“Ma’am, I’m sorry but you are not allowed to touch my person.” Benjamin took a step back and said firmly, putting his hands at his waist in an attempt to slightly intimidate her. Better to use intimidation than to have this escalate any further. This was swiftly becoming his weirdest encounter at the station. Whoever this girl was, he hoped she’d get the help she so clearly needed.

Lady Indrin tried not to start laughing at him. He clearly had no clue what her eyes really meant. She wasn’t simply the daughter of a duke. She’d let him continue with this fallacy for now, it was amusing being treated thus. The last time somebody had so clearly disregarded her abilities was years ago. She’d correct his understanding later. With force if this was done with malicious intent.

It had to be noted, however, that at least this posturing was a lot less rude than not calling her by her title. Lady Indrin considered herself to be extremely reasonable, especially compared to her contemporaries who would have surely already had the poor man begging on his knees. But she wasn’t just a noble, she was the daughter of a duke. That means that not only did she have a responsibility to guide the commoners beneath her, but also the rest of the noble crowd. Nonetheless, she wanted something from him at the moment, so she’d excuse him referring to her as Ma’am. At least it was a formal name more benefiting of her station.

“My good sir,” she changed her greeting now that she knew he was probably important to someone. It was a bit excessive, but a bit of flattery never hurt when you wanted something, “would you terribly mind if I examined your device? I promise I’ve learned to reign in my signature enough not to harm it accidentally. I am, after all, nearly graduating from Capital Academy.”

She waited for the shocked intake of breath, since, besides the academy being well regarded it was also well known for the age of its graduates. That she was so young and nearly at the finish line was a testament to her hard work, preparation, abilities, and, of course, her station.

Benjamin, for his bit, neither knew nor cared. But he was well trained in dealing with people who were high. Letting her play with his radio couldn’t turn out badly so long as he made sure she didn’t use it, could it? They were just waiting for back up at this point, it wouldn’t hurt. Sighing, a deep guttural sound he could feel reverberating in his chest, he took out his radio from its place on his shoulder.

“You can’t use it, understand? So no touching this button,” he pointed to it clearly. Watching her skeptically as she palmed it, his eyebrows rose higher and higher as she examined the device. One would think she’d never seen a walkie talkie before. He wondered what she would do with a phone. At least she was gentle with it.

Indrin palmed the device between her hands, the cool plastic feeling solid under her fingers. She’d never felt such a texture before, it was neither woods, glass, nor metal and felt extremely sturdy to her critical eye. She could hardly find any faults with it either and remained unable to feel the device with her magical sense. The craftsmanship really was superb, hopefully the man hadn’t realized what type of gem he was holding if he was giving it to her to examine.

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“Your name?” she asked absentmindedly, not even glancing up. The first rule of bargaining was to appear uninterested until you sprung your offer. The second was to make it personal. She might have been a lady, but a lady needed to know how to negotiate. A good way to start learning the skill was by mastering bargaining. As a lady of good standing, Indrin was well-versed in the art.

Benjamin was really hoping she wasn’t asking so that she could file a complaint against him, those were a hassle to deal with even if they were clearly bogus. They went on your record and stuck there. He didn’t want one, especially so close to his bi-annual report. Still, he forced himself to reply, making sure not to include his badge number. If she really cared she would ask, and even without it she could still file a complaint, but it would be much harder.

“Benjamin Thimble, Ma’am.” She’ll excuse that expression for now.

“I’ll offer you a gold coin for this device.” Finally, Indrin’s eyes rose to meet his, her eyelashes on full display, nicely framing her unique lavender eyes. Benjamin looked at her in shock, was she trying to bribe him? With gold of all things?? “I’ll be generous, two gold coins.” She took his stunned silence as reluctance.

“I’m afraid I’m going to need that radio back.”

“Nonsense, I’ll give you five gold. I even have it on me.” She reassured him, her interest piquing further at his dismissal. She was scared she was overspending, but five gold coins was a relatively small amount to her, so if she were it wouldn’t hurt her too much. Her coin purse began to unfurl its ties from her waistband but went right back to its place when the next officer approached.

Benjamin watched the girl sadly; she was definitely weird and needed help. Silently he vowed not to mention her bribing attempt, that would only get her into further trouble.

“Alright, Lady Indrin, please let’s do this the easy way and let us escort you to the back.” His backup, Luke, raised an eyebrow at him when he heard her name. Benjamin really did let everyone walk all over him if he actually referred to her like that. Sniffing haughtily, now that her negotiations with Benjamin had failed, Indrin expected the two.

“Well, I suppose you two will have to do, even if you are both in mourning. Has there been an attack recently?”

“An attack? Lady, being high is not enough of an excuse for you to act like this.” Indrin didn’t like the way he said ‘lady,’ it didn’t feel indicative of the importance of the title for all that it was capitalized. Why was he attacking her for being so understanding anyway?

“I suppose I’ve had more surly escorts than you. Very well then, lead the way.” She handed the device back to Benjamin carefully. He might not be willing to sell it, but do not let it be said that Lady Indrin didn’t follow through on her promises.

And then Lady Indrin was led to a back room at New York City’s Grand Central Station to wait for a patrol officer to pick her up. No one was any the wiser.