A kings Reward and The Wings Spread

[Bobbie]

Simon watched the mother daughter lookalikes, still in disbelief that all of this was actually happening. With a grateful smile, he nodded to the woman. “Okay, that sounds great. Thank you so much.” This was above and beyond repayment for bringing their daughter back – in reality, she was just as much of a crucial participant in saving him as he was in saving her.

“Yes ma’am, I’ll leave them all in a basket.” He nodded, before looking to Annika and he laughed, “In her hands? I can’t wait to see how brilliant it’s going to look! I bet the others at the station will be pretty jealous.” He joked, obviously referring to the one very particular officer whom Annika had indeed met – the bitter scowling Miguel. “Honestly, this really is a lot.” He went back to being serious, addressing the older woman again, “I appreciate all of this, you are very kind.”

However, he decided to give a very small window to revoke their offer – just in case – as Annika slid a set of towels over to him along the counter and he happily grabbed them with a big grin on his face.

“Don’t mind if I do! I will see you later!” he announced as he walked backwards toward the massage parlour's changing room. He paused for a moment to look back and make sure he was going the right way, then turned once more to wave to the two kind women before heading off to disappear into the changing room to get ready for a glorious, much-needed massage.

---

Meanwhile, back at the station, word seems to have travelled quite fast as people were talking about Simon’s return. Some were relieved, others were indifferent, but all of Miguel’s circle occupied themselves with the humour of a man returning battered and bruised, but with a stupid smile on his face nonetheless.

“Any second, he’ll walk through that door, his uniform probably disgracefully ruined, and a stupid wide smile. ‘Hey guys, I made it back!’ he’d say… after god knows what kind of misadventures he got himself into! Smiling Simon, tch!” Miguel scoffed as he sent one of his co-workers into a laughing fit. “He’s a master at getting himself into trouble, a natural gift! The only talent he has, the rest of it is all luck! Luckiest man on the planet to survive his own clumsiness.” With that, and another joined in – “Maybe his smile has evolved - with a missing tooth or two.” Another roar of laughter came from the men and women who were busy taking the mickey. Promptly, one officer scruffed up his uniform and exaggerated a giddy expression to mimic what they were all imagining: a hopeless chap returning from his own unfortunate mishaps.

“I swear, if anybody calls that guy a hero one more time I’m going to throw up all over them.” Miguel added with a sigh as the laughing subsided. “Where the heck is he, anyway? If he’s been back long enough for stories to make their way around, why isn’t he here yet?”

“Haven’t you heard? The girl he brought back was a Stratonovski.” An eavesdropping officer who hadn’t joined in on all the fun now interfered.

“A Stratonovski?” Miguel’s jaw dropped and he stared, dumbfounded.

“Yeah. Think of the rewards he could be getting right now at their big fancy mansion. That’s where I hear he went.” The man laughed and raised his eyebrows at Miguel, knowing that would strike a nerve.

“Think of who that idiot is getting himself involved with, you moron!” swiftly springing to his feet, he grabbed his jacket. “He’s probably smiling his way through everything, and he’s dumb enough to get associated with leading criminals! Don’t you know the Stratonovskis are the ones who have supplied countless goods and ships to some of the pirates and revolutionaries to have set sail from our very own ports!?” Miguel’s voice boomed throughout the entire station as everybody fell silent. “You know it! I know it! Just because it’s not on paper, that doesn’t make it untrue, it only makes them even sleazier scumbags with their grabby fingers twisted into the system!” he paused to look around at his fellow law-enforcers, some of whom were trying to hush him in fear of the chief hearing. Their silence, however, only confirmed what Miguel was saying – everybody knew this, although they could never legally tie the family business to such claims. Everybody knew this… “How could that blooming idiot not know!?” Miguel screamed.

“I have to do everything myself! That incompetent monkey is going to get us all in deep sh*t for leaving one of our own to get kidnapped – we’re all going to get in trouble for this!” he snapped and addressed everyone as the true reason he was invested in Simon’s well-being came out.

It was no secret – Miguel despised Simon.

With a final huff, he stormed out of the building and made his way to the Stratonovski mansion, hoping he would make it there in time before Simon could be roped in on some odd scheme to join a cult or some secret organisation... with its own personalised uniform…

---

Simon: #d2ce2f

Miguel: #ffdfb2

Other officer: #001eac

Eavesdropping officer: #019110

[Kami-Gaz]

The mother daughter combo watched as Simon made his thanks and headed down into the changing room to get ready for his well-deserved massage. Annika herself was waving after him and wishing him the best of luck with the girl that would release that tension he was carrying in his shoulders and lower spine. Aleckzandra was a master of manipulating the human body to relax it with just her bare hands… when extras like warm stones and compression towels were used it felt like a person would ascend to heaven itself. “Tell Zandra to use the lava stones! She will know what you mean!” Annika called down the corridor to Simon. It was something he needed to hear to get the best possible experience.

“Anni, baby… You’re a fruit eater now.” Alivia spoke, not hesitating now that the guest was gone. She was doing her motherly thing and that was to make sure her baby girl was prepared for what was to come in life. Now she had eaten a devil’s fruit it was going to be something massively different from what she was expecting. “Tell me, what happened? Before you got back, we heard stories of you being kidnapped and your friend charging in alone to rescue you.” She said before looking her baby up and down… despite being a bit worn out and dishevelled the young heiress was looking perfectly healthy. Aside for those metal ringed holes in her palms.

