2
Spades Slick fell asleep on the sofa. He wasn't even aware he'd fallen asleep until he opened his eyes and saw sunlight streaming in through the living room window. He blinked, surprised, then sat up, yawning tiredly before glancing at the clock he'd purposely had set on the wall out of his reach so he wouldn't be tempted to smash it during a fit of rage.
The timepiece informed him it was nearly noon.
Noon?!
He sat up with a start, startled that he'd slept so long or that he'd slept at all what with that female sleeping in his bedroom. He should have been up all night with a knife in his hand in case she came out of there and tried to kill him in his sleep.
Speaking of which...
Slick got off the sofa and crossed the room until he reached the closed door to the bedroom. He reached out and slowly turned the knob and peeked into the room, very carefully, as if he expected something to come flying at his face.
Snowman was still sound asleep, curled up under the bed covers and hugging the pillow. She looked like a child, peaceful and innocent, though he knew she was neither. Still right now it was a bit hard to believe that this person was the cruel former Queen of Derse and the black hearted only female of the the rival gang the Felt. Oddly enough, it gave him a depressed feeling, as if part of him really wished she was an innocent as she looked right now.
Slick shook his head, grumbling to himself. What stupid thoughts he was having. She was a pest! Why in the world would he wish for her to be sweet and innocent? That was stupid. He should be wishing for her head to be put on a pike and paraded around the city.
Grunting, he turned away from the bedroom and stomped into the kitchen unit of the apartment. He didn't even want to think about that junk. Sweet people were weak anyway and useless.
He opened the fridge and perused the contents. He was hungry but didn't know what he wanted. Nothing inside the fridge looked edible, probably because there was an ugly green fuzz growing on it. How long had that cheese been sitting in there anyway? He really should clean it out.
Cursing he slammed the door shut and plopped into a chair. He'd do it later. Which most likely meant he would do nothing at all.
For now he'd just pout and try to figure out what he was going to do about Snowman. Obviously he would make her tell him the truth about her bruises but what would he do after that? Kick her out? Confront the idiot who dared beat her up? He couldn't even begin to come up with a good alternative.
Does it even matter? he asked himself. Why does it bother me so much? She got what was coming to her and yet I feel like beating up the person who'd done it. Maybe it's just that way because it wasn't me who did it. Yeah, that has to be it.
He got up and opened a cabinet, taking out a bag of his favorite candy. Black licorice Scotty dogs. He opened the bag and stuffed a few of the candies into his mouth and chewed.
After a few minutes he felt a bit better as he savored the taste and sat back down into the chair to think. If only dealing with her were easier but killing her was out of the question.
Shame.
The mob boss sighed in disappointment. He'd never have any fun. He couldn't torture her or kill her, All he could do was insult her and leave her to take his bed and stink up the mattress with her vomit inducing perfume.
"Great, I'm going to have to fumigate my entire apartment once she's gone," he muttered darkly. "I don't need her leaving any roaches behind."
The sound of his bedroom door opening jerked him out of his thoughts. He turned around and look back toward it.
Snowman was leaning heavily against the door frame. It looked like she was trying to walk into the living room.
"Hey!" he snapped, getting up and storming over to the female. "What do you think you're doing?"
She looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "I have to go to the bathroom."
Oh, the bathroom. He felt a bit embarrassed now but he wasn't going to let her know that. Instead of simply apologizing he decided to throw the blame on her. He grabbed her arm and shouted. "'You should have said something sooner."
She gave him a look that clearly said she thought he was stupid. "You didn't give me a chance to, what with you stomping over here and shooting off your mouth before I could even open mine."
"Just get into the bathroom!" he snapped, unable to come up with a good retort.
"Help me."
He started to yell at her again then helped himself back when he saw she couldn't even stand on her own without leaning against something. Which left him with no other choice but to help her into the bathroom himself.
He did not want to do it.
He really really did not want to do it.
But she was still there, leaning against the doorway, looking at him expectantly.
