A Touch of Blue - 11. A Conversation Starter

Roy

“Who are you?” I ask. I wince when the intruder presses the knife against my neck.

“No one that matters to you,” They say. “I have been made to question what you know of the thief Zafiro. Depending on your answers, you may have the chance to live.”

It starts to feel a lot colder in here.

Is this an Android? It does not seem like it. I can feel the strange bumps and wires on the hand gripping my head.

Androids look like humans. Most even look as though they have the same skin and hair as us. Those would be the high end androids though.

There are some who do not have the skin or hair. They are just walking metal bodies. Still, even then, they look very much human.

Is this a robot that is attacking me? Who the hell made a machine like this and why is it looking for Zafiro?

“May I ask who sent you?” I ask slowly. I am pretty nervous. I’m not entirely sure how I should be handling this thing.

“No,” They say. “People working under my creator have seen you in contact with the target named Zafiro. What was said last night and where is Zafiro’s destination at this moment?”

Did a gang make this thing? I am going to assume that is a yes. What kind of nut job makes a literal killing machine?

“I-I do not know where he went,” I say. “He just swung off on his own going who knows where.”

I can hear the parts whirring and clicking around behind me. It all sends a chill down my spine.

What do I do? Whenever I make so much as a twitch, this thing presses the knife closer to my neck.

“That is not a good answer,” They say. “What did you both discuss in your moments together?”

Obviously I am not going to tell him anything. This thing was clearly sent by the one that had sent people to Zafiro’s aunt’s house.

“Nothing,” I grit out. “He just came over to taunt me for being fired from U.U.P.P.”

I am hoping mentioning the agency will make the robot think twice about this.

Sadly it does not.

They do not say anything however. I push on the lie some more.

“He came by to do his usual annoying thing and then he ran away when an officer was on her way.”

I am starting to sweat with how nervous I am right now. My phone is on the coffee table in front of me but even if I had it in my hand, I am pretty sure the robot would have slashed my throat out by the time I pushed the panic button.

“You are lying,” They say. Their voice is very unsettling. It does not sound right at all. Definitely a robot.

“You have one more chance to bring us the truth.”

Well, shit. Does this thing have a lie detector or something?

Looks like I am going to have to risk it. This is pretty much a walking computer so if I manage to bring the metal skin out in time, that will be incredibly lucky.

Closing my eyes, I count in my head for when I am about to do it.

“Hey, bolts for brains!” A voice calls out behind me.

The blade from my neck leaves my neck and the robot turns to look behind them.

A gunshot goes off and a giant hole takes its place in the middle of the robot’s head.

I stand up quickly and look down at the mangled body of a black robot. It looks so creepy. It is almost like I am looking at a skeleton.

It looks like a bunch of pipes connected with metal sheets covering it’s arms, torso, and legs.

One hand is normal while the other is formed into a long blade.

That thing was held against my throat? Jesus…

There are red lines that traces along the edges of the metal armor. They form a simple design with a symbol of a bird flying.

I look up at Zafiro. He is staring at the robot as well. He has a frown on his face. I do not think I have ever seen that before.

“You...you saved me,” I say in shock.

Zafiro finally looks up at me and he pulls out his usual dumbass smirk.

“Of course I would, princess!” He says before moving towards me kitchen. “I guess it is a good thing I decided to come over when I did.”

I frown at him and watch him from my living room.

What do I do? Would I even be able to catch him right now? Should I?

Zafiro starts going through my fridge, looking for who knows what. Meanwhile I am just standing here unsure of what to do.

He is in my house! This could be the perfect time to catch him! Yet, I can’t move. Why can’t I move? Why am I not running after him when he is only fifteen feet in front of me and with his back turned. It is almost like he knows my mind is feeling conflicted right now.

That frustrates me.

Zafiro pulls out my jug of orange juice and pours it into a glass.

His suit is a little different today. The sleeves are cut off and show off his shoulders. I kind of assumed the suit was just one piece that he slipped into.

