Unlikely Alliances
A Small Warehouse in Stone Mountain, GA. November 14, 1981
The blond man slowly regained conciousness. The dimly lit interior didn't show him more than a high ceiling and great space around him. Abandoned office equipment in dusty disrepair laid about. The only sources of light came from two lamps. One sitting idly on a wooden desk a few feet away and the other on the other side of him, a grouping of fat tallow candles slowly burning, dancing in the casual breeze.
The back of his head ached. He raised his hand but was startled when it would not move.
That is when he remembered.
Gaining his wits, he looked down to find himself tied by thick rope to a heavy wooden chair. He began to experiment, to twist his wrists and ankles this way and that but the fibers bit into him the more he moved. He began to shift his weight to see if he could move the chair. The chiming of bells signalled his efforts. He stilled. The bells stilled. Right out of the corner of his eyes, he could see that tiny brass bells had been tied attached.
He could not remember the face of his captor, he only remembered the prickling of hair up his spine. The slow panic that overcame him. He actually enjoyed the taste of fear on his tongue, but that was when it was of his own making. The thrill of stepping out of society's boundaries to take what he wanted with the knowledge that any moment, he could be caught. But this was different. He remembered his heart pounding and the feeling he was being watched. A suspicion grown to paranoia even as panic threatened his breath. He frowned in recollection. He had been so afraid. But of what?
A slow tendril of apprehension wrapped around him. Footsteps, slow and measured on the cement could be heard from a behind him, just out of sight. The gentle closing of a door followed by more footsteps. There was a wrongness about the presence behind him. He could feel it, not as potent as the remembered fear but...there none the less, an abhorent presentiment. The steps came closer and closer till they were just behind him.
A ringing in his ears.
A dark hand caressed the shimmering bells just out of sight. He sat very still. His dry mouth croaked, "Who are you?"
The figure stepped to the desk, her face in profile as she walked to the desk at an angle that grew almost too uncomfortable for him to follow. Trepidation kept his eyes on her. She turned and sat on the desk. A black woman? Dressed in blue deniums and a black sweater. Her feet were shod in strange blocky-wooden sandals. There was the briefest gleam of silver at her side which distracted him from further inspection.
Her voice was soft, "Perhaps we should not discuss who we are and focus on what we are. You are a thug, a thief, a rumour-mongerer, and as of two nights ago, a rapist."
"I.. didn't mean to-- I mean, I was wasted and--"
Her interruption was quick and brutal, "There is NO excuse. Please do not insult me by manufacturing one now. If you want to show remorse for your actions, you are more than welcome to do so. However you will be punished none the less."
Anger took over for fear, "Oh yeah? And who the hell are you?"
"I am..a shingami."
Seiko walked to the man's side, unleashing a bit of the Nightmare in her blood, satisfied when her target gasped, hands fisting and jerking against the bonds violently enough to send sweet chimes into the quiet.
Seiko stood before the man. Her slanted eyes and straight black hair cut just above the ears displaying traces of another ethnicity.
She continued matter of factly, "But first thing's first.." She smiled, eyes blank and helped herself onto her captive's lap. His fear intensified, however did not completely relieve the excitement evident beneath her. She brushed a bit of eyelash from his cheek making him flinch, knocking his own head against the heavy wood. She chuckled and slid a hand along his arm, closing icily over his fingers. She reached in her pocket and again the gleam of silver froze his breath even as his heart began to pound harder.
She murmured comfortingly, "Oh, this isn't going to hurt..stop being such a baby. Now. I have one simple request. I want you to relax this fist for a few moments. I swear to you that nothing horrible will happen to you for it."
He craned his neck in an effort to see what was in the woman's hand and was rewarded by having his vice-like grip peeled slowly apart. "Stop. Now. Or I will hurt you."
Fear choked him. He was still as he felt something hard and cold against his fingertips. He prepared himself for pain and was rewarded by a quiet snick.
He frowned.
Snick
"Did that hurt?"
Bewildered, confused, wary he shook his head in negation.
Seiko pulled his fingers back just enough so he could see what she was doing.
Clipping his nails.
He was dumbfounded.
"What are you? Why--"
"Evidence."
