𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 ♛ ꜱᴘʏ ✗ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ

ೃ⁀➷𝘖𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴

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"Anya wants a pistol with silencer!"

It was scary how she smiled so sweetly, as if asking for candy.

Lia almost felt bad that Anya wouldn't be able to get what she wanted most. There was no way in hell this guy would agree to-

"Sure. Maybe if we can find one on sale," Loid replied easily.

What kind of local supermarket advertises guns for sale? He was joking right? Yeah, of course he was. He wasn't seriously going to give this impressionable young girl a gun...was he?

She knew he was sketchy but hadn't imagined him going this far to bribe Anya. She couldn't even tell if he was serious, his poker face still unrelenting.

So she tested the waters.

"Can I have a machine gun?"

Why have a tiny pistol when she could have one of the most fire-powered guns out there?

She'd never been obsessed with guns, in her personal opinion knives looked cooler, despite not being advantageous in a real fight. But between a pistol and machine gun it wasn't difficult to pick.

Loid seemed significantly more disturbed this time but swallowed it down to regain his careful composure.

He cleared his throat, "well, we can try to find one of those too," and carried on as if everything were normal.

And maybe it was. Maybe this was the kind of conversation he had every day working his unknown occupation.

Psychiatrist my ass.

It almost worked except she still noticed him sneaking analytical glances at her in her peripheral vision.

She had to admit, if she hadn't also been scrutinising his behaviour, she likely wouldn't have caught the assessing nature of his gaze.

Trying to figure out what exactly she was thinking, what made her tick. Like she was a particularly difficult puzzle he couldn't quite solve.

And that suited her perfectly. Never let them know your next move.

Speaking of which, she swore Anya was right next to her a second ago...

"Big sister! Save me!" Anya cried out, swept up in the afternoon rush hour.

She facepalmed at her dramatics but some part of her was endeared at the sight.

"Fear not, your valiant and chivalrous sister shall save you," she played along, enjoying the act more than she should've.

"They say chivalry is dead but I will prove-"

Just as she was about to enact her 'daring' rescue, some asshole shoved her into the crowds. Now, she too was in need of saving.

Oh, how the tables have turned.

And that is how her and Anya spent a whole minute twirling clumsily through the masses like uncoordinated spinning tops, wondering where on earth Loid has fucked off to.

Did he seriously not notice we were gone?

Eventually, one lady took pity on them and extricated them from the chaos.

"You need to make sure you hold their hands," she lectured.

Most would consider this common sense but judging from Loid's expression like she'd told him to ditch fatherhood and become a stripper, this thought had not yet occurred to him.

He stood there for a few seconds with this constipated look on his face. His incompetence concerning children was only becoming more evident as time went on.

Lia was only slightly embarrassed for his sake as it was rather entertaining to watch him struggle.

"Let's go!" She chirped, offering a hand to him in an attempt to put an end to the awkward staring. Reluctantly, he reached out and took it, holding Anya's in the other.

They walked for a bit. Lia avoiding the cracks in the pavement, Anya humming the spy wars theme song and Loid was...

Lia wasn't actually sure what he was doing. Glaring at the ground like he was planning genocide sounded extreme if not accurate.

She assumed Anya had seen it too as her happy expression dissolved into one of horror. She ran to crouch under a cafe sign which didn't seem very useful in the event that Loid did have genocide on his to do list.

"What're you doing?"

"Hiding!"

Lia wouldn't have hesitated to join her if she wasn't still gaslighting herself into believing this was still a dream.

Loid stood still, contemplating the situation. Lia wasn't sure what was taking so long, there were really only two possible outcomes.

1. Suck it up and embrace fatherhood.
2. Ditch the random orphans and return to his life of dubious crime.

Within the depths of Lia's mind, a plan began to form in the event that he chose the second option. If she had to toughen up and join a street gang to survive homelessness, she would do it in a heartbeat.

She just wasn't sure if Anya could survive the streets but the alternative was going back to the orphanage so there wasn't much competition in that-

"Anya likes peanuts!"

It was unnerving how it was becoming a catchphrase at that point.

"And I don't like carrots. But I really like crispy bacon from bakenries!"

Lia and Loid looked up at the sign she was pointing at, reading 'bakery'.

She covered her mouth to stifle her laughter.

"A-anya ," she snorted, struggling to get the words out, "that's a bakery."

And her potential thug life was forgotten in the blink of an eye.

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