Chapter 26 #2
Torin grabs my shoulders so I’m forced to face him.
“Oh, I didn’t intend to make you jealous.
I didn’t mean me bedding her. The only person I wish to bed right now is you.
I would happily toss you over any surface in this building or go back in the sex box if you wished.
It’s very fast though. I’m not sure I can be that fast, but I’m willing to give it my best shot. ”
“I didn’t think you meant you wanted her, I meant I didn’t want to think about her that way.”
“Is there a reason you don’t want to envision that fiery woman mewling in bed, writhing beneath a person of her choosing?”
“M… Mewling? Maybe my translation is short-circuiting.”
“I feel very left out that you two have this cool language you can use to talk about people,” Vinny says.
“I just want to know who they were talking about because the expression on Riley’s face was definitely not good,” Imani comments as she joins him.
“It was about Lt. Lindsey having sex and mewling,” Torin says loud enough that a few others from the unit hear, and one even chokes a bit. Torin is not fazed.
Imani nods seriously. “Ah yes, that’s generally the topic I go to before I even have my morning coffee.”
“It’s a talent he seems to have,” I say while Imani leads us over to our desks.
My new desk has been downgraded to one in the cubicle section, which isn’t surprising since Vinny took my office. But it also means that the other agents can hear what’s going on.
“We didn’t quite know what Torin needed, so we just gave him everything,” Imani says as she pulls out his chair for him.
Torin sits down, but he’s so tall that his legs are crammed under the desk. I reach over and press on the lever to lower the chair and he jumps, startled as he sinks down too low.
“What… what a fun device to have sex on,” he says, not in Shaarunen.
“You’re no longer allowed to say the ‘s’ word.”
He nods. “I got it. What a fun chair to fornicate on.”
“Sometimes… I think he blends in, and other times…” I stare at him while he learns that the chair swivels and rolls.
“He’s sexy, and I think that’s all that matters. He’s got the ‘god of love’ thing going for him that excuses it all,” Imani says. “We have a briefing in an hour. I guess until then, just get settled in. There is some paperwork for you to sign that I’ll bring over.”
“Thank you,” I tell her before turning my laptop on.
“Is that a large ‘phone’?” Torin asks as he flings his chair over so it slams into mine and nearly throws me from the seat, and Kit digs in her claws to avoid flying off. The only thing that stops me is ramming half of my body into the desk.
“It’s called a laptop.”
“So it is a top on your lap?”
I hesitate as I realize that I have absolutely no idea how to explain this and then say, “Yes, a large phone.”
“Ah. Is that video of me riding on your back on this as well?” He pokes the screen a bit, obviously having no idea what he’s doing.
“Nope. That has been erased from existence.”
“Interesting. What is this?” he asks, picking up a stapler.
“It like… attaches papers together.”
He presses down and a staple pops out. So I take the stapler from him and staple two pages in a notebook together. This seems to delight him for some reason.
“I see,” he says as Imani returns with the papers for us to sign and Torin immediately staples them together. “I like this.” And then he staples them again on the other side.
“Can you believe the media coverage on Torin worked?” Imani asks me.
“There’s absolutely no way that mess worked.” I vaguely remember Lt. Lindsey said something about it, but I thought she just meant it wasn’t a complete dumpster fire.
“People loved it. They thought Quill was adorable. They’re all over the way Torin was ‘protecting’ you. This stunt worked better than if he’d stood up there and given a speech.”
I stare at her, rather suspicious how any part of what happened yesterday could have won anyone over. Before I can get more details, Imani notices that Torin has placed staples about an inch apart all the way around the papers he’s supposed to sign.
“No, no, you have to be able to sign both of those,” she says as she takes the papers from him. It deters him very little since he begins trying to staple my mouse pad.
“I love this thing and will take it home with me,” he declares.
“You can have it,” I say.
After much struggle—and procuring a staple remover which Torin also decides to take home—Imani sets the newly separated papers down and gives him a pen. “So you’re just signing your name here and here.”
Torin swiftly writes down “Torin, God of War and Love” as Imani and I stare at the papers and question at what point “God of War and Love” became his last name. And the date he puts down is foreign to both of us.
“He has nothing else on here, so how do we fill these out? He has no identification numbers, no address. Like what do I put? Door in the middle of a field?” I ask, although the Door has been moved.
