Pristine's Problem | ONC 2024

04 | midnight mocha

When Avril's dignity was being stomped by churlish strangers, all he did usually was stare at them stomping, eyes laced with faint angst. But this time, he didn't want to just stare.

"Fine!" he gritted, averting his attention from the glowing woman.

Romine had a way with her clients. She knew the right nerve to twist and her work would be completed with ease.

The silence between the affiliates braced fury for Avril and waved in merry for Romine.

Two contrasts, for sure, where out to venture the world of sinister and crime.

"Anyways," Romine slurped her coffee (which she had to make because baristas don't work at night and sleep rather), "I deserved that money."

Avril scoffed vividly.

"Metamorphosing itself is a strenuous task, and upon that, a grandmother!" she furiously vented a tirade, recollecting the painful moments of a hurried transformation.

"You have been doing that your whole life!" Avril reminded madly. All this woman knew was to complain!

"And it's not like making a lemonade either, Mr. Avril Alteiner!" the flaring woman snapped.

"You see, I am not just transforming into the character, but also playing it. And it's not at all easy to act like an old woman."

Avril remained silent, compressing his expressions. It felt happy to see Romine rant. And moreover, the fact that he was the reason added more bliss.

"I couldn't run back after rebounding to my original form, I had back pains for Pandora's sake!" Romine shrieked.

Avril didn't want to subdue his glee anymore. He chuckled softly, earning a grimace.

"Why? Just why an old woman, out of all the possible characters in this world?" she beseeched.

This feels good, Avril grinned. The fact that someone else pleaded to him made him feel powerful. Feel superior. And ultimately, feel worthful.

"To earn the trust of your victim, Romine," he seated his words wisely. Romine's intellectual launched rockets to contemplation and surveyed it's fissures. Of course, the delicate dupe fell at once for the gentle character she exuded.

"Hmm," she returned, "You do have a brain after all."

Avril was too tired to rebuke. He let her take his reticence as her weeny victory.

"Next question, why her, that girl, her name was something like —"

"Pristine," Avril divulged. How could he forget his lovely prey?

Romine nodded ardently. After performing her order with full compliance, she finally wanted to know the actual motive.

"So that it would be easier to divert the attention away from my household."

Romine blinked in ambiguity. She didn't even know Avril's family members. What was he expecting from a foreigner?

"Pristine is lovesick for Andrei, so it would navigate the case into something like Pristine turning into a psychopath and killing her beloved upon facing rejection!"

"That makes too much sense," Romine nodded in bewilderment. Was Avril the same boy she had seen few years ago, visiting Pandora frequently for psychiatric treatments? The fragile lad cloaking within his mother's warm figure, branded as an innocent product of Mateo, incapable of manifesting powers was mastering the vilest plans with such ease!

Enamoured by her client's finesse, Romine concurred with Avril's hypothesis of the case. Pristine was surely a lovesick woman, prying for Andrei's attention. Romine snickered on discerning the fact that Pristine was prepared to give only her life for her love and not take.