Sunshine: Tales of an Assassin

Chapter Six

***Katrina's POV***

    I hadn't been able to get back to sleep after the voice demanded that I wake up, and since I hadn't restocked this room since the last time I was here, I already knew there was no coffee which put me in a worse mood.  I laid in bed for a bit, trying to get more rest, but it failed and I knew I'd have to leave the room to get coffee, and that meant dealing with people.

    Shuffling through the clothing that I still had here, I found some comfy clothing and a pair of sneakers that weren't too badly banged up, I'd almost finished getting ready when I heard the knock on my door, the pattern telling me it was Matthew, good, he can keep the stupids away from me till I get my ambrosia.

    Opening the door I saw my friend standing closer to the door than normal, but then again I doubted that he thought I'd be this fast this early...morning is not my friend.

    "Almost ready?  Need to run a brush through that mane of yours, get it under control before it kills someone."

    I just shut the door on him and put on my shoes, hunting for where I last dropped my brush here, and got a look at my hair in the mirror.  To be honest you could probably throw together a dozen wind blown nests made by kindergarteners and that would still be neater than my hair was at this moment.  Medusa might ask me for tips on scaring people at this rate.  Regardless, I ran my brush through my hair, taming it the best I could for now and headed back out to where Matthew was waiting.

     "Sunshine, we have another person with us that I'm playing tour guide to, he's a guest of Lydia, so play nice, and no zapping."

    I just looked at him and grunted some kind of affirmative, at least I think it was an affirmative.  Might have been a no coffee don't care and go to hell grunt too, they can sound similar pre-coffee.  Thankfully I'd been to the cafeteria so many times dead on my feet that I could probably sleep walk to the coffee pot if I needed to.  Once I had a nice large cup made just the way I liked it and had a few sips, I started focusing more on my surroundings and what was actually going on.  Matthew was standing with yet another new male, this one vastly different from the ones I had dealt with yesterday.  This guy had white hair that looked like it might be almost as long as mine, and was as tall and lean as Nathanial, but he seemed to be a hell of a lot more relaxed and calm than the high strung stooges of yesterday.

    "Why don't you sit with us today lad, seems you have a better head on your shoulders than some others I've met recently." Matthew recommended, and the new guy's face seemed to be pondering if it was alright.

    "If Matthew says that you can sit with us, you can, I won't bite, or zap.  I don't feel like getting a lecture this early." I had to comment, sitting down at an open table and focusing on my coffee once again.  The cafeteria was thankfully mostly empty so I didn't have to deal with a whole lot of other people and their noise yet.  I could only hope that the queen snob wasn't going to be in.

    Matthew settled down next to me, while tall blond and silent sat across from me, though when I glanced up from my drink for a moment I realized his hair wasn't white blond, it was actually silver, and his energy wasn't something I recalled feeling before, but since he was Lydia's guest, wasn't worth my thoughts too much at this moment.  Hearing a plate sliding on the table in front of me I looked down to see a plate of food, unappealing food at that.  Oatmeal, something that might have been an attempt at scrambled eggs, and some overcooked veggies with potatoes.

    "Eat."  Matthew said without even looking at me, causing me to look at his plate, which had french toast, sausage patties, and other stuff that looked like real food, causing me to glare at my plate, then back at him.  "Glare all you want Sunshine, you aren't getting anything else till you eat that.  I know you didn't eat much yesterday so your body needs real fuel first."

    I didn't bother responding, just focused on eating everything aside from the oatmeal first.  Still trying to figure out how to choke down the plain goop from the 7th level of the abyss when a small bowl with some fresh diced fruits and berries in a cocktail syrup shifted into my line of sight from across the table, a pale hand pushing it towards me before retreating just as silently.  I glanced up at Mr. Silent but he was just focused on his plate and eating what he had in front of him.  Smirking I tipped the fruit into the oatmeal, keeping an eye on Matthew in case he tried anything before mixing it quickly in so he couldn't take it out.

    "Fruit is good for you too, you don't have to act like a criminal sneaking contraband into your food."  Matthew commented.

