“Jealous?” Daryl asked with as much nonchalance as he could muster. It wasn’t much, and Rin burst out laughing.
“Hardly. I wouldn’t have handed you to her if I was going to be jealous.”
Daryl grimaced. “You didn’t hand me to her. Oh, and thanks for making me sound like some commodity.”
“But such a gorgeous commodity,” Rin cooed, reaching inside of his pants. He gently removed her hand.
She shrugged. “Suit yourself. I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way.”
Unfazed, Daryl persisted. “It doesn’t make any sense. Why would you want her to travel with me? Not that you had anything to do with it.”
“I did suggest you seek her out,” Rin asserted after a moment’s thought.
“Without saying who she was,” he observed dryly.
Rin sighed. “Fine, whatever. Have it your way.”
She adopted a curt, business-like manner. “I sent you away because it really would be harder to be found on my own. You’re like a big neon sign saying ’ Rin’s dog. ’ Oh, and ‘Rin has really bad taste in mutts.’ It wouldn’t reflect well on me, and she’d be able to find me.”
With a tart smile, she looked Daryl up and down. “Besides, I had grown weary of your big mouth and tiny, tiny …” She sucked her breath in melodramatically, and brought her fingers very close together. “tiny prick, and thought the mere sight of it, the mere thought of what I lived through on a daily basis with you, would make her ever so grateful for the incomparably superior life she had. A life without you. Maybe she’d even get a feel for what eternal torment could be like. Then she would desist from her absurd desire, and I’d be free of that accursed promise.”
“Mind you,” she continued thoughtfully, “most women like a guy with a big mouth, but only if he has a quick tongue.” In response to Daryl’s obvious question, Rin raised her hand. “Don’t ask. Suffice to say, it did not work. You did not work. You and your tiny prick failed to serve your Queen, and that never ends well.”
Daryl shook his head. “That’s the stupidest thing …,” he began, but Rin cut him off.
Slumping back into a chair, she continued. “Well, yeah. She managed to find me before you two even met, anyway. I hardly can blame everything on you and your tiny prick. Just most things. It’s too bad, though …”
Daryl suddenly realized something and interrupted. “Wait, if she found you before I met her, why did I have to keep looking for you? I thought that was the whole point.”
“You didn’t have to. Just if you wished to keep living. Or maybe I would have done nothing. You’ll never know.”
“I didn’t want to know. It wasn’t because of some silly threat that I spent five years searching for you,” Daryl protested. “I missed you.”
Rin appeared touched and smiled warmly. “Awwww … the little doggy was lost and wanted to find its way home. Come here, and let mommy give you a big …” Daryl dodged just as she pronounced “whack,” though the smack obviously wasn’t intended to hurt. That was the fun part of these things; there was no way to know until the blow landed.
“Look, I needed some time,” Rin admitted with surprising candor. “Besides, you seemed to be having such fun.”
“You were watching?” Daryl gasped in astonishment.
“I already told you I was.”
“I thought you just meant the last few days of our search.”
A roll of Rin’s eyes signaled the absurdity of his question. “How would I know so much about your time together from just a few days of observation?” ”
“So you were spying on us the whole time?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” she laughed. “I’ve got better things to do than keep a constant eye on the crib.”
“At least I’ve been promoted from dog to baby,” Daryl noted acerbically.
Rin began to laugh, but it came out as more of a snort. “What makes you think that’s a promotion?”
She regarded him quietly, and adopted a more serious tone. “I checked in, now and then.”
“It took me five years,” Daryl complained. “Unlike you, I’m not immortal. It was a big waste of my time.”
Rin smirked. “But Daryl, your time has no value.”
He looked at her with disgust for a moment.
“Quit whining. I’m sure the whole thing toughened you up a bit.” Her eyes ran over him. “Or maybe not.”
After a short, contemplative silence, Rin grinned. “Besides, it only was three years after Sree found me. And, like it or not, nothing you do matters.” Before Daryl could snipe back, she gently added, almost speaking to herself, “or me, for that matter. Ultimately it’s as futile to be immortal as mortal, you just have more time to realize it.”
