Somebody. Was in his room, swearing, and now hed have to get up. Great. It was the girl. Same girl, he noticed when he turned his head. Well, might as well.
"Are you alright?" he asked and sat up. "Why are you here. Why are you dressed like that. " he asked and stood up.
He rubbed his face, leaving behind smudges of blood and opened the drawer he knew his bandages were in. "Dont freak out please..." he sighed as he plopped back down on the bloodied bed.
Yup, She was freaking out.
"I think the better question is what are you doing here?" she was not listening. She was freaking out. "Will you stop please? Stop. Stop." he repeated, standing up and putting his hands on her shoulders. "Stop. Im fine. Have a cookie. Calm down for gods sake its just blood." he pushed her gently down on a nearby chair and returned to his spot to resume wrapping one of his arms in the bandages.
"Look its been a tough day. Please tell me why youre sneaking into my room at night." Ryan asked, and then paused to tie the bandages on one arm and start wrapping the other. Halfway through, he saw that although he had bled through the bandages, the stains were not getting any bigger. He was okay. He finished wrapping his second arm and then looked at his stunned guest, waiting for an answer.
He didnt particularly think he had to explain himself, he was not the one breaking into her room at night.
"Yes." He answered her first question casually, picking up the bloodied knife from his bed and tossing it behind him.
He looked up when she said she was there to kill him. Whatever blood left drained from his face and for a second he looked at her as if hed seen a ghost.
Then he took a deep breath.
"You wont." he stated, standing up. He was more than capable of protecting himself thank you very much. But that didnt matter. "I will pay you double whatever you were promised, if in return you tell me who hired you." he continued, walking to the table and taking a chocolate piece. "You sure you dont want any?" annnd it clicked. "Its not poisoned. Unlike my drink at the dance."
Ryan shrugged. Yes, maybe he was insane. Did it matter? He didnt think so. She didnt understand.
"Look you didnt break in to insult me. So either kill me and get it over with, or accept my deal. To tell you why someone wants me dead i furst meed to know who wants me dead." He said with a shrug. He sat down in front of her and waited.
The insults hurt. But how could she understand what its like to prefer physical pain over every other kind of pain? What it was like to be so alone and so horribly, deeply sad that anything that distracts from that is a necessary evil. She didnt.
With a gun to his head and the knowledge that it was his father who ordered it, Ryan laughed. Okay, he saw how that looked crazy. He cleared his throat and looked serious.
"The king, " because he did not want to call him father, "ordered my death. Now i assume that is because he thinks i plan to either kill him or imprison him and take the throne. He is not wrong, not entirely." He answered.
"As for this..." he looked at his arms "well i cant exactly explain my childhood and my family history. Its a long story, but he knows and doesnt care, so i dont either. Now what do you mean you didnt care until now?" He asked. He lifted a shaking hand and moved the gun out of his face so he could look at her.
Ryan shrugged. "I doubt he could find you. And it wouldnt be long until he is in prison. The court is loyal to him out of fear. They wont support him once they are certain he will lose. " truth be told, his plan was shabby at best. If the king wanted him dead, he wouldnt last another night in the castle. He would have to leave too.
He didnt actually want to murder his own father. Prison seemed like a much beter solution because then he was not a murderer. He wouldnt have been able to deal with that thought.
"If you are worried he will find you, you can stay with me. I leave tomorrow and you can stay in my castle until things are settled here. " he shrugged.
Well in that sense she was right, but. He stopped when he heard footsteps in the corridor. Metallic. Armors. Guards.
"Keep my offer in mind. Double whatever he pays you, and you will not have to work a day in your life after." He said, jumped towards the bed, flopped face down on it laying in the blood as if that was his natural state now.
The door burst open, and the king himself walked in, followed by two guards. He seemed pleased with the sight and walked over, satisfied when he picked up ryans hand and dropped it, watching it drop limp on the bed.
"The prince was assasinated. Inform the court and announce it to the country. Truly a sad sight. " he shook his head sadly, and as he walked out of the room, he gave one more order to his guards. "Oh, and kill her. I dont need her anymore."
With that, the door slammed behind him and the four guards left turned towards veleda, took by surprise by the fact that ryan, who they thought dead, jumped up and punched the closest one in the face.
"okay maybe lets avoid killing tonight huh? What do you say?" Ryan said, patting the ygards shoulder. The man nodded nervously and raised his empty hands.