Despite the miasma of terror around him, his mind latched onto one idea. If she's collecting evidence, then it means that she's just trying to scare me, frame me, not kill me.
"You gonna turn me in?"
Seiko laughed easily as she worked on his other hand. Collecting the tips into a plastic baggie before standing and reaching for his hair, grabbing a good chunk to brutally yank, slipping that into another bag.
"Of course not. I just want the evidence so that when the police find your remains, they will be able to close the case on the girl you raped. Then at least she will know that justice has been served. Shingami is japanese for God of Death."
She slipped the baggies into her back pockets and brushed her hands together. "Hrm..now, what to do first?"
A deep voice offered, "I say you untie my employee before I have my friend up in the raftors there put an arrow through your heart." The speaker was casual.
Seiko whirled to address the speaker, clamping fiercely down on her urge to tear the intruder by it's throat, wary now of the danger from above.
Seiko took a moment to access the situation and sighed as if pained, "You employ rapists?"
The vampire blinked slowly for a moment as he looked to the man in the chair and turned his gaze back to Seiko, "Not generally, but I do have use of him."
She studied the vampire's business suit, "I haven't seen you at a gathering before."
He nods, "I generally do business in another city, but this is a special circumstance. My name is Eugene. My friend up there is Walter. We don't mean you any harm. I just want my--"
"Rapist back."
Eugene sighed and took a step forward, "Look. I do have some contacts in the criminal world, but even I can say that what Peyton's done is pretty fucked up, but that's really more my place to worry about than yours, don't you think? He's mine."
"Does he know what you are?"
"No." He says significantly.
Seiko nodded, "I see. Well...Eugene, I apologize for my rudeness in attacking one of your..friends here, but since you seem to agree with me in that what he's done is unforgivable, I am truly finding it difficult to see why he should live to rape again, regardless of what other skills he may possess."
"That is a shame. Because what's mine is mine and I didn't come here for trouble."
She smiled.
He frowned as he observed the room, "I can see we're very much alone. So here's what we're going to do. I'm going to untie my friend here and then we're all going to leave. If you get in the way, you won't be leaving at all, understand?"
"I can't let you have him."
"Then it seems I have no choice." His arm lifted.
Seiko dodged feeling the air, hearing the zip as the arrow flew past.
"Why is it so dark in here?"
The room was suddenly flooded with light. A new figure stood at the opened door, a tall, bear of a vampire dressed in jeans, old faded sneakers, and a faded green shirt; his hand hovering over the light switch.
Everyone froze.
"Cindy!? Is that you?"
Seiko observed the tall man, searching for a name before asking, "Karsten, was it?"
Karsten's eyes brightened as he came into the room, "You remembered my name! Neat! How are you doing? What's going on in here?" He studied the room and approached Eugene, hand out in greeting, "How do you do? I'm Karsten."
Eugene, bemused responded in kind, "I'm well thank you, Karsten. I'm Eugene."
Karsten's handshake was hearty and sincere, "Hi Eugene, it's nice to meet you. So you're a friend of Cindy's?" Karsten did a double-take, "Cindy! What happened to your shirt!?" He points, "You've got an arrow sticking out."
Seiko looked down at her elbow to see that she did indeed have an arrow tangled on her sleeve. "Ah, Walter up there tried to shoot me." She directed Karsten's attention to the kindred above who was reloading his crossbow.
Karsten followed her gaze and stepped out, waving up in greeting, "Hey there!"
Eugene's smooth voice interrupted, "Karsten, was it? What are you doing here?"
Karsten frowned as he observed the tied up man, "I was just walking by and..why's he tied to a chair?"
Eugene's brow lifted and he gestured to Seiko with a well manicured hand, "Well, your friend..Cindy, was it?" At Karsten's nod he continued, "Cindy kidnapped my employee and was going to kill him. I'm here to rescue him."
Karsten gasped and looked at Seiko, "No! You kidnapped that guy?" Karsten moved closer.
Seiko nodded, in half exasperation and amusement she observed Karsten, "He raped a young girl two nights ago. So I decided to punish him."
Karsten frowned again, wary and horrified "He raped someone? That's not good."