Not going to lie, it is incredibly weird seeing light shine down on him. Everytime I see him, he is somewhere dark.

“You want something or are you just going to stand there staring at my ass?” He says with his back turned to me.

I glare at him. “I was not staring at your ass.”

He looks over his shoulder with a stupid smile before moving to put the orange juice back into the fridge.

Now that he mentioned it, I can’t help but look at his butt now. How can you not when he mentions it?

I roll my eyes when he actually swings his hips side to side while he is looking for more stuff in the fridge.

Seriously, why the fuck do I not feel the urge to grab him right now? My mind is telling me that I should have had him in handcuffs by now. The asshole is going through my food at this instant! Why the hell am I not doing anything? I just do not see a reason to bother with it. Why?

“You are so quiet,” He says before bending down to dig through the lower shelves.

Ok, now he is doing that shit on purpose.

“You need to get out of my house,” I say, this time keeping my eyes off of his ass. “You saved me so now you can leave.”

I hear him chuckle and when I look at him, he is drinking the orange juice and staring me down. I quickly look away.

What is the point of this? Can he all of a sudden read my mind? Can he tell that I will not try to arrest him?

He sets the glass in the sink and then he moves to sit on top of the kitchen island. He crosses his legs and leans back on his hands.

“I think after what just happened,” He nods to the robot on the floor, “you would want to talk about that. However, if you really want me to leave, a thank you kiss will need to be given.”

He smiles and drums his fingers on the island under him. They make little clinks as the metal claws hit it.

“Well, I guess we better start talking,” I say.

Zafiro raises an eyebrow but smirks nonetheless.

He hops off the counter and then moves to sit on a leather armchair next to the couch.

Slowly, I sit back down on the couch. I sit on the end furthest from him.

He looks up at the monitor. Somehow it has paused and shows a frame of Mekaias staring at the camera.

“I see you like to keep up with today’s events,” He says.

I do not say anything. This feels weird. It should feel wrong, right? Shouldn’t I be against this whole interaction?

I am not and it scares me. Why am I fine with this?

“I have met him, you know?”

That grabs my attention.

“You what?” I give him a look of disbelief. “Now I know you are only here to mess with me.”

Zafiro laughs but shakes his head. “I swear on my life that I really did meet him.”

I narrow my eyes. “How?”

“Well, I had a grand idea one day that since the U.U.P.P. Soulmates are filthy rich, anything from their house has to cost something. Even if it didn’t, the fact it came from their house would bring all kinds of buyers.”

“You stole from the Alentian?” I frown. “Why would you do that? He has already been through enough.”

Zafiro rolls his eyes but inspects his metal nails.

“Anyways, I went over pretending I was some house cleaner. Honestly, if Norian was there, I am pretty sure I would have been caught immediately. Mekaias pretty much let me in willingly!”

I find it really hard to believe a deadly alien like Mekaias would fall for something so stupid.

“I pretended to clean and went through all their things,” Zafiro continues. “You would probably be sad to know that they don’t really have much in that home of theirs. It is not even a big home. Filthy rich but act like they are poor. It kind of made me feel just a tiny bit bad.

Their home was a mess though. I swear they must have forgotten to give out chores or something because there was shit all over the place.

Well, Mekaias was busy in their gym room. I saw he was dancing by himself.”

I shake my head. I can’t really imagine him dancing. He seems way too shy to be doing something like that.

Soon I realize that I have slowly been moving closer to Zafiro as he tells this story.

“They had a few paintings and a really rare planetarium. Those I did steal. They sold for quite a bit because again, they belonged to the two most famous people in the universe.

Besides all that, the best part was that while I was upstairs snooping around their room, I check for Mekaias and I find he has cleaned the entire bottom floor!

Can you believe that? He cleaned it all for me! A fake house cleaner!”

I actually snort at that but I roll my eyes at this ridiculous story. It sounds too fake to be true.

“Well, I could tell he felt bad about it because his face was just full of guilt. I could tell he was probably going to come after me so I went into their bathroom and actually did clean it a bit.

