First thing in the morning, I was feeling a little better than I had the previous nights. It wasn't a significant change but it was enough that I noticed it. It was enough to give me the energy to get through a workout and a shower. I unlocked and opened Wesker's door, it was early and he was still laying in bed so I left him there. As I promised myself, I made some toast and coffee but I still dumped the rest of the pot after I decided I only wanted the one cup. It was honestly an afterthought but I still wasn't ready to leave him anything.
After that, it was back to my room. Reading Wesker's letter last night got me thinking about more of the smaller things that got buried in my memories. They were good memories- like that water balloon thing! Oh Wesker and Marini were pissed at all of us! The three of us agreed it was worth it though. We used to get into so much trouble together. I sighed as I was faced with the realization that I was the only one left alive. I wondered what the rest of my old colleagues would be like now if they had survived that awful night. Then the bad memories returned.
I shook my head and tried to stop thinking about it- trying to think about literally anything else. I thought of Jill and I wondered how her therapy was going. It was day three of this imprisonment with Wesker, it wasn't a point of pride anymore to tough it out on my own- I wanted to talk to my friends. So I pulled out my phone and texted Jill.
Chris: Alright I give
Chris: I'm bored
Jill: Told you
Chris: Do you like your therapist
Jill: She's okay
Jill: We've only had the one meeting so far
Chris: I'm sure everything will go great
Jill: Even if it doesn't I still have to do it
Chris: It's the best thing for you Jill
Jill: Yeah I know
Jill: It's not my first time having to do this
Chris: We've all been there
Jill: So what are you up to right now
Chris: Are you on cameras
Jill: Yeah
Instead of answering, I reached over to press the button near my bed. Once I saw the red light come on, I waved at the camera.
Jill: No wonder you're bored
Chris: Yeah I know
Chris: I need something to focus on
Jill: You have a tv
Chris: Nothing good to watch
Jill: Have you even checked the streaming services on it
Chris: Sorta
Jill: There's bound to be something you'll like
Chris: I can't just sit still and watch tv like this
Jill: Okay
Jill: I wanted to wait until you found it on your own but now is fine too I guess
Chris: What are you talking about
Jill: I got you something
Jill: I left it for you in your underwear drawer
I glanced up at the camera with a suspicious look before getting up to find out what it was. I was sure it must be that joke item she had seemed so proud of. Why did I have a bad feeling about this? I pulled open the top drawer and checked under the clothes to find a long black cylinder. Confused, I picked it up and turned it over to see one side had a pinkish mouth on it. It was a god damn fleshlight! My face instantly started to burn and I dropped it before slamming the drawer shut. My glare turned to the camera so sharply it hurt my neck. I'm sure my face was bright red and I knew Jill was laughing at me. I dashed to turn off the camera and called her. She answered, still laughing.
"That's not funny! Why the hell did you leave that here?" she was laughing too hard to answer me. "You know I can't get rid of it now!" now it suddenly made sense why Claire couldn't look me in the eye when they came back which meant that she knew I had this! I'd never be able to face her again!
"Okay- okay." she started as she tried to calm herself down. "I don't want you to get rid of it." she stated when she was able to speak a full sentence. "It's not a joke- I was expecting this funny reaction from you but I'm serious." she took another breath to fully calm herself. "It'll help to alleviate some of the anxiety and take your mind off things." I already knew that sexual release helped to reduce stress but given where I was, masturbating was the farthest thing from my mind.
"I know that…" I trailed off, suddenly remembering that Wesker was in the other room and had probably heard me yelling. The last thing I wanted him to hear was me talking to Jill about this kind of stuff. The horrifying thought entered my mind about what would happen if he found out I had this. I quickly pushed those thoughts as far away as I could, he wasn't allowed in my room and there was no way that thing was ever going to leave my drawer again. "Did you really have to let Claire see it?" I asked with a lowered voice.
"He looked up for a minute when you started yelling but he's back to writing, don't worry." Jill informed me.
"He's got superhuman senses." I reminded her and I could imagine her waving a dismissive hand as she ignored it.
