Chapter Text
“I am not dressing up like a man.” Becky says with her arms crossed, in a tone which signals that the conversation is done for.
”Becky…” Starts Twilight, trying to convince her friend to help them.
”Absolutely not.” Repeats Becky angrily.
”Why doesn’t she just become my second mother, wouldn’t that be enough for the three person interview?” Asks Loid, not understanding why Aunt Becky has to necessarily dress up like a man. Twilight and Becky look at him for a moment and then at each other, not knowing how to explain to a six-year-old that the world is homophobic.
”The people at Eden Academy are really mean and they don’t enjoy seeing two women being married.” Anya explains and Loid just accepts that version, even if he already took all the context from her thoughts.
”Don’t worry sweetie I will always be your second mommy, doesn’t matter what those awful bureaucrats say.” Becky says cheerfully, hugging Loid tightly. For a moment Anya is scared that she might suffocate him, but instead of stopping her she chooses to concentrate on the bigger problem.
”I guess I’ll have to get married.” She laments, accepting her fate.
In front of a flower shop, between roses, tulips and orchids, three women are having a chat.
”Have you heard that half of the Human Resources Department got arrested for spying? I hope that all of their work will not get dumped on us.” Says one woman.
”Oh yeah, I’ve also heard that only the women got arrested, and they left the men alone. So creepy!” Brings up another woman. Just the thought that someone might ever suspect her of espionage for whatever reason makes her skin crawl.
”They said that they were suspicious because all of them were in their late twenties and unmarried.” Explains the third, smoking a cigarette.
”So horrible.” Shudders one of them.”But still not as creepy as our section chief. He was totally undressing me with his eyes this morning.” She continues, changing the subject.
”You can blame your short skirt for that.” The smoking woman tells her.
”What? But my boyfriend likes it!” She tries to defend herself.” You have a great figure too, Sharon! You’ve got to show it off.” Advises the younger woman.
”Not when you have kids you don’t.” The smoking woman corrects her again, throwing her cigarette in one of the bins on the street.
“Here are your wisteria seeds, ma’am.” Says a man from inside the flower shop, holding a small package towards the first woman.
”Oh, thank you, Mr. Desmond.” She says excitedly. She has had her eyes set on wisteria flowers for a while now, but the seeds are so hard to find, luckily this flower shop just happens to sell them.
”Goodbye Damian!” Says one of the women as they make their way back to their homes.
”Goodbye, please come again!” Says the man before heading back into the shop.
“I love this shop.” Says one of the women dreamily when they put enough distance between them and the flower shop to be out of the man’s earshot.
”Millie, you have a boyfriend.” Sharon reminds her, tired of her colleagues' antics, like usual.
”What does he have to do with the shop?” Asks Millie, pretending to not get her allusion.
”Yes Sharon, I’m sure that she just likes flowers and not to stare at the man taking care of them.” Jokes the third.
”Camilla!” Shots Millie back.” But, do you think he is single?” She brings up innocently.
”I doubt it.” Responds Sharon coldly, lighting up another cigarette.
”I don’t know. I’ve never seen a woman in the store, and a man taking care of a flower shop on his own? That’s a little unusual. I doubt that most men would take on such a job if they had a choice.” Explains Camilla, recognizing in her mind that the man is handsome despite his feminine occupation, but she is not gonna say it out loud.
”You never know.” Sharon contradicts her, annoyed at Camilla's know-it-all attitude.
”Oh yeah, have you guys heard that someone put a booger in the chief’s coffee today?” Millie brings up, snickering.
This is how the three women spent the rest of their walk home, excited to get some rest after an exhausting day of working at the City Hall, where everything is dull, but you have enough excitement to give you something to gossip about in a coffee break, or on a walk home.
Back in the shop Damian Desmond is preparing a few bouquets that are going to be picked up soon. He asks himself if anything is happening these days, giving how many orders he has had recently. The thought doesn’t leave him as he finishes everything and prepares to close the shop for the day. Ultimately he decides to drop it, it’s probably not worth it. Knowing his clientele, schools are just probably starting soon.
He climbs the stairs to his small one-bedroom apartment, wanting nothing more than to grab some food, soak in a bath and crash in bed for the next ten hours. That sounds great, he’s exhausted. But his plans are postponed by the phone ringing. Considering the timing, and that Damian has no friends, but he is never gonna admit to this, there could be only two people calling, and he doesn’t want to talk to either of them, but it’s not like he has a choice, they’ll act out if he ignores them. So he picks up the phone, prepared for anything.
“Do you have plans for the dinner?” Asks the voice on the other end.
