Half Breeds / Revamping

Pest Control

Litzy Mai

"Hey, sunshine! You're going to strain your neck sleeping like that!"

I jerked my head upwards in groggy terror, banging my head on a monitor behind me and instantly feeling the surge of pain that followed on my crown and neck. I grumbled and blinked a few times, trying to hone in on my blurred vision. Again, I had fallen asleep at my desk. My entire room was pitch black except for the hazy yellow light that shone in from the hallway. I slowly whirled my head around and squinted at the shadow before me: Shiv.

"What do you want, asshole?" I huffed and rocked my neck back and forth, desperately trying to stretch the muscles and tendons out. Shiv flipped on the light and I hissed, shielding my eyes. I perked through my pale fingers and watched him inspect my room.

He picked up an empty pizza box. "You know, you really should move into a room with windows. I could put in a good word for you, if you want."

"I'm fine."

He dropped the box beneath his feet and walked up to me. My eyes adjusted to the light. It made my room look so much messier than I thought. Shiv grabbed the arm that held onto the monitor I had bash my skull into and moved it aside. I got a good look at his scruffy copper beard, sprinkled with grey and white hairs. His usual royal blue baseball cap was centered on his head and his warm brown eyes looked at me solemnly.

"I worry about you, Litzy. You haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately. What's been up with you?" His face was questioning, pleading almost. I knit my brows together, crossed my arms, and leaned back in my swivel chair. The stitches in the leather were rubbing against my back. Shifting uncomfortably, I saw him look over my shoulder. "Why are you researching 'The Old World'?" Shiv asked, raising an eyebrow.

My eyes instantly widened and I hurriedly jerked the extension cord from the wall, laughing nervously. "So why the hell did you wake me up at -" I paused to check the time on my grimy watch. "- five in the morning?" Shiv shrugged.

"Lloyd said he needed you for some sort of extermination job and told me to fetch you." It was my turn to give him the pondering looks.

"Why didn't he just PM me?" I stood up and grabbed my port-screen off of my futon and switched on the screen. 6 missed messages.

"He said you weren't answering." I scoffed and turned back to face him. Shiv went back to the doorway and motioned for me to follow him. I held up my index finger and went to grab my boots, which were somewhere underneath my desk, and an elastic to tie up my hair into a ponytail. I felt gross. I definitely needed to shower before leaving for the job.

After following him up and down hallways and finally reaching the elevator, Shiv decided he was needed in the cafeteria. "I'm hearing a beer whispering for me, can we rendezvous after?" We both shared a chuckle and I punched the elevator button.

"Save one for me when I get back," I replied. He whipped around and jogged away. The metal doors squeaked shut and up I went. Rummaging through my pockets, I grabbed my lighter and lit up a cigarette, taking a long overdue drag. Shiv hated seeing me smoke - thought it was bad for my health - but he didn't know that lung cancer didn't have shit on me. It was just something to help me appear to age.

After the heinous "ding" sounded and the elevator doors slid open, I put the cigarette in the corner of my mouth and walked up to the main office doors. Two fully-armed guards waited on either side, eyeing me. I knew them both: Darcy and Jim, but they were on duty, and had to be convincingly assertive. Saluting them both, I placed my wrist on the scanner, watched it read my Saints tattoo, and waltzed into the lobby of Lloyd's office.

As usual, his dismal maroon lobby was packed with prostitutes, and only about half were conscious. He was sitting at his desk in the next room over, and I shoved my way through. Lloyd was rather enjoying himself as he and his secretary - Marty - created a cloud of cigar smoke around them. His round head turned to face me after Marty looked at me out of the corner of his eye. They both pretty much switched personalities when they processed my presence.