"Claire's an adult, she understands that you're a human that masturbates and has sex." she told me like it was common knowledge and totally fine. My face wasn't cooling down at all and the heat bubbled in my stomach which made me feel a little nauseous. We sometimes talked about our sex lives- or rather the lack thereof so it's not like this came out of the blue or was forbidden territory. Though we had only ever talked about certain things, I didn't feel like this was crossing a line. It was just unexpected and embarrassing.
"She might understand that but I'm her big brother, she's not supposed to know." I retorted and Jill sighed on the other line.
"Alright, I'm sorry. Next time I'll be sure to buy you sex toys when she's not around." she teased and I blushed harder.
"Don't buy this kind of stuff for me ever again." I growled quietly.
"Don't worry, I won't. This is just a special circumstance because I knew you wouldn't have even thought about it." she assured me and I took a deep breath. She was right, I wouldn't and if she had told me her plan I wouldn't have allowed it to enter the prison. She was just looking out for me but seriously, look at where I was.
"Do you really think I'm ever gonna be in the mood?" I questioned through a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose.
"You have access to the internet." I hung up after she said that, still blushing fiercely. As much as I didn't want to leave my room yet, I didn't want to be in here with that thing or to give Jill the idea that I was actually using it. So I left my room, grabbing my coffee mug on my way but when I got to the coffee pot and remembered that I dumped the rest out, I growled to myself and left my empty cup on the counter. I pretended to look through the freezer in case Wesker was watching but really I just wanted the cold air on my heated face. My phone buzzed in my pocket so I checked it for something to do.
Jill: Have fun
Just as my face was beginning to cool down, the blood rushed back to my cheeks. I turned to one of the cameras and flipped it off. I'm sure she was laughing at me again but I didn't care. I caught Wesker's smirk from his doorway, not realizing that he had even gotten up from his desk. I wanted to glare at him like this was all his fault but he had already seen enough of my blushing face so I quickly turned away. I refused to run back to my room and hide so I sat on the couch with my head down until I felt like I was a normal temperature again. I wasn't really mad at Jill, again she was just looking out for me. Embarrassing situations just often led to anger like responses from me because I didn't like being embarrassed- who did?
I could hear Wesker moving around the kitchen and then the coffee pot was running but I didn't look up to watch him yet. I felt a little spark of joy like I had won something because he had to make a new pot of coffee. It was petty, spiteful, and stupid but it was there nonetheless. After a few minutes Wesker approached the couch, I could see his legs stop right in front of me on the other side of the coffee table. I refused to look up. My face had cooled down but I just didn't want to deal with him. He leaned over slightly to place my coffee mug down in front of me with fresh coffee in it. He walked away without saying anything and I finally lifted my head to watch as he walked back into his cell with a generic white mug in hand. He grabbed one of the books from the dresser and sat comfortably on his bed before he opened the book to read. After taking a sip of coffee, he placed it on top of the dresser to give the book his full attention. That explains why he inched the dresser closer to the bed.
My gaze turned up to a camera as if I would be able to see Jill and convey my guilty feeling to her. I kinda felt like an asshole for being so petty now. I slowly reached for the hot drink and raised it to my lips to take a sip, careful not to burn myself. It was just how I used to like it back in STARS… he remembered how I liked my coffee from all those years ago. My tastes had since changed and adapted to the bitterness so I didn't like it as sweet anymore but still, he remembered. It wasn't uncommon for all of us to bring each other coffee but it was more often that I would get coffee for him than the other way around. There were only a few times I can remember Wesker bringing anyone but himself coffee but it was usually something he picked up rather than something he made himself. There was only one time… I didn't like to think about that day. It was a cold day in Autumn and I had to stay late to finish some work. Wesker finished his work before me but instead of leaving, he refilled both of our coffees and helped me finish faster. I recall hardly sleeping that night due to feeling giddy over the captain knowing how I liked my coffee and that he made it for me himself. It felt strange now to think something so trivial meant so much to me at the time.
