I'm okay, just needed ideas. So I was just minding my business when BAM I got this idea.
Enjoy this one shot that is so very clearly an au.
(Oh, by the way, the
...
Means POV change)
Mare sighed, pulled the gloves onto her hands and started scrubbing the floors.
Just like she had been doing since she stole from his pocket.
It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, the money brought her here—a nice, comfy yet modern studio.
Not at all like the man who's pocket she dug her hands in. No, he was a cold, detached human who murdered people for a living.
So what was she doing, cleaning, alive in his living quarters? As she scrubbed the linoleum, her mind wandered.
She was outside the local bar, taking money from drunkards for one sole purpose.
They needed to escape.
With the police—a corrupted, gang of burly men out for the blood of those who opposed the equally foul government—on their tail, she and her family had to come up with impossible money to buy their freedom.
As she reached into the coin purse of another person, he caught her hand, turned around, and pushed her against the wall in a forceful manner.
"Thief," he hissed.
She blinked. Never in her 13 years of pick-pocketing had anyone caught her.
She fought the urge to laugh. "Obviously."
The man scoffed, and spoke, "Stealing has consequences." With that, he pulled out a gun. "We wouldn't want to get our hands in another's pocket now, would we? Especially a potentially dangerous person."
Mare fought the urge to roll her eyes. "If you're going to kill me, just do it. I've got nothing to live for anyway."
His grip on her loosened a bit, but just enough for Mare to wriggle out and escape with the money.
A few weeks later, the police managed to catch up to her and her family, kill half of her family, and injured the ones who escaped the assault.
She had been caught by the man—Cal, she figured out the name within days—and brought into his apartment for her punishment.
He threatened to use the gun on her, but a few months passed and the worst she was punished with was a scolding.
She never even saw the gun.
Mare had just finished the floors when the door opened and Cal stepped over the threshold. He doesn't give any sign that he sees her, just sets paperwork down and speaks into the phone.
"I know, Kilorn, but I haven't seen her. I'm doing my best. No, I can't attend. Look, I'm a busy man, and to be honest, I couldn't care less that this is supposed to be the best day of your life." A shrill comes out the phone, and Cal calmly replies, "I don't believe in love." More squabbling. "I'll attend your wedding when I find Mare—"
Mare gasps. All these months, and her best friend doesn't know, he's still looking for her?
Harsh laughter interrupts her train of thought. "You really think that I have a chance? Don't come at me with your romantic crap, I don't think I'll fall in love, thank you very much." More incoherent noises. "Fine. But if you ask me, Mare should be your best man, and not dead." With that, he hangs up and turns toward her direction.
...
Cal was getting sick of it, but his best friend's sake, he put up with Kilorn's nagging to find Mare.
After he hung up, he turned to look at the girl cleaning his house. Truth be told, he wanted nothing more than to kill the little germ that dared to steal from his pocket. But something about what she said made him feel a sliver of sympathy for the girl. It quickly vanished when she escaped from his grasp.
To prove to himself it was a weakness to pity the struggling, he set out to murder her.
That, and the fact that Ptolemus said she witnessed him murder a helpless soul.
But when he caught up to her, her eyes.....so dull and lifeless, her body weak and her face puffy from crying, he struggled to pull the trigger.
So instead of ending her life, he pulled her into his car and kept her in his studio.
For days, he wished he could just take out the pistol and put a bullet through her head, but she reminded him of—Mavey.
Not a day went by with Cal forgetting the reason for being who he was now. Especially with the tiny being in his apartment, she looked just like Mavey was when he died.
In a way, Cal thought that keeping her alive (as sickly as he thought of it) was the best way to keep his little brother at rest.
But other than that, he said practically nothing to her. Only watched as she methodically washed the counters with a fuzzy feeling in his heart.
...
Mare appeared calm, but she was screaming internally.
What does he want with me? Why is he looking at me like that? Did he lose patience and wants to kill me now?
Scratch the last part. She wouldn't mind if he put an end to her life.