The young girl watched her mother and nodded. “A lot did mummy, a lot. I went to the docks to pick the fruit up, I did a lot of research and managed to use one of my days off of work to go to the deep market. I bought it in auction.” She explained, walking to sit on the stool that was nearby, the one behind the reception. She leaned forward and rested her head on her arms with her hair splayed all over the desk. “I went to collect it and Simon was there on duty checking import documents. He spotted the manifest was dodgy and was only doing his work. I convinced him to take me with him.” She carried on.

The entire time Alivia was nodding to the younger and colder version of herself intently, not saying a word but taking them all in. “When we were on the ship the pirates attacked and we hid in the cargo. We didn’t get found until they pulled the ship into their base, and I had to help Simon get a rat out of his pants by kicking it.” She said, a small triumphant smile appearing on her face. “We became friends as we waited, then we made a plan I stole my fruit and we escaped. Simon distracted them and because of an accident things exploded and we got away all safe. Aside from Simon taking a swim in the cold ocean.” Annika finished her explanation, it was plain and simple but that was all it needed to be at the moment, there was room for interpretation and speculation.

With a sight the mother nodded. “You sound like you need a massage yourself little Miss.” She said with that joking expression and a soft smile, the mirror to what Annika used when she was happy.

---

Post: 8

[/font]Claude: ce5a3d
Oleg: 00c2ff
Alivia: a55eff[/ul][/div]

[Bobbie]

As Simon reached the changing room, he heard Annika’s call. He paused and poked his head out the door frame again with a smile, “I will tell her that, thank you!” he shouted in return and waved once more with his free hand while the other firmly held onto the towels previously passed onto him by Annika, before disappearing into the room again.

This was exciting. “Lava stones. Lava stones.” He repeated to himself in a whisper to make sure he didn’t forget it – which would be quite easy to do given the circumstances. He began to unbutton his shirt before he paused – “I should find that basket first…” he mumbled to himself, preferring not to wind up without his clothes as he searched. 

Of course, in a place as organised and well-kept as this one, it wouldn’t take him very long.

---

Miguel rushed across the city of Water 7 as fast as he could to get to the mansion, ‘borrowing’ a bull for legal police business to speed his passage along. He had actually never travelled so fast for a job where being efficient was key, but now, to reach Simon in time before he made a grave error in lapse of judgement, Miguel broke every speeding law in the canals. If things escalated before Miguel could reach Simon on time, he could be pulled down with him.

As the sergeant arrived at the mansion, he took a moment to compose himself. He removed his police hat to smoothen his hair with a gloved hand and put it back on neatly. Puffing his chest up, he fixed his fitted uniform while his jacket lay on his shoulders like a cape, a loose chain connecting the shoulders across his chest to prevent it from falling. Not that it was necessary – the amount of badges and fancy ornaments hanging off it, which Annika had previously described as ‘garish’, kept it well in place and weighed down.

The officer allowed himself for one final expression of pure contempt for the lower-ranking constable that he had to drag out of this mess, then took a deep breath and made himself presentable again with a stern look that would tolerate no nonsense. "This is the police, here on official police business - open up!"

His gloved knuckles pounded on the door as he stood tall and well-built. He cleared his throat and knocked on the door again, impatiently, three more times. Unlike Simon, he was rather unfazed by all the guards around, clearly more fearless and less timid than his partner.

Barely giving Claude, or anyone for that matter, a chance to open the door, he realised there was a doorbell – so he rang that too.

---

Simon: #d2ce2f

Miguel: #ffdfb2

[Kami-Gaz]

Annika made a soft shrugging motion to her mother and shook her head. “No thank you. I have to start training with Fonzie!” The young woman said with a flare of passion, jumping to stand up and look at her mum in the eyes. Her icy orbs stared on for a moment before looking to the path to the changing rooms and the massage parlour. Maybe one would be nice… finally relax after all of yesterday and the night of sleeping rough out on that row boat.

Her mother shook her head with a large smile and playfully sighed to the girl as she leaned against the desk and pulled out some paper work, beginning to sign forms and write out instructions. She was creating the pass and leaving notes that were needed for the staff to let Simon in to the Spa whenever it was open. “You will train tomorrow. Today you do what you said and you fix up the uniform that your friend ruined to help you.”

”Y-yes mum…” Annika said quietly before getting up and going to check on if the basket had been left out or not. She needed to do this right for Simon, he was such a big help and deserved everything good he got.

---

The door was pounded on relentlessly, shouts of the police and to open up. It was all terribly loud and unnecessary. Stood either side of Miguel were guards, a pair of tall men in suits that menacingly looked down to the policeman. It was not long before the door opened just a crack and Claude poked his head out. He saw Miguel and sighed softly. The door slammed shut again before he could respond though.

Inside there was a muffled. “Sir! There is a miscreant at the door for Young Miss Annika’s friend!” A moment later and the door was opened again and Oleg’s slender and unassuming frame appeared with a soft and warm smile.

“Hello officer. How can I help?” Oleg asked calmly as the door swung open to reveal the tall form of Folonzo “The Ship Breaker” standing behind him, menacingly. The head of security cracking his knuckles in his palm as Oleg made the greeting. “I must say Officer, You compatriot Officer Rickshaw is a hero! He brought my daughter back un-harmed from her kidnapping.” He explained with such a big smile.

