Sixth Bloodline [BxB]

CHAPTER 08: DRINK MY BLOOD [I TRUST YOU, SO...]

chAptEr 08;

drink mY bLOOd

[I trUst YOU, sO...]

   MIKHAEL DESPERATELY sighed; he just wanted to have a nap. Was it so heaven-defying to have a nap during the day that heavens decided to send a horde of blood-thirsty vampires just to get in your way?

   "What do you think? Can you fight?" Amelia decided to ignore Krull's conspiracy theories for now and instead to turned to Mikhael.

It's not that she won't be able to protect this guy if they really had to fight, but...

How to say it, being protected by someone and then suddenly facing a situation where the tables have turned... She might mess up and leave the strongest to Mikhael to deal with it. Or something like it.

She already realized that Mikhael held a grudge because she put him into a spotlight. She also realized that he wants to slack off, but it might be impossible right now, so...

   "It's not about whether I can or not, I simply have no other choice if I want to stay alive," he shook his head with a sigh before looking at her.

He also didn't want to fight.

It would be for the best if he could sleep for the next few centuries. Perhaps, that way, his body could heal for a bit more.

   "Do you happen to carry around a sword or something?" he looked around her pouch and she raised her eyebrow. Well, mysterious pouches that can shrink stuff and store it inside were common nowadays.

   "You want to use "that" on the battlefield?" Although she asked, her gaze was obviously bright.

   "I have no choice, my gun is useless at the moment and I can't go for long in a fight, so..." he traced his finger across his gun somewhat regretfully.

It was a simple mission, he just needed to shot someone and he would have had a vacation for next few months, years even — since he was planning to begin another hibernation.

He didn't even need blood for that, in fact, hibernation was perfect with one drained of all blood.

The vampires could sleep for a long time without needing blood, and there were two types of such sleeps.

One was somewhat akin to hibernation where they would sleep for a long period in order to recover from injuries or simply because. During that period, they wouldn't need blood, but would be in danger in case someone decided to attack them.

Since they could awaken only after someone fed them blood.

The second was a bit more special, and shorter.

It's called the Deep Slumber, and the vampire going through Deep Slumber would usually awaken as more powerful.

Vampires go though only one or two such Deep Slumbers if they're lucky, though most don't even experience one. While Half-bloods like Mikhael...

Go through them every so often.

And so, Mikhael had been preparing for hibernation for twenty years now. As long as he could find a decent place for seclusion, he could sleep for a century or two and then attempt another Deep Slumber to fix the state of his ruined body.

Since Deep Slumbers only made one stronger if successful, regardless of how injured they were.

Naturally, Mikhael even had a coffin prepared. But then he slipped and got caught. Escaping was a must for him, he couldn't hibernate in this city... Or could he?

Should he just dig a cave under Ethan's home or something?

   'It's pretty safe there, isn't it?'

   "What are you thinking about now, Flame?" Ethan noticed his odd gaze.

   "Nothing."

Something like digging a cave under another's house should be done in secret.

   "Why don't you just take my blood? Go kill them now," Amelia pursed her lips in annoyance as she noticed that the number of arrived guests only grew larger.

   "Won't do, I didn't feed in quite some time," he shook his head, "I might dry you of all blood."

Well, if a vampire starved himself in a while, his thirst will really become uncontrollable.

Thought that's not the reason why Mikhael didn't want her blood. Immortal or not, human is still human. And Mikhael couldn't drink that blood right now.

And well... considering his current state, it's not like he had a choice but to force his hibernation now. Even if it's vampire blood, it might do him more harm than help, instead.

   "You..." Amelia was not as innocent as those around her who thought that Mikhael was a newly-turned who can't control his thirst. He's been around for centuries and even if he hasn't feed for half a year, Mikhael would still have a perfect control of his body.

It all started probably around a decade ago.

Amelia found Mikhael who should be sleeping as he wandered the world in search for something. Back then, Mikhael didn't tell her anything, but Amelia has, prior to that, received an order from the top to pay attention and observe Mikhael after he "awakens few years later".

Since she was the only one aware about him having awakened earlier than he supposed, it made sense why the order came too late.

If was also around that time that Mikhael helped her tie the knot with a certain vampire and... For some reason get a warrant because of it.

Mikhael kidnapped a Pope or something to marry them. Though, neither actually thought that Mikhael kidnapped an actual Pope until the warrant came out, but married just for fun.

