It had been a long three days. Lewis was never one to openly complain about a job, but this one had taken him by surprise, and he barely had the energy to make the trip home. He was, shockingly, looking forward to the familiar walls and the light day to day activities. Even he knew the importance of resting in a place you felt safe.

Lewis entered the main hall of the temple, and found it oddly quiet. The new batch of recruits were either out, or all of them had failed. He took a small detour to the kitchen and picked up a plate of food. He wondered if Simone had eaten yet. Knowing her, not likely. He sighed and grabbed her a plate as well, placing both on a tray.

“What a pain,” he muttered, making his way to the tower. At the top of the steps, he tried the door. Locked. Good. She’s learning. He balanced the tray carefully, and unlocked the door, kicking it open. “I’m ho-” The tray dropped, spilling meats and cheeses everywhere. The walls were wrong.

“What the fuck.” He walked into the room. It was all wrong. He rushed to his room, and looked around again. “What the fuck?” he repeated. “Simone!? What the actual fuck?”

Blue. Green. It was all wrong to him. He was an assassin. Death and darkness. These colors clashed with his soul. And whether or not he would ever admit it, he did have a soul.

Simone heard Lewis come home and she had been in her room journaling away about what she had done. She was pretty proud of her color choices. Pastels were in, or so the wallpaper specialist had said. That was when his voice boomed and Simone flinched.

“Whelp, time to come up with something to distract him,” Simone muttered to herself.

She got up with a smile on her face and opened the door to her room. “You told me I could do whatever I wanted as long as I didn’t touch your stuff… I thought we could use some color so I did it.” She put her hands behind her and played shy.

“Besides I thought it would look nice as a backdrop for your present…” She mused and rolled her eyes back and forth. This had been the… If Lewis hates it then I should distract him button. She went over to the closet in his room and pulled out a lace nightgown. It was black and there was barely anything to it. “See? It looks nice against the light green of the room. You can definitely see it better in the dark.”

Lewis saw Simone and was furious, but had been learning to control his emotions and not completely fly off the handle.

He was really struggling.

“Oh no, you don’t get to worm your way out of this one,” he said after she started to walk off to grab the new nightgown. He was about to go off again when she produced the nightgown, and he immediately held his tongue. There were a flurry of thoughts running through his mind at the moment, all of them involving her and that nightgown.

“Put it on…now,” Lewis demanded as he crossed his arms. “And the next few hours will determine just how much trouble you’ll be in…” But Simone had to know that the distraction was working. “And…I guess I can tolerate it…for now…”

I Don’t Believe You
(before the dream dive)
“I want to go to the library.”

“No.”

“I. Want. To. Go. To. The. Library.”

“Ask again and I’ll sew your lips shut.”

“IT WASN’T A REQUEST I WANT TO GO TO THE LIBRARY LEWIS.”

Which had led to the current predicament that Lewis was now in. Standing on the table in the main living quarters Simone had a vase and she was ready to chuck it at Lewis. “I wasn’t asking. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO KEEP ME HERE WITH NO HUMAN INTERACTION BESIDES JACK TRYING TO LOOK UP MY SKIRT WHEN HE ORDERS FOOD,” Simone yelled as she kicked her legs to get him to back up.

“HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE THAT YOU CAN JUST HOLD ME IN HERE?!”

Lewis had ended up in this predicament wholly on his own actions. While Lord Raith had given him a certain amount of agency within the godly realm, he had not given Lewis explicit permission to get away with everything. It wasn’t just that Simone couldn’t leave, it was that if Lord Raith caught wind of her, that could spell disaster for all parties involved.

“I’m Lewis Terrowin, top rated assassin of the realm,” Lewis shot back, completely serious. He was getting annoyed at her acting like he wasn’t a big shot. Which, to be fair, he was, but that actually didn’t matter in this situation.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean!?” she demanded. “You’ve locked me in this tower, threaten me daily, and now you’re some oh so fancy big shot!?” The vase almost left her hands, but she hesitated. It was a really nice vase. “I. Don’t. Believe. You.” She said the words slowly, and with emphasis.

“What do you mean you don’t believe me?” Lewis asked, completely caught off guard. What did this have to do with the library? “I’m the best assassin here. There’s no contest.”

“Unlikely,” she snapped back with a glare.

