As Mai woke up the next morning, she found herself on a rather wide mattress. No longer, was she in the comforts of her makeshift hospital room. Instead, she lay in Geese's bed. She fluttered the sleep away from her eyes, surprised by the hand that stroked her head with soft, gentle movements that almost lulled her back to sleep. For a moment, Mai lay still while she felt Geese's hand card through her hair. He loomed over her, caressing her waist and her hips.
She had to bite her bottom in order not to let a soft moan slip.
Mai figured that she'd have to be wry if she had to show her anger towards him. She had to remember that she was still disappointed with him and he better work hard to make her happy again before she'd trust him, let alone allow him access to her body. She ought to find a way not to let warmth spread over her body every time he was close to her. Even if it struck her just how much she missed him. Longing was a powerful beast but she wouldn't let it defeat her.
After concluding Mai was asleep apparently, Geese quietly slipped out of bed, and she discreetly turned around to watch him pace around the room to the massive walk-in closet where his clothes hung. Quickly he got dressed, moving with purpose much like Hein. He was rather quiet and so she expected him to leave like a shadow when he headed for the bed again, looking at her before he sat down. Slowly, he removed the blanket and put his hand on her hips, sliding down to the scar underneath her navel.
Mai remembered the expression on his face when he lay eyes on it. His jaw had tightened, and his eyes had shifted into two dark hues. It was like staring into the deepest sea, expecting a great white shark to jump from the water and eat you. Geese didn't terrify Mai but at that moment, she felt honest fear and she wondered if he could hurt her twice as much as Wolfgang. She only showed it to prove a point, not to watch him kill something in his mind.
In hindsight, Mai realized that it was only born from that deep sense of protection, a person felt for someone in their life. She had recognized it in Andy during their last moment together; she then saw it in Geese. Now, his fingers ghosted against the charred flesh, which was still sensitive to the touch.
"I'll have to ask you for the details at some point. Which means I'm going to drag you into the realm of…benefits. I'm assuming you're listening, Miss Mai," Geese spoke softly, yet his voice bore no warmth whatsoever but judging from his tone, it was more of a thought spoken out loud than an actual demand. Or rather, it would be if he wasn't directly addressing Mai.
Gritting her teeth against the pain of the sting, she sat up, her hand landing where he had touched her moments ago. "How did you know I was awake?"
"I learned the difference between sleeping, being awake, and being dead," he answered, straightening his tie before he sat back down on the bed again, right next to her. Mai could believe him when he said that. Momentarily, morbid curiosity almost made her ask to be taught this as well – until she remembered that she was mad at him.
Such a fact was a little hard to forget when the tips of his fingers brushed against her lips and his hand came to rest against her cheek. The look he was giving Mai reminded her of that moment. The evening where she probably lost her damn mind and allowed Geese Howard to bed her. In hindsight, such a moment was to happen a little more gracefully.
Although she didn't expect it to happen at all.
She didn't expect to be so attached to soft Geese or to feel so good in his affection. And of course, he had to look at her like she was his most precious treasure. Mai could certainly believe the nurse who told the story of him being so mournful of her while she was recovering.
"You won't mind being my equal in this hell?" he asked, sliding his hand to her shoulder. It took Mai a moment or two to realize what he was asking of her.
There was part of her that felt a little terrified yet honored that he took the first step of properly involving her this time. It was a bit odd that the rebuilding of trust had to come from the ensuing conflict between unlawful men, but she was aware that things would end up like this one way or another. She just hoped they'd make it to the other side unharmed.
Mai tried not to frown as she answered, "You're doing it for my sake then?"
"I do it for all of us. They are a threat to us, which needs to get removed," he gave her shoulder a tight squeeze before he continued. "Big was there, yes?"
Mai nodded, wondering where and how she should start. She figured she might as well take it from the beginning, relaying how everything went well for a day before it all went to hell in a handbasket. She made sure to paraphrase everything and spoke of Big's arrival, which confirmed that he indeed was one half of the coalition, working with Wolfgang to take down Geese. Mai's very involvement in this whole mess thoroughly put a stop to that plan.
She ended her tale at her escape, clutching her wounded arm close to her chest. Somehow, the memories caused her to shake and her breathing hitched. At some point, she had looked down into her lap, flicking her eyes upwards to see the quiet rage boil through Geese like a kettle.
His lips formed a thin line as he responded with; "Fair to assume Big is the reason behind Wolfgang's interest in you."
Yes, now when Mai thought of it, it made sense. It also explained the picture Big took of her when she visited him at the Blue Moon Factory.
