening an eye, looking at him "with the side of a mildly brooding mortician..."
"So what if I am? I'm a deeply complex being, I also contempt many things in my free time, to the extent of which would baffle you" he mused sarcastically, a hint of humour underlining his voice...
"I'm sure you often sit down with a bubble pipe to address the big problems of this day and age" she chuckled teasingly, sitting up and going for the box...
"So much so I'm thinking about growing a contemplative beard just for said occasion" Theo mused, thoughtfully rubbing his smooth chin.
"Theo, if you grow a beard, I'll be getting you a cone hat with moons and stars on for your birthday" Nerni retorted, "I'll even hand make it especially for you"
He looked like he was actually considering his options "What about if I buy a hook over the ear beard, can I still have the hat?" he inquired
"You actually want the hat?"
"Yes, I think it would go splendidly with my alternate hat collection" he mused with a light cheeky grin.
Nerni shook her head, chuckling softly as she proceeded to shove a choice pastry in her face, taking a large bite, passing him the box "here merlin, make a few of these disappear" she teased playfully.
The conversation died down as they both went about consuming the fresh pastries, Theo sitting picking them apparent as the brooding look returned to his face.