Imani just shrugs and walks away, making it my problem. I stare at the form for a while before deciding to just put my information for everything else.
“What is this?” Torin asks as he holds it in front of my face.
“That’s a highlighter. You use it to color things you don’t want to forget.”
“Ah,” he says, running the highlighter across my cheek. “I will not forget you.”
“Oh… uh… that’s sweet?” I tell him, rather uncertain. But it also makes me realize that someday, Torin really could forget me because I’ll just be a blip in his life. My lifespan is nothing compared to his.
“What’s wrong?” he asks. “Did I not use it right?”
“Nothing. You used it just fine.”
Torin puts the highlighter in my hand. “You can mark me as well.”
I run the highlighter down his hand, a part of me considering turning the line into a heart. But what am I? A fourteen-year-old with their first crush? “Trust me. There’s no damn way I’m ever going to forget you.”
He grins at me and then sets his sights on opening every drawer in my desk. Kit, finding all of this far too tempting, leaps from my shoulder to Torin’s and then down on his lap to help. They’re both scurrying around over there like menaces.
Meanwhile, the only thing I can see is the shit they’re getting into, but I leave them to it while Torin asks me what each thing is.
That’s when he hears the whirl of the printer. His chair is flung back and my eyesight goes with it since Kit goes along for the ride.
“What is this? Why does it growl?” Torin asks.
I get up and walk over to join him since I need to retrieve my eyes, who he’s currently holding quite securely.
“It’s a printer. It… prints out images from the laptop.”
“Can it print out an image of me riding on your back?”
“No, that’s illegal.”
“I’ll ask Imani.”
Before he can hurry off, I decide I need to quickly distract him and flip up the lid. “This is a scanner. It scans whatever you put on it,” I say as I take Kit and set her on it before pressing scan. Out comes a paper with four little feet on it.
Torin looks delighted when he grabs the paper. “Take your pants off and sit on it.”
“Absolutely not!” I grab Kit and try to rush back, but Kit shoots off my shoulder and back onto Torin’s.
“You little traitor,” I hiss as I watch Torin press his face on the scanner and push the button. I leave them to it and feel my way back to my desk where I get to watch them play with the scanner while looking like I’m just staring at my computer.
“Meeting in five,” Imani calls after nearly an hour of Torin tearing everything apart.
I scoop up Kit and she scurries to my shoulder while I nod for Torin to follow.
He wheels off in his chair, looking far too gleeful to do this rather than walk, until he nearly takes out Lt.
Lindsey. Then he gets up and stoically walks into the room.
“I can take her out if you want me to. That was just a threat,” Torin says in Shaarunen.
“Who was threatened? Because you were the one who jumped up and retreated.”
“Tactical retreat,” he claims as he sits down.
Lt. Lindsey, who has way more patience with the god than she would with any of us, goes to the front of the room and waits for everyone to file in. Once they have, she turns to us. “Let’s first welcome back Special Agent Riley Strand. And also let’s thank Torin for choosing to help us.”
Everyone claps for some reason. I really don’t think it’s that thrilling.
She turns on the whiteboard projector, and Torin is immediately captivated by it. It’s a picture showing the surrounding cities, so of course he leans over and whispers, “Could we put the picture of me riding your back up there?”
I ignore him while Lt. Lindsey continues.
“We’ve had three instances of the Door opening.
We know it’s only a matter of time before he opens another.
” She marks the three spots. “We have acquired a team who is on standby who will isolate the area the moment the Door begins to open. We’re uncertain how long the barrier they’ll put in place will last, but in the meantime, we’re going to send in Team A, comprised of the following agents, to deal with the horseman.
” She switches the slide as Mickey slinks in and collapses in the chair next to me.
Seeing his name up there under Team A, he goes, “Can I change teams? Is there like… a nap team?”
She ignores Mickey like she usually does.
“So with this barrier up, will we be able to get out if we need to?” I ask, which is the main reason I rarely borrow Imani’s magic. Once the barrier is up, nothing can get in or out, including my own magic.
Lt. Lindsey looks thoughtful before turning to Imani.
“Opening the barrier for anyone to leave will weaken it and will allow anything out, including those wolves,” Imani says. “We… are still trying to figure out specifics.”