Seiko nodded again, "It's not. So..as you see, I was going to--"
"Isn't that what the Police are for? Catching the bad guy?" Karsten looked to Eugene, "You were gonna turn him, right? I mean, Cindy shouldn't have kidnapped him but this guy's a bad egg. And he should be locked up."
Eugene studied Karsten in disbelief and then shook his head, "This is getting ridiculous. Walter?"
Seiko ran into Karsten to push him out of the way from the oncoming volley...which never came.
"WALTER!" Eugene yelled as Seiko and Karsten scrambled back to their feet to watch the man above struggle with the crossbow, "It's jammed, Boss. I can't..FUCK! The string broke..! What the hell?"
Seiko looked at Eugene in anticipation.
Eugene looked cross.
Karsten began to speak persuasively, "Look..Gene..this guy here is a bad guy. And if he's out hurting people, it can't be good for business, right? Right. So in the end...the police have to already be looking for him. Why don't you let me and Cindy handle it? I swear that he'll make it to the police safe and sound." He lifted his left hand in the Boy Scout Salute, his right hand over his heart. There was utter sincerity in the creature.
Eugene obviously considered his options, "Can't..I have him do the thing I hired him for first..THEN turn him in?"
Karsten shook his head, "No! He's a BAD GUY. You don't want a Bad Guy working for you right? I mean.. don't you have a reputation to uphold or something?"
Eugene sighed, obviously annoyed, "You're right. He can't do what I need him to do if he's a liability. Fine. Do what you want. Walter!" Eugene turned on his well-polished heel and headed for the door.
Karsten called out, "Hey Gene!"
"WHAT?!"
"Thanks, man. You did the right thing. I'm proud of you." Karsten showed two thumbs up.
Eugene turned and left without further comment, Walter the bow man following suit. Peyton yelled after his former employer and shimmied in the chair to a charming, tinkly effect.
Seiko turned to look at Karsten, "Thank you."
He waved his hand, "What? Forget it. Now, we've got to call the police."
Seiko studied Karsten for a long moment and then sighed, her hands on her hips, "Fine. Go. Call." She pointed to the backroom, "There's an office and a working phone back there."
Karsten nodded and headed to the room. Right before he entered he looked back and wagged his finger in Seiko's direction, "Now..I'm gonna make the call. Don't hurt, him, okay? I mean..I know you're mad. And I know what he did was wrong. But..I mean, it's not like he hurt you, right? I'll bet whoever hurt you is dead and stuff. So you probably shouldn't make him pay for..well, you know."
Seiko's expression was blank before she spoke quietly, "I will not hurt him."
Karsten studied her, nodded and went into the room.
Seiko turned veiled eyes to her would-be victim, "It looks like it's your lucky night."
"You're fuckin' kidding me, right? He's calling the POLICE."
"At least you're alive."
She smiled.
****
Seiko and Karsten walked down the street in the chilly November evening.
"Cindy, I know you're mad at me."
"Actually, I'm not Karsten. He's in custody and the victim already identified him as her attacker so he's sure to be charged for that, let alone all the other stuff he's done." She half shrugged, hands in her pocket, "For now, it's over."
He nodded.
She looked over at him, "Again, I would like to thank you for your help."
He shrugged the compliment away, "It's the least I could do after you were so nice to me at the Gathering."
Seiko frowned and wracked her mind for what he referred to. She asked cautiously, "You mean..when you asked me if the chair next to you was empty and I said no, you were welcome to sit?"
Karsten nodded, "Yeah. You were all nice and hospitable and we talked for like..what an hour?"
Seiko thought in faint amusement, You talked for an hour. I just sat and watched. Aloud she said, "Well..you may find this hard to believe, but I'm not a friendly person. It was pleasant to have someone to speak with."
Karsten nodded, "Exactly! Sometime these things get so political and stuff. You just want to sit and have a nice conversation with nice people. We're all from everywhere, why shouldn't we just sit down and share, you know?"
She smiled without comment.
"OH! Cindy! Look up!"
Seiko stopped and looked up at the starless sky here and there, "What is it?"
Karsten pointed to direct her gaze, his eyes bright, "There!"
Seiko's gaze focused on a pair of sneakers, shoelaces tied, hanging off of a powerline.
"Just wait a sec."