”Hello to you too, Demetrius.” He responds in a flat voice, he has had it with this man’s bullshit.
”Yeah, hello, whatever. Dinner?” The dinner Demetrius is talking about is the yearly Desmond family dinner with their father, the perfect chance to feel the old man digging his eyes into your skull, judging all your life choices. They are both equally dreading it.
”I’m gonna go there and take it like a man.” He tells Demetrius, trying to act like he believes himself.
”Fuck that. We have to give him a reason to not be angry with us.” Decides his brother, without asking his opinion, as always.
”And how exactly do you plan on doing this, genius?” Nothing Demetrius does could please their father anymore, not after he left to join the SSS. The fall from the golden child to the black sheep was long and painful, and Damian would lie if he said that he didn’t enjoy watching it. So he understands his older brother, but he can’t find it in himself to care, as he is still in good graces. Damian is still working with his father in the family business and even if the old man was not entirely pleased with him starting his own business, it was in theme, so he forgave him because, unlike what most people believe, humor is not completely lost on him.
”Why are you still single?” Demetrius asks accusatively and Damian has to take a few moments to process what his brother has just said.
”What the hell does this have to do with everything, you idiot?” Damian yells at his brother, what is he thinking about in a moment like this?
”It has everything to do with everything. You know how father is.” Of course he knows, he was raised by him. Their father is, traditional to say the least. So he really wants his sons to find and marry good women and have kids. He doesn’t even want them to be implicated in the family business, he just wants to see his sons settled down, which is a problem when both of his sons are bachelors with no romantic prospects on the horizon. Demetrius is busy being radicalised by a wacko political leader and playing soldier all day, while Damian just kinda hates people in general and wants to die alone with his flowers.
”So get married.” Commands Demetrius.
”Absolutely not.” He is not getting married, especially not because Demetrius told him to. ”You’re older, you do it!” Damian tells his brother.
”He will hate anyone I bring.” Well that’s true, but that’s not his problem. ”Plus I’m busy with work all day, I don’t have time for marriage.” Demetrius reminds him.
”And I’m not?” Damian asks, becoming angrier.
”You just take care of flowers all day and sometimes take jobs from Father. Just say that you’re an antisocial flowerfreak with no friends that will be single forever.” His brother yells at him, brought on edge by the image of their father silently killing him with his stare while he is trying to eat.
”Stop talking about yourself, you fascist pig. Who’s saying that I’m single right now, anyway?” Damian lies before he could stop himself, in a fit of rage.
”So you have a girlfriend?” Demetrius becomes a lot calmer all of a sudden.
”Of course I have.” This is becoming worse, but he can’t back down now, Demetrius will not let it go if he does.
”Well why didn’t you say it like that?” Demetrius says cheerfully.” I can’t wait to meet her at dinner. See ya next week!” he hangs up, leaving Damian to think about what he has just done.
He’s an idiot, such an idiot. He thought that he killed this bad habit sometime in his teenage years, but no, he is the same impulsive idiot that he has always been. What is he gonna do now? Knowing Demetrius if he comes alone he will call him out right then and there in front of his father, and lying about something like this is taboo in the Desmond family. The last thing he wants is to become a black sheep just like Demetrius for a lie he blurted out while angry.
The phone starts ringing again, surprising him so bad he almost jumps up in shock, but he manages to regain himself fast.” Good evening!” His father’s voice could be heard on the other side.” I have a ‘client’ for you. The Royal Hotel, room 1307.” He hangs up as soon as he finishes, his father was always a man of few words.
An hour later, a man passes the doors of the expensive hotel. No one pays attention to him, as he has mastered a long time ago the art of blending into his surroundings, that’s why for this particular occasion he chose a suit. No one would pay attention to, what appears to be, a businessman taking an elevator on his own in a hotel commonly visited by such people. This is how he managed to get to the thirteenth level completely undetected. When he leaves the elevator he ends up face to face with two men” We’ve rented out this whole floor.” One of them informs him.” Did somebody order anything?” The other one asks one of his coworkers from further down the hall.
”Respectfully, gentlemen…” He addresses them, reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket.” I’ve heard that a very important man is staying here.”
Only a few moments later one of them is flying through the door of room 1307, scaring it’s occupants.” What the hell is this?” Yells one of the men in shock.
”We’re under attack!” Screams one of the bodyguards.
”A man just…” But he didn't finish that sentence, because a knife got stuck in his back, piercing his lung and killing him instantly
”Excuse me.” Damian Desmond addresses his targets.” Vice Minister Breennan, from the Auditing Department… I presume?” He asks them out of courtesy rather than anything else.” I apologise for the intrusion, but I’m afraid that I have to take your life.”