“He is inside getting a massage in our Spa as thanks. It was on Annika’s instance that he got that because he worked so hard on her behalf. And you know what daughters are like, they won’t stop until they get what they want.” Olegs grin was all to knowing and smug, something that came out of a caricature picture. The man stepped to the side and pointed to a chair. “You’re welcome to come and wait until he is finished.”

---

Post: 9

[/font]Claude: ce5a3d
Oleg: 00c2ff
Alivia: a55eff[/ul][/div]

[Bobbie]

It took Simon longer than it should have to find the basket that was left there for him and to start undressing to place his uniform in the basket. Once it was located, he took very special care to fold his clothing carefully – sure, it was dirty and a little bit rough around the edges, with a tear here and there, but it was still his uniform and he wore it with pride. It deserved to be folded neatly and made presentable regardless of its condition, as a symbol of his contribution to the community of Water 7. "There we go..."

Once he was ready, a towel wrapped securely around his waist and his chest left bare, he emerged to leave the basket where it could be found by Annika or whoever would be collecting it with his uniform nestled inside. While his frame was scrawny and only somewhat built – clearly just enough for him to scrape through in a jujutsu confrontation – it did bear the scars of a warrior.

On his upper left side of his chest was a thin reminder of a wound that looked like it might have come from battle, an opponent who aimed for the officer’s heart, perhaps, in an attempt to dismiss the obstacle that was this lawful bringer of justice. In reality, that one happened a couple of years ago while managing traffic in the canals. After a close miscalculation that landed him in the water, he was trapped between a raft and the edge of the pier, its sharp edge cutting into his chest as he clung onto it, hopelessly writhing in effort to pull himself up. Had the wooden boards at the dock contained larger splinters, the man may have been staked to his untimely death.

---

Miguel heard the muffled voice of Claude and he rolled his eyes, looking around in a false show of patience, glancing toward the guards that accompanied him for a brief moment before returning his gaze to take in his surroundings. So many fancy things… purchased with illegal money, no doubt.

Oleg’s voice made Miguel’s blood boil as his attention darted to his target. He watched the man who looked so timid. More timid than he actually was, and Miguel was aware of this fact. Unlike Simon, he knew all too well what this man was capable of, and he had a decent enough understanding of his foul wrongdoings, to know that he wasn’t as fair as he appeared to be. The sergeant’s frown spoke volumes, but it seemed to shift into a look of horror as he spotted the brick wall placed behind the crime lord. This was Folonzo, then, dubbed ‘The Ship Breaker’.

Swallowing his fear, he looked at Oleg again and returned a smile to conceal a subtle eye-twitch. Hero… HERO!?

“Yes, yes, very selfless of him.” He almost sighed the words out as if he had heard it all a dozen times before and had no time to entertain the idea that Smiling Simon, aptly named for his wonderfully charming smiles, could have possibly planned such an elaborate escape and executed it to perfection. Clearly, there was some mistake.

“Getting a massage?” he blurted out with a laugh of sheer terror – what is he getting himself into? They’ve already got his clutches on him, today it’s a spa, tomorrow he joins their regime!

“I see…” he reached up to smooth his eyebrow down, a habitual behaviour that revealed he was nervous or lost for words. “Well, I wouldn’t know about daughters, I don’t have any of my own, but I’m afraid I am going to have to interrupt his spa day.” He ended his comment in an envious tone as absolutely everything about this situation made him uncomfortable: firstly, Simon, of all people, getting such a fancy reward; secondly, having to snatch him and get him out of there before he seals ties with these criminals; and, lastly, having to speak to this man as if he were just a kind civilian, when in reality both he and Oleg knew that he was not – and Miguel believed that Oleg knew that he knew … that is, judging by the smugness on his face, as if he’d won.

The second Oleg stepped aside, Miguel swiftly entered through the open door, his jacket flowing like a flamboyant cloak behind him as it rested on his shoulders, and he marched into the living room, “I’m very sorry, but this is extremely important and we need him at the station right now. Which way must I go to find him?” he pressed, removing his gloves as his eyes were fixed on Oleg, determined to bring an end to this engagement.

---

Simon: #d2ce2f

Miguel: #ffdfb2

[Kami-Gaz]

Annika hurried along, only going deep enough in the corridor to find the men’s changing room and spotting the bare-chested Simon leaving it down on the floor for her to collect. Her eyes ignored him for the most part, just glancing over him to make sure that was Simon. Then the icy blue orbs lingered on the scar around his heart and wondered what the story there was. A moment passed then she shook her head and collected the basket. Turning around to leave Annika gave the man a nod.

“I’ll get this back to you looking better than ever! And that other guy who stole your spot light will beg for a new uniform!” She announced with a determination in her voice before walking on and out, passing her mother who was filling in paper work, the pair giving each other a quick wave. No words were needed between the two women any more, they understood each other perfectly fine and they knew what the other was going to do next. The young mistress left through the door-

---

Mr Oleg Stratanovski let out a soft sigh and looked back to Folonzo, giving the brick wall of a man a soft nod. “Fonzie, can you escort the no named Officer, who has no warrant, to his companion? If he kicks up a fuss you have full and legal right to throw him out.” Oleg stated with a bored tone now, this was not the first time he had done this dance with the police. The man then looked back to Miguel and then stepped back to let him in.

