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“Sanctum Harbor has always been a haven for the unwanted. It attracts people like that. And the best thing to do is to let those people come here and then manipulate them into a semblance of civility.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means that we let them have their dirty little games so that they don't cause all out war.”
“Is that what you’re doing with me?” Hellena’s right up in my face. Too close. Not close enough. “Keeping me so busy that I don’t have time to argue with you?”
“Touché. Shall we take it again?” I deflect, pressing Play on the song again.
Over the next hour, we maneuver our way through the first half of the story, the heroine meeting the dark angel and falling for him. How he uses her, changes her. It’s a bit on the nose, but it works well between us.
The rest of the story is simple, effective in a dance. Conflict, revenge, etc.
“Stop. Try it again. It must be perfect!”
“I’m doing my best,” she growls.
“Your best needs to be better.”
“You’re such a dick.” Hellena stalks away from me with a feline grace.
“Reset. Ready?”
I move through the poses again, making sure I have the muscle memory down, ready to lift her. She charges in. I catch her and raise her up, rolling onto my back.
“Perfect!”
Her satisfied glare tells me she knows she nailed it. She is nearly ready.
“See? Although, you really need to learn how to do it without getting furious.”
“Maybe someday, you'll stop pissing me off constantly,” she snips. The tension is always there, especially after a particular heated encounter.
I stare her down, setting her back on her feet. “You’ll learn to trust me eventually.”
“You want to talk trust? Every time I think we have trust, you flip the script on me. Or disappear.” She paces, working out her frustration. It sets my teeth on edge.
“I've been busy.”
“Right. And you’ve kept me up to my ass too. So there’s never time to?—”
“Could you not? Just for once?” I bark, anger flaring.
“Or you could just answer me. Admit that you’ve been avoiding me.”
“I have been avoiding you, but not because of some petty tryst. I’m busy doing my job, and not only my own work, but making sure that everything is lined up for you ahead of time, that the wheels are greased on your jobs.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you think it's odd that you haven’t had a single issue on a single job since you started?” I shouldn’t have said that.
“Maybe it's because I'm good at it!”
“You are. Because I am.”
“Oh! So you’re the entire reason for my success? You're my knight in fucking shining black armor.” She throws her hands up. “You know, sometimes, you have a really twisted way of showing that you care.”
“Whoever said I cared?”
