Chapter 3: As Always

Felix pulled his threadbare blanket to his chest and stared at the ceiling, fixating on the cracks that spiderwebbed their way across the window-side wall. He took deep breaths, letting his heartbeat slow and his adrenaline settle. Almost unconsciously, his hand went to the necklace, still in his pocket for safekeeping. Felix wasn't sure why, but he felt calmer rubbing the charm between his fingertips. Like a spell for good luck.

Stupid. Childish.

Felix sat up and got dressed, padding over to the kitchen to inspect all the food they did not have, when Lila burst through the door, balancing two steaming cups in one hand, turning the key with the other, and clenching a paper bag between her teeth. Judging by the heavenly smell, there were pastries inside.

"Uf fuh som reakfast?" she managed, shooting him a wink.

For the first time in awhile, Felix smiled.

"Mademoiselle, are you alright?"

Lila Rossi pretended to flinch at the sound of the barista's voice, lowering the phone from her ear with a trembling hand and blinking back crocodile tears. She sniffed. "Y-Yes, Monsieur. It's nothing." She surreptitiously swiped at her eyes, letting out a barely-audible sob as she looked back at her screen.

"Are you sure, Mademoiselle?" The barista leaned over the counter and tried again, her concern evident in her folded arms and furrowed brow. Lila had to hold herself back from smiling. Exactly as planned.

"Well," Lila let out a huge sigh. "It's my dear grand-père. You see, today is his birthday, and I was going to pay him a visit at the hospital and bring him his favorite coffee. But it seems I lost my credit card on the metro, and I have n-no money left," she buried her head in her hands. "My parents are out of the country, and dear Grand-père is not long for this world. I… I wanted to spend one last birthday by his side. But I'm so careless, I ruined everything-" she burst into tears once more, and the barista emerged from behind the counter to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, sweetheart," she cooed. "Don't worry. I won't let either of you waste this precious day. What kind of coffee does your grand-père prefer?"

"Cafe mocha," she sniffled, wiping her nose, "triple espresso."

Lila plunged into the crowded streets, croissants and coffee keeping her chilly hands delightfully warm. It was a bit early for grifting, the sun barely peeking over the skyline, but when she had seen the way Felix was tossing and groaning in his sleep, she was determined to get them both something delicious to eat.

"Uf fuh som reakfast?" she piped, pressing the cafe mocha into his hands. For all his grumpy indifference, Lila knew he was a sucker for chocolate.

"Where did you get this?" was his curt reply, but he couldn't hide his smile. Lila's heart clenched. That was a win.

"The more interesting question is how, 'Grand-père'." She took a sip of her jasmine tea, its warmth and fragrance temporarily filling the emptiness in her chest.

"What?" Felix gave her a confused look, but Lila waved it away. "Listen, I know that last job was a bit of a bust, but don't worry. I have some intel that there may be bigger fish to fry in Paris."

Felix chewed on his croissant, barely seeming to have registered what she'd said. "Interesting."

"It is, actually," Lila reached over and brushed a crumb from the corner of his mouth, startling him. "Felix," she said. "Are you okay?"

Felix's eyes fell to the remainder of his food. "Don't worry, Lila. I'm fine."

Lila bit her lip. She did not believe him, but for the moment, it would be better to pretend that she did. "Good. Because I need your help if this new job becomes a viable option. Can I count on you? As always?"

Felix finally looked her in the eyes. "As always."

Lila stalked the perimeter of the towering office building after a disappointing trip to the pawn shop. The old man's earrings, as it turned out, were made of green glass, and the pocket-watch was not as valuable as she had thought. She and Felix would definitely need to be involved in something big if they wanted to make rent.

She had received the text from Ollie two days ago:

Big job at Horlage. You in?

She had hesitated. Ollie had a broad network of information, but the jobs he suggested were not to be taken lightly. They were high risk, high reward. And even two starving runaways without much to lose had to carefully consider if those risks were worth the possibility of being caught.

But after the trinkets had been a dead-end, Lila didn't have much choice.

We're in.

Lila continued to casually pace the sidewalk. She seemed to be engrossed in a phone call, but really, she was eyeing all of the luxury cars and old men in suits, memorizing faces and license plates. The fact that such a high-profile company as Horlage was tied to her contact should have been surprising, but Lila had learned over the span of her brutal, short life that nothing pristine was without corruption. Some things showed it on the surface, honestly. And some pretty things masqueraded as perfect, pure, when they were really rotten inside.

That was why Lila liked Felix- maybe even more than 'liked'. He wore every petty emotion on his sleeve, his every thought was obvious once you got to know him. He never lied to her. And underneath all of his bitterness and trauma, there was something pure, something Lila herself couldn't hope to imitate. The best she could do was keep him close, keep something genuinely beautiful, if flawed, nearby in a world where everything else was fake.

Fake as that old man's emeralds.

Lila noted the location of the security guards, the position of cameras. It wasn't particularly hard to affect the air of some snobby executive's daughter and get through the back entrance. Once she was inside the tasteful, elegant labyrinth, she swiped an employee ID, used the emergency exit map to make her way deeper into the complex, and arrived outside the heavy wooden door of one Oswald Menteur.

She knocked twice.

"Who is it?" came a deep, annoyed baritone.

"Lily Ross." she said, sweet as honey.

A pause. "It doesn't appear that you have an appointment, Mlle. Ross. I'll have to ask you to leave."

Lila rolled her eyes. "Well, that's a shame, since I went through the trouble of outsmarting your company's pitiful security to be here this morning."

Another moment of silence. "Who… who sent you?"

Lila grinned. "Meet with me, M. Menteur, and maybe I'll tell you."

Felix still didn't feel quite himself.

The coffee had woken him up, and it was nice to eat in the morning for once, but now, he couldn't seem to focus. He considered heading to the Eiffel Tower and picking pockets, a mindless distraction. He felt bad for worrying Lila. And for lying about the necklace.

The necklace.

Felix dug it out of his pocket and examined it, bathed in the light of the mid-morning sun. Once again, he wondered why he had been compelled to keep it to himself. He wondered… what would it feel like to wear it?

Slowly, delicately, Felix unclasped it, fastening the chain around his neck so the charm laid on his breastbone. He wasn't much for jewelry, but he had to admit, he liked-

FWOOSH!

Felix leapt back, blinded for a moment by a bright golden light. Was it the sun? A lightbulb blowing its fuse? No. None of that made sense. What was that noise?

Summoning his courage, Felix cracked open one eye. Then, the other. What he saw before him was unlike anything he could have imagined.

"Hello, Master. I am Moosu."

A/N: So uhm, I'm moving to ao3. I'm still going to upload this fic but any other fics will be uploaded to ao3.

Sorry than it took so long to upload. I was in the middle of a fic exchange.

I would like to thank usachan97 for working with me on this.

As alwaya enjoy and have a nice day. leave a comment or fav if you feal like it.

-cedalodon