Folonzo stepped up and started to lead Miguel on. “Come on then, I’m missing my creative writing class for this.” Fonzie noted as he led Miguel down the same hallways that Simon had walked through naught just a couple of minutes ago. The art and everything here being as amazing this time to Fonzie as it was the first, he was just good at hiding his awe at it all. “Don’t cause a fuss mate, the paper work for breaking something in here is a nightmare.” He teased, making it sound that Miguel getting beat up to a pulp was not worth the time in paper work he would need to fill in.

Annika came out of the spa carrying the basket containing Simon’s uniform and smiled to Fonzie with a big grin. He was her bestest friend and favourite body guard. “Fonzie! I thought you had class, why are you-” She cut off noticing Miguel and her ice-cold frown appeared as quick as the smile did. Her eyes were like daggers piercing his heart as she stared over at him.

“What’s that styleless hack doing here? Coming to take credit for Simon’s work again?” She spat, the words seemingly causing the air to go cold in the corridor that the trio were stood in. Her eyes scanned him before her head shook. “Well, you’re going to have to wait, Simon is being seen to by Matilda. Give him ten minutes and he will come out of that room feeling like a god.”

---

Post: 10

[/font]Claude: ce5a3d
Oleg: 00c2ff
Alivia: a55eff
Fonzie: d8b000[/ul][/div]

[Bobbie]

“Okay! Thank you! Again.” Simon grinned, happily. He was excited to be getting a new and improved uniform as well as the spa treatment. As he left the changing room and enter the spa treatment room, he frowned ever so slightly. “What was it that I was supposed to ask for again?” he muttered to himself, bringing a hand up to his chin. “Stones… ah! Lava stones.”

The rest of his walk consisted of Simon’s mind racing through the different possible improvements to be made to his uniform. Will it have a pretty gold rim? Will she add patches over the elbows? A simple design but he always thought that made jumpers look cosier, somehow. What pizzazz will she add to his name embroidered on the shirt? With a creative mind like Annika’s it could be nothing short of glorious, and with what the uniform looks like as is – anything would be an improvement. 

---

Miguel frowned and raised a finger to press it to the nametag on his uniform that read ‘Murphy’. “Officer Murphy, Mr Stratonovski.” He replied, very well aware of who Oleg was, but wrongfully assumed that it would be true the other way around as well. He then turned to the juggernaut before him, feeling like he could shrink to the size of a pea and just roll away through a crack and never return to this mansion – but this was not the time to be a coward. Miguel was no Simon.

Clearing his throat, he flattened his uniform and prompted Fonzie to start walking, waiting to follow. Of course, he had no intention of kicking up a fuss, as getting into a fight with this man wasn’t worth it. As arrogant as he was, Miguel was not delusional, and it was very clear that there was absolutely no chance of winning in a brawl against a thug like this one. Following after him down the hallways, he glanced around at all the marvels hanging on the walls. It was easy to get lost in them, but the officer remained focused on what he came here to do, and that was not to gawk at art. It came as a surprise to him that a man like Fonzie could appreciate something as cultured as not only the environment and atmosphere of this place but also a creative writing class. “Hm. Sorry for the inconvenience. The faster we get to my partner, the faster I’m out of your hair. No fuss necessary…” he muttered, calmly. For sure, things would definitely break, but he wasn’t entirely sure it was the furniture or décor of this place that would break before his skull would at the mercy of this large man if he got on the wrong side of him.

Then Annika came into the picture. That girl, the one who whined about her package – which was probably illegally brought into the port! Which Simon probably helped smuggle…

Miguel’s eye twitched as he was called a ‘styles hack’ and then accused of taking credit for Simon’s work – again. Again? Everything that scaredy cat does is literally an accident, how is that hard work worthy of any credit whatsoever!? Some of us actually had to work our way up from the bottom of a pit, you little brat, while people like Simon could merely waltz around and have everything fall into his lap! His inner monologue was concluded with a frustrated sigh before he looked directly at Annika, but his jaw dropped when he noticed what she was carrying.

“Give that back!” he demanded of Annika. Oh no, this is really happening... he’s going to accidentally get initiated in some underground crime syndicate or a cult or something! He shook his head before speaking quickly, “That is official government property, you can’t have it. Return it, at once!” He reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose as another sigh escaped him as he tried to gather his thoughts and figure out how to tackle this. Why do I have to get partnered with a fumbling clueless monkey.

“Look, I’m sure you mean well…” he paused, having already forgotten the girl’s name. Annabel? Anita? Something that started with an A, but he couldn’t risk getting it wrong as he was quite sure that it would classify as a disrespectful act worthy of having a fuss kicked up about. He glanced at Fonzie as his shoulders drooped and he let out a third exasperated sigh. “We have more uniforms at the station for Simon – that one will need to be processed.” He turned back to Annika, trying to be as nice as he knew how to be. “It’s because of the name tag, you see.” He reached over to try and take the uniform and show her the name tag. “Everything with his name on it is registered in his name. You can’t go around changing a uniform just because you don’t like it.” His façade of false patience was beginning to crumble as words came out as a bit of a hiss. "That's not how uniforms work."

---

Simon: #d2ce2f

Miguel: #ffdfb2

[Kami-Gaz]

With the slight raise of his voice Annika twisted and pushed the basket onto the floor before sliding it back with her foot to keep it as far away from the glory hog as possible. Did he think she was going to steal it and customise it? His head was so shallow! He seemed to catch and control himself, pinching his nose to keep a cool head. Fonzie was just between the pair so he was a very nice deterrent.