Anyway, Amelia trusted Mikhael more than Hunters HQ, so she naturally helped him hide instead. And now, another problematic order came.

And, Mikhael seemed as if he's hiding his powers right now. It really was sketchy, no matter how she looks at it.

Moreover, Mikhael never rejected her blood before... Or did he? She couldn't remember, because of some personal reasons, she had to pull away from Mikhael for the past few years. It was also for the sake of protecting him — she was observed, after all.

   "You, the pure blooded one!" she turned to Ethan who was just about to slice his wrist with his other hand and sharp nails.

   "What?" he asked eyeing his prey, as well as Mikhael. He'll never forget how fast this little one runs! Just one f*****g second and you'll lose him for decades!

   "Lend me a drop of your blood," bluntly stating what she wanted, she even stretched out her hand for it. He only scrunched his eyebrows in confusion before looking at her as if she had grown another head.

   "Fast, now! Didn't you just say you'll let him drink some!?" She had to hurry him before he changed his   mind.

   "..."

Well, he did say that.

Ethan only frowned, but still cut his own wrist before drawing out a single drop of blood which floated from his injury to her hand and continued to rotate above it. Vampires, although not capable of slaying someone with their blood alone, had a great control over their blood.

Nobles and above had special ability which turned that blood in some kind of other element like ice or fire to fight. They do need to bleed in order to activate it, so they were somewhat similar to hemomancers.

Though, hemomancers couldn't transmute their blood that way and had to harden it and use it like blades or bullets from inside their bodies — which is why their blood rots over time. Nobles and the like in some sense discard the transmuted blood, so it doesn't harm them. But hemomancers had to change it while it's still inside their bodies, so it would naturally corrupt a little of blood that remains, and that effect would stack over time — it was impossible to get rid of it without blood of Higher Nobles.

However, both types could freely play around with the blood inside or outside their bodies. It was even possible to store killing intent inside their blood and kill someone who ingested it.

Blood of the Purebloods was extremely potent. Although it was just a single drop, but unless drunken, it wouldn't be destroyed by anything.

   "Will this be enough, then?" she asked behind her and Mikhael sighed before coming next to her.

   "Just to open up the path. I'm too lazy to fight, you deal with the rest," he carefully cut the tip of his right middle finger with his other hand before touching Ethan's droplet of blood.

Yes. Vampires are really good at cutting themselves with their nails...

Their body doesn't necessarily need to accept blood by drinking. Just mixing the blood of their prey with their own blood should be enough — and faster even.

No one started fighting as they looked at what he was going to do, curios about how exactly he planned to open up the path with just a single drop of blood. Even those new vampires stood mockingly, believing that they got this, with "that person" supporting them.

Mikhael only closed his eyes before turning to Krull.

   "This is unreasonable and all, but do borrow me your blade for a second. Just a second," he said and Krull was about to say something when he saw Amelia nodding. Apparently, she trusted that it was the right thing to do.

Mikhael clenched and unclenched his hand few times, feeling the strength in it. Sure enough, Purebloods are the best food — look at the boost he got from just a single drop!

   "If you make even a single scratch on it, I'll kill you!" he warned, sending daggers with his eyes at Mikhael before unwillingly handing him his sword. Mikhael took it with ease before raising it above his head. His action was so graceful and natural, like he's already done it thousands of times before — as if he's been one with the sword since always.

His skin began to corrode a bit where he had contact with the sword, bit he ignored it and continued his action before mumbling:

   "The First stance of Emperor's Sword; Conqueror's Wave."

There was no hesitation as he slashed downwards towards the newly arrived vampires. The sword s***h didn't look extraordinary at all. In fact, it was almost like a swing you'd make while practicing or trying out a new weapon.

Mikhael's stance was no different than practice swing as he lazily stood there and even plucked his nose with his other hand while his blade went down. But for some reason, that ordinary move was so overbearing that it called forth an enormous pressure to descend from the sky and envelop everyone present.

He immediately threw the sword back to Krull who only sluggishly caught it, with his lips parted in surprise.

Then, everything in front of them, be it buildings, vampires or even the ground and noise, were completely obliterated in radius of thirty feet in a straight line him. 