I looked back to Wesker to find that he was already looking at me from across his cell. He acknowledged the eye contact and then went back to his reading. I stared down at the sweetly delicious coffee that reminded me of office pranks and paper planes. It reminded me of a kinder, more innocent version of myself living happily in much simpler times. It reminded me of a long gone place I used to call home and a family that was now broken… a place and a family called STARS. For once, instead of the bad memories that left me feeling cold… it was warm. And I accepted that warmth, drinking down the entire cup of too sweet coffee.
Yeah, I was definitely an asshole.
I sat there for a long time, thinking back on my days in STARS. Of course bad memories came up but instead of trying to stop thinking about it like usual, I just tried to focus on the good ones. There were a lot. Even the ones that seemed bad at the time, like getting shot, were good in comparison to how STARS ended. Besides, we weren't alone whenever any of us got hurt because our whole team was right there to make sure everyone was alright and also to make fun of them. We truly had been a family. I leaned my head back against the couch as I sighed again and glanced at Wesker for the millionth time. He had been there too though usually with a lecture about doing better next time but at the time we thought it was because he cared and didn't want anyone to get hurt again. He didn't have to be there, never had to make hospital visits or call to check in. His role didn't have to go that deep, he had plenty of reasons that he could have given but he didn't even need to because no one expected him to be that involved anyway. There were plenty of times the rest of us didn't get that involved but Wesker always did. That had to mean something, right?
I almost jumped when Wesker suddenly moved after what felt like hours of sitting still. He lowered his book with an irritated look at me but he grabbed his coffee cup as he slid off his bed. He went to the kitchen and I heard his glass cup clink in the sink before he made his way out to sit on the opposite side of the couch from me. I expected him to say something like there was a reason he was sitting with me but he just crossed one leg over the other and opened his book again. I watched him for a moment before awkwardly turning my head away. What was he doing? What was I doing? Why did he come out here? Should I leave?
"Is there a reason you've been staring at me?" he asked calmly as his eyes continued to scan over the words of his book.
"Um… no. I just, I was thinking." I stated dumbly and I noticed him glance at me from the corner of his eye before going back to his reading.
"About me?" I groaned in annoyance.
"About STARS." I corrected and he hummed in understanding. "I can't understand why you were always constantly checking in with everyone when they got hurt."
"Did I?" he posed it as a question though there was a mischievous glint in his eyes as he put his book down to look directly at me.
"Yeah." I confirmed with a quick nod. "Like that time with the bank robbery when I was shot in the leg and needed crutches for a while. You came to visit me in the hospital and while I was on leave from work you often called to ask how I was. Me and Jill weren't best friends yet at that point so not even she checked on me that much." I explained and he looked down at his lap as he thought about it.
"And does everyone else recall the same experience with me?" he asked which had me confused.
"What do you mean?" he only smirked and once again went back to his reading. I hurried to pull my phone out of my pocket to text Jill, completely forgetting that I didn't want to talk to her again for a while.
Chris: What did Wesker do whenever you got hurt back in STARS
Jill: Why what did he say
Chris: Humor me
Jill: Not much
Jill: I mean he called to make sure I was okay and see when I could come back to work
Chris: How many times did he call
Jill: Just the once
Chris: Did he ever visit you in the hospital
Jill: No I was never hurt bad enough that he would need to
Jill: If he's saying he did he's lying
Chris: He didn't say that
Chris: I'll explain later
My phone buzzed in my hand but I ignored Jill's probable questions for now. Wesker never constantly checked on Jill… I mean she didn't often get hurt so maybe he just trusted her to be fine on her own. If that was the case, did he check on me because he didn't trust me? I found that hard to believe in our line of work, if there wasn't a certain level of trust the team would have fallen apart right away. Maybe it was a gender thing- no Wesker was never the type to let that be a factor in anything he did. I learned that during training when Jill was surprised he was just as rough with her as he was with everyone else.
I wasn't going to get any answers on my own and he was right here… might as well try. I turned my body to fully face Wesker, bringing one of my knees up onto the couch to sit more comfortably.
