Mei Questing 1- Goddammit Dom....

Prompt

Someone from town has disappeared- your bean must brave the wilderness and bring them back safely.

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This goes over here, this goes over there. These go into this pile. These…. Uggh just trash them. Here’s a question: which is shorter, Danny DeVito shrunk down with that gun from ‘Honey I Shrunk the Kids’ or Mei’s patience.

“Those damn lazy interns….” she growls under her breath, sorting through yet another box of papers dating to before the birth of Christ. Why in the hell did they bother keeping all this shit anyway? Granted yeah she understands retaining old data and files is integral to their line of work but come on…. Blockbuster receipts? Didn’t they go bankrupt around the time Henry the XIII was born? And why the hell was a police department renting movies anyway.

Luckily for virgin ears she’s the only one currently in the station and freely damns her situation with gusto (as if she doesn’t regularly entertain her fellow associates with her colorful language). At least she can suffer in peace and not be bothered with anyone interrupting her. The sooner she gets this done the sooner she can get back to her ACTUAL job.

Finishing out another box she tosses the empty container aside, making to grab another when a knock comes at the door. Excuse me? Mei glances at the clock to affirm that, yes, it’s late o’clock, an ungodly hour of which no one should be awake for. Maybe she imagined it, no one in their right mind would be up this late (early?) aside from her.

She returns to her sorting, though after a few pages a knock comes again, harder this time, dispelling any illusion it was just her imagination.

“...for fucks sake…” Rising from her chair she heads to the door and peeks through the peephole. “Now who the hell…..” She catches herself upon seeing an all to familiar spotted tan face, face pulling down into a frown. Great. It’s HIM again. She already knows exactly what he’s going to ask because there’s only exactly one reason he’d even bother coming all the way out here.

Letting out a sigh Mei steps back and opens the door; low and behold the last bean she wants to see stands upon the steps, baring a large grin upon seeing her.

“Hey the-”

“Fuck off.”

Finder nearly chokes on his words, smile faltering. “I’m… I’m sorry?”

“I said fuck off.” Mei repeats, not mincing the annoyance in her voice. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“W-why yes I do.” Finder replies holding up his wrist to show off his watch.

“Then what kind of assbackwards logic did you use to justify knocking on the door at this hour.” Mei counters with a hiss.

Finder shrugs. “Well I knew you’d still be awake, so…..”

Mei’s eyes narrow and she clenches her teeth knowing he’s technically right. Damn it this is annoying. “What do you want.” she asks, a rhetorical question really.

At this Finder regains his previous smile. “I’ve come to ask your help on another adventure! We worked so well last time that I-”

“No.”

Finder blinks, genuinely surprised. “N-no?”

“No. N. O. Do you want me to spell it out for you?” Mei repeats, already growing weary of this conversation.

“Come on, surely you can take a break from work for a few days to help me with one of the Queens requests.” Finder implores. “You were such a natural last time, I assumed that-”

“The only reason I went with you was because the Queen herself asked me, that’s it.” Mei clarifies. “If you need help with another of your wayward adventures go find someone else.”

With a dismissive wave of her hand she closes the door only for Finder to sneakily wedge his boot in to keep it from shutting. “Miss Ko please reconsider! This is an importan-”

“I said no.” Mei hisses and kicks his foot from the door just as Finder’s gloved hands slip back in.

“There’s a hidden cave system not too far from here that-”

“NO. God are you deaf?”

“I can help navigate us through but I need your help in tracking do-”

“Get. Your. Head. Out. Of. The. DOOR.”

“A KID IS MISSING.”

At this Mei freezes, still comically smashing Finder’s face with the door for a pondering moment before easing up. “A kid?” she repeats in a softer tone.

Finder, wheezing from his ordeal nods. “Y-yes… a child… is missing.” he explains rubbing his now sore jaw. “One of the Queen’s young family members has gone unaccounted for since yesterday, no one has seen them. The only lead we have is that someone heard them talking about exploring the caves the other day.”

Mei’s brows slowly furrow in thought, annoyance retreating (much to Finder’s relief, who knew such an old woman could be so feisty, it’s both admirable and utterly terrifying). “A missing kid….” and one of the Queen’s family members to boot. What a scary situation. “That’s why you came to me.”

“Yes, it is.” Finder affirms. “Frankly you’re one of the best in your field, and the Queen has heard about many of your achievements. She felt confident in entrusting this situation to you.”

Mei holds Finder’s gaze in contemplation, feeling slightly surprised that the Queen knows about her. Sure she’s been at this a long time, and she’s not afraid to say she’s damn good at her job, but still it’s edifying nonetheless.

Finder shuffles his feet, finding the sudden silence awkward. “M-Miss Ko?”

“Is that all the information you have?” Mei finally speaks up in full cop mode. “How long ago where they last seen and where? How old is the kid?”

