Chapter 12: Sweet Opium To Ease Dying

[Aubrey 16]

To Bambi and Peter

Aubrey, after being scolded by Annette, had reluctantly changed into a pencil skirt and a blazer over a low cut top. It was as close to a suit as she was going to get...unless she got yelled at again or was threatened deactivation.

She was just inspecting the final product in the mirror, and was about to go out and punish more people for having bad credit or fashion or both, when her phone rang. She was being sent out to Allwhere, Florida to escort some Global Bank employee back to Global Bank. Idly wondering if there was anyone more local to do the job, she stepped into a teleportation booth, and dialed in the code she was given.

Within a few minutes she was facing the building that was Allmart headquarters, and went searching for this Global Bank employee. For some reason, the Creditor hadn't been given the name of the woman she was searching for, just a description. The woman she was looking for was of average height, pale, with long brown hair, and blue eyes, she also wore glasses. It sounded oddly familiar, but Aubrey didn't think about that, instead she was fully intent on finding this woman and bringing her back to Global Bank, as was her mission, and flighty as she was, even Aubrey followed Creditor code...to an extent.

The pink haired android walked down halls, finding no one that met the description. Just then, she saw a woman with a long curtain of brown hair, she was wearing a skirt...which looked rather short, but it was adorable, Aubrey was wondering where she'd gotten it, when she caught a glimpse of the woman's face. Bambi!

"Bambi! You're the employee I'm escorting?" She grinned, getting excited. "And you're skirt is just fabulous by the way." Then, she caught sight of the man Bambi'd been conversing with.

"Oooohh, is that your boyfriend?" She asked in what was supposed to be an undertone, with a not so inconspicuous jerk of the thumb in Peter's direction.

[Bambi Engel]

Bambi's cheeks turned strawberry pink as Peter, obviously, checked her out. Her mind was distracted from its embarrassment, however, at Peter's lack of professional appearance. He looked... punkish. She found it strangely attractive.

As she begun to follow and was getting ready to answer, she heard an all too familiar voice. She turned around and was surprised to see it was Aubrey. "Aubrey, they sent you?" She questioned just as the creditor asked a similar question.

At the skirt comment, the corner of her mouth twitched as she glanced down. Oh, god, her back was to Peter. Quickly turning herself so that she was half facing both, she clasped her hands behind her. "Oh, well, I got a bit roughed up and an employee here loaned me some clothes."

She was about to address Peter, when Aubrey asked all too loudly if he was her boyfriend. Her cheeks flashed pink once more. "What? No! He works for All Mart, we've done business before." She explained.

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

Peter looked away from Bambi to inspect the new arrival. She was definitally different. Very... pink, first a foremost. She looked good though. Kinda... oddly assembled. The pink hair didn't go perfectly with the fairly businessy outfit. Though... on closer inspection of the outfit it might, it wasn't quite as business focused as a first glance suggested.

Since he wasn't being addressed Peter contented himself with observation, which including "observing" Bambi more fully when she turned to face Aubrey. When she half turned back he still had his head slightly on it's side. He quickly straightened up and offered Aubrey a gloved hand.

"Peter Barak," he said with a smile he couldn't surpress. "Personal Guardian of Dinari Dollar and one of Allmart's many drones. Pleasure to meet you, Ms...?" He was careful not too look directly at Bambi, he could see her turning red out of the corner of his eye.

[Aubrey 16]

Aubrey grinned. "You bet they did. You're in good hands, Bambi." She said, clapping her on the shoulder, a little harder than she'd meant to. She hoped Bambi wouldn't fall over because of it, she was so darn clumsy...

Of course, Bambi hadn't even been the one to pick out the skirt, it'd merely been lent to her, Aubrey sighed, for a shining moment, she'd been very proud of Bambi, but she supposed it was a start.

"Ah, so you keep the relationship on the down low, do you?" She asked, obviously taking the fact that Bambi'd blatantly denied that there was anything going on between her and Peter to mean that she didn't want anyone to know about it. "Don't you worry, my lips are sealed." She pulled two fingers along her lips, as though zipping them up, before tossing the invisible zipper over her shoulder to enforce her point.

"Aubrey 16, creditor android and fashion extraordinaire. And right now I'm on a mission to escort Bambi back to Global Bank...preferably in one piece." She shook his hand.

[Bambi Engel]

And of course, Bambi did fall over because of it. Aubrey was very careless with her strength. She wondered if the fashion obsessed creditor realized she was made out of metal and Bambi wasn't. Either way, the clap became more of a shove from the force.

