Andrei locked the door after she left, and looked at me, beaming. Again the Void showing up in his glistening eyes.
"Why do this."
"It's not my fault if she's crazy enough to agree, is it?" He walked up to me, 'till he was awkwardly close. "Say, Sandy... would you do me a favor? Huh?"
SHIT. "Don't. Don't ask me this. I won't."
He grabbed my hands in a friendly gesture, his tone slightly condescending. "Sandy, don't be like that. I'm only asking for a favor. Okay? ... I'm being nice."
"Stop it. That's--"
In a split second, he got all serious -- ice-cold. "Don't you dare to tell me what to say. You don't want to do it? ... That's fine. But don't forget who you work for. You don't get to tell me to 'stop it', boy."
I sighed. Sometimes he could be like trying to walk through a minefield -- no wonder why happened what happened with Key. She was like a pogo-stick.
He grinned again. "Sandy, You don't have to. But I'm asking you a favor. I'd love to see what you can actually do, you know. Who you really are. Without all that prejudices nonsense. Please." Shit, he was trying hard.
"Don't do this."
"Let me see what you're made of, Sandy. Do that for me." He was now definitely hugging me, gently, softly.
Damn. "Will you... help with suggestions?"
"Only if you want."
I sighed yet again. "Let me talk to her."
He smirked at my suggestion. "No, this is what's going to happen. First, you say yes. Then you can go talk to her, and then you can change your mind if you want. But in that order."
"Fine."
"Say it."
"I'll do it."
"What's it."
Shit. "... I'll do whatever you ask."
He'd been in front of me all the time, but suddenly he was right behind me, hugging me like there was nothing else to do. "That's my boy."
I let my mind drift. Shit, I knew how this would end, I knew it. I knew it too damn well. Shit. His warm hug wasn't enough anymore. Or was it? I let it drown me, take my soul for a split second. "What do you want me to do, anyway."
"Break her. Not literally. But, you know. Show her what hell is. Make her realize we're worse than her past. Make sure she can't possibly forget you. That sort of thing. Oh, and trust me on this, don't try to convince her to stop it. ... You can change your mind, but she won't."
Shit. "... Then what's the whole point of talking to her, huh?"
"I guess you do have a point." He smiled, softly, warmly. "Oh, one more thing." He opened a small locker and took a clothes bag out of it. "Just so you don't have to come back, this is for you."
I opened it. A black suit, with a matching shirt. Shit. And then he'd say I've always had a choice. Yeah, the choice of a train without brakes going downhill. To keep going forward -- speeding down towards hell. I put the thing on.
He smirked. "I have to admit, black suits you, Sandy."