Lewis stared at her in complete shock. “Just…” If looks could kill…

“Wait here,” he demanded as he turned around and stormed out of the tower. There was an audible click as he locked the door. It only took about five minutes, and when he appeared, he was half dragging a man almost double Lewis’ size.

“All right, all right,” the man said as he looked around. “But why am I-” His eyes locked on Simone’s frame. “Lewis. There’s a woman in here.”

Simone didn’t leave her spot with the vase. She put the vase on the windowsill and took a book she had no attachment to. As soon as he walked in and started ordering the man around she chucked it at his head. Unfortunately, Lewis was very good at his job and he caught the book. Simone was looming over him with the vase again. “STAY BACK I SWEAR TO GOD I’LL CRUSH YOUR HEAD WITH THIS VASE,” Simone threatened. “I. Want. To. Go. To. The. Library. NO! I AM GOING TO THE LIBRARY!” She changed her language to him.

Simone’s gray eyes locked with the man’s. “Who is this?” She raised the vase once more and ‘intimidated’ the new man. “STAY BACK.”

“This is Darren,” Lewis was calm but slowly about to lose it. “Tell her who I am!”

“He’s Lewis Dusk, the top-rated assassin,” Darren put his hands up.

“YOU THREATENED HIM DIDN’T YOU?!” Simone was threatening Lewis with the vase again. “And you! Did he threaten you to tell me who he was?! WHO ARE YOU ANYWAYS?! Don’t just let him bully you!”

“Don’t you know who he is!?” Darren shot back. “Of COURSE he threatened me, he’s Lewis gods-damned Dusk!”

Lewis crossed his arms. “How is that so hard to believe!?” he demanded. “What more to do you need!?”

Simone looked at Darren, “Who the hell even are you!?”

“Darren,” he repeated. “I thought we established this.

“Okay, but who the hell do you think you are!?” Simone demanded.

“I’m the third best assassin in the temple,” Darren said, suddenly offended.

Before anyone else could say more, the door opened, and Jack walked in. He was surprised to see everyone on edge, and started to turn around. “I’ll just come back later,” he muttered.

“NO YOU DON’T!” Lewis and Simone yelled at the same time.

Jack flinched, and walked in. “Ok…what seems to be the problem?” he asked nervously.

“Tell her who I am,” Lewis demanded. “Rank and all.”

“Lewis Dusk, top assassin in the realm?” Jack asked, confused.

“And do you look up her skirt?”

“Of course not!” he snapped, “You would absolutely kill me!”

Lewis smirked, crossing his arms. “There. That’s TWO people who can vouch for me.”

Simone stood there with the vase at the ready. “And I’m Simone a princess hidden in a goddamn tower. Lewis Dusk if you don’t let me go to the goddamn library this instant I’m going to throw this vase at your damn head!”

She was staring at Lewis, “YOU JUST THREATENED THEM BOTH. Jack is literally about to piss him–”

“I AM NO-”

“SHUT UP JACK,” both Simone and Lewis yelled at him.

“I DEMAND A COMPROMISE,” Simone yelled at Lewis. “If you don’t let me leave this tower I am going to scream until you give up because you can’t sleep.”

“OH MY FUCKING GOD YOU ARE A GODDAMN BRAT,” Lewis yelled up at her.

“I DEMAND A COMPROMISE! AGREE TO IT OR I’M GOING TO SMASH THIS VASE INTO YOUR HEAD,” Simone yelled down at Lewis. At this point, Darren and Jack were staying for the drama.

“What the fuck do you want woman?!” Lewis yelled back at her.

“I want six romance novels on the raunchy side immediately,” Simone turned her nose up at him. “Or. Else. I. Scream. And smash this vase into your head.”

“Is THAT all you want!? Some godsdamned romance TRASH!?” Lewis yelled. “For fucks sake, if that’s all you want…” He walked over to his bag, and threw her a book that happened to be in it. “There. HAPPY!? It’s some random book that one of the women at the brothel told me to read for some stupid reason.”

Simone caught the book, and read the title. “The…Flames of Lust?”

At once, the other two men in the room groaned. They had all heard of this novel, and how it was what all the women were ranting and raving. It had ‘unrealistic standards for men’ or whatever that meant. All Darren knew was that the women in the brothels were comparing them to the men in the novel.

“I’ll get the rest of your damned books later. It’s HIGHLY unlikely that Lord Raith has such books in his library.”

If only Lewis knew how wrong he was.