Finder smiles, letting out a secret breath of relief in the process and waves his hand for Mei to follow him. “Actually, the Queen said you’re free to speak with her directly if you needed too. She’s at the castle now.”

Mei doesn’t need more invitation. Heading back inside briefly to grab her coat and essentials she rejoins Finder and heads to the castle. Mei-Min Ko is officially on the case.

-----

Considering the nature of this particular case there unfortunately isn’t a great deal of info to come by, emphasised by Finder as they lead the way toward the cave in question.

“So you don’t know the kid’s name.”

“I believe it was something like Don or or Dan, I was in such a rush to find you my head was spinning and I didn’t realize I forgot what it was until now.”

“Right. And you also don’t know how old the kid is.”

“Honestly I just forgot to ask about that one.”

“Even though this kid is related to the Queen.”

“Yes.”

“Supposedly.”

“Ye- wait what do you mean supposedly?”

“And the last time anyone had seen them was around eleven hours ago, early this morning right?”

“Y-yes….” Finder begins to sweat looking back at Mei who, in their best description, had a look, cold and calculating that makes them feel as if she were planning their murder right then and there. Even after all their time spent together exploring the temple a few years ago they somehow forgot how scary Mei can be. “Is there something wrong?”

Mei doesn’t immediately respond, deep in thought, though after a moment responds, “Just thinking.”

Somehow this doesn’t put Finder at ease in the slightest. Coming across a small hill they let out an audible sigh of relief as the ‘crime scene’ in question comes into view.

“So this is it?” Mei questions arms crossed surveying the natural formation with a scrutinizing eye.

“Yes. It’s a previously unexplored system so I ask that you please stick right by my side. Caves can be notoriously expansive and easy to become lost in, even for seasoned explorers like-. H-HEY WAIT!” Finder cries as Mei tromps right into the mouth of the cave. “Miss Mei please you’ll get lost! Here!”

“What, you’re gonna leash me like a dog?” Mei retorts in annoyance as Finder fixes a rope onto her belt, effectively tying them together.

“Better to be safe than sorry.” they answer with a bit of apology (moreso putting on an act to hopefully deter Mei from biting their head off), before breaking out headlamps. “And these, so we can see.”

Mei growls in annoyance but takes the lamp and puts it on as Finder fastens their own upon their head and pulls out a book from their bag. “While we navigate I’ll make a map of our progress so we dont get lost.”

“Yeah whatever.” Mei waves him off, not scared in the slightest of getting ‘lost’ in this giant hole in the ground. How can anyone get lost anyway? Just remember the way you came in and go backwards, it’s not hard. Huffing in annoyance Mei trudges ahead, and together they delve deep into the dark depths.

Talk ceases here, little but the sound of boots upon rock following them as they go deeper into the cave and an occasional call from them hoping for a reply, all the while Finder scribbles in their book marking their progress. For something so objectively impressive caves are, in Mei’s opinion, overwhelmingly boring. Rocks, rocks, and more rocks. The sensation of knowing you’re so deep underground can be exciting she guesses but she doesn’t get people’s fascination with them.

“KID.” Mei calls, voice echoing off the barren walls, but still no answer which causes her to frown, suspicions rising. “Hey Finder, who did you say that kid was agai-”

“Hey look!” Finder interrupts her, pointing ahead. Mei turns and squints, spying a curious red light emanating from deeper in the tunnel. Suddenly Mei’s blood quickens, have they finally found the kid?

Who knew such a short woman could be so fast, Finder yelps and scrambles to keep up as Mei shoots ahead like a dart out of a blowgun. “Miss Mei PLEASE MY THINGS!” they cry dropping a few of their supplies along the way.

Mei ignores their plea, bursting around a tall tower of stalagmite and halts. Before her sits a set up; a pile of chip bags and soda cans, a book back with it’s contents spilled out, and most importantly a gamer chair on which sits a familiar face who turns to look at her.

“Oh hey, you found me. Cool.” Dom announces bluntly before returning his attention to playing Mario Kart, of which he plays via his switch and a projector system he set up to display on the cave wall. “Do you mind calling and ordering me some pizza? The dude’s who work there recognize me and won’t take orders from me anymore and Finder doesn’t have a phone. I want 2 larges, a pepperoni and a 4 meat, both with cheese stuffed crust. Oh and a box of garlic bread if they got it.”

The atmosphere could crush diamond with how heavy it becomes and Finder really starts to sweat when Mei refuses to answer, standing still as a statue. “D...Dom said he knew you.” Finder tries to explain with a gulp. “But I knew you wouldn’t come out if I told you the truth s-so….”

Finder flinches at the sound of knuckles cracking, face paling as Mei slowly turns to him radiating murder. “W-we can share?” Finder’s last words drown as the sounds of cat screeching and screaming fill the catacombs all the while Dom sips on his nearly empty can of Dr. Pepper sitting on the ground through an obscenely long straw mindlessly battling a Shy Guy named Dr. P00P for first place.