Karsten's form began to morph and re-shape itself into that of a small crow. The crow took flight to the powerline and began to pick at the shoe strings until the shoes fell to the ground. Karsten's small avian form followed and returned to normal as he picked up the shoes and showed them to Seiko, "Pretty cool, huh?"
Seiko half in disbelief and amusement eyed the weather-worn shoes, "It's something, alright."
Karsten kicked off his own battered shoes and slipped his foot into the new shoes, or attempted to anyway. He frowned, "Aww..they're too small. It would've been alright if they were too big, you know, it gives you a little extra room. But.." He smiled and picked them up and handed them to her, "I'll bet you could wear them."
Seiko observed the shoe, "Well..they look a little big..and I really don't like shoes that lace.. but I do thank you. I'll make sure someone who needs them gets them, how's that?"
Karsten grinned and put an arm around her for a quick hug, "That's great! Thanks, Cindy."
"You know my name is Seiko, right?"
"So, I've got to go, Cindy, you gonna be alright now? You need anymore back-up?"
Seiko studied him for a long moment and then nodded, "I'll be fine. But..tell you what, meet me back here tomorrow night around ten."
"Why?"
"Because I'm asking nicely?" Seiko arched an eyebrow.
Karsten thought about it and then nodded, "Okay. Here tomorrow night. Bye!"
Karsten shifted again into a crow and took flight. Seiko watched him go and then left herself.
**********
Karsten gasped in pleasure, "For me?!"
Seiko nodded, "It's the least I can do."
Karsten admired the shiny new Addidas with awe and happily kicked off his old shoes and slipped his new ones onto his feet. They squeaked on the concrete. He grinned as he laced them up.
"Thanks Cindy. That is so nice of you."
Seiko shook her head, "It's nothing, really. I wanted you to have them."
Karsten grinned.
Seiko looked at her watch, "Alright, I'm sorry but I have to go. I just wanted to make sure you got those."
Karsten smiled, "They're great! And if you ever need me for anything, just come to Stone Mountain Park. That's my area. I'll be around." He grinned and hugged Seiko again before heading off, whistling.
Seiko shook her head in amusement and went on her way.
One night, I'll figure him out.
The blond man slowly regained conciousness. The dimly lit interior didn't show him more than a high ceiling and great space around him. Abandoned office equipment in dusty disrepair laid about. The only sources of light came from two lamps. One sitting idly on a wooden desk a few feet away and the other on the other side of him, a grouping of fat tallow candles slowly burning, dancing in the casual breeze.
The back of his head ached. He raised his hand but was startled when it would not move.
That is when he remembered.
Gaining his wits, he looked down to find himself tied by thick rope to a heavy wooden chair. He began to experiment, to twist his wrists and ankles this way and that but the fibers bit into him the more he moved. He began to shift his weight to see if he could move the chair. The chiming of bells signalled his efforts. He stilled. The bells stilled. Right out of the corner of his eyes, he could see that tiny brass bells had been tied attached.
He could not remember the face of his captor, he only remembered the prickling of hair up his spine. The slow panic that overcame him. He actually enjoyed the taste of fear on his tongue, but that was when it was of his own making. The thrill of stepping out of society's boundaries to take what he wanted with the knowledge that any moment, he could be caught. But this was different. He remembered his heart pounding and the feeling he was being watched. A suspicion grown to paranoia even as panic threatened his breath. He frowned in recollection. He had been so afraid. But of what?
A slow tendril of apprehension wrapped around him. Footsteps, slow and measured on the cement could be heard from a behind him, just out of sight. The gentle closing of a door followed by more footsteps. There was a wrongness about the presence behind him. He could feel it, not as potent as the remembered fear but...there none the less, an abhorent presentiment. The steps came closer and closer till they were just behind him.
A ringing in his ears.
A dark hand caressed the shimmering bells just out of sight. He sat very still. His dry mouth croaked, "Who are you?"
The figure stepped to the desk, her face in profile as she walked to the desk at an angle that grew almost too uncomfortable for him to follow. Trepidation kept his eyes on her. She turned and sat on the desk. A black woman? Dressed in blue deniums and a black sweater. Her feet were shod in strange blocky-wooden sandals. There was the briefest gleam of silver at her side which distracted him from further inspection.