From the moment he raised his sword and threw it back to Krull, only a second passed, just like he has said. Not wasting a single moment longer, Mikhael dashed towards the opening he just created and noticing his action — despite still being flabbergasted by his ability, the others immediately followed after.

Only those vampires remained rooted in place with silence around them, wondering what the hell just happened!

   "They escaped! Run after them, he probably can't pull out another move like this!" One of them woke up the crowd and they all hissed angrily both in rage and humiliation.

A bit further from them, the former group was still running away — though, not from fear — but because they were looking for a proper battlefield.

...

Well, Mikhael was genuinely running away — if nothing else.

There were many bystanders around them and once the word spread about the barrier being weakened and in need of repair, the horde chasing after them would only grow stronger and larger.

   "Wh-what the hell was—" Malèna, for once, couldn't properly ask the question. With her ears catching this opportunity to brag, Amelia only chuckled.

   "Believe it or not, that's just a pure swordsmanship executed with a vampire strength," ah, no matter how much she saw it, it still brought chills.

To think that someone could actually use pure swordsmanship go decimate everything in front of him... And that there was someone who could actually teach that skill Mikhael — it really was terrifying when you think about those kinds of people.

Mikhael often said that he was taught sword because his master worried about him dying since —  according to his master's words: he was too weak. As for why someone considered a vampire of Mikhael's caliber to be weak — she didn't dare imagine.

   'I mean, Mikhael would shake and look like he's going through some great trauma whenever his master was mentioned...'

   "I see, but did he really have to destroy everything on the way? Do you know just how much of paperwork will my poor self have to write because of it?" Krull protested sheathing his blade back.

To that, Mikhael mechanically spoke, not removing his eyes from the road as he continued to run.

   "Actually, that was your fault. I only intended to cut the enemies in front of us, but there's something odd with your handle, it's curved. I don't know if you made it that way or you didn't notice, but the slashes sent by that blade will naturally curve because of it, it's impossible to s***h in a straight line," he explained with a hollow voice, "It's good if it's intentional, but if not — it's a faulty product."

He didn't notice it until it was too late, but his thoughts were occupied on another matter, so he couldn't do anything about it.

   "Flame, are you okay?" Ethan suddenly asked with a frown, noticing Mikhael's unusual behavior. He was running ahead of everyone else and kept ignoring the eye contact, his head hung low. Not to mention that his face seemed to have paled a bit.

   'Was that move too much for him? Also...'

He glanced at the burn on Mikhael's hand. He held the anti-vampire sword for a second and it did this to him, but his own gun didn't seem to harm him. The story Amelia told them earlier seemed fishy and made him realize that those guns were somewhat special.

   'But back then, ordinary armaments couldn't harm him. Did something happen in the meantime?'

   "..."

   'Could've I been wrong about him? But it's too coincidental..."

Nevertheless, he still didn't say a thing. Since Mikhael looked like he didn't want to talk, then he should leave him be for now.

   "s**t!" it was Amelia who cursed as they became surrounded from behind once again. She didn't curse because of their situation, but because she caught a glance of Mikhael's expression. Coincidentally, there was a cross street ahead of them.

   "Pureblood guy, take Mikhael to the right. Everyone else to the left with me!" she suddenly instructed.

   "But—" Rykee was about to protest when she explained.

   "We'll be a burden to them, Mikhael is dangerous right now and we're distracting him!" she led the way and they hesitantly followed. It was when they turned after her and glanced at him that they noticed the crazed expression on his face. And a pair of the eyes red like blood, hungrily searching for food.

Ethan noticed it too, but said nothing. It seems like that move earlier did a considerate amount of damage to him.

Mikhael could only see red. He overestimated himself too much! He thought that he had what it takes to handle a single drop of Pureblood's blood, it wasn't the first time he tried it, at all. But for some reason, he felt like he'd die if he can't drink more of it.

This kind of insatiable thirst, was oddly familiar to him. Though he doesn't know when nor why it happened before, but he felt like only this man's blood was able to suppress it.

Drinking the blood of Purebloods has always been both the taboo and blessing for vampires. It can make an ordinary vampire become a Noble in a blink of eye. But it could also devour a vampire if they were too weak. At the same time, it could make one addicted to their blood so that they'll have a hard time drinking ordinary blood again.

It happened sometimes, like a type of blood addiction — and not only with Purebloods. There's simply some vampires who'd become addicted to the blood of a certain person like that.