"You too. Put the gun away." He added to vella. For all his father knew, he was dead, and she was dead. He looked at the guard.
"unless you want to die tonight when you tell the king you failed, you will report that i continue to be dead, and so does she. understood?" When the guard nodded he let him go and the man ran away.
"That should buy us a few hours."
"it is your fight too now. When he doesnt find our dead bodies hes gonna be looking for you just as much as he will look for me." While she jumped out the window, he decided to be more practical. he put on a clean shirt and packed bandages, two cloaks and most importantly money, and then joined her.
There was no point in running out with absolutely nothing. It would just get them killed, and he didnt want that.
"call it what you will but i dont want to be seen out and about in a bloody tshirt and soaked bandages. " ryan answered and followed her.
Ah this would be nice. As if he needed more drama in his life.
He wasnt sure of the plan actually. But he needed to go out of town.
"I...dont have friends actually. I never got to be around anyone but the dukes and the like, and those couldnt be named friends. They just go with the one whos in power." He shrugged. He had no plan. Nowhere to go. At least nowhere where he would be safe.
"alright then. Separate ways. Listen if i do this right, remember i owe you. "
The kind of prince who was not allowed to make connections... Ryan thought. He stared for a second when she turned, moved to leave, then stopped when she turned. Well, he wasnt gonna say no, so he followed.
"Of course i still owe you. Why are you still helping me? Where are we going?" The last question was barely a whisper when he realized he couldnt talk loud.
Allright. Two days was a reasonable time, and he was grateful.
"Ah why didnt you say so we couldve taken horses from the castle..." he sighed. There was no helping it now though, so he slipped on his cloak, the hood low enough to shadow his face entirely with or without the mask, and paused.
Was....he supposed to ride? Was she? Were they both? Hed never been in this situation before so he waited, slightly confused and baffled at the fact that there was a situation he had no plan, no previous experience of and no idea whatbto do or how to act.
"ah.....you do. I can walk. Or we can both. " he shrugged. When she didnt move he hopped on and held his hand out for her. Theyd get there faster too. And in the middle of the night who would search them, when the news hadnt broken out about their dissapearance.
Ryan followed the instructions, grateful for the help as he had absolutely no idea where they were. The time spent staring at maps was doing nothing to help him.
When they finally arrived, he wasnt sure where, only that this was her house, he finally paused to ask himself. Did she live alone? How exactly did she live. They were a good distance from the palace so really he didnt expect a palace, but he couldnt see a thing in the darkness. Maybe for the better, because when he couldnt see, nobody would see them. But she seemed confident that this was it, so he climbed off the horse and waited.
Gunshots. And he was off. Hed never appreciated his long legs more. Sure, cardio wasnt his thing but he was fast and right now he had 5....r...3...2...aaaand she was driving away she was driving away, so, like a normal person would do, he flung himself head first at the open back window and landed face first, legs sticking out.
"Nailed it." he said, getting himself in completely, and making his way to the passenger seat. "Id say this was a complete success. Lets get a pizza"
Melody finished the report, sent it, tried to play. Didnt work because she was too distracted. Since when did killing zombies become something she couldnt be distracted by? It was useless. It wasnt even the kiss. It was the fact that he was so. Damn. Oblivious. Sheoften wondered why she couldnt have just liked anyone else. Literally anyone else.
Out of all people she had to like the impossibly gorgeous idiot that was her best friend.
She needed new friends. Who werent stupid. Maybe shed go on a date. Maybe shed just go. Disappear. She had the money to, after all the missions. Ugh.
She flopped in her chair and let her controller fall to the floor. She didnt know what to do. He was confusing. And odd. She didnt need this. A break. Shed take a break to figure stuff out and see other people be regular humans. She checked the time. 6am. Great shed just wasted a whole night.
She went up to her room, changed into normal clothes after a shower, and walked away from the building, and her weird life, to a random train station, to the first cafe in sight, and to a big cup of coffee and people sketching.
"takes a lot more to kill me" Ryan answered. Oh he was looking forward to the pizza. Warm, and comfortable and great. Comfort food. And she apparently remembered what he liked on his pizza. He just confirmed and took very seriously his role as the pizza holder. Truth be told he wanted a slice right there, but it would be rude since she couldnt have any. So he waited.
People came and went, and Mel was on her third coffee, fourth pastry and, not that she counted but around 20 pages farther along in her sketchbook. This was great. Sure, she was still upset, but it felt good to not have to think about anything.