That's when he realized he didn't have a choice, or maybe he did. He could always make her crawl into the bathroom, it might be fun to watch her groveling. The very idea made him grin. Hey, why not? It might teach her a lesson.
But Snowman seemed to know what he was thinking. "You'd really make a woman who was beaten to a pulp crawl around on the floor like a drudge?" she asked him.
"I'm thinking about it..."
"Spades!"
He rolled his eyes. "I'm not serious," he growled at her. "Tempting as if is I don't want to risk you getting a fatal injury." he smirked. "No sense destroying the universe. You must really enjoy holding that fact over everyone."
She muttered something he couldn't make out and he wasn't in the mood to make her repeat herself either. Instead he put her arm over his shoulder and walked her into the bathroom without saying a word.
While she did her business he waited outside of the bathroom, though he told himself he should have just left her in there. After all she'd have to go in there again in a few hours. Why not just leave her in there?
Then I can get my bed back. Yeah, the sofa wasn't exactly a comfortable piece of furniture. He preferred his soft and comfortable bed. I really should leave her in the bathroom.
Then again; if he did that he would have to find some place else to go himself or go in there and be forced to have her watch him.
Yuck!
Best if hr just let things go. There were more important things to focus on anyway.
Like her telling him what happened.
Sheesh, his thoughts constantly returned to that question. Could anyone even blame him? He wanted to know and at the moment snowman was being rather stubborn about the whole thing which was really annoying.
A moment later Snowman called to let him know she was finished. He went back inside and helped her back into his room and onto the bed. She rested her head on the pillow with a sigh.
"Anything else you need, your highness?' he asked sarcastically.
The female Dersite frowned at him in annoyance. "Do you always have to be so sarcastic about everything?" she demanded. "I mean would it really hurt your oh so delicate pride to be a little sympathetic?"
The look he gave her told her is really would be.
"I would suggest you think about that statement a moment before opening your mouth again," he said. "Because if you really want to get the answer to that question you should do a lot of thinking."
Snowman said nothing after that. He was right after all and she really shouldn't have asked him that question at all. What a stupid thing to bring up, especially about him.
"Finally figured it out?" he smirked.
The female Dersite changed the subject. "Do you have any cigarettes?"
"Are you kidding?" he demanded. 'why would I keep those vile things in my house? I don't smoke."
"Are you saying you don't even keep a pack around for guests?"
"Why should I. Droog brings his own." he sneered. 'you chose the wrong apartment. Maybe you should have fazed your fat butt to Droog's apartment instead, then the two of you could smoke your brains out like a couple of steam engines."
Even thought she wasn't exactly in the best shape at the moment, due to her injuries, she still had enough power to knock him clear across the room with a simple blow to the face.
He cursed at her, pushing off the wall, ready to slam her face into the back of her skull. How dare she hit him! who did she think she was? She didn't have any authority here! This was his house! He held the cards, not her!
Slick raised a closed fist as if he were going to slug her in the face with it.
She gave him a knowing look. "If I were you I'd put that hand down, unless you want to risk destroying the universe in one of your childish tantrums."
Why did she have to remind him?! Snarling, he dropped his fist and turned his back on her. Stupid woman!
"That's better."
"Oh shut up."
She sighed, flopping her head back onto the pillow. The look on her face told him she really wasn't in the mood for a fight, not that he could blame her after what she'd gone through.
Speaking of which...
"So are you going to tell me what happened or not?" he demanded, bringing the subject back up.
"I was beaten up." she said.
"Well that's obvious."
"Then why are you asking."
"Because I want to know who and why," he retorted.
"Why?"
"What do you mean why?!"
"Why do you care so much?"
Slick shrugged. He had no it was because he didn't like anyone hurting her but him. They could kill her and ruin everything.
"Just tell me what happened," he snapped. "and don't you dare say 'I got beat up' again because that won't cut it, sister."
She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment before opening her eyes again and beginning her story...