Hearing the melancholy in her voice, Daryl hesitated to press the point. But the whole thing still made no sense to him. It smacked too much of a contrived attempt to explain something which had no logical explanation, something which had been decided impulsively. This wasn’t the first time he had suspected such a thing, and he doubted it would be the last. Unless he goaded her too much — then it very well could be the last.
He wondered whether Rin’s ridiculously complex plan to destroy Karkov was just another example of this. He was hesitant to raise the subject yet again; his arm still smarted from the last time.
Whether the plan had no foundation in reason or those reasons were beyond Daryl’s understanding, one thing was clear: Rin hated being called on her bullshit. Was it because she didn’t like being forced to make sense? Daryl doubted Rin could be forced to do anything, least of all that. Maybe it was worth another shot, though. After all, this time could be different.
“Besides, you forget one other thing,” Rin observed. “I needed some time to myself. It’s not up to you how much, or your business what I did with it. Or are you the clingy type? Not everything is about you.”
Daryl shook his head. “Yes, but you ordered me to find you by a specific time. And you threatened to kill me if I didn’t. That made it about me. If you simply asked me to leave for a while, I would have.”
“Would you?” Rin smiled knowingly, and he wanted to smack that smug face. Or kiss it.
He shrugged. “I’d have tried to stay out of your way.”
“And this way you didn’t need to try. You did stay out of my way.”
She suddenly gave him a searching look. “Listen, Daryl.” It was so unusual to hear himself called by name, instead of dog or boy or something equally undignified, that it took him a moment to register it.
“This is important,” she continued. “Would you be able to leave me, if I asked you to?”
Daryl nodded, though he realized it was a weak nod. Would he? He had sought her out twice, under very dubious conditions. She hadn’t killed him this time or the last. Would she the next? Or would it simply be goodbye for good?
The intensity with which Rin was staring at him made Daryl self-conscious. Was doubt written all over his face? He shook it off and took her by the shoulders, bringing his mouth tantalizingly close to hers, his eyes fixed on her the whole time. She didn’t resist, but he pulled back before their lips touched. He feared she would ruin the gesture by completing the kiss. She did not.
“Yes,” he promised. “I will leave if you truly ask me to.”
Rin laughed. “Ah, I see. I must truly ask you to. How will you know if I am truly asking?”
Before he could answer, she waved dismissively. “Never mind, it will do for now.” She stepped back, clearly a bit flustered by the near-kiss, and Daryl contemplated tearing her clothes off. Tempting as that was, there was something more tempting still. Such communicativeness on Rin’s part was extremely rare, and he wished to learn as much as he could while it lasted.
In fact, Daryl was astonished that Rin had exhibited such forbearance. Almost an hour of earnest — if often trying — back and forth without a hint of real violence. He must have caught her in an exceedingly good mood. Why? He considered what to ask her next, but it definitely would not be that. The quickest way to dispel Rin’s good mood was to question it. He finally had resolved to hazard the inevitable. For the umpteenth time he would try to prevail upon her to formulate a more sensible plan. But something occurred to him first.
“Rin, I have a question.”
She grinned at him innocently. “That’s what I’m here for.”
This never was a good sign, and Daryl sensed his time was running out. He decided to be direct. Maybe he should opt for the fuck, before things went south.
“If you wanted to stop Sree, why did you kill her before I had a chance?”
“Chance for what?” Rin’s smile hadn’t wavered, and he felt emboldened.
“I know I couldn’t have stopped you,” Daryl began. “But maybe your plan worked. What if she had changed her mind, and you just didn’t know it?”
There was silence. It lasted so long and Rin was so still that Daryl began to wonder whether she somehow had been encumbered. Could she accidentally encumber herself?
As he grew uncomfortable, Daryl attempted a disarming smile. Another few moments passed before he saw the glint in her eye.
Ah yes, he thought with a sigh of resignation. Here comes the pain.
"It was so unusual to hear himself called by name, instead of dog or boy or something equally undignified..." Hmm.