The Partner

Chapter 5

She argues back with him. "I wasn't with Vane, okay? I was with my new temporary partner in the Shield Guild. What's your problem?"

Raspeck sighs deeply, rubbing his eyes. "And how long have you known him? A few hours?"

Crossing her arms over her chest, Anvy stews as she casts him a death glare. "I met him yesterday, actually. And what's the big deal, anyway? You know I sleep around. It's never bothered you before."

Raspeck throws his arms up into the air in exasperation. "Of course it bothers me that my best friend sleeps with random guys and then trashes her self-esteem over it! I hate that once you sleep with a guy, Anvy, they mean nothing to you. And lord knows it reflects how they treat you." He goes from angry to sad in a matter of seconds, but she's still furious with him.

Her best friend has always lived like a monk, never as much as talking about a girl let alone bringing one home or showing up after a walk of shame. But he's never once said anything about her sex life. Plus, Anvy thought she hid her low self-esteem when it comes to guys pretty well. Guess not. "If you want to talk to me about how guys treat me, go ahead. I'm all ears, but you can't say anything about Kenai. I barely know him and he treats me better than any guy I've ever met before. That's one of the reasons I couldn't help myself, Raspeck."

He sneers at her, a very un-Raspeck thing for him to do. He's so polite and calm, never getting angry over anything. "Yeah, he treats you so well he slept with you as soon as he met you."

She frowns, her brow drawing up. "Us sleeping together has nothing to do with how he treats me. He...forget it. You wouldn't understand." Anvy turns away from him, heading towards the hallway.

"Hey, where are you going? We're not done here, Anvy." His tone drops to a nicer one, but she's still done.

She turns in the doorway, leaning a hand against it. "If you think we have more to talk about, we'll finish this later. I'm tired and have to go into headquarters later. If you wanted to try and change my ways, Raspeck, waiting to chew me out after a long, tiring night of work was not the best tactic. So, goodnight."

He closes his eyes and bows his head in response, seeming to feel guilty. Raspeck's eyes remain closed as he replies "You're right, Anvy. I'm sorry. Forgive me. Goodnight. We'll talk later." With that, she goes to her room, strips off her uniform, and crashes.

Anvy sleeps in the next morning. She didn't realize how wiped she was from working so much and everything that happened last night. After slipping into a t-shirt and shorts, she sneaks out into the hall. Passing Raspeck's room, it's empty. And after checking the empty living room and kitchen, she decides he must be out. She's relieved, not wanting to continue their talk from last night quite yet.

Anvy checks the kitchen to see if Raspeck picked up any rations lately, and she's glad to see he did. It's definitely been her turn the last five or six times, but she keeps forgetting or waiting too long because of work. Her heart swells, forgiving him for last night instantly. She knows how much a pain in the ass it is to go to the distribution center to collect rations. They are under high security and for good reason. The rations, the reapers and wraiths only food source, are souls. Undesirable souls, really. The two races of haunts can only survive on souls, but only need to eat one every month or two. So, the haunt squad provides. Instead of going off on your own to hunt, they provide free, legal, risk-free souls from criminals caught by the Shield Guild and killed by the haunt squad. They're usually the worst of the eructa like hirgs, lamia, rugupumas, lepictas, ghouls, and zombies. They are the most evil of creatures, but occasionally other criminals of the other races commit a crime so heinous, they are sentenced to eternal death. No after world for them; they get to be eaten.