Lewis came into the weapon room, unsure of what to expect from the whole situation at hand. He knew that she had been enjoying her time outside of the tower, and he was almost thankful that she had been making friends. It was something that he had never really intended for her, but as time had passed them by, and he was slowly starting to trust that she wouldn’t run.

Not that she really could escape him if he put his mind to it.

“What’s wrong,” he asked. His voice sounded bored, but there was the slightest hint of curiosity mixed with worry for those who knew how to discern. He noticed one of his belts wrapped around her. “You…have that on wrong,” he said as he walked over and adjusted the belt. “I do hope you plan on cleaning up the baby clothes. The belt goes like this…see, now you can reach for the hilt easier.” He paused. “Though, before you walk out of here, you’re going to tell me why you want my gear.”

Simone felt like a child getting ‘her’ gear adjusted. “I’m going into battle.”

“Not with this you’re not,” Lewis took the dagger out and held it above her.

The girl started to hop up and down trying to get it. Her face was puffed out and she was getting more frustrated. “Lewis, I need it to assassinate someone.”

“Is this like when you assassinated that trash on the beach?”

“YES,” Simone stopped hopping and crossed her arms, “I am very, very upset. I learned today that girls get pregnant on purpose so their boyfriends won’t leave them! I LEARNED BECAUSE THEY SAID I SHOULD DO IT TO YOU!” She pointed at Lewis. “I don’t need a baby to keep you! I AM MORE THAN CAPABLE OF HANDLING YOU ON MY OWN! AND TO ADD SALT TO THE INJURY THEY GAVE ME?! I found out that Patricia girl that has been looming on Darren plans on ensnaring him in her vicious web of pregnancy lies!”

She turned around and went for his poison bottles, “This must be stopped! They have hurt my pride as a woman! SEX ISN’T A WEAPON!”

She stopped and put her hands on her hips turning to him, “And how dare they think of my Lewis in their dirty little brains!”

Lewis took a deep breath, and exhaled. “Assassination isn’t the solution to everything.” This was rich coming from him, but in this instance he was right. “What we do is we have a discussion with Darren about what you have heard. A normal discussion.” He pulled her close via the belt, and undid it. “Just because we’re emotional, doesn’t mean we can just kill people.”

The irony was lost on him.

“Contain your jealousy for a moment and think. If you hurt someone intentionally, Lord Raith may kill you on the spot. There are better options. Why kill someone when you can make their life a living hell? If we tell Darren and the other boys, we can turn this around on the circle.”

Simone stared at him in absolute shock. “But. But…” He pulled her using the belt and she realized she was beaten as he took it off of her like a child.

“No buts,” Lewis put his finger to her lips and she puffed up her face.

She was about to absolutely go off on the fact that she had seen Lewis on multiple occasions killing acolytes because he couldn’t contain his jealousy. She crossed her arms even harder as the conversation continued. She hadn’t even thought about what Lord Raith would do if she had killed someone intentionally but did that mean that Lewis was a special case? Probably, he had value to the god.

“Okay…” She took a big breath and looked up at Lewis with big eyes now wholly agreeing with the plan. “Let’s start with Darren before she gets pregnant for real… Patricia, Sofia, Alexandria, Gloria, Melody, and Felicia are their names. I have the assassins they are attached to.”

Each one had attached themselves to someone who could make a lot of money. Simone wasn’t dumb and knew that killing was a good business. There would be multiple reasons to attach yourself to an assassin. The gold was one but the other was that it was a dangerous job. Be married to an assassin for a bit and you might just end up a rich widow.

After calming her down they went and grabbed Darren. Simone forced him to sit in their living room. “What’s this about you two?”

“Well…” Simone was hesitant but soon she was speaking about her experience.

“…What?” Darren looked at her a bit weirdly. “That’s weir– No, that actually makes sense…” He thought about it. “These girls started at the same time in the temple.”

“So… they came here with the goal already in mind?! That’s crazy…”

Darren didn’t look too heartbroken since as far as Simone had known it hadn’t been that long since Patricia had started to see Darren. “We should tell the others… Sofia is already pregnant…”

Lewis was surprised at how well Darren was taking the news. “If it were me, I probably would have killed someone.” Simone gave him a look like she was about to slap him, but held herself back. Instead, she consoled Darren for a moment longer before stating they should look for the others.

“I think it would be more efficient to split up,” Lewis said as he looked to Darren and Simone. “Simone, you take Rafael. I’ll handle Geoff and Orion, and Darren you take Strom and whatever that newbie’s name is.” Lewis hardly cared for the other assassin. The fact that he knew most of their names was a shock to Darren.

“R-right,” Darren said as he stood up. “On it.”

