Work Text:
“Evening,” I say to Sylus, stepping over the threshold as he holds the door open.
“Hm,” is Sylus’s only response, but I’ve gotten more used to the crime boss’s moods, so I’m unbothered as I kick off my uniform shoes and slide into my slippers.
I pad over to the sink to get a glass of water, and Sylus follows me closely, sniffing my hair and shoulder like a suspicious dog.
I turn and raise an eyebrow at him. “What?”
“Long day, Miss Hunter?”
“Yes,” I sigh, filling my glass and taking a few gulps from it. “Thanks for asking.”
He leans closer, and my chest warms. Just as I think he’s about to say something sweet, he goes back to sniffing. He mutters, “Fresh paint… burnt cookies… and medical disinfectant…”
“What are you talking about?”
“What to do…” he continues, as if he didn’t hear me. “Maybe… gunpowder? No, I’m sure the Association gun range already smells like it… Perhaps something bolder… a collar?”
I put two and two together, laughing lightly. “Sylus, are you jealous?”
His eyes lock onto mine, as if he’s only just seeing me for the first time since I walked in. I forget to breathe for a moment.
“Yes,” he says simply.
The honestly catches me off guard. Still, I roll my eyes. “Sylus, I can’t always be here. I have a day job. Two actually. Three if you count keeping up with all my health checkups…” I sigh. It really has been a long day.
“Four, if you count our protocore research,” Sylus says softly.
I blink. Right. That’s definitely why I started coming to the N109 zone so often, but now… I hadn’t thought of this visit as work at all.
I let a warm smile play at my lips. “Well, I’m off the clock if you are.”
“Hm. Alright.”
“But you really don’t have to be jealous,” I assure him, feeling a little bad. “Of all my jobs—”
“Shhh.” Sylus brushes his fingertips against my lips, and I fight a shiver. “Me being jealous… is not a problem. It just reminds me how much I miss you when you’re gone.” He brushes a strand of hair away from my face.
I drink some more water to hide my blush, and buy myself time for my brain to start working again.
“I’m not so sure. It could cause problems if Onychinus’s leader has a personal vendetta against the Association’s top hunter, the city’s top heart surgeon, and one of the world’s top painters.”
“Ouch. When you list their accolades like that…” Sylus gives a playful pout.
I cross my arms and raise an eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re not going to cause any trouble?”
He sighs, brushing a stray cat hair off my shoulder. One of the N109 strays I’ve taken to feeding greeted me on the way over.
“I’m sure,” he says quietly, with a sincerity that surprises me. “Like you said, you have a job. Xavier watches your back when you go places I can’t be seen with you. Rafayel’s connections have netted you valuable intel on the aether cores… intel that not even my networks had access to. And Zayne literally keeps you alive.” He rests his hand on my chest, and the aether core pulses warmly beneath it. “If anything, I am indebted to them for keeping you safe.”
I purse my lips. “I can keep myself safe too, y’know.”
“I know,” he says, and the sincerity catches me off guard again. “That’s why I’m indebted to you, too.”
A blush rises slowly to my cheeks, and my mind wheels, unwilling to give into Sylus’s flattery too quickly. “Hm… Aha!” I stride over to the door and dig through my bag, pulling out a small bottle. Then, I return to Sylus’s side, and grab his wrist.
He raises an eyebrow, but makes no move to struggle.
I uncap the roll on perfume, and rub a generous amount on each of his wrists. The distinctly bright, floral smell of a feminine perfume surrounds us. I apply it to my own wrists next. “There,” I say. Now we smell like each other.
“Clever kitten,” he chuckles, pressing his wrist against his neck to spread the scent. “Now you’ve marked your territory.” He leans closer. “But that still doesn’t answer how I should mark mine…”
“Well… if you want your cat returned to you, a collar is the best way.”
Sylus wraps his arms around me, pulling me to his chest, as if to banish the very thought of me ever leaving again. “Wise,” he purrs against my forehead. “But what kind of collar suits this kitten? It had better match her… personality.”
“Something pink and sparkly. Like those cats in the commercials.”
“The fluffy white ones that lounge around all day? With the smushed faces?” He taps my nose with his finger.
“Yeah, exactly.”
“I thought you were trying to convince me you could keep yourself safe. Now you want to be a pampered house cat?”
I nod sagely. “Born to laze about, forced to save the world. It’s tragic, if you think about it.”
“Anything less than you getting everything you want is tragic indeed.” There’s mirth in his tone, but it sounds like he really means it.