His explanations were forced to her as if he saw her as a child, one that was spoiled and needed things explaining to her in dumbed down ways to make sense to her tiny head… that was a shame because she probably had more education in her big toe that he had his entire body. She kept her icy gaze and stared daggers of pure ice to the man. The temperature seemed to drop a few points just because of those eyes.

“I was going to wash it, patch up the holes and sew his name tag back on properly.” She spat, if the words were water, they would have been ice before they reached the man. Her stance was perfectly stood to react to anything and even the mountain of a man Folonzo had stepped to the side to get out of her way. He was stronger than her but when the young miss was on a war path little could stop her.

“Miguel, I don’t like your uniform because of the way you’ve adorned all of your accolades, if you spaced them out a bit more of perhaps used a sash to store them so your shirt did not look so cluttered you would be fine.” She spoke, her gaze peering over his outfit again. “Simons is good, sure he has not got as many awards as you but I can tell he cares for his appearance and is not slap dash.” She waved her hand and turned around to pick the basket up. She gave a loud audible sniff and looked to Fonzie. “Simon is with Matilda getting his massage, it will take me an hour to clean and patch up this uniform. Tell the corru- I mean nice police man to wait in the main spa reception. My mum is in there filling out the paper work to give Simon his life time free entry to the spa.” She looked back. “His reward for saving me, unlike some one.”

[Bobbie]

Miguel stared at the girl, his eyes narrowing as his frown only deepened further as he curled his lip into a sneer. Just who does she think she’s talking to?

The truth was that in the officer’s eyes, Annika really was just that – minus the question of intelligence. Whether he’d care to admit it or not, it was very clear that she had the brains to manipulate a police officer and blind him with fancy gifts and massages, as well as strike a man’s ego where it hurt the most. No, she was certainly not dumb. Spoilt, on the other hand? That was an easy assumption.

Her words stung more than they should have, given that they were coming from somebody that he could only view as a child, but despite his twitching facial features, he could see past them. That is, until she complimented Simon’s uniform. Of course, the skinny little twig-of-a-nobody looks dashing in his uniform, what the heck is it with that guy!? Everything falls right into his lap, it is infuriating!

“Listen here, miss.” He retorted, glad Fonzie moved out of the way, but his overbearing presence remained very known throughout, and he knew he’d have to choose his words carefully. “First of all, it’s Officer Murphy. Secondly, a uniform is a uniform. This is how uniforms work – you get a badge, you put it on. We’re not given any prom-queen sashes to hook them onto. Oh, and just for the record, all of my ‘accolades’, that I’ve cluttered together to adorn my uniform in such a ‘slapdash’ manner, were all earned with hard work that you have no idea of, and neither does happy-go-lucky smiling man in there!”

As he ended his rant, he stared at her for a moment to catch his breath. Aw, crap… he hadn’t lost his nerve like that in a long time and it seemed like there was no fixing this. None of what he said was untrue… but perhaps the way he delivered his point needed a bit of work.

The next accusation of being corrupt elicited an eye roll from the man. Of course, corruption did exist, and yes, he may have been involved in a few shady deals – but was she, the daughter of Oleg Stratonovski, really somebody to talk about corruption? Half of the entire city’s corrupt dealings were in some way or another connected to her father. He stayed his tongue and let out a sigh. It would be best to not repeat his last mistake. “I will personally inspect his uniform upon return, so don’t do anything funny to it.” He warned her before turning to the scary Folonzo.

“Where’s the main reception?” he asked through his teeth. “I'll wait, but this better not take long, so go in there and tell him to hurry up.” He finally added, addressing Annika once more, before crossing his arms grumpily. It seemed there was no way out of this.

---

As Simon had just entered the spa area, he could hear some commotion behind him coming from the direction of the reception, though he wasn't quite sure where exactly. This place was very much like a maze and each room was equally awe-inspiring. It was difficult to tell one chamber from another.

"Is that..?" he asked himself as he thought a voice was familiar, but it was muffled and he couldn't make out many words. "There's no way Miguel would be here... he wouldn't set foot in this mansion unless somebody was dying, or somehow engaged in some sort of illegal activity." he continued to mumble to himself, but a part of him felt so uneasy. It did sound like Miguel... but Simon really wanted this massage. No, he needed it. What harm could come of it anyway, even if it actually was Miguel? Surely he could wait a few minutes... it wasn't like there was any actual police business to be done here among this warm and welcoming family.

His towel wrapped around his waist, he held it anxiously for a moment, his other hand already placed on the door and holding it half way open, the warmth escaping the room.

They must be offering him something nice too. Maybe to fix up his uniform, those badges really weigh the shoulder pads down... or a massage. Miguel could use a massage, he needs to chill and tone it down... such a stickler, always suspicious of this crime or that in the unlikeliest of places...  he sighed and turned to enter the spa treatment room, shaking his head as he did so and let his thoughts go on. Right, like Annika or anyone in this sweet family could ever be involved in that sort of thing. That Folonzo guy is pretty terrifying though... 

He entered the room in search of Matilda. Lava stones, lava stones... 

