“Eck!” Rodessa threw up her hands, a pout on her lips. “You’re no fun, Hue…”
“I’m lots of fun, dear,” Huxian grinned. “You just haven’t learned all the rules of the game just yet.”
Rodessa snorted, rolling her eyes. “You ass,” she scolded, almost fondly.
Huxian grinned, offering her a wink. “Of course. I have a great ass, why not let everyone appreciate it?”
“I’ma kick that ass when I next see you, if you’re not careful,” she shot back snidely. “How ‘bout that?”
Huxian just fluttered his eyes and blew her a kiss in response. Clicking her tongue against her teeth, she flopped back down onto the bed.
“Awww, don’t be like that,” Huxian cooed. “But hey, if it gives you something to look forwards to, we can have a good run around when we next meet. It feels like its been a while since we had a go against each other.” He winked. “Maybe your new partner will learn some things from us, too?”
Ro made a noise that sounded a little like a balloon losing air. “Pph, doubt it,” she huffed. “I sometimes just wanna throw one of the lamps in her direction and scream ‘LIGHTEN THE FUCK UP!’, I swear.”
“Well, maybe she has her reasons,” Huxian shrugged, gaze a little distant. “Sometimes it’s hard to understand people.” Hell, he knew that he still had some trouble understanding humans, even after all his years among them. Still, he shook off those thoughts before they went into dangerous territory. Instead, he offered a smile. “Well, we’ll see when you guys get over here, hm?”
He would have said more, however, the communicator began to bleep. Blinking, he flicked through a few options and realised that there was another call wanting to come through. This time from Alister.
“Ah, looks like business is calling,” he noted. “No rest for the wicked, huh?”
“Oh…” Rodessa’s expression fell ever so slightly, something that Huxian would have missed if his eyes weren’t so inhumanly sharp. However, it was only for a moment. If he’d blinked, he would have missed it. “Alright then. I’m off to bed, too. Night Hue.”
“Sleep well, Rose Bud,” Huxian added softly, heart clenching a little at the fact that he had to cut things short. “I’ll try to give you a ring before things go down over here, ok? Kick ass on your end, honey.”
He offered her a wink and blew a kiss.
“...Yeah…” She mumbled, shifting almost nervously, “Stay safe, Hue and...Uh…” She opened her mouth, obviously thought better of it, her face tinged a little red. “Well...night!”
And with that, the call ended.
Huxian just looked at the screen for a moment, torn between being concerned and amused, before huffing a sigh, blowing his pale fringe from his face before picking up the other call.
“Yin here.”
Alister raised an eyebrow, a small knowing smile dancing on his lips. “Was...I interrupting something?” he asked, tone dry as a desert. “If you desired it so, you could have continued to converse with her longer. I would not have been adverse to waiting”
Huxian rolled his eyes, not even bothering to ask how he knew it was Rodessa he was talking to. Alister had the highest clearance in Pandora other than Violet and maybe himself if he actually decided to play around with technology. His communicator, at least, was a much more technologically advanced one in comparison to Huxian’s though, allowing him to be able to track who was calling who and when, especially considering his administrative role within the company.
“I’ll call her before the mission,” Huxian sighed. “And for all I knew, it could be something serious. Better not to get into the habit of ignoring calls from the head honchos.” He eyed him. “So? What did you need?”
“Ah, Brother, you wound me.” How was it possible for Alister to act mock hurt without losing any of his poise? It made Huxian want to bug him into telling him, if only so Huxian could irritate the hell out of everyone by mimicking it. “Can one not call an old friend to enquire about their health?”
Despite his words, Alister flashed a file at the screen, one that Huxian realised was the one that belonged to Ro, yet was likely one the girl in question would never see. Seeing he had Huxian’s attention. He laid it on the desk, his lips quirking into a smile. “Besides, I shall be joining you in approximately a week. It has been a while since we last shared a drink.”
“Yeah,” Huxian nodded, leaning back a little. “I’ll look forwards to that. A good drink after dealing with undead trying to destroy things in my territory sounds nice.” He eyed the folder. “As you can see, I’ m still alive, kicking and ready to squash would be necromancers like the bugs they are, so when you come for that drink, we should have the pest problem under some kind of control. Besides,” he offered a slight smirk. “I’m always ok, right, ‘brother’ dear?” He nodded his head to the desk where Alister’s hand still lay over the folder. “I’m a little more interested in what you have there than how I’m feeling, honestly. Assuming we’re not going to play ‘dance around the subject’?”