It makes me want to give him what he wants, too. I think about the smells unique to our time together. On the one hand there’s the aroma of gourmet cooking, expensive cologne, coffee… On the other hand, there’s the tang of blood and sweat, the lingering smoke of explosions… And actually, to Sylus’s point, if I didn’t train at the Association range so often, the constant scent of fresh gunpowder in my hair after every time I see him might have been more conspicous before now.
It makes me a little sad to think that there’s no persistent scent in my life that belongs only to him. And if there was such a smell… what would I do if Xavier, Rafayel or Zayne noticed? They know about each other, but… if they questioned me directly… I can’t be sure I’d deflect well enough. Then again… Raf wasn’t doing any painting today.
I level an accusatory glare at Sylus. “You didn’t smell all that on me, did you? You just had Mephisto following me around again?”
Sylus chuckles. “Good job, kitten. You figured it out. You do smell like hospital, though.”
“Ugh.” I sniff my hair to confirm Sylus is telling the truth, then try to rub some of the lingering perfume from my wrists onto it.
“You’re welcome to shower any time. I’d rather the smells of others’ territory not have any further chance to permeate mine…”
“Fine, fine,” I say, rolling my eyes. “But only because I needed to shower anyway.”
***
I rinse away all the lingering scents of my long day, replacing them with the bright, refreshing citrus of Sylus’s body wash. That gives me an idea… After toweling off and wrapping myself in a thick, long bathrobe, I scan the bathroom counter. Sure enough, there’s leave-in conditioner and his usual cologne. Even though they’re store-bought things and not truly unique to our memories together, they’re close enough. And, taking a closer look at the bottles… the list of people in the world who can both afford these kind of toiletries and have the taste toe appreciate them is very, very short.
When I step out into the dressing room, my crumpled hunter uniform is gone, replaced by a neatly folded matching sweatpant set in a soft pinky mauve. Sylus must have caught me eyeing it last time we went shopping. Shit, I thought I was more subtle than that. Still…
Wrapped in the cushy softness and Sylus’s scent, I already feel more at home than I do in my own apartment these days. I don’t even bother drying my hair—it’s not like I’ll be going to sleep for a while longer.
I pad out to find Sylus reading in a wide leather chair. There’s not quite enough room for me to sidle in next to him, so I perch on the arm and look over his shoulder. More intel reports.
I pretend to read them as Sylus leans over me, sniffing my hair again. Out of the corner of my eye, I know the smirk pulling at his mouth. “Much better, kitten.”
“I agree,” I say, and then I unceremoniously throw myself across his lap.
He chuckles. “That excited for the latest intel?”
“It just looked comfy.” Intent on getting in the way, I make a show of snuggling in—but actually, I find a position that’s too cozy to resist. Maybe I am a little sleepy, after all…
“That’s the thing about kittens,” Sylus sighs. “They always want to be on your lap at the most inconvenient times.”
“Does that mean you’re getting up?” I murmur, tucking in closer.
“Hm. Disturbing a sleeping cat is bad luck. After all, you never know how long it’s going to be before they want your company again.” There’s that sincere tone again.
I think of something to say, but my mind drifts. I find myself wanting to assure him, just like before. But I really can’t make any promises. Even if not for my other three jobs keeping me busy… With Sylus being the leader of Onychinus, and me being a Hunter… If all my secrets came tumbling out into the open, who would I choose?
Duty demands I stand by my promise to uphold the Hunter Code. But my heart… my soul… thinks differently…
Sleep interrupts my further reflections. What must be hours later, I finally stir as he picks me up. I’m sure I’m being properly put to bed, and though I’ll miss his warmth, I’m too groggy to protest. But then… he settles into the bed next to me, sitting on top of the covers. In my cozy sweats, I don’t need to be under the covers either. I rest my cheek on his thigh, sighing and falling quickly back to sleep. I stay awake just long enough to note the feeling of his fingers running through my hair…
***
The next morning, I awake alone in the bed, still on top of the covers. Sylus is nowhere to be seen, but the aroma of fresh breakfast—bacon and eggs and herbs—beckons me towards the kitchen.
Sylus is there, eating from one plate, reading another intel report. There’s another across from him, steaming and untouched.
“Morning,” he croons.
“Don’t mind if I do.” I sit across from him and dig in. This is his dinner, so I know the choice of classic breakfast items is primarily for my benefit. “Sorry I fell asleep on you,” I say around a mouth full of impossibly fluffy pancakes.
He glances up at me, voice soft. “I didn’t mind.”
