虎。

....They ran out of the chicken katsu sandwich at the bakery he frequents.

It's ...nothing.

Just a little matter. Trifling really. She shouldn't concern herself with it.

// you can always reply to whatever, do banter and stuff. I welcome long term interactions as well as banter alongside it.

// more replies soon, I will try and be more active as my muse is climbing back up. ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

-- but not enough to indicate it had hit anywhere past the surface.

"𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗛𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘀, 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗻 𝗜𝘁." Came his growl. Miraculously, or perhaps to him predictably, he had survived.

-- yet unhesitating when it came to opening fire. It hit its mark as he made sure it would. But after the deafening echo of its gunfire there was silence, not a limp thump of a corpse hitting the ground.

There was a smoldering on the side of his head, blood drawn that mingled with blonde hair, --

-- woman of yours?"

Now glowering over her with burning iris, it's almost as if he had the weapon pointed at her rather than himself. His glare dared her to look away, even as his presence so engulfed her vision.

"I guess we'll find out."

Click, bang. Unfamiliar with the caliber and ammunition,-

-- jaw and a scowl, eye turned from the gun to her. He took a step closer, then another, all the while he brought the gun to the side of his head. The end of its barrel nestled against golden locks, so firmly affixed as to leave no gap between it and its target. A sure kill.

"But are you a --

-- knelt down and took the gun in his hand. For a moment he studied it, felt its heft in his palm before wrapping fingers securely around it as if he'd known it for years.

No matter the land, it seems the method of killing remained the same.

"I am a man of my word." He expressed with clenched--

-- face her with a fierce expression that so very clearly deigned her request as an insult.

Perhaps a normal man might have been stricken with more fear, the very command could not be considered anything less than a death sentence. But he...

"...So high is the price you ask me to pay?"

He --

Certainly, the woman didn't hold back when it came to her expressiveness. Displeasure towards the man? Perhaps he had asked too much, but then...it wasn't just his life on the line.

That's why, when the woman produced the firearm from her little familiar and had it slid at his feet, he could only--

!!!!

Jolting immediately, his back straight and rigid.

"N...A..O....MI....." Oh no, he's upset.

-- timezones."

He expressed with a soft laugh. Humility, speaking as if all this was merely part of the job, a merely innocuous and simple duty.

"That won't be an issue. Just ah...let me know how late it's alright to send you a message. I work some pretty late nights."

And days, for that matter.

"Sometimes I lose track of time, you see. And other times, I'm on the other side of the world. I lose myself among all the different--

"As you can see, miss Veonteii, you are in the middle of Koumiya...a coastal city flanked by mountains, on an island nation known as Japan. Your land...what's it like?"

"Digital, hm....that must mean you're from a land not too far off from ours, technology wise."

He expressed with some relief. Too many people startled by cars, thinking trains are dragons, and the like.

He produced his flip phone, pulling up the maps application for her to see.

--

Useful little things, these claws.

Everything from opening letters to slicing throats. Never will he need to carry a knife.

Fingers curling. Obsidian claws sprout from fingertips where nails once were.

And retract just as quickly as they appeared.

// I remembered that I like to write. Fuck.

[Artist: @panK0ni on Twitter. ]

ㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗱,
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗹.ㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

"I'll take that to mean that I was right."

"I think that it's your imagination running wild, dear maid." ✨

"I have sharp ears, after all."

Hm, a faint smile on his lips.

"What's so inappropriate, I wonder...."

"...? Someone seems troubled. Is it really that bad, Naomi?"

— might want to express, but...

"Ah...if this is a confession...then yes, I love you too."

He would laugh softly, the rumbling in his chest gentle enough as not to disturb her now pressed so firmly against his bosom.

"That's usually how it goes, right? It's just another way that I'm out of the ordinary."

His eye met hers, looking at her with a surprise. Curious as to what she —

"I am?"

He replies, not too surprised. Perhaps it's the exhaustion keeping him from reacting too hard as he nuzzles the top of her head, breathing in her scent and taking her closer to him.

"I'm more used to it this way..."

(Successfully Distracted. It's just that easy.)