Mikhael didn't have any of those problems. He did drink a more potent blood a bit after he awakened as a Half-blood so he wasn't prone to blood addiction nor blood suppression. His master... Really had his hands on some fine goods and worried too much about this weak disciple of his.

So Mikhael thought that he was prepared, he really did — but the moment that drop entered his bloodstream, just a single little drop filled with enormous power, it made him feel refreshed all over. In the end, he completely lost control of his own body.

Captivated with that feeling of ecstasy coursing through his whole body, he ended up burning up all of the blood he had stored from before. It was somewhat absurd for Mikhael to completely waste that one drop of blood even though it should be able to let him run wild for entire year — at least.

The dreadful thirst almost made him scratch his throat in irritation.

He wanted him. He wanted to drain Ethan of every single drop of blood, to violently rip his body apart and take all that blood until he's completely covered with it from head to toe. The mere thought interfered with his vision again and again, and he had to give his best to not attack and bury his fangs into Ethan's neck.

It was driving him insane.

   "Flame!" Ethan suddenly grabbed the still confused Mikhael and shielded him with his body. Mikhael had no way to understand what was going on and only saw something that looked like a three feet long bullet behind Ethan.

Time suddenly stopped and everything moved in a slow motion for Mikhael.

His head was pulled into a warm embrace so he could no longer see, but he already understood that he was being protected from someone. And then the nostalgic heartache of obtaining something that was once lost.

Someone, long time ago... Held him like that.

But it wasn't a reassuring feeling.

He was protected, but it made his chest hurt. In truth, he wanted to push Ethan away, but no matter how much he willed his hands to move, the other man wouldn't even bulge. His hands tightened around Mikhael's body instead.

The next instant, something wet stained his body and he was brutally trashed around. Oddly enough, he didn't feel any pain. He didn't... But Ethan no longer held him as tightly.

When Mikhael opened his eyes once everything calmed down, he noticed that he was surrounded by darkness, rubble, and seemed to be in some kind of underground tunnel. And blood continuously dripped down on his body. When he moved his gaze upwards, he could see Ethan breathing heavily and spitting out blood. With his hands on the sides of Mikhael's body, Ethan held on so that he won't crush the guy bellow him.

   "W-what the hell just happened? Why are you..." Mikhael couldn't form a proper sentence, but soon became unable to say anything else. The strong scent of blood invaded his nostrils as his fangs unwillingly grew larger and sharper.

Ethan seemed to have noticed the change in his companion but with a meter long bullet petrified through his body he used to shield Mikhael, he couldn't move at all. Not to mention the crazy amount of ruble pressing him down in place. It wasn't a lethal injury seeing as he was a Pureblood vampire, but it wasn't easy to heal either.

Some kind of weird mana seeped into his body the moment that bullet hit him, blocking his ability to regenerate.

It was a weird, but familiar feeling to Ethan. During the Great War, he got trapped in an Underground Necropolis where his abilities got sealed, and almost died. This bullet gave away the similar aura.

But...

   'It was Tristan, that bastard, who was in charge of that place!'

Did he have something to do with this?

Half of his waist ended up being blown apart and with his powers kept at bay, it really didn't look like he'll be able to move for a while.

   'In that case...'

He glanced at Mikhael who was observing him like he's the main meal or something, and brought a decision after a long period of silence.

   "I'm going to sleep for a bit now. I also know that you want to run away..." Despite the huge injury to his waist, his voice didn't waver even a single bit.

   "..."

Mikhael really wanted to avoid that straightforward look Ethan was giving him, it made him feel like he knew him all too well.

   "But, even if you do, I'm going to chase you until the ends of this world—"

Mikhael licked his dry lips.

He can run away from a Pureblood... Probably.

   "..."

Ethan also noticed Mikhael's expression and only sighed helplessly.

   "Forget it. I'm going to trust you this one single time, so drink as much as you want and finish your job properly. If you do, I'll let you... Run freely." Since he couldn't let him go, at least he will let him fly freely in the sky he designed. The only reason he protected this city was because it was a memento of this person.

So now that he had the person, he no longer cared for this city.

   "So..." he used his left hand to move the long black hair and expose his neck, "I know what you can do, so feel free to run rampant in this city. Fix the barrier if you want, or beat up whomever makes you angry."

    "..."

   "I'll shield you so..."