"Explain." I ordered and he smirked again. He leaned forward to place his book on the coffee table before facing me.
"What exactly am I explaining?" he asked to signal that he was actually going to answer which surprised me.
"Why was I the only one?" that was still an assumption. I knew he did it to me but not to Jill and that was all I had to go on. I had briefly thought of trying to contact Barry about it but he didn't know what was going on and I couldn't explain it. Besides, it'd been quite some time since we last talked so it would be a little awkward for that to be what I started with. I should call him later to check in though.
"You were the most reckless." he stated plainly with a light shrug but I gave him an unbelieving look. At least that confirmed that I was indeed the only one he gave the extra attention to. But why?
"If you really believed I was unnecessarily reckless I wouldn't have been the pointman. You probably would've even fired me." I corrected him to let him know I saw right through his false answer.
"That's true." he acknowledged without missing a beat like he wasn't at all affected by the fact he failed at lying to me. That only told me he did it on purpose. He was planning on leading me in different directions just to get my head spinning. He was messing with me again. I thought about dropping the subject since it was clear he wasn't going to give me a real answer… but I was too curious.
"Joseph was getting hurt more than I was, did you mother hen him too?"
"I did not."
"Then why me?" he looked at me for a long time, his red eyes moving over all of my features until I started to feel a little uncomfortable.
"You were my favorite." he finally said with a small smile… not a smirk or an evil grin but a smile. I felt my heart stop and tried to figure out if he was still just messing with me or if something was actually happening here. My brain wanted to laugh at the implication because of course he was just messing with me… but my heart wanted it to be something more. Wesker stood and walked around the couch, stopping behind me to lean down closer. His breath was on my neck near my ear, raising the hairs in anticipation. "You still are." he whispered and I tried to hide the way I shivered, wondering if it was just me or if he sounded rather seductive. I felt his presence leave me as he walked into the kitchen. "You really should eat something substantial Chris." he called over his shoulder in a more casual tone.
I sat there for a while and thought about how odd all of this was yet again. My phone buzzed in my hand again but I still didn't check it. Admittedly, I was still a little dazed. It wasn't wise of me to let Wesker see how much that had gotten to me but I didn't really have the energy to care. He was right, I needed food and more sleep. I brought myself back from spacing out to see that the blond was scrambling some eggs and I just watched as he moved. It was all a little more surreal than I originally thought it was going to be. I thought the whole thing was going to be much more tense and we would fight or something. But he was writing me letters about his past, checking up on me, now making me food… this was all… almost domestic. It was strange to say the least but compared to what I had been expecting, it was at least more comfortable this way regardless of the tension that still lingered.
I got up and sat at the table when I watched him put the eggs onto two plates. I needed to eat and he made food so why not? He turned off the stove and put the pan aside to cool before grabbing two forks. He paused before turning to me.
"You prefer eggs with cheese, correct?" he asked and I nodded in confirmation though I was confused about how he knew that. We hadn't ever actually eaten together and I don't remember bringing eggs with me to work for lunch or even mentioning it. Maybe someone else mentioned it to him, there were ways I guess. He grabbed the shredded cheese from the fridge and sprinkled some onto my plate before putting the bag back. I watched him carry both plates over to the table, setting the one with cheese in front of me and the one without in front of the empty space. He glanced back into the kitchen before his eyes returned to me. "Coffee?" I just shook my head. He walked back to the fridge, pulled out two water bottles, and finally sat down. He handed one to me which I slowly accepted and kept the other for himself, twisting off the cap and taking a drink before setting it down. This was all too weird.
"Why me?" I found myself asking again before I thought about it and Wesker sighed.
"I wasn't sure of that myself at the time." he admitted before he took a bite of his eggs.
"But… you are now?" I asked, more hesitantly as I ignored the way my heart was thumping against my chest. I internally told myself to calm down because this wasn't anything.