He is known as the Prince of Roses, the man is an assassin. The skills of his trade had been drilled into him from a young age by his father. Just like they were taught to his older brother and to his father before them. This is a family business, and unlike his older brother that was attracted into the entourage of hyper nationalists a few years back and chose to almost completely cut them off to join the SSS, he’d been doing whatever dirty work his father had asked of him.
“No way! My suit?” He asks angrily when he realizes that one of the sleeves of his blazer got ripped during the commotion.” What am I going to do? This is the only nice suit I have. What am I gonna wear to that damn dinner?” He thinks again about his conversation with Demetrius.” It’s hopeless anyway.” He sighs.” It’s not like I can just find a woman until then.”
“Did you find a father?” Loid asks Anya, seeing as she has sat quietly, thinking, for the last few hours.
”Not yet. This isn’t easy.” Anya has ended up in such a position that she thinks of trying her luck with a dating agency.
”It’s going to be Aunt Becky after all?” Loud asks disheartened.
“So you need a man refined enough for Eden, who doesn’t mind that you’re divorced with a kid and who’s willing to marry you in forty eight hours.” Becky barges in carrying a huge stack of papers.” If such a man exists I might just steal him from you.” She jokes while placing the
papers on the coffee table.” I scoured all the registers in town and I compiled a list of all unmarried men.” She says proudly.
”Do you need any help with all of that?” Asks Loid, peeking his head from behind the couch. Looking for a father can’t be that hard with all of those options, right? But Anya just laughs at this, ruffling his hair.” You don’t need to worry about it, I can deal with this on my own. Why don’t you go watch TV?” She proposes and Loid nods his head before heading for the TV, leaving the two women to work.
Becky watches Twilight look through the files for a few minutes before asking” Why can’t the agency just send another operative?”
“They were mostly wiped out during the recent spy sweeps. None of the ones left fit the bill.” Twilight responds, sighing. She hates the SSS so much.
”Ah! Whole lot of rats out there these days.” Agrees Becky. She has been undercover as a store clerk for so long that she doesn’t really know what’s happening with the agency these days.
”They’re so shorthanded right now they sent me another mission on top of this one.” Twilight continues.
”They’re working you like a dog!” Considering how important this mission is, Becky thought that they would let Twilight deal only with that for a while, especially in the early stages, but apparently the agency is doing really badly.
”All the more reason to resolve this quickly. Let’s start with men whose circumstances might give them a reason to cooperate.” Becky gets to work with a newfound vigor, eager to help her friend.” If we can find dirt on them, we can use it for leverage. And if not, we can always fabricate some.” Suggests Becky, but Twilight shakes her head.
”I’d prefer to avoid any complications.” She justifies, but Becky rolls her eyes.
”Really? Hard to imagine a bigger complication than that one right there.” She points at the small boy with badly trimmed, overgrown hair, watching Halloween with a fascinated expression.” No way does that look like the scion of a privileged family.”
“Hmm! You’re right. I’ll see what I can do about his appearance, at least.” Twilight decides and gets up. She heads for the bathroom and comes back with a box and a towel, then she grabs a chair from the kitchen and puts it in the living room, near the table they were just working at a moment ago.
”Loid, come here for a bit.” She calls out to him. The young boy listens, and approaches them slowly, eyeing suspiciously the box. It’s not like he hasn’t seen it before, but usually it’s on a high shelf in the bathroom, so he never saw what’s in it.” I’m giving you a haircut.” Clarifies Anya, snapping the scissors playfully while gesturing him to sit down. That made some of his uneasiness go away, but he was still really uncomfortable with the situation, sitting rigidly on the chair. But if Becky or Anya observed that, they showed no sign of it, they just placed the towel on his shoulders while debating the haircut they should give him.
Anya wets his hair with a spray bottle and starts combing through it. Loid never realised that before, but his hair is long enough to reach his eyes when it’s like that. It’s uncomfortable and it tickles him, but every time he reaches to get it out of his eyes Mother tells him to stop moving. He obeys and soon after hears again the sound of scissors snapping and sees strands of blond hair falling on the ground. Fortunately his bangs are trimmed too and they stop sticking to his eyes, but his relief was short lived, as he hears a buzzing that startles him for a second before he realises what it is. Mother shaves his sides short before turning the machine off and taking the towel off his shoulders with a satisfied smile. Before he could get up Aunt Becky rushes towards him ruffling his hair and styling it in a few ways before she is satisfied.
“He’s so adorable!” Becky squeaks.
