“Morning Sethalis.”
“You know I hate it when you call me that.”
“I’m going to keep calling you that until you tell me what happened on your date.”
“One thing that didn’t happen was me getting syphilis.”
“Are you sure? Have you been tested?”
Ducking the projectile aimed my way I scooted behind my desk with a smile on my face.
Seth making his coffee in the kitchenette to my right turned around to lean against the bench.
Big leaner this one.
“What’s got you in such a good mood this morning?”
Powering up the monitor my eyes meet his.
The smile still plastered on my face wide enough to put Alice’s cheshire cat to shame.
“Who me? Oh nothing. Just ready to start a new day.”
Eyebrows furrowed in my direction his clear suspicions of my good mood peaked under his watchful eye.
“Out with it. What have you done?”
Pretending to be taken back I let out an overly dramatic “Mwah” before scoffing like a grandma chastizing a younger person for having no idea what life was like in the good old days.
“Yes you. I know that look.”
Smugly turning towards my computer I opened up the days emails to start my morning routine.
“I don’t know what your talking about.”
Fed up with my antics Seth just shakes his head grabs his coffee and heads towards his office, Before closing the door he turns his head and shoots back.
“Keep your secrets then. Just know that whatever it is, I’m not bailing your arse out of it this time.”
To be fair it wasn’t that often he had to bail me out of trouble.
I mean there was that one time I thought it’d be a brillant idea to stalk the stalker on my own without telling Seth because he was busy with the qoute unqoute date night.
Then there was the time I got stuck inside a freezer on a stake out.
It wasn’t my fault I swear I went to pee and just happened to see the guy walking passed.
Since I didn’t want him to get away I followed him only to take a wrong turn and freeze my arse off for an hour before Seth finally found me.
Ok fine he did save my sorry arse.
A lot.
In my defence though it’s not like I plan for this shit to happen.
The stalker one maybe was a tiny bit my fault, but the freezer…
Who knew the door had an auto lock.
Not me and certianly not Seth after we both got locked inside.
Thus resulting in him having to go all wolf and break through the door to free us.
So possibly, it was my fault?
All that aside today was not like those other times.
I swear it wasn’t.
It all started on my way to work.
There I was just minding my own business when who do I run into.
None other then tall dark and broody leather clad chad himself.
Now of course his names not chad but sounded cool right?
As it turns out his name is actually Zarethan.
A snake shifter from the other side of town who just recently move here after his brother was brutally murdered.
Zare, which is my new nick name for mister motor head.
The slice with a nice dice moved here to find Seth and ask for his help in finding his brother’s killer.
As unluck would have it the police had filed it as a cold case years ago.
With no where else to turn since he’d already tried every PI in the uppers as well as exhuasted all his savings.
Obsessed with finding his brothers killer he’d even lost his job over it.
Penniless, without a job.
His house ends up getting reposessed which inevitably landed him here with the rest of the unwanted.
Even after all that here he is still trying to find the sleeze bag that chopped his little brother into a million pieces.
Just to be clear I have no idea how his brother was murdered since we didn’t go into that much detail, but you get my point.
I have to tell you the guy should win a metal for loyalty or something because I don’t know anyone who would go that far for a deceased relative.
Well except maybe Seth.
He does give off an I’ll do anything if it’s the right thing to do vibe.
Always has.
What made the exchange incredibly awesome was the fact that usually I have to wait until Seth feels it’s safe enough for me to get envolved before he spills the beans.
Hence the look.
If Seth knew that I’d found out before he got a chance to assess the situation there’d be hell to pay.
Which was exactly why I was in such a good mood.
Sometimes I can be the most impatient person in the world when it comes to information.
It felt so good to finally know what Seth knows at the time that he knows it.
It’s the little things in life.
“Alrexia!”
Opps spoke too soon.
Seth’s footsteps stamped thier way to the door seconds before it burst open.
The doorknob ceremoniously hitting the wall behind it with a resounding bang.
I could already see the fur slinking its way through the pores of his skin.
Shit.
Alright stay calm.
Stay calm.
“Yes boss?”
My voice all airy innocence my eyes doe like trying to look small with a side of please don’t wolf out on me.
“Did you really think he wouldn’t tell me? What did you do, wait for the right moment to pounce like a panther while sprouting your silver tongue?!”
Tsking like a british at high tea I answered his outburst with a well placed, “I don’t have a sliver tongue.”
I really do have a death wish.
Well maybe not a death wish but a least a slight maiming.
“For fuck sakes Alrexia. I haven’t even had a chance to check the guy out before you shoved your nose in his arse.”
“Wow ewe, not even I would go that far.”
Seth’s clawed hand curled into a fist while his index finger pointed sharply at the ground.
The sound of his growl reverbrating off the walls as he spoke.
“This isn’t a joke Alrexia!”
Two Alrexia’s.
Damn he was pissed.
If there’s a third one, look out because shits about to hit the fan in a big way.
Time to get serious and defuse the wolf before it bares it’s fangs.
“You make it sound like I planned it.”
“Well didn’t you?”
“Of course not! I wouldn’t do that. The fact that you think I did mean’s you’ve lost sight of who I am.”
That seemed to tame the beast as his claws retracted.
The human in him starting to return.
Taking a long deep breath his eyes softened just enough to see reason.
“Your right. I’m sorry Rexy.”
Phew dodged a bullet with that one.
Seth took another deep breath while leaning against the doorframe.
With a calmer demeanour his eyes focused on the floor the whole time he explained why he blew up like a bat out of hell.
“It’s this missing person’s case. It’s got me on edge. I took it out on you and I shouldn’t have.”
Finally looking up.
The anger he entered with completely gone.
In it’s place were sweatened puppy dog eyes that just won’t be denied.
“Can you forgive me?”
I ignored his attempt to placate me.
After how he reacted it was my turn to worry about him.
“Is it really that bad?”
Sighing he stalked his way to my desk only to slump on the chair before me.
His shoulders wedged forwards in a defeated way.
“I just don’t know what else to do. Usually there’s something. A clue, an overlooked acquaintance, hell even video footage placing her somewhere in the vacinity. There’s just nothing. It really is like she just disappeared into thin air.”
I’d never seen him like this.
For all my jokes he really was an amazing PI.
The best I’ve ever seen.
Not that I know all that many but still.
Every case he’s taken, he’s solved.
It wasn’t like him to just give up.
“Come on Seth you’ll figure it out. You always do. Maybe you just need a break. A week or two.”
Leaning back to stare at the ceiling his hands rubbing at his face like he was trying to wash clean the frustration he was feeling.
“Your right. As always. Maybe I just need some time to come up with something new.” Words spoken between his fingers making them sound muffled.
“There’s the Seth we know and love. Now come on, up you go. Shake it off lassie.”
One scowl and I knew he was starting to come back to himself.
“So it’s lassie now?”
“Would you prefer cujo?”
His chuckle followed him all the way back to his office.
~
Another day done and dusted.
In the end Seth decided to concentrate solely on Zare’s case.
I knew it was killing him not knowing what’s happened to the missing person.
I also knew that this was for the best.
Being a PI wasn’t for the faint of heart.
No case is worth beating yourself up over.
At least that’s what I told myself.
It was hard to be impartial when you could see the pain in the faces of thier loved ones.
Sometimes I think Seth is too kindhearted for this job.
Then I see how fiercely he fights for answers.
Even when everyone else has given up.
That’s when I realise he’s just the right amount