“Just take Snowball with you when you go,” Lewis reminded Simone. “I feel better when he’s around.”

Lewis tracked down Orion easily enough, and explained the situation. Orion was in shock, and had to sit down, taking a few moments to process. In the end, he understood what had to be done. Geoff took a little longer to track down, but once he was cornered, Lewis told him what had happened. This particular assassin waved his hand, dismissing the idea.

“Well…your loss,” Lewis said as he shrugged. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you…”

He knew Darren wasn’t having any trouble, but he wondered how Simone was handling Rafael. “Let’s see…his room should be…this one?” He found the door on the east wing tower, one that was only a few feet smaller than Lewis’ own tower.

Simone agreed and Snowball flew with her. When the infamous Dusk Assassin’s lady comes to see you… Well, the look on Rafael’s face was interesting. “I have to tell you something can I come in?” She was innocent enough about it that Rafael let her in without thought.

“I know that you are expecting a baby with Sofia but…” So Simone went and told her story to Rafael.

–

When Lewis opened the door he was met with a scene as Snowball was setting off an alarmed set of chirps.

“Fuck,” a tiny voice cried out but once Snowball knew it was Lewis he was quick to readjust his tweet.

However, Simone and Lewis’s eyes met while she was in a situation. She held the body of Rafael whose head had been bashed open. There was blood everywhere and on her. She was attempting to throw the body out the window from how she was positioned but the man was bigger than she was and it was hard to get the leverage.

“…This is probably what it looks like…” Simone chirped out a response. Snowball was now oddly quiet as he tried to close the door by himself.

Lewis surveyed the room, and immediately his eyes went to Simone. Next, they trained on the body of Rafael. This was the same Rafael who had assassinated a Lord surrounded by twenty fully armored knights without being caught. The same Rafael who had killed a man in a locked room with no windows. The very same man who, without a doubt, was a better assassin that Lewis was. Well, not by much…

“How…” He stopped himself. “Why…” Again he stopped himself. First, he closed the door behind him, and locked it. The first mistake that Simone had made. “Simone. I’m going to need a very good explanation as to why Rafael is dead.”

“He called me flat chested.”

Lewis blinked. “Okay, so first, you need to remember to lock the door. Anyone can walk in.” He walked over, and leaned down. “Second…when disposing of someone bigger than you, I recommend doing so in parts.” He pulled out his dagger, and handed it to her, hilt first. “A sharp edge will do wonders cutting through bone.”

She couldn’t honestly tell if Lewis was proud of her or just in awe of her… Or maybe it was something else all together. It wasn’t very often that she did it to him but this was something else entirely.

Simone was starting not to be bothered by blood but this time she had really done it. Now she had to clean it up. “Alright…” She took the dagger from him and puffed out her face. “Stop judging me.”

“… I don’t know if that’s possible in this situation,” Lewis replied with his dull tone.

“Look, I came and I told him… and He blew me off and he said even though I was flat chested that if I wanted to offer myself to him that he would consider what I was saying. So maybe it was more than just the flat-chested comment.”

Lewis looked down at Rafael’s body after hearing Simone’s comment. “So, if we toss him out of the window he might be discovered. I’ve been experimenting lately with acids that can dissolve flesh and bone. Maybe we could try that instead…”

It took the rest of the day, alongside an explanation to Darren on why they had disappeared for so long. When Lewis mentioned a body, Darren immediately held up his hands and wanted nothing to do with it. It was better that way for him. And so, it was known to the whole Bastion that Rafael just mysteriously disappeared one day, leaving a pregnant Sofia to raise her child alone. Many speculated that he wanted nothing to do with the kid, and simply ran from the responsibility. Others figured he took a job and failed.

The truth, though, is that Lewis and Simone were a terrifyingly jealous couple.

And that sometimes, killing someone was simply just the best answer.

A Little More Color

Lewis was on a three day stint from home. It was rare but it did happen once in a while. Simone had permission to do whatever she wanted as long as she didn’t touch his weapon’s room. He didn’t own the walls.

So she was one day into her lonedom when she had the bright idea to spruce up the tower. There was a rather talented wallpaper specialist who lived in the town below. So with Dala in tow, she went to town for his services. Pouring over the vast samples of wallpapers she finally settled on a few.

Their common room was a very nice baby blue light floral print. Her room was done in a lilac purple with roses here or there. Finally, she chose a spring green with a slightly darker leaf pattern for Lewis’s room.

Spending time on his bedding she had decided he needed new sheets and blankets. He wasn’t much for caring as long as they were comfortable so she got dark green bedding. The whole time Snowball was watching with wide eyes.

This was one dead woman when Lewis got home.