killer's garnets

[mekachu04]

killer's garnets

the sun is warm though the broken window, and Kidd groaned at the light, hunkering down into the blanket pile. Killer is still asleep next to him, having not come home until late and had passed out on top of the blankets, not even bothering to undress or remove her shoes. It was that that got Kidd to get up finally, seeing her sleeping so hard she'd started to drool a little.
He crawled out from under the blanket piles, swearing at the chill air that the sun hadn't been strong enough to warm up. Killer didn't make a singe noise as she was shuffled about by him, only finally grumbling softly as he sat at the edge of the bed and worked her heels off.

He did pause though, after he got her left heel off - attention grabbed by the fragile string of beads on her ankle. it was a simple little woven bracelet - probably designed originally for a wrist - with little tiny black and gold seed beads dotting it. No - no not seed beads - not all of them. The light hit one of the dark beads, revealing a deep red instead.

Kidd finished removing both shoes quietly, loosened the ties on her dress, and found himself drifting back to the jewelry.

Killer didn't wear jewelry; any they'd come across over the years got pawned almost immediately. Food was more important than some flashy gaudy baubles. There was a small chance that Killer might have squirreled away one of the earrings from Kidd's mom after all these years, stolen back after tracking down the vultures who stripped his family home bare after the young couple's untimely deaths. Kidd had been under the impression even the tiny studs had been sold by the time he turned nine; six years later he wasn't so sure. The windfall they'd come into about that time in hindsight was also about the time Killer had started sneaking away at night; the beginning of her career of turning tricks and warming the beds of older men for both money and favours.

Not much could have reeled him in in his wild early teens, but finding out he hadn't lost his hands for thieving becuase Killer got on her knees for the man he'd been caught thieving from had been a sorely needed wake up call. He made sure to never get caught after that.

He thumbed the delicate beads, hand resting on her ankle as killer slept. In the end, he decided not to ask. She deserved such pretty things after all.

---

Killer did not accept gifts from her johns. Nothing material. Dinner, chocolates? Sometimes. After all, some of them paid for her time becuase they were lonely, and nothing more. But nothing that she was expected to take home with her. Nothing that tied her to one man. Nothing to give someone the impression this was anything more than a business transaction. Other women might roll their eyes at this, but it was one of Killer's rules. Rules that kept her and Kidd safe.

She broke this rule only twice. Once for the young Peter, a boy she's made a man when he survived the cruel world of the mines to turn 16, and her services were paid for by his drunk and cheery coworkers, all a good 5 or more years older than Peter. He visited her often over the next few months, and she was young herself, and maybe they could of run off together and saved each other from the fates in a different world. He brought her flowers and sweets, and he was kind to Kidd too, the only one of Killer's clients she ever trusted enough to meet her family. The gifts he brought her, while heartfelt, were of no monetary value, and the most valuable thing he left her was the child safety helmet he'd worn on their visit union. She'd worn it herself when she paid Peter's old bosses a visit after he and 13 other men where killed in a cave in less then 6 months later. The greedy bastards called that section a loss, sealed it off with the corpses still buried inside, and moved to digging a few dozen feet to the side. Kidd - only eleven at the time - had gone with her, and the two had left not one of the wealthy mine owners alive. The mine still ran to this day, some family members stepping up to replace the dead men. Peter and the others had still not been recovered, but at least their deaths were now acknowledged. And those that had families at least got a pay out if nothing else.

The other man she's let gift her anything.... Maybe it would be a mistake one day. He'd been a client since she was 17, called her by another woman's name, and seemed legit regretful for it at the end of each visit. He'd taken to try and ask more about who Killer was as of late, questions she didn't want to answer. But she also could read it was his guilt of not seeing her as her own person that prompted them, and not some misguided idea that they could be something more. He'd asked her once - when her birthday was. She's panicked, and told him the first date to come to mind.

January 10th.

She'd forgotten about it not long after, the John had not. A week before the day she told him, he'd paid for her services. They'd spent the night together, he called her that same other woman's name, and she held him as he slept. In the morning, he'd presented a small box to her. She'd tried to turn it down, but he cracked the lid, showing the garnet stones and golden beads in delicately woven black threads. The birthstones for January, he told her, becuase she needed to know that he was sorry he forgot she was her own woman. She could sell them if she liked, use the money to treat herself. But to please take them. To do something with her family and take a day to celebrate herself.

On January 11th, she made up her mind, tying the delicate string out of sight. The other Johns didn't notice. Her client had been almost relieved when he saw them, like some atonement in his head had been reached.

And for Killer, it meant having a little reminder of Kidd - waiting for her back home.