”Yeah, he looks great. Now he can definitely pass for a rich kid.” Anya says, satisfied with her work. Did anyone ever believe that Twilight would not be an expert in any method of altering your physical appearance?
Meanwhile Loid excused himself to the bathroom. His hair was still damp, but now it definitely looks a lot better than before, Mother making sure that she trimmed everything perfectly. Until then he was only shaved completely by scientists or his hair would be cut carelessly by people at the different institutions he had been in or by other kids that wanted to play a mean joke. He doesn’t know what to think about this change, but it looks better so, momentarily, he decides that he likes it.
“Shouldn’t you get some clothes for him?” Asks Becky and Twilight had to stop self aggrandizing to realise that she forgot to get him new clothes. How much of an idiot can she be?
Just a few minutes later Anya and Loid are passing the threshold of a well respected shop in Berlint. It’s the one that makes the uniforms for Eden Academy, a fact that didn’t escape Twilight, obviously. Any chance to meet some other parents and make fast connections in the exclusivist world of Eden is a useful one.
Loid is looking around the shop curiously. He has never been in such an expensive place before.” Come with me. I’ll take your measurements.” Says sweetly an older woman, guiding him to the back of the shop. Loid looks towards Anya and she sings to him that there’s no danger and he should go. This kid is a little too guarded, she thinks, but considering what life he had that’s not unexpected.
But everything is in vain if she doesn’t find a husband. The people at Eden Academy are too much, what about people with a deceased spouse, or divorcees or just single parents of any kind or any number of circumstances that it’s not a heterosexual nuclear family? This is ridiculous. Twilight and Becky can only do this much, doesn’t matter how exceptional they both are, they are just people. Twilight needs a lot of luck to make it happen.
Twilight’s train of thought is interrupted by a presence right behind her. Before she even properly notices the other person they are already at the counter. ‘Who is this person?’Twilight asks herself, how could he be able to slip right behind her? Maybe she is too stressed about this husband thing and forgot to be vigilant? Twilight can’t help but hope that it’s not something more serious.
“Excuse me!” The man addresses the owner.
”Oh, hello, Damian. It’s been a while.” She greets him smiling.
”Hello. I need to get my blazer mended. Would it be possible to get it done quickly?” Damian, where has she heard that name? Ah, he was in the files Becky brought. Damian Desmond, twenty seven years old, never divorced or married. The mother is dead, the father owns a chain of restaurants. One brother, several years older, works as a civil servant, he owns a flower shop. Nothing unusual in any of their files.
“Excuse me? You’ve been staring at me since I walked in here. Can I help you with something?” Damian asks her. He could even sense her stare now? Motherhood was really getting her rusty.
”Uh, no…” She stutters, trying to get out of the situation.” I just thought… you were really handsome. I’m sorry, it must have been awkward.” Yeah, that’s ok. She could have done better though.
Meanwhile, Damian recognises this opportunity, he might have a chance of saving face at the dinner.” Miss, I…”
“Mother, I finished.” Loid comes back into the room, interrupting Damian.” Who’s that?” He asks, seeing that she was talking with someone. Potential father?
”Another customer.” Anya responds simply.
Damian lost all hope immediately, so she has a kid. He nearly asked a married woman out to dinner, and with his family at that. This could have become dangerous, he really doesn’t want to get into a fight with the husband. Even if it ended up there, he would have won, he’s an assassin after all, but he would much rather avoid it.
‘A-a-a-assassin?’ Loid almost screams aloud. Wait, a spy and an assassin? This could be interesting. He scolds himself for that thought, this is not a joke. Loid listens to them a little more, trying to get a better grasp on the situation. Anya is thinking about how he would have fit the husband role, but someone so sharp could become a problem. Meanwhile, Damian thinks that he could have taken her as his fake girlfriend, but he wants to avoid unnecessary conflict. Are those, compatible goals? This is it. Loid is determined to make this happen. Doesn’t matter what complications appear later, he needs to get into that school for world peace.
“I miss dad so much.” He whines to Mother.
”Loid, what are you doing?” She questions him, this is new, and she doesn’t know how to interpret it.
”I just miss him so much.” He continues, grabbing Anya’s skirt.
”Is your husband away?” Damian asks tentatively.
”Ah… my husband passed away two years ago. I’m doing my best to raise him as a single mother.” She responds awkwardly. This is an opportunity, but Loid’s behaviour is worrying her.
Damian regains hope once again.” I’m sorry for my rudeness, but could I ask for a favour?”
