Fira marched into the kitchen, pushing The Werewolf in front of her. Levi sat on the kitchen countertop, kicking his legs. At the sight of her, he grinned. “Fira! What’s up?”

“What are you doing back here?”

Levi squinted at her. “Demanding that I, the customer, who is always right, gets my due.”

“You weren’t even invited to this party,” Fira snapped.

“No, but that doesn’t mean I can’t demand legal recompense for my lost time and injured taste buds. It just means I have a harder case to win.”

Fira gave him a look. He stared back at her, unbothered. “Yeah?”

Abruptly, his phone rang. Levi startled, grappling it out of his pocket and almost dropping it. He lifted it to his ear. “Leviathan Jones, marketing. You sell it, we shill it.”

A pause.

“Oh, right. Yeah. You home?”

Another pause.

“No, I mean, it’s not a hundred percent. But we’re talking a hundred-pointer—yeah, yeah. No, trust me. They’re all going to be high as fuck—”

Levi flinched, yanking the phone away from his ear. Shouting echoed across the kitchen. “Maury, listen. I didn’t buy drugs. There’s a guy here, he—yeah, yeah. No. Not doing that shit again. That was—okay, I get it. Spiraling once is enough. Once is enough. And it’s not me anyways, it’s all the supers. Turn on your TV, it’s gonna be a hell of a show in a minute.”

Maury started shouting again, but Levi hung up. He grinned at Fira. “Can I help you?”

Fira raised her brows so high he almost worried they’d fly off her face. “You’re drugging the supers?”

Taken aback, Levi pointed at himself. “Me? No.”

“Someone here is drugging the supers,” Fira rephrased, frustrated.

A smirk spread across Levi’s face. He shrugged noncommittally. “Maybe. Who knows? Anything’s possible if you put your mind to it.”

“Levi.”

“Did you eat the fresh chickie nuggies, by the way? You might want to lie down.”

“I didn’t. And you did drug them, then!”

Levi gave her his most exasperated look and rolled his eyes with all the sarcastic energy of a thirteen year old who’d just discovered emo. “I didn’t do anything. All I’ve done is sit in this kitchen and say a few encouraging words.”

“Racketeering and conspiracy are crimes too, Al Capone. They don’t need to get you on tax fraud,” Fira deadpanned back at him.

Levi jumped up and clapped. “Fira! You’re learning! What a comeback. That’s my girl!”

“So you are committing crimes.” Fira crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Me? Would I do that? Commit crimes?” Levi asked, innocence written all over his face.

From around the corner, Arsenic poked his head in the room. “Hey, boss, I’ve knocked out all the cameramen. We’ve got full control of the cam room.”

“Is that not a crime?” Fira pointed at Arsenic.

“Who’s controlling it now?” Levi pushed off the countertop and stood, concerned.

“Spitfire. Want me behind the controls?” Arsenic asked. He thumbed at Fira. “Also, who’s that?”

“A friend. She’s with us, don’t worry.”

“I’m not so sure,” Fira muttered under her breath.

Levi pointed at her. “Your brother sent you to me for a reason. Trust the precog.”

“What? There’s a precog involved in this heist?” Arsenic’s face lit up.

“No, just a siscon who’s watching over that girl, right there,” Levi said. He looked at Fira, and his eyes took on a calculating gleam.

Fira backed away. “Nope. No. I’m not helping you. If my brother’s intervening to keep me safe, that’s great, but I’m not taking part in this…heist, or whatever, so forget about it.” She paused. “What’s a siscon?”

“Laugh. She doesn’t know,” Levi said.

Fira squinted at him, and even Arsenic frowned. “The hell?”

“You’ve never ironically recited internet memes aloud?” Levi paused. “Wait, hold on. Yeah, that’s right. That one went out of style years ago. Damn me and my stale memes!”

“I’m not sure staleness is what went wrong there,” Fira muttered, casting a look at Arsenic, who shrugged back.

“All my jokes land. I’m all killer, no filler,” Levi said distractedly, then startled. “Hell yeah! I’m gonna use that next time. ‘Levi’s assassination services, all killer, no filler.’ Great call, Fira.”

“I…didn’t…” Fira sighed.

“Is he always like this around you?” Arsenic asked.

“Pretty much. Is he not like this all the time?”

Arsenic shook his head. “It wasn’t this bad until you showed up.”

Levi threw up his hands. “I get manic around pretty ladies, what can I say. Don’t we all?”

Arsenic shook his head. Fira gave him a dead-eyed look.

“Right. Well. You know. I got broken, okay? I got broken up here.” He tapped his head. “Cut me a little slack.”

“You…got broken?” Fira asked.

“Uh huh. Did you think I was born this good? Hell no. My poor mother would’ve drowned me in the bath,” Levi muttered. He grabbed a few plates of snacks and arranged them on a platter, then stood there, facing half-away from them. His hands fiddled at the air, desperate to be doing something. He cast his eyes across the room, but found nothing, and kept grasping the air.

“Got broken? What does that mean, Levi? What happened?” Fira asked, her voice suddenly soft.

Levi tilted his head to the side and turned away from her. His face wrinkled. “Nothing. Don’t do that. The soft thing. I don’t want your consideration. I don’t need it. I’m strong.”

“You—you’re strong whether you admit your weakness or not,” Fira said, earnestly concerned.

“And that’s where you’re wrong!” Levi clapped, the sharp sound jarring in the quiet. He nodded at Arsenic, refusing to look at Fira. “Camera room’s ready to go? Let’s get started bussing these snacks. Are there any more server costumes? I could help.”

“Huh? Oh, sure. In this closet back here…” Arsenic gestured vaguely over his shoulder, still staring at Levi.

“Great. Let’s keep moving!” He bustled out of the room.

Silence fell behind him. Fira frowned at the floor, then raised her eyes to Arsenic, searching for an answer.

Arsenic put his hands up. “Fucked if I know, man. Guy’s crazy, but he’s the kinda crazy that gets the job done, you know? Whatever fucked him up in the past, I don’t wanna know what it is.”

“But if he admits it, he can start to move past it. Start healing,” Fira argued.

“Maybe. Or maybe admitting it is the last straw that shatters that glass camel. Look, sometimes people bury things for a reason. You really have to ask yourself, do you want to know? Will you be happier if you know what made him like this? Or will you just have traumatic knowledge, and still feel exactly the same?”

Fira stared, taken aback. “I…you…”

Arsenic rubbed the back of his head. “Surprised, huh? I get it. Yeah. Villains aren’t supposed to be the emotionally sensitive type. But you know? Most of us are here because something fucked up happened to us. I’ve heard enough sob stories to know I’m happier not knowing.”

Fira opened her mouth, then closed it. She nodded. “I—”

“Arsenic, let’s go! Gotta get these munchies distributed.” Levi burst back into the room like a tornado, snatching up a tray in his whirlwind passing. Arsenic shot Fira a grin, and then the two of them were gone, leaving Fira alone in the kitchen.

She stared after them, thinking. Abruptly, she jumped in place, fists balling tight. “Fuck! I let Levi get away! Dammit…”