    "Really, than why do you never give me any when you make me eat this stuff?"  I took an experimental bite of it.  The texture of the oatmeal still left a lot to be desired, but the fruit had made a difference and I figured I could get this down faster than normal, which raised my chances of getting some of Matthew's sausages before he ate them all.

    "I'm usually more focused on getting you food fast so no one has to deal with you except for me before you've had enough coffee.  The time you fried a dozen new recruits at once was enough thank you.  Kai, thanks for sharing with the grumbling menace over here."

    I looked up and saw Kai shrug, feeling a little guilty for how I was behaving, now I was starting to wonder if he could even talk.  I'll have to do something nice later I guess.

    "Thanks, makes this stuff a bit more tolerable."  I held up the spoon with the last bite of the oatmeal, before finishing it, and then picked up my fork again to start stabbing and stealing sausages from Matthew, alternating between a bite of sausage and a drink or two of coffee.

    Matthew on the other hand just shook his head, huffing a little over his slowly decreasing pile of sausages.  Might be another sign of insanity in me, aside from agreeing to work with this company, my willingness to steal meat from a bear shifter.  Finally full of food, I made a trip back to the coffee pot for a refill and went back to my seat feeling much better than I had before.

    "So, does the boss have any updates for me as of yet on what we are doing?"  I started sipping my drink again, feeling more than ready to start doing something so I don't die of boredom.  

    "Not yet princess, but I'm sure she'll be up soon to talk with you and others."  While Matthew was talking I caught Kai out of the corner of my eye suddenly going completely still, and I was wondering for a moment until I heard the voice of the shrew, Cora.

    I knew that there were people that didn't approve of me being in the company, most of which don't know which department I actually work for, after all United does have other work aside from assassination and damage control that I do, but for every hundred or so others there were, there might be one human.  Cora wasn't a human, supposedly she was some kind of shifter, I think I was once told hyena, but I'm still fairly certain she is some medusa, naked mole rat, harpy crossbreed.  She certainly had the looks for it, especially after a hair loss potion had accidently been spilled on her, she never believed me, but I still maintain that I tripped over something might have just been air, but it really felt like something bumped my leg.

    "Well if it isn't the sweet little human here with her protector."  Does she even understand exactly how nasally and whiny her voice sounds, I'd take nails on a chalkboard over listening to her.  "Does the poor little human need a shifter to help care for her like the pet she is?"  

    Matthew was rumbling a little near me, and I placed a hand on his arm to still him, he knew I preferred to handle her myself as when he tried to back me, she'd go crying to her boss how he was bullying her, where with me she wouldn't admit when I got the better of her.

    "Cora, looks like the hair is growing back so nicely, I'm glad that your eyebrows came back as well, and they look so much nicer than the ones you had to draw on, and those wigs just looked so hot and uncomfortable."  I smiled sweetly at her, while she snarled a little at me.

    "At least I actually know how to do my make-up and look presentable for work, unlike certain other lesser beings."  She sneered down her beak of a nose at me and my clothing, which really didn't phase me, I just looked at her clothing and then smiled again.

    "Really, I thought the dress code for the office drones was corporate casual, not corporate corner, or did you get promoted to the corner of 1st and 5th finally?"  Matthew snorted and even Kai relaxed enough that I thought I saw a slight smile. Cora turned an absolutely lovely shade of red that was far more appealing color than her normal sallow color.  I watched her brown eyes flicker towards black and a hand start to rise for a strike, when an extremely commanding aura flared, forcing her anger down and her eyes back to a normal color.  I glanced at Kai and saw his eyes had gone liquid silver in color.  Shifters...can always tell at least by their eyes when something is going on with them, but when I glanced at Matthew about to make a comment, I shut my mouth when I saw a hint of fear and awe in his eyes.  There must be something more to Kai than him being a shifter for him to respond that way.

    "Your voice is annoying me and spoiling my breakfast, be gone, now."  Well, I guess Kai isn't mute after all, and it was the voice that was in my head in my dreams last night.  What the hell is he that he could talk in my mind to me when I was sleeping?