better man/worse than nicotine » arthur ketch

nineteen: i'm not sure who's more pissed off with who.

I accompany Arthur back to the compound. Him needing to finish up what he was working on and me not really wanting to be alone at the moment.

I follow him back to the Armory, waving to Serena and Alton and meeting a new face, Dr. Paige. Alton is still weird as always, Serena the sweetest thing, and Dr. Paige seems to be friendly as well.

You know, and I hate to even think this, but it seems like when I come here I'm met with more smiling faces than I am anywhere else. It's no wonder I don't mind coming here so often.

Once the door behind us in the Armory closes, Arthur is all over me. I wish I was being overdramatic.

It takes me a good thirty seconds – and a shockingly massive amount of willpower – to remind him that we're here because he has to finish work.

If he was one to pout, I think he'd be pouting right now. "You always remind me of what I should be doing." He pauses, cupping my face. "It's annoying."

I laugh loudly, smoothing my hands over his chest. "Well how about this, the sooner you finish here, the sooner we can get back to the suite and finish this." I wrap my hand around his tie for emphasis, exciting a certain memory from the first time we spent the night in the suite and had some...fun with the ties.

He takes a deep breath. "I'd like that."

"Good," I smile. "Me too." I release his tie, stepping back. "But you've got to finish here."

I swear he almost rolls his eyes. "All right."

"Is there anything I can do?" I ask absentmindedly. "Clean or reshelf something?"

He raises an eyebrow.

I scoff. "What? You're not the only one wanting to rush outta here so we can have sex. It's a two-way street, you know."

My retort catches him off guard and dare I say, there might be a blush creeping up his neck. But I don't mention it. Maybe I will one day when we've had too much to drink, but for now I don't. I admire it silently.

The silence is gone, though, when he asks me something mid-cleaning his Sig Sauer. "You said you had a fight with your brothers."

I nod. I don't really want to think about it anymore. "Yeah."

"What...What was it about?"

I breathe through a laugh. "Wouldn't you like to know."

He stops cleaning, and for a second, I'm genuinely confused. Because he looks startled, almost terrified, and that wasn't what I was going for.

I pause, taking a deep, stabling breath as I cross my arms over my chest. "I used the address card you gave me as a bookmark and accidentally left it on the table in the library." I shake my head. "And I'm an idiot. Because of course their next move was to go snooping around."

"So now they know..."

"Yeah, they know." I sigh, trying to brush off the aftermaths of Dean's words with a shaky smile. "And we fought about it. So now I'm here." I shake my head again. "I don't know when I'll be able to face them again. I'm not sure who's more pissed off at who, but I'm pretty pissed with them."

Arthur chuckles, clicking his cartridge back into place. "Well, if you'll be here for the time being, we need to do something else before we leave."

I furrow my eyebrows. That's an odd subject change, but okay. "What do we need to do?" I laugh.

He raises his hand, waving his fingers – possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen him do. "I meant to have it set up the last time you were here, but I was...distracted."

I smirk. "And I am so not sorry about it."

He almost grins. "But you need to have your handprint in the system. With it you can come and go and explore as you please."

My smirk turns into a full-blown grin. "Really?" He nods. I shake my head in disbelief. "Okay. We can do that before we leave."

"Good." He nods, replacing his gun in the waistband of his pants. He always keeps it in the back, hidden beneath his suit jacket. Seems impractical at first, but he's surprisingly coordinated with it back there.

I'm not, is what I mean. Mine was always on my right hip.

In remembering that, I also remember that I haven't carried my pistol in what feels like months. And a smile spreads across my lips when I remember who I met two months ago. And how safe I have felt ever since.

The more I think, the more staying with Arthur in the suite and working on the compound here doesn't seem too bad.

We leave the Armory as soon as he finishes cleaning and shelving his weapons – surprisingly fast, if I might add. And controlled. Despite my wandering hands that I know he will punish me for later, somehow that doesn't scare me anymore. Excitement is all I feel.

And I have to admit, Arthur's face when he is annoyed is something for history books.

He guides me out of the Armory and into the hallway with a stern look that reminds me not to mess with him while we are around his colleagues. Which, as always, I respect.

He introduces me to a Dr. Hess, a woman who is apparently at the top of this entire project. She's here all the way from London, presumably after what happened with Renny and Dagon.

Then I remember that Arthur told me Mick is back in London, answering for what happened.

God, I just hope he's okay.

Dr. Hess doesn't spend long with us, having to leave to make phone calls. So Ketch leads me to Mick's old office where he can load in my handprint.

It's simple, really. I just place my hand on a similar screen as those next to the doors and wait for it to be scanned into the database. Once it is finished, he has to enter in that my handprint is good for all doors, entrances, and exits – that I'm a regular here, basically.

It's exciting. I'm part of something big. That's something I haven't had the chance to feel – ever. I never felt this way before the deal.

We test out my handprint on a few doors to make sure it works and after finding that it does, Arthur all but drags me out of there and onto his Norton.

I grin manically as I wrap my arms around his waist, leaning my forehead on his back as he starts the engine.

I feel him sigh deeply.

This is going to be a long ride to the suite – for him.