"And he might be the reason how Wolfgang knew about you in the first place," Geese said, his voice suddenly sounding so faint despite him sitting right in front of her.
Mai could only nod, however, almost furling into herself where she sat. Her chest was tightening, and she struggled to breathe. It was as if all the emotions that plagued her in her time of torture came flooding over her like a tidal wave. Why did it affect her so?
"Mai, I made you a promise to kill whoever harmed you," Geese said, now sounding much clearer. He had put both hands on her shoulders and slid them to her cheeks, tilting her head upwards until she looked at him directly. "They won't ever touch you again. I'll make sure of that. You should sleep in for the day. You're still on sick leave, I'd reckon."
Mai closed her eyes and tried not to lean against his touches. She was mad at him, and he'd have to work in order to regain her favor but it helped that he scooped her up and lay her back down on the bed, mindful of her tender ribs. Neatly tucked under the covers, Mai watched as Geese stood up and headed for the door.
"I'll have one of the nurses drop by and check up on you," he said before he left.
Hate to see him go but love to watch him leave. Or something like that.
An hour or so later, Mai woke up, her head aching from too much sleep. Her wounds began to throb too. Sitting up was bit of a struggle with her wounded ribs but sitting up she did, right as the door went open and Hein stepped in. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he stopped by the side of the bed. If he had any opinions on the fact that Mai was sleeping here, it wasn't apparent. He stared at her, and she stared at the tray in his hand.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, sounding almost human. It caused Mai to blink for a moment. The slight strain in his voice gave it away.
She struggled with sitting up, making sure to take the blanket with her as she was only dressed in a bra and thongs. Swiftly it was wrapped around her, and she sat cocooned in its warmth, answering with; "I've been better. Everything hurts."
Hein nodded and put the tray on the nightstand before he removed the silver dome. "I thought so."
On the tray were a glass of water and some beloved pain medication. Considering her injuries were beginning to ache something fierce, their presence was much welcome. Hein could spare himself a few minutes if he had just come with the glass and painkillers though.
"I came to inform you of the journey to Taipei," he said as he handed her the glass.
"Mm-hmm. I was told that I was going. Finally leaving this place for a bit."
"I understand and maybe not. I quite like this city," Hein mused, more softly and subsequently more humanly. It was almost weird to see him act so approachable, just as it was weird seeing Billy with Joe and Geese being anything else than an arrogant, prideful old man. And he wasn't even that old!
Mai gulped down the water with the pain relievers, holding onto the glass while she awaited their dulling effect to kick in. Gingerly, she leaned over to the nightstand and put the glass on the tray, dimly aware of the bed dipping next to her. It was quite a shock to see Hein sit next to her but sit next to her, he did. He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. He looked so…human, it was almost scary.
"I did too," Mai said, sounding more wistful than she intended. "Well, I still do to an extent, enough for me to move here with…Andy."
The irony here was that Andy didn't die in South Town. It was in the mountainous forest outside of it. He had gone out to train and Mai offered to come with him. They had just returned from Japan after a long trip and during their absence, gangs had flocked to the area and used it as their hideout. Neither Mai nor Andy were aware before they were ambushed.
They had been greatly outnumbered but Mai was convinced that they were not as strong as Andy. Like the brave knight he was, he had pleaded with her to run away for safety, basically commanding her to when the gangbangers brought in reinforcements. To this day, Mai felt as if she had just ignored Andy and kept fighting with him, she wouldn't be sitting here in Geese Tower.
She wouldn't have seen Andy's corpse in the aftermath.
She remembered that moment clearly.
For the entirety of that fight, it had begun raining. A deluge that washed away all the filth of nature. In the grassy field, Andy looked pristine. The rain had washed away the blood from the blade piercing his chest, so it almost looked as if he was just sleeping. Mai didn't remember much after that other than her echoed, hysteric screaming when she realized that his slumber was quite permanent.
Such a moment never quite left you, no matter how much time passed. Even if you fell in love with someone living, betraying your other love, such a thing was unforgettable.
Mai wondered if Geese had such a moment with his wife's legacy.
"It's crazy, isn't it? You train your entire life to be the strongest there ever was, only to end up getting killed because you tried to protect someone. I don't even know why I'm even telling you this…" Mai smiled bitterly after a long pause.
"…The world works in mysterious and cruel ways. It makes its people act in a similar manner," the expression on the good butler's face was unreadable and he pushed his glasses up, using the angle to hide his eyes.
"Is that why Geese vows to kill the people who hurt me?"
"Yes. They are not empty threats," Hein explained, all levels of warmth and humanity fading from his entire being. "But he's not some crazed murderer. He's no monster. There's a reason behind the lives he takes."