Her voice was soft, "Perhaps we should not discuss who we are and focus on what we are. You are a thug, a thief, a rumour-mongerer, and as of two nights ago, a rapist."
"I.. didn't mean to-- I mean, I was wasted and--"
Her interruption was quick and brutal, "There is NO excuse. Please do not insult me by manufacturing one now. If you want to show remorse for your actions, you are more than welcome to do so. However you will be punished none the less."
Anger took over for fear, "Oh yeah? And who the hell are you?"
"I am..a shingami."
Seiko walked to the man's side, unleashing a bit of the Nightmare in her blood, satisfied when her target gasped, hands fisting and jerking against the bonds violently enough to send sweet chimes into the quiet.
Seiko stood before the man. Her slanted eyes and straight black hair cut just above the ears displaying traces of another ethnicity.
She continued matter of factly, "But first thing's first.." She smiled, eyes blank and helped herself onto her captive's lap. His fear intensified, however did not completely relieve the excitement evident beneath her. She brushed a bit of eyelash from his cheek making him flinch, knocking his own head against the heavy wood. She chuckled and slid a hand along his arm, closing icily over his fingers. She reached in her pocket and again the gleam of silver froze his breath even as his heart began to pound harder.
She murmured comfortingly, "Oh, this isn't going to hurt..stop being such a baby. Now. I have one simple request. I want you to relax this fist for a few moments. I swear to you that nothing horrible will happen to you for it."
He craned his neck in an effort to see what was in the woman's hand and was rewarded by having his vice-like grip peeled slowly apart. "Stop. Now. Or I will hurt you."
Fear choked him. He was still as he felt something hard and cold against his fingertips. He prepared himself for pain and was rewarded by a quiet snick.
He frowned.
Snick
"Did that hurt?"
Bewildered, confused, wary he shook his head in negation.
Seiko pulled his fingers back just enough so he could see what she was doing.
Clipping his nails.
He was dumbfounded.
"What are you? Why--"
"Evidence."
Despite the miasma of terror around him, his mind latched onto one idea. If she's collecting evidence, then it means that she's just trying to scare me, frame me, not kill me.
"You gonna turn me in?"
Seiko laughed easily as she worked on his other hand. Collecting the tips into a plastic baggie before standing and reaching for his hair, grabbing a good chunk to brutally yank, slipping that into another bag.
"Of course not. I just want the evidence so that when the police find your remains, they will be able to close the case on the girl you raped. Then at least she will know that justice has been served. Shingami is japanese for God of Death."
She slipped the baggies into her back pockets and brushed her hands together. "Hrm..now, what to do first?"
A deep voice offered, "I say you untie my employee before I have my friend up in the raftors there put an arrow through your heart." The speaker was casual.
Seiko whirled to address the speaker, clamping fiercely down on her urge to tear the intruder by it's throat, wary now of the danger from above.
Seiko took a moment to access the situation and sighed as if pained, "You employ rapists?"
The vampire blinked slowly for a moment as he looked to the man in the chair and turned his gaze back to Seiko, "Not generally, but I do have use of him."
She studied the vampire's business suit, "I haven't seen you at a gathering before."
He nods, "I generally do business in another city, but this is a special circumstance. My name is Eugene. My friend up there is Walter. We don't mean you any harm. I just want my--"
"Rapist back."
Eugene sighed and took a step forward, "Look. I do have some contacts in the criminal world, but even I can say that what Peyton's done is pretty fucked up, but that's really more my place to worry about than yours, don't you think? He's mine."
"Does he know what you are?"
"No." He says significantly.
Seiko nodded, "I see. Well...Eugene, I apologize for my rudeness in attacking one of your..friends here, but since you seem to agree with me in that what he's done is unforgivable, I am truly finding it difficult to see why he should live to rape again, regardless of what other skills he may possess."
"That is a shame. Because what's mine is mine and I didn't come here for trouble."
She smiled.
He frowned as he observed the room, "I can see we're very much alone. So here's what we're going to do. I'm going to untie my friend here and then we're all going to leave. If you get in the way, you won't be leaving at all, understand?"
"I can't let you have him."
"Then it seems I have no choice." His arm lifted.