So, focused on her sketch, it only registered something was off when she realized the guy she was currently drawing was now staring straight at her.
That was odd.
People never usually noticed her. So after what could reasonably be called a staring contest, he moved over to her table.
"Hey. I dont mean to be rude, but are you drawing me?"
Maybe this was good. Maybe it was the best thing right now. Whatever it was, she now had a date that night, with Alex, the coffee shop guy, who she found out was a lawyer, and was taking her to a gallery opening and dinner.
She finally looked at her phone. Of course.
"I was out sorry. " was all she sent, between two subway sketches, and when she got back she just minded her own business. She wasnt that upset, but she wasnt happy either. She needed time to think.
Pizza, animals, his own dog! Thats what happiness felt like. Ryan stared at the sleeping puppy on his bed next to him. He only broke free of his thoughts when veleda spoke.
"Thanks, i liked this one. It was easy." He smiled. It had been a stretch for him because the exit strategy was supposed to constantly change but he thought it had been timed perfectly and he had made a lovely exit.
He stared. Honestly, he had no idea what to answer to that.
"Until the wohle thing blows over. Then i think we can get back to normal..." he shrugged. Although truth be told, he was having fun. He kind of liked working with her, even if shebahted him and he had no idea why, even if he ended up sobbing his life story and biggest secret to her. She hadnt told anyone. He didnt think she would. And for what it was worth, he trusted her. Right now, with everything he had, because she would have nothing to lose if she told everyone. She could quite literally end his career and ruin him, because at this point he did not have a backup job, or a fake id, or anything.
So he would not mind this partnership lasting a while longer. The emptiness and apathy he often felt were easier to deal with with her around.
"If you wouldve looked everywhere, you wouldve found me. " Melody answered. She was on the couch, painting on her tablet, cup of tea on the coffee table and a stack of books next to it. An evening planned.
She paused to look at him.
"....why were you looking for me?" She asked. Usually....well to be fair usually she was either in her office or in her room. He had a point. This was the first time shed gone out of the building without a mission in years.
"I went out in the city for coffee. It was great. And i now happen to have a date next friday"
Why she told him that, she wasnt sure. She never thought of herself as jealous, but she had to admit she wouldve liked to see him sad at the thouht of her going out with someone else. But then again, this was the boy who kept finding her other guys to date.
Ryan shrugged.
"It doesnt matter to me. I mean i didnt think it would happen, but...i dont mind working with you. I like working with you. Youre quick and efficient, and you brought me a dog. It would be perfect if you wouldnt hate me" he chuckled, and then realized what he had said. He awkwardly cleared his throat and bit on the pizza. Cant say stupid stuff when your mouth is full of pizza.
Again. He really should consider the fact that coffee tables were made of glass. That was not meant to hold the weight of a human. If he broke her table he was so gonna replace it....and...he..was happy.
He was so happy, because she had a date. Sure, she was happy too but....something hurt at seeing how happy he was she was dating someone else.
"Yeah well i..." she drifted off when he explained he...she wasnt even thinking. What? Was he serious? Of course, why wouldnt he be. He seemed genuinely happy.
"Okay yes but i have, i have work to do, im, .." she grabbed her phone and looked through. "I have to go, go work, sorry ill...see you later.." she mumbled all but running out. Tears welled up in her eyes as she walked down the empty corridor, down the never ending flights of stairs and to her office. She hoped he wouldnt follow, because it would be hard to explain why she had tears running down her cheeks when she had a date now, and things were going well. She closed the door behind her and waited, and only when there were no footsteps following she actually cried.
He stopped when he almost bumped into someone, and against his better judgement, smiled when he heard the now familiar nickname.
"Hey, long time no see. Are you okay? I thought youd be pestering me by now to tell me something else i annoy you with."
Although disguised as a joke, he was a bit serious too. He hadnt heard from her since the mission, and even though they hadnt been working together for long, it was a bit unusual. Even so, he figured she was a very private person, so he didnt outright ask.
"Yes, im here" she opened the door before he could say anything else. And, for the first time, looked him in the eyes from the same level. Yes, she loved those heels.
"Stop complaining you have been waiting for 5 minutes." She added, walking past him. She was quite proud of herself. Nice dress, actual nice hair for once instead of just letting it be, and heels that made her almost as tall as damaris.