"Yes, I could imagine so," Mai murmured and stared out the window instead of directly at him. Outside the sun was beaming through a cloudless sky. She remembered that Andy had mentioned that Geese was the one who killed Jeff. Something petty from decades ago was the cause of that. Mai empathized with the brothers and still did. Ironically, she had fallen for the man who was to blame for all of this.
"Under his control, South Town is much more peaceful. It's easy to forget that. From an outsider's point of view, Geese is a ruthless and greedy man. I will say that he can be as cruel as he can be kind. To set it up binarily through the lens of good or evil is too narrowminded. It blinds you to the man that lies underneath. It is what Geese wants his enemies to see though. What you and I witness is just a man and it's quite unfair to judge him by his act of cruelty alone. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. And when it comes to you, the affection."
Ah, so he was probably already in the know.
Mai sat with the feeling that she had been involved in this discussion at some point earlier. In silence, she sat, dulled by the pain medication. She wasn't surprised by this either. It seemed that Geese had always been this way, if not a little more tempered with age. Maybe that was why he often said he hated being sentimental. It went against the image of this stalwart, prideful monster in pretty suits. Perhaps there was an unsavory part of her that felt…oddly precious of bringing such reactions out of Geese.
The fact that people might die because of her took some getting used to. The fact that it was Wolfgang, who very well could have killed her by neglect and abuse, or Big, who had tried to outright murder her, didn't bother her as much as it probably should have. The logistics and technicalities of these promised hits were a different matter entirely. She'd let Geese handle that.
"Actions speak louder than words," Hein said when he looked at her again. He stood up from the bed, taking the tray and dome with him. "Now, may I suggest you get packing? You have a plane waiting for you this evening."
Later that evening, Mai found herself in a private jet soaring across the oceans to Asia. Outside, the night was pitch black, as if the world itself had vanished. The plane was quiet except for the monotone hum from the engine and the occasional sounds of people within the cabin. Mai had come to loathe continuous endless monotone tones but tonight the ambiance and subtle sounds were comforting.
Above her, the lights were still turned on but dimly as to cast the cabin of the plane into a cozy atmosphere. Early into the voyage, Mai learned that the seats could be converted into actual beds and so she lay nestled under a soft blanket, at perfect eye-level to the darkness outside. Coincidentally, she had chosen the set of chairs that converted into a double bed.
Geese and Mai hadn't spent much time talking as he had been on his phone or laptop most of the time, handling business-related dealings. Now, well, now Mai didn't know where he was, probably asleep somewhere in one of the chairs. She had truly been spoiled by large beds so the chair felt a little cramped, but she took what she could get. Moments later, she heard the sound of the second chair being shifted, and she turned around, staring into the smiling flight attendant's face, who quickly apologized and moved away.
Mai turned around again, almost at the brink of sleep when she felt a presence loom behind her. She figured it was the flight attendant or one of the pilots calling in for the night at first until a hand crept underneath her blanket, landing on her thigh and then sliding upwards, holding her by the waist. Yep, could only be one person.
Mai was correct in her conclusion when she smelled a familiar, woodsy cologne. There was still bit of a gap between them, so from an outside view, it just looked like two people sleeping unless someone was astute enough to see the shape of a hand caressing a woman's body.
It was odd to think that a man who would not hesitate with cruelty, could make Mai's skin shiver with delight. Who knew how many people he had killed with those hands? Connected to the fingers that slid upwards her side, just ghosting over her chest and collarbone. Before they had left for the airport, Hein had told Mai of a recent incident that included a shootout and Geese blowing someone's brain into chunks with a bullet. Soaked in blood last week, now brushing so tenderly against Mai's neck in the next. It was almost head-rushing how contradictory it was.
Dangerous, kind, evil, good. Nuanced probably. A man with his own demons. Someone not afraid to kill. Not afraid to protect.
Not afraid to use women either.
Perhaps Mai had been in denial this whole time, unwilling to admit that she liked the thrill of being here, walking the fine line between good and evil, surrounded by carnage yet having a place where people valued her. Being the only person free of Geese's wrath. So it hurt when the situation in Germany occurred. But even powerful men made mistakes. He, who was so confident to the point of shameless arrogance, had admitted this. It took a certain level of self-awareness for that. Most arrogant men didn't possess that.
Those men were foolish.
Mai would forgive Geese one day, but not now. There were a few things, she'd like answers for but they were hardly appropriate to ask when surrounded by people in various stages of consciousness.
There would be a time and a place for everything, she figured, shuddering at the soft kiss being planted against the back of her neck.