make you a deal

"That’s not really a fly you know."

The voice behind Ever is flat. Disinterested. A semi-leer.

She turns towards it anyway.

"What?"

The word comes out sharper than she had intended but she doesn’t care. The expression the girl behind her is wearing is irritating — green eyes narrowed ever so slightly, pretty mouth curved down with a lazy twist to her lips.

"I said," the girl repeats, tapping long nails against her arms folded over her chest, leaned up against the dirty bathroom wall, "that that’s not really a fly. If you kill it, they’ll just send two more."

Ever doesn’t move. She listens to the fly — the one she had been swatting at by the sinks — buzz by her ear and then quiet down. From her peripheral vision she can just make out its tiny, compact body resting on one of the streaked mirrors.

"Oh?" she says, curiosity peaked despite the change in circumstances. She really should be leaving, if this girl knows what she’s talking about.

But she still doesn’t like that curve to the other girl’s mouth — like she wants to sneer but she’s barely holding her disdain in check — and it keeps Ever in place.

"And, pray tell, how do you know that?"

The girl shrugs. She peels herself away from the stained tile and pushes past Ever, brushing against her with more force than’s necessary. Ever stands her ground.

Her fingers twitch at her sides. Her blood simmers. God, she’s tired.

"That’s none of your business. Just consider it a favor. Free of charge." The stranger’s voice grates on Ever’s ears but she turns again, staying.

Her eyes flick again from the girl fixing her long, dark hair in the mirror to the fly, still sitting there. Watching her.

God damn it, she thinks. She has to get better at this. It’s really starting to get annoying.

First it had been the little girl at the playground. Then the cat, lurking through alleys, watching her from the shadows.

If it hadn’t been for…

"I’ll make you a deal," she finally offers, shaking her bangs out with a swipe of her fingers. She needs a drink. She’s downed one shot since getting here and besides the subtle burn in her stomach, it’s not doing anything for her.

The other girl glances up from her reflection. She lets her hands drop from her hair, turns around, and Ever just catches a glimpse of an entire row of silver piercings in her right ear before her hair falls to cover them.

"I don’t think you want to do that," is the answer and Ever arches an eyebrow. Her tongue ring clacks against her teeth when she clicks her tongue. Goosebumps are beginning to rise along her skin under the draft coming from the ceiling. The cold whispers through her thin, thigh-high socks.

"And why not?"

The girl smirks. Finally, a real emotion. Finally something tangible. Ever grins back, cocking her head to the side.

Her satisfaction is short-lived.

"Because, princess, I’ve also been sent to watch you."

The amusement — the fucking contentment — on the stranger’s face sets Ever’s simmering temper to a boil. Her grin drops. A scowl claws its way onto her face in its place.

She doesn’t move. She stays where she is and leans back against the wall, all pretenses dropped. Bass from the bar beyond this bathroom pounds through the closed door and the thin walls. It shivers into her bones and pushes her next words from her throat with a heavy hand.

"Then why the fuck are you telling me?"

That, at least, seems to take the other girl back a bit. She doesn’t answer for a moment. Instead, she pushes herself up to sit on the sinks. Ever watches her through narrowed eyes — watches as she kicks her long legs, black boots swinging back and forth.

The girl shrugs again.

"I guess I felt bad. You know. Seeing you trying to get away but still being kept on such a tight leash."

Ever blinks.

That had not been what she had been expecting either. She’s not sure what to say now.

For a few moments, they stare at each other. Then, "Oh," Ever finally says. Her voice sounds flat. "Thanks. I guess."

The stranger sighs and then hops down. She comes closer, holds out a hand. There’s an unreadable expression in her green eyes.

Ever stares and then takes her outstretched fingers reluctantly, wrinkling her nose. They’re cool and firm. The other girl is wearing enough rings to knock someone’s tooth out with a well-placed punch. It can’t compare to Ever’s own pair of butterfly knives hidden under her shirt and strapped to her back, but it’s a good start.

"I’m Kingsley," the stranger offers. "Your parents hired me and now I’m obviously fired but something tells me it’s gonna be worth it."

Ever can’t help it. She laughs, still holding Kingsley’s hand, and looks up into her face.

"Yeah," she hears herself saying. The fly on the mirror buzzes and flits around the lights and then lands again. "I guess it could be."

And then, to her own surprise, Ever asks, "Do you wanna grab a drink? I need one after this past week."

Kingsley smiles and it’s nothing like her leer from earlier, so sharp-tipped and glass-like. It’s softer at the edges. It makes Ever feel a little less on edge, like alcohol burning through her — like it’s smoothing out all of her sharp edges, polishing her bones to something pliant.

"Yeah," Kingsley answers after a pause. Ever watches her fish down into her jeans pocket for something, letting go of her hand. "Just let me do something first."

Ever leans back again, the cool tile pushing imprints between her shoulder blades, as Kingsley produces a ticking, pill-shaped object, drops it to the grungy floor, and crushes it beneath a boot.

"Wow, they went all out, didn’t they?" Ever murmurs out loud, eyeing the broken, crushed tracing device. It’s some new-level shit, based on what she’s seen before.

Kingsley only shrugs, something she seems to do often.

Then she turns and in one swift move, the fly on the mirror is nothing but a smear of guts and papery wings. Ever barely blinks. She just waits for Kingsley to wash her hand off in the sink and turn back to face her.

"Okay, now I’m ready," the other says, green eyes dull in the sickly fluorescent lights. Ever smirks and peels herself away from the tile.

"Great. Let’s go before the other two get here then."

#shortstory #lgbtq #scifi #sciencefiction #dystopianuniverse #eventualromance #bodyguard #princess