Work Text:
In a random city in Pteruges-V, a tall young woman came stumbling out of a nearby dirty alley. She caught herself just before she could face-plant on the floor, which was usually unlike her, and that was exactly why her hand slipped right after.
"You'd think after all this time I would've been used to it," she muttered, brushing off the dust from her clothes and straightened her hat.
Dressed in what seems to be a train conductors uniform with a golden ticket on her lapel, this silver-gray haired golden eyed stranger was certainly a sight in the middle of an alley in the bad part of town.
Knocking over a trash can, a sleek black cat with golden eyes followed right behind the young woman. As if to urge her along, the cat meowed and rubbed against her leg, looking up at the young lady's golden eyes with THEIR own. She smiled and picked THEM up, scratching the cat behind the ears.
"You're right, it's time to get to work. We've only got a few system hours before our first appearance, after all, " Stelle agreed as she put the cat on her shoulder.
"Meow."
"And maybe change into something more inconspicuous," Stelle conceded.
With a snap of her fingers, Stelle changed into her old trailblazing clothes, the ones she wore during her very first journeys with the Astral Express crew. A nostalgic smile spread across her face as she remembered her family in all but blood, but she didn't dwell on them for too long; after all, she would see them again. It was only a matter of time.
But first things first, Stelle needed to put out a wanted order.
"Wait, how do I do that again?" she asked the cat; THEY only purred happily in her arms. Sometimes, Stelle wonders why she carries this dead weight with her.
"You're lucky you're cute, Terminus," Stelle told THEM, "Otherwise, Wolfie might've sold you on the black market ages ago, or technically in the future."
THEY purred louder, so much for being a strand of Terminus Divine Corpus. Stelle sighed, "Can't argue with that," she replied, before walking in a random direction. The Stelleron Hunters weren't going to create themselves.
After she picks up the piece of paper sparkling on the ground—it was a coupon for a clothing store—and stuffing it with the rest of her collection, of course. She wouldn't be called the Galactic Baseballer if she didn't. And if she went back for the trash cans in the back alley, well, that was between her and Aha.
Stelle sat waiting outside of a cafe overlooking a narrow street, sipping on her thirty credit coffee. It was awful and way too expensive but if she could drink Himeko's coffee than this was nothing. Terminus sat on the table, nibbling on a pastry with a cup of milk.
Okay, maybe setting up that elaborate plan with the wanted order and the can and the ball was a lot, but it worked before, alright? And It will to work now, hopefully, the future can be fickle like that.
Sometimes Stelle sees Kafka investigating the can, other times she just walks away and Stelle has to enact Plan B to talk to Kafka. She doesn't like that plan because it usually involves a whole lot of credits, three dozen chickens, and a dozen IPC grunts chasing after her.
Let's just say that the chickens weren't the ones traumatized in that branch of the imaginary tree.
Terminus meowed, interrupting Stelle's thoughts and pointing out that Kafka was right there and she was looking investigating the can, thank the Aeons. As planned, the person she paid threw the ball at Kafka's feet.
On cue, Stelle placed her cup down and stood up from where she was sitting. She walked over to Kafka who was currently scanning the area before landing on Stelles face. Stelle flashed a smile, "Haven't you ever wanted to feel fear, Miss Devil Hunter? If so, then come with me."
"And you are?" Kafka drawled with a smile, gun at the ready.
Stelle looked amused, "I'm Elio, Destiny's Slave and your future employee."
"'Destiny's Slave', huh? I've heard about you, a person said to be able to perceive the future."
"Let's talk somewhere more private, shall we? Can't have you spilling everything out in the open, but I doubt you found much. Isn't that right, Kafka?"
Kafka smiled wider, "Lead the way, then, Elio."
Things were about to get interesting, Kafka thought. She had felt something she hadn't felt in a long time.
Excitement.
After their long, long talk and a promise sworn, Stelle successfully recruited Kafka to the Stelleron Hunters, and she considered that her first win of many to come. Now if only Terminus could stop chewing on her hair, that would be great.
To celebrate her newfound employee, Stelle decided to buy Kafka a coat using the coupon she found on the ground. See, it's not a hoarding problem if they have a use, Dan Heng. She figured Kafka would appreciate the gesture, although Stelle thinks she might've accidentally enabled Kafka's coat obsession.
Stelle probably should've seen that coming.
Oh, wait, she did.
Well, it'll be fine; money won't be a problem in the future anyways.
"So, what do you have in mind for me in that fancy script of yours, Elio?" Kafka asks, holding two bags of coats that cost an arm and a leg, even with the coupon. Stelle thought that one coat was going to be enough; she wasn't expecting four after being in the store for hours.
In the first hour, Terminus slinked off to Aeons know where—the lucky cat—and Stelle had to sit for hours picking out coats with Kafka. But she couldn't complain much, it had been a good bonding experience, and Kafka seemed more open at the end of the shopping session.
Well, as open as she could be this early on in the script.
Although next time, Stelle was definitely going to limit Kafka's coat budget. And yes, there had been a coat budget in the Stelleron Hunter funds just for Kafka, same with Silver Wolf and her games, although the former was usually written as a tax write-off when Blade filed their taxes.
"How do you feel about going to Pier Point? I heard it has beautiful weather this time of year," Stelle hands her the finished script. "Inside includes all the instructions that you need."
Kafka sets her bags down and flips through the manuscript and whistles, "Very bold of you to target the IPC, and in Pier Point no less. You're really trying to make a statement with this, huh? This will definitely get us on the IPC's wanted list, alright."
Stelle just grinned and petted the cat who just came back from whatever THEY were doing. "That's the plan."
How else are we supposed to fund everything, Stelle thought hysterically. Just Kafka's coats alone made a mediocre dent in her wealth.
Stelle might not've been as rich as Louis Flemming, but she had still been a shareholder of Penacony and done many odd jobs offered to her over the course of her extensive trailblazing career—most of them she probably hadn't been qualified to do—gaining a sizable amount of savings. And even that wasn't enough to fund the Stelleron Hunters in the end.
Just thinking about Firefly's future medical bills makes Stelle's wallet ache.
"I'll find you after the missions over Kafka, just stick to the script, and you'll be fine."
"I'm not a child, Elio. No need to nag."
And just like that, Kafka disappeared like the wind, leaving Stelle, her cat, and two bags of coats.
Stelle put the coat bags in her inventory. "Come on, kitty, time to buy our house back again."
"Meow meow."
"No, I'm not getting you another cat tree. You know exactly what happened the last time I bought you one; Bladie was traumatized."
"Meow!" THEY protested.
Stelle threw her hands up. "Ugh, you're impossible. Fine, I'll get you your damn cat tree." She could only pray for Bladie's sanity and renovate the kitchen to be bigger in compensation.
And so, girl and cat bought a big house, where a Devil Hunter, Glamoth Iron Calvary soldier, legendary Punklordian hacker, and suicidal immortal criminal walked in once more.
Sounds like the start of a bad joke, and Stelle couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Maybe she should visit an old friend. A little elation never hurt anyone.