"Eat your food Christopher." was all he said and I groaned, knowing he wasn't going to give me a direct answer. Nevertheless, I did eat and it was good. "I prepared the eggs to kindly get your system adjusted to eating after what I presume has been days of starvation." he informed me as we ate. "But tomorrow you need a more solid meal if you expect to keep your strength." I didn't say anything to that, simply scoffed at the lecture. It was almost like he was my captain again, treating me like a kid that wasn't taking care of themselves. "I understand this is difficult for you Chris but I'm attempting a peaceful approach to this situation. I don't expect you to trust me but I would greatly appreciate it if you would at least try to see that I'm extending the olive branch." I listened quietly as he spoke, still trying to understand but I didn't get it. He saved Jill, turned himself in, demanded that I stay with him for a month, and wanted to make a truce? What was his motive? I couldn't wrap my head around what he was doing. But he just wanted me to try and I could do that.
"Okay." I nodded idly and he seemed satisfied so we continued our meal in silence.
"May I ask what you were yelling about earlier?" he asked with a smirk and I groaned internally as I felt heat rise to my cheeks again. I held my head in one hand to hide it and silently cursed Jill. Why me?
… … …
I washed my dishes when I was done eating and carried my water bottle with me as I made my way over to the couch. Wesker had finished before me and was sitting at the couch reading again. I thought about sitting with him and finding something on my phone to do but I wasn't sure I was ready for the casual nature of that yet. I figured there was enough of that for the day so I was just going back to my room since it was getting late.
"I'm gonna turn in for the night." I told Wesker though he didn't look up at me. "Do you have another letter for me?" that got him to turn with a smirk.
"Are you expecting one?" I tried to ignore the playful lilt in his voice and shrugged.
"You've given me one every night so far so I thought maybe that was going to be a constant." I explained and he got up, taking his book with him as he walked into his cell. I decided to take this time to go and retrieve the one from last night since I knew he would want it back. He met me at my door and we traded.
"Your lighter?" he held his other hand out in waiting so I went to get it out of my bag, leaving the new letter on my desk. I haven't smoked in a very long time but I never did break the habit of always carrying a lighter with me since it always proved to be such a useful tool. I met Wesker in the kitchen where he already had the small metal trash can waiting and I handed him my trusty lighter. I watched as he set the corner of the pages on fire and dropped them into the bin before raising it up so the smoke escaped through the vent, leaving my lighter on the counter. I listened to the fire crackle for a while though it didn't last long with only a few pieces of paper. It was relaxing while it lasted though.
"I'm glad you had a good time by the way, at Jill's party." I told the blond man as he checked to make sure the fire burned itself out.
"Despite not allowing you to bribe me, I did get something out of it." he replied with that smirk again. I raised a brow but figured he must have been talking about the coffee or other things I brought him. But somehow I don't think that's what he was talking about.
"What do you mean?" I asked as he set the bin down by the sink and stood in front of me. He raised his hands to his sides so I could see them and slowly leaned in closer to me. Though I tensed, I made myself stay still as I reminded myself he was trying to be peaceful. I told myself he wouldn't hurt me and he didn't. His cold lips gently touched my cheek before he stood straight again. I forced myself not to react despite the way my heart sped up and heat once again threatened to invade my face. I remembered then that I kissed his cheek that night… I had nearly forgotten about it with the help of the alcohol and embarrassment. But he remembered it almost fondly after all this time and… he implied that he enjoyed it. Let's also cover the fact that Albert Wesker just kissed my cheek and was now staring at me with a smirk because I still haven't done anything about it!
"Good night Chris." he said before I could react. I turned and watched him walk into his cell. I finally released the breath I didn't know I held. I then took a deep breath and followed Wesker to his door, peering in to see he was laying in bed with the light off.
"Night." I whispered, half hoping he wouldn't hear me as I closed and locked his door. I went to my room and leaned against the door for a while after locking myself in. Did Wesker know about my feelings back then? Was he purposefully trying to stir me up now? Was that the motive behind this whole thing? That was still a lot of effort just to mess with me. My phone buzzed again so I decided it was time to finally update Jill. Her first text had been questioning what was going on, the second asked if I was okay, and the third demanded to know what that was about. I answered her questions and explained what the kiss on the cheek was and she freaked out over it.
