Tea Break
#1 of Adventures of Star and Finn
"Hey, no need to get violent, girl!"
The fox shouted, arms up in surrender. He felt the blood drawn from a cut across his neck roll down, a bead of crimson. The blade slowly moved away from his throat. Holding the hilt was a menacing, armoured figure, assumed to be a woman from the breast plate. And from the mess in the room, a rather feisty one.
"Ah, look at the place." Finn muttered, regarding the blood with a hint of disgust in his voice. "All ruined. New furniture and all."
Again, he glanced at the armoured woman, still standing idly with her sword. He almost expected her to speak. Instead, she turned her back and took a few strides away.
"Hey, hey!" The fox shouted after her, "Since you've done my job for me, would you care to join me for a cup of tea? The kettle boiled, but you slaughtered all my guests before I could serve it."
Apparently from surprise, and perhaps bewilderment, the woman turned. She sheathed the sword at her back, much like a ninja, and felt for the helmet clips and undid them.
Carelessly, the helmet was dropped to the floor.
Finn turned, and scanned her. She wasn't tall, and yet she still had an air of authority and superiority about her, especially wearing the strange suit. The suit itself was mostly muscle-like fibres, along with a few shining body plates on her legs and chest. The helmet she had just dropped was a menacing piece, a narrow visor with quite an angry look, and some complex breathing apparatus. What the helmet had covered was vastly different. A cat's face, deep blue eyes that seemed to gaze right through you, long, crimson hair that was now free to spill down her back, contrasting with her perfectly white fur, and currently no expression.
Until a smile cracked across her face.
"I'd love to join you for tea."
The cat spoke at last, her voice soft and, similar to Finn's, distinctly English.
Star sat cross-legged on the bloodstained sofa, a cup of tea on a saucer precariously balanced on her knee. Slowly, she lifted the steaming cup to her lips, inhaled deeply to get it's scent, and took a sip.
"I see you have taste. Earl Gray, if I'm not mistaken?" She asked pleasantly.
"You aren't mistaken." Finn replied, after taking a sip from his own cup.
For the first time, Star looked over Finn's body, silently assessing him. His look matched his speech, his polite attitude. He wore a loose white shirt, tucked into not-so-loose black trousers, held by a slightly slanted tie-up belt. To top off the suave look, he wore a thin, red fabric jacket with an upturned collar, and sported an equally suave hairstyle â€" his brown hair parted at the centre, long enough to be attractive but short enough to not become a bloody nuisance. Overall, he looked pretty sharp. Suddenly, her assessment of his appearance was interrupted.
"The name's Finn." He said, breaking the silence.
"Oh, yeah. I'm Star." The cat replied, her eyes reverting to the cup in her paw. She raised the cup to her face, and took another sip, and was almost surprised when she realized it had gone cold in the time she was checking Finn out. To the fox, it was probably a pretty long awkward silence.
Star drained the remainder of her cold tea, and exhaled deeply. She nodded to Finn, and placed both cup and saucer on the table while she stood to leave.
The click of a single-action revolver hammer being drawn back halted her.
"Please, sit." Finn ordered her, calmly. She swore quietly, but sat back down, looking down the barrel of a revolver that could only be described as a handcannon. It was massive, and since she didn't recognize it, it was either a prototype or simply home-made. Star guessed the latter.
"Just want to ask a few questions, before you go. Why did you kill everyone here, and who are you with? I mean, who are you working for?"
The fox asked her. He already had an idea of what she would answer, but he had to be certain. Besides, no non-American government operative would be able to afford a kit like that.
"I killed these people because I'm paid to. And the people who pay me? The USIP." Star replied, as though Finn would just know what "USIP" stood for. Needless to say, he didn't. Recognizing the blank expression she was faced with, she explained.
"United States International Police. I kill people who have been very bad. I understand that's what you do for a living, too, right?"
Finn lowered the magnum, realizing she was safe... For him, at the least.
"Clever girl. Life-taker and Heart-breaker, Finnaeas McCartney of the British Secret Police!"
Finn re-introduced himself.
Star did not look overly impressed.
"Am I allowed to go, then?"
She asked, an eye on the powerful-looking revolver.
"Go right ahead."
Finn replied, getting up as she did. And then following her out. Star initially assumed he was showing her to the door, but when he left after her, and then locked the door, she turned to speak to him.
"Don't follow me, I won't-"
She began, before being cut off by a shout from Finn. She wasn't exactly sure what he said, but it was a warning, definitely. Her head snapped around so her peripheral vision caught sight of the .45 levelled at her head. Fully aware of the danger, she dropped her helmet, and dropped her body into a crouch, the crack of the man letting off a round startled her, but not enough to stop her. She spun, the blade out again.
Blood sprayed across her face, and the man screamed. She stood, satisfied that the threat was neutralized. The man screamed constantly as she turned to leave, until a loud gunshot cut it out. Again, Star turned to face her "ally". He was holding the magnum again, raised and smoking. Her assailant had literally been blown away, only his lower legs â€" which Star had neatly separated from his body â€" still stood for a second, before losing stability and toppling.
"So, we're friends, yeah?"
Finn said, jogging after the feline. Star laughed.
"Well, I suppose so-"
She began in reply, being cut off by the fox, yet again.
"I'll stick with you then. I can be your guide to Great Britain... Though your accent tells me you don't really need a guide."
"Not really, no. But you can come along. At your own risk, of course."
Star sighed. Often there was some home defence agent that wanted to tag along, and so far most of them had died, so she knew that if he was an idiot, she wouldn't have to suffer his company long.
"Yeah, I'm used to risks."
Finn replied, catching up with the cat, just as she reached her car: a sleek black sports car. It was shaped much like a Lamborghini, with a few minor adjustments. The fox clambered into the passenger seat, and with a roar from the engine, the car sped off into the distance, leaving Finn's home â€" and the mess inside â€" behind.