I swallow my pancakes, pushing around a fresh strawberry half so that when I think of what to say, my mouth isn’t full. “I don’t want to go back to work,” I sigh.
I’m staring at my plate, so Sylus might not realize I see his smile widen in my periphery.
“At least you don’t have to worry about me seeing any other kittens while you’re out. I wonder what it would take to make you jealous…”
I level my fork at him. “Don’t even think about it.”
He laughs. “Oh, it might be even easier than I thought. And here I thought you felt secure in your position.”
“My position?” I try not to hold my breath, but my lungs won’t move.
“Mhm.”
“What position is that? Consultant? Token law abiding citizen?”
He leans over the table towards me, gripping the end of my fork to disarm me. “You… are my favorite kitten. By miles.”
“Oh.” A blush rises to my cheeks, and now I really don’t want to leave. But my report time is growing rapidly nearer, and I still have a lot of food to finish, so I dedicate myself to the task before me.
Finally, my watch beeps just as I clear my plate.
“I have to go…” I sigh.
Sylus nods and starts to walk me towards the door. My hunter’s uniform is hanging there, freshly dry-cleaned overnight. I roll it up and tuck it in my bag, then turn back as something occurs to me.
“You were right.”
“I know. About what, though?”
I scoff at his arrogance, but it doesn’t knock me off-balance as much as it used to. “I know how you can mark your territory without getting me in trouble.”
“Oh?”
I hold my wrist out to him. “Leave a mark.”
Hunter lights in Sylus’s eyes, but he remains under cool control. “Oh? But that might hurt, kitten…”
“I bet you can’t even make me wince.”
“Tough words,” Sylus purrs, stepping over to me, so close that I edge backwards until my heel hits the wall behind me. He takes my wrist gently, turning it over in the early morning light. “Are you sure, kitten?”
I nod. “I’m always getting bumps and scrapes. Only you and I will know it’s from you.”
Sylus’s smile reaches his eyes this time—a rare and precious sight. I don’t tease him about it, lest I scare this moment away like a wary stray.
His grip tightens on my wrist, and a shiver runs down my spine. Why am I suddenly thinking about all the different kinds of marks he could leave, in so many other places…
Sylus’s nails dig into my skin—short and well-manicured, but long enough to hurt. My breathing doesn’t even shift.
“Is that all you got?” I tease.
Red light flashes in Sylus’s eyes, and he digs his nails in further, pulling them down my arm slowly, leaving red lines behind.
The pain hardly registers—but my heart thunders, tingling rising in my chest. My back arches instinctively, lips parting to loose a breath, lashes fluttering. Sylus hurting me like this, it feels… it feels good…
Sylus lets out a low, predatory chuckle, his breath washing over my ear, the sound dragging down my spine. “Oh, kitten…” He raises my wrist and gently kisses the red lines, each about three inches long. They’ll be easily explained away if anyone notices them, but I surely won’t forget. Tingling spreads up my arm from where Sylus’s grip remains. “Does it still hurt?”
I take my wrist back and pull my sleeve down, gathering my things. “No,” I say, tone light. Then I open the door, glancing back over my shoulder. “So, you should scratch me harder next time.”
The last thing I see is Sylus’s hungry gaze as I pull the door shut behind me. I cherish the memory, but I don’t have long to savor it as I hurry my way out of the N109 zone to report for today’s shift. I jog to make sure I’m not late, chugging a cup of coffee and diving into today’s paperwork as soon as I hit my desk.
My mind is utterly consumed by Wanderer statistics until Tara pulls me away at lunch time. As we chat in the cafeteria, I reach past her to grab a napkin.
“Oh, what happened?” she asks, eyeing the red marks on my wrist.
“Hm?” I feign ignorance, lifting my wrist and turning it. “Huh. I don’t even know. Must have bumped into something?”
Tara laughs. “That’s so real, I swear, I don’t even know where half my scrapes come from after fighting Wanderers. The adrenaline really blocks out the pain. Just make sure you don’t push too hard, okay? There’s ointment in the nurse’s office if it starts to hurt.”
“Thanks,” I say, and as Tara returns to her meal, I lower my wrist under the table, glancing down at the marks and permitting myself a small smile. It’s nice to have a reminder of him in the middle of what is shaping up to be another busy day.
Tara gets distracted catching up with Andrew as he stops by, and I keep my gaze on my plate. Like a blessed oasis in the middle of a desert, for those precious few moments of lunch where I can take a break from my duties, I think only of Sylus.