Fullmetal Alchemist - Brotherhood: Fanfiction: Crimson Romance: Chapter THree

Crimson Romance
A Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Fanfiction

Chapter Three

Maria set the tray down on the table in front of Mr. Kimblee and took the kettle and poured hot water into his tea cup. He took a packet of tea and set it in the water and waited for it to brew. After she'd poured the honey into his cup she sat down.

"...What're those tattoos on your hands for?" She asked quietly, watching him stir in the contents of his drink.

"Oh, these?" He looked down at them briefly. "I use them in my alchemy."

"You make explosions, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"How does that work?"

"Well," He watched her prepare her own tea. "What happens is when I activate the transmutation circles on my hands I touch something -- living or inanimate -- and I disrupt the balance inside the body to the point where they explode."

"What? You manipulate the carbon and sulfur content, right?"

"Something like that." He took a sip of his tea. It was evening and he'd made it known to Maria that every night he had a cup of hot tea before bed. She wondered if it made it hard for him to sleep but then he told her he usually drank it decaffienated.

Being annoyed, Brielle had went to their room early. They were staying at an inn in town called The Seal. She wasn't sleeping, though. She'd stayed up in bed and was reading a book that she'd gotten out of the trash. It was a pretty good novel thus far. She certainly wasn't disappointed in it.

Even if it meant less time with Maria she would do everything she could to avoid conversing with the roach man.

"Do you like explosions?" Maria asked, crossing one leg over the other underneath the table.

"Oh, yes I do." He smiled, "I try to make them as beautiful as possible."

"I don't know if I'd like them," the Mexicana commented, "I'm kind of scared of loud noises."

"I'll have to teach you how to appreciate them, then."

"...You've killed alot of people, haven't you?" She looked down at her cup, watching the brown of the tea swirl around in the water.

"Eh," He looked directly at her, "It's not the quantity -- it's the quality."

"That's a really morbid sense of logic."

"And yet my logic is flawless."

"Heh. Whatever you say." She squirted some honey into her drink and stirred it. Maria wondered if ever he had the chance if he'd kill her. She hoped she'd never anger him enough to do so. A piece of paper probably wouldn't be enough to protect her from him, would it? Though, he did make a legal contract with her. Hopefully, he'd be able to uphold his promise.

But with the way he looked at her she started to doubt that he'd ever do anything to harm her. Though, most psychopaths seem pretty docile, don't they?

Quietly, she drank her tea. After a couple cups he'd probably be tired enough to go to bed. She would keep him company until he did decide to retire for the evening. And enjoy her company he did. Even in the military he never got chummy with any of his comrades.

"So," He broke the silence. She lifted her eyes up to his. "Tell me about your family. That is, if you even remember them."

"I keep telling you," She huffed, "I don't have amnesia. I remember my family very well. If you really want to know, I'll tell you, okay?"

Maria sighed then continued, "I lived with my mother and father for as long as I could remember up until I was about fifteen. My father's name was Juan and mother's name was Brighid. My father was full blooded Mexican and my mother was Irish. I look alot like my father but I have my mother's eyes. Right before my fifteenth birthday my mother died of cancer. My father was a drunk and never kept a job for very long so he couldn't take care of me. I met my best friend Patrick in school and talked to him about my situation. It was then his mother -- who was single at the time -- decided that it would be for the best that I moved in with them.

"We lived in New York City at the time. We took baby Julia -- who was around three years old -- and we all moved to Burbank, California. It was a shock to live there because we were so used to the cold weather in the winter. You see, in December in California the average temperature would be around sixty degrees farenheit. It was such a relief to go outside and not see any snow. The town we moved to was in the Los Angeles county.

"We went to Burbank High School -- Go Bulldogs!" Maria giggled, fond memories coming back to her, "We graduated in the year 2000 right after the giant Y2K scare. I thought for sure we were all going to die in a nuclear holocaust so we packed up supplies and tried digging an underground tunnel.. But that failed."

Solf nodded, listening to her. He took another sip of his tea.

"After graduation I finally moved up from a part time job to a fulltime job. I didn't start college until I was about 23. I wanted to get my own house before I started college, you know?"

"How old are you now? ..If you don't mind me asking."

"Oh, I'm 28. Right now I'm attending UCLA and I'm a Junior."

"What's UCLA?"

"The University of California at Los Angeles."

"Oh wow -- so you're attending school?"

