Chapter 4

  The Deal

  Context: Yuu and Azul are ready for the meeting, and about to enter the room with Madame Urinthe. Neither have spoken or messaged since the previous day.

  Yuu: Ready?

  Azul: (His usual smooth self, had retreated back to his selling-ancient-cars-for-obscene-prices smile.) Of course I am! You look lovely. Shall we go in?

  Yuu: I’ve actually been meaning to ask—

  Azul: Can it wait?

  Yuu: Yes—yes, I suppose it can. I—hang on.

  (Yuu adjusts his tie in full view of the room before they enter.)

  Azul had decorated the lounge to the Madame’s taste. Somehow, he’d managed to alter everything about the room, including the scent. The lounge was thick with the scent of salt and something faintly metallic, like an old, forgotten shipwreck. Urinthe herself lounged on a sprawling, jewel-encrusted divan, her eyes—a sharp, unkind shade of silver—glinting as she observes Azul and Yuu. Her webbed fingers tap against the curved edge of her goblet, her expression unreadable. She had legs, specially for the meeting, but she looked far from human as she watched their approach. Azul, without missing a beat, began the negotiations, and was halfway through before Yuu could get a word in edgewise.

  Madame Urinthe: (slowly, savoring the moment) So. This is the little arrangement you’ve brought before me, Ashengrotto? A compelling offer for my lungweed; however, what separates you from all the rest? …And who is this? We’ve been all business. Time for an introduction.

  (Azul, for all his usual composure, sat a little too straight, his fingers laced together with the careful restraint of a man trying very hard not to fidget. He looked every bit the picture of calculated charm, but Yuu can feel the tension rolling off him in waves. He was nervous. Genuinely so, and as usually, the genuine parts of him slipped through the plastic facade at the most inopportune of times.)

  Azul: (smoothly) Indeed, Madame. May I present Yuu of Ramshackle Dormitory.

  Urinthe: No family name?

  Yuu: Not anymore, Madame. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Azul isn’t withholding my name to be rude. I simply do not know.

  Urinthe: How intriguing. (Madame Urinthe tilts her head, considering Yuu now. It’s a stare that feels like a blade being sharpened.)

  Madame Urinthe: Mm. And what, pray tell, is your stake in all this, little land-dweller?

  Yuu glanced at Azul, as if to say, Oh, you mean aside from the blackmail? The bribery? The FAKE kiss? But she schooled her expression, flashing her most charming, slightly menacing smile. Two could play at this game.

  Yuu: You see, Azul here can’t seem to go a day without me. It’s almost embarrassing, really.

  (Azul twitched. Just barely. But Yuu felt it.)

  Madame Urinthe: (raising a skeptical brow) Is that so?

  Azul: (through his teeth) She exaggerates.

  Yuu: Do I?

  Madame Urinthe let out a low, throaty chuckle. Her gaze flicked between them, and Yuu could have sworn there was a flicker of amusement in those cold, calculating eyes. The way Azul is very obviously fighting the urge to throttle her is probably helping their case more than he realizes.

  Madame Urinthe: (sipping her drink, idly) You always were a shrewd little thing, Azul. But this? This is something new. You must really want my favor if you’ve gone so far as to bring me your sweetheart.

  Azul: (strained but polite) As I said, Madame, I wished for you to meet her personally. To understand that my business ventures are well-supported, both financially… and emotionally.

  Yuu watches as Madame Urinthe swirls her goblet, the liquid inside shifting in unnatural, shimmering waves. There’s something unreadable in her expression, but Yuu can tell she’s not fully convinced yet. She wants something more.

  So, naturally, Yuu decided to push.

  Yuu: (slyly, resting her chin on her hand) You don’t believe us, do you?

  Madame Urinthe doesn’t answer, just smirks. Azul stiffened beside her, as if trying to calculate the odds of disaster.

  Yuu: (grinning, nudging Azul slightly) Well, that is a shame. Azul hates being doubted, you know. He gets all sulky and dramatic about it. I could always kiss him if that would help. That tends to help the sulk.

  Azul: (warningly, barely a whisper) Yuu.

  Madame Urinthe: (Laughs) Oh, no. I know a good spat beginning when I see one.

  Azul: (coolly, though his voice is just a little too even) I would hope that..Yuu…clears up any doubts, Madame.

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  Madame Urinthe: Oh, quite. You do always commit to the bit, don’t you, boy?

  Azul: Unfortunately.

  Madame Urinthe watched them for a moment longer, tapping her fingers in thought, before finally giving a small nod.

  Madame Urinthe: Very well, Ashengrotto. I’ll consider your proposal.

  Azul exhaled ever so slightly, the closest thing to visible relief he’d allowed himself all night.

  Madame Urinthe: And you, dear, do take care of him. He’s a fussy one, but he seems to have his charms.

  Yuu: (grinning, glancing at Azul) At your pleasure, Madame.