Seiko dodged feeling the air, hearing the zip as the arrow flew past.
"Why is it so dark in here?"
The room was suddenly flooded with light. A new figure stood at the opened door, a tall, bear of a vampire dressed in jeans, old faded sneakers, and a faded green shirt; his hand hovering over the light switch.
Everyone froze.
"Cindy!? Is that you?"
Seiko observed the tall man, searching for a name before asking, "Karsten, was it?"
Karsten's eyes brightened as he came into the room, "You remembered my name! Neat! How are you doing? What's going on in here?" He studied the room and approached Eugene, hand out in greeting, "How do you do? I'm Karsten."
Eugene, bemused responded in kind, "I'm well thank you, Karsten. I'm Eugene."
Karsten's handshake was hearty and sincere, "Hi Eugene, it's nice to meet you. So you're a friend of Cindy's?" Karsten did a double-take, "Cindy! What happened to your shirt!?" He points, "You've got an arrow sticking out."
Seiko looked down at her elbow to see that she did indeed have an arrow tangled on her sleeve. "Ah, Walter up there tried to shoot me." She directed Karsten's attention to the kindred above who was reloading his crossbow.
Karsten followed her gaze and stepped out, waving up in greeting, "Hey there!"
Eugene's smooth voice interrupted, "Karsten, was it? What are you doing here?"
Karsten frowned as he observed the tied up man, "I was just walking by and..why's he tied to a chair?"
Eugene's brow lifted and he gestured to Seiko with a well manicured hand, "Well, your friend..Cindy, was it?" At Karsten's nod he continued, "Cindy kidnapped my employee and was going to kill him. I'm here to rescue him."
Karsten gasped and looked at Seiko, "No! You kidnapped that guy?" Karsten moved closer.
Seiko nodded, in half exasperation and amusement she observed Karsten, "He raped a young girl two nights ago. So I decided to punish him."
Karsten frowned again, wary and horrified "He raped someone? That's not good."
Seiko nodded again, "It's not. So..as you see, I was going to--"
"Isn't that what the Police are for? Catching the bad guy?" Karsten looked to Eugene, "You were gonna turn him, right? I mean, Cindy shouldn't have kidnapped him but this guy's a bad egg. And he should be locked up."
Eugene studied Karsten in disbelief and then shook his head, "This is getting ridiculous. Walter?"
Seiko ran into Karsten to push him out of the way from the oncoming volley...which never came.
"WALTER!" Eugene yelled as Seiko and Karsten scrambled back to their feet to watch the man above struggle with the crossbow, "It's jammed, Boss. I can't..FUCK! The string broke..! What the hell?"
Seiko looked at Eugene in anticipation.
Eugene looked cross.
Karsten began to speak persuasively, "Look..Gene..this guy here is a bad guy. And if he's out hurting people, it can't be good for business, right? Right. So in the end...the police have to already be looking for him. Why don't you let me and Cindy handle it? I swear that he'll make it to the police safe and sound." He lifted his left hand in the Boy Scout Salute, his right hand over his heart. There was utter sincerity in the creature.
Eugene obviously considered his options, "Can't..I have him do the thing I hired him for first..THEN turn him in?"
Karsten shook his head, "No! He's a BAD GUY. You don't want a Bad Guy working for you right? I mean.. don't you have a reputation to uphold or something?"
Eugene sighed, obviously annoyed, "You're right. He can't do what I need him to do if he's a liability. Fine. Do what you want. Walter!" Eugene turned on his well-polished heel and headed for the door.
Karsten called out, "Hey Gene!"
"WHAT?!"
"Thanks, man. You did the right thing. I'm proud of you." Karsten showed two thumbs up.
Eugene turned and left without further comment, Walter the bow man following suit. Peyton yelled after his former employer and shimmied in the chair to a charming, tinkly effect.
Seiko turned to look at Karsten, "Thank you."
He waved his hand, "What? Forget it. Now, we've got to call the police."
Seiko studied Karsten for a long moment and then sighed, her hands on her hips, "Fine. Go. Call." She pointed to the backroom, "There's an office and a working phone back there."