Jill: I can't believe this
Chris: Calm down he's just messing with me
Jill: And you let him
Chris: It's not really a big deal
Jill: He kissed you
Chris: He kissed my cheek
Jill: You're defending him now too
Chris: What no
Chris: There's just a big difference
Jill: Oh my god you liked it
Chris: Don't be ridiculous
Jill: You didn't stop him
Chris: I wasn't sure what he was gonna do
Jill: So you let him do it
Chris: We just talked about how he's trying to keep things peaceful so I was testing if he was sticking to that or not
Jill: By letting him kiss your cheek
Chris: I didn't know that's what he was gonna do
Jill: If you did would you have stopped him
Chris: Of course
During this conversation I had grabbed Wesker's letter, turned off my light, and gotten into bed. Jill didn't answer and I felt guilty for some reason like I had lied to her. She was right afterall… I did like it. I'm ashamed about it and I hated how my heart betrayed everything I knew to be fact about what a monster he really was. I hated him and yet… I did like it.
Chris: I don't know
She never responded and I wondered if she was disgusted with me. I would give her time to think about it and hopefully we could talk about it later. To take my mind off of our conversation, I turned on my phone's flashlight and read the letter 'Bet'.
~ ... ~ ... ~ ... ~
I heard the snickering before I even stepped through the door and sighed heavily, knowing my team was up to something. What was new? I opened the door to the S.T.A.R.S. office and instantly regretted it. Everyone, and I meant all five members of my Alpha team, were standing as if waiting for me with their arms folded, hair slicked back, and a dark pair of sunglasses on their faces. I understood they were mocking me- but I also understood there was no ill will, they were only having fun even if it was at my expense. However I didn't know how to react to this… so I closed the door again without entering the office. I heard laughter explode on the other side and as I pushed my glasses up to rub at the bridge of my nose. Was I to reprimand them for insulting their captain? Though they were playing a joke on me, I didn't feel insulted and it was just a good natured prank. No, I wouldn't punish them. We've all worked at becoming such a close knit team and it showed in our ever impressive work, it would be wrong to discourage such cooperation. I did find some level of amusement in their actions as they looked quite ridiculously proud of themselves like they had one up on me. I couldn't stand for that, now could I? So what to do? It was really quite clear, get back at them to level the score. I finally entered the office and smirked as I addressed the still laughing room.
"I want to wish you all luck getting your work done today." I told them as I stood straight and clasped my hands together behind my back.
"We can see fine." Joseph hooted joyously which turned my smirk just a bit more vicious. I knew one of them would claim as such.
"In that case, how about we all make a bet?" everyone seemed shocked at my suggestion as I usually discouraged their silly bets in the office. "I bet that not one of you will remain like that for the entirety of the day." I knew the hair wouldn't be an issue for most of the team, really it was only Chris and Jill that didn't usually wear theirs back as it was. However wearing even regular glasses is something that takes time to get used to, it can be an irritation until you do.
"What do you want if we don't?" Joseph chipped in, ever ready to take on any challenge placed before him.
"Silence and complete obedience for the following week." I smirked again when the unruly man nodded in agreement and looked over the others. They all looked between each other to gauge how everyone else felt about it before anyone agreed. It was Jill that initiated the group huddle, whispering about their chances and trying to decide what I was up to. I waited patiently for them to decide, watching as Chris fixed his hair to keep it back. I was surprised he had managed to tame it in the first place since it was usually a spiky mess all the time.
"What do we get if we win?" Chris chimed in hesitantly as he looked back at me and I became curious as he seemed to have something in mind. I was possibly more intrigued by what he could want from me than I should have been but the shy way he asked piqued my interest.
"What do you want?" I asked him and everyone else looked at him expectantly.