He came in there and apologized. Apologized!

I mean who does that?

Honestly it all made me change my mind about him.”

I raise an eyebrow at that. “Change it how?”

Zafiro shrugs and stares at the monitor. “I don’t know. I thought he would have been as stuck up as the rest of the people on the screens. He was really nice and it honestly caught me off guard.”

Hmm...maybe that will make him stop stealing? He will realize that the people he steals from are not all bad.

“It didn’t really stop me from snooping out his safe, however,” He says.

Never mind.

I am practically on the arm of the couch. This story weirdly drew me in even though it was a story of a crime.

The fact I am very close to Zafiro is both strange and weirdly exciting?

I don’t know how I feel about that…

Scooting away, I ask, “Why are you telling me this? I thought we were going to talk about the robot that just tried to kill me.”

Zafiro smile and shrugs. “I don’t know. Call it a conversation starter I guess. Isn’t that what people do on dates? Also, about the robot, a gang leader named Arturo sent him.”

“First of all, this is not a date,” I glare. “ and how do you know this ‘Arturo’ sent the machine?” I say.

“Black and red are the gang colors.” He says.

Hmm, I think I have seen people wearing clothes with those colors, but that could just be a coincidence.

“Why would they send a robot after me?” I ask.

Zafiro sighs and bites his lips before speaking. “Apparently people knew I stopped by last night. I do not know how but apparently they did.”

“So you brought me into this.” I say.

Zafiro purses his lips and nods. “Would you believe me if I said I didn’t mean to?”

I just give him a deadpan expression.

“Really?” I say. “You came to me asking for help. I would not put it past you that you would want something like this to happen. Now I have a damn gang watching me.”

“What?” He frowns. “I would never want to bring you into this. I already hate that my family is apart of this mess already, why would I want to haul you into it as well?”

Part of me thinks he is lying simply because of what he is. Another part feels that maybe I should trust him. He did save me after all. It just does not help that he was acting so casual right after shooting the thing. He even went through my stuff.

“Why are you even being looked for?” I ask. “Surely, they can get over a missing painting or something along the lines of that.”

He laughs but shakes his head. “I wish it was only that. I stole plans of one leader and gave it to another. The one I stole from found out and now everything has gone to shit. Today some of his men attacked another part of my family. I think you can imagine why I decided to come visit tonight.”

I slowly nod. “And now they are coming for me?”

“I guess so. I find it stupid since you were part of U.U.P.P.” He says. “I guess those plans were really important.”

I scratch the back of my head. “And what exactly were those plans? Did you even look at it?”

“Of course I did,” He raises an eyebrow. “I am way too curious not to inspect everything I take.”

At my silence, he keeps talking.

“The plans had shown different factories and other places to attack. They wanted to steal augments to sell for a cheaper price.”

So that is the big thing that brought a damn robot into my house. Over some damn augments.

I would probably be angry about it but I have one already.

Why can’t this world just be a little more peaceful? That is something I would love right now.

“You should be fine, right?” Zafiro asks. “You were a part of U.U.P.P. so you probably have special protections and stuff.”

I laugh and shake my head. “Does this look like I have any sort of security?” I gesture to the robot behind me and then to him.

He raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms. “If you have not noticed, I am not attacking you.”

“Yes, but you broke into my house,” I say. “Also, why are you not attacking me?”

“I could say the same to you,” Zafiro smirks.

That was honestly a little bit surprising.

“You think I want to hurt you?” I ask. Is it weird I feel hurt by that? I am pretty sure that is weird.

“Yes?” Zafiro says slowly. “Why else would you be chasing me? I get trying to arrest me, which you could have done by now but you are not even trying so that raises another question, but I always assumed you wanted to hurt me.”

I frown at that.

Do I come off as abusive? I know I can be somewhat rude and I can shout a lot, but I never thought I seemed abusive.

Zafiro leans on the arm rest. “Is there a reason you are not in your metal form right now? Not that I am complaining. You look pretty damn handsome.”

I glare at him and look away.