"Yeah. Back in high school I met my sweet-heart Steven. We didn't say anything about us dating at the time because I was fifteen and he was nineteen. I didn't say anything about it until.." Her head tilted downward, sadly, thinking about it. "..Until before graduation."

"What happened?"

"...I don't want to talk about that."

"So, Patrick and his family were your new family?"

"Yeah, they were. And little Julia.. Oh, I love little Julia. You can't imagine how beautiful it is to watch someone grow up like that."

"Yeah, I can only imagine." He took a drink.

Maria gave a sad smile. She was thinking of the life she'd left behind in California. Seeing her like that it made his heart twinge just a little bit. It pained him to see her like that. But why should it even bother him at all? It was none of his business, after all. And what should it matter -- there was no such thing as "California" anyway. Why did she believe in it so fiercely, then?

"Please don't tell anybody else about this," He cautioned her, "If they hear you talking about this magical place of yours they'll put you away in a hospital somewhere. Let's just keep this private, okay?"

"...That's exactly what Brielle said." She took a drink of her tea which was getting cold now. She'd barely touched it.

"Well," He said, watching her, "It's getting late. I think we should head to bed."

"Yeah, I'm getting quite tired." The woman got up from her spot and piled everything off the table back onto the tray. As soon as she turned to walk away, Solf gently grabbed her arm. She looked back at him. "Something wrong, Mr. Kimblee?"

"...I just wanted to wish you a goodnight. I'll see you in the morning." He smiled at her and got up from his seat, leaving to find his own quarters.

After she was done washing the cups and putting the rest of the things away, she headed back to her and Brielle's room. She took her key and unlocked the door, letting herself in.

"It's about damned time you came to bed!" Brielle grumbled. "What were you two doing, anyway?"

"We had tea and talked." Maria closed the door behind her and started to undress.

"Well, don't get too attached." The blue one warned, "He could easily break your heart, you know."

Maria smirked and rolled her eyes, "Oh, puh-lease. It's not like that at all. He just wanted some company to talk to before he went to bed."

"Sure, he did." Brielle pulled the covers over her and faced away.

Once Maria was bare down to her undergarments, she slipped into bed and turned off the lamp.

She said her prayers until she drifted off into sleep.

.o.o.o.

It was sometime after midnight when Brielle stirred from her sleep. She looked beside her and saw that Maria was missing. Perhaps she left to go use the bathroom. She pulled the covers back over her and tried to go back to sleep when she heard the door squeak open.

"Maria, is that you?" She asked, turning to face the door. That was when she heard a child giggling. Grumbling, she sat up. "Who the hell lets their kids play this late?"

While biting her lower lip she got out of the bed, slipped on her slippers and walked toward the door. She opened it and saw the same child run through the hall and then down the stairs toward the glowing light. Who on earth would be in the Lobby at this hour?

She walked through the hall and headed down the stairs. In the Lobby she found about five kids running around, yelling and carrying on. Mr. Kimblee and Maria were sitting together on the couch, watching them. When the roach man had noticed Brielle, he'd gotten up.

"Children!" He yelled out, getting each of their attention, "Assemble!"

And as ordered, all five of them got into a single file line, facing her. She noticed that they were all dark skinned and had one blue eye and one green eye. The boys had long hair pulled back and roach antennae sticking out from their widows' peaks. The single girl in the bunch had her hair up in short, twin pig tails and antennae sticking out above her bangs. Then there was the one socially awkward boy who had them sticking out from his chin.

"These are our children," He explained to her. Maria got up from her seat and stood beside him.

"We're going to have lots of babies and together we're going to train them in fighting and alchemy and then," His voice got deep and demonic, "We'll use them to take over the world."

Then from behind him, a giant mass of roaches crawled up and down the walls covering the ceiling and floor in black. She could hear them hissing and yelping. She could almost feel their little feelers moving about.

They were all coming after her.

Brielle shrieked.

She woke up, hyperventilating. She stared up at the ceiling, thanking God or whoever was out there that it was just a dream. That was when a glare set into her face.

She shoved off the covers and got out of the room, running down the stairs of the motel.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP went her feet.

Once she found Kimblee sitting at a table, minding his own business while eating breakfast, she took off her slipper and started beating him over the head with it.

"YOU'D BETTER NOT REPRODUCE, YOU ROACH BASTARD!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Maria set down the coffee pot onto the table and tried to pry Brielle away from him, "What the hell is going on here?!"

With a hiss, Brielle continued, "You two had better not have any children!"

Maria blushed as Solf rose a brow.

"'Cause I'm not going to watch little roach kids running around with dynamite in their hands screaming 'I CAN FLYYYYY~'!"

