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J.D. swung his cane idly, staring into the bright fog that surrounded him on three sides.
He was waiting–waiting for his…partner to show up.
Despite her own insistence on punctuality, she always arrived long after the sun had set.
It was for this reason that the apartments were his least favorite place to meet, the day/night cycle kinda just…didn’t happen here. Nothing but the cold air and ninety-six empty rooms.
He counted them.
Every time, whenever she approached him, he suggested somewhere nice! Like the debug zone, or the convention demo, and she liked the convention demo! But no. Every. Time. Without fail, they had to meet in the tunnels, or the apartments, or god forbid, some random piece of geometry outside of the skybox.
He swears, one of these days, he’s gonna climb that scarecrow like a tree and strangle her with her own damn rope. Of course, she’d probably skin him alive after that, but he'd be vindicated.
He drummed his claws against the railing as the wind picked up, whistling through the halls of the building. Like it was a flute or…something.
It was almost nice.
At least until an errant gust knocked his hat off, sending it tumbling into the abyss below.
He sighed, feeling his hackles raise as the air grew warm, humid.
“How long were ya’ watchin’ me, huh?”
The metal creaked as she appeared beside him, twitching minutely.
“Long enough to see you make a fool of yourself.”
Tch.
“Would it kill ya’ to announce your presence once in a while?”
“And would it ‘kill ya’’ to pay more attention to your surroundings…?”
J.D. grimaced at the sound of his own voice.
“Don’t do that, it’s fuckin’ weird…”
She was properly looking at him now.
“Of course, I’m a…courteous host.”
Like hell she was, he tightened his grip on the railing.
He stood straight, still only coming up to her chest, but he wasn’t gonna look up at her.
Unlesssss it would piss her off, it’s a case-by-case basis, really.
“Anyway!” He retrieved his hat, returning it to its rightful place, “what did ya’ wanna talk about?”
She thought for a moment, or, he assumed so, before speaking again.
“There is something different about the heart, have you felt it?”
Huh.
“Like…somethin’ wrong with it?”
“Not wrong, different.”
As if they don’t mean the same thing to her…
“I can’t say so, no.” He shrugged, “but then again, I don’t spend much time down there.”
He saw her move in the corner of his eye, shifting her stance.
“Because you insist on talking to those…insects, wasting your time on them.”
He scoffed, “Oh and I bet you're workin’ so hard, standin’ around looking tough n’ scary.”
“And now you just say some ominous bullshit and want me to do somethin’ for ya’...”
He smirked, turning to face her…sort of.
“Well, newsflash sweethwOAH–”
There’s something about being grabbed out of nowhere, that just fills you with animal fear.
Any rationality goes flying out the window.
Which is why J.D. paws at the hand gripping his shirt collar, yet to remember that he can’t die.
Her single visible eye glares at him from the shadows of her hood, the pupil but a pinprick in her dark iris. He’s halfway off the balcony, it’s silent for a moment.
“What happened to bein’ a courteous host, huh!?”
Her hold tightens, straining the off-black fabric.
“You have gotten much too comfortable here…it irritates us.”
She huffs.
“You will do as we say…and stop testing our patience.”
“...Yeah, yeah, just put me down.”
“As you wish.”
He could hear the smile in her voice as she let go of him, claws catching on his tie as she did… Sending him tumbling backwards into the abyss.
“Huskyoubastard–!” Was all J.D. got out before the wind swallowed his voice, and he himself disappeared into the fog.
Husk turned, plucking his cane from its spot.
She blindly tossed it over the balcony as she left, shuffling into the dark corridor.
He wouldn’t learn from this.