---

Miguel: #ffdfb2

Simon: #d2ce2f

[Kami-Gaz]

“Through the door I just left.” Annika spoke as she started to walk away, with a simple gesture the ice eyed young woman waved her hand back for her bestest bodyguard. “Fonzie, you can sit with him right?” She asked rhetorically, of course Fonzie was going to keep an eye on such a corrupt arsehole of a cop. The way he stole the credit for brining in the dodgy guy on the dock the day before was scummy… the fact he let him escape was even more scummy. She was around the corner before a reply could be heard.

“You heard the boss, in you go.” Fonzie spoke with an almost bored tone to Miguel. He followed the man in, ducking his head as needed to squeeze into the fancy modern room. “Yo, Alivia!” He spoke, his face brightening when he saw the lady of the house. He moved and took a seat near to the reception counter and got into a lounge position. “Little Anni is kicking up a fuss again, gone a night and the moment she is back there is drama.” He said with a chuckle.

The older version of Annika cracked a warm smile and nodded. “She is really attached to this Simon, he really seemed to have made an impact on her. And now she has her devil fruit I’m sure she will do anything to help him.” She said without a care in the world, barely paying any mind to the new officer that was in the room. When her gaze did lift from her paperwork she smiled and offered a hand out for a shake. “Morning officer, are you here to pick up your comrade and question Annika about what happened?” She asked, not letting her motherly smile fade.

---

Upstairs Annika was whirring up a storm, throwing the uniform into a washing machine that had been invented by one of their stranger employees and smiled. “Fleur I love you! Please never leave us.” She chimed as a button was pressed and a dial in the base caused the machine to whirr and fill with soapy hot water. As that got to work, she ran off and grabbed her good sewing kit and prepared it. After that she turned her attention to her own clothing situation. “I need a shower too…”

---

“Hello sir… How can I help today?” A female voice asked, the owner was a short, tanned woman with thick curly black hair and a steaming mug of coffee in her hands. Matilda was currently perched in a soft looking chair in the corner of the room eyeing the stranger. “Are you a new employee?” She asked, raising an eyebrow as she did.

---

Post: 12

[/font]Claude: ce5a3d
Oleg: 00c2ff
Alivia: a55eff
Fonzie: d8b000[/ul][/div]

Matilda: ffd1f6

[Bobbie]

Miguel watched Annika walk away with contempt. He did not like this girl, she was nothing but trouble, and she had one heck of an attitude that he just couldn’t stand. The worst part was that she had no shame in showing that attitude. The closer she’d get to Simon, he just knew the more trouble she would stare up for him, bailing Simon out of this mess or that – very much like the one he was currently trying to get Simon out of at this moment.

When Fonzie spoke, he glanced up at the large man, his throat suddenly going very dry as he gulped down air. Staying true to his social tell when nervous, he reached up to rub his eyebrow, scratching an imaginary itch, before entering the room indicated by Annika as the beast of a man followed behind. There, he met Alivia. A lot of the illegal business that this family was involved with seemed to be handled by Mr Stratonovski, so while the officer was already familiar with that man, he hadn’t ever been formally introduced to Alivia or she to him. She was attractive, but the resemblance between mother and daughter was uncanny and enough to deter the officer.

Kicking up a fuss is right… of course Simon has to be right in the middle of all this drama. Miguel thought to himself as he sat down with a heavy frown on his face. No words were necessary to communicate his disapproval of the entire situation. If Simon doesn’t get his butt out of that spa soon, this girl’s clutches are going to be wrapped around him so tightly that this family’s reputation may as well be slapped onto him as well… and if that happens, I’m getting dragged down with him as his supervisor. He couldn’t stop his mind from racing through all the worst possibilities – losing his job would be devastating. He took a deep breath. That’s not going to happen. He reached up to scratch at the corner of his eyebrow again, sitting silently in his seat.

“Devil Fruit!?” he suddenly blurted out, repeating the woman’s words only seconds after they were spoken. He knew she had something planned with a devil fruit, but did she already swallow the darn thing!? “She has … Has she eaten it?” he asked, hoping it wouldn’t be too late. He glanced down at the hand of the woman whom he was just gawking at, and forced a smile as he extended a hand to take hers and shake it. His grip was strong, but it came from no inner strength or show of initiative, but rather pure tension and stress that came with the package of supervising Simon Rickshaw, the smiling officer who clearly has no problem associating himself with criminals because he is too naïve to even RECOGNISE one when he’s STARING THEM IN THE FACE!

“Pleasure… I, yeah. Yes, I’m here to pick up my comrade and take him back to the station.” In reality, he wasn’t interested in hearing Annika’s side of things – nor Simon’s. In fact, he only wanted Simon to say exactly what he tells him to say. “And your daughter, of course, she’ll need to come with us to the station as well…” he muttered in as confident a tone as he could manage. Great, so this will be a fun ride back to the station...

---

As Simon entered the room, a warm grin graced his face as he met the short woman. “You must be Matilda!” His gaze dropped to her mug of coffee – that was definitely one way to help him, he wouldn’t mind a nice hot cup of the sweet caffeinated beverage. “Uh, no, I’m not a new employee, I don’t work here. I was invited to the spa by Annika and Ms Stratonovski in return for… well, just returning a favour, I guess.” He said, being far too modest to brag about it – she will probably hear the news anyway, if she hasn’t already. “Simon Rickshaw.” He stared at her, before adding to his last statement that was given completely out of context. “My name, it’s Simon Rickshaw. Nice to meet you.” He held a hand out to shake as his smile somehow grew wider. “I was advised to ask you for lava stones?”