“My friend, you are baring your fangs quite a bit this fine evening,” his hand rested over his heart, a mock mournful expression on his face. “And here I thought we were close.” His expression became a little more serious, meeting Huxian’s eyes. “If I may be frank, I had hoped to join you on your crusade against my ‘cousins’. As they say, more swords make short work of one’s enemies. Speaking of swords, I have a prototype that you may be interested in. But I will cover that when we meet in person.”
Huxian’s brows rose a little. A prototype blade? He was a little unsure as to what that would entail. Admittedly, it had been a long time since he had been presented with a blade that could rival whatever he had been using, and nothing yet matched the one that he used during his personal vendetta all those years ago. Still, where Alister and the Science department were concerned, he was never certain what they could come up with.
“I’ll look forwards to that then,” He agreed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “....I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to….heh….bite your head off. I guess I’m just a little irritated by this target. I want to set whoever it is on fire already.”
Not that he’d be allowed to before Pandora could question him. Dammit.
“I hope when you’re done with this one you’ll hand them to me for proper punishment for messing with my territory,” he added, a slight vulpine growl echoing under his words.
“When we are finished with them,” Alister reminded him, sternly, before his expression shifted to something more apologetic. “Although with Phoenix involved, it may not be possible,” he admitted. Obviously, he must have seen something in Huxian - the narrowing of his eyes? The way his pupils slitted a little, perhaps the hint of a fang or fingers twitching into claws - as he quickly continued. “We need to make use of all resources available to us. The double agent, Lorenzo, has been quite helpful so far, however….” He paused, shaking his head. “One hurdle at a time.”
“Fine,” The fox lord growled. “When you’re finished with him, then. But that doesn’t mean I can’t make them suffer before I can obliterate their miserable existence. Some things are worse than death, and I’m not letting them go so easy for this infraction.”
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to relax. There was nothing he could do about it right now. He’d just have to take his frustrations out on those Jiangshi in the meantime. He took a second breath, curling his tails (which had popped out during his snarling) around himself, partly in comfort, partly in distraction as he smoothed the bristling fur with his fingers.
“The file?” he asked instead, if only to get off the subject that boiled at his blood.
Alister thankfully took the change of subject.
“Already emailed to your communicator,” he explained. “It is quite thorough. The main point of change is that, whether she is aware of it or not, she is beginning to gain a sensitivity for supernatural presence. She currently seems to not show a full understanding of the concept, however, she has expressed a willingness to learn, which is favourable.”
Huxian hummed in agreement. While it still made his insides clench to know she was getting closer to the eventual breaking point of the seal, it was something which would be helpful in the long run, an ability that the most successful of those who worked among mystics tended to develop, if only because it helped with their survivability.
He would never say no to something that would keep the girl alive.
Alister, however, continued and Huxian turned his attention back to the man. “However, there is still some tensions between Miss Hunter and Miss Masuyo - both tending to lose patience with the other. Understandable, since we are being forced to rush things. Still, I can’t say I approve.”
“It’s not the most optimal thing,” Huxian agreed with a sigh, ears flicking back with a frown. “Honestly, if we had the time, I’d certainly be complaining about it - I even brought up a similar concern to Violet earlier. But then Rozyus showed up and….” He sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t like it. But what choice do we have?”
Alister steepled his fingers, resting his chin against it, brow furrowed. “The situation is ripe for missing important details,” he sighed. “And my intuition tells me that something will be missed.”
“Forgive me for hoping that intuition’ll be wrong,” Huxian bit his thumb claw, pushing down his own misgivings. “I’ll be doing my best to fill in all the gaps that I can once she’s with me, and if something goes wrong then I’ll do my best to keep things from going to far.”
He could only pray that it didn’t come to that. He didn’t want to fail her again.
“Just….keep me posted, ok?” he added quietly.
Alister’s eyes flicked over his own for a moment, a soft hum from his throat, before nodding. “Very well. I will keep you informed. As for everything else, the details are within the file. Read through it at your leisure and I will debrief you once their mission has been completed. I should be with you then to deliver it in person.”
