Air swooshed and swirled, rustling the leaves and displacing the rain. It was a vortex in the middle of a clearing. The result of the woman gliding towards the two bodies crumpled on the ground.

Her clothes billowed as she folded at the waist to observe the pair. One, a meager older man that she recognized as the person she was after. The other, a young woman with choppy pink hair who appeared to have the misfortune of meeting the former.

“Useless,” she said. 

She waved her hand and the wind currents blocking the rain from her rushed to eagerly lift the man from the ground. He twisted in on himself in an indication that he was no longer alive and her expression hardened.

“Utterly useless. This is surely a testament to the inadequacy of the conditions that I’m being expected to work with.” She smiled as a thought broke through her frustration. “Or a perfect opportunity to test a working theory.”

With a curve of her slender figure, she dragged the corpse through the air behind her, leaving the other body beside the broken sapling behind. 

The light glimmering off the watch on the desk caught Fuchsia’s eye. It sparkled with a luxury the brunet had only in glimpses of others, never directly. Usually through businessmen or fancy travelers passing by to take advantage of the island’s shopping centers and skyrise condos. 

Or, really, from under them.

The blankets he was twisted in fell to the floor as he slipped from the plush hotel bed to grab his pants. His steps across the carpet were muffled by rain against the window panes and running water in the bathroom. Not everyone was a cuddler, for which Fuchsia was greatly appreciative of, but he wasn’t in a hurry to trade the warmth of the hotel for the dreary outdoors. 

Besides, he got paid by the hour. 

He tucked the front of his shirt into his tattered black jeans and brushed his fingers across the links of white gold forming the band of the watch. It was only when the bathroom door opened that he put his hands at his sides. A practiced smile greeted the suit fixing his gaze upon him. 

“You’re still here?”

Fuchsia lifted himself to sit on the desk, crossing his legs and leaning back with a comfortable confidence. “You never told me to leave.”

“Pretty sure I did.”

“Well, did or didn’t, you owe me for another hour now.” Suit opened his mouth to protest but Fuchsia nodded at the clock on the nightstand—which he may or may not have adjusted. “Would have been more if we showered together. Better for the environment too.”

“I didn’t think I was in there that long.”

“Time flies when you’re having fun.”

Before Suit could reconsider, Fuchsia slipped from the desk and smoothly came to stand at his side. Without his heels on, the client almost had a chance at meeting him at eye level. Taking advantage, Fuchsia batted his lashes and held his hand out expectantly. 

Suit sighed, grabbing his wallet from the desk; Fuchsia watched in envy as he flipped through the stack of bills tucked in its folds and handed him only a small fraction. Even still, he took the extra cash with a sound of appreciation and moved to leave.

“Hey, wait.” Fuchsia paused, waiting for Suit to finish his thought as he stared at the desk. “Did you see my watch anywhere?”

“Nope,” he lied. “I don’t think you were wearing one today. Probably left it at home.”

Leaving the suit with his confusion, he made his way outside. The cold air immediately made him shiver. 

It was never this cold in Desvelar. Back home, the coldest thing were the popsicles his sister and him used to make from fruit juice in ice trays. The air was always warm and humid. The longer he stayed in Lacuna, the more strange things he missed about home. 

His stay here was supposed to be temporary, but so much for that. It was hard getting hired when he couldn’t make up for being a high-school dropout, no matter how much he explained that it was necessary at the time. 

He was avoiding the thought and eyeing the watch he had stolen when he noticed the woman approaching him. 

She was upsettingly gorgeous. Flawless skin in a warm brown and kissed with the perfect tint of cream blush. A thick coat that spoke to how long she was swayed around the tops of her boots. 

“What?” he said, stopping her from coming any closer. 

Though she paused, it was obviously of her own accord. She was completely unphased by his glower. In fact, she smiled prettily in return. “I was hoping that you could be of use to me.”