Spying On Serpents (ONC 2022)

Chapter 14: Scales

Gwyn heard Noel before he saw her, as he approached the break room.

"-snakes are super affectionate, it's kind of adorable," she was in the middle of saying. "And Sun's Light, his skin is so smooth! It's like touching soft marble."

Gwyn frowned, edging closer to the wall, but keeping out of sight of the doorway. He didn't want to eavesdrop, but he didn't want her to stop speaking before his curiosity was sated, either...

"You touched his skin?" a thickly-accented voice replied, smooth, feminine, and blatantly amused.

"Only his arm. I had to patch up his bite-wound, what was I supposed to do? Use tongs?"

His snakes perked up, sharing eager glances, and his chest contracted with some foreign emotion. She was talking about him?

Her companion laughed softly. "Noel, dear, you've got to be careful. Falling for a criminal can lead even the brightest spark astray."

"I'm not falling for him!" Noel snapped, just a touch too fast and a touch too defensively. "And he's not  a criminal! He's a really nice person."

"He's from a long line of criminals. It's in his blood."

"I don't care who his family is, Gwyn isn't like that!" Noel sounded angry, now. "He's a good friend, and anyone who took the time to get to know him, would realise that, too!"

As much as he wanted to keep listening, Gwyn realised he'd probably heard enough, and stepped closer to the doorway.

His sudden appearance cut off whatever Noel's companion—a dryad with mint-green hair and copper-brown skin—was about to say.

"Gwyn!" Noel immediately rose to her feet, each hand wrapped around a steaming paper cup. Her ears quivered, turning a pale shade of pink. "Perfect timing, I uh... was just about to bring you this."

She handed him one of the cups. He remembered Nona talking about the hot caramel made by the NPD machine; how it was the only thing that came close to the homemade drinks her parents used to make. He'd been eager to try it.

"Thank you," he replied with a smile. "They've just brought in their latest suspect. Your father wants us behind the glass."

"Really? We get to listen to the interrogation?"

His smile turned sly. "I think they just want us to stay out of trouble."

Noel huffed. 

"That'd be right. I'm coming now." She waved to her friend. "Bye Clea, I'll talk to you later."

Clea laughed again, looking thoroughly amused. "You do that, dear."

As they left the break room, making their way towards the interrogation rooms on the other side of the floor, Gwyn leaned close to whisper, "Scales."

"Hm?" Noel questioned, taking a sip of her  drink.

"I have scales," he explained. "Not skin. That's why it feels smooth."

She snorted loudly, spraying her mouthful of hot caramel all over the floor in front of her. Her ears were all but shaking now, turning redder than one of those human-grown vegetables.

"Did you, uh..." she stammered. "Did you hear all of that?"

Gwyn grinned. "Only since you called my snakes affectionate. It made them happy."

They hissed in agreement, half of them stretching closer to the elf, while the other half remained interested in the warmth of his drink.

"Oh, this is so embarrassing," she murmured, tugging on her braid with her free hand. "Don't listen to a single word Clea said! She's crazy!"

He chuckled softly, his snakes thoroughly amused by the bouquet of her emotions. 

"Don't be embarrassed," he said, gently nudging her shoulder. "I appreciate you sticking up for me."

"Well," she shrugged, swallowing thickly. "I know what it's like to be judged, just because people don't know you..."

Gwyn bit his lip, eyes trailing down to the gleaming bronze of her cybernetic limb.

"Can I ask what happened?" he began, tentatively.

"What? To my real arm?" Noel huffed, a wry smile stretching across her face. "I like to tell people I lost it in a duel against a troll-bear. Or in a fire, saving some Chimaera kits. Something fun or exciting. The truth is kind of lame in comparison."

Gwyn waited, unwilling to rush her. One of his snakes tasted the very tip of her ear, and she smiled at it.

"I was actually born without it," she finally admitted. "Sad, I know, but that's the drab truth."

"Why does it have to be sad?" he asked. Of course, he could only imagine how hard it was for her, living without all of her limbs, but she'd said it herself; her cybernetic arm was so much cooler than a real one... Gwyn knew people who would cut their own arms off for an upgrade like that.

"Because I'm an elf," she sighed. "I'm sure you know, already, but elves are super into the idea of 'perfection'. And I was born about as far from perfect as you can get. Even my parents didn't want me..."

"Your parents..." Gwyn frowned. "Detective Robins?"

"He's not my real dad, Gwyn. He's a human. But he raised me like I was his real daughter. Took me to the park when I was just a kid. Dropped me off and picked me up from school every day, even when he was busy. Bought me this arm so I could do everything the other kids could do. I call him dad, because even though we're not related, that's who he's been for me. Sometimes all you need it a single person willing to like you when no one else does, until you learn to like yourself."

Gwyn observed the elf beside him, realising that the confidence he liked so much hadn't always been there.

"I'm used to being around people who don't like me, Noel," he told her, with a small smile. "But someone would have to be crazy not to like you."

Her ears started quivering again, that blush returning to their points. His snakes couldn't identify the scent of her present emotion, but they liked it.

"Uhm... In here," she mumbled, leading him into the room behind the mirror. He'd never been on this side, before. It was dark and quiet, lit only by the lights gleaming through the one-way glass.

Gwyn perched on the edge of a table, and Noel took the spot beside him, continuing to sip at her drink. He took a sample of his own, letting it's warmth bleed through his cold body, almost as strong as the fire burning in the elf beside him.

It was sweeter than he had imagined.