Nell began to tell the story, but found it hard to assign succinct adjectives and adverbs to her experience. This gave The Afterdark a very mediocre idea of what had happened. He had to ask the girl a few times to clarify certain details. He was otherwise satisfied with her ability to talk.
She was lying down on his couch while she spoke. He paced back and forth across the warehouse so Nell spoke loudly for him to hear. She didn't need to; he had excellent hearing and his home had nice acoustics. He didn't tell her to stop though, because when she knew she could be loud, he could pay better attention to how she changed her volume. This told him when she had been most stressed out, when she had been angry, and when she had been scared. Those were the things that people often lied about.
He found it intriguing that the mercenaries this time around had been intelligent and personable, not to mention angry with Seer. She mentioned in passing that they had inquired about Nell's relationship with Derek, and wondered to himself what the correct answer was. He thought carefully about that, and decided that it would be easier to describe what their relationship wasn't. He was reminded that Nell was talking even as the thought "we still haven't had sex yet" flickered dimly in the dark recesses of his brain. He opted attention to the girl instead of his own thoughts.
"... and then you showed up," Nell finished.
Derek leaned against the wall across from her and stroked his chin (remembering that he needed to shave). He said, "If I ever run in to Walker or Doug, I probably won't kill them."
"That's all I could really hope for," The Fixer said wryly. "That you probably won't kill two guys who hate Seer and protected me."
"I protected you!" The Afterdark growled pointedly, emphasizing 'I' by drawing out the syllable.
"And for that I am grateful," Nell said, "But you aren't a surgeon."
"I could fish a bullet out of someone and sew them up," he defended.
"You have giant hands--" here the emphasis was on the word giant rather than the word hands "--can you even hold needles?"
"Never tried."
She was lying down on his couch while she spoke. He paced back and forth across the warehouse so Nell spoke loudly for him to hear. She didn't need to; he had excellent hearing and his home had nice acoustics. He didn't tell her to stop though, because when she knew she could be loud, he could pay better attention to how she changed her volume. This told him when she had been most stressed out, when she had been angry, and when she had been scared. Those were the things that people often lied about.
He found it intriguing that the mercenaries this time around had been intelligent and personable, not to mention angry with Seer. She mentioned in passing that they had inquired about Nell's relationship with Derek, and wondered to himself what the correct answer was. He thought carefully about that, and decided that it would be easier to describe what their relationship wasn't. He was reminded that Nell was talking even as the thought "we still haven't had sex yet" flickered dimly in the dark recesses of his brain. He opted attention to the girl instead of his own thoughts.
"... and then you showed up," Nell finished.
Derek leaned against the wall across from her and stroked his chin (remembering that he needed to shave). He said, "If I ever run in to Walker or Doug, I probably won't kill them."
"That's all I could really hope for," The Fixer said wryly. "That you probably won't kill two guys who hate Seer and protected me."
"I protected you!" The Afterdark growled pointedly, emphasizing 'I' by drawing out the syllable.
"And for that I am grateful," Nell said, "But you aren't a surgeon."
"I could fish a bullet out of someone and sew them up," he defended.
"You have giant hands--" here the emphasis was on the word giant rather than the word hands "--can you even hold needles?"
"Never tried."
