Watching through the kitchen opening, Loid and Yor darted prying eyes at the children watching TV. Things were going exceptionally well.
"I'm so happy Anya is making friends at school!" Thought Yor with a bubbly smile on her face. "Although I have no idea why she picked this bratty boy to be her friend. It doesn't matter! Any friend of Anya's is under my protection! I would kill anyone who'd- woah! I better stop thinking that way, that's not normal…" Yor snapped herself out of her train of thinking, quickly spinning around to finish up the dishes from dinner.
Helping her dry each dish as it came out, Loid kept the eye of an eagle on Damian. Maybe some of the boy's interactions with Anya could prove useful to the mission. Even if not, the two children becoming better friends was another step closer to world peace!
"Spy Wars! Spy Wars! Dangers and a Bondman in a love trianGLE! Spy Wars! Spy Wars! Codes, smarts, secrets and smile of an anGEL!"
Anya sang along with the opening theme, doing a little dance as the show began another episode.
"This show is so stupid." Damian droned, flopping his neck loosely backwards over the arm of the couch.
"No it's not!" Protested Anya, clenching her fists his direction.
"The main guy-"
"Bondman."
"Yeah whatever, he's so stupid!"
"What? No! He's the smartest- it says so in the theme song!" Pouted Anya.
"He jumped into a cage to fight the bad guys only to get locked in the cage! Pff- anyone could see that coming." Said Damian, his hair bouncing at the ground. Running around the arm of the couch to meet his upside down face with her determined gaze, Anya stomped and clenched her fists.
"Oh yeah?! If you're so smart and you were Bondman trying to save Agent M, how would you do it?"
With blood rush to his head currently in affect, Damian received an even deeper glow to his already red face. Frantically sitting upright, Damian stuttered,
"E-Easy! Okay, pretend you're Agent M, and that the table is the cage, and…"
"And Papa can be the bad guy!" Anya said, dragging her father into this mess.
"Me?" Loid pointed at himself, casually approaching the dining table.
"Yeah! Lure Bondman into the cage like in the show!"
"Oh, uh…" Crawling under the table, Loid got into character as the villain. "B…Bondman. Surrender, or Agent M gets it…" Man, his acting skills always failed when it came to "make pretend".
Damian, climbing on top of the couch and looking down at the two, scoffed,
"See, instead of jumping into the cage to save you, I'd simply play a mind war." Declared Damian, with his master plan. Putting on his best grownup voice, he chuckled in superiority. "You wouldn't do that to Agent M if you want THESE!" Damian held up a paper towel roll.
"…"
"Papa, it's the Secret Scroll of the Mystic Arts!" Anya whispered to her confused father.
"Ah. I mean- AH! Not that!"
"Hehehe!" Damian seemed quite impressed by his own intellect. "Unhand Agent M or I'll incinerate the scroll right here as we stand!"
"Nooooo! You've outsmarted me, Bondman." Loid could easily think of 34 different ways to get the upper hand if this were a real situation, but for the sake of playing "make pretend" he decided to tone down his analytical mind. "Give me the scroll and I'll give you Agent M."
"Ah-ah-ah! If I do that, then you'll have both! Give me Agent M and I'll give you the scroll!" Played the boy.
"But then you'd get both and I'd lose." Loid said aloud, getting a little too invested in the game.
"Then we'll trade at the same time?" Asked Damian, dropping the grownup voice.
"Too risky, you could defraud the deal in a close contact transfer of valuables." Stated the grown man, holding his finger gun at Anya's head like a true hostage.
"Hmm… then… we could—"
Suddenly, her mother's training rang through Anya's mind! Distraction is weakness!
"HYAH!" Anya head butted Loid in the jaw and swung out of the cage!
"GACK-!" Loid bit his tongue.
"While you were distracting the villain I made my escape!" She said with a glowing smile. That smile nearly took the poor boy tumbling off the couch edge…
"H-Hey! Agent M isn't supposed to be good at anything!" Objected Damian!
"I'm not Agent M! I'm Commander Chimera, in disguise!" She posed heroically. "Now come on, Bondman! Let's escape by this zip line!" Turning to Yor, Anya yelled, "Mama! You're the zipline!"
"Eh? Uh, okay!" Walking between the two kids, Yor outstretched her arms and let them each of them grab hold. And with a start, Yor wooshed around the apartment, sound affects and all!
"WEEEE! Aaahhh!" Screamed Anya with a wild grin on her face.
"Yeahahahah!" Laughed Damian.
…
Laughed?
Anya was sure she heard that incorrectly. Sy-on boy doesn't laugh, he sneers! This… confused her. But she knew what this meant!
"Sy-on boy is having fun!"
"What-!" Damian was so shocked, he accidentally let go, falling onto the couch. "I'm- I was just… showing you how stupid the show is! That's all! Don't let it get to your head!" Said Sy-on boy out loud. But inside, Anya could hear it. His thoughts were almost on repeat:
"More! I want to watch more!"
Why did Sy-on boy say one thing when he thinks another? Well, he's not the only liar in this house. In fact, he'd fit in quite well with this household. Mama, Papa, Anya, and even Bond kept secrets- big secrets! So him hiding his true thoughts wasn't so different than the rest of them.
"Anya wants to watch more." She said for Damian's sake.
"…If you're going to be pushy like that then fine, one more." Blushed Damian, getting re-situated on the couch. But sadly, Yor flicked off the TV.
"Sorry, Damian, but it's getting late, you should probably head back to the dormitories! We wouldn't want you getting in trouble."
Three or four seconds passed before the young lad mumbled,
"…I can stay the night."
"Are you sure? Don't you need to ask permission first?" She asked, trying to gauge Anya's reaction to see if she even wanted an extended time with the young Desmond. Any excuse to watch more Spy Wars was good enough for Anya!
"I could ask my brother. He'll probably say yes, though, so—"
"Oh, yes we have a phone, you can go ahead and give him a call!" Yor picked him up and placed him in front of the corded wall phone. With a tentative look, Damian pushed some buttons and waited a moment.
"…Demetrius? I'm at a classmate's house, and I think it would be advantageous for me to stay the night to save on travel time. Mhm. Okay thanks." And with that, Damian put the phone back on its holster. He began to sweat, and he looked a tad stiff.
"…He said yes."
"Oh?" Yor could tell something was off. "I'm surprised the operator put him through so quickly."
"Uh, they work fast if you're a Desmond, I guess."
"Did he want our address?"
"…Nope."
"Does he know our names?"
"Uh, yeah…"
Loid walked out of the kitchen with a bundle of ice pressed against his jaw. This did seem very suspicious. If Damian were to stay at the Forger apartment without permission, that could anger Donovan Desmond, and then Operation Strix would be in danger!
"Gasp!" Anya overheard her father's thoughts. "Uh, Sy-on boy? I want to keep playing but lying is bad."
"I'm not lying! That was my brother and he said—"
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
The entire house shook with the door. Someone very angry was on the other side. Slowly, Loid quietly approached the peephole. He peered through.
And on the other side was a young man, whomst he recognized from multiple file records.
"Your brother said you could stay the night?" Loid asked Damian one last time. The boy didn't dare nod his head, because he instinctively knew what was on the other side of that door.
"He must be very fast, then."
Opening it, the Forger family were greeted by a damp, unkempt, furious young man. And by the looks of his eye bags and hairstyle, there was no doubt who he was related to.
"DAMIAN!"
With a wince, Sy-on boy reluctantly replied,
"Hi Demetrius…"
