The Hunt

Chapter 23- Break!

Alma traced her small fingers over the scarring wound.

"Well," she said, glancing up at Orion, "I'd say it's healing well considering the circumstances."

"Considering I was stabbed and immediately sent out the next day?" Orion asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep. Those circumstances."

"Or you're just good at you job."

She smiled cockily. "That too."

The saint picked up the gauze.

"I thought you said I was healing well?" The assassin whined.

"You are, but this is precautionary. If something happens, like you over exert yourself like you love to do, you won't bleed out and die immediately. Not to mention I'll bother you less about it."

He held up his arms, giving her access to his torso. "Wrap away, little saint."

She started slowly before falling into a quick pace.

"So," Orion's started as she reached around his torso, "how exactly did someone as young as you get into this kind of work?"

She stopped to look up at him before her hands quickly got back to working. "Why so you want to know?"

He shrugged. "Curiosity mostly."

"You know what they say. Curiosity killed the cat."

"True. But satisfaction brought it back."

She snorted. "I was banking on you not knowing that half."

"Yeah well, I guess I'm smarter than I look."

"Or hella lucky."

"Aren't you supposed to say blessed by Sheek-Ala or some god of fortune? I thought saints didn't believe in luck."

"Can't it be the same thing?"

"I don't know, can it?"

Alma stopped her wrapping to tie the end of it. She backed away to give it a final look before giving Orion's shoulder a tap.

He took that as the sign to get dressed.

"I don't really know," Alma finally replied. "But after you see a lot of things and hear the kinda stories I've heard; I guess that's when you start to believe in luck."

Alma caught Orion's gaze as he slid his shirt back over his head. "You never answered my question."

She smacked him across the back of his head, ruffling his rust colored hair. He batted her hand away

"You really wanna know? That bad?"

He nodded.

"Only if you promise to buy me dinner."

He rolled his eyes but nodded anyways.

"Fine. When I was a little baby, before I could even walk, I was caught in the middle of this rag tag rebellion. Finally, the police got involved and, apparently, there I was laying out on my own. Most orphans, they end up in an orphanage."

"Obviously."

"But the guy who found me wasn't really sure how to take care of a kid or something, I don't know. He left me on the front step of the Saints building and I was taken in. I ended up learning everything hands on and being certified years before the average Saint."

"So you were forced into it," Orion stated.

She smiled. "Yeah, kinda. But I like what I do and there aren't many people who can do my job better than me. Now what about you? How'd you get to be an assassin?"

"Family business. Everyone is one or they're not part of the family."

"So, really, you were forced into it."

He smiled. "Yeah, kinda."

Alma laughed. "Don't get cocky with me. I'll keep those bandages on as long as I need to."

He faked a gasp, covering his mouth. "You wouldn't."

She turned, playing along. "Don't doubt me, assassin." She picked him in the chest, mere inches from his face. "You don't know how far I'd go to shut a pretty boy like you up."

He gave her a sideways glance, as he forced his voice to go up a bit. His words were smooth and, well you know. "So you think I'm pretty, do you?"

Alma snorted, her hand coming back to cover her mouth, but even that couldn't stop her as she burst out laughing.

"What- what was that?" She asked between gulps of air. The rest of what she said was intangible, even to her.

She tried to get an answer from Orion, but he was laughing too, wiping tears from his eyes.

It was Orion who managed to get out more than a few words first. "So you can laugh."

She looked at him from where she'd collapsed on the floor, wiping a tear away. "What?"

"You've either been stern or serious or flustered since the day I met you. I've never really seen you laugh like that."

She rolled her eyes, walking to the door. "The same thing could be said about you, pretty boy."

And with that she was gone. Normally, she would've immediately turned to where everyone else was sitting and waiting, but this time she slid down the door, her face pressed into her palms, her cheeks heating her hands.

She prayed to whatever gods happened to be listening that no one would look at her now. Not even Orion opened the door.

---

Rei was sitting on the couch besides Cecily who was, as per the usual, sipping on a cup of tea.

"Do we need to restock the tea supply?" Zephyr asked, looking up from the T.V. that was droning on with spurts of random laughter in the background.

"More importantly," Rei said, "are we gonna need to get those two their own room?"

-Authors Note-

This was just a light very short chapter to give the gang a little break.

Hey guys! So now, here comes the questions I like to ask my beloved readers.

What would you like to see happen before the story comes to an end? (Not that it's really close to being done, is just like a heads up.) I like to include my readers wants too, even if they're just small details.

What would you like to see more and less of?

How do you see this story ending? (This will not effect the ending, I just like to know what you think.

Thank everyone!

Love,
Q