Elegant (Wolffe)

3

Tw: Creepy stalker stuff.

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Wolffe's jaw clenched as he listened to her infuriating hobby. He was so close to grabbing the needles and throwing them out the window.

Karina eventually paused and looked up at him. "You can go, you know. Nothing's going to happen. My parents worry for nothing."

"With all due respect, I have a job to do, and I'm not one to do it halfway," Wolffe responded, 

Karina shrugged. "I just figured you have better things to do than watch me knit."

A woman bustled into the room, carrying sheets in her arms. She smiled kindly at Karina before stiffening as she saw Wolffe.

"Mary, this is Wolffe." Karina picked up the blanket she had finished and got to her feet. "Wolffe, this is my maid. She's the kindest woman I know."

"Do you have a son?" Wolffe asked, remembering the boy from yesterday. "Timmy?"

Mary pursed her lips. "Did he do something? I always tell him to keep to himself, but that boy..."

"No, he just mentioned you worked here." Wolffe shook his head.

Karina handed Mary the blanket. "Here. I'm sure Timmy will love them."

"I'm sure he will." Mary smiled softly. "He has a corner of the house filled with your blankets." Her eyes flicked to the scabbing wound on Karina's forehead and her gaze filled with concern. "What happened?"

"Oh, I just tripped," Karina said and laughed at herself. "My mother's right about me being clumsy."

Mary threw the blankets over the bed and tucked in one side while Karina tucked in the other. "How did your meeting with Benedict go? What's he like?"

"He seems nice," Karina said, her voice strained. "It could be worse."

Mary's voice dropped and she lightly touched the wound. "Did he do this?"

"No!" Karina exclaimed in horror. "No, he didn't."

"It could definitely be worse," Mary said, agreeing with Karina's previous statement.

Karina fluffed the pillows. "Did you leave the window open yesterday? I noticed it was cracked open and I haven't been able to close it."

"No, I didn't. Maybe it broke." Mary went to the window and tried to tug it shut. "Odd, it's stuck."

"It's probably fine." Karina shrugged, moving the curtains and covering the windows to prevent a draft. "I'll see you later."

Mary picked up the rest of the sheets. "Of course. I still have to dust each room on this floor."

"I can always help," Karina offered.

"I appreciate it, but I think your mother would kill us both if she saw you doing chores," Mary scoffed with a grin.

"Hey, can you help me close this?" Karina requested as Mary left, facing Wolffe.

Wolffe wordlessly reached out and attempted to pull it shut before frowning under his helmet as it refused to budge. He examined it closer before removing a strange piece of metal jamming it.

"What's that?" Karina took it from him to look at it closer.

"I don't know." Wolffe closed the window and locked it. "But did you sleep with your window open last night?"

"Yes, but it's fine." Karina pushed past him to throw out the metal.

"It's dangerous. Do you not realize that?" Wolffe's helmet dipped so he could stare down at her. 

"It's fine!" Karina huffed. "Nothing happened!"

"But it could've." Wolffe's voice lowered. "My job is to keep you safe and it's like you're trying to screw that up."

"Don't you realize nothing's going to happen?" Karina snapped, stepping closer. "My parents don't care about my safety! There's no danger to me! They just wanted a free babysitter so they didn't have to deal with me!"

"Have you not seen the nearby town? There's gangs rampant!" Wolffe shot back, sneering.

Karina glowered at him, seething with rage. "What I do is none of your business. If I want to leave a window open, I will. If I want to run down the streets in the middle of the night by myself, I will."

"No, you won't, because I take my job seriously." 

"I'll do it. I'll run down those streets right now," Karina threatened, moving to the door.

Wolffe's hand shot out and caught her wrist. "No, you won't. Not unless I'm there."

Karina yanked herself from his grip. "I've had a long day. I'm going to sleep. You're diminished. See you tomorrow."

Wolffe stood there for a moment before nodding crisply. "See you then."

So Karina climbed into her bed while the sun was still up and plotted the pettiest ways she could annoy him.

When the sun said goodbye and the moon said hello, Karina eventually fell asleep, snoring softly in her bed.

And when someone crept up to her window and tried to open the window they had left propped open, she didn't notice.

And when that same someone smiled and pressed their lips to the glass, leaving a lipstick stain, she didn't notice.

And when they slid down the side of the palace back to the ground, their hair flying back from their neck to show a tattoo of the moon, she didn't notice.