---

Miguel: #ffdfb2

Simon: #d2ce2f

[Kami-Gaz]

Alivia Stratonovski nodded to the policeman and then looked over to the head of security. “I’m sorry Folonzo, but could I ask you to tag along with Annika, just to make her feel safe.” She said in such a sweet caring voice, not even considering how it would affect the officer before her… it was more for security from the other officers that she had known about. The ones who would do anything to harm Oleg, even pushing false charges onto their innocent daughter. “That should be okay, Officer?” She asked returning to her paperwork as she did.

---

In the other room Matilda smiled to man before her and nodded with everything he said… he wasn’t an employee but one of the family had sent him in to get looked after. So little Annika must have told him of her favourite treatment, warmed smooth lava stones placed on the back before and after a massage to warm the soon to be relaxed muscles. “Well then, please lay on your front on this table and place your face into that hole. I can get any beverage you want with a straw underneath if you wish.” She said, a warm smile occupying her face as she moved to the side and started to pile some stones into the steamer.

From there she would begin the massage, unknotting the man and placing the steamed warm stones onto his back. After a while she would repeat the process until Simon was nothing more than sack of jelly.

---

An hour had passed and exactly on the dot Annika entered the reception with that dagger like cold look in her eyes as she spotted Miguel sitting there. “Like I said, exactly one hour.” She had changed her outfit from the one she had worn yesterday. Now she was wearing a pair of skinny jeans that had tactical rips in odd places to give an asymmetric look and a big baggy grey long sleeve top that would have hidden her hands if it weren’t rolled up out of the way now.

“All I have done is clean it, sew up the holes, neaten up his badges and stitch his name tag back on properly.” She said, moving to place the clothes in a basket and nodded to Fonzie to walk through and hand them to Simon. She was right, that was all she had done… well she also from eye touched it up so it would fit the man perfectly.

Fonzie nodded and walked over to take the basket. “Back in a moment.” He spoke before disappearing through the men’s changing room to place the basket by the massage table. “Annika says you uniform is done. Your buddy came to pick you up too.” He spoke.

Outside Alivia smile to Annika and then poked her pen to Miguel. “Anni, dear. Can you go with Officer Miguel Murphy to the station and answer their questions? It’s nothing but standard procedure stuff.” The woman spoke calmly and coolly.

Annika frowned and her dagger like eyes almost became claymores of ice ready to cleave Miguel. “Okay.” She spat, the words almost turning to snow as they left her mouth. With an annoyed look she sat on the chair by her mother and waited for Simon and Fonzie to emerge.

---

Post: 13

[/font]Claude: ce5a3d
Oleg: 00c2ff
Alivia: a55eff
Fonzie: d8b000[/ul][/div]

Matilda: ffd1f6

[Bobbie]

Alivia’s words fell on Miguel like a bag of bricks as his shoulders took all the weight. Hesitantly, he turned to glance at Folonzo, then slowly looked away. Why is this happening to me? He rubbed the corner of his right eyebrow with his pinky finger, hiding his face from the big scary man whom he was doomed to be stuck with for some time, then finally put on a smile in the woman’s direction. “Oh, of course, perfectly okay. Why wouldn’t it be okay? It’s okay.” He lowered his head and placed his hands in his lap, holding his hat over his knee, as he quietly muttered, “Just dandy… So great.”

---

Simon listened to the woman’s instructions and he nodded, looking at the bench, then at the hole. This was the part that he always thought would feel terribly awkward, having your face stuffed in there without knowing what was going on above the surface. “Right… okay.” He smiled and dispelled any worries – this is a massage! It’s going to be fine and relaxing, so just relax!

His thoughts elicited a subtle shake of his head and a chuckle before he got up on the bench and lay on his front, as his face fit snuggly into the hole. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with his arms, so he let them rest by his sides, rolling his shoulders for a moment as he got ready.

First, the warm stones were placed on his back and in an instant, all of his concerns were just gone. The weight of the rocks hit the right spot at the perfect temperature to spread a warm air over his skin. Once Matilda started the massage, Simon couldn’t help but let out a satisfied sigh, “Oh, that feels nice. I can already tell why Annika speaks so highly of you, Matilda, this is a gift that you have.” He said as he closed his eyes and gave in to her magic.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed or how many noises he involuntarily made throughout the massage, but the sound of Folonzo’s voice brought him back to reality. Instinctively, Simon moved to gently raise his head and torso off the bench to look toward the speaker. “Oh, already? That was fast.” He said with a grateful smile, then he sighed, “Yeah, I thought I heard him earlier – he’s not my buddy though, he’s my co-worker. Superior, technically.” He frowned as he said that last part, but soon turned that frown upside down and went right back to grinning. “Thank you, Folonzo.” He said, before turning to look at Matilda. “I am absolutely loving this, but how much longer will this take?” he asked, just wanting to give an estimate to Folonzo to pass on to Miguel to know how much longer he’d have to wait. Simon has seen the grumpy man after being kept waiting, and it was not a pretty sight he would like to see again.

