Before heading over to Yamada Labs I decided to stop off at the office and get a few things settled before starting the new case. Even during our down time we had paperwork to complete.
Who knew that Demon Slayers would have to fill out so many forms?
As I approached my office I froze. I could sense her before I even walked through the door.
“You took a new job? And you didn’t even call me?” Brittany sat on the edge of my desk, her arms crossed over her ample chest. Her face was an almost comical scrunch of anger and frustration.
I ignored the anger in her voice, and made my way to desk, brushing past her to get to my computer. “Clare hasn’t cleared you for field work.”
“Oh please, I know this shit backwards and forwards. I mean, hell, I am a fricken demon!” She turned, slamming her hands down on my desk. “Come on! I can handle this stuff.”
“The demons, yes. The human aspect, not so much.” I began sorting through the papers that Brittany had managed to scatter all over my desktop.
“What are you talking about?” She leaned in close, her face inches from mine. “I’m fucking great with people.”
“You are great at scaring people.” I looked her square in the eye. “If I recall, you were the one who told a client during an interview, and I quote ‘stop being such a pussy and deal with it yourself.’ End quote.”
“He had a demonic lawn gnome infestation! Like that was even worth our time.” She stood up straight, her hands on her hips.
“Those lawn gnomes had eaten his dog and his neighbor.” I kept my voice steady and calm. “So yes, it was worth our time.”
She stomped her foot hard, and her face was starting to grow red. I was about to have a she-demon throw a toddler level temper tantrum in my office. This was not how I wanted to start my day.
I took a deep breath. “Listen, while Ashtyn and I are in the field we need you to man the office. If we need you, we will call you in, okay?” I was fighting my inner frustration, and was doing my best to sound calm and civil. “I just can’t go over Clare’s head on this one. I’m sorry.”
“So I get to play desk jockey while you and Ashtyn have all the fun?” With one sweep Brittany flung all my papers off my desk. “Great.”
“Well...” I looked at her, doing my best not to smile. “I was trying to get those sorted for you. That,” I pointed to the mess on the floor, “is your project for the week. Have fun piecing it back together.”
I stood up and headed towards the door.
“Wait... what?” Brittany looked from the papers, then to me, then back again. “That’s not fair! You should have told me!”
I stopped in the doorway, turning to her. “When you get that temper under control, Clare will okay you for field work. Until then... Well, think of it as a test of character. Use this to grow, Brittany, so you can be the best you can be.” I gave her a thumbs up and winked.
She chucked a leather bound spell book at my head. Luckily I had already closed the door by the time she threw it, but I could hear the hardy thud of the thick volume as it bounced off the wooden door.
I knew I was being hard on her, but honestly, she had a lot to learn. This wasn’t all just big fights and bloody battles. It was dealing with very human, very scared people who were stuck in something they had no idea how to deal with.
Hell, I wasn’t sure I even knew how to deal with it all. I just had to remind myself that I could handle this, that I had faced foes much stronger, and much deadlier then anything I could possibly be facing at Yamada Labs.
Juktha, I hope we’re right.
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