“What?” He says with a laugh. “Do you think I am lying?”

I roll my eyes. “Of course I do. You are a thief. There is not a single ounce of honor in you so I know you just live a life of lies. Knowing you, you probably get off on constantly making people feel like shit.”

There is silence which honestly is a bit unsettling. Sure, Zafiro seems to love the sound of his voice, but the silence does not seem so welcomed now.

Glancing back at him, I see that he has a hurt expression on his face.

Ok, maybe I was a bit too harsh. I am still a bit bitter that I lost my job because I chose to chase him down when I was told not to.

Zafiro stares at the coffee table.

“You do not know me,” He says quietly. “Everyone lies, but I know I do not lie as much as every other asshole around me. I do not get off on annoying people. If anything, I have been told that I make nice company. If you don’t want to help me because you find me so annoying, they please do this for my family. They at least can’t have annoyed you.”

He stands from his chair and makes a move for the stairs.

“Zafiro,” I call out. Standing to follow him up.

He sighs and turns on one leg to look at me. “I am not going to steal your crap. You can relax. I am just leaving since apparently I am dishonorable and I make you feel like shit.”

He pulls on a fake smile when he says ‘shit’.

“I...I’m sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean it.”

He raises an eyebrow and then walks towards me.

“Really?” He says. I take a few steps back as he get closer. “You said it, so you clearly think it.”

Quickly, I let my skin turn into metal. He is getting far too close for my comfort.

He stops moving when he sees my skin change and then he shakes his head. “You know, you really are like the typical hot dude. Good looks but definitely an asshole. I am not going to attack you. I have never had a reason to hurt you.”

“You shot me in the head at the museum,” I say. “That makes me think twice about you.”

He rolls his eyes. “You are unkillable as a Tin Can. I knew you would be fine and I couldn’t get caught.”

“You should be in jail for all you have stolen,” I say.

Zafiro raises an eyebrow and lifts both his hands in front of me. “Fine then. Arrest me. Just know that when you do, families will starve since they can’t find any jobs in the Rich Side and everyone in the Poor Side is too greedy to offer jobs. All that is left is joining one of the gangs.”

I frown down at him.

“Come on,” He pushes his hands into my stomach. “Arrest me! This is what you wanted, right?”

“I…” I look down at his hands. “I don’t know.”

Zafiro gazes into my eyes and then he crosses his arms. He keeps blinking to keep tears from falling. They make his eyes shine bright. I find that really pretty.

I let my metal skin go away.

“What can I do to help?” I ask.

Zafiro turns away from me, he tries to hide himself wiping his tears, but I can tell that he is.

“I caught one of Arturo’s guys,” He says. “You can find him in your garage.”

Oh. Well...that’s great I guess.

“I’ll let someone bring him into U.U.P.P.” I say.

Zafiro nods and moves for the stairs again.

“Zafiro, wait.” I say. I move behind him and gently rest my hand on his shoulder. “I am sorry if I offended you.”

He sighs and turns to me. He is finally at eye level with me. These are some pretty steep stairs too.

“First of all,” He smacks my hand away. “Don’t touch me. Second of all, admit that you are an asshole.”

Letting out a small sigh, I nod. “I am a gigantic asshole.”

I really am. I never realized he was taking care of people who were in need. I understood his family was under attack, but I never assumed they were dirt poor. I honestly just thought they were all a pack of criminals.

I was wrong and I was rude for what I said about him. Just what made Zafiro decide to start stealing to provide for his family? That seems like a real life changer if you ask me.

“Damn right you are,” He chuckles. “You’re lucky you’re handsome.”

“I am?” I ask.

Zafiro rolls his eyes. “What do you think? You have a mirror.”

For some reason this made me blush. He has joked around it all the time but apparently...it’s what he actually thinks?

That makes me feel weird.

I can tell he is smirking at how pink my face is getting.

“I have a question,” I say.

Zafiro raises an eyebrow.

“Did you really meet the Alentian?”

He laughs. “Yes! I saw the cat feet and everything!”