She fell to the side into Peter with an 'oof', her still shoeless and not stockingless feet easily sliding on the ground. Aubrey's continuation of the fact they must be together now distracted her from the fact she had fallen into Peter for the second time since they had known each other. Well, technically, the first time he had simply caught her.

"What are you talking about? We're not together, I already told you that." She fought to keep her voice level from the panic emotions that always seemed to be present, awaiting a moment to rise. The funny thing was, they seemed to rise only when there wasn't really a threat.

When there was, they were at their quietest. Strange world.

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

Peter caught Bambi in her stumble, his hands a quick blur as they left his sides and caught her shoulders. A quick movement turned her back to face Aubrey, allowing them to continue their conversation relativally uninterrupted. This was getting funny. And he was going to make it funnier. Or worse. Which was funny to him so either way he won.

Purposefully slow Peter slid his hands along of Bambi's shoulders, careful to only touch her shoulders and collar bone as he did, until he had her in a loose hug. With his gloves and long sleeves there wasn't even any skin contact. "Come on, now Ms. Engel," he said in his best coy tone, leaned his head down to put his lips closer to her ear, "Why should we have to hide it?"

He quickly leaned back, resuming a more neutral position, returning his hands to her shoulders. He wasn't going to let her go completely, she was likely to stumble again. Or pass out. Or run. Really she might be anything, hince the precationary shoulder grips.

"Well, then it looks like we have a shared goal, my dear collector," Peter said, resuming his more usual tone of voice. "You see, Ms. Engel has informed me of circumstances surrounding her incident that may effect Allmart interests. I am obligated to follow through on such possibilities and, in this case, that means keeping close to Ms. Engel."

[Aubrey 16]

"Of course you're not." Aubrey said, sarcastically, and winked exaggeratedly. "Like I said, my lips are sealed." She repeated the throwing of the invisible key over her shoulder and shrugged. She might not be able to feel the emotions that humans did, but she knew there was something between Peter and Bambi, after all she wasn't blind, and he wasn't exactly hiding his interest, no matter how hard Bambi was trying to conceal her own.

Aubrey smirked at the whole charade, finding it amusing.

She wondered why she was needed to escort Bambi if Peter was going to be with her, he seemed like he could handle any obstacle that presented itself...or that Bambi brought about, courtesy of her klutziness. She shrugged mentally, it wasn't her job to figure out such matters, it was her job to do what she was told, which was to return Bambi to Global Bank, and ensure that she isn't harmed.

"Well then, if there isn't anything else you two need to take care of here, we should be on our way."

[Bambi Engel]

Bambi tensed as she felt Peter's arms slide around her, no longer too tired to mind the contact. Her breath caught in her throat as Peter spoke near her ear. She could feel his warm breath on her ear as he spoke. As natural, part of her felt like darting off, but another part felt like leaning backwards.

This was becoming a very complicated situation for her.

She begun to breathe as normally as she could when he leaned back again, though his hands remained on her shoulders. She was beginning to feel relieved knowing she was getting ready to leave with Aubrey when Peter commented about accompanying them. What did the bank problems have to do with All Mart?

Feeling another burst of what she did when ever confronted with a stressing situation, she stepped around, out of Peter's grasp and glanced back at him slyly. "Well Peter, dear, I don't believe boyfriends call their girlfriends by their last name formally."

Turning back to Aubrey, she was relieved at least that Aubrey wouldn't be spreading rumours that she was seeing Peter. It probably wouldn't flow pass Aubrey unless she broke her word. So, Bambi had nothing to worry about... unless Peter begun saying they were seeing each other.

But why would he do that? He was probably just playing around with Aubrey, joking. Right? What if he took her words as some sort of acceptance? Her mind begun to race and she felt a headache coming on.

"No, there's nothing else I need to take care of, so we're ready to go unless Peter does."

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

"They do if they have any sense of decency," replied Peter with a smirk. "Not sense of propriety these days. I hear some couples are holding hands as soon as their third date. And don't get me started about chaprones. And besides all of that, we're onto business matters now, aren't we? Must keep up those formal appearances." Peter straightened up as he spoke, shifting his coat into proper position, quickly assuming the air and bearing of a much more cultured man than he really was.

It didn't last. A moment later he rolled his shoulders, shifting his coat out of position and started down the hall, towards Aubrey. "We should leave as soon as possible," he said, suddenly all business, "If the man who approached her is the man I believe him to be than we are treading dangerous waters." He patted Bambi on the shoulder as he walked past her, no looking at her, and continued on, expecting the women... or woman and robot, whatever the PC for that was, to follow him.