“Thanks, Al,” Huxian offered him a strained smile. “I appreciate it. I’ll try to be in a better mood then for you. Perhaps playing pest control now that I’m no longer being forced to remain a keystone for the barrier will help.”
Alister’s lips twitched up in amusement. Huxian tried to ignore the fact that the man knew his dislike for being so confined. Thankfully, other than the breath of a chuckle and an amused ‘I see’, the man didn’t tease him about it. Instead, he looked Huxian over for a moment critically. “At the risk of sounding like a mother hen, perhaps it would be best to take the special pills you recieved from Goddess Parame, if only to return your mana to full strength. Your body….well, it wouldn’t be the first time it had been ‘put through the wringer’...but it doesn’t mean that one should handicap oneself when there is a solution, as I’m sure you are aware.” He paused while he held a cigarette between his lips and lit it, taking a draw of the smoke. “Admittedly, the only reason I will be joining you is to get my hands bloody.”
“How nice,” Huxian snorted, flashing canines at him. “Careful, now. I can smell the blood lust from here, hunt buddy.
“Don’t tempt me,” Alister huffed a breath through his nose that on a lesser man would have been a snort. “One of my bars suffered greatly due to the raids. I’m sure you recall the one with the expensive chandelier.”
Huxian wracked his brains for a moment, “Ah, the one with that gaudy statue?” he said finally. That did have a rather grand light fixture. Not that he was usually looking up when he entered a bar unless it was to find a target. “Ah, that one served good drinks too,” he sighed. “Shame.”
“Tell me about it,” Alister sighed.
Huxian offered him a somewhat sympathetic look before shrugging. “Eh, I’ll help you fix it once the threat is dealt with. Better to wait so it doesn’t get trashed again before then. Still, I’m sure I can offer a spell or two to speed things along.”
Alister’s lips twitched up in appreciation. “My thanks”
“While I have you here, I may as well let you know the plans,” Huxian added. “That way we can get to work the moment you join us, and you can have your gorgeous payback that much faster.”
Quickly, he filled Alister in on what had been discussed on the meetings, from the investigations of the agents, the updates from the CUC, who were handling the civilians currently, and the plan to take out the undead forces. He also filled Alister in on the second part of the plan involving the necromancer, since Alister would likely want to have said criminal in his custody as soon as he could, if only so Huxian wouldn’t be tempted to rip their spine out through their nose or something.
Eventually, Alister had as much information as Huxian had for the situation.
“I will be with you within a week,” Alister reminded him. “Until then, if you need any assistance, do ring me.”
“Sure,” Huxian agreed. “Until then, friend.
“Jusqu'à la prochaine fois, mon ami.”
With that done, the call ended.
Huxian sighed, brushing his hair from his face before he flipped onto the bed, pausing only to pull the little pouch of pills over to himself. Alister was right, he was going to need to build up his mana stores for the operation, He had enough to do that and have at least a couple in case of emergency if things went wrong during the mission itself.
Shaking one out into his hand, he knocked it back, swallowing it dry. Thankfully, it didn’t taste as horrible as human medications - it had a tint of peach to it. Unsurprising, considering it was a peach pill, but who knew, it could be some kind of psychological effect than an actual taste.
Yawning, he curled himself up on the bed, closing his eyes. There was little he could do now other than read the files, but he always felt a little distracted by the feeling of his mana being effected, so it was better to sleep through it and read the files once he was more refreshed.
He wasn’t sure if he fell asleep or if he was drifting. However, whatever it was, a familiar scent drifted to his nose. A smell he only really connected to one person. Breath hitching a little, his eyes fluttered open and…
“....Ro…” He breathed.
Not the same Ro that he had been talking on the phone call. Nor was it Rozyus either. But rather a Rodessa that he hadn’t seen in a long time. Unbidden, he reached out and ran his fingers over her soft hair, half expecting her image to fizzle away, but she was there, and she felt solid under his fingers. Even with his heart twisting with mixed emotions at the sight of her, he couldn’t help the fond smile tugging at his lips.
Then her eyes fluttered and he froze, paralysed. He could only watch, breath trapped in his lungs, as the eyes slowly opened, sleepily meeting his own.
[END]
Note: jusqu'à la prochaine fois mon ami = until next time my friend. [FR]
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