☂ 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 || 𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝚡 𝙾𝙲 || 𝐁𝐤. 𝟑 ☂

26. THE PRETENDER

Author's note:

I'm sorry, I'm sorry! 

I know this chapter was supposed to come out this Monday, but I realized I wasn't liking the flow of it, and my perfectionist ass had to re-do the whole thingggg.

To make it up to you guys, there's an extra 2k words for the delay (over 8k)! Please enjoy this very long and very overdue chapter.

Since this chapter we reworked and pieced together more than Tetris, please let me know if anything is odd, seems out of place, or if see any grammar errors.

*~*~*~*~*

- A few moments earlier -

Five hissed silently when the fabric of his button-up rubbed against the sensitive portion of his skin. It's been well over 4 decades since the last time a tattoo gun pierced his skin, the day he and his siblings got forever branded by their father, and he didn't remember it stinging quite so damn much. Maybe it was because of the exposed placement on his chest or perhaps the size of it, but the boy knew it was necessary to get this tattoo to complete the cosmic loop, or else he certainly wouldn't have gotten the stupid thing.

He tugged the front of his collar forward to catch a peek of it inside. He already rinsed it off a few times, but he could still feel ink seeping through his undershirt. God, he hoped it didn't bleed through his shirt, because if did, he would then need to change it for a new one.

"Went a bit heavy-handed toward the end there, huh, Pogo?" the boy muttered to himself when he saw that there was a bright red line forming from one of the last pieces of linework the chimp completed.

The raven-haired teen made it back to Hotel Obsidian not too long ago, and he was currently debating whether he should take this moment to go back to his and Elaina's room—well, he supposed it was solely Elaina's room now, wasn't it? 

He ought to remember that. 

Man, this really wasn't going to be an easy transition, but Five knew that already. As long as he could keep those slip-ups within the confines of his mind and make sure to not make them while speaking, he should be good. He knew he needed to remain focused and stay strong, especially the next time he faced her. The last thing he needs to happen is him caving into her because of his own error.

He needed to clear his mind like a blank slate the next time he saw her—one of the best tactics he picked from the Commission. It was how he was always able to get through and finish a difficult mission, especially when he first started doing assassinations. Five would just have to treat this Elaina situation like one of them.

Well, there was no better opportunity to do it than now, right?

Facing Elaina is bound to happen sooner or later. Hell, it might be best to collect his things now, luckily there wasn't much, but he had other similarly styled suits that he would be essential. 

Starting with a new button-down. Now, the question was, if he was even on the right flo—

With his mind occupied by his thoughts, Five was caught completely off guard by a sudden brute force that rammed into him. The boy hissed lowly at the intensified stinging that spread across his chest from the impact. His eyes narrowed, ready to snap at whatever idiot it was that didn't know how to look before running—