[Aubrey 16]

Aubrey tried to pay attention as Bambi and Peter interacted, as she was somewhat interested in their conversation. But her focus wandered. She looked from the slightly buzzing ceiling light, to the white flecked tile floor, then she inspected her reflection in a window, straightening her bangs over her forehead.

When she heard Peter leaving, she turned and clapped her hands together, rubbing them against one another. "To Global Bank Headquarters, then?" She said, following Peter, and expecting Bambi to follow her.

"Oh! And maybe we can buy you something to wear to the banquet!" The prospect made her excited. "I suppose you'll be taking this one with you?" She asked, pointing at Peter.

[Bambi Engel]

Bambi felt like laughing at Peter's comments, but contained the urge. He hardly seemed the type to wait until the third date to hold hands. Then again, what did she know?

Turning, she followed alongside Aubrey after Peter.

At the comment of the banquet shopping that they had yet to do she nodded. By gods, she was going to go shopping with Aubrey after this. On second thought, after a hot bath.

"Wait, what?" She stopped nodding her head as Aubrey asked if she was going with Peter. Then she remembered Aubrey was convinced they were a couple. "Oh, uh. I go alone every year."

And she had indeed. Not because men didn't want to go with her, she simply didn't want to go with them. She figured it would make everything more awkward and she'd be more likely to mess up.

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

"Headquarters it is. We have to make sure the little lady makes it there unharmed." He didn't expect to run into problems, but if this was the muffia, than it was possible for things to go very bad very fast. He was good but he wasn't bullet proof like the android was. Still, he had to do this for... for any number of reasons, personal and business.

He could hear the girls talking behind him about something or other, he'd more or less tuned them out by the time they reachted the elevator and stepped inside. "I'd forgotten the banquet was just around the corner. Such a delightful event, yes?"

He hit the button for the first floor. "Did you get in touch with whoever you need to, Ms. Engel?"

[Aubrey 16]

Aubrey shook her head. "Go alone? Are you crazy?" She asked, somewhat accusingly, she had to have a guy with her to make her look even better! Of course, Aubrey didn't worry about those things, she looked just fabulous on her own, but for a banquet, Bambi should most definitely have a date.

She looked at Peter accusingly. "Don't you want to go with her?" She'd noticed him checking her out earlier, and they'd admitted to being together, Aubrey hadn't realized it was all in play, she didn't usually pick up on those things.

She stepped inside the elevator after Bambi and Peter and watched the metal doors close. She wasn't worried about being attacked, it was never something that struck her as a problem. No one had over powered her, and she'd yet to not complete a direct order, and she wasn't planning on smudging her perfect record.

[Bambi Engel]

"Delightful, yes..." Bambi stepped into the elevator after Peter and before Aubrey. She'd rather not think about it, she had enough on her mind torturing her nerves. Of course, having an android and man who was practically a giant electric circuit made her feel better.

She shook her head at Peter's comment. "Annette is still in a meeting. I'm sure I'll be fine at the Global Bank head quarters though." She stated surely. That place was ducked out in creditors.

Turning her head to Aubrey, she blinked as the android scolded her for thinking of going alone. "But I do every ye-" She was cut off as Aubrey questioned Peter. Bambi's cheeks pinkened again. "I'm sure Peter already has a lovely woman to go with."

Oh, what if Aubrey made them go together? She imagine she'd have a heart attack, or finally die in some sort of accident she was sure to cause. And she definitely was going to wear a very nice, covery dress then.

At the thought, she pulled the back of the skirt down again.

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

"I don't usually go by myself, I go as Mr. Dollar's personal guard, along with Tuvi, his assistant. And besides," he leaned closer to Aubrey and smiled, "If we went together, than the cat'd be out of the bag, yes? How would that look when Ms. Engel has just recently approved a very large loan to me from the bank."

He glanced at Bambi, who seemed to be playing around with her borrowed clothes again. She was cute when she was nervous and embarressed.

"We'll get her to the bank just fine. We have as much force as is ever arrayed against anyone right here... I assume," he said, looking Aubrey up and down in a similar way to the way he'd checked Bambi out a short time ago. But this time he was looking to try and judge her abilities, not because of her appearance. Well, some of both maybe.

"So, what can you fancy debt collecters do anyhow? Got any super powers hidden in that amazingly stylish outfit?"