Old habits die hard.
Vanitas had basically spent his youth working under Olivier, starting from leaving the training room beaten up to fighting alongside his captain. Even after his transfer to Roland's unit, it only felt right to pick a fight with him here and there.
Olivier's battle strategy was different from Roland. Both were experienced fighters and nearly flawless in action, but while Roland tended to mislead his enemies into underestimating him, Olivier relied more on brute force. Vanitas was put to disadvantage being nine years younger than Olivier and had scarcely claimed victory in their previous sessions. His method was to deceive, to outsmart so he could cut corners. Unfortunately, Olivier knew him too well to fall for his tricks.
Which was why Vanitas was put down by a sweep for the second time of the day.
"You should start bodybuilding if you want to beat me in hand-to-hand combat." Olivier extended his hand which Vanitas didn't take. "But you're getting better."
"I'm not that obsessed with muscles." Deciding it was time to catch a breath, Vanitas undid a few buttons of his coat and headed for his water bottle. Honestly, he didn't think permitting the use of weapons would do any difference to the outcome of the fight except tilt the balance more in Olivier's favour. He had seen the Obsidian gem in action, powering Olivier's chainsaw-like blade and cutting everything around it in half. Sometimes Roland would practice with Olivier wielding his own spear, another thing Vanitas didn't want to go near.
Olivier and Roland, unlike him, were frequent visitors of the gym. Vanitas preferred being able to move around swiftly, hence his small appetite. He believed superior strength was useless if he managed to slip away, which was his main tactic when facing feral vampires or his superiors.
"Meaning you're still slacking off in the infirmary these days?" So Olivier has known all along. Well, to be fair, Vanitas wasn't exactly trying to hide it, at least not from him.
"No idea what you're talking about." He gulped down a mouthful of water, sitting cross-legged by a pillar. Even if his hideout was exposed, he had no intention to share more than he already knew. "Moving to a new unit had provided me with the opportunity to improve myself. I'm thankful to my brothers and sisters for sharing their intelligence..."
"Save that." Olivier waved him off, knowing Vanitas was giving him the same load of crap that would go into his reports. His ability of drafting essays looking like something straightly out of chasseur textbook was why he stayed under the radar for so long.
As a member of the sixth, Vanitas was about as free as a chasseur could be. Boring meetings were still compulsory, of course, but due to the fact that the squad leader wasn't a big fan of them, they were usually called off and replaced by training sessions unless it was absolutely necessary. Similar to Olivier, Roland had turned a blind eye to his affiliation with Jeanne which was, unfortunately, after pulling Vanitas into an embrace weeping about vampire's influence on him. Roland seldom questioned his whereabouts, he himself disappearing almost as frequently as Vanitas did, sending Georges running around the catacombs. He suspected Roland was doing some digging of his own but never asked.
"Roland can be stupid, irresponsible and carefree on the surface, but you know he's more than that." Having known the man for more than ten years, Olivier had signed Vanitas' transfer documents confident he would be in good hands. "Try to rely on him more."
"If you're vouching for him, you need to come up with better compliments." Setting his emptied bottle down, Vanitas got back up on his feet. "Now, one more round before I go back to teambuilding with my new captain."
They faced each other off again, this time brandishing the practice swords on the rack. Neither of them was experienced in this type of weapon so they started slow, feeling the weight of the sword in their hands, experimenting its movements. Olivier charged first, slashing at Vanitas in one stride. The latter reacted in an instant, jumping away from its range and circling back to poke at Olivier's side who barely blocked the attack. He then tried to disarm Vanitas but the guy was like a snake, just when Olivier thought he had him, he always finds a way to crawl away. Eventually it took him five attempts to send his sword flying.
The sound of clapping interrupted their fight.
"Well well, isn't that amazing." Astolfo, the twelve and youngest paladin, stood at the entrance. "Is that some sort of lame dance you plan to perform in a pub?"
Vanitas and Astolfo, despite having similar backgrounds, had never gotten along. Their bickering had become a weekly occurrence in the catacombs as it was difficult to avoid running into each other. Perhaps it's what you get for having two teenagers under the same roof, especially with their personalities. Although Astolfo wasn't part of Gano's gang, his views in vampires were radical and Olivier suspected it's one of the reasons why Vanitas didn't like him. You can't communicate with lunatics, he once said.
"What is it, Astolfo? I don't have your Pandora doll." Vanitas was quick in responding to his provocation, not offended by a bit. "If you want to play house, you should go to your subordinates."
"You...!" Enraged, the young paladin reached for the knife strapped to his belt. Vanitas knew exactly what to joke about to get a reaction out of him and it never gets old.
"'Let's do some team building today. Now, I'll be mum!'" Vanitas imitated his voice in a bad mimic, using a higher pitch for show. Astolfo's face reddened, itching to strike but was held back by his vice-captain. "I'll sew you an apron. Do you want it in pink or blue?"
"Vanitas." Olivier chastised, to which Vanitas shrugged innocently. It certainly wasn't the meanest thing he has heard, however, Olivier wasn't in the mood of mediating.
"Suits you well to be reassigned to an idiot in-charge, "Astolfo fired his last insult before turning to leave with Marco trailing behind," who can't even find his way back."
"At least he's not into skirts!" Vanitas shouted after him and was smacked in the back of his head. "What? He started it first!"
"You're acting like your age." Olivier sighed, tucking strands of unruly hair behind his ear, getting ready to go. "Come on. Roland must be lost somewhere in the city."
Astolfo must have caught wind of his tardiness to return, which meant the captain of the sixth has probably gone wandering around in some remote areas. Last week he was picked up in the banlieues, disoriented after escorting an old woman home. Olivier wondered what was it this time. Playing with kids? A lost cat?
"And we can't leave him be?"
"...No." Olivier replied, sounding like he was seriously considering his proposition.