𝕓𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕔𝕒𝕥 | 𝟲 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗

4 | Kitty Love

Blake needed a new plan. She and Four met on five occasions in the next two weeks. She didn't go so far as to label them as dates: they all consisted of dinner, a movie, and wild sex afterwards, at the hotel he claimed his freelance journalist agent had booked. She took some satisfaction knowing that he would owe a little more than the standard room rate, to pay for the mess they had made.

He was dangerous; she'd identified that from the start. Not for his Ghost status, not for his killer looks. No, he was dangerous because of his personality, and the fact that he occupied nearly her every waking thought - and all of her sleeping ones, too.

Additionally, he made her feel happy. She hated herself for it. It was a weak, manipulative feeling, but it felt so very good to let herself relax and do something physical that wasn't destructive and gave someone else pleasure, too. Sure, she had friends that made her content – her fellow agents she could label tentatively as friends, and she was always close to her operators... That is, for the few months she spent with them before they vanished without a word. Harmony was, perhaps, a good friend, though there were certain topics they were essentially barred from discussing – anything personal, like their pasts, were strictly out of bounds – which made conversations more like a dance around the truth than real, honest heart-to-hearts. She too would be replaced by another operator in due course, seemingly to Circe's whims; Blake knew that time was coming up fast, since Harmony had been the longest operator she had ever been paired with.

Though Blake couldn't talk about her real job with Four, she told him about how her parents had kicked out her brother just for being gay, and that she had followed him onto the streets. She told him how she'd worked her ass off to keep them afloat before her parents died and left her the noble title of Lady (a slight twist of the truth). And he'd listened, swore in all the right places, and distracted her afterwards.

In turn, he'd told her about his college years, streaking through the hallways and all the dumb things college kids did, because "you shouldn't have missed out on an experience like that. It was good fun." And he told her about 'office tensions' with his co-workers and how he'd been estranged from his family for years, and how his current job had turned his life around after falling into a post-college-delinquent rut. And it made her feel a little more normal, a little less alone in her troubles.

"You look way too happy lately," Harmony commented, narrowing her eyes at Blake. "Like you've adopted a puppy."

Blake pouted. "I wish."

"So what is it, then? Have you met someone? Oh-" her eyes widened, "oh my god! You're fucking someone, aren't you?"

The grin slid from Blake's face. "What? No, of course not, Harmony."

"You are," she accused. "You're practically glowing. Who is it? Some Turgistani hunk?" A sly smile spread over her lips. "...Does he have a sister I can get with?"

"Harmony," Blake groaned, chucking a pillow at her.

Harmony erupted in giggles and threw it back at her. "Now I know why you're drawing out the mission," she said, resting her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. "You want to keep it going as long as possible, right?"

Blake made a face. Was that why she was dragging her heels? Was that why she made the excuse not to go for it at the last meet? She chose not to answer.

"So can I meet him? Wait, you're keeping this no strings attached, right?" Harmony peered over at her. "Right?"

"I'm not stupid," Blake grumbled. "It doesn't mean anything. Just sex." And dinner. And movies.

"Good. You know what Circe will do if she finds out there's feelings involved." Harmony dragged a finger over her neck, then snorted again. "She'll be bad enough if she finds out you're fucking someone."