Once outside Damian, in spite of his shame, starts explaining his admittedly embarrassing situation to this woman he doesn’t even know and her son. The whole time he cursed Demetrius in his mind, for putting him in this situation only because he fucked up and now their father hates him. The woman did giggle a little bit; she at least tried to contain herself, while her son remained completely calm during the entire conversation.
“Your pretend girlfriend?” The woman asks after he finishes.
“Yes, I lied and told my brother that I was in a relationship. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I will find a way to pay you back, you can trust me on that. It’s just that…” He sighs.” Our family is a bit weird and if my father finds out I lied things are gonna get ugly.”
“I understand and I accept.” She responds simply and Damian has to take a pause and process her words.
“Really?” He asks, in utter disbelief.
“Under one condition.” She continues, smiling.” Long story short, I want to ask you to attend a family interview, posing as Loid’s father.” Suddenly the favour he asked for didn’t seem so outrageous anymore.” It was so important to my husband that, in these uncertain times, our son attends a good school, and now that he’s gone… well, I want to honor his wishes as much as I can! May I ask you to help me do that, just this once?”
As peculiar as the woman’s request is he can understand it, his father also cared a lot about education and always made sure that he and Demetrius had a good grasp on all the basic concepts and then some, ‘knowledge is power’ this is what he used to tell them and the older he gets the more he realises that his father was right.” It sounds fair.”
Twilight is pleased with herself, this is a game she has played many times before, lure them in with an initial small request to gain trust and establish a bond then follow that later with an agreement to marry.” Thank you, then I’ll see you on Saturday for the dinner.”
After finishing their discussion with Damian Desmond the two of them took a trip to the store for some groceries. She has so much to do these days, Twilight can’t even take a good respite, Operation Strix, the dinner, educating Loid, doing all the things a mother is supposed to do and there’s also that other operation. She can’t wait for all of this to be over.
“I’ve arranged a sitter for Saturday, be nice to her.” Anya tells Loid while scanning over the isles.
“Yes, Mother.” He responds distractedly. Now that he gave them a good reason to stay in contact his job is momentarily done, he just hopes that everything will go well.
After getting everything they need Twilight pays the cashier and gathers her groceries.” And you get ten pents back. Ribbit.” The man behind the counter says while handing her a coin.” Come again. Ribbit.” The man adds right before they leave the store.
Loid looks confused between the cashier and Anya.’ Ribbit? Is this another spy thing?’, he asks himself, and just like usual it doesn’t take long for the answer to arrive.
Finally the information on her other mission. Is it T cipher, or the F cipher? She doesn’t know anymore, well she will just have to wait until they get home to check.
At home Twilight leaves Loid in front of the TV and goes directly to the cipher. She opens the coin, inside of which was a small piece of paper. The writing is minuscule, so she needs a magnifying glass to read it. The ways in which Westalis manages to send her information never fail to amaze her.
She is to recover valuable antiquities stolen from the West and destroy the smuggling ring responsible. The plan is to strike when the smugglers meet the buyer, Saturday at six p.m.
“Wait, Saturday?!” She says out loud in disbelief. Why can she never catch a break?
Saturday evening Twilight and Becky found themselves on a rooftop, prepared for the heist.” So that’s the deal. I need to mop them up quickly so I can make it to the dinner in time.” She explains.” You’re going to help.”
Next to her, Becky was not nearly as relaxed.” Whoa, whoa!” She says, panicked.” I just deal in information! I couldn’t fight my way out of a paper bag!” Becky excuses herself, too scared to actually participate in a real field mission.” Plus, you’ve pretty much maxed out your credit with me already.” Becky fights back against Twilight and her crazy plans.
“Seventy-eight historical treasures, appraised at a total value of three million dalc.” Twilight covers her face, preparing to strike.”If one or two of them don’t make it back to the West, would anyone even notice?”
“I’m your girl!” Becky says determined, the danger of the mission being suddenly lost on her.” In fact I’ve invented some new spy gear for just such an occasion.”
In another part of the city Damian Desmond waits at the determined meeting spot, anxiously checking his watch.” Anya…” He looks at his watch again, even if he checked just a minute before.” She is running late…” He sighs.” I hope there hasn’t been an accident or something…”
Back at the werehouse Twilight and Becky are running from bullets.” Get back here!” Yells one of the smugglers.” Who do you work for?!” Asks another, shooting at them.
“You never said there'd be this many of ‘em!” Becky yells at her friend, desperately pushing the cart containing the historical artefacts.
“Two, four, six… Looks like there’s thirty eight of them?” Twilight counts the men while running. Before they catch up to them Twilight starts taking them down as fast as she can.” Even at ten second apiece, that’s time I don’t have.” She yells frustrated.