.o.o.o.

That very same day they headed to the Chateau du Bellavarde. Brielle was a little annoyed that Mr. Kimblee had followed them there. It wasn't like he'd had any business going to the mansion with her. Infact, it wasn't any of Maria's business either. Though, for some reason, she felt a little more comfortable with her around.

This was the day. The day that she'd dreaded. Not only did she not want to even see or think of her family members but she certainly didn't want to deal with a lawyer as they divided her aunt's things between themselves.

The blue haired woman sighed as they made their way over the sidewalk toward the front door. Behind her, Kimblee and Maria had followed. She frowned. Didn't he have more important business to take care of instead of following her and Maria around everywhere?

Brielle waited patiently for someone to answer the door. She turned toward the two. "...I think it would be best if you two didn't come in with me. This might take a while. Maybe.. Two, three hours? Meet me outside the gates in about three hours, okay?"

"That sounds fine, doesn't it, Maria?" Inwardly, he smirked. He wasn't about to be against alone time with the woman.

"Sure, I don't care either way. We'll be back around that time then, okay?" Maria waved as they headed off the property. Once they were gone, Brielle sighed and rung the doorbell again.

This was something she had to do alone. She really did want somebody to be there as moral support but she knew it was better this way. If she'd brought anyone in that wasn't apart of the family they would probably criticize her. She couldn't stand the image of being weak.

A butler opened the door and greeted her. "Good. You are not late. Miss Sue-Ellen is waiting for you with the lawyer in the study. I'll take you there."

They made their way through the house. It was still the same as she remembered it as a child. He stopped her outside the door of the study.

"Wait here. I have to announce your arrival."

That was when he went disappeared behind the doors. She stood there anxiously. It'd been years since she'd seen any of her family. She was so used to being on the run that she'd never had any time to spend with them. And even if she did have the time she wouldn't do it anyway. Ever since she was a child they'd always treated her as a third class citizen regardless of how important her mother was in the family.

He came back out and opened the door for her. She entered the room and as if on cue they all dismissed themselves from the premises. They walked past her, looking away. Nobody said a word to her. Not even smiled at her. That was to be expected, though.

"Please sit down, Miss Brielle." Her cousin said in a sweetly sarcastic tone.

"No, I'm good standing." The blue one scowled, "What exactly is it that you want?"

"You were the last in our aunt's will."

"Yeah, yeah. What do I get?"

Her cousin, Sue-Ellen, picked up a box from the floor and set it ontop of the coffee table. She dug through it and picked out three vinyls.

"You get copies of our aunt's recordings." She informed her. She should have known she wouldn't get anything good out of this deal. As soon as she got the chance she would probably sell them. "And..."

"And WHAT?"

"You get a servant."

"Ah, nice. A slave!"

"I'm not a slave," A young man said. Brielle didn't even notice him standing behind Sue-Ellen. He had skin so pale in comparison to Brielle's. It reminded her of how a geisha would look with the ornate white paint on their skin. "I'm a servant."

"In order for you to get him," Sue-Ellen interrupted, "We have to go through the paperwork. This may take a while considering we're taking care of papers for the rest of the family."

"Sure, sure," Brielle sat down on a beautifully decorated couch, "I've got time."

And as expected, it took a couple of hours. It really annoyed the blue one, too. Naturally, Sue-Ellen and the lawyer would take their sweet time over their family's paperwork. When it came to the end they would rush with Brielle's and send her on her way.

She wasn't surprised that she didn't get a single cenz out of her aunt. Inwardly, she smirked. Of course, all that money would be divided among the family. There wouldn't have been a single drop left for her. And even if there was -- she wouldn't get any of it.

If only her mother knew how badly they treated her. She would roll over in her grave.

The only reason they treated her like that was because of her father. Her father wasn't high class like the rest of them. He worked hard for his money and didn't have any inheritance or family heirlooms to his name. And just like him, she had to bust her *** to get by in life.

And it was probably better this way, she'd thought. If she had been spoiled by her family's riches she wouldn't know how to appreciate things the way she did. She'd be a stuck up snob just like her cousins. They couldn't even do so much as wipe their own ***.

Soon enough they were completed with the papers. The only thing left that they needed was a signature from Brielle. She was ashamed that these people were her family. What really pissed her off was the fact that when her parents got married they decided to keep the Bellavarde name instead of using her father's.

Never did she ever consider herself aristocratic. She was on an entirely different spectrum compared to her family. Brielle got up from her spot and gestured for her servant to follow her.

