12. For Justice!

T he young, blond-haired security guard, who was escorting…or rather, dragging, Turney’s crazy ass, loon of a boyfriend out, calmly spoke to the protesting vampire. “We understand you’re upset. You don’t have to leave the convention, but you can’t return to this specific panel.”

“I have done nothing wrong!” Octavius cried. “He is a hater!”

Turney just followed behind, silently rubbing at his temples as he tried to fight back the headache that was starting to form.

“Yes, yes, we know. You already told us,” the older, bald guard murmured, with an amused smile.

Turney flinched as the doors of the panel room slammed closed, right as he stepped out of the way of them. That moderator, Jenny, was sure…something.

The two men released the vampire’s arms, before moving in front of doors, where they stood with their arms crossed.

Octavius spun, his eyes narrowing on the two men.

The blond-haired human smiled, looking unconcerned, but then again, he didn’t know they’d just dragged out a slightly unhinged vampire. “Please, don’t try to go back in. Why don’t you go and have fun at another less…argumentative panel? Or check out the artist and merch alley? Or just go play around in the park. There are tons of fun things to do.”

“Come on, Octavius. You heard them, we’ve been kicked out.”

The vampire spun towards him with a hmph, brushing off and straightening his waistcoat. “I can’t believe they kicked us out!”

“I can,” he drawled. The two humans chuckled softly…and he couldn’t blame them. He was sure this would be amusing to many.

“Don’t take their side!” Octavius hissed. The man turned away, his arms crossed, with his pout really setting in now.

Turney smiled… Ahh his boyfriend was a nut…but a very cute one. He stepped forward and slipped his arms around the vampire’s waist, pulling the pouting brat towards him, so the man was sideways in his arms.

“How about…we do a little retail therapy before heading to another panel?”

The pout on Octavius’ face remained for a few moments more, the vampire’s gaze slowly drawing to him. His pouty lips faltered, and a smile began to form as the male slowly said, “Some…retail…therapy…would be nice.” Octavius’ eyes narrowed with interest. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, the artist and merch alley sounds like a winning combination, don’t you think?”

The vampire giggled and bounced in his hold. “Oh, there will be so many Mallard Mysteries themed things!”

“So many. All the things, in fact.” As it was a Mallard Mysteries convention.

Octavius spun from his hold, bouncing. The man’s hands were shaking together, like an excited toddler’s, as he squealed, “LET’S GET ALL THE THINGS!”

Turney cringed at the familiar sparkle in the vampire’s eyes. “ Some …of the things.”

“ All the things!”

He heard the men snicker behind him, and did his best to ignore them as he faced his downfall.

“Octavius…we still need to have room for us in the van on the trip back.”

“It’s fine! We can ship things home if we run out of room. I figure… ten things from each table should suffice!”

“TEN?!” he croaked. “Octavius, you don’t need ten things from each booth!” Turney rubbed his face and tried to think of…a rational number. “Two things. You can have two things from the tables you like.”

“TWO?! That’s not enough,” Octavius whined. “Ten things!”

Oh hell… “Three things?”

“You don’t love me!” The vampire hmphed, turning away from him.

“Five things, and that’s my final offer! And only if you actually like what's on the tables!”

Octavius spun back around with a way too wide and smug smile on his face as he chimed, “DEAL!”

Yep…he’d been played. Turney let out a deep, heavy sigh, once again ignoring the laughter of the human guards. At least, Scarlett wasn’t here to witness…and judge…

Wait, he was supposed to call her… Ugh…he really hoped his memory wasn’t going to get as bad as Octavius’…

Min-ji watched Scarlett as the woman’s brow slowly rose the more Turney and Octavius spoke, her pert, freckled, slightly upturned nose wrinkling. As they’d been swimming, the woman was currently make-up free, with damp hair. She had on a simple black one-piece swimsuit that showed off her curves nicely.

They were currently in a joint inner tube, floating down a lazy river. Scarlett’s phone, set to speaker, was in a waterproof pouch and was resting on the woman’s stomach, so Min-ji got to hear everything loud and clear…as did the others around them. The stares of the people floating nearby was…something. Humans, as unapologetically rude as always.

“How did you two manage to run into trouble? We’ve only been here four hours,” the female zombie scoffed. “I guess, I shouldn’t be surprised, since it was something Octavius picked.”

Octavius huffed. “How was I supposed to know someone would get guillotined just inches away from me?! I just wanted to have fun and eat lunch… Well…drink lunch while Turney ate. But it was supposed to be a fun Ducktastic Murder Mystery Dining Theater Extravaganza?! Just…less real, on the dead body side of things. Either way, we’re calling to tell you that we got a packet of free stuff from the park owner, Aurelius.”

Turney snorted. “No, we’re calling to tell them what happened. Though, I do find it interesting that you are failing to bring up the fact that you just got us kicked out of a panel. Also, why do you keep saying Aurelius like that? That is not how he said his name!”

