Bound by Deception

9.2 A Different Mission

Aria followed his stare. "Oh, yeah, it is. Odd. He doesn't usually come here alone, or in his free time."

"What does he do in his free time?"

"Beats me. I never asked."

"Too invasive?"

"No. I just never cared."

Yohan laughed. "Damn, Aria. You sure have a weird way of showing that you care."

Aria smiled mildly. "I don't openly express my affection for people. It's a fault of mine, I'll admit, but it's necessary. Besides, Sterling knows I care about him. Why wouldn't he?"

"Well, actions do speak louder than words," Yohan muttered. "But, maybe you should go talk to him? He looks a bit down."

"Does he?" Aria studied her partner's face from afar. "He looks fine to me."

Yohan rolled his eyes and gave her a gentle shove in Sterling's direction. "What's on the surface is not always what is the truth."

"...Touche." Aria tipped the edge of her cone at him in a mini-salute and trudged to the mossy bench that Sterling was reclining on. His gaze was distant as he stared at the river, watching the current flow down the stream and into the ocean far from them. When she touched his shoulder, he didn't flinch.

"You're late," he said instead.

"Were you expecting me?" Aria smirked.

Sterling mirrored her expression. "No, it just happened to be a coincidence." He made room for her on the bench. "I saw you with Yohan, but I didn't want to interrupt what you guys were talking about."

"We weren't discussing anything important. Nothing about work." Aria played with the end of her scarf. "What are you doing out? I rarely see you away from your home."

"I'm not a recluse. I go out from time to time."

"Hardly."

"Whatever." Sterling turned toward the river again. "I needed a break, and Hudson was beginning to get on my nerves."

"You know he means well." Aria bumped his shoulder playfully, but Sterling didn't respond. She noticed the frown etched on his face and felt a rock fall into the pit of her stomach. It was sudden, but she understood why he was so quiet instantly.

Looking at her lap, Aria felt ashamed to face Sterling as she spoke. "Do you remember Edward James?"

"That cocky lord who allowed hundreds to die in the church fire?" Sterling shrugged. "Yes. Why?"

"He...I thought he was dead, but as it turns out, he's not."

"Shocker. The government scarcely finishes what it started, especially in Grandville."

"You know he went to a concentration camp as punishment?"

"Sure. He was voicing it out for the world to hear on the streets a while ago. I happened to pass by." Sterling's stare was pensive. "How does he relate to your mood?"

Aria grimaced. "We were friends a long time ago...best friends, I thought. I needed time to understand his return. Some things just aren't adding up with it."

"A lot of things in this world don't make sense. Take our weird jobs, for example."

"We're hypocrites."

"Something like that." Sterling touched Aria's hand, which was limply seated on her lap. "Don't worry too much about this guy. He's a disgraced socialite and will only cause you to fuck up in the future. Don't let him play with your mind and focus on our job."

"We have a job already?" Aria faced him, shocked. "Did she tell you?"

"Well, we have to go to the office later to find out." Sterling winked. "But I have no doubt she has more work for us to do. She never gives us a break."

"Was she worried about me?"

"No. She knew you'd figure things out on your own and be alright." Sterling glanced at his watch. "Do you wanna head there now? The sooner we know which papers to...study, the better, right?"

"...Right." Aria refrained from telling Sterling about Edward's proposal and took his outstretched hands. She realized that for the first time, his skin was warm and soft. Their lack of work must have been a relief to his hands.

Hand-in-hand, they traversed through the park and onto the main streets, hailing a buggy that was crossing through the street. The velvet carriage stopped for the two and brought them to the edge of town, right behind the wired fence that separated Rouver from Grandville. That intersection between the two places was known as Comal.

Comal was, quite simply, a slum. It was a place where the poorest of the poor lived. They were usually disgraced socialites or criminals. Rouver was known for its tolerance of thieves. Grandville, not so much.

The intersection was small but packed to the brim with the stench of urine, the skeletons of people that Aria could hardly call living, and houses made of broken stone with torn clothes draped over them. While the sky was sunny, it seemed to be cloudy only in that area.

The buggy left quickly, not wanting to stay long in the area that was known to be worse than an asylum. Aria and Sterling, left alone, waited for the buggy to be out of eyeshot before they snuck into an abandoned, broken home.

The house was empty except for bits of furniture strewn about the place to mimic a crime scene. Blood from years ago stained the itchy carpet and the walls were cracked and bare. Sterling drifted to a crack in the wall over the dusty fireplace and pulled his necklace out of his pocket. He stuck the edge of the guitar chip into the crack; the wall split apart, opening to a lofty staircase.

Sterling turned back to Aria, who was watching him quietly. Normally, she would be the one to open up the hidden gates, but this time, she was so lost in thought that she allowed Sterling to do it. What would she tell her boss, after all? Could she lie? Would Madame believe her?

"Hey." Sterling stopped on the last step, right before they reached the final steel door, and grabbed Aria's lithe fingers. "Stop worrying, okay? Don't let this bother you." He smirked, then, alleviating some of her anxieties with a bright, cheesy grin. "Come on, don't tell me the hardened Gemini Killer is getting soft."

"In your dreams!" Aria, rejuvenated, scoffed and knocked him in the shoulder. "I'm not getting soft, not now, not ever." He's right. I can't get soft. "Now, stop dallying and let's keep this going!"

----------------------

Our soft Sterling has given Aria some advice. Will she take it? How will this play out? Aria's an assassin at heart, but a seductress? 

VOTE/COMMENT/ENJOY :D