“Don’t get sloppy!” Becky warns her.
“They have reinforcements?! There’s no end to them!” Twilight says out loud when she realises that more men started to appear.
“The loot’s in the van! Get in!” Becky yells at her from the van. Twilight runs towards it and they drive off as fast as possible.
After finally being out of danger the two of them finally relax.” Now which of you beauties is coming home with me?” Becky opens the box, her eyes gleaming with the shine of the jewels.” Oh my!” She says, excited, picking up a diamond ring.” I’m gonna take this one.” She declares.
Twilight only gives her a passing glance to inspect the objects.” Suit yourself.” She needs to hurry to leave the antiques, change her clothes then arrive at the restaurant, she’s already late. But as much as she wanted this to be done with, Twilight spots a car driving next to them and the two armed men trying to shoot them.
Back at the meeting place Damian sighs disappointed. She is not going to come. What did he even expect? He shouldn’t have put his trust in a complete stranger and now he had nothing else to do but accept his fate. He couldn’t ditch the dinner, his father would hate him and Demetrius would not hesitate telling their father everything, which is only going to make everything worse. Well, it was nice being the favorite, as much as it lasted.
He heads inside the restaurant. Two employees greet him at the entrance, recognising him as the owner’s son. Good people, but not even them can bring up his mood.
“You’re late, Damian.” His father tells him when he finally makes his way to the table.
“I’m sorry I had some troubles on the way.” He excuses himself and sits down.
Demetrius looks at him, probably furious that he left him alone with their father for so long, but his expression changes in one of satisfaction when he sees that he is alone. He has no compassion for his situation. This is how Demetrius has always been. He used to idealise this man, but now that they are both adults he knows that he is just a small pathetic bastard, vulnerable to being manipulated by the most obvious of cult leaders. And now this bastard is going to humiliate him, destroy his relationship with his father forever only because he is angry that he has already destroyed his own. Maybe he doesn’t have to go through that, if he could just kill them and everyone else in the restaurant. It’s coldblooded but they are assassins, family members murdering each other is not new, even his father killed his two older brothers and his parents to end up in his current position. He wouldn’t feel bad about this. But he has to be careful about it, his father is old and Demetrius has lost his touch since he started working for the SSS, but they are still highly skilled, even so, he could take them down if he acts fast enough.
“Please forgive my tardiness. My name is Anya Forger.” He hears a familiar voice behind him, so sudden that it surprises all three of them. When he looks behind him he sees the woman he has waited so long for, visibly exhausted and with blood streaming down her face.
“Do any of you know this woman?” His father asks.
“Yes, she is my partner.” He says quickly and stands up, signing towards one of the servers to bring one more chair to their table.
“Anya, you’re bleeding.” He says, looking surprised at the wound on her forehead.
“Ah, indeed. Don’t worry about that.” She brushes off the issue and sits down next to him.
“Bring a bandage to this young lady.” His father commands and a few employees rush to take care of the issue.
“Oh, thank you.” Anya says, smiling.” I’m sorry for the disturbance, I had an emergency patient who became a little violent. Happens all the time.” She explains, all smiles.
“Emergency patient?” Demetrius asks, still in shock.
“I’m a psychiatrist.” She responds and turns towards Damian.” I’m sorry to keep you waiting, I hope I didn’t bother you too much.”
“Of course not, I’m glad you’re alright.” He responds, almost ecstatic that everything actually ended up alright in the end.
His father coughs to get their attention.” Well now that everyone is here we order the food.”
The menus are brought and Anya looks excited through it, after such a long day she is starving. And the food here is apparently really good. The Desmond family owns some of the best restaurants in Berlint, they are smaller and less extravagant so they are not frequented by a lot of people from high society, but the people that did know them have only high praise. And Twilight can see why, not only is the food great, but all of them were decorated with a lot of plants and flowers that grow directly in the restaurant. She heard that each restaurant has a different theme, this one looks like a rich garden, it’s pleasant. Maybe Damian was inspired by the restaurants’ decorating choices to open his own flower shop, it would be fitting.
“Miss Forger, I have to recognise that I had no idea you will be joining us this evening.” At this he glares at Damian that readily avoids his killing gaze.” But now that you’re here I would like to know more about you. You said that you are a psychiatrist?” He asks her, smiling pleasantly.
“Yes, I work at Berlint Central Hospital. I just recently started my practice.” Anya responds in an equally pleasant tone.
“This is wonderful. What else is going on in your life, outside your work?”
