Velvet woke to something roughly yanking the ropes at her wrists. Snapping awake, she writhed around but strong arms held her steady.
"Will you stop moving? I need to get these ropes off." a familiar voice hissed, stopping the witch in her tracks. Sighing with relief, she turned as much as she was able to face her captor-turned-savior. He still wouldn't quite meet her gaze, yet Velvet swore she saw his eyes flicker towards her face, if only for a split second or two before resuming his work.
"Where's your boss?" The girl asked petulantly "I thought you two were going to come and interrogate me after one drink, instead I stayed up waiting for you all night." Velvet huffed then went red when she realized what she said. The wheels began turning in her head as she processed the situation.
"He left in an Uber about an hour ago." The young man retorted with a funny look on his face. "He will be back." he seemed lost in thought. Shaking his head the finder regained his train of thought. "Why on Earth were you up waiting for that?" He sounded aghast, his hands stalling in their work, his face as flushed as Velvet's.
"I don't know, why did you wait an hour to untie me?" the man gave her a look, though he never looked her in the eye. "Besides, Isn't it obvious? I didn't want to be caught off guard." Velvet snapped, wondering how her captor could possibly be so clueless.
"I thought we agreed you needed to trust me." his tone took on a dark quality, and Velvet could tell this conversation was going badly, but at the moment she couldn't be bothered to care.
"At this point I'm not even sure what that means!" the woman's shrill voice made the Witchfinder flinch. Taking a deep breath Velvet attempted to reign herself back in. "You arrest me, treat me like vermin, then expect me to trust you? Furthermore, how was I to know if you were going to actually protect me from that guy or just lying to make me feel better?"
The hapless guy had the nerve to look hurt, yet Velvet was on too much of a tirade to care.
"What are we?" the witch finally asked after a long period frozen in silence, though she dreaded the answer.
The witch hunter shook his head and went back to uniting the restraints. "I don't know," he admitted fretfully. "I would never admit this to anyone, but I really don't know what to make of this situation."
Velvet groaned "That makes me feel a lot better, thanks." her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Don't get smart." the finder warned. "I could still leave you here for a while if I wanted." It was a half-hearted threat and Velvet knew it, but she decided best not to let on and closed her mouth, waiting for her warden to finish undoing her binds. It felt like it was ages before the last rope was finally undone. Velvet hissed when she attempted to move to sit up.
"Easy," her captor told her. "It will probably be a little while before you feel like normal again." Velvet nodded, not having the capacity to say anything at the moment. Wincing, she stiffly rubbed her wrists, hoping to relieve the pain and bring some much-needed blood flow into the area. Rope marks mared her otherwise lovely skin. The whole situation made the girl want to cry, but she held back her tears. The Witch wasn't ready to be that vulnerable with her captor just yet. Bending down to do the same to her knees and ankles, Velvet caught a sudden bout of vertigo, lurching forward she was caught just in the nick of time by her host. "Maybe you ought to hold off on that for just a little while."
"You're probably right." Velvet wheezed as she leaned on the Finder for support. Humming in response, he led her to an old armchair just outside the room. "I'm going to go get you some water," he informed her "I'll be right back."Without another word, he turned and ascended the stairs, leaving Velvet alone to her thoughts. Moments later she heard the faucet and the water running through the pipes, then the unmistakable sound of feet coming down the stairs. Approaching her at a brisk pace, Velvet had the urge to jump but tampered down her flight of fight response. "Here, you definitely need this." the finder handed her a large metal stein that looked more like it was meant to hold alcohol rather than water. The witch eyed him suspiciously. Raising an eyebrow, the hunter met her untrusting gaze. "It's not alcohol or drugged if that's what you're worried about so you can put away that expression of yours." Velvet opened the keg and sniffed it cautiously. It had no odor and was a clear liquid suggesting the liquid was in fact only water. Velvet could hear him balking at her in the background, but she was too shaken up to care. Taking a slow, small sip, she could taste nothing out of the ordinary, so the Witch gulped down the entire keg. The Witch Finder gave a hearty snort, almost making the poor woman choke. Giving him a dirty look, Velvet set the tanker next to her. "Sorry," he said holding his hands up in a placating gesture, and Velvet's glare lessened.
"You know your boss will be back." She informed him solemly after a moment. "And I don't think he'll be so easily distracted next time."
"I know! I'm still working on that bit. You don't have to keep stating the obvious." he said irritably, looking about ready to put his fist through a wall. "I'm doing the best I can here." his tone was one of helplessness. Velvet went to open her mouth to speak but then thought better of it. She had never thought that a Witch Hunter could be helpless, let alone portray it in their speech. Neither moved for a long time, both seemingly frozen in time.
