𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 ♛ ꜱᴘʏ ✗ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ

ೃ⁀➷𝘉𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱

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"Where's the the duct tape?"

Lia diverted her attention from singing an off tune version of the duck song to a teary eyed Anya, to looking affronted by the question.

"Sorry boss we used the rest of it to fix the coffee machine."

"Too bad it couldn't fix your receding hairline, am I right?"

Silence ensued as all gazes in the room were drawn to the the boss' abnormally large forehead and the hairline which was, in fact, receding.

"What're you assholes lookin' at!?" He barked irritably.

"N-nothing boss."

"Just be grateful you weren't subjected to a bad rendition of fight song," she confided to a thug next to her, "between you and me, I'm not sure who it would've been more painful for."

In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best idea to converse with someone who was holding a crowbar to her head but she'd never been the poster child of good ideas.

"What the fuck is that."

He was discreetly jabbed him in the side."Larry don't say that shit in front of kids".

"Oh, so kidnapping children is all fine and dandy for you guys but dropping the f bomb is crossing the line?" She remarked incredulously. "What is this? Your mom's bible study group?"

"You know what, we don't have to answer to her. Should've finished her off when we had the chance."

"Oh wow, you're definitely not getting invited back to bible study group."

"I don't give a shit about fucking bible study group you obnoxious little- I don't even go to church," he spluttered hotly.

"I can see why, with that attitude."

Anya's eyes continued to water in distress and she was twisting frantically in a way Lia interpreted as 'shut up you moron'.

"What's taking so long to find the damn duct tape?!"

"Sorry Boss, the general supplies store across the street only had this," he held up a sparkly pink washi tape covered in unicorns.

"This is the best you can do?" His voice was dangerously quiet.

He drew back his gun to blow the guy's face off (Lia distantly thought that Anya must be having a field day, getting to see a pistol with silencer in action).

Just as she was about to point it out to the spooked looking Anya, she felt a weight in her pocket. She manoeuvred her bound hand and reached in curiously to touch the cool exterior of metal, feeling the ridges of a trigger.

"Where the hell did my gun go!?"

Lia froze, holding her breath. Anya's eyes widened beside her.

Seconds before he blew a gasket, Nuguyen got back from the apartment. She presumed they were referring to their apartment and was struck by a vivid image of Loid was bleeding out on the bathroom tiles.

To be fair, Lia would've also been privy to homicidal tendencies if her parents had named her Nuguyen. Whoever her parents had been, she was grateful to them for dodging that bullet.

"We captured him," they roughly tossed a trussed up body on the hard stone.

Lia perked up, struggling to get a good look at whichever poor soul they'd captured. By the process of elimination, if the only residents of the apartment were her, Anya and Loid then...

The boss continued his monologue to 'twilight' about something or other. Lia was bored out of her mind and just wanted something to happen at this point. So when they pulled off his mask to reveal-

"Nuguyen!"

-It was actually quite thrilling. From the evident shock on their faces Lia reckoned that the man on the floor wasn't this Twilight fellow.

"What a plot twist," she narrated, idly wishing her hands weren't tied up so she could cover her mouth in an appropriately surprised manner. "Twilight turns out to be -gasp- Newguy- Nugee- Jesus Christ that's a mouthful."

Anya blinked and swivelled her head, probably judging her for saying 'gasp' out loud among other things.

In the blink of an eye, they were freed their confines and bustled out of the room.

Anya was hysterically wailing (again) and Lia could've sworn she heard her call the man 'papa'.

"Look, you're okay. I won't do anything."

Huh, Lia hasn't known Loid liked cosplaying as homeless looking punks. Though, she guessed that everyone had their quirks. She herself was no exception.

"You don't have to be scared."

"No offence, but the moustache makes you look like a pedo," she said bluntly.

He didn't seem to absorb what she was saying, looking to be in the middle of a traumatic childhood flashback.

Outside the nondescript building, Loid fed them some bullshit about them being 'pro tag players'. But Anya still bought it so it wouldn't hurt to let her believe a tiny white lie right?

After getting directions to a police station, they ran a few metres down the street before Lia's legs gave out.

"Dammit my legs fell asleep," she huffed, "stupid trolley". Anya was occupied by looking at something behind her though.

"What is i- uhhh."

They both stood awkwardly as Loid pulled his face and hair off in the middle of the street, where literally anyone could've been seen. She would've thought he'd be a little more discreet but maybe he wasn't ashamed of his hobby?

Lia looked at Anya for some sort of reaction but got none, apart from a few weird looks directed at her. She was honestly expecting her to be a little more shocked, considering.

"Anya doesn't wanna go back there..." she murmured sadly.

"You'd rather go back to Mr. Pedo Cosplayer?"

She was met with a silence and pleading expression that gave her all the answer she needed.

"Fine, whatever," she conceded, "let's hide behind this conveniently placed postbox for dramatic effect."

After a few mind numbingly dull minutes of huddling together, Lia absently put her hands in her pockets.

The gun was gone.

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