"You said your name was Felix, right?" Her cousin Sue-Ellen didn't even do so much as say goodbye. She'd left the room without excusing herself. Brielle didn't care, though. Hopefully, this would be the last time she ever got to see her cousin.

"Yes, Felix Fenris." He replied, opening the door for her. With a smile of satisfaction, she left the room with him following behind. They were led out of the mansion by the butler.

She would have had Felix tell her about himself but she saw Kimblee outside the gate pacing around anxiously. Where was Maria? As he was muttering to himself his unease increased. When he noticed them he released his tension.

"M-M-M-Maria!" He shouted, "Maria's been kidnapped!"

"...Kidnapped?" Brielle blinked. This would be perfect. Getting Maria out of her hair was one of her goals. It seemed that Mr. Kimblee here had already accomplished that for her. Really, she just wanted to shove Maria infront of a train but being kidnapped would be a good way of improvising.

Mr. Kimblee was so distraught that when he tried to explain to her what had happened he only managed to spew out several lines of gibberish.

"Whoa, whoa," Brielle interrupted him, "Calm down and tell me exactly what happened. Go back to the beginning and slowly explain things."

"Okay," He took in a breath and tried to regain his composure. "We were walking down the street -- her arm tucked around mine -- and we were just talking about some random stuff, I don't remember what, when these two odd looking women passed us by on the sidewalk. Their hair was cut all strangely and had been dyed several colours. They wore leather pants, had really scanty shirts, and several peircings in their face and ears. They stopped and started talking to Maria. I didn't like the way they were talking to her. A couple times I nudged her arm to get us away from those women. They said something along the lines of, "Oh! An Ishvalan woman! Our Mistress would really appreciate having one of them around, wouldn't she?"

"And then they said, "You have to come meet our Mistress! Please come with us, Miss!" And like a dummy, Maria went with them. I tried to follow them to their mansion but when I got to the door I wasn't allowed in. The guards -- who were all female, mind you -- said that it was some rule their Mistress made about having no men on the premises. They kidnapped Maria, I tell you! They kidnapped her!"

"Now you're just being silly, Mr. Kimblee. They didn't kidnap her, per se -- they just invited her into their home." He deeply frowned at her. With a roll of her eyes, Brielle sighed. "... There is no way I'm going to find out what's going on. That is Maria's business. And as far as I'm concerned, she can stay there. I can easily get on without her. They're probably just having tea, anyway. So, you can just wait."

The bottom half of Solf's eye twitched. Nobody had ever told him no before. Well, maybe his parents. Not that he could remember, though. He gritted his teeth and brought his hands up, revealing the tattoos on his palms and said in as low a voice as he could, "If you don't bring me Maria right now -- I'm going to blow you to kingdom come!"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Brielle smirked, wagging her finger at him. "Remember -- We have a contract!"

He threw his arms down. "****!"

Solf's shoulders slumped down in defeat. He turned away from her and placed his hand to his face, thinking. How was he going to retrieve Maria? That was when an idea had come to mind. Again, he faced her.

"I'll pay you a thousand cenz if you find out what they're doing with Maria and bring her back."

"What?" The blue one looked surprised.

"One thousand cenz."

"Ten thousand."

"One thousand five hundred."

"Ten thousand."

"Three thousand."

"Ten thousand." She pressed in persistantly.

"Five thousand. I'm not going any higher."

"You've got a deal."

.o.o.o.

What a horrible thing it was that it would rain on their picnic. The weather man had said that they'd expected sunshine the entire day. The liar! With a frown, Julia picked up the blanket -- while Maria picked up the basket -- and threw it over them to keep them dry.

They'd planned this outing several weeks before. Instead, now, they were running through the rain to Maria's car. Maria unlocked the trunk and shoved the basket in with Julia following soon after. Once they were inside the vehicle Maria let out a deep sigh.

"I'm really sorry about this, babe." She frowned, buckling herself in.

"No, it's fine," Julia replied, "All this means is that we can do something else."

"What do you think we should do, then?" Maria's mood lightened up. She turned on the radio and changed the station to one that played smooth jazz.

"Let's take the food home and go see a movie!"

"What movie do you want to see?"

"Let's go see Corpse Bride. I saw the trailers it looks pretty cool."

"You sure love those Tim Burton movies, don't you?" With a weak smile, Maria started the car.

"Yeah -- I've been fascinated ever since I saw The Nightmare Before Christmas." Julie pulled back her dark, curly, red hair into a ponytail.

