Bad Habits

Having split away from Ama, Aletheia and Jackal find a shadowy corner near Mercy’s office. The pride bun sat on the ground and pulled out a cigarette. Jackal looked at them before chuckling under her breath.

“You definitely care less about things than Ama," the envy bun took out her own cigarette. Smoking in the church was not a big deal to either of the two.

The pride bun looked about for a moment, making sure the greed bun was absolutely out of sight. “Ama’s a bit up tight, but she means well. At least she’s relaxed enough to call me for questionable jobs.”

“This isn’t the first time?”

“Murmur no!" Aletheia laughed lightly at this. "This is at least the tenth. Mostly, she usually only needs info. Once she had me track someone down and get her their address. From what I understood, they were bugging one of her authors.”

“Do you know how she handled that?”

Lethe took a drag on their cigarette before speaking, smoke coming through their nose. “No clue. She told me not to ask. Frankly, the look in her eyes was enough to keep me from asking.”

“Scary. She does seem the type to make sure things go her way. I have seen her get this look in her eye that does get a damn bit scary. Particularly the last time we talked to Mercy. I thought I was about to see a goth fight a fucking nun.”

“I’d have paid to see that… and would have brought whiskey too.”

“I like the way you think. So, why did you pick your way into her office?”

“I had kind of caused over 2,000 carats of damage to a property and was almost caught. Her office was a quick escape. Wouldn’t have been caught if Ama hadn’t come in at fucking dawn to sort paperwork and start editing. She knocked me in the head with the heaviest book she had in her office. I swore I had star motes with how the light danced in my vision for a brief second. When my vision cleared, she had me tied up.”

“Meanwhile, I met her in a regular ass store. She was picking up some punk clothes, which she did look good in, but she is definitely more comfortable in goth.”

“She’d pull off any alt, but really, she should leave the punk to you and I.”

“True, but she didn’t look too uncomfortable in punk. Next time, she could skip the band tee.” Jackal chuckled, tamping out her first cigarette before lighting a new one.

“She didn’t!” Lethe exclaimed as they put out the but of their cigarette and lit up a new one.

“Oh, she did, and from what I can tell, she loves their music, but she’s definitely not a merch buyer.”

“By Murmur, I wish I could’ve seen that. She would fill out any tee, not just a merch tee.”

“Do you have a little crush on her?” Jackal asked teasingly.

“What‽ No!” They were blushing a bit, which made Jackal almost chuckle.

“You do know that you can’t lie convincingly, right?”

“Apparently not when I have to deal with emotions, but try me at poker or blackjack. I can’t be called on any bluff and no one can out-bluff my bluffs.”

“I think I’ll pass on that action. The few carats I get are best staying in my savings.”

“Suit yourself. Even if gambling could multiply your carats exponentially.”

The envy bun looked at the skeletal bun as if they were crazy, which would not be a surprise to her if they were at this point. Jackal shook her head. Silence surrounded the two punks for the moment as they smoked. The two seemed comfortable in the soundlessness of the moment, as if it was not any sort of problem for them.

The pride bun held their cigarette delicately between two skeletal fingers, smoke curling up from the end as they took a long drag. They held the smoke for a moment before blowing it through their nose. Jackal decided to top that by blowing a smoke ring. Aletheia saw an opportunity and blew a smaller ring of smoke through Jackal’s before it dissipated.

The duo continued with smoke tricks until their cigarettes were out again. They did not light any more as Amaryllis had just joined them, the signal that the conversation with Oleander had gone well. The trio stayed silent as they watched the door to Mercy’s office. It only took a few minutes before the nun rushed out the door, an annoyed look on their face.

The trio waited for a couple minutes, making sure Mercy was out of earshot before approaching the office door. Jackal watched in silence as the pride bun carefully and expertly picked the lock, getting the trio inside in no time. She had to talk to this skeletal bun more often, even just to invite them on heists. It was a long missed opportunity not knowing Aletheia for so long.