Author Games: The Absent Empress

Task One Entries: 1-10

King

Screwdriver:

(1 part) Vodka

(2 parts) Orange Juice

*

Shifting eyes, steely glare, nails that drum against the table with a tick, tick, tick. Never steady, never focusing on just one task, never distracted enough for him to swipe the little glass fish off her desk. She flips through the pages, looking for his name. He waits like a good boy sent to the principal's office. King had never been much for good boys. His feet are always shifting, barely swinging, but he tries to be still. Tried to be still. Patience is key. The words are an echo. One beat, two— a pause, a throat clears. "I believe we tried to get in touch with you before Mr. Travers—"

Leaning forward, creaking chair. Her voice silenced, his taking the field. The velvet on the right arm is loose beneath his fingers. It's old. Worn. Perhaps gripped in fear or anticipation. King is neither. King is both. His smile comes easy, the memory of a grin. Teeth flashing, palms displayed, an easy shrug. "Please, hon. Call me King." Open. Honest. Nothing to fear. There's not enough energy in the air. The woman iss cold. She gives away nothing. Her eyes barely look up from the pages. He knows her type. He won't sweat it. There is always time, always patience. Patience is key. "I don't go by anything else."

But she won't smile. Her gaze never lasts on him long enough to feel the effect of his easy demeanor. She knows his tricks. People always break when you know what buttons to press. King had the buttons. He had the whole goddamn control panel. "The last time someone approached you with this offer you told them, and I quote, 'to go fuck themselves with a cactus'."

Except for that one. He didn't have that button. Backtrack, rewind. Do not pass go. Memories flicker. Too much, too much. King's eyes close, caught off guard. Cheeks flush.

A different time. Blue and red lights mingling into purple hues. Music swelling like the pounding of an oversized heart. So much energy, so much time. Time was forever. They could never run out, not when they were together. Their feet weren't steady, stumbling over broken bricks and shattered bottles. King was steady beside him, though. The world was grounded. The world was flesh and blood and warm bodies all keeping him from floating off into space. Kitty's hand was on his arm. Kitty's breath was in his ear. Nothing else mattered. No stupid representative from somewhere beyond fucksville was going to break up their night. Every night was their night. It was a honeymoon and a funeral all rolled up into a cycle of tireless days and sleepless nights in a separate dimension that never ended.

The clock on the wall matches the beat of her nails. Tick, tick, tick. His hands rub against the legs of his pants. Where did he get these pants? He isn't sure. A nervous laugh. "Those were different—" Pause, show humility. Destroy the tension at the roots. That was the way to win 'em over. Kitty taught him that. Kitty taught him everything. Now, she looks at him. She's got him pinned. Like a bug beneath a magnifying glass, waiting for an answer. There are no pictures on her desk, no name tags, nothing identifying. He doesn't even know to whom he speaks. The secretary just let him in there. Just let him in. No questions asked. Why am I here? What am I doing? The urge to flee shivers through his veins. Under her gaze is worse than without it. Thoughts fly out the window. Switch onto autopilot. Emergency mode activated. "Er, economical times, ma'am," King finishes. Lie, lie lie. His shoulder throbs.

"So you're in this for the money."

If you can't beat them, join them. If you can't win them to your side, be the butt of their joke. A superhero in it for the money. A good laugh around the break room. A good rumor to spread. His fingers flex, breathing in deep. He sits back in the chair, listening to it creak once more. The air is stale. The woman in front of him is stale but her eyes are fierce. Patience is key. Sometimes to make amends, you gotta grovel at their feet. King wasn't a groveler. Not for nobody, not for nothing.