I Just Want A Quiet Life... (SilverDragonsBlood)

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Randal laughed. "Taza was being secretive because she doesn't trust you!" he said happily. "I mean really, coming in and asking about Lady Hildegarde's home life?" Randal ducked into an alleyway, dragging Meri behind him. "Su-spis-cous~!" he finished in a sing-song tone of voice.

He looked at the woman, beaming. "I don't trust you either! Not when we live in this city!" The boy's grin suddenly became somewhat sinister. "I do have drugs." he said softly. "If you try anything funny, I'll kill you." The boy's cheerful smile returned as abruptly as it left. "But you seem really nice! I don't think you'll have to worry about that, Meri."

[Celegwen]

The way Randal was so easily able to shift between playful and creepy as hell was...well, it was creepy as hell! Always the young ones, Meri thought, shaking her head.

There wasn't a doubt in her mind that Randal could do as he said. Having a childhood in a place like that would definitely breed some interesting people. Either way, she didn't want to find out. "Smart," she said. "Don't trust anyone without them proving they can be trusted."

They continued in the alleyway, Randal not letting go of her hand. "So, where are we going to meet Hildegarde?"

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Randal's smile faded at Meri's response. "Aw, what? She's not scared?" he thought dejectedly. "Man, that stinks. I've been practicing my creepy face in the mirror too! She could have at least pulled her hand away or something..."

Of course, it hadn't been an empty threat- there was a reason he'd chosen to lead the woman by the hand instead of just telling her to follow. It still hurt though, and the boys disappointment was audible when he answered Meri's next question. "Her favorite restaurant... She's usually gets her lunch there..."

"This is so dumb! How am I supposed to be a bad guy if I can't even creep people out?"

[Celegwen]

Meri realized a bit too late that Randal was actually trying to scare her. Shit, she thought. I'll make it up to you later. I need to know what I'm getting myself into.

"Come on, buddy," she said, squeezing his hand affectionately. "Can you tell me your favorite story with Lady Hildegarde? Ever go on any cool adventures with her?"

If I can just get him to drop something, I'll at least have an idea of who I'm dealing with.

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"Well..." said Randal, thinking of what he could tell the woman without giving too much away. "Hmm..."

"There was this one time where, like, our biggest opium supplier was trying to get out of sending us that month's shipment of poppy latex. Apparently somebody was offering him a better deal somewhere? Anyway, Taza couldn't get him to budge, so she called in Hildegarde to deal with him directly." Randal began to giggle. "As soon as the guy opened his mouth to talk to her, he starting speaking in a really squeaky voice! He got so scared, he backed down right away and sent us two shipments for free!"

The boy beamed at Meri. He was making a face like this!" Randal made a look of exaggerated terror and then began to laugh. "Man, you should have seen it! It was really funny!"

[Celegwen]

A squeaky voice? Meri thought to herself. A bit odd.

She was slightly unnerved by Randal's enjoyment of someone's fear, but it wasn't too unexpected from that kid. Meri chuckled breathily, a feigned reaction because she felt anything but pleasure.

"She sounds really cool!" The girl said. "I can't wait to meet her!" That was probably the biggest lie she'd told so far. She definitely wanted to meet the woman, but something just felt off. Randal's story made it seem like she didn't even do anything to the guy! What kind of woman can drive such terror into a person just with her presence?

"So, what kind of 'bad guy' is she?"

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"The big kind!" Randal said, grinning. "Like the one at the end of an adventure story!" He looked at Meri, eyes twinkling. "She's the coolest ever! I wanna be just like her when I grow up!"

Randal gave the woman a thoughtful look as they emerged from the alleyway into a more crowded street. "So, um..." he began slowly. "What kind of bad guy are you?"

[Celegwen]

"The kind that last forever," she said, smiling like she was joking. It was too complicated to explain to a kid, so she just decided to go with simple and vague.

Meri's eyes wandered around the surprisingly busy streets. "By the way, I think you're going to be way cooler than she is when you grow up." She kept most of her attention on the streets, looking for any sign of something different from the usual suspicious people.

"She's like the bad guy at the end of an adventure story," Meri repeated, smirking. She brought her attention back to Randal. "You like adventure stories, huh?"

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Randal side-eyed the woman. Between the vague answer and the sudden compliment, it was obvious that Meri was hiding something. "I can't let her know that I know- that'd be bad." the boy thought. He smiled cutely at her. "Thanks! I really hope so too!"

He tilted his head. "I don't like how those stories end. The hero always wins! It's not fair." He suddenly pointed to a building that was bustling with activity. "There it is! That's her favorite place to eat!" He pulled Meri forward. "They have really good pasta there! I usually get the pierogies though..."

[Celegwen]

With a slight shake of her head, she smirked. "If you really think about all of those stories, there's always a way that the hero is actually the bad guy."

Meri loved a story where the hero saves the day, but she didn't want to tell that to Randal.

"Oh, pierogies are so good!" She said enthusiastically.

She hadn't had pierogies in... She didn't even remember when the last time was. Meri returned his smile and looked at the restaurant Randal was gesturing to. It was surprisingly busy, but that must've meant the food was really good. She was a little nervous about meeting Hildegarde. She'd learned some things about her, but nothing that was exactly warm and fuzzy.

"Any last advice for me for meeting Hildegarde?" She asked. If anything, she definitely wanted to make a good first impression.

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"Yeah!" Randa said enthusiastically as he opened the door to the tavern. "Don't disrespect her, because she gets mad easy!"

The inside of the restaurant was packed- there was barely any room to walk around! He gripped on to Meri's hand tightly. "Come on, I think I see her over..." he squinted. "Yep! There she is!"