"You know, I was 11-years-old when I saw that movie at the theater."

"Oh yeah?"

"I thought it was the coolest thing on earth. My older sister took me to go see it."

"You have an older sister?"

"Had."

"What happened?"

"...Let's talk about something else, okay?" There was an air of uneasiness around Maria now. Julia couldn't quite pin-point it. Instead, she kept quiet, looking out the window. Why was it so bad talking about her older sister? The girl couldn't understand.

"We might have an hour or so before the movie starts," Julia changed the subject, buckling in, "Maybe we can eat at your place then check the schedule?"

"Sounds good," Maria responded with a flat voice. The younger one knew something was definitely up. Something must have happened that she didn't want to discuss. Maybe later she would ask again. Later, she might be willing to talk. It wasn't that Maria seemed angry -- it was that she'd went completely numb and had placed a wall between herself and Julia. It was the first time she'd ever done this and it hurt.

They pulled out of the parking lot and headed to Maria's house.

Julia had anxiously placed her hands in her lap, looking down at them. She couldn't bring herself to look at the older woman now. She felt like she was going to cry. Never had Maria shut her out like this.

"So," She asked softly, "You started your classes at college, right?"

With a sigh, her older sister replied, "Yeah. Not fun -- especially since I haven't touched a text book in five years. It's kind of difficult to get back into the groove of things." She picked up her mug of coffee and took a drink.

"Oh, you'll be okay," Julia's eyes strayed out the window, "You're a bookworm anyway. It shouldn't be much of a problem for you."

There was a hint of sadness in Maria's voice, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"What are you thinking about?" Julia had managed to ask.

That was when the image of a woman about her own age hanging from a noose came to Maria's mind. All she could remember at that point was the blood dripping from the woman's wrists -- her body hanging, limp from the rope.

"I don't want to talk about it," Maria had taken another drink of her coffee then set it down.

.o.o.o.

It wasn't long before they'd arrived at Maria's house. They'd left the door open and locked the screendoor, letting the cool air in. With a huff, Maria set the basket on the floor in her living room and headed toward the small hall closet. She took out a couple of towels and brought them to Julia. They dried themselves, laughing a little.

Out of habit, Maria turned on the radio. It was already set to her favourite station. Lyricless jazz music played quietly.

"Get on the laptop and get on the cinema website. Tell me the times the movie is playing, okay?"

"Right." Julia sat down in Maria's recliner and pulled out her laptop from beneath the end table next to her.

The older woman pulled out a ziplock bag from the basket and looked at the calendar hanging from the wall. The image on it was of puppies crawling over eachother to get out of a bucket and various other props around them. It was September 23, 2005. She lifted up a page and looked through the next month.

"Hmm," She brought out a sandwhich from the bag and took a bite out of it. She spoke, uncaring of whether or not Julia was listening. "It's my uncle Carlos' birthday next month."

"Carlos? Have we met him before?" The younger clicked away at the computer, attempting to get on the wireless connection in the house.

"No, I don't think so. He lives in New Mexico. I haven't seen him in over five years. He came up for me Madre's funeral. Last I heard he was coming up with another get-rich-quick scheme with a couple of buddies of his."

Maria took another bite of the sandwhich, eyeing the date of her uncle's birthday. Every year she'd send him a card and money. She wasn't really sure what he was interested in. To her, he reminded her of a seventeen year old boy -- so full of life and so full of libido.

Slowly, she chewed her food trying to remember him. She dropped the page of the calendar and moved away from it, plopping down on the loveseat.

"So, when are the times?"

"The next one plays at 3 o'clock. It's a quarter 'til then, so it wouldn't be worth going to that one. The next one is around 5. How's that sound?" Julia took out a can of soda from the basket.

"Sounds good to me. When does Pat get off of work?"

"He won't get off until about 9."

"Hmm. You think he'll go to bed right after work or...?"

Softly, Julia chuckled behind the can. She took a gulp of it then set it down on the end table beside her.

"No," She replied, "He's up until about 4 in the morning then he goes to sleep."

"Wow. He hasn't changed much since high school, huh?"

"Nope. Still as obnoxious and immature as ever."

"You think he'll ever grow up?"

"Maybe if he had a kid."

"You know that'll never happen."

"It's kind of hard having a child when you're gay, isn't it?"

"Yeah it is." Maria finished her sandwhich then reached into the basket for her own soda. She didn't realize how much pressure was in the can when she'd opened it. It spewed out of the opening and dripped all over her lap. "Aw, ****! ..I'll be right back."