Anya giggles awkwardly.” I’m ashamed to say that not much else is happening.” Oh, how much she wishes this was true.” I just don’t have any time between work and my son, my life is very busy.”
“A son? Were you married before?” He questions her, still remaining cordial.
“Yes. My husband died two years ago.” She responds, doing her best to seem sad.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” Donovan says.” How old is your son?”
“He is six.” She responds and Donovan nods slowly.
Damian sighs in relief, mentally, of course. He didn't know how his father would react to that. He is not directly against single parents like other people from his generation, he was one himself after all, but he still pities them, especially the women. Seeing how well he is reacting to this is the second best thing that happened at that dinner.
“I think it was so hard for you, Mrs. Forger.” Demetrius says, finding one major flaw in his brother’s cute girlfriend and striking while the iron is hot.” A single woman with a child in this political climate, you must have had one or two run-ins with the law.” He would know best, considering how many single women he has imprisoned, with or without conclusive evidence.
Twilight panics for a second. It’s true that in the recent spy sweeps, single women over twenty-five were the first to be targeted, Becky only managed to escape the SSS because she was married on paper to a fictional man, but Anya Forger was not. Is he onto her?
“Demetrius I think that you are overstepping your boundaries.” Damian interjects his brother.” I believe that Anya’s actions are admirable, even if the government would not hunt single women like witches, raising a child on your own is still hard, and I’m proud of her for doing such a great job.” He says, partially defending Anya, partially condemning his brother’s actions.
Anya looks at him surprised and smiles without realising. She is not even a mother, this is not even her boyfriend, but still, his words make her happy. This is ridiculous, her exhaustion makes her act irrational.
After eating the rest of the dinner, a few more questions from Donovan and numerous grim stares from Demetrius, the faux couple left the restaurant, leaving with smiles on their faces and the promise that they will return in the near future. As soon as they put some distance between them and Donovan Desmond the two finally let their smiles fall and got in Anya’s car.
“I’m so sorry for being so late, a few things appeared on the way.” Anya starts excusing herself. ”Your father seems like a strict man, I’m so sorry if I left a bad impression and the thing with your brother, I didn’t think that I had to lie about Loid, I…” Donovan Desmond, in spite of all her expectations, proved to be an exceptional man, never in her entire career has Twilight encountered a harder person to read than him, he seems more like a cement wall than a man. She is mostly convinced that she managed to leave a good impression but even the fact that she has doubts says a lot.
“Don’t worry, it's fine. My father liked you well enough.” He assured her.” As for my brother…” He sighs.” I’m so sorry, don’t give his nonsense any attention. I didn’t tell you to keep your son a secret because it's not needed, I don’t care for my brother’s opinions and neither does my father so you don’t have to worry about that.”
Damian feels so bad for what happened. Demetrius just proves to be a constant pain in the ass and he feels ashamed that he even let him hurt Anya in such a way, to a point where he even accused her of espionage in a roundabout way. That bastard. Since joining the SSS he sees spies in every shadow. What did this woman even do to him? Being his girlfriend? Well he is the only reason she even had to come to this dinner and they are not going to see each other after the interview anyway.
An idea comes to his mind. He looks towards Anya, driving, with her clothes still a little bit dirty from the run in with that rowdy patient, she is cute, and clearly dependable, and his father likes her well enough. If they stay together his relationship with his father will reach its maximum heights, it will guarantee his good graces and he might even inherit the family business. At the moment he is pretty low in the hierarchy, even if he is his father’s son he is not considered dependable enough so he is very likely to be passed over in his father’s will for a more favored subordinate that his father will adopt before his death and appoint as the heir. Knowing his father, having a family will demonstrate that he is actually grown up and can take on more responsibilities, this will mean that he is going to be more involved in the organisation. There might actually be some hope for him.
“I’m glad, I wouldn’t want to make trouble for you.” He hears her through the fog of his plans.
“Listen, Anya…” He swallows, is he even sure about this? This is a crazy plan, unbelievable, but if it works he might just get everything he has ever wanted.” I have an idea that I want to…”
Suddenly a car slams into them, almost knocking them off the road. Both of them look at the other car and see two armed men staring menacingly at them.
“What the…?!” Damian asks in disbelief.
Anya’s brows furrow, the remnants of the smuggling ring have found them. But how? Did they hide a tracking device in the antiquites? How could she not check for that? Has she lost her edge that much?
“What’s going on? Who are those people?” Damian asks her and Anya starts searching her brain for a good story.
“It’s a long story.” She responds. He doesn’t seem like an idiot, she can’t just blurt something and expect him to believe it, she has to be careful about it.
