"Almost Green"

"Where I Found You (One Star)"

 Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock...

Duflot took a long, good look at the trembling mess of worries sitting before him. No trace of his usual smile was left to cheer up the quivering angel.

"... Well, Andrew." He started in a low, monotone voice, before taking a deep breath and returning to his usual, forced cheeriness. "I think you've got yourself in quite the predicament, my dear boy!"

"I-I... Y-Yeah."

"Quintuple voluntary manslaughter in downtown Lungmen... Five members of the Catastrophe Riders, no less... With a firearm, loaded with LIVE ammunition on top of that. I had assumed you were familiar with the "no live ammo downtown" rule, but it seems I was mistaken! You need to remember this isn't Kazdel, Andrew! This is the civilized world." His frown turned to a warm, reassuring smile. "But, ah, well, everyone makes mistakes. Even the best!"

Andy raised his bloodshot eyes to stare at the mass of flesh and cashmere in disbelief. "M-Mistakes? It's a crime, I... It's manslaughter, I..."

"Quintuple voluntary manslaughter." Duflot corrected him, finger raised. "And how long ago did it happen, exactly?"

"F-Five days...?"

"Five days! Oh, Andrew..." Duflot only beamed further, cackling jovially. "Five days! Had they sniffed something out, you would've been hauled off to Mansfield the following day! Or taken out the back of your fancy new library by that biker gang. Trust me Andrew, I would know."

Andy nodded, letting a small sniffle escape his nostrils. At the sight, Duflot joined his hands together and tilted his head to the side.

"Andrew... Perk up, dear boy! Nothing bad had happened. It was just a matter of wrong place, wrong time." Those big, shiny teeth glimmered in the light of the many originium-powered lamps set up in the container. "You did the right thing! You protected yourself. And then came straight to me, which I also admire! That was a smart move, Andrew."

"W-Was it...?" He sniffled.

"It was." For a moment, the smile faltered, making way for a more serious expression. "And I'd like to keep this between the two of us. All walls have ears in this city and trust me, you don't want them hearing about how you murdered five Columbian bikers downtown. No going around, boasting about this little incident, okay?"

A nod. "O-Okay."

"Okay!" There it was, again, that warm grin. "You still look terrified, Andrew. Why don't you take a day off work?"

"Because it feels wrong...?"

"Oh, please! You're your own boss, you can do that, no one will mind!" He split his words with a chuckle. "Please. I insist."

"I'll... I'll do that, thank you, Mr Duflot." With a tiny, defeated voice, he muttered out.

"Deep breaths, Andrew. Everything will be alright! Don't worry about a thing." His sea of reassurance only managed to worsen the storm gathering in his mind. Andy took his nervousness and left without a goodbye, stumbling down the box-stairs.

Traversing the wobbly rope bridges and ladders, Andy found himself hurrying off through the open concrete fields of the harbor, surrounded by the sound of numerous armies of trucks riding past, each seemingly hurrying off in its own, distinct direction. With the traffic jams piling up, dockworkers running around, trying to somehow navigate and control the furious drivers, Andy had to slither past it all, nearly falling victim to the massive wheels a few times. Finally, a pair of surprisingly strong arms pulled him from underneath a speeding Victorian wheat-delivery silo.