"You said you know a lot of people?"
Mare, out of curiosity and respect for the assassin, merely nodded her head.
"Do you happen to know a Mare Barrow?"
...
Cal watched the girl in expectancy. He faintly remembered her raving about knowing many people while he drove to his apartment holding a gun to her head.
Going back to the present, the girl nodded her head.
"Do you know where I can find her? I have a client that wants to do away with her."
The girl's body was shaking. She spoke timidly, "If you do away with her, who will keep the studio clean?"
Confusion clouded his face. Could she be...
"Mare?"
The girl—Mare, lowered her head. "Just do it," she whispered.
It seemed as if she didn't care anymore. She watched as Cal sighed and ran a hand down his face before speaking again. "But you can't, can you? The only thing keeping me alive is the fact that Maven—"
He pounced on her, holding her wrists above her head. "If you want to live, you wouldn't dare let his name escape your lips again," Cal seethed.
He watched as she gazed at him with those sad, dull brown eyes, then boldly whispered, "Maven."
Cal fumed. "What is your problem?!? Do you have a death wish?"
"This is the part where you kill me, right? This is where I hauntingly say my last words."
...
She chuckled humorlessly. So her best friend was looking to get rid of her all these months, so she might as well die a lonely soul.
It was nice while her life lasted though, wasn't it?
Cal pulled the gun out seemingly from nowhere, once again pointing the barrel at her temple. "I'd say my last words right about now."
Mare smiled, and studied his eyes. A peculiar color, those orbs, the color of bronze with flecks of gold."I'll tell your brother you said hi."
She closed her eyes and waited for him to pull the trigger.
Five seconds passed, and the gun wavered before being slammed down inches from her head.
"What is your secret?!?!" Cal screamed. "How do you do this to me? Why can't I pull the trigger? Why can't I do this anymore?"
What he did next shocked her even more.
...
Cal could barely register what he was doing until he felt his lips roughly on hers.
He couldn't think of anything other than the fact that Mare's plump, soft lips felt as if they were made for his own. Who knows, maybe they were.
He broke the kiss in need of oxygen, but still buried his head into her shoulder. "You have........intoxicated me."
...
Mare didn't know what to do. Wrap her arms around him? Just lay there like a statue that's been knocked over?
She chose to do the latter, because why not? One minute he holds a pistol to her head, the next he kisses her? What?
She'd be lying if she said that she never thought of him this way, but she'd also be lying if she said she truly....loved him.....
Unless she did. She wanted to help him, but it's hard to break down the walls if the person who built them was experienced.
He let them down for you though, didn't he?
"Erm, Cal...."
He didn't respond, just wrapped his arms tightly around her. She could feel him tense up and release.
Wait—was he crying?
"Are you... are you okay?"
"No," he replied weakly.
...
Cal was suffocating from breathing his own air from her shoulder, so he lifted his head to study Mare's eyes.
Something was different about them....
Was that....hope he saw in them?
Mare opened her mouth to say something, but Cal didn't hesitate to bring her head close to his.
...
For the second time Cal kissed her.
To say that it was amazing was an understatement.
As her lips danced with his, she felt sparks flying off, engulfing them both in pure bliss and
Happiness...
Was that what it was?
Maybe they were in love the entire time. Maybe the feelings were suppressed the moment they met.
They didn't know.
Just like they didn't know that Kilorn would find out and make him choose. Just like they didn't know that Cal would willingly put his life in danger just to save Mare's skin. Just like they didn't know that they would run away together to escape the police, government, and their own pasts. Just like she never thought the Cal would love and cherish her as if he never did wrong her, and will never do anything to force her ever again.
But that was a bridge to cross when they got there.
He he.
I'll be honest. I was very proud of this piece of writing, despite the fact that it was, in fact, OOC. I had fun with it, just like most of the other one shots.
So I ask, faithful readers, to keep the prompts coming. I just might update more often.
This is the third writer typing, and have a good day🙂