FellPoth Short Stories and One-Shots

Criminal Intent: Chapter 1

This story's a continuation of The Road to Hell (and When One Door Closes, to a lesser extent), so it'll make more sense if you've read that first. Enjoy~

Chapter Warnings: Discrimination, swearing

***

"That'll be thirty dollars," the old man at the cash register grunted. Rurik narrowed his eye sockets at the human; the price tag on the display had said twenty... what the hell?!

From the smug look on the guy's face, it was clear he knew exactly what he was doing. In the past, Rurik would have just killed the guy outright and taken the flowers, but he was making a serious effort to work on his temper now and it was no secret that humans despised 'their kind'; he refused to be the one to start a conflict over some flowers. Growling, he fished his wallet from his pocket full of random junk and slammed the money onto the counter; it was for a good cause, so he could afford to let it go just for today.

"Pleasure doing business with you," the man said jovially, popping open the till and placing the money inside while printing out a receipt.

"I bet," the grouchy skeleton huffed, snatching the paper from the man. Picking up his purchase, he walked out of the convenience store taking slow, calming breaths as the self-help book taught him. He was pleased that after two minutes, he was only slightly annoyed rather than enraged; yet another reason to be thankful to Lotus.

Ever since the hanging incident six months ago, Rurik had been making strides on improving himself for the sake of their relationship; it had been a rough start, but his desire to change and Lotus' encouragement allowed him to slowly improve. His companion even did some research and bought a self-help book that they had been jointly reading through and practicing from together.

He had to say, he was liking the outcome. He felt much happier and more in control of his emotions now, they spent less on first aid supplies since he wasn't recklessly throwing his weight around whenever he fought or lashing out as much when he got angry. He was especially proud that he couldn't even remember the last time they had an argument that escalated into a raised voices, much less a physical exchange; most of what they did nowadays fell more into line with playful teasing.

Lotus seemed to be happier as well. He was enthusiastic about getting up in the morning as well as everything else in general, seemed to have more spring in his step, and he was actually smiling more; it wasn't the fake one either, but a genuine smile.

Rurik had no doubt he would get to see that smile again when he presented the bouquet of red roses he had just bought to his partner; the thought put a smile on his own face as he quickened his pace, eager to get home.

---

The television was droning in the background as Rurik stretched in his spot on the couch; he watched Lotus washing dishes in the kitchen, his hips swaying slightly as he hummed softly to himself. Needless to say, the smaller skeleton was ecstatic about the roses, prominently displaying them on the living room table.

As Rurik's mind trailed to ways he could entice his partner to have some 'fun' tonight, banging on the door interrupted him. Grumbling softly to himself, he let the thought slip away and went to check the door; his mood soured at the sight of four policemen through the peephole.

"Oh great, what now?" Rurik groaned softly. Opening the door, he put on his best fake smile and greeted the quartet, "And what brings you to my doorstep?"

"Are you Mister Rurik Roller?" one of the men asked in a gruff voice.

"Yeah...," he answered slowly; he didn't like their tone...

"Did you visit the Route Sixteen Convenience Store at three forty-seven this afternoon?" the same man continued.

Rurik quirked an eye socket, trying to recall the time as he replied, "Yeah... I bought some overpriced flowers from there; why?"

"Mister Rurik Roller, you're under arrest for the alleged murder of Donovan Ashvole, the store's owner," the man said as two of his partners came forward, one holding a pair of handcuffs.

"What the hell?! I didn't kill anyone!" the skeleton spat, bristling at the accusation as one of the younger men grabbed his wrist and attempted to place the cuffs on him. He clenched his other fist in preparation to clock the guy as the others surrounded him.

"Rurik?" Lotus called out, stepping out of the kitchen to the commotion, "What's wro- hey!"

When one of the officers moved to block his companion, Rurik snarled, "Keep your damn hands off of him!" If they dared to touch Lotus, he would tear them all apart, to hell with their legalities!

He reeled back to take out the man cuffing him when Lotus yelled out, "Rurik, no!" The skeleton halted his strike to look at the smaller, sockets wide and hands clenched; his willpower faltered at their pleading expression, "It'll only make things worse if you fight back; it's not worth it. If you say you didn't kill anyone, then I trust you. We'll get a lawyer, and we'll fight this the right way."

As much as he hated to admit it, Lotus had a point. He wanted to scream and rage; he wanted to beat the shit out of these assholes for daring to accuse him of something he didn't do, but he knew that resisting arrest would only bring down the full threat of the law on him and his boyfriend.

Reluctantly, he let the young man cuff him, pulling him out of the house and shoving him into the back seat of a police cruiser. As they pulled away, Rurik could just barely make out Lotus's figure in the doorway before he rushed back into the house; no doubt he was already working on a solution to the problem.

Rurik leaned back in his seat, staring at the passing scenery to quell his nerves; he was innocent, so there was nothing to worry about... right?

---

Two skeletons sat on opposite sides of a thick plexiglass window talking through a pair of black plastic phones. Rurik had already been issued an orange jumpsuit, hand and foot cuffs, and a magic suppressor band attached to his upper left arm to prevent any 'accidents'; in that time, Lotus had found a defense lawyer who would support him in court as well as setting up a meeting at the prison to discuss the actions needed going forward... if only it could last more than five minutes.

"I'm sorry... I wish I could help with finding evidence to acquit you, but the lawyer said the most I can do is provide testimony as a character witness. I would risk being labeled as aiding and abetting you if I did anything more, and any evidence I found would lose credibility," Lotus said, absently worrying his scarf in frustration; Rurik frowned, knowing it was a nervous habit he had when he was being overwhelmed by a situation.

"Lotus." Moving the phone to his shoulder and tapping on the plexiglass to get his partner's attention, he said "Relax and take a breath." Once Lotus had followed the instructions and visibly calmed, he continued, "You've already done a shitton of work getting everything organized with the lawyer. Like you said, we'll fight this, and we'll win. You know it'll take more than some half-baked accusations to bring me down, right?"

Lotus smiled sadly, nodding his head in agreement, "Yeah... I just hate this whole thing; it's not fair."

Rurik grimaced; he couldn't deny that he felt the same way. "Yeah... it's not fair. Anyway, I-"

"Time's up," the guard manning the visitor's booths rumbled, placing a hand on walking over to place a hand on Rurik's shoulder.

Internally swearing to himself, he stood; Lotus mirrored him as he said into the phone, "We'll get through this, together."

"Right... together," Lotus smiled, eventually hanging up the phone and watching as Rurik was led back to his cell to await his trial day.

***

Word Count: 1,136