“Well make it short.” He demands.
“Ok.” She decides, praying that this is gonna work.” Remember my patient I was talking about earlier? He broke out with the help of some really dangerous people. I spent my whole day alongside some cops trying to get him back and we succeeded. Those are the people that helped him escape, I guess that they are angry with me.” She blurted out and watched how Damian’s mouth opened and closed in disbelief for a moment.
“I had no idea psychiatry was such a dangerous job.” He says after regaining his composure. This is the craziest story he has ever heard, but he figured that she had no reason to lie. How could a young single mother be implicated in shady business?
“Let’s just get away from them for now!” Thank God, Twilight thinks to herself.
A few blocks later they abandoned the van and hid in the narrow streets, waiting for their pursuers. Just like Twilight planned, they were attracted by the van and came to check it. While Damian was preparing to take them down, Anya grabbed a metal box and slammed one of the men with it. Quickly making work of the second one while he was baffled.
“This way, quickly!” Anya calls towards Damian while running away.
He left the alley, looking at the two unconscious men before running after her.” You’re really good at this.” He comments after catching up to her.
“Thank you. I took a self defense course in college.” Twilight explains herself while grabbing a pipe left next to a house.
“Wise choice.” He nodded his head. It’s really important for women to take care of themselves these days.
Anya glances at him for a moment, unable to decide if he is pretending to buy her bullshit or if he underestimates women so much he would not question her twice.
While doing this a man sneaks up behind them. Anya grabs Damian’s arm and gets in front of him, throwing the pipe at the man’s head. But at the same time a second assailant creeps above them, on a fire escape, with a knife. Twilight notices him too late, realizing that she can’t dodge him in time. She gets down, trying to at least avoid having the knife hit her face, while doing this, Damian takes down the man with a kick that proved so powerful the man slammed right into a nearby wall.
“Are you alright?” He comes to check up on her.
Twilight takes a moment to stare at him. That was, very impressive, a perfect technique and devastating force. Just who is this man?” Thank you, Damian!” There will be more time to find out later. “That was incredible! You really sent him flying.” She says laughing. The whole situation seeming almost comical.
“I… I guess I did.” Damian also laughs. Finding the situation so unbelievable that it’s funny.
“There they are!” They hear a voice yelling and then the sound of bullets. Anya grabs his arm again, dragging him into a narrow street, away from the guns.
Damian looks at her back while they quietly look for an exit out of this problem. Finally, the first silent moment since this whole thing started. This is his chance. Yeah, it might be a little inappropriate, but if he doesn’t ask her now who knows when he is gonna get the chance.
“So, um, Anya…” He starts timidly.” I know that this isn’t the best time to ask, but…” He closes the space between them and gets next to her.” Will you marry me?”
Twilight gets so shocked she loses her footing and falls to the ground.
“Oh my god…” He says in shock.
“I’m sorry…?” Anya asks after getting her face off the ground.
“Perhaps I should have phrased it as’ Will you extend our agreement?’.” He starts explaining.”My family is a bit odd and the way our business functions is unusual too. I never dreamed that I could inherit it, but seeing how much father likes you, I believe that getting a family will finally prove that I am capable of taking on more important responsibilities. Instead of parting ways after the interview… What would you say to remaining together…”. This is the only way he could get to inherit the family business and this is the only woman that would ever put up with such a plan and even accept him and his family.”... as an actual married couple… for both our sakes?” By the end of the statement Damian was faintly blushing, but in spite of his embarrassment, he maintained eye contact.
Anya stayed quiet for a while. She doesn’t know this man, and by the look of it he might be someone very dangerous. But she doesn’t have a choice, the interview is coming soon and if she doesn’t have a husband by then all the work she has put into this already would be wasted.
“We can swing by the courthouse on our way back home.” She suggests while dusting off her dress.
“Right now?!” He asks, shocked.
“No time like the present.” Anya says giggling.
They hear footsteps coming towards them and they quickly take cover.” We’ve got the bitch cornered!” One of the men yells.” We’re gonna tear ya limb for limb!” Yells another.
“You’re right.” Damian says and reaches into the interior pocket of his jacket.” In this case…” He takes out a grande, Anya eyes it shocked. Damian takes the safety pin and throws it towards their attackers. He takes Anya’s hand in his and gently places the safety pin on her finger.” I take thee, Anya… for better or for worse… for richer or poorer… in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health… I pledge myself to you.” He declares, taking her hands into his own, right as the explosion goes off.
And with this, the westalian spy Twilight, and the murderous Prince of Roses, tied themselves to each other, until their goals do they part.