The spell finally broke when out of nowhere the hunter came forward, almost making Velvet jump, but then she saw he was going for the stein. Without a word, the man grabbed it and made his way for the stairs, presumably to get more water. Looking down at her wrists, Velvet rubbed the tender pink rope marks that threatened to permanently scar her skin. Lost in thought, tears began to roll as she wondered how her life had come to this. A Witch Hunter and a Witch, on the same side. Why was he trying to protect her? Where had this spark of humanity come from? Had Velvet been as wrong about him as he had been about her?
Something tickling her ankles broke her from her thoughts. Looking down, she saw it was her puppy. Picking him up she held him close. What would could she do for him if the worst happened? If she were to be convicted her pet could be executed for being a familiar. Velvet couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't. She would have to tell the Finder to get the creature far away from there as soon as possible when he came back.
It felt like ages before he returned.
The Witch quickly wiped tears away from her face in hopes her captor wouldn't notice. If he did, he didn't say.
"You'll have to find someone to adopt him." Velvet told him, indicating the puppy in her lap, cutting him off before he could hand her her drink.
"Why? You don't like him anymore?" the hunter asked perplexed. "I thought-"
"If I'm executed as a Witch he will likely be next. Along with any names that are tortured out of me." Velvet reminded him matter of factly. "He'll be killed as a Familiar."
"That won't happen as long as I'm here." He promised, uncharacteristic warmth lacing his voice.
"How will you do that?" Velvet snapped, rising to her feet with her pup in her arms, though she instantly regretted it as Vertigo caught up with her once again. Flopping back into her seat "It's not as if you can hold off your boss," she reminded him. "Or any other angry mob out there." she flung her arm out to indicate the world outside but winced in pain.
"I will tell them that he is my dog and that I found him," The hunter told her insistently. "No one has to know it was you who found him."
"And people will belive you?"
"You know my reputation. Most people don't question me. Besides, that is already what I told my boss, and I'm not prepared to go back on my word." At the mention of his words Velvet vaguely remembered hearing her captor mention that in his drinking session last night, though she was in no mood to attempt to remember the details.
"Why are you doing this?" Velvet asked weakly, eyes closed, she clutched her head. The puppy wined from the stress, softly licking the girl's forearm.
"I don't know what you mean." the coldness to his tone threatened to return. "We both know this dog is no Imp."
"Yes I know that." Velvet's eyes snapped open to look at him. "What I meant is why are you helping me? I am considered the scum of the Earth and your whole livelihood is based on ending people like me. It makes no sense."
For a moment, the man said nothing. "I'm not sure," he told her earnestly. "I guess I saw something in you I never saw in the others." he offered helplessly
"And what's that?" Velvet snapped
"A heart," he told her simply. "When I arrested you, you showed more care for that puppy than you did yourself. It may surprise you to know that this was something that no Witch I encountered before you would have done."
"Surely I couldn't be the only one that would help a creature in need." the Witch told him taken aback. "
"Maybe not, but you're the first I have ever seen." he reiterated simply.
"Then why can't you just let me go?" Her voice cracked painfully.
"What do you think would happen if I did that? Everyone knows who you are now. You would be lynch mobbed within the hour."
"So what do we do?" she whispered.
"We're going to have to trust each other," the hunter stated firmly. "I don't have much of a plan yet but I think we can find a way to de-escalate tensions if we work as a team." He said this like it was the simplest thing in the world, but Velvet had doubts.
"What did you have in mind?" Velvet asked, skepticism ripe in her heart."
"We could make a spectacle of you. Make the people see that you've repented. You would still be an outcast, but it's better than going all the way to trial and at least you would be alive." the man said hopefully.
"How could we do that? No one will trust a word I say."
"They might if you have me."
"You promise?" she asked nervously.
"I promise."
"Where do we start?"
"We don't start anywhere. I will go to city hall and get permission to hold a public spectacle. From then on you just follow my lead."
"That doesn't sound much like a team to me." Velvet told him slightly cross.
"It's the best we've got right now." he said simply. "If you want to contribute more you can start thinking if acts of service that you can do for others to make this repentance seem more solid."
The witch took a large swig of water. "I think I can do that. i love helping people anyway."
"Good. Do you want me to help you upstairs?"
"Yes, please. Don't think I could make it on my own."
"Very well. Set the puppy down. Give me your arm." Slipping her arm around his shoulder, then used his strength to support her as she made an attempt to stand. "Alright. one step at a time..."
An age later they just managed to make it upstairs. Once she was cleaned up and settled on the bed in the guest room he made to give Velvet some space, but she stopped him before he could leave. "Wait!"
"What is it?"
"You never told me your name."
He made a little noise in his throat, but then composed himself. "That's not really important right now."
"Please. I want to know what to call you."
"Okay," he sighed "My name is Devon. Devon Wright." The conversation over Devon left the room without another word, leaving Velvet to take in all that had just befallen her.