Grace Feckterhight

Chapter Thirteen

Agent Uilter had never planned on falling in love. When he was back at M.A.S.K. headquarters, most of the female populous were iron-hearted, calloused, and devoid of any sort of affection. Sure, he'd had a few interests, like Agent Vrelmer and Agent Anston, but he later found out that those two had pretty faces rather than intelligence.

So when Dristix showed up to give him a tour of B.L.A.D.E. HQ, his heart skipped a beat for the first time. He never considered himself a shallow man, but in that moment, he realized just how empty he had been for the past twenty-two years of his life. His heart, his live, red, beating organ that controlled his emotions, when that cried out for the attractive woman in red before him, he decided to listen.

Ruby red. He thought as he scrambled to keep up with her confident stride. They were walking away from Chief's office. What a treasure.

"So..." Uilter started rather awkwardly. "Ho.. How long have you been an agent here?"

"Twelve years." She glanced back at him. "At ten years old, I was found by Chief herself, just laying across a disregarded piece of cardboard in an alleyway."

He had finally caught up, and he spent a lot of consciousness trying to match their footsteps. "Oh wow."

"Though," She slowed her walking and came to a stop at the elevator. Agent Dristix pressed the button with an elegant perfectly-filed finger. "I don't know if it's a good sign that you came here on my thirteenth."

Uilter took a moment to process that she had stopped walking. He nearly walked straight into the elevator doors. A metaphorical spinning circle indicated that his brain was loading.

It took him a minute to formulate a response. "Oh, please. I won't be any sort of bad luck to you."

Dristix raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" She teased, tapping his arm once. "And you're the one coming fresh outta M.A.S.K. You actually expect me to believe that out of the two of us, you're the one that won't bring terror and terrible things?" With each word that she leaned on, the more she teased, and the closer she got to Uilter's face.

He was heating up. She is so close. WHY IS SHE SO CL– Before he could come up with anything, she had already backed up and sauntered into the elevator. She did all of this with a smirk that said, I got you good, didn't I, boy?

Uilter mentally agreed. She had gotten him.

Time for a ride in the Elevator of Embarrassing Torture.

A few minutes ticked on. The silence became unbearable.

Agent Uilter was scrambling to find a question to ask. His eyes darted around, anywhere but her. What's your favorite animal?

He was about to ask, but she spoke first, saving him from future embarrassment. "How do you say your name? I know Chief said it earlier, but I wanted to ask you personally."

"O.. Oh. Um." He cleared his throat, swallowing his cringey question. "Like the beginning of "utilities," but with an er at the end." Uilter stopped and thought for a moment. "Actually, more like the ending of "mule.""

"Ah." The elevator doors opened, and what looked like the inner workings of a bank vault slowly undid themselves. The huge metal door opened, revealing a small room and a false wall. Two guards in formal suits stood watch. "I see."

"So think mule-ter, but without the m." The more words he spoke, the more embarrassed he became. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Gotcha." Dristix nodded curtly at the two men. "Guards."