  Azul pointedly did not look at her, instead turning his attention to the business papers on the table as if they were suddenly the most important thing in the room.

  Madame Urinthe only laughed.

  As they left the meeting, Azul kept his pace brisk, his expression schooled into something neutral. Because Yuu was good at this. Too good. Mortifyingly good, apparently.

  Azul was realizing, with growing dread, that he might have played himself.

  Azul gripped his pen like a lifeline.

  This is purely professional. I am unaffected.

  Jade: (Appearing out of nowhere, smiling pleasantly) You keep saying that, but I do wonder who you’re trying to convince.

  Azul: Wait, Where’s Yuu?

  Jade: You told her to leave after the meeting, remember? And there’s no reason she should stay. The deal is done.

  Azul: Done. Yes, it’s…it’s done.

  Jade: I will have her payment sent to Ramshackle in the morning. All is as it was.

  Azul: A moment. Yuu…she left something with me, I think.

  (Jade watched, amused, as Azul took off to catch Yuu before she could leave the lounge.)

  Azul: Yuu!

  Yuu: (Turns around.) Yes?

  Azul: Yuu. A moment.

  Yuu: Azul, what—is there more? You got the deal. It worked. It’s done. And you don’t seem to remember last night, so it really, really is done.

  Azul: Last night? Jade gave us tea, and then… I left for my room.

  Yuu: Yep. That’s what happened. Congratulations, Ashengrotto. Now it’s my turn to go back. Um. I’ll send the dress back in the morning, if that’s okay.

  Azul: (too quickly) Keep it.

  Yuu: Planning on asking for a girlfriend stunt double again in future?

  Azul: If the occasion requests it, this did seem to work alright, and the utter pain of training another would be—(he stops)

  Yuu: (Coldly) No. Do go on. I’m listening. You’re on a roll there, Zul.

  Azul: Oh, it’s Zul, now? Not Ashengrotto?

  Yuu: It’s really hard to tell what you’d prefer. You’re so cold, sometimes. And Jade has to drug you, apparently, to get you to say anything nice—

  Yuu froze.

  Azul sighed, stepped closer, and brushed a hair out of her face that had fallen in her rant, and immediately retracted it like he’d been burned.

  Yuu: …You do know we’re not being watched right now, right?

  Azul: Pardon me. Habit. What exactly did I say last night?

  Yuu: You didn’t. Don’t worry about it. It shouldn’t count against you as much when you’re under the influence, right?

  Azul: That’s a ridiculous rule. Drunk driving. Drunk relations. Drunk violence. All of them should have bearing on personal responsibility.

  He said it with such vehemence that she blinked in surprise.

  Yuu: You’re right. I guess I do agree when you put it like that.

  Azul sighed, running a hand through his hair, clearly exasperated with himself.

  Azul: So. What did I say last night that I need to own to?

  Yuu: Well… you said that you were falling, and you sort of kissed me.

  Azul froze. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but it wasn’t that.

  Azul: What in the DEPTHS did Jade put in that tea??

  Yuu: Mushrooms? It IS Jade.

  Azul: I will be having words with Jade…. I… (he exhaled sharply) I don’t know how to do this. I’m not good at... this sort of thing.

  Yuu: (Mouth curling into a smile, approached him, eyes sparkling with more than just amusement.) It’s true. Your mushroom resistance is pretty low.

  She stepped into his space, her hand reaching up to gently touch his cheek. The touch was warm, grounding, and Azul’s breath caught the tenderness in her gesture. It caught on the realization that flooded down to his favorite custom spatz. This was real. All of it was real.

  Azul: I don’t know how to prove to you that this wasn’t… it wasn’t all a game.

  Yuu: Not even some of it?

  Azul: I…twenty percent? I really haven’t taken the time to run the numbers—

  Yuu laughed, reaching around his jacket, and closing the gap between them. She waited for him to come the rest of the way, hesitant as he was.

  There were no numbers in this. No schemes, no plots, not carefully woven clauses. It was utterly terrifying, but it unlike any of those things, when his lips met hers, the kiss carried with it a weight of worth that any of the other pursuits in his life couldn’t quite match—because unlike anything else, this had not been founded on deception. It had in fact come from the direct and clumsy truth. How droll. How marvelous.

  Azul shifted his weight to pull Yuu closer, earning himself a tender sigh from her mouth as he deepened the kiss, and a stutter from his own heart at the shock that she let him. His hands, once stiff at his sides, found a place at her waist, pulling her closer, and grounding them both where they stood.

  Her hands anchored around him, pulling herself flush against him so that he could feel her heartbeat through his body, thrumming along with his own. When he finally pulled away, driven by an anxious urge to protect this new flame between them, they were both breathing hard, unwilling to separate too far.

  Azul: Will you…come back, then?

  Yuu: I will… and you are always welcome at Ramshackle. When you want to escape the business.

  Azul: When?

  Yuu: Anytime you ask.