Karsten nodded and headed to the room. Right before he entered he looked back and wagged his finger in Seiko's direction, "Now..I'm gonna make the call. Don't hurt, him, okay? I mean..I know you're mad. And I know what he did was wrong. But..I mean, it's not like he hurt you, right? I'll bet whoever hurt you is dead and stuff. So you probably shouldn't make him pay for..well, you know."
Seiko's expression was blank before she spoke quietly, "I will not hurt him."
Karsten studied her, nodded and went into the room.
Seiko turned veiled eyes to her would-be victim, "It looks like it's your lucky night."
"You're fuckin' kidding me, right? He's calling the POLICE."
"At least you're alive."
She smiled.
****
Seiko and Karsten walked down the street in the chilly November evening.
"Cindy, I know you're mad at me."
"Actually, I'm not Karsten. He's in custody and the victim already identified him as her attacker so he's sure to be charged for that, let alone all the other stuff he's done." She half shrugged, hands in her pocket, "For now, it's over."
He nodded.
She looked over at him, "Again, I would like to thank you for your help."
He shrugged the compliment away, "It's the least I could do after you were so nice to me at the Gathering."
Seiko frowned and wracked her mind for what he referred to. She asked cautiously, "You mean..when you asked me if the chair next to you was empty and I said no, you were welcome to sit?"
Karsten nodded, "Yeah. You were all nice and hospitable and we talked for like..what an hour?"
Seiko thought in faint amusement, You talked for an hour. I just sat and watched. Aloud she said, "Well..you may find this hard to believe, but I'm not a friendly person. It was pleasant to have someone to speak with."
Karsten nodded, "Exactly! Sometime these things get so political and stuff. You just want to sit and have a nice conversation with nice people. We're all from everywhere, why shouldn't we just sit down and share, you know?"
She smiled without comment.
"OH! Cindy! Look up!"
Seiko stopped and looked up at the starless sky here and there, "What is it?"
Karsten pointed to direct her gaze, his eyes bright, "There!"
Seiko's gaze focused on a pair of sneakers, shoelaces tied, hanging off of a powerline.
"Just wait a sec."
Karsten's form began to morph and re-shape itself into that of a small crow. The crow took flight to the powerline and began to pick at the shoe strings until the shoes fell to the ground. Karsten's small avian form followed and returned to normal as he picked up the shoes and showed them to Seiko, "Pretty cool, huh?"
Seiko half in disbelief and amusement eyed the weather-worn shoes, "It's something, alright."
Karsten kicked off his own battered shoes and slipped his foot into the new shoes, or attempted to anyway. He frowned, "Aww..they're too small. It would've been alright if they were too big, you know, it gives you a little extra room. But.." He smiled and picked them up and handed them to her, "I'll bet you could wear them."
Seiko observed the shoe, "Well..they look a little big..and I really don't like shoes that lace.. but I do thank you. I'll make sure someone who needs them gets them, how's that?"
Karsten grinned and put an arm around her for a quick hug, "That's great! Thanks, Cindy."
"You know my name is Seiko, right?"
"So, I've got to go, Cindy, you gonna be alright now? You need anymore back-up?"
Seiko studied him for a long moment and then nodded, "I'll be fine. But..tell you what, meet me back here tomorrow night around ten."
"Why?"
"Because I'm asking nicely?" Seiko arched an eyebrow.
Karsten thought about it and then nodded, "Okay. Here tomorrow night. Bye!"
Karsten shifted again into a crow and took flight. Seiko watched him go and then left herself.
**********
Karsten gasped in pleasure, "For me?!"
Seiko nodded, "It's the least I can do."
Karsten admired the shiny new Addidas with awe and happily kicked off his old shoes and slipped his new ones onto his feet. They squeaked on the concrete. He grinned as he laced them up.
"Thanks Cindy. That is so nice of you."
Seiko shook her head, "It's nothing, really. I wanted you to have them."
Karsten grinned.
Seiko looked at her watch, "Alright, I'm sorry but I have to go. I just wanted to make sure you got those."
Karsten smiled, "They're great! And if you ever need me for anything, just come to Stone Mountain Park. That's my area. I'll be around." He grinned and hugged Seiko again before heading off, whistling.
Seiko shook her head in amusement and went on her way.
One night, I'll figure him out.