   'Stop ignoring me.'

   "Don't be angry anymore,"

   "I..."

   "I was in the wrong back then."

Mikhael couldn't understand what was this guy talking about. What did he mean by running around? Why did he suddenly side with Mikhael? Is it because he knew that Mikhael can fix the barrier or something?

Though... It did seem attractive to Mikhael. If he could do whatever he wants in this city, then he wouldn't mind staying here.

But just how much of those words were spoken honestly?

   "I'm sorry."

Ethan gently traced the part on Mikhael's neck where he grabbed him earlier this morning.

   "..."

   "For what happened this morning, I'm sorry."

   "..."

Well, he really was in the wrong.

   "Drink my blood."

   "Don't regret it later," Mikhael grit his teeth, but ended up sinking his teeth in Ethan's neck. He could no longer hold back, with this much blood around him.

   "I won't."

With a somewhat weak smile, Ethan closed his eyes.

   'Since you hate losing and owing favors so much, I surely won't regret using this way to tie you down.'

But the amount this kid drank was quite a  lot.

   'What a greedy little brat!'

To vampires, letting another vampire drink their blood was something special, since only two partners bonded for eternity could do it without killing each other. Since their own blood is poison to their kind. But Purebloods don't do it, even though their blood is almost never lethal. They do give their blood sometimes, but they never let another drink directly from their bodies.

This was the first for Ethan.

   'But I don't dislike it...'

...since he always wondered how it would feel to have someone important, and sure enough — it was a good kind of pain.

Mikhael, on the other hand, couldn't think about anything else — losing himself within the taste of Ethan's blood; the way it streamed down his throat, the way it cooled his craving for blood, the way it filled his body with strength... It occupied every corner of his mind that he even forgot the reason why he was here in the first place.

It was the first time he ever felt like this—

   'No. Something isn't right!'

This blood... The taste of this blood was oddly familiar to him. It was different from when he took it in special vials used to store that blood. Mikhael did come in contact with the blood of the Sixth Pureblood before, but the feeling was different.

He was certain that he drank this blood directly from Ethan's body before, but... He had no recollections of it. It was more of a déjà vu, actually.

As he pulled out his fangs and observed Ethan's sleeping face, Mikhael only cursed silently.

   "How unpleasant. This is why I hate apologizes," How could he just ignore Ethan after everything he said? If he did something without a clear conscience, he'll certainly regret it later on.

Thievery doesn't count.

He's doing it to survive.

Cough, anyway...

   "We're even after this, you hear! Even!"

But Ethan could no longer hear him.

   ABOVE THE surface where the two fell, the vampires that chased them gathered around the huge dent in the street.

   "Did it work?"

   "It must have. There's been no movement for a while — so they should be done in, for now."

   "As expected from the Anti-Pureblood Organization, you sure have some nice toys," one of them commented as he saw a guy clad in white robes dragging along something that looked like an enormous silver crossbow.

Silver didn't really harm vampires, but it's such a nice color when designing weapons to kill vampires. It's especially beautiful and graceful when bathed in red blood.

Higher Nobles liked to wear white color, and respected Purebloods the most. So the Anti-Pureblood Organization, as if to mock them, purposely wore the similar white robes,  but added some silver details which vampires loathed. And instead of worshiping, they aimed to kill Purebloods!

   "That might not be enough to kill him, but with the special weapon we just used, it should buy us some time," another guy in white added, but his eyes were red. He was clearly a Noble.

While Higher Nobles worshiped Purebloods, a small number of ordinary Nobles didn't. They thought that it was unfair for Purebloods to keep their blood from them,, since it can let them — Nobles — become Higher Nobles as well.

But the selection for Higher Nobles was harsh and those weak-minded Nobles that somehow got the taste of forbidden fruit and considered themselves the best simply weren't suitable to pass. A Higher Noble had both the great power and great responsibility.

If they couldn't understand the later, then they weren't needed.

It's the reason why most of vampires that rebelled against their kind and committed all kinds of atrocities against humanity were never among the Higher Nobles.

   "I wonder about that," the guy from Anti-Pureblood Organization — APO for short — wasn't as naive as the stupid Noble and carefully eyed the damaged ground.

If Purebloods were that easy to kill, they would have already done it long time ago. During the Great War, an entire country moved to kill this Pureblood but instead got the Crimean Peninsula wiped off the map! At that time, they didn't lack manpower nor weapons, they simply couldn't kill him!