“Kicked out?” Min-ji couldn’t help but ask with a small smile.

“It was an action taken out of PURE jealousy over my superior knowledge and intellect!” Octavius cried. “Also, I am just saying his name the correct way!”

“Octavius, screaming out that someone is a liar and a hater, is a bit overly dramatic, knowledge and intellect aside, even for you,” Turney huffed. “Also, it’s his name! You can’t just decide that he is saying his own name wrong!”

“I was fighting for justice! Also, I didn’t decide how to pronounce it, that is just HOW it is supposed to be pronounced!” She heard the vampire hmph, and just knew the man had to be pouting. “Anyway, we got an envelope full of free stuff, like tickets for the water park, and some rides. I left most of it in our hotel room, so if you want to check it out, you’ll find it there. Bye!” There was a brief moment of silence before they heard Octavius say, much more muted, “I was not being dramatic—” The line cut off.

Scarlett heaved a sigh. “He was definitely being dramatic.”

“Have dead bodies always found him, or is this a new occurrence?”

The zombie closed her eyes and stretched, the sound of her joints popping was loud enough to hear. “Trouble finds him easily… The body thing is new though.” Her eyes opened and she smiled. “Let’s swim.”

Min-ji let out a soft squeal as the woman slipped off the float, destroying the balance and plunging her underwater. Sputtering as she came to the surface, Min-ji coughed while wiping water from her eyes. The amused giggles coming from the zombie had her smiling, despite the choking.

“Are you a bit of trouble that found him?” she rasped.

Scarlett shrugged, a small smug smirk on her face as she swam towards the ladder, climbing out of the river.

Shaking her head, Min-ji followed.

Scarlett stood up in the shallow end of the fake body of water she’d been swimming in. She tensed slightly as familiar arms came around her, before relaxing back against Min-ji’s slim form.

What else could she do…? This was her girlfriend…there was no reason to be tense… None whatsoever. It had been months. She had to get past her feelings towards their unbreakable familiar bond at some point. Though, it's not like she had a choice in the matter.

She felt the woman more, but it wasn’t the same as her bond with Turney. Did she sometimes pick up on emotions when the other woman was feeling strongly about something? Yes… But the woman wasn't someone who had strong emotions, then again, neither was Scarlett.

But she knew if the witch was near or far, and she knew if Min-ji was weakening, or in danger, or tired… Scarlett supposed she knew more about Min-ji’s physical health than anything mental. That was just the nature of the familiar bond… Also, given the nature of the bond…Min-ji could, if she wanted to, read her like an open book.

She knew her girlfriend had put blocks into place to stop that from happening, but…still… Scarlett…couldn’t understand why anyone would ever willingly want to bind themselves to a witch. It not only gave them the ability to drain you, but the power to make you feel truly vulnerable, with no place to hide.

Most of the time…Scarlett could admit, she didn’t feel her presence at all. At times, she’d even forget about the bond entirely…until the moment her mind decided to drag up old trauma and fill her head to the brim with ‘what if’s?’. Then Scarlett had to deal with tense moments as she waited to feel the pull on her strength and energy again. It never happened. She was sure it probably wouldn’t ever happen…yet…there were times when she struggled to remember that.

“You keep tensing… Scarlett.” Min-ji laid a soft kiss on her neck. “How are you doing with…everything?”

“I’m fine.”

“Scarlett,” the witch admonished.

She sighed. “I’m…okay-ish.”

Min-ji let out a soft puff of air. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.”

“I’m still sorry. I know you are dealing with a lot right now. But I…I love you so much, Scarlett. And I’m sorry… I never meant to?—”

“I know exactly what you meant to do!” she hissed, her words coming out harsher than she meant them to, even as words of love remained stuck at the back of her throat. Scarlett took a deep, calming breath. “We both know what you meant to do. You meant to die. I didn’t want that. I made a choice, not you. You didn’t have a choice in any of this. I’m not mad about the bond that I created.”

“But you are…worried because it’s there.”

“I will get over it.”

“Can you…let me help you get over it?” Min-ji asked softly.

Scarlett sighed. “Min-ji, you can’t help me get over it. I’m not even sure what there is to get over. Most of what I feel about it doesn’t make sense, even to me. The best thing you can do for me is to drop it.”

Min-ji was the one to sigh now. “Drop and ignore it?” The woman’s arms came more fully around her, the witch resting her chin on her shoulder. “I wish you’d let me in, Scarlett.”

Scarlett remained quiet, as her heart started to beat a bit faster. Why…didn’t Min-ji see…that she had let her in enough already? They were bonded for eternity now…with no way to ever break it, unless they wished to die. How much further in did Min-ji want to be?!

Scarlett wasn’t sure if she was capable of letting her in further. No previous lover had ever gotten even this far… So how, with things as they were…could she even risk it?