Trisandrah Emberstrom

Another Favor

Ande stood in the doorway and watched Tris as she brushed her hair. Tris hadn’t yet realized she was there. How far the girl had come from the little waif that was barely more than skin and bones. A shell of the young woman that sat before her now. She had left the girl sitting on a bed in a small sparsely decorated room. She hadn’t known what else to do with her.  It was clear the girl wasn’t capable of surviving on her own. Not then. It had taken years to rehabilitate her. The facility had done its job, that’s for sure. Even if she had still been socially awkward when she came out. Ande had slowly pushed her into Silvermoon society. It took a year before she even spoke to someone and made a friend.

But look at her now. Ande would have swelled with pride if she ever felt that sort of way. Not that she had much to do with any of it. The girl’s friends had done more than she had ever done for her socially. Still, there were messes to clean up. It was part of life. Tris hadn’t meant to kill that man, not this one. But it didn’t set her back, as Ande had worried.It had set wheels in motion and she’d fixed things again. Fixing things isn’t new, especially not for the girl.

“Oh fiddle! You startled me!” Tris’ voice pulled Ande from her thoughts.

“Sorry about that, poppet. What’s up? Don’t tell me ya got yourself inna another mess.”

Tris wrinkled her nose and made a face at Ande. “I haven’t gotten into anything like that for some time, thank you very much. No, I just need a bit of work done. The sort of work you do.”

That certainly piqued Ande’s interest. She lit a cigarette and walked into the room. “Whatcha need doin? You’re most certainly inna mess if ya need my sorta work.”

“I need some papers. A erm..an associate of mine and I. We’re doing some work.” Her voice grew quieter. “It’s helping me get the nervous energy out.”

“Yeah?” Ande took in a long drag from her cigarette and pointed it towards the back room. ‘What’s wrong with a good fuckin’ and yer boy back there? Whatcha call ‘im? Duir? Why ain’t that getting’ it all out? Don’t tell me ya fella ain’t doin’ it to ya good enough.” Her lips curled into a grin. “I’d offer to take care of ya, but nah. I reckon I could try to find someone who’d give it to ya like ya need.”

Tris stood up, making another face. “Oh wouldn’t you like to? Hrmph. He does just fine when I see him. I just…all of that just confuses me. It’s just too much. I feel things. Things I shouldn’t. That’s part of the whole problem and why I want to get away.”

Tris strode across the room, to her dressing room. She opened a drawer and pulled out a hood, placing it over her head and looking in the mirror. “So, you can get them quickly?”

The blonde looked at her. “’ow quickly we talkin’?”

“A couple of days.”

Ande shook her head and sighed. “You’re damn lucky that I’ve retired ‘n got all the time in the world outside of ‘avin’ a lil fun myself. I’ll make your papers.” She turned to leave but stopped. “’ey Poppet. Be careful, yeah?” She didn’t wait for a reply and disappeared from the doorway.