"I think whoever wins should get to decide." he shrugged and I smirked once more. I knew he was going to be determined to win this himself and my entertainment with this escalated. I would enjoy watching him try hard to keep his hair under control but ultimately fail.
"As long as it's within reason, I will comply." I nodded once to show I was on board with that and everyone smiled and cheered as the bet was settled.
The day progressed slowly much to my delight as I watched my team struggle to go through with the bet to win. Barry was out fairly quickly, taking off the sunglasses as he was cleaning the weapons. The others lectured him but he didn't seem to care much for the bet anyway. Brad was the next to lose when he returned from the bathroom without the sunglasses, again receiving a lecture and his only defense was that he forgot them. It was still early in the day and I couldn't resist the easy pickings when they were making it so easy.
"My, what a strong lead you have." I teased as I emerged from my office. "So early in and already two players down."
"Don't act too cocky captain, only one of us has to make it." Joseph replied with a sneer. He was beginning to get on my nerves. He was taking this whole dressing like me thing farther and was attempting to act like me and failing miserably. If he wasn't using his arms he kept them folded across his chest and he kept an over exaggerated scowl on his face. It was quite irksome how he chose to portray me even if it was just a joke.
"I have no doubt you'll be done with this by lunch and Chris's hair will not remain tame for much longer. I'd say the one with the highest probability of success would be Jill though she will not last the day either." I taunted and Chris checked his hair again before readjusting the glasses on his face.
"I coulda done it." Barry called over his shoulder, still working with the weapons.
"Unfortunately it's too late for you." I told him with a dismissive wave as I walked back into my office. I was actually glad that Barry threw the bet so easily as he always wore his hair back and as long as he remained conscious of the bet, he probably could have made it. I was glad to see that he cared more about the precision of the work he was doing over this silly bet. Joseph would tire of this and find a pretty girl he wanted to flirt with so he would lose the getup. I would have to catch him in the act as I couldn't trust that he would be truthful about losing. With that in mind, I made a phone call. There was an attractive young officer that worked in evidence and I just so happened to need an item we recovered from a case last week. Normally I would go to retrieve it myself or send someone from the team but I needed to keep a watchful eye on them so we would just have to make an adjustment for today.
When the young woman I requested to bring the item I needed stepped into the office, I noticed Joseph pull his red bandana from his pocket. He was about to tie it over his head when he suddenly froze. I realized both Chris and Jill were glaring him down, it was easy to sense the animosity even with the sunglasses. Is that how they picked up on my anger? As the officer left however Joseph apologized to the others and put his bandana on before chasing after the girl, leaving the glasses on his desk. I grinned in victory and it only widened when the other two turned their accusing glares to me. It wasn't cheating when I had a valid reason for needing her and there were no such rules against it, besides I didn't mind playing dirty to get what I wanted.
It was beginning to get late when I began to think of ways around the bet but that was impossible when I didn't know what the two possible winners wanted. Jill was still going strong and surprisingly Chris kept it in mind enough to make frequent bathroom trips to wet his hair in order to keep it down. I was sure whatever gel he applied this morning would have lost effect but he was being vigilant on maintaining it. I wondered again what he wanted but wasn't pleased that I just may be finding out. There was an hour left and though I had made a few attempts of distracting the two so they would either forget or slip up, it seemed my presence only served as a reminder. So I've been keeping my distance after assigning them extra work, which they took rather gracefully as they understood it was meant as a distraction and they were determined not to let it serve its purpose. They both often fidgeted with the sunglasses though neither took them off… so far they were succeeding.
"Jill!" Chris screeched and my heart pounded in excitement for just the slimmest of moments. I looked out the window connecting my office to the STARS office to see that in a moment of frustration over the extra paperwork, Jill had run a hand through her hair and messed it up.
