"I'm sure you will."

I had nothing else to say, lost between an urge to shut my eyes right then and there and sleep, and an urge to get up and pace. I felt more at ease moving, maybe because of the boundless energy I found crackling under my skin. It wasn't the kind of energy you could always harness, not always the kind you wanted to harness. Energy like that of a brewing supercell storm, ready to give birth to tornadoes and twisters left and right; not the kind of energy you always wanted. I felt like I was awake and walking under my own storm. I was uncomfortable, and felt bound in the shop; bound between four walls that felt like they had faces and voices and were breathing stale air down the back of my neck. The hair on my neck was on end, almost begging me to take the cigarette from behind my ear and smoke it, but the air already felt too stale to do so.

I liked when she fell into silence, too. The air felt heavy before, but now? It was a deadweight, and it felt good to get lost in the current in my head. I wasn't torn about what I had to do later, not really anyway. I had no routine, no pattern unlike many who had a list of lives on their conscience. Sometimes when the hit was planned, I felt uncomfortable before. I never liked plans, much. I was always better impulsively acting, I never got caught that way. Maybe it was adrenaline, maybe dumb luck... I truly couldn't tell you. Granted, I'm not knocking a good thing, fuck no. Maybe it was in the way people paid me to do dirty work that they either neither capable of, nor wanted to do. Then again, most men couldn't hold a knife with the ease or comfort that I did... Maybe I didn't want to think down that road.

Somewhere between the woman's consideration of the potion I had ordered and the discomfort I'd felt ebbing away, the diamond between my fingers had become far more refined. I found solace in the routine way the pads of my fingers worked on the surface of the diamond with sand that was impossible to see, but made by me as an aid to shape the rock. I found peace in... Man, maybe I do have something of a routine before...

Does that make me official?
I found my gaze reaching up to see what Serafina was concocting. She reached a blade to her own flesh, slicing it open to use whatever ran in her blood as a special extract in the potion. Huh. Did that work for everyone, or only a witch? I looked down at my own work, vaguely wondering whether or not someone else would be capable of creating the same kind of diamond, but the smugness I felt emanating from me told me that they wouldn't. I slid the stone in my pocket as I stood up, rolling my neck to relieve the stiffness that had found me while I was lounging in the chair. She seemed finally finished, which was fantastic because the fucking clock told me I was going to be late if she didn't hurry up.

"That's a fancy twist; planning my getaway and everything. Perhaps this potion even calls the taxi for me! Now that is what I call exceptional customer service."

Noting the wound on her arm, Serafina's yawn was hard to miss. She was small, and small women seemed to have a habit of eating less. Damn it, I would put money on her being light headed, dizzy, and exhausted now. Did I have time to make sure she would be home safely, instead of the shop owner finding their employee passed out on the shop floor? No. Did I have time to wait around? Double no. I felt like the walls were laughing at me now, closing in still.

"You used too much blood," I said softly, finishing the words with a sigh. Tick tock. "I don't have time to take you home. Thank God you have good taste in clothes. Hurry and clean up so I can whisk you off to be an accessory to murder, and as soon as John Doe kicks it, I'll have you home before you turn into a pumpkin."

I couldn't help the smile that had found me. The woman had a darker humor, and clearly she found me... disconcerting. Good. I had always liked that response. I offered her my hand, knowing she'd take it due to the lightheadedness that undoubtedly found her.

"Give me the key, I'll lock up behind us."