A Girl Called Karma

Why Exes Can't be Friends

Taverns point of view

After getting karma back to bed, I retreated to my own. I sat down, staring at the wall. Atlantis sat down next to me, pulling on the baggy t-shirt he usually wears to sleep. He looked over at me and raised an eyebrow.
"What's got you so stressed?" He asked,
I shrugged, "Nervous for the bounty tomorrow, I guess,"
"We go on bounties all the time, what's the difference with this one?"
"I don't know, probably because I gotta kill my sister?" I grumbled,
"Look, we can put it off if you want to, it'll only hurt more in the end," Atlantis said matter-of-factly, to which I huffed and laid down on the bed.
"Why can't we just cancel like we have before?" I sighed,
Atlantis stared at the ceiling, and exhaled, looking over at me. He got out of bed and walked to the next room. I heard the sound of a phone ringing. I sat up curiously.
He walked back into the room a few minutes later.
"If we keep her out of trouble, the council won't have her killed," he said, sitting back down. I smiled widely.
"You know, you're lucky you're good looking or I wouldn't listen to a thing you say," he said with a roll of the eyes.
I threw a pillow at him and he caught it.
"Nice try," he taunted.
I rolled my eyes with a grin, he threw the pillow back at me. I laid down on my side, holding it close to my chest.
"Thanks," I said with a sigh,
"Yeah you're welcome, jerk," he said, flopping onto his back, "man, that bounty was gonna make bank. We could've hired a drummer with that cash," I heard him mumble,
"Well we've got a free drummer now, and ain't that better?" I asked, my voice low and smokey as I was half-asleep.
He sighed and wrapped his arms around me. Pushing his body partially, if not fully onto mine. I smiled softly and started to doze off. I'm not sure why I did, I knew the truth. Atlantis was a mere distraction to help me not think about Timothy for once. I started to doze off into sleep.
I woke up the next day to the sound of Atlantis talking on the phone. I sat up a little and then rested my head against the bed frame. I stretched and groaned tiredly. Once he hung up the phone he laid down over my legs, pushing his messy hair up and out of his face.
"We got a gig tonight at that bar downtown, Livelihood of Lust," he said,
I nodded and put on my glasses.

My vision isn't clear due to a magic-related incident. I'd done my usual ritual, I set some of my poems on fire and played a song. Once the fire built up and changed colors I could see wherever I wanted using my psychic abilities. At the time of this accident I was alive. I was stuck in Fordam, the U.S's most romanticized city, in 2025. I was originally from 2038 but I went back in time to save the world and got stuck. Using the ritual I usually checked on my mother who had been forced to forget completely about me using some sort of forget-ray. I remember I was catching her up on my life, something bad had happened but it's a blur to me. The flame exploded and severely burned me. It sent me flying on impact. I used some healing potions so I didn't die, but I was permanently scarred, and my vision got bad. I would get contacts, I mean, I had the money, but Timothy said I looked good in glasses so I didn't.
Once I fixed my glasses on my face, I looked over at Atlantis who had been staring up at me for a minute.

"Man...how did I get so lucky?" He smiled, sitting up and looking into my eyes. He ran a gentle hand through my hair and I shrugged.
"Uh... I dunno,"
He smiled at that and pulled me into a kiss. I reluctantly closed my eyes and he took my hands in his. When he pulled back I looked at him for a second, wearing a soft smile.
"...I love you, Tavern.." he whispered,
I bit down on my lower lip, my face heating up as I started to feel overwhelmed.
"I oughta go start breakfast," I said, moving him off my lap and standing up, pulling my shirt on. He quickly got up and came after me,
"Tavern! Tavern say it back..." he pleaded,
"But... Timothy-" I started,
"Forget about Timothy! He's not coming back for you! You know that! What about me, Tavern? Am I not enough to take his place?" he questioned sternly, followed by a few seconds of silence. I've always been pretty good at accepting cruel realities, but this one specifically hit harder than most.
I sighed, "I...I love you too," I said, forcing a smile. His eyes didn't seem to believe me but he nodded whilst wiping a tear.
"Cool.." he said, his voice trembling.
"Cool," I sighed tiredly, my shoulders slumping over.
"..Tavern, you know I didn't mean to snap" he said, setting one hand on the crook of my neck. He brushed his thumb against the side of my neck. I pushed his hand away as gently as I could, smiling half-heartedly,
"I know," I said. His eyes looked stunned and sad. I instantly felt guilty, my smile faltering.
I took one hand to the side of his face in an attempt to get him to smile, or at least lean into the touch. But instead, he just kept looking at me with those same teary eyes.