"I'm sorry!" she called back to him with a disappointed groan. Now only Chris remained. It should be easy enough to get him out if I stopped allowing him to run off to the bathroom to fix his hair. He looked like he wanted to object but didn't, still continuing to play my game. Jill had gone over to him in a hurry to fix his hair for him not long after that so I knew it was trying to come undone. I ordered her back to work and a few minutes later noticed that Chris was keeping one hand over his hair. He was still working so I didn't really have a reason to get on him over it. Twenty five minutes left. Surely he couldn't hope to run out the clock by holding his hair down. At six minutes he moved his other hand to help in his efforts so none of it got loose which told me the moment his hands came off of his head, his messy hair would show itself. This I could challenge.
"Shouldn't you be working, Redfield?" I called to him as I leaned against my doorway. He scowled at me and sighed.
"I already finished my work and wrapped up for the night since I'm just so eager to go home tonight." he stated, sarcasm and annoyance dripping from his voice. It was understandable for him to be so irritated with me, I did sabotage two of their players and tried to make this as difficult as I could on them. I smirked at his failing last effort though I must say he put up a very impressive fight. I wasn't expecting him to last half the day but whatever he wanted from me must be big if he was willing to be this attentive to get it.
"You have to finish those files I give you before you leave." I reminded him and he checked the clock on his computer. Four minutes. He grinned almost menacingly at me and the sunglasses resting on his nose actually added to the effect.
"I did." my smirk fell and I walked over to his desk to pick up the papers in front of him. I quickly skimmed over them to see they were filled out correctly.
"File them." I ordered as I placed them down again.
"Hey Jill." he called to his friend though she was already at his side with a victorious smile of her own. "I'm so tired from the long day of extra paperwork we had to do, could you please file these for me?" his tone was overdramatic and Jill didn't play her role any better as she slowly picked up the papers and made a show of filing them away.
"Why of course Chris, I wouldn't want my best friend to push himself too hard over all this extra paperwork." the last bit of that was directed at me harshly. My jaw tensed and I wanted to demand that Chris do it himself but everyone helped each other out here, it wasn't uncommon for someone to take someone else's work if they were heading that way. Even I did it if I was running an errand and one of my members had something that needed to be done there as well, I would just do it for them while I was there. It saved time, effort, and strung the team tighter together. Two minutes.
"Nhg shit." I grumbled to myself and refrained from gritting my teeth at realizing I lost. "Playing dirty, I see." I commented a touch sourly. I wasn't very competitive but this loss meant that I had to do whatever Chris wanted of me without first knowing what it was. I didn't like him, or anyone, having that kind of power over me and I regretted ever suggesting this. I wanted to get back at them and all I managed to do was make it worse for myself.
"Learned from the best." my pointman smiled proudly at me and I heaved a sigh but nodded. That was fair. The time was up and everyone cheered that they had won against me. Chris used his hands to ruffle through his hair as he laughed and made it messier than it usually was. He seemed relieved to take off the sunglasses and everyone else started to throw out ideas of what to make me do. It seemed the popular vote was no work but that wouldn't happen since my only saving grace was that I specifically said as long as it was reasonable.
"Guys, this is Chris's win!" Jill shouted over everyone. "He's the one that made it through the day and we agreed that the winner got to decide." we all turned to him as he smiled triumphantly, looking right at me and maybe it was just because I hadn't seen them all day but his eyes appeared more vibrant than I remembered.
"Yes, what do you want from me?" I asked, my curiosity coming back.
"I'm coming over to your place tomorrow morning and I'll let you know before work." he answered, seeming proud of himself but there was something else there that I couldn't put my finger on. I suddenly dreaded tomorrow but agreed, knowing that if it was anything too terrible I could still say no and he would have to change his request.
So we've reached the end of another chapter. Things are really heating up now, eh? I'm a nerd, I know this. Two things real fast, I wasn't sure how I wanted to format the texts but I did this as a placeholder and ended up keeping it. It's simple, I like it, and it's how I text- all proper though lacking punctuation. So there. And yes, I'm aware that it should be Chris' and not Chris's but I just think that looks wrong so I use Chris's. This isn't an officially published work so I don't need to worry about official grammar and I can do what I think looks right to me.
Anyway, thank you all for reading and I'll see you all in the next chapter!
Arren, out!