***

Hildegarde Von Musel sat in a booth at her favorite tavern, The Bloody Rat. She came here for lunch nearly every day- it was the only place in town that served pasta primavera.

Finally, her waitress came. "Y-your pasta ma'am. It's fresh, j-just like you requested."

Hildegarde accepted the plate happily. "I see she learned from last time. Stupid bitch serving me day old pasta, I shoulda just killed her." She beamed. "Thank you very much Marian! This is exactly what I asked for!"

The look look of fear in the waitress's eyes was incredibly satisfying, especially since she was trying to mask it with a smile. She hurried away, and Hildegarde turned to her pasta. "Finally. That took way too long."

"Lady Hildegarde? I brought someone who I think you'll wanna meet!"

The gang leader looked up to see her youngest friend Randal holding the hand of a tall, pale woman. Hildegarde smiled at her. "Hello! What do you do?"

"All black clothes, black hair, pale skin. A Vampire? She has one glove- That's probably her shtick. This one might be cool, but she also looks like she could be a bit dull. You'd better be worth my time."

[Celegwen]

Randal pulled Meri along through the crowded tavern. The girl waved at people apologetically while moving through the small spaces. She thought about Randal saying Hildegarde always wore pink, so she scanned the tavern and saw a woman with blonde hair and a pink dress.

She really is flashy, Meri thought, taking a breath.

The waitress serving her seemed terrified, so that didn't exactly bode well in Meri's mind. That changed when Hildegarde's cheery attitude appeared when seeing her with Randal.

Maybe it won't be so bad, she thought.

When asked what she did, Meri wasn't entirely sure what to say. She didn't know this woman, but something told her Hildegarde could smell bullshit a mile away. She definitely knew that she didn't want to piss Hildegarde off.

"I kill...well, anything," she said quietly, suddenly uncomfortable. She hadn't admitted that to herself since her last life. "I killed an aegis poppy."

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"Kill anything, huh?" Hildegard said, scratching her chin. "Alright, show me- kill Randal." She pointed at the boy, who smirked at her. "Aww, he already knows what I'm up to? Would have been better if he acted scared."

It was, of course, a ruse- Hildegarde would not let anybody who'd willingly murder a child become one of her Friends. "If she refuses, we're golden. Any threatening moves or incantations, boom! Chlorine right in the lungs!"

[Celegwen]

Meri dropped Randal's hand, her brows knitting together with a frown spreading. She didn't even look at Randal, instead locked on Hildegarde's unwavering stare.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Meri asked, genuinely appalled at the request.

He's just a kid! She thought. I thought they were friends! What kind of psychopath is this lady?

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Hildegarde grinned. "Perfect!" she said, clapping her hands together. "That is just the answer I wanted to hear!"

She motion to the bench opposite hers. "Sit, sit, we have stuff to talk about. Your name first off, unless you wanted a codename, in which case it will be a really silly one."

[Celegwen]

Slightly flustered, she sat where Hildegarde had indicated, smoothing her skirt before settling. "Zymeria,"she said. "No code name, please. Just call me Meri."

She looked at Randal's smirk and pursed her lips. Of everything he said, he couldn't have warned me about how convincing her bluffs are?

"To be frank, I'm a little confused." Meri tucked her hair behind her ears, a nervous tell she didn't even realize she had. "I met a midwife, went to get jasper, killed a flower, and now I'm here. What exactly do we have to talk about?"

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Randal looked at Hildegarde dutifully. "I'm going to get back to Blue Orchid now." he said. "Taza wanted me to box the opium, and I haven't done it yet." Turning around, he waved goodbye to the two women cheerily. "See you later!"

Hildegarde waved back. "See you tonight, bud!" She turned to look at Meri, properly sizing hr up this time. "So you didn't ask to join? Randal just thought you'd be useful?" Hildegarde played with her hair thoughtfully. "Interesting. You know who I am, of course, so I'm sure you know what this is about. I'm always on the lookout for interesting abilities. You've thoroughly tested this power of yours, I assume?"

[Celegwen]

Meri smiled at Randal as he left, then looked back at Hildegarde, who was obviously seeing what she was dealing with. "I didn't ask to join," she admitted. "I didn't even know Randal was one of yours."

She glanced around again, making sure no one was listening. "If by 'thoroughly tested' you mean I know how to use it, then yes." Meri saw no point in beating around the bush. "I can kill anything, provided it has even a hint of a soul. At most, I can take out six grown men at once. I have good aim with my dagger, but my magic is more effective. Honestly, I'm not the biggest fan of using my magic because I don't like to kill unnecessarily, but I absolutely can."

A relieved sigh escaped her lips, and her heart was racing. Meri didn't realize how freeing it would feel to just lay it all out on the table like that.

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"Pffft! Of course he's one of mine!" Hildegarde snorted. "This is my city, my people are everywhere." She took a bite of her pasta. "Ya know, ahm shur ah coul' find sumthin' for ya to do." she said with her mouth full. She swallowed. "It doesn't even- oh! I got it!" She smiled. "You could-"

Hildegarde was cut off when the waitress returned. "Y-your pulled pork sandwich, ma'am..." she said nervously, placing a plate of hot food in front of Meri. The waitress left as quickly as she arrived, eyes wide with fear.

[Celegwen]

With a clearly confused look, Meri glanced at the food, then at the waitress, then back to Hildegarde. "I didn't... I don't know why... I-I don't even like pork."

The girl looked around the tavern with a suspicious glare. In her experience, you should never take food from a stranger. Especially not in a place like that twisted city. Meri pushed the plate to the side slightly, folding her hands on the table.

Hildegarde's way of eating was a little animalistic, complete with trying to converse while stuffing her face. Meri shrugged it off; no one was perfect. "You were saying?"