She got up from her spot, holding a hand beneath the can in an attempt to catch any soda that threatened to spill over.

Deeply, she sighed and set the can in the sink. She held onto the sides of the sink and stared down into it. The light glistened on the steel. She watched the liquid calm down. It'd been a long time since she'd seen her uncle.

Carlos Sanchez. A man who'd vowed to himself that he'd never settle down with a woman and live a normal life. He just wasn't the kind of man to do so. The description of a play-boy would be an understatement. Even though he was a bad man, Maria still loved him. They were very close even though they'd rarely seen eachother.

Addictions were very common in her family. Her father was an alcoholic. Her uncle was a gambler and a juggalo. She couldn't remember much about her grandfather. He'd died before she was old enough to form many memories. All she remembered of him was the smell of the cherry tobacco he smoked.

Her mother's addiction was love. She'd desperately craved it and lived as a co-dependent in her relationship with her husband. Often, she'd tried to "cure" her father's addiction and ended up making it worse. It was suffocating to him so instead of coming home at night he found himself at his favourite bar in town.

Maria took in a deep breath, staring into the sink. Her emerald eyes peirced the can, watching the brown substance bubble in the creases near the opening.

Maybe she had the same problem as her mother. She pushed her bangs out of her face and stood straight up. Without realizing what she was doing, she took out a glass from the cupboard and opened the freezer door to scoop some ice out. Then she set the glass on the counter and poured the soda into it.

She took a deep drink. What was she going to do with herself? Especially with the incident that happened right after her boyfriend had dumped her. It had been five years since it happened but it still cut her deep. When would these wounds heal? Would she really create an altar of self-hatred and keep emotionally mutilating herself?

"Hey, Maria!" She heard Julia call from the other room.

"Yeah?" She turned from her spot and picked up the glass, walking back into the living room.

.o.o.o.

Brielle had disappeared into the mansion and was gone for more than twenty minutes. They didn't say anything to eachother because Felix made Solf uncomfortable. There was something about the servant that seemed unnatural. Artificial. The correct word was on the tip of his tongue and he couldn't quite say it.

It wasn't that he thought the younger man to be vain or conceited -- it was that he had seen him as something like a mannequin. His skin was abnormally pale and his body was very lanky. Too thin to be working out in the field. He must've been the type that was acquainted with the indoor services.

"Where the hell is she?" Mr. Kimblee muttered to himself, sliding his sleeve up to look at his watch. He tapped his foot, dropping his hand, and looked through the gate at the mansion. That was when the blue haired woman emerged from the front doors.

The man in the white suit returned his hands to his pockets. He pushed himself up onto the balls of his feet then planted his shoes firmly back on the ground, his body "bouncing" slightly.

"So?" He asked, eyeing the woman.

"Well," She shrugged, making her way through the gate back outside to meet them. "The "Mistress" of the place has some serious business to attend to when it comes to our lovely Mexican friend."

"Like what?" Solf looked worried.

"Well," She continued, her lavender eyes straying downward and away from him. "Tonight the Mistress is going to have an engagement party."

"So, where is Maria?" Solf asked, looking over to the quiet Felix then back at the blue one.

"You only paid me half of what I asked for," She smirked, "So, you only get half a job finished."

Mr. Kimblee's eyes flattened as he inflated his cheek in annoyance.

"Smart-***." He grumbled.

"A deal's a deal, though."

"What's this engagement party got to do with Maria? Was she invited or something?"

"Well, she's more than invited. She's the main attraction."

"What do you mean?"

"The Mistress was so taken in by her that she's going to propose to Maria tonight."

"What!?"

A smile made its way across the blue one's face. It was rare to see her smile. She got sadistic enjoyment out of watching him.

"W-w-well, we've gotta stop her!"

"What do you suggest we do?" Her smile dropped.

"No wonder she doesn't allow men in," Mr. Kimblee had finally figured it out, "She's a friggen dyke!"

"Yeah, and?" Brielle acted indifferent, "What do you want to do?"

"I don't mean to be rude, Mr. Kimblee," Felix butted in, "But the only way you're going to get in there is if you wore a dress."

"There is no way in hell I'm going to wear a dress!"

.o.o.o.

Author's Note: Okay, so the next chapter is kind of obvious. Please reply and tell me what you think. It'd be greatly appreciated. I'm used to getting flames...So if you bring the flames, Miss OminousCloud will bring the marshmallows. :3