---

Miguel eyed the uniform as it was placed into the basket and passed on to Folonzo to take to Simon. He was sceptical – she better not have changed anything else that she failed to mention, or she would be in big trouble. As the girl stared daggers at him, he narrowed his eyes and glared right back at her. “I really hope so, because if I find a single thing out of place on his uniform, both you and he will be in trouble.” He said, plainly. The officer then sighed, able to loosen up now that the wall of a man was no longer present in his vicinity. “Good.” He replied to her agreeing to go with him to the station. “We’ll need to hear your side of things back at the station and what happened, as a civilian. I will guide you through the whole process, so just do what I tell you to.”

---

Simon: #d2ce2f

Miguel: #ffdfb2

[Kami-Gaz]

Matilda Looked at Simon as she was piling the stones into a bag so they could be washed and looked to Fonzie. “I finished fifteen minutes ago; I was just reapplying stones because you seemed like you needed the time to relax.” The masseuse said with a soft smile before looking up to Fonzie and grinning. “You’re still booked in for tomorrow, don’t worry Palchi isn’t complaining about his back this time.”

The wall of a man smiled down to the woman and looked at Simon. “Take your time getting change mate, I am enjoying torturing your co-worker.” Fonzie said with a chuckle before leaving the room and heading back to the reception just as Annika looked at Miguel with a raised eyebrow.

“Excuse me? Us both be in trouble because his uniform actually fits him now?! Because he has a well sown Name tag, and his badges are spaced properly? I hope you don’t antagonise every citizen that willingly comes to answer questions that you already know most of the answers too.” Annika hissed to the man, her tone making the air chill in the reception to the point that Alivia started to rub her arms to warm them up. “You know how the boat I got on was stolen Officer, you let that slime bag that Simon had cornered out of your questioning and back onto the boat!“ She carried on.

Folonzo walked in and watched with a smile on his face, proud of the girl he protected. She had the spirit of a polar bear in her and he was damn happy to see it protecting her. Alivia on the other hand was hiding her smile behind her hand as she feigned a look of shock, she was genuinely struggling to contain a fit of laughter.

“If it were not for Simon we would have never escaped! It was him that blew up that pirate base, giving us a chance to get the rowboat and row away.” She said, not realising that her tirade had made her stand up and point her finger at the man as she get very into swinging her arms around. “If your men were good enough you would have found their base now and arrested them!” She said before finishing and sitting down with a nice huff. "Simon is a damn Hero!"

---

Post: 14

[/font]Claude: ce5a3d
Oleg: 00c2ff
Alivia: a55eff
Fonzie: d8b000[/ul][/div]

Matilda: ffd1f6

[Bobbie]

“Oh.” Simon blinked and stared at Matilda with pure gratitude in his eyes, which sparkled as his lips curled into yet another gracious smile. “Thank you so much. I really did and this worked wonders. Keep up the amazing work!” he replied in a gentle tone, his entire being having become more mellow after the massage. “Hey, go easy on him, okay?” he addressed Folonzo. This was partly because Simon wasn’t as mean a person to enjoy torturing Miguel, and partly because that usually meant he’d take it out on him later on.

He then sat up and then got off the bench, but felt a little bad to be offering no payment to the woman who just untied every knot in his muscles. “Listen, I know this was a thank you gift from Annika’s parents, but if you ever need anything that I can help you out with, I would be happy to return the favour.” He offered, meaning every word.

“Amazing…” he uttered as he left the massage parlour to head back to the changing room, taking his new and improved uniform with him.

---

Meanwhile, Miguel stared at Annika, leaning back in his chair as the girl became so animated in her rant. “Well, I said-“ he started trying to explain as he feared he may have been misunderstood, but the girl’s chin kept wagging. He raised a hand in attempt to cue her to hit pause, “I know, but-“ again, he just couldn’t find a moment to interject, and each time he tried just made him feel smaller and smaller as the girl talked down to him as if she were the adult and he were the child, receiving a brutal scolding.

I hate these people.

As the sergeant’s ego shrank smaller than the size of his shiny cufflinks, he tried his very best to steel himself, mentally. “If-“, “That base-“, “We were-“

How does she talk so much!? His inner voice screamed as two rivers of tears flowed from his imaginary self’s eyes. At this point, he had sunk so low in his chair that he had to physically look up at Annika, who was pointing her finger right at him. Then, the voice that escaped the ruthless monster’s lips finally stopped. He finally had a chance to speak, yet, his mouth agape, Miguel was completely speechless and had a defeated look of sheer embarrassment and shame on his face.

“Whoa…” Simon suddenly spoke, having been standing beside Folonzo to watch most of that, dressed in a perfectly fitted uniform, touched up to the finest degree. He was equally speechless as he stared at the mighty Miguel, bully of the precinct, put into his place by an eighteen-year-old.

With that, Miguel promptly stood up and cleared his throat. He put on his hat to cast a shadow over his eyes and adjusted his jacket, worn like a cloak. “Well, hurry up.” He muttered in a voice smaller than Simon had ever heard, before he rushed past everyone to the front door, eager to leave this horrible place and these horrible people who had just crushed his self-image and stomped it to a pulp.

“What just happened? We should follow him. Annika, you’d need to come too, I presume.” Simon asked in surprise, pointing in the direction that Miguel just stormed off to. “Thank you very much, Mrs Stratonovski.” He started as he walked past her, trying to hurry to catch up to Miguel, “The massage was a delight! It was lovely meeting you!” he called out as he was already almost out of the room.

---

Simon: #d2ce2f

Miguel: #ffdfb2