He might've gotten a clear shot on Ethan earlier because he protected that kid, but the blood of Purebloods can be a terrifying thing when they're in danger. Especially because they could use it to summon those wretched beings — familiars, who'd act on behalf of their masters to protect them.

If a familiar or two were to be summoned right now, they definitely won't stand a chance against him! The only thing they can hope for is that Ethan lost consciousness from the impact earlier so that he couldn't summon one.

Unlike what those Nobles believed, their mission wasn't to kill Ethan, since they had no way of successfully pulling that off — it was to collect as much of Ethan's blood as possible, instead. Their blood could call upon familiars, certainly it would do the same to those who ingested it even if they weren't immortal, no?

Immortal Humans have always been born through gruesome experiments — but even so, no one could resist the temptation. To life forever without weaknesses, but it ironically always involved blood of vampires.

APO organization is made up of both Nobles and humans, so to them — the blood of a Pureblood was something very precious. This time, if not for the help of 'that man', they would have never stood a chance against Ethan in the first place. So they had to act fast and run away!

As for the Nobles they tricked into joining them after arriving in this city... They'd be a good disposable meat shields to cast away while running away.

   "Their blood is so precious that they won't waste even a single drop, not to mention that Purebloods are too damn strong to face against in direct confrontation!" He began, "This plan alone has been prepared for almost two decades, since we couldn't drag this guy outside the barrier."

For a Pureblood, Ethan seemed like he lacked the confidence to fight — since he didn't leave this city even once after it was established.

   "He is the youngest, thus the weakest — not to mention that only he doesn't have a Half-blood protecting him like the other five."

APO knew about Half-bloods and sought to get one on their side. But those sly half-bastards were simply too difficult to persuade! Even though they could help them take down a Pureblood if they joined hands, those half-lings would rather stay beneath Purebloods.

   "Be careful, we need to make sure that he's truly in the weakened state like we want him to be," another one added.

   "And don't forget the other guy that's with him!"

   "That's right, we need to kill that brat!"

   "That bastard killed our comrades!"

   "Unforgivable! We must drain him of all blood, hang him to dry in sun and feed him just enough to stay alive when he's about to die for an entire century, at least!"

   "..."

Human group of APO really didn't understand sadistic torture methods vampires had. One must know that they were so brutal that tortured one would go insane in the span of a day to week, regardless of how tough they are. And then still be tortured for centuries, unable to take their own lives.

Vampires don't like killing their traitors like Hunters did, they purposely kept them alive to show them a life worse than death.

   "We shall enact our revenge on his maker as well!"

   "Make him suffer fate worse than hell!"

Similar curses resounded in the air as some, more brave ones, began to walk towards the ruins. The kid earlier unleashed such a powerful attack that he probably lost enormous amount of power, making him completely vulnerable — or so they believed.

They didn't even consider him as a treat, since they also found out about his "information" gotten from insiders from when Mikhael was sentenced to stay in this city.

   "I'll be the one to pluck out his heart!" one suddenly said as he rushed inside.

   "Really? My heart is too expensive to be dug out by a random nobody," a voice suddenly spoke and in the next moment, the guy bravely charging forward found himself surrounded by blue flames. They incinerated him, not leaving even ash behind, before anyone could realize what just happened.

At that moment everyone stopped, and the guys from APO unsheathed their weapons. The owner of that voice have them a very, very dangerous feeling.

   "f**k, how am I gonna climb with this?" Following after that curse, a pitch black coffin came flying out from that hole, followed by Mikhael who landed before it fell to the ground. Like it's some kind of feather, he easily caught the coffin with one hand, but underneath his feet, spiderweb-like cracks spread on the ground.

   "I'm not really going to have to carry this around, am I?"

With his golden hair wildly swaying in the wind and bloody clothes that revealed a porcelain white skin without a single scratch underneath as if he came from a painting, Mikhael's emergence to the above ground completely destroyed the already damaged street.

His red eyes looked down on everyone before he grunted in dissatisfaction as he saw the guy in clad white.

   "Who, who the hell are you?" Someone in the crowd asked and Mikhael ruefully pinched his own nose, sneezing from the dust stuck inside.

   "Me? I'm someone who should f*****g get paid for working overtime, that's who am I!"